The Daily Grind: Poll of the Future Results

I tinkered this guy out of my lineup yesterday in favor of Jake Lamb. Whoops.

AGENDA

1. Poll of the Future Results
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Players to Avoid
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. Poll of the Future Results

Yesterday, I asked you, the reader, to vote on a poll. This poll:

This poll is for readers of The Daily Grind.

For which topic would you prefer a section?

— Brad Johnson (@BaseballATeam) April 26, 2017

First, thanks to the 104 of you who voted. As has become tradition with my polls, the voting was almost evenly split. For now, I’ll test out a section about players to avoid. If it goes well, I’ll keep it. If it feels only marginally useful, I’ll replace it with something else. Possibly contrarian picks!

2. Weather Reports

Detroit, Colorado, and Cleveland all have rain in the forecast. In each case, a two to three hour delay should be sufficient to wait out the rain. I think everybody will play including the doubleheader in St. Louis.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Today’s action is split with six games early and four late. Cleveland is doing their silly 6:10pm start again. They’re left out. Both Cardinals games are available.

Afternoon Slate: Noah Syndergaard got bumped to this afternoon. I recommended him yesterday. Of course I recommend him again. He faces the Braves.

Carlos Martinez isn’t as bankable as Thor, but he does have a similar ceiling. CMart is also $2,400 cheaper than his fellow ace. A pairing against the banged up Blue Jays favors the Cardinals.

A volatile alternative to the top names is Matt Moore. He’s opposed by the Dodgers – an anemic offense versus left-handed pitching. Moore could post one of his effectively wild gems with a bundle of strikeouts and seven scoreless innings. He’s only $1,200 cheaper than Martinez.

The rest of the slate is mostly populated by boring veterans and Justin Verlander. The exception is Julio Urias. If I thought he’d throw more than 5+ innings, I’d consider trying him. The kid gloves remain on. One question I’ve always had about “kid gloves;” are they gloves designed specifically for handling children, or are they made out of the skin of baby goats?

Stack Targets: Mat Latos, Antonio Senzatela, Gio Gonzalez

Late Slate: This is a hell of a four game slate. You can use Chris Sale, his opponent Masahiro Tanaka, or Kendall Graveman returning from the disabled list. The other five pitchers are serious meltdown risks. Honestly, so are Tanaka and Graveman. Sale’s ownership will be absurd. The Arizona offense will be hugely popular opposite Weaver.

Taijuan Walker occasionally tosses gems, and it’s not as if the Padres are a scary opponent. I’d still rather own Padres hitters than Walker.

Stack Targets: Adam Wainwright, Walker, Ricky Nolasco, Weaver, Casey Lawrence

4. Players to Avoid

I’ll be using SaberSim in this section to highlight a few high visibility players who should be avoided. I picked a really bad day to start this section since it’s all hands on deck for these small slates.

For reasons I noted above, I’d ditch on Urias’ debut. There are more than enough options who may actually throw seven or eight innings. Urias has to rack up a lot of strikeouts to keep pace, and the Giants just don’t strike out all that often.

Maikel Franco might receive an ownership boost from his grand slam yesterday. I’d stick to the alternatives for now. I still foresee a bright future for Franco if he can stay healthy long enough. It may take him a few more years to find his stride as a hitter.

Jake Lamb seemingly has a droolworthy matchup versus Weaver. Just remember, he’s a fly ball hitter facing a fly ball pitcher. That can turn into a trio of infield flies.

5. SaberSim Says…

Syndergaard, Sale, CMart, Verlander, and Urias are the top ranked pitchers today. You already have my opinion on the subject of Urias. Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Trea Turner, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado are the top hitters. Unlike Lamb, Goldy is a ground ball hitter so his matchup with Weaver is wonderful.

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

Congrats to Shallinan21 for a very balanced roster. No one player stood up and carried team. Well, James Paxton did, but he was owned by nine of 20 participants. The leaderboard is updated.

We’re doing the FanDuel early contest today. Please note: EARLY. See ya by 1:00pm ET.