The Daily Grind: Rebound Leader

You know, when I was picking my last player yesterday, I looked Brett Gardner squarely in the eye and said “I bet you hit an unexpected home run today.” Then I took Andrelton Simmons. Because duh. Gardner went on to hit two homers.

AGENDA

  1. TDG Invitational
  2. Weather Reports
  3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
  4. SaberSim Says…
  5. Rebound Leader

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Jaymcstell is having himself a week. Evan Longoria and Blake Snell were his standout contributors, although nobody had a bad game. Honorable mention to maddmaxxx. He placed second AND third. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We have another 52-entry contest tonight on FantasyDraft. Maximum of two entries. Minimum of one entry. Figure it out.

If you have not signed up for FantasyDraft, please use this referral link for tracking purposes. If I understand properly, by using the referral, you will receive a 10 percent return on any rakes you pay.

2. Weather Reports

Cleveland (early afternoon) has a modest risk of in-game storms. It doesn’t look like anything more than a delay. Same goes for Baltimore. Three venues will need to be more closely monitored – Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Atlanta. There is a chance for postponement. Based on current reports, they’ll probably play.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: We have a tidy 10 game slate this evening. Max Scherzer ($26,900) is visiting Baltimore for a nice juicy matchup. The Orioles are among the most strikeout prone teams in the league, and Scherzer consistently posts 30 point performances. The price tag is hefty, yet it’s still quite reasonable.

James Paxton ($22,900) has shoved in four of his last five outings. The man is living his ace life. He carries about a one-third chance to reach double-digit strikeouts against the Rangers. They have the second highest strikeout rate in the league, and that’s with Rougned Odor spending the majority of the season on the disabled list.

Shohei Ohtani ($19,500) dodged a start against the Yankees over the weekend. Now he’s paired with the Detroit Mud Hens. This should be an easy victory. Can I use all the aces please?

Beyond the top layer is a hefty bag full of playable talent. Sean Manaea ($16,300) is the next most expensive. I also have my eyeballs on Manaea’s opponent, Nathan Eovaldi ($12,200). I’m not inclined to use him in his return from the 600-day DL. I’m just interested.

Kyle Hendricks ($16,200) is a nice fit for PNC Park. So is the much cheaper Joe Musgrove ($13,900). He was showing off that bullpen velocity in his 2018 debut. Did the Pirates actually win the Gerrit Cole trade? Well no, probably not. Still, I’m modestly excited about Musgrove.

Jon Gray ($14,700) sometimes reaches double-digit strikeouts – even at Coors Field. He’s a swell contrarian play on a day that doesn’t really need contrarianism. Either side of Zach Eflin ($16,000) or Ross Stripling ($14,700) is fine. Clayton Richard is bland. A matchup against the Marlins could be worth the $15,500 admission. Flip that around to Jose Urena ($12,800). He may like the strikeout prone Padres. Fernando Romero ($14,900) gets his easiest opponent yet.

Stack Targets: Brad Keller, David Hess, Mike Fiers, Derek Holland, Eovaldi, Urena

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim is computing…

5. Rebound Leader

Gary Sanchez now leads the league in rebounds. I’ll explain in a second. First, I’ll regale you with a tale from my childhood.

The rec ball field we played on for ages 12 to 14 had a short backstop with a wooden board installed along the bottom to prevent balls from rolling under the chain link. The board was angled slightly up. Through sheer serendipity (i.e. I threw a bunch of unintentional wild pitches), we developed a “trick play” wherein the pitcher threw a dirt ball. The catcher would make no attempt to block it. The ball would hit the board and pop right back to the catcher at shoulder height. All he needed to do was turn. Then the catcher would bare hand it and throw out the runner. Kinda like this…

Specifically the second one. Poor Tony Kemp…





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phil
5 years ago

So that’s both wild pitches from Chapman, and he has 9 in 22 innings so far.