The Daily Grind: Sale On Sale

Another week, another grind.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. All Fields Power

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

Johnson119 found the winning combination of Brandon Woodruff and Jacob deGrom with hitters who did just enough. All-in-all, it was a very low scoring Friday night contest. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We have a nine-game contest for tonight on FantasyDraft.

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

New York and Philadelphia have light rain in the forecast.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Chris Sale is correctly atop the price list at $21,200. He is still rather cheap for what figures to be another bankable double-digit strikeout performance. Seven of his last nine starts have included 10 or more strikeouts. The Rangers are both strikeout prone and susceptible to left-handed pitching. Sale figures to be very chalky, granting some contrarian value to Mike Minor ($17,800). J.D. Martinez might need another day or three before returning to the lineup.

Hyun-Jin Ryu ($20,400) has turned into a volume machine. While the strikeout totals aren’t always exceptional, he makes up for it by consistently delivering seven innings of work. This kind of longevity helps him to earn extra win bonuses. The Angels tend to avoid strikeouts, but they also aren’t the most potent of offenses.

Charlie Morton ($19,700) is slightly discounted against a powerful Athletics offense. He’s another guy who can combine volume with healthy strikeout totals. Six innings and six strikeouts is a safe expectation with upside for much more.

German Marquez ($16,700) will play host to Yu Darvish ($12,200). Coors Field games are usually best to be avoided, but this is a case when I’d consider using either pitcher. The Cubs lineup is slightly weakened. Carlos friggin’ Gonzalez is expected to bat fifth. He’s one of the worst batters in the league. Much is made of Marquez’s home/road splits, but I think we’re just looking at small sample noise. As for Darvish, his command has improved lately as a result of throwing more cutters and fewer sliders. He was able to shift his pitch usage without hurting his over-10.00 K/9.

Anibal Sanchez ($16,000) figures to be massively unpopular. However, this is a par value price tag in a volatile matchup against the White Sox. In a very small recent sample, Sanchez appears to have recovered his mojo (i.e. command). All of his early season struggles can be traced to free passes. His stuff and pitch mix were as good or better than last season. A sharp rebound is very plausible. The White Sox are aggressive and strikeout prone. He should receive copious run support.

This is, frankly, a very deep slate of usable pitchers. Also consider Masahiro Tanaka ($15,400, rain), Jerad Eickhoff ($14,100, rain), Sandy Alcantara ($13,900), Kevin Gausman ($12,900), Michael Wacha ($12,200), and Joe Musgrove ($10,000). Even Tanner Anderson ($8,000) is playable due to a ludicrously low price.

Favorite Plays: Sale, Ryu, Morton, Darvish

Stack Targets: Odrisamer Despaigne, Tanner Anderson, Jason Vargas, Griffin Canning, Gausman, Alcantara, Eickhoff, Taylor Clarke, Darvish, Marquez, Musgrove

I don’t dislike Canning, but I see a very affordable, very potent Dodgers stack lined up against him.

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim love Sale followed distantly by Morton, Marquez, Ryu, and Tanaka. The best bargain arms are Sale, Musgrove, Darvish, Gausman, and Morton. If you can find the money, a pairing of Sale-Morton seems like the money play. As for hitters, Cody Bellinger, Anthony Rendon, Joc Pederson, Austin Meadows, and Charlie Blackmon lead the way with Yonder Alonso, Eloy Jimenez, Gonzalez, Max Muncy, and Pederson rated as uber-values.

5. All Fields Power

Well, that’s a lot of home runs in a row.

All fields power.

I always look to do this, but I’m not remotely fast enough.