The Daily Grind: Smooth

I could explain my joke, but I already did it on twitter. Anyway, German Marquez is perhaps the tastiest of several decent waiver targets tomorrow.

AGENDA

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

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Kidzero nabbed the double win with identical rosters. Carlos Carrasco and Felix Hernandez combined for over 65 points. They were complimented by a solid lineup performance. Nobody went crazy or flopped. Congrats and Leaderboard.

In other news, how was Craig Gentry 12% owned? I was so sure I had the only share.

Guess what? We’re on FantasyDraft for our usual evening baseball poetry slam. If I have to hear one more reference to Mighty Casey, I will throw a fit.

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

Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Atlanta aren’t entirely safe today. They aren’t doomed either. Just… pay attention.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Early Slate: Four games are early featuring weirdly parallel matchups. Trevor Cahill ($16,000) is visiting Dallas Keuchel ($17,700). They’re your top plays. Both offenses can be rather difficult to master. Cahill was stomped by Minnesota last week. The previous outing was an over-30 point performance against these same Astros. Go figure.

Next in line is Danny Duffy ($15,400). He’s hosting Michael Fulmer ($14,900) and the Tigers. These are two used-to-be-good pitchers who sometimes still flash their stuff. Fulmer is working back from injury. Both lineups are el terrible.

Joey Lucchesi ($14,400) is at home against Erasmo Ramirez ($12,900). No DH for Nelson Cruz (he’ll probably play the field). Ramirez has tidy results since returning from the disabled list. I’d predict regression, but the Padres are the Padres.

Last and least, Jason Vargas and Alec Mills are fortunate enough to have 10 mph winds blowing in. With yesterday’s conditions, this could have been a 25 run game.

Stack Targets: Vargas, Mills, Lucchesi, Ramirez

Main Slate: The night contest rolls nine games deep. Inconsistent Freddy Peralta ($18,500) draws top billing in a visit to tiny Great American Ballpark. Peralta always supplies a strikeout per inning. Unfortunately, his inning totals range from three to seven. Catch him on a good day and he’ll win you money. He can also ruin your day.

Dereck Rodriguez ($18,400) plays host to Zack Godley ($16,900). Rodriguez confuses me. He looks good in a number of ways. However, the one quick measure I first check – hard hit rate – says he’s a bum. Opponents consistently make strong contact against him. Regression is overdue. AT&T Park can only help so much. Godley is a random number generator. The Giants lineup is a steaming pile so this could be a good day to try him out.

Speaking of random numbers, Sean Newcomb ($17,800) has the same profile as Peralta with a strikeout per inning and otherwise unpredictable quality. The Rays offense will be further diminished by a visit to the National League. Newcomb, if he pitches even marginally decent, is likely to earn a win.

CC Sabathia ($16,700) is bland. The White Sox are strikeout prone. This is still a poor valuation. He needs to cost at least $2,000 less.

Either side of Miles Mikolas ($15,400) opposite Trevor Williams ($14,500) is a solid pairing with the less reliable names in this slate. Both pitchers should fire six frames without completely melting.

Adam Plutko will probably outperform his $9,900 price tag. Perhaps not by enough to win a GPP though. I almost forgot to mention Alex Wood ($15,800). I assure you, he exists.

Stack Targets: Diego Castillo et al, Kohl Stewart, Plutko, Reynaldo Lopez, Alex Cobb

4. SaberSim Says…

Godley, Sabathia, Rodriguez, Peralta, and Newcomb are the preferred arms. Interesting to see Sabathia up there. SaberSim projects 5.70 innings and 6.56 strikeouts. That looks like some 2009 shit to me. I’m calling 7.50 K/9. Plutko, Godley, Ryan Borucki, Sabathia, and Williams are the preferred bargains. Mikolas ranked sixth on both lists.

Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Ramirez, Christian Yelich, Miguel Andujar, and Jesus Aguilar are the top rated bats. I’m not quite this excited about Andujar. Devon Travis, Neil Walker, Stanton, Luke Voit, and Logan Forsythe rate as top bargains. Clearly the Sim loves a Yankees stack tonight.

5. Smooth

Smooth.

Smooth.

Not smooth.