The Daily Grind: Some Words After the Colon

I’m considering making this a daily Aaron Judge column. I’ll put it off for at least a day since the Yankees don’t play today.

AGENDA

1. Busted Colon
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Players to Avoid
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. Busted Colon

Bartolo Colon faced Jacob deGrom yesterday. Because MLB.com doesn’t put together highlight tracks when a pitcher sucks, here is a video from the last time when Colon outdueled deGrom.

Again, this was not last night. Including this gem and another versus the Padres, Colon now has a 6.27 ERA. He’s allowed 15 runs across his last three starts (16 innings). I hope he’s got some bounce left in him, dead cat or otherwise. We need more moments like these.

2. Weather Reports

The game at Detroit is rained out. You just don’t know it yet. The same is probably true of Cincinnati, but they may try to wait it out first. It’s an early start. St. Louis is also very much at risk. Of the rain games, it’s the most likely to run. Atlanta has storms on the agenda. It’s raining in Seattle too, but they’re prepared for that shit.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

We have two time slots – seven games are early and five are late. Keep an eye on the wind in Chicago. It’s 20 mph in right now, but sometimes it switches later in the day.

Afternoon Slate: Max Scherzer is the man to own here. The best alternatives have a date with postponement. The Diamondbacks offense could scratch together some damage, but they’ll probably fold just like every other team Scherzer faces. He can be homer prone at times.

Ian Kennedy has pitched reasonably well. He’s hosting a pitiful White Sox offense. They’re the fifth worst offense by wRC+. It’s my opinion they’ve been lucky too. No way Avisail Garcia, Matt Davidson, and Geovany Soto continue to hit well. Kennedy is opposed by surprised quality start machine Derek Holland. Those QS are coupled with very little production.

Flashy young names like Joe Musgrove and Jharel Cotton are on the docket, but they aren’t for me. While I could stomach using Musgrove, it’s a hard pass on Cotton.

Stack Targets: Cotton, Kyle Gibson, Zach Eflin, A.J. Griffin, John Lackey

Late Slate: Ah, what a pile of dog poo. Assuming two of these games are postponed, we’re left with such luminaries as Dan Straily, Matt Andriese, and Ariel Miranda. Andriese has been the most consistent of the bunch, although the Rays often have a quick hook. Straily had that one amazing outing against the Padres. Otherwise, he’s been bad. Miranda has two solid starts mixed with three not-so-solid starts. Maybe Mike Trout will sit… yeah sure.

Stack Targets: Straily, Miranda, Andriese, Ubaldo Jimenez, Alex Meyer, Kyle Kendrick

4. Players to Avoid

Well, all the players from those rain games. It’s hard to avoid too many guys with thin slates like these.

I’d steer clear of suddenly homer prone John Lackey. Or if the wind keeps blowing in, maybe I’d use him in the hopes others avoid him. This is what small contests do to you.

Evan Longoria is one of the top rated hitters in the evening slate. He’s battling a minor injury after a slumpy April. Look elsewhere.

5. SaberSim Says…

Scherzer, Kennedy, Lackey, Musgrove, and Cotton are the top rated hurlers without serious weather risk. Not one of them is from the late slate. Bryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Mike Trout, and Manny Machado top the hitting charts.

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

I won the contest for the first time since Opening Day. I’ve always performed best on low scoring days. My 144.2 points would have placed seventh on Tuesday. You know I used Charlie Morton en route to the victory. The leaderboard.

It’s challenge time! Prepare to solve a probably three game slate tonight on FanDuel.