The Daily Grind: Suddenly Bereft of Stars

Words. What are they good for? Conveying thoughts.

AGENDA

1. And Now Harper?
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. Hitters to Use
5. SaberSim Says…
6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. And Now Harper?

On Saturday, we lost Mike Trout for the next two months. Here’s what I had to say in the comments when somebody was curious about my pessimism.

Look at everybody who’s ever hurt a thumb on a base. It follows a standard grief process – denial, bargaining, and acceptance. i.e. “he’ll be fine” “oh, maybe he’ll miss a few days” “so… he’s out 2 months.”

Bryce Harper won’t be out 2 months, but I gotta figure this fight is at least a 10 day suspension. He could have got away with five if he just dropped the helmet.

Aside from the sudden reversal of the who is throwing at whom game, this wasn’t actually an interesting fight.

2. Weather Reports

Thunderstorms are likely in Baltimore. St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago are also small risks for storms. We still have 12 hours from the time of this writing for the weather forecasts to ripen.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Fourteen games are late because the Indians are doing their thing. Chris Sale is visiting his old stomping grounds in Chicago. Even for $13,400, it’s hard to pass on his consistent dominance.

Justin Verlander has an easy path to victory versus the pitiful Royals and their heavily exploitable spot starter. Verlander isn’t quite living up to his 2016 success, but he’s still one of the better pitchers in the league. It’s hard to find any successful pitchers these days. So much for pitching dominating hitting.

The Pirates are weak versus left-handed pitching. It’s not that they’re strikeout prone, they just don’t do any damage. Robbie Ray’s visit to PNC Park could be one of his best outings of the season. He’s coming off two straight performances with over 30 DK points. A third is possible. So is a complete dud. Nobody is as volatile as Ray.

Jose Berrios finally looks like the real deal. And for $7,300, I’m sure everybody wants a gander at what he has to offer. The Astros offense went wild yesterday. Perhaps they’ll be fatigued. The Twins bullpen has been heavily taxed these last two days. There’s pressure on Berrios to go the distance.

Tyler Anderson is alive and well. He costs $8,000 tonight, a price he’s earned in three of his last four starts. The other outing was fine too. He’s recovered his penchant for soft ground ball contact. Too bad the game is at Coors versus the Mariners. Or maybe that’s a good thing.

Stack Targets: Tyler Pill, Eric Skoglund, Asher Wojciechowski, Justin Nicolino, Nick Martinez, Eddie Butler, Ariel Miranda, Mike Fiers, Bartolo Colon, Chris Tillman, Zach Davies, Vince Velasquez

4. Hitters to Use

Jonathan Lucroy has morphed into Francisco Cervelli. Really. Click his name and look at the strikeout, walk, and ground ball rates. I still believe there is power lurking beneath the surface. In the meantime, he’s a super high floor bat.

The Mets let Dinelson Lamet get away with poor command and hanging offspeed stuff. I’m not sure Anthony Rizzo or Kris Bryant will be so kind to him.

Eric Thames has fallen out of vogue. He faces arguably the worst pitcher of the slate.

Joey Gallo is facing a mid-tier ground ball pitcher. What better time to roster his crazy fly ball rate. I called his 16th home run yesterday, but Aaron Judge answered with one of his own. Gallo is still second best in the home run race.

Despite liking Anderson today, Jean Segura and any other right-handed Mariners are an option.

Judge homers practically every day. Too bad he costs a mint. Corey Dickerson is only slightly more affordable. I love both matchups.

5. SaberSim Says…

The Sim wants you to use Sale, Verlander, Jeff Samardzija, Ray, or Velasquez. Shark’s a solid choice at AT&T Park. I usually avoid the Nationals offense. The projections are lagging behind on VV. He’s not playable. It would be the ultimate hero play if you used him and he did anything useful.

Nolan Arenado, Nelson Cruz, Mookie Betts, Anthony Rizzo, and Jean Segura are the top ranked hitters. Really? Only three players at Coors today?

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

After posting a huge point total on Friday, we all flopped yesterday. Lunchtime_looter pulled down the win with a mere 127.60 points. Tanner Roark and Robbie Grossman provided most of the work. All six winners were new to the leaderboard.

We’re on DraftKings today.