The Daily Grind: The Aces Return

Check out section 5 for a slamtastic Sunday.

AGENDA

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

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

Last Friday belongs to sjm26b. A low-owned Ketel Marte as part of a Diamondbacks stack was the pick that sent him over the top. Everybody contributed. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We have a nine-game slate this evening on FantasyDraft. As usual, $2 and no rake.

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

Chicago (NL) is expected to be chilly and damp. Rain is possible. Postponement or delay are unlikely.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Aces! Gerrit Cole ($20,700) is the priciest of the bunch thanks to a friendly pairing against the Royals. In the past, Cole struggled with controlling the running game. While this is a resolved issue, there is still a chance the Royals will run wild. Robinson Chirinos has a longstanding issue with catching would-be thieves.

Next most expensive is Jacob deGrom ($19,800) at San Diego. Aside from the minor health scare, I’ve been very impressed with deGrom this season. In fact, every time I’ve seen him, he’s looked better than last year. This despite an unsightly 3.82 ERA. Anyway, deGrom’s value today will probably be decided by home runs. Or a lack thereof. He’s opposed by Chris Paddack ($17,800) whose yet to deliver a bad outing. The Padres are even cutting him loose for six inning starts.

It’s rare Max Scherzer is only the third most-expensive arm. For $19,600, you too can (virtually) visit Milwaukee. While the Brewers are a tricky opponent, we should have no reservations about using Scherzer at this price.

Speaking of no reservations, a $19,000 Blake Snell at home against the Diamondbacks is extremely tempting. There’s just one issue. Since returning from the injured list, Snell has twice been trounced… by the friggin’ Royals! He struggled with command in those outings. This makes him an interesting GPP play since other premium options and poor recent performance should lead to a muted his ownership rate.

Cole Hamels ($17,700) doesn’t stand with the aces in terms of quality, but you have to give him a long look tonight. The lowly Marlins are visiting Wrigley Field on a cold night with the winds blowing in at 10 mph. His occasional homeritis should be manageable today. Sandy Alcantara ($12,900) has solid peripherals, ugly results, and a cheap price. The Cubs have the third best offense by wRC+.

I’ll mention Kevin Gausman ($16,400) at Walker Buehler ($17,700) just long enough to opine that the pair are cancelled out by tough opponents. These are your contrarian plays if you believe, for some reason, that ALL of the aces will fail. Seems like a stretch.

I can’t find clear evidence as to how long a start Josh Smith ($8,000) will make in Baltimore. It’s possible he’ll throw five innings. Or one. For $8,000, I like this as a cheap GPP play. The Orioles have a Triple-A quality offense, and the Red Sox should supply plentiful run support.

Favorite Plays: Cole, deGrom, Scherzer, Hamels, Smith

Stack Targets: Miles Mikolas, John Means, Jakob Junis, Jhoulys Chacin

With the exception of Means, the stack targets are guys who were good last season and kinda suck now. Besides an elevated ERA, Junis appears to be unchanged. He’s listed here because the Astros are potent.

4. SaberSim Says…

deGrom, Cole, Scherzer, Hamels, and Snell are the preferred arms this evening. Almost an exact match for my favorite plays list (which technically isn’t listed in order or by expectation of top performance). Possible values include deGrom, Hamels, Cole, Scherzer, and Chacin. Smith is not yet included in SaberSim’s rankings.

J.D. Martinez, Michael Chavis, Mookie Betts, Alex Bregman, and Jose Altuve need hats for bats. The mayors of Bargain City are Jake Noll, Vladito, Chavis, Travis Shaw, and Marwin Gonzalez (but why does Bargain City have five mayors?)

5. Grand

Sunday was a day for grand slams. Let’s start with Hunter Renfroe. I’m a fan of the quiet bat flip.

Xander Bogaerts isn’t the sort of hitter you attack with high heat.

Bregman to center.

This is getting tiresome.

The hell is going on with Jay Bruce. I mean, I know what’s going on. He’s extremely streaky.