The Daily Grind: The Best Advices

I come bearing only the very best advices.

Hot tip, add Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from your waiver wire before he’s gone!

— Brad Johnson (@BaseballATeam) April 25, 2019

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Hot To Trot
6. BONUS!

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

roc-pile and I shared Justin Verlander, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Steve Wilkerson. They combined for 74.1 points. Whereas Mr. Pile recorded an additional 84 points, my lineup only managed 15 points. Anyway, congrats are in order. And Leaderboard.

We have a lovely five-game slate to play 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

The early game in Pittsburgh has some risk for rain, although they’ll probably play through the droplets. The Atlanta-Cincinnati contest is DOOMED. Neither game is a part of the DFS slate so who even cares about ’em.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

A range of options exist for tonight’s contest. We have time to discuss all of them. Gerrit Cole ($19,600) is hosting Trevor Bauer ($18,400) in a matchup between basically the only two aces who have remained excellent and also haven’t had a health scare. Cole certainly has the easier side of the battle, although I would take Bauer in a fair fight. The prices seem to be both appropriate and very tempting.

Aaron Nola ($18,000) has struggled with command and control this season. He’s not himself. At times, I’ve wondered if he just doesn’t interact well with J.T. Realmuto. That’s probably not the problem, I’m just speculating. I actually prefer the Caleb Smith ($14,800) side of this one – mostly because he’s priced so cheaply, the Phillies lineup is injury-stricken, and Smith has already tamed a better version of this offense. Even so, he should be viewed as a very volatile play.

Masahiro Tanaka ($17,500) is on the road in Anaheim where he’ll face Trevor Cahill ($14,700). Tanaka’s best offering is a splitter. Cahill’s top pitch is a splitter-like changeup. Should be an interesting game. Cahill has really struggled with home runs this season.

Marco Gonzales ($16,100) has perhaps been a tad fortunate this season. For this reason, I’m mostly fading him when given the option. A thin slate like this forces creativity and tough choices. Like deciding just how important the win bonus is to Gonzales. Texas is calling upon Taylor Hearn ($14,400) to make his big league debut. The large lefty has swing-and-miss stuff, but he should be expected to make a short appearance. He has maybe a 10 percent chance to throw more than five innings. Even getting that far is a stretch.

Last and probably least is Jordan Zimmermann ($13,500) at Rick Porcello ($15,300). I say “probably” because they both occasionally twirl those contest-winning veteran gems. They’re fighting to drive the struggle bus these days. Zimmermann has allowed 15 runs over his last 13.2 innings while Porcello has coughed up 20 runs in 17 frames.

Favorite Plays: Cole, Bauer, Smith

Stack Targets: Zimmermann, Porcello, Cahill, Hearn, Gonzales

Gonzales is a lefty, but the Mariners tend to be very stolen base prone. It’s Omar Narvaez’s fault.

4. SaberSim Says…

Cole, Nola, Gonzales, Bauer, and Smith have the top projections. Nola, Cole, Gonzales, Smith, and Hearn are the value picks. On the hitting side, J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Andrew Benintendi, and Rhys Hoskins look shiny. So much for it being a thin slate. Bargainland is led by Curtis Granderson, Zack Cozart, Betts, JDM, and Jackie Bradley Jr.

5. Hot To Trot

Jacob Rhame sent a couple messages to Rhys Hoskins on Tuesday. Yesterday, Hoskins sent a message of his own.

The video description calls this “a hidden ball trick.” It’s more appropriately labelled “a Tyler Wade has farts for brains trick.”

6. BONUS!

One of my writers (ahem, my only writer) on BaseballATeam has started a new DFS column about pitcher pairs. It’s a nice supplement to The Daily Grind, and we expect it to be posted most days.