The Daily Grind: The Deadline Cometh

The Grind is back. The Grind is back. For four days. Then it’s going to a mountain country wedding with no internet access.

AGENDA

  1. The Deadline Cometh
  2. Weather Reports
  3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
  4. SaberSim Says…
  5. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. The Deadline Cometh

For DFS participants, the trade deadline isn’t very important. Some guys move to new teams and some lineups become slightly more/less valuable. From that perspective, who cares? However, if you aren’t simply a pure gambler – i.e. you actually like baseball – then the trade deadline is an exciting time.

Yesterday, there were four trades. We can probably gloss* over Jaime Garcia to New York and Melky Cabrera to the Royals. They’re slightly more useful on contenders. The big deal from a DFS perspective was Jonathan Lucroy heading to Colorado. Lucroy has been doing his best Francisco Cervelli impression this year, but perhaps the elevation may convince him to hit fly balls again. Elsewhere, the Cubs acquired Alex Avila to steal playing time from Willson Contreras.

*the word “gloss” makes me think of Ross Gload. Or is it Gloss Road?

2. Weather Reports

All eight games tonight are expected to be dry and/or covered by a giant umbrella.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: We have a solid, ace-less batch of pitchers to use today. Sonny Gray is the second most expensive pitcher, but he’s likely to be traded today. If not, well… he’ll start. That’s how the deadline works.

Luis Severino is highly tempting despite a $10,100 price tag. He often pitches seven innings, although we may see more six inning starts from him now that the Yankees have built Mecha-Bullpen. Said bullpen should help to protect his leads though. He’s opposed by a folding Tigers roster, although it should be noted that Michael Fulmer is quietly one of the best pitchers in the league. In a general sense, his DFS values are merely “good.”

Charlie Morton has pitched well since returning from the disabled list. His velocity is ever-so-slightly down (still above 94 mph). The decline has been accompanied by better command. The Rays can be a tricky offense for right-handed pitchers. However, Morton has curiously ridiculous reverse platoon splits. Lefties are hitting just .169/.289/.288. I think it’s small sample nonsense. On the opposite side, you’ll find Alex Cobb against a dinged up Astros offense. I’m still wary.

Felix Hernandez versus Cole Hamels would have been an excellent matchup three or four years ago. Almost Kershaw-Bumgarner quality. Alas.

If you want a cheap pitcher, reach no farther than $7,800 Mike Clevinger. While I think he’ll eventually succumb to his poor command, he’s gotten away with it thus far. He’s coming off one of his worst outings, and he’ll have to survive the Red Sox onslaught.

Stack Targets: Doug Fister, Matt Cain, James Shields, Jose Urena, Ubaldo Jimenez, Marco Estrada

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim likes Severino, Estrada, Morton, Gio Gonzalez, and Gray the most. I kind of doubt Gray will start – surely the Athletics have learned the perils of not trading him. As for Estrada, he’s allowed 45 runs in his last 45.2 innings. His walk rate has spiked too.

The top rated bats are Khris Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, Mookie Betts, Bryce Harper, and Jose Bautista. That’s an interesting scattershot of sluggers. Values include Derek Fisher, Matt Joyce, Russell Martin, and Ryon Healy.

5. The Daily Grind Invitational

The last TDGI didn’t fill. Congrats to Kidzero for a thorough stomping. He used Chris Sale, Yuli Gurriel, and Colin Moran to provide the bulk of the damage. It’s funny, I also used a four-man Astros stack, and I scored less than half of Kidzero’s total.

We’re on FanDuel again today. Tell your friends. Seriously, we’re getting to the point in the season when these become hard to fill.





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