The Daily Grind: The Grind is Back

Thin Lizzy says the boys are back. I say the Grind is back. Big if true.

I was without any kind of modern communications from June 22 through June 30. I believe I’ve caught up on most of the major news. Feel free to clue me to anything that’s happened. I list the 16 things I missed in this tweet storm. #17 is Josh Donaldson’s latest calf attack.

Thing #1 I missed while on vacation. https://t.co/McMFauaqdK

— Brad Johnson (@BaseballATeam) July 2, 2018

AGENDA

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

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

I didn’t participate in the Invitational on Thursday, June 21. Would somebody like to supply the five winners in the comments? Leaderboard.

I forgot to warn the folks at FantasyDraft that the Grind would be back today. As such, no Invitational today. We’ll get back in the swing of things tomorrow.

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

Cincinnati could get a late start due to afternoon thunderstorms. Everybody should play tonight.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: The Tigers and Blue Jays have a day game thus they aren’t included in this contest. We’re left with nine games to squanch.

Max Scherzer ($25,800) is the undisputed king of the slate despite a tough matchup versus the Red Sox. Rick Porcello ($18,100) probably costs too much for what looks like an unlikely win. The Nationals lineup is potent, and he’ll have to out-duel Scherzer. I usually like Porcello’s blend of decent performance and consistently long outings.

Corey Kluber ($24,300) may wind up the most popular pitcher. He’ll face the Royals. In other words, he’s the most likely to earn a win bonus. Although his most recent outing was a disasterpiece, Kluber is still one of the likeliest pitchers to supply seven or more quality innings.

Madison Bumgarner ($21,900) is heinously overpriced relative to the alternatives. While his upside gives him top three potential, a start at Coors Field and a slight decline in stuff since returning from the disabled list suggests he should be priced in the $18,000 range. He could make for a fun contrarian play. Kyle Freeland ($13,700) is more appropriately priced for a game at Coors. He’s much more likely to return value.

Carlos Martinez ($15,800) is visiting Robbie Ray ($19,400) in what I figure will be a heavily used game. Both pitchers offer a combination of huge upside and volatility, making them perfect for deep GPP lineups. Martinez appears to be the better value, and he’s seemingly recovered from the poor command he showed a couple weeks ago. Ray tossed a six inning gem in his return last week, but it was against the Marlins. I’m not throwing down on a repeat.

Alex Wood ($16,800) appears to be a solid value. He’ll host a decent but unimpressive Pirates unit. He’ll often furnish a quality start, although he has only one standout performance this season. Nick Kingham ($14,500) is appropriately priced on the flip side of the matchup.

Kyle Gibson ($15,300) is yet another reasonably priced mid-tier performer. A visit to Miller Park is far from ideal, especially since the club has a weird mix of strikeout prone and contact heavy hitters. Gibson, despite relative consistency this season, has a highly volatile projection for tonight. The floor could hurt while the upside is quite useful.

Luis Castillo ($11,300) keeps teasing value. The powerful, strikeout prone White Sox make for an interesting matchup at Great American Ballpark. Notably, Castillo almost never survives past the six inning. He’s lasted that long in only one-third of his starts. As the second cheapest pitcher, expect to see him frequently paired with Scherzer and Kluber.

Stack Targets: Wei-Yin Chen, Castillo, James Shields, Anibal Sanchez, Jakob Junis

Today’s stacking targets are totally playable. No offense stands out as must-use tonight.

4. SaberSim Says…

Scherzer, Kluber, Castillo, Ray, and Wood are the top rated pitchers. The Sim is massively over-projecting Castillo’s innings. Values include Castillo, Chen, Suter, Wood, and Ray. On the hitting side, Nolan Arenado, Alen Hanson, Brandon Belt, Giancarlo Stanton, and Andrew McCutchen lead the way. Why so many Giants? Coors Field. Bargains consist of Giants, Daniel Robertson, Carlos Gomez, and Kurt Suzuki.

5. July 2

Today is the start of the international signing period. Expect your favorite team to make a flurry of signings. Already, a few teams have made ripples. The Dodgers signed MLB.com’s top rated prospect, Diego Cartaya. Meanwhile, the Rangers have inked Luisangel Acuna, the younger brother of that Acuna.