The Daily Grind: These Chalky Indians Help With Digestion

Now fortified with calcium.

AGENDA

1. TDG Invitational
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. Bauer Outage 2.0

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

DireWowk put together a who’s who list of the top performers yesterday. With Carlos Carrasco, Dylan Bundy, Brian Anderson, and Jose Martinez on the same roster, it’s no wonder he cruised to victory. It was actually a high scoring day for a semi-thin slate. Congrats and Leaderboard.

Tonight’s no rake GPP is on FantasyDraft. As usual, 52 entries with a two entry max.

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

Quite a few venues have a very small chance of a thunderstorm – none high enough to bother reporting specifically.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Mike Foltynewicz ($23,200) is on the best hot streak of his life. He’s made six consecutive starts with two or fewer runs allowed. Twelve of his last 13 fit the “two or fewer” criteria. Granted, not all of those earlier starts were DFS friendly which makes his recent performance more impressive. Folty is set to host the Mets in what looks like a pretty comfy matchup these days. I’m not sure he deserves to be the top priced pitcher, but I have no qualms with finding a place for him.

If I was setting prices, I’d probably have Aaron Nola ($22,900) above Folty. The downside is Citizen’s Bank Park – an extra homer friendly venue. Nola has performed well regardless of location. Meanwhile, the Rockies feature only half an offense and tend to struggle on the road against right-handed pitchers. Despite the park, Jon Gray ($15,000) is also playable due to a low price and a strikeout prone opponent.

Eduardo Rodriguez ($21,300) aka “expensive Sean Newcomb” is set to take on the Orioles. Manny Machado was out with an illness yesterday. If he sits another game, that obvious bolsters ERod’s value. You’re looking at over a strikeout per inning with otherwise volatile production.

Gotta love Miles Mikolas ($21,200) versus the strikeout prone Padres. Elsewhere, Lance McCullers has ace-quality stuff and a mid-tier $17,500 price. The Athletics are neither an easy nor especially difficult opponent. McCullers has mixed gems with far too many clunkers this year. Still, he’s a great value tonight.

Digging deeper, you’ll find, uh, *scrolls *scrolls *scrolls. Well. I hope you’re comfortable with some cheap hitters. It’s not that this slate is packed with stacking targets. Very few of the pitchers look like quality performers.

Perhaps try Jaime Barria. He’s the fifth priciest at $17,700. Adam Plutko ($16,100) may earn an easy win. Color me unimpressed with his stuff. Chris Stratton ($15,400) is facing the Marlins. That makes sense for a second pitcher. Jake Odorizzi ($14,900) has not faced the Tigers this season. They seem like the kind of offense he could handle. I’m pretty sure it’s Austin Pruitt’s ($7,800) turn for the Rays.

Stack Targets: Ryne Stanek (Pruitt), Matt Strahm (bullpen game), Sal Romano, Chase Anderson, Tyler Chatwood, David Hess, James Shields, Ian Kennedy, Bartolo Colon, Caleb Ferguson, Jaime Garcia, Blaine Hardy, Plutko

I lied. There do seem to be more stack targets than a typical day.

4. SaberSim Says…

The Sim says Nola, Gray, Ferguson (!?!?), McCullers, and Mikolas are the best plays tonight. I don’t get the Ferguson love. Steamer projects him – rather aggressively in my opinion – to a 4.19 ERA. Why is that third best tonight? Values include Ferguson (that makes more sense), Anderson, and Gray.

The hitting side of the equation favors J.D. Martinez, Mookie Betts, Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, and Michael Brantley. Chalky Indians again? The bargain list consists of Yonder Alonso, Lonnie Chisenhall, Daniel Palka, and Jay Bruce. Yep. Chalky Indians.

5. Bauer Outage 2.0

Earlier this year, one of my patrons supplied me with some damning information about Anthony Rizzo’s pull power. He looked fine yesterday.

As a near-Durham resident, I can confirm Jake Bauers likes cock shot fastballs right down the pike.

Ryan Braun says please don’t make me play first base.

Also, now he’s disabled after running into the ground AND a wall. (not really)