The Daily Grind: Treat Earner Earns Stint on DL

We’re grinding our way into the four-day (Matt) holiday weekend. There will be no grind on Sunday – I have a game.

AGENDA

  1. Uh-Oh
  2. Weather Reports
  3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
  4. Hitters to Use
  5. SaberSim Says…
  6. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. Uh-Oh

Uh-oh. It’s a good thing none of the other teams in the NL East want to win games because the Nationals are basically down to a five player roster. What about the Mets you ask? Ha! The Freeman-less Braves are ahead of the damn Mets. The Braves are literally the worst team in baseball aside from all the even worse teams.

2. Weather Reports

Batten down the hatches. We’re in for a stormy ride. It’s easier to list the games without a weather risk – i.e. every roofed stadium plus the three West Coast contests. Even though every other outdoor park may receive some rain today, none of the eight games are likely to be postponed. Monitor accordingly.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Jake deGrom is priced as the runaway ace of the slate at $12,100. While I can’t say anything bad about him opposite the Phillies, I’d much rather have Alex Wood for $1,600 less. Wood is visiting the Padres. Despite Wood’s superb season, he’s only twice posted more than 50 points. Never has he reached the 60 point threshold. Short outings are the culprit.

By comparison, Robbie Ray has thrice achieved the 60 point plateau. While his matchup against the Rockies is seemingly less than ideal, Colorado has just an 81 wRC+ on the road and an 83 wRC+ against left-handed pitchers. Ray need only dodge Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado.

Lance McCullers is back, aka the right-handed Alex Wood (at least for DFS purposes). Short outings can upset otherwise excellent performance. McCullers also has a difficult assignment against a banged up but no less potent Yankees lineup.

The Nationals are down to three star hitters and a bunch of patches. Mike Leake could provide a high floor, low ceiling alternative to the big names. Mike Montgomery offers a riskier version of the same profile.

For $6,100, you can throw the dice on Doug Fister. In his 2017 debut, Fister’s velocity matched a career best – up three mph from last season. The last time he fired 90 mph sinkers, he posted a sub-3.00 ERA. While he’ll probably turn pumpkin, there’s at least a chance he’ll offer passable production against the Blue Jays.

Stack Targets: Mike Pelfrey, Parker Bridwell, Ben Lively, Anibal Sanchez, Matt Garza, Josh Tomlin, Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Sam Gaviglio, Jon Gray,

4. Hitters to Use

Gimme Alex Avila versus Josh Tomlin. Miguel Cabrera also seems to be coming online. Glad I sold low in a 20-team dynasty rebuild (that’s sarcasm).

Austin Barnes usually starts against lefties. He’s a huge bargain. Clayton Richard isn’t the most exploitable pitcher, but he does make mistakes. Look for Enrique Hernandez too.

Leadoff extraordinaire Anthony Rizzo is visiting Scott Feldman and the Reds. Rizzo happens to be the guy I acquired with Cabrera (along with some others). The rest of the Cubs lineup, barring Kris Bryant, is pretty meh. Great American Ballpark can fix that.

If Stephen Vogt starts, you absolutely must use Dee Gordon. He’ll steal 17 bases. Anytime I hyperbolize stolen base expectations, the guy swipes nothing at all.

Josh Donaldson activate! If anybody is going to punish Fister, it’s the Donald. Or Jose Bautista. Or Justin Smoak. I guess a few Jays could contribute with a home run.

Mike Pelfrey and Kevan Smith may be the most exploitable battery in the majors. Look for Delino DeShields, Carlos Gomez, and Shin-Soo Choo to run run run.

5. SaberSim Says…

Well I guess SaberSim and I are on the same page today. Ray, deGrom, McCullers, Wood, and Marco Estrada are the top rated arms. While I’d take Wood second, it’s a small quibble. Yoenis Cespedes, Giancarlo Stanton, Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, and Khris Davis are the top rated hitters. The Sim hates Lively. Top values include Cespedes, Seth Smith, and another Yasiel Puig sighting.

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

It was one of those days when Clayton Kershaw and the super obvious Brewers stack were mutually rosterable. One might have said “this is too obvious, I shall be a contrarian.” One would have not won money. Kingtrout and hoehne2 submitted identical rosters, thus tying for the win. Congrats and leaderboard.

See you on FanDuel tonight.





You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam

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Jackie T.
6 years ago

No Roto Writeup or Bullpen Report today?