The Daily Grind: Ultra Wee

A lonely star twinkles in the heavens, hoping to be captured by a sensitive lover – perhaps via a $2 FAAB bid. Streaming Wars features just one pitcher and the usual array of bats.

AGENDA

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

1. The Daily Grind Invitational

Iamlee13 dodged the Tyler Glasnow grenade. He also nabbed both Trevor Story and Shohei Ohtani. The pair combined for 89 points! The only way to make it better would have been to replace Charlie Blackmon with Matt Adams. Congrats and Leaderboard.

We’re dropping to 30 entries for tonight’s ultra-wee slate on FantasyDraft. It’s single entry so I still expect a pretty sizable overlay. It’s worth your time. I love small slates…

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 isn’t entirely safe tonight, but storms probably won’t move in until the early morning hours.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: Tonight’s contest starts at 6:40pm ET. REPEAT: Tonight’s contest starts at 6:40pm ET. That’s all the emphasis I can bring to muster.

It’s a four game slate headlined by, uh, Zack Grennke I guess. I hesitate only because Greinke is pretty obviously the third best pitcher available – at least in my opinion. However, he only costs $17,500 which is a massive bargain, even against the Braves. Anibal Sanchez costs $14,700 even though he only projects to underperform Greinke by a few points. Both sides of this particular coin have merit.

Luis Castillo ($17,300) is next in line. The righty has the easiest path to victory, and he’s fired off three 30+ point performances in his last six outings. Alas, the other three outings were clunkers. The ever-strikeout prone Padres should add value to Castillo, especially if he can channel the stuff he used to strike out 11 Cardinals last week. On the flip side, Great American Smallpark is always dangerous. His opponent, Eric Lauer, is a little overpriced ($12,900). However, everybody is playable in a four game slate. The Reds may be the most popular stack. Contrarians should invest in the flip side.

Stephen Strasburg ($17,000) is hosting Kyle Hendricks ($15,800). Although a tough matchup for Strasburg, this price is an epic bargain. Watch out for a short outing – I doubt he’ll throw more than six innings in deference to his injuries this season. Hendricks is a decent sort of bland. He rarely impresses or disappoints.

The final game features future-stud Shane Bieber ($15,000) against please-don’t-make-me-use-him Sam Gaviglio ($13,600). Biebs has just one obvious problem with his approach – he too predictably attacks the strike zone. Even with that flaw, he still has over a strikeout per inning built upon an 11.3 percent swinging strike rate. He’s the Indians next ace. He’s also struggled with hard contact (45 percent!!!!). Gaviglio is just a guy with a bad matchup and price tag.

Stack Targets: Lauer, Gaviglio, Bieber

4. SaberSim Says…

Strasburg, Castillo, Greinke, Sanchez, and Bieber are the top arms. If I were rigging a deck, that’s exactly how I would have shuffled them. Premium bats include Jose Ramirez, Eugenio Suarez, Francisco Lindor, Bryce Harper, and Anthony Rizzo.

5. Good Going Jeets

Yesterday, whilst lamenting the pitiful state of the NL East, I recalled that the Miami Marlins were “not bad” circa nine months ago. And then I wondered what that roster would look like now. Imagine.

Ohtani doesn’t look too broken up about his shattered UCL.

Cool Story bro.