The Daily Grind: Unhittable Home Runs

Its the Steam summer sale. I find myself enticed a bunch of cheap Final Fantasy titles along with the South Park RPG. Oh, where are we?

AGENDA

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

1. Wut

Coors Field plus Charlie Blackmon equals ridiculous.

I’ve hit hard line drives on these sorts of pitches – the kind that stay six inches off the ground until they’re by the third baseman (unlike Blackmon, I’m a righty). To actually golf the pitch in the air is a real challenge. To launch it out of the park is just heartbreaking for the pitcher. That ball was going to bounce. On the plate.

2. Weather Reports

New York and Cleveland have roughly a 50 percent chance for storms. Atlanta could see rain, but the risk is in the 25 to 40 percent range.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: It’s a 15 game mega contest. Even Cleveland has dispensed with their silly one hour early starts. Six names rise to the top among the pitchers, and they’re all pricey. The established aces are Stephen Strasburg, Chris Archer, and Yu Darvish. Archer is working at home tonight where he typically thrives. He’ll face the Orioles. Darvish is the cheapest of the trio – probably because he’s stuck at Yankee Stadium.

Three arms have ace ability and a short track record. Michael Fulmer is visiting San Diego where a complete game, 10 strikeout shutout is always possible. If not for missing time with a minor injury, Alex Wood might be in the Cy Young discussion. He’s hosting a potent Rockies offense. Jimmy Nelson is visiting hitter friendly SunTrust Park and the pitcher friendly Braves lineup.

For GPPs, Masahiro Tanaka occasionally reels off a gem. Mostly, he’s turned into a homer prone DFS troll. He’ll coax you in with a high ceiling and low cost then torpedo your roster.

The best cheap pitchers are Seth Lugo at AT&T Park or Jharel Cotton at the GSpot. The Giants lineup isn’t very intimidating, and the White Sox are among the worst against righties in the league. Cotton hasn’t been very good this season.

Luis Castillo pitched efficiently when at Double-A. It’s possible he’ll slice through the Nationals lineup. If only he had a softer matchup for his MLB debut. I’d love to take advantage of his $5,500 price tag.

Stack Targets: Tanaka, Cotton, Castillo, Mark Leiter Jr., Adalberto Mejia, Jake Junis, Mike Pelfrey, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jose Urena, Joe Musgrove, Dinelson Lamet, Adam Wainwright, Ty Blach

4. Hitters to Use

With Los Angeles set to face a southpaw, it might be another Austin Barnes day. He’s just $2,100. Enrique Hernandez is a valid bargain too. He’s back to posting crazy numbers versus lefties.

Manny Pina will probably start today versus Mike Foltynewicz. It’s not the matchup I like as much as Pina’s mix of average, decent pop, and the venue. Other Brewers are worth a look too like Eric Thames or Eric Sogard or Travis Shaw or Domingo Santana. Should that have been a list?

A Phillies stack could be profitable. Cameron Rupp is quite solid against bad lefties. Tommy Joseph, Aaron Altherr, and Howie Kendrick represent the best of the rest. This team needs a damned star.

On the flip side, the Diamondbacks will see a mediocre minor leaguer. Paul Goldschmidt, Jake Lamb, and friends should be (correctly) hugely popular. Between Leiter and the Phillies bullpen, I’d be disappointed with anything under 10 runs.

Yonder I wander to the GSpot where Yonder Alonso, Jed Lowrie, and Ryon Healy draw Mike Pelfrey. The Pelf is actually having a solid season.

I bet Miguel Montero will start today which means Dee Gordon may still 17 bases.

5. SaberSim Says…

Archer, Strasburg, Fulmer, Wood, and Dinelson Lamet are the top rated pitchers. Uh, ok. Hitters include the obvious – Bryce Harper, Goldy, Mookie Betts, Thames, and Trea Turner.

6. The Daily Grind Invitational

There was no contest yesterday. Today we’re on FanDuel.





You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam

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Cybo
6 years ago

Is Dee Gordon making liquor out of bases? Is that why he got supspended before?