The Daily Grind: Vladito Day

“That man is crazy! Off with his legs!”

-life according to Harvey Danger

AGENDA

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

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

It was a tightly fought contest yesterday with just 25 points separating first from 25th place. Congrats to maddmaxxx for outlasting us all. And also placing third! Marco Gonzales, Nick Castellanos, and Michael Chavis were the biggest heroes. Leaderboard

Join us for Vladito Day on FantasyDraft. Will you join the 80 percent of us who roster Guerrero? Or will you fade the obvious play. I’ll tell you right now, I’m damned well using Guerrero.

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

The Marlins-Phillies game is at risk of postponement. Per current weather reports, they would need to wait until around 10:00pm to start playing. The Padres-Nationals tilt may also get a late start. It looks as if they’ll play. Finally, the Rays-Red Sox contest has sketchy forecast too.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

I do not have Vladito analysis for you. He is good. Also debuting is Carter Kieboom. He too is good.

Max Scherzer ($20,200) is very reasonably priced tonight. Just watch out for drippy drops. I’ll, uh, pass on $17,700 Matt Strahm. For shame.

Jacob deGrom also has some rain to dodge. For $19,500, I’ll gladly use him against the Brewers. Sure, it’s a tough opponent, but both the matchup and deGrom’s recent injury scare are fully priced in to what I assumed would be a $22,000 price tag.

James Paxton ($18,400) has entered full shove mode. He’s made two consecutive outings with 12 strikeouts. A visit to Oracle Park should sand any of the rough edges off his occasional issues with long balls (compression shorts can help too). The Giants will send Madison Bumgarner ($16,700) to the bump, making this the most interesting pitcher duel of the evening. Too bad it’s on left coast time.

Like random number generators? Try Robbie Ray ($17,700) at home against the Cubs. His fastball velocity is down two mph from his 2017 peak, his swinging strike rate is down nearly four points, and his current 5.27 BB/9 is pretty ugly.

Chris Archer ($16,700) has battled his way through a couple tough matchups. And completely flubbed a start against the lowly Giants. He’s visiting Hyun-Jin Ryu ($16,100). It’s safe to assume everybody’s momma prefers the Ryu side of this one. I expect him to have a deservedly high ownership.

Charlie Morton is good enough to hold his own against the Red Sox. Especially for only $16,000. Boston is calling upon 30-year-old journeyman reliever Marcus Walden. I don’t know if this is a legit start, an Opener, or an ode to Transcendentalism. Walden has pitched well in eight relief appearances, combining a hefty ground ball rate with strikeouts. I do know I’m feeling pretty good about the Rays chances tonight.

Carlos Rodon ($15,900) has dropped his terrible sinker entirely, and he’s massively buff his rate of slider usage. The results speak for themselves. He’s tasked with taming the Tigers, a feat which has already been accomplished by most who have tried.

Others to try – and there are plenty of them! – include Collin McHugh, Tyler Skaggs, Max Fried, Jerad Eickhoff, Marcus Stroman, Miles Mikolas, Kyle Hendricks, and Martin Perez. We could be here all day discussing them. For the most part, they’re facing easy opponents.

Favorite Plays: Paxton, Ryu, Rodon

Stack Targets: Chase Anderson, Daniel Norris, Walden, Shelby Miller, Alex Cobb, Antonio Senzatela, Jose Urena, Danny Duffy

4. SaberSim Says…

Our favorite simulator says Scherzer, deGrom, Paxton, Rodon, and Ray are the premium plays tonight. And also Blake Snell is listed despite pitching two days ago. Clearly there are some bugs to sort with today’s slate. Values include Anderson, Strahm, Fiers, Perez, and Norris. Of that group, I’d only consider using Perez.

The best bats are Mike Trout, Guerrero, Anthony Rendon (if he plays), Javier Baez, and Bryce Harper. Stevie Wilkerson (are we sure it’s “Stevie”), Albert Almora Jr., Guerrero, David Fletcher, and Luis Rengifo are the best bargains. Did we really have to debut Guerrero into a situation where he’s a top five projection AND bargain?

5.Aww Shucks

It’s 2019 and JB Shuck is still bouncing around the majors. Jose Bautista had a .348 OBP last season and can’t find a job, but career .296 OBP Shuck is still going strong.

This is special.

Is Tommy La Stella a thing now?