The Daily Grind: Wet Snells

There shall be a chat this afternoon at 4:00pm ET. See ya then.

AGENDA

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

1.The Daily Grind Invitational

Mrnorrad found the winning combination of Justin Verlander, Jesus Aguilar, Ji-Man Choi, Tommy Pham, and Mookie Betts. I should have saved that Aguilar play for myself! Cheers and Leaderboard.

We have a full 15 game shindig tonight on FantasyDraft. See ya there.

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

Oof. Let’s start with the lesser risks. “Light rain” is forecast in Texas, Minnesota, and Washington D.C. Of those, there is some modest delay and postponement risk in Minnesota. The action in Kansas City and Chicago (AL) is very likely to be postponed. We’ll skip covering those latter two games.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Trevor Bauer ($21,500) is the big man of a stacked night. Unfortunately, two of the best alternatives – Blake Snell at KC and Gerrit Cole at Minnesota – have literal rain clouds hanging over their heads. Bauer is visiting Miamiland for a National League game. His opponent, Sandy Alcantara ($11,900), looks like a nice value even without a tidy path to the win bonus.

Luis Castillo ($19,800) is the other expensive pitcher who is both performing well and pitching at a dry venue. CitiField is a nice change of pace from GABP, although the Mets lefty-heavy lineup could prove challenging. Castillo has a history of platoon issues. Even this season, lefties are hitting .096 wOBA points better than righties. Then again, I’ll take any pitcher who allows only a .275 wOBA to their bad split. The win bonus is accessible opposite Jason Vargas.

As far as his stuff goes, Walker Buehler doesn’t appear to be missing anything. His results haven’t been there, but FDraft’s price algorithm isn’t fooled. He’ll run you $19,500 for a visit to Oracle Park. Frankly, he’s worth it. And the mostly tepid performance to date should help keep his ownership tame.

German Marquez ($18,800) is on the road where he’s thrived this season. Unfortunately, he’ll face a tough Brewers lineup at Miller Park. Christian Yelich is day-to-day.

The diminished Yankees lineup still sparks more fear than is entirely merited. Zack Greinke ($18,600) is a solid target for evening. So too is CC Sabathia. We get to watch CC bat too!

Chris Paddack’s combination of short outings and tough pairing against the Braves probably isn’t worth the $18,000 price of admission. Paddack is coming off his longest and most successful outing.

I typically avoid Vince Velasquez, certified random number generator. A matchup against the lowly Tigres de la Detroit is mildly intriguing, but FDraft overreacting by buffing his price tag to $16,800. On the plus side, he should be mucho unpopular.

Griffin Canning ($14,900) debuts against the upgraded Blue Jays offense. Now that they’re regularly using Eric Sogard, Toronto has an entirely different look. Even so, Canning looks like he’ll become a solid DFS target and roto-savior.

Jordan Lyles also costs $14,900. Texas might be a little damp this evening. On the plus side, the ball isn’t flying out of The Glob like it does during the summer months.

Aaron Brooks ($11,300) has a scary matchup at Fenway Park. However, I do expect him to outperform this meager price tag.

Favorite Plays: Bauer, Castillo, Buehler, Canning

Stack Targets: Vargas, Brock Sampson, Andrew Cashner, Jhoulys Chacin, Tyson Ross, Ivan Nova, Adam Wainwright, Clay Buchholz, Drew Pomeranz, Rick Porcello

The Athletics lineup is a dreadful pairing for an around-the-plate ground ball guy like Porcello.

4. SaberSim Says…

Bauer, Cole Hamels, Greinke, Cole, and Castillo are the top picks for tonight. I didn’t think much of Hamels so I skipped him. I still don’t. Bauer, Hamels, Nova, Alcantara, and Chacin are the bargain plays. On the hitting side, Paul Goldschmidt, Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Joey Gallo, and Mike Trout lead the way. Values include Nate Lowe, Matt Carpenter, Justin Turner, Brandon Crawford, and Rougned Odor. I didn’t even smell Odor’s return.

5. NuVotto

I wrote about Nate Lowe’s easy power yesterday ($1 paywall), here it is on display.

A reminder that Aguilar can, in fact, hit for power.

Jesse NuVotto Winker.