The Daily Grind: Words for Yonny

Last night, I went to watch Tyler Glasnow versus Yonny Chirinos. The home town Bulls won 2-0. Glasnow’s stuff looked as impressive as ever, but he still lacks command and control. I’d say he has 35 grade control and 25 grade command. Chirinos had 60 grade control and 30 grade command. He has an unusually open stride which probably affects his ability to generate velocity.

AGENDA

1. Can You Believe It?
2. Weather Reports
3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse
4. SaberSim Says…
5. TDG Invitational Returns!

1. Can You Believe It?

Here’s a lesson in regression. There was a point in the season when it seemed like Aaron Judge was a lock for 50 home runs. This blast was only his 39th.

Judge slumped through the middle portion of the season with a minor shoulder injury. It’s nice to see him crush no doubters to all fields. Now how do we get him off the Yankees…

2. Weather Reports

Forget about the weather. There aren’t any hurricanes for at least a day.

3. Pitchers to Use and Abuse

Main Slate: With 15 games on the docket, we have plenty of options. The runaway top pick is Max Scherzer for only $11,600 (FD) against the Phillies.  With the exception of Rhys Hoskins, this is still an offense that should roll over for Scherzer. Given the price and matchup, Scherzer ownership should approach 20 percent in the big GPPs.

Pat Corbin has been quietly solid. He’s a frustrating player to analyze because the terrible version of Corbin looks identical to this good version. Could they be the same guy? Quite possibly. And what does that mean for owning him? Likely that we should ignore him when he’s expense ($9,500 tonight) and roster him when he’s cheap.

Masahiro Tanaka is another frustrating guy. Just when it looks like he’s getting back on track, he’ll completely meltdown. When his goose looks cooked, he’ll reel off a gem. A visit to Texas promises the potential for the best and worst of Tanaka. Do you want to roll the dice for $9,200? He could be the top pitcher, or he may ruin your lineup.

It didn’t take long for Luke Weaver to soar above $9,000. In fact, it took just three recent starts. Weaver successfully mastered the Padres and Giants – two of the worse offenses in the league. His other useful outing came against the strikeout prone Brewers. He fanned 10 in 5.2 innings. Weaver has another soft matchup tonight against the Pirates.

Would you believe that Jimmy Nelson has not faced the Cubs this season? Seems unlikely, no? Nelson is continuously under-respected by FanDuel. He costs just $8,700 tonight. He’s coming fresh off a strong outing against the Nationals – a comparable offense to the Cubs. The game is at Wrigley Field – it’s usually extremely pitcher friendly in September.

Mike Clevinger will aim to guide the Indians to their 16th straight win. They host the Orioles. Clevinger is usually effectively wild. You can count on him for strikeouts.

Drew Pomeranz will face the lefty prone Rays. He’s opposed by Chris Archer in his return from injury. I like the Pomeranz side of this matchup.

Marcus Stroman, Collin McHugh, Mike Foltynewicz, German Marquez, Jose Urena, and Trevor Williams are all well-positioned to provide value.

Stack Targets: Ian Kennedy, Jordan Lyles, Jharel Cotton, Buck Farmer, Matt Moore, Seth Lugo, Ricky Nolasco, Martin Perez, Jake Thompson, Wade Miley, Amir Garrett

4. SaberSim Says…

Scherzer, Yu Darvish, Stroman, Pomeranz, and Weaver are the preferred arms this evening. With respect to Darvish, I’ve rostered too many of his recent duds to jump back on board. I keep saying he’ll turn it around, and then my money disappears.

Paul Goldschmidt, Giancarlo Stanton, J.D. Martinez, Freddie Freeman, and Mike Trout are the big bats. Make sure Goldy is in the lineup. Freeman’s a tad fatigued/banged up. Top values include Phil Ervin, Steve Pearce, Jake Lamb, and Yandy Diaz.

5. The Daily Grind Invitational

Well, we failed to fill our FanDuel contest by a wide margin yesterday. If today doesn’t go better, I’m switching back to DraftKings only. The winner of the free contest was bigwig500 with a spicy 195.5 points. Sorry we couldn’t get you some money for that performance.

Same parameters as yesterday – $2 and 15 entrants on FanDuel.