The daily grind: 8-9-13

The Daily Grind provides daily match-up advice for tinkerers and daily fantasy players. I welcome advice to help make this column more effective, including notice of impending weather events, new injuries, and changes to platoon situations. Ownership rates are from Yahoo!

The daily picks are a mixture of Daily League specific advice and information for the more typical fantasy owner.

Today’s weather watch

Games in Washington D.C. and New York (AL) have a high probability of thunderstorms. Games in Atlanta and Colorado have a lesser chance of being affected.

Today’s grind

Today is a solid day for pitcher streaming in most leagues.

Tomorrow’s grind

Pitcher (to start): Michael Wacha has been named the Cardinals starting pitcher tomorrow. He’s opposed by a light-hitting Cubs lineup. Wacha is a solid but non-elite option in most mixed leagues. It’s unclear how long he’ll be up this time around.

Wei-Yin Chen remains a solid choice for pursuing wins, ERA, and WHIP. Just remember that he doesn’t strike out many. He’ll face the Giants.

Andre Rienzo has been solid across his first two starts. The Twins are usually an advantageous match-up, but be wary of his short track record and weak supporting cast.

Felix Doubront is yet another option with a solid match-up. He’s opposed by the Royals, and he continues to post good peripherals.

Alex Wood is the top streaming name for the day. He’ll take on a weak Marlins offense.

Tony Cingrani has a higher ownership rate than the above names (currently 58 percent), but he has an excellent assignment against the Padres

Pitcher (bum): Brad Peacock is potentially exploitable against the Rangers’ multi-platoon offense. He has a bloated 7.25 ERA at the major league level this season, but FIP (6.58) and xFIP (4.99) also dislike his work. At Triple-A, Peacock threw to a much better 2.73 ERA and 3.63 FIP.

Juan Nicasio has been erratic for much of the season, flashing upside but generally struggling with consistency. He’s opposed by the NL-best Pittsburgh Pirates.

Brandon McCarthy may still be prone to endurance issues while working back from injury—he seemed to run out of gas in his last outing.

Hitter (power): Michael Morse enjoys facing lefties. He sees Tom Gorzelanny tomorrow.

Garrett Jones and Neil Walker are both solid options against Nicasio.

Justin Maxwell gets another lefty in Doubront.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Drew Stubbs and Ryan Raburn are good streamer picks against lefties like C.J. Wilson. Stubbs is also a stolen base threat.

Hitter (speed): Engel Beltre, Leonys Martin, and David Murphy should all get the start against Peacock.

Chris Denorfia will start, but the match-up isn’t great.

Pitchers to come

Sunday: John Lackey is the top option for Sunday in a fairly thin crowd. Jose Quintana is the other name that stands out and he’s more readily available.

Monday: Ricky Nolasco remains the only name that I’m comfortable recommending on Monday. You might be tempted to use Bruce Chen against the Marlins, and it may even work. Don’t buy into the recent hot streak. His xFIP remains the same as it always has been.

Tuesday: Tuesday is mostly TBA at the moment. Alexi Ogando is the current front runner with match-up against the Brewers, but he’s not going to remain the top dog.


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FeslenR
10 years ago

I’ve learned that when pitchers are hot, it’s almost best not to trust them (think about Willy Peralta’s streak before the Colorado and Cubs week).

that said, I risked picking up StL’s Carlos Martinez and that bombed, I think I would gamble on Chen vs the Marlins.

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

My problem with Chen is that the only thing that’s really changed in his stat line is the ERA. And that’s with his 12K/0BB outing which he will likely never repeat.

jarvis greenberg
10 years ago

??? picked up OF Venable for SB’s, lost Evert Cab. Problem is..Do I pick and choose matchups or should I roster him every day???  I have

Aoki
Markakis
Pence
Ethier
Prado

UTILTY…  Lawrie and Chris aka Magic Mike Johnson

Help me Jedi Baseball Master!

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

I would absolutely platoon him. That’s a weak OF you have there so I suspect your league is deeper than most I see.

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

Which if it isn’t clear means that you may want to play Venable in some non-advantageous spots.