The daily grind: 4-11-13

The Daily Grind provides daily match-up advice for tinkers 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 Fanduel picks are a mixture of Daily League specific advice and information for the more typical fantasy owner. Use the team-by-team TDG eligible players spreadsheet for more detailed information.

Today’s grind

The Fanduel Daily League Players of the Day are:

Pitcher (to start): Carlos Villanueva got bumped, which makes me a bit sad since I was putting him to use in a league. That leaves A.J. Griffin and Zach McAllister as the best waiver arms today. However, I don’t think the Indians are going to get to play.

Pitcher (bum): Jason Marquis will be a common pick for this part of the column. You could also take a spin with some Giants against Scott Feldman.

Matt Harrison is missing his start, so Justin Grimm will go in his place.

Hitter (power): Try Raul Ibanez against Grimm.

As I mentioned yesterday, Nate Schierholtz and Daniel Nava don’t really fit in the power basket, but they do have solid match-ups today.

Hitter (speed): Jackie Bradley Jr. might get a chance to steal a base, if the rain doesn’t get in the way.

I imagine Gregor Blanco may have a shot at taking a couple bases today.

Tomorrow’s grind

Pitcher (to start): Villanueva goes tomorrow, with a much more difficult assignment against Matt Cain.

Usually I’d recommend Julio Teheran based on upside, but it’s hard to stream anyone against the Nationals’ frighteningly good lineup.

Here’s a deep reach: John Lannan against the Marlins. So long as he’s smart enough to auto-walk Giancarlo Stanton so he can pitch to Placido Polanco.

I watched the Phillies and Mets series rather closely, and I came away with the impression that the Mets aren’t even trying to win games right now. So I like Vance Worley’s prospects tomorrow.

I have another former Phillie, J.A. Happ, on my like list too.

Patrick Corbin is my Marco Estrada this season. I’m going to be recommending him early and often, even when he’s opposed by Clayton Kershaw.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Pitcher (bum): I have strong suspicions that Jose Quintana had the best year of his career last season. The Indians could put together a few runs.

Tommy Hanson is yet another veteran who I’m convinced is broken.

And Jon Garland is just Jon Garland. It’s hard to think much of him, but I won’t be surprised if he turns in a solid season.

Hitter (power): I was surprised to discover today that Jedd Gyorko is only 43 percent owned. He’s not available in my leagues, but I like the match-up for tomorrow.

Roll the dice on Chris Carter.

Lucas Duda could have that post-hype season. He hit a couple of impressive bombs yesterday.

I’ll stop cheating and include Domonic Brown on the power side of the fence.

Hitter (speed): Will Venable has that Garland match-up.

Noteworthy news

Michael Saunders is likely headed to the disabled list. I’m glad I caught that because I had recommended him for today against Grimm.

Weather watch

The Blue Jays at Detroit and the Yankees at Cleveland look like rainouts in the making. The Orioles and Red Sox will contend with some rain too, but they should be able to play their game.


You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam
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Shibboleth
10 years ago

Thanks for this!  What are your expectations for Corbin this year?  My pitching is off to a stumbling start so I’m especially keen to pick anyone with upside!

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

Nothing exciting, something like a 4.00 FIP 7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. However, that’s very deployable off the waiver wire and he’ll look even better when playing at Petco, Chavez Ravine, or AT&T Park.

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

Forgot to mention, Scott Sizemore’s injury makes Eric Sogard an attractive option in deep leagues.

Geoff
8 years ago

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