The daily grind 5-2

The Daily Grind provides daily match-up advice based on my every-morning waiver wire search. I welcome advice to help make this column more effective. Ownership rates are from Yahoo!

Allen Craig is back from the disabled list and only 31 percent owned. Given his position flex, that number should soar to the 80s quickly.

Today’s grind

A couple of mid-tier pitchers are decent options today. A.J. Burnett has his third start since returning from the disabled list and he’s dealt so far. He’ll be facing the Cardinals. I’ll never trust the guy enough to be the first one to pick him up.

Philip Humber’s found his way back to the waiver wire in many leagues. He faces the Indians today.

Daniel Bard draws the A’s. If he’s on your waiver wire, he’s probably the guy with the best stuff. He needs to learn some pitch ability still, but he oozes talent and upside.

Three speedsters sit on most waiver wires. Rajai Davis could start tonight against Matt Harrison if his wrist is feeling up to snuff. Tony Campana should start against Bronson Arroyo. The Padres’ Cory Luebke is having his start skipped due to elbow soreness so Carlos Gomez will face righty Jeff Suppan. Gomez might not start.

Ryan Sweeney and Josh Reddick have reasonable match-ups today.

Luke Scott didn’t gain any ownership overnight. He’s still at 37 percent and matches up against Blake Beavan today.

Tomorrow’s grind

Just 18 teams play tomorrow, limiting the pool of applicants. There are some pitching options, but none of them are must-plays.

Ross Detwiler is 39 percent owned and faces the Diamondbacks. He’s had a strong season but obviously isn’t a sub-2.00 ERA pitcher.

My favorite guy to hype, Danny Duffy, returns to the mound after missing his last start with elbow soreness. He faces the Yankees, so maybe you shouldn’t start him. He’s only 10 percent owned, which is criminal. Go pick him up if you can make room.

On the other side of that match-up is David Phelps, who’s more of a solid back-of-the-rotation type. The Royals’ offense hasn’t been firing on all cylinders and Phelps could benefit from this being his first spin through the league, so he’s a risky but solid play for tomorrow.

If you want to dare the gods to punish you, try Randall Delgado against the Phillies. He’s been downright bad his last few starts. I’m a little baffled as to how (or why) he hasn’t been replaced by Kris Medlen yet.

Juan Pierre versus Delgado sounds like one of those vintage Pierre days where he goes 3-for-4 with two stolen bases.

Speaking of steals, I’m staying on the Campana train.

Mr. Scott is facing Kevin Millwood tomorrow. His match-ups this week couldn’t possibly be juicier.

John Danks has had a rough start to the season, so it’s another day for lefty-masher Shelley Duncan.

Reliever watch

Francisco Cordero blew the save and then vultured the win last night. The situation is getting ridiculous. Speculators may want to start acquiring Jason Frasor, even though he’s struggled too.

Carrie Underwood showed up repeated in my “blown save” google feed. A bad release led to a blown save for the RSoA Vampire Leeches. You might not have heard of them; they’re in a different league.

Yesterday’s results

There seems to be a pattern emerging. When I recommend players with high ownership rates, they usually have terrible outings. Thankfully, you probably couldn’t pick them up. Jonathon Niese is today’s winner: 3 IP, 1 K, 15.00 ERA, 2.67 WHIP

Edinson Volquez had a great outing but received a no-decision: 7 IP, 4 K, 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP

I thought Felix Doubront might be a sneaky pick yesterday, but he was just bad. He did bulk up in strikeouts though: 4 IP, 8 K, 11.25 ERA, 2.00 WHIP

The Cubs game was postponed so Tony Campana did not play. This is not my fault.

Big May Day for Shelley Duncan. He went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, one RBI, and a walk.

Luke Scott went 0-for-1 with a walk and one RBI on a sacrifice.

Ryan Sweeney didn’t exactly feast. 0-for-2.

Andruw Jones was 0-for-3 with a walk.