The daily grind: 6-10-13

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 grind

Pitcher (to start): John Lackey appears to legitimately be back on his feet and should be owned in most leagues. He’s up to 45 percent owned, so people are noticing.

A few leagues have been slow to move on Julio Teheran. Go ahead and snatch him up—at least until the upcoming roster crunch resolves itself. Teheran needs a strong start to cement his position.

Pitcher (bum): Josh Lindblom will get the spot start for Texas against the Indians.

Wade Miley has struggled recently, allowing hits in bunches.

Dallas Keuchel allows more than his share of hits and walks, which should help the offense-starved Mariners.

Hitter (power): Michael Morse’s ownership is trending downward since his hot start. He’ll see Keuchel today.

Scott Van Slyke gains the platoon advantage against Miley.

Jason Giambi’s starts are unpredictable, but Lindblom is an excellent match-up if he’s picked to start.

Hitter (speed): Craig Gentry will try to reach base against Scott Kazmir.

Tomorrow’s grind

Pitcher (to start): Gerrit Cole is getting the call to face the Giants. This is likely nothing more than a spot start, so don’t beat yourself up if you’ve already missed Cole in redraft leagues.

Another youngster—Michael Wacha—is 51 percent owned and will oppose the Mets.

Tony Cingrani is also back in action with a start against the Cubs.

The Rangers are a tough assignment, but Corey Kluber is beginning to settle in as a reliable big league starter.

Pitcher (bum): The Tigers should get to Wade Davis.

A Hardball Times Update
Goodbye for now.

Chien-Ming Wang is making his 2013 debut with the Blue Jays, who desperately needed a spot starter. Do not expect this to be smooth sailing for Wang.

I’m pro-Dan Haren, but a start at Coors Field isn’t likely to reverse his home run woes.

The Astros have a poor man’s version of the feast-or-famine offense. Still, Aaron Harang has been a Chinese buffet for everybody this year.

Hitter (power): Jason Castro and Carlos Pena are worth a look against Harang.

David Murphy has a solid match-up with Kluber. On the other side of the ledger, Drew Stubbs will gain the platoon advantage. Both offer a mix of power and speed.

Hitter (speed): Wil Venable has a favorable match-up against contact-oriented Tim Hudson.

Rajai Davis may start against lefty Jose Quintana.

Noteworthy news

Giancarlo Stanton is expected to return today.

Diamondbacks starter Brandon McCarthy suffered a seizure last week. This was expected after his close call last season and he shouldn’t miss additional time. McCarthy was already sidelined with shoulder inflammation.

Weather watch

The Angels and Orioles are expected to see thunderstorms at some point during their game.


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ABSkippers
10 years ago

Just curious what you think of the May-June eversion of Rick Porcello?  He’s been crazy dominant, in a Cliff Lee, 11:1 K:BB, 9 K/9 sort of way, but obviously it’s like nothing he’s done before.  Can we expect him to continue the K rate?

Brad Johnson
10 years ago

I’m not sure what to make of it. My default position is to be skeptical of unexpected outbursts, but once upon a time, Porcello was supposed to be able to do this.

His swinging strike rate is improved but not so much as the recent strikeout rate suggests. His seasonal rate (7.7 K/9) however is supported.

I have to say buy. In fact, thanks for bringing this to my attention, the improved peripherals escaped my attention.