The daily grind: 7-3-13

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): There is no clear cut favorite today. Tyler Chatwood has a strong ground ball rate and solid strikeout rate, which matches well with Coors Field.

Tony Cingrani has his first official start since his brief demotion to the pen. I still worry about his limited repertoire, but I’m starting him tonight against the Giants.

Scott Kazmir’s peripherals say “start,” but some bad experiences have left me wondering just how much of his elevated home run rate is bad luck.

Ross Detwiler is a solid pitcher facing a Braun-less Brewers lineup. He has a good shot at a win but won’t strike out many in the process.

Pitcher (bum): Randall Delgado looked pretty bad in the minors but he’s holding his own thus far. He’s done it by more than halving his minor league walk rate. Don’t expect that to hold up.

P.J. Walters is fodder for the Yankees.

Hitter (power): Kyle Blanks is worth a look against Jon Lester.

Travis Hafner will see Walters.

Hitter (speed): Eric Young should start against Delgado.

Chris Denorfia will start against Lester too.

Tomorrow’s grind

Pitcher (to start): Gerrit Cole is somehow only 64 percent owned, which means a couple of you might be able to pick him up. His stuff is pretty impressive including a whomper of a heater (averaging 96.3 mph), but it’s also clear that he could use some refinement. Nevertheless, pick him up if you can.

Kyle Gibson looked strong in his debut. I think he’s worth a roll of the dice despite a difficult match-up against the righty-mashing Yankees. He has a decent shot of pulling down a win and shouldn’t hurt other categories.

A third youngster—Martin Perez—is also worth a look tomorrow.

Pitcher (bum): David Phelps imploded in his last start, so keep an eye on Twins hitters.

Esmil Rogers is channeling his inner Russ Ortiz, but I’m happy to bet against that continuing. He will face the Tigers.

Henderson Alvarez returns just in time to face a power-heavy Braves roster.

Hitter (power): Keep an eye on Matt Adams. If he can get into the lineup against Joe Blanton, he’s as good a bet as any to pop a home run.

Brian Dozier has been putting together solid numbers for his second base and shortstop dual eligibility.

Dayan Viciedo has been unimpressive this season, but I still like him against mid-tier lefties like Zach Britton.

Jonny Gomes faces a lot of tough lefties in the AL East, but tomorrow he faces a hittable one in Eric Stults.

Hitter (speed): Leonys Martin can be owned outright by most of you. At least until Craig Gentry returns or Jurickson Profar eats into his playing time.

You can try Aaron Hicks for a steal, but he didn’t hit well during his rehab assignment.

Will Venable is a prime start today. He can contribute to power or speed categories.

Keep rolling with Young if you need pure steals.

Noteworthy news

Rick Porcello received a six-game suspension for plunking Ben Zobrist, so those who own Porcello should adjust their rosters accordingly.

Keep an eye on Nick Castellanos. Miguel Cabrera is nursing a bum hip and stiff back, so there is a possibility that a stint on the disabled list may be required. It seems like he’ll play through the pain, but he could injure the areas more and the Tigers have a multi-year investment to protect.

Weather watch

Basically, everywhere that had a storm risk yesterday has a storm risk today. Only Atlanta is locked in to seeing some weather. That game will almost certainly be postponed and I’ll need to figure out a plan to avoid rush hour traffic.