The daily grind: 9-18

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!

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

Today’s grind

Those in leagues with same-day moves could refer back to yesterday’s table had my internet been functional yesterday morning.

The Fanduel Daily League Players of the Day are:

Pitcher (to start): Andy Pettitte is set to take a spin for the Yankees today. The Blue Jays lineup is a bit of a mess since Bautista went to the disabled list, so it’s not a bad match-up for the aging lefty.

Matt Harvey has pitched very well, yet he’s somehow only 41 percent owned. Against a weak Phillies lineup he could rack up some strikeouts.

Wei-Yin Chen has struggled recently, but a game against the Mariners could help him right the ship.

Pitcher (bum): Honestly, there are half a dozen bums pitching today. If you can’t find one on your own, you’re helpless.

But since you asked nicely, here’s a list: P.J. Walters, Ricky Romero, Justin Germano, Luke Hochevar, Fernando Abad, and Jeff Francis.

Hitter (power): I miss the days when I could recommend Allen Craig. I still have Salvador Perez, which is nice, though he’s not really a power hitter. And with Tyler Cloyd opposing the Mets, Lucas Duda could very well tee one up. Andruw Jones will of course be active against the aforementioned Romero.

Hitter (speed): Rajai Davis against Pettitte is good enough for me.

Tomorrow’s grind

Everything about Marco Estrada’s stat line says he’s a No. 2 pitcher. When I watch him, I see a guy with some good stuff and an idea what he’s doing out there. Yet his fantasy results have been underwhelming. Tomorrow he faces the Pirates.

Chris Archer is getting a spot start against the depleted Red Sox lineup.

Trevor Cahill match-ups have backfired on me this season, but he’s solid and facing the Padres. I really don’t know that I could ask for more in a September waiver match-up.

Team Player Handedness Opposing Pitcher   Team Player Handedness Opposing Pitcher
Angels         Astros      
  Alberto Callaspo R Derek Holland     Brett Wallace L Lance Lynn
Blue Jays         Brewers      
  Rajai Davis R Phil Hughes     Norichika Aoki L Kyle McPherson
Indians         Cardinals      
  Travis Hafner L Liam Hendriks     Jon Jay L Lucas Harrell
Mariners         Cubs      
  Casper Wells R Joe Saunders     David DeJesus L Mike Leake
Rangers         Dodgers      
  Craig Gentry R C.J. Wilson     Luis Cruz R Josh Beckett
Rays           A.J. Ellis R Josh Beckett
  Carlos Pena L Daisuke Matsuzaka   Giants      
Red Sox           Gregor Blanco L Tyler Chatwood
  Cody Ross R Chris Archer     Brandon Belt L Tyler Chatwood
Royals         Mets      
  Salvador Perez R Chris Sale     Scott Hairston R Cole Hamels
  Alcides Escobar R Chris Sale   Padres      
  Lorenzo Cain R Chris Sale     Carlos Quentin R Trevor Cahill
Tigers           Will Venable L Trevor Cahill
  Delmon Young R Brett Anderson   Phillies      
Twins           Domonic Brown L Jeremy Hefner
  Ryan Doumit S Zach McAllister   Pirates      
  Denard Span L Zach McAllister     Alex Presley L Marco Estrada
  Ben Revere L Zach McAllister     Starling Marte R Marco Estrada
White Sox         Reds      
  Dayan Viciedo R Luis Mendoza     Zack Cozart R Chris Rusin
Yankees                
  Raul Ibanez L Henderson Alvarez          

Norichika Aoki has been running wild in recent weeks, and with the Brewers aggressively seeking a Wild Card birth, I expect that behavior to continue.

Tyler Chatwood is not a bad pitcher, but his offspeed stuff isn’t mature enough to succeed in the big leagues, especially against left-handed hitters. Brandon Belt may benefit.

When Domonic Brown first came up this year, he was fighting his front side with his swing, and it was evident that he was cutting off his power in return for a more contact-oriented approach. Clearly somebody took him aside and told him he’s not in the big leagues to spray singles to all fields, because Brown is now taking some monster hacks on certain fastball counts. All of that is to say, I think he could bop a pair against Jeremy Hefner.

Reliever watch

This part of the column is coming to a close, but there are still a few useful tidbits floating around. Aroldis Chapman is expected to return soon and claims that his period of rest and recuperation was beneficial. We’ll see.

Oh, and Jose Valverde blew another save. I swear he blew a dozen this year, but the stats page claims only five.


You can follow me on twitter @BaseballATeam
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Brad Johnson
11 years ago

Ooh I missed that.

fyi, I recommended Lorenzo Cain, but he’s OUT.

Bluff
11 years ago

Start all 3 of Dempster@LAA,Gallardo@Pit,Bailey@CHc today?

Brad Johnson
11 years ago

Yea. I wouldn’t be happy about any of them, but those match-ups are favorable enough that you can only justify sitting them with the “gut defense.”

And I suppose I shouldn’t be condoning the gut defense since I write for THT. smile

Bluff
11 years ago

My opponent wont have his 1st sp for the week until tomorrow and that is Josh
I have nothing really to “defend” against.

Brad Johnson
11 years ago

By defense, I mean rationally answering the question “why did/didn’t you start X?”

Bluff
11 years ago

Well in H2H its easier to know where you stand in categories to help make move decisions easier.

Dempster last 30 Days 5 W 1.91 era/1.06 whip
Bailey last 30 days 1 W 2.91 era/1.00 whip
Gallardo last 30 days 3 W 3.98 era/1.26 whip

Think its close either way on all 3, though Bailey probably in most hitter friendly park of the 3.

Brad Johnson
11 years ago

Why 30 day trailing data instead of season/oliver/zips for them?

Bluff
11 years ago

Just feel how they pitch in previous aug/september games is a bit more indicitive of how they will pitch in next september game than how they pitched in May.

After today my remaining starts (not counting other streams) – Estrada@Pit,Grienke vs Tex,Parker@NYY, Bumgarner vs SD(?),Dempster@SEA((?),Gallardo@WAS(?)

My opponents SP not counting any stream – Johnson vs ATL,AnSanchez vs Oak,Minor vs PHI,Kendrick vs ATL, Moore vs Tor(?)

Does this make my decision one way or the other since short of streaming i have more starts left than he has all week?

Will H.
11 years ago

Kenley Jensen returns today.

In other news, I find out if Kershaw is worth keeping today.

Brad Johnson
11 years ago

Well, at least Gallardo and Bailey worked out.