The daily grind: 4-19-13
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 Fanduel picks are a mixture of Daily League specific advice and information for the more typical fantasy owner.
Today’s grind
The Fanduel Daily League Players of the Day are:
Pitcher (to start): Jhoulys Chacin has been paying me well in the early going after I picked him up in every league. He’s still widely available for his start against the Diamondbacks.
Someone in an even deeper league could probably survive a start with Lucas Harrell against the Indians. I know, that’s not exactly a glowing review.
Someone in a shallower league could try Jason Hammel if the Orioles dodge the expected thunderstorms.
Pitcher (bum): Tommy Hanson against the Tigers and Roy Halladay versus the Cardinals are two exploitable match-ups today.
A Brett Myers start is one of the few times I think it’s worth loading up on Astros.
Hitter (power): Try those Astros, like Chris Carter, Carlos Pena and Justin Maxwell.
If you prefer non-Astros, Seth Smith against Alex Cobb is a solid match-up.
Hitter (speed): Craig Gentry will get a shot against Joe Saunders.
Andy Dirks is less likely to attempt a steal, but he has a better overall match-up.
Tomorrow’s grind
Pitcher (to start): Bronson Arroyo draws the Marlins, which is pretty much the only time I consider Arroyo a favorable addition.
Wei-Yin Chen’s ownership has plummeted to 33 percent. He’ll face the Dodgers tomorrow.
Scott Kazmir’s return to the majors includes the strikeout-hungry Astros.
Pitcher (bum): Ervin Santana has looked better this season, but he’s still showing signs of being homer prone, which leads me to expect the Red Sox to post some crooked numbers.
Scott Diamond strikes me as just a little too hittable to hold down a major league job. The White Sox should benefit.
Same goes for Jeremy Hefner. I expect the Nationals to feast.
Hitter (power): Dayan Viciedo is 34 percent owned and has the platoon advantage against Diamond.
Or try Cody Ross against Jorge de la Rosa.
I recommended Kazmir, but I’m not all-in on him. Try Chris Carter for long balls.
Hitter (speed): To my shock, Denard Span is only 26 percent owned. This is a guy who’s going to steal 20-30 bags, post a respectable average and easily score over 100 runs. Pick him up.
David Murphy against Brandon Maurer could produce in all categories.
Noteworthy news
Derek Jeter’s out forever now (until at least the All-Star break), but Didi Gregorius had his debut yesterday. He won’t fill the expected production of Jeter, but he’s available and should get plenty of reps.
Weather watch
Watch out for thunderstorms in the northeast. Teams that could be affected include the Dodgers, Orioles, Nationals, Mets, Cardinals and Phillies.
Is everyone else seeing italics everywhere?
Yes, I guess it’s just an italics day…I’m not too concerned unless someone particularly hates italics.
How can I get an rss feed of this article? I just found it today and love it.
There isn’t a feed specifically for this article, but you can get THT Fantasy content in general, which is always quite excellent.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ThtFantasyFocus
Thanks! And is this one included in THT Fantasy?
yessir
After the draft, I never thought I’d have to resort to picking up Wily Peralta for a start (on Sunday), but that’s just how things are going… hopefully the Cubs suck worse than his control.
Viciedo’s injured and may wind up on the DL for a while.
Thanks, that escaped my attention.
In that case, try Chris Heisey against Wade LeBlanc. Heisey’s been just a wee bit cold this year which is why I refrained from recommending him in the first place. But he’s still a solid guy who can post 20 HR+SB and take advantage of some match-ups.