The daily grind: 8-6
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.
I’ve watched a lot of Phillies games in the past couple of weeks. Chase Utley is smashing the ball although his numbers don’t show it and Domonic Brown is having great at-bats (generally). Both could be nice, cheap pick-ups for a stretch run.
Today’s grind
Those in leagues with same-day moves should refer back to yesterday’s table.
The Fanduel Daily League Players of the Day are:
Pitcher (to start): It’s definitely been a down year for streamable pitchers and today is no exception. Scott Diamond has a decent match-up with the Indians, except he’s already 46 percent owned despite a mediocre fantasy skill set.
Chris Tillman at least is widely available and he should be able to handle the Mariners.
Pitcher (bum): Even the bums are scarce today. Erik Bedard, Aaron Cook and Drew Pomeranz have their share of rough outings, but they’re frequently quite solid too.
Hitter (power): Carlos Quentin may unlock his power against Travis Wood. I’m not sure if Tyler Moore is capable of bouncing Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche or Bryce Harper from the lineup, but he’ll have a favorable match-up if he does. David Murphy against Cook looks good too.
Hitter (speed): Not a big day for speedsters. Ben Revere has a solid match-up and Carlos Gomez is starting most days.
Tomorrow’s grind
Patrick Corbin’s not an exciting pitcher, but he’s serviceable and not too many pitchers who meet that description are on the waiver wire.
Samuel Deduno has just been flat lucky, but the Indians aren’t terribly good so maybe his luck will hold one more outing.
Wade LeBlanc is a combination of the above. He’s definitely been lucky, but he’s also usually serviceable. Hopefully he’ll hold up against the Mets. And it speaks volumes that the top recommendation of the day has to be qualified with a “hopefully.”
Ross Detwiler is yet another service-oriented starter.
| Team | Player | Handedness | Opposing pitcher | Team | Player | Handedness | Opposing pitcher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angels | Astros | |||||||
| Alberto Callaspo | R | Bartolo Colon | Ben Francisco | R | Ross Detwiler | |||
| Athletics | J.D. Martinez | R | Ross Detwiler | |||||
| Jemile Weeks | S | C.J. Wilson | Brewers | |||||
| Chris Carter | R | C.J. Wilson | Carlos Gomez | R | Johnny Cueto | |||
| Jonny Gomes | R | C.J. Wilson | Norichika Aoki | L | Johnny Cueto | |||
| Blue Jays | Cubs | |||||||
| Anthony Gose | L | James Shields | Brett Jackson | L | Ross Ohlendorf | |||
| Yunel Escobar | R | James Shields | Josh Vitters | R | Ross Ohlendorf | |||
| Rajai Davis | R | James Shields | David DeJesus | L | Ross Ohlendorf | |||
| Indians | Dodgers | |||||||
| Travis Hafner | L | Sam Deduno | A.J. Ellis | R | Alex White | |||
| Casey Kotchman | L | Sam Deduno | Giants | |||||
| Mariners | Brandon Belt | L | Lance Lynn | |||||
| Casper Wells | R | Zach Britton | Angel Pagan | S | Lance Lynn | |||
| Trayvon Robinson | S | Zach Britton | Marlins | |||||
| Orioles | Carlos Lee | R | Jon Niese | |||||
| Wilson Betemit | S | Blake Beaven | Justin Ruggiano | R | Jon Niese | |||
| Rangers | Mets | |||||||
| Craig Gentry | R | Jon Lester | Scott Hairston | R | Wade LeBlanc | |||
| Rays | Andres Torres | S | Wade LeBlanc | |||||
| Sean Rodriguez | R | J.A. Happ | Nationals | |||||
| Elliot Johnson | S | J.A. Happ | Steve Lombardozzi | S | Jordan Lyles | |||
| Red Sox | Padres | |||||||
| Ryan Lavarnway | R | Ryan Dempster | Yonder Alonso | L | TBA | |||
| Cody Ross | R | Ryan Dempster | Carlos Quentin | R | TBA | |||
| Royals | Cameron Maybin | R | TBA | |||||
| Salvador Perez | R | Jake Peavy | Will Venable | L | TBA | |||
| Alcides Escobar | R | Jake Peavy | Chris Denorfia | R | TBA | |||
| Lorenzo Cain | R | Jake Peavy | Phillies | |||||
| Tigers | Domonic Brown | L | Mike Minor | |||||
| Brennan Boesch | L | Phil Hughes | Ty Wigginton | R | Mike Minor | |||
| Quintin Berry | L | Phil Hughes | John Mayberry Jr. | R | Mike Minor | |||
| Twins | Pirates | |||||||
| Ryan Doumit | S | Corey Kluber | Starling Marte | R | Patrick Corbin | |||
| Denard Span | L | Corey Kluber | Reds | |||||
| Ben Revere | L | Corey Kluber | Todd Frazier | R | Mike Fiers | |||
| White Sox | Rockies | |||||||
| Dayan Viciedo | R | Bruce Chen | Josh Rutledge | R | Aaron Harang | |||
| Yankees | Tyler Colvin | L | Aaron Harang | |||||
| Raul Ibanez | L | Rick Porcello |
Let’s try some newbies, Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters against Ross Ohlendorf.
The Twins coterie has a lovely match-up on its hands.
Look for Scott Hairston against LeBlanc.
Reliever watch
Ryan Cook is on very thin ice after blowing his fourth save on Saturday. I’ve been saying all along that Cook isn’t really a fireman, but I also thought he’d survive the season. Now it looks like a committee could form, including Grant Balfour and Sean Doolittle among others.
Chris Perez blew his third save of the season yesterday. It was a five-run doozy.
Andrew Bailey’s rehab is progressing well. It is unclear who will handle the closer job in Boston once he returns, though it will likely depend on Alfredo Aceves’ recent performance. He blew a save on Saturday.