The daily grind: 9-5
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 should refer back to yesterday’s table.
The Fanduel Daily League Players of the Day are:
Pitcher (to start): Mike Minor has his share of warts, but a match-up against the Rockies at Turner Field should turn out pretty well.
Aaron Harang is rarely impressive. Against the Padres he doesn’t have to be.
The Brewers’ TBA turned out to be Wily Peralta. I definitely recommend him against the limp-batted Marlins.
Pitcher (bum): Chris Volstad is chief among bums today with his match-up against the Nationals. There is the usual range of alternative options including Alex White against the Braves and P.J. Walters against the White Sox.
Hitter (power): Dan Haren is not himself lately and Brandon Moss stands to benefit. Take a look at Cody Ross while you’re at it.
Hitter (speed): For some reason, I expect Angel Pagan to reach base repeatedly and maybe swipe a bag today. I’m not as confident about Coco Crisp, but he’s more likely to make an attempt if he reaches base. Norichika Aoki has a good running match-up, so keep an eye on him as well.
Tomorrow’s grind
Tomorrow might be the first truly Thin Thursday of the season. Only five games will be played, weather permitting.
And of those five, I love Marco Estrada’s match-up against the Marlins. He’s only 18 percent owned too.
David Phelps against the Orioles is probably playable, but that’s all I can say in his favor.
Prepare for Tiny Table.
| Team | Player | Handedness | Opposing pitcher | Team | Player | Handedness | Opposing pitcher | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rangers | Brewers | |||||||
| David Murphy | L | Luke Hochevar | Carlos Gomez | R | Josh Johnson | |||
| Royals | Norichika Aoki | L | Josh Johnson | |||||
| Salvador Perez | R | Scott Feldman | Cubs | |||||
| Alcides Escobar | R | Scott Feldman | David DeJesus | L | Jordan Zimmerman | |||
| Lorenzo Cain | R | Scott Feldman | Marlins | |||||
| Yankees | Carlos Lee | R | Marco Estrada | |||||
| Raul Ibanez | L | Jason Hammel | Greg Dobbs | L | Marco Estrada | |||
| Justin Ruggiano | R | Marco Estrada | ||||||
| Rockies | ||||||||
| Josh Rutledge | R | Tim Hudson | ||||||
| Tyler Colvin | L | Tim Hudson |
Not much to look at, eh?
Raul Ibanez has a decent match-up if Jason Hammel isn’t sharp. Tyler Colvin against Tim Hudson is the other match-up that jumps out as palatable.
Reliever watch
Nothing much to see here.
Why in the world is Pagan unowned in one of your leagues?
It’s been awhile since I cross-referenced my list with ownership rates. Looks like it’s time to cut him, although I don’t see why he should be owned over 50%.
Only a handful of guys with at least as many SB have better surrounding 5×5 stats. He’s sneaky useful on an everyday basis.
I didn’t say he isn’t useful, I just thought he’d be more around 40% owned. Last time I looked was in the teens if I recall although he’s had a few big games since then.