MLB Daily Grind Down: April 3 - Page 2

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2013-04-03 18:39:18

One of my favorite things about daily fantasy baseball is that a couple times a week, the games start during the day which is a great way to pass the time at work. There are 3 early games on the schedule and then quite a few night games as well. Today’s Grind Down shows the pitchers and batters that you need to be taking:

Miami

• A name like Kevin Slowey just isn’t right for a pitcher and when you look at his stats from last season, they definitely back up his name. He went 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA. Avoid him at all costs.
• The Marlins bats have an extremely tough matchup against Gonzalez who is rock solid at home. Just expect a lot of K’s and not many hits.

Washington

• Gio Gonzalez is one of the higher strikeout rate pitchers in the league and you have to love that in daily fantasy baseball. Last season at home, he posted an insane 2.38 ERA while average a strikeout per inning pitched. The matchup against Miami certainly doesn’t scare me. Take Gio, take Gio, take Gio!
• The Nationals batters on the other hand have a fantastic matchup against Slowey. There isn’t much BvP to go off of, but don’t be scared to take a few batters from this one. Bryce Harper got off to a hot start and is a good play, I expect Ryan Zimmerman to have a much better game, and look for Ian Desmond to be a part of some runs as well.

Cleveland

• Do you remember when Ubaldo Jimenez was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game? And half of his starts were in Coors Field? That seems like ages ago now. Jimenez is a head case now and when things start to go wrong, he falls apart and can give up a bunch of runs. I don’t like him today on the road against a stacked Jays club.
• Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis both have had success against Morrow even if the sample size is small. The problem is that Morrow K’s a lot of batters so if you play on a site that penalizes strikeouts, you may want to stay away from the Indians.

Toronto

• Brandon Morrow is a high K guy which means he has good upside anytime he takes the mound. The Blue Jays are expected to win this one big, so he could pick up an easy win even if he does give up some runs. Not a lot of downside taking him today.
• The Blue Jays are the team to stack today if you play on a site that allows it. I expect Ubaldo to blow up early and the Jays to keep pouring it on. There really aren’t any bad plays on the Jays so take your pick.

Baltimore

• Wei-Yin Chen had a pretty decent season last year for the Orioles and posted a solid 2.97 ERA in 5 games started against the Rays. This should be a low scoring game and he isn’t a terrible option, but I’d rather have one of the higher K pitchers on my team today.
• The Orioles bats lit up David Price yesterday which was a bit surprising to everyone. I don’t think they find the same success today though. All of their bats have struggled with Hellickson in the past.

Tampa Bay

• Jeremy Hellickson pitched really well against the Orioles last season. He pitched 34 innings against them, racked up 33 strikeouts, and posted a 2.38 ERA. He is also a guy that I trust more at home then on the road. Pretty good option today.
• Not too many good options here, but I think Evan Longoria is in play if you are looking for a 3B that can homer.

Los Angeles

• C.J. Wilson had a bit of a down year last season, but is still one of the better pitchers in the game. He draws a tough matchup against the Reds though who hit the ball well at home. I think he will pitch well, but struggle to pick up the win.
• None of the big hitters on the Angels have ever faced Latos before which really makes it tough to know what to expect. Vegas has the over under at only 7 runs today, so this might be a game to stay away from.

Cincinnati

• Mat Latos had an excellent season last year and really dominated at home. It’s hard to take him against the Angels though because their lineup is stacked. Vegas like Latos today, but he worries me too much against the Angels big bats.

Philadelphia

• Roy Halladay is getting up there in age, but he still has some gas in the tank. Here is another good pitcher that is an underdog on the road today. It’s really hard to take these guys when picking up the win means so much in daily fantasy.
• Maholm is a lefty so immediately take Ryan Howard out of the equation. Michael Young could be a solid sleeper pick though.

Atlanta

• Paul Maholm isn’t a high strikeout pitcher, but he keeps his ERA down and picks up wins. The Phillies don’t have the best offense in the league, but with so many games today, you have to think there are some better options out there than Maholm.
• The Upton brothers are certainly going to make the Braves offense a lot better and I think that they will score some runs on Halladay. Freddie Freeman has 3 HR’s off of Halladay in his career.

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