Rise & Grind: Friday, April 10th
Welcome to the RotoGrinders cup o’morning joe. Start your day off right here, as we sort through yesterday’s happenings and take a peek at the upcoming DFS day.
In Case You Missed It
The Masters – After shooting an eight-under-par 64, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth becomes the youngest player to ever lead the Masters after one round. Spieth was nearly perfect on the day with only one major slip up, a bogey on 15. That stroke ended up being the difference between Spieth claiming a share of the course record for a round. Here at the Rise and Grind, we don’t believe in jinxing GPP leaders. If you want to know who is in first in the Millionaire Maker, here is the link. It is worth noting that no player since 2008 has gone on to win the Masters after leading the first round.
FanDuel WFBC – One lucky player is going to win $100,000 tonight at the FanDuel World Fantasy Basketball Championship (WFBC) in Miami. There are a total of 50 finalists competeing tonight. Only ganondorf (3) and theclone (2) have more than one entry. I don’t envy the finalists having to navigate tonight’s NBA slate, but I do envy their 1/50 chance at $100,000. For a full list of qualified players, visit this link. Good luck tonight, Grinders!
The Coors Effect – If you woke up this morning excited to roll out a full Rockies stack on DraftKings for the first game at Coors field, you may be in for a surprise. DraftKings has inflated the prices of both the Cubs and Rockies for today. Notably, Troy Tulowitzki is priced similar to a mid-level starting pitcher at $7K. If Tulo is a bit too expensive, you can always pivot to the Rockies outfielders at the bargain basement prices of $5K or more. There is an interesting discussion in the forums regarding this decision by DraftKings. Several players, including myself, favor DraftKings adding a “Coors bump” to players. How do you feel? Let DraftKings know your opinion in the thread.
Victiv MLB – Did you roster Ian Kennedy last night in the MLB late slate? I know I did, and it stung looking at a 0-0 box score at the end of the 9th inning. If only there were a way for people who selected Kennedy to receive points for San Diego’s pitching staff. Hang on a second, there is a way for that to happen. After months of suspense, Victiv will release its MLB product today. The scoring has been discussed before but the big difference is that players will select a pitching staff instead of an individual pitcher. If you haven’t tried Victiv yet, sign up through RotoGrinders links and you will receive three $5 bankroll builder tickets. You don’t even need to make a deposit to get them. On top of that, I’m told Victiv will have some MLB freerolls.
The Dong Report – Yesterday there were 14 dongs across both MLB slates. Edwin Encarnacion had the longest dong at 431 feet while Jose Ramirez had the shortest at only 360 feet. Kendall Graveman and Asher Wojciechowski tied for the most dongs allowed with two each.
Big Winners – With two MLB slates, NBA, and NHL, there were winners galore yesterday. I can’t get to all of them, but here are some Grinders with a few extra digits in their balance today. On FanDuel, theclone dominated early taking 1st in the Grand Slam and Monster. kuperman claimed 3rd in the late Grand Slam, sundayfunday took 2nd in the late Monster, and proshares punched his ticket to the Dallas WFBC. In NBA, mrigetdown tied for 1st in the Slam.
Over on DraftKings, primetime420 took down the early Payoff Pitch, jnarris took down the late Payoff Pitch, csuram88 took down the late Perfect Game, and beepimajeep took down the early Perfect Game. For the rest of yesterday’s links click here
On the Menu
NBA Tonight – With twelve games on the schedule, tonight’s NBA is one of the last remaining super-sized slates. Several Grinders will be competeing in the FanDuel WFBC, but there are also quite a few decent sized GPPs for the rest of us. The man who never sleeps already has the First Look posted. Later today, be on the lookout for the usual NBA articles including Advanced Matchups and NBA Grind Down.
MLB Today – With 15 games on the schedule, every single MLB team plays today. The MLB schedule gods kindly broke this slate up for us Grinders. On most sites there will be an early-only slate at 3:05 ET, a primetime slate at 7:05 ET and a late slate at 9:40 ET. Notorious already has the 3:05 ET games ready for you in the MLB Grind Down and the rest will be available later today. JMtoWin’s winning edge is also available through next week for all members. After that, it will be a premium-only piece. Don’t even think about setting a lineup until you get Notorious and JMtoWin’s thoughts. Later today, you can also expect the usual Batter Breakdown, Pitching Report and GPP plays.
NHL Tonight – If you enjoy taking skaters against your goalie, NHL has a two-game slate for you tonight. I’m guessing that’s not something you are interested in though, so let’s move on.
UFC This Weekend – Sometimes during the madness of more popular DFS sports, UFC gets lost in the shuffle. If you plan ahead though there is plenty of time to get your lineups set for this weekend. Grinder bbbomb has an excellent breakdown of all the fights in the UFC Beat Down. Give it a read and get yourself some Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop action.
With that Grinders, I bid you adieu for the week. There are very few weekends in sports more exciting than this one. MLB has begun, the NBA and NHL stretch run are coming to a close, and the Masters always offers an exciting Sunday of golf. Hopefully with all these events you will hit the big one and your name will be in the R&G next Monday. Good luck out there. See you on Monday!