Rise & Grind: Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo
Welcome to the RotoGrinders cup o’morning joe. Start your day off right here, as we sort through the weekend’s happenings and take a peek at the upcoming DFS day.
In Case You Missed It
The King of Hype – It’s time to ask the question: “Will LeBron James ever win a championship in Cleveland?” I didn’t watch the game last night, but I did check box scores this morning. The one known as “King James” played like anything but royalty. LeBron James scored just 19 points on a night where five players including Iman Shumpert outscored him. I’m sure the James defenders will be out in force today. Go ahead and make excuses. Kevin Love is injured, JR Smith is suspended. I get it, you don’t want to face reality. This is the man who was anointed King, yet he’s being outscored by peasants when it matters most. Some will ask whether LeBron can ever get a strong enough supporting cast in Cleveland. They might be right. The better question to ask though is can Cleveland ever win with LeBron James as its star player? What has LeBron ever won without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh? Yeah, that’s what I thought, nothing.
I know what you are thinking. “Dang Seth, that was a hot take. What did you expect with Kevin Love out?” To be honest, I expected something more like what the Clippers were able to pull off. All-star point guard Chris Paul was scratched with a hamstring injury just prior to Game 1. Blake Griffin didn’t make excuses though. He simply laced up his work boots and got the job done, as the Clippers defeated the Rockets 117-101. Take note your highness, you may hold the title of King, but the NBA title isn’t given to the “best player” it is given to the best team.
MLB Last Night – Thanks for hearing me out on King James. Now let’s talk about the night that was in DFS MLB. The night started with Hanley Ramirez living up to his nickname. The Han-Ram charged into the outfield wall in the first inning and then left the game. Han-Ram still scored the same amount of points as all the bats in Coors field though. Rain dampened the rest of the night though as DFS players were deprived of paying way too much for the name brand value of Coors. Don’t worry friends, Coors returns tonight.
In pitching performances, Dallas Keuchel dominated but it wasn’t enough for the Astros to claim their 11th straight win. Clayton Kershaw also cruised through the Brewers order for eight innings and then the bullpen choked away the victory. Just like King James, he can’t seem to win the games that count. In fact, after doing a little research, I discovered the problem with Kershaw. He’s looking for his 100th career win. This is apparently a big deal to him, so he’s treating it like a playoff game. Go ahead and jot down “avoid Kershaw until he gets his 100th win” in your #NarrativeStreet notebook.
DraftCheat – One person who didn’t let the lack of Coors ruin his night was none other than GrindersLive host and noted hat connoisseur DraftCheat. DC didn’t need a game to be played at Coors field. Not when DC’s secret weapon Jeff Francoeur was matched up against Alex Wood. Francoeur catapulted DC to victory. He claimed 2nd and 16th in the Grand Slam, and 1, 2, 7, 8, and 17 in the Monster. A few other Grinders had decent showings as well. You can find links to all of yesterday’s tournaments in this thread.
On The Menu
Super Tuesday – With 15 games on the schedule every MLB team is in action tonight. As you already know, super-sized slates equal super-sized GPPs. FanDuel is running a $1M Super Monster at $300. If $300 is a little out of your price range, DraftKings is running a $300K Slugfest for a $33 entry.
If you want a piece of the flood of cash being handed out, RotoGrinders stands ready to help. Throughout the day today you can expect the usual assortment of advice. That will include the MLB Grind Down, Starting Pitcher Breakdown, Advanced Stats, Hitter Breakdown, GPP Plays, the Six-Pack and so much more. If you don’t have time to read all of those articles, shame on you. That’s ok though, you can still catch three hours of live advice on Grinders Live. Hoop2410 and stevietpfl kick things off at 330ET, followed by Dean78904 and Pepsi7 at 430ET and CSURam88 and Al_Smizzle at 530ET. Go ahead and let your boss know you are leaving at 330ET today. You won’t want to miss a second of GrindersLive this afternoon
#NarrativeStreet – The lineup of GrindersLive hosts I just mentioned have literally won millions of dollars. I’m sure they will have some advice on whom you should play based on boring things like splits, wOBA, BABIP, etc. If you are looking for the GPP winning picks tonight you need to dig a little deeper though. Let’s take a look at who you should play based on #Narratives. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we are rolling out players who wear number cinco (that’s 5) or have a Mexican sounding name.
We kick things off with tonight’s official #NarrativeStreet pitchers. Trevor May is obvious because May=Mayo. Pitching opposite him is Jesse Chavez, which sounds Mexican to me. This game might still be 0-0 in the 9th. Don’t be afraid to use Chavez or May-o tonight, maybe even both.
There are several players who wear Cinco tonight and they all make great plays. Here is the full list: Alexei Amarista, Wellington Castillo, Allen Craig, Matt Duffy, Eduardo Escobar, Freddie Freeman, Hector Gomez, Carlos Gonzales, Brandon Guyer, Ender Inciarte, Josh Harrison, Brad Miller, Albert Pujols, Carlos Sanchez, and Juan Uribe. Of those guys, give an extra bump to the Juans (see what I did there?) with a Mexican sounding name. Fire up Gomez, Gonzales, Escobar. Sanchez, and Juan Uribe. You won’t be disappointed.
#BottomLine – It’s Cinco de Mayo! It’s super Tuesday! Things don’t get much better than the chance to play for six digits on a random Tuesday in May. With 15 games on the schedule, we have options galore. You might be able to win a GPP by following the crowd with a Coors stack, but don’t forget about other plays no Juan will consider. As always, Buena suerte, voy a verte mañana. (Good luck, I will see you tomorrow)