Just in time for the H2H playoffs, Troy Tulowitzki returns to throw a quandary into your lineup. Do you bench a guy that has actually been performing for a guy that hasn’t done anything this year and is coming back from an injury? Let’s answer that question with other questions. Do the Rockies start Tulo in every game risking injury? Do they have aspirations of moving up to finish with a slightly better record while still coming in last? Do the Rockies risk next year for that? Why is Tulo even coming back at all? Are all planets round or are there some, say, triangle planets? Are the Rockies trying to boost his value for an offseason trade? What is the point of him returning? If with age comes wisdom, why do teenagers make me feel stupid? Isn’t it more likely that Tulo will only start here and there and get pulled in the late innings? Are the Rockies out of their mind for even letting him return? Who wouldn’t let Robert Redford sleep with their wife for a million dollars? I’d take $100,000, which is negotiable. I don’t think Tulo has any real value for the rest of the season. If you can start him only when he’s in the lineup, I’d take the gamble, but I’d prefer a guy that is already starting and producing. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Nick Markakis – Out for 6 weeks with a broken thumb. He said he’d still travel with the club, obviously not by hitchhiking.
Nate McLouth – 0-for-2 with his 7th steal. McLousy will be an everyday starter now that Markakis is out. He’s hitting around .340 in September with no power or speed. He’s pretty shoddy with a chance of meatballs.
Zach Britton – 3 1/3 IP, 5 ER. Damn, the Yankees haven’t beaten up on Britton that bad since 1776.
Joe Kelly - 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks. Pitched well, but I imagine a quick four runs of support in the first two innings is psychologically similar to when I drink tequila. “My bad, officer, I had no idea roof surfing like in Teen Wolf was illegal.”
Matt Holliday - 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 26th homer. He’s in position to finish with decent homers, 95 runs, 100 RBIs and a .300+ average, and somehow he’s felt pretty yawnstipating this year, right?
Carlos Beltran - 2-for-4 with his 29th homer and what I think was his first hit since July (not that much of an exaggeration). He’s now hitting barely over .200 since the ASB as he proved himself to be more of an Early Bird Special than The Great Zombino.
Jake Westbrook - Will miss his next start with an oblique strain. Sounds like he’s *pinkie to mouth* Westbroke.
David Ortiz – His season is likely over. Valentine tried to stay positive and called Ortiz’s season a wrap.
Adam Dunn – Could be sidelined until next weekend with an oblique strain. Dunn said, “There’s nothing oblique about it, that sh*t hurts!”
Johnny Giavotella - 0-for-1, 3 BBs with 2 steals, he’s now hitting over .300 in the last week. Must be energized with his kid, Lorenzo, hitting leadoff. Fist pump!
Jeremy Guthrie - 8 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 4 Ks. Now has an ERA around 3.50 while on Kansas City. Jer-Gu, the Damaja…Not the Queens, but what? The Royals!
Alcides Escobar - 2-for-5, hitting around .300 in the last week. On the year, he has 28 steals and a .295 average. Took him about three years of my touting him, but he’ll be 26 years old going into 2013 and his skills have finally caught up to my own personal hype machine. With shortstop being so soft for fantasy, I could see Alcides being a top 10 option. Yeah, it’s that soft.
Johnny Cueto – 4 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 6 Ks and moves into 2nd for the NL ERA lead behind Dickey. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Brian McCann – 5 for his last 9 with 2 homers after getting a cortisone shot early last week. Can Hosmer get like 5 cortisone shots? Actually, is it against the law if I hold a fantasy team meeting where I give all my players a cortisone shot? And by ‘hold’ I mean against their will.
Tommy Hanson – 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks to lower his very pedestrian ERA to 4.35. During October, I will go over all of my end of the season rankings compared to my preseason ones, but for s’s and g’s let’s look at the starters I told you to avoid from the top 40 starters: Josh Johnson, Ian Kennedy, Yu Darvish, Josh Beckett, Ricky Romero, James Shields and Tommy Hanson. Like Harrison Ford’s one quarter Jewish ancestry, not too shabby.
Giancarlo Stanton – 2-for-4, 2 runs with a slam (33) and legs (6), raising his average to .286. I hate to point out the obvious, but Stanton missed a month for injury and didn’t look right in all of April due to his knee. That’s right, his numbers are basically missing two months of the season! Okay, so I finally watched The Franchise: A Season with the Marlins. As if I didn’t despise Loria enough, I watched as he talked about how his eyesore of a stadium is comparable to the Eiffel Tower in terms of architecture. Yeah, if a giant unicorn ate the Eiffel Tower and then vomited it back up. Also, I love how his douchebag (sorry, words are failing me how annoying this show was) stepson — who is the President of the team! — decides to run 50 miles in the name of charity and is using taxpayers’ money for a police escort, while blocking traffic the full 50 miles. Then his snively stepson — let’s just call him Snively McMarlin — is in Italy on vacation during the trading deadline, and hears about the Hanley trade on speakerphone. Classic. I’m guessing the front office couldn’t get Snively to go to Siberia for the whole season. Also, it made me actually feel bad for Heath Bell. Snively McMarlin and Ozzie pretend to have a “scene” where it’s made clear that they’re not sticking with Bell because of his contract, but it’s poorly acted and obviously staged for the cameras. Wish Bell would’ve been traded to a playoff contender for his dad’s sake. Unfortunately, he was obviously a product of Petco and his contract is almost as bad as Vernon Wells’. Finally, Ozzie is classless.
Ricky Nolasco – 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks. I mentioned this briefly last week but guys like Nolasco can be a lot more valuable than chasing rookie nookie on starters that are throwing more innings than they have in the past. And that’s me paraphrasing me!
Rajai Davis – 2-for-3, 2 runs and his 41st steal as he batted 5th. I look at Rajai batting 5th as this: the Jays can’t have eight hitters batting 9th.
Anthony Gose – 2-for-4 with his 14th steal in 33 games and he also had a slam & legs on Saturday. He’s got great speed and bad Ks, which has led to a poor average. If you’re desperate for SAGNOF, well, it’s got no face.
Mike Napoli – Will begin his rehab assignment and has been cleared to run in the outfield while attached to a bungee cord. I’m sure a lot of his owners wouldn’t mind if he were running down the side of a building attached to a frayed bungee.
Roy Oswalt – 2 IP, 4 ER before leaving with elbow soreness. No word yet on his injury timetable, but the Rangers are hoping he’s out for the season.
Clayton Kershaw – Scratched from yesterday’s start, but the Dodgers hope he’ll be ready on Tuesday after giving him a cortisone shot. Hopefully, they bat him fourth.
B.J. Upton – 3-for-5 with three solo homers. Due to an early start time, Joe Maddon only saw two of the homers.
James Shields – 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 8 Ks to lower his ERA to 3.71. His first half ERA was 4.17, so he’s definitely turned things around in the 2nd half due to a great August (2.75 ERA) because his July 4.75 ERA wasn’t inspiring. As of right now, I’m going back in on Shields for next year, but I see no indication why he won’t have a 4+ ERA for a month or two here and there.
Corey Hart – Left yesterday’s game limping. Brewers said he has an ankle sprain and could miss a week or more. PBS said his limp didn’t look bad. That’s the Pimp Breadwinner Society, which is co-chaired by “Stylish” Teedore Watkins.
Norichika Aoki - 2-for-5 with his 8th homer. ESPN Fantasy tells me that he leads all NL rookies in OPS. I like Aoki, but that’s about as useless as fantasy info gets. Guess it helps the .0001% of people who play in those OPS leagues that only use NL rookies.
Mike Trout – 1-for-4 with his 27th homer. Has anyone made one of those fish symbols yet for cars that says Trout in the middle?
Andrew Werner – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks as the Stream-o-Nator‘s hard-on for Hodgepadres continues.
Chase Headley – 1-for-4, 4 RBIs and his 27th homer to go along with 102 RBIs. It’s fair to say he blew away any expectations I had for him this year. 27 homers with Petco as your home park is like when Babe Ruth hit 50 home runs and it was more homers than some whole teams combined. Imagine fantasy baseball back then… If you didn’t have Ruth, you lost the league. If two teams that didn’t have Ruth faced each other in H2H, the offensive matchup would be like 4 RBIs vs. 3 RBIs for the week.
Josh Donaldson – 1-for-4 with his 7th homer, and 5th in the last ten games. Somewhere, Sam Donaldson doffs his toupee in his honor.
Brock Holt – 3-for-5 and hitting .414 since his call up last week. Very little to see here, but you never know where a hot schmotato might come from. If you need steals and runs and potentially average, I’d take a flyer.
Justin Morneau – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 18th and 19th homers. His once promising career called and said, “Hey, I remember this guy!”
Carlos Santana – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 15th homer, raising his average to .249. Please let him raise his average to .260 with 5 more homers, so he’s overrated again next year.
Curtis Granderson – 3-for-3, 5 RBIs with his 35th homer. Since he only came into this game as a pinch hitter hopefully you didn’t get the ol’ sonavabench!
Mark Teixeira - Re-injured himself and might be out the rest of the season. The Yanks are looking at the x-rays, and talkin’ ’bout the options and talkin’ ‘bout sweet time. I asked a Tex owner when it sank in that you lost Tex, that this might really be the real end… How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news? Man, whatcha do? And he said, “I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing, I picked up Shin-Soo for two point seven seconds, don’t call him Fu Man Chu, that’s rude. And I loved Mark Reynolds deeper and I spoke sweeter, and I gave forgiveness to Hosmer that I’d been denying. And he said, “Some day, I hope you get the chance to play fantasy like your teams are dyin’….”
no mention of Milone and his 10 k’s?
he’s probably feeling pretty milone’ly about now..
pause for applause.
@Professor Big Dong, I don’t get it…
Good luck to all thats made it this far..
Diamond vs KC
Straily @ LAA
Leake vs PIT
Germano @ HOU
Who is gettin the stream? If any..
@Prezii, Diamond
Well, actually, the Yankees kicked ass in 1812… So it’s only been 200 years.
Yes, I had Grandy on the bench.. He’s been there all week. Oh well, if I wind up losing RBI by one, I’m holding me personally responsible.
I smell a biz op. if I produce a series of Trout-in-fish-outline trunk emblems can I count on you for a celebrity endorsement?
@Abdoozy, You got it!
@Grey
Looking for a possible stream for Tuesday. SON really likes Estrada as the best of this group, but Braves in a hitters park makes me a little nervous. Who would you stream (if anyone) in a 10 team mixed?
Estrada v. ATL
Gonzalez v. TB
Straily @ LAA
Santana v. OAK
Chacin v. SF
Thanks!
@Melvin Emanuel, Straily
Crazy final night in H2H.
Positives: Stole top spot overall on the final day.
Negatives: Due to a massive shi**uck in teams swapping places at the bottom, I now end up facing Mike Trout and Matt Kemp in the first round of the playoffs…FMLBBL
@TheNewGuy, Don’t worry too much…Kemp has shoulder issues and Trout… actually, nevermind, you’re effed. (I draw Trout this week too, so see you in the loser’s line)
@TheNewGuy, You can do it! Good luck!
Sal Perez or Wieters? Having to keep reminding myself that Wieters stats are ok for a catcher, but a .239 average is pretty meh, and not what we expected.
@TheNewGuy, Perez
3 moves left….
16 pt lead. 15 teamer/keep 7
Aoki or Mayberry over David Murphy?
Nolasco/Beckett/Stults/Wood over Fiers/Buckholz/Straily
Ruiz over McKendry (doesn’t require using a move)
Just looking to maintain at this point on offence (R/H/RBI/OPS), with pitching opportunity with ERA/WHIP/W/L/K
@nightpandas, Ruiz isn’t playing close to every day… Aoki… Nolasco over Fiers…
The Tex. excerpt was funny as fuck. Always great writing.
How exactly did you get started in the blog field? Did you work at any other sites or did you go to school etc etc. Im very interested in getting into a sports based job. Please let me know, very interested on what someone who has made it, has to say to someone trying to get into the game.
@Justin, Thanks! Can see here: http://razzball.com/who-is-grey-albright/
Guess i should have read this before i dropped Alexei and activated Tulo. Harumph.
@phorts, Eh, you’ll be okay…
Good morning Grey.
Finished second, 1.5 games out of first. Won the last ten weeks straight. Thanks for all your help. Now the playoffs.
1. I am carrying 2 batters on my Bench. Below are my starting pitchers and batters. Would you drop batters and start streaming pitchers, or too risky? If I should drop batters, which ones?
2. SON likes McHugh and Stults today. Do you?
Thanks
Batters
C – Salvador Pérez
1B – Mark Reynolds
2B – Rickie Weeks
3B – Chase Headley
SS – José Reyes
LF – Ryan Braun
CF – Adam Jones
RF – Nelson Cruz
Util – Mike Trout
Util – Billy Butler
BN – Ian Kinsler
BN – Álex Rodríguez
Starting Pitchers
Max Scherzer
Daniel Straily
Brett Anderson
R.A. Dickey
Matt Harvey
Jonathon Niese
Andrew Cashner
Thanks
@Deadwoods, In H2H playoffs, it depends on your scoring format, but generally I shy away from streaming early in the week unless a) there’s a GREAT stream available or b) I know going into the week that I’m at a SP disadvantage (like facing someone who punted saves and carries 9 decent SP). I do like Stults in Petco today, if you decide to go for one of those guys.
You probably don’t need to be carrying 2 bench bats, but there’s a lot of offensive talent there, so I can see why drops are hard. Depending on eligibility, if you can slide Jones or Trout into RF, Cruz may be droppable, or in a non-keeper you can ditch a slumping Kinsler and place your hopes on Weeks. OR you could keep all those guys and just stream out of one or more of your SP slots. You’ve got a good staff, but they’re not all must-starts – if anyone other than Scherzer or Dickey has a bad matchup coming on where you wouldn’t start them anyway, go ahead and stream that spot.
@Deadwoods, Agree with what Steve said… I like Stults, not McHugh…
Great writeup this morning, as always. Playoffs are here!
Who to start at 3B for the week? Seager, Lawrie, or Reynolds?
Thanks!
@Schizer, Thanks! Reynolds….
Dynasty points league playoffs, my man. Please help. Need two of the five:
Lincecum (COL, SD, @COL)
Masterson (DET, @MIN, @KC)
Grenke (Tex, @KC…only two starts)
Maholm (@MIL, @MIA…only two starts)
Cashner (COL, @SF…only two starts)
Make that three out of five!
@Doog, Greinke, Cashner, Lincecum
Right now I’ve got Desmond at SS and either Espinosa or Aybar at MI. Would you drop Aybar to activate Tulo or just keep rolling with what I have? Daily lineup so I could watch and do my best to get him in there when I know he’s playing… but that doesn’t always work out. This week is Rd 2 of my H2H playoffs, facing off against the #1 team in our league…
@Jon, If it’s daily, drop Aybar for him…
“Zach Britton – 3 1/3 IP, 5 ER. Damn, the Yankees haven’t beaten up on Britton that bad since 1776.”
that’s gold, jerry
@blairtch, Thanks!
Hey Grey, Teix replacement for my H2H playoffs (ugh): Canzler, Gose, Parmelee or Moss? (position not an issue)
@Ned Shakeshaft, Parmelee
Who to start at CI this week in 12 team, 5×5:
Morales (4 vs Oak and 3 @ KC)
or
Rizzo (3 @ Hou and 4 home vs Pit)
Both have been hot recently.
Thanks dude.
@L-Boogie, Funny I got the same guys…I am going Rizzo.
@Shea Sera Sera, I started with Morales. Then I switched to Rizzo. Then back again. And then switched again. I can keep this up right up until 7:05.
@L-Boogie, Rizzo
Grey – McCann or Salvador Perez? thx
@jp, McCann
Can you help me with my keepers please? We get to keep 7:
1. Trout
2. Pujols
3. Giancarlo
4. Longoria
5. Ellsbury
6.
7.
Trumbo – Desmond – Kimbrel – Medlen for the final 2 spots.
Thanks!
@Scott, Trumbo, Kimbrel
Is it crazy to think about skippiing MadBum’s start in Colorado?
@Karl, Nope, not crazy
@GREY: So i woke up to find out that i have the #2 seed going into the playoffs and a first round bye… thats cool and all BUT i need some clarification on this cause im not sure if i should be mad or not… Last week i used up my max amount of roster moves which was set at 60 and now the playoffs are here and I have a bye…. Im not sure if the bye has anything to do with or not but i cant Add anyoneeeeeeeeeeeee WTF? If i honestly cant stream anyone next week when I actually have to play another team I am F%^#%@#^#@% – Thoughts? Can you confirm ???
@Anthony,
If your league has a MAX on transactions, that includes the playoffs too. So if you used all 60 in the regular season, you won’t be able to pick up anyone for your entire postseason.
@Anthony, What Chris said…
2 lineup questions for this week:
1. Final hitter’s spot (DH) – JUpton, Rizzo or Youk?
2. Final SP spot – Harrison, ESantana or Hammel?
@SpiralArchitect, Rizzo… Hammel
Grey, great read as always….quick couple of questions:
-Are Wandy and Garcia worth starting over Weaver since both have two starts this week and Weaver is dealing with the nagging shoulder injury? (weekly line up CBS Sports League, btw)
-Should I continue to roll with Motte in the weekly league of pick up Axford?
-Keep Crisp in or substitute a schomato in: guys available (Eaton, Aoki, Parmelee, Wise)
-Is it worth taking a flyer on Darin Ruf in 16-team keeper league. It’s playoff week but I have a buy.
As always, Hail to the King…
@John Axford Meat Stache, Thanks! Yes, over Weaver… Yup, Motte… Aoki… Sure…
I’m making my playoff run with…wait for it…Jamey Carroll…here’s to hoping that Lewis’s little sister keeps on gyreing and gymbleing in ye wabe…
@Wake Up, Ha!
LooKing to stream tonight
Stults vs cards
Garcia at SD
Kendrick vs Miami
Or neither
Thanks!
@Mike, Stults goes tomorrow and is part of a 6-man rotation now, meaning he likely won’t start again until next Monday. FWIWerth.
@Chillmodious, Hmmm…ESPN is listing him as the probably pitcher today, but Rotoworld says he won’t go until tomorrow: http://rotoworld.com/player/mlb/4772/eric-stults
Not sure what’s going on, but those planning to use Stults may want to confirm.
@Mike, Garcia
Lot’s of laughs this morning…
This may bring one more…
http://youtu.be/4EMLHqSX91A
@Wake Up, Thanks! Hehe…
nice esoteric jeru the damaja reference (for all those 30+ year old hip hop heads who are really into fantasy baseball…)
@the mexicutioner, Hi!
@the mexicutioner, me too! Mad Lion…
@the mexicutioner, Yup, I got it too…
@the mexicutioner, I knew Guthrie was a dirty rotten scoundrel. Too bad he’s only finally utilizing his tools in two-o-one-two.
@the mexicutioner, Thanks!
Drop Doumit for Donaldson at C? Looking to shore up any weak spots on my roster during the bye week.
Same league, drop Romo (RP5, provided Jansen comes back next week) in favor of Aybar, who would be a bench bat/Util?
@Steve Stevenson, And in other (OPS) leagues, start Donaldson over Perez or Jesus?
Also, go with 2 starts from Morrow (v SEA, v BOS) over 2 from a slumping Bumgarner (v COL, @ COL)?
@Steve Stevenson, I’d go with Donaldson… Sure, if you don’t need steals… I’d go with Perez over Donaldson… Yeah, go with Morrow…
Better stream @LAA: Straily (Tue) or Griffin (Wed)? Start both? Neither? Thanks.
@PJ, Both
Moves for a weekly, NL-only roto OBP keeper league are due in today. Guys off the wire can be kept at 8 next year.
We’re in first, so we’re playing for now, but we wouldn’t mind picking up a prospect or two.
Drop Paredes, Descalso, Tyler Greene or Lance Berkman for Eaton, Ruf, or Holt?
Any of those three going to be worth 8 next year or do better than what we’ve got?
Thanks again for your help all season!
@Rags, We get up to 15 keepers, so there’s room for value plays as well as studs.
@Rags, I don’t think anyone you listed will be worth an 8, but I’d drop Berkman (PT player, and being reevaluated today, so may be shut down) for Eaton immediately, and strongly consider Descalso for Ruf if you don’t need the MI eligibility.
@Rags, Agree with Steve
Pick two for a 7×7 league with OPS and Ks…
Garret Jones
David Murphy
Coco
Andrus
Is Andrus a must start? He barely steals bases anymore and the upside that murphy provides seems greater… Maybe I’m overthinking it
Thanks
@Paranoid Android, Andrus, Murphy
Grey,
Need some help playoffs start this week. Who should I start I can start 6 pitchers and only throw out 1 closer or I can start 5 pitchers with 2 closers. I’m more nervous than you thinking about meeting Giancarlo for the first time ( he’s soooo dreamy!). This is who I have in starting right now (6 starters)…
SP -Halladay
SP -Darvish
SP – Medlen
SP – B Anderson
SP – CC
RP – Wilhemsen
RP – Cashner
Bench
SP – Maholm
SP – Straily
RP – A Bailey
I know I am probably over thinking it but its Playoffs bro. Playoffs??!! PLAYOFFS!!!
And this girl is so hot I could care less what she admits to when she gets nervous..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyqXLzALjKM
Thanks
-G-
@G Money, Nice video, ha… I’d go with the six you have…
@Grey, Thanks Grey. Youre site has been a gem for me all year. 2nd place overall going into playoffs and I’d be lying if I said it was all me. Who am I kidding it was all Razzball! Keep up the good work!
-G-
Ha, no problem…
Grey, Mitch Moreland has a six game homestand starting tomorrow in which is slated to face five righties. Do you think the results could be similar to the last Rangers homestand when you touted Moreland as a buy? The Rangers are slated to go up against Ubaldo, Jeanmar Gomez, Z McAllister, Iwakuma, Vargas LHP, & Black Blake Beavan.
Thanks.
@Principle Blackman, Yeah, good call!
@Principle Blackman, nice assessment!
3 questions…Moves for a weekly, 16 teamer are due in today.
1. who should i play at util this week?
AllenCraig 7 games (@ LAD, @SD) or Parmalee 7 games (home CLE, KC, CHW)
2. need to play an RP this week: Gregerson or the RP elig Cashner Start in the RP slot or the RP elig start from hector santiago
3. should i start Jordan Zimmermann @ NYM or Jeremy Guthrie at home against LAA
spanks.
@the grate one, 1. Parmelee 2. Cashner 3. Zimmermann
Need some stream help from ya Grey…
The scene: 7 days of H2H to decide a finals spot. Guy I’m going against has no closers and all starters (10), whereas I have 4 closers and 7 starters. I’m dropping Iwakuma for someone and I also have League, who is expendable due to this week’s matchup (don’t need another closer going against a guy with no closers).
The slightly confusing conundrum: I’m definitely going to try and go with Estrada tomorrow, but today I have the option of picking up two of Stults (home vs. StL, SON 109), Kendrick (home vs. Miami, SON 106), and Cahill (home vs. Dodgers, SON 109).
Would you go with one of them and grab Estrada immediately for tomorrow, or go with two of them and wait until games lock to grab Estrada for tomorrow? If two, what’s your order of preference?
Thank you so much for your help with my final push.
@Chillmodious, I’d definitely grab Kendrick. With the report you cited above that Stults may go tomorrow rather than today, you could grab Estrada now and then drop Kendrick for Stults when today’s games lock (or hold Kendrick because he gets the Astros later this week). Or you could grab Stults now in case he pitches today, and then drop Kendrick for Estrada when today’s games lock.
@Steve Stevenson, Thanks for weighing in. I’m not sure about Stults as ESPN lists him as the probable pitcher today, while rotoworld notes that they have gone to a 6-man rotation and he won’t get the ball until tomorrow. I may have to grab Stults and Kendrick to play today and, if Stults is indeed bumped to tomorrow, I can keep him plugged in while swapping Kendrick for Estrada. My only fear is that Estrada may be scooped up for a stream first by my opponent (very plausible given his tendencies and roster).
Grey, help!
@Chillmodious, Two…Stults and Kendrick, though I’m not sure either if Stults is starting tonight, I don’t think he is… If he’s not, stay away from Cahill…
@Grey, Thank you man. I’m crazy nervous right now.
My h2h playoffs actually started last week & it was a dramatic win for me! Thanks mainly to the last day Stanton slam-and-legs & the amazing Shields performance. Both dudes were on my team due to razzball (Stanton I drafted as suggested, Shields I got in trade you recommended) – so thanks! I never thought I’d even make the playoffs in this league & now I’m moving on to the next round!
Now I’m going to go scribble Grey’s name all over my Trapper Keeper…
@BERK, Ha! Good luck!
Grey – just wanted to say thank you to you and your staff. I used your draft strategy and didnt take my first SP til the 5th – David Price. I used your draft rankings to justify taking Braun third. I used the S-O-N to start Joe Kelly and Andrew Werner and took 1st place in my 10 team H2H on the last day of the season. Bye week to start the playoffs. Thank you for helping me take my “fantasy baseballing” to the next level.
@Hats for Bats, No problem!
@Grey, Any comments on guys to pick up now for 2 starts next week? I grabbed Phil h=Hughes just in case. Care to throw or name or two out there?
I don’t know everyone’s rotation schedule…
Need help picking SPs this week. 12-team 5×5
Prob starting:
Gio @ Mets, @ Atl
Cashner vs Col
Darvish vs Seattle
1) Need 3 more from:
Estrada vs Atl (SON 132!), vs Mets
Peavy vs. Det, @ Minn
Minor @Mil (SON 93, blech), vs Wash
Marcum vs Mets
2) Now throw Bum @ Col in there. Start him over these 3 guys?
I know you’re going to say yes even though you haven’t even said it yet. But that start in Coors scares me, especially considering his last 3 outings. Didn’t Rudy write some piece in the preseason about pitchers and sliders, and bad years and wasn’t Bum on that list? Maybe it’s finally catching up to him.
Thanks dude. Hanging onto first by a thread…. with a piano hanging from it… and the piano is on fire… and there’s puppies on the piano and they are shooting lasers out of their eyes… because they are alien puppies and they hate thread. But then I guess the alien puppies would be on fire too and that’s sad.
Wow, this comment is long. Sorry. It’s my b-day today and I’m starting to rant in my old age.
@L-Boogie, Estrada, Peavy, Minor is how I’d go.
@L-Boogie, 1) Agree with Steve 2) Nope Happy Birthday!
@L-Boogie, poor little alien fire puppies….
Which 2 of these 4 starters would you keep for this week in a 12 team 5×5 roto league? The others need to be dropped… Straily (vBAL, @LAA), Arroyo (@MIA), Cobb (@BAL), IwaKuma (@ TEX), Niese (@MIL)
@MikeZ, Straily, Arroyo
How does Cueto suck it up vs the Astros? At least it came this week and not during the playoffs.
@Randy BoBandy, Yeah, puzzling…
Drop J Garcia for Hammel? Or is that kind of a wash…for what its worth i have a bye this week, so its really for the following two.
@BoneFace n Harmony, Wash for now
If you find the christian fish logo with TROUT in the middle, message me!
@Chris, Will do!
@grey- any advice for some hot schmotato’s this week? I’m in a 12 team mixed H2H league and the playoffs just began so its uber important. So far I picked up Fowler, Colvin (while they are at home), Parmelee, and Fortsythe. Any other suggestions? Gracias
@Martin, Someone mentioned Moreland above, made sense…
@Grey: need a closer to start this week – hanrahan or league? seems like hanrahan hasnt seen a save op in a month. thanks.
Hanrahan
A Marlins reality show? I think I’d rather watch The Hunger Games again… maybe even Snow White and the Huntsman. More importantly, have you watched the first ep. of Small Town Security yet?
Dah! No, haven’t yet, but I did have a meeting with a couple of reality producers and they told me to watch it too, so it’s on the list for this week…
@Grey, Make sure you don’t read ANYTHING about the show before watching that first episode. If we’re anything alike, there’s a spoiler in there that you’d rather not know beforehand.
Cool, will do… Or don’t, I suppose…
in 12 team cbs points league who do you drop? Mark Reynolds, Manny Machado, Pablo Sandoval, brett lawrie, or Todd Frazier. position elgibility isnt a concern.
Machado
Knowing your penchant for dick jokes:
http://gawker.com/5941893/jon-hamms-penis-takes-its-owner-out-for-a-walk
I could’ve done without that…
STULTS ALERT: Padres team website indicates he’s starting tonight (see banner near top):
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=sd#y=2012&m=9&calendar=DEFAULT
Thanks for the heads up!
With Westbrook banged up, any chance Shelby Miller gets into the rotation?
Also, how would you rank Straily, Fiers, Homer Bailey for the stretch?
Yeah, maybe for one start… Straily, Bailey…
@Grey, The Matt Moore special, eh? Nothing to get excited about.
@Colton, Yeah, probably…
Guy in my leagues crazily dropped Wainwright for Samardjiazaza (who ESPN says is done for the year).
Gotta claim Wainy right? Who’s my cut: The Nose, Straily, Hammel…
Yeah, the Nose…
Yo grey man
for dis week can you rank
Craig, Aoki, Parmlee, jupton.
respeckt
Upton, Aoki, Craig
Oh my god that Tex blurb was fantastic.
Thanks!
Think its safe to start wandy @ CIN tonight, or don’t chance it?
Not safe….
Corey Hart droppable if my season ends on Sunday? If so, do I go with Alvarez, Ike Davis, Werth, Delmon, Mayberry, Moss….I’m mostly looking for homers and RBI
Sure… Davis…
Whats up Grey? got caught upon some TV this weekend and cursed my fantasy team yesterday out of habit. I have more players on my don’t draft list than my draft list for next year.
I wanted too share something my FBB (fantasy baseball boyfriend), baby mama’s term, sent to me. It’s his recap that he got from his new adult softball league. It’s scary funny.
“Great game last night!! Despite the rediculous officiating and only having access to one bat, we put forth a defensive effort that should have given us a win. With Ben’s pitching, Brent’s HR and 4 RBI’s, and everyone’s solid defensive performance, we put ourselves in a position to win. Instead we lost on a walk-off double in the bottom of the 7th to lose our first game this season 8-7. Good news is, we are tied for 2nd and are only a game out of first. I have already submitted a formal complaint regarding the handling of the “illegal” bat situation and will have more information by next week. Regardless, great effort gentlemen!! Plus we had a little fun.
Starting next week, we are going to make some changes to our team substitutions. Each week, we should only have a maximum of 3 bench players. These players will be in the batting order, but will substitute into the field after the 3rd inning or after someone gets hurt or needs to come out of the game. The players who are coming off the field as a result of the substitution will remain in the batting order but will stay on the bench until after the 6th inning or after someone gets hurt or needs to come out of the game. If we play a 7th inning, the 2 players who have substituted for each other are to decide who will play that inning based on their performance, general phyical condition and sobriety (maybe not). In the end, everyone will still remain in the batting order. This approach is to keep from needing to call players to the field every inning and to develop some defensive momentum. Bench players willl vary each week in an effort equalize playing time for everyone.
Please send me you list of dates you are unable to play again so I can plan ahead. It appears we will be lean on September 21 and 28, but I want to be sure of our total count. Thanks again!!! We had a hell of a game ”
This was followed by a box score that contained AB, H, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, RUNS, SO, BB, BA, OBP, AND POSITION.
Seems pretty reasonable for a non-competitive softball league. That according to my buddy, these guys have no idea what they are doing on the field.
That’s hilarious! It’s like Ottoneu softball league…
@Grey, The box score wouldn’t cut and paste over properly, but it was nicer than the ones in the newspaper. I hope none of those guys read razzball. That would be embarassing.
I was thinking they almost are guaranteed to read Razzball…
Oh, and they should have a fantasy league off the stats that their softball league generates…
@Grey, hehe, probably in the works, but if you play fantasy adult league softball and you have guys on your team including yourself and you play for money, wouldn’t you have a Pete Rose situation or like ’82 Fleer (I’m guessing) a Pete and Re-Pete?
Ha! Yup… I wouldn’t draft myself, but I’d own my own baseball card…
@Grey, Grey “Senor Stauche” Albright. I’m thinking a lefty specialist with an Italian Horn and Star of David hanging off your neck. But I could be wrong…
@Jack Full of Hate, Grey “Yamaka me swing and miss” Albright..
A quirky LOOGY, makes sense…
@Grey, LOOGY?
Lefty One Out Guy
@Grey, then yes that would be you, the colorful one
@Jack Full of Hate, ^ Joe Maddon doens’t put that much effort in.
@Colton, he goes by the twings and twitches of his gut
Which 5 SPs for this week? Weekly H2H league, Ls and walks issued count
Bumgarner @ Col
Diamond v KC
Kendrick v MIA, @ HOU
Latos v PIT, @ MIA
Anibal @ CLE
AJ Griffin @ LAA
Lincecum @ COL
Minor v WAS, @ MIL
Thanks!
Diamond, Kendrick, Latos, Anibal, Bum…
Points league playoffs: Ryan Ludwick or Darin Ruf?
Ludwick
Who gets the start this week?
Bumgarner @COL
Darvish vs SEA
not crazy about either
Darvish
There’s a tiny hole in my lineup where Jose Altuve used to be.
@Carnac, Interesting. There’s a tiny hole in my Hart where Corey used to be.
Ha… Sounds like a Police song…
@Grey, there is a big crater in my line-up where Adrian Gonzalez, J Upton and Howie Doo Doo dropped a bomb on me.
That sounds more Pink Floydey…
@Grey, maybe a line drive to the Gap… Band
Ha…
the Blind auditions start tonight and the master Chef final. what football?…sorry Sky
Just don’t say anything about it until you’re sure I’ve already seen it…
@Grey, I won’t give it away, but it will be hard to hold back my giddy schoolgirl excitement….I’m still mad at Cee-lo about last season over the way he did Jamar. Damn cannonball with glasses!
Yeah, that kid should’ve won… Or the old black guy that was Xtina’s…
@Grey, I have never been that invested in those types of shows, but usually I either hate them or never cared for how they all sang. but Jamar was legit, and had HIV. You had to pull for him
Yeah, there’s always a bunch of talented people on that show, much more than other reality singing shows… I was pulling for the brothers that were punching America in the face with rock n roll…
@Grey, ha, rock this America!
@grey ok, h2h playoffs and I am 3 starts down. Should I sub marcum for Jose Quintana vs det/@min or Miguel Gonzalez vs tb / @oak to pick up a start?
I am Madbum, gio x 2, Grienke, marcum, Medlin, frieri, g.holland
Vs dempster x 2, Wandy x 2, Garcia x 2, latos x 2, Lohse
@Sal, I forgot to mention straily Is avail to pick up too. He is @ laa, Vs bal…
Go with Miguel…
Grey-
For this week would you start Deduno and his two starts (Cle & CWS) over Estrada (Atl) or Villanueva (Bos). Going for K’s & Wins.
Pick one Belt, Rizzo, Jay or Craig (OBP & Slg%)
Yes, over Estrada… Rizzo…
H2h points league would you start a gimpy hart or roll with quentin.
@Kurt, Q had a HR last night after missing some time and he looks to be starting again tonight. Cust Kayin’
Quentin
I had a bye last week so I was patient, but still no Altuve today. Cut bait?
@LVHawk101, what are you FA options, any other dropables?
Yup
First Round of the playoffs in a 16 team league. Am I leaving Vogelsong on the bench @ COL?
@Wilsonian, I’m benching Bumgarner for that series, so………
Yeah, I would…
@Grey, he’s on the pine. Thanks to you and Uggla (the commenter, not the Affliction sporting semi ballplayer).
Ha… Cool…
Kemp, Trumbo or Crisp for a H2H weekly lock with 5 OF…….yes I’m serious.
I have in my OF
Kemp
Granderson
Choo
Trout
Car-Go
Gose
Kemp
@Grey, They’re saying he might miss teh 2 game series in AZ, that leaves him with 4 at home against the birds….in a pitchers park. I am torn on this.
Trumbo had a homer snatched from over the wall and looks like he might be over that rib injury….maybe….and he has a full 7 game slate. Very conflicted.
Thanks
If you’re feeling Trumbo, go for it, I could see that with 7 games ahead…
@Grey, Went with Kemp.
Hope it works out…
roto
categories in order of importance
1. avg
2. sb
3. rbi
4. hr
andrelton simmons, donavon solano, neil walker ROS for roto
Solano
I’m in a 20 team dynasty league and both Logan Morrison and Justin Smoak got dropped. I’m 2nd in the waiver priority, but we’re into the playoffs and my team is a legit contender. Do either of these guys have enough future potential to warrant losing a roster spot?
I don’t know who you’d be losing for them.
I guess it may have been a no brainer… But right on for steering me clear of McHugh! Could have been a bad monday..
If Stults comes thru, im consulting you on names for my first born child… And carnac or chillmodious… Cant remember which “C” guy it was at the stults party.. hell all three of ya.. or yinz if there are PA readers…
Gangnam style!
I was going to suggest you name your first born Carnac or Chillmodius, so could kill two birds with that one…
@Grey, i think it was Carnac!
Carnac Grey-Stults –Enter Last Name–
Hope its a boy! Haha
I think CGS works too, you’ve got a winner there…
@Grey, maybe he’ll be a pitcher? Complete Game Shutout!
Ha, yes! As long as his middle name isn’t Gregersonblownsave…
I approve of the contribution Kyle Kendrick is making to my H2H playoff campaign thus far.
Shh… Don’t say anything…
@Grey, It’s like Kendrick is pitching to my hitting roster…
@Steve, kendricks pitching to a bunch of jimmy rollins’!
@Prezii, At least Rollins has a hit…
@Steve, i agree.. still struck out with a man on 3rd though.. big hit next AB, i feel it!!
Guess not…
Hehe… True..:
@Grey, Dah.
Dah…DAH!
@Grey, A dribbler back to the pitcher would be good…
@Steve, Even better.
@Steve, And of that outburst of run support.
help me Grey… my year sucked. I only get 4 keepers here are the choices:
2 catchers/5 of… everything else is pretty standard. $260 budget
Hitters:
Andrew McCutchen $27
Hunter Pence $20
Bj Upton $18
Alex Gordon $7
Wilin Rosario $4
Jason Heyward $19
Ian Desmond $3
Mark Reynolds $4
Danny Espinosa $4
One pitcher possibly worth keeping:
Gio Gonzales $13
McCutchen, Heyward, Gio, Desmond…
Here you go, Mike Trout fans!
https://twitter.com/Razzball/status/245320376140312576/photo/1
Ha, well done!
@Grey, I know I mentioned the Trout emblem as a joke a while back but who came up with that? I never saw it, but I’m sure someone here did.
What do you mean who came up with it? The jpg on our Twitter page? I don’t know, gotta ask Awesomus…
@Grey, The image is my creation, but I don’t remember who first mentioned the idea way back when.
@Awesomus Maximus, Nice!
@royce!, Just saw how well you’re doing with two teams in the RCL, very well done…
@Grey, Thanks! I had hoped to move into first with the team I took over about a month in, but Kemp has been shizz and I’m playing with a of scraps (plus Trout!).
Right now I’m fixating on the fact that my h2h team’s started the week 0 for 11, and I played Latos, while my competition is hitting .400 with 2 HR and a steal and started Masterson, for whom they dropped Strasburg, which is funny, because Masterson is putting up a Strasburg line. But it’s early…IT’S EARLY, GODDAMMIT!
@royce!, Make that 0 for 12.
@royce!, And Masterson blows it. I told me it was early!
Ha, you did!
Amazing what Trout can do… Our AL-Only league where we are battling for first is Trout and scraps… Even more impressive that you took over one of those teams a month in….
@Grey, Absolutely. I was lucky enough to have grabbed him before he got called up…it might have been that Kemp went to the DL, I can’t remember. But apparently my luck is running out-my h2h team is now 0 for 20. Freaking shizz balls.
It’s still early…
@Grey, 0 for 23. Still early!
@Grey, Though Masterson was Masterson, so things are looking half up.
Yeah… Still early!
@Grey, And now Maybin homers! From my bench. Still early!
On a short schedule day, you had a bench hitter? Still early!
@Grey, It’s a weekly changes league-had to pick two between Jay, De Aza (got a steal!) and Maybin. 0 for 26, but I got another walk! Still early!(?)
While I was fretting about the yahoo h2h, my 2nd place RCL team moved within .5 points of 1st. Now I gotta figure out how I’m gonna get that half point. I can’t remember what the prize is for the overall RCL winner this year, but I think I’m gonna just make my own silk Razzball jacket. You got a good silkworm guy?
One of the guys here has to farm silkworms… Not sure if you saw this in the weekend comments, but Cougar and I were in Westwood over the weekend and I asked a 50-year-old-ish Korean woman to do Gangnam Style, but she didn’t know it, so I showed her on my phone and then she did the little boy part, hopped on all fours and Gangnam’d under my legs…
@Grey, Wow. I bet she’s still got it stuck in her head, too. Spreading the gospel!
@Grey, 0 for 25. Two away from being no hit.
@Grey, 0 for 27. I’ve officially been no hit. Not sure that I’ve ever had this happen before…still early.
Wow, not sure I remember that ever happening to me either… Still early!
@Grey, 0-29. Getting late.
No, still early!
@Grey, 0 for 31. Where’s everyone going? It’s still early!
Ha… There’s always tomorrow!
@Awesomus Maximus, who came up with the Trout emblem idea?
@Jack Full of Hate, The idea? I don’t know… maybe me… maybe Grey… could have been someone else. It was brought up a while ago.
I created the actual image that I posted on the Razzball Twitter.
@Grey
Earlier today you suggested to stream Straily over the likes of Estrada, Chacin, Santana, and Gonzalez. I’m just curious what the rationale behind that is? Meaning, what makes Straily the best starter there in your eyes, just so I know. Thanks as always!
The Rockies have a 4 man rotation, Ervin has a 5-something ERA, Estrada’s about to be shutdown due to tiring, Miguel just gave up a bunch of runs to a terrible offense, Straily had the most Ks in the minors…
@Grey,
Ha thanks. I was probably overthinking it too much. Not to mention his first start against the Angels didn’t go too well.
Sit/start?
Bumgarner @ COL
Maholm @ MIL
Anderson @ LAA
Medlen vs WAS
Anibal @ CLE
Capuano vs STL
Lester @ TOR
Minor vs WAS
Sit Bum, Maholm, Lester….
Piss of Rios. Asshole. Never did this for me.
@Steve, I mean piss OFF.
Yeah, I hear that frustration…
Do you feel either Vance Worley ($8) or Felipe Paulino ($4) are potential keepers (14 team, $260, unlimited # of keepers)?
Also I have Kendrys ($18) currently rostered, would you drop him to pick up Brandon Belt ($4) or Tyler Colvin ($4)?
They’re not keepers… Sure, Colvin…
Run, Bruce! Run!
I just got so pumped to see Rios homer to put me up by one in that category. Then Pierzynski had to homer. His starting catcher? AJ Pierzynzki.
Yeah, AJ’s turned around my catcher spot in the RCL after I had Geovany Soto for about 2 months…
@Grey, I picked him up on one team when Miggy Montero was slumping, then they were both raking. So I actually started two catchers. Talk about desperation!
Ouch!
Aroldis?? Ew.
Yeah, they got him out of it though…
How confident are you in Straily for his starts this week? (@ LAA, vs BAL) Both good starts?
He’s on my minor league roster but I’m mulling over activating him. Desperately need more pitching. Opponent has two starts of Kershaw + Cain + Scherzer + Sale while I need to sit Bumgarner. If I start Straily I won’t be able to put him back on the MiL roster and that means I won’t be able to keep him. Worth it to win it all this year? Rd 2 (of 3) of H2H playoffs – going against the best team in the league. If I win this I think I can take it all…
Tough decisions this time of year.
Not overly confident, but I’d give him a whirl… Next year isn’t guaranteed with Straily…
Bases loaded for Bruce…
@Steve, For f***’s sake.
@Steve, I know, he’s been fantastic lately, but sheesh.
Cause he had such a great week last week… Dah!
I’ve got an outfield of Trout, A. Jones, Choo, and Harper for my H2H playoffs. It’s 2012, and I have Alex Rodriguez on my bench with Beltre at 3rd. It’s not weird to just leave Alex at home to look at pictures of minotaurs and muscle bound women, right?
Ha! No, it’s not…
Hmmm. Not sure I want to see you here, Affeldt.
Not bad…
@Grey, Vulture win maybe?
@Steve, Solid single should do it…
@Steve, Come on Panda!
Pfft
That would be nice for my NL-Only…
Can I get a prayer triangle for Axford?
@Grey, Sure.
Whoa. Your hand is a little sweaty.
Got the save, thanks! And I will apply talcum powder next time…
There is no way in hell that Bruce will win this thing with a walk-off homer in the bottom half of the inning…
I like the reverse psych there…
@Steve, See?
Ha, yup… There’s always the 17th inning for a little reverse psych action…
@Grey, At this rate, Bruce is more likely to give up a game-winning homer, than hit one.
HA! Seriously…
@Grey, Stupid Ludwick.
New Zealand approves of the Betancourt save.
I do too, on one of my teams, forget which one…
Awww. Bases loaded for the Pirates. Robot would be up now – if he was still in the damn game!
grey, with the news that tex is out 10-14 days, and the sound of it that it will be the back end of it… would you drop him like hes (not) hot, seeing as he will be out until the last possible week of fantasy playoffs.
and here would be replacements: Rizzo, LaRoche, M.Young, Aoki?
Yeah, grab Rizzo…
In the ol’ H2H tomorrow, I have the following at my disposal:
Bum @ COL
Correia @ CIN
Zimm @ NYM
Estrada v ATL
Straily @ LAA
Correia is the only definite sit, right? I mean Bum’s not good, but he’s my ace and he’s done OK at Coors recently…
I’d sit Correia and Bum in 12 team and shallower…