Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Phillip Those Roster Spots While You Can

April 13, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 9 Comments

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We’re less than two weeks in to the 2021 baseball season, and already player values have been changing all over the place.  Deep-league names that we were talking about weeks ago — and who were completely off the radar for most fantasy owners then — have shot up ownership charts.  Guys that weren’t even drafted in many or even most NL or AL-only leagues suddenly have medium/mixed-league numbers.  In CBS leagues, Yermin Mercedes is now an 80% owned player.  Akil Baddoo went from 18 to 68 percent in one week, Cedric Mullins from 20 to 60%.   And in perhaps in the most extreme deep-league rags to standard-league riches story of the young season, Tyler Naquin’s ownership went from 1% to 82% in one week.

So, what’s a deep-leaguer in need of lineup reinforcements but facing a picked-clean waiver wire to do?  I’d say re-group to the changed landscape, and keep looking in case more hidden gems emerge.  There may not be anyone out there who’s going to give you a first-week Tyler Naquin level of production (he’s on pace for 90 homers, 252 RBI, and 18 stolen bases, by the way… so, uh, pretty sure there’s a bit of a cool-down coming at some point), but let’s look at a few names to see if there may be someone who can fill a temporary hole or give you a small deep-league boost.  We’ll go from most to least owned, starting with those that may be available in medium-deep leagues and finishing with some ultra-deep league 1-percenters.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Dylan Vaughan Skorish

The Prospect Trench: No Rest For The Wicked

April 13, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | Leave a comment

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Oh man. It’s bad out here guys.

Oh Jesus, what even is an oblique?!

It’s okay little buddy, relax. Nobody knows what an oblique really is. Some kind of triangle I think. But damn they love to get injured lately, huh? I mean, c’mon we’re talking dynasty here, we’ll just wait until our competitive window opens in 2025, right? WRONG! But you better be prepared, son.

Do you think it’s bad now? Wait until AA and A ball get rolling. Not to be the bearer of bad news, predicting some massive bloodbath across the league but… I’ve seen Nicky Lopez starting in shallow redraft leagues. Poor, poor souls. Please say a prayer for your local Middle Infielder. Or better yet-

Buckle up and hit that waiver wire bucko, we’ve got leagues to win!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Ralph Lifshitz

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Zombie Dong and The Baddoo Boys

April 13, 2021 | All Podcasts | 1 Comment

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We all thought things would be better in 2021, and if you drafted Just Dong, Zombino Overlord, you might be right. However, for the rest of us, our pets heads are falling off. First Eloy, then Tatis, who’s next Old Testament Baseball God? Why must you steal our joy day after day? We turn our weary eyes to you oh Akil Baddoo, can you be our 2021 Chris Shelton savior, or am I mixing up Tyler Naquin and Baddoo? Yeah, I definitely am, but it’s okay because Grey and Ralph….errr I mean Geoff are back with more weekly fantasy insights to help you finish a strong third in your league! It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Podcast!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
MattTruss

RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 1, 2021

April 13, 2021 | Razzball Commenter Leagues | 3 Comments

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Last week wasn’t really enough to call a week, at just four days, with a couple of those being partial days.  This week, we’ve got an actual week’s worth of data to work with and it’s starting to feel like the grind of the season is upon us here in the Razzball Commenter Leagues.  That means maximizing those empty roster spots at every opportunity, hoarding all the potential closers (and racing to the waiver wire when one gets injured or demoted) and streaming starters like it’s your job.  Even still, you may be sitting near the bottom of the league standings.  It’s OK, we can all take a deep breath and repeat the mantra, “It’s still early”.  Everyone wants to be leading their league after the first week, but only one team can.  I always dream of going wire to wire, but it’s a long season, there is plenty of time to win these things.  Marcell Ozuna won’t hit .125 all season, he has to hit a HR eventually, right?  Just in case, let’s form a prayer decagon, shall we?  Let’s take a look at which RCL teams are getting an early jump on their league standings thanks, in part, to streaming and batty-calling their butts off:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
RyanStarce

FanDuel: Bauer’s Dirty Balls

April 13, 2021 | DFS, Fanduel | Leave a comment

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Apparently, the league is looking into a number of balls from Trevor Bauer’s last start to see if a foreign substance was used by the Dodgers’ hurler. Are Bauer’s suspicious balls going to be an issue going forward? I think we’ll have to wait and find out. Does DirtyBallsGate (™) have any negative connotations heading into tonight’s matchup with the Rockies? It should not. FIRE. HIM. UP. For all we know, any number of pitchers have had baseballs taken from their outing and looked into. It would make sense that we’re only hearing about Bauer’s balls because of his status as the highest-paid and most tantalizing player in the game. Anyhow…

Welcome to the 2nd installment of FanDuel Tuesday DFS here on Razzball. We have a wide-open 12 game slate to sift through and find some stacks and/or value bats that fit together nicely with whichever pitcher we decide to land on.

There’s a ton of talent on the pitching side tonight, though they aren’t all in ideal situations. As much as I love Shane Bieber ($11,200), his price and matchup make it hard to justify over other options (though if you think I’m crazy, by all means, have at it). The White Sox aren’t a world-beating lineup, but they’re better than the Royals and Tigers and should be the first test of the season for Bieber. On the other side of this match-up, you have a much lower-priced Lucas Giolito ($9,800) who seems to have a better matchup on paper. However, in that ballpark, with the wind blowing out, we might be better off pivoting to what I believe are the 3 top options on tonight’s slate. Let’s get down to business.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
Welcome to the 2nd installment of FanDuel Tuesday DFS here on Razzball. We have a wide open 12 game slate to sift through and find some stacks and/or value bats that fit together nicely with whichever pitcher we decide to land on.

There’s a ton of talent on the pitching side tonight, though they aren’t all in ideal situations. As much as I love Shane Bieber ($11,200), his price and matchup make it hard to justify over other options. The White Sox aren’t a world beating lineup, but they’re better than the Royals and Tigers and should be the first test of the season for Bieber. On the other side of this match up, you have a much lower priced Lucas Giolito ($9,800) who seems to have a better matchup  on paper. However, in that ballpark, with the wind blowing out, we might be better off pivoting to what I believe are the 3 top options on tonight’s slate. Let’s get down to business.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Grey

The More Ynoa

April 13, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 514 Comments

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Did you know Huascar Ynoa signed as a 16-year-old, when he was likely 10 years old, because the Braves scout players when they’re in Latin American T-ball? “The kid throws 97 as an 8-year-old, we might want to throw $500 his family’s way so he signs with us for twelve years.” That’s a Braves scout. By the way, according to prospect grades, Latin American T-ball is comparable to Double-A. If Huascar would’ve held out, he would’ve been a 1st round draft pick and everyone would be crazy about him. Ya know? Yeah, ya know Ynoa. He’s on the list of the top ten velocity increasers this year, up to 96+ MPH on his fastball, and he has two pitches — an 85 MPH slider is the other. Both are wipeout, bye-bye, ‘say hello to your mother for me’ type pitches. Yesterday, he had the most Ks for a 22-year-old Braves pitcher since 2013 (Teheran), going 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 0.75. With two pitches, he could get some mileage around the league once, twice, three times a Ynoa, or be out of the rotation in a few weeks. Absolutely would grab him in all leagues to see if he can keep it up each time around the track.

Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
everywhereblair

Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2021: Week 2

April 12, 2021 | Top 100 Starting Pitchers | 39 Comments

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With beloved Razzball writer Ralph Lifschitz finally revealing his true identity on Twitter, I realized it came down to me — the pitcher ranker and weekend editor — to unmask the final mystery man of Razzball: Grey Albright himself. So I invited the Fantasy Master Lothario to a fancy brunch that I never showed up to. Instead, I snuck into Razzball HQ…which wasn’t hard to do because Donkey Teeth is there literally every minute of every day searching for shirtless pics of Yusei Kikuchi. Grey never locks his office because he feels that he gives away all of his data for free on the internet; there’s no reason for anybody to break in. Except, for the holy grail: the real identity of the Master Lothario.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
C.A. James

Avoiding the Blurbstomp – (Obviously) The Adverb Edition

April 12, 2021 | Avoiding the Blurbstomp | 5 Comments

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This week has provided a windfall of blurbs, as we shake off the early season roster machinations and tilt, with steampunk goggles adorned, into the full gale force winds of early April player blurbs. The player you drafted in the 13th round is hitting sub-.200, so it’s definitely time to drop, right? According to some player blurbs, yes. Look, here’s a Rule 5 guy, and he already has 16 RBI+Runs, and has stolen 3 bases. Soon, you will see the words that are like lines of Pixie Stick dust to a room full of 10 year old boys:

“Small sample size…we know this level of production is unsustainable…BUT.”

This BUT is a large BUT. It is bigger than Butte, Montana. This BUT is bigger than all the Kardashian buttockses put together into a Mecha Kardassian. E! hasn’t pivoted to reality/kaiju/mech yet, but anything’s possible if you can simply remind Kris that she hasn’t entirely ruined her family’s mental health. Asides aside, do not give into the temptation of the BUT. You do not want to be the person dropping their 13th rounder for a 5th OF who might be a 4th OF in a best case scenario. Promise me you will stay true to your fantasy heart. I know it can be hard. My roto team is batting sub .200 so far. Sob. Promise me you’ll stay the course.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
Steve Paulo

RazzSlam: Tales From FAABidden Island, Vol 1

April 12, 2021 | RazzSlam | 2 Comments

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Ah! My good and noble reader! It has been too long since last I regaled you with tales of my raising of an army for the RazzSlam!

Things are… not going well, I’m afraid.

With the injury to Austin Nola documented in my original missives, to the occasional negative-earning performance by Danny Jansen and the continued toiling on the farm of one Adley Rutschmann, I can on very few occasions secure scoring of any kind from both of my catcher positions. Which, given my unabashed and very public distaste for the role, brings me no shortage of rage.

I find myself, as of this writing, mired in 220th place, of 240 competitors. I do not intend, dear reader, to remain at such a mockable rank as this, and so I have turned my efforts to the mysterious legend that can save one and all from the fates of injury, demotion, and generally piss-poor performance.

Have you heard, then, of the legendary FAABidden Island?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
 
malamoney

Points Leagues: Naquin, The Gametime, Hitting, Homering, RBI-ing, Scoring, Points-Getting, Red, So You Can Win Outfielder

April 12, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 10 Comments

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Tyler Naquin. Is that an official sentence? Anyone? Typically I wouldn’t be buying into him, but allow me to explain why I have picked him up in two of my primary leagues. In one league I have Ketel Marte on the IL, but since I have David Fletcher on bench I was able to plug him into my 2B spot. By the way, you should all own Fletcher considering I insisted upon it prior to drafts. And this was exactly why. His draft day price tag was well below his actual value and to have him on your bench just in case made him a great draft day buy. Fletcher isn’t off to a great start by any means, but with 42 plate appearances, only Mark Canha, Marcus Semien and Jose Altuve have stepped into the batters box more often this season. The more plate appearances, the more opportunity for points. The Angels are in the top five teams for runs scored and being at the top of that lineup provides a promising outlook. But this opening paragraph was supposed to be about Naquin and why I’ve added him to my rosters. The simple answer is because I had the bench spot to see where this hot streak ends with Ketel to the IL in one league and Quintana to scrap heap in another. Tyler Naquin leads all hitters in fantasy points. That’s certainly not going to last for long, but I wasn’t going to let someone else benefit from another week or two of potential points. And if I get the chance, I will we include him into a trade to sweeten the deal. Worst case scenario is that I drop him in two weeks.

Please, blog, may I have some more?