No joy comes from benching your ace and having him do a shot of Visine right as he’s going to bed. “I’m just going to tuck myself in with a glass of warm milk and a Visine back.” Nope, that brings me zero enjoyment. It’s like calling your mechanic and telling him that your brakes don’t work, which you found out after the valet drove your Peugeot into a Chipotle. (Even Chipotles have valets in LA.) Car’s ruined, at least I wasn’t in the damn car, but no joy. That’s what I’m getting right now from Carlos Martinez. Yesterday, he went 4 IP, 5 ER, ERA up to 3.24, and it’s his 4th straight lackluster start in a row since returning from injury. He was on my bench, because I don’t trust him at all, but my car’s still being used as a salsa bar, and I don’t want pico de gallo on my hood! I want the ace pitcher I drafted! I have to assume C-Mart is still hurt, because it hasn’t only been the series of bleh starts, but the control in his last four games has been atrocious 20 BBs in 16 2/3 IP. Yesterday’s command was technically better, unless you consider being wild in the zone as big a problem. Sadly, he needs to stay on your bench until he either rights the ship or hits the Disgraceful List. Effin’ pico de gallo hood ornament! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
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Prospect Breakout: Alex Kirilloff
June 21, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 26 Commentsby: Ralph Lifshitz
Coming into every season there’s nothing prospect writers love more than calling a breakout. The problem is we’re often wrong. For every Ronald Acuna we call, there’s a Yadier Alvarez or an Austin Hays. But sometimes the broken clocks of the baseball world are right, though twice a day seems like a bit much for the best of us. In this vein, let’s look at a breakout I alluded to earlier this year when I aggressively ranked the Twins Alex Kirilloff 73rd on my pre-season Top 100. Today we’ll take examine the 20 year old phenom, his strengths as a hitter, and why you should be adding him in any format where he is unowned. Because we’re all lucky enough to have Lance Brozdowski as our over the internet friend, this task has been made a little easier. As Lance just so happened to catch Kirilloff’s last stand in the Midwest League at the All-Star Game in Lansing this Tuesday. Here’s a clip from Kirilloff’s all-star game exploits below.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Alex Kirilloff #MidwestLeagueASG HR Derby hacks – beautiful swing. Finishes with 12. Went on a tare in the final seconds. #Twins pic.twitter.com/cmYC4aDAiD
— Lance Brozdowski (@LanceBrozdow) June 19, 2018
One Man’s Trash: Appreciate David
June 21, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 10 Commentsby: Son
I went to a museum many of years ago and saw a 5′ x 5′ white canvas with a 2″ black line running down the middle of it. I looked left and saw a couple on the brink of orgasm looking at it. To my right was a man with glasses that looked as if the Riddler had hypnotized him. What was I missing? Shrooms, perhaps? I’m no connoisseur of art by any means, but this Son has a little culture running through his veins, so I do appreciate art. Much of it makes no sense to me, which I guess makes me a simpleton. Michelangelo’s statue of David, though? I get. The detail. The craftsmanship. I can see it. The only questions would be: Was it cold in there? and Was David Asian? Anyways, there’s no denying what David Peralta (77.1% owned – increase of 11.1%) has been doing on the baseball field. In 285 plate appearances, David has clubbed 14 home runs with 39 RBI and 2 stolen bases. The triple slash has been .277/.337/.500. He bats cleanup, strikes out only 22.1% of the time, and has a robust 48.7% hard contact rate. What about that humidor thing? Humidor Schumidor. David has a higher walk rate, lower strikeout rate, and higher ISO at home than on the road. Now, he does struggle against left-handed pitching (29.9% strikeout rate and .228 batting average), but he has hit 3 home runs off them and still bats fifth in the lineup. On the Razzball Player Rater, David is the 28th outfielder. TREASURE
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Happy Summer! The solstice has arrived: the days are longer, responsibilities fewer, and it’s finally warm everywhere (well, I’m in L.A. so I really have no idea if it’s warm everywhere right now). No one wants to be spending extra time stuck inside at a computer over-managing his or her fantasy baseball team, but don’t be the guy who drops the ball completely. There are still plenty of points to be gained and team upgrades to be made, so keep your head in the game. For those of you whose game is of the deep league variety, we’ll get right to it this week, taking a look at some names who may be available and/or of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
FanDuel: Strikeouts Are Sexy
June 21, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, FanDuel | Leave a commentby: cinthree
So loyal readers of mine will recall how last week’s FanDuel slate was so painfully bad, it was akin to coming home drunk and looking for some good drunk munchies, only to find some mustard, 2 week old leftovers you forgot to throw out and something wrapped in tin foil, which even though shows promise turns out not to be that delicious piece of chicken you had yesterday, but rather some sort of substance you can’t identify, but looks a little too liquidy to be food. Well, this slate is an entirely different painful experience. It’s drunk-stumbling into Pat’s Hubba Hubba (or your cities’ best drunk food spot), but then finding out that 25% of the time, the only thing you get is Hubba Water (the Westchester people will get this). Why is this slate like that? Because even though it’s a seven game slate, the hitting is basically concentrated in 2 games. Normally, that’s not an issue – you can build lineups with the offenses from 2 games most of the time (and can do it today). The problem is that both games have massive rain issues (at least as of this writing), and will require constant monitoring all day. If those games are rained out, or at least pose enough of a PPD threat to make it so that the players are unplayable, suddenly there’s absolutely no offense of note. The result will be lineups with Scherzer and meh and RNG-centric hitters.
On to the picks…
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Please, blog, may I have some more?
We Are Living In The Jo-Ram’s Sick Era
June 21, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 340 Commentsby: Grey
I was feeling reflective yesterday, so I turned to the mirror and said, I bought a toothbrush, some toothpaste–Mirror, “Please don’t sing that song.”–Pajamas, a hairbrush–“Please stop, please.”–New shoes, and a case! I said to my reflection, where in my rankings did Jose Ramirez place?!–“NO MORE!” I’d figured you’d like that song. “No.” You’ve heard it before? “Shut up.” Whoa, grumpy mirror. Yet another great day from Jose Ramirez (1-for-2, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and a slam (22) and legs (10), hitting .291) is what brought about my reflection. Through a 75-second detour through that website that puts everyone’s rankings together, I found out the person who ranked Jose Ramirez the highest last year ranked him 13th overall. Then I looked at where I ranked him — jackpot in my ass! — I ranked him 13th overall. I was the highest on Jo-Ram. By the by, someone ranked Jo-Ram around 130th overall. That person should quit this fake business. Bonus if it’s Clara Bell. In my rankings, I even said I wanted to rank Ramirez 12th, but wanted to separate Lindor and him. Sadly, I didn’t draft Jo-Ram anywhere, because I drafted Lindor everywhere, and, by the time the draft came back to me, Jo-Ram was gone. This was a fun trip down memory lane. Unlike when Memory Lane intersects with Cody Bellinger. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Well, you can’t fix this malady. After blowing a save on Monday night, Hunter Strickland punched a wall and broke his hand. He’s expected to go 6 to 8 weeks without blowing another save.. Stash or Trash: I’m in a 14 team league and I’m trashing him. Replacement: Yoshihisa Hirano (4.9%.) With Brad Boxberger looking far from perfect, expect the Diamondbacks to start switching things up. I have a feeling that they’ll leave Archie Bradley as the set-up man because “he’s good in that role” or whatever BS the manager wants to say which could leave Hirano as a major option for saves in the desert. Hirano hasn’t allowed a run since May 5th and has 18 Ks in 17.1 IP over that time. Don’t forget that Hirano averaged 28 saves over the last 5 years he was pitching in Japan.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Perception Vs. Reality: Pirela Glue
June 20, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball, 2018 Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | Leave a commentby: MB
Welcome to Perception Vs. Reality where we look at the player rater to determine the valuable assets in the fantasy baseball world that might cost you less or be performing better than you think. This week we should talk about values at individual categories. Shout out to the roto league grinders who might be lacking in certain categories. Let’s try and take care of some of that one this fine (possibly rainy?) Wednesday.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
I would like to take this opportunity (highjack the opening paragraph of this post) to rant about Bryce Harper’s current All-Star vote total. At the moment, a phrase I’ve chosen instead of “currently”, Harper is second in voting for National League Outfielders. With approximately a little more than one million votes, he is not far behind Nick Markakis. Allow me to remind you that just a few weeks ago I referred to Markakis as the current points league MVP. Given his draft position, or lack thereof considering he as undrafted in most leagues, I stand by that comment. It’s not the players you draft in the first two rounds that win you the championship. They are supposed to be superstars. In reality they have a better chance of helping you lose the championship by not living up to their draft status. An early round flub can put you in a serious hole. This concept is a bit more pronounced in fantasy football where rosters are smaller and losing your first round running back can pretty much doom your entire season. It’s undrafted players like Nick Markakis, whom I’ve been patting on the back in points leagues since I started writing for Razzball, that give you the boosts you need to win your league.
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Draft: Joey, I’m Not Angry Anymore
June 20, 2018 | 2018 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Draft | Leave a commentby: TroyKlauder
Joey Lucceshi is making his first start back from the disabled list today, which is the perfect opportunity to buy him on Draft. He looks like he’s back at full strength from his hip injury, as he was pumping 96 MPH in his rehab start. Lucceshi has a 24.9% K-rate through nine starts this year with a 3.47 Deserved Run Average and has an awesome matchup against the Athletics. The A’s are awful against lefties, as they’ve got a .291 wOBA, which is third-worst in the league, and a 24.6% K-rate. Lucceshi also gets to face them at home in arguably the most pitcher-friendly park in all of baseball. He should come at great value in your drafts.
New to Draft.com? 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?
