Hope everyone's well rested and had a joyous Michael Bay Day. If you couldn't be American yesterday, I hope at least you got drunk and ate a bunch of hot dogs. As they say in Mississippi, Amurica, spelling's for sissies! The Mariners made it a bit more joyous for some of us fantasy baseballers when they demoted [player]Dustin Ackley[/player] for Nick Franklin. Ackley was a guy I could never fully get behind, in a non-sexual way. He arrived in the majors with a ton of hype, but that's more because Mariners fans lie to themselves more than anything Ackley showed. So, what does the Mustache King, Purveyor of Smart Stuff Who Should Be Able To Come Up With A Better Word Than Stuff If He Were That Smart think about Franklin? Brucely, I'm a bit meh, but I'd pick him up in all leagues and have. Franklin looks similar to Ackley. He has power and speed, but not in a huge way, which will be further suppressed by Safeco. Safeco: Where a hitter's upside goes to die. Franklin's best year in the minors was in A-Ball in 2010. To put that into a relatable comparison, you were your town's best T-ball hitter, how well did you do in high school? You flunked out of high school? Point made. This year, he had 4 homers and 7 steals in Triple-A, and I'd put it at about a 25% chance that his end of the season numbers look the same for the Mariners. If you can't find someone that can get you 4 homers and 7 steals from now until October, you're not trying very hard. There is a chance for upside and he is only 22 years old, so I'd take the gamble and grab him. Best case scenario, 15 homers, 15 steals. Worst case scenario, he shows up at the nightclub you like to take your lady to, challenges you to a dance battle, beats you, screaming "You got served!" and your lady leaves with him. Most likely scenario, he hits 8 homers, steals 12 bases and bats .250, so watch how you spend your FAAB Benjamins on Franklin. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
See all of today’s starting lineups
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ARI | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | ATH | OAK |
After an underwhelming cup of coffee last year, [player]Tyler Skaggs[/player] looked primed for the 5th spot in the Diamondbacks rotation, only to lose out to [player]Patrick Corbin[/player]. I remember there was some dissension with that decision, but you don't hear any of those arguments now! With Corbin obviously one of the biggest surprises of the season, Skaggs had a really rough start to his AAA assignment with his ERA climbing close to 7.00 through six starts, but then again it was with Reno in the Pacific Coast League.
Skaggs has put it together recently though, racking up a 30:5 K:BB ratio in 25.1 May innings and three straight quality starts. With [player]Ian Kennedy[/player] ailing with a cut on his finger, Skaggs got the call for a spot start in a tough matchup in the first leg of a double-header against the Rangers. I don't think expectations were huge for this game, but having never seen Skaggs pitch and with no knowledge of his repertoire, I decided to tune in and break down his 2013 debut:
There was rumor of a young ballplayer in California, a first baseman that could play the position as perhaps it had never been played before. Now this young man was handsome, charismatic, and more than a bit arrogant concerning his talent, but considering the grace and skill he displayed on the field, that was not surprising. He was, even at that young age, more than a bit lacking in the moral virtues. He was described by friends and teammates as a compulsive liar and kleptomaniac.
How quickly things change. Last week, it was looking like [player]Adam Eaton[/player] was close to returning from an elbow injury and [player]A.J. Pollock[/player] would be the odd man out in the Arizona outfield. Well, one setback later, Pollock looks good to go as a part of the four-man Arizona outfield and he's worth watching in deeper formats. He'll get starts against lefties and maybe more, so he's a guy that you'll have to play the matchups with unless he really catches fire. Meanwhile, Adam Eaton is probably not going to do much in the way of baseball for about three weeks and probably won't be fantasy relevant until the end of June at the earliest. He was so close to returning too. Kind of like crashing your car with one payment left. We'll take a look at matchups for all the members of the stolen base leaderboard for Week 9. As always, all players listed are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues and Sunday's stats are not included.
On this Memorial Day, I'm left thinking about things as American as apple pie and fake-breasted women, but mostly I'm left contemplating how similar Memorial Day sounds to Michael Bay. What better way to think of our country's great holiday, than our real-life Uncle Sam of excessive special effects-laden movies. You can make cars better than us Asia, but can you blow crap up on celluloid and make apocalyptic tripe like World War Z? So, today, go outside and wish someone a Happy Michael Bay, he's ours. Also, ours is baseball, and a branch off of that is fantasy baseball, and a sub-section of that sub-section is hoarding prospect pitchers that are called up like Michael Wacha. First (immediately after all that other first shizz), let's see what our prospect writer, Scott, has said about him, "Wacha’s 2012 numbers were just plain silly: 0.86 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 17.1 K/9 in 11 appearances across three levels (Rookie, High-A, Double-A). Those 11 outings, however, only tallied up to 21 IP. The Cardinals were keeping his workload light, and Wacha never worked through a batting order more than one time through. That was the only criticism, the only reason to expect regression as he stepped up to Triple-A ball this season. Well, Wacha’s done a fine job of quelling those concerns so far. If only we could quell Grey as easily." Hey, what's the big idea!? I'm not sure where Wacha's Ks have been thus far in Triple-A (under a 6 K/9), but his walks have been in check (~2.5 BB/9) and he has an ERA of 2.05 in 52 2/3 IP. If he keeps his K-rate around there in the majors, he's going to be strictly an NL-Only or 15-team mixed leagues and deeper play. But he looks closer to a 7+ K-rate guy and someone I'd grab in all mixed leagues. The upside is here for greatness; of course the downside of any rookie pitcher is here, as well. All of this is assuming the Cards officially call him up, but the word around town is they're about to. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
If you were one of the Razzball disciples that had dreams of a 20/20 type season from
[player] Josh Rutledge [/player]please take your head out of the oven. Rutledge may have been sent packing, but things aren’t
that bad. It’s not like you’ve been eating snow cones at Minute Maid Park. Besides you own an electric range. Worse thing you’ll do is singe your eyebrows and look like
this. Hey, I was a Rutledge believer too. But I hedged my bet and put one of my kidneys on ice for him just in case something went terribly wrong. Damn, the cat’s eaten it. Gareth, bad kitty! At least I have a spare and that has
[player id=10816]Jedd Gyorko's[/player] name all over it. I really need a middle infielder! If you were a Rutledge owner as well, we are in the same boat. And it’s about to hit an iceberg. Now stay still while I sketch you. The middle infield waiver options are stocked with guys named either Alexi or Alexei. Oh, there’s an Adeiny too. *sticks head in oven*
Some weeks, it's just good to trust a buy call by our Fantasy Baseball Lord & Savior, Grey Albright. BTW, do me a favor. Google Grey Albright...do you get
Snafu Larry as your second image? That's just not right...and now that I look at all those images I have to ask myself 'Is Grey even real'? I mean, we congregate on this site daily looking to him for the mustachio'ed word from upon high but is this some form of mass hysteria where the disease is fantasy sports addiction and we've conjured up this being to serve the purpose of telling us that which we already know in our hearts?
What if the internet isn't even real but simply the manifestation of our collective thoughts as we dream in Matrix-like incubation eggs before we're harvested? What if none of this is real?!? Woah hey and sorry there...the mushrooms finally wore off...well minus the tracers. Either way, I'm real, you're real and we're spectacular and so was Grey's
BUY call on
[player]Leonys Martin[/player] last week. I can tell you're not sure of this call. I feel you wavering about this waiver call and it's understandable. Who wants a guy who hits at the bottom of the batting order? Well I do and you should too for week nine of the 2013 fantasy baseball season but we must read on to find out why.
With the constant influx of new talent, new names, new statistics, it can be easy to lose sight of a prospect who's fallen from grace. A little more than a year ago, in their 2012 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America ranked [player]Joe Benson[/player] as the #2 overall prospect in the Twins organization. Benson was coming off a 2011 in which he hit .285/.388/.495 with 16 homers at Double-A New Britain, finishing the year with a call-up to the big club and a spot on the 40-man. He was on the fantasy radar before injuries delayed his 2012 debut, but he hasn't been relevant since then. Across four levels in 2012, the former 2nd round draft pick managed a line at .202/.288/.336. And after watching him hit .192/.256/.285 through 43 games at Triple-A Rochester this season, the Twins had seen enough and released Benson to make room for P.J. Walters. The Rangers claimed him have assigned him to Double-A. At 25 years old, there's still a glimmer of hope for the toolsy outfielder, but that will fade quickly if the horrendous hitting continues.
Fantasy baseball rest of season rankings are the herbal tea to the double espressos that are Hittertron and Stream-o-Nator. Most of the post-draft fantasy baseball decisions we make – particularly in non-FAAB leagues – are of the short-term variety. Looking for the hot schmotato to fill in while your 3rd baseman is injured. Please, blog, may I have some more?
[player]Curtis Granderson[/player] left last night's game in the fifth inning after being hit by a pitch on the hand and fracturing his knuckle. The Yankees expect Grandy to miss at least four weeks so obviously this is a big blow to fantasy owners who just got him back a little over a week ago. Some luck, if you remember correctly it was a HBP in the forearm that sent him to the DL back in March. Someone has to invest in some new armor for Granderson, I recommended Barry Bonds' metal-plated sleeve, but chainmail is always nice as well. Anyway, these are the breaks. Curtis Blow said that, and Curtis Granderson is living it. He was batting .269 through eight games but already had a home run, a stolen base and a couple of three hit games so the outlook was promising. Thems the breaks, right Curtis!? In the interim, I guess we can expect
[player]Ichiro[/player] or
[player]Vernon Wells[/player] to continue to see plenty of playing time, and
[player]Brennan Boesch[/player] should see plenty of burn as well, but I don't see much value with Boesch outside AL-Only. Don't be too sad, Yankee fans, you were doing just fine without him. Maybe Curtis Mayfield said it even better, "you're gonna make your fortune by and by, but if you lose don't ask no questions why." Superfly! In other words, I'm sure there's a deal-with-it gif on the googles or the tumblrs out there for you to look at (
here,
here and
here), but the three Curtis' have already moved on so hopefully you can, too.
Here's what else happened in fantasy baseball last night:
Are you familiar with
The Legend of Oso Blanco? It's the very true story behind
[player]Evan Gattis[/player], and it's a must listen if you haven't yet heard it. Even if you have, it's still worth another run through. Atlanta sports radio 680 The Fan was on point with this bit, which should have some appeal among us here at Razzball. Thanks to Deadspin for bringing it to our attention. Anyway, two-starters... Week 9 features nearly a full-slate of action, so there are a shizzload of them to choose from. To help guide your two-start perusing, I've slapped together our usual tiered worksheet.
As always, probable pitchers are subject to change. For a look at all fantasy baseball streamers, click that link.
This won't only be a Buy on [player]Anthony Rendon[/player] but also a Sell on [player]Danny Espinosa[/player] since he's used up all my hospitality, and I'm the Florence Nightingale of hospitality if she was known for hospitality and not just being in hospitals. I'm the Sean Penn of hospitality, refusing awards for my hospitality. I Desmond effin' Tutu of hospitality! Yeoman Albright, my great4 grandfather, invented the word hospitality, and Espinosa is nailing me to the Red Cross of hospitality?! How dare you, sir? How. Dare. You. He's not a .160-ish player, but he is only a .230-ish player and right now he's not even hitting homers. The clock is tick-tick-ticking on Rendon being called up to replace him, and I'm officially done with Espinosa (which, of course, will start him up). Depending on your league size, now is the time to stash Rendon. He's probably 7-10 days away. Here's what I said recently about him, "Rendon is gonna be a great one…some day. Damn, the fantasy baseball fortune cookie ending! Yeah, I’m not sure he’s ready just yet, but he’s worth a flyer in all leagues. I grabbed him in one league where I have Moustakas, because I’m tired of seeing that gyro-eating-motherfu– Let’s just say I’m tired of Moustakas. Best case scenario, Rendon stays up and hits for a solid average and gives high-teen power with some very light speed. Worst case scenario, Rendon shows up at your house at 3 AM and asks to sleep on your couch, which seems fine at first, then he tells you he has no place to live, stays for months, doesn’t ever flush the toilet or fill up the Tang in the fridge, then starts dating your aunt, eventually marries her, making him your uncle, a title he insists you call him." And that's me quoting me! Grab Uncle Rendon now, and move on from Espinosa in most leagues. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
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