As always, probable pitchers are subject to change. For a look at all fantasy baseball streamers, click this link.
If someone had told me on Aug. 15, 2013 that [player]Zack Wheeler[/player] would only be half-owned in Yahoo and ESPN leagues at the start of June 2014 I would have quit fantasy baseball immediately and wailed the loudest Nicolas Cage wail I could muster. That day was the height of early Wheeler Mania: 6 IP and 12 Ks to just one walk in a no-decision at San Diego. At the time Wheeler was not only a member of the rookie pitcher crew that also included [player]Gerrit Cole[/player], [player]Michael Wacha[/player] and [player]Sonny Gray[/player], he was arguably the main attraction. If that group was New Kids On The Block, he was at best Jordan Knight, or at least Donnie Wahlberg, but he wasn’t no Danny Wood. Control problems kept him from being all that he could be, they said. Bad catchers ([player]John Buck[/player]) can make good pitchers pitch badly, they said.
Well, here we are in the weeds of the 2014 season and Wheeler is on the verge of getting kicked out of the group. Cole, Wacha and Gray have been, for the most part, pitching like the budding studs they were supposed to be, and Wheeler has looked more like Nuke LaLoosh before Annie had him wearing garter belts and breathing through his eyelids. Wheeler might not have found his Crash Davis in [player]Travis D’Arnaud[/player], but something is clicking. He got bashed around pretty good in D.C. on May 18 but he finally found the plate, walking only two guys. May 24 against the Diamondbacks was even better, as he K’ed 7 to just one walk. You can blow this K/BB ratio thing out of proportion and go ga-ga over Wheeler’s last start, a win in which he blew away nine Phillies and walked none in 6-plus innings. It wasn’t what he did in that start, it’s how he looked doing it. Wheeler had the command that scouts and experts who know way more than me said he was missing. He looked like he was pitching downhill. His curveball was wicked and his fastball was popping. I know road starts in Wrigley and whatever they’re calling the Giants' stadium now are not ideal, but I think this is the week Wheeler returns to his place next to the Coles and Wachas of the world.
Here’s some more two-starters for Week 10:
Monthly Archives: May 2014
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It was May of 2001, Beyoncé was the lead singer of Destiny's Child, people still listened to Limp Bizkit, I was huddled in some college dorm room taking gravity bong hits, and Barry Bonds was hitting steroid fueled dongs at an alarming rate. Bonds hit 17 that month, numbers we were never supposed to see again in the post-steroid era. Then [player]Edwin Encarnacion[/player] woke up from his early season slumber and started rounding the bases at Bondsian rates, imaginary parrot in tow. Unfortunately I didn't draft E5 on a single team and after watching his recent tear this pains me deeply. It's not that I didn't like Encarnacion, I just preferred his teammate [player] Jose Bautista[/player] in the second round of my drafts. This my friends is what makes DraftKings such a beautiful thing. Every night I can make up for the mistakes of March and own players like Encarnacion or [player]Nelson Cruz[/player], but wait it gets even better! If you haven't played daily fantasy on DraftKings before you can play for free by joining.
I’ve been asked to take over for Dan Pants today. He must be on a bender or something. Or maybe he’s getting that vasectomy he’s been talking about. Anyways, it looks like there is a new rivalry in town. Tampa and Boston are quickly overthrowing the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. Two fights in, two separate games in under two weeks. [player]David Price[/player] hit [player]David Ortiz[/player] in the first inning, and then [player]Mike Carp[/player] a few innings later. Somehow Price wasn’t ejected, even though there were warnings issued after the first beaning. The Sox had four ejections: two managers, a coach, and [player]Brandon Workman[/player] (who threw behind [player]Evan Longoria[/player] after the first two HBPs). Still, the Sox managed to win 3-2 in 10 innings. If you own players on either team, be on the lookout for suspensions. Here’s what else happened throughout the league Friday evening:
OBP League Roundup
May 31, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, OPS Leagues | 39 Commentsby: Tom Jacks
One of the main reasons I enjoy writing for Razzball is that I haven’t encountered another fantasy baseball site where the commenters are this active and generally friendly with each other. Another great thing is that even the comments are worth reading because there tends to be some nice insight. Example A is Principal Blackman, likely a pseudonym for [player]Charlie Blackmon[/player], who said this last week, “How about a little love for [player]Shin-Soo Choo[/player]’s .432 OBP & .929 OPS? Both would be career highs (the Arlington effect?), but they are not wildly (unbelievably) out of line with his career averages (.391/.858), and they are right in line with the advances he made last year… ZiPS and Steamer both foresee some regression on the way for him, and indeed a .392 average on balls in play would blow his career BABIP (.352) out of the water. And at the same time, his K% has dipped below the league average, but, on the other hand, he has maintained the improvements he made last year to his already stellar walk rate, and since the beginning of the 2013 season he only has one infield popup (none this year).” Since then, Choo has slumped a bit and had his OPS dip below .900. I expect to see him around that level all year, while maintaining his ~.420 OBP. Anyway, here are some other players on my mind in OBP leagues:
I've said before [player]Homer Bailey[/player] is someone you should acquire in a trade. SAME! I've said Homer and homers are synonymous. SAME! Those homers should come down, literally. SAME! I...went...scuba...diving...while...eating...Captain...Crunch...SAME! His K-rate is down from last year and his walks are up...NOT SAME! I've also said his BABIP is absurdly high, which means he's getting unlucky. SAME! I've said before the difference between his xFIP and his ERA are huge, but after his last start his ERA is starting to come down. Um, SAME but different? He's not the same pitcher as he was last year. SAME NOT SAME! His Ks are a bit off. NOT SAME! It's more likely he has a low-3 ERA the rest of the way than the plus-5 ERA he has right now. Um...Well...Dah, the Gobstopper! I wouldn't trade anyone too huge to acquire Bailey, but the beauty of this is you don't have to. He's got a 5+ ERA, so trade for him your Never Nude jorts. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
In case you missed another great week of Razzball Radio, here's your weekly round-up to watch Grey try to sell you on our not sponsor, Sport Clips, me, wearing different polo's everyday, and Sky being slowly eaten by whatever's on his face. Guru stops by to once again prove that he could also be a roadie for Twisted Sister. And then there's Dano, who really likes it deep... but only in terms of fantasy baseball. I think. Wait, doesn't Sky talk about deep leagues too? THEY ALL LIKE IT DEEP. Kinda gross guys. Anyhow, here's your round-up... (Don't forget to check out the Daily Hotsheet for all the fantasy news of the day in under four minutes!)
Points Leagues: Small Time Arms are for FIP and FAP
May 30, 2014 | Points Leagues | 8 Commentsby: Schlurricane
If you’re a Razzball regular, then you’re familiar with the term FIP. If you’re into twodels, you’re familiar with the term FAP. If you aren’t familiar with the former, ask Wikipedia about xFIP. If you aren’t familiar with the latter, ask a twodel. Let’s just say that I have a hunch the rash of TJs going around are earning the acronym a new moniker, Twodel Job- distant relative to the other blank-Jays you have endlessly received- EH HEM!!! -referred to. I’m blaming the social media harems for the destruction of UCL’s across baseball. I mean all of the analogies hold true. “He started too young. He’s logged too many innings. They’ve gotten him up and down too many times. His arm angle is unnatural. His hand lags behind his elbow too far. Unnatural motion.” Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it all.
So, unless you’ve won the fantasy baseball lottery, you have at least one guy who’s seen Dr. Freeze. Let’s find you some decent options to replace those points. There's a lot of variance in scoring systems for points leagues, so make sure you understand which categories are of the greatest or least importance in your league. With each of the following players, I’ll highlight typical point formats that they’ll be of more use in. As per the usual, I’m not gonna focus on the top 100 guys. Here’s some value to buy at a discount for your points league.
Clap along if you feel like that song got overplayed (Cuz it's crappyyyyyy). Clap along if you feel like Pharrell should've never sang (Cuz it's crappyyyyyy). Clap along if you know he coulda done a better thang (Cuz it's crappyyy). Clap along if you feel these lyrics are just a drain (Cuz they're crappyyyyyyy). Now don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Pharrell Williams fan...back when he was a producer as part of The Neptunes duo. The man knows music inside and out and it's pretty clear he knows how to stick good tunes in your head. Hell, even N.E.R.D. was boss. Yeah, yeah, he sang...if you think the Beastie Boys sing. Let me put it to you this way. I'll listen to Britney Spears. It's one song. It's 'I'm A Slave 4 U' and not out of any sense of irony or wry humor. It's all cuz of Pharrell. Granted, I do it with the vocals stripped but whatever, you get the point: the man knows his beats and has a huge musical vocabulary. Jazz, do-wop, 70's soul, punk, disco...the man is a walking classics playlist with his own flare. What does all this have to do with [player]J.A. Happ[/player] you ask? Eh, nothing really. I just wanted to riff on Pharrell for a bit. Before he was gathering Grammys with a weird hat, he was dropping quality track after quality track...and winning Grammys. So basically nothing's changed and the same can be said of Happ. He's still not a good pitcher. But that doesn't mean he can't drop a quality start in the middle of of his mediocrity, especially when given such a prime matchup. The Royals are either at or near the bottom of the barrel in terms of team wOBA, ISO, and OBP against lefties on the year. Now that doesn't make J.A. a safe bet, of course, but when you look at his price of $6,300 over on DraftKings, you have to consider how much he'll aid you in rostering some bigger bats for a full Friday slate. So now that we've covered the important things in life - Pharrell's discography and Happ still being a bad pitcher with a good matchup - let's give this Friday slate a whirl, shall we?
Tienes Bat Problemas? Take Morales
May 30, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 429 Commentsby: Grey
The Yankees are now in the fray to sign [player]Kendrys Morales[/player]. A 30-year-old guy who seems to be five years older than he is and can't play any position? The Yankees are interested in that? C'mon! Next thing you know, the Yankees are going to be linked with trading for Jason Giambi or coaxing Greg Luzinski out of retirement. What's Ron Kittle up to? Why are the Yanks so interested in ex-White Sox players? Garry Templeton's got some gams! So, I do think Kendrys will be signed in the next week-plus and now is around the time when you should consider stashing him. He can give a solid prorated season -- think 17 homers, decent average and counting stats. I have no idea what kind of shape he's going to be in or how long he'll need to play in minor league games to get up to speed, but I'd guess if he signs within two weeks, he'll be on the field by the third week of June, at the latest. It's a long time to stash a guy that won't be able to be DL'd, so keep that in mind. Or stash Greg Luzinski. The Bull's seeing red! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
The wait has been overbearing... The anticipation in the air... palpable. I almost typoed Palpatine. Which is what you loyal starting pitcher-aficionados probably think of me!
We had a start pushed back. We had me an unbelieving heathen. Then Memorial Day! Plus my near-descent into the inability to get out of bed when I watched [player]Yordano Ventura[/player]'s start the other day - saw him torched, velo fall, and taken out early. Now we get "valgus extension overload" which sounds like some sort of Eastern European sex move...
But alas! We've finally gotten here. A Pitcher Profile wholly dedicated to [player]Dallas Keuchel[/player], as he continues to rock-m sock-m robot opposing hitters. Did I just make that a verb? Yup! Add yet another complete game to his docket (very nearly three in a row), and he's easily become the flashiest, out-of-nowhere add to legions of fantasy squads. But is he a guy to cut at the first sign of danger? To try and sell high? Let's take a looksy at his start this past Sunday where he went the distance against the Mariners:
“I’d be a bloody fool if he didn’t frighten me. He’s freakish big and freakish strong. And quicker than you’d expect for a man of that size.”
[player]Edwin Encarnacion[/player] is known for his size, bat speed, and his Herculean power. Sir Edwin is tall (he is 6'2", so I guess not that tall). He possesses massive shoulders and arms thick as the trunk of small trees. Edwin weighs over twenty stone (230 lbs), practically all of it muscle, making him near in-humanly strong. Encarnacion's strength allows him to wield a bat so humongous, it would make Greg Oden's wang look like a thumb tack, giving him enormous reach, making him all the more lethal with his eagle-eye vision. Such is the power of Sir Edwin's strength, that he has been known to literally obliterate baseballs upon contact with just a single blow.
There is something to be said about doing your job, and then saying "good job but the regular guy is back, and he's taking your job back." [player]Mark Melancon[/player] filled in swimmingly for the injured [player]Jason Grilli[/player] and his line is better than most closers in the F-tier of my rankings. To his dismay, Grilli is back, and is being eased back into his role. Is it fair? Probably. Does it suck for Melancon stat vultures? Most definitely. Going back exactly one year, when Melancon became a fantasy stalwart on our rosters, he has an ERA under 2, 25 Saves and 17 Holds. That's all after Grilli went down last year. Besides the K factor, which is in Grilli's favor, Melancon is basically being grounded for getting only an A- in English class... but but but it's still and A!, I'm sure he's muttering. But, I'm rooting for Grilli, dat journeyman done good, saved all those kids from dat thang. Whatever that thing was. You know the story. No? Well make one up, tell your friends it happened, and let's start a rumor. So good luck Jason Grilli, just make sure to look both ways when you cross the street. Oh, we totally forgot about your 3 BS in April. Cause you're back here forever. Subliminal message: Hold onto Melancon.
