[player]Troy Tulowitzki[/player] is hitting .408. I'm not even joking. Member those days when you'd open up the paper and look at the league leaders? You'd then rub your face with your ink-stained fingers and you'd look like Bucky Dent with the eye black, then you'd overdo it and you'd look like Al Jolson and you'd get your family in a race war with your neighbors. Do you even know league leaders now without the newspaper? I don't. I mean, I know guys that are doing well, but actual league leaders? It is irrelevant to a certain extent. If a guy is tied for 2nd most wins in the AL ([player]Martin Perez[/player]) and he goes out and gets bombed yesterday (5 IP, 5 ER), does it matter? I guess it does matter with Tulo since he's hitting four hundred and eight preceded by a decimal. That's kinda beautiful. I own him for the first time in my life, and, due to that, he's going to stay healthy all year. What, it's putting it out in the universe. Yeah, unlikely, but hot dizzamn he's good when going well. Yesterday, he hit two homers and in the last week he's hitting over .600. As lyrics say in the lone single to go platinum off my Rod Stewart/MC Hammer mash-up album, "Stay forever young, Tulo legit, to quit." Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Monthly Archives: May 2014
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Whenever I hear the classic Donovan tune, Atlantis, I’m taken back to that magical moment in Goodfellas when Tommy and Jimmy return to the bar to ice Billy Batts for his snide shine box remark. Well, that used to be the case; that is until DraftKings announced their Fantasy Baseball Championship in the Bahamas with a million bucks going to the winner! Hail, Atlantis indeed (the resort, get it?). Beach body (or lack thereof) be damned – I want in. I really shouldn’t encourage the competition, but you too can win your way to wonderland for as little as $2. So, get cracking and start stacking, because time’s a wasting and those qualifiers fill faster and faster every day. So let's get on with the pickins...right after I point you back to the brand spanking new Razzball Tool. Four ladies and gentlemen (and I use that term loosely), I bring you the DFSbot care of our resident Miles Bennett Dyson, Rudy Gamble. Wanna know if a guy is cheap or expensive for the day on the good 'ole DK? Well take a gander. Go on, I'll still be here and so will the picks...ok, maybe you've gandered long enough, let's get on with our day here.
I know I've had some requests for more fun pitchers, but [player]Dillon Gee[/player] was a guy I ranked high and a guy I kept high. And very early on "I tried to figure out why... I had him so high!", but lately dude has been tossin' gas!
The very under-appreciated Gee ended 2013 on a tear, pitching with a 2.41 ERA from May 30 to September 15 - with 100 Ks in 137.1 IP in 20 starts. So ridiculously under the radar that Lord Helmet must've jammed it!
As a non-Mets fan and non-Gee owner in any leagues at the current present, I haven't buckled down to watch any of his starts as of late. And with three scoreless outings out of his past four - giving up two runs total in those four - I decided to break down his start yesterday at the Rockies and if Gee should be owned in a lot more than 38% of leagues:
The hits just keep comin' for major league baseball players and their fantasy owners.
We're just a month into the season, and it's unlikely there are many owners out there who have not been dealt a significant injury to at least one of their players. Oh, you're raising your hand? Here are two recommendations: 1) stop playing in 8-team leagues, 2) there are healthier forms of self-indulgence than a four-leaf clover enema.
In 2014, we've seen more pains, pricks, breaks, strains, pulls and tears in baseball than the amount of times Drake has changed his NCAA/NBA team allegiances.
Being in the know when it comes to a player's health will always keep you one step ahead of your competition. Here are some ailing hitters (and their possible replacements) to pay attention to in the coming weeks:
[player]Jace Peterson[/player] continues to see regular playing time with [player]Chase Headley[/player] on the disabled list. Headley is expected to return around May 10th, so we should get another week of SAGNOF from Peterson. The 23-year-old has tallied two steals in 21 plate appearances for the Padres and he has seven home games on the schedule this week against the Royals and Marlins. The Royals have been stingy in allowing stolen bases, but the Marlins haven't. The fish have given up the fourth most stolen bases in baseball entering Sunday's games. Peterson had 39, 51, and 42 stolen bases over his last three minor league seasons. He is more of a deep league pickup, or a stop gap in your lineup given Headley's imminent return, but the speed is real and he's available (0% owned ESPN). A quick reminder to utilize the new SB Rates vs. SP tool here at Razzball. It's a quick and easy way to find pitchers who are good targets to run against, and comes in handy for DFS and daily roto leagues. Here are some other steals picks for fantasy baseball this week...
Our fantasy baseball pitcher (Streamonator) and hitter (Hittertron) tools are designed to help make their daily and weekly decisions. Should I stream a starting pitcher? Which hitter should I pick up? Whom do I sit/start? Et cetera.
Some of you who play Daily Fantasy Sports leagues like (our DFS sponsor) DraftKings probably use Streamonator and Hittertron to help choose your daily lineup. I hope the tools have been helpful though I realize they were never ideal – notably, because 5x5 value does not necessarily equal a daily fantasy baseball site’s point structure.
Well, good news. We now have a tool specifically designed for those of you who play daily fantasy baseball games.
Introducing the DFSBot (GIF/JPGs submissions welcomed).
On Saturday, [player]Jon Lester[/player] threw a gem: 8 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 15 Ks. Such a gem that if that were a blood diamond, diplomats from Monrovia would be lined up in the streets of Liberia for a taste of that. If that were an emerald, friends of Dorothy would stand outside of Ricky Martin's hotel for weeks just for the chance he forgoes the hotel buffet and wants to eat out. If that were a ruby, it would stand outside a Dallas police station to cover any possible conspiracies and add fuel to other conspiracies. Lester has pitched spectacularly so far, and it's not a product of luck. His 10.7 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 are elite. Those are fantasy ace numbers. His fastball doesn't have renewed life, if anything he's lost something on it. What appears to be the biggest difference is he's almost completely abandoned his changeup and throwing his cutter a bit more. Since he's always been good for 200 innings and has had huge success before, I'm willing to say he will hold the improvements to his rates and be an extremely reliable starter. Likely in the top 15 for the year. Yeah, he looks damn good. I want some, purdy puhlease. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Happy early Cinco de Mayo, my tequila-fueled Razzaholics, and welcome back to the Razzball Lounge. We men of letters have donned our sombreros and gathered to celebrate whatever the hell Cinco de Mayo is - hey, I went to a school for dysfunctional teachers in Maine and the only Mexicans we ever saw were picking blueberries and turning John Deere’s into lowriders. We are also celebrating the Razzball revolucian! Yes, Razzball Radio launches this week with Señor Nick, who is currently transporting illegal video equipment across the border as we speak. Good stuff! As we gather in the lounge downing shots of Patron we look back at the first month of the season. There have been hot starts from new meat – [player]Jose Abreu[/player], [player]Charlie Blackmon[/player] and [player]Chris Colabello[/player]. There have been early season slumps – [player]Miguel Cabrera[/player], [player]Prince Fielder[/player] and [player]Adam Jones[/player]. And every team is battered and broken with [player]Clayton Kershaw[/player], [player]Bryce Harper[/player], [player]Chris Davis[/player] and 422 other players on the disabled list. There's plenty to celebrate and plenty to berate in the lounge today. Bellying up to the bar we find Sky wondering why he drafted a team that is completely on the disabled list. "Hey, at least [player]Nick Punto[/player] is healthy!" *throws up on floor* At the jukebox we find Jay Wrong playing “Mexican Radio” for the 23rd time. "I’m on a Mexican radio, whoa! I just picked up [player]Bobby LaFromboise[/player] on waivers!" *bottle smashes above head* New to the Razzball Lounge is stat-boy Dano and his big book of facts who we have strung up from the ceiling for some human piñata-style hazing. "Did you fellas know Babe Ruth’s career wOBA was .510?" *WHACK!* Coming out of the ladies room is the one and only Tehol Beddict clad in just his Sears poncho. "Hey, guys I’ve set up a cock fight out back." Tehol, where are the roosters? "Whaddya mean roosters?" And here at the pool table is your-humble-but-nontheless-guapo Guru. *adjusts turban, closes eye, aims cue, banks eight-ball off three rails, licks salt, downs tequila, sucks lime,* Viva la Jam or Cram!
Jack’s Hit of the Week: May the 4th Be With You
May 4, 2014 | Creeper of the Week | 31 Commentsby: J-FOH
What does [player]Juan Lagares[/player] have to do with this title? Not very much, but this day only comes around once a year, and I'm going to honor it by using it as the title of my post. I'm such a nerd that I still have my Star Wars lunch box from when I was a kid, and I ain't selling it. My inner-Jedi has been searching around to try and find a stop-gap who has the force flowing through them for the next week. Many of us need help in our lineups while we deal with injuries and non-performers. I own [player]Adam Eaton[/player],[player] Billy Hamilton[/player], and [player]Kole Calhoun[/player] in one league, and I'm in serious need of a bat right now that won't kill my team. If you were a diligent reader of the pre-season awesomeness here at Razzball, then you may own some of these players too. It's a predicament of Sarlaccian proportions and as we dodge asteroids in our Millennium Falcons, we need to find that bat to help us through this mess.
A title in tribute to my indie rock/emo wife, whose compact disc collection of bands I've never heard of almost matches my collection of baseball players she's never heard of. [player]Sonny Gray[/player] ($10,600) isn't necessarily one of the elite pitchers according to DraftKings prices this Sunday and Stream-O-Nator doesn't care for the start, so this pick is kind of a wild hare from the depths of Mike's mind. It's hard not to like what Sonny Gray has done already this season with a K/9 of 8+, a BB/9 just north of 3.00, and a 54% groundball rate. He'll need that groundball rate today as the wind is blowing hard out to right field at Fenway. Aside from that, the road start against the Red Sox doesn't scare me since Gray has actually pitched better away from the Coliseum this year. Let's hope the pick pans out, or I'll be putting on my black eyeliner and heading for the nearest mall with the emo kids.
As always, take advantage of the great tools we have at our disposal here at Razzball. The Hitter-Tron and Stream-O-Nator are particularly useful for daily fantasy. I'm partial to stolen bases thanks to my regular column here, so I'm going to pimp another tool called SB Rates vs. SP. It allows you to see how pitchers fare historically in terms of stolen bases allowed. I think it's worth mentioning given there is a big points swing between a successful steal and a caught stealing. If you're new to the site, you can start an account using our DraftKings link. Last but not least, I'm running another 5-man contest (FREE) today so you can check on my lineup. We'll have a special guest from Razzball in the contest as well. Hint: He wears a turban. Here's some other picks for today's DraftKings contests...
Minor Accomplishments — Week 5
May 4, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 100 Commentsby: Scott Evans
On occasion, it works out where a notable prospect gets called-up to the bigs during the weekend, allowing me to post some notes on him before Grey gets the opportunity. That happens to be the case today, as LA has summoned 1B prospect, [player]C.J. Cron[/player], to the big club. Of course, when it's me providing the spin on a call-up like this, we miss out on Grey's clever wordplay in the title. Something like, "Angels Finally Embrace Pot Legalization, Will Roll with Cron(ic)" seems sufficient. In any case, Cron can mash. He established his power potential in 2012 at High-A, hitting 27 homers in 129 games. Then last season, he followed that effort with a puzzling 14 HR year at Double-A Arkansas, causing many to cool at the idea of Cron as an everyday 1B at the highest level. The pop appears to have returned in 2014, though: Through 28 games at Triple-A Salt Lake, Cron slugged .602 with 6 HR. At least for the short-term, there's opportunity for the 24-year-old to earn regular plate appearances from the middle of the LA order. The upside in his stick is worth the gamble in deep leagues, especially if you're hurting at CI.
Two-Startapalooza: Week 6
May 3, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 62 Commentsby: Pete Nice
As always, probable pitchers are subject to change. For a look at all fantasy baseball streamers, click this link.
When did pitchers become such complete morons?
[player]Michael Pineda[/player]’s pine tar party is way old news now, but let’s just go back and revisit what was truly dumb about it: It’s not that he tried to use pine tar, it’s that he tried to hide it on his neck!
Last week’s dummy was [player]Matt Cain[/player]. Apparently, he read some of the scouting reports that said his 2013 was a tale of two-halves, which might have given him the idea to make a sandwich in the Giants’ clubhouse before the team’s game last Tuesday against the Padres. Whoops! Cain sliced his index finger instead of a tomato, or whatever, and had to be scratched. It’s not dumb that Cain wanted to have a sandwich on game day. It’s idiotic that he had to make one himself. Don’t they bring in catering before the game? Why are they making their own sandwiches? Aren’t these guys pampered millionaires?
There is an actual fantasy point here. What made Cain’s first half of 2013 so rough is that he was giving up dongs despite his ability to keep the ball in the yard throughout his career. This year he’s yielded five homers, which is up among the league leaders, but not horrid. The sandwich debacle hurts because Cain needed to bounce back strong after a poop-fest in Colorado that followed two quality starts in losses.
The good news is he has two starts in pitcher friendly parks this week (PNC Park and Dodger Stadium). The bad news is that damn cut kept opening up last week when Cain tried to throw. What if it flies open in Pittsburgh and someone mistakes the blood for ketchup and slathers it on their Primanti Bros. sandwich?
Dumber things have happened. Like, say, messing around with a knife before you start a major league game …
… and some of these two-start pitcher rankings. Enjoy!
