Oh man, what a Podcast we have for you today! This is easily our Pulitzer prize edition! On today's show we talk about some pitchers, some hitters, ya know, the fantasy thing, but this is all about our special guest Jose Canseco! With the green light to joke around with him and everything being on the table, Grey and I really dive deep into Canseco's media exploits and get to know the man, the myth, the legend. We easily put together one of the best interviews in Podcast history! Here's out latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast with Jose Canseco:
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Here's what I said this offseason, "Before watching the video on Lucas Giolito, I looked at his vitals. This is something I don’t usually do. Doesn’t really matter to me if a guy is six-foot-one or five-ten. But, dizzamn, Giolito is a strapping young man, huh? He’s listed at six-six and 230. He’s only 21 years old, but I think he’s done growing. Hopefully, cause his mom tells CBS Sports that his “feet already hang off the bed.” With a six-six frame, as you can imagine, he throws fast. (Christall Young is the exception that proves the rule, an idiom that never made any sense to me. If it’s an exception, how does it prove anything? It proves that there’s exceptions, but that’s about it, right? I’m gonna move on before my brain hurts in my thought-nodes.) Giolito hits 97 MPH on his fastball, which is actually up a tick from the previous year. If he keeps steadily increasing his fastball every year, by the time he’s 40 years old, he’s going to be throwing 117 MPH. He throws from nearly right over the top, so the ball fires downhill and hitters have about no chance of hitting it. A 9+ K/9 seems to be a given once he gets settled in the majors. With speed comes no control, to sound like a drunk Yoda. Or does it?! Snap, reversed on that. No, Giolito has control too. 97 MPH with command? I’ll say it for you, hummna-hummna. Oh, and his strikeout pitch is his hard breaking curve. In 20 years, Al Pacino could be playing the role of a Hall of Fame pitcher in the film, Giolito’s Way. Assuming Pacino has eighteen-inch stilettos. He could be special, and TMZ spotted Pacino shopping for eighteen-inch stilettos, so that could be a good sign." And that's me quoting me! He should be added in all leagues, like yesterday. To put just the tiniest bit of dampers in these happiness diapers, Kershaw had a 4.26 ERA his rookie year in 107 2/3 IP. Rookies give roofies and take your kidneys. Hashtag truth. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Ugh, ranking pitchers is so annoying sometimes! You like a guy, he sucks a little, you stop liking him, he then gets better... I'm changing this to monthly rankings here on out, dammit!
OK, rant over. Don't worry, I'll stick with the weekly ranks. But after buying into the Anthony DeSclafani hype in the pre-season, to taking him out of my ranks, to then rank him very aggressively when he got off the DL, only to see two meh starts including a rough one against the lowly Braves, and now DeSclafani is looking good again with that wicked slider has my panties bunchier than the chocolate in Buncha Crunch. I'm having a roller coaster of emotions! I feel like Yordano Ventura on the mound, I'm coming unhinged! I watched a good bit of DeSclafani's first start off the DL hosting the A's and he looked pretty good, but didn't give it my 100% undivided attention. I think for my own sanity I needed to take a look with how he pitched yesterday afternoon against the Padres, to finally have a decision on this guy... Here's how DeSclafani's fourth start on the year went down:
Honestly, it's getting tough pinpointing the Creeper of the Week every seven days at this point of the season. A lot of prospects haven't received the call to the bigs, and the post-draft sleepers are mostly snatched up as we approach July. But...we gotta just keep swimming, because when a prospect gets the call with a certain batting profile, it leads to some hopeful expectations. Success at AAA through the start of the season with an improved ISO, high walk rate, manageable K% (<15%) and track record of solid BABIP all project well to the major league level. You may be thinking, 'Oh, great...another column on A.J. Reed!' Haha, while he fully fits this profile, all four of
Ralph,
Dan,
Grey and I have each
highlighted him before (I was just a little early). And now with his call up this past weekend his ownership should likely jump well over 20% by the time you're reading this. But there's another who fits the profile. And, like Reed, got the call on Saturday.
- Brandon Nimmo, OF (4.0%) - You can keep your Dory, give me more Nimmo. While the theaters are swelling with hype for Disney/Pixar's latest masterpiece in the big sea, Finding Dory, it would behoove you to shift your attention to the rookie recently called up in the Big Apple. Go. Quick. Find Brandon Nimmo. Why? With the Mets outfield situation constantly in flux, and Michael Conforto being the most recent casualty now back in the minors (remember when he was ranked in the 60-70 range?!?), Nimmo finds himself looking at considerable at bats and a wonderful shot at sticking with the highest level. His ISO of .180 in AAA is serviceable, especially at 23 years old, and he was the 13th pick in 2001, so the pedigree is there. He slashed .328/.409/.508 through 287 at bats, and if he produces even a measure of that he'll garner a lot more attention in the coming weeks. My favorite piece of his profile, though, is the BB%. Moving from AA to AAA in 2015 his BB% doubled, as did his ISO. This year it sits at 11.6%, meaning that even without a high BABIP, he can get on base enough to bring some counting stats. He's still quite raw, but we've seen players like him come up with a huge burst, even if they tarry off as the season wears on. In need of a boost? Finding Nimmo may be a blockbuster for your lineup's lackluster trajectory. Or...he may not make it out of this week. Haha! He's definitely a name to watch, though. Optimistic projection: .275/30/6/25/10 in 300 ABs. (Waiting for Ralph to obliterate this projection now...)
Enough creepin’…Here are those Top 100 Hitters for Week 13!
In the world of fantasy, when players hit the rewind button and show flashes of brilliance from days gone by, the buy-in factor is sometimes slower than most waiver acquisitions. Well, enter B.J., Melvin, or Bossman Jr. Upton. Whichever name you want to use for him, he is quickly becoming a must own player and is pushing to be the SAGNOF waiver wire pick-up of the year. Currently, I think Eduardo Nunez is in that spot, wait, did I just say that and mean it? When all is said and done though, I think Melvin is the most likely to sustain his value and is on a 23HR/35SB pace. Had we known that in preseason, it would have put him in 2nd round draft range. But alas, he wasn't, and is still only owned in 43% of all ESPN leagues. His on-pace numbers are basically production wise to what we got from Charlie Blackmon last year. Blackmon, was of course, a top-30 player entering the season. The only problem holding Upton back is that he has been bad for a few years, in his favor though, is that he has been bad for a few years. What I mean by that is that I don't think he has much value to anyone but the Padres. He will play every day for an offense that is near the bottom in all categories, and doesn't appear to be a sell candidate for them at the deadline. So add away my friends, and happy SAGNOF'n this week. Here are some updates to the pitchers that are easiest to steal against and some waiver wire type blurbs for steal/save streaming...
Matt Shoemaker, $9,900, AKA The Cobbler, came out of no where and put up some Ace like numbers in the second half of 2014. He went 9-2, striking out 62 batters in 72 innings, all while posting a nice and tidy 1.87 ERA. I was one of the lucky ones that scooped him up and I road that train all the way to multiple Title Towns. In 2015 he was one Grey's preseason favorites and then he did his best Francisco Liriano impression, but seemingly nose dived 5 times harder. It was tough to watch as he still held a special place in my heart, just like Kris Medlen of 2012, Kendrys Morales and Dallas Keuchel circa 2015. Unfortunately, the long ball absolutely crippled The Cobbler last year, as he coughed up 24 HR's in just 134 innings of work. In May of 2015, I said my farewells to The Cobbler and bid him adieu. This year started out no different than 2015, as he had a terrible April posting a 9.15 ERA while giving up 6 HR in just 20 innings. With those type of numbers I figured he was going to get sent down to the minors, but the Angels pitching staff was so bad that they actually needed someone to eat up innings. Then halfway through May something magical happened. I can't explain it as there haven't been any injury reports, but I do have a theory. Late one May night, amid the thick Anaheim fog, the Disney Pixie's awoke from their two year slumber and visited The Cobbler, just like they did in 2014. They sprinkled him with some special Pixie Dust shizz and then he went out and pitched an absolute gem against a tough Baltimore offense going 7.1 innings with 12 K's and 0 ER. The mysterious missing magic was back in his next start vs Houston going 8.1 innings with 11 K's and 0 ER. He's returned to the circle of trust as he's been solid over his last 7 starts, striking out 62 in just 51.2 innings while posting a 2.11 ERA vs some strong AL opponents. I don't know how long the magic dust is going to last this time, but he's limiting the long ball and I like him tonight at home. He's facing a tough offensive Houston Astros team tonight, but they're also the number 3 in strikeouts vs RHP.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run today to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
On Saturday, Michael Conforto was demoted to the minors. Ouch. Not only did he fall far from preseason expectations, but he seemed to be breaking out in April. Coming out of April, he had 4 HRs and a .365 average. In May and June, he hit .169 and .119 and, finally, the Mets threw in the towel just as Conforto's head was bouncing on the canvas. Shame, isn't it? Not a shame, a product of not being able to hit. I'm sure he'll be back at some point, but you can drop him in all but the deepest dynasty leagues. In his place came, Brandon Nimmo. Okay, let's get them out of the way up front. The Mets are finding Nimmo in a sea of prospects. The Mets aren't finding Drury because he's on a different team. Is Nimmo the Mets' outfield fixar? That's a clown fish question, bro. Nimmo's minor league numbers look dynamite, but that's because he was playing in the PCL, which is like playing on the moon with an aluminum bat. He had five homers, five steals and a .331 average. That seems to be his profile more or let's be generous, maybe 10/15/.280. Sounds downright Lagaresque. Outside of deep mixed leagues and NL-Only, I'd ignore for now. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
My Spanish is more than rusty, so I apologize if I failed to offend you with my title. Actually I don't apologize. Now have I offended you? Who cares. I realize it should have been "Aquí Viene Ramos", but my way sounds much better. More Dr. Seuss if you will. I feel like it's time for some points league rankings. Who doesn't love rankings? The best part about writing this column is that if I feel like it's time for a rankings post, I write a rankings post. Who's gonna stop me. I guess Grey could, but if I fly in under the greydar, then I should be ok. Today's rankings are based 70 percent on year-to-date performance, 30 percent on rest of season projections and 10 percent on experimental formulas. Yes, I realize that adds up to 110 percent, but that's part of what makes it experimental.
I've never had the privilege of posting Sunday, so forgive as I couldn't resist the
Mega Monster Truck lead in. With truck names like Demon Seed, Ball Buster and Dutch Oven how can you not get fired up for Sunday! Now that we're fired up, let's talk about the Monster Arms that are on the schedule for today. Clayton Kershaw, $14,200 at Pittsburgh, Johnny Cueto, $13,600 vs Philadelphia, Jose Fernandez $13,100 vs Chicago, Chris Sale, $12,400 vs Toronto, and Justin Verlander, $10,700 vs Cleveland. Aces are wild today, so who do we roll with in order to cash in? Honestly you can't go wrong with any of the top 3, but I'm leaning towards Cueto & JFer, as I think most people will roster Kershaw and I love the match-ups at home. JFer has been straight nasty in his last 8 games, going 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA and 78 K's in just 54 innings. Yeah, he's back folks and he's facing a slumping Cubbies lineup that's dropped 5 of their last 6 games. Now that all the Aces have been dealt, who can we roster so we can go all in?
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday June 27th to wet your DK whistle. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
It's easy to get lost in the scouting reports and tool grades from a million different resources. Buying too heavily into projection over production. I get caught up in it too, I Prospector Ralph am no scout. I'm one part Hemmingway, one part James Frey, blended heavily with an overly-enthusiastic approach to minor leaguers. In other words I'm a really, really fun minor league enthusiast. Saturday night at the Lifshitz house is like The Tunnel in its hey day. Let me tell you! (
Queue the music, apply Timbos with the finest Polo swag) We have sleeping kids, lots of televised baseball, coffee, a baby named after a major leaguer learning to walk, then there's a ruggedly handsome, but slightly dim witted looking gentleman typing away on his phone and laptop. Feverishly switching screens between gulps of java. That's me and I'm combing through mounds of statistics and figuring out which ones I should report and which I should ignore. Why you ask? Well for this post where I look at 4-5+ of the minor league leaders in a handful of fantasy relevant categories. Most of it's age based bias, if the leader is 28 in a particular category but number 3 is 21, I'm taking that young meat. Blah, blah, blah, blah, let's get into it.
HEY! (I thought about just ending the intro right here. Ultimate mic drop moment. However, for the four people that enjoy reading this part - including my mother - I'll carry on. Note: My mother doesn't read about fantasy baseball.)
Whether it was just to get the attention of Norm McDonald or Colin Quinn, or subtly acted as a harbinger of the attention the Cubs would garner nearly two decades later, the hilarious announcement of 'HEY!' by Will Ferrell in character as Harry Caray could be a banner for the 2016 Cubbies. Hey! Pay attention! They're really freaking good (as you all are aware). And not going anywhere. Including this week.
I heard summers in Chicago were beautiful. Then I heard they were miserable. Whenever the wind isn't blowing off Lake Michigan Chicago turns into a stagnant city in desperate need of some fresh breath. Well, don't worry ChiTown, because for the final week in June and start of July your fresh breath is coming. The WINdy City will earn its name through the trio of Two-Start Pitchers that will take the mound. And yep, I'm even including the ugly step-child White Sox and their Ace so far this year (Gasp...but wait, Chris Sale isn't throwing twice this week!?! Uh huh, you're quite the observant one, aren't cha?) But even more than Jose Quintana, the Cubs Cy Young runners-up (no one is stopping Clayton Kershaw's path to winning the Iron Throne) headline the list of Two-Start options for Week 13. Get ready for more Harry Caray proclamations!
The Houston Astros top first base prospect, future MLB All-Star slash hall of famer and savior of my fantasy team, [player]A.J. Reed[/player], has finally been called up after several weeks of waiting. The 23-year old phenom was currently slashing a very modest .266/.345/.509 with 11 homers and 36 RBI in 59 games with AAA Fresno. Certainly nothing to sneeze at, but it's the fact that A.J. has hit safely in his past 8 games batting .372 with 14 hits, 3 homers, 3 doubles and 7 RBI in that stretch that makes me say, "aww yissss, thatswhatimtalkinabout!" You need more? What if I told you that A.J. Reed was one of the best hitters in the minors last year hitting .340/.432/.612 with 34 homers and 127 RBI between AA and AAA (135 games). Oh boy, now that is some POWER! All caps! Yessir, A.J.'s got a molly whopping home run stick and then some. Primed to hit the ding dongs! The one caveat, which is a French word for bad stuffs, is that A.J. has struggled mightily against lefties batting just .222 against them. This appears to be Houston's primary reason for delaying his call-up, and as a result I wouldn't be surprised to see Reed sit versus lefties in the early going. Regardlesss, irregahdless, irrecaveats, let's recap: A.J. Reed is finally here, he should get the majority of the playing time at first base, he has immense power upside and you should add him everywhere he's available. He's going to save my fantasy team and trust me I wouldn't have quoted Top Gun if I wasn't completely serious. This kid's gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Here's what else happened Friday night in fantasy baseball:
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