Yesterday, was the first time the Cubs have won 100 games since 1935. Though, in 1994, the Cubs were so gonna win the final 49 games if the strike didn't happen, giving them 98 wins, then two losses were going to go under review and get reversed. What? My crystal ball is very specific. Why don't you people believe me? Kidding, I know you believe me because I can see you in my crystal ball. Put on some pants that don't have an elastic band, would you please! Kyle Hendricks (6 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners (0 walks), 5 Ks, ERA down to 1.99) did his usual magic. I say let him sit out his final start so he can end the year with a minus-2 ERA, and I bet the Cubs say the same thing as me. Know why? I have the best words. People love my words. No one has words like me. Carrying them offensively was Javier Baez (2-for-5, 6 RBIs and his 14th homer). Whenever Hendricks grooves, Baez seems to play himself a little ditty, too. Must be their Woodstock connection. If Joan Baez didn't perform at Woodstock, don't tell me, for folk's sake. Baez is going to be a tough nut to peg (totally a saying) for 2017 fantasy. He's made great strides with his strikeouts. Looks like an easy bet for a 17/17 season if he were to play every day, but 17/17 is just a tad boring compared to 20/20. By the way, Tad Boring never gets any dates on Tinder. Also, we're not sure if Baez will have an everyday job. Cubs' playing time can be Maddon'ing. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
See all of today’s starting lineups
| # |
|
ARI | ATL | BOS | CHC | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | MIA | MIL | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TEX | WSH | ATH | BAL | CHW | CIN | LAD | MIN | OAK | TB | TOR |
As this is our final Monday of the regular season, I was about to go out all silly with the last Pitcher Profile of the season, but the pitching world - and the sports world as a whole - woke up Sunday morning to the news of the heartbreaking passing of Jose Fernandez. The young phenom was such a pleasure to watch; not only for his youthful exuberance, but his pure pitching stuff seemed to somehow reflect that personality. Monster fastball, video game slider, and he could hit the ball too! Fantasy, and well sports in general, brings people together in the sense that we can just share something intangible - the spirit of a team, momentum of a game, the thrill of winning... Or just experiencing, together, the personality of one of the game's greats. So instead of merely reflecting on a life taken from us too soon, I felt we should take this slice of time we spend together talking about pitching/fantasy baseball/sports and celebrate Jose Fernandez with a pitcher profile on his last start. Unsurprisingly, it was another absolute gem. Here's how JoFer looked the final game he toed the rubber:
On Saturday, we closed down the Holds store, although will still field some inventory questions that some may have. Today is the last day only for my weekly advisory role in the cheap saves/steals-AGNOF type stuff. This year was fun doing this post, it incorporated something I already covered here at Razznation and mixed it with some track and field with bats. This year, I covered everything from the decline of stolen bases as a whole stat, the decline of the elusive fantasy 20/20 players, pitching metrics of stolen bases allowed, and even some catching metrics. Wrap all that up and after I am done patting myself on my own back with my baby T-rex arms, I think I did an okay job for someone thrown to the fantasy wolves of conveying good info. Some will disagree, others will hide in the shadows with their slings and arrows, but I am satisfied. I stole Grey's journal and he said it on three separate occasions that he thinks my penmanship in regards to SAGNOF is worthy of a cookie or something like that. I was too teary eyed to actually read it. So with just over one week to play, it is an "all hands on deck" affair for saves, stolen bases, or hell, even at-bats from non contending teams. So when searching for moves to make and not make use the first instinct and ignore the other rules like don't get high on you're own supply stuff. You know the Biggie song, so just ignore those and go with common sense. As always, it has been my pleasure and good luck the last week of the year. Cheers!
Growing up my Dad always talked about how great of a player Thurman Munson was and of course I never questioned it, because my Dad was the ultimate authority on all things sports. According to my Dad, he was one of the best catchers to ever play the game, he played it the way it was meant to be played. He was the epitome of a Captain/Catcher, hard nosed, full of grit, determination, above all he played the game with an immeasurable heart and passion. On August 22nd, 1979 we lost one of the greats in his prime and yesterday our baseball generation suffered a similar loss with the passing of
Jose Fernandez. JFer was an intense competitor, he was the spark that ignited everyone around him, he played the game with that contraversial Cuban attitude and in my opinion he truly loved the game of baseball. He was the type of player you either loved or loved to hate, there was no in between when it came to JFer. I'm sure there's a number of old school baseball critics that didn't appreciate his playing style, but shame on them, because he was one of the brightest young stars to play the game. Whether he was on the mound striking out hitters in bunches, chirping at opponents on the bench while he was rehabbing or showing off that
Cuban flair while rounding the bases, JFer was electric! JFer's competitive fire burned so hot that he immediately became must watch TV anytime he was playing and he was an absolute Beast in DK when he was
toeing the mound at home. He's truly going to be missed in every aspect of the game and I hope that one day I can speak about Jose Fernandez in the same manner my dad spoke about Thurman Munson. Rest In Peace Jose D Fernandez you were one of the good one's, you're what every young Cuban baseball player should aspire to be on the field and more importantly off the field, in the game of life. In honor of JFer I'm skipping the DraftKings games tonight and I'll be making a donation to
ALS as he was a big supporter during his time as a Miami Marlin. I wish I had the right words to describe this loss to the baseball community, but unfortunately I'd be lying to myself if I could justify losing this Flamethrower.
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. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.
Editor's Note: As an aside, there'll be no picks for today. We at Razzball take our fantasy world seriously, but we are feeling that loss of J-Fer pretty big. We'll be back at it tomorrow, thank you for reading and for your understanding.
On Sunday morning, I woke around 8 AM to read a text from Rudy saying, "Awful news, Jose Fernandez was killed in a boating accident." I put on my glasses, no time for contacts, and turned on the TV. It was still on Fox Sports West because I was watching Vin Scully tributes all weekend. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports was playing Anglers Chronicles, a fishing show, which is wrong in so many ways. After switching the stations, groggy-eyed and still half asleep, I realized TV was not the place anymore to go for breaking news. I shut it off and turned to the internet. I'm still piecing together my thoughts. He was 24 years old, even if he never played baseball this is a horrible loss of life. I'm reminded of all the friends I lost to motorcycles in their twenties. I'm struck by how inconsequential fantasy feels. There's a giant pit in my stomach. Then, I think about how I never saw Jose Fernandez not smiling. Not having fun. I think about how on that boat, Saturday evening, you know Jose Fernandez was having a great time, because he was always having a great time. That exuberance came through in everything he did. I think about how he spent time in prison after one of his numerous failed attempts of escaping Cuba, and how, even then, he was likely making fellow inmates smile. How the excellence he brought to the mound every fifth day was felt all the way back in Cuba to raise up even the darkest corners of Cuba's prisons. "That was us. That is us," the inmates, who are still incarcerated for trying to escape, likely said. How baseball does that. How special that is. You see what you're going to see in tragedy, but I see Jose Fernandez pitching, and baseball, and making himself and others smile. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
ONE. MORE. TIME. And to avert the risk of sounding like JB's EDM music when Joe Ross gets mentioned in the podcast, I'll just leave at that rather than continue on.
WE'RE GONNA CELEBRATE... But for real, we could celebrate, because it's CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK! If you're still reading this series all the way to Week 26 it's because you mastered your league standings well enough to either throw down in flavor town, I mean title town, with another owner, or you're battling for the final few points in roto. Well done, fantasy chaps. Well freaking done.
Now, since there is just one final two-start pitcher entry for the 2016 series, we'll keep it
to the max by cutting through the fluff puff piece at the start and cut to the chase. It's the Championship, after all, so you're likelycjust riding your stable of thoroughbreds that got you here. You know, like Max Scherzer. Get it? To the MAX? Ha, had to try one last time. But you knew to throw him; however, if you're in need of a SP pickup for the final dance, stick to the highest tiers only. Think of it as confidence tiers for all the marbles. Let me say it this way: don't effing touch the bottom tier. Just stay away. Period. No need for questions or comments...don't risk your entire season on one of those guys. Done.
Now for the rest, there are some wonderful two-start pitchers for this 2016 swan song. Here’s how the rest of the pitchers stack up for Week 26!
At this point, points leagues should be over or wrapping up today (Sunday). I hate when fantasy leagues carry on into the last weeks of the MLB season and teams are handicapped when their players, usually pitchers, are shut down. In my main points league the World Series ended with week 22. No championship should be decided because one team lost its ace because he had reached his innings limit. Although there are some that will contend that is all part of the package when you roster said player. After all the Nationals did shut down Strasburg in 2012. Regardless, it is now week 25, sh!t or get off the pot!
Now that the points leagues season is over, at least as far as I am concerned, I have decided to announce my 2016 Points League Awards. Television has the Emmys. Broadway has the Tonys. Movies have the Oscars. Music has the Grammys. And points leagues have the Malamoneys.
Just a quick explanation. The "Best" category is awarded to the best overall player at a position. The "MVP" award considers other factors such as average draft position and position eligibility into its equation.
Well look who's here...Yep, I'm talking to you. It's Sunday and we're both building daily baseball lineups while everyone else is in a fever pitch about the NFL. You know what? I'm more than okay with that. We can start our own support group on Sundays. You know, just the handful of us left that still care about the best game on Earth. We can also talk about how distressed we are about Brad and Angelina. Your choice, really. I'm open to discussing anything. I need friends actually. Like real friends, not the internet kind. At least that's what my therapist (Mom) tells me every morning. So hit me up on Myspace and we can hangout sometime. Anyway, let's get back on track. I'm going big with pitching today and by big I'm talking about the Astros 6'5", 238 lb strapping right-hander -
Joe Musgrove. At first glance you're probably saying "Honcho...The Angels don't strike out enough?!" True, they're a high-contact team, but they're below league average in just about every other category. Over the last 14 days, they've been impossibly inept. How bad you ask? Well, they're hitting just .219 with a .296 OBP and they've produced a .323 slugging percentage. That's bad. On top of that heaping mess Mike Sciosia's bunch has put up a .274 wOBA and 73 wRC+. That's gross. I'm not worried about the lack of Ks either - mainly due to the respectable 8.35 K/9 Musgrove's produced thus far. Add in the fact that he's allowed three or fewer runs in each of his past three starts and he owns a nifty 51:16 K:BB in 55 innings this year and we have the makings of a sneaky starter. Oh yeah, he's only $7,100 today. So that helps. So there you have it, I'm with Musgrove. Here's a look at the rest of my suggestions for Sunday's slate:
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 Monday September 26th to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.
Each week over the next couple of months, I'll be profiling a few players that you need to own in all of your dynasty leagues. Wait, did I just more or less repeat the title in the first sentence? I think I did. I must be really trying to drive the point home, eh? Well of course, I mean after all, what's the point of reading along if you don't want to be brow beaten with points. Amirite? You're here to spend your coffee sipping hours on Sunday morning with your old buddy Ralphie. I'm like a dynasty/prospector Charles Osgood, but with less joker face, like a lot less...Now that the space filling mumbo jumbo is out of the way, let's get into the crux of the matter at hand. We're going to look at four players each week. One major leaguer I feel you can get on the cheap compared to where I see his value. A top 100 type bat that I just need to own. A pitching prospect with some upside you won't pay through the nose for. Then we'll touch on a young low minors player you can snag in the later rounds of your 18-30 team dynasty league's first year player draft.
Mets outfielder [player]Michael Conforto[/player] was 2-for-3 last night, scoring two runs with his 12th home run, and three RBI. Could this be the start of something big? Who's Conforto, you ask? Lol, you pleb--Don’t you know anything? He's just an uber prospect for the New York Mets. *Sips cold brew coffee, adjust horn rimmed glasses, strokes beard* Sigh. You’ve probably never heard of him. Have I mentioned he's the hipster's favorite player? Do I really have to mention that? The man hit .365 with four homers, 11 doubles and 18 RBI in April, then completely fell of the planet. He was busy working on his documentary film/visual novel/app for dogs. Sitting in an abandoned warehouse turned secret speakeasy/corn hole arena/craft cider house/live-bluegrass music cafe, I sip my gluten-free organic cold brew coffee (cage-free beans, obv) and curl my finely waxed mustache, pondering what life would be like with a fantasy baseball championship. I put down my Gabriel García Márquez book (I only read South American novelists), let my hair free out of its man-bun, and realize that Michael Conforto could be the key to everything. All that magical realism is really paying off! Sure, he struggled mightily all year, and sure, Jay Bruce threatens to steal some of his playing time. But Bruce is also 2-for-31 (.065 BA) in the past two weeks, and Conforto's got all the upside. If I were you, and I'm not, because I'm obviously way hipper than you, I'd grab Michael Conforto, who's available in about 90% of fantasy leagues, before he gets hot. In fact, this could only make you cooler because when he does finally break out, that means you picked him up before he was cool. And there’s nothing cooler than that!
Here's what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Tonight should make for a fun decision on pitchers, and by fun I mean, un-fun. There’s the big two of Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw
followed by a mass of mediocrity. The gap between these two and the rest of the field is pretty enormous. I’m tempted to pay up for both of the studs and pay for certainty they bring to the table. Paying up for pitching is nice for cash games, but I’m even considering this strategy for GPPs as well. With bad pitchers, bad match-ups and pitch counts abounding I don’t think I can pinpoint two lesser starters to get behind. It’s not worth it to risk tanking my roster trying to dig for pitching value tonight. It’s not easy to spend that much on hitting and come up with a great roster. People don’t like things that aren’t easy, therefore, the double aces might just be the contrarian play. My advice is to pay the $13,400 for Bumgarner (@SD) and $12,800 for Kershaw (vs. COL) and dig for value hitters. Don’t worry, I’m here to make that digging a little easier for you. Consider me your designated shoveler. Let’s take a look at what we can uncover for tonight:
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 Monday September 26th to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. Wanna know what the best part is about signing up with us? The free subscription for the rest of the season to our DFSBot, that’s what! For details on the how to, please visit our Razzball Subscriptions page.
With the season winding down and most H2H leagues in full-on go mode, this week's holds post will be the last one of the year. I know, so sad, right? It has been a 25-week journey into the pits and pendulums that are fantasy bullpens. But with the conclusion, it is always good to look ahead to next year for everyone in keeper, dynasty or just anyone looking to get a jump on next year now. I mean, I never stop really doing bullpen research all year, I drink one can of beer at a time and then look to the bottom of the can to see if the answer or answers are printed on the bottom. Alas, I haven't found one yet, but that won't stop me from trying again and again in my ever search for bullpen enlightenment. Things to look for late in the year for future bullpen potential; high leverage usage, a great success with stranded runners and a great situational involvement in that teams bullpen moving forward. Just a P.S., those are the things I give you with every bullpen piece in my helpful chart. Yes that last one is tough because we never know who will be traded and add or subtract value from another, but great bullpen arms on one team with potential for holds, saves and just overall decent fantasy return are very rarely ever traded and don't return to same spot with new team. So put your feet up, I have 10 more beers left before this post is done...
Page 2 of 10«12345...10...»Last »
