Mike Montgomery ($10,800) is finally getting his chance in the rotation after being in the hybrid role of starter and reliever. He has a great matchup tonight versus the San Diego Padres as they rank dead last in hitting against LHP (.215 AVG .613OPS). They also rank in the top three in strike outs so Montgomery should be able to feast on the weak hitting line up. We also have Chris Sale ($25,600) on the slate and he has a fantastic matchup vs. the Kansas City Royals. He is very expensive but with Montgomery's low price, he is very affordable and you can still mix in some quality bats. Lets take a look at the picks...right after the editor comes in and steals my thunder. [EDITOR'S NOTE]: Sorry bro, we didn't get a chance to play last week so I definitely have to hop in and give the Razzball Listener's League link care of FantasyDraft. Five bucks per person, twenty people may play but only five can win. Welcome to Thunderdome, beechnuts! Now back to the writeup...
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Monthly Archives: June 2017
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Fantasy Baseball Podcast: The State of Fantasy Baseball Writing
June 20, 2017 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 52 Commentsby: Halp
Grey Albright (fake name) and Michael Halpern (real name) kick things off by discussing Brandon Funston’s split with Yahoo, and what this says about the Fantasy Baseball industry as a whole. I then get Grey’s opinion on the Francis Martes vs. Derek Fisher Twitter debate that Mike Maher started between myself, Ralph Lifshitz, and Chris Towers of CBS (Towers takes the early lead with news of Fisher's demotion), before moving on to discuss Gleyber Torres’ season ending elbow injury, Madison Bumgarner’s current trade value, and how much you can trust AJ Pollock to remain healthy upon his return. Finally, we both get excited for the return of the Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest, so make sure to sign up and get in on the action. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Baltimore Had The Bundy But Kluber Brought The King Kong
June 20, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 456 Commentsby: Grey
Since Corey Kluber returned from the DL, he's been lights out. Then lights on. Then off. On. Off! Nothing but glow sticks. The sweet smell of body odor, ganja and herbal ecstasy rises. An Asian man with pigtails walks by with a Red Bull and you see he's wearing a diaper that reads "Change me." And...the...music...DROPS! What? He is a Kluber. Yesterday, he went 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, lowering his ERA to 3.58. Shin-Soo Choo-Choo, next stop 3.25! Kluber has had some great years, says Private Obvious. "You'll never replace me!" says Captain Obvious. Kluber's great years are looking up at this season's peripherals thus far. He has his highest K/9 (11) and his best xFIP (2.98) since his Cy Young year, which happens to be the fifth best xFIP in the majors before Clayton Kershaw. I'd guess Kluber comes up short of his Cy Young season's 2.44 ERA, but there's little reason why he can't be a top five starter for the rest of the season. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
From the land of Pilgrims, Cranberries, Sachems, and Ocean Spray, it's Middleborough, Massachusetts' own Sean Newcomb. A true Masshole through and through, over the course of his time in the minors, he's refused to throw strikes with any regularity. This all changed last week, as Newcomb crushed two XL Great One's from Dunks, and a marble cruller, before crushing the souls of the Mets. I've long followed Newcomb's career dating back to his high school days at Middleborough. As he's the rare professional sports product from my corner of the world. After some ups and downs, mostly due to control, or lack there of. Newcomb made his triumphant major league debut a little over a week ago, and in the process looked phenomenal. Flashing control and command he never possessed before. So today, we dig into the second start from the young lefty, at home vs Miami, and Giancarlo. A tough task for the rookie... Oh yeah, then we rank some pitchers.
Every year, there are surprises in fantasy baseball. Some players come out of nowhere and breakout or, in the case of Aaron Judge, absolutely dominate. Other players regress after a breakout season the year before. There are even the players who have long track records of mediocrity who, all of sudden, appear to have figured something out en route to becoming legitimate contributors both in fantasy and in, you know, real baseball. I like to call these players Justin Smoak-Logan Morrison-Yonder Alonso. The more popular terms among Razzballers for these players are Schmohawks and Hot Schmotatos.
So loyal readers of mine are probably thinking - why the switch to Monday, and why the switch to FantasyDraft? Well, simply, the editors asked me to, and I said yes. Now, FantasyDraft and FanDuel have a lot of differences in gameplay, but one of those differences far outweighs all the other ones - the use of a second pitcher in your lineups. All the other differences are cosmetic.
Therefore, it makes more sense for those new to FantasyDraft to compare it to other two-pitcher sites - such as DraftKings. And when you look at it, the two sites are very similar in scoring systems and in salaries (FantasyDraft is almost always double DraftKings, with a few exceptions for what I like to call “pricing buckets”). But there is one major difference between FantasyDraft and DraftKings/FanDuel/most other DFS site that I know of - positional requirements. FantasyDraft requires you to have 3 Infielders, 3 outfielders, and 2 utility players. You do not need to roster a shortstop specifically - you can have Thames, Goldschmidt and Rizzo in a lineup, or for that matter, you could have a lineup of Alcides Escobar, Andrelton Simmons and J.T. Riddle (in which case, send me your FantasyDraft screen name so I can challenge you to a h2h match).
FantasyDraft’s different roster requirements, flexibility and pricing buckets can create a whole host of issues, but there is one noticeable consequence that pops up frequently and it has to do with being able to roster several outfield punts and not have to use punts (or pay up for subpar high end) at very weak positions. For the most part, value plays on DraftKings at every position except outfield are the glove-first, bat-second (or glove-first bat-never) players. Only in the outfield do you get value plays who actually can hit - Gregory Polanco and Billy Hamilton are both very affordable (and yes, I know Billy Hamilton can’t hit, but if you’re reading a DFS article, you know that stolen bases are important). Just to illustrate my point - today, Alcides Escobar is $6,000 and Gregory Polanco is $6,800. There is not a single scenario that does not involve Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale where I would voluntarily play Alcides Escobar over Gregory Polanco were it not for positional requirements.
More on this and today's picks once I find a reason to play Alcides Escobar on Fantasy Draft…
New to Fantasy Draft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
Nelson Makes Nelfather Proud On His Day
June 19, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 522 Commentsby: Grey
Happy Father's Day to all but five of our readers. I am not a father, but I have a dog I ignore most of the time, then play catch with after my wife tells me to, so, technically, I am a father too. For Father's Day, I went to see the Tupac movie, and to misquote him, "Back for a check, all respect to those who broke their neck to keep this movie in check, cause oh they made some mistakes with this movie majorly, damn, why does Jada keep paging me?" I should've taken Cougs to see Wonder Woman, but I was afraid it would empower her. One last note on Pop's Day, MLB has pink bats for Mother's Day, so they should have penis-shaped bats for Father's Day. Yesterday, Jimmy Nelson looked like he should be getting dogged by Jada Pinkett for keeping it too real -- 9 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.39. His peripherals are right there to match -- 9 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 3.52 xFIP with the velocity to back it up, and, if you throw out April, his ERA would be near 2.50 with an xFIP to match. The major change -- excuse me, not change -- the curve is his major key. Hat tip to Lance and his Jimmy Nelson fantasy. The crux of that is you should own Nelson and stop cruxifying him, and the crux of this is I don't know how to spell crucify. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Fool Me Once? Shame On You. Fool Me Twice? Joc Pederson
June 18, 2017 | Uncategorized | 13 Commentsby: Lance
I'm not afraid to admit that I owned Joc Pederson on four of my five most coveted teams heading into the 2017 fantasy baseball season. Stacking my various squads with a player I believed in the skill set of was much easier for me to stomach given the 16th round price tag and rumblings that Dave Roberts would give him a chance to play everyday. After ripping an Opening Day grand slam and tallying five RBI, Pederson went into hibernation. 48 straight days without a home run and 48 nights where I went to bed convinced another stretch of dominance was just around the corner. Instead, the last few months have brought Pederson owner's multiple DL stints and as many homers as Joe Panik.
So how on earth do I find myself back at square one, staring at the green add button in ESPN leagues, and wondering why I torment myself with such decisions?
It's Father's Day weekend, y'all! Get out and watch some baseball with your dad! Or if yours is like mine, they don't like baseball at all. I bet my dad couldn't name Mike Trout. So for me, I have to go back one generation as it was my grandfathers who got me into baseball. One, a diehard Cubs fan. The other, a diehard Royals fan (with a place in Tampa so I've seen way more (Devil) Ray games than I'd like to admit, though...I guess I just did, so just don't tell anybody, okay?). They took me to games as a kid and I was lucky enough to get to take them both to games as an adult.
I love that I still get to talk baseball with my Royals grandfather (as the Cubs grandfather has passed) who was so pumped they won in 2015 and then the Cubs won last year; it's really been a good last couple years for my family's baseball teams. So thank those people who got you into the game (especially if its your dad/grandad on Sunday), invite them to a game, be it the majors, minors, or even beer league softball, and celebrate!
Top OPS past 14 days (min 35 ABs as of this writing):
Happy Father’s Day to all Yu dads out there and all Yu dads that don’t know Yu are a dad. Today’s article is being brought to you by Yu Darvish ($23,400). Darvish is not the best pitcher on the board today however he comes in $2,600 cheaper than Robbie Ray. If you can afford to put Ray in your lineups today go ahead and do so. Alright, Darvish takes the mound against a struggling Mariners offense. My confidence in Darvish really stems from his outing earlier this week. He looked flawless against the Astros which is arguably the best offense if you take away the park factor. He’s going to need more than 4 k’s today if he’s going to meet his value. My only concern is that Yu is pitching at home where he sports at 3.30 ERA. DFSBot has Darvish as the 3rd best pitcher today and is projected 6.6 k’s. There have only been 2 out of 14 starts where he didn’t make it to 6 innings this season. Darvish is extremely conservative with his pitches which is why he’s successful on the mound. Get him in your lineups today and hopefully he logs 7+ k’s today.
New to FantasyDraft ? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
Around 7 PM yesterday evening, in a clear case of ominous foreshadowing, and bad juju. I added Gleyber in several RCL leagues. With his recent AAA numbers, I figured gotta pounce now. But of course, almost simultaneously in Buffalo, just as I add him, the real Gleyber Torres was sliding into home, head first, and hyper-extending his left elbow. Oh yeah, and it was in the process of being thrown out. Because of course it was. It's a curse, some sort of bad luck butterfly effect I have here in 2017. What can I say? Such a shame my curse had to crush this potential star in the making. And trust me I sincerely believe that Gleyber Torres is just that. Prior to Saturday's home plate incident, the Yankees top prospect seemed headed for a call-up within weeks. This is all obviously up in the air now, but the X-Rays were negative, and he's going to be further evaluated on Monday. It's tough knowing which direction to go when a situation is still developing. A lot could change, but there's still a possibility it's nothing, and he misses a couple games. I'd look to be stashing him again if that's the case come game locks on Thursday. Let's all hold hands, and pray for Gleyber's safe return into the lineup. Do it for your boy Ralph, do it for all the father's out there looking for middle infield help, do it for America, sick orphans, organ donors, brewmasters, iron workers, beautiful strippers, doctors who do breast enlargement, and the guy who's happy as hell shining shoes. These people want Gleyber! No! These people need GLEYBER!!! Let's go do some MiLB!!!!
Another week, another Clayton Kershaw start pushed to Monday. At least this week they moved the start before I wrote and submitted this article. If they move it again Saturday morning, then I will be convinced that Dave Roberts is just doing this to troll me every week. As of now, he is your top two-start starter for Week 12. He might even deserve his own tier.
For Week 12, there aren’t a ton of attractive options after our first two tiers. In previous weeks, we have had middle-of-the-road arms with some good peripherals or some recent success that were available in the majority of leagues. This week, though, I’m not crazy about any of the starters on this list that are going to be available in most leagues. Just look at the numbers in the chart below.
