Dodgers lefty Rich Hill gets an enticing matchup at home against the DBacks on Thursday, making him a valuable play on FanDuel. In his last three starts, Hill has been the dominant pitcher that we came to know last year, striking out 26 batters in 19 innings with just six walks and a 1.89 ERA. The Diamondbacks might seem like a scary opponent, but when they're away from their home ballpark, they've got just a .299 wOBA, which ranks them 26th in the league. Furthermore, they struggle mightily against left-handed pitching, with a .289 wOBA against southpaws, as well as a 25.3% K-rate. So on the road against a lefty, the Diamondbacks are actually among the worst lineups in baseball. With Rich Hill pitching his ass off, $8,700 is an outstanding price for his upcoming outing. Just hope there's no blisters.
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Monthly Archives: July 2017
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Origin Story Alert! In the Roppongi district of Japan, which sits between Chichibunomiya and Akabanebashi, lives a puppeteer named Goshi. For his entire life, Goshi worked in the medium of strings and miniature clothes. Sometimes, due to all the opium he smokes, he'll forget where he left off one day and start new the next day. Due to a three-year process of forgetting and starting anew, he accidentally built a puppet that was 75-feet tall and named it Marcell Ozuna. The puppet simply went by the name, OZUNA. Elsewhere in Japan, on holiday, Giancarlo Stanton arrived with his family and me in his suitcase (how I'm able to relay the story). Giancarlo was marveled at everywhere he went, due to sheer handsomeness and size. One Japanese man said of Giancarlo, "You are like Mt. Fiji of GLOW." OZUNA and Giancarlo remained on separate paths for many moons, until one faithful day when an explosion at a nuclear plant caused a giant lizard to emerge from the ocean. That lizard's name was Allahzilla, because it originated in the Middle East, according to scientists. Armed with merely bats, Giancarlo (3-for-4, 4 RBIs and his 22nd and 23rd homers) and OZUNA (2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 23rd homer) beat back Allahzilla and the Cardinals while freeing all of humanity, and fantasy. Thanks, heroes! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Here we are halfway through the season – still a small sample size of games in the grand scheme of things, but I’m finally willing to admit that some of this year’s most surprising breakout hitters may continue to help fantasy teams as the season progresses. Just looking at the All Star starting lineups, each team has several pretty huge surprises (unless you correctly predicted back in April that [player]Ryan Zimmerman[/player], [player]Zack Cozart[/player], [player]Justin Smoak[/player], and [player]Corey Dickerson[/player] would all be starting). In the outfield, I certainly didn’t see [player]Marcell Ozuna[/player] and [player]Aaron Judge[/player] getting the starting nod.
With all of these guys, I feel like the tendency from a fantasy perspective would be to sell high while you can, and avoid trading for them at all costs when their value is sky-high (and if you own any of them and you can, say, get a king’s ransom for Aaron Judge in a re-draft league, go for it). But if you find yourself on the other side, getting offered a guy like Ozuna by an owner who you suspect might be desperate to sell him when his value is as high as possible, making a deal to add a perceived over-performer may not be the craziest thing in the world.
Last year, I traded for [player]Daniel Murphy[/player] right around this time of year, even though I knew I was getting a player who was most likely at the peak of a career year. But I knew that even if his batting average came down substantially (amazingly, it didn’t) and the power evaporated somewhat (it did, to about the extent I expected), he would still be a huge asset to my team in terms of helping me in a couple categories that would, and did, lead me to gain a few points in the standings. It never feels good to buy high on a player, but I don't like to discount it as an option if I feel it might ultimately help my team over the long haul – especially in very deep leagues where you know the waiver wire pickings are always going to fall into the slim-to-none category. And speaking of slim pickings on the waiver wire, let’s get to some names who might be relevant in AL and NL-only leagues.
RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 13
July 5, 2017 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 12 Commentsby: MattTruss
Happy post-4th of July Razzball Commenter Leaguers! Is it odd that this is the only holiday we refer to by the date? Sure, it’s really "Independence Day", but no one calls it that. I suppose there is Cinco de Mayo, but that feels different. Just a random thought. This week not only marks the birthday of our fine U.S. of A., but more importantly, marks the halfway point of the fantasy baseball season! We just finished week 13 and there are exactly 13 weeks remaining. While we typically use the All Star Break to mark the unofficial halfway point, this week is the real deal. If you were exactly on pace with your games started, you would have 90 on the button. You can use that as a nice gauge to see if you need to be streaming your buns off the next 13 weeks or if you can chill out a bit and wait for the choice match-ups. This week, in addition to the weekly leaders we will take a look at our halfway point leaders. It will be a quick shoutout to those teams that have started hot in each of the roto categories. Obviously, our team of the halfway point is the leader of our Master Standings. Is it a human or is it a bot? Let’s take a look at that and the rest of the week that was week 13 in the Razzball Commenter Leagues:
The fastest answer to the title is that no, you can not just fix what Trea Turner was giving you and the lack thereof for the next few weeks. Dude was a man among spatulas. Twenty two steals in the month of June alone was more then four teams in the entire majors. For fantasy, he was the only person over 20 in the last 30 games, only person in double digits in the last 15, and now he will get you zero for the next, presumably, six weeks... So where do you turn? The answer is: I wish I knew, because the waiver wire is not going to give you that type of production. Trade? Sure, if you have the assets, or you can just plain ignore the stat. Interestingly enough is that if he is gone from the league, it kind of evens the playing field for steals across the board. Billy hasn't been Billy in some time, Dee is probably the most prestigious thief left right now is universally owned, and the waiver wire is littered with 2-3 steal guys every 10-game types. I am not saying that losing Trea Turner is a good thing... it is an excellent thing for everyone that doesn't own him. If you are the sad owner of him, replacing Turner is not the biggest need. In reality, you just need to maintain the fort ion the steals department. That's where me and this column come in. SAGNOF to your wildest content. The waivers are now your oyster at the SS, OF, or wherever you had TT employed. Moves a plenty should be made and don't be afraid to play match-ups versus catchers or pitchers or both. Luckily for you, I have supplied one after the bump. Happy post-Independence day. Cheers!
Someone, somewhere out there has to give me the 411 on where 'gravy train' came from and why it's an idiom for a lucrative endeavor that requires minimal effort. Was there ever a time where gravy was, in fact, a product hauled by train in a shipping container, perchance? Now that I think about it, we also have a gravy boat...how many possible vehicle mentions should a meat juice-based sauce be given? Where's my gravy helicopter, yo! But I digress...Jon Gray. He's only $6,400 today. Yes, he's $6,400 because he's pitching in Coors, but so what? Gray pitched in Coors for 83.2 IP last year and came away with a 21.9% K-BB ratio to go with a 3.07 xFIP. Remember the year Ubadlo Jimenez had way back in 2010 for the Rockies? Yes, it was a dandy but Gray's stuff could be considered even better as his control is just as impressive as his whiffs. His first start off the DL was in Arizona and all he did at Chase Field - a place deemed 'Coors lite' by many - was go 6 while striking out 10 and only walking 1. That's called 'impressive'. So back to that there train...hop on today and enjoy the strange idiomatic ride. But enough of that, let's talk about this. Here's my gravy trains, planes, and automobiles taeks for this Wednesday FD slate...
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Thankfully, I no longer do 4th of July like I used to, because when you have a holiday weekend that lasts five days, you will get alcohol poisoning if you go too hard, and the 4th is especially dangerous because: day drinking. At least with New Year's Eve, it's at night. The Fourth is lying on a discarded sofa on the side of a highway at 3 PM and being like, "The hum of 75 MPH cars is so peaceful, I go to sleep now," and waking up with a flashlight you mistake for a fleshlight and now you're a registered sex offender. Hopefully, none of that happened to any of you, well, maybe the fleshlight part, and you all had a safe holiday. Any hoo! Yesterday, Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 and his 15th and 16th homers as he hits .288. He found the Fountain of Youth sometime in May and has been a Zombino eating brain custard ever since. I'm still half expecting -- cting? -- McCutchen will resort to blah in the 2nd half, but it looks like I wrote off McCutchen before his sell-by date. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
First off, I want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Hopefully all of you are spending time with friends and family, enjoying the luxuries of living in this wonderful country. With that being said, lets all remember to set up our line ups in between trips to the cooler and the grill to stuff another hotdog. We have a full slate on this beautiful day and there are some solid pitching options available. Lets take a look at the picks...
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Controversy was a-brewin' in the fantasy sports world this weekend when Matt Berry called out a Fantasy Pros writer for copying his article idea. Grey weighed in on it on Twitter, and then we continue that conversation to start off this week’s podcast. After getting all of the drama out of the way, we dig deep into the fantasy baseball world, discussing the Trea Turner injury, Freddie Freeman and Aaron Sanchez’ impending returns, and Clint Frazier’s callup. We also try to find some hope in a group of falling aces (Cole Hamels, Jake Arrieta, and David Price), while getting excited by a group of young up and comers (Mike Clevinger, Jon Gray, Luis Severino, and Jose Berrios). Finally, I congratulate “nightpandas” on another hard fought Razzball Only FantasyDraft Contest victory (there will be no contest this week), and also implore you to head over to Rotowear to get 15% off their awesome shirts by entering promo code “SAGNOF.” It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Legit, this is longest July 4th weekend of all time. In 1776 on July 4th, Ben Franklin grabbed six ladies, and was like, "This will be better than Flag Day. We will call this Flagellation Day. Now twerk with a firework!" That lasted for three days until Ben yelled out an Astros' hitter last name and called for a volunteer fire department to put out his redness. Any hoo! Ian Desmond hit the DL with "I wanna rest for a few extra days before the break." It's an epidemic that is going around the majors right now. This especially sucks for those that had him in their weekly lineups because you're getting ziplock. But, for the rest of us, we got Raimel Tapia (3-for-4, 2 runs and his 2nd homer). Fun fact! He has a brother who drinks too much and can't control his lasciviousness. His name is Felasleepon Tapia. Raimel gets a huge boost in value with Desmond's DL stint. He's a grab for every league, especially if you need SAGNOF. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
How many of you remember the watershed 1993 film Dazed and Confused? In this coming of age saga, a young righty, with the flowing locks of Sampson himself, embarks on a journey that will change his life forever. It is in that film where we first meet Mike Clevinger. I could go on a lengthy diatribe about the film with the Indians righty supplanted as the protagonist, but I already did that a year and a half ago when I first introduced you to Mr. Clevinger. It's like I'm watching my kids grow up right before my eyes. Either way Clevinger is long haired and goofy just like Mitch from Dazed and Confused. Not to toot my own horn, but to totally toot my own horn, I called this developing breakout a year ago. The Indians acquired the former 2011 4th rounder from the Angels back in 2014 for pen arm Vinny Pestano. Since then it's been a classic Cleveland starter story, as the organization focused on bringing Clevinger along first as a pen arm, and now as a starter. With a 14.1% SwStr, and a 28.5% K%, there's some signs that Clevinger, in a season of disappointing starters, could be a diamond in the rough. Let's look under the hood, and then go pitch by pitch through his Sunday start vs. the division rival Detroit Tigers.
First Mike Trout and now our beloved Trea Turner (and a bunch in between, but we'll focus on baseball's young heartthrobs for the time being). The baseball Gods are clearly punishing us all for the use of juiced baseballs this season. Major League Baseball has denied any kind of change in the balls despite some mounting evidence, but I bet it is something that gets looked at and adjusted in the offseason. Which leads me to wonder whether this will be something we will be talking about come March...
