Valar morghulis. Who could predict that throwing over 150 innings every year since Felix Hernandez turned 18 would be dangerous? Oh, everyone? In pitcher years I’m pretty sure King Felix is 63 years old. Stash or Trash: Trash. He’s predicted to miss 3 or 4 weeks and I’d hate for you to stash Felix and miss your playoffs. This is the 3rd year in a row that Felix’s ERA has risen and it is now at the point where he should yield his "Mariners Ace" crown to the Kingslayer James Paxton. Fill In: [player]German Marquez[/player] (44.7%.) It’s time for everyone’s favorite game show: "What Are This Colorado Pitcher’s Splits?!” Home: 4.31; Away: 3.86. Actually not that bad! Marquez has allowed more than 3 runs in only 4 of his 18 starts this season including his last 5 starts being quality starts.
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Monthly Archives: August 2017
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Far out brussel sprout! Kevin Gausman with a 5.10 ERA? *cracks knuckles, puts on 'Danger Zone'* this could take a while... Okay really, you can break down Gausman's season into four chunky sized Manilla folders. First, there's April/May Gausman: 7.50 ERA, six home runs, innocent bystander in Red Sox kafuffle. June Gausman: 19 earned runs allowed, fantasy owners convulsing with hate. July Gausman: 45 strikeouts, serious trust issues. August Gausman: urge to add rising, "I told you he'd come good" from every armchair expert. Gausman starts today @ the Angels. Good call, he is one of my pitcher picks for today's slate ($9,100) and since the Angels have struggled against righties at times this year, there's no rhyme or reason why you shouldn't take full advantage of that discounted price tag. Here's who else I like for Wednesday's slate:
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Donaldson Recharged After Getting Calfinated
August 9, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 304 Commentsby: Grey
I'm going to break this down to you nice and simple like Minnie Pearl would've liked it. Guys that bust and you don't want next year, you should be rooting for in the 2nd half. That's guys that bust, not guys with a bust. Please, Billy Butler, stop pretending to lactate by dripping milk on your shirt. The reason you want them to succeed in August and September, because A) They're prolly on teams that have checked out and are checking on our fantasy football content (Football RCLs sign up today; smooth transition), so no harm, no foul. B) You want people to get excited about them next March because of their 2nd half, while you ignore them, because you know they're not good. Then the cycle starts again. They draft players that were good in the 2nd half, those players are not good in the 1st half next year, and they check out again. Rinse, repeat. C) There's no C. Yesterday, Josh Donaldson (2-for-4, 4 RBIs) hit his 14th and 15th homers, and has four homers this month. Here's to him helping all of those tenth place teams move up to ninth and exciting everyone again next year! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Bear or Bull: Joey “I Need Aluminum” Bats
August 8, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 12 Commentsby: Son
From 2010-2015, Jose Bautista was one of the best power hitters in the game. If not for injury, it's conceivable to think he could've had six consecutive 40+ home run seasons. For perspective, Babe Ruth has the record with seven seasons. The next two? Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. Things that make you go, hmmmmm. I'm not saying anything, but I just wrote something, so I am saying something without actually saying it. Hey! Look over there! Now that I've mind mind melded you, Bautista has a triple slash line of .215/.322/.383 with 17 home runs, 65 runs scored, 49 RBI, and five stolen bases for the 2017 season. What can we expect going forward? 
When it comes down to it at the end of the days, teals are steals and saves are saves. Doesn't matter how coyly they are obtained or if you are stealing from the waiver wire one day to only dump and chase the next. The big wheel of accumulation keeps turning. My near-the-end of the year strategy for closers is: I would rather chase on winning teams as the saves and chances are greater. Steals... not so much, it is the exact opposite almost as the "look what I can do" type players come more from them, especially with September call-ups and such. So to recap, saves for winners, stealing is for losers. I sound like an after-school special starring Judith Light. So now on to another loser, of the Philadelphia denomination... let us take a peek at the goodies that César Hernández is doing, and doing it fairly unnoticed. He is owned in less then 40% of the four-letter word leagues and has been tuning up most opponents lately. He is batting .379 with 10 runs scored and 6 steals in the last 15 games. He also has a 12-game hitting streak and a poodle that can walk on it's front paws. Why do I bring attention to César ? Because the middle infidel spot is always a good spot to find free-range steals. It turned Merrifield into a household name and it's the same place that Villar is still rostered in 70% of leagues. I can't ever explain everything, but I throw some deadly darts sometimes. Have at this week's SAGNOF do's and doh's...
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RCL Update, Week 18: The Week That Was
August 8, 2017 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 16 Commentsby: MattTruss
Happy trade deadline week RCLers. This is the final week you have to trade for some steals, saves, power or help out those pitching ratios with a big time name. It’s at this point in the season that you can really see some overpaying going on. Giancarlo for Ken Giles? Possibly. Aaron Judge for Billy Hamilton? It all depends on team needs and where the most points can be gained. Remember, there are no extra points for winning a category by 50. Take a look at the overall standings in your league and see where teams are bunched together. If there’s an opportunity to leap over multiple teams by taking a category by storm, make your move now. If you’re in second place right now, make that move for first, play to win, go out and make it happen. The Razzball Commenter League trading deadline is Friday, August 11, at noon Eastern. I expect there will be a flurry of activity to break down for next week’s update. For this week however, we have eleven trades to look at as well as a new overall leader, our former leader regaining his grasp on the top spot in the ‘Perts League and a new name making an appearance as the team of the week. Come read about all of this and more in the week that was, week 18 in the Razzball Commenter Leagues:
On a night were aces such Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Dallas Keuchel and even Jose Quintana in a great match-up are taking the mound ; it is key to be able to pair up one of those studs with a valuable streaming options. This way you can afford some quality bats to go with your top arm. One option that stands out to me is Ariel Miranda (12,900), the lefty has been inconsistent all year but has a great opportunity to produce tonight. Oakland A's are one of the worst hitting team against south paws, carrying a .236 AVG and .683 OPS. By no means is Miranda a safe bet but he has significant value in a great match-up. Oakland ranks in the bottom ten in runs scored and are in the top three in strikeouts. That makes for a great streaming option, also allows some wiggle room to fit in one of the aces taking the mound.
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Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Fantasy Trade Deadline Advice
August 8, 2017 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 35 Commentsby: Halp
The Razzball podcasting worlds collide on this week’s episode as Grey Albright and I bring on Jay to talk about all of the exciting happenings going down on the football side of Razzball, most notably Jay’s draft rankings placing an impressive 3rd overall last year (note to self: don’t ask 3rd place finishers who came in 1st and 2nd anymore). Around all of the football talk, Grey and I slip in some fantasy baseball analysis too, starting with the Yonder Alonso trade and the seemingly imminent call-up of Rhys Hoskins. We talk about some general fantasy trade deadline advice, along with the dos and don’ts when it comes to trading with last place teams. Finally, we discuss Giancarlo Stanton and Luis Severino’s dominant seasons, and then talk about some youngsters to close the show, including Willson Contreras, Gary Sanchez, and Bradley Zimmer. As always, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 15% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Yesterday, Joey Votto went 2-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs with his 30th homer as he hits .314 with a .438 OBP. Not only is Votto hitting for a high average, but he's also hitting for power, and, you kinda get the impression, if he wanted, he could hit for a higher average with no power, or a lower average with more power, or no average, no power and pitch. Personal Anecdote Alert! Fast forward a blurb if you're not interested. When I was in my teens, I went to baseball summer camp. The guy who ran it was a Yankees' scout, so he'd have players come in to teach us fundamentals. One guest was Mike Pagliarulo. I know, I know, this is like the opening monologue before someone sings Springsteen's Glory Days at karaoke. Any hoo! Pags was the best hitter I ever saw within three feet of me. One kid there was a minor league pitcher, and Pags was so dramatically better than him, it was obvious the kid would never go anywhere. If Pags wanted to hit a home run to right against this kid, he did. Up the middle? No problem. Home run to left? Sure, why not? So, my point (!), against this minor league pitcher, Pags did what I imagine Votto does against major leaguers. Votto is my Pags of the majors. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
It's just like old times, as we here at Razzball are profiling a Brewers starter this week. I can't put my finger on what that means, but I digress. The familiarity doesn't just end there my friends, oh no, we just happen to be covering the MLB debut for one of the top pitching prospects in the minors, Brandon Woodruff. On the heels of a somewhat out of nowhere breakout in 2016, Woodruff exploded onto the dynasty league radar, and squarely into the ranks on several top prospect lists. After leading the minors in strikeouts last year, the righty credited an increased pace, thanks to the direction of AA pitching coach Chris Hook. After a solid showing in the challenging confines of Colorado Springs earlier this season, Woodruff was called up in mid-June to make a spot start. Unfortunately he was injured warming up, was scratched from his debut, and did a month on the disabled list with a hamstring injury. Recalled Friday to face the contending Rays in Tampa, Woodruff might be an interesting stream down the stretch in re-drafts of all sizes. Let's see how the highly touted rookie looks vs a seasoned AL East lineup. Not a bad litmus test.
Alex or Andrelton? …And The Top 100 Hitters, Week 19
August 7, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 34 Commentsby: mikeMaher
Player A:
- .301 / .353 / .455
- 11 home runs
- 16 stolen bases
- 55 runs scored
- 49 RBI
- 2nd Half: .352, two home runs, 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, three stolen bases
- PR15: 10.69 (4th in MLB)
- .273 / .353 / .471
- 13 home runs
- 12 stolen bases
- 58 runs scored
- 38 RBI
- 2nd Half: .343, five home runs, 18 runs scored, 11 RBI, four stolen bases
- PR15: 9.21 (7th in MLB)
FantasyDraft: Double Dose Of Dominant Dominicans
August 7, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 5 Commentsby: Teddy Heater
Due to their continuing dominance throughout the season, I'm endorsing the two big Dominican arms on the slate for tonight, Ervin Santana, $18,200 vs the Brewers and Carlos Martinez, $16,300 at the Royals. Fun fact, Ervin Santana's real name is Johan Ramon Santana. Yeah, his birth name was Johan Santana. Do you remember another SP named Johan Santana? In case you forgot, he was a two time Cy Young winner and he also pitched for the Twins? Yeah I remember that, I guess it's ironic or even poetic justice that a guy who changed his name in order to not be confused with one of the most dominant lefty's ended up on the same team as his predecessor. Ervin is facing the Brewers tonight, who rank second in Ks versus RHP. Yes, please, and thank you! CMart has a tough task against the Royals tonight, but I have feeling he's going to take advantage of a team that just wrapped up a double header yesterday. Now that the pitching is locked and loaded, let's take a look at our offensive targets for tonight.
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!
