Rays starter Yonny Chirinos gets a yawn-worthy matchup on Wednesday as he faces the White Sox. In fact, the Rays-Sox matchup on Tuesday was so ugly that there were reports that only 974 people showed up in attendance. Chirinos, however, certainly isn't boring - in his last outing, he dominated a strong Red Sox lineup in Fenway Park, allowing just three hits over five innings with no walks or earned runs allowed. The 24-year-old tore up triple-A Durham last year, posting an insane 1.63 Deserved Run Average in 141 innings. Expect a nice outing from Chirinos, and target him late in your drafts. Now let's check out some more picks...
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Monthly Archives: April 2018
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Yanks Shouldn’t Have Called Him Mookie Lynn
April 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 572 Commentsby: Grey
You ever see something and you still don't believe it? You distrust your own eyes. Well, I just saw a video of this, and I still don't believe it: Mookie Betts bowls better than he hits. And he hits pretty damn good! He rolled a perfect game yesterday vs. the Yankees (4-for-4, 5 runs, 4 RBIs, and his 2nd homer), but he also rolled a perfect game in the World Series of Bowling last November. On Shabbos, no less! Half of me is expecting someone to point out that it was this other cat, Mookie Betts from Virginia, who is a white guy who looks like Ed Kemper. (By the way, you kinda know Ed Kemper reads Razzball. You just know this.) So, out of habit, does Mookie spray his baseball cleats? Does he ever beat out an infield single and want to sweep out his right heel like he just threw a bowling ball? Between innings, does he play arcade games? How is Mookie Betts a world class bowler and not Matt Albers?! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Bear Or Bull: Never Judge A Book By Its Cover
April 10, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 12 Commentsby: Son
If you thought this was a post on Aaron Judge, I don't blame you. We here at Razzball always like to word play with the titles, but today I'm taking it next level by bringing it back to the literal. Got it? Yeah, me neither. Anyways, society is always espousing that we not judge a book by its cover. Sage advice and, since I'm a part of society, I shall pat myself on the back. In the early days of man's existence, instantaneous judgements needed to be formulated for survival. Is that furry animal with big teeth friend or foe? As time progressed, life got more complicated. Are those breasts real or fake? Is it you or me? Taste great or less filling? No longer was life simply about eating or being eaten. Mankind has reached a certain level of consciousness to tap into the brain power that has allowed us to manipulate and/or be manipulated. Translation: not everything is what it seems. For this week's edition of Bear or Bull, I will look at Chris Owings and Logan Morrison, two players at opposite ends of the production spectrum to begin the season. A 2-for-1 special! Who's better than me??!! Don't answer that. 
Perception vs. Reality: Rigregoriusly Bad Puns And Word Play
April 10, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 6 Commentsby: MB
This is a post that isn’t about Shohei Ohtani. Welcome back to Perception Vs. Reality where we take a look at the player rater and try and find trade value or players who might be overlooked on the waiver wire. Last week we took a look at: Gregory Polanco, Matt Davidson, Tim Anderson, Cesar Hernandez, and Jose Martinez. We will bring in some fresh faces this week now that the MLB has more games under its’ belt. Also, the names up at the top are a lot different than they were last week when each team had played three games or less.
The Razzball Podcast is back in this bee-yatch with an action packed program for the fiends. Yes, all of my intros are stolen from skits first heard on mid-90's rap albums. Sorry, we keep feeding you, and feeding you... nuggets of knowledge to help you take down the fantasy crown. Speaking of fantasy crowns, I have the reigning Tout Wars NL-Only champion in tow, as Grey Albright blesses us with his magical pipes, hot boba takes, and fantasy baseball wisdom. We talk Shohei Ohtani, Rhys Hoskins joining elite company, wavier wire targets, and why Grey loves him some Gregory Polanco. We also sit down with former NFL player and commissioner of the Fan Controlled Football League, Ray Austin. How about that? Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 1.5
April 10, 2018 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 10 Commentsby: MattTruss
Technically the first “week” of the Razzball Commenter Leagues was from Opening Day, March 29th to Sunday, April 1st, but that was just too short, with too few games and just didn’t feel right. Instead, I’m going to combine that short week, with this week to form week 1.5. How has the first week plus gone for you? Are you an Ohtani owner jumping for joy and retweeting every Ohtani GIF, stat and record broken so far? Or maybe you are a Joey Votto owner, quietly crying and gently rocking in the corner. Either way, you can all use the same mantra, “It’s still early”. Everyone wants to start the first week leading their league, but only one team can. I always dream of going wire to wire, but it’s a long season, plenty of time to win these things. Jose Ramirez won’t hit .061 all season. Just in case, let’s form a prayer decagon, shall we?
Already the RCL battle has been waged on the waiver wire as the race to grab that sweet SAGNOF started early. Mark Melancon made a surprise DL appearance and Hunter Strickland was the first add of the year for those seeking cheap saves. Corey Knebel collapsed in a heap and the race was on for the next Brewer fireman. This, of course was followed by the great “Jacob Barnes lockout” of 2018. More on that below, but maybe FanTrax was trying to tell us something. Let’s take a look at that as well as which RCL teams are getting an early jump on their league standings:
Tonight is the first night of the season I actually feel really good about playing some DFS. So much so that I don't feel the need to take up space with witty filler. A multitude of SP1s, like Jacob deGrom (more on him later), will make it easier than usual to get your hitters first on Draft.com. There’s a game in Coors Field and finally some warmer weather. On top of that, we have plenty of mediocre left-handed pitchers to target. Those are the staples of DFS lineup building.
New to Draft.com? 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!
I’m Damn Scherzer Them Hitters Didn’t Have a Kluber
April 10, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 479 Commentsby: Grey
Yesterday, it was a good day (freaking brothers every way like M.J.) to be an ace. Corey Kluber went 8 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 1 walk, 13 Ks, ERA at 1.57, pitching against the Tigers. One of the best, if not the best, pitchers goes against one of the worst, if not the worst, hitting teams, and you have a masterpiece by the pitcher. Just be clause. Qualifying, that is. To not be outdone, Max Scherzer went 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 0 walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 0.90, and stole his first base. Take that, Ohtani! Scherzer has 80 grade speed if he's in a DeLorean and wants to go back to 1955. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
If all the experts in the world had baby T-Rex arms, no one would be able to pat themselves on the back. I am lumping myself into the SAGNOF love fest that the grand master Lothario himself, Grey, was part of and preached in the preseason on why Tim Anderson was the mac. Or the PC, whatever your preference in lapputers is. I not only loved the guy two months ago, I love him more now that he is living up to the steals hype and maintaining other stats that make him basically a eight-games-into-the-season stud. Looking over his stats and nothing jumps out as a SSS type thing... Is the OBP higher than it will be in 20, 50, or 80 games? Maybe, but are we certain that he can't maintain a .350 OBP moving forward? Looking at the back of his baseball card, speed has always been there. As he develops into his body, considering that he is only 24, the power was going to develop from what we saw in the minors. His high total for any other season besides last year was 13 combined for 2016 that encompassed AAA and 99 games with the Sox. But this is the SAGNOF corner of the world, taters are good, but swipes are delicious. He has 5 steals in eight games, and is on pace for a whole lot more if he can keep that vital OBP to a respectable number. He has the license to steal and should continue to do so...but it could get better. He hasn't hit anywhere but the bottom-half of the order. This has eerie similarities to what we saw last year from Merifield. Sustain great number from the bottom and then boom, move up the order and become an even better kleptomaniac. So while the steals now are fantastic and a boon to his draft day value (thanks Grey!), keep an eye out for if/when he moves up the order and his numbers could from what they are now to even better. SAGNOF rant over, let's get to the tidbits, and the bits of tid that keep all the girls squirrely. Cheers!
Changing For The Better? Berrios And Castillo
April 9, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 34 Commentsby: Lance
First off, go read Ralph's post on Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. I always assumed - and I could be wrong - that many think us Razzball-ers are confined to our computers, changing our eyeglass prescription on a monthly basis as we go bleary-eyed from starting at our MLB.tv streams and Baseball Savant tabs. That is hogwash. Once a week, I make sure to step outside for an increment of 15-20 minutes. On Saturday, I took a leap of faith and decided to extend that window to a whole three hours as I absorbed a Hartford Yard Goats (this is their terrifyingly fantastic mascot) game with the almighty @ProspectJesus and fellow Razzball-ite @PaulTheMartin. It was a grand time, with extended looks at multiple top-20 prospects.
Alas, that is not what this post is about. I just couldn't think of an intro and I wanted to brag about my weekend.
More bragging: we've been slaughtering it here on Razzball of late. Grey has made some fantastic sleeper calls including Patrick Corbin and others. My last pitcher-based column included Dylan Bundy, Jose Berrios, and Joey Lucchesi, three pitchers who spun fantastic outings in the past week and likely weeks to come.
Watching copious amount of baseball over the last 10 days, I noticed a slew of pitchers who were either up or down in velocity on certain pitches or entire repertoires. Analysis tends to hover around this data point for the first month of the season simply because it doesn't take a lot for pitch velocity to stabilize, especially compared to other statistics we love to look at.
A lot of these risers and fallers, you likely already know about (think Kenley Jansen). So instead, I chose two pitchers with changes in velocity that can be linked to another aspect of their performance; maybe a little bit under the radar...
Tonight on the slate we have some big time arms taking the bump, especially the top three options of the night (Noah Syndergaard, Max Scherzer and Corey Kluber.) Given my choice of first pick on Draft.com I would rank them accordingly..
- Noah Syndergaard
- Max Scherzer
- Corey Kluber
Great Sunday For Pitchers With OTANI In Last Name
April 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 607 Commentsby: Grey
I'm convinced you'd be better off if you ignored everything from Spring Training. For every one thing you gleam from the spring that pays off, there's five terrible habits you pick up like you're a priest in The Keepers on Netflix. Okay, maybe you would have seen Joey Gallo wasn't striking out as much (barely has carried over), but you also would've seen Shohei Ohtani looking terrible. Hat tip to someone on Twitter who screenshot this:
So many things wrong with this -- Has Bryce Harper ever been bad? I mean, maybe injured, but a bust? WUT. Also, it's one thing to be concerned about Shohei Ohtani, but bust? He hadn't pitched one inning in the major leagues by that point and was being drafted around 100th overall. Bust? It was a gamble, risk was baked in. Yesterday, Shohei Ohtani bust...ed out! (See what I did there?) He went 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners (1 hit, 1 walk), 12 Ks. Good luck convincing someone he's a bust now when trading for him.
The other pitcher with "Otani" in their last name is Jameson Taillon who went 9 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.26. Last year, I suggested to get his feng shui back, to find his equilibrium, because he couldn't pitch with one testicle missing, I suggested he put a walnut in his jock strap for balance. Well, I'm not saying he took my advice, but, yesterday, Jameson Taillon gave up one hit. Imagine he was a eunuch? He'd be Sandy Koufax! Wait, was that why Koufax had a girl's first name? For a while last year, Taillon was treating the surviving twin like a punch bag, but he looks back to the potential ace he once was. Go get 'em, Jameson Walnut! Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
So many things wrong with this -- Has Bryce Harper ever been bad? I mean, maybe injured, but a bust? WUT. Also, it's one thing to be concerned about Shohei Ohtani, but bust? He hadn't pitched one inning in the major leagues by that point and was being drafted around 100th overall. Bust? It was a gamble, risk was baked in. Yesterday, Shohei Ohtani bust...ed out! (See what I did there?) He went 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners (1 hit, 1 walk), 12 Ks. Good luck convincing someone he's a bust now when trading for him.
The other pitcher with "Otani" in their last name is Jameson Taillon who went 9 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.26. Last year, I suggested to get his feng shui back, to find his equilibrium, because he couldn't pitch with one testicle missing, I suggested he put a walnut in his jock strap for balance. Well, I'm not saying he took my advice, but, yesterday, Jameson Taillon gave up one hit. Imagine he was a eunuch? He'd be Sandy Koufax! Wait, was that why Koufax had a girl's first name? For a while last year, Taillon was treating the surviving twin like a punch bag, but he looks back to the potential ace he once was. Go get 'em, Jameson Walnut! Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball: 