Good morning, afternoon, or evening, everyone! As we begin September, there will of course be a flurry of call-ups with rosters expanding, which should provide more options for those of us in deeper leagues. For now, though, let’s take a step towards the shallower end of the fantasy baseball pool, and look at a handful of players that not only should be owned in deeper leagues, but may have become mixed-league relevant for the time being as well. The players below are the most added in CBS leagues over the last week that have still stayed near the 50%-owned-or-less threshold: let’s make sure none of them are flying too far under the radar, regardless of league size.
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If the Dodgers promote Gavin Lux, will that put them over the Lux cap? I said, will that put them over the...*looks up* Lux cap? Wow, no balloons dropped from my ceiling for that gorgeous pun. "Hello, is the balloons-in-the-ceiling salesman that came out to my house? Yes...I said, what I thought at least, was a grade A pun and I expected balloons to fall from the ceiling. Well, I was talking about the Dodgers promoting Gavin Lux. Yes, they said they will in September. Will he play? My guess is sure, why not? At least some days. They've got the division wrapped up and I see no reason why they won't play him. Why do we care? Haha, Mr. Balloons-in-the-ceiling Salesman, we care because he's hitting .400 in Triple-A. Shoot, Ted Williams' frozen head is on the other line. Hold on one second....Yes, Frozen Ted Head? Lux is hitting for power too -- 13 HRs. Also, he's got some light speed. Yes, I'm excited. He could be *the* September call-up, but he's hitting over-.400 just in the minors, so you don't need to be stunting on your .400 batting average claim. Yes, you too, and say hello to Jack Dawson, Walt Disney and the vault where they make astronaut ice cream...Okay, Mr. Balloons-in-the-ceiling Salesman? Hello? Are you there?" Hmm, he hung up on me. Any hoo! Stash Gavin Lux now. He's arriving soon, and the Dodgers can afford to play him. It's a...*looks up at ceiling* Lux-ury they have. Damn, these things never fall. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Happy Friday everyone! We have a 14-game slate on FanDuel to start the weekend. During draft season of 2018, I had a pitching starved dynasty team where I made
Dinelson Lamet ($8,200) one of my first round pick. Four days later, I lost Lamet to TJS. This year an owner who's clearly smarter than me took a shot on Lamet in the 20th round, as the 541st player rostered. That minimal risk is now paying dividends as Lamet has returned to his pre-TJS self, with some slight improvements. Lamet has bumped up his swinging strike rate and strikeout rate, while lowering his walk rate and home run rate. Today, Dinelson Lamet gets his cushiest matchup since his return in Oracle Park against the Giants. For the season, the Giants have put up a 86 wRC+ against right-handed pitchers, however, that number drops to 68 when you factor in only games they've played at home. Let's take a look at the rest of today's slate.
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Hello, Newman! Newman goes into Colorado and gets tangled up with Kramer as he tries to sell his newest invention: Oregano that smells like weed. It's called Mario Bluntali. Or is it weed that smells like oregano? Or did he already say that? Newman and Kramer have forgotten. Yesterday, Kevin Newman went 4-for-4, 4 RBIs with his 8th and 9th homer. Sure, it was in Coors, but it's time we start considering Newman as more of a one-trick pony that annoys Jerry, and flush out his character. He had 28 steals last year in Triple-A, and 13 this year in just under 400 ABs. His lack of Ks are also interesting. He has a top ten strikeout rate (11.6%), so his BABIP is high (.334), but his .302 average might be close to repeatable in 2020. Say 12/25/.290 for what will almost be a bargain price in 2020? Is that far off from what you were hoping from Lorenzo Cain? I wrote Kevin Newman in this afternoon's Buy column, then deleted him because he has to be owned in a majority of leagues by now, but if he's out there, absolutely grab him, like Newman would help Kramer grab some Kenny Rogers Roasters. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Back on July 25th, I wrote
Enter Santander, in which I endorsed
Anthony Santander of the Baltimore Orioles. I didn't think much about that piece until a commenter responded in a subsequent
Will Smith piece, "please do not curse him as you did with Santander. Hit under .100 since your endorsement." I wish I had that power. Anyways, then I saw that he was dropped in 5.1% of ESPN leagues over the past week. I own him in one league and he's had some slumps. It's baseball, but he hasn't been killing my team. Then, I went back to the game logs and looked, and squinted, then looked again, and squinted again. I'm Asian, so maybe saying squinted is redundant but it happened. Anyways, here's what I found.
Yours truly caved in and purchased a minivan last week with the arrival of child number two. If you decline to take any further of my baseball advice I will understand. Let me tell you something, though. I love it. It's roomy. There's a TV in it. The sound of rain on the giant flat roof is hypnotically melodic. Just like a fantasy season, life goes in stages. Don't get stuck holding on to something from yesterday that will ruin your tomorrow. You could end up like Matt Foley, thrice divorced, eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van, down by the river. Tiers are of course van themed.
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Yesterday,
Anthony DeSclafani went 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.05. This start was against the Marlins, so, thankfully, Anthony DeeScalated the hard-charging school of fish. "Lobsters don't have sex, they butter each up and green stuff forms in their middle belly." That's a substitute teacher at fish school half-assing it. So, DeSclafani bought a pet goldfish and named it Flushy, but he's better than some random game against the Fish. The Fish haven't been good since Hootie said, "I've had enough of all of you." DeSclafani, on the other hand, has been good in the not-too-distant past and is better this year -- his peripherals: 9.2 K/9 (best of his career), 2.8 BB/9 and velocity up to 94.6 MPH from 93.6. His gamely homer allowance (GamHomAll) needs to be curbed for real success, but I can see why the
Streamonator likes his next start. He's underrated, unlike the Marlins, who are underwater. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
The minor league season is winding down and September calls are less than a week away, so it's time for us to put a bow on the 2019 minor league season and my second stint here at Razzball. Big thanks to Grey and the team for all of the opportunities they've given me over the years. Writing about fake baseball on the internet is a great escape from real life. Too bad my real life is getting crazy enough that I won't be able to do this again next year. You'll be in great hands with Itch, and you won't have to wait long for your prospect news. My guess is that the 2020 previews will be right around the corner! Good luck to all of you in your fantasy leagues and thanks for your support and comments.
