Brent (@ExitVelo_BH) and Jordan (@ExitVelo_JR) breakdown the Top 10 fantasy players of the past weekend. We discuss the news of more COVID outbreaks and what teams may or may not do. Jose Ramirez and Shane Bieber looked great for the Indians while Corey Kluber and Justin Verlander obtained injures and look for a speedy recovery. We also give our favorite starts of the weekend and what we were up to!
Monthly Archives: July 2020
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Points Leagues, Branting and Raving
July 27, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues |by: malamoney
Man am I glad to have baseball back. Fantasy baseball is my escape from reality. I guess that's partly why it's called "fantasy". I don't know about you, but every time I turn on a different game on my TV I feel like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson when they walk into a different wedding in Wedding Crashers. The excitement is real people.
I have a suspicion that Michael Brantley is going to be a very valuable fantasy player this season. In Jay's Staff Picks post from earlier this week I chose Carlos Santana as the potential MVFH. If I could get in Bill and Ted's phone booth I would have Rufus help me change my pick to Brantley. First I guess I'd have to go back and get Rufus (RIP). I chose Santana last year and I think I hit the proverbial nine inch nail on the head. But this year I'm leaning towards Brantley. Guess I kinda rushed my selection. I do like me some Carlos Santana, but the big difference between the two is their ADP, which is a significant factor in determining MVFH. Santana had a H2H ADP in the 60s, while Brantley clocked in at around 118. I have Santana projected to score a few more fantasy points, but it's close. Nothing a big game couldn't erase. In twelve team leagues Santana is being drafted in the 5th round, while Brantley is going in the 10th. If you can get nearly the same production 5 rounds later I think it's clear which pick would be more valuable.
Patreon Podcast: Help Grey Buy a Cardboard Dodgers Fan
July 27, 2020 | All Podcasts |by: Donkey Teeth
So, several of your fantasy baseball league-mates have discovered Razzball and keep stealing your players? Or you just want more of Grey's awesome fantasy advice NOW? Well good news, Grey has begun releasing his weekly buy/sell articles one day early to all of our valued Patreon members! Plus you'll get our weekly comedic podcast (members only!) delivered directly to your email inbox each Monday. Support your favorite fantasy baseball site by joining the Razzball Patreon now for just $5/month and help fund Grey's purchase of an Andre the Giant cardboard Dodgers fan wearing a Razzball shirt!
Anyway, on this week's podcast episode of I Can't Believe It's Not Not News with world renowned comedian Billy Hurley, we talk about even more offbeat news stories. And you won't not believe them!
Good Morning Everyone. I'm Jared Levitt and welcome to Monday Morning Toilet Talk! With the season so new, I wanted to spend some time this morning on some hitters I feel will do well tonight and some pitchers that I don't think will get destroyed tonight.
New to FanDuel? 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!
Verlander Drops Elbow On His 2020 Season
July 27, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 251 Commentsby: Grey
So, how's everyone doing after four days of games? Still early, right? Actually, it's not early. It's never early this year. Early took the first train out of the station with your wife and dog. Say goodbye to your life, Early walked off with it. Four days this year is approximately three weeks into a regular season. Four days into the season this year is a cherry and whipped topping into this sundae, and one scoop in there might be chocolate chip mint, which you have to skip because it tastes like sugary toothpaste. One guy whose entire Sunday was chocolate chip mint is Justin Verlander. Sounds like he's out for the season with a forearm strain, which is usually a precursor for much worse news. Won't speculate what this means for his career, but if this is the last time he plays, it truly bums me out, even if I never wanted to own him. He was glorious to watch, in and out of the bathroom mirror with Kate. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Bullpen Report: Boys Of Some Are (Healthy)
July 26, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 24 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
Welcome to your first Bullpen Report of the season. How'd day one of your season go? You know, besides losing two top 30 players moments before lineup lock. Unfortunately, that's more likely to be the norm than the exception. If you didn't already (you donkey), build any flexibility into your fake teams that you can. On the pitching side that means having a reliever that can juice a category for you when a body is needed in a pinch.
- The big free agent this week was Zack Britton with Aroldis Chapman hitting the COVID-IL. If you missed out on him I'd suggest considering Adam Ottavino. Britton is getting the first call but I wouldn't be shocked if Ottavino gets a look if Boone feels the matchups favor him.
- Kwang-Hyun Kim is being anointed the Cardinals closer. I'm holding my breath here. It's hard to trust someone who's never pitched an inning stateside to immediately walk into the closer role. To me, it feels more like they're set on the injured Giovanny Gallegos and don't want to disappoint Ryan Helsley with a demotion this early.
- I'm targeting the options behind Kyle Crick as the Pittsburgh closer. Just a gut feel that Crick can't hack it in the ninth. Richard Rodriguez and Nick Burdi get much more swing and miss with their stuff.
- Yoshihisa Hirano is another COVID delayed player of the early year. That may give Matt Magill enough leash to take over the closer gig in Seattle. It was kind of his last year. He was kind of going to close this year. Now he can at least win or lose it on his own merit.
- Let me remind you that Corey Knebel has nasty movement on his off-speed stuff. He'll need to find his fastball velocity with reports of it in the low 90s thus far in summer camp. If he can get that up a few ticks he could immediately figure into the ninth for the BrewCrew.
Man, how good does it feel to be watching good baseball. I’ve been staying up until 4AM to watch Korean baseball during the quarantine and the MLB withdrawals were real. Watching these MLB players go at it is something special and I’m thankful that we finally get to watch these amazing athletes perform their craft at the highest level. If you’ve been following my work, you probably know where this article is headed. It’s our first streamer article of the season! This is going to be the craziest year in terms of streaming because of the 60-game schedule but that makes picking the right streamers all the more important. Without further ado, let’s get into my favorite streamers for the opening week.
“But wait! The season has already begun!” Razzball nation cries out.
Yes good people -- but many teams didn’t announce their starting rotations until yesterday -- and some still haven’t! So there’s going to be a bit of extrapolation on my part trying to predict exactly who is going to be starting, on what day, against which team, with what weapon and in what room. The San Francisco Giants for example have a game in a little over 5 hours as I’m writing this and the scheduled starter is that young, fire-balling, lefty from Korea: TBD.
If you’ve found Razzball you know what to expect from a weekly two-start pitcher column. Every Saturday morning I’ll highlight the starting pitchers who have two starts in an upcoming week and I’ll rank ‘em and tier ‘em. Tier 1 -- you can basically ignore reading this section each week. If you need me to tell you to start Gerrit Cole for both games of his two-start week -- you don’t deserve Razzball’s content! But tier 2 through 5 is where your money is made, your bread is buttered and your week is won -- well maybe not tier 5. Tier 5 is not for the faint of heart. That’s where your money is lost, your bread is burnt and your week is lost.
As the season progresses I’ll be able to also recommend/reject certain pitchers based on their match-ups and stadiums. Again -- for your top tier pitchers, this won’t matter. But German Marquez against the Dodgers in Coors Field? Maybe leave him on your bench for that match-up. Unfortunately, this early in the season, I can make predictions on who I think will be a tough offense to face -- the Marlins are atop the NL East standings so who knows what will happen by week 5?
One last thing to keep in mind -- some teams will be implementing bullpen games. I won’t be including these in the two-start rankings. One or two innings pitched does not really constitute a “start” in my eyes.
FanDuel: Picks For July 26th, 2020
July 26, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |by: stoweby
What is up ladies and gentlemen! Hoping the return of sports is treating everyone well. I'm going to be your bartender for this 13 game FanDuel slate. We have a ton of information that we're digging into so I have reduced it to a hand full of my favorite plays that will hopefully give you everything you need to line your pockets with a little spending money for your favorite tasty adult beverage. Enough of me wasting your time, let's get into it!
New to FanDuel? 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!
Expanded Playoffs, Prospect Impact, and Opening Weekend
July 26, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 42 Commentsby: The Itch
Major League Baseball dropped a bomb this week, introducing a new playoff structure that invites 16 of the 30 franchises to participate in 2020.
Gone is the one-game, wild-card playoff.
In its place is a best-out-of-three, on-the-road showcase for middle-tier teams.
The higher seed will host the three-game, first-round series. Home field advantage will be nice--always good to have the last at bat--but without fans in the stands, top seeds are newly vulnerable in 2020.
Over the past decade or so, baseball has shaped itself around demands of the previous post-season: superteams jockeying for wins at the top because winning the division meant avoiding the do-or-die wild card playoff--perhaps the most exciting wrinkle baseball has introduced in my lifetime.
If an organization’s front office didn’t see its club as division-winning material, it frequently decided to lose as much as possible, altering the free agent market and prospect timeline universe in ways people are still grappling with.
That’s all different now.
MacKenzie Gore is coming up soon, is what I’m saying. A.J. Preller doesn’t have much incentive to worry about seven years from now if he can push for a playoff berth by trading Zach Davies for perhaps the game’s top pitching prospect.
Aaaand we're back! In case you're concerned, I'm writing this in complete isolation from any human contact, and yes, I'm wearing my mask. It has a sweet Joker smile and scares old people. 2020 has been real rough my over-the-internet friends, from George Floyd to murder hornets to tiktok becoming so popular its been bad news city, but nothing has rocked our worlds harder than you know what. I'm speaking of course, of the Red Sox heartless trade of my flame and my muse Mookie Betts. Ugh. How could this year get any worse? To boot, my hopes of Betts getting the COVID, missing 2020, and re-signing with Boston look to be all but dashed as he's signed a lifetime contract with the Dodgers worth more than all the money me and everyone I know will ever make in their lifetimes. But fret not, wunderkind GM Chaim Bloom has replaced him with [player]Kevin Pillar[/player]. You know, the former Blue Jay? Yeah, that guy. Welp. Give me the rona now God and end this. But wait--keep that mask on! Pillar flashed some serious leather in right field Friday night and went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI! Maybe this won't be so bad! At least Boston won't have to pay a 41 year-old outfielder 30 million dollars in 2031? Or will we all be d-e-d dead by then anyway? Did I mention the Sawx added utlity infielder [player]Jose Peraza[/player] too? He went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, and 2 RBI Friday and Grey told you to BUY. Jose leads the league in batting average, folks! Peraza struggled last year but he's just two years removed from batting .288 with 23 steals in 2018! Pillar and Peraza could be the bright spots we (I) so desperately need right now. They could do some real damage in a stacked, albeit Mookie-less, Boston line up. Who needs Betts when you got Kevin Pillar and Jose Peraza?! (Sigh, I do. I do. I really do. Come back to me, Mook!)
Here's what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
FanDuel: All The Cullers Of The Rainbow
July 25, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 2 Commentsby: MattTruss
Finally we have what baseball fans have been craving for months, a full slate of games to enjoy. Unfortunately, they are all over the place as far as start times and there’s only two night games. I’m not sure what baseball thinks it’s competing with in the prime time slots, but we have plenty of day games to sort through. The “Main” slate on FanDuel today includes from the one o’clock games all the way to five (ET). In the four o’clock slot we’ve got Lance McCullers ($8,000) and the Astros taking on the Mariners. Even with 16 teams making the playoffs now, the Mariners won’t be making a push. It’s been almost two full years since McCullers last threw a meaningful pitch, so there is certainly some amount of risk involved with this pick. However, that’s baked into the price as well. It may take some serious memory, but McCullers was a 10/11 K/9 pitcher back in his heyday. Could there be some rust? Most definitely. Will he still likely get the win? Vegas says the Astros are a -260 favorite, so I think yes. As Dustin May proved on Thursday, if a pitcher is cheap enough, you can still win some money with them only pitching 4+ innings.
New to FanDuel? 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!
