Sounds Like Someone Has a Case of the Ramóndays

August 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 14 Comments

Yeah, well look, you go ahead and try to pun "Laureano" and see what you come up with. I promise its a journey from Lorenzo ~~Llamas~~ Lamas all the way to trying to connect a Laura Dern reference. Obscure, random, but Laura Dern... so still very nice results (come at me bro). At the very least, the reference in the title above comes from a culturally significant event which completely and totally (redundant!) ages me. Irregardless, this whole adventure was to get from point A (title explanation) to point B (framing the title explanation) to point C (move on from the title already bro) to point D, which is to answer the ultimate question: what's up with Ramón Laureano? Suffering from a wild slash of 208/361/344 after coming off a year where he hit 288/340/521, after the jump we'll explore exactly what to make of this now 28 game season (as of this writing) and whether or not we'll experience a case of the Ramóndays or a case of, uh... Well, I guess no matter what it would still be a Ramónday. I just don't know what I'm doing any more man...

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Friday Night Lights: Sanchez Dominates, Marlins Forget To Cover Their Sixto

August 29, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 35 Comments

by: Coolwhip

Whats happenin' all. I'm back again after a call to the pen. I'm steppin' in, as I hold the pen. Lets go, lets get it. Lets begin... Friday was quite the night in honor of Jackie Robinson. There was so much I could have led off with here, Mets walking off to sweep Yankees, Slam Diego unloading on the Rockies, Gyorko store restocked, my bae Zac Gallen set a record (we'll get to that), and Franmil ate a lot of BBQ. I love baseball. Like I said, a lot of great things to talk about but a certain rookie pitcher gave me the feels tonight in all the right ways...

FanDuel: Crazy For Cahill

August 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

by: Thomas Howland

When the Padres are in Colorado finding some value in a starting pitcher is essential to get as many high priced bats in your FanDuel lineup as possible. In this case the needle points to Trevor Cahill ($7,000). In this season m/ore than ever it's about what have you done for me lately. In Cahill's case he just scored 37 points against these same Diamondbacks on 8/23. He's stretched out and likely to go at least five, which is more than you can say for most of the pitchers. And sure, you could attempt to go with Bundy at more thank $2K more but then be left to pick up the riskier pieces for most of your lineup. One extra nugget on this game in Cahill's favor: Eduardo Escobar has two homers in four at bats against Cahill in the past but is badly slumping to a .184 batting average. This is one area you can find some value on the Main Slate today at FanDuel. Let's look for a bit more and figure out how to add Tatis and Machado to your lineup. Of the two Machado is much hotter, and look to Boston of all places to perhaps zag while others stick with the Padres and Rockies. More on that in the "Doing Lines In Vegas" area. Sometimes those lines can make you $$$. 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!

Two-Start Pitchers, Week 6: Bieber the Beaver

August 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers |

by: Kerry Klug

A new king has been crowned! Shane Bieber is on some other ish right now. He has thrown at least 6 innings in all of his starts this year - he’s won 6 of those 7 starts. He’s first in K/9 among qualified starters, 12th best in BB/9, 3rd in WHIP, tied for first in ERA. Oh and he’s facing the 24th and 28th ranked offenses vs. righties. This might be the best two-start week of all time so he's earned that #1 spot over Gerrit Cole. Plus in my hunt for a clever article headline has lead me to find out that his surname is derived from the German word beber which means beaver -- the animal best known for chewing up wood. Bats are made of wood. Bieber has been chewing up wood!

Schoop Out This Buy

August 28, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 257 Comments

by: Grey

(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY YESTERDAY ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $5/MONTH.)

Is it already time for my Jonathan Schoop pickup post this year? Geez, time does fly. Like your mother! What does that mean? I thought I heard she was a flight attendant. If not, I'm so sorry. Like your mother! What? I thought I heard she was very polite and always said sorry. Guess she's a terrible person. My bad, was trying to be nice. So, Schoop, rhymes with dope, not Shoop, Shoop-e-doop. Uh, here I go, here I go, here I go again. Five girl readers, what's my weakness? Men (who play baseball)! Damn it! I promised myself I wouldn't make any allusions to Salt-N-Pepa. By the way, George Clooney has really nice hair. What color is it? SALT AND PEPPER! God damn it! Okay, so Schoop has cut his Ks (minimally), but is hitting better than usual with a much flatter swing. Considering how much he would loft the ball vs. now? I think he can get power and average with his new swing. Maybe call it the New Jonathan Swing -- Tony! Toni! Tone! says Feels Good! If nothing else, Schoop is worth rostering because he's A) Not rostered in nearly enough leagues. B) Showing off a new swing that's working for him, and is around a top 10 2nd baseman on our Player Rater. C) There's no C. D) There was no C, why would there be a D? E) Grumbles F) Me, stop listing letters! Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Top 75 Outfielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Midseason Edition

August 28, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 75 Outfielders | 9 Comments

by: Coolwhip

Welcome again sports fans to the midseason episode of Top 75 Outfielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball, a continuation of the series that left off with last week's Week 3 Update. With roughly 30 games left to go for the majority of teams not named the Marlins or Cardinals, now's the time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Some guys have been just garbage *cough* Oscar Mercado, goodbye for this season. Some have injuries to account for with simply not enough time to get right. Also, there are early-season overperformers who would normally trail off during an extended season, but with only a month left to go many could coast on through the finish line. Plus full-on breakouts to account for as we shake things up and embrace the strange. Here's what I've been seeing around the league:

Closer Report: A Pagan Curse

August 28, 2020 | Closers | 5 Comments

by: Roto-Wan

The changes to bullpens week to week this season will probably never cease to amaze me. It's the damn wild west out here. Why anyone would pay for saves is beyond me. With the trade deadline looming it's also a good time to take stock and maybe stash some of the next in line guys if you have the room. Tiers are day of the week themed since everyday is Wednesday now.

I thought Joe Jiminez had one of the safest jobs in baseball. He did everything he could to lose it. The team has announced his removal as closer and a committee going forward. Gregory Soto is probably the only one of the lot with enough upside to make it worth the chase.
The Rays traded Emilio Pagan and were cursed to never again find a closer. It seems like Diego Castillo is the reliever due for an injury. He a plenty capable reliever. We'll see what the usage looks like soon.
Daniel Bard snagged a pair of saves for the Rockies. As a righty, he has a lead on Carlos Estevez for manager decision making. We'll see if that holds up until Wade Davis returns.
The Blue Jays are a full blown committee now. Anthony Bass didn't do much to lose his grip but Jordan Romano is converting some opps, as well. Ken Giles is throwing so it may not matter much longer.
The Cardinals placed Andrew Miller on the IL. Giovanny Gallegos is kind of the guy by default at this point. Team management is still trying to stop one step shy of committing to him fully but whatever. Until Ryan Helsley is back I'm not sure anyone else earns a save.

FanDuel: Sippin’ on Heaney

August 28, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

by: TroyKlauder

Angels starter Andrew Heaney is having an odd year - as if things couldn't get weird enough this season. He's got a career low 0.61 HR/9, yet his ERA is up to 5.52. Some of it is due to an inflated 8.8% walk-rate, but he's also getting hurt by a 60.2 LOB% and a .338 BABIP, both of which should regress in Heaney's favor. He's got a ton of upside in this start against the Mariners, who have the fourth-highest K-rate against lefties at 27.3%. I'm ready to sip on some Heaney tonight in GPP tournaments for what should be a fun Friday slate of baseball. 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!

Walker Going Skedaddle From Seattle To Taijuanto

August 28, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 140 Comments

by: Grey

It's trade deadline season already? It feels like the season just started. Well, sometimes one's feels are the correct feels, and sometimes one's feels are the type of feels that have you on a first date snorting through tears that your daddy never hugged you. Today, I'm having the right feels. This feels weird. The season just started and teams are buyers and sellers. This is all so nuts. We will never see another season like this in our lifetime (barring a strike, then we might see this in 18 months). Never again will the league sit out for Covid. Even if there's an outbreak next year with no vaccine, teams will just go into bubble mode in March. This past year happened because people didn't know what they didn't know. The 'what we know now stuff' is the Mariners sent Taijuan Walker to the Buffalo Bleu Jays. A better team is a greater than symbol, but ballpark A doesn't equal ballpark B. This isn't a great move for Walker to Buffalo's Wild Winds, but there's only about six starts left for pitchers, so Streamonator. I do think Taijuan Walker has become a fascinating name for 2021. His 8.3 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 are back up to where he was pre-Tommy John (surgery, not underwear), and back then he was a 3.50-ish ERA pitcher. That was in an easier league, but also a bad park. He becomes a free agent this offseason, so we'll see where he is pitching next year, but I'm way more interested in him now vs. later. Yum, those candies were good! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Rest-of-Season Rookie Starting Pitcher Rankings

August 27, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 29 Comments

by: Hobbs

Holy rookie starters! I swear, there are more rookies debuting on the mound in 2020 than there are jokes about dongs on this site. After hearing much conversation about rookie starters and seeing some of the love-at-first-sight that is happening in some fantasy circles, it got me to thinking: of all the rookie starters out there, how do they all stack up from now through the rest of the season? Our very own everywhereblair has already been providing you with awesome updates to Razzball's starting pitching rankings each week, but I thought I'd take it a step further as one of the prospect gurus and hone in on the first-year hurlers. These are solely rankings for the rest of the 2020 fantasy baseball season, although I plan to have updated dynasty rankings on these same names in the near future. Warning: my rankings do not directly translate to how everywhereblair has the top 100 starters ranked, therefore this article is not doctor approved.

One Man’s Trash: Nola Descends From the Mount to Deliver a Message

August 27, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, One Man's Trash |

by: Son

The mass had grown disheveled and restless, as for thirty long days and thirty long nights, they were without a savior at the catcher position. Many of prophets had come and gone, Omar Narvaez and Mitch Garver were two of the most prominent, but they have been exposed as false prophets up to now. So the aimless walk through the catcher landscape has been a challenging and arduous one. But then thunder banged the ear drums, water flattened the disheveleness, and fire glistened off the pupils as a voice echoed throughout the universe: Seek forth the highest mountain and I will provide salvation. Filled with a vigor that hadn't been felt since draft day, the mass walked, and walked, and walked, so much that Forrest Gump looked down upon them and nodded in approval. Upon reaching their destination, a swirling wind enveloped them while lightning was radiating from the mountain top. Then.....Austin Nola descended down the face of the mountain with two tablets. On one were his stats for this season with the expression Catchers Ain't Got No Face at the bottom, while on the other tablet was written: Thou shall not covet any other catcher. It has been written. Nola is 30 years old, 6' 0", and 195 pounds. The Miami Marlins selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB draft. He spent seven years with the organization before opting for free agency, which is when he signed with the Seattle Mariners. Drafted as a shortstop, Nola became a catcher in 2017, then played first base with the Mariners.

FanDuel: Ryu Experienced

August 27, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: VictoriaB

Before we begin: a large, AROOGA-AROOGA caveat to this post. I’m writing it in advance without knowing whether more games will be postponed today, owing to the protests over racial justice. All this to say, please be sure to check your line-ups before start of play. Should everything go ahead, FanDuel is offering us a slate of 6 games (starting at 6:37 ET) — to accommodate the double-headers, I suspect — which slims down our options somewhat, but let’s look at what we can do within those parameters. Because I started this post really far in advance, I was originally going to tell you to play Zac Gallen at home, where he holds a 2.37 ERA, versus the Rockies. He’ll also give you Ks and his WHIP is pretty good. But he's not part of today's slate on FanDuel, so I’ll just say now, if you have the opportunity to play him anywhere in a DFS or roto league, give him a shot! As it stands, pitching is a little ouch-it-hurts on this slate. With any luck, your competitors will flock to Max Scherzer ($10,600) for their pitching needs, but I prefer Hyun-Jin Ryu ($9,100). Buffalo is starting to look like a hitting park, but Boston’s offense is limited other than Mitch Moreland (who likely won’t face LHP). 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!