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I Can’t Believe It’s Not Not News is back again with all the Billy Hurley jokes and Grey Albright cackles you can handle. First up, we investigate the reports of anti-sex cardboard beds in Olympic Village. Then a woman racks up spiteful red light fines on her ex's vehicle and Jeff Bezo's space passenger bails after spending $28 million on the ticket. Finally, two invisible artists go to court over invisible sculptures and the term "shark attack" is no longer politically correct.
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What a great weekend right? Right in the thick of the summer season, Grilling out by the pool drinking your Trulys and White Claws, playing some cornhole and what the hell else that's right you degenerates, that's why we are here to win some cash playing DFS. Hope you cashed some this weekend and are back at it today for some more sweats. All right let's get to it. Not a big MLB slate today (7 games) We do also have a Mets/Braves doubleheader but for DFS purposes I'll just avoid those games altogether. The three pitchers that jumped out at me right away were Luis Garcia, Ohtani and Marquez. I also think they will be the highest owned of the slate as the rest are dicey at best. You can make a case for Joe Ross as a cheap low owned pitcher that was playing really good before the stint on the IL so no problems if you want to get behind Ross but I think the other three I mentioned have a way bigger floor. I'm planting my flag on my main teams on
Luis Garcia ($10,000). I don't know if he will be the lowest owned of the three but I can easily envision a scenario where Garcia goes deep into this ballgame against the Mariners today. The Mariners are coming off a successful 3-1 winning series against the Athletics where the three games the Mariners won were all by one run. It was a very hard fought series and I think a weary Seattle team and bullpen is what we get tonight with no announced starting pitcher yet from Seattle. Luis Garcia has been a very productive pitcher so far this season and has racked up the K's with 105 K's in just over 90 Innings. Garcia has a 5 pitch arsenal and predominately uses a 94 mph fastball to set up his cutter and slider which he can pinpoint at the edges of the plate. Garcia has improved his command and his last two starts have only walked 2 batters in 11 innings so if he can get a umpire that gives a little on the edges Garcia will be in great shape here. Garcia is filthy against right handed batters at a 0.92 WHIP and slightly elevated against lefties but Seattle doesn't have a great left handed lineup right now with really only Kyle Seager presenting any issues against righties. I think this is a smash spot for Garcia and he goes at least 7 INN with 4 Hits 1 BB 9 K's and 0 ER today and gets the win. I think he can match Ohtani's numbers today with a discounted price and lesser ownership.
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Serious question, are the Pirates stupid or purposely being daft? Is this some kind of long game con that I'm not clued in on? They traded Adam Frazier, who might be their best trade chip, five days before the deadline, and they got back SS Tucupita Marcano, OF Jake Suwinski and RHP Michell Miliano. I might've made up some of those names and you have no idea. Maybe the Pirates couldn't have done better, but don't you at least try for another five days? Pirates hear one offer and are like, "Ya know what, that sounds good, whatever you want to give us." So, Adam Frazier is helped by this trade, because now he's presumably the leadoff man on top of a much better lineup. He doesn't gain power or speed, but he's a contact guy so more runs. The guy hurt the most here is Jurickson Profar, but his hitting hurt him 2nd most. Over in Pittsburgh, this gives Wilmer Difo a chance to move out of a Platoon, and into the Green Goblin costume! Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
The first full week of baseball after the All-Star break has left more questions than answers leading up to the trade deadline. It's still unclear who's buying and who's selling but we'll find out at week's end and talk about it next week, because I fully expect some big names to be on the move. In something non-related to actual on-the-field production, the Cleveland Baseball Club has now settled on an official name of the future and it sounds like the name of an XFL team... The Guardians, I'd rather them be called the Cleveland Steamers personally. So, go out and get your Indians paraphernalia now.
Onto the injury news. Chris Sale had a scoreless rehab start at AA Portland, his return is imminent. Corey Kluber threw from the bullpen mound which is a good sign. Sixto Sanchez underwent surgery on his shoulder so we'll see him next year. Zach Eflin hit the IL with Patellar Tendinitis, an injury that has bugged him for most of his career, but I'm not overly concerned. Jack Flaherty threw a bullpen session. Stephen Strasburg threw a bullpen session. Carlos Carrasco had a rehab start. Danny Duffy hit the IL with a flexor strain for the second time this year. His staff mate Brady Singer also hit the IL with shoulder fatigue. Lastly, Spencer Turnbull is undergoing Tommy John surgery. Now let's get to the stars of the show.
At this point of the season, we all know who the top players are at each position. Unless you already own them are can make a trade for them, players like Marcus Semien, Jose Altuve, or Ozzie Albies won't be helping your fantasy lineup this year.
But as we gear up for the trade deadline and the final stretch of the season, the difference between winning your league and falling short could be finding that second baseman who is underrated at the moment. Who are some of those players? One of them could be Jonathan Schoop, who is still available in 17 percent of Yahoo leagues of seven percent of Yahoo leagues. He can also provide depth at first base.
Cesar Hernandez is having a solid year for the Future Guardians of Lake Erie, um, I mean the Cleveland Indians. Despite having 16 homers and 43 RBI, he is found on only 22 percent of Yahoo rosters and 36 percent of ESPN rosters. So there are still plenty of solid options fantasy for owners in need of a second baseman or middle infielder to find and add to their rosters.
Let's get to the rankings and find out who are some other possible players who can help your team down the stretch.
The All-Star break gave us a breath of fresh air, and it really showed in last week's articles. The craziness continues to pour in, though, because we have the trade deadline right around the corner. There were already a few moves over the weekend, and they're going to keep streaming in with the deadline a week away. That's something that needs to be monitored because it'll wreak havoc on a lot of these rotations. With that in mind, let's get into our favorite streamers for this week!
Much has changed since last we met to hash out the snapshot of prospect tower.
Today's the day we're on our way to Mortal Kombat, Dynasty Edition.
It's more than a game of either or in a lot of ways but not more ways than it's not.
You'll skip all this if I risk any more sentences here, I fear, unless you've skipped it already, which is honestly fine by me. You're gone by now, so I might as well say the work is in the spreadsheet. And perhaps in the comments section once we get rolling. Hours upon hours of happy hustle.
During the draft season I anointed David Fletcher as potentially the biggest draft day bargain given his points league projections and average draft position. Preseason I had him ranked 58th overall, which put him in the 5th round. His ADP, however, had him being drafted in the 17th round. He is currently the 58th ranked hitter. I had the 58 right, but that included pitchers. I haven't calculated year-to-date position-adjusted rankings to see how many pitchers are ahead of him, but a rough estimate puts him at about 80th overall. I never suggested drafting Fletcher anywhere near the 5th round. I believe I recommended targeting rounds 14/15. I own him in every league I am in and he is paying dividends in each of those leagues. Based on these rest of season rankings I have Fletcher as the 37th ranked hitter. That means he's going to get better, and eventually having Mike Trout back in the lineup will certainly help his cause.
One thing I'd like to mention is that it is very possible that some players might be missing from my list. If a player hasn't had at least 150 or so plate appearances my formula will not include them in the calculations. If anyone else is missing (or is lower than expected), it could be because said player has missed time due to injury. Let me know in the comments if you've uncovered any missing hitters and I will see if I can figure out where they might belong.
The MLB trade deadline is fast approaching and that should be a cue in our little fantasy game to predict landing spots and proactively poach talent while planning for potential opportunities. Maybe it will be a middle reliever taking over the closer spot or a young prospect getting a shot at the big leagues in a newly vacated role. Regardless of the reason, late July and early August should be some of the most active times in any league. This week we will review a few hitter profiles for some of the bigger names that can and should provide more value in the final two months of the season than folks may realize. A dive into Jose Ramirez, Trevor Story, and the ageless Evan Longoria shall follow!
