Having Tommy Pham in last week’s article makes me happy. He provided the moment of the season when he slapped Joc Pederson in the face over a fantasy football dispute. That sounds like something from The Onion, but that is something that factually happened! Please, blog, may I have some more?
Monthly Archives: May 2022
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When you think of comfort food, mac-n-cheese is always at or near the top of the list. Who can resist the temptation of that four-cheese goodness your mom used to make on holidays or special occasions? Maybe it’s the Kraft mac-n-cheese variety that comes to mind first…the one in the blue box that was a fundamental food of every kid’s diet back in the day. Please, blog, may I have some more?
I’m not often surprised by the machinations of major league baseball teams because the road map is pretty well defined in stages by contracts and developmental norms, and it’s part of my job to know the lay of the land.
Atlanta OF Michael Harris II being promoted from AA on Saturday surprised me.
Can be underrated fun, surprises, especially in a baseball sense. And then I realize I should have seen it coming, so the surprise loses some sheen in the fog of negative self-talk, but it’s exciting nonetheless!
Harris earned this jump by playing well every step of the way, but also because Atlanta has run out of center fielders. Adam Duvall is slugging .274. Ronald Acuña Jr. isn’t quite healed enough to be an everyday defender. Guillermo Heredia is striking out 48.8 percent of the time. Travis Demeritte wasn’t playing center anyway but was demoted to make space for Harris after Demeritte fell into a 1-for-34 slump.
I mention all of this not to diminish Harris’ achievement but to highlight his opportunity. A plus contact hitter with dynamic hand-eye coordination, the 21-year-old, 6’0” 195 lb left-hander has always passed the eye test with flying colors on offense and was slashing .305/.372/.506 with five home runs and 11 stolen bases in 43 games at AA, striking out 19.9 percent of the time and drawing an 8.7 percent walk rate.
I think we can track way back to the Cristian Pache (Matt Olson) trade to see the footprints leading to this transaction. The club must think Harris’ defense has progressed enough to hand him the keys to their big league outfield. He’s a must-add where you can fit him. I’m about 60/40 that his swing-happy approach combined with the big-league heavy balls will prove too big a challenge for his first few hundred plate appearances, but stranger things have happened.
First and foremost, I wish all of you a fun and safe Memorial Day. Hard to believe that we are almost done with two months of the season and moving officially into summer. We have an insane week of games coming up. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Hitter Profiles: Getting (Un)lucky
May 28, 2022 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 11 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
Do you remember that one kid in elementary school who always seemed to win every raffle, cake walk or prize when it was nothing more than dumb luck? Well, welcome to Major League Baseball where that same kid is reimagined as Chris Davis and instead of winning the cake walk, he wins a ridiculous $161M contract. Both of these guys stink if you are not them and the second one sinks your fantasy season as well. This week our hitter profiles dig into a few luck metrics to warn or yearn for the rest of the season. Do not worry, I won’t mention Chris Davis again.
Red Sox second year breakout and probably should-be closer Garrett Whitlock began the night on a roll firing six innings of two run baseball, allowing just six base runners, five hits, one walk and striking out four. The offense was on fire, Xander Bogaerts had two hits with a 3-run homer, Fenway was abuzz, and G-Whit had a nice, cushy six run lead. Please, blog, may I have some more?
DFS: (Trevor) Story Time – A Therapeutic Lesson
May 28, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, DFS |by: Matt Stiles
Therapy is a good thing. Much of the stigma surrounding therapy appears to have disappeared and that is positive. Though I am not a therapist by trade, I feel as if the amount of back-and-forth banter I have shared with my fellow DFS writers and the Razzball readers has provided me some insight into the fantasy baseball owner’s mind. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Ambulance Chasers: Noncompliant Kris Byrant
May 28, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 9 Commentsby: keelinbillue
Happy Weekend to my Razzles from your Reporter of Fragiles!
This week’s report will begin with a moment of silence for Kris Bryant. He was not off the IL for long, but he did come off of it. For a minute. Please, blog, may I have some more?
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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH.)
Me and seven guys who I picked up in a Home Depot parking lot are bringing home a life-sized cutout of Grayson Rodriguez in a wheelbarrow. "Cory, please help me get my make-believe son, Gray, uh, son, onto my couch." Cory and my new Home Depot friends, who I paid with Venmo, manage to lean the 6'5", 220-pound cutout onto the couch.
Later, me and Cougs are watching The Staircase and between us is my make-believe son, Grayson. "Say hello, Grayson," I say. I nudge the Grayson cutout with my arm, and it falls over crushing my wife's foot. At the Urgent Care, I explain to Cougs that Grayson Rodriguez is the best pitcher the Orioles have right now. As a horsey might say, nay, he's a top five arm in the AL East right now. If he's healthy, it's stuff you're not seeing from many pitchers in the major leagues. Five above-average to plus-plus pitches with control. Through nine starts in Triple-A as the 9th youngest pitcher at the level: His K/9 is 13.7; his BB/9 is 2.9; his FIP is 1.77.
I shush Cougs's sobs. I ask, "Are you sobbing from your broken foot from my make-believe son cutout falling on you or are you worried about his slider?" Before she can answer, I anticipate and tell her his fastball sits 95 MPH with a plus whiff rate, and his two plus secondaries are his curveball and changeup with whiff rates above 50%. Oh, and by the by, he has a slider and cutter that grade as average or better too. Is this man a hydra? What kind of water do they have in the Rio Grande that they're giving this Texan? He's unreal, like an alien. He just needs a nickname to play off Grayson, and being an alien. Oh, I know! Call him Spawn. Grayson's going to be the best thing you've seen since the last future Hall of Famer was promoted. A chip right off the old block that fell on Cougs, that's my Spawn!
Also, here's me talking about Grayson Rodriguez (please subscribe to this friggin Youtube channel -- click that and click subscribe):
Rolling In The Deep: Cal(m) Down; It’s Early
May 27, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, Rolling In The Deep | 4 Commentsby: Laura Holt
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, this week has once again reminded me of the occasional agony that ensues due to the myriad of options available to fantasy owners in shallow leagues, options which simply aren’t there for those of us in the deep league world. Please, blog, may I have some more?
DFS: One Small Step For Rodon; One Giant Leap For DFS Players
May 27, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, DraftKings, Fanduel | 2 Commentsby: Hoove
Do you know anybody who tries too hard to be clever? A person who finds exceedingly difficult ways to do things when more easy, direct paths to success are staring them right in the face? That’s what this pitcher pick feels like today. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Reds End Series With A Cub-Boom
May 27, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes, Featured | 235 Commentsby: Grey
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Bert Blyleven allowed a major league record 50 homers in 1986. It was in 271 innings. Hunter Greene (5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 5.89) might beat the record in 100 innings. There's an old adage (I don't know what an adage is but it sounds good) and it goes that starters are better at home. Just in general. Of course, there's exceptions. Or I should say "of Coors." Any hoo! Greene is the type that could throw a 15-K shutout vs. the Dodgers or give up five homers to the Marlins with Miguel Rojas leading the charge. His opponent or environs don't matter, so it's hard to roster a guy like that. Also, don't ever say "environs" in real life, person you're with has ever right to punch you. The offensive star of the game for the Reds was Kyle Farmer (4-for-4, 3 runs, 5 RBIs and his 2nd and 3rd homer). Was his first game back from being out with general soreness. Lucky he didn't run into Major Setback. Also, in this game, Nick Senzel (4-for-4, 3 runs, 1 RBI) did what we expected of him in 2019, and 2020, and 2021, and, well, you get the picture, as he hit leadoff. Was this a sign of things to come or just going against a terrible pitcher? Well, Justin Steele (2 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 5.40) did not look good. Maybe it wasnt the best idea to pitch the Man of Steele against a guy the color of Kryptonite. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
