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With so much talk of sticky stuff, the state of the game of baseball, and how many runs are or aren’t being scored these days, I thought I’d take a look at our very own data sample and see what our average ERA in the Razzball Commenter Leagues looks like this year versus years past.  One of my favorite things about keeping all the RCL data over the years is being able to look back at it for things likes this.  Let’s start with 2016 where our average ERA was 3.72.  Not too shabby.  2017 saw a bump to 3.88 but 2018 fell back down to 3.79.  2019 got ugly and we had an average team ERA of 4.07.  A shortened 2020 season was even worse with an average of 4.18.  We’ve been slowly creeping up over time.  So, how are we looking this year?  As of right now, we’re looking at an average team ERA of 3.51.  I’d say they sure deadened the ball alright.  What will the hot, humid summer months and umpires patting pitchers down do to these numbers?  I’m going to guess we end up somewhere right in the 3.85 ERA range, in other words, get ready for some offense.

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I hope everyone had a wonderful tenth week of fun in the Razzball Commenter Leagues.  It was at this point last season that we were all done with the RCLs and fantasy baseball.  I still can’t believe we played a 60 game season, stopping at this point in this season would just feel silly.  Some of my teams are just finally getting their shizz together.  Is it from this point forward we start seeing even more injuries than we already have?  Do even more pitcher’s arms start falling off?  As someone who recently traded for Jacob deGrom in one RCL and drafted Max Scherzer in another, I was holding my breathe this weekend.  Don’t worry though, the Mets say deGrom is fine for his next start after playing some catch.  If that doesn’t make you rest easy, I don’t know what will.  This, combined with the MLB attack on Spider Tack and we could be in for some major offense this summer!  I know my RCL teams that are currently batting under .250 will approve.  Let’s take a look at how offense and pitching alike faired this week and the rest of the week that was, week 10:

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We’ve got ourselves a massive slate for a Saturday.  We typically have some early games and a handful of late games, but today we’ve got all but two teams playing from 4 o’clock on making for a 15 game main slate.  I love these massive slates, more options give us more opportunity to create an edge.  We’re going to create that edge today by kicking things off with Joe Musgrove ($8,300).  Musgrove saves us a ton of money over the top options today, allowing us to load up on all the bats.  Musgrove has a couple knocks going against him, but that’s baked into the cheap price.  Musgrove is on the road and facing a Mets team that doesn’t strike out a ton.  However, Musgrove has the ability to overcome these bumps.  The 2.94 FIP and 12.2 K/9 are well worth the $8,300.  We just have to hope Tingler doesn’t pull him in the fourth.

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The calendar has flipped to June and the Razzball Commenter Leagues are in full swing.  This is also the time of year where I like to take a look at which RCL teams are killing us in win-rate and which teams have just had some crap luck in the win column.  Now, Rudy will tell you that Wins are actually predictable as shown by his Ombotsman.  While the data and the bots may tell you this, as a human, it still seems like they are luck-based, do they not?  Today we’re going to take a look at “win luck”.  There’s no doubt it takes some luck to win a fantasy baseball league.  Injury luck is probably the biggest factor in winning a league.  As good a manager as we think we are, if your number one pick goes down for the year, you’re going to be at a disadvantage.  That’s just common sense. “Win luck” is another area that is seemingly out of our control.  Let’s face it, wins are brutal.  I’m a big proponent of the mantra, “Make your own luck” and I certainly think that can be applied to “win luck”.  “Win luck” is a term often tossed around to describe a team that is raking in the wins and/or a team that can’t seem to buy a win.  Can you make your own luck in regards to wins?  Of course, you can.  You can stream those valuable middle relievers, especially the ones that frequently work multiple innings in the middle of games (Yusmeiro Petit perhaps).  When a lead change occurs, these relievers are typically the benefactors.  It’s no guarantee of course, but it can’t hurt your luck any.  There are other ways to increase your win luck too.  Let’s take a look at another big one as well as who is getting lucky and who got lucky this week in the week that was, week 9:

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I hope everyone was able to enjoy a long weekend this Memorial Day.  It’s the unofficial start of summer here in the north country but it was cold and rainy here, kind of like it was at many baseball stadiums this weekend.  Between the rainouts and injuries I was lucky to get in half the normal amount of Games Played for my Razzball Commenter League teams.  My Eduardo Rodriguez vs. the Marlins start got washed out only to see him get crushed by the Astros.  According to the numbers we had a down offensive week.  If you ask my teams with the Padres pitching staff, we had plenty of offense though.  Hopefully you all had sunny weekends and plenty of offense for your RCL teams.  I’m  recouped and ready to bring you the goings on for the week in the RCLs.  Son stretched his lead again this week, but another Razzball writer is hot on his trail.  We also had a couple of weekly pitching records fall, clearly not from anyone rostering Blake Snell.  All this and more in the week that was, week 8 in the RCLs:

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When is it acceptable to pay the max price for a starting pitcher?  In cash games, it’s easier to do, but it can work out in GPPs as well.  Pitching is where you can rack up a 60 point outburst if the match-up is right.  Max Scherzer ($12,000) checks a lot of those boxes today.  At home?  Check.  Weak opponent?  Check.  The Brew-Crew sit in the bottom five in team OPS and the top five in team strikeouts.  Strikeout upside?  Hi….have you met Max?  12 K/9 is pretty delicious.  Vegas favorite?  Check.  Low Vegas run total?  Also check.  This is setting up for a big day for Mad Max, the only real question is if the Nats can put together some runs and get him the win.

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We’ve got a weird set of slates scheduled for today on FanDuel.  The weather really caused some havoc with things yesterday and could again today.  We’ve got double headers galore, which has created a five game early slate and a four game main slate.  I’ll provide plays for both slates today and we’ll kick things off with the main slate where Mike Foltynewicz ($7,100) provides a nice pivot in GPPs.  Folty’s been pretty rough, I get it, but considering he’s facing the Mariners, he’s basically got a 50-50 shot at a no-hitter.  The Mariners have the league’s worst team OPS and are in the top ten in strikeouts, a nice combo for an opposing pitcher.  Folty’s 6.8 K/9 isn’t very inspiring, but I’m hoping with the opponent, we can squeak in a few more Ks and get away with a win.  The reduced price will allow us to stack some big bats that others will miss out on from rostering Julio Urias, Ian Anderson or Adam Wainwright.  Julio is your cash game play today, no doubt about that, but the $4,000 you save is the difference between an OF with Acuna and Mookie vs. Pavin Smith and Kyle Lewis.

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The rookies are coming, the rookies are coming!  If you’re like me, you’re looking at your roster right about now and trying to figure out where in the world all these guys are going to play.  I’d love to grab Vidal Brujan and sit on him until he’s called up, but as it is I have Joey Wendle, Jazz Chisholm and now Brendan Rodgers battling with Marcus Semien, Dansby Swanson and Francisco Lindor (who I drafted way too much of) for playing time.  When Moustakas gets healthy, I’m going to have real middle infield trouble.  It’s a good problem to have, but it makes playing rookie hot potato very difficult.  Do we cut bait with Wendle despite his heater?  Drop Dansby despite that lineup?  At least Jarren Duran is in the outfield, a spot with slightly more lineup flexibility.  How are you all handling the game of rookie hot potato?  Are you just hoping you can beat your league mates to the wire when the time comes?  Do you have a similar lineup crunch you hope will work itself out via trade or injury?  Are you grabbing and holding or constantly adding and dropping every night hoping your rookie is rostered when they get the call?  All of this is a good reminder to leave those last couple roster spots on offense able to be churned over.  There is no issue with leaving an RCL draft knowing you’ll be hitting the waiver wire for your OF5, UTIL and CI/MI spots.  There are players every year that pop from the waiver wire, just keep those eyes peeled.  Right now, point your eyes below for the rest of the week that was, week 7 in the RCLs:

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Week six marks the approximate spot where we can stop saying, “it’s still early” in the Razzball Commenter Leagues.  This is the point where I assess and cut bait on all those underperformers.  Some might say it’s too late for that.  These would be the people who have already dropped Ryan Mountcastle.  I’m the sucker who has picked him back up everywhere he’s been discarded.  I’ve noticed Mike Yastremzski getting tossed to the curb this week as well.  Personally, I’ve cut ties with pretty much all catchers at this point, there are so many over-performing catchers to choose from, there’s always one on the waiver wire who is in a lineup.   I like to think I’ve mellowed in my old age and have better self control with the rage-drops, but Nick Madrigal has started to wear me thin.  The batting average is great and all, but one steal and no homers doesn’t warrant a roster spot for a .270 average.  Sorry Mads.  (Naturally, as I type this Monday night Madrigal is having a career night)  I also managed to cut bait on Kyle Schwarber, finally, only to see him have a two homer week. (and yet another one tonight, again, as I type.  I feel like a moron typing this right now.)  Figures. Who have you been rage-dropping across your leagues?  Has it burned you like Kyle Schwarber has me?  Who are you scooping and holding hoping for a turnaround?  Come on Mountcastle, get hot!  Let’s commiserate in the comments, misery loves company and with any luck our complaining will jump start some of these guys.  Now, for the rest of the week that was, week 6 in the RCLs:

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Cheap is a relative term here, but the fact that Trevor Bauer ($11,000) is not the most expensive pitcher on tonight’s main FanDuel slate is a bargain.  Sure, Rodon has been great, but Bauer is the top option tonight by a long shot.  Miami ranks in the bottom ten in team OPS and in the top ten in team strikeouts.  Bauer is at home and should absolutely cruise to victory.  The Stream-o-nator has Bauer as double the value of every other pitcher tonight and he should be good for nearly double the FanDuel points.  For cash games, there is really no other option, but you can feel free to get frisky in GPPs.  If you’re rostering Bauer, you’ll need to dig for value bats, but if you want all those pricey Coors bats, you’ll need to get creative.  Let’s dig, shall we.

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!

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Five weeks are now in the books.  With twenty to go, quick math tells us we are ? of the way through our season.  To those ahead in your Razzball Commenter Leagues, that might be exciting, but to those at the bottom of the barrel, that could be unwelcome news.  Is it possible you’ve already accumulated ? of your final stats for the season?  As someone with a lot of Mets on their teams, this doesn’t feel right.  This is the time of year when I like to take a peak at what players are killing your Razzball Commenter League teams and what players are boosting your team up the standings.  Our previous RCL Updater, VinWins has already done this work for me, because us Updaters stick together.  After the jump will be a fancy table showing every player drafted in the first round of the Razzball Commenter Leagues (yes, even J.T. Realmuto) and where they rank currently on the Razzball Player Rater.  Spoiler: Drafting Ronald Acuna Jr. has been pretty great.  Let’s take a look at which first rounders are tanking your teams, a flurry of trade activity and all kinds of numbers for the week that was, week 5:

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Before we take a dive into our weekly Razzball Commeneter leagues numbers and standings to see how badly Son is clobbering us this week, I want to take a little aside.  I want to chat about K/9 and its importance in the long game of the season.  Since we’re all capped at 1,400 IP, the strikeout category basically turns into a race for the highest K/9.  Once your innings are up, you are stuck with the number of strikeouts you have.  This makes those high K/9 relievers such as Aroldis Chapman and James Karinchak (even without the save opportunities) very valuable pieces.  Something I like to do is sort players by K/9.  You can do this by hitting “Extra” on the player page when viewing pitchers.  Then, just sort by K/9 and make sure you’re looking for players with a substantial amount of IP.  If only Jose de Leon could not give up an earned run every outing, that K/9 (17.28) would be delightful.  If you find yourself without a save vulture target for the day and your offense is full, consider grabbing a high K/9 reliever to help boost those stats.  It only takes a few 7 IP, 2 K performances to put you behind the pace.  It’s important to monitor and keep a balance.  Fortunately for you, and especially those that are bad at math, we’re tracking your K/9 for you on the Master Standings page.  There, you can see that among teams with at least 40 IP/week we have Team KumaDeviL with an impressive 12.4 K/9.  Bringing up the rear is Team Matbrekk77 with 7.7 K/9 in 245 IP.  Ideally, you’ll be looking at a K/9 north of 10.  You can see our current Master Standings leader, Son is a little behind, which could prove his undoing as everyone catches up in IP.  There’s still time to correct though, so fear not!  It’s also going to be important to monitor your innings usage.  You can click “MIN/MAX” on your team page to see your innings used and your pace.  I like to keep my pace pretty close to right on the money, but your mileage may vary.  Just don’t leave innings on the table if you can help it.  Let’s take a look at the rest of the week that was, week 4 in the RCLs:

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