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Jeffrey Springs, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 10, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 63 Comments

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If you’re doing this right, and I think I’m doing it right, based on my results through the years, you see the same pitchers again and again when you search some of your favorite protocols for “breakout pitchers.” It doesn’t hurt that they were already good last year. Jeffrey Springs checks that box. His stats last year were 9-5/2.46/1.07/144 in 135 1/3 IP. How is that the 60-ish pitcher off the board and a guy going around 175th overall? Last year, Springs was the 37th best starter and 121st overall, so there’s value even if he simply repeats what he did last year. Last year Springs was better than Robbie Ray. Not saying he should be drafted before Ray, but it shows you just how big the discrepancy is between perceived value and actual value. There’s just so many possible starters to draft, it’s kinda silly. A guy like Chris Bassitt has been great for literally his entire career — has a 3.45 ERA in 737 1/3 IP and is going around 170th overall. The pitcher universe is deep. Gave you a sleeper post for Chris Bassitt in previous years, so won’t go back to that well, and he’s older with seemingly a lack of upside. That’s why Jeffrey Springs is the subject here. He has only 264 2/3 IP in his career, and a 3.57 ERA as he called shotgun. He’s 30, but the lack of innings feels like an opportunity for upside still. Last year, Springs had a 9.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9. Separation of 7+ between the two and another box checked. Top 20 for exit velocity, and that’s three boxes, it was time to go over Jeffrey Springs. So, what can we expect from Jeffrey Springs for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

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Grey

Justin Steele, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 9, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 52 Comments

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First off, shoutout to frequent commenter, Fausto, who commented about David Peterson and his sleeper-iness last September, and I screenshot it back then, and it’s been sitting on my desktop since then. Every couple weeks Cougs would say to me something like, “Did you order Daniel Vogelbach-in-a-bikini coasters? And if so, can you locate the […]

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Grey

Hunter Greene, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 5, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 34 Comments

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Sitting dead red (pardon the pun), and you can’t hit Hunter Greene. Allow me to demonstrate:

That’s just silly. Tell the hitter the ball is going to be right down the pipe, and it’s a JCVD to the windpipe. His fastball velocity averaged 99 MPH. To be a fly on the wall of the hospital room where Babe Ruth laid for the last time when a time traveler walked in to tell him, “A pitcher will one day average 99 MPH,” and then Babe closed his eyes for the last time, not wanting any part of that. Slightly off topic for a brief moment: It’s why it’s so funny when people try to compare different eras in baseball. Can you imagine Babe Ruth facing a 99-MPH hurler every time out? Putting aside his offseason regiment was chugging sodas with Fatty Arbuckle. 99 miles per hour on average?! That was best in the majors for a starter with at least 120 innings and the top ten are all guys you want: Strider, Sandy, Gerrit, Shohei, Castillo, Cease, McClanahanananananananan, Burnes, and Woodruff, in that order, with Woodruff at 96.2 MPH on average. Only two guys above 98 MPH are Spencer Strider and Hunter Greene. Velocity isn’t everything, naturally. Or unnaturally if you’re one of these guys’ shoulders. Nathan Eovaldi and his hot butter MPH and biscuit of garbage ERA are more the exception than the rule. The top 30 for fastball velocity are roughly 95% fantastic with the occasional Mitch Keller. So, what can we expect from Hunter Greene for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Edward Olivares, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 3, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 34 Comments

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I cackled just writing the title. Hey, going for Edward Olivares is that Dayton Moore was fired…

…the rest can fall into place, right? A sneak peek behind the Wizard’s curtain. I was looking for a late outfielder to write a sleeper post on, and there were, like, fifteen guys in the span of 20 average draft picks that interested me. Around Edward Olivares was also Jose Siri — Siri, what is a fantasy baseball sleeper? Forget it, I’ll ask Alexa; Bubba Thompson — I like him a lot, but playing time?; Dylan Carlson and Jorge Soler — bounce backs?; Tommy Pham — way undervalued, but how many fantasy football-smacking-Joc jokes can I make? Well, a lot, but I didn’t feel like it; Luis Garcia, the Rocky III version; Luke Voit — surprising strong peripherals, but kinda yawnstipating, and him and Pham need someone to sign them; Austin Meadows, Jake Fraley, Justin Turner–Seriously, there’s so many interesting names around Edward Olivares, but there’s just not enough time for a sleeper post for all of them, but I will cover them all in rankings. Last year, Edward Olivares went 4/2/.286 in 161 ABs. In his major league career, he has 358 ABs and has hit 12 homers and stolen four bags. *making the Larry David meh face* Hmm, maybe there was a reason Dayton Moore promoted and sent down Olivares once a week as a ritual. Like 9 1/2 Weeks, only instead of rubbing strawberries on Dayton Moore’s lips, he had his assistant rub news clippings of Olivares being sent down. Dated reference? Yes, but also I like the idea of Dayton Moore getting a Google alert and reading about himself in a 9 1/2 Weeks setting, so I will allow it. So, what can we expect from Edward Olivares for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Psyche! Before we get into the Edward Olivares sleeper post, just wanted to announce that I’ve begun to roll out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. Lucky you (if you pay the $10/month). Also, Rudy’s begun to roll out his 2023 fantasy baseball projections. It’s version 1.0 and there’s usually about 4500 versions but just wanted to let you know. Anyway II, the Edward Olivares sleeper:

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Grey

CJ Abrams, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

January 2, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 38 Comments

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If you don’t produce immediately, people consider you a bust or at best a “wait and see.” You see it constantly. People loved Andres Gimenez, then he struggled a little and people wrote him off, and now people are on board with what he can do. Right now, people are “waiting and seeing” with Wander Franco, who’s one of the best prospects in recent years. Speaking of great prospects who people are waiting and seeing on, here’s what Prospect Itch said about CJ Abrams, “CJ Abrams might be right there with Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez for top spot across the minors if he’d stayed healthy this year. A 6’2” 185 lb lefty bat, Abrams’s best features are a double-plus hit tool and 80-grade speed. He’s flashed extra base power but his swing isn’t geared for home run power at the highest levels. He’ll still pop his fair share, but you won’t really care if he lives in the 15-range. His batting average and stolen bases alone will put him in early-round conversations at his roto peak, and I’d like to throw Grey off a high peak.” Not cool, man. But look at those names whose company Itch put Abrams — Bobby Witt Jr. and Julio Rodriguez. Now you can either think Itch is crazy or Abrams might not have showed us everything at the age of 21. A year when he got shuffled between the minors and majors and San Diego and Washington. A year when all that was going on, and he still only had a 16.6% strikeout rate. The bat is going to play, and you might be in “wait and see” mode, but I want to draft and see. So, what can we expect from CJ Abrams for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

NFBC Draft Champions Recap: Never Nervous When You Have Mervis

December 30, 2022 | Our Leagues | 50 Comments

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*takes a long inhale* You smell that? No, not your sweatpants you’ve been wearing for the last week. Well, them, but I’m talking about the smell of the 2023 fantasy baseball draft season. So fresh, so clean. So ulcer, so sniped. It’s good to be back to one of the best times of the year. It’s so much better than “Playing your 9th outfielder because everyone is hurt” time of the year. I’ve even begun rolling out my 2023 fantasy baseball rankings on our Patreon. So, me and a bunch of Razzball commenters got together and took part in an NFBC Draft. Will get another draft started prolly around January/February, if you wanna take part, and, of course, Happy New Year (of drafting fantasy baseball)! Anyway, here’s my NFBC 2023 fantasy baseball draft recap; it’s a 15-team, two-catcher, draft and hold league that goes 50 rounds and has no waivers:

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Grey

Tyler O’Neill, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

December 26, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 29 Comments

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This is one of those sleeper posts where I’m fighting with myself not to say one thing the entire time, so I’m going to put it out there up front, and then we don’t need to address it again until the very end when I wrap up the entire post. Tyler O’Neill was hurt last year. May as well just throw out his entire season. He went 14/14/.228 in 334 ABs or 96 games, and *crumbles it up, tosses it in the garbage, claps hands together to indicate all done with that*. Just one of those seasons that occasionally gets a guy and us fantasy baseballers (<–my mom’s term!) to think that’s the new normal. So many examples of this, but one that comes to mind is Mookie Betts. Betts said he was hurting, wasn’t right, had a down 2021, and everyone was like, “Welp, that sucks, Betts is done now forever.” He wasn’t and I don’t think we should make the same mistake with Tyler O’Neill. You know how injury news websites put the injury in parenthesis after a guy’s name? Last year, they could have had Tyler O’Neill (everything). Neck? Check! Hamstring? You betcha! Tyler O’Neill (leg)? (Yes!) Wrist? Indeed! Hamstring again? Ha, you’re catching on now. And, p to the erhaps, the worst for a hitter, shoulder. The shoulder is actually the only one I’m still worried about, because those injuries tend to linger, but that was one of his first injuries of the 40 some-odd day-to-day injuries he encountered last year, and he returned from the shoulder injury, so I think we’re fine. Take all of those injuries, and a slump that he couldn’t shake because of rust, and, seriously, crumble them up and Kobe it into the nearest garbage can. So, what can we expect from Tyler O’Neill for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Position Eligibility for 2023 Fantasy Baseball

December 23, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy, Featured | 57 Comments

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Look at position eligibility like this, you have a toolbox filled with different positions, and you need a certain position for a certain hole in your lineup, or a screw for a certain hole to secure a latch. If you use the wrong screw, then the latch will be loose and you’ll need to translate Swedish to English to figure out how this cabinet’s door stays on the hinges, when it’s clearly not flush no matter how many times you unscrew it and re-screw it back in. What is wrong with this stupid screw, and now it’s stripped?! Oh, c’mon! Then the screw gets middle infield eligibility, but the cabinet’s directions were used as a coaster, and the coffee stain is covering the exact part I need! Or maybe that’s just me.

So, the 2023 fantasy baseball rankings are almost entirely on our Patreon, free of charge plus ten dollars. I’ll be releasing the rankings to the non-payers in roughly three weeks from Monday. In the meantime, let’s look at the players who have multiple position eligibility for this upcoming 2023 fantasy baseball season. I did this list of multi-position eligible players because I figured it would help for your 2023 fantasy baseball drafts. I’m a giver, snitches! Happy Holidays! Seriously, be safe and well out there and don’t get run over by any Christmas sleighs. or non-denominational sleighs. They’re the worst!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Correa Goes From SF’s Medical Hedge Uncertainty To NYM’s Hedge Fund Indulgency

December 22, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes, Featured | 23 Comments

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As Yogi Berra once famously put, “It’s like deja vu all over again.” Yogi also said, “Can you give my son, Dale, a job?” But no one ever talks about that Yogi-ism. This might be a first for me, we’re back with another Carlos Correa 2023 fantasy baseball outlook. This time, it’s for real. I think.

At the 11th hour, the Giants claimed Carlos Correa’s physical revealed an issue. What issue? Oh, just, ya know, something or other. Giants claimed it was from Correa’s time dating back…Dot dot dot. Pre-MLB. This is becoming more and more dubious. Are we going to get Correa’s origin story where he hurt his wrist on a garbage can in junior high, and vowed revenge against all garbage cans, planning to beat them? Giants are the ones with the injury, they got cold feet! Got ‘em! Honestly, would’ve loved to be a fly on the wall for the Giants’ front office convo:

“13 years? This is nuts, can we back out?”
“Sure, we’ll say we found something on his physical.”
“We’re the team that signed Mitch Haniger, and we’re backing out due to an injury risk?”
“Uhh…”

So, enter stage right: MLB’s own Montgomery Burns, the Mets’ Steve Cohen. “Mr. Cohen, are you sure you want to give Correa $300 million-plus over 12 years? It’s going to cut into your formaldehyde shark money.” That’s Cohen’s financial advisor. 

Carlos Correa goes to the 1927 Mets. They’re more stacked than pancakes at IHOP. They’re so stacked Eduardo Escobar won’t even be a regular. Okay, he’s not exactly Howard Johnson, the player, not the motel, but I’m having a hard time imagining a team where he’s not an everyday starter. Maybe the Phillies once Bryce returns. Any hoo! It’s a great lineup, and Correa no longer looks like a diamond in a lineup of zirconia. Metco won’t help Correa; he couldn’t hit 27+ homers with the Crawford Boxes, so he’s not a great bet to do it now. He only once cleared 150 games too. The lineup with his on-base skills will be the biggest net positives. Still think he’s overrated for fantasy, and this isn’t going to help that. For 2023, I’ll give Carlos Correa projections of 104/25/83/.283/2 in 558 ABs. Giants fans, try not to think about the Mets too much, and just enjoy all those Wilmer Flores and J.D. Davis at-bats. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason in fantasy baseball:

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Grey

Jose Miranda, 2023 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper

December 20, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers, Featured | 53 Comments

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Already gave you my Jordan Walker fantasy. Really, really like him. Already gave you my Gunnar Henderson fantasy. I really, really, really like him, by the by. Already gave you my Josh Jung fantasy. I really like him. Okay, so I didn’t put those in order, but you can count the “really”s. I mention these guys because I tried to give you 3rd basemen sleepers, because that position is the dog’s breakfast, and the dog ain’t eating eggs and bacon in the morning with a side of pancakes, barely chewing it and spitting it into your mouth, so it’s still yummy. This is to give you context. If Jose Miranda were an outfielder, I’m not sure I’d be here telling you about how he’s a great 2023 fantasy baseball sleeper. I might not be telling you about this great Jose Miranda 2023 fantasy baseball sleeper, if he were only eligible anywhere else besides 3rd base, tee bee aitch. Jose Miranda has no speed, so he needs to excel in the other four categories, or I need to read myself the Miranda rights. “You have the right to remain silent about fantasy baseball sleepers. Anything you say can and will be used against you around June/July, when some random commenter brings up your sleeper post from December, and your sleeper looks like crap. You have the right to blame Steamer for their projections if they also liked the player and, if they didn’t, then you have the right to blame an unforeseen injury, swing change or bad luck. If you can’t afford to be bothered to come up with a decent excuse, then you will be dragged mercilessly.” So, what can we expect from Jose Miranda for 2023 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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