While collective bargaining is going about as well as my teenage driving tests, there are a few things we can expect with a level of certainty. We will see increased minimum salaries, the removal of the qualifying offer system, and most notably for our 2022 fantasy baseball season the implementation of the universal DH. While this is not a shock, the lockout has made it a challenge to narrow in on how those positions will be filled. A number of teams will simply rotate through their bench to keep players fresh but a handful already have their tailor-made DH in-house. The increased playing time means increased intrigue for the observant fantasy owner.
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Hitter Profiles: Rapid Fire ADP Wars – Outfielder Edition
February 12, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
Each week our Hitter Profiles dig into two to three players and what we can expect for the 2022 Fantasy Baseball Season. This week, we will divert from the previously scheduled program and look to hit some rapid-fire decisions. Think of this as that league where the commissioner has better things to do and sets the draft clock to twenty seconds per pick. Come to think of that, I would not be surprised if that was in the next collective bargaining agreement offer from MLB that is due today. So, in the spirit of all things Rob Manfred, let us jump into the outfield and look at four groups of players starting on the west coast with two outfielders going in opposite directions with Cody Bellinger and Mitch Haniger.
Cody Bellinger (ADP 99) vs. Mitch Haniger (ADP 109)
Which line would you rather take:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: Build-A-Hitter (Do Splits Matter?)
February 5, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 16 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
Buckle up for some analysis as we look to answer once and for all the question that all daily league managers contemplate themselves: Do splits matter? The concept has been around for years and hinges on some real-world strategy in the major leagues. Many hitters have strong splits which is seen in major league lineup construction and pinch hitter selection. So, logic would follow, that fantasy managers can look up splits and simply draft two less sexy names and play the lineup game. With the ability to select which games a player starts; we can take two unheralded guys (say Adam Duvall and Austin Hays) to build an all-star hitter (maybe Aaron Judge). It sounds so easy! Time to (dis)prove that notion in this week’s hitter profiles.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Last week our hitter profiles focused on those guys making a sprint to the finish. Sticking with our running theme, this week we will focus on the gentlemen that tried to run the hurdles and clipped the last one to face plant right before the finish line. What can we learn about their 2020 value from their late season 2021 failures? Should we stay away or invest with confidence? Stay with us as we dig into the Late Fade for some early 2022 hitter profiles.
Eloy Jimenez
After tearing a pectoral muscle in spring training during 2021, Jimenez made a miraculously quick recovery by joining the White Sox at the end of July. In the first 30 games back, Eloy hit the ground running with 8 long balls, 30 runs batted in and a solid .277 average. This translates loosely to a 40-homer season which falls right in line with the pace for his first two seasons in the MLB. However, as the calendar turned to September, Jimenez began to scuffle.
Hitter Profiles: Finishing Strong
January 22, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 7 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
Welcome back to Razzball Hitter Profiles for the 2022 Fantasy Baseball season. We will be rattling through interesting names every Saturday as we roll up to the regular season. We are not talking the top hitters, because you really do not need me to tell you that Juan Soto can hit, or that Trea Turner can run. You need that like Nelson Cruz needs to play the outfield. Just because it can be done, does not mean it helps!
For this week, we are digging into players that finished out strong last season. These guys were running so hard, it was like they could not wait for 2021 to end and 2022 to begin. If that was our measure, then we could invest in half of the world’s population. However, we here at the higher establishment that is Razzball like to use numbers, trends, awkward graphics and the occasional useless banter to evaluate the next big thing. Without further rambling, let us dig in!
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: Fantasy MVPs – Part 2
October 2, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
This week we spend time in the infield examining another group of fantasy MVPs from the 2021 baseball season. We will spend our time going up to the middle with the second basemen, shortstops, and the beer-league middle infielder position. Heading into the season, the shortstops dominated the draft board ripe with young talent and guys like Tatis and Bichette. Unfortunately, we saw plenty of duds with the Mondesi and LeMahieu hype trains derailing all too quickly. Down the board, there are always values to bring home the trophies, so let the debates begin with the 2021 Fantasy MVP Middle Infielders!
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: Fantasy MVPs
September 25, 2021 | 2021 Fantasy Baseball | 7 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
The fantasy playoffs are winding down and the last-minute roto push is driving fantasy managers crazy. While this is usually our slot for the top 100 rest of the season hitter rankings, I am going to trust that you can make those calls for the last week of the season. In honor of your fantasy championship (we know all our readers are winners) we will spend the next few weeks digging through our Fantasy MVPs by looking back at our spring drafts and who delivered the biggest bang for our fantasy buck. There will not be enough room for all the upstarts of the season, so let the debates begin with the 2021 Fantasy MVP Outfielders!
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: Seeing the Future
September 18, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Hitters | 2 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
What makes fantasy baseball so interesting is that there are several ways to win your league. Whether you are a superb drafter or waiver wire warrior, there is one concept that is critical to success in this game. Surplus! What is this concept you ask? Surplus is the value returned by a player beyond their acquisition cost. The more you can squeeze out of an individual spot in the lineup the more likely you are to accumulate those precious statistics that you desire. In today’s hitter profile, we will look at a breakout player doing plenty to out earn his investment price. To make it fun, we will also predict the future and see who we should be looking to invest in for 2022 to duplicate the blueprint.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 100 Hitters: Time is Running Out
September 11, 2021 | Top 100 Hitters | 8 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
It is the final countdown and that means players are jumping up and down the 2021 rest of season hitter rankings. There are two main drivers to this known affectionately as the ‘Mondesi Momentum’ and ‘Trout Trouble’. Time to break down the categories:
The ‘Mondesi Momentum’ represents those players making a late season surge. For a variety of reasons, they may have missed time earlier in the year. It might have been an injury, minor league service time manipulation or a long paternity leave. Whatever the case, if you have held onto or picked up these players, they will be the reason you close out the season strong.
The ‘Trout Trouble’ is an all too common story this time of the year. Due to lingering injuries and rehabilitations several players just are not going to make it back to the lineup. Specifically for teams out of contention, there is little reason to rush a player such as Mike Trout back to only risk further injury and uncertainty heading into the offseason. This trouble means it is time to cut bait.
Keeping these official categories in mind, the top 100 hitters for the rest of the 2021 fantasy baseball season are as follows:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: To Believe or Not Believe…Something About a Question
September 4, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Hitters | 4 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
With a month left in the fantasy season and the fantasy playoffs just ramping up, it is time to look at a few players that are trending different ways in the stat sheet. To do such a detailed analysis, we can certainly look at the key luck drivers such as batting average on balls in play or maybe even home runs per fly ball. But here at Razzball, we like to go deeper so we have pulled out the lucky rabbit foot, horseshoes, magic eight balls and our four-leaf clovers. Using all these tools we have determined one thing; Lou Gehrig was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. Maybe that was just listening to a quote from 1939 or the same analysis we will use here to review a few players moving in different directions over the past month in Trey Mancini and Tyler Naquin. Who do we sell? Who do we hold? Who do we buy? Let us find out!
Please, blog, may I have some more?The numbers are in, and my unofficial spreadsheet says that the hottest player of the last few weeks deserves to be part of a blind resume! Who do we want for the rest of the season as we look at three power-hitting outfielders with season lines of:
Player A: 60/27/71/8/.247
Player B: 49/22/65/0/.267
Player C: 70/25/77/0/.256
Three sluggers having much different seasons tell us that season-long stat lines matter little at this point in the season. Early season darling, Aroldis Garcia (Player A), has a strong season line. However, in the last two months, he has scuffled to a .206 average with a 35% strikeout rate and merely seven long balls. Giancarlo Stanton (Player B) continues to be a Savant with his underlying power numbers but has been an overall disappointment considering relatively positive health this season. That brings us to Player C, Hunter Renfroe, who is coming on at the right time for the fantasy stretch and jumping into our top 100 rankings for the rest of the 2021 fantasy baseball season thanks to a .333 average, seven homers, and a combined 21 R + RBI over a baker’s dozen games. On the back of that performance, we will look at the other hot bats jumping up the rankings for the rest of the season.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Hitter Profiles: Reinforcements Coming
August 21, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Hitters | 8 Commentsby: Jeremy Brewer
September is fast approaching and with it comes the opportunity to expand rosters. Unlike the days of yesteryear, rosters will be expanding to 28 players from the current 26 player setup. With the increase comes the opportunity to call up some young talent and for us in the fantasy world to catch lightning in a bottle. In today’s hitter profiles, we look at a handful of hitters that may make an impact if called up. With the unpredictability of our game and the management of many major league rosters, will these reinforcements arrive in time to save your season?
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