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JB Gilpin

Author: JB Gilpin

Chief Editor for Razzball Fantasy Basketball. Fantasy Sports Writer for Razzball Football and Razzball Baseball. Co-Host of the Razzball Fantasy Football Podcast. Go Crew, Panthers, Blue, & Heels! Follow me on Twitter @jbgilpin

Read some of JB Gilpin's 248 posts

JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Tyler Skaggs Debuts A Memorial Curveball

May 27, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 25 Comments

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After an underwhelming cup of coffee last year, Tyler Skaggs looked primed for the 5th spot in the Diamondbacks rotation, only to lose out to Patrick Corbin.  I remember there was some dissension with that decision, but you don’t hear any of those arguments now!  With Corbin obviously one of the biggest surprises of the season, Skaggs had a really rough start to his AAA assignment with his ERA climbing close to 7.00 through six starts, but then again it was with Reno in the Pacific Coast League.

Skaggs has put it together recently though, racking up a 30:5 K:BB ratio in 25.1 May innings and three straight quality starts.  With Ian Kennedy ailing with a cut on his finger, Skaggs got the call for a spot start in a tough matchup in the first leg of a double-header against the Rangers.  I don’t think expectations were huge for this game, but having never seen Skaggs pitch and with no knowledge of his repertoire, I decided to tune in and break down his 2013 debut:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

DraftKings – Hungry For Some Money

May 22, 2013 | DraftKings | 4 Comments

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So for any of you esteemed loyalists to Razzball Nation who have not yet tried out DraftKings, the real question is why are you such a Schmohawk!?  Well don’t worry, we can trim that Schmohawk right off with an awesome offer from our friends at DraftKings to get you winning right away.  For any first time depositor to the industry leading daily fantasy site, if you deposit at least $25 you’ll receive an extra $10.  Hurry though – the offer is only good until Friday at 5:00 PM EST – aka when Grey gets up in the “morning.”  That mustache won’t comb itself!  You’ve got to enter through our link here into another CAN YOU TAKE DOWN RUDY GAMBLE (and Nick) CONTEST, which returns to Friday (the 24th) this week.  The contest is limited to 30 entries (up to 2 per person), with the winner receiving a ticket into another one of their huge six figures contests – the $100,000 Punch Out on June 14th.  But as always, there isn’t just 1 winner.  This week spots 2-5 will double up to $10 and 6-10 nab $5.  And if you’re a first time depositor, you can get your two entries this week essentially for free!

The last huge DraftKings $100K Spring Fling challenge last Friday had six Razzballers enter and commenter Pacochu got 54th and notched $200 buck-a-roos!  Not bad for a $5 entry, huh?  Hey Pacochu, next time we get cervesas at the cantina the Dos Equis are on you!  I don’t always drink beer with Razzballers, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.  Now I’m starting to get hungry for some tacos.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Jake Odorizzi’s 2013 & Rays Debut

May 21, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 12 Comments

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When David Price went down with a triceps injury, mercifully so with the struggles he was enduring, the Rays finally announced over the weekend that prospect Jake Odorizzi would be called up from Triple-A Durham to take his spot in the rotation .  As Bill Murray would say, “Go Bulls!”  I was fortunate enough to see Odorizzi pitch in Durham earlier this season, throwing 6.2 innings of shutout ball with 8 Ks against AAA Gwinnett.

From what I remember in that outing, he features a mid-to-low 90s fastball and a wipe out breaking ball.  Other than that, I couldn’t tell much more from our seats, which were surprisingly tough to get in the Bulls home debut that night.  There were free fireworks!  Also, the city of Durham loves their Bulls, it is a very nice AAA experience.  Anywho, I was stoked that Odorizzi would be pitching right around when my next Pitcher Profile was due out, so I decided to break down his Rays debut (and 3rd career start) at Toronto and see what kind of impact he could have for fantasy owners:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

A New Razzball Exclusive Stat: Gamescore+

May 16, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 39 Comments

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Disclaimer: This is as technical and as nerdy as it gets.  Wait I thought this was Razzball not Fangraphs!  Well there’s my only joke, so only read on if you’re into the hardcore sabermetrics or sabretooth tigers.  Dammit, OK, that’s the last one…

The stat developed by Bill James, the “Gamescore”, was a way to evaluate a pitcher’s performance on any given game and is used more and more frequently to determine who pitched the best game (ala Shelby Miller’s 1-hitter vs. Matt Harvey’s).

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

DraftKings – Moving To Thursday This Week

May 15, 2013 | DraftKings | 9 Comments

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So just in case you haven’t heard, our friends at DraftKings have moved our RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE contest to Thursday this week, so you can beat Rudy before being too exhausted for your weekend.  As always, entry is only $5.00, but the amount of entries is up to 35 (2 per person) and the winnings include a top prize of free entry to their $100,000 Spring Fling contest, which goes down Friday.  That’s a $100 value!  Even if you place 2nd-10th, you’ll win $10 this week, doubling your money!  And if you can take down that Spring Fling, you’ll win a hefty payday of $20,000, or roughly Manny Ramirez’s contract for his team in Taiwan. OK, I bet it’s more than that, but at least you can pull up 20 feet short of second on a slide and not feel as bad about it…

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Shelby Miller’s 1-Hitter In A Weekend Of Gems

May 13, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 79 Comments

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As you all know, pitching is my favorite part of fantasy baseball and baseball in general.  It’s as overpoweringly addictive to me as gasoline is to the leather-clad gangs in The Road Warrior.  Now I most certainly don’t have any ass-less chaps, but I was on the edge of my seat watching some of thee performances, I’m not gonna lie mainly Chris Sale last night, just because he’s on many of my teams and I was on vacation over the weekend…

There were a lot of comments last week asking for a Shelby Miller breakdown, and as probably everyone knows (spoiler alert!  Wait it’s in the title.  Don’t look at the title…) all he did was go out and throw a 1-hitter.  So I went back to watch the tape and break down the start for all you loyal pitcher profile fans:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

DraftKings – JB Is Doing Nothing But Cobb Articles This Week

May 8, 2013 | DraftKings | 17 Comments

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So I decided to see how many Alex Cobb articles I can write this week.  Considering my other writing job is writing about rare exotic red birds, it’s going to be a challenge.  Ok, so I made that up, and maybe only 2-3 people in my life would get that joke.  It’s funny to me OK!

Speaking of rare and exotic, daily fantasy leagues are quite the opposite, quickly growing in popularity with disgruntled fantasy owners who drafted R.A. Dickey or Giancarlo Stanton.  Maybe if he changes his name back ti Mike he’ll get healthy… If you’ve gotten fed up with your team, why not try and win back your league entry with the industry leader in daily leagues, our friends at DraftKings?  And if you haven’t heard yet, they’re still throwing us RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE contests where you attempt to take down our own Rudy Gamble and Nick Capozzi with your daily line-up.  As always, the contest is on Friday with the doors now open.  There’s only 30 spots this time (still 2 entries per player) at only $5 per.  First place will get a ticket into their huge $100K Spring Fling contest (a $100 value) and spots 2-10 get payouts as well.  With the limited spots open, you’ve gotta sign up fast!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Alex Cobb Wins At Coors

May 6, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 47 Comments

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Ah Coors Field.  One of the few baseball stadiums I’ve actually been to, it’s a magical land where hitters come to dream and pitchers come to die.  You see mountains, you see towers… sounds like some sort of Lord of the Rings babble…

However, some pitchers can overcome the treachery that is thin air, and who better than Alex Cobb yesterday afternoon?  A guy I haven’t followed too closely and is unfortunately on none of my teams (but I did get to see him pitch once in AAA for the Durham Bulls), Cobb boasts a 2.79 ERA and 33:8 K:BB ratio after yesterday’s start.  Drafted at the end of standard drafts and even undrafted in some leagues, Cobb has obviously had a great start, but I wanted a better gauge of where to place him.  He was cruising his last start out, then with two outs in the sixth couldn’t get out of the inning and a shutout turned into a 5.2 IP 10 H 4 ER shellacking   So I decided to break down a Cobb game for the first time and attempt to place where I think he is right now:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

DraftKings – Doubling Down On Yuni B

May 1, 2013 | DraftKings | 13 Comments

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Razzball Nation!

DraftKings is back with another RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE Play with Rudy [and Nick] contest going on this Friday.  Just like last week, there’s a cap of only 40 entries (2 per person), and with an entry fee of only $5 and a chance to win $20,000 it’s got more fantasy upside than Nick on the North Pole with a compass.  Wait what happens on the North Pole with a compass?  Nick, you live like a mile from there right?

The winner gets entry into DraftKings huge $100,000 MLB Spring Fling were the top winner gets that large chunk of $20 grand cheddar.  You could cover like a million Packers fans’ heads with that.  Spots 2-10 get $5 back so there’s a great shot at winning!  Since this is a RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE contest, it’s not as difficult to win and you don’t have to hit on every guy (unlike Tehol at a Wednesday photo shoot).  Last week’s winning team rolled with big plays like Peavy, Cashner, and Rizzo (who put up a 40 burger), but got a goose egg from Brandon Laird (coulda probably afforded Betancourt!) and disappointing games from Josh Hamilton and Carlos Gonzalez.  Rudy finished 6th, so he’s still beating most of you guys, bring him down!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Tony Cingrani Gives Washington A Red Scare

April 29, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 115 Comments

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Rookie sensation Tony Cingrani has been lights out since he’s filled in for an injured Johnny Cueto, allowing 3 ERs in his first 12 innings with 17 strikeouts.  But with those dominant outings at Miami and at home against the Chicago Cubs, it’s not exactly like he was blowing away elite offenses.

This time out on a Sunday afternoon, Tony C would be facing one of baseball’s most dynamic lineups on the road.  Relying very heavily on his power fastball, it’s been debated how long Cingrani could have success in the Majors, so I decided to tune in to his start yesterday and break down the rookie’s third career start:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

DraftKings – If I Don’t Include Nick’s Name In The Contest He’ll Unleash Canadian Anger

April 24, 2013 | DraftKings | 11 Comments

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Have you ever enraged a Canadian?  Well I hadn’t yet (except that one time when I was ten and heckled a hockey player, pretty sure he was Canadian) until Nick got so angry he wasn’t mentioned as part of our Razzball exclusive DraftKings contests that he charged me with a hockey stick and broken glass bottle of maple syrup.

Not only are you playing to beat Rudy in our Play with Rudy [and Nick] Contests from our friends at DraftKings, you’re also playing against podcast host Nick Capozzi (@nickcapozzi). This Friday, our awesome RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE Ticket For The $100,000 MLB Spring Fling is back where you have a shot to win $20,000!  That’s about $20,500 CAD for our players up north hoping to knock off big Nick.  It’s only $5 to play and you can enter twice, with spots 2-10 winning $5.00.  The contest is limited to only 40 entries so you have to hurry!  We only had 20 entries last week, so there was a 50% win rate.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
JB Gilpin

Pitcher Profile: Hyun-Jin Ryu Rues First Pitch Swings

April 22, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 53 Comments

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South Korean native Hyun-Jin Ryu burst onto the scene this season, racking 20 strikeouts in his first three outings, notching two wins with a sub-3.00 ERA.  Like many baseball fans and fantasy die-hards, I didn’t know much about Ryu’s repertoire and did little research into his scouting reports from overseas, mainly because it’s difficult to project a guy like Ryu’s prospects in the Majors with success in the Korean leagues, as language-barriers, increased talent level, and moving half a world away can completely change a pitcher’s approach.

Without much info and never having seen him pitch, I decided (and was suggested by a commenter) to watch his start on Saturday against the Orioles to see what his stuff really looks like:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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