As of 1:05 today, my kids are officially finished school for the summer. That means two things for me. Number one, I’m now the proud father of 1st Graders. Number two, I have no idea how I’m going to get any work done at home with these gremlins running around all day. Seriously, two and a half months with these monsters destroying the house is going to be a nightmare. Know what else is a nightmare? This list this week. We have Max Muncy hitting the IL, while Kris Bryant and Cody Bellinger are currently DTD. Bryant was hit by a pitch on the hand yesterday and we’re awaiting news on his status. Bellinger is nursing a hamstring injury and that has me pretty worried. The Dodgers’ slugger has dealt with injuries all year and this is not a step in the right direction. Let’s take a look at the list and then we’ll talk about some of the highlights or lowlights from the last two weeks.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Happy Wednesday! I’ll be honest with ya, I’m struggling to write an opener for this article. I’ve been struggling with a lot of things lately. Maybe we’ll call it a mid-life crisis, but at 38-years old, I still don’t feel like an adult. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as adult as you can get – mortgage, bills, a career that I’ve been at for 16 years, kids, coaching those kids – but I just feel like I’m faking it. Yes, I will pay my mortgage on time, but I’d much rather hit the slip n slide that my kids are on (I do). Sure, I’ll work from home, but you better believe I’m playing Warzone on my lunch break. It’s a strange time in my life and I guess the same applies to fantasy. We’re not even halfway through the season and I’m already spent. I’ve placed 169 players on my IL while trying to find replacements for them and it’s been tough. Every time I grab a hot Evan Longoria, he gets hurt. My “Man of the Moment” is Jonathan India, who slid into the back of this list, but boy are my options dwindling. Let’s get to the list and then we’ll talk about some movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Two months down, four to go. I’m trying to take an optimistic “glass two-thirds full” look at the rest of the season despite where my team sits in the standings. In some instances, that requires a leap of faith or a couple of pops to give me some false confidence. Four months is plenty of time to turn things around. Over these last two weeks, we’ve gotten Cody Bellinger back and Josh Bell has busted out of his slump some, bringing some rays of sunshine in a dark world. Let’s take a look at the list and we’ll talk about some of the biggest movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’re almost two months into the regular season and I feel like all of my teams have run the Gauntlet from American Gladiators. Every time I think I’ve got a leg up on the competition, Nitro smashes me in the face with a jousting staff. This week we saw Manny Machado and Cavan Biggio miss time, along with DJ LeMahieu hitting the paternity list for a couple of days. Mike Moustakas continues to flip flop between healthy and not healthy and the rest of the third base pool is in a deep, deep slump. Let’s get to the list and we’ll talk about some of the movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Normally, I’m pretty aware of the injury plague that happens every season, but doing this list every other week has me hyper-aware of every ding that happens. I wake up with a pain in my hamstring and just know that another one bit the dust. Sleep on my side too long and wonder which first baseman strained a shoulder the night before. My son woke me up at 3 am last night and his tooth fell out. Really sweet moment right? Or the aftershock of Kevin Pillar getting hit in the face? Let’s get to the list and then we’ll talk about some of the movers and players that I’m worried about.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hi, my name is Richardo and I’m an alco…..sorry, wrong meeting….I handle the rest of season first base and third base rankings here at Razzball. Last week, in my first base article, I talked a little bit about getting out of a funk. I had been thinking too much of “what have you done for me lately”, which in baseball is a dangerous thing. It’s one thing to focus on the skills that a player is flashing like good or bad plate discipline, but it’s another to take a 45 plate appearance sample size from Joey Wendle and put stock in it for the rest of the season. So, this, like the first base article, represents a return to basics. I’m trying to take a long-term approach to these lists. Let’s take a look at this week’s list and then we’ll dive in.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’ve only known this MLB season four weeks and three days but to me, it feels like nine weeks and five days. The Luke Voit injury felt like a week and the Cody Bellinger injury felt like five days. The Mike Moustakas injury seemed like a week again and the Josh Bell COVID scare felt like eight days. If you’ve seen the classic Steve Martin movie “The Jerk”, you’ll understand that reference. If you haven’t, then I think you can relate to it if you’ve dealt with any of the myriads of injuries from the first month. Four weeks into the season and I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime of baseball this year. But today’s a new day, so let’s get out of our funk and enjoy the sport we all know and love. Let’s talk about some first basemen. Let’s take a look at the list and then we’ll talk about the movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Top 25 Third Basemen Rest of Season – Rocking My Throwback
April 28, 2021 | Top 25 Third Basemen | 12 Commentsby: Richardo
We’re close to a month into the season and I don’t think I’ve panicked too much with these rankings. One trend I recently noticed was how many veterans are filling up the stat sheet. Guys like Justin Turner, Josh Donaldson, and Kris Bryant are turning back the clocks to their prime, while shiny new toys like Cavan Biggio and Alec Bohm have struggled out of the gate. There’s no real analysis there, it’s just a quick observation. On the injury front we had Jean Segura head to the IL with a quad strain, and my former bae, Ke’Bryan Hayes reaggravated his wrist injury. Sadly, both fell off of this list. I’m very concerned about Hayes for this year. Even after returning to the lineup, wrist injuries tend to sap power. Let’s get to the list and then we’ll talk about a couple of movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 25 First Basemen Rest of Season – Cleaning Up My Mess
April 21, 2021 | Top 25 First Basemen | 11 Commentsby: Richardo
Each week when I sit down to write this, the first thing I look at is who hit the IL and how long they’ll be out. I feel like my twins are running around the grocery store just knocking sh!t over and I’m constantly cleaning up. This week, I’ll be cleaning up the milk that Cody Bellinger spilled, the display of toilet paper that Mike Moustakas knocked over, and Christian Walker’s banana peel prank. On top of all that, we’ll be addressing Miguel Sano and his poor attitude (performance). Let’s get to the list and then we’ll dole out some spankins.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 25 Third Basemen Rest of Season – Early Season Issues
April 15, 2021 | Top 25 Third Basemen | 5 Commentsby: Richardo
We’re less than two weeks into the season and I’d like to speak to someone’s manager, please. The injury bug has bitten me in a brutal way. In one league I have Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Ketel Marte, Luke Voit, and Ke’Bryan Hayes on the IL. It’s getting a little ridiculous, but we’ll continue to persevere. Let’s take a look at the updated ROS rankings.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 25 First Basemen Rest of Season – Opening Week Edition
April 7, 2021 | Top 25 First Basemen | 8 Commentsby: Richardo
Nothing makes my heart happier than baseball….sorry kids and wife and family and dogs. Actually, I think I’m in big trouble for that statement. One year ago, my kids had their first T-Ball practice before the world shut down. Flash forward to this week when T-Ball started back up and, hi, my name is Coach Richardo. There’s so much joy in teaching kids the basics. Fielding a grounder, throwing to first base, the proper launch angle to be a home run masher! Speaking of home run mashing, I need to update my top 25 first basemen for the rest of the season. When the original top 25 came out, C.J. Cron was just a NRI, Luke Voit was healthy, and the Nationals didn’t have an outbreak. Let’s take a look at the updated list and then we’ll talk a little bit about the movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 25 Third Basemen – Draft Week Update!
March 25, 2021 | Rest of Season Rankings, Top 25 Third Basemen | 9 Commentsby: Richardo
About a month ago, I put out my initial list for the top third basemen for my rest of season rankings. It turns out, my work was not quite complete as things have certainly changed. We’ve had injuries (ugh) and positional battles during spring training that have certainly moved the needle. However, another factor for me adjusting my rankings was actually getting into drafts and seeing what my decisions were in the moment when the pressure was actually on. Let’s get to the list and then we’ll go through some of the movers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?