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Rudy Gamble. Part man, part bot, but all legend. He is the being behind the curtain of the projections for Razzball baseball. It may or may not be in a basement. That’s top secret. He is the creator of the War Room, which I have become a devout follower of. There are multiple tools on the Razzball site to help dominate leagues, with my favorite being the Weekly Pitcher Planner. Everything just makes my life easier navigating the fantasy baseball season. I have had the honor and privilege of splitting teams with Rudy over the last two seasons. The puns and GIF exchanges have been the best but I’ve really garnered an appreciation for his process and methodology. He is my EF Hutton. When he talks, I listen. Granted, sometimes I wonder if it’s human Rudy or bot Rudy, but it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. They are one and the same. So, a few weeks ago, we were talking over things and he mentioned Tarik Skubal. He said that the bot loved him ROS and that everyone should scoop him up. Was this a cry for help? Had SkyNet fully taken control? They are one and the same. Remember?

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When I was younger, I’d lie a lot, both to myself and others. Before you cancel me, these weren’t malicious and devious lies. They were lies born from either being high or embarrassed. I was swimming in the pool at my parent’s friends house. “Did you pee in the pool?” “Wasn’t me,” I replied, as the long green stream flowed from between my legs. When I got something wrong, I’d fight to the death because of my fragile ego. Or was it my Asian upbringing of anything less than an A being a disgrace to the family name? I kid I kid. My parents were super cool. Sure, they expected a lot from me, and got on me when I was lazy, but I was fortunate to not have Tiger Parents. Anyways, after many years, I became somewhat enlightened. The truth shall set you free. It’s okay to be wrong, for that is how we learn and grow. It’s okay to tell the truth, even though it may hurt or be embarrassing. Situations are resolved and respect is gained faster, and ultimately so is arriving at the truth. Earlier this season, I wrote a piece on Christopher Morel. But new data has been presented which has made me reassess the situation.

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K-pop, aka Korean popular music, has taken the world by storm over the past few years, with groups such as BTS and Blackpink becoming international stars. The proliferation of the genre throughout the world took time, though. One of the OGs was Seo Taiji and Boys, who combined heavy metal, dance and hip hop in the early 1990s to make a dent in the scene. This same process has endured with the impact of Korean-born players in MLB. Shoutout to Chan-Ho Park, who debuted with the Dodgers in 1994. Outside of Park kicking Tim Belcher in the head and giving up two grand slams in the same inning to Fernando Tatis, as a Korean-American, I always felt a sense of pride whenever he took the mound. Since then, 25 players have crossed the Pacific to play in MLB. There haven’t been any Shohei Ohtanis. Hopefully soon, but that doesn’t mean there has been a lack of talent. One such player is Ha-Seong Kim of the San Diego Padres. I’m embarassed that I haven’t written him up until now, especially since Rudy and I have rostered him on our OC for much of the season, but I’m here to give props now.

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Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. was a general in the United States Army who planned and coordinated military operations against the Iraqi Army in 1991, earning the nickname Stormin’ Norman in the process. Whether that was because the campaign was named Operation Desert Storm or due to the blitzkreig nature of the attack is up for debate. Regardless, the forces he directed advanced swiftly with ferocity, overwhelming any resistance and defenses they encountered. The same could be said about the start to the season for Nolan Gorman of the St. Lou

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Grey doesn’t feed me bananas if the title to my piece isn’t witty and funny. So, naturally I’m a skinny monkey but I try, and I wanted to go with an Indiana Jones theme with Short Round yelling Doctor Jones for this one. Something something about hidden treasure and discovery, but then I ran across a clip of Amy from The Big Bang Theory ruining Raiders of the Lost Ark and now my world ceases to have meaning. But I’m a “professional”, so the show must go on. Nolan Jones of the Colorado Rockies isn’t quite a hidden treasure, as he was a top prospect and is being started in NFBC leagues, but he’s still only 21.8% owned in ESPN leagues and has been on quite the heater. Let’s dig in.

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Snooker is an interesting game. Somtimes the shot is clear as day, unobstructed with only green felt laying between man, stick, ball and pocket. More often than not, though, there are other balls in the way and an opponent can block access. Each shot changes the dynamic of the table and players can expertly manipulate the ball by spinning it a certain way to set up future moves. So, not only is there skill in hitting the ball with the cue, but knowledge of geometry and physics is paramount. There are many similarities between snooker and baseball. Players from each sport use a stick to hit a ball. The opponent can affect your shot by putting you in difficult situations. While snooker is about angles, spin and location, baseball has spin rate and location of pitches with launch angle from batters. Both are a cat-and-mouse contest with adjustments constantly being made to get an edge. Which leads me to Brent Rooker of the Oakland Athletics. He was the darling of the early season, slashing .353/.465/.779 with nine home runs in the first 86 plate appearances of the season. Over the last month, though, he’s slashing .196/.291/.320 with two home runs in 110 plate appearances. As a result, he was the most dropped player in ESPN leagues over the past week. What adjustments have pitchers made and is there hope going forward?

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As Neo was flummoxed by seeing the black cat twice, so have us fantasy nerds been when breaking down Tim Anderson. He doesn’t walk, is a free swinger and everything is BABIP-fueled. Yet, year after year he hits over .300 with a sky-high BABIP and provides a healthy amount of home runs and steals. Over the last five years, Mr. Anderson has the 122nd and 191th best seasons on the Razzball Player Rater. This season, though, the BABIP has come down, which has brought the batting average down. Is it finally happening? The most troubling thing is that the power has completely disappeared. Time to cue up the Nancy Kerrigan and scream along…..”Whhhhhhyyyyyyyyy????!!!!”

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Usually I try and write up a funny intro filled with anecdotes. I’m strictly about the business today. This may or may not be due to some lady cutting me off big time while I was driving my kids to school. Anyways, Christopher Morel has been all the rage this past week. And for good reason, as he smashed four home runs in seven games and has batted 3rd, leadoff, and leadoff in the last three contests. This has prompted people to make it rain at the Club de FAAB. Don’t mind the scraggly looking guy with the sign outside Club de FAAB that reads: The World is Ending. Find Jesus. That’s just me bringing doom and gloom to the party.

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Wolves hunt in packs and do not rely on the element of surprise when attacking their prey. Each wolf has their role, as some chase while others surround. The end goal is to eat. The Rangers are one of the top offenses in MLB, being second in runs scored, eighth in home runs, second in RBI, sixth in batting average, sixth in SLB and fourth in OPS. Oh, they eating all right. Over the years, they have brought in hitters with excellent plate discipline (Corey Seager and Marcus Semien) but they still get googly eyes for the wild child, power/speed combo players. Think Adolis Garcia. For transparency, I wrote a piece earlier this season to fade Garcia. I’m not a smart man. Garcia has made massive improvements in the plate discipline and could the same trajectory be in store for one Ezequiel Duran, who has been scorching hot and possesses a similar profile to the Garcia of the past?

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It’s crazy when people drive slow in the left-most lane on the freeway. It’s crazy that people spend over $5 everyday for coffee when the Korean instant coffee packs come out to like $.20 each. They are delicious, by the way. It’s crazy that Razzball is not the most visited website on the internet. It’s crazy that people don’t consider Shohei Ohtani the greatest baseball player we have ever seen. It’s crazy that….Luis Robert Jr. has been dropped in 10.2% of ESPN leagues over the past week? Is that so cray cray? Let’s dig in. 

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Outside of the day I got married, the birth of my kids and the first time Grey commented on one of my pieces for Razzball, the two months of Linsanity back in 2012 were the greatest two months of my life. This past month of Lynnsanity has been one of the most painful months of my life. Lance Lynn has made five starts, served up batting practice for 26 1/3 innings and posted a 7.52 ERA so far in the 2022-23 season. Good times. It is often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. So is the life of Lynnsanity. But do we capitulate or do we make William Wallace proud and hold?

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