In case you haven’t noticed, we are now less than two weeks away from Opening Day folks. Most of you are avid baseball fanatics so I know you don’t need a reminder, but it just feels awesome to be able to say it. After another long winter the best day of the year is almost upon us. Back again to look at some discounts you might find in your upcoming drafts, here are some starting pitchers I feel like will significantly outproduce their current draft prices.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
You smell that? No, this is the rare occasion where it is not “what The Rock is cooking.” I’m talking about the smell of fantasy baseball in the air. Mock drafts, tiered rankings, real drafts, sleepers, busts, you name it. With just a few weeks left until Opening Day, this is grind time for fantasy baseball owners. We have Spring Training games to overreact to, and small samples to over analyze. Players values are moving up and down, starting to settle into where they will be going in upcoming drafts.
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Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 23: Saving the Season
September 8, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 1 Commentby: Yost
For the vast majority of leagues, we are on to the playoffs. Those no longer with us will not see this as they are understandably moving onto football season. But not us. If you are reading this right now, you made it! Playoff bound, and by this time of the week you are getting a good idea of how things are shaping up. Or you’re getting a really BAD idea of how things are shaping up. (Looking at you, my team down 9-1-1 in my main league.) This is where H2H sucks, as all your success all season comes down to showing up this one week. Cheers to you if you’re comfortably up and not sweating this matchup. But for those of you suckers down in a hole like me, its time to scrape and fight for our lives. I’m trying to pick up an ground on any category any way I can. One area I found I may be able to gain an advantage at is with saves. In other words, I’m out here trying to save the season!
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead in H22, Week 21: Semien the Playoffs!
August 25, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 2 Commentsby: Yost
We are in the last couple weeks of the fantasy baseball regular season! And while your league mates may be asleep at the wheel and already looking deep into football, you are staying active. This is where you amp up your roster to get it geared up for the playoffs. Trade deadlines have passed, so the only means of improving your team is through the waiver wire. I’ve got a few guys that should help you make this last push for the playoffs. It wouldn’t be a Razzball article from me if it didn’t come with a corny title, so you all can Semien the Playoffs baby with these hitters.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 20: Sippin’ On Baderade
August 18, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues |by: Yost
Iced Tea, lemonade, a 7/11 Slush, a cold beer, or a margarita. Everyone has their favorite go-to summer drink. I’m a huge iced tea guy myself. Nothing better than checking your fantasy team on the front porch after work with a nice cold iced tea. Except this time of the year, I’ve found myself a new go-to drink. I’ve long been a huge fan of Gatorade, but this August I’ve been sippin’ on straight Baderade nonstop. Literally have not been able to get enough of this stuff, so I’m a little shocked to see it so readily available out there still (16.8% ownership on ESPN, 14% on Yahoo). So until then, I will continue raving about how great Baderade is and why my friends should try it out too.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead In H2H, Week 19: Mar-GO Get This Man
August 12, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues |by: Yost
We’re at that point in the season. Every day you wake up, and you have a new injury update. Bodies are breaking down, and guys are hitting the DL left and right. The latest dagger to my heart being George Springer due to miss a couple weeks with a thumb injury. I have lots of shares of him, so of course I have been scrambling to find his replacement. I had a guy in mind, and one that I have been watching very closely lately. I was HUGE on Manny Margot heading into this season. In fact, in the Razzball Bold Predictions post I said that Margot would go 20/40 and hit .270. Needless to say when it was pretty disappointing when he as hitting .204 with 1 home run and 6 SB through his first 166 plate appearances.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 18: These Sox Fit Just Right
August 4, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues |by: Yost
The MLB Trade Deadline is one of my favorite times of the year. Full of constant twitter updates and cursing your GM for not offering a better deal for the piece you wanted. Surprises happen every year, but this year we had some good ones. Like Chris Archer heading to Pittsburgh of all places. Or the Cardinals dumping Tommy Pham to the Rays. I love the Trade Deadline because I love seeing what the teams look like after the smoke clears. And then there is a whole other level of excitement to see the fantasy implications of all the moves. It is like opening a Christmas present only to find TWO gifts inside.
You know what else comes in twos? Socks. Or Sox, if it is Christmas in July. And this Christmas, the Sox coincidentally added two pieces near the deadline that fit their needs. In fact, you might even say that these Sox fit just right!
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 17: Out(field) On Waivers
July 21, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues |by: Yost
I understand why sports fans who don’t watch baseball (aka losers) are so bored during the summer. I get this similar feeling every year during the All-Star Break. Like a “WOW! So this is what it feels like?” Even just a few days without baseball feels like a punishment. I can’t imagine not being a baseball fan and having an entire summer filled with no other live sports. Sure, there is NBA/NFL free agency news going on. Which I must admit was pretty exciting this year, but still. I get so tired of the news loop and the same old stories being repeated over and over. Yes, fortunately there was a World Cup which was a truly great one to watch this year. But still.
Aside from off-season “news” from other sports and a World Cup every 4 years, the summer is a terrible time for sports. That is of course, unless you are part of the pinnacle of society known as “baseball fans.” In that case, summer is awesome because baseball is the only sport we have to focus on. There are multiple games every single day, and news stations actually report on it (kinda). All I’m really trying to say is that I now can relate to people when they say the summer sucks because there are “no sports” on. These few days have made me realize how lucky I am to be able to enjoy the game of baseball every day.
As you might have guessed from my horrendous title, I am here to discuss some outfielders that should be out there on waivers that can help your team make a big push in the 2nd half.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 16: Polanco Push
July 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 2 Commentsby: Yost
If you play H2H you are approaching your final~ 5-7 regular season matchups. The most important of them all. By now you should have a good idea of where you sit, and how your chances are looking. Unless it has been a REAL bad year for you, you should be still be able to squeek into the playoff mix. Should. If you have a playoff spot established, you are likely trying to thrust up into the top seeds and secure a heavenly bye week. Wherever you may be in the standings, we are all looking at how we can prepare ourselves for these last couple of months. You are likely checking where you rank in each category, and which ones you may need to address before the trade deadline. The waiver wire will also be churning out some players that will come up big time for some owners. Who will those impact players be? Who will be the “Matt Olsen” or “Rhys Hoskins” of 2018? While he may not contain as much power as those guys, there is someone in mind who I think can make a huge impact for owners down the stretch. As a H2H Categories enthusiast, you know I love me a player who can give me a speed/pop combination. Coming off a suspension, this guy is relatively under the radar at 9.1% ownership on ESPN. If he finishes this season similarly to how he did last year we are looking at a multi category SS on the waiver wire.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Last week I offered some hitters that make up great Buy Low candidates, so I felt it was only right to head over to the pitchers. Especially considering how rough pitching has been lately with injuries, many of us are in need of pitching help. Here are a few guys to consider that may be available at a discount in your league.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This is definitely the guy that will be the hardest to “Buy Low.” In what is a down year for Bryce Harper , he still has 19 HR, a .257 ISO, and 116 wRC+. It is the batting average that has been frustrating owners, as he is now hitting a career worst .209 through 314 plate appearances. However, there are many positive indicators that his average will bounce back up to normal levels. For one, he is sporting an absurdly low .204 BABIP! Harper has a career .314 BABIP so we should expect to see some positive regression for both his BABIP and batting average. Additionally, his hard hit rate (41.2%) is way up compared to his 34.9% career mark, while his soft hit rate is down ~3%. His .345 wOBA is still great but he is underperforming in that department according to his .398 xwOBA (expected wOBA), a very significant difference of .053. The Nationals lineup is finally at full strength, and represents one of the most dangerous offenses in the MLB. This added protection should give Harper more pitches to hit. He may still hold an extremely high asking price, but if the Harper owner in your league is struggling and needs to move him for a couple pieces to compete for a playoff spot, this is the lowest his value has been.
Steamer ROS:.278/.402/.542, 19 HR, 55 R, 52 RBI, 6 SB
#6 ROS on Razzball Player Rater
Please, blog, may I have some more?Sunday marked the end of Matchup #10 for Head-to-Head leagues. Standard H2H regular seasons are typically 20 matchups long, so we have just passed the halfway point of the season! We now have 2 1/2 months of statistics and data to look, and numbers are starting to stabilize. By now you should have a feel for your team and which of your picks have panned out, and those that unfortunately haven’t. Since we just passed the halfway point, I thought it would be appropriate to go through each position and see what the best and worst picks have been thus far in respect to average draft position. I will be factoring in their performance relative to their NFBC ADP, and their production across the standard H2H categories.
I have labeled the best picks as someone who has “Impressed” owners and the worst picks as someone who is leaving their owners “Depressed.” I have kept it to one each per position (except for OF and SP) with some honorable mentions sprinkled in. Of course I will not be able to touch on every player that has impressed or depressed, so feel free to leave some of yours in the comments!
Please, blog, may I have some more?