Ryan Zimmerman went Yardo Montalban as he Tattooed the ball three times. Da plane, da plane…is flying right next to Zimmerman’s homers! My dear guests! I am Mr. Albright, your host. Welcome… to Fantasy Baseball! Smiles, everyone, smiles! No, seriously, smile, you paid a lot of money for those caps. Since it was a game between the O’s and Nationals, they shared announcers (since they share channels). So, the O’s announcers said everyone’s crazy for Machado, Jones, Zimmermann and Harper and not Ryan Zimmerman or Nick Markakis much anymore, after they were the stars of their respective clubs. Then the Nationals announcer says, “I can’t say I know much about Markakis myself.” Burn! I’d play that over the clubhouse speakers before every game. Not to motivate Markakis as much to mess with him. Oh, and Zimmerman! Right! Yeah, he had a huge game, and you might remember he goosed me in my nethers last year when I dropped him, because he hit 10 homers in July of 2012. Might be the start of another special run. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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Scouting the Unknown: 2013 Draft Edition, Part 2
May 29, 2013 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 60 Commentsby: Scott Evans
With the First-Year Players Draft a little more than a week away, we’re continuing our discussion of some of the more advanced amateur prospects — guys who’ll be popping up on your fantasy radars within the next year or two. Last week we went over Braden Shipley, Kris Bryant, and Jonathan Gray. You can read that post here. Today, three more draft prospects:
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DraftKings – Become A Daily King With The Right Pitcher
May 29, 2013 | DraftKings | 22 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
So you’re still fairly new to DraftKings. You have that deer in the headlights look Grey had when moving to Palm Springs 10 years ago when he first entered the Cougar Bar expecting a safari-type experience. I’m here to whisper sweet nothings of winning ways just like those recent divorcees woo-ing that mustached young fantasy writer Mr. Albright.
If you’re still new to DraftKings, our friends over at the leading fantasy sports daily league site hold their weekly RAZZBALL EXCLUSIVE contests every Friday where you get to play against our own resident expert Rudy Gamble. Just click on the link and for only $5.00 you enter in a limited pool where the winner gets entered into their huge $100,000 Punch Out where the top prize is $20,000! Even if you don’t finish first, spots 2-10 get payouts and you get to rub it in Rudy’s face when you take him down (he still hasn’t won yet!).
Please, blog, may I have some more?They say baseball is a game of inches. When ‘they’ say that, ‘they’ are wearing a plaid jacket and flood pants. They also have adult acne. But if baseball really is a game of inches, the Tigers are packing heat in their lineup like John Holmes. So, for all other teams’ fans, I ask you gently, Tigers, please don’t have good pitching too. I mean, besides Verlander and Scherzer and Fister and Anibal, because that would just be unfair. Yesterday, it appeared they had that with Rick Porcello. He went eight innings with zero earned runs, four baserunners and 11 Ks. After his eleventh K, the sound system played, “Rick’s a Jolly Porcello.” That is the best game I can remember from Porcello, by far, and I use all of his game logs as toilet paper, so I’d remember. I mean, what else am I doing in the john? Answering comments? Well, maybe. Just keep that in mind when you’re asking me who I’d drop. Porcello’s xFIP looks solid and his walks have always been stellar. The one flaw in his game I didn’t like was his ability to K people. So far this year, his K-rate is up and way up after yesterday. If you’re struggling to find a starter, I could see adding Porcello, but there’s risk because he does tend to have huge blow ups. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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Josh Donaldson is fired. As in, he’s been on fire since last August and I’m finally willing to announce that I’ve seen his face. Now I’m a believer! What’s there not to like? An improved walk rate, reduced strikeout rate, better contact, increased power, and a brand new hairstyle. After getting to know him from afar, I think he’s less likely to hurt your team than Jafar. There are many possible reasons for his improvement: receiving consistent playing time in the majors, having the pedigree (former first round pick), seeing the movie Moneyball, being in his prime, and, my favorite conspiracy explanation: that he’s no longer catching. All of these likely contributed in some way, but the important thing is I don’t expect him to fall off a cliff any time soon (as long as he cancels that hiking trip). For the rest of 2013, I’m going to optimistically project a .270/.350/.460 line, which is solid for a third baseman. Hold him if you own him. Otherwise, I’d see if his owner expects heavy regression (band name?). Shout out to commenter SwaggerJackers for inspiring me to cover Donaldson. On a different note, after next week’s article I’m going to have a very temporary Razzball hiatus (aka two weeks) while I travel to my motherland (or literally my mother’s land) for the first time. Whoever correctly guesses the country can pick who I’ll cover as my lede next week. I might give hints if asked on Twitter. Ready? Go! And here’s my Quick Draw McGraw approach to OPS leagues:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Besides our long, terrifically, lively adverbially-amazing debate on Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout, we also talk about things that are related to baseball like trying to secure a threesome with your fiancee and the salesmen at Best Buy. I almost said salespeople, but decided against it because I’m old school. My dog attacks my mailman, my mother slept with a milkman that had a thick, luscious mustache and the cable guy needs to come out so I can have a TV in the bathroom. Also, Nick and I talk about Adam Jones, because Nick’s trying to make me look smart. No problem there, boom bip with a brother named Grey on the IQ-tip and I’m ready to flip. Also, we talk about European herb-based digestives. If you have an ulcer because of your fantasy team and are a drunk, you’ve come to the right place! Oh, and Rudy doesn’t make it on this podcast because he was at a Memorial Day picnic, showing other fathers how his kid nests in his afro. Elsewhere on the podcast, JayWrong comes on to discuss how his bold preseason predictions aren’t looking so crazy, and JayWrong trademarked the plus sign. So, anytime someone writes something like Everth Cabrera will steal 120+ bases, JayWrong gets a nickel. Sky got the day off from working at Biff’s Blowup Doll Emporium, so he was able to join Nick and discuss why Liriano, Pedro Alvarez and Adam Lind are good buys. Also Sky is cheap and his drink of choice is whatever’s on the bottom shelf, depending on the height of your bartender. Finally, JB, the new Daily Fantasy Report Roving Reporter (aka the new Scud Stud), comes on to brag about his hits from last week and who to check out in this Friday’s contest. Anyway, here’s the Razzball Podcast (now with me cracking brilliant, even if I need a spellchecker for the word brilliant):
Please, blog, may I have some more?
For the fifth consecutive week, Mauledbypandas is atop the overall standings, even with 2 of his first 6 picks on the DL (Ian Kinsler , Jered Weaver). Jack Full of Hate slipped to third, but still has two teams in the top 20. The 2012 RCL champions, Rank Railheads, have moved impressively back into the top 10. Check out the Master Standings (you can also access them via the Leagues menu up top) to see where your team ranks in comparison to the other 767 teams through Sunday. Tell me your team and league in the comments and I’ll add your Razzball handle to the standings.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Franklin My Dear, I Can Give A Dustin
May 28, 2013 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 374 Commentsby: Grey
Hope everyone’s well rested and had a joyous Michael Bay Day. If you couldn’t be American yesterday, I hope at least you got drunk and ate a bunch of hot dogs. As they say in Mississippi, Amurica, spelling’s for sissies! The Mariners made it a bit more joyous for some of us fantasy baseballers when they demoted Dustin Ackley for Nick Franklin. Ackley was a guy I could never fully get behind, in a non-sexual way. He arrived in the majors with a ton of hype, but that’s more because Mariners fans lie to themselves more than anything Ackley showed. So, what does the Mustache King, Purveyor of Smart Stuff Who Should Be Able To Come Up With A Better Word Than Stuff If He Were That Smart think about Franklin? Brucely, I’m a bit meh, but I’d pick him up in all leagues and have. Franklin looks similar to Ackley. He has power and speed, but not in a huge way, which will be further suppressed by Safeco. Safeco: Where a hitter’s upside goes to die. Franklin’s best year in the minors was in A-Ball in 2010. To put that into a relatable comparison, you were your town’s best T-ball hitter, how well did you do in high school? You flunked out of high school? Point made. This year, he had 4 homers and 7 steals in Triple-A, and I’d put it at about a 25% chance that his end of the season numbers look the same for the Mariners. If you can’t find someone that can get you 4 homers and 7 steals from now until October, you’re not trying very hard. There is a chance for upside and he is only 22 years old, so I’d take the gamble and grab him. Best case scenario, 15 homers, 15 steals. Worst case scenario, he shows up at the nightclub you like to take your lady to, challenges you to a dance battle, beats you, screaming “You got served!” and your lady leaves with him. Most likely scenario, he hits 8 homers, steals 12 bases and bats .250, so watch how you spend your FAAB Benjamins on Franklin. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Pitcher Profile: Tyler Skaggs Debuts A Memorial Curveball
May 27, 2013 | Pitcher Profiles | 25 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
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:
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There was rumor of a young ballplayer in California, a first baseman that could play the position as perhaps it had never been played before. Now this young man was handsome, charismatic, and more than a bit arrogant concerning his talent, but considering the grace and skill he displayed on the field, that was not surprising. He was, even at that young age, more than a bit lacking in the moral virtues. He was described by friends and teammates as a compulsive liar and kleptomaniac.
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How quickly things change. Last week, it was looking like Adam Eaton was close to returning from an elbow injury and A.J. Pollock would be the odd man out in the Arizona outfield. Well, one setback later, Pollock looks good to go as a part of the four-man Arizona outfield and he’s worth watching in deeper formats. He’ll get starts against lefties and maybe more, so he’s a guy that you’ll have to play the matchups with unless he really catches fire. Meanwhile, Adam Eaton is probably not going to do much in the way of baseball for about three weeks and probably won’t be fantasy relevant until the end of June at the earliest. He was so close to returning too. Kind of like crashing your car with one payment left. We’ll take a look at matchups for all the members of the stolen base leaderboard for Week 9. As always, all players listed are owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues and Sunday’s stats are not included.
Please, blog, may I have some more?On this Memorial Day, I’m left thinking about things as American as apple pie and fake-breasted women, but mostly I’m left contemplating how similar Memorial Day sounds to Michael Bay. What better way to think of our country’s great holiday, than our real-life Uncle Sam of excessive special effects-laden movies. You can make cars better than us Asia, but can you blow crap up on celluloid and make apocalyptic tripe like World War Z? So, today, go outside and wish someone a Happy Michael Bay, he’s ours. Also, ours is baseball, and a branch off of that is fantasy baseball, and a sub-section of that sub-section is hoarding prospect pitchers that are called up like Michael Wacha. First (immediately after all that other first shizz), let’s see what our prospect writer, Scott, has said about him, “Wacha’s 2012 numbers were just plain silly: 0.86 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 17.1 K/9 in 11 appearances across three levels (Rookie, High-A, Double-A). Those 11 outings, however, only tallied up to 21 IP. The Cardinals were keeping his workload light, and Wacha never worked through a batting order more than one time through. That was the only criticism, the only reason to expect regression as he stepped up to Triple-A ball this season. Well, Wacha’s done a fine job of quelling those concerns so far. If only we could quell Grey as easily.” Hey, what’s the big idea!? I’m not sure where Wacha’s Ks have been thus far in Triple-A (under a 6 K/9), but his walks have been in check (~2.5 BB/9) and he has an ERA of 2.05 in 52 2/3 IP. If he keeps his K-rate around there in the majors, he’s going to be strictly an NL-Only or 15-team mixed leagues and deeper play. But he looks closer to a 7+ K-rate guy and someone I’d grab in all mixed leagues. The upside is here for greatness; of course the downside of any rookie pitcher is here, as well. All of this is assuming the Cards officially call him up, but the word around town is they’re about to. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
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