It’s a travel day for me. As you read this, I’ll be sitting comfortably in 15C cruising through the friendly skies for the first time in over two years, making my way toward the Windy City. Of course, the very first thing I did when this business trip came up… check the respective schedules for […]
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In researching for this week’s article, I kept seeing flies in the ointment, so to speak. I’ve lost track of the ground. MLB’s new pre-tacked balls fresh from a humidor seem to have created more fade on change-ups, more run on 2-seamers, more cut on wake-shifters, more dive on sliders and less distance off the bat. The general hysteria has finally trickled into my thinking about how to evaluate minor league baseball players. My local Cedar Rapids Kernals are not using a humidor. I couldn’t verify the same for every team, but I’m willing to guess that less than one percent of minor league parks are using a humidor. Which baseball they’re using . . . you’d probably have to be a veteran big league pitcher to tell the difference on a given night.
So how does this affect my eyes when watching MiLB.tv? I’ve been protected from it a little because the video feeds are rarely so crystal clear I can see the ball off the bat with my outfielder eyes and predict with some degree of accuracy where it will land in an instant.
This invitational, predictive aspect of a long fly ball is a big part of what makes watching baseball fun. “Is that a home run!?” asks the excited fan’s mind. “Oh farts, it landed on the track,” the game responds, over and over and over again to the extent that you start to get a little frustrated. Years of built in baseball-watching from this camera angle have trained us all to play along in this regard, so we’re all experts in our minds to the extent that our self-confidence allows.
My eyes haven’t been deceived on the warning track much in the minors this year. I don’t know how to react to the idea that a prospect might need significantly more power and better plate skills than he shows in the minors to thrive in the majors. For now, I’m planning to slow-play it rather than overreact.
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s important to remember that April is not a good month for hitting. Add in what appears to be more monkey business with the baseballs, we shouldn’t be hitting the panic button yet. However, these stats still count and we must do what we can to be maximizing matchups, playing hot hands when possible, and […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Do you believe in life after love? Well Cher certainly does and if you love Adalberto Mondesi then you might just be asking yourself the same question! For those of you that resisted the temptation, please take a bow! After that awkward and mostly pointless Cher analogy, let us move on. It is still early in the 2022 fantasy baseball season, but fortune favors the bold so it is time to make some early tough calls. Because this is fantasy baseball and we aren’t giving out participation ribbons! This week’s hitter profiles take a look at some hitters getting some early love and decide whether they are a buy, sell or hold. Join me as we start in Kansas City
Please, blog, may I have some more?NY City’s newest fantasy ace Tylor Megill combined with four other relievers Friday night to throw the first Mets no hitter since Johan Santana in 2012. It was also the first no-no of the season, and just the second for the Mets in ever! Chris Bassitt says Manfred’s balls are all messed up–yet, he and […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Raise your hand if you had Taylor Ward as the second coming of Mike Trout. Nobody? Same here. Let’s look back at Week 1 of the Taylor Ward experience; one in which I was able to land him in two season long leagues but lost out to his almost $200 FAAB price tag in my […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?While this baseball season has attempted to turn some of us (me!) full goth, I do have some pretty good news in this week’s edition of your Razzball fantasy baseball injury report: Ronald Acuna Jr. is back! It has been months in the making. Overall, injury incidences were down this week. New oblique injuries have […]
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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH.)
C’mon. What are we doing here, fellas and five girl readers? Corey Dickerson and Paul DeJong are blocking Nolan Gorman from being called up? Is this serious? Co-Dick and Colonel Mustard sounds like cojoined twins playing Clue with two candlesticks, so to speak. They’re not blocking Nolan Gorman, right? Because that’s what I was hearing, but my ears and I stopped speaking when I questioned them about this information. “Stop looking away and answer me! Is that what you’re hearing?!” That’s me interrogating my ears. My ears got real silent after that. Nolan Gorman who has 40-homer power right now? That Nolan Gorman? Is it Golan Norman still in the minors and Nolan Gorman was already called up? Is that what happened, and I didn’t hear it because of the falling out I had with my ears? Someone explain what we’re doing here. Here, not hear. I can’t do that without my ears! On Prospect Itch’s Prospect Stash List, he put some shine on Gorman.
Here’s what Itch said previously, “The fair-haired boy in this system since his noisy draft season, Nolan Gorman breathed some spice into his dynasty stock by sliding over to second base and popping 25 home runs in 125 games across two levels, slashing .279/.333/.481 by reducing his strikeout rate early and adding power later in the year as the K-rate kept dropping all the way down to 19.2 percent after a 31.7% rate back in 2019 at High-A. I’d also like to cut Grey.” What the heck, dude? This year Gorman has 10 HRs as he hits near-.350 in Triple-A in 66 at-bats. Again, I am asking you what are we doing here. He should’ve been called up already. Don’t let the double candlesticks on the Clue board prospblock him. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?As the month of April draws to a close this weekend, it’s a good time to take a moment and realize just how early it is in the world of fantasy baseball, especially once we remember that the season started a week late due to that pesky lockout. Earlier this week, just when I was […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Beer from last week was pretty skunky, and for that I am sorry. On a positive note, Urshela was an ice-cold glass of multi-hit goodness. You take the good, you take the bad, those are the facts of life. Some other facts of life are:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Random Man I’m Making Up: I’d give anything to know the best DFS pitcher plays today. Me: Yu, Wood. Random Man I’m Making Up: Oh for sure. I just wish I knew where to go for them. Me: That wasn’t a question. Yu, Wood. Random Man I’m Making Up: I would what? We imaginarily went […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?[brid autoplay=”true” video=”996109″ player=”13959″ title=”BSH%20Week4″ duration=”186″ description=”undefined” uploaddate=”2022-04-20″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/snapshot/996109_th_1650426042.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/9233/sd/996109.mp4″]
Sun beating down across a desert landscape. Sweat beading from my forehead. I lift a thermos to my face and spray my face with liquid to freshen myself. “I think I just sprayed my face with urine,” I say to no one, because no one is around. A mirage from the sand rises; it’s Pegasus. The horsey with wings kneels in front of me so I can get on. Pegasus turns to me and says, “I need to get you to an internet cafe so you can put Ronald Acuña Jr. in your lineup.” Thank you, Pegasus! Thank you, Ronald Acuña Jr.! Thank you, Tildaddy! Okay, now I’m just singing that crappy Alanis song, Thank you. I really needed Acuña (1-for-5, 1st and 2nd steal, hitting leadoff). Now stay on the field, Tildaddy says it’s October! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?