Grey

Hope You Didn’t Passover The Nestor Bunny

April 18, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes, Featured | 446 Comments

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What transpired this preseason: Coolwhip reached out to me to see if I was going to write a Nestor Cortes sleeper, because he liked him and wanted to write one. I said, “Nah, I don’t think I’m going to write one, but I like him too!” What Coolwhip didn’t know, what no one could’ve known, I hadn’t looked at Nestor Cortes at all. I said I liked him because Coolwhip said he liked him. Then I waited for Coolwhip to give us his Nestor Cortes sleeper, and, after he did, I said, “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I would’ve wrote too!” Stats and image provided by Coolwhip:

“(M)ain thing to note is in 2021 Nestor started 14 games. Before that, he had only started a grand total of… (carry the 1… multiply by square root…) 2 games. 2 games, that’s it. So this was a bit of a new foray for him. It’s not often that you go from the pen to starting and your numbers improve drastically. Not just a little mind you; but by every conceivable measure, he got better. His K-rate went up, BB-rate went down, and he cut home runs in half while suppressing hard contact and limiting runners.”

Nestor did this by scrapping the sinker and curve, and replacing them with a cutter. Also, he varies his release point a lot, like nearly every pitch. I half expect him to throw right-handed occasionally. Yesterday, Nestor Cortes (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 0.00) threw an immaculate 4th inning, and changed his release on nearly every pitch. This is magic:

In 9 1/3 IP this year, Nestor Cortes has 17 Ks. That’s in two starts, or one Nolan Ryan start. Pardon me while I put my eyes back in my head. Nestor Cortes’s 16.4 K/9, 0.96 BB/9 and -0.26 FIP is pretty good, if you’re lacking for adjectives. You really have to be impressed with Nestor so far this year, he’s looking as brilliant as me blindly agreeing with Coolwhip. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Wed 8/6
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | OAK
Jakkers

Top Dynasty Keepers – Guardians Of The Diamond

April 17, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Keepers, Keeper Leagues | 2 Comments

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The Cleveland Guardians are not expected to win their division this year nor sneak into the playoffs by grabbing that sixth spot.

The expectations are low because the team is so young. But if they were playing in a dynasty keeper league, the Guardians would be the prototype team. On the current roster, only two players are over the age of 30 – relievers Bryan Shaw and Anthony Gose. The everyday lineup features only two players older than 27-years-old – third baseman Jose Ramirez and catcher Austin Hedges, who are both 29.

So when it comes to finding keepers for the rest of the season and beyond, the Guardians are a great team to examine. Owen Wilson and Steven Kwan are two players who quickly come to mind if you are thinking about additions to your team.

Right now, fantasy owners are buying into Kwan a lot more than Miller. Miller is currently rostered in 36% of Yahoo leagues and 30% of ESPN leagues. Meanwhile, Kwan is rostered in 78% of Yahoo leagues and 74% of ESPN Leagues.

Is the fantasy playing public making the right call?

Time to find out.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Real Joey Bart

Fantasy Baseball Streamers, Week 2: Ride the Wave (Hitters and Pitchers)

April 17, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Streamers, Featured | 5 Comments

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This is one of the most annoying weeks of the season to write about streamers. It’s always tough to gauge whether we should use stats from last season or build off the two weeks of stats we’ve developed this year. Understanding who these pitchers are is what really matters because that’s the ultimatum for picking […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Lineup Builder

DFS: Be Vewy Vewy Qwiet, We’re Hunting Wabbits!!

April 17, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, DFS |

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After a Thursday guest appearance in the DFS column, I’m hoppin’ back into my normal Sunday slot to hunt wabbits…err, winning players…for your DFS lineups.  Frank Schwindel and the Cubs offense have found a few golden eggs in Coors, highlighted by Frank The Tank’s 28+ point game for us on FanDuel Thursday night.  As they wrap […]

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Mr. Casey Goes to Washington or My Cousin Vinny Capra

April 17, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 43 Comments

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Yankees SS Anthony Volpe is pressing at AA, slashing .125/.214/.167 with a 3.6% walk rate and a 35.7% strikeout rate. I might repeat myself on the it’s-just-one-week front, but I’ve been concerned about the Volpe hype for quite a while. Reminds me a bit of Kelenic in that people rushed him up the list before he’d proven anything in the high minors, always scary for a guy whose hit tool is the primary question. I’m not Chicken Little, sky-is-falling frightened for him, but that’s partly because I don’t have Volpe on any teams. If I did, I’d be accepting offers or folding him in with deals to get elite major leaguers. The Yankees have developed just one big league caliber field player over the past decade. Volpe turns 21 on April 28, so he’s plenty young for the level, and if you’re a believer, this might be your chance to buy where you can. Still, in prepping this weeks’ article, I found myself wondering if anyone in that camp is regretting their decision to pass on all the free agent shortstops. Not because of Volpe having a tough week but the whole combination of factors that led to Isaiah Kiner-Falefa being the everyday shortstop in pinstripes. Things can look pretty different in the cold light of April. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jeremy Brewer

Hitter Profiles: The Early Looks

April 16, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Comments

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We are officially 11 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes into the regular season.  Is that accurate?  No, but we should not be counting days or stats at this point in the season.  There are early season upstarts like Steven Kwan and Owen Miller and slow starters like Marcus Semien and Bryce Harper.  To really assess potential at this point in the season we have to look at playing time behaviors and the early indications of who has a full time job and who is actually going be a platoon player (looking at you Jo Adell).  For this week we are going to look at some hitter profiles and what we should think for rest of the season potential.  So hold on and let us dig in!

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Sprinkling Some Old Buy On My Baltimore Crab Cake With Mateo

April 15, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell, Featured | 411 Comments

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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH.)

You ever call up the Utz Potato Chip corporate office and ask to speak with that “cute chick on the bags?” You ever poke your right eye out and tell your friends to call you Natty Boh? You ever walk around a deserted park with a group of tourists showing them where Adnan Syed allegedly buried Hae Lee? You ever sell crack in Hamsterdam? No? What kind of Marylandian are you? Do you even have charm to fill a city, bro? You never ate a sandwich cookie and called it a Baltim-oreo? Never?! Dude, I don’t even know you. No wonder why you don’t already have Jorge Mateo on your team! So, somehow in last week’s Buy, when I was telling you about a ton of shortstops to look for on your waivers, I forgot our old stand-buy, Jorge Mateo. Apologies, but now’s when we make it right. Mateo had a year in the minors when he went 7/49. Sure it was ancient years ago, and he’s been in the minors for over a decade, but he’s still only 27 years old, and he still has just about the fastest sprint speed in the majors. He can steal 40+ bags this year. Will he get on base enough for that? P to the erhaps, but he also has 10+ homer power. He’s basically Myles Straw, but with middle infield eligibility. I’d suck that old Buy up for a dollar (and dribble it back out on some lovely crab cakes)! Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?