It’s “Shotime” in Arlington today and the Rangers would do well to have the most famous Texas Ranger on the bump to face off with Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani is a great pitcher and all…but he’s no Chuck Norris! Or is he? As everyone knows, “Chuck Norris doesn’t throw a baseball, it just leaves his hand […]
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The left side of the mouth:
“Due to a pitch count of 80, Clayton Kershaw would not get a perfect game, but he would become the perfect symbol of his generation. Babied to the point where pitchers can no longer throw, they ‘pitch’ — whatever that means! When did we, as a society, get to the point where a pitcher can’t throw the ball? A participation perfect game, that’s what Clayton Kershaw got yesterday.”
The right side of the mouth:
“Clayton Kershaw has been battling injuries for years. His last year was cut short, due to injuries. He couldn’t pitch much in the preseason, because of the lockout and this was his first start of the year. Who cares about a perfect game? This is about keeping Clayton Kershaw healthy for as many innings as possible.”
The left side of the mouth:
“You’re a sissy.”
The right side of the mouth:
“What are you talking about? We’re just different sides of the same mouth!”
So, Clayton Kershaw (7 IP, 0 ER, 0 baserunners, 13 Ks) threw seven perfect innings, and nothing about him has changed since my preseason thoughts on him. He could be fantastic, but not even for a 9-inning game, let alone a full season. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Atlanta RHP Bryce Elder brings the magic like he stole some old wizard’s wand. His name is fitting in that he pitches like a wily vet and I feel like he has a lot to teach me. He was the first man off my faab run in week 1 of the Highlander Dynasty Invitational. Took Yonny Hernandez with the last claim spot. The raw math of the settings suggested Yonny was the better piece as a newly molted Diamondback in Arizona. I was more afraid to miss him, I guess, is what it comes down to. If Yonny comes up and takes that third base job, he’s an instant stolen base source with big upside. I realize I’m making my excuses here anyway now. Sorry about that. Also, I was traveling. On the road all weekend. Sparse internet signal. Funny thing is, I had sort-of binge-watched some Elder starts last week, and I really liked him. He’s not a shallow league piece, probably, at least not in the short term, but he can manage a game. April can be a kind month to the game managers of the pitching world.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
by: JTells
TOP DOGS
1. Jose Ramirez Guardians No Suprise Here as Ramirez has shown out of the gate he still has great plate discipline and has never seen a fastball he didn’t like. You would like to see a little more hard contact but it’s super early and Ramirez will get into one of his grooves and drafters will once again be happy he is on your squad.
2. Rafael Devers Red Sox Devers has hits in all of his games so far and has popped one out of the park in his 1st game of the season. Another elite hitter who will find his groove shortly. Whiff% and Chase Rate are a little higher than we would like to see but no worries here as another great season awaits from Mr. Devers.
3. Austin Riley Braves Riley is squaring up the baseball so far and is showing at least out of the gate he can sustain the lofty totals that he acquired last season. His WOBA is .427 which is about 100 points above his average so yes it will come down and you will have to deal with the occasional 3 K out day like yesterday against the Nationals for example but the ride will be worth it.
4. Nolan Arenado Cardinals Facing the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff will give all power hitters a boost in their numbers it looks like this season but Arenado torched the Pirate staff this past weekend and is off to a hot start. 2 HR out to left field and a few doubles to boot Arenado looks really good so far and drafters are reaping the rewards early on.
5. Manny Machado Padres No barreled up baseballs yet out of 14 batted balls but Manny is hitting the ball well and is just getting a little unlucky on some of his at-bats. He will come around eventually but definitely misses Tatis Jr. in the lineup and you can expect an uptick in his production when that happens.
SOLID PROS
6. Alex Bregman Astros Whoa, nice start from Bregman here, has only struck out one time in 14 plate appearances and has hit 2 HR already. He’s a little tough to root for unless you are a die hard “Space City” fan but if he’s on your fantasy team who cares. I like the start so far and he could break the top 5 if he keeps it up.
7. Kris Bryant Rockies
8. Justin Turner Dodgers
9. Anthony Rendon Angels
10. Matt Chapman Blue Jays Chapman had a nice 3 run blast the other day against the Rangers. He has struck out 8 out of 16 plate appearances so that isn’t great but it will even out and Chapman should do his thing and hit 30 HR just with that low average we kinda cringe at thinking about.
STUCK IN MIDDLE
11. KeBryan Hayes Pirates Nice start to the season for Hayes as he worked out a minor injury in his 1st game to come back and get 4 hits in 3 games over the weekend and they were nice hard hit balls for the most part. Wouldn’t be surprised if he settles in the 7-9 range shortly.
12. Josh Donaldson Yankees
13. Adalberto Mondesi Royals Well at least owners of Mondesi know he can at least steal a base as he did on Sunday. Not much else to see here as it could be a rough year awaiting him.
14. D.J. Lemahieu Yankees Bad News 1 for 10 start for D.J. and is not playing every day. Good News is he has had some hard hit balls so far they just have found the opponents glove. I think he will be ok in the long run but if we are depending on him producing like he did two seasons ago I think that train has left the station.
15. Ryan McMahon Rockies
HAZY FUTURE
16. Jeimer Candelario Tigers Not a great start from the Candy Man but has driven in two runs so that’s been nice to see. Has only struck out twice so that’s a positive. I think there is more to see and the Tigers look good so far and that’s usually contagious.
17. Eduardo Escobar Mets
18. Gio Urshela Twins Gio had a great looking HR against the Mariners in the Twins 1st game where he had to lunge at the baseball and was able to get enough to hit it out to LF. Good Sign there just depends if he’s going to be in the lineup every day to be useful and provide enough for you to keep him in your lineup. You could do worse at your CI spot in your lineup.
19. Alec Bohm Phillies Well the man who hates the place he plays in has actually hit the ball pretty decent but it’s his defense that is getting the most of the unwanted attention. I think the Phillies probably move him at some point but in the mean time they keep trotting him out most of the time to get some exposure to other teams that may be interested. Still has some good attributes so not giving up on him just yet.
20. Joey Wendle Rays
Honorable Mention
Josh Harrison White Sox Luis Urias Brewers (Injured) Yoan Moncada White Sox (Injured)
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Baseball is officially back! We are about a week into this season so far and if you aren’t in first place in your leagues you might as well give up. Abandon everything you believed before the season started and trade Shohei Ohtani for Steven Kwan. Jesus Luzardo is winning the CY Young and the Brewers’ […]
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by: Matt Stiles
Week 2 and I still feel like it is Christmas morning every time I sign in to set my lineups. The one constant so far, consistent with other early seasons, is there are no constants other than possibly starting pitching not lasting five innings this early in the season. Enough about that, we will get […]
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by: Grey
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Dropping 98 MPH 4-seamers, maxing out at 99 MPH, with a bye-bye 82-87 MPH knuckle curve with a 3100 spin rate that has 48-inches of break, followed by “Oh, okay, that was a change, okay, I see what you did there” as the batter swings and misses. Is the answer to, “Are we sure Matt Brash is real?” Oh, he looked very real. Really real. My favorite sequence was right after giving up his first run, he got Tim Anderson on five pitches and only had to throw one fastball, which was taken for a ball. His final line was 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners (1 walk), 6 Ks, and, as good as that looks, he looked better. Not convinced there won’t be some roofies here and there. I could see him going against a club with a better feel for his pitches, and just laying off, because there were a few times when I was like, “Has he thrown a strike at all this at-bat?” After seeing him, I can also answer the question, “Would I pick him up?” With a strong affirmative, i.e., the mustache must Brash. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
by: Coolwhip
Okay, Razzers, one more outfield post to start the year while I get my footing. I’ll be back to the deep-diving next week after we get a full week plus of games to digest and I can process pitchers with at least 2 starts under their belt and more than 4.2 inning starts. So why […]
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by: Jay
Look, I understand that Connor-eyed Joe makes no sense, but if you came to one of my posts looking for sense, boy do I have some parentheses to sell you. (Hint, I like parentheses.) But yes, I’d like to imagine that something akin to the phrase above was going through Blake Treinen’s head in his first appearance on opening day when he gave up a game-defining homerun to one previously mentioned Connor Joe. And while there isn’t quite too much stock that can be put into what is now just 0.03% of the season completed, it’s not like we can’t dream on just a handful of games. I mean, the Padres are 4-1, that’ll totally last, right? (*Cries into alcoholic beverages. All of them.) But back to Joe, it’s no secret that the Rockies outfield is a bit crowded with Grichuk, Blackmon, Bryant, Hilliard and Daza. Combined that with the fact that Connor’s development and pedigree has been more of a slow-burn (with the majority of games in the minor leagues), but he’s always had a keen sense of the plate, sustaining strong career marks in both BB% and K% along with a bit of pop. And not for nothing, but his 19 plate appearances so far are tied with Bryant, and already more than the rest of his OF peers, something to keep an eye on. Connor-eyed perhaps? Feels so good!
Join me after the jump for some more random facts, hot takes, and other robust ruminations (classy content folks) on the Kwan, Jo Adell morphing into Pedro Cerrano from Major League and how long Kyle Farmer will keep plowing the field. Is it just me, or does that sound sexual? And is it just me, or does plowing the field not really equate to hitting well? Eff it, we’ve typed this far…
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by: MattTruss
Welcome my good and decent Razzball Commenter League managers. How were your first four days of fun? Oh, you drafted a team full of White Sox did you? Ouch, Yoan Moncada, Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito too? Welp, there’s always next year (Sorry Keelin!)! I kid, I kid, the RCL format is actually one of […]
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by: JKJ
A fine Tuesday to all of you Razzbeotches! With almost a week of real-life, these-games-count baseball behind us, I wanted to use my first regular-season S(aves)AGNOF report to give y’all some of my early notes on how things are (or aren’t) shaking out across the RP landscape thus far. Friendly reminder: I keep our Bullpen […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Roster Mechanic is back for year two and the Tuesday main slate will be our new night to show off our skills at fine-tuning a money-making lineup. First off Gracias to Luis Garcia, $8600, as we look to him as our lead SP. For hitting, when in doubt just draw four random Blue Jay […]
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