Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in. Here I was thinking the no-hitters were done and over with. And I wasn’t going to have to pick one this week. Alas, that wasn’t the case and the Cubs threw one against the Dodgers. Although it was combined, started by Zach Davies and finished by Craig Kimbrel, the deed was done. So my No-Hitter candidate of the week is Robbie Ray. He has a start at home against the Mariners and I’m still working with the operating theory that all No-Hitters come against them, the Indians, and the Rangers.

Normally I have write-ups with facts, tidbits, and opinions coupled with the pitchers. This week they won’t be there due to a technical error and me losing the entire original post. So just for this week, it will just be rankings with no write-ups. Next week we’ll get back to our regularly scheduled program. Now with the house cleaning out of the way, let’s get to the news.

Some noteworthy news to get to. The Rays’ Tyler Glasnow believes he’ll be back this season which I find hard to believe but time will tell. Also, Mike Soroka re-tore his Achilles Tendon, so expect not to hear anything on him until next year. Also, Dinelson Lamet was pulled from his last start with forearm fatigue. Lastly, there is a top prospect in the Reds organization by the name of Hunter Greene. Greene is skyrocketing through the system and reached AAA last week. He regularly reaches 100 MPH and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up at some point if his success continues. He could be a league winner for your team so monitor him closely. Now let’s get to the two start pitchers this week!

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

Sounding akin to a Nordic protein bar that enjoyed suing Napster in the ’90s, there might be more to recent call-up Lars Nootbaar than may seem, sans of course his name. And while I generally don’t cover prospects here at the Razz, Nootbaar carries the unique distinction of never really being a heralded one so curiosity wins the day. Just an eighth-round pick back in 2018, Nootbaar entered this season neither in the Cardinals’ top-30 prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com, nor FanGraphs, he’s held his own so far in this first 16 plate appearances and could be seeing a bit more time as the season progresses. What can we ultimately expect and what is capable are some of the things we’ll explore. And we’re taking the scenic route, whatever that means. Surely it has something to do with your mom…

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Around Major League Baseball, there are a host of outstanding players at every position. But the deepest position is unquestionably shortstop. Need some convincing? Eleven of the top 50 players in the Razzball Player Rater rankings or shortstops.

And these are not shortstops in the mold of Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel. These shortstops are in the mold of Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, both the steroid and non-steroid versions. Fernando Tatis Jr. is must-watch television when he steps to the plate. Xander Bogaerts, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, and Carlos Correa are also must-watch television every time they are hitting.

I’m not giving anything away when I tell you they are my Tier 1 shortstops right now. As a group, they average 54 runs scored, 17 home runs, 48 RBI, and eight steals while slashing .294-.366-.553. Of the top 50 home run hitters in baseball, eight of them are shortstops. And shortstops account for nine of the top 50 RBI leaders this season. What does this have to do with fantasy rankings? Well, if you don’t have Tatis Jr. or one of the other Tier 1 shortstops, the position is so deep you can make a trade for a player from Tier 2 or 3 and still greatly improve your team.

Without wasting more of your valuable time, let’s see what the ranking order is for the Tier 1 group and the rest of the rankings for shortstops.

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We were absolutely crushing our streamers last week until Mike Minor decided to have the worst start of his career on Friday. That nine-run dud was obviously disappointing, but it was the only blemish in an otherwise flawless article. That gives us two great weeks back-to-back, and it feels like we’re back on track! The one concern with this week is the fact that the two-start streamers suck! The pickings are slim, to say the least, but we have a couple of guys we like and some brilliant one-start streamers to ride. With that in mind, let’s kick things off with these lackluster two-start pitchers!

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Happy Sunday friends. Why is it happy you ask? Why the eff not I answer. Nah I couldn’t think of anything else to say to start off the article. Anyway, welcome to our DFS MLB tout article, the Sunday version. Today is an interesting day in the world of Major League Baseball. There are 2 of the top 5 fantasy pitchers going today, plus a few good mid-tier guys accompanied by a litany of solid lower-level options. If you are new here I will tell you that I don’t tout the big-time pitchers. Everyone knows they are good and especially today where strikeout records are being broken left and right. Whether or not to roster these studs is more about roster construction. I did talk a little about this a few weeks ago if you want to go back and check. Seems like we got the pleasantries and ancillary stuff out of the way, so let’s do this.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

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I make a lot of notes to myself throughout the week in a Google doc as I build toward a full article. The word atop the document this week says “cryptocracy,” which reminds me today of something I’d gloriously forgotten: that Major League Baseball teased a big reveal this week only to announce it’s gone into partnership with a cryptocurrency company in a venture that will, almost certainly, make money for the owners. 

Huzzah. 

And wow the fans were so geeked and stoked and hyped for baseball now more than they’d ever previously imagined possible because the owners were going to, get this, make more money.

Just awesome stuff. 

If you’ll excuse me for a moment I’m due up fourth this inning, so I’m going to duck into the clubhouse and view my last couple of at bats against this pitcher.

Then I’m going to strap on my custom-made elbow guard, wristband and batting gloves before I select my custom-made helmet and bat so I can step into the on deck circle, where I’ll swing my weighted bat a few times before I tack up my custom bat with my favorite pine tar, tack up my batting gloves a bit on the barrel, pretend not to time the pitcher while I’m timing the pitcher, then walk into the box and tack up my batting gloves again before I adjust them, my elbow guard, and my helmet. Now I’m ready to swing the bat. Maybe.

Wait. 

Did that pitcher just adjust his belt!?

Skip! Blue! Wait! Stop the game!

That pitcher might have some sunscreen in his belly button!

Check him check him check him!

And let’s grab a brand new ball straight from the box otherwise I call no fair.

Sorry about that. Can’t believe that guy was trying to use a substance to help him hold something. Back to the game. Here’s what I’ve been seeing on the field this week. 

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I know, I know.  I am supposed to be writing about Kyle Schwarber this week.  Seriously, we are doing 2021 Hitter Profiles and I should be writing about the hottest hitter on the planet.  Not counting Friday night where he hit another bomb (watch the video, it was a missile), across the last 14 days the former Cubbie has as many home runs (12) as the #2 and #3 long ball leaders during the same time span.  That is like going double Vladdy Jr.  So clearly everybody and their mother are writing up Schwarber and I do not want to dedicate more to the subject than has already been said.  I will put it simply; he is on a heater and nobody knows when it will stop.  He somehow has a .217 BABIP during this time which might explain why he only has 5 other hits.  This too shall pass but for now, enjoy enjoy enjoy!  Now that we have cleared the virtual air, it is time to toe the line in The Itch’s territory and talk about a player we need to be watching for the Top 100 Hitters for the rest of the season…Vidal Brujan.

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I’m dead serious that I don’t think FanDuel could make Jacob deGrom ($11,500) expensive enough that I would move off of him on any slate.  What deGrom is doing right now is just unreal.  You could get cute, and drop down to another pitcher, but do you really want to start the day out behind 30 points when deGrom goes for 75?  I’d rather have some fun digging up cheap bats than risk fading deGrom right now.  deGrom is at home and the Phils are middle of the pack in team OPS while also ranking in the top ten in team strikeouts.  Bryce Harper is the only threat we have to worry about, he has taken deGrom deep twice in his career, but I’m not worried, deGrom is just on another planet right now.

New to FanDuel? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well, be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!

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Heerrre’s Luis! Mariners catcher slash DH Luis Torrens continued his power binge as he went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four runs batted in Friday night to carry the Ms to an impressive 9-3 win over the White Sox in Chicago. Catcher lovers, this is your lucky day, as Luis could be the next big thing in catcher adds in the mold of Yermin Mercedes and Eric Hasse, ie, he could be the hottest hitter around for a week or two before ultimately falling off harder than the Hawks in Game two. Torrens has tormented opposing pitchers this month with five homers in his past seven games and he’s batting an impressive .375 during that stretch. Grey told you to BUY and he said “If you have Tom Murphy and he’s losing playing time, blame it on Torrens, which coincidentally is also the fantasy team name of Fab Morvan, the last living member of Milli Vanilli.” My thoughts exactly! If you asked Luis, he’d tell you he couldn’t throw a proper hit party without his right hand bash bros, the Two Jakes, Jake Fraley (1-for-3, 2-run HR) and Jake Bauers (2-for-4, RBI). Because someone needs to hold up Torrens while he kegs stands, he’s a big dude! Both Jakes have been steady contributors over the past two weeks and could be worth a look if you’re as desperate for outfielders as I am for positive feedback. Bauers is hitting .320 over the 15 days and Fraley has done a little of everything. Last but certainly not least, Dylan Moore (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 SB (12)) can steal bases and hearts with the best of the best if he can remain healthy in the line up for more than a week which is a big ol’ bolded, 72-point font IF. Has Luis Torrens arrival sparked the Ms offense?! Probably not but a guy can dream–remember last time I highlighted a Mariner the team crashed a burn for about a week following, so I am treading carefully. Regardless, the C-Attle offense looked scarier than Shelley Duvall’s O-Face Friday night and Torrens and Co. could be worth a look while they’re hitting all the baseballs. Ms about to go on a streak! Please don’t quote me on that.

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH OR $13/MONTH WITH AN EXTRA WEEKLY PODCAST.)

I got a love jones for Bobby Bradley. Crush is solidifying. He has a swag about him. A swing that makes my heart pitter and/or patter for this batter. A swag/swing — a Swang. A home run every 9.3 at-bats in Triple-A, and then a home run every 9.0 at-bats in the majors will do that. Deserves to play every day. Hopefully, when Franmil returns, Bradley doesn’t take the lineup squeeze L. Fun fact! After Bobby Brady lost a pie-eating contest, his father Mike told him to take the L like a man and disowned him, so he briefly went by Bobby Bradley. Lots of people forget this. Speaking of Franmil, Bobby Bradley reminds me of that $54 Vending Machine Steak. Think many people don’t watch Cleveland, but if you have, and have seen Bradley, you’re already sold on his power. He has light-tower power, I’ll devour, I’m gonna tie you up and make you understand, Bobby Bradley is not an average man. HUUH! Bobby will knock you out! HUUH! Mama said knock you out! Seriously, I watched him hit a home run the opposite way the other day, and I was instantly sold. Bradley doesn’t strikeout a ton either. At least not so far in the majors. If you need power, I’d grab Bradley in any league. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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What is up people. We are steaming right into the midst of summer and that means the balls will start flying. Of course pitcher not being able to spin their pitches as much with the “sticky stuff” will probably help hitters as well. Either way we could be in for a power binge. One guy who’s heating up along with the weather is Bryan Reynolds. Now I know he may not be the sexiest name in fantasy sports but he’s been getting it done with power as well as smacking doubles. I absolutely love what he’s been doing all season long and I’m not alone in that judging by his roster percentage being over 90. If you happen to be in that last ten-ish percent of leagues… you know what to do. The most impressive part about his season is that he’s managed to maintain the high batting average he was known for while tapping into a power source that he didn’t show earlier in his career. If you already have him, hold on loosley, don’t let go. And if you don’t have him, I would kick the tires and see if his manager doesn’t believe in the results.

Please, blog, may I have some more?