Hello, again. Weird to think we don’t have too much of a fantasy baseball season left. We’re basically at the halfway point before fantasy playoffs start, more or less. Real baseball keeps chugging along despite more positive COVID tests. Each week I’m mentioning a new team it feels like, and this week it’s the Mets. The entire weekend Subway Series was cancelled, but maybe the Mets will be back in action early next week. The Reds didn’t take long getting back into action, so maybe it’ll work out similarly. Who knows! I’m just glad there’s still baseball and my Cardinals are playing again cuz my St. Louis Blues made an early exit in their quest to defend the Stanley Cup. Really bummed me out.

Anyway, you aren’t here to read my sad sack malarkey about a sport you probably haven’t even heard of. You’re here for fantasy baseball waiver targets. Cuz it’s almost crunch time. A hot bat/arm can carry you a long way down the stretch. I’ve picked some names you might want to take a look-see at. May the odds be ever in your favor.

I’m trying out a new format this week. Hoping that it makes reading a little more streamlined and easier for you to see the standout points I want to make on each player. But really I wanted to get in on that fancy baseball bullet point action.

Note: Stats accurate as of 8/22/2020, before games began. Remember, only players available in the 30th percentiles (39% or below) of either Yahoo or ESPN leagues are eligible. Thought being that most of who you read about below will be there for you to add. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 8/4
ARI | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | ATH | CHW | OAK | SEA | WSH

After two great weeks, last week’s article was a bit hit-and-miss. Most of the streamers performed pretty well but an absolute dud from Adam Plutko really annoyed me. In any case, it’s something to build off of and we just have to pray that the rotations stay where they are and we don’t have more COVID chaos.  

If you have any comments or questions, reach me on Twitter @Bartilottajoel 

Two-Start Streamers 

Framber Valdez (vs. LAA, vs. OAK) 

Guys, Valdez is still available in wayyyy too many leagues. He’s done nothing but produce all season long and he’s been one of the best streamers out there. We’re talking about a dude who owns a 1.72 ERA and 1.09 WHIP through five games this season. He even navigated through Coors Field in his last start, proving he’s no fluke.  

Those numbers alone make him a great streaming option but getting two home starts only adds to his intrigue. Minute Maid Park currently ranks 27th in park factor and it’s truly developed into one of the most pitcher-friendly ballparks around. While both of these offenses have potential, Valdez has seen each of them once, owning a 0.68 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 11.5 K/9 rate across 13.1 innings of action. Not to mention, neither of those clubs are hitting above .230 and are clearly off to slow starts.  

The Streamonator absolutely loves this call, projecting Valdez for 13.2 Ks across two quality starts en route to $22.5 worth of value.  

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Happy Sunday everyone, hope you have all had a fantastic week. Me? Well, I’m glad you asked, anyone have a couch for me to crash on? My three girls started school this week and it is online to start the year, so I get to be the taskmaster until they start going to classes physically. Enough whining from me though, we have 13 games worth of players to look at and there is no shortage of good matchups with great park conditions today. Half of the games have the wind blowing out to center hard enough to take into consideration.

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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Cowabunga, dude! I really dropped the Butterfinger on Joey Bart. I’ve done okay predicting the call-ups in this space, but I just didn’t think San Francisco would start Bart’s service clock during a lost season in exchange for five weeks of games. Turns out, it’s not a lost season just yet. Despite occupying last place in the NL West, they’re just a few games out of a playoff spot at 12-and-16 before Saturday’s game. Johnny Cueto looks pretty good, AC Slater is rocking those amazing pants, and young(ish) Yaz is still getting on base half the time. They might be Giants after all!

So who’s next?

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Shakespeare once said, “But no perfection is so absolute, that some impurity doth not pollute.”

Enter stage right, one Trevor Bauer. Bauer is a tinkerer always looking to improve. You have to admire someone so obsessed with their craft that the process is never over in the pursuit of perfection. After a successful run you’d expect a repeat performance, that he had found the winning formula; not so. After putting up stellar numbers in 2018 to swoon the hardest of souls, Bauer followed that performance with a painful journey of frustration in 2019 that crescendoed with the famous launching of the game ball over the outfield wall at Kauffman Stadium. Soon after Cleveland traded him to Cincinnati where he continued to labor through the remainder of the season. Now in 2020, he’s tinkered again, and chasing the white whale once more.

Because if how knowledgeable he is about pitching and the desire to improve, he’s struggled to find consistency across his career, filled with many ups and downs. He has a career ERA of 3.67 but only registering a season under 4 once, that being his dominant 2018. There are times he looks completely unhittable and others like during last year he’d get hit really had and was unable to command the zone well. So, what’s working for him this year you say; let’s dive in.

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Rolling off of last weeks’ public safety announcement that David Dahl had very quickly turned into a David Don’t (I’m here all night folks), I’d like a chance to be a hype-man instead of a Debbie-downer this week. (I’m more of a Deborah anyways…) So if you hadn’t guessed from my spoiler-not-free title, we’re going to be taking a look at the player who puts the ‘R’ in Stella. Or wait, there is no ‘R’ in Stella. Look, whatever gets you from Tommy La Stella to Tommy La Stellar, that’s what I’m saying. (I actually don’t know what I’m saying.)

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After blowing the game in epic fashion Thursday night and then blowing another game same-day, hours later even epicly-er the Philadelphia Phillies have finally said enough is enough. Their relievers are rocking a icy 8.07 ERA, with an even more inflated 10.93 ERA in the ninth inning. Wow. That’s like Red Sox-relievers-bad. So who did they reach out to? Who else but the awful reliever experts, the Boston Red Sox, and Philly acquired Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree Friday night in hopes of bring some stability to the late inning relief. In return they send RHPs Connor Seabold and Nick Pivetta to Boston. Pivetta, a sabremetrics darling, will likely slot into the starting rotation immediately despite his ugly 15.88 ERA, 1.94 WHIP. He’s given up 10 runs in just three games this year so he should fit right in with this pitching staff. Still, dude strikes out everyone. A 10.32 K/9 in 2018 shows flashes of what could be a valuable starter some day. I have streamed him many times in the past and he’s burned me even more times, and I look forward to this happening again real soon. Connor Seabold (2.24 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 58/11 K/BB in the minors), could also likely find his way into the rotation at some point this year, given the lack of competition at the big league level. Back to Phillies, Workman should immediately take over as closer and could see a boost as he’s better than his 4.07 ERA and 1.80 suggest and has converted all four of his save chances this year. The Phillies are a considerably better team so the save opportunities should be more frequent. Workman is likely already rostered in most fantasy leagues, even though he probably shouldn’t be. However, his successor in Boston, Matt Barnes, is still unowned in most leagues, and that is likely to change quick. If you’re as desperate for saves as I am for positive feedback Barnes and his 5.59 ERA are the obvious choice for save chances for Boston going forward. He notched his first save of the year Friday night allowing just one hit. Pick him up if you really need the saves or you just hate yourself.

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I write this every season during at least one DFS article, it’s a song as old as time, it’s attacking the Rockies on the road.  Today we have Dustin May ($7,000) benefitting from the largest home/road OPS in the game.  This season the Rockies have the third highest home OPS (.870) and are DFL on the road (.609).  It’s incredible and it almost never fails.  May isn’t a huge strikeout pitcher (7.1 K/9 this season) but he has done other things well, like keeping the ball in the yard and keeping his walks down.  His K/9 last year was 8.3, so strikeouts aren’t out of the question.  Either way, it’s a very safe pick, and is priced cheap enough to help win some GPPs.

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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If you were to predict the ace of the Astros staff in April — it would’ve been the Fram-Fram man wouldn’t it? Framber Valdez’s 1.72 ERA obviously isn’t sustainable, but his 2.59 FIP is showing me that maybe it’s not TOO far off from reality. The guy has improved drastically on his control (2 BB/9 compared to 5.6 last year) and has allowed only 1 HR in 31.1 IP this year. I’m a little worried about the walks and hits returning to previous numbers — but for this week he has two relatively good match-ups (vs LAA; vs OAK) and you should ride his hot hand. He could be up in Code Blue soon. 

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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY YESTERDAY ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $5/MONTH.)

Every day Prospect Santa brings up fantasy prospects for all the nice boys and five girls. The naughty boys and five girls can try to figure out what they did to be deemed naughty, but we won’t be explaining designations to anyone, so that’s tough sledding if you got a naughty tag. Just know you prolly did something like wanted to drop Adalberto Mondesi or were happy Acuña got hurt because you didn’t own him. One day Prospect Santa boots an unpaid elf out of the way to reveal Cristian Pache. “The elf’s getting valuable experience, better than any paycheck or healthcare!” Wow, Prospect Santa is a bit of a jerk. Another day Prospect Santa brings up Casey Mize and leers at Mrs. Claus with lust and anger. Yo, is Prospect Santa okay in the head? So, who is next for Prospect Santa, could it be, Gavin Lux? Yes, that’s why we’re here. I’ll admit to cheating a little for who to lead with in the, uh, lede. Prospect Itch (no relation to Santa, as far as I know) recently came out with his Fantasy Baseball Prospect Stash List and I scrolled all the way down to the 2nd name. Also on that list: Pache, Mize, Skubal, K*bert– Okay, Itch is psychic; it is confirmed. Gavin Lux got a bit of a raw deal coming out of Summer Camp, being sent to the alternate training site, where they practice the ancient art of hopping on one leg and other alternate training. Lux can come up and be an immediate pickup in the shallowest of leagues. He could be a top five guy at his position in the final month-plus with a .300+ average and power, and maybe a few steals. When do we see him? I think soon, but that’s up to Prospect Santa. “Ho! Ho! Ho! You ain’t ever getting Wander Franco!” I kinda hate Prospect Santa. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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All in all, this was a relatively calm week on the bullpen front. At least by 2020 standards. That’s always a good time to go find the next man up and consider being a week early on a buy. Even better if they can provide an extra service like strikeouts or ratios in the mean time.

  • The Mets are right on schedule with the disaster that their rotation typically becomes. That’s required Seth Lugo to be transitioned from the bullpen to a starting role. On top of that they’re game Thursday was canceled due to COVID concerns. If they get back on the field soon expect Edwin Diaz to split closing duties with Dellin Betances. Jeurys Familia is a dark horse to mix in.
  • Hector Neris is lucky the Phillies have no one behind him to threaten his role. He blew another save Thursday. David Robertson has clawed his way back from injury and is close to pitching in the MLB again. You’d expect it to take a while to return to form for him. The threat is out there to Neris, though.
  • Color me unimpressed by Craig Kimbrel’s save this week. Rowan Wick had pitched back to back days. Kimbrel’s fastball is still not getting by anyone. The bottom of the Cardinals order was fouling off every two-strike fastball he fired. Better hitters are taking it yard.
  • Zack Britton is hitting the IL just as Aroldis Chapman makes his return. That’s one closer role that should sort itself out naturally barring Chapman being unable to shake off the rust quick enough.
  • Even as a skeptic of Nick Anderson’s role I’m starting to feel frustrated with the Rays. They’re costing themselves games at this point. Stop trying to be so smart and just save your best reliever for the ninth. It’s not like there aren’t other good pitchers in their pen.
  • Jairo Diaz has fumbled the Rockies closer gig into a committee. Carlos Estevez notched their last save. I have very little faith Estevez is the guy. Maybe if Daniel Bard continues to deal he’ll get the job.
  • Please, blog, may I have some more?

On this FanDuel Friday, Walker Buehler ($8,500) is the fourth highest priced pitcher on the slate.  FOURTH!  Last season we would have dreamed of the days Walker wasn’t the highest priced pitcher on the board.  Yes, he has been awful through his first four starts, but with his track record it’s hard to believe that this is anything but early season small sample weirdness. A home start against the Rockies is just what the doctor ordered, as Colorado ranks dead last in wOBA on the road at .270. This is likely the lowest price Buehler will reach all year, so buy low on him.

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!

Please, blog, may I have some more?