Fantasy Baseball Waiver Targets: Week 3

August 9, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 17 Comments

Welcome back to JKJ’s School of Waiver Wire Wizardry. It’s time for Lesson Two, where I hope to improve upon my decently successful Lesson One.

James Karinchak doesn’t have the closer gig like I and many others thought he would, so that’s a big time bummer, not only as-an-analyst-wise, but also multiple-Karinchak-owner-wise. Still worth a stash because Brad Hand really isn’t all that great anymore, and Karinchak is a good ratios and strikeout guy, and holds if your league counts ’em. Hand’s K-rate is still very healthy, but man he’s given up a lot of barreled balls already and the xERA is over 4. I really think it’s only a matter of time.

Colin Moran predictably has gone cold. Teoscar Hernandez a little bit as well but the BA is still healthy (for now). JaCoby Jones has been holding up nicely, at least. Oh, and that Trent Grisham guy is raking. He’s looking like a budding superstar, with the rare power and speed combo we just don’t see much in baseball anymore. I tossed in a quick note about Donovan Solano at the end, and he’s been smacking base hit after base hit since. Planned to cover him this week but his ownership rates ballooned.

Nothing to write home about with my other picks from last week. Let’s see if I do better this time around.

Remember, students, 2020 is a weird one. The hotties need to be given a shot. Don’t be the guy who looks back at the missed opportunities that could have given you your asterisk-laden fantasy baseball title! Just kidding, for the record. No asterisks this year. We’re all in this same crazy boat together.

Note: Only players in the 30th percentiles (39% or below) on either Yahoo! or ESPN are considered. All stats as of 8/7/2020.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

#	MLB Starting Lineups For Sun 8/3
	ARI \| ATH \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR \| WSH \| ATL \| CIN \| OAK

FanDuel: Aces Abound

August 9, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

by: MattTruss

The last few times of written my DFS articles the pitching has been atrocious, as seems to be the norm this season. Today however, we have an abundance of aces to choose from. Picking which one will produce the best value is the tricky part. Jacob deGrom ($11,100) is the most expensive options, but given his opponent, is the one most likely to win you your cash games and even keep you in your GPPs. The Marlins continue to be a team I am targeting whenever I can and deGrom should have a field day with them. Can we expect 7+ innings and double digit strikeouts? I believe we can! DeGrom is also only $300 more than Sonny Gray, which seems wild to me, but I’m plugging and playing deGrom today.

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?

Stash List Volume 3: Top Ten Prospects Who’ll Soon Be Rookies

August 9, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 33 Comments

by: The Itch

NOTE: This ranking is focused on redraft impact of players who’ve yet to debut in 2020. It’s a snapshot of all the information I can synthesize as of publication day.

Here’s Volume 1.

Graduates from Vol. 1 = Jo Adell, Monte Harrison

Here’s Volume 2.

Graduates from Vol. 2 = Spencer Howard*, Alex Reyes, Jordan Yamamoto, Joely Rodriguez

Busy weeks like these are alright alright by me. Let’s get to the list.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Two-Start Pitchers, Week 3: Help Us Fight TBA

August 8, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 4 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

Most of the starting pitchers for week 3’s games haven’t even been officially announced yet. Pair this with reports that MLB is warning television stations to get their Big Bang Theory re-runs and copies of Shawshank Redemption loaded up and it’s hard to be optimistic about the season. The chart I’m working off only has 4 starters confirmed so I had to do some diggin’, scratchin’, and prognosticatin’ to try and determine exactly who might be a two-start pitcher for this week. Below, you’ll find 4 tiers below of week 3’s two-starters. They are in order of descending disappointment. That’s not to say you can’t find any one-start gems in the lower tiers, but I just can’t recommend rolling them out for both starts.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Points Leagues, The Year of Small Sample Sizes

August 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 19 Comments

by: malamoney

If I’m putting all my cards on the table, I’m not even sure where to begin with advice. This season is just plain crazy. Figuring out who, what, where, when and why almost seems impossible. I’m certainly not the first to say this, but it seems like the best thing we can do is to play the hot hand. As Frank the Tank said, we’re going streaking! Not to show of my math skills, but in a 60-game season a 8-game hot streak is the equivalent of 21 game hot streak in a regular season. That’s one hell of a month of baseball. In years past we’ve looked at small sample sizes and pointed out that they were just that, small samples. No such thing as a small sample size in 2020.

Before I jump into a few players to whom I intend to give a shout out, I’d like to bring up a few points. With all of the game cancellations and postponements, fantasy leagues with weekly lineups just aren’t going to work. For years I’ve always hated when a player hits the IL on a Tuesday in a weekly league and I end up practically taking a zero. It seems senseless. In order for things to work, head-to-head points leagues need to have daily lineups this year. Owners need the ability to adjust to the constantly changing landscape. We need to be able to pivot. Losing a week simply because you had more players have their games canceled is garbage. Especially in a season that has so few weeks. While I realize that at this point in the fantasy season it’s too late to make these kind of changes, I still feel compelled to say so.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Peterson’s Fish Fry

August 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

by: MattTruss

Things are weird in this short season, that’s putting it lightly. One thing I’m finding myself looking at more and more is riding the hot hand. It’s a nine week season, if someone goes on a three week heater, that’s…hold on…carry the one…a third of the season! It’s for reasons such as this I’m giving an extra hard look to David Peterson ($8,300). Peterson is not someone I’d normally give much thought to, but given his hot start (8.5 K/9, 3.86 ERA and 3.03 FIP) I’m intrigued. Peterson might not amount to more than a quad-A player when all is said and done, but he’s lucky in that his opponent tonight is a quad-A team, enter the Miami Marlins. The Marlins will be a target for my DFS pitchers for most of the season, sorry Monte Harrison, I’m not buying the Marlin Hype through eight games. Deploy Peterson, fry those fish and collect those green screens.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Friday Night Lights

August 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 47 Comments

by: Coolwhip

Greetings all, I’m stepping in for Mr. Pants today throwing on short rest. I went and got loose in the pen and now I’m ready to get poppin’. It’s been a long week so rather than beat around the bush, let’s just dive right into what I saw around the MLB on Friday night:

Ryan Weber – 3 inn 7 baserunners 2 ER 3 Ks. He’s bad and so is their bullpen.

Brandon Workman – 1 inn 0 ER and SV. Okay except for him, he’s the only bright spot in that radioactive wasteland.

Andrew Benintendi – 0-4 with BB, 1 run, and the golden sombrero as he continues to bat leadoff hitting .061/.279. I’ve noticed he’s walking a lot yet his contact is atrocious. His eyes are fine, but his swing is way off. I have no idea why Roenicke is keeping him at leadoff. Could be to ensure he has more ABs to help him out of his funk and/or further evidence the Sawx are mailing in this entire season. Just one big extended Spring Training.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 100 Hitters For 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Week 3

August 8, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Top 100 Hitters | 15 Comments

by: Thomas Howland

I would say the fact you are reading a 2020 Fantasy Baseball Week 3 anything is a win. Multiple times a day it seems like nothing makes sense, and that’s just in the world of baseball. Will St. Louis ever play a full schedule during the week, or is it just going to be seven inning double headers from here on out? Yelich hit a home run but it was the inside the park variety? Cardboard cutouts of fans come to life on Fox? So in spite of Covid we may not have school in school but we definitely still have baseball. You can find last week’s list here.

Here are some of the movers for this week, followed by the list:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Buy The Novelty Of Spencer’s Gifts

August 7, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 283 Comments

by: Grey

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

The following happened last weekend: Bryce Harper laid on the hotel bed, on his stomach, feet up behind him, as he whispered into the hotel phone, “Tell me another story.” From the other side of the line, “I’ve told you all my stories,” replied the Phanatic. Bang! Bang! Against the hotel window, something loudly rapped. The Phanatic asked Bryce, “What’s that?” “Oh, Phillies fans have been standing outside the hotel throwing batteries at my window.” Bang! Bang! Another loud rapping. Finally, Bryce went to the window to politely ask the fans to cut him some slack. Bryce slid the window open and hanging from the side of the balcony was, “…Oh, hey, Spencer Howard? What are you doing?” “They told me I was pitching this weekend, and no one was allowed in and out of the hotel.” “No games, man. I’m just flirting–um, talking to the Phanatic.” With that Bryce closed the window, and moments later, a muffled, “Uh, could you let me in?” And Bryce shut his window’s curtains. So, Spencer Howard is being called up any day now. Prospect Hobbs gave us about 1200 words about him in his Spencer Howard fantasy, but here’s a juicy bit of tid, “Across rookie-level (just 5 1/3 innings), High-A and Double-A in 2019, Spencer Howard churned out 71 frames with 94 strikeouts to achieve a 2.03 ERA/0.83 WHIP/2.62 FIP. In producing those numbers, he cut down on his BB/9 from 3.2 in 2018 to 2.6, also finishing with a 11.2 K/9 in 2019. 30 2/3 of those innings came at the Double-A level, where he produced an equally impressive 2.35 ERA backed up closely by a 2.66 xFIP. For the complete picture, Howard pitched 211 1/3 innings across parts of three seasons in the Minors with a 3.28 ERA/1.14 WHIP, 12.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 0.4 HR/9. That’s as good as Grey is bad.” Okay, not cool, but I’m in love with Spencer, and would grab him in all leagues. By the way, regarding the title: You’ve seen one New Jersey joke, you’ve seen a mall. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Deep Thoughts: A Chatwood Lead To Dirty Talk

August 7, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 8 Comments

by: Coolwhip

Haha, 2020 is quite the year, isn’t it? What a wonderful time to be alive. Hahahaha. You can do this Coolwhip, hold it together man. So I wrote nearly all of this before his Thursday start against the Royals. Or as I will call it, “the Night that the Gates of Hell Overfloweth with Wickedness and Malice.” Life was different then, pitchers had a roll, Trent Grisham was a world-beater, Mike Trout had a baby, and life made sense. Then it happened. Sigh… we’ll proceed ahead with a dose of sobriety as everyone can have off nights (gulp), let’s dive in!

Tyler Chatwood is filthy (I swear). Just like you want a pitcher to be. And there’s something different about him. The movement on his pitches is crisp AF and that cutter’s late movement gets the mood going. So far in 2020, he has 19 Ks through 2 starts and only 4 BBs. This is not the same Chatwood that has tormented us before with command issues. He’s pitching deeper into games and getting more swinging strikes than ever at an absurd 17.4% clip, twice as much as his career mark last year. What gives?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bullpen Report: A. Scrubb By Any Other Name

August 7, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Closers, Middle Relievers | 7 Comments

by: Roto-Wan

Having fun chasing pitching yet? At least this short season won’t be boring. There has been no shortage of actionable bullpen moves. They’re not likely to slow down anytime soon. Get aggressive on middle relievers and closer spec plays.

Somethings not right with Ryan Pressly. He blew the save in his first opportunity for Houston without recording a shot. Andre Scrubb worked a clean inning and a third before that. Cy Sneed and Blake Taylor gave up a bunch of runs prior to that. We’ll see which way the wind blows next time the ninth comes up with a lead. Brad Peacock is probably worth a stash as he works his way back from arm soreness.
The Cardinals are going to need Kwang-hyun Kim in their rotation upon their restart from quarantine. That leaves the closer role open. Giovanny Gallegos should be ready to go at this point. Many fantasy managers have also made a bet Ryan Helsley will get opportunities.
Poor, cursed Nick Burdi has been placed on the season-ending 45-day IL with an elbow issue. At least he was able to earn his first career save before being struck down again. Richard Rodriguez should get the ninth until Keona Kela returns shortly.
Brad Hand has shown us the rumors of his demise were somewhat exaggerated. He’s notched two uneventful saves this week. I’d still expect Cleveland to try and rest him between appearances when they’re comfortable with James Karinchak handling the ninth.
The Angels are an unexpected dumpster fire in the backend of their bullpen. Hansel Robles has washed out as the closer. Ty Buttrey is filling in but has 1 K to 3 BBs in 6.1 innings. Kenyan Middleton is serving up gopher balls. Felix Pena is the only one treading water.
Jairo Diaz is cementing himself into the Rockies closer gig. His Ks and ratios don’t blow you away but the job security is nice.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Boyd Back

August 7, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

by: TroyKlauder

Matthew Boyd ($7,900) had a tough time in his first two starts this year, but a night against the Pirates is what Boyd needs to bounce back. The Pirates were the weakest lineup in baseball against left-handed pitching last year with a .289 wOBA. They’ve hit lefties well so far this season, but I’m willing to bet against that small sample performance… glances in the direction of Philip Evans and Guillermo Heredia… I wouldn’t be worried about Boyd tonight. After posting a 30.2% K-rate last year, Boyd’s got lots of upside to chase in GPP tournaments.

Please, blog, may I have some more?