Grey

Who Is That Prospect? The Name is Daulton

July 31, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 281 Comments

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Daulton Varsho was called up by the Diamondbacks. His numbers in the minors are gorge, as in they will engorge you. 18/21/.301 in Double-A, and he’s a catcher. Oh…*climbs to top of world’s tallest stack of pancakes*…kay. Yo, Varsho, you the greatest living catcher ever? Varsho! Here’s what Prospect Itch said, “Prospects don’t get much rarer than Daulton Varsho. My estimated time for his arrival says late 2020, but that might be dependent upon Arizona deciding to stop developing him as a catcher. He struck out just 13.9 percent of the time while walking in 9.3 percent of his plate appearances. That along with his .301/.378/.520 slash line and 159 wRC+ in a decent pitching environment suggests he might be ready for the leap to MLB pitching right now. Can Grey take a leap?” Not cool, man. I haven’t been this excited for a catcher since I married my Cougar. My guess is he plays DH, since the DBacks ditched Kevin Cron, and already have Total Request Live and Rock the Vogt to catch. Playing time could be an issue, which is why I didn’t grab Varsho in every league, but I did try him in one very shallow league, knowing I can just drop him if he doesn’t work out. Yo, do you even lift, bro? Also, he’ll be in this afternoon’s Buy, which you could already be reading if you subscribe to our Patreon. 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
Hobbs

Prospect Watch: Clarke Schmidt

July 30, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 8 Comments

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With the 2020 season now underway, prospects that failed to make their respective teams’ opening day rosters have arrived at alternate training sites. In a normal year, this would be prime prospect writing season, as we’d follow players’ performances at various levels of the Minor Leagues making all sorts of analysis and predictions about their MLB ETAs, future fantasy output, relevance to the current season at hand, etc. With no Minor League Baseball this season, we don’t have that, but we do know that all of the information there is to know is already out there, with some extra flavor sprinkled in from summer camps. As the summer progresses, I’ll continue to stay in tune with what I’m hearing about countless players situated at those alternate sites. One player I’m especially intrigued by for the 2020 campaign is Clarke Schmidt of the Yankees, otherwise known as Clark D. Schmidt, son of Clate Schmidt, of the late Claudius P. Schmidt, descendant of Cletus Z. Schmidt. The first two were true.

Big D. Schmidt came into summer camp with a fair amount of hype as the No. 88 prospect in the game, but he was slightly overshadowed initially by 21-year-old phenom Deivi Garcia, MLB.com’s No. 92 prospect. During his time at Yankees camp, Schmidt did nothing but prove that he’s close to being Major League ready despite only having 19 Double-A innings under his belt. Before being optioned to New York’s alternate site, Schmidt performed admirably in both simulated and exhibition game action, ultimately earning the team’s 2020 James P. Dawson Award, given to the most outstanding Yankees rookie in spring training. Translation: we strategically gave you this award so you wouldn’t be pissed when we put Mike King on the roster instead of you. Even dating back to Spring Training, Schmidt still had a locker at Yankees camp when everything shut down. And for good reason, because on top of having a plus-fastball (two-seam and four-seam mix) that ranges from 92-97 MPH and an above average-to-plus tumbling changeup, he possesses a curveball that can do this:

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Dan Richards

Top 50 Corner Infielders for 2020 Fantasy Baseball: Weeks 2-3

July 30, 2020 | Top 50 Corner Infielders |

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With the season underway, there have been a substantial number of movers on my corner infielder rankings. It’s difficult to make too much of a week of play, but with only 60 games total, you’ll have to be aggressive in order to win your league. And that means jumping on breakouts and benching those who might be flaming out.

I made my rankings initially using z-scores based on projections. Now that we have some actual results, it’s a bit of a free for all. Know only that I’m thinking prospectively, i.e., ranking players based on how I expect them to perform relative to one another for the rest of the season. Just because Starlin Castro has been better than Miguel Sanó to date, doesn’t mean that I expect him to be better going forward.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Son

One Man’s Trash

July 30, 2020 | One Man's Trash | 25 Comments

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When I first started writing One’s Man Trash, I would go through the most added/drop list at ESPN then highlight a bunch of players that stood out to me. As time passed and evolution did its thing, I would hone in on one player and do a deeper dive. Since it’s the beginning of the season, and the sample sizes are small, I’m going back to my roots. Enjoy.

 

David Fletcher (3B/2B/SS/OF – LAA) – 73.1% owned – increase of 38%

Fletcher lives!!! In 23 PA, he’s slashing .556/.609/.667 with 1 stolen base. The walk rate is 17.4% while the strikeout rate is a paltry 13%. The BABIP is .625! Lol. He’s obviously not going to maintain that level, but Steamer has him projected for a .283 batting average with 2 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 24 runs. That ain’t bad for the leadoff hitter for the Angels. Fletcher led the league in swinging strike rate last season with a 3.2% number. This season, he’s at 2.3%. The contact rates are all elite. In this shortened season, Fletcher could lead the league in batting aveage and runs scored if the stars align. Finally, he’s eligible at four positions, which is huge in this Rona-infested environment. TREASURE

Please, blog, may I have some more?
VictoriaB

FanDuel: Means Girl

July 30, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

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I have so many questions about the 2020 season. How long will it last, for starters. For seconds: Piped-in crowd sound. It’s just… weird. Is there a crowd-sound DJ and how are their skills tested during the job interview? Are the players really fooled? Has the crowd sound ever been so loud that players can’t hear each other across the field? But I digress! Today I come at you from the great sultry north with some FanDuel picks for your DFS state this Thursday, 30 July. Another question for me today is pitching: it’s one of those days where it would be nice to dispense with a pitcher altogether, but we cannot and still, you know, actually submit a valid line-up on FanDuel, so perhaps we go the punt-pitching, splurge-on-hitting route. That’s where John Means comes in. Not to start him, but because I sense he’s going to present us with some stacking opportunities as he squares up against the Yankees. Let’s take a look at what else is out there, after the jump.

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?
Grey

Nate Dogs The Nats’ Bats

July 30, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 330 Comments

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“Have I been wrong, hypnotized, paralyzed, by what my eyes have seen,” sang Natalie Merchant the last time I saw her at Lilith Fair. As I lay there, on that hemp blanket, eating a homemade granola bar, I thought, “I’m buying whatever that Merchant is selling.” Sadly, I can’t have my soul enriched during these dastardly times by some female honkeytonks, unless I happen across something between my binge watching of Siesta Key. Then, yesterday, Nate Pearson (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks) was as good as Natalie Merchant and Siesta Key combined. Yo, my man went from a 99 MPH fastball that had Nats’ hitters bulging their eyes to a backdoor 77 MPH dipsy with poise of a 15-year vet. The 99 MPH fastball is enough, but his secondary command, just dropping pitches in. Go to the top of a mountain and let out a chef’s kiss. This was against the defending champs, and he was like en bee dee. Massively impressed by him during Spring Training in March just off a few clips, but watching him for five innings has me convinced:  He can be this year’s Chris Paddack. He should be owned in 100% of leagues. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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

Prospect News: Folty Fallout Shelter and Nate Pearson’s Debut

July 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 10 Comments

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Have you seen A Bronx Tale? 

If so, perhaps the $20 lesson is enough to share the moment in my mind with your mind. 

If not, I am morally obligated to recommend that film and writerly obligated to describe a small scene that has stayed with me across two decades. 

Our main character sees a guy who owes him 20 bucks. The guy sees him too and takes off running. Our main character is stopped from pursuing by his, let’s say mentor, who asks if he likes this guy with the 20 bucks. No. Not at all. He does not like him. So the mentor re-framed the context. Our main character paid $20 to get a guy he doesn’t like out of his life forever. Seems like a small win in that light to our character in that moment, but to me, it landed like few lines of dialog ever have. Perspective. It’s a kind of magic we could cast a little more often with a little help from our friends. 

Atlanta has decided Mike Foltynewicz can keep the 20. They’re moving onto bigger and better things. Things like Tucker Davidson throwing 100 miles per hour from the left side.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Roto-Wan

SAGNOF: Jersey Shore Edition

July 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, SAGNOF | 13 Comments

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Roto-Wan is at the Jersey Shore this week, home to the iconic reality show of the same name. Much like the cast of misguided Jerseyites our MLB season is already riddled with disease. I won’t depress you with talk of how this kind of travel and interaction is a slap in the face of a contagious virus. COVID will do that enough. I’m here to try and catch up on the widespread bullpen carnage of this very early season. Hopefully, you headed my advice and discounted closers in your drafts. Now’s the time to plug those holes. You’ve got plenty of options. Unlike the guys that settled for going home with Snookie.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Richardo

Heads Up! H2H Categories Week 2 – Singer(ing) In The Rain

July 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 4 Comments

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Everyone else having as much fun as I am now that baseball is officially rolling? Soto, Kershaw, Verlander, Moustakas, Meadows, Yordan, Marlins fans all shake their heads. Secret time – I started writing this Opening Night and the list just kept growing. We’re in the second part of the extended Week 1 and hopefully, you’re already cruising in your matchups. If not, here are some lower-owned options to give your team a little jump start.

Brady Singer, SP: 8.1% ESPN; 17% CBS – Just in case you missed it over the weekend, Brady Singer struck out 7 Indians through 5 innings, while allowing 2 runs. The second run was allowed on a wild pitch and he allowed just 5 baserunners. Singer moved rapidly through the Royals’ system, throwing exactly zero pitches in AAA before making his major league debut. In his debut, Singer coupled a two-seamer with a lot of movement with a slider to keep hitters off-balance. At one point, he threw the slider ten times in a row, so he shows a lot of confidence in the pitch. Singer is slated to face Detroit on Thursday, making him an easy start this week and a potential add target for the long run.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Butters

FanDuel: Welcome to the Party

July 29, 2020 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

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What is up party people? Here we are with real live sports. Welcome to the 60 game sprint which means that fantasy baseball has turned into one long DFS contest. Good thing you’re here at Razzball to get some DFS advice and dominate your contests. We’re down a few players today owing to the recent spike in Covid cases in Miami. We’ve got some big time pitching names on the docket today, but as we’ve seen so far guys are still getting warmed up. My advice is to not overspend on pitching since guys don’t seem to be going deep into games yet. I wouldn’t fault you for taking one of the studs but I think your money is better spent on bats. So buckle up and party on.

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?
Grey

A Man, D. Peterson, Can Buy Me Love

July 29, 2020 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 334 Comments

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Yesterday, the Mets debuted their 2017 1st round pick, David Peterson, and he went 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 3 Ks. Here’s bit of tid on him:  Tall dude, stands about 6’6″. *standing on my chair, arm up in the air* About yay high. Fastball velocity sits *gets off chair, points at my framed picture of Angela Lansbury* low 90’s. Slider and curveball are *looks around to illustrate, points at colored-in Denny’s placement of a cowboy, realizes that won’t be enough, takes crayon and draws a cape on the cowboy* That’s a super okie. As in okie doke. C’mon, that was an easy one. So, lots of okie-doke usually equals okie-dookie, but he has solid command, so he might be a four to five real-world starter, which makes him good for Streamonator in shallower fantasy leagues. In a short season, there could be some value here. He should at least limit damage, as he did last night in Fenway. Also, Prospect Itch wrote about 500 words on David Peterson in his 2020 Mets fantasy baseball prospects writeup, and only one overt threat directed at me. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?