Hello again friends, and welcome back to the place within Razzball where we discuss baseball players that are completely off the radar of “normal” fantasy baseball owners, interesting only to those of us in the deepest of leagues.  Let’s get right to it and take a look at a handful of players that may be on the radar for those in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

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

What’s up DFSers. It’s Friday and I’m on vacation. You know what that means? I’ve been day drinking and you get to deal with my silly ramblings about baseball. We have a 14-game slate on FanDuel and this slate is chock full of pitching. We get Justin Verlander, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Jacob deGrom all in the same price range, along with my personal favorite Shane Bieber ($10,800). Bieber has been phenomenal this year. He’s kept his walk rate down at 5.1%, while increasing his strikeout rate seven ticks to 31.6%. For the season, he has the fourth best SIERA among qualified starting pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, and Chris Sale. Shane Bieber faces the Royals, who have the 26th best wOBA against right-handed pitchers over the last two months. Great matchup and a great pitcher? Count me in. For the record, if you’re paying up and want to go to one of the other aces, by all means. Let’s take a look at the rest of FanDuel’s slate.

New to FanDuelScared 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?

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Yesterday, Alex Verdugo went 1-for-4 and his 12th homer.  Were there guys who had better games yesterday? It’s not a rhetorical question. I want a typewritten response, notarized at my doorstep by 5 o’clock today. Reminds me of a joke. Father interrogating a suitor, “So, my daughter says you’re Irish. That’s important to us.” A little panicked, not really Irish, but lying through teeth, the young man says, “Yes, that’s right.”  The father quickly snaps, “What’s your last name?”  “Uh… O…clock.” Any hoo! Check out Little Daddy Smooth, Alex Verdugo’s last 30 days stats from the 30-day Player Rater:

That’s good for approximately top 25 overall for the last month. He’s owned in almost 100% of RCL leagues, as you see photo op, but he’s owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues, which is why he’ll be in this afternoon’s Buy column, but, if he’s out there in your league, no one said you can’t grab him now. *listens for a moment* Okay, nope, no one said it. Was double checking. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Filling in for Roto-Wan and as Vicky Valencourt said…

  • Reminder that there is only 1 trade deadline this year. No waiver trades this season, so, teams will have to make that decision to buy or sell sooner rather than later.
  • The Giants are considering whether to be….buyers? What? Yeah, we both read that right. Well, for now, their bullpen is confusing AF anyway, so, take your closer in waiting opportunities somewhere else. I will say that Melancon is back and has been getting late game opps recently potentially for a showcase as they’d probably like to move that $14 million contract for next year.
  • Stroman and Giles have been linked to a number of teams.
  • Mychal Givens has been looked at for a move to Mee-lee-wah-kay

  • Ok, the Brewers are basically linked to every reliever, and starter, available.
  • If you’re looking around for some steals, Mallex Smith, Victor Robles, Byron Buxton (coming back from IL), Ramon Laureano, and Oscar Mercado are all getting the job done. Maybe one or more got dropped due to recent struggles for basically all of them.
  • Hard to predict when catchers will start, but some easy targets to look at for streaming stolen bases this weekend would be against Tyler Flowers, Stephen Vogt, Austin Barnes, and Brian McCann.
  • Please, blog, may I have some more?

This is an especially exciting day of DFS action because I will enjoying a game at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants as they host the New York Metropolitans. We should be in for a clash of epic proportions as Madison Bumgarner ($9,000) toes the rubber against Noah Syndergaard ($9,200). Thor hasn’t been great this year, though he has been improving. Truthfully, it’s probably that we’ve become so accustomed to his dominating performances that he seems like a letdown. Anywhoo…I’m just excited to watch him do his thing live. On the flip side we’ve got MadBum, who’s actually been looking back to form. I like him better of the two since he’s at home and the Giants offense has suddenly remembered that scoring runs is good. So let’s sit back and enjoy the show. Enjoy being at work dudes and dudettes, I’ll have some garlic fries for ya.

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?

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The Magic Genie of Fantasy Baseball says that if I put a baseball card of a player I own in a Dreamcatcher and put the Dreamcatcher under my pillow while I’m sleeping then *gulps* then the Magic Genie of Fantasy Baseball will come in the middle of the night and give my player a Quality Start.  So…*bashfully looks down*..I put Chris Paddack‘s baseball card under my pillow and I’VE BEEN A GOOD BOY!  Holy Hayzeus Lazarus and Pontius, Inventor of Pilates, I had a good start! Yesterday, Chris Paddack went 7 2/3 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 ER and 8 Ks, lowering his ERA to 2.70.  Please throw 170 more innings this year!  “Don’t be greedy,” interrupts Magic Genie of Fantasy Baseball.  “Hey, Magic Genie of Fantasy Baseball, you sound like a spot remover.”  “Just for that, I’m pushing Marquez back so he starts at Coors next!  Muahahaha!”  So, Paddack had a great start, which tacks onto his season of more-than-we-could’ve-hoped-for.  He currently ranks 25th for xFIP; 23rd for K/9 and 13th for walk rate.  And he’s in Petco for his home starts!  Happy to be the Mohel at his Star Mitzvah.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Welcome to the post where I copy and paste…er…uh…I mean rerank the Top 50 prospects for fantasy baseball. I know I shouldn’t have to say this, but this is a fantasy prospect list – not a real one. Therefore ergo such and such, you get the drift. I’ll say this about my rankings approach – I tend to chunk it and don’t get too caught up in ranks that are close to one another. So if you want to debate #35 versus #36 I’m going to have to put you in a timeout where you can debate yourself. I’m sure you are all master debaters. Anyhoo, I try not to let the first half of this season completely change the scouting reports we came in with at the beginning of the year. Then again, you do have to take this season into consideration, along with recent signings. Also, these are composite ranks averaged between myself and my five alternate personalities. My doctor says it’s healthy to include them in this process. It’s all an extremely complex algorithm that involves me, a bowl of cold spaghetti marinara, and a clean white wall. Oh, and one more thing…I don’t include players that I expect to exceed the rookie limits this year. That’s 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched for those keeping score. Not trying to waste your time on players that likely won’t be prospects in the fall. On to the list…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Blake Snell (Rays, 1st Half stats: 5-7 with 4.55 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 126 K:33 BB, and 3.31 xFIP through 95 IP, 19 GS) is a reigning Cy Young award winner and likely a 2nd/3rd round pick in your fantasy drafts. And it is true that he has been coming along in in past few starts, allowing 4 ER while posting 21K:4 BB in his last 16 IP. However, his numbers on the season are still pretty gross if we’re being honest and there are lots of frustrated owners that may want to cut ties with Snell. You may not be able to get him as cheap as you could a couple of starts ago, but he can be had at a pretty substantial discount.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Sometimes the FanDuel slate is a packed casino of similar players seemingly priced too high to make a difference in your lineup.  Then one of them saunters up to the craps table in a white Tuxedo, stands out, and says “I’m Cron, C.J. Cron.”  He is at the absurdly low price of $3,300 today, probably because he has just been reinstated from the IL by the Minnesota Twins.  It’s absurdly low because he’s the 19th ranked first baseman today in price on FanDuel, and the 5th place hitter for the Twins, one of the best offenses in the league.  Today he faces the lowly lefty Jason Vargas.  Cron happens to destroy lefties to a .358 average this year, along with a 1.084 OPS and 182 OPS+.  Now on to the rest of the picks.

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?

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MLB should put pinball flippers by each dugout, then every time you think someone is about to have a 1-2-3 inning, the ball is flipped out of the stadium for a home run.  “Looks like the ump is tossing that ball in the dirt to the ball boy–BANG! WHIZZ! BOOM! Wow, another home run, Roger!  This is crazy!”  “Just when you think you’ve seen everything to further enhance the game by adding offense, MLB has put in pinball flippers.”  “It’s pretty cool, Roger.”  “My name’s Bill.”  “Sure.”  So, yesterday the Dodgers and Phils traded blows and blown saves — Kenley Jansen (1/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 3.72) and Hector Neris (1/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 4.08). Both closers are safe as far as any pitcher is safe.  THEY’RE USING PINBALLS!  However, Jansen was limping, due to taking a comebacker off his ankle, so Pedro Baez might see some looks. The hero, or gyro depending on ethnicity, was Bryce Harper (2-for-3, 5 RBIs and his 17th homer, hitting .257).  On our Player Rater, he’s been about as valuable as Shin-Soo Choo and Max Kepler. Yup.  Then, yinging his yang, Max Muncy went 1-for-3, 2 runs with his 25th homer. Most home runs since April 17th of last year when Muncy debuted:  Yelich 67 HRs; Trout 63 HRs; Muncy 60 HRs. And people didn’t want to draft Muncy this preseason.  Yup…YUP!  Of course, no highlight reel in prose would be complete without Cody Bellinger (1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 34th homer).  Forget Bellinger, he’s the Bellingest. Yup…YUP…yup.  Also, getting in on the action, Scott Kingery went 2-for-4, 3 runs, 2 RBIs with his 13th homer, and his 2nd homer in two games. His average did drop about 100 points in the last three weeks, but he’s starting to pick it up again, and is still hitting towards the top of the lineup (2nd yesterday). Yup…YUP…yup…YuP.  Then yanging that yin, A.J. Pollock went 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 5th homer, and 12th homer in the last three games. If it wasn’t for Oscar Mercado, I’d say Pollock was the hottest bat in the majors.  I might say it anyway, but while crossing my fingers.  Right Brain, “LIAR!”  Yup…YUP…yup…YuP…yeppers.  Finally, Matt Beatty hit his 3rd homer.  Snap into a Batt Meatty!  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon decided to forgo paella and siestas for………………….? It better be epic because there are not many things I’d leave for paella and siestas. Does the Fountain of Youth count? Because that’s the story. Historians call it a myth, but what else could it have been? Anyways, after setting sail on a more-than-three-hour-tour, Ponce de Leon and his merry band of men ended in Florida, where they encountered the natives, a wrinkly group of leather-faced men and women carrying golf clubs. Repulsed at the sight, the Spaniards scurried back to their boats and made their way west, until they met the Mississippi River and eventually settled up-river in St. Louis, where they obviously found the Fountain of Youth because Daniel Ponce de Leon is a 27-year-old pitcher for the Cardinals and has a 10.8 K/9 in 31.2 major league innings this season. I don’t usually write up pitchers in this column because most of the add/drop activity is due to streaming and two-start weeks, but Ponce de Leon intrigured me, so here we are. Plus, I delved into catchers last week and the Mrs. says I have to change it up from time to time.

Please, blog, may I have some more?