After the Romans conquered the Greeks, they adopted their mythology to tie them to the past. They wanted a foundational belief in purpose, but one far more practical to their view of the world… The first generation of Moneyball taught us that OBP was equally important as AVG, embodied by Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Walks (and Scott Hatteberg). He had plate discipline for days and was not afraid to take a ball, even in the shoulder, that led to a career OBP of .382, yadda yadda, we all know the story. Enter 2019, and the age of Exit Velocity, Launch Angle, and Hard Contact. OBP is still praised, but on top of getting on base, the goal now is maximizing quality contact and focusing on bat path to avoid wasting those OBP runners on base — this, the new the prevailing philosophy in baseball.
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Welcome back DFSers, hopefully the shakes have stopped for you now that DFS baseball is back in full swing. Lucky for us, MLB has set up a sweet Saturday night schedule with 11 games going for the FanDuel Main Slate. It’s almost like a Friday night slate! With a plethora of options we have more chances to beat our competition tonight. One way I’m looking to do so is locking Matthew Boyd ($10,100) into my lineups tonight. I’ll be honest with you, I had a different intro written before pricing came out. I just assumed that Boyd was going to the highest priced pitcher on the slate given his performance so far and his opponent tonight. To my great surprise, he’s only the sixth highest priced pitcher. Can you say value? The Royals are bottom five in team OPS. Whenever I’m researching my lineups for the night I always take a peek at the team OPS standings. The Royals are also 12th in the league in team strikeouts, which is always nice to see when picking a starter. I love Boyd’s value tonight and wouldn’t be surprised with another double digit strikeout performance. Let’s take a look at some more picks for the evening slate.
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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Bear or Bull: Have Faith in this White Walker?
July 13, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 12 Commentsby: Son
George R. R. Martin described the White Walkers (the Others) in Game of Thrones as “tall…and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk.” They were intimidating, powerful, and ruthless. Oh, how I miss thee, Game of Thrones! Except for the last season. That was trash, especially how the Night King in particular died. Anyways, Christian Walker of the Arizona Diamondbacks is 6′ 0″ 220 pounds, white, and is among the league leaders in hard hit rate and barrel percentage. He had a great week before the All-Star festivities but is only owned in 22.1% of ESPN leagues. Should we put our faith in this Christian?
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Since there was only one game this week and players haven’t been able to get hot or cold or humid, this Buy/Sell is going to be slightly different. This Buy/Sell includes some players that are owned in more than 50% of leagues. Okay, that’s not different for the Sells, but it does change the Buys. “Hello? No, I’m changing buys — B-U-Y-S. Thanks, you too!” That was GLAAD calling me about potential insensitivity. I have not triggered anyone in almost three days, unless you count that I told someone in Oregon that their state flag should be a cornucopia of Birkenstock and patchouli. As for a Buy on Madison Bumgarner, you know that expression, “If you’re alive long enough, you will see a time when Samoans are skinny, petite men who request silver dollar-sized coconuts to cover their nipples.” You don’t know it? That’s because I just made it up! Sucker! The expression I just made up is accurate, however (as far as I’m concerned, and, sadly, this isn’t a democracy, and I’m the one that matters). The expression’s root is from the actual expression, “If you live long enough, you’ll experience everything.” I say this because who would’ve never thunk I’d be buying Bumgarner, ever. His 9.3 K/9 is the highest it’s been in three years; his walk rate of 1.9 is about as elite as it gets and he’s going to be pitching with a new team shortly, and you have to think that team will provide more win opportunities than the Aints. Also, Bumgarner strikes me as the type to get hyped up about competition, and a playoff race could bring out his best. Unless he’s traded to the Dodgers, then the world might blow up. Was that why there were those earthquakes? Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
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Baseball Podcast – Captain Jack Sets Sail on the 2nd Half
July 12, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, All Podcasts, Ditka |by: B_Don
FanDuel: Where Have All The Aces Gone?
July 12, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |by: Richardo
Welcome back baseball, how I missed ye. FanDuel has us set up for a 13-game slate for our first full day back. Overall, the pitchers on this slate are hot garbage, or have brutal matchups. My favorite pitcher on today’s slate is Domingo German ($8,600). German had one start back since coming off the IL before the All-Star Break in which he went six innings, allowing one run and struck out six. He threw 80 pitches in that outing and looked at back to the top of his game. Today, he faces the Blue Jays, who have an 85 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, which ranks 24th in the league. German’s price combined with his upside makes him my must play arm on tonight’s slate. Let’s take a look at the rest of the FanDuel slate.
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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Closer Rankings, All Star Edition
July 11, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 21 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
We’ve reached the All Star break. That’s a little more than halfway through the fantasy baseball year. Since there was no real baseball yet this week, we’re going with a Closer Report/SAGNOF mash up. Bullets are freestyle and rankings are below. Tiers are HR Derby themed with some of my favorite moments in Derby history…
- The All-Star break also serves as a time for teams to take stock of where they stand and consider whether the should be trade deadline buyers or sellers. The interest in Will Smith is heating up. That means there’s a stash opportunity. Pick your favorite between Sam Dyson, Mark Melancon, or Reyes Moronta. There’s something in my gut telling me Moronta might be the guy long term.
- Greg Holland and Craig Kimbrel both gave their owners a bit of solace going into the break with a save each just prior. Holland is the shakier own with the Diamondbacks minimally invested in him. Let’s see what a few days off do for two aging arms.
- Grey told you to roster Liam Hendricks. I told you not to drop him. Hope you listened because, surprise, rushing Treinen back was probably a mistake and it’s showing. Treinen may never be a guy cut out for the solo closer mantle. He’s likely an elite fireman with multi-inning capability.
- The top of the stolen base leaderboard isn’t particularly surprising with Adalberto Mondesi and Mallex Smith at the top. It gets interesting from there. Christian Yelich is third, Elvis Andrus is fourth, and Jose Ramirez is fifth. They’re likely matchup based with pockets of steals coming in the first half. It’s an interesting top 5 nonetheless.
- Right behind them in sixth is Kevin Kiermaier. If you’re after steals, check the wire for him. He’s been a popular add but could be there. KK gives you some of everything.
- Joey Wendle, another Ray, is right behind him. Wendle’s had about the worst injury luck you can have. He’s back now and sporting a solid .257/.341/.371 with 3 steals in the last two weeks. His playing time has some risk with Brandon Lowe’s return. Wendle can play all over the diamond, though. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Right when the season started, I wrote a piece where I gave my predictions for who I thought had the best shot to lead the league in each of the 5 main hitting categories among guys drafted outside the top 100. As we all could have guessed, I did not get them all correct. Using the same NFBC ADP data, I wanted to see which players outside the top 100 are actually leading in each main hitting category at the end of the 1st half. I also wanted to include how my picks stack up to the competition thus far.
Please, blog, may I have some more?At Razzball, we eschew paying for catchers. As Grey so eloquently wrote in his Top 20 catchers, the numero uno catcher was “The cream of the crap.” They are more susceptible to injury, take days off, and the best are not even top 50 hitters for fantasy. With that said, leagues require you to roster one, while some are sadomasochistic and dedicate two roster spots to the position. Sure, you can say F it and leave those spots empty if you so choose, but then you’d be the modern day T-Rex, whose arms and hands shrunk due to hubris. At least that’s my non-scientific conclusion. If there are any paleontolgists in the house, comment below. Anyways, over the past seven days, Danny Jansen of the Toronto Blue Jays has been the #5 hitter and added in 6.4% of ESPN leagues. Trash or treasure?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Happy All Star Break my fellow RCLers. The Razzball Commenter Leagues can take a toll on your time, you social life and your personal hygiene. I hope you’re using the break to take a shower, get out of your sweat pants and get reacquainted with your roommates, also known as, your family. They’ve missed you. Spend a moment and remind them that you are in fact, alive and well. Show those that love you that you haven’t been lost in the wilderness for the past 14 weeks, being cared for by a pack of wolves. In fact, you’ve just been winning fantasy baseball leagues. You know, just like your idol, Grey Albright, current ‘Perts League leader. Or, perhaps your idol might be the UpNorth, current Master Standings leader. Maybe you’re partial to your RCL Update host, currently in second place in the Master Standings with another team in eighth. Or maybe you look up to Backdoor Splitters who just had one heck of a week to take the lead in ECFBL and charge to fifth in the Master Standings. Whomever it may be, hopefully you’re kicking butt just like them and getting ready to keep it up in the second half. Check out the current Master Standings and the rest of the All Star Break stats in the week that was, week 14:
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Prospect News: Bryce Has A Ball
July 10, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 63 Commentsby: Mike
Yup, so we’re just chugging right along here in minor league land. There were/are plenty of games yesterday, today, and tomorrow for those of you who can’t go a day without baseball. While we were all watching Albombso win the Derby Monday night, Atlanta Braves first base prospect Bryce Ball made his own statement with a pair of homers in the Appy league. That’s seven on the year in seventeen games, hitting .373 with eleven walks to nine strikeouts. That’s the real good stuff from a lefty bat who was drafted in the – let me check my notes here – yup, drafted in the 24th round last month. 727th overall if you’re keeping score. Bryce is a big boy and obviously old for Rookie ball at 21, but here’s a fine example of why prospects are cool, this is all guesswork, and if you talk about prospects in absolutes you usually end up looking like a complete idiot. So hedge your bets. Keep your arms healthy, your mind open, and drink a cold Coor’s Light while you watch a full slate of MiLB games today. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
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Grey Albrillie is the illest! THE ILLEST! That mustachioed maven of ranking is back in the building, and his new list slaps, bangs, pushes, and strips you of all inhibitions. We go through the whole rack and hit you with some game for the second half of the two dot one-nina. It’s the Top 100!!! I tried to write this intro in Quavo’s voice. How’d I do? Ralph Honcho out!
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