Deep Impact: Eggs Odorizzi Or Jake The Snake?

June 8, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 12 Comments

With helium balls flying out this year and the Launch Angle Revolution storming the Bastille, many pitchers are a lot less safe than they used to be. This is especially true for flyball pitchers and those that pitch-to-contact (I fart in your general direction Ray Searage). Then, from somewhere in the crowd, emerges Jake Odorizzi who runs down the ramp and dives into the ring, a pretty extreme flyball pitcher. He has a career GB/FB rate of .71 and a FB% north of 47% the last 3 years. This year he’s at 50.7% yet his HR/FB rate is microscopic 5.3%, wow! He is currently sporting a line of 1.96 ERA 0.96 WHIP and a K-rate above 9 (that ERA is good for 2nd behind only Hyun-Jin Ryu, and he’s 6th in WHIP). We thought he was dead and scrambled; but now he’s back, slaying giants, and laughing in the face of expectations. Is this reality or a dream? Is this the Resurrection of Jake the Snake or is he just getting by on good feelings, bad farts, and a suppressed BABIP? Is he just an egg waiting to become an omelette, or is he a showman mystifying his opponents always one step ahead? How many more questions can I ask?

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

Buyin’ Bryan Reynolds

June 7, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 531 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”419696″ player=”10951″ title=”FantasyBaseball2019BuySellHold11″]

Oh no, I feel my alter ego B. Fire coming on for Bryan Reynolds, The Rap:

Fantasy Master Lothario, don’t abbreviate,
Don’t flip giant index cards like INXS that rhyme with hate, procreate or Kate…
& Allie! Like, oh my God, gag me with the spoon,
Valley! That Indian Pirates pitcher’s name wasn’t Rajneeshpuram Commune,
Ma Anand Sheela! With rhymes on both sides of the comma,
Tequila! Pee-Wee Herman knocking bikes over, oh, the trauma,
Center? Nah, Bryan Reynolds is a left fielder on the Pirates who’s been hitting for the last few weeks. There’s a chance he flames out, but Reynolds did have five homers in only 13 games of Triple-A, then was promoted and began to do the exact same thing in the majors. It’s not surprising with the two leagues sharing balls. By the way, this might be the wackiest early storyline. Because Triple-A is using the same balls it doesn’t mean a ton because there are different pitchers in the minors.
Bunch of whiners!

*rubs towel on sweaty forehead* Thank you, thank you. For my next song, we have a special guest…Lastings Milledge! Okay, okay, Lastings, you don’t have to high-five everyone in the audience. Any hoo! Reynolds has been hitting near-.350 across two levels (Triple-A and majors) and has 10 homers in only 54 games. He’s a definite buy. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Rolling In The Deep: Don’t Let Your Season Peter Out Just Yet

by: Laura Holt

Hello, deep-league friends and acquaintances! Welcome back to the area of Razzball where each week we dig in every little crevice we can find in hopes of discovering buried fantasy baseball treasure. In our world we are used to having to be beggars, not choosers, when it comes to looking for free agent and waiver wire help for our fantasy baseball teams… but that just makes it all the more satisfying when we do manage to stumble upon a hidden gem. For the most part, though, we’re just looking for everyday rocks which which we can plug the holes of our lineups — once again, here are this week’s handful of names who could, in the right circumstance, be useful to those in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: Give Me My Blue Blanket

June 7, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: Richardo

Welcome back to Friday DFSers! Today, FanDuel has us set up with another massive 14-game slate. We’re just over a third of the way through the MLB season and just when you think you have things figured out Carrasco leaves, Kimbrel finally arrives, and Jake Odorizzi has the league’s second-best ERA. I’m just scrambling for stability, so I’m grabbing onto my safety blanket, Clayton Kershaw ($10,700). We have the fantasy gods to thank for a healthy Clayton Kershaw after the scare in Spring Training. Kershaw’s been the image of stability, going at least six innings in all nine starts this year, and while his strikeout rate isn’t anywhere near his prime rate (23.9%), he does have his lowest walk rate since 2016 (3.9%). On this Friday, Clayton Kershaw gets a prime matchup against the Giants in Oracle Park and thanks to the Marlins’ offensive outburst against the Brewers, the Giants now have the league’s worst wRC+ against left-handed pitching. Now that you’ve seen my blue safety blanket, 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!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Max Power Smacks Bauer A Homer An Hour

June 7, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 262 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”418565″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 11″]

It’s not easy writing a post about a hitter that went bingo-bango on your pitcher three times. Why the hell was Trevor Bauer in the game for 119 pitches? Did Bauer invite Tito Francona to his house for one of his baseball player meet-and-greets and serve him coconut water? Cause if he did that, then hell hath no fury like someone served coconut water. “Is this sweet…perspiration?” That’s me drinking coconut water. Trevor Bauer (8 IP, 5 ER, 8 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.93) has the Twitter handle BauerOutage and, gotta be honest, it’s meaning something that he’s not intending this season. It’s like 1977 in New York City power outage and Son of Sam is talking to his dog about what a mess my fantasy pitching is, due to Bauer. Any hoo! Max Kepler went to-the-window-to-the-wall three times yesterday (4-for-4, 4 RBIs, hitting .266) with his 13th, 14th, and 15th homer, and is doing what I always dreamt of, only I was dreaming about it in 2017. See, I’m accurate about everything, except years. Right now, on our Player Rater, Kepler is around the 25th best outfielder. However, before his home run yesterday, he was hitless for close to a week, so it shows you his hot and cold natural. Right now, it’s Max Power:

Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull: Dansby! That Swanson’s Sure Tastes Good

June 6, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 19 Comments

by: Son

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, homo sapiens would nuke aluminum trays of food (which I always imagined what prison food would look like) in a microwave. I was indoctrinated into this ritual when my mom brought home what they called “tv dinners” from Swanson. It looked like crap, to be honest. To make matters worse, I had to slice a hole in the film covering the meat, then poke holes for the potatoes, then cut out the section over the cranberries. Damn B! What’s up with all the fuss for something that looks like crap? The same can be said for Dansby Swanson of the Atlanta Braves. He was much hyped, yet kind of crappy since he joined the big club. So far in 2019, though, he’s the overall number 28 player on the Razzball Player Rater! Damn B! Dansby! Let’s see if he’s a bear or a bull.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Closer Rankings: Kimbrel Clause Is Coming

June 6, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 14 Comments

by: Roto-Wan

It finally happened. A team decided to sign Craig Kimbrell! The MLB draft happened this week so the draft pick penalty has been lifted for signing a few marquee names like Kimbrell and Dallas Keuchel. The Chicago Cubs offered the most, since their payroll is jacked anyway. With the premiere of Dark Phoenix this weekend I’ve got a ranking of X-Men for the tiers.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ambulance Chasers, Week 10: 8 Man Rotation?!

June 6, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 2 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

After the worst start of his year (4+ IP, 7 ER) Matt Strahm was placed on the DL with a rib strain. This seems to be a minor injury and might just be an easy, smart way to manage his innings. The most innings he’s thrown in a single season was 102 way back in 2016. Last year he threw 61.1 innings and he’s already sitting at 60.1 this year. Ruh-roh. The Padres are only 2.5 games back in the NL Wild Card so managing the innings of Strahm, Cal Quantrill, Chris Paddack, and Dinelson Lamet is going to be key for their playoff hopes. Replacement: The award for most unlikely, unexpected and unbelievable late-career resurgence has to go to Anibal Sanchez (6.6%.) The 35-year-old, 14 year veteran inexplicably and probably accidentally had one of the best seasons of his career last year with a 2.83 ERA and 1.083 WHIP (lowest of his career!) In his first 5 starts of the season Sanchez returned to the rotten pumpkin we knew him as: 27 IP, 18 ER (6.00 ERA.) However, things have improved in his 6 most recent starts. He’s allowed only 7 ERs in 21.2 IP (2.91 ERA.)

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: As the Wheel Turns

June 6, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: Butters

Trading prospects is a big part of baseball. Contenders give up you talent to try and win now. And why not? So many prospects fail to pan out that a sure thing is often better. Obviously hindsight is 20/20 but some trades hurt when you look back. Take Zack Wheeler (SP: $10,200) – Watching him blossom into an ace and dominate opposing hitters is great because he’s finally realizing his potential. Today it’s bittersweet as he gets the Giants (who traded him to the Mets for Carlos Beltran) and their inept offense. All of this makes me sad because the G-men could really use an ace right about now. He’s in line to dominate and should be well worth the high price tag. Yay.

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?

My Kimbrel Town Chicago Is

June 6, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 422 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”418565″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 11″]

Handed down through the generations from Hammurabi to Hammurabi was a code of SAGNOF. It read, “Yo, Hamm-whaaaaaazzzzzup-be?! Don’t pay for saves, dem shizzes are free on waivers.” It read a bit like a text message, tee bee aitch. But that was the code as written. Cut to 14,000 years later, and I received this code in a dream after ingesting a massive amount of peyote. I would’ve discarded it like the iguana I also received, but there was something to this code, and from that day forward I forbade myself from paying a lot for saves. Then March came and Craig Kimbrel was falling and I was like, “Ain’t ever gonna get a price like this again!” and drafted him, and not listening to Hamm-whaaaaaazzzzzup-be really effed me. Thankfully, my long national nightmare is over and Craig Kimbrel signed with the Cubs. Does this negate all the leagues where I have Pedro Strop? *Lisa Simpson grumble* Yes, appizzarently, it does. I’d imagine Kimbrel will need at least two to three weeks of minor league games to get up to snuff, but closers can get stretched quicker than starters, obvi. I wouldn’t drop Strop until I saw a Kimbrel save, but he’s coming back. Finally. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

One Man’s Trash: Austin Riley Has Powers

June 5, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 59 Comments

by: Son

Austin Riley of the Atlanta Braves has taken the league by storm. He’s clubbed eight home runs in his first 17 games of MLB action, which has resulted in him being named NL Rookie of the Month. Yeah, baby! You make me very horny. But then I became very conflicted, as perusing the advanced stats brought me to one conclusion, while observing the at-bats on YouTube took me in another direction. Not so shagadelic. Let’s see if we can determine if he’s trash or treasure.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 10: 3 Under 30%, Out For Some Pop N Speed

June 5, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 5 Comments

by: Yost

If you know me then you know I’m a sucker for guys with a Pop N Speed combo in H2H leagues. By having a lineup full of guys that can sprinkle in some HR and SB any given matchup, it maximizes your chances to compete for these categories week in week out. While 15 HR and 10 SB over the course of a year may not sound like a lot, having a bunch of guys that can hit those marks certainly adds up. Stolen bases are a tricky category to try to focus on so I like to have many guys that won’t necessarily get one every week, but have the ability to record one any given week. It may not sound like much but with speed down league wide, many weeks are decided by a single SB. Here are some guys that are pretty widely available in ESPN leagues that display the beloved power/pop combo.

Please, blog, may I have some more?