What up fam, this is my first official post here, some of you might be familiar with my previous commenter handle of Todd25… so let the games begin. Today’s deep dive is Josh Bell. Because, well… how do I say this? Josh Bell is straight up freakin’ murdering baseballs like he’s Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Krueger, Jareth the Goblin King, and every other 80s horror villain who suddenly has a distaste for baseballs (that sounded better in my head). There’s definitely something different with the 2019 model, lets take a peek under the hood. Bell has had 3 2 HR games this month. To date he is currently hitting .339/.408/.718 with 16 HR 47 RBIs and its not even the end of May. It has been amazing to watch him tee off like Happy Gilmore.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Learn more about our 2025 Fantasy Baseball Subscriptions!

The best daily/weekly player rankings/projections (hitters, starters, and relievers) for each of the next 7-10 days + next calendar week starting Friday. Kick-ass DFS lineup optimizer and projections for DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo!.

I don’t have enough spam, give me the Razzball email newsletter!

Weekly Razzball news delivered straight to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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

Minnesota’s resident bad boy Miguel Sano continues his triumphal return to crushing baseballs and dinging dongs Friday night with his fifth home run (a solo shot) off Reynaldo Lopez in the third inning. Let it Sano. Let it Sano. Well, you get it. It seems like everyone on the Twins is having a career year so far, and Miguel has returned from the IL just in time to get on this sweet 2019 Twinkie action. He’s now slashing .250/.333/.857 with five home runs and nine RBI through seven games. Yes, you read that correct, five home runs in seven games. Extrapolate that. Calculating….calculating…calculating. Let’s see he’s on pace to hit 76 home runs from now until August. Hmm, wait that seems wrong. Irregardless! He’s 7-for-28 in the past week and five of those seven hits have gone yard-o, folks. If that doesn’t make your happy memorial day I don’t know what can. Sure, he’s got 11 strikeouts already, but he’s also slugging .857. This is Miguel Sano. This is what you’re signing up for. He swings and misses with the best in and biz but when he connects *kisses fingertips* mmm, grazie.  He’s available in over 60% of leagues, but that number should shrink quite a bit once the Minneapolis die-hards wake up. He was a BUY and he’s definitely worth a flier if you need power, especially while he’s sending every baseball he touches to the moon. Pick him up, Sano you want to!

Here’s what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Hello there DFSers and I hope your long weekend is off to a great start.  With any luck we can put a little more jingle jangle in your pocket today so you can make an extra beer run tomorrow.  Your deity of choice knows you’ll need it. I’ll be focusing primarily on tonight’s 5 game main slate but I’ll try to throw in the occasional all day play for those of you that are into that kind of thing.  My top pitcher for cash games tonight is Hyun-Jin Ryu ($11,000). Ryu has been uncanny so far this year (please stay healthy!) with a minuscule 1.52 ERA, a 8.9 K/9 and a 0.6 BB/9. Zero point six! That’s four walks in 59 IP.  No walking the plank for Captain Ryu. The only knock on Ryu today is he’s on the road, but Pittsburgh is pitcher friendly and the Pirates are bottom five in the league in team OPS vs. lefties. Ryu is an auto-start for me in cash and I’ll lean his way in GPPs as well.

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?

I really hope the O’Reilly Auto parts jingle is stuck in your head for the rest of the day like it’s been for me since I thought of the title. Damn you Austin Riley. Damn you shitty commercial. Talk about picking up right where he left off in AAA. Austin Riley has sprinted out of the gates in the race for National League Rookie of the Year. He’s got a lot of ground to make up if he’s going to catch Chris Paddack, but he’s certainly giving it the ole Major League try. In 38 plate appearances he has exactly 38 points. For those of you that don’t have a calculator nearby, that’s one point every time he steps into the batters box. And for those of you that are wondering if that’s good, well it’s better than good. As Tony the Tiger often said, it’s grrrrrreat! It’s only been 38 plate appearances, but if it’s any consolation, through 144 plate appearances in Gwinnett he tallied 156 points (1.08 PPPA). If he can come anywhere near close to keeping this up, he’s going to make Atlanta fans and fantasy owners extremely happy. Keep an eye in your rear view mirror Chris Paddack.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”416066″ player=”10951″ title=”FantasyBaseball2019BuySellHold9″]

With the time when prospects are called up fast approaching, it’s appropriate for us to take this time to walk past the fallen rookies of the past. Sorta like the Rites of Passage walk on Survivor when they burn all of the Survivors’ belongings that didn’t make it to the end. When I write it out, it sounds like something Germany did in the 1940s. Any the hoo! I’m feeling nostalgic as we look ahead to some young players.  So, here’s what I wrote about what Keith Law wrote back a few years, “Here we have the number one pick in the 2008 MLB draft, Tim Beckham. Actual Keith Law quote, ‘(Beckham has) the best chance of anybody in this draft pool to be a superstar.’  Good stuff, Keith, thank you.  Next up, Jesus Montero and Zach McAllister. Actual Keith Law quote from a chatscript: Question, ‘Could Montero be an All-Star level 1B?’ Answer from Law, ‘Yes.’ So succinct, have to love that when you’re right. Question, ‘How do you project McAllister?’ Law answer, ‘At least a #3.’ At least! Hashtag nailed it.  These are fun, let’s do more! Another question posed to him, ‘I’ve heard contrasting things about Dustin Ackley’s power. Based on what you’ve seen what is Ackley’s ceiling in terms of HR/year?’ Keith, or Klaw as he calls himself, said, ‘I could see 20-25. I’d say Ackley’s chance for 30 HR power is 20%.’ Okay, one more (though I could do this all day) actual Keith Law quote, and this one is classic because he name drops his alma mater. In 2009, someone asked him, ‘Shouldn’t Teheran be higher on (Law’s prospect) list than Jeff Locke?’ Keith said, ‘Are you asking me or telling me? When I first got to Harvard, there was this variety show that some upperclassmen put on during freshman week, and one guy had a funny routine about ‘flexers’ — students who would ask bogus questions that were really designed to state opinions or try to show off knowledge. (Grey comment, “Sounds like a riot!”) Obviously, the answer is ‘no,’ since I ranked Locke over Teheran. It’s incredibly naive to ignore probability when ranking prospects.’ I do enjoy a pompous ass. I wonder if he has a post.harvard.edu email address. Of course, he does! His email is likely [email protected].”  And that’s me savoring in the deliciousness of Keith Law’s perception and humbleness!  This brings us to Tyler White and Yuli Gurriel–Wait, no it doesn’t.  It brings me to Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, the guys we’re hoping replace White and Yuli.  By the way, Yuli’s impersonation of a white man’s eyes — not cool.  Why do we care so much about Yordan and Tucker?  I mean, I even put them in the video at the top of this page.  We care because their Triple-A numbers are on par with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s.  Yordan and Tucker are flat-out raking.  Yordan has been otherworldy; Tucker is on the 40-man roster and been other otherworldly for the last month.  Both guys should be up very soon and owned in all leagues until they’re either promoted, untenable to hold, stop hitting in the minors or are traded for Jeff Locke. Don’t make me do my funny routine about flexers.  Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Here we are in late May, and the injury parade just keeps on marching along.  I’m not sure which is more frustrating – checking baseball news to see that what you thought was your perfectly healthy closer has suddenly been placed on the IL, a la Wade Davis, or having your stud players just sitting in your lineup without playing.  Those of you who own George Springer, Christian Yelich,or Khris Davis (who STILL is on the A’s active roster as I write this, even though it was quite clear that he was in intense pain every time he took a swing in his last game) know of what I speak.  There are no obvious replacements when you lose one of the guys you’ve been counting on in a very deep league, but we’ll keep doing what we do here:  trying to find a few players who might be worth looking at in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Welcome to Friday homies. Another week over and Memorial Day BBQs to look forward to over the weekend. Before we jump to the celebrating (shamefully puts fourth beer back into fridge), let’s take a look at what FanDuel has us set up for. As is the norm on Fridays, FanDuel has a massive 14-game main slate. After careful analysis (definitely not a first look with a mild amount of research, shut up!), I’ll be locking Noah Syndergaard ($10,600) into my cash game lineup. Syndergaard has disappointed some in the early season and there are a couple of troubling numbers, including his swinging strike rate being down and his home run rate being up. I’m willing to overlook these issues and instead focusing on his opponent’s issues, makes playing Syndergaard much easier. The Tigers have the second worst wOBA and ISO in the league against right-handed pitching to go along with a 26.2% K%, which is good for fourth worst. Syndergaard should face seven righties plus the pitcher spot today. Let’s take a look at the rest of FanDuel’s 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?

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”415141″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 9″]

Cavan Biggio will be promoted today to join Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Soon, Bichette will join Guerrero and Biggio and the Jays’ master plan to reunite the 2005 All-Star Game in the luxury boxes will be complete.  “How’s Darin Erstad Jr. look?”  “More like Darin Ersatz!”  “I don’t get it.”  “Ersatz means an inferior substitute.”  “Is that some thinking man’s humor? I don’t like that.”  That was overheard in the Jays’ front office.  Here’s what Prospect Mike said about Biggio this preseason, “At 23, Biggio had a solid 2018 campaign at Double-A. He hit .252 with 26 homers, 20 steals, and a walk rate of nearly 18%. He has the pedigree and patience to make it in the pros and the power to hit 20-25 homers, but he also strikes out a lot and I’m not sure what position he’ll end up at. This could mean he ultimately finds a role as a super-utility type like a Swiss Army knife. Speaking of which, anyone know where Grey is, I want to harvest his liver.”  Okay, what now?  This year, Biggio cut down on his Ks, and held his walks, hitting .306 in Triple-A, while adding in his usual mix of power and speed.  I imagine he takes over for Sogard and hits leadoff. Sogard? So long!  I added Biggio everywhere I could because I have a sickness for upside.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

As we learned more than 10 years ago, Chicks Dig the Long Ball. So it only makes sense that those old curmudgeons on Park Ave decided to “Capri Sun the baseballs”, as Grey so eloquently wrote. But Son? If chicks dig the long ball and old curmudgeons do not actually hit dingers, then how does that benefit them? Well, home runs bring excitement, which fosters viewership, which enhances advertisting revenue, which boosts pay of old curmudgeon, which some chicks dig. Ya dig? Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Anyways, it’s gotten so ridiculous that Tommy La Stella (5′ 11″ 180lbs), Eduardo Escobar (5′ 10″ 185lbs), and Derek Dietrich (6′ 0″ 205lbs) are among the leaders in long balls this season. On the flip side, there’s Daniel Vogelbach, all 6′ 0″ 250 pounds of not-so-lean, mean, hitting dingers machine, who has clubbed 14 homers so far this season. Is it sustainable?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The damn is breaking on many bullpens, with holes springing in a good amount of others. If you landed a top tier arm consider yourself immensely lucky. The rest of us schmoes will be in the bullpen garbage heaps looking for a few cans to trade for a nickel. The tiers are GIF themed this week, so no one has to think too hard.

  • Sean Newcomb has transitioned to the bullpen well. He’s ditched his changeup in favor of his wipeout curveball. If he limits the walks he will get opportunities to close. Especially with groundball pitcher Luke Jackson finally running into so bad luck on balls getting through the infield. Managers usually feel like extreme groundballers are better eighth-inning options.
  • The Rockies will have to promote someone with Wade Davis hitting the IL. Scott Ohberg has been pretty good since last season and figures to be the fill in. Remember that logic doesn’t always apply when guessing at manager decisions, though. Bryan Shaw and Carlos Estevez have both closed before. They could be worth a speculative add in deeper leagues.
  • All signs were pointing to Jose Leclerc returning to his closing role. Shawn Kelley came off the IL and spit in the face of those hoping for a Leclerc save, closing out two straight. For what it’s worth Leclerc was warming up a few nights ago when Chris Martin got in trouble. Still, if Kelley is getting it done they may see where he takes them.
  • The Nationals bullpen has turned into a plague ship ever since signing Trevor Rosenthal. Coincidence?
  • Boston is ready to throw in the towel on Ryan Brasier as closer. They can’t seem to find any to replace him. This is obviously because Matt Barnes insulted Alex Cora’s mother. Someone named Marcus Walden blew a save Wednesday. Brandon Workman notched a save Monday but was then used in the middle innings the rest of the week. I added a couple of Workman shares since his 13.3 K/9 is stellar and the BB/9 has been better in May.
  • Steve Cishek has done a bang-up job since Pedro Strop hit the IL. Between that and Strop’s history as a setup man, Cishek may be the guy for the foreseeable future. Sorry, what’s that? They still have Brandon Morrow? I can’t hear you over my own roaring laughter.
    Please, blog, may I have some more?

Welcome to a lovely short (and early!) slate today as we kick off Memorial Day Weekend. (Thursday counts as the weekend right?) Maybe it’s the excitement of the next big thing but I’m always drawn to rookies in fantasy. They can be streaky but they can also open with a bang because there’s not much tape on them. This brings us to Corbin Martin (SP: $8,300) His first start was great. Second start, not so much. (zero Ks, seriously?) I chalk that up to him being a young gun. I like his talent and his match up today against the White Sox. Look for him to get back on track and prove to the Astros that he belongs in the rotation. He’ll be back at home where he made is first start when he racked up 9 Ks. That should help him get back in the zone and win your match up. I really like him to ring up the Pale Hose.

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?

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”415141″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 9″]

The Orioles are on pace to give up 1,776 home runs, because they’re close to our nation’s capital, and that is a great figure, a historic number.  A cannot be imitated — help me out here, Captain Lou Albano — never duplicated number.  Scratch that, they’re now on pace to give up 1777 home runs because of the Battle of the Assunpink Creek. That was also the title of the Pink concert when her stretch pants were a little too skimpy in the back.  “I see your Assupink Creek 2017.”  Great show, the aerobatics alone.  So, I try to avoid making every lede about hitters in Coors or facing the Orioles, but here goes, because Gleyber Torres has 14 homers against the O’s in five games and 12 homers on the year.  There’s math involved in that number.  He went 2-for-5 with his 11th and 12th homers.  Next up, literally, Brett Gardner (3-for-4, 1 run) hit more doubles than the sketchy guy at the craps table who kept betting the horn and looking over his shoulder.  DJ LeMahieu (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, HR) was on the ones and twos, but mostly on the ones, since he hit leadoff and his 4th homer.  Gary Sanchez (2-for-4) hit his 15th long ball and don’t mention hitting balls around Gary, he crosses his legs.  Then there’s Thairo (2-for-4, 2 RBIs, HR), who should be on the Iron Throne, but that’s a hot internet take, and I’m here for cold ones, but he even has three homers because Our Commissioner Manfred sticks Capri Sun straws into balls and juices them up.  If you learn nothing else from this post, and you might not, stream all hitters vs. the Orioles.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?