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.
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FanDuel: Syndergaardians Of The Galaxy
May 24, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |by: Richardo
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.
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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:
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Bear or Bull: Vogelbach to the Track, It’s Gone!
May 23, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 8 Commentsby: Son
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?
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Closer Report, Week 9: There’s A GIF For That
May 23, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 15 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
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:
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Prospect News: Lord Vallimont
May 22, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 61 Commentsby: Mike
We get a fun one today because Miami Marlins prospect Chris Vallimont wasn’t on my radar. Last night, he threw seven no-hit innings and struck out nine batters. That gives him a 2.70 ERA on the season with a 10+ K/9 and a crisp 2.7 BB/9. All three stats are massive improvements over his performance last season. At 22, he’s probably just beating up on the younger competition in A ball, but there could also be a legitimate change in him that’s causing the success. Either way, I think he’s earned our attention moving forward in a Marlins system that features some nice pitching talent. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
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Ambulance Chasers, Week 8: Nelson You’re a Song
May 22, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 10 Commentsby: Kerry Klug
But so far he’s made me wanna roll my windows down and snoooooooze. Nelson Cruz wasn’t doing what we all drafted him to do anyway so maybe this rest will do him a body good. He’s designated to only hit 7 HRs and 22 RBI? Not on my team! Cruz is saying he’ll be back on May 24th when eligible. I say take all the time you need and remember who you are and become what you are supposed to be. Replacement: Albert Almora (3.2%) has been on a tear in his last 15 games. In 53 ABs he’s got 12 runs, 3 HR, 7 RBI with a .340 AVG. Almora has always had a solid average, but just never gets enough starts to improve. He’s never been a high HR guy, never been a huge SB guy — just average and the runs and RBI that sometimes come with that. Maybe if he starts getting more starts he can develop either more power or speed.
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Especially in H2H, you really can never get enough starting pitching. I’m a firm believer that most of your bench spots should be utilized for having SPs. One, because it is frustrating trying to decide between what hitters to start and seeing stats sitting on your bench. And two, because I’m also a believer that the more the merrier when it comes to starts and pitching strategy in H2H. Yes, there is a greater likelihood that your ERA and WHIP can get blown up with just a couple bad starts. However, I think that giving yourself more starts and trying to win strikeouts and wins every week will pay off more times than being conservative and trying to win ERA and WHIP. Because let’s face it, even the times you try to do that it can all come crashing down with a bad start or two anyway. And then you’re at a disadvantage in strikeouts and wins too because you only used 6 or 8 starts.
Since I love chasing winning strikeouts and wins every week, I’m always trying to find guys to add to my pitching staff. Here are 4 starting pitchers that are less than 40% owned in ESPN leagues.
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Veteran DFS players know that FanDuel is horrible about proactively pricing guys who haven’t played so far this year due to injury (as opposed to players who already played this year and then got hurt). This past year in NBA DFS, Kevin Love made his season debut on Feburary 4th, basically four months into the season, and was $3,500 (the bare minimum). He was on a minutes limit so the entire slate became a question of whether he was worth it given the minutes restriction. However, in baseball, when a hitter comes back, odds are (and there are exceptions of course) he’s going to play the entire game (or at least be the DH for the entire game, but DFS lineups don’t care about whether you’re actually in the field). Why bring this up? Because it’s going to come into play fairly soon. More on this after a word from our sponsor.
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″]
I’m like Neo dodging bullets, only instead of bullets, it’s bad pitchers. Bends in slo-mo and avoids Ed-Rod, twists to the right and avoids Trevor Bauer, twists left and sees Jalen Beeks…Well, I’d never own him, so…Then again, he has been pretty good as the Malcolm for the Rays. Ya know, their Middle man. Oh, crap, I’ve been shot! *dies in slo-mo* Beeeeeeeeeeks! *clutches chest, searches for bullet wound, can’t find it* I thought I was shot. Oh, noooooooo!!! It’s worse than I thought! It was my fantasy team that was shot! You could’ve avoided this whole megillah for the last, oh, I don’t know, 12 years, minus two random years in the middle (not Malcolm) if you just owned Justin Verlander. Yesterday, he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, and went 8 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 12 Ks, ERA at 2.24, and on our Player Rater, he is the number one starter. Barely as good as Tim Anderson, but, ya know, those are noogs for another day. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
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