Well, we’ve had quite a week, eh? Lots of sexy promotions. Being a prospect writer is a touch bittersweet. It’s like watching a child grow. Once they graduate to the bigs in real life, they kinda graduate here too, moving up in the world of blog posts from minor league reports to the Grey League. Good luck Keston and Austin…I know you’ll make us proud. Back in the minors, our good friend Sixto Sanchez got a promotion to Double-A. His debut went swimmingly – even for a Marlin – striking out seven batters in six shutout innings. I was conservative in my ranking of Sanchez in the preseason, so if he continues to pitch well in the upper minors he’ll be a big riser when the midseason rankings come out. Despite the early promotion, I don’t think we’ll see Sanchez pitching meaningful innings for the Marlins this summer, if only because he hasn’t built up enough innings in previous seasons and the Marlins have other options such as Zac Gallen and Jordan Yamamoto in hand. Next year, Sanchez could be a very interesting flyer though. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues…
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After missing all of April and then some, Miguel Andujar (3B, Shoulder) apparently returned prematurely for 34 disappointing ABs and is now back on the DL with his shoulder MRI not looking any better than his last MRI. I’m thinking the Yankees bite the bullet and put Miggy Andy under the knife especially with the emergence of… Replacement: DA GAWD GIO URSHELA (6.9%.) I hate naming the obvious same-team injury replacement, but I can’t help myself this week. It seems like for every Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano and Kevin Brown there is a Gio Urshela — a guy who thrives under the big city lights of NYC. Can he keep this up? A career .270 hitter batting .341? Yea and monkeys might fly out of my butt. But is he due for a ROS amount of ABs behind a slowly healthy Yankees lineup? Definitely. He’s also hitting a 4th best in the league 7.9% soft contact rate — tied with a young slugger named J.D. Martinez. He’s not hitting a lot of fly balls (26.3% — would be bottom 20 if he was eligible) but is hitting a fair amount of lasers (28.9% — would be 12th best if he were eligible.) He’s probably going to cap out at 10-15 HRs this year, but with a good place in the Yankees lineup, he could get a fair amount of runs and a sneaky solid amount of RBI.
Please, blog, may I have some more?You hear that? It sounds like the Angels may actually be forming a respectable lineup around the best player in baseball. Over the past few years critics have rightfully been pointing out that Trout’s prime years have been going to waste due to lack of a supporting cast. The Angels still have a ways to go if they want to fulfill our wish of seeing the best player of this generation back in the playoffs, as his lone appearance in 2014 isn’t enough. However, as of late his supporting cast has been putting forth some under-the-radar production to help the Fish Man out. Ohtani’s 2019 debut was much awaited to help give Trout some additional protection, and the Angels have won 5 of their 8 games since his return to the lineup.
Please, blog, may I have some more?As we move into Super 2 season, we are coming to the point of the season where there are going to be a lot more call ups and you’re going to see names that you may or may not recognize but you should know to succeed on FanDuel. Obviously you will know who Keston Hiura is, but there are a couple hundred players who might get called up due to injuries or just dominating performances. Do you know who Oscar Mercado is? Cleveland called him up after he hit .294/.396/.496 this year in AAA. Given how bad Cleveland’s offense is, he could easily be moved up to the 2-slot sooner rather than later, and I doubt his price will be particularly high. Do you know who Charlie Tilson is? He can’t hit, but he steals bases as good as anyone, and the White Sox called him up and threw him right into the leadoff spot on Monday (and he was $2,600). Do you know who Shed Long is? Yes, that’s his actual name.
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Please, blog, may I have some more?[brid autoplay=”true” video=”413335″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 8″]
My preseason NL MVP pick was Travis Shaw. *turns to a mirror* You’re handsome, but hella stupid. My mirror reflection separates from my body. The apparition picks up a see-through suitcase, “I think it’s time we went our separate ways.” But how will you get along out there without me? Can an apparition order Chick-fil-A or boba? “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” It was one bad call. “Tell that to my teams with Travis Shaw and Daniel Palka.” Nooooooo!!! Any hoo! My soul left me after I told it to draft Travis Shaw, and I can’t blame it. What a garbage call. Maybe Shaw will return as Travos so we can “see worth.” It’s a game of puns! With the Brewers moving on from Shaw by sending him to the Ineffective List, they called up Keston Hiura. I know I say this shizz three times a week, but he could be *the* call-up of the year. Here’s what I’ve said in the past, “One scout said this offseason at the Arizona Fall League, ‘We all talk about the bat of Vladdy, with obvious reason, but outside of Vladdy, I’d call Keston Hiura the purest power bat I saw out in Arizona. He’s just a special, special kid.’ The scout continued, ‘Have you seen my chew?’ turning his lip inside out, ‘Ah, there it is,’ then after a pause, ‘I’m big league, baby!’ I actually have owned Huira for the better part of two years in two separate NL-Only leagues, and I’m a fan. Think there’s a chance for a 18/7/.270 season. That sounds downright–Don’t say Jed Lowrie, don’t say Lowrie, don’t say Lowrie, don’t say Lowrie– Led Jowrie! (What’s worse, I thought of saying ‘what Brett Lawrie was supposed to be’ — woof!) In Double-A last year, Hiura hit 6 HRs with 11 SBs and .272 in only 73 games, but his bat will play, and, as mentioned above about how he looked in Arizona, he destroyed the AFL, getting better and better.” And that’s me quoting me! He continued to get better this year, hitting .333 with 11 HRs in 37 Triple-A games, while chipping in four steals. He was striking out way too much in Triple-A to hit .333 in the majors, but 18/7/.270 sounds about right from this point forward with a chance for more. Maybe he could even be the NL MVP. I’m kidding, apparition! Please, come back, I’m empty inside!. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Emotion is both a blessing and a curse. Without it, one would not be able to experience the full gamut of what life has to offer. Because of it, though, drives many of us to do questionable things. For example, look how many manage their investment portfolios: sell the winners and hold onto the losers, for the fear of losing gains and hoping losses turn into winners. That’s completely backwards. The same principles apply to the fantasy baseball universe, with one fundamental difference. Variance. When Amazan hits a homerun on quarterly earnings, it’s a no doubter. If Mike Trout hits a ball that’s headed for the stands, there’s a chance it goes foul….or a fielder robs him….or a gust of wind knocks the speed and trajectory of the ball down. Things happen within a small sample size which are not necessarily indicative of past, present, or future results. With that said, when people throw in the towel and capitulate, that could be the sign of a bottom. Over the past week, Kolten Wong has been dropped in 12.9% of ESPN leagues, to bring his ownership to 51.6%. Is now the time to be open to Kolten?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Week 6 is about the point that we can stop saying, “it’s early” and it’s about the time I assess and start cutting bait on underperformers. I’m not saying this is the right way to do things, it could be way too late on some guys, but it’s what I do. This week I dropped Joey Lucchesi in most of my Razzball Commenter League teams. He’d been pretty bad and was starting in Coors this week where I wasn’t starting him. Naturally, he went out and pitched a gem. This will most likely be his turnaround and he’ll be a top 20 pitcher from here on out. Your welcome. Jose Peraza is officially gone as is Yuli Gurriel. I ditched Eric Hosmer right before he hit three homers in five games. Fortunately, he’s gone back to being terrible, but doesn’t that figure? Have you raged dropped anyone yet? Is there an underperformer you just keep hoping will turn it around (Vlad Jr.)? Let’s commiserate in the comments, misery loves company and with any luck our complaining will jump start some of these guys. Now, for the rest of the week that was, week 6 in the RCLs:
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Razzball Podcast is back and so is Grey’s Grandpa Joe. We open the show with another Grandpa Joe classic before diving into the last week in Fantasy Baseball. We touch on Corbin Martin’s debut, why Grey is feeling Harold Ramirez, and the Tyler Glasnow and Jose Altuve injuries. Before moving on to Hyun-Jin Ryu’s acedom, if we should trust Hunter Pence, and why we both love Mitch Garver. Exactly the show you expected in late March. Exactly.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Because of his incredible ability as a pitcher, it seems like some people forget about how good Shohei Ohtani is as a fantasy hitter. Last year Ohtani had an elite 182 wRC+ against right-handed pitching, as well as 22 home runs and 10 steals in just 367 plate appearances. That prorates to a 35 homer, 16 steal season as a rookie! While it would be irresponsible to expect that kind of production, Ohtani is still very underrated on FanDuel with just a $3,300 salary. Ohtani went deep last night, and is in a valuable spot batting third for the Angels, right behind some dude named Mike Trout. Even in a matchup against a cruising Kyle Gibson, I just can’t avoid Ohtani at this price.
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=”413335″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball 2019 Mailbag Week 8″]
Yesterday, the Indians called up Oscar Mercado, after a hilarious bit where they phoned their Triple-A team and asked to speak to Oscar and they were met with, “The Oscar Mercado called and said they’re out of you!” The Indians have now cornered the mercado on Oscars like Meryl Streep. Mercado has speed to burn. He is so fast he just ran into your room, mussed your hair and ran back out before you even had a chance to flinch, which is great because you’re secretly being filmed for the new Netflix game show, Flinch. Mercado had one season in the minors with 50 steals. I just became aroused like Lorenzo Lamas after he sees himself in the mirror. Prospect Mike said of him, “Mercado came to Cleveland from St. Louis at last year’s trade deadline in a move that probably slipped under everybody’s radar. He had a crazy good season in Triple-A though, hitting .278 with eight homers and 37 steals. Caveat: Grey is dumb.” What? That’s not a caveat. I grabbed Mercado in a few leagues, because I could use steals, and, brucely, who doesn’t need steals? Not to answer, but bat your eyelashes and look pretty. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?The parade of prospects getting call ups early this season has been eventful, to say the least. Some are already back down. Don’t let that discourage you from hunting for the next FAAB target a week early. Speed can be an easier skill to translate at the big-league level if you can find ways to get on base. I’m not a prospect expert, check out Mike’s work for that. Still, it’s never a bad time to gamble on a young guy with potential.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Monday’s small MLB slate offers a chance for DFS players to get a Ray of sunshine in their life. Arizona’s Robbie Ray that is. The Diamondbacks’ southpaw is coming off a 50 FanDuel point performance in his last start, and will look to build on that today. He will face a Pirates’ lineup that has struggled with left-handed pitching all season, as the Pittsburgh offense has a .229 batting average versus them. Robby Ray’s 29.7 K-rate is the second highest on the slate, and should only improve in this one. The Pirates have struck out at a 28.5% clip against lefties, while showing almost no power against them. Pittsburgh owns a .092 ISO against left-handed pitching in 2019. With an $8,800 price tag, expect Ray to be very popular on Monday.
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?