Guten Tag, You’re It

September 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 191 Comments

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”291060″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 24″]

The story of German Marquez isn’t one they tell you in your parochial schools. It’s an ugly story punctuated with cowardice and the worst atrocities in history. You’d think if a family emigrated from 1940’s Germany they would’ve had the common decency to not name their child German. Also, his father claiming to be an appliance repairman who specializes in ovens is disgusting. The last straw was when his family tried to claim sauerkraut was good in tacos. Shame on you! What’s less shameful is how he’s pitched in the 2nd half. He now has a 2.64 ERA in the 2nd half in 68 1/3 IP, and his peripherals on the year are gorgeous — 10.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 3.21 xFIP. He’s doing it with newfound success in his slider, which he throws 15% of the time. That slider is top 15 in the majors, and is supported with a 95 MPH fastball. In other words, this breakout appears real. Last night, he went 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 3.94, and I see no reason to not start him in any matchup, even in Coors. Or Löwenbräu as he calls it. Disgraceful! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Thu 8/7
	ATH \| ATL \| CHW \| CIN \| MIA \| PIT \| SEA \| WSH \| ARI \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| OAK \| PHI \| SD \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR

SAGNOF Report: Magneuris P.I.

September 10, 2018 | SAGNOF, Steals | 5 Comments

by: Roto-Wan

Did you know they’re remaking Magnum P.I. with the title character sans mustache? That’s some bunk, right there. Unlike that fake, Magneuris Sierra could be a real deal smooth operator. Steal a couple roto points these last few weeks by employing a heavy speed approach. Base swipers like Sierra are popping up with September call-ups and certain teams throwing in the towel. Keep grinding speed chasers.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Draft: A Very Super Talented Baseball Man

September 10, 2018 | DFS, Draft |

by: Butters

Welcome back to another edition of “Who to Draft on Draft” with your host, Butters. Sadly, the season is drawing near its end. But fear not, I’m here for you. Our first contestant is finally putting it together, especially this past month. He’s gone 33 strong innings, allowing just 7 runs while racking up 31 Ks. And despite pitching for the Royals, he’s even picked up a couple wins. I’m talking about the very super talented baseball man Jakob Junis. The match-up against the offensively inept White Sox is very enticing and should allow him to keep rolling. And the best part is, he should be available in the mid-rounds. Scratch that: the best part is this. Baseball really is the gift that keeps on giving.

New to Draft? 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?

Meka Leka High Mega Heaney Whoa

September 10, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 347 Comments

by: Grey

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”289930″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Buy Sell Hold Week 24″]

“Hey, Stream-o-Nator, I have a surprise for you.” The Stream-o-Nator backs up slightly, unsure of what I’m going to do to its tender robot heart. The Stream-o-Nator was born in a scrapyard run by Steven Avery’s family. Not the Making a Murderer guy, the ex-Braves pitcher. The story of how it got separated from its family is similar to Sophie’s Choice, but sadder and involves more heavy metal. Suffice it to say, the Stream-o-Nator is longing for any connection, electrical or otherwise. This brings us to yesterday’s matchup and why I sought the Stream-o-Nator. Gently approaching the 8-foot robot, “It’s a good surprise. I wanna be your friend.” The Stream-o-Nator swoons, playing Just The Two Of Us on its chest-implanted boombox. Perhaps my friendship is simply what have you done for me lately, but Andrew Heaney was enough for me to be bothered with late-night phone calls when the robot is feeling blue Raspberry Pi. Heaney went 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 12 Ks, lowering his ERA to 3.98. (Reynaldo Lopez wasn’t bad either — 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 4.22). For this year, due to how few starts are left, I’m looking at the Stream-o-Nator for every start, and it loves Heaney for his next start. “I’m here for you robot pal. C’mon, high-five me!” Stream-o-Nator’s arm falls off and it sighs. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Top 100 Starting Pitchers, Week 24: Forget Mila Kunis, Gimme Jake Junis

September 9, 2018 | Top 100 Starting Pitchers | 18 Comments

by: Dokken

Well it was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it Michael Kopech owners? We wait all year for the call up, he gets multiple starts interrupted by rain, gets blown up for seven runs, and now won’t pitch a meaningful inning until 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery to fix his torn UCL. ISN’T BASEBALL FUN. I AM HAVING A BALL. You know what else is fun? Trying to rank starting pitchers when multiple teams aren’t even using starting pitchers anymore. Now it’s “openers” and “primary pitchers”. What am I supposed to do with this?! Ranking a hundred damn starters is hard enough without this Opener business to deal with! Come on MLB managers, throw me a friggin bone here! Where did my bottle of gin get to…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FAAB Five: Power Through

September 9, 2018 | Uncategorized |

by: Paul "The" Martian

This week is getting barren for waiver wire additions. The season is coming to a close, and we’re just looking for anything to ride out for these last few weeks. For this FAAB period, I’m looking closely at two hitters who never received the respect they deserved. These AL East batters are Luke Voit (FAAB: 1-3%) and Rowdy Tellez (FAAB: 1-3%). Depending on how much power you need, these two should both garner up to 3% of your total FAAB remaining, maybe more.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Draft: The deGrominator

September 9, 2018 | DFS, Draft |

by: Thomas Howland

Here’s a salute to all the fantasy baseball fans staying true in the face of the onslaught of the NFL: you who have the red seams of the ball running through your blood and the white of the bases in your bones. Today is a day for the most wonderful, hard-luck, incredible starting pitcher this year: Jacob deGrom. His ERA is 1.68, his WHIP 0.96. Despite a 9-9 record, he will most likely win the NL Cy Young. And today the deGrominator gets the Phillies, who have hit him to a paltry .218 batting average and .596 OPS. Now, thanks to the threat of rain in several places in baseball land, I’m going to give you some alternatives, some special bonus player entries this week. If the rain comes down in New York as forecast (there’s a lot of it around: at time of posting, the Marlins-Pirates game has already been postponed), grab Robbie Ray of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s going against the Atlanta Braves, who are losing a lot lately, in heartbreaking fashion, and have hit Ray to a tiny .207 batting average and .475 OPS. He’s not ranked above deGrom, as his year has not been quite as sterling, but he’s a worthy 1A nonetheless. Now let’s look at a few more early-, middle- and late-round picks for your Draft…drafts!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Short Season and Rookie Ball Breakout Hitters

September 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 17 Comments

by: Geoff

As your dynasty league seasons come to a close in the coming weeks, much of the real work of the off-season begins. One of the biggest components of success in fantasy is based on the research you put in, particularly in the off-season. This is only magnified in the dynasty when much of the player movement likely takes place. Whether it be via trades, first year player drafts, or some form of free agency, now is when you build the foundation of your squad for the year to come. One of the best exercises in this preparation process for me historically has been digging in on short season and rookie ball performers. It’s good to know the landscape, and identify, through research of first hand scouting reports and video, which strong stat-lines are skills based versus statistical mirages. The next wave of buzz-worthy Top 100 types usually comes from these ranks with some mentioned below already there (See Franco, Wander; Rays). This is typically a great source of talent to focus on when building out your minor leagues, as many of these investments could return serious dividends on next year’s trade market come deadline time. Below we’ll touch on some of the names you should be targeting. Obviously depending upon your league rules and depth some suggestions might be more helpful than others. None of the players discussed will be 2018 draftees, they will be covered in a followup post.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Two Startapalooza, Week 24: Wade Through The Azure Waters Of LeBlanc

September 8, 2018 | Two Start Fantasy Starters | 22 Comments

by: Dokken

Like a fair portion of you out there in Razzland, I had my fantasy football draft over this past weekend. It’s easy to shift gears and pay more attention to the fooze at this point in the season, but we aren’t done here yet! We have matchups to win, standings points to gain, glory to achieve! I enjoyed a tasty chunk of smoked brisket over this past weekend, and it got me thinking…how many things in life do I enjoy more than this delicious meat? I didn’t come up with much – cats, Aubrey Plaza, the feeling you get when you have a four-alarm tummy grumbling emergency when you’re rolling down the highway and eventually find a rest stop to end your suffering. Those things, and the glory of winning a fantasy baseball league.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Getting Ahead in H2H, Week 23: Saving the Season

September 8, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 1 Comment

by: Yost

For the vast majority of leagues, we are on to the playoffs. Those no longer with us will not see this as they are understandably moving onto football season. But not us. If you are reading this right now, you made it! Playoff bound, and by this time of the week you are getting a good idea of how things are shaping up. Or you’re getting a really BAD idea of how things are shaping up. (Looking at you, my team down 9-1-1 in my main league.) This is where H2H sucks, as all your success all season comes down to showing up this one week. Cheers to you if you’re comfortably up and not sweating this matchup. But for those of you suckers down in a hole like me, its time to scrape and fight for our lives. I’m trying to pick up an ground on any category any way I can. One area I found I may be able to gain an advantage at is with saves. In other words, I’m out here trying to save the season!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FantasyDraft: Flaherty Will Get You Everywhere

September 8, 2018 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 11 Comments

by: VictoriaB

(Yes, I know Grey has already used the line, but imitation is the sincerest form of Flaherty.) It’s a bit of a peculiar day on FantasyDraft. The early slate (more on that below) is tough for pitching, other than Jack Flaherty ($21,400), who takes on the Tigers in Comerica Field. Later, there are some star pitchers on the mound — your Max Scherzers ($24,300), your Noah Syndergaards ($19,300) and what-have-yous; those whom Streamonator ranks all the way at the top. But they both have match-ups that make me slightly nervous: the Cubs and the Phillies, respectively. At the same time, both slates feature a couple of delicious hitting situations, such as Astros at Red Sox early, and Dodgers at Rockies late, plus some lefty pitchers against teams who, frankly, feast on LHP. So the TL;DR version: I’m leaning more hitting than pitching today. Let’s take a look at some options.

New to FantasyDraft? 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?

Everybody Loves Ramon

September 8, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 33 Comments

by: Dan Pants

Oakland A’s rookie outfielder slash speed demon slash rocket arm slash hot shot Ramon Laureano hit two home runs Friday night including his first career lead off bomb to which even Ricky Henderson nodded in approval. He became the first A’s player with two multi-home run games in his first 30 games and the rook upped his slash to .309/.387/568 with five bombs, 13 RBI, and let us not forget, a perfect 4-for-4 in steals chances. Yes, hashtag SAGNOF. That’s why we’re talking about him for 2018. Ramon lead off for just the second time in his young MLB career (he doubled twice leading off Wednesday) but considering such positive results, it’s likely he’ll see a lot more time there throughout the remainder of the season. Laureano held an .895 OPS with 13 homers and 11 steals in 63 games at AAA before his call up and has done nothing but excel since he got here. Everybody loves this guy! Is it because he delivered a game winner in his MLB debut? Is it because he has the potential to be a real life 5-tool player? Or is it because he plays defense like a gold glover and has an absolute cannon of an arm that would make Tom Brady blush. Sweet sassy molassy! I’m sorry I have to watch that again. And you’re sure I don’t get fantasy points for that? If, like most people, you’ve already moved on to fantasy football and are sad about your Leveons or your McKinnons, try to remember Ramon Laureano for your 2019 sleeper radar. But if you are still with us, and you need some speed and runs and average in the stretch run, go grab yourself a bowl of Ramon while he’s hot!

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

Please, blog, may I have some more?