…You should occasionally look to the results,” goes the rest of the quote by Winston Churchill, but we’re going to ignore that last bit for now (although it’s generally good advice) and talk strategy for our lineup on Draft.com today. It’s an interesting day, given the pitching. We have a bunch of excellent – Cy Young-level excellent — pitchers who have the misfortune of playing in good hitting parks or facing good hitting teams. And then pitchers who would normally be only mid-tier suddenly get a bump because of the teams they’re facing or the parks they’re pitching in. In short, there’s a lot of pitching and you can probably afford to wait until your second round to grab a pitcher. So I’d aim for a top IF first, then a pitcher, then an OF. Let’s take a look at who’s out there for the grabbin’.

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 you do. It’s how we know you care!

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Tue 8/5
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

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”285346″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 22″]

The Padres began yesterday by lifting their brown, monk robe they purchased from the Dan Brown collection and showed their first twig of the prospect tree they have cloaked beneath:  Luis Urias.  Whenever you hear the Padres fans shout about their MI prospect — they scream, “Our Luis Urias,” and they sound like John McEnroe barking at a line judge.  BTW, you know you’re old if you’ve ever asked a barber to give you a Jimmy Connors, and then complained after they gave you a Pete Rose.  Podcaster Ralph and I go over Luis Urias on today’s pod, but, I will give you the general gist, which was also my high school band name.  You might remember General Gist from such noteworthy songs as, “Keep Me Near You Or Thereabouts.”  Urias is a solid all-around bat, think .300 hitter, without huge power or speed.  He’s young though, which means he could blossom, so remain calm.  For now, I will call you, Zen Bobrist.  I would grab him if you’re struggling at MI to see if he can catch fire and master Zen and the Art of MI Maintenance.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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It’s the time of year that every counting stat matters down to a single digit. Are you in need of a rabbit or two to help push your stolen base total? Here are some potential sources of speed…

  • Greg Allen: Here’s a rare gem. Allen has the kind of speed that could equate to  40-50 steals over a full season. He’s showing it since getting the call as a regular outfielder, with 6 SBs in the last 14 days. He’ll sit occasionally, but the Indians don’t seem to have many other options in centerfield.
  • Rafael Ortega: There isn’t much firepower left in the Marlins lineup, but Ortega has shown the ability to get on base about 35% of the time. That gives an above average opportunity for him ply his trade as a base stealer. He may not be a leadoff man with a career .350 OBP, but you can ride him while he’s making contact.
  • Amed Rosario: Speed is a large part of the equation for Rosario as a prospect so when he came into the season with a bum wheel it was cause for concern. Rightfully so, as he only managed to steal 6 bases in the first half. He may be over the leg issue, however. He’s swiped 4 bags in the last two weeks to bring his second-half total to 9 SBs.
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The top bat on the day, according to the all-knowing Hittertron, is none other than Bryce Harper. He’s really started to come around in the second half as he’s raised his average up to around .250. That’s still not great, but it’s a far sight better than the sub-.220 it was for a while. Plus, with the power upside he has, you can live with a low average. He was held out of Sunday’s lineup with an illness but was able to come off the bench and go 2/2 with 3 RBIs, so maybe he should play sick more often. It’s a good idea to fire him up in your lineup today on Draft.com.

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?

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”284415″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Buy Sell Hold Week 22″]

Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr. sit in the airport, waiting for their flight out to Toronto, trying to make small talk, “How has post-Hall of Fame life been?”  “Good, good, how has post, uh, mustache life been?”  “Fine, yeah, fine.”  Finally, a Cooperstown employee approaches, “Where do you want Dale Long’s sarcophagus?”  “Are you not staying with it?”  “I was just told to deliver it.  Now, if Kendrys Morales breaks the home run record, you press this button on the side of the sarcophagus.”  Ken and Don look at each other and decide to try the button.  Dale’s sarcophagus opens and what resembles a crypt keeper says, “Wow, I can’t believe he broke our record.  That’s outta sight!”  And Dale’s mummified eyes spin like a slot machine.  This is reenactment of what Mattingly and Griffey are going through as they join Kendrys for the chase of their home runs in eight straight games record.  Yesterday, Morales homered in his 7th straight game, going 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, and that was his 21st homer.  I actually just picked up Kendrys Morales in my RCL league, after I picked up my jaw from surprise that he was still available.  He’s so smooth right now, they call him Kendrys Alba.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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The 10 HR/8 SB/.302 AVG player we saw from AJ Pollock over the first month or so of the season is a top-20 player if that pace continues for a full season. However we know how this story goes, since May 4th (yes I know there was an injury in there because OF COURSE there was) Pollock has 184 ABs with only 6 HRs and 2 SBs with a .261 AVG. However, I keep him on these rankings because peak Pollock is a 20/40 threat. The only problem is peak Pollock is a pretty preposterous proposition. Whatever is hurting him this time seems to be limiting him on the base paths which is limiting you in your standings. 

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For the first time since I can remember (which isn’t that long really, thanks vodka) I added far more players back to the list than I took off. Huzzah! It felt good to not have to scrap for back-end-non-difference-makers. We even got Michael Kopech, finally! It even sounds like Eduardo Rodriguez should be back this week, although the same cannot be said about teammate Chris Sale or not-teammate James Paxton. Michael Fulmer returned after a lengthy absence and tossed 4.2 scoreless innings, which gives me hope that down the stretch he can pitch more like the player we expected back in March. Dylan Bundy, unfortunately, put up another dud and is completely off the list. You simply cannot deploy him right now. Here are some of the other notable starters from this past week of action.

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As the fantasy baseball year dwindles down, the article this week is going to help to pinpoint the hot streaks you should ride out for the rest of the season. Starting with Greg Allen (FAAB: 2-3%) of the Cleveland Indians who provides speed to desperate squads. Since his recall, Allen has 7 stolen bases, and a homer, with a plus batting average. One of the most significant differences for Allen is an improved contact rate on his small sample from last season’s debut. He is currently at 90% Z-Contact and 82.4% Overall Contact compared to 84.8% Z-Contact and 75.7% Overall Contact in 2017. Riding this hot streak will provide a bit of everything necessary to stay ahead in speed, average, and power categories. Plus, Allen has capabilities to supply multiple SB and HR during the week for head-to-head leagues and playoff situations.

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In another life, Luis Severino had a 3.33 ERA against the Orioles, and a 3.62 ERA in their home park of Camden Yards, where he is pitching today. That was before the length and strength of that Baltimore lineup, Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop in particular, left to help other teams reach the postseason in the National League.  The Yankees are not exactly desperate, but they are in need of a good Severino, and facing this Baltimore lineup is just the trick.  It’s because of info like this that Severino is #1 with a bullet on our Streamonator.  Now let’s look at a few more early-, middle- and late-round picks for your Draft…drafts!

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 you do. It’s how we know you care!

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It’s Tucking K-way!!! The announcers at Fresno Grizzles games should just yell that out every time Kyle Tucker hits the batters box. Seriously, there is no one hotter on the planet right now than Kyle Tucker. Now gentlemen and three ladies, I know what you’re all thinking, “Real nice Ralphie, but where was this in the bigs kid?” BTW all of you have a Southie accent, and at least one Celtic cross tattoo. I just wanted to be clear about that. Oh, what’s that? The sound of a walkoff three run dong off the bat of Tucker? He finished up Saturday night 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, a run, a stolen base, and a walk. Tucker is hitting .478/.510/.1.087 with 9 homers, 18 runs, 20 RBI, and 6 steals over his last ten games. That’s some hero-ball type of stuff. Despite the struggles in his limited MLB looks I still foresee a future all-star, with 25-30 homer power, 15 steal speed, and a .270-.280 batting average. His setup, and swing are somewhat unique/unorthodox, whatever. With his uppercut bat-path, and upper body heavy swing, sometimes it almost looks like Tucker is throwing the bat, but he manages to get a lot of the barrel in the strike-zone, leading to a ton of good contact. All this to say, don’t sell on Tucker. 2018 might not be his year to contribute, but I’d be in on 2019 in all formats. The lingering question is playing time, but Tucker is good enough that he’ll force his way. It’s easy to forget he’s just 21, and will be 22 for the entirety of 2019. So there’s plenty of time to get things to click at the big league level. I do think there will be some swing and miss struggles early, but those should stabilize with experience. Tucker is an obvious candidate for a September promotion, and could provide some spark with the right amount of playing time.

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Well, let’s try this again, shall we? At this time last week we expected Stephen Strasburg to debut Tuesday and get two starts, but instead he got pushed back to Wednesday and blew up for five runs in four innings. What a treat! Like a bombsicle on the Fourth of July, I tell ya. So THIS week, supposedly, he lines up twice against the Phillies and Brewers. I’ve got him in Tier 3 as a non-must-start. If you have him you’re probably starting him, but he’s liable to give you a queasy feeling like when you hit the Taco Bell drive through at 3AM. Overall, the options are pretty sparse this week, which is rough news for those of you needing help in your H2H leagues. Some off days and back ends of the rotations turning twice make for a pretty thin group. Guys like Cole Hamels and Jon Gray make up the bulk of Tier 2, and Tier 3 is short and iffy. Tier 4 is where it’s at this week, with a thick, meaty array of guys that’ll make you shrug and go “Meh, it can’t be any worse than yesterday when Janet from accounting rejected my offer to take her to Red Lobster”. Guys like Lance Lynn and Sam Gaviglio inhabit that Tier with great matchups, but, you know, they’re Lance Lynn and Sam Gaviglio. You can’t expect too much. Tier 5 is about as short as it has been all season, and with some rotations in flux, it’s hard to nail down any more options right now. However, if you play in a reverse league or are for some reason actively trying to lose your matchup, James Shields against the Yankees and BoSox is just about as big a gas can as you can muster to throw on your team.

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For prospectors with years in the game, there are few things more satisfying than watching prospects develop into MLB players. Well, maybe a bowl of ice cream, or a steak sandwich is more satisfying, but prospect promotions are a close second. In this vein, we ate steak sandwiches and ice cream, while discussing the MLB debuts of one Michael Kopech, and the Braves Bryse Wilson. After giving you our two cents on what we saw in those highly anticipated premiers, we move along to announcing our new venture @Prospectslive, before hitting on some top Minor League news, like the shutdown of Dylan Cease, Nolan Gorman’s recent streak, or the AAA debut of Michael Chavis. It’s a big week, as always, on the show, as we get your minor league knowledge up to date. Don’t forget to visit Rotowear.com, and support our sponsor by using our promo-code SAGNOF to get 20% off the top fashions in the fantasy game. It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Prospect Podcast.

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