As a Trevor Bauer investor this year I’m tempted to just write: &$*3$*@#& and that’s it. Since Grey was his biggest advocate before the season, I know he’d understand. Stash or Trash: Stash for now. He’s a top-3 Cy Young finalist if not for this injury and we’re waiting for more news. That dastardly Jose Abreu lined a pitch of Bauer’s ankle in their game on Saturday. A stress fracture often occurs due to repeated compressive force on a bone (often in the leg, foot or ankle.) This type of injury is common in frequent runners. Bauer’s was obviously caused by the velocity of Abreu’s line drive hitting at just the right spot. Here’s the bad news: the typical healing time for a stress fracture in your fibula is 6 weeks. However, everyone is different — some can need more time or less — it’s hard to predict really. I’m labeling Bauer a stash until we find out more. If we find out tomorrow that it isn’t a complete fracture or that he’s got that Adrian Peterson DNA he might be back sooner. Fill In: Tyler Glasnow (19.3%.) Let’s get this easy one pick up out of the way — if you’re in a league where Tyler Glasnow isn’t owned yet you need to remedy this situation. Glasnow is now back to being a starter after going from the Pirates to the Rays. He’s made three starts so far each one inning more than the last. 12 innings pitched total with 20 K’s to only 3 walks and 6 hits allowed? His next start will be his biggest test against the Red Sox. Why haven’t you hit CTRL-T yet?!
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I rarely ever talk about relief pitchers, but since I’m on vacation and my time is limited I’m writing about whatever rolls off my fingers most easily. Blake Treinen is exactly the reason I do not draft a relief pitcher in the early or even early middle rounds. Because of this I will never own Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen, and I am perfectly fine with that. Treinen’s ADP this season was the 14th round. That gives you thirteen rounds to fill the more important roster spots. If I’m being honest, I probably wouldn’t wait until the 14th round to pick a closer, but the point is that drafting closers is like navigating a mine field and using an early pick seems like a bad investment. Even the top closers are far from a guarantee. Consider Kenley Jansen. He’s having a great season and now he’s out with a heart condition. Let’s not forget about the volatility of a closer and the number of eventual closers that go completely undrafted. Look at Keone Kela until he was traded. The bottom line is that by drafting a closer early I feel you are giving up too much value at other positions.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hot, frisky 24 year olds gone wild on this week’s Sausage Pod! That’s right, B_Don and Donkey break down the pitching matchup of potential 2019 post hype fantasy baseball sleeper Lucas Giolito against struggling Yankees ace Luis Severino. The dudes also take a gander at the bat of mythical Japanese Babe Ruth, Shohei Ohtani. Find out what to expect from the 24 year old men down the stretch and into next year.
Then, Willy Adames, Franmil Reyes and Hunter Renfroe highlight a batch of intriguing names in the pickups segment. Oh and Justin Bour was traded to the Phillies, surprise! Keep grinding thru the dog days folks, the finish line and your immortal championship are now in sight!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hyun-Jin Ryu, known as “the monster,” will be making his first start back from the disabled list tonight against the Giants. He’s projected for just 9.5 points on Draft, making him an outstanding value play for what should be a stellar outing. The Giants have just a .300 wOBA versus lefties this year and play in one of the most pitcher-friendly environments in baseball. While he hasn’t pitched since May, Ryu tore it up through his first six starts, posting a 31.3% K-rate with a 3.16 FIP. There’s always some risk in starting a pitcher coming off of the DL, but the upside strongly outweighs the cost for Ryu.
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Please, blog, may I have some more?[brid autoplay=”true” video=”279068″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 20″]
Rick Porcello said of his catcher, Sandy Leon, “He’s the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to. Period.” It’s a shame people don’t end include other forms of punctuation when speaking. “I am the Red Sox ace. Question mark. No, I forgot about Chris Sale. Period. Actually, exclamation mark. The best Red Sox pitchers. Colon. Not Bartolo. Period. I’m going to list them. Period. Okay. Comma. Damn. Comma. I apostrophe V-E confused myself.” Yesterday, Porcello threw a sparkler — 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 ER, 10 Ks, ERA at 4.04, and roped a double to right, which is fun in a dog on rollerblades-type way, but is kinda irrelevant. What’s less irrelevant, Rick Porcello is pitching better this year than his Cy Young year, though with less ERA to show for it, obviously. That could change in the final six weeks if he finds his groove. Period. Ya know what, exclamation mark. Strike that, interrobang. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Every week of the fantasy season feels like a dog year. With every passing day, players rise, players fall, pitchers get hurt, and closers implode. This week was no different, as everything Grey and I said to you a week ago is completely meaningless. It’s a new week, a new day, new closers are imploding, callups are getting called, and we’re all waiting on the next add/drop. With all of this in mind, Mr. Albright and yours truly talk, Tyler Glasnow, trusting Kyle Freeland and the callups of Danny Jansen, Touki Toussaint, and Sean-Reid Foley. We hit on some closers to add, some schmotatos to watch, and shame Grey for laughing at serious movies. Actually I’m with him on the last part. It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast. As always, go and checkout our sponsor Rotowear.com and use our promo-code SAGNOF to get 20% off all of your purchases. It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?I have mixed emotions regarding zoos. It’s nice that there is a confined space where I can observe animals that I’d never be able to see outside of Youtube videos. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of the well-being for the animals. They are not allowed to roam free in their natural habitat and do what they do. I often put myself in place of the animals. If aliens abducted me and put me in a cage, that would kind of suck. But what if they fed me and provided a La-Z-Boy, a computer, and PS4? And threw in a mate from time to time? Without having to do work? What?! Now, what if they forgot the wifi? That’d be inhumane as F. Anyways, I sometimes question whether every animal would be happy to be free from the confines of a zoo. I lean towards yes for most, but not so sure about the ones that are constantly being hunted out in the wild. That’s a stressful way to live. Anyways, being free means different things, depending on the perspective. How about in the context of Willy Adames, a player that’s owned in 7.5% of ESPN leagues but has a .405/.425/.622 slash with 4 stolen bases since August 1st? Free as in readily available to acquire? Free as in he is finally being unleashed? Or free as in you should let him go from your roster?
Please, blog, may I have some more?The trading deadline for the Razzball Commenter Leagues went out with a bang on Friday with 15 trades being completed. Remember back in the day when we used ESPN and they had that crazy noon trade deadline time? Thank goodness for FanTrax making that right! Speaking of, how are people liking the new add/drop and trade screens? I think that’s a pretty nice mid-season upgrade. Trades seemed to be down across the board this year, I wonder if the early-season trade screen (or lack thereof) contributed to that. I only counted 60 or so trades this year, but I’m sure I missed a few. By comparison, we had 232 last season. I’m hoping to make a couple changes to the RCL data next year so I don’t have to manually find all the trades, that should help our accuracy quite a bit. We didn’t have everything set up quite right with the move to FanTrax this season. No matter, the trade deadline might be gone, but don’t fret, there are still plenty of closers losing jobs and September call-ups are right around the corner. Maybe we get some Eloy Jimenez love? I’m stashing Vladdy Jr. in my 15 teamer hoping for a power surge down the stretch. Check out Ralph’s work for a handy chart. Not much has changed in a month, Jo Adell is still the man. Earlier today I took this and sorted by 2018 and 2019 to see who I should try to snag in keeper leagues and who might see some action at the end of this season. Ralph puts his blood, sweat and white Monster energy drinks into those rankings, don’t let them go wasted! Jump below for more about the trades this week and all the other happenings in the week that was, week 19:
Please, blog, may I have some more?There was a great conversation taking place on Twitter recently regarding how a pitcher has certain pitches working, or not working, from start to start. The incredible amount of feel it takes to make a baseball dance the way so many pitchers do today is something that sharpens, or dulls, at different phases of a season. German (pronounced Hair-mahn) Marquez has pitched like his hair is on fire the last few turns. When a guy strikes out 8+ a few starts in a row, it’s a good sign his feel is peaking. Get German and these other dialed-in players into your DFS contests on Draft.com for today.
New to Draft.com? 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=”279068″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 20″]
Yesterday, Ronald Acuña Jr. (5-for-8, 5 runs, 5 RBIs) hit a leadoff homer in both games of the doubleheader, and became the youngest to homer in four straight games in the live-ball era. Wistful sigh, member those good ol’ zombie dead-ball era stars? Acuña now has 17 homers and 8 steals in 66 games. Oh, I’m sorry, you my daddy? It’s hard to understand how a 20-year-old can be my daddy, but I think you my daddy. When that family that raised me told me to put mime makeup on every morning, I didn’t put it together, but now I know the one true thing in this world that only 23andMe and a gut feeling can tell me, Acuña is my daddy. I’m going to start calling him Tildaddy. Not as in ‘until I find my true daddy, you will be my daddy.’ Not Tildaddy as in what a teenager who works a cashier at a Waffle House makes his co-workers call him. Tildaddy as in sloppily jamming tilde and daddy together. You’re my Tildaddy! People keep asking in the comments where I think Tildaddy (my fetch) will be drafted next year. If you prorate his numbers out, he’d have 35 homers and 20 steals as a 20-year-old. I’m sorry, you Machado’s Tildaddy too? You Goldschmidt’s Tildaddy? ARE YOU MIKE TROUT’S TILDADDY?! He is at least a top 25 pick in 2019 and I might shock the world and shove Tildaddy in my top 15. Un…Til…Daddy shows me different. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s the latin hit show of the 60’s, though technically Gomez was already a Latin name. Only name that would be fun to mess around with would be Miercoles. Not only does it sound like a person that I would get an Uber ride from, but I would probably buy incense from. Never the matter, buy the Willy Adames family is making some comfortable waves in MLB. Season long stats say he is a middle infielder of the highest order. Not a stat-stuffer, but a drawer of mismatched socks that you really don’t care about getting right. Until! The last 14 days. When anyone slashes .359/.409/.564, it makes me notice… You may not have noticed, because you are too busy styling your hair or doing random acts of jaywalking. For the purpose of life and SAGNOF though, he has 3 steals over his last 12 and anyone that pumps the OBP at a 400 clip is definitely cool with me. Hell, they can take my sister to her Quinceañera. But to be fair, the joke is on them because she’s almost 50! Adames, for the rest of this year, is firmly in the grab and hope phase of fantasy. He has skill at the plate with showing off for the ladies and hitting homers (5) in 161 plate appearances, which for a full season would be 20, which isn’t too awful. You know how many MI eligible guys have 20 HR potential with 15 plus steal potential? Quite a few, but that stat potential never gets old, especially at a discount. So if you are struggling up the middle a grab for an eligible Adames might be he play for some SAGNOF goodies for the time being…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Can we all just take a moment on this fine Monday morning to appreciate what Juan Soto is doing? It truly is incredible. At 19 and having come straight from Double A, he’s taken the league by storm and should be well on his way to ROY honors. He’s hitting for power (14) and average (.303), plus he’s walking at an impressive clip (17%). That last stat puts him near the top of the league. Perhaps his most impressive stat is his wRC+, which corrects for park factors to show how well Soto creates runs. He currently sits behind only 5 other hitters in that regard; he could be among the top for teens, all time. Oh yeah, his OPS is .975, too. That’s a lot of fancy stats to tell you this teenager might be pretty good. But here’s the most important factor of all: Hittertron likes him tomorrow for your lineup on Draft.com. What more do you need to know?
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?