Thomas Howland

Draft: Wins For Sale!

August 12, 2018 | DFS, Draft |

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The iconic first sentence of one of the greatest novels of all time comes to mind: “Call me Ishmael.” That is what Chris Sale’s start against the Baltimore Orioles today could be: the beginning, middle, and end of potentially one of the greatest starts of the year.  Chris Sale works amazingly well on extra days of rest and he’s coming off an easy vacation masquerading as a DL stint. Throw in the fact that the Oriole hitters — those who remain after the trade deadline purge — hit Sale for .189 with a .510 OPS, which is basically at the level of single-A hitters facing a Cy Young award-winner, and it all adds up to the potential for something amazing. Let others jump on Max Scherzer; the Cubs hit him to a .958 OPS.  It’s Sale for the win upon win today. 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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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Fri 8/8
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
Geoff

Minor League Update: Sofa Scouting On A Rainy Saturday

August 12, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 4 Comments

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Another rainy weekend limited my looks on Saturday, as my intention to hit Lowell was washed out with a solid bout of the olde waterworks. Unfortunately, this forced on a Saturday of couch-sitting and MiLB.TV viewing. While nothing ever quite captures a player’s ability like a first person look, this at least allows me to be at several games at once from the comforts of my home. I’m starting to sound like copy for a commercial. Maybe it’s just regret eating me alive, and I’m apologizing in a round about way for not having anything first hand this Sunday. Doesn’t matter, the minors are in full swing and we got lots of players to cover. Because I’m just going to cover Vladimir Guerrero Jr. exclusively going forward we lead with him. Vlad kept his homer streak going Saturday, rising the number to four consecutive games. In fact it all started with the homer used in the lede on Thursday. He then hit another that night, followed by a homer Friday night, before sneaking (it was off the fielder’s glove) this one over the fence in right for a little Oppo-taco action.

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Dokken

Two Startapalooza, Week 20: Anibal The Animal

August 11, 2018 | Two Start Fantasy Starters |

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It’s good to be back, baby!! After a week’s hiatus (hey, sometimes life gets in the way of this fantasy bidness) we’re back to partying. It’s Two Startapalooza, after all! I’ve gotta say, it’s a pretty interesting week of double dippers. Tiers 1 and 2 take up nine nearly universally owned starters, but Tiers 3 and 4 are totally preggo with exciting streaming options. Those Tiers went out to lunch at Golden Corral and decided to take the rest of the day off from work and see how many chicken legs they can shove down their gullets instead. Don’t act like you haven’t done that before. Tier 4 is awash with more recent pop-up guys like Ryan Borucki, Andrew Suarez, Brad Keller, and even…hey! It’s Tommy Milone! What a time to be alive. I won’t speak of Tier 5 because those names are unspeakably ugly.

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Kerry Klug

Ambulance Chasers, Week 19: In Like A Lion

August 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report |

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And out like a Jake Lamb after season ending shoulder surgery. Stash or Trash: Trash. If you’re in a dynasty league, however, I’d definitely stash Lamb. He’s expected to be ready for spring training 2019. Lamb is still only 27 and has 100/30/100 potential with upside for more while hitting right in the thick of that awesome Diamondbacks lineup. In my opinion, if they can keep the majority of their roster intact the Diamondbacks have World Series potential in 2019. Fill In: Wilmer Flores (6.9%.) As a part time player the past three seasons, Flores really has some solid seasons. In those three seasons he averaged onl 375 ABs with 17 HRs and 53 RBI with a .754 OPS. With the Mets throwing in the towel after making 0 moves of significance at the deadline, Flores now finds himself batting third in the Mets lineup and hitting pretty well since the start of July: .308 AVG, 11 XBHs, 14 runs, 12 RBI. Flores also has that dual 1B/3B eligibility that makes him even more valuable.

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Laura Holt

Rolling In The Deep: Get The August Lowe-Down

August 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Deep Leagues | 1 Comment

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Greetings, deep-leaguers, let’s get right to it this week — it’s hot, we’re tired, and paying close attention to fantasy baseball is starting to feel like a bit of a chore rather than the most fun thing on the planet.  If you are grinding it out and frustrated in a league or two, just think about how sad you’ll be this winter when there are no box scores to check and players to disappoint you!

Last week we looked at players aimed at ultra-deep leagues — we’ll continue to search for those 5%-or-less-owned guys, as always, and also dial it back a bit and throw in some players of the medium-deep variety this week (in the 10 – 20% owned range in CBS leagues).  With that being said, you know the drill:  here are a smattering of players that may be of interest to those in AL-only, NL-only, or other deep leagues.

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VictoriaB

FantasyDraft: Everyman Jack

August 11, 2018 | DFS, FantasyDraft |

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Sure, Jack Flaherty ($18,800 on FantasyDraft today) may not be the sexiest pitcher on the slate: that would be Trevor Bauer ($24,100…cough) at the White Sox, or Charlie Morton at home in Houston ($21,900) or Aaron Nola ($18,600) in San Diego. But I like the Flaherty match-up versus the second-last-in-MLB Royals in Kansas City. He’s looked great in his last couple of starts; that 11.02 K/9 is sexy, and I’m hoping for a win out of him. And at this price, you can’t really go wrong. Besides, it’s a Coors day (awww yeah!), so I’m making him the lede in case you’re interested in rolling with a pitcher who’s a tad bit cheaper, allowing you to stock up on Dodgers-Rockies bats in your FantasyDraft lineup. Let’s take a look at who else we might fit in around the edges.

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?
Geoff

Prospect Podcast: Matt Manning, Nolan Gorman, and Scouting Looks

August 11, 2018 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 10 Comments

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I hope you like the long shows, because we got a marathon episode this week. With tons of callups, promotions, and noteworthy performances, there’s a lot to cover. We talk both sides of the Nolan Gorman helium tank, breakdown Matt Manning, discuss my looks at Alex Faedo, Isaac Paredes, Daz Cameron, and Hector Perez. Before jumping into our weekly 5 by 5 where we dive into ten players a piece. It’s Ralph! It’s Lance! It’s the Razzball Prospect Podcast! As always support our sponsor Rotowear and head over to Rotowear.com to get your hands on the highest quality fantasy t-shirts on the market. When you do, remember to use our promo-code SAGNOF to save 20% off all of your fresh new purchases.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Adding Trumbo To The Buy List

August 10, 2018 | Uncategorized | 298 Comments

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[brid autoplay=”true” video=”278242″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Buy Sell Hold Week 20″]

Clearly, there’s a major issue here.  The issue revolves around a few Buys this week.  They are Mark Trumbo, Tim Beckham, Jonathan Villar and Trey Mancini.  Any guesses their connection?  No, they don’t all wear a bear costume during the offseason for bachelorette parties.  I mean, they could, but no.  I don’t think so.  Their connection and the issue can be summed in this question, is the entire Orioles lineup really hot or have they just faced garbage pitching for the last week?  I’d give you the answer, but I’d have to kill you, and I don’t know your address.  I guess I have your IP, but is it roaming?  VPN?  Am I really traveling around to kill you when I could just not tell you the answer?  That is the other choice here, right?  Such a dilemma!  Let me sleep on it.  *pulls Murphy bed out of wall, lies down, Murphy bed flies up and traps me*  Muffled screams, “Mark Trumbo has been the hottest hitter in the league!  If you need power, I’d grab him in all leagues!  Also, can you pull down this freakin’ bed?!”  Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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Smokey

Closer Rankings: You Mad Son?

August 10, 2018 | Closers, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 13 Comments

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Join the 2018-19 Razzball Fantasy Premier League for a chance at prizes! Don’t know about Fantasy Soccer? That’s okay, Smokey is here to walk with you throughout this journey of exploration and an absurd amount of accent marks on player names. So probably hide all your snacks. It’ll be a long journey…

Maybe they thought they were safe by bringing Kelvin Herrera as a Linus blanket until Doolittle returned.  Maybe they were comfy with the veterans that they had lined up just in case.  Well that “just in case” just happened.  Herrera is now on the DL and Madson assumes the role of all roles. (Until Sean Doolittle comes back from a stressed out foot.)  The Nats had such promise in preseason and even after the acquisition of Kelvin, to be a good bullpen.  Former closers, like most men, are there to do their job and file their income tax returns on time like big boys.  Well, they disappointed me and definitely the owners of Doolittle.  Since July 3rd, or basically the last time Doolittle pitched, they have four saves.  Four, fore, for!  Only ahead of teams like the Padres, Blue Jays and Angels.  By the way, if you are scoring at home the Angels haven’t had a save in 27 games.  That is actually more mind-blowing than a team with decent starting pitching to only get four whole damn saves.  Makes save-chasing on Madson or the like seem glum.  So save your FAAB bucks for another day because Sean should be back within the fortnight, no idea if he mastered his emote dances yet though.  Not that it really matters, but a save earned is a save kept.  I know that works with pennies, wasn’t sure if that helped with counting stats at all.  The season is coming down the stretch, do you have what it takes oh glutens of the SAGNOF?  If you feel weary or just on cruise control because of Fantasy Football, than relax take a gander on some useful bullpen stuff, followed by the rankings…

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Richardo

FanDuel: Gotta Be Eflin Kidding Me

August 10, 2018 | DFS, Fanduel | 2 Comments

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Weekend warriors assemble!!! We’re back for another jumbo 14 game main slate on FanDuel, which features Coors and only one SP over $10,000 in Gerrit Cole ($10,500). One of my favorite pitchers on tonight’s slate is Zach Eflin who comes in at $8,500. First of all, the Padres are not good; 29th in wOBA and dead last in ISO and K% vs RHP. Second, Eflin has been really good this year, limiting hard contact to 29%, and gets a nice park upgrade pitching in Petco. Finally, I’m going to implement a little NBA/NHL travel factor. The Padres played yesterday in Milwaukee, so they’re flying back to San Diego (am I the only one who hears Ron Burgundy’s voice??) for Friday’s game. Meanwhile, the Phillies had the day off on Thursday. I really like Eflin for Friday’s match-up. Let’s take a look at the rest of Friday’s slate.

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?
Grey

Renfroe Outs The Baseball With The Bathwater

August 10, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 220 Comments

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Hello, I am Hunter Renfroe.  I have homered in four straight games.  I am also your father that is why I play for the Padres.  Please, call me daddy.  Not sure why I’m talking like a robot.  Elon Musk has bought my body and repurposed my soul.  By the by, you know what’s fun to do, next time you’re in a quiet place where people will be able to hear your phone, have Siri say, “You’re the reason the robots take over the world in the future.”  And have Siri keep saying it while you look at the person next to you, then finally say to your phone, “Me or this guy?”  Any hoo!  Hunter Renfroe (2-for-4, 4 RBIs and his 12th homer) sent the Padres into the Space Force!  He has power (still makes no sense he’s hitting third, don’t care what he’s done), and I’d grab him if you need that.  Him and Franmil Reyes (3-for-5, 2 runs and his 9th homer, and third homer in four games) have put on a show these last few days.  Not sure why they’d hit the Brewers hard, they just traded for Jonathan Schoop.  He’s a good pitcher, right?  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Geoff

Minor League Update: Living In The Moment With Vladito

August 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 29 Comments

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I’m just going to milk his Vlad Jr. thing as long as I can. After all, it’s only a matter of time before he’s out of my hands and off to the world of Grey A.M. writeups, and ESPN highlights. Make no mistake the heir to the Canadian baseball throne is the genuine article, and on the cusp of the majors. After destroying AA for two months, he missed the next five plus weeks with a knee injury. Only to return to the Fishercats lineup for a few weeks in July, before heading off to AAA. In his 8 games in Buffalo Vlad is slashing .455/.581/.682, smacking his first International League homer off highly touted Braves righthander Kyle Wright. In fact he abused Wright yesterday evening, going 3-for-3 with the aforementioned homer, a double, and a single. One of our loyal Crab Army members was in attendance and was nice enough to share the below video. At this point it’s just a waiting game, and unfortunately for those of us wishing on an impending callup it might not be in the cards. That’s not to say it won’t happen later in September. The problem is, after saying all this he could be called up tomorrow. Stash away if you have the room to spare, but I’d be prepared to burn that spot for most, if not all of August.

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