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Times like this you wish Noah Syndergaard wasn’t complaining of a ligament strain and just had a bad lisp.   “Oh no! My finger is Thor, and it needs a Syndergaard.”  More like Noah Fingergaard!  Noah Syndergaard hit the DL with a finger ligament strain.  I’m fully aware that at least one person in every league ignored my advice to ignore Syndergaard and drafted him very early, so I will do something I’ve never done before, not gloat.  True story, my crazy aunt used to say I gloated all the time behind her back (I did) and I drove her into a mental asylum.  See, when I say my ‘crazy’ aunt, I’m being literal!  So, without gloating, let me just say when a pitcher proves himself to be injury prone, take his word for it.  His Synderwoord?  DeGrom’s already had a dislocated elbow, and my money’s on him getting injured at some point again soon too.  Same goes for Kershaw.  Not trying to be harsh, it’s just truth bombs.  If you own Syndergaard, hope he returns relatively soon, but this is the kind of injury that sidelines a pitcher for an entire season.  Sorry, another truth bomb.  Oh, and the Mets said Syndergaard can return in ten days.  What’s the opposite of a truth bomb?  That’s what that is.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Sat 8/2
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

I hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend.  I was lucky enough to take in a game this weekend and see the Sawx take on my beloved Braves in Fenway Park.  The Braves lost, but I got to see Acuna live and in the tilde, Ozzie Albeast and my man-crush, Freddie Freeman.  Massachusetts native, Sean Newcomb started the game, so there were a lot of Braves support there for him. The camo unis underwhelmed this year, black on black camo just looks solid black from the stands but the olive drab green high socks were pretty sweet.  Anyway, we’re all recovered here at Razzball Commenter League HQ and ready to fill you in on all the goings on this week. We had a change at the number one spot for a second straight week, a certain prospector continued their dominance of the ‘Perts League and a couple of weekly records were broken.  More details and the rest of the week that was week 8 in the RCLs below:

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Hello and welcome to the updated MLB ROTO category leaders nine weeks into the season and hopefully most of you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend and maybe watched a few laps of the Indy 500 has come and gone.  Will Power ran away with the victory while Ed Carpenter ate some of his dust in the last few laps.  After another week of baseball, some AL pitchers joined a different type of race to try and pass up the stat leaders, while others are looking for Vin Diesel’s NOS button to extend their lead, leaving the rest of the pack hoping for a Cal Naughton Jr. finish for silver.

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This week starts out with the tale of how an invite to the old ballpark from Razzball’s own Donkey Teeth, snowballed into drunken madness and a broken Ronald Acuña Jr.. After Grey blames me for Acuña’s mild ACL sprain, we move onto some of the top topics and performers of the last week. From Mike Foltynewicz, to Felipe Vazquez’s numb ring finger, to Russell Martin’s new found Brock Holt-ness, and everything in between. We play a game of Hot Schmotato with Daniel Mengden, Ross Stripling, and the Rays new bullpen starters, and celebrate Grey’s buy call on Jesus Aguilar. It’s a wild week on the show, and guaranteed to be an all-time classic! I say that every week, regardless of the quality of the show. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:

BTW: Get your Prospect Jesus and Grey Albright Tout Wars Champ shirts here!

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It’s a Coors night on Draft.com. You want exposure to at least one side of the thin Colorado air. Certain players excel visiting the Rockies, like Andrew McCutchen. With lefty Kyle Freeland going, there are a number of Giants who can do damage. Jeff Samardzija can always inflate run totals when he’s pitching as well. Get some bats from that game to pair with a few other shrewd spots for a successful night on Draft.

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?

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Hope everyone’s well rested and had a joyous Michael Bay Day.  If you couldn’t be American yesterday, I hope at least you got drunk and ate a bunch of hot dogs.  As they say in Mississippi, Amurica, “Spelling’s for sissies!”  In honor of Amurica’s half birthday, I hope you put a hot dog in your fly and went up to a female reporter, then let Roger Clemens watch you have sex with his wife.  Amurica would’ve wanted it that way!  Trevor Cahill did his part of keeping Amurica as true as the red, white and blue underwear you wash once a year and shut down those Rays, who we know want to have Devil in their name.  Cast out their demons, Trevamurica!  Yesterday, Cahill went 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners (zero walks), 6 Ks, ERA at 2.25.  He’s never gonna give you a fire emoji of 98 MPH or even throw his fastball more than 45% of time.  He is throwing his slider twice as much as last year, cutting his curve’s usage, and after about 11 years in the league, it looks like its paying dividends.  His ground ball rate is over 60% and his walk rate is down to 1.8 with a 8.4 K/9.  What, you a rich man’s Dallas Keuchel?  I will call you, Dynasty’s Carrington.  I could see owning him in almost all mixed leagues.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The answer to this question would ease the minds of owners all across the fantasy universe [insert Avengers joke here]. Chris Archer hasn’t performed well enough to warrant selection in the same stratosphere as his preseason ADP. His strikeout rate is down, walks are up, and he’s getting hit harder than he ever has. This has created the notion that the Rays’ ace is declining, simply because he is approaching the age of 30 with numbers that don’t represent his past performance.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Last week we touched on the Mariners and the propensity for steals in a post-suspension world.  Since then, the navigators of the sea have acquired Denard and Colome, making more SAGNOF situations.  The scorching hot filterless hitter I wanna concentrate your gaze on this week is from the same team with ample speed to be used.  That hitter is Ben Gamel.  The addition of Span to the outfield mix is a bit of a head scratcher fantasy-wise, because someone has to sit and three outfielders have to play.  Gamel over the last 7 games is going streaking across the quad and down the street to On Base Percentage-ville.  His batting average alone is a nice coup for a short term pick-up.  Hitting .381 and an OBP of .458 is a nice end of the OF problem to have.  He is getting his fair share of AB’s and is putting his on base skills to good work too, stealing 3 bases in the past week.  That may seem like small potatoes, but in the world of steals that is a lot by its own standards.  So if you are surfing the waiver wire looking for outfielders with small potatoes to offer, take a long hard look at the Marines outfielder.  On to better and pressing news in SAGNOF-dom, we got charts and snippets of joy for this Memorial Day.  Cheers!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

What is up, party people? Welcome to this lovely Memorial Day. Thanks for taking some time out of your busy holiday weekend to play some DFS on Draft. Fantasy baseball never rests. 

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?

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I went into the Mike Foltynewicz vs. Red Sox in Fenway matchup a spry, jovial young rascal.  The mischievous imp of Chinese food, the rapscallion.  Then Mike Faultywirewitz went 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners (3 BBs), 7 Ks, ERA at 2.55, and I aged forty years.  “I was told just the painting of me is supposed to age.”  That’s me trying to get a refund for my Dorian Grey Albright portrait.  The time Finkynewhitch was on the mound was like the three-year span when I lost my fortune investing in Beanie Babies compressed into two hours.  He just loses all semblance of the strike zone out of completely nowhere.  It’s like, “We’re cruising….so cruising…And now I’m throwing five feet outside the strike zone.”  With that said, it’s hard not to be encouraged — his velocity is up to 96 MPH; his K/9 is up to 10.4; he’s got the best xFIP of his career, and his team should provide run support.  He’s also in his third full year when I like to look for starter breakouts.  The only drawback is his command is a mess.  As long as you watch him pitch with cucumbers on your eyes to combat the wrinkles, you’ll be fine.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Juan Soto & Austin Meadows: Two of the league’s highest touted minor leaguers, Juan Soto and Austin Meadows, were called up within days of each other this past week. Soto obviously was the biggest shocker as he is only 19 years old and had only played eight games in Double-A. Austin Meadows, however, was a bit more of a realistic call up as he is 23 and has been on the call-up radar for over a year now. Prospect lovers are going to freak out that I don’t have them ranked (yet!) in this column. Well the problem is they’re just a bit unknown. There are already reports that Meadows is going to go go back down as soon as Starling Marte is healthy again, despite Meadows crushing the ball in his first 29 ABs (6 runs, 13 hits, 3 HR, 2 SB, .448 AVG.) And Soto also has minor league options left on his contract so with Bryce Harper, Matt Adams and Michael Taylor still on the big league roster and Adam Eaton so slowly, but surely coming back soon — Soto might not be a Nat for long. Where would they rank if they were both given starting jobs for the rest of the season? Well despite the Soto surprise and hype — I like Meadows more. He was looking like a bat that might develop into a 20/20 hitter. His star has definitely dimmed since he was ranked as the #6 prospect before the 2017 season — but the potential is still there. Soto would only be ranked lower because of his age. It’s rare for a 19 year old with barely over 500 plate appearances to make the majors and positively contribute to their team. That’s why the minors exist in general. “Enough jibber and jabber — where Kerry, where?!” Due to their uncertainties I’d start them in the 70 to 80 range with a lot of upward mobility.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Hey, for a change we didn’t have a devastating injury this week! Huzzah! Not only that, we got ourselves a few newcomers to the list who are pretty exciting. The top 20 remains relatively unchanged, although Patrick Corbin gets a bit of a ding for the continued diminished velocity and a dip in his whiffs. Speaking of whiffs, can you Snell that Snell? Snell has a freakin’ 2.78 ERA and has had to face the Red Sox three times already. He’ll come down from that mark for sure, but he’s still really good. I didn’t write him up fully, but I trashed Zack Godley nearly 20 spots. I was as patient as I could be, but those 2017 K:BB gains have evaporated. I also believe I had Reynaldo Lopez a bit high given his lack of strikeouts, and his .218 BABIP through 10 starts is pretty absurd. Let’s check out some more of the interesting movers and shakers this week.

Please, blog, may I have some more?