I thought about going with “Yadda Yadda Yadier” as the title for this week’s rant, but I used that line last week when discussing the top catcher in fantasy baseball points leagues. While I would only be stealing from myself I wanted something new. If only Molina had homered three times last night this would have been perfect. I still think it’s good enough, and good enough is good enough for me. Speaking of “good enough”, Yadier Molina has been far better than good enough. In fact, he has been fantastic. The dude’s got 6 home runs, 16 runs batted in, a .316 batting average and 2 stolen bases to boot! With 69 points Yadier is in a league of his own at the catching position. Eat your hearts out Gary Sanchez owners! While you were busy drafting Sanchez in the third round I drafted Manny Machado. And when I drafted Molina in the 12th, you were stuck taking Paul DeJong.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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See all of today’s starting lineups

# MLB Starting Lineups For Wed 8/6
ARI | ATH | ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CHW | CIN | CLE | COL | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SEA | SF | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH | DET | OAK

Giants starter Jeff Samardzija is a shark lurking in the waters on Tuesday, ready to put up a big performance for those who draft him. He is only projected as the seventh-best starter, but I think Shark is your best option outside of the three aces pitching today. He went five scoreless against a tough Angels lineup in his first time out, and that was when he was restricted to just 80 pitches. With a longer leash, Samardzija should have an even better start against the Nats. A popular sleeper candidate before his injury, Samardzija posted a 24.2% K-rate with just a 3.8% walk-rate in 2017, putting up a 3.63 Deserved Run Average. He’s not a top-tier ace, but he’s still a very useful fantasy starter, and people will start realizing that soon enough.

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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*walking through a packed hallway, head nodding at the ladies* “What’s up, chiquitas?  Que paso, senoritas?  Assume there was an upside down question mark in front of that question.  I’m feeling pretty good, and it’s not just because I’m wearing my extra tight bicycle shorts that make me aroused when I cough.  Nope!  RONALD ACUNA IS UP!  Hey, so are my letters.  Preston Tucker?  How about you Tuck off?!  I’m so pumped!!!  Seriously.  I wanna make love to my fantasy team where I have Acuna.” *realizing I don’t know what hallway this is and need to leave before I’m arrested*  Here’s my Ronald Acuna fantasy.  Go look at the GIF I have there and tell me you’re not aroused.  Don’t send pics!  I said he’d be up mid-April.  Oops, one week off!  And his projections were 74/17/77/.304/21 in 514 ABs!  I need to sit down.  Wait, I am sitting!!!  AHHHH!!!  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Week three sure was eventful in the Razzball Commenter Leagues.  In fact, it brought about an entirely new rule to the RCLs. In fairness, this is a rule we had back when the leagues were on ESPN, but I thought it was nice to not carry it over.  Unfortunately, as with all privileges, the few spoil it for the masses. If you have made a trade in the RCLs yet, you would have noticed that your trade went through immediately. There was no waiting period, no vetoing, nothing.  You clicked “Accept” and poof, the players were swapped. Well, several very lopsided trades later and we decided enough was enough. Now when you make a trade, there will be a two week waiting period where the league can veto your trade.  It takes four managers vetoing to cancel a trade. This is especially helpful in the money leagues where apparently even $10 is enough to turn people in colluding cheaters. We’re better than this RCLers! Just in case though, hopefully this new rule helps leagues police themselves so Rudy and myself aren’t in the business of judging trades.  More trade talk and the rest of the week that was, week three below:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

The Champ is here! The Razzball podcast is back for another week with a ton of baseball to chat up. We start the show off with a brief discussion of Grey’s deteriorating eyesight. Then we jump right into the string of callups over the last few weeks. We talk Gleyber Torres, Teoscar Hernandez, Jack Flaherty, and more. Next up is some of the newsmakers over the last week, including Johnny Cueto and Masahiro Tanaka. It’s another banner week here on the podcast. I’ll shutup, you don’t need a detailed rundown. Just listen to the damn 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:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

One of the best things on Draft.com is the ability to easily play the early evening games that are popping up more and more. Other sites leave them off their main slates, and that makes them the stray cats of the DFS world. Which is a shame, because there’s some good baseball being played between 6:00 and 7:00 Eastern Standard Time. So open up your homes/lineups to a cat like Mitch Haniger.

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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Yesterday, Miguel Andujar went 2-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 3rd homer, hitting .316, and slugging around 4,000 in the last week.  I think I know what is happening here.  Yankees fans, in their meathead accent, are cheering him on, but he feels like he constantly has to re-announce himself to the fan base like they’ve forgotten about him.  Imagine how maddening that must be.  They scream, “ANDUJAR?!”  And, Miguel, shakes his head, thinking to himself, “Why do they keep asking, ‘And you are?’  They know who I am, don’t they?  Will I never be good enough?  I guess I have to homer again.”  And so it goes, so it goes.  When Drury returns, Andujar might get squeezed for playing time, but right now I see no way they could ever bench him.  Prospector Ralph and I talk a bit about Andujar on the podcast, and I mention how Andujar could outproduce Gleyber and be the Rookie of the Year.  They will know, ‘And you are!’  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Each week on the Razzball Prospect Podcast, Ralph and I often touch on prospects we expect to see within the coming weeks. Over the weekend I’m convinced every General Manager in baseball listened to our podcast and decided to rid us of all talking points for our next show. Dissapoting? Indeed. But does this mean we’re finally getting more looks at prospects on the big stage? Absolutely.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Gleyber Torres (25-30%) [MASSIVE BID POTENTIAL] is one of the highest ranked prospects projected to come up this season is Gleyber Torres. He will make his first start for the New York Yankees on Sunday, April 22nd and, according to Jack Curry, slots in as the starting 2B for the rest of the year. The upside is evident based on his track record in the minors. Always young for his level, Torres has accumulated 19 home runs in his last 180 games with impressive BB/K ratios. We have seen prospects called up only to manifest career-high power numbers in the MLB, so Gleyber could easily be another one of these narratives. This week the bid is for an above-average approach with decent power and speed to provide excellent fantasy value in a star-studded New York Yankees lineup.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

I have gone over the preseason, in-season, and shortly in 5-6 months, the postseason love for all things Tim Anderson.  No, the another SB dude from the other, other side of Chicago.  Which in my mind is a triangle, or from the angle that I am drinking at, it’s a complete hypotenuse.  Yoan Moncada over the last 11 days has proven that the Go-Go Sox are in full affect, or flavor.  Whatever the millennials wanna call it.  Is rad still a thing?  Never the who, he has 4 steals over the last 11 games and the propensity, which we thought was potential in the preseason for a lot of the southsiders, is totally a legit thing.  The license to steal (like an opposite version of Bond, or a Fredo Bandido of steals) has the Sox players that hit towards the top of the lineup, when on base, gives them full autonomy to take it.  And by it, I mean the steal of a bag.  Not only do I love it, I would condone a trade for Yoan at some expense that is a sort of overspend.  His hit rate screams breakout, and I mean who doesn’t like a screamer.  Lets everyone know who is laying down the law.  Gives us all a little extra wink-wink.  Extra is right!  He has hit near the top of the order for days and it should continue.  The one thing that bad teams are good at is ulterior fantasy goodies, and steals is definitely one of those stats. So do yourself a favor, go propose to the Yoan owner and say would you have and hold me forever, and ever, and trade me him for a slightly over pay.  Your stats won’t hate you in the morning.  Let’s see what else is hopping on the good foot and stealing the good things in the saves and steals department.  But with charts for her pleasure…or yours.

Picking on catchers in daily roster moves is fun.  Here are the SV leaders for steals against this season. Not ever stat is a good stat, especially when you have catchers and the frequency of steals against.  It isn’t always their fault, but it is not, not their fault.  Ya dig?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Anyone? Buehler? Walker Buehler, one of the LA Dodgers’ best pitching prospects, is getting the call-up to face the Miami Marlins. He had a rough go-around last year in relief appearances in his brief taste of big league ball, but nothing a match-up versus one of the worst-hitting teams can’t fix. He has been sharp in his three AAA starts and has a solid chance to record a win, as the Dodgers are huge favorites. Marlins are carrying a .588 OPS against RHP, and have only managed to hit .218 during that time. Strikeout potential is also there, as the Marlins ranked in the top 10 in Ks. If you are willing to risk, you can load up on some big bats and score some value with Buehler. Let’s take a look at the rest of the picks….

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! 

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Gleyber Torres was called up by the Yankees and here’s what I said this offseason, “My love for Gleyber is admittedly less coalesced into an actual thing than you’re gonna find from just about any Yankees fan.  “Ya godda be fahkin jokin wit me right here, kid.  Gleyber Torres is gonna be the greatest of all-time, son.  All.  Time.  I wanna coalesce my fist into ya fahkin head with your sissy-boy words.  Why don’t ya use a word like fuhgeddaboudit?  Before you answer, I need to go with my mom to have her mustache waxed.” That’s your run-of-the-mill Yankees fan.  See, Gleyber is already being fitted for Monument Park in Yankee Stadium before he even plays a game.” And that’s me quoting me!  In fantasy, he looks more like, Gley… *pinkie to mouth* bore!  He is a borderline top ten MLB prospect.  That’s the Gleyberline, even.  He was in Prospect Ralph’s top 100 fantasy baseball prospects.  The problem (it’s not much of a problem), he’s a hit tool guy first.  What does that mean?  He’s going to hit for average first.  That’s not a bad thing necessarily, but for fantasy when a guy is called up and he’s a 40+ steal or homer guy, they might have a bigger immediate impact, immaterial?  Immeasurable to immortality or immune–Okay, now I’m just IM’ing.  I would own him in any league, no matter how shallow.  There’s a chance you can do better in shallower leagues.  His outcome this year is anywhere from Orlando Arcia to Alex Bregman.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?