2018 San Diego Padres Minor League Preview

April 15, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 30 Comments

It is no secret, my admiration for San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller. While many remember the early win now moves in his tenure, it is the scouting and development of young talent that has really caught my eye. During his time in the Rangers organization, under the direction of former fraternity brother Jon Daniels, Preller was tasked with International Scouting. Something the Rangers did pretty well over that period. The same eye for talent on the international market has proven fruitful for the Padres, securing the services of several top signees over the last few periods, including Michel Baez, Adrian Morejon, Gabriel Arias, Jeisson Rosario, and Tirso Ornelas. Some of his recent trades have helped build even greater depth, adding top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. for James Shields, as well as Logan Allen, Anderson Espinoza, Chris Paddack, Josh Naylor, and Esteury Ruiz in a collection of other trades. All this, and we haven’t even touched on some of the recent drafts. In just the last two seasons the Padres have added, MacKenzie Gore, Cal Quantrill, Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Hudson Potts, Luis Campusano, and Mason Thompson. Needless to say I have my work cut out for me in this post. In case you’re not caught up on the Prospect Pod, Lance and I discussed this system on the latest episode. You can listen and read! Shameless Plug! Onto the San Diego Padres Top Prospects.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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Sleepers, STAT! Enter The Boyd

April 14, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 3 Comments

by: Jimothy

Sleepers do not have to lose their meaning after your draft is done and the season has begun. Everyone hunts the waiver wire to find that replacement for an early injury or a late round pick that has you frustrated. A pre-draft sleeper may still be hanging around to be picked up, or a player’s early performance could peak your interest. These posts will reveal those players that are hanging without a team that you’ll want to grab before anyone else notices.

Matt Boyd was a pitcher on shortlist of players I considered writing about prior to the start of the season. Mostly going undrafted, Boyd stood out as a potential deep sleeper as he’s been gradually starting more games over the last few seasons. Many managers will not find his 5+ ERA or his being a Tiger enticing. He doesn’t have a sexy K or BB rate either. Despite those concerns, Boyd may have been one of the unluckiest pitchers last season. He’s only started two games so far this season, but so far he looks to be building off of last year’s basics…

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OPS Leaguers Unite! Ohtani and Anderson!

April 14, 2018 | OPS Leagues | 4 Comments

by: Phil B.

So I attended Shohei Ohtani’s start last Sunday and as such this post is going to have some pics that I took along with a quick recap of the experience. But since this is a website about fantasy baseball, we’re also going to talk about Brian Anderson. Let’s get to it!

Sunday April 8th was a sunny day in Anaheim. We’re running late to pick up friends to go to the game; find out we have a flat tire and have to uber it. Just get there in time to see first pitch. Drinking tall boy cans of Modelo, eating hot dogs and peanuts we get to watch Ohtani face the A’s. He then proceeded to made guys look silly. Take Khris Davis in two pictures:

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Aniballer Status?

April 14, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 32 Comments

by: Dan Pants

Anibal Sanchez picks up the win is something I never thought I’d get to write again. I haven’t owned him since 2016, but my ERA and WHIP still haven’t recovered. Well, the Aniballer is back and he shut down the Chicago Cubs Friday night pitching six innings, allowing just three hits, no runs and a walk while punching out six for his first win. He’s now rocking a sultry 1.29 ERA and 1.21 WHIP with a 14/5 K/BB rate through two starts. Not amazing, but a whole lot more amazinger than the 6.41 ERA, 1.59 WHIP he put up last year in 28 games. Oh bah gawd, the WHIP! It burrrns! My favorite thing about Anibal is that his ESPN profile page has a pic of him in a Twins hat, a team which, to my knowledge, he has never played for. Hmm, suspect. Clearly, we cannot fully trust Sanchez just yet but two straight quality road starts against two of the leagues best offenses has got me #tbt’ing to 2013 Anibal! That was Sanchez’ best year statistically and 2 years before the cold, sad, crushing, harshness of the city of Detroit damaged his psyche irreparably. It may not be Miami, but Anibal is in Atlanta now, and they do have Migos. Also, it’s the National League which is a better place than any to revive your career. Sanchez has a fairly nice match up at home versus the Phillies next week and I might take a chance seeing if I can rebottle some of those good ol’ fashioned 2013 Anibalic K-Roids I used to get on the streets of the ‘Roit. B Rabbit sold them to me. April has always been Sanchez’ best month statistically so if you’re going to buy now might be the time. Anibal’s available almost everywhere and he’s at the very least worth watching as he tries to win back our trust in Atlanta. Maintain Aniballer status, and maybe I’ll consider streaming you next week. I won’t tell my ratios if you don’t.

Here’s what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:

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FantasyDraft: Taillon Takes His Ball To Miami

April 14, 2018 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 2 Comments

by: MattTruss

His baseball people! Geez, look where your mind goes, straight to the gutter! Speaking of gutters, the Miami Marlins are the baseball equivalent of that black gunk you find trapped in your gutter at the end of the fall when the rain and decomposing leaves have been hanging out there for weeks on end. In other words, they stink. Meanwhile, Jameson Taillon ($23,300) has been out of this world in two starts with a 1.26 ERA and 0.488 WHIP. Miami has a league worst OPS vs. RHP of 0.562 and can’t get out of their own way offensively. For the evening slate, Taillon is my top choice. In short, don’t be a nut, play Taillon.

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 you do. It’s how we know you care!

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Prospect Podcast: Top San Diego Padres Prospects, And Scouting Vlad Jr. & Bo

April 14, 2018 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 41 Comments

by: Geoff

What a week here on the Prospect Podcast! Not only are we finishing up our pre-season preview with some of the top prospects and systems in the game, the MiLB games kicked off last Thursday, so we’ve had a week worth of looks. Including… live looks at the dynamic duo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Lance and I begin the podcast with a detailed discussion of what we saw from Vladdy, Bo, Brendan Rodgers, and others, before diving into some news-makers from the first week of Minor League games. This all culminates in a spirited discussion of the unbelievably talented, and deep, San Diego Padres system. When I say deep, I mean it, this should’ve, could’ve, gone three hours. We start off with Fernando Tatis Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Michel Baez, and Luis Urias, before talking some Joey Lucchesi, Jeisson Rosario, Tirso Ornelas, Cal Quantrill, Franchy Cordero, and so many more. It’s an action packed hour and half of info. 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 Prospect Podcast:

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Buy-Senzelnial

April 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 496 Comments

by: Grey

The other day Cougs told me her eye drops went from $20 a bottle to $240. Naturally, I didn’t even know she used eye drops, because I don’t pay attention to much aside from who’s the backup catcher on the Nationals. So, I said to her, “$240?! Wait, you’ve been spending $20 on eye drops up until now?! Why?” She replied, “I have dry eyes, you know this.” “Dry eyes? Get some Visine!” “Visine doesn’t work.” Thinking on my feet, I responded, “Fill a bucket with water and I’ll dunk your head.” She didn’t go for that, so I continued, “Buy a $12 Super Soaker and I’ll spray your eyes whenever your eyes are feeling dry!” She started to leave the room. “Is this a hot flash thing? Don’t buy $240 eye drops! Please!” And that was how that conversation ended. Segue Alert! Nick Senzel could be a bucket of water instead of $240 eye drops. There were a lot of expensive eye drop, middle infielders at the draft, but if you grab Nick Senzel, he could be the same and free off of waivers. In Prospector Ralph’s top 100 prospects for fantasy baseball, he compared Senzel to Alex Bregman. Seems like a great comp to me. Senzel should be a 20+ HRs, 15+ SBs, .270 hitter immediately. The only thing stopping Senzel is ‘When will he be called up?’ Word on the street he could be up this weekend. If that’s the case, you’re gonna wanna own him in every league. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Closer Report: Worth The Price Of Gas

April 13, 2018 | Closers, Middle Relievers | 25 Comments

by: Smokey

Speed kills. Whether that be by the arm or legs. But this isn’t no SAGNOF post, this is the weekly look at strictly bullpens. At what point do we stop looking at velocity and its effectiveness being a correlative? Probably never, as the statcast era has never looked stronger as geeks type in the square roots of derivatives to figure out the best angle of deflection for them to walk down the stairs in their parents basement. It’s a tale as old as time, and people like me mock math and numbers because, well… I am lazy. Numbers always existed, but now they are so finite that you can get a feet per second drop of a the pin that no one can hear. So maybe I should delve into the fray here and take a look at the early season velocity for closers and how they compare to last year and how they correlate to K success. Velocity isn’t the end all be all of reliever success, but is fully in the forefront when studs like Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen are teetering on slow-pokes compared days of yore. So I made a hand dandy chart, comparing last years average fastball velocity, K/9 and Swinging strike % to this years to see where the relationship between success, worry and full on panic in the closer realms exist.

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Getting Ahead In H2H Week 3: Pitch, Please!

April 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Head-to-Head Leagues | 12 Comments

by: Yost

We are at the latter-half point of our Week 2 matchups, so hopefully you have secured a win in your first matchup and are working on another. Or maybe your team started out rough and you dropped the first one, and are looking for redemption Week 2. Or maybe, just maybe, you lost the first matchup and you are realizing there is no way you will come back to win this one either. Whatever the case may be, don’t panic (or celebrate) yet! Especially in H2H leagues that each category counts as a win/loss, a week is never over until it is actually over. The season is a grind, and those that pay the closest attention and don’t give up will usually be victorious at the end.

Last week I went over some hitters to look at that may help fill the void for an injured or under performing player that you no longer want. Starting pitchers are an especially tough breed, whether due to their increased susceptibility to injury or extreme variance in performance. You never want to give up on a pitcher after just a couple starts, but sometimes it is incredibly hard not to with seemingly better options available. Often times you are better off swapping a later round choice you thought would break out for a pitcher that has been seeing a much more favorable start. Especially if you like streaming pitchers to maximize K’s and win opportunities, the waiver wire churns out some solid options to roll with. Here are some starting pitchers to keep an eye on if you are in need of some help…

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FanDuel: Picks for April 13th, 2018

April 13, 2018 | DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: HouseofShlain

This is an interesting slate, which I hope you’ll all enjoy. There’s a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of what-have-yous. A lot of pitchers. I think I wrote up nine different pitchers. Surely, even if you play multiple lineups, you aren’t going to use nine different pitchers on FanDuel. So I gave you a lot of food for thought. I’m just sorry it’s soup, I know I should keep more of your favorites around. On the offensive side of the ball, it’s the usual suspects at the top for building blocks in both cash games and tournaments and cheaper options with the platoon advantage.

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!

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Maybe MLB Accused The Wrong Polanco

April 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 408 Comments

by: Grey

This preseason Gregory Polanco was a Capri Sun. Yes, the pouch drink that you need to stab 17 times to get the straw in. Crazy, right? What’s crazier is I have an explanation! Ready? Here we go, readers! There is something just completely gross about liquids in a pouch. Put some delicious nacho cheese in a ziplock bag. You do not want to eat that anymore. Seriously, cut the corner and squeeze it into your mouth. So nasty! An IV bag? Yeah, that’s appetizing. Why not grab a colostomy bag and cut out the middle man? Bagged liquids are gross. However — again with some stank! — HOWEVER, Capri Sun is surprisingly good. Okay, u-turn to Polanco. This preseason the Pirates looked like a mess. No one really wanted any of them. Marte had a suspension last year, but even he was kind of, “Well, he’s ranked here, so I guess I’ll take him.” Polanco, though? You didn’t even want him around pick 150 overall! It was a “Hmm…Take a boring MI or Polanco” pick. And a lot of you took Ian Kinsler instead! Yesterday, Gregory Polanco went 2-for-5 with two more homers, and is now up to 5 homers, and, as Anime Grey said in the first Buy, Sell, Hold video, Polanco is still a buy. Polanco is orange-flavored water in a silver pouch, the ultimate Capri Sun. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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One Man’s Trash: More Bour Than Bull

April 12, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 20 Comments

by: Son

Two days ago, Justin Bour hit 2 home runs against the New York Mets. Prior to that game, though, Bour had 6 hits in 37 at-bats with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. As a result, my inbox was inundated with questions regarding Bour and the ownership percentage in ESPN leagues went down 13.4% to 59.1%. My inbox wasn’t inundated with questions regarding Bour. That honor goes to the Nigerian prince that continues to profess his willingness to help out society by giving everyone money. The decrease in ownership, though, was indeed real. Is it warranted? The plate discipline numbers seem fine. Bour is swinging a little less than normal, but the contact rates are in line. The batted ball profile is where things are out of whack. More ground balls, fewer line drives, more infield pop ups, less hard contact, tons of soft contact, and more hits to the opposite field. No surprise then that the BABIP is .200 and batting average is .190. The strikeout rate of 22.2% is close to the career average, but the walk rate of 6.7% is well below the 10% career average.

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