FantasyDraft: When There’s a Short Slate, Go All In On Pitching

September 18, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 4 Comments

With only seven games on the schedule today we’re spending the bulk of our money on starting pitching, because once you get passed the top 3 arms, there’s not a whole lot left. Clayton Kershaw, $26,700 at Philadelphia and Patrick Corbin, $18,600 at San Diego are on top of the Streamonator and I’m feeling both matchups. They’re both lefties, the’ye both facing two terrible offenses who strike out more than most teams in the league and they’re the cream of the crop tonight. It’s Kershaw’s four start coming off the DL, so he should be in a good groove and he won’t be on a pitch count less than a 100 pitches. The reins should be off tonight and I’m thinking he’ll come away with a W and double digit Ks. Corbin got rocked for 8 ER in 4.1 innings at home against the Padres back on September 8th. Look for a monster bounce back game in pitcher friendly Petco tonight, as I’m sure he’s been studying tape. Now that we’ve spent a good chunk on our pitchers. let’s get creative and see what we can do on the offensive side.

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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

Boyd, Did That Surprise Me

September 18, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 270 Comments

by: Grey

Yesterday, on the last day of his H2H playoffs, Flavor Flav’s fantasy baseball team, “Yeah Boyd!!!” had a day to remember. Fun fact! Flavor Flav also plays fantasy baeball, drafting Hoopz, New York and Pumkin in the first round was the way to go, so surprising to see him take Brandi, who wasn’t even in Flavor of Love but on Rock of Love. Rookie mistake! Or maybe I should say roofie mistake. So, yesterday, Matt Boyd went 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.33, losing his no-hitter with two outs in the 9th inning. He throws a handful of pitches, literally. Five in total: fastball (92 MPH), cutter, slider (slutter?), change and curve. His arsenal is nothing to boot (footy pun!). Of course, five pitches that are all garbage isn’t exactly the meow’s cat. As of yesterday, only his curve was a plus pitch. He is only 26 years old, so maybe a 5.00 xFIP doesn’t give the whole picture/pitcher (stutterer!). Of course, at this time of the year, only his next start matters, and the Stream-o-Nator actually has it as the smallest of positives. So, you got it, Flav, “Yeah, Boyd!!!” Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Still Kind of Early 2018 ADP Guesses

September 17, 2017 | Uncategorized | 6 Comments

by: Lance

Second edition of a post where I take a player’s potential 2017 stat line, sprinkle in a bit of Lance bias, and determine where said player might fall come early 2018 ADP.

To read the first edition of this column, and for a slightly better breakdown of my simple methodology, follow this link. In that post I covered: Anthony Rendon, Luis Castillo, Alex Bregman, Josh Bell, and Zack Godley. Below I’ll touch on four more players; two hitters and two pitchers.

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FantasyDraft: Sonny Side Up

September 17, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft |

by: FredWord

The anxiety is starting to settle in as we approach the 3rd to last Sunday of the regular season. We are all frantically streaming pitchers in our season long league playoffs. We are also managing our fantasy football lineups. This time of year is always the most exciting yet terrifying because we have so many things going on at the same time. If you’re like me, you’re trying to squeeze every last penny out of daily baseball before it goes dormant for 6 months. I know baseball is a long season however two weeks after the season ends I still check my lineup because I start to miss it. Alright, enough doom and gloom lets move onto today’s slate. There are 3 pitchers over $20k pitching today and Sonny Gray is not one of them. He comes in at a cool $18,400. Sonny gives you a bit of salary relief and the upside at this price. Surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, Sonny has only faced Baltimore once this season. He shut them out in 5 2/3’s. The Yankees have been letting him pitch right around 100 pitches, so he has a real shot to walk away with a win and quality start. I said it yesterday the Yankees own the Orioles this year and have been limiting their production this week.

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!

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Prospect Rankings: Top 10 2nd Base Prospects

September 17, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 32 Comments

by: Geoff

What a difference a year makes. Had I wrote this post in 2016 we’d be discussing one of the deepest positional player pools going. But just 12 months later, and there’s no Moncadas, Albies, or Calhouns to be found. Players that would have graced the back end of my top 10 last year, are now ranked at the top of the heap. That’s not to say there aren’t some impact bats in the mix at the keystone. But it’s a mix of transformative players losing rookie status, and the talent not being as close to the majors as it had been in previous years. There’s another element to all this too. Much like with third base, some of the top 2nd baseman are still playing shortstop. It wouldn’t shock anybody if Bo Bichette, Brendan Rodgers, Franklin Barreto, or even Gleyber Torres ended up at 2nd. So there’s a lot to debate in this ranking. Everyone is bound to have some variance and disagreement. But what’s wrong with some disagreement amongst the consensus? Call me crazy, but it’s a lot more fun when there’s debate and a wide range of opinion. I mean you’ve seen my twitter, right? Without further delay, it’s the Top 10 2nd Base Prospects for 2018.

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Two-Start Starters, Week 25: On Your Marquez!

September 16, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 37 Comments

by: mikeMaher

Welcome to the home stretch, boys, gals, and in-betweens. Like we discussed last week, the two-start starters list has been dwindling due to expanded rosters, young arms having their innings limited, and many teams opting for six-man rotations as a result. This week, with many teams also having an off day, there are fewer than 30 options for two-start starters. (By the way, fogimon, will you be watching Corey Kluber’s second start tomorrow? #KissyEmoji)

There are still some options for two-start streamers, however. Checking in with Streamonator, here are the two-start starters for this week with a positive dollar value who are owned in less than 75% of RCLs:

German Marquez COL, $16.80, 20%
Jharel Cotton OAK, $5.60, 18%
Blake Snell TB, $4.70, 31%
Tyler Mahle CIN, $1.70, 1%
Dan Straily MIA, $0.70, 53%

Despite the light list, we still have five starters with positive dollar values. Of the names on this list, I like Marquez and Straily the most. Snell I would gamble on if I needed to, but I would stay away from Cotton and my cousin Tyler Mahle (not really my cousin).

Marquez shines through this week because of his matchups: at San Francisco and at San Diego. Two teams who have struggled mightily at the plate, and he gets them in their pitcher-friendly ballparks. He is not without risk, but you could not ask for two better matchups.

I’m not sure how Straily is still only owned in 53% of RCLs, but sign me up for that, too. His matchups aren’t as good (vs. Mets and at Diamondbacks) because of that trip to Arizona, but I am still willing to roll with him over the others on the list.

Snell is meh, but he doesn’t scare me as much as Cotton or Mahle. Despite their positive value, if I am in need of starts in H2h playoffs, I am not going near either of those two. Their potential for disaster outweighs any value they provide, at least in my eyes. Stay away and save yourself.

And now, to the charts!

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Bear or Bull: Yolmer Is The First MLB Player To…

September 16, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball |

by: Son

The suspense must be killing you. Yolmer Sanchez is the first MLB player to what? There are times when a wham, bam, thank you ma’am or sir are in order. You’re on the run and you hear sirens? Perfectly acceptable. You’re at home chillin’ like a…..You hear someone pull into the driveway? Gotta knock it out real quick. Now, I try not to be a selfish person. I like to please. Sometimes it turns into a wham, bam, what the hell was that? But, at least I tried.

Anyways, Sanchez’s full name is Yolmer Carlos Javier Sanchez Yanez. I’m guessing he went with Carlos, as that would make it easier to transition in the USA. I’m kind of curious as to the Sanchez Yanez part? Is his last name Sanchez or Yanez? Now, I’m thinking five pieces of paper were thrown into a hat and then….the magic happened.

So, when the White Sox drafted him in 2009, his name was Carlos Sanchez. At 5′ 10″ 175 pounds, he projected as a utility infielder that would make a living playing solid defense and making contact. Which basically translates to “meh.” Over an eight-year career, he played in 788 games. He never hit more than 10 home runs in any season and often had an average in the .250-.260-ish range. 201 of those games have been at the major league level.

Then, a funny thing happened in 2017. He changed his name to Yolmer. He’s now 195 pounds. And he’s hit 11 home runs in 465 plate appearances. Ok, he’s probably weighed 195 pounds for a while now, but 11 home runs? If that’s not evidence for funny balls, then I don’t know what is. There’s a non-zero chance that it could be the magic of the name hat, though.

So, what to make of Yolmer going forward?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Daniel Tames Phillies In Lion’s Mengden

September 16, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 11 Comments

by: Dan Pants

As the story goes, Daniel Mengden entered the Lion’s Den Friday night with a 6.59 ERA through 17 career major league starts, and somehow left the game with his first career complete game shut out allowing just two hits and striking out seven retiring the last 11 batters in the row for his first win of the year. He looked dominant at times allowing only two base runners in the outing with Philadelphia not being able to manage any hard contact off the young right hander, who’s got a funky handle-bar mustache and an even funkier looking windup/delivery. This was by far the best start of the 24-year old’s young career, and just his second scoreless start in the majors. He added his first career hit as well and scored a run to help his cause. Whata night for the youngster! After struggling with a 6.50 ERA, and 1.61 WHIP through 14 starts last year, and two subpar outings in May/June of this year, Mengden has returned to the rotation in September and now put up back-to-back quality starts including a six inning two earned run performance against the fearsome Astros line up last week. Mengden may not be the safest fantasy option out there on waivers, but the A’s seem to be playing the role of spoiler late in the year and he remains a pitcher available in most leagues. I’d take a flier on Mengden, bible readers know how Daniel fared against the lions, let’s hope he can keep it going as he heads to the Tigers den next week in Detroit.

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

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FanDuel: My Bum is in My Lineup

September 16, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel, Fantasy Baseball DFS | 3 Comments

by: FredWord

Say it ain’t so, the Indians win streak has ended at 22 games. That was an exciting run and it looks like the final 3 weeks are going to be tight. I want to thank VictoriaB for filling in for me last week while I was prepping for Hurricane Irma. Luckily, Tampa was spared from any major damage. Moving on, Madison Bumgarner gets a delicious matchup against the Diamondbacks at home today. MadBum sports a 3.00 ERA vs the Diamondbacks this year. Further, he has 25 K’s in 21 innings vs. them. The ownership is going to be lower on him this week given his struggles in his last 2 starts. I’m assuming Carrasco will be the highest owned player today. With that being said I think the value lies in MadBum today at$9,200.

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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Prospect Podcast: 2017 End-of-Season Prospect Positional Rankings: Third Base

September 16, 2017 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 10 Comments

by: Halp

Will computer programmers for billion-dollar corporations find a way for Shohei Otani to be eligible as both a pitcher and a hitter in fantasy? These are the tough questions Abner Doubleday surely pondered when he invented baseball in 1839 (Doubleday invented baseball like Al Gore invented the internet and global warming). It’s also the question that Ralph Lifshitz and I ponder to start the podcast, along with touching on Willie Calhoun and Tyler Glasnow’s recent call-ups. We then dive deep into our third base rankings, debating if Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the #1 prospect in baseball, Colton Welker vs. Dermis Garcia, and how to value the proximity and safety of Jeimer Candelario and Brian Anderson. We cover everybody from Nick Senzel, Michael Chavis, and Miguel Andujar, to Nolan Jones, Sheldon Neuse, Yairo Munoz, Ryan Vilade, and many more. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 15% 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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If You Need To Eye Tim, You Should Buy Said Eyed Tim

September 15, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 167 Comments

by: Grey

What’s in a name? I believe a lot. I come from the new age school of thought that if you name your kid, Quimby, his first words will be, “Err-ah.” Name your kid, Grey Albright, he’ll be pessimistic but wildly intelligent, shining light on the darkest corners of the fantasy globe. Name your kid, Tim Anderson, and *stretches* Sorry, I fell asleep, who were we talking about? Oh, Tim Anderson, right. *bumps head on desk* Sorry, just dozed off again. Who were we talking– *sees Tim Anderson’s name, falls off chair, curls into fetal position* Nighty-night time. Rename Tim Anderson, to Giancarlo Anderson, and you want his babies, assuming he wants you to have his babies. It’s important to get consent first, I learned this the hard way with the other Giancarlo. So, I’m going to go a little crazy about Anderson this offseason, but this post is just about what he can do over the next two weeks. That would be best informed by what he’s done over the last week: a home run, four steals and hitting near-.400. As the poet in me wants to say, time is nil, make Tim nigh. Okay, I’m going back to calling him Giancarlo Anderson. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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Bullpen Report: Investing in Windians

September 15, 2017 | Middle Relievers |

by: Smokey

I have said it here previously that grabbing relievers from a hot team or a team on a winning streak is usually a fantastic strategy from a holds perspective. I really have said it multiple times, so my memory is better than your’s. The Indians are in unprecedented territory as the team is in the midst of a win streak for the ages. It seems like two Hatteberg’s and maybe half a David Justice ago that we remember the A’s had a win streak of twenty. But now the Indians are on their own 20-plus win streak. Winning is a team effort, but Holds are what we care about in the Bullpen report. The Indians Bullpen over the course of their win streak is just over a buck fitty, and that’s not what matters for this post. The accumulation of goodies is what makes them all shiny. The group of Bryan Shaw, Nick Goody, Tyler Olson and Joe Smith have totaled 20 holds over their last 20 games. That total is just crazy, because since the all star break (which was 40 plus games ago) the have more holds than six teams do in total since said All Star break. So investing in Cleveland for bullpen stuff is where it’s at currently. Chase the win streak to aide in your pursuit of a Holds championship. Let’s see what else is going down in the world of holds and bullpens…

Please, blog, may I have some more?