FantasyDraft: All Aboard The S.S. K Machine

June 12, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft |

Stephen Strasburg, $24,800 is taking the mound tonight against the Braves and I for one purchased my ticket for the SS K machine back on Thursday. The good news is, there’s still tickets available, the bad news is they’re a little pricey. I hate to use the word underrated when it comes to Strasburg, but all you hear about is Kershaw, Mad Max, Keuchel and Greinke. Where’s the Love for Strasburg? His last four starts are ridiculous, 3-1 with 5 ER and 41 K’s over his last 27.2 innings. Yes, you read that correctly, 41 K’s over his last 27.2 innings (Mic drop). I’m matching Strasburg up with Jameson Taillon, $13,600 who’s got the Rockies fresh off the DL. Now I typically don’t like starting guys coming off the DL due to pitch counts, but Taillon wasn’t gone due to any baseball related injury and he was hitting 97 on the radar gun in his last rehab start. He was straight money before the sudden cancer diagnosis and I’m sure it’ll be an emotional night for the Pirates team upon his return. I think Taillon will have a little extra juice in the tank tonight and at this price I can’t pass him up. Now that we got our pitching locked in let’s see what offense is going to help us cash in.

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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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Sun 8/3
	ARI \| ATH \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR \| WSH \| ATL \| CIN \| OAK

Ryon Healy, Domingo Santana …And The Top 100 Hitters, Week 11

June 12, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 78 Comments

by: mikeMaher

I use a number of different tools, sites, and metrics every week to adjust my rankings and to determine exactly who I should focus on each week. I usually try to focus on players owned in less than 60% leagues, players who are rising or falling and who you should probably buy low or sell high on, or players who are new to the Top 100 or on the cusp of joining the ranks. It has only been a few weeks since I took over these rankings for the legendary M@, so I am still working on creating the most efficient system (I spend wayyyyyy too much time agonizing over these rankings every Sunday).

I start by going over my notes and spreadsheets from the previous week, then take a peek at Razzball’s Player Rater and look at the current rankings and the Rest of Season Projections. Once I jot down some notes from those, I take a look at ESPN’s PR15 Player Ratings for the last 15 days. Lastly, I check FanGraphs with a focus on the best wOBA for the last 14 days and the last 30 days. Usually, once I am finished with that process, I have an idea of who I am going to write about and a starting point for adjusting the rankings.

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Looking Good Brinson. Feeling Good Lewis!

June 12, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 698 Comments

by: Grey

I’m at my computer checking baseball news about six months a year. Give or take about five hours here and there. On Saturday, it was one of those times I was away from my computer, due to a family wedding in Cape May. Closer change, prospect call-up. Happens when you’re away from the computer, that’s it. Call it a wrap. With Prospector Ralph in the league, there’s no chance for me. Around 6 PM, I got the dreaded text. “Lewis Brinson was called up.” Too bad I didn’t see it until about 7 PM. Had a lavender-flavored champagne in one hand, a lobster claw in the other hand, my mom was like, “You have butter dripping down your chin,” my grandfather was complaining Bruno Mars doesn’t have good choruses in his songs, and there was the text, sitting there on a locked iPhone screen. Done. Sigh. Well, if you got him, or can still get Brinson, you should. Jonathan Villar hit the DL, and, brucely, he wasn’t playing well and Keon Broxton (1-for-4 and his 7th homer yesterday) moves to a platoon role. Unless Brinson totally flames out, he’s up, and playing for good in center. In Triple-A, he had six homers and seven steals in 45 games, which is what I’d expect from him in the majors. Your basic 25/25/.280 guy. Yesterday, he hit leadoff went 0-for-2 with two walks and stole his first base. Yes, he should be owned everywhere, and could be the Trea Turner-type call-up of the year. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Willie Nelson Wishes He Was Jimmy Nelson

June 11, 2017 | Uncategorized | 23 Comments

by: Lance

Quick, what do Luis Severino and Jimmy Nelson have in common?

If you answered both have a strikeout rate above 24%, a walk rate below 6%, and the exact same FIP before Saturday’s slate of games, you’re correct! I’m a big fan of arbitrary thresholds for drawing comparisons between players, even when it works in the opposite direction of my above example. Why don’t we try another?

What do Bronson Arroyo and Jordan Zimmermann have in common?

If you answered they’re the only qualified pitchers in baseball with FIPs above 6, you’re correct! Also of note, Zimmermann is roughly 10% more owned than Arroyo. To all those out there who stopped managing your teams in week two, football season doesn’t start for another 13 weeks; you have no excuse.

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FantasyDraft: Sunday Funday

June 11, 2017 | DFS, FantasyDraft | 2 Comments

by: MattTruss

Sundays are fantastic. Around my house, they are typically the recovery day of the weekend. Sundays usually go unscheduled, there is sleeping in, sitting on the couch in sweatpants and sipping coffee; all the good things in life. In the fall and winter there’s football to be had and in the spring and summer there’s a day full of baseball. The full slate and early start times makes for my favorite DFS day of the week as well. Full slate days tend to favor the better DFS players and I much prefer them to a slate with 5 games and 10 similar lineups in every tournament. The early start times mean we have almost every single lineup at our disposal by the time lineups lock. That means we can make accurate lineup decisions, have our lineups in by 1 EST and enjoy the rest of the day watching games and watching our DFS winnings grow. So, let’s dive into the FantasyDraft waters and see if we can’t get some nice ROI on this Sunday Funday.

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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Hey Batter³ Contest, Week 11: Curious George

June 11, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 40 Comments

by: malamoney

Springer springer hit a dinger. Actually he hit five of them in week 9. Until last week you might say that he was having a rather pedestrian start to the 2017 season. Coming into the week he wasn’t even a top 30 outfielder with respect to points. As a matter of fact his starting percentage was slowly taking a dip, and as a result, there were quite a few angry managers staring at 45 points on their bench last week. I have a rule that I nearly always abide by in weekly league: Play your studs. Well if George Springer was curious about what it’s like to be in the top 20, he now knows as his week 9 performance has catapulted him in the 17 spot.

Enough about this George dude from Houston, what you all really want to know is who won week 9. Actually there are probably only a small handful that really care. That would be those of you that had at least an outside chance of winning. Well wait no longer. The winner is the contestant that picked George Springer. Since there was only one of you that did so, the mystery winner should be easy to figure out. Ok, fine. I won’t make you go back and do the leg work. The winner was Fungazi with 90 points. Fungazi picked George Springer (45), Carlos Correa (40) and Brian Dozier (5). Dozier’s five points were meaningless considering Springer and Correa were the top two highest scoring players of the week. Second place was The Padre with 73 points. Like I said, no thanks to Dozier. Congrats Fungazi!

Here are the top 5 from Week 9:

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Minor League Update: Top 25 2017 MLB Draft Prospects for Dynasty Leagues

June 11, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 43 Comments

by: Geoff

The MLB Draft is finally upon us and I’m sure about 10% of Razzball’s readership actually cares. It’s cool, I’ll sit here and nurture these babes into big strong fantasy studs, feeding them from my prospector teet. I’ll do the dirty work too, scolding the bad seeds, and killing off the runts. Wow, in two sentences I pissed off 90% of Razzball and animal rights folks. Picketers please stay off my newly planted grass, it’s taken rather well with the deluge of rain recently and I’d like to see it reach full lush maturity. Now back to the lecture at hand, this post is really just my big board from the most recent episode of the Prospect Podcast where Halp and I mocked out the Top 30. I’ll touch on each player so you’ll have a general familiarity with their skills and profile. I might also include turn-ons, and dream dates, but you’ll have to read and find out. As always there’s been lots of flips and flops in my ranks since I dropped my Top 10. So don’t judge me for being a dirty flip-flopper! Forgive me, I fell in love with some high schoolers…. ummmm I mean prep players. Found some reliable college studs…ummm hitters! So on and so forth. You get the point, it’s my MLB Draft Top 25 Fantasy Prospects.

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Two-Start Starters, Week 11: Meyer-ed In Pitching Decisions

June 10, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 29 Comments

by: mikeMaher

Mike Trout used to be pretty much the only reason to watch the Angels :::pause here for sobbing break:::. Despite having the best player on the planet and one of the larger budgets in the league, the Angels were still not very good. Now Trout is gone forever (Okay, he will probably be back in a couple months) and we have no reason to watch that team out in Los Angeles of Anaheim of California or whatever they are calling themselves this week. But that wouldn’t make any sense. Why would I start off this article with such a non-sequitur? Aha! I wouldn’t!

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Maybin I’m Amazed

June 10, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 58 Comments

by: Dan Pants

Cameron Maybin returned from the disabled list last night after a minimum stay and got right back to business. Leading off, Maybin went 3-for-4 scoring four runs, and stole four bases to bring his total to seventeen for the year. That’s right, folks. FOUR STEALS! Sweet sassy molassy! Killer Cam already has more steals than he did all of last year in Detroit (15), and he became the first player since 2013 to steal four bases in a game, and just the 12th player in EVER to steal four bases and score four runs. Have a day! Setting records! Making history! Years ago I wrote a lede pleading with my readers to pick up Cameron Maybin in April and he ended up having one of his most productive seasons ever. So here’s hoping lightning can strike twice, and by lightning I am of course referring to Maybin’s speed. He stole 10 bases in May in 89 at bats hitting .270 with two home runs. Basically, if you got a need for speed, you’re not going to do much better than Maybin, who is available in a little over 80% of ESPN leagues at the moment. With the Angels outfield decimated by injuries, Cam should have ample opportunity to play, and leading off can only help his stolen base numbers. He’s capable of putting up big speed numbers for your team (he stole 40 for San Diego in 2011) if he can stay healthy, which of course with Maybin is a huge Aaron Judge-sized “if.” Still, Cameron is worth riding while he’s leading off, and hitting, and stealing and healthy and I’d add him everywhere I had a need for speed. Let’s hope Maybin this time will be different.

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

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FanDuel: Severino on a Mission

June 10, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 4 Comments

by: VictoriaB

Are you also old enough and/or vaguely goth enough to know “Severina” by The Mission (if you do, hit me up in the comments! 1986 represent!)? And perchance does that song also pop into your head every time you think of Luis Severino? I’m starting him on FanDuel today, not only as an attempt at earworm exorcism, but because I like his chances versus Baltimore in the BAL@NYY series (a.k.a. the “baloney” series). The last time he faced the Orioles, he struck them out 8 times, walked 1, and gave up 1 earned run. I also like his price ($9,500): how nice it will be to build a good, balanced lineup around that, rather than trying to do my usual balancing trick of going top-heavy on pitching or bottom-heavy on hitting. Note that he is pitching at home in Yankee Stadium, where he’s given up 5 home runs thus far this year and has a 3.77 ERA — not horrible, it’s a quality start, but sure, maybe you’d prefer to steer clear, like all the boys from a goth girl in late-eighties nightclubs (#notbitter). So let’s gird up with eyeliner and take a look at some other options. I’ve leaned pretty heavily on Tigers (dangerous!) and Astros in the lineup I’ve created for FanDuel, but you could also look to stack Cleveland hitters against the White Sox’s David Holmberg, and Yankees versus the Orioles’ Chris Tillman.

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?

Prospect Podcast: Mocking 2017 MLB Draft Prospects for Fantasy Baseball

June 10, 2017 | Prospect Podcast, Razzball Podcast | 56 Comments

by: Halp

Lisa Ann just followed me back on Twitter! Oh wait, where am I … ummm … the podcast, right, the prospect podcast! Ralph and Halp deliver a jam-packed episode this week, starting with the recent call-ups of Francis Martes, Sean Newcomb, Jacob Faria, and Brett Phillips (we recorded too early to cover Josh Hader’s call-up). We then get into a 2-man mock draft of 2017 MLB Draft prospects for fantasy baseball purposes, discussing everybody from Hunter Greene, Kyle Wright, and Brendan McKay, to Tristen Lutz, Stuart Fairchild, and Brian Miller. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:

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Peacock Doing All He Can To Buy Your Attention

June 9, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 585 Comments

by: Grey

The Jewish Sphinx has a riddle that goes like this, “What does the old man scream while at the urinal?” The answer, of course, is, “Peacock!” The Jewish Sphinx is silly, but hella good with money! “Why are you buying all those irrigation tools at Home Depot when you’ll eventually come across a mirage?” Great point, Jewish Sphinx! Or better known as Joshua Sphinxberg. Any hoo! This brings us (not really) to our featured Buy this week, a guy that needs no introduction, which is why I talked about Joshua Sphinxberg for 120 words — Brad Peacock! I don’t love featuring starters as the lede Buy because they have one bad start and people are like, “Grey’s dumb, what else is new?” Um, MasterChef, that’s also new. Getting the obvious out of the way, I don’t know why Peacock’s parents didn’t name him Bird instead. Now, his peripherals. Zoinks, they are gorge: 13.5 K/9, 2.87 xFIP, 16% line drive rate, which would be the seventh lowest in the majors, and 27% soft contact, which would be the 2nd highest in the majors, just after Dallas Keuchel. People are teeing off on Peacock like they just pressed their nose to the handle of a bat and spun in circles for five minutes. Of course, Peacock’s one downside is his balls. He is an old man! No, he throws too many of them. Peacock’s command could use one of those urinal flies on the catcher’s mitt. Either way, I’d absolutely grab him in all leagues; he looks like he could be breaking out. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?