I wonder if Freddie Freeman has Fletch-like dreams where he pictures himself with a huge afro and his name is Freddie World B. Freeman.  “He’s actually 6-5, with the afro, 6-9.  Pretty good hands, loves to hit ones deep.  His club is behind by three, and World B. Freeman drains a three-run homer!  Wow, was that some kind of hit.  You know this kid from the gritty streets of Orange County, California sure can play.”  By the way, gritty in Orange County refers to a Sonic Drive-In that has a B grade from the Health Department.  So, yesterday, Freeman put up those stats that I told you to pay a 2nd round price for — 4-for-5, 3 runs, and a double slam (1, 2) and legs (1), hitting .346 on the year.  I was truly perplexed how low I saw some people ranking Freeman in the preseason.  If anything, I think a stronger case could’ve been made to have Freeman ranked above Miggy, who was a consensus top 12 pick everywhere.  Guess Freeman could use the name Mr. Under-ranked when he sneaks into country clubs to visit Dansby Swanson (1-for-5, 1st homer, hitting .179).  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend 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 Tue 8/5
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

So the first week is just about done and what a crazy week it was!  Some teams doing well, others doing poorly, the rest just okay…so…you ready to give up yet?  If so, don’t get caught up in the standings, not this early.  Don’t do it!  It’s only a week.  It doesn’t matter.  Truly. Doesn’t matter.  I don’t like how the Yahoo! app shows what place my team is in in big bold letters.  Don’t care.  Don’t care that every pitcher on my team in the Razzball Writers League have given up a minimum of three runs, regardless of starting or relieving, and I’ve got 36 points there as of now.  You think I’m sweating it?  Heck no.  Only can go up from here, know what I’m sayin’?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Hey everyone!  I’m Viz and for those who don’t know me, I’m the head of the hockey side of things at Razzball.  Like last year, I’m going to have a post every weekend recapping the baseball posts from the previous week along with a preview of the week ahead.  As far as the biggest thing that stands out to me from the first week of baseball, Nomar Mazara leads the list.  The former top prospect has multiple hits in each of his first four games of the season, including two home runs.  Grey gave us his Mazara sleeper article in the preseason and I have a feeling that this was the last time you’ll be able to draft Mazara outside of the top 50 overall for a very long time.  Sure, the steals won’t be there, but everything else has a chance to be elite.  Let’s take a look at everything that’s been posted on Razzball since the beginning of the season:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Boy, do we have a lot of games going today. I’m tired just thinking about it. Waitress another coffee please. Let’s cut straight to the good stuff ladies and gentlemen. I thought about getting cute today and suggesting someone other than Noah Syndergaard but then I remembered we’re all here to win money. This will be Thor’s first start at home this season and its a night game so expect the crowd to be there rooting on their ace. If you take a look at his career splits you’ll notice he loves pitching at Citi. One of the most important things to remember when playing FantasyDraft is to pick pitchers with a high K upside and a pitcher who is going to limit the runs. Thor comes in at a modest $22,800 and by modest, I mean most expensive. Cripes! Now let’s see if I can sell you on the most expensive pitcher of the day. Last season Thor finished 4th in k/9. Not sold yet? He finished 3rd in ERA last season. Still not putting him in your lineup? What if I told you he has the lowest o/u and is a heavy favorite to beat the Marlins. Okay I give up, don’t put him in your lineup (sarcasm).

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!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Growing up, some of the best players in baseball were legacies. Juniors, so to speak. Think Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken Jr., so on and so forth. Well, the Toronto Blue Jays have taken it upon themselves to bring the Jr.’s back to the game. It started unsuccessfully with Dwight Smith Jr., but has taken a turn for the better with the latest crop of Juniors. On yesterday’s podcast we briefly discussed Vlad Guerrero Jr. and his Lansing Lugnuts debut. Mostly because it was going on while we were recording, and I for one, love a good distraction. What I’m getting at is, we might have done you a disservice not listing this team as one to watch. With an exciting combination of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette (son of Dante), they’re definitely the best set of juniors out there. In fact the pair showed their oodles of upside Friday night, as each homered in the game. On Saturday they continued their assault on A ball, combining to go 3 for 8 with a run and an RBI. Some solid start for the duo, huh? Scouts rank Vlad Jr. amongst the top power prospects in the minors, and Bichette is viewed as a high upside middle infield prospect with 20+ homer upside. For our first Minor League Update of the season, it’s only right we go back to the future. Here’s what else is going on during opening weekend of Minor League Baseball.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

College represented a wonderful season for Spring Break. Take all the general notions you have about the sun, the skin and the standards of attending an SEC school and, well, magnify them. Spring Break delivered an opportunity to experience those glories not just within your own bubble of a university, but through the intermingling of many. It broke down barriers. It let you see new places and meet new faces (there’s a rap lyric in there somewhere). It altered preconceived thoughts. And not just because of the imbibing, but due to the encounters with those that cheered for your hated rival. Case in point? The cruise through the Caribbean my junior year at UGA.

Listen, there’s nothing good about the University of Florida. Oh, you like chatched up hair, bro tanks, dude’s with diamond earrings and jorts? Well, it’s the place for you. As you can see, I clearly play into building the stereotypes of your rivals. As you can also see, all of the reasons have to do with one gender. I’m leaving out the ladies due to that Caribbean cruise. Now, before you begin believing that anything scandalous and debaucherous occurred, pump the brakes. It was a ton of fun, but MTV Spring Break it was not. The girls from UF that accompanied our crew of a dozen dudes were ev. er. ee. thing. From the pools, to the paradise excursions, to the parties and the pina coladas, I found myself leaving that week with a new respect for something from UF. (Still the only good thing about that school – and yes, I’m probably just jealous, because they are almost always better than us in sports.)

Right now I’m finishing our family’s Spring Break. Ten years later a lot has changed. No cruises, just carriers. For babies. No mini-bars, just mini-vans. No group of girls from UF, just one girl that’s far better than any of them ever dreamed of being. (You can read the Week 1 Primer to get an idea of #adulting in real life. And for an idea of how this series works.) But this year something was enjoyed the same as in 2007…pina coladas.

See, the good memories from the past can creep into the present with renewed enjoyment. In real life we’re talking about those Garth Brooks beverages. In fantasy we’re talking about peripheral stats and ‘stuff.’ You choose which one is better.

There are plenty of caveats to declare for the Week 2 edition of the Two-Start Starters. The lack of 2017 evidence after just one week for park factors, pitcher’s performance, and team hitting trends leaves us a little shorthanded in determining the best options. However, when you look to last year and combine it with what you can garner from just one week you can make a case for some strong options. For instance, I want the guy that posted a 3.80 FIP in 175 IP last year while bringing a 10.61 K/9 and a 2.72 BB/9. Oh, he went 6-12 and had an ERA closer to 5? That’s about as unlucky as my boy JoMo with any of those UF girls. Look beyond the traditional stats and you’ll find a high probability for not just one, but two great starts from someone who failed to get out of the fourth in his first start. It’s like pina coladas. In 2007 and 2017 it’s the same thing: what’s better than a cool, tropical, sweet adult beverage? Two of them.

And for the record, pina coladas are far better when swirled with a strawberry daiquiri. Miami Vice’s #ftw.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

I’ve been waiting here at my computer crunching advanced sabremetrics in hyper-suspended cryogenic animation since we last spoke a la Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in Passengers, and yes, that was 100% an effort to shoe horn two of Hollywood’s most famous people into my lede for clicks. I may have had six months off, but I still know how to get those sweet, zesty page views. San Diego Padres outfielder slash hot shot prospect slash fastest man alive, Manuel Margot showed many why he’s so highly touted last night with a 2-for-4 night, including two home runs out of the lead off spot. So what happened while I was gone? The Cubs won what, you say? No way! And who is president? You are messing with me. Another Drake album!? How does he have the time? Well, Manny Margs is now slashing .263/.333/.632 with two homers, three RBI and a stolen base on the young season. Wait, did someone say–stolen base? Yeah, you did, ya joker. Ess Bees are basically the reason you drafted Margot. This doode can fly. The big return for San Diego in the Craig Kimbrel trade, he stole 30 bases in 517 ABs at AAA (.304/.351/.426). His speed and defense should ensure he gets plenty of playing time this year, and leading off for the ‘Dres makes him a player to own. A razzball preseason sleeper, he’s under 50% owned in ESPN leagues right now, but I see that number climbing real quickly after last night’s performance. Like, do your best Manuel Margot impression and go grab him quickly. Grey told you to BUY and if you got a need for speed pick him up before I do!

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

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Greetings, eh! Auntie Victoria — second girl writer and possibly sole British-Canadian Razzballee (hit me up in the comments if you too spell “favorite” with a “u”) — here with your Saturday FanDuel advice at the end of a long, weird week. In a world <movie trailer voice> where so far there have been four rain-outs! a flu epidemic! James Shields! Miggy yet to get a hit!, is it even safe to say “stack all your Dodgers and Rockies bats today”? In case life as we know it really has turned on its head, let’s look at some Beyond-Coors options, shall we?

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?

After a long winter full of anticipation, baseball is all the way back. With the minor leagues kicking off on Thursday night, the duo know as the awesome two, aka Halph has returned. Michael Halpern and I take you on a magical journey through the minor leagues. As we drop in on the opening night for a ton of the top prospects throughout the league. We talk Moncada, Fisher, Bader, Espinoza and Kaprielian injuries, and more. We discuss the importance of Andrew Benintendi’s core strength, and his underrated power by the elitist mainstream prospectors. Then jump into some of the top teams to watch in the minors this season. It’s the latest episode of the Razzball Prospect Podcast.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Moogly-boogly!  It’s been a long winter.  The Buy/Sell Column’s back, helping you know when the hell you’re supposed to stop working early on Friday.  During the offseason, while you were diddling and thinking about how your middle school nickname was Skidmark, I, The Buy/Sell Column was re-reenacting scenes from Moonlight with puppets in the BBQ Belt of Alabama because I’M HARDCORE!  You want some Rip Taylor-wannabe, throwing confetti at your feet or you want a Buy/Sell Column that simulates puppets having hand-sex on a beach to a very anti-puppet sex audience!?  Like Jose Altuve trying to get the Cocoa Puffs, you want the latter!  Okay, enough of the hubbub on the tomfoolery, I’m in on Tyler Saladino.  Last year, Saladino had eight homers and 11 steals in only 298 ABs while hitting .282.  One year in the minors, he stole 38 bases, and, one year in the minors, he hit 16 homers.  Put that together, and you have Francisco Lindor!  Okay, kidding, but he’s hitting leadoff, is eligible at 2B and SS, and can get a few homers while also stealing some bases.  And I’m not excited about him simply because I named one of my puppets in Alabama, Tosser Saladino.  My love for Saladino did not start when I heard he had a brother named Cucumber Saladino.  Wrong, I don’t love Saladino simply because I’m in LA and I picture him topped with wheatgrass.  Eff your wheatgrass, Los Angeles!  Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

It was right in front of our faces and we ignored it.  No one said the obvious.  The elephant in the room.  We all should have known that we were getting fooled by the A’s because we trusted a Melvin.  A Melvin!  After years of hoodwinking by Upton, we now get the reflexive of this, and are getting bobbed.  Predictably, the A’s manager has made a real hash of the bullpen situation already, and we only sit four games into the season.  I get his mentality in some states, because you want your best pitcher pitching to the best players in the opposing lineups and yadda, yadda, yadda.  But this is fantasy baseball sir.  We don’t have the time or social skills warranted to be able to deal with this type stuff.  So for those of you living on a house boat with no wifi, the A’s bullpen usage is a flummoxed up mess with no one to trust.  It’s like November 23rd, 1963 in Dallas, Texas type of questioning everything.  Madson was the presumed closer and he has been treated as the go to guy for getting the tough outs.  Twice against the middle of the order which included a Trout named outfielder.  Then the first day went to Santiago Casilla, then the next day to Ryan Dull.  But the things that boggles the mind is set orders here.  I get that it is early and mixing and matching is cool like millennials do with socks now, but we need some kind of pecking order for rostering-type priorities.  I can’t deal with this madness, I am going to alphabetize my canned goods.  In the mean time, check out the closer menu, now with a deal on salads.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Since this post goes live on Fridays, in order to give participants that right amount of time to make their picks, and the weekly scoring period doesn’t end until Sunday night, we are always going to be about a week and a half behind in reporting the winners. For instance, right now week one’s contest is in full swing. Literally. Pun intended. However, since week 1 doesn’t conclude until this Sunday night, I won’t know who won until then. And even then it will probably be more like Monday when I get around to tabulating the results. Does anyone tabulate anymore? Or is it that they just don’t use the word?

So here’s how I’m going to handle the organization of this contest. On Fridays the contest post for the coming week will be announced right here. At the same time I will announce the winner from the contest two weeks earlier since this will be my first opportunity to do so. I addition I will let you know who is winning the current contest from the previous week. So on Fridays I will tell you what I can about the contest that is still in play. This will include who is winning as well as some other semi useless details.

The exception to this process will be this week’s post since we do not have any winners yet to declare.

For those of you anxious for updates I will be tweeting out random updates throughout the week. However, the winners will only be announced right here in this post on Razzball. When announcing the winner, this post will also highlight the top batter from that week.

Without further ado, let’s talk about Week 1…

Please, blog, may I have some more?