FanDuel: Gimme the No. 7: The Thames BibimBABIP With a Side of wOBA Noodles

April 29, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 3 Comments

In 2008, Eric Thames was drafted by the Blue Jays. At the very end of Spring Training in 2012, he won the starting left fielder job over Travis Snider (it was a fierce competition, but in our house, it was always Team Thames). It did not go well and by August 2012, he’d been traded to Seattle for relief pitcher Steve Delabar. (Steve Delabar who, now relegated to the Cleveland minor league system, was given an 80-game suspension for PED use this week.) Shortly thereafter, Thames took his talents and his fine, fine biceps to the Korean league, and the rest, as they say, is history. As a Jays fan, I’m pretty depressed about all this back-story (well, I’m Jays-depressed generally right now, TBH; the highlight of my baseball week was Chris Coghlan’s audition for the Cirque du Soleil), but I’m going to make myself feel better by building a whole damn FanDuel lineup around Eric Thames. I choose to believe that this Saturday is not the day he stops hitting, and this matchup versus lefty Jaime Garcia, at home in Milwaukee, is the gift that all mournful baseball girls (and boys) deserve. I’m slotting Mike Trout in as well and filling in the gaps around them both. Thankfully, there are also some good pitchers on the slate today who won’t break the bank.

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 9/29
	ARI \| ATH \| ATL \| BAL \| BOS \| CHC \| CHW \| CIN \| CLE \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIA \| MIL \| MIN \| NYM \| NYY \| OAK \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SEA \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| TOR \| WSH

Prospect Podcast, Episode 36: Updating the Top 100 Prospects

by: Halp

“For the times they are a-changin”

– Bob Dylan

You will soon notice that things are going to be a little different around here, starting with this post. I would introduce myself, but if you are reading this, you likely already know me from the several hours of prospect banter I have recorded right here on the Razzball airwaves with the self-proclaimed “Prospect Jesus,” Ralph Lifshitz. This podcast is one thing that isn’t going to change, and Halph is back at it again this week, starting off by talking up Hunter Greene, along with two other prospective two-way talents in Shohei Otani and Brendan McKay. We then shift focus to some of the fast risers on Top 100 lists, including Cody Bellinger, Lewis Brinson, Anthony Alford, and Kyle Tucker. And oh yeah, we also may or may not mention a few of those changes I was talking about before. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Prospect Podcast.

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Take A Buy Swig From The Gallo Jug

April 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 649 Comments

by: Grey

Joey Gallo, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo walk into a bar. The bar says, “Ow.” There should be an All-Star Game weekend festivity where Gallo, Judge and Giancarlo hit home runs and people guess how far it went, but they guess in miles. “I’m gonna say that went 4.5 miles.” “Ooh, sorry, there’s no such number as ‘point.’ You don’t win a house.” Gallo doesn’t hit mammoth shots. Mammoth shots hit home runs and say, “That was a Gallo shot.” Have you seen one of his homers? Picture a ball sailing about 550 feet and screaming, “Holy crap, how am I getting back home?” Home run balls he hits call Uber after Gallo hits ’em. So, I’m obviously a fan, and Beltre doesn’t even have a return date yet. This might be one of those situations where Beltre is gone for another month and, even when he returns, Gallo just moves to the outfield. It’s slightly ridiculous he’s available in so many leagues, and I’d remedy that. Immediatemente. That’s immediately in Spanish. I did take 13 years of Spanish, after all. You’re gracias. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

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Closer Report: Osuna, Spanish For Panic

April 28, 2017 | Closers, Middle Relievers | 21 Comments

by: Smokey

When struggles happen, the fantasy geeks come out of the wood work with words like “decreased velocity”, “contact rate” and “swing strike percentage”. Now I am no geek, but Roberto Osuna is failing the eye test for me. Control is all over the place and he has zero confidence in his pitches. Yes, if you look at all his secondary pitching attributes, they are all down or up for the worse. First, his velocity is down almost two MPH from last year. Granted, he did miss some time this spring though, so there is a reason to have a letter from his mom to explain that. His z-contact rate (pitches in the strike zone) is off the charts bonkers. It currently sits at 91%. If he had pitched more than five innings to date and qualified, he would have the highest such contact rate in baseball among relievers. That is not a good trait to have as a closer, let alone a mammal. Finally, his swing strike percentage has bottomed out at a cool 10%, which would put him outside the top-100 relievers. And surrounded by names like Tommy Hunter and Michael Ynoa, all staples to a flourishing fantasy team. So what do we do? You cuff him. Jason Grilli is the best name there and Ryan Tepera just got the save in extra innings the other day. All we can hope for from Bobby Osuna is that with some more innings and builds back up to the 9-plus K/9 reliever we drafted as our 1A closer. It isn’t time to panic, but do yourself a favor and cover your bases. Here’s what else is going down in the end game… Cheers!

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Hey Batter³ Contest, Week 5: Freddie, Set, Go

April 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Points Leagues | 103 Comments

by: malamoney

Another week, another contest. Another contest, another winner. But before I announce who won week 3, let’s find out which batters accrued the most points. Scoring 43 points, Freddie Freeman and Bryce Harper led the way. Since Harper is an Unpickable, Mr. Freeman stands alone. In 29 plate appearances Double F hit four home runs, drove in six, scored seven and stole one. He also farted 42 times. Now there’s a stat you can only get at Razzball. On the season Freeman is batting .380 with seven homers, and is tied with Mike Trout at 85 points. Somehow he only has ten RBIs, but I’ll leave that statistical blackhole anomaly for a much more experience writer to tell you about…

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FanDuel: The Maddux & Papi-less Red Sox

April 28, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel |

by: cinthree

Did you see last night’s Yankee/Red Sox clash? No? It lasted a super fast 2 hours and 20 minutes and here’s a recap: Sale crushed souls to start the game and then gave up runs late. Masahiro Tanaka threw the year’s first Maddux (CGSO under 100 pitches) and it was glorious. Maddux’s are fantastic. The dominance and efficiency is a thing of beauty (Come on DFS sites, let’s get a Maddux bonus!). On the other side, the Red Sox offense continues to struggle. They have the league’s worst isolated power (.107) and are a below average offense (99 wRC+) with the league’s 2nd best BABIP (.319). They are thoroughly mediocre despite getting well above average offense from Benintendi (143 wRC+), Betts (144) and Moreland (151). Hanley (62), and Pedroia (66) are going to rebound, but I’m not sure that regulars Chris Young (77) and Pablo Sandoval (74) will improve by much – those numbers are likely just who those two players are at this point in their careers. A rebound from Hanley and Pedroia will likely be offset by the normal regression of Benintendi and Moreland and the extreme regression of Christian Vazquez after he just had the best 25 PAs of his life (254). All of this means the Red Sox might be an offense to target in GPPs with pitching because without Ortiz it relies on Betts and Benintendi and a bunch of average-ish bats. As we are seeing with Toronto right now, you take a link or 2 away from a very top-heavy chain and the entire thing breaks down.

On to the picks once we celebrate the year’s first Maddux, which are better than no-hitters…

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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Really Thucks Noah Has A Thor Arm

April 28, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 327 Comments

by: Geoff

As the old expression goes, you can count on three things in life, death, taxes, and Mets pitchers ruining your week/month/season with an injury of some sort. This is a slight update on the late 80’s iteration of this expression, death, taxes, and Mets pitchers at a snowstorm. If you’re a Noah Syndergaard owner you might want to hit up Doc’s medicine man, because the mighty righty was skipped in the rotation due to a sore bicep. Apparently curls are for the girls, and the DL too. Seriously how does Bartolo stay healthy eating like Kristie Alley on a bender, while Thor spends his free time living like Schwarzenegger in the beginning of Twins? Nothing makes sense, I’m writing the Notes! Riddle me this, Does that mean Colon was birthed from his poop? Or is it the other way around. Yes, I was an odd child. As for Thor, and his right arm, he’s headed for an MRI today. After first experiencing pain between bullpen sessions, and playing catch. He said he “felt great” playing catch, two things, “who doesn’t feel great playing catch?” and as far as I know “felt great” doesn’t mean I couldn’t lift my arm above my shoulder. But Syndergaard is from Texas and a Viking, so he may speak a different language. Oh, yeah, that’s not a joke. He actually said I “felt great playing catch”, but his bicep “stiffens up when it gets cold”. Funny, mine does the opposite when it gets cold. The worst part is that gem of a comment was followed with “I couldn’t really lift my arm above my shoulder at that point”. However, the Mets and Terry Collins assure us that Thor isn’t hurt. In fact, he showed up to the park ready to pitch! But old cautious Terry pulled the plug, because as he so eloquently put it, “when you are talking about anything that runs into the shoulder to where he changes his delivery and other things happen.” Damn, the man has the vocabulary of Sling Blade! Not going to lie, I’m intrigued about these “other things” happening in Syndergaard’s bicep. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Razz30 Update April 2017: Formally Introducing the Crab Army

April 27, 2017 | Our Leagues | 83 Comments

by: Geoff

Don’t look now, but the hottest dynasty baseball league in the game is back for another monthly update. We are the American Dream personified. A former colony of the REL, otherwise known as the Razzball Elite League, and the evil iron fist of King ~~George~~ JB. Much like our founding fathers, M@ and I, the league’s John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson worked hard to redraft our constitution, and bring prosperity to all those affected by King ~~George~~ JB’s extreme taxation. Through these wars waged by an army of rag tag farmers, a great general emerged. Who is this great general? Our George Washington, if you will. None other than the original smoothie himself, Captain of the clean gooch, one Nick The Dick. Under the courageous command of Nick, and his Captain Jaaaaaake, Razz30 has taken on all comers, and anyone looking to down our new found utopia. There is no 30 team league in the land where it’s citizen’s are better educated, better looking, or just plain better. Our gooches are hairless, but our faces are not. We trade like spice merchants in the ports of the Orient! We pillage the posts of our enemies! We chat like high school girls on social messaging apps. We’re the league you wish you played in. It’s the Razz30 Update for April in the year of our lord two thousand and seventeen. Claws Up for my Family!

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Ambulance Chasers, Week 4: Dirt Bikes Used To Make Everything Better

April 27, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 14 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

Lots of little piddly injuries this week that don’t seem to be of much consequence. Self-proclaimed MVP candidate Yoenis Cespedes missed a few games with hamstring soreness, but seems ready to return. Stephen Strasburg must have had a great time on his July 20th birthday, because here we are nine months later and he is missing a start to be with his wife as they have their second child. Lil’ DP, Dustin Pedroia, has missed a few games after getting taken out by a Manny Machado slide that would make Ty Cobb proud until Cobb looked at a picture of Machado. And Justin Upton injured his forearm hustling into second base trying to outrun all the lofty hype and expectations we’ve heaped on him for a decade now.

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2017 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 4

April 27, 2017 | Razzball Elite League | 16 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Oh how thangs are-a-changin’! The Brewers have the talk of the town! The cock of the walk! No not Brad Peacock, who I got laughed at on the Podcast for begrudgingly dropping in our Perty Perts RCL, I’m talking about the legend himself Eric Thames! Hey, I gotta derail the NL intro somehow, because the boring ol’ Nationals continue to dominate. Thanks to Coors Field allowing Trea Turner a cycle and like, a bajillion RBIs! The AL is much more interesting though, with yet another new front-runner emerging with the Mariners this week. James Paxton for president! Wait, he’s Canadian. Paxton for Canadian president… I’m running out of steam with the intro!

Here’s how week 4 went down in the 2017 REL League:

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FanDuel: Dream Weaver

April 27, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 2 Comments

by: Big Pappy Chicago

I’m salivating about my hitters against Mr. Home run allowed Jered Weaver and his 84 MPH fastball in Chase Field. Weaver has allowed a whopping seven home runs in twenty three innings this year. But wait, he gave up 37 in 178 innings last year. In fact, Mr. Weaver has given up 68 home runs in his last 360 innings. And half of those innings have come in Angel stadium and Petco Park. These are not home run havens, need I say more. I should? Well ok then. Paul Goldschmidt ($4,300) has been hot hitting .522 with 2 homers in his last 7. He’s 3 for 4 with a homer against Weaver and he loves home cooking at Chase. Meanwhile, Jake Lamb ($3,800) has hit .293 this year with .333/.614 split against righties, and Lamb hit .291/.621 in the first half last year before he injured his hand. Really, Dbacks galore so take your pick among Lamb, Goldy, A.J. Pollock, Chris Owings, David Peralta, and even Brandon Drury (if he’s not hobbled today; check those LUs). Weaver will be giving, I promise. There are other stacking targets like the Cards against Matt Latos, the high-powered Indians against Mike Fiers, or the obvious Coors stacks, but I still dream of a Jered matchup . That 84 MPH heater against Senz’s at 94? Is 84 MPH actually a heater? Exactly. This is why I dream of Weaver today.

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Paxton Grabs Felix’s Abdicated Throne

April 27, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 558 Comments

by: Grey

I’m picturing Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz, coiffing his hair (gorgeous hair) chipping away with his pickaxe. I’m seeing Andy Dufresne also beautiful hair and a pickaxe. Now that I think about it, you don’t need jail cells, just take away all prisoners’ blow dryers. Any hoo! Why am I seeing these great prison movies? Because they are about breakouts. Breakouts come in different shapes and sizes. Some would say Cameron Diaz’s complexion is a breakout. For a baseball breakout: James Paxton. Yesterday, Paxton went 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.39. His K/9 and BB/9 are now 10.7 and 1.8, respectively. That’s about as ace-like as you’re gonna find. Okay, now for one small step back from the ledge of crazy excited. In his last start, he did give up five earned in four innings and I don’t think he’s going to avoid all wonkiness, but there’s no one throwing as well as him right now. Okay, maybe Kershaw and Ervin Santana. Someone get these guys blow dryers. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?