One Man’s Trash: The Return of Jason

April 20, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 6 Comments

Image result for jason

It’s been seven years since we last saw Jason Voorhees stalk and slaughter in a Friday the 13th movie. As we all know, it’s impossible to kill him, so it only makes sense that he may have reincarnated in the form of Jason Vargas (57.6% owned; +54.5%), the Kansas City Royals pitcher. In 13 2/3 innings, Vargas has an ERA of 0.66, a K/9 of 9.22, and a SwStr% of 13.1%. Those numbers would be akin to the other Jason wielding an AR-15 and mowing down his slow-running prey. Let’s delve into the KC iteration of Jason and see if anything can get unmasked. Vargas has been in the major leagues since 2005. Prior to this season, he never had a K/9 over 6.54 and a SwStr% over 9.2% (2016 was 10.1% but he only pitched 12 innings). There has been no velocity uptick, as the fastball remains in the 87 mph range. So, what can we attribute this early success to? Early in his career, Vargas was primarily a fastball, sinker, and change pitcher. In 2015, he really started to incorporate the curveball. This is when he started throwing the four-seam fastball more and sinker less. So far in 2017, he’s decreased usage of the four-seam fastball, increased the sinker usage while still throwing the curveball and changeup.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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2017 REL Dynasty League Update: Week 3

April 20, 2017 | Razzball Elite League | 80 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

About 2.5 weeks in, only 25 or whatnot left to go! Man I love baseball, so much time to make your shitty teams unshitty again. “Make American Unshitty Again!” Totally should’ve been the campaign slogan…

Speaking of, what is the AL turning into in the REL, 1990’s MLB?! What’s with the Yankees taking over the first spot outta nowhere?! The pinstripes have gotten a great balanced attack from their roster (despite losing Gary Sanchez), with the surprisingly hot starts from Chase Headley and Aaron Judge. Plus Luis Severino going nuts with the Ks! On the NL side, yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwn. Business as usual with the Nats winning games in real-life, and awesomely suited for fantasy in REL-life. Good luck to those squads hoping to hold onto the #1 spots!

Here’s how week 3 went down in the 2017 REL League:

PS – this league is way better than Razz30.

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FanDuel: Good or Bad Pitching?

April 20, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 1 Comment

by: Big Pappy Chicago

If good pitching beats good hitting most of the time, what does bad pitching do against good hitting? Or even bad hitting? Someone, somewhere (ok, in San Diego) will have to have a big day against Patrick Corbin. I think it’s more than one player and yes, even the bad hitters. I like my righty hitters against Corbin even in Petco. Patrick has been terrible since coming back from TJS. Last year he allowed 24 homers in 155 innings with a .286 BAA. This year he’s only allowed 1 homer but still a .303 BAA with 7 BB and only 7 K in 16 innings. Maybe he’ll get it back some day, but that day won’t be today. Manuel Margot at $2,800? Yes please. Hunter Renfroe at $2,900? He’s only got 1 K in 19 AB’s against lefties. I think K rates stabilize the quickest so I’m in there as well. Your usual suspects for the Padres…well suspect – Wil Myers at $3,800 – should also be considered. Outside that, most (ALL) of my picks are against bad pitching. Is there any other way? Once again I’ll do it my way. Ok, Frank’s way! Either way….no regerts this week.

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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A Dozen Ks Ain’t Bad For Amir Rookie

April 20, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 520 Comments

by: Grey

Amir Garrett, or as he’s commonly referred to as, Muslim Mrs. Garrett, took Natalie, Jo, Blair, Tootie and that little white kid, who no one remembers, to school last night. Muslim Mrs. Garrett was like, “Listen, child, I’m your boss while you’re in this park and I’m going to rule over you with sweet motherly affection, but an iron fist like you get from a male Gulag prisoner.” Yesterday, he straight dazzled — 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 1.83. MMG is so out of nowhere I feel like we need to start at the beginning. He was born– Okay, flash forward Lost-style and they’re off the island and Garrett is a former basketball player, so his age isn’t as old as it seems for his development level. I think because of that he could also sneak up on people. His control gets wonky at times, and he doesn’t read as a strikeout pitcher, but there he was doing just that last night. He could surprise some people, but A) Reds and their ballpark. B) Rookie. C) There’s no C. To take this back to 80’s sitcoms, there could be some Boners along the way through Growing Pains, but I’d grab him if you feel like Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, or can just handle the risk. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Ambulance Chasers, Week 3: Blister Jones And Me

April 19, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 50 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

If only Adam Jones had gotten injured that headline would’ve been perfect. Well, it looks like we are in the thick of baseball injury season! When I went to put this week’s article together, I had 20 players listed that I needed to check out. Luckily, some guys like Brian Dozier, Logan Forsythe and Gregory Polanco were back in their team’s line-ups by the time came for me to check out their current status. Other guys like Jarrett Parker, Mallex Smith and James Kaprielan aren’t really fantasy relevant enough to worry about. But if you are in a deep or AL/NL-only league, feel free to ask me about anyone you want in the comments. Also, many of my fill in recommendations are for deeper leagues, so if you want to know who to pick up in shallower leagues, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments as well!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Rolling In The Deep, Week 3: I Senz A Telling Trend

April 19, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 16 Comments

by: Laura Holt

This morning, I decided to look at my deepest NL-only league to see who the highest-ranked player who went undrafted was. It didn’t take long to find him: as of Tuesday morning, Anthony Senzatela was ranked as the eleventh most valuable pitcher in standard, mixed 5×5 fantasy baseball leagues. My NL–only league includes a fairly complex farm system as well, so it is beyond hard to find a diamond in the rough, since most minor league players with any decent prospect status at all were drafted years ago. It’s clear why Senzatela slipped through the cracks, though – he was a mid-level prospect at best, who entered spring training as a long shot to be part of a pitching rotation in the worst pitchers’ ballpark baseball has ever seen…

Will Senzatela still be the eleventh best pitcher in fantasy at the end of 2017? Uh, no. We’d have to expect some major bumps along the way even if half of his starts weren’t going to come at Coors Field. But he’s owned in just 20% of Yahoo leagues (21% of ESPN), which I think is too low. I am basing this almost entirely on the gut feeling I had while watching him pitch. In fantasy, upside can be overrated: just ask the Robert Stephenson owner in the league I mentioned above. Stephenson has been taking up a minor league spot on his owner’s roster for four years now. Even worse, now that he’s on the big club and his owner feels pot-committed to him, Stephenson and his 5.40 ERA are taking up a valuable active roster spot. There is no guarantee that even the highest-ranked prospects will even reach star status, either in real baseball or the fantasy variety. Taking a flyer on gut feeling won’t always work out either, and sometimes can be fairly disastrous, but it’s a risk that I think you need to take from time to time in a deep league. Otherwise, how will you ever find this year’s Junior Guerra — that guy whose past statistics make you absolutely sick to your stomach, but looks damn good on the mound every time you watch him pitch… and before you know it, has been a major contributor to the success of your single-league team.

Moving on to some other deeper-league names, starting with the AL…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FanDuel: To Kershaw Or Not To Kershaw, That Is The Question

April 19, 2017 | DFS, Fanduel | 6 Comments

by: Troy: The Collector

Welcome to another beautiful Wednesday slate. I was so pumped for this slate until I looked and realized Clayton Kershaw $12,900 is on the bump..Don’t get me wrong I love Kershaw; he’s an amazing pitcher. My only issue with him is he makes the DFS slates he’s in very tough. You basically have to use him, even in GPPs. If you don’t and he goes off for 13 ks over 9 shutout innings, you’re screwed. Today is no different as he’ll be pitching against the Rockies (remember that almost perfect game??) and the total is only 6.5 right now. Don’t overthink this; play Kershaw and try to find low owned value plays to build around him.

Now onto the picks…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Starling Was Not Peeing Clarice

April 19, 2017 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 625 Comments

by: Grey

Such a weird week of Jodie Foster references at Razzball, and we’re only to Wednesday. What will be tomorrow? Joe Panik Room? Okay, raise your hand if you saw Starling Marte being suspended for Nandrolone. The one person raising his or her hand is the person supplying Marte with Nandrolone. Take ’em away, boys! I just made my 2nd imaginary arrest. My first was when I imagined arresting Ben Carson for driving with his eyes closed. This is like Pollock 2016 all over again, except instead of breaking his elbow; Marte broke our trust. As punishment, Starling Marte should get an 80-game suspension or a “We were all rooting for you” Tyra GIF tattooed on his back. I think Gregory Popolanco turned him in, with help from Freese. Adam Frazier will get a regular job in the outfield since the Pirates said Austin Meadows isn’t ready yet. Bee oh oh. Boo. I grabbed Meadows in all mixed leagues for the sheer excitement, but within about an hour I realized Meadows is unlikely coming up until at least June and dropped him. As for Marte, you can likely lose him in most redraft leagues, and, for some of us, we’re having a “Don’t have Marte” party! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull, Week 2: Hail Cesar?

April 18, 2017 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 42 Comments

by: Son

Image result for cesar hernandez

Cesar Hernandez is the number 10 overall player on ESPN’s Player Rater. The same Cesar is the number 26 overall player on Razzball’s Player Rater. Cut to Grey in three…two…one….interview with Grey Albright. Is he cackling due to the ranking discrepancy or the fact that Cesar is even that high to begin with? What I do know is that Grey thinks he is soigne because he wears two togas. Talk about flatulence. That’s how the ancients be flossin. Grey is playing a little too much Words for Friends apparently. Anyways, let’s break down The Emperor and see if we should be exalting him or stabbing him in the back…or front if you are a gangster.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RCL Update, Week 2: The Week That Was

April 18, 2017 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 11 Comments

by: MattTruss

I hope everyone had a fun second week. There was some good, like Eric Thames going bonkers in five straight. There was also some bad, like whatever it is Byron Buxton is doing (nothing). Giancarlo finally went yard, now let’s see if Mookie Betts, Jose Abreu, Jose Bautista and Hanley Ramirez can take the hint. Geez, no wonder all my teams are starting so slow.

It’s the silly season for our leagues at this point, where we can have huge swings in the standings based on 2-3 good days of stats. Only two teams remain in the top 10 from last week and one of them just so happens to be the first place team. Let’s take a look at the standings as well as some trades in the RCLs this week.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

FantasyDraft: Donut Go Against Gausman

April 18, 2017 | DFS, Fantasy Baseball DFS, FantasyDraft |

by: Ignacio

The man who used to eat donuts before and in between games, will now try to fill up the scoreboard with them. If you aren’t familiar with Kevin Gausman‘s love for donuts, he had a ritual throughout college and even early on in his pro career in which he would eat donuts before each start. He even took it as far as eating 3 powdered donuts in between innings. What a great story it would have been if the ump checked the ball for banned substance and it was just a little Hostess Powdered Sugar. Well hopefully he can use the powdered sugar tonight for some extra grip on the ball as he takes on the Cincinnati Reds. Gausman and the Orioles are a decent favorites at -165, so he should be in line for a win. He is coming off his best start of the season at Toronto (6IP, 1ER, 3Ks) and a trip to the national league could add to those sweet strikeout numbers. As for the rest of the slate, some good stacking opportunities are available. Lets take a look at the picks.

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?

Podcast: “By The Way, Don’t Make ‘Jodie Foster Has A Large Labia’ The Title Of The Podcast”

April 18, 2017 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 24 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

The season is hitting its stride! We’re still in the honeymoon phase, got a lot of hot-n-sexy still going to keep things spicy; more spicy than say, talking about how I rage quit in Words With Friends! On today’s show, we talk hot starts from Jose Ramirez, Marcell Ozuna, and how Grey absolutely hates James Paxton. Hates I say! We then play another edition of FMK, and for our first time, take your listener comments on the Pod. Thanks to everyone who left us a voicemail! You now can join the Pod by leaving us a dime at this link, and we’ll include as many as we can on the show. Obviously as close to record time as you can, so bookmark the page and send us something over the weekend or Monday morning. Don’t get Grey started on what day the Podcast is on though! Here’s the latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:

Download from iTunes

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