Jonathan Papelbon hit the DL and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Though, I’m using the archaic definition of nicer. An adjective which was once described a jerk off who went to Nice, France and hurled insults. Example, A nicer man would stand on the curb as Gerard Depardieu passed on his bicycle, screaming, “You are the fattest frog I’ve ever seen and I once force fed a frog to make frog foie gras.” Filling in for Papelbon will be Shawn Kelley and Felipe Rivero. Rivero is a lefty, so his best hope for saves is a 9th inning that is lefty heavy like my Facebook feed from my Bernie Sanders-supporting friends. Of course, Dusty said he wouldn’t commit to any one replacement because Dusty’s gonna Dusty. He cited other possible candidates to close like Blake Treinen and Sammy Solis. I wonder if Dusty knows that’s not the slugger he once managed in Chicago. “Sammy Solis, you came up short with McGwire, but I need you to close out this game. By the way, go easier on the skin whitening.” That’s Dusty while juggling the toothpick in his mouth. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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Megadeth is one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. The group, which was formed and fronted by lead vocalist/guitarist (and Metallica castoff) Dave Mustaine, quickly made it’s mark on the thrash metal scene in the mid-80s and became one of the most influential bands of the genre. What does this have to do with this week’s most added player, Texas Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar (51.6% owned; +28.4% over the last seven days)? I’m certainly not implying that Profar is into, uh, “pharmaceuticals” like Mustaine was in those days. He either wouldn’t be able to walk onto the field or would quickly pack thirty pounds of muscle onto his frame if that were the case, depending on the substance in question. This is more about their respective career arcs. Megadeth’s third studio album, the conveniently titled So Far, So Good… So What!, was a solid offering. Low budget, raw, and not widely considered to be among their best work, but it was, and is, a bit of an underrated gem. It’s kind of where Profar is at this stage of his career. Young, raw, talented. A player on the rise. The 23-year-old has long been considered one of the top prospects in the game, but injuries and a crowded Texas infield (Odor, Andrus, Beltre) pushed him to the back burner entering this season. However, Odor’s suspension following his recent Floyd Mayweather impression against the Blue Jays opened the door for some unexpected playing time for Profar, and he’s taken advantage of his opportunity. Through 73 plate appearances since May 27th, Profar has produced 13 runs, 2 homers, 4 RBI, and a .343/.370/.514 slash line. However, as good as he’s looked thus far, his batted ball profile (22.2 IFFB%, 25.9% Soft%) suggests that his current .393 BABIP is likely to drop significantly in the coming weeks. That would make him more of a .275ish hitter than a .300+ one. His power is still developing, and when factoring in his lack of steals (2 career MLB steals; 5 steals over the last two seasons across all levels) and mediocre on-base skills (4.1% BB%), the breakout might have to wait. Megadeth reached their peak with their fourth studio album (the brilliant Rust In Peace), and I believe that Profar is likely a year or two away from reaching his peak as well. In other words, he should be able to help your team in it’s darkest hour, but he’s not quite ready to set the world afire just yet.
Here are a couple of other interesting adds/drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:
Please, blog, may I have some more?You can cram this week’s recap up your cram hole! There I said it. There’s no burying the lede this week. Last year’s champ is back on top of the RCL world. Apparently, it was no dumb luck and our little Crammy is actually pretty darn good at this game. Take note all of you out there asking catcher questions on the regular. If you want to stand naked behind a championship belt, all you have to do is follow his lead. This marks the second week out of ten that a member of DFSers Anonymous has topped the charts. Two weeks ago it was MauledByPandas’, Samuel Colt Debate Team. It’s cool watching to Razzball regulars going at it, trading blows week in and week out. This should be a fun race to keep an eye on all year. I’m hoping I can join the fun and make it a three team mixer, but I doubt it the way my team’s been going. Regardless, this is a good league to bookmark and keep an eye on. It’s an active bunch with two former overall champs duking it out. That’s just the beginning of what happened in the RCL universe this week. Let’s see what else went down in the week that was, week 10:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Splits are a real thing in baseball. Everyone knows that. There are players that get paid to strictly get out left-handed hitters. There are right-handed hitters that blast lefties (I’m looking at you Ryan Raburn), while looking like little leaguers against RHP. On Tuesday night, one name keeps popping up. He’s done quite well this year against righties and lefties, but he’s always been known more for his ability to smash southpaws. Danny Valencia, come on down! Over 155 at-bats, Valencia has 10 home runs; five of those homers have come against lefties. When a lefty is on the mound, Valencia is 16-for-40 (.400) this season. Martin Perez is a serviceable pitcher, but Valencia should make quick work of him on Tuesday night. At $4,000, he’ll be a staple in many of my lineups.
New to DraftKings? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run Monday June 20th to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Jam-packed! Special edition! New segment! Cliche free! Well, this Podcast write-up surely isn’t cliche free, but we have an awesome podcast this morning! Our prospect guru Ralph Lifshitz joins us today to talk the MLB draft and profess his love for Kyle Lewis, then to some prospects that will impact redraft leagues like Alex Bregman, and finally a few deeper prospects to keep an eye for the future. I spoiled one of his favorite A ball pitchers he wanted to write about in his next post, my bad! Then of course Grey and I go through our normal shenanigans talking some hot pitchers, where Xander Bogaerts will rank next year, and some absolutely awesome segways if I don’t say so myself! Here’s our latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:
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Please, blog, may I have some more?Aw, man, now we’re left with the ominous team updates of “Giancarlo Stanton is not in lineup, no other news available.” I think I need to have a talk with him. Maybe I’ll hide in the trunk of his car and get out when he parks in his four-car garage, then go in through the kitchen that’s got the espresso machine on the left; not the kitchen with the soft-serve machine. What? I memorized his Cribs episode, I never snuck in his house. So, times are rough for Giancarlo. The Marlins score 13 runs and he’s not even playing. Holy sit! Giancarlo has the lowest batting average for a qualified hitter. Things are so bad, the other day he hit the hardest recorded ball in StatCast history, 123.9 MPH, and it was a double play. Digging through his numbers is a little bit encouraging. His BABIP is way below his career mark; he’s hitting .192, but could hit .250 the rest of the way. You don’t get him for average; it’s homers you desire like I desire him. His ground balls are through the roof. Not literally, unless we’re talking about roofs of ant farms. All he’s hitting is fly balls and ground balls. His line drive rate is poor. He usually kills fastballs. So far, he’s a negative on them. That was his bread and butter, and right now he’s toast. He’s 26 years old; this should be the prime of his beef. Instead, he’s been getting a steady diet of sliders. That’s not real beef! What I think is going on, he’s dealing with some health issues after his collision with OZUNA, he’s not spitting on sliders and waiting for fastballs. Then when he gets a fastball, he hits it hard, but gets unlucky. Can all of this be changed with me appearing mysteriously in his Snuggie? I’m not sure. The health is an unknown question mark. Eventually, he should get luckier and do damage on some fastballs, assuming he’s healthy. I wouldn’t count him out, but health has been an issue for him in the past. If I were able to get a tasty offer for someone buying him, I could see letting him be someone else’s problem. For now, I will wait in his bathroom wearing a shirt that matches his wallpaper, and try to ‘talk’ some encouragement into him. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Bases haven’t been nearly full at all in Michael Fulmer‘s starts this past month!
After a rocky beginning to his Major League career, Fulmer has been absolutely on fire the past month, vaulting from “meh, another big prospect called up too early, schwatev” to “this guy is ROY!” As in, Roy Campanella! Wait, I don’t think he was a pitcher…
Featuring a huge fastball and an awesome beard, it’s getting tougher and tougher to not jump on board the Fulmer train on his incredible scoreless streak and 5 Ws in a row. I usually write the intro before breaking down the start, but I worked a little out-of-sequence today. Spoiler alert! I’m so on board. I’m trading in my “Mustache Rides – $0.25” shirt with Grey on it to “Beard Rides – $0.50” with Fulmer. So without any more ado or facial hair-play, here’s how Fulmer looked yesterday in a dominating start against the Yanks:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Listen, I love a good gif. More than most. But if I put the gif of Rhianna singing, nay, dancing in her music video for ‘Work’, not a single person would read this article. No one. Not anyone. Not in the overset of evers would anyone ever continue scrolling down to read about the Creeper of the Week when they could all gaze like a creeper at the ‘work’ of Rhianna rolling her hips in front of Drake. It’s the epitome of mesmerized. So, for the sake of errbody, I’ll refrain, mostly likely cause you to just go google the music video on Youtube, and carry on with my main point for the article.
Jayson Werth, Werth, Werth, Werth, Werth, Werth! He say I pick him up, up, up, up, up, up! Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah. (And then she keeps making consonant sounds. That’s music? I digress. Just watch the video. Googly eyes await.)
- Jayson Werth, OF (16.1%) – As professional a power hitting left fielder with solid average that you’ll find, injuries have been the primary concern with Werth. From his days in Philly to the past few in Washington, not only has Jayson flashed the greatest baseball caveman look since Johnny Damon’s Boston days, he’s also provided some serious stats. Sure, he’s aging, and has been on the shelf a bit the past two seasons (this one included), but despite the average he has a .230/81/22/75/1 line in his past 599 ABs. He’ll get the counting stats in a great lineup hitting ahead of arguable NL MVP candidate Daniel Murphy and reigning MVP $500M man Bryce Harper. His legs aren’t what they used to be, and that may be affecting his BABIP, but it’s still sure to rise. Currently it sits at .270, but his career number is .325. Look for the average to rise as long as he stays healthy, and the counting stats to continue pouring in. His past 14 days? .293/8/4/13/0. At 16% owned that’s more than valuable, and enough to just creep into the Top 100!
Enough creepin’…Here are those Top 100 Hitters for Week 11!
Please, blog, may I have some more?It is more simple then just correlating the “every stolen base is essential” represents a swipe to the right. It goes farther the that, for some guys. it is like fish in a barrel… for others. it is a game they just don’t play. Anyone that has partaken in the chicanery that is Tinder, gets the other far deeper references here because there are endless similarities. Over the past seven games of play, there have been 13 teams with one steal or less, on the contrary to that, there was only four teams that swiped more than five. That does not add up to a ton of stats to go around, especially when players like Cody Asche, owned in 0.6% of ESPN leagues, and Marwin Gonzalez (3.0%) are toeing the line of stolen base leaders for the week. Only being one behind the leader for the week, of a mass total of three. The sexy factor of steals is like a 2 AM special at the bar: dark, desperate, and a crap shoot. So I am not here to tell you to not shoot for the moon with guessing with stolen bases, I am just saying that it is a game of haves and have-nots. So be heady my good friends, as you search the waiver wires for good situations, pay attention to the pitchers who allow the most steals. Pay Attention to the last 14 days of OBP, and of course with lesser owned fellas, watch general playing time. Here are some fish in the barrel types for this week…
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’ll admit Wei-Yin and Win might be a bit of a stretch, but I’ve got winning on my mind and all of us grinders just want to “win, win, win, no matter what.” Wei-Yin Chen at $8,000 gets his shot at the Padres tonight and I’d say “Just Win Baby”, but he better do a lot more than that considering the matchup. Coming into the year, Chen looked like he was primed to have a big season as he moved away from Camden Homerun Yards and into the NL’s largest park. Unfortunately Chen hasn’t delivered on that preseason hype, but he was responsible for bruising J-Fer’s ego by getting the Opening Day nod. Outside of his 12 K performance against the Brewers last month, he’s been mediocre at best, topping out at 5 K’s vs Pit and Atl. I love exploiting teams coming off that Rockie Mountain High and at the discounted price tag of 8K vs an already bad Padres offense, I’ll take him in both cash and tourney play for tonight. I’m torn between pairing Chen with Max Scherzer vs the Cubs at $12,200 or Zack Greinke at $11,200 vs the Dodgers. I haven’t rostered Greinke all year, especially at home, but he seems like he’s finally settled into the terrible AZ jerseys nabbing 5 W’s in his last 5 starts with 29 K’s and a 1.89 ERA. Mad Max looks like he’s back on track too, but I think Greinke will be under owned due to his struggles at home, so I’m rolling with the Zack Attack. I’d by lying if I said I loved the Greinke matchup, but he’s facing his former team, so I anticipate a huge effort out of him tonight.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well reserve your spot in the 25 Team Razzball Exclusive League set to run today to wet your DK whistle. Just remember to sign up through us before you do. It’s how we know you care! If you still feel helpless and lonely, be sure to subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Jake McGee hit the DL with a sprained MCL. Damn, 1150 was a very bad year for him. Wait, a new closer that no one owns is up for grabs! When this news broke, I was sitting in a French cafe, wearing a beret to the side, flicking a Virginia Slim 120 like a French baller. I immediately looked for Carlos Estevez, but he was gone. Then I looked for Jason Motte — gone! Then I looked for Boone Logan — there! So, I grabbed him, then I wept quietly. Was I really picking up the guy third down the SAGNOF totem for the Rockies? I’m such a pitiful save vulture. Get some dignity, man, you’re better than this, you’re rocking a beret and a Virginia Slim 120! After Saturday’s game, Walt Weiss announced Estevez would be the closer, so now, even more pitifully, I will be dropping Boone Logan, who got me a cheap vulture save on Sunday due to Estevez being used too many days in a row. That’s like the fantasy baseball walk of shame. Everyone who sees you drop the guy that doesn’t get the closer job knows full well that you desperately tried to make the wrong guy work. Now I have to pick up and drop twelve other guys to bury my move. The fantasy baseball shame cycle! As for Estevez, his outings will be like brother Emilio — short. His performances may be like brother Charlie’s relationships — rocky. Unlike his father, Martin, he will not be starring in an awful Netflix series canoodling with the DA from Law & Order. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Ten weeks of the baseball season are in the books. Ten weeks! The craziness at the top of our Player Rater is remarkable being over 2 months into the season. Xander Bogaerts is 4th, Ian Kinsler is 5th (!), Ian Desmond, Robinson Cano and David Ortiz round out the top 10, and Mark Trumbo, Daniel Murphy and Jonathan Villar are all in the top 20. Before the season, I would have guessed Bogaerts is the only guy on this list who could get to the top 20 this year but I wouldn’t have bet on it happening. Does that mean I’d sell high on the rest of them? Not necessarily. I’d hold onto Desmond and Villar at this point for what they’re giving at the top of their lineups. The problem is when you’re in a league with smart players like RCLs, you can’t sell high on these guys so just hold them and hope for the best; they’re still be getting predraft value with inevitable regression. But in other leagues with inexperienced people? Try to sell high on these guys before the bottom falls out. Here’s a recap of everything that’s been posted on Razzball over the last week:
Please, blog, may I have some more?