2016 Fantasy Prospect: The Mighty Mighty Kevin Maitan

May 11, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 48 Comments

If you were to refer to Kevin Maitan as the LeBron James of international baseball prospects you wouldn’t be wrong. How many 13 year old’s pop up on the prospect radar, and not only that, but inspire gushing articles almost immediately. To say he’s the buzziest July 2nd signing since Miguel Sano would be an understatement. This is the world we live in, a place where a 13 year old from Venezuela can demand the kind of attention reserved for AAU basketball standouts. All this to say the time has arrived , and the age of the Mighty Maitan is almost upon us. That’s right the July 2nd date is right around the corner, and a juicy crop of internationals look to test the water. Chief among them is Maitan, the 16 year old shortstop with the big power and even bigger reputation. Let’s jump into why he matters, and what sort of resources you should allocate to land him.

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DraftKings: Oh Danny Boy

May 11, 2016 | DraftKings | 1 Comment

by: AskRotoBaseball

If there is one thing that rarely scares me in DFS, it is ace pitchers facing off against a high-powered offense. Clayton Kershaw against Toronto; so what? Noah Syndergaard against the Cubs–big deal. Outside of a road start at Coors Field, I don’t ever overthink using an ace. The question that needs to be answered is whether or not Danny Salazar is an ace. In some folks’ eyes, he certainly is. From other viewpoints, he’s a solid number two with upside. There is probably a third group that says he’s totally overachieving, but they’re wrong and their opinion doesn’t count. This brings us to Wednesday’s split slate. The Houston Astros have a very good offense with a ton of power. On the flip side, they lead the league with 318 strikeouts. It’s either boom or bust for the Astros and with a strikeout specialist like Salazar on the mound, I’m willing to bet on bust. Salazar is holding opponents to a .142 average and has struck out 43 batters in 37.2 innings pitched. Walks are still a problem for Salazar (3.8 BB/9), but he has negated that by allowing a league low 4.3 H/9. He is the best pitching option on the board with the most upside and it isn’t even close. Use him in both GPPs and cash games.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 teamer of Razzball writers and friends 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.

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Triplorenzo Bombas

May 11, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 755 Comments

by: Grey

*walks into a Moroccan marketplace* I got me some Marra-CASH to spend! Hoo-ah! Wow, I sound a little like Al Pacino in my own head. Okay, I’m going to go over to that table that is filled with players to buy low. “Hello…*reads name tag* Djibooti, I see you’re selling slow-starting hitters for a deal.” “Good deal! Good deal!” “Well, I’ll be the judge of that.” *picks up Justin Upton* “This smells like skunk.” “No skunk! Good deal!” *goes through crates filled with albums that have a player’s face on them, lifts Lorenzo Cain* “How much?” “Djibooti need to check MLB Statcast.” Djibooti looks at his iPad, looks up and snatches Cain out of my hands. “No longer for sale!” “Damn, Djibooti, don’t put your emotions in a tagine and get them all heated.” So, Lorenzo Cain obviously was struggling mightily going into yesterday’s game, and, now, not so much — 3-for-5, 5 RBIs with 3 HRs (3, 4, 5). This is why I rarely sell low on struggling top 50 hitters. There was a reason they were drafted there in the first place. Now the buy low is going to be much more difficult too. “Djibooti, how much for David Price?” “You take for free! He’s yours!” Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

No Whammies!, Week 6: (:)

May 10, 2016 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 34 Comments

by: Son

According to the internet, a black hole forms when “any object reaches a certain critical density, and its gravity causes it to collapse to an almost infinitely small pinpoint.” We almost experienced such an event this past week when…

Bartolo Colon home run called by the Mets Spanish station WEPN: pic.twitter.com/eRdyvgI13U

— In Mets We Trust (@InMetsWeTrust) May 8, 2016

The internet almost broke from the amount of tweets and likes. The earth almost crumbled from the weight and time it took Colon to run around the bases. The jet stream was altered by the jiggles caused by Colon’s stomach. The euphoria and joy made the Grinch like Christmas. It’s curious that there were few mentions of PEDs. I mean, he did get suspended for 50 games in 2012 due to PED use and he just hit his first career homerun at the ripe old age of 42. I’m just saying. Anyways, I’m not here to be a pooper. I loved it. It was fantastic. Plus, there’s always this.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RCL Update: The Week That Was, Week 5

May 10, 2016 | Our Leagues, Razzball Commenters League | 57 Comments

by: MattTruss

Welcome to the recap of week five. Week five already, that doesn’t seem possible. Five, as in the number of feet tall Jose Altuve is. The numbers this little man is putting up don’t seem possible either. After the 5th week of the season Altuve has 30 Runs (tied for first), 9 HRs (tied for 9th), 19 RBIs (still pretty amazing for a leadoff hitter), 13 stolen bases (most in the league), and a .325 batting average. In week 5 alone his drafters got 2 HRs and 4 SBs. I mentioned how Bryce Harper was a roto wet dream a few weeks back, but Altuve is making his 10 HRs/5 SBs look like pocket change. The best part for his drafters is they didn’t need a top 3 pick to nab him. Altuve had an RCL ADP of 10.79. He was taken as high as 4th overall by the *ahem* “Goat F*ckers” of Albright’s ECougarHarmony.com (great league name, questionable team name) and fell to as low as 18 where “cardinals # !” nabbed him in Razzballero2. Grabbing Altuve around pick 11 likely meant you could pair him with a power hitter such as Miggy, Abreu, Bautista, Chris Davis, or is you were lucky, Kris Bryant. That sure seems like a pretty nice start right about now. It got me to thinking, I wonder what impact drafting Altuve has had on the standings position. So, employing the help of the ever helpful VinWins we set about figuring out the average standings position of those teams that drafted Jose Altuve. The result? Glad you asked! Those teams that drafted Jose Altuve are currently on average in 5.88th place, we’ll call it 6th. They are also averaging about 68.5 standings points. Not too shabby, you certainly could be doing worse. By comparison, Mike Trout drafters are averaging 6.34th place and 65.84 points. As luck would have it our brand spanking new #1 team in all the RCL land was a drafter of Jose Altuve themselves, at #13 overall. They paired him with…Clayton Kershaw of course! Want to find out more about our new #1 team? Then come on down and check out the rest of the week that was, week 5.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: Head South And When You Get To Atlanta, Take a Left(y)

May 10, 2016 | DraftKings | 23 Comments

by: Sky

Road trip! Everyone pile in to the Razz van as we head to the dirty south. Hrm, that makes it sound like I’m suggesting you go below the equator on someone who needs a bath or a ‘shot’, so let’s correct this: The Dirty South. There, that’s better. We all know the Atlanta Braves are bad but really, they can be worse than even their season stats suggest. Wanna know how? Throw a lefty arm out at them. I hear what you’re saying, ‘how bad can they get?’ I got really good hearing, what can I say? Well I’ll tell you: they can get 46 wRC+ bad. Sure, you could say they’re due for some positive regression and I wouldn’t argue it but this same team was third worst in wRC+ last year against southpaws at 77 so this isn’t a new trend. The new trend we all savor here on DK is the Ks. Last year, it was a menial 20.5% K rate against lefties but this year, the bottom has dropped out and the #Barves are only second to the Padres in whiffing futility with a huge 26% clip. But hey, that’s what happens when your second best hitter against southpaws is Jeff Francoeur. So with that, I introduce Adam Morgan. He’s a lefty…the end! Fo’really, this is just to see if a perfect situation pans out at a low end $5,500 price. He K’d 7 over 5 IP against the Indians who struggle just a little less against southpaws but still struggle mightily. Because of the matchup, Adam has 10 K upside which brings 10K upside to your bank account. So feel free to join in with my enjoyment of some Captain Morgan while we ease into covering the rest of the slate. With that, let’s do this. Here’s my Flaming Dr. Pepper hot taeks for this Tuesday DK slate…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Podcast: “I Sound Like An Idiotic Jersey Nerd!”

May 10, 2016 | All Podcasts | 37 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Sorry for the late start this morning, Grey and his pup Ted got in a big fight after Ted stayed out past his curfew with his buddies! Apparently Ted is a celebrity in the Los Angeles canine scene! On today’s Razzball Pod we of course have to fight over Joe Ross some more, JB keeps grilling Grey over Robinson Cano, and we express panic over a sell-high vet pitcher. We also check in with our friend Bruce Elliott, co-founder at No Halftime, and talk some crazy OBP numbers from Bryce Harper and Christian Yelich. Surprise! The one you’d think is higher isn’t! Here’s our latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:

Download from iTunes

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HR Called Five Times As Old Guys Harass Young

May 10, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 724 Comments

by: Grey

Yesterday, Chris Young went 2 2/3 IP, 5 ER as he allowed five solo home runs, which tied a franchise record, and was only the 7th starting pitcher to give up five home runs in less than three innings. He was then followed by Dillion Gee. Too bad Gee wasn’t followed by Aaron Laffey, then the box score would’ve read Chris Young, Gee, Laffey, which, as everyone knows, is an Asian giraffe, which is where these pitchers should be pitching: Asia. I didn’t know the Mets had an exchange program going with the Royals. Oh, and the Mets’ AARP affiliate was on the Yanks too with Carlos Beltran (2-for-4) hitting two homers. Member the days when the Mets got the Yanks’ also-rans — Willie Randolph, Orlando Hernandez, Rick Cerone? Now the Yanks are taking sloppy seconds. The Yankees are Ben Affleck and the Mets are Joey Lauren Adams and the Yanks are listening to the Mets in the bar in Chasing Amy. Watch out for the gear shift, Yankees! Also, in this game, Brian McCann (1-for-4) mick-can-can with his 4th homer, Brett Gardner (1-for-4) said, “Same,” and hit his 4th and Aaron Hicks (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) blasted his 2nd. With Ellsbury out for a few, I grabbed Hicks in one league, and this is now his 2nd homer in the past four games. As for Christall Young, he’ll likely be replaced in the rotation by Gee. Though, I vote for Gee with Laffey on his shoulders for the Asian giraffe. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

JB Doesn’t Know How To Rank Aaron Nola! …And The Top 100 Starting Pitchers, Week 6

May 9, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 146 Comments

by: JB Gilpin

Before we point fingers and exclaim how “right or wrong” we are, know that I am writing this intro BEFORE Aaron Nola‘s start yesterday afternoon. I don’t want my intro to sully my thoughts from the top down. The post needs to read like a before-and-after! Kinda like how Grey slammed my Joe Ross rank endlessly on the Pod “before” the season, and even with awesome results “after” 5 starts, he’s still going to find ways to troll me on him… Sigh… Also, I need to use a thesaurus on the word “before”…

So why was I so slow to sip any of the Nola Kool-Aid? Well, here’s the red flags I saw PRIOR TO yesterday’s start: .227 BABIP, he averages 90.0 on his fastball, was never a K guy through the Minors, K rate has jumped from 7.88 in 77.2 IP last year to 9.90 in 40.0 IP this year, and finally, he’s looking like a 2-pitch guy right now with 59.5% fastballs and 33.7% curveballs. Now, I admittedly use Fangraphs as my reference, and maybe he mixes a few fastball variants and he’s leaning off his change-up since his curve is working so well right now. Unless you’re in the MLB Man Cave, you’re not watching every single SP every start (plus you’re like, a few weeks behind the current action, so that’s lame), so I concede I hadn’t watched Nola yet this year. But after the Nola-grilling on my ranks in the comments last week, seeing Nola was getting the start on Sunday made him the prime Pitcher to be Profiled. Here’s how he looked yesterday afternoon in the Crayola Canyon:

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A.J. Reed-ing the Tea Leaves …And The Top 100 Hitters, Week 6

May 9, 2016 | Creeper of the Week, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 105 Comments

by: M@

Listen, I’m no clairvoyant. Actually, I don’t even believe in them. Look into a ball, read a card, trace a palm and tell the future? GTFO. Well, unless you’re Professor Trelawney and your medium of choice for prophesy is tea leaves. Anyone? Anyone? Did I just nerd out alone?!? Thanks for judging me at this very moment. I could have said meteorologist instead of clairvoyant above, I suppose.

While I joke about it, one of the most important elements to competing in fantasy baseball, especially in long-term leagues, is knowing how to look at the minor league spectrum and predict the future of prospects that can help you in the immediate. It’s not necessarily telling the future, but there’s a way to extract some wisdom from the process. Now, let me go all teacher on you as to why the word wisdom was just used: Wisdom is looking to the past to know what’s going to happen in the future before it happens.

Applied to fantasy baseball, experience and wisdom can give you a leg up on the competition if you know what to look for. The elements of a call-up? A team that believes they should be in competition, a struggling hitter at the major league level, and a red hot hitter that can maysh (redneck pronunciation intended). Oh, it also doesn’t hurt to have FanGraphs highlight said player. I’ve yet to do this, and am surely shooting myself in the foot by doing so, but it’s time to make this week’s Creeper of the Week someone who has yet to take a major league at bat. Read those tea leaves and get out ahead of the crowd, because he won’t be available in many leagues once he’s called up. And I predict that will be soon.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: Will The Real JFer Please Stand Up?

May 9, 2016 | DraftKings | 2 Comments

by: Teddy Heater

Jose Fernandez exploded onto the Miami scene harder than Vanilla Ice in 1990, dude was mowing people down like he was the Cuban sales manager for John Deere. JFer looked like he was going to be the foundation for the Miami rebuild collecting All Star honors & ROY in 2013. He was young, exciting, electric, fiery and then he had a visit with Dr. Freeze. Dr. Freeze immediately put him on ice and for the next 14 months the only time we got to see JFer pitch was for a 5 hour energy commercial on the MLB channel (seriously, that commercial ran non stop last year). Thankfully he came back late last year and looked sharp racking up 79 K’s in 65 Ing’s with a solid 2.91 ERA. He was in Grey’s top ten SP’s at the beginning of the year and personally I was excited to see him come back and pick up where he left off. Then the season started, Chen was tapped as the opening day starter and after that it seemed like the JFer banner season went sideways. I’m not sure what happened in the clubhouse or front office, but who the eff decided that JFer wouldn’t be the opening day starter? I get that they’re trying to keep his innings down, but this is your 23 year old franchise starting pitcher you’re messing with. I get that they’re supposed to be professionals and it’s business, but this kid just got bumped for Wei-Yin Chen on Opening Day. Yeah I’d be super pissed too. I’m not saying his rough start is due to not getting the nod on Opening Day, but maybe, just maybe he’s like that crazy ex GF that messes with you just to prove a point. I could be way off base here, but maybe, just maybe JFer is making a point to Loria and the rest of the Miami Minions, he’s Numero Uno snitches! I’m banking on the fact he sowed his April oats, he’s done pouting and that he’s proved his point to the peeps in charge. This wild horse’s reigns have been weighing him down to start the season and now it’s time for the guys in charge to let this stud run free like Nyquist, cause he’s a got a lot more in the tank Vanilla’s five point oh. At $11,300 he’s on the bottom end of the aces, but I think he be under owned due to the juicy match-ups for Corey Kluber and Jon Lester.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 teamer of Razzball writers and friends 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?

Thank You Very Machado

May 9, 2016 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 784 Comments

by: Grey

I’d like to dedicate this post to all the mothers out there, and to the most important mother in most of our lives, Manny Machado. The Oxford Dictionary defines mother, “something that is an extreme or ultimate example of its kind especially in terms of scale.” So, one can say that Manny Machado is the mother of all shortstops and 3rd basemen. Yesterday, on Machado’s Day, a true mother in the most arcane sense, he went 2-for-4, 6 RBIs with two homers (8, 9). He’s gaining shortstop eligibility for next year because Hardy hurt himself and the Orioles realized that necessity is the Machado of invention. So, next year, is there any way he’s not in the top three overall for all of fantasy? I guess if he gets hurt. Did I just jinx him? What a Machado f**ker! Whatever the case, there’s no way I can pay you back, but the plan is to show you that I understand; you are appreciated. Sweet Manny, don’tcha know, I love ya (Dear Machado). Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?