OPS Leagues: Position By Position

September 19, 2015 | OPS Leagues |

In the spirit of the playoffs, I’m going to run through one widely available player at each position who might be able to help you in your OPS stretch run. Let’s get started.

Catcher: Grey gave you J.P. Arencibia and Francisco Cervelli as buys yesterday. But, if those guys are taken and you are hurting at catcher, take a look at Florida’s J.T. Realmuto. Over the past two weeks, Realmuto has gone 13-for-34 with 3 home runs and a 1.084 OPS. He’s been one of the hottest hitting catchers going of late and he is owned in about 15% of ESPN leagues. I also considered Detroit’s James McCann for this one. Over the past week, McCann trails only Buster Posey, Kyle Schwarber, and Salvadaor Perez in OPS, posting a .853. But, playing time is a bit more of a concern with McCann, so Realmuto is the pick.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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#	MLB Starting Lineups For Mon 8/11
	ARI \| ATH \| BOS \| CHW \| CIN \| COL \| DET \| HOU \| KC \| LAA \| LAD \| MIL \| MIN \| NYY \| PHI \| PIT \| SD \| SF \| STL \| TB \| TEX \| WSH \| ATL \| BAL \| CHC \| CLE \| MIA \| NYM \| OAK \| SEA \| TOR

Finnegan’s Break

September 19, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 32 Comments

by: Dan Pants

Brandon Finnegan pitched five innings allowing just three hits an earned run, two walks, while striking out four to notch his first win with the Cincinnati Reds last night. James Joyce would be so proud. Although his praise would be written in the form of a street ballad that would take years to completely analyze and understand. Finnegan was the big get in the Johnny Cueto deal with Kansas City and we are starting to see why. The 22-year old lefty showed good control with a low 90s fastball and nasty change up. Used primarily as a situational lefty with the Royals, the Reds are committed to stretching Finnegan out as a starter, and it looks like that decision could pay off in the long run. Brandon was sharp last night shutting down a strong Milwaukee offense and now holds a 2.38 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with a 29/16 K/BB rate. Finnegan is more of a name to keep in the back of your mind for your 2016 drafts but I could also see streaming him next week versus the Cardinals if you feel like gambling on some rookie nookie.

Here’s what else I saw last night in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: Not Just For DFSers

September 19, 2015 | DraftKings |

by: MattTruss

Happy Saturday everyone. If you’re checking in on our DFS content at this stage of the season you’re doing a couple thing right. First off, you haven’t blown your entire bankroll chasing a million dollar pay day. Nice work! You also haven’t abandoned your baseball buddies to focus all your attention to football players turning each others brains into scrambled eggs every Sunday. Nope, you’re sticking around and watching Chris Coghlan turn Jung-Ho Kang’s knee into spaghetti, which is much more civilized. This is part of the season where the rubber meets the road and I would implore anyone with anything left to play for in any leagues to take a peek at our daily fantasy content. I mentioned this very thing all the way back in April with my second DFS article. DFS and your H2H and/or roto team can form a nice little symbiotic relationship this time of year. If you’re in the midst of a heated H2H semi-final match-up and and a little behind your opponent, for example, you could look at adding one of the lower-priced options mentioned here as they’re likely available in your league. H2H points leagues and daily fantasy are essentially cousins and we’re looking for the same things: points. A low-priced, high-upside play is great for DFS but could also help you win a H2H matchup. Smell what I’m stepping in? Big Magoo just touched on the importance of batty calls this time of year. Let’s say you’re a couple HRs back in your roto league and you’re looking for any and all power you can get your hands on. Well, look through our daily picks and see if one of our low-priced calls such as Wilin Rosario might be available in your league. Again, we’re all looking for the same thing here. So, come with me past the jump and let’s look for some players to a) win you some DFS money today and b) win you that virtual trophy to set up on your virtual mantle.

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?

RCL Update, Week 24: Fear The Walking End, Part II “I HEART This Show”

September 19, 2015 | Our Leagues | 8 Comments

by: J-FOH

Tehol has Game of Thrones, Grey has reality shows, Jay has Star Trek, Sky has Netflix, and Mike has… I have no idea if Mike even owns a T.V.. I have The Walking Dead (best scene ever!). I was one of those viewers that didn’t jump in until Season 4 after power-watching the first three seasons on Netflix. The geniuses who created TWD have now given us a new perspective on the zombie apocalypse in Fear The Walking Dead. The show takes us through the zombie apocalypse in a large urban area, Los Angeles, from day one. Each episode building on the other as people discover and deal with their quickly changing world. Fighting to grasp this new reality while wanting normalcy to return. You might be wondering what this has to do with the RCL Update? It has plenty… looking back on the season ,we leave draft day with all the hope and confidence in our fortune telling skills. When injury or poor play strikes, we think it will be fixed quickly and everything will be okay. Then tragedy keeps hitting us in the face and things unravel pretty quickly as our DL gets filled up and by the end we can barely recognize our teams. Right now, your team better be more Walking Dead and less Fear the Walking Dead, with a hodgepodge of “where did that guy come from” and “I thought this streamer retired” (I’m talking about Eduardo Escobar and Jake Peavy). Anythehoo, I love the shows and can turn them into an analogy for any struggle in life and if you ain’t ever struggled through a fantasy season then get a tougher league.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bird Bird Bird, Bird Is The Buy

September 18, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 344 Comments

by: Grey

Don’t you know about Greg Bird? Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! I, honestly, figured you would’ve heard. Heard what, you ask. Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Well, everybody said about Greg Bird that Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the buy! You know, I thought you’d heard. Heard what? About the Bird! I was watching a TV show on cybercrime recently, and I have an idea on how to attack North Korea. Just pump in the “Bird is the Word” song into their national Bose speakers. (If North Korea has taken over the US by the time you read this, this cyber attack could be used in the reverse direction. I’m yours, Kimchi Jong-il, however you want to use me. I am very loyal.) So, now that we know the word and that word is indeed Bird, what do we do with this info? We pick him up in our leagues. He has seven homers in only 29 games. Sample size, she says. Well, he had six homers in only 34 games in Triple-A, six homers in only 49 Double-A games, seven homers in only 27 games in Double-A last year…Do you see a pattern? Bird’s got power. Not really anything else, but there’s only two weeks left, grab him if you need homers. Or had you not heard? Bird Bird Bird, Bird– Okay, I’ll stop. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bullpen Report, Week 24 – Late Season Streaming

September 18, 2015 | Uncategorized | 16 Comments

by: Smokey

I am a realist. Not everyone is down with the rationale of being hip to pitching and ditching. That statement is both literal and figurative. We now have three weeks remaining of games. I mean, you either want to win and go for it with whatever you have at your discretion, or you will just listen to the piper playing and roll off the side of the mountain with the other lemmings that will go by the best names possible on my roster wins. Sorry if I stand here in my skidz pajamas and call you stupid, but you stupid. Go to the bathroom, smash your head into the sink, and then splash some water your face. It ain’t over until it’s over, it wasn’t over when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and it ain’t over now. Go to our waiver wire, listen to what I have to say about streaming… It’s really simple: Pitch twice and ditch, regardless of outcome or what J-FOH says about pitching, because little league was 25 years ago and pitching donuts is different than actually knowing baseball. So here is some late season K/9, usage and trends that I have noticed that’s going on with the bullpens in the past few days. Cheers!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Points Leagues, The Human Cespedes

September 18, 2015 | Points Leagues |

by: malamoney

While I like to come up with witty original titles, I realize that today’s has already been played. So has “Cespedes For The Rest of Us”, another solid specimen. I tried to figure out a way to use the video game Centipede, but came up empty. So I decided I would just recycle. There’s no getting around it, today’s post needed to center on Yoenis Cespedes. With 139 points, no other batter has scored as many points as Yoenis in the last 28 days. During that stretch he has 15 homers, 34 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He leads all batters in all three of those categories. He even has 3 triples and 2 stolen bases. Cespedes is like a man obsessed. Obsesspedes! I’d love to know how many teams that have made the fantasy playoffs have him on their roster.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: Orioles Are Total Zoolanders, Can’t Ambihit

September 18, 2015 | DraftKings | 5 Comments

by: Sky

Hi everyone, I’m Sky the Razzball guy. You might remember me from such hits as ‘Duffy The Cam-Yard K’er‘…I mean it was just last Friday so if you read this site at all and the DK content, I’d hope you caught that. In that piece we looked under the hood at the Orioles and their offense, namely their poor numbers against lefty pitchers and guess what? A week hasn’t changed those numbers. In fact, after getting shut out for 7 innings by Matt Moore who K’d up 9 of them, I’d bet today’s numbers would tell you they’re even worse. That said, we should complete the thought process by taking that peek again and hold the phone cuz you’ll never guess this but…yeah, they still suck against lefties to the tune of a 23% K rate and a meager 85 wRC+. With that, in steps Drew Smyly who himself is coming off an 11 K performance against what was a surging Boston Red Sox offense. Cash? Check. GPP? Double check. I’m gonna have a hard time moving off Drew in any format today so while everyone talks chalk with you today, realize at $9,400 you could be getting the sweeter deal when talking about those 10K+ priced arms. So put a Smyly on your face and move on with me to for the coverage of the rest of this tilt…hrm, reference Zoolander in the title, put a Zoolander pic in the opening, and then don’t actually reference Zoolander? That’s ridiculous, I should be ashamed so let me make up for it. Here’s my Orange Mocha Frappuccino takes for this Friday DK slate…

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 15 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?

Coghlan’s Law: Bury The Kangs, They Stink Up The Joint

September 18, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 172 Comments

by: Grey

Yesterday, Chris Coghlan went full Ivan Drago on Jung-ho Kang‘s knee, taking him out in a hard slide. Kang is now done for the year, and could miss a month of next season, with a torn MCL. That’s not the year 1150, if any Romans are reading this. He also has a fractured fibia. Coghlan should not be allowed to wear that Iron Mike Sharpe knee pad. Things couldn’t be much worse for the Pirates, who will now rely on Jordache Mercer (full name). Kang’s agent said, “It is unfortunate that what would be considered heads up baseball would cause such a serious injury. That said, Coghlan was playing the game the way it should be played.” Doesn’t that sound backhanded? Like, “It’s a shame we allow 85-year-old people to drive, but that’s the law and thanks for crashing into my car.” Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull: Last Chance Saloon

September 17, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 19 Comments

by: Big Magoo

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve written about a few of the specific hitters and starting pitchers who I felt might be useful as well as a few who might struggle during the remainder of the 2015 MLB regular season. With just over two weeks remaining until our fantasy fates are determined, I’d like to focus on the types of players who are worth targeting and avoiding down the stretch, aka the final bears and bulls of the season. As Judge Alvin Valkenheiser would say, it’s “last chance saloon” to make a few key moves and take home your league titles, so let’s get to work.

Here are the types of players that I’m bearish on over the next couple of weeks:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: In The 6 With My Woes

September 17, 2015 | DraftKings | 2 Comments

by: waterloo

How much stacking is too much stacking? I mean, the reward is obviously there, but so is the risk. It’s an approach I took with my season-long league this year, as my starting lineup had Ben Revere, Troy Tulowitzki, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista in each day for a categories league. It worked well enough to earn me a first-round bye, but it’s risky because if the Blue Jays had an off-series, I was screwed.

It’s the same approach with DFS. You want to stack hoping it hits, but if it doesn’t, you just wasted your money. Ballpark comes into play, and so does the pitcher. Today, I’m risking it, even if Turner Field isn’t great. Line me up some Blue Jays, good sir.

Straight to the cash, homie.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 20 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?

Let My Love Open Lindor

September 17, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 284 Comments

by: Grey

The original title Rudy suggested was, Love Is To Own Lindor, but Rudy tells me that title only makes sense to people forced to watch Frozen 5+ times. Let it go…Let it go…Let it go… I just sang that in perfect key and it still caused a cat to screech and paint to peel. Luckily, I don’t have a kid, a cat or paint. Let’s count the ways I love Francisco Lindor. *five minutes later, makes farting sound with hand in armpit* And that’s it! Oh, yeah, I should count the ways I love him aloud so you can hear. Fair enough, you nitpicker, you. Yesterday, he hit his 9th homer (3-for-4, 4 RBIs), topping off a week when he was hitting over .400, a month when he’s hitting over .340, a 2nd half when he’s hitting over .350 with 7 homers and 7 steals. He’s only 21 years old. At 21 years old, you fell asleep on a couch outside of your local bar waiting to talk a girl that you think might have been interested, only waking after a passing bus splashed a puddle of your own vomit onto you. Guys and five girl readers, he has 9 homers in 82 games (essentially a half a season) and he has 30-steal speed. I just got goose pimplies. To emphasize them, I’m drawing little goose faces on my pimples like those psychopaths draw on grains of rice. Yes, you should own Lindor on your teams for this year, and I can’t wait to draft him in sixteen after twenty. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?