Chi Chi Dancing Cha Cha After Shutout

June 6, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 96 Comments

After beginning his career almost no-hitting the Red Sox through six innings last Saturday, the legend of Chi Chi Gonzalez, whether I mean that ironically or not, continued Friday night with a complete game 3-hit shutout of the Kansas City Royals for his second win. He allowed just five base runners in all, striking out two. Oh, hello there. I am now intrigued. *Raises eyebrow, googles stats* Err. O…k. Despite my intriguement, in 43.1 innings at AAA, Chi Chi posted a 4.15 ERA with a 26/19 K/BB rate. Hmm. Well, that’s not very good at all. Still, I am not one to stare a gift horse in the butt. That’s how you get kicked in the teeth. Gonzalez has now pitched 14.2 scoreless innings to start his MLB career, allowing just five hits. Let’s focus on that. So maybe he’s almost walked twice as many batters as he’s struck out. Fair enough. I’m not saying he’s here to save your team, but he gets the Oakland A’s next week and should certainly be worthy of a ping on your fantasy radar at this point.

Here’s what else happened Friday night in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

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DraftKings: Picks for June 6th, 2015

June 6, 2015 | DraftKings | 3 Comments

by: Bigfoot Paul

Today is the first Saturday in June, and the first day that it really feels like summertime. At least in Southern California it does. Warm weather and baseball just go hand-in-hand. So if you’re not at a game today, fulfill your Saturday baseball with some Razzball picks on DraftKings. Starting Pitchers are your most important position. Are you going to spend your money on a young unproven rookie pitcher, or a pricey proven pitcher that “should” run up your score? It’s a hard decision sometimes, but when you have choices like today, you should feel good about your chances. My strategies usually consist a little of both. Play it safer in 50/50’s. For example, if you’re in a 100 person entry, you can pretty much count on pitchers like Kershaw and King Felix to be owned around two-thirds to three-quarters of the league. You aren’t going to want to gamble and pick Lorenzen and another low to mid-tier pitcher and stack heavy on hitting. You’ll usually get the most points out of you pitchers, so my strategy is to play it safe and stick with the heavy priced pitchers. However, if I’m playing a big ‘Guaranteed’ entry where there are thousands of entries and thousands of dollars to be won in a top five finish, I’m gambling a lot more, and not spending my money on Kershaw and King Felix. It’s all or nothing for me in those type of entries. I’m not saying I’d start Lorenzen and a low-tier pitcher, but I’m certainly not picking the two pitchers which I think will be owned the most. What has worked for you? Have you had a really big win on DraftKings? Share you success in the comments below and tweet at me using #RazzballReader. Enjoy the 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.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

This Week in Razz…, Week 9

June 6, 2015 | Uncategorized | 22 Comments

by: Jay

Are you guys ready for some football!? (Gotta love that interrobang, and I think you know why. Har har.) Great! (I’m assuming you answered yes.) We only have, roughly, 234 weeks left until the football season. Listen, I get it. Baseball is still the current choice to be played in your mother’s basement (I love your mother’s basement, by the way), and the season hasn’t even reached the half-way point yet. Even if you are in last place, there’s plenty of time to right that ship and something-something sailing metaphor. But I just came on over here to let you know that Razzball’s fantasy football season content schedule is about to come into full bloom. I also came here to tell you that I’m going to come into full bloom… in your mother’s basement. One of these day’s I’ll run out of your mom jokes. But today is not that day. So while we take a moment to go over what was this week in Razz (baseball!), be sure to start checking up on the fantasy football side of things in the coming month, where we’ll have the 2015 Draft Kit, Rankings, Game of Thrones podcast discussions (which you can listen to now!) along with some football talk… maybe, and all the things you’ve come to love about Razzball. Me! (That’s totally why. Don’t say another word.)

Follow me after the jump to take a look back at what was week nine AND a look forward on all things Razzball, including some player suggestions for next week, straight from Razzball’s Streamonator, Hitter-Tron, and DFSBot!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Buyonica Lake

June 5, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 593 Comments

by: Grey

I loved when Junior Lake homered the other day and, as he rounded first base, he held his finger to his lips, shushing the Marlins dugout, as if he was some kind of maniacal librarian. The only disappointing thing from this whole encounter is no one wrote an article titled, “Junior Mince Words.” It’s that kinda of braggadocio, WWE-type attitude that makes Grey’s man muscles tingly. Baseball needs to shed its 1920s demeanor and get rowdy-bawdy. If rowdy-bawdy means acting a fool, what the eff, go for it! The game is losing fans and fans want crazy/stupid/cool. Even in the conservative Japan, baseball players flip their bats like they’re cutting up an imaginary origami crane. I say everyone needs to come up with their own home run trot and pitchers need to blow on their gun finger after a K. As for Junior Lake, I’m a big fan outside of the theatrics. He’s a 12-homer, 15-steal guy that should play most days until Soler returns. I’ve added him everywhere I could. After I added him, I shushed my hand on my mouse. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Points Leagues: Golden Showers

June 5, 2015 | Points Leagues | 38 Comments

by: malamoney

With 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, 8 stolen bases and 230 fantasy points in 53 games, Paul Goldschmidt has been “making it rain” points in fantasy baseball land so far this season. While some might come close, none have been “as good as gold”. When we asked Tony the Tiger for his felinely opinion he has this to say. “Paul’s not good, he’s GOOOOLD!” Thanks Tony.

When gold was first discovered in Sacramento Valley way back in early 1848 it sparked the well-known Gold Rush of 1849. Some 300,000 people came to California in search of golden riches, marking one of the more significant events in 19th century US history. Well, I think it’s time to dust off your covered wagons and starting making your way to Arizona because I think we’re on the brink of the Gold Rush of 2015. Goldschmidt is on pace for 48 homers, 137 RBIs, 24 stolen bases and a whopping 703 fantasy points. Move over 49’ers!

In honor of our golden hero I have decided to make this week’s entire post a tribute to him.

So, who else has been a gold mine lately?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Deep Impact: Odubaerga

June 5, 2015 | Deep Leagues | 10 Comments

by: Dave

Recently, I’ve been struggling with middle infielder availability on my own team. I was left between, Odubel Herrera off waivers or Brad Miller, so what did I decide to do? Trade Matt Harvey for Troy Tulowitzki – that’s right, I’m about as high on either of these guys as John Stewart is on – well, height. For this post, I’m going to get into why exactly Herrera doesn’t do it for me; we’ll get to Miller another day.

If you’ve read either of my previous columns, you’ll know that I’m not your typical fantasy writer – if you want to base your roster decisions on statistical indicators, this isn’t the place for you. I like to roll up my sleeves and dig into how guys play; if you’re also enamored with the art of the game, welcome home friend. As a reminder, when analyzing hitting approaches, I break the swing into three universal components: stance, trigger, and swing path. I provided a detailed explanation of each component at the bottom of the article in case you aren’t familiar.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: Mr. Stanton Goes to Denver

June 5, 2015 | DraftKings | 12 Comments

by: MattTruss

Happy Friday everyone. It’s nice being in on a Friday. Tuesday and Friday nights are usually the most jam packed nights of the DFS week with plenty of large tournaments and Friday tends to house the week’s biggest events including qualifiers aplenty. Good luck to those chasing Q’s this evening. Despite being a Friday, it’s more like a whacky Wednesday. I guess we can call it a freaky Friday. For those that don’t subscribe to the hitter-tron and stream-o-nator, first of all, I’m sorry you’re losing your league. Second of all, what is the matter with you? Thirdly, there’s some craziness going down tonight and I’ll fill you in a little and explain my sentiments. There’s something I can’t ever recall seeing with the stream-o-nator tonight and that’s not a single pitcher with over a $6.7 value. In fact, there are only 9 pitchers with any positive value tonight, which leaves 21 pitchers in the negative with three of them in the negative $30 range. Those three pitchers aren’t even starting in Coors! What does all this mean? Expect a ton of offense tonight because there’s a ton of shizz pitchers throwing. I would guess tonight might be one of those nights where you can score 150 DraftKings points and not cash. The other fun thing tonight is Giancarlo Stanton in Coors field. The superhuman crusher of baseballs checks in at a very rare $100+ value tonight. Just imagine what Giancarlo could do if he were on the Rockies. *Wavy lines* I was so excited to draft Giancarlo #1 overall this year. He hit 30 homers before the all-star break and then his hamstring tore in half, what a bummer. *Wavy lines* Yea, that sounds about right, very Tulo-esque. No matter, he’s in the hitter friendly confines tonight and will be appointment television for me. At $5,800 tonight, I’d say he’s worth every penny. I expected him to be over $6,000 to be honest. Look at us, bargain shopping like a soccer mom. Let’s take a look at some other players to roster and see if there’s any starters worth rostering this Friday.

New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 25 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?

Rendonesia Has Conquered My Malaisia

June 5, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 397 Comments

by: Grey

Thank you, Jesus Guzman! Or Jesus Alou or Jesus Colome or David DeJesus or whatever baseball Jesus you pray to! Anthony Rendon was activated! “Hello, God, it’s me Grey. I have no more requests…Well, maybe one more. Could you allow Rendon to hit? Okay, you being such a literal God will prolly take that to mean, he’ll get at-bats and ground out. I mean, can you allow him to hit for a high average, some power, some speed and just be better than Logan Forsythe? I’ll take my answer off the air.” Honestly, I have no idea what to expect from Rendon. Some players — Josh Hamilton comes to mind — get countless injury updates from the media no matter how small the news. I feel like with Rendon it’s been radio silence since he was DL’d. Every few weeks there would be a ‘playing in rehab games’ update, but very little else. So, the realistic side of me wants to think he’s going to struggle like it’s spring training for him. The fanboy side of me thinks he’s gonna hit a zillion homers and steal a trillion bases and make everything right. Likely, he’ll be about as good as Yunel, but, due to his name recognition, will soothe my middle infidel nerves for a few weeks. Yesterday, he went 2-for-4 and, well, he’s back, and that’s all that matters. Thank you, Jesus Montero! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bear or Bull: Rocky Mountain Buy?

June 4, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 78 Comments

by: Big Magoo

Drafting or trading for Troy Tulowitzki isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, whenever I find myself on the clock on draft day and his name is staring back at me from the list of available players, this scene usually comes to mind. Just take a look at his games played totals over the past three years: 47, 126, 91. That’s 264 games out of 486 that he managed to stay healthy for. Yikes. That sounds about as reliable as day-old fast food that’s been sitting out on the kitchen counter. But oh the potential rewards that can come with taking that plunge (on Tulo, not the congealed burgers). Over that three year span from 2012-14, Tulo finished in the top 5 among all qualified MLB hitters in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, as well as 3rd in OPS (.950) and wOBA (.408) behind only Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout. Needless to say, he led all MLB shortstops in each of those categories by significant margins. Tulo could always be counted on to produce at an elite level when healthy. So what’s wrong with him this season? Have all of the injuries finally caught up to him?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Closer Report, Week 9: You can Spell Melancon Without a K

June 4, 2015 | Closers, Middle Relievers | 49 Comments

by: Smokey

For a few days it’s been all quiet on the closer front. Usually in the lede, I talk about a change in regime and the pluses/minuses and my opinion on it. There hasn’t been one for two whole weeks… It’s crazy. MLB is putting me outta business in the jibing about fantasy closers market. Where does the unemployment line start? I am only half kidding, and I’m also half crazy too. So that makes me half-something. So believe it or not, the season is officially 3/8 of the way over. That is just crazy in itself to even fathom. I think I have rambled on about nothing long enough… let’s talk about someone, anyone, shall we? I like the rebound to form that Mark Melancon has shown, due to a K/9 of 4.68. I haven’t seen a true one-outcome reliever before, but if you own him, I would sell for a better product. You can probably get by on two things in your favor. One, his name uses letters that can be read in a left-to-right format, which, from what I am understanding, is standard for reading purposes. Two, he has 6 saves in the last two weeks and when people look to see how he has been doing, they will see that he is tied for the lead during that time frame in saves. Listen, if you need saves and you own Melancon, I am not saying go out and sell him cause I said so. I am saying swap him and a extra player and see if you can get an improvement on the K category. The other owner will be so smitten that he got a closer and another player for just a closer, he won’t realize that he was jobbed. Side note, make sure he doesn’t read this blurb first or the jig is up. Stick around more snippets of informative justice are on the way…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

OPS Leagues: Tulonado Warning

June 4, 2015 | OPS Leagues | 16 Comments

by: Elliot

Quick, who leads the Colorado Rockies in hits? How about batting average? And most importantly for this column, who leads the Rockies in OBP?

If you said Troy Tulowitzki or Nolan Arenado, you’d be wrong. If you said Carlos Gonzalez, you’d be really wrong. The correct answer is D.J. LeMahieu. LeMahieu has been one of the Rockies best batters to start the season and, after a bit of a production dip, has started to hit well again. Walt Weiss has begun experimenting with LeMahieu in the 2-hole, which in a decent Rockies lineup, could lead to some runs. I wouldn’t go out of my way to acquire him, but if he is available on the wire or if someone is wanting to deal him, he is worth the look. His .394 OBP is not sustainable (career .322), but even a marginal slide backwards would be serviceable in most leagues at second base.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

DraftKings: It’s Harvey Day… Really

June 4, 2015 | DraftKings | 3 Comments

by: waterloo

Let me start by saying that for once, I’m not going to complain about the Thursday slate. Weird, I know. There are only seven games today, but after messing around with the slate and pricing, I’m pretty pleased with the options tonight.

But see one of those options, can’t be called that. No, instead, we have to call him mandatory. Tournament, cash, side bet with Grandma — it doesn’t matter. It is Matt Harvey day, and while it’s lost its luster the past two times out, he’s a must for today’s slate.

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?