Yunel Escobar (+31.3%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. The 32-year-old middle infielder who hasn’t reached double digits in home runs since 2011 and has never stolen more than 6 bases in a single season. The same player who hasn’t produced a batting average above .258 since the 2011 season. Yup, that Yunel Escobar. So, what exactly is going on here? Is he a late bloomer? Early zombino? Well, through 35 games and 150 plate appearances, Escobar has launched 2 homers and is 0-for-1 in steal attempts. His BB-rate is down (6.7% in ’15; 8.9% career) and his K-rate is up (12.7% in ’15; 11.3% career). On the plus side, his 23 runs scored and .326 average are among the NL leaders. However, that average is being fueled by an unsustainably high .364 BABIP (.302 career), and while his current 21.7% LD% would represent a new career high, his 17.5% FB% would easily represent the lowest mark of his career and all but ensure another single digit HR campaign. Unless your league includes douchebaggery as a category, ride the hot streak then cut bait at the first sign of trouble. Here were a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball from this past week:
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You might be wondering what’s with the title, and to be honest, I thought it was kinda catchy. Okay, I get it, I have too much time on my hands, and no time isn’t the name of the lotion I use. Love’s 7 and 7 is is one of my favorite precursors of punk rock songs. I have read oral histories on the subject and this song comes up as a big influence. It’s always interesting to see where something we love comes from. Groups like the Seeds, the 13th Floor Elevators, the MC5 and the Blue Magoos all laid down the tunes that influenced a great genre of music. You might be saying to yourself: What the hell does this have to do with the RCL update? Well, it’s me telling you that you need to study this format (and those playing it) at a high level. I’m hoping you try and organize strong leagues among fellow commenters next year that take on the RCL strategies. It’s what I did and I have never had as much fun playing fantasy baseball. This week, I have the usual suspects in here… weekly leaders, top ten, team profile and a new edition, the league ranks. These high index leagues at the bottom of the post are about as punk rock as they come when shattering the glass walls of the fantasy leisure suits. Playing in them is a proverbial mosh pit of action that will leave you with black eyes and bloody knuckles. It’s like dating a Salvadorian girl!
Please, blog, may I have some more?I read a great piece this offseason on J.D. Martinez. He was such an interesting player last year and I was trying to make heads or tails of him. Was his breakout for real? Was he to be believed? Was this a fluke? Where in the world am I going to draft this guy this year? In my research of the man, the myth, the J.D. I found an article talking about his failures in Houston and adjustments he made. You can read it for yourself here. J.D. talks about how the breakthrough happened when watching film. Not film of himself mind you, but film of his teammate, Jason Castro. Next up, he checked out film of Ryan Braun, then Miguel Cabrera and finally Mike Trout. He noticed how each of their bats stayed in the zone for a much longer time than his did and realized he needed to make this adjustment to succeed. He worked on it with great success in winter ball, but was cut by Houston during spring training. The Tigers welcomed him with open arms and the rest is J.D.’s breakout season.
Why am I telling you this and how does it related to DFS? Well grasshopper, I will tell you. I am telling you this because you can learn something from J.D. You can employ this same technique to improve your daily game that J.D. used to tattoo baseballs. I think one of the best ways to learn how to play this game well is to study those that are more successful at it than you. Pick a DFS player you see at the top of tournament boards most nights and play them heads up, join the same tournaments as them and study them. Don’t just look at who they picked, but why they picked them. If you can’t come up with a good reason why they picked them, dig deeper. I personally believe this is helpful in all walks of life, but I can guarantee it won’t make you a worse DFS player. So, give it a whirl and see what you can learn, you might just have your own breakout.
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?Yesterday, Rubby de la Rosa threw 9 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners (0 BBs) and 5 Ks, a semiprecious stone of a game. (Maybe I didn’t need to use a thesaurus for the word gem.) Rubby reminded me of Celine Dion and her baby. If I could hold Rubby to my ear, what would his future sound like? *paints Rubby on a seashell for makeshift future-telling device, puts seashell up to ear* I hear Johnny Gill saying, he will Rubby me the right way! That’s amazing! But how can we be sure Johnny Gill isn’t just saying that because no one has asked for his opinion on anything in 25 years? Wait, maybe we haven’t heard from him because he’s been living in a seashell all of these years. Rubby’s K-rate is 8, his walk rate is 2 and, yes, they’re even numbers, unless we’re going to the 2nd decimal, and 2nd decimals are for nerds! Speaking of which, his xFIP is 3.43 and he’s been a tad unlucky to have a 4.08 ERA. I don’t see Rubby as a potential ace breakout candidate, but I own him in multiple leagues, and like him since he throws hard, has solid control, should get cushy matchups and could have a fantasy number three to four year. Now how do we get Johnny Gill out of this seashell?! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Man, I was coming into yesterday afternoon all pumped for today’s Profile – high-caliber young gun in Noah Syndergaard going on Sunday, facing my terrible Brewers, it was going to be a monster start… Andddddd – he plunks my favorite player Carlos Gomez in the face. F you Noah! You went from Chris Hemsworth to whoever played the nincompoop in Blue Lagoon. What a ninny! And he didn’t even look remorseful, but in retrospect while re-reading my open, he was a little shaken. Regardless, I only barely like him more than Yordano Ventura now…
Biases be as they be (I think I heard that on some rap mixtape Grey made for me), but I still gutted through an objective-as-possible Pitcher Profile to break down how Syndergaard looked and how much we can expect from him in his rookie season:
Please, blog, may I have some more?What an eventful SAGNOF (Saves Ain’t Got No Face) week it was. Shawn Tolleson, who was originally a high priority SAGNOF Special recommendation two weeks ago, now looks to be in a position to steal some saves from Neftali Feliz or possibly take the job outright. Feliz is in serious trouble and it will probably be either Shawn Tolleson or Keone Kela that takes over if Feliz is in fact removed. Right now the word is that Rangers manager Jeff Bannister is going to use whoever he fancies on any particular day to close out games and that leaves the door open for just about anyone, including Feliz. I find it hard to believe that anyone other than Tolleson is capable of running away with the closer role so he’s my heavy favorite. If I’m wrong, call me bad names, but try to make it funny at least.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’re back with the Razzball Pod with the very special Jay (nee Wrong) guest hosting for Grey in one of the most kimchi-delicious, Fifth Element-fanboyish Podcasts around! We chat Shelby Miller‘s near no-no, JB’s hatred of Noah Syndergaard for plunking Carlos Gomez, and Chris Heston‘s value ROS. Loved that guy in Ben-Hur! We also talk hitters, with some middle infielders heating up like Jason Kipnis and a pair of rookie 3B hitting their first career homers over the weekend. JB said he thinks Yasmany Tomas is Miguel Cabrera! Whoa, way to take things out of context, me… Here’s the newest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?I’m going to introduce you to a word: chalk. No, not the kind you used to write ‘I will not depants Sally in front of the auditorium full of parents during the Winter Christmas Pageant’ 100 times. I’m here to talk about the DFS slang borrowed from the betting world. Here, chalk means the favorite or best play of the day. For example, we all know to greet each other with ‘Happy Harvey Day’ in the comments, but do you really need me to tell you he’s good? Do you need that to be my opening post to you? There’s your chalk. He’s one of the best pitchers in the league and on a very short slate, he literally jumps off the pitching page when you look at the mere 12 on there. With that said, let’s not waste words on what we already know, let’s talk about something unknown: The B-52’s were actually a good band. Subjective, you say. Well, let’s say it differently then: in the small world of New Wave, they held their own. Let’s consider this New Wave Monday with that in mind and consider Harvey The Talking Heads while we decide to Rock Lobstein. I’m not going to talk up Kyle Lobstein too much. He in and of himself is just an average MLB pitcher, but here’s what I will talk about: The Brewers. So far on the year, the team has a wRC+ of 55 against LHP, good for second to last in the league. Factor in the 26% K rate against southies, regulars Segura and Lucroy on the DL, not to mention Gomez being beaned in the head on Sunday and likely out himself…well, the stars couldn’t align more for Kyle. Sometimes you don’t have to be the best play of the day to be a good choice. So let’s Rock Lobstein together and look on to what other hot takes I have on the Monday DK slate…
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?I was going to say Shelby Miller looks sensational, but then I Googled sensational to see its definition, even though I know it already. (Al Gore did originally invent the internet as a tool of procrastination.) So, the Oxford Dictionary defines sensational as: causing great public interest and excitement, example “a sensational murder trial.” Wow, even the Oxford Dictionary is trying to get in on the tabloid journalism of our day. Hey, Oxford, why not, “Kim Kardashian’s booty was sensational when she broke the internet that Al Gore had created and now needed to fix.” That gives me a great idea, a mash up of the Urban and Oxford Dictionary! Definition of a flake: A crazy or eccentric person. “Yo, that flake is three crumbs short of a Peek Frean.” Any the hoo! Shelby Miller did look sensational, murdering bats like The Riddler. Yesterday, he went 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 4 Ks to lower his ERA to 1.33. Is he this good? Oh, c’mon. But how bad is he? His K/9 is 7.2, BB/9 is 2.7 and xFIP is 3.79. His BABIP is .203, LOB% is 88.8% and his ground ball rate is 50.4%. Essentially, Miller’s a 3.25-3.60 ERA pitcher with decent, but not great Ks, solid but not terrific control, and one great pitch that he’s figured out how to use, the cutter. He could easily have a month-long spasm of a 5.00 ERA just as easily as he’s done six weeks of a 1.33 ERA. Would I sell him high? Yes, indeed. Or as the Urban-Oxford Dictionary would say, “Does a corgi crap under the Queen’s bed and she calls it a soon-to-be truffle?” Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?The year was 2005 and my buddy kept talking about his fantasy baseball team. I had no idea what he was saying most the time, because I had never played the game before. Actually I had barely watched any baseball at all. I was a jaded strike fan who was as casual as they come with my knowledge of the game. I knew a little about the local teams and that was about it. Any the hoo, he kept going on and on about this Ryan Howard kid until that name was stuck in my head. Fast forward to March of 2006, he talked me into playing with him and “his” friends for fun… and money. I get to the 10th round of the draft and I need a 1B, so I remember the kid that got drilled into my head the year before and I take Ryan Howard with the pick. That year he put up a 104/58/149/0/.313 line and I won that league. Actually I won for lots of reason, I rosterbated before I knew what that was and I streamed like a mofo. I also never gave him a dime, he took my entry out of my winnings, kept some of it for the next season and I played with them for free for the next five seasons. I hearted Howard like Grey hearts Giancarlo. He was my savior that year. I think I drafted Gagne in the 5th and Fatolo in the 4th… I had no idea what I was doing. But I learned the game by doing and picked it up pretty fast, and now you get to see me at least twice a week. If this angers you, then blame occasional commenter the Birdman for me being here. It’s all his fault.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Have you ever gone out to dinner and felt completely overwhelmed by the number of choices on the menu? You find yourself completely unable to make a decision. Do I go with the fajitias, the shrimp Mozambique, the salmon burger or the country fried steak? Ugggh I hate making choices… Can I just get a quarter order of each? Ohh you don’t do that, well then I’ll just have the caesar salad. Yes I’m often prone to panicking when presented with a slew of desirable choices. I once passed out in the process of choosing a hooker at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada while on a substantial peyote binge. This is all niether here nor there but it’s the last time I was as overwhelemed with choices as I am today. DraftKings and today’s pitching ledger is chock full of options. Before we get into the ones that I do like, and there are quite a few, let’s discuss one I don’t. That would be none other than the highest priced option on today’s board Garrett Richards. I get it, his high strikeout totals play well in the DK format and he’s been good over his past four starts. Problem is he faces a Baltimore offense that ranks third in wOBA against righties. Richards has also been extremely lucky thus far with a BABIP of .213 and a BB/9 of 4.55. The long and the short, regression is coming, and I’d avoid spending the money on Richards. Truthfully I’m left a bit puzzled by his price. What do the good folks at DraftKings know that I don’t?
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?The first-place Astros will promote right-hander Lance McCullers to pitch against the Athletics tomorrow. The 21-year-old will make the jump straight from Double-A to the majors. McCullers was drafted 41st overall out of high school back in 2012 and features two plus pitches in his fastball and curveball. That combination should lead to a decent amount of strikeouts if he can command both pitches. McCullers probably tops out as a #3 starter in the majors, but he’s shown improved control this year with a 3.5 BB/9 (down from 5.2 and 4.5 in the two previous seasons). His strikeout rate has also ticked up – posting a 13.3 K/9 in 29 innings at Double-A Corpus Christi. McCullers is a viable fantasy play in most formats right out of the gate. Even in shallower leagues he’s worth a spin as a streamer. Here’s what else is happening around the minor leagues right now…
Please, blog, may I have some more?