RazzSlam 6 drafts kick off in a few short days. Are you ready to dominate this Points-based, best ball league? Did you even know this was a Points league? Well, it is. Lucky for you, I’m here to help.
Before we get to the data, how about that logo?
If that’s not the picture in Webster describing every middle-aged weekend softballer, I don’t know what is. If I could grow lettuce like that, and Grey provided me the t-shirt and lid, I’d consider posing for RazzSlam7.
Anyone know who player really is? Any guesses? Does that help?
It’s none other than The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky. In all honesty, I don’t think Al posed for this picture but there is a resemblance. Am I wrong?
I’m far too young to remember Hrabosky pitching and I don’t ever recall seeing highlights, but this caused me to do a little digging. What I found is quite fascinating.
Do yourself a favor and learn more about Hrabosky HERE. There is plenty to chew on, including videos of Al explaining how he became “The Mad Hungarian” and how he kept the title (FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!) as one of the most dominant relievers of the 1970s. Good stuff!
Now, back to RazzSlam 6.
Like I said before, RazzSlam is a points-based, best ball league designed to mirror the NFBC Best Ball Cutline Championship. If you’ve played on NFBC, the roster construction is familiar to you with 14 hitters and 9 pitchers. It’s a slow draft (4-hour clock) for 42 rounds. An important note, the draft clock freezes from 2am-8am ET – so plan accordingly wherever you are. What is the scoring, you ask?
Scoring
There are a few other things you’ll need to know, like Free Agency, Playoffs and of course, the Prizes waiting to be extracted from the Grey Albright underground vault. Be sure to check out the full RazzSlam rules HERE.
“OK TLB, this is all great info, but how do I prepare for RazzSlam?”
I hear you out there. I told you I’d have you covered, and I will momentarily. Before I do, a quick disclaimer: I’m not one to create fantasy projections from scratch. As I told a loyal reader in last week’s article, “I’m no Rudy…I will never be Rudy…I have no intentions of TRYING to be Rudy.” Rudy is one of the preeminent fantasy baseball projectors in the game. Why would I try to compete with that?
HOWEVER COMMA…I do know a thing or two about fantasy baseball. More importantly, I’ve learned from experience and following what works and what doesn’t. With that knowledge, I will make my own adjustments to projections and/or rankings to fit the roster build I’m looking for. What works in Roto leagues may not work in Points leagues. What works from the #3 draft slot may not work in the #13 draft slot. You get the picture.
NOTE: As of this writing, KDS for RazzSlam6 haven’t run yet. So, go set them now if you haven’t yet.
While you do, I’ll share my Top 100 hitters and pitchers based on points calculated for RazzSlam6.
Here are some hitters I’m particularly high on for Points leagues:
- Brent Rooker – virtually all his power metrics (SLG, ISO, Contact %, Barrel %, EV, Hard Hit %, etc.) have increased over the past 3 seasons. He’ll plateau at some point, but all indications are the ’24 production is near repeatable.
- Brenton Doyle – increased playing time resulted in closing some holes in his swing (increased Contact %, LD%, Hard Hit %, HR/FB%, etc.). Tap into the Coors benefits.
- Top 50 SS. I’m a big fan of grabbing one of the top 50 SS (even Bo Bichette). So far, I’ve been picking middle or late. Hence, I already have shares of Betts, Lindor, Turner and McLain.
- Brice Turang – We typically don’t get too excited about 2B, but this might be the exception. At 25 years old, he’s entering his prime coming off a season where his K% went down and metrics like Contact %, GB%, LD%, EV, Hard Hit %, etc. all went up. Additionally, he ranks in the top 20 across the SB metrics (SB%, Speed Score Index, etc.).
On the flip side, you’ll note that I don’t have players like Matt Chapman, Salvador Perez, Nolan Arenado, or Byron Buxton in the Top 100. It’s not that I don’t “like” these players, but I’m not buying at their ADP.
Speaking of ADP…I didn’t speak much about draft strategy here but let me tell you, be sure to go get your guys. What I mean by that is, don’t put too much emphasis on current ADP. If you do, you’ll likely get sniped often. ADP is primarily set by Roto league drafts at this point and thus, you might be led astray in a Best Ball draft.
Here are some pitchers I’m targeting:
- You can’t go wrong with one of the cornerstone SPs but you’ll need to pay up. Remember, scoring tends to favor hitters when those SPs are being drafted. If you do take one, and only one (hint), I prefer Cease or one of the M’s (Gilbert or Kirby) so you don’t significantly overpay.
- Logan Webb – Last season, Webb was almost a forgotten pitcher on draft day. All he did was deliver > 200 IP, sub 3.50 ERA and Sub 1.25 WHIP. He’s durable (32+ starts in last 3 seasons) and tosses 6+ IP in a majority of his starts. Unquestionably, he’s not a K-machine, but don’t forget the RazzSlam scoring (IP = 3, K = 1).
- Zac Gallen – Gallen tends to be right there when I’m looking to bolster my SP staffs. Sure, we’ve seen a little drop in his K% and Swing K% but he has one of the best GB% and an excellent xERA coming into ’25. Now with Corbin Burnes pitching in front of him, some of the pressure to be the “ace” is off. The math has him at #57 but honestly I think that’s too low.
- As far as RPs go, I like to mix them in with SPs after the top 25 are gone. I’ll likely pass on Diaz and Hader but target guys like Helsley, Miller and Duran later. Far later, I really like Finnegan too…especially now that he has a job.
A few names you don’t see in my top 100:
- Brandon Woodruff – he’s just outside my top 100 due to his delayed start and return risk.
- Shohei Ohtani – I’m not drafting him as a pitcher this year. He won’t pitch until May or so and one start a week after that.
- Spencer Strider – Same song here. I’ll let someone else pay up for his expected 15-17 starts.
- Max Scherzer – Love Max and he’s now a “Best Ball” pitcher but I’d prefer to look elsewhere.
Summary
Feel free to use these rankings for the draft or compare with yours and decide if you want to move anyone up/down. I typically use spreadsheets but I’m also a big proponent of draft software to track my picks. One of the best out there, you guessed it, the aforementioned Rudy Gamble’s (@rudygamble) Best Ball Draft Room spreadsheet. It just so happens, Grey did an article about it recently, go read it HERE.
Good luck in your RazzSlam drafts and if you’re in my league, an early kudos for finishing 2nd.
Don’t forget, you can find me on Twitter/X (@Derek_Favret) and on BlueSky (@dfavret.bsky.social).
Until next time, my friends.
