What's up amigos?! Let me first say that if you're reading this, thanks. I really appreciate the support, especially when we're all recovering from too many Mother's Day Mimosas. What!? Surely I'm not the only one that enjoys a little champagne and citrus juice occasionally, right? I'll let you in on another Honcho secret: I like mine fruity! No comments please. Anyway, I'm back for another week of streaming fun and I've vacuumed out the sidecar on my new, American made motorbike. Won't you join me? I love adventures, especially the kind that make you feel like you're living on the edge. Like the time I challenged a few skateboard Yolo teens to a dance off after they made fun of my favorite pair of white New Balance shoes and sweet fanny pack. I'm straight savage at times. Kind of like now, when I recommend using
Alex Meyer on the road against the Mets. Look, his numbers are far from sexy, but he tossed an absolute gem Sunday vs the Tigers (3 H, ER & 7 Ks) and I'm in love with his 98 mph fastball. If we're being honest, the Mets offense has been underrated all season, despite the injuries. This suggestion probably seems crazy, but who cares! The
Stream-o-Nator loves him in this start and I'm standing by my man, I mean...... robot. Maybe it's their .166 ISO vs RHP, which ranks 17th in the league that the SON loves? Or perhaps the .314 wOBA and .406 SLG% which rank 19th & 20th respectively are making the bot all hot and bothered. Who knows, but what we can conclude is that the Mets are slightly below average against right-handers this season and that's good enough for me. Also, he's available in 99% of standard ESPN leagues, so he's waiting to be scooped off the wire. Remember friends, the arms and bats I'm suggesting below are all owned in less than 50% of standard ESPN leagues and more importantly - are supplied with the assistance from the
Stream-o-Nator and the
Hitter-Tron. If you like what you see, take a leap of faith and purchase a subscription to any of the Razzball
tools. You'll thank me later.
Cincinnati Reds are squaring off vs. the measly
Ty Blach of the
San Francisco Giants, stacking the Reds could prove to have a good return on investment. Blach is carrying a very pedestrian 2.18 K/9. Meanwhile, the Reds are one of the hardest teams to strikeout in the MLB. He already got lit up against them last week (3 IP, 11 hits ,8 ER), so batters like
Joey Votto ($4,500),
Zach Cozart ($3,300),
Adam Duvall ($3,700) and
Eugenio Suarez ($3,300) should all be on your radar. Now lets take a look at the rest of the picks.
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Something funky is going on in Denver. At the 2016 all-star break, Charlie Blackmon was a 30 year old OF sporting a career line of .292/.342/.446, good for a 99 wRC+. Since then, he’s been a .327/.375/.612 hitter, which has been good for a 140 wRC+. At the 2016 all-star break, Carlos Gonzalez was a 30 year old OF sporting a .297/.355/.541 line as a member of the Rockies, good for a 125 wRC+. Since then, he’s been a .252/.310/.403 “hitter”, which has been “good” for a 70 wRC+.
At some point during those 5 days right around the 2016 All-Star break, Charlie Blackmon tapped into some dark magic and cast a voodoo spell on Carlos Gonzalez, draining all of Cargo’s talent and keeping it for himself. Blackmon went from being an average-ish centerfielder with decent on-base skills to a legitimately good centerfielder who can hit for average and power. Poor Cargo went from a good power-hitting corner outfielder to a broken shell of a man who has been a liability since the 2016 All Star Break. Even Neifi Perez, the walking embodiment of an all-glove no-bat shortstop, managed to cobble together a .282/.313/.411 triple-slash line as a Rockie, and Cargo can’t even beat that right now! Poor Carlos Gonzalez. Meanwhile, Charlie Blackmon has become a legitimately great DFS hitting centerfielder who bats leadoff for a team playing half their games in Coors Field - mmmmm...tasty. As for how he’s done it, if my theory is correct (and this is a real, scientific theory), that means that Charlie Blackmon is a real life Shang Tsung, and I really don’t want to offend someone who can drain my soul,
so please Mr. Blackmon, if you’re reading this, you’re my favorite player and your beard is awesome, although it’s not as good as this one, I still cannot lie.
On to the picks once Shang Tsung steals my soul...
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Sign says, 'Don’t stay away, fools,' cause Cody Bellinger rules! No? Okay, go to sleep. "Go to sleep" is my new favorite thing I say that my Cougar can't stand. She's like, "Why are you excited?" Rather than saying, "I'm excited because Cody Bellinger was called up," I say, "Go to sleep." Is that bad? I feel like her reaction is like the step before divorce. "Baby, we're good, go to sleep." "It's 4 o'clock on a Tuesday." "Yeah, go to sleep." And then we're divorced. You know who isn't divorced? Cody Bellinger! Okay, I'm talking crazy, but I'm excited, you get it. In 18 games of Triple-A, he was hitting .343 with five homers and seven steals. I will now cackle maniacally. Who is this guy, Justice Eric Ruth Thames but with speed? I can't even. *puts handkerchief to forehead, and faints* Oh, thank you for catching me in my dream state, Giancarlo. This is funny (not funny), Bellinger had three homers last year in Triple-A. Guess how many games? Oh, three. Three games! I wanna project him over five months for 17 HRs, 20 SBs, and .280, but feel like that is too conservative, that's how crazy I am for him. Yes, you should absolutely grab him. Where will he play when Pederson returns from the DL? Not sure, but worth grabbing him now to see how the Dodgers handle it. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Eric Thames went 2-for-3, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and hit two more homers (9, 10). *does exaggerated yawn* Justice Eric Ruth Thames is like, "Yeah, I had a harder time in Korea, ya'll suck." Jer-Ru the Damaja is like, "The Sun Also Rises in the East, and sets in Milwaukee when I'm done hitting homers, goodnight." At this point, I'm surprised Justice didn't hit, like, 80 homers a season in Korea. Who got this guy out? An NL team should sign that guy. Or watch the Korean broadcasts of the games to see how they got him out, if for no other reason than the weird game show-like moments in-between innings when they'd have contestants try to find which part of the stadium is made of chocolate. (I know this is Japanese, but it's funny, so stop with your judging. Leave that to the Justice!)
Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
In a week where Clayton Kershaw is slated for two starts (pour one out for that first one. It should have been another epic matchup of Madison Bumgarner against King Kershaw, but alas...dirt bikes. Ugh!), the pitcher drawing the most attention, or at least the most reaction like the one above, is from none of other than the guy doing the reaction above! It's like those Gronk wearing a shirt of Edelman, wearing a shirt of Gronk, wearing a shirt of Edelman things. You'll get through this. I promise. And no more mention of anything Boston in this post. You have my word. (Still butt hurt about the Super Bowl. Always will be.)
Now, back to the matters at hand. Jason Vargas. Jason freaking Vargas. I was in an AL-Only auction at the end of March. $270 budget, 33 roster spots, 10 teams. Jason Vargas? Thrown out around #300 and went for a cool $2. I mean, who in the I want to cuss right now ever saw this coming? Certainly not ol' Vargas himself. Why? Because this version of Vargas, the 34 year-old version, is every bit the same version as last 11 years who never held a K/9 north of 7 when pitching more than 12 IP in a year. And yet, here we are in Week 4 and Vargas is the ever-deserving candidate to be highlighted leading into this week, joining the echelon previously only befitted by Kershaw and MadBum.
Paul Sporer at FanGraphs said, "Jason Vargas is pitching out of his mind right now...His velocity has always been underwhelming (~86-88 mph) and it’s on the low end this year at 86.6. Vargas is using essentially the same pitch mix, too...I don’t really know what to make of this." It's a fascinating article that shines some light on the deeper stats of Jason's breakout. Go nerd out for a bit after you finish here, because somewhere between his last healthy season in 2014 and now a beast has emerged. An 87 MPH beast. Can it last? Let's hope it continues for at least his next two!
(For the record, I nailed the Eric Thames Top 100 and Andrew Triggs Two-Starts highlights last week. That probably means Vargas implodes this week, haha.)
Pitchers are listed in order by rank. Colors represent 8 toughest or 8 easiest opponents according to team wOBA for last 14 days.
Amir Garrett, or as he's commonly referred to as, Muslim Mrs. Garrett, took Natalie, Jo, Blair, Tootie and that little white kid, who no one remembers, to school last night. Muslim Mrs. Garrett was like, "Listen, child, I'm your boss while you're in this park and I'm going to rule over you with sweet motherly affection, but an iron fist like you get from a male Gulag prisoner." Yesterday, he straight dazzled -- 7 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 1.83. MMG is so out of nowhere I feel like we need to start at the beginning. He was born-- Okay, flash forward Lost-style and they're off the island and Garrett is a former basketball player, so his age isn't as old as it seems for his development level. I think because of that he could also sneak up on people. His control gets wonky at times, and he doesn't read as a strikeout pitcher, but there he was doing just that last night. He could surprise some people, but A) Reds and their ballpark. B) Rookie. C) There's no C. To take this back to 80's sitcoms, there could be some Boners along the way through Growing Pains, but I'd grab him if you feel like Parker Lewis Can't Lose, or can just handle the risk. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Yaisel Puig's home runs are so effortless they're like Billie Jean King and Billy Dee Williams only needing to say, "40-love?" to hook up with a girl in the 70s.
Somewhere, Ashton Kutcher is struggling to come off as smart. He is exerting more energy than Yasiel Puig on his home runs. When Yasiel Puig is in El Zono Loco, pitchers should be chicken. When Puig is locked in, he looks as good as all the Cuban graphic novels that were written about him in Fidelphia. Of course, just as quickly as Puig gets everyone's hopes up, he collapses under his own hype. He's a (ba)con artist? I'd absolutely own Puig right now that he has three homers in two games (2-for-3, 3 runs, 4 RBIs and a double slam (3) and legs (1) yesterday), but I wouldn't be surprised if by May he's back to disappointing. (By the way, the pitch speed on that homer is 78 MPH. HAHAHAHAHAHA-- Oh my God, I can't breathe! Member that old timey film of Bob Feller throwing faster than a speeding motorcycle? They should have Weaver go against a speed-walking senior citizen.) Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
The REL is back baby! Sure, since I get my Brewers bias-fix it's a little slanted, but the REL has become my favorite league. 30 teams, roughly 900 players owned, along with a whole farm system of another 400-500... What could be better?!
If you're new to seeing these posts - here's a quick rundown of the REL: 15 team AL only and 15 team NL only comprise the 30-team league, and you must own 15 players from the "parent team" you manage. You also manage that team's farm system, and can trade those prospects amongst your Major and Minor league squads. We play Roto for the first 148 games, until the final 2 weeks. Then the AL pennant and NL pennant winners play a H2H 2-week World Series. Congrats again to our inaugural champion Nationals, beating the The Tribe
on a dramatic Sunday afternoon finish on the last day of the season. What a season!
With keepers announced, farm teams replenished, our supplemental draft completed, and baseball finally starting anew, the 2017 REL season is here! We'll be checking in with the league every Thursday afternoon, and have our owners share their thoughts every week.
Here’s how week 1 has kicked off, along with draft day and keeper thoughts, in the 2017 REL League:
In order to mark the glorious return of baseball, I thought it only appropriate to pay homage to one of the greatest movies of our generation:
Bloodsport. If you are one of the people that agrees with the 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes, then I'm going to have to fight you.
Disclaimer: I've watched the movie hundreds of times, so that pretty much means I have a black belt in all the martial arts disciplines and will no doubt kick your ass. How could you not like a movie with lines like
this or or scene with
this? C'mon man!!!
When did Opening Day for the Padres become a laugher? Was it when Corey Seager (2-for-5, 3 RBIs) homered off Christian Bethancourt? You might remember Bethancourt was a catcher last year, but the Padres brought him back this year as a reliever. If the Padres are going to make every one of their terrible hitters a reliever, their bullpen is going to get crowded. Maybe that wasn't the moment it became as cringeworthy as Michael Jackson/Lisa Marie's romance. Maybe it was the moment Jhoulys Chacin was pulled after giving up nine earned in 3 1/3 IP. Considering this was the Padres' best starter, the game score for their fifth best starter is going to be 38 to 1. Maybe the moment an 0-162 season became a possibility was when Yasmani Grandal (2-for-5, 3 RBIs) hit his 2nd home run, tying Madison Bumgarner for the major league lead. Or maybe it was the moment Manuel Margot (1-for-4, 1 run, hitting leadoff) tried to take first base after three balls, because he was facing Kershaw, and no one wants to face Clayton Kershaw (7 IP, 1 ER, 2 baserunners, 8 Ks). Kershaw must've felt like Meatloaf when he mowed down Dan Cortese's 1999 Rock n Jock team. Oh, and haven't even mentioned Joc Pederson (1-for-3, 5 RBIs with his 1st homer, a grand slam). He never gets any love in the preseason, but I can't ever (I mean never) move past that he was the first 30/30 guy in the PCL in 80 years. Kinda wish I owned Pederson in more (any) leagues. Well, looks like LA now owns San Diego's Chargers and Chacin. Roscoe's Chicken & Waffles might be the next beneficiary. Though, if LA takes San Diego's navy, it'll prolly only be used in a West Hollywood musical featuring Village People songs. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Holy Shizz! I can't believe Opening Day is already here, it seems like a couple weeks ago I was opening up the 2016 season with Mad Max. I hope you all had a great off season, but now it's time to get back into the swing of things and started building that DFS account. Practically every ace is going today, so I know you're asking yourself, why
Danny Duffy, $16,800? Although I maybe a little rusty with my picks, I can assure you The Duffman won't be showing any signs of rust as he's already in mid May form. I'm sure you all followed the WBC this year, dude was absolutely lights out grabbing 2 W's, 8 K's, and 1 ER in 8 innings of work. He has a solid matchup versus the Twins and I think he's stretched out enough to give us a solid 6 innings. Granted, it's early so dumping all your money on top arms isn't the best strategy, so I'm really feeling the mid level guys like Duffy, Kendall Graveman at $11,200 and Jon Gray at $15,200. Just a quick update on the DFS format. We've changed gears this year and I think you guys are really going to enjoy the format with FantasyDraft Sunday thru Tuesday. It's still a two pitcher roster, but you have three IF, three OF and two Utility spots, so the positions don't matter. That means no more catchers; Woo Hoo! There's still catchers available to roster, but you won't hear much from me about them. I'm really excited about the new format as it allows for a lot more flexibility. Anyways, on to the picks!
New to FantasyDraft? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well be sure to read our content and subscribe to the DFSBot for your daily baseball plays. Just remember to sign up through us before jumping into the fray. It’s how we know you care!
