[player]Nolan Arenado[/player] left last night's game with a left mallet finger fracture. Despite how it sounds, he suffered the injury sliding head first into second base, and not from a giant sledge hammer. That's a broken middle finger for the laymans. The team is saying Arenado could be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, but likely more if he opts for surgery. Oh Nolan, you could really use that middle finger right about now. Arenado has been every bit the dream Coors third baseman we all thought he could be this year, triple slashing a mean .305/.333/.489, with six home runs and 28 RBI. This is just bad news. The good news? Razzball favorite and general disappointment to fantasy owners, [player]Josh Rutledge[/player] will be called up to replace Arenado on the roster. I like to think anyone playing in Colorado is worth a look and JR is no exception, especially if you're hurting at the hot corner. Rutledge did well in limited time with the Rockies in April, batting .318 with a home run in 22 ABs. He played 88 games in 2013, but struggled to hit for average despite flashing some speed and power, and was eventually sent down. In 12 team leagues, I might hold off on grabbing Rutledge until he shows us something, but I'll be watching him as intensely as the last three episodes of Breaking Bad. Here's hoping he can fill the Nolan Arenado-sized hole in our hearts until that finger fully heals.
Here's what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:
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Red Sox Call Dr. Drew To Rehab Lineup
May 21, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 837 Commentsby: Grey
Four teams were showing interest in [player]Stephen Drew[/player]. No official word on which four teams, but I'm guessing the Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox and whoever didn't want the Yankees, Tigers or Red Sox to get him. Probably the Giants. That Sabean is a real party pooper! "Stephen Drew is under 40 years old, but he comes across as a guy that is aging twice the speed of the average human." That's Sabean weighing Drew's pros and cons. Well, tough noogs, Sabean, the Red Sox secured their long-coveted, barely above replacement level shortstop. In a news conference, the Red Sox said they hadn't had a news conference in a while and felt like now was as good a time as any. "We were gonna hold a presser to say Jerry Remy was down to a pack and a half of smokes a day, but this is so much better!" Drew hasn't been worth owning in fantasy in about six years, so I wouldn't expect you picking him up will work as a Viagra substitute. He's around that of a 12-homer, 5-steal, .250 hitter. Lowercase yay. This will move [player]Xander Bogaerts[/player] to third base and [player]Will Middlebrooks[/player] to an outside chance of being a deep league sleeper in 2015, if he gets a few good at-bats off the bench when he returns because he's now out of a job. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
RCL Update, Week 8: All Your Injuries Are Belong To Us
May 20, 2014 | Razzball Commenters League | 18 Commentsby: Jay
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Look, it's not that I want to talk about all the injuries going on in baseball ad nauseum, but another baker's dozen of arms, obliques, and ankles died this past week, and seemingly has turned everyone's RCL team page into a mix of names, stats, and the color known as 'Tears of Blood and Screams of Death' red. My favorite Crayola color next to Razzmatazz. Both of which, coincidentally, only work when doing Jazz hands. Whatever that means. Listen, I'm not a god-fearing man, but I hope she's hot when I'm finished reincarnating a couple times. Also, the problem here might be the lack of a DL graphic that CBS uses, which is a red box with a white cross in it... but I understand that this might be problematic for the vampire population. Or maybe the cross wouldn't help because maybe our team's now require priests and injury protection amulets to activate the cross-box? Religion still uses amulet's, right? And what's the patron saint of fantasy baseball anyhow? Alex Rodriguez's 2007 season? Rickey Henderson talking? John Rocker jumping off a three-story building? Who knows, but I'm willing to try anything at this point to part the sea of red that are now all of my RCL team's. Get it? Moses! Yul Brynner? Meh, who cares, it wasn't even that funny anyhow. Regardless, I think it was a great step this season to move to two DL spots instead of one. However, with the data we have now, I think we should go ahead and expand it next year to 32 DL spots. It's a good middle-ground.
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This is a different kind of disaster my friends. And trust me, here in the metro area, we've suffered many disasters. Did you know about Snowmageddon in 2010? Sure, what we experienced during that time was what New England calls 'any Friday night in February', but we don't live up in the northeast, do we? No, we're more civilized and cultured and decided to live in a humid mid-atlantic swamp, with a cesspool of slime, filth, and trash. And that's just K street. Don't even get me started about the state of the Potomac river. As an added bonus, in 2011, there was the Earth quakepocolypse, where a 5.8 shaker did irreparable harm to my lawn chair. And I'll tell you this, no one called in off-shore drillers, trained as astronauts, like they should have to save us. Well, that time is now. With [player]Francisco Rodriguez[/player] leading the universe in saves AND father in-law abuse, the world truly is on the precipice of disaster. Global warming? Pfft, that ain't nothin' compared to the state of our fantasy teams. With 87% of the MLB DL-eligible, as stated here by your's truly, we are now covering another harsh reality in this lede... the era of closers as we know it has ended. Thanks Obama! Rod Beck... hug me. Actually, don't get near me. You smell like a week-old hot dog and the great depression...
Ambulance Chasers, Week 7: Plenty of Pain
May 12, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 53 Commentsby: SethDaSportsMan
As I do every week, I'll be covering all the bumps and bruises in the would of fantasy baseball. It'd be nice if some of these guys could get their acts together, but hey, then I'd be out of a job.
There were a few notable injuries in the baseball world over the past week, mostly on the hitting side of the spectrum, and I'll be focusing on those, as well as some other players who just can't stay away from the trainer's room in my latest edition of Ambulance Chasers.
RCL Update, Week 6: 87% of MLB is DL Eligible, The Terrorists Won
May 6, 2014 | Razzball Commenters League | 50 Commentsby: Jay
Looking for the Razzball Podcast? TOO BAD! It's now Razzball Radio, and you can check out the first episode here!
Oh, hello there. I'm not quite sure why I'm greeting you like you're in my room, but whatever. So hey. What's up. Word. Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, you should know we are now a month-and-a-half into the season, and things are looking absolutely fantastic. And by fantastic, I mean a complete injury cluster f*ck. Ain't no joke bro. The injuries are stacking up so much, we had to dedicate an entire series to it here at Razzball. Seth has had so much content to work with, he strained his oblique just typing that thing out. Way to take one for the team! In fact, there is so much egregious DL'ing going around, Lars Ulrich is exploring a lawsuit. Haha, get it? Eh. Anyways, you know what might be an interesting experiment? Creating an all-DL team, that, if you gazed upon the look of all these guys in the pre-season (when budding feelings of hope and joy were just forming) you might faint at the sight of it. Don't believe me? Take a look:
Pitcher Profile: Finding Your Dillon Gee Spot
May 5, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 74 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
I know I've had some requests for more fun pitchers, but [player]Dillon Gee[/player] was a guy I ranked high and a guy I kept high. And very early on "I tried to figure out why... I had him so high!", but lately dude has been tossin' gas!
The very under-appreciated Gee ended 2013 on a tear, pitching with a 2.41 ERA from May 30 to September 15 - with 100 Ks in 137.1 IP in 20 starts. So ridiculously under the radar that Lord Helmet must've jammed it!
As a non-Mets fan and non-Gee owner in any leagues at the current present, I haven't buckled down to watch any of his starts as of late. And with three scoreless outings out of his past four - giving up two runs total in those four - I decided to break down his start yesterday at the Rockies and if Gee should be owned in a lot more than 38% of leagues:
There’s Thumb Thing Harpering Here
April 28, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 904 Commentsby: Grey
...what it is ain't exactly clear. You gotta stop, doctor, take an MRI, see if any ligaments gone awry. Cause this is just more signs of a local Harper unravelin'. His hustlin' got my ass wondering where Chris Colabello is in all of this crisis. Harper had game. We had [player]Bryce Harper[/player]'s game. Behind the game. Ah, you didn't know it was gonna be the Public Enemy remix. You know, hustle is a'ight when you're trying to keep your honey in check. Or when you're trying to make an airplane that leaves in fifteen minutes and you have to do a number two in the airport bathroom before you get on the plane. Hustling to such an extreme that it knocks you to the DL at least once a year is not cool. You're out of control, peckerwood! It sounds like he could miss as much as two months, but official word on how long he's gonna be out has not come out yet. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
I’m going to take a different approach to this week’s Deep Impact post and talk about my up-to-this-point woulda-coulda-shoulda team, and point out the surprises with whom I think will have a sustainable, deep into-the-season impact. I’m omitting the non-surprises i.e. [player]Adam Wainwright[/player], [player]Felix Hernandez[/player], and [player]Jose Fernandez[/player] who are naturally in the top-20 so long as they stay healthy.
Here are thine options (within the top-100) to date with their ESPN Player Rater rankings in parenthesis as of Friday, 4/25:
Try not to act so jealous, Frank Thomas. A new superstar has arrived in Chicago. After [player]Evan Longoria[/player] hit a go ahead 2-run home run in the ninth inning last night against the Chicago White Sox, most thought the game was all but over. But not [player]Jose Abreu[/player]. People have been telling him "No Way, Jose!" all his life. A real defector at heart, he was ready to prove them wrong the only way he knew how-- with his bat. The crowd was slowly filtering out, the concessions employees were removing the hot dogs from the rollers and placing them back in the warm stagnant water for the next day, and [player]Adam Dunn[/player] was already in the locker room, eating his post-game bucket of oats. But White Sox rookie slugger Abreu aka the Grande Dolor aka or is it el Gran Dolor? aka "I guess it doesn't really matter, he's just a monster" Abreu had a different idea. Chicago loaded the bases for the phenom and he promptly sent it into the stands with the grand slam and the walk off win. He finished the day 3-for-5, with two home runs and six RBI. Ay carumba! The final home run was Jose's league-leading ninth jack of the year, and he also tied for the lead with 27 RBI and his .632 SLG% and .968 OPS are among the league's best as well. He set the rookie record for April home runs too, and counting. Abreu is making those who gambled on him early in drafts look like geniuses, jacking homers every 10.6 at bats and rocking a sick and a 26.9% HR/FB ratio. That means he's going to hit more home runs. Like, a lot more. And if he's as fun to own in fantasy as he is to watch in actual real-life-not- in-a-box score-but-on-the-field baseball, then Abreu could likely find himself in the upper echelon of the fantasy elite as soon as this year.
Here's what else happened in fantasy baseball last night:
Jon Singleton Presents “Buyz n the Hood”
April 25, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 997 Commentsby: Grey
Growing up was tough in the Phillies organization. His older brother, Ryan Howard, got mixed up with the "Three Outcome" gang and couldn't get out when the homers stopped coming. His moms wanted a better life for Jon Singleton and called up his Pops in Houston to provide a safer home. In a perfect world, Jon wouldn't have to grow up fast -- stay with the minors -- but they need a man in the house in Houston and who they have at first base now could only look worse if he had jheri curl. In the last few games, Chris Carter's DH'd and Marc Krauss has played 1st base. Doesn't entirely matter, the Astros have to make room for Singleton. Makes no sense to keep him in the minors. Just as it didn't for Springer, and they called him up. Why do we care? Singleton is in the mold of a young Ryan Howard. He could hit 40 homers right now. In the minors this year, he has 8 homers in 19 games while batting .325. There's nothing left for him to prove. I've already stashed him in one league, and I rarely waste roster spots on rookie stashes. Moo stashes on the other hand, well... I did already give you a Jon Singleton 2014 fantasy, but that was projecting for a June call-up, and I think he could win the landmark case of sooner vs. later, which would tag about six homers on his projected total. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Stop me if you've heard this before but Colorado is playing at home and that's a good thing for your DraftKings team. Yes, duh to the derp degree. We knows it now! With that said, you're always looking for a way to get in on that action on the cheap. Tulo? He's too high at $5,400. CarGo? Car Go bye bye at $5,700. And even Blackmon is nearing blackout territory at $4,600. What's a playa to do? Well, you start looking at matchups and realize [player]Madison Bumgarner[/player] is on the mound for today. Let me indulge you with something you either already know or could look up: MadBum is an LHP. Just in case you're five and reading this - and you shouldn't be, you have been advised - that doesn't stand for Lego Harry Potter. Nay, we're talking left-handed pitchers and that's one of the few types of pitchers [player]Drew Stubbs[/player] has handled well for most of his career. You see, little Stubby may have issues against righties but he's handled the southpaw quite well for his career. In 618 career at-bats, Drew has 24 HRs while hitting .273. Now I'm no soothsayer but given that [player]Michael Cuddyer[/player] is on the DL, I'd be surprised if the Rockies didn't give Drew a day in right field and bat him in the two hole. At first, I thought this was lunacy on my part but then asked the Hitter-Tron what he had to say and he ranked him 18th overall for outfielders on the day. And then he asked me about my tail pipe and I left the room as fast as possible. You nasty, 'Tron! Anywho, even though the Stream-O-Nator is ok with Madison in Coors, I think we all know the drill here. Get in on the cheap and if he's in the starting lineup, peeps, cuz that's the Sweet Spot...oh, did I just drop a promo mid-sell on Stubbs? Yes I did. Check the link if you'd like to win around $100K. You know, no biggie. With that said, let's move along. Here are some other picks for today's DraftKings contests for 2014 Fantasy Baseball...