Growing up one of my favorite films was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The movie has everything; boat chases; hot Austrian scholars turned Nazi’s, Sean Connery, Knights, the Holy Grail and one of the greatest scenes in movie history. If you haven’t seen it *spoiler alert*,(actually can you give a spoiler alert if a movie is 25 years old?) in one of the last scenes of the movie Indy has to go through a series of booby traps and make choices on how to conquer them based on his knowledge of Jesus. BT-dubs doesn’t booby traps seem like it could be Justin Verlander’s current issue? Maybe he’s trapped by the power of Kate Upton's assets and spends most road trips locked in his hotel room getting to second base? Anyyyyy way where was I? Oh yeah the booby traps! After making his way through the obstacles Indy ends up in an old dusty room at the back of a cave guarded by one of a collection of Knights whose sole duty is to protect the Grail. In order for Indiana to get access to the Grail and save the day he must choose between bevies of gaudy cups and find the true Grail. At this moment the Knight urges him to choose wisely! If you haven’t seen it watch the clip here. Either way where I’m going with this is we are presented with a far less dramatic choice every day when playing daily fantasy games on DraftKings. There are several approaches and strategies and someone is lying if they tell you they approach each day’s games the same as the day before. Sometimes you’re better off investing in hitting, and other times you’re better off splashing the dollars on arms. No one approach holds true every day. For example for today’s early games the pitching options are limited to say the least and I couldn’t blame you for going cheap on pitching and spending on hitting. The night games are slightly better with Stephen Strasburg, Garrett Richards, and Shelby Miller all seeming like solid plays.
Speaking of choosing wisely, you can start your day of good choices off by playing DraftKings with us. In fact if you haven’t played DraftKings before you can play for free by signing up here. For all newbies and experienced players alike, I will post a link in the comments to play with me and some of the other Razzball writers in a league. Without further ado below are the Razzball picks for Saturday June 14th.
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Points Leagues: Hit June Gloom With Some Prospect Boom-Boom
June 13, 2014 | Points Leagues | 8 Commentsby: Schlurricane
Frenemies and cohorts, it is that magical time of year where the player pool begins to grow. Summer harvest begins to reap the treasures of the seeds sown by unheralded draft pundits of years passed. The scout's moment is now. Having spent their lives adorned with holey New Balances, wholly unrefined frozen dinners of Salisbury steak and discount diner breakfasts, they get to pound an Old Milwaukee and puff a few Doral’s as they revel in the glory of their hatred of sabremetrics. A life not fancied by us fantasy internet blogger moguls. No sirs and madams, we require a much fancier life—a life infused with excitement brought on by WHIPs and FIPs and wOBAs and WARs! The rest is mas o menos lo mismo— the same old shizz. Other than our baseball lens, the only other difference is that we stuttering B-Ball Bloggers need to score!!! Points…
Points is why we’re here, and June presents a unique opportunity where the player pool expands with talent that is usable and keepable. September offers a smorgasbord of young talent, but mostly it’s too late and the infusion of players nourish your team like an energy drink shooter with cinnamon whiskey. The hangover is awful and often begins before the luster of the buzz has worn off. The June callups are the cognacs, ladies men. Let’s take a look at these beauties.
Hold onto your Taco Bell-made Doritos hat because yesterday [player]Eric Hosmer[/player] hit a homer. Sung like J.J. Fad, "The S is for super, the Homer is for about freakin' time!" More of an 80's rock kid? Hosmer's been Poison so far this year, but look what the cat dragged in! Prefer the punk scene? After Billy Butler goes to the bathroom, they say the john's rotten. Okay, that had nothing to do with Hosmer, but I'm a man of the people and the people in my head demanded a punk reference. The Royals power has been so bad this year, Lorde released a remix titled, "Blue Jays." At the forefront of the Royals abomination has been Hosmer. Entering today he had two homers. Who do you think you are, Robinson Cano? His homers per fly ball is abysmal, but his ground ball to fly ball ratio is about the same as previous years, his line drive percentage is fine, his at-bats per homer was around 30 for every year, except this year where it's at 129. The only true red flag in his numbers is he's hitting a ton of infield flies. I think that might've been him pressing due to the homer drought and now that cloud of doom can lift. I don't think he's suddenly going to jack 30 homers and start walking around in a crown like Jerry "The King" Lawler, but I also don't think Hosmer will stay this terrible forever. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Pitcher Profile: Jaime? Jaiyou!
June 9, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 136 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Alert the trolls! Plaster up the bulletins under the bridges! Because I'm biased. I hate the Cardinals. They're just so good against my Brewers! And yeah, that's pretty much all I got... Ummm, also... because McGwire did steroids?! Yeah that doesn't work from a Brewers fan... Ummm, because [player]Lance Lynn[/player] is a porker and dominates us every time out? Dammit, [player]Wily Peralta[/player] is listed 5 pounds heavier! I have no rational basis...
And with said caveats, I've never been a [player]Jaime Garcia[/player] fan. I actually picked him up in that redonk rookie year in 2010, and sold him mid-season which didn't really work out. As he returned from a rash of shoulder injuries plaguing the past few seasons, he was further off my radar than the Red October. Can you believe he's never had a WHIP under 1.30 in ANY Major League season? And that includes only 9 starts last year and 10 appearances in 2008. Then after seriously considering him for my top 100 SP ranks last week, he got rocked at KC Tuesday. But followed it up with a gem yesterday at Toronto! What is going on here?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! So I decided to break down Sunday's start and re-address my ill-conceived biases - and Garcia - for this week's re-ranks:
The Game Of Throws Starring K’ing Felix
June 9, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 828 Commentsby: Grey
Yesterday, [player]Felix Hernandez[/player] had the best game of the season for fantasy -- 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 15 Ks. F-Her was the best thing to hit the world since Natalie Portman decided it was a good idea to get naked for a short film. Granted, that short film was by Wes Anderson. In film school, it was always met with a mixture of amusement, bewilderment and excitement when any student filmmaker convinced an actress to take their clothes off for a student film. Invariably, they were a better salesman than auteur if they were able to pull it off. "So, your husband, hungry for approval, just left you for a ham sandwich and now you want to shed your clothes, which is a metaphor for the stripping of your soul. Don't worry, it's a locked set." I've talked in the past about how if a pitcher has a difference of six between his K-rate and walk rate, then he's usable in all leagues. F-Her has a difference of plus-8. That's glorious. He has 106 Ks to 17 BBs. That's insane. His ERA is at 2.39. He's real and he's magnificent. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Khris Davis Will Make Your Homers Jump Jump
June 6, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 469 Commentsby: Grey
Cause you got a build up of wax in your eyes and haven't been digesting the non-verbal medicine I've been doling out about [player]Khris Davis[/player], he's getting a lede. This is coming to you from a tough love perspective, so whatever I say I don't wish to offend or denigrate. Y'all seem like good people. Some of you I would even consider friends. Friends that I've never met and friends that when you called me to make plans I'd lie about other plans I didn't have to avoid you, but friends nevertheless. You all have good souls. Each and other one of you. Now, it's time to unload on you. Damn, in the middle of softening the blow, I forgot what the blow was. Well, you should own Khris Davis. I know that was part of it. He's been out-homering Chris Davis. Everyone knows there's only one way to spell Khris Davis. Spelling it with a C is for cream puffs. Even that should be khream! Is Khris the answer to your season? Prolly not, but he is capable of 30 homers and he has 10 as of right now. Plus-minus that shizz and you have a bunch more homers in his bat. Oh, and four of those homers came in the last eight games. He is only 26 years old so there might even be a chance here for huge upside. I.e., his ceiling is unknown. All that is known is that he's hit for power everywhere he's played. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Pitcher Profile: The Elias Sports Adjustment Bureau
June 2, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 111 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Did anyone actually see that The Adjustment Bureau movie? I only remember the trailer, but I imagine a lot of those dudes in bowler hats tinkering with [player]Jeff Samardzija[/player] yesterday. Sheesh! As Lone Star would say to Princess Vespa, "WELCOME TO REAL LIFE!" PS - go Brewers.
Anyway, whilst Samardzija got dusted by the regression fairies, [player]Roenis Elias[/player] is a guy I've thought about a few times cracking my weekly top 100, but I could never pull the trigger. I spot started him here-and-there across a few leagues with middling results, and the few times I've watched him, he's been kinda blah. Given it wasn't my full attention... Big looping curveball and a decent heater from a lefty is good enough for the Majors, but is it good enough for your mixed fantasy league? Then I saw he went all shutty-outty on the Tigers yesterday, and felt he warranted a harder, GIFfy look. As a guy available in a ton of shallower leagues, I decided he'd be a perfect candidate for this week's Profiling:
Ambulance Chasers, Week 10: Yanking On My Heartstrings
June 2, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 43 Commentsby: SethDaSportsMan
Hate on me all you want, but I've been a full-fledged, die-hard New York Yankees fan since birth. [Jay's Note: Could be worse... you could have been a Red Sox fan...] I may have been born and raised in the land of palm trees, bikinis and coked-out debutantes (Los Angeles), but my father, a Brooklynite, instilled in me his love for the men in pinstripes.
Being a Yankees fan has many ups, but when it has its downs, it makes you wanna bury your head in the sand. Most of these "downs" are related to the front office spending a gazillion bricks of gold bullion on aging vets (that is the form of currency [player]Hiroki Kuroda[/player] used during his formidable years in the 1920s). No matter how many supplements and PEDs and anti-aging hormones these players use, they'll eventually wither away and get hurt in the process. If only the Yankees had a pill that gave their players Benjamin Button disease. I can picture [player]CC Sabathia[/player] as a fat three-year-old baby, probably licking the fluid coming out of his knees. How adorable, he got it all over his face! How many jars of Gerber's mashed zucchini can you buy for $142 million?
[player]Mark Teixeira[/player] had to leave Saturday's game with renewed wrist "inflammation". This is not something to be taken lightly. He had offseason surgery on the same wrist and had to miss three games earlier this week before returning Friday. The fact that could only make it through one-and-a-half games before getting hurt again says this problem is not going away. Wrist injuries can completely sap your power (see, Encarnacion, Edwin in April). He's scheduled to see a specialist on Tuesday to determine the severity of the injury. Don't hold your breath.
After a promising start to the season in which he compiled a 2-2 record with a 1.83 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, [player]Michael Pineda[/player] has been nothing but a pain in the backside for fantasy owners -- literally. He's been dealing with back issues, similar to the one Clayton Kershaw had in spring training, and he had been on track to return within the next few weeks. But that is no more. After a setback in his rehab this weekend, Pineda will be shutdown indefinitely. It's time for fantasy owners to cut bait, as it's possible we won't see him in the Bronx till August.
There may be some good news on the injury front in New York, however. [player]Carlos Beltran[/player]'s attempt to avoid surgery to his elbow seems to be going well. He's been slowly swinging a bat -- progressing from dry swings, to swinging from both sides of the plate, and he took batting practice on the field before Friday's game. According to Beltran himself, he walked away from that session happier than a big city business man taking his lunch break at a Korean massage parlor. Evidently that was enough proof of good health for the Yankees to send him out on an extended spring training stint in Tampa. He is shooting for a June 10 return when the Yanks visit Seattle to take on the Mariners.
Now on to the rest of the league...
Points Leagues: Small Time Arms are for FIP and FAP
May 30, 2014 | Points Leagues | 8 Commentsby: Schlurricane
If you’re a Razzball regular, then you’re familiar with the term FIP. If you’re into twodels, you’re familiar with the term FAP. If you aren’t familiar with the former, ask Wikipedia about xFIP. If you aren’t familiar with the latter, ask a twodel. Let’s just say that I have a hunch the rash of TJs going around are earning the acronym a new moniker, Twodel Job- distant relative to the other blank-Jays you have endlessly received- EH HEM!!! -referred to. I’m blaming the social media harems for the destruction of UCL’s across baseball. I mean all of the analogies hold true. “He started too young. He’s logged too many innings. They’ve gotten him up and down too many times. His arm angle is unnatural. His hand lags behind his elbow too far. Unnatural motion.” Blah, blah, blah. I’ve heard it all.
So, unless you’ve won the fantasy baseball lottery, you have at least one guy who’s seen Dr. Freeze. Let’s find you some decent options to replace those points. There's a lot of variance in scoring systems for points leagues, so make sure you understand which categories are of the greatest or least importance in your league. With each of the following players, I’ll highlight typical point formats that they’ll be of more use in. As per the usual, I’m not gonna focus on the top 100 guys. Here’s some value to buy at a discount for your points league.
Tienes Bat Problemas? Take Morales
May 30, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 429 Commentsby: Grey
The Yankees are now in the fray to sign [player]Kendrys Morales[/player]. A 30-year-old guy who seems to be five years older than he is and can't play any position? The Yankees are interested in that? C'mon! Next thing you know, the Yankees are going to be linked with trading for Jason Giambi or coaxing Greg Luzinski out of retirement. What's Ron Kittle up to? Why are the Yanks so interested in ex-White Sox players? Garry Templeton's got some gams! So, I do think Kendrys will be signed in the next week-plus and now is around the time when you should consider stashing him. He can give a solid prorated season -- think 17 homers, decent average and counting stats. I have no idea what kind of shape he's going to be in or how long he'll need to play in minor league games to get up to speed, but I'd guess if he signs within two weeks, he'll be on the field by the third week of June, at the latest. It's a long time to stash a guy that won't be able to be DL'd, so keep that in mind. Or stash Greg Luzinski. The Bull's seeing red! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Pitcher Profile: Working Out My Keuchel… FINALLY!
May 29, 2014 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 101 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
The wait has been overbearing... The anticipation in the air... palpable. I almost typoed Palpatine. Which is what you loyal starting pitcher-aficionados probably think of me!
We had a start pushed back. We had me an unbelieving heathen. Then Memorial Day! Plus my near-descent into the inability to get out of bed when I watched [player]Yordano Ventura[/player]'s start the other day - saw him torched, velo fall, and taken out early. Now we get "valgus extension overload" which sounds like some sort of Eastern European sex move...
But alas! We've finally gotten here. A Pitcher Profile wholly dedicated to [player]Dallas Keuchel[/player], as he continues to rock-m sock-m robot opposing hitters. Did I just make that a verb? Yup! Add yet another complete game to his docket (very nearly three in a row), and he's easily become the flashiest, out-of-nowhere add to legions of fantasy squads. But is he a guy to cut at the first sign of danger? To try and sell high? Let's take a looksy at his start this past Sunday where he went the distance against the Mariners:
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