Man, what a week for starting pitcher callups! Thankfully we're seeing Major League clubs unshy of bringing up their future aces instead of being little scaredy-cats and using the Super 2 as a crutch. "Stop wasting some of your better pitched innings in the Minors, ya bums!" That was me two years ago. I was also skinnier and not married yet, so not everything has gotten better...
Right on the heels of the Jose Berrios callup, the A's promoted Sean Manaea after an absolutely meteoric rise after being traded by the Royals in the Ben Zobrist deal. Manaea always had power stuff and great K-rates, but never quite harnessed the command to get himself atop prospect lists. But when you have awesome pure stuff, sometimes one minor tweak can take you from "meh" to "mania"! After a 21:4 K:BB in Triple A over 18 innings this year, it certainly came with a lot of fanfare that Manaea was getting called up, and he's surely scooped up in almost all leagues at this point. Is he worth all the hype? Here's how he looked on Friday night in his MLB debut against the Astros:
Could this finally be Brett Lawrie's post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-POST-post hype breakout? I don't want to overrate or prorate or ameliorate a past inveterate obturate to eviscerate execrate, try not to hate, love your mate, mediate or flip through cards like Michael Hutchence forth, Sandoval's girth, Andrelton's not from this earth, movie remake that never went anywhere was North by North. Yesterday, Lawrie went 3-for-3 with his third straight game with a homer, and he threw in a steal on Saturday, not a liar like James Frey, in Florida I need my mosquito spray, I have three albums by The Fray, said no one that wasn't gay, which is totally okay. I was very high on Lawrie in the preseason, and right now he's on pace for 20+ HRs, 12-15 SBs and hitting .290. On its own this would be implausible, laughable, impossible, insoluble in water, but he hit 16 homers last year, is only 26 years old and has easy 15-steal speed, so it's not INXS of the possible. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Woooo, the Razzball Pod is back, now with more imbalance and effeminatey! On today's show we talk
Jake Arrieta's no-hitter and value moving forward,
Tanner Roark's 15 Ks, and if there's any value in
Mat Latos. Hint - Nope! We also play America's Favorite Game
Ben Revere or
Denard Span, discuss
Aledmys Diaz, and how much we can rely on
Kenta Maeda. And if you've ever wondered how Grey made his fortune, he gives us a look into his highly fortuitous foray into website squatting. Here's our latest edition of the Razzball Baseball Podcast:
Download from
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So I'm watching
Raiders of the Lost Ark with my dad and following
Tanner Roark strike out 15 Saturday afternoon, and all primed to write my "Raiders of the Lost Roark" pitcher profile. But then I was like, "Ya know what?! I already wrote on
Joe Ross and the Nationals don't need ANY MORE press! I'm not writing two of my first three 2016 profiles on Nats, get outta here!"
Option B: An argument I had with myself the other day: "Is
Robbie Ray really
that different than
Carlos Rodon?" Think about it - both are lefties with mid-90s heat, plus off-speed pitchers, and are near unhittable. But they're also two of the most frustrating pitchers to own with their control issues. So why would I love Rodon and bank on him figuring it out in my ranks and not have similar optimism for the also young (just turned 24) Ray? Mayyyyyyybe I shouldn't broadcast to ALL of Razzball Nation my inner monologues... "What was that dream last night about? I think I was taking off my clothes in Miller Park with - - - -" Yeah, bad idea.
With Ray one of my two decent SP in
REL, I decided to megalomaniacally (made up word?!) take the pitcher profile to Arizona and break down how Ray looked again the Pirates yesterday afternoon:
People standing to the side, huddled together. Faces ashen. All they could talk about was the moment the Carlos Carrascident happened. There was nothing anyone could do. It was as if time slowed down like Keanu was diving away from a Matrixy bullet. A split second and a heap on the ground, silence. Terry Francona dressed as a law enforcement officer putting up yellow tape, people wondering if Francona was working a bachelorette party after the game. Carlos Carrasco is headed to the disabled list with a hamstring strain but needs to have an MRI, which is never what you want to hear about your ace. Filling in for him will be Trevor Bauer. Not farfetched to think Bauer could have value in matchups. Farfetch is also what they call warming up Bauer. "Why is our bullpen catcher driving to Akron?" "Friggin' Bauer." As for Carlos Carrasco, that's the way the Cookie crumbles. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
You know who I'd really love to punch in the face?
[player]Justin Upton[/player]. When did he become B.J. Upton. I'm sorry, I mean the artist formerly known as B.J. Upton. Justin has more strikeouts than
[player]Chris Davis[/player],
[player]George Springer[/player] and
[player]Miguel Sano[/player]. Heck, the only hitter with more strikeouts is
[player]Trevor Story[/player]. At least Story has 8 home runs. Upton has only one! Even Melvin has more homers. Seriously, WTF! Eight points? J-Up. More like J-Down.
And how about Prince. Mr. Fielder has just 23 points! I know it's early, but that puts him safely outside the top 100 hitters. Can you believe that those 23 points are four more than Joey Votto's total. Seriously, I'd like to take Upton, Votto and Fielder, put them in a little red Corvette and drive it off a cliff. As bad as these three have been it's
[player]Khris Davis[/player] that takes the cake. Through 13 games and 49 plate appearances this pile of dung has amassed negative four points. That's correct, you read that right. He has less than zero points on the season. Pathetic does not even come close to describing this sh*t show.
Philly fans are often singled out for their rude, obnoxious behavior, but yesterday, as the Mets hit six home runs, the Philly fans were attempting to be on their best behavior. Here's a few of the more polite things heard, "Excuse me, sir, are you using the batteries in your portable radio? I'd like to throw them at someone's shoulder. No, not their head. That would be rude." Also heard, "I hate to waste a cheesesteak, but I'd like to vomit on an unsuspecting Mets fan." "Jimmy, no, vomit on a suspecting Mets fan." "Yeah, you're right, Marge." Finally, "These Mets are fun to watch, I get to try out new curse words -- screw you, nut sock!" Then, with a pleased smile, "See, it's like sack, but sock. Catchy, no?" Philly fans had all kinds of reasons to be annoyed yesterday as the Mets did damage. Yoenis Cespedes hit his 4th homer (1-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBIs). Driving to the park in a limited edition car made of guano and Play-Doh must be his good luck charm! Michael Conforto hit his 2nd homer (2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) as he hit third until he was pinch hit for against a lefty later in the game. I get that Conforto's a lefty and it's a matchup thing, but there's gotta be some kind of unspoken rule. The guy you bat third in your lineup is not a platoon player. That's Connie Mack to Earl Weaver to Coach Taylor rock solid coach stuff. You don't pinch hit your three hole hitter! Then Neil Walker hit his 5th and 6th homers (2-for-5), with two homers in the past two days, and, honestly, truthfully, interruptingly, when you have six homers in 13 games, there weren't a whole lot of games where you didn't homer. Finally, Lucas Duda hit his 2nd homer (1-for-5, 2 RBIs), and 2nd in as many days. The Phillies starters really aren't that bad. Dot dot dot. Compared to their relievers. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
We're just over two weeks into the regular season now, and perhaps things haven't gone as well as you hoped for on your fantasy team. You've fantasized about taking a hammer to Ian Desmond's fingers since he doesn't seem to need them for anything anyway. Waterboarding seems too lenient of a punishment for the pathetic numbers that Miguel Sano has produced for your team thus far. If you've been thinking along these lines, then you've probably been watching too many mob movies recently. More importantly, it's just mid-April. No need to panic. Depending on your format, there are likely several interesting players available on the waiver wire to help your team during it's early season funk. One of those players might be St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker (65.9% owned; +57.5% over the past week), who was the most added player in ESPN leagues over the last seven days. The departure of Jason Heyward and an injury to Tommy Pham have finally given the 28-year-old Hazelbaker a chance to play in the big leagues after toiling away in the minors since being drafted by the Red Sox in 2009. He's made the most of his early opportunity, producing a 7/3/7/2/.394 batting line across 39 plate appearances. Hazelbaker has displayed double digit home run power as well as 30+ steal speed at multiple stops in the minors, so he could just be a late bloomer who needed an opportunity to shine. However, he does tend to strikeout fairly often (25.6% K% this year; 25.4% K% in his minor league career), and his current .424 ISO and .455 BABIP are likely to come crashing down in the near future. Think of Dexter Fowler as an upside comp and Jake Marisnick as a downside one. Ride the wave while it lasts but be ready to cut bait if and when he comes back to Earth.
Here are a couple of other interesting adds/drops in fantasy baseball over the past week:
You know, it's been a rough week for Astros stud
Carlos Correa. He's batting .227 over his last seven games and hasn't hit a home run since April 6. On top of that, he's only making $516,700. Former elite shortstop and now DH for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez, is making $21 million this season. Talk about income inequality. Anyway, when it's all said and done, Correa has a real chance to earn more over the length of his career than A-Rod. He's not just an up-and-coming player, he's a total stud. Sometimes a day of rest is all you need to snap out of a funk. Correa got that rest on Sunday and now he's ready to get back to business against a guy with the worst mustache in Texas, Derek Holland, who he just so happens to be 4-for-5 lifetime against with two homers. Can you taste that cheddar? Take advantage of Correa's reasonable price tag like you take advantage of an open bar at your cousin's wedding. The drought is over--everyone is drinking tonight.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 10 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.
No, not a
Pirates of the Caribbean reference there. Well, maybe it's inspired from it. Is that better? But rather than the dreaded undead ship that rises from the abyss of Davey Jones Locker, this Dutchman fills his opponents with dread while letting his luscious locks flow henceforth through the strong winds of the...Flushing skyline? Alright, it stops there (for now). Who we talking about? Noah Syndergaard. Sweet mercy, if he aint the best Mets starter out of their vaunted rotation then I don't know what everyone else is thinking. Well, this week at least.
One of the best indicators into determining the success of a Two-Start pitcher is examining his opponents. Plurals. Two of 'em. You want the pitcher that doesn't just slay one dragon in a week, but two of 'em.
Double Dragon.
Two Dragons. I digress. Or do I? Taking down two opponents isn't an easy task, but when a top-tier pitcher is served the Phillies and Braves on a silver freaking platter, guess what? Here comes the dragon slayer...if the dragons played are essentially of the AAA variety. Two poopy lineups vs. one mighty SP means the top of the rankings for that blonde behemoth taking the mound for the Mets.
And since we're talking about the Flying Dutchman, we'll carry over the precedent set by the Week 2 Two-Start Pitcher Rankings and categorize the tiers through a film franchise:
Pirates of the Caribbean! And whaddaya know, it even fits with the amount of tiers we have. Gee whillakers!
In the Two-Start Pitcher Primer we discussed the strategy to finding the best two-start options. Being early in the year it’s difficult to pull statistical data on the opposing team’s lineups, so these rankings will revert to some 2015 stats for the pitchers. Are we really doing that again? Ya dern right. We're dropping last year's Park Factors, and staying with the pitcher's numbers. Waaaay too many invariables to rely upon that number for the third week in April 2016. Also, as this is being written, the White Sox are 8-2. Think that's a true indicator of future production? (And everyone outside of the Southside said, 'Uh, no.') We'll stick to 2015 one more time.
And don't worry... even if I used this year's stats to designate rank, Syndergaard would still be at the top. Dude's been unhittable.
And if Vince V. is so money, it would make the Padres a bunch of Swingers. Seriously, tell me Vince Velasquez wasn't money? He struck out 16, baby. He only gave up three hits, baby. He is a beautiful baby, baby. C'mon, he's so money. You gotta grab him, baby, you gotta. Call him up on waivers, go ahead, c'mon, baby, call him up. "Hi, uh, this is a random fantasy baseballer, which is, uh, Grey's mom's term. I saw you struck out 16, uh, Padres, in a shutout and I was, uh, wondering--" Machine beeps. Call back, baby! Velasquez wants you to! "Hi, Mr. Velasquez, it's me again. Ha, silly movie answering machines always shutting off prior to a message ending. I mean, who even has answering machines like this anymore--" Machine beeps. C'mon, baby! You're almost through that message! Then you can go on to direct Iron Man and be the namelganger for a Washington speech writer, while I can go do a lot of blow with Jennifer Aniston and singlehandedly ruin True Detective playing essentially myself. You gotta, baby! You are so money! So, Vince Velasquez went 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 16 Ks, and if he's still on waivers in your league, I want to be in your league. Yes, you should grab, like yesterday (preferably before his last start). Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Welcome to Week 2 or better known as Overreaction Theater. This is the time when every pitch, hit, strikeout and blown save is scrutinized more than a teenager looking in the mirror at pimples. R-E-L-A-X. Baseball is a loooooooong season. So, sit back, consume what you need to, and enjoy the
maestro for a few minutes. You good? Chill, now? If you are not, then you must be a cyborg from the future and I must find and destroy you. Speaking of cyborgs, no Week 2 article can be published unless a certain
[player]Trevor Story[/player] is discussed. Is he real? Is he robot? Can Skynet be hacked? Well, we have had a
ManBearPuig and
El Oso Blanco so... I guess anything is possible.
