Just like Ol' Blue Eyes used to say, but replace the lady with baseball players. The MLB season is 6 weeks old, and my DFS expectations have not been met. I've been using two very high priced pitchers that are allegedly good, in the majority of my DraftKings entries. I'd say at least 75% of the time I have used two pitchers in the same entry that were in the top five in terms of highest priced. Wednesday I did a 50/50 entry and used Raisel Iglesias and Jose Quintana. When I make quick bold decisions that are borderline head-scratching, I find that I do pretty well. However, using Iglesias and Quintana that day wasn't just me closing my eyes and seeing where my finger would land. I was intentionally looking for low-priced pitchers and high-priced hitters, and felt that I made educated picks. Iglesias was doing very well in the minors, and Quintana was facing the Brewers. So if you remember, both of these pitchers had stellar performances. Iglesias pitched 8 innings, giving up 1 earned run and had 5 strikeouts. Quintana pitched 7 innings while giving up 1 earned run and had 10 strikeouts. At this point I am leading you to believe I won in that 50/50 entry. However, I still lost. It turned out that all of my pricey hitters fell flat. Thursday, I did another DFS entry where I played Erasmo Ramirez as one of my pitchers and stacked several Rays hitters against Chase Whitley and the Yankees. Again, Ramirez and three of my Rays hitters did very well. I'm not going to tell you today, that I am taking the two least expensive pitchers available, but, just because some of these players are priced much lower than the top tier guys, doesn't mean you shouldn't consider playing them. With that being said, as much as I like to think I am making educated picks, you will need a little luck on your side just like the legend himself, Frank Sinatra.
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Carlos Rodon We Now Our Gay Apparel, and the Top 100 Starting Pitchers, Week 6
May 11, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 199 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
Oh man, what a week of pitching! Filled with intrigue, romance and murder! Eh, a little carried away there, although poor [player]Jarrod Parker[/player] might indeed have his MLB life cut short. Get well soon, J-Park!
Then yesterday afternoon [player]Michael Pineda[/player] swiss-cheesed the Orioles bats in a near-historic K-fest. He hasn't ever had shoulder issues, let him throw 150! [player]Johan Santana[/player] is like, "...not the best idea..."
Also this weekend, we finally got to see [player]Carlos Rodon[/player] start a game, his first in his MLB career Saturday night hosting the Reds. I bet he got all confused facing the Reds since he pitched for NC State and all... North Carolina bias! I didn't see him pitch at all through Spring and only a highlight or two in his bullpen stints, so I was excited to break down his debut and see what he can bring to fantasy owners in 2015. Here's how he looked:
Michael Yanks The Pineda On K Grenade
May 11, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 901 Commentsby: Grey
Early yesterday morning, on Mother's Day, Bill Hall hopped out of bed to the wail of sirens. There was a puppy tied to train tracks two miles from Bill's house and the train was due for a gruesome splat in four seconds. If Bill flew at 500 MPH, he would get to the train tracks in a quarter of a millisecond, but Bill didn't fly. Bill Hall moonwalked backwards, causing the earth to move in reverse five minutes and lifted the puppy off the tracks before the sirens even began. Next up, Hall was due at the ballpark in a face mask that resembled Michael Pineda. Yesterday, Bill Hall threw 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 hits, zero walks and 16 Ks. For Hall/Pineda this year, it's been a bunch of Mother's Days. His K/9 is 10.5, his BB/9 is 0.60 and his xFIP is 2.20. For those just joining us, those numbers are insane. If the difference between a K-rate and a walk rate is 7, we're looking at an ace. Hall/Pineda's difference is nearly ten! It's better than Kershaw's (11.4 K/9, 2.2 BB/9)! So Hall/Pineda's walk rate is absurd and we shouldn't expect it to continue, right? His walk rate last year was 0.83 and he had a 1.89 ERA, which was in 76 1/3 IP. At what point do we consider Hall/Pineda an ace? I say this point. (I'm pointing my finger as well, to drive home the pointing point.) I've even considered that maybe that was Michael Pineda in a Bill Hall mask for all of those other Mother's Days. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Am I the only one still utterly confused by Danny Salazar? The only thing I know he brings to the table for sure is strikeouts. After his first two starts, there was a great deal of chatter that Salazar had finally figured it out and his ascension to heaven to sit on the right side of Roger Clemens and Bob Feller was nearly complete. Yes in this scenario Roger Clemens is dead, and heaven is also full of unabashed racists like Bob Feller. Come to think of it, that's sounds exactly the way heaven is described in the bible. Either way I'm still not sure what to make of Salazar. On one hand his K rate once again through four starts is phenomenal. On the other hand his HR/FB rate is 22.2%. Which in turn has led to a pretty scary 1.38 HR/9. Then again all of this could be bad luck over a couple of starts. This theory is further supported by his .328 BABIP which tells me he's in fact been a bit unlucky. The problem is through 188 big league innings his career BABIP is .330. So is he just perpetually unlucky? Or is he a hit or miss, feast or famine type? His FIP of 3.23 and xFIP of 2.18 tell me that yes he has in fact been unlucky. The K/BB of 7.40 is gorgeous just like a horse is, and his BAA of .232 is marvelous. So count me amongst the believers in the Cult of Salazar. So this leads me to today's matchup with the hotter than fish grease Minnesota Twins. In the last few weeks, the Twinkies have squished the dreams of quite a few daily players looking to cash in on the mantra "beat up on the Twins". Well have no fear my fellow DFS junkies because Danny Salazar is here and ready to feast on the Twins and their 22.4% K% against righties. As we all well know in DraftKings, K's are king. Or maybe the drafts are....nevermind. So save a couple of bucks and go Salazar at $8,600 over Felix Hernandez, Zack Greinke, Jordan Zimmermann, and Garrett Richards.
New to DraftKings? Scared of feeling like a small fish in a big pond? Well try out this 25 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.
"This is a smart decision by the Nationals franchise to not let Stephen Strasburg pitch in the playoffs," said every sports reporter two years ago. Let's try another one, Google, just give me the search results from 2010 when Strasburg was first promoted. "He's a once-in-a-lifetime arm that the world has not seen since Sidd Finch." Strasburg, Virginia even considered renaming itself Stephen Strasburg. I'm not joking. The hype was real, prematurely balding man. In the past seven months of baseball: Sonny Gray or Strasburg? Is it close? Who's been better, Strasburg or Lance Lynn? Can I now ingest that laced-Halloween candy that I got from the sketchy guy that I've been saving for a special occasion? Yesterday, Strasburg left the game after three innings and two earned runs, saying he has irritation under his shoulder blade. The Nats say it's an alignment issue that could be corrected by a chiropractor. He'll be looked at by Jon Cryer from Two and A Half Men. Probably from his stupid inverted W. Why not just call it an M?! No idea how long Strasburg will be out, but obviously this isn't great news. But, Part II: If Ifs And Buts Were Candy And Nuts, I'd Be A Diabetic Squirrel, it's better Strasburg not pitch injured and keep getting rocked. But, Part III: But Lives, I'd grab Tanner Roark in case he's moved into the rotation. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Sometimes a news story falls through the cracks, but Lewis Black is there to catch them in a segment we call Back in Black! Oh wait, got a little carried away there... I mean:
Sometimes a pitcher falls through the cracks, and Grey is there to catch them!
Now, I have somewhat of an excuse... Due to the MLB and regional networks wanting to stick it up the rear of their viewers and black out however-the-hell-far their national maps can reach, I can't watch Orioles or Nationals games live in my region. It's so frustrating that I sold high on [player]Adam Jones[/player] in my keeper just because I couldn't see the homers right away! I'm an instant gratification kinda guy, wink wink.
It's easy to follow the hitters from these teams and see the highlights, but I never see big samples from either teams' SP unless it's on national TV. Or in this case, in a Pitcher Profile! Grey has been all about some Miguel Gonzalez on the Podcast, and I guess it's easy for me to be a little dismissive as he's never had "huge" numbers and I can't ever watch him. Plus, how good could he be anyway, he's not even the only starting pitcher named Miguel Gonzalez! Mmmmmm, Alfredo. But not the Simon kind! Anyway, since I've seen so little of Gonzalez and he had a very under the radar 2.09 ERA in the final 3 months last year and a 2.59 ERA this year with nice Ks, I figured it was a good time to break down his last start hosting the Rays to see how he's doing pitch-by-pitch:
Yesterday, Evan Gattis went 2-for-4, 3 runs, 4 RBIs with his 5th and 6th homers, while hitting four homers in the last three days. After the game, Gattis likened this streak to the five red lights in a row where the first car to stop had broken windshield wipers and Gattis had a squeegee. Adding, "Right now, I'm swinging the squeegee as good as ever. There was one guy, Non-Tall Paul, who claimed to get a six-red-light streak back in '98. Non-Tall Paul reminds me of Altuve, actually. Size-wise. Not smell-wise. He smelled of grapes. Very, very rancid grapes." Okay, Gattis! This weekend Gattis reminds us how ridiculous it was that people wanted to drop him in the first week-plus when he was striking out like Non-Tall Paul at a plus-sized model runway show. I think someone even asked me in the first two weeks if I had revised projections for Gattis. Guys and five girl readers (we have a new one! Hey, lady!), the season isn't even a month old yet. You need to trust your players. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Two-Start Pitchers, Week 5: 93 Til’ Infinity, Pitching & Hip-Hop
May 2, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Two Start Pitchers | 109 Commentsby: Geoff
To many, 1993 is considered the watershed moment in Hip-hop's golden era. Classic album after classic album was released over that year. It's the only year I can think of that's in the title of an all-time hip hop classic. Some might even argue a top 10 song of all time within the genre. I'm of course talking about the Souls of Mischief classic and title of this post. If you don't know by now I like to ramble about something that has nothing to do with baseball in my intro. This is to set the stage for the theme of the week's two start pitching tiers. This week we delve into the greatest years in hip hop. Why? because if there's one thing I know better than baseball it's soccer... oops, I mean hip-hop. Then again soccer is pretty awesome....did you know we have a site here on Razzball where we talk about it exclusively? My plugs are shameless like William H. Mace, better have legs like B-Ham if you wants to keep pace, lace the track, dutchies dipped in honey, two start pitchers ain't nothing move but the streamonator $. Okay now back to the lecture at hand, perfection is perfected.... What's perfection? Why the greatest years of hip-hop of course. So I'll discuss this week's two start pitchers in relation to each great year in hip-hop and share some science on the top jewels to drop in the tier's title year. If I missed any years or albums let me know. Hell drop some of your favorite jams/albums/miscellaneous stories about your mom's slutty college experiences in the comments. I like to talk about all those things...
If A Samardzija Gets Chopped In Baltimore And Nobody Sees It…
April 30, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 823 Commentsby: Grey
Chris Davis (1-for-4, 3 RBIs, hitting .268) hit his 5th homer, and the announcers said that it was all Davis since there was no breeze in the stadium. Could there have been no breeze because there were no one in attendance? Is that why they're called fans? Is the world devoid of wind without people? I feel like Mike Seaver on the Growing Pains episode when he figured out there was TV shows even if he was at school. This is mind blowing! I need to take a schvitz and clear my mind. Maybe Manny Machado (3-for-4, 3 runs and his 4th homer) plays better without a crowd, not taking after his uncle, Randy "Machado Manny" Savage. RIP, you raspy voiced lunatic! But, really, all of this offense was thanks largely to Jeff Samardzija (5 IP, 7 ER, 11 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA up to 4.78). When I type Samardzija in my iPhone, it autocorrects to, "Inseam Arduous." No truer words were ever autocorrected. If Devon Travis and Arenado were sitting on either of my legs and I had Samardzija pitching for my team, it would still be arduous in my inseam. Way to kill my buzz, you impossible-to-spell, mullet-haired freak! Alphabet Soup's ERA is worse than his xFIP, that's the good news. The bad news is everything else. His xFIP is still 4.13 and his K/9 is 6.2. He's throwing next to no walks, but maybe he should throw some if it means not letting people single you to death. I wouldn't sell Samardzija low, but I'm also more concerned now than I was in the preseason. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Circling Back To Archer, and the Top 100 Starting Pitchers, Week 4
April 27, 2015 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Pitcher Profiles | 194 Commentsby: JB Gilpin
I'm popping a cherry of sorts here... I'm double-dipping in my first ever Pitcher Profile on a hurler already profiled. But things change! People change! Hairstyles change! I'll miss you the most, scarecrow! (bonus points if you know that movie!)
Two years ago, I broke down [player]Chris Archer[/player]'s first career complete game that Summer... Look at how much we've improved! No weekly rankings, no GIFs, it's like that was written in the stone age! At the time, Archer was a young-up-and-comer who even surprised the most die hard of Archer fans, but after going complete twice in a three game span in 2013, really hasn't shown uber-dominance in any long stretches. Well, looking back at 2014 he did go on a huge roll starting at the end of May, but never more than say 6 or 7 starts.
After a meh opener, Archer has been a stud the last four, and at age 26 may be finally settling in to an ace-like season. So I decided to break down his outing yesterday hosting the Blue Jays to see if I think this is a new Archer that is going to maintain dominant numbers all year:
Rangers May Roundup Hamilton for One Last Rodeo
April 25, 2015 | Uncategorized | 65 Commentsby: Dan Pants
Not quite a done deal just yet, but it's looking like [player]Josh Hamilton[/player] is heading home on the Rangers, as the Angels have agreed to pay the majority of Hamilton's giant contact in exchange for Hamilton agreeing to get the heck out of Dodge. The trade would certainly qualify as Woody's rootin-est, tootin-est, roundup in the wild, wild west so far this season. The least cynical of all my multiple personalities would certainly like to believe if Josh Hamilton can get back on track anywhere, it'd be with the Rangers in Texas. Yee-haw, we've hog-tied us a Hamilton! As a Rangers fan, you've got to be happy with any news that doesn't concern Adrian Beltre's age, Yu Darvish's injury, Prince Fielder's weight, or Elvis Andrus' suckiness. In five years with Texas, Josh Hamilton batted .305 with 142 home runs and over 500 RBI, including his 2010 MVP season where he hit 32 homers and batted .359 with a .633 SLG%. Well, howdy there, partner! However, Josh managed just 32 homers and a .255 AVG in two injury-riddled seasons with Anaheim. The L.A. air just wasn't agreeing with him. It was the traffic wasn't it? Yeah, well, you deal with it because the weather is perfect and the tacos are awesome. Currently on the shelf recovering from shoulder surgery, J-Hammies is due back sometime in June and is available in most leagues. I grabbed him in a few leagues where I had a DL spot to spare, and I'd suggest you do the same. Here's to hoping he can recapture some of the thrill, the romance and the magic that those hot summer nights in Texas can bring to the bat.
Here's what else happened in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Saturday's games gives us intriguing SP options with Bauer, Alfredo Simon, and Anthony DeSclafani. Heading that list is Trevor Bauer with his clever and catchy Twitter handle, @BauerOutage. All three of these SP's have started 2015 very strong. Today's match-ups really have me focused on whether they are legit SP's in DFS, or have they just got off to lucky starts. I'll continue to say your two SP's need to be strikeout pitchers. Meaning, don't play a pitcher that has far less K's per IP, or has a high WHIP. Go ahead and pay the big bucks for the SP's. However, you can't always start two SP's that are $10,000+ and will eat up a huge portion of your salary. The aforementioned SP's prices have good value. But my biggest struggle is, do I keep plugging them in or are they going to get destroyed by a good opponent? Of the three, Bauer is the only pitcher that at one point was a top pitching prospect. He was highly touted out of UCLA, and the Diamondbacks drafted him third overall in the 2011 MLB Draft. Bauer also won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation's top amateur player. The Diamondbacks gave up on him pretty fast and traded him to the Cleveland Indians. He'll get his biggest test of 2015 today against the Detroit Tigers. Anthony DeSclafani was once a top prospect in the Marlins organization, and was a key piece to the trade involving Mat Latos. He pitched 33 Innings for the Marlins in 2014, and those numbers are not impressive at all. So if you want to rollout a SP whose name you can't pronounce, don't look it up. Realize that he isn't an ultra-talented rookie that has come out of nowhere. The player I can't help but compare him to the most is Jacob deGrom. Like DeSclafani, deGrom was somewhat of a top prospect in the Mets organization, but no one expected this type of skill at the major league level. It's still too early to make that comparison, but DeSclafani's hot start has me thinking in that direction. As for Alfredo Simon, he came on last year with the Cincinnati Reds. His overall numbers in 2014 were good, but he fizzled out a bit at the end. Now with the Tigers in 2015, he's off to another good start, and although the Indians haven't looked great so far, it'll be a good match-up to see if Simon is a legit DFS option every week. Don't be afraid to start two SP's that face each other, as Bauer and Simon do today. Although you would only be able to potentially get one win, if the strikeouts pile up, so will your DraftKings score.
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.