Zach Plesac was on the attack again Friday night holding the New York Yankees to just two earned runs on six hits in seven innings, he walked one and struck out five for his first career win. All this coming after another seven inning one-run gem last week in Chicago where he struck out seven. I've now learned to have blind faith in whatever young starting pitching prospect Cleveland brings up. Zach is now rocking a 1.86 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and a 14/3 K/BB through his first three starts, two of which came against fairly potent lineups (Boston and NY). Yep, I've seen all I need to see here. Where do I sign? I want to own the next Bieber/Clevinger before anyone else gets wind of this. Fun fact! Zach's uncle Dan also won his first start against the Yankees in 1986 and even lost his first against White Sox! How cool is tha-ZZZZ. I mean, way cool! In nine starts in AA/AAA this year, Plesac was 4-1 with a 1.41 ERA, 0.78 WHIP and 56/7 K/BB! Uhh, yes please! Batters hit just .185 against him. So this isn't exactly coming from nowhere. Sure, he has a bit of a limited arsenal which could catch up to him his second time through the league, but for now it's all hands on deck. Uncle Dan gives him his full endorsement! He gets the weak Cincinnati Reds line up next week and I'd own him wherever I needed starting pitching help.
Here's what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
On a slate with no true ace taking the bump, the Phillies’ Aaron Nola is the guy to build your FanDuel lineups around. He has the second lowest SIERA on the slate, and the lowest xFIP. Nola has a 26.2% K%, and when he isn’t striking guys out, he is getting them to put the ball on the ground with a 47.2% groundball rate. With the Padres’ striking out in 27.1% of their at-bats against right-handed pitchers this season, Nola should continue to put up good numbers on Monday.
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I remember fondly my pickling phase of years ago when I went ahead and pickled just about everything. Pickled eggs, pickled garlic, pickled...pickles. Fast forward 3 years and all those jars are still sitting on the shelf and I’m fearful of any of them breaking a seal and releasing their rancid smell on the house. To be fair, I did eat the pickles, but I was definitely fearful of the eggs. That transitions seamlessly to my favorite pitcher of the night, Griffin Canning ($6,800). Canning gets to face the Royals at home tonight and I’m lining my shelves and praying to not get a stinker. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster to start Canning’s major league career with 3 runs in 4 innings, 2 runs in 5 innings and 4 runs and 4 walks in 4 innings. One thing has remained constant though and that is the strikeouts (6,7,6). That works out to about 12 K/9. Yum! That’s the equivalent of some fine homemade dills. As long as we can avoid the spoiled pickled eggs, we’ll be good.
New to FanDuel? 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!
It's a good time to be a twin! No, not just if you're a mother on Mom's day because you got twice the bragging rights. The Minnesota Twins look unstoppable right now posting their third shut out in the past four games including Jake Odorizzi's gem Friday night as he extended his scoreless streak to 20 (! ! !) innings. It's his third start in a row without allowing a run and he's given up just seven hits in that stretch. The former Ray pitched seven shut out innings against the Tigers, allowed just one hit (a double to Christin Stewart in the first inning) and struck out five, walking none to earn his fifth win. Jake was hammering the strike zone, throwing 66 of his 95 pitches for strikes and lowering his ratios to a gorgeous 2.32 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. That ERA's good enough for 3rd in the AL, folks. And let us not forget that 43/15 K/BB is making me real happy happy. Dude is hotter than Hunter Johanssen's twin sister (that's Scarlett) which is pretty darn hot you guys! If we look at some next level stats, the 0.42 HR/9 is obviously not sustainable, and the 24.8 GB% is suspect. The 2.84 FIP and 4.49 xFIP suggest there is regression coming in the form of some home runs balls but all the stats that matter (9.07 K/9, 17% K/BB, .221 BABIP) show he's still trending in the right direction. Jake gets the Angels next week and he needs to be owned everywhere, at least while all the Minnesota Moms are showering their Twins with love and Odorizzi is making it look Odoreasy.
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First off, big congrats to Albert Pujols (1-for-4 and his 6th homer), as he passed 2,000 RBIs. That is amazing. Now would some archaeologist find old man Pujols’s Holy Grail Goblet Room and let him retire in peace? Second off, David Fletcher went 2-for-5, 2 runs, hitting .310, as he finally seems to be settling in at leadoff. Can we just pause for one second and try to comprehend how stupid I am? Okay, you don't have to rundown all my countless idiotic calls. I get it. Okay, with my stupidity in mind, it took a major league manager -- Bad Assdunce, in this case -- almost six weeks to realize Fletcher is the best guy to hit leadoff on the Angels. Assdunce hit Kole Calhoun (2-for-4, 3 runs, and his 9th homer, hitting .223) for 78 ABs at leadoff -- a .240 hitter on a good day! Ya know, when they hire MLB managers, they're not hiring their best and brightest. Oh, and I have it at 50/50 odds Fletcher doesn't stay at leadoff, just so ya know. By the by, Fletcher is not in this afternoon's Buy column, but if he's available add him for average and hopefully counting stats. Finally, Tommy La Stella. What in the holy fudge? Only, I didn't say fudge. I said the mother of all curse words. Yesterday, he went 2-for-4, 4 RBIs and his 8th and 9th homer. Did he even have nine homers in 1,000 at-bats prior to this in his career? Not to answer, because I don't care, but WUT. At this point, Travis Shaw would need to have the best month of his career to even tie La Stella in fantasy value. I am laughing through tears. Sad clown tears! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Good Saturday to you folks. With today being Derby Day you know everyone wants to get some action on the horses, but I’ve got some tips on getting in on tonight’s baseball action. FanDuel has a sweet 10 game main slate tonight that includes a game at Coors field, so let’s jump right in. My favorite play for tonight is not for the faint of heart, but could put you at a distinct advantage against the field. Yonny Chirinos ($7,600) won’t be listed a probable starter as the Rays will likely be deploying an “opener”. This is important since most people have the box checked in FanDuel to “Only show probable pitchers”. That means Yonny will be very low owned. On a slate with no sure-fire ace pitcher and honestly, a lot of “blah” at pitcher, Yonny could pay nice returns. He’s facing the incredibly bad Orioles lineup, which should earn him a win in the 6 or so innings he’s likely to pitch. I like the risk vs. reward on this play, especially in a GPP.
New to FanDuel? 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!
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Scott Schebler looks about as DFA-able as I've seen anyone look in some time. DFA stands for Da F**k Attahere. Even if he's not, Nick Senzel was promoted and is hitting 2nd tonight. So, what are we banking on, or simply FDIC? That's not regarding fiduciary concerns, that's F**k Do I Care? Or more accurately, why am abbreviating everything a NYC cabbie says? Senzel has speed/power and could hit .315+. He is one of the best pure hitters in the minors. It's the Senzel SZN! SZN stands for Senzel, which means I just said, "It's the Senzel Senzel!" Not only is Senzel owned in all of my leagues, but guys like Rudy have owned him all year, stashing him on their bench. I point to Rudy specifically, because he's fairly agnostic on rookies, in general, so you know there's something here. Things break right and Senzel could be the number one call-up this year. Yes, I avoided all the talk about his injuries, except for this throwaway comment, but we're talking about the positives. It's Friday, LMFAO! That's Leave Me F**K Alone, Octopus. I'm floating in a giant aquarium as I write this. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
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We gonna talk about Lil' Wayne's favorite baseball player, "Franmil mil mil mil mil…mil mil, a mil." Much to chagrin of the former Padres' outfielder and Missy Elliott's favorite player, "Matt Sczrczrczr," or as she would say, "nac uoy eveileb eh saw reve a gniht Sczrczrczr my skizzard." Franmil Reyes looks like a cross between Kyle Blanks and a vending machine that dispenses steaks. "Damn, I thought this was the crappy hot chocolate vending machine and now I just got charged $54 for a T-bone." That's someone getting a vending machine steak. Yesterday, Franmil Reyes did what he's been known/capable of -- blasting two, loud $54 vending machine T-bones into orbit, ending the night 3-for-4 with his 7th and 8th homer. He's now on pace for 40 homers. Greek chorus, "Who isn't?!" Okay, GC, but Franmil can get to 40 homers, unlike, say, Tommy La Stella. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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*blows dust off cover to the book, "Raimel Tapia, Fantasy Sleeper"* Just found this book on a shelf in this Colorado-area bookstore. "I think this is yours." The bookstore owner holds up a copy of, "Josh Rutledge's Fantasy Sleeper." Haha, no, that's not mine. "It says "Property of Grey Albright." Can I just read from one of your other books in peace without paying for it? No wonder bookstores are all going out of business, you don't leave your customers alone! Any hoo, as I was saying about Raimel Tapia, he was a 2015 Pick-to-Click, a 2016 Gotz-to-Getz-Him, a 2017 This-is-the-Year and a 2018 Absolute-Must-Own for a reason. He has 15-homer power and 25-steal speed who shouldn't hurt you in average (think .270). The problem for so long has been the Rockies' inability to kowtow to fantasy owners and play the sexy guys. Not unrelated, Garrett Hampson is due for everyday playing time in 2023. However, something interesting has happened recently -- interesting is subjective but if you're reading this I assume it applies -- Ian Desmond has been getting benched regularly. Finally! If Tapia gets 5+ starts a week, he is a Pick-to-Click-Gotz-to-Getz-Him-This-is-the-Year-Absolute-Must-Own in all leagues. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
If you came here for NFL Draft coverage, you’re in the wrong place. However, I do enjoy the adjectives given to the young “glass eaters” of the gridiron. If your team drafted a guy with “oily hips” or “elite wiggle” you’re winning. If anything can tie into oddly descriptive words for twenty year old men, it’s OPS! Two weeks ago in this space, we recommended adding Christian White Walker, Trey Mancini, and Maikel Franco. The latter has come back down to earth since his hot start, but Walker and Mancini are still raking. Along with most of the top SP getting rocked this year, the 1B position has been chaos as well. Walker, Mancini, Pete Alonso, and Daniel Vogelbach are all in the top 10 at the position. Hunter Dozier is eleventh. If you drafted Edwin Encarnacion, Max Muncy, or Jesus Aguilar hopefully you stashed one of these other “plug and play guys” until they figure things out.
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Yesterday, on the way to the park,
Chris Paddack felt under the weather. Not to confuse people, Paddack had the flu, there's no weather in San Diego. So, Chris Paddack was touching 100, and I'm not talking about his fastball. As Paddack made his way to the mound, he'd cough and: "You rang?" That's the on-staff hernia nurse. Well, it's not just the hernia nurse who's on-staff when it comes to Paddack. Yesterday, he dismantled the Mariners -- 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 1 walk, 9 Ks, ERA at 1.67 in 27 IP, getting some swinging strikes that were...Well, one swing by Daniel Vogelbach was the highest pitch generating a swing all year at four-feet and eight-inches aka "an Altuve." Currently, Paddack sits at 10 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 3.80 xFIP, and,
Steamer's rest-of-the-season projections for him are 3.49 ERA with a 10 K/9 in 120 IP, i.e., a top 40 starter in all mixed leagues. With all his commercials, Justin Verlander can push his Flonase down our throats (noses?), but Paddack pitching is sick -- God bless you! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Good lord -- Curt Schilling and his bloody sock are looking up from hell at the starting pitching landscape and just cackling. There are so many injured SPs this week that I’m going to just give you three solid recommended adds at the bottom of this article. Otherwise, I’d end up recommending Jordan Zimmermann and Homer Bailey. Who would ever add them to their team in a two week period? Me. I did that.
Wait -- is Curt Schilling dead?
