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Didja you know The Captain from Captain & Tennille's real name is Daryl Dragon? Why would this guy have a nickname? Your name's awesome, you don't get a nickname. Daryl Dragon has bedtime slippers that are cooler than you. Daryl Dragon washes his hands, then breathes a not-very-intense fire on his hands to dry them. Daryl Dragon can’t get a speeding ticket. "Okay, Mr. Dragon, I’ll let you go this time with a warning because your name is Daryl Dragon." Raul Mondesi? Now that name sucks as bad as Thanksgiving dinners with the Mondesis (Mondesii?). "Please pass the potatoes and change your name back to Junior." "NO!" and chucks mashed potatoes at his father's head. "You throw like your mom!" "I hate you" And so on. I don't hate Adalberto Mondesi though. Yesterday, he went 3-for-5, 2 RBIs and had a slam (9) and legs (25). He has nine homers and 25 steals in only 219 ABs. Mr. Prorater says, "In a full season, he'd have 20 homers and 55 steals. And if I ate an orange a day for a year, I'd have enough Vitamin C for a Mars colony." You could consider this your first 2019 sleeper, assuming I don't get too crazy with myself and rank Mondesi in the top 25 next year. Anyway, here's what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
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The September roster expansion this year was a bit of a dud. No Eloy Jimenez and no Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It's too bad what's best for baseball and these young players is not what is also best for their teams. Their rewards and our rewards are not aligned. It's like going into the supermarket for pluots and they tell you, "It's pluot season. Pluots are best this time of year. You want to eat dem pluots now so they slobber down your chin like you're a human St. Bernard. So, we're putting our pluots into liquid nitrogen to freeze them until mid-April of next year, and we will serve you pluots once their service time allows us to keep them an extra year." However, the Nationals are working on a different schedule apparently because they are calling up
Victor Robles, i.e., to the Victor goes the spoiled pluots. Where will Victor Robles play? Haven't a clue, Colonel Mustard. Bryce Harper (1-for-2, 3 RBIs and his 31st homer yesterday) goes to right and Robles plays center while Adam's Eaton the pine? Adam's Eaton up time while Bryce goes to the bench because the Nationals know Harper is not in their future plans? Robles just plays periodically unless something goes completely sideways and the Nats will pass 'o Robles. On Prospector Ralph's
top 500 fantasy baseball prospects, Robles is about as high a player can be who isn't A) Not being called up this year. B) Not already called up. C) There's no C. To give you an idea of Robles' profile, think Starling Marte without knowing his upside. I will call you No Ceiling Marte. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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Daniel Murphy traded to the Cubs, after being claimed on waivers. I'm going to try to wrap my noodle around this one. My above-the-line noodle. That's above-the-line as in waist, not above-the-line as it's meant in Hollywood. An above-the-line noodle in Hollywood parlance would mean below-the-line as in waist. Okay, off track! *steps in cardboard box designed to look like a car, yells at homeless man 'driving' the cardboard box* Let's get back on track or I'm going to give you a bad Uber rating! For Daniel Murphy to get claimed by the Cubs, it means every NL team passed on him. I realize he can't pitch, but really, Brewers? You got screwed on the Archer move, but you can't use hitting, Pirates? You didn't want another reason to prospblock Jo-Ma, Cardinals? Yo, Phillies, your team batting average is .236; hey, Colorado, you passed on a veteran? Are you feeling okay? So, Murphy joins the Cubs, where he should bat third and play 2nd base. That knocks Javier Baez to 3rd; Ian Happ to a platoon in center with Al-Al, Maddon's Bae Zobrist becomes a utility man, David Bote dons a GOAT costume once a week as a pinch-hitter, but not a goat costume as in the animal, Kris Bryant learns how to play 1st, Rizzo catches, Schwarber pitches and--so the Cubs are obviously stacked. This should help Murphy's fantasy value. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Psyche! Before we get into the roundup, just wanted to say our
Fantasy Football Subscriptions are now live. Last year, Rudy placed top 5 out of something, like, 15,500 'perts who do fantasy football projections. Maybe it's closer to 200 'perts, but you get the picture. Plus, it helps the site. Anyway II, the roundup:
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I watch all trading deadline deals like I'm watching Hereditary. Hands firmly pressed over my eyes, occasionally I'll peek out. See a Jon Heyman tweet coming and prepare to scream. Then a long exhale. "Ah, thank God, it's not a player I own nor does it affect any of my other guys." Then, out of nowhere, Brian Dozier gets traded to the Dodgers and my head goes into a tailspin like it's a WHOMP on the old Batman TV show. "But what about Max Muncy? Can Chris Taylor still play? What about Kiké?! Please tell me Kiké's still in PLAY!" Then I take 150 milligrams of Percocet and go to the park to watch pre-teens and all of their innocence. In my head, I scream to them, "You'll never know my pain!" And smile lopsidedly until another adult asks me to leave. So, the Dodgers are now fielding the NL All-Star team from now until October. Dozier will likely slot into the two or three hole and I still like him for a huge 2nd half. Max Muncy and Chris Taylor are not likely going to be as fortunate, as I have no idea where the Dodgers can play all of these guys. If you've been burned by the trade deadline, I will smile lopsidedly and creep out someone for you. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Happy Friday everybody! We have a massive 15 games slate on FanDuel, which includes the works. Coors, multiple aces, and huge implied team totals, so let's see if we can fit it all in! Let us begin our Friday by raising a glass for the 2nd greatest 90s lip-syncers (Milli Vanilli is the GOAT, don't DM me) out there, C&C Music Factory, that made the greatest proclamation of all time, "Everybody Dance Now"!!!
CC Sabathia comes in at $7,800 and faces the
Royals, who have been awful vs LHPs. Sabathia is certainly not a sexy play on a day that has Sale, Scherzer, and Kershaw, but the wily veteran should be a safe play and is cheap enough that you'll be able to fit in some game changing bats. Sabathia has been great at limiting hard contact this year and as a -280 favorite according to Vegas, he should be in line for a really nice day. Let's take a look at some of my other favorite plays for the day.
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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Nick Williams was a popular preseason breakout target. Or tar-jay, if a soccer mom is reading. Targot, if you just returned from Target. Targo, if you're eating escargot after going to Target. Tarshouldget, if Target doesn't carry your size. Tarheel, if you stepped into tar then into Target. Tarnishes, obviously means your Target carries knishes, so you must be in Brooklyn, and it's ironic. Tarte tatin, you're wearing a hat made of slow roasted apples on your head in a Target. Whatever Target applies, wanna know why Williams was a popular preseason pick? C'mon, sit on my lap and I'll tell ya. Metaphorically! Get off my lap, you weirdo! *sprays Lysol on legs* Really wish you didn't touch my legs. So, Nick Williams had 15 HRs, 5 SBs and a .280 average in his last year of Triple-A, in only 78 games (!). He's still only 24 years old. I know, he failed to live up to hype last year. OR DID HE?! Ooh, you heard of reversible umbrellas? That was a reversal question. Not similar at all. He only played in 83 games last year, a sloppy prorater would say he could've had 24 homers last year and hit .288. Maybe he doesn't fully break out until next year (yes, he will be a sleeper), but he's been hot in the last week, and on pace for another 24-homer season and has lowered his Ks. Plus, you don't need to go to Target to buy him! Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
You don't need me to tell you to start aces, so today I've chosen to highlight some pitchers who are not in that group but will provide great value. Depending on the size of your draft on Draft.com, you can take advantage of this by jumping on hitters. We are fortunate enough to have a few ace-level guys going on this fine Monday and it's never a bad idea to lock one up in the first round. But with solid pitching options behind them, you have a great opportunity to grab a bat or two and give yourself a top-notch offense.
New to Draft? 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!
I feel a bit, a bit, a bit, a bit, like a broken record here but these Saturday slates are killing me. Once again we have four whole games in prime time on a Saturday night. I’m pretty much all set with four game slates. I’ve voiced my opinions on slate size before, but in case you’ve missed it, I prefer a bigger slate. More choices means the worse DFS players are more likely to slip up. It also means there are more choices for digging up some value. In small slates, good plays are more obvious, so everyone has them. We’re better DFSers than the herd here at Razzball, so we want more ways to separate ourselves from the pack. For this reason, I’ll be focusing on the “early” slate, locking at 2 PM ET where we have eleven games to choose from, which is much better for us. For that eleven game slate I’m going with ol’ reliable, “Rockies on the road” and the benefactor of that, James Paxton ($23,900). Pax is tossing video game numbers this year with an 11.7 K/9 and only 2.7 BB/9. That’s a difference of 9 or in other words, a total stud. The FIP (2.91) lower than his ERA (3.39) is encouraging as well. Toss in the Rockies bats turning to limp noodles away from Coors and you’ve got yourself a stud pitcher for the day.
New to FantasyDraft? 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 you do. It’s how we know you care!
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I want to transport you back to Jason Heyward's first career MLB at-bat. They called him The J-Hey Kid. Bobby Cox called the then-20-year-old a future Hall of Famer. Reggie Jackson said of the sound of the ball off Heyward's bat, "Everyone's hits sound like they're 'in AM' and Heyward's hits sound like they're in stereo." No one questioned why Reggie Jackson was commenting on a then-Atlanta Braves outfielder. Darryl Strawberry said Heyward reminded him of himself before his career was derided by drugs. Nothing ominous there; don't read into that at all. Then-president Obama said, "Heyward's legacy will be maintained as well as my own," and the accolades flowed. Then, in his first at-bat, he homered. He won Rookie of the Month accolades in both April and May. Was selected, as a rookie, to the All-Star Game and now you better not let anyone ever hear you compare Heyward's rookie exploits to Acuña or you will get popped in the mouth. Well, that was an abrupt reversal. This year, at the age of 28, he has five homers and zero steals while hitting .287. He's a different hitter. Brucely, until this year, he hadn't been a hitter for five years, but more of a defensive specialist. He's hitting .410 in the last week with a homer and I could see grabbing him for average and runs as he's now The J-Okay Kid. Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Happy Friday DFSers! Unlike yesterday, when we had one clear-cut ace, we have a handful of choices on this 14 game slate. I'll cover our cash game SPs in a minute, but I want to lead with
Carlos Carrasco, who comes in at $10,500. Carlos has been more boom or busty (nice) than he has in previous years, but he seemed to have started putting things together with 10 and 11 K outings.....before he took a come-backer off the bat of Joe Mauer to the pitching arm. This will be Senor Carrasco's first start back off the DL, but even in a seemingly juicy match-up with
Oakland (active players are a combined 4/53 with 25 Ks vs him), I'm here to push you to fade. Carrasco will most likely be eased back in (phrasing), since he only threw 58 pitches in his rehab start, and history backs us up here. In 2016, he hit the DL for a similar amount of time, threw 53 pitches in his rehab start, and in his first start back was limited to 78 pitches over 5 innings. With the other aces on the slate, fading Carlos Carrasco, who will most likely have a limited upside, seems like an easy decision. With crossing off one of our higher priced pitchers, lets take a look at what we're left with.
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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When you’re hot for two straight weeks, you’re talking in sexy whispers on my earlobes. If
Avisail Garcia and
Mike Trout are filming a body-switch movie, I never want it to end. For years I’ve remarked — I’m a remarker, yo! — that Avisail looks like Mini Miggy, now he’s actually hitting like him. "Miggy, that is the first time in two years we've made love without you screaming your back hurts," Mrs. Miggy rolls over. Avisail Garcia smiles wickedly at the camera. Yesterday, he homered two more times (3-for-6, 3 runs, 6th and 7th homers), and now has six homers in the last week, and he hit .330 last year. Sure, we can pee in the electrical blanket by talking about his BABIP last year, but there is no excuse for Garcia being on waivers. Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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To paraphrase DJ Khaled, "We got a Minor key alert! Another one." To paraphrase the cops that arrested Principal Rooney, "This is because of the Minors." *Donald Trump looking at the Rangers' rotation* "Glad to see Cole/Minor's jobs are secure." Over Mike Minor's last four starts, he has a 2.06 ERA, 18 Ks, 5 BBs and 15 hits in 26 innings, after his sparkling one last night when he threw 7 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, zero walks, 5 Ks, lowering his ERA to 4.64. I know what you're thinking, it was vs. the Padres. Right, one of those starts was, the other ones were the Astros, Twins and Rockies. So, it's not all smoke and Minors. Minor's peripherals are nothing to write home about (unless his family lives in the Appalachian Trail, then they might like to hear from a Minor) -- 7.4 K/9, 2 BB/9, 4.50 xFIP. So, it's been a good run (not Niko), but I can't say I trust him in the big picture, unless it's about Cole/Minor's daughter, Loretta Lynn, played with spunk by Sissy Spacek (Spunky Spacek? Sissy Spunkit? Spunky Spunkit?). Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
