15 Team, NFBC Draft Champions Recap: Owning 17 Orioles Is Good, Right?

March 28, 2019 | Our Leagues | 445 Comments

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This draft is a crock pot vs. a microwave. A love sesh vs. a ‘hold the moan.’ A nature hike vs. “I’m gonna sit in the car as we drive past some mountains.” Guys and five girl readers, it’s a slow draft. This slow draft took about eighteen days, 3 hours, four minutes and–okay, only a lunatic counts seconds. Not almost 18 days of straight drafting, mind you. I don’t need to ice my clicky finger. It’s five minutes of drafting, twelve hours of waiting. It does allow you to second-guess your picks. Actually, more like triple-guess. (Who are we kidding, you quadruple-guess, fiveruple-guess, sextruple-guess, ochocinco-guess your picks.) For those not in the know, it’s a weekly, 15-team, two-catcher league that lasts for 50 rounds and there’s no waivers. Anyway, here’s my NFBC draft recap:

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2019 Spring Training Position Battles: The NL West

by: Whack Daniels

I don’t pay much attention to Spring Training statistics. You never know who the statistics are coming against. Baseball-Reference did, however, have an amazing tool last year that attempted to quantify the quality of opposing pitchers or batters faced during spring training games on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being MLB talent and 1-3 being high A to low A level. This tool is great, but it averages all the Plate Appearances or batters faced. You would still need a deeper dive to see if your stud prospect smacked a donger off of Chris Sale or off of your kid’s future pony league baseball coach. So what should we watch for in March when we’re starved for the crack of the bat? Ignore “best shape of their life” stories and Spring Training statistical leaderboards. Pay attention to injuries and lineup construction and position battles!

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Everybody Loves Ramon

September 8, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 33 Comments

by: Dan Pants

Oakland A’s rookie outfielder slash speed demon slash rocket arm slash hot shot Ramon Laureano hit two home runs Friday night including his first career lead off bomb to which even Ricky Henderson nodded in approval. He became the first A’s player with two multi-home run games in his first 30 games and the rook upped his slash to .309/.387/568 with five bombs, 13 RBI, and let us not forget, a perfect 4-for-4 in steals chances. Yes, hashtag SAGNOF. That’s why we’re talking about him for 2018. Ramon lead off for just the second time in his young MLB career (he doubled twice leading off Wednesday) but considering such positive results, it’s likely he’ll see a lot more time there throughout the remainder of the season. Laureano held an .895 OPS with 13 homers and 11 steals in 63 games at AAA before his call up and has done nothing but excel since he got here. Everybody loves this guy! Is it because he delivered a game winner in his MLB debut? Is it because he has the potential to be a real life 5-tool player? Or is it because he plays defense like a gold glover and has an absolute cannon of an arm that would make Tom Brady blush. Sweet sassy molassy! I’m sorry I have to watch that again. And you’re sure I don’t get fantasy points for that? If, like most people, you’ve already moved on to fantasy football and are sad about your Leveons or your McKinnons, try to remember Ramon Laureano for your 2019 sleeper radar. But if you are still with us, and you need some speed and runs and average in the stretch run, go grab yourself a bowl of Ramon while he’s hot!

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

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FanDuel: Sammy G Indahouse

July 20, 2018 | DFS, Fanduel |

by: Richardo

Welcome back, baseball — oh, how I missed you! Today we’re welcomed back with a 14-game main slate on FanDuel. I’m not sure if anyone heard the big news, but the Manny Machado rental agreement drama finally came to an end, with the slugger landing with the Dodgers. We might talk about him a little more later, but I want to focus on Baltimore. Even with Machado, Baltimore was 7th worst in K% and 3rd worst in wOBA. Allow me to introduce to you my minimum-priced SP ($5,500), Sam Gaviglio, who faces the new Machado-less Orioles. On the season, Sammy G’s been a little up and down with a 4.58 ERA, but a 4.01 SIERA, and of the 57 innings he’s thrown this year, 30.2 have been against the Red Sox, Yankees, Braves, and Nationals. I’m excited to see what Gaviglio can do versus an easier opponent, and at this price ($5,500), you can fit in whatever stacks you want. Let’s take a look at the rest of the slate.

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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Fanduel: No Mas Carlos

July 6, 2018 | DFS, Fanduel |

by: Richardo

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.

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Batman Turner Overdrive

July 6, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 190 Comments

by: Grey

Yesterday, Trea Turner hit his 10th and 11th homer, contributing 8 RBIs, touching home plate three times for those jimmies (what they call runs on the east coast) and hitting .280 on the year. Feels like people are not excited about Turner so much this year. I get it, he’s only on pace for 20 […]

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Draft: Cole Brings the Fireworks

July 4, 2018 | DFS, Draft |

by: TroyKlauder

Gerrit Cole and his insane K-rate will be bringing the fireworks against the Rangers on today’s July 4th matchup. Cole always has high strikeout upside, but he’s got even more against a Rangers lineup that strikes out 25.3% of the time against righties, the fourth highest mark in the league. Cole should have no problem outperforming his Draft projection today. I’m looking to snag him in my drafts.

New to Draft.com? 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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Draft: Time To Turn To Castillo?

July 2, 2018 | DFS, Draft | 3 Comments

by: Butters

Going into the season, there was a lot of hype surrounding Luis Castillo. And why not? After all, he was pretty damn good last year, with a 3.12 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. The WHIP is especially noteworthy because it would have tied him for 7th best in the league, had he thrown enough innings to qualify. And he tacked on 98 Ks in only 89.1 innings. Fast forward to this season and… well, he hasn’t been good. In roughly the same number of innings, the ERA is above 5 and his WHIP has risen to 1.41. So why am I telling you all of this and then leading with him? Well, I’m glad you asked, citizens of the Internet. And if you didn’t, I’m going to tell you anyways. First, because Stream-o-Nator says you should start him. Second, because I have him in a season league and I’d really like him to do well. Third, he gets the White Sox and their anemic offense and that elite upside is still there. Go big, take a chance and reap the rewards. (Don’t @ me if this one doesn’t pan out.)

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!

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FantasyDraft: Kicking Rox Down the Road

June 30, 2018 | DFS, FantasyDraft |

by: MattTruss

I know it’s bandied about plenty in our DFS articles to target the Rockies on the road. They are simply two different teams at Coors and away from it. Bear with me while I go down this road again and name Kenta Maeda ($21,200) my top pitcher for the main slate. The Rockies team OPS at home: 804 (4th best in the majors!), on the road: .684 (22nd in the majors). The Rockies go from a top 5 team to a bottom 10 team, that’s pretty drastic. Maeda was straight studly in his last start, finally getting stretched out and hitting 84 pitches in 7 clean innings. Overall, his 2.98 FIP says he’s actually gotten a bit unlucky so far this season (3.44 ERA). He should be good for 90+ pitches this time around and should have no trouble at Dodger stadium vs. the Rockies.

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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Should I Buy Into The Rising Healy? Umm I Guess So

June 15, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 370 Comments

by: Grey

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Off the album, Get Hits or Buy Ryon, 50 Cent sung about Many Men at a corner spot, rapping, “Many men, wish Joe Mauer on me, have mercy on me, many men.” Then on his other chart-topping song off that album, In Da Club, he rapped, “You can find at my corner slot, some schlubs. Look, mami, at my corner infidel slot I got X, if you’re into scrubs. I’m into havin’ specs, I ain’t into a corner man who’s known for his glove, so come give me a hug, if in my corner slot I got Cory Spangenberg’s mug.” He followed those up with 21 Questions, when he sang, “Would you leave me if your father found out my corner man was scrubbin’? Do you believe me when I tell you, I thought Josh Donaldson would be more than nothin’?” Then, after all those, 50 Cent managed one last smash hit with P.I.M.P., where he rapped, “I don’t know what you heard about me, but a Mitch can’t get a FAAB dollar out of me. No Kingery, no Sano, you can’t see, that my corner man is P.I.M.P.,” where P.I.M.P stood for Please, I’M Playing (Ronald Guzman). So, Ryon Healy has been one of the hottest corner man over the last week, but beyond that, on our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater, he’s the 17th best 3B this year, in front of Kyle Seager, Longoria, Devers and Carpenter, who are all owned in more leagues than him. Healy’s also on pace for 28-31 homers with a decent-enough average. There’s no reason why he’s on waivers in any leagues. Take 50 Cent’s word for it, Get Hits or Buy Ryon! Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell for this week in fantasy baseball:

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FAAB Five: New Joc City

June 10, 2018 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 11 Comments

by: Paul "The" Martian

All it took was a few homers in a week for us all to realize that Joc Pederson (FAAB: 8-10%) is pretty, pretty, PRETTY good this year. Now on his third year of plate discipline improvements, the Los Angeles outfielder has cut the K% under 20% for the first time in his career. Not only is it below 20%, but it falls to a ridiculously low 14.5% to go along with higher contact%, lower SwStr%, and overall better pitch recognition. He is making more contact than ever on breaking and off-speed offerings. The specific contact Pederson is making this year shows more fly balls with a career-high FB% and Under%. (Baseball Savant) It is inspiring to see this 26-year-old finally make the jump, stop swinging and missing, and improve as a baseball player. Joc Pederson carries excellent power (Career ISO: .218) and a plus-approach (Career OBP: .345) that is improving in 2018 with a .255 ISO and .347 OBP, but the real marker of elevated batters-eye exists in the 14.5% K%. Below is an image of exactly how Joc battled to advance his pitch recognition into the realm of his power. It took a little while to get going, but these changes stem from last season which seemed like a down year for Pederson. At the end of 2017, he had his first ISO below-.200, first OBP below-.345, and his worst AVG. However, he also had his best K%, SwStr%, and Chase%. Joc Pederson continues to develop all of these statistics in his game which is why I’m buying this year, and I’m not afraid to pay up. Hopefully, he can find space in a healthy Dodgers lineup that includes a red-hot Max Muncy (also one of my favorite pickups for the past few weeks.)

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Ambulance Chasers, Week 8: Robinson Ca-D’oh!

May 17, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 11 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

Lot to unpack here with Robinson Cano (2B, Fractured Hand; Dumb)… First Cano took a fastball off the back of his hand and suffered a broken bone in his hand, then an even bigger disappointment hammer fell. Cano was suspended 80 games for taking performance enhancing drug. That brings him to an early August return. Yikes. Stash or Trash: Stash. He’s too good for you to drop. He’ll still have two months of baseball once he returns. Fill In: Yolmer Sanchez (22.2%.) Can’t believe I’m still recommending this guy! He’s got a nice 2B/3B eligibility, a .296 average and is hitting 2nd for the White Sox. Great fill in option now, and bench bat for later.

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