Due to being in the middle of the 2023 fantasy baseball rankings, I got super backlogged on player updates, so this is going to be a huge How’s Your Father. First up, and perhaps the biggest news I missed, Pablo Lopez was shipped to the Twins. Or I should say given away. What’s his downside? Well, he kinda sucked last year. That’s a big one. Here’s the thing: That was last year, not this year. Crazy, right? If you followed my lead, you were out on Pab-Lo last year. And now we’re going back in. Last year, he threw 180 IP, 8.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 3.56 xFIP. Was a bit unlucky on men left on base and his command was a little wonky, but he upped his SwStr% and lowered his inside and outside zone contact. His 2nd half really hurt him (4.97 ERA) but that was based on a very high BABIP and he actually had better command. He had the 15th lowest Hard Contact% for the season, and 16th lowest in the 2nd half. That is disconnected from his 2nd half ERA. In fact (Grey’s got more!), he had the 8th highest difference in his 2nd half ERA and FIP. He was one of the unluckiest pitchers last year, and, if he hadn’t been, he would’ve ended the year with something like a 3.10 ERA instead of a 3.75 ERA and would be ranked at least ten starters higher, and drafted about 30 to 50 spots higher in ADP. He’s ranked and projected in the top 60 starters. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this offseason in 2023 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Eli White
Please see our player page for Eli White to see projections for today, the next 7 days and rest of season as well as stats and gamelogs designed with the fantasy baseball player in mind.
Ambulance Chasers: Ozzie OW-bies
June 18, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 3 Commentsby: keelinbillue
Friends, I have no polite way to put it: last week in baseball injuries was a shit show. While some of the early season injuries are out of the way, the Tommy John surgeries, thoracic outlet syndrome, and other various fractures and tears are TEARING ME APART. Hyun Jin Ryu. Andrew Kittredge. Daulton Jeffries. Casey […]
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Nateless Boston Set To Attack Opponents With Sox Kutter
June 13, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes, Featured | 400 Commentsby: Grey
I don’t know how Kutter Crawford‘s parents immediately knew he was going to be a pitcher, but there’s no other way to explain him being named Kutter. Unless they promised the doctor to name the baby after him, and they failed to get his name, but it was a Cesarean. Any hoo! Since Nathan Eovaldi hit the IL with back inflammation — I prefer Nathan’s hot dogs vs. Nathan’s hot back — and Whitlock hit the IL, Kutter Crawford (5 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 4 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 5.74) could be in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Crawford had elbow issues for most of his professional career, which accounts for his low inning totals in the minors. His velocity touches 95 with two breaking pitches and appears to be an up-and-down arm, that would stick if he commands his pitches, which he seems unable to do, so he’s very risky. Guess he should be glad his parents didn’t name him, Intentionalwalk. Though, would’ve been nice if his folks just named him, Immaculateinning. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
With the most sincere apologies, I am back for Week 8! Last week, my wife and I took a much-needed vacation to Sin City. With respect to my wife, I probably should have stayed at home and written last week’s article instead of dropping way too much money at the casino.
At week’s end, we will be 1/3 of the way thru the fantasy season, and the next 8 weeks will go a long way in determining your outcome. With each week that passes, there are a handful of managers that either decides it is football season, or that they are just too far out of contention. As I learned in Vegas, the hard way, don’t hit on two Queens. Take this advice with a grain of salt, but it should give you some good guidelines to adjust your lineup. Don’t overthink it!
As with each week, let’s take a look at the schedules and players that will help you Get Ahead In Head to Head for Week 8!
Please, blog, may I have some more? MJ’s Wanna Be Buyin’ Something
May 20, 2022 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell, Featured | 351 Commentsby: Grey
(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH.)
Who knew the most emblematic song about MJ would’ve been Smooth Criminal? Or going from Pretty Young Thing to Beat It. Or Bad. Jeez, now that I think about it, a lot of Michael Jackson songs become Creep City. Would’ve been hilarious if he named Neverland, “Creep City.” Not haha funny, but more like, “Hey, lots of red flags here, guys, maybe we should investigate?” Speaking of investigating, MJ Melendez (how about that segue?) sounds like a 90s tabloid reporter who would’ve been invited to Neverland to “take a look around” while the help hide children in closets, waiting for Michael. Speaking of segues, I took a Segway tour through Beverly Hills and we stopped at the former Menendez Brothers’ house and the people who now live there just looked at us with disgust. Was pretty cool. Any hoo! Sal Perez is the type to play through all kinds of shizz, so that he was IL’d means he must’ve truly been hurt. MJ Melendez was also up with the club even before the Sal P. IL stint, so the Royals seem committed to him. We don’t care about catchers usually, but Melendez could be a 17-homer, .250 catcher this year with even some steals thrown in. Him or Adley? If both were up, I don’t think Adley’s necessarily the better choice for this year. The guy who is up right now is the easy call. A-B-C, as easy as 1-2-3, for the King of Pop Times. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Throughout the several weeks, I have been writing these pieces, I have covered a wide variety of players but one name has slipped through the cracks. That player is of course Texas Ranger Eli White. White has eight stolen bases on the year tied for fifth in baseball. He has also recently seemingly overtaken the […]
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Rolling In The Deep: Blame It On Rios
May 13, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 4 Commentsby: Laura Holt
Another week, another reminder of how quickly things can change in fantasy baseball’s deep league landscape. My desk is often littered with post-its featuring names of players I might write up a little blurb on, most of whom have fantasy ownership in the 0-5% range. What a difference a few days or a week can […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Rolling In The Deep: Cold Temperatures On The Kelvin Scale?
March 25, 2022 | 2022 Fantasy Baseball | 10 Commentsby: Laura Holt
It’s been another exciting week of fantasy baseball prep, Razzball friends, which for me was highlighted by my $100 RCL draft on Wednesday. We had, as expected, a group of competitive, focused drafters who never let their guards down while still having lots of fun in the draft chat. We also had — not as […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Okay, there won’t be a Wander Franco (2-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs) lede after every game he plays. It’s like when FTJ, Acuña, Vlad Jr. and others were called up. You need to bask in the GLORY. Yes, capitalized. When the game started, I was like, “If Wander Franco doesn’t homer in his first at-bat, is he still a 1st ballot Hall of Famer?” I questioned that deeply, like a monk. Then when he walked in his 1st at-bat, I questioned him. “Who does Wander Franco think he is, Jackie Bradley Jr?” Then as Ryan Yarbrough (2 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.59) stretched the third inning into a two-hour affair, I thought, “Wander Franco, began his career on June 22nd, 2021, then ended his career 20 years later, during the very same game.” Finally, Yarbrough was yanked, er, um, Red Sox’d, and we went to at-bat number two and I was eating dinner. So, no report on that. Then, came his first major league home run, a golf shot without a Tiger Woods fist pump. I’ll always remember where I was when I saw Wander Franco’s 1st home run: the toilet. God bless Wander, and chicken parm sandwiches. The Rays calling up Wander Franco was worth it just so I could look at the left side of their infield and say, “Anyway, here’s Wander/Walls.” So, on actionable fantasy advice: A top five team — one that made the World Series — calls up their top prospect, plants him in the most important slot in the order, according to analytics. What does that say? It tells me Vidal Brujan (and/or Josh Lowe) are coming up very soon. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Rolling In The Deep: Who Will Bail(ey) Us Out This Week?
June 22, 2021 | Rolling In The Deep | 2 Commentsby: Laura Holt
Hello friends, and welcome once again to the deep league corner of Razzball. As our teams continue to get hit by injuries, demotions, and inconsistent play, it gets harder to plug those lineup and rotation holes, but plug away we will. While I actually saw a fantasy site suggest that you might want to check your waiver wire to see if Wander Franco is still available in your league after news of his call up broke a couple of days ago, most of us, of course, will have to get a bit more creative than that. In my leagues the free agent pool is as dried up as I’ve seen it all year, but let’s see if we can manage to stumble upon a player or two that could be of interest to those of us in AL-only, NL-only, and other deep leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more? One Day I’ll Find Some Buy Like Jo
June 18, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 310 Commentsby: Grey
(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH OR $13/MONTH WITH AN EXTRA WEEKLY PODCAST.)
What are the Angels doing? “Every time David Bell does something stupid, he smacks his head twice, and hears a ringing in his ears, then an Angel gets his wings.” That’s terrific, Clarence, but you’re a bit of a noodge. Imagine having an angel following you around all day, telling you what could be if you lived your life differently? What a nightmare! Constantly whispering in your ear, “If you throw that plastic straw into the ocean, a dolphin will get it stuck in his blow hole, and won’t be able to squeak at a young boy in Indonesia on a wooden raft and, without that distraction, the boy will drift into the middle of an ocean liner’s path and–” Shut up, Clarence! You’re annoying me! That would be my It’s A Wonderful Life, just screaming shut up. Any hoo! What are the Angels doing in regards to Juan Lagares and Taylor Ward starting in their outfield? Let’s put aside Taylor Ward, because he’s young and maybe he can do something. Let’s instead focus on Juan Lagares. He’s 32 years old, and his top year in the majors was 47/6/41/.259/7, when he was 26 years old. That was in 143 games! Try to wrap your noodle around Juan Lagares getting 143 games and those stats. It’s pretty difficult to do, and that was six years ago! Lagares is in the majors because he is perceived as a defensive specialist. On its face, a 32-year-old centerfielder is lunacy. Ya think he might’ve lost a step somewhere along the way? Ya think?! With some more stank: YA THINK?! Using defense metrics, Byron Buxton has 25.8 UZR/150 games. You don’t need to know what UZR is other than it’s a fielding metric and Buxton is great. Lagares is ranked 79th for fielding centerfielders and has -11.3 UZR/150 games. There’s only 30 teams and Lagares is 79th for centerfield defense! Okay, enough bagging on Lagares, enter: Jo Adell. Even if he fields with his glove on the wrong hand, he can’t be that much worse. Or move Taylor Ward to center and call up Adell! It defies logic why Adell isn’t up already, and it’s because of his bat why we’re here: He’s on pace for 40+ homers in Triple-A. He’s still struggling with strikeouts, and might not hit above .220, but, again, I’m asking: What are the Angels doing? It’s time to call-up Adell and play him. Irregardless? Yes, I’m ill re: Lagares and their other options. Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Mets Smoke deGrom’s Shoulder And Pull It Once Tender
June 17, 2021 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 319 Commentsby: Grey
Sorry if the title is a little NC-17. NC being North Carolina, baby! A little too sour? Blame the vinegary sauce, like a middle-aged man at a tailgate party, you over-dabbed. So, Jacob deGrom is the greatest pitcher of all-time. Yesterday, he went 3 IP, K’d eight and got one more by fly out, lowering his ERA to 0.54. The only problem is the Mets’ training staff is the world’s worst. World’s worst trainers are in, conveniently enough, a train going 170 MPH. The world’s best starter is on a mound going 101 MPH. At some point, they’re going to intersect and bad things will happen. On May 9th, it was right side discomfort. On June 11th, it was right flexor tendinitis. On June 16th, they’re saying right shoulder soreness. Can we just all assume they have no idea? Jacob deGrom will be great, if healthy, but it doesn’t seem like that’s possible right now. About the only thing he has in common with most starters is they’re injured. By August, each team is going to have one starter, two probables and two doubtfuls. By September, it’s going to be one starter and five scarecrows in the team’s jersey, and one scarecrow is going to pull his elbow tendon by mid-month and the team is going to say he’s day-to-day. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
