2019 #2EarlyMocks Rounds 15 – 23

November 1, 2018 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball | 9 Comments

I lied to you loyal Razzball readers. In part 1 of this 2019 fantasy baseball mock draft hosted by Justin Mason of Friends with Fantasy Benefits, I told you this was going to be a four-part series. Well, unfortunately between rounds 23 and 24, the MLB regular season ended and thus, so did our Fantrax mock draft. The draft room disappeared from the league page and every future pick was being auto-drafted. Rather than waste your time discussing random players being auto-drafted I’m just going to highlight a few notable undrafted players at the bottom of this article. Back to the draft itself: three words can sum up rounds 15 through 23: risk, relievers and rookies. You’ll soon see what I mean. (BTW, the 2nd part of the fantasy baseball mock draft.)

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Ambulance Chasers, Week 10: La Fin de la Revolution Franchy

May 30, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Injury Report | 2 Comments

by: Kerry Klug

After hitting 6 HRs and stealing three bases with a .254 average in his first 17 games, Franchy Cordero (OF, Forearm Strain) has slowed down considerably hitting only 1 HR and stealing 2 bases with a .222 average over his next 23 games with a 30:9 K/BB ratio. With Hunter Renfroe returning and Wil Myers due back soon — I’m afraid it’s the guillotine for Franchy. Stash or Trash: I’d be thinking of trashing him unless you’re in a deep league with not a lot of options. Fill In: Daniel Palka (2.1%.) Palka has been filling in for an injured Leury Garcia for the Chi-Sox and has been doing pretty well lately. Who is Daniel Palka? He’s a former third round pick who hit 34 HRs in 2016 in the Twins AA and AAA program. He’s also a guy who hit 29 HR and stole 24 bases the year before that. What the hell? Why isn’t this guy being added in all leagues? Well throughout his minor league career he’s had a strikeout rate in the high 20% with a contact rate in the 60’s. So far this season in the majors he has 23 strikeouts to only 3 walks so he’s performing pretty on-brand. After an 0 for 8 start to his major league career, Palka has 26 hits in 85 at bats with 4 HR, 15 RBI and 2 SB. If you need help in deeper leagues take a chance on Al Palka.

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FBI’s G-Man Raids Chicago For A Fantasy Baseball Investigation

May 23, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 476 Comments

by: Grey

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To find my preseason article, I Googled “Kevin Gausman sleeper” and Google asked, “Did you mean 2015, 2016, 2017 or 2018?” Google can be such a little snitch sometimes. Yo, Google, mind your own business! “Did you mean ‘How do I start my own business?’ or ‘How do I start my own business that actually makes money?'” I hate you, Google! In the preseason, I said, “In the 2nd half, Gausman was a top 20 starter-ish. Top 20-ish? Top-ish? You get the drift. In the 2nd half, he had the 16th best K/9 with a 2.8 BB/9. He had the 21st best ERA with the 23rd best xFIP. He had the 24th best fastball with the 3rd best splitter. Or spliiter, if Desiigner is reading. He averaged the 12th fastest, uh, fastball while throwing it the 12th most in the majors. Some of these factoids are neither here nor there, but I’m filling in your charcoal sketch.” And that’s me quoting me! Yesterday, he went 6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 10 baserunners (1 BB), 10 Ks, ERA at 3.48, and xFIP down to 3.65, which is the 29th best in the majors, between Hendricks and Newcomb. And I ranked him 31st for starters in the preseason! What does this mean? Nothing really, but cool. He has carried over that newfound command from the 2nd half and still striking out guys around mid-8 K/9. Do I love owning an Orioles starter? Do I look daffy? But Gausman has been solid. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Call Him Nock Povotto Cuz He Owned The O’s

May 17, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 462 Comments

by: Grey

Now, on most occasions, if one were to toot his own horn, he’d never leave the house. And, coincidentally, I don’t go out that much. However, seriously, rain down your props on me for Nick Pivetta. Rain them down! Who else told you to grab him the 1st week of the season? Yesterday, he went 7 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 11 Ks, ERA at 3.72. I’ve been telling you people — yeah, you people! — to own Pivetta forever (six weeks). He’s a new, different — better even! — pitcher this year. He has a 10 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. If you don’t know why that’s good, I can help you, but it could take some time. You do know what numbers are, right? Okay, good first step. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Yadier, Tommy Pham, And Grown Men’s Groins

May 8, 2018 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 32 Comments

by: Geoff

Guess what? All the top stories are about GROINS!!! But in all cereal-ness, we don’t get soggy in milk, and we take you through the plague of injuries throughout MLB. We discuss the DL stints of Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto, Jacob deGrom, Miguel Cabrera, and Jake Lamb. The rest of the show is dedicated to a celebration of diversity. No, that’s not right, it’s actually just Grey and I talking Jake Faria’s renaissance, Domingoat German’s Sunday start, Walker Buehler’s long term value, and our thoughts on Mike Soroka’s first two MLB starts. There is even more Jelly in these donuts, Frank. So stay tuned! Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:

BTW: Get your Prospect Jesus and Grey Albright Tout Wars Champ shirts here!

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Yanks And German Are Surprising Allies

May 7, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 510 Comments

by: Grey

Keeping the weekend theme of rookie pitchers not giving up hits, yesterday Domingo German went 6 IP, 0 ER, zero hits, 2 BBs, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.66. Since I wasn’t very familiar with German — “Guten tag, give your bratwurst my best kraut.” — I decided to watch this game. German’s curve was made to look very impressive by an Indians team that still does not look right. It also didn’t hurt that the home plate umpire gave him a very favorable strike zone — “You wear the lederhosen in the Deutschland, Lance Barrett?” Kept feeling like a more patient team or just a few calls go a different way, and German has loaded the bases on walks with no outs, and, suddenly, he’s in a five run hole in two innings. Bundesländer? V to the ielleicht. Maybe Sonntag had his Sunday best on, but I don’t trust him outside of deep leagues. Of course, with that said (Grey’s turning the u-boat!), a flyer doesn’t hurt until the German roofie comes and you wake up in Frankfurt with a burly woman named Gertrude. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Corey’s Felled, Man

May 1, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 637 Comments

by: Grey

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Corey Seager hit the DL about 15 minutes after weekly lineups locked for the massive Ziplock. “Yo, I got more Ziplocks than a 5th grade bully stealing lunches,” said the very un-woke fantasy baseballer (<–my mom’s term!). Never bully, unless you’re like Cougs and you say, “Bully bully,” thinking it’s “Dilly dilly.” Don’t tell Cougs she’s out of touch! Then ten minutes later, in a cruel twist of fate, Seager told the world he needs Tommy John surgery that he should’ve had this offseason. Anyone who reads The Ball of Razz knows I hate Seager for fantasy, so I won’t rub salt in your wounds if you drafted him, but you did it without my consent, so I could retain the legal services of Gloria Allred and send you to jail. Replacing Seager will be some combo pu-pu platter of Utley, Forsythe, Taylor and Kike. Corey should be back next year to the City of Angels without missing a beat, unlike Corey’s Angels. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Great Sunday For Pitchers With OTANI In Last Name

April 9, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 607 Comments

by: Grey

I’m convinced you’d be better off if you ignored everything from Spring Training. For every one thing you gleam from the spring that pays off, there’s five terrible habits you pick up like you’re a priest in The Keepers on Netflix. Okay, maybe you would have seen Joey Gallo wasn’t striking out as much (barely has carried over), but you also would’ve seen Shohei Ohtani looking terrible. Hat tip to someone on Twitter who screenshot this:

So many things wrong with this — Has Bryce Harper ever been bad? I mean, maybe injured, but a bust? WUT. Also, it’s one thing to be concerned about Shohei Ohtani, but bust? He hadn’t pitched one inning in the major leagues by that point and was being drafted around 100th overall. Bust? It was a gamble, risk was baked in. Yesterday, Shohei Ohtani bust…ed out! (See what I did there?) He went 7 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners (1 hit, 1 walk), 12 Ks. Good luck convincing someone he’s a bust now when trading for him.

The other pitcher with “Otani” in their last name is Jameson Taillon who went 9 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 1.26. Last year, I suggested to get his feng shui back, to find his equilibrium, because he couldn’t pitch with one testicle missing, I suggested he put a walnut in his jock strap for balance. Well, I’m not saying he took my advice, but, yesterday, Jameson Taillon gave up one hit. Imagine he was a eunuch? He’d be Sandy Koufax! Wait, was that why Koufax had a girl’s first name? For a while last year, Taillon was treating the surviving twin like a punch bag, but he looks back to the potential ace he once was. Go get ’em, Jameson Walnut! Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Easter Williams Pitches Swimmingly

April 2, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 506 Comments

by: Grey

There’s nothing better than an April Fools’ prank that is so sly it’s barely perceptible as a prank. You don’t even know if it’s a gag. One year, I had a sound engineer friend make a recording that said, “This call is being recorded. A copy of that recording is available automatically to the police and the prosecutors.” Then used that to call my mom and tell her I was in jail for accidentally running down a family of four. “But mom the light was yellow!” Apparently, I overestimated how funny she’d find that phone call, and twelve years later, she still calls me the night before April Fools’ to remind me not to pull any pranks on her. This year the best prank I saw was one done by Major League Baseball. It was so slight, if you blinked you’d miss it. For their prank, they scheduled a half day on a Sunday. Since 1908, MLB has played a full schedule of games on Sunday. What a great joke! Well done, MLB. But, seriously, this is a joke, right? Any hoo! Know what’s not a joke, the love Trevor Williams has for Razzball, apparently:

Yesterday, Williams wasted no time to prove to me that his love for us is as strong as my love for him. He went 6 IP, 0 ER with zero hits, but he failed to locate as well, and walked five guys, while racking up only one strikeout. I believe his love for Razzball is only growing so this is just the beginning of great things to come. Notice spelling of ‘come,’ you sickos. On the reals, I like Williams for this year, and wrote a Trevor Williams sleeper for him this preseason. Anyway, here’s what I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2018 Fantasy Baseball

March 23, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 113 Comments

by: Geoff

Does anybody else remember the Adventures of the Gummi Bears? It was on the Disney Channel back in the day and it was THE Saturday Morning jam. Medieval, personified bears, that bounce like kangaroos. Where do I sign up, right? In one of the sloppiest and more unconnected openings in Razzball history, starting pitchers are nothing like Gummi Bears. No, they are not my Saturday Morning jam. They’re my Saturday Morning job, digging into numerous deep dives, for hours on end, trying to figure out which players are trending where. The results of these Saturday Morning exercises are below. As a reminder these rankings are for 5×5 roto with value focused on rest of season value for 2018. So, a player like Michael Kopech is ranked for his value over the entirety of the 2018 season. Not just the next month. In previous seasons, this post was a weekly ranking with a pitching profile included. This year we will continue the weekly pitching profile, but once a month we will update the rankings. Because honestly, how much can happen in a week? One or two starts? So there’s changes coming for 2018, but they’re slight, and you’ll still get the same quality profiles, notes, and ranks. You might also get a cupcake or a venereal disease, but no telling which one. The expiration dates will just be a little longer. On the rankings not on the cupcakes or your fresh batch of herpes.

Here’s my Top 100 Starting Pitchers for 2018 Fantasy Baseball.

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AL-Only, 12 Team Draft Recap or: Maybe I Should’ve Limited The Number Of White Sox And Twins Players I Drafted

February 21, 2018 | Our Leagues | 156 Comments

by: Grey

Just finished my first draft if you’re reading this as I type it, and other than one shirtless man in yellow sweatpants standing behind me in this internet cafe, I don’t think anyone’s reading this as I type it. Unless, of course, there’s micronauts living inside my brain watching as my inner monologue is sending info to my fingers. Gadzooks, I got micronauts in my brain! I wonder if these micronauts made me draft eight Twins and White Sox players. I need to delve deeper into this subject. Maybe I will in my pastel journal that is covered in Giancarlo’s picture from ESPN’s nude magazine. So, I took on the monsters of the industry in an AL Only league that was hosted by Scott White of CBS and I came away with a team that is more imbalanced than Amanda Bynes. This league is deep so hold onto ye old hat. (If you want a shallower league, play against me and hundreds of your closest buddies in the Razzball Commenter Leagues. Or closet buddies, if you’re reading fast and/or experimenting.) Anyway, here’s my 12-team AL-Only team and some thoughts:

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A Few Early Deep-League Thoughts on Starting Pitchers

January 18, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Deep Leagues | 49 Comments

by: Laura Holt

It’s baseball season, long-lost Razzball friends! Okay, fantasy baseball season. Okay, fantasy baseball drafting season. Okay, fantasy baseball drafting season for fantasy baseball writers and mildly disturbed folk who couldn’t make it through the first day of 2018 without entering into a fantasy baseball draft (proud to count myself a member of both of those elite groups, thank you very much).

Drafting the first week of January feels downright crazy. Well, is downright crazy. Projecting stats takes on a new layer of complication right now with such a ridiculous number of draftable players unsigned, and it’s trickier than ever trying to guess how fellow owners might be valuing players. I recently completed my first official fantasy baseball draft of the year, and found my instinct taking over regularly, leading me to impulsively click on a name which was far below other, higher-ranked names on my tidy little spreadsheet, simply because I had a gut feeling. Sure, we could call it women’s intuition, if we wanted to sound like we were writing this article in 1978. (As it turns out, there are studies that support some version of women’s intuition being a biological reality, due to the fact that females are exposed to less testosterone in the womb, which leads to an extra “sense.” Google if bored).

“What’s the point, lady??!” you ask…

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