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Good day, Razzball DFS-ers! I’m excited because tonight we get a cute little four-gamer from DraftKings that locks at 8:07 p.m. Small slates like these are all about game theory and leverage, so I’ll be breaking this down a bit differently than in previous weeks.  The players in the best matchups will draw extremely high […]

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Hey, what’s this red thing? *touches flame* Ow! Brandon Pfaadt! Hey, what’s this yellow part of the flame? *touches fire again* Ow! Gavin Stone! Hey what’s giant inferno? *touches a building that’s on fire* Ow! Drey Jameson! Hey what’s this flaming hot ball? *touches the sun* Ow! Grayson Rodriguez! *steps on a rake labeled Tanner Bibee and falls into fiery pit* Ahhhhhhhhh noooooooo I just wanted to pick up Eury Perez! So, guess what, we have a new rookie pitcher to make you want to rip your eyes out. Here’s what I said previously about this new Marlins’ call-up, “Eury Perez for 2023 fantasy baseball is going to come down to when Eury Perez debuts for the Marlins. Once he debuts, he’s going to be the top FAAB guy that week and he’s going to be a game-changer for all mixed leagues. Wanna know some numbers to make you drool a little? Okay, let’s do it: In 17 starts, he threw a 12.7 K/9 at Double-A. His command was at a 3 even, but he’s got 70-grade command, so, yeah, we could see a 12 K/9 and a 2.2 BB/9 in the majors. Ya know, just your standard run-of-the-mill ace. You can’t hit a 97 MPH fastball coming off a 87 MPH change and vice versa. It’s just not happening if my man’s tunneling, and, yeah, he could be a future Hall of Famer.” And that’s me quoting me!  He might be booted when Trevor Rogers returns, but I would grab him everywhere, just in case he sticks. I’m a moth and these rookie pitchers are my flame! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Braves announced that Raisel Iglesias has a low-grade shoulder inflammation, and Orlando Arcia will fill-in. Wait, that’s wrong. That’s the next Braves news. This is the third time in Raisel’s career he’s missed time with shoulder issues, but it’s been about seven years since the last time. He won’t throw for a week, then will see where he’s at. To see where he’s at, put your hands together in prayer. Okay, that’s Iglesias, and here’s the steeple. Now, crack them slightly, and that’s the people picking up A.J. Minter. Now turn your hands inside out and that’s the people getting *ucked once again drafting a closer high. Where’s all my genius-brained people who told you to draft closers high? Are they now pretending like this is a fluke and not that closers are easily the most fickle position? It won’t show up in end-of-the-season rankings, but remember I told you not to draft Edwin Diaz and Raisel Iglesias in the first five rounds. That was other people, who will do the same thing again next year. And the year after. Don’t worry, some brain geniuses are still drafting a guy who had, like, 12.00 ERA last 2nd half. Josh Hader is great, don’t you know? Any hoo! The 2023 fantasy baseball rankings are up to date, and the top 500 for 2023 fantasy baseball was updated for Iglesias, Minter, and Joe Jimenez (and others I will get to in this post). My guess is they’re in that order to replace Iglesias. For how long? I haven’t the foggiest. I’d guess a month, but you shouldn’t have drafted Iglesias anyway. Here’s the Fantasy Baseball War Room too, and good luck in weekend drafts! I will be in Vegas for the Main Event. I will be fighting Donkey Teeth. I mean, drafting with him. Anyway, here’s what else I saw in spring training for 2023 fantasy baseball:

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Greetings and salutations, RazzBallers! Spring training is only one week away, but the ambulance has already left and returned to the station with a few bodies in tow. That was quick! The good news is that hopefully, these early injuries saved you some pain in your drafts.  Brayan Bello Brayan Bello, the rising Red Sox […]

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This is the top 100 starters for 2023 fantasy baseball? This is the top 100 starters for 2023 fantasy baseball! Which means. Dot dot dot. This is the end of the 2023 fantasy baseball rankings. I can reclaim my fingers! Wait, I still have to do the top 100 overall and top 500 overall. Hmm, that was short-lived. Subscriptions are up and running, and they come with our Fantasy Baseball Draft War Room, now for auction leagues, snake leagues, Best Ball leagues and AL-Only and NL-Only leagues. Here’s Steamer’s 2023 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2023 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. As always, my projections are included, and where I see tiers starting and stopping. If you want an explanation of tiers, go back to the top 10 for 2023 fantasy baseball and start this shizz all over again. Anyway, here’s the top 100 starters for 2023 fantasy baseball:

NOTE I: All my rankings are currently available on Patreon for the price of a Starbucks coffee, if you get one of those extra grande frappuccino jobbers. Don’t wait for the rankings to come out over the next month, and get them all now.

NOTE II: Free agents are listed as just that and not yet projected. Once a guy signs, I will write out their blurb and add in projections, or remove them, if they sign in an unfavorable place. They are ranked currently where I think they might be if they sign on for a full-time job.

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WooWeeWooWaa.mp3. HolyCow.wav. Sound of eyes popping from Sylvester the Cat. Kyle Bradish did what? Kyle Bradish did:  8 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks vs. the Astros. I’m sorry, but I’m gonna sue somebody for making my heart pitter-patter too fast. Who do I contact for that? Oh, no, I’m…*puts handkerchief to forehead, faints into a beanbag that’s wearing Giancarlo jersey and pasted-on magazine face of his* Oh my goodness, I’m talking like a Southern belle. So, Streamonator‘s got steam rising from its robot ears that was so gorgeous. Looking at Kyle Bradish big picture, long-term, for 2023 fantasy baseball, and, well, he’s got four pitches — 95 MPH fastball, 87 MPH slider, 83 MPH curve, and 90 MPH change. His command is kinda atrocious, though better in his 100+ IP in the majors than it was in the low minors. Maybe he’s figured out something here as he turns 25. Not going to write him off completely, because Camden is now one of the best pitchers’ parks, and his stuff was solid in search of command. If the command’s there, I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s a name we go back to next year. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Just yesterday, Prospect Itch featured Corbin Carroll as the number one prospect to stash, and now he’s called up. Maybe Itch can make things happen with his words, which is why I’m worried when he talks about locking me in the trunk of a car and driving me into the desert. Also, driving into the desert is Corbin Carroll! Hashtag nailed it! He’s not looking for holes though, and he’s got no holes in his swing. He was also number one on Itch’s Top 25 for Dynasty Leagues. I don’t know if Gunnar Henderson is called up this year, my guess is no, but I wasn’t sure on Corbin Carroll either. I did give you a buy on him about six weeks ago, where I said, “Corbin Carroll has to be on the short list of 2023 ROY candidates if he stays down. Yeah, yeah, keyword: Short. Hardy har har! You tall guys think you’re so cool! ‘Hey, look at me, I can get cereal down without standing on a chair!’ Aren’t you fantastic?! Sounding like an alien who is just discovering old HBO shows, Corbin Carroll is under six feet. Much like Mookie Betts with both power, speed and average. He is the total package like Paul Orndorff.” And that’s me quoting me! I grabbed him in my shallowest league, and I would grab him in any league.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

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Welcome back to another edition of Top Dynasty Keepers.

The final month of the regular season is just around the corner, meaning one of two things – you are gearing up for a playoff run or you are trying to figure out who should and shouldn’t be on your fantasy team next season.

Hopefully, you are in the category of owners gearing up for a playoff run. But if you are in the other category, here’s the simplest way to become a contender next season – hoard as many Atlanta Braves players as possible.

YOUNG TALENT EVERYWHERE

Major League Baseball is bursting with young, talented players. But it seems the Atlanta Braves are leading the pack when it comes having that talent currently playing on the major league level.

Already this season I have featured Michael Harris III and Vaughn Grissom, both of whom are only 21. But the Braves also have Matt Olson and Dansby Swanson, who are both only 28, to go along with 25-year-olds Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley or 24-year-old Ronald Acuna Jr.

That is just the offense. The starting rotation is loaded with young talent as well. Mike Soroka is on the 60-day IL, but he is only 24 and was the staff ace last year during the team’s World Series run. Max Fried is 28, Kyle Wright 26 and Ian Anderson is only 24.

And now comes along Spencer Strider. He has seemingly come out of nowhere to become another young stud on a team filled to the brim with them. Strider was pitching in college only two years ago. Today he is arguably the best starter for the Braves.

Let’s dive into Strider and his rise to prominence this season.

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It feels like only yesterday that we were beginning this Head-to-Head journey together, and magically we are entering the final weeks of the regular season.  With only a few more weeks left until the playoffs start, the wins become ever so important.  I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention again that the fantasy football season has crept upon us, leaving, on average, 25% of the league’s cellar dwellers empty.  There are those teams that are still competitive, despite their poor standings, but the odds are greatly reduced.  This is also the time of year when I trim my roster.  Here are a couple of “end-of-season” tricks that I use in preparation for the playoffs.

Trim your roster.  If you have players who are just “certain” they will come out of hibernation.  It’s time to cut bait, it’s nearing September.  I’m looking at you, J.D. Martinez.
Check waivers for returning players.  Not all leagues have IL spots (leave that league if so).   Ozzie Albies, Bryce Harper, Mike Soroka, Manny Margot
Rotating spot among staff.  I always leave at least one spot available among my pitchers to have a stream-worthy option.
Sunday night waiver dump.    If you have limited roster moves per week, use the remaining moves on Sunday night for the week ahead. 

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If you came here looking for the next 25 players in the Top 100, I hope you won’t feel misled. I’m planning for that to be a monster Sunday post with all 100 write-ups in the same place.

There’s so many balls in play right now around the game that taking two weeks to snapshot-rank the top 100 leaves some stones unturned in the interim. 

Dodgers OF Josue De Paula (17, DSL) and Cubs SS Pedro Ramirez (18, CPX) might sneak into the next set, or maybe I’d build a just-missed article around them, but I’d rather name them here than feel pressure to squeeze them in because the pick-up clock ticks quickly on big-time talents. Same goes for Red Sox OF Miguel Bleis (18, CPX). Might be late already in some of your leagues. Can’t let it get any later.

I have 37 names in my forever-growing, haven’t-featured-yet list, aka my writing/researching/following queue. It’s the place I store every player I come across that could or should be discussed here, so it’s always kinda crowded in there. That’s why the beat works, I think, when it’s really humming. I’m not just opening a blank screen when it’s Go time. I’m collecting and following and selecting pop-up names every waking hour of the day. (I hope that’s an exaggeration but can’t verify). How many men is too many to be thinking about on a daily basis? It’s not for me to say, but it is time to clear the top of the list.  

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The other day I was suddenly fascinated by the history of the band Rush. Here’s the joke: Rush has the album Moving Pictures, and you probably know the song Tom Sawyer (de do de do doo doo, de do dee du doo) from that album, and now we’ve got Moving Pitchers in Free Agency. Hah! I tell funny jokes that need schooling in prog rock history to understand. But the band that would claim a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and feature three dudes that many would consider Top 10 at their instruments in the history of loud music (that’s Rush, bee-tee-dubya), they began from some guys playing street hockey. Geddy Lee’s parents survived the worst concentration camps in Nazi Germany, and Alex Lifeson’s parents were immigrants from behind the Iron Curtain. Neil Peart failed as both a busker and a bar circuit drummer before joining Rush, which at the time was a glam rock band. And they go on to be Hall of Fame prog rock musicians. Sometimes, it’s not about how somebody starts their career — it’s about getting that chance and then making the most of it. Nobody would have predicted the guys from Canada would become one of the most respected rock acts of all time, inspiring other heavy-hitting glam rock bands like Pantera. But they stuck with it, and now you can enjoy laser light shows in 7/4 time.

Just like Rush was completely unassuming to start their careers, here are a bunch of those Moving Pitchers that the field of fantasy baseballers don’t really care about — or are even scared of! — but they could make an impact for your 2022 fantasy team.

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Hidey-ho neighborino! Is that phrase trademarked or just very, very old? Fine, let’s dismiss the formalities and get straight to the nitty-gritty: men who throw balls. Hard. We’re at the point in the pre-season where we understand that the MLB and MLBPA are definitely far, far away from any sort of agreement on a contract. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s actually a “realistic” contract that’s been shared between the groups and we’ll see that contract appear the first week of March, just in time for a shortened spring training and perfectly-timed Opening Day. But that’s just me spitballing labor negotiations, and what do I know other than the chords to every song on Green Day’s Dookie album? I suppose I know pitchers somewhat well, and wouldn’t you know it — I’ve got a pitcher listicle for you! A Pitchsticle!

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