As many of you know, I’m in the NL-Only Tout Wars and LABR, so every year I take part in an industry NL-Only league with the CBS peeps to try to find my footing before I go off this Friday to Florida to take on the heavyweights, and Mike Gianella, who appears to have a healthy BMI. Some might mock, some might mock draft, but this is my draft prep, and am happy to take part in this league. Until about 25 minutes into the draft, and players go for way too much, and I start getting hungry and I just want the whole thing to be over and ermahgerd! But, for those first twenty-five minutes of the five-hour draft, I’m laser focused. For this league, I once again use Rudy’s NL-Only rankings, and his War Room (it’s free with a subscription). I won’t try to get you to buy it anymore. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the horse put a cape down so I can walk over the water without getting wet. (If you want a shallower league, play against me and hundreds others for prizes –> Razzball Commenter Leagues.) Anyway, here’s my 12-team NL-Only team and some thoughts:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Phillip Ervin
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The last month the Gurriel father & son team, Yu-Lou-Gu, have been having is absolutely crazy. It’s the best father & son month since August 1984 with Yogi and Dale Berra. Only Yogi and Dale’s great month wasn’t due to on-field play, but Yogi making a drug-sniffing dog’s handler laugh while Dale snuck an eight ball of coke through security at a Def Leppard concert. “If this leopard is deaf, what kind of singer is he gonna be?” Oh, Yogi, you card! Yesterday, Yuli Gurriel went 3-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 16th homer, hitting .281, as he continues his torrid pre-All-Star break pace. He’s hitting close to .380 in July with eight homers. That’s in 38 at-bats. He has 11 homers in his last fifteen games. Only one near as hot is his son, Lourdes. Hopefully, both Gurriels keep it going, knowing it ain’t over ’til the encore of Pour Some Sugar on Me. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
FanDuel: Midwestern BBQ Stacks, Use Cole For Scherzer
June 30, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |by: NichFields
Welcome to the final day of June 2019, FanDuel DFSers. It’s going to be a beautiful one. Let’s get some meat over evenly heated coals, crack a beverage, and enjoy the day. Barbecue is a process, but the payoff is well worth it, very similar to DFS. The more time we take, the better the rewards. So let’s get to it.
We have a 9-game FanDuel Main Slate today, and not one game has much risk of postponement. There might not be a single cloud in the sky; it’s going to be that great. So, who should we start on such a perfect day? Let’s continue to play with fire and start flamethrowers Gerrit Cole ($11,200) and Max Scherzer ($12,500) in the majority of our lineups. Not only do they lead their respective leagues in strikeouts, both have very favorable match-ups this afternoon. We should expect nothing short of dominating performances, making them very likely to return value even with their expensive salaries. Sometimes it’s best to just keep things simple and not over complicate it. Meat and fire. Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer. Lock them in, and let’s figure out the rest of our lineups from here.
Read past the break for suggestions on how to fill them out with some good ol’ Midwestern stacks.
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!
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Here we are in late May, and the injury parade just keeps on marching along. I’m not sure which is more frustrating – checking baseball news to see that what you thought was your perfectly healthy closer has suddenly been placed on the IL, a la Wade Davis, or having your stud players just sitting in your lineup without playing. Those of you who own George Springer, Christian Yelich,or Khris Davis (who STILL is on the A’s active roster as I write this, even though it was quite clear that he was in intense pain every time he took a swing in his last game) know of what I speak. There are no obvious replacements when you lose one of the guys you’ve been counting on in a very deep league, but we’ll keep doing what we do here: trying to find a few players who might be worth looking at in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
NL-Only, 12 Team Draft Recap or: How I Let A Wong Screw Me
March 4, 2019 | Our Leagues | 272 Commentsby: Grey
As many of you know, I’m in the NL-Only Tout Wars league, so every year I take part in an industry NL-Only league with the CBS peeps to try to find my footing before I go off to New York to take on the heavyweights, and Andy Behrens, who appears to have a healthy BMI. Some might mock, some might mock draft, but this is my draft prep, and am happy to take part in this league. Until about 25 minutes into the draft, and players go for way too much, and I start getting hungry and I just want the whole thing to be over and ermahgerd! But, for those first twenty-five minutes of the five-hour draft, I’m laser focused. For this league, I once again use Rudy’s NL-Only rankings, and his War Room (it’s free with a subscription). I won’t try to get you to buy it anymore. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the horse put a cape down so I can walk over the water without getting wet. (If you want a shallower league, play against me and hundreds others for prizes –> Razzball Commenter Leagues.) Anyway, here’s my 12-team NL-Only team and some thoughts:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Top 100 Outfielders for 2019 Fantasy Baseball
January 29, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 150 Commentsby: Grey
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We’ve done it! We’ve reached the end of the fantasy baseball hitter rankings. Give yourself a big round of applause. I’d clap for you, but I have carpal tunnel from actually ranking all the hitters and writing all their blurbs and calculating all of their projections and– What exactly did you do? Oh, yeah, you read them. No wonder why your hands can still clap. Okay, let’s get to it because this post is like 5,000 words long and I wrote it with my toes. C’mon, pinkie toe, push down the shift key! Here’s Steamer’s 2019 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Hitters and 2019 Fantasy Baseball Projections for Pitchers. All projections listed are mine and I mention where I see tiers starting and stopping. Anyway, here’s the top 100 outfielders for 2019 fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?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:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
As the fantasy baseball year dwindles down, the article this week is going to help to pinpoint the hot streaks you should ride out for the rest of the season. Starting with Greg Allen (FAAB: 2-3%) of the Cleveland Indians who provides speed to desperate squads. Since his recall, Allen has 7 stolen bases, and a homer, with a plus batting average. One of the most significant differences for Allen is an improved contact rate on his small sample from last season’s debut. He is currently at 90% Z-Contact and 82.4% Overall Contact compared to 84.8% Z-Contact and 75.7% Overall Contact in 2017. Riding this hot streak will provide a bit of everything necessary to stay ahead in speed, average, and power categories. Plus, Allen has capabilities to supply multiple SB and HR during the week for head-to-head leagues and playoff situations.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Or maybe I mean it’s better to be desperate than good. Either way, when you don’t have a lot of choices to make, sometimes what seems like a bad decision actually works out. In the RCL-style leagues, where daily changes are allowed and there is always a plethora of legit options to choose from on the waiver wire, you’re never going to have a guy like Mark Reynolds in your lineup when he does something like collect 10 RBI in one game, as he did back in July. But you might have had him active in a deep NL-only league, even though you would have never chosen to if you’d had just about any other option. I drafted Kevin Plawecki this year in 12-team NL-only, 2-catcher league, and here we are more than halfway through August, and he still sits in my active lineup. I’m sure that sounds rather pitiful to anyone in a “normal” fantasy league, but there is nothing that even remotely resembles a productive major league catcher available in the free agent pool. Turns out that’s just as well, since if there was, I would have missed out on a couple of big games from Plawecki last week: 5 hits, 5 runs scored, and 7 RBI in two games is some pretty sweet fantasy production in any fantasy league, from any position. So if you are in a deep league where you’re playing bottom of the barrel-type guys because you have no other options, maybe it’ll work out in your favor every once in a while, and you’ll get an unexpected gift of some much-needed fantasy production from the unlikeliest of sources.
For now, we move on to do what we like do here each and every week: take a look at some names of players who may be of interest to those in NL-only, AL-only, and other deep leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Wouldn’t It Be Bryse If Atlanta Brings Up Wilson
August 21, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 354 Commentsby: Grey
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The Braves called up Bryse Wilson, their third starter who is under 21 years old (Soroka, Allard) and 4th player (Acuña). Mean’s while, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. just collected his 3,000th minor league hit. By the time Vlad Jr. is called up, he will be Vlad Sr.’s brother. Didja you know in Latin America junior is a term of endearment like when you call that old lady in your family ‘aunt’ even though she’s unrelated? That’s why so many Jr.’s get to their 2nd year of pro ball and drop the junior. Right, Raul Mondesi Jr.? Any hoo! The Braves called up yet another gorgeous, young prospect. “That’s what I love about these Braves starters, man. I keep getting older, they stay the same age.” — Matthew McConaughey seeing Bryse Wilson. Prospector Ralph just gave you his Bryse Wilson fantasy. He’s also in his top 500 fantasy baseball prospects. Previously, he said, “A 4th rounder in 2016, Bryse Wilson rode his plus sinking fastball to one of the bigger breakouts of 2017. His four-seamer sits 92-95 with sink, and commands it extremely well. His secondaries are far more raw with a power 12-6 curve, and a fringe changeup. Speaking of Wilson, I’d like to spike Grey like a volleyball.” Okay, not cool! Yesterday, Wilson went 5 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, as the Braves bumped everyone in their rotation back a day. The big thing that struck me about Bryse is he looks like he’s been doing it for years (which could be said of the other young Braves players). About to call him Poyse Wilson. Seems weird to call him up to just send him back to the minors, so gotta expect him to stay up. In shallower redrafts, I’d view Wilson as a streamer, but I did grab him in two mixed league redrafts. He’s obviously a decent keeper in deep leagues (10.8 K/9, 0.9 BB/9 in only 20 Triple-A innings), especially now that’s he’s up with rest of the Braves’ Poyse of Summer. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Invader Zimmerman Playing Out of This World
August 18, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 16 Commentsby: Dan Pants
Despite what their owner, fan base, and majority of their players believe, the Washington Nationals remain in the playoff chase, just a half game out of the wild card. Bryce Harper’s dad has never doubted them for a second! So what’s changed? Has Juan Soto taken his game to Coke Zero levels? Is Bryce Harper single-handedly carrying the team on his mega swole back? It’s actually been Ryan Zimmerman who has really caught fire of late and has given them that extra spark that not even a players over involved father can provide. “Mr. Harper I’m going to ask you again to stay out of the showers. You can’t be in here. This is the last time I’m going to tell you this.” Zimm went 1-for-4 with his 10th home run on Friday night as the Nats cruised past Miami. Since returning from a lengthy stay on the disabled list, Zimmerman is slashing .341/.417/.732 with four homers and 15 RBI. Those are Soto/Harper-esque numbers, folks! Despite his early season struggles, Zimm is a bat that demands to be owned across all fantasy formats due to the line up he hits in and his history of mashing dingers. Lucky for you, much of the fantasy baseball world has dog days disorder where they’ve moved on from baseball to trendy end-of-summer activities like “going outside” and preparing for fantasy football (check out this shameless plug and click the link for gridiron gold). This is our time to strike, my over-the-internet friends. When everyone else has given up. Ryan Zimmerman was a BUY and is under 50% owned, but not for much longer. Ignore what Bryce’s dad says about his team mates, I’d grab Zimm everywhere he’s still available.
Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?[brid autoplay=”true” video=”276947″ player=”10951″ title=”Fantasy Baseball Mailbag Week 19″]
Felix Hernandez went 6 IP, 7 ER, ERA at 5.73 vs. Bartolo Colon – 7 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 5.18. Or is that Bartolo Colon, weighing in at 518 pounds from parts unknown and ratios you don’t want to know? This matchup was billed as, “F-Her/Colon, rated NC-17. Or maybe simply NR, as in Not Recommended.” All kidding aside, F-Her’s fallen so far, Colon is outpitching him, and Colon is not outpitching anyone else. That’s a Trump tweeted, “Sad!” On the bright side, Rougned Odor (2-for-5, 2 runs, 4 RBIs and his 14th homer) has rediscovered our love. Two years ago, Odor beat up Jose Bautista. Last year, he beat up his fantasy owners. This year, he’s beating back the beat like Vinny from The Jersey Shore. I’m glad I went back in on him because making up is sweeter than caramel honey on your bed sheets. (Is that an R. Kelly song? It should be.) I’d contend (for the featherweight title) that Odor really hasn’t done anything different this year. Yes, his walk rate is nearly double, but his BABIP has turned around. Here’s what that leads me to believe: You get a little bit luckier, so you don’t feel compelled to swing at everything, so you get more selective. It’s a self-fullfilling prophecy in direct opposition to what happened to him last year. Does this mean I’m going back in him for a third year in a row next year? Damn skippy! He can’t fail me again! (He totally can!) Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?