Buy Tyler White As He’s Breaking Better Than Skyler White

August 31, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell | 253 Comments

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You remember in Austin Powers when he gets his golf cart stuck in the tunnel and tries to make a u-turn and just goes back and forth unable to turn. That’s how I feel going between Tyler White and Tyler O’Neill. “Tyler O’Neill just homered…” *backs up golf cart* “Tyler White just homered…” *reverses golf cart* “O’Neill now!” *tries to turn wheel* “White does it again!” *gets out of golf cart and tries to move it manually, but have overestimated strength* “O’Neill with a round tripper!” *sighs, gets back in golf cart and checks Facebook menchies, overcome with helplessness of decisions* I do not know which Tyler I would go with anymore. Every day this week it has switched, sometimes it’s switched in the same day. Tyler White is top four slugging percentage in the majors leagues when sorting by 100 plate appearances, but just as soon as you say that Tyler O’Neill will go and do something. White is likely in a platoon, but when Ozuna returns, O’Neill will have same problems. I’d own both, but White is my favorite…*sees O’Neill hit a homer, reverses golf cart* Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Porcello Italian Pork Sandwiches The Phillies

August 15, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 314 Comments

by: Grey

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Rick Porcello said of his catcher, Sandy Leon, “He’s the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to. Period.” It’s a shame people don’t end include other forms of punctuation when speaking. “I am the Red Sox ace. Question mark. No, I forgot about Chris Sale. Period. Actually, exclamation mark. The best Red Sox pitchers. Colon. Not Bartolo. Period. I’m going to list them. Period. Okay. Comma. Damn. Comma. I apostrophe V-E confused myself.” Yesterday, Porcello threw a sparkler — 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 walks, 1 ER, 10 Ks, ERA at 4.04, and roped a double to right, which is fun in a dog on rollerblades-type way, but is kinda irrelevant. What’s less irrelevant, Rick Porcello is pitching better this year than his Cy Young year, though with less ERA to show for it, obviously. That could change in the final six weeks if he finds his groove. Period. Ya know what, exclamation mark. Strike that, interrobang. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Blue Jays Stop Maileing It (Mart)in And Bring Up Jansen

August 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 326 Comments

by: Grey

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Yesterday, the Jays’ catcher prospect Danny Jansen was called up. Finally, the Jays are ready to move on with their prospects. *Vlad Jr. waves his hand, trying to get their attention* It took long enough, but finally the time is here. *Vlad Jr. takes out a bullhorn and blows it* Did you hear something? The Jays did…Danny Jansen’s bat! Jansen looks like an offensive-minded catcher in the mold of Jerry Tomato Realmuto (think 15/7/.280). I grabbed Jansen in one league, because, I had Cervelli, who has a magnet for foul balls on his face like Stormy Daniels, and Russell Martin is going to play third while Yangervis deals with an oblique strain and, shucks, if only the Jays had someone else to play third. *Vlad Jr. marches with color guards’ flags, waving them. Finally, Vlad Jr. sighs.* Damn, too bad. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Rolling In The Deep: Get The August Lowe-Down

August 11, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Deep Leagues | 1 Comment

by: Laura Holt

Greetings, deep-leaguers, let’s get right to it this week — it’s hot, we’re tired, and paying close attention to fantasy baseball is starting to feel like a bit of a chore rather than the most fun thing on the planet. If you are grinding it out and frustrated in a league or two, just think about how sad you’ll be this winter when there are no box scores to check and players to disappoint you!

Last week we looked at players aimed at ultra-deep leagues — we’ll continue to search for those 5%-or-less-owned guys, as always, and also dial it back a bit and throw in some players of the medium-deep variety this week (in the 10 – 20% owned range in CBS leagues). With that being said, you know the drill: here are a smattering of players that may be of interest to those in AL-only, NL-only, or other deep leagues.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Adding Trumbo To The Buy List

August 10, 2018 | Uncategorized | 298 Comments

by: Grey

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Clearly, there’s a major issue here. The issue revolves around a few Buys this week. They are Mark Trumbo, Tim Beckham, Jonathan Villar and Trey Mancini. Any guesses their connection? No, they don’t all wear a bear costume during the offseason for bachelorette parties. I mean, they could, but no. I don’t think so. Their connection and the issue can be summed in this question, is the entire Orioles lineup really hot or have they just faced garbage pitching for the last week? I’d give you the answer, but I’d have to kill you, and I don’t know your address. I guess I have your IP, but is it roaming? VPN? Am I really traveling around to kill you when I could just not tell you the answer? That is the other choice here, right? Such a dilemma! Let me sleep on it. *pulls Murphy bed out of wall, lies down, Murphy bed flies up and traps me* Muffled screams, “Mark Trumbo has been the hottest hitter in the league! If you need power, I’d grab him in all leagues! Also, can you pull down this freakin’ bed?!” Anyway, here’s some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Closer Rankings: You Mad Son?

August 10, 2018 | Closers, Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 13 Comments

by: Smokey

Join the 2018-19 Razzball Fantasy Premier League for a chance at prizes! Don’t know about Fantasy Soccer? That’s okay, Smokey is here to walk with you throughout this journey of exploration and an absurd amount of accent marks on player names. So probably hide all your snacks. It’ll be a long journey…

Maybe they thought they were safe by bringing Kelvin Herrera as a Linus blanket until Doolittle returned. Maybe they were comfy with the veterans that they had lined up just in case. Well that “just in case” just happened. Herrera is now on the DL and Madson assumes the role of all roles. (Until Sean Doolittle comes back from a stressed out foot.) The Nats had such promise in preseason and even after the acquisition of Kelvin, to be a good bullpen. Former closers, like most men, are there to do their job and file their income tax returns on time like big boys. Well, they disappointed me and definitely the owners of Doolittle. Since July 3rd, or basically the last time Doolittle pitched, they have four saves. Four, fore, for! Only ahead of teams like the Padres, Blue Jays and Angels. By the way, if you are scoring at home the Angels haven’t had a save in 27 games. That is actually more mind-blowing than a team with decent starting pitching to only get four whole damn saves. Makes save-chasing on Madson or the like seem glum. So save your FAAB bucks for another day because Sean should be back within the fortnight, no idea if he mastered his emote dances yet though. Not that it really matters, but a save earned is a save kept. I know that works with pennies, wasn’t sure if that helped with counting stats at all. The season is coming down the stretch, do you have what it takes oh glutens of the SAGNOF? If you feel weary or just on cruise control because of Fantasy Football, than relax take a gander on some useful bullpen stuff, followed by the rankings…

Please, blog, may I have some more?

SAGNOF Report: OOOOH That Smell

July 23, 2018 | Uncategorized | 10 Comments

by: Smokey

Can’t you smell that smell? Running through the annals of quotable things related to smell, you get the usual “Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?” and “Who farted?”. Now just make Rougned Odor into a full draw out sentence and he enters the fray of quotable goodness for fantasy. Not as catchy, but Odor has had his shortcomings through the past two years and basically been put on fantasy leave alone island. But it is post All Star break and forgiving is in the air. Starting fresh, no former history and since he is a pox on some people’s fantasy list, we gotta keep it recent… So over the last month of affairs, he has 5 homers and 7 steals. In SAGNOF-ville that is giant news for someone who may be a scrap pile pick-up, and if you picked him up before reading this, kudos to you and your foresight. In the world of SAGNOF we need the results or we move on, and with 7 steals in a month, that is a sustainable amount of fantasy feedback to keep committed to him. Slashing .300/.378/.488 during that time is fantastic for him, and mostly because of the OBP. But the overwhelming stat that jumps out to me right now is his walk rate during that time. His career rate before this was 4.5%, the last 30 games he’s at 7.2%. Drastic baby steps, if that is such a thing. Like I said, SAGNOF is about dribs and drabs of stealing from the waiver wire and making it your own. Well Odor is making a second half case to be involved in all the school gatherings, PTA meetings, and heck, even the Brownies. So if you are in search of some steals and power combo from a middle infidel spot, Odor may just be your dude. More SAGNOF charts and quips to follow. Cheers!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Anthony Perkins Up Fantasy Owners, Scaring Mothers Everywhere

July 13, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 327 Comments

by: Grey

I wanna geek out for a second. You with me? Orf course you are, because I say “Orf course” and you’re still reading! Entering yesterday’s game Anthony Rendon (3-for-5, 3 runs, 3 RBIs and his 14th and 15th homer, hitting .285) was 19th overall for 3rd basemen on the Player Rater, in a virtual tie with Miguel Andujar and Ryon Healy and right behind Derek Dietrich. Hey, over-the-internet friend, that’s awful. Third basemen are not exactly stacked like hamburgers at IHOB either. There’s seven top tier ones ($17+). For context, there’s ten elite shortstops. There’s 16 shortstops at $11+, and only eleven 3rd basemen. I don’t think you heard me, Derek Dietrich has been more valuable than Rendon so far this year, or sofa if you’re reading in a furniture store. Rendon already spent the 1st half taking the craps out, so, yo, I think he can roll up to 7 at the position by season’s end. The route he’s taken has definitely been the hard way. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bullpen Report: Knowing When To Fold ‘Em

May 11, 2018 | Middle Relievers | 14 Comments

by: Smokey

I mean, who doesn’t like a good old Kenny Rogers reference? I appreciate it, but was more keen on Islands in the Stream, which in reality still works for this post. This week, I wanna focus y’alls attention on when to keep relievers of hold value or when to fold them and grab someone new. I wanted to bring this up because the near-leader in holds currently is Juan Nicasio. (Who for all intents and purposes is a fantastic Holds pitcher when you just take into account the hold total of 12. Which trails only Archie.) The hold total is great for holds leagues says captain obvious. The peripheral stuff is absolutely poop though. Commander Poop, for the full nautical theme. He checks none of the boxes from the non-hold league boxes, his K-rate is just a tick above 9, HR/9 at 2.0, a BAA over .300 and an ERA over 6… Those are not the four checks that I was referring too. So for mixed leagues, the guys you want to own are all over these standards: The K-rate has to be at or above 11 K/9, which includes over 60 relievers in baseball. HR/9 has to be tiny, think under 0.50, BAA against has to be anything at or below league average of .243. And lastly, the ERA has to be respectful, but not the end-all-be-all of determinations, because unluckiness does happen with relievers. So when doing your homework for reliever adds, make a checklist of those three stats and let the ERA be the tie-breaker in determining your add. In holds leagues, quantity does matter, but if you are only going to eat one banana why buy the whole bunch and let them ruin all the other categories?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bryce’s Breakneck Beginning Beats Back Broken Bats

April 17, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 515 Comments

by: Grey

There’s no greater compliment I can give a player than I wish I owned him in every league. Okay, maybe a higher compliment is I wish he’d married my mom and been my dad, but then he’d be old and I wouldn’t be able to own him in every league, unless he married her when I was, like, 20 and he was three years old, but then I’d sorta be like his dad, but I would have to call him dad and that would be confusing, what would I call him, “Lil’ Dad?” “Half Pops?” “Daddy Little Jeans?” And if Daddy Little Jeans were my dad and I owned him in fantasy and he had a bad game, then dinner would be awkward. “Hey, Daddy Little Jeans, you can’t get a hit off a Marlins pitcher? You’re useless, and my mom wants a divorce!” So, in conclusion, it’s best if I say I want to own a player vs. have him be my dad. Seriously, though, Bryce Harper (2-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs with his 8th homer, hitting .315) could be finally putting up that 45/15/.320 season we’ve all been dreaming about, and headed for a $750 million pay day with the Yanks (after holding out for three months into the season).

Bryce Harper hit a home run on a broken bat, or one of those tiny collectible bats. Either way, impressive. pic.twitter.com/un2IIXyret

— Razzball (@Razzball) April 17, 2018

Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Bullpen Report: The Peacock Effect

April 6, 2018 | Middle Relievers | 25 Comments

by: Smokey

Closer news is nice, but how much fluctuation is really happening in the first eight games of the year? Zero is the answer… but what about Kenley Jansen? If you drafted him, you are riding that gondola to closer purgatory as his draft slot is an inexcusable smorgasbord of devilishness. In layman’s terms? You are burnt. So like closers, I also cover their well being of your local neighborhood holds guys too. Early season patterns of usage are a key to early season effectiveness. Managers stick with guys early that have had a good spring and can be relied on to get tough outs. It is no different than later in the season, but some of the faces change because of poor spring, injury returns, and dreaded attrition factors that all relief pitchers battle. The role of the relief pitcher is completely expanding, as more former starters are being used in multi-inning appearances. Would it completely blow your mind if I said there have been more multi-inning appearances of four strikeouts than there have been starts with seven-plus innings? Boom, mind blown. The Peacock effect is in full bloom. Following the Devenski Effect of a year ago, the multi-inning reliever is going to become a hot commodity fantasy-wise… hopefully by Wednesday. The K-factor, the “free inning” factor, and the way you can time a relief pitcher on a down starting pitcher day is the exploitation factor that can vault your rates into the next level. It happens subtly and takes diligence on the wire, but two-3 K’s and rates per day at the cost of merely a few innings (as compared to a starter maybe going 5 innings and throwing 85 pitches) makes me wanna puke. Thanks Gabe Kapler. So keep an eye out for multi-inning relief cave dwellers and the goodies that they supply. Or just stick around here and learn about everything else that is happening around the bullpens around fake baseball!

Please, blog, may I have some more?

RCL Draft: Overcompensating For My Staff

March 28, 2018 | Our Leagues | 399 Comments

by: Grey

The other day I was joined by the best and the brightest Razzball has to offer and Tehol for our annual RCL draft (12 team, mixed league, yadda blabbity bloo). Our fantasy hockey writer, Viz, who is a professional poker player (hope it’s okay to say that. If not — oops!), went high/low split (totally talking out of my ass right now) and doubled down on the river, cleaning my chute of a full house of sexy picks. He has Cody Bellinger, Trevor Story, Ronald Acuna, Bryce Harper, Trey Mancini, Eddie Rosario and Michael Wacha! That is totally G-rated! And the G there is for Grey. On the other hand, I drafted a team that feels like it’s straight out of central casting. Only problem is the role which is being cast is for a “bounce back candidate who can hit for power and steal a few bases, must also be proficient in Mandarin.” Orange you glad I didn’t say navel! What? Okay, the season’s almost here and I’m straight batty with myself. Can Ohtani slug better than Alcides and pitch better than Miles Mikolas? I gotz to know! (My guess is no and no. Spring training panic!) Anyway, here’s my RCL draft:

Please, blog, may I have some more?