Takes off Hello Kitty headphones, places head on the train tracks. Faintly off in the distance, I can hear the very subtle call of exuberance. A very, small yay. That’s the sound of the one fantasy baseball owner who has Isaac Paredes in their lineup for his three-homer night (3-for-3, 4 RBIs, 6th, 7th, and 8th homer). I’ll be real with you, I was sweating this one for Mark Whiten. Back in 1993, Whiten glued four baseballs to his hand back, and he ain’t trying to get a new member of the club. For those of you singing, “I love a Paredes,” I know. This would’ve been Ethel Merman’s best day in fantasy baseball. RIP, you bussin’ Queen. Any hoo! Hard to hit three homers and not be a schmotato, so I could see grabbing Paredes, but Cash is there. Cash’s favorite movie? Platoon. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Ryan McMahon
Please see our player page for Ryan McMahon 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.
Well if your first name was Joe and you are an MLB manager it was not a good week for ya unfortunately as you now have time to take all those lovely summer vacations to exotic islands the wife has always wanted to go to. The vibe from the teams looks like they both needed […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Being a Mariners fan since 1977 is hard to explain to fans of other teams. People understand our futility and stopped making fun of/joking about our plight many years ago. Sure, we had a season in which we won 116 games. So what? Do you recall what happened in the postseason that year? HINT: Do […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Good day fellow Razzballers, hope you all were kind to your moms this weekend and spent some time with her if you could. A solid week of baseball we just had and some nice comebacks by several teams I was watching. The Angels in particular had some great wins recently and the Mets as well […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Howdy everyone. The Great Knoche here, newish DFS writer at Razzball, but certainly not new to Razzball. I’ve been hanging around these parts for around decade. That’s long enough to have accumulated the knowledge to have finished 9th overall in the RCL standings in 2019, That’s long enough to remember when J-FOH also known as […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Good day All, If you’ve been focusing on the NFL Draft this week, I’m happy to report we’ve had another exciting week of baseball. The Mets combined to pitch a no-hitter against the Phillies this past Friday, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout earned their 10th year of MLB service time (I feel old), and yes […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Welcome! I’m digging the week we had in baseball..a few walkoffs, a 3 HR punishing session by a Mr. Rizzo, and some absolute pitching gems albeit of the 6 INN variety. Guess we got to get used to that being the norm from now on. All right well let’s get to the rankings at the […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?What transpired this preseason: Coolwhip reached out to me to see if I was going to write a Nestor Cortes sleeper, because he liked him and wanted to write one. I said, “Nah, I don’t think I’m going to write one, but I like him too!” What Coolwhip didn’t know, what no one could’ve known, I hadn’t looked at Nestor Cortes at all. I said I liked him because Coolwhip said he liked him. Then I waited for Coolwhip to give us his Nestor Cortes sleeper, and, after he did, I said, “Yeah, exactly, that’s what I would’ve wrote too!” Stats and image provided by Coolwhip:
“(M)ain thing to note is in 2021 Nestor started 14 games. Before that, he had only started a grand total of… (carry the 1… multiply by square root…) 2 games. 2 games, that’s it. So this was a bit of a new foray for him. It’s not often that you go from the pen to starting and your numbers improve drastically. Not just a little mind you; but by every conceivable measure, he got better. His K-rate went up, BB-rate went down, and he cut home runs in half while suppressing hard contact and limiting runners.”
Nestor did this by scrapping the sinker and curve, and replacing them with a cutter. Also, he varies his release point a lot, like nearly every pitch. I half expect him to throw right-handed occasionally. Yesterday, Nestor Cortes (5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 0.00) threw an immaculate 4th inning, and changed his release on nearly every pitch. This is magic:
Nestor Cortes. Immaculate Inning. ? pic.twitter.com/WTJLVwOXv5
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 17, 2022
In 9 1/3 IP this year, Nestor Cortes has 17 Ks. That’s in two starts, or one Nolan Ryan start. Pardon me while I put my eyes back in my head. Nestor Cortes’s 16.4 K/9, 0.96 BB/9 and -0.26 FIP is pretty good, if you’re lacking for adjectives. You really have to be impressed with Nestor so far this year, he’s looking as brilliant as me blindly agreeing with Coolwhip. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Please, blog, may I have some more?TOP DOGS
1. Jose Ramirez Guardians No Suprise Here as Ramirez has shown out of the gate he still has great plate discipline and has never seen a fastball he didn’t like. You would like to see a little more hard contact but it’s super early and Ramirez will get into one of his grooves and drafters will once again be happy he is on your squad.
2. Rafael Devers Red Sox Devers has hits in all of his games so far and has popped one out of the park in his 1st game of the season. Another elite hitter who will find his groove shortly. Whiff% and Chase Rate are a little higher than we would like to see but no worries here as another great season awaits from Mr. Devers.
3. Austin Riley Braves Riley is squaring up the baseball so far and is showing at least out of the gate he can sustain the lofty totals that he acquired last season. His WOBA is .427 which is about 100 points above his average so yes it will come down and you will have to deal with the occasional 3 K out day like yesterday against the Nationals for example but the ride will be worth it.
4. Nolan Arenado Cardinals Facing the likes of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff will give all power hitters a boost in their numbers it looks like this season but Arenado torched the Pirate staff this past weekend and is off to a hot start. 2 HR out to left field and a few doubles to boot Arenado looks really good so far and drafters are reaping the rewards early on.
5. Manny Machado Padres No barreled up baseballs yet out of 14 batted balls but Manny is hitting the ball well and is just getting a little unlucky on some of his at-bats. He will come around eventually but definitely misses Tatis Jr. in the lineup and you can expect an uptick in his production when that happens.
SOLID PROS
6. Alex Bregman Astros Whoa, nice start from Bregman here, has only struck out one time in 14 plate appearances and has hit 2 HR already. He’s a little tough to root for unless you are a die hard “Space City” fan but if he’s on your fantasy team who cares. I like the start so far and he could break the top 5 if he keeps it up.
7. Kris Bryant Rockies
8. Justin Turner Dodgers
9. Anthony Rendon Angels
10. Matt Chapman Blue Jays Chapman had a nice 3 run blast the other day against the Rangers. He has struck out 8 out of 16 plate appearances so that isn’t great but it will even out and Chapman should do his thing and hit 30 HR just with that low average we kinda cringe at thinking about.
STUCK IN MIDDLE
11. KeBryan Hayes Pirates Nice start to the season for Hayes as he worked out a minor injury in his 1st game to come back and get 4 hits in 3 games over the weekend and they were nice hard hit balls for the most part. Wouldn’t be surprised if he settles in the 7-9 range shortly.
12. Josh Donaldson Yankees
13. Adalberto Mondesi Royals Well at least owners of Mondesi know he can at least steal a base as he did on Sunday. Not much else to see here as it could be a rough year awaiting him.
14. D.J. Lemahieu Yankees Bad News 1 for 10 start for D.J. and is not playing every day. Good News is he has had some hard hit balls so far they just have found the opponents glove. I think he will be ok in the long run but if we are depending on him producing like he did two seasons ago I think that train has left the station.
15. Ryan McMahon Rockies
HAZY FUTURE
16. Jeimer Candelario Tigers Not a great start from the Candy Man but has driven in two runs so that’s been nice to see. Has only struck out twice so that’s a positive. I think there is more to see and the Tigers look good so far and that’s usually contagious.
17. Eduardo Escobar Mets
18. Gio Urshela Twins Gio had a great looking HR against the Mariners in the Twins 1st game where he had to lunge at the baseball and was able to get enough to hit it out to LF. Good Sign there just depends if he’s going to be in the lineup every day to be useful and provide enough for you to keep him in your lineup. You could do worse at your CI spot in your lineup.
19. Alec Bohm Phillies Well the man who hates the place he plays in has actually hit the ball pretty decent but it’s his defense that is getting the most of the unwanted attention. I think the Phillies probably move him at some point but in the mean time they keep trotting him out most of the time to get some exposure to other teams that may be interested. Still has some good attributes so not giving up on him just yet.
20. Joey Wendle Rays
Honorable Mention
Josh Harrison White Sox Luis Urias Brewers (Injured) Yoan Moncada White Sox (Injured)
Please, blog, may I have some more?
All right All right, I made the executive decision today to forgo the usual Top 25 Rankings really because not much as changed so far this spring and as drafts are winding down, I’ve noticed some players that should be going higher in my humble opinion. You are going to need to grab them sooner than later as spring training winds down and I want you guys to be on the cusp of recent trends and news. I used current ADP from March 14-March 29 in a 12 team NFBC format.
First Up I present you a 3B who’s current ADP is around 153 and plays on a powerhouse NL team and is batting in the heart of the lineup and that is none other than Justin Turner of the LA Dodgers. Now please tell me you didn’t take KeBryan Hayes 1-2 rounds before him when you were presented with that decision. I can’t for the life of me figure out how Hayes is going to outproduce J.T. I realize there is a slight injury discount people are getting with Turner and he is older but Hayes who is being drafted at around pick 134 hasn’t been hitting at some insane clip either. Hayes is a nice young player who might have an extra level to reach still but Turner has put the hamstring issue behind him and he is healthy and ready to produce. Hayes is also dealing with his own bumps and bruises so why are you taking him ahead of a proven hitter on a great hitting team and lineup. Turner is fun to own and watch as well and shouldn’t have a problem hitting Mid .280 AVG 25-28 HR 80-85 RBI’s with a .870’s OPS. That’s damn good from where you are drafting him around the 13th rd and don’t be afraid if there is a run on 3B around the 11th to grab him sooner. You won’t be disappointed.
Next up is Josh Donaldson NY Yankees and Matt Chapman Toronto Blue Jays who are going around 179 and 166 respectively. Another couple of veteran players in Donaldson and Chapman who are being highly discounted because of age/injury concerns in Donaldson’s case and decreased BA in Chapman’s. The market hasn’t come around yet it seems to the fact that Donaldson is in a nice hitting environment in Yankee Stadium with a great lineup around him and he doesn’t have to be the focus. He will see plenty of great pitches hitting behind Stanton in the 5th spot and I can see him having a line at the end of the season something like .250 Avg 27-29 HR 75 RBI with an .800 OPS. I think Donaldson’s BABIP numbers were low in 2020 (.231) and last season (.268) and he is poised to beat both of those this season in his new environment. He should be going ahead of Yoan Moncada (ADP 156) and Ryan McMahon (156). Matt Chapman as well is in a great hitting environment in Toronto on a great team who will be contending for a World Series this season and doesn’t have to shoulder the load on a team that is rife with quality hitters. Chapman’s value is a bit depressed because of his declining batting average the last three seasons but it’s not like he isn’t capable of a high average anyone remember 2018 where he hit .278 and scored 100 runs. It can be done and will be done as they say! At least do yourself a favor and take him over Moncada and McMahon will ya?
Farther down the list we go and we a riser in the rankings in Jonathan Villar. Villar is currently sitting at ADP 239 and my pick 368 in a 12 teamer earlier this year is looking pretty solid. If you had faith early on he was going to get a job somewhere you were picking him around 300 and that looks pretty profitable at this point. Villar is currently listed as a super utility player for the Cubs but with strikeout prone Patrick Wisdom at 3B unproven Rafael Ortega at DH and I don’t know how Jason Heyward still has a ML job in RF, you are going to see Villar plenty and have a regular starting job somewhere in the field by June. He provides a source of SB think 20-23 SB’s has some pop 15-18 HR and pitches in on runs (65-70) rbi’s (45-50). Not too bad for where you are getting him around the 20th rd as not many 20 SB guys you can still find. Get him a round or two ahead to ensure you get him so you are not stuck with a Eduardo Escobar or Eugenio Suarez both of which are going ahead of Villar which I don’t get.
That’s going to be it for today. Next week I’ll be looking at some 1B you should be looking at higher than their ADP. Have a great week Razzballers almost to the finish line.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Good day, Razzball fam, Spring Training is finally underway, more and more free agents are off the board, and trades are being made! This week we’ll be taking a look at second basemen. Second baseman as a whole this year seem to be shallower than shortstops and free agency doesn’t seem to have made a […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Welcome my friends, JTells here. I switched over from writing DFS last season and will be bringing you the corner IF rankings this year. Your corner IF players are such a vital part of your fantasy team and if you miss on a pick on one of these guys it really stings. Good thing there are some studs here that perform year in and year out so make sure your are getting a couple of those guys to build your foundation. I used position eligibility rules from the NFBC based on a traditional roto 5X5 league.
Baseball is definitely back as news come fast and furious. Trades here Trades there Trades everywhere and a devasating injury to a Padres superstar has started off the first full week that players are in camps. As exciting as this is I’m sure there will be plenty of more action as we all hold our collective breaths as the news comes out that anything negative isn’t about our early picks we might have made so far this season. I’m going to be with you this season ranking all the corner IF’s and moving players up and down each week based on current performance, playing time, and changes in team construction due to injuries or players being promoted etc..pay attention to the bottom of the list as well because I’m going to be taking shots on players I think are capable and worthy of eventually cracking the top 10. I’m going to be breaking them down into tiers and if you need more in depth info feel free to click on their name to gain more valuable info about that particular player. All righty lets do this.
Please, blog, may I have some more?