Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Please see our player page for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 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.

Donkey Teeth

2 Early Mock Recap: Drafting Like a Donkey

November 1, 2019 | 2020 Fantasy Baseball | 36 Comments

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Back in high school I remember there was a kid in my class who sported an iron-on patch on his backpack. The patch read, “Pornography Rapes the Mind.” I’m guessing that kid wouldn’t approve of my last production: Donkey Does Dallas. Anyway, I’m not here to analyze the porn industry and its effects on the mind—Grey will be covering that extensively in his Giancarlo Sleeper Post next week. Instead I’m here to discuss how mock drafts rape the mind. We join these mocks, select all our favorite players and rosterbate the night away. Then our real draft comes around and every player we want is taken two rounds earlier than in the mock; we’re left grasping our limp lineup wondering what in the name of Jesús Luzardo happened.

What I’m saying is, don’t take these mock results too seriously. For me, the real value in mock drafting is in gaining greater familiarity with the player pool and contemplating roster construction. Regardless, it’s still entertaining to take a look at the results and consider which players may or may not come at a value next year. Below you’ll find the first four rounds of my 2 Early Mock which took place across a two week period from early to mid-September. Find the full ADP data from all six 2 Early Mocks here, generously provided by Smada of Prospects Live and Friends with Fantasy Benefits.

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Thomas Howland

FanDuel: Blake-tastic

September 23, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

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Blake Snell is a Cy Young winner of recent vintage.  Blake Snell has pitched a total of 13 inning since the All Star break, and only two since the end of July.  That is why a pitcher of Snell’s caliber is available for $7,500.  The Rays are in playoff mode.  They are fighting for a playoff spot, and to do that they will need Snell to get his innings up.  The Red Sox are in shut down mode.  They’ve been eliminated from the playoffs and plenty of guys like Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are getting days off.  This will most likely be Snell’s final chance to tune up for October, so if there is a chance to get him more innings the Rays will likely take it.

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!

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Dan Pants

Yaz Please and Thank You

August 17, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 18 Comments

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As is the on-trend thing to do this season, Mike Yastrzemski joined the 3-homer club Friday night smashing three long balls in one night including his 16th of the season, a go-ahead solo shot in the 11th inning. The three-dinger-day!?! Yaz queeen! That kind of feat is something his hall-of-fame grandfather Carl, who will ALWAYS be mentioned whenever Mike does anything of note, only accomplished once in 3,308 career games. But this is 2019. We have Monster energy drinks and super baseballs and over 15 players who have had a 3-homer games this season alone. Friday’s Giants/DBacks match up was a perfect illustration of this with both team’s combining to hit 12 home runs. Just the second time two teams have combined to hit this many homers. Kevin Pillar had his own double-dinger day, hitting his 16th and 17th of the year, the second a go-ahead in the 10th. But the Snakes countered with homers from Wilmer Flores (his second of the game) and Nick Ahmed to tie it up before Yaz’s game-winner. Brandon Belt, Ketel Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Adam Jones also chipped in their own bombs.  Yeah so, basically, everyone was dinging dongs Friday night at Chase. Still, Mike Yasztremski deserves his credit, and his credit is due. The hat-trick is a special thing and he’s now rocking 5 homers and a .333 average in the past week.  His .272/.324/.548 slash is nothing to sneeze at and he’s also slugging .755 in August with a 1.088 OPS. He’s a 30+ homer hitter across a whole season, folks. Yeah, you’d own that! And Yaz is criminally still available in about half of leagues at this point. Sure, Vlady and Bo and Cavan are cool, but grand kids are where it’s really at and Mike Yastrzemski needs to be owned everywhere. Yaz more please!

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NichFields

FanDuel: Just In: Just Justin

August 4, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel |

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Justin Verlander, SP: $12,000, is locked in. He is so locked in he is our super-duper, locked and loaded, slam dunk, touchdown goal of the week. He transcends sports. He will win you a NASCAR tournament. He will make your burrito taste better and your skies less cloudy. That’s how good he is right now.

Not that Justin Verlander needs factors in his favor to dominate – so don’t mistake the intention here, no disrespect, ever – but there are reasons to believe he could treat this Mariner lineup like a little league B-lineup. Worse than the no-hit performance they’re coming off yesterday. They might quit baseball after this, and here’s why:

• Park factor: Minute Maid Park is usually neutral, but today is the most pitcher-friendly park on the slate for a right-handed pitcher.
• Weather: There is no rain risk, as they have a roof, but air density still affects the travel of the baseball, and today the conditions in Houston are the best of the slate for pitching. Higher air density provides more resistance to a baseball traveling through the air, which increases spin rate and movement (at the expense of a little velocity, yes, but it’s worth the tradeoff), and decreases the distance a batted ball travels. It’s science.
• Visual Memory Index: This is a Razzball Premium feature that measures the change in conditions from one game to the next. The exact same pitch will move differently depending on the density of the air in which it is thrown. How much differently is what VMI aims to quantify for us. Negative numbers are worse for hitting and better for pitching, and just the opposite for positive numbers. Today, the Mariners have the most negative VMI number of the slate, so we should expect their hitters to require the greatest adjustment compared to recent conditions. Uphill battle against Verlander.
• Strikeouts: The Mariners strike out a lot, more than any other team in baseball.
• Caveats: The way this could go wrong is pretty clear. The Mariners are top 5 in the league in team ISO and team walk rate, and Justin Verlander gives up the majority of his runs allowed through home runs, and also walks about 2 hitters per 9 innings pitched. If things fall apart, this is the likeliest reason why.

Enough said. Play him in a crazy percent of your lineups today and enjoy.

And guess what? There’s more! Read on for our top picks of the day. Have a great one!

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?
MattTruss

FanDuel: Stephen Strasburg Stifling Snakes

August 3, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 2 Comments

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Welcome back weekend DFSers!  I’m here for a back to back and I hope everyone had a profitable night last evening.  We’ve got a massive 13 game main FanDuel slate to tackle tonight and I can’t wait. It’s rare the Saturday main slate is larger than the Friday night slate, but that’s MLB’s scheduling for you.  Without further ado, let’s dive into my top pitching play of the night, Stephen Strasburg ($11,000).  I typically don’t love recommending a starting pitcher on the road as my top play, but I’ll make an exception tonight.  Strasburg will be facing off against the Diamondbacks in Arizona tonight. Grey pointed out the other day that post-humidor Chase Field is a pitcher’s paradise, ranking in the bottom third in Park Factors.  That would explain why the D-Backs are bottom third in team OPS at home as well. Combine that with Strasburg’s near 11 K/9, 2 BB/9 and his 2.93 FIP and I’d say we’re in for points aplenty!

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?
MattTruss

FanDuel: Lance Goes Tiger Hunting

August 2, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, DFS, Fanduel | 2 Comments

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Happy unofficial start to the weekend DFSers.  Richardo has started his weekend extra early (Wednesday) so I’m filling in this week.  I love playing the Friday night slates on FanDuel, they are usually jam packed with games and the more games, the more advantage I think I have on the field.  We’re getting a little short-changed tonight with only 12 games instead of the usual 15, but we’ll make due. For our cash game lineups tonight, you can’t help but build around Lance Lynn ($10,500).  If you had told me I’d be typing that sentence back in March, I’d have called you crumby with crackers.  There’s no denying Lynn has been phenomenal though, his 10 K/9 and 2 BB/9 is ace-like and his 2.94 FIP suggests his 3.83 ERA could even come down lower.  The Tigers on the other hand have been the opposite of phenomenal, they’ve been un-phenomenal. They rank ahead of only the Marlins in team OPS as well as team OPS vs. righties.  It’s ugly folks and Lynn is far and away your safest bet tonight.

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!

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Grey

Not Asleep At Z-Wheel

August 2, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 218 Comments

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Yesterday, Zack Wheeler went 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 4.45.  Can you please be “2nd Half Wheeler?” Can you be anything but “1st Half Wheeler?” Who do I have to pay for that to happen? Because I made $1.67 from yesterday’s ads and I am willing to give a percentage of that to ensure Wheeler is right for another two months. It’s all I ask and I one day have to say, “Damn, I can’t believe I crashed my 1st yacht into my 2nd yacht. Stupid yacht problems!” Okay, now to go on a rant you never asked for, but I have some legitimate first world problems that need addressing:  the Starbucks menu is too complicated.  What is all this crap and no Unicorn Frappuchino?! Dubya tee eff!  Oh and Netflix has a 15-second rewind but no 15-second fast forward? Are you people stupid?! Also, Amazon Prime two-day shipping begins when the seller ships your item but not when you order? Is this a joke?  Seriously? Do I look like a chump to you!  Any hoo!  Wheeler was phenomenal last 2nd half, and I keep saying I was buying him for his 2nd half. All his peripherals point to him being much better: 9.9 K/9, 2.3 BB/9, 3.64 FIP, velocity up to 97 MPH on average. Drop the R from boring, because that’s BOING! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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Grey

Indians Trade Wild Bauer For A Puig

July 31, 2019 | Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 566 Comments

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Had our 1st mega trade. Or as far as Trevor Bauer is concerned, might be our first MAGA trade too.  Take it easy, it’s a joke.  An everyday occurrence and tempers flaring might be hard to distinguish for Trevor Bauer since he will now see red all the time. Interestingly, Bauer wasn’t throwing his last pitch for the Indians the other day, he was throwing his 1st pitch towards Cincy. The Indians should be embarrassed of themselves for selling off their big frontline pitcher as they hold their Wild Card chances in their hands.  Notice I didn’t say the Indians should be red-faced.  Hey, they’re the ones still with the name. Bauer has been down a tad this year compared to last. Not just obviously in ERA, but his Ks are down, walks are up, homers are way up, which won’t play well in Cincy, but I will say he was way over his head last year with a 2.21 ERA, so he’s likely still a 3.50-ish ERA pitcher with great Ks in Cincy and the NL.  He should be able to chuck balls over Great American’s fence with greater ease too. So win-win.  Going the other way and the rest of the news, well…Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

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B_Don

Baseball Podcast: Grey Finds Drying Starfish in Portland

July 23, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, All Podcasts, Ditka Sausage Fantasy Sports |

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The Fantasy Master Lothario joins the Ditka Boys again on this week’s baseball podcast. They discuss Grey’s industry leagues for way too long before diving into some real baseball talk about 2nd half rankings. Grey discusses his process in compiling his preseason rankings compared to his 2nd half top 100 and then Donkey Teeth grills him on ranking of Vlad Jr (#71).

After some discussion about mid-season fantasy baseball trading, the guys chat about Donkey Teeth’s ranking of Trevor Bauer in his most recent Top 100 Starting Pitchers post. And finally Grey really begins to sweat when German Marquez’s name is brought up. Find out what Grey, B_Don, and Donkey Teeth expect from Marquez moving forward, and don’t miss out on the big announcement from the football side!
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malamoney

Luis Rengifo Takes A Leake On Mike’s Perfect Game Bid

July 20, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 17 Comments

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I’m not even sure I can imagine how angry I would be if I lost a perfect game in the ninth inning. Over the years I have broken my fair share of tennis rackets, thrown golf clubs and smashed video game controllers. One might say I have a tiny bit of a temper when things don’t go my way. If I were an MLB pitcher I’d prefer to lose my perfect game bids in the first inning, getting it over with early. I’m no math genius or anything like that, but I’ve got to imagine that the odds of pitching a perfect game are about the same as finding a needle in Josh Hamilton’s haystack. Wait, that’s not how it goes. Those are the odds for getting a base hit. Last night Mike Leake took a perfect game into the ninth inning only to have Luis Rengifo leadoff with a single. I’m not even sure I’ve ever heard of this guy who’s 53rd career hit crushed Leake’s dreams. Leake also walked a guy in the ninth, but held on to finish off his complete game shutout, striking out six. A week after being no-hit by the Angels, this would have been quite the reversal of fortunes had they been able to pull of the perfercto. The last Mariners perfect game was pitched by King Felix. I remember that game vividly as I earned over a one hundred points from that performance which saved my week and was the reason I ended up in the playoffs. Long life the king.

Go ahead and tell me this wouldn’t drive you mad.

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