by: Chris Krouch
Paul Blackburn has yet to give up a run this season in 19.1 innings. He only has 11 strikeouts, and he’s never been a huge strikeout pitcher. He’s got the stuff to get outs, and he will continue to show that Wednesday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards have big names on the […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: Chris Krouch
I get it, he’s a chalk DFS pick with a $9,500 price tag on DraftKings. However, Tarik Skubal is poised to have another strong performance to start his season and will be claiming the Mets as his next victim. Skubal was a little wild in his first start against the White Sox, but still only […]
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by: CableBoxScore
With the trade deadline well behind us, that means the next major event on the fantasy baseball calendar are the playoffs. Likely one month away in most leagues, we have to come to grips that the performance of the players we have are what we are going to be stuck with for the remainder of […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?The draft has come and gone and as many suspected, LSU’s Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews went off the board with the first two overall selections. For many, those two prospects instantly became the most sought-after in dynasty leagues and first-year player drafts alike. Alas! How could thee thinketh otherwise? After all, generational prospects, as they’ve been labeled, are likely to cause such a reaction. And perhaps it’s for good reason. Sure, Skenes is a great choice at No. 1 in a first-year player draft. But I get up on my rooftop at this time every summer (it takes me roughly that long to tear down the holiday lights), and remind our readers that draft position should not dictate FYPD board position. There are many, many places to find and steal value along the way. Maybe there’s a bat that went outside the first 18 picks that you should consider in your top five players overall. Or a mid-second-round diamond in the rough that fell 20 spots past where he probably should have. It’s all about being creative and better informed than those around you. In this week’s column, we’ll break down five FYPD sleeper sticks from the 2023 college draft class, followed by another five to keep your eye on.
Please, blog, may I have some more? by: CableBoxScore
I love, and I mean freaking LOVE, visiting those Most Added and Most Dropped pages on sites like Yahoo and ESPN early in the season. I feel like I am Tywin Lannister or something laughing at all funny things my subjects do to try and amuse me. “Ah, look at all the townspeople rushing to […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?As we march unendingly toward the halfway point of the season, we are getting closer and closer to the crazy zone. Tyler Mahle and Miles Mikolas were the best pitchers of the last week. Three Braves (no, not Acuna, Olson, and Riley) are in the top-10 hitters (Michael Harris, Adam Duvall, and Dansby Swanson). What […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?I first wrote about Cade Cavalli in March of 2020. It was my second-ever article at Razzball, in which I was ranking college prospects 11-25 for dynasty leaguers to target leading up to the 2020 MLB Draft. Equipped with a projectible frame at 6-foot-4 and 225 lbs., I ranked Cavalli at No. 13, sandwiched between Heston Kjerstad and Daniel Cabrera. At the time, Cavalli was coming off a COVID-shortened 2020 junior season where he pitched to a 4.18 ERA with a .281 BAA in 23.2 non-conference innings. That created some pause in industry circles, as Cavalli had a 6.75 ERA/.269 BAA as a freshman in 2018 — so there was really just one season of bottom-line success to go off of (2019: 5-3, 12 GS, 60.1 IP, 3.28 ERA, .238 BAA, 8.8 K/9, 5.2 BB/9). But even in that lone, successful 2019 campaign, the walks stood out as a concern, and there was reason to believe that Cavalli might be one of those pitchers who struggles to produce consistently despite having all of the tools to excel. Enter 2021. Now we have more to build off of. MiLB results. Information to pair with Cavalli’s college track record that might unveil more of the shadowy picture. And what we’re beginning to see is the makings of an elite prospect; an arm capable of commanding one of the top-two spots atop a major league rotation. Could Cavalli unseat former Chicago Bears quarterback Cade McNown as having the best athletic career of any Cade in sports history? I’ll dive into that today and as a bonus, I’ll reveal why an East Coast native such as myself once dressed up as McNown for Halloween as a child.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Who could be this year’s Chris Sale or Brandon Finnegan? Those two made their Major League debuts in the same year in which they were drafted: 2010 for Sale, 2014 for Finnegan. Sure, both of those players got their feet wet via abbreviated action in the Minors, but “feet wet” might be an overstatement. If anything, their spikes got a little damp, then dried off by the time they arrived in the realm of the AL Central. Sale made just 11 Minor League appearances for a grand total of 10 1/3 innings pitched, while Finnegan bested him with 13 appearances and 27 frames. 2020 draftees won’t have the same opportunity to prove themselves against MiLB talent, but they’ve also been gifted with the uniqueness of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which opens the door for all sorts of insanity and unprecedented strategies from MLB brass.
Therefore, we have to call it a wash. If all goes according to plan and we do indeed get a 60-game season, 2020 is going to be super weird. As a result of that, I’m not the first person to openly predict we will see a 2020 draftee appear in the Bigs this year and I certainly won’t be the last. My expectation is that we will see one-to-two recently drafted players appear in the MLB this season. Although I can’t say with certainty who exactly that will be, I can attempt to do so using the information that’s out there. That’s precisely what I’ll be breaking down in this post by providing you with a list of pitchers who have an outside chance to contribute actual fantasy value in your league this year, ranked from the most likely to the least likely.
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by: Thomas Howland
To see Anthony Rendon in the batter’s box is to see the personification of peace. Last year that zen lead to a World Series Championship for the Washington Nationals. At the beginning of the year he was what Simon and Garfunkel sang about in Central Park all those years ago: The Nationals’ rock, the Nationals’ island. Soon enough he transformed into Batman, with Juan Soto exploding into a high end Robin. Now Rendon has gone Mickey Mouse, signing a 7 year $245 Million contract with the Los Angeles Angels. After the signing Grey gave you his Anthony Rendon Fantasy, but what else can fantasy players expect in 2020?
Please, blog, may I have some more?Today’s slate is chalked full of horrible pitchers and the launching pad we know as Coors Field. This is the worst kind of situation…you have Colorado/Washington in Coors who everybody wants to stack. Adding two trashy starting pitchers going – Tanner Roark and Tyler Chatwood – makes this a nightmare situation for DFS players. In cash games this seems simple, you just play them and move on. In GPP this isn’t so easy, everyone is going to have a piece of this game. You can differentiate yourself by doing the opposite, I personally will be doing that. Do this 10 times and you may only be right a few times, but your probability of winning big money goes WAY up. So fair warning, I won’t be covering Colorado or Washington guys in my picks. Obviously you can play them, and should play them (especially in cash games) but I’m here to try and win you all a GPP!
Now onto the picks…
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by: Mike
We’re more than halfway through the minor league previews, and this Nationals list was the first one I really had a hard time whittling down to fifteen names. It’s not that it’s packed with studs, it’s more that there’s lots of interesting upside. You’ve got your no brainers like Lucas Giolito and Trea Turner of course, but we also saw a big breakout with Victor Robles. There seems to be a focus on speed, toolsy outfielders with good defensive skills, and up-the-middle talent. It’s all good stuff for fantasy players, and since even your great-grandmother has heard of Giolito, I find the lower levels of this system to be a lot more interesting to talk about. Don’t believe me? She has a cross-stitching of his curveball grip. Stepping away from the farm, 2016 will be the sophomore campaign of Michael Taylor, whose power and speed will probably come cheap in drafts this year. He doesn’t have to rack up that many more hits to make his average palatable as a 4th or 5th outfielder. Hey, I managed to write the whole intro without mentioning Bryce Harper! D’oh!
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by: Chris
Happy Hump Day (cue the Geico camel) fellow prospect hounds! Another week of minor league action is in the books as the top prospects continue jockeying for spots on various “up and coming” lists, and try to better position themselves for promotions closer to their ultimate goal — a call to “The Show”. Time for our weekly look at some of the prospects that have made some noise recently in the hope of climbing a little closer to the big leagues, whether that step ultimately comes this season or a little further down the road. Refill your coffee cup, get comfortable, and let us guide your continuing research as we try to help you scoop your fellow fantasy competitors with our Wednesday Twelve-Pack.
We’ll start by mentioning the obvious, Cubs fans that follow me on Twitter got the news Monday afternoon that Javier Baez was on his way to join the big club in Denver for last night’s game. Batting second and playing 2B (where he likely winds up for the long haul at this point), he struck out against Brett Anderson in the 1st, grounded out to Nolan Arrenado in the 3rd, struck out against Franklin Morales in the 4th and 6th, and lined out to Brandon Barnes in RF with the bases loaded in the 7th against Matt Belisle after the Rockies pen imploded and walked half the guys on the Cubs’ 40-Man Roster. (EDIT: Baez did deliver his first big league hit, a solo shot off of Boone Logan in the top of the 12th, and was 1-6 with 3 Ks at publishing deadline.) Don’t fret Chicago hopeful, Kris Bryant isn’t far behind.
A couple of the guys we’ll take a look at this week had help clearing their way when the smoke cleared on one of the wackier non-waiver trade deadline days in memory as players on their organizations’ big-club rosters were moved. The deals won’t necessarily create immediate openings for them at the MLB-level, but they’ll help move timetables and ETAs along. Here’s who I’m watching closer going into week 19…
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