We’ve reached the one month mark and as expected, there are plenty of early surprises. Eric Thames is the #1 player according to the Razzball Player Rater, Ryan Zimmerman is #3 and Ervin Santana is the #1 overall pitcher. Quietly sitting at #5 is Mike Trout. Trout’s line is outstanding with 18/7/18/5/.365 yet all of the talk is about Thames, Bryce Harper and a few others. At the end of the day, this is why taking Trout with the first overall pick is a no-brainer. We all know this. There’s nothing like safety and upside in the first round which is why I have Paul Goldschmidt on a bunch of teams this season. Au Schizz is as safe as anybody but Trout yet he was consistently falling in drafts to the middle or late part of the first round. I preach on the hockey side of things that you can’t win your league with your first two picks but you can certainly lose it. “Safety first” is even more important in baseball where it is easier to find hot schmotatos to fill out the bottom of your roster. Obviously we are long past draft season at this point but if you can trade some guys off hot starts for some consistency, I’d generally advise doing it. Let’s take a look at everything that was posted on Razzball over the last week:
Tehol’s Buy/Sell leads off talking about Mitch Haniger who, to the dismay of many, ended up on the disabled list. The 10-day DL is horrible!
Grey, Dan Pants and Ralph Lifshitz(!) provide us with Daily Notes. Among the highlights are Andrew Benintendi‘s big game, James Paxton‘s continued dominance and the promotion of Cody Bellinger.
The DFS crew continued to write daily analysis helping loyal Razzballers with their daily fantasy needs.
Mike Honcho’s Buy/Sell found us some pretty nice streamers for Week 4.
M@’s Top 100 Hitters started by talking about Aaron Judge who since then has decided to keep hitting all of the home runs.
JB’s Top 100 Pitchers focused on Andrew Triggs in Oakland. Let’s just say that he was unconvinced of his stuff. Also, Joe Ross had a bump up the rankings. Cue the music!
The Podcast announced the launching of a Razzball league on Fantasy Draft for Tuesday nights which is definitely worth checking out.
The RCL Update by Matt Truss saw people in every league get crushed by the Starling Marte suspension and the injury to Madison Bumgarner.
Smokey’s SAGNOF Report looks at what catchers are horrible at throwing out runners, an incredibly useful tool for both streaming and DFS. As always, Francisco Cervelli is a train wreck.
Son’s Bear/Bull post looks at Hyun-Jin Ryu and I can’t help but think about Street Fighter every time I hear Ryu’s name. Hadouken!
Malamoney’s Points League article looks at Jose Quintana‘s rough start and why he was a hot commodity before the season started. F***ing Quintana, man!
Laura Holt’s Rolling in the Deep has five players in both the NL and AL that should help you in the deepest of leagues.
Lance’s Buy/Sell tells you to get on the Austin Hedges bandwagon after an ice cold start.
The REL Update by JB sees the Nationals run away in the National League. Can’t say that’s a surprise after playing in Coors for four games.
Kerry Klug’s Ambulance Chasers has seen so many injuries happen in the early going this season. It’s simply ridiculous at this point.
Ralph Lifshitz updated us on the first month of Razz30.
The Batting Contest is up and running for Week 5.
Smokey’s Closer Report focuses on the struggles of Roberto Osuna and whether or not you should be forming a contingency plan there.
Grey’s weekly Buy/Sell post highlights Joey Gallo, the son of prominent New York attorney Jerry Gallo. Bonus points for knowing the reference.
The Prospect Podcast talks about a bunch of things, including the early risers on Top 100 lists.
Mike Maher’s Buy/Sell looks at some incredible starts and whether or not we can expect regression.
M@’s Two Start Pitchers post tells you not to give up on Robert Gsellman.
Ralph’s Minor League Update leads off with Tyler Mahle who is currently in blue fire mode in NBA Jam.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Streamonator really likes Pirates pitchers this week, especially Gerrit Cole. Cole gets two starts this week opening at Cincinnati and closing at home against the Brewers. Cole is ranked as the #5 overall pitcher and the second best pitcher who makes two starts.
Despite liking Pittsburgh pitchers, Hittertron likes Reds batters with four of them in the top 20. Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton both make the top 10 this week at 5 and 7 respectively. There are also three Cubs in the top 9 which should come as no surprise. Highest rated guy who is widely available? Scott Schebler.
As always, there are plenty of tools to help you with your DFS needs (DFSBot) or to assist you with your season long leagues like the Weekly Pitching Planner.
That’s all for now guys. Please post any questions or comments you have below. Thanks for reading, take care!
You can also find Viz on the hockey side of things at Razzball
