2013

Neil’s Weekly Fantasy Baseball Preview: April 22nd-28th

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This week, I’ve decided to do a Top Ten Fantasy Baseball Goodies List of all the best sites, articles and people who I’ve encountered thus far in 2013 and share them with you.

1. The Fantasy Rundown: You know that song about getting your picture on the cover or the Rolling Stone?  I kind of feel like that when I get my articles on the Rundown.  Goose is a Cubs fan too I think, or at least goes to watch them, so that makes the site even better.  I make a daily visit, like every other hour.

2. Razzball’s Daily TakeI haven’t missed one of Grey’s daily takes all year.  They’re as enjoyable a read as you’ll find, sometimes I don’t get all the jokes, but I’d be a little worried if I did.  The fantasy content is solid, but Random Italicized voice deserves more attention Grey!

3. Mike Baum’s Daily Recaps: Every weekday Mike recaps significant baseball performances from the night before and gives his fantasy spin.  He knows what is going on too, it is always an informed read with excellent advice.  When you check out his avatar, he has an uncanny resemblance to Dustin Pedroia too.

4. Mike Gianella & Scott Engel: For my Weekend Update column at The Fake Baseball I have been using fantasy baseball tweets each Friday and these guys are must follows.  Two weeks ago Mike was right on, witty and full of insight.  This Friday, Scott was full of useful stats and information.  Get on that twitter-ma-bob and follow these guys!

5. Slim Cliffy’s Closing Time Article: Michael Clifford is a great guy, but he has this whole 90’s music thing going with his Closer Report at Fantasy Trade 411 too and it makes me want to keep checking back.  It is great coverage and Cliffy is active on twitter too.

6. Brien Bonneville’s Daily Pitching Picks: Brien provides his daily games and streaming pitching picks the night before, so you can make the required adjustments and slot streamers into your lineup.  He has developed his own successful approach to streaming pitchers and added the daily games picks this year for you ADHD daily fantasy baseball fans.

7. The Roto Arcade: Andy, Scott and Brad are the three-headed fantasy sports ex-mon-star-pert and provide a perfect balance of pop-culture references, real and fake sports information and advice, with just enough humor.  If you did nothing else but follow the recommendations from the Arcade, I bet you’d at least get a free game, or sparkly key chain.

8. CBSSports & RotoWorld Player Updates: They’re updated frequently and almost always include relevant fantasy advice and recommendations.  I’ve got fantasy baseball Oppositional Defiant Disorder though, so I’m constantly arguing with my computer scene, they’ll probably be way more helpful to you.

9: Pat Mayo’s Daily Fantasy Triple Play: I like his weekly golf article more, but this is a fantasy baseball list, so I’m taking a Mulligan.  Does that even make sense?  Anyway, Mayo is a beauty and every weekday he does a fancy video with his 3 must play options in fantasy baseball daily games.

10: Baseball-Reference.com: Need some stats or information?  This is the place, it is like my Grandfather’s book shelf before the Internet was invented, his first Baseball Almanac was written on papyrus, seriously.

Bonus: My very own Wasting Away Again on the Waiver Wire: Hello, it has Jimmy Buffett, fantasy baseball, myself and this week Starling Marte, it should go without saying that it is awesome.  Plus, who knows what Jimmy song I’ll be trying to match up with from week to week.  I love this weekly piece.

There you go folks, I hope that you find these links and this list useful.  I want to thank all the people listed for making my fantasy baseball day, like every single day.  On with the show !

 

Weekly Fantasy Baseball Preview: Bats

 

Catchers

Pick – Mike Napoli: Life is good as a Red Sox, Napoli is on fire over the past 2 weeks and boasts that extra special fantasy catcher appeal of rarely kneeling behind the plate.

Sleeper – Kurt Suzuki: With Ramos on the DL, Killer Kurt – I just made that up – will be the backstop for the Nationals and should be a respectable option for the foreseeable future.

Bust – John Buck: Second week in a row on the bust list, he hasn’t done much over the past week.

 

First Base

Pick – Adrian Gonzalez: Baseballs look like the moon to him right now, he is living on base and eventually his teammates will start helping him out by getting on base and driving him in.

Sleeper – Paul Konerko: One of the most consistent hitters of the past dozen years, Konerko may be a little under valued right now and could surprise.

Bust – Allen Craig: Matt Adams is breathing down his neck for playing time and that Adams fella is a big dude who launches baseballs.  Craig will be fine, but they’re going to find Adams at bats, which may mean he gets a few more days off.

 

Second Base

Pick – Neil Walker: From Sleeper to Pick in a single week, if you stole Walker off the waiver wire when everyone was dropping him you’re feeling great.  Solid player who is dialed in right now.

Sleeper – Yuniesky Betancourt: At least for the time being he is getting a chance to play and claims to have a new approach at the plate.  For now, the results are showing, but don’t fall in love with Betancourt.

Bust – Emilio Bonifacio: He is slumping, not getting any confidence from the Skipper and was drafted for his speed, which he has shown in the form of a goose egg.

 

Third Base

Pick – Evan Longoria: The Rays’ 3 bagger said, “You want Wil Myers?  Well I’ll show you what you think Wil Myers is!”  Then he hit 4 round trippers and struck out 10 times in the same 7 day stretch.

Sleeper – Kyle Seager: He is turning into a doubles machine and last year he hit 20 homers, he is a fringe starter at 3B right now.

Bust – Ryan Zimmerman: There is a lingering hammy injury and just when they got Danny Espinosa back.  Might want to look at other options if you’ve got one.  Update: Zimmerman is headed to the DL.

 

Shortstop

Pick – Troy Tulowitzki: He is the best and off to an excellent start this season, Ian Desmond has been really good too.

Sleeper – Munenori Kawasaki: I only put him here because I’m going to try to learn to spell his first name, but he also has his own fan club in one corner of the Rogers Center already.  If that doesn’t mean anything to you, he wears number 66 and if that isn’t enough plug-in Danny Espinosa, because he is back!

Bust – Elvis Andrus: If you invested in this guy at any point before the 15th round my sympathies are with you, he is an average SS option at best.

 

Outfield

Pick – Carlos Gomez: The power speed combo, in the prime of his career has a lot of people hoping he comes through on that high ADP.  I invested a number of shares and I am confident.

Pick – Matt Holliday: He is about to go on a big tear.  He had decided not to hit this year unless there was a runner in scoring position, but I wrote him a letter and he is going to start proving why he should have been a 2nd Round pick.

Sleeper – Rajai Davis: The Jays need someone to lead off and this is the best option they have.  He’ll swipe bags, score some runs and do just fine for you, but not great.

Sleeper – Travis Snider: He is quietly putting together a solid season and the post hype sleeper could be in for a sneaky good season.  By sneaky good, I really just mean a potential fringe starter, not sure why he is even listed here.  I do think he’ll be relevant at times though.

Bust – Matt Kemp: Will the Cano treatment bounce him back into stardom?  I think something is going on with Kemp, 2010 numbers wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Bust – Josh Reddick: We all know Oakland doesn’t care if he hits .050, but he isn’t drawing the walks much either and that is just not acceptable.  I’m still trying to figure out if he is going Tom Hanks from Cast Away or Forrest Gump?  Has his beard sucked all his inner hitting ability?

 

 

Weekly Fantasy Baseball Preview: Arms

 

Two-Start Pitchers

To switch things up a little this week I went out into the world of Two-Start Pitcher resources and am happy to provide you with the best previews going.

The Fake Baseball: My colleague Greg breaks them down, lines them up and throws some love Shelby Miller’s way.  Awesome news, because Miller is my buddy this year and I got him in my only 2 keepers too!

Razzball: Scott Evans ranks up the options, but he also highlights who may be readily available on your waiver wire.  They’re not just good for a laugh over there at Razzball.

Rotoworld: Nick Nelson’s look at the week ahead adds helpful notes, such as Lefty/Righty Breakdowns, Games Played Totals and even his own Streamer City picks.

Fantasy Alarm: Ivan Anderson not only discusses and ranks the starters for the upcoming week, but also share all kinds of fantasy tidbits in his tier summaries.

 

 

Streaming Options

It is a tricky game streaming pitchers and even more difficult when you’re trying to project for an entire week.

My Colleague at The Fake Baseball, Brien Bonneville, has a daily list of streaming pitching options and his Streaming Pitchers Primer is a must-read if you’re looking to employ this strategy. Streaming is a risky business, but when used properly can be an excellent advantage in this fake game we love.

Let’s get at this week’s options:

April 22nd – Felix Doubront: Start the week out by targeting this K machine, tough matchup, but the Sox are rolling too.

April 23rd – Jose Quintana: The sample size is small, but he is striking out more batters this season.

April 24th – Pass: It happens.

April 25th – Garrett Richards: Looked dominant against the Tigers last time out, now he gets the Mariners.

April 26th – Ervin Santana: Like the matchup, like his start to the season and think he should be owned.

April 27th – Felix Doubront: Pick on the Astros, they strikeout a lot and he can hurl.  Doubront for Streaming President!

April 28th – Patrick Corbin: Has had 3 great starts so far, no reason he can’t keep it going at home.

 

I’m a Loyal Leafs, Cubs, and Cowboys fan for decades. I wear the C for The Fake Hockey, in addition to contributing to The Fake Baseball and The Fake Football in more of a Timmy Try Hard role.  You can also find my weekly fantasy baseball preview here at davidgonos.com and can reach me on Twitter @naparker77.

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