Starting last Monday the Daily Fantasy Fix moved to myfantasyfix.com. At our new home, we're offering additional content geared towards the daily fantasy industry, including more broad-based strategy articles on concepts like bankroll management, roster construction for game-type, etc. The

Starting Monday the Daily Fantasy Fix moved to myfantasyfix.com. At our new home, we're offering additional content geared towards the daily fantasy industry, including more broad-based strategy articles on concepts like bankroll management, roster construction for game-type, etc. The content

Starting Monday the Daily Fantasy Fix will be moving to myfantasyfix.com. At our new home, we'll be offering additional content geared towards the daily fantasy industry, including more broad-based strategy articles on concepts like bankroll management, roster construction for game-type,

Today's featured DFS site is FantasyFeud. Click HERE and use deposit code "fantistics" for a first time deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of

Today's featured DFS site is Star Fantasy Leagues. Click HERE for an exclusive first time deposit bonus (use code "fantistics")! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing

Today's featured DFS site is Fan ThrowDown. Click HERE for a first time deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on

Before we get into today's Fantasy Fix, I have to give a HUGE shout out to fellow FIX co-author Drew Dinkmeyer who won last night's StarStreet PFBC Qualifier. With it he wins a free trip to the Playboy Mansion and

Today's Featured DFS site is Fantasy Feud. Click HERE for a 50% deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the

Today's Featured DFS site is DraftDay. Click HERE for a 100% deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site

Today's Featured DFS site is DraftStreet. Click HERE and use Fantistics as your recruiting and bonus code to get a 30% deposit bonus up to $150! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand

Today's Featured DFS site is Fan Throwdown. Click HERE for a first time deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on

Today's Featured DFS site is StarStreet. Click HERE for a 100% deposit bonus up to $100! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players

Today's Featured DFS site is Star Fantasy Leagues. Click HERE and use fantistics as both your referral code and promo code to receive a first time deposit bonus of 40% (double the normal bonus)! Before we get into today's recommendations,

Today's Featured DFS site is DailyJoust. Click HERE to receive a first time deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on

Today's Featured DFS site is Fan Throwdown. Click HERE for a first time deposit bonus. Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on

Today's Featured DFS site is FanDuel. Click HERE to get a first time deposit bonus! Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Make sure in addition to reading the Fix each day you are following me (https://twitter.com/leonem4444) and Drew (https://twitter.com/DrewDinkmeyer) on Twitter. We often provide updates and advice as it gets closer to roster lock time each day and make adjustments

Before we get into today's recommendations, it is important to remind everyone to understand your scoring format and the pricing of the individual players on the site you're playing. These vary from site to site and all daily sites

Please make sure to subscribe to our daily e-mail list via the link at the bottom of this post, and look for me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/leonem4444) as I will try to give out more daily advice closer to game

One strategy tip I think we've all learned so far this season: take everyone Drew mentions in the Fix the day AFTER he recommends them. Last night Domonic Brown was one of many guys in the past week to

Well, yesterday was our first real rough day of the season as things just did not go as predicted. It was an unfortunate end to a strong opening week. Now, let's put it in the rear view mirror and

I hope this first full week of the Fantistics' Daily Fantasy Fix has helped you win on your respective daily fantasy websites. I think there were more hits than misses and hopefully that translated into more wins than losses

I had an interesting day in the daily fantasy world yesterday, getting absolutely crushed on a couple of sites - that's what I get for not taking Drew Dinkmeyer's play of the day, Freddie Freeman - but redeeming myself

Welcome to the debut installment of the Fantistics' Daily Fantasy Fix! In this spot each day myself, Michael Leone, and fellow Fantistics' writer Drew Dinkmeyer will bring you advice as how to approach the day's daily fantasy games. Before

Toronto Blue Jays How to Approach Brandon Morrow Brandon Morrow SP - After three straight years of vastly underperforming surface stats based on expected ERA stats, Morrow actually outperformed his expected ERA stats by quite a bit last season.

Toronto Blue Jays Rebound for Ricky? Ricky Romero SP - Heading into last season Fantistics warned subscribers that Ricky Romero was overrated, but I don't think any of us saw this coming. Romero's ERA ballooned from 2.92 to 5.77

Toronto Blue Jays Post Hype Sleeper Brett Lawrie 3B - Last week I talked about Eric Hosmer of the Royals as a post hype sleeper, and this week I am going to talk about Lawrie. I love drafting guys

Toronto Blue Jays What to expect from new additions? Jose Reyes SS (TOR) - The Blue Jays certainly made a splash this offseason, highlighted by their acquisition of Jose Reyes from Miami. Reyes is not the 60+ SB threat

Edwin Encarnacion DH (TOR) - Looking over leaders in certain categories in order to get a head start on who may be over or under valued heading into 2013, I was taken aback when I saw that Encarnacion leads

Wilton Lopez RP (HOU) - Lopez earned his third save of the season last night. I like Lopez as an underrated closer heading into last year because of his skills (7.83 K/BB ratio, 56.9 GB%) and consistency (sub-3 ERA

Manny Machado SS (BAL) - I know fellow analyst Joe Hettler was pretty adamant that fantasy owners should not overrate Machado based upon a few good games when he was initially called up. Time has proven Joe to be

Edinson Volquez SP (SD) - You should know the drill by now. Volquez at home? Start. Volquez on the road? Sit. Volquez should be avoided today in most fantasy formats as he is away from spacious Petco Park. Volquez

Josh Johnson SP (MIA) - Johnson is almost a must start today in daily fantasy baseball contests. He has the best matchup you could ask for (San Diego) and is pitching at home (3.35 ERA) where he has been

Buster Posey C (SF) - Posey had a phenomenal day at the plate going 4-5 with his 12th homer of the year. He is now hitting an impressive .314/.382/.498. Posey is clearly one of the top hitting catchers in

Yadier Molina C (STL) - Molina whacked his 14th homer of the year yesterday, and I really can't fathom the offensive turnaround he has experience the past 2 seasons. From 2004-2010, Molina posted ISO's ranging between .080 and .106.

James McDonald SP (PIT) - James McDonald continued his torrid 1st half with a 10 K performance against the Giants. He walked none and allowed just 1 ER off of 4 hits. I'm more apt to believe in McDonald's

Jake Peavy SP (CHW) - Peavy earned his 7th victory while striking out 7, walking 1 and allowing just 1 ER in 7.1 IP last night. The outing lowers Peavy's ERA to 2.85. I think Peavy's improvement in control

Ervin Santana SP (LAA) - When playing in daily fantasy leagues, it always helps to know your weather, and with the wind projected to be blowing out to RF in Cleveland combined with some other factors I like my

Cameron Maybin OF (SD) - Maybin went 0-4 last night to drop his batting average on the season to a dreadful .201 mark. If the Padres are patient with Maybin and continue to play him every day, this is

Chase Utley 2B (PHI) - For those of you who have stashed Utley all season long, you may be finally rewarded. The Phillies could activate Utley Wednesday. While Utley owners must be rightfully excited, expectations must be realistic as

Jason Hammel BAL (SP) - I just made an imaginary bet with fellow analyst Drew Dinkmeyer that Ervin Santana would have a better ROS fantasy wise than Hammel. Oops. Hammel got the scale immediately posting in Drew's favor as

Colby Rasmus OF (TOR) - Rasmus has made some obvious changes in his swing over the past year (closer to the plate, more straight up, much lower leg kick) and it appears to be paying off in a big

Phil Hughes SP (NYY) - Hughes picked up his 7th victory of the season yesterday as he pitched wonderfully against the Nationals. He allowed just 1 ER in 6 IP while striking out 9 and only walking 2. Currently

Cliff Pennington SS (OAK) - For those of you in AL leagues and deep mixed leagues and need for some speed up the middle, Pennington should rebound from his slow start (.208/.260/.290). He has just a .185 singles average

Colby Rasmus OF (TOR) - Rasmus continued swinging a hot bat last night going 5-5 with a homer and a double; he scored 4 times and drove in 3. Schuyler wrote an optimistic blurb abut Rasmus a week ago

PJ Walters SP (MIN) - For those of you who like to play stacked lineups (heavy on one team) in daily fantasy baseball salary cap formats such as Draftstreet, go with the Indians today. They face Walters (who I

Justin Morneau 1B (MIN) - Morneau hit his 6th homer of the year last night, and owners who took a flier on him have to be really encouraged. It is a small sample for sure but the power numbers

Brandon Morrow SP (TOR) - Morrow really appears to be putting it all together as he hurled a complete game shutout yesterday in which he struck out 8 and walked just 1. Morrow has been able to find a

Adam Wainwright SP (STL) - Wainwright enters tonight's start in SF as a must start option in all fantasy formats. Despite his 6.16 ERA Wainwright's peripherals are as strong as ever. In fact, his xFIP sits at 2.94. Wainwright's

Jarrod Parker SP (OAK) - Parker earned his third straight quality start last night, allowing just 2 ER over 7 IP. However, Parker did not pitch that well. He walked 5 batters compared to just 3 strikeouts and of

Adam Jones OF (BAL) - Jones cracked his 7th homer of the year last night. In the pre-season I took the under on 23 homers for Jones and seeing as how he is almost a third of the way

Scott Downs RP (LAA) - In his first day as the Angels' closer (with the role temporarily being removed from Jordan Walden's hands), Downs worked a perfect 9th inning to record his first save of the year. Downs struck

Brandon Morrow SP (TOR) - During Spring Training both Morrow and his manager, John Farrell, commented that they would like to see Morrow use his offspeed stuff more often and attempt to get some weak contact earlier in counts.

Kyle Drabek SP (TOR) - I am a little bit more optimistic about Drabek than my co-analyst Joe Hettler. Drabek was a disaster last year, but his status as a former top prospect and reports in Spring Training of

Max Scherzer SP (DET) - Scherzer 's attempt to rebound from a disappointing 2011 season got off to a rocky start. Scherzer did not make it out of the 3rd inning against the Red Sox. He gave up 7

Mike Moustakas 3B (KC) - Moustakas went 0-3 in his 2012 debut. Moustakas came up last season as one of the Royals best prospects and could be a star in the future. However, I have doubts that he will

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Joe H. and I have talked previously on Twitter and in this space about the warning signs revolving Chris Perez. Sure enough, he blew a 3 run lead on Opening Day. Perez gave up

Toronto Blue Jays Breaking Down the Blue Jays' Left Field Battle Eric Thames and Travis Snider have entered Spring Training in a battle for the Blue Jays' starting LF spot come Opening Day. Thames is a 25 YO left

Toronto Blue Jays No Concerns of a Sophomore Slump for Brett Lawrie Last year as a rookie Brett Lawrie burst onto the scene posting an impressive .293/.373/.580 line in 171 plate appearances. This wasn't a complete surprise as Lawrie, at

Toronto Blue Jays What to do with Brandon Morrow? I know some of you are probably a little sour over us touting Brandon Morrow heading into last season, only to have his fantasy statistics once again drag behind his peripheral

Toronto Blue Jays Johnson to get shot at hitting in the 2-hole Kelly Johnson 2B (TOR) - On Twitter yesterday Blue Jays writer Gregor Chisolm stated that Manager John Farrell said Kelly Johnson would ideally take the role of No.

Yovani Gallardo SP (MIL) - Gallardo was dominant last night as he struck out 13 batters and yielded just 2 hits and 1 ER over 6 IP. For the second straight season, Gallardo made significant improvement in terms of

Jered Weaver SP (LAA) - I have a feeling Weaver may be overrated in 2012 drafts. His 2.44 ERA is a far ways away from his 3.01 FIP and even further from his 3.67 xFIP. Also, his K/9 dropped

Ian Kennedy SP (ARZ) - Last night Kennedy won his 18th game of the season, but this is another case where wins do not accurately reflect the skill of the pitcher. By our formula for expected wins, Kennedy should

Anthony Swarzak SP (MIN) - I'd avoid starting Swarzak in all leagues today. He has a 3.62 ERA, but an xFIP of 4.87 exposes his true skills - or lack thereof. I'm never a fan of pitchers with low

David Ortiz DH (BOS) - Ortiz has missed some games with a heel injury, but appears to be ready to rejoin the starting lineup today. Fantasy owners in daily leagues need to get Ortiz back in their lineups ASAP.

Brandon Beachy SP (ATL) - Beachy continued his stellar rookie season last night by limiting the Diamondbacks to 1 run over 6 IP. As usual, Beachy had his strikeout pitch going; he struck out 7 while walking just 1.

Zack Greinke SP (MIL) - In keeper leagues, Greinke may be an undervalued commodity. The truth is he is elite. Greinke has a 2.92 FIP and 2.31 xFIP, but a deflated strand rate (66.7 LOB%) has inflated his ERA

Justin Verlander SP (DET) - Just another day at the office for Verlander as he held the Minnesota offense completely in check yesterday. He allowed just 1 ER in 7.2 innings of work while adding 7 strikeouts and just

Delmon Young OF (MIN) - While Young has certainly been a bust this season, I maintain he has value in standard mixed leagues going forward. When I told this to a friend in a discussion earlier today, he simply

BJ Upton OF (TB) - With lots of speculation that Upton may be traded, there's a good chance that such a move would be beneficial to his fantasy value. For starters, only a contender would likely trade for Upton

JP Arencibia C (TOR) - The Blue Jays got rolled last night, and JP Arencibia was the lone bright spot as he blasted 2 solo homers. Arencibia has solid power (now 14 homers and a .215 ISO) that should

Chris Perez RP (CLE) - Perez blew a save and took the loss last night. He only got one out before giving up a 2-run walk off single by Danny Valencia. In total, Perez walked 2 batters and gave

Francisco Cordero RP (CIN) - Cordero blew his third straight save yesterday, and his owners should be nervous. His 2.54 ERA is extremely misleading; Cordero has a 4.06 FIP. His skills are in decline. If you don't believe that

Derek Jeter SS (NYY) - Even a Yankee hater such as myself can't help but getting giddy at the awesomeness of baseball, which was on fully display yesterday as Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit was a homerun on a day

Corey Luebke SP (SD) - Luebke's transition from reliever to start has been a great success thus far as he did not allow a run for the second consecutive start. His final line against the Mariners: 6 IP, 0

Jair Jurrjens SP (ATL) - Jurrjens dominated the Orioles last night, tossing a complete game shutout. Jurrjens was more dominant than usual, striking out a season high of 8 batters while walking just 1. I know it seems like

Mark Teixeira 1B (NYY) - Teixeira had a 4 RBI day yesterday while hitting his 24th homer of the year in the process. Teixeira is on pace for a career high in homers. His current career high is 43,

Josh Beckett SP (BOS) - Beckett was scratched last night because of an illness, but it does appear that he'll start on Saturday against the Pirates. Frankly at this point, Beckett (1.86 ERA) is a must start anywhere, but

Huston Street RP (COL) - Street picked up his 20th save of the season last night, but he also gave up another run. Over his first 10 saves, Street had a 2.20 ERA, but over his past 10 saves,

Justin Verlander SP (DET) - Justin Verlander was simply dominant last night, flirting with his second no hitter of the season. He "settled" for a complete game shutout in which he allowed just 1 walk and 1 hit while

Ryan Dempster SP (CHC) - My opinion on Dempster remains unchanged: buy low candidate. It may be taking longer than owners would like, but I'm confident Dempster will turn it around. Believe it or not, Dempster currently is posting

Carlos Carrasco SP (CLE) - Carlos Carrasco tossed 8.1 shutout innings last night, earning the victory at home against the Twins. The peripherals were solid too as Carrasco struck out 6 while walking just 1 and giving up just

John Axford RP (MLW) - We had John Axford as a top 10 closer in the preseason, and after a rocky start Axford is making good on our prediction. He locked down his 15th save of the year yesterday

Alexei Ramirez SS (CHW) - Entering the season, Fantistics had Alexei Ramirez as a top 5 SS with the only concern surrounding him being his lack of plate discipline. However, Ramirez has shown more patience this year (BB% up

Ricky Romero SP (TOR) - Earlier in the year I warned about Romero wearing down as the season went long and not to get overwhelmed by his early season peripherals (as I did last season). Well after posting a

Michael Brantley OF (CLE) - Michael Brantley is enjoying a breakout season in large part due to his increase in EYE (from .58 to 1.13). His current EYE is being driven slightly by a reduction in strikeouts but primarily

Josh Tomlin SP (CLE) - Tomlin posted yet another quality start last night - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 ER. I'm still not sold, though. The fact of the matter is Tomlin has been REALLY

Ian Desmond SS (WAS) - Desmond is struggling in his sophomore season, hitting just .223/.256/.393. However, I think there's reason to be optimistic that things will be much better from here on out. For starters, Desmond's ISO has risen

Ian Desmond SS (WAS) - Desmond is struggling in his sophomore season, hitting just .223/.256/.393. However, I think there's reason to be optimistic that things will be much better from here on out. For starters, Desmond's ISO has risen

Alex Avila C (DET) - Avila continued his hot hitting into May as he hit 2 homers off of Bartolo Colon the other night. What was so impressive about the two homers is that both cleared the fence in

Brandon League RP (SEA) - League pitched a scoreless ninth inning yesterday and is now 7-7 in save opportunities with a 2.45 ERA. I, for one, am very skeptically of League continuing this success. For starters, League has never

Delmon Young OF (MIN) - I haven't lost faith in Young despite his slow start. In fact, I'm encouraged last year was not a fluke. Young is getting loft on his swing (38.8FB%), which is very important for his

Cole Hamels SP (PHI) - Two nights ago Hamels dominated the Padres, and after a brutal first start of the season (6 ER, 2.2 IP) Hamels' ERA is all the way down to 2.92. For some reason, people tend

Daisuke Matsuzaka SP (BOS) – Despite Daisuke’s successful Patriot’s Day start, I remain very skeptical and am even dropping him in some deeper leagues after delving into some of his swing data. Here are some very disturbing numbers. First of

Delmon Young OF (MIN) – Young went 0-4 last night to drop his average to .167 and has now struck out 9 times versus just one walk. Truth is, with a free swinger like Young, cold stretches like this are

Matt Kemp OF (LAD) – Kemp is off to a scorching start this year. He went 3-5 yesterday, which raises his average to an absurd .484. Kemp saw his K% rise last year, but early on appears to be making

Josh Beckett SP (BOS) – Beckett was rusty in his first start of the season, and it showed in his lack of control. He walked 4 batters and needed 106 pitches to get through 5 IP. However, with Beckett being

Wade Davis SP (TB) – Davis just signed a long term extension with the Rays, but what are his fantasy prospects for this year? Well, last year Davis was simply below average – 6.05 K/9, 3.32 BB/9 and 39.2 GB%.

Thoughts on carrying a 5th RP With the taxi squad being set at 14 players, there has been some talk on the discussion board on whether or not carrying a 5th RP is a good idea. I don’t believe it

Figuring out the Outfield Outfield is always one of the toughest positions to preview. There are just so many potential plays here that it is tough to cover even a good chunk of them. So, I’ll tell you how I

Behind the plate Generally, I like to go cheap at catcher as I’d rather spend my money on a safer, more predictable position that offers more upside. Well, we are in what some consider to be a golden age of

TORONTO BLUE JAYS Closer Update The Jays’ bullpen has been hit with a couple of injuries, shaking up the closer situation. Expected closer Frank Francisco received good news from Dr. James Andrews the other day – no structural damage, a

KANSAS CITY ROYALS Is anyone in this rotation worth owning? As of now, the projected Royals’ rotation, in no particular order, looks something like this: Kyle Davies, Jeff Francis, Bruce Chen, Luke Hochevar and Vin Mazzaro. Kyle Davies should not

This is part 2 of the TFC preseason preview. In part 1, I laid out my initial TFC team along with a preview of the corner infielders. Now, it's time for... Up the middle Second Base One of the nice

TFC Preview Last season I posted my roster prior to doing my position by position preview, and I’ll do the same this year. Seeing the whole roster first makes viewing the position by position analysis more meaningful. So, without further

There was a time in early January when it appeared that not having a rotisserie style salary cap game for fantasy baseball was a distinct possibility. That’s why, when Fantistics founder Anthony Perri told me he was interested in forming

Kansas City Royals Jarrod Dyson- Speedster in consideration for leadoff spot As of writing this, the Royals’ have played 5 Spring Training games, with Mike Aviles leading off three times, Lorenzo Cain once and Jarrod Dyson once. Dyson is the

Kansas City Royals Billy Butler 1B – How much will the power develop? Billy Butler is an intriguing fantasy option once again this year. He is an incredibly talented hitter, but he plays on an awful offensive club and had

A handful of years ago I entered a baseball competition run through CDM sports called the Diamond Challenge. At the time I was looking for the chance to enter a legitimate fantasy baseball competition in which I could win a

First off, I wanted to thank everyone who read and commented on my blog post regarding the Diamond Challenge. I think the comments are an indication that people really loved that style of fantasy game and are eager to see

Denard Span OF (MIN) – I really like Span to improve upon his numbers next season. His average dropped from .311 last season to .271 this year, yet his contact rate rose by almost 4 full percentage points. His EYE

James Shields SP (TB) – I was skeptical about Shields’ improved K/9 this season, but he has managed to sustain a high level of dominance. He entered last night’s start with a K/9 of 8.47, by far a career high

Zack Greinke SP (KC) – Greinke pitched well last night until a rough 6th inning, but he has certainly been a disappointment for fantasy owners this season. The bad news is that Greinke will probably never repeat his magical ’09

Carlos Carrasco SP (CLE) – In his first 2 starts this season, Carrasco showed excellent command (3.33 K/BB ratio) along with an outstanding ability to get groundballs (64.1 GB%). Although he received two no decisions, the result was a very

Nick Markakis OF (BAL) – Markakis’ downward trending power numbers for a player in his peek years are extremely disturbing. He homered yesterday, but it was just his 9th of the season! For a while, I chalked Markakis’ production up

Brandon Morrow SP (TOR) – I’ve been on the Brandon Morrow bandwagon for some time, and he continues to impress me. Yesterday he picked up his 10th victory of the season against the Tigers, allowing just 1 ER over 6

Madison Bumgarner SP (SF) – Bumgarner got absolutely lit up yesterday, as he gave up 7 ER without making it out of the third inning. He did strike out 3, though, while walking just 1. I wouldn’t worry too much

Jonathan Broxton RP (LAD) – Kuo blew a 3-1 lead last night, allowing 3 ER to the Braves in the bottom of the 9th and taking the loss. I find it hard to believe the experiment with him at closer

Nick Swisher OF (NYY) – Swisher is at the peak of his fantasy value right now. That’s not to say he is going to fall off anytime soon, it’s just to say everything is coming together for him. He is

Luke Scott OF (BAL) – Scott hit his 22nd homer of the year last night, and this now marks the third consecutive season in which Scott has hit 20+ homers. Scott has all of the skills for a near elite

Bobby Jenks RP (CHW) – I talked today about how Putz could easily close out ballgames if Jenks continues to struggle. The fact of the matter is, though, that Jenks really hasn’t struggled. Sure, his ERA is 5.13, but that

Matt Joyce OF (TB) – While it’s a small sample size (99 plate appearances), I’m really encouraged by Joyce’s increased patience this season. The 25 YO is walking a whopping 16.2% of the time. I’m buying this as real because

Evan Longoria 3B (TB) – Despite being in his third season and being in the peak of his career, Longoria is on pace for a career low in homers. He has just 14 through 95 games. However, I expect him

Jeff Niemann SP (TB) – Niemann improved to 8-2 with a win over the Yankees yesterday, although he did not pitch particularly well yielding 4 ER over 6 IP thanks to 4 BB and 2 HR. Niemann is a guy

Jose Valverde RP (DET) – Valverde earned his 19th save of the season yesterday against the twins, and he now has a brilliant .92 ERA after pitching a 1-2-3 9th inning that included 2 K’s. If you can get value

Tommy Hunter SP (TEX) - Hunter improved to 5-0 last night, but I have doubts about him moving forward. Entering the game he had a K/9 of 5.22 and K/BB ratio of 2.13 which is something you’d expect out of

Michael Saunders OF (SEA) - Saunders has flashed decent power (6 HR in 39 games), but I am critical of his ability to contribute to fantasy teams the rest of the season. He is striking out too much (33.3% of

David Ortiz DH (BOS) – After a tough April, I really thought Ortiz was done, particularly since he fared so terribly on fastballs, and it seemed like opposing pitchers knew it. Clearly, I was wrong and Ortiz was not done,

Roy Oswalt SP (HOU) – At first glance I’m tempted to say that Oswalt is likely to regress as his K/9 heading into last night’s start were 8.65 after having a K/9 of 7.12 or lower in each of the

Chris Tillman SP (BAL) - As I suggested after Tillman’s ’10 debut, he is likely to have little fantasy value this season. The early numbers on Tillman, as he pushed his ERA to 8.40 after last night’s start, are he

Austin Jackson OF (DET) – Jackson went 2-5 last night to raise his average to .308. I’d be willing to bet a lot that his average come year’s end will not be over .300. It’s doubtful that his 29.5 LD%

Delmon Young OF (MIN) - I’m joining Drew on his island; Delmon Young has a good chance for a nice second half breakout. At age 24, he is showing some serious improvements in important areas of his game. For starters,

Justin Morneau 1B (MIN) – Morneau is currently sporting a career high .372 batting average. Unfortunately for owners, it’s likely not sustainable. Morneau has hit over .300 only once in his career, back in 2006, and his current .337 singles

Gavin Floyd SP (CHW) - Floyd is a bit of an enigma. Last season his 4.06 ERA didn’t indicate how well he pitched as his xFIP was 3.69 thanks to a solid 2.76 K/BB ratio. This season his K/9 has

Justin Smoak 1B (TEX) – As we’ve noted all along in this space since the Smoak call up, he should be owned in all leagues. That is still the case, despite the fact that Smoak entered yesterday’s contest with a

Paul Konerko 1B (CHW) – What has gotten into Paul Konerko? He bopped his major league leading 13th HR last night. Not bad for a 34 YO slugger who is supposed to be in decline. Konerko’s HR/FB% has been pretty

Victor Martinez C (BOS) – Martinez is off to a slow start, posting a triple slash of .238/.307/.325 heading into last night’s contest with the Orioles. Those aren’t the numbers fantasy owners expected to see out of the consensus number

Nick Markakis OF (BAL) – Markakis currently has a career high K% of 22.2%. I don’t expect that to last. He isn’t chasing a lot of balls. In fact his chase percentage of 22% is currently 5 percentage points lower

Ben Zobrist 2B/OF (TB) – Zobrist is off to a slow start, and his plate discipline is the cause. Last season, Zobrist chased pitches just 19.3% of the time, which was about 6 percent less than the major league average.

Miguel Cabrera 1B (DET) – A couple of days ago, Tom commented on Cabrera’s potential to 40 HR. While it’s tough to believe that Miggy hasn’t hit the 40 HR mark in his 6 full seasons, I certainly agree with

The Closers The last couple of years, I’ve spent around 25% of my purchases on closers. Go ahead, laugh. Amazingly I’ve been able to stay competitive, and I just wonder what I can do if I can move purchases on

Rich Harden SP (TEX) – Not that the Ballpark at Arlington does any pitcher favors, but it should especially negatively affect Harden. One of Harden’s biggest weaknesses is his propensity to give up the long ball. While his FB% for

Starting Pitcher Preview The Top Tier I’m playing it relatively safe at SP this year, hoping to get ahead early by taking a lot of the top pitchers: Tim Lincecum 1510, Roy Halladay 1460, Dan Haren 1440, Zack Greinke 1310,

The Third Basemen The Must Haves Evan Longoria 1390 (TB) – Look for Longoria to put up A-Rod type numbers this season, minus a few steals and batting average points. There’s not too much to say about Longoria that hasn’t

Corner Infield Preview Part 1 First Base Must Haves Albert Pujols 1890 (STL) – Pujols is this year’s most expensive player, but with a few risks on my roster, I can ill afford to leave the best, and most consistent,

The Must Haves Gordon Beckham (CHW) 710 – Beckham is just too valuable to pass up at that price, unless you think he’ll fall victim to the sophomore slump. At Fantistics, we do not, and it is more than just

Pittsbirgh Pirates Closer Situation Right now, Octavio Dotel is slated to close out ball games for the Pirates. For three straight seasons he has posted elite level K rates (12.03/12.36/10.83). Last season he posted a really bad WHIP of 1.43,

Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutcheon - McCutcheon is one of the game’s better young hitters and one of the few reasons for hope for Pirates’ fans in the coming years. He is a young and exciting player, and if his pre-season

Up the Middle The Shortstops Asdrubal Cabrera (CLE) 740 - I like Asdrubal Cabrera as a safe, lower priced option at the SS position. He should be a well balanced player, who doesn’t impress in any one single category, but

Cincinnati Reds Chris Dickerson - Dickerson is a tad upset after he was passed over for a shot at the Reds’ CF job, which is likely to go to rookie Drew Stubbs. This leaves Dickerson most likely in a platoon

2010 DC Catcher Preview I hate catchers. I can never get this position right, much in part to the fact that I refuse to play it safe. Well, I guess old habits die hard. After making one of my goals

2010 Diamond Challenge Preview Okay, this is the second of two posts today. If you want to check out how I fared last season, you can find a recap in my earlier post today. This post is the first dedicated

To those in our audience who participate in Fanball’s Diamond Challenge game, I’m going to do a little preview as I did last year. For those of you who have not heard of the Diamond Challenge, it is a very

Cincinnati Reds Jay Bruce – Bruce has developed into a post-hype sleeper of sorts. He was the Reds’ top prospect heading into 2008, and he didn’t disappoint, blasting 21 HR as a rookie in 413 at bats. Last season, though,

Raul Ibanez – Ibanez hit his 14th HR of the season last night. He’s on pace to shatter his previous career high of 33 – the only time he’s hit 30+ HR in a season. In fact, it’s the only

Joe Mauer (C - TWINS) - In the past 4 seasons, Mauer has averaged just under 10 HR per year (in an average of 488 at bats). Yet, this season, after going long yesterday, he now has 6 HR in

Russ Ohlendorf – The Pirates continue to get strong starting pitching. This time it came in the form of Russ Ohlendorf, who over 6 IP allowed just 2 hits, 1 ER, 0 BB, and struck out 5. His ERA is

Carl Pavano – Pavano was strong early in last night’s game, but his final line ended up not being that pretty as he pitched 6 and 1/3rds innings allowing 10 hits and 4 ER. He didn’t walk anyone, but then

John Danks – Danks showed his ability to dominate last night. Despite receiving a no decision, he pitched 6 strong innings, striking out 10 while only allowing 1 walk and 1 ER. Last year, Danks broke out, sporting an impressive

Ryan Braun – For me, one of the biggest surprises on this young season is the quick development of Ryan Braun’s plate discipline. He posted EYE’s of .26 and .33 in his first two big league seasons. So far, this

Magglio Ordonez - Ordonez continues to be ice cold at the plate. He went 1 for 4 last night, which actually slightly raised his average to .241. So, is age catching up the 35 YO outfielder or is he simply

Robinson Cano – Cano, as anticipated, is rebounding from a down ’08 campaign. Yesterday afternoon, he belted two homers, his 4th and 5th homers of the season. He is now hitting .366. Last year, Cano struggled both in terms of

Vernon Wells – Wells and the Jays continued to swing hot bats last night. Wells finished the game going 3-5, driving in 2 runs and scoring 2 as well. He also walked once and struck out once. It seems to

Kevin Millwood – Millwood threw a complete game last night, allowing just 2 runs, but he was outdueled by Zack Greinke. Millwood has been spectacular in three starts for the Rangers so far this season, allowing just 3 earned runs

Pablo Sandoval – Many people had Pablo Sandoval pegged for a breakout season. We were a little bit conservative than most with our projections for Sandoval, calling for just 12 HR and a .283 average. First, let’s discuss the power.

Cliff Lee – A drop off from last year’s CY Young award winner was expected, but he has been brutal through the season’s first two games, allowing 11 earned runs in ten innings of work. Lee has a solid K

Jimmy Rollins – Rollins is off to a cold start, going just 1 for his 14 at bats, with that one hit being a single. That can’t be comforting to owners, especially since his ’08 season was a disappointment. Still,

John Danks – Expect Danks to see a slight jump in his ERA as the 76% LOB% he posted last season is likely not sustainable. Other than that, though, Danks’ numbers are legitimate. He showed good control last season (2.79

Choosing relief pitchers is extremely difficult to do because of both the difficulty in projecting saves and the lack of job security that a lot of closers face. So, it is good to take a couple solid guys (hopefully without

The must haves Tim Lincecum 1310 – Lincecum is our top ranked pitcher and a no-brainer in this contest. At his price he’s probably a must play almost every week. Yovani Gallardo 670 – Gallardo is a top 15 pitcher

There are a lot of good 1st base options this year for the DC, and selecting the correct combination will be key towards winning a league championship. The must have Ryan Howard 1490 – With all the slugging first baseman,

The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley is still having problems regarding his strained groin. He will not start Sunday but will partake in a bullpen session today. Hopefully Billingsley’s groin problem won’t linger too much longer or it could impact the start

An apology to the CDM/Fanball audience. I am on vacation, so the 1st Base preview will be posted next Monday (the 23rd) along with the Starting Pitcher preview on that day. Thanks!

Kansas City David Dejesus – The Royals are considering shifting Dejesus from the leadoff role to the number 3 slot in the lineup. That would boost Dejesus’ values, when he seems poised to have one of his best professional seasons.

Third Base The must have Evan Longoria 970 – If Longoria comes anywhere near our projection: .290, 87 RS, 104 RBI’s, 34 HR, and 9 B, then he is a must have. In draft leagues Longoria is a bit of

Alex Rodriguez – An update on the Alex Rodriguez hip situation: It appears this injury is more serious than originally thought. Not only did A-Rod have a cyst in his hip, but he also has a torn labrum. By moving

MIDDLE INFIELDERS SHORTSTOP SS is a position where you are taking 3-4 players. With the high amount of quality 1B and OF (as we saw last week), I’m probably sticking with just 3. Taking that into account, it appears to

Kyle Kendrick – Kendrick is the early frontrunner for the last spot in the Philadelphia rotation. They might be better off looking elsewhere. Kendrick has a career K rate of .422, and a terrible K/BB ratio of 1.43. If he

Okay everyone, welcome to the first official installment of the Diamond Challenge Preview. Today, I’ll go over some very basic strategy and then analyze the OF options for this year. I will also be posting the next 5 Mondays: 1.

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Fantistics as we all gear up for another season of fantasy baseball. This year I’m going to try and reach out to the CDM/Fanball portion of our audience and write a few blogs dealing specifically

Jed Lowrie – Lowrie was probably Boston’s MVP last night. He drove in their first 2 runs and also scored their third run. Lowrie finished the night 2-2 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk. Both of his

Trevor Hoffman – Hoffman recorded his 28th save of the season, and he will most likely save at least 30 games for the 13th season out of the last 14. The only season he did not obtain 30 saves came

Daisuke Matsuzaka – Dice-K might have a sub 3 ERA this season, but he has not pitched as well as one might think. He has a pretty atrocious walk rate, allowing 5.29 batters to reach 1st base via a free

Gavin Floyd – Floyd won for the 14th time this season by defeating the Orioles yesterday, but I am still unconvinced that he is a good fantasy pitcher. I have not been a Floyd fan all season because I feel

Jimmy Rollins – Rollins is having a disappointing season thus far, hitting .263/.329/.425 after an MVP season last year where he hit .296/.344/.531. The dip in Rollins’ batting average can largely be attributed to bad luck. Rollins is having the

Charlie Zink – Charlie Zink had been tearing up the minor leagues before being added to the Boston rotation. This year at triple-A, he had a 13 – 4 record thanks to a 2.89 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He did

Chris Volstad – Don’t get too excited about Volstad shutting down the Phils over 6 innings yesterday. He only struck out 3, and meanwhile, he yielded 4 walks. On the season, the rookie has posted a K/BB ratio of 1.60

Jeremy Sowers – In 2006, Sowers had a brilliant rookie season, pitching in 88.3 innings as a starter with an ERA of 3.57 and WHIP of 1.189. The Indians then expected him to be a critical part of the rotation

Russell Martin – Martin went 2 – 4 last night, and his average now sits at .294, which is where it ended last season. I would not be surprised, though, to see Martin end this season with his average at

Mike Aviles – When Aviles was first called up, I liked him in AL leagues because of some of the things he had done in the minor leagues, but I did not expect the level of success he is having

Nate McLouth – McLouth has certainly shown by now that he is not a fluke, and he did that once more yesterday. McLouth finished up the day going 1 – 3 with 2 runs, and 3 RBI’s. His 1 hit

Robinson Cano – Cano is very high on my list of bounce back players for the second half of the season. We have said it before, but the fact of the matter remains true: Cano’s current singles average is a

David Bush – Was bush dominating or what yesterday? He allowed just one unearned run off of 3 hits, and most impressively, he struck out 13 while walking none. 5 of Bush’s last 6 starts have been quality starts, and

Jered Weaver – Weaver has posted two straight dominant starts. His last time out he did not allow a hit while walking three batters and striking out six. He unkindly ended up with the loss, though, as he allowed one

John Lackey – Lackey continued to dominate yesterday. He was one out away from a shutout when he was taken out of the game, and he ended up with 9 K’s and 2 BB’s. The win improved Lackey’s record to

John Danks – John Danks added his 10th quality start in 15 games started this season last night. He allowed one run over 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking none. Posting a 2.90 ERA entering that start, Danks

John Lackey – I said about a month ago to watch and see what Lackey’s BB rate settles down to be in order to determine if Lackey would be the top fantasy pitcher that he was last year or just

Jason Bergmann - I was somewhat excited about Bergmann as a nice sleeper pick in deeper leagues, but he just posted his second straight very bad start. Bergmann does have a good K rate (8.79 K/9), allowing him to have

Miguel Cabrera – Cabrera’s singles average the past 4 seasons has been .287/.293/.300/.295, but this year it sits at .255. Also, Cabrera’s ISO, which had been on an upwards trend (.201/.219/.238/.229/.245) sits at .178. At age 25 it is impossible

Mark Teahen – Teahen, who homered last night, had a breakout season back in 2006, but he has been unable to build on that success. For one thing, Teahen’s HR rate from ’06 sticks out like a sore thumb. Here

Jorge Campillo – Entering play yesterday, Campillo had a .86 ERA and .830 WHIP, and he was downright awesome again in his third start of the season yesterday. He allowed just one run (the only run he has allowed in

Gavin Floyd – It seems that we are always hating on Gavin Floyd, and he keeps proving us wrong. Last night Floyd threw a complete game, allowing 3 runs. Once again, though, we witnessed a mediocre at best skill set

John Lackey – John Lackey looked good in his second straight start after returning from the disabled list. He picked up the win against Toronto, going 7 innings and allowing just one run off of 7 hits. He also walked

Jay Bergmann – Bergmann threw 7 innings of shutout ball yesterday picking up the win. He impressively struck out 9 along the way, while walking just 2. This start might come as a surprise because entering the game Bergmann had

Jose Contreras – Contreras has somewhat bounced back from last season’s disaster. He picked up his third win last night, pitching 7 innings of one run ball to lower his ERA under 4. Contreras has been better this year, mainly

Grady Sizemore – Sizemore had a monster 2006 season in which he had an amazing 92 extra base hits, an average of .57 extra base hits per game. Sizemore was solid last season, but even in that year and so

Roy Oswalt – Oswalt had another shaky outing last night, even though he received the victory. Oswalt gave up four runs (three earned) in six innings. Three of those runs scored on two Milwaukee homers, and it seems as if

Kevin Kouzmanoff - Tony pointed out that Kouzmanoff is a batting average killer, but what is disappointing me so far is the lack of power. Kouzmanoff went yard two nights ago, but it was just his second homerun of the

Boof Bonser – Bonser gave up only one run last night, a solo HR off the bat of Joe Crede, over 7 innings versus the White Sox. He allowed 6 hits, while striking out 8 and walking 1. That is

Josh Hamilton – Fantistics preseason projections for Hamilton show that we thought fairly highly of him (.287/33/99), and so far he has not disappointed (.293/4/21) through the first 23 games. He also added to his totals last night, going 2-5

James Shields – Shields has put up decent numbers so far this year despite a lot of bad luck. He gave up two more unearned runs last night, bringing his season total of unearned runs to 7 in just 5

Kyle Lohse – Lohse continues to dominate through 4 starts this season, as he pitched 7 innings giving up 2 earned runs off of 5 hits and walking none while striking out 3 versus the Brewers yesterday. Frankly, I’m as

Shaun Marcum – With the top three starters in Toronto’s rotation garnering so much attention, it is easy for Marcum to get overlooked, but he is certainly worth a look in all fantasy formats. Last year was a semi-breakout season

  Good morning everyone!!  Welcome to Insiderbaseball.com's Coaches Meeting for Week #2...and the opening day for Fantistics Regular Season reporting! American League In the Field It appears as if Brian Roberts is determined to repeat last year’s 50 steals