FanDuel: SB Nation One Day Fantasy Leagues
Many of you play in season-long leagues, while more and more of you are playing one day fantasy leagues. If you like the action of the one day leagues, make sure you join the FanDuel/SB Nation one day fantasy baseball leagues. All you need to do is click on the link below and join a league.
FanDuel/SB Nation One Day Fantasy League
- Leagues start at 7pm every evening
- It is only $3 to enter, and the top 8,775 win cash
- Top prize of $10,000
- Click the link above to learn more and get started
- On most days, our own Tim Finnegan (@TimFinn521) on Twitter) offers his picks for your daily FanDuel rosters. His articles post at 6am daily.
Hector Olivera: Impact bat in the major leagues?
The Dodgers made the signing of Cuban infielder Hector Olivera official yesterday, and here is the Dodgers plan for Olivera now that he is on their 40 man roster, via Eric Stephen at True Blue LA:
"He'll be [in Arizona] for a week or so before heading to [Class-A Rancho Cucamonga] for a few games. We're kind of treating that a little bit like a spring training," Friedman said. "Then we'll get him to [Triple-A] Oklahoma City for a while, and reassess at that point."
Olivera has been practicing in the Dodgers camp in the Dominican, playing some second base and third base, and more than likely he will be playing third base once he finishes his "spring training" at a few of the Dodgers minor league affiliates.
Here is more from Dodgers President Andrew Friedman:
"He'll tell you he's most comfortable at second, but he's had no problems moving around the infield in Cuba. At our academy he got a lot of work at second and third, and the reports on both were good," Friedman said. "His bat is his carrying tool, and has a chance to be a real impact bat in the major leagues. We're going to do everything we can to provide the environment to move him along."
Impact bat? I don't think Friedman would stick his neck out there on Olivera if he didn't think it was true. And he did spend $62.5 million on him. I heard Peter Gammons on MLB Radio a few days ago and he was saying something similar about Olivera, saying that he is one of the best bats to come out of Cuba, and that is saying something with the likes of Jose Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes and others coming to major league baseball over the last 3-4 years. I have to say I was shocked when I heard Gammons speak highly of him.
With that said, it is time to grab Olivera off of your league waiver wire if he is available. If your league uses FAAB, feel free to spend $50 of your $100 available FAAB dollars on him because at this point, there aren't many minor leaguers ready for a call that will have the impact the Olivera is expected to have.
I traded $5 FAAB for Olivera in the Tout Wars NL only league about a week into the season, and am hoping it pays off for me. Assuming Olivera needs about a month of games in the minors, we should see him playing third base at the end of June, and possibly sooner.
For more on Olivera and the Dodgers, make sure you check out True Blue LA, SB Nation's Dodgers fan site.
Roto Roundup
After putting up a breakout season at the age of 31 in 2014, Orioles "second baseman" Steve Pearce has struggled at the plate this season. Last night, he went 2-4 with a runs scored and an RBI in the Orioles 9-4 win over the disappointing Mariners. Pearce is now hitting just .202-.277-.321 with 3 home runs, 12 runs scored and 11 RBI in 84 at bats. The fact that he has second base eligibility, or is nearing eligibility depending on your league rules, certainly helps his fantasy value, but he will have to warm up at the plate real soon. He is owned in just 15% of leagues right now, and for good reason. I don't see him repeating his 2014 breakout, but he does possess decent power that could help your fantasy team should you experience an injury at second base.
One hitter who I thought could put up a breakout season was Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, and he hasn't disappointed to date. Last night, he went 1-4 with a walk, home run, and an RBI in the Nationals 8-6 win over the Yankees. On the season, Harper is hitting .336-.474-.737 with 15 home runs, 37 runs scored, 38 RBI and a 41-37 strikeout to walk rate in 174 plate appearances. He is leading the National League in home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks, slugging, OPS and ranks fourth in batting average. Add in the fact that he leads all major leaguers in fWAR and you are looking at the early favorite for NL MVP right now.
After getting knocked around in each of his last three starts, and four of his last five starts, Royals starter Yordano Ventura got back on track last night, shutting out the Reds on 4 hits, no walks and 6 strikeouts over 7 innings in the Royals 3-0 win. The win moves his record to 3-1 with a 4.56 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 36-15 strikeout to walk rate in 47.1 innings thus far. Prior to last night's start, Ventura had given up 21 earned runs over his last 28.2 innings, spanning his last five starts. His fantasy owners hope that this start can get him back on track to being the dominant starter he was last season.
I recently penned a piece opining that the Cardinals should make a trade for Phillies ace Cole Hamels, mainly due to the fact that they don't have a legitimate ace starting pitcher with Adam Wainwright out for the season with an achilles injury. Well, some Cardinals fans disagreed with my opinion that they don't possess an ace in their rotation, saying that Michael Wacha and Lance Lynn are their aces. Wacha has pitched well this season, and that continued last night, as he limited the Mets to 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 7 innings, moving his record to 6-0 with a 2.13 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and a 31-12 strikeout to walk rate in 50.2 innings. Wacha has given up two runs or less in seven of his eight starts this season, and has given up one run or less in five of those starts. He doesn't strike out as many batters as you would like, as he is averaging just 5.51 K/9, but is limiting the walks and is inducing ground balls at a 50% rate.
It is just May 19th, but it appears I was wrong on Diamondbacks third baseman Yasmany Tomas, as we many others. We heard back in spring training that Tomas was overweight, couldn't play third base, and would struggle at the plate in the major leagues. Well, he may not be that great on defense, but he has shown that he can handle big league pitching. Last night, he went 2-3 with a walk and a run scored in the Diamondbacks 4-2 win over the Marlins, improving his slash line to .342-.390-.434 with a home run, 9 runs scored, 11 RBI and 2 stolen bases in 82 plate appearances thus far. He hasn't shown the power that we all heard about when the Diamondbacks signed him in the offseason, but is hitting for average and getting on base, so the power should come in short order.
Fantasy Rundown
If you are looking for more fantasy advice, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown for all your fantasy baseball and football needs.