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Fantasy Football Team Previews
Robert Kohnfelder has been previewing the 2016 fantasy football season by taking a look at the top fantasy weapons in each of the NFL divisions over the the last several weeks, and here are links to the divisions he has previewed to date:
2016 Fantasy Football Team Previews
Robert recently published his early June position rankings as well:
Matias Wonder took a look at some under valued and over valued players according to current ADP rankings this week:
Early ADP Check: Overpriced and Underpriced
Robert Keeley ranked his early quarterback rankings for Dynasty leagues as well:
2016 Fantasy Football Dynasty Quarterback Rankings
Nick Castellanos is breaking out
It took him awhile, but Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos is finally breaking out in his third year in the big leagues, with a big improvement in the power categories. On Wednesday, Castellanos had a big day at the plate going 3-5 with a double, home run, and 5 RBI in the Tigers 12-2 win over the Indians. This big day raised his triple slash line to .307-.346-.540 with 16 home runs, 43 runs scored and 50 RBI.
He still doesn’t walk much, but he is making more hard contact and hitting more fly balls than he has in the past, and the results are an increase in his ISO and slugging percentage. He has already eclipsed his career high in home runs, and is on pace to hit 30 home runs and nearly 100 RBI. He isn’t talked about as one of the top fantasy third baseman, but he should be, as he currently ranks in the top 10 in three of the five fantasy categories, home runs, RBI and batting average.
Roto Roundup
The Pirates finally called up top prospect Tyler Glasnow and he will make his major league debut later today vs the Cardinals. Glasnow, one of the top 10 prospects in the game, has struggled with his command this season, but has still proven to be relatively unhittable and is 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 17 Triple A starts. Domenic Lanza wrote many words on his call up on Wednesday and you can read them in the link below:
Here is an excerpt on what we can expect from Glasnow from Domenic’s piece:
All things considered, it is difficult to fault the Pirates for keeping Glasnow down for so long, despite objections to the contrary. His walk rate is horrendous at this point, and it is quite disconcerting. The run prevention may be there, but can this trend continue? There are currently eight starting pitchers with BB/9 of 4.00 or worse that qualify for the ERA crown; among those, only Danny Salazar has an ERA below 4.34. Last year, only Trevor Bauer finished with a BB/9 over 4.00, and he wrapped-up the year with a 4.55 ERA.
Going forward, I suspect that this rotation spot is Glasnow’s to lose. Taillon is hurt, and was on an innings limit to begin with, and there is still a great deal of dead weight in the rotation overall. If Glasnow impresses, he will be here to stay. If he struggles, he will likely be sent back down - particularly if the Pirates continue their frustrating inconsistency.
The Mets placed right handed starter Matt Harvey on the 15 day disabled list on Wednesday with shoulder discomfort. Here is more from Marc Carig from Newsday:
Harvey, the embattled Mets righthander, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with what the team is calling right shoulder “discomfort.” On Thursday, the pitcher will visit a St. Louis-based vascular specialist, Dr. Robert Thompson.
A source told Newsday’s David Lennon that the Mets suspect Harvey may have thoracic outlet syndrome, a relatively rare condition that could mean a variety of outcomes, including season-ending surgery.
Harvey had struggled all season, and is now his season could be over should his shoulder require surgery. He is 4-10 with a 4.86 ERA, 1..47 WHIP and a 76-25 strikeout to walk rate in 92.2 innings this season. Harvey gave up three or more runs in 9 of his 17 starts this season, and is coming off a start where he gave up 5 earned runs on 11 hits in just 3.2 innings. There are probably starters on your league waiver wire that are putting up better stats than Harvey has thus far, so he should be easily replaceable depending upon your league format.
I was pretty high on Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco coming into the season, and although he had his share of struggles, he has turned it on lately. On Wednesday afternoon, Franco went 1-3 with a walk, home run and 2 runs scored in the Phillies come from behind win over the Braves. Franco is hitting .262-.319-.480 with 17 home runs, 33 runs scored and 49 RBI in 80 games played, and is on pace to hit 32 home runs and drive in 90+ runs. He has now homered in four straight and five of his last eight games, and is somehow still available in over 20% of leagues right now. How does that happen?
After the Giants signed free agent starter Johnny Cueto, some in the baseball media thought they were taking a risk based on his poor second half last season. Well, so much for that analysis, as Cueto has pitched like the ace he was when the Reds traded him last summer. Last night, Cueto limited the Rockies to a run on 5 hits, a walk and 8 strikeouts in a complete game win. Cueto is now 13-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 115-24 strikeout to walk rate in 131.1 innings this season. He has given up two runs or fewer in 13 of his 18 starts this season, and forms a very good 1-2 with Madison Bumgarner at the top of the Giants rotation. He has to be a top 12 starter right now, no?
Fantasy Rundown
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