MLB Power Rankings 2016: Week 2 – April

Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs

Disclaimer:  We based these rankings on best strength to win the World Series.  Therefore some teams that have an easier division to play in, with the least path of resistance to the postseason overall may be ranked a lot higher than a club who is equally talented, yet may play in a juggernaut of a division.

The Cubs will top our list for a second straight week despite losing 2 out of 3 games to the Rockies at Wrigley Field this weekend.  The biggest reason is the pitching.

Jake Arrieta is 3 – 0, and has picked up right where we he left off in 2015, and Jon Lester has thrown awesome too.  The Bullpen has also been good.

The bats are too solid not to come around and gel as the season moves along.  They are playing .750 baseball after a 4 – 2 week still.

Bryce Harper is the best player on the planet, and has homered in 6 straight contests at Citizens Bank Ball Park (4 overall in a row for the MLB this year.)

Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy are their top players – and all performing like it, the rest of the club is following through in their secondary roles.  This team is scary.

I have the Royals as the top American League club.  This squad is 8 – 1 in games that are not started by back end of the rotation man Chris Young.

The reigning 2 time pennant winners have company on the top of the Division to make it interesting, however this team has the better pedigree the last few years.

Some may say with a weekend series win – that the Dodgers should be put in front of the Giants, yet they are still only one game ahead of San Francisco.

With the Giants – there is no real weakness, while with the Los Angeles team, the Bullpen is not giving everyone confidence in the back half of games.

The Dodger Blue is still in the top 5, so I am high on them. Kenta Maeda could be the steal of the winter with how this guy is throwing so far.  Reinforcements are starting to come back.

Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Draft Kings 4/18/16

P- Noah Syndergaard (vs. Philadelphia Phillies): $12,100. Syndergaard is a must start on todays lineups. He is facing a very soft offense, who strikes out 27% of the time. He is striking out 14.5 batters per 9 innings, so clearly this matchup could be an elite scoring performance from the man known as Thor. He is averaging 33 points per game on Draft Kings this year. He comes at a steep price, but he is clearly worth the money. I was between Syndergaard and Jose Fernandez, but Syndergaard had a much better match-up.

P- Hector Santiago (vs. Chicago White Sox): $7,400. Santiago isn’t my favorite pitcher when it comes to daily fantasy, but he is the best mid-tier pitcher available on Monday. He will be facing the Chicago White Sox, in which he has had a good amount of success against them. In 68 career at bats against Santiago, the White Sox are hitting .176 with 25 strikeouts. That is a 37% strikeout rate, which means his strikeout potential on Monday could make him a very good option.

 

To see the rest of the picks, click the link below:

 

 

CLICK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICKS

Dutch Hoofdklasse, Sunday April 17

On day three of round one, L&D Amsterdam Pirates headed to Hoofddorp to take on Vaessen Pioniers. De Glaskoning Twins moved to Rotterdam to face Curacao Neptunus. UVV took on DSS in an attempt to sweep the team from Haarlem and Kinheim visited Bussum to take on HCAW.  One very surprising outcome that perhaps no-one expected. 

Dutch Hoofdklasse, Sunday April 17

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – April 17, 2016

MLB Reports

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

It is Sunday and time for The Sunday Request

For each team (if possible), which numbers worn by active players will be retired eventually? #SundayRequest@sullybaseball

— cubsfan (@cu8sfan) April 6, 2016

I took a look at not only current players but also which numbers should be retired now!

It is a take the shirt off my back episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.

Melvin Upton Jr.Jake Arrieta, Trevor Plouffe, David Price, Stephen PiscottyandCarlos Beltran all added to their totals for Who Owns Baseball yesterday.

See the updated listing of WOB on MLB Reports

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DFS Picks For DraftKings – 4/17/16

MLB Reports

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

Follow The MLBreports On TwitterFollow @mlbreports

APRIL 17, 2016

Lets start off by saying that the game between the Rangers and O’s today has been PPD already due to rain.  Make sure you switch out all of your fantasy selections off of this.

I like the Cubs, Nats and Cardinals all to win their games here, but also like Jarred Cosart to lead the Marlins in avoiding the sweep to the Braves.

All of those clubs I picked just there are perfect for stacking.  Love Bryce Harper no matter what the price because he will draw walks even if it is a slow day/  He had homered in 5 straight games and destroys Philly pitching in that short porch at CBP.

I went with Buster Posey at Catcher because he will play in the night game for sure.

Starting Pitchers 

1.

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DFS Picks For FanDuel – 4/17/16

MLB Reports

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

Follow The MLBreports On TwitterFollow @mlbreports

APRIL 17, 2016…ALL times in EST (Late Slate)

Starting Pitchers 

1. Jon Lester, ($1o500) vs. COL

2. Michael Wacha, ($8500) vs CIN

3.  Jarred Cosart  ($6200) vs MIA

Player Stacks/Team Offense

Chicago Cubs  vs. Tyler Chatwood

St. Louis vs. Jon Moscot

Miami Marlins vs. Jhoulys Chacin

Sample Lineups

P –  Michael Wacha, CIN @ STL, $8500

C – Buster Posey  LAD @ SF $3700

1B – Justin Bour, ATL @ MIA, $2500

2B – Dee Gordon, ATL @ MIA, $2600

3B –  Travis Shaw. TOR @ BOS, $2700

SS –  Addison Russell, CIN @ CHC, $2800

OF –  Giancarlo Stanton. ATL @ MIA, $4800

OF – Dexter Fowler, CIN @ CHC, $2800

OF – Jorge Soler, CIN @ CHC, $2700

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$35, 000, 000…

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Can The Boston Red Sox Solve the Pablo Sandoval Situation?

A mere 18 months after signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox, third baseman Pablo Sandoval has for all intents and purposes become a pariah with his new team. Having lost his starting job at the end of the recently concluded spring training, his future with the team is unknown, and at the same time feels untenable. With four seasons remaining on his deal, it’s incumbent upon the Red Sox to find a solution, but what can be done?

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