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Freddie Freeman Found His Power in 2016, But Did it in a Unique Way
As the Atlanta Braves continued selling off MLB talent to rebuild for the future last winter, general manager John Coppolella was adamant about one thing: first baseman Freddie Freeman wasn’t going anywhere.
Fast-forward to a few months later as the left-handed hitter wraps up a career year and everyone can see why he’s worth every penny of that $135 million contract. Enjoying such a performance was probably the furthest thing from Freeman’s mind after a rough first two months, though.
By the end of May, he was just hoping to get hot and dig himself out of a slow start. While Atlanta’s offense as a whole was historically bad, Freeman also struggled to a .251/.338/.419 triple slash with eight home runs and 15 RBI.
Then, the first baseman caught fire – he’s hitting .335/.435/.654 with 25 homers and 73 RBI since June 1, including a ridiculous 1.249 OPS through 82 at-bats in September.
The biggest sign of growth in Freeman’s game has been his power. His 33 homers and .980 OPS are currently career highs, while his 43 doubles are tied for a career high. This has produced a 6.2 fWAR, which ranks within the top 10 in all of baseball.
So, how did he do it? Not exactly the same way as most young sluggers tap into their power potential.
Swanson’s promotion an omen for Albies?
The Atlanta Braves have traded shortstop Eric Aybar to the Detroit Tigers and promoted their top prospect Dansby Swanson to the Bigs. With this move Swanson leapfrogs AAA.
At AA Swanson wasn’t hitting very well as he hit a modest .261. His defense was decent with a fielding percentage of .980 (eight errors in eighty-three games). But since Eric Aybar was only hitting .242 with the Braves, they can take some risk. Even though the club is playing better lately, the team is going nowhere since they are dead last in the NL East, trailing the division leading Washington Nationals by 26.5 games.
With the Mississippi Braves, Swanson was the team mate and formed a double play tandem with Ozzie Albies. Earlier this season, Albies was promoted to AAA Gwinnett and did pretty well there. But the Braves wanted the two to get accustomed to each other as they see them as their future middle infield combo, so the Braves demoted Albies to AA again. But it is clear that Swanson is a patient hitter as he reached base 16 out of his 17 last at bats at AA.
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Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Fanduel, DraftKings, and Fanpicks 7/9/16
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks (7/9/16): MLB DFS Advice
Fanduel Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks (7/9/16): MLB DFS Advice
Fanpicks Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks (7/9/16): MLB DFS Advice
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Daily Matchups for 7/9/2016
Pitcher
STUDS
Max Scherzer- Easily the top pitcher on the day. Mets haven’t been hitting well of late. Should get plenty of strikeouts and a shot at the W.
Carlos Martinez- Brewers have combined to hit 13-56 of Martinez, and are one of the worst offenses vs. RHP’s this season.
MID RANGE
Danny Salazar- Right now the Yankees offense is a hot mess. Only down fall here is they don’t strike out much, which limits his upside. More of a GPP play here.
Lance McCullers- McCullers has great strikeout numbers but at 4 walks per 9, it runs that pitch count up in a hurry that being said, a matchup with Oakland could offer some nice fantasy value.
VALUE
Rick Porcello- Only there Rays really have good match ups vs. the Boston righty, but the Rays as a whole have been horrible this season vs. righties. Porcello is in play in cash and GPP for me today.
CATCHER
STUDS
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Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Fanduel, DraftKings, and Fanpicks – 7/3/16
DraftKings Daily Fantasy Baseball Lineup Picks (7/3/16): MLB DFS Advice
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Daily Matchups for 7/3/2016
Pitcher
Corey Kluber
Jon Lester
Noah Syndergaard
Jose Quintana
Adam Conley
Cole Hamels
Matt Shoemaker
Catcher
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These 2 MLB Players have Unexpectedly Boosted Their Trade Value This Season
Just like beauty, MLB trade value is in the eye of the beholder. What one interested team deems as desirable may not float the next team’s boat and vice versa.
The non-waiver trade deadline is at the end of July (or in this case, the beginning of August) for a reason. Not only does it allow teams to figure out if they have a chance at contending, but it also gives players time to show whether or not they’re worth the inherent risk that comes with acquiring them.
Some players who carried trade value on Opening Day have either maintained or enhancedit – Jonathan Lucroy and Jay Bruce come to mind – while others lost what little value they appeared to have left – like Matt Kemp.
Then, there’s another group of players that already had zero value, but have surprised everyone with their current performance. And since this level of play has been sustained through the first half of the season, there’s a good chance they’ll be wearing a different uniform within the next few weeks.
Outside of relief pitchers, the midseason trade market may not be as robust as in recent years. Teams in need of a boost must overturn every rock to find the value needed in order to reach the postseason and find success. That can lead front office executives down some unlikely paths, but these two players in particular seem more unlikely than the rest.
Ender Inciarte Showed off all his Skills & Boosted his Trade Value in 1 Weekend vs. New York Mets
Outside of their current five-game winning streak, the rebuilding year of 2016 has been awfully hard on the Atlanta Braves. What would make it sting a little less is finding legitimate trade value on the big-league roster – outside of Julio Teheran and Freddie Freeman, of course.
When Atlanta traded away Shelby Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a king’s ransom over the winter, multiple teams immediately asked about Ender Inciarte. Not only was he a good outfielder with some speed and coming off a solid 2015 (.303/.338/.408, six homers, 45 RBI, 73 runs scored), one would assume he had no space in the Braves’ rebuild.
Those teams are probably right – it’s likely just a matter of time before Inciarte is traded away for more young talent. Him missing about a month with a hamstring injury and putting up a cumulative line of .234/.303/.317 through 167 at-bats this year probably doesn’t help his trade value very much, but it shouldn’t matter.
He showed exactly how valuable he is in the matter of just two innings during a weekend series against the New York Mets at Citi Field. He was a force throughout the three-game set, slashing .308/.357/.462 during the sweep, but it was what he did late on Saturday night that really caught my eye.
MLB Fantasy Daily (DFS) Picks For DraftKings – 5/17/16
Cabrera has absolutely destroyed Starter Phil Hughes in his career, – with 6 Bolts in just 43 AB. He and the Tigers take their road act to Target Field again tonight. Last evening they scored 10 runs for the 1st time all season. i would not be surprised to see them turn the feat again tonight. The Tigers are also not overpriced yet as they have struggled most of the year. They are the top stacking option lineup all night.
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21
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15 Games – ALL Day Slate (DraftKings, Tuesday May 17, 2016)
Stacking Options tonight Rank
(1) Baltimore vs Wade Miley
(2) Detroit Tigers vs Phil Hughes
(3) Houston vs Carlos Rodon
(5) LA Dodgers vs Jered Weaver
(5) Chicago Cubs vs Chase Anderson
3 Pitchers to use.
(1) Clayton Kershaw, LAA @ LAD, $13, 700
(2) Wei-Yin Chen. MIA @ PHI, $8500
(3) Juan Nicasio, ATL @ PIT, $7300 Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The MLB 2016 World Series + Best And Worst Bets
The Mets made it to the World Series in 2015 after a subpar start heading into the Trade Deadline. With a ton of pitching and some decent positional players still on the roster, they could set themselves up for a lengthy run in the NL East. Especially if they can coordinate a couple of trades near the Trade Deadline. While they may have started slow, the bats are alive and well, and the rotation should come around soon. They are this week’s best odd.
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21 Follow @baseballblogs
The Nationals asserted themselves on this leaderboard thanks to a quick start. They were my 2nd best bet last week at +1100. Now the odd at +650 is not worth any money at all.
Since Washington was able to play so well, this has created the perfect storm to put some more cash on the Mets. At +1300, New York is just begging for a wager.
The strength of schedule to which the Nats have played has definitely factored in. 2 series versus the Braves and Marlins and one against the Phillies already, Dusty Baker‘s club has had about a ‘cupcake itinerary’ as you possibly could find.
It gets better for the District’s squad, as they go home for another series with Philadelphia – that comes on the heels of a weekend Interleague series versus the Twins.
If Washington wins those 2 series, they should be about 15 or 16 wins after 22 games. They should cement themselves in the playoffs with an easy NL East opponents schedule all year. I just want to see them play some tougher clubs.
The Mets offense has sprung to life behind the backs of Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, David Wright and Michael Conforto. When the Pitching Rotation settles in a little bit, they should take off.
While Washington is leading the Division, they have yet to face the NL reigning pennant winners. The division win could come down to the 19 contests between the two clubs.
Terry Collins‘ team has 16 straight games versus squads with losing records. While the Giants are capable of contending all year, New York should be able to match them well for pitching. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Power Rankings 2016: Week 2 – April
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21
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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. Read the rest of this entry
DFS Picks For FanDuel – 4/15/16
Josh Robbins (Featured Fantasy BBBA Writer/60ft6in.com) Follow @Qualcomm98
Follow The BBBA On Twitter Follow @baseballblogs
Hi, my name is Josh Robbins. I would like to share my Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) strategy with you throughout the MLB season during weekdays. Fanduel is my preferred game of skill.
Welcome to the 2nd week of the 2016 MLB season.
3-Strikes: Here’s what you expect from my daily articles:
My Top 3 Starting Pitchers (aces, mid-level, bargain)
My Top 3 Stacking Options (multiple players from the same team)
My Top 3 BVP (Batter vs. Pitcher) Options Read the rest of this entry
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