X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

Red Flag Warnings - Bad Starts to Keep an Eye On

Some high-profile players are off to a bad starts in the 2019 MLB season. Kev Mahserejian advises fantasy baseball owners on whether to worry about Jose Ramirez, Travis Shaw, and starting pitchers who have drawn red flags early on.

We are nearly a month into the 2019 season and bust labels are in hand ready to get slapped on particular sets of players. This piece is not here to do that whatsoever. The goal here is to inform owners with some early-season observations regarding struggling players that I have chosen to highlight.

These players worry me more than some others who may be having similar production issues. The "red flag" placed on them is not a death sentence. These are Major League players and they make adjustments throughout the season and are capable of getting hot at any moment. Until that happens though, I have my eye on this particular group because of the degree of strife they have presented owners.

I am not wholly advocating to sell anyone here, but, from what we have seen thus far, it would be more comforting to see how they progress through the rest of the year from a distance. Reaping the fruits of your draft labor is great, but so is not having a black hole on your roster. Sunk costs are never fun, and without further ado, neither are these duds.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy baseball lineup tools and resources:

 

Jose Ramirez (2B/3B, CLE)

Monday night, Ramirez provided his most productive outing of the year. One home run, two walks, and two stolen bases. This game must have been a breath of fresh air to owners who drafted J-Ram over the likes of J.D. Martinez, Christian Yelich, and Max Scherzer. The long national nightmare is over, J-Ram is alive and well (or so we hope).

Prior to that game, Ramirez's stat line was flat-out disgusting. Through 15 games (61 PAs) he had six runs, two RBI and was slashing .140/.180/.193. We call this the Jessica Mendoza line because she for sure could have done better out there.

It is fair to excuse the Indians' offense's woes as a whole to the absence of Francisco Lindor through this first month of games. However, to be a "superstar" level player and begin a season this awful, something must be up. Maybe it is the Midwest cold, maybe it's something in Ramirez's head. All that matters is that he is not right. This is not unprecedented territory given that last year, Paul Goldschmidt went through a similar early-season funk, and fortunately, bounced back.

Ramirez's BABIP is extremely low (.155) and he is not striking out much more than he has throughout his career. This is about all the good news that can be found within his 2019 profile.

I am not here to make any serious allegations, but there were swirlings about an 80-game suspension in late-May last season. Rumors came about that Ramirez had tested or was going to test positive for PEDs. The Indians' third baseman was cleared soon after and proceeded to hit 14 home runs through June and July. However, from August until the postseason, he hit just seven total. Not that home runs are the only measure for success, but it was a bit shocking given his torrid pace through the first half. Ramirez's batting average also took a significant hit. He went from hitting just above .300 in the first half to right around .200 through the rest of the season. To his credit, he did increase his walk-to-strikeout ratio and had to deal with a low BABIP. Plenty of folks chalked the struggles up to regression or a change in how pitchers approached facing him (more breaking-balls, fewer fastballs).

However, with the awful start to this season, eyebrows should be raised as to whether the suspension rumblings were more than just smoke. Maybe the JoRam of 2018 is not who many thought he was coming into the season. As a prospect, there was always potential power in his bat, but going from full minor league seasons without double-digit jacks to nearly cracking 40 in the MLB is bizarre.

"Facts can be misleading, but rumors, true or false, can be revealing."- Col. Hans Landa, Inglorious Basterds

Francisco Lindor returns this weekend, and while he should provide a boost to the lineup with added protection, the residual effects may take a week or so to trickle along the rest of the lineup. With his speed remaining intact, even if owners get the 2017 version of JoRam, they are still getting a fine player. He just needs to focus on making good contact rather than trying to pull the ball for power.

True panic should not beset owners until around mid-May-ish if this pace keeps up. For now, my best recommendation is to cut bait if you can get relatively equivalent value. If not, hold on and pray for a bounceback.

 

Travis Shaw (2B/3B, MIL)

It feels like Mike Moustakas has sucked up all of Travis Shaw's power. Shaw has been a landmine for fantasy rosters this year. Although it should get better, I am concerned as to how much. His strikeout rate has skyrocketed above 30 percent for the first time in his minor or major league career and he is hitting for very little power.

Reports of Shaw's Spring Training numbers went around during draft season but some people (including myself, shamefully) ignored it. Through 52 ST at-bats, Shaw struck out 25!! times and did not walk once. His power seemed to be fine at the time with five home runs and two doubles, yet that strikeout issue just went over a lot of heads because "It's just Spring Training." The explanation for the egregious K-rate was that he faced as many lefties as possible to get him more comfortable when managers play matchups, which is understandable. However, striking out in half his ABs is still nuts despite the sample size.

Thus far, Shaw's 2019 walk rate has stayed in line with his 2018 jump, but the strikeout issue followed him into the season. He has not tapped into much of his power with just one home run and two doubles, but that could come in time. He is hitting the ball hard more often than he ever has.

A concern of mine is his BABIP. It is currently .324 while his batting average is .217. He is not getting unlucky at all here. One noticeable aspect of his game is where he's driving the ball. He is hitting more groundballs and line drives but fewer fly balls. His pull percentage is the lowest of his career, while his opposite field percentage is the highest. A simple explanation for his power shortage and struggles is that he may have altered his swing to attack the open side of the field and it is just not working yet. As a pull hitter, he drew a ton of power but hit into the shift often, leading to a lower average. The adjustment period on this swing change is unknown. Whether it allows him to tap into the same power he has displayed the past few seasons is something to watch.

Shaw has hit better since injuring his hand last weekend but still has not produced enough to mitigate worry. His walks will keep his value decent in OBP leagues for the foreseeable future. Owners in Roto or Points leagues should be inclined to move on if the situation becomes untenable in the coming weeks.

 

Most Starting Pitchers

Something funky is up.

The starting pitching market is brutal at the moment. Even elite pitchers are getting clobbered regularly. Noah Syndergaard, Chris Sale, Aaron Nola, Carlos Carrasco, Corey Kluber, and various others have had tumultuous starts to the year. While it is easy to claim small sample size or early season adjustment periods and call it a day, there may be a legitimate case to be made that the baseballs are juiced again.

Between the second half of 2016 and throughout 2017, MLB hitters thrived in an unprecedented manner. Several players claimed that the seams had been tightened, leading to further suspicion. There never was definitive proof that the balls were altered, but the jumps in production across the league during that time led to mass speculation. The drop off in 2018 was suspicious after the juicing allegations gained traction and, unfortunately, the exact method of juicing was never identified although the league did admit to making "changes."

Nevertheless, if the balls in 2019 are re-juiced, the entire pitching landscape changes. The great pitchers will adjust, but the occasional mistake could be exploited enough to take a significant hit on their expected value. Margins for error become thinner and great outings can turn in a flash. Luckily, there are enough teams with poor hitting across the league (Miami, Pittsburgh, CWS, Arizona, LAA, Toronto, Baltimore) that a beach ball would not make a difference in those starts.

However, in matchups against the rest of the field, pitchers are now walking along a tightrope. Steven Matz, a respectable mid-tier starter whose peripherals were shining prior to Tuesday, just had an outing in which he gave up six runs and recorded zero outs. Part of this one game can be explained by poor fielding, a tough lineup, and ballpark, but it should not be any less eye-opening.

While it is still VERY early in the season along with the fact that this is all hearsay, my ears are perked up regardless. Pitching does not exactly get any easier in the summer when the ball carries better through higher temperatures...The MLB's home run rate grew every year from 2014-to-2017. 2018 may have been the calm before the storm that is this year's season-long derby.

More 2019 Fantasy Baseball Advice




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Daily Stats & Leaders
All Pitcher Matchups
Compare Any Players
Compare Any Players
Rookies & Call-Ups
24x7 News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Chuba Hubbard

Should See Majority of Touches in 2025
Milwaukee Bucks

Jericho Sims Staying in Milwaukee
Denver Nuggets

Tim Hardaway Jr. Joins Nuggets
Willson Contreras

Avoids Structural Damage on Hand After HBP
Detroit Pistons

Duncan Robinson Lands With Detroit
Charlotte Hornets

Tre Mann Remaining in Charlotte
Josh Naylor

Scratched From Tuesday's Lineup Against Giants
Kevin Yu

a Near Must-Play at TPC Deere Run
San Francisco Giants

Giants Exercise Bob Melvin's 2026 Option
PGA

J.T. Poston Returns to John Deere Classic Looking for Another High Finish
Josh Naylor

Back in Action on Tuesday
Yordan Alvarez

Suffers Setback
Thriston Lawrence

a Decent Fit For John Deere Classic
Tom Kim

Not Finding Much to be Happy About Ahead of John Deere Classic
Nolan Arenado

Dealing with Finger Sprain
ANA

Mikael Granlund Moves to Anaheim on Three-Year Deal
Jacob Wilson

Scratched With Hamstring Soreness
NJ

Jake Allen Signs Five-Year Extension With Devils
VAN

Brock Boeser Remains in Vancouver on Seven-Year Deal
Conor Garland

Signs New Six-Year Deal with Canucks
Thatcher Demko

Signs Three-Year Extension with Canucks
Brandon Woodruff

Ready for Season Debut
Martin Fehérváry

Martin Fehervary Agrees to Seven-Year Extension with Capitals
Garrett Mitchell

Out for the Rest of the Season
MLB

Brewers-Mets Postponed on Tuesday
MLB

Tigers-Nationals Postponed on Tuesday
Zach Neto

Returns to Tuesday's Lineup
Milwaukee Bucks

Gary Harris Inks Deal With Bucks
MLB

Padres-Phillies Postponed on Tuesday
Charlotte Hornets

Mason Plumlee Heading Back to Charlotte
Si Woo Kim

is a Prohibitive Fade at John Deere Classic
Hunter Goodman

Back Behind the Dish on Tuesday
Jakob Poeltl

Agrees to a Contract Extension With Raptors
Ben Griffin

is the Appropriate Favorite at TPC Deere Run
Jason Day

is a Fine Play With Limited Upside at John Deere Classic
Vasilije Micić

Vasilije Micic Dealt to Bucks on Tuesday
Daniel Suarez

and Trackhouse Racing Parting Ways After 2025 Season
Luke Clanton

Looks to Have Another Strong Week at TPC Deere Run
Pat Connaughton

Traded to Hornets
Atlanta Hawks

Luke Kennard Lands in Atlanta
Breece Hall

Aiming to Prove He is "Still One of the Best in the League"
T.J. Watt

Steelers Not Planning to Trade T.J. Watt
Sacramento Kings

Dennis Schroder Set to Join Sacramento
Bo Bichette

Out Again on Tuesday
Trent Grisham

Likely Heading to Injured List
Boston Celtics

Luke Kornet Agrees to Contract With San Antonio
Jonas Valančiūnas

Nuggets Trade for Center Jonas Valanciunas
Royce Lewis

Twins Activate Royce Lewis
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Signs Massive Extension With Oklahoma City
Corbin Carroll

Eyeing Return Before All-Star Break
New York Knicks

Knicks Pick Up Guerschon Yabusele
Yordan Alvarez

Could Return Early Next Week
NFL

Negotiations on 18-Game Season Not Expected Until Next Year
Indiana Pacers

Myles Turner Leaves Indiana, Signs With Milwaukee
Kerry Carpenter

Shelved with Hamstring Issue
Tyler Boyd

Steelers Have Talked With Tyler Boyd
Milwaukee Bucks

Damian Lillard Waived By Milwaukee
Darren Waller

Coming Out of Retirement to Play for Dolphins
Alexander Romanov

Islanders Retain Alexander Romanov on $50 Million Contract
Andrei Kuzmenko

Signs Up for One More Year with Kings
Morgan Geekie

Signs Long-Term Extension with Bruins
Ivan Provorov

Stays in Columbus on Seven-Year Deal
Alex Pietrangelo

Stepping Away From Golden Knights for Health Reasons
Matias Maccelli

Maple Leafs Bring in Matias Maccelli
Evan Bouchard

Inks $42 Million Contract with Oilers
Vladimir Tarasenko

Wild Acquire Vladimir Tarasenko From Detroit
Patrick Kane

Signs New One-Year Deal with Red Wings
Brad Marchand

Lands Six-Year Extension
Aaron Ekblad

Remains a Panther on Eight-Year Deal
Mitchell Marner

Heads to Vegas
Randy Arozarena

Homers Twice, Plates Four Monday
Philadelphia 76ers

Trendon Watford Lands in Philadelphia
New York Knicks

Jordan Clarkson Expected to Sign With Knicks
Santi Aldama

Remains with Grizzlies
Atlanta Hawks

Nickeil Alexander-Walker Lands in Atlanta
Jalen Ramsey

Could Move Around in Pittsburgh
Jonnu Smith

to be Used in Hybrid Role
Terry McLaurin

Commanders, Terry McLaurin Not Close on Contract Extension
Michael Mayer

Raiders Not Interested in Trading Michael Mayer
Aldrich Potgieter

Wins Rocket Mortgage Classic
Thorbjorn Olesen

Finishes Tied for 41st at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Denny McCarthy

Finishes Tied For 12th at Travelers Championship
Chris Kirk

Finishes Tied For Second at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Michael Kim

Finishes Tied for 26th at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Max Homa

Misses Cut at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Lucas Glover

Finishes Tied For Ninth at Travelers Championship
PGA

Nico Echavarria Finishes Tied For Sixth at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Pittsburgh Steelers

Rumors Still Swirling Around Potential T.J. Watt Trade
Ilia Topuria

Becomes The New Lightweight Champion
Charles Oliveira

Knocked Out At UFC 317
Kai Kara-France

Alexandre Pantoja Submits Kai Kara-France
Kai Kara-France

Submitted At UFC 317
Joshua Van

Extends His Win Streak
Tyler Boyd

Interested in Playing for Steelers
Miami Dolphins

Dolphins Now Looking to Acquire a Tight End
Brandon Royval

Drops Decision
L'Jarius Sneed

Says he's Healthy
Renato Moicano

Loses Back-To-Back Fights
Beneil Dariush

Gets Back In The Win Column
Felipe Lima

Suffers His First UFC Loss
Payton Talbott

Bounces Back
Minkah Fitzpatrick

Heading Back to Miami
Jonnu Smith

Shipped to Pittsburgh
Alex Bowman

Competitive Run Ends With Third-Place Finish at Atlanta
Erik Jones

Secures A Top-Five Finish After Adversity In Atlanta
Tyler Reddick

Collects A New Career-Best Finish At Atlanta
Jalen Ramsey

Steelers Acquiring Jalen Ramsey
Jonas Brodin

Expected to Miss Start of Next Season
TB

Conor Sheary Placed on Waivers for Contract Termination
Dante Fabbro

Stays with Blue Jackets on Four-Year Deal
Chase Elliott

Ends Winless Skid With Atlanta Victory
Brad Keselowski

Falls Short of Atlanta Victory
NFL

NFL Won't Hold Supplemental Draft This Year
Damon Arnette

Getting Second Chance With Texans
Deommodore Lenoir

Arrested for Obstruction of Justice
Carson Hocevar

Recovers From Big One to Finish 10th at Atlanta
William Byron

Caught up in Atlanta Big One but Retains Points Lead
Denny Hamlin

Top In-Season Challenge Seed Denny Hamlin Eliminated in Lap 70 Crash
Ty Dillon

Bottom Seed Ty Dillon Upsets Denny Hamlin to Advance in In-Season Challenge
Marvin Harrison Jr.

Expected to Make Second-Year Jump
Kyle Larson

Don't Expect Kyle Larson to Win First Drafting Track Race on Saturday
Christopher Bell

Unlikely to Complete Atlanta Sweep
Brad Keselowski

Seeks Another Clutch Win for Hail-Mary Playoff Bid
Chris Buescher

Unlikely to Lead Enough to Have Much DFS Value
Alex Bowman

Qualifies Best Among Non-Fords but Unlikely to Contend at Atlanta
Ryan Preece

Will Probably Run Better Than Usual at Atlanta
Austin Dillon

Consistently Mediocre at Atlanta
Ty Gibbs

Slightly Faster Lately but Unlikely to be a Factor at Atlanta
Erik Jones

a Low-Key Strong DFS Option
Noah Gragson

Could Have DFS Value as One of the Lowest-Qualifying Fords
Riley Herbst

Unlikely to Replicate February Atlanta Finish
Charles Oliveira

Can Become A Two-Time Lightweight Champion
Ilia Topuria

A Favorite At UFC 317
Kai Kara-France

Can Become The New Flyweight Champion
Alexandre Pantoja

Set For Fourth Title Defense At UFC 317
Joshua Van

Looks To Extend His Win Streak
Brandon Royval

Looks For His Third Win In A Row
Renato Moicano

Returns At UFC 317
Beneil Dariush

An Underdog At UFC 317
Payton Talbott

Looks To Bounce Back
Felipe Lima

Set To Open Up UFC 317 Main Card
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF