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Tag: Tampa Bay Rays

2024 Tampa Bay Rays Preview

2024 Tampa Bay Rays Preview Shawn Childs is a legend in the fantasy baseball world and his advice is invaluable. A member of the NFBC Hall of Fame, Shawn has several top-5 finishes in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship as well as five NFBC auction championship titles under his belt. He also boasts several prominent in the high-stakes market and multiple huge DFS wins. Shawn’s process and evaluation are among the most thorough in the sport and his exclusive FPGscore metric is changing the game. This 2024 Tampa Bay Rays preview and insight is courtesy of the brilliant mind of one of the sport’s best.    This 2024 Tampa Bay Rays Preview is courtesy of Shawn Childs. Read Shawn’s expert fantasy analysis at his Substack.   The Rays have made the postseason in five consecutive seasons, leading to one World Series appearance (2020) and two AL East titles. Over the last 16 years, Tampa has reached the playoffs nine times, with their first trip to the championship series coming in 2008. Here is the detailed fantasy baseball 2024 Tampa Bay Rays Preview. Last season, they finished fifth in the majors in ERA (3.86) while ranking 12th in bullpen ERA (3.81). Their relievers had 44 wins, 24 losses, 45 saves, and 657 strikeouts over 658.1 innings. Their pitching staff had the best WHIP (1.177) in the majors. Tampa scored the fourth most runs (860) with the same finish in RBIs (827). They hit 230 home runs (6th) while being active on the base paths (4th in stolen bases – 160 on 201 attempts). The big blow to the Rays franchise over the last year was the loss of Wander Franco to an off-the-field incident. Tampa acquired IF Jose Caballero from the Mariners for OF Luke Raley to help bridge the gap at shortstop. They shipped SP Tyler Glasnow and OF Manuel Margot to the Dodgers for SP Ryan Pepiot and OF Jonny DeLuca. In a minor deal with St. Louis, the Rays added OF Richie Palacios for RP Andrew Kittredge.  They signed Rob Brantly for catching depth and SP Naoyuki Uwasawa to compete for a starting job in their rotation. Tampa also claimed P Tyler Alexander off waivers.    Even with offensive success in 2023, the Rays’ offense lacks star power heading into this year. OF Josh Lowe emerged last season, and 1B Yandy Diaz comes off the best year of his career, thanks to an uptick in power and elite batting average. The Rays always find a way to get the most out of their pitching staff. Taj Bradley must add length to his starts this season, and Ryan Pepiot proves to be a viable addition to their starting rotation. The combination of CL Pete Fairbanks and RP Jason Adam were valuable arms late in games for Tampa last season; time will tell if they can repeat in 2024. Tampa will be without SP Shane McClanahan, SP Jeffrey Springs, and SP Drew Rasmussen for most of 2024 after suffering significant elbow injuries last season. Starting Lineup 1B Yandy Diaz Some sharp drafters were on Diaz as a cheat third baseman in 2023. He finished 31st in FPGscore (3.25) for hitters, thanks to his edge in batting average (.330 – +3.29 fantasy points). Coming into the year, he ranked 19th in exit velocity (92.2) and 23rd in hard-hit rate (49.0) with a favorable ADP (279). His jump in average came from a career-best in his contact batting average (.401 – .339 in 2022 and .335 in his career before 2023).  Diaz set a career-high in home runs (22), but he continued to have a groundball swing path (52.0%) with regression in his flyball rate (28.6 – 31.6 in 2022 and 32.0 in 2021). Diaz had a spike in his HR/FB rate (17.7 – 6.9 in 2022 and 9.4 in his career) thanks to a further rise in his exit velocity (93.4 – 7th) and hard-hit rate (54.2 – 9th). His launch angle (5.7) remains in a weak area, with no edge in his barrel rate (9.5 – three-year high). Diaz had a minimal change in his average hit rate (1.584), which doesn’t support 20+ home runs. His best area of growth was his RBI rate (21), but Diaz came to the plate with only 273 runners on base due to seeing all but two of his at-bats from the leadoff position and Tampa having below-par bats hitting at the backend of their lineup. He dominated left-handed pitching (.335 with 10 home runs and 32 RBIs over 121 at-bats) while also offering an advantage vs. righties (.322/73/12/46 over 404 at-bats). Diaz hit .300 or higher in every month last season. His best overall production came in April (.319/23/7/16 over 94 at-bats). He finished with a pullback in his walk rate (10.8) and strikeout rate (15.7) while still offering a winning approach. Fantasy Outlook: In 2024, Diaz has a higher ADP (138) while being compared to the first base pool in the fantasy market. As the 77th hitter selected (13th at 1B), he would be a value draft pick if Diaz repeated his 2023 stats. I expect him to be an asset in batting average, but I can’t see him finishing anywhere close to .330, as his career contact average says he overachieved in this area in a big way. A move to clean up would make sense based on his RBI rate if Diaz can hold form in power. I’ll set his bar at .310 with 80 runs, 15 home runs, and 70 RBIs. He would be a much more valuable fantasy player with a 45% ground ball rate and a 35% flyball rate. 2B Jonathan Aranda Over the first three seasons in the minors, Aranda had the foundation of a potential high-average bat (.276) with minimal power (four home runs over 569 at-bats) and a projectable approach (strikeout rate – 14.9 and walk rate – 9.5). After sitting out the COVID-19 season in 2020 (no minor league baseball), he pushed his

Jody Smith’s Rankings: Divisional Round

Jody Smith’s Rankings: Divisional Round FullTime Fantasy has been synonymous with accurate fantasy football rankings for years. Our rankings have garnered numerous industry accolades, with several top-5 finishes in season-long, weekly, and even sports betting accuracy. This is the home

Jody Smith’s Fantasy Football Rankings: Divisional Round

FullTime Fantasy has been synonymous with accurate fantasy football rankings for years. Our rankings have garnered numerous industry accolades, with several top-5 finishes in season-long, weekly, and even sports betting accuracy. This is the home of our FullTime Fantasy Football Rankings: Divisional Round.

Ranking You Can Trust

Our staff was ranked No. 1 last season, with not one but TWO analysts inside the top 10. With projections powered by NFBC Hall-of-Fame writer Shawn Childs and former FantasyPro’s Most Accurate Expert Jody Smith, FullTime Fantasy Members get instant access to reliable and trustworthy weekly rankings.

Additionally, Jody and Adam Krautwurst co-host the FullTime Fantasy Podcast, which is live-streamed weekly on YouTube. The guys are also active in the FullTime Fantasy Discord channel, helping answer all fantasy and sports betting inquiries.

Fantasy Football Rankings: Divisional Round

 

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