I’ve been slacking on my pimping: It’s been a long time since I’ve tiered my National League outfielders. After a long discussion of rankings every time we produce ranks (our late July ranks are up on the main page), I realized that I think in tiers. Too often a reader would react to one player that was right below another, and I would be surprised. Would I take this player for that player in a trade? Dunno, what does the rest of my team look like. What are my needs.

Instead, I find it more rewarding to think of players in tiers. Is there much sense in wondering if I would trade Carlos Gonzalez for Matt Kemp straight up anyway? Much more interesting to me is the idea that I could trade away Jay Bruce in a trade that netted me Justin Upton, and my outfielder’s tier wouldn’t be affected.

So, your tiers:

Read the rest of this entry »

The trade deadline is behind us and we’re officially in the dog days of summer. Here are a pair of starting pitchers who could boost the back of your fantasy rotation.

Joe Blanton | SP | Dodgers | Owned: 22% Yahoo! and 18.7% ESPN

By now you should know all about Blanton’s MLB-best K/BB ratio, and if you don’t, then I suggest reading Ben Duronio’s recent piece on the hefty right-hander. The 31-year-old was traded via waivers from the Phillies to the Dodgers late last week, and he went on to hold the Cubs to two runs in six innings in his first start for the Los Angeles over the weekend.

Read the rest of this entry »

The future is now for the Chicago Cubs. With very little to play for this season, the Cubs have called up prospects Josh Vitters and Brett Jackson. Entering the season, Marc Hulet ranked Jackson as the Cubs second best prospect, and Vitters as the twelfth best prospect in the system (that was before the addition of Anthony Rizzo, so both should really be moved down one slot). Now that they are with the major-league club, they’ll be able to contribute to fantasy teams down the stretch and in the playoffs. But just because they are now available, doesn’t mean they’ll be helpful this season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josh Rutledge has been filling in at shortstop for the injured Troy Tulowitzki and has done quite an admirable job, having posted an impressive .445 wOBA over 84 plate appearances. Unfortunately, we have no projections from any sources for the rookie and fantasy owners are left wondering what to expect from him for the rest of the season. Fear not loyal RotoGraphs reader, the Pod Projections have returned to answer that very question.

I have decided to project him assuming a full season to give you an idea of what he would do on a pro-rated basis. His current statistics are not factored into the final projected stat line. They are only used to help formulate the projected underlying metrics themselves.

Read the rest of this entry »

I just got finished reading a write up of the Curiosity Mars Rover and I’m in the Riteup mood. For the sake of science, I hope you all watched the landings late last night (or early Monday morning if you live in the eastern time zone like yours truly).

• With Alex Rodriguez expected to miss the majority of the regular season (not to mention the beginning of the head-to-head playoffs), Eric Chavez seems to have had some serious playing time open up for him. Over the past seven games, Chavez had five hits—including a pair of home runs—and seems to be hitting better now than in recent years. Sample size aside, there are several important things I see with Chavvy. His ISO is the highest that it has been since 2004 and although ISO tends to stabilize very late, I have liked what I’ve seen from him so far. He has a higher walk rate and a lower strike out rate than in the previous two seasons and his contact rate is 3.5% higher than average. For the next four to six weeks, I’d say Chavez is a solid pick up. You should be able to grab him in almost 97% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Bullpen Report focuses on two guys who fantasy owners have been riding in 2012, but whose peripherals suggest that some of their acts may be smoke and mirrors.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup has truth and statistics. I’ll leave the lies to someone else.

Read the rest of this entry »

I still haven’t quite developed the joke regarding David Weirs and ponies, so you’ll just have to check back and read tomorrow’s Roto Riteup to see if I’ve made progress.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Steve Cishek recorded his sixth save — coming on to retire Danny Espinosa via strikeout after Josh Johnson was unable to finish off a complete game. Ozzie Guillen had stated that he was planning on going with a committee after Heath Bell’s lastest run of implosions but it’s growing clear that Cishek is (at the very least) way out in front of the group. Cishek’s 1.81 ERA makes him out to be a bit better of a pitcher than he actually has been this season (3.93 xFIP) mostly because he probably has a few too many walks on the whole (10.7%). The other major concern with investing in Cishek as a full-time closer remains his platoon splits — the low arm slot righty has a sterling career 0.239 wOBA against right-handed hitters, but has a more pedestrian 0.307 versus lefties (0.349 in 2012). That said, even if these numbers may not imply long-time stability in the closer’s role, it’s pretty obvious that @srSHREK31 has a good enough grip on the majority of save opps that he deserves to be lifted from red-light territory (for now).

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s two-start starters is a groundball-heavy bunch, featuring a trio of the game’s best worm-burner inducing hurlers. Read the rest of this entry »