Taking a shot on a post-hype sleeper is a great way to find undervalued gems. As we all know by now, prospects don’t always burst out of the gate once they reach the majors. For every Mike Trout, there’s going to be an Alex Gordon. It took Gordon five years before he churned out a fantasy-worthy stat line. In Gordon’s case, fantasy owners pretty much gave up on him ever becoming useful, making him a post post-hype sleeper. While it’s rare for players to follow similar paths, former prospects always draw some interest when they are experiencing success. You may have given up on Travis Snider and Devin Mesoraco by now, but both are finally starting to show some growth in the majors.

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When he was in the Yankees farm system, Jesus Montero was considered one of the best hitting prospects in the minor leagues. He was strong. He was fierce. He had both the fire and the attitude. The Jesus was good. All that seemed to be missing was the purple leisure suit and the pony-tail. Oh yeah, and a glove. But the Yankees were almost willing to overlook the defensive shortcomings of their rising star if it meant getting that bat into the heart of their lineup. But a need for pitching took precedence and the Jesus was soon headed west to Seattle in exchange for a young, stud arm in Michael Pineda. Read the rest of this entry »

Another mixed bag with the streamers this past week. If you avoided the Kazmir/Humber showdown, good for you, as it wasn’t pretty. I apologize. If you rode with me on Jarrod Parker and Bronson Arroyo, you came out alright, as they both looked stellar in their respective outings. Not to make excuses, but last weekend’s Friday and Saturday streaming options were straight-up terrible, though being 6-for-12 through three weeks probably hasn’t won me any ardent followers regardless of weekend.

Still, onward we move, to our Friday and Saturday streamers for this week. As always, I’ll try to hit the 50/25/15/5 ownership levels, though some weeks won’t allow for it. This week is one such week where we’re going deep streaming, because the middle-ownership names like Jake Westbrook and Josh Beckett don’t offer a tonne of upside if they’re available.

As for the start-quality metric I’ve been toying with, I’m still playing with it. So far results haven’t been very conclusive, likely because a) starts are a bit fickle/random anyway, and b) we’re dealing with early-season, small-sample values for opponents. I’ll keep playing with it.

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Left-handed pitcher Adam Morgan entered the 2013 season as one of the top arms in the Philadelphia farm system. I got a chance to see him pitch for triple-A Lehigh Valley last week when they visited Pawtucket.

The Breakdown

Morgan was a 3rd round pick (120th overall) in 2011 out of the University of Alabama. He had an up and down college career but showed enough to entice the Phillies to give him $250,000 after his Junior season. Morgan has impressed as a professional. His pro career was punctuated by a strong showing in the Florida State League last season. In 123 innings in the FSL for high-A Clearwater the southpaw struck out 140 batters while only allowing 103 hits and 28 walks. Morgan even ended the year with double-A Reading. Six good starts there apparently convinced the Philadelphia organization that he was ready for triple-A.

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We’re three and a half weeks into the season and nearly at the point where the first major pitching metric stabilizes. We know that K/PA (or K% on the player pages) stabilizes at 150 batters faced, and starting pitchers are creeping ever so closer to that minimum. So at the very least, we have to start taking strikeout rates seriously, but that’s really about it. Let’s now take a look around the American League and some of the movers and shakes in starting pitcher land.

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Today’s Roto Riteup begins with a baseball programming note: Brian Kenny will be talking at Hawk Harrelson about sabermetrics on MLB Now today. Check your local listings, blackouts and restrictions apply, and blah blah blah.

On today’s agenda:
Michael Saunders on the road to a return
Tsuyoshi Wada on the path to June debut
Robert Andino backs into increased playing time

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• Matt Reynolds recorded the first save of his career last night in the eleventh inning and tonight recorded his second save again in extras, this time the tenth inning. J.J. Putz had blown the save last night and with the day off today the D-backs turned to David Hernandez in the ninth but he couldn’t get the job done. Hernandez owners can’t be too mad as he ended up with the win, but it would have been nice to see him close the door following a Putz blown save. Before the game, D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said that Putz is still their closer. Considering that Putz did nothing wrong today, I don’t imagine the ninth inning role being handed to Matt Reynolds, or anyone else for the time being, assuming Putz is healthy. Reynolds is a tall, decent lefty out of the bullpen (not the highest of praise) but his chances of seeing any future save opportunities will have to continue to be in extra innings, when the regulars (Hernandez and Heath Bell) have already been used.

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We’re about 20 games into the season and certain players are beginning to standout — some for good reasons, and some for bad. Today I also attempt to coin (you’ll get that joke at the end) a new nickname for a player.

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Even Jeff Keppinger might not have expected to be among the more interesting free agent possibilities this past off season, but after a (surprising?) impressive campaign with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012, that’s exactly what he became. In signing with the White Sox there was some intrigue in fantasy circles about this guy who seemed to have double-digit power and could hit for average, all while qualifying at shortstop, second base, third base, and maybe even first base depending on your league rules. He was viewed as a great late-round or cheap flyer that could pay off when injury strikes or in deeper leagues, a handy guy to move all around your roster without the risk of killing you in any particular category.

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Let’s face it…nearly every guy who is sitting on your waiver wire is flawed in some way or another and the thought of using someone from the scrap heap on a full-time basis makes your fantasy skin crawl. But when Jason Heyward goes in for an appendectomy and you’ve already lost Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Bourn and Ryan Ludwick, desperate times call for desperate measures. Now obviously you’re not going to find one guy out there who is going to do it all for you, so your best bet is a platoon. And based on ownership percentages, it looks like you can solve some of your issues just by looking north of the border and using the DH spot from the Blue Jays. Read the rest of this entry »