Rankings update week! Since there was the obligatory confusion in the AL OF rankings update, let me remind you — American League. As in not National League. Though, I do have to admit it is amusing to read which random player is asked about not appearing in the rankings, as it’s never the top guy in the other league. Lots of movement this time as the important rates stabilize and become significant.
Today’s Roto Riteup lacks a witty introduction due to author burnout.
On today’s agenda:
1. Johnny Cueto gets scratched
2. Wandy Rodriguez has a boo-boo
3. Beckett’s owie and Familia’s faulty elbow
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
• Downright “weird baseball” outing from Addison Reed today. Robin Ventura held him as closer-in-reserve as a scoreless game ticked into the 11th, the 12th, the 13th… well, you get the picture. Finally the White Sox broke through in the 14th… for five runs. OK, not exactly a save situation, but Reed was pretty much the last guy in the pen so he might as well come in to finish the game, right? Yes, but Reed proceeded to implode and… give all five runs back (the last four coming on a granny from Kyle Seager). Because Reed was the last man standing, he pitched the 15th and had to save his own win in the 16th after the White Sox went ahead again. His line? 3 IP, 5 ER, W. Wow. Reed tossed 55 pitches and is certain to be unavailable tomorrow, and possibly Friday as well. I’m betting on Matt Thornton (20 pitches today) for the save situation tomorrow if one should arise.
With a lot shifting in the American League outfield, let’s get down to business. But this time it isn’t to defeat the Huns.
Tier One
Mike Trout
Chris Davis
For all the struggles that the Los Angeles Angels have been experiencing, it is hard to find any fault with Mike Trout. He already has double digit steals and home runs as well as a 149 wRC+. The surprise here is Chris Davis, of course. with 20(!) home runs already and a reduced strikeout, plus an increased walk rate, it is hard to find any real faults in his approach or his numbers. Davis’ year to date is certainly impressive, however he can’t keep up this pace forever, right? We’ll see, but given what he has done — and more importantly what he projects to end the season with — has earned him a spot in the top tier.
Read the rest of this entry »
Imagine the panic if Madison Bumgarner started the season with results from his last six starts. Bumgarner has twelve games started under his belt and over the last half of them, he has put up a 5.54 ERA, resulting in four losses. But these last six starts are kind of a case study in why people got sick of standard 5×5 leagues, because his results and how well he pitched aren’t really inextricable.
Josh Johnson returned to the mound last night for the first time since April 21. The oft-injured 29-year-old (it still surprises me that he’s just 29) impressed against the Giants, throwing seven innings with one earned run allowed with six strikeouts and no walks. Granted, it was a return to the NL and the Giants do not have what we would call a high powered offense, but they can certainly string together sets of hits to put some runs on the board.
Read the rest of this entry »
I can’t remember which of my fellow RotoGraphers it was who recommended the movie The Girl Next Door while we were baking in the Arizona sun back in February, but it was on the other night and I decided to give it a shot. What I realized first, after the obviously increasing level of hotness of Elisha Cuthbert, was that Hollywood would be dangerous if they ever had an original idea. But as I sat and watched this blatant knock-off of the 1983 coming-of-age classic Risky Business, the line in the title of this post was spoken and I found it quite apropos for the fantasy baseball world. Often times, we tend to overpay for certain players based on personal preferences or just basic preseason hype and it’s always important to take a step back later on down the road and ask yourself if it was worth it. Today we’ll do that with Cardinals first baseman Allen Craig. Read the rest of this entry »
If you play in daily leagues, you don’t need me to tell you how important starting lineups are. Annoying, I’ve gotten burned not once, but twice, over the last week, catching Alex Rios and Andrew McCutchen on days they weren’t playing after setting my lineup around noon. I don’t care how good the rest of your lineup is, a guy sitting on the bench is a big goose egg. If you’re like me, and set your Draftstreet lineups early in the morning; be sure to log back in around 6 PM (or in the next couple of hours today!) to make sure the guys you are paying for will see the field. For those who play in leagues with daily moves and game caps, it’s also a wise strategy to physically move guys out of the lineup who aren’t starting. Three pinch hit AB’s from your LF still count as three whole games on the stat sheet. Friendly reminder: be sure to click on “scores” on the Fangraphs menu bar for starting lineups essentially as soon as they are posted. Here’s the link for today.
It’s a pair of J names in this week’s deep league waiver wire recommendations. But don’t worry if you are considering adding a hitter with a first name that does not begin with the letter J. I’m sure he’s just as worthy of joining your squad as these fine lads.
Today’s Roto Riteup is dedicated to my Grandma, who celebrated a birthday yesterday. A better grandson would know what birthday this was, but alas, we move forward.
On today’s agenda:
1. Michael Pineda is rehabbing
2. Asdrubal Cabrera to the DL
3. Tom Koehler getting some love