I have enjoyed many of the discussions from the last couple of weeks in response to my invitations into innovation. I’ve expressed my displeasure with one of fantasy baseball’s most notorious categories. Then, because the feedback was so good, I asked what else those who play our game would like to see done differently as far as categories are concerned. The reaction has implored me to collect the ideas and sift through them to see what we can come up with and then take the conversation to another phase. I have also preliminarily developed a couple of suggestions that are intriguing, at least to me.

I realized after I’d posted the second one that I’d left out something, however. I’d wanted to ask what opinionated, creative rotisserie and head-to-head baseball game players thought of saves. Aw hell, let’s include the indifferent and unimaginative ones, too! OK, some of your reactions addressed that topic. And if you really expressed your feelings on saves, then I might have to censor all the curse words.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you like baseball? Cool, me too. I have not watched nearly enough baseball the past two weeks or so, which is disappointing. NBA Draft, free agency, moving…they’ve all conspired to keep me from watching the games. Luckily, we don’t need to watch.

I kid, of course. Watching the games is important, both because it’s fun and because the aggregate numbers can only tell you so much. For the purposes of daily fantasy, where we rely a great deal on projection systems, context clues from Vegas, and analyzing specific matchups, watching the game after you make a pick can be instructive.

But you can get by, for a short while, on the numbers and with reading. That’s what I’ve had to do of late and it hasn’t cost me, but I’m getting to the point where Sunday feels like it needs to be an outright marathon baseball-viewing day. The itch, it needs scratching.

Read the rest of this entry »

The only player more invisible than a middle reliever in fantasy is a middle reliever who did not start the season in the majors. Not only does he lack those shiny saves, but he may not even qualify for the leaderboards you would use to uncover relievers who could help your ratios or possibly inherit a closer role down the line.

This season, there are quite a few relievers who have burst onto the scene with a lot of promise and, in many cases, a lot of strikeouts. What follows are some of those players who have caught my eye. Few are in play for saves, but these players are worth your consideration in holds leagues, deeper formats, and Ottoneu.
Read the rest of this entry »

We’re back at it again, checking in on the American League starting pitchers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today features a massive edition of arbitrary endpoints, because we’re halfway through the season and it just feels right for this Roto Riteup.

On today’s agenda:
1. Cliff Lee to begin rehab assignment
2. Joe Kelly needs more DL time
3. Fun with arbitrary endpoints: June
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints: Last 365 days
5. The Femicidal Five

Read the rest of this entry »

• Quick Recap from last night: Grant Balfour picked up the save last night with Jake McGee pitching the eighth. This is still a committee and McGee is the best reliever so he’d still be my favored option in the Rays pen for fantasy. Joe Smith picked up two saves, his eighth and ninth of the season and it doesn’t seem like Grilli is taking over the ninth in the near future. Koji Uehara got the loss entering the ninth in a tie game and although he said he’s “fatigued” he was also available to pitch tonight so no injury worries, yet. If Uehera can’t close it’s unclear who is next in line. Junichi Tazawa and Andrew Miller have been better than Mujica, but Mujica received an opportunity this year.  Of course Mujica pitched poorly in an inning tonight and I’d wager the Sox would go to a committee type if Uehara’s fatigue caused him to miss any time. Addison Reed did what the Diamondbacks have done all year, blown. Hector Rondon also recorded a save, his 11th of the season and after a few hiccups last week that situation is going from Red –> Yellow.

Read the rest of this entry »

Head over to the leaderboards, sort by third basemen over the last 30 days and filter by line drive rate and a really unexpected thing happens. There are 29 qualified third basemen on that list. Dead last is the leading All-Star vote getter at the hot corner in Josh Donaldson, who has a 6% line drive rate over the last month. Six percent. If that didn’t surprise enough, at the top of this list is none other than maybe-back-from-purgatory David Freese, who has hit almost 35% line drives over the last month. Go figure.

Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks ago I took a look at the best fantasy relievers of this season, but since then I’ve looked at the best fantasy hitters and starters over the past calendar year, and I wanted to complete the series. The series started because I wanted to give out my All-Star picks and make the point that we should base our All-Star votes on what has happened since the last All-Star game, not just what has happened so far this year. So below I’ve got the seven relievers from each league I’d have on my ballot. But first a few caveats.

First, I’m aware that the past calendar year split includes some games that were pre-All-Star game in 2013. Second, I’m aware that fantasy value doesn’t necessarily equal All-Star. And finally, I’m not exactly using the traditional categories to calculate fantasy value. I prefer using quality starts to wins, so I’m only using four categories for relievers. And I hate saves and have always wished shutdowns minus meltdowns would replace saves. So I’m using SD-MD along with strikeouts and the normal ratio categories. Here are my All-Star picks followed by some token fantasy advice to qualify this post for the Rotographs blog. Read the rest of this entry »

Opposite ends of the fantasy baseball spectrum for folks in search of pickups, once again. One of these cats is basically no-duh, must-own material, but I just wanted to explain why I believe so for those who may be reluctant. The other is a flier, a shot in the dark, a cross-your-fingers type, and he just appeals to me.

Read the rest of this entry »

Much has been written about Justin Verlander’s struggles this season. He’s undoubtedly hurt – if not outright killed – fantasy title hopes for a ton of people. Glass half full, though. Over his last two starts, he’s looked a little more like the Verlander we all know and love. In those 13 innings – a measly sample, but we’re being positive! – he’s struck out sixteen batters while walking two.

The small sample size caveat applies, a ton, but perhaps Verlander is closer to being back. He thinks he is:

After giving up seven runs to Kansas City on June 16, Verlander sat down with manager Brad Ausmus and pitching coach Jeff Jones to pour over film, new and old. They saw that the right-hander was moving laterally in a way that needed to be changed. They wanted him to move more toward home plate. Verlander said it was the biggest midseason change he’s undergone.

Ausmus said pitcher’s often make changes of this nature during the offseason. Verlander is no common pitcher, however.

“I felt like this was something we have to do to get him back to where he was,” Ausmus said. “As pitchers get older and more mature, they have to make adjustments because, physically, they’re going to change.”
So between starts, Verlander has been throwing 25-30 pitches in an extra bullpen session. The more he does it in practice, the less he has to think about doing it during a game.

“It’s probably more strenuous than I would like it to be,” Verlander said. “I’m the kind of person that wants to get out there and repeat it, repeat it, repeat it until the muscle memory kicks in.”

We’ll see if his good work continues tonight versus a very potent Oakland lineup.

Read the rest of this entry »