Two years ago the Braves were hoping to have the best outfield in baseball, with legitimate 20-20 options at left, center, and right field. This year, things are certainly different and much less intriguing from a fantasy perspective. There still may be some value for deeper leagues, despite the lackluster options the Braves are rolling out into the outfield this season.
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It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.
I grew up playing against Sean Doolittle. He was even more feared as a hitter, but he was also a damned good pitcher. I talked to him once about his game plan and it was strikingly simple – use high fastballs to set up his hammer curve. These days, he’s still throwing that high fastball. The curve has gone extinct, but the lessons he learned as a kid have stuck with him. Of course, Doolittle is hurt, and the state of the bullpen is in flux until his return.
This post continues our Depth Chart Discussions. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, rotation, and bullpen) and will continue to break them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find the Depth Chart Discussion posts gathered here.
The world champs might be without their longtime hot-cornerman, but they have enough impact players to keep them competitive in real life and relevant so far as fantasy owners are concerned. Up the middle the team flashes the game’s best catcher and an emerging double-play duo, while first base belongs to a solid sleeper candidate.
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Last week, I posted the first comparison in this new series discussing discrepancies between the Steamer and Pod Projections. I began by looking at Corey Dickerson and A.J. Pollock, two players I was far more optimistic about this season than Steamer is. Today, I’ll look into a pair of sluggers who Steamer likes better than I.
Steamer doesn’t like many hitters better than I do. Of the 328 hitters we both project, Steamer projected at least .001 wOBA points higher than I did for just 83 of them (25.3%). On the other hand, I am more bullish on 232 hitters (70.7%), while we project identical wOBA marks for 13 hitters (4.0%).
• Chris Sale will miss at a minimum of three weeks with a fractured foot. Then he will need to get up to speed before being able to start.
Chris Sale sustained an avulsion fracture on the lateral side of his right foot as the result of an accident at his Arizona home Friday. The left-hander is expected to be sidelined three weeks before resuming baseball activities.
Looking back at previous pitchers with foot injuries, they saw a 0.4 BB/9 and 0.25 ERA bump. Some loss of production, but not too much. The White Sox won’t need another starter until mid-April, so they may be able to go with four starters until then.
After recording a 3.17 FIP and moving into the National League, all things were pointing up for Addison Reed following his trade to the Diamondbacks last winter. Unfortunately, not all worked as planned for Reed as he allowed 11 home runs, blew six saves, and recorded a 1-7 record with a 4.25 ERA.
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It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.
The Chicago Cubs outfield doesn’t have a single player in the top 30 fantasy outfielders here at Rotographs, but that’s certainly not to say they don’t have anything to offer to fantasy owners. In fact, one of my favorite fantasy prospects will be the everyday right fielder, and there’s a couple other options for NL-only leagues on the north side.
Episode 200
The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!
In this episode, Paul Sporer and Jason Collette discuss Chris Sale, Alex Guerrero, Addison Reed, Garrett Richards, Wil Myers, Dayan Viciedo, Michael Saunders and finish up by previewing the Pirates & Cardinals.
As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed. Please rate & review the show in iTunes letting us know what you think!
Thanks to Ian Miller, aka Teen Archer, for the intro music. Approximately 47 minutes of joyous analysis.
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It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.
The Brewers rotation was exceedingly stable in 2014. They had three starters who threw 190+ innings and another guy who threw 160+ innings. As a result, they only used seven starters all year, which I would imagine was at least tied for the lowest number in the league. But their workhorse starters weren’t just innings eaters. The three guys who topped 190 innings all had an ERA just north of 3.50 while the 160-inning starter had an ERA just north of 3.60. Unfortunately, none of their starters were aces or even close to it, which is why they ranked just 15th in ERA and 17th in WAR.
The stability is expected to continue this year despite Yovani Gallardo’s departure as they have five starters projected to throw between 160 and 180 innings. Again, none are projected to be aces, and several are projected to regress from what they did last year. But if nothing else, they have the classic innings eaters who can keep them in games and give the team a chance to win, a trait that is far more appealing to color commentators than it is to fantasy owners. Read the rest of this entry »
Auction drafts enable me. I love the freedom to pick who I please with total disregard to ADP. I can decide what a player is worth to me at that exact moment in the draft and act accordingly. Too much freedom can be a bad thing, which is why we need guidance in an auction. Specifically, everybody should be referencing some kind of value sheet.
Most publicly available values are optimized for a 12-team, $260, shallow roster league. It’s the most common format, yet so many of us play by different rules. You want a custom sheet optimized for your league. Enter our Auction Calculator.