Episode 15 – One Solo Home Run Does Not A Season Make

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss Matt getting to gloat about J.A. Happ, reviewing the first mediocre head-to-head matchup, Jordan Lyles’ impressive start, Drew Smyly’s return from the DL, Kyle Gibson’s inability to strike out anybody, the unlikeable Royals and the most benign teams in baseball, and being forced to recognize Matt’s birthday.

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The buy low and sell high strategy has been a favorite one of fantasy leaguers for as long as fantasy sports has existed, I would imagine. Unfortunately, it’s nearly dead given the wealth of freely available information and the deeper knowledge we now possess about how to evaluate player performance. Nearly dead, not completely dead. To buy low or sell high on a player, you need a story, a narrative that essentially offers up confirmation bias and makes the owner you’re dealing with feel all fuzzy inside when agreeing to the trade.

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We took a look some key freshmen players at the big league level yesterday and today we’re following up on some top prospects around the game.

Brent Honeywell, RHP, Rays: A solid community college find, Honeywell has had no issues with pro ball. After signing as a second-round pick in 2014, the right-hander allowed just 19 hits in 33.2 innings. So far this season, he’s allowed seven hits in 16.0 innings. He’s also struck out 22 batters this year. Honeywell, 20, is probably too advanced for Low-A and should see a quick promotion to High-A ball. Don’t be shocked if the pitcher, who can dial his heater up into the mid-90s and backs it up with a screwball, sees Double-A by the end of the year. [Value Up]

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Exactly twenty-five years ago the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit. As the Bill Nye theme song once said, science rules!

On today’s agenda:
1. Clay Buchholz’s excellent outing
2. Don’t overlook Yonder Alonso
3. Love/Hate Drew Hutchison
4. Streaming Pitching Options
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At this point, most are aware that Joe Nathan left a rehab appearance yesterday in Toledo after just 10 pitches holding his elbow. And as Colin noted in last evening’s Bullpen Report, Nathan was quoted as saying “he felt like he broke his arm.” The good news for Nathan is that the arm isn’t broken. The bad new for the Tigers’ closer is that he did indeed tear the ulnar collateral ligament and flexor pronator, which will require season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair.
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Episode 221

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss injury news related to Ian Kennedy, Dexter Fowler, Joe Nathan, and Shane Victorino. They also investigate the findings of Scott Spratt regarding early-season defense and then discuss 10 guys who are struggling majorly early and get a read on whether or not they’re ready to make a move in response to the slow start.

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• Not a whole lot of injury news, but I did make quite a few changes to the disabled list return times.

• Sadly, it looks like Joe Nathan’s career may be done with a torn UCL. He will need to have Tommy John surgery to throw again.

Joe Nathan Out For Year With Torn UCL & Tendon http://t.co/O8vSXFspU6

— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) April 23, 2015

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It’s hard to believe the current incarnation of Curtis Granderson could show up, by default, at the very top of any FanGraphs leaderboard for positive reasons. Yet there he is: the Grandy Man leads all National League outfielders in chase rate (O-Swing%), at 16.7 percent. Only Brett Gardner and the fabled Joey Votto have offered at fewer non-strikes than Granderson among qualified Major League hitters.

Granderson has seen 128 pitches outside the strike zone. Of those pitches, he has swung at 21 of them. And of those swings, he has made contact with 17. For the mathematically disinclined, that’s a grand total of four swings and misses on pitches out of the zone. That’s the fewest of any hitter who has seen at least as many pitches as Granderson has.

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We’re not even a month into the latest and greatest Major League Baseball season but it’s never too early to start focusing on the Rookie of the Year race and, more generally speaking, the freshmen class of 2015.

Jace Peterson, Braves: Peterson, acquired from San Diego during the off-season, won the Braves’ starting second base gig with a strong spring but he’s struggled early in the regular season. The fleet-of-foot infielder has struck out almost 30% of the time — an alarming number for anyone but especially for someone whose focus is putting the ball in play to utilize his speed. He’s been on base so inconsistently that he’s only been able to attempt two steals (with a 50% success rate). Peterson has a short window to establish himself as a big league starter with the Braves’ top hitting prospect, Jose Peraza, currently honing his craft in Triple-A (and he has also been struggling with the bat). [Value Down]

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Episode 14 – Outperform Their Profiles

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Brad Johnson discuss the incoming fallout after J.A. Happ’s successful outing, watching out for getaway day lineups, some comps for Yonder Alonso, a closer look at Anibal Sanchez’s early struggles, and what to make of the red-hot Oakland A’s hitters.

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