Agenda

1. DFS Bullpens
2. Daily DFS – Hutchison
3. Tomorrow’s Targets – Chavez, Urena, Smith, Buxton
4. Factor Grid

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Episode 56 – Through the Magic of Podcasting

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

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss a short slate on Monday, Hawk Harrelson’s joy, Lance McCullers’ unfair reputation, CC Sabathia’s sudden (re)relevance, the shame of believing in Mike Pelfrey, Kendall Graveman’s surging prominence, and Joc Pederson’s improvements against left-handers.

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It’s time once again to analyze the batted ball distance leaderboard! Woohoo. There are many ways to utilize the distance data, one of which is for validation purposes. This method of analysis is backwards looking. Does the distance back up the HR/FB rate? We can’t necessarily say a hitter is going to maintain such a distance, but we could point to it to determine whether the hitter’s performance has been legitimate or not. Has he been the beneficiary of some good fortune or has he truly been crushing/not crushing the ball?

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As Mr. Sanders was traveling yesterday, he bribed me with some peanut butter M&M’s to take today’s Roto Riteup. Obviously the PB kind are the best M&M’s; they’re easy 6.0 candy above replacement. For what it’s worth, I think Pez are replacement level candy.

On today’s agenda:
1. Buying Jose Quintana
2. Marlon Byrd’s Power
3. Streaming Pitching Options
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The Blue Jays bullpen is all kinds of red right now. Steve Delabar came on with two outs and a runner on third in the seventh. He gave up a single, allowing the inherited runner to score and tie the game. He didn’t give up a run in the eighth, giving way to Brett Cecil to try to preserve the tie and give the Jays a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth. After getting Matt Wieters to ground out, he went walk, walk, single, triple, strikeout before being replaced. The single was a soft flare up the middle that Jose Reyes just gave up on, thinking that Munenori Kawasaki was going to get it. Cecil was visibly upset on the mound. He was charged with four earned runs, and you’d have to think that he won’t be pitching the next time the Jays have a job that calls for a closer. He thinks he may be tipping his pitches http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-drop-game-and-series-to-baltimore-orioles-and-expose-their-dire-pitching-situation. Roberto Osuna was unavailable Sunday after pitching in the first two games of the series. Who will get the next opportunity remains to be seen, but it would likely be between Osuna and Delabar. Delabar has a 21.1% K%-BB% on the year and he’s sporting a stellar 1.06 ERA. That’s been aided by an unsustainable .097 BABIP and 100% LOB rate. His 3.61 FIP is not so sharp. Osuna has a similar K%-BB% at 20.6%. He has a 2.26 FIP, and if I had to guess who would be getting the role, and I do, I’m going with Osuna. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Delabar and you couldn’t be faulted if you grabbed him, but I’m going with Osuna. Cecil is still listed as the closer on the closer grid and will continue to be until John Gibbons sends someone else out there in that role. It could be Monday in Tampa.

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To all the dad’s out there: Happy Father’s Day!

Professor Pony will have you covered for tomorrow’s Roto Riteup as I jet off today to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association conference in NYC for (believe it or not) real-life work.

On today’s agenda:
1. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
2. Various news and notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options Read the rest of this entry »

Hey, we’re still making progress. And thanks for the “you suck” comments. I get it. But I’m working hard to try keep moving forward. The last two years were really good. But above all, thank you for reading regardless of if you love or hate the advice. That goes for all of you.

As an aside, do you all think I should start using team wOBAs against that pitcher’s handedness? I never know what’s an adequate sampling for that sort of thing. Your input is welcomed in the comments below!

As for this week, it’s an all-lefty trio of guys who aren’t terribly risky, but should provide decent results.

Here are the totals through half of week 10:

12-30 record
5.09 ERA
6.2 K/9
2.3 K/BB
1.41 WHIP

Here’s a look at this week’s recs, with team wOBA in parentheses. Y! ownership numbers pulled courtesy of twitter pal @Jake_in_MN, whom you should give a follow:

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There were all sorts of happenings in Toronto on Friday night regarding the Jays pen. Roberto Osuna was tossed in the eighth after dotting Adam Jones. He gave up two hits and was charged with an earned run. Steve Delabar cleaned up the eighth after Osuna was tossed, lowering his ERA to 1.15 in the process. That left the ninth, and a rare save opportunity, for Brett Cecil. He gave up three singles, hit a batter and surrendered two runs, allowing the Jays to win by a single run while getting save number five. The Jays have been linked to Francisco Rodriguez and Jonathan Papelbon, and with a pair of replacements ready in the pen in Osuna and Delabar, the days of Cecil as closer are numbered.

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In case you had forgotten, today’s Roto Riteup reminds readers to purchase their Father’s Day gifts for tomorrow.

On today’s agenda:
1. The author watches Lance McCullers’ defense fail him
2. Various news and notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options

<!–more>The author watches Lance McCullers’ defense fail him
As a resident of the greater Seattle area, your author has a nightly opportunity to watch the Seattle Mariners disappoint him. This time around, it was the Astros who were disappointing, failing to support Lance McCullers in the first inning with an error and a misplayed bloop single. Catcher Hank Conger also dropped a third strike in the second inning, allowing fellow backstop Mike Zunino to reach base.

McCullers looked like his usual self against the Mariners; arms flailing, the ball flying to the plate in the mid-90s, and an effectively wild approach. McCullers’ changeup tails off like a digressing professor, and his curveball dives out of the zone with ease. His command is going to hurt his WHIP for at least the remainder of this year, but if he can improve just a little bit, he’s nasty.

The Astros defense has been solidly in the bottom half of the league this year, though the addition of Carlos Correa could bump them up a smidge. Be wary of a couple of extra hits getting through, even if that hasn’t been the case with the likes of Dallas Keuchel.

Various news and notes

Hisashi Iwakuma will begin his minor league rehab assignment with the Mariners A-ball affiliate, and is scheduled to throw about 50 pitches. Iwakuma will likely need at least three starts in the minors, and will replace Mike Montgomery in the M’s rotation when he returns.

The legend of Joey Butler continues. The Rays’ “phenom” hit a homer yesterday, giving him six on the year with a .336 batting average. Think of Butler as Bryan LaHair and stay away.

Ike Davis has been activated by the A’s and should take his spot back at first base. Davis was a different man before getting hurt, cutting his strikeout rate to 14% and hitting .282 with not much pop to speak of.

Jose Altuve claims to be feeling well despite missing the Astros last few games. He could return as early as today.

Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Anthony DeSclafani vs MIA (Tom Koehler)
While a Reds starter at home can be a risky proposition, the Marlins are a bottom-three offense against righties.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Vincent Velasquez at SEA (J.A. Happ)
Velasquez will square off against a middle lineup (at best) in a pitcher’s park. If the defense holds up, so should he.

Agenda

1. The Future vs. Now
2. Daily DFS – Bettis, Walker
3. GB / FB Splits
4. Tomorrow’s Targets – Anderson, Morgan, Reynolds, Spangenberg
5. Factor Grid

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