Agenda
Last week, we began our quixotic attempt to design the Universal Baseball Association—the ideal full-season Roto-style Fantasy league. This quest was interrupted by a vacation, or, more accurately, “vacation.” The chief benefit of doing something you don’t especially want to do in someplace you don’t especially want to do it in is that circumstances induce you to imagine you’re doing something you’d prefer to be doing in a place in which you’d prefer to be doing it. So there we were, being nibbled upon by sea lice in the saltiest water this side of the Dead Sea. Suddenly and magically, the similarly-immersed children who’d foolishly been placed in our care seemed to vanish—don’t worry; they reappeared all too soon–and we were transported, in the kingdom of our minds, to our desks and computers, free to brood further about the categories and rules of the UBA.
Herewith the results. First, though, a quick summary of the criteria by which we judge our success; if you want more of the same, check last week’s post. The categories in an ideal league should, we think, be as few as possible; be susceptible of appreciation by both the average baseball fan and the stat geek; be “primary,” in that they reflect the building blocks of baseball performance, rather than being “derivative” stats that massage these primary categories to and beyond the vanishing point; focus on a player’s individual achievement rather than the team-based context in which that achievement occurs and can be distorted; yet produce stats that, in the aggregate, look roughly like the stats that a Reality Baseball team would produce over a full season.
In just a couple of weeks, deep league waiver wires across the land will be overflowing with options as rosters expand. But you don’t have to wait until September as a pair of minor leaguers will be making their debut and are expected to get near regular at-bats for the time being!
In continuing my theme of pushing my favorite films and music on you guys, today’s Roto Riteup is unofficially brought to you by Something Corporate’s Leaving Through The Window. It’s the one of the few vinyl records I really want, but I can’t justify paying the absurd prices being asked for it.
On today’s agenda:
1. Bad news for Maikel Franco
2. Welcome back, Jason Kipnis
3. A quick Lance McCullers update
4. Streaming Pitching Options
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• Tommy Kahnle started off well closing in Colorado but after back to back putrid outings his job was on shaky ground. Today it seems like he’s lost the job. Walt Weiss had good things to say about former closer John Axford and it now looks like he’s reclaimed his familiar role in the ninth. This situation is still red on the grid below as Axford hasn’t pitched well or consistently well all year but nonetheless, it’s his job to lose.
Episode 266
The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!
In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris talk about Mike Leake’s continued injury, my piece Starling Marte’s power outage, Felix Hernandez’s downturn, St. Louis’ outfield injuries, Boston’s outfield (so Eno can chime in on Jackie Bradley Jr’s surge), Danny Salazar’s run, Cole Hamels’ transition, and Eno’s piece on Velocity Gainers & Losers.
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On June 9th, Starling Marte blasted his 12th home run of the season, leaving him just two shy of setting a new a career-high with 105 games left in the season. Marte has just one home run since June 10th so he is still one shy of that new high with 46 games left in the season. He hasn’t been bad during that stretch, not by a longshot, but the power has evaporated. In those 52 games, Marte is hitting .320 and has scored 29 runs with 12 stolen bases which would pace to 91 and 38 over a full season, respectively. But with just that one homer and a .091 ISO, he is no doubt disappointing some of his fantasy teams.
Honestly, the power outage shouldn’t surprise any of us.
Episode 93 – All BABIPs Are Not Created Equal
The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!
In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Brad Johnson discuss Brad’s dog’s progress, a big hitting day, waiting for Kevin Gausman to live up to his potential, Trevor Bauer being familiar with his own struggles, utilizing Enrique Hernandez, the nuances of BABIP, the obvious advantages of under-the-radar picks, Chi Chi Gonzalez’s struggles in the Major Leagues, betting against the Cincinnati pitching staff, Clayton Kershaw being possibly too popular of an option, and considering multiple entries.
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Agenda
We’re just about ready to close the book on another season, and as we’re well into the throes of the 2015 stretch run, we need every bit of fantasy ammunition, each spare part we can scrounge from the waiver wire dumpster.
As a reminder, the players recommended in this space are best suited for mono formats, and the ownership percentages are by way of CBS.
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