Agenda
Episode 130 – A Bankrupt Man’s Dee Gordon
The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!
In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss Dylan’s brilliant Carlos Correa prediction being off to a good start, the first great Hawk Harrelson call of the year, attempting to find a comp for Elvis Andrus, 2016’s Francisco Lindor being the 2015 Jhonny Peralta of DFS options, Dylan trying to find upside in Jimmy Rollins, and Mat Latos and the typical White Sox player.
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It’s Week 1 of the MLB season, so it’s time to obsess over velocity. It’s a topic that several other FanGraphs writers have touched on, including Jeff Sullivan in his article about Felix Hernandez yesterday. As a fantasy player, I try not to overact to early-season velocity changes for established starters, but I do like to peruse the early velocity leaderboard for relief pitchers. Since there is so much bullpen turnover from year to year and since I frankly don’t know many of the young relievers who earn jobs and, in spite of whatever limitations that prevented them from sticking as starters, have a chance to become late-inning relievers in the future, I like to use velocity to identify possible relief sleepers.
On Monday, I unveiled the first edition of my American League starting pitcher tiers. Of course, it didn’t include every pitcher currently part of a team’s rotation. Don’t feel bad for them, as their day has come. Today, I’ll discuss the remainder of the crop that missed the cut. Do any of these guys have the potential to join the tiered?
Warning: this is a boring list. Try to stay awake while reading about these names.
The San Diego Padres are never, ever going to score. Kenta Maeda has out-produced them on offense this season. Go to sleep, Padres.
The Bullpen Report team worked a bit earlier than normal on Wednesday to compile notes and observations revolving around the earlier contests, so if by chance we publish before the Best Coast games go final, we’ll catch up with you on Thursday with the necessary details.
-After constant chatter on the comment section, it looks like the mob was right about Sam Dyson in Texas. Keone Kela came on in the seventh inning and struggled a bit allowing three baserunners and an earned run only getting two outs in the inning. Sam Dyson finished the seventh and also threw a scoreless eighth and he looks to be next in line for saves in Texas. Those save opportunities might be a bit closer too after Shawn Tolleson’s no good very bad day today. Tolleson entered the ninth with a 5-4 lead and proceeded to allow five hits and five runs without recording an out. Tolleson was never the most talented in the Rangers relief corps but he was the one getting saves. He hasn’t lost his job yet but I would run to the waivers to put a claim on Dyson.
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4/6/16
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Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play
Standouts
Strategy Section
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As we sort through this early season slate of games in the very young 2016 Major League Baseball season, there’s still plenty to determine about this year’s crop of third basemen. Obviously, there’s an elite group and another tier or two of veterans that are well-established. Then, there are others trying to establish themselves or maintain any semblance of value. These might be young cats or platoon guys that maintain third base eligibility trying to muster up some fantasy value here early in the year. And then right in the middle of the mix of all of this is Matt Duffy.
Matt Duffy is one of the more intriguing players in the third base picture for this year. The results from his first two games notwithstanding, he’s a player that could certainly trend in either direction in 2016, as we saw a little bit of both sides of him throughout the 2015 season.
Drafts are over and the season is officially here. We are looking at the teams we drafted with pride, believing that this will be our year. We have forgotten about those poor souls that were left behind. Yes, I am talking about the undrafted players. The guys that sit on our waiver wires untouched, hoping for a chance to enter our lineups. They are praying that an owner may sign them to a deal. Read the rest of this entry »
If you are new to Ottoneu, one of the first things you’ll realize is that the list of rostered players is deep. One strategy that these larger rosters allow for is the ability to platoon players. While this strategy isn’t too useful with 25 man rosters, it’s perfect for the 40 man rosters of Ottoneu. Many teams utilize it in some capacity, but it can also lead to certain pitfalls. Let’s review a couple guidelines to platooning
1.) Target good home parks and left handed hitters
The goal in using a player in a platoon situation is to maximize your Points Per Game (P/G) by starting them in favorable situations. Unlike a major league team, you do not need to pair hitters who kill left and right handed pitching respectively. Instead, focus on platoons which are likely to yield a high number of usable games. (This is very important as meeting the game cap greatly increases your chances of success.) The two most common splits I find myself building platoons off of are home/road splits and left/right splits. In these scenarios, I am targeting players who play in favorable home parks or perform well against righties.
A couple players who I plan to use in these types of platoons in 2016 include (vRHP) Chris Coghlan, Brandon Moss, Josh Reddick, and (@Home) Ben Paulsen. There are plenty of other options as well! Coghlan, Moss, and Reddick all hit righties well, while Paulsen plays in Coors field. In each of these scenarios, those mentioned are likely to put up better production than their overall lines may suggest, and is likely to cost something similar to a 5th OF or bench player. As you look for players who perform well in these types of situations, you’ll stumble upon a few players you really like. Feel free to post some of your favorites in the comments. Read the rest of this entry »