Eric Young & Jacob Faria: Deep League Wire
June 7, 2017
It’s time to inspire with another edition of the deep league waiver wire. Yay for rhymes.
Archive for June, 2017
Roto Riteup: June 7, 2017
by Justin Mason
June 7, 2017
On Thursday, I will make my return to the softball fields after over a year long absence due to injury. While I hope my first game back looks similar to Scooter Gennett’s day yesterday, it’ll most likely look more like this:
Meant to do that.https://t.co/O2SwdHQgb1 pic.twitter.com/WgyJg6cY2p
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 7, 2017
Bullpen Report: June 6, 2017
• Corey Knebel was called on in the ninth and pitched a perfect frame for his sixth save of the year. Before and after taking the closer’s gig from Neftali Feliz, Knebel has been outright fantastic. A 14.2% BB% isn’t ideal but when you combine it with a K% of 45.1% it’s plenty OK. Knebel’s SIERA stands at 2.36 and his ERA/FIP/xFIP after tonight’s outing is 1.24/2.12/2.24. Among qualified relievers his strikeout rate ranks 5th and in spite of the elevate walks his K-BB% still ranks 12th. Knebel was intriguing last year but it’s hard to say anyone saw this coming. I expected the Brewers to be sellers at the deadline and with their recent history of trading relievers I figured Knebel could have been shipped out like Tyler Thornberg last year. Instead the Brewers are in first place and Knebel figures to stay, continue to get saves and rack up strikeouts.
Tipping Pitches: How Good is Chase Anderson?
by Paul Sporer
June 6, 2017
Chase Anderson has been an interesting arm through two months. He posted a 2.10 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in five April starts with 20% K and 8% BB rates before sputtering to open May. In his first four starts of the month, he went more than five innings just once and it was only 5.3 IP at the Padres. The opposition ran him up to a 7.71 ERA and 2.09 WHIP in 18.7 IP with 18% K and 11% BB rates. He has bounced back from that lull with two major gems, including a long no-hit bid against the Diamondbacks on May 27th (14 scoreless IP, 18 K, 4 H, and 4 BB in the two starts).
Add it all up and he’s got a 3.30 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 23% K rate, and 0.7 HR9 – all career-bests – in 62.7 innings of work. What’s going on with Anderson and should we buy into him as a reliable arm? Here is what I found:
Tout War Evaluation: It’s Not “All” About My Team
The season is at the one-third marker and owners need to evaluate their team moving forward. In roto leagues, the main focus should be future standings gains. I will go over the procedure using my 15-team Tout Wars mixed league as an example.
To start with here is my start of the week Tout Wars standings.
Mixed League Standings (Auction)
| Team Name | R | HR | RBI | SB | OBP | W | SV | ERA | WHIP | SO | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Zinkie | 13 | 12 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 111 |
| Al Melchior | 8 | 8.5 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 11.5 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 108 |
| Joe Pisapia | 15 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 96 |
| Ray Flowers | 9.5 | 8.5 | 12 | 8.5 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 91.5 |
| Ron Shandler | 11.5 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 11.5 | 2.5 | 10 | 12 | 9.5 | 90 |
| Jeff Zimmerman | 9.5 | 10.5 | 7.5 | 14 | 12 | 2.5 | 12.5 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 89.5 |
| Zach Steinhorn | 11.5 | 15 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 82.5 |
| Bret Sayre | 7 | 6.5 | 13 | 1.5 | 14 | 14 | 12.5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 81.5 |
| Scott Swanay | 14 | 13 | 10 | 6.5 | 8 | 6 | 2.5 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 79 |
| Brent Hershey | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1.5 | 9 | 11.5 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 78 |
| Gene McCaffrey | 6 | 10.5 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 2.5 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 67 |
| Derek Van Riper | 1.5 | 6.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 3 | 6 | 5.5 | 11 | 8 | 9.5 | 63.5 |
| Tim Heaney | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 63 |
| Scott Engel | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 51.5 |
| Scott Pianowski | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 48 |
I’m happy to be involved a nice battle for fourth place after being in last place to start the month around the 60 point mark.
Analyzing Five Unexpected xFIP Leaders
by Ben Kaspick
June 6, 2017
There are 10 qualified starting pitchers with an xFIP under 2.80 in the last 30 days.
Among them are predictable names like Chris Archer (2.52), Clayton Kershaw (2.53), Chris Sale (2.64), Johnny Cueto (2.74), and Zack Greinke (2.76).
The other five aren’t as well known, and therefore, they are more intriguing.
Being in the top 10 xFIP leaderboard for a month is not necessarily a huge accomplishment. However, xFIP has one of the highest correlations with future ERA of all pitching metrics, so it’s among the most relevant numbers to examine when searching for potential breakouts or analyzing the legitimacy of poor or plus performance.
Below is a table sorted by the top 10 qualified starting pitchers in xFIP over the last 30 days*, with the best statistic in each category highlighted in yellow, and the worst statistic in each category highlighted in red: Read the rest of this entry »
The Daily Grind: Hot Healy Pockets
by Brad Johnson
June 6, 2017
This is the part with the flavor text. I write this last even though you read it first.
AGENDA
- Hot Healy
- Weather Reports
- Pitchers to Use and Abuse
- Hitters to Use
- SaberSim Says…
- TDG Invitational Returns!
The Two Month BABIP Underachievers
June 6, 2017
Yesterday, I discussed a swath of hitters whose BABIP marks sit significantly higher than their xBABIP. Today, it’s time to look at the underachiever list, which is probably more actionable than the overachievers. Let’s take a gander.
Roto Riteup: June 6, 2017
by Justin Mason
June 6, 2017
The Roto Riteup appreciates hyped umpires:
When you go a little too hard on strike 3 pic.twitter.com/6hOOBAmEEi
— Paul Sporer (@sporer) June 6, 2017
Bullpen Report: June 5, 2017
• Not a standard save in Chicago tonight as Mike Montgomery went 3.1 innings for his second save of the year. Wade Davis had thrown a couple days in a row so Koji Uehara received the save opportunity last night for the Cubs. Wade Davis is now ready to pitch but was actually placed on paternity leave. We won’t take him off the grid for such a short break but look for Uehara to get a look in the ninth if an opportunity arises tomorrow. Montgomery has only pitched out the pen to start the year and although his ERA dropped to 2.21 after tonight’s outing, his 3.78 FIP and 4.29 xFIP and 26 strikeouts against 20 walks in 36.2 innings don’t paint the picture of someone worth rostering at the moment.