Wednesday is called hump day by some and camel day (because of the humps) by fewer. To me, it’s known as the day I agreed to write way too many articles. On that note, TDG is always first!
AGENDA
Still paying attention or has preseason football pulled you away? If the former is your answer, then here are two manly man with the potential to help your team end your season in glorious fashion.
My brother decided to schedule his wedding the same weekend as the Arizona First Pitch Forums because he is an awful person and hates me. I am really bummed I am going to miss it, but hopefully my future sister-in-law will forgive my absence. Here are the players that will be on the field during the Arizona Fall League:
Arizona Fall League rosters were announced today, and they are, per usual, packed with premium prospects: https://t.co/U9Odd9DFLx pic.twitter.com/StDSVlNiXK
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 29, 2017
Here is today’s transcript in which the chatters discovered my non-baseball interests.
| 4:00 |
: Ahoy there! |
| 4:00 |
: Hi Brad! |
| 4:01 |
: With most fantasy trade deadlines slipping past last week, we’re getting down the the stretch run |
| 4:01 |
: I’d like to avoid questions about keepers today. Please solve those at a more appropriate time. Dynasty topics are fair game though, like… |
| 4:01 |
: How does your valuation of Conforto change after last week’s injury in a dynasty league? |
| 4:02 |
: The nice thing about dynasty is that a player’s value isn’t greatly affected by an injury unless it changes his skill level |
Some quick thoughts on a pair of AL East arms who threw on Monday:
Pomeranz Soaring Despite An Interesting Flaw
It wasn’t Drew Pomeranz’s best effort, but he managed a baseline quality start and wiggled out trouble that a 2.00 WHIP would normally lead allowing him to hand a lead to the bullpen after the Red Sox jumped the Jays for four in the seventh. I don’t hear many Red Sox fans clamoring for Anderson Espinoza these days (the return for Pomy last summer) as Pomeranz has been the team’s second-best starter behind Chris Sale this year.
Here’s a helpful reminder – not only are we Grinding today, it’s also chat day. I’ll see you again at 4:00pm ET.
AGENDA
Pitchers who lose velocity early in the season get noticed immediately and get an “injury” or “something’s wrong” label. This late in the season, velocity changes can come in as noise as pitchers have 20 games of good numbers to even out the results. Here are a few pitchers seeing a recent drop in their velocity whose owners might not have noticed.
If you’re just looking at the full season results, you may not be aware of how fantastic Patrick Corbin has been. In his last 14 starts, he has posted a 2.69 ERA and 3.47 SIERA, reminding us of his breakout 2013 season. After missing the entire 2014 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Corbin picked up right where he left off when he returned in 2015, posting a 3.60 ERA/3.44 SIERA over 16 starts. But then he suddenly fell apart last year as his control deserted him, he was afflicted with gopheritis, and his ERA ballooned to 5.15 as a result. And now, the Corbin with sterling control and the wicked slider is back.
We at the Roto Riteup are finishing the season with Kevin Pillar like effort:
Superman at it again, WOW. pic.twitter.com/UCf1LU8wNE
— MLB (@MLB) August 29, 2017
Last Tuesday, Jeff Sullivan wrote this article on Byron Buxton’s transformation into the Twins’ most valuable player. If you haven’t read it and you’re interested enough about Buxton to read this fantasy slant, you should probably also read Jeff’s analysis on Buxton’s increasingly well-rounded real-life skill set.
Yesterday, Buxton unleashed the best game of his career to this point, singling and stealing a base in the 1st inning as a prelude to his homers in the 4th, 7th and 9th. As Jeff pointed out in his post last week, Buxton has dramatically simplified his mechanics at the plate, most noticeably ditching the inconsistent leg kick he used to constantly tinker with, and that was certainly in evidence on Sunday.
Basically everything about his swing looks better than it did earlier in the season. The toe tap he’s replaced the leg kick with is allowing him to consistently plant his front leg, which means he can better incorporate his lower body compared to the “100% arms” swing he was flailing about with at the beginning of the season.