If at first you don’t succeed, try again? Well, I’m once again suggesting taking a shot on a hitter who struggled out of the gate. Also, I was shocked to see the ownership rates tied to a stat-stuffing outfielder in Cleveland. The toolsy rookie is owned in over 50% of leagues on just one of the three heavy-hitter fantasy providers. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of National League Central starting pitchers have caught my eye. Both are owned in a lower percentage of fantasy leagues than they should be, and both are flame throwers. One of the two has already received not just one endorsement from Paul Sporer earlier this month, but also a second after pitching decent in Colorado and brilliantly in Arizona. The other hurler hasn’t received the same level of praise, but Jeff Zimmerman noted a new breaking ball this righty’s added to his mix, and his results of late are intriguing. Read the rest of this entry »

First things first, you can check out all of my 10 Bold Predictions here, though, I’ll be providing them with a review of how they are fairing below. Predictably, some have a chance — a good chance, even — to hit. Others, however, are toast already. Let’s jump into the predictions. Read the rest of this entry »

Motivation for who I choose to write about can come in all different places. This week, my motivation for revisiting non-closing relievers is the result of a tweet thread started by colleague Jeff Zimmerman. Jeff pointed out in his initial tweet that in 15-team Mixed Tout Wars, the median WHIP has increased from 1.24 in 2016 to 1.31 this season (as of June 26).

Rob Silver speculated that WHIPs and ERAs are up as a result of gamers chasing bad starting pitching to replace injured starters who are on the DL, and I think that’s a reasonable belief. My suggestion is to consider some of the following relievers instead of streaming mediocre — or worse — starting pitchers, especially if you’re in the middle of a logjam for points in ERA and WHIP in your roto league standings. The relievers below are listed in order of my preference for adding with the first reliever suggested my favorite option and the last my least favorite addition. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I suggested nabbing and stashing one of Cincinnati’s starting pitchers who’s nearing a return, and this week I do the same with a different arm of theirs. A pair of outfielders owned in under 25% of leagues across the industry also stand out as worthy of the attention of gamers. Read the rest of this entry »

The pitching landscape isn’t what it has been in recent years, as Paul Sporer noted here and here when touting some widely available starting pitchers who can help fantasy gamers. Quality pitching is in demand for fantasy gamers, so I’m going to offer some more widely available arms to turn to for help. Read the rest of this entry »

Dinelson Lamet has made two starts in The Show. In those two starts he’s pitched 10 innings allowing three runs (all earned) on eight hits and three walks while striking out a whopping 16 batters. The surface stats are intriguing, and the underlying stats are quite good, too — more on them to come. Still, you can be forgiven if you know very little about Lamet. Read the rest of this entry »

Yonder Alonso has been going nuts for the Athletics, and it’s no secret. Jed Lowrie has been operating in his shadow, yet he’s off to a solid start with some impressive batted ball numbers. Like Lowrie, Brad Peacock has been playing at an impressive level in the shadow of another teammate. Chris Devenski has earned the attention he’s gotten with his brilliant play, but Peacock hasn’t been a slouch. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not always easy to hold onto players who are off to slow starts if they’re near the back end of your roster. It seems like it’s even more difficult this year with DL usage up. As a result, the following trio of players have been dumped in many leagues. All three have compelling cases for being rostered in various league types, though. Read the rest of this entry »

By now, most gamers have noticed Trevor Cahill’s excellent start to the year for the Padres. Another member of San Diego’s rotation is pitching fairly well, too. A 4.13 ERA and 1.38 WHIP don’t result in fantasy gamers flocking to the waiver wire to add a player in most cases, but this pitcher’s underlying stats are mighty intriguing.. This groundball-inducing machine is owned in just 20% of CBS leagues, 4.0% of ESPN leagues and 3% of Yahoo! leagues. A look under the hood hints at some very real breakout potential, and at the least, deep league relevance. Read the rest of this entry »