Theriot & Casilla: Waiver Wire
Zach Sanders looked at a pair of deep league second baseman earlier today, but let’s look at a pair of middle infielders that don’t require such a deep format…
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Downs, Robertson, Samardzija: Climbing Depth Charts
Middle relievers tend to get hurt and/or be ineffective no apparent reason, creating an opening for other guys in the bullpen to get more leveraged work. It happens all the time, and taking advantage of situations like that are a necessity in fantasy these days. That applies to saves mostly, but we can’t forget about holds as well. Here’s three guys that recently climbed a notch or two on the depth chart thanks to some hobbled teammates…
Freddie Freeman: Who We Thought He Was
For the second straight season, the Braves are breaking in a rookie position player at a corner spot. Last year it was Jason Heyward, who rewarded them with 5.1 WAR season and almost a Rookie of the Year trophy. This season it’s Freddie Freeman, who is not and never was expected to be the star Heyward immediately became. He’s a fine player, no doubt, but all he had to do was be better than the Derrek Lees and Carlos Penas of the expensive free agent world in 2011. With a .334 wOBA and 0.1 WAR to date, for all intents and purposes he’s done just that (.276, -0.4 and .328, 0.4, respectively). Since the Braves have played 69 games so far this year, let’s cut Freeman’s season into three equal pieces and check his performance at each point…
The Next-In-Lines: Closers
We’re now into dump season, when closers start to lose jobs for good or get traded, movement like that. Setup guys and high-end middle relievers will suddenly become that much more fantasy relevant in the coming weeks, and we’ve already seen guys like Mark Melancon, Jordan Walden, Fernando Salas, and Sergio Santos go from sleeper to must-own. Let’s look at some closers currently on the chopping block and the guys that are next-in-line behind them…
Hardy & Willingham: Waiver Wire
Let’s kick off the week by looking at personal favorites you’ll be able to find sitting in your free agent pool or on the waiver wire…
Pagan & Ludwick: Waiver Wire Outfielders
Let’s kick off this week’s round of waiver wire posts off with a look at two NL outfielders who are starting to come around…
2011 Holds Rankings Update: June
Two days ago we updated our closer rankings, so now it’s time to turn our attention to the guys setting them up. If you’re reading this site, then chances are you understand that the setup guys often pitch in the biggest spots of the game, only to be rewarded with a silly little hold. Unfortunately those don’t mean much at the negotiating table. A number of these guys have big time value because they throw a lot of innings (more than a typical closer) with elite peripherals and ERA. Here are the May rankings for reference.
2011 First Base Rankings: June
We’ve been rolling out our updated position rankings this week, and now it’s time to hit the first baseman. Here are our preseason and May rankings for reference. There hasn’t been a ton of movement, especially not higher up on the list, but every little bit counts.
2011 Closer Rankings: June
It’s time to update our closer rankings as the calendar flips to June. Here are the preseason and May rankings for reference, and here’s the saves leaderboard as well. Obviously those saves are the most important thing here, but the best closers give you more than that, boosting your strikeout total while pulling your ERA and WHIP down. A number of high-end ninth inning guys lose their jobs this month or are now dangerously close to losing it, so there’s been some movement up top.
Looking At Non-Closer Strikeout Rates
Middle relievers have to bring a lot to the table to be worth a fantasy roster spot, even in holds leagues. Keeping the ERA and WHIP down isn’t enough anymore, and anyone with a mediocre strikeout is at a natural disadvantage. There’s almost always someone else available that can help you just as much in the other categories while contributing more whiffs. Let’s take a look through the reliever strikeout leaderboard and pick out the non-closers who have struck out more than a batter per inning this year (min. 20 IP) …