Perhaps, more accurately, Wilson Ramos’ brand of power is returning.

The Washington Nationals’ backstop has slashed .333/.347/.563, with three home runs and two doubles for a .229 ISO, in 49 plate appearances this month. Prior to August, he’d hit three home runs and eight doubles for a .094 ISO in 196 PAs.

Ramos was apparently wondering about his theretofore shortcomings by the end of July. Fantasy baseball players, like Nats manager Matt Williams, probably did less of that, considering that they could’ve had some expectation of loss following the catcher’s hamate bone surgery that forced him to miss five weeks at the start of this season. Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 155

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

RotoGraphs streaming guru Brandon Warne joins Nicholas Minnix to discuss, among other things, Lorenzo Cain’s potentially diminishing PT; Joc Pederson and Alex Guerrero; Carlos Martinez and Shelby Miller; Archie Bradley; Dan Straily; Trevor Rosenthal; Greg Holland; Daniel Norris; Avisail Garcia; Michael Cuddyer; Gerrit Cole; Wil Myers; David Wright; and, of course, this week’s two-turn pitchers of interest.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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Episode 154

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other things, Mike Fiers; Jake Arrieta; Tim Lincecum; the San Diego Padres’ evolving lineup; Kendrys Morales; Brian McCann; Michael Bourn; J.J. Hardy; and some requests – Madison Bumgarner, Collin McHugh, Marcus Stroman, Mike Minor, Kyle Hendricks, and Mike Napoli.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode. Read the rest of this entry »

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I covered Brandon McCarthy in a Waiver Wire post a couple of weeks ago (for the second time this season, the second time) because I was more excited about his prospects to see some positive regression now that he had joined the New York Yankees. Multiple news outlets in the Big Apple reported reasons that the organization targeted the right-hander. Brian Cashman and/or his advisers essentially believed that, with a couple of tweaks, he would deliver results more in line with his peripherals than he had for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Drew Fairservice, a recent addition to the FanGraphs team, wondered whether McCarthy’s results were more the product of Pinstriped Intervention or the laws of mean. It’s fair to ponder, and Drew gives the club credit. Eno and I (mostly Eno) mentioned in the podcast some possible reasons, such as the parity of a couple of his pitches, for McCarthy’s continually disappointing results in the desert in light of his indicators. Components such as xFIP and SIERA can serve an array of purposes, but they’re not inherently predictive. Read the rest of this entry »

About a quarter of the regular season remains, so fantasy baseball players can’t expect much of an influx of talent in their leagues’ free-agent pools. What talent does hit the wire is running out of time to have a say in the standings, too.

The players I wanted to audition for a second entry in my WW this week have been profiled in the last few days. I hoped to find an American League player, one who had just come into some playing time or has an attractive schedule upcoming.

I should have known better than to think that anyone would beat Mike Podhorzer to a write-up on Carlos Carrasco. I like the Cleveland Indians’ latest starter more than Eno Sarris seems to like him – not so much because I think there’s a change, and more so because the news gives me a little hope that he’ll buck the confidence issue which has plagued him. Now that Cleveland has pretty much given up, there won’t be much pressure on him, relatively speaking. I like J.A. Happ for the reasons Brett Talley cites, especially the LHP’s upcoming schedule – in spite of last night’s hiccup at the Seattle Mariners. And Podhorzer jumped on Jake Marisnick about a week and a half ago. The Houston Astros’ deadline acquisition figures to play regularly, at least for the next couple of weeks thanks to a George Springer (strained quadriceps) setback.

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Episode 153

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other players and situations, Josh Willingham; Rymer Liriano; Pedro Alvarez; Rafael Montero, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard; Buck Farmer and Justin Verlander; Phil Hughes; Jenrry Mejia; shaky bullpens; and some requests – Stephen Strasburg, Scott Kazmir, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Hellickson.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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Chicago White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers hasn’t exactly been a prime target for those in mixed leagues, even of the two-catcher variety (say, with 12 teams), since his 2009 debut. It’s possible, however, that he’s in the midst of a breakthrough, in his age-28 campaign, which would earn him a shot at a membership to that club, at least.

Flowers has batted .351/.407/.635 in 81 plate appearances in the past month. He’s reportedly been working on his approach for some time, doing some things differently, he says. In addition, the backstop has usually worn contact lenses, but just before the All-Star break, he went with a pair of sport goggles. H/T to commenter Jonathan Sher, again, for pointing out the latter fact. It’s what prompted me to become curious about the ChiSox’s backstop in the first place.

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Episode 152

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix open with some things on Caleb Joseph, Giancarlo Stanton, and Joey Gallo. They then get to some playing time questions on the Braves, Mets, Blue Jays, and Indians, as well as some chatter about the Nationals’ Michael Taylor. The pair then discusses some low-level changes to big-league rotations, with a couple of hurlers piquing their interests – in particular, Carlos Carrasco.

Collette and Minnix also touch on the Tigers’ bullpen, among others, before getting to the injured players – those making their ways back, including – perhaps – Andrew McCutchen, and those on their ways out and those who’ll fill in, such as Anibal Sanchez and Robbie Ray. They add thoughts on whether it’s time to drop either of the Rockies’ cornerstones before getting into some two-turn pitchers for the week.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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Episode 151

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live!

Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Josh Beckett, Jake Lamb, the Boston Red Sox’s outfield, the Chicago Cubs’ prospects and who might make up their future outfield, Bryce Harper, the Colorado Rockies’ outfield, Clay Buchholz, Danny Salazar, Jacob Turner, Brad Penny, Masahiro Tanaka, Brett Lawrie, Andrew McCutchen, Michael Pineda, Cliff Lee, and some requests – Stephen Piscotty, Brett Gardner, and Will Venable.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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I have been skeptical of Bud Norris, as perhaps others have been, for much of this season. His 3.68 (4.36 FIP, 4.26 xFIP, 4.17 SIERA) ERA isn’t spectacular, but it’s really the first time in his career in which he’s produced results notably better, really even at all better, than his ERA indicators.

Of course, there are a couple of simple things at which to point that could sort of easily help to explain Norris’ 2014 success. He’s posting a career-best walk rate of 7.7%. His fastball velocity is back near its peaks of his break-in seasons. His opponents’ BABIP (.284) and his LOB% (78.4), notably better than his career marks and league average, hint at the possibility of increased fortune for the right-hander this season. I could probably stop there and call it something close to a perfect storm.

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