Episode 125

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Eddie Butler, the Rockies’ outfield, Jedd Gyorko, Jedd Gyorko, Trevor Rosenthal, Zach Britton and Tommy Hunter, Jonathan Villar, Justin Smoak, SwStr% by pitch along with pitch values, players coming back, a Yankees call-up and Kole Calhoun.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us any fantasy questions you have so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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It could. Aaron Hicks has failed to impress in the major leagues, with a .192/.282/.311 slash line in 462 plate appearances, so it might be worth a shot. Hey, the results have been even worse in the 326 times he’s stood in the batter’s box against a right-handed pitcher as a left-handed hitter: .178/.259/.286. The split has been more pronounced in 2014: .149/.284/.209 in 82 plate appearances. His lifetime MLB ISO as a right-handed hitter is 64 points better than its counterpart.

Hicks made the decision on his own and then informed his agent and the organization of it. Standard practice is to discuss such a substantial change with one’s club before one makes it. The Minnesota Twins don’t seem to mind and have been supportive of his choice, both reactions that are more than understandable, at least to me, given my limited knowledge of the dynamic, however.

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It’s a “dudes who have been dropped in a lot of mixed leagues” edition. These two have disappointed in different ways – one with fairly low expectations, one with optimistic forecasts – but both of their outcomes have been roughly equal in terms of suckitude. The signs, lately, both performance-wise and in terms of team dynamics, have given fantasy owners reasons for cautious optimism going forward, though.

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Episode 124

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Wil Myers, Jon Singleton, Marcus Semien, Nick Franklin and Brad Miller, Kendrys Morales, Jesse Hahn, Cody Allen, Dellin Betances, the Marlins’ bullpen, Mark Teixeira, Yordano Ventura, Andrew Cashner, Taijuan Walker and Johan Santana.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us any fantasy questions you have so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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Good timing. The RotoGraphs consensus rankings for catchers went up yesterday. The more information the merrier. I’ve made some adjustments – a few significant – since the backstop tiers I developed for May. Between the two, you should have a good idea of how fantasy owners in your league might view certain crouchers for the rest of the season.

I’m single, so I’ve been known to purchase a frozen pizza or four. I haven’t tried them all, so in a few cases, I’ve taken the word of a reviewer and combined it with my feelings about the picture on the box and other information that I can interpret with uninhibited bias. What do you know?! Just like my tiers.

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Episode 122

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Adam Ottavino, Ronald Belisario and Daniel Webb, John Axford, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia, Tommy La Stella, Rougned Odor, Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmermann, Chris Young, Collin McHugh, Austin Jackson, Oswaldo Arcia and Eric Hosmer and KC’s change at hitting coach.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us any fantasy questions you have so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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I hope that I’ve been giving it to you straight. On that note, these recommendations aren’t the most inspired. Oh, look: a guy who hit two bombs yesterday. Check it out: a recent call-up who was raking while in the minors.

Which kind of brings me to a larger point: It’s not often that I find players inspiring enough to recommend. Obviously, I’ve done it. I’ve been doing it for years … sometimes well, sometimes not so much. As far as the players go, I mean. Perhaps I’m just feeling particularly cynical or depressed.

What kind of recommendations do you want to see? I second-guess just about any name I come up with because of the multitude of league formats out there and, as a result, the usefulness of a rec. To me, there’s never enough context. I’d love to see what kinds of things readers want in a list of recommendations.

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Episode 121

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Clay Buchholz, Francisco Rodriguez, LaTroy Hawkins and the Rockies’ bullpen, Ronald Belisario and the White Sox’s bullpen, Nick Hundley, Kolten Wong, Brett Nicholas and Michael Choice and … Kendrys Morales, and last but not least, Yordano Ventura.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us any fantasy questions you have so that we may answer on our next episode.

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It didn’t seem like a big deal, at the time, when Matt Wieters missed a late-April contest because of forearm soreness. He returned to the lineup for a few games, then sat out twice more with what the club began to call elbow soreness. Less than a week into May came the report that he was scheduled to visit Dr. James Andrews, who would examine the results of an MRI on the Baltimore Orioles backstop’s elbow. Dr. Andrews determined that Wieters wasn’t a candidate for elbow-ligament replacement surgery shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, Wieters returned the lineup and played in four of five games, all of them as the DH. He was unable to serve the team behind the plate because the ailment affects his ability to throw, but early indications were that it doesn’t hamper him at the dish. He also took ground balls at first base on at least one occasion as the O’s weighed their options. It was worthwhile to Baltimore to lose some flexibility on the roster as long as Wieters could hit, but entering play on May 11, he was hitless in his last 10 at-bats. They’d obviously determined that keeping him active was no longer in their or his best interests, so he headed to the disabled list.

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The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim couldn’t have asked for Hector Santiago’s first season with the club to begin much worse. He’d had a good spring, with a 3.63 ERA and a 24:9 K/BB, but he opened 0-6 with a 5.19 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.7 BB/9 and 1.56 HR/9 in seven starts (34 2/3 innings). The Halos moved him into the bullpen a couple of days after his May 7 start, against the Yankees. He’d made two relief appearances, eight days between them, before the club optioned him to Triple-A Salt Lake.

The moves may be for the best. Mike Scioscia acknowledged that his team has been putting the left-hander in a tough position. Although the skipper almost certainly didn’t mean to implicate Santiago’s teammates, it’s clear that the rest of this heavenly cast hasn’t helped him much, start by start. Jose Serrano looked into how so a couple of weeks ago at Halo Hangout. Basically, the Angels have played poor defense, and they did so particularly on nights when Santiago pitched. They gave him abominable run support.

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