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I started this new column last week looking at 10 interesting things going on in baseball and giving my thoughts on them, particularly as they relate to fantasy baseball.

Zach Plesac is the Latest Product of the Cleveland Pitching Machine

We’re starting to see why Cleveland wasn’t worried about letting Corey Kluber via trade for what felt like a light return. Plesac and Aaron Civale have been excellent through four starts, joining Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, and Carlos Carrasco to form perhaps the best rotation in baseball. Plesac opened his season with eight shutout innings against a strong White Sox lineup that included 11 strikeouts and 0 walks.

He went to Cincinnati for his second outing and stood tall yet again with just a pair of home runs doing the damage in seven strong innings with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk. Nicholas Castellanos battled back from an 0-2 count to get it full and then hit a homer to left-center while Plesac battled back from a 2-0 count against Joey Votto to draw it full before the veteran lefty went yard in right field.

Plesac has dropped his fastball usage 15 points to 36%, leaning into his slider (up 5 points to 24%) and changeup (also up 6 points to 26%) with extraordinary results. He has a 32% strikeout rate, 2% walk rate, and he’s tied for the 6th-best Called Strikes+Whiff rate at 35% (min. 6 IP which yields 111 pitchers). Batters are 0-for-17 with 8 strikeouts against his slider.

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08/04/20

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Mike Soroka out for the year (achilles)
• Rich Hill to IL (shoulder)
• Shohei Ohtani out 4 wks w/flexor pronator mass
• Jo Adell called up
• Monte Harrison called up

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One issue I’ve had with pick up articles in the past is that so few ever recommend anyone to cut so which is arguably tougher than recommending who to pick. Sure, a player in question should probably be on a roster, but should it be your roster? I have a group of interesting free agents but also a player at each of those positions who you can consider cutting as well. Some of these are difficult cuts, but consider that we’re the equivalent of about 3 weeks in at this point so I think your bar for cutting someone needs to be lower than past seasons.

This article is designed mostly for 10- and 12-team leagues as a lot of these guys aren’t available in 15+ teamers and the recommended cuts are likely worth giving a bit more time to in deeper formats as well. I’m using ESPN’s roster rate for guidance.

Available Under 40% | Cuttable at 60%+

• C Danny Jansen – 15% | Yadier Molina – 68%

Pickings are a little slim behind the dish, but Jansen is off to a decent start after being highly touted in 2019 and failing to deliver on the hype. He’s hitting .235/.381/.412 with 1 HR and matching strikeout and walk rates at 19%.

Meanwhile, Molina has sputtered out of the gate at .222/.222/.222 in 18 PA. It’s obviously super early and veteran catcher will likely find his level, but he’s not so good that you must hang onto him in a 1-catcher league.

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07/30/20

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

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• @sporer – Host
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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Nate Pearson sharp in debut (Max even better)
• Cristian Javier outduel Dustin May
• Jesus Luzardo sharp in relief, to start next time out
• Zach Plesac awesome (Aaron Civale great on Wed, too)
  • Brad Hand blows it (trouble?)
• Charlie Morton’s misleading 2nd start
  • Oliver Drake has 2 SVs, then pitched in 6th
• Rich Hill great in season debut

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Transcript is now available!

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07/28/20

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

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• @sporer – Host
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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• MIA COVID Outbreak
  • WAS doesn’t want to play them
  • NYY/PHI cancelled again Tuesday
• Nate Pearson starting Wednesday v. Max Scherzer
• Justin Verlander & Corey Kluber hurt
• Alex Wood to IL (shoulder)
• Mike Foltynewicz DFA’d

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Over the course of the 60-game season I’m going to run a 10 Tidbits piece each week just highlighting 10 pieces of info that I find fantasy relevant. They won’t necessarily be linked and sometimes I might even go past 10. None of them are likely worth their own article so this will essentially be a news & notes piece with a different alliterative name.

Kyle Lewis is Still Crushing the Ball

Lewis smacked 6 HR in 75 PA during his blazing hot cup of coffee last year, but his 39% K and 4% BB rates in that span made some nervous about him coming into 2020. He’s already hit another 2 HR (not has 8 in 93 MLB PA) and while the strikeout rate is still sky high at 44%, his walk rate has jumped to 17%. At worst, we have a Hunter Renfroe-esque profile here with premium power and a mediocre-to-poor batting average. At best, he keeps hitting the ball hard enough to generate a BABIP that outruns his strikeouts and deliver a .250-.270 AVG. Either way, I’m a fan.

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We have a shortened season which brings a lot of bold predictions into play. In fact, it might actually keep them from being bold which means we’ll have to amp up the boldness. I’ve got five I think are bold enough to qualify here. Let me know what you think in the comments and include your own big time bold prediction. Again, it has to be feasible but not obvious. Franmil Reyes isn’t projected to lead baseball in homers, but it’s not terribly bold to pick him, either. My boy Frankie Montas is a legitimate AL Cy Young candidate so while he’s far from the favorite, picking him wouldn’t really catch anyone’s attention.

Ramón Laureano is the #1 OF

The 25-year old power-speed stud for the A’s broke out with a 126 wRC+, .288 AVG, 24 HR, and 13 SB in 481 PA last year, good for 32nd on the Auction Calculator at the position with volume no doubt holding him back. With health, he’ll play close to all 60 games as a stud defender in center for Oakland which will give him a real chance to be tops at the position. He’s projected to finish 32nd again in the ATC projections thanks to a major dip in AVG, but I think he can deliver something special like a .320 AVG, 18 HR, and 15 SB with 37 R and 30 RBI.

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07/23/20

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to Fangraphs! With a standard $20 membership, you help maintain and improve our database of stats and graphs as well as our staff of 8 full-time employees and over 50 contributors. The premium ad-free membership at $50 year supports site growth and also includes faster load speeds and better site performance. You can also support monthly for just $3.

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer – Host
• @justinmasonfwfb – Co-Host/Producer

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• No Country for Old Jays
• Anthony DeSclafani to IL
• John Means to IL
• Charlie Blackmon ready to go
• Tom Murphy to IL

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