Author Archive: Paul Sporer

Chances are if you picked up Trevor Larnach in a shallower league, you cut him after a couple of weeks due to poor performance. Two weeks in he was running a .186/.314/.326 with just a single homer. A week later he was at .228/.389/.456 so he was still hitting a lot of waiver wires despite some OPS improvement. The walks were great but there was little else in terms of production. Hell, even his .247/.389/.438 to date doesn’t scream “pick up!” And yet, that’s exactly what I’m doing because I see Larnach having a strong summer that will make him relevant across many formats.

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Most platforms have a feature where you can click something by the player’s name to put them on a virtual watchlist. It is smart to use this feature before the season starts because once it starts you be sorting by stats and you could miss out on someone you really want about to get a new role because you sorted by PA and he just didn’t show very high.

• Previous Watchlists

Spencer Turnbull was sharp against the Yankees after appearing on last week’s list and will no doubt be picked up quite a bit this weekend, especially with Seattle on the docket next week.

SHALLOW LEAGUES (mixed leagues – 10 or fewer teams)

Willi Castro | SS/2B, DET

Castro generated some sleeper buzz after a strong 2020 that saw him hit .349/.381/.550 with 6 HR in 140 PA. After hitting just .191/.232/.277 through 25 games, Castro started popping up on a lot of waiver wires and understandably so. He is starting to get picked back up, though, thanks to a .254/.342/.460 line with 3 HR and 2 SB in 74 PA. He still has a 27% K rate in that run and that level of swing-and-miss is likely to foster more of these severe ups and downs. Ride the wave when things are going well!

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6/3/21

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

Follow us on Twitter

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

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Jack Flaherty to IL w/oblique (3:48)
• Elieser Hernandez returning today (9:20)
• Mitch Garver to IL w/groin (13:42)
• Justin Dunn to IL w/shoulder (20:30)
• Mike Yastrzemski thumb injury on defensive play (23:25)
• Stephen Strasburg to IL w/neck-trap (27:58)
• Madison Bumgarner leaves start w/shoulder (29:40)

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The Miami Marlins have become a starting pitcher haven as their three studs – Pablo López, Sandy Alcantara, and Sixto Sánchez – were heavily targeted during draft season while Trevor Rogers was a popular sleeper pick. Sanchez has been derailed by a shoulder injury, but Rogers has greatly exceeded expectations and ensured a trio of beasts atop their rotation.

And now, a new challenger has emerged!

Cody Poteet is making a case to be included with the others as all-formats studs, though we definitely need to take a closer look before anointing him to the level of Lopez-Alcantara-Rogers or even Sanchez (but he was shutdown for discomfort after a 20-pitch bullpen on May 28th). Even with a rough start last time out (4.3 IP/5 ER), Poteet still has a 2.95 ERA in 21.3 IP which tells you how insane he was in the first three starts – 1.06 ERA in 17 IP.

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This past weekend, the NFBC held their Second Chance Memorial Day leagues that have a season running from yesterday – Memorial Day – through the end of the season. Of course, you do not get the stats accumulated to this point, but the first two months absolutely play a huge role in the draft. Let’s look at some of the biggest moves when comparing these leagues with the Rotowire Online Championship leagues the NFBC also runs. Both are 12-team 5×5 setups so it makes the comparisons easy.

There were 48 guys who moved up at least 120 picks (10 rounds). More than half of those still landed outside the top 10 rounds while the remaining 21 looks like a who’s-who of the hottest players to start the season.

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6/1/21

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

Follow us on Twitter

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

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Adalberto Mondesi leaves early (7:20)
• Ramón Laureano likely headed to IL (10:38)
• Ke’Bryan Hayes back Thursday (14:20)
  • Alec Bohm comps (17:20
• Jack Flaherty leaves early w/side tightness (19:44)
• Evan Longoria leaves early w/side tightness (20:54)
• Lorenzo Cain going to IL w/hamstring (25:52)
• Kyle Lewis leaves early w/a knee (28:24)

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5/28/21

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer – Host/Producer
• @rotogut – Guest: Vlad Sedler

VLAD SEDLER INTERVIEW

• League Check-In (1:35)
• Early-to-Midseason Mgmt (8:26)
• FantasyGuru Content (24:00)
• Memorial Day Leagues (40:48)
  • Carlos Rodón/Anthony Rendon

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Most platforms have a feature where you can click something by the player’s name to put them on a virtual watchlist. It is smart to use this feature before the season starts because once it starts you be sorting by stats and you could miss out on someone you really want about to get a new role because you sorted by PA and he just didn’t show very high.

• Previous Watchlists

Danny Santana got the call quickly after the Wk. 8 Watchlist and already has 2 HR and 1 SB in 17 PA.

SHALLOW LEAGUES (mixed leagues – 10 or fewer teams)

Ji-Man Choi | 1B, TBR

Choi returned on May 16th and has been on fire in his 10 games, hitting .355/.500/.645 with 2 HR in 40 PA and playing virtually every day. He bats top 3 against righties and he’s even drawing some starts against lefties, though his career .604 OPS against them still says this is more of a platoon bat. A strong side platoon bat is still mostly a streamer in shallower leagues but if you are piecing together your CI or DH spot, Choi can be part of the mix. The Rays have a seven-game week coming up with two against lefties so Choi could be a viable streaming option this week, but at the very least he merits Watchlist attention.

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5/27/21

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

Follow us on Twitter

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

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Noah Syndergaard shut down (3:05)
• Marcell Ozuna hurt his fingies (4:31)
• Zach Plesac still dumb (9:23)
• Corey Kluber hurt (19:42)
• Trent Grisham merked (26:23)
• Wilson Ramos back to IL (31:57)
  • Eric Haase/Austin Barnes among replacements
• Harrison Bader ouchie on his ribs (36:48)
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. sprained ankle (40:26)
• Bradley Zimmer called up (41:32)

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Transcript is below!

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