Author Archive: Paul Sporer

May Starting Pitcher Rankings

We are a month into the season and the pitching landscape is a mess. The top tier has been shaken to its core with several studs struggling their way through the month while streaming feels damn near impossible with they way the ball is flying out of parks. Of course, there have been bright spots and I do my best to highlight those while also being careful not overreact too much.

I look at my in-season rankings in 4-6 week blocks so the potential innings limits facing some of the younger arms rated highly aren’t really that important right now. Given that so much is going to change in the next month let alone the next five, I don’t see the point in pretending that these updates are viable for the rest of the season.

Pay attention to the tier! If I didn’t rank someone as high as you thought I should, but they are still a must or usually start, then it’s probably not worth freaking out too much. Those tiers mean they are in the rotation pretty much all the time. I’m open to debating slotting, too, but worrying about a 4-spot difference between two guys in the same tier is probably a waste of time.

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 681 – Fireside Chat: May Rankings Debate

4/30/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 20, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER20!

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RANKINGS DISPUTES

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01:14:42

The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 680 – Buy-High Starting Pitchers

4/29/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS, INJURIES, RUMORS

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01:15:28

Paul Sporer Baseball Chat – April 26th, 2019

Transcript is now live!

12:35

Paul Sporer: Good afternoon everyone, it’s chat time!!!

12:37

MartinEllinger: Tommy La Stella WTF

12:37

Paul Sporer: It’s absolutely insane. I have no explanation, lol

12:37

cavebird: Does it look like Castellanos’s cold start is just noise, or is there something to worry about here?

12:38

Paul Sporer: Not particularly worried, I’d be open to buying

12:38

Lucas: Thoughts on tailon for pham trade in 12 team roto mixed obp league? current pitchers are cole, morton, marco g, rich hill, heaney, luke weaver, matt boyd, and tailon

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 678 – He Arrives!

4/25/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 20, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER20!

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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

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1:23:33

The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 677 – Reviewing Arsenal Changes

4/24/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 20, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER20!

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STARTING PITCHER ARSENAL CHANGES

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01:10:45

The 10: Assessing the Early Batter Breakouts

We’re still not a full month into the season, but a group of hitters are standing out atop the leaderboards ranging from superstar to fill-in. This week the “The 10” looks at a group that is reaching a level well beyond expectations thus far to see how they’re doing it and whether or not it can sustain at a fantasy-relevant level.

Yoan Moncada, White Sox | .314 AVG, 19 R, 6 HR, 18 RBI, 2 SB in 93 PA

Moncada’s first full season didn’t exactly live up to expectations as he hit just .235 with 17 HR and 12 SB while leading baseball with 217 strikeouts. A breakdown of his bountiful strikeout rate showed that he had the most called third strikes last year (85), just a stunning amount. Jeremy Frank of MLBRandomStats highlighted this fact as well as the fact that Moncada hasn’t struck out looking yet this year:

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 676 – The New York Justin Masons Sustain Another Injury

4/22/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

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01:19:34

The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 675 – Fireside Chat: On Sonny Gray & Luke Weaver

4/19/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

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GET THE SLEEPER & THE BUST T-SHIRT FROM ROTOWEAR!

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00:19:43

Paul Sporer Baseball Chat – April 19th, 2019

Transcript is below!

12:04

Paul Sporer: Good afternoon, everyone! My new Starting Pitcher ranks are live so this would be a great chance to ask questions about them if you have any: https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/april-starting-pitcher-rankings/

12:04

Big Tuna : After the call up, in leagues are you looking at Chavis? 12 tm OPS?

12:05

Paul Sporer: Not sure there is going to be enough playing time for 12-teamers, though he did play some 2B in the minors

12:05

Anders: 14 team points league, would you drop any of Tim Beckham, Hunter Dozier, Vogelbach, or Mazara for Yandy Diaz/Avisail Garcia? I’d love to make room for them, good problem to have I suppose.

12:06

Paul Sporer: Ya it is a good problem to have as I’d probably just roll with what I’ve got in that situation

12:06

Freddy Mac: Would you still hold Laureano in a 12 teamer? The K/BB is atrocious

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