Author Archive: Paul Sporer

Let’s take a look at the Triple-A pitching leaderboards for five who could get an unexpected call up, either to fill an August need or when rosters expand to 40 in September. By the way, no one who has already appeared in the majors this year will be included here. Sorry, Adam Plutko (1.82 ERA, 0.73 WHIP)!

Josh James | HOU | 25 years old, 3.38 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 27% K-BB in 77 IP

James didn’t make Eric Longenhagen’s Houston prospect list this preseason, but he’s been the king of Carson Cistulli’s Fringe Five series this year, appearing on the list 10 times. The Astros have used the same five starters all year so none of their minor leaguers have gotten a shot, but Lance McCullers Jr. just hit the disabled list. He could be back before they need a fifth starter, but keep James in mind should a longer-term slot open up.

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With just under two months left in the season, playing to the schedule is a big factor in fantasy baseball so I ran some numbers to identify the best and worst offenses by handedness and perhaps this can offer some guidance for you down the stretch when selecting starters. I looked at wOBA for the year, last 30 days, and last 14 days, then weighted the three, and ranked the teams.

The recent samples are smaller and thus more volatile, but they also can reflect the changing dynamics of a team via injuries or trades. That said, I still weighted the season mark the most. This is just focused on handedness so be mindful of potential park factors that could also play a role. It’s sorted by division and record and then the scheduled teams are listed in order starting with Wednesday, August 8th. Today we’ve got the Senior Circuit:

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8/5/18

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

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I’ll have much more on these rankings next week. The pitching landscape is in a rough spot right now and the talent globs are more indistinguishable than ever. The second you start to feel comfortable with someone, they trash your line with a dud or three. Stay tuned for more info to help separate these globs in our final two months of the season.

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8/3/18

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!

Follow us on Twitter

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

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Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles

• Chance Adams to start Saturday (4:30)
• Rougned Odor’s insane game (10:06)

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Check out the transcript below!

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8/2/18

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!

Follow me on Twitter

• @sporer – Host

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

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10 Players w/added value after deadline deals:

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Chris Archer has finally been traded. After 26 years of trade rumors (don’t look that up, it’s accurate), he was finally moved in what ended up being a spirited deadline day despite the blizzard of action in the lead up to July 31st. The Rays moved him to Pittsburgh for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and PTBNL. Archer has been seen as a disappointment since 2016 with a 4.10 ERA in 498 innings against the backdrop of frontline expectations.

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You’re not imagining things, the pitching landscape has been a nightmare in July. Sometimes we get in the bubble of our team and project our struggles onto the league and I thought perhaps I was doing just that as I watched my ERA and WHIP just take a beating in league after league. So, I had to check into it.

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7/29/18

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!

Follow us on Twitter

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

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

Nominate Us for the Podcast Awards in the Sports Category!

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