Author Archive: Paul Sporer

Here’s a look at the best value players by position through the first half. There is no set threshold, but I’m using 150+ ADP as a loose guideline. I pushed that threshold at shortstop but still threw in a late-round honorable mention.

CATCHER

Yasmani Grandal, LAD| .251 AVG, 13 HR, 47 RBI, 41 R, 1 SB in 306 PA, 220th ADP

Catcher has been a sinkhole this year, but we kinda knew that coming into the season as just three were taken in the top 100. I could’ve used Wilson Ramos here, who slots 2nd on the Auction Calculator and was drafted 159th on average. Grandal is just a spot lower at 3rd and was drafted 61 spots later.

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Here’s a look at the best players by position through the first half:

CATCHER

J.T. Realmuto, MIA | .310 AVG, 12 HR, 45 RBI, 46 R, 1 SB in 303 PA, 109th ADP

Being stuck on a rough Marlins team hasn’t held Realmuto back, though there’s also the glaring fact that the position has been a dud on the whole this year. Gary Sanchez is hitting .190, Willson Contreras has just seven homers, and the late round standouts have only ascended to C2 status.

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7/15/18

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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7/13/18

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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Please consider nominating us for the Podcast Awards in the Sports Category!!

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Check out the transcript below!

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7/11/18

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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Call Your Shot Ep. 4

• Original Tweet
• Previous episodes

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I released my July rankings last week, my fourth update of the year. Today, I want to look at the biggest movers since the very first run of rankings back in March when we ran the consensus lists. We’ll look at three groups of pitchers: those in the top 50 who didn’t even make March list and then the biggest risers and fallers for those who did make that original 162.

Let’s get started!

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As we push toward the All-Star break, it’s time to look at young arms and how their innings are tracking. I used last year’s total plus 25% for a rough estimate of what teams might be looking to use as their bar for a guy who they want to limit. Now just they because they might have enough innings “available” based on this calculation doesn’t mean the team won’t still look to limit them if they have health concerns. I think it’s fair to say that if they have about 85 innings or so left in the tank, then overwork won’t be a driving force behind limiting a pitcher in the second half.

• 85+ IP left isn’t a major concern
• 65-84 IP left are guys to watch
• <=64 IP left are probably in danger as they were probably injured in ‘17

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A quick at some available bats at each position for the upcoming week. Check out Nick’s piece on available pitchers, too. I’m using the FantasyPros roster rates of 50% or lower as the threshold and including a 25% or lower option at each position, too.

With a handful of doubleheaders this week, there are several teams with 8 games: BAL, MIL, NYM, NYY, PHI, and PIT.

CATCHER

Tucker Barnhart | CIN, 30%, 6 games (all vR) – The switch-hitting Barnhart is better against lefties (.949 OPS) than righties (.645), but pickings are slim for catcher! He does have solid 17% K and 9% BB rates against righties and a .260 BABIP holding him back. If you’re just going for playing time, he’s got the third-most plate appearances at the position.

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7/8/18

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 – Host
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Fantasy Zombies

• Jordan Zimmermann (3:40)
• Anibal Sanchez (12:47)
• Jhoulys Chacin (23:33)

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