Author Archive: Paul Sporer

9/22/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, 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 SLEEPER18!

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• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• What’s wrong w/Jon Lester? (3:10)
• What’s the future hold for Johnny Cueto? (21:20)
• Is Jorge Polanco good now? (29:10)
• What’s up w/Andrelton Simmons? (34:34)

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Chat transcript is below!

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I wrote up 10 bats for the stretch run just five days ago and there is admittedly some overlap here as I go position-by-position and highlight another group of hitters you may want to add, but it’s minimal (only one is completely re-recommended, the others are essentially reminders in case they’re still available). Given that we are so short-term focused at this point, I thought even five days was enough to mention them again as they continue to standout atop the leaderboards of the last month or so.

CATCHER

Christian Vazquez, Boston Red Sox

.392/.431/.598, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 20 R, 3 SB in 109 PA over Last 30 Days (all samples will be over L30 days unless otherwise stated)

Vazquez is smacking both righties and lefties during this run, but the power comes against righties (.214 ISO). He’s hitting so well that the Sox put him at DH in a recent game to keep his bat in while getting Sandy Leon a start. Vazquez has five multi-hit games in his last seven starts (spans eight games, but one was a PH appearance).

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I’m continuing Jeff’s series of looking at widely available starters who might be worth a stream in the final days of the season. I think Jeff was using a 10% or lower threshold, but I bumped it to 20% for one guy because I think he’ll still be out there in a ton of leagues and worth a scoop. These are ranked in order of how much I like them, but I’ll have a concise ranking at the bottom that shows the drop offs in confidence:

Tyler Chatwood, COL (18%) at SF (Moore)

Chatwood on the road has been one of the more bankable streamers for the last two seasons. Last year, he posted a nice 1.69 ERA in 80 IP away from Coors, in spite of a meager 1.7 K/BB ratio. He’s up to 3.41 in 71.3 IP this year while actually lowering his K/BB down to 1.5. He has a career 1.67 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 3.0 K/BB ratio at AT&T Park over 43 IP, including just 1 ER in 22 IP there since the start of last year.

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9/17/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, 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 SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb

Leading Off: Question of the Day

• What are your thoughts on Matt Olson in 2018? (3:25)

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Jeff Zimmerman has been doing a fantastic job of looking at potential streaming pitchers down the stretch so I figured I’d take a look at some hitters who may be available for the last couple of weeks in your league. I’ll start with a group of speedsters and then look at some guys hitting for power and/or batting average of late.

Jose Reyes (46% at Yahoo!)

Reyes has a .299/.366/.505 line since July 1st with 7 HR and 11 SB and he’s been surging of late with 4 HR and 5 SB in September. He only has three hitless games in his last 20 dating back to August 13th (only 20 games because of a mid-August DL stint). He’s going to play every day and can move around your lineup with SS/3B eligibility and 2B at many outlets.

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9/14/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, 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 SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette

Leading Off: Question of the Day

• Shohei Ohtani is coming! Where’s he going & how good?

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Felix Hernandez activated – using him rest of way?
• Matt Olson & Matt Chapman for 2018
• Speaking of OAK, check in on our dude Jharel Cotton?
• Is Mike Zunino a top 5 C in 2018?
• Mike Clevinger has allowed 1 ER in 23.7 IP; how good is he?

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I honestly can’t believe how close we are to the end of the regular season. This is a great time of the year without question, especially if you happen to like football a bit in addition to baseball. You have the playoff races, hopefully some fantasy chases, the start of football, and the transition to Fall. Oh, and then my birthday on October 24th, don’t forget please! Today, I wanted to look at some interesting second half performances that might’ve slipped your radar for any number of reasons.

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Do you remember when Kyle Gibson was a major prospect? No, you don’t, stop lying! Most of you weren’t even alive back in 2013 when he last graced a top 100 prospect list. Alas, with a career ERA of 4.71 and only one season south of 4.00, he hasn’t exactly panned out on that hype. He’s shown flashes, but it has never consistently come together. He’s in the midst of one such flash (a tiny 1.69 ERA over his last four starts), but is there anything behind it that makes him viable for a strong finish?

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9/11/17

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 18, 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 SLEEPER18!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @justinmasonfwfb

Leading Off: Question of the Day

• CLE will never lose again – who’s the 1st player drafted from them next yr? (3:30)

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Bradley Zimmer hurt sliding into first (6:30)
  • Jason Kipnis to see time in CF
• Jimmy Nelson hurt diving back into first (13:00)
• Michael Fulmer to have ulnar nerve surgery, same as deGrom (17:00)
• Eric Hosmer hit .195 thru 20 gms, hitting .350 since — contract guess? (19:30)
• Other shoe hasn’t dropped on Gio Gonzalez (2.50 ERA) — what’s he do in ‘18? (25:50)

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