Author Archive: Paul Sporer

If James Paxton has suffered through his last three starts in the course of a healthy season, it would be annoying and definitely garner some attention, but I don’t think it’d cause a freakout. Given that they’ve come so closely a DL stint – something Paxton has been unable to avoid throughout his career – there are concerns. Paxton faces the Detroit Tigers tonight in Seattle, a game I’ll be watching. I figured I’d take a look at what’s been happening over these last three starts in comparison to the first seven (which includes his first off the DL on May 28th) and see if we can highlight the issue(s) and find something to keep an eye on tonight.

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For some reason I have no idea how to number these episodes. I numbered the last one 471 when it was 470.

6/20/17

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

Players Discussed:

• Jose Ramirez (3:30)
• Franchy Cordero (13:36)
• Mike Zunino (21:00)
• Masahiro Tanaka (25:15)
• Sean Newcomb (40:15)
• Alex Meyer (45:00)
• Dinelson Lamet (55:33)

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With the holiday weekend, Jason and I took the week off from the podcast. I didn’t want to leave you empty-handed, though, so here’s a little guide to this week’s pitching waiver wire.

TWO-START ARMS

Shallow (ranked):

• Brad Peacock – at OAK, at SEA
• Brandon McCarthy – v. NYM, v. COL
• Zack Wheeler – at LAD, at SF
• Ariel Miranda – v. DET, v. HOU

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I’m not Mr. “Everything from Years Ago is Better” Guy, but I personally find it impossible not to get hyped when I hear this song, especially Pac’s verse:

On the Agenda:

• All Eyez on Healy
• 2 of Chicagoz Most Wanted
• Strictly for R.A.M.I.R.E.Z
• Picture Cutch Rollin’
• Keep Ya Head Up, Porcello
• Holler If Ya Hear Meyer
• In Other News
• What I’m Watching

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OK, this is adorable:

#AllRise for Lil’ Judge. pic.twitter.com/fithMkTfJv

— MLB (@MLB) June 17, 2017

On the Agenda:

• Aaron Judge is Stupid Good
• Martinez Masterful in Baltimore
• Mystery Closer Dominating
• Biagini Rubbed the Wrong Way
• Big Maple Cut Down to Size
• Cain is Ab… “NO, stop it, Paul. Don’t you dare put ‘Cain is Able’, you hack!”
• Snorting LoCain
• In Other News
• What I’m Watching

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Chat transcript is below!

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This is bananas:

@IntentionalTalk @ChrisRose @KMillar15 my friends son Salvatore Catanzaro from Woodridge,NJ pic.twitter.com/aHvzj8GZJp

— Hugh (@CoffeyHugh) June 14, 2017

Perhaps this young buck was inspired by Chris Coghlan’s amazing move earlier this year:

https://twitter.com/MGustanDeportes/status/875155213417623552

On the Agenda:

• Miggy Mashes Walkoff
• Berrios Raises the Bar
• Thames Heating Back Up
• Mets M*A*S*H Unit Adds More
• Battle in the Bay
• In Other News
• What I’m Watching

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6/15/17

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 ()

• Is the ball juiced? (Ben Lindbergh’s piece; Rob Arthur’s response)

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6/14/17

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

Strategy Section: SPs of Interest

• Robbie Ray (4:05)
• Gerrit Cole (12:35)
• Jason Vargas (25:33)
• Brad Peacock/David Paulino/Francis Martes (37:15)
• Sean Newcomb (49:03)
• Jacob Faria (53:00)
• Buck Farmer (57:50)

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It is so deflating to lose a piece of work so close to the end. I put together the NL Arms to Buy piece for posting today with one pitcher’s section open to see how he did on Tuesday. I woke up today, woke the computer from its slumber, and it’s gone. Just 100% gone. I did all the recovery methods for Microsoft Word that usually result in getting a doc back, but this one is gone. So frustrating, but hardly the end of the world. By the way, the AL piece last week suggested the NL arms would come out the day after instead of the week after, my apologies on that flub. Let’s try it again!

Jimmy Nelson

Off the top, I recommend checking out Jeff Sullivan’s piece on Nelson from last week. Nelson’s ascent is kind of weird to me. The key factor, as Jeff points out, is that he’s throwing a lot more strikes with career-bests in Zone percentage (51%) and First-Pitch Strike rate (64%). That’s a big plus. A guy with good stuff finally throwing more strikes and trusting said stuff is good, I dig it. He also has career-bests in strikeout (23%) and walk (6%) rate, too.

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