Author Archive: Paul Sporer

5/6/17

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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Leading Off: Question of the Day

• How much are you putting on Cody Bellinger this week? (3:20)
  • 81% C, 45% Y!, 35% E

Strategy Section:

SHALLOW (pick 2 favorites)

• Matt Moore at NYM, CIN — 81% C, 44% Y!, 43% E ()
• Jerad Eickhoff SEA, at WAS — 80% C, 73% Y!, 40% E (10:00)
• Kendall Graveman LAA, at TEX — 78% C, 52% Y!, 49% E (11:43)
• Antonio Senzatela CHC, LAD — 72% C, 47% Y!, 49% E (10:26)
• Kevin Gausman WAS, at KC — 71% C, 61% Y!, 61% E (10:50)
• Charlie Morton ATL, at NYY — 64% C, 16% Y!, 14% E (9:30)
• Hisashi Iwakuma at PHI, at TOR — 61% C, 41% Y!, 34% E (11:20)

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Transcript is below!!

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They went to the mop-up guy for today’s Bullpen Report! Filling in for Alan, so let’s talk some relievers.

Washington Stays Confusing

Enny Romero notched his first save of the season with two strikeouts in the ninth. Shawn Kelley is allegedly healthy re: any arm injuries, though a sickness reported a few days back has lingered, but hasn’t pitched since April 29th and allowed runs in each of his last two appearances. Romero is a 26-year old lefty, who throws incredibly hard and flashed swing-and-miss excellence, but holds a reverse platoon split and doesn’t seem like a credible threat to take the role. Washington’s 2017 save leader isn’t on the team yet. By the way, I took a massive L with Blake Treinen. More like Blake Failnen.

Edit: Here is the Washington Post reporting that he is in fact still sick.

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5/4/17

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
• @almelchiorBB

Strategy Section: Assessing Some of the Best Starts

Breakout

• James Paxton
• Dylan Bundy
• Luis Severino
• Patrick Corbin
• Chase Anderson
• Andrew Triggs

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I had originally planned to do a piece discussing the offseason assessments of Eric Thames and how the projection systems were all rather bullish on him and yet many weren’t quite ready to trust the numbers. I find that interesting because projection systems are notoriously conservative and yet they had him down for 25-30 homers with an .800-.850 OPS. I can’t say I was out there blindly trusting the numbers, either. I’m not one who relies too heavily on projections when doing my drafts and auctions, but I was heartened by how seemingly aggressive the systems were on Thames and wound up securing a few shares.

Instead of doing all that, I’ve decided to go a different route. I’m going to go position-by-position assess the 1-for-1s I’d offer for Thames. That’s right, everyone thinks about selling Thames, but I’d strongly entertain buying and I think these names would entice a lot of leaguemates. I know not everyone does straight up 1-for-1s, but hopefully this will give you an idea of what to look for if you’re in the Thames market – whether as a buyer or seller. I have a group of on the fence players at each position and I’d recommend trying for those when selling Thames.

We just don’t see months like his April too often.

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5/2/17

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
• @almelchiorBB

Strategy Section: 10 SP Value Changes

UP

• Dallas Keuchel
• Patrick Corbin
• Luis Severino
• JC Ramirez
• Jason Vargas

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4/29/17

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
• @almelchiorBB

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Adam Eaton to DL w/knee strain (7:50)

Strategy Section: 2-Start Pitchers

SHALLOW

• Matt Shoemaker at SEA, HOU — 81% C, 60% Y!, 64% E (22:05)
• Robert Gsellman at ATL, MIA — 75% C, 22% Y!, 14% E (22:30)
• Alex Cobb at MIA, TOR — 63% C, 52% Y!, 17% E (20:24)

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Chat starts around 2:15 CT!

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4/27/17

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
• @almelchiorBB

Leading Off: Question of the Day

• Cody Bellinger up for Joc Pederson – bid %?

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Long-term worry for Jose Altuve after collision?
• Felix Hernandez to DL w/shoulder
• Devin Mesoraco activated – any hope?

Strategy Section: Fast Starts

HITTERS

• Eric Thames
• Mitch Haniger
• Avisail Garcia
• Aaron Judge
• Joey Gallo
• Chris Owings
• Cesar Hernandez

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As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions.

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Approximately 97 minutes of joyous analysis.

I am working on a deeper dive into Eric Thames, but he left Wednesday’s game with an apparent injury so I wanted to table it just to see where he’s at because it dive into his value on the trade market and what you should hold out for if you’re looking to sell him. With that said, he won’t be included here. I’ve got five other hot hitters both young and old who are doing big things thus far. Let’s examine what – if anything – is different and then I’ll let you know if I think it’s sustainable and to what level.

Chase Headley | New York Yankees | .339/.431/.565 with 3 HR, 3 SB, 7 RBI, and 14 R in 72 PA

• Riding career-best strikeout (18%) and walk rates (14%)
• The walk rate is the bigger improvement from career (22% K, 10% BB)
• Getting and staying ahead: 46% first-pitch strike rate (F-Strike) & 17% O-Swing are career-bests
• Last year he had 59% F-Strike and 28% O-Swing rates
• Not hitting the ball any harder as his 25% Hard contact rate is a six-year low
• Meanwhile, his 20% Soft contact rate is a career-high
• Looking healthy with 3 SB which could yield first double-digit total since 2012

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