Author Archive: Paul Sporer

I honestly can’t believe the season is almost over. I’m already sad about it, but instead of moping I want to enjoy these final few weeks of the regular season before what should be a great playoff and World Series. The day-to-day volatility of baseball can make it tough to find key waiver pickups with less than a month to go. Usually we need a couple of weeks to truly see if a guy can deliver for you, but we simply don’t have that kind of time so our gambles need to be even more calculated than in May or June when we still have more season in front of us than behind. I’ve been meticulously combing the waiver wires looking for every little edge and I think I’ve found some arms for those of you in need of strikeouts.

THE REDS

Brandon Finnegan: The Reds schedule shapes up to leverage multiple starters for some strikeouts starting with Finnegan this weekend. His next three starts are at Pittsburgh, home against Pittsburgh, and then at Milwaukee. Those two teams are both top-5 in strikeout rate against lefties – top-5 being bad in this case.

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Another strong chat in the books!

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9/7/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Justin Bour activated (4:06)
• Dallas Keuchel to miss 2 starts (13:00)
• David Paulino up, Jordan Zimmermann activated (17:00)

Strategy Section: Struggling Last 30 Days

• Aaron Judge (22:00)
• Wil Myers (26:50)
• Jay Bruce (30:20)
• Xander Bogaerts (34:14)

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MY AUDIO IMPROVES GREATLY AROUND 42:00

9/2/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Reynaldo Lopez (7:30)
• Marcell Ozuna (30:40)
• Addison Russell (36:00)
• Yasiel Puig (41:40)
• Gary Sanchez (46:10)

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Earlier this week, I presented my top 100 starters for the rest of the season. Apart from not slotting two of the game’s biggest talents (including the very best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw), I’m happy with the list. I gave a quick thought or two about each as well, but today I want to highlight three (plus a quick honorable mention) who are lower on the list, but could make a big September impact.

Let’s actually start with the Honorable Mention.

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Chat starts around 2:45 PM central

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384 was Sunday’s episode that didn’t record properly so now it’s the lost episode.

Recording issues addressed ~56:00

8/31/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Yoan Moncada up for Sept?? (7:45)
• Yulieski Gurriel hitting early as 3B/DH and now LF today (15:20)
• Alex Bregman raking (22:12)

Strategy Section

• Chad Kuhl (27:50)
• Andrew Triggs (32:00)
• Mike Foltynewicz (35:00)
• Luke Weaver (46:00)

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Can you believe we’re entering the final full month of the regular season? That’s so sad. However, the stretch run is also one of the best times of the year, especially if your fantasy team is a contender. I’ve compiled my Top 100 for the rest of the season with a quick thought or two on each. Let me know what you think. Who is your big gamble arm for September? Anyone you think will be vastly better than his current numbers? Also, let me know if there are any glaring omissions.

Chris Tillman is unlikely to reach the September 10th return they originally set which puts him in limbo. If he can return by September 15th, that should be four starts, but I left him off due to the injury uncertainty. If you have him on your DL, obviously hang on, but I’m not necessarily targeting him on the wire.

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8/26/16

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer
• @enosarris
• @jasoncollette
• @paulkastava

Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles/Game Play

• Marcus Stroman revisit ()
• Jose Berrios down again – thoughts on his ‘16? ()
• Is Seth Lugo any good? ()
• Homer Bailey’s return from TJ ()

Strategy Section

• Pressing w/New Team: Khris Davis ()

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Pirates picked up a former Yankee and he’s excelling with them. It’s only four starts so let’s not get too crazy, but I think a lot of us were eager to see what – if anything – Ivan Nova would do with Pittsburgh. Not only was he going to be under the tutelage of Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, but he’d also be going from Yankee Stadium to PNC Park for his home games, a colossal shift for a pitcher with a 1.3 HR/9 rate since 2012 including a horrific 1.8 this year with the Yankees.

On the heels of a complete game against Houston, Nova has a 3.20 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with Pittsburgh in 25.3 innings. His K/9 rate is actually down half a strikeout to 6.4, but his walks have tumbled so much that his strikeout percentage is the same 18% he had with the Yankees. Nova has generally been a better-than-average walk suppressor, but with Pittsburgh he’s on a new level. He’s currently walking just 1% of the batters he’s faced as a Pirate. And that ghastly home run rate is down to 0.7 HR/9. The only time he’s ever been lower was when he had a 0.6 in 2013, unsurprisingly his best season ever.

This isn’t Nova’s first good four or five start run this year. He closed May with a 3.41 ERA in five starts and he opened July with a 2.66 through four starts. So we shouldn’t just assume he’s gone to Pittsburgh and become the next J.A. Happ or something. He could just be having a nice run, something he’s done many times before. The sharp drops in homers and walks have me intrigued, though. Let’s see if there are discernable differences early on. Obviously, league and park change alone will account for some improvement, so we’re looking beyond that to his approach against righties and lefties.

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