Despite no longer truly being a part of the RotoGraphs family, Eno Sarris was kind foolish enough to allow me a guest spot among these lovely digital pages. That’s right folks, brought back by no-so-popular-demand, here are my 10 Bold Predictions for the 2016 Season! After posting dismal results in both 2013 and 2014, I came to life and nailed four of my 10 picks last year. Buckle up, because here comes the fun!

1. Jake Arrieta finishes the season outside the top-15 for SPs in 5×5
This isn’t a knock on Arrieta so much as it is a compliment to the other top arms. I think most would agree Kershaw is the clear No. 1, followed in some order by Sale, Scherzer, Arrieta, Mad-Bum, Greinke, Price, Cole, Harvey, deGrom, Kluber and Strasburg. After Kershaw, that is 11 excellent hurlers, and I didn’t even get to Thor, Archer, Carrasco, Felix, Cueto et al. I don’t see Arrieta repeating his historic second half, particularly the .205 BABIP and 88.2 percent LOB%. The defense behind him did get better with Addison Russell taking over shortstop duties from Starlin Castro in early August, yet that wouldn’t explain all of the BABIP difference, let alone Arrieta’s 0.17 HR/9 in the second half. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Arrieta in the 11-15 range come the end of the season, but he’s being drafted as the third or fourth best pitcher, in my opinion largely on the back of numbers no human could repeat. He still has a great swinging strike and K rates, however the top of the SP pyramid is awfully crowded. Of course, when the Cubs offense helps power him to 25 wins, feel free to make fun of this pick. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s hard to call J.T. Realmuto under the radar when he appeared here on FanGraphs’ Top 200 preseason, Baseball America’s Top-100 and Keith Law’s Top-100 (Insider required), yet here we are. Realmuto finished as the ninth best catcher among according to our End of Season Rankings despite ranking a modest 21st in our Mid Season Update. His .259/.290/.406 line translates to an 86 wRC+, though he still managed to be fantasy relevant in a fair amount of leagues. Realmuto smacked 10 home runs and even stole eight bags in his 467 plate appearances, with the steals leading all catchers with at least 300 PAs. Read the rest of this entry »

My 10 Bold Predictions from 2013 were 10 swings and 10 misses. Last season I posted the same 0-for-10 line, but this year? At long last, I broke through and got one right! Actually, I got more than one right, but I’m just gloating now. My full prediction piece can be found here. For style, I’m stealing Alex Chamberlain’s prediction-by-prediction commentary.

1. Josh Donaldson will score 120 runs (or post 130 RBI)
Originally this was written he’ll just score 120 runs, but the commenters thought Donaldson may hit behind the likes of Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. While I certainly agreed that seemed like the best lineup construction, I wasn’t convinced the Blue Jays would do that, but I edited in the possibility for a huge RBI season. For the first month the comment section proved correct as Donaldson hit third or fifth a combined 14 times in April, but then the team moved him to the No. 2 spot for the majority of the season. He finished with 122 runs scored and 123 RBIs, barely edging my prediction, but hey, a win is a win.

1-for-1, the streak has been broken!

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re heading into the final weekend of regular season action! This will be my last Roto Riteup of the year, and I’d just like to thank the readers for your time and for your comments. You guys rock.

On today’s agenda:
1. Jerad Eickhoff cruises
2. Welcome back, Maikel Franco
3. Chris Carter is socking dingers
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »

If I’m late getting to any comments today, I apologize. I’ll be on the road a bit headed to/from from Chicago.

On today’s agenda:
1. Ryan Zimmerman calls it a season
2. Quick Adam Wainwright update
3. Miami shuts down Giancarlo Stanton
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup was penned while a number of episodes of The West Wing played in the background.

On today’s agenda:
1. Adam Wainwright to return tomorrow?
2. Quick Sonny Gray follow-up
3. Angels rotation shakeup
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks the 14th anniversary of Zoolander being released. The line “But why male models?” slays me to this day, and I still slip it into conversation from time to time.

On today’s agenda:
1. Ryan Braun’s season is over
2. Sonny Gray’s hip injury
3. Quick thoughts on Ender Inciarte
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was the 18th anniversary of Blink-182’s Dammit (warning: language) being released. If that doesn’t make you feel old, I don’t know what will. Now get off my lawn while I listen to my vinyl and then go to bed at 9:30.

On today’s agenda:
1. Delino DeShields Jr. continues to hit
2. That’s a wrap for Hanley Ramirez
3. Looking at Asdrubal Cabrera’s strong second half
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »

Be it basic redraft leagues or the most hardcore of dynasty formats, a player or prospect’s age is an important part of evaluation. I’m not exactly breaking new ground by saying this of course, but I know sometimes I get more excited over a young player producing rather than someone five or six years their senior putting up similar numbers. I suspect I’m not alone in that, and while I don’t think I’ll be drafting nothing but older players, there’s no denying a lot of guys age-33 and older have been enjoying strong seasons. We’ll take a look at a handful of the hitters that have produced this year, and one that hasn’t, while also looking ahead to next season. Rather than look at obvious candidates like David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and the like, I’ll look at a few names a bit further down the list. Read the rest of this entry »

I began reading The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins the other day. So far it’s been a very fast read, and one that grabs your attention. I’m not yet done with it, so please don’t spoil anything in the comments, but man, it’s been outstanding thus far.

On today’s agenda:
1. Jonathan Lucroy’s pending return
2. Time to drop Carlos Gomez
3. Andrew Cashner and I set personal bests
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Read the rest of this entry »