American League

Angels

• Griffin Canning is struggling for several reasons including a new sweeper that is not yet “sharp”.

The sweeper that he’s worked on in bullpen sessions hasn’t been as sharp in game action and is registering as a slider. There’s also some concern he’s showing his grips, potentially tipping pitches. His fastball-changeup usage against lefties has also been viewed as a bit predictable, resulting in an .865 OPS for lefties against him.

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7:31	Jeff Zimmerman:

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In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They were originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and there are ten of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Jo Adell simplified his swing by removing his leg kick.

So Adell made a major change at the plate against the Rockies on July 30, ditching his leg kick in an attempt to cut down on his strikeout rate and put the ball in play more often. It’s worked so far, as he’s hitting .286/.388/.476 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs in 12 games since. He looks much like he did early in the year and he’s struck out just nine times in 49 plate appearances over that stretch after having previously struck out in 29% of his plate appearances.
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“The no leg kick, at times it takes some getting used to, but my contact rate has gone through the roof,” Adell said. “I’ve been really able to make a lot more contact, and that’s something where it’s not always about the big fly. We’ve talked about this before, but being able to put the ball in play hard [going] forward should be my goal every time — and I think it’s given me a better chance to do that.”

Adell, 25, added that he doesn’t believe the change will have a negative impact on his power, and so far, the results have shown that. He hit a two-run homer on Friday into the bullpen in left-center field at Nationals Park that went a Statcast-projected 431 feet. And he has four extra-base hits since making the change.

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7:32	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They were originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and there are ten of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

Griffin Canning thinks he is doing a better job of hiding the ball.

Canning had trouble with his control, walking four, but made up for it by allowing just three hits and striking out a season-high eight batters. He credited a change in his mechanics for his success, as he felt hitters were seeing what was coming because he separates the ball from his glove early in his delivery.

“It was significantly better today,” Canning said. “Mentally, just, in a good spot. Felt like I had good rhythm, just on the same page with [catcher] Matt [Thaiss]. And obviously I can clean up some of those walks and some deeper counts, but overall, I feel pretty good about it.”
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“I think it was just hiding the ball a little bit better,” Canning said. “I feel like hitters have kind of been telling me, I’m probably just showing the ball for too long, just based on the swings they’re getting off on me. I feel like I was hiding the ball and making them make later decisions.”

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7:31	Jeff Zimmerman:

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