For today’s limited game slate, I pushed my normal Fantrax’s ownership rate to 23% to snag a few more arms.

Ryan Borucki at Baltimore (23%)

The 24-year-old lefty is not a bad option considering he’s facing the Orioles with Andrew Cashner on the mound. Borucki isn’t going to provide a ton of strikeouts (5.9 K/9) but his low HR/9 (0.6) has kept his ERA reasonable (4.26).

Trevor Richards vs Nationals (22%)

Richards is the day’s best strikeout option (8.9 K/9) but he’s ratio killer (1.46 WHIP and 4.85 ERA). He gets a small boost since he’s a flyball pitcher (35% GB%) throwing at home where he HR/9 is 0.9 while 1.3 on the road. There are worse options like ….

Andrew Cashner vs Blue Jays (21%)

No way. The only possible desired outcome will be a Win since he is going against Ryan Borucki. Of the pitchers with at least 150 IP, his K%-BB% is the league’s lowest at 5%. Just stay away.
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The FAAB bids this past week at the NFBC’s Main Event mirrored the regular season, almost dead. Even so, I’m back for another week of estimates for the upcoming bidding cycle.

First off, here is a snapshot of last week’s results.

My forward looking FAAB projections got murdered this week

Name: Proj, Actual
Mejia: $19, $17
Voit: $61, $12
O'Hearn: $10, $7
Alcantara: $13, $7
Wainwright: $25, $6
Shoemaker: $15, $5
Valdez: $24, $4https://t.co/9oSIMQLCQo

I need to dive in and do some late season adjustments

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) September 11, 2018

On average, the bids were significantly higher than expected except with some rookie call-ups. I went back to the drawing board and completely reworked my formulas with some historically acceptable results.

My current quandary is making the estimates more usable. Before next season, I can reexamine the information with fresh eyes and possibly explore other options.
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Compared to yesterday’s streaming options, today’s group could win the Cy Young. While there are still some clunkers a few usable options exist. For the pitcher examined, I’m using pitcher owned in 20% or fewer FanTrax leagues.

Erasmo Ramirez at Angels (18%)

I’d have no issues starting him for this game. His year-long results look uninviting (5.31 ERA and 2.3 HR/9) but he’s pitched decently since coming off the DL (shoulder). Since returning, he’s posted a 7.1 K/9, 0.9 HR/9, and 3.68 ERA.

He’ll face a beatable Angels team starting Andrew Heaney. He’s a fine streaming option.

Sean Reid-Foley at Yankees (15%)

I didn’t like what I saw from Reid-Foley when he debuted and nothing has changed (6.86 ERA, 9.4 K/9, 1.62 WHIP). Now, if an owner is only needing strikeouts and doesn’t mind how much the rest of his stats get abused, Reid-Foley is the day’s best strikeout option.

Yonny Chirinos vs A’s (14%)

I’m a little surprised Chirinos’s ownership is only 14%. He’s a perfectly fine streaming option (7.4 K/9, 3.81 ERA) and faces a shaky Trevor Cahill.
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Tomorrow will be a horrible day to stream. I can barely recommend two pitchers.

All the pitchers were selected had a Fantrax ownership rate of 20% or less.

Eric Lauer vs Rangers (15%)

This game is the pillow fight of the day especially with Lauer facing Yohander Mendez. I could see some random one-out LOOGY get the Win in this game.

Besides Ross, Lauer is probably the day’s best strikeout option. What a bad day.
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Angels

• It hasn’t changed much once Shohei Ohtani became the designated hitter.
• There is a first base platoon with Jose Fernandez facing righties and Jefry Marte against lefties.

Astros

• It’s set with the exception of Marwin Gonzalez playing more since he’s heated up (.268/.316/.563 over the last 28 days).

Athletics

• Ramon Laureano is now batting leadoff. He’s a must-own in all leagues at this point.
• Mark Canha doesn’t face right-handed pitchers. When he starts against lefties, Matt Olson (1B) or Chad Pinder (LF) head to the bench.

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I hope no owner is needing a free agent starter to use as it’s a rough group of lowly owned pitchers. When Ian Kennedy is the top choice, the pickings are slim.

Here are the pitchers owned in 20% or fewer FanTrax leagues.

Ian Kennedy (22% – close enough for RotoGraphs) at Twins

The 33-year-old righty should not be in play, but he’s Sunday’s best option with the chance for a Win (vs Twins) and some strikeouts (8.3 K/9). His flyball nature has helped him post a HR/9 over 1.5 over the past 4 seasons so he’ll have a high ERA. Experienced owners should know what they’re getting with Kennedy.

Erasmo Ramirez (19%) vs Yankees

I’ve never been able to trust Ramirez and I’m not sure I can against the Yankees. There are a couple signs for optimism. Most of his ERA damage happened in his first start when he posted a 10.24 ERA. After those two starts, he went on the DL (shoulder).

Since returning, his ERA has been 3.70 with ERA estimators near 4.00. He’s in the mold of a slightly below average starter with a 7.0 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. He’s facing CC, so he has a chance for a Win. There are worse choices.
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It’s going to be a tough week for owners looking for help. Few quality players became available this week and the available two-start starter is not any better. I will still try to give some FAAB estimates.

As usual, I use the NFBC Main Event (34 15-team mixed leagues, $1000 in FAAB) for the FAAB bids and CBSsportsline.com to estimate the weekly demand. First off, here are last week’s results.

Results from last week's FAAB projections for @thenfbc. I'm back to being a little high.

Name: Proj, Actual
Tyler White: $61, $43
Luke Voit: $19, $8
Luis Urias: $24, $11
Ramon Laureano: $16, $20
Billy McKinney: $14, $7
Jace Fry: $13, $9https://t.co/7SEVPNqmjk

— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) September 7, 2018

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I’m highlighting pitchers owned in 20% or few leagues at FanTrax.com

Daniel Norris (15%) vs Cardinals

Where did the 25-year-old’s lefty’s 11.4 K/9 come from? And the 4.6 BB/9? He is pulling a Robbie Ray (12.0 K/9, 4.8 BB/9) with an 89-mph average fastball.

After rooting around on his player pages, he’s basically a two-pitch pitcher, fastball and slider. Both pitches produce an above average amount of swings-and-misses and flyballs. The flyballs have led to a high number of home runs (1.8 HR/9) hence the inflated 5.49 ERA.

Most of the damage was done before going on the DL (groin surgery). In his one start since returning, he struck out seven Yankees and walked only one batter in 4.1 innings. In the start, his fastball was up to 91 mph.

For owners digging for strikeouts, they should be all in with Norris. The walks still worry me some and owners who need to control their rate stats may want to stay way to see another start. He may be a sneaky recommendation as the season winds down.
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