American League

Astros

• The team needs to determine which starter will leave the rotation when Justin Verlander returns from the IL. Just a week ago, it was assumed to Ronel Blanco.

When Verlander does return, Houston could have a compelling rotation crunch to address. Ronel Blanco profiled as the odd man out, but after throwing a no-hitter on Monday, he may be given a longer look. The Astros have four off days from April 18-30, so a six-man rotation isn’t feasible.

Nearly two no-hitters later for Blanco, the narrative has changed to Blanco, J.P. France, and Hunter Brown.

Justin Verlander’s impending return could move Blanco, J.P. France or Brown into the bullpen as long relievers, too, but Houston has more immediate needs.

Blanco is probably safe but France and Brown have both been struggling.

Name: IP, ERA, xFIP
Brown: 7.0, 6.43, 4.94
France: 11.1, 4.76, 4.96
Blanco: 15.0, 0.00, 4.58 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 got originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to 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 four or more of these leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

American League

Angels

Con Anthony Rendon como titular en cinco de los primeros seis juegos, esta alineación ha sido sobreanalizada. Además, Luis Rengifo orinó en los Weaties de Ron Washington.

Astros

• Jake Meyers (.808 OPS) has started in only four of seven games.

• José Abreu (.295 OPS) has missed a few games with a sore hand.

Athletics

• JJ Bleday (.972 OPS) has started every game while batting near the top of the lineup.

• Nick Allen (.632 OPS) and Lawrence Butler (.492) have started in six of the seven games. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Astros

• Ronel Blanco added a changeup.

“Blanco has the repertoire to do this every time he goes out there,” manager Joe Espada said Tuesday. “He added that changeup. He can go deep into games because he throws strikes. He’s efficient. We expect him to continue to provide some good outings for us moving forward.”

The changeup could give him a huge boost. Before the change, he was just a fastball-slider pitcher, but in his no-hitter, he threw his changeup more than any other pitch.

     Pitch: Usage

• Change: 34%
• Slider: 32%
• Four-seamer: 30%

Besides giving him a much-needed third pitch, the changeup seems to be above league average. 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 got originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to 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 four or more of these leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

7:34	Jeff Zimmerman:

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Holy cow, a ton of starters seem to be in demand. I’ll try to sort the decent ones from the useless glob.

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 »

American League

Angels

• I watched this game because Patrick Sandoval was one of the few Opening Day starters who might end up on the waiver wire this season. Most teams were throwing early-round aces. It was a mixed bag for him. On the good side, his fastball velocity was up a tick from 93.1 mph to 94.2 mph. Also, his change-up was on producing a 24% SwStr%.

There was plenty of bad with him allowing 5 R (three earned) in 1.2 IP. The defense behind him, especially Anthony Rendon, was atrocious. The main problem was that he could not throw strikes (40% Zone%, 40% Ball%, 11% equiv BB%).

I’d monitor him to see if the start was a one-off and he finds the strike zone or he’ll struggle to find it again this season. Read the rest of this entry »