American League

Angels

• Hunter Renfroe (.736 OPS) no longer has a permanent spot in the lineup with just three starts in the last six games. He’s now in a rotation with Mickey Moniak (.941 OPS) and Taylor Ward (.693 OPS).

• Andrew Velazquez (.250/.429/.313, 0 HR, 4 SB) has started six straight games at shortstop. Read the rest of this entry »

This article is a data dump of some Baseball Savant-based aging curves, several “normal” curves along with some player improvement chances. There is no actual player analysis but instead, this article is to be a reference for future player breakdowns.

The main reason behind this study is to have an answer to: “If only player X increased their Launch Angle/Hard Hit Rate/Barrel Percentage, they could take a step forward. Here is an attempt to put some numbers to those “ifs”. 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 get 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 »

General Notes

• I keep reading about hitters who are reworking their swing with several examples in this article. What I rarely see mentioned is this example of Nolan Arenado constantly working on it. Maybe the difference between great major league hitters and the rest is that the great bats might always be adjusting.

What those same awestruck fans didn’t see before the pivotal moments of the Cardinals’ most thrilling victory of the season was that, while numerous teammates ran for the postgame buses to get a start on a couple of weekend nights in New York City, Arenado remained behind Friday and Saturday to pound balls in the batting cage.
…
“They care,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the postgame work between two players with a combined 14 All-Star Game appearances. “The game ended, everybody showered, and you’ve got last year’s MVP [finalists] in the cage, still taking swings and trying to figure some things [out] and trying to make sure [they] can help us the next day.

…

Rarely is there a time when Arenado is not thinking about hitting. His work is intentional, not accidental. He’s blessed (with talent), but equally obsessed. He’s a great hitter and an even better worker.

Teammates marvel at his consuming obsession with his swing

Read the rest of this entry »

7:31	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 »

American League

Angels

• Taylor Ward (.853 OPS over the last two weeks) has started and led off for five straight games.

• Luis Rengifo has started in eight of the last 10 games while playing four different positions (2B, SS, 3B, and OF).

• Andrew Velazquez (.203/.337/.392, 3 HR, 7 SB) has taken over shortstop with Zach Neto on the IL (oblique).

Astros

• Jake Meyers (.236/.314/.402, 6 HR, 3 SB in 194 PA) is starting to get most of the centerfield starts (eight of last 10).

Athletics

• Jace Peterson has started in 11 of the last 12 games while hitting .378/.465/.568 with 2 HR and 4 SB over the last two weeks.

• JJ Bleday has only started in two of the last five games.

Blue Jays

• With Brandon Belt on the IL (hamstring), Cavan Biggio (.192/.270/.385, 6 HR, 2 SB) has started in four of the last five games.

Guardians

• Josh Naylor and Will Brennan have started against the last three lefties.

Mariners

• Mike Ford (vs RHP) and AJ Pollock (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

• Dylan Moore (just 11 PA) has only two starts, both against lefties.

• Jose Caballero (.245/.397/.367, 2 HR, 9 SB) has started four straight games at second base. Kolten Wong started a few games at second base but has struggled by hitting a .282 OPS over the past two weeks.

Orioles

• Adam Frazier is no longer leading off but instead it is Austin Hays against lefites and Gunnar Henderson against righties.

• Ryan O’Hearn has started in seven of the last 10 games while hitting .315/.363/.603 with 5 HR in just 80 PA this season.

Rangers

• Steady.

• Since returning from the IL, Ezequiel Duran (.838 OPS, 8 HR, 3 SB) has started in nine of 12 games.

Rays

• Isaac Paredes (.862 OPS over the past two weeks) has started nine straight at third base.

• Taylor Walls (356 OPS over the past two weeks) has started in nine of the last ten games.

Red Sox

• Christian Arroyo (.654 OPS) has started seven of the last eight games at second base.

• Pablo Reyes (.257/.385/.351 in AAA) has started three of the last four games at shortstop.

Royals

• Michael Massey (.387 OPS in June) has started in eight of the last 10 games.

• Dairon Blanco (.347/.444/.451 in AAA) has started three straight since being recalled from the minors.

• Edward Olivares (1.109 OPS in June) has started five straight games.

Tigers

• Consistent.

• Andy Ibáñez (.217/.262/.400) sat for five games with no reason given but then started in four straight games.

Twins

• Edouard Julien (vs RHP) and Kyle Farmer (vs LHP) are in a second base platoon.

• Willi Castro (.473 OPS the last two weeks) has only started one of the last four games.

White Sox

• Clint Frazier (.594 OPS) has started the last two games in the outfield.

• Jake Burger is back at third base with Yoán Moncada on the IL (back).

Yankees

• Jake Bauers (.763 OPS) has led off for the last two games (10 straight starts).

• Giancarlo Stanton has hit second in the last two games.

• Billy McKinney (.960 OPS) has started seven straight.

National League

Braves

• Steady.

Brewers

• Blake Perkins (vs LHP) and Jon Singleton (vs RHP) are in a platoon.

• Since coming off the IL, Luis Urías (.521 OPS) has started in seven of nine games.

Cardinals

• Steady.

Cubs

• Mike Tauchman (.296/.414/.338 with 2 SB in 88 PA) has started five straight while leading off with Nico Hoerner dropping down to second and Dansby Swanson to fifth.

• In his first game off the IL, Cody Bellinger hit sixth.

Diamondbacks

• Josh Rojas has only started three times in the last eight games. Rojas has been splitting time with Emmanuel Rivera who has only three starts in the last five games.

• Geraldo Perdomo (.299/.402/.478, 5 HR, 7 SB) looks to be the full-time shortstop.

Dodgers

• Jason Heyward (vs RHP) and Jonny DeLuca (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

• James Outman (.539 OPS in June) has only started in six of the last 10 games.

Giants

• It’s even tougher than normal to figure out what is going on since several guys have nagging injuries.

• Luis Matos (hitting .350/.415/.561, 10 HR, 15 SB across all levels) hit second in his debut against a lefty.

Marlins

• Garrett Cooper (.783 OPS, 3 HR over the last two weeks) has started four straight while hitting third or fourth in the lineup.

• Jon Berti (.469 OPS, 1 SB over the last two weeks) has started three straight at shortstop.

Mets

• Mark Vientos has started in four of six games (three at first base) and is stealing at-bats from Mark Canha who has started in only five of eight.

Nationals

• No changes.

Padres

• Consistent. The only possible issue is that Ha-Seong Kim 김하성 has sat in two of the last four days.

Phillies

• Kody Clemens (.254/.309/.412, 4 HR) has started at first base in eight of the last 10 games.

Pirates

• What a mess to figure out. It has some Tampa Bay vibes going on where it is easier to point out the four guys in full-time roles: Bryan Reynolds, Carlos Santana, Andrew McCutchen, and Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Reds

• Steadier with TJ Freidl (vs RHP) and Jose Barrero (vs LHP) in a center field platoon. Also through some lineup manipulation, T.J. Hopkins (vs LHP) and Will Benson (vs RHP) are in a platoon. Update: No idea now with Wil Myers coming off the IL and Barrero demoted.

• Stuart Fairchild (.776 OPS, 3 HR, 2 SB over the past month) has started in nine of 10 games in left field.

Rockies

• Jurickson Profar has led off in five of the six games while hitting .260/.333/.380 with 0 HR and 0 SB over the last two weeks.

• Ezequiel Tovar has hit second over the last five games while batting .289/.296/.481 with 2 HR and 1 SB over the last two weeks. It seems like the team is making lineup decisions based on the past two weeks.

• Rookie Coco Montes has started in three of the five games since being called up.

The “ability” of a pitcher to consistently beat his ERA estimators will always be a discussion top. Today, I’m going to put context on who has suppressed their ERA for two straight seasons and how they performed in the third season. I’ve been trying to see if I have missed anything while digging into under and overperforming starts and found that I might have missed the obvious, the starter’s team.

Before getting to the team context, here are the baseline chances for starting pitchers to consistently beat certain ERA benchmarks. 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 get 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 »

American League

Angels

• Shohei Ohtani, the pitcher, might start getting more rest.

Angels manager Phil Nevin was asked on Saturday about what he’s seen from Ohtani regarding fatigue this season, saying he believes the current plan will help give him a bit of a breather heading into the second half. The Halos still haven’t decided how they’ll use their prized two-way player after the All-Star break just yet. They’re likely to keep Ohtani pitching every sixth day, but they could also give him an extra day when needed.

“We’ll map it out,” Nevin said. “I think he just meant he was fatigued in the game. Sometimes that happens. The amount of pitches he had to throw to get some outs fatigued him a little bit. I think it just had to do with the game, not necessarily where he’s at in the season.”

Read the rest of this entry »