With rosters expanding yesterday, lineups are going to be a mess to figure out will the changes. Better decisions can be made in just a couple more days. Today, I just gave each team a quick look for obvious changes and will focus on players losing playing time.

American League

Angels

• Mike Ford (.991 OPS, 2 HR, 27 PA) has started seven straight games at first base.

Astros

• After not starting much at all, Christian Vázquez has started in four of the last six games.

• Jeremy Peña has moved up to second in the lineup and Yuli Gurriel has moved down. 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 five or more of these leagues: Read the rest of this entry »

7:32	Jeff Zimmerman: Here are the bids in the two 15-team Tout Wars leagues.

Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Players getting hurt (e.g. Walsh and Ward) and coming off the IL (e.g. Trout) make it hard to figure out if anyone new is a regular.

Astros

• Christian Vázquez (.761 OPS) has started in only three of the last 10 games.

• Chas McCormick (.746 OPS) was seeing regular at-bats (five straight starts) but then got hurt.

Athletics

• No one but Sean Murphy deserves and is getting full-time plate appearances.

• Since being called up, Shea Langeliers (.953 OPS) has started in eight of ten games, six at DH and two at catcher.

Blue Jays

• Over the last 10 games, Whit Merrifield has started in five of them and Santiago Espinal has started in six.

Guardians

• Steady

Mariners

• For some bizarre reason, Carlos Santana (.655 OPS with SEA) has started four straight.

• Jesse Winker (.715 OPS, 13 HR) has started against the last three lefties.

Orioles

• It’s tough to figure out who is or isn’t playing in the bottom half. Second base, third base, and one outfield spot are all timeshares right now.

Rangers

• Kole Calhoun (.621 OPS) and Bubba Thompson (.584 OPS) are splitting time in left field.

Rays

• Harold Ramírez (.330/.373/.448, 5 HR, 3 SB) has started seven straight.

• Brandon Lowe (vs RHP) and Yu Chang (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

Red Sox

• Enrique Hernández has started seven of nine games since coming off the IL while hitting .207/.226/.345 in those games.

Royals

• Drew Waters has started three straight while batting ninth. With Kansas City in AAA, he hit .295/.399/.541 with 7 HR and 13 SB in 143 PA.

• Michael Massey (.715 OPS, 1 HR, 1 SB) has only started in four of the last six games and I don’t know why.

Tigers

• Kerry Carpenter (.677 OPS, 2 HR) as sat against the last two lefties. Akil Baddoo (.486 OPS) is also only facing righties.

• Victor Reyes has started in 11 straight games. Over the past two weeks, he has a .783 OPS and 2 SB.

Twins

• Nick Gordon (.765 OPS vs RHP, .660 OPS vs LHP) has sat against the last three lefties.

• Max Kepler (.495 OPS over the last two weeks) has started 10 straight games, four against lefties.

• Gio Urshela (.741 OPS) has started in nine of the last ten games.

White Sox

• Since joining the team, Elvis Andrus (.471 OPS with CWS) has made six straight starts while batting seventh.

• Josh Harrison (.674 OPS) has started 13 of 14 games.

• Andrew Vaughn has sat twice in the last five games with Luis Robert back.

Yankees

• Giancarlo Stanton (batting third) is back and Oswaldo Cabrera stayed in the lineup hitting seventh. Cabrera (.563 OPS) has made eight straight starts.

National League

Braves

• Steady with Eddie Rosario sitting when both catchers are in the lineup.

Brewers

• Mike Brosseau starts against lefties and either Kolten Wong or Luis Urías sits.

• Jonathan Davis (vs RHP) and Tyrone Taylor (vs LHP) might be in a platoon.

Cardinals

• Brendan Donovan (.757 OPS vs LHP, .799 OPS vs RHP) is only starting against righties.

• Tommy Edman (.695 OPS) is getting buried at the bottom of the lineup.

Cubs

• In all fairness, everyone seems to be in some kind of timeshare except Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, and Seiya Suzuki.

Diamondbacks

• Emmanuel Rivera (.967 OPS with ARI) has hit second for six straight games.

• Since being called up, Stone Garrett (1.000 OPS) has started only four times in seven games.

Dodgers

• Small, nagging injuries (e.g. Lux with neck) make it tough to determine if anyone in the last few spots in a regular.

• Joey Gallo (1.010 OPS with the Dodgers) has only started in five of the last 10 games.

Giants

• The only regulars are Thairo Estrada (.716 OPS, 11 HR, 16 SB), Brandon Crawford (.646 OPS), Wilmer Flores (.770 OPS, 25 HR), and Mike Yastrzemski (.687 OPS, 12 HR, 5 SB).

Marlins

• Catcher qualified Nick Fortes (.242/.315/.447, 7 HR, 5 SB) has seven starts in the last 10 games.

• Jerar Encarnacion (22 HR in the minors) has started in five of the last six games.

• Peyton Burdick (.517 OPS) has started in 18 of the last 19 games.

Mets

• Brett Baty (.493 OPS) has started nine straight at third base.

• Mark Canha (.782 OPS) and Tyler Naquin (.767 OPS) remain in a timeshare.

Nationals

• Alex Call (13 HR, 9 SB in AAA) has hit first or second in four of the last five games. In 41 MLB PA, the 27-year-old has a .497 OPS.

• Ildemaro Vargas (3 HR, 1 SB, .740 OPS) has started 14 straight games.

• CJ Abrams has started nine straight but is only hitting .182/.206/.182 since joining the Nats.

Padres

• Steady with one too many bats when everyone is healthy.

Phillies

• Matt Vierling (.614 OPS, 5 HR, 6 SB, 4 CS) has started in 14 of the last 15 games.

• Bryson Stott (vs RHP) and Edmundo Sosa (vs LHP) are in a shortstop platoon.

Pirates

• Rodolfo Castro (.699 OPS, 3 HR, 34 SB) has made 12 straight starts.

• Tucupita Marcano (.238/.306/.393) has started in eight of the last 10 (five straight).

• Oneil Cruz (.694 OPS vs RHP, .560 OPS, 54% K% vs LHP) has sat against the last three lefties.

Reds

• TJ Friedl only faces righties for some bizarre reason (career .915 OPS vs LHP, .643 OPS vs RHP).

• Jake Fraley sat against the last two lefties with a career .443 OPS vs LHP and .791 OPS vs RHP.

• Donovan Solano (.831 OPS) is starting every day when healthy while hitting in the heart of the lineup.

Rockies

• Elehuris Montero (.255/.275/.453, 4 HR) has sat in two of the last three games after 18 straight starts. He might be in a platoon (bats right) with a .653 OPS vs righties and a .842 OPS vs lefties.

• Brian Serven (.664 OPS, 6 HR) has started at catcher in eight of the last 10 games.

Recently I wrote up Myles Straw, I found out the league was throwing him the most fastballs (60%, league at 49%) and the most pitches in the strike zone (57%, league at 50%). Additionally, slow fastball pitchers weren’t afraid of him with the 13th lowest fastball velocity against. I went one step further and looked to see how far outfielders were playing him and he was one of the shallowest played guys. He was just getting no respect. 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 five or more of these leagues: Read the rest of this entry »

7:32	Jeff Zimmerman: Here are the FAAB results from the two 15-team Tout Wars mixed leagues.

Read the rest of this entry »

Again, not many available starters but plenty of hitters with some decent power hitting the wire.

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

• David Fletcher (.766 OPS, 2 HR) has leadoff for nine straight games.

Astros

• Trey Mancini has started in six of the last 10 games.

• Centerfield is a rotation of Mauricio Dubón (.591 OPS), Jake Meyers (.567 OPS), and Chas McCormick (.750 OPS). Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Tucker Davidson has added a changeup.

Davidson threw his slider 35 times, getting seven swings and misses with the pitch, while also throwing his four-seamer 35 times and getting one whiff. But he did locate his four-seamer for seven called strikes to help him get ahead in counts. He also mixed in six changeups, which is a pitch he’s been working on with Wise.

“He had his slider and landed a couple good changeups,” interim manager Phil Nevin said. “He’s really been working on that changeup with Wiser, who is terrific at teaching that pitch. He threw some really good ones today. It’s more of a look [for the hitters] and it’s in their head now.”

José Suarez is working on a second changeup.

Suarez started working on his new changeup earlier this year at the suggestion of Angels pitching coach Matt Wise, who helped Suarez figure out a grip that allows the new changeup to move differently than the old one.

“It helps me a lot because they have two different movements,” Suarez said via interpreter Manny Del Campo. “My old one is more like a fastball, and this one has more movement.”

Added Nevin: “You can throw one for strikes, and the other one’s kind of more of a chase pitch. Good hitters taking the swings that they are off of it — it’s pretty impressive.”

Read the rest of this entry »