Author Archive: Jeff Zimmerman

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.”

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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 »

American League

Angels

• The team is back to being healthy (i.e. Walsh and Rendon) and there are just not enough at-bats to go around. At this point, only Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Anthony Rendon are getting everyday at-bats.

• Zach Neto (.425 OPS over the last two weeks) has only started in two of the last four games. 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 »

One issue during the season is that the news cycle, even for projection-altering details, moves at such a fast clip. Or it’s a repeat of the box score. Or player movement news. Or a preview of the next game. I just don’t find many details during the season but here are a few times that some might find useful. Instead, I plan on putting out smaller and more timely news blurbs.

American League

Astros

• The Astros aren’t looking to replace José Abreu while they are still winning.

Baker receives Abreu-related questions routinely. His answers do not change. One of his responses in Milwaukee did, perhaps, illustrate the manager’s outlook on Abreu’s anemia.

“We’re still winning,” he said.

Until they aren’t, changes may be few. Abreu did inspire more confidence during a 1-for-4 showing on Monday, mashing two balls with 109 mph exit velocities or harder. He turned on Twins closer Jhoan Duran’s 103.6 mph fastball for a ninth-inning single, too. Games like this will only extend his runway further.

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7:32	Jeff Zimmerman:

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Last week, I examined if throwing too many four-seam fastballs led to a pitcher being predictable and getting hit around. What I noticed was that I needed to expand out past just four-seamers and include sinkers. Again, I failed to find a connection between fastball quality-and-quantity and weakly hit batted balls. Instead, I was able to determine some benchmarks to find good fastballs.

Through some observations, I believed that throwing too many fastballs, especially if they were of poor quality (e.g. slow, average spin), would get hit harder. I dug through the numbers just hoping for my thoughts to be verified but I found jack squat. Nothing. 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

• Hunter Renfroe has sat in two of the last five games. He might have joined Taylor Ward and Mickey Moniak in an timeshare for two outfield spots.

• Jared Walsh (vs RHP) and Luis Rengifo (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

Astros

• Jake Meyers (.730 OPS), Chas McCormick (.710 OPS), and Corey Julks (.673 OPS) are sharing two outfield spots. Read the rest of this entry »