Archive for Featured

Waiver Wire Targets: Week 10

For once, I’m more interested in the available starters compared to the hitters. Some interesting rookie pitchers (e.g. Poteet, Peacock, Davidson, Bubic) have emerged. While each has flaws, it’s likely one or two will emerge as a must-start arm.

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (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 »


Bullpen Report: June 5, 2021

The 2021 version of Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

  1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
  2. Injury News 
  3. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
  4. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
  5. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save.)

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.
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Mining the News & Lineups (6/4/21)

American League

Angels

Phil Gosselin (vs LHP) and Kean Wong (v RHP) are in a second base platoon.

Juan Lagares (.558) has started 13 of 14 games in center field.

• If promoted, Jo Adell will need to stick in the majors.

As general manager Perry Minasian said last week, the Angels want Adell to stick in the Majors when they bring him up, instead of having to shuttle him between Triple-A and the big leagues.

To get the call, he’ll either be hitting or the Angels’ management will have given up on the season.

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10 Watchlist Guys: Vol. 10

Most platforms have a feature where you can click something by the player’s name to put them on a virtual watchlist. It is smart to use this feature before the season starts because once it starts you be sorting by stats and you could miss out on someone you really want about to get a new role because you sorted by PA and he just didn’t show very high.

Spencer Turnbull was sharp against the Yankees after appearing on last week’s list and will no doubt be picked up quite a bit this weekend, especially with Seattle on the docket next week.

SHALLOW LEAGUES (mixed leagues – 10 or fewer teams)

Willi Castro | SS/2B, DET

Castro generated some sleeper buzz after a strong 2020 that saw him hit .349/.381/.550 with 6 HR in 140 PA. After hitting just .191/.232/.277 through 25 games, Castro started popping up on a lot of waiver wires and understandably so. He is starting to get picked back up, though, thanks to a .254/.342/.460 line with 3 HR and 2 SB in 74 PA. He still has a 27% K rate in that run and that level of swing-and-miss is likely to foster more of these severe ups and downs. Ride the wave when things are going well!

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Rays Episode w/ Steve Carney

The Rays Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Steve Carney

Personal history in the business

Baseball in 2021

  • Effect of fans
  • New rules – 3 batter minimum, 7 inning doubleheaders, extra innings

Tampa Bay Rays

AL East Predictions

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Roto Riteup: June 4, 2021

Sliding into the weekend like:

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Bullpen Report: June 4, 2021

The 2021 version of Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

  1. Notable Workloads: Primary closers or valuable members of a closer committee who have been deemed unavailable or likely unavailable for the current day due to recent workload.
  2. Injury News 
  3. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
  4. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
  5. Losing A Grip: Struggling closers who could be on the hot seat.

The “RosterResource” link will take you to the corresponding team’s RosterResource depth chart, which will give you a better picture of the full bullpen and results of the previous six days (pitch count, save, hold, win, loss, blown save.)

Click HERE to view the full Closer Depth Chart.
Read the rest of this entry »


The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 936 – Buy Low or Let Go Pitchers

6/3/21

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

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Does A Starter’s Improved Walk Rate Stick?

Today’s mini-study is brought to you by Austin Gomber and Tarik Skubal. Both struggled to start the season with April ERA’s over 6.00, but I noticed both have righted the ship with May ERA’s near 3.00. Excessive walks caused their early struggles but both got them under control.

Improved Walk Rate
Name April BB/9 May BB/9
Gomber 7.4 1.1
Skubal 5.7 3.0

With the regression always looming, I wondered how much of the May gains should be given back in June. After looking through the data, not as much as I expected. Read the rest of this entry »


Knocking Down The Door: June 2, 2021

“Knocking Down The Door” is a weekly column highlighting minor leaguers who are making a case for a major league promotion. Listed below are the names of this week’s picks and the player’s team, age, level(s), prospect ranking, and last ten days of statistics.

The analysis can be viewed in the embedded video of the previous day’s episode of The RosterResource Show, a weekly live stream focused on all things related to rosters, transactions, and RosterResource content at FanGraphs.

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