NEW FEATURE ALERT! We have added an upgraded version of RosterResource’s Closer Depth Chart to FanGraphs. Read more about it here.

We will always include a link to the full Closer Depth Chart at the bottom of the Bullpen Report each day. It’s also accessible from the RosterResource drop-down menu and from any RosterResource page. Please let us know what you think.

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.)
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Normally, I’m the fantasy manager who fades anyone in a platoon. I find that most weeks these hitters are unstartable and just take up roster spots. After two months of trying to find starting outfielders in 15-team leagues, I’m looking into platoons to help me find some weekly rentals. For that reason, I wanted to add set platoons to my weekly lineups article. Here is my first stab at the format and let me know what should be improved.

The main lineup article is being pushed back starting this week to run on Tuesday or Wednesday. Real-life (i.e. my kids are home for the summer) has limited the amount of time I have near the end of the week and my waiver wire article will take precedence. Read the rest of this entry »

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. 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.

1. Injury News 
2. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
3. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
4. 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 »

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.

• Previous Watchlists

Jake Fraley hit .333/.400/.500 with 1 HR and 2 SB in 20 PA since last Friday. Three lefties in the six games cost him a couple starts, so keep an eye on the schedule if you want to play him.

SHALLOW LEAGUES (mixed leagues – 10 or fewer teams)

Cesar Hernandez | 2B/SS, CLE

Hernandez is having an uncharacteristic power season with 9 HR already and a career-best .167 ISO. Unfortunately, it hasn’t yielded major dividends across his profile as he is hitting just .220 with a .299 OBP. He also hasn’t attempted a stolen base since September 8th, 2019, when he swiped a pair against the Mets. Obviously last year wasn’t a full season, but it has been 136 games. His .246 BABIP is 87 points off his career mark and should rise. If maintains the power with that rising BABIP, he could be a sneaky MI asset even without the speed contributions.

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Today’s article has been a couple of weeks in the making. I know it came up when one of my co-managers, Fred Zinkie, asked how much a pitcher’s performance changes if they immediately reface the same team. I don’t remember the pitcher or team involved but I didn’t know the answer so I’d find it out. The obvious answer is sure, a pitcher will be worse. It makes sense that the team that just faced him will have some familiarity. Two questions do come up though. First, how much does the pitcher’s performance degrade in the second matchup? Next, if there is a familiarity factor, how long does it take to go away? After examining the data, a small factor exists and quickly disappears.

Simply, this is one of the noisiest, possibly biased studies I’ve ever worked on. First, a starter usually doesn’t see a team right away since schedules have quite a bit of variation in them. This limits the sample size. Second, the data is clumped at five-day multiples because the starters need rest. I begged for a possible solution on Twitter but no solution was found. Even with the limitations, I forged ahead with some workable results. Read the rest of this entry »

My boss when I put in a vacation request

A HR robbery to start a double play 🤯 pic.twitter.com/1KWJhLPfsu

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2021

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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. 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.

1. Injury News 
2. Outlier Saves: Explanation for a non-closer earning a save during the previous day.
3. Committee Clarity: Notes on a closer committee that clarify a pitcher’s standing in the group.
4. 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 Angels Episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: Jeff Fletcher, Orange County Register

Personal history in the business

Los Angeles Angels

• Who is the Angels MVP to date?
• Can Shohei Ohtani be the American League MVP?
• Jared Walsh
• One Up, One Down
  • Alex Cobb’s resurgence
  • Dylan Bundy’s regression
• Will the Angels be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?
  • Trade deadline needs
• Mike Trout injury update
• Jo Adell
• Other Angels Prospects
  • Brandon Marsh
  • Reid Detmers

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Having officially gotten more regular-season baseball than we got in 2020, let’s check in on some team offensive trends. At least those trending poorly. Because while it’s still less than three months of baseball, it’s enough to start getting a handle on which teams you should exploit for streaming gains, and who you should avoid.

Matchups are obviously king in streaming but not all bad teams are the same. At least, not in terms of how they fare against each hand, both in general performance and strikeout tendencies. The Baltimore Orioles have the worst record in baseball, as well as the worst run value (per 100 pitches) against right-handed pitchers. However, you play a dangerous game when streaming a leftie against the Orioles, as their 1.29 RV/100 and .353 wOBA vs LHP are the highest in baseball, while their 20.4% K% is beaten only by the 16.8% K% of Houston.

Using Run Value (per 100 pitches), wOBA, xwOBA, and K%, we’ll see which teams currently look like the juiciest targets when considering a stream and then take a look at some of their matchups with starters who are currently rostered less than 50% in Yahoo leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

6/10/21

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

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer – Host
• @justinmasonfwfb – Co-Host/Producer

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS

• Tyler O’Neill 2 HR gm (2:42)
• Daz Cameron called up (12:00)
• Miguel Andújar hitting your radar? (15:41)
• Tucker Davidson rolling (20:31)

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