Justin Mason is joined by some of the best fantasy analysts in the industry to raise money for Fantasy Cares.

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Justin Mason is joined by some of the best fantasy analysts in the industry to raise money for Fantasy Cares. Read the rest of this entry »

Are you a hitter who can’t time up the fastball? Feeling over-powered? Not having your best day? Just wait it out, the hook will come eventually. Keep that weight back and search for that little bump, that little loop, as the pitch comes towards the plate. Wait on it, wait on it, wait on it….strike! It’s not as easy as it sounds. Of the 115 starting pitchers who threw at least 100 innings in 2024, 76 threw a curveball. Some of them got blasted; Miles Mikolas, Pablo López, Jameson Taillon. Some of them did the blasting; Framber Valdez, Seth Lugo, Max Fried. Take a look at some finer details below and see if you can find a few pitchers with positive curveball metrics for the back end of your fantasy rotation.

Fastballs: Four-seamers | Sinkers | Cutters

Breaking and Offspeed Pitches: Sliders | Changeups | Curveballs | Splitters | Sweepers
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Transcript is now available, thanks for coming out!

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American League

Angels

• In an article about shortstop replacements for Zach Neto, there was no mention of Luis Rengifo.

Neto remains ahead of schedule after undergoing shoulder surgery in early November but hasn’t been cleared to throw across the diamond or hit live pitching just yet. With Neto out, the Angels will have to turn to an internal option at shortstop to begin the season. Washington said he didn’t know whether Neto would miss a week or a month, but he didn’t expect him to be out too long.

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Heading into the 2025 season, second base will once again be one of the weakest positions in all of fantasy baseball. Truthfully, once we get past even the Top 5, things start to go downhill very quickly. The elite names are all very sure things in terms of returning draft day value, but even players that will be drafted as starters could potentially struggle and fall short of expectations. Eligibility on your site of choice will also play a major factor here. In fact, my #1 option at second base wont even be eligible there on a majority of sites (Bless your heart, Yahoo), making things even more challenging for a majority of players as we will go from five elite options down to four on CBS, Fantrax, NFBC, etc.

It appears that the wisest thing that you can do when planning out your draft is to take one of the elite options and then not have to worry so much about the vast wasteland that is the keystone position. This has been the case for the last several seasons, and it will likely benefit your squad if you take one of the elite talents at the position, as opposed to waiting for the later rounds to secure your target(s).It simply cannot be overstated how barren the position will be in 2025 draft rooms, so go get yourself a Betts, Altuve, Marte, Albies, or Semien.

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Here is today’s chat transcript:
 

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Note: Sorry for the lack of content. I’m just returning from the dead (flu). Here is a Mining the News and I will need to rework my rankings. 

• Two items I’m going to focus less on are StatCast generated fastball velocities and injuries. I’ll report on the fastball velos that come from game observations like with Ian Anderson (ATL) below. If anyone wants to know the StatCast velo readings, I recommend TJ Stats.

• Keith Law posted an article on the top rookie contributors for 2025. Here is a list of his honorable mentions.

No Pirates pitchers here, even though they have several candidates (Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Michael Burrows), because there’s no room at the inn at the moment after they signed Andrew Heaney. … Jordan Lawlar needs to get healthy himself, and then needs either an injury to another infielder or for Eugenio Suárez to get old in a hurry for him to have a shot at playing time. But if he plays, Lawlar will be productive. … Logan Henderson deserves a shot at the Brewers’ rotation this year, and I think he’ll be more than just a fifth starter, but I don’t see the opportunity coming soon enough for the list. … Ronny Mauricio should get some time in the minors after a full year lost to an ACL injury, and there’s some risk his defense suffers if he’s lost any range or mobility. … Caden Dana and Sam Aldegheri debuted for the Angels last year, but they’re not on this list because they’re too far down the depth chart and neither was remotely ready for the big leagues.

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Fastball! Fastball! Inside-fastball!….changeup. It’s almost soothing, isn’t it? The hitter gets some relief from the loud, scary, onslaught of heat to a nice, easy, soft-dropping cambio. But don’t be fooled, that soft-cuddly change of pace can be absolutely devastating. It can send you right back to the dugout looking, and that’s if you’re lucky. If you’re unlucky, you just whiffed so hard a little snot came out of your nose, you made a loud grunting noise and possibly pulled a muscle in your lower back. Some pitchers utilize the changeup by only throwing it to opposite-handed hitters when they need it. Some throw it with regularity, lulling hitters to sleep. There’s no perfect way to use it, but a decent changeup in a pitcher’s arsenal can be a difference-maker. Let’s continue the “Know Your Averages” series with a pitch that’s thrown in the zone less often, rarely called for a strike, and chased like a rat terrier going after a….well…let’s just get to it.

Fastballs: Four-seamers | Sinkers | Cutters

Breaking and Offspeed Pitches: Sliders | Changeups | Curveballs | Splitters | Sweepers
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Here is today’s chat transcript
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