Archive for Featured

• Daily SP Chart archive
• 2-Start podcast episode
• SP Rankings (last update: 6/5 | next: July)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

Justin Wrobleski is still running a tightrope with that 11% K-BB rate, but the ratios remain excellent and of course, being a Dodger puts him in line for a Win every time out as he’s racked up seven so far. Pittsburgh is much worse versus lefties with a 27% K rate that sits 2nd to only Colorado, but can Wrobo take advantage? He has just a 16% K rate, the 4th-lowest mark among qualified starters. He is spamming four-seamers this year with a 51% usage rate, 6th-highest in the game, and it’s down 2 mph to 93.9 mph. Last year he threw even more fastballs, but they were split among four-seamers (29%), sinkers (21%), and cutters (14%). The curve and changeup were show-me pitches last year and remain so this year.

You don’t get a 2.62 ERA with these skills without some “run-hot”. He’s 10th in BABIP (.243) and 1st in HR/FB (4%). Now just because someone is running well in those categories doesn’t mean it’s always pure dumb luck happening to them but there are certain thresholds where the combo of stats just can’t hold without something giving. In this case, I do think Wrobo’s ERA will be headed upward, I’m just not sure it starts tomorrow given Pittsburgh’s struggles with southpaws. I have him as a Team Streamer with only scary matchup in the near future. From here, he’s lined up for v. TBR, at MIN, and at ATH. The first two are bottom half wOBAs v. lefties but ATH is 5th overall and 1st at home. I’d strongly consider skipping that one.

• I’m still not totally sold on Zebby with his 1.5 HR9 but he has 4 QS in 5 starts. The fifth was a 7 ER Dud, though, and that’s my concern with him. It’s a wide range of outcomes, but enough good to start earning a little more trust.
• I had some interest in Dobbins at times last year with Boston and I’m happy to see him back starting after some strong extended RP outings.
• Feltner and Cabrera are going to burn me for even looking for upside in Coors. Maybe I’m overreacting to Wednesday’s 3-2 game. By the way, COL is going for the sweep! Feltner has been outright awesome of late with a pair of 6 IP gems since returning while Cabrera had a brutal return off the IL with 8 ER
• Montero could be making his last start for a bit with Skubal, Mize, and Verlander on the verge of returning.
• Pérez has bee a revelation for the Braves (3.02 ERA/1.06 WHIP) but this is a risky matchup with the sweet swinging White Sox on tap.
• Kelly’s full season stats stinks but his 4.18 ERA/1.14 WHIP over the L30 days are more indicative of who we can expect him to be going forward now that he appears fully healthy.
• Phillips is a pure matchup play if you want to take advantage of ARI. Don’t get enamored with the 2.08 ERA, the 1.36 WHIP will ensure that heads upward.

—

Read the rest of this entry »

In mid-April, I introduced my process of reviewing matchups and schedules in two- to three-week windows to identify outliers and potential short-term gains. The basic premise is that rest-of-season (ROS) analysis has high margins of error and that it is better to compartmentalize fantasy decision-making into short-term timeframes. We do not know who will get hurt and whether a specific team would be a good or bad matchup one month or two months from now. In that April article, the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets stood out as positive outliers. The White Sox crushed over the 3.5-week window, ranking fourth in runs and top three in isolated power and wRC+. The Mets were a huge letdown, though they were without offensive leader Juan Soto and other key hitters for parts of that stretch. Soon thereafter, Francisco Lindor joined the injury party.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hot Right Now (HRN) is a weekly Ottoneu feature focused on popular players currently being auctioned or players who you should think about auctioning in your Ottoneu leagues. Even if you don’t play Ottoneu, we’ll be highlighting players you should be looking at in deeper and keeper formats. In this feature, we will break down players into two sections:

1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
2. Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP over the last 14 days who are also rostered in 80% of leagues or less.

The RotoGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.

Read the rest of this entry »

Note: I normally dig through regular articles for information, and during the season find little useful information. I’m going to transition to at least going through the team injury information to find some actionable items.

American League

Blue Jays

• While the team likes Brandon Valenzuela’s pitch calling …

His work behind the plate has also improved during that span, with ace Kevin Gausman saying his pitch framing “is getting close to Kirky’s level where you think you’re throwing way more strikes than maybe you are.” Read the rest of this entry »

Congrats to the future Hall of Famer!

Read the rest of this entry »

• Daily SP Chart archive
• 2-Start podcast episode
• SP Rankings (last update: 6/5 | next: July)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

—

Read the rest of this entry »

In a previous article, we looked at starting pitchers who improved or lost their stuff and command over the past two seasons. This time, we’re examining starting pitchers that gained stuff and command in May and June compared to April to identify small sample changes. Sometimes a pitcher’s stuff and command improve closer toward the career averages. However, there can notable changes in a pitcher’s location and movement profiles that impact their stuff and command grades. This may be small sample noise, but it can also represent a change. Fantasy leagues can be won by being an early mover on a player who is breaking out. We’ll examine a few starting pitchers who made improvements in their stuff and command since May 1.

Read the rest of this entry »

As we move deeper into the season, teams are starting to ask themselves if it is time to buy or sell and, if so, what buying or selling looks like. How aggressively do I want to ship out potential keepers for a shot at a title? How far do I have to get in rebuilding my roster before the deadline so I am ready for 2027? In at attempt to dig into some of this, I have been looking at 2025 roster and results data. I have a long series of questions I want to look into – how much is too much to spend on top players? Stars and scrubs or balance? – and today I am going to start with this one:

If you are trying to build a strong 2027 team, is it best to do that via keepers you held through the off-season? Players you trade for during the off-season? Or the auction?

I think this is a pretty useful question to answer right now because it impacts sellers and buyers. Sellers are already thinking about 2027 directly; but buyers are trying to determine how willing they should be to break apart their core to win right now. So they are also wondering how they can/will build a 2027 roster if they are giving up keepers today.

Read the rest of this entry »

I believe I can fly!

Read the rest of this entry »

• Daily SP Chart archive
• 2-Start podcast episode
• SP Rankings (last update: 6/5 | next: July)

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart, click here if you’re new to get an idea of what I’m doing with these rankings.

• I know there’s been some consternation with Skenes as he’s been less godlike than normal lately but I kept him at #1 in my recent rankings update as I didn’t find the 4-start blip to be actionable. I wouldn’t quibble with someone slotting in a new #1, but for me he holds for now. He’ll calm any and all fears with a gem here and I’m eager to see how he handles one of the best offenses going.
• Burns draws today’s top spot and ascended to Ace status in my latest update as the #7 overall arm. He is truly a 2.0 version of Hunter Greene, improving both the HR and BB rates that plagued Greene early on in his career. Burns is up at 1.2 HR9 this year (after a 1.0 flat in last year’s debut), but Greene sat at 1.6 in his first two years before improving. It took Greene three seasons to post a BB rate under 9% while Burns is toting an 8% mark right now (not a huge difference there, admittedly). Imagine if Cincy can get these two clicking together.
• Cease is returning from a hamstring injury that cost him a couple weeks but he did make a rehab start and I’m willing to get him right back in. As I always mention with these, every fantasy manager has their own way of handling first starts off the IL, so do what works best for you. I do consider the injury type in my start/sit with arm-related injuries being more worrisome. That isn’t to say a hammy can’t hamper you, just that I’m more inclined to get back in right away on non-arm related issues.
• I believe Melton is quite a bit better than his 4% K-BB and having watched all three of his starts this year, I can confirm he has pitched like someone with 4-5x that mark, including back-to-back long outings of 7 and 8 IP where he allowed just 3 ER on 10 H and 3 BB but with just 6 Ks. The dam will break if he doesn’t improve, though, as a .175 BABIP will only hold for so long, particularly when you’re allowing that much contact. The Tigers are on the verge of potentially a trio of arms returning (Skubal-Mize-JV), including their ace, but I really hope Melton’s job isn’t threatened. With Jack Flaherty pitching better of late (26% K-BB in L3) and his lofty contract – which does matter whether we like it or not – he’s unlikely to be unseated, either. I wonder if they consider a 6-man to ease Skubal and Verlander back, shifting Montero to the pen and going Skubal-Framber-Mize-Flaherty-JV-Melton.
• I wasn’t sold on May during his April rebound as he worked off the ugly 13 ER from his first two starts with a 1.95 ERA in his final four starts of the month as they came with a modest 12% K-BB. But his last 30 IP have drawn my interest as his 3.90 ERA is powered by a 1.00 WHIP and 20% K-BB, including at least 7 Ks in each of his last 3 (and 4 of 5). He has nearly doubled his swinging strike rate, going from 7% to 13%, and done so by dialing up his cutter usage 10 pts to 29%. A great matchup here gives him a chance to stay hot and then folds into a potential 2-step next week v. SDP and at KCR.
• I couldn’t see myself sitting Kyle Harrison in any format yesterday, even knowing the dangers of Vegas. But after seeing this game… and still seeing it in fact, as I’m watching the 12th inning while writing this… you will not see a single “x” for the rest of that series. Ginn, Perkins for ATH and Gasser, Sproat for MIL will be nowhere near any lineups. Meanwhile, daily players are left with an interesting choice between stacking Vegas or Coors.
• Holmes is predominantly a Win chase. The White Sox are no joke as a lineup so they could clip him as their strength is homers and he has a 1.7 HR9, but he has managed to avoid letting the longball sink of late w/a 2.91 ERA in his L4 despite five bombs. This is probably more a 1.5-x (maybe even 1) reco as I look deeper into it. If you’re OK chasing Wins at the potential expense of ratios, feel free to run him.
• I’ve been tracking Alvarez the last few weeks as he’s been stretched out into a starter. He got his first traditional start last time out and fell just an out shy of a strong 5 IP (4.7 IP/1 ER/5 base runners/5 Ks) while reaching a season-high 82 pitches. He also lines up for a 2-step next week v. KCR and at TBR, so don’t be afraid to stash him for that even if you skip this one.
• I miiiight have still given Cecconi 1-x if Judge was in the lineup as he’s put up a decent 3.09 ERA/1.28 WHIP/14% K-BB in his L6 including a gem against the Yanks last time out (though they were already Judge-free at that point).

If you have questions on anyone else, drop a comment!

—

Read the rest of this entry »