5/9/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 20, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER20!

Follow us on Twitter

• @sporer – Host
• @justinmasonfwfb – Co-Host/Producer
• @*surpriseguest* – Surprise Guest (click for his Twitter)

**JOIN THE NFBC MEMORIAL DAY 2ND CHANCE LEAGUES**

(Paul’s league: 5/24, 11pm ET; Justin’s league: 5/25, 10pm ET)

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/RUMORS (8:42)

• Pedro Strop to IL (8:10)
  • Steve Cishek, Brandon Kintzler, Carl Edwards Jr.
• Khris Davis leaves early w/hip flare up (11:11)
• Buster Posey to IL w/concussion (13:40)
• Carter Kieboom & Nate Lowe sent down (16:44)
  • Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

I’ve been writing some variant of this pitcher transformation article from the beginning of spring training containing information from spring training velocities to pitch mix changes. With a new pitch or extra velocity, a pitcher can quickly change from one talent level to another. With the season now in full gear, the major preseason changes are known but now it’s time to start finding those pitchers who are slowly transforming themselves mid-season. Every week I hope to focus on these pitchers.

David Price

The 33-year-old Price continues to be a fastball/changeup pitcher. He keeps hitters off guard by throwing three different fastballs (cutter, sinker, four-seam). As his velocity has dropped, he’s started relying on his changeup increasing its usage from 14% in 2017 to 22% last year and finally 29% this year. The pitch has been dynamite with a 21% SwStr% and helped propel his strikeout rate from a 9.1 K/9 last year to career-high 10.5 K/9 this season. He’s pulling the old-man trick of throwing his non-fastballs more to stay relevant.

Rant: I’m not sure why pitchers wait until they start declining to make the change. Why not make the change immediately and become an ace.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lucas Giolito is just 24 years old. It might seem like he’s older due an effect called “prospect fatigue” as he’s been in the baseball consciousness since being drafted back in 2012. He went 16th overall to the Washington Nationals thanks to concerns about his elbow that eventually led to Tommy John surgery. He cruised through the low minors and soared up prospect lists, eventually landing top 5 before his MLB debut in 2016. He sputtered through 21 innings as a 21-year old and was subsequently dealt that winter with Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning for Adam Eaton. His prospect stock fell a bit on the heels of the ugly debut, but he was still a solid top 25 prospect as he joined the Chicago White Sox.

It these last three years with the White Sox where the fatigue has set in. A modest full season effort in Triple-A gave way to a positive seven-start run to cap off 2017, though the skills didn’t marry well with the 2.38 ERA/0.95 WHIP combo. A brutal 2018 (6.13 ERA/1.48 WHIP) left him as an afterthought on the fantasy landscape coming into 2019, but now he’s worth a closer look. He opened his season with a gem against the Royals, followed quickly by a pair of four-walk efforts that fueled nine runs allowed in 9.3 innings. He was dealing again versus the Royals in his fourth start before a hamstring injury cut him down and led to a two-week IL stint.

That brings us to the intriguing portion of this young season.

Read the rest of this entry »

Baseball is the best

Jason Kipnis gave this couple an awesome gender reveal! ⚾️💯 pic.twitter.com/8aENe3RnXe

— Baseball Lifestyle™ (@BsbLifestyle__) May 6, 2019

Read the rest of this entry »

For the second straight season, Matt Carpenter is off to a rough start and has fantasy managers questioning whether they should hang on or cut bait. At this time last year, he had an impossibly bad .165/.320/.320 line and when paired with a preseason shoulder injury, he seemed ripe for a cut. At least, my dumbass thought so. Despite some positive underlying metrics, I was concerned that his shoulder would prevent him from really breaking through and thus suggested benching or cutting him in 10- and 12-team formats.

Whoops.

Read the rest of this entry »

For the drops, I use the NFBC Main Event (38 teams) where owners are more likely to stay active with more skin the game. Here is who they are dropping and why.

Injured

● Matt Adams (30): He continues the circle of life of injured Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman makes one of his annual trips the IL and Adams stepped up. And gets himself hurt. Jake Noll and Howie Kendrick have each played first base since Adams went down.

Read the rest of this entry »

5/7/19

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is brought to you by Out of the Park Baseball 19, the best baseball strategy game ever made – available NOW on PC, Mac, and Linux platforms! Go to ootpdevelopments.com to order now and save 10% with the code SLEEPER19!

Follow us on Twitter

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

GET THE SLEEPER & THE BUST T-SHIRT FROM ROTOWEAR!

NOTABLE TRANSACTIONS, INJURIES, RUMORS

• David Price to IL (3:45)
• Matt Olson back Tuesday? (6:15)
• Shohei Ohtani back Tuesday! (11:58)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Where has Derek Dietrich been all my life?

DIETRICH TO THE RESCUE! pic.twitter.com/eYSqUGxFcD

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 6, 2019

Read the rest of this entry »

This is why all the Yankees keep getting hurt:

Bronx pigeons dont mess around when it comes to their Pinstripe pride….wont even let opposing players stretch pregame!#BronxBomber #Athlete pic.twitter.com/bCJKLowyfo

— Kyle Gibson (@kgib44) May 6, 2019

New York pigeons don’t mess around.

Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this entry »