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Roto Riteup: June 3, 2024

The Nationals are going to put him in the outfield before they call up James Wood or Dylan Crews.

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Starting Pitcher Chart – June 3rd, 2024

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
2-Start Rankings for the Week
RANK TYPE PITCHER MATCHUPS
1 1 Tyler Glasnow at PIT/at NYY
2 1 Tarik Skubal at TEX/MIL
3 1 Corbin Burnes at TOR/at TBR
4 1 Max Fried at BOS/at WSN
5 1 George Kirby at OAK/at KCR
6 1 Grayson Rodriguez at TOR/at TBR
7 2 Luis Gil MIN/LAD
8 2 Jared Jones LAD/MIN
9 2 MacKenzie Gore NYM/ATL
10 2 Kutter Crawford ATL/at CWS
11 2 Kevin Gausman BAL/at OAK
12 2 Jesús Luzardo TBR/CLE
13 2 Justin Verlander STL/at LAA
14 2 Seth Lugo at CLE/SEA
15 3 Bailey Ober at NYY/at PIT
16 3 Triston McKenzie KCR/at MIA
17 3 Tyler Anderson SDP/HOU
18 4 Kyle Gibson at HOU/COL
19 4 Bryse Wilson at PHI/at DET
20 4 Trevor Williams NYM/ATL
21 4 Matt Waldron at LAA/ARI
22 4 Jhony Brito at LAA/ARI
23 5 Joey Estes SEA/TOR
24 5 Spencer Howard at ARI/at TEX
25 5 Ryne Nelson SFG/at SDP
26 5 Patrick Sandoval SDP/HOU
27 5 Ryan Feltner CIN/at STL
28 5 Chris Flexen 플렉센 at CHC/BOS
29 5 Blake Walston SFG/at SDP
30 6 Frankie Montas at COL/CHC
31 6 Andrew Abbott at COL/CHC
32 6 Ty Blach CIN/at STL
33 5 Bowden Francis? BAL/at OAK
TYPE Key:
1 – Auto-Start | 2- All Formats | 3 – Most Formats |
4 – Some Formats | 5 – YOLO | 6 – Hard PassRecommendations for Roto 5×5 Leagues

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Sunday Night Waiver Wire & FAAB Chat

7:31
Jeff Zimmerman: Welcome

7:32
Jeff Zimmerman:

7:32
Jeff Zimmerman: Those are the winning bits in the three 15-team Tout Wars leagues.

7:32
Derek: Like everyone, need some hitting.  In a keeper league, drop Bart for Meyers?

7:32
Jeff Zimmerman: Jake, sure

7:32
Bsb: Is cade povich coming up this week??

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1302 – News and FAAB

5/19/24

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

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FAAB & Waiver Wire Report (Week 10)

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


Lineup Analysis (6/1/24)

Note: The analysis was done looking at the games that ended on Thursday.

American League

Angels

Kevin Pillar (vs LHP) and Mickey Moniak (vs RHP) are in a right-field platoon.

Kyren Paris (vs LHP) and Luis Guillorme (vs RHP) are in an infield platoon.

• Over the last three games, Willie Calhoun (vs RHP) and Cole Tucker (vs LHP) are in a DH platoon.

Astros

Chas McCormick has only started in four of the last nine games.

Jeremy Peña (to fourth) and Jake Meyers (to sixth) have moved up a spot in the lineup.

• In the four games since José Abreu was promoted, he and Jon Singleton have started in three games each.

Athletics

• Since coming off the IL, Miguel Andujar (.883 OPS) has started in five of six games while hitting third or fourth in the lineup.

Tyler Soderstrom (.625 OPS) has only started two of the last eight games.

Blue Jays

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.729 OPS) has started in 11 straight games.

Kevin Kiermaier (.589 OPS) and Cavan Biggio (.646 OPS) are splitting time with Davis Schneider moving around the infield.

Justin Turner (.652 OPS) and Daniel Vogelbach (.564 OPS) are splitting time at DH.

Guardians

Kyle Manzardo (vs RHP) and Gabriel Arias (vs LHP) are in a platoon with José Ramírez moving around.

Johnathan Rodriguez is now on the short-side platoon with Will Brennan.

Mariners

Mitch Haniger (vs LHP) and Dominic Canzone (vs RHP) are in a right-field platoon.

Luke Raley (vs RHP) and Jonatan Clase (vs LHP) are in a left-field platoon.

Ty France (.255/.327/.415 with 4 HR in May) has started in 11 straight games.

Orioles

Colton Cowser (.784 OPS) has hit cleanup in the last two games.

Cedric Mullins (.564 OPS) is batting eighth and starting only against righties.

Kyle Stowers has only started in five of the last 12 games.

Rangers

Leody Taveras (.270/.343/.427, 3 HR, 3 SB in May) is up to hitting fifth over the last five games.

Wyatt Langford (.587 OPS) is hitting seventh since coming off the IL.

Rays

Jonny DeLuca (.675 OPS), Jose Siri (.615 OPS), and Richie Palacios (.729 OPS) are splitting time between two outfield spots.

Jonathan Aranda (.661 OPS) and Harold Ramírez (.596 OPS) are splitting time as the DH.

Brandon Lowe (.665 OPS) only starts against righties.

Red Sox

Connor Wong (.823 OPS) is now hitting fifth.

• With Tyler O’Neill on the IL, the outfield Rob Refsnyder (.939 OPS) is starting every game in the outfield.

David Hamilton only starts against righties (career .657 OPS vs RHP, .545 OPS vs LHP).

Vaughn Grissom (.411 OPS over the last two weeks) has started in eight of the last nine games.

Royals

Nelson Velázquez (.686 OPS, 7 HR) has started in eight straight games.

Nick Loftin (.565 OPS) has started three straight games.

Kyle Isbel (.598 OPS) is back in centerfield.

Tigers

• Over the last four games, Matt Vierling (.825 OPS) hit in the top third of the lineup.

• In the two games since being promoted, Akil Baddoo hit sixth with all of the games being against righties.

Spencer Torkelson (.608 OPS) has hit seventh for three straight games.

Javier Báez has only started in six of the last nine games.

Twins

Edouard Julien, Trevor Larnach, and Max Kepler are still just starting against righties.

Alex Kirilloff has only started in six of the last ten games. Carlos Santana in only seven of the last ten.

White Sox

• Does it really matter? They are 30th in the league in scoring and the 29th team, Miami, has scored 50 more runs.

Nicky Lopez (.823 OPS, 0 SB, and HR over the last 14 days) has hit second over the last three games.

Korey Lee (.738 OPS, 5 HR, 3 SB) is hitting in the middle of the lineup.

Yankees

• Since coming off the IL, DJ LeMahieu has started two of three games while batting ninth.

National League

Braves

Michael Harris II is leading off against righties while Ozzie Albies leads off against lefties.

Jarred Kelenic (.727 OPS over the last two weeks) has started four straight games including two against lefties (.720 OPS vs RHP, .364 OPS vs LHP).

Adam Duvall (.663 OPS, 5 HR) has started five straight games.

Brewers

Jake Bauers (.683 OPS) has started seven straight games including two against lefties.

Blake Perkins (.691 OPS) with nine straight starts, all in center field.

Sal Frelick (vs RHP) and Jackson Chourio (vs LHP) are in a right-field platoon.

Cardinals

Masyn Winn (.798 OPS) is now leading off against lefties.

• Expect more changes with the Lars Nootbaar injury.

Cubs

• I don’t have a good understanding of how the Pete Crow-Armstrong promotion will affect the rest of the team. It’s impossible to know if just one person loses their playing time or a combination of players.

Diamondbacks

Jake McCarthy (vs RHP) and Randal Grichuk (vs LHP) are in a platoon.

Blaze Alexander (vs LHP) and Joc Pederson (vs RHP) are in a platoon thanks to Ketel Marte moving around.

Dodgers

• No changes

Giants

Brett Wisely (.945 OPS) and Marco Luciano (.986 OPS) are splitting time at shortstop.

• The full ramifications of LaMonte Wade Jr. going on the IL haven’t been felt. It’s a tough lineup to analyze even when everyone is healthy for an extended period.

Marlins

Tim Anderson (.448 OPS since returning from the IL) has started in seven of the last eight games.

Nick Fortes (.471 OPS) has started in four of the last six at catcher.

Mets

• Mark Vietos (.945 OPS) and Brett Baty (.628 OPS) were splitting time at third base. Baty was just optioned to the minors.

Harrison Bader (.680 OPS) has only started in five of the last nine games.

Nationals

• Since coming off the IL, Lane Thomas is batting second, Jesse Winker is now the DH, and Joey Meneses (vs LHP) and Joey Gallo (vs RHP) are in a first-base platoon.

Luis García Jr. (vs RHP) and Ildemaro Vargas (vs LHP) are in a second base platoon.

Padres

• Steady

Donovan Solano (vs LHP) and David Peralta (vs RHP) are in a platoon.

Phillies

Brandon Marsh (.754 OPS), Cristian Pache (.590 OPS), and Johan Rojas (.570) are splitting two outfield spots.

Edmundo Sosa (.944 OPS) has started eight straight games at short.

Pirates

• More of a mess than usual. Several guys have come and gone and it’s nearly impossible to figure out any patterns.

Ji Hwan Bae (vs RHP) and Michael A. Taylor (vs LHP) are in a centerfield platoon.

Reds

• With TJ Friedl (.476 OPS) off the IL, he’s leading off and Jacob Hurtubise heads to the bench.

Nick Martini (.588 OPS) has started in seven of the last eight games.

Rockies

Hunter Goodman (vs LHP) and Charlie Blackmon (vs RHP) are in a right-field platoon.

• Since coming off the IL, Kris Bryant has started seven of nine games while hitting .214/.353/.321 over that stretch.


The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1301 – 2-Start Pitchers for Week 10

5/31/24

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

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PATREON

INJURIES/TRANSACTION NEWS

2-START FOR WEEK 10

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Beat the Shift Podcast – Prospect Episode w/ James Anderson

The Prospect episode of the Beat the Shift Podcast – a baseball podcast for fantasy baseball players.

Guest: James Anderson

Prospects

  • The top prospects already in the major leagues
  • Has the new incentives for rookies changed the timing of prospect call-ups?
  • Prospects to make an impact in 2024
  • Prospects to make an impact in 2025

Injury Guru’s Trivia of the Week

Strategy Section

  • Hit rates for prospects
  • What translates to short term success for prospects?
  • What translates to long term success for prospects?
  • How much FAAB should you bid on prospects when they come up to the majors (NFBC)?
  • How early should you pick up prospects off of the waiver wire (home leagues)?
  • When should you trade for/away prospects in keeper leagues?
  • When should you cut bait on a prospect in redraft leagues?

Waiver Wire

Pitcher Preview

Mailbag

Injury Update

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Starting Pitcher Chart – May 31st, 2024

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Of course ReyLo got moved… just assume that will happen 95% of the time at this point!


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Mining the News (5/30/24)

American League

Rangers

Evan Carter has been playing through his back injury for a while.

He missed time in the Minors with a stress fracture in his back in 2021, so the Rangers have been trying to be cautious with him.

That being said, manager Bruce Bochy said he believes Carter tried to play through this particular back injury without disclosing to the coaching or training staff how much it affected him.

“With Evan, I think he knew, honestly,” Bochy said. “I don’t think he was being totally honest with us. Even the last game, I guess, it was really starting to bother him. It was pretty evident. Now when you look back at some of the at-bats, he just had a hard time getting his swing off.

Rays

Shane Baz might be in the minors to manipulate his service clock.

Though there’s some logic to keeping him in Durham and monitoring him, it will nonetheless have consequences for Baz. The righty came into this season with two years and 14 days of major league service time. Had he stayed on the active roster or injured list all season, he would have finished this year at 3.014, just enough to automatically qualify for arbitration and to be on track for free agency after 2027. If he ends up spending significant time on optional assignment, he could alter both of those trajectories, though he could still get to arb as a Super Two guy even if he’s shy of the three-year mark.

For now, he’ll continue with whatever plan the Rays have for building him up over the remainder of the season. Perhaps his return to the big leagues will be motivated by an injury to one of his teammates or it could just be based on some sort of workload checklist that Baz has to hit.

Yankees

• For now, there are no plans to limit Luis Gil.

Boone said the Yankees are keeping a close eye on Gil. He didn’t rule out a workload limit at some point but said that currently it’s “full steam ahead.”

Pitching coach Matt Blake said the Yankees will use a variety of data points to track Gil’s readiness. In spring training he said the Yankees used workouts to get a baseline of what Gil looks like when he’s healthy, mentioning range of motion and “power output.” The team also uses slow-motion video to judge how his delivery progresses. The footage captures minute details regarding the shapes and speeds of his pitches, his release points and where he’s landing on the mound. The team also consults with Gil.

National League

Braves

David Fletcher is stretching out to be a knuckleball pitcher.

Yes, that David Fletcher.

The utility infielder told team officials several weeks ago that he had a knuckleball, and they agreed to let him show what he could do with it in a game. When they saw it was a legit knuckler, they told him they’d use him at least once a week as a pitcher at Gwinnett and see what he could do. Fletcher was thrilled.

After four relief appearances — two good, two not so good — he got a start Wednesday against the Norfolk Tides and pitched five innings of three-hit ball in a 5-2 win, allowing two runs and one walk with six strikeouts, including a strikeout of baseball’s No. 1 prospect, Jackson Holliday.

No one is getting carried away with it just yet, but the Braves plan to see how far Fletcher can go with his knuckleball-based repertoire. It’s such a rare pitch these days, perhaps he could eventually factor in as a pitcher with the Braves.

• The team has made several moves to work Spencer Schwellenbach into the rotation.

[Schwellenbach] was then informed that his next start was actually coming in Atlanta, less than 13 months after making his pro debut last April.

“I was not expecting it,” Schwellenbach said. “I was totally taken off guard and very happy about it.”

But the Braves had been hatching this plan for a while — really ever since learning the severity of Smith-Shawver’s injury last week. They adjusted their bullpen plans the past few days and leaned on Charlie Morton to eat more innings than they typically would have during Monday’s loss in preparation for Schwellenbach’s debut.

AJ Smith-Shawver was working on his changeup before going on the IL.

Smith-Shawver had two walks and four strikeouts and topped out at 99.3 mph with his fastball. The Braves were especially pleased with Smith-Shawver’s secondary pitches, including his changeup, which accounted for 20 of his 87 pitches. He used the changeup for strike 3 on first-inning punchouts of Mike Tauchman and Cody Bellinger, each swinging.

“I’ve been working on that all year, just trying to throw it more (for) strikes down in the zone, just kind of executing it more often,” Smith-Shawver said.

His 6.10 ERA in eight Triple-A starts didn’t concern Braves officials because they knew he’d been working on his off-speed pitches, rather than just mowing down minor-league hitters with 98-100 mph heaters. “That (changeup) is what I’ve spent the majority of my time down there working on,” he said.