Paul Sporer: Welcome, everyone, thanks for coming out!
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M: Henry Davis worth holding onto in a 2 catcher keeper league? Been tough so far, is he gonna lose his spot once grandal is back? Top guy on the wire is Patrick Bailey
While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They were originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are ten of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »
I got on that yardwork grind today after a good bout of rain the last week or so and frankly, it took me out a bit so I’m crashing! I’ve got my chat at 1pm CT tomorrow, though, so feel free to come out and ask any questions you might have and I’ll have a proper commentary bit in this space tomorrow night.
When you get around your friends and family who play in your fantasy baseball league and they immediately tell you how sorry they are for you, it means your fantasy team stinks. Hunter Brown had a really bad game and I won’t complain or write bad stuff about him because I’m sure he’s feeling bad enough about it as is. Our ERAs are bad, let’s leave it at that.
Did you see it coming? Did anyone? Apparently, someone in a Paul Sporer chat smelt a stinker coming just by paying attention to the underlying metrics. Brilliant! Making sit/start decisions with starting pitchers is an area of my game that needs improvement. I want to flag and bench a pitcher not because they’re heading to Atlanta or playing the Dodgers, but because I conducted sound analysis and noticed something wasn’t quite right. In this article, I will introduce PINE (Pitchers In Need of Extraction), a new and very basic model to flag starting pitchers who need to be given a little more scrutiny and possibly removed from your starting lineup, set to riding the pine.
Why do they hate Reynaldo López?? They have pushed this man off a potential 2-step for three straight weeks. Maybe they are simply trying to protect their RP-turned-SP, but I’ve yet to get the hint and instead keep getting fooled into thinking this is the week! They moved him back 2 days this time now, so he’s off his every Tuesday pattern from the first three starts. Thankfully, they didn’t push him out of the Miami series, that would’ve just been cruel.
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Jared Jones twirled another gem. What a phrase… twirled a gem. Anyway, he was chucking rubies — or is it just a single ruby since it’s twirling “a gem” and not multiple “gems”? — at the Brewers, allowing just 1-run in 6 innings with 7 Ks and 25 swinging strikes!! He had 13 with the heater, 11 with slider, and 1 with the changeup. I know there is excitement for Paul Skenes to come up and join Jones, but let’s appreciate Jones while he is shining and being the true frontliner for the Pirates. I didn’t love the innings-instead-of-pitches approach to limiting him last time out, but I understand that they aren’t just going to turn him loose and not at least try to mitigate damage, even though these types of plans haven’t been shown to tangibly improve pitcher health at all.
I don’t even mind a pitch count limit that much, but it just feels wasteful to take him out after 59 pitches and yes it was made markedly worse by the next pitcher losing the game for the Pirates. No shade to Luis L. Ortiz, everyone has tough games, but Jones should’ve gotten at least another inning so Ortiz would’ve had more time to warm up! At least get him to 75 pitches. Let’s not harp on the past, though, and let’s appreciate that the Pirates blessed the baseball viewing public with 91 pitches from the 22-year-old tonight. I really hope they push him a bit this year, especially if they continue to play .500 or better ball. He’s had 123 and 126 innings the last two seasons, it seems like 160 should be more than workable.
Obviously, they know their pitchers better than I ever could, but a 40-50 inning increase doesn’t seem out of pocket after making 26 starts in both 2022 and 2023. Either way, just enjoy Jones while he’s pitching. You landed on a gem if you drafted him or scooped him off waivers so don’t focus on when it might end or the occasional shortened outing/extra day or two of rest, but instead dial in for his outings every fifth (or so) day and watch an impressive young righty pop off with a brilliant fastball-slider combo as he cultivates the curve and change in hopes of a developing a bankable third offering.
Below you’ll find a roundup of notable moves and roster notes from the past few days, as well as future expected moves and a Minor League Report, which includes a list of recent major league debuts and top prospect promotions. For this column, any lineup regulars, starting pitchers, or late-inning relievers are considered “notable,” meaning that middle relievers, long relievers, and bench players are excluded. You can always find a full list of updated transactions here.
Boston Red Sox
•4/21: 1B Triston Casas (rib strain) placed on 10-Day IL; C Tyler Heineman recalled from minors.
•4/18: OF Tyler O’Neill (concussion) placed on 7-Day IL; OF/1B Rob Refsnyder activated from 10-Day IL.
The injuries continue to pile up for the Red Sox, although Refsnyder is back and O’Neill will likely be activated when eligible on Tuesday. There is no timetable for Casas, but it’s not expected to be a short IL stint.
"I'm in a lot of pain right now."
Triston Casas and Alex Cora acknowledge they're worried Boston's first baseman will be out for a significant period of time.https://t.co/lWQkZQiCS8
The options on the current roster are limited to Bobby Dalbec and Pablo Reyes. It’s highly unlikely that the Red Sox will wait very long to add another. Niko Kavadas, a left-handed hitting first baseman, is off to a good start in Triple-A (12-for-42, 4 HR, 10 BB, 17 K). Jared Walsh, who was designated for assignment on Saturday, could also be on the team’s radar. The 30-year-old began the season with 11 hits in 35 at-bats before ending his time with the Rangers in a 1-for-18 slump.
