While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even larger entry fees ($2.5K to $15K). They are named “High Stakes Leagues,” and there are eleven 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 »
Hello, and welcome to one of the last Position Player Playing Time Changes roundups of the year! We’ve got plenty to go over this week, as usual, but before we dive in it’s important to note how the methodology makes for some large swings this late in the season.
Because we’re looking at remaining playing time and there’s so little time left in the season, even the most minor of injuries — like an IL stint for Alec Bohm that’s expected to be the minimum ten days — can lead to massive swings in playing time because the Phillies only have 18 games left. For example, if this was Opening Day and Bohm was expected to miss only ten games, his projected playing time would only go down six percent. But now even a relatively minor injury means his playing time goes down 50 percentage points. Basically, there’s an inverse relationship between games remaining in the season and the significance of an individual injury, which is why our list keeps getting longer with each week!
With that explanation out of the way, let’s get to it:
The chart includes their performance for 2025, their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far, my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about them. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.
These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more valuable focusing on roto.
The chart includes their performance for 2025, their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far, my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about them. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.
These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more valuable focusing on roto.
Board tonight, comments in the morning! I’m also curious if there’s anything those of you still chasing down titles and placements would want to see to make the board more useful in September.
Tough board today starting with pitchers 2-5 all have medium-to-tough matchups. It doesn’t take me off any of ’em, of course, just know there’s some downside w/a rookie in ATL, anyone v. ARI, Biebs still only making his 6th start in 2 yrs, and Ranger in a heated divisional matchup v. NYM
Pitchers 6-10 go the other way where it’s less bankable arms, but much stronger matchups:
Is Eury hitting a wall and done being good this year or ready to rebound v. WAS? It’s Mazur today, Eury tom.
Can Houser defeat his old team despite their improved offense? (15th wOBA in L30)
Will Bradish stay hot w/a great matchup?
Is Cameron’s tank running empty? 0 K/6 ER, 5 BB/3 ER in his L2 starts
Does Sheehan go long enough to steal a W in a great spot?
I can see running any of the 2-x’s in 10-teamers, but I don’t think they are anywhere near must starts… Strider’s been better in his L2 but still just 4 Ks/5 BB so he’s not necessarily back just bc of the 4 ER in 12 IP.
King’s 1-x is just IL return caution. As I discussed with someone in the comments, if he goes off today then it’s all systems go v. COL
The chart includes their performance for 2025, their opponent’s wOBA rank versus the pitcher’s handedness from this year so far, my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about them. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.
These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more valuable focusing on roto.
Board tonight, comments in the morning!
Not all the 3-xs are created equally, of course, w/Crochet-Woo-Webb-Lodolo-Glasnow-Imanaga sitting a cut above youngsters Bergert and McLean, but I can’t envision sitting those two in many – if any – spots. McLean is in PHI which isn’t easy, but he’s just been SO elite so far.
TEX isn’t a total walkover so I don’t think Q coasts to a win, just that I’d be willing to chase a W with him as opposed to relying on him for ratios.
Darvish-Morales-Cecconi-Cavalli is an interesting group of risky upside arms… any of the four can pop off or get smoked and figuring who will do what is the tough part. I, of course, lean toward Darvish and Morales with their 2-x rankings, but not exponentially ahead of Cecconi-Cavalli by any stretch.
Crismatt’s WHIP makes clear that ERA is fraudulent laced with good fortune. Still might not be the worst spot to do a haf-assed Win chase as the D’Backs can still swing it a bit so while they are an also-ran team at this point, they still have a fair win probability on most nights.
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 »
