On Friday, Jeff Zimmerman published the calculated xBABIP marks using his new equation incorporating Inside Edge data. While we are well aware that we remain far away from a perfect xBABIP equation as some commenters pointed out what’s missing, it’s still a useful metric to analyze. So I have curated a list of hitters whose xBABIP marks are significantly higher than their actuals and could represent good acquisition targets for the final two months of the season.

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Episode 147

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other things, the Jake Peavy trade; trade rumors (and the fantasy implications of them) involving Matt Kemp, Alex Rios, Josh Willingham, and a host of others; the St. Louis Cardinals’ signing of A.J. Pierzynski; first thoughts on how soon Rusney Castillo will have an impact; Allen Webster versus Brandon Workman; Ian Kennedy’s injury; Billy Butler’s recent surge; Collin McHugh’s return from the DL; the health of a host of other returning players, plus a couple of them on the way out; and of course two-turn hurlers.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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After a 13-hour work day, I took a walk through the North Bay suburb of Petaluma—southwest Petaluma to be exact. The sun had set but the sky was still mostly blue, surrounded with red paint above the mountains that surround our valley. I hadn’t had time to check Twitter that day, so when my brother, Ringo, texted me, “Got heeem!” I was hopeful he meant that the San Francisco Giants had acquired David Price.

“Price?” I replied.

“Not those Giants. No, we got your boy: Dan Uggla.”

“He’ll hit.”

“You’re insane.”

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Despite Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer’s best attempts to convince fans otherwise, it seems that Javier Baez will likely be in the majors sooner rather than later. While Hoyer brushes off several recent adjustments made to his roster as being big-picture moves, it’s impossible not to notice the openings being created for major-league playing time for Baez.

Baez recently started seeing time at second base with Triple-A Iowa. If, as Hoyer claims, this was done “to increase his versatility,” the timing is awfully coincidental. All within the space of about a week, the Cubs had Baez start playing at the keystone, designated incumbent second-sacker Darwin Barney for assignment, and tested the waters with Arismendy Alcantara playing center field.

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A rather slow Thursday in the bullpen world, so please accept these few notes on my behalf:

The White Sox closer-by-committee situation may have cleared itself up a bit today, at least for the time being, anyway. Zach Putnam was placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation after recently feeling discomfort. With Putnam shelved, Robin Ventura suggested that “Jake Petricka will pitch in closer situations more often than not.” And Ventura did indeed signal for Petricka this evening with the ChiSox up 5-2 on the Twinkies in a save situation. The right-hander needed just eleven pitches to retire the Twins in order, with two strikeouts, to notch his fifth save of the season.
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Episode 146

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss the Joakim Soria and Kendrys Morales trades; trade rumors (and the fantasy implications of them) involving Cliff Lee, Ian Kennedy, Casey McGehee, and a few others; the call-up of Chris Taylor; Darin Ruf versus Ryan Howard; C.J. Cron’s and Wilmer Flores’ returns to the bigs; Shelby Miller versus Carlos Martinez; Dan Haren; and some requested players, comprised of Jacob deGrom, Kyle Hendricks, Gregory Polanco, and James Paxton.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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Chris Cwik’s piece on Tyler Skaggs and the tough times the southpaw has endured while men are on base prompted me to wonder about that aspect of pitching. Which hurlers have performed differently, at least in terms of some typically advanced statistics, after hitters have reached base? What might we ascertain from what we discover?

Generally, when a pitcher pitches while men are on base, we assume that he works from the stretch. Therefore, if a starter is considerably less effective after a hitter has reached base against him, we may hypothesize that the hurler struggles while he pitches from the stretch. However, that isn’t necessarily true, because the pitcher may do things such as change his pitch mix in order to achieve a different type of result against a future hitter. Still, we can begin to make conjectures.

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In a move that we’ve been waiting on for quite a while, the Padres finally traded away their starting third baseman since 2009. Chase Headley now finds himself in New York, calling Yankee Stadium home. That alone should be cause for celebration, as his home park hasn’t been too kind to him over his career. But Headley has been a disappointment once again this year and has been bothered by a herniated disk in his back. Could this move be the jolt he needs to reward those fantasy owners who remained patient?

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There have been some decent pickups at the middle-infield positions lately for those who play fantasy baseball games. This is nice. The latest recommendation of one of those types doesn’t figure to have much of a shelf life, so the depth of the rotisserie or head-to-head league should figure into a fantasy owner’s decision of whether and how to pursue him. The other rec may be nothing about which to be excited, any time soon, but somewhere, somehow, it probably plays.

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Isn’t it fun playing the free agent pool merry-go-round? Ya know, picking up another player seemingly every week to fill that one roster spot you just can’t find a permanent player for. Between injuries and demotions, that describes about half my Tout Wars roster. Awesome. Here are two options for deep leaguers, one is almost guaranteed to be temporary, the other could potentially become permanent.

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