If you were fantasy baseball’s “King for a Day” or “Queen for a Day,” then what would you do? Just imagine: The entire community must bow to your will. All commissioners are at your command.

I may have opened Pandora’s Box here. We might gain some serious insight into the makeup of some of our fellow readers who are bold enough to comment, particularly if the filter is off.

Last week, I expressed my dissatisfaction with the wins category in our fake baseball games. I wondered aloud if something beyond quality starts or wins plus quality starts, something like a modified version of Pure Quality Starts or Game Score, would do, even if it meant changing other categories to accommodate. I’m hopeful but not blind to the likelihood that something with a binary result like quality starts is most suitable for the standard game.

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David Price works pretty hard to make sure his teammates don’t have to. Price struck out 11 Pirates and walked just one yesterday afternoon, and he barely improved a strikeout-to-walk rate that was already north of 10-to-1. But even with 11 strikeouts, Price still allowed nearly two thirds of his opposing batters to put the ball in play. Every pitcher needs help from his defense, even Price.

Very soon, Price may have new teammates behind him. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the Blue Jays, Cardinals, Giants, Indians, and Yankees were heavily scouting Price in his previous start. One thing those teams have in common is that they’re in the playoff hunt this season, which the Rays decidedly are not. At the very least, Price’s 6-7 record can stand to improve no matter where he lands. However, those teams also have several major differences that will likely have an impact on Price’s numbers for the rest of the season. Price is an ace, and there is not a situation in baseball bad enough to make him not so. But the team that Price ends up on could mean the difference between him being a top five starter and a top 15 one.

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They rank back-to-back in SIERA in the American League over the last 30 days, ranking 13th and 14th, back-to-back in full-season ground ball rate at third and fourth, could afford to throw more strikes and also make batters swing and miss more frequently. Jarred Cosart and Kyle Gibson have quite a bit in common, at least in terms of their results. But of course, they take a different path to actually getting to those results.

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Two different places on the fantasy baseball spectrum, right here. Not much to say besides that before we get to the players, so … let’s get to the players.

P Dylan Bundy, Baltimore Orioles

Ownership: CBS 32% | Yahoo! 6% | ESPN 0.1%

Fantasy owners haven’t forgotten about him just because he’s been rehabbing from June surgery to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. It seems as if there’s a good chance that, when Bundy is ready for major league activation, he joins his club’s bullpen, either initially or eventually, and not its rotation. But hey, rotisserie and head-to-head managers have to seek talent, the attribute likeliest to make a difference for them in their league’s standings.

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More injuries opening up opportunities! Pair these two studs and you have the potential to receive a serious power and speed boost. Or not. But maybe.

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Episode 133

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Ronald Belisario; the Cubs’ closer situation; Matt Cain; pitching peripherals and pitch type info; Carlos Martinez; Odrisamer Despaigne; Todd Frazier; the Braves’ lineup; Travis d’Arnaud and, briefly, catchers in general; and a few other digressions, either in detail or in brief.

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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Back on June 3 when I posted shortstop tier rankings for June, I had no idea we would be gifted staff consensus rankings shortly thereafter.

As is always the case, there are varying levels of disagreement between the ranks (although when “tiering,”the rankings are far looser). Today, I wanted to quickly hit on a few names I seem to disagree with the group on, based not only on a difference in ranking but also, in one case, commenter feedback. As a reminder, this is with a rest-of-season focus only.

Troy Tulowitzki
Everyone else thinks he’s the number one shortstop. I happen to think he’s the king of baseball. Agree to disagree.
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Is Wilin Rosario the high-upside player he seemed to be a couple of years ago (and appeared to remain coming into this season)? Is he just on the wrong side of some bad platoon splits these days (and perhaps screwed for eternity)?

A reader asked questions like these in a comment on a recent podcast, and we discussed them in a subsequent pod. I think the reader did well to get at the heart of the matter. (I added the “screwed for eternity” part.)

The player has a lot potential value because he has a lot of power, even if it’s not reflected in his home run total. The batting average (.245) this season has been disappointing, naturally. Brett Talley’s survey of “The Best Fantasy Hitters of the Past Calendar Year” doesn’t do enough to console 2014 Rosario owners, especially those in redrafters or those who’ve experienced only these last nearly three months.

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Yeah but does he have a change-up? That’s a great question for Odrisamer Despaigne, for example. Dude threw an 87 mph slider and a slow 67 mph curve after his excellent 92 mph sinker, which sounds good until you realize his command should be exposed in the future (too many arm slots, too many minor league walks) and when you see that the curve and slider got two whiffs combined (42 thrown!) and the change was inconsistent and ranged from 75-88 mph (!) even if it got two whiffs (12 thrown). Strange to see a rookie throw more breakers than fastballs (24), too.

So which pitchers have the full monty? Which pitchers have the most above-average pitches? Now, thanks to Jeff Zimmerman, we can quantify that. Using the pitch type benchmarks I have for swinging strikes here, and ground balls here, we can decide if a pitch is above-average in those two ways. Using Excel, we can then sort for the most number of pitches that meet our benchmarks.

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Here’s a variation on the old DLWW tune: neither guest star this week owes his opportunity to another player’s injury. Rather, each of these two contestants are getting shots because their predecessors were terrible enough to persuade management to shake things up — even if neither player arrives at the majors with terribly high expectations.
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