Wait – what did you just say, bro? You said I’ll never be able to show everyone how much I love and respect all mothers in the entire world, no matter how loud and angry I get? Are you kidding me, bro? No one loves and respects them more than me AND I’LL PROVE IT RIGHT NOW, BRO!

We've got a brawl underway in Colorado and Bryce Harper is at the center of it pic.twitter.com/81PcXV1cT0

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 14, 2023

On the Agenda:

1. News and Notes
2. Bumps and Bruises
3. Closer Kumite
4. Performance!
5. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of my favorite times of the fantasy season, as we don’t have enough data for the collective hive to quite make up its mind on which players are good enough to keep rostered and who should stay in their streaming lane. And in these margins, there is a lot of value to be had (and drafting errors corrected) in swooping the fantasy assets that two months from now won’t be on any wires.

Let’s take a look at some players who have been valuable fantasy assets over the first ~20% of the season (using the Razzball player rater as our markers) but are still lesser-owned, as fantasy managers have yet to fully decide who should keep getting churned around the wire, and who should be acquired and kept. Read the rest of this entry »

Forget about 2019 – I think we might finally be seeing prime Acuña, 470 ft at a time:

RONNIE ROCKETS 😱@ronaldacunajr24 crushed this baseball. pic.twitter.com/d2pliXVsdL

— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) May 11, 2023

On the Agenda:

1. News and Notes
2. Bumps and Bruises
3. Performance!
4. Closer Kumite
5. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »

What’s that you say about a whole mess of trouble down in Baseball Heaven? La-la-la, Paul can’t hear you:

Paul Goldschmidt, you are UNREAL!

Make that 3 homers for Goldy! pic.twitter.com/nUASGmlOrH

— MLB (@MLB) May 7, 2023

On the Agenda

1. News and Notes
2. Closer Kumite
3. Bumps and Bruise
4. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »

Ahh, hope springs eternal in April, with small samples and undeserved ratios trying their best to distract us from whether someone’s talent has changed, or maybe just their luck. But one way or another, regression is coming. It might drag things to the bad, or to the good, but time (and sample) tends to remain undefeated in the long run.

With that in mind, let’s try to see which pitchers might have some pain or joy coming soon to their fantasy ratios and play the game currently sweeping the hearts and homes of the nation, according to the most recent issue of “Official-Sounding Publication Invented by the Author, Weakly”. That’s right, it’s time to play –

Are You Regress-In or Regress-Out? (insert canned audience applause) Read the rest of this entry »

No, unwritten rules; I am your father:

I think Wander Franco just unlocked a new level of breaking the unwritten rules pic.twitter.com/IYePwRyZej

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) May 4, 2023

On the Agenda

1. The Closer Wars
2. Next Stop: Bacta Tank
3. Wednesday Walkoffs
4. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the beginning of May, so you know what that means – It’s time to make wild declarations based on the barest amount of evidence. Let me hear ya now; AY-PRIL! AY-PRIL! AY-PRIL!

I kid, I kid. Drawing definite conclusions after 25 games might be a fool’s errand but that doesn’t mean there aren’t tea leaves to be read in regards to what we’ve seen so far, as a plethora of minute data is available to try and parse what’s been real and what’s more fake. Take power, for example. There are all sorts of small-sample shenanigans driving the current home run totals but that doesn’t mean we can’t sort out some of the chaff and see what kind of home run bread might be getting baked during the rest of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

Take a ride on that knockdown pitch, big boy:

One of the best mike Shannon calls ever. RIP to the voice of cardinals baseball pic.twitter.com/ztM7bUGn3I

— Alex Brinkmann (@alex_brinkmann3) April 30, 2023

I don’t know how many hundreds of hours I listened to Mike Shannon’s voice on the radio but I promise you no one was better at passing rain delays by telling stories and/or drinking bourbon. No one. Rest in power, Mike, you were the best.
*And to answer your question; yes, since we already live in baseball heaven, Cardinal fans instead go to super-duper heaven. Read the rest of this entry »

Dial 187

Ronald Acuna Jr. – Atlanta Braves (4)
pic.twitter.com/B31ahdgbii

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) April 27, 2023

On the Agenda

1. Bumps and Bruises
2. News and Notes
3. Pitching Streamers

Read the rest of this entry »

After allowing back-to-back home runs to Taylor Ward and Mike Trout, surely Jordan Lyles won’t hang a belt-high grooveball to Shohei Ohtani, will he?

Cue 415 feet of disagreement:

Shohei Ohtani's #5 home run of the season
4/23/2023 pic.twitter.com/saQecvdsiG

— ¹⁷⚾︎ ²⁷ (@TrouTanishow) April 24, 2023

On the Agenda

1. News and Notes
2. Bumps and Bruises
3. Closer Kumite
4. Streaming Pitchers

News and Notes

Justin Verlander threw a 3 IP/43 pitch simulated game on Sunday. If all continues going to plan, he’ll make a minor league rehab start on Friday and look to rejoin the Mets rotation on May 3rd in Detroit.

Guardians prospect Logan Allen, was dominant in his major league debut, allowing one run and striking out eight over six innings in a win over the Marlins on Sunday. Unfortunately, we won’t get a chance to see an encore until next Tuesday when he’s scheduled to take on the Yankees in New York.

Jacob deGrom taking on the Oakland Athletics is borderline NSFW content. After being removed from his last start with a sore wrist, deGrom allowed 2 R (1 ER) over six innings in a win against Oakland, allowing just three hits and striking out 11. His next start is currently scheduled for next Friday against the Yankees, as those rostering him surely look forward to again holding their collective breath with every (healthy) pitch.

Remember when Max Muncy was “terrible” for those 10 days, or so? Since going double-dong on April 10, Muncy has a .384 AVG, 24% BB%, and 10 HR, including three more over the weekend (and his third double-dong of the young season). I’m starting to think his slump is over.

After missing nearly a week with back issues, Amed Rosario returned this weekend with a vengeance, finishing a home run short of the cycle in a 7-4 win over the Marlins on Sunday. With his return, top prospect Brayan Rocchio was shipped right back to Triple-A after failing to play in his ~24-hour call-up. Weird, Cleveland. Weird.

Braxton Garrett turned in another solid performance on Saturday, allowing one run over 5.2 IP in a 3-2 win over Cleveland, and now has a 2.84 ERA for the year. But don’t start feeling too froggy; Atlanta awaits in his next start, as does their .37o wOBA vs LHP (5th) in 2023.

I think Max Fried is feeling fine. After pitching five scoreless innings in his return from the IL, Fried held the Astros scoreless for 6 2/3 on Sunday, striking out five and ending with a no-decision.

With the Red Sox game on in the background, I briefly thought I’d entered a deja vu glitch but that was just Masataka Yoshida hitting his second home run of the eighth inning on Sunday, following his tie-breaking solo shot with a grand slam that shut the door in a dramatic fashion.

Bumps and Bruises

Logan O’Hoppe has a torn labrum and is expected to miss 4-6 months. Boo. Urns.

M.J. Melendez hit a home run in the first inning on Sunday but was removed with lower back tightness in the 4th inning. Consider him day-to-day.

Sandy Alcantara was scratched from his start on Saturday with bicep tendonitis but claimed on Sunday that he’ll be good to go for his next scheduled start against Atlanta on Wednesday. Counterpoint: never trust anything baseball players, managers, or GMs say about injuries.

Yu Darvish left his Sunday start with what was later revealed to be a hamstring cramp. It’s not thought to be serious and Darvish is expected to make his next start on Sunday against the Giants.

Closer Kumite

Will Smith picked up the Save for the Rangers in their 5-2 win on Sunday, and it was Jonathan Hernandez who received (and blew) an opportunity on Friday. José Leclerc hasn’t allowed an earned run this season but also hasn’t received a Save opportunity since blowing one on April 11.

Brusdar Graterol picked his first Save of the year on Saturday, entering to face the top of the Cubs order in the 8th inning with a two-run lead and staying in to finish things off after the Dodgers tacked on two more in the 9th. Evan Phillips (paternity leave) is expected to rejoin the team for their series in Pittsburgh.

Bryan Abreu picked up his second Save in a row on Sunday, with Ryan Pressly unavailable after last pitching on Friday. No further update has been given on said unavailability.

Craig Kimbrel picked up his second Save of 2023 on Saturday but don’t worry my little José Alvarado’s, that was just because you have continued your dominance by picking up three Saves in the previous four days. Alvarado now has a 0.87 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 10.1 IP, only allowing a run in one of his 10 appearances.

After José Quijada collected one Save on Friday and blew another on Saturday, it was Carlos Estévez who picked up his third Save in a 4-3 win over Kansas City. I’ll continue to want no piece of this closer carousel.

Streaming Pitchers

Streaming Pitcher(s) for Today

José Suarez, LAA vs OAK – If not now, when? But if it’s not today, Suarez’s spot in the rotation might start slipping away.

High Risk: Colin Rea, MIL vs DET

Streamer(s) for Tomorrow

Eric Lauer, MIL vs DET – The Tigers have been one of baseball’s worst offenses but they’ve been particularly bad against left-handers, with a .244 wOBA against them that is 30th (and 25 points lower than 29th) and a 32% K% that’s a whisper short of last. Eric Lauer is left-handed…See where I’m going here?