The title of the article is an allusion to Schott’s Miscellany, which you should definitely check out if you never have and feel compelled to know that a group of larks is called an exaltation or that a member of the 32nd degree of Freemasonry is known as a Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

–The Other Best Rotation in Baseball–

There are several reasonable answers to the question of which rotation is the best in baseball. Following their offseason addition of Max Scherzer, the Nationals’ starters have certainly lived up to expectations, Strasburg aside. Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke provide a pretty fearsome one-two punch for the Dodgers. Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco provide the same for the Indians, and though they may not have quite the same name recognition, it is their rotation that leads baseball with 9.3 strikeouts per nine. The Cardinals are the Cardinals. Their scouting and player development is so good that they can afford to trade Shelby Miller and lose Adam Wainwright to injury and still boast an elite rotation with arms like Lance Lynn, Michael Wacha, and Carlos Martinez picking up the slack.

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I’m always looking for new angles on National League outfielders. There are only so many of them, and only so many things can be said about the same few juggernauts.

For example, I discovered just now that Randal Grichuk has recorded the fourth-highest wins above replacement (WAR) per plate appearance for NL outfielders behind only Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton and Andrew McCutchen. It certainly surprised me, and while that’s a storyline in itself, Karl de Vries assessed Grichuk here last month, highlighting reasons for optimism and concern. (For example, his batted ball profile validates his power display but thinks his batting average deserves to drop around 45 points.)

In this same vein, it may surprise you to know the infrequently discussed David Peralta ranks seventh in WAR per plate appearance among NL outfielders with as many plate appearances as him (275) and 10th in aggregate WAR. Those figures account for his defense that, according to the metrics, rates average at best, so his value is driven primarily by his bat.

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Episode 251

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer is by himself discussing pitchers! More specifically, he has a list of pitchers he thinks are primed to be top ERA assets in the second half of the season. He has nine pitchers ranging from ace-level to waiver wire-fodder who could put up huge summers and lead your pitching to the promised land.

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The title of the article is an allusion to Schott’s Miscellany, which you should definitely check out if you never have and feel compelled to know that a group of larks is called an exaltation or that a member of the 32nd degree of Freemasonry is known as a Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret.

— Home Run Calls and Puts —

A lot can happen between now and July 31, but a lot will need to happen to flood the market with available players. The second Wild Cards have accomplished their goals of keeping more teams in the race, and even if they hadn’t, the AL has been so upside down this season that few teams will be confident that they should be sellers. Add to that the pressure that teams like the Red Sox, White Sox, and Padres face because of offseason win-now moves, and we may approach the deadline with as few as five or six teams willing to trade away players.

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Episode 250 – I said 249 on the episode accidentally!!

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris take a scattershot approach today with a bunch of topics sent in by y’all! We cover some second-half breakouts, offer some mea culpas, and decide that we still love Jorge Soler and Yasiel Puig quite a bit.

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For all intents and purposes, Chris Coghlan is having a pretty good season. Drafted in the supplemental first round of the 2006 June amateur draft, Coghlan earned National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2009, hitting .321/.390/.460 with nine home runs and eight stolen bases.

Then he slid into a prolonged funk, floundering for the Marlins (ha… floundering… because the mascot… is a fish… uhhhhhh) before revitalizing his career with the Cubs. After a relatively successful, but still lackluster, 2014 campaign, it seems Coghlan has finally rounded into form in 2015 at the ripe age of 30. Better later than never.

I planned to investigate Coghlan’s success independently. David Laurila, however, transcribed a recent interview with Coghlan during which they talked hitting and posted it yesterday. In it, Coghlan laid bare his philosophy and approach to hitting with refreshing honesty and transparency, creating a unique opportunity to see if Coghlan practices what he preaches as well as how or why it currently works for him.

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One upshot of the strikeout-heavy environment we currently have in the MLB is the rise of middle relievers. Usually you have to be logging or close to logging saves to get a sniff on the fantasy landscape, especially in mixed leagues, but elite-level setup men are starting to make a dent even without proximity to saves. Holds have become more prevalent in leagues which automatically gives them some enhanced value, but even if we are just talking a standard 5×5 league with 10-12 teams, there are some RPs who are too good sit on the wire.

Last year we saw Dellin Betances and Wade Davis develop into must-own players despite a whopping four saves between them. Betances was New York’s super-reliever setting up David Robertson, logging 90 innings in just 70 appearances with a 1.40 ERA and 0.78 WHIP plus an eye-popping 135 strikeouts. Davis tried starting his first year in KC and it just wasn’t working. He’d failed at starting with TB, too, spent his final season with the Rays in the bullpen (70 IP of 2.43 ERA). He dwarfed those figures in 2014: 1.00 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and 109 strikeouts in 72 IP not to mention nine vulture wins and three of those aforementioned four saves.

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When it comes to fantasy, it’s an arms race, both figuratively and, well, often literally, as pitching depth remains a precious commodity in deep leagues. This week, let’s take a look at two hurlers, one a newcomer to fantasy circles, the other back from the fantasy dead, who can assist pitching-hungry owners in NL-only leagues.
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Episode 247

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris have a great Thursday show hitting the news on George Springer’s injury, the debuts of Jose Fernandez, Matt Cain, and Matt Moore, Miguel Sano’s promotion, the SF closer situation, and Freddie Freeman’s diagnosis update.

Then we cover our June Swoons:

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Mike Montgomery is on fire. He has risen from the ashes of old Baseball America Prospect Handbooks to all of a sudden become a key piece of the Mariners’ rotation. Podhorzer tried to get you on board a month ago. Did you listen? You didn’t, I knew it. Well, you missed 38 innings of a 1.64 ERA and 0.89 WHIP including back-to-back shutouts. So the best is almost certainly behind him, but it’s not like he has to maintain a 1.64 ERA or he can’t be picked up. He could reasonably add two runs to his ERA and still be a plus asset delivering quality innings.

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