Archive for Ottoneu

Ottoneu Starting Pitching Drip: May 1–4

Welcome back to the SP Drip. My goal for this bi-weekly column is to comb through the upcoming schedule each week to find a few under-owned pitchers (less than 50% ownership across Ottoneu) who could be used to help you hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues or to make sure you’re hitting your innings pitched cap in points leagues. Tuesday’s article will cover the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and Friday’s article will cover the upcoming week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). That way, you’ll have time to start your auctions in time to actually drip these pitchers into your lineup.

Upcoming Schedule:

May 1–4
Home wOBA HR Park Factor Away wOBA
WSN 0.300 104 CHC 0.348
NYY 0.311 102 CLE 0.293
BOS 0.332 100 TOR 0.333
HOU 0.316 102 SFG 0.324
SDP 0.297 98 CIN 0.300
LAD 0.329 107 PHI 0.337
OAK 0.300 91 SEA 0.299
DET 0.272 93 NYM 0.322
TBR 0.374 94 PIT 0.338
MIA 0.301 93 ATL 0.343
CHW 0.292 108 MIN 0.312
KCR 0.270 93 BAL 0.331
STL 0.340 94 LAA 0.335
TEX 0.338 101 ARI 0.316
COL 0.300 111 MIL 0.323

Teams with favorable schedules next week include the A’s, Braves, Mariners, Mets, Orioles, Padres, Reds, and Tigers.

Teams with tougher schedules include the Astros, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Nationals, Phillies, Red Sox, Rockies, and White Sox.

Highlighted matchups:

Recommended Starting Pitchers
Pitcher Roster% Opponent Opponent wOBA FIP K-BB% HR/9
Domingo Germán 41.35% CLE 0.293 5.45 22.4% 2.42
Kyle Gibson 40.71% KCR 0.270 4.33 11.3% 1.05
Tyler Wells 38.46% KCR 0.270 3.85 19.0% 1.24
Drew Smyly 33.01% WSN 0.300 3.19 19.1% 0.64
JP Sears 12.82% SEA 0.299 5.64 21.8% 2.49

The Orioles visit the expansive ballpark in Kansas City and get to face the punchless Royals offense next week. There are two starters who I’m recommending: Tyler Wells and Kyle Gibson (again). The former has pitched particularly well this year and pitched a seven inning shutout against the Tigers a week ago. In his last start against the Red Sox, he struck out seven — a season-high — and allowed just two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings. Gibson has been a common recommendation in this column and he has continued to provide serviceable production when the matchup is right.

Outside of a seven run blowup in his first start of the season, Drew Smyly has pitched phenomenally this year. He took a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Dodgers a week ago and then held the Padres to two runs on four hits in five innings his last time out. A matchup with the Nationals should be a piece of cake after suppressing those two offenses.

The last two recommendations are pretty risky considering the number of home runs each of them has allowed. Still, both Domingo Germán and JP Sears sit within the top-20 in the majors in strikeout-minus-walk rate. Despite their issues with the long ball, they’re striking batters out and aren’t allowing too many free passes; that’s certainly a sign of better things to come for both of them. Of the two, I’d be more inclined to start Sears since his home ballpark is a haven for fly ball pitchers like him.

Recap: April 24–27

Drip Retrospective
Player IP Pts Pts/IP
Brad Keller 4 5.2 1.30
Jhony Brito 2.2 4.9 1.85
Kyle Gibson 6.1 42.4 6.69
José Suarez 5 -41.3 -8.26
Zach Plesac 5 15.0 3.00
Griffin Canning 5 22.3 4.46
Colin Rea 5 1.7 0.34
Total 33 50.2 1.52
Season Total 277.1 898.9 3.24

Woof. That start from José Suarez against the A’s was absolutely brutal. It completely wiped away any positive vibes from Gibson’s gem or Canning’s solid start. Brad Keller continues to struggle with his command, which means he’s bleeding points despite allowing just a single home run this year.

We’re a month into the season and the average points per inning pitched for the recommendations in this column sits at 3.24. That’s not great, but it’s not a disaster either. The 50% ownership threshold really puts a strain on the kinds of pitchers I’m able to include since Ottoneu has such deep rosters. Have these targets been helpful for you, dear reader, or do I need to be a little more discerning with my recommendations week in and week out?


The Anatomy of a Ottoneu Dynasty Rebuild: Part 4, Ahead of Schedule

We’re about a month into the season now which means you’re probably getting a good feel for the direction your fantasy teams are headed this year. Maybe your roster has been wracked with injuries or you’ve hit the jackpot on the sleepers you picked up this offseason. This year, I’ve been writing up my experience of rebuilding my Ottoneu team in League 32 – Fantasy Field of Dreams; I’ve covered making the initial decision to rebuild, some general draft strategy for rebuilding clubs, and the dilemma I faced with the draft this year. Now is a pretty good time to check in on how things are progressing for The Wanderers.

The Draft

Before we dive in on what’s going on with the team now that the regular season is underway, I want to take a quick moment to recap what happened in the draft. If you remember, I had a significant amount of cash to spend on relatively few roster spots. I was targeting a starting second baseman and a high-end outfielder while spreading the rest of my cap space out between some depth options.

Folks, let me tell you, I seriously underestimated the amount of inflation present in the league. My top target, Mookie Betts, went for $70 and I drove the price up that high in a bidding war with the eventual winner. I just couldn’t bring myself to bid that one extra dollar after he hit that $70 threshold. There were a number of points in the draft where I had to bow out of the bidding on a target because the eventual price was just getting too high. I felt some particular pressure trying to find an outfielder; I had shifted my eyes towards some of the mid-tier options after some salary cap opened up by missing out on Betts. I let Masataka Yoshida ($35), Christian Yelich ($27), Jesse Winker ($28), Nick Castellanos ($26), and Cedric Mullins ($22) all go to other players after their salaries got too high and eventually settled for Lourdes Gurriel Jr. at $16. I did end up getting a couple of my high priority targets — Bryce Harper ($43), Spencer Steer ($8), Spencer Torkelson ($9), and Reid Detmers ($11) — but I felt like I was on the back foot during the entire draft, continually making contingency plans as players came off the board with values way over what I was comfortable with.

Here are the 10 players I had selected by the end of the draft:

2023 Draft Results
Player Salary Pts/G/IP
Bryce Harper $43 N/A
Brandon Lowe $27 5.79
Spencer Steer $8 5.24
Clarke Schmidt $11 1.81
Spencer Torkelson $9 3.21
Reid Detmers $11 3.41
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. $16 4.05
Hayden Wesneski $6 1.43
Kyle Manzardo $3 N/A
Eric Haase $1 2.54

Brandon Lowe turned out to be a pretty good backup pick after missing out on Betts, though most of the other available second basemen in the draft have performed rather well to start this season too. Steer has looked great and Gurriel has been okay. The pitching depth I picked up hasn’t been all that impressive, but all three of them are young and still have the potential to breakout that made them such enticing options. It wasn’t the most successful draft I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t terrible, particularly considering how wayward my plans went.

Breakouts!

On April 26, my team is currently sitting in sixth place, less than 500 points behind first place and right in the middle of a group of seven teams separated by less than 100 points.

League 32 Standings
Team Points P/G P/IP
Spuds and Zucchini 🥔 3098.7 5.50 5.69
Down by the Schoolyard 2966.9 5.18 6.18
Beck Panthers 2960.1 5.18 5.39
Old Skool Ballers 2686.7 5.18 4.77
Ignacio Beardfacio 2672.9 5.06 5.22
The Wanderers 🚶‍♂️ 2631.7 5.31 4.91
Gausman Turner Overdrive 🎸 2629.5 4.67 5.97
Sharky’s Goonies ☠️ 2617.1 4.93 5.00
Sunflower Seed Finger ☝️ 2613.7 5.51 4.28
No Vacancy 2599.3 4.64 5.43
Everyone On The Right Base 2507.2 4.94 4.69
StringerBias™️ 2114.8 4.52 3.29
As of April 26

I have the third best offense in the league thanks to breakouts from Wander Franco (7.56 Pts/G), Jarred Kelenic (8.56), and Steer (5.24) and solid bounce back seasons from Max Muncy (8.73) and Lowe (5.79). My pitching hasn’t been as great, sitting eighth in the league by points per inning pitched. I’m not as worried about that, but it’s probably the area of the team that could use the most help at this point. All things considered, I’m extremely happy with where my team sits in the standings. Thanks to those handful of breakouts, it’s going a lot better than expected.

The big thing that could potentially have a huge impact on the direction of my team is Bryce Harper’s impending return. The latest reports have him possibly being activated as soon as early May. That might be optimistic, but he’s clearly ahead of schedule and should be contributing much earlier in the season than expected. Getting four months of production from him this year instead of the expected one or two means my team has a significant source of points that will be added to the roster — something very few other teams can claim. There’s no guarantee that he’ll produce up to his usual superstar standards, but if he does, my already great offense will only get better.

Churn Baby, Churn

One of the most important early season tasks for a rebuilding team is to churn through the waiver wire searching for potential undrafted breakouts. Every team does this as they deal with injuries and underperformance, but it’s particularly important for a team like mine since I need to infuse my roster with talent however I can. I’ve added ten players off the waiver wire, kept seven of them and have already completed an early season trade.

The Wanderers Transaction Log
Player Transaction Type Date Salary
Brock Burke add 3/28/2023 $3
Jonathan Hernández add 3/28/2023 $1
Nolan Jones cut 3/28/2023 $5
Jack Leiter cut 3/28/2023 $4
Dylan Dodd add 4/1/2023 $3
Marco Luciano cut 4/1/2023 $3
Jimmy Herget add 4/2/2023 $1
Jimmy Herget cut 4/2/2023 $1
Luis García (WSN) add 4/9/2023 $3
Kolten Wong cut 4/9/2023 $6
Kris Bubic add 4/12/2023 $6
Oscar Gonzalez cut 4/12/2023 $3
Chas McCormick add 4/15/2023 $3
Jonah Heim add 4/15/2023 $1
Eric Haase cut 4/15/2023 $1
Tony Gonsolin add 4/16/2023 $9
Kris Bubic cut 4/16/2023 $6
Ian Hamilton add 4/21/2023 $1
Dylan Dodd cut 4/21/2023 $3
Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade in 4/25/2023 $9
Kyle Manzardo trade out 4/25/2023 $3

Immediately following the draft, I started a couple of auctions for a pair of relievers I thought had some upside to chase. Brock Burke hasn’t been great (5.93 Pts/IP) but Jonathan Hernández (7.71) has been solid in high leverage work for the Rangers. Dylan Dodd looked like a promising pickup after he received an early season callup for the Braves but I ended up cutting him a few weeks later after Atlanta sent him back down to the minors. I like the improvements Luis Garíca has made to his approach at the plate and I believe in his potential to breakout this season so that was a pretty easy waiver claim after another team dropped him. I grabbed Kris Bubic after his two promising starts but his breakout was short lived after undergoing Tommy John surgery a week after adding him. Jonah Heim replaced Eric Haase as my backup catcher which has definitely worked out for the better. Tony Gonsolin was another waiver claim after another team dropped him and hopefully he can provide some upside for my pitching staff.

As for my cuts, Jack Leiter and Marco Luciano were both too expensive as prospects to keep around, especially considering the challenges they’ve faced in their development. I might regret cutting Nolan Jones if the Rockies ever give him a chance to play in the majors since he’s absolutely destroying Triple-A, but that chance might not ever materialize. When they did call him up, he sat on the bench for three games and then was sent back down without a single plate appearance. Kolten Wong’s and Oscar Gonzalez’s frigid cold starts to the season made them both easy cuts. After all that churn, I’ve got a single dollar in available cap space which puts me at a pretty significant disadvantage for the rest of the season. I’ll need to work on finding ways to clear some cap space so I can continue working the waiver wire as new breakouts popup.

The one trade I completed was a complete surprise. I woke up one morning with the offer in my inbox, sleepily considered it for a few moments, and then slammed the accept button. Kyle Manzardo is a good prospect and he’s gotten off to a strong start in Triple-A this year, but his path to the majors is currently blocked. I picked him up in the draft for exactly this reason; he had some helium as a prospect and I knew I could probably gain a pretty solid piece for him in the middle of the season. I just didn’t expect it to come so soon. Jazz Chisholm hasn’t gotten off to a strong start this year — his 37.8% strikeout rate is particularly concerning — but the talent is certainly there and his salary makes him an easy keeper if he finds a way to repeat his breakout from last year. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take with the added benefit of him possibly impacting my team this year.

With Harper’s return looming, Chisholm and Gonsolin raising the potential ceiling of my roster, and all the breakouts hitting at once, this team is in a much better position than should be expected at this point in the rebuilding cycle. I’m not sure the roster is good enough to challenge for a top-3 spot in the standings yet, but the foundation I’ve built is definitely solid enough to luck my way into contention if things continue going well. I’ll have to fight against the urge to make a series of “win now” moves this summer if I’m still stuck inside the large pack of teams in the middle of the standings. That might give me an edge over those other mid-tier teams, but it would be a big risk and a potential setback for the work I’ve been doing to prepare my team for the future.


Ottoneu Hot Right Now: April 26th, 2023

The 2023 version of Ottoneu Hot Right Now will include three different sections:

  1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
  2. Roster Adds: Analysis of players with high add% changes.
  3. Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

The FanGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.

Read the rest of this entry »


Ottoneu Starting Pitching Drip: April 28–30

Welcome back to the SP Drip. My goal for this bi-weekly column is to comb through the upcoming schedule each week to find a few under-owned pitchers (less than 50% ownership across Ottoneu) who could be used to help you hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues or to make sure you’re hitting your innings pitched cap in points leagues. Tuesday’s article will cover the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and Friday’s article will cover the upcoming week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). That way, you’ll have time to start your auctions in time to actually drip these pitchers into your lineup.

Upcoming Schedule:

April 28–30
Home wOBA HR Park Factor Away wOBA
TOR 0.326 105 SEA 0.303
MIN 0.306 96 KCR 0.272
DET 0.268 93 BAL 0.331
MIA 0.299 93 CHC 0.350
WSN 0.294 104 PIT 0.334
BOS 0.333 100 CLE 0.292
NYM 0.326 97 ATL 0.345
CHW 0.299 108 TBR 0.385
TEX 0.343 101 NYY 0.308
HOU 0.319 102 PHI 0.344
MIL 0.324 103 LAA 0.326
COL 0.301 111 ARI 0.318
OAK 0.302 91 CIN 0.298
LAD 0.341 107 STL 0.338
SDP 0.301 98 SFG 0.321
Giants-Padres play in Mexico City

I’ve started pulling current season data for team offenses to assess matchups rather than continue utilizing the rest-of-season projections. That means there are a bunch of teams who were projected to be good who are currently underperforming and vice versa.

It’s a pretty rough slate of matchups this weekend. It doesn’t help that the Giants and Padres are playing in Mexico City which is at a higher altitude than Denver. The ball should be flying in that short two-game series.

Teams with easier schedules include the A’s, Cubs, Orioles, Twins, Red Sox, Reds, and Royals.

Teams with tougher schedules include the aforementioned Giants and Padres and also the Angels, Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Guardians, Mariners, Mets, Nationals, Rockies, White Sox. and Yankees.

Highlighted matchups:

Recommended Starting Pitchers
Pitcher Roster% Opponent Opponent wOBA FIP K-BB% HR/9
Kyle Muller 49.68% CIN 0.298 5.31 3.4% 1.14
Nick Pivetta 31.73% CLE 0.292 5.16 15.9% 1.83
Dean Kremer 9.30% DET 0.268 6.57 11.3% 2.55
Vince Velasquez 0.96% WSN 0.294 4.12 13.3% 1.03
Caleb Kilian? 0.32% MIA 0.299 4.17 11.1%
Kilian’s stats from FanGraphs Depth Charts projections

Despite all those poor matchups, there are a handful of starter’s I’m comfortable recommending. All three of the A’s starters scheduled to take the mound during their home series against the Reds fall below our 50% owned threshold. I’m recommending Kyle Muller again, but if you want to roll the dice with Ken Waldichuk or possibly even Drew Rucinski 루친스키, you could drip them into your lineups.

Nick Pivetta bounced back after a rough start against the Angels a few weeks ago. Last weekend, he held the Brewers to three runs in 5.2 innings, striking out seven and walking just one. He draws the Guardians at home this weekend and that should be a pretty easy matchup for him since Cleveland’s offense hasn’t really started clicking yet.

Dean Kremer followed up his gem of a start against the Nationals with a decent start against the Red Sox yesterday. He allowed four runs in 5.2 innings, striking out five. He did allow a pair of home runs which has been a huge issue for him. The Tigers simply aren’t hitting for power right now and the Orioles will be playing in cavernous Comerica Park. This is a matchup that should go the way his one against the Nationals did.

After two rough starts to open the season, Vince Velasquez has actually been pitching pretty well for the red-hot Pirates. He shut out the Cardinals and Reds and escaped Coors Field with just three runs allowed. Across his last three starts, he’s earned 6.7 points per inning pitched. He’s scheduled to start against the Nationals on Saturday.

The final recommendation is a little up in the air. The Cubs will need to call up a starter to take Jameson Taillon’s spot in the rotation this weekend but it’s a little unclear who it’ll be. Caleb Kilian or Adrian Sampson 샘슨 make the most sense with the former being listed on the Roster Resource Probables Grid. Whoever it ends up being, they’ll have a nice matchup against the Marlins in Miami.

Recap: April 21–23

Drip Retrospective
Player IP Pts Pts/IP
Tyler Wells 7 51.0 7.29
Kyle Gibson 6.1 42.4 6.69
Zach Plesac 5 15.0 3.00
Hunter Gaddis N/A
Bailey Falter N/A
Total 18.1 108.4 5.91
Season Total 244.1 848.7 3.47

Two clear wins from the two Orioles starters make this a pretty good week. Hunter Gaddis ended up relegated to long relief and then to the minors and Bailey Falter’s start was pushed back to today.


Ottoneu Cold Right Now: April 24, 2023

Much like Hot Right Now, Cold Right Now will be a weekly Ottoneu feature, primarily written by either Chad Young or Lucas Kelly, with a focus on players who are being dropped or who maybe should be dropped in Ottoneu leagues. Hot Right Now will focus on players up for auction, players recently added, and players generally performing well. Cold Right Now will have parallel two of those three sections:

  1. Roster Cuts: Analysis of players with high cut% changes.
  2. Cold Performers: Players with a low P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

There won’t be a corresponding section to Current Auctions because, well, there is nothing in cuts that correspond to current auctions.

Roster Cuts

Kris Bubic, Leagues with a Cut (7 days) – 70.83%

In last week’s Hot Right Now, I worried that I would be following up my entry on Kris Bubic with a Cold Right Now entry today. And here we are. With the news that Bubic is having Tommy John Surgery, he’s an easy drop. As intriguing as Bubic was a week ago, he’s still a guy with a rocky track record and a few decent innings. He was worth speculating on when you would learn quickly what he would be, but he’s not worth stashing for 18 months.

Jeffrey Springs, Leagues with a Cut (7 days) – 33.33%

Like Bubic, Springs is having Tommy John. Unlike Bubic, he is an established high-level performer. But I still think he is a drop when you need the cash. I have a lot more confidence that Springs will be useful when he gets back, but holding him all of this year and likely most or all of next without getting any production just isn’t worth it.

Alex Vesia, Leagues with a Cut – 25.00%

Vesia is a talented reliever who put up excellent rates and a nice big pile of strikeouts last year, finishing with 7.92 P/IP. So far this year he is at 0.06 P/IP. 7.92 is good. 0.06 is not. The Statcast sliders on Baseball Savant are not perfect, but the can sometimes tell a story and this is one of those times:

The velocity is fine, but no one is chasing and the contact is much, much harder. The pitches look the same in terms of movement and velocity, and the pitch mix hasn’t changed, but the results are just a mess. He isn’t an important enough fantasy RP to wait this out – drop him and replace him with someone performing. But keep him on your watchlist – he could easily turn things around quickly.

Cold Performers

Nick Gordon: 49 PA,  .104/.122/.146, -0.62 P/G

Gordon has been a roller coaster for me. The minor league track record didn’t really inspire me; but then he showed last year that he could hit the ball well. Plus, in Ottoneu he is listed as Nick Chad Gordon, and there just aren’t that many Chads readily available to me in Ottoneu.

Gordon is making a lot more contact and getting more pitches in the zone, resulting in a big drop in K-rate and in BB-rate. But the quality of contact is down and so the results have cratered. Now Gordon is barely playing, having made just one start in the last ten days.

Gordon is still on 39.74% of rosters, but that number should be coming down. I cut him off one of my rosters and I see no real reason to sit on him, as it doesn’t look like he’ll even play enough to get out of this funk.

Josh Naylor: 71 PA, .161/.239/.258, 1.88 P/G

Unlike Gordon, Naylor is rostered almost universally, and moving on from him will be much tougher for managers who were high on him pre-season. Managers like me.

But the story with Naylor is pretty straight-forward. His walk rate is up. His strikeout-rate is down. His barrel-rate is up. His .221 wOBA is the worst of his career; his .350 xwOBA is the best of his career. His BABIP is .189. There is no reason to think the results will continue to be that bad when the inputs are so strong. Sunday, even with a lefty on the mound, he was 2-3 with a walk. Maybe that is the start of things turning around?

Regardless, stay the course. If you want to leave him on your bench for a bit, that is fine, but he is going to be in my lineups against RHP.

Luis Robert: 47 PA, .111, .149, .244, 0.65 P/G over the last two weeks

Robert got off to such a strong start but has gone ice cold after that start. As of April 8, he had four HR and looked like an MVP candidate, but he has done nothing since then, hitting just one HR and posting the line above.  Over that time, his plate discipline has stayed the same, he’s been hitting the ball hard, but his BABIP has fallen.

The problem is that his plate discipline numbers have been steadily…not good. Coming up, the concern with Robert was the plate discipline and walking just 2.2% of the time and striking out 26.9% of the time won’t really work. Robert is never going to walk much, but he could easily double that rate while cutting back on the K’s to get back to where he was the last couple of years.

It goes without saying that Robert is not a cut, so the real question is if he is a buy-low or a sell-low, given the below-average line for the season so far. I think it’s more the former. His chase rate looks good and his overall underlying plate discipline numbers seem fine. His big drop-off so far is in contact on pitches outside the zone, which is not generally where he will do his most damage anyway. I think the strikeouts come down if he continues to make the swing/take decisions he is making.

Michael Kopech: 20.2 IP, 0.06 P/IP

Kopech has tantalizing talent, but the performance has not yet been there, and this year is the worst yet. In 2021, he was a decent reliever who got some looks as a starter. In 2022, he was a streamable SP, but not much more. This year? With 14 BB and 14 barrels in 96 batters faced, he’s either handing out free bases or getting crushed in almost 30% of plate appearances. The is not a recipe for success.

When debating whether a struggling performer is a buy-low, or a sell, or a cut, you need to answer two questions: How likely do I think it is that he bounces back; and if he does bounce back, what kind of performance will I get? With Robert, the strikeouts are ugly, which gives some risk to a rebound, but you’re dreaming of elite performance. With Naylor, the underlying numbers are good enough that I am pretty confident he’ll perform.

With Kopech, I don’t love the answer to either question. He isn’t just suffering through a rough stretch – his command has failed him and hitters are teeing off. It is going to take some work to fix that. And even if he does fix that, and he gets back to his 2022 level (4.25 P/IP), that just isn’t anything to get that excited about. So what are you doing waiting on him?

Kopech is rostered in 92.63% of leagues at a median salary of $10 – a price he has never been worth at any point in his career. If you want to suffer with him on your bench for $1-$2, maybe even $3, I get it. But I am cutting (or if someone will take him, trading) at basically any price. Especially if you are paying him $10, $12, $15 or more, you can do better playing the wire with that cash than you can tying it up in Kopech.


Six Picks Strategy

Yesterday, I introduced you to Six Picks and, based on a big jump in the number of entries, it seems like there is some interest in Ottoneu’s free, simple, and fun daily fantasy game. And that means that there is probably some interest in my thoughts on strategy for Six Picks. Plus, I might have mentioned yesterday that I would share thoughts on how I play, so I guess I should do that.

Read the rest of this entry »


Ottoneu Starting Pitching Drip: April 24–27

Welcome back to the SP Drip. My goal for this bi-weekly column is to comb through the upcoming schedule each week to find a few under-owned pitchers (less than 50% ownership across Ottoneu) who could be used to help you hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues or to make sure you’re hitting your innings pitched cap in points leagues. Tuesday’s article will cover the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and Friday’s article will cover the upcoming week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). That way, you’ll have time to start your auctions in time to actually drip these pitchers into your lineup.

Upcoming Schedule:

April 24–27
Home wOBA HR Park Factor Away wOBA
PHI 0.340 106 SEA 0.302
CLE 0.296 101 COL 0.311
BAL 0.343 95 BOS 0.330
TBR 0.389 94 HOU 0.318
CIN 0.311 116 TEX 0.328
TOR 0.324 105 CHW 0.311
ATL 0.348 98 MIA 0.304
MIN 0.300 96 NYY 0.322
MIL 0.329 103 DET 0.277
LAA 0.316 107 OAK 0.292
ARI 0.318 94 KCR 0.264
SFG 0.328 90 STL 0.349
PIT 0.340 95 LAD 0.347
NYM 0.330 97 WSN 0.294
CHC 0.347 98 SDP 0.308

I’ve started pulling current season data for team offenses to assess matchups rather than continue utilizing the rest-of-season projections. That means there are a bunch of teams who were projected to be good who are currently underperforming and vice versa.

Teams with easier schedules include the Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Mets, Royals, and Yankees.

Teams with tougher schedules include the A’s, Mariners, Marlins, Rangers, Reds, Tigers, and White Sox.

Highlighted matchups:

Recommended Starting Pitchers
Pitcher Roster% Opponent Opponent wOBA FIP K-BB% HR/9
Brad Keller 49.36% ARI 0.318 4.37 5.7% 0.43
Jhony Brito 40.06% MIN 0.300 4.12 6.3% 0.60
Kyle Gibson 33.01% DET 0.277 4.76 7.4% 1.14
José Suarez 29.49% OAK 0.292 6.15 0.0% 1.54
Zach Plesac 13.46% COL 0.311 4.55 10.0% 1.38
Griffin Canning 8.33% OAK 0.292 4.19 12.2% 0.87
Colin Rea 0.32% DET 0.277 4.16 11.9% 0.84

Brad Keller sits just below our 50% ownership cutoff and he’s been a common recommendation in these columns this year. He’s continued to struggle with his command early this season but he’s also only given up a single home run and just 14 hits in 21 innings. He gets a nice matchup against the Diamondbacks in their dinger suppressing ballpark next week.

Another common recommendation, Kyle Gibson lines up to face the Tigers two starts in a row, once this weekend and again on Thursday. His last start against the White Sox didn’t go super well — four runs on seven hits and two walks with just a single strikeout in 5.1 innings — but the other three starts he’s made this season have been solid. His two-step against Detroit is just too good to pass up.

Colin Rea is also lined up to face the Tigers next week. He’s been a serviceable starter for the Brewers after Brandon Woodruff went down with his shoulder injury. He had a pretty good season in Japan last year and has looked decent in his return to the States. He held the Padres to a single run across 5.2 innings in his first start but was knocked around by the Mariners in his second.

José Suarez and Griffin Canning are scheduled to face the A’s at home next week. That’s a pretty juicy matchup, but beware the high home run park factor of Angel Stadium. Suarez hasn’t been good this year, with a walk rate that matches his strikeout rate. A date against Oakland seems like a good candidate for a get-right start. Canning is a bit more interesting. Injuries derailed a very promising start to his career over the last few years. He’s healthy and has made a couple of solid starts so far this year.

Jhony Brito bounced back from his ugly start against the Twins by holding the Angels to just a single run across 4.1 innings on Wednesday. He’s scheduled to face Minnesota again next week and will be looking to improve on his seven-run disaster the last time he faced them.

Recap: April 17–20

Drip Retrospective
Player IP Pts Pts/IP
Ken Waldichuk 5 25.0 5.00
Michael Wacha 4 6.6 1.65
Brad Keller 4 10.8 2.70
Dean Kremer 6.2 47.9 7.19
Matt Strahm 5.1 35.4 6.63
Hunter Gaddis 5 15.2 3.04
Peyton Battenfield 6 25.3 4.22
Total 36 166.2 4.62
Season Total 226 740.4 3.28

A really good week with four clear wins and no obvious losses. Keller’s start against the Rangers was dragged down by the five walks he allowed and Michael Wacha just hasn’t been able to replicate the magic he showed in his second start of the season against the Braves.


Your Invitation to Make Six Picks

Most of the Ottoneu coverage in this space is dedicated to your standard, 12-team leagues, whether they are head-to-head or season-long. We occasionally dabble in Ottoneu Prestige League, as well. But I don’t know that we have ever covered Ottoneu’s third baseball game – Six Picks. Today, that changes.

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Ottoneu Hot Right Now: April 19th, 2023

The 2023 version of Ottoneu Hot Right Now will include three different sections:

  1. Current Auctions: A closer look at players being auctioned at a high rate.
  2. Roster Adds: Analysis of players with high add% changes.
  3. Hot Performers: Players with a high P/G or P/IP in recent weeks.

The FanGraphs Ottoneu team plans to run this feature weekly, updating fantasy managers on the biggest movers in Ottoneu leagues with an analysis of how these players could or could not help your roster.

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Ottoneu Starting Pitching Drip: April 21–23

Welcome back to the SP Drip. My goal for this bi-weekly column is to comb through the upcoming schedule each week to find a few under-owned pitchers (less than 50% ownership across Ottoneu) who could be used to help you hit your games started cap in head-to-head leagues or to make sure you’re hitting your innings pitched cap in points leagues. Tuesday’s article will cover the weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and Friday’s article will cover the upcoming week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). That way, you’ll have time to start your auctions in time to actually drip these pitchers into your lineup.

Upcoming Schedule:

April 21–23
Home wOBA HR Park Factor Away wOBA
SEA 0.307 99 STL 0.337
CHC 0.337 98 LAD 0.347
PIT 0.319 95 CIN 0.326
TBR 0.385 94 CHW 0.322
BAL 0.354 95 DET 0.269
PHI 0.354 106 COL 0.308
NYY 0.324 102 TOR 0.335
CLE 0.305 101 MIA 0.306
ATL 0.356 98 HOU 0.319
TEX 0.315 101 OAK 0.305
MIN 0.294 96 WSN 0.306
MIL 0.339 103 BOS 0.328
LAA 0.325 107 KCR 0.273
ARI 0.307 94 SDP 0.318
SFG 0.339 90 NYM 0.323

I’ve started pulling current season data for team offenses to assess matchups rather than continue utilizing the rest-of-season projections. That means there are a bunch of teams who were projected to be good who are currently underperforming and vice versa.

Teams with an easier weekend schedule include the Marlins, Nationals, Orioles, Padres, Phillies Rangers, Reds, and Twins. The Diamondbacks and Giants are both playing at home in their cavernous ballparks but they’re facing the Padres and Mets, respectively. On paper, it’s a decent matchup for Arizona and San Francisco because their opponents are underperforming a bit, but be weary.

Teams with tougher schedules include the Astros, Blue Jays, Brewers, Cubs, Mariners, Red Sox, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, White Sox, and Yankees.

Highlighted matchups:

Recommended Starting Pitchers
Pitcher Roster% Opponent Opponent wOBA FIP K-BB% HR/9
Tyler Wells 14.42% DET 0.269 4.55 16.4% 1.65
Kyle Gibson 31.09% DET 0.269 4.76 7.4% 1.14
Zach Plesac 13.78% MIA 0.306 4.56 10.0% 1.38
Hunter Gaddis 6.73% MIA 0.306 4.27 10.2% 0.71
Bailey Falter 11.22% COL 0.308 4.06 12.9% 1.20

I’ve only got a handful of recommendations this weekend. The Orioles are hosting the Tigers who currently have the worst offense in baseball by a wide margin. That means it’s a great opportunity to drip Tyler Wells and Kyle Gibson into your rosters. The former has had a decent start to the year, allowing just a single walk in three starts with an acceptable amount of strikeouts and hits allowed. Gibson has been a successful recommendation twice already this season and this matchup is his best yet.

The Guardians will host the hapless Marlins offense this weekend, giving you another opportunity to drip Zach Plesac and Hunter Gaddis into your rosters. Plesac has been fine after his implosion in his first start of the year against the A’s. The strikeouts aren’t there but he isn’t walking anyone either. Gaddis has only allowed a single home run this season, relying on weak contact in the air to get many of his outs. His xFIP is an unsightly 5.74, however, so start him at your own risk.

The Rockies will travel to Philadelphia this weekend and Bailey Falter might be lined up for a start on Saturday or Sunday. The Phillies have a double-header today and don’t have an off day this week so their rotation might need to be reconfigured over the weekend. Keep an eye on whether or not Falter is listed as a probable for that series against Colorado.

Recap: April 14–16

Drip Retrospective
Player IP Pts Pts/IP
Dylan Dodd N/A
Seth Lugo 3.2 10.3 2.82
Nick Martinez 6 1.8 0.30
Matthew Boyd N/A
Anthony DeSclafani 6.2 31.4 4.72
Jhony Brito 0.2 -26.0 -38.95
Bryce Elder 5.1 20.7 3.87
Zach Plesac 5 20.8 4.16
Michael Grove 5.2 30.4 5.37
Jake Woodford 5.1 21.3 3.99
Total 38.1 110.8 2.89
Season Total 190 574.2 3.02

A couple of recommendations ended up missing starts last weekend — Dylan Dodd was sent back to Triple-A when Kyle Wright was activated from the IL and Matthew Boyd had his start delayed by rain two days in a row. I think we can call Anthony DeSclafani and Michael Grove’s starts wins with Jhony Brito and Nick Martinez’s clear losses. Seth Lugo also struggled through his start, but ended up earning enough points to call it a wash.