Archive for Roto

Episode 221

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

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss injury news related to Ian Kennedy, Dexter Fowler, Joe Nathan, and Shane Victorino. They also investigate the findings of Scott Spratt regarding early-season defense and then discuss 10 guys who are struggling majorly early and get a read on whether or not they’re ready to make a move in response to the slow start.

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It’s hard to believe the current incarnation of Curtis Granderson could show up, by default, at the very top of any FanGraphs leaderboard for positive reasons. Yet there he is: the Grandy Man leads all National League outfielders in chase rate (O-Swing%), at 16.7 percent. Only Brett Gardner and the fabled Joey Votto have offered at fewer non-strikes than Granderson among qualified Major League hitters.

Granderson has seen 128 pitches outside the strike zone. Of those pitches, he has swung at 21 of them. And of those swings, he has made contact with 17. For the mathematically disinclined, that’s a grand total of four swings and misses on pitches out of the zone. That’s the fewest of any hitter who has seen at least as many pitches as Granderson has.

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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.

–Important Early-Season Defensive Leaders–

Defense is not a category in typical fantasy leagues, but I don’t think it’s universally safe to ignore it in making fantasy decisions. In particular, the defensive play of newly promoted major leaguers can make or break their chances at playing time, and the defensive success or struggles of all players can lead to changes in positions and therefore eligibilities. It’s early in the season, but there are several players I’ve had my eye on that have already shown a clear tendency in their defensive numbers. First, let’s take a look at the positive performers.

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Chris Carter is off to a bad start. This is an unambiguously true fact. Jeff Sullivan, among other Twitterers (Tweeters?), have succinctly illuminated this unambiguously true fact:

selection of players with ISO of .000 Curtis Granderson Brandon Phillips Desmond Jennings Logan Morrison Chris Carter

— Jeff Sullivan (@based_ball) April 21, 2015

Carter has supplemented the zero extra-base hits with four singles, 21 strikeouts and nary a run batted in to speak of through 51 plate appearances. (FYI, that’s a 41.2-percent strikeout rate.) His atrociously bad start is the talk of the Twitter town, and it has Astros Manager A.J. Hinch dropping him in the batting order. As of last night, Carter’s ownership had dropped to 67.7 and 73 percent in ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, respectively, as owners have jumped ship.
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Cursing at the injury Gods already? Yeah you are. Let’s see what your free agent pool might offer in your deep league.

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Episode 220

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

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss the rash of catcher injuries while offering up some potential replacements and also talk about the two hot new call-ups: Addison Russell and Carlos Rodon

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Episode 219

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

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Jason Collette discuss a bunch of different players with no real unifying theme this time around: Nelson Cruz, Danny Salazar, Brandon McCarthy, Chris Carter, Steven Souza, Carlo Rodon, and Alex Rodriguez as well as several other guys currently battling injuries.

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Episode 218

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

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss the news surrounding Yasmany Tomas, Danny Salazar, Carlos Gomez, Adam Ottavino, and Mark Melancon. And then they dive into some hitters of note and discuss whether or not they have changed their tune on them based on the early start.

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If fantasy baseball were a marathon, we’d all have run about a mile and a half. Most races don’t even have their volunteers stand with trays of water cups this early on, so you’d better pace yourself if you’re already tired. I think I forgot to stretch.

Here’s an obligatory sentence reminding you about the caveats about small samples while attributing a shred of validity to them. OK, now that the formalities are out of the way, let’s talk ownership trends. National League outfielders are a promising bunch, especially in regard to the youth movement. I’ve been sold on a handful of them prior to the start of the season, and I’m surprised by their meager ownership numbers. They aren’t completely unowned, as my misleading title alleges, but they’re close enough.

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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.

–Fast Fastballs—

In deeper formats like Ottoneu where setup men can still be usable, I like to take early looks at which relievers are throwing hard each season. Every now and then, those relievers turn out to be Tom Wilhelmsen or Dellin Betances, and you can end up with an elite closer for no cost other than a used roster spot for a month or two. Here are the relievers with one or fewer saves and two or more innings so far this season:

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