Paul Sporer Baseball Chat – September 8th, 2017

Paul Sporer: Good afternoon, everyone!

Castillo: L Castillo was just dropped and I’m playing for next year…all the FAAB?

Paul Sporer: Ya for next year consideration, I’m definitely scooping him

Dylan: Should I drop Hamels or Bundy for McCullers?

Paul Sporer: Hamels

Denny: Thanks for the chat, Paul! So you think it’s safe to drop Harrison and Brantley in re-drafts at this point?

Paul Sporer: Yes, I’m letting go

Dave: We know you love Luis Castillo. How close is he to keeper status in a keep-5 league, where he’s keepable in the last round (2 round per year inflation )?

Paul Sporer: With it being by round, I could see him being the 5th in such a scenario, I like it

Denny: Oh also, pick a catcher for the rest of the way: Hedges, Zunino, Gomes or Maldonado?

Paul Sporer: I guess Z because he’s playing alright of late

Tim: So I need a waiver bat for the stretch run that will contribute a few HR/RBI without totally nuking my average. Who do you like most of Davidson, Joyce, Kepler and Solarte?

Paul Sporer: if you can spot Joyce v. righties, I dig it

Michael: 2- starts next week: Stratton, Woodruff and Peters. Which ones and I can sit Alex Wood and/or Straily. I need Ws and Ks without killing my WHIP…

Paul Sporer: Peters 1st, Woodruff 2nd… not sure Stratton is getting a 2-start if they’re using 6-man

Choo Choo: Giolito vs. SF or Hill vs Col this weekend?

Paul Sporer: That’s tough. I think I’ll just go with the better arm in Hill

Luckerboy: What’s the argument _against_ Walker Buehler only coming out to an audio track of Ben Stein droning “bueller … bueller … bueller”?

Paul Sporer: There isn’t one! lol

Tim: Who knew MC Ren was such a Brandon Woodruff fan?

Detroit’s Most Wanted: Afternoon Paul, thank you for the chat. With the Indianapolis Indians in an 0-2 hole, will we see Tyler Glasnow pitch Tuesday for the Pirates on regular rest? Assuming the Indy Indians lose their series? Been waiting for a little too long for this guy. Fantasy playoffs next week.

Paul Sporer: Could see it. Can you scoop and stash or do you have to use him if you pick him up?

Slapshot: Do you see any reason to deviate on your rankings for Godley (MS), Corbin, and Walker (both in the SSH) tier for the rest of the season? Finally got my innings projection in ottoneu up to 1500 with help from Godley/Corbin pickups (have had Walker all year) and probably need to start being a bit more judicious with starting those three from here out.

Paul Sporer: I’m sticking with that same outlook on them. Mostly starting all 3 of them at this point and certainly not cutting any of them

Otani Breaks Fantasy?: How will/should Otani be handled in fantasy?  Pitcher only?  Hitter only?  Dare I say eligible for P *and* UTL?

Paul Sporer: It’s really a great question and I don’t have an answer. I wonder if he should be a hitter AND pitcher and you can pick either or both. I feel like if we’re going to count his hitting numbers while he’s in a pitcher spot, then we’d have to do it for all. No easy answer and I imagine the fantasy sites are working on it to be ready

Ted: I’m starting Yu, Weaver, Corbin AND McHugh tonight, and the only one really making me nervous is Darvish. Baseball, huh?

Paul Sporer: Isn’t it wild how that works? Still an auto-start, of course

Jake: With so little time left, can I realistically drop Darvish in a redraft? He has not been good

Paul Sporer: I can’t do it. Only one truly bad start lately

Choo Choo: What your thoughts for Thames in 2018? Is he worth keeping in a 16 team Dynasty league?

Paul Sporer: I think he’s in that solid-but-unspectacular group of 1B that emerged this year offering big power with no AVG to speak of. Dynasty keeps all right? I’d keep him on board

Keystones open doors: sup mang! been streaming 2B last couple months and need to pick one for H2H playoffs starting next week. No real category need just don’t want to get hurt, 6×6 w/OBP + SLG: Cesar Hernandez / Neil Walker / Jed Lowrie / Cory Spangenberg / Ben Zobrist

Paul Sporer: Spangenberg doing a bit of everything

Brad Wesley: I know it’s context specific, but are Godley or Berrios keepers in a keep 10 (14 teamer)? Currently only have 1 keeper arm (bats loaded), not sure if I’m just trying to force more balance.

Paul Sporer: I think they’re both strong considerations, tbh, espec. in your scenario of already having the bats covered

Detroit’s Most Wanted: What are your thoughts on Corey Seager, ROS? I know they are saying surgery won’t come until offseason (if necessary), but do you think he can continue to hit for avg/decent power?

Paul Sporer: Ya I think he can still be his v good self the rest of the way. Of course the volatility of 3 weeks is huge so even if he struggles, it’s not necessarily elbow-related

H2H Playoff Help!: Which hot hitter do you like best for a H2H categories (OBP OPS) match next week . . . Jose Martinez (arguably the hottest hitter right now with 400+ OBP and plenty of homers in the last 15 and good matchups . . . 3 v CIN 3 @CHC v. meh pitchers); Morales (super cold but 7 games against terrible BAL and MIN pitching); Mancini (@TOR and @NYY but faces some of their good guys in each) or Carlos Gomez (7 v SEA, @LAA)?   Thanks!

Paul Sporer: Ride that Martinez Devil Magic!!!

Jimmy: So Folty, Fister, Tomlin, Lugo and Fiers are all on waivers in my 12-teamer. Think any of them are worth an add? I need wins, but don’t have much room to screw up my ratios (3.90/1.26).

Paul Sporer: The ratio part is what makes it tough bc I wouldn’t mind going with Fister, Fiers, or even Tomlin (only bc of Cleveland), but they all carry real ratio risk

Minty: Think we see Vlad next year?

Paul Sporer: I won’t fully rule it out the way we see guys progress these days, but I’d bet against it

Choo Choo: Cargo has come around lately. Late season hot streak?

Paul Sporer: Better late than never, I guess. Such a brutal season, though

Lenny: Keep 2 for next year (and beyond) at similar costs, who ya got: luis castillo, alex wood, ronald acuna, ozzie albies, kevin kiermaier, nomar mazara, aaron altherr

Paul Sporer: Would need to know depth of league to know how viable Acuna is here, but otherwise I’d be looking at one of Castillo/Wood and one of Mazara/Kiermaier

Jimmy: Pod follow-up: Would you add Robles or JP Crawford over a dude like Kepler or Tommy Joseph to fill a newly opened UTIL spot?

Paul Sporer: Crawford has a better angle on PT, so he’d be the choice over Robles ehre

Paul Sporer: here*

Minty: You in or out on the Robles hype?

Paul Sporer: In long-term, don’t see much of anything coming this season

Phlip: Does anyone know of a good site to host a league that begins right around the All Star break? I can’t keep my league focused on a full 162 games, but 70-80 is feasible!

Paul Sporer: I think Fantrax would facilitate that. They’re really good at setting up custom stuff

JD15: Start tonight: darvish? archer? clevinger?

Paul Sporer: Yes, Yes, No

Steve: When faced with keeper decisions, do you keep the best players possible or the best values? We only keep 3 so I can keep all stud hitters or trade some for extra 1st round picks and keep others that have value.

Paul Sporer: I will keep the best players possible more often than not, but usually I got for a mix. I like the idea of trading for some extra picks

Andy: Is Jake Bauers worth holding in a 12 team dynasty league

Paul Sporer: Ehhh, not bending over backwards, but I do like the speed at 1B

Esteban: Jacob Faria is a top ___ starter next season

Paul Sporer: 70

Luis Castillo: Will I be forgotten enough to be a value in drafts next year or will I be too obvious a ‘sleeper’ and get scooped early?

Paul Sporer: The latter. I can see the hype train exploding his cost.. conducted by Eno. He was talking top 20 on the pod yesterday

yojiveself: Dillon Peters safe to start next week 2x?

Paul Sporer: Safe-ish relative to available 2-starts, but not inherently safe in that he’s an available which always carry a level of risk

Jaboy: What all do you cover in your newsletter? If I don’t jam The Show that often, still lots of value? (good streams by the way)

Paul Sporer: It’s MLB The Show-based right now, but it’s going to have a fantasy football outlook once the season ends. I’m considering offseason baseball content for the newsletter, too. BTW, for those that don’t know, he’s talking about the subscriber newsletter for my Twitch stream (twitch.tv/psporer24)

Willy Wonka: Thoughts on Peacock for next year?  Does he continue to be a near elite starter?

Paul Sporer: The skills we’ve seen this year are certainly viable, but the walks cut the margin for error so I’m reluctant to think he’ll be *this* good again next year. But a mid-3.00s with a boatload of Ks.

Chandler: They need to bring The Show to PC! I can’t justify buying a PS4 to play it 🙁

Paul Sporer: It’s soooo worth, but I hear you. I literally only got PS4 for it. I play some other sports games here and there, but it’s essentially an MLB The Show machine

Carlos: where do you stand on streaming limits in H2H playoffs?

Paul Sporer: I think it should match regular season rules. And of course it needs to be on the books before the season

Matz: Will I ever live up to my potential? Or am I the proverbial damaged goods from here on out?

Paul Sporer: The health just clouds Matz’s outlook SO much. I definitely think the skills are there, but can he stay on the field? He’s someone I’ll continue to take a shot on at lower prices bc of the skills

Paul Sporer: Y’all, I gotta bounce relatively early here today. We will have a marathon chat before the season’s over. Probably next week.

Paul Sporer: Follow me on Twitter (@sporer) – you can send questions there, too – follow me on Snapchat (psporer) and check out my Twitch streams at twitch.tv/psporer24 where I stream MLB The Show and always talk baseball so questions like the ones here are more than welcome! Take care!!

Guest: kershaw clunker last night, just rust, right?

Paul Sporer: Ya just a tough outing. I’m not sweating it.