Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – April 15th, 2026

Paul Sporer: Hey y’all thanks for coming out!!

Greg: Are you buying Emerson Hancock and Randy Vasquez? Where would you have them in your rankings today?

Paul Sporer: Mentioned both in the SP chart and buying in to varying degrees based on the skill improvements – https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/starting-pitcher-chart-april-15th-2026/

OW: Should I be scared about Rooker’s production post-oblique strain? I’ve heard it can be a power zapping injury

Paul Sporer: Yeah, it’s definitely a worrisome injury for power. I wouldn’t preemptively cut him or anything, but I’d lower my expectations for his return

Ben: Someone out there lost Soto, Pivetta, and Cade in a matter of weeks. Pray for them.

Paul Sporer: Just a nightmare and I never cease to be amazed how right you are that there’ll always be a team who somehow got all the worst injuries on one team

My arms stink: Hi! Could you rank (or pick a couple favorites from) these arms: Schultz, Cecconi, Kay, Kochanowicz, Rocker, Arrighetti?

Paul Sporer: Rocker/Schultz, Kay stand out in that group. Arrighetti is someone to watch bc any hint of command can help him go on a run

Matt Damon: MATT. DAMON.

Paul Sporer: Matt Damon indeed, ol’ chap… Matt Damon indeed

Rhys: Why don’t they start Hoskins?! AL OBP league. Cut for O. Peraza, Juan Brito, Wenceel Perez, Richie Palacios?

Paul Sporer: Yeah he’s just losing out PA vR to their lefties. Peraza’s not playing enough, neither is Palacios. I like Brito as a player, but he might be light on fantasy juice. So that points to Wenceel who is playing and can bring some fantasy heat. He had 2 HR/3 SB in 51 PA at AAA. Nothing yet in 11 PA since his recall, but it’s 11 PA. Not the best OBP guy, but can hold an 8-9% BB so he should avoid the dreaded sub-.300 mark

Cecconi: Cecconi having some control/babip troubles today…

Paul Sporer: Unfortunately that’s not terribly surprising, but as long as he can keep the ball in the park, he can survive. Walking the tightrope right now with 6 base runners in 2 IP. Great bounce back from 3-0 on Walker just now, though!

Kevin: Pick one pitcher ROS: Burke, Detmers or Weathers

Paul Sporer: My boy Detmers! I know the velo dropped 2 mph in his shift back to the rotation, but 21% K-BB is very encouraging. Love the 0.4 HR9 so far, but most of that is a 4% HR/FB that won’t last. If he was at his 12% HR/FB, it’d be a 1.2 HR9 which is a lot more palatable than the 1.9 he had the last time he started (2024) but I’d love to see 1.0 or below if he’s truly going to make the leap.

Rob A: Purely a depth move at this pt but would you hold McCullers or drop for one of Dom Smith or Jeremiah Jackson in 15 tm mixed pts?

Paul Sporer: I’d take a shot on Jackson (another bomb today!)

Help: Afternoon Paul. If the White Sox are smart they will push Schultz start  one more day away from Sutter Field.  Anyway , Are You holding him for a few weeks ?

Paul Sporer: That’d be nice, but by the same token it could be nice to challenge him. And yes, definitely giving him a real run before cutting. The upside is rich and it just doesn’t make sense to pass judgment on 2-3 starts.

Dan: Does Matt McLain come around and get to a 20/20 season, or close to it? How does his underlying stats look?

Paul Sporer: Good enough to hold and even buy where he’s being given up on. Plate skills are MUCH better and the barrel rate’s been there, just not leaving the yard yet.

Insert Witty Name Here: Red flags for Edwin Diaz right?

Paul Sporer: More yellow than red but velo down over 1 mph and walks up at 14%. Still just 6 IP, though. But before the meltdown v. TEX, he had allowed 1 R with 4 SVs, 8 Ks in 5 IP. There’s nothing actionable, though. I’m not cutting or sitting him

Jimmy: In a 12tm H2H would you swap out Senga for Abel?

Paul Sporer: I still prefer Senga. They might not be all that different. No one worse you can cut for Abel?

Pat: When will your OOTP content be up?

Paul Sporer: Sooooon

Guest: Hi Paul! Hope you and the dawgs are well. 12T H2H 6×6 with OBP and SLG. I have Tork and Pasq on my roster and I’d rather drop one to keep room for an SP pickup (Bubba and Painter are both FA). I’m leaning Tork because of his BB% gains, but I had Pasq so much higher than him pre-season. What would you do?

Paul Sporer: I generally stick w/my preseason assessment as I don’t think either have done anything to fundamentally change their outlook. You weren’t alone in preferring Pasquatch as he went 124 picks higher than Tork bc his contact skills give him a great potential AVG edge. I know Tork’s OBP is great and directly useful in your league but I’d be reluctant to flip entirely on guys I had that far apart based on 60-70 PA.

Chucky: What to do about Pepiot? Originally diagnosed as a minor hip issue. Now he’s on the 60 Day, which means late May at the earliest. You cutting or hanging?

Paul Sporer: Definitely context dependent. Hard to hold in no-IL NFBC formats but I’ll IL him where I can and hope he can come back strong. It’s a total bummer for a someone I reallyyy liked coming into the year

Jimmy: J Soto about to return next week.  Need to cut someone…Tovar, L Garcia, or Doyle?

Paul Sporer: I think it’s gotta be Doyle, he just doesn’t look right and now he’s losing PT vR

AT: Why are the Red Sox so bad? I mean, April, I guess, but this is not good, is it?

Paul Sporer: The rotation looked like a massive strength coming in and it just hasn’t gotten off to the expected start. Early’s the only one with a decent ERA and it comes with a 1.54 WHIP. It’s not great, but they can pull out of it

Kirk replacement: Lost Kirk in AL Only OBP 2C league (other C is O’Hoppe). Should I try and trade either Schanuel or Okamoto for Carter Jensen or Austin Wells, or just roll with Heineman or Jake Rogers or Mitch Garver for the 2 months? (At that point I’d have 3 catchers, though O’Hoppe might be fungible.)

Paul Sporer: I’d be open to trading if either of those guys are available. I think sometimes we can gloss over how damaging it is to just punt that C2 spot. Definitely hard to lose a good C in such a deep league

Conor: 12 team roto, who are your first two drops here (have to chase some saves) Liberatore, Hancock, Mlodzinski, Junk, Roupp, Abel. Thinking Liberatore then maybe Junk.

Paul Sporer: Yep, I’m running right there w/you on Libby first and then Junk. Gotta see Mlod start missing some more bats but I’m intrigued by them giving him an opener

Mike: Abel or Weathers in 12-team H2H.  The Abel two step next week has me leaning that way.

Paul Sporer: Yeah the 2-step setup for Abel is enough to give him the push. They’re close on pure talent so then schedule can be the decider

Rich: Gleyber was dropped in my league.  Pick him up and release Luis Garcia?  Also could release E Tovar?  OBP league

Paul Sporer: Definitely prefer him to Garcia. He’s still taking his walks. That .239 BABIP should turn, though he needs to start hitting the ball harder

Idiotic Failson: Not sure if you’ve noticed, but Ben Rice is a good hitter.

Paul Sporer: Ben Aroz for life!

Kevin: How much longer before we decided that this is just what Austin Riley really is?

Paul Sporer: I’m giving him at least a month

4’8” guy: Why do you hate me?

Paul Sporer: lol

Mick Abel: has the light come on?  trust him yet as auto-start?

Paul Sporer: Maybe not auto, but he’s got some runway. I’m not cutting him as soon as he has a bad start. I realize it’s easy to say now that he has 13 straight scoreless IP, but this is why I don’t like cutting my breakout late picks off 1-2 starts.

Cags: Tell me something good plz?

Paul Sporer: He came up with a great nickname for Carter Jensen: The Big Snooze

Bubic: am I for real?  breakout season?

Paul Sporer: I think he’s already broken out, injury is the only thing that has stopped him lately. Don’t make long term plans with him, but enjoy every inning we get!

Hook Em: We know that a velocity loss of 2-3 mph is bad but is it possible that a velocity bump of 2-3 mph is also bad (as it often seems to be a precursor to injury)?

Paul Sporer: Oh for sure. It’s certainly a positive for your results, but it absolutely raises your injury risk, especially if the boost takes you in the high-90s.

CroneZone: You said to be patient with Tatis and I have been. He seems more engaged after moving to 2B for a couple games, but still no homers.  Do you put this down to the San Diego marine layer?  Something else?

Paul Sporer: A guy like Tatis is getting ~250 PA before I’m even considering benching him. Superstar talents are set it and forget it!

Derek: Could Evan Carter be in the midst of finally taking a step forward? Worth rostering in 12 team mixed 5×5 with OPS instead of BA?

Paul Sporer: Yeah it’s always health with Carter, not talent. I think a fully healthy Carter can be really good. I don’t mind taking a shot in a 12 teamer as that .258 BABIP should definitely improve

Craig Albernaz: Bradish gives-up 4 ER in 6IP. ERA sitting at an ugly 5.45. Yikes! Or, it’s still early.

Paul Sporer: It’s not greeeaaatt, but at least it was only 1 BB today. And 6 IP is nice. The results haven’t been great, though. Not doing anything until we get through next week’s 2-step and even then, I’d bench before I’d cut. I don’t think he’s so far off that he can completely come out of this

Rah Rah: Do you still think Nasim Nunez will hit .270? lolll

Paul Sporer: Did you think my Bold Predictions article was a projection? Don’t make your misunderstanding of the concept everyone one’s else problem, lollll

Jay: Cut PCA for Angel? PCA wOBA at like 0.250 over his last 90 games…

Paul Sporer: No! If you were going to move off him this fast, you shouldn’t have drafted him so early!

About Bradish: Just an FYI that some of those runs against Bradish today came on an awful misplay in the OF that was ruled a triple.  Should’ve been an error.

Paul Sporer: Oh good to know, I have STL-CLE on

Dustin May: Looking good again today! Yeah baby!🥰

Paul Sporer: Yeah he got his ERA below 7.00 today!! (only 2 swinging strikes… he’s just not great)

Help: Drop Baz or Cantillo ? 12T smaller rosters Yahoo daily roto   I have Lodolo coming back

Paul Sporer: I’d probably lean dropping Baz b/w the two, but also check their next 3-4 starts to see if there’s a big edge one way or the other

Rah Rah: your bold prediction was the steals, no? what are we to take “Full Line: .272-7-53-48-43″ to mean? that the whole line is a bold prediction? it’s okay to admit the projection was outlandish…

Paul Sporer: It’s ok to admit my Bold Prediction was… bold. Wow, you got there!

Chucky: Aaron Nola, cooked? Example of an aging pitcher handed an extension who kinda took the money and ran?

Paul Sporer: I don’t mind spotting him in nice spots, but his 1.5 HR9 since 2023 is scary

Paul Sporer: Ok y’all, I gotta head out. Thanks for coming through, back same time next week!