Archive for Eric Thames

This offseason, I decided to roll out this series as an extension of my own fantasy draft prep. By sifting through National Fantasy Baseball Championship (NFBC) draft data, I’ve gone position by position through average draft position (ADP) info to identify players who I believe my fellow fantasy owners are overrating or underrating. By doing so, I’m able to better identify potential sleepers, and get an idea for what price I’ll pay for them. So far, I’ve written posts on third basemen, shortstops and second basemen, and today I’ll take a stab at first base.

As you might have guessed from reading the headline above this article, today’s comparison involves Rockies rookie Ryan McMahon and Brewers veteran Eric Thames. I’ll lead off by saying that this one boggles my mind more than any of the other underrated/overrated pieces I’ve written this offseason.

Let’s take a quick look at where these two are being drafted:

Essentially, Thames is a 16th-round pick in 12-team standard leagues, and McMahon is a 30th rounder — or in other words, he’s basically being drafted as an NL-only guy. I wondered if these numbers might be changing as we get closer to the season, so I took a look at Yahoo, which has only even had their fantasy baseball site up for a little over week. However, it’s the same story there, where Thames is 86% owned, compared to just 9% for McMahon. My goal for today is to help close that gap.

Read the rest of this entry »

The second-best part about Tommy Pham is I can basically recycle this post I wrote about Domingo Santana three and a half weeks ago. Like, I could replace Santana’s name with Pham’s throughout it and you wouldn’t blink. Pham, through his first 628 plate appearances, has hit a home run on more than 28% of his fly balls (28% HR/FB); if sustained for another 72 PA, it would be the third-best mark through a player’s first 700 PA in the last 15 years (among more than 600 qualified hitters).

The best part about Tommy Pham, though, is something Santana doesn’t have, and it’s something more than skin deep. Depending on whom you ask, Pham has swung at pitches outside the zone only 19.8% (BIS), 22.2% (Pitch Info) or 22.9% (PITCHf/x) of the time. Those rank, in order, 6th, 11th and 18th among 205 hitters with at least 250 PA — in other words, the 95th percentile (for the former two) or at least the 90th (for the lattermost). In short, he forces pitchers to pitch to him. Few in the game have been more selective, and few in the game have shown this much power this early in a career. (“Early,” by number of games, obviously, because Pham, at 29, is hella old for a guy who barely has a full season’s worth of PA.) The coincidence of his selectivity and his power is nice, to say the least.

Read the rest of this entry »

The regular season ends Sunday, and most gamers are looking ahead toward next year at this point. Gamers in keeper leagues and dynasty leagues have the joy of managing their teams year round, and this post is largely directed at them. Of course, there’s info in here that will help those in re-draft leagues, but we’re months away from drafts. Back in early August, as one of my keeper league teams (closer to a dynasty league format with the ability to keep up to 15 players) languished near the bottom of the standings thanks in large part to being ravaged by injuries, I headed to ESPN’s free-agent pool to see who was available. I stumbled upon Gaby Sanchez — who last played in MLB in 2014 but spent the 2015 season in NPB — and the wheels began turning. I had no interest in adding Sanchez, but if he’s available, surely another former MLB player who headed overseas to revive his career would be, right? Nope. Eric Thames isn’t in the ESPN player pool. He’s not in Yahoo!’s, either. Alas, I couldn’t beat my savvy league mates to a potential steal of a keeper. If you play at another fantasy baseball provider, perhaps he’s available in the player pool there. Read the rest of this entry »

As you no doubt have heard, Eric Thames has traded blue for teal in being shipped to the Seattle Mariners with Steve Delabar going to the Toronto Blue Jays. And while I pray your fantasy roster has better options than Eric Thames at the moment, it’s possible you might want to take a flyer on him at least in the short term.

First of all, Thames ought to play, and play regularly. The Mariners outfield has been a real circus of moving parts in the last few weeks. Ichiro Suzuki was obviously traded. Franklin Gutierrez can’t stay healthy. Sometimes left fielder Mike Carp moved to first base with Justin Smoak banished to AAA. Chone Figgins, Carlos Peguero, and Trayvon Robinson are terrible, horrible, and no-good.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re a little light in the speed department, then a couple of situations have opened up that might interest you.  If you’re in an NL-only league, then my apologies.  Feel free to move along.  Nothing left to see here.  But if you’re in an AL-only or mixed league, then these guys just might be able to help you out. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup is going to focus on left fielders. Because it does, that’s why.

–  The Blue Jays have made a decision about their LF opening, and the job has been handed over to Eric Thames. Thames wasn’t a hyped prospect, but he’s shown power in Double-A, Triple-A, and the major leagues. Thames strikeout rate is a bit concerning, but he can be a good outfielder for you if you are willing to play him against only right-handed pitching.

Read the rest of this entry »

Platoon.  As a movie — phenomenal.  But in fantasy baseball, it’s a dirty word.  No one goes into their draft hoping to walk away with a bunch of part-time players, so when doing your prep work, it’s always important to know which situations out there may cause playing time issues throughout the season. In some case, a player may shine enough to take over the position entirely, but in many cases, the manager feels better served by playing matchups, riding the hot bat and using a committee approach to get the most productivity out of a particular spot.  The Blue Jays left field situation appears to be one of those cases. Read the rest of this entry »