Archive for Fantasy

Consider this the low-hanging fruit Fantasy Fringe Five (FFF). I’ll endeavor to make future installments more fringy. However, given the circumstances — namely, that the season started and folks are already thinking about future waiver wire pursuits — I wanted to highlight some MLB-ready fringe prospects for your dynasty (and potential redraft) consumption. One (or more?) of these guys check the box of almost too good to not be top prospects, which, uh, I guess is the entire premise of this series.

But first, some housekeeping:

Very Important News

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You may recognize this, the Fringe Five, as an exercise Carson Cistulli once established and, weekly, pursued at the main FanGraphs site. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I may have an idea. We — Brad Johnson and I, we — don’t expect or even want to replace Cistulli, nor do we intend to replicate or imitate what he could achieve with the written word. What a colossal mistake that would be. I would be lying if I said I never tried. I can sing his praises for days. He was my favorite, and he was probably yours, too.

What we do intend to replicate, however, is Cistulli’s ability to identify market inefficiencies. Fringe Five, while quintessentially Cistullian, was an ongoing exercise in doing so, often successfully, unearthing a list of prominent names that includes Mookie Betts and Charlie Blackmon (and, maybe, one day, Max Schrock). I’m not sure Cistulli would have ever divulged his exact process; in introducing Fringe Five, he only went as far as to say, with emphasis added editorially, the following:

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The New York Mets have turned into the poster child of bad luck this season. I wish I had good news for you Mets fans, but when it comes to La Potencia, he’s facing yet another setback.

Yoenis Cespedes felt some soreness in his right quad while running the bases during his rehab assignment in Class-A and he was removed from the lineup. He hasn’t played on the active roster since the end of April.

On the Agenda

1. News and Notes
2. Adjusting Astros
3. Moose
4. Fare thee well

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Jake Lamb cannot be stopped.

@KleinschmidtJD Rake Lamb

— Kalvin Lowry (@KoLow710) May 27, 2017

He hit home run number 14 Friday night against the Brewers and is now hosting a .282/.373/.586 line with a career-high .292 ISO.

Lamb struggles big time against lefties with just eight hits in 48 at-bats. The team is continuing to be patient with him and exposing him to more southpaws (much like what the Marlins were planning on doing with Justin Bour). When Lamb spoke hesitantly on the subject it was pretty clear Torey Lovullo and the team is making sure he sees those opposite arms more. So don’t expect him to ride the pine pony when a lefty starts on the bump.

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I had to double check to make sure Xander Bogaerts indeed hit his first home run of the season, but that’s exactly what happened Wednesday night against the Rangers. He’s coming off of a 21-home run season in 2016, but this year is looking a lot more like 2015 when he hit just seven with a .320 AVG. His .335 AVG is sustaining his fantasy value right now.

Dave Cameron highlights Bogaerts’ weirdness calling him the Joe Panik of the east coast. That’s not a negative comment at all.  Read the rest of this entry »

There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and Cody Bellinger home runs. In 100 plate appearances, Bellinger has nine bombs and he’s leading the National League rookies in multiple offensive categories. He is also sitting on a 26.7% home run/fly ball ratio.

.@Cody_Bellinger is the fastest Dodger to nine home runs in franchise history (24 games). ? pic.twitter.com/BxQ06lD3b4

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 21, 2017

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Joey Gallo keeps hitting the ball, and he’s hitting the ball hard. His .188 batting average this season is kind of joke sitting next to his .500 slugging average, but he does have 13 home runs in 42 games and he’s showing more discipline at the plate. But you really can’t get worse than a 63.3% strikeout rate he left behind him last season.

Joey Gallo doing Joey Gallo things. Wow pic.twitter.com/pc3XqqQUn8

— Daren Willman (@darenw) May 20, 2017

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Marcus Stroman had a strong outing on the mound Thursday night. He tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings against a Braves lineup that was without Freddie Freeman, and in the midst of it all, hit a home run. An opposite field home run nonetheless.

Marcus Stroman crushes an opposite field home run to go back-to-back with his catcher, Luke Maile. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/RbWQziDhdS

— Andrew Hockridge (@drewhockridge) May 19, 2017

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Jose Berrios‘ 2017 debut couldn’t have gone any better Saturday. He allowed just one run on two hits over 7.2 innings and struck out four in the win over Cleveland.

And he needed it. Last year he struggled at the beginning of his major league debut but managed to dominate in Triple-A. Looks like the transition for him went well. So far. Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Harvey returned after, you know, the usual supermodel drama we all deal with. After coming back from his suspension, Harvey allowed five runs and three balls were hit over the fence in five innings. He had a high K/9 rating during the outing, but that just left him at a 5.85 K/9 rating on the season.

He mentioned to ESPN following the game he got behind in the count and “left the ball in the middle of the plate.” He’s also not throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes which was very apparent Friday night in the loss to the Brewers.  Read the rest of this entry »