If we take a look at the BS meter, we see Heath Bell still owns the pole position. It still appears that three BS this early in the season is the indicator of a closer losing his job. This means Henry Rodriguez is in some tough straights, word. Otherwise, aside from health, most relievers are […]
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Chicago White Sox – Last Thursday, I told people to go all in on Addison Reed. Not long afterward, Chris Sale was removed from the rotation, placed in the bullpen and anointed the closer. Since the proclamation, Sale appeared in the 8th inning, blew the lead and Reed got the save chance in extra innings. […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?I blame the media: every manager has an itchy trigger finger early in the season when it comes to the bullpen. Or I blame myself and everyone else who obsesses over fantasy as we’ve created a culture where 5.2 IPs are something that need to be dissected and reacted to as if a reliever is […]
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Bottom of the Ninth: Introducing the BS Meter
April 26, 2012 | Closers | 85 Commentsby: Albert Lang
Before going through the closer upheaval rigmarole, I thought it important to set some context on blown saves. From 2009-2011 (three seasons), of pitchers with at least 10 saves, 11 relievers blew 16 or more saves. Only three of those pitchers (Matt Capps, Carlos Marmol and Jim Johnson) are still closers. Leo Nunez and Brian […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Pittsburgh Pirates: Surprisingly, Juan Cruz toed the rubber in the ninth to earn the save for the Pirates Tuesday night. Initially there was no word as to the why. Eventually, we heard that Joel Hanrahan tweaked his hamstring on the last pitch of his outing against the Giants on Sunday. Hanrahan says he’s not going to […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Surprisingly, the dust has settled a few places and some of the riskier closers (Frank Francisco, Jim Johnson, Grant Balfour, Fernando Rodney (wtf?), Javy Guerra, etc.) have gotten off to good starts. That said, there’s still a dash of turmoil in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Toronto and Washington. Boston Red Sox – Mark Melancon is […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Bottom of the Ninth: What to Look for in the First Week
April 5, 2012 | Closers | 27 Commentsby: Albert Lang
Grey covered the Andrew Bailey and Frank Francisco situations nicely on Tuesday. However, I had already started putting information together, so I’ll leave you with a few lines from my Francisco write-up: While Francisco is not expected to miss anytime, we’re talking about a relatively fragile relief pitcher here and a Mets organization that has […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Ryan Dempster, 2012 Fantasy Outlook
March 22, 2012 | 2012 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 13 Commentsby: Albert Lang
From 2008-2010, Ryan Dempster posted a 3.49 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 2.50 K:BB rate over 622 innings. He averaged 189 K’s a season during that stretch and was a great fantasy baseball contributor, i.e. he was all Henry Rowengartner. Then, Dempster turned 34 and became all Chet Steadman. His 2011 was miserable and worthless (just like Daniel […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Ubaldo Jimenez, 2012 Fantasy Sleeper
March 17, 2012 | 2012 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 71 Commentsby: Albert Lang
As the world continues to be hyper about “what have you done for me lately,” fantasy baseball owners rejoice. It’s nice when your opponents look at 2011’s stats and think they are gospel because then guys who had bad years last year fall through the cracks. Even better if the guys between the cracks are […]
Please, blog, may I have some more?Traditional, smarishional, am I right? I mean, long gone are the days when your soon-to-be father-in-law would actually pay you (in sheep, no less) to take his wretched daughter off his hands. Similarly, Razzballers are becoming masters of their own domains and kicking the traditional 5×5 fantasy baseball game to the curb. According to this […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? OBP, Yeah Razzballers Know Me
March 5, 2012 | 2012 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 62 Commentsby: Albert Lang
On Base Percentage (OBP) is what Skynet created for the Oakland A’s so they could win the World Series and ruin baseball. Actually, that doesn’t sound quite right. I think OBP is the brew baseball writers’ fermented in a basement to scare Andre Dawson, or it was the reason pitchers feared Jim Rice, thereby making […]
Please, blog, may I have some more? Zack Cozart, 2012 Fantasy Sleeper
February 24, 2012 | Fantasy Baseball Sleepers | 26 Commentsby: Albert Lang
It appears another National League contending club is giving the starting shortstop keys to a relatively unproven youngster. As of now, Zack Cozart is slated to be at short on opening day for the Cincinnati Reds. In 2007, the Reds drafted Cozart in the second round (they also drafted Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco – […]
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