Drew Smyly‘s first start in over three months didn’t exactly go as planned. The left-hander opted for the rehab route over season ending surgery on his torn left labrum, and managed to make it back in time to contribute. Despite successfully coming back, Smyly’s outing on Sunday didn’t have the best results. He tossed four innings, surrendering five runs — including a pair of solo shots — on seven hits and two walks. There was good news as Smyly managed to sit down four Rangers on strikes and induced 11 swinging strikes on 95 pitches.
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Author: Davidwiers
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, tech and other nerdy things by following him on twitter at @davidwiers.
Read some of Davidwiers's 28 posts
Ambulance Chasers, Week 20: Mostly Pain, Some Gain
August 16, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 5 Commentsby: Davidwiers
The Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson once said — among other things — “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Clearly Tennyson never played fantasy baseball. Other than the fact Tennyson died in 1892, he clearly never played fantasy baseball with that sort of attitude. While the return of players like Miguel Cabrera, Justin Turner, and even Desmond Jennings will no doubt help fantasy rosters, this past week saw lose more roto players than we gained back.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Potentially Vanishing Position Eligibility
August 11, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 11 Commentsby: Davidwiers
A player’s eligibility is a huge factor in evaluating their price or draft status. All else being equal, a 20 home run outfielder is very different from a 20 home run shortstop. Of course, from this season to next there will be a number of hitters losing specific position eligibility, and thus their value takes a dip as well. The season is not yet over so these could change, but as of right now, we’re losing a lot of third base eligible players.
A few quick notes:
- The players are separated into their respective divisions. The following is not every player losing eligibility, just those most fantasy relevant.
- I’m using Yahoo! eligibility rather than CBS or ESPN not because of any specific fondness, but Yahoo! has the most lax requirements at 10 games appeared or five games started.
- I considered splitting up center field specific players from the general outfield, however in standard leagues no such distinction exists.
- All these players can be plugged into a utility spot, so when I say outfield only, I’m implying UTIL as well.
Ambulance Chasers, Week 19: Shoulder Woes and Light Throws
August 9, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 6 Commentsby: Davidwiers
Sometimes I feel like Lisa Simpson when she gets the Linguo doll and Homer attempts to make it drink beer. The line from that episode — Trilogy of Error — that seems to haunt my fantasy teams is “This is why I can’t have nice things!” After trading for Jose Fernandez in a keeper league just days ago, once again I’m forced to acknowledge said quote.
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s almost time to think about next year. I don’t mean that as an A’s fan — that works too — but more in the terms of keeper and dynasty leagues. Keeping pitchers can be a very risky proposition given their tendency to get injured, making the call on a pitcher a tricky one. For now, lets take a look at current Chicago White Sox and soon-to-be free agent Jeff Samardzija. Other than a 4.35 ERA, there are multiple red flags on the Shark’s pitching profile. A dip in swinging strike rate, K/9 and K-rate to go with a four year high in FIP and xFIP are all trends going in the wrong directions.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Ambulance Chasers, Week 18: Wilson Drifts Away
August 2, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball |by: Davidwiers
According to IMDB, Tom Hanks’ character spent 1500 days alone on the island. We don’t have that much time left in a baseball season — although I’d love to see small sample size debates still raging around the 700 day mark — but like Hanks, we did just lose a Wilson.
C.J. Wilson, Angels: The 2015 season is over for the southpaw as he is expected to undergo surgery to address a left elbow impingement. Apparently an MRI earlier in the season also showed bone spurs, so going under the knife to address both issues is probably the best call. Wilson is droppable in any redraft or keeper league and all but the very deepest of dynasty formats.
Here are some other injuries you should keep your eye on…
Please, blog, may I have some more?Nearly a month ago the Marlins made the somewhat curious decision to send Marcell Ozuna down to Triple-A. Just looking at his offensive numbers — and not reading into their potential displeasure with him showing up to camp somewhat out of shape or he and agent Scott Boras’ rejection of an extension— it isn’t like Ozuna was setting the world on fire with his bat. Owner of a .249/.301/337 batting line before being sent down, it’s hard to argue something too sinister, even from the Marlins. Sure, the team could be playing service clock games, but they would hardly be alone in doing such a thing. As Ozuna continues to pile up the stats in the minors, he was hitting .322/.365/.576 with three home runs in 63 plate appearances, prior to yesterday’s game, I’m expecting to see Ozuna up sooner rather than later.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Ambulance Chasers, Week 17: A New Rendon(ition)
July 26, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 11 Commentsby: Davidwiers
The home stretch is upon is us! Head-to-head leagues are juggling for playoff positioning, roto leagues are battled for 0.5 points in WHIP every single day and the rebuild is on for others. Oh, those are just my leagues. As we close in on the final eight weeks of the season an injury at this point — or a stud pitcher or slugger coming back — can tip the scales in many a fantasy leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more?With apologies to the talented Anna Kendrick, if Kyle Hendricks can sing a decent version of Don’t You (Forget About Me), then I would absolutely accept Hendricks to step in for the next Pitch Perfect. Heck, even if Hendricks can’t sing, he’s shown enough control in his pitching career to warrant some praise. On top of his excellent 1.55 BB/9 this year — and 1.61 for his career — Hendricks is flashing a few more strikeouts this year. Rather than wax poetic about his control, check out the table below for his rankings among the 77 starting pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched this season (prior to yesterday’s games). Arbitrary endpoint alert, but it represents about half a season, perfect for this time of year.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Even with the break thanks to All-Star festivities, injuries happen, and thus, Ambulance Chasers happens. The majority of today’s blurbs are positive, which is rare for the Ambulance Chasers. Three cheers for mostly good news! For even more good news, we here at Razzball have partnered up with The Infirmary Report to showcase their lovely and comprehensive spreadsheet of injuries. You can find the full spreadsheet from The Infirmary Report below the player blurbs.
Francisco Liriano, Pirates: The southpaw was a late scratch from yesterday’s schedule start with the team citing neck tightness. The Bucs announced Vance Worley would take Liriano’s start less than an hour before game time, though no word on whether or not Worley will take Liriano’s rotation spot if need be.
Please, blog, may I have some more?In case you missed it, the All-Star break is upon us! As the (sort of) halfway point in the season, it’s time for teams to either go for broke or build towards next season. Some players have given owners reason to rebuild perhaps due to injuries or ineffectiveness, however not all is lost! Count on the following guys to regain some of their value in the final months.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Ambulance Chasers, Week 15: The Buchholz Stops Here
July 12, 2015 | 2023 Fantasy Baseball | 9 Commentsby: Davidwiers
This is a unique time of the year as the All-Star break gives players some extra time off. Those who may have otherwise been placed on the 15-day disabled list will be able to catch a bit of a breather. Unfortunately there were several injuries that forced teams to place players on the shelf, some with six to eight week time frames. Consider this the triage version of the Ambulance Chasers as the lesser injury write ups will wait until next week. In addition to the players on the shelf, there are some replacement suggestions who should be available in most formats as well.
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