Alright speed chasers, the summer is getting underway in earnest. Find a slice of category juice anywhere you can get it. The last of the big name rookies are up, so you’ll need to start getting creative. Make sure to target the weaker catchers with guys that get green lights.
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Bullpen Report, Week 12: May In June
June 13, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers, Middle Relievers | 21 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
It’s June, in case you don’t own a calendar or Mayan solar stone. Fantasy owners can no longer afford to hold their breath in any given category. Now is the time to take your shots on middle relievers and hope they earn you a save or two. It’s nice if they can give you strikeouts or stellar ratios in the meantime. Check your wire for the names below.
Please, blog, may I have some more? SAGNOF: Delino’s The Shortest Distance Between Bases
June 10, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, SAGNOF | 5 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
The past week saw some interesting faces steal multiple bases. With over a third of the fantasy season in the books now is the time to take corrective action in any category you find your team deficient in. Unless you had a speed-heavy approach stolen bases is likely one of those. Get to fixing that anchor category, pronto.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Closer Rankings: Kimbrel Clause Is Coming
June 6, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 14 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
It finally happened. A team decided to sign Craig Kimbrell! The MLB draft happened this week so the draft pick penalty has been lifted for signing a few marquee names like Kimbrell and Dallas Keuchel. The Chicago Cubs offered the most, since their payroll is jacked anyway. With the premiere of Dark Phoenix this weekend I’ve got a ranking of X-Men for the tiers.
Please, blog, may I have some more?It’s a pretty fruitful week for plucking some speedsters from the wire. Injuries continue to open avenues for blocked players and languishing prospects. An analyst could get excited just thinking about it.
- If you want a speed specialist Myles Straw is your man. He did one thing well in the minors: swipe bags. If he hangs around in Houston and manages to get on base he’s an instant category boost. He isn’t likely to play every day. Though that could change if he performs or injuries linger.
- Keon Broxton is getting yet another fresh start. I actually loved him as a late stash in a Mets outfield that had very low hurdles to playing time. The Mets gonna Mets and they chose Carlos Gomez over Broxton. It will be interesting to see if a move to Baltimore can untap some speed like it has for Jonathan Villar.
- Mallex Smith gave us a Billy-Hamilton-Homer last week. He walked and proceed to steal second, third, and home. Smith added a fourth steal in that game as well to give you six in one week from him. There are certainly regrets over dropping him previously.
- With Seattle hosting the Astros for four games buckle up. Bob Cheerios is bottom ten in catchers to run on. Almost every Mariner runs at least a bit.
- The Cubs are hosting the Rockies and Yu Darvish projects to start Wednesday. Could the stars align and give us the recently recalled Garrett Hampson in the starting lineup to face him? A Hampson truther can only hope. Plenty of other Rockies can give you a stolen base that day.
- With Jose Alvarado on family leave, there could be a chance for Emilio Pagan to snag a save or two. Tampa has been a difficult bullpen to pin down, though.
Let’s pivot to pitcher’s being run on this week. Of course a couple Mets are near the top. Darvish has shown he gives zero Fukudome’s about holding runners. It’s also surprising to see a couple of relievers on the list.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Bullpen Report, Week 10: Bargain Brand Bandages
May 30, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers, Middle Relievers | 13 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
I don’t know if there’s a more frustrating pursuit than finding enough pitching in fantasy baseball. Usable middle relievers used to grow on trees. Now the good ones are picked and what’s left probably tastes sour. Nevertheless, we forge ahead trying to find a bandaid for our fantasy staffs where we can. In deeper leagues those won’t be brand name, rather bargain brand bandages. At least we’re far enough into the season that some early injuries have healed.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Hopefully everyone remembers it’s Monday today. Get your lineups set and claims in if you had the day off. There are yet more prospects if you want to go down that route. It’s otherwise a fairly quite holiday weekend. Enjoy it, there may not be too many of these.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Closer Report, Week 9: There’s A GIF For That
May 23, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 15 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
The damn is breaking on many bullpens, with holes springing in a good amount of others. If you landed a top tier arm consider yourself immensely lucky. The rest of us schmoes will be in the bullpen garbage heaps looking for a few cans to trade for a nickel. The tiers are GIF themed this week, so no one has to think too hard.
- Sean Newcomb has transitioned to the bullpen well. He’s ditched his changeup in favor of his wipeout curveball. If he limits the walks he will get opportunities to close. Especially with groundball pitcher Luke Jackson finally running into so bad luck on balls getting through the infield. Managers usually feel like extreme groundballers are better eighth-inning options.
- The Rockies will have to promote someone with Wade Davis hitting the IL. Scott Ohberg has been pretty good since last season and figures to be the fill in. Remember that logic doesn’t always apply when guessing at manager decisions, though. Bryan Shaw and Carlos Estevez have both closed before. They could be worth a speculative add in deeper leagues.
- All signs were pointing to Jose Leclerc returning to his closing role. Shawn Kelley came off the IL and spit in the face of those hoping for a Leclerc save, closing out two straight. For what it’s worth Leclerc was warming up a few nights ago when Chris Martin got in trouble. Still, if Kelley is getting it done they may see where he takes them.
- The Nationals bullpen has turned into a plague ship ever since signing Trevor Rosenthal. Coincidence?
- Boston is ready to throw in the towel on Ryan Brasier as closer. They can’t seem to find any to replace him. This is obviously because Matt Barnes insulted Alex Cora’s mother. Someone named Marcus Walden blew a save Wednesday. Brandon Workman notched a save Monday but was then used in the middle innings the rest of the week. I added a couple of Workman shares since his 13.3 K/9 is stellar and the BB/9 has been better in May.
- Steve Cishek has done a bang-up job since Pedro Strop hit the IL. Between that and Strop’s history as a setup man, Cishek may be the guy for the foreseeable future. Sorry, what’s that? They still have Brandon Morrow? I can’t hear you over my own roaring laughter.
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Another week, another post by me mentioning the Mets. Does it seem like I pick on the Mets too much? I am a Phillies fan, so it’s entirely possible. Maybe the Mets could teach their pitchers how to hold runners and get to home plate faster like the rest of baseball. This is the same organization that lets it’s pitchers decide for themselves whether or not to get an MRI on their sore arms so I’m not expecting much. Sorry, Mets rant over. Here are the week’s speed notes.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Bullpen Report, Week 8: How Bazaar
May 16, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers, Middle Relievers | 15 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
It’s getting ugly in the reliever market. Injuries, ineffectiveness, and promotions have wrung much of the top talent out of the scene. Much like the bazaar in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle there’s stuff everywhere, but it’s hard to find what you need. Also, there’s a basket with a cobra in it. You just have to hope the Rock shows up and start throwing people through walls. I don’t actually know what the fantasy baseball equivalent of that is. I’ve gotten off track here thinking about the Rock’s ridiculous biceps, as per uzhe. I’ll wrap up this lede in ramble with a comparison Jumanji’s theme: the only way to win the game of relievers is to play and win.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The parade of prospects getting call ups early this season has been eventful, to say the least. Some are already back down. Don’t let that discourage you from hunting for the next FAAB target a week early. Speed can be an easier skill to translate at the big-league level if you can find ways to get on base. I’m not a prospect expert, check out Mike’s work for that. Still, it’s never a bad time to gamble on a young guy with potential.
Please, blog, may I have some more? Closer Rankings, Week 7: Sick As A Seattle RP
May 9, 2019 | 2019 Fantasy Baseball, Closers | 32 Commentsby: Roto-Wan
Roto-Wan is recovering from the toddler flu. I’m his semi-conscious fantasy lobe here to deliver you the best closer rankings I can with the limited blood sugar I’ve been able to hoard. Tiers will be sick day daytime TV-themed.
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