Man, after thinking about where I need to go with this intro, I got a mad hankering for Italian food. Just ordered some to get here during afternoon baseball. Is it profiling that now I’m non-stop craving Italian when I hear a name like Sal Romano? But Italian food is so positive! Is there such a thing as positive profiling?!
Speaking of Profiling, we’re back with enough edition of the Pitcher Profile! I know I’m picking someone that’s pretty far off the beaten path, but any time Sunday baseball features an-even-somewhat-interesting guy making their debut, I’m intrigued! Romano was vaguely on the radar for the NL-only and NFBC-type leagues given the Reds complete lack of a starting rotation, and surprisingly it was Rookie Davis getting the first DL stint (not their old farts, although Brandon Finnegan got hurt as well Saturday night) that opened an early spot for Romano to make his debut. Buried on prospect lists in the 10-20 range for Cincy (they do have a good farm system though), with Ralph ranking him as merely a “floorboard”, Romano apparently has pretty interesting stuff from what I read, mainly a mid-to-high 90s fastball. As tradition, I write the intro to the Profiles before I watch a pitcher’s start, and I’ll withhold any judgment until I see him throw. So as I eagerly await my baked ziti, the Brewers game is about to start and I’m pumped to see how Romano looks and Profile his debut. Here’s how he fared yesterday afternoon in his debut:
First Inning: Romano at 6’5 270 (loves his Italian food too!) hits the outside corner at 97 to Nick Franklin (getting a start with Jonathan Villar getting a day off), 0-1. Then paints the outside corner at 98, 0-2. Look at the early heater!
Then his first breaking ball is a hard slider at 90 in the dirt and Franklin barely holds up, quite a start. 1-2 tails outside at 98, 98 on the hands is fouled off, 98 is a little inside, then 97 in the upper-away third gets a foul tip in the mitt for a K to open up Romano’s career:
97 high and away to the red hot Eric Thames, 97 in the zone fouled off, breaking ball at 87 stays outside, 97 a little high and away, then 96 is a little low for a walk. Don’t blame the Reds for being a little careful with Thames, he’s mad en fuego. Broadcast brings up that in 13 innings over two starts in AAA he only had one walk, so control doesn’t seem to be a big issue. First pitch to Ryan Braun is high and tight and Braun goes for it and pops it to foul ground, and Arismendy Alcantara had a clear easy shot at it and dropped it. So an error there and Braun still up 0-1, then 88 little slider is in the zone, 1-2. Nasty pitch!
95 high and tight fouled back, slider outside, 97 on the hands fouled off, slider outside in the dirt, 2-2 bareeeeeeeeeeeely misses the outside corner to Braun, then hanging slider of hard curve stays inside for another walk. Fastball looks plus plus, but the breaking stuff isn’t very consistent. But it’s early, could be nerves. Travis Shaw takes a fastball low, 97 again low dribbled foul, 97 again low and in, then 96 on the outer third at the knees is flared to left for an easy flyout. Fastball in the dirt to Hernan Perez, 97 right in there, 97 low and away, then nasssssssssssty 89 MPH slider gets a bad whiff, another slider at 90 pulls lightly foul, slider again tipped back foul, spiked a slider this time, 3-2 96 MPH fastball fouled off on a late swing, 96 again fouled away, 95 fouled off again, then went back to the slider at 88 and gets a lazy fly to center to finally wrap up his first inning. 35 pitches, albeit an error extended the inning, with that Perez at-bat that lasted 11 pitches… Hopefully we can see a couple breezy innings.
Second Inning: After a long bottom of the first as well (that also yielded no runs), Romano sails a fastball to Manny Pina, fastball again outside, then a 2-0 hammer curve at 83 drops in there to make it 2-1, holy shit, look at that pitch!
Then follows it up with 95 on the hands fouled off, high fastball again fouled back, curveball stays too high 3-2, then fastball at 95 is right down the middle and Pina rips it to left for a double. Then 95 inside plunks Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Yikes, the stuff looks good and he supposedly had control, but the nerves might have him right now. 96 looked to be in the zone gets called a ball outside to Orlando Arcia, curve drops in a little inside, then 95 letter high is hit hard to center, and on the trot Billy Hamilton has it on the warning track for the first out. Loud out. Then a great bunt by Wily Peralta moved up the runners on the first pitch, so two outs, runners 1st and 2nd, and Franklin takes 96 painting the low inside corner, 0-1. Hard curve barely has him hold his swing 1-1, fastball way high, then 95 on the hands absolutely ties him up for an easy infield pop to get him through another stressful – albeit scoreless inning.
Third Inning: Still scoreless, and hanging curve outside to Thames, he pulls a fastball foul, then curveball gets a routine easy grounder to second, and Alcantara boots as routine and easy a grounder as you can imagine. Two errors now on Alcantatra, and as a utility dude, that’s NOT how to get more playing time. Fastball low to Braun, then fastball letter high to Braun is shot oppo field in as vintage a Braun homer as you can imagine. Right at the top of the zone – elevated not quite where Tucker Barnhart wanted it – just some great hitting. So hoping to settle back in and a fastball is high and tight to Shaw, fastball again gets a late swing foul, hanging curve outside, then fastball right in a lefty’s wheelhouse is an absolute moonshot to right for a long, high homer. Back-to-back homers, wow. Yeah, things starting to not look so good… Fastball low to Perez, heater again outside, fastball again pretty far outside, and 3-0 count gets a catcher’s meeting. Then fastball again is low, 4 pitch walk, and Romano is unglued. Pass me the garlic knots! Curveball low to Pina, then fastball again outside, and Romano has nothing in the zone right now. Out comes everyone for a conference, then another fastball misses, and yet another way high and tight and another 4 pitch walk. Sheesh. But there we go, 95 MPH fastball right in there to Nieuwenhuis, maybe change-up at 87 that didn’t do much is outside, another hanging something at 86 outside, 94 on the outside edge slashed foul, then 87 MPH maybe slider that still didn’t do much had enough change of speed to get a foul tip in the mitt for his 2nd K. Slider in the dirt almost gets an offering but Arcia held up, fastball inside, then fastball at the knees gets a double-play chopper, but Joey Votto couldn’t dig it out and Arcia is safe at first. May have been safe either way, but Votto drops a huge F-bomb that he didn’t make the play. So runners 1st and 3rd, two down, and slider (?????) in the dirt low and away to Peralta (really going to start the opposing pitcher with a slider when you have control issues?!), fastball outside and Arcia takes second, fastball low, 3-0 to the pitcher. I regret Profiling this start, this is no bueno. Fastball in there at only 92 – just having to guide it in there – 92 in there again, then 92 on the hands is popped to first for another big out to keep this from becoming an absolute gutting. And with his spot up in the bottom of the inning, Romano gets pinch-hit for, and Romano gets to shame-eat a whole pizza after reflecting on how he lost all his control and command…
Final Line: L 3.0 IP 82 Pitches (39 Strikes) 2 ER 3 Hits 4 Walks 2 K Gamescore: 25 Gamescore+: 45
Final Analysis: The matchup afternoon was actually very apt. Romano and opposing pitcher Wily Peralta are shockingly similar. Huge fastball that can get too straight without pinpoint command, lack of any consistent secondary stuff, and both are 6’5 and like, a bajillion pounds. As always with shorter outings, the Gamescore+ comes out much more favorably.
Romano is obviously where he is as a ML-caliber pitcher with the fastball. Was usually 95-97, it topped out at 98 and bottomed out to 92 when he was just guiding pitches in the zone to the opposing pitcher when he lost all his feel. An over-the-top delivery, there really wasn’t too much deception or movement on the heater. So he needs his secondary stuff to work. While I GIFfed some nice examples, the slider and curveball were both inconsistent at best, but he may have been overthrowing them as the debut-jitters impacted the stuff. Without either pitch, lefties are going to have a field day against him, which makes me feel pretty smart for streaming Travis Shaw yesterday in the Perty Perts. :) The arsenal is all there, and he’s shown good results in AAA without walking anyone, so there could be something here down the line as he settles in.
Another thing to note that I’m just realizing when watching the GIFs, is that the Brewers hitters seemed to have a pretty good feel on what pitch was coming. Watch both of the breaking ball GIFs – while Braun and Pina held up, it looks like their timing was looking for off-speed the whole way. I can’t pick it up, but maybe Romano was tipping his pitches, and the Brewers caught onto it pretty quick. Just a guess.
Eh well, when you start a post, write the intro, eat a bunch of Italian food, and were watching the Brewers anyway – you’re kinda pot committed even if a guy you Profile doesn’t look that great. The fastball I think will play in the Majors at some capacity, but we really need to see the slider and curveball to show consistency before thinking he can be a for-sure MLB starter. Plus it didn’t help at all that Alcantara extended the game not once but two times with errors and Tim Adleman came in long relief and looked great – although Adleman might just get Finnegan’s spot. A rebuilding Reds team should continue to give Romano looks as a starter – as mentioned above he wasn’t a bad-control guy in the Minors so maybe a lot of the issues we saw yesterday was nerves – but it’s likely a long ways out until we have Romano in the mixed league fantasy discussion. NL-only and the really deep mixed leagues maybe should keep an eye out on his next start or two, but in shallow leagues, you can go ahead and “cross him off then…”.
Updated Top 100 SP
(rankings for ROS based on 12-team Roto, green for risers, red for fallers)
Dropped Out: J.A. Happ, TOR (I may be rushing a little bit to judgment, but as of right now, left his last start in significant pain and getting MRI on his elbow…), Jonathan Gray, COL (DL for a while – foot), Brandon Finnegan, CIN (sounds like DL for a while as well, lat/trap), Garrett Richards, LAA (yeah this sounds like a lingering “whodunit?!” figuring out what’s wrong…), Jesse Chavez, LAA (still think he was a good deep-league call, but running out of room), Jason Hammel, KC (see below)
- Yeah Chris Sale looked absolutely unreal against the Rays. Better than I even remember in his White Sox days last year… Must be the nice feel and weight of the new jersey…
- What a nuts outing for Carlos Martinez! 11 Ks and 8 BBs in one start?! Unreal! Literally no one could hit the ball. Literally no one knew where the ball was going. That was literally awesome!
- Almost as unhittable as Sean Manaea! All he does is throw no-hitters! That was a crazy game, just lost his release point. Control was never a huge issue for him coming up, so I’m still very bullish.
- F it. All in on James Paxton. My years of loving on my big sturdy Canadian man are paying off, eh!
- I watched some of Jameson Taillon‘s last start at the Cubs, and his stuff looked like it had an added crispness, on top of his already solid command. Yeah, he did give up 3 walks, but looked great overall to me.
- Lance McCullers has a 23:3 K:BB?! Since he’s given up 4 homers and some runs the past two games, it might be one of your last chances to buy low.
- With all the talk on velocity bumping up 1-1.5 MPH on fastballs, it’s realllly disconcerting to see Cole Hamels‘ fastball DOWN 0.8 MPH after consistently being a mid-92 MPH fastball guy. He should be at like 93+ with the adjustment, but he’s down to 91.8. His slow start scares me a bit.
- His second start yesterday afternoon was a mixed bag, but 10 Ks in 4.1 innings for Drew Pomeranz?! After his stellar debut against the Orange Birds, I’m feeling Pom-wonderful!
- God, please don’t look at where I had Jason Hammel coming into the year and through last week… I blame the commenters for not helping me fix that one! I think I had one comment on it, but blah, I hate everything about Hammel now! Like Hamels (irony), velo is down when it should be somewhat up. And he’s bad in the second half too, so I can’t imagine how bad that’ll be this time!
- Ervin Santana‘s numbers look awesome – he’s faced the White Sox twice though. They might be the worst offense in baseball..
- While Michael Wacha gets a bump – his stuff is looking pretty good despite an iffy start last time out – I have no faith that his shoulder can hold up. I mean, it just breaks sometimes… Literally. Have I said that word too much in these additional notes?!
- And just because pitching is awesome, look at Padres reliever Miguel Diaz on this pitch. Damn, if he could throw that consistently!
Any of you deep leaguers out there interested in Romano? And how do the ranks look this week? Shoot your comments below, or you can leave a message for the Podcast that we’ll answer on the show! We record around 6:00 PM EST, so get your messages in before then and we’ll answer what we can. Thanks for dropping by, and happy pitching, Razzball Nation!
Would you trade Sano for Carrasco?
Current starters are:
Tanaka
Sanchez
Harvey
Greinke
Nola
Nova
@Mike: I usually like keeping the hitter when there’s comparable value, but yeah looks like you could use the pitching. Carrasco looks good and healthy right now, I’d do that
Looks like Cotton is rising, but still behind a few meh guys. Think he’s the sort who can creep into the top 35-40 if he keeps it up for a couple more starts?
Also, allow me to brag about my staff in my most important league (10 teams, 30 man rosters, H2H 6×6 w ERA, WHIP, SVP+Hold, IP, QS and K/9)
Darvish
DeGrom
Salazar
Paxton
Harvey
Martinez
Bundy
Manaea
Hill
Ray
Cotton
@Curious George Springer: Most definitely. Change up looks good, but I think he lacks consistency, evidenced by the dichotomy of his first two starts hah. Since he’s young and I dunno if he’s a “massive” K guy, I’m still lagging behind with him for now.
Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. So many Ks, and so many innings! Yeah that’s pretty ridiculous haha
@JB Gilpin: Need to be a MASSIVE K guy for him to move up in your rankings ? I’ll take Cotton over Maeda, and in fact, have done so this year.
Hope your wrong bro. I’m a fan. Manaea 29 and Cotton 61. Do walks count ? haha
@Curious George Springer: @Andrew Edenbaum: Hah well then you’re def on the Cotton gravy train, I’m not going close to that high :) Maeda was over k/9 last year, and in NL, so I still have a pretty big gap there
Thoughts on Maeda? I know you’ve dropped him down from 15/16 to 24, and you were very high on him pre-season, but what are your thoughts now? Worried?
@Cheese: Yup a little. I worry that now that the league has seen him for a season, they’ve made their adjustment and I dunno how long it’ll be until he adjusts back. While that’s kinda speculatory, his pitches first 3 games – 75, 83, 71. I was hoping they’d feel more confident stretching him out, but may not be the case. He also struggled which is contributory, but I’m a little concerned.
@JB Gilpin: You have McCullers just above Maeda now at 23. Would it be crazy to offer Maeda straight up for McCullers this early?
@Cheese: Not at all! It’s a little riskier since McCullers had the arm stuff last year, but so much more upside, I like it!
Romano — Make America Grate Again!
@Grey: cheesy
@Grey: @crenshaw07: Chicken MarSAL-a
Hehe
@crenshaw07: @Grey: My title today was DEF not punny enough
Hey JB! What are you making of Maeda and Hill right now? Anything to do but hold?
@Duda Want to Build a Snowman?: Got some Maeda thoughts in comments above – worried about the low pitch counts so far on top of struggles. But yeah you kinda just have to hold both, do you not have extra DL spots for Hill?
@JB Gilpin: Thanks. Yeah, I’m more in Grey’s camp with Maeda (looking to sell before he pumpkins with an injury or something). Rich Hill I have a DL for, but this is a quality start (fancy voice) + wins league, and I’m worried about the talk of limiting his innings per start.
Would Hill or Maeda for someone like Fulmer, Quintana, Eichkoff be selling too low on either of those LAD pitchers?
@Duda Want to Build a Snowman?: Oh for sure, if you could get like 75-80 cents on the dollar, I would prob sell. I only have Maeda in one league and I’m likely gonna ride it out.
Hahahaha on the fancy voice. Agree that format def doesn’t help his value. Fulmer is the only one I would try for, with Hill. I’d be OK with that, but would hold otherwise
I draft Duffy on my team.
He has a nice start this season with ERA 1.80 in 20.0IP
But his FIP only 3.73 and Velocity is also drop
should i believe his performance and sell high now?
@Pooh: Yeah FIP can be wonky this early, but its at about where it was last year. Velo is indeed way down which scares me a little, but I think he will be a pretty solid #2 SP still. Depends on what kind of trade you might get, but I wouldn’t be shopping him too hard
Hey JB
I realize he’s not a SP but what do you think of Chris Devenski? Do you think I am better off with him in my last SP spot than the guys you have ranked 45-55ish in a standard 10 team h2h 6×6 with holds? Right now my staff is Yu, Duffy, Mccullers, R Hill, Pineda, R.Ray, and Snell.
Thanks!
@Wacha Wacha: Love Devenski, pretty valuable player, I almost think they SHOULD leave him in bullpen as a super reliever. Yeah with holds I def would own him. I’d prob replace Snell with him, although I thought Snell looked ok today. Line got really jacked up bc a horrendoues error by Brad Miller
Howdy, JB. Really enjoy your writeups and the podcast.
In the comments on his post today Grey, when asked, said Velasquez over Bundy, and you’ve got Bundy 36 places higher. I get that Vince is in the better division, but Bundy’s got the much better offense. Perhaps Grey was looking at the near future, but I’m interested in ROS.
Any thoughts on where he’s coming from? Since Grey joined these comments maybe he’ll weigh in, otherwise you’ve got a good podcast topic for next time.
@Shin-Soo Choo Choo: Thanks man, appreciate that! Wowwwwwwwwwwwww, I’m bringing this up on the Podcast for sure, that’s an egregious answer hahaha. I don’t even wanna speculate what Grey is smoking, I’ll wait for his answer :)
@Shin-Soo Choo Choo: So you’re also Ryanoger?
Cram’s got receipts!
@Grey: Hahaha. Or he just read ryanoger’s comment. I’m an idiot. With receipts!
Haha
@Cram It: @Grey: Always get a receipt!
Hey JB and Grey,
Here are a couple podcast Qs for you to consider talking about:
1) What 3 mlb managers are fantasy player killers?
2) I know it’s early in the season but what one prominent hitter, SP, and RP are you dropping because they look so bad?
3) If you could be one mlb mascot, who would you be?
Thanks, fellas.
Sorry, we only take audio questions now https://www.speakpipe.com/RazzballBasbeallPodcast
Kidding!
@PB&J: @Grey: Hah yeah leave us a VM! Although I did fix the typo in the URL :)
https://www.speakpipe.com/RazzballBaseballPodcast
Sorry just barely missed this before we recorded this week, remind me again on this comment or ask in a voicemail and we’ll get to this next week, love these questions!
Why the love for Nova?
Only 3 games but ..
SwStr% 3.4
K-BB% 9.8%
@eric: I ranked him that high going into the year and nothing has changed. He’s had one bad inning. Yeah yeah not a K guy, but I think his WHIP will be near-elite. Looking great tonight!
Hey JB,
Enjoyable read and great insights as always!
I’m in DL hell right now (shallow 10-team H2H league) with my two DL slots already occupied by JBJ/Donaldson and now Britton & Jon Gray are also DL-eligible. Will likely need to cut one of those two this week so Gray is the obvious drop, right? Orioles don’t seem overly concerned, but what’s your level of worry about Britton’s “forearm soreness”?
@Jeb: Yo thanks for reading! Yup Gray is def your drop, I think he might miss half the year. Fairly concerned, but I did hear the strain is close to his wrist vs closer to the elbow, which is usually a good sign, so that helps keep things a little optimistic
Just dropped Jason Hammel in my deep dynasty, as I watched his first two starts and has was hot garbage (fortunately I had him benched for both). Everybody in your top 100 is owned (now that I’ve picked up your boy Jimmy Nelson), but do you still feel like Jesse Chávez is a decent call in deep leagues? Chávez has to be a better option than the likes of Derek Holland, James Shields, Wade Miley, A.J. Griffin, Jered Weaver, and the like, right?
@James Bishop: *he* was hot garbage, that is.
@James Bishop: Hah well at least you didn’t get those numbers to weigh you down! Yeah I like Chavez over those guys, Miley always scares me too much, mayyyyyybe Shields figured something out, but now his walks are awful. Yeah gimme Chavez haha
@JB Gilpin: Yeah, I realize these aren’t the most exciting options for fantasy, but in deep leagues you gotta do what you gotta do. On that note, somebody just dropped Jesse Hahn. Is he close to your top 100? I like the fastball velocity and the peripherals aren’t too bad.
@James Bishop: Oh I hear ya! My rebuilding REL Brewers are sporting a rotation of:
Adam Conley, Brett Anderson, Tommy Milone, Sal Romano. HAHAHAHA. But I have Guerra, Hader, Alex Reyes, Tyler Beede, so a lot of young/hurt arms to hopefully make it better by 2018 or 19.
Nah he hasn’t been too close, can’t stay healthy and was awful last year, I’m not too interested there
Thanks JB!
I have been using your rankings so far this season and I’m killing it.
Question for the show:
How long would you keep Julio Urías on your bench in a dynasty format?
Thanks again!
RD
@RD: For sure man, thanks for dropping by, glad I haven’t killed ya with mistakes! Haha. So a little confused, I mean you def have him owned, I imagine you just bench him until called up?
JB, is this rotation good enough, or should I try to upgrade someone?
Degrom
Salazar
Mccullers
Quintana
Lackey
Nola
Pineda
Ross
I have odubel, kendrys, thames, Suarez that I’m willing to move in a package. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
@Ryan: Yeah with McCullers starting well, Pineda showing flashes, I think it can work. Quintana starting slow isn’t helping, def could use a little more safety/depth. Might not have a better sell high moment for Thames than now!
Thanks for the reply on the previous top 100 thread. Definitely a deep leaguer today; honestly I knew nothing about Sal or his Romano’s cheese. I see Snell is still holding in the 40’s, think he get’s it together or do you think he’s a year away? He’s still available in my league but I don’t see an obvious drop for him right now. I also see you’ve got Amir climbing the ranks a bit, he too is on my watch list, but one more good start and I’d imagine he’ll be owned.
Regarding our last discussion post Xander trade, I did indeed swap C R.Martin for d’Arnaud; impatiently waiting for Gary Sanchez to get healthy lol. As for my one bench spot I added 2B C. Hernandez, partly due to my lack of team speed at my only bench spot, but saw where you recommended Judge, Renfroe or Tomas for that spot. Based on the roster below whatcha think swap our Hernandez for Judge or hold? Not sure how long before JD’s back but obviously he’s getting closer, and whether its Hernandez or Judge, I’ll have to drop that player to activate JD. Anyway appreciate the feedback; current roster is below:
10 team ESPN HTH 5X5 w/OBP and QS with daily moves
C d’Arnaud
1B Rizzo
2B D. Murphy
3B K.Seager
SS Russell
OF Trout
OF Springer
OF Inciarte
UTL 3B/OF Sano
UTL SS Bogaerts
UTL 2B/OF Zobrist
BN 2B C. Hernandez
DL OF JD Martinez
DL G. Sanchez
P J.Paxton
P T.Walker
P Carrasco
P Duffy
SP Nola
SP Nova
RP Giles
RP Kimbrel
BN RP Holland
BN RP J.Johnson
BN SP Bundy
BN SP Eickhoff
@We Are Out Of Room: Hah yeah, good to get coverage out there on new faces! Watched Snell today, thought he looked fine! like 3 extra base runners were after a 2 out error. Stupid Brad Miller. Yeah I like your guys right now too, Snell def needs to be high on your watch list. Sure, yeah while he’s looking hot, Cesar makes sense. Judge might have a little more upside, but I think Cesar able to plug in around your lineup helps
@JB Gilpin: Appreciate the feedback as always JB! I really want to own Snell, but I’d have a hard time keeping him when four closers are needed to keep pace with the upper tier. f an injury were to occur though he’d definitely be one of my first considerations. I know he’ll be good, it’s just when, not if. Kinda like KPax, I’ve ridden with him for about 3 seasons now, and it seems to be finally paying off.
@We Are Out Of Room: Agreed, Snell is still kinda in that fringy SP range. Agree on Snell, he has 4 plus pitches when he’s on – fastball, change, slider and curveball. Could really turn into a special pitcher.
@JB Gilpin: So yet another solid performance by Amir Garrett last night. Time to start taking him seriously iyo? For example would you drop my only bench bat right now in 2B C. Hernandez to add him to my staff?
10 team ESPN HTH 5X5 w/OBP and QS with daily moves
C Martin
1B Rizzo
2B D. Murphy
3B K.Seager
SS Russell
OF Trout
OF Springer
OF Inciarte
UTL 3B/OF Sano
UTL SS Bogaerts
UTL 2B/OF Zobrist
BN 2B C. Hernandez
DL OF JD Martinez
DL G. Sanchez
P J.Paxton
P T.Walker
P Carrasco
P Duffy
SP Nola
SP Nova
RP Giles
RP Kimbrel
BN RP Holland
BN RP J.Johnson
BN SP Bundy
BN SP Eickhoff
@We Are Out Of Room: Most definitely! I think he might have an adjustment period at some point, but I like him. Hmmmmmm. Yeah you’re kinda at a roster crunch right now. I think i indeed would make the move, then makes Nola or Walker expendable if they’re bad their next 1-2 starts
@JB Gilpin: I need more roster spots I’m greedy with my arms lol. Thanks for the advice, Im mulling it over. Not because I don’t agree with you, but because I know once I drop my bench bat someone else will go down lmao.
@JB Gilpin: @We Are Out Of Room: And as I just typed that I learn Xander has to have his thumb looked at smh. Probably not going to be able to add Amir now, just not ready to cut bait with Nola or Walker yet and obviously I cant spare the bench bat if Xander is hurt, hell I dont even have a free DL spot.
@We Are Out Of Room: Yeah Amir got gobbled up by another owner. So unless I want to trade 2b Hernandez and Nola for Amir and 2b/ss/3B Baez probably gonna just have to hold tight for right now.
@We Are Out Of Room: Yeah I saw the Xander thing live… but he’s back! With Nola now on DL he can go. If Amir is still avail, grab him for Nola!
Razz30 for li….ah shit, wrong post…I mean nice job JB!
@nick the dick: Hahaha yeah save that for Thursday I guess…
why SO down on Leak and Vargas? They’ve been great and don’t have bad matchups. You have so many disasters ranked higher!
@beardawg: I didn’t have either ranked, and now they are, so I don’t think I’m “SO” down on them! Which disasters?!
It’s been 2 or 3 starts for everyone. I’m not letting that determine some old vet with a long track record of “meh” vault suddenly very high, but am intently keeping an eye on both!
What’s good JB? Thanks for the post. I drafted Rich Hill in the 11th round, but I just cut bait with him after he landed on the DL for the second time. Picked up our boy Joe Ross in his place for his Wednesday start. Good move?
P.S. How do you feel about Wheeler the ROY?
@Slimcompoop: What’s up man?! Whewwwwwww, man that is really tough. Hill is so annoying. No DL room for Hill? I def woulda tried to own both but I know its easier said than done haha. Wheeler- sounds like he has a hard innings cap, maybe stream early on, but not feeling great about ROS value
Hey JB,
Thoughts on Glasnow? Can’t decide if he’ll figure it out before he’s sent down.
Have you watched him pitch this season?
Thanks
@Steve: Yo! Man I saw him live in AAA last year and thought he was gonna be the next big thing. Really lost all his control/command since getting to the majors. I’ve seen maybe 10-20 pitches worth so not a ton, didn’t seem like he was missing a ton when he was outside the zone… Giving him a nod in opening day rotation I think buys him a little more leash tho
What do you think of my pending trade? I’m weak in pitching and have a lot of power
My Khris Davis + David Price for his Kluber
Thanks for your input!
@marimon: Love it! Price is still just too risky for me. If he comes back and is a top-15 pitcher, ya you might lose the deal, but I think it’s a huge risk
I just traded for Manaea which I am hoping will help my weak pitching staff. With that in mind, I have been harboring Wainwright on my team. Unfortunately, I was starting him because I have so few options aside from him and he was a 2-start pitcher last week. Is there any reason to keep him on my bench? Drop or hold?
@Cuthbert Allgood: Nice, love me some buy low Manaea! yeah unless it’s a really deep league, I think you can cut bait there on Waino
@JB Gilpin: Thanks. I bought low on him and Buxton by giving up Moreland and A. Garcia, both of which I got off waivers. Hoping that it was the right move.
@Cuthbert Allgood: Whoaaaaaaaaa awesome deal! Yeah Buxton might just rot on your bench for this year, but I love that deal.
Thoughts on Matthew Boyd? I’ve watched his last two starts, his change has been nasty.
@lackeydrinksonme: Man, he’s on my list of 3-4 guys just out, I coulda sworn he was in my original ranks or first update, but looks like he was always just out. Had that nice run late last year, kinda wish we saw a smidge more velo this year, but he’s interesting. Wanna see some consistency and the walks go back down, but have my eye on him
No love for Chad Kuhl?
@gamers5: Nah not really, for example, I would take Boyd ahead of him still. The walks in the debut were weird, so not really worried on that, but I don’t buy the Ks he’s shown first few starts, and I don’t like his offspeed stuff enough. Good fastball, but bleh everywhere else to me when I watched him
I have a trade question for you, thanks in advance for the help. I got offered E5 for my Kinsler and Thames in a standard 5×5 12 team dynasty league. I have Altuve as my 2nd, Miggy and Chris Davis at 1b and util (we have 2 util spots).Kinsler usually fills the other util spot. What do you think?
@DISRESPECT: Hmmmm, yeah I have a a little Thames bias, which makes it close. Kinsler I’m kinda out on, especially in dyno. Mannnn, any way you can get a useful throw in, like a mid-range closer?
@JB Gilpin: he has a few, so it’s possible. Mid range closer or someone like Yadier Alvarez?
@DISRESPECT: I think the exact name im going to ask for is Feliz.
@DISRESPECT: Ohhhhhh I love Alvarez. But in a 12er dyno, its tough to hod a 20 yr old pitcher. Feliz def works!
@JB Gilpin: he accepted the deal with feliz thrown in. thanks for the help!
@DISRESPECT: Nice! Glad that worked!
Yo Jables!
VERY concerned about Maeda, especially after the velocity dip last game. I haven’t actually watched him pitch this year tho. What say you?
@Hugman: Sorry! Forgot to search for prior Maeda discussion.
@Hugman: Yo dude! Hah yeah pretty concerned, I wish they’d at least let him go deep one of these games… Pretty annoying…
PS – when is the next RH reunion, can you get a question from my wife on there?!
@JB Gilpin: Of course! I start working on that in May. Email me.
@Hugman: Will do!
JB, Chase Anderson and Jimmy Nelson are making strides this season. You got any idea why this is happening? I picked up Anderson and drop Tyson Ross because someone picked up Nelson first..Brewer Starters are the new IT?!
@Quintero: Sames! Looking for a sneaky pitcher add in case Maeda doesn’t get his shit together or I trade for a closer.
@Quintero: @Hugman: Hah slow down the Brewers pitching! Watching Jimmy now, he’s def the add over Anderson. His fastball is much improved. Locating so much better. Anderson’s change-up is working better and velo is up too – a little more than the league-wide being up with the statcast thing. I don’t trust the Anderson thing enough, I bet you could find some better fringey guys :)
What Up Man,
My OF is hurting and I’m stacked with pitchers…who would you rather move, Carrasco or Duffy? Given the player you choose, who would you attempt to target as an OF?
Thank you!
@JMoney: Did you lose Marte too?! Haha damn that blows. I think I would be more apt to sell Duffy, I think Carrasco still has that “fart in the air” around him with the bad spring/elbow thing. Duffy is still killing it with lower velo and walks up
Okay, I wanna talk about C Mart’s hair. Everyone I talk to in real life laughs at me when I blame his hair for his bad start and his weird start. But I mean, don’t you think it shows a lack of focus to not only dream up that hairstyle but then go out and have it done?! Less time in the salon and more in the clubhouse!
Haha
@Hugman: @Grey: It’s like Aaron Rodgers, he needs to stop hanging out with you LA folk and getting weekly facials! http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/13/aaron-rodgers-gets-weekly-facials-is-still-going-hollywood-despite-olivia-munn-split/
Molina looking old too. I’m soooooo happy your Cardinals are starting slow and Thames is on fire :)
Been offered Hamels for my Samardzija/Moore. With your concerns about Hamels would you make that deal?
@JR: Yeah I think I would still take Hamels, the SF guys have bigger warts haha
Hey JB! You still looking at these? Just in case, would love your thoughts on the sorta weird trade offer I got this AM for my 12 team H2H (QS + W) league:
I GET: Kluber (keepable for $28) + Gerrit Cole (keepable for $18)
I GIVE UP: Paxton (keepable for a cool $7) + Walker ($4 keeper, but probably not keeping him if we’re being honest).
It’s only keep 5, so I’d max be keeping 1-2 pitchers. (I have $4 McCullers, $4 Urias, $4 VV and $5 Nola keepers too).
Thanks!
@Duda Want to Build a Snowman?: Yo! Always still looking at these! Mannnnn, yeah that’s such a sexy price for Paxton :) But yeah if you can only keep 5 players total, and with McCullers and Urias slam dunks, yeah I like this deal for you. Other owner must be waiving white flag already hah
@JB Gilpin: Maybe! I don’t love Cole but not at all concerned about Kluber. Paxton is mi amor, but if this isn’t sell high, then I don’t know what is.
Also, I feel like Kluber and Cole are much safer bets for QS, even if Pax or Taijuan bring more sexy at times.
Totally re: keepers . . . on the bat side, I’ve got too many options as it is (expensive Harpers and Goldys, $20 Stories and Villars, to $1 Haniger and Moncadas).
@Duda Want to Build a Snowman?: I HATE Cole in real life, but I think his stuff looks pretty good still. I’m a buyer at where I;m seeing him ranked/conidered against in other places.
Yeah I think it fits win now, and saves keeper crunch
How concerned are you about Duffy? Was offered his Duffy for my JD Martinez. Im relatively comfortable with my OF, so could consider it, but if Duffy is headed for trouble its obviously not worth it.
Would you ask for more for JD than Duffy?
Would you rather trade Ian Desmond or JD as DL stashes?
Thanks!
@B the Esq.: I’m not “super” concerned, but I do think this start is misleading and I don’t think he’ll be as good as peak Duffy was last year. If you have a pretty solid OF I think it’s a deal I would take. But maybe I would counter. I think at this point I would keep Desmond for the upside there in Coors. Maybe counter he throw in a closer with Duffy to get JD?
I just traded porcello for Manaea and johnson as I was in need of a closer and was not liking porcello. Think i made a good deal?
@Kyle Roach: I like it! I obviously like Manaea a ton, so I am all for it