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| Wednesday, August 18, 2021 |
| Tuesday was mostly dominated by pitching, mostly good with the exception of John Means. You can read about a few different waiver adds in shallow leagues below, but somebody who is universally available is Daniel Lynch with the Royals. His latest start came against the Astros where he limited them to just one run over seven innings. In five starts since being recalled, Lynch has a 2.38 ERA with a swinging strike over 12%. He's just 22% rostered and looks like he should have two starts next week. |
| Hitters need love, too! How about my man Frank Schwindel, who's been crushing it with the Chicago Cubs. He went 2-4 again Tuesday, bringing him to a .320 batting average and a .923 OPS. He's not a must-add yet, but in deeper leagues where you need a corner infielder or utility bat, Schwindel makes sense. |
| Of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Logan spins a wicked Webb |
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| Don't look now but Giants SP Logan Webb is starting to look a lot like a 2021 league winner. Webb was dominant again on Tuesday night when he went 7 1/3 against the Mets and allowed just two earned, seven hits and one walk. Webb also struck out eight with 12 swinging strikes on 83 pitches. |
| This is nothing new for Webb who has been one of Fantasy Baseball's best pitchers in his past eight starts since returning. In his eight starts since returning to the Giants, Webb has a sparkling 1.88 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings. He also has a 65% groundball rate in those starts. He is currently 86% rostered. |
| Webb has found a way to maintain an SP1 upside by combining his heavy groundball tendencies with a strikeout per inning over one. At this point, Webb is an obvious must-start pitcher and profiles as someone who can help you win your leagues down the stretch. |
| In Scott's mind he's become Framber Valdez like. You don't often see heavy groundball pitchers average a strikeout per inning. And unlike Valdez, Webb doesn't have any control issues. Scott has moved him into the top-50 and thinks he's a must-add pitcher if he is still available in any of your leagues. |
| Other SPs to consider adding in shallow leagues |
| Reds SP Vladimir Gutierrez was hot again on Tuesday despite not getting the win against the Cubs. He went 6 1/3 innings and allowed just two runs, nine hits and one walk. He also struck out seven with 12 induced swinging strikes on 80 pitches. On the flip side, Gutierrez did also allow 11 hard-hit balls. Tonight's outing marks five straight quality starts where Gutierrez has a 2.02 ERA and 28 strikeouts over 31 2/3 innings. He also has a 44% groundball rate or higher in four of those five starts which is big for him. He's 74% rostered and profiles a bit like a poor man's Logan Webb. |
| Braves SP Huascar Ynoa caught the attention of Fantasy Baseballers earlier this season before landing on the IL. If Tuesday was any indication, he could be back for a stretch run. Ynoa pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Marlins and allowed three hits and a walk. He struck out four and induced nine swinging strikes on 80 pitches. Perhaps most importantly, his velocity was fine. He's 74% rostered and draws the Yankees next week. |
| More news and notes |
| Scary scene in Chicago as Chris Bassitt was hit in the face with a line drive. Manager Bob Melvin said Bassitt received stitches for a cut below his right eye and is undergoing a scan for fractures.Blue Jays OF George Springer finally lands on the IL with that knee sprain. He was batting .318 with 11 HR and 1.133 OPS in the second half. Any interest in Corey Dickerson for the short term?Angels OF Mike Trout took part in pregame work Tuesday. It's the first time that Trout has been spotted doing on-field activities in about a month. Joe Maddon: "When he does go through these kinds of movements, you have to wait until the next day to find out how he feels, and then you plan your next step."Dodgers OF Mookie Betts is on track to resume baseball activities on Thursday.Padres SP Yu Darvish has resumed playing catch.Mets SS Francisco Lindor faced live pitching Tuesday (against Noah Syndergaard actually). Giants 3B Kris Bryant was scratched Tuesday with mild hamstring tightness. Cardinals OF Dylan Carlson went to the IL with a sprained right wrist. Lars Nootbaar was in RF Tuesday. Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw played catch Monday and will continue to do so for a few days to see how his injured forearm responds. His situation is up in the air. He might not return until mid September and when he does, it might be as a bulk reliever. White Sox C Yasmani Grandal's rehab has been moved to Triple-A. He's 79% rostered and could be available in some shallower leagues. Rockies SP Austin Gomber was placed on the paternity list, which means he won't start Wednesday against the Padres. He'll likely start later in the week against the D'Backs.Marlins SP Trevor Rogers was transferred from the bereavement list to the restricted list Tuesday. He's been away from the team for two weeks while dealing with an undisclosed private matter. Wishing the best for him and his family. Yankees SP Luis Severino is still waiting on a second opinion on his right shoulder but will not throw for the remainder of the week. Speaking of the Yankees, both them and the Red Sox sent Luis Gil (HEEL) and Tanner Houck back to Triple-A after their starts Tuesday. Luis Gil stat line vs. BOS: 4.2 shutout 4 H 4 BB 4 K, only 5 SS on 71 pitches… That's 15.2 scoreless to start his major league career!Manager A.J. Hinch said he's "very optimistic" Tigers OF Akil Baddoo will return from the 7-day concussion IL sometime this week. The Tigers are targeting their Aug. 27 through 29 home series versus the Blue Jays for Matthew Boyd's return from the 60-day IL. Blue Jays… perfect!Orioles OF Ryan Mountcastle was activated off the IL Tuesday and batting cleanup for the Orioles. He's 78% rostered for those in shallower leagues. Nationals SP Joe Ross won't pitch again this season but will not require Tommy John surgery. Mets SP Noah Syndergaard faced hitters in a live batting practice session Tuesday. The Mets have already stated he'll return as a reliever this season. |
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| John Means meh? |
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| Coined John Means Business by our own Scott White, the Orioles starter who looked like an ace in the early going of the 2021 season has looked anything but it since returning from the IL. Maybe Means isn't pitching at 100% or maybe his massive dropoff has something to do with the MLB cracking down on foreign substance usage, but he was a disaster again on Tuesday night and there's no way you can trust him in your lineups at this point. |
| John MEANS MEH -- at least on Tuesday night. He went just four innings against the Rays and allowed four earned and eight hits. The good news is that Means didn't walk a batter and struck out seven in just four innings. He also had a healthy 11 induced swinging strikes on 92 pitches. People in my Twitter mentions bring up sticky stuff but his spin rates look fine and have since his return (after the MLB's crackdown). |
| The numbers are ugly though. In his six starts since coming off the IL, Means has a 6.10 ERA and a SwStr rate is around 11% -- before the IL it was 14%. As Scott noted, maybe we all just got too high on Means too fast. There was always going to be regression. Means had a 2.28 ERA before the IL but with a 4.04 xFIP. |
| When Means can keep the fly balls from going out the yard, it's going to look great -- but that's going to be hard to predict the rest of the way. He remains one of the best strike throwers in baseball, and he's pitching with more velocity than ever in his career, but the home runs are likely to continue to be an issue. It's not crazy to consider dropping him, but Scott's not there yet. |
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| Rest of season scheduling nuggets to know |
| After this week, the Rockies have 21 home games remaining, 21 road games remaining… The last full week of Coors Field is Week 21 from September 21-26, with the Dodgers and Giants in attendanceAccording to Tankathon, the five teams with the easiest remaining strength of schedule: Phillies, Reds, Astros, Blue Jays, ClevelandFive teams with the toughest remaining schedule: Padres, A's, Tigers, Orioles, D'Backs If you're looking for volume, there are only five teams that have 45 games left (every other team is between 41 and 44 games): Blue Jays, Cleveland, Royals, Cardinals, Orioles |
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