DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
YOUNG ARMS TO DISCUSS
Matt Boyd is a 24 year old with the Blue Jays organization. He only has two games above Double-A on his minor league resume, but as we’re increasingly learning maybe that doesn’t mean what it used to. Boyd dominating the competition in the minors this season making 14 starts with a 1.26 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 8.6 K/9 mark. Moreover, he was walking less than two batters per nine as well. That effort moves his minor league work up to a 2.44 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 9.3 K/9 and 4.5 K/BB ratio over 243 innings of work. Now here’s the rub. Coming into the season he wasn’t looked at as anything more than a 4/5 SP in the big leagues. Why? Boyd gets by with a funky motion more so than on raw stuff.
Boyd was predictably so-so Saturday against the Rangers striking out seven without walking a batter over 6.2 innings. However, he also allowed nine hits, including three homers, and four runs in the loss. After the game manager John Gibbons said he would likely make another start, likely Thursday against the Red Sox. He might get some run as Scott Copeland didn’t impress with his callus and Aaron Sanchez is still throwing bullpens trying to come back from his last issue. Note, Sanchez may return to work out of the bullpen which would also aide Boyd. Matt B. should be added in AL-only leagues, but those in mixed leagues should not be overwhelmed by his minor league numbers. Boyd is mothing more than a streaming option in mixed leagues at the moment.
Trevor May had a 4.03 ERA through 13 starts for the Twins. After 14 starts the number now sits at 4.62. Ugh is right. The beating he suffered also pushed his ERA up to 1.36. Those two numbers – the ERA and WHIP – simply aren’t acceptable in mixed leagues in this day and age. Moreover, they don’t do anything for you in an AL-only league either. Looking past those ratios we find a solid 7.91 K/9 ratio and 1.82 BB/9 rate. Those marks play in any league. Not a huge fan of the 1.03 GB/FB ratio, or the fact that his HR/F is only 7.7, though I would expect his .343 BABIP to recede I don’t know if there; much of a chance for him to be the pitcher xFIP suggests he should be (3.76). He has to keep his fastball down in the zone and if he does he can certainly fill a big league rotation spot for years, albeit with less than stellar fantasy results. Still, the strikeouts and walks do intrigue to the point that he’s a decent streaming option.
Noah Syndergaard, not Steven Matz, is the Mets hurler you want on your squad. With folks seemingly souring on Noah, stupidly of course and not something my loyal followers would do, Syndergaard went out and dominated the Red with eight innings of one run ball Friday. That effort left him with the following numbers over his last three starts: 2.50 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 9.50 K/9 and 2.00 K/BB. Those three efforts also dropped his season long numbers to 3.59 in the ERA column, a 1.22 WHIP, 9.06 K/9 and 1.71 BB/9. The resulting 5.30 K/BB ratio is off the charts elite. Toss in a 46.1 percent ground ball ratio and you’ve got a budding star on your hands – even if you don’t want to admit it. Syndergaard is a unique talent, a future ace, and he’s pitching darn well right now. My only short-term concern is how the Mets plan to deploy their pitchers with this funky 6-man rotation thing they’ve got going on. "It's just an extra day of recovery," Noah said. "So I think it's going to be an easy adaptation." We shall see if that’s true as the Mets try to limit his, Matt Harvey’s and Matz’s innings.
Taijuan Walker has a 6-6 record with a 4.64 ERA and 1.36 WHIP. If that was all you knew about his season you would be disappointed. However, those numbers hide what has been a remarkable turnaround for the righty. (1) In each of his last six starts he’s lasted at least six innings. (2) In each of his last six outings he’s tossed a “quality start.” (3) In four of those six outings he’s allowed zero or one run. His ERA in those six games is 1.91. (4) Walker hasn’t walked a batter in his last three outings. Over the six trips to the bump he’s walked three batters leading to a 0.64 BB/9 ratio. (5) In those six starts Walker has 44 strikeouts meaning his K/BB ratio is 14.67. You really can’t pitch much better than he has as Walker has finally settled back into the groove that he displayed this spring that generated so much excitement. His season long xFIP is 3.80, and with his recent turnaround it’s possible he will be able to get his actual ERA down to that level. A dominating talent, Walker could continue to climb the ladder of success over his final 15 starts.
Matt Wisler has made two starts for the Braves and the results are positive as he owns a 3.75 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He’s also failed to issue a walk in either outing. Love that. On the downside he has two strikeouts. Two. Far from a strikeout arm – he averaged 6.78 Ks per nine in 12 starts at Triple-A this season – Wisler is in the mold of Mike Leake, Ryan Vogelsong types. He’s a solid innings eater who knows how to pitch. He’s not an elite talent though. If the Braves stick with him he could provide plenty of value in an NL-only league, but it’s going to be a stretch to view him as a significant contributor in mixed leagues.
AN OLD ARM
Brett Anderson threw 83.1 innings in 2011. He threw 35.0 innings in 2012. In 2013 he tossed 44.2 innings. In 2014 he threw 43.1 innings. To review.
Anderson last threw 90 innings in a season in 2010.
The last three seasons he failed to throw 50 innings.
Anderson has currently made 15 starts throwing 89 innings for the Dodgers. That alone is a minor miracle.
As for how he is pitching, well, it has always been said that Anderson has talent. His #1 skill is generating ground balls with a career mark of 57.4 percent, an elite total. How on Earth that number is up at 68.7 percent right now is beyond me. There’s just no logical reason to expect him to be able to continue along at that rate, but it should be noted that his worst mark the last three seasons is 59.8 percent. The guy gets grounders, period. That ability to generate rug burners always allows him to keep the ball in the yard, and his 0.61 HR/9 ratio is right in line with his career 0.73 mark. The grounders have led to a 3.13 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. The WHIP is a bit high because Anderson doesn’t miss many bats. For his career his K/9 mark is under seven, and this year it’s sitting at 6.27. Therefore, there are going to be lots of hits from time to time (593 in 583 career innings and 91 in 89 innings this season). Luckily Anderson doesn’t beat himself with the walk very often as his 2.43 BB/9 rate is one hundredth off his career level.
This is who Anderson is. A solid big league hurler who can be an asset in mixed leagues even with a less than stellar strikeout rate. Still, I don’t know how you can look at his track record and think that he has any chance to make 30 starts this season. Hell, he hasn’t made 20 starts in any of the last five seasons. I would suggest kicking the tires on a deal to get a more stable option than Anderson. If you can’t deal him for fair value hold him, use him, but have a backup plan in place for when the inevitable injury strikes.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@ baseballguys).