It's Friday! Today is the 82nd anniversary of the first major league game where players from both sides wore numbers on their uniforms. I tried to find Murray Chass' indignant column on the subject, but apparently he hadn't started blogging yet. May 13 is also the birthday of St. Francis of Assisi (1822) and Stephen Colbert (1964), as well as the day the United States declared war on Mexico (1846).
Fantasy Phenoms has 10 tips that will help you win your fantasy league. Number Two has always been a hard lesson for me to swallow.
Razzball lists some pitching rebound candidates based on ERA-xFIP.
KFFL tracks some closers that are on shaky ground, while Fantasy Phenoms keeps an eye on the ones that are injured.
RotoGraphs looks at some first basemen with rising stock.
Baseball Prospectus has an interesting article on steals that doesn't have much utility for fantasy - except for perhaps the chart at the end. Barely losing in steals in a head-to-head league? Maybe start some guys that are playing against the Angels or Mariners and avoid the ones playing the Nationals or Athletics.
Lester's Legends has some waiver wire advice for you if you need help with runs. I've always treated runs as a secondary category. Focus on the others and runs will come. Still, a useful list.
Waiver wire advice: RotoGraphs, Fantasy Baseball 365, Fantasy Baseball Cafe, RotoExperts, and Baseball Press (AL/NL Only).
Baseball Analytics noticed that David Ortiz isn't pulling the ball as much. That heat map for 2011 looks absolutely anemic. Anomaly, or the start of a decline?
Lance Berkman's hot start (recent slump notwithstanding) may actually be kind of sustainable, or so says Beyond the Boxscore.
Twinkie Town notes that Jason Kubel's splits aren't as extreme as they used to be.
Roto Hardball profiles Matt Joyce. This line sums it up:
Factoring in an xBABIP instead of his actual one, Joyce still would have hit above .400 recently thanks to his power surge and his ability to hit line drives. On the year, Joyce has hit line drives over 30% of the time, fifth best in all baseball.
RotoGraphs asks a simple question about Brandon Beachy that produces predictable responses in the comments section: Who knew?
Yahoo! knows the secret to Zach Britton's success: his splitter. I love reading about how pitchers find and develop their pitches.
Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, RotoGraphs, Roto Hardball, KFFL, and Rotoprofessor all go prospecting.
Pal Sporer from Baseball by Paul discusses the idea of "buying low" and says it really doesn't exist, and i agree. Paul and I discussed this a few weeks ago via email.
Paul Sporer from Baseball by Paul lists some starting pitchers he would "buy low", even if you had to pay market prices for considering their slow starts to the 2011 season.