RADIO
Coming as a big surprise to no one, the season has been absolutely wild already. Whole teams are now disappearing from the schedule and leaving us high and dry when it comes to filling out our lineups.
The waiver-wire is more important than ever and with that in mind we're giving point players a one-shop stop for points play pickups. We now have position by position charts, with the best waiver-wire targets and their season stats, along with their current scoring on all five major platforms. One chart to guide us all.
We'll be doing this roundup of point league happenings every week here at RotoBaller, with waiver-wire targets and streaming pitchers being evaluated in terms of the different scoring systems of ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, and Fantrax. Player values can vary wildly from platform to platform, so we'll make sure to highlight where players are the best and worst fit at. We know point players get neglected and we're here to help. Let's get to Week 3.
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Playing For Points Through a Pandemic
While the number of games has changed, the way that points are scored on each platform has not. You must account for, as precisely as possible, how a player performs under your particular scoring system. Don't be fooled into believing you can just make rough adjustments in your head, bumping up guys with high on-base percentages and low strikeout-rates. Every point, in every category, counts. For example, ESPN and Fantrax are virtually identical in their scoring for hitters and roster size. The only difference is that stolen bases are worth one more point on Fantrax and ESPN subtracts one point per strikeout. That's the difference over Ronald Acuna Jr. being a top-five batter versus a top-25 batter.
If your league uses standard settings, then great! Turn to page 94 and you can skip ahead to the leaderboards. If you play with custom settings, it'll still be fine. Go back to page 43 and look below at the scoring systems of the four major platforms. I bet there's a chance that you'll find that your league's scoring is very similar to one of the four (well, not Yahoo's), even if it's not the platform you actually play on. For example, my home league started on a now-defunct platform before moving first to ESPN and is now at Fantrax. But our scoring is basically ESPN standard but with two points for stolen bases and a handful of other minor adjustments.
If you look above, you'll likely find a suitable mirror to your own system. While every point counts, as long as they aren't seismic changes you can get away with some "close enough". IE. If everything is the same except for HBP (or something similar), you're probably fine.
All of the following charts are updated prior to Saturday's games, on stats and ownerships. Clicking on a chart will open a new page with a magnified version.
First Base
- Is C.J. Cron really available in 57% of Yahoo leagues? If your league is one of those, then run to the wire and grab him as soon as possible. No dawdling. Cron has a .354 wOBA and is quickly justifying his preseason hype and is top-five first baseman on every platform besides ESPN.
- This has to be the best start of Mitch Moreland's career, right? He's batting .357 with 3 runs and five RBI, providing one of Boston's very few bright spots. Use you why you can because eventually he'll turn back into a Mit
- I live by a few simple rules. First, you should never put peanut butter on pancakes, even when your wife and children insist that you do. Second, always pick up any player who spent quarantine learning how to switch-hit and then promptly hits a home run from his new side of the plate. The people's hero, Ji-Man Choi.
Second Base
- Recently on Twitter, a handsome, informed, and all-around high-caliber person, posted an interesting thought:
At no point during the offseason did I understand Jonathan Schoop's near-400 ADP.
— Nicklaus Gaut (@Nt_BurtReynolds) July 31, 2020
And I still don't. Schoop mashed dingers as a full-timer with Baltimore and he mashed dingers as a part-timer with Minnesota. Can you guess what's he's doing with a full-time job in Detroit? Mashing. Dingers.
- It can be easy to overlook good players on bad teams but it's about time for Hanser Alberto to see a significant ownership rise. He's scored as a top-four first baseman on every platform and is carrying a .526 wOBA. I know he played for the dreadful Oriole but jeez, give the guy a break. It's not his fault.
Third Base
- There are an absolute ton of points sitting on the waiver wire at third base. Keep in mind that the above positional ranks aren't just for the wire, they're overall. So yes, Kyle Seager, Colin Moran, and Maikel Franco are all top-five at the position. If you're in need, any of them can fill the role (*cough* Josh Donaldson owners *cough*) but Moran's stock is rising the fastest and he may not be around long. It seems he's truly unlocked some power and now has four home runs in his first eight games. It can't be understated enough...The time is always NOW in this shortened season. You have to pounce, just in case it lasts for another month and a half.
Shortstop
- If you thought third base had some talent laying around, get a load of shortstop. Already a deep position prior to the season finally starting, widely available players have started off the year hot. Leading all players is J.P. Crawford. No typo. Crawford has come out crushing and is seemingly locked into Seattle's leadoff spot. He had 10 RBI heading into the weekend with a .458 AVG. Don't forget that Crawford was a former "can't-miss" #1 prospect for the Phillies and is still only 25-years-old. Get him before he's gone.
- So, we probably should stop ignoring Donavan Solano. After Saturday's game, Solano now leads baseball with 13 RBI and has a .448 AVG through 3o plate-appearances. His ownership is likely to see a monster bump.
Outfield
- He may not be green and he definitely doesn't live in a trashcan but it's hard to deny that Teoscar's no slouch. After another two home run game, Hernandez now has four on the season and is a top-3 outfielder heading into the season. Hernandez loves to go double-dong; he had four such games in 2019 and two in 2020.
- I don't know why Trent Grisham is still available in 30% of Yahoo leagues but it needs to be corrected, post-haste! That San Diego offense has already proved that it is young, powerful, and exciting; Grisham is right in the middle of it.
Catcher
- There isn't usually much on the waiver wire at catcher but right now we have three players who are top-five players on most every platform. Max Stassi, James McCann, and Pedro Severino are all widely available and are prime candidates if you're streaming your catchers...Which you should be.
Starting Pitchers
Spencer Turnbull, DET - Average Platform Rank: #9 (15% ESPN, 15% Yahoo, 10% Fantrax)
Maybe he'll struggle more once he faces someone besides the Reds but Turnbull has started off on fire by dominating Cincinnati in two consecutive starts. Turnbull gave up just three runs in 11 total innings, allowing six hits and striking out 14 Reds. Besides the obvious results, what's really interesting is how much improvement he showed versus left-handers.
Getting to face the Reds twice means getting a lot of lefties thrown at you, which wasn't good news for Turnbull last season - he allowed a .347 wOBA to them, compared to a .308 wOBA versus right-handers. The difference this season might be an improved changeup that's getting 50% more drop on the vertical plane and 11% more horizontal movement than it did in 2018. For comparison, that's the same amount of break as Luis Castillo's changeup had in 2019 and one more inch of drop.
He's still a fastball/slider guy but the changeup usage went from 3% last season to 10% this year, with a subpar curveball taking the hit. If this changeup stays new and improved (and a weapon versus left-handers) then this could be the start of a breakout campaign. It's worth grabbing him now to find out, with starts against the Cardinals (assuming the schedule stays the same) and White Sox.
- Speaking of pitchers who might be breaking out, best run to the wire to see if you can still grab Zach Plesac or Aaron Civale. Because the time to do so is likely running out after both youngsters took turns dominating the White Sox in their debuts. Plesac shut out Chicago for eight innings, allowing just three hits and striking out 11 batters, while Civale allowed two runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. Plesac has two starts in Week 3, going to Cincinnati for one and back to the White Sox for the second, with Civale also getting another crack at Chicago.
- As I write this, I'm still basking in the glow of recommending Tyler Chatwood versus the Pirates this morning in our DFS value series - and also the glow of the little cash I'm going to win with my Chatwood-heavy lineups. He dominated the hapless Pirates on Saturday night, striking out 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and no runs, picking up the victory for the Cubs. That's right; I just willingly admitted to basking in some Chatwood glow. Usually not great. Never a strikeout guy, Chatwood has started with a new pitch mix, halving his four-seam usage while tripling that of his cutter, with more changeups and curveball thrown in, as well. I don't know if it's for real but you don't have time to wait in this short season. Grab him while you can before his matchup with the Royals on Thursday.
- Poor Kevin Gausman. He's has a 5.40 ERA in his two starts but all of his ERA-evaluators think he was about two and a half runs unlucky. And now he's staring straight ahead at a start in Colorado and a one in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers. Poor Kevin Gausman.
