Bean Ball

Welp

It’s been a minute. This will be a bit of a longer article, since it’s been about four (yikes) weeks. However, before I dive into my fantasy baseball team, a quick explanation. As mentioned before, I am a college student. I had a week with multiple midterms, followed by a week of being sick (and not the kind of sick that made me want to write, but rather lay in bed and do nothing), then a week of making up work and exams from that week of illness, followed by my finals week. However, now that my semester is over, I am rededicating myself to doing weekly recaps, including the one that I will write after this week concludes. So, Bean Ball fans, brace yourselves, because you’re going to be reading a lot from me. I’m going to try to be fairly efficient with this article, so I won’t dive into every week in full detail, but I will give some information about the roster moves I made (and almost made), and the wondrous success that has been We Prevent Runs on This Team (a name that may need changing). 

*Note: This means that all events and stats from the week of May 4 – May 10 will not be addressed (cough cough Tarik Skubal). 

Roster Moves that Have Occurred

When I last left you, my team had many players who it currently does not have. So, let’s dive into the roster moves I made. 

Shortly after I wrote the last blog, Tatsuya Imai got hurt amidst early struggles. I decided to cut him rather than hold him on my IL, as many of his problems in the early season concerned me. While his slider is really cool and effective, it really is the only pitch that graded out well, and I felt it was better to use his roster spot to stream starters and relievers. I brought Jonathan Aranda onto the team, as he has proven to be an effective, high-floor fantasy player, with lots of contact and walks, and a strikeout rate just under league-average. While not a star, he has provided a decent amount of production for me. I cut Kazuma Okamoto because of his high strikeout and whiff rates. While I think he is a good real-life player, he had too many negative point days for me. I briefly brought Colt Keith on to supplement a then-struggling Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base. I dropped Ryan Walker due to the lack of save opportunities (San Francisco is in a tough spot right now) and picked up a spot starter. Later, however, I used that spot to pick up Will Warren, whom I have decided to keep on my roster for the foreseeable future. I dropped Michael Harriss and picked up Cam Smith and then Ramon Laureano, both of whom had short stints on my team, but neither really made an impact. I gave up on Kyle Harrison as a rosterable pitcher, then picked him up for his start on April 21, dropped him again, and then picked him up for his next start when he put up 30 points, and decided to roster him again. I brought Michael Harris II back on my roster, where he will remain for the foreseeable future. Miguel Vargas, whom I was high on in the preseason, has also secured a roster spot for my team. I dropped Austin Riley due to his batted ball data going in the wrong direction, and I currently have Casey Schmitt on my team. Beyond that, it has been a cycle of pitchers on my roster for their starts, and then I drop them for relievers or another starter. 

I also engaged in heavy trade talks for Bobby Witt Jr., in which I would give up Corbin Carroll and George Kirby. However, the positional alignment for the other team did not line up, as he would have too many outfielders, and I did not want to give up Vargas or Sal Stewart. However, I think that those talks may resume, and maybe something can be done in the future. 

Now that you have a grasp on where the roster is, let’s dive into how it performed during these weeks. 

Matchup 2 vs Who’s Your Dadley

This was the first of many weeks going 2-0, with my two rookie sensations, Sal Stewart and Kevin McGonigle, putting up the most points of any hitters on my team this week, with 27 and 25, respectively. Logan Gilbert and Jacob deGrom put up 39 and 38 as well, while Tarik Skubal contributed 25. Overall, my team topped my opponent 342-323 and secured a top 4 score in the league. 

Matchup 3 vs Fredo’s Freaking Goons

This week, I went against the team that was also competing for first place in the league, managed by Fredo, a senior who exclusively knows Braves players. Ben Rice scored 32, Byron Buxton 25, and Sal Stewart 22. Pitching-wise, George Kirby’s 32 and Will Warren’s 27 led the way, and overall, the team put up a lot of points. However, it was not enough to overcome four of his pitchers scoring 30+, and 29 apiece from Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero. The team fell to Fredo’s Goons 460-377, going 1-1 on the week. 

Matchup 4 vs Bang that Gavel

This week, my team continued to put up points at elite levels. Seven of my hitters scored more than twenty points, with McGonigle, Stewart, Drake Baldwin, and Miguel Vargas all putting up 28+. Kyle Harrison scored 33 to help out the rotation, while Cam Schlittler, the steal of the draft, gave me 25, and deGrom contributed 20. Bang that Gavel was futile, only putting up 293 points with only two hitters with more than 20, and were dominated by a score of 371-293, with my team going 2-0 on the week. 

Matchup 5 vs Tanner’s Talented Team

Once again, my team put up a lot of points. Byron Buxton put my hitters on his back, scoring 40 points, and Ben Rice gave him help with 32 of his own, making up for some lackluster performances from other players. On the pitching side, Jesus Luzardo scored 49 on his two-start week, with my two Yankees pitchers, Warren and Schlittler, scoring 25 and 24. Waiver-wire pickup Nick Martinez also contributed 24 points, as well as 21 from Skubal. This led to 398 points from my team, besting Tanner’s Talented Team 398-348, giving me another 2-0 week. 

Wrapping Up

That catches you all up on where things stand and how the season has been going. Currently, I stand at 9-1 with the most points in the league. Many of my young hitters have been performing well, and while some of my pitching has been slightly disappointing, I trust them to turn it around. For example, I do not think Logan Gilbert suddenly lost over 10% of his K% without dropping in stuff by Stuff+ or PitchingBot. I trust that things will even out for him and Jesus Luzardo will start to get some better performances in the runs department as his underlying numbers, such as FIP, are elite. I also think Cam Schlittler is the real deal, and so if some of those guys don’t figure it out, I made up for it by taking him later in the draft. Overall, I am pleased with how my team is performing, though I do think it could be even better as the season goes on. Until next time (which I promise will be sooner).