Each week yours truly will be sharing various tidbits and revelations that I deem worthy of the attention of fantasy baseball managers of all formats and backgrounds. The opening weekend already revealed several leads that we need to chase down. So let’s see what’s happening on the down-low. Let’s find what’s strictly hush-hush, on the QT and deserves to have a light shined upon it for opening weekend 2022!
Just The Facts
Supposedly untampered data and statistics which you are free to do whatever you please with.
- Ty France has hit out of the two-hole in every game so far for the Mariners. I love his bat control. You will too. I won’t bother you with three-game sample stat compilations, but just know that it is a fact that Ty France, barring injury, will score and drive in 100 runs this season in that Seattle lineup.
- Everybody in fantasy baseball seems to be standing by ready to type I TOLD YOU SO if Carlos Rodon gets injured. Until that happens, let me watch him on the Giants MLB TV video recap feasting on the Marlins with a 50% whiff rate on 48 swings! 10 of those swings came on 23 fastballs. This is what he can do! Rodon held down a 42% CSW on 89 pitches. Fear the shoulder injury while I rack up points.
- So far Edward Olivares has two at-bats and stole a base. Compared to last year’s I-29 Shuffle, I’m calling this a win!
- If you include Monday night, Wander Franco has gone 3-for-4 three different times ALREADY this season. His moniker in fantasy circles of “A better real-life player than fantasy player” may be dead in the water after the opening weekend!
- The Athletics lost to the Phillies on Saturday 4-2. Didn’t seem like much to tweet about, but A.J. Puk was superb in 1 inning of relief. He struck out two including Nick Castellanos looking after making him look silly earlier in the at-bat with Puk’s trademark slider. Lou Trivino is going to get the run as the closer in Oakland so they can immediately trade him, but Puk’s second life as a closer isn’t far away.
This is promising stuff from A.J. Puk! Nasty slide piece on Castellanos. #MLB #FantasyBaseball #Athletics pic.twitter.com/Q9QdkPIiL8
— Michael Govier (@mjgovier) April 9, 2022
On The Record
The musings you find in this segment are just my thoughts. Assume total bias on my part in this section.
- Does anything take the wind out of your sails like a PPD next to a player’s name on your roster? Total buzzkill.
- Connor Joe is attaining elite-level mentions on social media right now. He crushed a go-ahead bomb against the favored Dodgers Saturday at COORS (Pallazzo Podcast reference). He led-0ff on Sunday at DH. Sam Hilliard is one obvious loser in this scenario. Rockies manager Bud Black said this about Connor Joe: “Connor, we signed him last offseason. I saw him in the winter at a local high school in San Diego and was, you know, really impressed with the guy first. You know we got great reports on him from a lot of our scouts and people I trust in the game. And we were fortunate enough to land him. I know a lot of teams, you know, were at his doorstep trying to sign him as a free agent. But he chose us, which is great.” Now managers are always looking to speak highly of their players, but I think Bud Back is a straight shooter. Always has been. Connor Joe is not a flash in the pan. As long as he’s healthy, he’s going to be a legit factor in the Colorado lineup.
- I feel like one of the few who consistently bring up the uncertainty with the baseball. It feels like we don’t want to face the painful reality before us. The integrity of the game is at the very heart of this matter. Can anybody truly speak with confidence about what ball is being used right now? How could you?! With gambling becoming a bigger aspect of the daily game and fantasy baseball pots as big as they have ever been, we all need to say something if we see something. Take this tweet from Sunday’s Hunter Greene outing which most people will recall for the 100 MPH AVERAGE on Hunter Greene’s fastball. Instead, let me share this tweet where Hunter Greene points out what he believes to be 2 catchable balls. I admit freely that this is a mostly vapid piece of evidence in the current baseball debacle.
The official 2022 thread for “The Point”
Pitchers pointing (☝️) at fly balls they think will be caught but actually leave the yard.
Kicking us off this season is Hunter Greene with a double point in the same inning during his MLB debut! ☝️☝️ pic.twitter.com/nOnuVV5hr6
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) April 10, 2022
- Jake Diekman secured his first save of 2022 Sunday night in the Bronx. He had this to say about his role in the Boston bullpen after the fact. Never change Jake.
- Every day there is someone at any given moment wishing they could be a major leaguer. This is one of those moments where you are glad to be sitting at home collecting kettle chip dust on your fingers. Alec Bohm is losing momentum in Philly due to the rise of Bryson Stott. I’m not saying that’s why this happened, I’m just saying it happened.
Alec Bohm has 3 errors in 3 innings pic.twitter.com/flXrxJCE8g
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 11, 2022
Through The Looking Glass
Ben Affleck’s character said “always be closing” in 1999’s Boiler Room. In fantasy baseball “always be looking ahead”
In fantasy baseball, we are ALL trying to stay one step beyond our competition. To be ahead of the curve. To predict the future. In Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass, Alice says, “It’s a great huge game of chess being played-all over the world-if this is the world at all, you know.”
What we perceive as reality on the waiver wire in the moment, can be fool’s gold the next. Remember the Julian Merryweather FAAB bids in early 2021? People thought they perceived a bullpen savior in snake oil salesman clothing. You and I will make mistakes this season. We will drop someone too soon (I have vowed not to hold guys for too long this season that don’t perform). A trade one of us execute will be a total disaster with hindsight later in the season revealing the fraudulent perception of our homework.
That’s why we need to have a plan of attack. Meandering randomly through the 2022 fantasy baseball season could lead to success, but you’re living on the edge Aerosmith style if you’re hoping for that to consistently provide positive returns. If you play in multiple leagues, having a set agenda for your day-to-day operations will likely make a difference in where you finish in the standings. Stick to your plan, but at least have a plan. Lastly, do what YOU want to do.