If you’re reading this, fantasy baseball is likely serious business. However, it’s also supposed to be fun, right? In that spirit, this week, the Touts were asked to complete the following sentence:
While everyone else is monitoring the spin rate and velocity of every pitch, I’ll be…
Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): With it now being summer, I will be monitoring the spin rate of my blender and the velocity of how well the drinks are going down. I will be monitoring the rank rate of my current roster and free agent pool, in the event that I need to fine tune my lineup and pitching staff. One thing that I won’t do is quit on my teams, regardless of any of my league standings. With pre-season football starting up in July, it’s common for league managers who are out of contention to lose focus and interest in their teams. That’s unfair to the other league managers that are in contention and may need your assistance with making sure that are you actively competing until the end of the fantasy baseball season. They would expect the same thing from you if the roles were reversed.
Alex Fast (Pitcher List, @AlexFast8): watching the Euro Cup. I KNOW I KNOW THIS IS ALL ABOUT BASEBALL BUT SOCCER CAN BE COOL TOO, GUYS. (Also, I’ll be watching every Grayson Rodriguez start…)
Ryan Hallam (Fighting Chance Fantasy, @FightingChance): I’ll be paying attention to the standings and the waiver wire so I can improve my team and get higher in the standings!
Fred Zinkie (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @FredZinkieMLB): Watching baseball for fun. Major League Baseball is a negative space right now, primarily because of the crackdown on pitching substances but also because of the large number of injuries and looming labor war. I’m going to try to enjoy the games and remind myself that this is a great sport.
Justin Mason (Friends with Fantasy Benefits, Fangraphs, Fantasy Alarm, @JustinMasonFWFB): Sitting on the dock of the bay. Watching the tide roll away… and examining the standings of each one of my leagues to see where I can gain the most standing points and pinpointing strengths and weaknesses.
Ariel Cohen (CBS Sports, @ATCNY): I’ll let others monitor the spin rate and velocity of every pitch. I’m sure there will be one or more analysts that will dedicate the time to do that, and will report which pitchers may be of concern from the new rules implemented. I’ll look for that analysis, and will adjust some of my thinking thereafter. I’ll concentrate on my usual aspects of fantasy, play some summer softball, and enjoy some 4th of July fireworks in person this year. And since other Touts here have mentioned other sports … Let’s go Islanders!
Scott Pianowski (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @Scott_Pianowski): On the golf course, making my wedges spin. And when I get back to baseball, remember K/BB ratio still gets us so many places we want to go.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): Thinking of next week’s Tout Table question.
Doug Dennis (BaseballHQ, @dougdennis41): I will be wringing my hands and nervously awaiting my pitchers’ suspensions and injuries. Oh, and carefully calculating where I can divest innings to preserve ERA/WHIP. Also point and yell every time I think a Cubs pitcher is using sunscreen.
Joe Pisapia (Fantasy Black Book, @JoePisapia17): While everyone else is monitoring the spin rate and velocity of every pitch, I’ll be…looking for pitchers who may be able to throw innings like Alec Mills but not light up the radar gun. Pitching has become a lost art form. Velocity and spin rates have taken over our consciousness, but pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Jose Urquidy are getting the job done quietly by changing speeds and precision location. They pitch to the lineup, inning by inning. Although they may not rack up the K’s, they’re are making quality starts.
Grey Albright (RazzBall, @razzball): Trying to figure out how to get my hand off my shoulder after confusing sunscreen lotion with Spider Tack.
Jim Bowden (Fantasy Alarm, @JimBowdenGM): I’ll be also monitoring spin rate and velocity but I’ll be doing it while making love to my wife.
Greg Jewett (Fantasy Alarm, @gjewett9): Continuing to cover bullpens as well as possible in my daily charts which tracks strike percentage and whiff rates. I plan on seeing the Blue Jays play in Buffalo on July first wearing a Vlad Jr. shirsey and keep loving the flawed game I cover with the hope everything moves in a positive direction (or spin). Last, watch my son play some hockey as he enters his last year of juniors.
Ron Shandler (RonShandler.com, @RonShandler): …and suddenly, Jim Bowden is my hero.
Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella): …getting a restraining order for Grey Albright based on his response to this question.
Vlad Sedler (Fantasy Guru, @rotogut): …making sure I can field a healthy fantasy roster every week and absolutely avoiding any and all possible goose eggs.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): Well, I was going to ask Jim Bowden a question, but I think I’ll leave him alone. I guess I’ll just send out more dumb tweets.
Michael Beller (The Athletic, @MBeller): …getting ahead of the curve by trying to figure out the next thing people are going to get obsessively sanctimonious about, then creating some sort of NFT based on it that will make me incredibly wealthy.
Lenny Melnick (LennyMelnickFantasySports, @LennyMelnick): Finding new closers to replace those depending on spin rates
Ryan Bloomfield (BaseballHQ, @RyanBHQ): Monitoring my 8.5-month pregnant wife… baby boy Bloom coming early July! ❤️👍👌Congratulations!! 🎉
Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): Going to the gym to try to lose my COVID-19
Matt Williams (NBC Sports Edge, @MattWi77iams): …continuing to freak out on a daily basis as I watch every player I drafted get injured, and laughing at Andy’s answer below.
Andy Behrens (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @andybehrens): …anxiously awaiting any additional rule changes that might somehow make Dylan Bundy worse.
Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson): … looking for the next hot-button topic for the owners to vilify the players ahead of the CBA PR War, er, negotiations.
Tim McCullough (Baseball Prospectus, @TimsTenz): While everyone else is monitoring the spin rate and velocity of every pitch, I’ll be.. looking for a couple of hitters to rebound as the tables turn on pitchers.
Toby Guevin (BatFlipCrazy Podcast, @batflipcrazy): … hoping people overreact to small samples and narratives and make some bad drops.
Chris Liss (Rotowire, @Chris_Liss): visiting the dystopian hellscape of Los Angeles
Nick Pollack (Pitcher List, @PitcherList): I’ll be still monitoring pitch usage changes, overall effectiveness, velocity shifts, and new approaches to identify potential production from pitchers, such as Robbie Ray’s fastball finding the zone, or Austin Gomber dropping his fastball usage to sub 30% levels.
Greg Ambrosius (NFBC, @GregAmbrosius): Watching the IR list to see if any of my seven Tout Wars IR players are coming off IR or if any more of my players are going on the IR. I liked this so much better when it was the DL list. I hate this IR list.
Tristan H. Cockcroft (ESPN, @SultanofStat): …changing another 15 starting pitcher assignments to “TBD” in the Forecaster due to all the injuries. Seriously though, my time would be better spent making sure I have enough arms to get my teams through the season. Focus on the prospective adds instead.
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): …cursing Tristan for changing assignments ten seconds after I pulled the info for ESPN Daily Notes.
Ray Murphy (BaseballHQ, @RayHQ): … desperately searching for new explanations for why my hitters still suck.
Rudy Gamble (Razzball, @RudyGamble): …continuing to churn the fringes of my rosters and wondering what I did to deserve the catastrophe that is my 2021 Tout Wars mixed team
Rob Leibowitz (Rotoheaven, @rob_leibowitz): Looking for the next top starting pitching prospect to pick up a week or so before they are called up on the cheap, only for them to explode in my face when they get their shot. Thanks Jackson Kowar.
Jake Ciely (The Athletic, @allinkid): Enjoying the Jesse Winker and Carlos Rodon breakouts, praying Jacob deGrom makes it through the season, hoping he breaks the all-time ERA record, and all while also hoping that one day, I can get my IL list under 10 players.
Mike Podhorzer (Fangraphs, @MikePodhorzer): …checking the pitcher’s SwStk%, or swinging strike rate, because results are the most important, whether you’re doing it with a high or low spin rate, throwing 97 MPH or 88 MPH. I don’t care if a pitcher has increased his spin rate if it’s not resulting in more whiffs or strikeouts.
Larry Schechter (Winning Fantasy Baseball, @LarrySchechter): I saw this question a few hours ago, didn’t have time to answer, but planned my answer “just hoping my players can stay healthy.” And by the time I had a chance to write this answer, guess what???…Brady Singer left the game after 3 innings with a shoulder issue, so now I have yet another injured guy. I won’t bore you with a list of my players on the IL, but it is massive this year and seems to grow every day.
Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy): …spending my FAAB on the garbage minor-league pitching that will soon be needed to replace all the injured big-league starters.
Dr. Roto (FullTime Fantasy, @DrRoto): Drafting my team in the Scott Fish Bowl!
Peter Kreutzer (Ask Rotoman, Fantasy Baseball Guide, @kroyte): …very curious about whether any of this makes much difference. Plus grilling.
Paul Sporer (Fangraphs, ESPN Fantasy Sports, @Sporer): …keeping an eye on my teams and understanding that spin rates drops don’t even start to have any merit until they reach triple digits and even then they aren’t the smoking gun many think they are at this point.
Anthony Perri (Fantistics, @Anthony_Perri): …waiting for MLB to find something else to blame pitchers for.
Jennifer Piacenti (Fantasy Alarm, @jenpiacenti): Wait. Has there been news about spin rate and velocity changes? I’ve been busy watching Youtube vids about how to curl my hair with an athletic sock. Seems Gorilla Glue is no longer an effective hair product. Have to keep up with the important stuff
Alex Chamberlain (Rotographs, @DolphHauldhagen): …watching folks overreact and make wonky predictions about how X player’s performance will change moving forward.
Andrea Lamont (LennyMelnickFantasySports, @RotoLady): Watching Trevor Bauer defy all logic showing no decrease in movement or velocity even with his falling spin rate. I will be looking for nervous managers who might trade him to me…Jake Ciely maybe? 😁 I would brace myself for more injuries but most my pitchers are already hurt. I do agree with what Glasnow said about the effects of pitchers gripping the ball so tight
Scott White (CBS Fantasy Sports, @CBSScottWhite): … counting up pitching injuries as the attrition kicks in. You think it’s already been bad? We’ve only recently crossed the 60-game threshold, which means arms are now being pushed beyond what they did last year. And there’s a long, long way to go.
Ray Flowers (Fantasy Guru, @BaseballGuys): Watching my doggy at puppy day care. He’s really quite the friendly puppy. He even has his own instagram acct. https://www.instagram.com/ollieaussiedog/
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): Taking Edward Olivares back out of my lineups
Bret Sayre (Baseball Prospectus, @BretSayreBP): Overanalyzing the lineup construction of the 10u softball and 8u baseball teams I am coaching this summer.
CJ Kaltenbach (Fantasy Guru, @TheSeigeDFS): … waiting for MLB to change the rules again as soon as pitchers get used to not having the substances.
Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports): Watching for pitchers going 6 or more innings, and looking for trades to improve my teams before the deadline!
Patrick Davitt (BaseballHQ, @patrickdavitt): … watching the NHL playoffs (I usually start around this stage); watching the NBA playoffs (ditto); waiting for notice of my second shot, in a process being ‘managed’ by some of least competent people in history; reading; and doing my daily/weekly due diligence on my teams, irrespective of spin rates.
Eric Cross (Fantrax, @EricCross04): watching the great young talent in the game like Soto, Acuña, Vlad Jr, and Tatis Jr continue to dominate. It’s great for the game to have a group of young stars like this and I’m just hoping MLB figures out how to market them well. Also, unfortunately waiting to see what other big name arm will go down. That’s 2021 for ya.
Shelly Verougstraete (Dynasty Guru, @ShellyV_643): …listening/watching games while I’m baking sweets and playing with my new immersion circulator.
Jock Thompson (Baseball HQ, @JOCKatHQ): Like Eric, looking for the next legitimate minor league breakthrough and promising MLB promotion. And the next great taco.
Adam Ronis (Fantasy Alarm, @AdamRonis): Enjoying my vacation in Dubai.
Michael A. Stein (Fantasy Judgment, @FantasyJudgment): Watching my 1st place New York Mets!
Frank Stampfl (Fantasy Pros, @Roto_Frank): Finding hitters to buy-low on before offense takes off!
Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): Hopefully activating Edward Olivares again.
Ian Kahn (The Athletic, @IanKahn4): Wondering how long I can keep from picking Joe Ross back up and getting my heart broken. Again. And again. And then just one more time for posterity.
Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): Waiting for La Tortuga to get another chance to pitch so that we can see whether his spin rate and velocity will improve in spite of the impending MLB crackdown on foreign substances.
Todd Zola (If you don’t know where I’m from by now…): Who am I kidding, I’ll be birddogging the spin and velo of every pitch…