Author: admin

This week’s question is germane to leagues of all shapes and sizes:

While we await the wave of call-ups after the impending Super-Two cutoff, how , if at all will the trials and tribulations of the prospects already promoted affect the way you approach rookies the rest of the season?

Tim McLeod (Prospect361.com, @RunTMcP361 ): It won’t change my approach. In most formats the Free Agent pool is limited at-best. What options are left, especially when looking at SP? I’ll take my chances on the unproven rookie before betting on the Matt Shoemaker types of the world.

Patrick Davitt (BaseballHQ, @patrickdavitt): Still gotta play it one guy at a time, taking into account team context, player pedigree and (usually limited) MiLB track record, and what you’d take into account if this were a more ‘normal’ season. It doesn’t make sense to alter your approach because of the struggles of some hot prospects in what is still a a very small sample. I am a bit more willing to speculate on catchers in my AL-only league, paid $7 at auction for rookie Alejandro ‘Captain’ Kirk of the Jays, which looked like it might pan out before he got hurt; and just the other week Jason Collette pipped me at the post on Dan Raleigh (SEA), who hasn’t even been called up, because how bad can he be compared with my current twosome of Austin Hedges and Kevin Plawecki?

Fred Zinkie (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @FredZinkieMLB): With extreme hesitation. I’ve used enough resources on the rookies who have already been promoted. This may not be the year for impact rookies, as the 2020 season didn’t do them any favors in terms of development.

Matt Williams (NBC Sports Edge, @MattWi77iams): A player told Robert Murray of Fansided that there has “never been bigger gap between Triple-A and the big leagues.” Between the 2020 minor league season being cancelled, alternate training camps, and now the uncertainty surrounding league wide offense due to Spider Tack and the new ball, there is a lot more to overcome this season than in the past for minor league talent to take the jump. There is no reason to abandon the speculation of prospects, especially with injuries diminishing the waiver wire. However, I would be more skeptical this season and not invest excessive FAAB/capital that could negatively impact my budget for the rest of the reason. However, that is always the way I prefer to play with redraft prospects.

Brian Walton (CreativeSports2, @B_Walton): Coming at this from the perspective of an AL-only or NL-only league participant, where playing time is so important, I might actually be more inclined to consider prospects this year. The reason is increased opportunity due to the epidemic of injuries across MLB. Of course, there is no guarantee that success will follow.

Brent Hershey (Baseball HQ, @BrentHQ): I’m reminded every year in compiling the Top 50 Impact Prospects section of the Baseball Forecaster (granted, we do that in October) how so few rookie pitchers return positive value in their call-up season. This history of rostering a rookie pitcher in a re-draft league is just not a profitable move in most cases. But inevitably, sometimes my actions don’t follow my well-intentioned “note to self” from the previous fall; like probably everyone here, my desire to nail the “outlier” in that case sometimes causes me to ignore my own advice. As we’ve seen so far this year, rookie hitters can struggle also, but in theory, I’ll be more likely to roster a rookie hitter than a rookie pitcher. To me, the risk is not quite as stark on the hitter side.

Perry Van Hook (Mastersball, @): There is no correlation between the players, but there might be some based on positions. Most young pitchers take a while to get settled into the major leagues and learn what to do. It is the rare bird that performs well right out of the gate AND stays at that level. Look at Tarik Skubal in essentially his second year pitching in the majors – he struggled to start the year but has been very good in his last four starts. I wouldn’t be gunshy on a young pitcher just because Daniel Lynch or Jackson Kowar didn’t start well. Both have good arms and I think will be good pitchers down the road. Much easier to look at a hitter’s stats and decide whether to take a chance on him. The one I will probably watch but not jump on this year is Jo Adell who is crushing AAA pitching so far this year. But when he gets to Anaheim will he remember this year’s early success or think about how poor he was last year for the Angels?

Eric Karabell (ESPN, @karabelleric): I do not think that what happened to Jarred Kelenic or Jackson Kowar is terribly surprising and therefore it will not dissuade me from future moves. Frankly, I am often recommending going with veterans anyway. It’s contextual. Yes, Kelenic has the higher ceiling than say Andrew McCutchen and I still think Kelenic will be great, so it may depend on need. What happened to him and others is not predictive of the next promoted prospects in general. Wander Franco may or may not struggle, but not because of past prospects.

Scott Engel (Rotoballer, @scotteTheKing): You have to evaluate each player on an individual basis, but I will always recommend to not go too heavy on rookies when you are FAAB bidding. In all Fantasy Sports, players get too hyped up at times on talent and opportunity alone and overlook the necessary adjustment periods

Derek VanRiper (The Athletic, @DerekVanRiper): I’m looking for longer track record prospects, players who have seen considerable time at Double-A or above, rather than players who might have skipped an important level with the lost 2020. Basically, I’m more willing to give up some ceiling in order to target a less-hyped player who might offer a better immediate floor. As hitters go, I’m particularly skeptical of high-K% hitters at Triple-A right now making a quick adjustment to the top level. That is, I’m much more likely to trust Vidal Bruján than to trust Jarren Duran from the jump, because I expect K% to jump a lot more than usual for first-time MLB hitters.

Jim Bowden (Fantasy Alarm, @JimBowdenGM): Depends on the prospect but certainly will factor in the huge gap between AAA and MLB and take into account the dominating performance at AAA means nothing this year.

Doug Dennis (BaseballHQ, @dougdennis41): No change to approach. I am far more likely to entertain chasing a rookie in “only” leagues. Playing time is King. If the MLB team hands a role to a position player and I get the chance to add to my counting stats through that player, I am going after him. Pitchers are a little different. I will try a guy if I think he will have a good K-BB, but I will keep pitchers on a short leash. Also, sometimes, beggars can’t be choosers, so need is important. So far this year I have FAAB’d Larnach in Tout-AL and drafted or FAAB’d D.Varsho, Y.Daza, Ynoa, Poteet, S.Howard in LABR-NL. I have Alzolay and Larnach in TGFBI. Not all wine and roses, but nothing murderously dreadful, either.

James Anderson (Rotowire, @RealJRAnderson): This has been a huge pet peeve of mine since I’ve been constantly asked about it, but what happened with Jarred Kelenic (and anyone else) shouldn’t have been a major surprise to anyone. He *could* have been great right away, and I’m not even saying that stashing him was a bad move from a process standpoint (although I had zero shares in redraft), but one highly-ranked prospect flopping in 92 PA is nothing more than a blip on the radar. It’s certainly not the first time that’s happened and it won’t be the last. This doesn’t change anything about how we should be viewing Kelenic long term, although hopefully it’s a wakeup call to those who didn’t think this was a possible outcome. OK, rant over.

Derek Carty (RotoGrinders, @DerekCarty): Recent flops like Kelenic and Vaughn just underscore what we’ve always known about prospects but most people are to scared or oblivious to notice: the majority of prospects flop or are blah their first go-round. You take them for the 5-10% chance they wind up as Acuna or Tatis, but most are not. Prospects are dumb. As a projection guy I hate them. Do whatever you want with them or whatever.

Brad Johnson (Patreon/BaseballATeam, @BaseballATeam): Has this season really been any different than normal? Or did we just forget what normal looks like after the nonsense of 2020? I will always invest when they are nearly free and pass otherwise.

D.J. Short (NBC Sports Edge, @djshort): Not really. In the end, it always comes down to roster need and the available player pool. In general, I tend to think prospect pitchers can be a trap and that was true even before this year. I think this year is unique in that it’s hard to really know what impact no minor league season in 2020 really had on these prospects. That’s in the back of my mind, but I’m still more inclined to take a chance on hitters even after names like Kelenic and Vaughn have disappointed. It’s not doing to dissuade me from stashing a Franco or Brujan, etc.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): I posted a tweet wondering if some of the Double- and Triple-A numbers from the top prospects are inflated since most of the players hardly played last year while some had the luxury of developing at the alternate training site. The notion is these top prospects’ numbers would be higher than normal, relative to typical seasons, raising fantasy expectations even higher than normal. By some of the previous replies, it seems there is something to it. As such, while I agree with most of the replies with respect to being contextual, always being cautious, etc., I think the stats of the top prospects could be a bit precarious so be even more wary of someone hitting the ground running. This applies to everyone, even Wander Franco. As an aside to Red Sox nation clamoring for Jarren Duran, careful what you wish for (though I’m excited for his future).

Shelly Verougstraete (Dynasty Guru, @ShellyV_643): Not at all for me. We all know there is a risk for prospects to flop but I’ll take a gamble on the younger guys, if it fits my team. In a bunch of my re-draft leagues, I’ve been looking for hitting help as opposed to pitching help. While it hurt not to get in the bids for Manoah and Kowar, there have been some interesting bats as of late, like Trammell and Olivares.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports): If they have been productive and I have a hole to fill, I’ll give them a try. But as many have found out, it’s lot tougher in the big leagues! I’ve noticed some to have early success, only to see adjustments made and they struggle. It’s when they can make that next adjustment, they are ready to contribute.

Ariel Cohen (CBS Sports, @ATCNY): I will preface my words by first stating that I generally am very cautious with rookies. Part of the poor performance this year is the fact that there were no minor leagues during 2020. There is a big step up to the major leagues, and even a decent step up from AA to AAA, etc. So far in ’21, the evidence is mounting that the minors indeed are needed to develop prospects; teams cannot just rush many of them up. For the rest of 2021 – it will certainly matter on a case by case player basis. But in the back of my mind, that piece of info (no minors in ’20) will be at the forefront of my FAAB bidding.

Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): The early season struggles of some highly touted rookies will have little to no impact on how I approach rookies for the rest of the season, especially hitters. The early season call-ups generally had extremely small sample sizes in the minors this season prior to their call ups after having no minor league season in 2020. By the time the Francos, Brujans, and Durans get called up, we should have larger current minor league season samples, and therefore a greater comfort level with investing FAAB in them. That said, relying heavily on rookies to improve your place in the standings is generally going to result in disappointment.

Andy Behrens (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @andybehrens): As others have said, banking on any prospect to save your fantasy season is usually a terrible plan. (Related: I’m totally banking on Vidal Brujan to save my Tout season.) The best approach with new arrivals in any non-dynasty format is to use them as trade sweeteners. At least one manager in pretty much every league is infatuated with prospects.

Ray Flowers (Fantasy Guru, @BaseballGuys): Put another log on the fire for me. Year after year, the majority of guys getting their first shot disappoint. Often times, the rookies that pop aren’t even the ones we were expecting too. Nothing that’s transpired to date will change my thoughts the rest of this year. It is more of the same randomness we should all be used to by now.

Adam Ronis (Fantasy Alarm, @AdamRonis): It won’t change much. We are seeing it’s very difficult for established players to hit right now and it’s maginifed for rookies. Still, it’s very difficult to find offense on the waiver wire in deeper formats so I will take shots if some rookies are available, but won’t invest much FAAB. I am less likely to take a shot on pitchers and most overpay.

Chris Welsh (Sportsgrid, @IsItTheWelsh): Personally, it doesn’t change MY approach, but it has put a bright light on rookies as a whole for many. From an “industry” I imagine most responses will be, little change, but from a consumer perspective I do believe you will see people more gun-shy than ever before. Craig Counsell made an interesting statement when talking about not a rookie, but Keston Hiura, but it applies. Counsell said that there has never been a bigger gap between triple-a and the bigs. That’s quite a statement. If you think about it though, with a lost season of minor leagues and weird development, I believe it tracks a bit. Rookies will always have struggles with ups and downs. We should bank on that, but with so much lost from last year you may have players pressing more than in previous years, while also what has been asked of these guys is unlike previous years. I could keep going, but at the end of the day, you have to take your shots. I’ll always take my shots on higher prospect hitters in their rookie year. I’ll most likely stay away from rookie pitchers. This year hasn’t changed that, but things do like worse for the young dudes!

Scott Wilderman (OnRoto, @): I’ve always been a numbers guy, but while I do believe the numbers don’t lie, they do get ahead of themselves sometimes by a year or two or three. That’s okay for keeper leagues, but for winning now, there are very few safe bets. The thing to look for is no drop off in production at each promotion. The great ones don’t need a half-season to adjust to each new level. But that said… with the number of injuries this year, some of us are desperate, and I’ve already taken some chances on players I normally wouldn’t touch — especially pitchers — and I’m afraid I’m going to have to keep doing it. I’ll still be looking at progressions through the minors, but I won’t be able to back away from guys who appear to take a half season to adjust.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy): My approach won’t change much…I never have been a big believer in over spending on a rookie call-up. Whether it be Jarred Kelenic or Mike Trout, who hit .220 when called up in 2011, young players need time to develop. Although I’m excited to see Jo Adell, Bobby Witt and more called up to the big league level, I will not be the player who busts his FAAB trying to have them on my team.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): No difference to me. It’s always been the case that some guys hit the ground running while others struggle at first (and sometimes always).

Paul Sporer (Fangraphs, ESPN Fantasy Sports, @Sporer): No, it won’t greatly deter me. I’ll still approach each guy on their own and make my assessment of interest based on their perceived PT and skills as well as my team needs. Guys like Vidal Brujan and Jesus Sanchez are firmly planted on my radar and I’ll be ready to make the appropriate bids as they arrive.

Justin Mason (Friends with Fantasy Benefits, Fangraphs, Fantasy Alarm, @JustinMasonFWFB): It doesn’t change my approach for the most part. Prospects are often suspect until proven otherwise, so unless I feel a guy has the potential for a big impact with a clear path to playing time, I tend to be less likely to over invest.

Mike Podhorzer (Fangraphs, @MikePodhorzer): No, every player is different, so I don’t care whether Prospect A performed well or poorly upon his promotion when trying to project Prospect B’s performance when he’s recalled.

Jeff Zimmerman (Fangraphs, The Process, @jeffwzimmerman): No. The key, IMO, is to make sure they have a place to play. The callup isn’t for an injured pitcher out for the week. Or it isn’t for a spot start in the rotation. I’ll take a hard look at B-level prospects on noncontenders. The MLB team will like to see how they perform no matter the short term results.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): In my opinion, not at all. People tend to want the new shiny penny and are willing to commit a large percentage of the FAAB to any of these prospects. I’ll take a proven rookie or a slumping player over one of these prospects. Plus I spent the remaining $299 I had in FAAB on Patrick Wisdom anyway. That’s worked out quite well to date.

Alan Harrison (The Fantasy Fix, @TheFantasyFix): No, one player’s performance – or, lack thereof – will not impact my approach with rookies the rest of the season. For me, if a player is a fit for my team either from a roster construction/statistical need standpoint I will likely make a play for them via FAAB. However, I’m not sitting on my stash of cash with the hopes of striking gold if/when player “X’ will be recalled.

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy): Rookies are on a case-by-case basis. Yes, it’s a bummer that Jarred Kelenic struggled so badly, but we’ve seen that before in the likes of Mike Trout and Aaron Judge, both of whom flopped during their first stint in the big leagues. If a hitter has a strong skill-set like Bobby Witt Jr, you have to still try to push all-in on him when he eventually arrives. Lesser rookies like Chris Gittens or Josh Lowe, you can go after, but you don’t want to blow your whole remaining FAAB on them. Young pitchers, on the other hand, might be trusted a little more this year given the ball and the way some lineups struggle against the unknown. So again, case by case basis, but a struggling rookie isn’t going to deter me from being interested in someone else just because he’s young and unproven.

Normally, there are a few repeat names in the picks, but this week there are no duplicates, making the cover image harder to choose.

Tonight marks the halfway point of the Tout Daily Contest as this is the second week of the third period. Here is who the Touts are counting on for a ticket into the finals.

Shelly Verougstraete (Dynasty Guru, @ShellyV_643)

Pitcher: Pablo Lopez – Lucky for Lopez he misses the Red Sox in Fenway and gets the Rockies at home. Lucky for you his $8,700 price is oh so nice.

Hitter: Jonathan India – India has been hitting well recently and going up against Houser in GABP. Sign me up!

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50)

Pitcher: Dinelson Lamet – At home against a beat up Cubs lineup

Hitter: Juan Soto – He’s hot – 1.339 OPS over the last week, but the cost doesn’t reflect much of that.

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy)

Pitcher: Matthew Boyd – I’m going to pay pretty far down for my 2nd starter. Boyd has been getting hit around lately, but nothing gets you right like a match-up against Seattle, a team that struggles against left-handed pitchers and strikes out 28% of the time against them.

Hitter: Andrew McCutchen – He’s on a six-game hit streak and is destroying southpaws to the tune of a 1.006 OPS and .303 ISO this season.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Walker Buehler – I need a starting pitcher that can go deep into innings. WIth Dinelson Lamet still be stretched out, I’m going to go with Walker Buehler at $9,700. He has gone at least 6 innings pitched in all of his starts this season. This is the first time he’s been this cheap since 5 outings ago.

Hitter: Patrick Wisdom – My words of Wisdom: Patrick Wisdom has double the home runs on the road than at home this season. He’s on the road tonight at San Diego.

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella)

Pitcher: Shane Bieber – I’ve been going cheap lately to save money for offense, but Bieber is too difficult to pass up this week under $11K

Hitter: Matt Olson – Olson gets a great matchup against the Diamondbacks and Jon Duplantier, even in Oakland. He’s an elite power hitter who is a bit of a bargain in this one.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Chris Bassitt – He should rebound from a rough last outing against the Diamondbacks at home. Today’s slate filled with top pitchers, so hoping to save a few $ and still get top performance and points!

Hitter: Manny Machado – He’s one of those guys when he’s hot, he’s hot, an almost impossible to get out. I’m hoping yesterday’s action was a sign he’s going into one f his hot streaks!

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner)

Pitcher: Alex Wood – Where do you go when seeking a light-hitting team out? Texas is the place. You can feel good, good about Wood.

Hitter: Nick Castellanos – He had his 21-game hit streak snapped on Sunday … so it’s time to start another one! Can’t believe he’s just $4500.

Zach Steinhorn (CreativeSports2, @zachsteinhorn)

Pitcher: Pablo Lopez – Sports a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over his last four starts and the Rockies rank last in the majors in road OPS.

Hitter: Ryan Mountcastle – Hitting .351/.365/.596 versus lefties this season and David Peterson is coming off a disaster outing.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Sonny Gray – Gray has 60 K in 47 IP and the Brewers fan a lot.

Hitter: Hunter Renfroe – Chancing the weather, but I’ll be ready to pivot. Hoping Framber Valdez isn’t as effective as he was in Houston.

This week’s question drew a lot of great suggestions:

Memorial Day Weekend is considered by many to be the first checkpoint of the season. What do you do to take stock of your team(s) now that we’re about two months into the season?

Ian Kahn (The Athletic, @IanKahn4): In a redraft league, I am starting my check in a bit earlier. What trades can I find that will help my squad round out completely. It’s also a time to spend some of those Fab dollars. It’s not too late to make your move. In Keeper/Dynasty, I am definitely looking to be on the early side to buy from teams that are starting to look towards the following season. It’s a ripe time to make moves to make your teams better.

Matt Williams (NBC Sports Edge, @MattWi77iams): Now is the time to take a serious look at categories in roto formats in order to make adjustments. If you are falling too far behind in a certain area I would consider making roster moves (maybe a trade) in order to sure up a weakness by dealing a strength. It’s important to maintain a well-rounded team, but injuries, bad luck, and the performances of other teams in your league could alter your strategy to win at this point.

Brad Johnson (Patreon/BaseballATeam, @BaseballATeam): I continuously look at the standings to assess my categorical strengths and weakness then compare to the talent of my players. If I have Tommy Pham – who I know many of us expect to be fine – and I’m running a little behind in AVG, then I’m not too worried. If I’ve leaned on Nick Castellanos and Marcus Semien to build a lead, then I might be more proactive about preparing for regression. I don’t really approach this as a “checkpoint” activity – we need to be doing it constantly to maximize our success.

Ron Shandler (RonShandler.com, @RonShandler): There are several things I do now… 1. I review my roster to see the ratio of overperformers to underperformers. This includes digging in on the metrics to validate current performances and reviewing all my IL players. This tells me whether I have upward or downward mobility. 2. I do the same exercise for the top few teams in the league (assuming I’m not one of them). 3. I review all the categories to see where I can make up ground and where I have strength to deal. 4. Finally, I remind myself that the best laid plans will be derailed by one pulled hamstring. I check the potential fallout from that injury, player-by-player, which usually ends up with several nights of alcohol abuse and uncontrolled weeping.

Mike Podhorzer (Fangraphs, @MikePodhorzer): Count the number of players occupying my IL slots, cry, wipe my tears, and then cross my fingers those many injured players will return soon and provide the production I initially expected. That combined with a reversion toward pre-season projection levels from underperformers, and the hope is no action is actually needed and my team(s) will rebound and improve on their own.

Michael A. Stein (Fantasy Judgment, @FantasyJudgment): By this point in the season, injuries and lack of performance have undoubtedly affected me in some capacity. I am exploring trade opportunities, but I can’t count on making a deal. So I am focusing on accumulating depth at as many positions as possible. I am also thinking about the next crop of minor leagues that are likely going to get called up either due to injuries or MLB teams wanting to get them some experience. For redraft leagues, I am evaluating whether I have a realistic chance of making a playoff run so I am considering putting a star player on the market to try and capitalize on his value and maybe improve my roster in a couple positions. It isn’t early in the season anymore, so the time is now to make a move if possible,

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports): Good time to take an “honest” look at your team(s). We’re a little past the 1/4 point in the season. I addressed a trade I made in my advice from The Godfather column on RT sports this week. I was getting 3 out of 12 points in K’s and saves, and found an owner needed offense. I was able to trade Trevor Story for Aaron Nola and Anthony Reyes, so hopefully I can improve on my 4th place in the standings. Not a move I really wanted to do, but sometimes you have to be aggressive to get better!

Chris Liss (Rotowire, @Chris_Liss): Not much. Making moves all year whether in late May or early August.

Rudy Gamble (Razzball, @RudyGamble): While I use every weekly FAAB to find opportunities to improve/repair my team on the margins, Memorial Day is about the first time I start taking my category standings performance seriously (except for SB and SV since this could particularly drive pickups). On teams that are struggling on Wins/Ks, I may be more aggressive in getting extra SPs in FAAB to allow for more 7-8 SP weeks (or more 2 start weeks among the 6 SP). There is unfortunately no quick fix for teams struggling in ERA/WHIP except a trade. For offense, if there is an imbalance (e.g., RBIs > R standing points), I may tweak my FAAB bids to value leadoff and high OBP guys a bit more.

Patrick Davitt (BaseballHQ, @patrickdavitt): I do some projecting to see if/where I have category opportunities to gain or risks of losses. I also look ahead to see where profitable trades might be possible down the road. I want to check my roster for obvious over- and under-performers, using skills-metrics analysis like Ron said.

Ryan Bloomfield (BaseballHQ, @RyanBHQ): To Ron’s point, take a step back and look at YTD underperformers. It’s easy to draft somebody in the 10th round, auto-start them all year, and not even realize how poorly they’re doing (I fell into this trap with Avisaíl García last year). Also don’t just look at standings, but take stock of how BUNCHED the categories are directly above and below you. There’s a big difference between being 10th in your league in SB when 9th place has 15 more than you vs. having 5th-9th place all bunched up with just 4-5 more SB than you. If the latter, target bags to maximize points; if the former, maybe consider punting.

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis): Memorial Day is a time to look at your team so see where you can realistically make some moves or trades to help with deficiencies, while not hurting your team in other statistical categories. I’m an active league manager, especially in my leagues to where I can conduct drop/adds on a daily basis. For my other leagues that are weekly drop/adds, it’s time to see where I have the potential to move up significantly in the league standings. Is that struggling starting pitcher going to continue to struggle the rest of the season, or will they get their act together going forward? This is the question that I am asking about everyone on my team.

Doug Dennis (BaseballHQ, @dougdennis41): Nothing magical about Memorial Day, except maybe other team owners may be more willing to make a deal than before. I look at other teams’ underperformers to see if I can find a deal that works and maybe consolidate some gains from my overachievers. I look at categories to see where the most volatility exists and see if I can approach that. In NFBC, I am just trying to incrementally improve each week w/FAAB. I have had one redraft team this year disastrously lose virtually all of its starting pitching and so started early finding a new strategy and trades that fit the strategy to grab some incremental points (I hope). In my one dynasty team, I am far more patient and really just look for ways to grab whatever improvement I can find, depending on what other teams think/want. I am always looking at the ILs and trying to decide who I might be able to trade now to get value down the road. Most of this work goes without clear decisions–but the first part of improving a team situation is knowing what you need and where you can afford to give something up in categories.

Howard Bender (Fantasy Alarm, @RotobuzzGuy): Usually around Memorial Day, I’m deciding which sell-high candidates can go and what holes caused by cold starts genuinely need to be filled through deals. This year, all I’m doing is charting what days all my IL players are expected back and if I can legitimately hang on until then without really blowing up my team.

Jason Collette (Rotowire, @jasoncollette): Whether I have a realistic path to the money. If not, what can I do to achieve something such as the 60 pt threshold in Tout or securing the best draft/reserve pick possible in a home league and live to fight another day.

Lenny Melnick (LennyMelnickFantasySports, @LennyMelnick): Why wait till Memorial Day Ive made a trade DURING the draft!!!

Ariel Cohen (CBS Sports, @ATCNY): My checkpoint dates are May 5 for individual categories, and June 5 for overall standings. By now you should have taken a deep look at the individual categories. Not only if you are deficient in a category – but more importantly, where you are clustered (the spots where there are the most points to gain OR lose). Seek out some trades or FAAB targets to assist with those targeted categories after May 5. As for the overall success of my team (standings), I don’t worry until the start of June. But after this weekend, I evaluate whether I need to increase or decrease team risk – either via trade, FAAB, or even who I play from the bench. By team risk – I’ll give an example. Take Luis Castillo. If in first place, I may try to trade for 60 cents on the dollar just to get some less variable expected production. If in 10th place, I may look to trade for him – buy at that discount, and hope he turns his season around. I won’t finish “in the money” unless I can buy low and hope it hits … so I’ll look for these opportunities. Its about overall risk for me after Memorial Day. It isn’t just about the “who to buy low on” – its about ‘whether’ you need to.

Eric Cross (Fantrax, @EricCross04): This is the time of year that I take a long, hard look at those “Band-Aid players” as I call them. Meaning, those players that you drafted fairly high that are vastly underperforming (Think Eugenio Suarez & Lourdes Gurriel). Is it time to rip the Band-Aid off with these guys? This is also the time to make a big push in categories you’re falling behind in. Wait any longer and you’ll have a difficult time making up ground.

Eric Karabell (ESPN, @karabelleric): I admit I looked at the standings earlier this season, perhaps because I wanted to see just how far behind I was in ERA and WHIP thanks to rostering Luis Castillo, Kyle Hendricks and Pat Corbin in SO many leagues. Thanks, fellas! Seriously it’s a good time, as others noted, to decide which categories you can make up ground in, realistically, and figure out how to fix. With struggling but proven hurlers the answer might be to wait for them to turn it around. Or build up other categories instead!

Ray Flowers (Fantasy Guru, @BaseballGuys): I don’t view the date as anything special. I think it’s a good time to start looking at at the standings to see where you set – should you make a move here or there – but I think it’s more about doing that each week moving forward versus using the holiday as a jumping off point to really get serious about making significant changes.

Michael Beller (The Athletic, @MBeller): A few others have said this, and I will add to the chorus. At this point of the season, you probably aren’t catching up in categories where you’re significantly behind. The best thing you can do right now is determine the places where you can climb up a few spots in the categorical standings, and where you can afford to lose a contributor without losing meaningful ground in others. It really is about playing the category game now that we’re a little less than one-third of the way through the season.

CJ Kaltenbach (Fantasy Guru, @TheSeigeDFS): There is still 70% of the season left. Some players got off to bad starts and some got off to great starts but for me it’s about being honest. Where can I make up ground? What is lost cause? If something is a lost cause can I get away with ignoring it and trying to win all the other categories? I’m not panicking about a team until mid to late June, it’s a long year and you can find difference makers until then that can change the tide of your season.

Tristan H. Cockcroft (ESPN, @SultanofStat): I don’t think Memorial Day is a one-size-fits-all day to do this; in a points league it’s a lot more critical to do the check-in sooner (and more frequently), lest you dig an inescapable hole. In a Roto league, I’m mostly looking for categorical excess or shortcoming, especially extreme. There’s a guy in one of my leagues with an 11-save lead on the pack, and that’s more than 35% of his total Roto score, and the deeper we go in the year, the tougher it’s going to get for him to find a market for his saves excess (the league also typically devalues saves). In a points league, I’m getting a read for whether my team has over or underperformed and why, and whether what I’ve got is likely to maintain or provide the necessary rebound for where I’m at in the standings.

Fred Zinkie (Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, @FredZinkieMLB): This is the time of the year that I start to shift my thinking from pure value to specific categories. I’d love to stay value focused until August, but at that point I’m sometimes too far back in some categories to make up ground. Hopefully I’m not desperate in any category, but that’s rarely the case.

Phil Hertz (BaseballHQ, @prhz50): In a redraft league in a normal year, I start looking at categories where I can make gains and looking at other teams to find mutually beneficial trades. This year, however, my teams have been decimated by injuries, so I’m deferring the process a couple of weeks. Then i hope to have more information regarding who’s going to be available on my existing roster.

Vlad Sedler (Fantasy Guru, @rotogut): Memorial Day weekend is actually a good time to do a deeper dive on the teams that could be contenders. Particularly for someone like myself who loves Draft SZN and has more teams than a person needs. I’ll take progress notes so that I can take a look at the end of the month – each and every month until the end of the season – to see if there are major shifts in categorical deficiencies. The revolving door of the IL these first couple of months makes it more difficult, which means we need to be more diligent than ever when assessing FAAB replacements.

Glenn Colton (Fantasy Alarm, @GlennColton1): There are so many things that can be done but at Memorial Day, I try to take a dispassionate look at the over and underperformers on the roster. Is the guy who is so much better than projected someone who we can count on to continue that type of performance? Is someone we believed in during draft season slacking because of injury or bad luck or do we have to make moves to account for that lack of production. This honest look at players should direct the strategy at least in significant part

Mike Gianella (Baseball Prospectus, @MikeGianella): Most of the work I do now is with my keeper/dynasty teams. It’s time to tear off the band aid in the leagues where I’m out of it and start looking at the rebuild if I haven’t done so already. This doesn’t mean I need to rush out and make a trade tomorrow, but I do want to start studying other people’s rosters. In redraft, this is normally a good time for me to reassess teams’ organizational depth, and see if there are prospects who have moved up or down in their rankings from Opening Day, particularly in leagues like Tout where you’re allowed to stash non-MLBers. It’s a little more difficult this year given that I haven’t gotten any in person looks at the minors and they started late, but the cadence of the major league regular season hasn’t changed so this is still the time to do it.

Shelly Verougstraete (Dynasty Guru, @ShellyV_643): I take a much deeper look at the standings and what moves I could make to move up in some of the roto categories. If it is in a trading league, I would see if there is any team that needs something that I have an excess of to see if a trade can be made to help both fantasy managers.

Lou Blasi (Fantistics, @LouBlasi): Tout’s H2H Points league presents some unique challenges here because you can’t easily identify that you are weak in a particular column for example, so I am comparing my roster to the free agent pool and trying to identify the improvements that I can make through claims. I also self-scout to see where my potential surpluses are, and to try and identify my needs, but again in H2H points, that probably comes down to roster spots that I can improve rather than looking for more SBs for example as you can in Roto leagues and leagues based in column scoring. Then I try to see where my surpluses fit a need for a potential trade partner.

Nando Di FIno (The Athletic, @nandodifino): I’m still sticking to my guns at this point. Just last week in an AL-only league, I added six points, thanks to a few players slowly starting to turn things around. I’ll still try and trade for players I like who the rest of the world may not be on yet (Ha-Seong Kim, for instance), but otherwise I’m just trying to set mart lineups, keep the end of my bench in good shape and remember why I drafted these underperformers in the first place.

Jock Thompson (Baseball HQ, @JOCKatHQ): Draft and Hold is tough right now, esp in a season such as this one. I just sit back and grit my teeth at the productive / healthy names that went undrafted by our league in March.

Frank Stampfl (Fantasy Pros, @Roto_Frank): I think Memorial Day is a good time to reflect on your teams. I probably spend way too much time looking back at my team’s draft results but I think it’s helpful to learn from your mistakes. Specifically in category leagues, you have a decent idea of where you stand, what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you’re strong in saves or steals, trade from a strength to boost a weakness. If you play in a H2H points league, it’s more positional scarcity rather than statistical scarcity. If you’re strong in the outfield or starting pitching, maybe shop those positions to help your biggest positional weakness.

Greg Jewett (Fantasy Alarm, @gjewett9): Depending on league setup, it’s time to address clear needs whether it’s speed, saves, ratios, etc. In formats allowing trades, find someone in the standings who possesses what you may need and hope you can offer them something of value in return. It’s also time to figure out if a draft pick’s worth holding onto or finding the pivot, despite the litany of injuries across the sport. If it’s speed, time to get Jon Berti with a clear path to playing time. Saves, start targeting the guy behind the guy or player getting more high leverage chances (Kyle Zimmer, J.P. Feyereisen, Carlos Estévez, etc.). Last, but not least, mine who will be selling at the trade deadline. A Pirates hitter like Bryan Reynolds could receive a major boost in value heading to a team like the Yankees for instance. They will be trading Richard Rodríguez at some point too. Do not migrate to football prep yet, stay the course in our marathon. There’s time to make a move in the last three legs of the season.

Seth Trachtman (NBC Sports Edge, @sethroto): The approach is dependent on the league format and scoring. For a rotisserie-scoring league with in-season pickups or trades, it’s a great time to assess where I am in each category and look at possibilities of either improving or disregarding categories (for example wins and strikeouts vs. saves). For a keeper league, it could be time to go for the gold with a trade, or dump and play for next year if I’m out of the running. This is also a great opportunity to trade over-performing players if I feel they can’t keep up their pace over the latter four months.

Scott Swanay (FantasyBaseballSherpa, @fantasy_sherpa): At this point in the season I’m concerned primarily about depth, particularly on the pitching side. It seems to me there’s much more of a drop-off from starting-level players to what’s generally available on the waiver wire on the pitching side than there is on the hitting side. Also, losing 1/9 of your lineup when a pitcher goes down is a bit more challenging to overcome than losing 1/14 of your lineup if a hitter goes down (esp since Pitchers contribute in at most 4 categories, and 2 of those are ratio categories that can easily become dumpster fires). If forced to look to the waiver wire on the hitting side, I have a slight preference for players with multi-position eligibility since they give you more flexibility to deal with the inevitable future injuries. Category-wise, just comparing where I am in the standings to my preseason expectations and scouring other teams’ rosters for potential trade partners to make up for perceived shortfalls.

Zach Steinhorn (CreativeSports2, @zachsteinhorn): After two months, you can start to take the standings seriously and should have a pretty good idea as to your team’s strengths and weaknesses. Now is the time when I closely examine each roto category to determine where I can quickly gain or lose the most points and whether or not I can afford to downgrade in a certain category to address an area of need via trade. My focus when it comes to either the waiver wire or the trade market becomes more category-specific. I’m not a fan of punting categories but if you are considering punting, now is an ideal time to make that decision. Thanks to widening category separation, the longer you wait, the fewer teams will be interested in trading for your one speed source or one reliable closer.

Anthony Aniano (Rotoballer, @AAnianoFantasy): Memorial Day weekend is usually my first deep dive look at the standings in a category by category basis. It’s time to to study where points can be gained and if I’m not careful points can be lost. I also remind myself as I make trades or waiver moves this time of year that these moves should be made to improve categories and not necessarily a position. For example, If i need SBs my mindset should be to acquire a player who can provide SBs, regardless of position.

Derek VanRiper (The Athletic, @DerekVanRiper): In addition to taking a closer look at the standings, this is the time that I begin a more rigorous process of looking at the underlying numbers for more established players that have underperformed to this point. Where has Christian Yelich’s power been? How about Gleyber Torres? Are there any signs in the underlying numbers that they can’t meet their initial projections (pro-rated, of course) over the rest of the season? I find it a little bit easier to separate Fact from Fluke now that we’re one-third of the way through the season.

Clay Link (Rotowire, @claywlink): To be honest, I’m checking my standings across all leagues virtually every night, so this mile marker isn’t one that comes with a great deal of reflection or time spent evaluating. Fantasy baseball consumes a good chunk of my life, so I’m well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of my various teams. I might talk trade here or there, or take a really hard look at any teams doing poorly to see if I should abandon a category, but for the most part this is just an arbitrary endpoint. Overreacting and shuffling your roster too much based on two months is ill advised. I’m basically trying to stay the course at this time while steadily improving my team via the waiver wire.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola): While I agree with the notion of paying constant attention, there are a couple of reason to spend a little more time putting your team(s) under the microscope at this time of the season. The first is many of your competitors are doing it and you should be prepared to enter trade discussions. The other is math as the standings in roto leagues are now realistic in the top to bottom distributions in the ratio and counting categories historically settle about two months into the season. This makes doing the “category math” more practical (I can lose points here to gain there, etc.).

Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer were the only pitchers pegged twice by the Touts as Period 2 draws to a close. Three more Golden Tickets are on the line, with a tight battle for all three spots.

Here is the Leaderboard: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VvteP7L6iRs6e1xID_8poeF5OIRF2oygsI82Ynd6hOY/edit#gid=0

Jeff Boggis (Fantasy Football Empire, @JeffBoggis)

Pitcher: Kevin Gausman – I need a golden ticket miracle tonight, so I have to go cheap and roll with Kevin Gausman at $7,200. He’s pitched well this season with a 4-0 record, and 1.66 ERA, and a 0.80 WHIP. He also has more strikeouts than innings pitched.

Hitter: J.D. Martinez – This is an interesting game tonight with the Red Sox at home, taking on the Atlanta Braves. In his past 10 games played, Martinez has 2 home runs and 5 RBI. I like him at $5,800 tonight.

Derek Carty (RotoGrinders, @DerekCarty)

Pitcher: Max Scherzer – With deGrom likely to be limited, Scherzer is the clear top option tonight. He faces a depleted Reds offense (Votto, Senzel, Moose all on the IL) that is rolling out with several dead spots and plenty of extra strikeouts. They take a big park hit, and Scherzer has the longest leash on the slate.

Hitter: Amed Rosario – Skubal is the worst pitcher on the slate and this game has the second best hitting weather. Rosario is hitting second, will hold the platoon advantage, and gets a SB boost against a pitcher that is easily exploitable on the base paths.

Shelly Verougstraete (Dynasty Guru, @ShellyV_643)

Pitcher: Aaron Civale – I’m saving a bit of money here with Civale. He gets an easy matchup against the Tigers in Detroit. Cleveland, typically, lets their starters go pretty far into games and the Tigers are an easy target.

Hitter: Amed Rosario – In the past 10 games, Rosario has hit .316 with two double and two stolen bases. While I like Skubal for the long-term, give a red-hot hitter against a younger pitcher still trying to figure things out.

Charlie Wiegert (CDM Sports, @GFFantasySports)

Pitcher: Jacob DeGrom – calculated risk since he’ll probably be on pitch count coming off DL, but that might keep others from using him. hopefully 6 plus scoreless innings with 10 plus K’s against week Rockies road offense!

Hitter: Mitch Haniger –

Zach Steinhorn (CreativeSports2, @zachsteinhorn)

Pitcher: Kevin Gausman – His Draftkings price of $7,200 is the 15th-highest among pitchers even though he’s averaging the third-most points. Huh? Gausman is a no-brainer pick.

Hitter: Aaron Judge – Judge has torched southpaws this year to the tune of a .400/.689/1.189 slash line and he gets to face an inconsistent Steven Matz.

Steve Gardner (USAToday Fantasy Sports, @SteveAGardner)

Pitcher: Max Scherzer – So many holes in that Reds lineup … I’ll pay the freight for vintage Max tonight.

Hitter: Adalberto Mondesi – I’ve been waiting all year to get him in my season-long lineups. At a mere $2500, he seems like a fantastic bargain — even from the No. 7 spot.

Todd Zola (Mastersball, @toddzola)

Pitcher: Cole Irvin – Hail Mary time — going doubly cheap at SP. Irvin’s punchies have faded lately, but the Mariners fan a ton. As do the Tigers, hence Aaron Civale as well

Hitter: Alex Verdugo – Screw it, having some fun tonight, even though I expect Morton to pitch well, going to pigpile Boston bats and Verdugo is best bargain.

Jeff Erickson (Rotowire, @Jeff_Erickson)

Pitcher: Corbin Burnes – I run the risk of Tatis tattooing one, but no Grisham or Machado, and I get a relative discount at $9.1K on this loaded SP slate.

Hitter: Luke Voit – Voit against a recently struggling lefty in Steven Matz for $4K seems like a pretty good price to me.