We had an interesting discussion on the show yesterday regarding streaming starting pitchers. It’s not normally a tactic I like to employ until later in the season when I know exactly what categories I’m looking for or, in the case of head-to-head play when I know I need an extra starter or two to beat my opponent. But based on the emails and tweets I receive daily, the majority of the fantasy community doesn’t share my opinion.

Countless fantasy owners have been rotating starting pitchers both up and down off waivers and in and out of their active lineup. Given the names and overall quality level of these pitchers, I have a hard time trusting most of them, if any at all. I mean…Kyle Freeland? Matt Andriese? Phil Hughes? If any of these names even remotely inspired you, wouldn’t you have drafted one of them in the final round or two of your draft? But give a guy an early start in the regular season, watch him throw 6.2 innings of one-run ball and suddenly everyone wants to add him at the expense of someone who may have had a rough start to the season but still projects as a better long-term asset.

If that’s what you’re into, that’s what you’re into. Personally, I think you’re better off playing daily fantasy baseball, but if this is the seasonal route you want to take, who am I to stand in your way. I will say this, though – asking me to split hairs between a pair of mediocre starters for seasonal play may not get you the immediate answer you want. For example, someone just recently asked me if they should drop Eduardo Rodriguez to pick up Frankie Montas in their AL-only league. I said no because while E-Rod has his ups and downs, he’s still going to see regular starts you can cherry-pick while moving him up and down from your bench. Montas is a middle reliever who is supposedly getting the start Friday for the A’s, but will head back to the bullpen once Kendall Graveman returns.

This person debated with me back-and-forth citing his reasoning for the move, but I respectfully disagreed. I’m thinking long-term when it comes to seasonal play. I’m not looking at just this week or just this start. To me, it’s counterproductive and, in all honesty, is going to drive you bat-shit crazy by mid-season. For seasonal leagues, I look to build the best possible rotation for the long haul. If I pick a guy up off waivers, it’s not because he has a great start this week and I’ll just drop him the week after because I don’t know what’s going to be available to me then. How do I know there will be anyone decent available then? I don’t. And that’s how I look at it.

And for the record, I’ve been looking through schedules all over the place and while two days ago it said Montas was getting the start, his name isn’t listed anywhere as of writing this. Not such a great pick-up after all, was it?

Eating Crow

I’m still trying to figure out if this is another DFS vs Seasonal moment or more of a lesson in recency bias. The jury is still out. Nonetheless, I’ll likely be eating some crow on today’s show if a particular caller remembers that he has to rub my nose in something.

The discussion was about Shelby Miller and whether or not to use him in DFS last night. I was hesitant and, obviously, when you look back today and see his 7.1 innings of one-run ball in the box score, you know I was wrong. The question is, was I wrong because I was wrong about Shelby Miller or was I wrong because I was looking at this individual start as a seasonal player and not a DFS guy? It can be a very blurry line at times and an aspect of my analysis I am still working on.

Miller’s first two starts of the season were mediocre, at best. There was all this talk about him adjusting his mechanics in the offseason, particularly his follow-through which has him hitting his hand on the ground regularly, and changes in his diet. Something called anabolic fasting where you train the body to eat and process foods differently but supposedly gives you similar physical results as steroids. It was interesting enough to me that I explored owning Miller in a league or two this year. He looked to be in great shape, visibly added some muscle and even showed an uptick in his velocity this spring. But when the results were the same through his first two starts, I lost some faith in the new regimen.

Presented to me last night against a struggling Padres team that was just coming off being swept by the Braves, I said I had no interest in using Miller. The match-up was relatively favorable given the Padres offensive numbers, but I also wondered if those numbers weren’t skewed a little too much based on their previous three games. So thinking like a seasonal player and taking from what I had seen in his first two starts I passed and am now forced to eat a little crow should this guy call in. What can you do?

Now for all of you here, my Seasonal Playbook Pro subscribers, I will say that exploring a little further into Miller over the last 24 hours, I’m still intrigued by him. Forgetting about the opponent yesterday, Miller’s mechanics looked solid, his velocity was on-point and the command was pretty tight. If the rest of your league is like I was yesterday and stuck on the nickname ‘Shell-Me’ Miller, he could be available. If he is, pick him up and explore. Everyone in the Arizona organization is talking about who he was before last year’s debacle and everyone is talking positively about his offseason changes. Maybe he just needed a pair of starts to warm up. It’s definitely worth a look.

Closer Carousel

Round and round she goes! Where she stops, nobody knows!

While most of the fantasy community was busy re-analyzing the Texas situation and setting waiver claims for newly-anointed closer Matt Bush, our evening attention landed back in Washington (ok, fine, they were in Atlanta) when Blake Treinen struggled in another appearance and was ultimately yanked mid-inning. With a three-run lead, Treinen loaded the bases and allowed a run to score. Dusty gave him the hook and let Shawn Kelley finish the night. Kelley threw 11 pitches (10 strikes) and got the final two outs to pick up his first save of the season.

So now the question posed to me – which is the better add right now, Kelley or Bush? It’s a close call as both have their pros and cons. Bush has great stuff, but the club is concerned about his ability to handle the pressure. He hasn’t been the most mentally stable guy over the years having battled alcoholism and having spent time in prison, but manager Jeff Banister his named him his closer.

Kelley has great stuff as well, but there’s a reason why Dusty didn’t name him as his closer right out of spring training. Maybe it’s the manager’s desire to have an effector who he can bring in at any time after the sixth inning? Dusty did say in the post-game presser that he expects to make a change, so considering Kelley has now made five-straight scoreless appearances and just earned his first save in stellar fashion, he is likely going to be the guy.

I usually like to have the manager actually come out and say, “[PlayerA] is my new closer,” but I’m pretty comfortable suggesting Kelley over Bush at this moment. Bush should definitely be a contingency pick you make, though, so keep your bases covered.

Record-Setting

Andrew Triggs set a new A’s record last night with 17.2-straight scoreless innings to open the regular season. Two runs did cross the plate in the sixth, but thanks to a Yonder Alonso error, they were unearned. But before you go running out to make it rain at Club FAAB, take a closer look at his peripherals. First off, there are little to no strikeouts to be had. He’s a ground ball specialist pitching to a fairly decent amount of contact. The .196 BABIP is extremely low which tells me he’s getting pretty lucky right now and that is expected to balance out. He’s lost Marcus Semien’s glove behind him which should have an impact and then when you consider his 4.09 xFIP, the drop-off could come sooner than later. And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the heavy use of his slider which has lost some velocity. We’ve seen a number of young arms crumble as a result and Triggs is already 28 years old, so his arm has much more wear and tear. Just sayin’!

Bumps & Bruises

Logan Forsythe left last night’s game in the first inning after being hit by a pitch right on the toe. X-rays taken immediately after were negative and the official diagnosis was a contusion. Look for him to sit for a few days while he recovers.

The Franklin Barreto watch officially started yesterday when it was announced that Marcus Semien underwent surgery to insert a screw into his wrist yesterday and he will miss at least six weeks. The team will likely patch up their infield with Adam Rosales and Chad Pinter, but neither of them are strong options. The team obviously doesn’t want to start the free agency clock for their top prospect just yet, but we’ve seen stranger things.

Justin Upton is driving me insane here with these little dings and dents. He left last night’s game with a bruised forearm he suffered in a collision with Rays second baseman Tim Beckham and while x-rays were negative, he could miss Wednesday’s action. He had just recently returned from missing time with back stiffness and has a well-documented injury history. These little mini-injuries are not endearing him to me very much right now.

Howie Kendrick is still day-to-day with a muscle pull right under his sternum. They’re not calling it an oblique issue, but that doesn’t really make me feel better about it. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI this week, so make sure you keep him out of your lineup until he gains clearance.

The Orioles lost Seth Smith to a hamstring strain early in last night’s game, so keep an eye out for his test results over the next two days. Trey Mancini is likely going to be the primary beneficiary and with the way he’s swinging the bat, you might have a nice stopgap to use here.

And finally, the Astros remain firm on their stance that Carlos Correa’s bruised hand is just fine and he will not need to go on the 10-day DL. He was supposed to return to the lineup Monday and didn’t. Same with Tuesday. But manager A.J. Hinch says it won’t be much longer before his star shortstop returns to the lineup.

First pitch is at 1:45pm ET today, so make sure you get those lineups set by then! Good luck and I’ll see you all in the money this year.