Listening to Noise and Hearing Music.

 

With all the noise in baseball, where can you find the music?

ESPN? CBS? Yahoo? OnRoto?BaseballHQ? 162 games, 30 teams, 40 man roster! Gezz that is a lot of noise! But if you listen closely you can hear some great tunes.

Listening to Noise and Hearing Music or LNHM for short is going to be a weekly article for you to learn about some players that you may never have heard before and quickly add them to your roster.

Before you read

I want you to be familiar with some of the metrics that we talk about here and although I could spend hours writing about them and barely do them justice, I decided it would be better to go elsewhere. The link that follows is an article that gives you a good base of sabermeterics without being too confusing. It is worth the read if only just to know what I am talking about below.

http://www.fangraphs.com/library/offense/offensive-statistics-list/
Scroll down for the pitching metrics.

When I talk about own % I am going to be using ESPN and Yahoo sites as those seem to be the two largest providers when it comes to fantasy leagues. However I would like to give a shout-out to OnRoto.com. Although this is not a free site as the other two are, it is far and away the best for the true fantasy pro.

For this week I am going to scout 2 batters and 2 pitchers along with some notes at the end.We are still getting started here so expect the section below to grow in the upcoming articles.

Batters

Dalton Pompey, TOR OF: I wanted to start off this blog in a very helpful spot. Pompey is currently owed in 38% of Yahoo leagues and a measly 21% in ESPN leagues. In these post-Trout days it seems outrageous that any prospect worth his salt could be passed up but for some reason, Pompey has yet to receive much love. Ron Shandler and his excellent colleagues at BaseballHQ will tell you to draft skills and the stats will follow. Pompey is an excellent example of this. Pompey cruised through the Jays minor league system jumping from High A Dunedin all the way to the MLB last year. One of Pompey's best asset is his above average defense which has earned him a spot on the opening day roster this year. So where most of your league will be waiting 15 days for Kris Bryant (100% owned in ESPN and 92% on Yahoo) to get the call, you can get a high caliber rookie who has a job on day 1. Because Pompey bounced around quite a bit last year he really didn't stay put long enough to accrue a lot of stats, but his skills are there. Pompey had flashes of high ISO power (.179 in AA) and high contact rates throughout all levels. Pompey struggled in this 39 at-bats with the MLB squad but everyone feels growing pains. Expect Pompey to be a bright spot in a good TOR lineup.

Marcus Semien, OAK 2B/3B: Currently owned in 7.6% of ESPN leagues and 24% of Yahoo leagues. Siemen moved from the CWS to OAK this offseason in a move that will hopefully get him some PT. Some might look at his paltry .234 batting average and lack of counting stats last year and not give him another look but you would be wise to look again. Once again we turn to the old mantra, draft skills and playing time and stats will follow. Semien showed us that the skills are there and his time in the sun will come. Semien displayed a nice PX, SpX combo last year (110 and 143 respectively) , which by the way is what made Trout so attractive way back in 2012. Now of course I am not saying that Semien is the next Trout but now that he looks to angle is way into the OAK infield don't be surprised if you see his own % climb as the weather gets nicer. Also worth nothing is his current 2B and 3B eligibility which is nice in its own right but with him slated as the starting SS he will be eligible for every spot in the INF besides 1B.

Pitchers

Kendall Graveman, OAK SP: More so than batters, when it comes to evaluating pitchers, it is all about skills. With most batters playing everyday their sample sizes grow quicker than that of pitchers, Therefore we are more comfortable in our evaluations of batters over pitchers because we see batter more. So when we get an unknown like Graveman we have a hard time pinning him down. Owned in 8% of ESPN leagues and 17% of Yahoo leagues, Gravemen might be the definition of "diamond in the rough". Gravemen won the last rotation slot for OAK earlier this spring and at first look he might just seem as another young Oakland arm, but a closer look reveals more. Drafted in 2013 by the Blue Jays he quickly rose through the system to then be sent to Oakland in the Josh Donaldson/Brett Lawrie deal. An exiting young gun stands 6 foot 2, 185 pounds which profiles as a great size for a pitcher. Graveman presents quite an unknown but his spring stats are interesting. In 25 innings this spring Graveman gave up a whopping 1 earned run, this one run came from a solo shot. Opponents were hitting a pathetic .147 versus Graveman but possiblly the sweetest stat were the 7 walks, 17 strikeouts in 25 innings. Originally profiled as a groundball machine, Graveman showed us that has found that elusive strikeout pitch. This combined with a FpK rate of above 70% (First pitch Strike ratio) could lead to an interesting player this spring. Also playing in OAK will help.

Archie Bradley, ARI SP: Of all the people in this profiles, I like Bradley the best. Bradley has always had the talent and pedigree of a top starting pitcher. Looming at 6'4, 230 pounds Bradley has been Arizona's best prospect for two years running  and now it is finally his time. There were musings that he would get his cup of coffee last year but that came and went with nothing new. The former first round draft pick has boasted high K/9's in previous years along with maddening low Hr/9 rates and walk rates. I don't expect him to win the Cy Young (this year) but expect to see Bradley at the top of starting pitcher lists in the coming years.

Finem Cogitationum
Final Thoughts

Mets, Cubs and Padres fans have been saying "It will be better future" for a long time and now it could be true. It is time for Yankees, Braves and Phillies fans to learn this phrase.

I don't believe one player (Kris Bryant) can change the Cubs year. Although he might be #worththewait, I will be waiting until next year when the team is 100% established.

Remember when Justin Verlander went for 30 dollars in a mixed league draft, I do have to admit , Kate Upton is real pretty.

I don't have a clear favorite for the AL Central but I think the Tigers and White Soxs will give us a good show.

Mark Teixeira said Didi is the best SS he has ever seen, cut him some slack, Jeter was really never a good fielding SS.

Speaking of the Yankees, It is not a matter of if but when Tanaka needs Tommy John Surgery

Don't Stop the Music with Mark Nessel

I would like to end each LNHM with this small segment about an album that Mr.Nessel wants to highlight. This way even if all my recommendations turn out to be busts, at least you will get some good music at the end of the day.




"Endtroducing....." by DJ Shadow (1996, Mo' Wax)

Genre: Instrumental Hip-Hop

When you make a fantasy baseball lineup you have to look through all that's out there to find the best lineup.  In keeping with the theme of music and noise the album this week is the debut work by DJ Shadow.  Cited as the first album to be created entirely from sampled sources, DJ Shadow sifted through the noise; drawing from movies, music and other sources to build his "lineup" that is still credited as a benchmark of the genre today.  Hopefully you mix turns out as good as this one.