Fantasy Baseball: Targeted Streaming for RHPs
Hello, friends.
Last week, we dove into one of my favorite areas to leverage in fantasy, the always titillating team splits. I'll hold for applause.
And, we're back! Splits might not be anything fancy, but they remain one of the surest bets to guide your decision-making in which pitchers to start, whether in year-long or daily fantasy. Year after year, it's proven that just because a team has a good offense overall, it doesn't guarantee they have equal success against both hands of pitchers. And in those gaps, streaming magic awaits.
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Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Fantasy Baseball: New Stars?
Hello, friends.
I come to you deep from within the family bunker, relishing these last few hours before summer "vacation" activities get fully rolling in the morning. For new (or not yet) parents, let this serve as a PSA: summer vacation is a lie. In particular, during June, because everyone just lo-ooves to pack everything in right away. It's a hellscape; please take heed when scheduling.
Anywell, baseball. We're now at the third pole, and there's no time like the present to make definitive and grandiose statements about fantasy players. With that in mind, let's take two of the players mentioned frequently in my chats this season (11 am CT on Thursdays) and put our foot down. No more hemming, and certainly no more hawing. We're calling the fight.
These two guys got the goods, dude.
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Daniel Bard Drawing Interest Following Recent Showcase
Veteran right-hander Daniel Bard recently threw in front of scouts for around ten teams, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI. He’s drawing interest from a variety of clubs, including some West Division contenders in each league.
Bard, who’ll turn 40 next month, missed the 2024 season after undergoing a pair of surgeries: one to repair the meniscus in his left knee and a second, more serious procedure to repair the flexor tendon in his right elbow. He told Bradford back in January that he was hoping to begin throwing off a mound in late February with an eye toward signing in late April. It seems that timetable wound up being a bit optimistic, but Bard’s recent showcase and interest from contending clubs seems to signify that he’s back to full strength.
As recently as 2022, Bard was one of the sport’s top relievers. He enjoyed a brilliant comeback effort with the Rockies that season and entered the trade deadline as one of the most widely anticipated trade candidates the market had to offer. The Rockies, ever marching to the beat of their own drum, felt differently and signed a then-37-year-old Bard to a two-year extension worth $19MM.
Bard dominated down the stretch for the Rox post-extension, finishing out the year with 34 saves (on a 68-win team), a 1.79 ERA and a 28.2% strikeout rate. He struggled in 2023, logging just 49 1/3 innings with a diminished 4.56 ERA, a 20.3% strikeout rate and a jarring 21.1% walk rate. His fastball, which averaged 97.9 mph in 2022, sat at 94.4 mph in 2023. Last year’s injury-lost season officially closed the book on that two-year, $19MM contract.
A comeback at age 40 might be something of a long shot, but that was also true when Bard returned from a six-year absence at age 35 in 2020. When the right-hander has been healthy, he’s generally been effective. In four seasons since returning to the majors, he’s pitched to a 3.83 ERA with a 25.1% strikeout rate and 13.5% walk rate (3.58 ERA, 26.9 K% and 10.8 BB% if we exclude that 2023 season when he did not seem to be pitching at full strength).
At this point of the MLB season, there aren’t many trade opportunities available to contending clubs looking to strengthen their roster — nor are there many free agent possibilities of note. Bard joins fellow elder statesman David Robertson — who’s about two and a half months older — as an exception to that line of thinking. Given that he’s looking to reestablish himself after a lost 2024 season while Robertson is seeking a notable salary on the heels of a terrific 2024 campaign, Bard stands as the clearly more affordable option of the two.
Whether Bard ultimately signs a minor league contract or a big league deal with a low base salary, two things will likely be true: the contract will be laden with incentives that boost his earning potential if he remains healthy, and he’ll likely need a tune-up in the minors before jumping directly into a major league bullpen. It’s hard to imagine him being a real option before mid-to-late June, but that still makes him a more immediate option than the majority of the arms who’ll change hands on the summer trade market.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the campaign, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s Episode Of The MLBTR Podcast
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we regularly answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
The 2025 season is chugging along. If you have a question about the season, a look ahead to the deadline or anything else baseball-related, we’d love to hear from you! You can email your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
Also, if you want to hear your voice on the podcast, send us your question in audio form and we might play it. iPhone users can find instructions on how to do so here.
In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Brett Phillips Signs With American Association’s Cleburne Railroaders
Former big leaguer Brett Phillips signed with the Cleburne Railroaders of the independent American Association yesterday. The league announced him as a right-handed pitcher, so Phillips is continuing the attempt he began last summer.
The 30-year-old Phillips played in the majors as a depth outfielder between 2017-23. He suited up for five teams and played a little more than half his games as a member of the Rays. Phillips is an elite athlete and plus defensive outfielder, but he never reliably made contact. He hit .187/.272/.347 in just under 1000 big league plate appearances. Phillips made five appearances as a pitcher in blowouts. The results weren’t good, as he allowed nine runs with five walks and zero strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.
Phillips committed to a new career path with a full-time mound move last year. He reportedly is capable of running his fastball into the mid-90s. The Yankees were intrigued enough by the idea to sign him to a minor league contract last July, but he wasn’t ready for game action. Phillips only made one Low-A appearance.
He failed to retire any of five opponents. He allowed two hits, walked two more, and hit a batter. He uncorked two wild pitches. New York allowed him to become a minor league free agent at the end of the season. Phillips will continue the process in the independent ranks in an effort to pitch his way back to affiliated ball.