Short Hops

Strong arms, big bats, can't lose.

NEWS OF THE DAY

Harrison Bader is out with an oblique strain. There isn’t a timetable for his return, but for now it doesn’t sound like more than a month or so.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that the Andrew Painter “Makes the Phillies Rotation” would be a great story if he didn’t get hurt. Turns out it’s not a great story. He’s now shut down for a month and then will have a long slow ramp up throwing in an attempt to avoid TJ.

Garrett Mitchell came out of a game Thursday with hamstring tightness. No word yet on the severity, but for a guy whose game is built on his legs there has to be some concern.

Photo: Ian D'Andrea on Flickr

You’ve probably seen reports that Bryce Harper is hitting off a tee these days? Well, actually, every other day. He’s coming back from TJ and the goal is to have him DHing around July 1, halfway through the season. He’s going for about $15 right now, which would make him a bit of a bargain for half a season, though of course there’s always the chance that he comes back later or not at all.

A CLEVER IDEA

Do you agree with everything I say? With every opinion I have? Probably not, but if you think that I’m wrong a fair amount of the time wouldn’t it be clever to gift your leaguemates with a monthly subscription Rotoman’s Guide! It’s just one month until I turn off subscriptions, so it will only cost you $5 per. In the runup to auction season, let them chew on my hot takes and adventurous opinions and pointed evaluations, while you amble off with this year’s pennant!

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

THE TOP TIER

I use the cutoff of 15 games played in these charts, which makes Marcus Semien qualify at short (17 games played for him), but he may not qualify in your league. It’s my opinion that the 20-game minimum to qualify rule is too restrictive because it’s too arbitrary. Presumably, a guy who has played 15 or even 10 games at a position can handle it. The 20 number isn’t about baseball talent, it’s about fantasy gameplay.

Similarly, the five-game in-season rule is too loose. I think. Freakish things can happen over the course of five games, especially when partial games count. In the AL-only league I play in we use 10 games in-season and the next season, with both major league and minor league games played counting. It has been good! (And no problem if you like your gameplay the way it is, I just think it’s good to think about other options.)

Oh yeah, the top tier.