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Sam Chinitz has written 567 articles so far, you can find them below.
Tyler Wade Makes Opening Day Roster
New York Yankees infielder Tyler Wade will be on the team's Opening Day roster. Wade's defensive versatility effectively guaranteed him a spot on the team's crowded bench to start the season, but his roster spot could be threatened when first baseman Luke Voit (knee) rejoins the team in mid-May. A light-hitting 26-year-old with a career... Read More
Yankees Place Clarke Schmidt On The 60-Day Injured List
New York Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt (elbow) was placed on the 60-day IL with an elbow strain. Schmidt has been dealing with a tennis elbow-esque injury since late February, and his placement on the 60-day IL is reportedly just a reflection of his missing spring training. A possible midseason addition to the team's rotation,... Read More
Hitters Primed for Comebacks After Injury-Plagued Seasons
Injuries can be tough to manage for fantasy managers, especially coming off of a 2020 season that saw coronavirus have a significant effect. Additionally, injuries can sometimes be freak accidents, and it can be difficult to separate concerning injuries from noise. Still, there are general truths about injuries that can help fantasy managers properly value... Read More
2021 ATC Projections: Hitter Surprises
By their nature, projection systems don’t typically offer many big surprises. Outside of Lucas Giolito’s ZiPS projection, there aren’t many player projections that jump off of the page this season. Still, even seemingly small surprises can have significant fantasy implications, and it’s worth exploring those surprises. To add an element of objectivity to this analysis,... Read More
Jameson Taillon To Start With A Slow Workload
New York Yankees starting pitcher Jameson Taillon will start the team's seventh game of the season and open the year with extra time between starts. The Yankees are being cautious with Taillon's workload after he missed all of 2020 recovering from Tommy John surgery, and fantasy managers should keep Taillon's diminished workload in mind during... Read More
Luke Voit To Have Knee Surgery
New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit (knee) has a partial meniscus tear and will undergo surgery as a result. Voit will be sidelined from any baseball activity for the next three weeks, and fantasy managers should expect him to return sometime in May. That's not a terrible timeline if all goes according to plan,... Read More
Mike Tauchman Makes The Yankees
New York Yankees outfielder Mike Tauchman will be on the team's Opening Day roster after a spring training battle with outfielder Jay Bruce for a roster spot. In the end, both players wound up making the team's roster as first baseman Luke Voit (knee) appears likely to start the season on the injured list. Tauchman... Read More
Jay Bruce Makes The Yankees
New York Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce will be on the team's Opening Day roster, according to manager Aaron Boone. In a somewhat surprising turn of events, first baseman Luke Voit (knee) is the roster casualty for now as the 30-year-old appears to be on track to miss time early this season with a knee injury.... Read More
Yankees Option Deivi Garcia
New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia was optioned to the minor leagues on Friday. It's no surprise that the Yankees opted to have starting pitcher Domingo German start the season in the team's rotation over Garcia, and Garcia is unlikely to make much of a fantasy impact for most of the season as a... Read More
Aaron Judge Hits First Spring Home Run
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge clubbed his first home run of the spring on Thursday, launching a 440 ft shot against the Phillies. Judge has endured a slow start to spring training this year with a .708 OPS following Thursday's game, but fantasy managers should be unconcerned about the slugger's performance. Health has been... Read More
Mike Tauchman Receiving Trade Interest
New York Yankees outfielder Mike Tauchman is reportedly the subject of trade interest, and the Yankees could move on from the outfielder given their crowded roster. Since outfielder Jay Bruce's opt-out decision comes on Thursday, the Yankees are likely to solidify their position regarding Tauchman today as well; if Bruce makes the major league roster... Read More
Domingo German Likely To Start The Season In The Rotation
New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German is likely to start the season as the team's fifth starter behind starting pitchers Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Corey Kluber, and Jordan Montgomery. German has outpitched starting pitcher Deivi Garcia so far this spring, and German has the added advantage of having no minor league options remaining. Fantasy... Read More
Deivi Garcia Struggles On Wednesday
New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia struggled on Wednesday, allowing four runs over three innings with seven hard-hit balls allowed. Manager Aaron Boone remarked that Garcia's pitches lacked their usual life on Wednesday, and the numbers back that up as Garcia's fastball got less "rise" than usual on Wednesday. Garcia remains unlikely to make... Read More
Justin Wilson Uncertain For Opening Day
New York Yankees starting pitcher Justin Wilson (shoulder) received encouraging results from an MRI on Wednesday, but his timeline remains unclear and it remains possible (if not likely) that he misses Opening Day. Wilson had been a candidate to replace relief pitcher Zack Britton (elbow) as the team's primary set-up man to start the season... Read More
Corey Kluber Solid On Tuesday
New York Yankees starting pitcher Corey Kluber was decent on Tuesday, holding the Tigers to one run (zero earned) over 3.2 innings with four strikeouts and three walks. Kluber's 71 pitches were a spring-high for him and the most pitches he's thrown in a game since April 2019, and it's encouraging to see the 34-year-old... Read More
Mike Tauchman Reaches Base Four Times On Tuesday
New York Yankees outfielder Mike Tauchman had a big day at the plate on Tuesday, going 2-for-2 with a home run and a pair of walks. Tauchman now has a strong .960 OPS for the spring, but he faces an uphill battle for an MLB roster spot because of outfielder Jay Bruce's successful spring and... Read More
Chad Green Working On A Curveball
New York Yankees relief pitcher Chad Green is introducing a curveball to his arsenal this season, providing him with a possibly strong complimentary pitch to his high-spin fastball. Green had originally planned to introduce a curveball last season but temporarily scrapped the pitch because of the delayed and shortened season, though pitch-tracking systems appear to... Read More
Gary Sanchez To Catch On Opening Day
New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez will be the team's starting catcher on Opening Day, officially quieting any speculation that catcher Kyle Higashioka will be starting pitcher Gerrit Cole's personal catcher to start the season. The Yankees have been vocal in their support of Sanchez heading into this season and Sanchez still boasts one of... Read More
Michael King Hopes To Throw 100 Innings
New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael King hopes to throw 100 innings for the team in 2021, noting that the team may be cautious to overwork its starting pitchers after the shortened 2020 season. King isn't even a lock for an Opening Day roster spot and the team has a fairly deep pitching staff, so... Read More
Clint Frazier Dealing With A Minor Injury
New York Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier (undisclosed) is dealing with a minor injury and is sitting against Baltimore on Sunday as a result. Frazier has missed significant time in past seasons with ankle, oblique, and head (concussion) injuries, but he's been healthy so far this spring and it's not clear what this new injury is.... Read More
Deivi Garcia Struggles With Control On Friday
New York Yankees starting pitcher Deivi Garcia struggled with control on Friday as he walked four batters over three innings, but he escaped unscathed with no runs allowed. Garcia left Friday's start with a 1.64 ERA, but he remains unlikely to claim the team's fifth starter job over starting pitcher Domingo German and is likely... Read More
Yankees Option Mike Ford
New York Yankees first baseman Mike Ford was optioned to the minor leagues by the team on Friday. Ford's demotion comes as no surprise as the Yankees have a crowded competition to fill out the remaining spots on their bench, but it's disappointing to see Ford lose his MLB playing time after posting a .909... Read More
NL Starting Pitchers Set to Break Out in 2021
With pitcher workloads diminishing and aces difficult to come by, finding breakout pitchers can make a significant difference for fantasy managers. Whether it be through a role change, a new pitch, a mechanical adjustment, or some other factor, plenty of pitchers break out each year and usually provide fantasy managers with excellent draft values along... Read More
2020 Breakout Outfielders Who'll Keep Improving
With hitters dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and related changes to the MLB season, it’s somewhat surprising that breakouts were unexceptional (if high) in their number. After 45 qualified batters improved their wOBA by at least 0.20 points between 2018 and 2019, 54 hitters managed to do so between 2019 and 2020. That’s not a... Read More
Danny Jansen (C, TOR) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Values
BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 280 CURRENT ADP: ~310 overall ANALYSIS: Jansen was a fairly popular sleeper candidate at catcher heading into last season, but investments from fantasy managers failed to pay off with Jansen batting just .183 with a similarly poor .671 OPS. Jansen managed to post a career-best .352 xwOBA that ranked eighth... Read More
Jonathan Loaisiga Working On A Slider
New York Yankees relief pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga has been working on a slider this spring and has developed a more reliable changeup, according to manager Aaron Boone. Loaisiga has had mixed results since making his MLB debut in 2018, but his changeup has always been able to generate whiffs at an impressive clip and he... Read More
David Fletcher (2B/SS/3B, LAA) - 2021 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers
Analyzing David Fletcher is an exercise in extremes. No qualified batter swung-and-missed less frequently than Fletcher did in 2020, and no qualified batter posted a lower hard-hit rate than Fletcher’s 17.8% mark. In an era of hitters who tend to be more power-oriented, Fletcher stands out as a contact-focused hitter with unremarkable power. Fletcher’s ability... Read More
Jay Bruce Starts At First Base Again On Wednesday
New York Yankees outfielder Jay Bruce started at first base on Wednesday, making it the sixth time in nine spring starts that he's started at first base. Bruce has played some first base over his career, but it's generally come in spurts as he only played the position in 17 of his 130 games from... Read More
Jordan Montgomery Lowers Spring ERA To 0.90
New York Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery pitched well again on Wednesday, holding the Blue Jays to just one baserunner (a walk) over five innings with four strikeouts. Elbow injuries have limited Mongomery to only 75.1 innings over the last three seasons, but he's now fully healthy and will look to build off of his... Read More
Sam Chinitz's 10 Bold Predictions For 2021
The 2021 MLB regular season is less than one month away, so it’s time for some bold predictions. Last year’s bold predictions didn’t pan out too well for me; if we’re being generous, two out of the ten predictions hit -- and that’s including Corey Kluber posting a sub-3.00 ERA (which technically happened, even if... Read More
