Two youngsters this week, one a corner bat off to a dreadful start and another a starting pitcher yet to throw a big league inning…

Ike Davis | 1B | Mets | Owned: 38% Yahoo! and 27.0% ESPN

Things seem to be slowly coming around for Davis, who at -0.8 WAR, is no longer the worst player in baseball (Brennan Boesch at -1.1 WAR). He has a neat little eight-game hitting streak going that includes a monster three games against the Rays — 6-for-11 with a double, a homer, three walks, and two strikeouts — and has raised his OPS nearly 100 points. More importantly, his batted ball profile is starting to look like a power hitter’s…

Read the rest of this entry »

The Chicago White Sox’s pitching staff isn’t living up to expectations. For a team that was so reliant on hitting in the early 2000s, the White Sox’s pitching has carried them in recent years. This year, however, things are a bit different. They’ve received surprise performances by Chris Sale and Jake Peavy, but their normal rotation stalwarts — John Danks and Gavin Floyd — have floundered. Danks eventually went on the DL with a shoulder injury. In his absence, José Quintana has been fantastic. In 35.1 innings, the rookie has an exceptional 1.53 ERA. With the team’s rotation still in shambles, Quintana may keep his job longer than anticipated.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I decided to compare the SIERA marks of starting pitchers over the last 30 days with what they posted in April. The idea here was to identify potential RoS breakout candidates whose ERAs still might be hiding major improvement over the last month. Today I will look at the opposite side of the coin, those starters whose skills have declined over the last month. These pitchers might still have good ERAs and may still command a nice return in trade.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup was written whilst “rocking out,” so random keystrokes caused by a certain forehead touching a certhsthdgdfh keyboard should be ignored.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drew Storen is throwing off a mound and is targeting the all-star break for his eventual return to the Nationals bullpen. Tyler Clippard has a stranglehold on the ninth inning job for the time being, but given Davey Johnson’s hesitance to use Clippard outside his familiar setup role early in the season and Storen’s career rates (8.7 K/9, 3.45 xFIP), it seems like there will be at least one more closer change in the DC metro area before the season is over. If Storen is lurking on your waiver wire, it might be time to add him to the watch list (shallower leagues) or scoop him up (deeper leagues). Clippard is worth holding for the time being, but maybe some covert shopping to find an owner who will pay for Clippard as the rest-of-season closer is in order.

Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Father’s Day! What could be a better gift to your old man than printing off today’s Roto Riteup and giving it to him? Don’t answer that.

• Yesterday afternoon Pedro Alvarez powered his ninth and tenth home runs of the season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that his batting average is still below .200 and his on-base is still below .280. In three separate stints of over 200 PA’s in the major leagues, Alvarez has at least a 30% strikeout rate in each one. Given that strikeout rate tends to normalize around the 150 PA threshold, it seems as though Alvarez is just a low contact, high strikeout guy at this point in his (still young) career. Even with his solid power, he is owned in just 10% of Yahoo! leagues and an even lower rate of 6% in ESPN due to these warts. If you’re desperate for help in the power department and you can burn average, Alvarez could be a help. His BABIP is currently 60 points below his career norm, so his triple slash should bounce back once that regresses. If he can continue to show this type of power for a full season, he could make for a sneaky pick up. A Mark Reynolds-lite. For sub 10% ownership rates, that isn’t too bad. Read the rest of this entry »

A week ago, I looked at the 10 pitchers with the largest difference between their ERA and SIERA marks; those whose ERAs have outperformed their SIERA. These were the pitchers you can expect to disappoint in the near future. Today I look at the opposite end of the spectrum, the potential improvers whose ERA has underperformed their SIERA marks.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a betting man (that’s a lie), but if I was, I’d wager that this is the best Roto Riteup that has been published in the past 24 hours. And if isn’t the best, then I’ll wager that it is at least the most recent.

• If it seems like I was just touting and recommending Justin Masterson last week, it’s because you have an excellent memory. It’s tough to read into a single start against the Pirates, but a nine strikeout and three walk performance is always nice regardless of the level of opposition. The same caution applies to Masterson as last week, but he is seemingly began to reshape into himself of old. His ownership rate in both ESPN and Yahoo! is still just 41%. Read the rest of this entry »

• Another day, another turn of events in Chicago. Apparently on Wednesday the Cubs’ coaching staff determined that Carlos Marmol would regain the closer role as soon as the opportunity presented itself. That opportunity came today, with the Cubs leading the Red Sox 3-0 heading into the top of the ninth frame. As promised, Sveum called upon Marmol to nail down the ninth for the Cubbies. The outing wasn’t pretty, but after a hit, an error, a strikeout and a walk, the former Cubs catcher snuck his way out of a bases loaded jam to earn his third save of the season — and his first since May 2nd. Based on the skipper’s comments, Marmol is the closer to own again in Wrigleyville and fantasy baseball owners should be racing to the waiver wire to check on his availability.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s two-start piece digs deep into the well, as not a single of the hurlers is owned in even 20 percent of fantasy leagues worldwide. Each of these righties, with the exception of Mr. Harang, are actually owned in four percent or fewer leagues! That’s the kind of week it is for picks here, so bear with me. As a reminder, all two-start pitchers have to be owned in 50 percent or fewer of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, and I will denote wOBA for the pitcher’s opponent versus his similarly-handed counterparts. Read the rest of this entry »