September roster expansion and resulting call-ups are almost upon us. But although the party has not begun just yet, we have still seen many new faces among American League starting pitchers in recent weeks. Here are a couple worth discussing.
Another five stories in today’s Roto Riteup? What is it, Christmas?
• Joey Votto is going to be returning this weekend if things go well during his current rehab assignment in Single-A. Votto was on pace to have one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of Major League Baseball before he was sidelined, so here’s hoping his knee doesn’t flare up again in the next day or two. Todd Frazier will be moved to the bench to accommodate Votto’s return.
• Casey Janssen blew his third save of the year on Monday, surrendering a lead-off 361-foot long ball to the Captain, Derek Jeter, in the bottom of the ninth frame to send the contest to extras. But the Blue Jays’ closer bounced back tonight, and retired the Yankees in order to earn his 17th save of the season. Janssen has now saved 17-of-20 with a 2.31 ERA and a 6.6 K/BB. Of relievers who have dished a minimum of 50 innings this season, only Wilton Lopez of the Astros has allowed fewer free passes (5) than Janssen’s eight. Somehow he’s still not spoken for in 36 percent of Yahoo! leagues.
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You know it affects you. April, that is.
One or two of your players go out there and they really stink it up or they really light the world on fire and despite the fact that you’re a rational human being with faith in the sample size of the marathon instead of the sprint, reliance on our collection of nerds that try to preach patience when warranted — it messes with you.
We have the luxury now of looking at the stat line and having, most categories considered, stable numbers. So when Ryan Zimmerman falls off the face of the earth and then cortisone suddenly rejuvenates him into Clark Kent, well — we’ve still got a steady .280/.349/.451 which is just vintage Ryan Zimmerman.
All too often, players get dismissed in fantasy leagues because of a low batting average. Owners are paranoid that a player with a low average is going to siphon off points in that category and no matter how productive he may be, will always be a drain. But then they get so caught up in avoiding these players and only see the aggregate numbers that they miss when one of them turns things around. Here are two players to check out for the home stretch. Both are turning their average around, both can hit for tremendous power and even if they do start to slump again in the average department, there’s simply not enough time for them to accrue enough at-bats to completely kill you in the category. Read the rest of this entry »
Nationals’ pitching has gotten plenty of attention this season. Their starters have accumulated 15.3 WAR thus far, good for tops in all of baseball. Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez have been tremendous, while Jordan Zimmermann proved his early-career success wasn’t a fluke. With Edwin Jackson, the Nationals foursome is a force to be reckoned with. Through it all, Ross Detwiler has remained the forgotten man. And while a brief demotion from the rotation may have scared owners away, he’s been another solid option for the Nationals over the second half.
The fun part about MLB trades for fantasy owners is all the new opportunities afforded to players on the teams involved. New roles open up and suddenly intriguing fantasy options are available for the taking from the free agent pool.
Five stories in today’s Roto Riteup means you’re getting all the facts.
• Apologies for last night where I failed to realize that Dale Thayer pitched in the eighth inning as Luke Gregerson got the save. It’s possible that Bud Black might have wanted to ease Thayer back in as he hadn’t pitched in a week before last night’s appearance but at this point Gregerson, with his incredible slider, is the guy to own in the Padres bullpen. Granted the Padres closing situation isn’t the most enticing in fantasy baseball but saves are saves and at the moment those belong to Gregerson.
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Depending a little on the quality of the farm system in question, being the second best prospect in a team’s minor league system isn’t a bad position to be in. Assuming the system in question is average or above, being the second best prospect means having a great shot to make the majors and a decent shot at being an everyday player. What it does not mean, however, is the wider name recognition that comes with being the big dog in the minors. Trevor Bauer’s early season dominance of the minor leagues meant that the #FreeTrevorBauer hashtags came out every time a Diamondbacks starter faltered even slightly. He eventually did win his freedom, only to go 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in the majors before heading back to Triple-A. I still have pie-in-the-sky hopes and expectations for Bauer’s future, especially as he’s back in Reno making a mockery of PCL and its so called “hitters parks”, but the future of the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff is hardly dependent on just one man.
There was no such clamor for Tyler Skaggs, despite the fact that he’s been nearly as good as Bauer in the minors this season. Their WHIP and ERA figures are close — Skaggs’ WHIP was slightly better at 1.22 compared to Bauer’s 1.30, but Bauer’s 2.39 ERA bests Skaggs’ 2.87 — though Bauer’s incredible strikeout numbers give him the leg up on Skaggs in terms of overall potential. Skaggs does hold one major advantage over Bauer as the fantasy season hits the stretch run: He’s the only one of the pair currently in the major leagues. Read the rest of this entry »
