Jarrod Parker has failed to make it out of the fourth inning in two of his three starts this season. After Sunday’s drubbing from the Detroit Tigers, it’s time to start wondering what’s wrong with the 24-year-old. Keep in mind that he’s only tossed 11.2 innings this year, so small sample caveats apply. But he’s also had time to work on improving over his last three starts and that hasn’t helped. Looking over his game logs, there’s some evidence that his best pitch from last season, hasn’t been much of a weapon in 2013.

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After word that an MRI revealed a torn ligament in Jason Motte’s elbow, fantasy owners should be assuming the worst. If Motte will indeed succumb to Tommy John> surgery, then someone is going to have to close the rest of the season for the Cardinals. But who will that be? The team opened the season with Mitchell Boggs in that ninth inning role, while Trevor Rosenthal waited patiently in the wings as the setup man. But after recent performances, the pecking order may have shifted.

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Welcome to another chipper Monday edition of the Roto Riteup.

On today’s agenda:
1. Carlos Quentin starts his suspension
2. Wilson Ramos lands on DL
3. Tony Cingrani could be up soon
4. Checking in on soon-to-be MLBers

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• #LOLCubs. Remember those awful days last summer when we had to sit here and figure out who was the least terrible option between James Russell and Shawn Camp? Yeah, I trepanned myself, too. But apparently those days are here again after Kyuji Fujikawa hit the disabled list yesterday. Shawn Camp got first dibs on a save chance which meant he got to be the first to do his best Carlos Marmol impression. Well, I guess he didn’t walk the house, but he did give up  an earned run in the ninth to blow the save and then another three in the tenth to take the “L.” While he hasn’t been as bad as his (to date) 12.46 ERA indicates (.471 BABIP, 52.1% LOB%), he’s still not very good, with a career 4.35 SIERA and a paltry 15.9% K%.

As Ben pointed out in yesterday’s Bullpen Report, Russell may get the shaft as the lefty in the platoon, but his 17.8% K% and 3.79 SIERA isn’t blowing any doors off either. Expect the two to continue splitting opportunities based on handedness, but, honestly, I wouldn’t be bothered rostering them unless I was desperate for a couple saves. Even then, their ratios might hurt you more than the “SV” helps. Also keep in mind, that the longer the ninth inning is a problem post-Marmol, the closer Marmol himself comes to seeing save situations again. Try to erase that thought from your head.

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The Roto Riteup was two pitches late today, as a ball boy jumped in front of the author and cut him off. It seems as though there is an awful lot of that going on these days.

On today’s agenda:
1. Everth Cabrera’s big day
2. The return of Darwin Barney
3. Johnny Cueto is forced to leave his start early
4. Loss and gain in the Arizona Diamondbacks outfield
5. The Carter administration and the Department of Power
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• After blowing the save last night against the Giants and receiving the win, Cubs closer Kyuji Fujikawa has been placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Cubs plan to go with a committee approach but Marmol won’t be part of that committee, leaving the save opportunities to Shawn Camp and James Russell while Fujikawa is on the shelf.  Teams in need of saves should certainly look towards Camp and/or Russell but unless you are desperate, the roster spot used on a mediocre reliever hoping to chase a few saves on a committee might not be worth it. Rafael Dolis was called up for Fujikawa and although he received a few save ops last year, he has a 6.18 ERA in the majors and mediocre peripherals throughout his minor league career. Shawn Camp’s better than his seasonal 6.75 ERA but with a career 6.2 K/9 and 4.09 FIP, if you’re not in a very deep or NL-Only league, he might hurt hurt your roster if he’s not getting consistent saves. James Russell, like Camp has uninspiring numbers and should only be owned if you really need the saves.

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Per usual, when the author is presented the ability to defer words to N*Sync, he enthusiastically does so. My god, the memories…

On today’s agenda:
1. What to make of Justin Masterson
2. Justin Maxwell’s hitting streak
3. Riding Daniel Murphy’s hot hand
4. Jose Reyes‘ latest injury
5. C.C. Sabathia’s great start, and lingering velocity questions
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As promised, here’s a running tabulation of the results we’ve seen so far this season with my recommendations:

1-2 record
4.71 ERA
1.30 WHIP
6.3 K/9
3.0 K/BB

We still have two more starts to go — one apiece from Kevin Slowey and Joe Saunders — while Ubaldo Jimenez has been pushed back due to a rainout. That’s probably for the best, as Jimenez allowed seven of the nine earned runs that go into that less-than-ideal 4.71 ERA. Read the rest of this entry »

Relief pitchers who have starting pitcher qualifications are a valuable resource in leagues who have both starting pitcher (SP) and relief pitcher (RP) slots and daily moves. If a team can’t use all their starting pitcher slots on a particular day, a good SP qualified reliever can be used to help with rate stats and maybe holds. These type of pitchers have become so useful, they were effectively outlawed in Ottoneu because of a rules change (only pitchers starting can get stats for SP slots and non-starters can only get stats on the RP slots). Today I am going to look at few useful candidates to use with this strategy.

Truthfully, the list of ideal candidates are slim this year. I far as I could tell, no SP qualified pitcher is currently a full time closer or set up man. A few fall into the category of middle relief, but most are long relievers. Here is a quick look at some of the better option in 2013.

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Last week I listed some guys to target and avoid in daily, salary-cap formats based on platoon splits. That’s just one factor to consider when picking a daily cap lineup, and a commenter mentioned another interesting factor worth considering:

This seemed like a great idea, so below I’ll be identifying the certain pitcher-hitter matchups to exploit in daily cap formats. Read the rest of this entry »