You lucky readers are treated to a Saturday edition of the Roto Riteup that isn’t written by Professor Pony.
On today’s agenda:
1. Travis D’Arnaud gets the call
2. Alexi Ogando’s shoulder gets diagnosed
3. Yovani Gallardo to return today
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
From 2007 to 2011, Dan Haren was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Over those five seasons, he averaged 5.4 WAR, winning 73 games in more than 1100 innings pitched. In fantasy baseball, Haren might not have been profiled as a classic #1 starter, but he was typically among the top 12 pitchers off the board, and if he was your #2 starter, you were pretty well set up.
In 2012, things started to go south, and they went so in a hurry. His fastball velocity was off dramatically, his strikeout rate continued to fall for the third consecutive year, and he was simply much more hittable. His results weren’t awful, but they just weren’t the old Dan Haren: 4.33 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and a 19% strikeout rate. Pretty much the definition of a spot starter. Single handedly disproving the contract year phenomena, Haren couldn’t even find a suitor as a free agent until the Nationals took a one-year flyer on him in December of 2012.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
Dillon Gee – 7.5% ESPN – @MIN (.303 team wOBA), v. DET (.343)
Gee gets a rare AL Central double-dip as the Mets return to Minneapolis for a one-game makeup before welcoming the Motor City Kitties to Citi Field. The Twins haven’t hit much all season long, and at last glance were striking out more than anyone this month — thanks in large part to Clete Thomas and Pedro Florimon. Read the rest of this entry »
Although he started the season in the Padres’ starting rotation, Tyson Ross wasn’t anyone fantasy owners should have had on their radar coming into the season. He posted a 6.50 ERA and 4.80 FIP with the Oakland Athletics last year, striking out only 5.65 batters per nine innings and showing a penchant for dishing out free passes.
That sentiment proved true when the Padres sent him to Triple-A Tucson in the middle of April, and when he returned, he was relegated to a low-leverage position in the Padres’ bullpen. He had little-to-no fantasy value.
While the non-waiver trade deadline failed to live up to the hype, there were many who suspected that August could be quite busy with a number of players expected to be placed on waivers. With that, fantasy owners were going to have to brace themselves for the impending fallout. A month left to wheel and deal was plenty of time to re-shape the landscape of many a fantasy roster and upset the balance of a few league standings. Alex Rios moved from the South Side of Chicago to Texas and it looked as if we were just getting the ball rolling. But the team that has been most active thus far has been those surprising and surging Royals and with a pair of moves to bolster their suddenly struggling infield, fantasy owners are….bored. After a deal with the Twins and a trade with the Blue Jays, there are nothing but yawns in reality and even less for fantasy owners to get excited about. Read the rest of this entry »
Why is Alex Wood only the 15th most expensive pitcher today? With a price tag of only $11,219, he represents a nice value today for several reasons, the first of which is that he is good. And we’ll discuss that more in a moment. But there is also the fact that he will be facing the Nationals who have the 4th worst wRC+ against left-handed pitching like Wood. And the weather conditions in Atlanta will be favorable for pitchers. Game time temperature is projected to be fairly low at 70, and the wind will be blowing in from right at 7 mph.
But Wood being good is the most important factor. Kevin Correia has a good match up and favorable weather conditions today, but that isn’t enough to make you ignore his below average ERA and strikeout rate. The quality of the pitcher is obviously still a factor. Read the rest of this entry »
Brooklyn, NY — In three innings of work against the Brooklyn Cyclones, Hudson Valley Renegades pitcher Jaime Schultz fired his way through his sixth start of the season. Despite the Renegades eventual 3-1 loss, he gave them a chance to win.
Showing a loose, live arm, he held the Cyclones offense to one hit and didn’t allow a run, bouncing back from a four-run outing the week before. He also kept the walks to a minimum again, giving up just two.
According to numerous reports, the Cardinals will be recalling 22-year-old infield prospect Kolten Wong, the team’s first-round pick out of the University of Hawaii in 2011. Wong was only Marc Hulet’s #5 Cardinals prospect entering the year, but that “only” comes with just about the largest caveat you can find, because saying that someone isn’t better than Oscar Taveras, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, or Shelby Miller is pretty far from a slight.
Wong doesn’t project as a superstar in the big leagues, but the potential for an above-average ballplayer — and intriguing fantasy asset — is there. Moving quickly from Single-A to Triple-A in just barely over two years since being drafted, Wong carries a professional line of .301/.365/.446 into his promotion, and that career mark is almost exactly what he’s producing at in 2013 as well.
Today marks the anniversary of yet another 90’s movie, one of the greatest movies of all time. If you haven’t seen it yet, go watch The Usual Suspects trailer and then the full film right now.
On today’s agenda:
1. Buy on Brandon Belt
2. Need steals? Look in Toronto
3. Alex Cobb’s return
4. So long, Rickie Weeks
Read the rest of this entry »
The Cuban Missile, Aroldis Chapman, surrendered one hit and whiffed two enroute to a 2-1 Reds victory over the Brewers on Thursday evening. Chapman is now 30-of-34 on the season with a 2.74 ERA (1.03 WHIP) and a 43% K%. He “somewhat” set the bar pretty high for himself back in 2012, so when I want to discuss how his K% is “down” to 43% from just over 44% last season or his BB% is up to 10.7% from 8.3% in ‘12 I feel like I’m just nitpicking. But the aforementioned is true and so is the fact that the velo on his slider is down a tick and his LD% is up to 25%. Ya whatever, he’s still recorded 30 saves for the second consecutive season and will likely eclipse the 100 strikeout mark again as well. He’s been a stud and will continue to be a stud for the foreseeable future, I’m 99% sure you didn’t need me to tell you that.
Read the rest of this entry »