Episode 121

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss Clay Buchholz, Francisco Rodriguez, LaTroy Hawkins and the Rockies’ bullpen, Ronald Belisario and the White Sox’s bullpen, Nick Hundley, Kolten Wong, Brett Nicholas and Michael Choice and … Kendrys Morales, and last but not least, Yordano Ventura.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us any fantasy questions you have so that we may answer on our next episode.

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Josh Rutledge is back up with the Colorado Rockies, and with the injury to third baseman Nolan Arenado, this will be more than the “occasional pinch hitter” stint he had in the early parts of the season when he totaled just 15 plate appearances over 11 games in a 19-day span.

No, Rutledge looks likely to start at second while Arenado heals, moving D.J. LeMahieu from the keystone to the hot corner. Despite his flaws, this four-to-six week path to playing time (and perhaps longer if Arenado eventually opts for surgery to place a pin in his broken finger, something that won’t be determined until later this month), this makes Rutledge an interesting add for those in need of shortstop or second base help.
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To some extent, sure, pick up George Springer in all leagues. Dude obviously has power, and he’s supposed to have speed, and he’s got enough upside to be owned in all leagues. And yet, if you’re talking about buying him, or it’s a shallow league and the dropper is someone with a decent track record… there are still reasons to doubt that he’ll be a star in all leagues.

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Agenda

1. Your Final Roster Spot
2. Daily DFS
3. Wednesday Wends
4. Table

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It didn’t seem like a big deal, at the time, when Matt Wieters missed a late-April contest because of forearm soreness. He returned to the lineup for a few games, then sat out twice more with what the club began to call elbow soreness. Less than a week into May came the report that he was scheduled to visit Dr. James Andrews, who would examine the results of an MRI on the Baltimore Orioles backstop’s elbow. Dr. Andrews determined that Wieters wasn’t a candidate for elbow-ligament replacement surgery shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, Wieters returned the lineup and played in four of five games, all of them as the DH. He was unable to serve the team behind the plate because the ailment affects his ability to throw, but early indications were that it doesn’t hamper him at the dish. He also took ground balls at first base on at least one occasion as the O’s weighed their options. It was worthwhile to Baltimore to lose some flexibility on the roster as long as Wieters could hit, but entering play on May 11, he was hitless in his last 10 at-bats. They’d obviously determined that keeping him active was no longer in their or his best interests, so he headed to the disabled list.

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Anyone who regularly reads my work knows that Ike Davis has been a favorite of mine for years. More often than not, that love has proven to be misguided, leading me to spend money on a player who has not provided nearly the value I hoped for.

Davis got off to a rocky start this year, largely due to a messy playing time situation with a Mets team that was clearly ready to move on. But since being traded to Pittsburgh, Davis has put up a valuable, although somewhat unexpected, month of baseball.

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Memorial Day is behind us. Hopefully your long weekend treated you well. Fortunately there was a full schedule yesterday; today, the same. Brandon Moss kept on raking yesterday. As did Derek Norris, who has been the best hitting back stop by quite a margin. The Athletics are fantastic, in case you were wondering what my point was. I will continue to keep gushing about them.

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Nobody said scouring waiver wire trash bins was going to be pretty, and this week provides a case in point, as we focus on two pitchers whose value is limited to mono league owners.
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I am often asked what I use a hitter’s average fly ball and home run distance for. There are various ways the distance number could be used, such as identifying potential HR/FB rate surgers and decliners. This is a good method to uncover short-term breakouts and busts, but batted ball distance isn’t exactly a predictive statistic. It merely tells us what has already happened.

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I hope everyone who got a three day weekend enjoyed it. Maybe you did some grilling, played some golf or just sat on the deck and watched baseball (which is what I did). Regardless, back to work and back to the Roto Riteup.

On today’s agenda:
1. Tommy Milone gets his third win
2. I’m buying Carl Crawford
3. Thoughts on Brandon McCarthy
4. The Daily Five

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