Here’s the saddest thing about velocity changes in pitchers: it looks like you’re screwed either way. Velocity is mostly good for results, but Tommy John pitchers both a) threw harder across pitch types when they were healthy and b) showed velocity loss the year they had surgery. So, either way according to Jon Roegele’s research at least, it could be seen as a negative even if you show up as a velocity gainer on our lists today.

On the other hand, it’s probably better to combine velocity loss with things like a drop in zone rate and an inconsistent release point — things that Josh Kalk put into his injury zone work — and not just rely on velocity loss alone.

That said, a tick on the gun is still worth something in run prevention. And so let’s look at which pitchers are happy or hurting on the radar gun.

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Yesterday, I discussed four lightly owned hitters who could contribute positive value in stolen bases over the rest of the season in deep leagues. I inadvertently included all American Leaguers. Oops, my bad. Not again! So today, I’ll highlight six hitters who could be respectable sources of power for the deep league owner in need, half of which are National Leaguers!

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Today’s Roto Riteup was written while listening to The Hotelier’s Home Like Noplace Is There. It’s definitely one of my favorite albums from last year.

On today’s agenda: 
1. Randal Grichuk’s injury
2. Another home run from Pedro Alvarez
3. Derek Holland to return tomorrow
4. Streaming Pitching Options
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Before we start I just want to say that I spent the weekend in Cooperstown, New York for a bachelor party. If you’re a baseball nut, and I assume you are if you traffic these parts, I would highly recommend the location. While the Hall of Fame itself is obviously worth visiting, an entire town devoted to baseball is a site to see.

To the bullpens…

• It wasn’t in a save situation but Edward Mujica had another outing to forget on Sunday, allowing three earned runs off of two homers and five hits in only one inning. Mujica’s seasonal ERA has ballooned to 5.25 and he’s been pitching as bad on the A’s as he was with the Red Sox earlier this year. Pitching poorly in the fifth inning of a blowout game probably means that your days of closing are done. I have taken the liberty to remove Mujica from the grid all together. On the bright side of the A’s pen is that Sean Doolittle  is expected back “sometime on their next road trip that begins Aug. 24 in Seattle.” Given the competition, I would expect Doolittle to reclaim his ninth inning role immediately. Until then, Fernando Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and/or Evan Scribner could see the next save chances but my guess is that it would be more fleeting.

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• Christian Yelich is on the DL with a knee contusion (official report). Here is the report from the team’s website.

Yelich bruised his right knee last Sunday at Atlanta. He’s been dealing with swelling in the knee. If the knee doesn’t respond in another couple of days, Yelich likely will return to Miami and get an MRI.

So we have possible swelling, bruising, and/or contusion of the knee. With the wide variance in possibilities, here are the possible return times for players with any of the three injuries to the knee.

The return times are all over the place, but an estimate of three weeks is reasonable with the chance it could last until this season’s end.

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On Friday, Adam McFadden wrote a piece in which he recommended nine players owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues. Adam’s work inspired me to do some digging of my own, and I managed to find some more widely unowned players who could give your team a serious boost down the stretch.

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He’s Back!

Drew Smyly (47%) – Although he looked pretty rusty in his first start since May on Sunday, Smyly needs to be owned pretty much across the board. He was dropped in a ton of leagues when he tore his labrum, to the point where he’s available in over half of Yahoo leagues. Dropping him was understandable, as the Rays initially said he was out for the year, only to retract that statement a week later.

I managed to snag him in a 12-team mixer where he had gone unnoticed on the waiver wire. Maybe you can too.

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Episode 265

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Jason Collette bring you the Sunday episode on early-Monday discussing several recent standouts: Chris Davis, Jackie Bradley Jr., Carlo Beltran, Dexter Fowler, Gregory Polanco, Justin Verlander, Collin McHugh, and Drew Smyly among others. Lots packed into a bit a shorter episode.

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As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions.

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Approximately 34 minutes of joyous analysis.

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Today we look at some prospects who are displaying awe-inspiring power — both at the plate and on the mound.

Bobby Bradley, 1B, Indians: First base prospects don’t tend to get a lot of attention, especially in the low minors, unless they put on ungodly power shows so I’ll forgive you if you’ve never heard of Bradley (although he does have 25 home runs in 91 games). He’s one of Cleveland’s top prospects and he’s quietly having an excellence season given his age (19) and presence in full season ball. The slugger swings and misses more than his fair share but (128 Ks), when he makes contact, he hits the ball a long way. The encouraging thing for me is that the left-handed hitter has acquitted himself quite well against southpaw hurlers. He actually has a higher OPS against them (.894 vs .864). He’s also avoided the streakiness that can hurt a lot of young hitters by having only one really bad month (July) so far this season. Carlos Santana has been a disappointment since moving out from behind the plate and is set to get expensive once his current contract expires after 2016. Bradley is a few years away but could be ready to hit the Majors in 2018 so the club might need a stopgap measure for a season. [Value Up]

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Agenda

1. Farnsworth on Eaton
2. Daily DFS – Salazar, Heaney
3. GB / FB Splits
4. Tomorrow’s Targets – ERod, Chi-Chi, Kike, Miller
5. Factor Grid

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Episode 92 – I Am Thinking What You Think I’m Thinking

The latest episode of “Field of Streams” is live!

In this episode, Dylan Higgins and Matthew Dewoskin discuss some players that are better fit for standard fantasy leagues than DFS, being all in on Brian Dozier, Derek Dietrich vs. Dee Gordon as DFS options, failing to exploit a matchup against Erasmo Ramirez, a game featuring very uninspiring matchups on both sides, the White Sox representing the safest matchup, a failed spontaneous comparison of the Giants to the Royals, Nelson Cruz once again single-handedly changing a matchup decision, and celebrating Matt’s father’s birthday.

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