The Roto Riteup is undefeated in Rock, Paper, Scissors:
The game within the game ?? pic.twitter.com/lJeAkBbKMt
— MLB Memes (@MLBMeme) May 25, 2018
On Friday — in honor of the upcoming amateur draft — I checked in on some of the players selected in the second round of the 2017 draft. Today, I’m going to review some of the catchers selected in the first five rounds of the same draft.
More specifically, let’s look at four of the top hitting catchers so far in 2018 — because we all know how hard it can be to find offence from a backstop. For this exercise, I’m going to omit Arizona’s Dalton Varsho because I recently wrote about him.
M.J. Melendez, C, Royals: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this might be one of the biggest steals of the 2017 draft… and Melendez could be the perfect player to eventually take away the on-field leadership mantle from Salvador Perez. Just 19, this second-year player is showing solid offensive skills in low-A ball despite 44 strikeouts in 34 games (30% K-rate). Melendez hits the ball hard and 22 of his 36 hits have gone for extra bases — including eight homers in a league that doesn’t see a ton of power. His walk rate of 8% is not bad given his age. His caught stealing rate of 26% is respectable but not outstanding. He’s made a whopping eight errors in 22 games behind the plate and is definitely still working on the finer aspects of fielding the position despite his above-average athleticism and canon of an arm. I believe he’ll eventually show enough skill behind the plate to stick there if he keeps hitting like he has recently. Overall, there is work to be done but it’s hard to find a teenaged catching prospect showing this kind of offence in full season ball.
Felipe Vazquez just hasn’t been himself lately, and now we may have an explanation. The Pirates’ closer blew his third consecutive save on Sunday, and the news got even worse, as he had to leave the game with left forearm discomfort. He was examined after Sunday’s game, and as of Monday morning, Vazquez said that he felt well enough that he expects to available on Tuesday against the Cubs.
Nonetheless, the waiver wire frenzy over a potential new Pirates closer has begun. In Yahoo and Fantrax leagues, Edgar Santana is already near the top of the most-added list for relief-eligible pitchers. It’s actually been Michael Feliz who has entered in the eighth inning to set up for Vazquez in each of his last five save chances, including Sunday’s. Just as Vazquez has struggled lately, so has Feliz, and Sunday’s difficulties made it necessary for Clint Hurdle to call on Vazquez to try to get the final five outs. Over his last three appearances, Feliz has allowed seven runs in two innings of work.
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5/27/18
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The Main Course
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As bullpen usage continues to evolve, chasing saves could become even more difficult. For example, over the last seven games the Phillies have used three different pitchers in save opportunities. A week ago Saturday, Seranthony Dominguez notched the first major league save of his career. On Monday, Hector Neris returned to the ninth inning en route to his ninth save. Yesterday, Dominguez worked 1.1 innings, one out in the seventh and the eighth inning paving the way for Luis Garcia to pitch the ninth. Garcia yielded one hit and struck out one for his first save of the season. Four players on the roster have registered a save this month, including Edubray Ramos. Due to Philadelphia’s depth in the their bullpen, this could persist through the remainder of the season with other teams watching closely.
Losing Andrew Miller to the disabled list (knee inflammation) will continue to test the already fragile psyche of Cleveland’s bullpen. For one day at least, they rebounded to close out the Astros. Zach McAllister did give up a run during his 1.1 innings of work but held on for his third hold. Tyler Olson and Dan Otero shared the eighth inning with Olson getting one out and Otero pitched two-thirds of an inning. Cody Allen, the saving grace so far, notched his eighth save in a clean ninth inning with a strikeout. Allen’s made 18 scoreless appearances out of 22 this year and over his last seven games has worked 6.2 innings with a 2.69 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and seven strikeouts. He will be tested with a shaky bridge leading up to him going forward. Read the rest of this entry »
Drafting Alex Colome comes with inherent risk due to his sometimes volatile nature. Colome started the season giving up seven earned runs and 14 hits over his initial seven innings in eight outings resulting in two blown saves. His five losses leads the majors of all qualified relievers. However, Colome seemed to right the ship with a 1.84 ERA during his last 15 innings, including 10 consecutive saves with 17 strikeouts since April ninth. Many believed Colome would be traded to a contender, just not in May. However, Seattle bolstered its already strong bullpen by acquiring Colome to pitch in a setup role and provide insurance for Edwin Diaz along with necessary days off to keep him healthy.
Trying to predict how Kevin Cash will navigate high leverage innings in the near term seems impossible to do. The dreaded committee approach seems prudent to plan on with Chaz Roe, Jose Alvarado and Sergio Romo figuring in the mix. Roe’s struggled of late with a 6.75 ERA his last 12 appearances (six earned runs in eight innings) dating back to April 27th. HE has entered a Rays game in a tie or with a lead 19 of 24 times and in the seventh inning or later in 16 outings. Most fantasy owners would like to see Jose Alvarado ascend to the closer role due to his effectiveness this year along with his enticing fastball. Read the rest of this entry »
The Roto Riteup is heading into the weekend like
Face-palm? More like BASE-palm.
?: https://t.co/eaD4vmmk8L pic.twitter.com/HP9e71QjsB
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 26, 2018
I did not have high expectations for Alex Wood heading into this season. His early 2017 success was fueled by an uptick in velocity that dwindled through the year, he hadn’t eclipsed 153 innings since 2015, and the Dodgers are, ahem, interesting with their starting rotations. I didn’t expect the shiny new-out-of-the-box 2017 edition Alex Wood to be the real Alex Wood.
And as expected, Wood’s velocity has been dramatically low in 2018, boasting a 90mph sinker after last season’s 92mph average (and averaging 93mph in the opening months), but you wouldn’t have known it if you compared his numbers:
| Year | ERA | WHIP | K-BB% | Whiff % | Fastball Velocity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2.72 | 1.06 | 18.4% | 11.7% | 91.8mph |
| 2018 | 3.32 | 1.02 | 18.3% | 11.1% | 89.9mph |
I love this. The end result is the same, though Wood’s lower velocity should tell you that he can’t be holding the same approach for the same results. It’s not out of the question, but seeing his dip in heat has to make you believe there is something else going on under the hood.
And there is.
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5/25/18
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Notable Transactions/Rumors/Articles
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With the 2018 amateur draft just around the corner, we’re going to take a look at some 2017 draftees to see how they’re doing in their first full year of pro ball.
Stuart Fairchild, CF, Reds: Looking back at Fairchild’s pre-draft reports, they continue to remain spot on. He was expected to go in the second round and that’s exactly where the Reds nabbed him. His bat was a bit of a question mark but he was known for a strong arm and excellent center-field defence. Cincinnati has gone easy with him so far and he opened 2018 in low-A ball — whereas most top college hitters are in high-A or better during their first year. Now, Fairchild is hitting well… but he should be doing just that based on his pedigree. The biggest knock against him so far has been the swing-and-miss tendencies that carried over from his collegiate career. It’s not terrible but he’s struck out 40 times in 43 games (Good for just shy of 23%). On the plus side, he offsets that with a healthy number of walks (12%) and I believe he’ll eventually start tapping into his raw power as he consistently hits the ball hard. He might never be a guy that hits for a high average, but Fairchild gets on base nonetheless and could eventually be a 20-20 threat if he generates more loft to his swing.