Today marks another installment of American League Outfield Stock Watch.

Bullish:
Cody Ross – After missing over a month of the season with a broken foot, Ross has finally returned to action. Though it has only been 24 plate appearances, Ross has already smacked three home runs and three doubles. His RBI chances should continue, as he has hit either fourth or fifth in four of the six games he has played in. Even if he is hitting from the seventh spot, he should be able to gather RBI’s. Boston has the fifth best team OBP  and have scored the second most runs. There should be no shortage of available runners on base to drive in for Ross, regardless of where he hits. With a seasonal line of .277/.349/.581, he has been one of Boston’s top hitters. Expect him to have very solid showing in the July rankings. For now, his Yahoo! ownership is at 34% and climbing and his ESPN rate is already 56%. If he is available, I’d pick him up immediately.
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Today’s Roto Riteup is like a box of chocolates; it’s pretty sweet.

• Even though it has only been 72 plate appearances, Andrelton Simmons has shown a ton of life in his bat. His BABIP is somewhat elevated, but he is approaching the threshold of when his contact rate can be accurately judged. His 93.0% Z-Contact% is well above the 87.3% average, and his 86.4% overall contact rate looks favorable when compared to the average 79.9%. Last year was Simmons’ big breakout year offensively, and even though he skipped Triple-A, it looks like Simmons is here to stay. If you need a boost to your middle infield, Simmons could be it. He is available in 95% of Yahoo! leagues and 93% of ESPN formats. Read the rest of this entry »

No high school anecdotes today people, just the good ol Roto Riteup.

• Keeping in line with catcher news, the Kansas City Royals activated Salvador Perez yesterday just before their game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Perez had been on the 60-day disabled list after having knee surgery back in March. Perez immediately proved his worth by smacking a two run home run in the fourth inning and going 2-4 overall on the day. He profiles as more of a higher average, lower power type catcher, but he is worth a look in dynasty formats. His on-base percentage won’t win him any awards due to his poor walk rate, but he very rarely strikes out either. Preseason ZiPS had him at a .274 AVG with 10 home runs. I might take the over on the average though, based on his upper minors BABIP profiles. If he hits .285 for 300 or so PA, he is a more than useful fantasy catcher. His Yahoo! ownership rate is just 9% and his ESPN is a mere 2%. In comparison to the catchers I examined yesterday, I would order them Perez > Rosario > JPA. Read the rest of this entry »

Today being June 22, 2012 means several things. I’m sure important things have happened on this date. I’m also sure that it is called “my birthday” by many people. Most importantly, today marks the 8th Anniversary of JoJo’s self titled debut album. I only bring this up because one of my friends was (and quite possibly still is) a massive JoJo fan. And yes, I am laughing as I type these words. Of course, I was just a senior in high school at the time and he was just a junior, but still, JoJo? Everyone has embarrassing things from their high school days, but few are on the same level as thinking JoJo was a supremely talented artist. This one’s for you Michael L. I know you just shipped out to Liberia in service of the Peace Corps, but I hope you read this somehow and laugh. Love you buddy! Tangents aside, here is today’s Roto Riteup:

• Will Middlebrooks‘ BABIP is now up to .380 after a 3-for-4 day at the plate yesterday. With the Red Sox actively pushing the “Trade Kevin Youkilis” angle, it appears as though Middlebrooks will be eventually be the guy to own. I’m not too crazy about Middlebrooks’ skill set of lots of K’s and not many walks, but if he is the starter in Boston, he has to be owned. ZiPS isn’t especially fond of him either, predicting a .255 average the rest of the way. On the bright side, he is only owned in 33% of Yahoo! and 32% of ESPN leagues, so maybe you can pick him up and flip him while his value is still high. I’m guessing here, but I’m going to say that his value will never be higher than it is right now. I’d see if I can do a little dealing. Read the rest of this entry »

A thousand pardons for this being late, I know you all planned your Monday’s around this.

Bullish:
Ryan Kalish – With recent sidelining of Ryan Sweeney to the 15-day disabled list with a stress fracture in his toe, the Boston Red Sox have called up Kalish to take his spot. Pre-2010, Kalish was a good prospect, even ranking in Baseball America’s top 100 in 2008. He hit well at every level and was promoted to the big leagues in late July of 2010 at the age 22. Unfortunately, injuries in 2011 to his neck and shoulder threw off his trajection of staying in the big leagues. He is now healthy and back in the majors. As for his fantasy relevance, he is currently OF eligible, but he may soon be CF eligible as well. He was never much of a power threat in the minors, but he offers some walks with gap power. He runs a little bit too, and in his 179 plate appearance performance in 2010 he managed to nab 10 stolen bases and was caught just once. Keep an eye on his strikeouts though, as his Triple-A strikeout rate has never been below 20%. If you need outfield help, or are just replacing Sweeney, Kalish could be a decent bet. I have a team that has been ravaged by injuries, so I’m taking a flier on him. He is owned in 1% of both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

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Happy Father’s Day! What could be a better gift to your old man than printing off today’s Roto Riteup and giving it to him? Don’t answer that.

• Yesterday afternoon Pedro Alvarez powered his ninth and tenth home runs of the season. That’s the good news. The bad news is that his batting average is still below .200 and his on-base is still below .280. In three separate stints of over 200 PA’s in the major leagues, Alvarez has at least a 30% strikeout rate in each one. Given that strikeout rate tends to normalize around the 150 PA threshold, it seems as though Alvarez is just a low contact, high strikeout guy at this point in his (still young) career. Even with his solid power, he is owned in just 10% of Yahoo! leagues and an even lower rate of 6% in ESPN due to these warts. If you’re desperate for help in the power department and you can burn average, Alvarez could be a help. His BABIP is currently 60 points below his career norm, so his triple slash should bounce back once that regresses. If he can continue to show this type of power for a full season, he could make for a sneaky pick up. A Mark Reynolds-lite. For sub 10% ownership rates, that isn’t too bad. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not a betting man (that’s a lie), but if I was, I’d wager that this is the best Roto Riteup that has been published in the past 24 hours. And if isn’t the best, then I’ll wager that it is at least the most recent.

• If it seems like I was just touting and recommending Justin Masterson last week, it’s because you have an excellent memory. It’s tough to read into a single start against the Pirates, but a nine strikeout and three walk performance is always nice regardless of the level of opposition. The same caution applies to Masterson as last week, but he is seemingly began to reshape into himself of old. His ownership rate in both ESPN and Yahoo! is still just 41%. Read the rest of this entry »

Compared to Wednesday, yesterday’s baseball news was considerably more dreary. Nevertheless, there is still plenty of useful info to be found in today’s Roto Riteup.

• Yesterday was a big day for Kirk Nieuwenhuis. It marked the first time that he powered multiple home runs in a single game. He led off the game with a shot to put the Mets ahead 1-0 and then he followed that up with another homer in the fourth inning. Although Nieuwenhuis has never topped the 20 homer plateau in any single season in the minors, he does have 17 and 19 home run seasons across different leagues in the same calendar year. With a BABIP at an even .400 so far this year I think he makes for a nice first half story with a big second half drop. He is striking out in over 25% of his plate appearances, 27.1% to be exact and his contact percentage is over six points below average. I’d go ahead and leave him on the waiver wire for now, but I have added him to my Yahoo! Watch List in several leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Per usual on Mondays, here is the latest news on some of the American League outfield eligible players.

Bullish:
Colby Rasmus – As noted in the comment section of my last AL OF Tiered Update Ranking, Rasmus decided to go on a tear as soon as I dropped him down to tier eight. Over the past 14 days, Rasmus has a .320 average, three home runs, 10 runs and even eight RBI’s. The RBI production is surprising because over that same 14 day time span, he has hit from the number two spot eight out of twelve games. Rasmus has broken broken my heart in the past, but I might get sucked in his tools yet again. He is only owned in 40% of Yahoo! and 67% of ESPN leagues, go grab him while he is hot. Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks my fourth Roto Riteup in a row! Only 52 more and I tie DiMaggio. Don’t worry, Zach Sanders will be back tomorrow and we’ll be back to the first half/second half platoon situation.

• Ubaldo Jimenez pitched one of his better games so far this season yesterday afternoon. He lasted seven innings while striking out seven and didn’t allow a walk. Over his past three starts and 19 2/3 innings, he has only allowed five walks. It’s possible that he has turned a corner and is ready to put his miserable start of the season behind him. If you are a fellow Ubaldo owner then you know how frustrating he has been so far. I wouldn’t make him an automatic start just yet but I would probably start him this week against the Pirates. With a 58% ownership rate in Yahoo! and just 47% in ESPN, Jimenez could be an ideal stream option this week.

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