Today’s Roto Riteup might be a little more brief than the norm. I’d like to say that it is because I’m watching the free HBO weekend that is currently going on, but that would be a lie. The truth is that I am enjoying the other major league passion of mine, Major League Gaming. Today marks the final day of MLG’s Spring Championship, so go watch some StarCraft II already!

• So what if I told you that the leader for shortstops with 2.6 WAR who happened to lead the SS position in home runs was available in one third of Yahoo! leagues? It sounds pretty crazy huh? Well Jed Lowrie is exactly that. Somehow he still only owned in 67% of Yahoo! formats. For the love of cake, pick him up and play him if he is still available! His ESPN ownership rating is a full 100%, so to my colleagues in Yahoo! leagues: wake up already.

• Andrelton Simmons hit his first career major league home run last night. Power was never the strongest part of his game, but it is nice to see that he does possess the strength to knock one out. The ZiPS RoS on him isn’t too pretty but I think he has a chance to surpass those numbers. He might go off for a .280 average with lots of doubles and he’ll probably end the season with more triples than homers. Keep an eye on him. Simmons should be available in 95% of leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Ahh, the weekend. It’s something that we all look forward to. And I know you are all looking forward to today’s Roto Riteup, so we’ll jump right in.

• In case you haven’t heard, Carlos Quentin is back and he is back in a big way. Since his return to action a mere nine games ago, Quentin is sitting at a .484/.543/1.097. Of course that isn’t sustainable, but seeing him already sock five home runs is encouraging. When healthy, Quentin certainly is a force at the plate. He is owned in just 64% of Yahoo! leagues, so if for some reason he slipped through the cracks of your league, pick him up. His ESPN ownership is all the way up at 98% however.

• If you’re set in the outfield but you need some infield help, then Kyle Seager could be just the man you’re looking for. Since May 26th, Seager has two homers, 10 RBI’s and a .311 average. For the season he has an impressive .275/.324/.475 line, good for a 124 wRC+. As a prospect he always had more doubles power than home run power, Seager has surprised us by popping seven home runs already. That is more than twice as many as last season in what is essentially the same number of plate appearances. He is still popping doubles at a very good clip, hitting 13 so far. ZiPS thinks he will end the year around 39 doubles and that kind of extra-base hit production from someone who is shorstop eligible is a very nice thing indeed. His ownership rating in both Yahoo! is a mere 70% and ESPN isn’t much better at 74%. Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Friday, and thus represents the light at the end of the work week tunnel. Today is going to be a good day. Today’s Roto Riteup was created especially for you.

• After just coming off of the disabled list a week ago, it seems as though Yoenis Cespedes could miss some more time in the upcoming days. He pulled up lame and holding his left hamstring after a first inning single in yesterday’s win over the Texas Rangers. He is currently being listed as day-to-day with a strained hamstring, but it is certainly something to watch for. Those of us in weekly leagues should pay close attention to the A’s twitter feed before the deadline passes to set our lineup for next week.

• The St. Louis Cardinals placed Jaime Garcia on the 15-day DL yesterday after he had an examination on his throwing shoulder. Garcia is set to see a second doctor today and the door is open to see a third doctor. The reason for all these varying opinions is that although it has been officially named as a shoulder strain, the root of the pain still remains a mystery. Garcia’s ERA is a rather ugly 4.48, but his 2.74 FIP is much better and even his 3.59 xFIP is a considerable step up from ERA. I would stash him on your DL for now. Read the rest of this entry »

It may be a day late, but I assure it isn’t a dollar short. Today marks the updated tiers for American League outfield eligible players.

Tier One:
Josh Hamilton
Curtis Granderson
Jose Bautista
Adrian Gonzalez

Joey Bats was able to re-enter the upper echelon. Over the past 30 days he’s hit .348 with nine home runs and 23 RBI’s. Combine this past month with what he should project to do the rest of the season and you have yourself a top shelf player. Hamilton and Granderson continue to mash about as well as anyone could expect, so they’ve managed to hang onto the top spots as of right now. Now OF eligible in Yahoo! formats, A-Gon has seen himself debut in the tiered rankings where I think he will be come the end of the season. I think we would all be shocked if he didn’t end up as a top tier player.

Tier Two:
Adam Jones
Mike Trout
Austin Jackson

The biggest jump here is Trout becoming more or less an instant super star level player. This type of offensive production from someone so young truly ranks among the best names in the history of the game. Trout has so far been a solid source for average, OBP, power, steals and he has even chipped in 20 RBI’s already. I assumed he would be a very good player later down the road. I didn’t expect him to be great from the word go. Even while being on the 15-day disabled list, I am optimistic about Jackson for the rest of the season. This may change as soon next week, as he is going take live batting practice for the first time today and be evaluated afterwards. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the people who have too much time on their hands, June 3rd has been named national Repeat Day. Have no fear, I won’t repeat yesterday’s Roto Riteup.

• The experiment with Ichiro Suzuki batting third didn’t apparently didn’t impress Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge, so he moved Ichiro back to his customary lead off role for just the second time this year on Saturday. Ichiro immediately hit a home run in his first plate appearance. He also tacked on another solo shot in the third inning. I’ve touched on how Ichiro just isn’t the same elite player anymore, but he is still an above average player. Don’t expect this kind of power out of him regularly, but it is nice to see him contribute to the fantasy squad more than just steals for the first time in over a year. Read the rest of this entry »

As stated last week, RotoGraphs will now be bringing you the best most comprehensive fantasy news and advice on the weekend too. So sit back, watch some cartoons in that bathrobe that you wear once a month and catch up on some of fantasy baseball relevant news from yesterday in today’s edition of the Roto Riteup.

• The St. Louis Cardinals activated Allen Craig from the 15-day disabled list yesterday. His season triple slash is an impressive .345/.397/.456. No doubt that that line is inflated by his .359 BABIP, but Craig is no stranger to offensive success. Success at the major league level should not come as a surprise, as Craig has long been a pitcher’s nightmare, posting a .320/.379/.548 line in over 900 Triple-A plate appearances. In Yahoo! leagues Craig is already eligible at 1B, 2B and OF, making him a versatile bat to plug in almost anywhere in your lineup. Craig is owned in 62% of Yahoo! leagues and 70% of ESPN leagues. For anyone in a 12×12 mixed league, go pick him up.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re reading this at work then you only have but a few short hours before being released to the weekend. If you’re reading this in pajamas at noon, then I am jealous of you. Today’s Roto Riteup didn’t have a large quantity of games to pick from, but the quality of the games was high.

• According to the box score, Bud Norris was throwing a beach ball at the Colorado Rockies yesterday. The good news is that Norris had a 10.8 K/9. The bad news is that he only lasted an inning and two thirds. It was his second start in a row where he failed to go five innings, but the prior nine starts were all of average to excellent quality. As it stands right now, Norris currently has the highest strike out and the lowest walk rates of any season in the majors. He currently has a better K/BB, ERA and WHIP than Tim Lincecum and Yovani Gallardo to name a couple. I doubt he’s available in your league, but if for some reason he is, grab him.

• Another player in the Rockies/Astros game that is setting season highs is Carlos Gonzalez. CarGo isn’t a stranger to impressive offensive numbers, but as of right now his OBP is 25 points higher than his best single season and his SLG is 55 points higher than any previous best. His skill set is deep and varied, as his 14 homers are impressive and are his eight steals to zero caught stealing so far. His wOBA in Coors Field this year is an absurd .515 (as of this writing) compared against a very human, albeit very good, road wOBA of .357. If he continues to improve against left-handed pitching then the (already high) ceiling of his talents would be blown off.

• Last night Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 10th home run in just 136 plate appearances. For the season Salty is hitting an impressive .281/.316/.594. If you happen to play in an OBP league then he comes a little less valuable, but overall Salty is swinging the bat well. Of catchers with at least 130 PA’s, he has the most homers and ranks in the top 10 of runs, AVG and just outside the top 10 of RBI’s. He usually sits against left-handed pitching, but you can’t expect a catcher to play every day anyways. I can over look his platoon splits. He’s owned in just 47% of Yahoo! and 26% of ESPN formats. Although Salty doesn’t have a Mike Napoli 2011 season in him, he is still a undervalued fantasy team member.

• Dexter Fowler managed to get a hit, draw two walks and steal a base last night. How he is only owned in 55% of Yahoo! leagues and 36% of ESPN leagues I will never know. He’s sitting at .282/.382/.573 for the season. Do some math and meet me back here in a second. Yes. That is correct. Dexter Fowler currently has an ISO of almost .300. That won’t continue for the entire year, but he does have eight home runs on the year already compared to a previous single season high of nine in 2008 – down in Double-A ball. He now has five stolen bases and zero caught stealing too. I don’t really know what else to say to advocate Fowler as worthy of being owned. Look at those numbers!

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Adam Wainwright at NYM
I love Waino’s curve ball. I could watch a looped video of him throwing that thing for hours at a time.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Daniel Hudson at SD
I think Hudson gets back on track after a long DL stint and pitching in Petco could be the perfect remedy.

A Hitter for Today: Mark Trumbo vs TEX (Colby Lewis)
Trumbo smash. Trumbo smash good.

Today brings the latest up and down trends in the American League outfield.

Bullish:
Coco Crisp – I don’t think there is another player alive that I have floundered on more than Crisp. Originally enticed by the hopes of another near 50 stolen base year, I ranked him aggresively in my first AL OF Tiered Rankings. Then the season started and he promptly fell flat on his face. He clearly struggling at the plate, but his running game is still quite effective. Even yesterday he managed to go two for two on stolen bases. Going back to last year, that makes 29 straight steals without being caught. ZiPS rest of season predicts about a .250 batting average with 20 bags, but I would take the over on Crisp’s SB. His future average won’t ever offer much, even after adjusting for his current .179 BABIP. Crisp’s line drive percentage of just 13.3% ranks in the bottom 10 of all position players with at least 100 plate appearances. He is basically fantasy relevant only for his steals, but 25+ stolen bases is still worth owning. I’ve been bullish and bearish on Crisp before, but assuming his playing time doesn’t take a hit when Yeonis Cespedes comes back, Crisp is worth owning. With just a 27% ownership rate in Yahoo! and ESPN, he should be available in your league. Don’t let those steals waste on the waiver wire.

Adrian Gonzalez – In Yahoo! formats A-Gon is now available to play in RF/OF. Gonzalez is an incredible talent and with new found position flexibility, his fantasy value is through the roof. For his career Gonzalez is a .373 wOBA hitter. Those guys don’t exactly grow on trees. Even with his struggles this year, he has yet to hit lower than fifth in the line up. The walks are down a bit and the strike outs are elevated, but I contribute that to him pressing at the plate. His O-Swing% is the highest of his career, but only superficially higher than last year. He just hit his fourth homer of the season yesterday, so maybe he is finally breaking out. If you drafted Gonzalez and stuck with him through the spring then enjoy the summer; I think he’ll have a great one. Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks the first day of the Roto Riteup being published a full seven days a week! We decided that it was cruel and unusual punishment to tease you all with a Riteup just five days a week.

• If you live in the Chicago area, please give Ryan Dempster a hug. After another fantastic pitching performance yesterday of 7 1/3 innings of one run ball with six strikeouts, Dempster ended up taking the loss as the Cubs were shut out by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Assuming you’ve all seen the meme of “Bad Luck Brian” (and if you haven’t, where have you been?), I think it is high time that someone with more creative chops than I create a Bad Luck Ryan meme. Dempster is now 0-3 on the year despite a sparkling 2.14 ERA and 2.68 FIP. When someone is pitching as well as Dempster is, the wins will come with time. We all know how much little control a pitcher has over his run support, so my advice is to simply maintain the faith.

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite a short slate of games yesterday, today’s Roto Riteup has plenty of news to cover.

• For those of you who own Austin Jackson, I’m sure you’ve noticed that he has missed the past six games with an abdominal strain. Yesterday the speculation was finally brought to an end as he was moved to the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 17th. Even with the retroactive listing, Jackson won’t be back until June 1st at the earliest. For frustrated owners in weekly leagues, you may now sit him without waiting for a late scratch from the lineup.

• At some point today the major league leader in steals, Emilio Bonifacio, will undergo surgery on his left thumb. An estimated down time of four to six weeks is being assumed. With Bonafacio and Jackson out, many people in mixed leagues will be looking for some steals on waiver wire or in free agency. Read the rest of this entry »