Archive for Roto

Roto Riteup: June 6, 2023

Elly De La Cruz – electronic cheater:

Removing the tongue that generally stays cheek-planted, Elly De La Cruz didn’t cheat at anything. The murder of a baseball? Yes. But the electronic swing tracker attached to his bat that briefly caused some controversy doesn’t have anything to do with how EDLC is positively lighting the baseball world on fire. After going 3-for-6 last night with two doubles, a steal, and the above homicide, De La Cruz is now slashing .318/.356/.536 over his first 118 PA, with 4 HR, 25 R, 14 RBI, and 11 SB. Again, in just 28 games and at 21 years old.

Baseball is fun and only getting funner with the latest generation of players…And somewhere Brian McCann slowly continues to seethe into an ungodly rage. Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: July 3, 2023

On this hallowed day of pre-4th, I humbly ask that we officially stop mentioning Shohei Ohtani in the same sentence as that hot-dog-eating bum who struck out a bunch of longshoremen and probably would’ve wet his giant knickers upon seeing a slider.

These things are not the same: Read the rest of this entry »


Estimated Booms and Busts

It’s simply too early to determine how accurate “rest of season” (ROS) projections are. Just like when a player makes weak contact but hustles down the line, a lot can happen. Take Aaron Judge for example. His Steamer ROS projection for home runs is 12. If he came back from injury tomorrow and stayed healthy the rest of the year, you can bet he would outperform that mark. But, we don’t know when he’ll come back and we don’t know if he’ll stay healthy when he does. This type of uncertainty is what makes projection systems projection systems and in truth, what makes baseball fun. With that uncertainty in mind, we can still learn a lot from what has happened so far and what may happen moving forward.

Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: June 29, 2023

I was busy – did anything cool happen last night?

Domingo Germán had that sticky-icky stuff on Wednesday but instead of leaving it on his fingers, this time he used it to roll up the A’s and smoke ‘em in a primo outing. A perfect outing, one might even say. Germán struck out nine batters over the 24th perfect game in MLB history and I’m sure his fantasy owners were all totally starting him – he did, after all, allow a total of 15 ER in his previous two starts. No word on whether the perfecto will eventually be stricken from the record via Goo Gone. Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: June 26, 2023

Just some light Monday morning trolling for all of our totally rational east coast friends:

On the Agenda:

  1. News and Notes
  2. Bumps and Bruises
  3. Betrayal Across the Pond
  4. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »


Bring It in the Zone(% ), Keep Them in the Game

So far this season the MLB average Zone% among starters is 41.6%. It’s slightly less among relievers at 40.9%, but we’re not concerning ourselves with those guys in this study. I recently heard a broadcaster say something along the lines of, “He’s throwing strikes, he’s keeping them in the game”. It’s not a direct quote and I don’t even remember who said it, but I do remember that the statement made me think. Does throwing the ball consistently in the zone make a starter more likely to record the win?

Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: June 19, 2023

Happy first Father’s Day, Nolan Arenado:

On the Agenda:

  1. News and Notes
  2. Bumps and Bruises
  3. Streaming Pitchers

Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: June 15, 2023

Good grief, Ronald:

With that mammoth blast (his second of the double-header), Ronald Acuña Jr. became just the second player (J.D. Martinez) in the Statcast era to hit a home run over 460 feet to dead center at Comerica Park. Acuña Jr. is now slashing .333/.405/.580 over 311 PA, with 15 HR, 59 R, 44 RBI, and 29(!) SB. Also, it is June.

Just a friendly reminder that he’s somehow still just 25 years old. Read the rest of this entry »


The Pitches Producing Your Portliest Pains

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

There are few things worse than a big bust with one of the first starting pitchers you drafted. Not only because of the practical value they return (or rather, don’t return) but often so much of draft strategy depends on who you choose as your SP 1/2. And when they go belly up, so too quickly can your entire team.

With that said, let’s take a peek at the pitch mixes of a trio of pitching heartbreakers who were elite fantasy options in 2022 and were drafted as such in 2023 but have come crashing down to earth for the first third of the season, possibly blowing up our chances for championships along with them. But instead of the overall, let’s focus on the worst of the worst. That is, which of their pitches have most been the Fredo to our formerly Sonny rosters. Read the rest of this entry »


Roto Riteup: June 8, 2023

Big Wiemer double dong – now with a mullet!

On the Agenda

  1. News and Notes
  2. Bumps and Bruises
  3. Streaming Pitchers

News and Notes

Two games were postponed yesterday due to the poor air quality from the smoke generated by the Canadian wildfires. Both Detroit at Philadelphia and the White Sox at the Yankees will instead be played today, the latter as part of a doubleheader.

Aaron Judge (toe) was officially placed on the IL. He received an injection and is eligible to return on June 14 but a more concrete timeline won’t be known until late this weekend once they see how he responds to the treatment.

Pete Fairbanks is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Friday and it appears likely he could be activated from the IL when first eligible on Monday. During this most recent absence, Jason Adam allowed one run in six innings, picking up three more saves.

Carlos Rodón threw to live hitters on Wednesday and will have another session soon. If all continues well, a return before July is possible. AKA, it’s officially stash season if you haven’t done so already.

Roansy Contreras had his doors blown off by Oakland in the first inning, allowing seven runs and retiring just one batter before being mercifully pulled. In case you were wondering, that’s good for a 189.00 ERA and 24.00 WHIP. Manager Derek Shelton was utterly unimpressed with the performance and said they had yet to decide whether Contreras would make his next start. If so, it will be next Wednesday on the road against the Cubs.

Luis defeated Ramón in the first ever Urías Bowl, but the real stars of Milwaukee’s 10-2 win over Baltimore were Corbin Burnes and Joey Wiemer. Burnes pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out nine, and Wiemer went 4-for-4 with the aforementioned double dong, along with 5 RBI. Wiemer is on a nice little eight-game hit streak, made double-nice by it having been preceded by one of his worst stretches of the season, in which he went just 3-for-30 with 11 K.

Gunnar Henderson returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games with back discomfort, going 1-for-3. While his back was healthy enough to play, it is still yet unknown whether his performance vs LHP is still suffering from being an absolute calamity.

The ghost of Noah Syndergaard was again dragged around (3 IP, 6 ER) but will now live on forever as the answer to the question, “Who had a baseball murdered by Elly De La Cruz for the first home run of his career?

TJ Friedl (hamstring) took batting practice on Wednesday and with no further issues is expected to be activated when first eligible on Saturday.

Brandon Lowe has a herniated disc and won’t take part in any baseball activities for two to three weeks before being reevaluated. IE. Returning around the All-Star Break seems a likely best-case scenario. That’s me saying boo not boo-urns.

Load management comes to MLB – Anthony Rendon was pulled in the eighth inning as part of the Angels plan going forward for keeping him healthy. I’m sure it will totally work.

Willy Adames (concussion) made his return to the Milwaukee lineup last night, going 2-for-5 with a solo home run. Rookie Andruw Monasterio performed admirably in his absence, slashing .320/.393/.520 over 28 PA, with 1 HR, two doubles, and 1 SB but will likely return to Triple-A. Nope! Monasterio stays up and Brice Turang was optioned to Triple-A after slashing .198/.247/.297 since the start of May.

Danny Jansen (groin) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment this weekend and could return to the team by early next week. Jansen has 6 HR and 26 RBI but also a .207 AVG and .273 OBP…And is still more valuable than Alejandro Kirk.

With Hunter Renfroe hitting the paternity list, Jo Adell was recalled from Triple-A. Adell is slashing .278/.365/.593 over 242 PA at Triple-A this season, with 18 HR and 4 SB but is still striking out at a nearly 30% clip, with a 14% SwStr%. He’ll likely last only as long as Renfroe is gone.

Justin Steele (strained forearm) is likely to return from the IL when first eligible on June 17 in a start against the Orioles, according to manager David Ross.

After a good report from his foot specialist, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is set to rejoin the Marlins on their current road trip and can begin baseball activities. If all goes well, a rehab assignment could be in the near(ish) future.

Bumps and Bruises

Pete Alonso left after taking a 96 mph four-seam from Charlie Morton off his left wrist in a loss to Atlanta. Mets fans were able to exhale, though, as the initial X-rays were negative. Consider him day-to-day.

Edward Cabrera exited after five innings due to a blister, after allowing one run over five innings and striking out four batters in what was eventually a 6-1 win over Kansas City. His next start isn’t scheduled until Tuesday (@SEA) but we’ll have to wait for an update from the team.

Jake Fraley was scratched Wednesday with a bruised wrist after getting hit with a pitch on Tuesday. Consider him day-to-day.

Streaming Pitcher

Streamer for Today: None – It’s a short-slate Thursday and there aren’t a whole lot of options to be found on most wires, let alone good ones. Chase Anderson at Coors, Tyler Holton, and Matt Dermody; oh my!

High Risk: Again, not really. When Colin Rea vs BAL seems like the best option, maybe today is not the day you try to do any streaming.