Roto Riteup: April 12, 2024

Play of the year so far.

This catch from Ali Newland of @LSUSoftball is top-notch. 👏

🎥: @ESPNpic.twitter.com/2DqYveFsfd

— MLB (@MLB) April 11, 2024

On the Agenda: 

1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
3. Quick Hits
4. Various News and Notes
5. Streaming Pitchers

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested.

 

Quick Hits

Brent Rooker was placed on the IL with an abdominal strain. There is no timetable for his return. 

Brandon Lowe is expected to be placed on the IL with an oblique strain. The strain is considered minor, but he will likely miss about a month. 

Various News and Notes

Hunter Brown threw just two-thirds of an inning allowing nine runs on 11 hits and one walk while not striking out any hitters in the loss to the Royals.

Most hits allowed in a game by a pitcher (starter or reliever) who pitched less than one full inning in all of MLB history:

Hunter Brown, 11 hits today 🤯
Carlos Frias, 10 hits in a 2014 game
6 guys with 9
26 guys with 8
115 guys with 7pic.twitter.com/W9TNN5p7Iu

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 11, 2024

This was an ugly outing as Brown could not command anything on Thursday and he ate a lot of runs before the Astros could replace him. Even before this outing, Brown was struggling tremendously and now he has a pretty rough schedule with the Braves next and then the Cubs and in Colorado after that. He is droppable in 10 and 12-team leagues.

JP Sears threw 6.1 scoreless innings versus the Rangers, allowing one hit and three walks while striking out five in the victory Thursday.

JP Sears 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/PWn38aruf5

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 11, 2024

Sears was fantastic, throwing all of his pitches 30% of the time or more while getting a 56% whiff rate on the fastball and a 46% CSW on the sweeper. Sears has always had intriguing arm talent, but being stuck on the A’s means he can’t win many games. He is still a deep league team streamer, but someone you should keep an eye on in shallower formats as a streamer.

Colton Cowser went 3-for-5 with two home runs in the victory over the Red Sox.

COLTON COWSER HAVE A SERIES.

His 2nd HR of the night but this one to RF pic.twitter.com/dsVVWlIQAV

— Alex Fast (@AlexFast8) April 12, 2024

Cowser made the team out of camp, but didn’t play much in the first series. That has changed with Austin Hays struggling. He was dropped in quite a few leagues after that opening series, but this is a top 10 prospect in baseball and there is clearly a ton of upside. He should be rostered in all formats.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Paul Blackburn vs WAS

You won’t get many strikeouts, but Blackburn has pitched well and Washington is not very good. 

High Risk Options: Steven Matz at ARI, Jordan Wicks at SEA, Keaton Winn at TB, Ryan Feltner at TOR, Jake Irvin at OAK

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow:  Alex Marsh at NYM

Marsh has looked better with his new pitch and gets a mediocre Mets lineup. 

High Risk Options: Griffin Canning at BOS, Max Meyer at ATL, Joe Boyle vs WAS. 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from my recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”