Roto Riteup: April 13, 2015

Did you know that unlike most animals, bears walk flat-footed like humans? The Roto Riteup is here for your daily bear fact needs. Also baseball, I guess.

On today’s agenda:
1. Felix Hernandez comes up lame
2. A minor setback for Michael Saunders
3. Clay Buchholz struggles, still looks sexy
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Felix Hernandez comes up lame
Facing the Oakland A’s yesterday, our lord and savior King Felix was a bit gimpy, and was pulled from the game after the fifth inning with what is being called a tight quad. Felix was elevating pitches and wasn’t particularly sharp, so despite lobbying to stay in the contest, the Mariners were right to remove their ace from the contest. Felix is expected to make his next start Saturday against Texas, which should be a prime chance for him to get back on track.

A minor setback for Michael Saunders
Making his way back from a freak knee injury, Saunders couldn’t complete a rehab appearance yesterday due to tightness in his hamstring, and now he’ll stay away from games for the next few days as he attempts to build up strength in his lower half. Saunders was one of my sleeper picks this offseason, and hopefully he’s got his yearly injury out of the way early and can have a healthy rest of the season. Saunders is likely at least a week away from returning to the big league club, and he may be eased into his role in right field.

Clay Buchholz struggles, still looks sexy
The Red Sox starter didn’t perform particularly well last night, giving up six earned before he had even recorded three outs. Buchholz bounced back to perform decently over his next could innings before giving up a few more runs, but by then it was like trying to polish a meaty bear turd. While the results may not have been there, it’s still easy to see why the Red Sox — and many, many others — thought the right-hander could be a legitimate ace. Buchholz’s fastballs were dancing, his curveball was dipping, and his changeup had some beautiful fade to it; but the whole is less than the sum of the parts. Buchholz was excellent in his first start, but it was against Philly, which is hardly a real baseball team. Buchholz still looks like he’ll have an ERA around 4.00 this year, delivering both sparkling starts and awful outings.

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Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Mike Leake at CHC (Jon Lester)
Many scheduled starters for Monday have yet to be revealed, but Leake is starting away from GABP, and that is at least interesting.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Odrisamer Despaigne vs ARZ (Jeremy Hellickson)
O-drizzle faces a mediocre Diamondbacks offense in spacious Petco Park. Yes, I would like some of that action, please.