Roto Riteup April 14, 2017

There is a lot to go over, so let’s just get right into it okay?

Okay.

On the Agenda

1. News and Notes
2. Yoenis…so hot right now
3. Gray’s Anatomy

News and Notes

-Yankees’ first baseman Greg Bird returned to the Yankees lineup Thursday after struggling with an ankle injury and an illness. Prior to the game, Bird was 1-for-16. During the loss against the Tampa Bay Rays, the 24-year-old struck out three times raising his strikeout rate to over 45%. There were some concerns in regards to a shoulder injury that could impact his ability to drive the ball, but those were put to rest following an Arizona Fall League outing when he showed consistent contact ratings. Whether he’s not feeling 100% better or his ankle is still bothering him, we don’t really know.

It’s still early, yes. And there were some concerns in regards to a shoulder injury that could impact his ability to drive the ball, but those were put to rest following an Arizona Fall League outing when he showed consistent contact ratings and we all know how superb is spring was. Whether he’s not feeling 100% better or his ankle is still bothering him, we don’t really know.

Expect Chris Carter to continue the duties at first base.

–Rich Hill had that annoying blister once again which meant we were unsure when he would be re-introduced to the Dodgers’ rotation. At the moment, it’s looking like the 37-year-old could come back as early as Sunday when the team takes on the Diamondbacks.

–Josh Donaldson continues to deal with a nagging leg injury. The Toronto first baseman has been out of consistent lineups this week and came back for Thursday’s game and reinjured his calf on a pop-up rounding first. It’s once again not looking serious so fantasy owners can rest easy, but it is redundant so just be patient.

–Ian Desmond is taking some ground balls and playing catch at first base. According to Nick Grove of The Denver Post, Desmond could return by the end of April. He underwent surgery for a broken left hand in mid-March.

Desmond is coming off a strong campaign in 2016 with the Rangers slashing .285/.335/.446 line with 86 RBI, 22 homers and swiped 21 bags. He’s not a walk machine by any means, but he did manage to decrease his strikeout rate last season. I doubt it’ll be the same scenario this time around.

Yoenis…so hot right now

Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes has been a favorite bat this week with his white hot contact. He isn’t hitting the ball a lot, but when he does make contact, the ball flies. While that goes without saying, his hard-contact rate is standing at a 54.8%. He’s also very successful against secondary pitches thus far.

It’s a small sample size, yes. But at the moment, owners are sitting pretty with all of that power across pretty much any fantasy format. He will continue to be highly owned across the daily game.

Gray’s Anatomy

I’ve been wanting to use that pun for a while now.

via GIPHY

Jon Gray exited Thursday night’s game against the Giants and it was not clear what had gone wrong.

He ended up aggravating his big toe and underwent an X-ray following his abbreviated game. He first hurt his toe during spring training so it seems he’s not completely out of the woods yet.

He’s going to stay off of it for a while. It doesn’t look serious, but it’s a recurring injury and he’s not scared to leave a game if it’s bothering him, but that’s what owners were mentally prepared for. As Paul Swydan points out, Gray needs to “work on avoiding big innings.” Whether he does that or not, it’s unclear…he hasn’t so far.

Still, his velocity has been strong ticking on a few mph to his fastball and slider which was shown on Opening Day.