Roto Riteup: April 18, 2022

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April 18, 2022

How can you not like Votto?

On the Agenda: 

  1. Patriot Day Reminder
  2. Closer Chaos
  3. Quick Hits
  4. Various News and Notes
  5. Streaming Pitchers

 

Patriot Day Reminder

The Red Sox/Twins game today begins at 11:10am EST/8:10am PST. Do not forget to set your lineups for leagues that lock after the beginning of the first game.  

 

Closer Chaos

David Bednar threw a scoreless ninth versus the Nationals to record his first save of the season. Bednar is expected to share closing duties with Chris Stratton, but it is nice to see him get the first one of the year for the Pirates. There is always the chance he takes the lion share of the opportunities in Pittsburgh, but I wouldn’t bet on that as long as Stratton pitches well. 

 

Quick Hits

John Means was placed on the 60-Day IL with an elbow strain. This is bad news and likely means he could be heading for Tommy John Surgery at some point. He is droppable in most formats. 

Hyun Jin Ryu was placed on the IL with a forearm strain. MRI results showed inflammation so it may not be devastating news, but injuries like this are sometimes precursors to Tommy John Surgery. In leagues with limited IL spots, Ryu likely can be dropped. 

Garrett Hamson was placed on the IL with a hand contusion. There is no timetable for his return. Former top prospect Colton Welker was called up to take Hampson’s spot on the roster. He could be interesting in deeper formats if he can get regular playing time. 

Mike Trout left Sunday’s game after being hit in the hand with a pitch. X-rays were negative after the game. Consider him day-to-today for now. 

Tanner Houck will not travel with the Red Sox to Toronto for their series coming up. It appears that Houck is not vaccinated so he can’t enter Canada. This is good information for the future. He will likely be pushed back until Friday when the Red Sox go to Tampa. 

 

Various News and Notes

Bruce Zimmermann threw five scoreless innings in a no decision on Sunday versus the Yankees, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out six. 

Zimmermann was really good in this one with his changeup doing a lot of the work, sporting a 39% CSW and throwing it 47% of the time. There is a bit of concern here as his velocity was down almost two miles an hour on the fastball, curve and slider. Without that velocity, he may have issues repeating the results, so this is something to watch.

Nestor Cortes threw five scoreless innings in a no decision versus the Orioles, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out 12.

Cortes was unbelievable, carving up the Orioles with five different pitches including three that sported a 30+% CSW. While he was facing an Orioles lineup without it’s star in Mullins, this was more about him sequencing really well and making it impossible for the hitters to figure out what was coming with every pitch. I don’t know that many lineups would have fared much better. He is available in too many shallow leagues and should be picked up immediately.

Andrew Heaney threw six scoreless innings versus the Reds, allowing just one hit and three walks in the victory.

Heaney was kind of the guy he has always been, with his command and control being spotty from batter to batter, but his new slider was fantastic and that helped keeps hitters completely off balanced. There are going to be blow up outings, but this was a great building block for a breakout.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today:  Madison Bumgarner at WAS

Don’t love the park, but it is a decent matchup and Bumgarner has looked better so far this season. 

High Risk Options:  Nick Lodolo at SD, Michael Lorenzen at HOU, Zach Thompson at MIL, Rich HIll vs MIN. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow:  Cole Irvin vs BAL

Irvin looked good in his last start before running into trouble late. He gets a bad Baltimore offense in Oakland. 

High Risk Options: Justin Steele v TB, Dane Dunning at SEA, J.T. Brubaker at MIL, Daniel Lynch vs MIN, Chris Archer at KC, Joan Adon vs ARI. 

 

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 the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”





 

Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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