Roto Riteup: April 20, 2013

One can imagine that today’s date, April 20, is probably a big deal in the San Francisco Giants clubhouse. After all, today is Brandon Belt’s birthday.

On today’s agenda:
1. Brett Anderson leaves after the first inning
2. What to make of Wandy Rodriguez
3. Two homers each for two New York Mets
4. Jhoulys Chacin’s season to date (and potential injury)

Brett Anderson leaves after the first inning
It wasn’t the four runs that he gave up in the first inning, but a reported ankle sprain that took Anderson out the game yesterday. That makes for his past 6.1 innings combining for 11 runs and three homers. Even with these recent struggles, his 3.75 xFIP would be a career worst. If only he could stay healthy and perform to his talent level for a full season. For now, there is no word on just how long Anderson may or may not be out. Injuries are a part of fantasy baseball, but few players have had the injury struggles of Anderson. It is something that fantasy owners have come to expect with him, but that does not lessen the frustration.

What to make of Wandy Rodriguez
Through three starts Wandy Rodriguez sports a 0.56 ERA and has two wins to go with it. He has an 11:1 K/BB ratio to support that ERA, however small sample size issues abound. Furthermore, Wandy’s .119 BABIP is on borrowed time. He is yet to give up a home run as well, yet another statistic that is sure to change. His low SwStr% won’t support a high strikeout rate for much longer either.

If the reader plays in an active trade league (read: a non boring league) then grab Wandy and try to build a package around him. His ZiPS rest-of-season projection is still somewhat valuable for his ERA, but don’t expect Wandy’s current luck to continue. Despite the early evidence, he is still a stream/spot start candidate in standard sized mixed leagues. For the author’s taste, a grab-and-trade would be the preferred method here. Wandy is owned in two-thirds of CBS leagues, but 45% of Yahoo! and just 30% of ESPN formats.

Two homers each for two New York Mets
Both Ike Davis and Lucas Duda cracked two home runs each yesterday. This brings Duda’s total up to five long balls on the year to go with his stellar 11:12 K/BB ratio. Maybe Eno was just a year early on his Duda love. Duda can be found on the waiver wire of over 90% of both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues and almost half of CBS formats. While hitting like this, don’t let Duda sit on the waiver wire. Duda is the lone Mets outfielder who’s playing time isn’t a question and now he is showing his ability to hit for power. Grab him where if available.

Presumably not wanting to be outshone, Ike Davis planted two pitches in the bleachers as well. Davis hasn’t had the same early season success as Duda, however he is owned in a much higher percentage of leagues. Davis had a woeful first half of the season last year but he blasted 20 second half home runs to catch the eye of fantasy owners everywhere. Both Duda and Davis figure to continue to tap into their power as the season progresses. One could do worse to own both.

Jhoulys Chacin’s season to date (and potential injury)
Chacin was working on a shutout through 6.1 innings when he was pulled from yesterday’s game. He is initially being diagnosed with oblique pain and one can see Chacin visibly wince on his 100th pitch (score one for arbitrary pitch count believers) and is due for further testing and diagnosis today. Chacin had been the Rockies’ best starter to date. Keep a watchful eye on our very own Jeff Zimmerman’s MASH Report for the latest update on Chacin plus other injured MLBers. If the apparent injury is relatively small, one could grab Chacin and cross the proverbial fingers. Chacin is owned in about half of each of the three major fantasy sites.