Roto Riteup: April 23, 2015
Yesterday saw Avengers: Age of Ultron go live in theaters in select European countries, with more joining the list throughout the coming week. In my amateur opinion the first Avengers was grand and raised expectations for the follow up. In a week we’ll see if the hype was worth it as the domestic release is May 1.
On today’s agenda:
1. Hotter than Kolten lava
2. A (far too early) Steven Souza humble brag
3. Alex Guerrero, pinch hitter
4. Streaming pitching options
Hotter than Kolten lava
I can hear your groans from here, but by now you should know how much I love my bad name based puns. Moving on, Kolten Wong is hitting for a scorching .325/.396/.475 line after yesterday’s 3-for-4 game where he cracked his first home run of the season. Three weeks into the season is clearly in the realm of small sample size, but Wong does have six walks — plus two IBBs — against five strikeouts. Prior to last night’s game Wong was getting ahead of pitchers 1-0 almost 55% of the time compared to his 42.9% career average. His .333 BABIP is sure to regress but if he can maintain some of this improved batting eye, Wong’s value may reach a new high.
A (far too early) Steven Souza humble brag
Yours truly was buying Souza stock over a month ago, and Souza has rewarded my faith thus far. Sure, a .407 BABIP isn’t going to last forever, however he has already banked four home runs and four steals. He’s hit exclusively second all season, outside of one pinch hitting appearance. Factor in a double digit walk rate and Souza could reach the 20-20 plateau I had him pegged at. As expected, his strikeouts have piled up and his 35.6% K% is bound to drive his AVG down sooner rather than later. Souza has also been caught stealing twice already, so hopefully the Tampa Bay Rays don’t get too cautious with his base running. Despite these flaws, Souza’s ownership has soared in ESPN leagues, up almost 78% over the past week. Unfortunately it seems as though the early window to grab him has passed, but if the strikeouts continue to mount, his current owners may get frustrated and drop him. Keep the faith in Souza, as I had him rated at a .250 AVG from the beginning, as I picked him up for the counting stats anyways.
Alex Guerrero, pinch hitter
It’s somewhat surprising to see Guerrero already hitting three home runs despite irregular playing time. It is downright incredible that of this three dingers, two have come in pinch hitting appearances. He’s appeared at third base and left field, though for now is eligible only in the outfield for Yahoo! and CBS leagues and 3B for ESPN. Our depth charts page has him appearing at second and short as well, though perhaps not enough to gain eligibility in default leagues. If he can regularly crack the competitive Dodgers lineup, look to grab him where you can. He’s available in 70% of CBS formats and over 90% of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues. For daily fantasy, even if Guerrero doesn’t get the start, he is cheap enough at $2,700 on FanDuel and $2,900 on DraftKings to warrant a start when in need of a budget play. In both DFS sites he can be plugged in at second base and in DK shortstop is available to him as well.
Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Mike Bolsinger at SFG (Ryan Vogelsong)
Bolsinger has shown an ability to miss bats in the upper minors and looks to build upon that success against the Giants. Add in his 50% ground ball rate in the minors and Bolsinger could be a very nice stream starter. The powerful Dodgers offense will dig in against a struggling Ryan Vogelsong so a win could be in order for Bolsinger as well. He’s available in over 98% of the three major fantasy sites.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Josh Collmenter vs PIT (Gerrit Cole)
The right-handed Collmenter will face off against a Pirates side which has struggled against righties in the early part of the season. Their collective 77 wRC+ ranks 26th in baseball and is tied for the seventh highest K%. Collmenter is free to stream in 67% of CBS leagues and over 80% of ESPN and Yahoo! formats.
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With a good start does Bolsinger stick in LA?
Seems like a spot start to me.
Wong got IBBs cause he hits 8th in front of the pitcher. He’s only started hitting in the past 2 days. I hope it continues, but lets not overexaggerate his production.
Well he is likely going to hit in that spot for most of the season, so those IBB’s may continue. Fantasy leagues that have OBP as a category don’t care why the walks happen, only that they do happen.
With Kipnis being all around terrible right now, which of these 2B would you recommend: Flaherty, Forsythe, Drew, Duffy, Giavotella, or some one else? Given that this is a super deep league, if there was even one article mentioning a player as a sleeper, they’re pretty much gone. These are just some of the top ranked 2B eligibles with 30+ AB’s under their belts.
Considering those options, you may be best to just stick with Kipnis and hope he finds his swing soon. If I had to pick one, I would go with Giavotella since he seems the most likely to get regular AB’s and hit decently in the minors. Flaherty will go back to a platoon as soon as Hardy comes back and Cabrera shifts over to Second Base. Same with Forsythe when Franklin is healthy again. Drew is just totally unappealing to me and Duffy doesn’t have a clear path to regular playing time unless Belt or McGhee get hurt (again).
I agree with Mike, it’s best to stick with Kipnis over those options, unless Solarte is available. If he is, bench Kipnis and roll with Solarte for a little while.
ESPN has Guerrero list only at 2b. What do you think it’s going to take to get him starting on a regular basis? Will Turner & Uribe have to BOTH go down or be ineffective?
If that happened today, what do you think his line would look like ROS?
Huh. In my ESPN league he’s 3B. Weird.
I really don’t think he’s that far away from super-sub status. If any infielder or outfielder will miss a significant amount of time, I’d count on Guerrero sliding in.
His ZiPS seems about right, though maybe a tick more power. Call it a .260 AVG with 20-25ish home runs in 550 PA’s.