Roto Riteup: April 25, 2017

The Roto Riteup would like to remind you that there is no place in baseball for firearms:

 

On the Agenda:

1. Baseball Twitter Gets Pun-ny

2. Eric Thames

3. Various News and Notes

4. Streaming Pitcher Options

 

Baseball Twitter Gets Pun-ny

This blurb has no fantasy advice in it whatsoever. However, if you like bad baseball puns, there was an hour starting at about 7:40pm EST where twitter went absolutely pun crazy. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Eric Thames

Thames continues to not only crush the ball, but he helps fangraphs writes crush baseball puns:

Aside from that, crazily enough, he has hit 7 of his home runs against the Reds this season and he gets to play them 14 more times this year. That means aside from the fact he is on about a 80 homer pace, he is on pace the crush the Reds for another 10 homers. His wRC+ is 258 and he is sporting a .537. I am sure he will slow down, but who knows when and how much. I would be looking to sell now because the price will be astronomical, but I understand people wanting to ride the hot streak.

 

Various News and Notes

Aaron Nola hit the DL with a lower back strain. He is expected to miss only 1-2 start before rejoining the team. While no injury is good news, we can be glad that at least it is not an arm issue. The talent has not been the question with Nola, it has been health. Hopefully this is a speed bump that he will ride past quickly.

Multiple reports have Dodgers phenom Julio Urias as the projected starter for Thursday against the Giants in spite of the fact that manager Dave Roberts has yet to announce who it will be.

Urias has been great in AAA, pitching 14 innings with a 1.93 ERA and a 9.64 k/9.

Pick him up in all formats even if his stay is abbreviated.

Miguel Sano has been suspended for one game by MLB for his involvement in a skirmish with pitcher Matt Boyd and catcher James McCann in Saturday’s game. Matt Boyd received no suspension, just an “undisclosed fine” per a press release by MLB. Sano is playing amid an appeal. In terms of fantasy, most likely Sano will either win his appeal and not have to sit out or the Twins will find him an off day to serve the suspension on. Ultimately, this just further reinforces to players that MLB won’t drop the hammer on them when they get out of line. For example, Matt Barnes received a four game suspension for throwing behind Manny Machado’s head in retaliation for spiking Dustin Pedroia. Even if that four games doesn’t get reduced after an appeal, the reliever won’t miss much more time than he would have if he hadn’t been suspended. Will MLB ever step up and drop the hammer on one of these situations before a player gets seriously hurt or worse?

The San Francisco Giants called up one of their top prospects in Christian Arroyo for Monday night’s game. Arroyo has been red-hot at AAA Sacramento and arrives to the Giants in a time of need for healthy bodies. Even if he can stay up long-term, which is unlikely he will, Arroyo profiles as an empty average guy. He is no Taylor Motter, who still has not started following me on twitter. More like Joe Panik without the walks. Not really interesting outside of NL only leagues.

Devin Mesoraco is scheduled to be activated on Friday. The oft injured catcher will most likely share duties with Tucker Barnhart initially, but could reemerge as top tier catcher if he can stay healthy. However, I am sure I will be writing about the fact he will be hitting the DL at some point next week. Sigh…

Bud Norris got his second save on Monday in place of recently injured Cam Bedrosian. At this point is it safe to say that Norris is the closer until Bedrosian returns. I don’t know why this makes me sad, but it does.

 

Streaming Pitcher Options

A pitcher for today: Jesse Hahn @ LAA

Hahn has been good so far this year in three appearances (2 starts and once in relief) and draws an Angels team that is 24th in wOBA and 6th in strikeouts against right-handed pitching.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Alex Wood vs SF

I love my Giants, but they are running out one of the most embarrassing lineups in the game for a so-called contender. Somehow they have made Drew Stubbs relevant again.





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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dcbona
6 years ago

It’s evident Mr. Mason did not watch the Sano/ McCann/ Boyd confrontation. McCann put his glove in Sano’s face, who forearm shoved the catcher. No suspensions should be handed out for this very minor dust-up, and MLB certainly shouldn’t “drop the hammer.”

Jonathan Sher
6 years ago
Reply to  Justin Mason

The hammer should have dropped on Red Sox Manager John Farrell, or at least his conduct investigated, after he clearly lied to cover up. Farrell said after the game that Barnes had tried to throw a ball up and in to Machado and the pitch just got away from him. Problem with the explanations is that just before the pitch Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez jumped to his right to present a target low and outside the plate, and when Barnes threw, he literally strided towards Machado and not the plate. I know that is circumstantial evidence, but it it suggests to me that Farrell ordered the hit in what was expected to be Machado’s last at-bat in the series.

Cybo
6 years ago
Reply to  dcbona

Also Sano got thrown behind in response to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfws0nZx5YE.

Sano earned his suspension when he threw that punch imo. 1 game even seems a little light considering.

Paul
6 years ago
Reply to  Cybo

I saw the clip of Sano’s “punch.” Looks a lot more like a forearm shove to me. He has large forearms, but it’s not a true punch. I don’t think he deserves a suspension for the shove.