Roto Riteup: April 25, 2023

Some great defensive plays to start the week:

No glove needed where Wander Franco is going. pic.twitter.com/wna8JOvHJE

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2023

LUIS ROBERT JR., WHAT A CATCH! pic.twitter.com/uLVjMtTWul

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2023

Field 👏 Your 👏 Position 👏 @C_Bass419 pic.twitter.com/ABIGJ8DZT3

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 24, 2023

On the Agenda: 

1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested. 

 

Quick Hits

Max Muncy and Brusdar Graterol were placed on the paternity list on Monday which allows me the opportunity to share this tweet I tweeted:

Mookie Betts, Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, and Max Muncy all hit the paternity list this month begging the question if there was a group date night during last year’s All Star Break

— Justin Mason (@JustinMasonFWFB) April 24, 2023

Michael Busch was recalled to take Muncy’s place on the roster. Busch is one of the Dodgers top prospects, but he struggles defensively which may make it difficult for him to stick in the Majors. Offensively, he profiles as a hitter with a very good hit tool and power, so he could be up for good at some point, but I think this is a short term stay until Muncy is back.

Darin Ruf 러프 was placed on the IL with a wrist injury. There is no timetable for his return. Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger were activated from the IL on Monday.

Chris Bassitt was removed from his start after suffering back tightness. He had pitched well and was through 6.1 innings by the time his back tightened up on him, so it was unfortunate for him to have to leave, but he stated after the game he was fine and that he would make his next start.

Joey Bart left Monday’s game with groin tightness. Consider him day-to-day at this time.

 

Various News and Notes
Brent Rooker and Jesus Aguilar went for back-to-back home runs twice in the victory over the Angels on Monday night.

BRENT ROOKER IS BABE RUTH 🤣🤣pic.twitter.com/UoytvGmZFn

— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) April 25, 2023

 

Brent Rooker and Jesùs Aguilar go (Back-to-back)^2 #Athletics #RootedInOakland pic.twitter.com/Pndv8bNnM7

— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) April 25, 2023

It was nice to see both guys go deep, but this had more to do with how bad Jose Suarez was early in the game, giving up seven earned runs on five home runs. Suarez was a sleeper of mine coming into the season after a nice pitch mix change, but at this point, he is impossible to roster with his command and control problems.

Alex Cobb threw a complete game shutout of the Cardinals, allowing six hits and a walk while striking out four in the victory on Monday.

Alex Cobb finishes off a masterpiece for the @SFGiants. pic.twitter.com/1nXrqi8ts8

— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2023

Cobb was fantastic, throwing his first complete game since 2012. He got 16 ground ball outs, which is the most of any pitcher in baseball in any individual game this season. Cobb has been great this season, but I worry about the defense behind him catching up to him. Last season, he was extremely unlucky, but so far he has been able to get some of that karma back in a good way this season. I think the skills are there, but I would probably try and sell high given the defense behind him and his spotty injury track record.

Josh Jung went 2-for-4 with two home runs in the loss to the Reds on Monday.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR JOSH JUNG pic.twitter.com/qoJ9vMkgYv

— Writing For the Rangers (@WritingRangers) April 24, 2023

Jung has been really good so far this season, hitting .282/.330/.494 with five home runs. There are some concerns that there will be regression as he is striking out 30.8% of the time and running a high .365 BABIP. However, he is making league average contact and his swinging strike rate is 13% so I am not worried there will be a big dropoff. He is playing every day and should be rostered in all formats.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Peyton Battenfield vs COL

Battenfield has pitched well so far and gets the Rockies at home in a great matchup. 

High Risk Options: Josiah Gray at NYM, Ryne Nelson vs KC, Griffin Canning vs OAK, Jake Woodford at SF. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None

Some interesting higher risk options, but none that I feel really good about. 

High Risk Options: Domingo German at MIN, Drew Smyly vs SD, Steven Matz at SF, Tanner Houck at BAL, Tyler Wells vs BOS, JP Sears at LAA. 

 

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