Roto Riteup: April 26, 2015
Just because the White Sox game was suspended last night doesn’t mean the Roto Riteup is.
On today’s agenda:
1. Adam Wainwright down, maybe out
2. Severino Gonzalez to debut Tuesday
3. Various news and notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options
Adam Wainwright down, maybe out
Waino slipped running out of the batters box yesterday, and boy does it not look pretty. The Cardinals are currently saying that the injury is to Waino’s ankle, which while plausible, may not be correct — to play Injury Expert here, it seemed like more of an achilles injury. St. Louis won’t further evaluate Waino until they return home, so don’t expect further news until sometime Monday.
If Wainwright is out for an extended period of time, Marco Gonzalez would be the most likely candidate to join the Red Birds’ rotation, but he’s currently injured, as well. Tyler Lyons could step up and take Wainwright’s place for the time being, and he’s an intriguing option. Lyon’s fastball is just good enough to get by, and he’s shown good control and an above-average slider. Lyon’s struggled as a starter when it comes to stranding runners, but his other numbers suggest an ERA around 4.00 is reasonable, making him a worthy spot starter in Busch.
Severino Gonzalez to debut Tuesday
Phillies prospect Severino Gonzalez will make his big league debut Tuesday, filling in for the injured Sean O’Sullivan against the Cardinals. Gonzalez has been with the Phillies since 2011 and has worked his way through their system at a pretty good clip. Gonzalez had some struggles as a 21-year-old in his first full season in Double-A last year, but there was some thought that it was because the Phillies asked him to shelve his cutter and focus on his changeup. With his cutter back in the arsenal this year, he’s not adjusted particularly well to Triple-A — his walk rate is a stellar 2.7%, but the strikeouts aren’t there and homer troubles have followed him. Gonzalez profiles as a No. 5 starter unless he can fill out and add some velocity to his frame, so you can stay away from him in all your leagues.
Various news and notes
– Updating yesterday’s section on Hisashi Iwakuma, it appears his injury was indeed real. Kuma will be out for up to a month with a lat strain, and Roenis Elias will take his place. Elias pitched well at times for the M’s last year, but just got beat out in spring training after Taijuan Walker’s tremendous performance.
– Before last night, Brandon McCarthy gave up six homers in 18 innings of work this year. Facing the Padres, McCarthy allowed three more homers over five innings, bringing his HR/9 up to 3.52. Hopefully it’s obvious that a rate like this won’t continue, but something this outlandish isn’t fully a fluke. McCarthy reportedly suffered an arm injury in last night’s start, so perhaps a DL stint is in order, removing all temptation to use him in your leagues.
Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Drew Pomeranz vs HOU (Walphabet)
Pomeranz has shown strikeout stuff this year, and the Astros are willing to whiff. Take advantage of Oakland’s spacious park and PomPom’s fly balling ways.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Chase Anderson vs COL (Kyle Kendrick)
The Rockies can hit, but Anderson can pitch, too. Other options include Dillon Gee and Jared Cosart, who will face off in Miami.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
I remember the fantasy world abuzz about McCarthy, I wasn’t thrilled with him at all-given his age and injury issues. Glad I avoided him in both leagues.
I wish I would have, absolutely killed my ERA, but at least I got a win out of him.
You realize McCarthy’s xFIP is 2.43 right? It might be a little early to declare him a bust.
Those Ks tho
I liked McCarthy entering the year, but he was going too high in my leagues and I wasnt willing to draft him ahead of younger, higher upside guys like Hutchinson. Hope he figures it out because he is one of the more likeable MLB players.
Any concerns about Ian Kennedy from last night or was a simple case of a pitcher coming off a DL stint, with no rehab stint in between, going against a good LA lineup?
I wouldn’t worry about Kennedy. Pitchers tend to struggle on their first start back from the DL. Velocity is fine, &c.
Marco Gonzales has a pectoral strain, not sure on the time table
I have been offered Josh Reddick in a trade in exchange for Avisail Garcia, any thoughts on this trade? I like Reddick, but his health always seems to be a ticking time bomb and he plays in a less favorable park than Garcia. That said, Garcia is off to a bad start and owning him is basically banking on his potential, whereas with Reddick he has shown when healthy he can produce.
Hold.
If you can spot start Reddick against righties, I’d definitely do it. Even if you can’t do that, Reddick is the better player. Garcia’s plate discipline issues are a red flag for me.
I actually flipped Garcia for Alex Guerrero and ignored Reddick for now. I appreciate the help though. I figure with Puig going on the DL, Guerrero may have a path to more consistent playing and he could become dual eligible soon in the infield and OF. If he burns me, I will just have to try the waiver game since some decent guys are still available like Oswaldo Arcia.
Would you like Lackey vPHI better than Anderson tomorrow?
On Iwakuma…based on the news reports (“waiting to confirm Lat issue with second MRI”) I still wonder if it’s very real. I do think there is a little something wrong but I also think he’ll be pitching in rehab in 7-10 days & will come back as soon as rehab looks good. With his interrupted Spring training I really think he just needed a little more work. Thoughts?
Realizing none of these pitchers are the current closer, who has a better chance at picking up saves…
Caminero, Bettancourt or Randall Delgado?
Caminero, easily.
OMG, the auto-link to the player page for Red Bird — amazing.
No kidding! Anyone with a rotation like Red Bird’s needs some help.
Hey, don’t diss Red Bird… His peripherals were better than his ERA indicates!
Granted, his projections may be dampened by a hint of age-related regression…
So below is my 10-team Roto staff. Our categories are ERA, WHIP, QS, K/9, SV, IP.
Kershaw, Carrasco, Richards, Bauer, Hutchison, Salazar, Greene
The goal was to build a strong foundation with lots of upside at the back end. So far it hasn’t gone great, but it still very early.
My questions is: with QS and IP as cats in such a shallow league, does it make sense to cast off some of these inconsistent young guys (Hutchison, Greene) and replace them with boring vets who will just get QS and IP. My options there include Dickey, Burnett, Colon, Weaver, Simon.
In a shallow league I wanted to go for upside since vets will always be there, but I’m wondering if I went a little overboard.
Thanks for the input!
I wouldnt touch Dickey, he’s way too up and down. His control also seems to have slipped so he hurts your WHiP even when the Knuckler is floating right. Weaver is just a finesse pitcher with zero upside and when his control is off he will get lit up. Simon has been fighting the regression for a long time now, he plays on a team with a good defense and an improved bullpen, but if he doesnt win he doesnt give you much since he doesnt strike out a lot of guys.
Burnett and Colon are your top choices of that group, personally I would hold onto Hutchinson for a little bit longer and wait and see if he can level out some. I dont love his home park, but he is striking out guys when his velocity is right and we have seen what he can do when his velocity is good (two awesome starts) and when his velocity is down (two terrible starts). Still, he has great upside on a good offensive team.
Greene is someone I would look at trying to trade in the hopes someone believes more in his first three starts than his last one. If you cannot find a buyer for him, grab Colon or Burnett (in that order). Greene’s lack of K’s means he is more a streaming candidate than a must own in a shallow league.
Colon gives you decent K’s, solid WHiP and pitches on a good team. Same for Burnett, who would be much higher owned if his offense and bullpen hasn’t let him down in all of his starts so far.
My pitching has been a bust. Cats are ERA whip k/9 qs L
Would you drop McCarty martinez or pineda for any of these guys?
Kennedy,latos,bailey,paxton or hammel
Thanks
I would consider dropping McCarthy for Kennedy, otherwise I would try to DL McCarthy for the time being if you have a DL spot open.
The other guys on your list are all guys I would avoid in general and I certainly wouldn’t drop Pineda or Carlos Martinez (if it’s Nick Martinez then drop him rather than McCarthy).
Are you guys buying into Marisnick or fool’s gold?