Roto Riteup: April 26, 2019

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April 26, 2019

Kendrys Morales looks at this in horror.

On the Agenda:
1. More Promotions!
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

 

More Promotions!
Today is obviously Vlad day, but on Thursday we got word of a few more prospects that will be getting the call.

Carter Kieboom: He was ranked second in multiple places (including FG) on the Nationals prospect lists in the preseason, and has hit .379/.506/636 with 3 HR and 18 RBI (1-for-2 in SB attempts) spanning 83 PA in Triple-A thus far.

This is a premier offensive prospect that should be picked up in all formats. I don’t have a crystal ball – so I can’t tell you how things will shake out once Trea Turner returns – but Turner hasn’t even started baseball activities, and if Kieboom gets regular playing time for even a few weeks, the Nationals may decide to keep him up for good (ala Juan Soto). One question from this however that I’m increasingly worried about is Brian Dozier. Say Kieboom performs well and then Turner returns from injury, what will Dozier have to do to maintain playing time? Here are a few informative tweets from the legend Alex Chamberlain that have me intrigued with how this may unfold.

 

In closing, grab Kieboom wherever you can. I told someone on twitter that in a vacuum I’m willing to spend 25% of my FAAB this weekend if I’m in dire need of infield help. However, I still have some hope for Dozier, and don’t think anyone in deeper-mixed formats should be cutting bait just yet.

Well, this isn’t a call-up for today, but after the Angels placed Zack Cozart on the injured list yesterday, they promoted second baseman Luis Rengifo to the major leagues.

 

Rengifo is ranked 7th on the Fangraphs list for the Angels, and prior to his call-up was hitting .240/.284/.387 with 2 HR and 2 SB (3 attempts) in Triple-A. This is a player who can be had for very little, and can provide a little bit of everything. He has a long track record of making good contact in the minor leagues, as well as stellar walk rates, the ability to hit double-digit home runs in a full season, and enough speed to tally 20 steals. David Fletcher and Tommy La Stella are still lurking – and Cozart is going to return at some point in the next couple of weeks – but Rengifo should be filed away as a player of interest, especially in deeper leagues.

Justus Sheffield will make his Mariners debut today:

https://twitter.com/GregJohnsMLB/status/1121580036195119104

Sheffield is tops on the FG list for the Mariners, and is anywhere from one-to-three in multiple other spots. He won’t be making a full-on start today as he’ll be pitching in relief of Yusei Kikuchi. The Mariners are attempting to limit Kikuchi’s innings in his first season in America. According to manager Scott Servais, Sheffield will not go a full outing, but they haven’t given an exact pitch count. Sheffield has a 3.93 ERA to go along with a troubling 11/14 K:BB over 18.1 IP at Triple-A this season. He’s a very talented starter and should get a full-time shot at some point this season. With that said, his exposure to the MLB against the Rangers today will be a nice thing to watch and see.

 

Various News and Notes
The Rangers will be activating Rougned Odor from the injured list today. Asdrubal Cabrera left yesterdays game against the Mariners and depending on the severity, could go on the IL. As I mentioned yesterday, Danny Santana has had a ton of success, and should stay with the MLB club for the time being. If Cabrera is out for a chunk of time then we should see Santana stay in the lineup for a bit longer. Stay tuned. Odor was hitting .167/.255/.214 with no home runs over 42 AB prior to going down.

Jarrod Dyson went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI against the Pirates on Thursday. He now has a hit in eight-straight starts, and is frequently hitting lead-off for the Diamondbacks. At the very least he can be a viable source of speed (26 or more SB for six-straight years prior to 2018) despite dropping his total to 16 last season. His speed isn’t what it once was (54th on sprint speed leaderboard on baseball savant), but with three stolen bases on his ledger already, and Steven Souza out for the season, we should be more interested from a fantasy perspective. He’s literally only 2% owned in ESPN leagues.

Random tidbits on the majority of notable starters from yesterday
Caleb Smith:

Luis Castillo: 0 BB and 0 ER allowed against the Braves, unfortunately that came with 8 H and only 2 K.

Gerrit Cole: 2 HR allowed (3 ER total), but 10 K and 3 BB over 7 IP.

 

Zack Greinke: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 7 K, 1 BB. He’s also continuing to HIT!!!

Ross Stripling: Very frustratingly got pulled after 4.2 IP (76 pitches) after allowing 0 ER on 5 H to go along with 6 K and 1 BB.

 

Aaron Nola: 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 1 BB

 

Marco Gonzales: 7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

Jon Lester returned from the injured list and logged four innings of four-hit ball – allowing one earned run – while striking out five and walking zero. Rick Porcello and Julio Teheran both had quality starts.

Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said on Thursday that Jordan Zimmermann will, “undergo testing on his elbow” today after exiting yesterday’s start against the Red Sox.

Aaron Boone expects Miguel Andujar to return in the next week as he’s set to play third base in an extended Spring Training game today.

Jean Segura is set to return from the injured list on Saturday against the Marlins. Sean Rodriguez and Phil Gosselin will lose the little NL-Only value they had once he returns. Roman Quinn was also sent to the IL for a quad injury. The once heralded prospect Dylan Cozens was promoted in a corresponding move. Quinn is really starting to get nicked up quite a bit. After thinking of him as a possible sleeper for this season – at least for some cheap speed – we may have to just hope he can notch a few at-bats.

Taylor Hearn was rocked in his debut against the Mariners. Like I said yesterday, there really wasn’t any streaming options. Hearn is a top-10 prospect on the FG Rangers list. He seemingly needs to grab some more seasoning down in the minors before we can seriously evaluate him.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Less than 50% Owned)
A Pitcher for Today: Matt Strahm at WAS
The Nationals have been league-average at home thus far and Strahm has allowed 2 ER in his last 3 GS overall (11/2 K:BB in 18 IP). Would like to see more swing-and-miss, but with the options available, he’s about as good as it gets from a streaming perspective.

High-Risk Option: Jerad Eickhoff vs MIA
Allowed 4 ER in a Coors start his last time out. This time he gets the lowly Marlins offense. Love his double-digit SwStr% and nice K% thus far. The walks could be an issue, but this is a really nice spot despite Citizens Bank Park being a much friendlier hitting environment than most.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Derek Holland vs NYY
Holland currently has a 30% K!!!! What!?!?!?! He gets to pitch in the comfy confines of At&T, and the Yankees lineup is um…..yeah, they’re not your father’s Bronx Bombers.

High-Risk Option: Brandon Woodruff at NYM
I guess I’m just picking on New York today. Woodruff has MUCH better splits on the road in his career (3.40 ERA, 24% K, 7% BB, 1.19 WHIP, 0.4 HR/9). The Mets have been solid at home, but they have been much better against LHP (141 wRC+) versus RHP (100 wRC+). Highly risky, but I could see him being serviceable.





 

Fantasy Baseball and Tampa Bay Rays enthusiast. Restaurant manager by day, fantasy analyst by night. Contributor to Rotographs, Baseball HQ, Fantasy Pros, and co-owner of Friends with Fantasy Benefits. Follow me @MikeWernerFWFB.

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Will H.
5 years ago

I love all the analysis sprinkled in to this RR… thanks!

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