Roto Riteup: April 4, 2016

Baseball kicked off yesterday, but today is the day that the Roto Riteup celebrates as the true Opening Day.

On the agenda:
1. James Loney is a free agent
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options

James Loney is a free agent
The Rays, unable to find a trade, have released first baseman James Loney, favoring Logan Morrison. Loney hit .280 last year, but posted the lowest walk rate and ISO of his career, and was far and away a below replacement level player. Loney will almost assuredly be given a chance to recoup some value, but no one should be signing him to a big league deal right off the bat.

Logan Morrison has a clear path to the 1B job, at least against righties, and hit second against the Blue Jays on Opening Day. The Rays are hoping he can keep his patient approach at the plate while improving last year’s luck on balls in play, but as someone who had to watch him all too often, believe me when I say he has a slow bat, not just bad luck. Stay away, even though he has the job in hand.

Various News and Notes
Tommy Phan was removed from yesterday’s opener with an oblique injury, and we should have an update from the Cardinals at some point today. Pham may have only been in line for starts against lefties, but it was possible he could work himself into more playing time, so hopefully he’s just sore and can come back quickly.

In the rare April 3rd spring game, Addison Russell hit his sixth homer of the preseason. Russell didn’t look awesome last year, but the raw tools are all there for a massive 2016 campaign if he can just limit his strikeouts to 20% of his plate appearances.

The Final Boss — Seung Hwan Oh — made his MLB debut yesterday, and he didn’t look like such a hard finale. Maybe his stats will transcend his stuff, but his stuff was no so impressive.

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Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Drew Smyly vs TOR (R.A. Dickey)
Only Wily Peralta and Jeremy Hellickson are true streaming candidates, so this is more of a DFS play. If you’re willing to spend a little more while staying away from the top tier, Tyson Ross against a banged up Dodgers squad should also provide excellent value.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Justin Verlander at MIA (Wei-Yen Chen)
Verlander isn’t an ace anymore, but getting to play in a large park against a team without a DH is quite nice.