Roto Riteup: April 4, 2018

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April 4, 2018

Here at the Roto Riteup, we enjoy bling:

On the Agenda:

1. Out Like a Lamb

2. Bombs Away!!!

3. Various News and Notes

4. Streaming Pitchers

 

Out Like a Lamb

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Jake Lamb was placed on the 10-Day DL with an AC sprain in his shoulder. Lamb had yet to hit a home run this season, but wasn’t necessarily struggling with a .278/.350/.333 line in his first four games of the year. However, a shoulder injury like this can hurt power production, so this is troublesome. Daniel Descalso and Chris Owings will likely split time in his absence.

 

Bombs Away!!!

It is a bit of a slow news day, so let’s admire some beautiful displays of power!

Shohei Ohtani hit is first Major League home run!

Didi Gregorius hit two bombs in a day in which he knocked in 8 RBIs!!!

Tell me if you have heard this one before: Bryce Harper is having a nice start to the season:

Christian Villanueva did his best Matt Davidson impression:

 

Various News and Notes

According to manager Ned Yost, Royals first baseman Lucas Duda could sit out the remainder of the series versus the Tigers. That would only be one more game with the day off on Thursday. Duda has been struggling with a hamstring injury. This doesn’t appear to be too serious, but keep an eye on it if it develops into something that requires a DL stint.

Nelson Cruz was placed on the 10-Day DL with ankle injury. With the Mariners playing in a National League park versus the Giants this series and Cruz’s ankle injury, the Mariners opted to let him rest up on the DL. The injury does not appear to be serious and manager Scott Servais said that he expects Cruz to return after a minimum stay.

Aledmys Diaz left Tuesday’s game with back spasm. He was 3-3 with a home run in the game prior to exiting giving him two bombs on the season with a .313/.313/813 triple slash. With Troy Tulowitzki on the 60-Day DL, Diaz will get plenty of playing time to reestablish his value after a disappointing season in 2017. In 2016, Diaz hit 17 home runs with a .300/.369/.510 triple slash in 111 games for the Cardinals and appeared to be their shortstop of the future, but he struggled last year and was ultimately replaced by Paul DeJong. Diaz is worth the gamble in deeper formats and should be monitored in shallower formats as well.

Carlos Correa will sit on Wednesday with discomfort in his big toe. The toe hasn’t hurt Correa’s production on the field as of yet, so it is not a big issue. Consider him day-to-day at this time. He did hit an inside the park home run though:

And you thought you were done with home run clips.

 

Streaming Pitchers Options

A pitcher for today: Daniel Norris @KC

KC is an easily lineup to attack. I still believe in Norris’ talent, but there is risk here.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Kyle Gibson vs SEA

Seattle is missing Nelson Cruz and Gibson started off the season with a six inning no hit performance versus the Orioles.





 

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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Tosabigdog
7 years ago

I think last night’s Brewer/Cardinal game was the first in history to open with back-to-back homers and end with back-to-back homers.

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