Roto Riteup: April 6, 2016

We’re not here to talk about the slide rule. I don’t want to talk about Jose Bautista pulling a WWE No Mercy and reaching under the ropes to distract Logan Forsythe. There’s no place for intentionally hitting batters for lighting you up in the Roto Riteup. With apologies to Baron Corbin, this is a Banter-free zone.

And so thankfully, we move on to only the fantasy relevant from Tuesday.

On the agenda:
1. A-Rod is going 40-40 at 40
2. Story of the Year
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

A-Rod is going 40-40 at 40
Alex Rodriguez walked and stole a base Tuesday, putting him on pace for…*the earth explodes*. Seriously, though, Rodriguez stealing a bag in the first game of the season is all kinds of funny, in part because people raised their eyebrows at projection systems pegging him for three or four this year, but mostly because of his reaction.

After sliding into the DMs https://t.co/jFIH3Aerwm

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) April 5, 2016

Based Rod is only 76-percent owned, probably in part due to the limited roster flexibility you get with a UTIL player and because, well, he’s a (no-longer-justifiably) unpopular 40-year-old. He could hit 25 home runs again and be 10-15 percent better than average at the dish. If you’re in that one-quarter of leagues where he’s not owned, I ask you: Do you hate fun?

David Wright stole two bases, too. Everything’s weird. (There really wasn’t much in the way of actionable fantasy news yesterday.)

Story of the Year
Another day, another opportunity to turn Trevor Story into a cheap, punny headline. How long can I keep this up? Until the day I die. Or until he stops hitting home runs every day, whichever comes first. Seriously, though, Story now has three home runs in two games and a full workload, at least until Rob Manfred makes a ruling on Jose Reyes. His ownership has bumped from 78 percent to 83 percent since this time yesterday, and he’s likely to be one of the most popular FAAB-format adds by Sunday. He’s not going to keep this up, but he could approach 20-20 in a full workload thanks to his strategy of putting the ball in the air a ton while calling Coors Field home.

Various News and Notes
Francisco Rodriguez blew his first save opportunity as a member of the Detroit Tigers, so absolutely nothing has changed in that flaming dumpster of a bullpen, apparently. In other reliever news, Trevor Bauer looked bad out of the bullpen (sigh), Jeremy Jeffress worked the ninth down a run for the Brewers, “The Final Boss” / “Stone Buddha” / “Oh-mega” Seung-hwan Oh struck out the side in a clean sixth inning, Alex Colome very nearly blew a lead, and Ken Giles made A.J. Hinch look smart, surrendering a run in the eighth before Luke Gregerson worked a clean ninth.

Matt Garza will miss four-to-six weeks with a lat strain. If this is important to you, your fantasy season is off to a bad start, Count Chocula.

Logan Forsythe did more than just almost commit a game-changing error Tuesday. He also hit a two-run home run off of Brett Cecil, which most thought was impossible, and had three hits overall. That 57-percent ownership tag can probably be bumped a little higher now that he’s confirmed as the team’s full-time lead-off man.

Speaking of spots in the order, Cory Spangenberg hit second for the Padres on Tuesday, and while that’s likely to be a game-to-game thing, he could be a cheap DFS play or speed-stream. And staying on players who were Padres middle-infielders at one point, Jedd Gyorko homered. Good for him!

All of baseball’s actually good players remain good, too. Noah Syndergaard is filth. Carlos Correa is amazing. Giancarlo Stanton hits moonshots. Thanks for coming back, baseball. Never leave again.

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: Aaron Nola @ CIN (Brandon Finnegan)
I actually like the idea of kicking the tires on either side of this one. Former No. 7 pick Aaron Nola had a decent spring, is just 35-percent owned, and projection systems like him for eight strikeouts per-nine and an ERA in the neighborhood of 4.00. The Reds, meanwhile, project as a bottom-five offense.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Robert Stephenson vs PHI (Charlie Morton)
The 23-year-old has loads of potential, and while he may not be fully ready yet, the Phillies are as feathery a landing spot as any, the way 2016 looks. Robert Stephenson has posted strong strikeout rates across the minors, and while his command issues have humbled his peripherals, there’s not going to be a cheaper upside play Thursday.