Roto Riteup: August 1, 2022

Spoiler Alert: I did not win.

On the Agenda: 

  1. Closer Chaos
  2. Trades (and rumors)!
  3. Quick Hits
  4. Various News and Notes
  5. Streaming Pitchers

 

Closer Chaos

Luis Garcia pitched a clean ninth inning, not allowing a baserunner while striking out one to register his first save of the season. The Padres are operating a committee in the ninth inning for now which Garcia will be a part of, but I think the smart money would be that they acquire a proven closer at the deadline. 

 

Jonathan Hernandez threw a clean ninth inning, not allowing a baserunner while striking out one in the victory over the Angels on Sunday. This is Hernandez’s first save of the season as he has been working his way back from elbow surgery. Hernandez was a sneaky saves sleeper heading into last year and could be one now as 2022 comes to a close. 

 

Trades (and rumors)!

The Giants traded for Dixon Machado 마차도, sending Raynel Espinal to the Cubs in exchange. The Giants are in need of some infield depth with Brandon Crawford still out and Thairo Estrada dealing with a concussion. Neither player is fantasy relevant at this time. 

According to Jon Morosi, the Yankees, Cardinals and Blue Jays seem to be the front runners to trade for Frankie Montas. Dan Hayes of the Athletic also mentioned that the Twins remain involved in discussions as well. Montas has been great this season and has another year of team control left, so he is an attractive trade candidate for any contender. The A’s will likely trade anything not nailed down considering they would refuse to pay for a general contractor to remove any nails. 

 

Quick Hits

Dylan Moore was placed on the IL with back spasms. There is no timetable for his return. 

Julio Rodriguez was placed on the IL with a wrist injury. Rodriguez was hit on the wrist with a pitch on Saturday:

X-rays were negative so it seems like this move is precautionary, but there is no timetable at this moment.

Thairo Estrada was placed on the 7-Day Concussion IL. Estrada was hit by a pitch in the head and experienced concussion symptoms. These types of injuries always have an uncertain timetable, so there is no way of determining how long he will be out.

Bobby Witt Jr. left Sunday’s game after being hit on the hand with this pitch:

He reportedly is fine and the Royals didn’t even get x-rays. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Kris Bryant left Sunday’s game with foot soreness. This is discouraging news as Bryant has dealt with plantar fasciitis all season long. Consider him day-to-day, but it would not be surprising to see the Rockies shut him down at some point even though this is not considered serious as of yet.

 

Various News and Notes

Paul DeJong went 1-for-4 with a home run in the victory over the Nationals. 

DeJong was recalled after Edmundo Sosa was moved in a trade to Philadelphia and has now hit home runs in back-to-back games since being recalled. While DeJong did not crush AAA during his demotion, he hit 17 home runs in 230 plate appearances, walked at a 8/7% rate and only struck out 22.6% of the time. He should be the main shortstop moving forward in St. Louis unless the Cardinals make a trade for one before the deadline and he has deep league value.

Reid Detmers threw seven innings against the Rangers, allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks while striking out 12 in the no-decision.

Detmers was fantastic in the outing with four of his five pitches sporting a 30+% CSW. Detmers has become much more slider heavy in his last three starts which has been beneficial to him, but the big step forward has been in his command. He has not allowed a home run in the month of July and some added velo has helped with the strikeouts. Detmers was a popular “sleeper” coming into the season and if you held him through his struggles, you are being rewarded well.

Andrew Pallante threw eight scoreless innings versus the Nationals, allowing just five hits and a walk in the victory.

Pallante was great in this outing, getting a 30+% CSW on his fastball, slider and curve but some of this was the Nationals just looking lethargic at the plate. He got 20 called strikes in the outing including 12 alone on his fastball. That being said, he was very efficient, sequenced very well, and showed great command and control. He won’t always have great matchups like this, but it is important for him to take advantage when he does to keep his spot in the rotation the rest of the way once the Cardinals get healthy and make deadline moves. 

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today:  Spenser Watkins at TEX

Watkins has a decent matchup and pitched well since his call up. 

High Risk Options: Domingo German vs SEA, Brad Keller at CHW, Zach Davies at CLE. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Spencer Howard vs BAL

This has some risk, but the options today aren’t great. 

High Risk Options: Graham Ashcraft at MIA, Jordan Lyles at TEX, Chris Archer vs DET. 

 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”





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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alan fogelmember
1 year ago

Did not win lotto either. Back to work…ugh….