Roto Riteup: August 11, 2016

Me, when you go to sleep but your girl’s still on her phone:

On the agenda:
1. Goodbye, sweet Prince
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options

Goodbye, sweet Prince
Jeff Sullivan covered this far better yesterday but man, pour one out for Prince Fielder. The Rangers DH announced his retirement in a gut-wrenching presser yesterday, fighting back tears and touching Adrian Beltre’s head one last time. One of the most affable and entertaining players of the last decade-plus, I’ll greatly miss Fielder’s emotive reactions, nacho stealing, and genuine enjoyment on the field. As a fan, I can only hope that two neck surgeries in a three-year span and an early ouster from the sport still leave him able to find that kind of enjoyment off the field, with his children, without much issue. Interestingly, Fielder finishes his career with 319 home runs, the exact same total as his father, Cecil Fielder. That includes a ridiculous 50-homer season in 2007 when he was fantasy baseball’s No. 8-ranked producer (not even his best fantasy year). Even at such a deep position, Fielder spent 10 years at the forefront of fantasy production.

2006: 152
2007: 8
2008: 60
2009: 5
2010: 70
2011: 15
2012: 24
2013: 41
2015: 39
2014/2016: Injury-shortened

Various News and Notes
David Ortiz had to be helped from the field after fouling a Dellin Betances offering off of his leg yesterday. X-rays were negative but he’s set for further testing.

In that same game, Alex Rodriguez pinch hit to a chorus of boos at Fenway, producing a loud fly out. Rodriguez not getting to start in this series is a bit of a joke considering where the Yankees are and how important he’s been (not to mention the tiny chance he could have reached 700 home runs), but it sounds as if he’ll start Thursday despite the Red Sox scratching Steven Wright with a sore shoulder. Eduardo Rodriguez takes the bump in Wright’s place.

Staying with the Yankees-Sox game, Nathan Eovaldi departed after 12 pitches with right elbow discomfort. That’s troubling, especially considering he maxed out at 94-95 MPH on Wednesday, well off his 98 MPH average. Eovaldi underwent Tommy John surgery in high school, for whatever that’s worth. It’s unclear who may get the call if Eovaldi misses time, and the Yankees still have a Sunday rotation hole to fill, too (Luis Severino seems a good bet for one of the spots).

The Astros DFAd (DdFA?) Carlos Gomez in a bit of a surprising move, and the Mets could have some interest. Gomez has been mostly terrible this season but brings a track record of production and is still just 30 with decent-to-plus defense, so somebody will probably kick the tires.

You know who could use outfield help? The Blue Jays, who placed Jose Bautista on the DL alongside Kevin Pillar. Bautista suffered a knee sprain falling in the outfield this week, the second time he’s injured himself in right this year (it’s almost as if he should be DHing…). Bautista’s slumped by his standards this season, and he’ll have to hope the short DL stint leaves him time to find his groove for what should be a hot playoff race when he returns. With two outfielders down, Melvin Upton and Darrell Ceciliani figure to see pretty regular at-bats, and it will be interesting to see if the Jays look for help on the waiver-trade front (Yasiel Puig, please).

The Dodgers still don’t have a debut date for Rich Hill, who was scratched from his potential Friday start (Ross Stripling gets the nod). Hill said he felt ready to pitch following a bullpen session Tuesday, but the blister issues appear to be persisting. He joins Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Bud Norris as starters the Dodgers don’t really know when to expect back, which is a tough way to live.

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: Christopher Devenski @ MIN (Tommy Milone)
With a three-percent ownership tag, you can stream Christopher Devenski just about anywhere as he draws the Twins for the second leg of a double-header on Thursday. Generally, the double-header means he’ll be seeing something less than the Twins’ full lineup, and that full Twins lineup has only been average at the dish. It may feel strange grabbing a swingman who SaberSim doesn’t even have a projection for on the day, but the 25-year-old has been more than solid over 75.1 innings, even if he’s scuffled a bit in his starts. There’s risk here, but the cost is just so low.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Ariel Miranda @ OAK (Sean Manaea)
I kind of think Homer Bailey is worth another gamble here in Milwaukee, but most will probably be snake-bitten if they streamed him (at essentially no cost) last time out. Ariel Miranda doesn’t have anywhere near the track record, but the Mariners like what he’s shown enough to keep him in the rotation over Taijuan Walker for the time being, in the middle of a playoff race. The Athletics, meanwhile, have been middling against lefties and have one of the lowest home ISOs in baseball, providing what you’d hope is a decent floor for Miranda.