Roto Riteup: August 17, 2013

You lucky readers are treated to a Saturday edition of the Roto Riteup that isn’t written by Professor Pony.

On today’s agenda:
1. Travis D’Arnaud gets the call
2. Alexi Ogando’s shoulder gets diagnosed
3. Yovani Gallardo to return today
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints

Travis D’Arnaud gets the call
The Mets’ future backstop is getting called up the bigs, and the young slugger will likely start for New York today. D’Arnaud gets the call with John Buck going on the paternity list, so it’s unclear whether the 24-year-old will get a chance to stay up for the rest of the season. In this man’s opinion, d’Arnaud will go back to AAA until the rosters expand in September, but the Mets brass may decide to ignore the added couple weeks of service time ventured by keeping him in the bigs.

TDA has spent most of the 2013 season rehabbing from injury, but the right-hander has a wOBA over .450 in his 19 games at Triple-A this year and remains one of the top prospects in all of baseball.

Alexi Ogando’s shoulder gets diagnosed
Already landing on the DL once this year with shoulder concerns, Ogando has been diagnosed with nerve inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Since coming off the DL in late July, Ogando has pitched to a 4.68 ERA in five starts, and the right-hander has walked as many batters as he’s struck out. With only a .275 BABIP, opponents have put up an OPS over .800 in his most recent 25 innings of work, making Ogando a serious concern for the Rangers.

Ogando may not be placed on the DL, but he’s at least likely to miss his next scheduled start. The former All-Star was putting together a nice season before injuries took over, but there’s a chance this is the last we see of Ogando as a starter. The Rangers are now looking at a great top-three of Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, and Matt Garza heading down the stretch, but the rest of the rotation is highly questionable.

Yovani Gallardo to return today
Gallardo is set to join the Brewers’ rotation and start today after barely more than the minimum 15 days off. Gallardo has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the end of July, and the right-hander will now get a chance to turn around what has been a hugely disappointing for Milwaukee and the pitcher alike. Yovani’s velocity and strikeouts are both down this year, and he hasn’t been able to compensate by lowering his walk rate or inducing more grounders.

Fun with arbitrary endpoints
All stats through Thursday’s game action.

Bryce Harper, since returning from DL: 163 PA, .234/.325/.404; 5 HR, 18 BB, 35 K, .272 BABIP
R.A. Dickey, last nine starts: 61.2 IP, 50 K, 15 BB, 9 HR, .254 BABIP; 3.36 ERA
Ivan Nova, July and August: 52.1 IP, 50 K, 12 BB, 2 HR, .285 BABIP; 1.89 ERA
Michael Cuddyer, post All-Star break: 82 PA, .301/.378/.425; 1 HR, 9 BB, 13 K, .356 BABIP