Roto Riteup: August 17, 2016

Chase Utley hit two home runs and got a pair of curtain calls in his return to Philadelphia. Still, his greatest moment in the city is and will always be his relationship with Mac.

On the agenda:
1. Team offensive production
2. Swanson to debut
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Team offensive production
Was it strange to see the Orioles shut down through six against the Red Sox on Tuesday? The Orioles, after all, are a dangerous lineup with a ton of pop, and they’ve posted 7, 8, 9, and 10 runs in the last two weeks. They’ve also been in a bit of a malaise when they aren’t exploding, a sort of boom-or-bust nature that makes them no less dangerous and risky but does serve to confuse the overall quality of their offense of late. Whether or not you’re comfortable streaming against them is a matter of risk preference, but it’s worth noting that no team has had a bigger drop-off in production since the All-Star Break.

Here’s a quick look at how every offense has performed overall this year, and in the last 30 days:

Team	2016 K%	2016 ISO	2016 wRC+	30D K%	30D ISO	30D wRC+	wRC+ Diff
Braves	19.70%	0.119	79	17.60%	0.147	100	21
Reds	22.00%	0.156	84	19.90%	0.158	103	19
Dodgers	20.90%	0.161	98	22.50%	0.194	115	17
Twins	22.00%	0.172	100	22.30%	0.197	115	15
Indians	20.60%	0.177	107	20.30%	0.182	120	13
Brewers	25.30%	0.153	90	24.60%	0.176	103	13
Rays	24.10%	0.184	100	22.70%	0.197	109	9
Rockies	21.10%	0.184	93	21.30%	0.18	98	5
Nationals	19.50%	0.177	98	18.20%	0.182	102	4
Rangers	19.90%	0.166	94	20.20%	0.185	98	4
White Sox	21.10%	0.147	90	19.40%	0.145	93	3
Phillies	22.00%	0.147	80	23.10%	0.143	83	3
Yankees	19.40%	0.147	88	22.80%	0.157	89	1
Athletics	18.30%	0.151	90	19.00%	0.157	90	0
Cubs	21.50%	0.173	106	19.80%	0.156	105	-1
Marlins	19.70%	0.138	96	19.10%	0.145	94	-2
Astros	23.60%	0.169	97	22.30%	0.159	94	-3
Tigers	21.40%	0.169	102	18.90%	0.165	98	-4
Angels	15.90%	0.145	101	17.30%	0.153	97	-4
Pirates	21.40%	0.146	100	20.60%	0.142	96	-4
Giants	17.70%	0.14	101	19.50%	0.123	94	-7
Padres	24.50%	0.16	89	25.50%	0.161	82	-7
Cardinals	20.60%	0.188	106	22.30%	0.195	97	-9
Diamondbacks	22.90%	0.17	93	22.40%	0.169	84	-9
Red Sox	18.10%	0.184	115	18.40%	0.191	105	-10
Mariners	20.30%	0.173	107	19.60%	0.153	96	-11
Blue Jays	22.00%	0.186	103	24.60%	0.188	91	-12
Mets	22.10%	0.166	93	19.50%	0.128	81	-12
Royals	20.00%	0.134	88	21.60%	0.124	71	-17
Orioles	22.00%	0.183	102	20.80%	0.148	77	-25

Like the Orioles, the Jays have slid some but served a reminder Tuesday of how dangerous they can be, scoring 12 unanswered following a rain delay to beat the Yankees.

Swanson to debut
The Braves are set to call up Dansby Swanson on Wednesday. Their top prospect and the No. 1 pick (of the Diamondbacks) in the 2015 draft, the primary return for Shelby Miller (ha) has had the rocket strapped to him through the system. He started this season in High-A, hasn’t played at Triple-A, and at 22 has just 127 games of minor-league experience. Saying he’s tough to project, then, is an understatement – his 116 wRC+ in Double-A is solid enough (he dominated lower levels), and he has the potential for double-digit steals and homers at short, it’s just tough to expect that out of the gate. He’s available in 86 percent of leagues if you want to take a spin. The defense is almost certainly ready, but I’m a little skeptical he hits right away.

The Braves dealt Erick Aybar to the Tigers yesterday, creating the hole for Swanson.

Various News and Notes
Back to that Orioles-Red Sox game, Eduardo Rodriguez had to leave it after four no-hit innings with hamstring tightness. Boston is hopeful a follow-up on Wednesday will return positive results, as they’re already missing Steven Wright in the rotation and can ill-afford another rotation loss. Mookie Betts homered in that game, too, giving him five since Sunday. He’s very good.

Ryan Braun suffered a strained knee and ankle running into a wall chasing down a foul ball. The Brewers don’t think he’ll be shelved long (they’re pulling for a day-to-day diagnosis), but there’s little reason to push it at this point in the season. Braun is having a serious return to form this year, posting his best wRC+ since 2012, hitting 22 home runs, and stealing 13 bases, so owners will be crossing their fingers no DL stint is necessary.

Following up on items from yesterday, Shin-Soo Choo is set for surgery on his broken wrist and forearm, and Matt Holliday will undergo surgery to repair his fractured thumb. Choo isn’t expected back this year and there’s only “a chance” Holliday makes it back.

The Yankees already have a hole in their 2017 rotation, as Nathan Eovaldi will miss the entire season. He’s dealing with a torn flexor tendon and a partially torn UCL, likely requiring a pair of surgeries (and he’s already had Tommy John surgery once). The 26-year-old flashed potential over the last five seasons and could be back on the radar for 2018, but that’s a long, long road back, and a setback this tough is unlikely to help with the consistency issues that have sometimes limited him.

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: Kyle Gibson @ ATL (Mike Foltynewicz)
The Wednesday slate has a lot of options, but they’re all somewhere in a vague middle of poor opportunities or low-upside arms. There are a few ways you could go, but when in doubt, I’ll pick on the Braves, baseball’s worst offense on the season, overall and against righties (with apologies to their recent up-tick). Kyle Gibson’s strikeout rate makes him a bit of a lower-ceiling play – there are bigger swings for the fences you can take – but this feels like a safe way to steal six innings and four strikeouts in the 90 percent of leagues in which he’s owned.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Archie Bradley @ SD (Paul Clemens)
Archie Bradley’s been plagued by control issues once again in 2016, something he wasn’t able to figure out even on assignment to Triple-A. At this point, he just looks like a high-walk arm, and while there’s decent strikeout potential lurking, it means you’ll need to pick your spots carefully. The Padres are such a spot, with one of the worst wRC+ marks no matter the time frame you use for the season, plus an above-average strikeout rate.