Roto Riteup: August 18, 2015

Today’s Roto Riteup was written while listening to The Hotelier’s Home Like Noplace Is There. It’s definitely one of my favorite albums from last year.

On today’s agenda: 
1. Randal Grichuk’s injury
2. Another home run from Pedro Alvarez
3. Derek Holland to return tomorrow
4. Streaming Pitching Options

Randal Grichuk’s injury
The Cardinals placed Grichuk on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a right elbow injury. A mix of a muscle strain and a low-grade ligament strain forced the club to shelve their outfielder at least until next month. The right-handed hitter has posted a very strong offensive showing this season, sporting a .284/.333/.561 line. Grichuk’s .376 BABIP has certainly helped boost his triple slash but among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances, his 37.8 percent Hard% ranks tied for 19th highest and his 14.5 percent Soft% rates in the top 50. He’s tattooing the ball, not just squeaking by with dribblers or Texas leaguers. Corroborating the quality of contact numbers here, MLB’s Statcast shows his hits — not all balls in play unfortunately — have the fourth highest average exit velocity at 94.5 mph (cap tip to commenter McNulty [someone I can only assume is also a fan of The Wire] from yesterday’s Roto Riteup for making me double check the exit velo bit). Apologies for the really long sentence there…I don’t think I’ve ever used a comma, em dashes, parenthesis and brackets in one sentence. It seemed noteworthy. Sorry. Back on topic, I’d wager on seeing both Thomas Pham and Peter Bourjos both seeing time in center, though Jason Heyward could see time there as well.

Another home run from Pedro Alvarez
For the second game in a row — and the fourth time in seven games — Alvarez bopped a homer. He’s up to 19 on the year, already surpassing his total from last season. Via Baseball Heatmaps, the slugger has added more than 10 feet to his average fly ball distance over last year, jumping from 297.62 feet to 308.74 feet. Alvarez’s rate stats remain modest at a .252 batting average and .314 on-base percentage, however I can live with both of those numbers when they’re close to what non-pitchers have hit this year at .257 and .319 respectively. Despite the recent hot streak, if your league’s trade deadline hasn’t passed yet, I’d look to move him. Josh Harrison should be back soon and will likely reclaim the third base spot from Aramis Ramirez, with the Pirates possibly using Ramirez at first base in a platoon role with Alvarez.

Derek Holland to return tomorrow
After lasting all of one inning before a left shoulder strain derailed his season, Dutch is set to make his first start since April 10 on Wednesday against the Mariners. I’m pretty wary of shoulder injuries to pitchers, though the Rangers put Holland through four rehab starts before making the decision to activate him. Where he sits with his velocity, pitch count and delivery are all things I’m keen on watching as a knee injury limited the hurler to just 37 innings last season. Holland is probably at best a stream option until proven otherwise in standard 12-team mixed leagues, so even against a league average offense like the M’s, I don’t think I’ll be starting him. He’s free to pick up in 65 percent of CBS leagues, 85 percent of Yahoo! formats and over 90 percent of ESPN settings.

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Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Kevin Gausman vs NYM (Jacob deGrom)
Getting the win today might be out of reach for Gausman, yet I still like him against a mediocre Mets offense. Gausman is freely available in 45 percent of CBS formats as well as more than 80 percent of ESPN or Yahoo! leagues.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Wily Peralta vs MIA (Tom Koehler)
The Crafty Peralta did me proud the last time I streamed him, so here I am. Once again. But not torn into pieces. Peralta is at home against a Marlins squad that ranks last in baseball in wOBA and wRC+ against right-handers. I’ll probably use Peralta in DFS as my cheap pitcher, allowing me to splurge elsewhere. Join me in streaming as he’s owned in a mere 25 percent of CBS or Yahoo! leagues and just 5 percent of ESPN settings.