Roto Riteup: August 21, 2012

It took me two hours to write today’s Roto Riteup, but that’s because I kept getting sidetracked by pictures of cute kittens. True story.

• If you’re waiting to see Wil Myers debut with the Royals on September 1st when rosters expand, you’ll have to wait awhile longer. The Royals’ Triple-A affiliate has made the playoffs, so Myers will be sticking with the team through the postseason. Depending on how far the team advances, there’s a chance Kansas City will opt to give Myers the rest of the season off to rest and get ready to compete for a job in Spring Training. That’s right, America, we may have to wait until next year’s projected Super Two deadline before we see Myers in a Royals uniform.

• Jose Bautista took batting practice over the weekend and is hoping to return to the Blue Jays by the end of the week. Bautista has missed the past month with a wrist injury, and he’ll go to the minors for a few games to try to get back to form before coming back to Toronto. Joey Bats was hitting .244 with 27 jacks before heading to the DL, and although wrist injuries can last longer than expected, Bautista should be good to go once he’s back in the bigs. Likewise, his keeper value shouldn’t be affected.

• Care to guess who’s leading the league in homers over the past thirty days? The answer is Ryan Ludwick, and that’s not who you guessed. Ludwick has jacked 11 bombs in the past month, and while he’d never hit 60 bombs over the course of a year, it’s still fun to see what he’s doing in the Great American Ballpark. At this rate, I expect the Reds will bring Ludwick back into the fold next year, and he’ll continue being an interesting player in NL-only leagues due to his home park alone.

• Not only did I leave Roberto Hernandez as the “Pitcher for Today” for the sake of consistency, but also because Dealin’ Dan Straily was sent down to the minors instead of squaring off against the Minnesota Twins in Oakland today. Straily didn’t strike many Royals out in his last trip to the mound, but he did manage to escape without giving up a run.

• Odds on King Felix Hernandez throwing anything less than a two-hitter today: 10/1. I’ll be taking bets through my bookie, Carlos.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Roberto Hernandez at SEA
I have a great feeling about Fausto Carmona in this one.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Hisashi Iwakuma vs CLE
I will keep running Iwakuma out there until he fails me. And he won’t. Ever.

A Hitter for Today: All the Angels at BOS (Aaron Cook)
I don’t care how much Albert Pujols costs in The Game, i’ll pay it.