Roto Riteup: August 21, 2017

The Little League World Series has showed us game of all shapes and sizes:

This is the best catch I’ve ever seen in baseball at any level! Just ridiculous! #SCtop10 #LittleLeagueWorldSeries pic.twitter.com/PFKr6KbmNm

— Nick Peppe (@NickPeppeTNN) August 20, 2017

 

Game comes in all sizes: pic.twitter.com/Vk2ymgw2lz

— Justin Mason (@JustinMasonFWFB) August 11, 2017

 

 

On the Agenda:

1. Bringer of Range?

2. Nellie to the Bench

3. Various News and Notes

4. Streaming Pitcher Options

 

 

Bringer of Range?

Josh Donaldson started his first game ever at shortstop in the Major Leagues on Sunday. With Troy Tulowitzki on the DL, the Blue Jays have been running out Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney at short, but with both players sporting a sub .270 OBP, they have allowed Donaldson to shift over to short the last three games. While it is very unlikely he can play enough games at short to gain eligibility for next season, added positional eligibility down the stretch in certain formats isn’t out of the question. In a year where we have seen Kyle Schwarber start the year with catcher eligibility in Yahoo and Anthony Rizzo get second base eligibility in most platforms, it appears anything is possible.

 

 

Nellie to the Bench

With the Mariners heading to play in Atlanta, Nelson Cruz will likely be heading for a reserve role for the next three games according to Mariners manager Scott Servais. Cruz has been his usual reliable self this season hitting .295/.377/.571 with 31 home run and 100 RBIs, but has primarily played DH this season and at 37-years-old, he no longer has the defensive chops to play regularly in the outfield. It is would be a tad bit surprising to see Cruz not play much this series, however, considering the Mariners are only a game and a half out of the last Wild Card spot and his is arguably their best offensive weapon.

 

Various News and Notes

Taylor Motter, who still doesn’t follow me on twitter in spite of the fact he used to and have made numerous attempts to get him to return to me, has been recalled from AAA Tacoma. He will replace Danny Espinosa on the roster who was released by the Mariners. Motter will assume the utility infielder role for the Mariners, who has played every position except centerfield and catcher this season for the Major League club. Motter has a bit of pop and speed, but won’t likely be much more than a reserve and fill-in with his .204/.272/.355 triple slash this year.

Jacob Faria was placed on the 10-day DL with an abdominal strain that could sideline him for about 2-4 weeks. Faria has struggled in the last month walking 4.81 batters per nine innings with a 5.08 ERA in six starts. His replacement in the rotation will be the returning Alex Cobb who is scheduled to be activated for Thuirsday’s start against the Blue Jays. Cobb last pitched on August 5th and has put together a decent bounceback campaign in 2017 in spite of the fact he is only striking out batters at less than a 6k/9 clip.

Miguel Sano has been placed on the DL with a shin injury. The move is somewhat precautionary as they didn’t want the “stress reaction” to get worse and become shin splints. He will likely miss around two weeks as long as he heals properly.

Matt Bush and Joey Gallo left Sunday’s game when they collided while trying to make a play on an infield pop up.

Here’s the collision that knocked Joey Gallo and Matt Bush out of today’s game vs. the White Sox. Ouch. pic.twitter.com/oQxzyhRmHO

— FOX 4 Sports (@KDFWsports) August 20, 2017

It appears Bush will be ok, but Gallo suffered a broken nose and will most likely have to pass concussion testing to return to the field.

 

 

Streaming Pitcher Options

A pitcher for today: Chris Stratton vs MIL

Monday’s pitching slate is not very good especially, but Stratton is coming off of his best start of his short MLB career and draws a Milwaukee team that has struck out 27.7% of the time in the second half.

 

A pitcher for tomorrow: Ubaldo Jimenez vs OAK

Prior to last start Ubaldo had four straight good starts, including one versus Oakland where he struck out 11 batters.