Roto Riteup: August 22, 2016
With deep sadness, I regret to inform you that the Olympics are officially over. However, Pyeongchang 2018 is less than 18 months away!
On the Agenda:
1. Various News and Notes
2. Streaming Pitcher Options
Various News and Notes
Billy Butler missed both Saturday’s and Sunday’s games after an altercation with teammate Danny Valencia left him nauseous and vomiting. I am sure there is more to come from this. Country Breakfast cannot keep down his breakfast.
Yulieski Gurriel made his Major League debut and promptly exited it with hamstring tightness and going 1-for-2 and a walk. If healthy Gurriel should be a middle of the order bat in a potent Astros lineup, but keep an eye on this injury.
According to Manager Jeff Banister, Carlos Gomez will be the Rangers everyday left fielder once called up on Thursday. This is interesting news especially regarding Jurickson Profar and Delino DeShields and their potential playing time rest of the way, though Gomez will have to prove he can hit better than his .210/.272/.322 triple slash this season to be viable in fantasy again.
According to Michael Hill, the President of baseball operations for the Marlins, Giancarlo Stanton plans to play before the end of the regular season. This is kind of shocking news considering that all reports had him missing the rest of the year with this groin injury. Most likely he wouldn’t be back before the end of the season, but in certain formats (i.e. H2H playoffs) he might be worth a stash if someone dropped him.
Brett Lawrie was pulled from his rehab assignment. He has had multiple setbacks recovering from knee and quad injuries and currently has no timetable for a return.
Both James Paxton and Taijuan Walker could be returning to the Mariners rotation this week. Walker could be a candidate to start on Tuesday vs the Yankees and is available in a number of leagues since his demotion. Paxton should return to the hill on Tuesday since he has not pitched in a game since being hit in the elbow with a comebacker a few weeks ago shut him down.
Streaming Pitcher Options
A pitcher for today: Zack Godley vs ATL (Mike Foltynewicz)
Since being put into the rotation Godley has been decent, firing 12.2 innings and only allowing 3 runs. He draws an Atlanta team that has a .295 wOBA against right handed pitching this season.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Clay Buchholz @ TB (Chris Archer)
Buchholz pitched well against the Tigers while filling in for injured starter Steven Wright. He draws the lowly Rays in Tampa Bay on Tuesday and will be under owned in DFS and season long formats. #TeamCletus
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
Clay Buchholz is an awful pitcher
No argument here, but I am picking a low owned streamer/cheap DFS option.
The Rays aren’t the streaming opponent they once were. Longoria, Miller, Forsythe have been wrecking opposing pitchers. See:
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/roto-riteup-august-17-2016/
I like the Godley matchup too, but he can’t be pitching against the DBacks teams since he is a member of the team! Actually, picking Folty vs. the DBacks is not a bad choice either since the DBacks rank 18th in wOBA vs. RHPs and even lower when measuring wRC+. And IMHO Folty is more talented than Godley.
And while this has nothing to do with fantasy baseball, all baseball fans—especially those of us of a certain age—should grieve that the once uber-talented Doc Gooden has apparently lapsed back into cocaine/crack addiction. I hope it’s not true for when he was in his prime he was one of the greatest pitchers I’ve ever seen.
Thanks for catching it. I have corrected it. Where did you see the info on Gooden? As a person that has been clean and sober for a long time, I can empathize with him. Addiction is a life long fight no matter how far away we get from our last use.
It was reported on ESPN yesterday evening (apparently the news first broke on the NY Daily News) that Darryl Strawberry was trying to get his friend and former colleague to seek treatment again. Addiction is a long fight—I’ve known some friends who have won and have lost—and I’m hoping he’ll come out on top. I’ll always remember how he dominated hitters in the mid-1980’s.
I always root for everyone to overcome their addictions. Sadly, most people that are afflicted die of the disease. I’m am reminded of it constantly in my professional and personal life.
What is your avatar picture Justin? It’s a little too small for me to be able to make out the words.
It’s a picture of me eating a fried egg sandwich that the yolk had leaked all over the remnants of my 2012 SF Giants playoff beard. My friend took the picture and wrote “Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of how awesome I am” on it. It is my Twitter avatar @justinmasonfwfb.