Roto Riteup: August 25, 2013

Thirteen years ago today the beginning of a great franchise was born. That’s right, Bring It On was released on August 25, 2000 and eventually launched four sequels. Does anyone else feel that? Brr, it’s cold in here…

On today’s agenda:
1. Welcome back, Lucas Duda
2. Derek Jeter to return tomorrow
3. Starling Marte to the disabled list

Welcome back, Lucas Duda
After being apart for over two months, the New York Mets have been reunited with Lucas Duda. The club recalled Duda yesterday and implied that he will spend the majority of his time — not necessarily the majority of the overall available playing time — at first base. The Mets already have Ike Davis starting and Josh Satin as a backup at first base, so playing time may be at a premium for Duda. He may still see a few games in the outfield, but at this point it appears as though Duda will give Davis the occasional day off to garner plate appearances. Until the playing time situation clears up, it is best to leave Duda to the waiver wire in standard 12-team mixed leagues, though deeper formats can roll the dice on him. Duda is available in over 95% of both ESPN and Yahoo! formats as well as 85% of CBS leagues.

Derek Jeter to return tomorrow
The Mets aren’t the only New York club that is bringing back a player from injury. The New York Yankees are anticipating the return of Derek Jeter. Again. Monday will mark the third time that Jeter will return from a stint on the disabled list year, and hopefully the last time. Given that Jeter has played a grand total of five games this year, calling this season anything but disappointing would be a lie. Even with the injuries and the age factored in, Jeter projects to hit well enough to be owned in deep leagues or even standard 12-team mixed leagues if one happens to need a shortstop or middle infielder.

The Yankees have scored the fifth most runs in baseball in August, and while that is an admittedly arbitrary point, a big reason has been some trades working out better than expected (looking at you, Alfonso Soriano) and getting healthy again. No one should expect Soriano to maintain his ridiculous RBI pace, but he doesn’t have to for Jeter to have value at the top of the lineup. Many owners have become justifiably frustrated with Jeter and have dropped him, making the captain a solid waiver wire option in most leagues. He is available 42% of CBS leagues, 50% of Yahoo! formats, and over 70% of ESPN leagues.

Starling Marte to the disabled list
The Pittsburgh Pirates find themselves tied atop the NL Central with the St. Louis Cardinals, though that tie may be broken now that the Bucs’ primary left fielder, Starling Marte, has been placed on the 15-day DL. A contusion as well as a sprained ligament in his right hand have kept him on the bench for almost a week, and the DL move is retroactive to August 19. For now it seems as though Marte will miss at least part of the first week of September, and potentially the entire week. Marte’s 4.3 WAR is third among qualified left fielders and his 121 wRC+ — not to mention his 35 steals — will be hard to replace.

The Pirates have recalled Andrew Lambo to fill Marte’s spot on the roster and a full assessment of Lambo’s talents — as well as some excellent comments — the present author urges the reader to view the brilliant and handsome Mike Podhorzer’s piece on Lambo. The gist of it is to not expect Lambo to replace Marte’s steals or batting average, though Lambo does have more raw power. Between Double and Triple-A this year Lambo has popped 32 home runs and driven in 89 runs, though his strikeout rate has been around 25% at both levels. If one is in dire need of home runs and the rate stats don’t matter as much, then Lambo is available in virtually every league; his highest ownership rate among the three major sites is 7% in CBS leagues.

Late breaking bonus 
Following yesterday’s marathon 18-inning game, the Philadelphia Phillies apparently will have Roy Halladay make today’s start. Tyler Cloyd was the scheduled starter, however after throwing five innings last night, the Phillies have decided to give Halladay the ball for the first time since early May. Just how well Halladay performs today will be very interesting.