Roto Riteup: August 3, 2016

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August 3, 2016

There’s a lot to get to today, so just some quick advice off the top: Always, always keep them on their toes.

On the agenda:
1. If the Story is over
2. Closer changes
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

If the Story is over
It only felt right to get one more Story pun in now that Trevor Story’s historic rookie season is coming to an unceremonious end. The Rockies’ freshman is likely to miss the remainder of the season following surgery to repair a torn UCL in his thumb. That leaves him with 27 home runs – an NL rookie record for a shortstop – 72 RBI, 67 runs, and a .272 average, all good enough for second in overall shortstop production so far this season. He’ll be very high at the position entering 2017, assuming Coors Field doesn’t suddenly become less friendly a confine. What a wave this was to ride.

Closer changes
The closer chairs of the world were thrown into a bit of disarray at the deadline – Benjamin Pasinkoff had you covered in the Bullpen Report – and there are a few follow-up notes on that front. For one, Ken Giles will replace Will Harris at the back of the Astros’ bullpen, as A.J. Hinch clearly believes in the 2.20 ERA Giles has posted since a shaky April (and, probably, the 34.1-percent strikeout rate overall). Elsewhere, Edwin Diaz continues a quick rise and will replace Steve Cishek as the Mariners closer, where he’ll look to continue his 9.1-inning scoreless streak (which includes a clean save last night). He’s struck out 46 percent of batters (!!) he’s faced as a rookie so far. And then there’s David Aardsma.

Various News and Notes
Danny Salazar will miss two-to-three weeks due to elbow inflammation, a tough hit for the Indians as they continue to push for home field throughout the playoffs. After leaving Monday’s game and admitting there was something in his elbow (he’s a Tommy John survivor and showed a velocity dip in his last outing), he’ll rest for a week before resuming throwing. Mike Clevinger draws in on Thursday to fill out the rotation for the time being.

Julio Teheran is also hitting the DL due to a strained right lat. He suffered the injury back on July 22, took eight days off before his next start, then had the soreness flare back up on the weekend. The Braves have every reason to play it cautious with their 25-year-old, who was dealing with a velocity drop-off in his last appearance. Rob Whalen is filling in Wednesday, but the Braves have another hole in the rotation for Friday that’s yet to be filled.

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More injuries? Lance McCullers left in the fifth inning of his Tuesday start with right elbow discomfort. He’ll be reevaluated this morning.

The Dodgers demoted Yasiel Puig to the minors, and the team is declining to put a likelihood on him rejoining the parent club at any point. Apparently, behavior played a part in the decision, which, yeah, you probably hope that isn’t an issue at 25. But it still doesn’t detract from the fact that Puig has, at times, flashed some immense talent. It’ll be interesting if he’s among the names slid through waivers this month.

Hanley Ramirez is set for X-rays after jamming his wrist falling down the stairs in the Red Sox clubhouse. Hopefully there’s nothing here, because Ramirez has been solid this season, posting a 113 wRC+ with 14 home runs and 62 RBI, the latter number already surpassing last season’s total.

On the tails of the Red Sox calling up Andrew Benintendi, the Brewers gave shortstop prospect Orlando Arcia the call yesterday (pushing Jonathan Villar to third in the process). The 21-year-old should prove to be a stolen base threat in time, but he may not get on base enough out of the gate to get a ton of opportunities – he had just a .320 OBP over 100 Triple-A games. There’s also some nice pop here as far as speedy middle infielders go, so if he can keep the strikeout rate reasonable (he’s regarded as a great contact hitter but has seen his strikeout rate increase modestly with each jump in level), he could be a really intriguing piece.

The Jays are going to go through with moving Aaron Sanchez to the bullpen after one or two more starts. Sigh. I know as outsiders we don’t have access to all of Sanchez’s medical information, the relevant sports science data, and so on, but this one is pretty disappointing (and he sounds just as disappointed) from this distance.

The Rays are going to play Matt Duffy primarily at shortstop once he’s healthy, bumping Brad Miller to more of a super-reserve role that will see him mostly play first. Miller has been open about disliking the move, but those who still believe in Duffy as a fantasy asset will surely appreciate the Rays insuring his eligibility for next year.

Streaming Pitcher 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 TEX (Cole Hamels)
It’s an especially thin streaming day on Wednesday, and unless you’re eager to take on Edwin Jackson and his sub-one strikeout-to-walk ratio, you might need to roll the dice with someone facing a tough opponent (or with little strikeout upside). The much-improved Rangers are a somewhat scary streaming opponent despite middling offensive numbers overall, but Kevin Gausman gets the call here almost by default. He’s at 24-percent ownership, so there’s plenty of opportunity to pick him up and hope against hope that the strong strikeout-to-walk profile can outweigh the issues with the long-ball.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Drew Smyly vs KC (Ian Kennedy)
Available in 58 percent of leagues, the left-handed Drew Smyly will look to improve a woeful (and meaningless) 3-11 record against the league’s worst offense over the last month. Yes, things have gotten that bad for the Royals, who own just a 67 wRC+ over the past 30 days and who have fashioned just a .148 ISO against southpaws for the season as a whole. Smyly hasn’t been nearly as good as he was the last few seasons, but he’s also been better than his 5.29 ERA would suggest, striking out a batter an inning while staying stingy with the free pass.





 

Blake Murphy is a freelance sportswriter based out of Toronto. Formerly of the Score, he's the managing editor at Raptors Republic and frequently pops up at Sportsnet, Vice, and around here. Follow him on Twitter @BlakeMurphyODC.

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