Roto Riteup: July 1, 2012

Unlike the comics, today’s Roto Riteup isn’t presented in color. They could be, but it seems like it’d be extremely ugly.

• Jim Thome is going to be getting a whole lot more playing time after the Baltimore Orioles acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies. The Orioles are on the verge of the playoffs, so they haven’t acquired Thome to serve as a pinch hitter. Thome will likely be taking over as the primary DH at the expense of the likes of Chris Davis, Matt Reynolds, and Wilson Betemit. While it’s truly difficult to gauge what Thome has done this year with sporadic playing time, it’s pretty clear he can still hit the ball out of the yard. With Camden Yards as his home, Jim Jam will be mashing tators at a relatively high rate, but his batting average won’t be great. Interesting grab in AL-only leagues, Thome is.

• Yasmani Grandal is coming back to the majors at the expense of Nick Hundley. After a little bit of a breakout last season, Hundley got himself a nice contract extension from the Padres, but he has been absolutely miserable this year. Grandal has shown he’s too good for Triple-A, so now is his chance to show he can handle the big leagues. Go grab him in deep leagues.

• Stephen Strasburg struggled through three innings against the Braves yesterday, leaving at that point due to heat exhaustion. Strasburg’s control appeared off — he walked four batters — but there’s a chance he was laboring and missing his spots because of it. There should be no lasting ill effects from this start.

• Top prospect Lonnie Chisenhall, third baseman for the Cleveland Indians, is going to miss at least a month after breaking his forearm. Chisenhall was plunked by a pitch, and he’ll have surgery soon. Chisenhall showed off some of his power, but the rest of his game has struggled to show itself in the big leagues.

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: Joe Blanton at MIA
Big Sexy Blanton is big and sexy. Oh, and he’s away from home.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Hisashi Iwakuma vs BAL
Iwakuma will be making his first start of the season, and while Baltimore can hit, why not give him a chance at home?

A Hitter for Today: Colorado Lefties vs SD (Kip Wells)
Kip Wells plus Coors Field equals “yikes.”