Roto Riteup: July 1, 2013
Today unofficially marks the halfway point of the 2013 MLB season, so enjoy a Roto Riteup whilst wondering where the time went.
On today’s agenda:
1. Evan Longoria shouldn’t need the DL
2. Ryan Sweeney, Peter Bourjos break bones
3. J.B. Shuck: Plug-n-play
4. Bryce Harper is back today
5. Ryan Braun has bat, can swing
Evan Longoria shouldn’t need the DL
In the middle of an impressive season, Longoria has missed the past few days thanks to pesky plantar fasciitis in his foot. Since Longoria can continue to play if the pain isn’t overwhelming, he says that he’ll be back on the field shortly. Longoria missed time in 2011 due to injury, along with a majority of the 2012 season, so having Longoria out of the lineup shouldn’t be shocking for fantasy owners. Temper expectations a tad, but Longo should still have a productive rest of the season barring another injury.
Ryan Sweeney, Peter Bourjos break bones
Sweeney fractured a rib when slammed into the wall chasing down a fly, and the left-handed hitter will have to miss at least a month before he’s allowed to start doing basebally things. After two down years, Sweeney had returned to form as an excellent plug-n-play outfielder in all leagues, hitting .295 in 44 games.
Bourjos, on the other hand, was hit by a pitch and fractured a bone in his wrist. On the facade, Bourjos has absolutely had a breakout 2013, but his improvements come from BABIP instead of making more contact or hitting for more power. Regardless, Bourjos has been plagued with injuries this season, and he’ll now be out for at least a couple weeks, and maybe up to a month.
J.B. Shuck: Plug-n-play
Shuck has been filling in for Bourjos and serving as a backup for the Angels this year, and the contact specialist has done a great job applying his trade at the big league level. Schuck never struck out more than 13% of the time while in the minors, and he’s struck out less than eight percent of the time in over 270 trips to the plate. Shuck is hitting .297 without any real platoon splits, and while he won’t add speed or power to your lineup, he’s a great guy to have on hand.
Bryce Harper is back today
After missing more than a month’s worth of action, Harper will be in the Nationals’ lineup come today. Harper says his knee feels good despite some swelling, so while it’s possible that the phenom may need some extra rest over the next two weeks, he should be back on quasi-regular duty now.
Ryan Braun has bat, can swing
Normally a MVP swinging his shillelagh isn’t a big deal, it is when Braun hasn’t been able to do anything in a little over two weeks. Braun has an injured hand, and he’ll begin swinging the bat again on Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to rehab from his injury. With the Brewers firmly out of the race, there’s no reason to believe Braun will be rushed back to the bigs.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
why is a backup outfielder with no power or speed a “good guy to have on hand” for fantasy purposes? sounds useful for OBP and that’s about it.
It’s weird. The author recommends adding Shuck but then makes him sound terrible in his description.
Shuck will not be a backup anymore now that Bourjos is out. Also, he’s been hitting leadoff for the Angels most days, so if that continues he could be a decent run contributor. And he definitely has speed, with 32 steals at AAA in 223 games in 2011 and 2012. Hasn’t been as successful so far with the base running in the majors, but it’s been a small sample size and the speed potential is obviously there.
I took it in the context of being a good guy to have around if you’re Bourjos-less (5th or 6th OF type player)
But Bourjos can at least help in speed, and even with his BABIP-driven season was hitting well enough to provide a little power and runs. Shucks seems like a 1/2 cat contributer at most.