Roto Riteup: July 15, 2016

Alright, everyone glad to have baseball back now? Like, real baseball? Yeah, me too. It’s nice that the Blue Jays secured home-field advantage in the World Series and all, but I could do without the four-day reprieve in the middle of the season. On the bright side, the timing was swell, as I was in Las Vegas for NBA Summer League and probably would have needed someone to tag in for the Roto Riteup anyway. But here we are, back with RR, back with baseball, back together.

On the agenda:
1. ‘Ranz a make ‘em dance
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options

‘Ranz a make ‘em dance
The number of text messages I received from Red Sox fan friends when I landed back in Toronto today was obscene. Apparently, Boston is quite happy to have landed Drew Pomeranz from the Padres. And they should be! Somewhat of a trendy sleeper pick if he could stay in the rotation before the season, Pomeranz has been borderline terrific in 2016. The owner of a 2.47 ERA and a 28-percent strikeout rate, he’s managing to work his way around some walk issues thanks to a high strand rate and an improved ground-ball rate. There are some concerns given that his hard-contact rate is up and his infield fly-ball rate is down, but even if some of these metrics – and Fenway Park – caught up with him, there’s a good arm here. Jeff Sullivan goes deeper on the risk associated with Pomeranz, and from a fantasy perspective, it might be worth seeing if an eager owner is willing to pay ERA sticker price for Pomeranz despite the ballpark change. Pomeranz is a good pitcher and the Red Sox got a nice piece, it’s just always worth shopping an ERA over-performer when they get moved to a “sexy” team.

Various News and Notes
You may have forgotten the status of a few major arms as we come out of the break. Here’s a really quick update.

Noah Syndergaard: The week off may have done him well, and so the Mets are hoping he can make his next start (Tuesday against the Cubs) without a DL stint. Arm fatigue is a troubling thing to be shelved with, especially given how his velocity tailed off in that start, but the Mets insist things are fine. Like that dog in that fire in that meme. Everything’s fine. Keep a close eye on Syndergaard’s fastball if he makes that start.

Gerrit Cole: Expected to come off the DL on Saturday to face the Nationals. Sidelined since June 10, Cole’s ERA was unsullied over a pair of Triple-A rehab starts. This is a big return for owners and the Pirates alike, obviously.

Shelby Miller: Is terrible, and headed to Triple-A as a result. A year ago this time, Miller was an All-Star, but he’s completely lost his way in 2016. The 7.14 ERA is unsightly enough, but Miller’s own loss for what ails him has to be frustrating. Edwin Escobar gets the call to replace him, but here’s guessing his 5.08 ERA in Triple-A and minuscule strikeout rates since the start of 2014 aren’t the fix the Diamondbacks need for any stretch of time.

Clayton Kershaw: Played catch on Thursday and will pitch a simulated game Saturday. It’s not even clear if the Dodgers are going to send Kershaw on a rehab assignment, he might just be ready to go soon. Alex Wood, meanwhile, will begin a rehab assignment soon.

Yu Darvish: Expected to make his second return of the season on Saturday against the Cubs. He was pretty impressive in his initial comeback in June but was struck by neck and shoulder discomfort. He’s now saying he feels much better, and there were no issues in a rehab start Sunday.

J.A. Happ: Unaware that bagged milk is supposed to go in a holder before trying to pour. Come on, man. We’re weird in Canada, but we’re also practical. And another thing: Why was the whole timeline talking about how to buy and drink white milk when anyone worth their salt keeps it 100 with chocolate milk for all non-cereal purposes? I feel like I’m babysitting sometimes.

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: Hector Santiago vs CWS (Miguel Gonzalez)
With an up-and-down track record over the last few seasons, Hector Santiago’s settled in as a decent arm who can be tough to trust. He’s a bit of a matchup play, then, and drawing the White Sox right out of the gate in the second half is a nice way to get some momentum building. His former team is one of the worst in all of baseball against left-handed pitchers, striking out more than average and posting a 78 wRC+. If you’re going to look past Santiago’s ERA (and peripherals, though he consistently outperforms those), this might be the game to do it.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Mike Foltynewicz vs COL (Chad Bettis)
The six-percent owned Mike Foltynewicz draws a Rockies team that ranks in the bottom-10 in the league by wRC+ and owns a middling ISO on the road. Shocking, right, that the Rockies would hit for more pop at home and not be a major threat when controlling for environment? Anyway, Foltynewicz, meanwhile, it outperforming his peripherals, but I’ll take a guy doing so with a four-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio.