Roto Riteup: July 20, 2012

Congratulations, you’ve almost made it through another week of work. The only thing that separates you from that sweet, sweet weekend is one short work day. I’d suggest reading today’s Roto Riteup at work (unless you’re a pilot or surgeon or something) that way it shortens your work day even more. Just make sure you ALT+TAB if the boss walks passed.

• Luke Scott went 2-4 yesterday and hit his 12th home run of the year. He now has at least two hits in three of his past four games. When he is facing off against right-handed pitching, Scott can still do damage. His average and on-base percentage won’t win you any leagues, but he does now have 10 home runs against righties. If you’re hurting in the OF or at CI, Scott could slide in and give you some pop there. Scott is currently available in over 85% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.

• Speaking of players with a multi-hit game spree, Jesus Montero is killing the ball over the past four games. In 20 plate appearances over the series against the Royal, Montero has 10 hits, four of which are of the extra base variety. No doubt he’s had a disappointing season thus far, but perhaps he is beginning to turn things around and put the first few (hundred) PA’s behind him. He only has catcher/UTIL eligibility, but if he begins to hit the way that many (including myself) thought he can, he would be an incredibly nice piece to own. He should be free to pick up in about half of both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

• Another player who has picked up the pace recently is Jhonny Peralta. Prior to last night’s 2-4 performance, Peralta was hitting .308 over the past two weeks. He has two homers and eight RBI’s over that time as well. After his 20 home and nearly 90 RBI campaign in 2011, this year has predictably not gone quite as well. With the potential to hit 10 home runs to go with a projected .270 average for the rest of the season and you have yourself a very good short stop eligible player. A lot of owners have bailed on Peralta and he should be on the waiver wire in the neighborhood 50% of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues alike.

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: Kevin Correia vs FLA MIA
The Marlins offense ranks 27th in terms of road runs scored.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Edwin Jackson vs ATL
I don’t know if I’d consider myself a Jackson fanboy, but I certainly think he should be owned in more than 61% of Yahoo! leagues.

A Hitter for Today: Carlos Beltran vs CHC (Ryan Dempster)
With rumors being created as fast as people can type in 140 characters or less, it seems that Dempster could very well be traded. If that is the case, there really isn’t a strong pitching option for the Cubs to start. Any hitter on the Cardinals would probably be a good buy in FanGraphs: The Game today.