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.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Correia vs FLA?
Whoops! I still refer to them as the Florida Marlins, not the Miami Marlins. Fixed.
Wait… Why is any Cardinal vs Dempster a good pick? He’s currently in the middle of a 33 inning scoreless streak. And he is pretty good.
“…Dempster could very well be traded. If that is the case, there really isn’t a strong pitching option for the Cubs to start.”
I meant that if Dempster is traded before his start today, then anyone that the Cubs slot in to replace him will be bad. Thus, buy a lot of Cardinals hitters.
Oh sorry, I misunderstood. Anyway it doesn’t look like he’s been traded yet 🙂
I have the dubious honor today of picking either Pomeranz @SD, or Milone vs. Yankees… I’ve been burned by benching Milone at home before but this might be a different story. Thankfully my opponent has two 7pm starters so I can see if they blow up first, but if you had to go with one of these guys, which?
Lucas Harrell just pitched a gem against the Pads so I’d go with Drew since the Yankees are ever dangerous no matter where they play. Tom (don’t call me Glavine) Milone’s been money at home but I’d go with Drew in PetCo.
I’d roll with Pomeranz.
As noted below, Milone has been good at home, but I don’t know about him facing the Yankees.
Any thoughts on Germano going to CHC? Been good for Boston starting in AAA and while he’s slated to be a reliever, can’t imagine he’d stay in the pen if Garza and/or Dempster get moved.
Still looking at this, I didn’t ignore it. I’ll have a better perspective of it all tomorrow for you.
thoughts on travis snider being worthwhile after his call up?
Meh. I wouldn’t burn the top waiver priority, but I am keeping an eye on him. He’s 24 and just kills minor league pitchers. That’s not something I’m going to totally give up on just yet.
Any reason why we should care about road runs scored by a team? Marlins aren’t a great hitting team, but Correia is not a good pitcher.
I’d take Nolasco or Pomeranz over Correia today.
It’s just a fact worth pointing out. I could say that the Marlins have scored the fifth fewest runs overall, which is still relevant.
I think a big part of Jesus Montero heating up is that he faced a bunch of bad left-handed pitchers in KC. I doubt he keeps it up against good righties, but then I’m pessimistic since I’m a Mariners fan.
His pedigree is very good so I have reasons to be hopeful.
But yeah, the level of competition he just tore up wasn’t exactly Hall of Fame worthy.
I’ve got Montero and Wieters, and my plan has been to only start Jesus against below-average LHP on the road. This week worked out great for that. 🙂
I’m confused by the “he only has catcher/util eligibility…” statement. Isn’t catcher pretty much the best eligibility to have for positional adjustment? What do you want, C/SS??
I meant that as in if you are in a single catcher league (there are a lot apparently) then you’d be forced to play him at either your only C slot or in the UTIL.
I was just offered Clay Buchholz and Rajai Davis for Gordon Beckham and Ubaldo Jimenez. Do I accept? Buchholz certainly has the upper hand on Jimenez, but I’m worried about Davis losing playing time to Gose (who I also own).