Roto Riteup: July 20, 2017

Stanton pops his 30th HR:

.@Giancarlo818 is on an absolute TEAR. #Crushed pic.twitter.com/wGIyH1SqKb

— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2017

It might finally be happening! The super elite Stanton season might finally be upon us!!! Stanton is just 10 homers away from his first 40 HR season and the way he’s smashing homers of late (9 in 15 July games), he could drop a 50 burger on the league. I’ll say he hits 52.

On the Agenda:

• Arenado pops 3 HR
• Sanchez Blistered Again
• Meyer Masterful v. Nats
• Rodon Rocked
• Dyson’s Resurgence
• Other News
• Whiff Watch
• WTWT

Arenado Pops 3 HR

Nolan Arenado smacked three homers and drove in seven runs, pushing his total to an MLB-high of 80. He has just two hitless games over his last 15, posting a .397/.418/.762 line with 6 HR in 67 PA. The 26-year old third baseman will be in the thick of the NL MVP race all year.

Sanchez Blistered Again

Aaron Sanchez left yet another start with blister issues as he continues his knockoff impression of 2016 Rich Hill minus the amazing starts. At least when Hill has blister issues, he did it around a 2.12 ERA and 129 strikeouts over 110.3 innings. Sanchez was amazing last year and I had high hopes for him this year, but it’s just not going to happen when he keeps getting derailed by blister issues and I’m not sure he can be trusted in shallow formats at this point.

Meyer Masterful v. Nats

Alex Meyer has been a revelation for the Angels this year, finally finding some success with his third organization. Meyer had his best start of the year on Wednesday, allowing just a hit and a walk in seven scoreless against the Washington Nationals. Sure, Bryce Harper was out of the lineup, but Meyer still gets full credit here. Three starts ago, he allowed just one hit to the Dodgers in six scoreless (though he had 5 BB).

There has been some inconsistency, but the highs are enough to roll with Meyer in most formats. Here are his Game Scores since June 1st: 60, 69 (nice!), 46, 76, 31, 69 (nice!!), 37, and 81. Even with the three duds, he has a 2.66 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 47 strikeouts in 44 IP. Meyer’s always had a live arm, but it seemed fit for the pen (and not even a high leverage at that given his command and control issues) until arriving in LA. His two-pitch approach leaves him a bit susceptible to lefties (.738 OPS), but he’s holding righties to a .553 OPS and holding strong as a 90-pitch guy.

Rodon Rocked

Carlos Rodon was thrashed again on Wednesday (3.7 IP/5 ER) as he’s struggled to find his footing through four starts this year. He has walked at least three in all four starts and while he had allowed just one homer through his first three starts, the Dodgers mashed four off him last night. All of his command and control gains from last year have disappeared so far and I can’t see starting him anywhere right now. I’d reserve in AL-only and mixers with at least 18 teams, but otherwise he’s waiver wire fodder until further notice.

Dyson’s Resurgence

The volatility of relievers is perfectly encapsulated by Sam Dyson’s season. He had an impossibly bad 16.7 innings with the Texas Rangers that led to his ouster as closer and eventually cost him his job. He posted a 10.80 ERA (but only a 9.13 FIP!), 2.58 WHIP, and 0.6 K/BB ratio with the Rangers.

The San Francisco Giants took a shot on the 29-year old, no doubt realizing that a small sample – regardless of how bad – isn’t always indicative of a pitcher’s true talent. He had 199 IP of 2.93 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 2.5 K/BB prior to this season so barring some sort of severe injury, there was a decent chance he had more in the tank. That said, I completely understand why Texas had to move on. The Giants have gotten a 2.76 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, and 2.3 K/BB in 16.3 IP out of their new fill-in closer (5-for-5 saves filling in for Melancon)

Other News

• Xander Bogaerts missed a couple games with a sprained joint in his right hand, but returned on Wednesday
• Kris Bryant sprained his left pinkie sliding headfirst into third and catching his hand on Johan Camargo’s foot
• JD Martinez was hit in the hand by a pitch in his second at-bat with Arizona; X-Rays were negative and he’s day-to-day
• Charlie Blackmon left Wednesday with a hamstring cramp, but he’s supposed to be just fine
• David Phelps was traded to Seattle on Thursday morning for OF Brayan Hernandez, RHP Brandon Miller, RHP Pablo Lopez, and RHP Lucas Schiraldi
• Chris Carter signed on with the Oakland A’s which seems to further signify the impending trade of Yonder Alonso
• Pablo Sandoval was reported to have rejoined the Giants, but he refuted the report, saying he hasn’t yet decided where to sign

Whiff Watch

A quick look at the top swing-and-miss starters from yesterday:

• Sonny Gray led the charge with 20 whiffs vs. TB, good for a 19% SwStr – both the best marks of the night
• Kevin Gausman had 18 and a 19% v. TEX
• Justin Verlander had 18 and a 17% at KC
• R.A. Dickey had 17 and an 18% v. CHC
• Jacob Faria had 15 and a 16% at OAK
• James Paxton had 15 and a 14% at HOU
• Tim Adleman had 13 and at 13% v. ARI
• Carlos Carrasco had 13 and a 12% at SF
• Dan Straily had 12 and a 13% v. PHI
• Charlie Morton had 12 and a 12% v. SEA
• Jon Gray had 12 and a 12% v. SD
• Alex Meyer had 11 and a 13% v. WAS
• Gerrit Cole had 11 and an 11% v. MIL
• Jordan Montgomery had 11 and an 11% at MIN

Jose Berrios and Jacob deGrom both tallied 8 and a 7% mark, though both managed strong results.

WTWT

Here’s what to watch tonight:

• Michael Fulmer and Danny Duffy tangle in KC
• Luis Castillo has become must-watch for me, he takes on ARI today
• Jimmy Nelson and Jameson Taillon square off in PIT
• Luis Severino heads out west to take on Felix Hernandez in SEA
• Madison Bumgarner makes his second start off the DL against SD
• Mike Foltynewicz and Brandon McCarthy have both been surprisingly strong this year and they duel in LA tonight