Roto Riteup: July 21, 2016
Another day, another barrage of injury news. Here’s hoping you drafted some depth and kept your watch list tight, because odds are, you’ve lost a body or two in the last little while. Basically, we’re looking at the injury news each morning like:
On the agenda:
1. Dodgers out an ace
2. Updates and setbacks
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options
Dodgers out an ace
Clayton Kershaw may be done for the season. May. This would be a huge blow to fantasy owners, particularly those in head-to-head leagues, and it could be a death knell for the Dodgers in the NL West race. Baseball’s best pitcher is dealing with a herniated disc and manager Dave Roberts suggested yesterday that surgery is a possibility. For now, the Dodgers are “hopeful” Kershaw will return this year, and there’s really no timetable – he’s not going to resume throwing until the pain goes away, and there’s no telling how long that will be. Here’s hoping he’s feeling better soon.
To add to the loss of Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu (elbow), the Dodgers are also out Alex Wood. Wood’s down for the next eight weeks, as he requires arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow. It looks as if Julio Urias, getting the call today (against Strasburg! Afternoon game!), could be in the plans until the Dodgers acquire reinforcements. The 19-year-old is at 78.1 innings for the year, just shy of the 81 he threw last year and the 87.2 he tossed in 2014.
Updates and setbacks
A few follow-ups from yesterday: Koji Uehara hit the DL with a pectoral strain, leaving the closer role to Brad Ziegler (it seems); Jose Bautista started a rehab assignment earlier than expected, hitting a home run in his first at bat (he’s due back Monday).
A few other follow-ups: Zack Greinke was hoping to be back right out of the All-Star Break and is instead rendered frustrated and without a timetable, having only played catch from 120-150 feet this week; Rich Hill is unlikely to make his next start (Sunday, blister), throwing the A’s ability to trade him into question.
The Indians are surviving on the strength of their depth, balance, and pitching, and reinforcements may not be coming internally – Michael Brantley once again suffered a setback with his right shoulder, and he’s set for an MRI. He’s played just 11 games this year, and Tyler Naquin deserves several dozen rounds of applause for helping fill the gap. Still, with Brantley and Yan Gomes sidelined, it makes all the sense in the world that the Indians are trying to get them a catcher who can do both, like Jonathan Lucroy.
Various News and Notes
Prince Fielder hit the DL yesterday with a possible disc herniation in his neck, and that may require season-ending surgery. You’ll recall that Fielder missed the bulk of 2014 to repair a herniated disc in his neck, too. The Rangers also lost Shin-Soo Choo to the DL (again) with back inflammation. Mitch Moreland, Ryan Rua, Jurickson Profar, and Delino DeShields Jr. probably all stand to gain a bit of playing time to help fill the void.
Trea Turner stole home in a double-steal, his second stolen base in seven appearances. Can we please, please get this guy some playing time if he’s going to be on the 25-man roster? I know the guys he’s behind have been more than solid and the Nationals are in a push for the top seed in the NL, but there’s gotta be a place for him more often, right?
Hanley Ramirez hit three home runs and drove in six to push him to 11 and 54, respectively, with seven steals and a .285 average. Not a bad bounce-back from a down 2015 at all, even with the power dip prior to Wednesday.
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: Matt Moore @ OAK (Sonny Gray)
I, like an owner in 36 percent of leagues, will never quit Matt Moore, it seems. The lefty draws the Athletics in Oakland on Thursday, a nice opportunity to continue the mini-run he’s been on (he’s allowed two earned runs or fewer in four straight starts and six of his last seven). The A’s owns a 91 wRC+ overall, and while they don’t strike out much, they’re also not well-suited to take a lot of walks and their ISO at home is a paltry .146. Moore’s been settled in for a while now.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Jon Gray vs ATL (Julio Teheran)
Through all the changes during a Major League Baseball season, the one constant has been the Braves sitting at the bottom of the league in wRC+. Their mark of 74 isn’t any better against righties (74) or at home (74), and it’s only improved slightly over the last 30 days (83). In other words, no matter how you split it, the Braves remain a good matchup. Jon Gray, armed with a 26-percent strikeout rate, should be poised to take advantage. He held the Braves scoreless over seven innings last week, and Atlanta doesn’t exactly inspire fear that a second look at him will change things.
Blake Murphy is a freelance sportswriter based out of Toronto. Formerly of the Score, he's the managing editor at Raptors Republic and frequently pops up at Sportsnet, Vice, and around here. Follow him on Twitter @BlakeMurphyODC.
Tyler Naquin has been unbelievable. Like, I literally can’t believe that he will continue to perform this well. At the very least his BABIP is going to be regressing, but still. What a machine.
his HR/FB rate is an absurd 31%! I’m just impressed he’s kept it going 63 games
Kudos to David Laurilia who quoted Naquin from an interview on May 26th (when he still had zero HR’s) where Naquin billed himself as a 20-25 HR/yr guy and promised that we would see his power emerge shortly.
31% HR/FB rate is higher than Barry Bonds in his prime. Absolutely not sustainable. Over a full year though (not this year), yeah, Naquin could probably reach 20HR
He’s got 12. I’d say he has a decent shot to get 20 this year
Naquin’s BABIP is .300 in July and he’s hitting .313 in the month. K rate down to 22% this month, plus the balls going over the fence