Roto Riteup: July 23, 2015

Today’s Roto Riteup is unofficially sponsored by the film The Untouchables. As a mostly unrelated note, my old Counter-Strike 1.5/1.6 team owned the #UnTouchable mIRC channel on Gamesurge for years. So, there’s that.

On today’s agenda:
1. Jung-ho Kang’s hitting streak
2. David Freese to the disabled list
3. Streaming Pitching Options

Jung-ho Kang’s hitting streak
After going 2-for-4 yesterday, Kang has hit safely in nine consecutive games. While he still isn’t hitting for much power, a .286/.365/.412 line is serviceable from the shortstop position in just about every league. Kang has been shuffled up and down the lineup for most of the season, though he has settled in at the fourth or fifth spot as of late. Hopefully he continues to see time in the heart of the lineup as that will give a boost to his RBI opportunities. Given that Kang hasn’t really brought great speed to the show — just five steals in eight attempts — I don’t see his running game suffering much with his new lineup position, as it couldn’t fall too far. With injuries to both Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer, Kang has clear playing time ahead of him. If he’s still available and you’re looking for infield help, I’d scoop him up. He’s free to own in more than half of CBS leagues and about 80 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN formats.

David Freese to the disabled list
An errant pitch from Mike Pelfrey struck Freese on his right index finger, breaking it in the process. Freese isn’t exactly a hot name to try and replace, however playing time will open up in his absence. The Angels haven’t officially placed Freese on the disabled list — or announced a timetable, but Alden Gonzalez speculates on a three week recovery time — let alone called up his replacement, but as the linked article suggest, count on seeing Kyle Kubitza. The 25-year-old has already gotten his feet wet at the big league level, getting 31 plate appearances in June. Obvious small sample size issues aside, Kubitza posted a 20.2 percent swinging strike rate en route to a 41.9 percent strikeout rate. To his credit, prior to the season our own Kiley McDaniel rated Kubitza as the No. 5 prospect in the Angels system, noting his contact rate, progressing power development and patience. If your team was using Freese as a starting third baseman, then I suppose Kubitza has enough upside. Outside of deep mixed or AL-only formats, I’d look elsewhere for help at the hot corner.


Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Ervin Santana at LAA (Garrett Richards)
I’m cheating a bit here given Santana is already owned in over 60 percent of CBS leagues, but it’s a tough day for streaming options. He can still be picked up in more than half of Yahoo! settings and 60 percent of ESPN formats. The Angels are pretty “meh” against right-handers, and if Mike Trout is sitting due his heel — and he might in a day game following a night game — then I like Santana quite a bit.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jimmy Nelson at ARI (Patrick Corbin)
The D-backs are pretty solid versus righties, however they do strike out pretty often. I’ll go with Nelson due to his 10.2 percent swinging strike rate. Look to stream him in more than 50 percent of CBS leagues and 85 percent of ESPN and Yahoo! settings.





You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.

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Oliver
8 years ago

Santana, Fiers or Iwakuma for today?

Zach Sandersmember
8 years ago
Reply to  David Wiers

If you want to give up #AllTheHomers, sure.