Roto Riteup: July 23, 2017

J.T. Realmuto has been an unheralded star at the thinnest fantasy position this year:

Two homers AND a double last night? Sheesh, @JTRealmuto. ?#FishWin | #LetsPlay pic.twitter.com/fKy6tvUIv5

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) July 23, 2017

The 26-year old catcher has a .305 AVG, 10 HR, and 5 SB in 332 PA so far. He needed 545 PA to notch 11 HR last year. He’s also legitimately fast, not just catcher-fast.

On the Agenda:

• Salazar Strong Off the DL
• Grichuk Loves Coming Back
• Gurriel Quietly Beasting
• Other News
• Whiff Watch

Salazar Strong Off the DL

Danny Salazar returned to the majors after a month and a half on the DL and had his best start of the season. He went a season-high seven innings, allowing just a single base runner (a Kevin Pillar 1B) and fanning eight. When the Blue Jays weren’t striking out, it was weak, playable contact with a 54% groundball rate and just a 23% Hard contact rate (season mark is 29%).

Inside the Start:

• The fastball was excellent sitting a season-high 96.4 on average
• The fastball held the Jays to a 1-for-11 night with 5 strikeouts
• 57 of his 62 fastballs were clocked at 95+ mph, 10 of which were whiffs (18% SwStr)
• The changeup yielded an 0-for-7 with the other three strikeouts
• Righties were 0-4 w/3 Ks against the change
• He only needed 10 sliders because the fastball/changeup combo was so electric
• It yielded an 0-for-3, all against righties

A look at the fastball, courtesy of Pitching Ninja (a must-follow on Twitter)

Danny Salazar with an absolutely filthy 98mph FB K. pic.twitter.com/qwNRChddwl

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 23, 2017

Jason and I discussed Salazar on the podcast ahead of his start, too. Given that four of Salazar’s five recent article appearances are the podcast posts, I think it’s safe to say I’m a fan and I’m buying in for a stretch run. He has the talent to be a game-changer and yet he’s still on just 60% of ESPN rosters even after the start which spurred a boost (+15% in L7 days).

Grichuk Loves Coming Back

Randal Grichuk seems to get charged up by his time away from the majors. He’s been demoted or DL’d four times in the last two seasons and he always seems to surge upon returning:

• July 5th, 2016 return from the minors: .400/.419/.800, 3 HR in 31 PA
• August 11th, 2016 return from the minors: .385/.385/1.000, 3 HR in 26 PA
• June 25th, 2017 return from the minors: .318/.375/.773, 3 HR in 24 PA
• July 21st, 2017 return from the DL: .429/.500/1.286, 2 HR in two games so far (8 PA)

Can he maintain, though? The prodigious power and these little spurts of excellence keep us coming back (well, some of us), but he always seems to come back to earth due in large part to his hyper-aggressive approach (30% K, 6% BB, 15% SwStr). For the season Grichuk has just a .222/.277/.435 line with 11 HR and 5 SB. If he does fall off like we’ve seen in the past, he will have to deal with a playing time crunch thanks to emergence of the legend, Tommy Pham.

Gurriel Quietly Beasting

Have you noticed what Yulieski Gurriel is up to in Houston? Obviously, the Astros offense has garnered a lot of attention this year, but it’s usually focused on Jose Altuve Carlos Correa, and George Springer or even the emergence of Marwin Gonzalez and return of Josh Reddick. Gurriel needs some love. He hit .329 in April with a couple homers, but posted just a .200 in May with another two homers.

A major part of the power explosion across the league has come at 1B and 3B, the two positions where Gurriel qualifies so the lack of power certainly contributed to him being overlooked even if the batting average was going to be more like April. The batting average returned while the power arrived. Since June 1st, Gurriel has a .340/.354/.622 line with 9 HR, 32 RBI, and 25 R in 164 PA. He’s even chipped in two SBs.

His .975 OPS is ninth among 72 1B/3B (min. 75 PA since 6/1). He doesn’t walk (2%), but he makes tremendous contact (11% K) and smacks the ball (37%) Hard contact. Only three guys with a 12% or lower strikeout rate hit the ball as hard or harder than Gurriel:

• Mookie Betts at 9% K, 37% Hard
• Daniel Murphy at 10%, 37%
• Ian Kinsler at 12%, 38%

Gurriel is on fewer than 60% of rosters at both ESPN and Yahoo!. I realize that 1B/3B have been positions of depth this year, but I can’t see how he doesn’t fit on someone’s roster in every format right now. The hidden value is the runs scored and driven in as a part of that excellent offense in Houston.

Other News

• Aaron Sanchez (blister) returned to the DL for Toronto. It’s been a lost season for the 24-year old righty.
• Startlin Castro (hamstring) also returned to the DL with his same injury. The hamstring has short-circuited a strong season from the 27-year old 2B.
• Gregory Polanco (hamstring) was placed on the DL just as he seemed to be hitting his stride with a .366/.378/.620 line (4 HR, 1 SB) in the 20 games before this injury.
• A potential trade of Yu Darvish seems to grow more likely with each passing day

Whiff Watch

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

• Chris Archer paced the league with 22 whiffs, yielding a 20% SwStr rate v. TEX
• Tanner Roark dropped a surprising 21, good for a 20% mark as well at ARI
• German Marquez had 17 and an 18% rate v. PIT
• Danny Salazar had 15 and a 17% rate v. TOR
• Ariel Miranda had 15 and a 16% rate v. NYY
• Julio Teheran had 15 and a 16% rate at LAD
• Masahiro Tanaka had 15 and a 15% rate at SEA
• Jon Lester had 14 and a 14% rate v. STL
• Robert Stephenson had 14 and a 14% rate v. MIA
• Marcus Stroman had 14 and a 12% rate at CLE
• Matt Moore had 13 and a 14% rate v. SD
• Zack Wheeler had 13 and a 13% rate v. OAK
• JC Ramirez had 1 and just a 1% rate v. BOS – yes, 1 out 101 pitches