Roto Riteup: July 27, 2012
Another day, another dollar Roto Riteup.
• In case you missed it (and to be honest, I have been missing it), Carlos Gomez has been killing the ball lately. With three home runs and seven RBI’s in the past four games, he looks like he could be worth owning for the short term. He even has a pair of stolen bases in that span too. His batting average and on-base percentage won’t do much for you, but the best slugging of his career has boosted his wRC+ to 111. He’s already surpassed his stolen bases totals from last year so that is a nice boost to his value too. He is owned in less than 5% of both ESPN and Yahoo! formats. I’d pick him up if you’re in an NL-only league or a deep mixed league.
• Yesterday was another strong from Zach McAllister. He lasted only 6.1 innings but did manage to strike out seven and only gave up a pair of earned runs. That solid outing brings his seasonal ERA and FIP down to 3.18 and 3.40 respectively. Of course he only has 10 starts under his belt, but as a rookie pitcher there isn’t much more to ask for. He is another deep league pickup, but for now his stock is rising. I’d keep him on your radar. I’ve actually picked him up in two of my leagues. If your league doesn’t have an innings limit or if you’re just nowhere near the limit, I’d roster McCallister. He can be picked up in over 85% of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.
• Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your proverbial hats. I am about to recommend picking up…wait for it…Willie Bloomquist. Yes, that Willie Bloomquist. Look, we all know what a gamer and a ball player Bloomquist is, but this year, albeit in a small sample size, he has hit well. In the wake of the Ryan Roberts trade, Bloomquist is slated to split time at third base with Ryan Wheeler. For the season, Willie Ballgame is hitting .300 with 20 doubles and five triples. His BABIP is about 40 points higher than his career average, so don’t expect too much from him, but as long as he is getting playing time and has the upside to steal 10 bases for the rest of the season. ZiPS has him hitting .280 for the rest of the season, and for a UTIL or CI slot, that isn’t too bad. Ideally Bloomquist takes over third base and hits relatively well for the remainder of the year. He is on the wrong side of a left/right platoon however, so keep a close eye on his game log. He is actually 3B, SS and OF eligible, so he brings a bit of flexibility to your roster too. He owned in just 9% of Yahoo! leagues and 5% of ESPN formats.
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: Jarrod Parker at BAL
Parker has an excellent Swstr% and the Orioles strikeout at the second highest frequency in baseball. Parker is a bit of a fly ball pitcher and the O’s have the third highest HR/FB%. I’m not 100% confident in this pick, but I’m sticking with it.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Chad Billingsley at SFG
I’m a Billingsley fan and the Giants have a bottom 10 offense.
A Hitter for Today: Adam Dunn at TEX (Yu Darvish)
Dunn in that ballpark? And against a right-handed pitcher? Yes please.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Bloomquist is owned in 95% of ESPN leagues? I’m hoping that is a typo..
Whoa. Huge typo there, haha. Fixed.
Gomez absolutely destroyed a pitch from Henry Rodriguez last night. I mean that thing went like 20 ft high over the center field wall. Who knew he was that strong?
Sit Sale at Tex tonight? He’s good, but not too confident about him being in Arlington
It’s tough to be particularly on board with any pitcher starting in Arlington, but Sale is a little better off as a lefty. For the record, Texas is 31-17 at home, they can lose… about 1/3 of the time. And if it’s an offensive slugfest, the W is little consolation.
I’d sit him if I were over pace on my innings or (format depending) my ratios were good in a head to head, play him if I were under pace or my ratios were already tanked.
I’m under innings but need better ratios over W and K… think I will sit him.
You can get Ws and you can get Ks. What you might also get is a higher ERA and WHIP.
… which, looking closer at your response, is exactly what you’re trying to avoid.
It could go either way, but no one will fault you for sitting him.
Actually, I’d start him. But I’m not currently in first place in any of my leagues, so, there’s that.
If I rode Parker out last week against the Yankees, I’ll ride him out there again this week against the Orioles. Home/Road difference granted, but he’s got something at the moment.
I’m an A’s fan, so I’m admittedly bias, but man, Parker could be really good.
Dave, what’s your opinion of Parker ROS? I’m in an AL only and offered Frieri for him. I’m good in SV’s but need W’s. My other closers are Chris Perez and Cook. I have Pestano as back up.
Parker seems to be a solid bet. I feel like you could get a little more than him for Frieri though. Maybe a pitcher one tier above Parker?
Frieri has high end skills, but (and forgive me if I’m a couple weeks behind the times here) my understanding was that the Angels still weren’t trusting him completely with the job. Don’t know who you’d be able to target above Parker… but it never hurts to try.