Roto Riteup: July 27, 2013

Tomorrow, July 28, will be the seventh anniversary of the excellent movie John Tucker Must Die. That the present author owns two copies of this movie — one DVD and one Blu-Ray — probably does not surprise the reader.

On today’s agenda:
1. Derek Jeter won’t be activated today
2. A complete game shutout from Randall Delgado
3. Mike Zunino to the disabled list
4. Time to buy (David) Lough?
5. The New New York Mets rotation

Derek Jeter won’t be activated today
The New York Yankees had previously hoped that Derek Jeter would be activated today, though that won’t be the case. The club announced that Jeter will play in a simulated game today and will be re-evaluated afterwards, though it remains possible he will return tomorrow. For those of you in weekly leagues, you should feel comfortable starting him this week. Jeter has been limited to one major league game this year however he still can provide help at the top of the Yankees lineup. Sure Jeter isn’t what he once was, but he still has enough talent to help in mixed leagues. He is available in 35% of CBS leagues, 41% of Yahoo! leagues, and 62% of ESPN formats.

A complete game shutout from Randall Delgado
Facing just 31 batters, Delgado struck out three and walked one en route to his first major league complete game shutout. In doing so he lowered his pitching slash down to 2.85 ERA/3.89 FIP/3.65 xFIP in eight starts spanning 52.1 innings. For better or worse, his minor league strikeout and walk rates haven’t fully translated to the majors. Prior to his call up, Delgado had an 8.02 K/9 and 4.92 BB/9 in Triple-A this year. Last year, also in Triple-A, he posted 10.35 and 4.26 numbers respectively. Grabbing Delgado and hoping the coming strikeouts — given his 9.4% swinging strike rate — come up enough for the looming rise of his walks could make sense for people looking for wins. He is more of a stream candidate rather than someone to be picked up and owned in 12-team mixed leagues, but deep leaguers could roster him. Delgado is currently owned in less than 5% of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues and 21% of CBS leagues.

Mike Zunino to the disabled list
In what could end his debut season, Mike Zunino is set to have surgery on his broken left hand. The estimated recovery time is five to six weeks, so it is possible that Zunino could be back for the final few weeks of the season. That being said, in re-draft leagues — even two catcher formats — Zunino can be dropped.

Time to buy (David) Lough?
In standard 5×5 leagues David Lough is looking like a player to grab. Lough is currently hitting .304/.320/.454 with four homers and two steals in 201 plate appearances. He doesn’t have the same appeal in OBP leagues as his 2.0% walk rate really hurts his value. Lough may end the season with double digit steals, as he grabbed 27 total bags last year. In deep mixed leagues or AL-only formats Lough is playable. One can grab Lough in over 95% of the three major fantasy sites.

The New New York Mets rotation
No, the New York Mets haven’t signed a female mutant cyclops, but they have changed their rotation. In the wake of Jenrry Mejia being activated from the disabled list and the desire to keep the innings low on Zack Wheeler and Matt Harvey, the Mets will go with a six man rotation. Mejia’s sparkling debut yesterday consisted of seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts without allowing a walk. Mejia has gotten a taste of major league hitters before, 16 innings last year and 39 back in 2010, however this start was by far his most successful outing. Mejia doesn’t yet offer much fantasy value but if he can string together a couple more starts like yesterday’s, expect him to be grabbed quickly. If you play in an extraordinarily deep league and want to make a move now, Mejia is available in over 95% of CBS, ESPN, and Yahoo! leagues.