Roto Riteup: July 27, 2015

Day seven of the Wiers-a-thon here in the Roto Riteup! Seven down, four more to go before Zach Sanders returns to his normal weekend duties.

On today’s agenda:
1. Ben Paulsen goes bonkers
2. Nori Aoki could return today
3. Streaming Pitching Options

Ben Paulsen goes bonkers
To be fair, when a team scores 17 runs the way the Rockies did yesterday, it takes more than one guy contributing. The Rockies blasted five home runs, two by Paulsen, another two by Carlos Gonzalez and one from Nolan Arenado. Paulsen, a 27-year-old getting his first real chance in the majors this season, is now up to a .293/.350/.512 line — good for a 121 wRC+. Of course playing half of one’s games at Coors Field tends to inflate a batting line, and Paulsen is no exception as he owns a more pedestrian .266/.299/.406 when playing on the road. While he hasn’t shown much a platoon split this season, his minor league track record would suggest otherwise. From Minor League Central, Paulsen posted a .216/.280/.346 triple slash versus southpaws in his MiLB career. I’d feel comfortable starting him on the road against right-handers or at home against all but very tough left-handers. In DFS settings, he should be a decently priced option, even after accounting for the Coors Field pricing. For traditional fantasy owners, Paulsen is free to pick up in 90 percent of CBS leagues and over 95 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN formats. With Justin Morneau still dealing with concussion symptoms, I’d expect to see Paulsen get the majority of playing time at first base due to a platoon situation with Wilin Rosario.

Nori Aoki could return today
Rather than going for power, if you’re in need of rate stats, Aoki is your guy. He’s set to be reevaluated by the Giants medical staff today, and if cleared, he’ll return to the lineup for tonight’s game. Assuming all goes well in the evaluation, I’d set him in weekly lineups as I’m expecting Aoki to return to his leadoff spot with Angel Pagan moving down in the lineup. When both were healthy, Aoki hit leadoff with Pagan hitting third, however the emergence of Matt Duffy and return of Hunter Pence could change things. I’m still buying Aoki stock, and I think a .290 rest-of-season average isn’t out of the question. He’s still available in 35 percent of CBS formats as well as 60 percent of ESPN or Yahoo! leagues.

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

A pitcher for today: Cody Anderson vs KC (Edinson Volquez)
The Royals fare pretty well against right-handers, however I think Anderson go five innings to get a shot at a win. Anderson can be streamed in 40 percent of CBS leagues, 60 percent of ESPN formats and 75 percent of Yahoo! settings.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Brett Anderson vs OAK (Sonny Gray)
Anderson is facing off against the team he made his big league debut with. Fortunately for him, the A’s aren’t too hot against southpaws. I’m streaming him — and probably using him as a budget pick in DFS — as he’s free to grab in 40 percent of CBS leagues and 80 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.