Roto Riteup: July 29, 2015

And the trades just keep on coming! While there wasn’t the same level of star power moved in Monday’s deals, there was still some movement.

On today’s agenda:
1. New Angels in the outfield
2. Ben Zobrist to the Royals
3. Curt Casali is doing notable things
4. Streaming Pitching Options

New Angels in the outfield
After trading for Shane Victorino two days ago, yesterday the Angels continued to revamp their outfield with the addition of David Murphy and David DeJesus from the Indians and Rays respectively. Given the struggles of Matt Joyce, it isn’t too shocking to see the club look for left-handed hitting outfielders, but to pick up two lefties and a right-handed hitter is somewhat surprising. With Mike Trout unlikely to hit the disabled list — he’s considered day-to-day with a left wrist strain — the Angels seem likely to platoon left field and designated hitter. If I had to pick up just one, I have them ranked as Murphy > DeJesus > Victorino. They all have similar power, which is to say not much, and I’m on board with Murphy posting the best rate stats.

Ben Zobrist to the Royals
The trade machine keeps on chugging in Kansas City. The Royals continued their all-in bet on this season as they now moved southpaw Sean Manaea and right-hander Aaron Brooks to acquire the super-utility player. Our own Kiley McDaniel had Manaea ranked as the top Royals prospect entering the season, noting an above average to plus slider to go with his solid velocity. While Brooks is likely to make his Oakland A’s debut on Saturday, Manaea seems like the higher upside and better long-term option.

For Zobrist owners, count on him appearing left field until Alex Gordon returns, then after that, possibly second base. The collection of Royals second baseman have compiled the second lowest wRC+ and wOBA of any team in the big leagues thus far, putting up a .233/.256/.312 batting line. Zobrist is in the midst of a bounce-back year at the plate as his .268/.354/.447 triple slash shows the return of his power. The line translates to a three-year high in slugging, wOBA and wRC+ for him. Moving to a slightly better home park and surrounding offense should benefit Zobrist as well.

Curt Casali is doing notable things
One could reason that by merely reaching the big leagues, Casali has already done notable things, but his accomplishments in the batter’s box upon reaching the big leagues is key. The 26-year-old catcher hit two home runs in yesterday’s game, now bringing his season total to seven long balls in 55 plate appearances. Combined with his four home runs in Triple-A earlier this year and Casali has now hit a new single season career best 11 dongers. Due to the small sample size, little track record of power and whatnot, it’s safe to predict his home run rate will slow down. Still, the right-handed hitter has shown the ability to crush southpaws in the minors, flashing a .274/.372/.483 line against them for his MiLB career. Being limited to catcher or DH against lefties severely hurts Casali’s value in traditional fantasy settings, however he does have a role to play in DFS. I’ve used Josh Phegley as my go-to cheap catcher if he’s holding the platoon advantage, but now I have Casali as a backup. With left-handers on the mound about 25 percent of the time, there is a decent chance either Casali or Phegley will be a solid option on any given day.

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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: Rick Porcello vs CHW (Jose Quintana)
The White Sox haven’t hit very well against righties this season, and I’ve always liked Porcello’s ground ball tendencies. He’s free to stream in about two-thirds of CBS or Yahoo! leagues and more than 80 percent of ESPN formats.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jon Niese vs SD (Andrew Cashner)
Lefties have struck the Padres out at a 24.7 percent rate his year, highest in baseball. That the Friars rank in the bottom third of most offensive stats against left-handers shouldn’t come as a surprise. Niese can be streamed in 70 percent of CBS settings and more than 85 percent of ESPN or Yahoo! leagues.