Roto Riteup: July 3, 2013

Today’s Roto Riteup focuses on yesterday’s trade between the Orioles and Cubs, because the Cubs are something of an SEO colossus. Even though he was traded, this RR does not touch on Pedro Strop, though, since I don’t want to have to crush the Bullpen Report guys in what would have been the impending turf war. Because, I mean, we got ponies on our side.

On today’s agenda:
1. Scott Feldman to the Orioles
2. Jake Arrieta to the Cubs
3. John Lackey goes bananas
4. An Update from FG: The Game

Scott Feldman to the Orioles
Feldman was sent east yesterday, as the Orioles looked to shore up their rotation for the rest of the season. The Orioles had been relying on guys like Freddy Garcia and Jake Arrieta to make starts, but now with Feldman in the picture, the O’s seem to have at least a top-4 locked into place. Feldman was pretty damn good with the Cubs, ending his tenure with a 3.46 ERA and ERA estimators around 4.00. While some of Feldman’s improvements come from regression and the alike, some of his numbers are going to fall due to the move from the NL Central to the AL East.

While AL East offenses aren’t quite at the high level we’ve grown to expect, the simple addition of the simple addition of the DH means Feldman is going to endure more resistance. His ERA estimators have been relatively consistent throughout his move from the AL to the NL, but I’m fully expecting his ERA and WHIP to pay the price. Not only does Feldman have to face a DH, he also has to play in the hitters paradise known as Camden Yards, which typically ranks among the top-6 parks for hitters in all of baseball. However, Wrigley Field also ranks as a hitters park, so the park effects shouldn’t really hurt Feldman, especially since he’s a ground-ball specialist.

Overall, Feldman’s value remains the same in standard leagues. I know, it’s a boring stance, but…Feldman will have a higher ERA and WHIP, but he’ll also have more chances to win games.

Jake Arrieta to the Cubs
Arrieta was moved from Baltimore to CHI-town in exchange for Feldman, and while I could just tell you to think exactly the opposite of whatever I said above, doing so would not fill column-inches. No, it certainly would not.

Arrieta has always been a strange favorite of mine. Arrieta has what some would deem an “electric fastball,” featuring both velocity and arm-side movement. While Arrieta’s fastball can look great at times, he has massive issues controlling it, or any of his other offerings, for that matter. In 114 innings last year, Arrieta had an ERA over 6.00, but a FIP of 4.05. In five starts this year, the results have been much worse, but the Cubs are betting on the flamethrower learning how to harness his stuff and regress to his peripherals. Arrieta should be a little better in the NL, but he’s still not relevant outside of very deep or NL-only leagues. Use him as a spot starter, but nothing more.

John Lackey goes bananas
While Lackey’s ending line may have not been all the special, what he did inside the game was truly out of the ordinary. Lackey had six whiffs on his fastball in the first inning alone, ending the game in double-digits; and that’s just on his heater. If you hadn’t noticed, Lackey has been crazy good this year, and his velocity has remained fairly steady.

An Update from FG: The Game
The present author would like to note that as of authoring this post, his outfielder is beating all other hitters owned by his FanGraphs colleagues. The author would also love to note that his starting pitcher is even better than his outfielder, thus giving the sexy author the lead in both hitting and pitching over his less-than-talented colleagues.