Roto Riteup: July 3, 2018

We now go live to me trying to hit a home run in my slow pitch softball league:

 

On the Agenda:
1. Rumors!
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

 

Rumors!
According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, the Red Sox have inquired with the Marlins about relievers Kyle Barraclough, Adam Conley, and Drew Steckenrider. All three players have pitched well this year and are have multiple years of team control, so they won’t necessarily be cheap, but the Marlins are in full tank mode and could be looking to restock their lower levels of the minors.

According to Jon Heyman of Fan Cred, Maikel Franco is being dangled in trade talks by the Philadelphia Phillies. Franco is having a mediocre season, hitting .256/.300/.440 with 10 home runs in 253 plate appearances. With Scott Kingery in the fold now, the Phillies may be looking to keep both Kingery and J.P. Crawford in the lineup everyday once Crawford returns from his fractured hand and moving Franco would help do that.

Jon Heyman also reported that interest in Mike Moustakas is starting to heat up. Moustakas is hitting .258/.312/.472 with 16 home runs for the Royals in 82 games thus far. He was unable to secure a long-term deal this offseason after a breakout year in 2017, but could be a nice get for a contender looking to add to their tema without breaking the bank.

 

Various News and Notes
Bryce Harper was seen earlier on Monday taking ground balls at first base. Manager Davey Martinez stated that Harper could be used as an emergency option at first, but didn’t expect him to start any games there. With both Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Adams on the DL, the Nationals are running a bit thin at the position.

Danny Salazar has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing exploratory surgery this week on his ailing shoulder. He will be shut down for at least 12-16 weeks according to the Cleveland Indians.

According to Hank Schulman, Alen Hanson is dealing with a shoulder issue that is affecting him when he swing left-handed. The switch hitter has been very good this year but he has been terrible from the right hand side. He is hitting .326/.363/.663 as a lefty and .156/.194/.219 as a right-handed hitter. It might be time to try and sell off the former top prospect.

 

Streaming Pitchers Options
A pitcher for today: Anthony DeSclafani vs CHW
DeSclafani has been ok so far this year and if he can keep the ball in the yard, that would push him up a bunch. The White Sox have the lowest BB/K in the Majors this year against right-handed pitchers.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Sal Romano vs CHW
Romano has decent stuff and has pitched better as of late, but mostly I am picking on the White Sox.





Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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feslenraster
5 years ago

So stream anyone against the ChiSox? 😉

Mattabattacolamember
5 years ago
Reply to  feslenraster

As a Sox fan I can validate this approach. Although our offense is not the worst in the league, we have the amazing super power of giving the pitchers their “best stuff” on many occasions.

I make the joke because our announcers so often act as if these middle of the road starters are suddenly throwing ace level stuff, when really it is just our brutal plate discipline that makes us vulnerable to horrible games.