Roto Riteup: July 5, 2017

The Roto Riteup would like to acknowledge some great burns around baseball:

BREAKING the strike zone has filed a counter suit against Angel Hernandez claiming negligence & discrimination for the last 25+ years. https://t.co/hjgKzB0QoX

— Dallas Braden (@DALLASBRADEN209) July 4, 2017

Ask for a trade to Washington???

— Gerome Saxton (@gcsaxton) July 4, 2017

Nahh something fun

— Felipe Rivero (@Rivero43) July 4, 2017

 

On the Agenda:

1. Fun with Small Samples (Hitter’s Edition)

2. Freeman Returns

3. Various News and Notes

4. Streaming Pitcher Options

 

Fun with Small Samples (Hitter’s Edition)

Seven players hit double digit home runs in the month of June. Cody Bellinger (13), George Springer (11), Aaron Judge (10), Mike Zunino (10), Justin Smoak (10), Matt Adams (10), and Ryon Healy (10).

Trea Turner stole 22 bases in the month of June #RIP. Dee Gordon stole 13, Cameron Maybin stole 11, and surprisingly Chris Taylor stole 9.

Andrew McCutchen lead Major League baseball in the month of June with the highest wOBA (.496). His teammate Gregory Polanco had the worst wOBA of qualified hitters (.218) during the month of June.

No one had a highest strikeout percentage during the month of June than Matt Davidson at 45.7%. Eric Thames (37.1%) and Keon Broxton (36.6%) were second and third respectively. On the flipside, Only Mookie Betts, Francisco Lindor, and Daniel Murphy struck out less than 7% of the time during the month of June.

The highest BABIP’s during the month of June were Ben Gamel (.482), Khris Davis (.443), and Howie Kendrick (.441). The lowest BABIP’s were Gregory Polanco (.184), Eric Thames (.191), and Carlos Beltran (.197)

No one had a higher hard hit percentage than Matt Davidson at 58.7%. Five other player hit 50% or above: Cody Bellinger (54.1%), Lucas Duda (53.9%), Corey Seager (50.9%), Aaron Judge (50.8%), and Miguel Cabrera (50%). The highest soft contact percentages were Ian Desmond (31.3%), Dee Gordon (30.5%), and Wil Myers (29.6%).

 

Freeman Returns

Freddie Freeman was activated by the Braves and started at third base!

.@FreddieFreeman5 playing it cool at the hot corner. pic.twitter.com/f7uueUGw0m

— MLB (@MLB) July 5, 2017

He went one-for-four in his return and made the only play that was hit to him in the game. He will likely handle duties at the hot corner until the Braves trade Matt Adams at the deadline. In most formats, that will give Freeman enough time to gain positional eligibility for this season and possibly for next in some formats.

 

Various News and Notes

According to Patrick Mooney, Chicago Cubs farm director Jaron Madison believes Kyle Schwarber is about ready to return to the Majors. Schwarber struggled mightily this year hitting .171/.295/.378, but some of that was some poor luck as in May he had the fifth worst BABIP in the history of baseball according to baseball-reference. With catcher eligibility in some formats and the fact he continued to show power and a strong walk rate in spite of his struggles, he may be worth a gamble if you can acquire him cheaply.

Miguel Cabrera exited Sunday’s game with hip tightness. After the game, Cabrera stated that he felt his hip tightening prior to the start of the game, but it worsened after the the game began. He also said that he has had this issue before and he didn’t expect to be out of Wednesday’s contest.

Chris Carter was designated for assignment by the Yankees. This is the second time Carter has been designated by New York and it is possibly the last time we see him in a Yankees uniform. Ji-man Choi will replace him on the roster. Choi could be an interesting pick up in AL only formats, but his stay at the Major League level will most likely be short-lived once guys get healthy or the Yankees acquire someone at the trade deadline.

Carlos Correa was removed from Tuesday’s game with a thumb injury. X-rays following the game came back negative. He is considered day-to-day at this time. It appears he has escaped major injury as it looked bad when it happened. He stated that he thinks he could play on Wednesday, but expect him to miss a game or two as the Astros will want to play it safe with their star shortstop.

 

Streaming Pitcher Options

A pitcher for today: Luis Perdomo @ CLE

Risky matchup, but I love what Perdomo does. Best reserved for a GPP in DFS.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Mike Montgomery vs MIL

Montgomery has pitched well in the starting rotation and the Brewers strikeout the fourth highest percentage versus left-handed pitching.