Roto Riteup: June 1, 2021

Baseball is amazing

Incredible. This has to be up there for AB of the year!

After a 14-pitch battle, Chris Taylor did this with the bases loaded in a tie game 🔥 🔥(via @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/cnbbDohu9x

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 1, 2021

 

On the Agenda: 

1. Quick Hits
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

 

Quick Hits

Michael Kopech was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain. The move was retroactive to last Thursday, so he will be eligible to return at the beginning of next week. 

Jose Quintana was placed on the IL with a shoulder injury. There is no timetable for his return. 

Lorenzo Cain left Monday’s game with a hamstring injury. He is expected to hit the IL on Tuesday. There is no timetable for his return. 

Evan Longoria left Monday’s game with side soreness. This is disappointing as Longoria had been hot at the plate recently and had already homered in this one. Consider him day-to-day, but injuries like this often end up with a lengthy IL stay. 

Kyle Lewis left Monday’s game with a knee issue. Consider him day-to-day at this time. 

Adalberto Mondesi left Monday’s game with a hamstring issue. The Royals stated it was a precautionary move, so it appears he has avoided serious injury. Consider him day-to-day for now. 

Jack Flaherty left Monday’s game with tightness in his side. The issue resulted from taking a swing at the plate, which is super frustrating. Hopefully he can avoid the IL, but this is concerning for the ace. 

 

Various News and Notes

Gavin Lux went 2-for-4 with two home runs in the victory over the Cardinals. The former top prospect struggled to begin the season, but he hit .286 with five home runs over the month of May and has been playing every day. He has even been hitting either first or fifth over the course of the last week, which just adds to his value. He is still available in quite a few leagues on ESPN, Yahoo, and CBS and should be picked up if he is available in any of your leagues. 

Logan Gilbert threw six innings versus the Athletics, allowing two earned runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five. Gilbert was not good in this one. He struggled to throw strikes and his secondaries were not sharp. He lucked out that the A’s took some atrocious at bats. Gilbert has a talent, but he doesn’t have overpowering stuff which means when he doesn’t have great feel, he may struggle mightily, in spite of getting away with it in this outing. 

Kyle Tucker went 3-for-5 in the victory over the Red Sox. Tucker has been one of the unluckiest players in baseball this season, hitting .240 with a .305 xBA. He has shown a ton of power and speed, but it is a matter of time before the former top prospect starts raising the average tremendously. It is unlikely you can “buy low” at this point, but even paying full market value is worth it. 

Johnny Cueto threw seven scoreless innings versus the Angels, striking out five and allowing just one earned run on five hits and no walks. Cueto was good in this one, keeping the Angels off balance with his usual timing games he plays with hitters. The Angels were without Ohtani in this one, but Cueto still earned his win. That being said, Cueto is only fantasy viable in the right matchups as his stuff is no longer overpowering. 

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: David Peterson at ARI

Peterson can be hit or miss, but he will get strikeouts and this is a decent enough matchup to exploit. 

High Risk Options: Garrett Richards at HOU, John Gant at LAD, Adrian Houser vs DET, Bruce Zimmermann vs MIN, Wil Crowe at KC

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None

Lots of high risk options, but none that I was willing to pull the trigger on.

High Risk Options: Carlos Martinez at LAD, Drew Smyly vs WAS, Spencer Howard at CIN, Randy Dobnak at BAL.

 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options” but I may add them at some point.