Roto Riteup: June 11, 2015
Continuing the soccer themed intros, holy Toledo, the USMNT beat Germany yesterday! The German team didn’t bring their A-squad, but neither did the US. I may be drinking the kool-aid here, but I think the US will be the favorite to take home the Gold Cup this year.
On today’s agenda:
1. Quick thoughts on Miguel Montero
2. Consider Danny Espinosa
3. Streaming Pitching Options
Quick thoughts on Miguel Montero
Even after belting his sixth home run of the season yesterday during a 3-for-5 game, Montero owns a modest .241/.361/.423 line. His low batting average is par for the course, as is his solid on-base percentage. A .268 BABIP suggests Montero hasn’t been too fortunate in terms of batted ball fortune, however his 15.1 percent walk rate has helped offset that. While his walk rate is five percent higher than his career rate, Montero has also seen an uptick in his strikeout rate as well. Despite the K% I’m still buying Montero as a second catcher or even primary option in OBP leagues or points leagues where walks are valued. Adding to his value is his prime spot in the batting order lately, as Montero has been placed at either clean up or fifth in each of his previous nine games. Hitting behind OBP machines Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant should serve Montero’s RBI count well. He’s available in over 35 percent of CBS formats and over 70 percent of both Yahoo! or ESPN leagues.
Consider Danny Espinosa
Depending on your league, Espinosa could be plugged in a variety of spots. In CBS and DraftKings he is flexible to be placed at either second or third base, however in (my custom league at) ESPN and FanDuel Espinosa is exclusive to second base. In (another custom) Yahoo! league I can play him at second or shortstop. Regardless of where in the infield you decide to slot Espinosa, he may be worth it. Espinosa was hitting for a strong .252/.354/.450 prior to him smacking his eighth home run the year during his 3-for-5 day. I doubt his home run hitting continues as this pace as his current HR/FB rate is well above his career norm. That being said, what has impressed me the most thus far has been seeing Espinosa improve both his walk and strikeout rates. Now at 11.6 percent and 21 percent respectively, both numbers would be career bests for him across a full season. As one would suspect, Espinosa also owns a personal best in terms of swinging strike rate, contact percentage and Z-contact. It could be the makings of a mini-breakout for the 28-year-old if his plate discipline can be for real — and I’m beginning to lean that way — without sacrificing his power. If this is the case, Espinosa should be considered in just about any format. One can find him free to pick up in nearly 80 percent of CBS formats and over 90 percent of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Wade Miley at BAL (Chris Tillman)
The southpaw got off to a rough start, however he’s posted four quality starts out of his past five games. Given the O’s rate in the bottom-10 against left-handers via wRC+ and 29th in ranked BB/K ratio, I think Miley can toss a solid outing. He’s available in over 70 percent of the three major fantasy sites.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Jaime Garcia vs KC (Yordano Ventura)
Another lefty, another stream candidate! I’ve had a soft spot for Garcia for some time and this season is no different. Garcia has gotten off to a solid albeit late start to the season and some have been slow to notice. He’s owned in just over 60 percent of CBS leagues and barely 30 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN formats.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Any concerns, regarding Espinosa, about playing time? With Rendon back and Desmond locked in at SS he may be fighting Yunel Escobar for starts at Third.
Yes this would be a concern right now but when Escobar’s BABIP comes down to earth it shouldn’t really be a contest as to who should get more PT; Espinosa is also playing much better defensively.
For now, a bit, but he’s started enough as of late for me to grab him in one league. And like Nick said, Yunel’s BABIP is bound to regress.
USMNT= United States Mutant Ninja Turtles?
I’d watch them play soccer.
I might end up sitting today out in DFS. Not feeling it today. I’ve been bad at picking pitchers lately anyhow.
I’ve had several days like that this week. Just nothing inspiring.
With it looking increasingly likely that Hunter Pence will go on the DL today, I will need to dip into my Wire for an OF eligible player. Who do you like more between Yasmany Tomas, Ender Inciarte, Andre Ethier, Curtis Granderson or Adam Eaton? Right now I am leaning towards Tomas since he has been hitting for a really nice average and if the power can start to come he could be very valuable.
I would like Eaton more if he was stealing bases/running this year and would like Granderson more if it was an OBP leagues (it is not).
What would steer you away from each option?
Ethier has playing time concerns, Eaton isnt running, Granderson is getting on base, but is front of a terrible line up, Tomas’ average is propped up by a sky high BABIP and has come with little advertised power and Inciarte just kinda exists. He doesnt hurt you, but he also really doesnt do one thing so well that makes him a must own in my eyes.
Tomas > Granderson > Eaton > Inciarte > Ethier for me.
Holy Toledo is right! Another win coming on the heels of a victory over the Dutch. But I’m not drinking the kool-aid; the defense was horrible and the Germans should’ve scored more goals.
For those of us in deep leagues, anybody have an opinion on Williams Perez? All but one of his starts have been good. Apparently he has a good curveball and a changeup to mix up with his sinker.
The back four has been questionable for the US for what feels like years now. It might legitimately be that long. But CONCACAF isn’t like Euro 2016, so I still think the US will be favored and hopefully take it home.
His slow change is *really* slow, like 11 mph below his sinker. Not sure he can generate a ton of K’s with such a large difference. I like his curve, but I’m not buying him yet.
what are the reds going to do at ss, without cozart? will they bring up eugenio suarez, & if they do, will he start, or will they give the bulk of the abs to kris negron?
I think Suarez will get the call, but that’s just a guess from here.
Hey Dave,
Looking for an opinion: do you think I can get by with this crop of OFs in a 10-team Roto, 5-OF league where OBP and TB count? Brantley, Carlos Gonzalez, Betts, Aoki, Maybin, Yelich. I’ve got enough pop at the other spots to cover these sort of all-category types, but it’s been rough going so far for Betts and Yelich. Stay the course with those two in such a shallow league or give up on them?
Thanks man!
RoS I prefer Yelich and Betts over Maybin, actually.
So yeah, stay the course for now.
In a 5×5 OBP league, would you go with Montero or Yan Gomes, who hit a couple homers the other day and seems to be finding his form? Gomes more balanced all-around, but OBP edge to Montero and maybe RBI too given his cushy lineup spot.
I’m a little wary on Garcia as streamer tomorrow, as KC has been good on the road and against LHP this year.
Montero as long as he still hits 4th/5th.
Garcia isn’t an ideal guy, but finding a stream option (like 60 percent ownership or lower) can be tough.
Normally Garcia would be someone I feel nervous about, but watching his performance against LA last time out makes me feel he can be decent even in a tougher matchup. I doubt he will stay healthy, but the stuff and movement all appear to still be there and when he has been healthy he has been close to a must own in standard leagues. The injury concerns are real and that keeps him closer to being a streamer, but this isn’t a fringy guy who is on a good roll or has a tasty matchup like you sometimes have to use when streaming.
Finally! Someone is giving Espi his due!I unfortunately dropped him in one of my leagues after hearing that Rendon was coming back, but I still have him in the other. Makes a great sub for when Tulo is sitting, and he helped out before Kipnis busted out of his April slump. Speaking of which, Kipnis is getting the day off, so Espi gets the nod at 2B today. Positional flexibility ftw!
I dropped Yunel for him in a league! I wish his eligibility was more even across the board, but 2B/MI is generally good enough. I think his 15 homers is a bit light for a starting 3B, but for MI he’s more than fine.
Only one more game for 3B eligibility in Yahoo!, and his latest player note says that he’ll probably get time in the OF. Seems like he’ll be a true blue super utility type as long as he keeps hitting.
Guy in my league currently has Pablo Sandoval and Luis Valbuena as his only 3B eligible players on his roster. He’s around the top in pitching, low on offense. I’m the opposite, and have both Frazier and Carpenter.
I’m definitely holding Frazier, thinking of moving Carpenter but he’s been pretty bad lately (striking out a lot, 4 K’s in a game at Coors!), seems that going from lead off to the 2 spot has done something to his approach. What kind of return do you think Carpenter alone could net? What about Carpenter and one of my better pitchers (Keuchel, Zimmermann)?
I still like Carpenter to hit .285ish and end the season with 15 or so home runs.
If he can refind his stroke at the two hole, Carp could score 100+ runs. I think Hammel or maybe Cueto would be fair.
In a standard 5×5 (R/HR/RBI/SB/AVG) roto should I drop Prado for Epinosa? (my SS’s are Andrus and Addison Russell so I could use an upgrade…especially one with multi-position eligibility…but as unexciting as Prado is he’s consistent and might get traded to a better team)
Unless you really need the extra HR, I don’t think so.
So I had d’Arnaud on the DL for a while and was running Grandal out as his replacement. Wieters is now avaialable, and weirdly Norris was dropped a couple weeks ago and hasn’t been picked up yet. I spent a while poring over numbers and….I’m going to stick with Grandal. (12 team 5×5 Yahoo league.)
My reasoning is that those four guys all have very roughly similar power projections, but Grandal’s walk rate is way higher and he’s in a really good lineup. Their ROS wOBA projections aren’t even really all that close and I feel like when the other numbers aren’t signifcantly different, I may as well go with the guy who’s going to make fewer outs. Am I crazy?