Roto Riteup: June 12, 2015
The showdown between the No. 2 ranked USWNT and the No. 5 ranked Swedish side takes place tonight at 8 pm eastern. I’m hopeful to see another US victory, but the Swedish attack looked very strong in their opening match and the US defense was shaky at times.
On today’s agenda:
1. Adam Lind is still hitting, still available
2. Eugenio Suarez gets the call
3. Mat Latos returns tomorrow
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Adam Lind is still hitting, still available
It’s that time to once again trumpet Lind’s abilities as a fantasy option in both traditional or DFS settings. Sure, the left-handed hitting first baseman is vulnerable against southpaws, but when properly utilized, Lind is a stud. Prior to yesterday’s game he owned .288/.368/.515 line against right-handed pitchers, equating to the 42nd best wRC+ among qualified hitters. In addition to the solid triple slash, Lind has been penciled in at the clean up spot each time he’s started since May 13. While the Brewers offense is mostly lackluster — they’re tied for last in the league with a 76 wRC+ and have scored the fourth fewest runs — Lind should still be able to provide rate stats and some counting numbers. With Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy hitting in front of Lind, I’m hoping both bounce back and post numbers closer to their career numbers than what they’ve shown this season. For now Lind is a solid price in Fanduel at $2,600 and a reasonable $3,900 in DraftKings. He’s also available in 35 percent of CBS formats as well as over 50 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.
Eugenio Suarez gets the call
Unfortunately this promotion comes at the expense of the Reds losing Zack Cozart for the season. Suarez has been tabbed as the primary starting shortstop going forward. He started yesterday, though hit eighth in the lineup, and posted a 1-for-3 day with a walk and a run scored. Suarez got 277 plate appearances with the Tigers last season and hit for an uninspiring .242/.316/.336 line, though he did smack four home runs. Suarez has popped eight dingers in Triple-A already and could make use of a hitter friendly home park. Cincinnati is a solid option for almost any hitter, particularly a right-handed hitter like Suarez. Last season Great American owned the second highest home run index for righty batters, trailing only Coors Field. Given the uninspiring shortstop options that can be found available in most leagues, Suarez makes for a reasonable option in deep mixed leagues. One can find him free to pick up in over 98 percent of the three major fantasy sites.
Mat Latos returns tomorrow
The Marlins will activate the right-hander to square off against the Rockies. Despite a brutal 6.12 ERA, his 3.46 FIP and 7.59 K/9 are indicative of a solid pitcher. In 42.2 innings this season Latos owns a .358 BABIP, a number that is bound to regress with time. He’s free to pick up in 60 percent of CBS and Yahoo! leagues as well as more than 75 percent of ESPN formats.
Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Jesse Chavez at LAA (Hector Santiago)
The Angels rank middle of the road against right-handed pitches and Chavez has pitched quite well thus far. The sample size isn’t particularly large this season, but for his career Chavez owns a 3.54 FIP and 3.61 xFIP as a starter. He’s free to pick up in one-third of CBS formats and more than 50 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN leagues.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Mat Latos vs COL (David Hale)
Colorado rates as basically a league average offense against righties. It’s risky to grab a pitcher coming back from injury, however in this case it is knee inflammation and not a shoulder or elbow issue.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Really don’t understand why so many baseball institutions, including MLB itself and most disappointingly this website, have caved and lent their support to gambling. That’s all DFS is, gambling.
whats so bad about gambling?
It’s hard to make money by providing content. MLB is chasing fan interest and market share, and sites like this are looking to generate income and meet consumer demand. But it does seem that there has been a societal shift such that people ignore the very ugly, well-established history from the Black Sox to Pete Rose. It’s okay again for people to gamble, or in rare cases even make a living gambling, on baseball.
As long as the gambling isn’t being done by MLB players, there’s nothing wrong with betting on baseball where and when it is legal.
Fantasy baseball is gambling. The MLB draft is gambling. Unless a player, manager, etc. is deliberately throwing games, I don’t see an issue.
What if the manager is betting on some games…possibly exposing the players to injury in those games to try to ensure his gambling win?
Wouldn’t that be considered deliberately throwing games? Maybe not as obvious as trotting out a LOOGY to face a bunch of RHB, but still.
I guess this is all hypothetical. I have no issues with fantasy baseball, gambling or DFS. Like anything else, in moderation and with regulation it is fine.
It’s not gambling if you know you’re gunna win.
legally speaking, DFS is no more gambling than season long fantasy baseball. Which, I’m sure you have no problem with seeing as you’re reading a fantasy baseball blog right now
Not all fantasy leagues are gambling leagues. All dfs leagues are. There lies the difference.
There are plenty of free roll DFS games.
Or are you saying since you can win money, it’s a gamble? That’d be fair.
Why would you play a free DFS though?
Free to play, but still a small amount of prizes. DK has $10 free rolls each day for MLB, plus other bigger one-time free rolls.
Yes, so hard to understand with all that money at stake.
Really though? They tout paying out 3 mil or whatever but my experience has been you either bet a lot to go against a few people, or bet a little and get really lucky against 10K other players. It’s fantasy baseball for those who don’t want to put in the time and effort for yearly leagues.
It reminds me of the online poker craze. Once people realize it’s just a money suck it’ll die down.
As to why Rotographs has articles on them? Well they want to make money, so more DFS players, more page views, more ad revenue. Easy peasy.
David, regarding a streamer for Saturday, would you trust Kyle Hendricks at home against the Reds or is that too much of a gamble?
I’d leave him be, Mike W.
1. Given the context of the comments, love that you asked if it was a “gamble.”
2. Yeah, I like Hendricks.
Norris or Wright vs NYY this weekend?
Hmm, Norris, I suppose.
Latos in the recommends add list? um…..I don’t care what the advanced numbers say, dude is a dumpster fire.
Latos in the recommends add list? um…..I don’t care what the advanced numbers say, dude is a dumpster fire.
Does a double equal a double negative? If so, that means you agree with me, awesome!
^Na he’s right, Latos is hot trash.
Is it time to cut bait on Alex wood after today’s 6ip 4er performance? 12 team mixed league 5×5 standard