Roto Riteup: June 12, 2016
Today’s Roto Riteup author believes in celebrating the 2016 debut of Zachary Godley, for entirely unbiased and rational reasons.
On the agenda:
1. Yu Darvish out…for now
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options
Yu Darvish out…for now
Yu Darvish will miss his start tomorrow, but not due to an elbow injury. Darvish is suffering from pain in his neck and shoulder, and will be undergoing an MRI to ensure there’s no serious damage. Even if there is no real damage, expect a DL stint to allow him to rest up before hitting the hill again. In the meantime, the Rangers will have to pick another starter for Monday, and the options aren’t pretty.
Cesar Ramos is already on the big league roster, but the club would have to make a decision to put Darvish on the DL before Monday, since they would almost certainly need another big league arm available. Kyle Lohse is still in the minors, but he’s not on the 40-man, so an additional move would have to be made.
Various News and Notes
Felix Hernandez’s DL stint for a calf strain looked fake at first, but it seems all too real now. King Felix is now scheduled to be out until around the All-Star break, meaning James Paxton will get to stick around in the bigs. Paxton has been a strikeout machine recently, but he’s still flawd and will need to prove his skill on a consistent basis.
It’s official: Ryan Howard will no longer be starting at first base for the Phillies. Instead he’ll be starting in center field! I kid. Tommy Joseph will get a full-time shot to prove whether or not he’s worthy of being a part of Philadelphia’s long-term plans, and early returns are mixed. Joseph has flashed pop, but his walk rate is laughable and he’ll have to hit dingers to keep his average up.
Fun fact: in hs 30 innings last year, Orioles’ reliever Mychal Givens had an ERA of 1.80. Through 30 innings this year, Givens again has an ERA of 1.80. When you think about it, it’s incredible that he’s essentially the fourth-in-line for saves when everyone in that bullpen is healthy.
Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Pat Dean vs BOS (Rick Porcello)
It’s a very bad day for SP deals, but I’ve seen Dean be effective against my favorite team, which means he’s also effective, and thus a good pick.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Daniel Wright at ATL (Aaron Blair)
Wright doesn’t have good stuff, but the Braves will fail just fine without your help, thank you very much.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
There are good reasons to believe in James Paxton. Eno has written about how Paxton has adjusted his arm slot to a position that is more natural to him. This has led to increased velocity as he’s averaging 97.8 MPH on his fastball compared to his previous career high 94.9 MPH in 2013. Paxton also says he can pitch more effectively inside to right handed batters with the new arm slot. Through 13 combined starts in AAA and the majors, his walk rate is well below his career average.
I still don’t think he has great command, but when you’re throwing 98 MPH with his stuff, you don’t necessarily have to paint corners, you just need to throw strikes. He’s been doing that and I believe he can continue to do so.
I’m loving it so far. Just got to pray for a tidbit of consistency and big dose of health.