Roto Riteup: June 12, 2017

Hope your weekend was as good as this:

The Sunday turn up is REAL! pic.twitter.com/KF3wxNd8yW

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 11, 2017

The Roto Riteup is ready to jump into the work week like:

Leapfrog gone wrong! pic.twitter.com/7pLUZt4bNZ

— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) June 11, 2017

 

On the Agenda:

1. Closer Chaos

2. Players Coming Back

3. Castellanos Crushing

4. Various News and Notes

5. Streaming Pitcher Options

 

Closer Chaos

Koda Glover hit the DL with back stiffness. It appears that Effectively Wild favorite Matt Albers appears to be first in line in Glover’s absence, but more and more one would think the Nationals are going to be buying some of the closers on the market come trade deadline time.

Felipe Rivero received his second straight save on Sunday, wrapping up a victory over the Marlins. Originally on Saturday, Clint Hurdle stated the closer’s role would be split between Rivero and Juan Nicasio, but it appears at the moment that Rivero is the man. He has been dominate this year with an almost 10 k/9 and a .53 ERA. Rivero is obviously the better pitcher and it appears that the Pirates have finally admitted it to themselves and everyone watching.

 

Players Coming Back

Wilson Ramos is nearing activation after missing all of this season so far following offseason knee surgery. The Rays believed that Ramos would be healthy enough to give him a two-year deal this offseason and so far reports are good on his recovery. On Sunday he played five innings at catcher is looking like he should return before July. 2016 was a breakout year for Ramos, where he hit .307/.354/.496 with 22 home runs in 131 games before tearing his ACL. He could provide fantasy owners a spark at a very weak catching position once he returns.

According to TR Sullivan, Tyson Ross has proclaimed he is ready to pitch in the big leagues and will most likely make his return to the Majors this week. Ross is returning from thoracic outlet surgery and the overall results have not looked pretty. It wasn’t that long ago that he was a top tier pitcher in fantasy, so he is worth the gamble in deeper formats if you can afford not start him as he readjusts to the Major Leagues.

Taijuan Walker will return this week for the Diamondbacks after going on the DL with Rich Hill Syndrome (blister). He will most likely bump Randall Delgado from the rotation as Zack Godley has been living up to his name as of late. Walker was quietly starting to put up his best season in the majors in his first season with the Diamondbacks. If he can continue to limit the long balls Walker should continue to reward those fantasy owners that took a shot on the former top prospect.

Carlos Rodon pitched 3.2 innings on Sunday for AAA-Charlotte. While the results have not been great through his rehab assignment, fantasy owners should mostly be concerned with whether or not he is healthy. If he can continue to ramp up over the next few weeks, we could be seeing Rodon back in the White Sox rotation fairly soon. Prior to the injury that scared the entire fantasy community away, Rodon was a pretty popular sleeper and could provide some nice strikeout upside for fantasy owners that have been able to weather the injury storm this year at starting pitcher and stashed him through the first three months of the season.

Ryan Braun is getting closer to a minor league rehab assignment, according to MLB.com. He spent Friday and Saturday jogging and ramping up his activity and reportedly was pain-free. When healthy Braun has put up good counting stats and a career high walk rate. Since his injury the Brewers have called up prospects Brett Phillips and Lewis Brinson and there could be a logjam in the outfield once he comes back.

Felix Hernandez threw five innings in his second rehab start in his recovery from a shoulder injury. King Felix is getting closer to returning to Seattle and could be back as early as next week if all goes well. Prior to hitting the disabled list Hernandez was putting up some of the worst numbers of his career, but he had an inflated home run rate and extremely high BABIP. One would assume if he can get some of these underlying issues under control we will see a more similar line to 2016.

Hisashi Iwakuma is expected to make his first rehab assignment and then head back to Seattle’s rotation according to the Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto. He is currently slated to pitch on Wednesday for A-Modesto.

 

Castellanos Crushing

Nick Castellanos started the season extremely slowly. Through May 30th he had hit four home runs with a .208/.283/.350 triple slash. However, during that time he still was hitting the ball extremely hard and most of his underlying statistics pointed to the fact that he should rebound. Since that time he has recorded at least one hit in all of the last ten games and matched the those four homers. If you can still buy, I would take a shot on the 25-year-old slugger.

 

Ray of Hope

Robbie Ray continues to put up amazing numbers. On Sunday he threw 6.2 innings and struck out twelve batters. Over his last five starts, he has only surrendered one home run. Two of the five starts have been at home which is an encouraging sign. While all five of these starts have been against teams that are in the top half of the league in strikeouts against lefties, all four members of their division are top ten in strikeouts against southpaws. The hype is real right now and fantasy owners may want to think about moving the breakout pitcher if they are deep in pitching because his value probably won’t be much higher than this at any point in the future, but this appears to be a legit breakout and it doesn’t appear like there is any reason to dump him yet.

 

Various News and Notes

Cesar Hernandez was placed on the DL retroactive to June 10th. Hernandez strained his oblique in Friday’s contest and will most likely be sidelined through the majority of June.

Ryan Zimmerman did not play on Sunday as he continues to deal with a sore back. The back issue was so bad on Saturday that the Nationals pinch hit Joe Ross instead of allowing Zimmerman to take a swing. If he is forced to the DL, Adam Lind gains some interesting value in deeper formats.

 

Streaming Pitcher Options

A pitcher for today: Luis Perdomo vs. Cin

Perdomo has produced a QS in six of his last eight starts. Worth a shot when he is at home.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jharel Cotton vs Mia

I keep going back to the well with Cotton, but it’s not a great slate and there’s a chance the Marlins will be missing Giancarlo Stanton who is dealing with a hand issue (though Stanton is expected back on Tuesday.)