Roto Riteup: June 14, 2022

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June 14, 2022

When you are trying to beat devil magic, you must use your own magic:

 

On the Agenda: 

  1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
  2. COVID Issues
  3. Closer Chaos
  4. Quick Hits
  5. Various News and Notes
  6. Streaming Pitchers

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested. (Will add a link once available.)

 

COVID Issues

Keegan Akin and Anthony Santander were placed on the Restricted List on Monday. This is likely due to both being unvaccinated as the team are playing a series in Toronto. They should return once the team returns to Baltimore on Friday. 

The Pirates placed Duane Underwood on the COVID-IL on Monday. Keep an eye on this incase it turns into a bigger issue for the Pirates. 

 

Closer Chaos

According to manager Tony LaRussa, Liam Hendricks was unavailable on Sunday and Monday due to arm stiffness. The White Sox have not put him on the IL which should be a good sign for now, but this is concerning for one of the few elite closers in the game. Kendall Graveman will fill in for Hendricks until he can return. 

Seranthony Dominguez pitched a clean ninth inning to register the win for the Phillies on Monday. With Corey Knebel out, Dominguez appears to be the next man up for saves in Philadelphia. Brad Hand could factor in as well, but right now it appears Seranthony will get some run and have real value in the immediate future. 

 

Quick Hits

Eduardo Rodriguez was placed on the Restricted List by the Tigers on Monday. The Tigers general manager Alex Avila issued a statement that he informed the team that he is chosen to not rejoin the team due to “personal matters.” This doesn’t sound good at all. He can likely be dropped in most formats where stashing him is not an option. 

Eli White was placed on the IL with a fractured wrist. He will likely miss the next 10 weeks at least as he is not expected to resume baseball activities for at least six weeks. Leody Taveras was called up to take White’s spot on the roster and is worth speculation for stolen bases in deeper formats.  

Josh Donaldson’s one game suspension was upheld on Monday. He will serve the suspension on Tuesday. 

Stephen Strasburg was placed on the IL after experiencing discomfort after his usual bullpen session. Manager Davey Martinez stated that he did not know whether the issue was related to the thoracic outlet surgery he received. Strasburg’s velocity was down in his first start of the season on Thursday and he was hit pretty hard. He is droppable in all formats where you cannot reserve him. 

Yasmani Grandal was placed on the IL with back spasms. The move is retroactive to June 12th. 

Jake Burger left Monday’s game after being hit with a pitch on the hand. X-rays were negative, so consider him day-to-day for now. 

Aristides Aquino on the IL with a calf strain. Jonathan India was reinstated from the IL in the corresponding move. 

Ozzie Albies left Monday’s game with a fracture in his foot. Albies suffered the injury on this pitch in the fifth inning. 

Expect him to go on the IL, but there is no timetable for his return right now.

Juan Soto left Monday’s game with knee soreness. Apparently, Soto hit his knee on the bench in the dugout and the Nationals made a precautionary move. Consider him day-to-day at this time.

 

Various News and Notes

According to Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh, Oneil Cruz should reach Super Two status in two to three days. It is not surprising to see the Pirates play the service time game with Cruz as he is one of their top tier prospects. It seems likely that he will make his debut at Pittsburgh’s upcoming homestand versus the Giants on Friday. He is a must pick in all formats where he is available. 

 

Jon Berti went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in the loss to the Phillies. 

Berti is hitting .311 with eight stolen bases in June with a 91% zone contact and somehow still only rostered in 16% of CBS leagues. Berti is on a hot streak and getting a ton of playing time while being eligible at both second and third. He should be rostered in all formats where you need stolen bases.

Lance Lynn made his season debut after being activated off the IL, throwing 4.1 innings in the loss to the Tigers, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out four.

The fact he didn’t walk anyone is great, but he was extremely hittable and making too many mistakes in the zone. He was clearly frustrated and ended up getting into it with the White Sox third base coach while in the dugout which lead to some great tweets:

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Zach Davies vs CIN

Won’t get you many strikeouts, but it is a nice matchup at home. 

High Risk Options: JT Brubaker at STL, Dane Dunning vs HOU, Matthew Liberatore vs PIT. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Alex Faedo vs CHW

Faedo has pitched well and has a decent start at home. 

High Risk Options: Andre Pallante vs PIT, Jon Heasley at SF, Roansy Contreras at STL. 

 

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.”

 





 

Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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Kevbot034
1 year ago

I’m not convinced Pirates were game clocking Oneil Cruz. Wasn’t he awful for 2 months and just now playing decent?

0
Anon
1 year ago
Reply to  Kevbot034

He was awful in April but since the start of May, especially since mid-May, he’s been rolling. But the larger point is he is clearly one of their 25 best players and was when spring training ended. Part of the rationale for sending him down was so he could learn LF but he has mostly played SS in the minors while hitting a bunch of 115+ mph rockets.

1
Devlsh
1 year ago
Reply to  Anon

I’m with Kevbot; Cruz’ numbers don’t jump off the page and they’ve had plenty of other options to take a look at until they’re convinced he’s straightened out. It’s the go-to to assume that the only reason a player hasn’t been promoted is the salary manipulation but his WRC+ is 110.

1
Anon
1 year ago
Reply to  Devlsh

Both ZiPS and Steamer had Cruz as the Pirates’ 2nd best player before the season behind Reynolds. ZiPS doesn’t do in-season projections on minor-leaguers (at least under the projections tab above) but Steamer has Cruz as the Pirates’ 3rd best player currently, dropping just behind Hayes. Even THE BAT, which is NOTORIOUSLY stingy on prospect projections, had Cruz as the 4th best player for the Pirates at the start of the year and 3rd best at present. There really is little question that he was one of the 25 best players in the Pirates system (including major leaguers) at the start of the year.

It’s plain and simple salary manipulation

0
Kevbot034
1 year ago
Reply to  Anon

Hitting rockets is great, but if a top prospect isn’t lighting the world on fire and forcing his way onto a team (which he maybe is now, conveniently), they’re better off leaving in MiLB. And the Pirates have been run of the mill bad, not embarrassment level bad.

0