Roto Riteup: June 16, 2015
The 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo is in full swing! Already the new Star Wars: Battlefront game has been shown and my hype train for it is now boarding. I’m worried that it’s only 20 versus 20 and a lack of space battles will make the game feel more cramped than previous versions, but with a decent number of vehicles and loadouts, it is nice to see the developers haven’t completely abandoned what made previous SW: Battlefront games so strong.
On today’s agenda:
1. Kyle Schwarber gets promoted
2. Wei-Yin Chen continues to roll
3. Streaming Pitching Options
Kyle Schwarber gets promoted
The catcher/left fielder is set to spend almost a week in the big leagues. Schwarber will be the third catcher and figures to possibly make an appearance in the outfield or as a pinch hitter. Regardless of his defensive spot, Schwarber does not appear likely to stick with the Cubs for long. From the linked article, general manager Theo Epstein has already announced the team’s plan for the talented 22-year-old:
“His next stop is to continue his development as a catcher at Triple-A. First, however, he is going to join the Major League team for six days to contribute as a designated hitter, as a bat off the bench, and as a third catcher.”
FanGraphs’ own Kiley McDaniel had Schwarber pegged as the fourth best prospect in the Cubs organization and the 21st best in baseball prior to this season. Since that ranking, Schwarber has punished Double-A pitchers to the tune of a .318/.439/.578 line with 13 home runs in 238 plate appearances. He’s certainly worth stashing in keeper and dynasty formats, however standard 12-team mixed leagues can keep him on the waiver-wire. As one may expect, Schwarber is largely available as he can be picked up in more than 90 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN leagues and over 70 percent of CBS formats.
Wei-Yin Chen continues to roll
After yesterday’s masterful outing, Chen has seen eight of his 13 starts, be of the quality variety. On top of that, Chen has held opposing lineups to three runs or fewer 11 of 13 times. His 2.89 ERA won’t last forever as his 3.93 FIP suggests, however Chen is posting solid strikeout and walk rates. He managed a modest nine swinging strikes out of 106 pitches yesterday for a 8.6 percent, very similar to his 8.4 percent rate he this season prior to the start. According to Brooks Baseball, it doesn’t appear as though Chen is mixing up his repertoire or velocity much, save for a slight dip in his sinker usage and a corresponding rise in his slider. A two percent change in usage isn’t enough for me to definitively call a new approach, so I expect to post a K/9 closer to his 7 — his career rate — than the 7.89 he currently owns. He still makes for a solid stream option in standard mixed leagues and deserves to be owned in anything deeper than that. One can find Chen available in 35 percent of CBS formats, 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues and over 75 percent of ESPN leagues.
Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Brett Anderson at TEX (Alex Gonzalez)
The Rangers have hit a tick below league average against southpaws thus far, though they’ve struck out at the 10th highest rate. Anderson is free to stream in over 60 percent of CBS leagues and 90 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN settings.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Jesse Chavez at SD (Odrisamer Despaigne)
Again I’m skirting what a really makes for a stream option as Chavez is already owned in over 65 percent of CBS formats. Still, given his availability in over 55 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues, I’m willing to be flexible here.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Tyson Ross, Alex wood, n Gio Gonzalez have all been terrible this year. Any hopes of them turning it around? 12 team 5x5er and really can’t absorb the 5IP 5ER nights anymore from this perfect storm of underachievers.
I put the most hope in Wood. Ross is a roller-coaster, and I’ve never really liked Gio.
i never had a problem until this year with Gio. I fell into the trap of loving that nats team and figured hed at least pull out some wins. Now idk what to do with him. How much more of this until hes droppable? would you take a chance and drop him for Nova or Schwerber (sp?) if both of those could be keepers?
I like Gio > Ross > Wood the most, but I think they’ll all be fine.
Half my rotation is on the DL who would you drop to make room for Chen out of Fiers, Morton, & May? I’m leaning towards Morton, but also have very little faith in Fiers, and think that May will be a good add once his numbers fall in line with his peripherals. Thoughts?
Chen > Fiers > May > Morton for me.
Chen’s next start is against Toronto. Sit him?
Yes
Ayerp. Not many starters I’d trust against TOR, and almost no one available on most waiver-wires.
Brett Anderson’s start could be affected by rain.
That’s a good point. I’ll have to add bits about the weather if it is necessary in the future, thanks for the feedback.
I’ve got a conundrum. 10 team mixed, 9 hitting cats (R 1B 2B 3B HR RBI BB SB AVG) and we get to stash one keeper at the value at which he was drafted last year (if not drafted, counts as a last-round pick). Currently have Inciarte and Aoki riding the pine in favor of Yelich and Leonys Martin. I have the ability to add Gallo and Addison Russell both. My current keeper is Rendon with a last round pick. Should I pick up both Gallo and Russell and drop Aoki and Inciarte? Is it worth the pick-up for 1) the rest of the season projection and 2) the speculative value of Gallo for his career over Rendon?
I like Rendon over Gallo this season and in the future. Russell certainly has higher upside than either Aoki or Inciarte in future seasons, though it could be close this year.
Depends where you are in the league, really.
David, I’m curious what you think of Buxton in a redraft, non-keeper league. I have been offered Leonys Martin for Buxton and as excited as I am about Buxton, I am pretty tempted to take this deal since I need OF help pretty badly in this league and have more trust in Martin than I do Buxton so early in his career. Or is the potential of Buxton too tempting to give up on so early in his career?
Also in a league where I have limited moves each week, who is a better stream candidate this week, Kendall Graveman who has been awesome since being recalled, or Chase Anderson going against the Angels tomorrow?
do it :), Mike W. I think as of now, Buxton ends up slightly better than Martin.
For a redraft non-keeper/dynasty, I’d take Martin over Buxton.
I’d take Graveman at home.
Need a 2x starter for this week. Velasquez vs. COL, @SEA or Anderson @TEX, vs. SF?
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&month=16&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=15,d
Giants are the best-hitting team away from home, while Rockies are the 7th worst.
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=0&type=1&season=2015&month=15&season1=2015&ind=0&team=0,ts&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=15,d
Rangers are the 5th-best team at home, while Mariners are the 7th-worst.
I’d roll with Velasquez.
Velasquez, but it’s pretty close. I like his stuff more than Anderson’s, but potential for Velasquez to blow up your WHIP with so many walks is up there.
Fielder, Choo, Gallo—all LHBs. As is Moreland. Substantial drop off in talent if the manager decides to sub a platoon guy for one of them.
My guess is that the lefty Anderson eats up these LHBs. Having a very high GB rate should help. I’m starting him in my 12 team league for sure.
Check the weather report. It does appear that there’s a very good chance for thunderstorms tonight in the Dallas metro area.
Even if the game gets underway, good chance of a delay and that could mean he gets iced and thus has a shortened start.
Hopefully, it will rain hard enough to postpone the game and his start gets bumped up to tomorrow. But no so hard that the folks in TX have to endure more severe flooding. It doesn’t look good for them.
For those of us in deep keeper leagues, can we expect to see Peter O’Brien getting a brief call up from the Snakes now that Inciarte has hit the DL?
Or will they go with somebody else as a fourth OF? O’Brien doesn’t have great plate discipline but his ISO numbers are good—plenty of doubles and 13 dingers so far. He has brought down his K rate substantially from last year.
His numbers may be inflated by playing in Reno, but Arizona’s home park is at a relatively high altitude too, so the potential is there for extra base hits/home runs should he get the call.
He was just moved to outfield in the minors full time about two weeks ago, so I’m not sure the D-backs trust him out there. Well, maybe most orgs wouldn’t but they D-backs did roll with Tomas a third for a bit, so who knows.
Yeah, PCL numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt, but O’Brien has, raked at every level, save for his K/BB ratio. Striking out five times for ever walk in the minors isn’t a great sign for future MLB potential, but his power is no-doubt.
If he gets the call, I’d consider grabbing him if the keeper league is as deep as it seems.
How is everyone not talking about Battlefront?!
I’m disappointed in that too, but I’m pretty happy about the game. Like I said though, the lack of space combat is a big turn off for me. I’ll have to see more before I make decision on whether or not I pick it up.
I have to question recommending Brett Anderson against the Rangers in Texas. You say the Rangers have been “a tick below league average” against southpaws. That’s true by wRC+, which is adjusted for league and park. Based on what has actually happened on the field, not adjusted, the Rangers have a wOBA of .314 against lefties, which is above league average versus lefties. The baseball-wide wOBA against lefties is .308.
Also, with the game being played in Texas, even though the Rangers have a slightly above average 104 wRC+ at home (16th in baseball) the Rangers have a team wOBA of .333 at home, which is 6th (league average for overall wOBA is .310).
I swear I’m not trying to be a dick, it’s just that I looked at Anderson, checked the numbers above, and thought, ‘Nope, not in Texas.’ And I know we disagree on using wRC+ for fantasy purposes. I don’t see a reason to adjust for league and park in fantasy baseball when streaming pitchers because I want to know how well teams hit unadjusted.
Since I have the page open now, I’ll use this hypothetical example. Say I’m choosing a pitcher facing the Angels at home or the Rangers at home. The Angels home wRC+ is 106, the Rangers is 104. That would suggest I’d rather face the Rangers. Their actual home numbers are .247/.307/.393, .305 wOBA for the Angels versus .268/.340/.422, .333 wOBA for the Rangers. That’s a no-brainer, take the pitcher against the Angels.
And just so I really don’t come off as a dick, I’ll let it go and won’t bring it up again. I don’t want to be “that guy.”
Well thanks for reading.
You’re welcome.