Roto Riteup: June 17, 2013
Today being June 17 represents a unique day in sports and cultural history. ESPN’s 30-for-30 did an incredible job handling the events of June 17, 1994.
On today’s agenda:
1. Alex Cobb to the 7-day disabled list
2. Josh Reddick is heating up
3. Two debuts tomorrow
4. Sonny Gray’s Triple-A exploits
Alex Cobb to the 7-day disabled list
After being struck in the head on a come-back line drive on Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays were pleased to announce that Cobb has been cleared and released from the hospital. He was placed on the concussion disabled list with what is being called a mild concussion. Best of luck to Cobb as he eyes his return to major league action. The Rays have an off day tomorrow, but will play a double header on Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox. They may need to call on a prospect or two this week to help with the workload. Alex Colome’s last started on Thursday for Triple-A Durham and would make sense to make one of the starts tomorrow.
Josh Reddick is heating up
He may have started off this season at a snails pace (apologies in advance to any and all snail enthusiasts), however over his past 10 games, Reddick has 18 hits in his past 65 plate appearances. Don’t be fooled by his current .211/.302/.340 line as that is just a cruel representation of his early season struggles. Despite the triple slash, Reddick is walking more, striking out less, and swinging less than ever before. His .240 BABIP is still 30 points below his career average and as that continues to climb, so will his triple slash. With a quality offense around him, Reddick’s counting numbers should be a solid play in standard 12-team mixed leagues, even if he won’t be a source of batting average. Reddick is owned in 32% of both Yahoo! and ESPN formats and 65% of CBS leagues.
Two debuts tomorrow
We finally have official word that the Rays will call up Wil Myers tomorrow. He will play regularly, mostly in right field, says Rays manager Joe Maddon. How this effects other corner outfielders such as Kelly Johnson and Matt Joyce remains to be seen. Johnson has started at second and third base this season, but Joyce isn’t as flexible. Ben Zobrist’s playing time should remain largely unchanged as that man can play just about every position on the field. In order to make room for Myers, Ryan Roberts was sent down to Triple-A. The path is now clear for Myers to hit the ground running. Get on board and grab him now.
Also making his major league debut tomorrow is Zack Wheeler of the New York Mets. Take a moment and enjoy this announcement tweet. Well played Mets, well played. The Mets will be squaring off in a double header against the Atlanta Braves and it isn’t clear whether Wheeler how long Wheeler will be up for. Last week Mets manager Terry Collins said that they’ll probably go with an extra man in the rotation for a turn. Collins goes on to claim that they “have no intention of jerking anyone out right now.” Even with a bit of an open competition, Wheeler deserves to be owned. He can be picked up in 25% of CBS leagues, 53% of ESPN formats, and 63% of Yahoo! leagues.
Sonny Gray’s Triple-A exploits
The Oakland A’s don’t have any rotation issues, though plumbing is a different story. If any of their current starters were to falter or get hurt, help would be on the way in the form of Sonny Gray. Through 13 Triple-A starts spanning 82.1 innings, Gray has 83 strikeouts against 27 walks. He has 11 quality starts as well as a sub-3 ERA and FIP. Had Jarrod Parker been forced to the DL earlier last month, Gray would have most likely been called up. It’s too soon to be adding Gray to 12-team mixed leagues, but in AL-only formats or keeper leagues, grabbing Gray now makes sense. He should be free to own in virtually all leagues.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Luke Scott could also end up being the odd man out in Tampa. Or Yunel Escobar if they want to put Zobrist at SS.
Agree completely; Luke Scott will be the main player affected by Myers’ promotion.
Have the Rays announced who is being sent down?
I read Ryan Roberts.
At the time of writing, I couldn’t find anything. I’m still looking for anything too. Probably be announced tomorrow.
Tatman was optioned to Durham
Yep, it was Roberts. Just saw it on the MLB Transaction page.
there is a 0% chance they drop Yunel
I’m not saying they drop him, just that he could potentially lose playing time as well.
It makes sense to shift Zobrist to 2B full time, Myers in right full time, and split duty with Kelly Johnson, Loney, Scott, and Joyce at DH, 1B, and LF. Kind of like what the A’s have been doing.
Got offered Rendon for Myers. My 2b/3b area is just a little weaker than my OF but I’m not hurting for either side right now. 10 man keeper league where I already have at least 10 keepers that I feel content with keeping and will probably have to manipulate trades to keep whomever, do I take it?
I believe that I would rather have Myers ,he seems to have a clearer path to playing time and also much has a lot more power .Rendon might be the better hitter ,but he appears to lack the “staying healthy” skill set .
I vote Myers longterm, but for this year, I’m not so sure. He’s a high K% player and adjusting to the bigs might be hard for him. He could also hit everything he sees for a few weeks before he’s figured out.
I don’t know the deal with Rendon and how likely he is to play for the rest of the season. If there is no infield need, I would stick with Myers.
I’d prefer to hang on to Myers. Even with the positional scarcity adjustment, I like Myers more in fantasy.
Thanks to everyone. Trade is with my roommate too so I can’t mess this one up, hah. Was leaning towards keeping Myers anyways but always good to get a few more eyes on it.
I’d just like to point out that Rendon has a 46% LD rate so far. Use that info as you wish.
LD = huge potential for stringer bias
I try not to cite LD% at all due to the good chance that there will be a classification error. Can’t mix up fly balls and grounders though.
Also, it’s been not even 70 PA’s for Rendon. Even if I believed in the 100% accuracy of LD%, Rendon is still not even half way (150ish PA’s) to a threshold of appropriate reliability.
No apostrophe in debuts. Great column.
Well don’t I feel silly. How I whiffed on that I shall never know. Thanks.
Astoundingly, Dom Brown is on the waiver wire in my league (5×5 roto; HR/TB/OBP/AVG/Net SBs). I have top waiver priority- my OF is Gordon, Jones, Jackson, Choo, Joyce, Blanks. Seems like it’s either Joyce or Blanks to drop. Joyce has been hot, and Blanks is backing up Napoli at 1B. Any recommendations?
Forgot to note- I’m down in HR and OBP.
I need a little clarification. Jones is Adam Jones or Garrett Jones? Your last sentence of “Blanks backing up Napoli” makes me wonder if you mean Nava.
If Garrett Jones, either he or Blanks would be my choice. If it is Adam Jones, I’d drop Blanks.
So, either way, I’d dip out on Blanks. I just don’t like him in fantasy.
Sorry- Adam Jones. And I did mean Napoli @ 1B.
Dropping Blanks was the direction I was going in- thanks for the input!
I’d assume Adam Jones because he’s probably listing down his roster and if it’s standard league it’s LF/CF/RF/OF/OF
Interesting. I just picked up Blanks, as a bench/depth player, OF only, dropping Beachy. I went Blanks over Rendon. I need RBI. But Rendon is tempting. I just didn’t know how I would use him since I have Kipnis, Profar, and Seager in 2b/3b (and Lawrie, who makes me want to spit).
Wondering why Blanks would be bad? He seems decent enough with a solid RBI spot in the order. My OF is Choo, Jennings, Gomez, Nava. So Blanks would just be a backup.
I just see Blanks as a middling power with low average type player.
To his credit, Blanks has drastically improved his Contact% and his SwStr% is getting better. The trouble is that Blanks is only 1B and OF eligible, the two deepest fantasy positions by far.
If he had 2B eligibility I’d be singing a different tune, but 1B/OF is too deep to run with Blanks as a starter, especially not over someone like Dom Brown, like the OP asked about. For your case Cheesewhiz, Blanks as a backup is fine, though I’m sad to see you had to let go of Beachy.
Ah, fair enough. I’m unhappy about Dom Brown. I drafted him, but dropped him back in April (he wasn’t doing much, and Lawrie came off the DL, another strike against Lawrie).
Beachy was tough, but I’m sitting on Darvish, Cobb, Zimmermann, Miller, Cain, Cashner, and Wheeler. Plenty of SP depth. I considered dropping Cashner, but I figured Beachy might not pitch till the end of the month and might still be available then.
Joyce has a .380 wOBA. This won’t affect his playing time. He’ll continue to play against, and destroy, righties.
Yep, Joyce has made some very impressive strides with his K%, and Maddon seems to really like him at the top of the lineup.
Picked up Reddick as soon as he came back. Feelin’ good about that descision. Just gotta remember to sit him vs. lefties…
Wheeler is worth owning in fantasy leagues, but is he worth starting in Atlanta? Atlanta is 23-8 at home, and the Mets are… the Mets.