Roto Riteup: June 2, 2015
Eleven years ago today Ken Jennings began his incredible 74-game winning streak on Jeopardy! His first AMA on Reddit is, in my opinion, one of the best ever done (warning: language; it’s the Internet after all).
On today’s agenda:
1. Quick thoughts on Andre Ethier
2. Matt Moore watch
3. Welcome to the big leagues, Joey Gallo
4. Streaming Pitching Options
Quick thoughts on Andre Ethier
After posting a scorching hot opening two months of the season, Ethier is continuing his hitting into June. Yesterday he swatted his seventh home run during his 2-for-5 day and now sports a .309/.395/.551 line. That he’s also improved both his walk and strikeout rates is a good sign moving forward as well. Playing time will always be an issue for the Dodgers given their depth of talent, however Ethier should continue to be a solid source of stats, at least until Yasiel Puig comes back from his injury. Ethier is best utilized as a platoon bat, but given his left-handed hitting ways, at least he should see plenty of time against righties. He’s available in 45 percent of CBS leagues, 42 percent of ESPN leagues and over 65 percent of Yahoo! formats.
Matt Moore watch
Rays fans — and probably baseball fans in general — have been waiting for Moore to begin his rehab games for quite some time now. Via MLB.com, the Rays have Moore scheduled to toss three innings or 50 pitches at High-A tomorrow. He’ll have to build up to a full starts workload, however this is good progress for the 25-year-old southpaw. Moore’s major league control hasn’t matched expectations as his 4.28 BB/9 hurts his ratios even before the fickle BABIP gods can get their hands on his WHIP. Despite the control questions and the injury comeback, stashing Moore makes sense in most leagues. Right now he is owned in just half of CBS leagues and less than a fifth of Yahoo! or ESPN leagues.
Welcome to the big leagues, Joey Gallo
I thought about making a pun here, however it’d almost be Gallo(ws) humor as the call up is due to Adrian Beltre hitting the 15-day disabled list with a left thumb laceration. Expected to make his debut today against the White Sox, Gallo is a player to pick up if you’re looking for power, but as the linked article states, this is not a permanent call up for the slugger. The power is Gallo’s calling card and with back-to-back 40-home run seasons in the minors, it shouldn’t be doubted. Whether or not he makes contact enough to be a major leaguer remains to be seen, but I do know I’ll be tuning into his plate appearances whenever possible.
Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Kyle Hendricks at MIA (Brad Hand)
There ain’t no brakes on the Hendricks hype train…unless you play in CBS where he owned in 71 percent of leagues now. Given his sub-25 percent ownership in ESPN and Yahoo!, I don’t think I’m being too liberal by calling him a stream option.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Nate Karns at LAA (Hector Santiago)
Karns’ 3.79 BB/9 is higher than what I’d like to see, however I can live with them as long as he keeps missing bats. The Angels rate near the bottom of team wRC+ against a right-hander, the game is at night and in a pitcher friendly park. One can find Karns available in nearly 40 percent of CBS formats and over 75 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
Last night Andrew Cashner’s FIP was 0.74 and his xFIP was -0.84 (yeah, it was negative), and his ERA was 9.64.
That has to be the largest single-game disparity this season, right? He retired 14 batters, and 12 of them were by strikeout. Of the 25 batters he faced, only 13 did not strike out, and 11 of those 13 got hits.
dude sucks. he’s always been overhyped due to velo, but his heater is eminently hittable.
I’d have to imagine for a starter, yeah. I could see a reliever going 1.2 innings and fanning getting all K outs, but still giving up hits.
Go ahead, we all know that Joey Gallo is dead- that’s CALLO with a “C”….;)
I wonder if he’s worth rostering despite his K’s?
If Chris Davis is rosterable in your league right now, I’d assume that Gallo is worth grabbing just to see if he can produce for you.
good point, Stuck. That’s a pretty good big league comp-Mr Gallo is Chris Davis Jr. Ironically, I took Davis as a throw-in in a 5-player deal last month and decided to cut bait with him because my league counted hitter’s Ks.
How did I miss the option for a My Cousin Vinny reference?!
Ugh, I’m the worst.
Nah, David, I was pretty sure EVERYONE BUT Gallo himself was doing it lol.
I just edited the silly joke in for ya, no biggie!
Ethier seems cleared on playing time until the end of June. Crawford was moved to the 60 Day DL yesterday, which means the earliest he can return now is the end of June. When Puig comes back, they likely slide Ethier over to left and platoon him with SVS. Guerrero will slide back to the infield where he and Turner will rotate at 3B.
I doubted he could keep it up, but as you mentioned if he can keep his plate discipline changes up, I see no reason he won’t continue to stick in the line up.
Makes sense on paper to that, but he hasn’t played a of LF. I wonder if the Dodgers will go with Guerrero in left over Ethier, or if Ethier at least loses some PAs to Guerrero.
ROS Moore or Corbin?
Moore has more upside, but Corbin might be the safer bet. My main concern with Moore is his command coming off TJ. I would watch his rehab starts closely and see what his command looks like.
Moore for me, but I’ve always like him more than most.
Moore for sure, but Corbin’s an okay sleeper type to stream.
David, would you drop Addison Russell for Gallo in a 12 team mixed roto? Thanks!
Nadda, stick with Russell.
Nice, and Russell is batting sixth today. I hope this becomes permanent.