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.

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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.