Roto Riteup: June 23, 2016

A non-baseball story: The last two years, I was the lead for NBA Draft coverage at theScore. A little overworked and stressed ahead of the 2015 edition, I slept poorly and had a dream where The Rock came to me and told me that Guillermo (“Willy”) Hernangomez was a serious sleeper. (I ended up including him in the first round of my mock draft, and he later went 35th overall.) This is preamble to say that the 2016 draft is tonight, I slept poorly, but The Rock (nor Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Tyrese, Stone Cold, or anyone) did not come to me in a dream. It’s very disappointing.

Luckily, someone was having illuminating, mescaline-induced fever dreams yesterday.

#Cubs pic.twitter.com/rIEM7Mixvf

— Carrie Muskat (@CarrieMuskat) June 22, 2016

On the agenda:
1. Let’s stay, Mets
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options

Let’s stay, Mets
The Mets are trying to avoid complete disaster as they juggle multiple injuries, hoping nobody else needs to join David Wright, Lucas Duda (still yet to resume baseball activities), Juan Lagares, and Zack Wheeler (just received a cortisone injection) on the disabled list. That could be tricky, though, with a lot of visits to the trainer’s room this week.

The big one, obviously, is Noah Syndergaard, who left his start yesterday with elbow discomfort (a start that had already been pushed back due to a high pitch count the last time out). His MRI showed no damage and he’s been put on anti-inflammatories, which is probably a best-case scenario for elbow discomfort but is still concerning. At least his fastball velocity hasn’t thrown up any red flags.

Joining Syndergaard on the bench Wednesday was Yoenis Cespedes, who left after six innings because of a wrist sprain. He’s set for a cortisone shot and will sit for a few days. Bartolo Colon isn’t expected to hit the DL, either, and the team doesn’t think the liner that bruised his thumb four pitches into Tuesday’s start will keep him from his next start.

The Mets, just teetering on the brink.

Various News and Notes
Oh, the Mets are also still being tied to Jose Reyes, to the point that they could reportedly bump Neil Walker to third to make room for him. Sure.

In just his second game back, Yasiel Puig hit a walk-off inside-the-park “home run” (a single with a three-base error). The entire Dodgers game was weird, really, with Adrian Gonzalez making a crazy catch and Michael Taylor striking out five times. Trayce Thompson started, by the way, as he’s likely to continue doing against lefties.

This isn’t fantasy relevant, but Brian Duensing got injured sitting in a chair. Let that be a warning to you that not even you’re safe from the DL.

More fantasy relevant? The 53-percent owned Colby Lewis heading to the DL for at least two months due to a strained lat. Lewis’ entire story is a fun one, but owners may have dodged a hard regression bullet by losing Lewis now rather than a few starts down the line. (Even with all the pulled ground balls, it’s hard to trust a fly-ball pitcher in Texas who doesn’t strike anyone out in the summer months.)

Taijuan Walker hasn’t hit the DL yet, but he’s going to miss his start on Friday due to arch tendinitis. Keep an eye on his status both for a DL stint or a two-start week next week.

Miguel Montero suffered a knee injury that’s not believed to be serious. Joe Maddon said he’ll be used as usual, but this could be an argument (as if one was needed) to give Willson Contreras additional starts.

Trevor Bauer threw a complete game, surrendering just a single run and striking out 10. Finally, it’s happening. I was wearing quite a bit of egg for betting on Bauer once again this year, especially once he was moved to the bullpen. The strikeouts are still there but the walks have come down and the ground-ball rate has climbed, something he may owe in part to ditching an erratic slider. (His progress warrants a deeper dive, but the improved command has been huge. I’d completely understand if someone was worried that may not sustain, given the track record, but here’s hoping.)

Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Jerad Eickhoff @ MIN (Tommy Milone)
Literally anyone but James Shields. Jerad Eickhoff may be just outside the edge of streamability at 42-percent ownership, but if he’s around, he’s the best bet for kicking the tires. The owner of a 3.49 ERA and sub-4 peripherals, Eickhoff’s striking out just over 20 percent of opposing batters and draws a Twins team that ranks in the bottom third of the league in wRC+. If you have to go lower ownership, maybe Christian Friedrich can make do in Cincinnati.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Cody Reed vs SD (Colin Rea)
A bit of a mixed bag in his MLB debut on the weekend, Cody Reed was at least able to show that his strikeout ability may carry over. The 23-year-old was striking out 23.8 percent of Triple-A batters and struck out 29.9 percent after joining the Reds organization part way through last year’s Double-A season, a bit of a change from his early-minors track record. Here, the lefty draws the Padres, who rank fourth in baseball in strikeout rate and 27th in wRC+ – they do hit lefties pretty well, though, so there’s a bit of bust potential here.