Roto Riteup: June 28, 2022

I don’t know which part is better, the catch or the nonchalant behavior of Dozier like nothing happened.

On the Agenda: 

  1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
  2. COVID Issues
  3. Closer Chaos
  4. Trades! 
  5. Quick Hits
  6. Various News and Notes
  7. Streaming Pitchers

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested. Will add a link once available. 

 

COVID Issues

Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran were placed on the restricted list as the Red Sox head to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. With Houck out, the Red Sox will likely look to Matt Strahm or John Scheiber in the ninth inning if a save situation arises. Both players will be activated once they return to the States. 

 

Closer Chaos

According to manager Aaron Boone, Clay Holmes has “earned the closer role.” This is kind of a reversal of things that had been reported previously that Aroldis Chapman would slide back into the ninth inning once he was back. This may be a matter of a manager wanting to pat Holmes on the back for his work as he has been the Yankees best reliever all season long. It sounds like Holmes will keep the job initially, but I would expect Chapman to get the job back once he works his way back in lower leverage situations after his return. 

 

Trades

The Mariners acquired Carlos Santana for Wyatt Mills and Williams Fleming. The Mariners are looking for a cheap option to fill in for Ty France while he is on the IL with an elbow strain, so this makes sense. Fleming is a 23 year old in high A and is likely more organizational depth than anything else. Mills is a 27-year-old middle reliever and is also just organizational depth. 

 

Quick Hits

Harrison Bader was placed on the IL with plantar fasciitis. This is disappointing news for Bader who was having a nice fantasy season with five home runs and 15 stolen bases. This is a difficult injury to come back from, so he is likely droppable in formats where you can’t stash injured players. 

Jack Flaherty was placed on the IL with a shoulder strain. This is concerning news as he had just returned from missing the first two months of the season with shoulder issues. There is no timetable for his return. 

Oscar Mercado was claimed off of waivers by the Phillies on Monday. The Guardians had DFA’d Mercado last week and with the Phillies losing Bryce Harper they needed some outfield depth. Mercado has struggled since his rookie year, but his speed makes him someone to monitor if he can get plate appearances in Philly. 

Matt Duffy was placed on the IL with back spasms. Matt Thaiss was recalled to take his spot on the roster and could be interesting in deeper leagues where he has catcher eligibility because he is expected to play the field with Duffy out. 

Luis Torrens was placed on the IL with a shoulder injury. There is no timetable for his return. 

Anthony Rizzo left Monday’s game after being hit on the elbow with a pitch. Rizzo stated after the game that he should be available to pitch hit on Tuesday so it sounds like he avoided serious injury. Consider him day-to-day for now. 

 

Various News and Notes

12 suspensions were handed out from the Mariners/Angels brawl that happened on Sunday. Angel manager Phil Nevin was suspended for 10 games. Jesse Winker was suspended for seven games. JP Crawford, Dom Chiti and Anthony Rendon were suspended for five games. Andrew Wantz and Ryan Tepera were suspended for two games. Julio Rodriguez, Raisel Iglesias, Ray Montgomery, and Manny Del Campo were suspended for two games. Most players are expected to appeal and play while they wait for a final ruling.

The Royals called up first base prospect Vinnie Pasquantino after the trade of Santana. Pasquantino did not play in Monday’s game versus the Rangers, but is expected to make his debut on Tuesday. He is a hit tool first hitter that hit .280/.372/.576 with 18 home runs and three stolen bases in 69 games in AAA this season. He struck out less than he has walked at both AA and AAA and has risen up the Royals farm system ranks over the last few years, leapfrogging fellow first baseman Nick Pratto. He should get plenty of run in Kansas City and will likely be the top pickup in FAAB this week.

Chad Kuhl threw a complete game versus the Dodgers on Monday, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out five.

Not only did he do this against the Dodgers, he did it in Coors Field. Kuhl wasn’t overly impressive in this one, but the Dodgers just didn’t take advantage of his mistakes. To his credit, he did a good job of not giving up hard contact on the balls in the air. I am not complaining at all, but this isn’t another level being taken.

Juan Yepez went 2-for-4 with two home runs in the victory over the Marlins.

Yepez has been great this season when he is getting the playing time, hitting .282/.327/.506 with nine home runs in 171 plate appearances. With both Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader out, he should get a fair amount of run moving forward which is good news if you were able to scoop him off the wire.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Johnny Cueto at LAA

Cueto has pitched well and has a decent matchup here. 

High Risk Options: Devin Smeltzer at CLE, Jose Quintana at WAS, Patrick Corbin at PIT, Jon Heasley vs TEX, Dean Kremer at SEA, Braxton Garrett at STL. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow:  Mitch Keller at WAS

Over Keller’s last five starts, he has gone at least five innings in each start with a 2.96 ERA and 23 K’s in 27.1 innings. This is a decent matchup as well, but with him there is always risk. 

High Risk Options: Madison Bumgarner vs SD, Cole IRvin at NYY, German Marquez vs LAD, Chris Flexen 플렉센 vs BAL, Dylan Bundy at CLE, Dane Dunning at KC, Justin Steele vs CIN, Paolo Espino vs PIT. 

 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”





Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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Jimmember
1 year ago

Manny del Campo, who was suspended for fighting, is the translator. Ever seen that before?

LightenUpFGmember
1 year ago
Reply to  Jim

I appreciate that del Campo knew it was his job to get in there and translate the expletives flying around amidst the scrum. Someone must have said “Translate this!” and socked him one, thus the inevitable retaliation and suspension.

Bless You Boys
1 year ago
Reply to  LightenUpFG

Haha