Roto Riteup: June 4, 2018

The Roto Riteup wants you to always be aware of your surroundings:

He’s stealing home! I don’t believe it! He’s stealing home and they don’t see him! pic.twitter.com/7yhFJX3sRE

— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2018

On the Agenda:

1. Fun with Small Samples!

2. Various News and Notes

3. Streaming Pitchers

 

Fun with Small Samples! (Hitter’s Edition)

It was a slow news day today, so it is time to bring back Fun with Small Samples!!!

J.D. Martinez led all players in the Majors with 13 May home runs. Jose Ramirez swatted 11 and three players had 10 (Francisco Lindor, Nomar Mazara, and Bryce Harper.)

Brandon Crawford led all players in May in the average department with a .412. He was followed by Scooter Gennett (.398) and Jean Segura (.382.) Not surprisingly, Crawford had the highest BABIP (.463) during the month of May and Scooter Gennett (.458) was second. Nicholas Castellanos was third with a .442 BABIP. On the flip side, Lewis Brinson posted a .137 average which was the worst among qualified hitters. Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Davis were second worst with a .144 average. Christian Villanueva posted a league low .151 BABIP. Nick Ahmed had the second lowest BABIP with a .154 and Lewis Brinson was third with a .159.

Mookie Betts stole the most bases in the month of May with 10. Whit Merrifield was second with eight swipes. Mike Trout, Jean Segura, Travis Jankowski, and Delino Deshields Jr. were all tied with seven. Marcus Semien and Ender Inciarte led the Majors with four caught stealings a piece. Brandon Crawford and Matt Duffy were tied with three unsuccessful stolen base attempts.

No one had a higher hard contact percentage in the month of May than Matt Carpenter (55.4%). Matt Olson was close with 53.3% and Asdrubal Cabrera finish third with 58.9%. Travis Jankowski had the lowest hard contact percentage of any qualified hitter with 14.7%. Jurickson Profar (19.2%) and Alcides Escobar (19.3%) were a distant second and third. Wilmer Difo had the highest soft contact percentage, which isn’t too surprising. What is surprising is Giancarlo Stanton being second in the most soft contact with a 32.8% rate. Brandon Nimmo also was third on that list with a 29.5% mark. J.D. Martinez (3.6%), Joey Votto (4.9%), and Asdrubal Cabrera make up the top the with the least amount of soft contact during the month.

Fun with Small Samples will return with a pitcher’s edition some time this week.

 

Various News and Notes

Anthony DeSclafani will make his season debut for the Reds on Tuesday versus the Rockies. DeSclafani has not pitched in the Majors since 2016, but when he did he was very good. In 2016, he threw 123.1 innings with a 3.28 ERA and almost 8 k/9. He is worth looking at in deeper formats.

Addison Russell was forced out of Sunday’s game with a finger injury. He apparently sprained the middle finger on his left hand and will reportedly miss at least a few games. Consider him day-to-day at this time, with the potential to hit the DL if symptoms don’t get better quickly.

CJ Cron was injured in Sunday’s game versus the Mariners. He was hit on the forearm with a pitch in the fifth inning, but was able to stay in the game. He would later leave the game in the seventh, but all x-rays were negative after the game.

Anthony DeSclafani will make his season debut for the Reds on Tuesday versus the Rockies. DeSclafani has not pitched in the Majors since 2016, but when he did he was very good. In 2016, he threw 123.1 innings with a 3.28 ERA and almost 8 k/9. He is worth looking at in deeper formats.

 

Streaming Pitchers Options

A pitcher for today: NONE

Hail Mary Options (in order of preference): Domingo German vs DET, Derek Holland vs ARI, Nick Tropeano vs KC

A pitcher for tomorrow: NONE

Hail Mary Options (in order of preference): Jose Urena @ STL, Anthony Desclafani.