Roto Riteup: June 5, 2018

by
June 5, 2018

Well, now I feel old:

On the Agenda:

1. Fun with Small Samples!

2. Various News and Notes

3. Streaming Pitchers

 

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Fun with Small Samples! (Pitcher’s Edition)

It was a slow news day today, so it is time for another edition of Fun with Small Samples!!!

For the month of May, Max Scherzer led all other qualified starters with a 39.4% K%. Gerrit Cole (39.3%) and Chris Sale (36.7%) were second and third in K%. Ross Stripling was fourth with a 35.3% K%. Scherzer (16.8%) and Sale (16.3%) led the Majors in swinging strike percentage for the month as well. Third was Luis Castillo with a 15.9% mark.

Matt Koch allowed the most hard contact during the month of May with a 49.2% mark. Zack Greinke (48.8%) and Jason Hammel (48.5%) were second and third. Patrick Corbin was fourth on the list with a 48.5% mark. Ross Stripling gave up the least hard contact during the month of May with only 16.9% allowed. Justin Verlander (21.9%) and Noah Syndergaard (23.9%) were second and third. Verlander also led the Majors in soft contact allowed last month with a 27.1% mark. Kyle Freeland was second on the list with 26.9% and Reynaldo Lopez was third at 26.4%.

Jon Gray had the highest BABIP for the month of May at .380. Jason Hammel was second at .376 and Kevin Gausman and Andrew Suarez were tied with the third highest BABIP with a .363 mark. Daniel Mengden had the lowest BABIP a .187. James Paxton was second at .194. And then there was this:

 

Various News and Notes

According to Marc Topkin, Anthony Banda will undergo Tommy John Surgery. Banda had a 3.68 ERA and a 17.9% strikeout percentage in his 14 innings with the Rays this year. He was the centerpiece of the Steven Souza trade and is now likely out until this time next year.

Julio Teheran left Monday’s game after sustaining a thumb contusion. It was hard to figure out how he injured it, but his velocity was way down and it was obvious that he was bothered by something. Consider him day-to-day for now.

 

Streaming Pitchers Options

A pitcher for today: NONE

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

A pitcher for tomorrow: Chris Stratton vs ARI

Some habits die hard.

 

Big thanks to Mike Werner, who will be covering for me tomorrow so I can go watch the return of Madison Bumgarner!





 

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.

5 Comments
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teddmorgan
8 years ago

What is wrong with Godley?

0
AnonMember since 2025
8 years ago
Reply to  teddmorgan

Teams have quit swinging at his curve ball out of the zone and either walking or forcing him into the zone with his much more hittable fastball. Fewer K, more BB and HR. Basically the worst combination.

1
MookieBestt
8 years ago

That Castillo Swinging Strike % really makes me want to keep holding on, but he keeps on blowing up. Should owners continue to hold on and hope for the best?

1
AnonMember since 2025
8 years ago
Reply to  MookieBestt

I’m in the same boat. Sadly, there is no crystal ball so you’re guess is as good as anyone’s. I will say this, here is the list of top SwStr% for the entire season among qualified pitchers:
Scherzer
deGrom
Sale
Syndergaard
Bundy
Castillo
Cole
Corbin
Tanaka
Paxton
Snell
Verlander

That’s good company. He also does very well in O-Swing% getting guys to swing at balls so he’s at least doing some of the things you want from your pitcher. His Hard% isn’t too far above average and he is generating a solid 46.7% GB rate and a slightly below average LD rate. However xwOBA is a much less than desirable .347.

Your guess is as good as anyone’s. I’m holding but there is no denying that maybe he’s just not as good as he looked last year. . . . .

3
AnonMember since 2025
8 years ago
Reply to  Anon

Just to piggyback on my comment – Castillo’s K% is 22.0%. Tanaka’s is 23.4% and literally everyone else on that list of SwStr% leaders has a K% of at least 28.3%. I have to believe there is some significant strikeout upside in there for Castillo going forward.

0