Roto Riteup: June 7, 2021

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June 7, 2021

I think the fire department needs to be alerted to this burn:

On the Agenda:
1. COVID Issues
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

COVID Issues
Mitch Keller was placed on the COVID-19 IL. There is a belief he may still be able to make his next start, so this sounds like it may just be a vaccine reaction or that he came into close contact with someone who was positive.

 

Quick Hits
Michael Fulmer was placed on the IL with a shoulder injury. Fulmer had yet to pitch this month, but the Tigers downplayed the issue, so this is a bit disappointing. There is no timetable for his return at this time.

Adalberto Mondesi was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain. This is very frustrating as Mondesi had just gotten back from the IL and was hitting very well. There is no time table for his return, but it doesn’t sound like he will miss much time.

John Means was placed on the IL with a shoulder strain. There is no timetable for high return.

Evan Longoria was placed on the IL with a shoulder sprain. This is somewhat of a relief because the initial injury looked like he might have broken his collarbone.

He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks according to manager Gabe Kapler.

Danny Jansen left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury. There is no timetable for his return.

Austin Voth left Sunday’s game after being hit in the face with a pitch. This was a scary incident that Voth was lucky enough to walk away from. Vincent Velasquez had already hit Victor Robles in the previous at bat and then hit Voth in a much more dangerous spot. Voth broke his nose, but seems to have avoided serious injury which is great news.

 

Various News and Notes
Bobby Bradley went 3-for-4 with his first home run of the season on Sunday. Bradley is getting an opportunity to man first for the Indians as they have finally given up on Jake Bauers. Bradley is a former top prospect with a ton of power, but even more swing and miss. He could easily get hot and offer a ton of short term value, but it would be surprising if he hit better than .220 this season.

Caleb Smith threw five innings in the loss to the Brewers, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out eight. This was Smith’s first start since the beginning of the season and he was very good before tiring in the fourth inning. That is understandab;e considering Smith hadn’t thrown more than three innings in any outing yet this season. He has a ton of talent and it was surprising the Diamondbacks moved him to the bullpen so quickly this year, so hopefully they will give him more of a leash now that he is getting another opportunity to start.

Top pitching prospect Jackson Kowar is expected to make his Major League debut for the Royals on Monday. Kowar has been great in AAA, throwing 31.2 innings with a .85 ERA and 41 strikeouts. He has two plus pitches in his fastball and changeup with a usable slider. His command has gotten better as he has moved up from the low minors to AAA, so as long as he doesn’t have those issues crop up, he could be a very interesting pickup with the Royals having no reason not to just let him pitch no matter the results early on.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)
Pitcher for Today: None
Only Ryan Weathers and Kowar qualify and neither are ones I would be willing to risk.

High Risk Options: Ryan Weathers vs CHC, Jackson Kowar at LAA.

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None
Lots of high risk options, but none I am super confident in.

High Risk Options: Kris Bubic at LAA, Martin Perez vs HOU, Carlos Martinez vs CLE, David Peterson at BAL, Zach Davies at SD, Drew Smyly at PHI, Adrian Houser vs CIN, Antonio Senzatela at MIA.

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” but I may add them at some point.





 

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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