Roto Riteup: June 7th, 2012

Today’s Roto Riteup is full of fun and adventure. Just kidding, it’s full of baseball, you silly goose!

• Interleague play starts up again today, so you’ll have to be extra careful when setting your lineups to assure certain American League players will be seeing the field.

• J.A. Happ has long been the focus of some sabermetric vitriol, but the lanky left-hander has quietly put together a rather nice 2012 campaign. Happ is striking out over a batter an inning and inducing grounders at a career best rate while subsequently lower his BB% more than 3 points. Over his past four starts, Happ has held batters to a .314 OBP despite a .348 BABIP. His ERA over that span is 2.13. Happ is scheduled to start today against the St. Louis Cardinals, who, despite missing Lance Berkman, still pose a great challenge for the 29-year-old lefty. Happ’s track record and propensity to give up longballs makes it hard to trust him in standard leagues, but he’s a great source of strikeouts in NL-only or 14-team mixed leagues.

• On the flip side of J.A. Happ is Anthony Bass. Bass started out the season in a big way, but he’s been getting hit around lately. Bass has not made it out of the fifth inning during his past three starts, overall surrendering 15 runs in his last 15.1 innings of work. On the year, Bass still has a FIP in the mid-3s and a large SwStr%. Playing in Petco makes it hard to give up on Bass just yet, but put him on notice and be prepared to cut the cord sooner rather than later.

• Tim Lincecum may have given up four earned runs on Tuesday, but he did so while only allowing five hits and one walk over six innings of work. Granted, Timmy was facing the Padres in Petco, but he did strike out eight batters. I have no advice for what to do with Timmy, because I’m ultimately very puzzled by him.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Clay Buchholz vs BAL
I like Baltimore’s offense, but I’d still bet on Buchholz pulling out a win against Brian Matusz.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Nathan Eovaldi at SEA
I’m an irrationally big fan of Eovaldi, and it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to grab him in Safeco. The Mariners aren’t terrible fastball hitters, though, so a great start is far from a guarantee.

A Hitter for Today: Giancarlo Stanton vs ATL (Mike Minor)
Cheaper options include right-handed Red Sox, Lucas Duda, and Shelley Duncan.