Roto Riteup: June 8, 2016

Well, you can expect Manny Machado to be suspended at some point. That means you’ll be out one of the top bats in your lineup, probably for a week, and you’ll just have to hope (if you’re in a league with weekly lineups) that the appeal process plays out such that the punishment starts on a Monday. And if you’re still one of the Yordano Ventura owners (they exist in 52 percent of leagues), you’ll get the benefit of not having to play him for a start or two.

On the agenda:
1. Taillon of the hawk
2. Expect Sanchez to be good
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Taillon of the hawk
The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up their No. 2 pitching prospect and the No. 51 prospect in all of baseball, handing Jameson Taillon the ball for a start against the New York Mets on Wednesday. Against Thor, no less, making that showdown a must-watch affair. Pirates fans and owners have been waiting on this for a while, as Taillon’s been a monster at Triple-A. Like, he’s been killing it, to the tune of a 2.04 ERA, 1.93 FIP, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 10-to-1, and one “what are they waiting for?” per-start. So what, exactly, makes the 24-year-old Taillon ready now? Funny you should ask. Would you believe that he serendipitously became MLB-ready the second Super Two concerns went in the rear-view? Crazy, right? It never ceases to amaze how prospects just suddenly figure it out at exactly that time. In any case, a strong start may convince the Pirates to give him an extended look, though it’s unclear who it may come at the expense of – none of Jon Niese, Juan Nicasio, Jeff Locke, or Francisco Liriano are pitching all that well, but only Liriano has been abjectly poor. (Though as Brad Johnson points out in the comments, if the Pirates stick to an innings limit for Taillon, he wouldn’t be available late in the year, so there’s a little less incentive to give him the call now only to have to bounce someone back to the rotation later.)

Expect Sanchez to be good
John Gibbons gave away the game plan, and there was little the Tigers could do to stop it.

John Gibbons was disinclined to do pre-game TV, so he had this note delivered to Sportsnet’s Barry Davis. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/WukUwfxufK

— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) June 7, 2016

Detroit eventually got to Aaron Sanchez in the ninth, tying the game against Roberto Osuna before winning it in extras, but Sanchez came exactly as advertised to that point. In eight-plus innings, the 23-year old struck out a career-high 12 batters, walked just one, and surrendered only three hits, getting charged with two earned runs in the process. All told, it was likely the best start of his young career, and he’s now the owner of a 2.91 ERA (2.88 FIP) and nearly a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Yes, there are still concerns he could move to the bullpen if his arm shows fatigue, but there’s no way the Jays make that move if he keeps this up. (Right?)

Various News and Notes
Another big NL Central prospect is getting the call, with the Cubs tapping Albert Almora to replace the injured Jorge Soler. Almora’s just four-percent owned, which makes sense given that the potential power-speed combo isn’t full developed for the 22-year-old. Joe Maddon also indicated Almora may only have the short side of a platoon while up. Still, fun!

Sticking with prospects, Julio Urias turned in the best of his three outings yet, striking out seven of the 17 Rockies he pitched against in four innings. He surrendered just one run, and while pitch economy was an issue, it was good to see him missing bats en masse (he had 14 whiffs, 11 of them with his fastball).

Buster Posey is dealing with nerve irritation in his right thumb that may sap his power some and require an extra day or two off here and there. Keep an eye on his status each of the next few days. Better than the injury fellow catcher Yan Gomes is suffering from, at least.

Nick Swisher is pushing to be called up by the Yankees. Chill, bro. You have a 67 wRC+ in Triple-A. But, uhh, yeah, the Yankees could probably use the help, especially now that Dustin Ackley has landed on the 60-day DL as expected (Chris Parmelee got the call in his place).

Walk it off: Joey Votto, Brian Dozier, and Trayce Thompson all hit walk-off home runs. Thompson is pretty awesome, and it sure would be nice if he were assured steady playing time all year.

Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Jameson Taillon vs NYM (Noah Syndergaard)
Today’s slate looked nearly as tough as yesterday’s, as very few low-ownership arms are in play. I was far less optimistic about this group until Jameson Taillon got the call, and now I’m over the moon. The Mets aren’t the easiest landing spot, but they’re not bad, either – a 96 wRC+, some injuries in the lineup, and the league’s fourth-highest strikeout rate.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jhoulys Chacin @ NYY (Ivan Nova)
We’ve gotten this far with this beat-up Yankees lineup. The Yankees rank 27th in wRC+ as a team, 23rd in ISO, are only middling at home (a .427 SLG), and can’t hit righties (.299 OBP, 86 wRC+). Jhoulys Chacin isn’t perfect, but he keeps the ball out of the air for the most part, is giving up a little less hard contact this year, and owns the peripherals of roughly a 4.00 ERA arm. On a light day, that’ll do.