Roto Riteup: June 9, 2016

In all my time here at Fangraphs/Rotographs, I somehow didn’t realize we had a stat called “sabermetrics.”

Sabermetrics is the most important stat, imo pic.twitter.com/pWsI653tXW

— Jonah Birenbaum (@birenball) June 9, 2016

Always learning.
On the agenda:
1. Yu Darvish dodges a bullet
2. Vincent Velasquez has a tight biceps
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Yu Darvish dodges a bullet
The Rangers may have avoided disaster Wednesday. Yu Darvish exited his start, just his third since returning from nearly two years off, but indicated following the game that he plans to start Monday. The reason for his departure after five innings was shoulder tightness, an obvious concern for any pitcher, so keep an eye on his status over the weekend (he’s set up for a two-start week, OAK-STL, if healthy). Prior to exiting, Darvish struck out seven and walked four, surrendering one run on three hits. He now owns a 2.87 ERA and 2.67 FIP through three starts, striking out 19 in 15.2 innings. Other than the soreness, that’s about as good a return as anyone could have expected given the layoff.

In bad news for the Rangers, Josh Hamilton underwent ACL reconstruction Wednesday…after undergoing surgery to repair articular and meniscus cartilage. While he was in there, Dr. Walt Lowe determined the overall health of his knee was worse than expected, hence the extended procedure. Hamilton was already expected to miss the remainder of the season, and the Rangers have been mostly fine in the outfield thanks to The Monster Mozara Cueto (and Shin-Soo Choo could be closing in on a return, too). It does, however, make it more difficult to be optimistic about a 2017 return for Hamilton.

Vincent Velasquez has a tight biceps
Meanwhile, the only issue with your boy’s biceps is a whole lot of swelling in each.

Seriously, though, Vincent Velasquez left his start after just one out (and two pitches) due to right biceps tightness. This is concerning for all kinds of reasons. With one Tommy John already on his track record, concerns about his shoulder existing when the Phillies acquired him in December, and a lot of ink in his medical file, well, red flags fly forever, and so it’s worthy of concern. He’s set to be reevaluated Thursday, and hopefully it’s nothing, as biceps injuries sometimes are. Velasquez has pleasantly delivered on some of the buzz he had entering the year, striking out nearly 11 batters per-nine innings and posting a 3.65 ERA over 61.2 innings.

Jeff Sullivan has more here.

Various News and Notes
Is anyone else just shocked that James Shields went from one pole of a ballpark to another and didn’t exactly hit the ground running? No? Nobody? Ok, yeah, because it was painfully obvious this was a bad idea, or at least not a great one. The struggling Shields surrendered seven earned runs over two-plus innings, getting booed by his new home crowd and pushing his ERA to 5.06 in the process. The strikeouts are still there at a 2013-2014 level, but it’s tough to feel too great about Shields’ prospects for improvement, at least until he starts showing some positive signs.

Bros everywhere shed a tear for Nick Swisher, as Chris Parmelee not only earned the call to replace Dustin Ackley for the Yankees, he also hit a pair of home runs. The instant Yankee legend will be enshrined by the weekend, while Swisher’s left to be far below-average at Triple-A.

The Dodgers officially released Alex Guerrero after he cleared waivers following a DFA. He may get another look now that he’ll cost nothing, but given the last name, maybe he’s best off heading for Lucha Underground.

Kelly Johnson was traded from the Braves to the Mets after winning an arm wrestling match for his freedom. The Braves also dealt Johnson to the Mets last season. Time, flat circle,you get it. The Mets could really use the help, and Johnson’s ability to shift around the diamond should see him get at least semi-regular run.

Jameson Taillon’s MLB debut wasn’t perfect, but he made it through six innings with just three earned, good for a no-decision against Noah Syndergaard and the Mets. While Taillon managed just three strikeouts and five whiffs on his 91 pitches, he also did this:

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: 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.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jon Gray vs. SD (Andrew Cashner)
I know it’s at Coors. I know he has a 4.43 ERA. I don’t really care. I’m enamored with Jon Gray, and with a 23-percent ownership rate, a Padres opponent with an 84 wRC+ he just dominated at Petco for a second time, and the upside to make up for the risky floor, I’ll take the leap here.