Roto Riteup: March 26, 2014

Today’s Roto Riteup is brought to you by this inspired Groundskeeper Willie compilation, as well as this tranquil image, which should help you to relax on this Wednesday morning.

On today’s agenda:
1. Marco Scutaro’s ailing back
2. Roenis Elias makes Mariners’ rotation
3. Vance Worley heads to Pittsburgh
4. Lance Lynn’s weird spring

Marco Scutaro’s ailing back
The scrappy Giants infielder has been dealing with back troubles, and Scutaro underwent a diagnostic procedure today in an attempt to figure out what exactly is wrong. Scutaro is going to certainly start the year on the DL, but we won’t know how long he’ll stay there until a clearer picture is revealed at some point later today. Scutaro is an excellent plug-n-play guy when healthy, but he’s not worth using a precious DL spot on.

Roenis Elias makes Mariners’ rotation
If you haven’t heard of Elias I don’t blame you, but the young-ish left-hander has made Seattle’s Opening Day rotation. Elias pitched well at Double-A last season in what was his age-24 season, having debuted in rookie ball at age-22 in 2011. Elias turned some heads this spring with nasty breaking stuff, though his control leaves much to be desired. If all goes right for the Mariners, Elias will be out of a job in a month or so when Taijuan Walker and Hisashi Iwakuma return from injury. With Walker and Kuma already down and Erasmo Ramirez’s elbow a ticking time bomb, Elias could actually end up hurling more innings than expected, but for now, he’ll at least get a chance to flash his stuff while making a case for future consideration.

Vance Worley heads to Pittsburgh
Remember when Worley was nearly NL Rookie of the Year? Those were good times, but they’re well behind us now. Worley got absolutely wrecked in the American League last season, and now the Pirates have acquired the right-hander for straight cash, homey. Worley didn’t even perform well in Triple-A last year, but he’s still managed to be worth over 4 WAR in less than 330 innings of work at the big league level. Worley’s velocity wasn’t really down last year, but hitters were smashing everything he put near the plate, so something clearly is messed up to some degree, and the Pirates will try to fix whatever ails him. If Worley can remember what made him so successful, he’ll actually be a great fantasy option with Pittsburgh’s ballpark and defense behind him.

Lance Lynn’s weird spring
In some respects, Lynn has been thoroughly dominant this spring, fanning 27 batters in less than 17 innings of work. If one were to take a gander at his 6.06 ERA, though, a different picture would be painted. This has been today’s edition of “news you really can’t use unless you’re trying to impress weird ladies at the water cooler.”