Roto Riteup: March 30, 2018

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March 30, 2018

The Roto Riteup reminds you to always keep your promises!

On the Agenda:
1. Gallo Gets the Shift
2. Greg Holland signs with St. Louis
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

Gallo Gets the Shift
The Astros executed a four-man outfield shift against Joey Gallo in the first inning on Opening Day. The shift seemed to work as Gallo flew out directly to left field, but it’s astonishing to see nonetheless.

Greg Holland signs with St. Louis
According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Cardinals and Greg Holland have agreed to a $14 million dollar one-year pact. With Luke Gregerson on the disabled list, the Cardinals made sure to bring in some insurance for the back of the pen to pair with Dominic Leone and company. Holland slipped a bit in the second half last season, but at least some of that can be attributed to a bad month of August when he was dealing with a cut finger. He’s an automatic add in all leagues if available.

Various News and Notes
Mike Zunino was not in the Opening Day lineup due to pain in his right side. The injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious, as he’s currently day-to-day.

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Chris Davis was in the leadoff spot against the Twins yesterday, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout. For his career, Davis sports a 12% BB, while also netting a .330 OBP or better in three of-the-last five seasons. This could be a decent spike to his value in both OBP and DFS platforms.

Tyler Flowers was forced from the Braves Opening Day tilt against the Phillies in the second inning after feeling left oblique discomfort while taking practice swings.


Kurt Suzuki went on to replace him in the lineup, but oblique injuries have a history of being a lengthy endeavor. Travis d’Arnaud, Chris Ianetta, Yasmani Grandal, and Austin Hedges are decent alternatives if Flowers is indeed forced to miss significant time.

Lewis Brinson led off against the Cubs and went 0-for-5. The Marlins have nothing to lose by throwing their top piece from the Christian Yelich deal into the fire in year one. The lineup and home ballpark are both poor, but if he continues to sit atop the lineup, his runs scored projection should go up. He was already a 15/15 possibility. Adding that possible bump in runs could equate to him being an OF3 in 15-team leagues.

Brian Anderson went 2-for-3 with a run scored, two RBI, and a walk while hitting out of the fifth spot in the lineup against the Cubs. Martin Prado remains on the disabled list, and Cameron Maybin didn’t start either, but Anderson has enough pedigree and skill to stay in this lineup all year. He didn’t do much in his brief call-up in 2017, but he had a solid Spring, and could be a serviceable NL-Only asset this season.

Odubel Herrera and Scott Kingery were held out of the lineup against Julio Teheran and the Braves. Herrera later subbed in as a defensive replacement. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler placed Nick Williams in the third spot, and Aaron Altherr fifth, while keeping the infield the same. This will be a situation to monitor as fantasy owners have high hopes for Kingery and a Herrera rebound this year.

Jose Martinez received the starting nod against one of the toughest RHP in baseball (Noah Syndergaard), going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI – including a solo home run. He hit out of the five spot, and should be owned in all leagues besides extremely shallow mixed formats.

With Ian Kinsler (groin) out of the lineup, Zack Cozart led off and went 3-for-6 with a double and a home run. Angels manager Mike Scioscia expects Kinsler to start today, but fantasy owners can feel better about Cozart knowing he could potentially lead off in the case that Kinsler gets injured again.

Matt Davidson, Tim Anderson, and Giancarlo Stanton all homered multiple times yesterday, with Matt Davidson becoming the fourth player ever to hit three home runs in an Opening Day game. The former Diamondbacks prospect is still only 27 years old. He made some contact gains in the second half last year, and despite his anemic K/BB%, has easy 30-HR pop. Deeper league owners should take a flier if he’s available.

Streaming Pitchers
A Pitcher for today: Tyler Skaggs @ Oakland (recommended yesterday)

Nick Pivetta @ Atlanta
Had a 2.12 ERA and 1.12 ERA against ATL over 3 GS in 17’.


A Pitcher for tomorrow: Kyle Gibson @ Baltimore
It could go very badly, but Gibson’s made some improvements, and the Orioles lineup struck out 13 times on Opening Day.





 

Fantasy Baseball and Tampa Bay Rays enthusiast. Restaurant manager by day, fantasy analyst by night. Contributor to Rotographs, Baseball HQ, Fantasy Pros, and co-owner of Friends with Fantasy Benefits. Follow me @MikeWernerFWFB.

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Nasty Nate
7 years ago

The Jose Martinez start (with Carpenter at 3B) should dissuade me from adding Gyorko in a mixed league, right?

0
Mike Werner
7 years ago
Reply to  Nasty Nate

For now I would find an alternative option yes.

1