Roto Riteup: May 10, 2015
Some would say today’s Roto Riteup is fat with analysis, but I’d say it’s just big boned. Oh, and happy Mother’s Day!
On today’s agenda:
1. Carlos Rodon’s starting debut
2. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
3. Various news and notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options
Carlos Rodon’s starting debut
Everything didn’t come up Aces, but Rodon was impressive against the Reds in his first big league start. The White Sox didn’t hold the youngster back, allowing him to throw 108 pitches, and since the left-hander was hitting 98 in his last few throws, the team had little reason to pull him. Rodon struck out eight over six innings, walking four and exiting with two earned runs.
Rodon’s command was spotty early, but he settled down a bit as the game wore on. Rodon threw just two changeups, living up to his fastball/slider reputation. Rodon’s fastball sat at an easy 95-96 MPH, and he was able to get some arm side run and sink on the pitch when he wanted to without sacrificing velocity. Rodon’s slider wasn’t the weapon you’d expect, but it’s a nasty pitch and flashed it’s greatness.
This was supposed to be just a spot start for Rodon, but with a strong showing, he could force his way into the rotation any day now. Hector Noesi isn’t a real MLB starter, and he was nailed in the back by a liner in the first leg of the doubleheader. John Danks is also not a good starter, but he’s less likely to get the boot thanks to his large contract and a modicum of past success.
Fun with arbitrary endpoints
We’ve finally progressed far enough into the season to bring back this feature! All stats are through Friday and encompass the past 14 days
Justin Upton: 54 PA, .283 avg, 4 HR, 5 SB
Russell Martin: 49 PA, .432 avg, 5 HR
Josh Reddick: 55 PA, .364 avg, 4 HR, 5.5% K%
Logan Morrison: 51 PA, .313 avg, 4 HR, .297 BABIP
Colby Lewis: 3 GS, 19 IP, 18 K, 5 BB, 0 HR, 1.42 ERA
Nate Karns: 3 GS, 16.2 IP, 18 K, 5 BB, 1 HR, 1.62 ERA
Stephen Strasburg: 3 GS, 14.1 IP, 15 K, 5 BB, 0 HR, 5.02 ERA
Various news and notes
– Jesse Hahn faced off against the division rival Mariners, and his defense let him down. Ill-timed errors allowed Seattle to get off to an early lead and pile on later, but Hahn was still charged with four earned on six total runs. Hahn struck out four and walked three.
– You wouldn’t know it from his ERA, but Doug Fister’s velocity is becoming an issue this year. Sitting 88-89 at the peak of his powers, Fister’s fastball is down to 86 this year, and his swinging strike rate reflects it. If you own Fister, now is the time to sell.
– Tiring of his poor performance, the Red Sox have sent Allen Craig to Triple-A. Boston was hoping Craig could be an interesting bench bat with his ability to “play” multiple positions, but he’s been awful, and the team is stuck with the $26.5 million left on his contract. Dealing John Lackey and his league minimum salary for Craig and Joe Kelly is looking like an outright disaster at the moment.
Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.
A pitcher for today: Tyler Lyons at PIT (Jeff Locke)
I actually like both starters in this game, but I’m not going against the Devil Magic.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Alex Colome vs NYY (CC Sabathia)
If you believe in Colby Lewis’ recent stretch, he’s also an option at home against the Royals.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
Zach, do you think Billy Burns stays in the Majors for long? Thanks!
Small margin for error because Gentry is waiting, but yeah, as long as he keeps his K-rate down, he’ll stick.
Cool, and do you like Coco Crisp over Burns rest of the season, Zach?
I think you have to roll with Crisp over Burns, if only because for all his injury and age flaws, Crisp has proven he can more than handle Major League pitching. That is still a huge question mark for Burns who has a ton of speed, but has struggled to consistently get on base enough to make that incredible speed worth keeping in the line up.
Yes, Crisp over Burns.
How soon do we see Castillo in Fenway? The Red Sox OF is a joke!
Depends how quickly he progresses from his shoulder injury and if he can go on a tear soon. He has only been back in action in AAA for a week or two now I think, so I doubt he will be called up for at least another week or two. He should take over for Victorino/Holt/Nava soon though, obviously Hanley (barring injury) and Bett’s are not going anywhere and as bad a Napoli has been, Papi isnt going to play first everyday. My guess is if he goes on a hot streak we will see Castillo in RF by the end of May or early June.
Shame he suffered that shoulder injury though, if he has been playing in AAA in April, he probably would have already been called up.
Like Mike W. said, it’s a health thing.
Also, can you rank these starters for me (H2H 7X6)- Pomeranz, Fiers, Hughes, and Paxton? Thanks!
Hughes, Paxton, Fiers, Pomeranz for me
Hughes has some warning sings about him so far, but the K/BB rate is still really good and he pitched much the same way for the first couple months last year, before taking off around June or so. I still think he will be a solid Fantasy starter even if right now things haven’t been overly great.
Paxton seems to be getting over his early season velocity issues and has been really good in his last two starts. As long as that holds true and he can stay healthy, I think he should be in the Hughes category of not being a fantasy ace, but a guy you can start most of the time.
Fiers is still striking people out, but his control has been off and his team is generally bad. I don’t know if he is dropable just yet, but he is getting close and I wouldnt blame a fantasy owner for dropping him for someone like Carlos Rodon or Noah Syndergaard.
Pomeranz has two good pitches and little else. Combine that with so-so control so far and I think he is in the streamer category until he proves otherwise.
Are we buying Karns at all or is this bubble about to burst? I ask because as a Fantasy owner riding the Drew Hutchinson roller coaster, I am in search of someone more stable. With Smyly and Cobb being out for the year it seems Karns is guaranteed a rotation spot as long as he can hold one and I am predisposed to liking pitchers with the combination of a good Rays defense, a good home park and Jim Hickey on their side.
Hutchinson was good yesterday, but it’s starting to become impossible to know when to start him. Any matchup that looks like it could be rough for him, he pitches well in and any matchup I start him in thinking he will do well he gets lit up and ruins my ratio’s for the week.
I like Karns and was higher on him than most heading into the year, iirc. I’m not a big Hutch guy, so my stance is Karns>Hutch, but I will admit it’s close.
Glad someone mentioned LoMo’s hot streak….he said he changed bats recently. Can we maybe tentatively buy in here? A .190 ISO is probably a little high, but a .233 BABIP is low. I know he’s going to get hurt, but I’m tempted to start thinking I can sell a CI to get Morrison in.
He was hitting the ball hard before switching bats, so let’s not buy into that as a factor.
I’m only buying as a 5th OF; too much other ammo at CI.
Any chance Archie Bradley has turned it around?