Roto Riteup: May 11, 2021

Cedric “Hustle” Mullins:

Pop-up triple because Cedric Mullins. pic.twitter.com/JW7SR5NTPT

— Baltimore Orioles 😷 (@Orioles) May 11, 2021

On the Agenda: 

1. Quick Hits
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

 

Quick Hits

Jacob deGrom was placed on the IL with a side injury. This is disappointing as he just returned from the IL, but his MRI came back clean, so this sounds like he shouldn’t miss too much time. 

C.J. Cron was placed on the IL with a back strain. The Rockies attempted to see if he would improve without having to hit the IL, but they made the move early on Monday. It doesn’t sound like this is a serious injury, but backs are tricky. Matt Adams should play more in his absence and is an interesting streaming play with the Rockies at home all week. 

 

Various News and Notes

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Jarred Kelenic is expected to make his Major League debut on Thursday. Kelenic has been crushing AAA pitching since the minor leagues started up and is widely considered a top three prospect in baseball. He has the potential to be a 20/20 bat this season and should be picked up in any format he is available in. 

Tyler Naquin went 2-for-5 with a home run in the drubbing of the Pirates. Naquin is hitting .278/.365/.578 with eight home runs this season. The injury to Votto means Naquin should continue to get close to full run as they have moved Nick Senzel back to second for the time being. He is still available in way too many leagues considering his numbers are largely backed up by an almost 16% barrel rate and great exit velocity numbers. 

Alex Wood threw seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits and three walks while striking out seven in the victory over the Rangers. Wood looked good again in this one, but part of it was the ineptitude of the Rangers bats. There are struggles ahead but there is no shame in riding the hot streak for now. 

Luke Weaver threw 6.1 scoreless innings versus the Marlins, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out six in the victory. This was the best Weaver has looked since arriving in Arizona. His command and control were elite, making the Marlins look foolish at the plate. I want to believe in a resurgence, but I am worried about his reliance on a two-pitch arsenal. He can make that work in the short term, but I am not ready to buy in the long term until we see the cutter used 10+%. 

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Adbert Alzolay at CLE

Alzolay has looked good in his last few starts and has a nice matchup versus a struggling Cleveland offense. 

High Risk Options: Jeff Hoffman at PIT, Logan Webb vs TEX.

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Zach Davies at CLE

Davies doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he has pitched better as of late and has a great matchup here. 

High Risk Options: Matt Harvey vs NYM, Ryan Yarbrough vs NYY

 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options” but I may add them at some point.