Roto Riteup: May 16, 2022

2022 be crazy!

On the Agenda: 

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

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested. 

 

Closer Chaos

Diego Castillo registered the save on Sunday after striking out both batters that he faced. Castillo came in after Steckenrider struggled and allowed two runs to shrink the lead down to one. The Seattle bullpen is a nightmare for fantasy and it is clear that this will continue to be a fluid situation long term. 

 

Quick Hits

Michael PIneda was placed on the IL with a broken finger. He is droppable in most formats. 

Manuel Margot was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain. This is disappointing as he was playing really well. He should be stashed in most formats. 

Jesus Luzardo was placed on the IL with a forearm strain. This is disappointing news as Luzardo had shown flashes of greatness this year. Forearm strains can be a precursor to Tommy John surgery, but he should be stashed until we have more information. 

Tylor Megill was placed on the IL with biceps tendinitis. The Mets stated that there is no structural damage, so that is good news. There is no current timetable for his return, but he should be stashed in all formats. 

Austin Meadows left Sunday’s game with an ear infection. He is expected to go to the IL according to manager AJ Hinch.  

Victor Reyes left Sunday’s game with a leg injury. He had just returned from the IL, so this is unfortunate and with other injuries, he was in line for more playing time. He is expected to go to the IL according to manager AJ Hinch. 

Willy Adames left Sunday’s game with an ankle injury. X-rays were negative after the game. Consider him day-to-day for now. 

Nico Hoerner was placed on the IL with an ankle sprain. There is no timetable for his return. 

Jorge Mateo left Sunday’s game after colliding with Spencer Torkelson. X-rays following the game were negative, so it sounds like he avoided serious injury. 

 

Various News and Notes

Rafael Ortega went 1-for-3 with a home run in the victory over the Diamondbacks on Sunday which happens to be his 31st birthday. 

After a slow start, Ortega is hitting .300 with a home run and two stolen bases over his last seven games and he is regularly leading off when he is in the lineup. He is definitely hot and this might be a good time to ride the streak.

Daniel Lynch threw 5.1 scoreless innings in the no-decision versus the Rockies, allowing four walks and three hits while striking out four.

Lynch did enough to hold the Rockies at bay while in Coors with his slider performing well and getting a 38% CSW. He has been pretty darn good since the Opening Day blowup at St. Louis should be rostered in more leagues than he is now.

Tari Skubal threw six scoreless innings versus the Orioles, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out 11 in the victory on Sunday.

Skubal was fantastic, overpowering the Orioles in dominant fashion. Skubal has been great this year, with four starts in which he held his opponent scoreless and going at least five innings in every start except in his Opening Day dud. Most importantly, he has kept the ball in the yard which has been his Achilles Heel in the past. While I am sure the dead ball has some say in that, he has raised his ground ball rate to 50% and dropped his fly ball rate by 8%. He has also cut hit hard hit percentage and barrel percentage has dropped by over half from 13.9% to 6.3%. There will be some regression as balls start to fly out in the summer, but the breakout is happening right now and it is backed up by what he is doing.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Jake Odorizzi at BOS

Odorizzi has been great over his last three starts, posting a .51 ERA and getting wins in all three starts.

High Risk Options: Wade Miley vs PIT, Kyle Bradish vs NYY, Zach Logue vs MIN, Aaron Sanchez at MIA. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None

Some high risk options but no one I trust

High Risk Options: Taijuan Walker vs STL, Adrian Houser vs ATL, James Kaprielian vs MIN, Taylor Hearn vs LAA, JT Brubaker at CHI, Johnny Cueto at KC, Connor Overton at CLE, Beau Brieske at TB. 

 

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.”





Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.

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TheUncool
1 year ago

Interesting that the Kaprielian start tomorrow against MIN is considered high risk. It’ll already be his 4th start after beginning the year on the IL, and only his 1st start was an actual dud (against the fairly hot hitting Guardians). He’s also already faced MIN once and done well (and even threw 99 pitches) in his 2nd start, and it’s not like MIN fields a particularly imposing offense. And they’ll be in Oakland for the game, which probably helps him a bit (even though Target Field probably also plays pitcher-friendly).

Granted, the A’s provide some of the weakest offensive support around and isn’t that great in their bullpen either, so yeah, not particularly good likelihood for a W even if he pitches very well…