Roto Riteup: May 17, 2017
When Aaron Judge is done destroying baseballs, he should think about a career in show business:
We put @TheJudge44 in disguise to ask unsuspecting @Yankees fans what they think about Aaron Judge. https://t.co/uU3e5sr1fb #FallonTonight
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) May 16, 2017
On the Agenda:
1. Pitchers Returning to a Mound Near You
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options
Pitchers Returning to a Mound Near You
A number of pitchers are returning to the mound after recent injuries, DL stints, and demotions.
Amir Garrett is scheduled to be recalled Thursday to start against the Cubs. Garrett was optioned to AAA in an attempt to keep his workload lightened and is rewarded getting a start against the reigning World Series champs.
Aaron Nola is on track to be activated from the DL Sunday in Pittsburgh. Nola was dealing with back soreness, but has been cleared to start after throwing in a rehab assignment on Tuesday.
Ian Kennedy appears to be on track to start on Saturday in Minnesota. While no official announcement has been made, it looks promising that Kennedy could be back this weekend.
Rich Hill returned to the mound yesterday and threw five innings against the Giants. The start was encouraging that he did not have a recurrence of the blister issue and only gave up one run, a Brandon Belt solo shot, and struck out six. The only concern would be if the pitch/inning limit will continue to be an issue throughout the season which would put a damper on his value if he cannot qualify for wins or quality starts. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did toy with the idea that Hill could pitch out of the pen to avoid future problems, so it wouldn’t be a huge leap to think the Dodgers may attempt to limit his in-game work.
Various News and Notes
My boy Bradley Zimmer was called up by the Indians. Bradley is a power/speed threat could be a game-changing prospect at this point in fantasy. The knock to him is that he strikes out too much, but he also has shown double digits walk rates all throughout the minors. His defense alone will keep him in the lineup day after day. Zimmer could easily go 10/20 rest of the way, but could hurt in the average department. Those in OBP leagues should go all in on my AL ROY dark horse.
Erick Fedde is moving to a bullpen role in the minor leagues in preparation for a call up in the near future. The Nationals bullpen has been a dumpster fire this year and Washington is attempting to win a World Series. Fedde could be up a bit quicker than expected and could have some value out of the pen in deeper formats. While some may salivate over the thought of him getting the closer role, it would be surprising to see Dusty Baker go to the rookie.
Edwin Diaz has been removed from his role as closer. It appears the Mariners will move to a committee that would include Tony Zych, recently activated Steve Cishek, and Nick Vincent. Tony Zych already nailed down a save and Cishek has already blown one, but none of these options should inspire much confidence in shallower formats. In deeper leagues, Zych may have the head start, but I personally wouldn’t blow much FAAB to acquire any of them. Diaz should be able to regain the role once he gets right.
Robinson Cano was placed on the 10-day DL retroactive to May 13th. Cano had been dealing with a quad strain and missed five straight games. The Mariners attempted to prolong putting him on the DL which suggests that he could return once eligible on the 23rd.
Matt Duffy was removed off of his minor league rehab assignment after experiencing soreness in his heel. Duffy will be reevaluated on Friday, but those who stashed the Rays middle infielder will have to wait a bit longer.
Streaming Pitcher Options
A pitcher for today: Jesse Hahn @ Sea
I am just going to continue streaming Hahn as long as people don’t buy in. He is nothing flashy, but he is quietly putting up good numbers start after start. Joe Biagini was also considered here and depending on you format, is worth a shot.
A pitcher for tomorrow: Tyler Chatwood @ Min
Not many great options on Thursday, but Chatwood has been better on the road than at home in Colorado so I can roll with him against the Twins.
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.
12 team OBP league. Who you dropping for Zimmer? Dahl, McCarthy, Cahill, ERod, J. Gray, or Matz?
McCarthy
Smoak, Morrison or T. Joseph going forward? Looking for HR
I’ll take Joseph. After a slow start he is hitting .385/.489/.821 in the month of May and has the most secure role.
Thursday – anyone trusting Hector Velazquez?
What kind of numbers do you think Zimmer needs to put up to stay up? My concern is if he’s K-ing left and right without the pop they won’t let him flounder. And by bringing him up this early did they just lose a year of controlling him?
Good question. Some answers:
(1) His call-up has no effect on years of control unless the Indian had planned to keep him in AAA in September. So long as a prospect accrues fewer than 172 days on a MLB roster, that counts as less than one full year, so even if Zimmer stays in Cleveland the rest of the season, he will accrue less than a full season. He will not become a free agent until after the 2023 season, and that was true whether he was called up May 1 or Aug. 1.
(2) If he stays in Cleveland, that will almost certainly mean he qualifies for arbitration a year early. While the number of days in MLB varies from year-to-year to qualify for so-Super-two status, based upon recent years, Zimmer will accumulate enough days (about 140) to qualify – the cutoff has typically been between 120 and 140 days.
(3) A corollary of (2) is the Indians could push back Zimmer’s arbitration eligibility by a year should they send him back down for three weeks. Again, this does not affect when he would become a free agent.
(4) I share Justin’s enthusiasm for Zimmer’s upside. He should be a plus defender in CF, a plus-baserunner and he walks enough that his floor as a hitter doesn’t go all the way down to the basement. But I also think there is considerable risk because of his challenges with contact. I frankly think Cleveland would have preferred he stay in AAA longer to work on contact, but circumstances forced their hand: The Indians expect to make the playoffs and the team only has a single outfielder who has performed well (Brantley) — everyone else has been sidetracked by injuries, poor performance or both.
(5) Putting all that together, I think the Indians will cut Zimmer some slack if he struggles, but the slack is not unending. If, after a month, his k-rate of 40%, his batting average is below the Mendoza line and his power and walks aren’t abundant enough to offset the whiffs, I think the Indians would consider sending him back down for three or four weeks.
10-team OBP H2H categories (daily moves)…got offered Carrasco for Schwarber & Tanaka.
C – J.T. Realmuto, Mia
1B – Wil Myers, SD
2B – Jonathan Villar, Mil
3B – Nolan Arenado, Col
SS – Carlos Correa, Hou
MI – Matt Carpenter, StL
CI – Mark Reynolds, Col
OF – Carlos Gonzalez, Col
OF – Lorenzo Cain, KC
OF – Yasiel Puig, LAD
OF – Odubel Herrera, Phi
OF – Domingo Santana, Mil
UTIL – Kyle Schwarber, ChC
Bench – Brandon Belt, SF 1B
DL – A.J. Pollock*, Ari
PITCHERS
P – Seung-Hwan Oh, StL
P – Marcus Stroman, Tor
P – Rich Hill, LAD
P – Lance McCullers Jr., Hou
P – Brandon Maurer, SD
P – Jason Vargas, KC
P – Chris Devenski, Hou
P – Trevor Rosenthal, StL
P – Dellin Betances, NYY
Bench – James Paxton*, Sea DL10
Bench – Masahiro Tanaka, NYY
Bench – Yu Darvish, Tex
Bench – Jeff Samardzija, SF
DL – Noah Syndergaard*, NYM DL60
Idk…Carrasco is a beast, but he’s got that pectoral thing. Plus, the price seems high. Any sound advice is appreciated.
Sorry about the late reply. Feel like that is a lot to give for an injured Carrasco even if this most recent thing isn’t anything considering his injury history. That being said, I’m super concerned on Tanaka. I think he maybe be hurt which makes me think about the partially torn UCL from a few years back. I’ve never been a schwarber guy but I have to think he rebounds too.