Roto Riteup: May 19. 2013
The Arrested Development countdown is down to a week! If they bring back Maggie or especially Rita for Michael, tears of joy — not to mention laughter — will be shed. If they do bring back Rita then #hotpotato had better become a trending topic.
On today’s agenda:
1. Another setback for Cory Luebke
2. More trouble in the Atlanta Braves bullpen
3. Brandon McCarthy’s gem
4. Make a play for Chris Young
5. Matt Garza to return Tuesday
Another setback for Cory Luebke
For the second time this year, Cory Luebke has been forced to stop his throwing sessions. There is no new timetable for his return, however earlier in the season both he and the San Diego Padres had hopes of him returning around the All-Star break. If you were clinging to him as a late round pick, hoping to see half a season out of him, then this may be the final straw. Luebke should be dropped in all but keeper/dynasty formats in standard sized mixed 12-team leagues. When healthy, Luebke makes for a solid fantasy starter, however we may not see much of him this season. His career line as a starter is a 3.30 ERA/3.24 FIP/3.26 xFIP and averaged over a strikeout per inning. Hopefully he’ll make a comeback and he’ll be a sleeper pick for next season.
More trouble in the Atlanta Braves bullpen
After losing Jonny Venters to Tommy John’s surgery earlier in the week and Jordan Walden to the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation, now Eric O’Flaherty is slated to see Dr. James Andrews. O’Flaherty was diagnosed with a torn UCL, something that generally lends itself to requiring TJS. Losing two of the top three bullpen arms in all of baseball over the past few seasons is sure to make a significant dent in the Braves bullpen as well as fantasy teams all over. Fellow holds league players should look elsewhere for options, as the Braves pen has gone from a fantasy bargain to an injury cratered mess.
Brandon McCarthy’s gem
He may have appeared to start the season in rather rough fashion, but lately Brandon McCarthy has come on strong. Yesterday he threw a complete game shutout, although he was facing the Miami Marlins, and allowed five base runners on the night. McCarthy only struck out five for the day, however given that he faced four batters above the minimum, that would be picking nits. His last two starts have combined for 17 innings, zero runs, 10 strikeouts, and 12 base runners allowed. Grab him now where you can as McCarthy is available in over 60% of ESPN, CBS, and Yahoo! leagues.
Make a play for Chris Young
The Oakland Athletics activated Chris Young from the 15-day DL yesterday in a win over the Kansas City Royals. Though he was held hitless in his first outing back, he is in no danger of losing playing time. Josh Reddick is still on the disabled list and just began taking dry swings and still hopes that surgery won’t be needed to address his sprained wrist. Young is hitting a not-so-pleasant .169/.279/.382 thus far, but he does have four home runs and five steals. His last 20-20 season was just two seasons ago and the 29-year-old outfielder has set a solid pace to do it again this year. With a double digit walk rate and an essentially average 19.2% strike out rate, Young doesn’t seem to be pressing at the plate. His .167 BABIP is the root cause of his tripe slash woe, and we all know what a fickle mistress BABIP can be. Young is widely available in all three major fantasy sites.
Matt Garza to return Tuesday
The Chicago Cubs will activate Matt Garza on Tuesday to face the Pittsburgh Pirates. The announcement comes on the heels of his six inning, no runs allowed Triple-A start last Thursday. Weekly league players should make a move now, as Garza deserves to be owned in just about all leagues and scoring settings. He can be picked up in 50% of Yahoo! leagues, 70% of ESPN formats, and 30% of CBS leagues.
You can catch David spouting off about baseball, soccer, esports and other things by following him on twitter, @davidwiers.
I didn’t realize Garza was so close to returning. Thanks for the heads-up.
I’ve had him rostered in a lot of leagues too. Let’s hope he works out.
Hey David –
I’m starting Cashner today (wee!), but should I also start Dickey @NYY? I’m a in starts limit league so every start is precious. I had him benched and am now trying to decide whether he has shown enough over the last two starts for me to activate him. We don’t count Wins, but we do count QS, K/9 and IP so those would be the stats I’m after. The 10 Ks last time out caught my eye.
What do you think?
You *know* I love Cashner, but I think I’d give Dickey the day off. Pitching in NYY is a tough matchup and with a start limit, you have to be especially judicious about things.
I always see over-reaction when an SP shuts down teams like NYM, ChC, or, in this case — MIA. That McCarthy shut down the Marlins is no great feat. I love the guy, but he crushed my ratios in the first few starts, and he will again for any that own him.
I remember all the Cingrani love after he shut down the Marlins and Cubs. Later, we learned that the kid still needs a secondary pitch.
McCarthy is a pitch to contact SP in a home run hitters park. Roster him at your own risk.
Drop Lohse or Kendrick for McCarthy?
I don’t think so. It’s close, but I’d rank em Lohse, Kendrick, McCarthy.
My Craig and Stanton for his Reyes and Pujols in a standard 5 X 5 yahoo roto? Stanton and Reyes seem likely to return at around the same point in the season and they’re about equal value when they do, so i’m inclined to pull the trigger.
How are Reyes and Stanton equal value when healthy? Besides, Reyes’ injury affects his best asset. Stanton doesn’t need to sprint around the bases.
No, I like Stanton and Craig more than Reyes and Pujols.
Who replaces Garcia? Carpenter, Gast, wacha, Martinez? Also, Alex Torres? Is he worth an add? Final question: would you drop Aybar for Eaton or Young?
Probably Wacha, but I wouldn’t bet the house on that.
I like Eaton more than I like Young, but Young is playing now. Grab Young then ditch him for Eaton.
Do you trust Ubaldo right now? Not neccesarily for his Wed. start vs Detroit, but would you pick him up?
Yeah, I’d feel fine with him, as long as you pick his spots pretty carefully.
14 teal roto keeper is reddick droppable in my league?
Not if you believe that he will regain his power. It depends on the rest of your offense and what’s available in the waiver wire. I dumped Reddick in a 12 team league.
No, 14 is just too deep to drop him.
Josh Reddick Starts to the Season
2012: 26-94, 7 2B, 4 HR, 2 BB, 14 K
2013: 14-99, 6 2B, HR, 14 BB, 23 K
Prefer Garza over Beckett going forward? I’ve read a lot about Beckett and his probably regression to the mean, but maybe Garza is better than that for the rest of the season?
Yeah, I like Garza RoS over Beckett.
Beckett is trash someone answer my question
Tune in to the game on ESPN tonight and you might get a glimpse of my 80 grade smile. If I remain up the rest of the season, where do I slot in the updated 2B positional rankings?
Is David Phelps legit?
I worry about him long term, but for now, he seems to be a decent stream options. Not much more than that though.
Anyone know what’s up with McCarthy’s velocity and pitch selection? It seems in 2013, McCarthy has completely changed his fastball pitch selection and velocity according to PITCHFX…
It’s worth a look, we’ll check it out.
Hey David,
After another bad performance by Cishek today, for this week’s matchup should I bench him for David Hernandez? I could use Cishek’s saves, but he barely gets any save opps and when he does he blows them.
Thanks!
Sorry, one more thing.
Which one would you start next week: Liriano vs. CHC, Cashner @ARI, E-Jax @PIT, or Peralta vs. LAD? Thanks again
Cashner at Arizona.
Tough place to pitch, but I have the most faith in him.
I like Cishek. Stick with him for now.
All right, thanks David.
Eh, Chris Young’s BABIPs have never been high, especially for a player with some amount of speed. Obviously, it won’t stay as low as it is now, but there’s factors other than luck explaining his low BABIPs and I wouldn’t expect it to recover to an amount even close to allowing him to post a respectable batting average.
I just recently completed a trade in a redraft six team H2H points league. The scoring is kind of weird, with rbis having a decent weight and bonuses awarded to various accomplishments like complete game, hit for cycle etc… Hitters get more points overall per player, but only nine start a day. For pitchers, 3 SP 2 RP and 3 utility start each day. There’s a max player acquisition each week and no innings limit.
My team, quickly:
Napoli
Votto
Utley
Longoria
Zobrist/Rutledge
Bautista
Cespedes
Granderson
Ortiz
Pitchers:
Felix
Darvish
Harvey
Zimmermann
Sale
Scherzer
Lee
Moore
Hamels
Grilli
Papelbon
Streamed starter
Now, the trade. I trade Napoli, Grilli, and Moore for Carlos Santana and Hill, who I’ve stashed on the DL. I’m worried about Napoli’s strikeouts and think Santana is a sizable improvement. I think Moore’s regression is due and is not much better than The Waiver Wire candidates out there like Shelby Miller. Grilli, I think will continue dominance, but the difference between an elite closer and a second tier waiver wire closer in our league shouldn’t be too much, Casey Janssen, Jim Henderson, Perkins, and so on.
Thanks in advance to anybody who actually reads this whole mess, and thoughts on the trade or league or baseball in general are appreciated.
I like Matt Moore over Miller. I like Santana over Napoli, but you had to give up a good strikeout reliever in Grilli do to it.
It’s an okay trade, but I see it as a lateral move more than a distinct upgrade.
Rickie Weeks or Gyorko ROS? 5×5 mixed, no MI or CI, currently have Matt Carpenter starting every day at 2B
I’m in a deep OBP rotisserie league. We start 4 middle infielders.
My middle infielders are:
Daniel Murphy
Martin Prado
Dustin Pedroia
Jurickson Profar
Yunel Escobar
Danny Espinosa
Jedd Gyorko
I was considering sending an offer of Espinosa for Freese, since my 3B is pretty weak right now and both are struggling. Just wondering what your thoughts on Espinosa and Freese are?