Roto Riteup: May 1st, 2012
• After sucking the life out of Detroit’s lineup for the past couple of years, Brandon Inge has somehow managed to find a starting job in Oakland after passing through waivers. If you pick Inge up in any league, you probably aren’t someone who reads RotoGraphs.
• Delmon Young will miss a week following his suspension, so make sure to adjust your lineups accordingly. Young may even have to answer for his sins after his suspension is up since he wasn’t hitting well and Andy Dirks is a capable replacement. If you’re a Delmon Young owner, you may just want to let him go for karma’s sake.
• The Diamondbacks seem to be doing everything they can to make sure they are not rushing Trevor Bauer and Tyler Skaggs to the big leagues. Both pitchers are mowing down batters in Double-A while Joe Saunders still remains in the majors. Patrick Corbin has been called up instead of the top prospects, and while some could argue it was a result of the schedule, it’s important to note that Skaggs could have stayed on schedule while being called up. I suspect Bauer will be called up by the end of May, but I’m not sure with Skaggs.
• Mike Trout, or Bryce Harper? The debate rages on, so I figure I better weigh in. If you’re looking to add someone, go with Trout, simply for reasons of playing-time. Harper, contrary to some belief, actually has something to prove in the minors while Trout has fully shown he’s capable against all MiLB levels.
For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.
A Pitcher for Today: Charlie Morton (PIT) at STL
Morton’s still a ground-ball machine, and he’s got room for error in St. Louis.
A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Lance Lynn (STL) vs PIT
Lynn may have been snapped up in your league by now, but there are not a whole lot of options today.
A Hitter for Today: Andruw Jones vs BAL (Brian Matusz)
Jones eats lefties, and Matusz isn’t very good anymore.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
“…while Joe Saunders remains in the Majors.” Like he doesn’t deserve to be? Sure, he will come back to earth (or below), but he has 4 starts, all QS, with a WHIP and ERA both under 1.00.
No kidding, what a nonsense comment. Saunders only plugged 200+ effective innings last year, send him to the bus.
Exactly. Saunders isn’t a ‘top prospect’ though, so obviously his time is limited, right? Arizona probably paid him $6M this offseason just so they could get through April..
Maybe they meant Josh Collementer (sp?). Only way that comment makes any sense.
Agreed. Go back to the end of last year to find that Saunders is exactly what AZ needs/needed/will need to compete: an IP eating QS machine.
Do you mean Delmon Young will miss a week due to the suspension? Or have you heard something that says he’s going to miss a week after serving his one week suspension?
I have Morton as the 25th best pitcher (out of 28) today for roto leagues. Cardinals have the fourth best wOBA in baseball, and it’s not like Morton is a guy you usually want to start anyway due to the low Ks and playing for a terrible team. Like, maybe against the Astros in PNC, but I can’t imagine another time where he’s worth a start.
Arroyo should be available today, and is going against a pretty terrible Cubs offense.I have him projected to have an average start for a 12 team league, anything deeper and you should definitely be happy with his numbers. Doubront and Williams look like decent adds in deeper leagues, both playing in favorable matchups and quite likely to pick up a W. Just don’t count on any of these guys I mentioned to boost your Ks a ton.
‘If you pick (Brandon) Inge up in any league, you probably aren’t someone who reads RotoGraphs..’
Have you ever heard of league specific formats? Leagues with more than 16 teams? Obviously, Inge isn’t a desirable commodity in a vacuum but lazy attempted slights don’t really help anybody.
It was a joke Stan. Lighten up. I thought it was pretty funny.
Inge at least exhibits a distinct platoon split that can be utilized.
Wasn’t good in 2011, but in 2010 he went .254/.331/.486 vs lhp
Now, along with feeling stupid about drafting Delmon Young, I now have to feel guilty. Life’s a bitch.