Roto Riteup: May 2, 2015

This morning’s Roto Riteup welcomes you to the first Saturday in May, which just may be the greatest sports down of 2015.

On today’s agenda:
1. Welcome to the majors: Blake Swihart
2. Daniel Norris down, Marco Estrada to rotation
3. Various news and notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Welcome to the majors: Blake Swihart
With Ryan Hanigan going down with an injury, the Red Sox are in need of a catcher, and they will turn to their top prospect in Swihart. A switch-hitter, Swihart was off to a hot start in AAA, batting .338/.392/.382 over 74 plate appearances. Swihart hit .300 with 12 homers in 92 Double-A games in 2013, but struggled during his cup of coffee at Triple-A. The 23-year-old probably isn’t going to light the world on fire after his promotion to the bigs — he has to deal with learning a new pitching staff, after all — but he could still hit .250 with a .300 OBP as part of a talented lineup, and that has value. Unless your options are thin, Swihart isn’t someone you’ll need in standard redraft leagues, but he is an excellent keeper option. Our own lead prospect analyst Kiley McDaniel projects Swihart for a .280/.340/.440 line with 15+ homers eventually, and that makes for a good standard league backstop.

The Red Sox aren’t simply going to settle with Swihart as their everyday catcher, so they’re looking around for a veteran who can at least take some of the load from the rookie, and potentially start. It sounds as if Boston isn’t real interested in a reunion with Salty, but perhaps Cubs catcher Welington Castillo could be in the conversation.

Daniel Norris down, Marco Estrada to rotation
Despite having the lowest ERA of any Blue Jays starter, Toronto is shipping their young left-hander back to the minors, specifically to work on his control and command. Norris posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across five starts, but he walked 12% of the batters he faced and had a FIP of 5.10. Command has always been the concern with Norris, and at just 22 years old, this isn’t a damning issue, but he’ll have to pack up the van for now.

Estrada will be stepping into the Blue Jays rotation in place of Norris, with Andrew Albers replacing Estrada as Toronto’s long man. Generally a high-K, low-BB guy, Estrada has also struggled with walks this year through six appearances. Estrada has had some legitimate problems with the longball in the past — so bad that it got him removed from the Brewers rotation last year — but that should be all that stands in his way of being a steady starter in the great white north. Estrada isn’t a standard league option, but he should be owned in both AL-only and deeper formats as a good source of strikeouts and a low WHIP.

Various news and notes
I had the chance to watch Chris Heston for the second time last night and came away impressed. Heston’s sinker had sharp movement, and his breaking ball was an excellent change of pace, though not a swing-and-miss offering on this occasion. A 2.51 ERA and 1.18 WHIP are a bit much to hope for, but a mid-3.00 ERA and a WHIP in the low 1.20s seem reasonable. Heston struck out five Angels in six-plus innings, walking one and being saddled with five hits.

Similarly, I watched Eno’s boy Rubby De La Rosa last night, but was not impressed. His command was really shaky and bordering on non-existent at times, and the Dodgers were able to take advantage, with all five runs being driven in on homers. When you’re sitting 94-96 as Rubby has done in the past, it’s a workable profile, but the right-hander was 92-93 against the Dodgers.

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Streaming Pitcher Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Jorge de la Rosa at SD (Brandon Morrow)
De La Rosa has gotten hit around since returning from injury, but his peripherals and velocity are all fine.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Jarred Cosart vs PHI (Severino Gonzalez)
Cosart isn’t a play if you’re looking for strikeouts, but he’ll keep his ERA low and get a win against a non-MLB caliber opponent.