Roto Riteup: May 22, 2015

Yesterday, in addition to being some of my family member’s birthdays, also represented the 35th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back debuting across the United States. My favorite of the Star Wars film, here is the iconic Battle of Hoth scene.

On today’s agenda:
1. Clay Buchholz posts another quality start
2. Quick thoughts on Ryan Howard
3. Streaming Pitching Options

Clay Buchholz posts another quality start
For the third outing in a row Buchholz has tossed a strong game. After an 11 strikeout performance in his previous outing, Buchholz managed just four K’s this go around. Not to say he didn’t generate the whiffs as he tallied a dozen swinging strikes in 106 pitches, but the K’s never materialized for him yesterday. While the tough-luck loss dropped him to 2-5 on the season, Buchholz remains a solid option in just about any format thanks to his strikeouts. Now the owner of a 4.58 ERA to go with a sterling 3.12 FIP and 3.10 xFIP, Buchholz currently presents the perfect buy-low opportunity. He’s still free to pick up in more than 60 percent of Yahoo! formats and 50 percent of ESPN leagues, though just 20 percent of CBS formats.

Quick thoughts on Ryan Howard
With two home runs in as many days, now is a good time to discuss Howard. He’s up to nine long balls on the season and would eclipse the 30 home run mark at this pace. Despite the power, it may be coming at the expense of what remained of his plate discipline. His 5.3 percent walk rate is less than half of his career rate and is significantly lower than his 9.1 percent rate from 2012-14 aka his declining years. At this point it’s fairly well known that Howard’s rate stats are gone and likely to not rebound, but as a source of power and RBIs, he can be useful. Being slotted mostly in the cleanup spot makes for prime opportunities to let his power shine despite the contact and platoon issues. Utilizing him in traditional fantasy leagues — specifically deeper leagues — or DFS when the Phillies face a right-hander make Howard a readily available and cheap option. Howard can be picked up in over 60 percent of CBS formats as well as 75 percent of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

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

A pitcher for today: Josh Collmenter vs CHC (Jon Lester)
Collmenter hasn’t seen many strikeouts come his way, but the Cubs swing and miss with the best of them as they own the highest K% against right-handers in baseball. It’s an admittedly risky play as Collmenter owns a modest 4.37 xFIP and 4.71 SIERA, but I think he’ll be able to post a solid outing. He’s free to stream in more than 60 percent of CBS leagues and more than 80 percent of ESPN and Yahoo! formats.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Mike Wright at MIA (Dan Haren)
The Marlins have struggled against right-handers in the opening months and Wright, despite this being his second career big league start, should benefit from a pitcher friendly park. One can stream Wright in more than 80 percent of the three major fantasy sites.