Roto Riteup: May 23, 2013
Today’s Roto Riteup covers two injuries, one demotion, and one singular superstar.
On today’s agenda:
1. Mike Trout’s Sophomore Season
2. Jaime Garcia and Shoulder Surgery
3. Vance Worley gets demoted
4. Adam Eaton sees a setback
Mike Trout’s Sophomore Season
At the start of the year, many took delight in Trout’s slow start at the plate, but now it’s hard to argue Trout’s rookie year was a mirage. Through Tuesday’s action, Trout was hitting .293 with nine homers and nine steals, making him be close to pace for a 30/30 season once again. Trout’s striking out less, walking more, and displaying a higher ISO than he did last season. If there was any doubt in your mind Trout was superhuman, let it be lost forever.
Jaime Garcia and Shoulder Surgery
Garcia was discussed in this very column just a matter of days ago, but now it’s official he’ll need to head to the hospital and undergo shoulder surgery. Jaime first injured his shoulder last season, but he opted to stay away from the doctors and simply rest and rehabilitate. Jaime’s strategy turned out to work for a little while, but he’ll now he’ll likely miss the rest of the 2013 season, and possibly part of the 2014 year. For now, Tyler Lyons and John Gast are filling in for Jaime and Jake Westbrook, but we could see Michael Wacha up in the big leagues pretty soon to help provide some firepower.
Vance Worley gets demoted
A former finalist for Rookie of the Year, Worley is going to the minors after getting smacked around by the Braves yesterday morning. Jeff had a nice big piece on Worley yesterday afternoon, so I’m penning this section due to excitement from the possibility of Kyle Gibson getting the call. The Twins have yet to say who will be taking Worley’s rotation slot, but Gibson is likely the top candidate.
Adam Eaton sees a setback
The Diamondbacks’ outfielder has been out for the entirety of the 2013 season with an UCL sprain, and he was supposed to have returned by now, but now he’ll need to visit a specialist to see if his setback is anything serious. A serious setback would result in Tommy John surgery, while a really serious setback would result in amputation of his limb. Eaton was supposed to be a roto sparkplug this season, but it looks like the D’Backs’ faith in their outfield depth was faulty.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
If Gibson gets the call up where do you rank him? Would he be a must add for 12 team 5 x 5 leagues?
Not a must add, no. He’s more than viable in deep leagues or AL-only, but not going to be good enough for standard leagues.
How about standard 12 team keeper leagues?
I especially enjoyed this writeup. Pardon, riteup
Some owner in my 5 by 5 traditional league just dropped Heyward. Dropping my Melky for him is a no brainer, right?
Lol wut??? Heyward has hit well since his activation…. you need a tougher league dood
Dropping Heyward??????
Heyward is worth 5 Melky Cabreras. Maybe more.
The only place where 5 Melky Cabreras would have positive value would be a 20-team AL-Only league with large rosters. Maybe a 12-team AL-East-Only…
Zach-Nice nonchalant inclusion of possible limb amputation for Eaton.
Speaking of demotions, Josh Rutledge has been shipped down to AAA and I am without my fantasy shortstop. I know he wasn’t setting the world on fire, but he was still reasonably productive at the major league level. No question here, I just wanted to share my disappointment.
I share in your disappointment. Rut was my SS as well. Now I’m looking at replacements….I’m looking over Drew, Scutero, Crawford and maybe Didi. Not thrilled….
Same here. I was looking at Alexei Ramirez, Aybar, Crawford and Didi…I went with Ramirez…thoughts, anyone?
I’d take any one of those guys right now. My best options are Aybar, Aviles, and Cozart.
Ugh he was my second baseman and there’s absolutely no one ranked below 300 left on my waivers (deeper 12 team league). Here’s hoping he comes back with a vengeance.
I feel vindicated for constantly ranking him far lower than the rest of the RG staff. So, I’m not disappointed, in fact I’m slightly giddy.
I totally agree. After seeing Rutledge being pegged for AAA by some of the 10 Bold Predictions pieces, I was surprised at the high ranking by 2 of the 4 writers in the recent positional rankings.
My friend is stuck in the same boat: Rutledge was his 2B and he’s stuck with no backups. It makes me pleased because, since 2B is thin on the wire in our league, I’m probably going to be able to scoop in some good value by trading him a 2B of mine. 🙂
Jesus Montero demoted as well
Jeff Sullivan or someone posting USSMariner.com anticipated this, coming around this point in the season, in March! Mad clairvoyant. I can’t find the link though…
I have Rutledge too, but I also drafted Jed Lowrie so I’ll be okay. Does anybody have any idea when Rutledge might be back? I was thinking if there was any chance of him being back in the next few weeks I’d just hold onto him.
How bout them Phills Ben revere for a triple a wash out
Worley’s not all the Twins got back.
Not to mention they hate Ben Revere in Philly.
Trout was pretty awesome at 19, too. He hit a HR every 27 PA; with a full plate of PA, like the 639 he had in 2012, that’d come out to 24 HR. He stole 4 bases in the 33 times he reached base that weren’t HR or 3B; a 19 SB pace with 639 PA, and that’s assuming his OBP would be .281 in those PA – an unlikely scenario, given his batted ball profile suggested his BABIP of .247 was extremely low, and his walk rate may have climbed higher than 6.7%.
I thought Trout’s 2012 season was a fluke as it was happening, but he’s shown 25-30 HR power for 987 PA, which have come at age 19-21. Maybe the power is legit?
I’d say it’s certainly legit. Can’t wait to see what happens when he gets older.
Player A during seasons when he started as a 19, 20 & 21 yr old
BB% K% ISO
7.20% 24.30% 0.201
9.90% 21.60% 0.219
9.30% 18.20% 0.238
Player B during seasons when he started as a 19, 20 & 21 yr old
BB% K% ISO
6.70% 22.20% 0.171
10.50% 21.80% 0.238
11.30% 19.10% 0.239
Player B is Trout, Player A is Miguel Cabrera
Any ideas where I could find the percentage of strike 3s that are swinging vs looking?
If not commonly available, can you back into it by combining K% or swk% with some other metric I haven’t thought to look at?
Should I trade Posey + Latos for Justin Upton in a 16-team keeper league.
I’ll have to give up my first round pick next year to keep Posey, same will stand if I have Upton.
Latos will cost me a 4th rounder next year.
I think you have to take that trade. J Upton is by far the best player of the 3.
Drop Lincecum for Gausman?
Rest of staff is dominant in my 12 teamer has me at 12 pts in all but Wins: Harvey, Yu, Burnett, Hamels, Cahill, Grilli, Rivera, Bailey, Gregerson, Robertson.
HELL YES!!! Lincecum is garbage right now
Hey,
Who would you prefer to replace Rutledge: Murphy, Uggla, Walker, or Gyorko? Thanks!
Gyorko has the most upside
Everyone keeps speculating Wacha will be coming up to replace Garcia, but from the looks of it Carpenter is getting close to returning so there’s no reason to start is arbitration clock early. If they haven’t brought him up already I don’t think they will any time soon.