Roto Riteup: May 24, 2016

Clayton Kershaw already has three shutouts this season. This is not actionable news, but, just, damn. He’s 7-1 with a 1.48 ERA and 1.38 FIP, striking out more than a third of batters he faces. How does someone this good somehow manage to get even better?

And yet, Kershaw didn’t even have the most amazing feat from Monday’s slate. We see you, Alfredo Simon.

On the agenda:
1. Hamilton (and other) injuries clear way for Gallo
2. Follow-ups from Monday
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Hamilton (and other) injuries clear way for Gallo
Josh Hamilton’s 2016 comeback bid is over before it really even started. He’s set for another surgery on his left knee and will miss the remainder of the season. It’s another disappointing injury turn for the 35-year-old, who’s been seriously limited over the last three seasons. If and when he returns, he’ll be off the fantasy radar.

With the Rangers no longer anticipating Hamilton’s return and Drew Stubbs joining Shin-Soo Choo on the disabled list, they recalled top prospect Joey Gallo from Triple-A Round Rock. Gallo’s been getting some balls at first to potentially add to his 3B-OF eligibility, but the big question Texas wants to answer comes at the dish: Gallo struck out in 46.3 percent of his plate appearances during a 36-game debut last year, and the team’s surely curious if his remarkably trimmed strikeout rate (22.6 percent) over 24 games in the minors this year is for real. That’s by far his lowest mark at any minor-league stop, but it also comes in a pretty small sample.

The sample’s large enough for Gallo to have hit eight home runs and drawn 22 walks, though, which explains his 30-percent-and-rising ownership tag.

Follow-ups from Monday
It’s kind of a depressing day of follow-up injury news. Let’s bang out some updates.

Kevin Kiermaier will be out eight-to-10 weeks due to a pair of metacarpal fractures, depressing your boy and the Rays’ locker room. The fractures have a mild displacement, and while fly balls would still just drop to him at the track, lost in his eyes, a specialist recommended the surgical approach.

Lucas Duda is hitting the DL, too, as the once-seemingly minor back issue he was dealing with is actually a stress fracture in his lower back. Terry Collins was right to be concerned Sunday, then, and the Mets could be without him for four-to-six weeks.

Alex Gordon is facing a three-to-four week return timeline after finding out he produced a scaphoid fracture, not a sprain, in his wrist when crashing into a tarp.

Alright, one positive update: We have an official return date for Yu Darvish. He goes Saturday against the Pirates. Fun stuff!

Various News and Notes
Ryan Vogelsong is in stable condition after taking a fastball to the face from Jordan Lyles. The team is saying the injury is to Vogelsong’s eye and orbital bone but not many details have come out yet. Here’s hoping he’s alright.

The Cubs may not be without Jason Heyward much longer. The outfielder said Monday that he’d be playing if it were up to him, but the team is trying to be cautious with the bone contusion in his rib cage. Heyward was scuffling at the dish before the reprieve, and the hope here is that the time off to heal gets him right.

Miguel Cabrera stayed hot, hitting a pair of home runs and adding a double to push his OPS just south of 1.000. Also hot? Yoenis Cespedes, who leads the league in home runs (solo, now) with 15 after hitting another off of Gio Gonzalez. Neither can hold a candle to Hunter Pence and his pinch-hit walk-off pop-up.

A parting piece of advice from Giancarlo Stanton: When things are going poorly, “as long as you don’t curl up into a ball, you’ll be alright.”

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

A pitcher for today: Nate Karns vs. OAK (Kendall Graveman)
In the Athletics, Nate Karns draws a team that really doesn’t strikeout a ton but doesn’t do much else at the dish, either. It’s always a nice test for a pitcher with an improved strikeout rate (25.1 percent) to go up against an offense like that, and the A’s shouldn’t pose too much of a bust threat with their 87 wRC+.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Junior Guerra @ ATL (Mike Foltynewicz)
Coming off of a career-high 11 strikeouts against the Cubs, Junior Guerra now draws baseball’s worst offense. It’s been a minute since I picked on the Braves and their 67 wRC+ here, and they present the 31-year-old a nice chance to continue building. He’s striking out nearly a quarter of batters he faces and has a tidy 3.14 FIP backing up that 3.96 ERA.