Roto Riteup: May 25, 2016

Baseball is a veritable goldmine of “sliding into your DMs” highlights. I give you Mike Napoli:

You won’t find a finer slide than this, @MikeNapoli25! pic.twitter.com/nPjrZA3u3l

— Carlos Carrasco (@Cookie_Carrasco) May 25, 2016

Happy Wednesday.

On the agenda:
1. Harvey hit hard again
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitcher Options

Harvey hit hard again
In his last start, Matt Harvey allowed a career-worst nine runs, getting booed by his home crowd as a result. The Mets offered to give him a start off, to skip him in the rotation to let him get right. He declined, saying he’s not a quitter. Tuesday, he didn’t say much of anything, declining to speak with the media after yet another poor outing. Now, the option may not be his – manager Terry Collins made it seem as if the Mets may make the call to sit Harvey down for a turn

“He’s just way too good to continue like this,” Collins said, echoing the hopes of fantasy owners.

The 27-year-old is now 3-7 with a 6.08 ERA (and a 4.38 FIP backing it). He’s striking out just 18 percent of batters, way down from his established norm, he’s issuing more walks, and he’s surrendering harder contact than in years past. Most concerning may be the two MPH dip in fastball and slider velocity. There was and is room for optimism of a bounce-back, but it gets tighter with each passing start with little clear explanation for the struggles.

Various News and Notes
Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 opposite Harvey. Hey, remember last year when he was struggling mightily? A reason for faith! Meanwhile, Chris Sale is human, after all. He took a loss and was chased in the fourth inning. Josh Tomlin is the new Sale, winning his seventh in a row with another strong outing. Julio Teheran was great, too, striking out 12 in seven innings while allowing only a Ryan Braun home run.

Jose Bautista’s suspension appeal is expected to be heard Thursday, so the Blue Jays could be without their lead-off hitter for a game this weekend if things go poorly. Arquimedes Caminero could be having a hearing of his own soon after hitting two batters in the head Tuesday and earning an ejection. Sticking with errant pitches, Ryan Vogelsong landed on the DL with facial fractures suffered from a Jordan Lyles pitch on Monday.

Former teammate Angel Pagan will join him on the DL, the Giants having shifted him there due to a hamstring strain. That’s a pretty major concern considering the same hamstring cost him nearly two weeks earlier in the year. Jarrett Parker is up from the minors in his place and could see a fair amount of playing time if Gregor Blanco doesn’t start hitting. Parker would be interesting with playing time as a potential speed-power combo.

The Rangers will cap Yu Darvish at 90 pitches in his return on Saturday. Pretty excited to see how he looks after nearly two years. Alex Rodriguez is on the rehab trail, too, and he’ll spend the next few days getting swings in at Double-A.

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: 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.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Kevin Gausman @ HOU (Lance McCullers
The Astros have nearly an average offense (wRC+ of 95) but they strike out a ton, whiffing 25.8 percent of the time (second only to Milwaukee). Kevin Gausman has been pitching well, limiting walks and keeping the ball in the park. The chance to matchup with a high-strikeout opponent could be the catalyst for his strikeout rate punching north of 20 percent.