Roto Riteup: May 28, 2021
Hey Siri, What is it like to be a Pirates fan?
Javy Baez runs away from getting tagged out, which allows Wilson Contreras to score from second and Baez eventually reaches second himself pic.twitter.com/6xjDzQK6I9
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 27, 2021
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Quick Hits
Jeff Hoffman was placed on the IL with shoulder soreness. There is no timetable for his return.
Miguel Rojas was removed from Thursday’s game with a dislocated finger. This was a bummer because Rojas has been playing well. Rojas is expected to be placed on the IL and miss a fair amount of time.
Trevor Story left Thursday’s game with an arm issue. It doesn’t seem like it is serious, so consider him day-to-day for now.
Austin Nola will be placed on the IL with a knee sprain. The injury is being characterized as minor, so hopefully he won’t be out for too long.
Shohei Ohtani’s start was scratched on Thursday due to bad traffic. Yeah, that is apparently the reason. Due to the traffic issues, he did not have enough time to go through his usual routine. He is expected to start on Friday.
Trey Mancini left Thursday’s start with an elbow injury. Mancini was hit with a Dylan Cease fastball in the first inning of the game which was the cause of the issue. X-rays were negative following the game. Consider him day-to-day for now.
Various News and Notes
Dylan Cease threw six innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out 10. Cease was very good in this one, finding the zone easily while commanding well within it. He has a ton of upside, but the control has been an issue at times. This is an encouraging outing, but he is hard to trust long term.
Tyler O’Neil returned from the IL and went 1-for -5 with a home run and three strikeouts. O’Neil hit an absolute towering shot, but the overall line shows what he is. There is a ton of swing and miss in his game (19.7% swinging strike rate and 34.7% O-Swing) and until he fixes that, it is hard to believe he can become an all formats fantasy player.
Alek Manoah threw six scoreless innings versus the Yankees, allowing just two hits and two walks in the victory. Manoah worked mainly fastball and slider, but he also used a pretty impressive change up for his third pitch. He has a ton of strikeout potential and the fact he was able to go six against the Yankees is a great sign as well. He is a must add in all formats.
Shane McClanahan threw five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out six in the victory over the Royals. McClanahan was once again dominant, but the Rays pulled him after just 63 pitches. I believe in the talent, but if he is going to be held on such a low pitch count, wins will be difficult to come by.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)
Pitcher for Today: Martin Perez vs MIA
Perez has been pretty good so far this season and is facing a Marlins team with a 28% strikeout rate and 92 wRC+ vs left handed pitching.
High Risk Options: Cody Poteet at BOS, Jordan Sheffield vs TEX.
Pitcher for Tomorrow: Austin Gomber at PIT
Gomber is coming off of a nice start and has a nice matchup versus Pittsburgh.
High Risk Options: Mike Foltynewicz at SEA, Justin Dunn vs TEXJosh Fleming vs PHI.
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
Looks like McClanahan was not as much on a pitch count as a twice-thru-the-order count.
I’ll just throw this out there as potential daily stream: Framber has thrown 3 and 4 IP in his 2 rehab starts. Pretty good bet that he’s on a pitch limit that may not get him through 5. Pretty good bet that Javier comes in and throws 2 or 3 innings behind Valdez, and if not today then tomorrow when Odorizzi (3 and 4.2 IP) gets called back up. You can even extend it into Monday when Urquidy (3.2 IP) comes back.
If Javier was dropped in your league, pretty easy to see him being busy over the long weekend and probably worth picking up to see if you can vulture a win (or 2) over the next 4 days.
That truly is sad, Siri… next time, do dem Buckos a favor and let dem know dey can just touch 1B, LOL…
So many amazing parts to that play:
– they could have called Craig for interference and awarded Baez 1B – once Craig flipped the ball to home, Baez reversed course and ran right into Craig. The ump was too focused on the play at the plate to make the call
– the Pirates had Baez out 3 times and blew each one – one on the initial throw, once on the throw from the C to the 2B (to be fair, that was a tough play hitting a guy running full speed in stride) and once on the throw from RF
– if the 2B had been a little quicker to 1B, they throw Baez out at 1B. So even after the shenanigans at the plate, the run still wouldn’t have counted since it scored on a force out.
– Comment of the play is the announcer after the Pirates threw it away for a 3rd time and Baez was safe at 2B: “Keep going! Go, go! You’re invisible!”
I’m worried about Shohei. Lot of pressure on him to be the Angels’ best hitter *and* pitcher for the next 2 months or so. Throws super hard, hits super hard… concerned he might get burned out.
I hope Mancini is OK. The X-rays were reportedly negative but sometimes stress fractures & hairline fractures don’t show up on X-ray imaging (but can show up on MRI). If he’s out for more than a few games it might be time to start the Bryce Harper “Contusion” watch.