Roto Riteup: May 31, 2022

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May 31, 2022

The Roto Riteup does not condone violence, but…

On the Agenda: 

  1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
  2. COVID Issues
  3. Closer Chaos
  4. Quick Hits
  5. Various News and Notes
  6. Streaming Pitchers

 

Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest

On most Tuesday’s and Friday’s and some other days, Paul Sporer and I will be doing a $5 draftkings game for anyone that is interested. 

 

COVID Issues

Matthew Peacock and Gabe Speier were placed on the COVID IL on Monday. Neither are fantasy relevant, but this could be indicative of something brewing in Kansas City. 

Carlos Correa tested positive for COVID-19. He will miss at least 5-10 days if not longer. 

Matt Strahm was placed on the COVID list with COVID-like symptoms. Strahm has not tested positive as of yet, so he could return very quickly. 

Dylan Cease and Kendall Graveman have been placed on the restricted list as the White Sox head to Toronto. Clearly they are not vaccinated and will not pitch in the upcoming series. 

 

Closer Chaos

Corey Knebel gave up the go-ahead home run in the ninth inning on Monday in a game the Phillies would lose in extra innings. Knebel has struggled mightily as of late, but manager Joe Girardi stated before the game that he would remain the team’s closer, but the more he struggles, the more likely the Phillies will move on to someone else. Brad Hand would seem to be the likely answer if Philadelphia goes another direction. 

Josh Hader threw a scoreless inning in each of the Brewers wins in Monday’s doubleheader, striking out four in total. This isn’t anything actionable, but it was extremely cool and I couldn’t remember the last time I saw a reliever pitch in both ends of a doubleheader and log saves in both. 

 

Quick Hits

Jonathan Villar was placed on the IL with a mouth injury. Villar apparently suffered a dental emergency last week and will need more time to recover. There is no timetable for his return at this time. 

Royce Lewis was placed on the IL with a bone bruise after injuring himself on this play. 

This is disappointing as it looked like Lewis was finally going to get some real run. On the plus side, it does not sound extremely serious. Jose Miranda was recalled to take Lewis’ spot on the roster and he returned to the Majors with a bang, hitting a home run in a 2-for-4 effort. Miranda should be picked up in leagues where he might have been dropped and Lewis should be reserved.

Brandon Woodruff was placed on the IL with an ankle sprain. This was a bit frustrating as it came just minutes before the weekly lock for people in weekly leagues. On the positive side, the Brewers have stated it will be a short stint on the IL, so he could be back in two weeks.

Zack Greinke was placed on the IL with a flexor strain. This is unfortunate because often these injuries are long injuries or possibly Tommy John. Greinke is droppable in all formats.

Brad Miller was placed on the IL with a hip injury. There is no timetable for his return at this time.

Seiya Suzuki was placed on the IL with a finger injury. It doesn’t sound overly serious, so hopefully he will be back soon.

Joey Wendle left Monday’s game with a hamstring injury. This is disappointing as he had just returned from a similar injury. Consider him day-to-day for now, but it sounds like he will hit the IL.

Jose Altuve left Monday’s game after this collision at first base:

Altuve initially stayed in the game, but was later removed and has entered concussion protocol. Consider him day-to-day for now.

Kevin Smith left Monday’s game with a knee contusion. Consider him day-to-day for now, but this doesn’t sound overly serious.

Drew Smyly left Monday’s start with an oblique injury. This is unfortunate as these injuries usually take 4-6 weeks to recover from.

Various News and Notes
Curt Casali went 1-for-4 with a two run home run which turned out to be the game winner in extras versus the Phillies.

Casali shouldn’t have even been in the situation as the Giants had a lead heading into the ninth inning and manager Gabe Kapler tried to let starter Logan Webb get a complete game instead of going to his bullpen, but that is a rant for a different day. Casali has been on fire recently, hitting four home runs in the last week. With the struggles of Joey Bart, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Casali take a bigger role moving forward.

Evan Longoria went 1-for-4 with a home run in the victory over the Phillies.

Longoria has been fantastic recently, hitting five home runs in his last five games played. He is hitting the ball extremely hard and barrelling it at an over 20% rate right now. He should be picked up in most formats if he is still available.

Aaron Ashby threw six innings versus the Cubs in the victory, allowing one run on five hits and two walks while striking out 12.

Ashby was filthy, mixing his pitches excellently while featuring his changeup which was unhittable (42% CSW). Ashby is now going deep enough into games to qualify for a win and has a rotation spot locked down now that Peralta is out for a while. He should be rostered in every format as he is showing ace potential.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Ryan Yarbrough at TEX. 

Yarbs has looked more like the pitcher he used to be and has a nice matchup. 

High Risk Options: Justin Steele vs MIL, Daniel Lynch at CLE, Jakob Junis at PHI. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Jeffrey Springs at TEX

Springs has looked great and I like this matchup in Texas 

High Risk Options:  Jon Gray vs TB, Brad Keller at CLE, Mitch White vs PIT. 

 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”





 

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.

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TradeDeadlinemember
1 year ago

Longo’s home run in the video is against the Reds.

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