Roto Riteup: May 5, 2021

I don’t like pitchers hitting, but I love watching pitchers go yard

🚨 PITCHER GRAND SLAM 🚨#PitchersWhoRake pic.twitter.com/xALpXuZBTZ

— MLB (@MLB) May 5, 2021

On the Agenda: 

1. COVID Issues
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

 

COVID Issues

Kevin Gausman was placed on the IL due to side effects from the COVID vaccine. He should be activated in the next couple of days. 

Gregory Polanco was placed on the IL for an undisclosed reason. This sounds like a COVID related issue, but it may be just that he got the vaccine and is experiencing side effects. 

 

Quick Hits

Jake Arrieta was placed on the IL with a thumb injury. Arrieta’s injury is a cut on his thumb and it does not sound like he will be out super long. 

Tommy La Stella was placed on the IL with a hamstring injury. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks which makes him droppable in most formats. 

Jordan Hicks was placed on the IL with elbow soreness and inflammation. This is very concerning as a recent Tommy John returnee. He had a set back during his rehab in 2020 as well before he opted out for the season. Hopefully he can recover, but this doesn’t sound good at all. 

Jacob deGrom was scratched from his start with a lat strain. The issue is not considered serious and he is expected to make his next start. Consider him day-to-day for now. 

Christian Yelich was placed on the IL with a back strain. Yelich was just activated from the IL on Monday so this is a bit concerning that he is already hurt again. Hopefully we will get more information soon. Tyrone Taylor was recalled to replace Yelich on the roster. 

Amir Garrett was suspended seven games for his role in a benches clearing incident on Saturday. He will play while he appeals and it will likely be reduced at some point. 

Rougned Odor left Tuesday’s game with a leg injury. This was an ugly collision at the plate and it appears pretty serious. Odor was likely to lose playing time with Luke Voit returning soon, but hopefully he is ok. Martin Maldonado also left the game after the collision but his injury does not appear to be serious. 

Justin Upton left Tuesday’s game with a knee injury. Consider him day to day for now. 

 

Various News and Notes

Huascar Ynoa threw seven innings allowing no earned runs while striking out four. Ynoa also hit a grand slam that you can see above. Ynoa has been fantastic this season, but there will be bumps if he continues to just use two pitches pretty exclusively and once the league starts seeing him multiple times. Until we start seeing the changeup thrown more, I am going to be a bit skeptical that he can keep this up. 

Mitch Keller threw 5.2 scoreless innings versus the Padres, allowing two walks and two hits and striking out five. In spite of the nice stat line, Keller wasn’t very impressive. He got bailed out of bad counts by the Padres and was anything but overpowering. I want to believe he can realize his potential, but we aren’t there yet. 

Shane McClanahan threw four scoreless innings versus the Angels, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five. McClanahan has been extremely impressive so far this season, but it is clear at least for the near future the Rays aren’t letting him go deep into games. I think you have to bet on the arm talent, but wins will likely not be in his fantasy profile for a while. 

Brandon Belt hit two home runs on Tuesday, one in each side of the double header versus the Rockies. Belt has struggled a bit this season, but he has been hitting for a surprising amount of power over the last few weeks. Health is always a concern for Belt, but he could finally get to 20 homers for the first time in his career this season and will likely be a trade chip for the Giants if they decide to sell since this is the last year of his contract. 

Dylan Cease threw six innings versus the Reds, allowing just one run on one hit and three walks while striking out 11. This is the Cease we have been waiting for . His slider was filthy and he was able to command his pitches just enough to not walk the yard. That being said, Cease’s control and command issues are still there and for every amazing outing he puts up, we will get 1-2 ugly ones. 

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: None

High Risk Options: Luis Garcia at NYY, Martin Perez vs DET, Luke Weaver at MIA

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: John Gant

Gant has pitched well as of late and has a nice matchup versus a struggling Mets offense. 

High Risk Options: Spencer Turnbull at BOS, Josh Fleming at LAA, Drew Smyly at WAS.

 

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” but I may add them at some point.