Roto Riteup: May 7th, 2012

Each of today’s notes mentions the AL Central in one way or another. FanGraphs’ base is clearly middle america. Clearly.

• With his recent starts against Cleveland, Toronto, and New York, it appears Yu Darvish is beginning to settle into a bit of a groove. Darvish has mowed hitters down while keeping the ball on the ground, making him a true ace if he can keep this up. His control still feels shaky at times, but he has the stuff to eventually overcome any struggles he might have.

• After getting smashed by the Tigers on Tuesday and the Yankees yesterday, there’s growing sentiment that Royals’ starter Luke Hochevar will be sent to the DL with some mysterious injury. Hochevar probably isn’t hurt, but he’s struggling and out of options, and I bet Kansas City will convince him that his arm isn’t 100%. Hochevar looked superb for a stretch last season, but his 2012 has been very poor. A change of scenery is going to have to be in order sooner rather than later if he wants to continue pitching in the majors, and personally, I’d like to see him go to Chicago and work with Don Cooper.

• Moving into the two hole and hitting a homer against the White Sox, I would assume Andy Dirks will get a major shares of the starts in left field for the Tigers from here on out. The Tigers still put Delmon Young in the lineup at DH, so his reign of terror has not yet ended. If you notice Dirks in the lineup for a few days in a row, snatch him up in AL-only leagues.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Drew Pomeranz at SDP
Pomeranz is interesting enough, but Petco is who I’m really starting today.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Joe Blanton vs NYM
There aren’t many options out there for streaming, and even though Blanton’s at home, I like his chances.

A Hitter for Today: The Angels at MIN (Liriano)
The Angels’ lineup may be having some problems this year, but Liriano is a guy they’ll hit around.