Roto Riteup: October 3, 2015
What can the Roto Riteup possibly cover with just two days left in the fantasy season? The answer may SHOCK you.
On today’s agenda:
1. Jake Arrieta and the Cy Young
2. Various news and notes
3. Streaming Pitcher Options
Jake Arrieta and the Cy Young
After throwing six scoreless innings against the Brewers last night, Jake Arrieta ends the regular season with a 1.77 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. Combine those with his 22 wins, and it’s hard to envision him losing the Cy Young award, even with Zack Greinke looming. Greinke still has one more start to make, but Arietta currently has a large edge in strikeouts and a few more wins, while Greinke has the slightest of edges in ERA and WHIP. There’s not really a wrong choice between them, but Arrieta should have the advantage.
Despite a season-long breakout campaign last year, Arrieta wasn’t always being drafted as a top flight starter, and rightfully so; his previous career high in ERA was 4.66, and that was in 2010. This bespectacled author, however, snatched him up whenever he could, as he had always been a sucker for his powerful stuff, even when the results sucked. There will be some regression next year, but a likely scenario is that he can at least repeat his 2014 performance in 2016.
Various news and notes
It’s official: the Dodgers are turning shortstop over to Corey Seager, and he will start for the club in the playoffs. Seager will certainly be in the opening day lineup next year, and while it will likely be at short, there’s always the possibility he is shifted to third base if the front office can find themselves another middle infielder of value. In all likelihood, Seager will get an extended chance to show he can hold down the position defensively.
James Shields will not take the mound tomorrow as planned, as the Padres will give him an early head start on the offseason instead. San Diego will turn to the bullpen to mop up the last game of the season in a losing campaign.
Troy Tulowitzki is back, and just in time for the playoffs! For all you degenerates DFS players, Tulo may not be in the lineup today as the Blue Jays try to ease him back into action.
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: Kyle Hendricks at MIL (Tyler Wagner)
Hendricks has been solid recently, and has fared well against the Brewers in three other starts this year.
A pitcher for tomorrow: J.A. Happ vs CIN (Josh Smith)
Happ’s NL devil magic should continue on the last day of the season.
Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.
Kershaw was unlucky in the start of the season, but rebounded to post the third best ERA in the league, the highest K/9, the fifth best BB/9, and if he makes his next start, will have the most IP. He also has the best FIP, xFIP, and WAR, and the best pitcher fWAR, good for second best in the league among all players, and he’s the only one to flirt with 300 K’s.
I’m not sure why you’re so sure it’ll be between Greinke and Arrieta. While all three are worthy, Kershaw seems to standout the most in my mind.
The part of the season where Kershaw was bad (by results) matters, though.
His bad luck shouldn’t be held that strongly against him, even when he wasn’t great, he was still K’ing hitters like there was no tomorrow, and he wasn’t walking them. Frankly, having the highest K/9, most IP, being just a hair under Greinke in BB/9 and better than Arietta, and the most pitcher fWAR should put him on par with Greinke and Arietta despite the half a run difference in ERA (a flawed stat), and the voters have already shown a willingness to disregard pitcher wins in in the Cy Young voting, so not sure if Arietta’s six additional wins or Greinke’s two are enough to push Kershaw out of the discussion completely.