Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: August 13, 2014

“There was a time when people didn’t go out of their house on Wednesday morning because the Roto Riteup was online.” – Ed McMahon, who wouldn’t lie on the internet

On today’s agenda:
1. Buck Farmer to debut today
2. Manny Machado’s sprained right knee
3. Ricky Nolasco to return Friday
4. George Springer needs a fortnight
5. The Ferriferous Five

Buck Farmer to debut today
George “Buck” Farmer is going to be making first ever start in a Tigers’ uniform today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A fifth round pick in 2013, Farmer cruised through Low-A last year and A-ball this year before making his last two starts in Double-A. Farmer doesn’t have an impressive slider or sick breaking ball, but he does sit around 90 with a good changeup that should allow him to succeed as a back-of-the-rotation starter. If his slider keeps improving, he could become very interesting. The Pirates have a solid offense, so while Farmer isn’t a spot-start contender for you today, he’s worth watching to see if he’ll be of use to you later in the year.

Manny Machado’s sprained right knee
Machado injured himself on Monday, and now we finally have the official diagnosis: a sprained right knee. As far as bad news goes, this is pretty mild, and the Orioles may not even have to place Machado on the DL. Machado’s 2013 season ended with a major left knee injury, so it’s great to hear that this won’t end his 2014 campaign. We’ll hear more about his injury today, but hopefully it doesn’t impede the hot streak he was on before succumbing to his boo-boo.

Ricky Nolasco to return Friday
After looking solid over two rehab starts, Nolasco is scheduled to return to the big leagues on Friday. Nolasco was quite bad before going to the DL, but there’s some chance that his issues stemmed from his injury, so he could be better this time around. No need to pick Nolasco up now, but perhaps he can be streamed in the fantasy playoffs.

George Springer needs a fortnight
Springer had been rehabbing from a quadriceps injury, but he aggravating his injury last week and will now rest for the next two weeks. Springer is now going to be out until at least the last week of the month, and I wouldn’t expect to see him back in the bigs until the first week of September.

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The Ferriferous Five

SP: Kyle Lohse | $8,000 | @CHC
SP: Hisashi Iwakuma | $9,600 | vTOR
C: Yan Gomes | $4,000 | vARZ (Vidal Nuno)
1B: James Loney | $3,700 | @TEX (Miles Mikolas)
OF: Kevin Kiermaier | $3,700 | @TEX (Miles Mikolas)

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