Roto Riteup — Presented By DraftKings: August 16, 2014

Today is the 18th anniversary of the film “Tin Cup” being released. I can’t say I love the film in its entirety, however the last hole on the last day of the tournament is a pretty fantastic sequence of events (apologies for the poor quality).

On today’s agenda:
1. Welcome back, Edwin Encarnacion
2. Danny Salazar to start tomorrow
3. A solid outing for James Paxton
4. The daily five

Welcome back, Edwin Encarnacion
The Toronto Blue Jays activated Encarnacion yesterday and while he was held hitless, his bat is still a welcome addition. On the disabled list since July 6 with a strained quad, Encarnacion returned to the lineup at the cleanup slot. The player previously and somewhat affectionately called E5 figures to spend more time at DH than first base as he gets eased back into the game. Encarnacion noted he isn’t quite 100% just yet and will probably get a few days off here and there, but he is still a must-play.

Danny Salazar to start tomorrow
The 24-year-old Salazar is slated to make his 13th start of the season with the big league club tomorrow against the Baltimore Orioles. Currently sporting a 9.91 K/9 and 3.30 BB/9 in the majors this year, Salazar figures to gather a few strikeouts today. Whether or not he is up here to stay remains to be seen but I like Salazar enough to roster him in deep leagues. Standard 12-team mixed formats can probably leave him to the waiver wire or use as a steam candidate, at least until rosters expand. One can pick up Salazar in 59% of CBS formats, 64% of Yahoo! leagues and 75% of ESPN formats.

A solid outing for James Paxton
Despite the fact Paxton recorded a mere two strikeouts yesterday doesn’t diminish the quality start. He held the Detroit Tigers to one run in six innings while allowing five hits and a lone walk. Paxton lasted 99 pitches and induced four whiffs. A low swinging strike rate would be an issue if it continued, however I’m not concerned yet. While major league career prior to yesterday’s outing is less than 50 innings pitched, Paxton showed an ability to induce whiffs and ground balls. I do wonder about his walk rates as at every minor league level were never spectacular. Paxton figures to remain in the rotation for the rest of the season and should be played at home or in decent road matchups. He is free to grab in 30% of CBS leagues and over 70% of both ESPN and Yahoo! formats.

The daily five
Starting pitcher: David Price — $12,200
I know he’s up against Felix Hernandez so the win may not happen, yet on the other hand dueling Felix also means Price gets to face the Seattle Mariners offense. As a team the M’s have the 29th ranked 82 wRC+ against left-handed pitching.

Starting pitcher: Gio Gonzalez — $9,300
Gio will be pitching against the Pittsburgh Pirates and their 21st ranked wRC+ against southpaws. Given Andrew McCutchen is on the DL and Jose Tabata is in the minor leagues, that represents arguably the Bucs’ two best hitters against left-handed pitching.

Infielder: Danny Valencia — $2,500
Sure this is a budget pick, but Valencia smashes left-handed pitching. He’ll be up against the southpaw John Danks.

Outfielder: Leonys Martin — $3,200
Martin holds the platoon advantage over Matt Shoemaker.

Other hitter: John Jaso — $3,100
Though Jaso and the Oakland A’s will be facing a pretty tough righty in Julio Teheran, Jaso hits right-handed pitchers very well. The A’s blase righties at the fifth highest rate in baseball as well, so let us see if my favorite team can end the losing streak.

Remaining budget: $19,700

This post, covering one of the leading sites for daily fantasy, is sponsored and made possible by the generous support of DraftKings. FanGraphs maintains complete editorial control of the postings, and brings you these posts in a continued desire to provide the best analytical information on the latest in baseball.