Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: August 21, 2014

Just a tip for all Roto Riteup readers: don’t go on a Criminal Minds binge in the evening; you may wet yourself in the night.

On today’s agenda:
1. Garrett Richards goes down
2. Clayton Kershaw moved up to today
3. Brandon Belt out another three weeks
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
5. The Falconine Five

Garrett Richards goes down
Richards hurt himself while covering first base against the Red Sox last night, injuring his knee. Richards was on the field for eight minutes before being taken off via stretcher, and while there’s nothing official as of writing, it appears to be at least somewhat serious. We have seen some ugly knee injuries turn out to be much more minor than they look — Carlos Santana, for example — so there’s still hope that Richards won’t be hampered next season, but odds are he’s done for 2014. If that is the case, Richards ends the year with 2.61 ERA (and 2.61 FIP!) over 168.2 innings of work, striking out 164 batters. If his knee doesn’t limit him next year, Richards will be one of the first 15 pitchers off the board.

Clayton Kershaw moved up to today
Kershaw was originally supposed to start tomorrow against the Mets, but instead he’ll go today against the Padres. Zack Greinke was the one slated for today, but after revealing some elbow soreness, he’s been pushed back to get some extra rest. Kershaw will still be on standard rest due to an off day, so don’t worry about him being tired or off his game; he should dominate the Padres just fine.

Dan Haren also moved up a day to help rest Greinke. Haren will start Friday against the Mets.

Brandon Belt out another three weeks
Belt won’t be able to resume any kind of physical activity for at least two weeks, which means he’s going to be out of action for at least three weeks, and maybe even the remainder of the regular season. If you have Belt on your roster and aren’t planning on keeping him, feel free to discard him.

Fun with arbitrary endpoints

David Buchanan, last 5 starts: 32 IP, 22 K, 4 BB, 2 HR; 3.38 ERA, .294 BABIP
Matt Shoemaker, as a SP: 81.1 IP, 79 K, 15 BB, 8 HR; 3.76 ERA, .326 BABIP

Austin Jackson, as a Mariner: 75 PA, .229/.280/.271; 17 K, .302 BABIP
Rajai Davis, since Jackson was traded: 71 PA, .265/.296/.382; 6 SB, 14 K, .333 BABIP

Yoenis Cespedes, as a Red Sox: 66 PA, .231/.242/.415; 3 HR, 11 K, .235 BABIP

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The Falconine Five

SP: Corey Kluber | $11,400 | @MIN
SP: Matt Shoemaker | $7,300 | @BOS
3B: David Freese | $4,000 | @BOS (Rubby De La Rosa)
OF: Jason Heyward | $4,200 | @CIN (David Holmberg)
OF: Hunter Pence | $4,700 | @CHC (Travis Wood)

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