Roto Riteup — Presented By DraftKings: August 31, 2014

Today’s Roto Riteup was written while watching the film “Old School.” The part with The Dan Band slays me each time I watch it (warning: language).

On today’s agenda:
1. A strong outing for Jake Peavy
2. Jake Odorizzi cruises
3. Another quality start for Michael Pineda
4. The daily five

A strong outing for Jake Peavy
Last night Peavy held the Milwaukee Brewers hitless for 7.1 innings in 113 pitches. He induced 18 whiffs en route to his eight strikeouts while allowing three walks. Yesterday marked the fourth quality start in a row for Peavy and he now owns a 2.66 ERA with the San Francisco Giants. Some regression is due as his 3.8% HR/FB% is absurdly low, however his fly ball tendencies + his home park make for a winning combination. In standard 12-team mixed leagues ‘d feel comfortable rostering Peavy and spot starting him at home or in favorable road match ups. One can pick him up in 40% of CBS formats as well as over 50% of Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

Jake Odorizzi cruises
Speaking of fly ball pitchers who had great starts yesterday, Odorizzi shut out the Boston Red Sox for seven innings. He scattered three walks and one hit while sitting down seven opposing batters on strikes. Of his 103 pitches, 11 were strikes of the swinging variety. Odorizzi lowered his rate stats to a 4.03 ERA/3.55 FIP/3.67 xFIP. He’s upped his strikeout rate from 6.67 K/9 last season to a strong 9.96 K/9 and unsurprisingly his swinging strike rate has jumped from 6.9% in 2013 to 9.9% this year. The 24-year-old righty has taken a step forward nearly across the board, although one minor quibble would be his 3.18 BB/9. Despite the strikeout rate and the improved peripherals, Odorizzi is free to grab in over 60% of ESPN and Yahoo! formats but just 20% of CBS leagues.

Another quality start for Michael Pineda
For the third time in four chances Pineda posted a quality start since returning from the disabled list. The instance where he didn’t record a QS was a one run, 5.0 inning game in his first start back from the DL against the Baltimore Orioles. Yesterday Pineda lasted six innings against the Toronto Blue Jays and allowed two runs, both coming on a Jose Bautista dinger in the first inning. Pineda settled down and threw 93 pitches and recorded eight swinging strikes. As much as I like his 10.5% SwStr%, (which would rank in the top 25 among starting pitchers if he had enough innings to qualify) I don’t love the rest of his game right now. Given his 2.09 ERA and 3.81 xFIP — plus his .250 BABIP and 4.8% HR/FB% —  I have some concerns about him going forward. Pineda is already owned in 80% of ESPN and CBS leagues though Yahoo! formats lag behind at a 50% rate. If he is available I would grab him and spot start him for the remainder of the season as he is useful, but by no means is he an automatic start for me yet.

The daily five
Starting pitcher: Hyun-Jin Ryu — $10,200
Normally I don’t spring for pitchers fresh from the disabled list, however Ryu is coming back from a non-arm injury and the Padres rank last in wRC+ versus left-handed pitchers.

Starting pitcher: John Lackey — $8,600
Lackey will be facing the Chicago Cubs, the team with the second lowest wRC+ against righties.

Infielder: Carlos Ruiz — $3,400
I expect Ruiz to reach base multiple times today against Dillon Gee. Ruiz’s BB% and on-base percentage doesn’t pay as well as hit in DraftKings, but a double digit walk rate is hard to ignore.

Outfielder: Dexter Fowler — $4,400
Fowler and Houston Astros face off against Nick Martinez, who currently holds a 0.0 WAR in 105 innings this season.

Other hitter: Chris Carter — $4,900
Hopefully Carter blasts another dinger today. He’s been on a two-month tear and I think he’ll have a big day against Martinez today.

Remaining budget: $18,500

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