Roto Riteup — Presented By DraftKings: July 11, 2014

Just under a year ago “The Newsroom” launched their second season. While I personally preferred season one, I did like two a fair amount. I’m optimistic about the upcoming final season wraps things up gracefully — though I suspect the ending to the second season already finished a lot of things (warning: language). Here’s hoping Aaron Sorkin finishes strong and moves on to something even better: Sam Seaborn running for President in a new version of The West Wing.

On today’s agenda:
1. Injuries. Injuries everywhere
2. The daily five

Injuries. Injuries everywhere
Given the list of the players placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday, it should come as no surprise to see today’s Roto Riteup focusing on the injured players.

– Masahiro Tanaka received a series of bad news repeatedly throughout yesterday. The New York Yankees sent Tanaka to three separate doctors and each independently reached the same conclusion: Tanaka has a partial tear of his UCL in his pitching elbow. General manager Brian Cashman expressed hope that with rehab and and rest could allow Tanaka to avoid undergoing Tommy John surgery. The Yankees have very thin rotation depth, even after trading for Brandon McCarthy, as CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova are all currently on the disabled list. Beyond tomorrow’s start their rotation is up in the air and I wouldn’t expect someone like Dellin Betances to get moved back to the rotation. For now sit tight fellow Tanaka owners and let us hope he can come back healthy in six or so weeks.

– The St. Louis Cardinals have lost Yadier Molina to the DL for at least eight weeks. The star catcher was sidelined with a torn ligament in his thumb and will undergo surgery today. Currently sporting a .287/.341/.409 line, losing Molina hurts many of us as I had him as my sole catcher eligible player in a pair of one catcher leagues. I’m looking to use Travis d’Arnaud — 50% CBS ownership, 9% Yahoo! and 3% ESPN — as a fill in.

– C.J. Wilson will miss 2-4 weeks with an ankle sprain, with the injury coming on Wednesday’s start. The loss is somewhat tempered by the All-Star break allowing Wilson to miss as few as one or two starts, at least that is the hope of Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Wilson has been up and down this season — with most of the down coming in his past handful of starts. He hasn’t pitched out of the sixth inning in four straight starts and owns a 14:8 strikeout to walk ratio over his last 16.2 innings pitched ( 4 GS). Wilson has lost velocity across the board and perhaps this extended rest will be enough to get him back on track.

– One small ray of light in the darkness of all these disabled list moves is coming from the Los Angeles Dodgers. The club activated Carl Crawford yesterday, though he didn’t make it into the game. Crawford joins a crowded outfield and as someone who owns a sizable platoon split, he came back to a part time/pinch hitting/running role. Crawford is available in over 60% of Yahoo!, ESPN and CBS formats. If you’re hurting for outfield help in a deep or NL-only league, Crawford does have some value.

The daily five
Starting pitcher: Corey Kluber — $9,200
Kluber is up against a decent Chicago White Sox lineup, but said lineup has the 3rd highest strikeout rate against right-handed pitchers.

Starting pitcher: Jeff Samardzija — $8,200
Before your “homer!” alerts go off, this isn’t just an Oakland homer pick, I swear. The Shark is a righty with strikeout stuff facing a Seattle Mariners lineup that owns an 18th ranked 92 wRC+ when facing a right-handed pitcher.

Infielder: Adrian Gonzalez — $4,500
San Diego Padres starter Jesse Hahn will be up against Gonzalez and the Dodgers, the team with the best wRC+ against righties. Hahn has been impressive thus far but today should be a very good challenge for him.

Outfielder: Kole Calhoun — $4,400
My fondness of Calhoun should be no secret by now, particularly when he faces a right-handed starter. Calhoun owns a 160 wRC+ against opposite-handed pitchers thus far.

Other hitter: Erick Aybar — $4,500
Another Angels hitter against Nick Tepesch.

Remaining budget: $19,200

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