Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: July 24, 2014

Thursday’s Roto Riteup celebrates the little things in life, like peanuts, a good piece of buttered toast, and Jose Altuve’s pinky toe.

On today’s agenda:
1. Taijuan Walker looks better, sort of
2. Jeremy Hellickson returning Saturday
3. Brandon Belt’s concussion is serious
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
5. The Flippant Five

Taijuan Walker looks better, sort of
Walker took the hill for the Mariners yesterday, and while he has unable to get an out in the sixth inning, he showed some signs of being the dominant pitcher we all hope he can be. Walker’s command was not real good, but when he did get his 4-seamer and 12-6 curve over the plate, the Mets couldn’t really do anything with them. Walker walked six of the 23 batters he faced and he had problems with his front shoulder flying open, causing his pitches to go wide. Walker is still considered a top prospect, but he’s relatively unpolished and needs some attention from the coaching staff to put it all together. Whether he does so in Seattle or elsewhere, we’ll probably know this time next week.

Jeremy Hellickson returning Saturday
Hellickson is all set to make his second start of the 2014 season on Saturday against the division-rival Red Sox. Helickson missed all of the first half due to injury, but he returned right before the All-Star break, pitching okay against Royals. Hellickson has been in the majors building up some stamina during the break, and now his country needs him to return. Hellickson has not lived up to his hype, but he’s still been an effective big league pitcher, even if he hasn’t been great in fantasy leagues. He’s probably a streaming guy in standard leagues the rest of the way.

Brandon Belt’s concussion is serious
Belt has been dealing with post-concussion symptoms since the incident last weekend, and now the Giants are growing worried that his problems aren’t going away as quickly as hoped. Concussions are serious business, and we’ve seen with Justin Morneau that they can linger and hamper hitters for quite a long time. Hopefully Belt feels better each day and can return to the team in a few days, but at this point, it’s looking like he’ll need to be transferred to the 15-day DL.

Fun with arbitrary endpoints
All stats through Tuesday’s action unless otherwise noted.

Alex Cobb, last five starts: 27.1 IP, 19 K, 9 BB, 4 HR; 5.27 ERA, .302 BABIP
James Loney, last 365 days: 655 PA, .283/.337/.382, 9 HR
Desmond Jennings, last 30 days: 105 PA, .247/.350/.393, 2 HR, 0 SB

Jose Altuve, July: 74 PA, .310/.324/.423, 1 HR, 4 SB
Dustin Ackley, July: 57 PA, .377/.400/.491, .465 BABIP

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The Flippant Five

SP: Danny Duffy | $6,800 | vCLE
SP: Jeff Samardzija | $8,600 | vHOU
2B: Tommy La Stella | $3,400 | vMIA (Henderson Alvarez)
SS: Brian Dozier | $4,600 | vCWS (Hector Noesi)
OF: Oswaldo Arcia | $3,500 | vCWS (Hector Noesi)

I really like Danny Duffy today, and I don’t know why. La Stella is a cheap play who could pick up a hit or two.

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