Roto Riteup — Presented By DraftKings: June 4, 2014

To clarify the second sentence of yesterday’s Roto Riteup intro…it is is 100% accurate.

On today’s agenda:
1. Wil Myers out for eight weeks
2. Thoughts on Denard Span
3. A pair of disabled list activations
4. Quick hit on Dylan Bundy
5. The daily five

Wil Myers out for eight weeks
As if the 2014 season wasn’t going poor enough for the Tampa Bay Rays, they just lost Myers for at least two months. The club will have Myers wear a cast for a stress fracture in his right wrist for a minimum of five or six weeks where he will then be re-evaluated. If at that point Myers is deemed healthy, he’ll begin his rehab assignment. Given his slow start and adding in this injury, it is safe to say Myers has not lived up to his average draft spot. He’ll get a shot at redemption — barring any setbacks — in the final two months of the season.

Thoughts on Denard Span
Following yesterday’s 3-for-5 game, Span has 11 hits in his past five games and is now hitting .281/.324/.386 with eight steals on the year. Of course on-base percentage leagues don’t have a need for Span’s services, but standard 5×5 leagues can use his average and his steals. He’s still hitting leadoff, should reach 20+ steals and could score 80 runs. After his abysmal April where he managed a mere .263 BABIP that led to his 70 wRC+, Span picked it up in May. Once the calendar turned to a new month Span’s BABIP rose to.314 and he posted a 108 wRC+. I don’t love his limited skillset, but he does bring decent offerings to the table. Span is available in 50% of CBS formats and over 80% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues. For a Myers replacement in mixed leagues, you could do worse.

A pair of disabled list activations
The Washington Nationals welcomed back Ryan Zimmerman yesterday. He rewarded the club with a pair of doubles and an RBI in four plate appearances. The Nats have managed to tread water in a competitive NL East but the return of Zimmerman should help the offensively challenged club push a few more runs across the plate. Prior to yesterday’s game they were tied for the 10th fewest runs in baseball.

Josh Hamilton was activated from the 15-day DL by the Los Angeles Angels and promptly blasted his third home run of the season. He drew a walk and struck out once and now owns a 7:8 walk to strikeout ratio. I don’t expect his near 20% BB% to continue for much longer — or his .526 BABIP — but he can still bring value to your team as he hit cleanup upon his return to action. Same-handed pitchers will always give him fits but he holds the platoon advantage against most starters in the league. On top of that, hitting behind Mike Trout and Albert Pujols is never a bad thing.

Quick hit on Dylan Bundy
As reported by both Brittany Ghiroli and Roch Kubatko, the Baltimore Orioles may send Bundy to short season Aberdeen following his next extended spring training start. Bundy was expected to return to Baltimore in sometime in June or July and it seems as though he is still on track to meet said expectation. By the time Bundy is ready to arrive he may find the rotation a bit crowded as Johan Santana is even closer to joining the O’s rotation. The club announced they plan to add Santana to the 40-man roster and could arrive in Baltimore in the third week of June. Bundy still has stuff to dream on and I’d much prefer to grab him over Santana. Bundy’s 28% ownership in CBS is by far his highest among the three major fantasy sites and he should be grabbed in any keeper for dynasty format. I’m still drinking his kool-aid.

The daily five
Starting pitcher: Garrett Richards — $9,200
Sorry Astros fans, I just really like pitchers when they face you guys.

Starting pitcher: A.J. Burnett — $7,800
Though the Nationals do have Zimmerman back, they still struggle to hit right-handed pitching. With an 89 wRC+ against righties on the season I like Burnett to post a solid day.

Infielder: Derek Norris — $3,500
Norris crushes southpaws and Vidal Nuno has served up nine homers in just 43.2 innings thus far.

Outfielder: Josh Willingham — $4,500
Yesterday Willingham socked his fourth dinger of the year in just 61 PA’s. Going up against the homer prone Marco Estrada should give Willingham a good chance at his fifth.

Other hitter: Justin Morneau — $4,500
I like Josh Collmenter decently, but I don’t recommend starting him in Colorado today, not with his high FB%.

Remaining budget: $20,200

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