Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: March 31, 2014

Today’s Roto Riteup welcomes the one true Opening Day with open arms, even though the present offer will be stuck in the office all day and miss most of the tantalizing action.

On today’s agenda:
1. Manny Machado heads to DL
2. Shane Victorino questionable for today
3. Kevin Slowey makes the Marlins
4. The Daily Five

Manny Machado heads to DL
While the Orioles had initially hoped that their third baseman would be ready to start the season, Machado is still having issues with his knee and will have to start the year on the DL. Some people — myself included — always assumed Machado would have to miss about a month before playing this year, and it appears the Orioles have placed him on that sort of timeline. While Machado was just a league average hitter at 20, he was still a fun fantasy option if just because he is exciting to root for. Machado is worth the DL spot in pretty much every league, though you could convince me otherwise in a 10-team mixed format.

Shane Victorino questionable for today
Victorino is still dealing with a right hamstring issue, and he won’t even be able to get an MRI until this morning. It sounds as if Victorino will be allowed to play if he gets a favorable MRI result, but hamstrings are scary and we never know what could happen. The Flyin Hawaiian plays at 4 ET, so hopefully you’ll have time to adjust lineups once the results are in.

Kevin Slowey makes the Marlins
You may have forgotten, but Slowey is alive and wasn’t bad at all last season. Slowey isn’t getting a chance to start just yet, but for all of y’all playing Fangraphs: The Game, he could be an interesting choice to bank on for a few innings if the starter is overwhelmed.

The Daily Five
Today’s Daily Five is largely unchanged from yesterday, because I agree with Wiers’ picks for today and you deserve to be reminded of them.

Infield: Brandon Moss — $4,200
Moss smashes right-handed pitching and Justin Masterson‘s struggles against lefties is well known. A dinger from Moss wouldn’t surprise me.

Outfield: Bryce Harper — $5,000
Harper is facing off against a right-handed pitcher in Dillon Gee and that heavily favors Harper. For his career Harper has smashed righties to the tune of a .292/.373/.532 line. Gee’s career wOBA against of .341 when it comes to facing left-handed hitters isn’t encouraging for Mets fans.

Other hitter: Chase Utley — $4,100
A lefty with power in Texas? Yes please. Last year as per our Guts! page, the Ballpark at Arlington ranked in the top 10 for doubles, triples and home runs for left-handed hitters.

Starter: Jeff Samardzija — $9,600
The Shark’s ability to induce swings and misses dovetails nicely going against the strikeout prone Pittsburgh Pirates. Last year Samardzija’s 10.5% SwStr% and 23.4% strikeout rate were top 25 in the league for qualified starters. Looking at his opposition, the Bucs struck out at a 21.7% frequency, good for the sixth highest strikeout rate in baseball.

Starter: Sonny Gray — $6,500
Sonny Gray gets the Indians in Oakland, and I believe in the youngster. Gray is also the second cheapest starter available for today, so it’s a bargain deal.

Remaining Budget: $20,800 for 5 players