Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: May 8, 2014

Today marks the start of the NFL Draft, so I won’t be offended if you ignore the Roto Riteup in favor of last minute mock drafts.

On today’s agenda:
1. On Matt Wieters’ elbow
2. Chase Anderson likely to start Sunday
3. Scott Baker gets the call
4. Fun with arbitrary endpoints
5. The Friendly Five

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On Matt Wieters’ elbow
Wieters, in the middle of somewhat of a breakout offensive performance, has missed some time recently with elbow problems. Lucky, Dr. James Andrews has found no structural damage within his elbow, so it’s just a matter of resting for now. Wieters is going to be available to play today, but there’s a good chance that the switch-hitter is going to need to spend some time at DH to keep himself in tip-top shape. Hopefully the injury doesn’t keep Wieters from showing off the potential he tempted us all with in the minors.

Chase Anderson likely to start Sunday
Anderson has always been a bit behind the curve in terms of moving through the minors, but now he’s finally going to get a chance to make a start in the majors. Anderson has been excellent in 39 AA innings this year, albeit in his age-26 season. Anderson has a good changeup and isn’t afraid to throw strikes, and we’ll get a chance to see if that’s enough to keep him in the bigs.

Scott Baker gets the call
After making some starts in Triple-A, the Rangers have decided to give Backer a chance in the big leagues. Baker performed quite poorly in spring training, but he did do well in Triple-A, putting together a 30/11 K/BB ratio in 38 innings. Baker will be placed in the bullpen for the time being, but it could just be a matter of time before Texas has the need to place him on the hill in the first inning.

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

Brandon Belt, first 10 games: 45 PA, .295/.311/.636; 5 HR, 9 RBI, 11 K
Brandon Belt, next 15 games: 63 PA, .224/.286/.362; 2 HR, 4 RBI, 21 K
Brandon Belt, next 6 games: 21 PA, .278/.381/.500; 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 K

Felix Hernandez, first 4 starts: 28.1 IP, 39 K, 3 BB, 2 HR
Felix Hernandez, next 4 starts: 24.1 IP, 14 K, 9 BB, 1 HR


The Friendly Five

SP: Danny Duffy, $5,800
Duffy has been impressive in relief, and while the Mariners have played well recently, he has the stuff to shut them down.

SP: Hisashi Iwakuma, $8,900
Kuma gets the Royals, who have a poor offense.

1B: Anthony Rizzo, $4,800
SS: Starlin Castro, $4,300
OF: Emilio Bonifacio, $3,800

The Cubs gets Scott Carroll, whom I’d never heard of until about 36 seconds ago. I now know he’s not real good, though.

This post, covering one of the leading sites for daily fantasy, is sponsored and made possible by the generous support of DraftKings. FanGraphs maintains complete editorial control of the postings, and brings you these posts in a continued desire to provide the best analytical information on the latest in baseball.





Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.

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jim S.
10 years ago

Actually, Carroll was quite good in his first start.