Roto Riteup — Presented by DraftKings: September 8, 2014

The football season may now be in full swing, but there are still fantasy baseball playoffs to consider. This Roto Riteup author is in the semi-finals of his hometown league this week, where a win would guarantee finishing in the money.

On today’s agenda:
1. Adam Wainwright bounces back against the Brewers
2. Jimmy Nelson struggles, could go to bullpen
3. Carlos Carrasco asks for your attention
4. The Fantasy Five

Adam Wainwright bounces back against the Brewers
We’ve chronicled Wainwright’s late-July and August struggles, but the Cardinals’ gigantic ace threw a complete game yesterday against the rival Brewers. Wainwright allowed one earned run on seven hits and one walk, though he only struck out three batters. Waino’s outing against the Brew Crew was his best since a July 27 shutout of the Cubs. Hopefully Wainwright’s arm feels better and he is able to perform nicely over the Head-to-Head playoff run.

Jimmy Nelson struggles, could go to bullpen
Nelson didn’t pitch great in opposition of Wainwright, allowing four earned over five innings of work. Prior to his outing against the Cardinals, Nelson had performed decently over 58.2 innings, but he could be the odd man out in Milwaukee. With Matt Garza’s return to rotation last week, the Brewers have an extra starter, and it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll stick with six the rest of the way. Nelson’s fastball-slider combo should actually play up in the bullpen, so holding onto him for the rest of the year might not be a bad idea, even if does get removed from the rotation.

Carlos Carrasco asks for your attention
The Indians starter was excellent against the White Sox yesterday, throwing eight-and-two-thirds innings without giving up a run. Carrasco struck out eight batters, and has now thrown nothing but quality starts since returning to Cleveland’s rotation in early August. In fact, Carrasco has not allowed more than one run in any of his recent starts. Carrasco has finally made good on the potential he showed before being acquired from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee trade. It’s probably too late to bring Carrasco into the fold, but you should at least be bumping him up your early 2015 board.

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The Fantasy Five

SP: Odrisamer Despaigne | $8,200 | @LAD
SP: Jonathon Niese | $7,100 | vCOL
1B: Brandon Moss | $3,800 | @CHW (Hector Noesi)
3B: Kyle Seager | $4,900 | vHOU (Brad Peacock)
OF: Khris Davis | $3,800 | vMIA (Brad Penny)

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