Roto Riteup: September 16, 2015

Yesterday both Manchester City and Manchester United lost their opening games of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League. If Arsenal and Chelsea both find ways to lose today, this may be my favorite stretch of soccer since the the USWNT won the World Cup earlier this summer.

On today’s agenda:
1. Khris Davis is socking dingers again
2. Drew Hutchison moved to relief
3. Welcome back, Matt Holliday
4. Streaming Pitching Options

Khris Davis is socking dingers again
After slugging a home run in his second consecutive game, Davis is now one more long ball away from tying his single season high. He has 15 home runs in 193 second half plate appearances, a sharp contrast from the mere six homers he managed in 181 first half PAs. Davis has also settled in nicely as the clean up — or on occasion the No. 5 — hitter for most of the back half, thus generating plenty of RBI chances for him. With secure playing time and a great spot in the lineup, Davis really should be owned in more leagues. He’s available in half of CBS leagues and more than 60 percent of Yahoo! or ESPN formats.

Drew Hutchison moved to relief
Let the speculation end regarding the Blue Jays rotation. The return of Marcus Stroman has allowed the club to move Hutchison to the bullpen for what will likely be the remainder of the season, though he could make a spot start later on. He’ll likely pitch in single inning stints and outside of two minor league relief appearances in 2011 and again in 2013, the 25-year-old has never pitched out of the pen. Hutch doesn’t possess what I would call a dominant fastball at 92.4 mph, so I’m not sure how much his stuff will play up as a reliever. For now he’s droppable in all but the very deepest of redraft leagues. Looking beyond his 5.33 ERA to his 4.04 SIERA and 4.12 xFIP, Hutchison could be a solid late round pick next year as he continues to refine his craft. With current rotation members David Price, Marco Estrada and Mark Buehrle set to be free agents after this year — not including a likely to be declined $12 million option on R.A. Dickey), I’d expect Hutch to be back in the Jays rotation next year.

Welcome back, Matt Holliday
The Cardinals activated the outfielder prior to Tuesday’s game, however he didn’t even see a pinch-hit opportunity. He won’t be playing the field for now as the team wants to take things slow on his quad, but could return to the lineup some time next week. His batting average and on-base skills have been on display in the 63 games Holliday has managed to appear in, however with head-to-head playoffs and the final stretches of the roto season upon, getting just four or five PAs per week in a pinch-hit type role won’t suffice. I’ll be leaving him on my bench in weekly leagues unless he gathers three starts by the end of this week and proves his quad is just fine. I suggest you do the same.

---

Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Robbie Ray vs SD (Andrew Cashner)
I like Ray’s odds against a Padres team that has struggled against southpaws this year. Their .295 wOBA and 88 wRC+ both rate in the bottom 10 and their 23.3 percent strikeout rate versus left-handers is second highest in baseball. I’ll be streaming Ray and will probably use him as my cheap pitcher in DFS. He’s available in 75 percent of CBS leagues as well as more than 90 percent of ESPN or Yahoo! settings.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Tanner Roark vs MIA (Jarred Cosart)
I’m a fan of Roark, at least as a stream candidate, and I’m not a fan of the Miami offense. Look to utilize the right-hander against the sub-par Marlins bats in over 75 percent of the three major fantasy sites.