Roto Riteup: September 17, 2012

As much as I love fantasy baseball, I don’t much care for the stretch run.Too much stress on my mental frame. On a not totally unrelated note, I don’t care much for stretching or running either. Too much stress on my physical frame.

• Norichika Aoki is quickly becoming one of my favorite mid-season pick ups. Over the past month Aoki is hitting .294 with two home runs and eight steals. He’s scored 19 runs and driven in 13 over that time frame as well. Yesterday he cranked two doubles and then nabbed two more steals, bringing his season total of stolen bases up to 26. Honestly, it is hard to find a flaw in his game. He has 41 BB’s on the year against just 47 strikeouts. He has a shot at a 10 home run, 30 steal, .290 season — that is something I’ll happily take from one of my second basemen outfielders any year. Aoki is somehow owned in less than 30% of Yahoo! leagues. As of last week, his ownership rate in ESPN leagues was a mere 35%, but that has skyrocketed to 69%. If for some reason he is still available then go and grab him for your team’s final push. The Brewers are on fire as of late and Aoki has been on fire since July.

• If you happen to be looking for help at the hot corner, maybe Pedro Alvarez is the right choice for you. Alvarez launched two home runs yesterday to bring him to 29 on the year and now his RBI count is up to 80. He is a bit of a “three true outcomes” type player, as 46.9% of his 520 plate appearances have ended in a walk, strikeout or home run. If you can stomach the 30% strikeout rate, then Alvarez’s combination of third base eligibility and power make for a tantalizing package. He is owned in less than 60% of both ESPN and Yahoo! formats.

• In regards to our injury watch, it seems as though Troy Tulowitzki is safe to drop in re-draft leagues. The Denver Posts speculates that if Tulo returns, it wouldn’t be until the final week of the season. The Rockies have no reason whatsoever to rush him back, and while Tulo is certainly an asset, now more than ever playing time is important to fantasy owners.

• Including yesterday’s 4-for-6 performance, Yonder Alonso has nine hits and five walks in his past seven games. His seasonal line now stands at .273/.350/.393. He is yet to crack double digits in the home run department, but he does have 35 doubles. It would be nice to see some more power develop out of Alonso going forward, but even in the minors he never launched very many home runs. Going forward this season and looking ahead to next year, I like Alonso in OBP leagues as a corner or UTIL guy; I wouldn’t want him to be my first string first baseman.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Doug Fister at CHW
This is a bit of a risky pick, as the White Sox in that park have scored the fifth most runs of any team and home and rank fourth in terms of home wOBA. I think Fister can over come those numbers and post a solid outing.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Max Scherzer vs OAK
Yes, I’m picking against my beloved A’s here. I’m hoping the A’s get the win, but if Scherzer strikes out 8 along the way, I can live with that. Oh, and look for me in the crowd of this game, right field bleachers.

A Hitter for Today: Matt Joyce vs BOS (Aaron Cook)
Joyce smashes right-handed pitching. All in all, this seems like a pretty straight forward pick.