Roto Riteup: September 20, 2012

If my nickname of “Professor Pony” sticks, I think I’d be 100% okay with that. Season three is just around the corner — at least I think it will be soon, no one really knows — and it should be the best season yet.

• Brett Anderson is sidelined once again with a right oblique strain. Assuming the injury is similar to the average oblique strain, this all but puts a wrap on Anderson’s 2012 season. Sigh. Just about all that I want in life is to see Anderson have a healthy career. As far as fantasy baseball is concerned, Anderson should be dropped in all leagues.

• While we’re on the subject of injured players, Carlos Quentin has now missed his sixth straight game while battling knee issues. I’ve dropped Quentin in every league that I own him in and I suggest that you do the same. He is still considered day-to-day but I can’t justify having someone on my roster who may or may not play. This is the playoffs/final push.

• For a cheap — albeit flawed — source of power, Carlos Pena just hit his 18th home run of the season yesterday. He still only has 54 RBI’s and his runs scored is at just 69. He still has prodigious power that is capable of a four or five home run week, but his batting average makes him for a high risk, high reward play. He is available in 70% of Yahoo! leagues and 65% of ESPN formats.

• Did you know that there is a .293/.362/.414 middle infielder who is available in over half of ESPN leagues and 80% of Yahoo! leagues? And that said middle infielder is eligible at both second and third base? Furthermore, this infielder has been hitting like this for a stretch of over 300 plate appearances. If you haven’t guessed it yet, the infielder in question is Logan Forsythe. Not including last night’s game, his previous two weeks production stands at .378, 12 runs, two homers, six RBI’s and one stolen base. Go grab Forsythe before someone else does.

• Another hot player is Nate McLouth. No, really. Using the same arbitrary two week time frame, McLouth has two home runs, two steals, a .333 AVG and has scored 11 runs. His seasonal wRC+ is still below league average, but for the final two weeks of the season, McLouth might be worth a look. He is free to pick up in about 90% of both Yahoo! and ESPN leagues.

• While his overall line still shows some growing to do, as of late Anthony Gose has really come around. In the past 14 days he has hit .333 with a home run and five stolen bases. He already has 15 stolen bases in just 132 plate appearances this season. With the ability to steal at least four more (his ZiPS rest-of-season projection), Gose makes for a very appealing player to grab in the final games.

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: David Price vs BOS
Price is really good. The Boston lineup is really not.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Chris Carpenter at CHC
This would be Carpenter’s first start the season. Carpenter is owned in less than 40% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, so assuming this start goes well you can expect that number to sky rocket. Grab him now and stash him.

A Hitter for Today: Joey Votto at CHC (Jason Berken)
Honestly, Votto versus just about anyone is going to go in Votto’s favor. Throw a below average right-handed pitcher in front of him and it just isn’t fair.