Roto Riteup: September 24, 2012

This may come as a surprise to you, but I consider myself to a fairly adept computer nerd. Sure, I ‘m not A+ Certified, but I know my way around a mobo. Yesterday I attempted to water cool my machine. It didn’t go very well. Actually, that is an understatement. It didn’t go at all. I’ll have to try again next weekend. Until then, the Roto Riteup will be brought to you by my seven different fans that I had to re-install.

• As the brilliant Jeff Sullivan pointed out last week, Cameron Maybin and his coaching staff have re-tooled his swing. Thus far, the results are standing up. Over his past 30 days, Maybin his hitting .333 with 13 runs and three steals. Maybin went 2-for-4 yesterday afternoon and ran once, although he was caught stealing. The fact that he was running was a good sign however, and Maybin could reach 30 steals with a final big push. He is owned in 41% of both Yahoo! and ESPN formats despite his ability to produce runs and a high, albeit somewhat empty, batting average. I’d grab him if you can, and I would actually ponder keeping him for next year.

• I’m sure he isn’t available in your league, but Carlos Santana has been killing the ball since the All-Star break. Prior to the Summer Classic, Santana had a .675 OPS; after the ASB he hitting at an .887 pace. That mark will only go higher given his two home run performance yesterday. After being a pretty easy “no” in the keeper debate earlier in the year, Santana is going to be an interesting choice for his fantasy owners now. Personally, I generally punt the catcher position in most leagues and stream whoever is available on a week to week basis.

• While on the topic of catchers, Josh Donaldson has been hitting quite well as of late. In his past two weeks of playing, Donaldson is hitting .271 with a home run and even a stolen base. Despite his catcher eligibility, he has actually seen the vast majority of his playing time come at third base this year. Given how shallow both catcher and third base can be at times, Donaldson makes for an interesting late season pickup option. He is available in 80% of Yahoo! leagues and 82% of ESPN formats.

• For the second game in a row, Kendrys Morales popped a home run. His seasonal total is now up to 22 and his RBI count sits at 71. Given that he has less than 500 plate appearances this season, these numbers are a good foundation for next season. There is a decent chance that he can help you this season, actually. As of right now Morales’ ownership rating in both ESPN and Yahoo! is hovering around 60%. He will be outfield eligible next season and assuming he and the Angels come to an arbitration agreement, Morales figures to be in good company in the lineup.

• Wellp, Cliff Lee further proved the to the masses that he just can’t win. Sure, he pitched eight innings of two (one earned) run baseball. And sure, he struck out 11 opposing batters, but the important part is that he didn’t get the win. He is now 6-8 on the year and should probably be DFA’d.

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: Andy Pettitte at MIN
This is about as good of a stream option as you’ll find. Although to be fair, it isn’t as though Pettitte is a bad pitcher. I like him enough to start him in several leagues here.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Josh Beckett at SD
Beckett might not be the same pitcher that he was a few years ago, but in the NL and in that park, I like him.

A Hitter for Today: Mark Reynolds vs TOR (Ricky Romero)
Reynolds is basically an all or nothing hitter, and Romero has been giving up a whole lot of everything this year.