Roto Riteup: September 27, 2012

Is it just me, or will the combination of the stretch run of baseball and fantasy baseball making life extra stressful? I am fully aware that I’m probably too old to care so much about baseball, but I do care this much.

• It took an 0-for-32 stretch, but Josh Reddick finally got a pair of hits in last night’s game against the Texas Rangers. Reddick has been a great surprise for not only A’s fans but also fantasy owners. His 29 home runs, 79 RBI’s and 11 stolen bases have made him a legitimate fantasy cornerstone. Only his batting average is lacking to make him a five category threat. Thinking ahead to next season, I’d expect Reddick to be drafted alongside upper shelf talent instead of being available on the waiver wire like this season.

• The Baltimore Orioles pounded out seven home runs in a victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. The complete list of O’s hitters to go yahtzee is Nate McLouth, Jim Thome, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, and Mark Reynolds. Both Machado and Davis hit two homers. Although there were the seven home runs, 12 seemed to be the number of the night. The O’s scored 12 runs, on 12 hits while striking out 12 times. I don’t know what that means either, but I just bought a dozen eggs and put $12 dollars of gas in my tank just in case.

• He may have had just one hit yesterday afternoon, but Jason Heyward still accomplished a very promising future fantasy baseball tidbit. That is to say that he stole his 20th bag of the season. With his 27 homers and now his 20 steals, Heyward joins the much coveted 20-20 player status. He is another outfielder that should see his draft stock rise dramatically next season.

• For the second straight start CC Sabathia pitched eight innings and struck out at least 10 batters en route to a win. He has a chance to finish the season with a 9 K/9 and less than 2 BB/9. He is about as elite as pitchers come. Barring a major disaster in his final two starts, CC will have his fifth straight season of a sub-3.50 ERA and the seventh time in eight seasons with a FIP below 3.50.

• At the time of writing, Justin Smoak has just hit another home run. That makes five long balls in 10 games and eight RBI’s as well. With 19 homers on the season, Smoak continues to show signs of being worth a draft pick come next season. His home park doesn’t do him any favors however, as he has just four dingers at home against 15 on the road. As for me, I personally still see him as a Utility player or reserve CI.

• Just because Jason Kipnis had one hit doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a big game. Kipnis drew three walks and subsequently stole two bases yesterday. That brings him up to 30 stolen bases on the year against just seven caught stealing. With 14 home runs, 82 runs scored and 72 RBI’s Kipnis is proving himself to be an excellent fantasy option at second base.

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: Dan Haren vs SEA
Haren has been up and down this season (mostly down in the velocity department, heyo!), but I like him here.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Tim Hudson vs NYM
I still wish Huddy wore an A’s uniform. Sigh.

A Hitter for Today: Tyler Colvin vs CHC (Chris Volstad)
Colvin hits right-handed pitching at a 124 wRC+ pace. And he is at home. Sounds good to me.