Roto Riteup: September 28, 2018
The Roto Riteup is racing to home plate at full speed!
.@JLester34: speed demon. #SeptemberBaseball pic.twitter.com/UTedDkeGIV
— MLB (@MLB) September 28, 2018
On the Agenda:
1. Various News and Notes
2. Streaming Pitchers
Various News and Notes
David Dahl continued his recent hot streak yesterday against the Phillies, going 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth in as many days.
The phone just keeps ringing!
Four days, four dingers! #BetterCallDahl ? pic.twitter.com/0HJxSLGjTu— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 27, 2018
That gives him a hit in seven of-his-last eight games overall. It’s certainly been a tumultuous couple of years for Dahl when you consider injuries and lack of a defined role. However, as of now he should be on all rosters as the Rockies will face the Nationals at home in Coors Field for the remaining three games. He’ll continue to play and he’s a top-10 player over the last week. Looking ahead to next season, Dahl should have a chance to take a starting spot on the Rockies Opening Day roster. He’s currently hitting .282/.331/.534 with 14 HR, 29 R, and 44 RBI with a .252 ISO over 254 PA this season. He’s also five-for-seven in SB attempts. He’s going just inside the top-150 in the 2 Early Mock Drafts, making him a possible bargain heading into 2019.
Ken Rosenthal gave us an update on Addison Russell:
MLB has extended Addison Russell’s administrative leave through Sunday, the final day of the regular season, a source tells The Athletic. As I reported yesterday, every previous case of a player going on AL resulted in the player agreeing to a suspension without appeal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 27, 2018
This is a very, very unfortunate situation. I have many thoughts, but we’ll keep this geared towards fantasy, where he hasn’t been viable since 2016. Keeper/dynasty league owners should expect a suspension.
Adalberto Mondesi continues to gain steam towards his draft stock in 2019 as he went 1-for-4 with his 13th home run of the season, a walk, and two stolen bases to kick his season total up to 30. He’s currently going 74th overall on average in the 2 Early Mock Drafts and it could possibly be even higher going into next season. While I recommended him for the stretch run on this very platform a couple of weeks ago, I think it’s insane to pay that high of a cost heading into next season. This is a player with horrible plate skills that will kill you in points leagues. He could provide some value in H2H category formats and roto, but the downside is as great as his upside. He’s going to be a very polarizing player to discuss this offseason.
Twins catcher Willians Astudillo had another solid performance against the Tigers on Thursday – going 2-for-4 with a run and four RBI. He’s playing and has tallied a hit in six-straight games. His line over 82 PA stands at .357/.372/.524 with three home runs and 19 RBI. With catching being as terrible as ever, I think he could be a decent player to use over the next three days against the White Sox. If were being honest here, he’s also extremely easy to root for.
Willians Astudillo turned on the BURNERS ? pic.twitter.com/1TFUR4Qqzi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 13, 2018
Streaming Pitchers
Since it’s the last few days and everyone reading this is in various leagues of different sizes, I’m going to list a few options for each day. A few of them may be higher than the 20% threshold that I usually set, but for the most part I’ll try and stay under that.
Pitchers for Today: Wade LeBlanc vs TEX, Corey Oswalt vs MIA, Tyler Glasnow vs TOR
Good matchups for all three here. Glasnow was pummeled by the Blue Jays the last time he faced them, but I think that was more of a fluke based on how he’s pitched since joining the Rays.
High-Risk Options: Jaime Barria vs OAK, Nick Kingham at CIN, Anthony DeSclafani vs PIT
Pitchers for Tomorrow: Steven Matz vs MIA, Jacob Nix vs ARI, Ryan Borucki vs TAM
None of these guys present much upside, but I believe they’re fairly safe options that should be available in most formats (maybe not Matz).
High-Risk Options: Trevor Richards at NYM
Mets are awful at home and Richards is coming off a stellar outing against the Reds.
Fantasy Baseball and Tampa Bay Rays enthusiast. Restaurant manager by day, fantasy analyst by night. Contributor to Rotographs, Baseball HQ, Fantasy Pros, and co-owner of Friends with Fantasy Benefits. Follow me @MikeWernerFWFB.
Astudillo looks like half the dudes on my slow-pitch softball team, just with way better hair…
Many thanks to Roto Riteup for the great advice and insight this year. I picked up Dahl, Mondesi, Voit and Astudillo all within the last two weeks. I currently lead my H2H Championship Series by a wide margin with three days to go!
Roto leagues if he hits 15 hrs and steals 40 bases he is going to have tremendous value even with a .220 batting average.
I’ll admit, as much as I’ve been shaming his recent value for next year, that stat line is my possible nightmare. Maybe that’s the argument. Is a player who has the ability to go 15/40 a top-75 draft pick no matter how bad his approach is? We don’t know his role for next season either, but I guess my main worry is just how bad of a hitter he is. We see bad hitters be great for fantasy all the time though. We’ll see what happens.
Geez, how bad a hitter do you really think he is? He has 828 plate appearances the past two seasons, all at AAA or MLB and almost all at age 21 and 22, and he has hit .280 (along with 32 HRs and 80 SBs). That is way too many plate appearances to be some kind of major fluke. Sure, he strikes out a lot, and yeah, he rarely walks — noone is saying he has a good approach. But the guy can hit, and at barely 23 years old, he might get better not worse.