Roto Riteup: September 29, 2015

Today’s Roto Riteup was penned while a number of episodes of The West Wing played in the background.

On today’s agenda:
1. Adam Wainwright to return tomorrow?
2. Quick Sonny Gray follow-up
3. Angels rotation shakeup
4. Streaming Pitching Options

Adam Wainwright to return tomorrow?
For a change of pace for the Cardinals, there is some good injury related news on the horizon. Wain-o could be activated and used out of the bullpen as soon as Wednesday, however no word is official yet. After tearing his left Achilles in late April, it seemed as though the 34-year-old’s season had come to an end after just four starts. While he won’t make another start in the regular season, I’d be surprised to see him not enter at least one game in the final days. Wainwright tossed a 25-pitch simulated inning on Monday and assuming his legs respond well enough expect him to be activated before tomorrow’s game. After losing Yadier Molina for the season due to his thumb injury and after a brutal collision between Stephen Piscotty’s head and Peter Bourjos‘ knee, the Cards are seemingly limping to the finish line.

Quick Sonny Gray follow-up
Monday’s Roto Riteup featured a snippet on the A’s ace, and apparently the team’s front office read it (haha, if only). I had hoped the club would shut Gray down after his hip injury continued to give him issues and they did just that. While not fantasy relevant — unless you plan to use a DFS stack — Gray’s turn in the rotation will be filled by none other than one of my favorite players from my youth, Barry Zito. The left-hander was touched up by the Giants in the Zito vs Tim Hudson showdown last week, and will be tethered by an approximate 70 pitch limit in what could be the final start of his career.

Angels rotation shakeup
The Halos signed Mat Latos in the wake of lingering issues with Jered Weaver and Matt Shoemaker. Though not eligible for postseason play, I expect Latos to make a start for the Angels in the closing days of the regular season. It seems likely for Nick Tropeano to start today’s match up against the A’s, but as the linked article notes, injuries in the LA’s bullpen could force the team to use Trop out of the pen and have Latos start today. I’ve had moderate success streaming Tropeano, however without a clearer picture of the rotation, it’s hard to suggest streaming him as the chance of him getting bumped for Latos is too high for my taste.

Streaming Pitching Options
If you enjoy streaming pitchers or play DFS, tune into the Roto Riteup for recommendations each and every day.

A pitcher for today: Marcus Stroman at BAL (Miguel Gonzalez)
I’m going to assume Stroman’s relatively low ownership rates are partially due to rosters locking for the playoffs in some leagues. He’s free to pick up — I mean, unless your rosters are locked of course — in over 50 percent of Yahoo! formats as well as 40 percent of ESPN and CBS settings.

A pitcher for tomorrow: Zachary Davies at SD (Andrew Cashner)
This feels like the third or fourth time I’ve picked against my boy Cashner, yet here we are. Davies should be able to handle a less-than-stellar Padres offense, one that ranks 27th in wOBA and 23rd by wRC+ against right-handers. Look to stream him in more than 95 percent of the three major fantasy sites.