Roto Riteup: September 6, 2023
Nice assist!
Kickball 🤝 Baseball
(MLB x @Woodbridge_Wine) pic.twitter.com/Sx6KwqAcHb
— MLB (@MLB) September 6, 2023
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Quick Hits
Austin Barnes left Tuesday’s game with a head injury. He will enter concussion protocol. Consider him day-to-day for now.
Various News and Notes
Francisco Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a home run in the victory over the Nationals on Tuesday.
Alvy's feelin' 22 🚀 pic.twitter.com/KvxAzbGEi0
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 5, 2023
This was a nice night for Alvarez who had not hit a home run since August 1st. Alvarez has become the Mets full time catcher and gets in a lot as a pinch hitter on his day off, so there is plenty of volume there for him, but he has also struggled to make consistent contact in the zone. He will be a popular sleeper in leagues next season, but there are warts that need to be worked on.
Bo Naylor went 1-for-2 with a home run and a stolen base in the loss to the Twins on Tuesday.
Bo Naylor – Cleveland Guardians (8) pic.twitter.com/JdzvKFeZ35
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) September 5, 2023
Naylor struggled to begin his Major League career, but he has been on fire as of late, hitting four home runs in his last 11 games with a .308 batting average. He is likely not going to run this hot the rest of the way, but should be better than the .221 average we have seen in his Major League debut.
Nolan Gorman went two for six with two home runs in victory over the Braves
25 dingers for the 23-year-old Nolan Gorman!#STLCards pic.twitter.com/tqd08a9ArE
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 5, 2023
This game was the epitome of Gorman’s ability. He hit two bombs, but also struck out three times in the outing. Prior to the outing he had been hitting just .169 since the beginning of August with two home runs and a 40.6% strikeout rate, but he is the type of hitter that can get hot in a hurry as we saw with his 23 home runs during the months of April and May. He is a frustrating player to roster, but he has a tremendous amount of talent if he can make more consistent contact.
Yoan Moncada went 2-for-3 with a home run in the loss to the Royals on Tuesday.
Yoan Moncada – Chicago White Sox (6)
pic.twitter.com/cQJ183z6t1— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) September 5, 2023
Moncada has been on fire recently hitting .350 with three home runs since August 8th. However, the underlying numbers aren’t showing much of a change. He is making below league average zone contact and striking out nearly 30% of the time. He is getting extremely lucky on balls in play running over a .400 BABIP during this stretch. He will cool down at some point, so he isn’t worth anything more than riding the current hot streak.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)
Pitcher for Today: Matt Manning at NYY
Manning has been stellar lately and has a decent matchup versus the Yankees, though this feels very risky.
High Risk Options: Patrick Sandoval vs BAL, Touki Toussant at KC.
Pitcher for Tomorrow: Griffin Canning vs CLE
Canning has pitched well of late and gets a bad Cleveland offense.
High Risk Options: Zach Littell vs SEA.
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.