Roto Riteup: September 8, 2012

Is it me, or is there something special about having a month with five Saturday’s in it. Either way, we’re now through 40% of our September allotted Saturdays.

• The FanGraphs team is like a big family. A big, nerdy, baseball loving family. The first cap here is thanks to our own Jeff Zimmerman for pointing out to me what a great debut Brock Holt is having. Brock initially started the 2012 season in Double-A, but he hit is way to Triple-A and then earned himself playing time in the big leagues this season. He has filled in admirably for Neil Walker at the keystone and might make for a solid replacement at shortstop for Clint Barmes. Sure, Holt has a .500 BABIP (in 21 plate appearances no less) but at this late of a point on the season, any hot hitter is worth riding. Holt is hitting .368/.381/.421. Holt has hit — and hit well — at every level in the minors, save for 32 PA’s back in Rookie Ball. Keep an eye on his playing time and where he starts defensively. If he makes room for himself at shortstop, he could be a nice late round draft pick for next season. In Yahoo! and ESPN leagues combined, Holt’s ownership rate is 0.1%. I just wish his first name was “Steve.”

• The Oakland A’s have called up Dan Straily and will presumably replace injured Brandon McCarthy in the starting rotation. The full extent of McCarthy’s injury was heard of in the past two days and thoughts and well wishes are extended to him and his family. In the meantime, Straily offers a ton of upside for strikeouts and although the A’s have the toughest remaining schedule, a good chance at wins too.

• As far as players returning from the 15-day disabled list, the Toronto Blue Jay’s activated both Brett Lawrie and J.P. Arencibia yesterday. Lawrie hasn’t hit quite as well as most anticipated, but a 101 wRC+ from a 22 year old who plays excellent defense at third base is clearly a valuable commodity. Of course his defense doesn’t matter for fantasy purposes, but it does more or less guarantee him playing time, and that is worth noting for fantasy leagues. JPA on the other hand, has come mostly as advertised: a low contact power hitting catcher.

• I suppose no one likes to be pigeon-holed, and that includes Lorenzo Cain. Just yesterday morning I called a “speedy outfielder.” I guess the label won’t stick because he hit a pair of home runs last night. His ownership rate is unchanged and he is still largely available in both major 5×5 websites.

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: Brett Anderson at SEA
Anderson against that lineup at Safeco? /swoon

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Edwin Jackson vs FLA
Jackson is probably better than you think.

A Hitter for Today: Yunel Escobar at BOS (Daisuke Matsuzaka)
Though he isn’t doing much of it this year, Escobar normally walks a good amount. That bodes well for him against Daisuke.