Roto Riteup: Thursday, August 11th, 2011

– The Royals continue to bring prospects to the big leagues, calling up catcher Salvador Perez. The 21-year old Perez is exactly what you would expect from a Dayton Moore catcher: his batting average is high, his walk rate is low, and he doesn’t have a whole lot of power to speak of. Still, the idea of a catcher with a high batting average is certainly attractive in non-OBP leagues, so it might not be a bad idea to give this kid a shot if you’re looking for a catcher in deeper than standard leagues. It sounds like he’ll be the main catcher in KC, and who knows, maybe he’ll hit .280? If you’re in deeper (dynasty) leagues, he’s certainly worth a shot if you’re in need of catching help.

– Minnesota Twins’ pitching prospect Kyle Gibson will not be undergoing Tommy John surgery, instead choosing to rehab the injury. Gibson has a partial UCL tear, and rehabbing is probably the best idea given that surgery would end his 2012 season, anyway, so trying to build up some strength and delaying surgery will not have an impact on when he’d be back to baseball. Gibson pitched extremely well at the start of this season, but he struggled recently before going down with this injury. Gibson wasn’t going to solve the Twins’ rotation problems next year, but he could have certainly contributed and given Ron Gardenhire another option to play with. If you aren’t in a dynasty league, I’d suggest dropping Gibson from your roster. If you are playing in a dynasty league, make sure you have enough bench spots to work with before deciding to hold on to an injured prospect.

– Curious how Desmond Jennings has done since he was called up? The Rays’ outfielder has hit .328/.423/.582 with three homers and eight steals. His BABIP is sitting quite high at .396, but the power he’s shown thus far has been nice.

A Pitcher For Today: Cory Luebke at NYM
I also like Jeff Niemann at home against the Royals, but he’s more widely owned than Luebke is at this point. The Mets’ offense is looking quite sad, especially without Reyes or Murphy in the lineup right now.

A Pitcher For Tomorrow: Mike Minor vs CHC
The Cubs offense doesn’t scare me, and Minor looked quite good in his last outing against the Mets. Give him a chance here.

PickSix Lock of the Day: Paul Konerko ($25.75) vs BAL (Chris Tillman)
Konerko likes fastballs, and Tillman doesn’t have a particularly good one.
Prediction: 2-4, HR; 16.6 points
Past Predictions: 6 players, $79.5, 19.2 pts