Roto Riteup: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Today marks the third day of a new feature we will be trying out here at RotoGraphs. In an attempt to keep you, the fantastical reader, informed, we will be looking at some of the stories around baseball that have an effect on your fantasy team. Because this piece is ultimately being read by you, your opinion is requested. Please chime in using the comments and let us know what you would like to see from this piece.

– Brett Lawrie was lighting the PCL on fire before he missed significant time with a fracture in his left hand, and now he’s back and hitting well again. The 21-year old infielder has hit .319 since coming off the DL, mashing three homers in just under seventy at-bats. The power stroke may not be all the way back, but he could still be up in the majors by the end of the week. If you want to take a chance on him in standard leagues, now is the time to pounce on him to ensure that he is yours.

– For those of you in very deep leagues, Charlie Furbush is getting the start for the Mariners today. He hasn’t started a game in either the majors or the minors since the middle of July, so he probably won’t be going any more than five innings unless he’s completely dominant. With Erik Bedard and Doug Fister no longer on the team, Furbush could get a chance to start for the rest of the 2011 season. Furbush has some decent stuff that could play well in Safeco field, but he still needs a couple coats of polish.

– Cardinals’ top prospect Shelby Miller has been pitching pretty well in Double-A, but he hasn’t been dominant or made his mark as of late. St. Louis appears to be content with letting Miller develop at a slower pace, and they don’t have any clear opening in their rotation until 2013, anyway. If he finishes the season strong and does well early next season, we could still see Miller force his way into Busch Stadium in mid-2012.

– Carlos Gonzalez is trying to return to the Rockies’ lineup this weekend. CarGo has missed a couple of weeks with a wrist injury, so owners should be skeptical of how he will perform over the last two months of the year. CarGo may have started the season slow, but his overall numbers still look pretty darn good, so wrist problems could result in some extremely disappointed fantasy owners.

– If you have to watch just one game today, make it the Braves-Nationals early afternoon affair. The pitching matchup features a young fly-ball pitcher (Brandon Beachy) squaring off against a veteran sinker-baller (Chien-Ming Wang). The conflicting pitching styles should be interesting to watch.

A Pitcher For Today: Dontrelle Willis at HOU
Willis hasn’t exactly been good since his return to the majors, but he hasn’t totally sucked, either. Really, anyone starting against Houston right now has a chance to do something special.

A Pitcher For Tomorrow: Brett Cecil at TBR
The Rays’ offense is nothing special, and Cecil has been pretty darn good since he was recalled by the Blue Jays at the end of June. He won’t dominate the Rays, but he’s facing Wade Davis and I’d like to think he could get a win.

PickSix Lock of the Day: Asdrubal Cabrera ($23.25) at Boston (Tim Wakefield)
Cabrera is good, and Wakefield could have a bad day. Or, he could have a great day. Taking a chance on Cabrera is worth it.
Prediction: 1-3, HR, BB; 15 points
Past performance: $38.25, 17 points.