Roto Ritup: March 25, 2015

Slow drafts have been progressing and with the weekend fast approaching, there is no doubt more auction and snake drafts will be happening. Regardless of the format, here is the roto relevant news from yesterday:

On today’s agenda:
1. Lower your expectations in Atlanta
2. Jaime Garcia progresses
3. Quick thoughts on Matt Joyce

Lower your expectations in Atlanta
With apologies to Braves fans, who probably haven’t held out much hope since the club’s 27th ranked WAR projection was released, fantasy owners should also take note of two injury updates. David O’Brien opines that neither Mike Minor or Melvin Upton will be ready to roll for Opening Day. O’Brien goes so far as saying that each player may miss the entire first month of the season. Both Minor and Upton rate outside of the top-300 in standard mixed leagues, both do have value as options in deep and NL-only formats. With a new hitting coach in Kevin Seitzer, perhaps he’ll finally be able to put Upton’s Humpty Dumpty swing back together. Minor’s brutal 4.77 ERA last year painted an ugly picture over his 3.90 xFIP and 3.95 SIERA, though neither of those numbers are too sparkly themselves. Career worsts for Minor in the BABIP, HR/FB% strikeout rate and swinging strike rate are certainly cause for concern, though the BABIP is tough to blame him for.

Jaime Garcia progresses
Yesterday Garcia managed to complete an 80-pitch simulated game. Carlos Martinez may find himself the odd man out for the second consecutive year if Garcia wins the fifth spot in the rotation, though the picture isn’t clear just yet. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch notes the club is holding Garcia on a five day schedule, one that just so happens to line up with him landing in the fifth spot of Cardinals rotation. Coincidence or not, keep an eye on Garcia as a late round pick in case he does nab the fifth starter job.

Quick thoughts on Matt Joyce
Despite a nagging hamstring injury, Joyce will still be a solid option for daily fantasy sports players. He should get plenty of time in left field as the Josh Hamilton injury — and potential suspension — contributes to hurting Hamilton and boosting Joyce’s playing time. The 31-year-old Joyce has always hit opposite-handed pitchers well, posting a 123 wRC+ against righties since 2012. Count on using him as a budget pick for DFS or if he gets enough overall playing time, in AL-only or deep mixed formats.