Archive for Roto Riteup

Today’s Roto Riteup is being written by an author who is watching his favorite team blow another leader against the White Sox.

• Well now, it appears as though John Jaso is enjoying a (very) small power surge. He now has hit a home run in back-to-back games and is getting more playing time as of late. At the time of writing he is 1-2 on the day. He is still buried on the team’s official depth chart, but keep an eye on his playing time. In only 320 (and counting the rest of this game) PA’s, Jaso has an excellent .381 wOBA. Much of that is tied to his outstanding 33:36 walk to strikeout ratio, but if you play in OBP leagues he is worth owning, sporadic playing time aside. His fantasy counting stats aren’t impressive but that is more due to a lack of playing time than a lack of talent. If you’re hurting at catcher (and who isn’t?) then you may find value in Jaso. He is available to be picked up in 97% of Yahoo! leagues and 99.8% of ESPN leagues. Those numbers are tough to read as a lot of leagues are just single catcher formats, but Jaso deserves better than this.
Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the weekend! Huzzah! Grab yourself some breakfast and relax. On the subject of breakfast, I can’t be the only one who’s breakfast habits are vastly different on the weekend than during the work week. For example, I usually eat a hot breakfast on days that I work, but my off days consist of sleeping in too late and not wearing pants all day.

• Prior to yesterday’s 2-5 performance, Alexi Amarista had a .286 average with a steal over the past seven days. He hit a bit of a road bump with a 1-20 slump last week, but he seems to have even things out. Amarista sports a seasonal .270 average and with his above average contact rate and solid minor league track record of speed, his .293 BABIP is something that I think will be on the rise. With a GB% of 50%, that just gives me even more reason to be optimistic on him. His ZiPS rest-of-season is pretty gruesome, but I’ll still take the over on that projection. He should be freely available in about 90% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

Sticking with the food theme for now, today’s Roto Riteup is like a ham-and-cheese Lunchable. You’re giddy to have a Lunchable (the Riteup), but kind of let down that it isn’t the pepperoni pizza kind (Sanders). At least the ham-and-cheese kind (me) still comes with a fun sized candy bar!

• My old pitching frenemy Ubaldo Jimenez is back. He had an excellent outing yesterday and fanned 10 batters, but only lasted six innings and gave up three runs. His seasonal numbers are still brutal and his last five starts are a microcosm of his season: some awfulness, some excellence. At this point, it’s really anyone’s guess as to where the pinwheel of good Ubaldo/bad Ubaldo will land. If you’re a risk taker (i.e. chronic gambler) then go ahead and pick him up for the rest of the season. I for one will be leaving him alone. I’ve picked him up and dropped him more than my my old phone that broke because I dropped it too much. If you’re a risk taker, Ubaldo should be free to grab in 60% of ESPN formats and 50% of Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

Breaking news: I turn half-way to 50 today. Go ahead, get your “old man” jokes in now. Now that the big news is out of the way, here is today’s Roto Riteup:

• There was a homer bonanza fueled by Justin Morneau in Minnesota yesterday. He crushed a pair of home runs and drove in four runs. That brings him to 23 hits in his past 15 games, including nine extra-base hits. Morneau is still available in over half of Yahoo! leagues and almost 40% of ESPN leagues. Act now before people fully realize what a tear he has been on.
Read the rest of this entry »

I just got finished reading a write up of the Curiosity Mars Rover and I’m in the Riteup mood. For the sake of science, I hope you all watched the landings late last night (or early Monday morning if you live in the eastern time zone like yours truly).

• With Alex Rodriguez expected to miss the majority of the regular season (not to mention the beginning of the head-to-head playoffs), Eric Chavez seems to have had some serious playing time open up for him. Over the past seven games, Chavez had five hits—including a pair of home runs—and seems to be hitting better now than in recent years. Sample size aside, there are several important things I see with Chavvy. His ISO is the highest that it has been since 2004 and although ISO tends to stabilize very late, I have liked what I’ve seen from him so far. He has a higher walk rate and a lower strike out rate than in the previous two seasons and his contact rate is 3.5% higher than average. For the next four to six weeks, I’d say Chavez is a solid pick up. You should be able to grab him in almost 97% of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues.
Read the rest of this entry »

As you are reading this, I am headed down some highway on my way to Cincinnati. Today’s Roto Riteup is brought to you by summer: baseball and good times.

• I don’t know how many times I can talk about Todd Frazier in an article or mention him in the comment section. I am just such a fan boy. So far he’s making my love of him seem justified, as he has three home runs in past seven games. He’s still horrifically under-valued and under owned. He’s owned in a mere 13% of Yahoo! leagues and 10% of ESPN leagues. If he’s still available, please, for my sake: go pick him up.
Read the rest of this entry »

So the A’s are only 3.5 games behind the Rangers as of this morning. I don’t really know what else to say here. You know, other than the fact that my mind is blown. Here is some less mind blowing baseball news for today’s Roto Riteup.

• Yesterday’s game was Jemile Weeks‘ first three hit game since last September. He even stole the his 14 bag of the year. He has a double digit walk rate but his .252 BABIP is still in the toilet. His 88.6% contact rate is well above the 79.9% average and his 4.3 SwStr% is half of the 8.9% average. His GB% is up from last year, but one would imagine that his type of speed, more grounders would be a good thing. To my highly unprofessional eye, despite making contact at an excellent rate, it is generally weak contact. Soft grounders turn into ground ball outs and although it is a combination of things, he has already grounded into more double plays this year than last year, in fewer plate appearances too. Given his pedigree and minor league history, he seems like too good of a hitter to make this weak of contact for much longer. I don’t know if I would add him in shallow leagues just yet, but I would keep a close eye on him. He is owned in 32% of Yahoo! and not even 30% of ESPN leagues. For what its worth, I’d take the over on his rest-of-season ZiPS line.
Read the rest of this entry »

I’m torn. Today is Saturday, and thus the weekend, but it is also the last weekend in July. Where did the summer go? Seasons come and go, but don’t worry, the Roto Riteup isn’t going anywhere!

• The Zack Greinke trade has been covered by our own Marc Hulet and Matt Klaassen already, and will be followed up from a fantasy perspective a little bit later today. The deal itself sent Greinke to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for Jean Segura, Ariel Pena and John Hellweg. Both Pena and Hellweg can strike batters out, but issues with control seem to be seriously hampering their route to the majors. Segura is really the class of this trade, and is the only one with fantasy implications.
Read the rest of this entry »

Another day, another dollar Roto Riteup.

• In case you missed it (and to be honest, I have been missing it), Carlos Gomez has been killing the ball lately. With three home runs and seven RBI’s in the past four games, he looks like he could be worth owning for the short term. He even has a pair of stolen bases in that span too. His batting average and on-base percentage won’t do much for you, but the best slugging of his career has boosted his wRC+ to 111. He’s already surpassed his stolen bases totals from last year so that is a nice boost to his value too. He is owned in less than 5% of both ESPN and Yahoo! formats. I’d pick him up if you’re in an NL-only league or a deep mixed league.
Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Roto Riteup is an utter masterpiece. Good thing I had an infinite amount of monkeys working on this since infinity ago.

• Doug Fister had a fantastic outing last night by holding the Angels to one run and recording 10 strikeouts in his eight innings of work. He was a huge boost the Tigers last season after his trade from the Mariners and it looks like he could do the same again this year. I don’t particularly believe in first half and second half splits meaning anything, but it is worth noting that over his past three starts, Fister has 20 strikeouts to just five walks. Fister is owned in just over half of both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues. I’d pick him up.
Read the rest of this entry »