Tommy Milone

Being a pitcher who focuses heavily on command while limiting home runs, Milone is the near perfect pitcher for spot starting in Oakland. He only has 30 innings pitched in Oakland this year, but he has a very nice .179 wOBA against at home. In leagues with inning caps or where you can afford using a starter in only about half of his starts, Milone is the near optimal pitcher to use as a spot starter in home starts only.

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Headed into the season, the Red Sox outfield looked like a strength. Sure, Carl Crawford wasn’t going to be ready at the start of the season, but once he was, him Jacoby Ellsbury, and then a combo of Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney until Ryan Kalish got healthy — that sounded like a nice plan. Then the doctor came and gave the team the bad news. Their outfield had died.

But just because most of the Red Sox outfield has gotten bad news from the doctor doesn’t mean that you should just wash your hands of the unit and move on. After all, the Red Sox still score runs like an elite team, and even a one-category wonder like Sweeney can start to move the needle in runs and RBI thanks to their teammates. Let’s take a look at who’s playing now and where they should be owned.

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Back in early April, we took a look at a few catcher prospects that you should have had on your radar, both as long-term keeper prospects and potential 2012 call-ups in case something went awry on the major league level.  We’re a little more than a month past that first look and while none of them have set foot in the big leagues just yet, different aspects of their situations have changed and a re-visit seemed like a good idea.  Are they any closer to a shot in the majors, and if so, how long before we see them? Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since writing my first ottoneu Hot Right Now a few weeks back, I have been tracking the numbers and planning to cover the topic again. I’ve seen a number of players creep up into Humber-Territory, crossing into double-digit auctions, but when I pulled the numbers on Monday, something remarkable happened.

And that something is Matthew Adams. As of Monday evening, there were only four players with five or more ongoing auctions, but Adams had almost as many auctions himself as the other three (Todd Frazier, James McDonald and Craig Stammen) combined – 25 to their 15.

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Luebke! Banuelos! Bourjos! Today’s Roto Riteup has them all, and more.

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Of the 30 teams in baseball, 14 have already changed closers as a result of injury, ineffectiveness or in some cases, both. As a result of the extraordinary closer carousel year thus far we bring to you the Bullpen Report, which will provide you with daily updates on the most recent bullpen happenings, before your midnight waiver wire deadline.

• Henry Rodriguez’s days of closing might be numbered, if they even still exist at all. Henry Rodriguez entered the game tonight with a two-run lead in the 9th inning, seemingly business as usual. However, after a leadoff walk to John Mayberry and a Freddy Galvis fly out the wheels started to come off. With Mike Fontenot at the plate Rodriguez threw a wild pitch advancing Mayberry to second base, Fontenot singled moving Mayberry to third and then, with Ty Wigginton pinch hitting, Rodriguez threw another wild pitch which got him hooked in the middle of the at bat. Sean Burnett came on to finish the save, his 2nd of the year. Nationals Manager Davey Johnson has been patient with Rodriguez in the past, but with Rodriguez’s control issues (6.5 BB/9; eight wild pitches) Johnson might look to Burnett or Craig Stammen (who pitched 2 scoreless tonight and has a 2.05 FIP and 9.72 K/9 on the year) to close out games while Brad Lidge and Drew Storen recover from injuries.

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Today marks latest batch of trends in the American League outfield.

Bullish:
Mike Trout – I know that it is hard to be bullish on a kid who is as highly touted as Trout, but so far he has shown that he is as much production as we projected. His strikeout rate is a touch high, 22.7%, but he makes up for it with excellent power and speed. In just 88 plate appearances, he has four homers and 10 walks. To put that another way: he has as many walks as Albert Pujols does and Pujols has 176 PA’s this year. Trout is an absolute superstar in the making, if he isn’t already one. He is still available in 31% of Yahoo! formats somehow although ESPN leagues have been quicker to reel him in (that will be only Trout pun from me all season, I promise), as his ownership rating there is a healthy 94%. For anyone in any format in need of offense, Trout is a fantastic pickup.

Raul Ibanez – I’m surprised to say his name too. After his disaster of a 2011 season where he “hit” .245/.289/.419, he has shown that he isn’t finished just yet. Compare to last year, he has cut his strikeout rate in half to an unbelievably low 9.8% while upping his walk rate to 7.4%. I don’t expect that low strikeout rate to continue, but perhaps it is a sign of a major adjustment on his part? Just yesterday he hit his ninth home run of the year and a 25 home run season wouldn’t be shocking at this point. Given his surrounding lineup and his batting position of fifth against right handed pitching, his RBI totals should be nice shot in the arm as well. Once again we see that ESPN is quicker on the draw; his ownership rating there is 83% and it went up over 50% in the past week. Yahoo! lags behind considerably despite his LF and RF eligibility, he is only owned in 41% of leagues. Anyone in need of a solid OF bat that will play 4-5 times a week should pick up Ibanez. I know I am. Read the rest of this entry »

It can be difficult to write up some moves. For example, when one great reliever takes over a high-leverage role from another great reliever in the midst of having some bad luck, it seems there’s little to say. Sean Marshall is good, but Aroldis Chapman is better. Done?

Sean Marshall has a 1.42 xFIP based on a double-digit strikeout rate, a minuscule walk rate, and a great ground-ball rate that should lead to a better home run rate than he’s showing now. Aroldis Chapman has a 1.53 xFIP based on a double-digit strikeout rate, and above-average walk rate (right now), and an average-ish ground-ball rate that has been better over his career. What he does have, that Marshall doesn’t, is the velocity of a closer. Still humping it over the plate above 97 MPH, he has some of the best gas in the game.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some hurdles for him to overcome on his way to being a lights-out closer.

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Got a pair of back-end starting pitchers for you this week, one young and one old…

Anthony Bass | SP, RP | Padres | Owned: 26% Yahoo! and 16.9% ESPN

The Padres currently have four starting pitchers on the disabled list including three of their Opening Day rotation guys, forcing them to use retreads like Jeff Suppan and Eric Stults. Bass, 24, is the one replacement who doesn’t qualify as a retread. The right-hander owns a 2.89 ERA and a 3.29 FIP through eight starts and two relief appearances, and only once has he allowed more than three runs in an outing.

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Rickie Weeks has been struggling. The 29-year-old second baseman has never been a high-average hitter, but this season he’s reached a new low. Among qualified hitters, Weeks’ .154 batting average rates as the second worst in the league. Weeks has shown elite ability in the past, but owners are probably having some buyer’s remorse right now. And while trading him won’t bring back a fair return, owners are best sticking it out and hoping Weeks turns things around.

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