Roto Riteup: March 30, 2015

The Roto Riteup is back for 2015, baby! David Wiers and I will be your hosts for yet another year, providing white hot baseballing content on a daily basis during the regular season. For the next couple weeks leading up to Opening Day, we’ll be publishing on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to keep you up to date on news of interest around the fantasy baseball universe.

If you have any suggestions for the 2015 RR — other than replacing Wiers with someone who doesn’t love My Little Pony — please do leave them in the comments.

On today’s agenda:
1. Odubel Herrera slated for CF in Philly
2. Garrett Richards not likely to be ready for first start
3. Devin Mesoraco leaves with a cramp
4. Select projections from your handsome author

Odubel Herrera slated for CF in Philly
While nothing is official, the Rule V pick is currently expected to start up the middle for the Phillies, with Ben Revere moving over to left field to accommodate the youngster. While a minor leaguer in the Rangers system, Herrera hit .321 in 368 Double-A ABs. stealing 12 bags and cranking two homers while playing primarily second base. In what will be a lost season in the City of Brotherly Love, the team might as well see what they have in Herrera, but he doesn’t project to be anything special. ZiPS is the most optimistic, pegging the 23-year-old for a .274 average with 15 steals in 522 ABs. There’s no need to draft Herrera in anything but a deep NL-only league, but it should still be a fun story to keep an eye on.

Garrett Richards not likely to be ready for first start
The Angels don’t even need a fifth starter until April 14, but they don’t even expect Richards to be ready by then. Richards has been active this spring — more so than expected — but it’s easy to see why the Halos would want to keep Richards from rushing back. Richards may not repeat his 2014 performance, but it’s safe to say he’s got one hell of an arsenal and is fun to watch. Until Richards is healthy enough to return, expect Andrew Heaney to pitch in his stead.

Devin Mesoraco leaves with a cramp
Mesoraco hurt himself on the basepaths yesterday, reportedly suffering a cramp in his left quadricep. Mesoraco should be ready for Opening Day if the early diagnosis is correct, but if it’s something more serious, the Reds’ catcher won’t be ready to go next week. Keep all this in mind if you’ve yet to draft for some reason.

Select projections from your handsome author
While my rankings are very much public, my projections are not generally published. Today, you get a peek behind the curtain, but mainly an extra chance to mock me.

Matt Shoemaker: 185 IP, 16 W, 155 K, 3.30 ERA, 1.18 WHIP
Zack Greinke: 200 IP, 17 W, 189 K, 2.80 ERA, 1.16 WHIP
Nate Karns: 140 IP, 5 W, 145 K, 4.50 ERA, 1.32 WHIP
Chris Tillman: 205 IP, 15 W, 158 K, 3.70 ERA, 1.26 WHIP





Zach is the creator and co-author of RotoGraphs' Roto Riteup series, and RotoGraphs' second-longest tenured writer. You can follow him on twitter.

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Scott
8 years ago

Why such a high ERA for Karns?