Daily Dr. Roto — April 10, 2018
Fantasy Baseball News and Notes
— Rangers 2B Rougned Odor left last night’s game with an injured hamstring. This is the second time that Odor has missed time with this same injury. Look for the team to give him a few days off, but most likely he will be placed on the 10-day DL. If that happens, Jurickson Profar is expected to start in his place.
— Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo will be placed on the 10-day DL with a back injury. The original plan was for Rizzo to play on Wednesday, but with the weather as bad as it is, it looks like the Cubs want to give Rizzo another few days to rest up. His DL stint will be backdated to last Friday, so expect Rizzo to be back at some point in the middle of next week. Super fill-in Ben Zobrist will get most of the action at 1B until Rizzo returns.
— Red Sox SS Xander Bogaerts is going on the DL and is expected to miss about two weeks with a small fracture in his left ankle. This seems a bit conservative as I would expect closer to three weeks. This is a significant loss for the Red Sox as Bogaerts was mashing the ball and batting fifth in their lineup. Look for Brock Holt to get most of the playing time with Bogaerts out.
— I mentioned Royals SP Jake Junis both in my FAAB article last week and in my DFS write-up yesterday. He is legit. And although he may never be a huge strikeout guy, he is certainly someone to own in all AL-only and deeper mixed leagues.
— Marlins 1B Justin Bour is hitting a paltry .162. Look for him to start heating up in the coming days.
— Astros RP Ken Giles got the save on Monday night. The better news was that Brad Peacock came into the game in the eighth inning, so it looks like A.J. Hinch is not making any radical changes just yet.
— If you own Twins OF Byron Buxton you can’t be happy right now. He’s hitting a pathetic .161 with only 2 RBIs. Some players are slow starters and eventually heat up as the weather warms up — this might hold true for Buxton who did have an excellent second half in 2017.
— It’s only a matter of time before the Brewers realize that RP Josh Hader is the best arm they have in their bullpen. With Corey Knebel out for the next six weeks, the Brewers need to stop using Barnes, Albers, and Jeffress when Hader can do the job.
— With the Reds starters getting beaten up pretty good most nights, look for the team to start taking a closer look at Amir Garrett as a possible solution. Garrett has pitched well out of the bullpen thus far this season, but the Reds might need him more every 5th day to stop the bleeding.
— Reds minor league star 3B Nick Senzel has started to play 3B once again in the minors (now that Suarez) is out. He had been playing 2B and SS to give him more positional flexibility. This signals that the Reds are looking at Suarez’s injury as a long-term problem. If so, expect Senzel to get the call-up in the next 10-14 days.
DFS Plays
Starting Pitching
- Jacob deGrom (love his matchup vs. Miami)
- Aaron Nola (he should shut down the Reds)
- Patrick Corbin (has been sensational thus far)
- Tyler Skaggs (my Erasmo pitcher)
Stacks
- Rockies (Playing at Coors)
- Phillies (their bats have been red hot, and Homer Baily is a dumpster fire)
- Angels (Trout, Upton, etc. will dominate Martin Perez)
Sneaky Stacks
- San Diego Padres (love the park shift)
- Orioles (Sanchez is a terrific pitcher, but he is prone to blowups)
- Mets (thought they were going to blow up last night)
Visionary Plays
- Brian McCann — I’m not great at math, but 13 for 28 with 3 HR against Jake Odorizzi is worth noticing
- Justin Bour — Super contrarian play against deGrom
- Jurickson Profar — With Odor out, he should get the start and could be low owned.
