Daily Dr. Roto—May 22, 2018
Fantasy Baseball News and Notes
Mets SP Jason Vargas pitched great last night, but I still don’t trust him in seasonal leagues. He’s way too erratic and can’t seem to stay healthy. Moreover, his K: BB Rate scares me too much to invest heavily.
I would absolutely trade for Rangers 2B Rougned Odor. Although his batting average has been terrible for the past two seasons, he has legitimate 30 HR and 20 SB potential. How many other players can say that?
Although Aaron Nola gets most of the credit, I think that Phillies SP Nick Pivetta has been the unsung hero of their pitching staff. I would trade for him now and hope his current owner thinks he’s overproducing.
Welcome to the Show, Juan Soto! Monday saw his first ever home run in his first start. He could hit another 20 if he gets enough playing time.
Fantasy owners must be happy to see D’Backs 3B Jake Lamb back into the starting lineup. Lamb is terrific against RHP and could be a great source of power for those teams falling behind in that category.
The Baltimore Orioles are going nowhere, but Manny Machado is on his way out of town for sure. He’s playing out of his mind this season and should be the number one target at the trade deadline. I doubt the Orioles will want to move him to the Yankees or Indians, but the Dodgers might be open for a seasonal rental if they think that Machado can help them win a championship.
Although he looked awful in the first month of the season, Cardinals SP Miles Mikolas has settled down nicely and become an important part of the team’s rotation. Mikolas excels when he gets ahead in the count and really has a much better strikeout rate than people anticipated.
Paging Byron Buxton? Byron Buxton, where are you? Buxton’s been known to be a slow starter, but this is ridiculous. I can’t imagine the Twins sending him to the minors again, but he might get benched if he cannot get a hit.
Kudos to anyone who drafted Dodgers SP Walker Buehler on draft day even though he wasn’t in the team’s Opening Day rotation. With Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw injured, Buehler has stepped up and showed what type of phenom he is. If he continues pitching this well he could easily be a SP2 in Fantasy Baseball next season.
