Just when the St. Louis Cardinal fans thought the closer position was settled down Bud Norris goes out and pitches like… well… Bud Norris. Not exactly analysis, but ask most Cardinal fans what they think of their bullpen at the moment. In a game against their biggest rival, the Chicago Cubs and a game where Miles Mikolas pitched a gem, Norris was one swing away from blowing this one.

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Is this thing on? Mic check… 1, 2, Mic check. “Were Doing it LIVE”. This is my first time here at the Roto Riteup so be gentle. I may not be Justin but I’m pretty sure standard procedure is to use a GIF in the intro…

We're more excited than @JustinMasonFWFB watching Chris Stratton right now pic.twitter.com/On7NmACtyQ

— RotoWear (@RotoWear) April 2, 2018

Am I doing this right?

On the Agenda:
1. Mookie the Great
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

Mookie the Great

Have a day why don’t you Mookie Betts… WOW! Betts, yesterday against the Royals, went 4 for 4 with three solo home runs. Currently, Betts leads the league in home runs, runs, slugging percentage, on-base plus slugging, and is second in batting average. If you can name the five best hitters in baseball and you leave him off the list, chances are you are just wrong. Also if he is not in your top five hitters you should probably consider what other bad life choices have led you to this point.

Various News and Notes

Edwin Encarnacion and his home run parrot got quite the work out against the Rangers. Encarnacion hit two home runs off Matt Moore and then another in the ninth for good measure. Going into the game Encarnacion was hitting just .171 but he made up a ton of ground with just a few swings on Wednesday.

Bryce Harper stole his fourth bag of the season yesterday, tying his 2017 season total. With the wheels in motion for Harper, he is currently on pace for 49 home runs and 22 stolen bases. Four players in major league history have hit 50 home runs and stole 20 bases… Willie Mays (1955), Brady Anderson (1996), Ken Griffey Jr. (1998), and Alex Rodriquez (2007).

James Paxton was almost unhittable on Wednesday night. Yes, technically he gave up five hits but he also was able to get 31 swinging strikes on 105 pitches and a total of 16 punch-outs. When the A’s made contact, which wasn’t very ofte,n it was extremely weak contact. Paxton held batted balls to just 83.6 MPH on average in this one. Think of it this way… Paxton turned a top-five offense in baseball into a team full of Adam Engel’s.

Streaming Pitchers

There is not a ton of streaming options but if you are feeling lucky, Mike Minor against *cough* the Red Sox could be a decent one. Now, wait before you blast me in the comments section or say mean things on twitter (fantasy_keith), hear me out. Boston is probably the best team in baseball but against lefties, they have struck out 25% of the time and hit for a league-worst .202 batting average. Minor on the other hand has managed to keep base runners off the base paths this year (1.14 WHIP) and has a 3.01 ERA in his last 104.2 innings pitched.

Bullpen Report – March, 30th 2018

With only eight wins on the season, the Orioles closer job has been pretty tough to speculate on so far this season. However, manager Buck Showalter did fantasy owners a big favor Sunday night by laying his cards on the table in their 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

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Life is full of guarantees… death, taxes, and Fernando Rodney finding himself on the closer hot seat. Its only April baseball and yet here we are again. Rodney fialed close it down Friday night with just a one-run lead. He would cough this one up in a fairly strange sequence of events.

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All 13 Tampa Bay Rays fans in attendance last night almost got a little too much excitement with their “closer” once again. Romo and Colome were both warming in the bullpen, up by three runs, as the Rangers threatened with two on, two out in the bottom of the eighth.

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As we enter the weekend, the Milwaukee bullpen continues to be the most volatile situation to speculate for saves. The word from the Brewers today regarding Corey Knebel was unfortunately bad news. According to the Milwaukee manager, Craig Counsell, Knebel will miss “a minimum of six weeks” with his left hamstring strain. For those who missed the injury, it was a lot worse than it sounds. Knebel fell to the ground after delivering a pitch in the 9^th inning down 6 to 0 in Thursday night’s game against the Cubs.

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Only a few games into the season and the relief pitcher body count has already started to mount. No, none of your fantasy arms died tonight but injuries to some top rated arms seems almost unavoidable in today’s game. Earlier today the Phillies placed Pat Neshek on the 10-Day disabled list with what the Phillies are calling “Right Shoulder Strain”. This only a day after Philadelphia placed late inning reviver Tommy Hunter on the 10-Day DL as well. Neither of those two were lined directly up for save opportunities but it leaves Hector Neris on a closer island all by himself with a somewhat secure ninth inning role, even after his implosion just a night ago.

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