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Pitcher Playing Time Changes: March 19, 2025

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Below are the latest playing time changes for pitchers since Monday, with the Patrick Corbin signing further reshuffling projected starts for the Rangers.

SP Projected GS Changes, 3/17 to 3/19
Player Team Old GS New GS GS Change Reason
Patrick Corbin TEX FA 16 3 Will help cover starts, especially in the first half
Stephen Kolek SDP 8 11 3 Darvish injury opens up more starts
Adrian Houser TEX 5 2 -3 Corbin signings eats into PT
Yu Darvish SDP 29 26 -3 Elbow inflammation, hard to see him ready for Opening Day
Jack Leiter TEX 23 19 -4 Corbin signings eats into PT; maybe some RP innings later on?
Cody Bradford TEX 8 3 -5 Corbin signings eats into PT; could relieve when healthy

 

RP Projected IP Changes, 3/17 to 3/19
Player Team Old IP New IP IP Change Reason
Richard Lovelady TOR 26 55 29 Contract selected; not guaranteed to make roster but he’s out of options os he’s got a good shot
Anderson Pilar ATL 8 35 27 Perdomo trade, Farmer reassignment makes bullpen spot more plausible for the R5 pick
Luis Garcia LAD 16 33 17 Contract selected for Tokyo Series, would be odd to DFA him before Opening Day
Nick Hernandez HOU 44 28 -16 Optioned to minors after bad Spring Training
Blake Walston ARI 32 0 -32 Tommy John surgery

Position Player Playing Time Changes: March 18, 2025

Kareem Elgazzar / The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Below are the latest playing time changes for position players since last Friday. The highlight here is a couple Reds developments opening more playing time for Christian Encarnacion-Strand:

Position Player Projected PA Changes, 3/14 to 3/18
Name Team Positions Old PA New PA PA Change Reason
Jose Barrero STL SS, 2B, CF 21 105 84 Saggese/Helman optioned; Opening Day spot appears likely
Christian Encarnacion-Strand CIN DH, 1B 364 441 77 Benson optioning, Stephenson injury opens up more PA
Gavin Sheets SDP 1B, DH 56 126 70 Swing change is working wonders, but still battling a slew of hitters for DH/1B time
Masataka Yoshida BOS DH, LF 329 259 -70 Could start on IL as he’s still not throwing in games, Devers could eat up DH time
Will Benson CIN LF, RF, CF 175 98 -77 Optioned to minors, team already has Fraley, Friedl, maybe Lux as LHH OF
Tyler Stephenson CIN DH, 1B, C 525 434 -91 Even the most minor of oblique strains is multiple weeks
Jace Jung DET 3B 350 245 -105 Optioned to minors, unknown when he’ll work his way back up
Jesús Sánchez MIA LF, RF, CF 539 406 -133 Strained oblique could keep him out through April; will he face LHP when he’s back?

Pitcher Playing Time Changes: March 17, 2025

Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Below are the latest playing time changes for pitchers since Thursday, with the big development being the Rangers scrambling to fill their rotation after injuries to Jon Gray and Cody Bradford.

SP Projected GS Changes, 3/13 to 3/17
Name Team Old GS New GS GS Change Reason
AJ Smith-Shawver ATL 8 13 5 Great Spring Training could accelerate return to majors if Holmes or Anderson struggle
Jack Leiter TEX 19 23 4 Jon Gray injury; new pitch mix is working for Leiter but beware of walks
Landen Roupp SFG 11 15 4 13 Ks in minor league game buttresses strong push for SP5
Michael McGreevy STL 5 8 3 Just two runs allowed in 11.2 IP, could force team into six-man rotation or early switch to McG
Adrian Houser TEX 2 5 3 Increased velocity + Gray injury makes him clear SP6, maybe even SP5
Chase Dollander COL 16 19 3 Gomber injury may hasten MLB debut, stuff looks great; don’t worry too much about his Spring ERA!
Kyle Harrison SFG 19 16 -3 Velocity is finally ticking back up but running out of time to seize SP5
Jon Gray TEX 26 19 -7 Broken wrist on comebacker, will be out months

 

RP Projected IP Changes, 3/13 to 3/17
Name Team Old IP New IP IP Change Reason
Omar Cruz SDP 22 38 16 Optioned to AAA; started last year but best lane to MLB time is relieving
Doug Nikhazy CLE 56 27 -29 Looked to be in strong position for Opening Day bullpen but then was optioned; being outpitched by Allard
Evan Reifert WSN 50 13 -37 Horrendous Spring (30.8% BB%) makes R5 pick highly unlikely to make team; would be returned to Rays

Position Player Playing Time Changes: March 14, 2025

Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Below are the latest playing time changes (in plate appearances) for position players since Wednesday. Kristian Campbell might be an even bigger factor this year than we thought!

Position Player Projected PA Changes, 3/12 to 3/14
Name Team Positions Old PA New PA PA Change Reason
Victor Scott II STL CF 294 434 140 Having a fabulous camp, earning himself starting CF over Siani
Drew Avans ATH RF 14 84 70 Quietly solid camp; might be better to give Esteury regular time in AAA
Kristian Campbell BOS 2B, LF, DH 238 308 70 Turning heads after a slow start; Devers DHing more would open up 2B time. Might not be Opening Day, but soon!
Masataka Yoshida BOS DH, LF 399 329 -70 Devers DHing more would take away playing time; still hasn’t played OF this Spring
Michael Siani STL CF, RF, LF 259 175 -84 Nightmarish camp that’s the opposite of Scott’s; can be optioned but still has value off bench for defense
Jeff McNeil NYM DH, 3B, 1B, 2B, LF 518 427 -91 Oblique strain; unlikely to be back in MLB until late April at best
Joey Gallo CHW LF, 1B, RF, DH 168 63 -105 Striking out over 50% of the time in Spring Training; Jankowski MiLB deal pushes him off projected roster

Pitcher Playing Time Changes: March 13, 2025

Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Below are the notable pitcher playing time changes in the last 48 hours or so. For further detail on the methodology and more recent changes, my first rundown from Tuesday is here.

Starting Pitchers
Pitcher Team 3/11 GS 3/13 GS GS Change Reason
Stephen Kolek SDP 3 8 5 Taking to the rotation very well, might have a leg up on Hart
Zebby Matthews MIN 11 15 4 Could build on brilliant Spring Training and take starts from Paddack or SWR down the line
Landen Roupp SFG 8 11 3 Separating himself from Kyle Harrison for SP5 (keep an eye on Birdsong, too)
Michael McGreevy STL 2 5 3 Pitching great, but when will a spot open up for him?
Kyle Hart 하트 SDP 15 11 -4 Could start in bullpen; rainout knocked him out of his first start after 2 IP and he might not have enough time

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Position Player Playing Time Changes: March 12, 2025

Allan Henry-Imagn Images

There aren’t many big changes since our first iteration of this series, but knowing that it’s draft time, I’ll be keeping you posted on hitters every other day until the season starts! Here’s the playing time swings of at least 70 plate appearances since Monday.

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Pitcher Playing Time Changes: March 11, 2025

Dave Nelson-Imagn Images

Following up on yesterday’s post going over position player playing time changes, we now turn our attention to the pitchers. Unlike hitters, where all playing time is shown in plate appearances, we’re splitting into two tables here. Starters are shown with games started, and relievers are shown with relief innings. When looking at our projections on a player page, you’ll notice that for all relievers, innings and games pitched are the same; that’s just how our projection system works to allocate reliever innings. I’d pay more attention to the innings, since the projected games pitched number will often be higher than the actually-expected number simply to inflate a pitcher’s innings to what we feel is accurate.

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Position Player Playing Time Changes: March 10, 2025

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first iteration of Position Player Playing Time Changes! Since this is the first one of these, I wanted to lay out my process here with Opening Day fast approaching.

Our Depth Charts projections are extremely fluid, and RosterResource guru Jason Martinez makes many tweaks and larger changes every day. Knowing that, we found it prudent to provide a snapshot of the recent changes, looking at the last week. All we’re doing is pulling projected plate appearances for March 3, and comparing those to March 10.

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Reliever Roundup: April 27, 2024

Below you’ll find a roundup of notable reliever-related news from April 20-26 , organized by team (not every team will have notes).

You can also view the Closer Depth Chart for a full picture of bullpen hierarchies.

American League

Minnesota Twins

Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart have both filled in admirably, but Jhoan Duran appears to be nearing a return to the majors. His first rehab appearance on Tuesday didn’t go well, and he topped out at just 99 mph, high for anyone not named Mason Miller but a low top-end velocity for him. Still, an early-May return appears to be in the cards, which will return Stewart and Jax to setup roles.

Oakland Athletics

Mason Miller finally pitched on back-to-back days! I’ll believe three in a row is possible when I see it, but this firmly entrenches him as the true closer, rather than “closer when he’s available, which is TBD.”

Seattle Mariners

Matt Brash had his rehab from elbow inflammation paused indefinitely, and he’s going to see Dr. Keith Meister, which is almost never good news. His season could be in real jeopardy.

Texas Rangers

Kirby Yates‘ 11 scoreless innings have him entrenched as the closer, with Bruce Bochy preferring to deploy David Robertson as more of a multi-inning fireman. It’s deja vu all over again for José Leclerc, who’s back in a setup/middle relief role while he works on his control and command, similar to last year.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks

Paul Sewald will have his rehab slowed a bit, though it doesn’t appear to be a real setback. Kevin Ginkel should continue to close until Sewald’s ready sometime in May.

Chicago Cubs

Adbert Alzolay was removed from the closer’s role while he tightens up his command and hopefully gets less homer-prone. Hector Neris looks to be the closer for now, though he’s not pitching particularly well either. Keep an eye on Mark Leiter Jr., whose ERA is still 0.00, and Yency Almonte, who’s rebounded after a tough start.

Colorado Rockies

Justin Lawrence is on a roll and looks to have reclaimed the closer’s job that was very much not his in the early going, with Jake Bird, Nick Mears, and Victor Vodnik moving up the depth chart. Tyler Kinley continues to pitch poorly.

Milwaukee Brewers

The ninth inning will continue to be fluid until Devin Williams is back, but the latest is that Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill look to be the two guys. Abner Uribe’s control might just be a bit too spotty to be the last line of defense.

Pittsburgh Pirates

David Bednar was on a modest run of three scoreless appearances before giving up three runs without recording an out on Friday. But as I’ve been saying every week, he’s given himself plenty of leash and it’s not like Aroldis Chapman is pitching well either.


Reliever Roundup: April 20, 2024

Below you’ll find a roundup of notable reliever-related news from April 13-19 , organized by team (not every team will have notes).

You can also view the Closer Depth Chart for a full picture of bullpen hierarchies.

American League

Cleveland Guardians

Emmanuel Clase is of course the guy in the ninth, but it looks like Hunter Gaddis, who’s still unscored upon this year, is the backup. He’s struck out 38% of opponents, walking just 8%.

Houston Astros

Things couldn’t be going much worse for Josh Hader, but he’s obviously not going to lose his job anytime soon. He’s allowed more earned runs this year than he did all of last year.

Kansas City Royals

Will Smith continues pitching terribly, and James McArthur is the undisputed closer now, with just one walk to 12 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.

Los Angeles Angels

Robert Stephenson being out for the year means Carlos Estévez has almost no chance of losing his closing job this season, with Matt Moore the only other Angel reliever pitching well.

Seattle Mariners

I’ll probably continue to note every week that Andrés Muñoz is the highest-leverage reliever in the bullpen, but that Ryne Stanek will continue to get saves on days Muñoz is the fireman.

Texas Rangers

Kirby Yates has the team’s last two saves but it’s not fully clear that he’s the guy in the ninth, with José Leclerc pitching better of late and David Robertson always steady.

Texas Rangers

Kirby Yates has the team’s last two saves but it’s not fully clear that he’s the guy in the ninth, with José Leclerc pitching better of late and David Robertson always steady.

Toronto Blue Jays

Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson are back from the IL, and Chad Green is on it with a shoulder strain, so he’ll almost certainly be out for a while. Swanson looked rough in his first appearance back so Yimi García is still Romano’s top setup man, with Trevor Richards pitching in.

National League

Colorado Rockies

Things remain a mess here, with no clear closer with the Rockies so rarely in position to use one. Nick Mears and Victor Vodnik are the only two guys pitching particularly well out of the bullpen.

Milwaukee Brewers

Abner Uribe had been the closer to start the season, but he’s been pitching in lower leverage and often multiple innings lately. Manager Pat Murphy’s been playing the matchups instead, with Joel Payamps and Hoby Milner picking up saves. Just back from the IL, Trevor Megill figures to factor in as well.

Pittsburgh Pirates

David Bednar had yet another rough outing on Wednesday, but there’s still zero indication that he’s no longer the closer. Aroldis Chapman pitching poorly and then getting suspended probably takes some heat off Bednar for now anyway.