As the Dodgers prepped for their World Series matchup against the Blue Jays in late October, one man was unexpectedly left off the roster. Alex Vesia was a vital piece of the Dodgers’ bullpen, throwing 59.2 innings during the regular season with a 3.02 ERA, a 34% strikeouts and registering 25 holds and five saves. The announcement from the team stated that Vesia was dealing with a “deeply personal family matter” and his return to the mound for the World Series would most likely not happen. 

After the Dodgers clinched their second straight World Series championship, Vesia and his wife posted on social media that their newborn daughter had passed away on October 26th.

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• Daily SP Chart archive
• SP Rankings

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart.

The chart includes their performance for 2025 until we get some actual data for this year (I changed over in late-April last year), their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness from last year (not a perfect solution as teams change in the offseason, but better than using just a few days of data from this year), my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.

These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more value focusing on roto.

I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations, you don’t really need a shiny stat to be convinced on starting guys like that. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get you an answer when I can. I try to do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions.

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Wake up, bro!

Carter Jensen spoke to the media about the situation.

“I don’t really have an excuse, nor should I” pic.twitter.com/pqq7DA8qEf https://t.co/fmuQlAAoEA

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 3, 2026

On the Agenda:

1. Closer Chaos
2. Various News and Notes
3. Streaming Pitchers

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They say necessity is the mother of invention. And they are right. But you know what else is the mother of invention? People saying seemingly weird things and then stopping and thinking, “Wait, maybe this is something!”

That’s where the latest Ottoneu innovation came from, and it’s a fun one. During the heat of draft season, when we run out of things to talk about other than the 10,000th debate over Edgar Quero’s auction value, a discussion about slow auctions (the 10,000th of those, too) resulted in people to start making outlandish suggestions about how to run drafts. And then Ottoneu creator Niv Shah commented:

What if players were randomly distributed?

He immediately got an “I would sign up for that” response. I half-joked, “Randomly assigned players with randomly assigned salaries.”

“Error bars around last 10 salary,” Niv replied. “So some variance, but generally market.”

And from that “a random league” was born. And while this sounds like a gimmick there is real interest in it and real value to it (which you can see from that thread). Niv and I will be co-managing a team in that league and I want to talk about a) why I think this is not just an interesting experiment, but a useful concept and b) what Niv and I need to do as managers of our randomly created team.

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This ball cares not about Kauffman’s outfield fences moving in.

Jonathan India belts a GRAND SLAM ‼️ pic.twitter.com/sFM2hoT8my

— MLB (@MLB) April 2, 2026

On the Agenda:

1. Closer Chaos
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

Closer Chaos

Bryan Abreu SZN is back! (did it ever go away?)

Josh Hader’s placeholder in Houston was almost in need of a placeholder himself after a rough weekend — four earned runs in two appearances (1.1 innings) and a notable velocity dip, from 97 mph in 2025 to 93.2 mph on Sunday. He closed out Wednesday’s tilt by punching out three Red Sox, though he first allowed a pinch-hit homer to future Hall-of-Famer, Roman Anthony. Most importantly, Abreu’s fastball velocity averaged 96.

Up the leverage tree we go!

Jonathan Loáisiga locked down the victory for Zac Gallen and his new squad — no strikeouts and two hits allowed — not pretty, but he got the job done. Loáisiga earned the opportunity because new (old) closer Paul Sewald had pitched three of the last four days. He and Ryan Thompson are the primary setup men for Sewald with Kevin Ginkel shoved down the leverage tree due to his struggles. Meanwhile, A.J. Puk has been throwing multiple bullpen sessions as he works his way back from Tommy John surgery. Puk is expected to return around June.

The chaos continues in the Rays bullpen as Griffin Jax allowed five runs (three earned) on three hits and a walk without getting a batter out. He has a 22.50 ERA in four appearances. Something is definitely wrong because he’s been a top five setup man since 2023. This technically isn’t closer chaos since Jax hasn’t been utilized in save situations. Roster Resource currently lists Bryan Baker as the team’s closer.

Quick Hits

Carlos Estévez was placed on the injured list with a foot injury. Lucas Erceg snagged his second save of the season on Wednesday and is about to run away with the job. “Toto, there’s no closer chaos in Kansas anymore!”

Carlos Rodón draft stashers like yours truly were frightened by a report on Tuesday that he felt tightness in his right hamstring. Rodón threw on flat ground and on the mound Wednesday, though he must still visit with team doctors to gauge the severity of this issue. We should know by the weekend if he is still on track to return in April or if this new injury will delay him into May.

The Triston Casas Saga continues as he has now been shut down with a left intercostal strain. Guess there will be more Tumblr posts in store.

baseball is really back triston casas is posting like he’s on tumblr pic.twitter.com/5sPpdBAjBH

— big headass bong yoda (@gummysalamander) March 26, 2026

Various News and Notes

Garrett Crochet was not happy with his performance.

That’s the kind of attitude you want from your ace. Got to respect the high standards. Yusei Kikuchi would call an outing of 4 ER on 6 H with 7 K an no walks a good day at the office.

Shea Langeliers is off to the races in his quest to wipe Cal Raleigh off the record books. This was his fifth homer in six games.

Justin Crawford walked it off for the Phillies — his third single of the game.

I would like to officially be the first one to share a fact that on one else knows — Justin is Carl Crawford’s son!!! <mutes comments section>

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: David Peterson (LHP, New York Mets)

Peterson is always at risk of hurting our WHIP, but this is a good matchup against a Giants offense that can be neutralized by the veteran lefty. The key will be getting around Willy Adames. The current Giants roster has no home runs in 88 lifetime plate appearances against Peterson.

Other Options: None

With Blue Jays-White Sox postponed, there are only three games. The only sub-50% rostered pitcher on Yahoo on the slate besides Peterson is Taj Bradley and I do not recommend starting him in Kauffman against Kyle Isbel and company.

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Reid Detmers (LHP, Los Angeles Angels)

The Angels will be underdogs and the game won’t be played in that lovely pitchers’ haven in Seattle, but Detmers can carry momentum from his last start into this one. The Mariners most locked in hitters are lefties (Brendan Donovan, Luke Raley, Dominic Canzone) and righty Julio Rodríguez is going through it right now.

Other Options: Joe Boyle (RHP, Tampa Bay Rays)

Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even larger entry fees ($2.5K to $15K). They are named Elite leagues (previously called High Stakes Leagues), and there are seven of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

American League

Astros

• The manager thinks Cam Smith could steal 15 to 20 bases.

Manager Joe Espada believes Smith is capable of stealing “15 to 20 bases,” even though he attempted just nine steals as a rookie. A .312 on-base percentage didn’t help matters — and must increase this season if Smith hopes to harness one of his most tantalizing tools.

“Mentally, I wasn’t fully committed to it,” Smith said Sunday morning. “Now I’m like, ‘OK, I want to help these guys win. I want to do anything I can. I’ve got the tool to run, and I’m going to use it.’”

To harness this motivation, Smith must become a better student of the game. Clark is overseeing the process. He will sit in silence after Smith gets the iPad.

“I want him to see if he can pick up something different than what I have,” Clark said Sunday morning. “And he did that yesterday.”

As the blurb states, Smith hasn’t been much of a base stealer, but he could beat his projection of 8 SB. Read the rest of this entry »

This was not an April Fool’s Day prank:

CB Bucknor strikes again, this time saying the runner did not touch first base. He very clearly did pic.twitter.com/zn6k9RtLXl

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 1, 2026

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• Daily SP Chart archive
• SP Rankings

Welcome to the Daily SP Chart.

The chart includes their performance for 2025 until we get some actual data for this year (I changed over in late-April last year), their opponent’s wOBA versus the pitcher’s handedness from last year (not a perfect solution as teams change in the offseason, but better than using just a few days of data from this year), my general start/sit recommendation for 10-team, 12-team, and 15-team (or more) leagues, and then a note about some, most, or all depending on the day. Obviously, there are league sizes beyond those three so it’s essentially a shallow, medium, deep. If a pitcher only has an “x” in 15-team, it doesn’t mean there’s no potential use in 10s and 12s, but it’s a much riskier stream for those spots.

These are general recommendations, and your league situation will carry more weight whether you are protecting ratios or chasing counting numbers. This is for standard 5×5 roto leagues. The thresholds for H2H starts are generally lower, especially in points leagues so I thought there would be more value focusing on roto.

I usually won’t have much to write about aces who are locked into our rotations, you don’t really need a shiny stat to be convinced on starting guys like that. If you want to discuss someone further, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get you an answer when I can. I try to do a few sweeps of the comments before game time in case there are time-sensitive questions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Trades are the lifeblood of fantasy baseball home leagues. The conversations around them help keep us connected, engaged, and make our league more fun. Striking deals isn’t always easy. There are often hurt feelings around lopsided proposals, league-mates who value players differently, and that one guy who wants to veto everything. We can improve our fantasy squads with the waiver wire, but our collective hit rates are low. Quite often, those pickups backfire in the form of a hitter’s cold streak or a pitcher’s blowup, which inevitably leads to dropping the player. The one facet we have control of in home leagues is trading.

Managers are often emotionally tied to certain players – specifically, ones they’ve drafted or ones they targeted in drafts and missed. Also, we’re not all great at zooming out for a long-term view and not being stuck in the moment. Good analysis can be washed away by recency bias and small sample sizes. No one can force us to make a deal, so it’s the one element of the game we have some control over and can use proper value assessment and negotiation techniques to our advantage.

This column will recommend hitters and pitchers to attempt to sell-high or buy-low, and touch on trade strategies. No two leagues or two managers are the same. You know your league-mates best: what kind of deal they’ll scoff at, which player type they’re willing to deal or acquire, and how good their player and market valuation skills are. I’ll do my best to dig deep and present realistic opportunities. If there’s someone in your league who will swap their Josh Naylor (0-19 through five games) for a red-hot Joey Wiemer, it’s probably time to find a new manager for their spot, or a more competitive league. Early in the season is usually a great time to take advantage of a good deal, as we can potentially lean into targeting players who are off to slow starts. We can also use fandom to our advantage, specifically when we know a league-mate is a diehard fan of a specific Major League team and may be blinded by subjectivity.

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