Riley – 1, Wall – 0

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This was a cool moment over the weekend:

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Can’t stop this man!

On the Agenda:

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

Closer Chaos

Is this the worst start to the season for closers ever? The chaos continues:

• Lucas Erceg (Royals) – first blown save; ERA is up to 6.14
• Clayton Beeter (Nationals) – second blown save; got the win; Orlando Ribalta earned his first career save
• Dennis Santana (Pirates) – took the loss in the 10th
• Ryan Walker (Giants) – entered the game after the starter (7th inning); Keaton Winn pitched the 8th, Erik Miller got the save
• Seranthony Domínguez (White Sox) – blew his second save of the year and took the loss
• Trevor Megill (Brewers) – pitched a clean inning, but it was the eighth (2 Ks); Angel Zerpa notched the save; Abner Uribe was unavailable
• Jakob Junis (Rangers) – came on in the 7th and got two outs; came back in the 8th, gave up a single, a double, and IBB to load the bases; was pulled for Jacob Latz, who gave up a bases-clearing double, hanging Junis with 3 ER

Meanwhile, Mason Miller struck out the side again and his extended his scoreless streak to 30.2 innings:

Miller has 23 punchouts in 9.1 innings — a 76.7% strikeout rate.

Various News and Notes

Cleveland Guardians rookie pitcher Parker Messick took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning, serving up a single to Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras.

Messick set a career high in strikeouts (eight) and boasts a 1.05 ERA and 0.78 WHIP through his first four starts.

San Francisco Giants righty Landen Roupp dominated the Reds on Thursday. He allowed just one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings. His ratios are down to a sparkling 2.38 and 0.97. Another late-round gem…at least, so far.

Braves veterans Sean Murphy and Spencer Strider both started their rehab assignments in High-A on Thursday. Strider threw 50 pitches (27 strikes) over 3.1 innings. He struck out three and allowed two walks and one hit. Most importantly, his fastball velocity sat between 95 and 97 mph, which is exactly what we want to see. Strider will continue to build up his pitch count, make another couple of starts in the Minors, and return to the Braves in early May, barring a setback.

Angels manager Kurt Suzuki mentioned Chase Silseth as a candidate for save opportunities if Jordan Romano is removed from the role. Silseth has 6:4 K:BB in 6.1 innings. Meanwhile, Kirby Yates (knee) should be starting a rehab assignment soon.

Streaming Pitchers

Pitchers for Today: Michael Soroka (RH, ARZ, 60% on Yahoo!)

Cheating on the %-rostered a bit since there aren’t many viable streaming options. The Diamondbacks will be home favorites and Soroka has pitched well so far.

Other Options: Zack Littell (RH, WSH, 7%)

Littell is a plus control and location guy, but this is more so a bet against the Giants.

Pitchers for Tomorrow: Lance McCullers Jr. (RH, HOU, 22% Y!, down 2% in the last 24 hours)

The Astros pushed their rotation back by a day and McCullers will now start against the Cardinals on Saturday. He threw a gem in his only home start (1 ER, 9 K in 7 IP), but was knocked around in his road starts.

Other Options: Cade Cavalli (RH, WSH, 10%)

Cavalli has been shaky this season (8 ER, 12 BB in 15.2 IP). We don’t have much in terms of streaming options on a slate filled with aces. Let’s pick on the Giants, the lowest-scoring team in the Majors, in hopes of a Cavalli bounce-back start.

Sorry, Julio. It’s not the second half of the season yet!

On the Agenda:

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

Closer Chaos

It was a rough one. We might be here awhile.

Andrés Muñoz entered the game with a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth (non-save situation) and got hammered for five earned runs on four hits and a walk. His ERA ballooned from 3.00 to 9.45 and he’s up to free passes in 6.2 innings. It was his first appearance since last Saturday. The outing won’t cost Muñoz his job, but we’re certainly all #onwatch. Matt Brash is likely next in line, should it come to that. He’s currently the only Mariners reliever who has yet to allow a run.

The Mets’ woes continue as they’ve lost eight straight and are one loss away from their longest losing streak in 22 years. Closer Devin Williams entered the game in the eighth down 3-1 and fell apart at the seams…literally. The destruction culminated in a Dalton Rushing grand slam:

FIRST CAREER GRAND SLAM FOR DALTON RUSHING 🔥

LA breaks open the scoring in the 8th inning! pic.twitter.com/6r4zqvvP2o

— ESPN (@espn) April 16, 2026

Williams won’t lose his job for this. These were his first runs allowed as a Met and Luke Weaver has been much worse (6 ER in 6.2 IP: an 8.10 ERA).

Remember when I made fun of A’s reliever Joel Kuhnel on Monday? Well, life comes at us fast and the roto gods humble us quickly. He picked up his third save of the season and looked good doing it.

Kuhnel entered the contest with two outs in the eighth after Mark Leiter Jr. served up a three-run, pinch-hit bomb to Jake Burger, got the final out and pitched a clean ninth. Lefty Hogan Harris came on in the fifth inning after starter J.T. Ginn and was credited for the win. Kuhnel looks like the guy right now.

Enyel De Los Santos has scored saves in back-to-back games and might be in the mix for more opportunities. The 30-year-old is on his eighth Major League team in eight seasons and owns a career 4.39 ERA. Bryan Abreu earned a hold in Wednesday’s game, walking one batter and punching out two. Abreu brought his ERA down to 12.79.

With Trevor Megill having the night off after a rough day on Tuesday (3 ER), Abner Uribe was called upon in the ninth to secure a 2-1 victory over the reeling Blue Jays, and he delivered. Despite manager Pat Murphy coming to Megill’s defense when Brewers fans booed him on Tuesday, Megill is officially #onwatch.

I’d like to think this is a safe space, but since there’s a comments section and some of you may have picked this guy off waivers two weeks ago, I won’t bring him up, but can tell you his name rhymes with Gordon Soprano. Let’s hope he travels with the team and doesn’t accept an offer to ride the scenic route home through the Nevada desert.

Quick Hits

Angels outfielder Jorge Soler had his suspension dropped to four games and he began serving it on Wednesday. He should be back in the starting lineup on Sunday when the Angels face Michael King and the Padres.

Players placed on the injured list on Wednesday: Jared Young (1B, NYM), Kyle Freeland (SP, COL, should help his ERA), Chris Martin (RP, TEX) and San Francisco Giants outfielder Harrison Bader, who was slashing .115/.145/.192 through 15 games. Fellow outfielder Jared Oliva also went on the IL. The Giants called up Will Brennan (a right-handed hitter who should start against LHPs only) and local fan favorite, Drew Gilbert.

Various News and Notes

A warm welcome to White Sox’ new infielder/outfielder, Sam Antonacci, who made his Major League debut on Wednesday! He batted fifth, started at second base, and singled in his first career at-bat.

You might remember the 23-year-old from the WBC as the only hitter from Team Italy you didn’t recognize, but were 100% certain was Italian. Samuel Joseph Antonacci batted .291 with 48 swipes between High-A and Double-A last season. He also has the Pope’s blessing.

The Shota Imanaga vs. Jesús Luzardo battle in the Cubs-Phillies tilt was supposed to must-watch television. Unfortunately, Phillies fans and those of us rostering Luzardo had to turn the tube off. Luzardo got bombarded for eight earned runs and 12 hits in 5.1 innings, ballooning his already-high ERA up to 7.94. Luzardo served up six earnies in his first start then bounced back in Coors for 6.2 scoreless innings and 11 strikeouts. Remember, last season, he gave up 20 runs in back-to-back starts, but allowed two runs or less in 50% (16-of-32) of his starts. This is just how he rolls…it’s a roller coaster! We can’t drop him, so we just have to keep riding.

Meanwhile, Imanaga twirled a masterful gem (6 IP – 3 H – 1 ER – 1 BB – 11 K). In his previous start, Imanaga hurled six shutout innings and punched out nine Pirates.

Just when history and trends tell us that Reds rookie Sal Stewart is due to cool off, he takes it up yet another notch! Stewart hit three-run dingers in consecutive at-bats on Wednesday — both off former Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle, who was making his first start in Cincinnati in another uniform.

The kid teammates call “Salert” leads all rookies with seven home runs.

Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole’s rehabs are going well and Cole is ready to begin a rehab assignment in the Minors.

Cole and Rodon have been eating well in during their rehab stints 👀🤌 pic.twitter.com/2FHonkvZWz

— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) April 15, 2026

No jokes to be made here since this must have been made by AI and BaseballBros definitely broke a bro code here.

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: Steven Matz (LH, TB, 24% rostered on Yahoo!)

Matz didn’t fare well against his former team (the Cardinals) in his season opener (4 ER in 5 IP), but was sharp in the two starts that followed (11 IP – 4 H – 3 ER – 4 BB – 15 K). His Rays are road favorites and the White Sox have struggled against southpaws this season (28.7% strikeout rate, 82 wRC+).

Other Options: Landen Roupp (RH, SF, 21% Y!) — He has pitched well this season, but the Reds offense is scary, so this actually a scary recommendation.

Pitchers for Tomorrow: Lance McCullers Jr. (RH, HOU, 24% Y!) — Pitched a gem in his only home start (1 ER, 9 K in 7 IP) and he’s back home to face a Cardinals offense that can be dominated if Jordan Walker gets the day off.

Other Options: Zack Littell (RH, WSH, 7%) — He’s a plus control and location guy, but this is more so a bet against the Giants.

We may just need a Denzel Clarke section for the Roto Riteup:

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NO SOUP FOR YOU!

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Lower wall? No Problem!
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“New uni, who’s this?”

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

Another episode of “Who’s Save Is It Anyway” featuring the Minnesota Twins bullpen, which was featured in Thursday’s Roto Riteup. This time it was Eric Orze, a 28-year-old righty with one season of Major League experience. This was actually Orze’s fourth career save. He earned three with the Tampa Bay Rays in his rookie year. This is a bullpen to stay away from, even in the deepest of formats. Want more proof?

In the year 2026, the Twins managed to put together a bullpen where nobody throws over 94. Feels impossible. pic.twitter.com/SEBcNSrLjX

— Kyle Weinmeyer (@Kyleweinmeyer) April 9, 2026

Another ugly bullpen can be found over on the west coast. Thursday’s save was brought to you by Hogan Harris, the Athletics top southpaw. You might remember Harris from his professional debut:

Hogan Harris is the first pitcher to allow 5+ walks and 5+ runs while pitching less than an inning in his MLB debut since June 10, 1944, when the Reds' Joe Nuxhall did so while becoming the youngest player to appear in an MLB game (15 years, 316 days).

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 15, 2023

Harris and Justin Sterner were the only late-round A’s bullpen fliers who NFBC Main Event managers drafted, though both have since been dropped by most of those teams. They remain the two best options for ninth-inning work and I foresee Sterner pulling away as the primary guy by May. Sterner doesn’t throw hard (93-94 mph fastball), but he has the best arsenal in that bullpen. The Stuff+ model graded his slider out at 114 last season.

Quick Hits

Colorado Rockies slugger Hunter Goodman left Thursday’s tilt in the sixth inning after getting hit in the hand by a Randy Vásquez fastball. His finger was bleeding, but hopefully not broken. We will find out today.

Some fantasy squad reinforcements are on the way today! Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki should be activated from the IL today and the Yankees will promote Luis Gil to start in Tampa against the Rays. Gil should then make his second start of the season against the Angels next week.

Various News and Notes

What a fabulous outing by White Sox pitcher Anthony Kay on Thursday!

Kay mowed down six Royals hitters, throwing 100 pitches for 5.2 scoreless innings. It was his first win the Majors since 2021. Kay spent the last two seasons in the NPB in Japan. He posted impressive ratios (1.74 ERA, 0.98) in 24 starts for the Yokohama DeNA Baystars last season.

As the kids and obnoxious engagement farmers on Twitter would say, Ryan Weathers is “back”! After two rough starts to open the season, he dominated the A’s on Thursday — 8 IP – 7 H – 1 ER – 0 BB – 7 K. The other starter in that game was lefty Jeffrey Springs. He had a no-hitter going until the seventh inning when Ben Rice delivered a single to right field. This was Springs’ second consecutive quality start, as he dominated the Astros with seven strikeouts and just one run allowed last Friday. Springs lines up for two home starts next week, against the Rangers and White Sox.

Sal Stewart is a rookie on a mission. He swatted his fourth dinger of the season off Marlins righty, Max Meyer.

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers (20% on Yahoo)

Listen, vanilla is a good flavor! Patrick doesn’t have the hottest stuff, nor is he a fireballer, but he often gets the job done. He should handle business at home on Friday against the Nationals where the Brewers should be hefty favorites.

Other Options: Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves (48%)

If you give me a choice between 1) 2026 Elder Breakout and 2) 2026 Elder Inevitable Implosion, I’ll take the latter. Though that time is not yet here. It’ll happen when we’ve fully bought into his transformation, then it’s BOOM. This is a streamable home start against a vanilla Guardians offense (it really is a good flavor).

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Eric Lauer 라우어, Toronto Blue Jays (27%)

Lauer didn’t pitch well last weekend, but he had an excuse — he was sick and not fully recovered. This outing should be a smoother one as he faces a Twins offense that already has 210 plate appearances against lefties and have struggled against them (.082 ISO, 14.3% K).

Other Options: None

Saturday’s slate is littered with team aces taking their turns in the rotation, so there aren’t many sub-50% rostered streamers, and none worth recommending.

Four homers in his last five games. Mama, there goes that man.

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

Another episode of “Who’s Save Is It Anyway?” for the Twins as this time it’s lefty Kody Funderburk. There has been little clarity on ninth inning duties in Minnesota all winter and so far this spring. Before Opening Day, it was presumed to be a two-man committee with Cole Sands and Taylor Rogers. Four different closers have closed games out for the Twins. It was Sands that first Saturday, then three consecutive ones in this series against the Tigers: Cody Laweryson (Monday), Justin Topa (Tuesday), and Funderburk (Wednesday). Heading into Wednesday’s contest, their bullpen had the AL’s highest walk rate (15%). This might just be the murkiest bullpen in the Majors.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel in Arlington, but it might take some time to see it. Preseason plans of a Robert Garcia (LHP) and Chris Martin (RHP) committee have fallen to the wayside. Garcia has yet to receive a save chance and Martin blew his only one. Veteran southpaw Tyler Alexander earned the first two of the season last week, but he’s a middle reliever. Lefty Jacob Latz was booted from the rotation after one start, ceding to Kumar Rocker. Latz hasn’t allowed a hit in four appearances (five innings) and could move his way up the leverage ladder as the top lefty ahead of Garcia soon.

Our #oldfriend Jakob Junis shocked the fantasy world by converting a save opportunity on Monday and again on Tuesday. A below average starter in Kansas City from 2017-2022, Junis slowly shifted to relief work with the Giants from 2022-2024, and fully converted with the Guardians in 2025, producing a 2.97 ERA despite a 4.21 xFIP.  Junis doesn’t fit the profile of a typical closer. He’s primarily a slider/changeup guy with a subpar swinging-strike rate, but Junis does has plus control (career 6% walk rate). With Junis unavailable on Wednesday, the Rangers’ 15th overall draft selection in 2018 Cole Winn stepped in to earn the save against the Mariners. Winn fits the archetype of a traditional closer more than Junis and has five pitch types at his disposal, most notably a sweet sinker. I’m biased here as I picked up Winn for $5 ($1,000 budget) in my Main Event on Sunday. I think Winn steps in here as the sole guy before end of April.

Quick Hits

Zach Eflin received a second opinion on his right elbow earlier this week and it matched the first opinion. Eflin underwent Tommy John surgery on Thursday and will be out until sometime next summer.

Cubs outfielder Ian Happ missed two games tending to a bruised heel. The Cubs are off on Thursday and manager Craig Counsell expects Happ to return to the lineup on Friday when they kick off their home series against the Pirates.

The Astros rotation continues to take hits. A few days after losing Hunter Brown to a strained shoulder for a few weeks, Cristian Javier was removed from Wednesday’s game after one inning due to right shoulder tightness. The Astros need a starter for Sunday. Though many of us are pining for Spencer Arrighetti, he is expected to start at Triple-A Sugar Land today. Perhaps they call Arrighetti up next week to keep him on regular rest and have Cody Bolton and Ryan Weiss 와이스 manage the bulk of Sunday’s innings.

Various News and Notes

Byron Buxton might finally be waking from his early-season slumber. Before Wednesday’s contest, he was slashing .158/.233/.263 with 1 RBI and no home runs. Buxton went 3-for-4 with three runs against the Tigers on Wednesday, his third consecutive day as the leadoff man for the Twins after mostly batting second.

The Rockies pulled off a minor miracle as they swept the hottest team in baseball, the Astros. It was their first series sweep since early June of last season and their fourth win in a row. That Barney mink is looking fresh.

Rockies sweep the Astros!

It's Colorado's first sweep since last June 2-4 in Miami pic.twitter.com/bjxD5jrPhJ

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 8, 2026

Troy Johnston went 6-for-14 with a homer, four runs and three RBIs in the series.

The Keep Joe Boyle in the Rotation Fan Club was quiet yesterday as Boyle finally met his match in the form of “slugger” Nico Hoerner and the Cubbies.

It was a leadoff shot — Hoerner’s first of the season. Boyle lasted 4.1 frames, serving up five earned runs (six unearned) and walked three batters.

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: Randy Vásquez, San Diego Padres (40% on Yahoo)

The Rockies’ mountain high will take a tumble as they leave that lovely Denver elevation behind for sunny San Diego and a date with a resurrected Vásquez. Vásquez showed improvement in the second half of last season, had a strong spring training, and has been lights out in his first two starts. His fastball velo is up a tick from last season and though it’s the most microscopic of sample sizes, Vásquez’s swinging-strike rate through two games is 15.5%. His career mark prior was 7.2%.

Other Options: None

Perhaps Rhett Lowder (20%) has a strong follow-up outing against the Marlins in Miami, but I can’t soundly recommend it. Same for Arizona lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (16%) and his 0.00 ERA, against the Mets.

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers (19%)

Listen, vanilla is a good flavor! Patrick doesn’t have the hottest stuff, nor is he a fireballer, but he often gets the job done. He should handle business at home on Friday against the Nationals where the Brewers should be hefty favorites.

Other Options: Bryce Elder, Atlanta Braves (46%)

If you give me a choice between 1) 2026 Elder Breakout and 2) 2026 Elder Inevitable Implosion, I’ll take the latter. Though that time is not yet here. It’ll happen when we’ve fully bought into his transformation, then it’s BOOM. This is a streamable home start against a vanilla Guardians offense (it really is a good flavor).

This guy is going to be a human highlight reel.

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