Roto Riteup: April 10, 2026
“New uni, who’s this?”
On the Agenda:
- Closer Chaos
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- 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.
Vlad writes for RotoGraphs and is the head of fantasy baseball content at FTN Fantasy. He is a Tout Wars Expert League champ, member of the CDM Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame and has been nominated for FSWA writing awards six times. Vlad has been playing fantasy baseball since 1995, winning 42 NFBC leagues since 2012 and ranking in the top percentile in NFBC’s Online Championship contest (33% win rate, 52% cash rate; 64 leagues). Much to the chagrin of his colleagues and most baseball aficionados, Vlad is a lifelong Dodgers fan who claims his first gut call at age 9 was Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run. You can follow him on X and BlueSky @RotoGut.