Roto Riteup: April 11, 2022

Found the perfect video for Fantasy Baseball Twitter:

Going to start posting this video on some people’s tweets. Fair warning! pic.twitter.com/PULn0Egmsu

— Justin Mason (@JustinMasonFWFB) April 11, 2022

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

Tanner Rainey threw a scoreless ninth inning on Saturday to log his first save of the season. Rainey had received a vote of confidence from his manager during spring training, so it is good to see him get the opportunity. He will need to keep the walks and homers in order to keep the role, but there is a ton of upside here. 

Art Warren threw a scoreless inning on Sunday securing his first save of the season. While the Warren truthers rejoiced (me included), this appears to be a committee that will frustrate fantasy players for the foreseeable future and while I hope that Warren becomes “the guy,” there is no reason to think they will go with one guy any time soon. 

Dominic Leone registered the save for the Giants on Sunday in a scoreless ninth versus the Marlins. Both Camilio Doval and Jake McGee were unavailable after pitching in back-to-back games, but this adds a new name to the mix as Tyler Rogers was available and did not get the ninth. It looks like this may be a committee with Doval likely leading the pack. 

Jake Diekman threw a perfect ninth inning, striking out the middle of the Yankees lineup to secure the save in the victory over the Yankees. Matt Barnes was unavailable and Hansel Robles handled the eighth inning in the contest. Diekman is an effective lefty, but I don’t think this necessarily means he is “the guy” in Boston, but a committee that includes him, Barnes, and Robles. Diekman should be rostered in most formats on the upside alone in case he is the guy, but I wouldn’t break the bank on him until we get more information. 

Quick Hits

Blake Snell will likely hit the IL with a groin injury. Snell was a late scratch from his start on Sunday. Hopefully he won’t miss too much time, but he is likely to miss 2-3 more starts at least. 

Dean Kremer was scratched from his start on Sunday because of an oblique strain. He is likely to hit the IL. 

Garrett Cooper left Sunday’s game versus the Giants after being hit on the wrist with a pitch. X-rays were negative and the Marlins stated that he has a contusion. It sounds like he avoided serious injury. Consider him day-to-day for now. 

Ryan Yarbrough is heading to the IL with a groin issue. Tommy Romero is expected to be called up and make his Major League debut. Romero is a very interesting pitching prospect that is coming off of a season in which he threw 110.1 innings with 145 strikeouts and a 2.61 ERA and a  .96 WHIP. He has four pitches and good command, but no truly standout pitch. He is likely no more than a streamer in most formats, but someone to keep an eye on.

Various News and Notes

Heliot Ramos was called up to the majors on Sunday and went 2-for-3 in his debut. 

Heliot Ramos with a base hit in his first major league at-bat 👏 pic.twitter.com/p1x2ZsoNJ1

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 10, 2022

This was a surprising call up as just a few days ago general manager Farhan Zaidi that Ramos likely wouldn’t be up until the summer. It is hard to know what his role will be as I can’t imagine they would want him to be just a short-side platoon bat. There is power and speed in the profile, so if he can get regular playing time, he could be very interesting.

Julio Urias was hit around on Sunday, allowing six runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks in two innings while not striking out a single batter. This was not just a bad Coors start. Urias was dealing with some troubling velocity declines.

Julio Urias' pitch velocities today (compared with last year's averages)

Fastball down almost 3 mph pic.twitter.com/lB8k0mC5S4

— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) April 10, 2022

There is nothing actionable yet, but the velocity is definitely something we need to watch moving forward.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Adrian Houser at BAL

Houser looked great in spring and this is a nice matchup.

High Risk Options: Austin Gomber at TEX, Luis Patino vs OAK, Carlos Hernandez vs CLE, Taylor Hearn vs COL, Michael Wacha at DET, Zach Thompson at STL, Nick Martinez at SF, Michael Lorenzen vs MIA. 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None

There are a lot of high risk options, but none that I am comfortable with this early in the season. 

High Risk Options: Andrew Heaney at MIN, Drew Smyly at PIT, Daniel Lynch at STL, Rich Hill at DET. 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from the recommended pitchers. It does not include the “High Risk Options.”