Roto Riteup: April 23, 2025
Just out here living his best life:
On the Agenda:
- Closer Chaos
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Closer Chaos
Cade Smith threw a perfect inning versus the Yankees to register his second save of the season.
The Guardians gave Emmanuel Clase the night off again which is somewhat concerning considering Smith pitched in three of the previous four days and was available. Clase has not been dominant and it does look like Smith would be the next man up in Cleveland if a change was made.
Quick Hits
Lane Thomas was placed on the IL with a bone bruise. There is no timetable for his return, but considering the Guardians waited three days before putting him on the IL, it is likely not as serious.
Cristopher Sanchez was removed from his start on Tuesday due to forearm soreness. This is not good as it is often a precursor to serious elbow problems.
Consider him day-to-day for now, but be ready to be disappointed.
Corey Seager left Tuesday’s game with a hamstring injury.
He will likely undergo further testing on Wednesday, so consider him day-to-day for now.
Various News and Notes
Noelvi Marte went 1-for-3 with a home run in the loss to the Marlins on Tuesday.
Marte has been great since his call up, hitting .346/.393/.692 with two home runs and two stolen bases in 28 plate appearances. He is making a lot of contact, but he is also running hot and still swinging outside the zone way too much. This will likely fall apart if he continues to chase, but rising the hot streak is worth doing while he is hot.
Agustín Ramírez went 3-for-3 with a walk and two doubles in the victory over the Reds on Tuesday.
Ramírez has started his Major League career hot with five hits and two walks in eight plate appearances. The offensive ability is not in question, but he has struggled defensively in the minors. On a team like the Marlins, he could get DH opportunities and play regularly, making him a very intriguing pickup in most formats.
Luke Keaschall went 1-for-2 with two walks and two stolen bases in the victory over the White Sox on Tuesday. Keaschall has been great since his debut hitting .357/.471/500 with three stolen bases in his 17 plate appearances. He isn’t a great defender, but he has hit at every level. He doesn’t have a carrying tool for fantasy so he will need to play regularly, but in Minnesota where everyone gets hurt all the time, he could find himself with plenty of opportunity.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)
Pitcher for Today: David Festa vs CHW
Festa may not go deep enough to get a win or QS so if you are streaming for that, look elsewhere, but K’s and ratios should be nice here versus a terrible White Sox team.
High Risk Options: Andrew Heaney at LAA, Tomoyuki Sugano at WAS, JP Sears at TEX, Luis Ortiz vs NYY, Michael Lorenzen vs COL, Jack Kochanowicz vs PIT.
Pitcher for Tomorrow: Tyler Anderson vs PIT
High Risk Options: Anderson has pitched well as of late and gets a Pirates team that is struggling against left handed pitching this season.
Justin is the co-host on The Sleeper and The Bust Podcast and writes for Rotographs covering the Roto Riteup as well as other periodic articles. In addition to his work at Rotographs, Justin is the lead fantasy writer/analyst and co-owner for FriendswithFantasyBenefits.com, and the owner of The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational. He is also a certified addiction treatment counselor. Follow Justin on Twitter @JustinMasonFWFB.
Clase went three straight including 30 pitches on Sunday, not unreasonable to give him two days off.
Thank you!
Can’t get enough of that Agustin swing follow through!
Marte had also gotten to face a position player pitching twice in that 24-2 game with a grand slam and a double. Since he’s still in very small sample size territory with28 PA, those have an oversized impact on his results. His line against actual pitchers is 292/346/500 which is fine but also not quite a exciting as 346/394/692
Ugh what does this sentence even mean.
The Guardians gave Emmanuel Clase the night off again which is somewhat concerning considering Smith three of the previous four days and was available.
Okay fine simply missed the word “pitched” in “considering Smith ____ three of the four”.
However it also seems like the intent might have been to say it was concerning that Smith got a back to back save, when Clase was available, due to his previous night off.
Or double missed words make it make sense if Clase was missed before “was available”.
The Guardians gave Emmanuel Clase the night off again which is somewhat concerning considering Smith PITCHED three of the previous four days and CLASE was available.
OK, got it! Glad this is keeping my grammar and basic sentence construction skills sharp. Used to love me some fill in the blank activities as a kid!
Great spreadsheet