Roto Riteup: April 4, 2026

by
April 4, 2026

Welcome to the big leagues, kid.

On the Agenda:

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

Closer Chaos

Seranthony Domínguez got the win for the White Sox Saturday. No save situation, but he came on to finish the 9th and force extras, then got the win despite allowing the zombie runner to score top 10. Dominguez had yet to strikeout a hitter coming into the night, but K’ed two in 1.1 IP against the Jays. While he hasn’t been impressive, his main competition for saves would either be Jordan Leasure, who blew the save in the 8th Saturday, or Grant Taylor who appears to be lined up as a regular opener for the Sox. So, I guess it’s him.

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Meanwhile, he got the win because Jeff Hoffman blew his second save of the young season. He came on bottom 10, up by a run and got two quick outs on a ground out and a strike out, seemingly lined up to strand the zombie runner at third. But, in the midst of those two outs, Alejandro Kirk took a foul tip off his thumb and had to leave the game. So Derek Hill decided to take advantage of a catcher fresh off the bench.

Tristan Peters followed with a legit single and Hill slid in just ahead of the tag for the walk off win. Yes, Hoffman has two blown saves, but this one is awfully hard to pin on him. And he also has 11 strikeouts and 0 walks in 4.2 IP. His ERA/FIP/xFIP is 1.93/1.22/-0.94. Yes, his xFIP is negative. There is always a chance the Blue Jays make a change, but at this point that would be just a vibes-based move. This job is his and he has looked great this year. If you are in a league with an antsy Hoffman manager, maybe you can buy low?

Dennis Santana took the 8th, striking out one in a perfect inning for a hold. Gregory Soto got the 9th and struck out the side for his first save, but gave up a home run in the process. This bullpen still isn’t clear, but I think Santana and Soto are both worth rostering. I tend to believe Soto is the better pitcher, but his fate might be tied to Mason Montgomery. Montgomery has struggled early and if he can’t right the (Pirate) ship, Soto becomes the only reliable LHP in the Pittsburgh pen, which may make it hard to hold him back until the 9th.

Raisel Iglesias got his first save with a perfect 9th. He has yet to allow a run in 3 IP this season, but also only has one strikeout. I know some fantasy managers have speculated on Robert Suarez overtaking Iglesias, but he hasn’t been any better. To be honest, I don’t think there is anything Suarez can do to win this job. If Iglesias struggles, he will be ready to step in, but Iglesias will need to lose the job for there to be a change.

Gabe Speier got his first save, taking the bottom of the 10th up 3-1 and allowing only the zombie runner to score. But there is nothing to see here – Dan Wilson went to Andrés Muñoz in the 9th inning of a 0-0 game to make sure it got to 10. This is still Muñoz’s pen and Speier is likely third in line. Matt Brash would be up next, but he took the 8th Saturday. In the other half of this one, Jordan Romano also got the 9th to force extras and struck out two in a perfect inning. His velocity was up a bit and he had four whiffs in 16 pitches. I still don’t trust him, but he has this job and the results have been good so far.

Aroldis Chapman locked down his second save despite a walk. His velocity is down this year, but so far that seems to be a non-issue. Cade Smith gave up a hit but also struck out the side for his second save. His 7.20 ERA looks bad, but there is nothing to it. Emilio Pagán’s perfect ninth inning got him his second save, as well, but his 10.38 ERA worries me more. He’s always had HR issues, has already allowed two this year, and his impressive 2025 isn’t so impressive when you dig in.

Various News and Notes

In addition to the double up at the top of this article, Konnor Griffin walked and struck out in four plate appearances in his debut. He played shortstop and hit 7th. Griffin’s double was over 105 mph, but he did have three whiffs on seven swings. There’s not much to read into any of that, just yet. Griffin is here and he hit the ground running.

Griffin wasn’t the only impressive rookie today, as Chase DeLauter now has a 1.293 OPS after going 3-4 with his 5th HR. And if you watched that game, you know I only mentioned DeLauter as an excuse to share this:

We had an old-fashioned pitchers dual on the West Coast, with Bryan Woo doing Bryan Woo things (seven one-hit, shutout innings, with 6 K and 1 BB) while Reid Detmers continued to walk that fine line between great (6.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H) and concerning (4 K with 4 BB). I have been adding Detmers where I can, but I am honestly not sure when I will start him. His next matchups are vs. ATL, at NYY, vs SDP, and then either vs. TOR or at KCR. I could see starting him against Atlanta, San Diego or Kansas City, but I don’t feel great about Atlanta, and I am certainly not starting him against the Yankees or Jays.

The Dodgers 1-3 hitters (Shoehi Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, and Mookie Betts) were a combine 7-17 with 3 HR, 5 R, and 8 RBI. Freddie Freeman added a HR, as well, but he was just 1-4 so he doesn’t get to be in the headline of this note.

The Yankees got to Eury Pérez, but the Marlin that really took a beating was Liam Hicks. The catcher has been an offensive star, but the Yanks stole five (yes FIVE) bases today – Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two, José Caballero had two, and Aaron Judge added one (along with his third home run). You can often steal on a pitcher as much as a catcher, but only three of the five steals were off Pérez, so it is pretty clear the Yankees were targeting Hicks, and having success. Something to watch as other teams may wish to run on the Fish with Hicks behind the dish.

Marcelo Mayer entered the day with a disappointing 83 wRC+. Then he doubled, reached on catcher’s interference, and homered in three trips to the plate. Now his wRC+ is 186. Just a reminder that it is April 4 and one good day can completely flip a season.

Aaron Nola shut down the Rockies, giving up just 1 ER on 5 H and a walk with 9 K in 6.1 IP. So are we yawning at shutting down the Rockies or impressed that he did it at Coors? Nola is off to a good start and gets the Giants in San Francisco next.

Gunnar Henderson opened the season 0-8 with 5 K. Since then, he is 7-22 with 2 BB, 2 HR, 2 2B, 4 R, 6 RBI, and just 4 K, after homering and doubling Saturday.

Max Muncy was 3-4 with a HR and a double on Saturday, raising his season wRC+ to 157. And if you are wondering why I didn’t mention him with his Dodgers teammates above, it’s cause this is the other Max Muncy. As fun as that line is, however, he has a 37% K-rate and a 3.7% BB-rate. There are some positive signs in the early going, but there are still concerns, as well.

Quick Hits

I mentioned earlier that Alejandro Kirk came out of the Jays game after taking a ball to the thumb. He had X-rays but I haven’t seen a report on results yet.

Cade Horton left the game early Saturday with forearm discomfort and seems to be on his way to the IL.

Horton said after the game that he hoped he caught it early, but forearm discomfort is never a good thing.

When a guy gets hit by a pitch and doesn’t try to walk it off, doesn’t stay on the field, doesn’t even bother staying in the dugout, you have reason to worry. When that guy is Byron Buxton, you start wondering how long the IL stint will be. But after the game, Derek Shelton said X-rays were negative and it sounds like Buxton will be fine. You can consider him day-to-day but you can always consider Buxton day-to-day.

Speaking of HBP injuries – we got bad news on Jordan Lawlar, who is out 6-9 weeks with a broken right wrist after being hit Friday. He was starting to get going, but his career just seems to be snakebitten (and not in a fun “the DBacks are sometimes called the Snakes!” kind of way).

Juan Soto pulled up running the bases Saturday and had to leave the game.

Apparently it was a calf strain, but we’ll have to wait for more news to find out what the impact will be.

Garrett Cleavinger hit the IL with right calf tightness. The Rays bullpen has been disappointing and this probably doesn’t help.

Masyn Winn was pulled Friday, but apparently that was just precautionary and he is not expected to miss time.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% rostered on CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Chad Patrick (47%) MIL at KCR

I really wanted to go with Randy Vazquez, who I think is the better pitcher and is less rostered, but he is at Fenway and I think the Red Sox are scarier than the Royals, even with the fences moved in.

Other Options: Vazquez, of course. Rhett Lowder (35%) CIN at TEX

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Kyle Harrison (48%) MIL at KCR

I swear, I am not picking on KC. I think that Royals offense is pretty decent. But it isn’t elite and it has been bad so far and I trust Milwaukee pitching.

Other Options: I don’t love any of the options, but if you want to roll the dice with Lance McCullers in Sacramento, you could? I won’t be doing that, though.

 





 

A long-time fantasy baseball veteran and one of the creators of ottoneu, Chad Young's writes for RotoGraphs, and can be heard on the Keep or Kut Podcast. You can follow him on Bluesky @chadyoung.bsky.social.

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alang3131982Member since 2016
3 hours ago

Any chance we can get weekend pitcher rankings too? This was super helpful. Also book Nola imploding in his next plum matchup

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