Roto Riteup: August 28, 2026

Rumbling, bumbling, stumbling…Zac Veen tumbling

On the Agenda: 

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

Quick Hits

A warm welcome to Minnesota to the Twins’ top offensive prospect, Walker Jenkins! The 21-year-old, oft-injured, lefty-batting outfielder was having quite a nice season in Triple-A: .323/.417/.559 with 14 HR, 56 R and 17 SB in 324 PAs (73 games). He will make his debut today. By the time you read this, Byron Buxton may already have been placed on the injured list.

An extra warm “welcome back” to former Tigers and Jays outfielder and speedster turned relief pitcher, Anthony Gose! Gose had his contract selected from Triple-A Omaha by the Royals and he replaces Mason Black in their bullpen. Gose’s seasons has been anything but roses — a 4.94 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP, but he has 59 punchouts in 47.1 innings. Gose threw a clean ninth in his first game in the majors since 2024.

Willy Adames may be out for the remainder of the season. Adames has an injured elbow, for which he received a second opinion and a PRP injection, and will now rest and rehab. Doc says three to four weeks, which is cutting it awfully close to the end of the season. Adames wasn’t far off pace from his previous season’s 5×5 roto stats (.230-62-21-51-5 in 121 games/505 PAs). Adames turns 31 next week and next season will be his third of a seven-year, $182M deal.

In other San Francisco Giants roster news, Jung Hoo Lee 이정후 (bruised elbow) missed his second consecutive start and Bryce Eldridge was reinstated from the bereavement list yesterday. Buddy Kennedy was designated for assignment.

Michael Lorenzen (and his league-worst 7.08 starter’s ERA) signed a major-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and will pitch out of the bullpen for now.

Andrew Benintendi will be reinstated from the Family Medical Emergency List on Friday, just in time to play against Walker Jenkins.

Eugenio Suárez and TJ Friedl both cleared outright waivers as no team was interested in paying the remaining balances on their contracts: $3M (Suárez), $700k (Friedl). Suárez will go right back to work striking out or homering. Same with Friedl, who will continue to ensure the Reds’ bench stays warm.

Jarred Kelenic cleared waivers with the Rangers and has elected free agency. Good luck with that, bud.

Various News and Notes

Chris Sale is such a special pitcher. I am in awe of his greatness. Here’s what he did on Thursday against the Dodgers:

This Drake Baldwin home run of Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the first pitch of the game was the only run of the game:

Daylen Lile went deep again on Thursday:

Lile has been doing his best James Wood impression. In his last four games, he has 3 HR and 8 RBI.

Jackson Chourio hit two homers on Thursday.

It was the fifth two-homer game of his career. He went double dong twice in June this year, once in April of 2025 and his first time in August of 2024. He was the youngest Brewer (20) in franchise history to have a multi-homer game.

Sorry, Vinnie, Jac Caglianone takes the cannoli for the best Italian hitter on the team — five hits (home run) and six runs batted in on Thursday against the Blue Jays.

The Miz was magical. Jacob Misiorowski gave up a couple of earned runs, but struck out six Mets batters in six innings and pushed his ERA up to a still pristine 1.73. He is pulling away from Tarik Skubal for the top spot among pitchers in 2027 fantasy baseball drafts.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% on Yahoo)

Pitcher for Today: There’s a helpful note about Painter’s mechanical adjustments in Jeff Zimmerman’s latest Mining the News that lends a bit of confidence about Painter for the remainder of the season. I believe he’s going to be a perennial All-Star and could earn a consensus top 150 ADP next season with a strong finish. The Angels offense is very watered down after Zach Neto and Mike Trout. Painter should have a nice start against them on Friday. The only problem will be snagging that win because Reid Detmers likely won’t give up many runs.

Other Options: David Peterson, CHC (19%) vs. CIN

The Reds strike out against southpaws at a rate of 25% and will be big underdogs when they visit Peterson and the Cubs. Peterson has punched out at least eight batters in two of his last four starts. In six starts and one inning of relief since the All-Star break, the former first-round pick of the Mets out of Oregon has a 2.25 ERA (3.42 FIP) with a 33:12 K:BB in 36 innings.

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Martín Pérez, ATL (27%) vs. COL

He shouldn’t keep getting away with it, but he has been and may continue to do so this weekend against the road Rockies, whose offense has an 82 wRC+ against lefty pitchers (29th of 30) and strike out at a 25% clip.

Other Options: The pickings are quite slim with so many aces and starters over 50% rostered pitching on Saturday. Somehow Andrew Abbott is 57% on Yahoo. I wouldn’t touch him against the Cubs with a ten foot roto pole. Jack Perkins at home against Polar Bear Pete and the Orioles? Not a chance. Milwaukee’s Shane Drohan may be a bit of a trap, since he hasn’t been as stellar lately and is facing a Texas Rangers offense that ranks in the top five against southpaws.  Kade Anderson is somehow only 58% rostered, which is strange because my uncle’s tax attorney’s sister’s husband is starting Anderson in his 34-year, 6-team dynasty keeper league this week. Wake up, Yahoo players!