Roto Riteup: June 11, 2026
He says he wants to be the “face of the franchise.
His name is Bryce Eldridge.
On the Agenda:
- Closer Chaos
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Closer Chaos
The Orioles hope to have their closer back in the next 10 days. Ryan Helsley, who has been sidelined with an elbow injury since late April, is starting his rehab assignment today. Rico Garcia has been solid as the de facto closer. He maintains a sub-1.50 ERA despite allowing home runs in each of his last two appearances, but save opportunities have been slim to none. Garcia has four saves, going nearly a month between his third (May 10) and fourth (June 2). Helsley will need several minor-league appearances before he returns.
White Sox veteran lefty Bryan Hudson earned his third save this season in a 2-1 victory over the Braves. Seranthony Domínguez was tasked with battling the Braves’ 5-6-7 hitters (Mauricio Dubón, Austin Riley, Mike Yastrzemski) and earned those three outs without a fuss before the transition to Hudson to close it out. Hudson will continue to earn occasional opportunities when a southpaw is needed, but the bulk of them will continue to go to Domínguez and Grant Taylor.
Daniel Palencia stepped into the bottom of the ninth of a 2-2 game and couldn’t extend it into extra innings. Palencia walked Troy Johnston, allowed a single to Brett Sullivan and then the game-winning single to rookie outfielder Sterlin Thompson, who came to the plate to pinch hit for Chad Stevens (who was 0-3 with 3 K). Palencia missed a little over three weeks with a lat strain and has 17 appearances, but just three saves on the season. Palencia has been solid though, his job is safe, and there will be plenty of opportunities over the next few months. The Cubs and Mets only have 10 saves this season, which is the second-lowest mark in the majors behind the Angels (six). Consider Palencia a strong buy-low.
On the other side of the save chance spectrum, the Tampa Bay Rays have been flush with opportunities for the back end of their bullpen. They lead the league in saves (28) and save opportunities (39). Closer Bryan Baker wasn’t available on Wednesday after notching saves on Monday and Tuesday, so manager Kevin Cash turned to their top lefty, Garrett Cleavinger. His lone hit allowed was a dinger to Caleb Durbin, who just so happened to hit his second
dinger of the season in the prior inning.
Quick Hits
It’s been a rough day for catchers on teams from LA. Of course, I’m only talking about the Dodgers because the Angels play in Anaheim. Will Smith will be headed for the IL with a neck injury. He had missed the previous four games. Dalton Rushing will be the primary catcher and Chuckie Robinson will be promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Oh, and the Angels lost their backup (to the backup) catcher, Sebastián Rivero to a left hamate fracture. Logan Porter was promoted and should hold things down until Travis d’Arnaud returns. Logan O’Hoppe remains the starter. O’Hoppe hit his third home run of the season on Wednesday.
Brent Rooker is missing out on some fantasy stats in Vegas! He is experiencing soreness in his knee and has been out of the lineup these last two games. Let’s hope he’s fine before the next weekend series in scorching-hot Las Vegas.
Joc Pederson was pulled from Wednesday’s contest due to left hip discomfort. Joc’s gonna Joc.
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Adolis García didn’t make it to the end of Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jays. He pulled one of those massive muscles close to his right shoulder. It’s a shame because he was actually starting to heat up power-wise, crushing three homers in his last six games.
Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd was slated for activation from the injured list this weekend, but now that won’t happen. He had shoulder soreness after his most recent rehab start, then didn’t feel great after a bullpen session on Tuesday. He hasn’t officially been shut down, but he will definitely be slowed.
“It’s worse than expected” — bad news in Beantown for Garrett Crochet with his lat strain not healing. This might be awhile. Just don’t cut him yet.
Ronald Acuña Jr. was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained left hamstring. It’s a Grade 1 strain, similar or the same as the one he suffered last month. Two weeks is a reasonable return timeframe, assuming ATVs are not penciled in to his rehab calendar.
Various News and Notes
Kyle Schwarber is a beast. Here’s him smashing his league-leading 24th home run:
Schwarber is on pace to hit his 400th career home run sometime in the 2027 season (and yes, they’ll figure it out and there will be a season).
What an absolute masterclass by Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen on Wednesday!
He racked up a career-high 13 strikeouts over seven shutout innings and brought his ERA down to 2.71.
Congrats to Max Scherzer on becoming the 11th pitcher to record at least 3,500 strikeouts. Unfortunately, his Swan Song is short on grace. He served up five earned runs in 3.1 innings and his ERA is over 10.00. Let’s hope he can at least end his career on his terms and not go down with another injury.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% on Yahoo)
Pitchers for Today: Hunter Dobbins, STL (3%) at New York Mets
There are only eight games on Thursday. Today, we’re going with the super low-rostered righty who was sharp in his first start of the season against the Reds over the weekend (5 IP – 4 H – 2 ER – 2 BB – 6 K). The Mets may not truly get going offensively until Francisco Lindor returns.
Other Options: None
I just won’t be going there. Kumar Rocker against a team of stacked lefties, led by the red-hot Jac Caglianone? No way. Anthony Kay, at home against the Braves or Zebby Matthews against Tigers’ power lefties? No way. Merrill Kelly 켈리 against Otto Lopez and the high-flying Marlins? Not a chance. Only Dobbins among the sub-50% guys today.
Pitchers for Tomorrow: Cade Cavalli, WSH (34%) vs. Seattle Mariners
Cavalli allowed four runs to the Diamondbacks on Sunday. In his previous 10 starts, he allowed three or fewer. He owns a 3.50 ERA at home and should be able to get the job done on Saturday.
Other Options: Griffin Jax, TB (29%) at Los Angeles Angels
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.
Not to be nitpicker, but Durbin’s homers yesterday were his 2nd and 3rd of the year—his first home run came on April 25, in the 10-run 9th inning against the Orioles,
Thanks, David. Fixed.