Roto Riteup: June 5, 2026
Haase around and find out!
On the Agenda:
- Quick Hits
- Various News and Notes
- Streaming Pitchers
Quick Hits
Bad news for Aaron Judge, who was diagnosed with rib stress fracture and will be out for four-to-six weeks. This might be good news for the fantasy value of Jasson Domínguez, who will be activated sometime next week. Giancarlo Stanton is ramping up though he won’t return until the middle of the month, at the earliest.
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar is expected to finally make his season debut today. Nootbaar’s 583 plate appearances and 131 games played last season were career bests. You may already have the answer by the time you read this, but as of late Thursday night, my best guess for the corresponding demotion is left-handed-hitting outfielder Bryan Torres. Veteran righty bat Nelson Velázquez might stick around to compliment a lefty-heavy offense.
The Texas Rangers intend on activating shortstop Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford on Friday after just two minor-league rehab games. A career .285 hitter, Seager went on the IL due to a back injury on May 13 and was slashing .179/.286/.353 in 182 plate appearances before his injury. Langford has been sidelined by a forearm injury since April 21, had an early-May setback, but has been on a rehab assignment since the weekend. Rangers fans and fantasy owners will welcome both back with open arms, but with a cloud of doubt and they’ll have their lassos at the ready. Alejandro Osuna and Cody Freeman are the two who will likely be demoted.
Father Demotion comes for everyone with options who stinks up the joint on a consistent basis. And so the time has come for Brayan Bello after getting burnt like toast for eight runs in five innings by Orioles hitters on Thursday. Bello may have pulled some of us back in with back-to-back scoreless outings on May 23 (vs MIN) and May 29 (at CLE), but it’s been more downs than ups for the Boston Red Sox righty with a 6.34 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. Bello was demoted on Thursday evening.
Various News and Notes
Zack Wheeler was dealing again on Thursday, racking up eight punchouts against the Padres and improving his record to 5-1.
Wheeler pitched six scoreless innings before serving up a two-run dinger to Manny Machado. Wheeler now sports a 2.31 ERA and 0.83 WHIP.
Giants rookie DH is on a seven-game hitting streak, going 12-for-23 (.522) with six extra-base hits over that span. Eldridge even started against two of the three lefty starters in the series against the Brewers. Jung Hoo Lee is on a 12-game hitting streak, producing 24 hits in 45 at-bats (.533) since May 14, though he spent 10 days on the IL in the middle of it. The Giants poured it on with 20 hits and 12 runs on Thursday, including Casey Schmitt’s team-leading 13th tater of the season, a leadoff shot:
Three players hit two home runs each today: Shea Langeliers (his 14th and 15th), Kody Clemens (sixth and seventh), and Jackson Chourio (second and third).
Expect to see Michael Massey in FAAB articles this weekend. In his last five games, Massey has 3 HR and 7 RBI. The Royals are slated to face mostly right-handed starters next week.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% on Yahoo)
Pitcher for Today: Roki Sasaki, LAD (47%) vs. ARI
Hard to believe that Sasaki has such a low roster rate on Yahoo. Sasaki seems to be figuring things out lately, boasting a 2.08 ERA and a 19:3 K:BB over his last three starts (17.1 innings). Two of those starts were against tough opponents, the Brewers and Phillies.
Other Options: Anthony Kay, CHW (19%) at PHI
This one looks tough, on paper. The Phillies are large (-190) favorites, but their offense struggles against southpaws (85 wRC+, 23rd in MLB) and Kay has been sharp lately, allowing no more than two runs in six straight starts.
Pitchers for Tomorrow: Tatsuya Imai, HOU (38%) vs. ATH
The Athletics are tough customers and are capable of lighting up any pitcher on any given night. Imai has been limiting damage and pitching better in his last three starts. The Astros offense should be able to provide some run support in what will be a bullpen game of sorts for the A’s with a unstretched Jack Perkins.
Other Options: Andrew Painter, PHI (15%) vs. CHW, Matthew Liberatore, STL (14%) vs. CIN
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.
Thoughts on Lange? He’s just not very good right?
Curious myself…just picked him up…with extreme trepidation! Got Strahm for giggles…eh….
He could have a little stretch here, but I don’t see it long term.
Eldridge’s 81 PA season line just looks like a completely different hitter. Just an 8.8 SwStr% whereas his previous low at all stops had been 13.5 in the PCL this year. But he’s not sacrificing the EVs with a 55 HH%. Unfortunately for me he’s blocked at DH on my team so I’d have to stash him until he gets 1B eligibility which is tough in a daily moves league, then if he’s worth it by then I’d have to trade away a corner bat. Is it possible he holds this contact profile or is it more likely a fluke?
I’m not sure what to make of it. I don’t think it’s a new “him”. The power and swing-and-miss will prevail.
Langelier’s 2nd HR was an inside-the-parker where PCA lost the ball above the lights and stood there with his hands in the air while the ball landed 30-40′ behind him nearly on the warning track.
Just a heads up: The Rockies start a stretch tonight where 6 of their next 9 series and 19 of their next 28 games are at home. They have a stretch like this every year. Two of those home series are MIL (2nd in xERA) and PIT (8th) which are tough pitching matchups (though still at altitude), but the other 4 home series are good matchups against CHC (22), BOS (21), MIA (13), and SFG (17). The road series are even good against ATH (16 & also a very hitter-friendly park), CHC (22), and MIN (15).
Might be a good time to scroll through the wire and see if there are any Rockies hanging out on waivers.
‘Tis the season