Roto Riteup: March 26, 2026
It’s time to start juggling lineups for the next 26.5 weeks!
Max Fried hurled a two-hitter on 6.1 scoreless innings in a 4-0 victory over the Giants. Every Yankee earned a hit, except for Aaron Judge, who went 0-5 with four strikeouts. Logan Webb punched out seven batters, but decimated the ratios of one fantasy manager in every league with six earned runs allowed over five innings. We get baseball on the television for most of the day, with 11 games on this official Opening Day.
On the Agenda:
- Lineup Notes
- Quick Hits
- Streaming Pitchers
Lineup Notes
Willi Castro has made quite the splash for his new team and has maintained momentum after playing well for Puerto Rico in the WBC.
Castro slashed .520/.586/.760 in 29 PA and is projected to hit second between Jake McCarthy and Hunter Goodman when the Rockies are facing a right-handed pitcher.
Tyler O’Neill, aka Mr. Opening Day, hopes to make it seven straight season openers with a home run.
O’Neill is not expected to serve on the short side of a platoon for now, as he projects as the everyday right fielder. Samuel Basallo and Ryan Mountcastle should split the DH duties, with Basallo facing the righties.
Several Reds hitters have had notably scorching preseasons, most notably, Matt McLain (.509/.559/.981, 7 HR) and rookie Sal Stewart (.327/.450/.592, 3 HR, 4-4 SB).
McLain will hit second and Stewart is the cleanup man, with Elly De La Cruz between them. The Reds kick off the season with six games at home against the Red Sox and Pirates, having the pleasure of running into both Garrett Crochet and Paul Skenes.
New Nationals manager Blake Butera plans to utilize speedster Nasim Nuñez as the two-hole hitter between James Wood and CJ Abrams. Nunez is a switch-hitter, the everyday second baseman, and could bolster fantasy squads weak in speed, early in the season.
Quick Hits
Seattle’s J.P. Crawford went on the 10-day IL with a shoulder injury. Leo Rivas will start at shortstop on Opening Day. Top prospect Colt Emerson will start the season in Triple-A with Crawford not expected to be out long.
The Mariners start the season with Bryce Miller on the 15-day IL, due to a strained left oblique. The M’s will roll with Emerson Hancock as their fifth starter, though he will slide in fourth in the rotation ahead of Luis Castillo. Hancock is expected to make his debut on Monday, at home against the Yankees. Miller’s timetable is unknown, though the target date is likely in late April or early May, assuming no setbacks.
Trey Yesavage starts the season on the 15-day injured list with shoulder impingement, though he hasn’t been shut down from throwing. Yesavage pitched a minor-league game on the back fields on Wednesday. It’s possible he returns sometime in mid-April.
Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in Yahoo)
Pitcher for Today: Matthew Liberatore (LHP) vs. TB
It’s not easy finding a sub-50% Opening Day starter with a good matchup, but we’ve got one here with the Cardinals’ lefty who rocked a 19:2 K:BB in 15 spring innings and faces a mediocre Rays squad.
Pitcher for Tomorrow: Mike Burrows (RHP) vs. LAA
The Astros will be big home favorites on Friday. Burrows is a former Pirates prospect who had an incredible stretch after the All-Star break and is ready to step it up to the next level.
For those interested, we’ll have a tracker for all our Roto Riteup streamer suggestions coming soon.
Alright, let’s Play Ball!
Featured image credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
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.
PSA you can’t say he “hurled a 2-hitter on 6.1 scoreless innings,” a 2-hitter is a complete game with only 2 hits allowed. To say nothing of the fact that the game was 7-0.
Thank you for your service