Roto Riteup: March 31, 2021

Looking for the start of the season like:

 

pic.twitter.com/RBKQXe0BVK

— Cut4 (@Cut4) March 28, 2021

The Roto Riteup has returned! Starting the day after Opening Day, I (and a Rotographs writer to be named later) will be bringing you the news and notes you need to keep you up to date on all the fantasy relevant things happening in baseball! 

 

On the Agenda: 

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

 

Closer Chaos

According to manager Torey Lovullo, the Diamondbacks will not be naming a closer out of spring training. This is a bit surprising as rumors earlier in the offseason were that Joakim Soria took less money to sign in Arizona to close. However, Soria has struggled, allowing five earned runs in 4.2 innings. His man competition, Stefan Crichton has been even worse though. The darkhorse is JB Bukauskas. Bukauskas is a former top prospect with five legit offerings and has thrown 7.2 innings allowing no runs on only three hits and zero walks. I think Soria is still the favorite for saves, but Bukauskas is very interesting. 

 

Quick Hits

A day after leaving his start with a blister issue, Shohei Ohtani was in the lineup as the Angels DH. It is good to see that he was able to at least hit. The Angels do not seem concerned about the blister issue in terms of his pitching either, so everything seems to be good for the beginning of the season. 

 

Andrew Vaughn officially made the Opening Day roster for the White Sox. It seems like they will attempt to play him some in left field which would be a nice add to his positional flexibility. 

 

Mike Soroka made his first spring appearance on Tuesday, going two innings and allowing one run, striking out two and allowing two hits and two walks. It is good to see Soroka pitching and pitching fairly well for his first outing. However, he is not expected back until late April as long as he has no set backs, which may make him difficult to roster in leagues if you already have an injury or two. I have faded him so far this draft season, but I am pulling for him to return to form. 

 

 

Various News and Notes

On Monday, Stephen Strasburg threw 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three in the outing. The encouraging part was he was able to throw 98 pitches and cover first base on a ground out. However, after hearing that he was working with reduced velocity from Peter Christensen, I spent Monday night rewatching as much of the start that I could and logging the velocity on every fastball he threw. There was a power outage in the second inning so there’s no video of the third inning. However, he sat 90-93 early with one pitch at 94. From the fourth inning on he sat 88-91 hitting 93 once. Control was bad until the last inning. His stuff was very hittable until the fifth inning but even then it was underwhelming. This is pretty concerning for me and I have moved him down my board considerably heading into my final draft of the year tonight. 

 

Dustin May has won the fifth starter job for the Dodgers which means David Price and Tony Gonsolin will head to the bullpen. This is a bit surprising because it seemed like May was destined to either head back to the minors or to the bullpen. However, he has been electric this spring, throwing 19 innings with 21 strikeouts and 2.37 ERA. This has the feeling of a trap situation as the Dodgers are notorious for playing around with their rotation and all three guys could be bounced around. I have been avoiding for the most part this draft season and will likely continue to do so. 

 

Rougned Odor will not make the Opening Day roster for the Rangers. Odor has never quite lived up to the promise we saw early in his career and will likely get another shot somewhere else. In the meantime, Nick Solak should be the everyday second baseman and there will likely be a rotation at third between Brock Holt, Charlie Culberson and Eli White. White is the only one that is interesting for fantasy as he has a decent hit tool and good speed which allowed him to hit .286 with three stolen bases in spring. If he finds himself with an everyday role, he could be a cheap speed play on a team that led the Majors in stolen base attempts during spring training.  

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Kyle Gibson at KC 

Listen, it is Opening Day. You shouldn’t be streaming anyone, but Gibson is the only starter that is under 50% rostered. 

 

High Risk Options: None