Roto Riteup: May 21, 2025

Maybe they will play him more now.

On the Agenda: 

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

 

Closer Chaos

Chris Martin was placed on the IL with shoulder fatigue. Martin had been dealing with the issue for a little while but it appears he aggravated it over the weekend. He isn’t expected to have a long absence, so it sounds like he has avoided serious injury. 

 

Quick Hits

Adrian Houser signed a one-year deal with the White Sox on Tuesday. Houser had been pitching in AAA with the Rangers, but opted out of his minor league deal and will now join the White Sox roster. He proceeded to throw a six inning shutout versus the Mariners on Tuesday, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out two.  He probably isn’t useful outside of the deepest of leagues, but he should firmly be in the White Sox rotation for the foreseeable future. 

J.T. Ginn was placed on the IL with a quad injury. Ginn was supposed to make two starts this week, but he suffered the injury in the front half of the week. There is no timetable for his return. 

Dylan Crews left Tuesday’s game with an apparent oblique/back injury. 

This is a bummer as had already homered in the outing and while he has struggled this year, he looked like he was starting to turn the corner over the last couple of weeks. Typically oblique injuries take 4-to-6 weeks to recover from, but we will get a better idea after imaging is done on Wednesday. Rober Hassell III is expected to be called up to add to the depth in the outfield with both Crews and Jacob Young banged up. Hassell is a former first round pick that has hit well in AAA with a .277/.237/.384 triple slash and four home runs and nine stolen bases.

Ramon Laureano left Tuesday’s game with an ankle injury. Consider him day-to-day at this time.

Jacob Wilson left Tuesday’s game after being hit with a pitch on the forearm.

Wilson was able to stay in the game for a while before exiting, so it doesn’t seem like this is a serious injury. Consider him day-to-day for now.

 

Various News and Notes
Bailey Falter threw seven scoreless innings versus the Reds allowing four hits and no walks while striking out five in the victor on Tuesday.

Falter has been on an unreal run over his last three starts, throwing 16.2 scoreless innings in spite of primarily relying on his fastball and having underwhelming stuff overall. He gets a matchup against the Brewers at the end of the week before heading to San Diego next week.

Will Warren threw 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out 10 in the victory over the Rangers on Tuesday.

Warren was fantastic, getting a 43% CSW on his sinker, a 41% CSW on his fastball, and a 43% whiff rate on his sweeper. Warren has struggled this season, but the ERA indicators have been much better and he is striking out 28% of the batters he faces. If he can show some increased control, he could take a massive step forward.

Logan Henderson threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out seven in the victory over the Orioles on Tuesday.

Henderson has been fantastic and he was again in this one, throwing his changeup for a 31% whiff rate and his fastball for a 41% whiff rate. The only issue with Henderson is the lack of a third pitch which may become an issue for him down the road and will likely prevent him from establishing himself as a reliable fantasy option, but teams are struggling to hit him early on. He is worth using at Pittsburgh later in the week, but will be riskier versus the Phillies on the road next week.

Hayden Birdsong threw five innings versus the Royals, allowing one unearned run on five hits and no walks while striking out four in the victory on Tuesday.

Birdsong was great in the outing, throwing all four of his pitches at least 19% of the time, which kept the Royals hitters off balanced and 30+% CSW on three of his four pitches. Birdsong has been great in the bullpen and deserved a rotation spot out of spring. If he can command his pitches like this, he will have a big fantasy impact the rest of the way.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Chris Paddack vs CLE

Paddack has pitched well as of late and is facing a Cleveland team that is not very scary. 

Other Options: Logan Evans at CHW, Andrew Heaney vs CIN, Chad Patrick vs BAL, Taijuan Walker at COL, Randy Vasquez at TOR. 

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Stephen Kolek at TOR

Kolek has been very good since joining the rotation and the Blue Jays have been mediocre over the last month. 

Other Options: Short slate so the only other name that is in consideration would be Carmen Mlodzinski vs MIL. 

For those of you that would like to see how these picks play out, I have a doc I put together to track the stats from my recommended pitchers. It does not include the “Other Options.”