Roto Riteup: May 22, 2026

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May 22, 2026

Angel in the outfield!

I know, it’s pronounced AHN-hel. He was fine, by the way.

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

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There were only seven games on Thursday and almost no chaos. Devin Williams earned his seventh save of the season for the Mets. Hunter Gaddis locked down his first save this year since Cade Smith had the day off after locking down saves on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Guardians won all four games against the Tigers in this series.

Jeff Hoffman earned a rare ninth-inning opportunity and scored his fourth save in a 2-0 victory over the Yankees. Hoffman got Cody Bellinger to line out, then he struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt to complete the clean inning. Louis Varland remains the closer for the Blue Jays.

Quick Hits

Ronald Acuña Jr. left Thursday’s contest early not long after a routine fly ball out that hit his left thumb and led to swelling. X-rays were negative and he is considered day-to-day.

The Yankees demoted outfielder Spencer Jones after Thursday’s game. His 10-game stint of 27 plate appearances resulted in .167/.259/.167, two runs batted in, no home runs and no runs scored. If Giancarlo Stanton could just stick to pop-top Pringles, perhaps he’ll avoid another IL stint after he’s back, and we won’t see Jones until late in the summer.

As Jones heads out of the Big Apple, Gerrit Cole and José Caballero will be welcomed back in. The other optioned player besides Jones should be Max Schuemann (three MiLB options remaining), not Anthony Volpe. Caballero will take his shortstop job back, though both Caballero and Volpe should face LHPs going forward. Caballero would slide over to third base and Ryan McMahon would hit the bench.

St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Nathan Church (lower body) will be placed on the IL today. The specific injury isn’t yet clear. Bryan Torres (2 HR, 10 SB, .336 in 36 games) will be called up from Triple-A Memphis. Dynasty diehards and Cards fans will have to wait just a bit longer for Joshua Báez. Báez is slashing .239/.315/.497 with 11 HR and 10 SB in 41 games (181 PA) in Triple-A.

Colorado Rockies outfielder Brenton Doyle was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique contusion. Doyle was mired in a short-side platoon split, with a strange roto stat line (21 R – 1 HR – 4 RBI – 9 SB – .207). He is eligible to return on Saturday, May 20.

Various News and Notes

Is this A.I.? Perhaps a real welder? Nope, it’s Pittsburgh Pirates home run leader, Brandon Lowe:

New team, same look: plenty of power and hoping to stay off the injured list. The only thing different this season is that Lowe has yet to attempt to steal a base. As for the homers, he will be hard-pressed to match or exceed the 39 he smashed in 2021.

Michael Harris II, aka Money Mike, hit two dingers on Thursday. One of starter Sandy Alcantara and one off closer Pete Fairbanks (in a non-save opportunity). Here they are:

Harris is batting .298 with 11 home runs and career-best power metrics: 93.6 EV, 16.2% BRL, and a 55.4% HH.

If you thought the homers looked similar, I can assure that your eyes were not deceiving you.

The Miami Marlins acquired outfielder Rece Hinds from the Cincinnati Reds for RP Zach McCambley on Thursday. The 25-year-old hit .302 with 24 HR and 21 SB (436 PA) in Triple-A last season and was slashing .306/.423/.635 there this season.

Check out these career splits:

  • First 24 PA: 5 HR – 11 RBI – 2 SB – .300 (.909 ISO)
  • In 107 PA since: 2 HR – 8 RBI – 0 SB – .100 (.110 ISO)

They can never take that week in July of 2024 away from him.

I wouldn’t be opposed to the Marlins cutting ties with Christopher Morel (.154/.214/.192, 40.7% K) and giving Hinds a shot against opposing lefty starters. Perhaps this move is in the works, since they also called up corner infielder Graham Pauley on Thursday. Pauley is an ideal strong-side platoon partner for Javier Sanoja.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% on Yahoo)

Pitchers for Today: Jeffrey Springs (ATH, 32%) at SD

The Athletics continue their show on the road with a three-game stop in sunny San Diego. It’s a good ballpark and solid matchup for Springs, who has held opposing batters to a .277 wOBA and .281 OBP away from Sutter Health Park.

Other Pitchers: Connor Prielipp (MIN, 19%) at BOS

The Tigers-Orioles game may get rained out, so Chris Bassitt is off my list. Instead, let’s pivot to the rookie southpaw against a Red Sox offense that isn’t very intimidating these days. We’ll probably see Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Caleb Durbin and Nick Sogard in the lineup.

Pitchers for Tomorrow: J.T. Ginn (ATH, 40%) at SD

Ginn is only 40% on Yahoo? Do they only offer 8-team leagues over there? Ginn was oh so close to a no-hitter on Monday. Over his last three starts (22 IP), Ginn has 21 strikeouts and just three walks. This is a good matchup for him.

Other Pitchers: Zac Gallen (ARI, 49%) vs. COL

There is no other group of folks a struggling pitcher would prefer to face at home than the road Rockies offense. Gallen will probably leap over the 50% threshold by the time you read this.

Have a great weekend!





 

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.

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ccovilleMember since 2020
14 hours ago

Thoughts on Valdez in Pittsburgh?

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