Roto Riteup: May 3, 2023

Acuna getting ready for the 2024 Summer Olympics:

Ronald Acuña Jr. stolen bases: 14
Ronald Acuña Jr. somersaults: 1 pic.twitter.com/g0ErI92Wkv

— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 3, 2023

On the Agenda: 

1. Sleeper and the Bust DK Contest
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers

 

Closer Chaos

Michael King threw 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one walk and striking out three to register the save versus the Guardians on Tuesday. A day after Clay Holmes blew the save for the Yankees, King was the one who was turned to. He is clearly the next man up in the Yankees bullpen, but the time may be coming quicker than expected if Holmes continues to struggle. 

 

Quick Hits

Nicky Lopez was placed on the IL with appendicitis. There is no timetable for his return. Maikel Garcia was recalled from AAA to take his spot on the roster and could be a nice source of stolen bases in deeper formats. 

Avisail Garcia was placed on the IL with back tightness. There is no timetable for his return. Xavier Edwards was recalled to take his spot in the roster. Edwards is a former prospect known for his speed. He probably isn’t much more than an NL stolen base option. 

German Marquez will undergo Tommy John surgery. His season is done and he will likely not be fantasy relevant until late 2024 or 2025. 

Aledmys Diaz was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain. He is not expected to be out long. Nick Allen was recalled to replace him on the roster. 

Josh Fleming left Tuesday’s game with a foot injury after being hit with a comebacker.

.@RaysBaseball lefty Josh Fleming takes a 113.1 mph liner off of his foot and after a couple of warmup pitches is taken out of the game. pic.twitter.com/b2N5eno0zF

— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) May 3, 2023

He reportedly suffered a contusion and is considered day-to-day at this time.

Salvador Perez left Tuesday’s game with a finger injury after being hit by a swing. X-rays were negative so it appears he avoided serious injury. Consider him day-to-day at this time.

 

Various News and Notes

Bradon Pfaadt will make his Major League debut on Wednesday. 

After his start tonight, Brandon Pfaadt is 2nd in AAA in strikeouts with 30. He also has just 6 walks in 25.1 innings. The sooner he's called up, the better the chances the D-Backs have at staying in first place in the NL West. pic.twitter.com/oEePr5asMM

— THEMiLBNerd (@THEMILBNerd) April 27, 2023

Pfaadt is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and he has looked the part in AAA, with a 3.91 ERA and 30 strikes in 25.1 innings pitched. He has struggled with home runs, but he does a good job of keeping runners off of base via the walk which helps limit the damage when he does give up a long ball. He is a must pick up in all leagues.

Bryce Miller threw six innings versus the Athletics, allowing one run on two hits and no walks while striking out 10 in the no-decision.

Bryce Miller, K'ing the Side pic.twitter.com/Aumn8nni7B

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 3, 2023

Miller was fantastic in the outing, going toe-to-toe with Mason Miller who was also fantastic. Bryce Miller threw 70% fastballs in this one with a 40% CSW, which was effective in the outing, but probably won’t be for very long if he doesn’t throw much other than the heater. This was a nice first start, but I want to see him rely upon the secondaries a little more before I buy into him.

Miguel Vargas went 4-for-5 with three doubles in the victory over the Dodgers.

Miguel Vargas gets his third double of the night, stroking a great pitch to the oppo gap for two runs. pic.twitter.com/FqsVJx83is

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 3, 2023

Vargas came into the outing hitting .202 but raised it 34 points. The underlying skills have been good from a contact perspective, but he has not hit for much power at all and the Statcast data is pretty ugly, but the talent is there and the Dodgers appear that they will be patient with him for now.

Bryce Elder threw seven scoreless innings versus the Marlins, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out six in the victory on Tuesday.

Bryce Elder, Nasty 90mph Sinker. 😨

18 inches of run pic.twitter.com/lMvnM14ngF

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 2, 2023

Elder was electric in the outing, getting a 36% CSW on his sinker while limiting hard contact. Elder doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but mixes his pitches well. This outing was nice, but he is still mostly a streamer in shallow leagues and a team streamer in deeper ones.

 

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in CBS)

Pitcher for Today: Joey Lucchesi at DET

Lucchesi has pitched really well and gets a Tigers team that has the second worst strikeout percentage in Major League Baseball against left-handed pitching. 

High Risk Options: Seth Lugo vs CIN, Clarke Schmidt vs CLE, JP Sears vs SEA, Braxton Garrett vs ATL.

 

Pitcher for Tomorrow: None

Short slate with few good options. 

High Risk Options: Brayan Bello vs TOR, Griffin Canning at STL, Dean Kremer at KC. 

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 “High Risk Options.”