Roto Riteup: May 4, 2023

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May 4, 2023

No, unwritten rules; I am your father:

On the Agenda

  1. The Closer Wars
  2. Next Stop: Bacta Tank
  3. Wednesday Walkoffs
  4. Streaming Pitchers

The Closer Wars

The Rays placed Pete Fairbanks on the IL with forearm inflammation. Fairbanks says it is unrelated to the Raynauds*-related issues he previously had and expects it to be a minimum stay on the shelf. And with Fairbanks down, the Rays, of course, went maximum Rays in an 8-1 win over the Pirates, as the recently-acquired Chase Anderson picked up a three-inning Save. The over/under for the number of different players that get a Save opportunity in Fairbanks’ absence is currently set at 2.5.

* Also, if you see anyone claim that Raynaud’s is just something akin to feeling pins and needles on your skin, know that they don’t really know what they’re talking about. Coming from the husband of someone with it, Raynauds can really, really suck, depending on the severity, and when bad it is much more analogous to the sensation of frostbite, with white spots of pure pain popping up on your extremities with even the slightest chill in the weather.

With the Cardinals up 4-3 against the Angels, closer Ryan Helsley got the call in the bottom of the 7th inning, with two on and Hunter Renfroe up. Helsley got out of the jam and then went on to pitch a clean inning in the 8th but then, disaster struck, as Giovanny Gallegos wound up allowing three runs and blowing the save, giving up solo home runs to Jake Lamb and Mike Trout, in the process.

Alex Lange picked up his fourth Save of the year (and third in the past 10 days) in a 6-5 win over the Mets. After failing to record a strikeout in his first four games, Lange now has 16 K in his past 10 IP, allowing zero runs and just three hits.

Keynan Middleton picked up his first Save of the year and now has a 2.89 ERA over 9.1 IP, with 18 K. If he does have the closer job right now, it’ll be gone once Liam Hendriks returns but for now, you just have to appreciate the mic drop of, “I mean, he’s a cheater”:

“I knew I was going to face Correa, and I don’t like him. So it was kind of cool,” he said. “I like that. I enjoyed that a lot. … I mean, he’s a cheater.”

Next Stop: Bacta Tank

Zach Neto was removed from the game after taking a pitch off of his hand during a bunt attempt, finishing the at-bat but ultimately getting pulled. Consider him day-to-day

Michael Harris was removed from their win over the Marlins after jamming his knee but they’re calling it precautionary. Day-to-day, part deuce.

Harrison Bader made it back for all of seven plate appearances before being removed after taking a knee to the head in a collision with Isaih Kiner-Falefa. Aaron Boone thinks he avoided serious injury but we know how these things go:

Jake Burger left their eventual win over the Twins after grabbing his side post-whiff in the fourth inning. He still needs to be evaluated but this face looks to be saying, “oblique dow-wwn”

Kyle Wright left his start with a sore shoulder after allowing 4 R (3 ER) in 2 IP. Wright initially tried to talk his way out of getting pulled but was then placed back on the 15-day IL following the game, his second trip for the same injury the season after also dealing with the issue during the offseason. He now sports a 5.79 ERA over 18.2 IP for the year.

In part one of “major league baseball is really hard”, Gavin Stone got knocked around in his season debut, allowing five runs on eight hits in four innings, striking out just one. He threw his changeup 33 times (43%) but only generated two whiffs and finished with just a 7.8% SwStr% overall. If Stone stays in the rotation, his next start lines in Milwaukee next Tuesday.

In part two of “MLBIRH”, Brandon Pfaadt got smaacked around, allowing 7 ER on nine hits in 4.2 IP in what ended being a 12-7 win over the Rangers. Pfaadt will get a chance at fantasy redemption with a two-start week on tap next, scheduled for two home starts against Miami and San Francisco.

Wednesday Walk-Offs

One pitch, four runs, one winner:

Three pitches, one run – same result:

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: None – the streaming waters are dire on Thursday.

High Risk: Dylan Dodd, ATL @ MIA – We’ve seen the good (5 IP, 1 ER) and the bad (4.1 IP, 7 ER) out of Dodd’s first two starts in the bigs but the Marlin have also been sneaky-good vs LHP, with a wOBA and wRC+ both in the top-10.

(High Risk) Pitcher for Tomorrow: Matthew Boyd, DET @ STL – Boyd got lit up his last start (5.2 IP, 6 ER) but at this point betting against the Cardinals just seems like a good idea. Luckily, I’ll be at this game and will simply get neck-deep in bacon-wrapped hot dogs if things start going sideways.





 

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Mo Nuwwarahmember
11 months ago

The Diamondbacks won 12-7, they did not lose.

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Nicklaus Gautmember
11 months ago
Reply to  Mo Nuwwarah

I’m sorry!

1