Roto Riteup: May 7, 2023

What’s that you say about a whole mess of trouble down in Baseball Heaven? La-la-la, Paul can’t hear you:

On the Agenda

  1. News and Notes
  2. Closer Kumite
  3. Bumps and Bruise
  4. Streaming Pitchers

News and Notes

Dysfunction and confusion continue to reign in St. Louis, with the Cardinals inexplicably announcing that Willson Contreras would be moved off of catching, and will instead go forward at DH, outfielder, or even first base to spell Paul Goldschmidt. Ok, well, it’s not exactly inexplicable from a pitcher vibes standpoint as there have always been questions about Contreras’s defense and ability to handle a pitching staff and those got louder after some undercurrents of friction in 2023. But what is inexplicable is that his defensive shortcomings weren’t exactly a secret and yet the Cardinals still pulled the trigger on an $87 million contract, only to now do a 180. The St. Louis lineup already had too many mouths to feed, a situation that will only become more exacerbated by Contreras clogging up the DH.

The Dodgers eventually won in 10 innings on Sunday night baseball after Mookie Betts took Josh Hader deep with two outs in the ninth:

Bryce Miller followed up his stellar debut against Oakland (6 IP, 1 ER, 10 K) by tossing six shutout innings in a win over the Astros, allowing just two hits and striking out five. With his next start lined up in Detroit, Miller’s the biggest bell of the waiver wire ball.

Gavin Sheets went yard on Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a three-run home run. Rostered just 1% on Yahoo, he’s one of the better streaming options in Week 7, as the White Sox have seven games, with zero vs LHP.

Anthony Rendon stayed hot on Sunday, going 2-for-3, with a home run, four RBI, and two walks. He’s now slashing .291/.418/.360 for the year and has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games, collecting two hits five times. Sure, he’ll be rostered in most leagues but it’s still worth double-checking considering he’s at 44% on Yahoo.

Nathan Eovaldi officially declared himself “Regress-In” on Saturday, striking out five over eight scoreless innings in a win over the Angels. Eovaldi lowered himself to a 3.22 ERA (2.22 FIP) after his now 17 IP scoreless streak and will look to keep it going in Week 7 in a juicy matchup with Oakland.

Closer Kumite

Pete Fairbanks played catch on Sunday, not the first time he’s done so according to manager, Kevin Cash. There is no firm timetable yet but things look to be trending towards Fairbanks leaving the IL when first eligible next week. Jason Adam picked up a three-save week in his absence.

A.J. Minter had himself a two-save week but that’s about it as Raisel Iglesias made his season debut and collected his first Save on Saturday. Iglesias looked fine in his return from the IL, with his fastball velocity sitting right about where we would expect it to.

Bumps and Bruises

Liam Hendriks made his second rehab appearance since ringing the bell, allowing one run in one inning at Triple-A Charlotte. He’s currently set to make at least two more rehab appearances before rejoining the White Sox.

Orlando Arcia (wrist microfracture) was activated by Atlanta on Sunday, with Vaughn Grissom heading back to back to Triple-A with a sack full of FABB dollars slung over his shoulder like he was the Hamburglar.

Eloy Jiménez will miss 4-to-6 weeks after undergoing an appendectomy.

José Suarez left his start in the third inning on Sunday after feeling discomfort in his throwing shoulder. He is set to get an MRI on Monday.

Victor Robles was placed on the 15-day IL with back spasms after injuring himself on a slide on Saturday. There is no current timetable for his return.

Streaming Pitchers

Pitcher for Today: None. We basically only have five options for Monday and none are very pretty.

High Risk for Today: JP Sears, OAK @ NYY – Sears has been usable in spots, most recently shutting out Seattle for six innings, allowing just four hits and striking out seven.

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Clarke Schmidt, NYY vs OAK – Schmidt has been up and down but there are few better ways to find some consistency than getting a start against Oakland. The Athletics have a bottom-eight wOBA vs RHP, with a bottom-three K%.





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Dollar Bill
10 months ago

HaHa … Vaughn Grissom heading back to back to Triple-A with a sack full of FABB dollars slung over his shoulder