Roto Riteup: May 8, 2026

Jakob Marsee: Ball Robber

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

It was a travel day for The Chaos, as there wasn’t much of it on Thursday. Cade Smith (CLE) locked down his 10th save of the season, Daniel Palencia (CHC) earned his second, and Washington’s Gus Varland snagged his fourth. Clayton Beeter was recently cleared to begin throwing off the mound and won’t be ready to return when first eligible tomorrow. Varland should have at least another week of the job to himself.

Pittsburgh’s top southpaw, Gregory Soto, is back on our radar after securing his second and third saves of the season in back-to-back games, Wednesday and Thursday.

Dennis Santana appeared in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s game with the Diamondbacks, with his team down 7-0. Santana served up two earned runs on three hits in the contest. On Thursday, he appeared in the seventh inning following starter Mitch Keller. Santana walked one batter, but earned his three outs before Mason Montgomery and Isaac Matson shared the eighth to bridge the gap for Soto to close it out. RosterResource still lists Soto and Santana as co-closers. Soto has been the better reliever this season and could eventually pull away, but it’s likely to remain a committee for now, so don’t drop Santana in 12-teamers quite yet unless there’s an obvious upgrade available.

Quick Hits

Welcome to the big leagues, Spencer Jones!

Jasson Domínguez crashed into an outfield wall on Thursday, suffered an AC joint sprain and is expected to miss a few weeks of action. Jones has been crushing it in Triple-A, leading all hitters with 41 RBI and tied for second in home runs (11). The power metrics looks splendid as well: a 95.7 mph average exit velocity and a 58.7% hard-hit rate. What’s not so great? The strikeout rate of 32.4%. At least it’s moving in the right direction (35.4% last season).

Red Sox 21-year-old outfielder Roman Anthony (wrist) was placed on the IL, retroactive to Tuesday. Anthony is first eligible to be activated next Friday, May 15, ahead of a weekend series with the Atlanta Braves. Mickey Gasper was recalled in a corresponding move.

Padres catcher Luis Campusano has a fractured left toe and was placed on the 10-day IL. Rodolfo Duran was called up from Triple-A and will be Freddy Fermin’s backup.

Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder was pulled in the fourth inning of Thursday’s tilt with the Cubs due to shoulder discomfort. He will be receiving an MRI on Friday. Lefty Nick Lodolo will be activated on Friday to start against the Astros and he’d technically be their fourth starter if Lowder has to go on the injured list. If that’s the case, Chase Petty could be called up to rejoin the rotation next week.

With Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd hitting the IL, Ben Brown will make his first start of the season today, against the Rangers. Brown couldn’t hack it as a starter last season (6.30 ERA in 15 starts), though he maintained an exceptional 18.9% K-BB%. As a bulk reliever this season, Brown is rocking a 2.10 ERA and holding opposing hitters to a .194 batting average. He isn’t likely to throw more than 60-70 pitches in today’s outing.

Cole Ragans was diagnosed with valgus extension overload in his left elbow, also known as “pitcher’s elbow.” We might get lucky here as Ragans could avoid the injured list.

Various News and Notes

Boston’s rookie southpaw Jake Bennett was optioned to Triple-A Worcester after his second career start on Thursday. Bennett threw 86 pitches (52 for strikes) over 5.1 innings, allowed four earned runs, walked two, and only punched out one batter. The Red Sox will close out their series against the Rays with lefties Connelly Early (Friday), Ranger Suarez (Saturday), and righty Brayan Bello (Sunday). Things get interesting next week with Garrett Crochet possibly getting activated when first eligible on May 12. If Bello pitches poorly this weekend, the decision between maintaining a 6-man rotation or keeping it traditional could be an interesting one.

Former Tigers Rule 5 pick Liam Hicks has been out of his mind as a strong-side platoon cleanup hitter for the Marlins this season. Here’s his ninth dinger of the season:

Hicks is batting .319 and leads the majors in RBI with 34. He ranks among the top 10 roto producers this season, along with fellow catchers Ben Rice and Drake Baldwin.

Mookie Betts begins a rehab assignment at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday. Betts has been out just over a month as he’s been recovering from a strained right oblique. Since veteran infielders Miguel Rojas and Santiago Espinal (both over 30) can’t be optioned to the minors, the Dodgers will likely have to option one of Alex Freeland or Hyeseong Kim 김혜성. Kim has been the better hitter and both have been solid defensively, but Kim has been playing shortstop regularly. Ok, I’ll stop pulling your leg — both are probably safe and will remain with the team. The most likely transaction is Espinal getting designated for assignment.

Streaming Pitchers (Under 50% in Yahoo)

Pitcher for Today: Robby Snelling (MIA, 28%) vs. Nationals

The Marlins’ most heralded pitching prospect of the last couple of years will finally make his debut on Friday against the Nationals. Through six starts (29 IP) at Triple-A Jacksonville, Snelling boasts a 1.86 ERA and a 44.15 K:BB. There will be bumps in his rookie season road, but this debut should go swimmingly. His Yahoo roster rate jumped from 12% to 28% in 24 hours.

Other Options: Carmen Mlodzinski (PIT, 9%) at Giants, Griffin Canning (SD, 8%) vs. Cardinals

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Janson Junk (MIA, 20%) vs. Nationals

Junk owns a 2.82 ERA through seven starts, though his 4.07 SIERA and 17.4% strikeout rate and sub-9% swinging-strike rate may portend trouble ahead. He’s been an absolute control freak (5.2% BB this season, 2.9% last season) along with an elite 4.2% barrel rate, and should be able to stifle a subpar Nationals offense that has collectively cooled off at the plate lately.

Other Options: Dustin May (STL, 14%) at Padres