Roto Riteup: May 9, 2026

Hitting homers is so nice, Miguel Vargas did it twice.

On the Agenda: 

1. Closer Chaos
2. Quick Hits
3. Various News and Notes
4. Streaming Pitchers
5. Ottoneu Six Picks

Closer Chaos

Pierce Johnson was was the man Terry Francona turned to in the ninth Saturday, and Johnson got his first save with a clean inning. It was the Reds first save since April 19. With Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft each blowing a save in the last week, the path may be clear for Johnson to take the role for now.

John King got his first save, as well, but I am not sure there is a ton to read into this one. The Marlins were up four heading to the 9th and Michael Peteresen came on for what looked to be a simple mop up and head home inning. He gave up three runs and had a runner still on base when lefty-hitting CJ Abrams stepped up. On comes lefty-throwing King, who retired Abrams to close it out. King is probably little more than the best lefty option when needed – and he is a good option – but I don’t think he is the closer or even all that likely to get many more chances. Plus, Pete Fairbanks is scheduled to throw a bullpen soon, so he may be on the way back.

Paul Sewald notched his 8th save, shutting down the Mets in Arizona. Mason Miller struck out four in 1.1 IP, getting his 12th save. Just for fun, he got all four of those strikeouts in the 9th, allowing one runner to reach on a third strike wild pitch. Lastly, Luis Garcia got a save for the Twins, but you can credit an 11-inning game for that one.

Quick Hits

Bryce Harper took the field, but didn’t even make it to his first PA Saturday, leaving after the top of the first, apparently with a migraine. That sounds extremely unpleasant, but it doesn’t sound like it should keep him out long.

Logan Webb is headed to the IL with right knee bursitis. It sounds like Webb wanted to continue to play through the issue, which he has been dealing with for a while and aggravated recently. That is hopefully doubly good news – first, it should mean this is a relatively short IL stint; second, if the knee was driving some of his uncharacteristically weak performance, maybe he’ll get right with the break.

Various News and Notes

Blake Snell’s return to the mound wasn’t all you might have hoped. Facing a tough Atlanta team, he went just three innings, giving up 5 R (4 ER) on six hits, while walking two and striking out five. His velocity looked fine and the break on his pitches was solid. His curve appears to have been breaking a bit more than last year – both a couple extra inches of drop and more horizontal break. The ground ball rate looked good, there was almost no hard contact, he didn’t allow a homer. All the damage was done thanks to a .545 BABIP. Snell looks good to me.

Opposite Snell, Spencer Strider shut down the Dodgers, finishing with 6 IP, 8 K, 2 BB, 1 H and 0 R. His velocity was up – not to his peak 97+, but at least back over 96 – and if that holds, he is going to have a big 2026.

Ernie Clement went 5-5 with a HR, 3 R and 2 RBI, bringing him up to a 105 wRC+ on the season. This newfound offensive success dates back to the postseason last year, but it is a bit tough to see what is driving it. Clement has always put the ball in play – he had a 10.8% K-rate and 4.1% BB-rate coming into the year – and he has taken that to a new level this year (6.9% strikeout rate, 3.1% walk rate). But underneath that, his plate discipline hasn’t really improved. He is chasing more often, but swinging in the zone the same amount. He isn’t making more contact. He’s also not making better, harder contact. I would expect him to be more like the 94 or 98 wRC+ hitter he was the last two years the rest of the way.

Kyle Stowers had been off to a rough start since his return from injury, but Saturday he hit his first HR and added a double, going 3-4 with 2 R and 2 RBI. Stowers is chasing too much right now, but his contact rate (both in and out of the zone) is up, so if he can get the swing choices back where they belong, he could continue to decrease his K-rate.

Speaking of rough starts, how badly did Alec Bohm need that 3-4 effort with two homers and a double? That raised his season-long wRC+ to 44. He has been making more contact out of the zone and less in it, which might be behind the big decrease in line drive rate. His offensive success comes from those liners, not big power. Maybe last night was the start of that coming back together for him.

Jack Leiter was effectively wild Saturday. He only lasted 4.2 IP, piling up 97 pitches thanks to five walks, but he also struck out six and gave up just three hits without allowing a run. That one start changed the narrative on Leiter’s season, as his control gains (from way too many walks last year to merely too many this year) went up in smoke, as his walk rate increased from 7.9% to 9.6% in one start. That continues to be the thing to watch with Leiter. If he hits his spots and avoids walks, he can be successful.

Cam Schlittler, meanwhile, matched Leiter’s strikeouts, and also didn’t give up a run, but he didn’t allow a walk, either. Two hits were the only blemishes on his six innings of work. Braxton Ashcraft was almost as good. He went 7 IP with 6 K and no walks, allowing just one run on six hits.

Streaming Pitchers

Streamers are under 50% rostered on CBS.

Pitcher for Today: Tyler Mahle (SFG, 38%) vs. Pittsburgh

I’ll stick with Mahle, though I was tempted to go with Cade Cavalli (he is exactly 50% rostered, but they are probably rounding up, right?).

Pitcher for Tomorrow: Peter Lambert (HOU, 45%) vs. Seattle

There are exactly four choices for tomorrow – Lambert, Roki Sasaki vs. SFG, Brandon Young vs. NYY, and Alek Manoah at CLE. Given Manoah threw his first inning since 2024  on Friday and Young combines unimpressive numbers with a scary opponent, you are left with two choices: Trust that Lambert’s hard-to-explain success will continue to bet on Sasaki to show progress against a bad Giants offense. I could see it either way. The Giants inability to take a walk is a particularly nice fit for Sasaki, but I am still going Lambert.

Ottoneu Six Picks

A new addition to my Roto Riteups will be sharing my Ottoneu Six Picks lineups. You can read more about Six Picks here but the concept is simple: six lineup spots (C, CI, MI, OF, SP, RP); $120 to fill those six spots; Ottoneu FanGraphs Points scoring. The only thing to keep in mind: Your SP will only score points if he starts and your RP will only grab points if he relieves. So no grabbing an RP-eligible player slated to start today.

Here is my Saturday lineup:

• Francisco Alvarez ($4.50) – One of my go-to catchers for six picks and he faces a lefty today.
• Bryce Harper ($37.75) – The matchup is great and I am kind of hoping he has a big day without being picked by many, after missing time yesterday.
• Elly de la Cruz ($37.25) – Facing a bullpen game? Sure.
• Brent Rooker ($14.75) – Chris Bassitt has been really, really bad.
• Cristopher Sanchez ($25.00) – It’s not a very unique choice, but a legit ace getting the Rockies away from Coors is hard to pass up.
• Eric Lauer 라우어 ($0.50) – I’ll take the follower gambit.

Featured Photo Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images