Roto Riteup: May 9, 2026

Hey, look, Fernando Tatis Jr. finally created a HR!

On the Agenda: 

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

Closer Chaos

Jhoan Duran pitched 8th inning with the Phillies down five, giving up a hit and striking out two. That seems like an odd moment to use your closer, but Duran had made just one appearance since coming off the IL. The Phillies presumably just wanted to get him some work. They probably didn’t expect a five-run outburst bottom 8 to tie it. This one went to 11, with Brad Keller eventually taking the loss. The Rockies turned to Victor Vodnik in the 10th, so he got the win, and left Juan Mejia to close it out for his second save.

PJ Poulin locked down his first save of the year, giving up a walk before getting the final out against the Marlins. Gus Varland got a save Thursday night, so maybe he wasn’t available, or maybe this was just a matchup play. Poulin, a lefty, came on to face left-handed hitting Joe Mack, who was lifted for a PH. Heriberto Hernandez drew the walk and then Poulin got a ground out from Leo Jimenez to end the game. I think Varland is still the man in DC, but this is clearly not a set-in-stone closer situation.

It wasn’t the 9th inning, so maybe it means nothing, but Kyle Finnegan blew a save for the Tigers, letting the Royals tie it up in the 8th, giving up 2 ER on 3 H and 1 BB without recording an out. Kenley Jansen was likely lined up for the 9th, and that job is still very much his, but presumably everyone else is auditioning and this wasn’t a good audition. The Royals turned to closer Lucas Erceg with the game tied in the ninth, and he got the win when Kyle Isbel walked it off with a single.

Friday was Hogan Harris’s turn for the A’s, as he got his second save of the season despite giving up a run in Baltimore. Here are the Athletics saves since April 20: Joel Kuhnel, Jack Perkins, Perkins, Mark Leiter Jr., Perkins, Harris. If I am getting involved in this pen, Perkins is going to be my dance partner, but he clearly doesn’t have the job to himself.

It wasn’t a save situation, but Caleb Killian got the 9th for the Giants and gave up a run on his way to closing out a 5-2 win. He allowed a couple of walks and a hit, without a K in an inning of work. Keaton Winn has been almost as good as Killian this year and got a hold with a perfect inning with one strikeout. I wouldn’t rule him out of the save conversation.

Aroldis Chapman struck out two in a perfect inning to earn his 8th save. Shane Drohan got his first save for the Brewers, but it was a 3-inning save with the Brew Crew up six, so not anything to suggest future saves. Louis Varland locked down his 5th for the Jays. Cade Smith gave up a run, but still held on for his 11th save. And Tanner Scott got his 3rd for the Dodgers.

Quick Hits

Tyler Glasnow hit the 15-day IL Friday. Righty Paul Gervase was recalled to take his spot, but that may be a short visit to the bigs – the Dodgers are expected to activate Blake Snell for his season debut today. This makes for a pretty simple rotation swap – Glasnow out, Snell in. Glasnow is suffering back spasms, and the Dodgers had suggested an IL stint may not be necessary. Best guess, Glasnow is ready to return in 15 days. If so, he would miss his next two starts, but be ready for the next one after that.

Cole Ragans also hit the IL with “pitcher’s elbow.” Given what I know about pitchers and their elbows, I assumed this meant his elbow was entirely shredded, but it turns out he may only need a minimum IL stint. Not bad news. But given his recent arm health questions, I am a little skeptical that we will see a fully healthy Ragans the rest of the way. The Royals got a double-whammy as Carlos Estévez had to shut down his rehab due to shoulder discomfort. He won’t be throwing again for 3-4 weeks.

The Angels now have two catchers on the IL, as Travis d’Arnaud joined Logan O’Hoppe. d’Arnaud has plantar fasciitis and his return ETA is TBD.

Josh Smith will be on the IL with a glute strain. He was already losing time to Ezequiel Duran, who will presumably the beneficiary of some extra PA. Jeff Zimmerman noted in his Lineup Analysis that Duran has shown some intriguing improved skills this year.

Ketel Marte was scratched Friday but it was just an illness and he should be back today.

Various News and Notes

Robby Snelling’s debut started pretty well, but got rough in a hurry. He made James Wood look foolish to get his first career K facing his first career hitter.

He followed that up by allowing a double, getting his second strikeout, giving up another single, and then another career first: his first career HR-allowed, a three-run shot to Jacob Young. He closed out the inning with a grounder and then went four more innings, allowing two more hits and walking four, without another strikeout. Snelling mixed five pitches, getting at least one whiff on each. The stuff seemed good – maybe even great? – but he struggled to locate pitches (four walks and zero K after the third hitter). That tracks with his minor league track record – plenty of K’s but some walk issues – and is probably what we should expect going forward.

Connelly Early has been succeeding this year despite very few swinging strikes and way too many walks. Friday he solved one of those things, as he struck out eight and walked just one in seven shutout innings against the Rays. But he still only induced eight whiffs. Last year, Early posted a 16.1% swinging strike rate, but the continued lack of whiffs this year is a little concerning. He’s a hold, not a guy you have to shop, but don’t be surprised if he hits some rough patches if he can’t start missing more bats.

Jacob Misiorowski has no such issue, as he piled up 16 whiffs on his way to a 6 IP, 0 ER, 11K, 2 BB, 2 H performance against the Yankees. And he did it with heat:

Jacob Misiorowski has thrown 9 pitches at 103.0+ mph tonight

All other starters have combined for 3 total under tracking (2008 + playoffs)

Miz also threw 1 last time out

The only RP with more than 9 in a game? Aroldis Chapman, 4x

— Sarah Langs (@slangsonsports.bsky.social) May 8, 2026 at 5:12 PM

Jac Caglianone was 1-4 with a double Friday, which doesn’t seem that notable, but in the last two weeks he has raised his season-long wRC+ from 94 to 103. He isn’t striking out less or walking more. He isn’t hitting the ball harder or hitting it hard more often. What he is doing is elevating the ball and turning on it. As of April 24, his launch angle on the season was 2. Going into play Friday, it was 9.1 since April 25. His pull rate as of April 24 was 38.0%; it was 52.2% from April 25 until Friday. On Friday, he put three balls in play. All three were line drives (20, 22 and 26 degree launch angles) and two of the three were pulled. He seems to be making the changes he needs to make.

We finally got the start we have been waiting for from Kyle Bradish. He took the loss against the A’s, but went 7 innings and struck out 10 while allowing just 1 walk. He gave up 3 ER on 5 H. He wasn’t in the zone more than he has been the rest of the year, but he must have been locating better. We’ll see if he can keep this up, but I am still a Bradish believer.

Mike Burrows had another good start Friday, and has now gone 18 innings over his last three starts with 17 K, 5 BB, and 5 ER on 16 H. I liked him before the season and after a rough start, he seems to be turning a corner. I think he is an interesting buy candidate, if you need pitching and you think your leaguemate might still be sour on him.

The Mariners absolutely teed off on Sean Burke and the White Sox. Luke Raley hit two HR and drove in 7. Josh Naylor was 3-4 with a homer of his own. Julio Rodriguez had a couple hits including a home run. And yet you know the talking point from this one will be the Aaron Judge has company at the top of the AL HR leaderboard, because Munetaka Murakami did this:

He also walked and struck out twice. That HR was the only one allowed by Emerson Hancock, but he ave up 5 ER on 5 H and 3 walks, while striking out four over 6 innings Friday. His velocity and spin were down across the board. Not a ton. Not “oh my goodness, is he hurt?!” levels of down. But enough to maybe make him the odd man out when Bryce Miller returns. I didn’t think that was likely, but he has had some less impressive starts recently and the Mariners may want to stick with a five-man rotation.

Streaming Pitchers

Streamers are under 50% rostered on CBS.

Pitcher for Today: Jansen Junk (MIA, 34%) vs. Nationals

There are not many options, given it is a Saturday with a full slate of games. Ty Madden, Kyle Freeland, Anthony Kay, Zack Littell, Aaron Civale, Jack Kochanowicz, Junk, and Dustin May are the choices. You might like Kochanowicz, but 41.1 IP with 30 K and 21 BB just isn’t doing it for me.

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

Mahle hasn’t been great overall, but he has a 2.91 ERA (3.74 FIP) at home, and hasn’t given up a run in his last two home starts. Five of his seven ER at home came in one ugly start vs. the Mets, and most of that was bad HR/FB results (3.59 xFIP in that one).

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:

• Hunter Goodman ($10.50) – I prefer to take him at home, but Philly isn’t a bad place to hit and I’ll take my chances against Aaron Nola.
• Munetaka Murakami ($15.50) – Luis Castillo hasn’t been good this year and he won’t have the benefit of pitching in T-Mobile.
• Bobby Witt Jr. ($53.25) – Detroit’s pitching is kind of a mess right now and Witt can take advantage.
• Randy Arozarena ($14.25) – I like the matchup with a lefty in a good power park.
• Braxton Ashcraft ($5.25) – I really thought about Joe Ryan, who feels very boom-or-bust – if he is healthy, he should have no issues in Cleveland. But he might not be healthy. Given that, I’ll roll with Ashcraft in San Francisco.
• Andrés Muñoz ($13.75) – I know I raised concerns about Castillo, but I don’t feel much better about Anthony Kay.