Mike Wright Earns First Career Save Saturday

Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Mike Wright picked up the first save of his career in Saturday's 5-3 game against the Yankees. Fellow reliever Mychal Givens pitched the eighth inning and Richard Bleier started the ninth inning up 5-1, but proceeded to give up a solo home run, a double and a single. Wright entered the game […]

Yonny Chirinos To Start Sunday

The Tampa Bay Rays will opt to start pitcher Yonny Chirinos on Sunday against the Houston Astros. In 2018, Chirinos was mainly used as either the opener or followed the opener on bullpen days. However, he averaged roughly five innings per appearance, totaling 89 2/3 innings last year and pitched to a 3.51 ERA with […]

Jimmy Yacabonis Earns First Win Of 2019 Saturday

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis picked up the win in Saturday's 5-3 win over the Yankees. Yacabonis pitched three innings, allowing one run on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts. He entered the game in the third inning, as Nate Karns pitched the first two innings as an opener. Yacabonis is not currently […]

Jose Alvarado Posts Second Save In As Many Days

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Jose Alvarado earned his second save in two days in the Rays win over the Houston Astros on Saturday. He didn’t get into any trouble in this one, pitching a clean inning while striking out two. He should rack up quite a few save opportunities this year and is a low-profile […]

Seth Lugo Gives Mets Late Scare

Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday afternoon in Washington D.C., the New York Mets held a comfortable seven-run lead. Manager Mickey Callaway called on Seth Lugo to close out the game, but that became significantly more difficult than originally thought. Lugo allowed a pair of walks, suffered an error on defense and […]

Hunter Strickland Placed On Injured List

Seattle Mariners closer Hunter Strickland has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right lat strain. Strickland appeared to injure himself versus the Red Sox Friday night but stayed in the game only to give up the game-winning, three-run home run. It's unclear how long he'll be out of action but is expected […]

Ken Giles Grabs First Save Of The Season

Toronto Blue Jays closer Ken Giles allowed one hit in an inning of work to pick up his first save of the season during a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. The fiery right-hander has now converted 32 consecutive save opportunities dating back to 2017. The 28-year-old is not an elite closing option […]

Sergio Romo (SP/RP, MIA) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues OWNED IN: 31% of Yahoo! leagues ANALYSIS: Despite starting a few games last season, make no mistake, Romo was a closer last year. He earned 25 saves with a 10.02 K/9, a 2.67 BB/9 and a 4.14 ERA - with a 3.32 SIERA. He is now in line to be […]

Trevor Rosenthal Initiates Bullpen Collapse Against Mets

Washington Nationals relief pitchers Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough combined to allow four runs in the eighth inning of the team's 11-8 loss to the New York Mets Saturday before Matt Grace struck out Robinson Cano to end the inning. Grace and Wander Suero then allowed another three runs in the ninth. The runs added […]

David Robertson To Be Used In Highest-Leverage Spot

Philadelphia Phillies manager Gabe Kapler plans to use reliever David Robertson anywhere between the seventh and ninth inning this season depending on how the high-leverage situations play out. Robertson signed a two-year contract this offseason, and this plan was verbalized to the right-hander before he signed the dotted line. He's the most experienced arm in […]

Yankees Manager Not Concerned With Aroldis Chapman's Low Velocity

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman threw 12 fastballs in his appearance Thursday versus the Orioles and averaged only 95.3 mph on his heaters. Chapman averaged 99.1 mph a season ago and has flirted in the triple-digit range throughout his career, but this drop is worth noting. Manager Aaron Boone isn't concerned, stating that he'll […]

Matt Barnes Records First Save

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Barnes netted his first save of the 2019 season in a 7-6 victory over the Mariners on Friday evening. He needed just 12 pitches to register the save while striking out two of the three batters he faced. Barnes' opportunity came after the Sox climbed out of a 6-1 […]

After Hours With RotoBaller Radio: MLB Very Early Season Thoughts

Host Anthony Aniano of RotoBaller Radio discuss the 2019 fantasy baseball season and keeps you updated with all the latest news and analysis Be sure to tune into RotoBaller Radio on SiriusXM (channel Sirius 210, XM 87) - Monday through Friday from 6-7 am ET. You can also find new weekly shows on BlogTalkRadio live or on demand, SoundCloud and on iTunes […]

Greg Holland Nails Down First Save

Arizona Diamondbacks new closer Greg Holland struck out two batters in a perfect 13th inning to secure his first save of the season in Friday's marathon game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He worked a tidy frame, throwing nine of his 11 pitches for strikes, including first-pitch strikes to each of the three batters he […]

Jacob Barnes Rocked In Friday's Loss

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Jacob Barnes gave up three runs on three hits through his one inning of relief in Friday's loss to the Cardinals. Barnes was a potential candidate for saves while Jeremy Jeffress and Corey Knebel were out, but this outing may influence that. Barnes was given chances and saves last season and didn't […]

Hunter Strickland Blows Save, Leaves With Possible Injury

Seattle Mariners closer Hunter Strickland had a night to forget as he blew the team's 6-4 lead in the ninth inning Friday. Strickland served up a double and then beaned a batter to begin the inning and appeared to have an injury issue afterward. The team's trainer was called to the mound to examine Strickland […]

Jose Alvarado First Up For Saves In Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Jose Alvarado was called upon to close out the game against the Houston Astros on Friday. Alvarado had been suspected to be the primary closer for the Rays, and this puts those questions at ease for the time being. With the Rays up by two runs in the ninth, Alvarado came […]

Jeremy Jeffress A Couple Weeks Away

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Jeremy Jeffress (shoulder) is pitching every three days and will do so again on Saturday. General manager David Stearns said that Jeffress is a couple of weeks away from a return. Even though Jeffress is starting the season on the injured list, he just got a little more intriguing for those […]

Corey Knebel To Have Tommy John Surgery

Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Corey Knebel (elbow) said he has decided to have season-ending Tommy John reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. The hard-throwing right-hander will miss all of the 2019 season, so he can be safely cut in any fantasy leagues in which he was owned. With Jeremy Jeffress on the injured list, Josh […]

Jose Alvarado Tweaks Ankle Friday

Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Jose Alvarado rolled his ankle slightly during pre-game workouts on Friday but ultimately checked out fine. The left-handed reliever should be available out of the bullpen on Friday night. He's one of the favorites for saves in Tampa's bullpen along with Diego Castillo and Chaz Roe in 2019, so he […]

Diego Castillo (SP/RP, TAM) - Week 1 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues OWNED IN: 9% of leagues ANALYSIS: Diego Castillo emerged as a key cog in the Rays' bullpen after Tampa traded away Alex Colome last season. Over 56.2 innings of work, he posted a 3.18 ERA and 0.95 WHIP, with 64 strikeouts against just 18 walks. He performed especially well […]

Fernando Rodney The Oldest Active Player in MLB

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Fernando Rodney, 42, is the only active player left born in the 1970's now that Ichiro Suzuki is officially retired and with Bartolo Colon unable to find a team. Rodney saved 25 games for the Minnesota Twins last year before being traded to Oakland in August, where he took on a […]

Hector Neris Allows First Home Run Since Last June

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Hector Neris allowed a two-out, two-run home run to Matt Joyce in the seventh inning of Philadelphia's 10-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday. It was the first home run Neris had given up since he allowed three on June 29 of last year. He returned to action on August […]

Opening Day Observations

When are we going to finally get around to making MLB Opening Day a national holiday? I can tell you the only thing that kept me from calling in sick was the fact that technology allows me to stream live games in HD on my cell phone while I sit at my desk waiting until […]

David Hernandez Earns Save In Season Opener

Cincinnati Reds reliever David Hernandez picked up the save in his team's 5-3 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. Hernandez pitched a third of an inning, issuing one walk in the process. He was able to end the game on a groundout off the bat of Corey Dickerson. While Hernandez earned the first […]

Brad Boxberger Earns One-Out Save

Kansas City Royals reliever Brad Boxberger picked up his first save of the season in the team's 5-3 win over the White Sox on Thursday. They entered the final frame up 5-0 and used four pitchers to get the last three outs in a shaky bullpen effort. The Royals have stated they won't use a […]

Raisel Iglesias Has Shaky Debut

Cincinnati Reds reliever Raisel Iglesias had a rough outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Opening Day. He entered the game in the eighth and immediately served up a homer to Corey Dickerson. Iglesias retired the next three batters but walked two in the ninth before getting yanked with two outs to go in the game. […]

Taylor Rogers Earns Save For Twins

Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers was called upon in the eighth inning to shut down the Cleveland Indians on Opening Day. Rogers came into the game with a runner on and two outs and retired all four batters he faced for the save. He struck out three of the hitters in a surprise move by […]

Ken Giles Sharp In First Outing

Toronto Blue Jays closer Ken Giles had an impressive debut to his 2019 season on Thursday. He entered the game in the ninth inning in a 0-0 tie and struck out the side against the Detroit Tigers. It wasn't a cakewalk either as he faced Miguel Cabrera, Nicholas Castellanos, and Jeimer Candelario to keep the […]

David Robertson Throws Eighth Inning Thursday

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher David Robertson gave up an earned run, two hits and a leadoff walk in his inning of relief on Opening Day on Thursday in the eighth inning. Robertson gave up a leadoff walk to Josh Donaldson. This was followed by a Freddie Freeman single to right followed by a Ronald Acuna single […]