| | | | Wednesday, April 2, 2025 | | Typically, a closer losing their job is a moment of excitement for Fantasy players – at least, for the ones who don't have the guy who lost his job – but that isn't really the case in Pittsburgh. Because, somehow, the Pirates watched David Bednar 's terrible 2024 season and decided they didn't really need to fortify their bullpen – despite ostensibly being a playoff contender with a full season of Paul Skenes along for the ride. | | On Monday, Scott White wrote his first Bullpen Report column of the season, highlighting the mess the Reds, Dodgers, Rangers, and Phillies have already made of their bullpens. And then the Pirates went out and made an even bigger mess of theirs Tuesday, sending Bednar, a former All-Star, down to Triple-A after another disastrous start to the season. | | The problem here is, while there's certainly an opportunity in Pittsburgh's bullpen, I'm just not sure anyone is really going to take advantage of it. Here's what the Pirates current bullpen looks like, with rest-of-season ATC projections from each pitcher: | | Colin Holderman: 3.84 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 1.34 WHIPCaleb Ferguson: 3.76 ERA, 9.7 K/9, 1.36 WHIP Dennis Santana: 4.21 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 1.32 WHIPRyan Borucki: 4.21 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 1.37 WHIP Justin Lawrence: 4.60 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 1.48 WHIPTim Mayza: 4.19 ERA, 7.0 K/9, 1.40 WHIP Joey Wentz : 4.54 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 1.42 WHIP | | It's a decidedly uninspiring group, with no obvious next man up. Holderman has, in a fun example of nominative determinism, been working as a setup man so far this season, but he's been about as bad as Bednar in his limited opportunities; Santana might have closer stuff, but he also has a 4.73 career ERA and less than a K per inning; Lawrence at least has some closing experience in Colorado, but his 5.42 career ERA doesn't give us much to get excited about, even acknowledging that he was pitching in Coors Field. And on and on down the line. | | So, yeah, I'm not particularly excited about anyone in this 'pen. I'll let manager Derek Shelton tell me who the closer is before I decide to try to add anyone because I don't think there's enough upside here to justify a speculative add. If you're forcing me to guess – first of all: Wow, rude, just ask next time – I'd say Holderman is most likely to step up from the eighth to the ninth, though I have little confidence in either that guess or his ability to take the job and run with it. | | And anyway, given how little the Pirates did to build the bullpen up this offseason, I suspect they just want Bednar to be the closer again before long if he can get back on track at Triple-A. They didn't seem to have any kind of Plan B here, so don't view him as an auto-drop. | | For more on the state of the closer position, make sure you check out Scott's column here but don't expect any of the Pirates options to be someone you need to run out and grab. Now, let's get to everything else you need to know from Tuesday's action around MLB: | | | | Wednesday's top waiver-wire targets | | | | Here's who we're looking to add coming out of Tuesday's action: | | Shane Baz, SP, Rays (81%) – We usually focus on guys who are more widely available than this, but Baz made a big statement Tuesday that he needs to be 100% rostered. Another year removed from Tommy John surgery, Baz was throwing his four-seamer 1.5 mph harder than he did last season, though notably, the rest of his arsenal didn't get a velocity bump, creating more separation between the four-seamer and everything else. It really worked for the curveball, which he threw 35% of the time as his primary pitch, generating eight swings and misses and 10 called strikes with it. The rest of the arsenal wasn't quite as overpowering, though Baz's slider did seem to have a movement profile closer to his pre-surgery version, with a few inches more drop, which is a good sign. All in all, he struck out 10 batters over six shutout innings, and looks like he might just have a chance to live up to the upside he once showed as one of the top prospects in the game. No guarantees are moving forward, but this was obviously a very exciting performance. | | Casey Mize, SP, Tigers (54%) – We've been waiting for a Mize breakout for years, and this might actually be the best he's ever looked. It wasn't perfect – he left a lot of sliders up in the zone, especially to lefties – but it was more than good enough against a mediocre lineup in a great pitcher's park, as he struck out six over 5.2 innings, with three walks and only one hit allowed as he left in line for the win. Mize's spring velocity bump wasn't there, but he showed three different slider variations and generated 15 swinging strikes. Mize has always had upside, and we're finally seeing it. I don't trust him against the Yankees in his next start, but if he gets through that one well, he could be useful against the Twins after that. | | Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals (43%) – A hard-hit ball in the air? Hello, Jordan Walker, it's nice to see you. Look, the physical tools have never been in doubt, and Walker is still, somehow, just 22 years old, so I'll take any positive signs I can get. He went back to his old swing from his prospect days, and maybe that process was enough to unlock the latent upside here. It's a tiny sample size, but he's hitting well so far, going 6 for 13 with just two strikeouts to open the season, and that's going to be enough for me to take a flier on a player with Walker's tools. | | | | Ben Rice, 1B, Yankees (44%) – Here's the big question with Rice: How likely is it that he can force the Yankees to give him a chance to play regularly against lefties? I think he's just a good hitter, and his two homers in 11 plate appearances so far aren't a fluke – he struggled last season, but his underlying numbers were much better, and his pull-heavy swing is extremely well-suited to Yankee Stadium. If he's just a righty-masher, he'll have some utility for Fantasy, but if he gets a real shot at everyday playing time, he could be a Fantasy mainstay. For now, he's behind Spencer Torkelson and Kyle Manzardo, and likely in the same tier as Tyler Soderstrom , but he has a similarly high ceiling if he gets the opportunity. | | A.J. Puk, RP, Diamondbacks (43%) – One reliever I am willing to chase if he's out there is Puk, who finally got the Diamondbacks' first save opportunity for the D-Backs Tuesday. I will note that his usage in the ninth inning could be the result of the lineup, as the Yankees had three straight lefties up in the ninth, while Martinez was used in the eighth against the heart of the lineup – and he struck out Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm, and Anthony Volpe, a reminder that he could be pretty awesome as the closer, too. But here's the thing: Puk is going to be useful even if it's a co-closer situation. The fact that he got the first save could be a sign that he's in the lead, but even if he isn't, you're going to be happy you have him around in any category-based league. So just go add him. | | Jake Mangum, OF, Rays (0%) – I don't really think there's much here, to be honest. Mangum is a career .287/.341/.440 hitter as an older minor-league, with little over-the-fence pop and good-not-great speed. That being said, I'm not going to be so stubborn as to ignore another multi-hit game from him Tuesday, bringing him to 7 for 11 with his third steal in as many games. When all it costs is a few bucks of FAB in a deeper league, why not see if there's something real here? I wouldn't be looking in any 12-team mixed leagues, but I don't mind a flier in a deeper league. | | | | Tuesday's standouts | | Nathan Eovaldi , Rangers @BOS: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K – I'm torn here. On the one hand, Eovaldi tends to have at least one stretch where he looks absolutely dominant every season, and it almost never lasts. On the other hand … who cares! He looks awesome to open the season, and he's doing it by spamming splitters and curveballs – they made up 59% of his pitches in this one, compared to just 44.5% last season – and while that may not be sustainable, it's working like magic right now. I suppose I could slap the "sell-high" label on Eovaldi, but at this point, I think everyone knows how this works. If you could move him for a top-100 pick kind of player, go ahead and do it. Otherwise, just ride Eovaldi until he turns back into a (still useful!) pumpkin. | | Corbin Burnes, Diamondbacks @NYY: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K – Burnes' cutter shape wasn't quite where we wanted it to be, but nine whiffs and 18 foul balls on 31 swings is pretty good! His velocity was down 1.5 mph, so that's something to watch out for moving forward, and another reason not to be blase about his performance. But it wasn't bad against a red-hot Yankees lineup, so I'll take it! | | Michael King, Padres vs. CLE: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 11 K – You'd rather see him be a bit more efficient to get the quality start, but you certainly won't hear me complaining about this line from King. The command was much-improved from his poor showing in the first start and he generated 18 whiffs, including a whopping nine on his four-seamer, which was sizzling in this one. It took King about a month to figure it out last season; let's hope it only took him one start this time around. | | Justin Steele, Cubs @OAK: 6.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K – I mean, look, the results haven't been great through his first two starts, but I can't say I'm particularly worried about Steele. The one thing I'll point to is that he's throwing his curveball and changeup more right now than usual, which could be a sign that he just doesn't have the feel for his slider, which he only threw 15% of the time Tuesday; he was at 30% usage with that last season. Getting close to a quality start with six strikeouts isn't a bad outcome when he doesn't have his best pitch, assuming he can find it shortly. | | Sandy Alcantara, Marlins vs. NYM: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K – After they let him go over 90 pitches in his first start, it was a little disappointing to see the Marlins have a quick hook with Alcantara in this one. On the other hand, it's perfectly reasonable that they would want to get him out with a lead after he ran into trouble in his final inning the last time out. He looks like he hasn't missed a beat after Tommy John surgery, and he didn't even throw his slider here, in case you're wondering why he had just six whiffs on 70 pitches. The supporting cast is going to make wins like Tuesday's rarer than you'd like, but I still think Alcantara is going to be a must-start pitcher moving forward. | | Logan Webb, Giants @HOU: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K – He still isn't throwing his changeup as much as we're used to, but I'm not going to complain about that when the results are this good against a lineup like this. His new-ish cutter offers another look for lefties when he doesn't have the feel for his changeup, so the hope here is he avoids the disappointing stretches from last season. And if he consistently finds the changeup like he had in 2023, Webb could cruise every time out. I remain pretty optimistic overall. | | Kodai Senga, Mets vs. MIA: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K – Okay, yeah, you're hoping for better against a lineup like Miami's, but I really don't think there's much to be discouraged about beyond the line. He didn't give up much hard contact, and even though his fastball velocity was down 1.3 mph, Senga still generated 16 whiffs on 77 pitches, a huge number. I'm not sure Senga is going to replicate his rookie season success, but he should be a very useful Fantasy option moving forward. | | Dustin May, Dodgers vs. ATL: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – The stuff isn't quite what it was before all the injuries, but the good news is, May could afford to give plenty back and still have plus stuff. The fastballs still generate a ton of awkward, weak swings when he's sitting around 95 rather than 96-97, and the breaking balls still have plenty of bite. There are going to be workload limitations, and he never really misses as many bats as you would expect – though 11 whiffs on 81 pitches is nothing to sneeze about – but May should be a very useful pitcher this season. | | Hayden Wesneski, Astros vs. SF: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K – This is a fine line, and "fine" is all you're really hoping for from Wesneski. He doesn't have a ton of mixed-league appeal, but his RP eligibility should keep him relevant in points leagues, and I think he'll be useful against the right matchups, at least. Otherwise, he's just a streamer. | | Will Warren, Yankees vs. ARI: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K – Warren has had enough success in the minors before 2024 that I was willing to add him and see what happens. But I don't think there's much reason to go out and add him based on this one, and if someone like Mize or Jordan Hicks is available in your league, I'd be perfectly fine dropping Warren. He wasn't bad, but there wasn't enough here to get excited about. | | Thomas Harrington, Pirates @TB: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K – Harrington has some prospect pedigree and a pretty good minor-league track record, but he wasn't fooling anyone in his MLB debut. It's a low-90s fastball and more of a command-and-control profile than a high-upside, strikeout-heavy one, and that's going to lead to some days like this where he doesn't have it. I don't want to write Harrington off entirely, but he certainly didn't give us any reason to go out and add him in this one. | | Jose Berrios, Blue Jays vs. WAS: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K – The thing about Berrios is, he tends to be a random number generator. He'll do things like follow up a disastrous six-run Opening Day start with a near-quality start with more than a strikeout per inning. It's a frustrating ride, but the end results tend to be decent enough. I don't think there's much reason to expect him to be much better than decent, but if you were panicking after Opening Day, this should calm you down. | | Shane Smith, White Sox vs. MIN: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K – If you took a flier on streaming Smith, you certainly won't complain about a near-quality start. But was there much here to suggest he has upside beyond this? Well, the 11 whiffs on 73 pitches were nice to see, as was the legitimate starter's arsenal, with four pitches he threw at least 7% of the time. The No. 1 pick in this year's Rule 5 draft has a decent minor-league track record and a long runway with the White Sox, but I don't see much reason to think he's going to be much more than a streamer for Fantasy. In H2H points leagues, his RP eligibility does give him a bit more upside than that, but I don't think he's a must-roster player in any format. | | Carson Spiers, Reds vs. TEX: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K – Good result against a good lineup, but there's a reason I didn't put Spiers up there in the waiver-wire section. Spiers found some success for a stretch early last season, too, but finished the season with a 5.46 ERA. If you streamed him, congrats; you probably don't want to do it again, you daredevil. | | Christian Yelich, OF, Brewers – When it comes to guys coming back from serious injuries, there are two separate, but related questions: Are they currently healthy, and will they stay healthy? We can't hope to answer the second one, but the first one got a good sign with Yelich homering and stealing a base (his second) Tuesday. He's only hitting .125 in the early going, but combined with his strong spring, I'm mostly feeling pretty good that Yelich will be good for as long as he stays healthy. | | Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Diamondbacks – Five games, five homers. Hard to ask for much more than that. There will be equally cold stretches to come, but I'm feeling very good about my faith in Suarez remaining an elite source of power and run production. I'm not really viewing him as a sell-high, given how many people were skeptical about him coming in. | | Brandon Nimmo, OF, Mets – As with Yelich, it's still an open question whether Nimmo's knee and foot injuries will crop up again. But homering in consecutive games feels like a pretty good sign for where his health is currently. | | Heliot Ramos, OF, Giants – Here's the most interesting thing about Ramos' three homers so far: All three have come against right-handed pitchers. Ramos crushed lefties last season but had a sub-.700s OPS against righties. If he can hold his own against righties, he might be a 25-homer bat, and this is a promising start if not proof of anything (yet). | | News and notes | | Reynaldo Lopez will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. The surgery will determine the extent of the injury and how long he will be out, but I'd be shocked if we saw Lopez before June at this point. He's droppable in most leagues, and this should give both Grant Holmes and A.J. Smith-Shawver a chance to stick in the rotation even when Spencer Strider is back in a few weeks. | | Freddie Freeman was out of the lineup again Tuesday after re-aggravating his ankle injury over the weekend. He's unlikely to return until Friday against the Phillies. | | Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to throw a light bullpen on Wednesday. He remains on track to return at some point this season as a pitcher, but anything you get out of him on that end is a bonus as far as I'm concerned. | | Max Scherzer has been given a cortisone injection in his injured right thumb. He'll try to let it heal up, but the recurring nature of this issue makes it hard to have too much faith. | | Zach Neto began a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Tuesday. He's working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery and will likely need at least two weeks, but it does look like he'll be back some time in April. That wasn't guaranteed a few weeks ago. | | Sean Manaea is still having problems with his strained right oblique and will be shut down from throwing for two weeks after receiving a PRP injection. He's probably out until June at this point, so I'm open to dropping him if you don't have an IL spot. | | Devin Williams was placed on the paternity list and will miss up to three games, so don't worry if someone else gets a save for the Yankees today. | | | | | | | | Final Four® Coverage | | Golazo Network | CBS Sports HQ is your final stop for Final Four® coverage all week long! Stay up to date with the latest news, analysis and game previews leading up to that one shining moment.
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