There’s nothing like Opening Day. There’s a magical quality to starting anew. All your past demons are put to bed. You wake early to the sound of a Rooster because you left HBO on when you fell asleep and you stretch out your arms. It’s going to be different this year. This year is going to be the year when it all comes together. You put one stocking foot down on the ground at a time as you climb out of your race car bed and rub the googies out of your eyes. In the bathroom mirror, you tell yourself, “Things are gonna be better this year.” Then you notice a little chip in the corner of the mirror, but think to yourself that’s too small to curse you with seven years of bad luck and open your phone to Jackson Chourio has a broken hand. Your smile, cracking like the mirror, but you see you have Issac Collins to replace him. That’s good, right? RIGHT?! The freakin’ WBC, guys and five girl readers. I knew someone was gonna get borked. Or borken in this case. I guess he could’ve been injured in Spring Training, if there wasn’t a WBC, he says with zero conviction and to the consolation of no one. Damn you fate, why you gotta dunk Chourio in the (m)IL(k)? They’re saying two to four weeks for Chourio’s hairline fracture to get better. I’m sure it will be only two weeks, right? RIGHT?! He smiles again into his cracked mirror. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Psyche! One further ado, this season’s first Buy/Sell is now available on our Patreon. It will be posted early on the Patreon all year, so sign up for that. Anyway II, the roundup:
David Hamilton – 1-for-2, 2 runs and his 1st steal, as he won the starting Brewers’ 3B job. Good news for my Hamilton shares; bad news for my Rengifo shares. We carry on.
Jacob Misiorowski – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 11 Ks. Mis IO update complete.
Sal Frelick – 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. See, who needs Chourio? (Me, desperately.)
Jake Bauers – 2-for-5, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and his 1st homer. White Sox were in midseason form.
Shane Smith – 1 2/3 IP, 3 ER. Nice final Spring Training tuneup!
Chase Meidroth – 1-for-2 and his 1st homer. Fun fact! Chase Meidroth was the name of a female pinup model in the 1950’s.
Munetaka Murakami – 1-for-2 and his 1st homer. Murakami’s gonna hit so many homers this year, when the White Sox are down by ten or more runs and guys are just trying to get the ball over the plate.
Masyn Winn – 1-for-5, 1 run as he hit cleanup. I’m going to crack my rib so it hurts to laugh. Masyn Winn of the 84 MPH exit velocity? That Masyn Winn? Oh, yeah, that’ll work.
J.J. Wetherholt – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. Jamba Juice Wetherholt!
Alec Burleson – 3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. I suffered through Boringleson last year and didn’t get back in this year, but he is always more valuable than you think he will be.
Matthew Liberatore – 5 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks. Ya know what’s kinda funny? People get so excited for a guy like Liberatore, then he does an incredibly bleh line and people immediately become disillusioned in their excitement.
Ryne Stanek – 1 IP, 0 ER, 3 BBs, 1 K and the 1st Cards save. Riley O’Brien worked the 7th/8th, and looked good; Svanson worked the 6th and ain’t getting svaes, son. This is going to be a mess all year is my guess, but I go with the guy who got the 1st save. I’m sure Stanek will go sideways because he can’t find the plate, but he was throwing 100 MPH, for what it’s Wuertz.
Drew Rasmussen – 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 hits, 2 Ks. Rasmussen has an under-2 ERA in roughly 500 career innings. Could’ve been had in every league.
Jonathan Aranda – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. It’s way too early to make any definitive calls on hot schmotatoes, but Aranda would be the type where I could see it.
Chase DeLauter – 3-for-5, 3 runs and his 1st homer in his 1st major league at-bat and hit his 2nd homer in his 5th MLB at-bat. Was yesterday the greatest Opening Day ever for rookie hitters? Sources are saying yes. I’m sources. What happens when an ambulance goes after an attorney? It’s Chase DeLauter! I’m so sorry, I’m looking for the delete button. I think the rookies coming in this year are being way undervalued for some reason. DeLauter was a five-homer hitter last year in Triple-A. Dot dot dot. In only 34 games! If he stays healthy, he can hit 30 homers.
Tanner Bibee – 5 IP, 3 Er, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, and left with shoulder inflammation. Couldn’t have been further out on Bibee this year. Wanted no part.
Brendan Donovan – 2-for-4 and his 1st homer. BDon doesn’t just podcast!
Logan Gilbert – 5 1/3 IP, 3 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks. He was my AL Cy Young pick. That’ll jinx him!
Dominic Canzone – 2-for-4 and his 1st and 2nd homer. That’s preseason sleeper that no one wanted Dominic Canzone!
Luke Raley – 1-for-4 and his 1st homer. Not sure what’s going on in Seattle going on a year-plus, but the ball flies out of that park now.
Will Smith – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 1st homer. He’s overdue for a #1 Catcher Year.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto – 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 hits, 6 Ks. Totally fine, not a top 30 overall player.
Freddie Freeman – 0-for-4. I don’t know why Freeman showed up to the game dressed like this, but it’s so goddamn funny.
Kim Jong-il has named his successor, Freddie Freeman pic.twitter.com/EOn0B9egJH
— Razzball (@Razzball) March 27, 2026
Andy Pages – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 1st homer. BDon did sorta get through to me on the podcast a few weeks ago when he said I was being dumb for not liking Pages, due to his playoff woes. Not fully through. Just sorta.
Zac Gallen – 4 IP, 4 ER. There is no let-up in that Dodgers’ lineup.
Geraldo Perdomo – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. He was the highest on the Player Rater last year who went the lowest this year. Or at least between him and Springer. (If you don’t count Rodon, because of injury.)
Paul Skenes – 2/3 IP, 5 ER. Why again do people draft top pitching? In fairness, it should be Oneil Cruz 2/3 IP, 5 ER. And, if anyone’s feeling antsy on Skenes, BUY! Wait, by the by, there will be a Buy/Sell later today. First one of the year, woohoo!
Brandon Lowe – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 1st and 2nd homer. BLowe like BAAAALAAAAAU HOW YA LIKE ME NOW not like below.
Ryan O’Hearn – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 1st homer. War Room giveth O’Hearn and taketh away for telling me to roster all this other mess that has me in last after one day. Hashtag still early. Honestly, you’re gonna do more damage to your fantasy teams by rosterbating too early. And might go blind.
Tommy Pham – Signed a minor league deal with the Mets. When you need bad vibes in the clubhouse, there’s only one guy you can call. Mets over/under on bench-clearing brawls went from .5 to 3. Pham a negative WAR player, but a pro-war player.
Carson Benge – 1-for-3, 2 runs and a slam (1) and legs (1) for the first one of the year. Was free in every league this year and had great minor league numbers. Every other rookie had insane hype, not Benge. Maybe because he sounds like beige. I bet Benge will be in this afternoon’s Buy.
Francisco Alvarez – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 1st homer. Fran-Al to the moon!
Freddy Peralta – 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 baserunners (zero BBs), 7 Ks. FreddyKBB got beat twice by BLowe like a bad limbo’er.
James Wood – 0-for-5, 4 Ks, as he hit leadoff. Jacob Young (1-for-4, 2 RBIs) hit his 1st homer and Nasim Nunez (0-for-2, run, RBI) stole his 1st bag. I mention these two guys because they should be leading off instead of Wood, unless the Nats want him to challenge Judge for the MLB strikeout record.
Brady House – 2-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. “Here’s a story” was free in literally every league. No matter how deep.
Joey Wiemer – 3-for-3, 2 runs and his 1st homer. Could we have our first hot schmotato alert? No, unless you’re a native of the Weimer Republic.
Cade Cavalli – 3 2/3 IP, 2 ER. There’s nothing to take away from any of these starts, tee be aitch. Maybe, in retrospect, it will become obvious Cavalli is not ready to be rostered in mixed leagues, but one start doesn’t tell us that. With that said (Grey’s turning the ship around), I was never in on him for mixed leagues.
Matthew Boyd – 3 2/3 IP, 6 ER. Think I’m gonna bench all my starters until further notice. We need to find some stability in the force.
Matt Shaw – 0-for-3 as he hit 9th and played right. Once Seiya returns, Shaw may not have a job, and it’s interesting that he went from not having a job to now being their 9-hole hitter. Shaw should start selling doghouses on Etsy.
Andrew Abbott – 6 IP, 0 ER, 7 hits, 1 walk, 4 Ks. Abbott’s right back into his last year mode of being, “Great, just don’t look at the peripherals.”
Garrett Crochet – 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks. His velo was fine-o.
Hunter Brown – 4 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks. This was vs. the Angels, so anything less than 8 IP, 16 Ks is a bit disappointing.
Jose Soriano – 6 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners (4 BBs), 7 Ks. Not to be a natural born hater, but this was a very mediocre start, and Yordan hit a ball 500 feet that should’ve been a home run but was called foul because it hit the roof.
Mike Trout – 1-for-2, 3 RBIs and a slam (1) and legs (1). 12 homers and five steals on May 12th when the IL stint hits.
Nolan Schanuel – 1-for-5 and his 1st homer. Schanuel on a 162-homer pace!
Jordan Romano – 1 IP, 0 ER, and 1st save. As speculated here after reading shizz elsewhere, Romano does appear to be Angels’ 1st choice for saves.
Nathan Eovaldi – 4 2/3 IP, 5 ER. My takeaway with every starter who struggled yesterday but especially Eovaldi: I just hope he’s healthy.
Jake Burger – 3-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. Comeburger Player of the Year–Uh, Comeback Burger of the Year–Uh, Comeback Player of the Burger!
Kyle Schwarber – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 1st homer. Lucky you didn’t clog up your UTIL slot early in your draft, huh?
Alec Bohm – 1-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 1st homer. Alec bomb! (First to ever say that.)
Cristopher Sanchez – 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks. Should’ve made him my number one starter overall. Welp, even the best fantasy baseball ranker (2023-25) screws up sometimes (rarely).
Ramon Laureano – 1-for-4 and his 1st homer. Someone was talking about dropping him yesterday, and I will repeat myself again and again until May: You’re doing more damage to your teams by overreacting.
Nick Pivetta – 3 IP, 6 ER. Haha, I told you not to draft Pivetta! [remembers all the guys who got shelled who I roster] Fantasy baseball, the game of reaping and sowing in real-time.
Kevin McGonigle – 4-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs as he batted 6th. After every hit [randomly shouting like an annoyed police chief in a movie] McGonigle!
Tarik Skubal – 6 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 6 Ks. Seems good, never heard of him.
Dillon Dingler – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 1st homer. [showing strangers on the street Dillion Dingler and Kevin McGonigle on my fantasy team] This is my McDingler Collection.
Trevor Rogers – 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 hits, 4 BBs, 5 Ks. Thank you for being neighborly, Mr. Rogers. (I wanna take away nothing from the bad starts and everything from the good starts. Let me be.)
Coby Mayo – 0-for-2 as he hit 8th. Following Mayo in the lineup? Blaze Alexander. That’s right, the O’s rounding out with Mayo/Blaze for the Dynamite Blast like at your favorite Japanese restaurant. This is a good joke, I stand by it. Shame we didn’t see Beavers, he says as he pulls on his collar.
Joe Ryan – 5 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 2 walks, 7 Ks. He’s gonna lead the majors in no decisions. Allow me to explain:
Austin Martin – 1-for-3 and his 1st steal, as he hit leadoff. Austin Martin as your leadoff hitter? Vroom vroom (off the side of a cliff)!
Victor Caratini – 1-for-3 as he played 1st base. After the Twins win the AL pennant, the papers will proclaim, “The year of the Cara-Twini,” in Twins’ fans dreams that won’t come true.
Streaming Patrick home vs WSox (Burke) or Javier home vs Angels (Detmers)?
happiest of Fridays!
bench bat- would you rather roster Muncy (LA) or Burger
tx and have a pleasant tomorrow
Burger
Happy Part 3 of Opening Day Grey!
So I read down a bit in this post and saw a few folks asking about dropping N. Marte for some other players, and now I am truly worried. I have him at 3B in our Yahoo 12 Team H2H with OPS. Not great, huh. I was also disappointed Tito pinch hit for him.
I know you have no idea what my team looks like (not a deep Offense) or our FA pool, but are you worried about him? I only ask as you had him ranked pretty high, so just curious if something changed.
Thanks as always Grey.
I’m worried
Grey the White!
That was a fun opening day! Or was Wednesday opening day? Well maybe today is opening day since six teams haven’t even played yet. MLB scheduling is so dumb.
Too bad Schanuel’s 162 HR will get out done by Lowe’s 324.
Trade Analyzer says I need more for my Pasquantino/Jacob Wilson combo in exchange for Neto/Okamota in a dynasty. We need to see how Okamota does here before we can make a trade for him?
Haha, it is! Sounds fair to me, but could go either way
J-Wood or Soderstrom?
Wood
Nl only B House or N Gorman?
Gorman
Need a temporary replacement. Can. Holmes, K. Harrison or J. Cantillo?
Who’s Can Holmes? Canada Holmes?
Cantillo
Oops, typo. Cantillo it is.
Sup Grey,
Looks like Tory from The Challenge said Sewald will get first crack at saves, could you rank these options for saves
1- Sewald, Romano, S. Dominguez
Also these OF ranked
2 – Laureano, Delauter, Canzone, Abreu
Thanks!
Sup! 1. Romano, Seranthony 2. Wilyer, DeLauter, Ramon
Oh, and do I drop Bibee for streaming options or an interesting bat?
Sure
DeLauter ain’t no Tuffy Rhodes. 3 dingers off Doc Gooden in his first 3 AB’s in his first major league game, opening day 1994. Remember it like if was yesterday (sort of ) dinking Milwaukee best lights as a freshman in college.
HA
Need SBs in a 12 teamer…McCarthy or D.Hamilton?
DHam
I can’t stand the WBC…i mean, i like the ‘idea’ of it..but not the timing. Guys are just getting ramped up. Plus, a few countries lineups (like Great Britain (huh?) and Italy) are just manufactured ..made up of Americans with Grandparents born there.) And the injuries in the WBC are the absolute worst
I tend to agree, it’s too much too soon
Australia probably had a team that consisted of one Aussie-born MLB’er and the rest of the roster was filled by Americans that watched Crocodile Dundee
…Americans that dressed up like Crocodile Dundee on Halloween?
…Americans that wear Crocs?
…Americans that ate at an Outback Steakhouse at least once?
…Americans that wish they were stranded at sea with Australia’s very own Nicole Kidman whilst thinking of the movie Dead Calm?
Haha
Hey Grey,
Thats funny about Shane Smith 😄 I saw somewhere how the White Sox are eliminated already 😳 brutal 😃
20 team h2h cat dynasty
In a move where both teams are constructed to win now and are considered contenders, what side of the following proposed deal do you like?
Soderstrom
Machado
’27 4th
for
Caminero
’27 2nd
Giving Caminero side needs upgrade at LF and has Bregman at 3B (w/ Shaw and Made on tap)
Giving Soderstrom side has Rooker in LF and gets a young “upgrade” at 3B
Thanks for all your hard work.
Machado
Gracias, amigo!
de nada
Oneil Cruz looked like me out there. Tho in fairness to me, I am 57 and don’t practice catching fly balls in the sun…but I did play SS until 6th grade so…
HAHA
Would you drop Noelvi Marte for DeLauter?
Sure
Carpenter
Canzone
Cam Smith
Ramos
Top 2 for upside?
Smith, Canzone
Can i get you to calm my nerves on James Wood. I am very worried. and I gave up a lot to get him in the dip this offseason. Can i get your personal thoughts? ill take anything to calm my nerves lol.
Yeah, little concerned here, not gonna lie
who would you try to trade him away for to target?
Depends what you can get
Would love some shares of McGonigle, Justin Crawford, Wetherholt, Canzone, or Benge, but don’t really have room. I’m guessing my shares of Lile and N. Marte are still better, no? I also have Cantillo. Am I dropping any of Lile, N. Marte, or Cantillo for any in the list above or holding? Thanks!
Do you have a lineup spot for any of these bats? If not what’s the value of getting them to sit on your bench?
Yep, if I drop Lile or Marte.
Can lose Marte for McGonigle
Haha remember all those people who were drafting Griffin in the top 100?
Hehe
Hunter Brown throws too many pitches. I love the guy, he’ll have great starts, but he might want to pitch to contact now and then. Ive had him for 3 years, ive watched more of his starts than I’m proud of, considering I’m not an Astros fan. I’m not saying he won’t be a top 10 SP this year, but if he ever wants to join the rare air, he needs to learn to economize. IMO.
I hear ya
Grey. I was out on Bibee as well, but I do have shares of Joey C and Parker. I hate dropping ppl after one game, but damn Burger looks good (see what i did there). I love Lawler too much to drop.
Lile would be my last OF to drop, Nimmo and Burelson.
Hold
My team was almost impossibly bad yesterday. Ten team with Marte, Julio, Yordan, Wood and Alonso going 0/17 with 10 strikeouts. I can’t even be mad.
Wasn’t great for some of my teams too
Hey, Alec Bomb was my idea, give me credit!
I was calling him Alec “Atomic” Bohm when he first came up, but then I realized he wasn’t a major power threat.
The bomb thing is such a layup I am not sure anyone should be fighting for credit on that one
You got it, OSB
How would you rank Wetherholt, McGonigle, Albies ROS? As well as DeLauter, Benge, and Happ in a 10-team redraft league?
McGonogle, JJ
Over Albies… dang it.., I was hoping for a bounce back to the top of tier with a healthy Acuna around
He could, have the Braves even played yet?
Am I the only one who heras JJ Wetherholt and thinks of J Walter Weatherman?
“And THAT’S why you don’t leave the ball over the middle of the plate!”
Ha!
12 team, 5×5 roto.
You starting Robbie Ray v. NYY today? ($10.9)
stanton is going 40/100 this year….Judge lite. plus jazz is a 50/50 player. so thats a no.
I love the delusion of Yankee fans
Yes
Austin Martin > Nick Punto. Twins fans will adore this loser and buy his friggin
Franci Alvarez. That was LOUD contact!
Are you sure that Freddie isn’t auditioning for the Matrix series? He is a cross between Neo and The Merovingian….The series on Amazon, is going to be great. New season every 3-5 years, until I’m 90. Now I moost tayk a piece!
Haha, Matrix works too, but can’t a white boy speak a little dictator
Aah nothing like morning coffee and a Grey report from real baseball!
Murakami dropped in my league for some reason (15 team keep 11 roto obp). How much faab are we thinking – is this is an all of it bid? I’d be dropping my stashed De Vries
Thanks! All of it? So you can’t pick up another player all season? Seems high…I don’t know if you can make zero dollar bids, but maybe 10%?
No way is that a real pic of Freddie! He looks like he’s about to fight ghosts on top of Cadillacs with Morpheus!
HAHA
With apologies to Cole Porter…It’s delightful, It’s delicious, it’s de-lauter.
HA!
Daily lineup question…who would you sit out of Caglianone @ Sale, Kwan @ Kirby, or DeLauter @ Kirby.
Don’t know if this is an overreaction but my gut is ruling out sitting DeLauter because he already kind of feels better than Kwan.
Kwan
Most hand injuries take a couple weeks for a clear diagnosis to let the the swelling calm down. Bones can even move after the initially injury so that is most likely why we didn’t hear about the hand injury for Chourio until after the swelling went down for a MRI to take place revealing the hairline fracture.
Just wished the Brewers would have said they were waiting for further testing on the hand before the last weekend of drafts.
I hear ya
12 team dynasty 5×5 Cade Cavelli Casey Mize or Jacob Lopez I can only keep one…thank you!
Mize
So all my pitching on all my teams got lit up and all my hitters teed off. Juiced ball?
That could make for a fun year
Freddie Freeman is a Legend
so is Rocket man tho….
Haha
Ha
Ah fantasy baseball…my Bane.
In my team of 25 guys, no one on my team was mentioned in your daily notes. Which can be a good thing, but not.
40 abs batting .120.
Not great!
DeLauter, Crawford, Canzone, Abreu (starting bs Lefties now??), Benge. Please list top three in order for a ten cat hitting league….singles, doubles, triples, HR, k’s, BB, R, RBI, SB, Ave.
Thank you
DeLauter, Wilyer, Canzone
Do we think one day has changed the top 500?
In a 10 teamer someone dropped Wilson BOS Contreras. Would you choose him over Heliot? I have Soderstrom (OF3) and Vinny.
Someone dropped Baz. Do we pick him up over Burrow,
Thanks !!
Yes to both
Yes to both
Brady House > Luis Garcia Jr? I have 2x 2B & 2x SS eligible guys besides Garcia.
Could be, too early to say
So glad I bought into Svanson…what would I do without an 81 era and 9 whip to kick start a new season. Speculating on Saves, ride is out with Svanson, or switch the Erceg, Stanek (his control scares me) or Sands?
Ha ha I got on the Svanson train as well!
Erceg
Haha, I’d go Erceg for now