MLB Today: Cleveland Seeking Third Straight Division Crown

This week, Nico Hoerner played the hero as the Cubs handed the Mets their 11th straight loss; KC manager Matt Quatraro’s comment about giving Salvador Perez a day off caused some drama that aired publicly on social media; and Freddie Freeman went on paternity leave, annoying his Fantasy owners in the process. Other Fantasy baseball related stories we’re tracking include…

Jose Ramirez Rebounds from Slow Start

In 2024, the Cleveland Guardians won 92 games, last year regressing slightly to 88 although still good enough for a second straight playoff appearance. This season, after a bit of a tough week in which it dropped three of four, Cleveland has turned things around with back-to-back wins and is holding onto first place in the AL Central, a half game up on red hot Detroit.

One of the reasons the Guardians have been successful early on is because their rotation continues to be extremely stingy when it comes to surrendering runs in the early innings.

Cleveland has even more reason to be bullish now that it looks like old faithful Jose Ramirez is beginning to heat up (over the last seven games, he has nine runs, five steals, five RBI, four homers and a .364 BA). Known for going on serious tears, like this, the veteran third baseman managed just one run and a putrid .120 BA over 25 at-bats in March, but is back to his usual self in April, posting an incredible 1045 OPS thanks to a boatload of walks.

Ramirez homered, drove in two and scored a pair in the opener vs. Baltimore on Thursday, so the O’s hurlers spent the next couple of days pitching around him (five walks), although he made them pay on the basepaths with two steals. On Sunday, Ramirez lead the team to another win as he spanked two solo dingers to up his slugging percentage to .494, which is closer to our expectations.

But here’s the thing that has us most impressed: in 2024, he swiped a career-best 41 bags, and then upped that to 44 last season. So far in 2026, Ramirez already has 10 thefts, putting him on pace to shatter that record again (and also getting him on a pretty short list when combining power numbers). How does a player get faster as he approaches his mid 30s?

Ramirez fell under 10 Fantasy points per game last season, but he’s back over that threshold in the early going and is again the consensus top Fantasy option at the hot corner.

If we had to nitpick anything, it’s that his amazing contact skills have degraded ever so slightly (highest strikeout rate since 2021); but with a career best walk rate so far this year, we’re going to let it slide. Ramirez is a Fantasy stud.

Royal Pain

Still in the AL Central, the Kansas City Royals won 86 games in 2024 to snap an eight-year playoff drought, but after dipping by four wins last season, they were right back on the sidelines when the postseason began.

And yes, it’s still very early this season, but seven straight losses have left the Royals in the division cellar as their odds of winning the division grow longer (+550 on FanDuel).

Beyond the Perez drama, a lot of things have gone wrong in KC so far, and near the top of the list has been the ugly showing from ace Cole Ragans. Always a good bet to rack up tons of Ks, he’s alternated promising starts with stinkers, and Sunday marked his worst outing yet.

Sure, Ragans managed six strikeouts over 4 1/3 frames, but a career-high eight walks and three homers that led to a career-high tying seven earned runs? Ouch.

Through five starts, he’s now fallen to 0-4 with a career worst ERA of 6.00. We can cut Ragans some slack given that rain pushed the start back by two hours and 45 minutes, which likely messed with the lefty’s routine. And what about that comeback he took off the thumb a couple of weeks ago? In the two starts since, Ragans has walked 12 batters over 10 1/3 IP. Is this just a coincidence or is the injury still bothering him and affecting his control?

Ragans remains a top 15 starter for the rest of the season (for now), but even his most hardcore haters didn’t expect him to be this bad. No, he’s not the only big-name pitcher who has started poorly, but we’re still worried. Perhaps bench Ragans until it’s clear he’s healthy and effective.

Waiver Wire Pick of the Week

Jesse Scholtens, SP, Tampa Bay Rays (ESPN: 0.8 per cent; CBS: 7 per cent): With Joe Boyle (elbow strain) landing on the IL, Scholtens has thrust himself onto the Fantasy radar with a pair of superb bulk relief outings. Scholtens may get his first start on Monday, and he really deserves it after tossing 9 2/3 frames of shutout ball with just five hits allowed. He’s already matched his game total from all of last season and has rewarded the Rays with his first win since 2023. It’s a super small sample size for the recently turned 32-year-old Scholtens, but his breaking ball is really driving results (89th percentile in breaking run value), so a small investment could pay off handsomely.

RotoRob Tune of the Day

We sure love our Blaxploitation soundtracks! A band called Badder Than Evil (featuring Angelo Badalamenti of Twin Peaks soundtrack fame) put together the soundtrack for the 1973 movie Gordon’s War. From this effort comes the instrumental version of “Child of Tomorrow.”