Fantasy Baseball Today - 05/14: Weekend Roundup - Exciting Young Players (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 14, 2018

It's a fun time to play Fantasy Baseball as Freddy Peralta, Jack Flaherty and Franmil Reyes could help your teams in the near future. We start the show discussing how much value these players have and what you should give up to get them. Plus 2B replacements for Robinson Cano (11:42), and if you need saves we've got important bullpen updates for you (15:42) ... Who we added over the weekend (21:10) including Evan Gattis and Scooter Gennett, plus a look at the Most Added list (26:20) ... Buy Low or Heck No (35:35) for struggling SPs Zack Godley, Aaron Sanchez, Sonny Gray and more. We're also looking at standout hitters (44:33) which include several catchers, Michael Brantley and C.J. Cron. Then it's on to noteworthy pitching performances (48:48) from the weekend, a look at today's matchups (57:08) ... Email us at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy! Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. It's Monday, May 4th, and a very happy belated Mother's Day to everybody out there. Hope you had a great weekend.

This is an exciting time in fantasy baseball. We got prospects being called up. We got 13 strikeouts in a major league debut at Colorado. So great stuff to talk about. Looking forward to it. Hello, Scott. Hello, Heath. Scott White, how we doing?

I am doing just fine, Adam. Just fine. I think it's worth pointing out that the two biggest prospects we're going to talk about today, Freddie Peralta of the Brewers, and Fran Miel Reyes of the Padreys, of the Padres, neither of them were considered that much of a prospect six weeks ago. To the point that in a 24-team dynasty league I run, neither was owned going into this weekend. So that's interesting.

And in a 12-team league that we are in, let's see how much they went for. We have a $100 fab. And Reyes went for $7. I think I've been six on him. Scott keeps one-upping me, and it's really annoying. Scott got him for seven. Yeah, and let's see. Flaherty went for 25.

That's the other guy we'll talk about, and Freddie Peralta went for six. So I guess not huge bids on Reyes and Peralta. Pretty big, big bid on Jack Flaherty. And Heath Cummings, happy Mother's Day, Heath. Yeah, I had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday, had several drinks, water, and orange juice. This is always, like every story you tell.

I'm getting a little worried about you. Just destroy the calves. And, yeah, I agree completely with your sentiment. This is an exciting time. You've got the prospects. We've got saves guys to speculate on. A couple guys picking up their first saves of the season in places where the closers have not been very good.

So, yeah, exciting times. Yeah, and we have Kenan Middleton possibly going back on the DL as well. So let's get to it. The Big News slash performances slash prostitution. suspect stuff slash basically what we need to lead this show with. Chase Anderson is on the deal with the stomach illness, so Freddie Peralta made his Major League debut for the Brewers yesterday, and he went five and two thirds. He gave up one hit, no runs, no walks, 13 strikeouts at Colorado, and he threw 98 pitches

with 19 swinging strikes. But I did not know until this morning was that he threw almost exclusively fastballs. So that was interesting. It's amazing. It's amazing. When I've talked before about Tyler Mast. throwing too many fastballs. I'm talking like 65 to 70%. According to baseball savant, and I have heard that a lot of times in a pitcher's major league debut, it doesn't always register this stuff accurately. But according to what it did measure, 90 of his 98 pitches, so over 90%

fastballs for Freddie Peralta. And for what I could tell watching the highlights, I didn't watch the actual game, but it sure seemed like. Every strikeout he got was on a fastball. Now, he was locating it all over. A lot of rising fastballs. But I don't know how sustainable that is. Now, in his minor league career, Freddie Peralta had consistently high strikeout rates. We're talking 11.9 and higher.

Also had high walk rates. So a guy with a questionable pedigree coming in, a lot of strikeout potential, some wildness, questionable arsenal. Like, among the rookie pitchers, he's not surging to the top of the list for me after this start. I'd still like Bueller more, Flaherty more, Syroca more. But at the same time, if you want a shot at whatever Peralta becomes, and with that kind of strikeout potential, it's potentially exciting. If you want a shot at that, now's kind of the time you have to take it, since this was such a loud, shake-the-earth kind of debut.

Yeah, this was not a situation where he's now. Now, I wrote about him this morning on Waverwire, and he's already 44% owned. So there's a pretty decent chance you already missed him. But if he's still there in your league, I'm trying to add him in most places. Maybe not a 10-team league. But if it's a 12-team league, I probably got a roster spot for him. One point of clarification, he did have two walks in the game. And the walks are the major concern.

He misses a lot of bats and he misses a lot of strike zones. Okay, yeah, two walks to 13 strikeouts at 5 and 2-thirds. It's for Peralta. So would you rather pick up Peralta or Jack Flaherty? Oh, Flaherty for sure. Me too, as I just said in my little rant, Adam. I did hear that. So would you rather have Fernando Romero?

Are we all bought in on him? Yeah. We are? Or Peralta? Still Romero. Yeah, I agree. That's the closest call so far. But yes.

All right. I might take Peralto. I'm not sure. I might take Peralta over Lucchese. Oh, wow. Lucchie with two starts this week. And Peralta will be at Minnesota this week. And so will Flaherty, by the way.

Flaherty, that will be on Tuesday, I believe he's pitching. And obviously, Peralta will not pitch until the weekend. But they're both at Minnesota. Are you starting them this week? Flaherty's going to be a two-start pitcher, right? Oh, yes. I believe so. Possibly.

Possibly. We don't know. Like, Carmart could potentially come back for that Sunday. start. But he hasn't, last I saw he hasn't done any, like, baseball activities. So I'd bet against it. And then, of course, even if he does come back, now that Adam Wainwright looks like he's going on the DL, Flaherty's probably going to stick around. It would just potentially change exactly what day he makes that next start. All right. So first question, are you starting Peralta and Flaherty in one-star weeks?

Like if we're saying for sure Flaherty's one start, I probably don't. But since it looks I would say there's a better than 50% chance he makes, too, so I'm starting Flaherty. And second question, Heath, is Flaherty 65% and someone who should be above 80%? Yeah, I also put him in the way where I do think there is a better chance this time. Like Adam Wainwright went, what, two innings his most recent start? I think the Cardinals are getting closer to realizing what we all realized like in 2016. He's going on the DL. He left with an injury and he's going back on the DL.

It seems almost certain anyway. So, I mean, that is clearing the way for Flaherty to stay in the rotation. He was already going to make a start for Carlos Martinez, but now it looks like Wayne Wright said he's got to get his elbow issue figured out, and Flaherty hopefully we'll get some run here. It's only made two starts so far this year, five walks, 11 strikeouts, in 10 innings. If your elbow issue is old, how do you fix that? Either way, I mean, it's clearly an opportunity for Flaherty,

but then again, is it also an opportunity for Alex Reyes at some point? Should we stash at him? I think before he's ready, Martinez will be back. Yeah. So I don't know. I don't know how that opening is going to happen. There's a long time to figure it out still. All right, Brandon McCarthy got crushed over the weekend,

and I'm pretty sure that prompted Scott White to tweet. Well, now I see how Louise Goharica could get into the rotation. That's not exactly what I said, but it was along the same lines, yes. All right, so Gohara. Brandon McCarthy's been awful a couple outings in a row. Gohara had a good extended relief appearance. And he was expected to be in the opening day rotation before he hurt his ankle. So a lot of upside there.

Eventually, they're going to get him in. Gohara. For the Orioles, Chris Tillman's on the DL. David Hess made his Major League debut. This is, I'm assuming more of an AL-only guy. Hess pitched well against the raise. and, you know, three runs in the first inning and then scoreless for five more. I think he may have gotten sent down, but it looks like Hess could be pitching a little bit for the Orioles.

I just want to throw that name out there. And then let's talk about Fraud Mil Reyes. He has 10% owned. Heath, what do you think about this guy who had an 1180 OPS in AAA at the PCL this year? Has some serious power. Frommel Reyes, Heath. his last 11 games have been one of the most absurd stretches I've seen at any level of baseball he has nine home runs in 11 games

he has an OPS over 2,000 in the month of May I am attempted to add him in all five outfielder leagues I have real concerns about whether he's going to play every day I have real concerns about whether he can make contact enough in the major leagues the Padres have like seven of him and most of those guys have not worked out for them so far so maybe they're due for one of them to actually be able to hit in the major leagues but he's a speculative ad in a five outfielder league not somebody i'm starting not

somebody i'm blowing a bunch of fab on it he went for seven dollars in that memorial magazine league i think i put three or four out there for him so i guess i'm not quite as excited as some people well no i mean i i've classified the same way it's taking a shot on upside here because this was a nobody coming into the season. He wasn't in the Padres' top 30 prospects, according to baseball America. And by the time you get 30 deep in any organization, you're really talking about the dregs. He's not a great defender, so that the fact that the Padres do have a lot of usable outfielders, that's a hurdle he's going to have to overcome. But at the same time, breakouts do happen at the minor league level. And he's shown a good back.

batting eye this year. You know, he's 6'5, mid-200, so that big build where you expect a big power, the kind that he's shown this year. I'd bet against him being a significant fantasy contributor, but at the same time, if you have a roster spot to play with, certainly in those five outfielder leagues, sometimes you just have to take a shot at the upside. It doesn't work out. Move on to the next one.

So this is Frommel Reyes we're talking about. I think Jenkowski could be easily replaced. How willing would they be to replace Margot? You know, maybe it's Cordero and Center and then Will Myers when he gets back. I can see that, you know, it could be easy for him to play for Reyes to play until Myers gets back. And then once he comes back, Cordero, Myers, Margo, and Reyes, that's four guys. And then Jenkowski, that's five guys. But hopefully it's see you later, Margo.

Any of those guys, like Will Myers is going to play every day when he comes back. Any of those other guys could start 90% of the rest of the Padres games in the outfield, could be in the minor leagues next week, or could be awesome or terrible. They're all so similar in profiles. They're all so just there's upside and there's just no floor at all. Okay. And Robinson Kano broke his hand and we'll go on the DL, and he has played 150 more games in 11 straight season.

So I will give some quick second base replacements for, don't you know, Robbie Canoe? And just give me one moment here. All right, so first of all, you're too late to pick up Scooter, Jeanette. But let's see, shallower leagues. Well, Matt Carpenter is 79% owned, so it might not be the worst time to hope he turns it around. Zach Cozart is 78% owned, Jose Paraza, Rugnett Odor, and Ian Kinsler. That's a pretty sexy group, actually. Carpenter, Cozart, Parraza, O'Dor, and Kinsler.

Scott, who would be your two favorites from that group? It would depend on the format. But to make things simple, I will say Carpenter and... Cozart, Paraza, O'Dor, Kinsler. You said O'Dor? Carpenter and O'Dore. I'd probably go Kinsler. Yeah, I'd probably go Kinsler over O'Dore if it was a points leak.

Yeah, I'll go Carpenter and O'Dore. Okay. move down the list a little bit here. Yeah, I mean, O'Dore is 71% owned. He just came off the DL. A lot of the Rangers really struggled this weekend because they face the Astros, but still a lot that we like and hope for with O'Dore. Ian Kinsler, I said him, sorry, Kingery, Hap. Ian Hap, that is. Starlin Castro. Yeah, that's pretty much the next group. Jason Kipness, Howie Kendrick.

Let's go further down a little. Okay. to a guy who is dealing with a little bit of an injury himself right now, but it seems like a day-to-day thing. Hopefully it's a day-to-day thing. I've become kind of interested in Alan Hanson here in a deeper league scenario. He's been filling in for Joe Panic for the Giants. It was considered, like, five years ago,

to be a pretty good prospect in the Pirates organization, and then kind of faded, but suddenly blew up a AAA this year, and since coming to the majors has kept it up, Four home runs in three steals and 14 games. Not a lot of strikeouts. It's kind of interesting. If he avoids DL time himself, he might be a sneaky pickup for anybody, but especially the Canoe owner who doesn't have those 70% own guys to choose from.

Yeah, and I think in a points league, I'd go with Castro. Starlink Castro? Okay. He's going to play every day, and he's not terrible. I did want to read a quote that I saw on ESPN.com, and this is from Joe Madden talking about Ian Hap. Quote, I need to get him out there. His development is very important to us and to me personally.

I have to figure out a way to get this done. He's working his butt off. So I know that Hap is toxic right now. I don't know how good he would be. He could be kind of like Root Net Odore where even if he's great, he won't be that great in a points league because of his plate discipline. I don't know. But they are committed to getting Ian Hap turned around.

And strange things have happened. That's what they say. And he's been a little better as of late. A little bit. I feel like half in Kingery or the upside pickups here, but you obviously need immediate help. And I don't know that I trust either to be that useful in the immediate future. Someone that's also playing better right now and playing more is Neil Walker.

He's 13% owned, so it's for deep leagues. I don't know what happens when Greg Berg comes back. You've probably got about two weeks for that. I also don't think this is a great week to start him, unfortunately, because they have five games. They're all on the road, and he'll face Scherzer and I think Gio and two of them. But I did pick up Neil Walker.

I actually think I'm going to drop him because Montcada is probably coming off the DL tomorrow. But that's a name who's 13% owned and if you're desperate, playing more and playing a little bit better. Ben Zuber is 21% owned as well. All right, here we go. Moving on.

Let's go to the bullpen. Keenan Middleton. It seems like a DL situation, but we don't know him. He's having an MRI. That's never good. He left with an elbow issue. If Keenan Middleton goes back.

on the DL. Who do you want in the Angels bullpen? So they didn't really settle on somebody in the closer roll when he was out before. It's totally up in the air. Jim Johnson got a save, but he's horrible. Camp Edrosion and Blake Parker have both gotten chances this year and it failed. And, gosh, I'm filibustering here because I don't have a great choice. Yeah, they are not, like, you could go add any of those guys in, like, our 16-team categories league where saves are just non-existent and people make fun of me for offering Jorge Solaire for saves. But none of those guys are guys in a, even in a 12-team Roto League that I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to speculate on one of these guys.

All right, Hector Neris did not get a save on Sunday. It was Edubri, I don't know if I'm pronounced this right, Adubre Ramos, who got the save. Neres pitched Thursday and Friday. He has not been pitching well lately. And Gabe Kapler's like, we're going to use the best guy in those right in the situation. Heath, you got to read on the Philly? Yeah, we've been saying it since the beginning. Yeah. I'm a little more interested in Ramos. The one of the things that Kapler talked about was that they had all Ritees coming up and Ramos is a really good matchup with his fastball slider combo against right-handed hitters. He's been quite considerably better than Naris has this year, who's blown three saves, has a 517 ERA, and to 517 walk per nine.

Ramos is like 1.13 ERA and he's been a little bit lucky, but I would be more interested in speculating on Ramos than I would any of the Angels relievers. Okay. Now, in the Philly's bullpen, you also have Tommy Hunter. You have Pat and Nyshek is still on the DL. Right? Yeah, exactly. So you have other options there, but Dubre Ramos was the first one that,

got the call, and yeah, Nishik has not pitched. He's hoping for an early June return from a forearm slash shoulder injury. Let's see, we got Bruce Rondone getting the save for the White Sox. There was no reason it didn't seem why Soria didn't pitch. Scott, do you think Rondoan might get some more saves for the White Sox? I mean, I had trouble figuring out why they went with him instead of either Soria or Nate Jones, who pitched the aid. but he's a pitcher who throws hard. Once upon a time was considered a closer of the future for the Tigers.

The reason he's not with the Tigers anymore is because he's super erratic, so I don't... If they give him the next save opportunity, I'm still not confident it's going to last very long. He's kind of at the back end of the group of pictures we've talked about here. Personally, I think I'd still put him ahead of the Angels guy, he has been, according to the peripherals, the best of those Chicago closers, and he's the only one that I could see them thinking,

this could be someone that's closing for us in the future. So Soria and Jones were worth available. Jones actually pitched the eighth in this game. Right. It looks like a three-man committee right now, but I would put Rondone's chances of getting saves in the future probably higher than 33%, which is what a three-man rotation would indicate.

At the same time, the White Sox had nine wins. Yes, that's not good. Brad Brock, though, he got a save, and then Michael Gibbons got a save for Baltimore. Darren O'Day could come off the D.L. Thursday, so I don't know if you want to chase Brock, but maybe he has been pitching a little bit better, and they wanted him to be the closer. So, I don't know. There's Brad Brock. Tyler Clippard has been used as the closer. He has been used after Axford O. and Tepera.

So Clipper's 40% own. I mean, is he the best one we've talked about so far between the Angels, the Phillies, the White Sox, the Orioles, and now the Blue Jays. Is Clipper the best got? Yeah, I mean, his hold on the role is tenuous, too, because they have a lot of, like, former aging closers who've been surprisingly effective this year. He's getting the first crack up them. But, like, I think we have the clearest indications of anybody this group that he is the closer at least for right now. So if you are in that desperate situation where you have to resort to any of these guys,

he would be the first choice for me. And Josh Hater got a save on Friday. Jeremy Jeffress. Oh, no, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jeremy Jeffers pitched the ninth of a tie game. What the hell is going on with the Brewers? Just tell me that.

Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I think they've given every indication it's eventually going to be Kenebler. but they're taking their time with it. Yeah, I think they're just working him back like the Cardinals we're trying to do with Holland, and he's actually been pretty good in most of the instances, so I expect he's going to get the rollback.

I do still have concerns that he's not set up for as high of a percentage of the saves as he was at the beginning of the year because of how awesome haters has been. And Jeremy Jeffress has been really good, too. So let's talk about some ads and drops, and any interesting ones for you. We'll do this, I guess, pretty quickly, and then go into the most added list. Heath, any interesting ad drops for you stuff we have not talked about?

That's the thing is we pretty much, we did a good job of covering all of the really exciting things at the top of the show, but we also did a really good job of covering all of the guys that I added this weekend on Waverwire. Well, I'll add a name. I'll add two names. First of all, Evan Gaddis. He's, I think, 69% owned. And if you dropped him or you need a catcher, Gattis is homered in two straight games. I think he has a five-game hitting streak.

He has six hits in those five games. Not like he's killing the ball right now, but positive signs for Gattis. So I don't think he should be unowned. And Scooter Jeanette, I picked up, you know, dropped Jason Kittness. I was lucky to do that. Max Kepler. Why did I add Max Kepler? Because I love Scott White.

Scott White loves Max Kepler. And by the transitive property, maybe, that means I love Max Kepler. So don't give up on Max Kepler. I know he's struggled a little bit over the weekend. Scott, how about you? Interesting ad drops? Yeah, I mean, most of the interesting ones we covered. I think Matt Adams is an ad now if he's still not picked up in your league.

He's 82% on, so he's getting up there too. But Ryan's everyone went on the DL with no bleak injury. They called up Mark Reynolds, and I thought, oh, maybe they'll end up platooning him and Adams at first base. but yesterday Reynolds got the start of first base, Homer twice, and Adams was in the outfield. They just seemed fine with Adams in the outfield, which is not how I'd be, but, you know, it's not my team to run. So we'll take advantage of that. It never will be, Scott. What?

It never will be. Maybe it will be. No, and it never will be. In an alternate universe, it actually is your team to run, right, Scott? Oh, yeah. That's true. Wait, I don't get that. I don't get that.

I'm in a, oh, man, I don't even know how to describe it. I think League of Dorks. A League of Dork. Yes. Where basically, yeah, there are 30 people who've taken over real-life teams. It's called Our Sports. And, like, yeah, I mean, so I share a team with somebody who's a podcast listener, and we run the Nationals. And, you know, we've made a lot of trades so they don't look as much like the Nationals anymore.

but the starting point was the Nationals roster. So I'm very familiar with them in their farm system. But we don't have Matt Adams because we started at a point in the offseason before the Nationals signed him. I very much which he did because we are dealing with a lot of the same injuries the real-life Nationals are. That's kind of an interesting league. God, the ladies must love you guys. L.O.L. I think we're both taken. Yeah, I know.

We got the one we needed. Okay. anything else? Sorry, I got sidetrack there. We all did. Tyler Anderson is still only 53% owned, considering he's a two-star pitcher and those ownership percentages fluctuate wildly

for them, and considering he has matchups against the Padres and Giants this week on the road, should probably be picked up in more leagues than that. Heath's two-start pitcher roulette continues this week in the podcast Listeners League, where I actually started Corey Seeger

two weeks in a row because I did such a bad job on the waiver wire. And I'm starting Ty Block. Added him for two starts at home against the Reds and the no good, very bad Rockies. The no good, very bad Rockies. Okay. So, I mean, you know who would agree with you? Can't even hit a fastball. Freddie Peralta would agree with you for sure.

All right then. Let's take a look at the most added list in just one second. Right now, though, time for your daily reminder. Hey, if you need tickets, next time you're going to a game, concert, comedy, theater, whatever. Think to yourself, how can I save some money right now? Oh, yeah, with Seekek and with the two offer codes that we've got on this show. So download the Seekek app or you can go to Seekek.com. Here are the offer codes.

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Most added list looks a little something like this. Freddie Peralta 1. Tyler Clipper 2, Matt Adams 3. Kyle Freeland is 4. Okay, that one surprised me a little bit, but he's got a road start this week at San Francisco. And Kyle Freeland's got nice numbers. 342 ERA, nearly a strike operating, 1.18 whip. Should we start Kyle Freeland at San Fran this week?

I get big of worse options in a one-start week. I mean, I don't think in any of my leagues I'm in... My pitching need is so great that I'd have to do that. And it's worth noting both in Freeland and Anderson's case that they're two pitchers who... we like them being on the road still because Coorsfield has that reputation, but they've both been better at Coors Field in their careers. They just came up through that system and they seemed to have figured something out

the Rockies and developing their pitchers how to navigate that park. Yeah, so Freeland, I had him as 26% owned. That has gone up. He's now 37% owned. And he's got a 14% swinging strike rate in his last four starts. Things are looking good. Him and Anderson are doing similar things. They're both as interesting as Rocky's pitchers can be

Rockies pitchers other than John Gray, that is. Senoano is on the most out of list. Not sure that's a great idea, but he's only 23% owned. Zach Eflin, Scott thinks he's not that good. He's on the most ad list. He's 46% owned. Is Eflin a two-star pitcher? I don't think so.

No, he's not. It's weird, he's that owned. Scott, would you say he's not that Eflin good? I might say that. I might. Okay. Ryan Healy, guys, is 75% owner. What do you think about that?

He just keeps smashing. He is on the top 10 sleeper hitters for this week. Three left he's on the schedule for the Mariners, and he's always been good against them. He's hot. I did not add him in any leagues. I own him in a couple leagues. I'm happy to start him this week,

and I'm going to start him probably more weeks than not. Ryan Healy. All right, let's talk about Fernando Romero. He's on the most added list. He's 80% owned. That hasn't gone up all that much. And he's 2-0 in three starts, and he's allowed one-er-and-run? Yeah, one-er-run in 20 innings.

Nine walks, one-and-run in 16-2-thirds innings, 20 strikeouts. Nine walks, 20 strikeouts, and 16-and-two-thirds. The only thing that looks bad is the walks. I don't know what to make of them. You know, I kind of want to try to sell Fernando Romero. see what I can get. But hey man, it's been a fun ride so far. I mean, I think you're only going to get anything of real value in a deeper league.

I mean, not that he's available in a lot of leagues, but it's not like he's emerged as this, oh my gosh, I have to have him sort of player yet. It's still available in 20% of leagues. There have been walk issues. There have been efficiency issues. Hasn't been pitching especially deep into games. but I think he's shown enough upside that, you know, you just enjoy what you found here. Not that he's must start, but right matchups to start weeks.

He looks like he's going to be a useful contributor for your team. I do wonder, Adam, if you could trade him for, I think you probably could trade him for Sunny Gray. And with Rich Hill leaving another start with an entry, I wonder if you could trade him for him. Would you do either of those? Not for Sunny Gray. He's terrible. All right, well, you're segueing nicely into our by-low or heck-noe segment, which is coming up after the injuries news and notes. George Springer is expected to return to the lineup today.

Rich Hill did leave with a blister on his middle finger, but he's apparently expected to start. Start or sit Rich Hill coming off kind of a pretty bad week, two bad starts, and Rich Hill is scheduled to face the National on the road, start or sit. No chance. Yeah. Cannot do it. Cannot do it. I still have hope for him because velocity pitch selection about the same as last year and the

starts that weren't tarnished by injury. Basically that first start of the season, he's still a fine. But, yeah. Yeah. I'm glad he got his payday before the blister ball came into play. It has ruined him as much as anybody. Oh, right. Terrible.

And so sit, Rich Hill. So, Yo-Oamankata is coming back tomorrow. So I'm going to start him and drop Neil Walker. And Justin Turner and Logan Forsyth are supposed to be back tomorrow. Are you guys cool starting Turner, or do you want to give him some time? I prefer to give him time. I think by now you have gotten used to another – you probably have a pretty good third base option to go with instead.

But in the long run, I think he's going to be your best choice at the position. Adrian Beltray, he re-agravated his hamster. string injury and could miss some time. A rollous Chapman has a split fingernail. Probably not a big deal, but I guess velocity was down a little bit on Saturday, and he has a split figure now. Marcus Stroman's on the DL with shoulder fatigue. Heath, I'm happy Marcus Strowman's on the DL.

He hasn't been right. He said it. Give him some time to heal up, and I am now optimistic about Marcus Strowman. Am I crazy? You should definitely be making some trade offers then, because I think you could acquire him. I think this is good for anyone that had Marcus Strowman because they won't have to debate whether to start him or not. I can't make trade offers for Marcus Stroman.

I have him in two-thirds of my leagues. Adam's that guy. I dropped him in the one league I had him in. So you've got Marcus Stroman and Adam Eaton, so you really need to hope that you're in leagues where you have at least 3DL spots. Yes, yes. And I think at this point I'm dropping Eaton before, I mean, I know I am. I'm dropping Eaton before I drop Stroman.

I don't think I'd do that. I think that your timeline might be a little optimistic for Adam Eaton, Scott. I hope you're right. The only, like, the nationals have completely avoided from what I've seen any type of timeline talk. The only thing I saw was speculation from one beat writer on Twitter that they are optimistic that he will play this year. No, there's been more since then. They expect him back this year is what that's been upgraded from. That's not that much different than optimistic that he will play this year.

I mean, you think about the procedure. It was a, it was a scope. Like it wasn't an invasive procedure. He's going to be in a walking boot any day now. he's already going to be walking around. So, like, I just can't imagine this is going to be something that carries on through the All-Star break. I could be wrong. I also, I don't know that he's going to run.

I don't know that he's going to steal any bases. He could still be a good player without it, but I don't know what to expect from Eaton at this point. This is going to be basically a year and a half of barely playing when he gets back. So that's why I'm playing better than he ever has in those 31 games or whatever it was. Yeah, I know. He's been really good. good. I know. He's crushing. Adam, it sounds like you should try to trade Adam Eaton to Scott.

Maybe. If I have free DL spots, sure. Could I possibly get a job of Guidova? See, the thing is the only league where I own both Stroman and Eaton is a 10-team league with one D-L spot. So I've had to wrestle with the decision of dropping both. Ultimately, I decided to drop Stroman. I'm still holding on to Eaton. Jameson-Tay-Oen, I think you should probably sit him if you have to make the decision on Monday.

He has a lacerated finger unsure about his next start, Jameson-Ty-Oan. The Padres DFA'd Chase Headley. As Scott mentioned, Ryan Zimmerman's on the DL. Mark Reynolds was promoted, and he double-donged. Jacob de Grom, what a weird inning. This was the weirdest thing of the weekend. Jacob de Grom threw one inning. He did not, he walked the bases loaded to start the inning.

He did not give up a run. Through 45 pitches, 20 foul balls. 20 foul balls in one inning, and that was it for Jacob de Grom. We're starting him this week, right? No issues. I actually want to commend. the Mets for the way they handled that because they've, we've talked a lot about how they've handled pitchers with some sort of injuries.

And I sounds like they think Jacob de Grob's fine. 45 pitches in one inning is extremely taxing. And so good job by then. Oh, okay. I just had this thought, right? So he's, they have a five game week. That would mean that he's probably pitching on Sunday, right? He's the last guy in the rotation now.

Yeah. Is there any concern that? that he might get pushed back? Or should we just start him? Or both? There's concern. Yes to both, probably. Right.

Okay, we'll start Jacob de Gras. Nick Castiano's sore finger, Jamer Candelario, sore wrist, Alan Hansen, hamstring strain. Those three are day-to-day, keep an eye on it. Madison Bumgarner could be back on May 25th. Darren O'Day could be back Thursday. Jake Lamb began a rehab assignment.

Bradley Zimmer may go on the D.L. Anthony DiSclofani and Michael Lorenzen are set for rehab assignments for the Reds, and Dustin Bidroia could be back by the end of the month, at which point I think it might be time to drop Eduardo Nunez, who has been pretty, pretty bad. Bilo or heck no. All right, I got five pitchers here. Bilo or heck no, Zach Godley. I will buy low on Zach Godley.

I don't do it with great gusto, but the thing that really allowed him to take off last year was throwing his best swing and miss pitch, what had always been his best swinging and miss pitch, his curveball more throwing it about 40% of the time. He's still doing that this year. So the thing that helped him turn the corner still has the elite ground ball rate, still throwing, leaning on his best swing and miss pitch heavily. It just hasn't gotten the swing and miss as it did last year. But the fact that what changed for him has continued, it gives me hope that he's going to turn it around. I will also buy low another guy you might be able to offer Francisco Romero for. Right, for Godley.

Give it a shot. Aaron Sanchez, buy low or heck no. Heck no. Yeah. Sunny Gray, buy lower, heck no. Yep. I could go either way on this one, because obviously Gray has a much more established track record of success than Aaron Sanchez.

There's not a lot in his in-season line to hold out hope for better. But the same was true coming out of 2016 and look at the 2017 you put to. together. Oh, yeah, it's a tough one. I actually, am I crazy for wanting to start Sunny Gray at Kansas City this week? I think I'm crazy. I think I'm crazy. You're a little crazy, but it could work out.

Yeah. This is true of everything. Well, this is a pretty good scenario for any struggling pitcher at Kansas City. But I think you've got to sit Sunny Gray. Buy low or heck no on Richard Hill. By low. Heck no. He can't know.

You just brought up him in gray as somebody you could offer Fernando Romero. I was telling him you could do it. I said I wouldn't do it. Okay. I did. Okay. Last week I offered Reynaldo Lopez for Sunny Gray and George turned it down in our league. I did it.

I offered it again this morning. So, like, that was before Sunny Gray's terrible start this weekend. So I'm hoping. Yeah. I don't even know it's a good idea, but, you know, I want to take a show. You offer two for Sunny Gray? Rinaldo Lopez. Please do me favor.

Don't, don't say. what you do or just lie. Because George is probably going to listen to this. George is going to listen. All right. I would rather have Ranolo Lopez. Thank you. Go with your gut, George.

Chris Archer. By low or heck no. Chris Archer. Bilo. Lilo. All right, let's talk about it. For no more than one minute. This is exactly what I was, you know,

afraid of. He gives up home runs in small ballparks. I'll start up at the Angels next week. Yeah. But, you know. He has a career ERA at Camden Yards close to seven. Yeah. So I definitely thought of you this weekend.

I would sum it up like this. I really think you could consider not sitting Chris Archer at Boston at the Yankees at Baltimore and starting him everywhere else. Maybe. I'd have to look at the history a little more because I pretty much never approach any pitcher that way other than the whole Coors Field thing. Yeah. So I'd have to look into it more. But he's been in that division a long time. Obviously, I have the Camden Yard stat.

That's not in his favor. Oh, the other ones aren't either. I feel pretty confident about that, the Red Sox and Yankees once. Yeah, I don't know. It's just a simple thing for me. It's that he's bad parks for him. He gives up a lot of home runs. He gave up three in this start.

After being on a very nice run, three out of four quality starts. Yeah. And like good quality starts. Okay, is there anything to see here with these next group of pitchers? Anything to see here? Jeremy Helixen. Jeremy Helkson's got a 226 ERA. Last three starts.

He's allowed one run and 17 at a third with 17 strikeouts. Heath, anything to see here, Jeremy Halxon, 53% old. Hey, thank you very much, Jeremy Helixen. That was a very fine two-start week. But there are a lot of guys on the waiver wire that I'm dropping Jeremy Helixen for this morning. So I don't think there's really much to see there for the rest of the season. season. Maybe in another three or four weeks. He'll have another two-start week against good matchups, and I'll start him again.

Matt Harvey, Scott, anything to see here? He was 26% owned. He's now in the 30s or maybe the low 40s in ownership. Matt Harvey, four-scorless innings, one hit at the Dodgers in his Reds debut. He had two swinging strikes. Yep, he sure did. So is that a no? That's no. Ross Stripling is 4% owned. 220 ERA, more than a strikeout per inning. Anything to see here with Ross Stripling of the Dodgers? Not really.

He had, I think, like, four swinging strikes. Not that that's the end-all-be-all, but that's a really low number. Okay, and how about Clayton Richard, guys? Clayton Richard struck out 10 Cardinals on Sunday. He now has 50 strikeouts and 53 and 2-thirds. He has 18 strikeouts in his last two starts. He's at Pittsburgh this week. Anything to see here with Clayton Richard?

There is more to see here than with the rest of the group, I would say. He has gone through some stretches like this over the last year or two. So I'm slightly more intrigued, still probably not adding him in any 12 team leagues. But deeper than that, I could consider it. It was six swinging strikes for stripling. Still a really low number. Yeah, and going back to the Archer thing and how he does at Fenway in Yankee Stadium, just looking at 2016 and 17 when the road woes really started, he has been pretty bad,

especially at Fenway. and even more so, well, and very bad at Camden Yards. All right. Hey, CBS Sports HQ is on the air live 24-7. This is an awesome way to get your sports information. I know you're tired of all the stuff that we used to watch when we were growing up. It's not good anymore. CBS Sports HQ is a throwback, okay?

This has got fantasy information for you fantasy fans, but also you want highlights, you want news, you want scores. CBS SportsHQ, how do you watch it? You can go to CBSHQ. better yet, why don't you download the CBS Sports app on your Amazon Fire, on your Apple TV, on your Roku, on any connected device like that, and that's how you stream it. You watch the CBS Sports HQ from the CBS Sports app, and again, it's free. You don't have to sign up. Just sit back and enjoy awesome sports coverage, expert interviews, you know, none of that,

not of that garbage that's ruining sports media these days. We take it very seriously, and I think you're going to really like it. I also think you're going to like the Sportsline DFS podcast. hosted by Heath Cummings, Sportsline DFS podcast. If you want to win some money, play a little bit more fantasy, get on the draft app or whatever you want.

Sportsline DFS podcast. And I've got a testimony, not about my podcast, but I cut the cord last week. I got a Roku TV. I downloaded the CBS Sports HQ app, and it's just, like, it's so much better.

So much better. My life is so much better. I'm happier. I didn't cuss it, Scott, when he chewed biscuits in my ear this morning. Download the CBS Sports HQ app. Yeah, Scott had breakfast right before we went on, and Heath and I are very much aware that Scott had breakfast.

It was quite loud. I gave me one quote of the day from Joe Madden on Ian Hap. Here's the other quote of the day. I thought this was unusually harsh from an AP recap. Dallas Kuygo threw a gem Sunday, and he is only the Houston Astros' fourth best starting pitcher. I think it's honest, and that's not a knock on Kuykel. I think that's just how amazing

Garrett Cole, Verlander, and Charlie Wharton had been. Oh, yeah. Kikele this year, because I feel like we've only spoken of him negatively. He's down to a 310 ERA, 110 whip on pace for well over 200 innings. His biggest issue is a 3-and-5 record, but if he keeps pitching like this, that's obviously going to turn around. Yeah, he looks like Keiko. Four straight starts of seven or more innings.

And it's good stuff from him. And then McCullors behind him. The fourth best starter, starting pitcher was based, I'm almost positive, was based on ERA. Because the other three have super low ERAs. Let's read an email and then we'll get into, well, this is really a very, this email is just a liberty. I can't read it. I can't justify spending the time on it. I'm sorry to Michael.

Very funny Days of Our Lives email. Hitters! from over the weekend. Look at all these double-dongs. Wilson Contreras. He's, you can't buy low anymore, guys. Sorry. Nope, that's correct. One weekend. Francisco Lindor, double-donged on Saturday. Luke Maley, is Luke Maly interesting to you?

He's 4% owned. He's a backup catcher for the Blue Jays. Russell Martin can play some third base if they want, and Russell Martin's not that good anymore. And Luke Maly's batting 317 is he interesting to you, Scott? I picked him up in that same 24-team Dynasty League that's just a one-catcher league, but of course 24 teams deep. He is a backup, but he's playing like 50% of the time now. I don't have a lot of faith in the skill set looking at the minor league numbers,

but at the same time they make sense kind of within themselves, self-contained in this season. So catcher being the cesspool that it is in leagues where you have to go deep into that that position. Like, you could do worse. Than Luke Maly. Machado, Scope, and Rickard all had two Homer games. Rickard is back up.

They sent down Santander. Trevor Story, Homer twice. Eddie Rosario, Homer twice. Freddie Freeman, Homer twice. Brett Gardner stole two bases. Billy Hamilton stole three bases on Sunday. That was cool. All right, some more hitter news.

So Mitch Moreland has been in the lineup. They are finding ways to get him in. Give Hanley a day off. Mostly sit Jackie Bradley. And Moreland's playing great, Heath. Are you interested in Mitch Morland? Not particularly. Oh, okay.

And I ask the similar reaction to Scott. I'm not sure that he's going to get the consistent playing time, especially once Dustin Padrae comes back, because yes, maybe you need to drop Eduardo Nunez, but that just adds another player that's going to fill in occasionally. I'm not particularly excited about Moirland. So we talked about Luke Maley as a catcher. John Hicks also catcher eligible.

Hicks has been pretty good. 288 batting. average four homers in 19 games. John Hicks was 28% own. Heath, how good is Michael Brantley? Where do you have him ranked? He's awesome. He's healthy.

He's pretty much been awesome when he's been healthy. I probably still have him ranked too low, and I've moved him up multiple times throughout the season. He is a borderline number two outfieler. That's Michael Brantley we're talking about. Would you rather have you Darvish or Michael Brantley? I'll take you. Yeah, I might take Brantley.

Man, that is an offer I can't make because I don't own Michael Brantley anywhere. Yeah, and I don't own you anywhere. I've got Brantley in a lot of spots, so I guess Scott and I... You don't own me. Appropriately. Scott, are you recommending C.J. Crohn this week, 51% owned. Crowe. Yeah, he's in the top 10 sleeper headers for this week.

Also, a guy who can't remember if it was this year or last year, crushed lefties. But some history of success against them and the raids have really good matchups. And obviously he's red hot. But having said all that, at first base in the long run, as little as he walks, I don't think there's a lot of standout ability here. It's fine as a one-week villain. So what do you think CJ's cronorship rate should be?

This week, maybe. 55 to 60, long term, maybe 45 to 50? I wasn't so much interested in your answer. I really just wanted to say cronorship and Matt Carpenter sat all weekend. And you know what? He's going to get that three-day rest, clear your head. I think he did have one pitch hit appearance. And he's going to come back gangbusters, like McCutcheon a few years ago, like someone else that I can't remember.

It basically is a foolproof plan. Watch out for Matt Garland. I'm going to ask a question that's an automatic no, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Would you sit Paul Goldschmidt, who's two for his last 46? No. No, not unless they have a four-game week against Max Scherzer, all four games. Okay. So let's get to the pitchers.

Yeah, you know, it's kind of late in the show, so not sure. It might have to bounce around here. These guys were total studs being studs. Chris Sale, Luis Castillo, Shohei Otani and Charlie Borden. I think Castillo's probably the most interesting here. Is he back? Is he a must-start guy, Luis Castillo?

Yes. All right, cool. Also, studs being studs. Dylan Bundy bounced back. I was watching some of that game. The announcer said that his velocity was back up, that he felt that he had made some changes that were going to help. And they certainly did.

Seven scoreless any, he did walk four, but two hits seven strikeouts against Tampa Bay. Jake Arelletta had another good say. Go ahead. So, they've been so vague. about like he was dealing with something but they they haven't been clear what it was there been some talk maybe it was a groin issue i don't know why they want to just be forthright about that but buck woolshoulder uh said the pitches were crisper in this start which was a use

a word they used for what bunty was lacking before but he also said there's more to it than that but i'm not going to get into it oh okay well thank that's very helpful buck show walter very yeah but there was something it wasn't just show waller are saying it. There was something going on. I really thought that Jake Areetta looked good this weekend when I was watching that game. And then I saw only five strikeouts, only seven swinging strikes. I was surprised. But he was throwing like 94 miles per hour. His pitches were really moving. And I feel like he's driving us crazy with his results, Jake Arenda. Where are you guys on Areeta?

Sell high. I don't trust him any further than I can throw. him. The swinging strike rate, which is already down last year, is way down this year. Just not fooling anybody. Getting a lot more ground balls. So, I mean, I guess maybe he could reinvent himself into that kind of pitcher, but I'd bet against it. That's an extreme ask. Okay.

Heath, how about you on Arieta? Yeah, I don't... I would not be opposed to selling hi to Jake Arieta. I don't think he's going to be the Jake Areeta two years ago again. I don't know. I still think he's a number three starter moving forward. So I don't know what I would be looking for. If somebody still had any concerns about Luis Castillo,

I'd rather have him than Jake Arelletta. I'd rather have Sean Newcomb, but I don't know that you can get those guys for Arieta now. Yeah, I'd rather have Bundy, honestly. I've got Bundy one spot ahead of Arieta my ranking, so I would agree with that. Yeah, so Newcomb, you know, he just has one problem and it hasn't really hurt him at all.

But how good can he be with some control issues? How good can Sean Nukham be? I mean, I don't know what to make of it. I was looking into this yesterday because I, you know, so much of his success recently has just been not allowing hits. I think it's a total of five hits in his last start, which is amazing. But also, we tend to think unsustainable. I mean, the BAPIP is 261.

It was 280-something going into yesterday's start. So it's not like it was outrageous. That's with a very low-line drive rate, so you would expect a low BAP-I, lower-than-average Babb-Bit. Like, I have the same questions because the walk rate is high and, you know, how long can he avoid hits like this? But the underlying numbers suggest it's not, It's not crazy for him to be doing what he's doing.

A couple things on Newcomb. First from Dave O'Brien this morning on Twitter, David O'Brien on Twitter. Newcomb is the only Braves pitcher in 110 seasons to allow no runs in two hits or less in three consecutive starts. Second thing, I think he can be a number two starter. I don't think he can be an ace, like a top 15 starting pitcher with this many walks. But I absolutely think he can be a number two. All right, guys. I'm going to skip around here, and we can come back to some of these leftovers tomorrow.

If you saw these guys on waivers in your league, would you be adding Jeff Samarja, Danny Duffy, Tyler Skaggs, Tyson Ross, Jake Ferrea, Mike Soroka? Ross and Soroka, 100%. Skag's pretty interested in adding him, too. The rest I've been dropping more often than I've been adding them. I would add Samarja in a points league if I saw him on waivers. Ross is by far the best of this group, and I'd put Soroka in the same group as the other guys. I'm just not really sure. And I think Faria is, to me, I treat him like Archer.

First of all, this was a pretty good start for Faria. He gave up seven runs, but he had given up two runs in the first six innings. They brought him out for the seventh and five runs score. But I don't start him at Baltimore. I don't start him in bad parks. I'm going to start Faria at Kansas City this week. He's a fly ball pitcher, and he's been really good in the spots that you can trust him in. I don't know if that's a guy who's worthy of being owned in 71% of leagues, but that's how I was ranking all these pitchers.

You just mentioned he would be fourth on the list for me after Ross Soroka and Skaggs. Followed by Samarja and Duffy for you. Yes. Yeah, Duffy is the one. Like, I still think in a technical sense he's a bite. I just don't think in most fantasy leagues Like you need to wait it out with him on your roster Well, I don't think the Gatorade cooler would agree with you

Because he beat the crap out of it It was pretty awesome All right next group Fringie starting pictures part Duh Domingo Armand, Harlan Garcia Kyle Gibson, Stephen Mats Armand Garcia Gibson, Mats

Heath who would you pick up if you saw them on waivers I still think Herman is the one I'm most interested in. He also has a start at Kansas City. I'm starting him in a league this week. He's SPARP eligible. So, Hermann would be my favorite. I canceled a couple Hermann claims I had in my weekly fab leagues after this start. Like, it was just such a dramatic about face.

And the minor league numbers, like, obviously those didn't change with this start. They're still interesting. But he just got bad-bipped, right? Yeah, he didn't give up too much. He had one strikeout. And five-inning. This was such a poorly umpired game. Who was pitching?

Was it Triggs? Whoever was pitching for Oakland was getting squeezed so bad. Yeah, Triggs. Triggs was... I know, you get the results were bad. It was like a 7-6 game or something. Umpires were terrible, but that doesn't explain all of the struggles for Armand. But only one has to base it.

Like, Kyle Gibson's my favorite here. I'd put him ahead of some in the previous list. But Domingo Hermann's second out of this group. group. The others being Harlan Garcia and Stephen Matt's. Fring's starting pitchers part three. Would you pick up any of these guys? Marco Estrada, Lance Lynn, Matt Cook. I'm like on the, about the same level of Domingo Hermann, probably a little behind him. I do have Lance Lynn stashed away. Like I picked him up when somebody else dropped him.

Because I just trusted the track record there. I think these struggles like are so extreme. It has to be related to him. gearing up for the season on a short time table. So I'm still have hope for him, obviously not playing him anywhere right now. Yeah, I think there's a decent chance Lance Lynn is just done. Yeah, pretty lucky last year, and he's not, he's having the opposite this year. I don't think he'll be this bad, 734 ERA bad, but none of his peripherals look like a good starting pitcher. I would say Cook is someone that could be matchup dependent.

I like the fact that I think he can take advantage of good matchups. I don't know that Lance Lynn can. And Matt Cook is spelled K-O-C-H, which brings us to today's matchup. I don't know why that brings us to today's matches, but it does. We're going to today's matchups now. There are nine games. Julio Taran at Jose Cantana. Start him.

Yep. Ryan Yarbrough at Eric Skogland. Neither. I'm starting Yarbrough. You know, one start, like because he's a two-star pitcher or you're starting him today? Well, these are daily decisions. I know. I don't think Yarbrough is a bad pitcher.

I think this is a good matchup in a good park. I'm rolling the dice. Carlos Carrasco, yes. How about Mike fires now? Wade LeBlanc at Jake Oteresey. I might do Oteresee. I probably won it, you know, and won in. Like, he's not really low on my two-star pitcher rankings,

but when you're talking about day-to-day considerations, the Mariners, you know, I guess they lost Cano, but they've been a pretty good lineup. I'd lean against it. Yeah, I, Oda Reasy in this matchup is a guy that if this was Friday or Saturday, I could say, yeah, there's a situation where I'd start him, but I'm not going to start my week off like this. Sean Minaya at Rick Porcelo.

Both. Yeah. Junior Garra at Patrick Corbyn. Corbin Definitely Corbin I'm watching this Geras start He's interesting I'm gonna be watching this Corbin start

We'll see if there are concerns No I mean look people are Are really worried about Corbin No they need to stop You got bigger worries in your life I promise you Lance McCullors at Andrew Heaney So McCullors yes

How about Heaney I'll be watching this too Late Night for me Yeah I'm gonna say no to Heaney I'll watch it But I'm not that interested According to Heath, the two worst lineups in baseball, Rockies at Padres, Tyler Anderson at Joey Lucchese.

Bothies. Dortum. Yeah, no, look, he's right about this Rockies lineup. And Sal Romano at Chris Stratton. No. No. I mean, Stratton. I think the Reds have too many hot hitters.

I'll pass. Including William Hamilton. And his three steals yesterday. Very excited about that. Thank you all for listening. Sorry we didn't get the emails. I was only nine games on the schedule, so I think we might be able to do like a mini mailbag tomorrow. Send them in fantasy baseball at cbsi.com for Scott, for Heath.

I'm Adam. Talk to you tomorrow.