Fantasy Baseball Today - 06/07 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Tuesday was Ridiculous!

Episode Date: June 7, 2017

Was Scooter Gennett's four-homer game completely irrelevant for Fantasy owners (0:53)? Are there changes coming in a couple of bullpens? Is it time to drop Masahiro Tanaka (10:00)? We're covering yesterday's hot topics and a lot more ... Tanaka wasn't the only SP to struggle yesterday. Any concerns about Jacob deGrom, Jose Quintana or Marco Estrada (12:30)? ... A lot of catcher talk (34:00), discussing Jacob Faria and Buck Farmer, fringy SPs (53:00) and your comments about raisins (47:15)! ... Your emails 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

Yesterday, Scooter Jeanette hit as many home runs in one game as Xander Bogarts and Dustin Padroya have combined a hit for the entire season. Think about that. And if you're hiring, you've got to try ZipRecruiter. With ZipRecruiter.com, you can post your job to 100 plus job sites, including social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, all with a single click. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. Oh, Scooter! Scooter the striker.

Yeah, Scooter McGavin yesterday. He was four home runs. Has there ever been a less fantasy-relevant four-homer game in baseball history? You know, I actually was actually reading about this on MLB.com this morning, and it's pretty clear Scooter Jeanette is the worst player to hit four home runs in a game. There have only been 17 four-homer games in all of Major League history. the fewer of those than perfect games. So this is,

it was kind of upsetting, actually. Upsetting! Seeing that Scooter Genet had four home runs, because it's just such a big departure from expectation to the point of upsetting me. Like, it throws off the order of things that much. And, I mean, I honestly don't know what else to say about it. Obviously, Scooter Jeanette's not good.

What were you? What were you more upset about? Scott, Bartolo Colon going on the DL or Scooter Jeanette hitting four home runs? Bartolo Colon going on the DL is a net benefit, all right? I know. That's a good thing. But it's dishonesty. Like, you called them out.

You went, sure, when you replied to the tweet about him going on the DL and the oblique straight. Right. Well, the DL stint because the player is just awful isn't anything new to this year. It's not like what the Dodgers are doing, where they're just using it to give their pitchers extra rest, basically, and to delay the decision of having to kick guys out of the rotation. Well, Brandon McCarthy looks like he's staying in the rotation. He had a great start last night.

There is so much to get to. Obviously, Tanaka, obviously DeGrom, obviously Kintana, more struggling studs. Kintana with a decent outing yesterday. We have a lot of injuries to update you on. On a normal day, we'd probably lead with something like Tony Watson struggling again or Hector Nerris struggling again and Pete McCannin not committing to Neris as his closer. But that's going to be a little bit later because we got to talk about not only double-dongs but quadruple-dongs. Scooter Jeanette is now 11%-0 and I'd like to know what he was at yesterday.

And it's worth noting Scott Shebler was a defensive replacement last night. So, again, do we even have talk about Scooter Jeanette? He's not relevant. We're not picking him up, right? No, I mean, 11% owed is probably appropriate because he does deserve to be owned in NL-only Roto leagues. You know, he's going to play enough probably a matter of those, but it's not like he's going to even get the Marwin Gonzalez role for the Reds.

There's just not room for him. I do worry that this performance gives the Reds. is an excuse to cut into Jose Parraza's at bats, and if I'm relying on Parraza for steals, that's kind of unpleasant, may cut into other players at bats, too, since Jeanette has shown some versatility this year, but he's not going to have a role with his own.

And we don't want him to. I mean, we've seen enough of them to know that he's not a productive offensive player. Normally two of those home runs barely cleared the fence at notorious hitters' part. granted, his home part, but still, they were not monster shots that suggests he's this ridiculous power hitter all of a sudden. So, I don't know, I don't have much more of a takeaway from it than that. It was just a great game for a guy who now has something to tell his grandkids about.

There you go. Congratulations, Scooter Jeanette. Now, we want to formally welcome you to Wednesday's edition of Fantasy Baseball today. And I said to myself last night at about 8 o'clock on the games were just starting. as I was putting together the notes 8 p.m. Eastern. I'm going to put grade the trade pretty high up in the show today. Let's grade some trades early in the show. But yesterday was one of those really, really eventful days.

So grade the trade will be later in the show. We have two new segments today, Scott. Are you excited for two new segments? Before I even tell you what they are, are you excited? I love new segments. Okay. Well, here's what they are. Okay.

A new segment number one is everyone wants to know about catchers. A terrible segment. Five or six e-bails about catchers, and a lot of them are about Wilson-Rabos. Yeah, I'm just kidding. It's fine. Okay. And then the second new segment is comments about raisins. Okay.

All right. I'm up for a little more raisin talk. Good. Now, we had the quadruple-donger. What about the double dongs? Jonathan's scope is now the number 11 second baseman in both points and road. and as one of our emailers pointed out yesterday, and I think I would have probably figured it out today

when I looked at all his stats, but I was really unaware. I didn't look at scope stats. Career low strikeout rate, career high walk rate. Not to say that it's so great. 11 walks, 40 strikeouts. He's on pace for 30 instead of 20. But the strikeouts are down at least, 40 strikeouts and 54 games.

He had been kind of not necessarily cold, but like lukewarm. medium temperature for about a month, Scope. He hit two home runs yesterday. And Mark Reynolds, Gerardo Parra is on the DL or going on the DL today. And Mark Reynolds hit two home runs yesterday. Even with those two home runs, only four in his last 24 games and a 250 batting average. But what do you want to say about Scope, top 12 second baseman, and Reynolds, who I'm assuming is a top 12 first baseman this year?

Yeah, he still is even after going... that stretch of time. He hit his many home runs yesterday as in his previous 23 games combined. Reynolds did, so he was slowing down. And I think he's going to still not maintain the pace he has put together so far this season.

I don't view him as a top 12 first baseman long term. Now, scope, scope may be a top 12 second baseman. He's, like, there's enough of a track record of them being productive. We know he hits for power.

He's on like a 50, doubles pace in addition to the home runs this year. But the lack of walks is always going to put a cap on his upside because it's going to, obviously, cost him points in points leagues and erode leagues, it's going to cost him run scoring opportunities. He's going to be one of those, if he is a top 12 second baseman, I think it'll be in large part because he stays healthy and isn't really going to be like an impact player for your team. you were fine starting him. I mean, he's a satisfying starter, but he's not a stud. He's number 11 right now at second base and points in Roto. Last year, Scope was 13th in both formats,

and he played 162 games. This year, he's played 54 out of 56 games. But he is on a better home run pace. Of course, it was probably, it was about even going into yesterday's game, and he hit two homers, has five hits in his last two games. So look, maybe he gets hot. If you just lost Devin Travis and you're in a shallower league, maybe you can pick up Jonathan's scope. He's owned in 75% of leagues. Travis, by the way, going on the DL.

All right, those are the hitters that we had to get to at the top of the show. Let's talk about the pitchers. Email of the day, and by the way, Heath will be on the show tomorrow. Email of the day at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com is from Joe with 10 fingers. Oh, from Boston. I have 10 fingers too, Joe. Do you? Because Heath would say you have 8.

fingers and two thumbs? You know, I don't, I don't know exactly how that works, because I have found some reason to believe on the internet that Heath is right. Thumbs aren't technically fingers, but nobody would say humans have eight fingers. I don't think any scientist would say that. So, yeah, listen. It's, it's a strange, uh, strange, uh, little, uh, issue with words there. You just said Heath was right.

you are allowed to say that when Heath is not on the podcast. If he's on the podcast, do not say that because then he'll be telling us about fingers and thumbs for the rest of the year. We don't need that. No, we don't need that. Okay. He'll keep bringing it up, right, yeah. John or Joe, Joe with 10 fingers from Boston, although I think it might be John,

and I think I might have just forgot about the end. Do you know the end key is actually broken? It doesn't work all the time on my computer, so that is definitely John. Dear, Tanakadong, Tanakadong number two, another freaking Tanakadang. and please just put him on the DL to stop all the Tanaka dons. When you undoubtedly talk about how terrible Tanaka is and if he goes on the DL, which clearly he needs to, is Chance Adams worth a flyer in Deep Leagues? Okay, well, let's start because people are talking about Chance Adams a little bit.

Let's just get that out of the way. Do you think Chance Adams is a prospect worth stashing Yankees recently promoted this pitcher to AAA? In Deep Leagues, yeah, I think he probably has emerged. as next in line for the Yankees. I know Chad Green, Joe Girardi said after this game that he's not stretched out anymore, so he wouldn't be an option to start. So they might have to dig for Chance Adams,

who has been, you know, he's had crazy numbers in the minors of the last two years. It converted reliever, so he hasn't gotten a ton of prospect hype because there's questions of whether he has the durability to start, whether he has the arsenal to start, but, you know, and six starts at double A to begin the year. He had a 103 ERA in about a strikeout per inning.

Strikeout rate is only improved at AAA, where he has a 217 ERA in five innings. Five innings or five starts? Five starts. Okay. So Chance Adams, I'm not as excited about stashing pitchers as I am hitters in fantasy normally, but he's probably among the top.

three minor league pitchers. If I had, you know, if I was looking to stash a minor league pitchers, it's not something you're going to need to do across the board by any means, but he would probably be among the top three, yeah. Along with who, with Faria, yeah, Jacob Faria who's starting today, is he won? Yes. Yes, I was considering him. I guess he's technically not a minor league or anymore because he's already been called up.

Yeah. He has like 11.5 strikeouts of AAA this year. Again, not a guy with a big pedigree, but certainly this. year the production in the minors makes them interesting. And then I would also put Sean Newcomb in that group, who is rumored to potentially be the one to take Bartolo Cologne spot. They have a double header this week in the Braves, so they'll need to call up two pitchers. Matt Whistler is almost certainly going to be one, and then it'll probably be between

Lucas Sims, who's had a decent season at AAA, and Sean Newcomb, who is the prospect of all the pitchers we've named here, the one who has the highest pedigree, but he also has walk issues. But if the Braves called him up, yes, I would be excited about adding Sean Newcomb. And in deeper leagues, I'm looking at Adams and Faria as well. Faria and Buck Farmer are actually both starting today. We'll talk about them in just a little bit. Let's talk about the struggling studs. I put Arietta in here because the season-long numbers aren't great, and he's only pitching six innings now pretty much every time he starts. But But Areetta does have a 263 ERA, seven walks, 27 strikeouts in 24 innings over his last four starts.

So maybe he's turned things around. So I'm going to assume you're not concerned about Arietta? No, I'm not concerned about Arietta. I wish the walks were lower, but that just may be the new reality with him. And the strikeouts are high enough. And I still think the supporting cast is a good one. There's still too many elements in his favor for me not to consider. him a top 12 starting pitcher.

Okay, then, would you rather have Arietta or Jacob DeGrom after two total duds in a row for DeGrom? Yeah, it's 15 earn runs in those two starts. It's been ugly, and it's actually made his ERA higher than Arellettas for the year. All the worrying we've done over Arieta, suddenly DeGrom's numbers look worse. That's a tough call. It's about a coin flip for me now. It doesn't look like anything is wrong physically with DeGroms.

He's still throwing his hard. They think it's, you know, just something wacky's going on with his command. Yeah. But when you're, like, he's, I don't know that you can start him the next turn he makes. And I don't know that we ever reached a point that low with Areietta. Well, he's a two-star pitcher this week, so we'll get another one this weekend. But if you're in a daily league, you know, you might have to make that decision. The good thing about sometimes daily leagues is, like, if he's going to start on Sunday,

DeGrom, I might know if I have whip ERA, strikeouts, quality, such. Like, I might know if I need counting stats or ratios. And if I'm already going to lose the ratios or if I have them locked up, I might just go ahead and start them. So you might be able to make your decision in that regard. But I don't know. Who he's facing later this week is the Cubs. So that makes it even harder. Yeah, yeah.

I don't know. This really stinks because he threw 118 pitches in a great start two starts ago. And then Grom's been terrible since. And we talked about the pitch counts yesterday. It is a little worrisome to me. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to say. It's like, I can't, I'm not, I don't have a crystal ball.

And I don't know how much the pitch count affected him, but it just seemed a little reckless. And oh, God, I can't wait to rant about John Farrell and what he did yesterday. That you talk about reckless, the most reckless thing I've seen so far this year. All right. So you still think DeGrom is. About top 12. Yes, I would keep him in my top 12. He is not the clear fifth guy anymore, though, like I've maintained he was this year.

And wait, is it, you know what? I'm trying to think if that's even true anymore, if that was even true before this start, because there's obviously Kershaw-Sher-Ser-Sale, those are clear top three in some order, and then Kichel. Kluber and Grinky and Kikl, I would have them all ahead of DeGrom, and then things start to get a little questionable. All righty. And what about Tanaka? Are you going to drop Masahiro Tanaka?

The Yankees, by the way, they've not said that they were going to skip in the rotation or anything like that, but would you drop Tanaka? They didn't deny it either. No. But they've also maintained he's healthy, so D.L. Stint would be kind of awkward at this point. I would not drop Tanaka except in a crazy shallow league where there was actually some chance he wouldn't get picked up. But I still have confidence he's going to turn things around and be a reliable option for somebody. And you'd rather be you, especially if the cost is just another bench option. Just stash him on your bench, wait until he has two good starts in a row, and then you can start him.

Did you start him this week in the auction league? In the auction league? I did not. I almost did. Oh, wow. But it would mean starting two closers instead of three. And at the last minute, I changed my mind to bench Tanaka because I didn't think the upside was worth the downside in a categories league like that.

I still probably started him in any points league where I owned him. Well, I hope since I'm trying to catch up to you in that league, I hope the closer that you started was Tony Watson, but it probably wasn't. It wasn't. It was Cody Allen. Oh, okay. Sorry. Well, he didn't do anything yesterday, Scott. He did better than Tanaka. So I love – I'm looking at your rankings here.

This is really interesting because you have three of the four struggling-starting pitchers. And I mean, you can say what you want about Kentana. I'm pretty sure Kentana left with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and they got out of the jam. So the line could have looked even worse. But he gave up one run. He walked four. He struck out seven. They were pretty encouraged in five and a third.

They were pretty encouraged by Kentana yesterday. The quotes were good after the game, but the line could have been a lot worse. And then Marco Estrada has had two bad starts in a row. One terrible against the Yankees. Yesterday, more like conventional, just sort of bad. Five and two thirds, four runs, but eight strikeouts to one walk at Oakland, because we know the A's strikeout a ton. So your rankings right now, and they're not updated,

your rankings right now, number 23, Marco Estrada, number 24 Jose Cantana Number 25 Masahiro Tanaka Number 26 Robbie Ray who is now like a top eight starting pitcher And just had a great home start for the first time It was a little predictable because it was against the Padres You've got Estrada Cantana Tanaka

Robbie Ray back to back to back to back Like Scooter Jeanette 23 through 26 in your rankings How do you feel about that order Estrada Cantana Tanaka Ray? I think Ray is going to move to the front of that list after How many dominant starts in a row with this forum?

Three or four? Five? I don't know. I liked him coming into the year with all the strikeouts and he's only gotten better as this year's gone on. So he is, I think he's definitively among the standout pitchers now which is a group of about 25,

about into this range. But that's probably just moving Ray ahead of Estrada and Kintana. That's probably as far down as I'm going to move those two. Tanaka's going to drop even further than that, probably, because he is just unusable right now. And the others I'd be fine with. I mean, we've seen enough of these blips from Estrada over the years. The strikeouts have remained high.

I just think it's a bad to start stretching nothing more for him, nothing that gives me long-term concerns. Kentana, I was kind of, he and Tanaka were kind of in the same boat for me heading into this game. I think they're more or less fine and just having some location issues. So since Kentana had more or less a good start, I'm willing to leave him where he is. But Tanaka, I'm probably going to have to move him. Let's see, I have Samarja 34th, Manaya 35th. He'll be behind those two.

Irvin Santana, 40. How about that? Yeah, I'd rather have Irvin Santana. There's the cluster of Bumgarner, Hamels, Duffy, all the injured pitchers right there. So Tanaka's probably going to move to about 42nd or 43rd, which is where I have Von Nova and Eduardo Rodriguez and Danny Salazar right after that. That sounds like the appropriate range for Tanaka. Rodriguez and Salazar, of course, having a lot of upside themselves, but big questions like Tanaka as to how soon you're going to be able to take advantage of it.

So would you take Matt Shoemaker or Tanaka? I would still take Tanaka. Yeah, it's very strange with Tanaka. The velocity is fine. He just has no stuff. His splitter ain't splitting, his slider ain't slide, and he's got nothing out there. And he's given up how many home runs?

17 home runs in 66 innings. He gave up 22 home runs in 199 and 2 3rd last year. 17 home runs in 66 inning so far. He's got absolutely nothing right now. So if you do want to buy low on him, you're sitting them for a little while. And those are your struggling studs. By the way, Danny Sauer is on the DL. And also, if you want to be inspired by pitching, take a look at Scott's rankings.

37 through 44 right now is going to change. But let's talk about how many of them are on the DL. Noah Cindergarde, Madison Bumgarner, Cole Hamels, Danny Duffy, Eduardo Rodriguez, Danny Salazar, and maybe Yvonneova, who left with a knee injury yesterday. So from 37 to 44, that's eight pitchers, you've got one healthy one, Irvin Santana. How about that? Yeah, and it's no coincidence that they're all clustered together like that. That's kind of the line of demarcation for pitchers I trust and pitchers I don't trust.

Obviously, now Tanaka falling out of that, falling out of the circle of trust. Oh, the Circle of Trust. You'll Meet the Parents fan? Yeah, the first one was great. Tremendous. Yeah, such a good movie. Yeah. Okay.

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country. Our listeners can start forming their own winning team on ZipRecruiter for free. Just go to ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. Try it for free today at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. Your news and notes, Scott White. Jacob Ferreya is going to start against the White Sox. Not a hard thrower from what I saw from a minor league video that I'm

I watched this morning. No. Great change-up, though. All right, I like that. Really, the arm action is very similar on the fastball on change-ups. That's why he's racking up strikeouts in the minors. And he's pitching for the raise today against the White Sox. Jacob Farreya.

Buck Farmer is pitching for the Tigers today against the Angels. In his last start, 11 strikeouts in six-and-a-third-thourless innings at the White Sox. And that's who Faria faces today. Who would you be more interested in picking up, Faria or Buck Farmer? For Ria, I think he's better, first of all. And I think there's a clearer opportunity for him to stick if he does well. I would guess neither of these two stick. They both have a chance of sticking.

I mean, the tigers, if Buck Farmer goes out and dominates again, they could easily kick which Norris is it? Daniel Norris out of the rotation. Did they already kick Matt Boyd out of the rotation? What is the deal with Matt Boyd? I don't recall seeing him starting. I thought he started over the weekend. Man, sometimes baseball games, they just sort of blend together.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, either one of them, if they haven't kicked Boyd out yet. Oh, they optioned Boyd to AAA on June 2nd. Okay. Gone but not forgotten. Oh, he's forgotten, apparently. I would be keeping a very close eye on both of these pitchers.

I didn't add either of them for a farmer in any standard mixed league, but deeper leagues, I went ahead and preempted the potential rush to the waiver wire. I'm guessing neither one of them dominates to the extent he'd need to be an instant ad, but there's a chance. Like, would you drop, let's say right now, before they even start, would you drop a Mike Fultenevich for them? Fultenevich, who's coming off a great start, but he does this, you know? He teases. He does tease. I think just because like the kind of start he just had is would be a dream for either farmer or feria at this point. So no, I don't think that's that's below the threshold of where I could make that move.

How about Skoglin? Would you drop Skoglin for them? Yes. And we actually did that in the podcast for the People League. That's right. We picked up Faria. So do you prefer Faria to Farmer? Yes, I do. Farmer has been bad in every opportunity. He's got. except for the very last one. And he hasn't even had a great minor league season. So still a lot of skepticism there. But I did watch that start against the White Sox, and his stuff looked really good.

So there's, like, I feel like I should know better. But at the same time, I am interested in Farmer, just not to the extent I am for Ria. We still have to get to guys like Chase Anderson and all the bullpen news. And Cole Calhoun is hot. He's got four home runs in his long. last seven games and raisins. And I want to thank Matt Colley for asking in an email this morning about Faria and Buck Farmer, inspiring me to ask Scott White about it today. Thank you, Matt. All right, the rest of your news and notes, here we go. Yvonne Nova left with knee inflammation.

He has dealt with knee pain recently, so it could be a DL stint. We'll see with Yvonne Nova. Jonathan V.R sat again. Eric Sogarde led off, went two for four with a double. I don't think we're buying Sogarde. This is a hot streak. He has been a bad hitter, but it's not good for VR. for what that's worth. Gene Seguera will sign a five-year, $70 million contract extension with the Mariners, and he might not have that long of a DL stint, by the way. But Adrian Beltray could go back on the DL. He sprained his ankle.

We'll call him day to day for now, Adrian Belchrey with an ankle sprain. No walking boots. Yeah, that's never good. Harardo Parra going on the DL with a quad strain. Devin Travis is on the DL with a bone bruise in his knee. Does that feel long-term to you for Devin Travis? Bone bruises can be tricky. Yeah, I'm not expecting a minimal stay there.

Danny Salazar on the DL with a sore shoulder, but it almost feels to be like they're just doing this to stretch him out. Salazar? Possibly, yeah. We'll see. Bartola Colon-D-L oblique strain. Justin Boar on the DL with a bone bruise in his ankle, which is exactly what Greg Bird has had, and Bird's been out forever,

but they say Boar could be back in 10 days, so we will see. Did you see, Justin Bore got picked up in our auction league today? I didn't, he, Ryan Zimmerman, me. I didn't know he was available. Did you know that Justin Bore was available? Yes, I did. I had a big claimant for him. I didn't check.

Not big enough. Nope, he went for $16. Oh, no. You know, my initial bid was $17. No lie. I lowered it to 12 once he went on the D.L. I would have gone more than 16. I didn't even see it.

Damn it! Oh, well, so Justin Bore is now on another roster. Nelson Cruz left with calf tightness. That could be bad. Mitch Hanigur started a rehab assignment. The Mets are considering a six-man rotation as starting on Friday the Mets are about to play 18 games in 17 days. So that might mean Giselman is in the rotation. We shall see.

Mike Napoli, I mean, he will at least make a start this weekend for sure. Mike Napoli is on the deal with the back strain. Ian Hap Scott. Ian Hapist has sat two straight games. What is he? Homer's twice on Sunday and then they sit him twice? That is the most annoying thing always when the manager sits the hot hand like that. You know, when it's not somebody like Scooter Jeanette and he sits the hot hands, that drives me crazy.

Yeah, now let's talk really quickly about the Cubs because you look at Javier Baez, and he's having a better season than Addison Russell by far. He's actually got a pretty good slash line, but the fantasy production hasn't been there. But do you think Baez, who to me 75% own still might be a little high? And I thought he was like, we all thought he was a very overdrafted player. Do you think Baez could be an everyday player, have a breakout year? Because he's hitting better than he's ever hit. Oh, he absolutely could be a breakout, an everyday player.

The upside for him is probably Jonathan's scope level, so it's not like I'm salivating at the opportunity for him to play every day. and I don't think it would be wise for the Cubs to give up on Addison Reed yet. Russell. Addison Russell, sorry. Mixed up the Norrises, mixed up the Addison's. Because I still feel like peripherally there should be a lot of correction coming for Russell. He doesn't get the benefit of the doubt a lot of players do because he wasn't very good last year either.

but he's too young and too promising, and the underlying stats strike out to walk rate. The bad dip is really low. It looks like he should have better times ahead. Okay, Carlos Ordom made a rehab start. The Diamondbacks called up Zach Godley. A.J. Pollock is running as he's recovering from a groin injury, so he's making a little bit of progress.

James Paxton gave up a home run to Brian Dozier, the first home run that Paxton allowed all year. Felix Hernandez made a rehab start. Alex Wood will start this weekend. Scott Shevler was a defensive replacement, and Wellington Castillo may be back this weekend. Scotty White, let's talk about the bullpen. Tony Watson struggled again. He's got a 426 IRA.

He had a 514 R.A. in May. And Felipe Rivera has been amazing. Six walks, 32 strikeouts, and 30 innings. And I think he's given up one run this year. So there's Felipe Rivera in Pittsburgh. There's Pat Nyshek in Philadelphia. Who is a better speculative ad as Nerris and Watson have struggled, and Rivera and Nyshek have been great? Rivera is far and away, the better ad.

In fact, Clint Hurdle, it was kind of like the Yankees with Tanaka. He didn't rule out the possibility of a change and specifically mentioned Rivera. He said he's a guy they've been talking about having a future as their closer from the time they acquired him in the Mark Malanson deal. And Rivera's numbers this year, I mean, he's dominated. It's been an ERA and a whip both below one. Two earn runs all year, not one run for Felipe Rivera, who is 27% own. Get on it, people.

Yeah, yeah. Now, Nishak has been the best reliever for the Phillies this year, but I have no idea what's going on with their bullpen. It seems like it, they still really, They barely get save opportunities that they don't have to really develop any kind of pattern. I would still guess Nish – not Nishik, but Nairus gets the next save. Okay, I'll read you what Pete McCannan said. He said that Nairus's splitter isn't really working.

I'm going to have to pull this up, but we can go back to that. Other bullpen notes, Ken Giles has given up four runs and two homers in his last three appearances. He blew one yesterday. I don't know if he blew a save. I think it was a tie game, but he took the – no, it wasn't blown soon. He blew a save. He blew a save yesterday. But it was only his second blown save all year.

Yeah. So I don't feel like he's in jeopardy. Okay, so we're okay with Giles. Yeah. Craig Kimbril, once again, had more strikeouts than outs recorded because he struck out Dede Gregorius and the ball went to the backstop. So Kimbril recorded four outs and has five strikeouts. It is unbelievable how well Craig Kimbril's pitching.

Matt Bush had a terrible outing, but it was a not. non-save situation in his first appearance since May 31st. And Coda Glover, Cota Glover, with the save, his eighth save, and a scoreless inning at the Dodgers, and then barking at Yassiel Pueg. Pueg didn't like it, Scott White. Did not like it.

You see it? Know your place, Rook. Yeah, it was weird. Something must have happened before that, because, like, why would you be yelling at Pueg when you just ended the game with a strikeout? McCannin said he was not ready to announce Nishek would take the closer's role from narrative,

McCannin said Neris is struggling with his splitter. Quote, it doesn't have the same action he had last year. We've got to figure that out, end quote. That's from the AP. Thank you, AP. You do wonderful work. Might be kind of a pulling back situation like happened with Edwin Diaz. Yeah, maybe.

They are so bad. And the pirates aren't very good either, so I don't know how many saves you're going to get from those guys. But Rivera, at the very least, you want to get the ratios in your lineup. Okay, Scott, new segment number. one everyone wants to know about catchers and for this segment you're really going to have to figure out where you want to rank wilson ramos i think that's basically what this is but let's all right i figured it out yesterday so i am well prepared good good christian in chicago says dear california brand and nets are those those are oh those are raisin raisins raising bran and

raisin nets i get it okay i have i have i have salvador prez and a ten team head-to-head categories league, and I know the second half cliff dive is coming. I may have already started. Heard the Wilson Ramos chat yesterday. I also have Kyle Schwaber, who's catcher eligible. Actually, he was just dropped. He doesn't have Schwerber, but he's on the waiver wire. Salvador Perez, Kyle Schwerber, Wilson Ramos, how would you rank those three rest of season?

Okay, so Schwerber obviously isn't eligible catcher standard CBS leagues. buzz so in this hypothetical scenario that won't appear in my actual rankings on the site I would go Salvador Perez 1, Schwerver 2, and Ramos 3 but I do think

this is a good opportunity to really for anybody with a high-end catcher I don't know that I'd do it with Sanchez or Posey but any other catcher even Lucroy I think

I'd be willing to pick up Wilson Ramos and shop that starting catcher, trusting that Wilson Ramos is going to be good enough for me to start the rest of the year. It's a gamble because last year was an isolated event for Ramos, and this is a significant knee injury he's coming back from while also changing his environment, shifting leagues. I mean, there are a lot of questions to be answered here, but I think catcher, considering most teams aren't getting much production from their catcher anyway, even if Ramos turns out to be a dud. it won't mess you up that much. He had eye surgery, right? Last year, Ramos? Is that what helped him? He had LASIC?

I think so. That sounds familiar. Yeah. And he hit 307 with 22 home runs. But he was slumping at the end of the year for what that's worth. He had a 627 OPS in his last 32 games after a 925 OPS in his first 99. All right. Next question in everybody wants to know about catchers.

Nick from Portland, I have Yasmani Grandal and a 4. team categories league do I drop grandal to pick up Ramos no no I would not want to do that but particularly while you can still stash Ramos in a DL spot provided you have one available he doesn't have a DL slot available okay I'd know I'd rather stick with Granda if you could trade Granda'll it'd be great and then you can pick up Ramos but no I don't I don't think you can make that switch. From Brandon, 14-team categories Keeper League. Do I drop Real Muto for Wilson Ramos?

I responded and I said yes. What do you think? I would rather have Rial Muto. So I moved Ramos up to 12th. And Rial Muto is eighth for me. Categor. Rondola 6. This is Roto.

Like, Rayamuto plays all the time that helps him in points. But what about in Roto? Yeah. I mean, it helps them in Roto, too, because you get more RBI. opportunities to get more run scoring opportunities. I don't know that the format makes a huge difference for him. So

Ramos clearly has more upside. Would you miss Riemuto if you dropped them? Probably not. But considering Ramos is still probably a couple weeks away from returning, I certainly don't think you can make that move. Okay, well, that's a good point. This is from Nate. Hey, what's up? Charles, Montgomery, George, and Ken?

Burns. Those are Burns. Okay. See Montgomery Burns, George Burns, Ken Burns. Got it, right? Yeah. Do I drop Wilson Contreras for Wilson Ramos? No. No, you don't. Scott is just not feeling Wilson.

No, you got him 12th, but these are tough questions. I moved him up to 12th. He's one of the, which means in standard 12th team one catcher leagues, he needs to be owned somewhere. I think that's pretty high praise for a guy who we haven't seen play all year. Is he going to DH for the raise, do you think? Certainly some. Yeah. Maybe a lot more at the beginning.

But he's been catching on his rehab assignment, so it's not like he won't be able to catch. Let me tell you something about Wilson Contrera, Scott. This is what he's done in the last 28 days. Look at this slash line. 305, 365, 365. That's awesome. He is the number nine catcher in points leagues. I'm going to check in Roto with that slash line because he doesn't play enough.

It's crazy. Those 28 days? Yeah, 28 days. And he's number seven in Roto. And like nobody's... There are some, like Tyler Flowers has a better slash line in that. stretch, but, like, that's a tremendous stretch, but he's so far behind and it bats, because, you know, the clubs don't play Wilson Contreras enough, so it's frustrating, and I could understand dropping

him for Ramos. I guess I wouldn't do it either in the one league I have Contreras, but it's not a bad, it's a good question, it's a tough call. Yeah, I could understand, again, anybody but the top four at the position. by top four I mean Posi Sanchez, Lucroy and Perez. I don't think any other catcher's upside really compares to Ramos. I guess maybe Contreras's upside does,

and maybe Gattis' upside does, but both of them have playing time concerns, which complicates it. So I don't know that it's crazy to drop any other catcher outside the four for Ramos, but you still need to still need to stay. start a catcher until he gets back. And that first week he is back should tell us a lot about some, you know, kind of like Messaraco when he came back. It became clear he wasn't going to play a whole lot. So that's, there's still a lot of questions to be answered. And finally, Chase wants

to know, what are your thoughts on Alex Avila? I like that he's batting in the two spot. Can he maintain this level of power and production throughout the season? Avila is 55% owned. He homered yesterday. He's batting 324 with nine home runs. He's had one good season in his career was in 2011, which was a long time ago. Since 2011, his highest slugging percentage was 384. So Avela's doing things we've never seen him do before, and he says he's healthy, which is big, but still, it's crazy how good he's been. So what are your thoughts on Alex Avela, Scott? His hard contact rate is 57.7. His soft contact rate is 4.2. I would imagine he is among the best in baseball in both of those categories.

So there isn't, the way the ball is coming off his bat isn't fluky. He does seem to be part of the flyball revolution. This is his highest fly ball percentage ever. His second highest? 2011. Now, I think he said that's not a conscious effort for him, but he has talked about his legs are healthier and stronger than they. been in a long time this year, which, I mean, legs are big part of generating power in a swing.

So it kind of makes sense. The way the peripheral stack up, I think the production is halfway legit. I mean, it's so over the top right now that you can expect some normalization to happen. But I do think he's going to be one of the more valuable offensive catchers. It's just a question of how much he plays. All right, that's Wilson-Ramos. And, yeah, that's a good point because James McCann... That's Alex Avila.

That's Alex Avila. Thank you. James McCann is coming back Thursday, I believe. So I was going to ask you, would you rather have Alex Avila or Wilson Ramos? Wilson Ramos. All righty. Thank you, Scott. That concludes our catcher discussion.

The longest that we have talked about catchers since we did the catcher preview at the beginning of the season. This one's not going to take long. Rank these three. I'm going to give you three different three. three person scenarios here. Rank these three. Stephen Piscotti, Nomar Mazzara, Brett Gardner. I will rank them Piscotti Gardner, Mazara. I might move Gardner ahead of Piscotti in a Roto League. I'm going to offer you Brett Gardner for Gregory Polanco in the podcast league. What are you going to do with that? I'm going to reject it. Okay, then I will not offer it. Thank you for that. Thank you for saving me time.

I don't trust Gardner's going to be startable in three outfielder leagues all season. And I don't trust that Polanco is either, but I think there's more upside there. Rank these three. Angelton Simmons, Addison Russell, Wilmer Flores, who appears to be the starting third baseman right now for the Mets. Andrewton Simmons, Addison Russell, Wilmer Flores. Rank them, I would go Russell Simmons Flores. Russell Simmons, all right. Def Comedy Hour, whatever it was called.

Russell, Andleton, Simmons, Wilmer Flores. Simmons is 43% owned, and I like the steals, seven steals so far this year, and hitting very well. You know, I was surprised to see Simmons is one of the most added players, because he's just such a bad offensive player. Normally. Yeah, normally. But the steals are encouraging. Do you, you know, what do you think? Yeah, I'm not really buying it for Simmons, and he's a player who...

Even now has like a 276 bad bit, but he's always been a low bad bit guy. He's never struck out that much, and it hasn't seemed to matter in terms of his batting average. Line drive, ground ball, fly ball rates are all pretty much in line with last year. I think regression's coming. All right. And finally, rank these three. Cole Calhoun, Carlos Beltron, Hunter Renfro, all are hot, all are owned in right around 52, 53% of leagues. Cole Calhoun, Carlos Beltron, Hunter Renfro.

I'll go Renfro, who he was double-dong yesterday, right? He was double-donged yesterday, right? He was double-donged. He didn't get a double-dong mention. No, I'm sorry about that. So, yeah, Renfro Calhoun, and Beltron's a distant third. But I'm pretty excited about what Renfro is doing. Last 24 games, he's batting 280 with eight home runs and eight doubles.

is a 1050 OPS, but most notably, 13 of his 17 walks this year have come during that 24 game stretch. And that's important not only because walks are good, but because only one of his 13 home runs this season has come when he's behind in the count. So working the count seems to be critical for his success, and lately he's been doing it. Okay. Now, keep something in mind with Hunter Renfro. I just looked at the last 21 days, because we can make it.

measure that on CBSports.com and the stats page in your leagues. And in the last 21 days, he's hitting 266 with six home runs. He's had very good production. He's the number 14 outfielder in categories formats and roto formats. But Renfro is number 21 in points. So I know you mentioned the walks. I feel like they were kind of bunched together a little early in that stretch. They haven't quite.

They were kind of bunched. Yeah, they haven't quite been consistent. So he's just one of those guys with potentially bad plate discipline that if you're penalized for that, it might hurt you with Hunter Renfro. Yes. And just to put it in perspective, I would rather have Brett Gardner than Hunter Renfro. My relative enthusiasm for Renfro versus Gardner was what was relative to what I think perception probably is right now. All right, then rank these three. Hunter Renfro, Domingo, Domingo, Cian, Broxton. I think I might lean Domingo over Renfro and then Broxton third.

I'm feeling Domingo Santana right now. I don't know how long it's going to last, but very happy that I'm starting him in the 18 and O league, which is not going to be 18 and O much longer. Thank you, Jacob de Grom. All right, Scott, we're debuting a new segment. Comments about raisins. Oh, yeah. Jeff LaCroix, Raisins are the best.

Nature's candy, very underrated. I like that. Yeah, I don't like the moniker nature's candy for raisins. It's a little corny. What else would be nature's candy? Nature doesn't need to have candy. All right, fine. From Yogan.

Maple syrup. Okay, okay. I feel that. Subject line from Yogan is raisins. Not good. How do you eat raisins with Mexican food? I don't see any way raisins can be paired with a burrito or nachos. Debate.

That's the standard for whether food's good or not. No, no, no, no. You're forgetting. I said yesterday that raisins can go with anything. Raisins are good with anything. Anything. So he is challenging me. I think the magic of raisins, which, again, I don't like eating raisins on their own.

I do. But I think it's best exemplified with raisin bran, which is one of my favorite cereals. However, if I get a bite of just bran or I get a bite of just raisins, it's disgusting. Oh, no. The way they mix, they work together in perfect harmony. The sweetness of the raisins overcomes the bitterness of the brand, and it makes something magical. It's a great point. I was with you until you said if you get a bite of only raisins.

But yes, a bite of only brand is pretty brutal. I would say this about raisins in Mexican food. I really think you should try it. I think you would enjoy it. I've never done it, but it'd be fine. It's just like putting a little sugar on something. They're just great. And I think raisins and pineapple are very similar.

Like you say to me, oh, you can't put raisins on pizza. Well, you put pineapple on pizza, and it's delicious. So, raising. Yeah, you're probably right. You're probably right. Just because we haven't done it before, doesn't mean it would work. This is from Christopher. Subject, raisins, caps and an exclamation point.

Raisins. Damn near ruined a family Thanksgiving. If you put them in stuffing, I want nothing to do with you. How do you have one freaking bowl of stuffing and put raisins in it? Luckily, shop right was open, Pepperidge Farm to the rescue. I've had stuffing with raisins in it. It's pretty good. Of course it's good, Christopher.

Get over it. All right. Kyle from Michigan. Raisins? Really, Adam? Raisins go with every dish. You want raisins with spaghetti, pizza, tacos, or a euro? Just to name a few.

That's crazy talk, L.O.L. As Heath would say, raisins are woof. Now, I think raisins could work with any of these. Like you said, pineapple. I've had like a cassidia with pineapple in it. And it would probably be comparable. The key, like, you can't just stick dry raisins in there. They need to be, you know, they need to have the proper, they need to be warm, they need to be moist.

They need to be the way raisins are when they're cooked. You can't just stick, you know, a poor box of raisins in a taco. But I think it could work. Yes, right. That's the thing. Raisins are a delicacy. You can prepare them a certain way. Jeremy says you must be a raisin brand kind of guy.

I think you just found out we are. and Leah gave me a link to the Fresno Raisin Eaters, and they were a minor league baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League in 1906, the Fresno Raisin Eaters. Lovely stuff. Back to baseball, Scott White. Do you have anything to say about Max Scherzer,

we talked about Robbie Ray? Max Scher, James Paxton, or Chris Archer? No. No. Archer or DeGrom? I would still take DeGrom. I think. I'll look closer at that this afternoon, but I think I'd still take DeGrom. I would have to say Archer is safer.

Yes. But ERA could be a big win for DeGrom if he gets things straightened out. All right. There are a lot of, quote-unquote, fringy starting pitchers. Some of them are owned in 80, 90 percent of leagues, but still, at least they were fringy recently. Drew Pomerantz had a very interesting start. He struck out seven Yankees, gave up one earn run, two total runs, in five innings. John Farrell, you are crazy. What were you thinking?

123 pitches in five innings. He labored. It wasn't like he was cruising along and threw 123 in eight innings. This is a guy who has a history of elbow issues, and you threw him 123 pitches. And this is the dumbest part. He gets to four and two-thirds at like 112 pitches. And now Aaron judges up. and Judge had already walked and singled against him.

And he's one of the best hitters in baseball right now. Just take him out. Getting the win was so important. You hadn't let him go five innings? No, of course he gives up a laser double to Judge, and then he throws more pitches to Holiday. He throws 123 pitches. I would be very nervous about starting Drew Pomeran's next time out,

but he did pitch pretty damn well, and he's pretty nasty, so that was good. He's been great lately. It's a two-star week, right? So if you're in a weekly league, you'll get to see how he performs next time out before deciding on him next week. Yeah, and I have a hard time believing anybody's going to sit him after how well he's been pitching lately. But I just, I could not believe. The only explanation is they wanted to get him the win because he wasn't going to throw five innings. And it's just not worth it.

Did he get the win? Yeah, he got the win. So I'm guessing his fantasy owners today are pleased with. Farrell's decision. It may be short-sighted. Maybe. Nothing may come of this also. So, I don't know. I can't get as worked up about it as you can. But 123 pitches is an awful lot, particularly for a pitcher with an injury history. Well, and then you got Aaron Judge coming up, who's hit him well, who's walked and singled, and then he doubles. Okay, take him out of the game now. No, they're going to leave him into pitch to Matt Holiday. I think the count went full. He struck him out. All right, anyway, Adam Wainwright is 94% owned.

He got crushed yesterday. He gave one home run to Jeanette. Just one? Yeah, he only gave up one Jeanette home run. Antonio Sanzatella, good start again. Quality started home, 88% own. Aaron Nola, 79% own. And Chase Anderson, 80% owned.

And Denelson Lemette, 80% owned. Anderson was excellent again, and LeMette got crushed. So let me give you those names, and you tell me how you'd prioritize them. Wainwright, Senzatella, Nola, Chase Anderson, Denelson, Lemette. I would go Nola. I'm going to stick with Lament second there, Chase Anderson. And then that's probably where I draw the line for standard mixed leagues. Okay, so no way and myself.

I know Senzatella and Wainwright, the ownership threshold is, you know, they're owned in basically everywhere also, but I'd be looking to trade Sensitella. He has an 8 and 2 record now. Yeah, second most wins in baseball behind Kuyckle for Sensitella. Yeah, so I still don't trust that with the lack of strikeouts, he's going to hold up pitching half his games at Coors Field. And Wainwright was not really buying the return to form. I'm surprised he's 94% I'd still, to be honest. All these guys are two-star pitchers, I think, so I think that helps. How about Chase Anderson?

So you said, well, you said Nola Anderson. Lamet and Anderson. Oh, okay, okay, got you. Yeah. But it's close between Anderson and Lamat. I'm getting a little more confident in Anderson after this start, even though he only struck out four. the velocity was at its highest point that started against the diamondbacks

where just out of nowhere he gained a couple miles per hour on his fastball it's dropped off a little from that the last two starts but those three starts are still his hardest throwing starts of the season so it does seem like he's found an extra gear here he's also added two pitches since last season featuring a curveball and a cutter more So there are reasons to think This is a genuine breakthrough for him And with all the pitching needs around baseball The fact he's going seven innings consistently

I think he's basically must own now Chase Anderson Okay 80% of would you rather have Chase Anderson or Gio Gonzalez I would rather have Anderson Wow okay I think you don't have to drop Gio But trade Gio if you can Yep I would call him a so high Fringy starting pitchers part two

Tell me if any of these guys are better than let's say Chase Anderson. Brandon McCarthy, 71% owned. Mike Clevenger, Jaime Garcia, Jesse Hahn, Kevin Gosman, Jesse Chavez, Daniel Norris, Tim Adelman. Nobody's better than Anderson, but Brandon McCarthy's not far behind

largely because of the supporting cast and the fact he eats innings. There's health concerns there, but still. Clevenger and Garcia, they're on my radar in mixed leagues. I don't think either are must-own, but Garcia has reliability going for him, and Clevengers had a good strikeout rate. The one who's kind of interesting here, and he's the least owned by far, is Tim Edelman, just because the last three starts have been so good.

Not a big strikeout guy. You look at his minor league track record, there's not a lot to get it excited about there. But keep him my eye on him. 8% own does seem too low for the way he's pitched recently. at least in NL-only leagues, he should probably be owned at this point. Scott, we are just about out of time, so let's quickly grade some trades. Again, I wanted to do this earlier in the show, but I just felt like today was one of those days where we really had to break down baseball with everything that happened on Tuesday night.

John in Boston, grade the trade. It's a 12-to-head-to-head categories league. Give Chris Bryant and Lance McCullors get Mani Machiles. get Manny Machado and John Lester. Give Bryant and McCullors get Machado and Lester. That is pretty close to a C. I might lean C plus just because Machado's shortstop eligible, but that's obviously two players on that side

who haven't performed up to expectations this year. So it's a little scary. I'll say it's a C. This is from Garrett. I have Miguel Sineau and a lot of outfield depth, and I have Kyle Seeger at third base. Do you think trading Sano for a pitcher like Lester or McCullors is possible? You think it's possible, and would you do it? Yeah, I think it's possible.

I'm not saying it will happen, but it's worth a try. And you'd do it, right? Yeah, I think it's a good idea. I like Seeger more long-term. I think Sineau best for this year is probably behind them already. I think it makes sense. West from NorCal, grade the trade, 10-te-to-head category. League. Give Kendris Morales, get Gregory Polanco.

Yeah, go for the upside there, so I'll give it a B. This is from Steve in Greensboro, Maryland, grade the trade in the 12-team Categories League. Give Robbie Ray and Matt Harvey. Give up Robbie Ray and Matt Harvey. Get Justin Verlander and Brad Brock. Ray and Harvey for Verlander and Brock. He has Britain on the D.L. So I don't think Brock's going to be closing for that much longer. Britain's nearing of return. But he hasn't begun to rehab assignment yet, but just a couple weeks away probably.

Verlander's the best player in this deal, and I normally favor the side getting the best player. Yeah, I'd take him over Robbie Ray. Harvey's expendable at this point. So I'll give it a B-plus. It's not a bad idea to get Brad Brock if you're the Britain owner, just for insurance. It's not. It's not. Insurance is important.

Thank you, Scott White. All right. Another scam show down, and we're expecting Heath back tomorrow. Are we still crushing it in the categories league? So far, so far, though, we have a lot of ground to make up in strikeouts. We've only got a lot of strikeouts yesterday. We got Kershaw today. We'll be fine.

Kershaw Strasberg today. Looking forward to that. We'll talk about it tomorrow on Thursday's edition of Fantasy Baseball today. See you later, everybody. everybody.