Fantasy Baseball Today - 06/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Bellinger Trades, Rankings Review

Episode Date: June 21, 2017

Scott is ready to trade Cody Bellinger, but what is his asking price? And just how valuable is Bellinger right now (2:40)? ... We begin the show with a look at the Waiver Wire and the best players to add today. Then it's on to fringy SPs we're starting to trust (11:55) and why Adam temporarily hates baseball (24:51) ... Scott and Heath debate their rankings! Starlin Castro or Ian Kinsler (28:00)? Is Andrew Benintendi a Top 30 OF (30:14)? We're also grading your trades (54:50) and looking at today's matchups ... 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

Welcome to our Wednesday show. Happy Hump Day, and it's Great the Trade Day. Also, rankings. A lot of rankings talk on today's show. Because even though there were 15 games, it wasn't the most eventful day. Just a couple of shortstop eligible players combining for five home runs, you know, whatever. Yeah, that part was pretty awesome, but not the most eventful day, I think, is the perfect way to put it. Because I'm supposed to be writing waiver wire right now, and I've been trying for the last hour.

and I decided I'm just going to go on the podcast and hope that Scott and Adam write it for me. Well, Scott will be joining us very shortly. Allegedly. I have faith in him. I'm going to help you out right now with WaverWire. I've got the perfect player. Should be on the most added list.

He's only 48% owned. He's not on my short list so far, so I am ready to type his name in. I don't even care if I agree with you. It starts with a W. It's, oh, it is the perfect player. What the problem is? He was the headline of yesterday's WaverWRower.

Oh, I'm sorry, Wilson Ramos. Wilson Ramos. No, I had, I started it today. I was going to write the lead and make him the headline. I had the picture put in there. And I was like, I wonder who Scott wrote about yesterday. And there's Wilson Ramos' face. Oh, man, I'm sorry about that.

Yes, Wilson Ramos is the guy. How about Carlos Gomez? You want to add Carlos Gomez? He's about 50%. That's his ownership. About 50%. I'm not really that motivated, too. But since coming off to DL, Carlos Gomez is destroying it.

he is hitting 316 with three home runs, but one walk to eight strikeouts. Like, I can't scoff at Carlos Gomez. Here's my short list so far. Ian Hap, who's 58% owned still, homered again last night, and he's second base eligible, outfield eligible. Surely you can find a place to play him. Mike Montgomery threw six shutout innings last yesterday. He's 41% owned, sure.

He can have a spot. Yep. After that, it's like, like, I decided to use a deep league option. Matt Davidson keeps crushing the base spot. also. Yep, there you go. We'll put him in there, and then Josh Reddick's 37%, and he got two more hits back off the disabled list in playing. What about Eric Sogarde 10%?

Sure. Pick him up. It's absolutely terrible, and I'm sure, thankfully, Scott is here now, and he's going to tell me that I'm wrong, and the waiver wire is not terrible, and there's actually a ton of good options to write about today. But, no, nothing of significance. I don't know. stealing Wilson Ramos, Scott. I have a lot to say about Cody Bellinger. We want to talk about him.

Oh, he's not available on the waiver wire. No, he's not available on the waiver. Scott had a heated debate yesterday about Cody Bellinger. It went deep into the night. He basically thinks that Cody Bellinger sucks. No, that is not what I think. A lot of people try to say that's what I do. Not as good as Justin Smoke.

Not as good as Justin Boar. All justins are better than Cody Bellinger. No, I actually have him ahead of both of the Justins. So, Heath, you have not made one accurate. statement about what Scott was. I think he was behind Justin Bore yesterday, wasn't he? He was. Okay, so that's changed. So basically the people on Twitter changed your mind. No, no. I moved him. I think he's one spot ahead of Justin Bore. So, you know, they're more or less equal. But I think you absolutely have to try to trade Cody Bollinger right now for a bunch of reasons.

Well, yeah, you had a very clever hashtag in the podcast league, which you own Cody Bollinger. and you said, I want to trade them for an ace. Hashtag, Aces Out. Nice one there. I like that. Thank you. Why are we selling it? Keeps setting all kinds of power records right now.

Ten home runs and ten games. Fastest player ever to 22 home runs, I think it is. 20, 21 and 22. It keeps getting, it keeps extended. So he's done things that have never, he's been doing things that have never been done in the history of the game, which it's,

tells you he can't keep doing this, right? I mean, that that kind of goes without saying. Right. This is the most valuable he's ever going to be. Well, possibly. In 2017. Do you feel the same way about Aaron Judge? Like you must sell our judge.

Not exactly. To a degree. To a degree. I think there are some more obvious pitfalls with Bellinger, but sure, we could to some degree make the same argument for Judge. But Bellinger, even with this kind of historic pace he's on, he is batting 272, I believe. 270. 270.

I actually went down a little when I looked at it last night. Yeah. So he's batting 270. Now, that's with getting a faster pace of BABIP independent hits. kind of hits that don't at all change bad. You get them for free. They pad your batting average for free, and yet he's still batting 270.

So what happens when he stops hitting home runs at quite this pace? That batting average is going to fall. And we actually got a little glimpse of it earlier in June when his batting average dropped all the way to 242. Now, that doesn't mean he's bad. I mean, he's going to hit a lot of home runs. I think that goes without saying. He may hit better than 242.

He may hit 250 or 260. But I feel like the upside for Bellinger, at least this version of Belling, the version we're seeing as a rookie striking out 30% of the time, is what Chris Davis was at his best. Which is still, you know, awfully high ceiling. It doesn't make the best hitter in baseball. And in this environment, it doesn't make him a particularly special hitter either. He is one of many, many elite power hitters. And he plays the two positions, first base and outfield, with the most out-of-now-now-where power hitters of any positions.

So chances are, in a three outfielder league especially, the Cody Bellinger owner, and he probably only owns Bellinger, because he is an active player on the waiver wire, he doesn't even need him that badly. This whole debate started because of the way that we've talked about Cody Bellinger, and how we just kind of didn't talk about him to the extent we did Aaron Judge or Eric Thames when he went through his hot streak. And so I kind of feel like we're justifying that when now we're finally going to talk about him a lot. And it's going to be that you should sell him because there's no way he's this.

He was hitting 242 two weeks ago. He was hitting 242. I understand. He's leading baseball at home runs. Yes, he is. Yeah, I mean, he's still in a loaded position, let's just say, outfield. I just think saying the owner probably doesn't need him is kind of a ridiculous thing to say about. And you may lead the league in home runs, but how many home runs do you need?

Well, in a points league, home runs are just points. Exactly. And even in a roto league, I mean, there are plenty of other sources of home runs out there. I don't know. Why are we putting Cody Bellinger down? You don't need Cody Bellinger? Why do you interpret this as putting Cody Bellinger down? You just said the Cody Bellinger owner probably doesn't need him.

Yes, how is that putting him down? That is speaking for the excess of the positions. It has nothing to do with Cody Bellinger himself. Like, I don't know how, like, this is exactly the way people respond on Twitter when they say these things. I don't know what I'm saying. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, all right. That's not being interpreted in the way I mean it.

All right, look, you're obviously a little fired up from the Twitter trolls. I'm not trying to troll, but I think the explanation is you're saying. He can only go down from here. He can only go down from here, and he may be your opportunity to get an Ace. And furthermore, in the podcast league, I offered him and Kyle Hendricks for Dallas Keikle, an Ace who we probably aren't even going to see for several weeks. And you know what? It was turned down because I think this is this is another situation where people only want to hear nothing but effusive praise for the guy setting records. But when push comes to shove, they're not

going to follow him on either. They just like to hear some effusive praise. Just a little bit. I've said he has amazing power. I said he'll probably lead the leading home runs. How is that not praise. All right, all right. I don't understand what's happening right now. Come on, come on. I think you're letting a few bad apples spoil the bunch and spoil your day. Apparently he's the bad apples.

No, because... I'm trying to explain to you why what you're saying is being perceived that way. All right. Neutral arbitrator here. I will say that I totally agree with Scott when he says, now is your time, now is the time to sell high on Cody Bellinger. This is his highest value. Get an ace.

Absolutely. I have to disagree if I say that the Cody Bellinger owner doesn't need Cody Bellinger. I think that's probably... I think many don't. I don't in this league where I'm trying to trade him. I mean, obviously I'm starting him while he's on my roster because that's the only reasonable course of action for a Bellinger owner. But if he were to suddenly evaporate into thin air tomorrow, I'd deal. All right, yeah.

You know what, Scott, in that same league, you had like one of the highest scores, and not the highest score last week. You don't have Mike Trout. So it's almost like saying, I don't need Mike Trout because you're still doing well without Trout. I think I'm like three and one without Trout. Yeah, and it's not like I'm anywhere close to the best team in this league. I just have a lot of outfielder's in first base. But you still need Trout.

You still need Trout. You know, like when you say you don't need Cody Bellinger, it would be like saying you don't need Mike Trout because you're three and one without him. Like, you still need these guys. Like, that's what people are going to hear. I don't need him. You don't need Mike Trout? No. All right.

I want him, but I don't need him. Well, then you don't need anybody. Then it's like, I mean, Mike Trout's the best player in fantasy. No, I need him. players but you when you have such a surplus and obviously you'd rather you'd prefer to have the best of that surplus but a lot of times they're going to have the most trade value too um you know excess is excess you don't need it it's great to have but you don't need it and i get i know outfield's a deep position i just think when you say you don't need cody belliger you don't need mike trout

people are going to people are going to interpret that in a way you don't want them to interpret so So let's move on. Let's move on. Do you guys have anything to say about Corey Seeger, who went four for five with three home runs? He's the number one shortstop in points leagues, number three in Roto, and the number 16 hitter in points league is number 32 in Roto. Shortstop stinks. And Manny Machado, who went four for four with two ding-dongs yesterday. It's about time. Yeah, for Machado for sure.

Yeah. Yeah, it was. Correa or Seeger, rest of season? I think I still have Seeger one spot ahead of him. I think I have Korea higher, but it's like, flip a coin. And I'd still rather have Machado than both. Yep. Okay, then.

Let's move on. I actually want to talk about the fringy starting pitchers from yesterday. Some good performances here and some bad performances, but you tell me who you want to pick up. Did I mention the Reddit AMA yet? No. Okay. Today at 2 o'clock Eastern, we are doing a Reddit AMA on Reddit.com slash R slash Fantasy Baseball, or you can just go to Reddit.com and search for Fantasy Baseball, and we're doing

an AMA. I don't know who's going to do it. I will definitely be on it. And it'll maybe, maybe Scott, maybe Chris, maybe Heath, but certainly me. While I do a fantasy football mock draft, so that should be fun. But I enjoy these, and if you have any questions, you feel free to ask them there. We will read some of your rankings-related emails today. We will do grade the trade today. Here are the fringy starting pitchers that were good yesterday. Alex Cobb, Jordan Zimmerman. It's good enough. Jeremy Hellickson

Ariel Miranda was good enough I'm not sure why he's the most owned in this group Matt Moore Yoli Shasin who is he has a 312 ERA in his last four starts and Chasine has a 172 ERA at home

Mike Montgomery Armand Marquez And that's pretty much it But there's a lot Cobb Zimmerman Helixin Ariel Miranda Matt Moore

Yolice Chasine Mike Montgomery Erman Marquez Are you looking at your waiver wire to see if any of these guys are available? I think in the cases of Cobb and, yes, possibly even Zimmerman, I am, because it seems like these are two pitchers who have struggled the last two years but are suddenly regaining what in their best days was their best pitch. Cobb threw his change up, split change. It's classified as a splitter in some places. He threw it 25 times in this start,

after averaging, throwing it just about 10.7 times in his previous seven. So 25, more than twice as much as he had been throwing it. And it is his best pitch. He had started to trend upward even before that, but I think that's the last thing he needs to regain his pre-Tominy John form. And Jordan Zimmerman, this is four quality starts in a row, two in a row with a decent strikeout total.

And it was the most, after this start was the most vocal Brad Osmus has been about how his slider is back and what a difference it's making. And he is throwing a slider more. It does seem to be getting more swings and misses than it was earlier in the year. I think there is legitimacy to both of these cases. I wish I could take a time machine and go back to Friday and write the waiver wire and put Matt Moore in it, because he should have been higher than 56% owned on a two-start week with one start, home when the other started against the Braves. But I don't know how excited I'm getting about adding him for next week because he's just such a matchup slash park-dependent pitcher.

I'm going to put Mike Montgomery in the waiver wire today. Six shutout innings. He is SPARP eligible. In theory, the Cubs are going to go on a stretch where they win 75% of their games over the next month here, one of these months. So a lot of run support coming for Montgomery as well, I expect. Yeah, and for Zimmerman, I just want to go back to him. Well, first of all, who would you guys rather own Zimmerman or Cobb? Cobb.

I think Cobb, yeah, a more upside. Yeah, I'm still a little hesitant to buy into Zimmerman, but I understand the slider's been better, and he's got a 270-era in his last four starts. But I thought he was... Okay, I'm still confused, Scott, because I thought Zimmerman was a two-start pitcher this week. That's why I picked him up last week,

and I thought one of those starts was going to be against Padres this weekend. And right now on our website, we have him as a two-star pitcher next week. So quite frankly, I'd be fine dropping him. Did Anibal Sanchez screw that up? No, because... He was initially, but then they sent down Buck Farmer. So I thought that dropped them back to a five-man rotation. Yeah, I'm looking at another site, a competitor site, and they have Zimmerman scheduled to start Sunday.

All right. So, yeah, I mean, if he's a one-star pitcher next week, I don't know, would you guys think that we should keep him? Keep Zimmerman on our roster, or is he okay to stream or drop for another two-start pitcher? I'm not intentionally dropping him, but if I need the roster spot, I don't really care if I drop them either. Yeah, I mean, it kind of depends how that start goes against the Padre Sunday, too. You don't need to go well. It's going to go well. It's going to go well.

That's how many times if we said a start against the Padres is going to go well, and it went very poorly. I mean, we said Mike Montgomery's would go well. In fact, let me ask you guys a question. Which pitching line do you think is better? Six innings, three hits, no runs, but two walks to four strikeouts. Six scoreless innings, three hits, two walks, four strikeouts. Sounds like Montgomery. That was.

Or seven in a third, nine hits, four runs, no walks, seven strikeouts. Sounds like that granky. That's exactly what it was. The results of the first start are better. So which line was better? The results of the first start are better. The first line's better. Okay, good, thank you.

But, I mean, the second line was going to be much better than it ended up being if Zach Grinky didn't go out for the eighth inning where he allowed two of those four runs and then obviously didn't complete the inning. Right. And it was at course field. So, you know, I think it was still a step in the right direction for a pitch. pitcher who's been scuffling a little of late. Yeah, and that was a good start.

Zach Rankie and Julio Taran, by the way. Taran had seven scoreless innings in that game. Came out for the eighth. Defense was bad, and he gave up, I think, four runs, three earned in that inning. But he had seven scores. But he's striking out like two or three in outing. Yep, that's the other part of it. Yeah.

We'll get to him. All right. Two other fringy starting pitchers that didn't do well yesterday. Francisco Liriano got roughed up at Texas, gave up five runs and four and two-thirds and two homers. And Francis Martez gave up three runs and five and two-thirds with three walks and four strikeouts. And I think you guys have mentioned it.

He's mostly a fastball slider guy, mostly a two-pitch pitcher. Martez did not have his slider last night. And, yeah, Liriano and Mertes, 62%, 48% owned. Your thoughts on them? Liriano and Mertes, you said? Yes, sir. Well, okay, Liriano, I think I've done with. His velocity is not what it was prior to this year.

his ground ball rate isn't what it was. He'll pop in with an occasional impressive start, but it's just not with enough consistency and reasons to think there are decline. There's genuine decline here. Martez wasn't terrible, and I think there's a good chance he did enough to retain his job when Lance McCullors comes back.

Because, I mean, I think he's been better than David Paulino, and he's been better than Joe Musgrove. I don't know which of, I don't know who would be the first man out for the Astros. I would assume Paul, you know. I would assume so, too. But he was in before Martez, and Martez is only 21. And then, you know, if it's not this time, Charlie Morton's return is just around the corner, Dallas Keikle, hopefully, in a couple weeks. So I don't think there's longevity with Francis Martez.

But while he's pitching well, I mean, Cody Bellinger didn't look like there was longevity with him. him either at first, and he forced there to be longevity. So I guess Marches could do the same. Is there longevity for Brad Peacock? Well, not on a game-to-game basis. Yeah, I think so. It could change abruptly, probably. He is their best pitcher in the bullpen.

He's their one. No, Davensky is. He would be their best pitcher as a reliever that's currently in the... Like, I don't see a situation. where you put Joe Musgrove in the bullpen and he's as good in the bullpen as Brad Peacock is. Yeah. So you're talking team construction for the Astros. I kind of, like, I don't see any reason to think they're going to move them out of the rotation anytime soon.

But if you're talking the best way to construct their team and they've got Keiko and they've got McCullers and Martez starts pitching well and they bring Charlie Morton back, I kind of think it makes a little bit of sense to put Peacock in a bullpen. Yeah, they're going to make a trade too. They're going to add a starting pitcher. You'd have to think anyway. But for now, write it out with Brad Peacock. All right, we got some news and notes. Bud Norris is on the DL. He's expected to come back after 10 days.

Houston Street could be back this week. We shall see. Philadelphia DFAid, Michael Saunders, and Jen Mar-Gomez. They called up outfielder Cameron Perkins. Does he matter? I don't have a lot of hope for him now. Pablo Sandoval is on the DL with an inner ear infection. Could be out until after the break.

Jan Herbert Salarte is on the DL with an oblique strain. MLB, Major League Base. baseball, they said Anthony Rizzo is a cheater and a jerkface. They didn't say cheater. It's not a cheater. He's a competitor. But he did not. He won't get suspended for what he did was illegal running the dollars and hedges.

Not the second base eligibility? No. I'm just kidding. It should have been no suspension. Rizzo, by the way, in seven games as a lead-off hitter. So the first at bat of all seven of those games, he's reached base. He's six for six with a walk. He has three home runs, I think, three lead-off home runs.

He's batting 429 with four total home runs in those seven games. And, yeah, he's been ridiculous since becoming a lead off hitter. Atlanta is considering moving Freddie Freeman to third base when he returns to keep Matt Adams in the lineup. There's a lot of time between that and now, but that's the rumor right now. I love this so much. It gives me that tingly feeling on my neck. Good, Scott, because I want you to be happy today. I just, you know.

Like this is something I would do in like baseball sims when Freddie Freeman was first coming up and, oh, he throws right-handed. Why couldn't he play third base? Oh, look, he played a few games there at the start of his minor league career. High defensive rating. Let's give it a shot. But like I never really believed, like, he's so established now as a first baseman. It just seemed outlandish. but they really like Matt Adams, and it's hard to blame them,

and why not give it a shot? It's not like you're winning this year anyway. You might – exactly. You might as well try. Gene Seguro should be back tomorrow. Zach Britton made a rehab appearance. Joey Gallo sat against the lefty. That's the fourth time in a row that Gallo has sat against the lefty. It got Delano to Shields in the lineup, and he let off and he stole a base.

And, you know, people are getting a little frustrated with Joey Gallo, guys. He's now 77 percent owned. it's been like four or five weeks of pretty bad fantasy production for Gallo. The batting average is under 200. How replaceable do you think Joey Gallo is? I am going to recuse myself because I never wanted anything to do with him in the first place. He is pretty replaceable, especially in a points league. Yeah.

As a corner infielder in Roto, I think you probably need to have him on your team and start him most weeks. Isn't it funny how people can't say enough positive things about Joey Gallo when he's on a home run binge? But then when it stops, people get frustrated. They want to know if they should drop him. But I'm just saying. Scott, nobody dropped Cody Bellinger when he's pulled. I know nobody's dropping Cody Ballinger. Nobody should.

It's a more exaggerated case. Well, I don't know why they haven't a roster in the first place. You don't need hitters. Like, I don't need any hitters. Just fill your roster with pitchers. You are... You don't need hitters. You are listening what I'm saying.

I mean, if you don't need Cody Bellinger, I don't know why Joey Gallo even exists. Or Trout. Now, I... Here's the thing, actually. I was thinking about this when Scott said, you know, he didn't need Trout. I think sometimes we overrate the impact that one player's going to have on your team. Like, you're not dead because you lost Mike Trout, you know? And plenty of times in leagues where I've had big injuries, but that's it. I'm done.

And no, it hasn't been the case. So I'm thinking next year I'm going to gamble a little bit. As long as I can get some more DL spots than two, which I think will be the case starting next year. I think I'm going to gamble a little bit more on draft players who are starting the year on the DL. I'm going to try this note new you don't need players strategy. Oh, well you stop. All right, back to the news and notes. Jared Eikoff's on the DL with an upper back strain.

The Orioles have allowed five or more runs in 17 straight games. That's the longest streak in American League history. They are approaching the record of the 1924 Phillies, 20 games in a row, allowing five or more runs. Meanwhile, good streak. Jose Ramirez became the first Indians player with eight straight multi-hit games since Kenny Lofted in 1996. Homer Bailey could start this weekend. Eduardo Nunez is dealing with a hamstring issue. Cannot completely rule out the DL for Nunez.

Anthony Rendon is day-to-day with a sore neck. He should be fine. Jason Hayward and Kyle Schwarber are day-to-day. Oakland third baseman Matt Chapman is mistratured. two games with a left knee infection, but Chapman could be back today. Time for a new segment called I Hate Baseball. Okay, here we go. I hate baseball.

Great segment for a baseball podcast. All right. Well, here's why I hate baseball right now. I think it's pretty obvious. The Yankees have lost seven in a row, and yesterday I told Chris, if the Yankees lost with Paneda on the mound against Parker Bidwell, I was not going to come on the show today. I was going to just skip the day. So I was going to, but then it's my job.

I really have to. But I wanted to call in sick today. I mean, this is clearly one of your shortcomings as the host of the show. And you show it with NBA, too. When your team is not doing well, you just don't like the sport. Yeah, I guess so. But the other two reasons I hate baseball, Andrew McCutcheon, I'm tired of this Andrew McCutcheon crap. Is Andrew McCutcheon the best outfielder on the Pirates?

I'd say so. Three more hits and a home run for McCutcheon. If you bought low on Andrew McCutcheon, you don't need Cody Bellinger. Or McCutcheon, if you have Cody Bellinger. You don't, why would you need McEachan? You don't need Andrew McCutcheon? And Gio Gonzalez is making me look bad, too. He's the number 10 starting pitcher in points leagues now, number 18 in Roto, 7 and 1 with a 296 ERA, but a 126 whip.

However, last four starts, Gio's 3-0, 5 walks, 27 strikeouts in 26 innings. and he's got right now, right now the control problem under control. So I hate baseball because of the Yankees, McCutcheon, and Gio Gonzalez. Has Gio Gonzalez, is he back on the radar, Scott? I think I was trying to recall exactly what I said about him earlier this year. I think I said I will never own Gio Gonzalez again. And I picked him up in a league this weekend. I thought what you said was I don't need Gio Gonzalez.

I would love for him to build up enough trade value that I could get what I think I could get for Cody Bellinger right now. That's the thing. Like, Gio, maybe I underrated him, but he isn't this good. You know? I mean, if he keeps throwing strikes, he is. I guess, but it's just a four-star stretch. Maybe it's a little bit more than that. Well, it's a season-long stretch where he's the top 20 starting pitcher in both formats.

I'm talking about the strikes, though. Yeah, that's true, but he's just, he's been on a downward trend for three straight years, Gio Gonzalez. Yeah, he's had some bad luck. Yeah, I'm, I am happy just to start him for now and, and reassess his things develop. All right, fair enough. Time for the Young Watch. Eric Young Jr. did not steal a base, but he did better than Thames Watch, Eric Thames, who went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts against Pittsburgh. That was a silly segment, so let's get to.

to a good one here. Time for rankings, disputes. All right, this was kind of hard. I didn't really look at your rankings and see anything too outlandish except the starting pitcher thing that I'm going to get to in a little bit. Plus, I know you guys don't update them every single day. When did you mine them for these disputes? About two hours ago. Okay, all right. Yeah. I have a good show. I've not updated mine in the last two hours, so should be said. Not disagreeing with this one, but want to talk about it. Starlin Castro over Ian Kinsler Castro's got everything going for him in this argument

except for steals which Kinsler has, he's still two yesterday, he now is five Castro, you're not going to get steals from him he is one and plate discipline. Castro 15 walks of 54 strikeouts Kinsler Kinsler, sorry, 25 walks of 28 strikeouts and getting a little bit better since that injury. But anyway, Castro over Kinsler, let's talk about it, go.

I just got to a point I think it was right before I went on vacation where I decided it's stupid to keep not ranking Starland Castro at the top 12 second basement. He's done it long enough and there's so many second baseman like Kinsler that have been severely disappointing

this year, this year. I'm not going to keep betting on Ian Kinsler at what, 35 years old, turning things around. Yeah, I mean, I kind of had the same realization where it's just like, okay, it's stupid to keep Castro this far down rankings but I don't even necessarily see it as I'm not banking on a turnaround from Kinsler at 35 years old I just think the perceived value has fallen to a point that

he's like you have to have Castro over like if you're if you're given like if they were both dropped randomly today you'd have to pick up Castro first because Kinsler doesn't have as much value right now right but who do you think will actually be better rest of season Kinsler or Castro? I'm going Castro. I kind of lean Kinsler. I kind of do. But I don't really see a lot of upside to trading Castro for Kinsler right now.

It seems like you're seriously short-changing Castro if you do that. Okay. Yeah, last week I made this sort of bold prediction or call that Castro was one of the best sell-high candidates. Because I just don't see anything different with him. He still chases pitches out of the zone. He doesn't walk. He doesn't steal. He just, he's, he, he's, I don't mind selling high on him.

Yeah. I just don't think trading him for Ian Kinsler is selling high on it. No, no, no, no, I wouldn't do that. Okay. Scott has Andrew Benintendi number 24 in Roto. Heath has Andrew Benintendi number 34 in Roto. What is Andrew Benettonity in Roto so far? Well, this is just, I was going to say, Heath, can we confirm the rumor that in order to do your rankings,

all you do is look at the current standings and. Yes. Okay, yeah. Because Benintendi is ranked 34th. I have him 34th, I'm right. He is 34th, and Roto, he is 30th and points. All right. He's been in 10, he's been pretty interesting.

He gives you steals, which is nice. But I don't know, it's a little bit of a disappointing season. He sat against a lefty yesterday. He's been a disappointment based on what elevated expectations were at the beginning of the year. He's had a fine season. Has he? But it's just been fine. It's kind of like a Lorenzo Cain type season.

He's got a 100 OPS plus, which means in terms of OPS, he's a league average. Like I said, fine. But you get the steals, which make him a little bit better than that in fantasy. And I would expect his run and RBI numbers to improve as well, because he's not a pretty bad pace there. I do foresee, like, I think he is below what his number should be right now. Yeah, like a really low BABIP You know, some of the bad at ball tendets

These are kind of discouraging, I guess But I still like how much contact he makes I still think he has a lot of upside And the outfielders behind number 24 Are guys who I think They're fine But I don't really see them Having the kind of upside he has

Like I think they're limited to being second tier outfielders like Matt Kemp and Christian Yell at Ian Desmond. Adam Duvall, I think I have him 33rd. And I'd be just as likely to move him as any of these others ahead of Benintendi. So, you know, there's kind of an aspect of within that range of 10, there's not much differentiation either. Well, okay, Ian Desmond, I would probably take over Ben Intendi. What does Ben and Tendi have that Desmond doesn't, you know, in terms of upside? now that Desmond's on the Rockies.

I guess predictability. I feel like... Ben Intendi has predictability? No, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Benintendi has predicted... Like, there are fewer ranges of outcomes for Benintendi than there are Desmond. See, I feel like with his limited Major League exposure, there's a lot more range of outcomes.

Pitchers could figure out a thing that he's not adjusted to yet, and he could just be terrible for a month like he was a month ago. I just think he makes too much contact for that. But it just happened. Desmond, we've seen really bad versions of Desmond the past few years, and his strikeout rate for this year is 48 to 7. Now, I know that doesn't have direct rewards or consequences in Roto, but obviously it's a sign of how effective of an overall hitter you can be and happen. But that's him, you know?

His plate discipline stinks, Desmond, but he gets home runs and he gets steals, and he'll have a high bat-up in Corres Field, right? Yeah, but this is like exaggeratedly bad. I know he's never been good at that, but walk rate is like cut in half from what it normally is, and the strikeout rate is among the highest he's ever had. All right, all right. Let's move on. This is the one that I think is crazy.

I think you guys are too low on James and Tyone. Chris, what? Some one of us is two something. Well, opt-to? What, Chris Towers is too high? Obviously. Chris Towers has Tayaone 21st. You guys have him 50th and 60th.

Scott has Tyone's 50th and Heath has Tyone's 60th. There's no way there are 50 better pitchers in James and Tyone. That's true. I agree with that. Really? That there's no way there are 50 better starting pitchers than James and Tyone. Okay. But I think there might be.

He's not been, like he's just not. been anything great at all. I mean, if you're saying there's not 50 better pitchers than James and Tayae-owned, he's close to being a number one starter. And made by Major League standard, he's like a number 1.5 starter, because obviously 30 teams, if he's number 50. He'd be the low-end number two. He'd be a high-in number two.

Well, 60 would be the end of the number two's. I mean, that's kind of a silly argument because, like, I mean, like the Reds don't have the same type of rotation as the Nationals. You'd be a number one for the race. My point is I was just trying to put it in a different perspective to show that I think there's absolutely a case that there's 50 better pitchers than James and Tyone. Well, I mean, I understand top prospect, and he's been good enough since reaching the majors, but what is it that you're so attracted to with James and Tyone, I guess, is what I don't understand because it's not like he has a great strikeout raid. It's not like... Well, I have him ranked below you, so...

No, I'm talking to... Sure, okay. Adam brought this up a few times before. I think that he's going to be a good source of ERA and WIP, and I know the WIP is high, 1.39, but he seems... Tyone seems to be getting the walks under control, and last year his control was terrific.

He had 1.5 walks per 9. Right now it's 3.2 walks per 9. But that was really, you know, early in the season. Granted, he hasn't made that many starts because he spent so much time in the DL. But 338 ERA last year, 338 ERA there. year and I just think Tyone is going to be one of those pitchers that you feel comfortable starting almost every week. And I feel like a lot of the guys ahead of him and the rankings are not going to be that.

I mean, I look at the actual names ahead of him. Zach Godley, I feel comfortable starting every week, Chase Anderson. Right now you do. I mean, yeah, I'm moving Tyone up as we speak. But it's going to be more to the range where Scott has him. It's just that Zach Godley is not a lot of those. guys he said i i don't like that godley i i don't i love that godly i know you do i know you do i i i don't can't say that i love sat godley yeah um but he's probably going to be right around 50th for me

but i'm not going to move him ahead of john gray or duffy or mats or nova lanslin yes yeah nova i have that some of those i think you should be ahead of lanslin i think you should be ahead of aranola um yeah no i agree with both of those i kind of think he looks like like like he he's turning into Lancelan. I don't know what he is yet. Like I said, my expectation for Tyone is low ERA, low whip, and just quality starts, you know. Low inning so much. Reliably.

You have a hard time saying really anything negative about Tyone right now because he's like, you know, inspirational story. It's overcome a lot. So it's hard to, it's hard to say all the negative things I could say about his pitching. He's got a pitch better. He hasn't been bad, but he hasn't. He hasn't been. as good as I feel like you're making them out. No, he hasn't. You're right. He was last year, I think, but not this year.

So I'm hoping he regains some form and starts pitching deeper into games. All right, it's time for a quick round of rankings-related emails. We're going to do this quickly so we can talk about some more breakouts that we're checking in on. We can grade some trades and discuss Jose Batista, who's been slumping. So here we go. This one is from Zach on Long Island. It says, Dear Ron, Ricky, and Brennan. Oh, I know who that is.

I just figured it out. Ron, Ricky, and Brennan. Is that Anchorman? And? Ah, yes. Those are, I get it. So, Ricky Bobby. Uh-huh.

And Brennan's from stepbrothers, right? Yes, yes. Okay. Will Ferrell rules. I hope, oh, he wrote an email like that said, do not open this email. And then Zach said, I hope my reverse psychology prompted you to open this email. It did.

Alex Wood is still available, my 10-team categories league. Should I drop? Dylan Bundy, Yvonne Nova, or Marco Estrada for Alex would. Do you fall victim to fishing scams, Adam? No, I don't. There's something that often happens to you. No, because you know how you can see like the first couple of sentences of the email?

Yeah. I saw it was a fantasy baseball. Oh, okay. All right. Just making sure. Drop Nova. Man, I think it's funny how we've arrived at a place where we're considering dropping Dylan Bundy now after two bad starts when it seemed like every time, it seems like, it seems

like we weren't allowed to say anything negative about him before. Alex Wood, I think, is better than all three of these pitchers. I'd probably drop Estrada. I'd drop Nova. I had dropped Nopa, too. For a 10-team league, it just... I don't think... He has the least upside.

I don't think Estrada or Nova are getting picked back up. I would... Ten-team league? I definitely... You know what? I can't believe Alex Wood is still available. You forgot the best part of the email. P.S. raisins are gross.

Thank you. That's stupid. This is from Jake. Drew Smiley or Carlos Rodon? Rodon. From Jesse. If you had to drop Justin Boer or Travis Shaw, who would it be? Bore.

What did you say? Bore. I thought you'd say that. I dropped Travis Shaw. That's a tough one. He's like anti-flyball revolution guy. This is from... Sorry, Scott.

This is from Andrew. Wellington Castillo or Wilson Ramos in a head-to-head categories league? Ramos. You're picking all Heath's favorites here, Shaw, Castillo. Take a bow, Heath, because Castillo and Ramos, or no, Castillo and Shaw were obviously two of your sleepers. And you, yeah, good stuff. Castillo's had a weird year. He's had a weird year, yeah.

Well, and he had that weird injury. Like, I'm probably sticking with Castillo. Hmm. Okay. There's a lot of upside there. for Ramos. There is, but it's not like he has an extensive track record of being what he was, either.

Would you really miss Castillo? You don't need Wilson Ramos. You don't need Wellington Castillo. You don't need anybody. You know, I am, I mean, this is an obvious one, but just to put it in perspective, I have Ramos on the D.O. in one league, and I will be dropping Matt Wieders for him. Yeah. As soon as this weekend, you know, Ramos could be back this weekend or early

next week. Okay, and from Chad, would you drop Lucroy for Ramos in a 10-10? team league? Nope. And would you drop Rick Porcelo for Felix Hernandez in the same league? I would not. I don't think I would either. I'd be tempted.

I'd be really tempted. If you were in a 10-team league and you saw Rick Porcelo on your waiver wire, would you pick him up? No. Scott? I probably would drop him for Felix. All right. So if Rick Porcelo was dropped, would you pick him up?

In a 10-team league? league. I mean, I don't understand like, so basically the Rick Porcelo we've seen this year is the Felix Hernandez we've seen for the last year plus. Like, why It's also the Rick Porcelo we've seen for like 80% of his career.

I don't know. I mean, I still think there's a lot of bad luck for Rick Porcelo right now. It's not all that, but he does lead the majors in Babbip. and I'm not convinced Felix hasn't just completely lost it. Okay. Yeah. I mean, hopefully there's someone better to pick up, but I'm not sure.

I probably would pick up Porcelo if I could stash him in a 10-team league and just hope. Give him a few more starts, see if we can figure it out. In 10-team league, you need greatness. And I just don't like – Porcelo's greatness last year was a mirage, and we said that all preseason. Not everybody. I don't understand what – how it's – Actually, he's only second in bed, but now, Gossman is first.

But, like, is Felix greatness? I don't know. Maybe one of the DL? He has been for a much larger percentage of his career than Porcelo has, and his high was much, much higher than Porcelo's was. Yeah, but the other thing is, like, I don't think everybody on your roster in a 10-team league is going to be great. Mine is.

If there's a, like, to stand out in a 10-team league, there's a higher threshold you have to meet. Of course. Yes. But not everybody's going to be a standout. Some guys are going to be Rick Porcelo. Some guys are going to be two-star pitchers. There will be somebody in your league who almost every player is a standout and you want it to be you.

I want that. But I don't know why Rick Porcelo, I guess I'm going to bet against him being a stand-up, but I think he's still in my top 30 pitchers. So I don't think you can just... Where do I have him? I think he's closer to 45 for you. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong.

Well, I don't think you just pulled that out of the blue. He's 37. 37, okay. He's 38 for you. But, you know, 37 between Irvin Santana and Danny Duffy, you know? All right, so yesterday I decided to do a little check-in on some breakouts that we, you know, we thought from earlier in the year we're breaking out. And some were still keeping it up. Some, like Ehio Hano Suarez, not so much.

But I would say that it's been pretty encouraging some of the early season breakouts. They haven't really let us down that much. and one of the guys I wanted to talk about was Marcelo Zuna. We'll get to him in a moment. But let's talk about Cameron Mabin, who's 57% owned Heath, Waver-Wire column. Okay, I'll write about him. He's just been amazing. Cameron has a 10-game hit – Cameron Mabin has a 10-game hitting streak,

and since moving to the lead-off spot over a month ago, he's batting 400 with four homers and 10 doubles, and we know about the steals for Mabin. So is this a legit breakout, or is he going to go the Kevin Pilar route and be a total dud in a month? I think it's mostly legit. I mean, it's not so dependent on power the way Pilar's was. Great plate discipline for Mabin.

Stealing bases at a much higher rate than ever, but a rate that looks sustainable because of how successful he's been, and the Angels just seem to be very aggressive this year. So I think he's underowned. I've actually been starting him in one of my three outfielder leagues. Not one where I own Bellinger. It's worth pointing out. but one that's I've done well in.

If you were going to ask me what's the most likely situation, I would say he's Kevin Polar in a month. Okay. Well, I'm going to write it out. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Gotcha. That's Cameron Mabin. Let's go to Avi Garcia,

who I did talk about with Chris yesterday, and Chris just doesn't buy Avi Garcia. Buddy homered again. He's actually first home run in 11 games. And now Garcia's number 16 in points, number 10 in Outfield in Roto. number 10 in Roto at outfield, excuse me. So 16 and 10 in points in Roto at outfield.

Garcia, Avi Garcia is batting 339 with 11 home runs. He's slugging 553. He had never slug better than 422. And, okay, he lost a lot of weight over the offseason, right? Best shape of his life? Or was that Cory Dickerson? Was that both? It's definitely Dickerson.

But I think Garcia, yeah, Garcia has gotten better shape. I don't know. Chris wasn't buying it. Are you guys buying Avi Garcia? Just mathematically. if you look at what obviously Sele Garcia is doing and you know you would think any kind of changes

he made in the offseason or whatever would be reflected in the math at this point like the math doesn't make sense but the only really argument the only argument for Garcia is that it's mid-June and he's still doing it right and like this league

this is kind of this he's unowned in the podcast points Lee three outfielder league I think he's 95% owned It's like one of the only leagues he's not owned it. Yeah, but 12-team league, three outfielders. Obviously, everybody's very active because, you know, they're really excited to be here. I have added and dropped them three times in this league, which goes back to my argument of why I don't need Cody Bellinger because guys like Obisail Garcia are still out there.

No, I don't believe in him to near the extent I do Bellinger, but like I guess I was just bringing it back to Belinger. You don't even need Trout, Scott. Why would you need Bellinger? I do think he needs to be owned. I don't trust it for Garcia at all. I understand why he is somebody, owners continually overlook in this league. But at the same time, it's like write it while it lasts, right? That makes sense.

By the way, is it a coincidence that the podcast listeners league is one of the only leagues in which Avi Garcia is not owned, considering that we've never bought into Avi Garcia? I don't think that's a coincidence. Right, exactly. And I don't think it's a coincidence that there's no way I'm going to be able to. to trade Cody Ballinger for what I'm looking for in this league. Trading outfielders is tough. You might as well drop him. You don't even need him.

And Marcelo Zuna is the number five outfielder in points leagues, number four in Roto. He has a 330 batting average with 19 home runs, and he's hot again. 30 walks, 63 strikeouts, and 69 games for Marcelo Zuna. He does have a 371 Babbitt. That is by far a career high, but he's usually around 320 or 330. First three months of last season. Ozuna was great, and then he got an injury, and he struggled. How much are you buying it with Marcel Ozuna?

He's top five. I know you're not going to rank him there, but just generally speaking, how much do you buy it with Marcel Ozuna? He might be one of the outfielder that's in between my ranking of Benintendi and Scott's ranking of Benintendi. I buy it to the extent that I had him pretty close to a top 35 outfielder coming into the year, and I would expect him to be a top 30 outfielder the rest of the year. But I don't think he's morphed into one of the 10 best outfielders in baseball. Would you rather have Jose Batista, who is once again in a deep funk. Marcel O'Suna.

Or Marcel O'Suna. Marcelo Zuna. Scott? Yep. I have Ozuna. Yeah, I have OZuna ahead in both formats. Let's talk about Bautista then. So first 33 games, 553 OPS.

He was terrible. 19 game stretch after that. See, everybody. This is why you got to wait on. Jose Batista, he batted 394 with eight home runs and more walks and strikeouts in 19 games, a 1300 OPS.

And now the last 18 games since then, he is batting 136 with nine walks and 20 strikeouts and 18 games and a 482 OPS, even worse than that first 33 game slump. So, yeah, I mean, like one of the arguments that we've given for hanging out of Carlos

Gonzalez is Jose Batista turned it around, but let's be honest, he's been dreadful. He turned it around briefly. What do you think about this aging outfielder and his struggles? I don't know. You don't need him. I'm not dropped Jose Batista anywhere.

I expect him to be a top 40 or 50 outfield of the rest of the way. That's not good. I think he's... I think he'll get hot again. I mean, I'd rather have him a point for the general. But that's also the three outfielder league versus five outfielder league usually. So that makes it... I see him as must own.

If he was dropped in anything but like a 10-team league, I think I'd be able to find a spot for him. All right, Jose Batista. We're done with you. Let me ask you this. Let's do a Billy Joel themed segment here. A matter of trust. I do this one every year, I think. How much do you trust these guys?

Michael Paneda. Again, good at home this year, 192 ERA, bad on the road, 625 ERA. Michael Paneda, Irvin Santana, who has now given up five or more earned runs in three of his last four and five of his last nine starts. And Mike Leak, Paneda, Santana, Leak, how much do you trust these guys? Not. I don't. But I trust them enough in this current pitching environment to where I'm starting Panetta pretty much every time out. Santana, I'm getting colder and colder on.

I mean, it didn't take, didn't we try crunching numbers earlier in the year? And it's like, oh, his ERA is so far ahead now that how low could it possibly fall? Well, it only took a span of four starts and now he basically has a three ERA. Yeah. So, you know, it's not going to take long for him

to get to a four ERA potentially. I don't know that he will. I still think he's probably, just because he eats innings in an era where so few pitchers do, he's probably going to be somebody you start more often than not. And Leaks kind of similar in that way. But the only one who I think I would assign great value to in a trade scenario is Panetta.

And maybe great's overstating it. I would assign high value to them. I'm trying to find that amazing research I did was such great research about ERA and less than eight strikeouts per nine. It was like, I looked at... It was not in Santana's favor. Very hard to be a top 30 ERA guy. They're only...

They're like five each of the last two years, maybe, with less than eight strikeouts per nine and top 30 ERA. But there was more like two or a combined three with less than seven strikeouts per nine. And I think he might be there. How many strikeouts per nine does Santana have? Top 30 R.A. Less than seven strikeouts per nine is extremely rare. Yeah.

So, I mean, that's kind of what, when I say the math doesn't work out for somebody like obviously Al Garcia, that's kind of the pitching end of that. Like, if you're not missing enough bets, then you're allowing so much contact that unless it's unnaturally weak contact. And, you know, there are ways to determine that now, how hard the contact is. it's just not going to last for you. I mean, even now, his ERA is near three, but his Babb is below 200.

Like, the math doesn't work out still. 6.7 strikeouts per 9, so very hard to be top 30 ERA with something like that. And how much you trust Sunny Gray? Less than I think all those guys. Really? Yeah, I think I'd rather, I doesn't have as much trade value,

Santhana Adleek, but I think in the long run he's going to be better than that. He has more upside. And I think I think he's kind of been unfortunate the last couple starts. All five of yesterday's runs were in the first inning and he had 13 swinging strikes

still for the game. His last seven starts, Sunny Gray has averaged 12.7 swinging strikes, according to baseball reference, so 12.7 on average in seven. The most he had in any one start last year was 11. So he's averaged almost two swings and misses more in his last seven starts than

he had in any start last year. Clearly a different pitcher this time around. Well, and I'm, I'm going to go back to something that I talked about last year, and I don't think Scott completely agrees with it, but I still think on this team he has to strike a lot more guys out. He's got a 333 babiff against. And if you look at his career, it's 283 and you think, well, he's been unlucky. Well, when he was good, It was 270s, 250 one year. Last year, the defense went to crap and it was 320. Matt Chapman's a great defender. 3.33 now.

Well, I hope so because this is Sunny Gray we're talking about. The A's defense is laughable. It's awful. Good enough to sweep the Yankees, but otherwise laughable. Now, let's do some great to trade, and then we'll talk about tonight's matchups because I'm struggling with Sean Mania. I don't know what I'm going to do with him. I luckily sat Sunny Gray yesterday, but not sure what I'm going to do with Mania tonight. against those astros.

John and Indy, grade the trade. Bellinger and Burrios. Bellinger and Burrios for Schwaburber and Quedo in a points league. Bellinger and Burrios for Schwaburber and Quedo. No. No. D plus. Belanger, Berrios, Schwaber and Quedo.

D. Yeah, that's too much. Though I have considered offering Bellinger for Quoedonzo straight up in this points league. Okay. From Ryan, Gray the Trade, give up Burrios, and he's got good pitching. Well, he thinks he does. Strasbourg, Ray, Paxton, Wood, Samarja, and Mania. That's good pitching.

It is. It's like I could see going south real fast, but it's good pitching. Give up Burrios, get Rendon to replace Hanager in my utility spot in a points league. Burios for Rendon. Why do you need to replace Hanigur? Yeah, and that's, I don't think. you do. What's Sandiger's playing time been back

been like since he's been back? I thought it's regular. I haven't had any reason to think it was less than that, but maybe I admit I haven't looked. I'm trying to look quickly. Chris would have had it by now. Yeah, that's true.

I think this is a bad trade because I don't think it's something you really even... No, he's only taken one day off it looks like. Um... So I give it a... I give it a I give it a C-minus. I mean, they're in the same range of value. I just think most people need pitchers more.

It doesn't sound like you need a hitter, really. Would you rather start Hanager over Rendon as a hitter? No, I'd rather start Rendon. Just like I was saying, it was Bellinger. I'd rather start Bellinger while I own him, but I don't think I'd miss him terribly if he was gone. I don't think this guy's going to miss Pryos. I'm going to give him a C-plus.

All right, this is a great to trade from Josh. Roto League, give up Mookie Bet. and Corey Canable or Rysel Iglesias, smoky bets and a closer for George Springer and Cody Bellinger. Well, Betts is the best player. Yeah? But not in a different stratosphere from Springer and Bellinger. I like it.

Yeah, C plus sounds about right. It's close to even. I'd rather have bets. From Nathan. Gray, the trade. That'd be a C minus then. Oh, do you say it backwards again? All right, C minus.

All right, give up. So let's just call it a C. Give up Justin Wilson, get Sean Newcomb and Joey Gallo. Yeah, I'd do that, B-minus. I don't know that I'd do that. It really depends on how available closers are in your league. Yeah, that's everything, because if closers are popping up on the waiver wire all the time,

Justin Wilson is almost valueless, so that trade makes a lot of sense. But if they're this precious commodity that every new one who emerges is this bidding war, then it's a bad trade because, I don't know. I'll just give it a C and move on. Yeah, all right. And finally, this is from Mitch Conner in South Park, Colorado. Great the trade. All right, well, which one do you like better?

Give up Seguera. Get Javier Baez and Jose Burrios. Seguera for Javier Baez and Jose Burrios. Or give up Seguer and Ryan Zimmerman for Kluber. Does he say how deep the league is? No. I would not do either deal. You don't think Sigura for Burrios is fair, and you're getting Baez in there?

I'm going to drop Baez as soon as I get him. If it's a standard-sized league, that's why I wanted to know what the format was. Bias, it'd have to be pretty deeply for him to have much value. I'm a little more interested in the second trade. Segura and Zimmerman for Kluber just because the true ace is so rare and so precious. I mean, it would depend what kind of players I'm filling. Zimmerman and Seguera's holes with. Yeah, that's a lot.

Yeah. All right, guys. The holes they're leaving behind. We're not in love with these trades. Put it that way, Mitch. And let's just look at the matchups real quick. I'm just going to give the sort of questionable ones. Dan Strelie against the Nationals at home, start or sit.

I have that same decision to make in a daily lineup league. I'm currently leaning towards starting him, but I mean kind of a weird situation where I'm way ahead in ERA and WIP and I need K's. All things being equal, I'm probably sitting them. Is it, are they in Miami? Yes. Miami, yeah. There's no way.

I think I'm sitting him too, but that makes it a little harder. I think Straitly's underrated overall. Yeah, he might be, but man, the nationals, they just crush everyone. Erasmil Ramirez against the Reds at home. The Reds are not good on the road. Yeah, Arasmal Ramirez is not good. Yeah. Sit?

Yeah, I'm probably sitting there. Ian Kennedy against the Red Sox at home. I like what he did last time, but that matchup's too tough. Yeah, I'd rather start him. If I had Erasmus and Strali, all three on my team, I'd start Kennedy. Can you guys just give me a starter sit, if he wouldn't mind? Eddie Butler at home against the Padres. Sit.

That's a sit. Okay. Michael Waka at the Phillies. Start. I'm going to sit him. He's been terrible. Ricking Alaska. Ricki, Alaska or Jordan Monk.

Angels at Yankees. Sit, start. All right, start Montgomery. Yeah, Montgomery start. Sean Nukum against the Giants. Start. Yep. Joe Beijini and Tyson Ross tonight.

Start either one. Sit. Sit. Sit both. Sit both. Burrios will start. Junior Gera against the pirates. Start.

Taiwan Walker at Colorado. Sit. I'm going to sit both of those. All right. Mike Fires and Sean Minaya. tonight. Start, start. Really? Start fires. It's the A's. I think I would have a sim, I didn't start like fires. Yeah, very good Scott. I like that. Rich Hill

against the Mets. Yeah, I'll give him a run. Start. Oh, we got to stay up late and watch this one. Verlander and Paxton. Start them both. All right, good luck, everybody. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed the show today. We'll talk to you at 2 o'clock for the AMA. See you.