Fantasy Baseball Today - 07/23: Weekend Roundup - All Hail King Carp (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 23, 2018

You can?t praise Matt Carpenter too much, but we tried on Monday. The hottest hitter in baseball put together a historic week, and it was a good opportunity to sing the praises of some key advanced stats that never gave up on him. Plus weekend breakouts, Velasquez vs. Bundy, and over/under-owned pitchers. 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

Matt Carpenter just had the best weekend ever. He coming. Scott White, Chris Towers here on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. How were your weekends, fellas? Well, Matt Carpenter is on about half of my fantasy team, so my weekend was very good indeed. In one league, which Scott White commissions, we had a three-day week. Matt Carpenter was on my team, and he nearly outscored my opponent by himself. So I'm assuming you won. Yes.

That was a pretty good week for you, then. How about you, Scott? How many points did he say? scored you remember? 58? Wow. Wow. You don't see that in full weeks.

No, it was a phenomenal... Well, I mean, he had more games than everyone else. I think he had 30 fantasy points before anyone else played a game. He scored... He didn't start one of the five games the Cardinals had, but he came off the bench and homered, so... Yeah, Matt Carbender did not Homer on Sunday. That was the first time. since July 13th that he had played in a baseball game and not hit a home run over the weekend

in the scoring period starting on July 19th. He went nine for 17 with eight runs, six homers, 10 RBI, two doubles, three walks and two strikeouts. That's a heck of a weekend. I don't think any of us had a better weekend. And he beat the shift with a bun, right? Whoa, come on. Adam's not even here to edit things. He beat the shift with the bun. I could add that. What did I say wrong there? Heath's doing a bit.

You know Heath. You know, he's a jocular fella. All right, guys, we're going to look at the weekend's results. We're going to look ahead a little bit. We're going to take your emails, fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. We're going to talk about the patented Scott White Circle of Trust for pitchers and see who's in and who's out. We're going to talk about some pictures you might want to. I might need to panic about and, oh, so much more.

But first, who is one hitter to add for your fantasy baseball league's Heath? I know who you're going to say, so I'll say someone different. I will say Willie Calhoun got the call up due to the Nomar Mazzara entry. Hasn't done anything yet. And there is some risk that Mizarra comes back and Calhoun sent back down. He shouldn't be. Of course, he should have been in the major for most of this season. Joey Gallo, though, also left yesterday's game with an injury.

As for Calhoun, 32 home runs in like 130 games last year across three different levels, had 28 the year before. And the difference between him and the Rangers, the rest of the Rangers, sluggers, is he doesn't strike out very much either. He's never had a strikeout rate over 20% in the minor leagues. I don't know that it's going to work this time, but I love the profile. You need to get him onto your bench at the very least. What are you giving him a game in the outfield? yet because that's going to make it harder for him to stick around if they don't trust them out there. And I could look that up real quick.

I believe he's only played designated hitter. Yeah. But with Mazzora out and maybe Gallo, I think they've got room. ProFar can play in the outfield, no problem. He hasn't yet this year, but he has in the past, yes, ProFar. He's actually eligible at Outfield on our site because it's carried over from a previous year. hitter I'm adding is second on my top 10 sleeper hitters for this upcoming week, assuming, you know, you had the short week and you're beginning a seven-day week now, is Cotel Marte, who since the start of June, you know, at the beginning of the season, he was kind of a pounded in the ground and tried to beat it out guy. But since the beginning of June, he has a 971 OPS against lefties. He's batting 303.1.

with a 957 OPS on the year. He's started hitting the ball at just an average fly ball rate, and it's led to enough power that we're talking potentially top 10 shortstop. He's also eligible at second base, if you need more help there.

Hasn't been the base dealer we wanted him to be, but at this point, I'm not sure that that matters very much. Yeah, so to illustrate that point, tell Marte, who was a fly ball, I don't know, do we call? call it the fly ball revolution anymore. He was a guy who wanted to hit the ball in the air more. He showed signs of having plus raw power, or at least average raw power in the past, just hadn't

tapped into it. And early on in the season, if you look at his 30 game rolling averages on fan graphs, he was hitting the ball on the ground about 63% of the time through the end of May. And then you start to see it creep down. And he's still, his ground ball rate over the last 30 games is 51%, which is okay. He's hitting. He's hitting. the ball in the air more, like you said, and he's starting to showcase some of the raw ability. It's not really the guy that we thought we were getting when Catel Marte got called up a couple years ago with Seattle. We thought he was more of an on-base and stolen base guy, but this is a productive hitter. I like Catel Marte a lot. And the guy I'll go with, he's 60%

owned, Rognetto Dore, hitting 364 with four homers and five steals and 16 games in the month of July. he's still swinging and missing a ton he's still striking out about a quarter of a time he still hits too many infield fly balls pop-ups whatever you want to call them but this is an extremely talented hitter and when he gets hot we know he can be one of the best

hitters in baseball for stretches and rooting at a door looks hot right now he's running he's hitting for power so he's my pick what about one pitcher to add Scott one pitcher to add I'll go first I'll go first

because I wrote the waiver wire column. I like the way you call on him. He starts to give an answer and then nope. Oh, he was he was he was Hemming and Hahn. So I wanted to do it. I wanted to jump in. I'll go with AJ Minter. He's only like 42% owned. He is the Braves closer and we've lost some closers recently. You know, obviously jurors familiar. We'll talk about that. He was traded to the Oakland Athletics. He's likely going to be sending up Blake Trinan. So that's another closer. We lost Brad Hand. He's not going to be closing in Cleveland, it looks like. Um, AJ Mentor is the closer in Atlanta right now.

He's about 40 to 45% owned and he's been really good, uh, since about the start of June, more than a strikeout printing after a slow start. I think there's a chance he's just the Braves closer moving forward and there aren't a ton of relievers that are widely available with more upside than him. Although I probably would take Tyler Yates over him. Kirby, personally. Kirby, Kirby, Yates. Yeah, Tyler.

Tyler Yates used to be a reliever for the Braves and not a. very good one. But Kirby Yates is a very good reliever for the Padres and their presumptive closer now the hand's gone, at least till he gets traded himself. Yeah, that's the only thing with him is that he might be the closer for eight more days. It was also really weird his first appearance

afterhand was traded. I didn't see that. He was used in the eighth inning of a 5-0 game. Maybe just need work. On a day that they had a double header in the first game. That is weird. Maybe just need work. No, he hasn't, has he appeared in the game. Andy Green. Andy Green has, I mean, just the fact that they were trailing 5-0.

Yeah, that's really weird. It's hard to, it's hard to, uh, yeah. And they had another game that day. He hadn't pitched since before the All-Star break. But they had a game that night. Yeah, if they really need to work, they could just give them work that night. That's, yeah, that's really weird. But anyway, my pitcher to add with two starts this week is Zach Wheeler, who I think he's pitched better lately. I mean, he hasn't been an ace or anything, but mid-3 ZRA with, you know, strikeout per inning over the last six weeks or so. And it's, I think it's a case of him making better use of his secondary pitches. It's not that he has many of them, but he has a pretty good slider. You know, he has a show-me change up. And we've seen the swinging strike rate go up on his fastball, which is without question

his best pitch. So I feel like he's setting up his fastball better, if that makes sense. and he's performing more like we saw him do before Tommy John surgery, which was kind of like a number three, number four starting pitcher and fantasy. Two starts this week. One's a really good matchup. And I think he's somebody worth adding. He's always been a guy that we think should be better than he actually is. But over his last 11 starts, dating back to May 22nd,

he's averaging about six and a half innings per start, which is really impressive. about a strikeout printing, 363. The whip's never going to be good because he's just an okay control guy, and he's been pretty hitable. But, yeah, I think Zach Wheeler's shown a lot this season to make him somebody worth owning. What about you, Heath? I'll go a little bit deeper.

Daniel Ponce de Leon. Did I say that, right? Probably. I don't have a pronunciation guide here on baseball reference. We'll make his debut for the Cardinals this week. They're sending Luke Weaver back down. I think Weaver will be back soon enough. But he's been very good, really the last two years in AAA.

In 2017, had a 2.17 ERA. Only made six starts because he had a horrific injury. Got hit in the head by a line drive, had to have emergency brain surgery. Came back this year in 17 starts. He had a 2.15 ERA, 10.1 K-9. The walks are still too high, which is weird, because before last year he was kind of a low strikeout

low walk guy and now he looks more like a high strikeout high walk guy I think in any type of deeper league at all there is a little bit of upside here they're not thrilled with Luke Weaver Carlos Martinez is on the disabled list he gets a chance to make a few starts

and he might be pretty good Scott any thoughts on Daniel he looks perplexed I'm trying to get to the bottom of the Kirby Yates thing he didn't yesterday was the Padres double header and he didn't pitch at all. So it must have been, it must have been earlier this weekend when he came in.

And you could make the case in that case that it was more of a work-related thing. Yeah, I think he's widely considered to be the closer, again, at least for the next eight days. You guys have any other weekend standouts besides Matt Carpenter? I'll throw one out there. Corey Dickerson had a Matt Carpenter-esque weekend for the Pittsburgh Pirates. hit four home runs. I think he's homered four times in three days or five times in four games going back to the game before the All-Star break. Eight for 16. He's up to 313 with about an 856 OPS on the season. What do you think of Cory Dickerson? He's kind of been a forgotten man since a really

hot start because he hadn't done much for a couple months. Yeah, I somehow got it in my head that he it kind of sold out for line drives, sold out for not having power. But that's not the case, looking at the season long batta profile, ball profile anyway. Fly ball rate's normal. Line drive rate is high, which is a good thing, that combination. I think as long as the playing time is assured, and, you know, Austin Meadows back down in the minors,

so you feel pretty good about that. then, yeah, he might be undervalued right now. Yeah, I have no idea why I said that about Kirby Yates. I don't even think he's pitched since the Ulsterberg. Okay, so disregard what we were talking about with Kirby Yates. I think it may have been stamina that pitched in that game in that situation, which would make more sense, kind of, I guess. But anyway, regardless of that, are we on weekend standouts?

Weekend standouts. Vince Velasquez. Vince Velasquez. I saw he had no hits allowed through five innings yesterday, which is like the second or third time he's done that this season. He has actually been really good since his just awful outing on June 8th against the Brewers when he gave up 10 runs and 2 3rds innings. Six starts since then, a strikeout per inning, a 2.38 ERA.

And he did have that one start on June 30th. Did he leave that with an injury? He missed a start right after that? I think so, yes. But every start besides that has been at least six innings, and only more than two runs once in those five starts. I mean, you can go back to last 12 starts. He has 79 strikeouts in 66 and a third innings.

He's had a couple of really bad ones. He had that 10-earned run start. He had the one where he only pitched two innings. But 353 ERA, pretty good control. You know, not never going to be an ace. But Vince Velasquez, I think, has gotten back to where he was two years ago, not last year. Yeah. He's probably underowned.

I know he's available in like 25% of CBS sports leagues. And after yesterday's start, I'm back on board with him. All right. Let's, before we move on, we'll get to some big news, talk about some injuries, some trades. But before we do, I want to talk about the email of the year from Mike in New York. And since Adam's not here and I get to run the show, we're going to talk about statcast. Hello, barrels. Exit Velocity, and X-Stats.

This is from Mike in New York. I had been a bit skeptical of stat-cast data in the past, but I'm now 100% bought in. It comes through when things like age, crappy plate discipline, and the I-Test failed. It has helped us cash in on Max Muncie. It showed us that Aaron Judge was legit, even though he strikes out as much or more than any superstar ever.

And it told us to hold on to or buy low to on old stalwarts like Matt Carbner and Nelson Cruz, despite slow starts, and some other negative trends. putting my money where my mouth is as well, I picked up Winker from waivers and traded for Chu. I even dealt Anthony Rizzo for Anthony Rendon in a points league. I've always considered Rizzo to be better than Rendon, but Rendon's X stats say he should have the eighth best Wobah in baseball. Still do look at other stats, advanced stats, and otherwise, but now I view statcast and particularly expected Wobah as my favorite statistic when trying to identify breakouts and buy lows.

What thoughts, concerns, and warnings would you have for this line of thinking? also are you on board with the idea that Rendon can be a top eight hitter moving forward even the quality of his contact and the fact that the lineup around him could come to life any day now. I don't buy Anthony Rendon as a top eight hitter. I think he's a very good hitter though. Yes. But I love all of this. And Scott, you're probably the most skeptical, although you're pretty bought in.

What do you think? I have never looked at an ex-Wobo leaderboard. Okay. So I'll preface it with that. And there is something to note. There was a discussion on Twitter recently. I can't remember. There was a post on Fangraphs as well about the gap between X Woba and Woba this season and how it's bigger than it has been in years past.

And that seems like an indication that maybe the ball isn't traveling as much as it was over the last couple years. Because the integration of Stacast has coincided with what we know to be the juicester. ball era. And so they might need to tweak some of that. It might not be, they might not have accounted for the fact that the ball is not traveling quite as much this season. That would be my one thought slash concern slash warning is we're still very early. I think this is all wonderful. It's going to help us be better at our jobs. It's going to help fantasy owners be better at running their teams. Running or ruining? Running. But there's still you need to be a little bit curious.

Like if you see a huge gap between someone's ex-WOBA and Wobah, start looking for reasons why. Now, with Matt Carpenter, I think we said pretty often, this doesn't make any sense. We cannot find a reason. Sometimes there are reasons that you can find. And we didn't expect him to do this. But can we follow up the email of the year with the tweet of the year?

Sure. Sure, you want to read it? Yes. from two good friends of the program, Dave Scaff and then Doc Kroitzer actually shared it with me. So really good, guys. What sort of public humiliation will Chris be made to endure for starting an illegal roster in the podcast leak asking for a friend?

You took a zero this week in the podcast. It's not over. You still has a zero and there's no chance of him approving on that number. No, I fixed it. I fixed it. Wow. What? I didn't ask for that.

Adam would have fixed it too. Hashtag. I was going to take the L. I'm fine with taking the L. I'm fine with admitting that... It's really not fair to the rest of the league to let somebody take a zero. Because what if that guy he's facing is in the thick of the playoff hunt? Let's say maybe he has his worst week of the season and he gets a free win out of it because of Chris's neck.

Maybe you can just go through at the end of the year and decide which teams you think are the sixth best and those can be the playoffs. I will say. Nobody's had an illegal lineup in that all years. I love fantasy baseball. I'm a big fan. The season is way too long. And I get lost sometimes. I mean, like eight leagues, all right?

I haven't said any other illegal lineups all year. I have set like 90 lineups. I'm like 89 for 90. I think that's a pretty good track record. I think that's not true. But I had an epiphany because of this. Okay. And I need to play in fewer leagues next year?

I do agree with you that the season's too long. I do love fantasy baseball and baseball season. I kind of, like, I'm in a couple of leagues where the regular season ends next week in the playoffs start. The only thing I don't like about that is that September is just completely ignored as if it's not part of the baseball season. The other thing I don't like about head-to-head baseball leagues is that you play for seemingly five years in a season, and your season comes down to one week. Maybe two weeks if you have a good commissioner. So my new proposal is that the regular fantasy baseball season lasts until the last week of July. The first round of the playoffs are the first two weeks of August.

The second round of the playoffs are the next two weeks of August. And the championship game is the month of September. You're complaining about the randomness of a small sample size, and then you want the championship determined by like the 37th man on the roster. Full month of September. No. The 37th man will not determine it. You can change your lineup once a week,

but your score keeps counting for the whole month. Why don't you just play the way we've been playing? I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Because Chris forgets to set a lineup once and suddenly baseball. I'm trying to open fantasy baseball up to more people. People are intimidated by the length of the season. Yeah. No.

They can find another fantasy sport to play. The length of the season. is part of what makes it great because when you play fantasy football, you have to overreact to things just because you know, the season is running out on you from the very beginning, it feels like, and that's not the case in fantasy

baseball. You can actually approach it more rationally. You can sit back and let things develop. If you chop off a third of the season like you're proposing, that eliminates that aspect of it and it makes it um i think a disingenuous contest and before we move on i want to tell you about the seat geek app i have the seat geek app on my phone and it's by far the easiest way i found to shop for tickets i can be anywhere and with just a few taps i can instantly find seats i actually did that for an upcoming concert i'm going to go see david burn in uh september and i'm

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Best of all, our listeners get $20 off their first Seatgeek, just download the Seatgeek app and enter the promo code Fantasy today. That's promo code Fantasy F-A-N-T-A-S-Y for $20 off your first Seekkeek purchase. All right, let's move on to the big news. Juris Familia was traded to the Mets for Bobby Wall and William Toffee. Scott, do I need to know anything about Bobby Wall and William Toffee besides that Toffee's delicious? No, these are not.

Queen in high school. Heathbar Blizzard, super underrated. You need to correct my waiver wire call and that's not going to be published because I wasn't supposed to write it because I got these guys' names wrong. I called them a fungo bat in a bag of baseballs. Oh, yeah, yeah, no, no, they're people. Okay. They have burst into people. They're not people you need to know about Dynasty League's really. And Blake Trinand is still in Oakland. They have been adamant that they're not going to trade him. I would imagine this uh, cements that. Robert Gazellman recorded a six-out save Friday for the Mets. That was the first save and the only save opportunity that the Mets have had since the trade of Jarvis Familia.

I would guess he's the closer by default because everybody else in that bullpen's terrible, but it's not like Giselman's been good either. He's been better as a reliever than he was as a starter, but that's a low bar. The other option would be Anthony Swarzak, who was really good last season, yeah, but had no bleak injury like the third game. of the season that has just been a disaster so far and hasn't been any better lately. So my take on the Braves or on the Mets bullpen and I wrote this in the way of our column that's going up on CBSSports.com Monday morning is if you want to add a reliever in the wake of

the jurist family trade at AJ Menter because that's nobody in the Mets bullpen is worth adding. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'd go mentor, Yates, Hector, Hector. Rondone's still hardly owned. There are a lot of good options. Some concerns about Hector Rondone, the Astros are reportedly in the market for a

closer. Zach Britton particularly has been mentioned with them. I don't know if that means they want Zach Britton to close, but it would bring some uncertainty to a situation where we believe there's no uncertainty right now. Carlos Martinez was placed on the 10-day D.L. with an oblique injury. Mike Schlett is super optimistic, quote, that Martinez will miss one turn. Is this a second oblique injuries, had that? this season? He had a lap before. Okay. I would assume he has both. DJ LaMayhew was placed on the D.L. with an oblique strain. That is an injury that could cost him some serious time, as we know,

with hitters, especially oblique strains can be really tricky. And Garrett Hampson was called up, doubled in his debut, hit 309 with a 379 on base percentage in the minors this season. I believe it was between AAA and AA, nine home runs, 33 stolen bases. I'm actually very excited about the potential for Garrett Hampson. He's not one of the Rocky's biggest prospects, not even the biggest middle infield prospect that they have. I think he's probably not even one of the two biggest middle infield prospects they have. But the profile is extremely interesting for fantasy, right? Scott. Yeah, he's a big base dealer, good plate discipline guy. It kind of reminds me of Adam Eaton when he was in the minors a little bit,

actually. And obviously, he's entering a very favorable hitter environment. Even you know, let's say LaMayhew comes back in a month or whatever. If Hampson's been hitting well, there's still a chance they could keep him around. He's played some outfield in the miners, played shortstop. So, uh,

particularly in Roto leagues, if you need stolen base help, I think he's somebody to look into right now. The profile actually, it looks a lot like DJ LaMayhew, except with, you know, 40 steal potential, which DJ LaMayhew's been a very good fantasy player in the past,

but that was when he was stealing 18 bases. If he's still 40 bases, that's a potential top 5 rounder. Justin Turner made his first start in 11 days after recovering from a hip injury and then left Sunday with an adductor strain will likely be headed to the DL. So I guess those concerns about the Dodgers having too crowded of a lineup are not there right now. So good news for Yassal Pueg, who's expected back, I believe this week, maybe next weekend. Michael Fulmer placed on the DL with his own left oblique strain That complicates things for the Tigers

Because he was a high likelihood trade target Cody Allen is still expected to get the bulk of the saves For the Indians according to Terry Francona Ozzy Albi's dealing with a right hamstring injury That could keep him out of the lineup he was out Sunday Could cost him a couple more days But doesn't sound like the DL is going to happen right now Noah Cindergarde placed on the 10-day DL with hand-foot and mouth disease

but it could only miss one start. It's an infectious disease, but it's not an injury, so nothing to concern yourself there long term. No more Razara, as we mentioned, placed on the deal with a right thumb strain. And Sean Doolittle is dealing with a stress reaction in his left foot in MRI revealed.

They're talking about the timetable being weeks, not months, but good news for Kelvin Herrera, must-own, must-add reliever. Well, where would we put him with the mentors and Yates's and all of them? There's definitely, it's a finite amount of time he's going to be closing, but it's probably better than any of them. That's going to be, we think, winning a lot of games and hopefully, and potentially making up some ground in the NL East.

Yeah. I think he's the best option among them as a pitcher. I think he plays for the best team. And I don't know, with Sean Doolittle, it was a toe first, and now it's a midfoot injury. We'll see. It's going to make it to its way to the game. heel next. And then it's connected to the shin bone.

Yeah, it's going to work its way up. You know. It's going to have a hip injury before too long. I think I'd probably rather have Minter just because that one looks like it could be more of a long-term thing with Eras Viscayano dealing with his second shoulder injury. But I think Calvin Herrera is a fine pickup if you need a reliever. All right. Time to panic.

I've got three guys who are a little concerning. A rolled-as Chapman. average fastball velocity and his appearance on Saturday against the Mets was 97.1 miles per hour. That is, well, two to three miles per hour low. It's higher than most pitchers, but two to three miles an hour lower than most.

Sixteen of the 19 pitches he threw were balls. This is a guy who did not pitch in the All-Star break because he's dealing with knee tendonitis. Is it time to panic about Aroldus Chapman? Is it time to pick up somebody else in the Yankees' bullpen? The problem is, like I think Delon Bantanus is his own in almost every single categories league. And so I would say, like, time to panic about Chapman.

Would I bench him this week? No. Okay. I'm not thinking about dropping him. The panic move would be to add Batances, but he's basically owned everywhere. So I'm a little concerned about this, but I don't see anything actionable that you can do.

What about adding David Robertson, who has more closing experience than Patensis? And, you know, yeah, Batanzas, maybe they prefer him in that Andrew Miller role. You could do that. So that's the panic move. Not necessarily panic. I mean, it's something to do in deeper leagues because it's rare that you get something,

anytime something's telegraphed, you kind of have to react to it. And it's, you know, roto league of over 16 teams or a league specific format or whatever. But otherwise, I don't think I'd be reacting too much to a bad outing for Chapman, even if the velocity is down, there's some health concern. there. It seems premature to panic. What about Madison Bumgarner? He went four innings, walked six, gave up three runs against Oakland this weekend. He is up to 3.9 K-per-9 since coming off to DL. Now it's still a 319 ERA, but 1-2-48 whip is his worst since his rookie season. This is the first time his walks per nine

has ever been above three. And it's his lowest strikeout rate since his rookie season as well, 7.7 per night. Well, it was interesting about this last start, which was clearly his worst. Was it Saturday? I think it was. It was also the hardest he's thrown all season, and

I think only one start last year did he throw that hard. And velocity has been creeping down for him. It's been part of the reason why we haven't been totally dismissive of his lackluster start here off the DL, but it was better yesterday. And I'm hopeful that's a sign

of maybe things getting better. I like I don't know what you're supposed to do with Madison Bumgarter at this point. Does he retain enough of his reputation that you could shop him as an ace and get what you'd expect back

in return for an ace? I don't know. I don't think there's been enough good for him to still carry that way. He's barely inside my top 20 starting pitchers rest of weekend the rest of season. So I kind of feel like your best bet is to

hope he turns things around. James Paxton or Madison Bumgarre? Paxston. Lance McCullors. Yep. I think it's also worth noting that he wasn't quite Madison Bumgarner last year. Yeah. Yeah. No. I mean he is at 320 and last year

came back from the from a shoulder, a serious shoulder injury. But dating back to the start of last season, his peripherals were worse before the injury as well. He has a 320A DRA, which is awesome. 1.14 whip, very good, 8K per 9. And then you look at 397 FIP, 2.4 walks per 9,

which is above his career average. He hasn't been the same guy. I am comfortable dropping him outside of my top 20. I still don't necessarily know that there is somebody out there you can trade him for that I think is going to be better. It's a bad time to trade him. Yeah.

Now, maybe there's enough desperation for pitching, high-end pitching, that somebody's willing to look past his struggles this season. But I think it's unlikely. And it was interesting you talking about Rognito-Dor at the top of the show, Chris, how much he's turned things around, really since the start of June. He's been a 300-hitter. I tried my hardest to trade him in those first two months in a 24-team dynasty league,

whereas keeper cost was very low, and it just seemed like everybody was on the same page with me, that there wasn't much left there for Rignette-Odor. So it's, like, when a guy is struggling enough that you yourself are concerned, that we are concerned, guys who, as a general rule, are, are willing to give players the benefit of the doubt and trust in the track record and all of that. But if it's to a point now that we're concerned, I feel like everybody's concerned at that point. And it's very unlikely you're going to get an ideal return for Bum Garner. Also, you're welcome for turning down those odor trade offers.

Yeah. You are one of many who I was trying to trade him to. And I'm thankful now that I didn't. All right. Time to panic on Robbie Ray, who had a nether poor start. five runs and five and a third innings at home against the Colorado Rockies. And that's three out of his last four starts and three out of five since coming back from the DL where he's allowed not quite a run per inning because he went a third of an inning in each of

two of those three starts. But he has a 580 a R a over his last four start or his last five starts since coming back from the DL. Is it time, are we dropping Robbie Ray? I haven't given that thought. I own him in a few leagues, too. I'm not starting Robbie Ray. And I'm concerned, definitely concerned, because there are reasons to be concerned coming into the season,

and that's one of the things I feel worst about. Preseason regrets, just being willing to make excuses for Robbie Ray knowing I'd have to pay a premium to get him. But there's still, like, there's still so much strikeout potential there. I couldn't think he'd drop. Still striking about a quarter. of the batters he's faced over the last five starts out,

but also walking about 10%. Yeah, you cannot feel comfortable starting him. He looks like 2016 Robbie Ray, except we said throughout that whole season that Robbie Ray is getting unlucky. This year he's got a five-fip. He's not really getting unlucky. He's just not been as good.

All right, and Jose Cantana actually was good on Sunday, I believe, against St. Louis, seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts, four walks against the Cardinals. But he has been dealing with left shoulder fatigue, and that was why I believe he had a turn skipped in the rotation. They were fine, pushing him back a couple of days.

Is Jose Cantana a must-own pitcher at this point? Yeah. He's top 40 for both you. I think, Scott, you have him 30th. Yeah. And head-to-head points. Yeah, I mean, I think he's must-ome.

He's not... I guess he's in my top 30, but, you know, coming into the season, he was top 20. So I don't believe he's that anymore. There have been issues. he's pitching deep into games. Obviously, if this becomes something worse than shoulder fatigue, if he's expected to miss weeks with an injury,

then it's something we could think about, dropping him potentially. But even then, I think it would be in shallow leagues, it would be in leagues where you have a real DL crunch. Like, he's somebody that Cubs, who may be the best team in the National League. He's somebody they're going to have to rely on if they're going to get anywhere this year. Yeah, I have definitely changed the way that I feel about, Jose Cantana because coming into the year, first off, I thought he was very safe.

And I thought that he really had a pretty unfortunate year in 2017 and was encouraged by the increase in strikeout rate. Now, if you look at his K per 9 over his career, it's pretty clear where the outlier is. He was right around 8K per 9 for the first five years of his career. He had one year at 9.9 and now he's back to 8K per 9. So now he looks less like a guy with a high floor and maybe a high ceiling too, and more like a guy with a low ceiling and this injury gives him a really low floor. I'm trying to be an Adam Azer and get a drop here, but it's not working quite as well. So I'm just going to sing it myself. Okay. Welcome back. Not welcome back. Hurry back, Adam. Thank you. What's that? Hurry back. Excuse me. Adam.

All right. Welcome back, Stephen Strausberg. Back from the D.L. After missing. about six weeks with shoulder inflammation, and it wasn't great. Six earned runs, eight hits, two walks, six strikeouts, but it's the first start back from the deal. We always give a guy a Mulligan for that one. Any concern about Steven Strasbourg? He and Scherzer got into it in the dugout after it came out. There was a bit of yelling.

I think it was constructive. I think Max Scherzer was like, hey, we're going into the locker room to chat. The brotherly squabble. Yeah. It's a family. No concern about Stephen Strzberg. him to new heights.

No concern. James Paxton will return from the DL on Tuesday. Glaber Torres will be back Wednesday, it looks like, from his hip injury. I believe he started a rehab assignment over the weekend. Freddie Peralta will return to the Milwaukee rotation on Wednesday, Junior Gera back on Tuesday. Freddie Peralta must own. This was expected that he'd be back? Well, no, I wouldn't call him must own.

He's had what? He's been incredible. His last couple stars weren't very good. All right. Jaime Berea expected to start Tuesday versus the Chicago White Sox. Is he someone that you're interested in streaming? I assume that makes him a two-star pitcher. Yeah, I'm not sure.

I'm not sure how their rotation sets up. But yes, he is someone I'm interested in streaming against the White Sox. Clay Buckholds. Yeah, he should be making two stocks. Okay, Clay Buckholes will return to the Arizona rotation on Tuesday. Mike Zanino returned from the DL. I had the choice of starting him, and I stuck with John Hicks in a points league. so I think it probably tells you where I'm at on Mike Zunino.

Walker Bueller expected to start Wednesday versus Philadelphia. It's going to be really interesting to see what they do with his workload with the Dodgers. Any expectation that he might be on a pitch limit? I want to see what happens Thursday morning. Okay. If he gets sent back down? Yes. Okay.

I hope that he doesn't. That's not my expectation, but I'm not going to feel comfortable about him until I see what happens Thursday. Irvin Santana will make his season debut Wednesday versus the Blue. Jay's Willie Adamas were called from AAA. He's had a really rough start to his major league career, but obviously still a big prospect. Evan Longoria could return Tuesday from his hand injury. Raphael Devers was back on Saturday. Scott Shebler expected back on Wednesday. Drew Pomeran's will return to the rotation Tuesday. Drew Pomeran, someone we should be adding?

Well, it's a two-star pitcher this week, but he was, he was, he looked pretty rough before going on to D.L. His velocity was down. I think it's a wait-and-see thing. There's potential for him to be an impactful fantasy fantasy pitcher, obviously given his track record, given the team he pitches for. But he needs to prove himself all over again, I feel like. What about Max Fried? He's going to start Tuesday against Miami.

Luis Gahara just has not looked right. I think his velocity has been down since coming back from the DL. So he's staying in AAA to work on things. We have seen really good things from Max Fried, but overall 392 ERA, 25 strike hunts and 20 and 2 third innings this season, but 13 walks as well. And I believe the Braves had a game reigned out on Saturday,

which pushed, reconfigured their rotation in such a way that they don't need to bring up a pitcher to start Tuesday's game. So it may be, I mean, eventually they're going to need a fifth starter, obviously. It sounds like breeds in the driver's seat there. Yeah, aside from that one great start against the Cardinals, I think it was. I mean, you look at his AAA numbers this year. They're not so great.

He's a pitcher who I feel like has one really good secondary pitch and just not isn't consistent enough with everything else yet for you to rely on him in fantasy. Homer Bailey will return to the rotation Tuesday, no interest in him, obviously. And Zach Eflin will return to the rotation Monday after recovering from his blister. He's been really good. Would you rather have him or Walker Bueller rest of the season? I'll say Eflin.

Yeah, I think given the assurances of role there, I would agree, Eflin. Eflin or Peralta? Eflin. Eflin or Kintana? Kintana, unless this injury becomes something worse. All right, and then, welcome back for one game. Yohan assessment is Homer's Friday in his second plate appearance since coming back from the D. and then told reporters, and apparently not the team, which is interesting, told reporters that he

needs surgery on both of his heels, an injury, they're a procedure, a pair of procedures, I suppose, that would require eight to ten months of recovery time. He will be evaluated by a specialist, but they're not putting him on the DL or making any decision on his status. I mean, he just came back for like one last romp around the bases. Yeah. He's like, I'm out, guys. I don't see any way to construe this other than an F you. I think, yeah.

Like, there's actually no other, like, did the doctor tell him on his trip around the base pads that he needed this surgery? It's a weird. I mean, it's the Mets. So, like. But this is good news, if I can spin it positively. And this is a stretch, I'll admit. For a player, it's good news for a player who's appeared on. the last three top 10 sleepers hitters list.

And that's Wilmer Flores. He's like 90% available in fantasy. And he's been playing first base every day. Cesspitus was supposed to play some first base when he got back. If, I mean, Flores doesn't have a huge power ceiling, but he's a good contact hitter. He has like an 800 OPS since becoming an everyday player

and has been surprisingly productive in fantasy. He's very good. I think he should be more than 13% owned or whatever he is. At what point do they just start calling guys up? Dom Smith has been playing the outfield since getting sent back to AAA because Peter Alonzo is at first base. I know Peter Alonzo was not in your top 25 prospects at midseason. Was he in your top 50?

He has struggled since getting to AAA, not even hitting 200, but power, plate discipline in the in double A. Oh, he got off to a ridiculous start this year. That's really, and that's part of the reason why I couldn't put him in my top five is because there's, you know, his first two months versus his most recent two months here is just such a contrast in performance. But he, even coming into this year, he was known for a guy with ridiculously high exit velocity. I believe he had a higher exit velocity in the minors last year than all, like, three major leaguers. That's pretty good.

The majors, obviously. So, yeah, he's definitely interesting. I don't know that he's done enough to, like, I almost wonder if Tim Tebow would get, called up before him just for the thrill of having Tim Tebow in the majors. He's dealing with an injury, so that seems unlikely. That's true. Going to visit a hand specialist, so. Oh, man, a specialist.

That's not good. Pump the brakes on the Tim Tebow ads in fantasy. Luke Weaver also returned for one start before being sent back to AAA. He was the 26th man for a double header, but he is expected back later this week, and it's been a real up and down season for Luke Weaver. Hopefully he gets on track because the. The Cardinals actually have two rookies that they're calling up this week to make starts. And, you know, Luke Weaver might be pitching for his job here.

So, worth keeping in mind as we move forward. It's frustrating. It's just two starts before this one. We're great. They're among his best starts of the season. And I know some, at least one person on Twitter didn't like that I left them off my breakout pitchers for the second half list just because he seemed to be turning things around. Can't break out if you don't have a job. Yeah, he just hasn't thrown enough strikes, and he's a guy who, that's what he has to do to be successful.

He has to be one of the better strike throwers in the majors, and he's been far from it this year. All right, let's talk about some pitchers in or out of the circle of trust. These are all, for the most part, lower-owned guys. There's a couple guys in the 80 to 90 range, but for the most part, we're going to see whether first they're worth owning, and then second, whether they're worth starting at this point. So this isn't the circle of trustometer? No, it's just the circle of trust. It's a binary thing.

You're either in or you're out of the circle of trust. And you can be out of the circle of trust because you're too good to be in the circle of trust, and you can be out of the circle of trust because you're too bad to be a circle of stuff. Got it? Nope. Nick Kingham, 46% owned. He has a 289 ERA with 17 strikeouts and 18 and 2 thirds

innings over his last three starts. Is Nick Kingham in or out of the circle of trust? Can some... Maybe we need to think this through a little more, Because could somebody who's 46% owned be in the circle of trust? I don't know. That's what I'm asking. I did not create the circle of trust or this game.

So I am befuddled. Nick Kingham probably deserves to be more than 46% out. Thank you for answering the question. It probably doesn't deserve to be more than 65% owned. I'm starting Nick King, Kingham dependent on the matchup. How about we just do this? Overowned or underowned. Oh, okay.

That's a great idea. That's fun. Chase Anderson, 84% owned. He gave up two runs in four innings over the weekend against the Dodgers, burned through 100 plus pitches before being pulled after four innings, six strikeouts, two walks. Is he over-owned or under-owned at 84%? Slightly over-over.

Probably a little over-owned. He was trending the right wave with velocity, but that changed in this start, and is just kind of frustrating. Anderson or Kingham? Anderson. Who do they face this week? we might answer to that question. Anderson or the next guy, Matt Harvey, who the wheels came off,

eight earned runs, I believe he allowed four home runs versus Pittsburgh. I think two of those were at Cory Dickerson. 58% owned. Is he too highly owned? Shouldn't this guy have been in the welcome back? He's welcome back to being Matt Harvey of the last three years, two years, whatever. Yeah, that's fine. He's not in the circle trust.

I mean, he's well outside of the circle of trust, and he was never towing the line for me even with that supposed good stretch with the Mets, which was good in terms of run prevention, but not really in terms of anything else. With the Reds, you mean? The last, like, six starts, right? Yes, I meant with the Reds. I don't know what I said, but I meant with the Reds.

Nick Povetta, 75% owned, he actually, fun fact, had a negative fit in a game where he gave up four earned runs to the Padres. And like six unearned runs. Yeah. Or two unerred runs, six total runs. I got tweets. I'm sorry, Heath.

Nick Povetta does not need to be owned in more leagues because of this start. Trust the process. I'm going to trust the process. I'm trying to do the math in my head right here. So he got 16 outs. Nine of them were strikeouts. Yeah, it was like a 55% strikeout rate. And he gave up eight hits.

So I'm thinking they put... It was about a 560 babbip. No home runs. This start does not change my opinion of Nick Pavetta. I think he should be almost universally owned. Trust the process. I think he's definitely the best of the ones we've talked about so far. 355 FIP, 336 Sierra, 335 X FIP.

Just trust the process. Look, it might burn you, but ask the guy about Matt Carpenter. Trust the dang process. Marcus Schroeman is 77% owned. He has a 303 ERA and a 1.03 whip in six games since coming off the DL. Is he underowned at 77%? I think the answer is, obviously. Obviously, yes. Does he need to be owned in every league?

I thought this is just a Chris Tower segment. You asked the question and then answer the question. I will say he's under-owned. He's in the circle of trust. I'm starting him. Now, this start was against Baltimore, which has nothing to offer, right? But 303-year-A, six starts. Yeah. Since coming off the deal. Okay, I need to clarify something on the circle of trust, Scott.

if you're in the circle of trust, can I still bench you at Yankee Stadium and at Fenway? Yes. I mean, according to my rules of the circle of trust, I'm not sure that those have translated so well to the podcast, but... Look, we moved on from the circle of trust, guys. I think... I don't feel like Stroman needs to be universally owned.

77 might be a little low. He's on a bad team. He doesn't miss bats. he's pretty good, but he's not, he's not indispensable. Marcus Stroman or Sunny Gray, who bounced back to, I mean, he was fine against the Mets, but it's the Mets. Two earned runs in five and a third, six strikeouts. He had eight strikeouts and six shutout innings the last timeout. Who would you rather have Marcus Strowman or Sunny Gray?

Strowman. Interesting. What about Kyle Gibson? Is he under-owned at 71 percent? He gave up four earned runs in five and a third, and that was against a bad Kansas City Royals team. It wasn't a great star for Gibson, but he's had a really good year. And I think it's flown under the radar because he has a bad win-loss record. But he's been pitching deep into games.

His strikeout rate is the best it's ever been, believably because the slider is the best it's ever been. I think he's the best pitcher on this list. I like him more than Pivotta. I like him more than Stroman. So yes, he deserves to be more than 71% owned. I will put him in the group with Stroman, but just behind Paveh. as far as what I expect rest of season. Where does Rich Hill fall in that?

He gave up one earned run in six innings against the Milwaukee Burrers, nine strikeouts. He has a 295 ERA in 36 and two-thirds innings since coming back from the deal. I think that's split over seven outing six starts because he had one relief appearance. Rich Hill or Nick Povetta? Or Kyle Gibson? I think when Hill's healthy, it's, I have. few hesitations about starting it, but we know he's not going to be healthy for long. Like, we know it as much as we can know it for anybody.

And so in terms of who I'd rather own, I'd rather own Pavetta and Gibson. Hill's probably closer to Stroman in terms of how much I'd want to own him. But I'd rather start Hill right now while he's healthy. I agree with all of that. I think Hill is probably towards the top of this list, maybe at the top of the list, in terms of he is going to start tomorrow, which are these guys do you want to start. I want to start him whenever he's starting. I just don't expect that to be very often. Can we give some love to my guy Anabal Sanchez? 67% owned. I've been starting him all year in the

Dynasty League, so yeah. Oh, okay. All right. 67% owned. Another quality start against Washington on Saturday. Three earned runs, eight strikeouts over six innings. Three 12 ERA, 8.8K per nine, 2.5 walks per nine, and 10 starts since coming off to DL. I think he's been averaging about six innings per start. Show some love to my guy, Annabal Sanchez. Annabal Sanchez or Sunny Gray.

Annabal Sanchez or Sunny Gray. I should probably go Annabal Sanchez or Chase Anderson. I should probably go Sanchez. Like there's not, there's like numerically, statistically,

there's not a lot to say negative about Sanchez. just feel like I should know better. I will just say he's pitching very much like more of a league average pitcher and getting a lot better results. But he has a 243 bab-ip against this year. He has an 83% strand rate. Those are not things that he did even when he was a good starting pitcher.

Those are not things that you should expect to continue. He may still be very useful, especially as a spark. But he is not going to be this good. You know who may not be useful right now? There you go. 89% owned. He has 15 earned runs and 12 in 1 3rd in since coming off the DL. 8 strikeouts 6 walks.

Dylan Bundy. Bad. It's been really bad. Dylan Bundy or Kyle Gibbs? Stretch early this season too and then came roaring back with a stretch of starts where he was basically a. Calibur in terms of He was fishing into games.

Is he Ruegneed-Odor as a pitcher? Ruegnet O'Dore has had an entire seasons where he was good. Dylan Bundy, I mean, like, he has a 4-61 career fit. He has a 425 career ERA and a 438 fit last season. He has a 486 fit this season. Like, at what point do we chalk it up to not even like a Nick Povetta thing where just maybe the peripherals will never match up to the results? Maybe, like, well, you're looking at his fit at the end of the

terrible stretch. I don't think that's entirely fair either. Would you still say, Chris, because we had this argument about Dylan Bundy a couple weeks ago. And you said, I believe, that his 388 Sierra was the stat that you thought best exemplify at his talent level. At some point, you've got to do it. And he hasn't. I'm fine with that. Well, okay. There was a three-start stretch at the end of April, beginning of May, where he allowed seven- earn runs and three starts. That is awful.

But then, before this DL stand, he had a stretch of eight starts with a 260 ERA, including a 14 strikeout game, two eight strikeout games. Every single one of those eight starts, he went six innings or more. He went seven innings or more and four of them. Scott, doesn't it make more sense to just look at three seasons now of him not being good? Because he's still a developing pitcher. Last year He had stretches

Where he didn't use his best pitch And he's using his best pitch now And he's been bad I know But It's been an awful three It's been an awful three-start stretch That was preceded by a terrific eight-start stretch

I mean eights Yeah I just A lot more than three seasons A lot more than eight starts It feels like Dylan Bundy's trying to tell us who he is And we don't want to listen He's only 25 years old

Yeah He had tons of injury problems throughout the minor leagues. Like, at his best, he has been dominant. We can all agree, though, that's Vince Flaskas over Dylan Bundy, right? Right, like, why would we give... I would rather have Vince Velasquez than Dylan Bundy.

He's had an entire season where he was good. That's not... He had a month where he was... No, he had, like, a 380 ERA that's better than anything Vince Velasca than Dylan Bundy's ever done. It wasn't very good at... Like, most of it was...

It was a very front-loaded... This is ridiculous. It was a 412 BRA, for so... It was a 4-12. It was very good. Dylan Bundy. Fine. That would be the best Dylan Bundy season ever.

I think he had a 402B. I don't think so. Like, I suspect Dylan Bundy's going to get his ERA back down to that before the season's over. Yeah, the peripherals are a lot better for Vince Velasquez. I don't see any argument for Dylan Bundy there. And I like Dylan Bundy.

I wish he was good. It's just at some point it's got to be, it's got to be. I feel like I made a lot of good arguments for Dylan Bundy, but if you want to say there are no good arguments, go ahead. It's just, it's, it's, it's. No, there's no good arguments for him over Vince Velasquez. Because he's had the same good stretches.

There's no reason to believe that Vince Velasquez's good stretches are any less legitimate than Dylan Bundy's. And the overall track record is just much better. But also, like, at some point, Dylan Bundy's, it's got to be more than... Nearly as good as Dylan Bundy's slider. That's fine. He's better. And he doesn't pitch as deep into games? I don't think that's true. Well, like, you have to be good to pitch into games.

He has not... He has not left one's gone seven innings. this year. The good stretches from Dylan Bundy, he pitches deep in the games, but the good stretches aren't, aren't sustainable. Vibald guys went seven innings this weekend, right? He did. Oh, okay.

That was his first one. Sorry. Yeah, I just... That was his first one. They are very similar, you guys. They're very, but like four, yeah, I just, for me, it's like 400 innings of the same thing, even if the shape of each individual, you know, valley and peak is different. Like, at some point, you are what you are.

and I think Dylan Bundy's trying to tell us who he is. But the thing is two starts ago, Vince Velasquez had a higher ERA than Dylan Bundy has now. I feel like this is a lot of just recency bias, I guess. Or their careers, they have an ERA separated by a tenth of a point. I just say Velasquez is now over Bundy because Velasquez is pitching well and Bundy is not. And they're both borderline guys. Vince Velasquez also has three seasons with a fit below four. Dylan Bundy has three stretches of his career with that.

Looking forward to the next Dylan Bundy hot streak. All right, let's talk about some injuries news and notes before moving on to close out the show with some emails. Joey Gallo left Sunday's game with an ankle injury, not clear what the severity of that is yet. U. Darvish should be moving up to working off of a mound in the next few days. He's been throwing the outfield recently. Sean Newcomb had his start skipped Saturday due to rain. He will start Monday. We had the Sean Newcomb arguments last week.

Bradley Zimmer is out eight to 12 months with Wright-Labrum surgery. He was hitting 226 with an ER with an OPS below 650 before being sent down early in the season. Scotch. Yes. In a pure keeper league, is Bradley Zimmer worth hanging on to? Probably. Probably not. First, it would have to be, I think it would have to be a deep league with nearly every player kept for him to be.

somebody you consider keeping even obviously he's out for a long time now he hasn't shown as much of anything at the major league level and strikes out a ton so i i have reservations about doing that Nate Jones suffered a setback in his rehab from an arm injury at triple a he will be shut down for two weeks Carlos Correa began baseball activities Sunday Kevin kermeyer left friday's game with a bone bruise on his right foot Jose Martinez was on the bench for his fifth straight game and Cardinals GM said he could be traded to an AL team at some point, which at this point seems like the only hope for Jose Martinez. Are we dropping Jose Martinez?

I think with that comment, I mean, it's basically a kind of an admission that they don't see much opportunity for him in their lineup anymore. They're that disenchanted by his defense at first base of all places. So I think it's fair probably to drop him in a standard mixed league. Hunter Strickland is throwing weighted balls as he recovers from a broken hand. Miguel Snow was promoted to AAA. We could see him soon. That's one to keep an eye on.

And Domingo Erman was optioned to AAA after giving up four earned runs and three and two-thirds innings. A little bullpen note, Kyle Barrow was tagged for five earned runs and two-thirds of an inning against Tampa Bay. I believe he gave up a walk-off Grand Slam. He's given up like nine earned runs in his last nine. outings after being completely unhittable. He may just really enjoy living in Miami. That could be it. I'm not getting true.

You guys might trade me somewhere cold. I think I happened to AJ Burnett in like 2005. He was on the trade block and just like was awful for like four starts and then was amazing after that. Bear Claw definitely. I mean, it probably goes without saying that stretch where he literally wasn't giving up any hits for like a month and a half. he had good luck. He wasn't, he's not really that good. But you normally don't see the regression all happening at once, like happened yesterday.

Or by the way, he still has like a 240 ERA after that outing. Yeah, 245. Show him how good he had been. All right, let's finish up with some emails. Let's move through these quick. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Hello, Joker, Skoll, Panther, and Mona. I'm assuming they're bad guys in the Batman, but I have no idea.

The Batman? Yeah, the Batman. The Batman. How do you value Kyle Tucker in a head-to-head categories league with his lackluster start? Should I be holding on to him over someone like Cory Dickson? Scott,

I think you mentioned you dropped Kyle Tucker on Friday's podcast. Yeah, in a points league, I dropped him for Jesse Winker, who I like a lot more than Cory Dickerson. In a categories league where Tucker is the only, like, you expect him to steal bases. He hasn't been on base much, so we don't really know how that's going to play on the majors,

but you expect him to. I'd hold on to him over Dickerson. I'm definitely holding on to him as long as you don't have to start him this week. Those are people from Persona 5, a vidya game. Vidya. Just, just FYI. Dear Jose, Ichiro, Rajay, Jacoby, D, and Hanley. Those are the active steals leaders.

My weakest position in a 10-te-to-head OPS league, is by far the outfield. He's got a bunch of guys on the DL. How would you rank the outfielders on the wire? Ryan Braun, Jesse Winker, Aviso Garcia, Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Carlos Gonzalez, or Stephen Piscotti. Are any of them as good as Nomar Mazar,

Ronald O'Cunia, Brandon Belt, Matt Olson, or Andrew McCutcheon? So among the guys he has on his list, I would have Nomar Mazar at the bottom. I don't know if you guys agree, but he's basically done... At the bottom? Yeah, he's basically...

basically done nothing since that hot stretch in like early May. Among the ones he already owns. Yes. Okay. So he's the one I would drop, and I would be fine with dropping him for Michael Conforto or Jesse Winker. On the Winker thing, I didn't expect Schaebler back this fast.

Yeah, he's expected back Wednesday. Is Winker just going to, we expect him to just turn back into a part-time player again? Well, he was starting probably four out of every five games, even before Shebler went down. this would probably depend on the severity of Mazarra's injury for me but if I think there's a good chance he's just as good as Winker because he's playing every day yeah I think in an OPS I'm kind of hesitant to make a move here to be honest

Winker probably be my top choice to pick up followed by Nimo but I'd rather have Mazar in a categories league I think yeah in a Roto league that's where it makes the difference for me if it was points I think I'd rather have Mazar coming back from the injury, but in a Roto League, I just, I don't think he's anything special in Roto. John from Boston, trying to get Josh Donaldson as a second half sleeper. Would you give away Will Myers and Danny Duffy to get Josh Donson? No, I would not.

What? You have to give away Will Myers and something to get Josh Donaldson? That seems weird. So you value Will Myers above Josh Donaldson? Certainly in a categories league, yeah, right now. I mean, Josh Donaldson's a big, it's a big mystery. what he's, first of all, when he's going to get back and what he's going to be when he does get back.

I mean, he's getting old, and he wasn't, between D. Elston's this year, he hasn't been very productive. He said the same things last year, though. Oh, yeah. You shouldn't count on that, though. Yeah. Well, Will Myers is a really good category accumulator, you know? All right.

Eric from Costa Mesa, dear Ozzie, Scooter, and as Drewble. I have no, like, Ozzie and Scooter Jeanette, we're both on the All-Star team. I don't understand where Hasdrubal Cabrera comes in. I don't know. Rank these starting pitchers in a head-to-head points league rest of season.

Jack Flaherty, Jose Gantana, or Dylan Bundy. You did. Scott? I like Bundy more than Kentana. But I think I should probably move Flaherty ahead of them at this point. All right, Jack,

Dirtino, Chuck, Derek, and Scott. He was like 97 Yankees in front. field probably? A little later than that. Like 99. All right. Is it time to drop Ender and Ciarte? Even in a Categories league, he's sitting him against lefties needs the roster spot.

12 team head-to-head categories league. Man, Ender and Ciarte has been nothing since the start of June, really. He had a 612 OPS in June. He has a 530 OPS in July. And even April and March, he had a 639 OPS, but at least he stole 13 bases. He only has 10 steals in three months. since then and only five over the last two. Any reason to hold on to enter in CR 10? I'm fine with dropping him. It's like he's he is among the top five in stolen bases this year and obviously those are

hard to fill. Now he hasn't been running nearly as much since April so you just never know when that's going to come back and it's also weird like he's had horrible bad bit luck this year and I don't know after four months if we can still say it's just bad luck. But I feel like most players with a Bavip as low as his were giving the benefit of the doubt, too. So to me, he still profiles as like a 290 hitter, and I don't know why he hasn't done it. If it's a three outfielder league, though, I mean, you've got to make room for somebody who's actually producing. All right, email from no name. Dear Frank Doc and Ock, I have no idea.

Spider-Man? I don't know who Frank is. Professor Frank from the Simpsons. Oh, okay. But I don't know. I don't know. Head to head categories league. Hey, real quick, rank these four players.

Yo, I'm Makata, Adam Eaton, Adam Eaton, Jesse Winker, Jake Bowers. How much do you love your guys? We got a guy for each of you. I'm going to take Winker first. Wow. I'm probably going to take Bauer's second. And then I'm not sure.

I hate that this is a Categories League. If it was a points league, I'd say Bowers first. I think it's Munkata. There's just so much more upset in the Categories League than anybody else here has. But he's also the least usable. He is the worst and the best. Eaton's probably the least usable. And since it's a Categor's League, I can put Eaton last.

But Mokata's third. Like, Winker and Bowers, Bowers is number one on my top 10 sleeper hitters for this week. Winker. It's pretty hard to justify benching him right now. Would just like the record to show Y'an Munkata's been. awesome in the month of July. Okay. Just putting it out there.

We all put Munkata ahead of Eaton. I think he's number one in the category. I may put him ahead of Winker as well. I'm putting Bauer's number one, regardless of format. All right. That'll do it for today's episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast.

We'll be back on Tuesday. I believe Adam will be back in the coming days. I don't want to put a day on it, but he's supposed to be back sometime this week and I think we're all happy about that. But we'll see you tomorrow. I'll be back.

Scott will be back. Heath will probably be back. Sometime. We'll see you. Bye.