Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/02: Will Smith, Jazzy Jack Flaherty and Week 20 Help (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 2, 2019

How about Will Smith and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.!? And what do we make of Danny Salazar's underwhelming 2018 debut? We talk about all of yesterday's standouts, players who have turned their seasons around like Jack Flaherty and Josh Donaldson, big news items, what lineups look like after the trade deadline and much more including Michael Pineda and Clayton Kershaw  and 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

Domingo. Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball today podcast on what I can only assume is a Kokomo Friday. And if it's not, do not blame me, Chris Towers. Blame Adam Azer, who's editing this show, but not hosting. I'm here with Scott White. Scott, are you hoping it's a Kokomo Friday? You just blew our cover because I think there have been many occasions at the start of the podcast where we have pretended like we're hearing the music that's playing.

We don't actually. No. It's all an act. It's put in after. So, yeah, to peel back the curtain a little bit, the intro, we don't hear. We don't know what it's going to be on any given day. But the drops we do here. I do want to stress that. Yeah, the drops. We're not faking that. When regulators comes on, it's not like we're sitting here just silent, pretending we're listening to music. No, it's actually playing for us. Sure. Yeah. That's true. When he sighs, we hear that. Was that a good intro? It was fine. We're going to be talking about fantasy baseball today on fantasy baseball today. We've got Thursday standouts.

We're going to preview week 20. We've got a segment called Yikes Danny Salazar. We've got some post-trade lineup and roster notes. We've got your emails, suspensions, signs of life. So much to get to on today's episode. But first, we'll start with Thursday's stand. standouts, and I've got an obvious one. Will Smith.

Getting jiggy with it. See him court side with the Lakers. Yeah. Sitting 50-yard line at the Raiders. Two for four with a grand slam last night. It was kind of a... It was definitely a juiced ball special kind of grand slam. It looked like it should have, like, been a flare out to...

Between left field and the second basement, and then it ended up carrying about 395 feet. He is 8 for 17 with three home runs since being recalled. He has started, I believe, five of six games for the Los Angeles Dodgers since being recalled. Scott, where is Will Smith in your catcher rankings right now? Are you moving him? I know I moved him considerably on Tuesday. I meant are you moving him literally right now?

I'm not moving him literally right now. I am pulling up my rankings. Oh, the football drop-downs taking place of the baseball. drop down. And so I went into the football rankings that time of year. He's ninth. He's ninth. Just behind fellow risers Travis Darno and Mitch Garver. Okay. So that's... I moved him ahead of James McCann. I moved him ahead of Wilson Ramos. Yeah, we got a couple of questions, I think, on Twitter and maybe one on email. Should you drop Wilson Ramos for Will Smith? I would.

At this point. Wilson Ramos just seems like he's having kind of a broken season. I was going to say something. Well, and I totally forgot. Oh, no. That brings up a good point. You have him behind Travis Darno, one spot, right? Yeah.

Travis Darno has been playing a lot of first base and even some D.H for the raise when Mike Zunino is in the lineup. Does the acquisition of Jesus Aguilar change that at all, do you think? Boy, I don't know what to make of Jesus Aguilar. He started yesterday. Yeah, against a right-hander, against Andrew Cashner and had a great game. And they sent down Nathaniel Lowe. They sent down, right, which was also surprising because it seemed like a ready-made platoon partner at first base. Maybe they just make Travis Darno the regular catcher.

And that's how they proceed. But Aguilar was in the lineup against Rite. Low was gone. Darno wasn't in the lineup. I don't think. Yeah, because Choi played DH, or actually, Aguilar played D.H. Joy played first. So, yeah, that's, that whole situation is really confusing.

I'm surprised they haven't sitting down Brasso yet, Mike Brasso. Eric Sogarde, I think, got his first start since joining the team yesterday and also had a good game. There's a mess. There are so many pieces there. Yeah, I believe heading into Wednesday's game, when I was looking up for the Hazers-Aggilar trade, the four games prior to that, they had played three different players in four games at first base and three different players in four games at DH. And that's with Brandon Lau still on the IL.

So it's just, it seems like it could be tough. And that's the reason why I think I might put Will Smith ahead of Darnow. I mean, that's fair. I just think it's still too early to say because the reason I had him ahead was he looked like he had a playing time, manage over most catchers. He's playing virtually every day more than half of the time at first base. I mean, Zunino's had a terrible season. I'm not sure how he rates defensively, to be perfectly honest. I think he always rates out pretty well. Yeah. I would imagine Darno makes, you know, if he is less a part of the first base equation,

which I also think it's too early to say, then he probably starts at least two-thirds of the time at catcher. And it's becoming increasingly clear that Will Smith really is the guy for the Dodgers. Russell Martin is just a backup. So, yeah, I mean, it's a tenuous lead Darno has over Smith right now. And I could probably be talked into switching that. I just want to see a little more because I hate switching it one day and then switching back the next, you know. All right, we're going to talk a little bit more, a little bit more. a little later about Thursday's action,

but I do want to get to our email of the day, and it's from Simon. And here it is. Dear Villanelle and Eve, do you know who those are? No. Watch the television program Killing Eve.

Okay. It's extremely good. Highly recommend it. Simon writes in, what? I'm not going to watch it until it's almost over, because that's how I do these things. I think they're bringing it back

for a third season. It's very good. recommend. Okay. Simon writes, and here are a few slow starters who seem to have really turned their season around a bit under the radar. A couple of them, one of them had a big game last night. Another couple of them have just been really good lately.

Jack Flaherty, since the two bad starts at the end of June, he has a 11-7-WIP, and a K-per-9 of 11.3. He was outstanding last night. seven shutout innings, nine strikeouts. What do you make of Jack Flaherty at this point? I think he is possibly taking an ace turn here. A lot of people had hopes that he would emerge as this from the start of the year. I think Heath was even drafting him over Walker Bueller,

and he may not have been alone there. But, yeah, that's very encouraging. He's looking like a must. start and hopefully you stuck with him during some of his struggles. Yeah, hopefully you even bought low if you didn't have him at the All-Star break. This was not to toot my own horn too much, but he was one of my breakout picks for the second half, and it was mostly just betting on the talent, betting on how talented he is, what he showed last season, that he would be better than he was in the first half, and it's working out so

far. Another guy who we haven't really talked too much about, and it's been kind of a startling season is Matt Olson. Since coming back from the Hammettbone injury on May 8th, he has 22 home runs and an OPS north of 900 of 962 game pace of 49 home runs, 89 runs, 104 RBI. Where does Matt Olson sit in your first base rank? Pretty high. He's having a nice bounce back season and surprisingly given the injury he was dealing with. And we saw with both Justin Turner and Yulee Guriel last year, they came back from the same injury and their power just wasn't there for several weeks. But Olson came back homering right away.

And I have him 17th, looking at my head-to-head points rankings. He is between Jose Abraeu and Trey Mancini. Seems low. Well, I mean... I guess head-to-head points isn't his best format. But yeah, I mean, I have Yuleiguriel ahead of him in this format. I probably have guerrille behind him in Roto. And then you get to like Goldschmidt in Carnacion, you know, it's a deep position, obviously.

Yeah. Of the top 10 home run hitters since May 8th, Olson actually has the lowest home run to fly ball rate, which isn't terribly surprising because he does play in a really tough part. So that's something to keep in mind. But he's having a really nice season. Someone who, in Roto at least, could be a top 12, first baseman moving. forward. Josh Donaldson also turned his season around right on June 1st. He's got 18 home runs, third in the majors, 44 RBI, 6 in the majors, highest average exit velocity of his career,

only a 249 batting average, but with a 240 Babbat. What do you make a Josh Donaldson at this point? This is two healthy seasons in a row where it's taken him a little while, but then he's played kind of like that MVP version for a run. So two healthy seasons in a row, talking 2017. He missed 2018, yeah. But when he was healthy in 2017. Yeah, no, he was. And I don't think he's quite that good, but I do think he's, you know,

he's another guy who you're happy you stuck with. And, you know, he must start all of that. He only comes in 15th in my third base rankings, and this is the problem we find around the infield. He's 15th, but he's ahead of Ahoyanio-Swaras. head of Vladimir Guerrero, who I very much like and who looks like he's picking it up quite a bit with two home runs yesterday. And, you know, but it's, that's just the way third base has gone this year, where it's very

likely if you are starting Donaldson, you're starting him in your utility spot. All right. Let's talk about Danny Salazar, a new segment, yikes. Danny Salazar. I know both of us. were, I don't know if excited, but interested in Danny Salazar making his comeback from that shoulder injury. Hasn't pitched since 2017, but was always a high strikeout guy.

Doesn't look like that's going to work out. He pitched four innings yesterday, left with a groin injury, but even before that, it doesn't sound like he was going to pitch too much longer than that. I think he had, like, 60 pitches already. Four hits, two runs, three walks, two strikeouts. I believe only three swinging strikes and his fastball. Which actually isn't a horrible line considering. He averaged 87 miles per hour with his fat.

87.8, I think. Yeah. He topped down at 88.3. So his average fastball velocity was 10 miles an hour lower, basically, since the last time we saw him in the majors. Yeah. And that's not going to cut it. Now, there were discouraging reports about his velocity as he was rehab.

But those were... Low 90s. Yeah, those were like, oh, he's hitting 92, 93. And he had a great strikeout raid. You know, it was a short rehab assignment, but still, there was a reason to think, okay, maybe... As desperate as you are for pitching help, and we all are, I assume. You know, maybe he'll be able to overcome, like, a four-mile-per-hour drop in velocity.

The odds were against it, but maybe. Worth a flyer. But if he's not even hit... nine years. Now, you mentioned he left with the groin injury. My understanding is he was pitching through the groin injury, and that probably had something to do with it. But even so, now he has a groin injury. I don't really think it's a worthy pursuit anymore. Yeah, probably not someone we're running out to add. Which two-star pitchers are you running out to add? Who's your favorite two-star pitcher for week 20? My favorite of those available

We use 70% as the standard here, right? It's probably Griffin Canning just because I think he's the most talented of that, not because his matchups are good. He is coming off a very good start. It was against Detroit. And he's playing with fire. I mean, all two-star sleepers are.

So he's probably my favorite. Jordan Yamamoto is up there too. His matchups are a little better, and he was, I think it was good yesterday. He gave up four runs, but in six innings with eight strikeouts, actually a season high in swinging strikes. So Yamamoto's up there. I'll give you two, who I like.

Lower owned, both below 50% owned. Dylan Sees coming off is probably what was his best start in the major so far. And he gets at Detroit, worst offense and baseball, great place to pitch. And then versus Oakland, that can be a tough matchup. but I think given the start against Detroit, I like him for this week. And then I'm going to throw out Vince Velasquez, and I don't feel super comfortable about it. He's 40% owned. But he's at Arizona at San Francisco.

Those are two, I mean, at San Francisco, great place to pitch at Arizona, not a bad place to pitch at this point. So Vince Velasquez, 40%. Probably him and Dylan sees my two. favorites. Yeah, I mean, I could get behind Dylan's cease a little easier than Velasquez, just because, I mean, Velasquez is five innings and that's it. Yep. At least it has been. I mean, that's, as we learned with Zach Gallen, all it takes is one start to change that trend. But if the trend continues, it's, you're probably not getting that much value. I mean, hopefully in Categories League, you're getting some ratio help hopefully. But if that's all you're looking for, then probably go with a reliever instead.

All right. Let's talk about some big news. James and Tyone has, will have season ending flexor tendon surgery. That is not Tommy John, so that's the good news. It does carry a seven to nine month recovery period. So that would put him what? Maybe pitching back, maybe back to pitching in February in time for spring training, but on the longer end, could be April or May. So definitely tough to see. He was a disappointment this season.

Got off to a really good start, though, and then it just seemed like he wasn't right. A Tommy John guy in the past, how late would you think? What's the earliest you think you would take Jamison Tayo next season? Oh, middle rounds. I think maybe

maybe like the round 15 range just to pull a number out of the blue. I think I will probably rank him as like a top 50 or 60 starting pitcher. Yeah, and just for reference, he did have a 4-1 ERA this season that was with a 381 FIP. Good whip, good control, strikeout rate wasn't there this season.

That was the disappointing thing for him. Some of the other big news, Cole Hamill should be back from the IL on Saturday. I believe that starts against the Brewers. Are you starting Cole Hamels this weekend? Probably not. I'd rather give, especially against that lineup, I'd rather give him a chance to kind of shake off the rust. But I'm excited about him moving forward. He pretty much emerged as a must-start guy.

Second tier, obviously, but nonetheless. Ken Giles expected to return Sunday or Monday. He had that cortisone injection in his elbow, no structural damage, but it does sound like he'll be back soon. That's a good sign. And Yadie and Molina will begin a rehab assignment this Friday. He's recovering from a strained thumb has been out for. About a month, maybe a little longer.

Is he a top 12 catcher at this point when he comes back? No, I don't think so. I mean, the position has added so much. many interesting possibilities lately that that Molina's outside of that group for me. And wasn't having a very good season before. Hitting 261 for the second season in a row, but last year that was with a 436 slugging percentage this year,

368, only four home runs and 16 doubles in 71 games. I mean, it's gotten to the point now one catcher leagues. You shouldn't be having that much trouble filling the spot with somebody who's, at least useful. I mean, obviously, there are still few catchers that are legitimately high ends, in part because most of them don't play enough to be, but useful shouldn't be hard to find at this point. All right, we're going to take a quick break, come back with injuries, news, and notes, some of the post-trade, lineup and roster news, and more right after this. All right, we're back, and let's get into some more injuries, news, and notes,

some guys who could be back soon. Jesus Lazzardo through a simulated game felt good as he comes back from his shoulder injury. Is he still worth stashing? Is he in your prospects to stash column, which came out on CBS Sports Friday morning? He's not in part because there are a lot of interesting options entering the discussion there. Certainly Gavin Lux, who's hitting like 450 with a 1400 OPS since moving up to AAA. And whose emergence this season is a big part of why the Dodgers didn't make any trades at the deadline. And it's one of those things.

Like, it's, if he completes his recovery without a setback or a new injury this time, the chances of Luzardo pitching in the majors this year, I think, are pretty high. When in Lux's case, I'd put it at less than 50-50 he plays in the majors. But, I mean, the impact potential. is so high there. It's the same thing I've been saying with Louis Robert, where if you play in a league of the size that

more than 300, 325 players are being rostered, it's probably worth stashing these guys just in case. Luzardo, though, I mean, this was a simulated game where he threw two innings, not even the start of rehab assignment. I imagine he needs at least three rehab starts. So the clock is really

is really his enemy right now. And they don't have an obvious hole in the rotation right now. They did pick up a couple of mediocre starters, but Oakland has a thing for mediocre starters. So while I think it's pretty good that he pitches in the majors, the chances this year, we're probably talking like a spot starter to late in September and not really anything you're going to want to gamble your fantasy standing on. We might see him and AJ Puck pitch out of the bullpen.

and that might be my prediction in September. Marcel Ozuna could be back from the IL soon. He's been on his rehab assignment this week coming back from, I believe there's a couple of small fractures in his hand. So hopefully he gets back and it doesn't impact him too much. Hand injuries, always a little troublesome. Alex Dickerson was placed on the IL. He'd been hitting red hot for the Giants.

Was he someone who was on your radar at all? He's got an oblique injury, so it could be a little while. They were only playing them like half the time. He's their only good hitter, and they didn't seem to care. I don't know. I don't know what's going on with the Giants. They don't have any good players. They're somehow in the race, and they somehow believe they're in the race.

Kind of. I think he's got like an 820 OPS since the All-Star break. He's back, baby. That's something to get excited about for sure. All right, Josh Naylor was recalled from AAA. sounds like he might mix in in the outfield, but we think it's going to be Renfro, Marco, and Will Myers in the outfield.

We think, though, Naylor was playing more often than Myers when he was up before, not really doing anything with that playing time. But yeah, I'm assuming Myers is going to play close to every day again, and Renfro certainly. All right. And Josh Harrison's beginning a rehab assignment from that torn hamstring that he suffered early in the season. Let's look at some post-trade roster and lineup.

Yassiel Pugni was in the starting lineup on Thursday, but at some point he will not be in the starting lineup for the Indians for at least three games because he was suspended. Like nine players were suspended in that fight, six actually. Nobody really fantasy relevant, though, so it's okay, except for him. Yeah, it was weird. We didn't talk about this. Well, I don't know.

I guess I wasn't on the podcast, but how everybody knew he was traded. and yet he was still in the game, and then the fight happened. That's loyalty. You know, that's sticking up for your guys. Well, he didn't know he was traded. Jesse Winker knew he was traded. That's right, yeah. A fan told Jesse Winker mid-game.

There was a video on social media, him informing him that Pueg was traded. Bauer was acquired. It was a three-team deal. Winker had to rush to his position before he could totally make sense of it all. But it was a fun video. All right, here's some other roster moves. Nate Lowe, like we mentioned, sent to AAA for Jesus Aguilar. Framo Reyes did start for the Indians as well. And the expectation should be that he starts pretty much every day, right? Because Jake Bowers and Greg Allen were sent to AAA. Those were two of the outfield options for the Indians.

Yeah. Should be Mercado, Pueig, and Reyes in the outfield more often than not. Oh, yeah. And that's, I mean, that's a really strong outfield all of. of a sudden, the Indians went from being a joke out there to, I mean, that's a great outfield. They have a good lineup now, you know, with Jose Ramirez back to form. Not a team that you target like we were early in the season. It's interesting. And obviously there were some financial considerations to that deal.

I mean, they punted on their offseason and just bet that the rest of the A.L was so mediocre that they could be in the race in July. Well, I mean, they reconfigured their team in a way that may be. I mean, Bauer was the better player, and they gave him up. But now they went from having a bad lineup to a good one. Yeah. They still have Clevenger, and they're going to have Glover. They have Bieber. Maybe Carasco.

And, yeah, hopefully Carasco. Even if they don't have Carasco, I mean, that top three could certainly take them deep into the playoffs. Like, they're World Series contenders. And in a way, it seems like they're even more now than they were before this trade. Yeah, yeah, probably. It's a little annoying. Nicholas Castellanos batted second for the Cubs. That's an interesting one.

We do expect him to play every day, but if he's batting second for the Cubs, that could be a really nice upgrade for a guy who was probably being held back, at least a little bit by both the park and lineup that he played in in Detroit. Does he get an upgrade for you? Yeah, he gets an upgrade.

He is going to, obviously, a much better line. lineup, and that's going to help at least the RBI and the run production, especially, if he keeps batting second, even more so. The power, the home run production was lower two, but not in a way where the indicators really suggested that he couldn't recover from that. And you look at the Tigers lineup now, my goodness, they have an eight-game week this upcoming week against, I believe it's Royals and White Sox pitchers. So what should be... Is there anyone you want to start? matchup and there's nobody. There's nobody I can recommend starting in that lineup. They're calling up

Travis DeMert. Yes. I believe that's how you pronounce it. Who they acquired from the Braves in the Shane Green Deal. He had 20 homers at AAA this year. There's always been a good power hitter in the minors, but a lot of strikeouts and I'm not sure how much he's going to play. But that's the closest I'd come to recommending somebody. Yeah, I would hope he just plays every day. I would hope The track record overall is pretty mediocre, but with the juice ball this year, he's hitting for more power. MLB does obviously have that same juiced ball, so maybe there's a chance that he can become fantasy relevant for the Tigers, but not necessarily someone you need to run out and grab. The Braves did confirm that Shane Green will close for them.

Personally, I wouldn't be too surprised if Mark Melanson ends up closing at some point, just because I'm not a big believer. in Shane Green, I think there's a chance he falls apart. His FIPP suggests that he's probably been the luckiest pitcher in baseball. Yeah, but I don't think that means he's not good. Like, he's still, let's say he's 325 ERA, the rest of the way. He's still probably the Braves best relieving. I'm not chance, but there's a chance he's like a four or five ERA guy moving forward.

If he has bad luck, sure. But that's what he's been for his career too. Yeah, but I mean, he's, he's. improved his arsenal this year. I can't remember specifically what it is, but one of his secondary pitches is much more effective than it used to be. A.J. Mentor was optioned to AAA. Just an absolutely disastrous season for him.

When it seemed like there was going to be an opportunity for him to possibly take that closer's job early and really establish himself as a high-end reliever. Anything else? Austin Meadows was in. right field for the raise. So he may play in the outfield a little more often. And the one other thing, Corey Dickerson was not in the lineup for the Phillies. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Adam Haisley, who's hit pretty well for them. But Cory Dickerson, a much better hitter,

kind of disastrous in the outfield. I wonder who's going to get more playing time between him and Jay Bruce when Jay Bruce is healthy too. Yeah Yeah Do we have a timeline for Bruce I mean Bruce was It sounds like he could be back Within the next couple of weeks

I don't at the very least I don't expect Dickerson to play much against Ritees Because When he's in the lineup Either Kingery or Michael Franco is out Mikel Franco should probably just be out of the lineup Well I mean Kingery should be there

Dickerson's pretty well established As a platoon player now So I don't imagine Gabe Kapler's going debuck that trend. Either way. Just getting like a El Franco out of the lineup. He's been abysmal

since like the second week of the season. Oh my God. We have another segment coming up called Signs of Life question mark and it reminds me that we forgot to mention maybe the biggest standout on Thursday night, Scott.

Who? We're fools. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. He's here. He's real. He's spectacular. Two home runs. last night, multiple hits in seven of his last 11 games, five home runs, I believe 21 RBI or 20 RBI in his last

11 games. He's been absolutely outstanding lately. He's looked like the guy we hoped he would be. Are you buying it? Yeah. I mean, not fully yet, but this is, I believe the podcast right after the All-Star break, where of course, we saw him put on that show in the home run. Derby, you know, we were making predictions who would be the biggest gainers in the second half. And he was among mine. I foresaw, you know, kind of the way Ronald de Kuna was last year, where his first couple months on the job, he looked solid. I mean, you certainly saw the potential. He wasn't a fantasy study. And then he just took off in August and September. And I could foresee something similar happening for Guerrero since the talent, I mean, that what he did in the home run derby

left no, should have left no doubts in anybody's mind that he could be great. Yeah. And now he's, it looks like he's hopefully making that next step. Yeah, 18 games since the All-Star break, 324, 385, 592 triple-slash, five home runs, 22 RBI, only 11 strikeouts and 78 plate appearances as well. so that's a good sign. That is the guy we were hoping to get. Some other guys who are showing some signs of life lately.

J.T. Raumuto, three runs, one home run, three RBI. Yesterday and a three for five day. He's got nine hits, three home runs, nine RBI over his last five games. Where is he in your catcher ranks? He's third, I believe, behind Sanchez, who will hopefully be back soon, and Grandal. Actually, I have him behind Wilson Contreras, too, so he's fourth. But I think you can make the case for him as high second.

He's a guy who all season long has been underperforming his ex-Woba. And he's still third in points among catchers. There you go. Does get a lot of playing time. I think points of the game is probably lower, but yeah. And Dylan C. seven innings, seven hits, three runs, but two walks, six strikeouts, 27 strikeouts, and 28 innings, 14 walks. Is Dylan Cese a can-own or is he a must-own? He is a can-own. He, this was

really his first good start, 12 walks and 21 innings the previous four, and for a guy who is known to have control issues. That was the big question mark coming in. And, you know, it was a good start, but he's a good start. But he's a good start. still had less than a strikeout for inning, only 11 swinging strikes. I think we need to see a lot more than from C's, though as you pointed out, making two starts and one against the Tigers next week, that depending on how desperate you are for a two-star pitcher, it might be worth picking him up just because of that. Zach Wheeler has had two very good starts since coming back from his shoulder issue,

seven shutout innings yesterday, four hits, seven strikeouts, no one. walks. He has 14 strikeouts. Zero walks in his last two games started and five straight with at least seven strikeouts. Zach Wheeler, just a must start pitcher moving forward? Yeah, I think so. Underperformed and even if the ERA, it was right around four the rest of the way, which I think is plausible. I mean, the number of times he's going seven innings with a ton of strikeouts, like you just don't want to miss out. on having that in your lineup.

Yeah, I want to, one thing I'm going to check and see if he's changed his pitch usage a little bit. Yes, he has. He's throwing his slider, well, he threw a slider 31% of the time last night, which is much higher than normal, 50% fastballs last night as well. And that's one thing. He's relied on his fastball a lot when he does have several useful secondaries. And he's relied on the sinker a lot, which has relied on.

hasn't been as good this season. So that's something I'd be keeping an eye on. But yeah, I agree. He's someone you want in your lineup. What about Max Fried? First start with six innings since June 25th last night. He did technically pitch a complete game, I believe. Six innings, four hits.

I mean, he might have. If there wasn't a rainout, because he'd only thrown, I think, like 75 pitches in those six innings. So it was, I mean, it was a great start after not. you know, a pretty rough stretch for Freed. His previous four starts were less than six innings. He had had some issues with walks here and there. He's been kind of a frustrating pitcher because I get the feeling,

obviously got off to a great start, and he was picked up everywhere, and everybody was excited about him. And yet I get the feeling he hasn't really performed as well as he should, given that he's an elite ground ball pitcher with about a strikeout per inning. And his ex-fip is 348 compared to a 407 ERA. He had prior to yesterday start a 1.4 whip on this season, and it's like how can you start a guy with a 1.4 whip?

You know, but the Babbip is high, and that's hurt him. Plus, ground ball pitchers tend to have higher whips. But I don't know. I don't know what to make of him. I think I'm probably back on board with rostering him. after this start. But I don't know how to be excited to be about him because he's trending the wrong direction at a time

when the expected stats suggest he actually should be better than he's been to begin with. All right, we're going to take one more break and then be back to finish up Thursday's recap. Start looking ahead to week 20, plus your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBS.I.com. right back after this break. All right, let's talk about some more pitching from last night.

I've got three guys who I want to ask you if they are still worth owning. Let's start with Jordan Yamamoto. Had a up and down start, four earn runs and six innings. He did have eight strikeouts and no walks, but he's given up 15 earned runs and 14 innings in his last three starts. Is Jordan Yamamoto someone you're still owning? You did say he has two starts. Two starts.

But as is always the case with two starts. sleepers, like, you don't have to start a two-start pitcher, you know, like, if you have good pitching, it's very likely that you're never scouring the waiver wire for a two-start sleeper. You're just going with whoever you have who's making two starts, and if not, one-start guys, that's perfectly fine. Yamamoto, I think, is a little scary. He's a little scary because he doesn't miss a lot of bats, and there's a case to be made that his arson is so broad and he has so many different pitches he can feature that he's just manipulative in a way that it might make him better than traditional metrics would suggest,

but the way he was trending prior to this start doesn't give me a lot of confidence. All right. What about Andrew Cashner? And I think this is an easy answer, right? Still worth owning? He's still like 60% owned, I believe. No. It's an easy answer that he's not worth owning, you're saying, right? Yes, right. Yeah. Yeah, no, he's not good. 733 ERA since getting to Boston. That was their big trade deadline acquisition. Yeah. Way to go.

And Brad Peacock will begin a rehab assignment this weekend. Is he still worth owning? Or is he going to the bullpen? Well, Erkidi got sent down, so it's not clear who the fifth starter is from this point four. the top four, nobody's moving any of them. Now adding Granky to the mix. But the fifth guy, Peacock probably is the leading candidate for that again. They have Roheelio Armenteros, who pitched well when he got a chance to start earlier. But I would think that they're sending down a Verkidi suggests they're leaning toward going back to Peacock for that spot.

All right, here's a stud who was a stud, but in a kind of surprising. way. Last night, Clayton Kershaw just does what he does. Six innings, two-er-run runs, six hits, but five walks, five strikeouts. Nothing to be concerned about with the walks, right? No. He does have 31 strikeouts in 24 innings since the All-Star break. That's a, that's a very good sign for someone who we've kind of resigned ourselves to being a strikeout per inning or less guy. It would be really interesting if he could be a little more than that. But must-start pitchers, he top 12 for you. know? Yes. He's top 12, and it's going to be interesting next year.

If he gets through the rest of the season without any issues. That's the thing, because obviously he missed the start of the season with an injury. But the back flare-up that we had come to bake into things with him, it hasn't come up this year. And is it because? He missed time at the beginning, and so he hasn't worn down yet. I don't think so because, you know, he was tended to go on the DL at midseason at some, or the IL at midseason because of the back. Yeah, I mean, he was awesome from like July on last year.

Yeah. I think he was like fourth in baseball and innings pitched after the All-Star Break or something. So I was of the belief not just that there was skills erosion, which was evident. And, you know, I think it's still the case. But good enough, clear. with the skills he has left. And if you're not, if we're to a point now

where we shouldn't just assume that the back is going to prevent him from handling an ace workload. Since the back's been an issue. It wasn't the issue in the spring. It was a shoulder issue. Right, right. Yeah. So, I mean, he's not that old.

Yeah, early 30s. 30, 31. Yeah. So, no, Claying Herschaw, officially still good. Are there a couple of closer crises, one in Minneapolis, one in Milwaukee, closer crises in the Midwest. Sam Dyson actually came in in a safe situation last night, up four one, did not retire batter,

allowed four straight guys to reach base, two hits, two walks, technically Taylor Rogers, blew the save, but it was all un-inherited runners. Sam Dyson was charged with three of those four. The cheap-blown save, I hate that. Does Sam Dyson, though, coming in in a safe situation, make you think that there are changes afoot in Minneapolis. Yeah, I was already concerned about that because the twins acquire both Dyson and Sergio

Romo to right-handers with closing experience. Rogers being the one left-hander that they have for high-leverage situations. I mean, they seem reluctant to put him in the closer role in the first place. So while I don't think Dyson or Romo is going to become the closer, I think there's a pretty good chance it's back to being a committee. and in the case of hate, did you bring up Hater yet? Yes, that was the next one. He gave up a home run to Matt Chapman.

He has a 5-11 ERA in July. I think he's given up like five home runs in the month of July. I'm less concerned about performance for him than usage because this is, this was the fourth time. I mean, this was the eighth inning where he gave this up, right? This was the fourth time in July that he's. functioned in more of a setup role than as the closer. Like brought in before the ninth inning with no intention of pitching the ninth inning. Got a hold.

I don't know. I guess he didn't get a hold yesterday, but he has a few holds in July. I thought we were past this with him. They had been using him like a traditional closer pretty much April through June. Yeah, he only has two saves since July 22. And there hasn't really been a clear, okay, this guy's going to pitch the ninth inning instead. So, I mean, Jeremy Jeffers, I know has gotten a save. I believe Freddie Peralta has at least one in his fan as well.

So it's not like there's some other Brewer's reliever. I think you should pick up. But Hater was, as a closer, he was top three probably in fantasy. That's how you should regard him. if he's only going to get like half of the save chances going forward, he might drop outside the top 10. That's what I was going to ask. Over under 50% of the saves, 50.1% of the saves for Josh Hader rest of season in Milwaukee.

Yeah, I'll take the over, but it's looking like less than, what would a typical closer get 90%? Yeah, you'd guess 80 plus. Let's talk about some not studs being not studs, but not bad. ads either. This is my Adam Azer impersonation. Michael Paneda, six innings, seven hits, one earned run, one walk, three strikeouts. Three strikeouts, obviously the surprising part of that. He has allowed three earned run or fewer in six straight, 223RA, and a strikeout just under, like a fraction under of a strikeout per inning in that stretch. Where are you out on Michael Paneda?

Yeah, I'm not sure. He needs to be owned, and he's up over 80% ownership right now, so that's that's fine. But I was initially excited because he was throwing harder. He was getting more swinging strikes. The secondary pitches seemed to be playing up with the increased velocity. And then for a few starts now, the velocity is kind of normalized again. And yesterday, he had only five swinging strikes, which is a bad number. Three strikeouts and six innings, not good either.

I'm not confident he can. can sustain the pace he's been on lately because the changes that seem to be fueling it are kind of normalized again. So I'm a little concerned. All right. And one last question about yesterday. Does Jake Arietta need to be owned at all? He's 80% owned still, which seems wild to me. He hasn't done six innings in his start since June 30th. He's been dealing with bone spurs in his elbow. Yesterday, he said it was really rough pitching with the elbow. only give up one run in four innings, five strikeouts, but 444 ERA, high whip,

Panetta or Arieta? Panetta, definitely. Arieta I have no hope for. Cease or Arieta. Sees? Freed or Arieta? Freed. Yamamoto.

Even Yamamoto, there's nothing. Jesus Lizardo. It just depends on whether you need starts or you need upside, but there is no, nothing. redeeming in Ariad his line. There's nothing he does well including even eating innings like you're saying. So

there's, yeah, there's nothing there's no reason to hold on to Ariad. I'm amazed that his ownership is that high. All right, let's go through the two-star pitchers who are owned in fewer than 80% of leagues. Not going to go through all of them, but I want you just tell me

starters. We're going to go real quick. Rick Parcello, Kansas City, Los Angeles Angels. Oh, gosh. He's been awful. Yeah, he's been awful. Probably a sit even with the KC matchup in there. Jordan Yamamoto at New York versus Atlanta.

Like, I think he's one of the best sleepers, but I would prefer not to have to start him. Zach Plyzac versus Texas at Minneapolis. No. Andrew Cashner, easy no. Doesn't matter who he's playing, although it is Kansas City and the Angels. Jeff Samarja versus the Nationals versus Philadelphia.

It's kind of interesting. Two home starts. Yeah. I could put him under the sleeper label, but like with Yamamoto, I'd rather not have to do that. Anabal Sanchez at San Francisco at the Mets. A couple of big parks.

I don't really believe in the success Sanchez has had lately, but I think it's fair to consider him a sleeper. Griffin Canning at Cincinnati at Boston. Yeah, I already called him a sleeper. I mean, I wouldn't quite say yes, but he is probably my favorite two-star sleeper. We're just going to skip over Danny Salazar to Nelson Lamett at Seattle Home versus Colorado. Two-star weeks, the only time you're going to get more than five innings out of him.

Well, yeah, but not going to get a win, probably. Chris Bassett, who has been a lot better lately at the Cubs, at the White Sox. He has been better. It would have to be a deep league. Dylan Sees-Vinsulasquez. We've already identified as them as maybe. Maybe sleepers. Jordan Lyles at Pittsburgh versus Texas.

Revenge game? No. Sandy Alcantara at the Mets versus Atlanta? No, thank you. Anybody owned in 21% of leagues or fewer who you'd even consider in a 15-team league? Does it look like that? No, it's one of those weeks where you can find two-star sleepers. There are a number of them out there.

but there's nobody to really endorse with gusto. No gusto for these guys. Have you done your sleeper hitters? I haven't. Do you have the best matchups? I don't. I have some good matchups that I could put it up there. No, we can skip it.

We'll just leave them wanting something for Scott White's sleeper hitters column on CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. I'll mention Friday afternoon. I'll mention a few tidbits. All right. Let's get some tidbits. So, as I mentioned, the Tigers... Love bits of tid.

The Tigers play eight matchups if you can find one you want to use. They play eight games. The Marlins also play eight games, but it's similar situation. Maybe Garrett Cooper, although I doubt he actually starts all eight of those games. Yeah, Garrett Cooper, maybe Jorge O'Hawro. He won't start all eight, but maybe five. Right. And they're not great matchups because it's the Mets and Braves' rotations they're facing.

I do like the Brewer's matchups. I do like the Yankees matchups. And there you could find some sleepers in those lineups, Trent Grisham. If he is irregular for the Brewers, he looks like a fine sleeper for this week. Looking like nothing but Ritey's, so Eric Thames, I'd call a sleeper this week. For the Yankees. Tachman, I think, is going to stay in the lineup even with Brett Gardner returning because now they've lost Voight in Carnacion is just going to play first base.

So they got D.H spot open for another outfielder. So I think Tocchman would be a sleeper for them. Maybe Gardner himself, assuming he does come back this weekend. So those are some tidbits. All right, let's close out the show in the week with some emails. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com is the email address if you want to get read on the show. Jason and Boston writes in, what do we think of Elo Jimenez as a keeper going forward in a points league,

hitting for power but not providing anything else. Is he still a quote-unquote can't miss prospect? Can he be a top-thirty hitter next year or is he a few years away? I think it's totally unfair to assess a player by his rookie season. I don't think really anything a player does as a rookie should, should damage his long-term appeal. It's hard not to feel like, feel underwhelmed with, you. Delo Jimenez, though. And I think a similar, like, what it really reminds me of is Jorge Soler,

who if you look at what he was doing in the minors before the Cubs called him up, very similar. He was a better minor league hitter than Chris Bryant was. And then he gets to the majors, and the strikeout rate is way up. And, you know, the power is really all he's providing and not enough of it. And eventually, you know, he's obviously become worthwhile with the Royals. But I'm a little, I'm a little concerned about Jimenez, but not wanting to really act on that concern because it could backfire. The one thing I will say is he does have a 226 ISO, striking out too much, of course, but only a 264 Babbat. And obviously he's not athletic at all, but still probably someone we should expect to have a higher than at least a league average BABIP, I would expect. Based on what he did in the minors, he was consistently, you know, 344 or higher.

in the minor. So that's one thing I would say is that I don't think the 264 BABIP is particularly real. All right. Justin, I could really use your help here, guys, in a head-to-head 12-person category league, we can keep players for up to three years. I have Trout. I have to trade Trout this year. He goes down with the ship for my playoff run. Who will be better for my run this year and more importantly the following two years? Christian Yelich or Ronald Acuna. I got to say Yelich. I mean, Acuna might be top five, but Yelich is contending with Trout for the top overall player at this point. And young enough that I don't see him dropping off. All right.

Our last one, Zach in Houston, Dear Danny, Rusty Linus, Bashar, Ruben, Frank, Saul, Del, Virgil, Turk, and Yen. We've never had that many people on the podcast. This is ridiculous. Do you know who they are? No. Ocean's 11. Okay. Daniel Ocean.

I mean, if he named the actors, maybe I could have gotten it. I think Linus was Matt Damon's character, probably. Did he carry a round of blankets? I wasn't sure what this was. I had to look it up. I'll be honest. They're included in the email. All right, Zach and Houston,

I am currently in line to make the playoffs in a head-to-head points league with four weeks to go, and he's trying to think ahead on how he can improve his pitching. Several high-level pitchers were recently dropped. Their injuries are setbacks. Those are Brandon Woodruff,

Tyler Glass-Nown, Luis Severino, and Luke Weaver. Based on projected timetable to return, roll upon return, and projected impact for fantasy. How would you rank the above in terms of who I need to target most aggressively again? Brandon Woodruff, Tyler Glass now, Luis Severino, and Luke Weaver. Who is your rank them for stash purposes this season?

Woodruff, I think, has the easiest chance of making it back in the role he left. But we're talking, I don't know, some of these guys could make it back early September. So, yeah, Woodruff number one, Severino, I think, has moved to. to number two since Glassnow suffered a setback, but Glassnow would be third in Weaver, who I haven't really seen much of anything in terms of progress from he's last. Yeah, Severino could begin mound work soon. He's been on a throwing program for two weeks.

And yeah, I really haven't seen much on Luke Weaver. It doesn't sound like he's even started throwing yet. The only one I'm that hopeful for, honestly, is Woodruff. The others, you know, if you have a free IEL spot, obviously doesn't hurt to keep them around. There aren't many pitchers of their caliber out there. But Woodruff is the only one I just absolutely would not drop. All right.

That's going to do it for Friday's episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. For Scott White, I'm Chris Towers. Come back soon.