Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/05: Weekend Roundup (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 5, 2019

Hitters (2:00) and pitchers (10:15) to add! Adam Duvall, Willie Calhoun and a bunch of guys who are widely available. Pitchers include Scott Oberg and maybe taking a chance on Aaron Sanchez ... Big news from around MLB (18:30) including our thoughts on star prospect Gavin Lux and if Isan Diaz is worth adding. Then we look at the Most Added list (26:40) ... Bullpen updates (30:30)! There's a lot to look at from over the weekend. Is Shane Greene messing up this opportunity? We also read your emails (35:00) and we finish with some SP talk (39:30) and a look at today's matchups (47:10) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. We're fantasy. Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. All right. Here we go.

Fantasy baseball today. Guess what Scott White? I've got the playoffs starting in one of my leagues today. Wow. Uh-huh. exciting. Very exciting. A little early.

Well, you know, it feels early, but the thing is I don't like ending at the end of the season. Like September's stupid. You should probably end early September. I mean, it feels very much like we're in wind-down mode here. Like, it's pretty much just you and me most of the time doing the podcast. Right. But there's one third of the season left. Is there really?

Yeah. Well, the postseason is going to last four weeks. I set it up, so the first round is a week. The second round is a week. The finals are two weeks. And I have a buy, thankfully. So, yeah, you're right. I mean, it's early, but I think the podcast league playoffs start next week.

The podcast points league. Does it? Yeah, yeah, because it's two rounds per week or two weeks per round. And I don't, I just don't like going. You left out the last two weeks then? Yeah, I think I did. Yeah, I just don't like going to the end. I just, I don't appreciate that kind of baseball.

We don't play week 17 in football. We shouldn't play to the end in baseball. It's it, unless it's Roto. Scott disagrees. Not apples to apples. Not quite. Well, anyway, welcome to the show. You make a lot of ad drops this weekend?

I wouldn't say a lot. About the usual amount. Yeah. It wasn't a quiet weekend for ad drops, I don't feel like. Yeah, I agree. I thought it was pretty interesting. There are a lot of, like, deep league guys. Do we know how to pronounce...

The guy that Marlins are calling up, Isan? Isan Diaz. Yesan? Okay. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. He's got it. Well, I'm going with Scott. If it's wrong, it's Scott's fault. I'm not the expert on pronunciations usually.

I usually am, but you know, stupid football season. Taking up all my time, he's up. Marlins are calling him up. I'm sure he's going to be popular. But give me one or a few hitters to add. Well, I think the hitter, I'll say I'm most interested in adding, although Bo Pichette is still surprisingly available.

I'm going to say Adam Duvall, who has five home runs and eight games since rejoining the Braves, has clearly displaced Austin Riley in the lineup now. I think Riley's only started twice during that time, and it was more in Enciarte's place than Duval. Duval. Duval's played every day. 29 home runs at AAA before getting called up. Of course, he's twice been a 30 homer guy in the majors before.

On all or nothing, tight, but not quite the plate discipline issues Riley has encountered. And I think he'll be a better version of what Riley turned out to be. And certainly in five outfield, really, certainly anywhere where you need home run help, he's a good player to add. Cool. All right. So that's Adam DuBall. And I added a few hitters in deeper leagues.

I added Mike Talkman. Yep. He's in my top 10 sleeper hitters for this week. Yeah, oh, they have great matchups. The Yankees have great matchups. Mostly righties, I believe. He's a lefty. They're on the road, but they're at Baltimore

and they're at Toronto. And look, he's just hitting well. So Aaron Hicks is on the IL and, gosh, Glaber. They're all hurt. Everybody's hurt. So he's going to play. I would look at Trent Grisham. He's owned in some of those deeper leagues.

Yep. He only started two of four games since getting called up, which is pretty disappointing, but he had three hits in a home run yesterday. Well, Scott, he sat against two lefties, so I think that's going to be the case, but I think they have only one lefty on the schedule this week. So I'll double check that right now.

I think it's two when I looked at it yesterday. But, you know, that's always subject to change. There are 14 games today on Monday. Okay, yeah, so it looks like Grisham has two lefties in a six-day week. That's not great. That's not great. That's not great.

But I feel like if he has more games like yesterday, I mean, he was putting up ridiculous numbers at AAA, even by 2019 AAA standards. Always been a good on-base guy that really sets him apart beyond just the power and everything else, which he provided en masse too. But, yeah, I think if he keeps making impressions like he, did yesterday, he might just find his way

into the lineup on an everyday basis because you don't like to. If you feel like a guy is really going to be an instrumental part of your lineup long term, you don't want to kind of put him in a position where he can't develop. And Grisham batted ninth for the Brewers in his major league debut.

He batted leadoff on Sunday, and he had a great day, three for four with the homer. Other hitters that I was looking at, Josh Van Meter. I mean, I already own him in the deeper leagues that I want to own him in. And he's not, he didn't hit great this weekend or this past week, but he stole three bases. So three bases in his last four games. Like I said, I said on a previous show last week, he's got like 15, 20 steals, you know,

based on the minor leagues, but maybe he'll run a little bit more. I don't know. But he's eligible everywhere and Van Meter's 37% owned. So that's another guy was looking at. Yeah, he has sat against the two lefties. The Reds have only faced two lefties all month. He was out of the lineup for those games, both for this week. So that's a little disappointing.

But, yeah, I mean, quadruple eligible. He's hitting well. I think he's a fine pickup. Cool. All right, so those are some of the hitters. I'll tell you, another guy I picked up, J.D. Davis. That's what I'm not quite as excited about, but he actually, his numbers are pretty good for the Mets. Dominic Smith's on the IL.

He's playing. I picked up these guys in five outfielders leagues and deeper roster leagues, but I don't know. Look, I saw Oscar Mercado in one of my leagues. I tried to pick him up. He got claimed. He's like 80% owned. I don't know who to recommend that's like shallower leagues. So most of the hitters I've been adding have been deeper league guys like J.D. Davis and Josh Van Meter.

I mean, J.D. Davis has been playing every day here lately since, basically since Dominic Smith went on the D.L. I.L. The I.L. What? The I.L. Scott. Come on. I.L.

Sorry. Yeah. Jeez. Eh. Davis is it's only my whole life referring to it as the DL. Come on. Yeah, 297 with an 850 OPS on the year for J.D. Davis. I imagine he doesn't really profile as a 300 hitter,

but there's some power. There's some on-base skills there. I will add a deeper league option that I picked up in a couple of deeper leagues. Travis DeMerey. I mentioned him on Friday. Tigers new everyday outfielder, it looks like, with Nicholas Castiano getting traded. He was part of the Shane Green trade coming over from the Braves and certainly has power potential. It may strike out too much to make full use of it, but talking to deeper league context, certainly worth a flyer.

JD Davis, by the way, is third base in outfield eligible. DeMert is one of the call-ups I wanted to talk about. I got the guy that we should have been talking about. We haven't. Willie Calhoun. he's like 38% owned. And I'm not sure he's going to play. I think you might have to check the lefty matchups with Texas as well.

But he's going to play a lot and he's been really good. Willie Calhoun. He has been playing more than both. And it looks like he started against three lefties last week. So that doesn't seem like an issue. He's been playing more regularly than both Hunter Pence and Shinsu Chu. So it seems like the Rangers are fully invested in having, him develop on the job now, which in those previous stints in the majors, wasn't the case.

And yeah, he has good power potential for a guy who really doesn't strike out all that much. He's up to eight home runs now and 127 at Bats, and that's always been the story for him. Like, he had a down year in the minors last year and kind of fell off the prospect radar a bit. But the rest of his minor league career, that's who he's been, a guy who hits a lot of home runs, but doesn't strike out that much. And that's an interesting skill set. He has been striking out, I think, kind of a lot lately. But I don't really know what's a lot anymore these days, but he is hitting.

I don't know. I'm surprised Willie Cahoon. He's now 41% owned. I'm surprised he's not more owned. So we've talked about Adam Duvall. It's only a 20% strikeout rate on the year. That's good. Not bad. Not bad.

Adam Duvall, Josh Van Meter, de Merritt. Demerite, Grisham, Calhoun. These guys are pretty damn available. Who's your favorite? Is it Duval over Calhoun? I think so, just because he's more proven. It was weird what happened to him after he got traded last year. The Braves kind of tried him in this part-time role,

and he didn't take to that at all. And then he spent the whole year in the minors doing what Adam Duval does. And now he's back, and he looks forward. fine again. So I guess it's him, but it's a close call between him and Calhoun. I'm glad you brought up Calhoun because I feel like we've talked about him so much that people should already have the story with him, but apparently not looking at his ownership rate. We got a lot of bullpen news to talk about. So when we talk about pitchers to add, you know, you could definitely look at Seth Lugo, obviously Scott Oberg, see how we feel about Aaron Sanchez.

But who are some pitchers that we should be adding? So Oberg is the top of the list for me. I know normally we go starting pitcher here. But this has been long overdue, the Rocky swapping out Wade Davis for him. Of course, Oberg filled in for Davis when he had an oblique injury earlier this year and got four saves. He looked fine in the closer roll. But Davis got an ERA verging on seven now, gave a five run runs in Friday's game.

And Bud Black, he gave him. at one of those for now things. We're going to try Oberk for now, which I feel like is always what they say. Yeah, I don't... I can't imagine the way Wade Davis's year is gone. It really dates back to last year. I'm just not looking like a closer caliber

reliever. It's at home. It's Coorsfield. He's just absolutely terrible at Coorsfield. Yeah, I mean that... Is that what this place show? Oh my goodness. Like, completely drastic for Wade Davis. Yeah. Terrible. Oberg has an ERA like 160 though I mean the K rate is a little low

It's been better It started off this year It was it was I remember when they were first trying him in the closer roll When Davis was heard I was like this doesn't look like it's going to go well And then the strikeouts picked up from there And it it looked a little better But yeah I feel like I feel like

Oberg should do a good job And I think there's a 80% chance he keeps the job the rest of the year Cool The most added pitcher in CBS leagues is someone that I don't really think should be the most added pitcher. He's actually the most added player. It's Dodgers pitcher Dustin May, who was a little underwhelming in his major league debut.

Five and two thirds, nine hits, only three strikeouts, not a lot of swinging strikes. I watched some of his start. I didn't really, like, they call him Ginger Guard. It's hilarious, but he doesn't really have, like, a blazing fastball like Cinderguard. Well, he picked at 98. All right, I mean, he's got a good fastball, but he ain't know his Cinderguard. Yeah, he's not no sense. Like, you need to understand what kind of pitcher he is.

He's not big bat misser type. He was, like, right at a strikeout per inning. I think he was at less than a strikeout per inning for his handful of starts at AAA. He's more of a ground ball specialist. I just don't think he's going to be in the rotation that long. Forget about all this stuff. Yeah. Look, they're dropping like flies right now, Stripling and Ryu are both on the IL, but they're both short term.

So Ryu's only expected to miss one star. stripling, getting closer. I'm not sure that I want to start Dustin May in a one-star week against St. Louis, against Jack Flaherty. I'm not sure. If he sticks to the rotation, he could face the Marlins in his next outing, but it's a one-star week for Dustin May and...

Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think it's a problem to pick him up. You just have to understand the context, which we're laying out here. I mean, in 2019, you pursue upside wherever it shows up at starting pitcher. This is the Dodgers top pitching prospect.

He has a job right now. Who knows where it goes? You're probably right. Probably just gets one more start. But maybe somebody else goes on the I. Maybe May is, you know, throws six, you know, three hit innings next time. And everybody's trying to pick him up then. Yeah.

It just depends what kind of, if you have a roster spot to play with or not, if pitching is your greatest area of need, which it probably is. I don't think it's a bad idea to take a flyer on Dustin May. Okay, and I'm just realizing right now, Scott, that I screwed up one of my leagues and I have to go be a commissioner real quick.

But other pitchers that we need to talk about, Adam Savali, making a start for the Indians today. He's replacing Aaron. Aaron Savali, sorry, I'm very selfish. Made him an Adam. Aaron Savale for the Indians, he's one of the most out of pitchers as well. How do you feel about him?

not good. He made it start early this year. It was six strong, six strikeouts, all of that. But he's not really a strikeout pitcher. And he did have good numbers of AAA, but I don't think it's the kind of skills set that's going to translate to the majors. Okay. Oh, sorry, you're done.

All right, so we can skip over him. What do you think about Aaron Sanchez? If Aaron Sanchez, if the Astros can turn him around this quickly and make him really good, there needs to be a formal investigation into the Astros. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, that's kind of the angle Trevor Bauer was taken, right? Yeah, yeah, totally. It's funny.

It's funny how quickly it had like, oh, maybe the Astros figured something out with Aaron Sanchez and they're going to make him good. Of course, we weren't even really sure when they acquired him that they were planning to use him in the rotation as opposed to the bullpen. But, and I don't want to overreact because a lot of bad pitchers have thrown six no-hit innings before, you know. With six strikeouts, two off, like, yeah, I don't know. It wasn't a crazy eye-popping stuff. other than the fact that he gave him no hits. But he did do the kinds of things that you often see pitchers do when they go to the Astros, which is emphasize the four seamer more.

And in his case, emphasize the curveball more, which has a very high spin rate. It should be a really effective curveball. And he kind of threw it more in this one at the expense of the change up. He may be on to something. And it may be worth, again, you pursue upside wherever it reveals itself. I'd probably prioritize him over Dustin May right now. now, but I'm not, you know, let's not go overboard and say he's going to be an ace now. All right, that's Aaron Sanchez.

I'll give you two more pitchers that I'm looking at right now. Alex Wood, 53% own. Yeah. It's been okay. It's been fine. He needs to be added. Yeah, he's got a 9.8 swinging strike rate in two starts, but I don't think he's ever had a 4ERA in a season. I said it on the show last week.

I think that's the stat. It's just having a really good career and 53% owner Alex Wood. Good to keep him to fall on the ground. Limits walks. Not a huge strikeout guy, but he's better than like Miles Michaelis type as far as that goes. Pretty good. And I know he just got crushed.

And I knew he would get crushed. And I didn't start him because of it. Danny Duffy does not do well against great teams. And he was awful. He gave up four home runs at Minnesota. he has Detroit this week. So one-starred streamer. 34% own Danny Duffy at Detroit.

Here are his upcoming matchups. At Detroit, you could start. St. Louis, you probably sit. At Baltimore, you could start. Oakland, pretty iffy. Baltimore, you start. At Miami, you start. If you believe in Danny Duffy,

which takes a little bit of gumption. You could think about starting Duffy in four of his next six starts. You have a lot of gumption at him. I guess I do. You believe in Danny Duffy. I guess I do. I know.

Okay, so we got to talk about some big news, some bullpen stuff, all coming up right after this quick break on Fantasy Baseball today. All right, we're back on Fantasy Baseball today, and here's the news you need to know. Brought to you by that should have been sponsored.

News you need to know, but it's not sponsored. Robinson Canoe likely going on the IL with a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Edwin Diaz could be losing his closers role. And yeah, we've been talking about it a lot. Seth Lugo is having a really good year. Max Scherzer is unlikely to be activated today. Scott, start or sit Max Scherzer this week. No, I think he's in need of a little bit of a buildup now

with the amount of time he missed. Yeah. I'm trying to take a closer look at Aaron Savale here because I feel like I may have... Uh-oh. You screwed up? I may have underestimated him. Okay, all right.

Well, you got time. The AAA numbers have been better than he was in any other point in his minor league career. He was pretty boring before this year, but he's had surprisingly good strikeout games, both at double A and AAA this year. It's just been inconsistent, very up and down with the strikeouts, so I'm not sure what to make of it. Okay. Well, I mean, is he long for the rotation? because Klobber.

Yeah, I think they've got room for him. Yeah. If he's good. We'll see. I'm probably not anxious to pick him up before he starts. But, you know, his first major league start, however many weeks ago, it was good. And if this one's good, too, you know, maybe. So that's Aaron Savale for the Cleveland Indians.

Chris Bryant sat with knee sort of Sunday, but he should be fine. Edwin Carnaccio broke his wrist. And Louis Severino is going to return as a starting pitcher. That's good. And Aaron Hicks is on the IL with a flexor strain. That's bad. And Luke Voight may not need surgery for a sport tournia. That could be good, but he's still going to be out a while.

So, you know, a guy who wins in this whole Yankees mess is Giovanni Urchella, who changed his swing a little bit. Oh, and Glabertores left with a core issue. And actually, Gio Orchella left with an injury, too, but he's just day-to-day, it seems. Urchella is having a very nice year. Mm-hmm. You know, Alex Rodriguez was talking about it on the broadcast last night. AAA hitting coach for the Yankees got Urchella to finish his swing.

He didn't really elaborate on it much more, but there's something there. And I'm buying into it at least, again, in those deeper leagues. But I think what was hard to buy into was just he wasn't getting regular playing time. I think as long as he's healthy, he fouled a few balls off his leg yesterday. I think Erchella is going to play pretty much every day. day. Yeah, and I mean, I'm not sure how many people remember, but he got a chance to be the Indian starter at third base a few years ago, and there was some excitement about him then because

he was a very good contact hitter. In the majors this year, 16% strikeout rate, which is great. Just the fact that he's developed some power here has helped it play up. And yeah, if he's an everyday player, and third base is a tough position to really stand out at, to really become impactful at. But he's an 882 OPS. 882 for Giovanni or Shella.

And he's probably not quite that good, but, you know, low to mid-800s, I could see him being. It's just, yeah, I mean, it's probably more of like a roto lineup or a deeper league where you actually have a need for him it's 43% own all right yeah uh would you rather have migelsohn oh or geo or shella i think i'd rather have seno unless batting average is the bigger need for you than home runs ladd s p dodger's starting pitcher Gavin lux could be called up scott did you say starting pitcher

What is he? Is a short stop? That's what I thought. Okay, no, so then it can't be him. Who's their top starting pitcher? Or is it Gavin Lux? That could be called up. I mean, there's been some talk that, where did you see this?

I don't remember. Gavin Lux is doing incredible things at AAA, like hitting 450 with an OPS of like 1400. is he's 21 years old but like they're obviously can you know they might not turn down the help regardless of that it was him that I saw that could be called up yeah yeah Corey Seeger's been pretty bad but I can't imagine that's moving him yeah that's the thing I mean there's not really a place where Gavin Lux would play I don't see the moving on from Corey Seeger and it may You know, the Dodgers obviously like to mix a match a lot,

so maybe they move Muncie around some and give Lux starts at second base. I'm sure Corey Seeger could get some days off. Yeah, if Muncie plays first base, then you could just get Jock Peterson out of the lineup. Well, they've already said Jock Peterson isn't playing first base anymore. But now he doesn't play the outfield. Now you put Bellinger in the outfield. You put Muncie at first base. You put Lux at second base.

Yeah. I mean, they like to mix things. You got, like, that's an exciting picket, Gavin Lux. that's more exciting than Urchella or Sineau. It might be more exciting than Bo Bichette. So if it's that, if it's sounding that plausible,

they could get him called up. I've been, they could call him up. I've been kind of a skeptic just because of how full they already are of good hitters. You've got to pick him up and stash him because he has,

he's been incredible. David Dahl is on the I.L. with a high ankle sprain. Wilson Contreras is on the IEL. with a hamstring injury, and Sam Dyson's on the IL with right biceps tendonitis. He got off to a terrible start with the twins. Dyson's on the IL, hopefully back soon. Isan Diaz for the Marlins, second baseman getting called up.

What's your level of interest in Diaz? Not as high as Lux, but if you need a second baseman, I think he's probably going to play every day the rest of the way. He definitely has power. cut down on a strikeout rate quite a bit of AAA this year, which helped him take off. And this is a guy who, like, when he was a teenager in the Diamond Vaks organization,

eventually got traded to the Brewers and the Gene Cigura deal. He showed up on top 100 list back then. And so I'm a little surprised with his performance at AAA. He hasn't gotten more attention from all the prospect gurus out there. And it's hard to tell exactly how much of it is triple A. AAA juiced ball fueled and how much of it is development. But the fact that the strikeout rate was lower, I mean, the juiced ball has nothing to do with that. So I'm interested, and clearly the Marlins think he's deserving of this opportunity.

Would you rather have a red-hot-ish Rognette Odor? Or a frustrating Cabin Bigio. Or what's in the box with Isan Diaz? Probably what's in the box, though, I mean, I don't... What's in the box? Like, I'm not totally just interested in Odor who had a lengthy hot stretch in the middle of last season.

Yes. You know, it might be having another one of those. It's been close to a month now, I think, where he's been crushing it. Yes, what he does. Yeah. 64% owned. And I'm not totally giving up on Vigio.

It's just... I don't know. I don't know. That's a close call. It's better, like, if... I might go. with Odour right now if I was just looking for whatever production

I could get at that position but I'd probably be picking up Diaz too for when Odora inevitably cooled off. Okay Scott so if we take a look at the most added list we probably have covered most of the guys that we need to talk about but Aaron Sanchez, excuse me, after Aaron Sanchez

Jeff Samarja is among the top 10 most added. He's a two-star pitcher. He's now 80% own. He's got the Nationals and the Phillies this week. Do you trust Jeff Samarjan and two home starts? I wouldn't say I trust him, though

in a points league, I think if you're really wanting that extra start, you could roll the dice on him the way he's pitched lately. Okay. Michael Waka is starting today. So is Michael Waka a two-start pitcher? And he's listed as

at the Dodgers and home against Pittsburgh. I believe he is a two-star pitcher. I'm not that interested in him. He's going to get absolutely destroyed at the Dodgers. Other players on the most added list. Shaw Manaya. Sean Mania had a little bit of a setback. It is not looking like a huge deal,

but he did have a setback. He's going to push Mania's return back a little bit. Zach Plyzac is on the most added list. He must be a two-star pitcher. Yeah. At Texas and at Minnesota. Like this is not going to go well. I don't think so.

No. Don't do it. I would not advise people using Dan. Zach. Zach, please Zach. I wouldn't advise using Dan, please, Zach either. I don't think he has much left, but. Probably not.

No. And Seth Lugo, way down on that list. You should be looking at Lugo, 22% owned. More news and notes. Corey Klober could begin a rehab assignment on Thursday. Danny Salazar is on the aisle with a groin strain. Atlanta released Luis Gohara. Jamison Tyone is out for the season.

John Means is going to come off the IL on Wednesday. He will start against the Yankees. Vince Velasquez played the outfield and he played it beautifully, Scott. At least I only saw the highlights. I don't know if there were any low lights. Did you see Vince Velasquez out there? I didn't. I didn't.

Wow. He made like a tumbling catch, very nice catch. And he threw out at least one guy at the plate. It was really cool. Wow. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. Extra innings.

It was right after Matt Carpenter bunted for a double against the shift. I'm sure that's when it happened, yeah. I mean, he's two starts this week, the last kid. Yeah, he is. Yeah, as long as he didn't throw his arm out in left field. Probably more advisable than Plesack or... The shark?

Or Waka. Oh, or Waka, okay. Not some Arja. Ashervogel Houski Kowski Houski may not miss a start due to a hip injury Michael Paneda is on the IL

with the tricep strain Mitt-Merryfield set a record ish Did you say Mitt Werryfield? Yeah a little bit Well here's what Whitmerfield did

He went 135 straight games without back-to-back hitless games So if you can digest all that That was the second longest streak in the American League Since 1946

According to Sport Radar Yanni Trino's left with the finger inflammation. They're hopeful he won't have to go on the IL. Philadelphia sent Mikel Franco to the minors. Scott Kingery started at third base on Sunday with Corey Dickerson in left field. Byron Buckson's on the IL. Andrewton Simmons is on the IL. Griffin Canning's on the IL.

Hector Nairis, if you're wondering where the Hector he was last week. Hectorneros was suspended three games. You can ignore Nick Pavetta's save on Saturday. Mike Fultenevich is pitching pretty well at AAA, so that might be someone to take a look at. He could be back soon. U. Darvish pitched through illness on Sunday, and that is it.

We say welcome back to Matt Carpenter, to Marcelo Zuna, to Stephen Piscotti, to C.J. Crone, and to D. Gordon. And now we look at the bullpen. All right, Archie Bradley, Scott, 26% own. He's gotten the last two saves for Arizona, 11 straight scoreless appearances. Would you rather have Archie Bradley or Scott Oberg?

Oberg. Oberg. I mean, Archie Bradley's season numbers are still awful. and I don't think there have been the same declarations that have been made for Oberg but even if there were, definitely Oberg. Would you rather have Archie Bradley or Jose LeClerc? I think LeClerc. I'm stubbornly still optimistic about LeClerc.

He did get the save Friday, but two hits, two runs, two walks. Still, I'm going LeClerc. Are you worried about Shane in the Braves bullpen losing his job That was funny, too. The instantaneous way that the narratives were met with both him and Aaron Sanchez. Because the narrative for Shane Green was, yeah, he's not nearly this good,

and the Braves shouldn't have paid for him. By the brave didn't pay that much for him, and he's better than anything they have in their bullpen. But was he 110 ERA good or whatever he was sporting? No. It was due for some regression there. but a blown save in his first appearance with the solo home run, a three-run homer in a tie game yesterday.

That's obviously couldn't have begun his Braves career any worse than that. However, it doesn't sound like he's at any risk of losing that job, and I suspect he'll put together a scoreless inning here. Next time now, bold prediction. Next time out, scoreless innings. And a save, and a save for sure. And a save. Toronto reliever Derek Law got a two-inning save.

a two-inning save on Friday, but they still are without their closer Ken Giles, but he's close to coming back. And Baltimore reliever Sean Armstrong got saves on Saturday and Sunday after Paul Fry got a save on Friday. Armstrong might leave them in saves rest of season. Who knows?

For whatever that's worth. Yeah. Yeah. So in terms of hitters, Scott, I've talked about, honestly, everybody I wanted to talk about. Gio Orshella, Josh Van Meter, Willie Calhoun, J.D. Davis. Can't ignore that Nelson Cruz homered three times on Saturday. His second three homer game recently. Amazing.

Because he played half the week in Miami. Right. So we were saying, you got to sit Nelson Cruz, right? He played half a week at Miami, and then one of the three games he started Sunday. He went hitless, and yet he had a great week. Yep, amazing. So I think we're cool with hitters. Let's talk about pitchers.

I also want to read some emails. Scott has to hop off the show in about 10 minutes. I'll finish up, but I want to read the emails with Scott on the show. So take a quick break here on Fantasy Baseball today. When we come back, your email is Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com is the email address. This is from Maxwell. Hey, Fenster, McManus, and Hockney.

I don't know. I feel like I should know that. Fenster. But I don't. Oh, oh, it's a usual sustenance. Spex. 10-team 5-5-O-B-P league. It's a Keeper League.

Who would you rather have, C.J. Cron or Trent Grisham? Oh, Grisham. Definitely. Keeper League? I mean, I'm not sure how many players you're keeping, but it has to be a high number for you to consider keeping Crone anyway, so go with the higher upside Grisham. All right, here's an email from Omar.

Need a replacement for Joey Gallo. Six by Six Categories League with OBP Renato Nunez, Adam DeVal, Miguel Sino, Jose Abrae, I think those are the only ones left. Jose Abraeu. Jose Abraeu has been pretty crappy.

You realize that? Yeah, but, I mean, by his standards. No, by, like, he's like got like a, I think he might have a 750 OPS, Jose Abrae. Yeah, he doesn't walk much, and his batting average has been lower than usual, but still, I mean, he's been, He's been bad.

I would trust in him over any of those others. Okay. 23 home runs 77 RBI on the season. Come on. Okay, Jake needs a cano replacement in a Roto League. Odore, McMahon, Jeanette, or Dozier? I will go with... Odor, McMahon, Jeanette, or...

Yeah. Yeah, Odor. Okay, Paul wants to know if he should drop Edwin Diaz for Scott Oberg. Oh, I don't think I'd do that, but, you know, obviously there had been some discussions about Diaz may be getting, maybe them pulling back on Diaz a little, Seth Lugo instead, getting some chances there. It just doesn't really make sense why Diaz has struggled to the extent he has, and I don't think it would be a long-term switch if it happened. So I'm not ready to do that. Maybe pick up Oberg is somebody the sub for Diaz for the time being, but I don't think I'd drop Diaz. pick up from Brian.

Pick two to start in a head-to-head points league. Bichette, Dedeo Glorius, and Polanco. Jorge Polanco. Bichette and Gregorius. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Didi was back in the lineup yesterday. Okay, so you're going to start him over Jorge Polanco? Oh, my, I was thinking Gregory Polanco, and I was like, was he back?

No, he's not. He's definitely not. Yeah, Jorge, I'm sorry. Yeah. Horace Polanco is the East. easy number one there. And then Bichette's too. Thanks for pointing that out.

Bichette's been very good. Brian wants to know, would you sit a five-game Brantley or a six-game Pollock for either Duval or a seven-game Willie Calhoun? Okay. I need to repeat that one. Sorry. You got a five-game Brantley, a six-game AJ Pollock. Would you sit either one for Adam Duvall or Willie Calhoun?

I would sit. I would, I would, the two I would start there are Calhoun and Brantley. All right, from Ben. I just lost David Dahl. I need a hitter. Hesu Sagarlar, Miguel Sineau, David Fletcher, McMahon, Ahmed Rosario, Ensiarte, Odore, Duval, Santander, Calhoun, Dickerson. You did not send me the emails, Adam.

How am I supposed to follow along with that? You just have to listen, that's all. All right. We're going to eliminate Aguilar. We're going to eliminate Fletcher. McMahon, you don't want to start him on the road. He's on the road all week. Ahmed Rosario, no.

Insiarte, no. So, Santander, no. So, who do you like from this group? Suno? Uh-huh. Odor. Uh-huh. Duval.

Uh-huh. Calhoun. Uh-huh. Cory Dickerson. Calhoun. And? Uh, right. Was Duval on that list?

Yep. Yep. Yeah, probably Duval. Maybe I'd go with O'Dor. Maybe I'd go with O'Dor if I was looking for the hot hand play. But I think I like Duval most in a general sense. Scott, we need a catcher for this week for Douglas. Garver, Narvaez, McCann, Perez, Carson Kelly, and Maldonado. Let's go with Narvaez there.

Okay, over Mitch Garver. Close call between those two, but yeah, I mean, Mitch Garver's out of the lineup so much still. It's annoying. Seven games for the twins versus five for the Mariners might even things up. Okay. But I think I'd still go with Narvias. Okay, we got a little bit of time left here to talk about some pitchers. How about...

We always want to talk about the studs being duds. Chris Sale and Joe Musgrove basically knocked. doing our team out of the playoffs in the 16 team league. Sale with eight runs allowed, some bad luck. In fact, a lot of bad luck. He gave up five straight singles and then a really cheap home run in a seven run inning. But it's hard to ignore it. He's got a 460A.

At this point. And he's 5 and 11. So, yeah. What do you think? Yeah. In response to somebody yesterday, I tweeted out where I thought Shane Bieber would rank next year. and, you know, so I kind of built up to him. I had Chris Sale third.

And it drew the ire from some people. But Chris Sale has the third best ex-fip of any pitcher this year. His strikeout rate is, I think last year and this year, the only two times he's avered 13 per nine. Basically in every measure but ERA, and maybe home run per nine. he's been as dominant as ever. So I suspect Chris Sale,

obviously the last two starts have kind of blown up his ERA again when he was on the verge of dropping it below four. I still think it finishes below fours. It's between mid-threes and high threes by season's end. Of course, assuming there's no I-L stent. And I wouldn't be looking to sit him. I'm not panicking over Chris Sale. How about Trevor Bauer got lit up by the Braves,

four and two-thirds, three runs, three walks, three or more walks and five of his last six starts. Bad start in his Reds debut, Trevor Bauer. Yeah, two bad starts in a row. Zero home runs between them, which is interesting. Although one ball did sail over the fence. Very good. Very good. Yeah.

So, I mean, usually when a good pitcher has a bad start, we're like, look, it's just the home run. You know, just the home run bug bit him this time. And that wasn't the case for Bauer. He says he just hasn't been getting ahead in the count. He has control issues from time to time. It's probably nothing to worry about. All season.

He's at control issues. I mean, that's the thing. It's really annoying. But what are you going to do? You're going to sit him? I'm not going to sit him. He's got the Cubs at home this week. It's not easy.

But I just think it sucks. I mean, I hated the move. I think I just, I hated it. Harder competition. Not going to pitch as deep into games, perhaps. We'll see. So far, so bad. It's only one start with the Reds.

David Price, cut him loose or what? It's last, he's been pretty bad. These last four starts have been very good. And his wife just had a baby. He's on the paternity list. He has to pitch on Sunday night at Yankee Stadium. He's terrible at Yankee Stadium. He gives up seven runs in two and two thirds.

That was not going to end well. Yeah, it's been straight. Four starts, though, have been awful now. ERA over 10 in those four starts. And yet he's having his best strikeout season ever with his usual walk rate, usual home run rate. I don't really see anything that suggests he should

be having the bad season and that looks like he's having. I mean, he's not of the caliber of a sale or a bower, but he's in that next tier. I think that makes it possible that you could think about sitting him until he turns things around. It just depends on what kind of options you have.

In the long run, I think price is going to be fine. All right, Scott, well, I got to let you go here. And if you give me a five second answer, what do you think about Mike Fires, who had another good start? Hey, his quality start streak ended. 13 in a row was snapped yesterday until a third of an inning shy. Of course, the numbers were good. That's not how we expected the quality start streak to end.

Yeah, I still don't. I still don't believe in this. I don't care how long it makes me look foolish. I will not start Mike Fires until the day I die. Scott, thank you, man. Appreciate it. Yep. Talk to you later. All right. Well, it's just you and me, people. Are you nervous? I'm a little nervous. I hope this goes well.

Some more pitchers that stood out over the weekend. How about a couple of Yankees against the Red Sox? James Paxton, six innings, two runs, six strikeouts against Boston. Interesting because Aaron Boone has really kept saying that Paxton's stuff has looked good. He thinks that Paxton should have been pitching better, basically, than he has been. And the strikeout rate's really good. You know, 123 strikeouts at 95 and two-thirds. But in the first inning, he's just awful.

I think his ZRA is somewhere around 11. It's 1137 in the first inning. And again, in this start, he gave up two runs in the first inning. At Baltimore this week, you're going to start Paxton, but he struggled against Baltimore this season. Maybe this is a step in the right direction, though. And Domingo Ormond, seven innings, two runs, seven strikeouts against the Red Sox.

That's coming off five and a third, three earned runs at Boston, which was a decent start. start before that was terrible at Minnesota. So he had this stretch of three tough matchups in a row, and he came out of it all right, especially after that blow-up at Minnesota. Domingo O'Amon gets Toronto on the road this week. So you all know how I feel about Dallas Keikle.

And he went seven innings and he gave up three runs against the Reds. He struck out four. And I kept thinking, is this a good start? Seven innings, three runs. It's a quality start. Only four strikeouts, but a low whip. Five walks plus hits. in seven innings.

That's a pretty good start. Also, it was six scoreless. Then he came out in the seventh, he gave up a three-run homer. And, you know, I'd actually probably rather him not go that deep into games because that could keep happening. But here's what I noticed about Kichael.

The Mets are going to be very important to Kikle because his next four matchups are against the Marlins, Mets, Marlins, and Mets. I trust him against the Marlins. If he does well against the Mets, then he's going to make me look really stupid. And then after those four starts,

it's the White Sox. So matchups are not bad. Mets are going to be without Canoe. It's interesting. Other starting pitchers to keep an eye on. Chris Archer. Oh, like I started him, and I almost got mad that he had good start because I just want to be done with Chris Archer.

But six innings one run, six strikeouts against the Mets. Am I going to start him at St. Louis? Only if I feel like I have no chance to win ERA or Whip that week in a Categories League. In a points league, yeah, I don't know. He's an okay start. I'm kind of leaning against it. You can drop Zach Davies.

He's 71% on that's way too much. Drop him for Alex Wood. Stephen Matt's had a bad start after he was pretty hot his previous two starts. Matt does get Miami this week. I think he can be okay in that matchup. Dustin May, we've talked about Alex Young. Not really buying it with Alex Young.

I think he's going to struggle against Philadelphia this week. Not my favorite. I'd rather have Aaron Sanchez. I'd rather have for this week Danny Duffy, because I'm crazy. And then there are some other guys like Cal Quantrell's not so bad in deeper leagues. If Tommy Malone is used with an opener, he's not so bad.

He'll face Tampa Bay this week. He might start. That'll be bad. If he comes out of the bullpen, that would be better. And honestly, that's pretty much all I have. I know is kind of a short show today. But I think we got a lot done. Do you want me to go through today's matchups?

Yes. All right, fine. We'll go through today's matchups. Let's see who we are starting and sitting. Not going to lie, I was a little mad that there are 14 baseball games today. It's Monday. There are supposed to be like nine or ten baseball games on Monday. I'm supposed to go out to dinner for someone's birthday tonight,

and I can't do it because there are so many damn baseball games. So I am going to start Dylan Seas at the Tigers, and that might be the last time I start him this season. I haven't looked at his matchups, but I generally do not trust Dylan Seas. If he goes out and dominates today, we'll have another conversation about it. I am not going to start Chase Anderson or Stephen Bralt. I am not going to start Nestor Cortez or Asher Wojikowski. Wojjahowski, pardon me.

I am not going to start Hector Santiago, who exists, or Drew Verhagen, who also exists. I will not start Ariel Harado or Zach Plyzac. I feel like Dr. Seuss right now. I will not start him. Adam I am. I will not start Trent Thornton. I will start Ryan Yarbrough against the Blue Jays. Jake Junis at Boston, no thanks.

Andrew Cashner against the Royals. He has been bad enough with the Red Sox. I'm going to say no, even though it's the Royals. I'm not going to start Jose Suarez against the Reds, at the Reds, for the Angels. Anthony Di DiClafani against the Angels. Let's pull up the Disclavani game log quickly because I do think there's enough good stuff here to go ahead and start Anthony DiScofani. Well, yeah, I'm going to do it.

Might not get you six innings, but I think you'll get a respectable start out of Desclafani. Okay, Jordan Yamamoto at Zach Wheeler. Wheeler 100% start. Yamamoto comes in with a 394 ERA, a strikeout per inning, a lot of walks. Hasn't been so great lately, but his last start was six innings, four runs, eight strikeouts against Minnesota. If you can do that against Minnesota, you should be able to do well at the Mets. However, the three starts before that, five innings, four innings, four innings, combined 13 earn runs.

I think I'm going to avoid Yamamoto in a one-start scenario, and really in a two-start scenario at the Mets and home against Atlanta. I don't think it's going to be a great week for him. Brett Anderson at John Lester, I will start Lester. Armand Marquez at Zach Granky. Yep, I'm going to start Armand Marquez. I know it's a brutal matchup, but look what he did at Yankee Stadium, Seven innings, two runs.

Look what he did at home against the Dodgers last time out. Six scoreless, 10 strikeouts. At Cincinnati, two starts ago. Seven innings, two runs. I trust him. Look, he gave up four runs and six innings at home against Houston. So I'm going to trust Armand Marquez. Tonight, five more games to get to.

Max Fried at Jose Barrios. I will only start Burrios here. Jake Arrieta at Mike Leak, I will start neither. Annabal Sanchez at Derek Rodriguez. I will start Annabal Sanchez tonight. De Nelson Lament. at Wade LeBlanc. Wade LeBlanc is starting.

That means no. I will not start him. If they use Wade LeBlanc as a reliever with an opener, I will absolutely play Wade LeBlanc so you're going to have to look for updates there. Denelsson LeMet will not be starting for me. And Miles Michaelis of Clayton Kershaw. Kirschaw is an easy call. You're going to start him.

Are you going to start Miles Michaelis? I am going to say, yes. I think he's been good enough lately. Four straight quality starts. Five out of six. this is a tough matchup at the Dodgers is just an unfair matchup. So I'm almost talking myself out of it. I would say he's borderline,

and I don't feel like I want to be responsible for the failure of your fantasy team. So don't listen to me on Miles Michaels. 55% of me says yes. And that has been some really unhelpful stuff from Adam. Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll talk to on Tuesday.