Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/16: Worryometer, Mailbag, Rodon, Ryu and More (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 16, 2018

Carlos Rodon (3:00) Hyun-Jin Ryu (5:45) and Kevin Gausman (7:50) stood out on the mound last night. Are we buying their performances and can we trust them down the stretch? And is Joey Votto becoming Miguel Cabrera (13:30)? ... It's Thurryomter Thursday (17:00)! How worried are we about Ian Desmond, Carlos Santana, Jose Berrios and a few others? We've also got a fun new segment we can't wait to debut (23:25) ... Bullpen (33:33), Double Dongs and our thoughts on Tyler White (35:33), an underowned Mets infielder (39:00), an overowned Cubs outfielder (41:25), Zack Wheeler (48:40), fringy SPs (49:30), deep league guys and today's matchups (55:05) ... Your emails at [e-mail] This episode is sponsored by www.ZipRecruiter.com 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. Now here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. Oh, we got a fun show for you here on Thursday. Welcome everybody to Fantasy Baseball today. It's a mailbag show.

We got a lot of yesterday stuff, but also going to be throwing in some emails throughout the show fantasy baseball at cbysi.com. Adam Azer here. Scott White is there. Hey Scott. Hello, Adam. Hello again, Scott White. And we are joined by Chris Towers. Could not resist. Yo! He was so excited. He needed to come on the show today. Very happy to have you on, Chris. I don't, like, I'm just a part of the show. This isn't like a special occasion. Well, it's been a lot of Adam and Scott. It's been a lot of scam lately. One time this week. One time.

I guess that's true. All of a sudden, I'm an absentee. This is ridiculous. What about tomorrow? Are you going to be on the show tomorrow? Probably, maybe. Good. I don't know.

We'll see how I feel. We'll see how you act. How would you feel? Let's see if I feel wanted. Let's see, okay, well, how would you feel if let's say you were coming on? You were in such a great job. Or let's say you hosted a few times. You did a better job than I did.

And I decided next time I saw you, this unexplained hypothetical. Next time I saw you. saw you, I was going to throw a fastball at your arm as hard as I could, just to... Right? Like, makes sense, right? That's what we do these days. I don't know how long Jose Orania should be suspended for, and I don't know how long Ronald Ocuna will miss as a result of this.

I do know Jose Orania should not play in a baseball game before Ronald Acuna does. Scott, you have been happy. If Ronald Acuna is out for the season and there's no... indication that he is, he left yesterday's game after getting hit in the elbow, then Jose Arana should not pitch until 2019. Scott, you must be happy about this since you like Soto better than Acuna. You know, it was funny on Twitter how, you know, obviously I am very upset about this and have a series of tweets on the subject.

And still, there were some people who were trying to spin it that way. Like, oh, you must be happy. At least it didn't happen to Soto That kind of thing Oh wow I was joking This is terrible Someone told you Someone told you to not reproduce

Because you like soda better than Akoudia Yeah somebody did that was a little harsh All right so let's get into the show Well Akunya X-rays were negative on his elbow Let's start with Wednesday standouts Chris Do you have any Wednesday standouts You would like to share with the class

Well All right so you have Carlos Rodon at the top, and I want to talk about Carlos Rodon because I've always been a Carlos Rodon fan. I've always been excited about the potential that he has. And with the 269 ERA through 12 starts, it looks like he's living up to that potential. Not so fast.

Look, I really wish this was. And he was really good yesterday, eight innings, six strikeouts, one walk, the control was better. I don't think the breakout is happening the way it looks. And I'm not buying it. I know it's past the trade deadline for most leagues, but he would be a sell-high candidate if you could trade. I'd wonder, he's got two good matchups next week, Minnesota and at Detroit.

As long as he's not facing Cleveland in his division, he should have. I wonder if he has good matchups down to stretch. Something you might want to keep an eye on. But, you know, the hard contact rate is way down. The ground ball rate is way up, but the strikeouts are down. But, you know, they're just, it's interesting. He seems like a different pitcher now. He's going deep into games, seven and a third or more,

and five of his last six starts, but only 64 strikeouts and 80 in a third. But that's a result of him pitching well. I don't think he's going deep into games because it's like a new skill that he has. He's not like throwing 120 pitches per game. He's throwing a lot of pitches. He's throwing like 110 often. He threw 105 yesterday and gave you eight innings. So what do you think?

It sounds like within the... But he has a 210 Babbup. He has an 80% strand rate. You know, you look at it and he still looks like a low 4DRA guy overall. All right. Would you rather have Carlos Rodon or Nick Povetta? Oh, Povetta for sure. Scott?

I would too. I would too. I'm not as down on Rodon as Chris is. And... I just... I don't... Maybe it's doing well... ground balls.

He's much more efficient than he's ever been. And lately, he hasn't been getting. The swinging strikes have picked up recently. Yeah, he had, sorry, he had six strikeouts yesterday, but he had 15 swinging strikes. They're really good number. All right, last one. I think he had like eight, the previous game, right?

I'm not sure. Last one. I mean, I'd obviously feel better if he was striking out more hitters. I think it just comes down to he's still, not getting strikeouts against right-handed hitters. And until he does that, he's been 19% well below average. I just, I don't see how he can be an above-average pitcher. Carlos Rodon or my next standout.

Jun-Jin Ryu, 64% Owen. Ryu has a 177 IRA in 35 and 2-thirds with 42 strikeouts this year. Jun-R-U or Carlos Rodon? You obviously take Rodon, but I do think Ryu is, you know, Rodon's obviously beyond the point where you can pick him up. Riu's somebody you could pick up still, and it might be worthwhile. He had a really good start to the season before his groin muscle became detached from the bone, and he missed all those months.

This was the seventh start. He has an ERA of about 180 right now. He's kind of above average. Like everything he does, he does a little bit better than average, and it adds up to pretty solid pitcher, particularly for a good team. I was a little concerned the Dodgers would handle him with kid gloves, maybe not give them enough for a quality start, but first start back, he delivered a quality start, so there you go.

All right, rank these three. Riu, Bieber, Marco Gonzalez. Marco Gonzalez, and I'll stick with Bieber ahead of Riu. Agreed. All right, rank these three. Ryu, Ken Blanca. What? Oh, you're talking about Street Fighter?

Yeah, Street Fighter. I never played that one, but I've seen enough references to it to get your reference. Oh, it was a really, really funny joke, I promise. Scott, any standouts from Wednesday? Standouts from Wednesday, yes. Yes, yes. I had a really good standout. And I'm trying to remember who it is now.

It sucked. He sucked. No, it's terrible. You can't remember. Yeah. I was thinking as I was going through the box scores, I was like, I'm going to use this guy for my... Tyler White. Tyler White.

So I'll throw one out there. Okay. Go ahead. Who, who? Wait, Adam. Tyler White. Tyler White. Tyler White.

Oh, no, that's not what I was going with. Ah. Kevin Gosman had another good results piece. results start and not so much with the process. Only two swinging strikes or two strikeouts and six innings.

That's two strikeouts in two of his three starts with the Braves. There have been some encouraging signs with him since he got to Atlanta. They seem to have changed his arm slot. He's throwing from a lower arm slot, which is more like what he was doing in 2016. He's been throwing his splitter more. but he still looks like frustrating Kevin Gosman.

Okay, well, I think it's a reasonable question. Gosman or Ryu? It is a reasonable question. I would go through you. Gosman for Scott, Ryu for Chris. And Scott, I hope we get to your standout organically throughout the show. Well, let's move on. News and Notes. I think it was Ryu is the thing.

Oh, okay. Matt Carpenter left. Do you want to talk about who? Do you want to talk about Tyler? I'll get to him. He's in there. He's in there. He's 5% oh, and I picked him up.

I'm worried Springer's coming back on Friday. Al Tuve may be the following week. We'll see, but I hope they get him at bats. Carpenter, x-rays were negative. He was hit by a pitch on the hand. He doesn't expect to miss much time. Let's keep our fingers crossed. James Paxton's on the D.L.

Aaron Judge has already missed his three-week timetable. Boone says he's improving. I guess no concrete timetable for Aaron, Judge. I just, they shouldn't have given a three-week timetable for a fractured wrist. That just seems silly. Second rate organization. Springer expected back tomorrow. Ross Stripling is on the deal with back inflammation.

Steven Strassberg could be back next week. Jimmy Nelson, unlikely to pitch this season. He had shoulder surgery. He heard himself sliding back into first base. So if you like Jimmy Nelson, then you should like the DH. Tampa Bay activated Tommy Pham and sent Jake Faria to AAA. Tommy Pham is back. Let's see the old owner.

ownership percentage for Tommy fam. I'm going to guess it's in the 60s. What do you guys think? I would think it's a little higher than that. I'm a little worried by how quickly he's coming back from this fractured foot. Oh, 80%? Yeah. Might be.

But, you know, I hope he's good. I love the talent, obviously. Was it a full fracture or a stress fracture? I don't think it was. I don't know. Yeah, I was surprised how fast he was coming back. I thought he would be out till September, at least. There's a hairline fracture.

That's nothing. You don't need a hairline these days. The Cubs traded for Terrence Gore, who could steal a lot of bases and do nothing else. Ian Kinslitter will be back tomorrow. Eduardo Rodriguez is going to make a rehab start on Monday, so you're going to get Eduardo Rodriguez back before the season's over. Get him if he's available. And Milwaukee catcher Mani Pena left with a shoulder injury.

Eric Crats replaced him. And Ryan Braun left with a rib injury. Craig Counsel does not think it's serious. So, as I promised, mailbag. So let's do like four at a time throughout the show. Emails part one. Taylor Williams, big fan of the show, hoping to keep momentum into the playoffs. Would you drop Robbie Ray for Glassnow, Gosman, or Marquez?

Would you drop Robbie Ray for Glassnow, Gosman, or Marquez? No. I would hope you have a pitcher with less upside than Robbie. Ray, especially because he hasn't been awful lately. He hasn't been great. I'll concede. He hasn't been good enough

to start. Yeah. So Scott, would you, would you drop him for Glass Now, Gosman, or Marquez? I want to say no. I know Marquez is more usable now. Right.

And that that might be the determination for you. I mean, I don't know who I would consider your bottom, the bottom player on your roster. I probably wouldn't be right, but I don't know who you have. This is from Matt. General question, why don't any fantasy sites allow a catcher

to play in the infield slot? How is a catcher? Not an infielder. I've been pondering this for days now. It's not colloquially, like there's no official designation for what an infielder is, but it's not colloquially considered an infield position. and also, like, you wouldn't play your catcher in an infield spot anyway. I am in a league in which we start five infielders and five outfielders slash first baseman.

And I start two catchers, Gattis and Grandal. They have been good enough. I don't start them every day, but I start them. Okay. It's a weird league. I'm not sure I've ever played in a league that's just had an infield spot. Scott, this is the weirdest league, dude. It's five by three with no saves and no.

no whip, it makes no sense. It's 13-team Roto and its daily lineups. But Gattis and Grandal and maybe a couple others, like Ray Almutso, they'd probably been good enough to be infield worthy. That's if you remove first base. I should point that out because first base is, yeah, it's stupid. I should have considered that. First base is not considered an infield in that league. I mean, I'm sure if you're playing a deep enough league that you run out of good infielders and have to dip into the catcher pool. Yeah, so. Yeah, let me wrap it up. I'm just saying this. Matt, you have more important things to ponder. Let's move on to our next question.

This is from Jason. Is Joey Votto becoming Miguel Cabrera? Well, he's healthy, so no. I mean, he's healthy enough to play, I guess I should say. Like, he leaves the National League on-base percentage. You will never, ever get Chris to say a bad thing about Joey Vado. Like, he's really good. Oh, is he?

If he's diminished, okay, fine. Oh, nine home runs. Nine home runs is good, Chris. Okay, Miguel Cabrera's career is probably over. So, no, he's not Miguel Cabrera. Miguel Cabrera hasn't been useful since 2016. I think the question is, is Joey Vado now what Miguel Cabrero was? And is Joey Vado next year going to just break down?

Because we're always excuses made for Miggie. He was playing through injury, this and that. And then this year, you know, that was it. Adam. Yeah. Remember when Matt Carpenter wasn't doing well? Oh, sure. And now he's hitting really well.

Yeah. Joey Votto has a 39.8% hard contact rate and a 7.9% soft contact rate. He has the lowest soft contact percentage of his career. He has a 32.5% line drive rate, which is the highest mark in baseball, also highest mark of his career. He has yet to hit an infield fly ball pop up. pop up no whatever

whatever the question is joe ivato is still awesome i'm sorry like he might have a bad season by his standards and it might but all the underlying trust the process what was his hard contact right 39.8% if only he were as good as Miguel cabrera who was at 42.5 last year when he was terrible if joey vato if joey vato's body breaks down

yeah it's going to be a problem i mean he's got a knee injury right now i think that's part of of this question. Again, Adam, trust the process. You're misinterpreting the question. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you dropped Matt Carpenter, but don't hold that to be able to be. I did not drop Matt Carpenter.

I never dropped Matt Carpenter. I'm just saying I see similarities, specifically with the injury thing. By the way, Miguel Cabrera's infield fly ball rate last year was 2.5%. Scott, you see similarities? Well, I mean, The fact he's going to be 35 next year and has apparently dealt with nagging injuries this year. I mean, I don't think he's going to get drafted in the first two rounds next year. And I do think there is a connection between – it's one of the lowest fly ball rates of his career, I think he has.

So that they partially explain the home run shortage. But that line drive rate is really impressive. Yeah, that's the thing is that his ground ball rate is actually lower than it's been ever. Yeah. But, I mean, it's mostly a lot result in home runs often. So do you get to fly once in one? All right.

Well, that was a fun conversation. Marco from Chicago, a team just dropped Polanco and Muncie. Would you drop Calhoun for Polanco? Would you drop Kepler for Muncie? Or, you know, any combination of that. Calhoun and Kepler on the waiver wire, Polanco and Muncie.

Would you make those swaps? I would drop Kepler for Muncie. Yep. Okay. That's part one of emails. More later. It's Thuriameter Thursday because we didn't have Worryometer Wednesday. Zero to 10 on the Worryometer.

Ian Desmond went over three yesterday and in his previous 17 games. He was batting 182 and slugging 236 with no home runs, one steel, one double, one triple. Ian Desmond's been terrible for 18 games. Thuriameter, zero to 10. Trust the process. We were telling you he was bad. He's bad. Okay, he's bad.

Eight. Scott? Chris is fired up today. Yeah, he is. Because he's never on the show, you know. It's because I'm going to dunk on you about Jose Barrio shortly. Oh, yes. Are we dropping Ian Desmond?

Is that what we're talking about? No, we're a Wariometer. Oh, you know what? I'm fine with dropping him. Let's make a dropometer for Desmond. Zero to ten of the drop. I mean, you can't drop him in a row. Why?

Like, he's going to steal bases, but that's, That's it. He's not going to steal that many bases. You're losing five steals for the rest of the season? I mean, he has 19 home runs on the year. With a 30% home run-to-fly ball ratio, there's no reason to think he's a home-run hitter. You might lose four home runs and four steals the rest of the season by dropping him

with a 230 batting average. No thank you. Get out of you. I mean. Go pick up Malik Smith. Or go pick up, at Alberto Mejia if you're worried about stolen bases. Don't hold on to Ian Desmond because he might steal one base every week and a half.

All right, Thuriameter Thursday on Carlos Santana, zero to ten on the thuriameter. How thuried are you about Carlos Santana? I am not thuried. I don't know. Do I have to assign an arbitrary number to it? Scott, yes. Yes, you do.

You know you do. four. Scott? I said three. Oh, you said three. I'm sorry. How come so low? I mean, it's been about 120 games,

and he's batting 214. Because he's the number eight first baseman in points leagues. Yeah, but he's number 23 in Roto. Yeah, but he didn't really, you didn't have drafted him in Roto thinking he'd be a difference maker for you. Okay, can you drop him in a Roto league? He's doing, like, he's one of the worst versions of himself, but it's still within the range of expected outcomes.

He's basically doing what he's supposed to do. Can you drop Carlos Santana in a Roto League that doesn't have OBP, a batting average league? You can if you have hitters that you like instead. Sure. Okay. Next up on the Thurriometer, Chris Archer, four runs and five innings, seven strikeouts, and has not been very good. I'll say all season.

449 ERA, 142 whip, and his lowest K rate since 2014. Worryometer on Chris Archer, Chris Towers. I think he's Chris Archer, so two. I'll go five. I think he's Chris Archer, too. But I also don't think he's an automatic start, and I wouldn't have said that coming into the year. I wouldn't have envisioned a time that was true.

I mean, I own him in a 24 team league, and granted, I have really good pitching in that league, but I haven't started him in like three weeks. I haven't missed it. Well, he's got a two-star week coming up, Atlanta and at Milwaukee. Are you going to start Archer? Yeah, two-star week, sure. All right.

Allie-oop to Chris Towers. Go for the slam dunk, worryometer on Jose Barrios. I mean, do we really, look, sportsmanship, right? You don't want to rub it in. You don't want to bat flip when you've homered in four straight games. Scott might throw a baseball at me. So, like, Jose Rios is fine.

He's good. How your mind just goes blank. For God's sakes it. Like, Zero. Zero on the Coriometer? Because he's

a high 3SRA guy with a bunch of strikeouts who's healthy right now. And that's what I think Jose Rios is. Okay. I don't think he's a star. But I'm not,

I'm not benching him. I'm frustrated with him. All right. Your impression of Bereas depends on how much you value 208 and 2 thirds innings and 214 strikeouts in the current environment. I value those highly. I think they're very rare. So I think he's a prize. He's like 25th to 30th.

I haven't looked since yesterday in fantasy points per start. I think that's probably what he is, but that's useful. You're starting that. three terrible starts in his last four. It's frustrating. He's also started. He's got 18 walks over 32 and a third in his last six starts. I can't imagine anyone sitting him next week,

White Sox and Oakland at home. And all right, I'm going to go back to the dropometer here, off the Worryometer and to the dropometer for Dylan Bundy. Dylan Bundy gave up seven runs on 11 hits in five and a third against the Mets. And he has a 499 R a dropometer on Bundy, Scott. Probably about an eight He's unusable And you drop a guy with a 499 ERA

I doubt there's a lot of action to pick him up It wouldn't surprise me if he had another nice run Before the end of the season But you can't count on it Can't predict it All right so would you drop Bundy for Ryu I guess it depends on how much How heavily I have to stream

my pitching staff. If, you know, if I mostly have fixtures there, I probably stick with the upside guy on my bench. But if I need somebody more usable, then yeah, I'd drop them for Ryu. All righty. It's time for our email of the day. Wes from Oakland has an email of the day at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. A great email. He says, hey, Edon, out of, out of, geez.

Hey, Eden, Adivino and Simber. Adam. Yeah. I guess I'll handle this one, guys. I love the pod. I just thought of a random segment you could incorporate down the stretch. Using baseball references birthday tool, each day, pick one or multiple players whose birthday it is to spend a short segment with analysis on them. For example, August 16th has Delano to Shields, U. Darvish, and Martine Maldonado as somewhat relevant fantasy players whose birthday it is.

Of course, the segment needs music, and I give you this. Guys, let's talk about the Lido to Shields. It's his birthday. Oh, man, this is cheesy. Wow. This is Stevie, right? Steve Wonder, yeah. Yeah.

Wow, he says happy birthday a lot here. I mean, he still going. Think about every other happy birthday song. It's pretty much the whole song. Happy birthday to you. Yeah, I mean, it's half the song at least. This is like a four. The people's birthday is six-minute.

track here from Stevie Wonder. Like, man, the 70s and 80s were a wild time. Delider to Shields, happy birthday, Delighter DeLor de Shields. Or should we do you, Darvish instead? They're both on the DL. No, Darvish. The Shields is back.

Doesn't that say something about the Shields that you didn't even know he was off the DL? Yeah, I mean, he hasn't been... Like, that's a guy who you don't hang on to for the Steels because he hits so poorly. and you go right back in the Rangers lineup. Yeah, he bats ninth.

Beltrae's out, you know. We'll see. Happy birthday, Delano. I mean, he's not usable. But I'm so disappointed because I really felt like I could neglect steals early and draft Delano to Shields and make up for it there. But it's a little bit of a lesson with these guys that if they're not great hitters, they could be so bad that they lose their role and you don't get the steals that you want.

You know, it's tough to rely on a Steel's specialist if we haven't seen proof that he can hit. That's my takeaway on his birthday. Steels are so aggravating. Malick Smith has basically replaced the Lion of the Shields. Yeah, it only took four and a half months. Thank you for the awesome segment. And, yeah, I think that might be something that we have to do every now and again. Because it went so well this time.

It was fun. There were so many useful insights that came out of that. Happy birthday, Scott. Scott loves his birthday. You should at least let other people love their birthday. All right, listen, for that email, Wes, you are hired. You are officially a producer. And if I needed an actual producer for the show, where would I go to find it?

I would put, I would want my job, I want my job listing to be seen by hundreds, if not more, people out there, thousands of people. I want ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. ZipRecruiter.com slash S-T-R-I-K-E. This used to be a really hard process, hiring people, finding the right people, stacks of resumes, a confusing review process, but ZipRecruiter makes it so easy. ZipRecruiter sends your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards, and they don't stop there. They scan thousands of resumes. They find the people with the right experience and invite the right people to apply for your job.

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One more time, ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. More emails. Emails Part 2. Brandon and Savannah, Georgia. Dear Peter, Michael, Samir, and Milton. Office space. Shortstop is my weakest position.

I have Jose Parraza. Would you drop Parraza for Adelberto Montesi, Jorge Polanco, Johann Camargo, or Dansby Swanson? Hasn't Paras been pretty good? He has been pretty good. Even in points leagues, I'm always surprised to see how high he shows up. He never shrubs out. He never strikes out.

Yeah, he slowed down since the All-Star break, but he still has like a 7% strikeout rate in that time. I think I might hang on to him. The only one of these who I would even consider dropping him for is Johann Camargo. But he hasn't been playing as regularly as I'd like lately. So I'd probably stick with Parada. We should maybe talk about Adelberto Mejia. Mondesie, sorry.

Are we talking about yesterday? Ad Alberto. He's been running a lot. Yeah. I guess he still doesn't play quite every day. I don't know. Pretty much every day so far in the month of August. It's definitely a Delino de Shield situation, though, where...

Yeah, but he's hitting 282 in the month of August. 7 steals. Nothing else. He's not to do anything. 282 in a way that's difficult to swallow. Because he's, you know, his... plate discipline so poor. Yeah, but man, 10 stolen bases in the last 18 games.

And he is running at a higher pace once he reaches base than anyone in baseball. And I don't think it's particularly close to this season. And you know, while we're on it. It could stay hot to close up this season and it works out. I'm just, you know, if we're trusting the process, I feel like we've got to trust it for him too. It's solely for steals. I think Jose Paras is a better hitter. I think Johan Camargo is probably a better hitter.

But if you want steals, he's the guy. While we're on it, you know, Malick Smith does also appear to be a steel specialist, but his walk-to-strikeout ratio is really good this month. Malik-Smith, I don't know if he's taking genuine strides as a hitter. He's never been like a terrible walk-to-strike-out ratio guy, but it's pretty encouraging what he's doing. It's very encouraging. Yeah. So, like he's, he has a 376 on base percentage, I want to say, which is exactly what you want from those powerless speed type. and so rarely get from them.

Him and Jose Parraza, they don't look overmatched anymore. And with their skill set, that's kind of all you want. They make contact, and they're doing enough when they make contact that they can play now. Yeah, I probably need to see a little bit more from Alex Smith before we declare it. But yeah, all right, let's go back. I think Mostone and Roto. Oh, he is a Mustone. I'm just saying I don't know that it's going to keep up this way,

You know, it's still. Great, the trade from no name. Trade between two podcast listeners in a head-to-head points league. Chris Sale and Will Myers. Chris Sale and Will Myers. For Freddie Freeman, Nick Povetta, and this says Rondone. So I will assume that it's Rondone or not Rodon. Freeman Pavetta and Rondon or Sail and Myers.

Which side do you like better? I like Sale and Myers better. I think Sale is. as good as Freeman is, I think Sale is clearly the best player in this deal. And Myers might be the third best. It's a close call between him and Povetta, but I think the downgrade of pitching is bigger than the downgrade at first base. All right.

This is from Dan. I am hating on Wilson Contreras in a 10-team league, and I want to outright drop Contreras for either Danny Jansen or Taylor Ward. Should I? No, you should. Like, I like Danny Jansen and especially, Taylor Ward's potential, but you never spite drop. That's always bad process.

Jeff says dear, Adavino, Phil Meyer, Kingery, and Archer. Adams. That'll be Adam Heath, Scott, and Chris. Adam, Scott, and Chris. Look at that. There aren't many Scots anymore. It's becoming a rare name. Yeah, you got probably the worst player here.

Kingery? Philmyer. No, Kingery. Phil Meyer's the worst, right? I mean, look, Kingery has hurt his team more. I'm not making any judgments. Oh, speaking of Phillies hurting their team, you know how Reese Hoskins is their left-fielder so that Carlos Santana can play first base,

and you know Reese Hoskins has had a nice year at the plate. His war this year is 0.8. Yeah, he's real bad on the defense. Wow. Interesting. Okay, question is head-to-head, 10-team categories league? Can Brandon Morrow and Corey Canable be trusted for the fantasy playoffs? I think you probably want to stream, I think.

Well, maybe there's... Maybe Morrow, but not Canable. I don't think Canables can be trusted at all. Well, trusts. I don't see how you trust a guy with A, on the DL with an indefinite at timetable, and B, out of the closer roll with no... Right. No, you know, no timetable for him regaining it either.

Like, they can both be great. And the thing is, there's probably only about 12, 13 trustworthy closers right now. So you may have to. But no, I mean, the answer to this question is no. And if you can't start them, I think you might as well stream. Because there's so many guys out there. Yeah, that's true. For example.

Let's go to the bullpen. More emails later. Ken Giles is 44% owned. He gave up his first run in a save situation yesterday, but he still got the save. He's got 15, and three saves in four days. And Giles has a 967 ERA in non-save situations. Yeah, I would not consider him among the 12-13 trustworthy. No, but I'd rather have him than Morrow or Canabel.

He's certainly more startable right now. He's the one I want the least of the three. Of the three, I think I, for me, I'd go Morrow, Giles, Canable. I suspect Canable's going to reclaim the closer role, basically because Craig Counsel said that's what he wants. I just don't know if he's good. It might be good, but not right now. Bud Norris got a save, so he's solidified himself. He's the closer there.

Brad Hand got a save and Cody Allen through two scoreless innings. but Allen also got two saves over the weekend. So that could continue to be a headache for the Indians, or for the owners anyway. Trevor Hildenberger has now three saves in five days, and Hildenberger's 8% owned. Luis Avalon got a save for the White Sox, but Jen Mar Gomez started the inning.

And then, Avalon, I mean, no, just no. And Blake Parker is 42% owned. He got his 12th save. He's probably going to get the majority of saves for the Angels, right, Blake Parker? Yeah, it was a link. the drought there without a park or save, but I'm not sure there was... I don't think anybody else got one.

It seems like it's just one of those things, you know, where that happens... Yeah, remember there was a situation with the Blue Jays a couple years back where they went like a month and a half without a save opportunity. It was crazy. And that's what they were destroying everybody. It doesn't really make sense for the Angels, right? That was the year they had the best lineup,

I think? Yeah, yeah, it was like 2015 or, yeah. But Parker got a save over the weekend. I don't think it was a full inning, I think it may have been like a one-out save or something. Whatever. Double dongs from yesterday. Tyler White, he's 5% owned.

He's batting 286 with five home runs. He started four of five games since Correa returned. And then a couple of catchers, Salvador Perez and Evan Gattis. Evan Gattis got his first hit since August 1st. And he hit two home runs yesterday. But Tyler White is really interesting one here, Scott. What do you think about Tyler White? Yeah, he's up to seven home runs in 77 at Bats.

He has a 1012 OPS. It was over a thousand at AAA as well. He's been walking like he did in the minors. He's been striking out a lot too. So like this isn't this isn't a situation where it's inevitable. If he claims a starting job, he's just going to be awesome. But there's definitely a lot to like here. And I'm encouraged by the way the Astros have handled him, even with Correa back.

They play him, you know, 80% of the time, it seems like. So we'll see when Springer gets back, too, if there's still room for him. But, uh, yeah, and then Al-Tuvae is probably the bigger concern because it's been Guriel at second and White at first. This is making me like Tyler White more for 2019 when hopefully he gets an opportunity, probably not in Houston. I hope. I think it gets, uh, Colin Moran.

right out of there. Yeah, can we get AJ Reid a chance, too? I think the most vulnerable could be Gattis if they want to use White as a DH. But you know what? We'll just deal with it. I understand not rushing to pick him up. I said he had five home runs.

Scott was writing as seven. I didn't count the two from last night. They could stick Gattis or White in left field, theoretically. I hope so. That'd be great. They may not. I mean, Tony Kemp, he's been an on-based machine. so I don't know that they didn't want to do away with him either.

Yeah, he's been leading off for them. Chris, Scott had the audacity to say the Astros were, like, by far the best team in baseball yesterday. That's not what I said. I said there's not much doubt in my mind that when they're healthy, they're the best team. That's not the same as they're by far the best team. It's similar, but you're right. It's not the same. What do you think, Chris?

Who wins the World Series? I mean, aren't the Red Sox on pace for, like, 115 wins? or something stupid. Going into yesterday, they were on a pace for 1.14 or 15, but they lost yesterday. I don't know what that does.

Oh, well. They're wrong. I don't know. Like, they've got a 10-game lead over the second best team in baseball. I know. It's crazy. The Yankees suck.

They do. 10 games, I mean, they might as well be the Marlins. The Yankees are going to lose the wildcar game. Severino's going to get lit up, and they're going to have the second best record of baseball

and they're going to lose the wildcar game. You know who got to Oakland? That would be amazing. You know who people are sleeping on. as a World Series contenders, Cleveland. Oh, absolutely. That starting rotation is... Unless...

It's not as good as the Astros, but it's very close. The thing is, they might only have two really good starters right now. Well, they definitely only have two really good starters right now. What do you mean? They'll have Bauer back. They'll have Bauer back. Hopefully, they'll have Bauer. Clevenger's good, but he's not.

He'd be the fifth starter on the Astros. Maybe the sixth. He's better than Kiko, right? All right. Some hitters who are trending up, Brandon Nimmo. We talked about Malick-Smith. Let's just talk about a couple of Mets. Brandon Nimmo and Wilmer Flores.

Are they under-owned, 61-per-owned, and Flores is 17-per-owned? Flores is absolutely under-owned. It's so funny. He has been in my top-10 sleeper hitters for the upcoming week. I feel like six straight weeks. Yeah. And he keeps delivering. He keeps delivering 15 to 10.

20 fantasy points. It's he's a high floor player who's getting every day at bats and it's anytime you have a hold of plug, he's eligible at like three positions first, second, and third, I think.

Anytime you have a hold of, it's so easy to go to him. Never strikes out. He's got some pop. He's a good player. I'm glad he's getting everyday played appearances. I've liked him for a while.

All right, here's the thing about Flores. He's a high four player in a points league. I don't know if I agree with that in a rhodo. league, and I'll give you the stats. So entering yesterday, and this isn't fair because he went two for five with a home run and three RBIs yesterday, so he's even better.

But since June 15th, did he have a D.L. Sten, or did you just get called up? Whatever it was. No, I just think he wasn't playing every day. Yeah, when he entered the lineup. I think he was, like, not play. I don't even know if he's with the, whatever. Since June 15th, becoming a player, you know, an everyday player, basically,

number 12 second baseman in points, number 19 in Roto. And that's before yesterday. So you might even be 10th or so. points. You know, Roto, he doesn't steal any bases. He has zero. He doesn't hit a ton of home runs.

He's not a standout in any categories. This is his worst home run pace in the last few years, though, too. It's worth noting. Like, he should be, if he is an everyday player, he should be somebody who exceeds 20 home runs in this environment. But, I mean, I'm not denying. He's better in points leagues. But it's, that's, it's, it's.

It's that situation where you start a lot more hitters in Roto League. So I don't think you're necessarily... It's that... He's still pretty useful, Rodo. I don't know why I had a hard time getting that out. He's still pretty usable at Roto Lerner. He's safer in points. Also, he has, like, can we find out how many...

He has four walk-off home runs in his career. And that's a ton. Clutch. Out of 68 home runs, four walk-off home runs. trending down Kyle Schwarber Kyle Schwarber is the number 49 outfielder in fantasy

and he's 91% owned I really think the only way I own Schwerber is if I'm in a daily league and I'm just going to start him against Rites Yeah I think and a big part of it is he doesn't have the huge plate appearances numbers that some other guys have

so that that's dropping him down but you know after looking like a different hitter early on you know cutting his strikeout rate He was down in like the 20% strikeout rate range for like the first two months of the season. Over the last 30 games and pretty much rolling back for the last month or so, he's been like a 30% strikeout rate. Still hitting the ball hard, still hitting the ball in the air, but doesn't seem to have held on to the gains he made early on.

Yeah, I'm certainly not saying you have to drop Kyle Schwerber, but if there's someone on waivers you really like, or you want a two-star pitcher just to understand Schwerber hasn't really been that good for a little while. Been hurting me in the points league for sure. Emails part three. This is from Connor in Seattle. Dear Chris, Mike, Jose, Aaron, and now Trevor. Those are Adams.

What are they? Guys on the DL. Right? Did Trevor's story go on the DL? Chris Trevor Bauer. Jose. Trevor Bauer. Aaron Judge.

Mike. Mike Trout. Yeah. Stanton. Trout. Armand Marquez Exclamation point I'm nervous about his start at Atlanta

Give me some typical Azer optimism On Armine Marquez in Atlanta He just moat through the Astros And he's been awesome for two months He's got an ERA under two on the road Don't be afraid Armine Marquez Hooray forever

This is Mitchell from Washington State Dear Willie, Richie, Dustin and Jesus I actually don't know this one. Yeah, I don't think they're Adams. Willie, Richard, Dustin, and Hesus. Willie Adamas. Hold on. Jesus Adamus?

They're Adamas? I just think of Richie Sexton whenever I see Richie. Well, who's going to Google it? Is it going to have to be me? Fowler's? It's going to be you. Are they Fowler's? Willie Fowler.

Yeah, they're Fowlers. Mitchell from Washington State is in a 10-team categories league. I don't think Hizzer Fowler's a thing. He has And Duhar, Chapman, Justin Turner, and Miguel Sanoe to cover third base corner infield

and utility. He also has Nolan Aeronado. So he has Aeronado plus And Duhar, Chapman, Turner, and Sano. Would you trade Aronado for Kershaw? He needs pitching. Ugh. How much slack do you have in

like home runs in RBI every week? I Yes, is what I'd ask. You know, I think Aeronaut is more valuable than Kirchall. So face value, I would say no, but, you know, I understand why you might have to make a needs-based trade. Worth noting, Clayton Kerchall is like seventh in the majors in ERA this season. And I think I saw this earlier today on Twitter. Since June 28th, he's fourth in the majors and innings pitched, which is kind of surprising.

Yeah. He consistently has gone six. He hasn't gone seven or eight like in years past, but I imagine in today's environment, if you're never falling short of six, you're going to show pretty high. Adam, they are Fowler. It's William Alfred Willie Flower, Fowler, an American nuclear physicist, later astrophysicist, who with Suha Bram Changesquhar won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics. You're welcome.

Okay. I bet Mitchell's last name is Fowler. Maybe. Mitchell from Washington. Well, here's Wally from New York. Wally from New York has a very strange email. He says, Dear Starman, Rebel, Ziggy, and Young American. You guys know this, right?

I don't. It's music, I know that. Jesus. David Bowie. Come on. It's Bowie's songs. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Not a fan.

Oh! Okay, let's dance. Regarding the song, Do Haast. It is a clever play with a German sort of homophone from song, songfacts.com. Haast is a conjugation of the base form Haben, which means to have. To hate would be the verb Hasen, which would be conjugated as Do Hastmish? You hate me. So they are similar. They are

not homophones, and that the S sound in Haast for hate would be stressed a little more than it would in Haas for Haft. This is confirmed when Till says, Do Hashmish gervad? And each ab knight Gersagd, which literally means, you have asked me and I have said nothing. Haast is used as the Cobbin, helper. All right, so thank you for that clarification on Du Haas.

But somebody told me that they released an English version, which was, You Hate Me. So I think I'm going to stick with that. Anyway, the question from Wally is in a 10-team, Du Haas, 10-to-head categories, like Daily League. I need a pitcher. Glass Now, Povetta, Castillo, Ryu, Bieber, Fulmer, Kehill, Holland, Musgrove, Marquez, oh my God, there's a ton of them.

Glass now, Povetta. It's got to be Povetta. Maybe Castillo. Marquez would be my second choice. Castillo's been really good for a little while now. Has he? I'm going to challenge that. I'm going to challenge that.

I'm going to use a coach's challenge. It's one of those situations where he's been better, but in a way that never yields quality starts, because it's like five in a third innings at a time. Right. He has a 323 ERA since the start of July with 35 strikins and 39 innings. So he hasn't been great. I'd probably rather have Marquez and Pavetta, sure.

Okay. And finally, from Chris in Arizona, would you drop Francisco Cervelli for Taylor Ward in a points league? I don't think I would. I wish I was more confident in Cervelli's help, but he's back. and prior to the latest concussion scare, he was cruising. So, I mean, he's had a really good year. Rare among catchers.

I know Ward has a lot of upside, but I'd rather stick with the proven option. This is Rob's, dude. A little musical today. Do you realize, guys, that did we have one ace pitch yesterday? I can't remember. Like, Burrios and Archer were probably the best ones, right? Clayton Kirchall. Ryu pitched yesterday, buddy.

Where have you been? I really thought Clayton Khrushchev pitch yesterday. Okay, well, we talked about Junji and Ryu for like 10 minutes. Yeah, but still, it doesn't matter. You hate me, Chris. You don't listen to me. What a weird song. Yeah, Zach Wheeler was maybe the best pitcher that pitched yesterday.

Now, Burrios is the best. But how crazy would it be to say I'd rather have Zach Wheeler than Chris Archer? Peacraise. but not totally crazy. Yeah. I would disagree, but I would understand the sentiment, I guess. I would defend your right to say it. Thank you.

How would you rank these three? Zach Wheeler, Nick Povetta, Armand Marquez. Paveira. Yep. And it's not a knock on Wheeler. I just think the other guys have more upside. Yeah. Yeah, I think, yeah, I agree.

All right. Fringy starting pitchers. Scott's going to bounce in a few minutes, by the way, and Chris and I are going to take it home from there. Vince Velasquez was awful. I think I called him a start even against Boston. I had confidence at him, and I shouldn't have. He's got two starts next week at Washington and at Toronto.

Shane Bieber, frustrating. You know, he's been pretty good lately. Three good starts in a row. Shane Bieber's at Boston and at Kansas City next week. He sucked yesterday. I don't think you can start him. against Boston, because this is the problem. He, like,

he gets a decent number of strikeouts, but he just seems when he gets hit, he tends to get hit really hard. And because he doesn't have, like, great stuff, I wonder if that's going to continue to be an issue for him.

I feel like the Babb that he has right now, which is 375. It's unsustainable even for a guy who gets hit hard. Definitely. But it might be, you know, It would be next week, you know, I'd start him in points leagues I wouldn't start him in categories. It would be one of those situations where you just hope he avoids the negative at Boston

and then you trust he's going to have a really good start at Kansas City. Yeah, I think that's probably right. And I feel like I'm being a little inconsistent because you could probably say the same things about Nick Pavetta, except I think his stuff's better. And I'm going to ask this, now, let's got go. We've got Velasquez, Bieber, Gosman, and Tyler Anderson. they're all owned in 76 to 83% of leagues. They're owned in most leagues.

Velasquez, Beaver, Gosman, and Anderson. How many of them, if you saw them on your waiver wire in a 12-team league, would you be adding? Velasquez Beaver, Gosman, Tyler Anderson. I don't think it would be an automatic ad for any of them. I might have said it would be for Velasquez prior to this start, but, you know, the ERA's back up over four on the walk rate's high, so, you know, maybe not. I would try to add all four of them. I would check and see if I had somebody I could drop.

Yeah, I mean, in my 10-team league, I didn't have anybody to drop for Gosman. I wasn't really, like, working that hard to find someone. Yeah. Scott, thanks, bud. We'll talk to you tomorrow. All right. All right. Sounds good.

See ya. Well, that was awkward, Chris. Man, he's gone. Woo! Anyway. Anyway, um. Junior Gera, what do you make of this? Junior Gera has a 259 ERA at home and an ERA over 5 on the road.

It doesn't make much sense, does it? Yeah, and when you face a situation like that, when it doesn't make sense, like it's not like he has a good home park, and it's not like there's like overwhelming peripherals that tell you that he's really good. I think he's probably just what the number say he is, and I think there's probably just some flukiness there. Gera's got a 373 RAA, less than a strikeout per inning, and a 133 whip. Are you going to start him against the Reds next week?

I think that's a fine streaming option. Yeah, Reds have been really bad lately. And Mike Leak, it's like 17 starts now for Mike Leak with an ERA around three. And there have been a couple of stumbles in there. But I was calling him very inconsistent on yesterday's podcast. He's probably been more consistent that I've given him credit for. and he just keeps getting it done. It's 17 starts.

His ERA is around 3. His strikeout rate is terrible. Terrible, and he will face the Astros at home next week. What do you think about Mike? His strike rate's always terrible. Is it worse this year? It's within spitting distance. Like it was 629K per 9 last year.

It's 559 this year. That's definitely lower, but it's not. He looks like Mike Leak still, which means he's going to give you some innings. He's going to pitch to a low fours high 3 ZRA. And, you know, there's value in that if you're setting your lineup at the start of the season. I don't know how much value there is when you're, like, making lineup decisions. You probably have, you know, five or seven starters that you want to use ahead of him when he only has one start at least.

Sure. And in deep leagues, do you have any interest in Felix Pena, Austin Gumber, Rafael Otega, who's a hitter, and Robbie Erlin? I don't think so. No. Yeah. Deeper leagues, sure, but the answer for that is always, yes, in deeper leagues. Ortega is, he's got four steals in seven games, and he leads off for the Marlins. I really don't know anything about him. I'm not going to lie, but the steals are catching my eye if you're desperate for steals.

Rafael Ortega, he is 1% owned. I mean, he had 12 steals and 92 games at AAA. 779 OPS and the PCL no power whatsoever, but he's fast. I think NL-only steel specialist is probably the only way I'd look at him. All right. And let's do today's matchups and get the heck out of here, Chris. Yankees host the raise? Yeah, what?

No issues for Acuna, it looks like. He's listed as day-to-day. The CT scan came back clear, and the x-ray came back clear as well. Wonderful. We've got Blake Snell at Masahiro Tanaka. Boy, I'm a little worried about Blake Snell in that matchup, but it's not like you can sit him, so I'll start both. Oswald and Swart, no.

Ranger. Ranger, Danger, Suarez. Ranger Suarez. Now we're not starting these guys. John Lester at Yvonneova. I think you can start Lester. I think you are a crazy person. I don't feel great about it, no.

So don't do it. The Pirates have been really good offensively for a couple of months now, but, you know, a couple of their best hitters are lefties. Yeah, I'm starting John Lester. All right, I am not starting John Lester. Stephen Mats at Zach Eflin. I'm starting Eflin. Tanner Roe-Arck at Loo. Look, Weaver.

Weaver's a tough call. Yeah, I don't know how I feel about it. I don't think I'm feeling great about either one, but I think I'd probably start both. Hmm, okay. And we've got, I think, six more games. Rockies at Braves, John Gray at Julio Taran. Definitely John Gray. Taran, he's probably too highly owned to be a streamer.

I don't hate the matchup, though. So maybe. So we've got Taylor Cole and Ariel Harado, and we are not going to start them. No. Yeah, what are the angels doing here? Are they starting Cole or are they going with an opener? Because he's been a reliever for them. It might just be a bullpen day.

Might be. Yeah. Okay. And we've got Francisco Liriano and Irvin Santana. It wouldn't surprise me if Santana was good, but I'm not trusting him. Sam Gavillio at Glenn Sparkman. No. Clay Buckels at Jacob Nix.

Probably not. I mean, maybe Buckles. What a terrible night of baseball. Holy cow. Yeah, it might be a good night to catch up on some TV. Yeah, it's a good night for some preseason football. I'll tell you that. able to finish the staircase tonight i got two episodes left very excited i've never heard of that show

you weren't on when i talked about it no it is a true crime documentary uh about a woman who fell down a staircase and yeah i've heard of that is uh tried the guy definitely did it right i'm not gonna tell you i will say that that was my understanding from what from from the conversation i heard sounds like he definitely did it i will say this i have Well, thank you for spoiling. I have changed my mind a few times. I've got two episodes left, and I have changed my mind. It might have been you telling me.

I've changed my mind several times, and it's a very enjoyable. I mean, I guess I shouldn't call it enjoyable. It's a very interesting documentary where we are completely wrapped up in it. I recommend it. And, and the show, trial and error, which I've been telling everybody about, you need to watch it. It's so funny. Season 1 is based on the staircase, and season 2 is apparently. based on Robert Durst and the documentary The Jinks, which is the greatest documentary that has ever been documented.

Thank you for listening, everybody. We'll talk to you on Friday. Bye? Bye. See you.