Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/20: Sale's 2020 Value and a Mon. Recap (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 20, 2019

Any standouts from yesterday's games? Are we done with Brendan McKay or should you keep him for another favorable upcoming matchup? Should you add Francisco Mejia? And if we were drafting for 2020 today when would Chris Sale be taken? Plus more news and Adam's bold prediction about the 2020 Cy Young Award winner ... A look at the Most Benched players as we see who Fantasy owners are not trusting this week ... Double Dongs, more good hitters, all of the important SP performances and more ... 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. With fantasy! Now here's Adam, Scott, Heath, and Chris. Well, we warned you about those two-star pitchers, didn't we? Didn't we, Scott?

Didn't we warn them? Warning, warning, warning. That's what we said. Do we warn them about Benetendi or Travis Shaw? Benettoni, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, Benetton, That's right. The mixer is here with me. It's back and better than ever.

Might have to break that out a few times during the show, during the dog days of August, just to keep things alive. Oh, yeah. This is a dog of a day, no question. And Scott is loopy Scott White here on a Monday. Monday night, 1122 p.m. Eastern. And we are looking at these games. I'm going to be real with the audience here, Scott.

You know I have that. This is Adam, by the way. Chris Welsh will be back tomorrow to host this show. But I'm filling in for him. He's going to be on three times a week going forward. So he'll be on the next three days of this week. So, Scott, I'm going to be real with the audience. I think they appreciate my honesty.

I have a splitting headache. I feel like crap. I need to go to sleep. So we're not going to do a super. super long show today. The high-pitched Travis Shaw may have done you in. Then they've split it wide open.

Could be actually feel a little bit better, to be honest with you. So here we go. Who are some Monday standouts? Scott White. Oh, the Monday standouts. Well, I mean, where to begin?

Trevor Bauer was the opposite of last time out, which was the opposite of the previous time. out, which I'm sure is getting really frustrating, but it probably is an indication. You should just start Trevor Bauer and not try to overanalyze

it too much. I mean, he was awesome. 11 strikeouts and seven innings. That's what he did two starts ago, too. But, yeah, the other two with the Reds have been disastrous. ERA's over four for the year. We talk about this, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I put

him like a five or something on the Woriometer last time we talked about him. And you were like, no, I'm not worried. And it's just, for me, it would sound like worried. It was, it was just worried that he's going to keep having bad starts, and I'm still worried about that. But it was nice to see him get through seven innings with 11 strikeouts on only like 106 pitches. You know, with Cleveland, that would have been 126 pitches. So that was nice and efficient. It was a great start. And no matter how worried I am, yeah, like Scott said, no matter how worried I am about Trevor Bauer, I'm starting him, because this is, this is what he's capable of. And he's still a top 25.

Pitcher going into today, Bauer was 22nd in points, 25th in Roto. And he'll be, obviously, he'll be top 20 after. He took the loss, unfortunately, so the fantasy points won't be great. But great start for Trevor Bauer for sure. On the other hand, Brendan McKay is my standout. And I can't do it. I can't trust him anymore. I mean, this weekend at Baltimore, if they let him make the start at Baltimore this

weekend, because he's been terrible lately. Am I going to trust Brendan McKay? He does not have a quality start since his major league debut when he flirted with a perfect game. He had like a perfect game through six innings or something like that against Texas. I think he only had three strikeouts in the game. And yeah, look, he just hasn't been very good. He has a 555 ERA. And I said it last time we talked about McKay, I think.

I don't know. There's something there. He doesn't look like that stud pitcher that you'd expect from the pedigree in the minor league number. numbers. It's just one man's opinion. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that his... Yeah, I don't know that the... The thing that really stood out for him in the minors was just how many strikes he

threw, how much he avoided walks. The stuff obviously played up against lower competition, so he's able to get a lot of strikeouts do. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what the upside looks like in terms of strikeouts in the long run. I mean, obviously, Aeronola, that's an example of a guy who I feel like, you know, we were thinking of him as more of a control guy than a batmisser and he eventually became the batmisser.

So I think it's still too early to make any sweeping proclanations about McKay. But more in the short term, more with the focus on this year, nine walks now in six innings over his past two starts. I mean, that's clearly not. in character and McKay is at 27 and two-thirds innings more than he's ever thrown before. Right, it's a great point. It's a good point. So, I mean, we may not see him make another start. Hopefully he does because I'm sure some people activate him for two starts. The second, this was Seattle, so it should have gone better.

The second was Baltimore. Oh, yeah. I thought he was a no-brainer this week. You know, I think that's why I'm so disappointed. Those matchups just I thought it was a no-brainer for Brennan McKay. Yeah, but he doesn't have much left, I don't think. We're not going to see him in September, or at least I would be surprised if we do. Well, we might not see Cory Klooper either. We're going to update you on that. Chris Sale, obviously, big injury. Any other standouts?

You want to get to some other stuff? I mean, Francisco Mejia, he homered, and it was starting for the ninth time in 12 games. One of those starts was at DH, but still, it looks like he's taking over as the primary backstop in San Diego. 444 with four home runs this month and not many strikeouts. So he may be coming into his own finally. If you still need catcher help,

he's out there. Catcher's been an interesting position. You know, you get like hot streaks from Danny Jansen, Francisco. Mejia. I don't know how many people in a 12-team league hate their catcher. There's been enough on the waiver wire where, you know, you plug in Roberto Perez or James McCann,

you're probably doing okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one catcher, that's the thing about catcher, is it can go from very thin to an abundance. And one catcher leagues quickly, because nobody's using those guys anywhere but it catcher. Right, right, right.

All right, well, catcher sucks. Okay, moving on. Today's sponsor is ZipRecruiter. Actually, before we tell you about ZipRecruiter, let's look at the in-progress scoreboard. Some of the games have not completed yet. All right, let's see what we got, Scott. We got a 7-7 game in the, pardon me, in the bottom of the,

that's the Angels Rangers game. What's the score? Dylan Peters. So much for that. Right, yeah. You know, I was watching this game, Peters versus Allard, and I think both guys, oh, I can't find the game because I'm already on it. You know, both guys, like, they're kind of interesting,

but they both have bad starts, and you don't need to own them. think the theme of today, Scott, was like almost every two-star pitcher that you could have gotten excited. We didn't get excited about. But fantasy owners did, based on the most added list, they got rocked for the most part. Peters, four runs and four innings, five runs, four earned. Four walks, three strikeouts. Allard, this guy, we were not recommending him. He was more deep leagues, but six earned runs in five innings. Yeah, I don't think we're expecting much from them. The rest of season, Scott has not been buying into Dylan Peters. Good for him. And if you listen to him, you wouldn't have started him this week.

Yep. Avon Nova actually, you know, survived against the twins, but it wasn't pretty. No, but he's probably going to get the win, so it's going to end up being like 10 fantasy points. Right. Two run runs, 10 hits, and 5 in a third innings. Two strikeouts is a crap start. Yeah. Which, I mean, other than keeping the hits down, nothing could really change for him in that five-start stretch,

where, I mean, he throws so many strikes that when he's not giving up base runners, of course, he's going to go deep into the game. You know, we've seen stretches like this throughout his career where he looks like an asset and fantasy, but in the long run, there's just not, the stuff just isn't good enough. It just doesn't miss enough bats. Yeah. And this could have been much worse. It could have been, for sure.

He's got another start this week against, uh, uh, Who is it, Texas? Let's see, Yvonne Nova. I think it's Texas, yeah, this weekend. So I guess, you know, if you're lucky enough to get the win, that game again, not over, but it's Texas for Nova. Maybe he won't bury you this week like I was afraid he would. Luis Arias, the second baseman, he let off today.

So he's hitting very well, and that's nice to see as we look at that game in progress. Colorado, Arizona is in the top of the seventh. It's 2-1 Arizona. Arizona here. And Josh Rojas did not start this game. And let me just see if they had a lefty on the mound. I don't think so.

But it's been a while since I've checked the handedness of Chi-Chi Gonzalez. He is a righty. So that's disappointing that Rojas didn't start. He is in the game, though, or he pinched at least. But Zach Allen had an interesting start, Scott, six innings, five hits, one run, eight strikeouts. Terrific, terrific, great stuff against Colorado. Six walks. Six walks.

Six walks. Six walks. And the walks have been kind of discouraging throughout his time in the majors because he was, he had a very low walk rate at, uh, at AAA. Um, so, yeah, I, I don't, I don't know where this is coming from. Obviously, career is just beginning and, you know, players shouldn't be expected to perform at their very best from the get-go. Um, and he's done a lot of good things.

He's done a lot of good things. He's probably pretty close to Mustown because he's, you know, pitched decently overall. But the walks are disappointing and are kind of holding him back from being everything I think he could be. Yeah, Zach Allen is a 245 ERA right now. That is pretty good. Ketel-Marté was 26th home run in this game.

And one more game that was... Oh, no, Houston, Detroit went final. Okay, so Houston with a 5-4 win over Detroit. And we had Wade Miley give up 10 hits, but he did strike out eight. I thought he might have a better start. Did not get you a quality start. But of course, he did not give up more than three runs because that's just, that's what Wade Miley does every time.

Three runs or less, basically. I like how you're giving score updates to this recorded podcast. It's not being consumed live anywhere. Well, I need people to know that, you know, the show is not 100% organized because the games weren't over when I made the notes. tough for me. It's something we're going to have to deal with, I think, going forward. But it is nice that these shows are out early for you so you can listen on your morning commute. Okay, so today's sponsor is ZipRecruiter. Thank you so much to ZipRecruiter for sponsoring our show.

If you're looking to hire somebody, go to ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. So instead of you sorting through all those resumes, let ZipRecruiter do it for you, they find people for your job. They find the right fit. ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. I think the big story today, other than the two-star pitchers being terrible, is the news, the injuries. Chris Sale is likely to avoid Tommy John. That's good, but he had a PRP injection. He's done for the rest of the regular season. You can drop Chris Sale.

And what are your thoughts on him right now for 2020? Immediate reaction. Well, the way you put it, hopefully going to avoid Tommy John, I saw it more definitively. He doesn't need Tommy John. And I think that's an important distinction. And I'm not sure which of us is right, but that's... You're probably right.

You know. But I just feel like... Inflammation is opposed to... Look what happened with David Robertson, right? Sometimes these guys, it doesn't look like a Tommy John situation. They rehab. It doesn't work. And then they have to get surgery.

I think it just happened with someone else, right? I haven't seen anything along the lines of he has a tear in there that he's going to try and rehab instead of Tommy John surgery. It doesn't sound like that situation. It just I think it's still being classified as inflammation in the elbow. And that doesn't sound like a very serious injury. So, you know, we're going rather than having this stretch that I suspected would eventually come where he pulls his ERA back down significantly. we're going to go into next year with him coming off the year where he had like a 440 ERA, you know, and that alone is going to make him a tough sell for some people in the, you know,

and like the ace range of starting pitchers. And then the fact he's coming off the elbow injury, I think he could be a nice discount next year. I don't know realistically what that means in terms of like round number. but you know I think there's definitely still first round upside there and like if you end up getting him in like round five that's great I mean I think Clayton Kershaw was even going later than that so maybe five is a little

I don't know just to be reasonable I'm going to say round five right now I don't think Kershaw was going later than that before he was slated to start the year on the IL But after that, yeah. Kirshaw is definitely a reason to be hopeful. The difference is, you know, for sale. The difference is Kirchaw still had good numbers last year. Personally, I think you and I have been on the same page with Sale, and I'm sure most fantasy baseball analysts have.

Like, we've always been very optimistic with him. We've thought he's much better than his numbers. You don't go out and have these unbelievably dominant starts like Chris Sale without being a great pitcher, you know? So the ERA doesn't really concern me. The fact that he has broken down two straight seasons concerns me a lot. And, you know, that is why I still would take him in the first five rounds as of right now, for sure. But that's why I can't take him in the first two and a half rounds, I'd say.

Yeah, I mean, so beyond, so beyond who? Scherzer, Cole, DeGrom. Wait, pause. I have to tell you my bold prediction before you spoil it in this. discussion. Okay, go ahead. I have a bold prediction for 2020. Mike Clevenger is going to win the American League

Sy Young. Whoa. Save that for March, Adam. Earmark this for later. He's so good. He's so good. He has 13 strikeouts per night. He gets ground balls.

He's throwing 97 miles per hour. His velocity up from last year. All the things we've known. But since he's been hurt, we haven't seen a full season of truly breaking out for Mike Clevenger. But Mike Clevenger is the best Indians pitcher. Move over the Bebs. Clevenger's going to win the Sayong,

and I would take him ahead of Chris Sale. My inclination right now is to agree that he'll go ahead of Chris Sale. So I would assume Scherzer Cole de Grom, Shane Bieber, Justin Verlander, Walker, Walker, Let's throw Mike Clevenger in there. And Clayton Kershaw. I assume they will all go ahead of Chris Sale next year. So we're talking eight pitchers.

But beyond that, I'm not sure who definitively does. Strasbourg, Corby. I think Flaherty will have a case based on the way he closes the season. Well, not compared to those guys. You're ready to move Flaherty ahead of... I think people will be. I think they will be looking at a young up-and-comer who found his footing in the same.

second half of the year. I think Severino might have a case depending on what he does. But none of them are definitively going ahead of Chris Sale. Ryu, how about Junjin Ryu? Last season, I mean, he's going to be behind like Luis Castillo. We'll see.

We'll see. I'm not so sure about that, but you know, it depends. It depends how he does the rest of the season. Comes out throwing 98 miles per hour looking great. How about Hyun Jin Ryu? I would take sale over him. Okay.

Like it's, Ryu's not a young man and, neither sale. Has extensive injury. Well, he's, he's older than sale and has a more extensive injury history than sale and,

uh, not a track record of, you know, well, I guess he had part of last year too, right? Where he was this good. Oh yeah. So it's not totally a isolated event,

but it's just a portion of one season. And yeah, I mean, Ryu is going to be on a lot of bust list, I think, is next year, and it may not be totally deserved it, but he's going to go later than sale. Aaron Nola, last guy I want to debate, Aaron Nola or Chris Sail. I would take sale as things stand now, but, you know, Nola's been on fire lately, and if he stays on fire through all of September, maybe the overall numbers look good enough that you could make a case for him ahead of sale. Okay. You know, it would be a hot take. Chris Paddock will be better than Chris Sale next year.

Yeah, that's just reckless, Adam. Come on. All right. So, what else we got? Corey Klobber is going to be shut down for two weeks due to abdominal tightness. You on Mokad expected back on Thursday you've said about Chris Sale. He bummed? I am. Every time we've been excited about these rehabbing pitchers who've been away for months, it seems like this happens where it's not even that they they have problems with like they hurt something else you know this has happened to cluber it happened to glass now right

it happened to hasus lezardo like it's it's really i think it happened to severino didn't it yeah you're right it happened to severino yeah yeah may have been related but yeah it was like went from arm to lat or something like that yeah it was stantonian yeah it's annoying um more Oh, Oakland's calling up AJ Puck, who Chris Welsh brought up, the Welsh, but AJ Puck's going to be a reliever, so you don't have to pick him up. Yeah. Nelson Cruz is back.

Max Scherzer is going to start on Thursday. The Braves claim Billy Hamilton off waivers. With all their outfield injuries, you think Billy Hamilton's going to get any semblance of regular playing time with the Braves? They are, one of the B-Writers was actually saying they don't plan to have him hit. Just defense

and pinch running, which is probably the best way to use Billy Hampton. I think at this point that probably is the best way to hit up Billy Hamilton. There's another interesting call-up, though,

that's supposed to happen tomorrow, Tuesday. And it's Mariners outfielder Jake Fraley, who between two stops this year, 19 home runs, 22 steals, a pretty good K-rate.

found some power this year when mostly previously was regarded as kind of a speedy defensive guy and they have openings in that outfield right now he should be able to get some consistent looks I'm not rushing out to add him everywhere but you know there's a speed element there and there's an opportunity so Jake Fraley if you're looking to make up ground in in steals you know he might end up being pretty decent all right good stuff Tyler Glass now could return before the season's over, but most likely it would be in the bullpen. Adelberto Monasey is going to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday.

Malick Smith, he got benched over the weekend for just mental errors, and now he's batting seventh. Ooh, now Jake Fraley's coming up. A weird spot. Yeah, it's a good point, yeah. Malik Smith in the doghouse a little bit. Joe Ross left with a leg injury. He was having a good start,

and maybe he was going to be that good two-star pitcher, but Joe Ross leaves with a leg injury. Danny Santana left with hamstring tightness Carlos Correa left with back discomfort and Nobar Mazar left with oblique tightness. So some big injuries there that we don't know the severity of. Coray's had back issues. That was what sidelined him for two months earlier this year.

So that one's especially scary. All right, we're going to look at a list that we have not looked at all year. I don't know if we've ever looked at it in the history of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. When we come back, a look at a list. I'm not even going to tell you what it is, right after this. Scott, are you ready to look at the most benched players in CBS Sports Leaks? Ooh.

I know, right? Sure. Okay. Yeah, you sound excited. Yeah, I'm faking it. Got to fake it to make it, baby. Yes, the mixer is back. Okay.

The most benched players, I took away the guys who are on I. Vladimir Guerrero was benched this week. Okay, I get it. Mike Tockeman was benched this week. He really had a terrible week, and we weren't fully buying into it with Tockeman. So I didn't just bench him. I dropped Mike Tockeman,

but he's the second most benched player. Okay. They didn't have good matches this week. No, at Oakland, at the Dodgers. That was the other reason. No home games for that lefty. No. Yeah.

I mean, we haven't, I don't think we've heard the last of Tockeman this year, but, uh, Yeah, not buying into him as hard as Urchella or even like J.D. Davis. Oh, you love J.D. Davis. Matt Boyd is one of the most benched. He's only started in 53% of leagues this week. Matt Boyd at Minnesota this week. So fantasy owner was like, no, probably not.

Yeah, I mean, I benched him in one of the leagues I own him. I have a deep pitching staff in that league, so it was easy to do. Yeah. James Paxson is. You're getting this habit, Scott, of ending sentences where it sounds like you're going to keep going. And you're really throwing me off. Also, on Friday show, you started saying, see, I know I can get your head. I know I can't because you started saying BB per 9 and then you changed it to walks per 9, like right away.

And I was very happy about that. Yeah. So this is like when you were talking about Darvish thing. Yeah. It was great. Well, what I've been trying to avoid is the trailing off with the last word, because that's something I've a long had a tendency to do. I see. So I'm trying to stick the landing, and it's throwing you off.

Yeah, a little bit. Zach Wheeler is home against Atlanta, and James Paxton is at the Dodgers, and they are among the most benched players this week. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure what to say there. I mean, Zach Wheeler had a bad start. I probably wouldn't be benching him. And, I don't know.

Yeah, here's an interesting one. Andrew Benintendi is only 82% started. Who? Andrew Benintendentendi. Oh. Yeah, Benintendantin. Yeah, Benintendi. he's one of the most bench players top 20

and he's 82% own and Reese Hoskins has been cold and he's 79% own I don't know I have trouble sitting these guys now Ben and Tennie I think is only a five game week if I recall Oh man I don't have the notes here Yeah he does

Philadelphia two games against Philadelphia Three games at San Diego Three lefties on the schedule So that actually may have been a good call Although I do think Ben and Tendini's been better against lefties and righties this year, but not in his career. All right, interesting.

Interesting. He's been hitting pretty well, and sitting Reese Hoskins is risky. I hope that works out for you all. Well, that's a look at the most bench list. I'm going to read some emails later at Fantasy Football at cbsi.com. Tom Murphy double donged today. Yes. Yeah, five homers in his last three games, but is quite spread out, Scott.

Well, they pretty much only start him against left-handed pitchers. and if you look at the splits, that's justified. Although one of his two home runs today was against a righty. I don't really think Omar Narvaez's job is in jeopardy. Murphy's fine in like two catcher leagues or daily leagues, if you can afford to keep a second catcher around. He's up to 15 home runs now and 179 of bats, and we knew he had this kind of power.

We kept begging the Rockies to call him up for years, and they won it. Glad somebody's benefiting from his abilities finally. Yeah, I'm glad that he was able to get out of that park in Colorado and go to Seattle. It doesn't matter. He's park-proof. Yeah, I guess. So, by the way, Ben and Tendi OPS, very similar versus lefties and righties this year, which is an encouraging sign. Those were the only double dongs tonight.

We did have team name Tuesday. It's team name Tuesday. People were still into it. Aristides Development. Oh, okay. I like it. Yeah. Can I get a witness?

Now you stole that from me. I've been saying that. The, you know, if you want to go in the Wayback Machine, the original Mark Kana team name was an Al-Moky or classic, Can I get a what-what? Oh, really? I stole it from Al? Yeah.

Didn't even realize it. Wow. Cleavit to Beaver, like Clevenger, like Cleavit to Beaver, I guess. Okay. Alka smelzer? I like that one. Hi-ho Rosario, Buck Farmer in the Snell.

I think we've had something very similar to that, but I enjoy singing it. Yeah, the brand name ones get to me. And like food name ones. Like Chris is all about the song titles. I just like, you know. Food names? Yeah.

Hitters that I wanted to focus on today included Francisco Mejia. But the first guy I wanted to talk about was Adam Eden. He homered again. By the way, the nationals are a vicious matchup right now. Do not start fringy pitchers against the nationals. I think they won 13-0. So Adam Eaton going in today's game was the number 22 outfielder in points leagues. And number 34 in Rodo is not so good.

But he's just been on a power binge lately. He homered again. He's up to 10 home runs. 13 steals, 20 doubles, and seven triples. And it's been about a month now of Adam Eaton being, I don't know, like not quite elite, but must, must start. So I'll look up where he's been over the last 28 days. But if you want to talk about Adam Eaton, it's been terrific.

Yeah, I mean, in the end, his numbers are going to look like a good Adam Eaton season, which we haven't really seen from him yet in Washington because he kept getting hurt. But, and I think it's reasonable to ask if, you know, because the last time we saw a good Adam eating his season, it was really before the home run explosion. So how valuable is it now? I mean, it's valuable enough that you can use him, certainly. He's not going to be this hot forever. And then you may want to look, you know, he may end up becoming a streamer type for you in like a three outfielder league where you look at like the Mike Talkman. matchups or whatever.

But, you know, right now he's proven to be plenty usable still. Over the last 28 days, going into today when Eaton homered, going into Monday when he homered. Number five outfielder in points leagues, number nine in Roto.

So... Over how long? 28 days. Very good. The numbers for Eaton there. 311 batting average. 4.09 on base and a 589 slugging percentage with four homers, seven doubles, and three triples, and five steals.

I mean, that's really encouraging. Five steals in 28 days. Yeah, though five games ago, he had zero home runs during that stretch. I wonder where he would have ranked then. Interesting, interesting. Regardless. It's hot right now. All right, that's pretty much it for the hitters for me today.

The rotation, Trevor Bauer, was great. I'll tell you one that really surprised me, Kyle Gibson. And I feel bad about this because I recommended him highly for the two. start week. I thought I had him figured out. Basically, sit him against the toughest teams, but other than that, you start Kyle Gibson. And he struggled against the White Sox. He gave up five runs in six and two thirds. He gave up four runs in the third inning. And then I think he gave up another in the seventh. So it was almost like he mostly pitched well, but one big inning doomed Kyle Gibson. I will have, I still will have no issues starting him against

Detroit this weekend, but it's been three bad starts in a row now for Gibson. Yeah, I'm beginning to think Kyle Gibson and Dylan Bundy are the exceptions to the rule that an elite swinging strike rate will ultimately yield elite results. It's a very consistent metric, I feel like, in terms of who ranks at the top with the high swinging strike rate. But those two, two years in a row now have ranked among like the top 20 guys. And they've been not that good. They've been usable, but they haven't been very good. Well, Gibson's been much better than Bundy, though. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't help that Bundy obviously has no chance of winning games.

But you're right. I mean, Gibson's been more – Gibson's been a little higher, better than usable, I would say. But he hasn't been – he hasn't been what the swinging strikes would suggest he should be. And Marco Gonzalez, he's not going to get a ton of swinging strikes, but he was okay at Tampa Bay, five innings, three runs, five strikeouts, two home runs allowed at Tampa Bay. Marco Gonzalez got the win, improves to 13 and 10 with a 430 ERA. And in his previous 11 starts, he had a 365 earn run average. And he gets Toronto this weekend, possibly without Vlad, we'll see.

So, yeah, Marco Gonzalez, Kyle Gibson, do you have a strong preference between those two? Oh, definitely Gibson. I mean, I haven't soured on him that much. Marco Gonzalez, I'm amazed he's pulled it off as long as he has. I mean, it's kind of feeling like a Mike Fires situation. He's a little better than Mike Fires, I think, and hasn't been quite as good as Mike Fires, if that's making sense. But they both need to, they both are in need of some correction here.

All right, the fringy starting pitchers, we should have mentioned Dakota Hudson, 75% own, 6 and 2 thirds, scoreless innings. Four walks, seven strikeouts against Milwaukee. The three starts before that, he allowed 10 run runs in 11 and 2 thirds. Dakota Hudson will get Colorado this weekend. Zach Davies was not good. Dylan Peters was terrible. Ivan Nova was not good, and Kobe Allard was terrible.

We haven't talked about Davies, but we never liked Davies. How do you feel about Dakota Hudson? He's actually the most owned of this group at 75%. Yeah, so the stretch where I decided Dakota Hudson might be worth using as a spark in a head-to-head points league where he had been racking up quality starts with a terrible whip, but the best ground ball rate in baseball. So, you know, he can survive a high whip because he's not giving up home runs. That was the stretch where he started not getting quality starts.

He had three straight starts with less than five innings, much less six. But now two six shutout efforts in a row. No hits in this one. I mean, I guess he's back on track. I think he's only usable in points leagues. And, you know, even then you probably, he probably needs to be making two starts. But he has one really good skill

that particularly in this environment where home runs are just sabotaging everybody, that's not something you have to worry about so much with him. That is Dakota Hudson, and those are your fringy starting pitchers. Taking another look at the in-progress scoreboard. Oh, wait, I forgot about deep leagues. And actually two hitters that are pretty interesting, Scott. A 12% owned Austin Nola, who has a six-game hitting streak and a home run in three

straight games. He was having a pretty quiet August before this three straight games of the home run, but that's Austin Nola of the Mariners. And Travis DeMert, who is now batting 297 with two homers and three steals and 18 games, he's 8% owned. Do either Austin Nola or Travis to Merritt have mixed league appeal to you? Deep, deep appeal. I don't really have a lot of confidence in Austin Nola. I just don't, you know, he's a, he's a 29-year-old who got passed over for this long. And, you know, the XBA is 240.

It's not like the strikeout rate is especially low or any of the bad at ball tendencies. these point to him having, to him being a high batting average guy. So I'm not saying he can't carve out a role for himself as a platoon player, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him sustaining anywhere close to this level of performance. Demerite strikes out way too much. But if he can run like he has done a little in the major so far, three stolen bases, he's playing every single day for the Tigers. We know he has power.

That was the one consistent thing he did consistently in the minor leagues was hit home runs. I think he could be useful in a low-end sort of way. You know, maybe like that Ryan Ludwig tier of outfielders. D'Amara could be a part of that. But I'm not seen – I don't feel like there's huge upside here just because, you know, the strike rate's going to be terrible. All right, we're going to take one final break on fantasy baseball today. Then we'll look at the In Progress Scoreboard, and we will read some of your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com.

Did I say Ryan Ludwig? I don't know. Did I say Ryan Ludwig? I was reading injury updates, and I'm just losing it right now. I think I said Ryan Ludwig. That would have had to have been the strangest experience. I wasn't. I can't listen.

I have no attention span. I am just like a decade ago we were talking about Ryan Ludwig. Yeah, I remember. Ryan Ludwick, sure. Randall Gritchick. That's who I meant to say. Randall Gritchick. Oh, man.

All right, we'll be right back. In progress. Don't know what's going to happen in the ninth inning, but I assume Archie Bradley will get the save chance if, oh, it's tie game in the eighth. Never mind. It's now two to two. Colorado has tied it up,

and I don't think, I think it was off Chafin. So, yeah, don't know what's going to happen there. But we are looking at that game. It's 2-2 and not too many interesting things have happened in the Rockies. Diamondbacks game 7-7 in the 10th now. Angels and Rangers as Hansel Robles got out of a 2-on jam in the bottom of the 9th to send it to extras. Jose LeClerc pitched the top of the 9th at home as a closer would do.

Walk 3. He walked 3. He sure did. not give up a run. Way to go, LeClerc. Hunter Pence has been picking it up a little bit lately, and now that Mazar is out, you might get more consistent playing time from Pence.

He is 59% own. He's someone to keep an eye, and you might get more consistent playing time from Delano to Shields, who stole two bases today and has 18 of them, and that's pretty much all he's going to give you, but he does have 18 of them. Leave it to Adam to turn to Delano to Shields to fill a void.

And I mentioned that Luis Zariah, started, let off for the twins. Max Kepler out with an injury today. I feel like Kepler hasn't been batting leadoff, though. I feel like the things have changed there, and he's been like batting more in the middle of the order? Let me see if I'm crazy. I'm probably crazy, right?

Kepler, Kepler. Yeah, no, he's, okay, he doesn't bat lead off against lefties. Against righties, he does. All right, never mind. Scratch that. Let's read some emails. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Carl L wants to know if it's time to drop Chris Paddock for

Chris Bassett in a points league. I have no faith in Bassett at all. He's one of those pitchers who I'm waiting for just to all fall apart. So while I don't think dropping Chris Paddock is unthinkable at this point, he's obviously has little time left and hasn't been especially reliable lately anyway. I don't think I don't think Bassett's who I'd do it for. From Derek, who's a better stash? Shaw Mania or Johnny Quato?

Manaya. Or Quato. Mania is closer. Mania's closer, but I'm... And he's been pitching well. Like, getting a lot of strikeouts, doing exactly what you want to see statistically. And yet, the velocity readings are like high 80s on the fastball.

You know, maybe hitting 91 on occasion. So that's discourage, like... Wherever I have a free I L. I've been stashing him, but I've started to do that with Quato, too. I'm going to say Mania just because he's closer, but you may be dropping him pretty soon, kind of like a Danny Salazar situation. You drop him soon thereafter. From Trevor, I have not heard anyone really talk about Jose Ozuna.

How would you compare Jose Ozuna versus Thai France, Ian Hap, Garrett Cooper, DeMert, and Josh Rojas? Not favorably. He's gotten very little playing time this year, right? Has something changed recently? I don't think so. He's been kind of on and off the Pirates for three years now,

and this is the first year he's been productive in any way. it's not like he has a great history of hitting for power in the miners. I'm going to have to take a closer look at that. Because I just, he's not been on my radar at all. And for a good reason. I mean, he doesn't play that much. So, yeah, we'll have to, I'll have to look into that more.

No, but the Pirates outfielder that is pretty owned, but doesn't get enough credit as Brian Reynolds. He really probably should be like 80-something percent owned, and I don't think he is. Yeah, no, he needs to be. I've finally given in on him. He's mostly legit. I mean, there should be some batting average regression there, but he profiles of like a 300-hitter anyway.

So he's good, and he's playing every day, you know, before he was losing some playing time when Dickerson was there, not the case anymore. From Billy, would you trade Jose Ramirez and a seventh round pick next year in a keeper league for Junjin Ryu. Ramirez cannot be kept, and Ryu can be kept for two more years. I'm on the playoff bubble, if I make it, I have little chance of winning,

six-by-six-head-head categories league. So he's kind of playing for next year, giving up Jose Ramirez, who he's not going to be able to keep, and a seventh-round pick for Junjun-Riu, who can be kept for two more years. I mean, I'd be curious to know what a seventh round pick translates to

in this Keeper League, how many players are being kept, so what it actually is. But, you know, I assume at least three are being kept. So we're talking about more like a 10th round pick. I would do it if you're going to keep Ryu. Why not? Yeah, get something for Ramirez.

I don't have a lot of faith in Ryu repeating Cy Young caliber numbers next year, but I don't feel like the cost is that great. I mean, even if you're wanting to compete for this year, Ryu is obviously going to help. Sure, sure, yeah. All right, from Andrew. Dear Peter, Buster, Tim, and Jason

That would be the Oh, those are ESPN writers Or at least at some point. Peter Gammons, Buster Only, Tim Kirchen and Jason Stark. They're misspelled.

Stark is. Right, he's got a Y in there, right? Yeah. I don't know, I don't know why we're giving these guys. Oh, come on. Come on, man. No, they're great. You know what?

those guys, when I was in high school, I'm sure you're the same way. Those were the guys that got me really into baseball. I used to read the ESPN.com all the time. Those guys were great. Yeah, honestly, Jason Stark is the most influential sports writer for me. Really? Yeah, he is. You know, his particular writing style was one that, you know, I kind of started adapting things he did.

Cool. Just in like history papers and stuff in college. And, you know, obviously it's... My growth as a writer has gone from there. But I read him very closely in college because I really liked his voice. I don't know if I had someone like that for me. A big influence.

Like Homer Simpson. All right, this is from Andrew. The question is, with Chris Sale, I've been going back and forth on if I should drop him or keep him for 2020. It's a 12-team headhead keeper league, and you keep four. So the options are Chris Sale for 25, Vlad for one, Trout for 49,

Bueller for one, Blackman for 21, Luis Castillo for 16, and Will Smith for one. Keep for a? He is not one of my four keepers. Trout for 49, I would do. Yeah. Who is not one of your four keepers? Sale. Oh, at 25?

It's not such a bad value, but Vlad for one, Bueller for one, 100% with those guys. And then I'd probably keep either Will Smith for 16 or Castillo for 16 or Blackman for 21. Sale might be my least favorite value on this list. And honestly, Will Smith at one. Yeah, oh yeah, it's great. He's going to have, I think he's going to be in the discussion. I mean, barring, you know, really poor finish.

I think he's going to be in the discussion number one next year at catcher. Like, I don't think he will be number one, but I think he'll be part of that tier where we're like... Oh, oh, I'm sorry. I thought that was the reliever. Oh. It might be. It would be either one.

Yeah. I think I would... I was more excited about the catcher. I think he was not because Will Smith the reliever isn't good, but because, you know, with those other options, I wouldn't want to keep a closer with all the, you know, just how unreliable that role is from year to year, much less. Yeah, it's true. I don't know what the budget is, but sale at 25 when Trout is 49 and Castillo is 16 and Blackman is 21.

Like sale at 25 is a perfectly reasonable value, but you have four better options on there. You don't need to keep your sale. Right, right. Bueller, Vlad, and Castillo at 16, Bueller and Vlad 1 each. I think are obvious. Trout at 49. I just have a hard time giving up trout when he's anywhere close to reasonable value.

So I think he'd be my fourth. All right, we're out of here. Thank you, Scott. Thanks, everybody for listening. I actually feel better than I did earlier. So this was therapeutic. Thank you, everybody. And I'm sorry if, you know, it wasn't really that exciting of the day.

But I don't think we left anything out. We will talk to you tomorrow. The Welsh will be back on hosting this show with Scott. And maybe me. We'll see if I'm popping in. We'll talk to you then. See you later, everybody. To be told!