Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/22: Nats Trades, Kopech, More from Tuesday (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 22, 2018

Daniel Murphy (2:10) and Matt Adams (4:44) are on the move! Who wins? Who loses? Any sneaky NL-Only adds to be made? And let's talk about Michael Kopech and his MLB debut (6:30) plus more Tuesday standouts like Kole Calhoun (9:45), Kevin Gausman (12:00) and Blake Snell (14:30) ... MLB news (18:55) including the Aroldis Chapman, Jose Abreu and Buster Posey situations, lineup notes (26:40) and the Worryometer for one struggling OF (29:21) ... Hot hitters we don't care about (31:22), yesterday's rotation (32:00), fringy SPs (35:35) and wondering if it's time to drop Dylan Bundy plus a couple of deep league guys you may want to keep an eye on (42:00). We also preview today's matchups (43:50) ... 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

Well, we'll have to settle for two innings for strikeouts and a rain delay. It was an excellent major league debut for Michael Kopeck. A abbreviated one at that. But it doesn't matter, Scott, because the Nationals stole the headlines with a couple of early-in-the-day trades. That was pretty surprising, huh? Pretty fun stuff for a fantasy analyst. Yeah, yeah, it was fun. You got like the late August trade, finally packet it in, I guess.

I guess they are. Yeah, they should. Obviously, they didn't trade Harper, even though he was somebody who got claimed on waivers too. So they're getting Strasbourg back. Maybe they're not backing it in. But their chance, their path to the playoffs will already be hard. They're already difficult paths to the playoffs will be even harder without Daniel Murphy. It is true.

Yeah, they could still, I mean, they still have an outside chance. A lot of talent on that team. But let's talk about this trade. Let's start with that. And coming up on today's show, we will talk about the trade. We'll talk about Kopeck. Cole Calhoun is awesome. Kevin Gosman's been great with the Braves.

O'Rold is Chapman left with an injury, so who should you pick up? Jose Abrae and Buster Posey are facing surgery. One is more immediate than the other. A lot to get to, including Minnesota bullpen, if you care, and Woriometer for one guy. Yeah, whatever. I'm not going to run through the entire show. It's a Wednesday show. It's going to be fun.

All right. Daniel Murphy goes to the Cubs. Value up down or the same. Value has to be down just because there are so many infielders there competing for playing time. I still suspect he's going to be one of the primary ones they play. Obviously, Chris Bryant, we don't know exactly when it's coming back. Joe Madden expressed optimism the other day it would be before the end of August, but I don't know, I'm a little skeptical of that.

Also, Addison Russell's banged up and hasn't provided much offensively. Javier Baez is perfectly capable of playing shortstop, So that would be another way to get Murphy's bat in the lineup. I just think it'll be less than every day when obviously that wasn't something he had to contend with in Washington. And Murphy has a 621 OPS against lefties, which is not something he struggled with in 2016 and 17 when he was a great, great hitter with Washington. Now, he's been red hot since the All-Star break. You know, it's a 904 OPS. It's a 340 batting average in 5.5.

home runs. He has hit two he had two of those five home runs and that 25-4 win over the Mets. And since then in August he's batting 324 which is great but no power. Two homers three doubles, a 799 OPS. So yeah, I wonder if they sit him against Lethese. I wonder if Ben Zobras sits more because

you know he's been playing some second base I guess we'll see you never know with the Cubs. Yeah and I mean Zobrist has been a great hitter for them this year so I don't know why they'd 390 on this percentage would have been Zobrist next year. That's the guy who won the lineup. Definitely.

That's the guy who won the lineup. So I don't know. It's definitely messy. And I would say stocked down for Murphy. What about on the national side? Any NL-only plays now? Well, we got another Wilmer. Getting every day at bats, Wilmer, Defoe,

should be the primary second base. going for it. I don't think he offers a lot. I don't think he's mixed league relevant. He did Homer yesterday. It was his only hit of the game. And I think just his third home run of the season with a decent number of bats for a guy who's been coming off the bench all year. But yeah, I'm not excited about him. Four home runs in 300 native bats for Wilmer Defo. I love how you were like, he did Homer yesterday. It was his only hit of the game. Like, that's a bad game. Fair enough. So next one, we have Matt Adams. going to the Cardinals, and he's 35% owned and has great numbers against righties this year, only 37 of bats against lefties.

What's the impact of the Matt Adams trade? You know, I really don't know because I feel like Matt Carpenter's taken off for them since moving to primarily to first base. And that's the position they've wanted them playing all along. It's just they also wanted to get Jose Martinez's bat in the lineup at the beginning of the season. season. I don't think... My guess is Matt Adams doesn't have a significant role. He'll steal some starts now and then. But that's kind of what he'd been reduced to for the Nationals anyway,

with Ryan Zimmerman back and hitting pretty well. Does this help Ryan Zimmerman? Because, yeah, Ryan Zimmerman is hitting... Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, I suspect he plays close to every day. So Zimmerman right now, if I could find him in my... in my notes. He is 68% owned.

He has started 10 of the last 12 games. Two home runs in his last three games. It was maybe a little cold, but if you look at kind of a longer stretch, Zimmerman's playing very well. Would you rather have Eric Thames or Ryan Zimmerman? I'd rather have Zimmerman. Would you rather have Jake Bowers or Ryan Zimmerman?

Certainly right now I'd rather have Zimmerman. I still like the profile for Bowers, but he doesn't seem startable at, moment. Carlos Santana or Ryan Zimmerman? Well, certainly in points league's Santana. And I'll take Santana on both. All right.

Scott, it's time for the Michael Copac segment. We don't have any music, but Michael Copac. Michael Copac segment, two innings, three hits, four strikeouts, no walks, scoreless, left after a Randelay. This was against the twins. Good start for him. At Detroit this weekend. Boston next week if he stays on turn.

Yeah, what do you have to say about Michael Copick? I mean, you don't want to overreact to two innings, obviously, but there was a lot of reason to be excited about this guy going in, and we know a lot about him already. Once clocked at 105 miles per hour, sits in the high 90s, but the point is he throws very hard and really turn things around in the minor leagues over his past seven starts, went from walking everybody to walking. Nobody, basically.

And in those two innings, he threw 67% of his pitches for strikes. I think that's a very good sign. One new piece of information that came from this start that I saw on Twitter from David Adler of MLB.com. In the first inning, I don't know, I assume it was similar in the second inning, but in the first inning of that game, Michael Kopeck, his, four-scene fastball average 2,629 RPM. Justin Verlander leads all of baseball in that stat, and it was lower.

It's lower than that. It's 2613 RPM. So in that inning, Kopex spin rate, or his RPM, yeah, his spin rate was better than the best pitcher in baseball at that, which is supposed to be a good sign for his strikeout potential. So that's a new piece of information that I found interesting. Yeah, wow, we're getting really next level here with all these stats, huh? We certainly are. Now, that is interesting. I mean, I couldn't have told you who led the majors in spin rate on this basketball, first of all, or what a good spin rate would look like.

But the fact that it's Justin Berlander and that somebody who could tell you those things says that's good, I'm taking his word for it. Yeah, like what if we got, you know, what if we did like a, what if RPMs were a category? I don't think that would be a great thing because it's not a result. I think it would be a result. What if FIP was a category, probably not a good thing. But it's a useful stat. Yeah, no, it is.

It is. Copac is 79% owns, still available. So you might want to make that move. We'll talk about some players later that, well, Copac or Bieber. Copac. Copac is in my top 40. for rest of season. Kopeck or Alex...

Definitely want to gamble on the upside over fading... Fading guys with innings concerns like Marco Gonzalez and maybe even like Andrew Heaney. Kopeck or Alex Wood? Kopeck. One more, let's see. Tanaka. I'll take Tanaka.

All righty. Hey, real quick, Scott. Cole Calhoun or Marcelo Zuna, rest of season? I know I have Ozuna ranked higher. I've been pretty stubborn about him. Although he has moved down quite a bit. He hasn't moved that far down. My gut kind of says Kopeck will be better, though.

If I'm listening to my gut, I'm probably saying. You meant Kauhoun. Ah, I meant Calhoun. Your gut is all about Michael Kopeck. It is. That's all that matters to be right now. It's not Michael Kopeck Day, everybody, because he threw two innings and didn't walk anybody. So you have Ozuna ranked higher, but your gut says Calhoun.

Calhoun, since the All-Star break, 316, 397 on base, 6-14 slugging, eight home runs, eight doubles, and a triple. I mean, it's ridiculous what he's doing right now. OPS over 1,000 since the All-Star break. Am I really supposed to believe that there's one minor change in his stance, and now he's an elite hitter? I certainly want to believe. It's not unprecedented.

at this level, the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference. I mean, look at who J.D. Martinez has become when the Astros didn't even want him before a minor swing change. The Astros, the smartest organization of baseball, I think, let J.D. Martinez, he defated him, and he's become arguably the best pure hitter in the game. All right, Cole Cahoon, you're pretty good. You're 83% owed. You'd be about 100% owned if more people were playing right now. Ozuna, by the way, is on a hot streak. Three home runs in his last seven games.

That was after going 14 straight games without a homer. But that was after he had a home run in three straight games. So I don't know what to make of it. I mean, in August, he's batting 321, but only three home runs, only three doubles. He's got a 494 slugging percentage. So that is a 173 ISO, not very good for Ozuna. I'd like to see him sustain it a little bit more. And we'll see what he does.

What he's really missing here are the doubles. He has been, there have been no doubles. He's not hitting doubles at all. It's amazing. Tuesday's standout, Scott. Who do you got? Got to go with Kevin Gosman, right? Eight shutout innings in his third start for the Braves, I think it was, fourth start.

Third or fourth? Yeah. Five K's, so that's still lacking, and that's been missing. even during his time with the Orioles. Despite the fact he has a solid swinging strike rate, you would expect more strikeouts with his swinging strike rate. So, you know, and he still throws really hard. It's not a Jake Garrietta situation

when we look at the strikeout rate and say, okay, this guy's clearly on the decline. And one way he is improving is ground balls. This has been his best ground ball season, and it's gotten even better with the Braves, his split finger fastball. which is the pitch most responsible for a swinging strikes, it also tends to function like a sinker

and is inducing weak contact. So maybe that's beyond just the hope that his strikeouts improved, that's one reason to hope for continued success for Kevin Gosman. And I think he's not in the top 40 like Michael Kopeck, but he is in the top 60 for me. Would you rather have Gosman or Bieber? I'd rather have Gosman. Yeah.

But how, I mean, is it just because you expect the strikeouts to come up? Because, you know, in these three starts, three earned runs and 22 innings, but 15 strikeouts, you know, ordinarily this be a major red flag of somebody who's about to get hit around. Well, yes, I think he has underachieved with the strikeouts. I think there's the potential for more strikeouts. We've seen it for the rest of his career, and this winning strike great support. But beyond that, strikeouts seem like, if we just take them at face value, they seem like his one weakness among the three areas of pitcher controls. He throws a lot of strikes, only 2.3 walks per nine innings, and gets a lot of ground balls,

like I said. So even though the home run rate isn't low, the fact that he's now out of a pitcher-friendly ballpark in a terrible division for pitchers and in a much better scenario with Atlanta. I think the home run rate will start to reflect his ground ball rate more. And, you know, he could just be this innings eater who, you know, wins a decent number of games and wins up with pretty good ERA and whip. All right, that is Kevin Gossman. Let's talk about someone who's certainly not lacking in strikeouts.

he's got 160 of them and 139 innings. Blake Snell, six innings one run, 11Ks against Kansas City. He threw over 100 pitches right around 100. And right now he's at 139 inning, Scott, and Snell threw 173 in a third last year. So I don't really see a reason why they would consider shutting him down. Blake Snell, no, I don't think so either. He was not in the column I wrote that went up on the site Tuesday, 16.

pitchers who are reaching at a concerning point with their innings. Snell wasn't a part of that. So, yeah, he should be fine. He's awesome. Is he a top 10 pitcher next year? I don't have him as a top 10 pitcher this year and have it all year, so my suspicion would be no. Top 15, though, I'll give him that. Okay.

That is Blake Snell. Got to mention Brad Peacock's got. Peacock started, did not pitch very long, just through round two innings. It was a bullpen day. But do we know if Peacock, if they plan on stretching him out, to be a starter for the Astros? I mean, it's certainly within the realm of possibility. I haven't seen anything along those lines, but he was a great starter for them last year. I want to talk about something else with that bullpen game from the Astros, though.

I want to talk about what a great big liar, A.J. Hinch is. Oh, no. What did he do? Leading into that game, he said, he told, MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM that Roberto OZuna would get the majority of the save chances moving forward and headlines were written on all the

aggregate sites. Hector Rondone loses his closer role. I very nearly dropped Rondone in a 2014-Dynastly League. Fortunately, I saw before the claim went through that Rondone did get the save last night.

Ozuna worked the 8th and gave up a run on three hits. So, Hinch is a great big liar. Yeah, he really is. Yeah, I would hold on to Rondone if you found him valuable up to this point. So, yeah, Rondon got to say, we've got some bullpen stuff to tell you about. And those would be your Tuesday standouts. We've got to talk about the Yankees bullpen.

The Yankees are dropping like flies right now. First, though, I got to tell you about stamps.com. Absolutely outstanding sponsor. These days, you can get practically everything on. demand, just like our podcast, listen when you want, when it's convenient for you. But now you can even get postage on demand and go to stamps.com. In fact, when you go to stamps.com, use the code strike for a special offer, a four-week trial that includes postage and a digital scale. So here's how it works. You go to stamps.com, and before you do anything else, you click on the radio

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He was wild. He says, I need to come out of the game. So he came out of the game. If he goes on the DL, who's the guy to pick up in the Yankees bullpen? You're going to say something. I'm probably going to disagree with you. Well, I would say David Robertson, but his shoulder is less than 100% at the moment. So I'm not saying he shouldn't pick him up.

It's not like he's on the DL or anything. But it seems like it's just as likely to be done on the tances. Yeah, no, I agree with you. I don't know what the deal is. Because last time Chapman was not available, they used Zach Britton in a save opportunity against the White Sox. And he gave up a two-run home run to Jose Abraeu, and he blew it. And he hasn't really been that good. I think he's been getting a little bit better.

I do think Robertson is probably the right call. He has a mild shoulder issue. And I think there's a real chance that he goes on the DL Chapman. He's had this knee issue all year. Well, I mean, it kept him from – he didn't go to the All-Star game because of it. Right, exactly. So, you know, it's interesting. This team is – they're in a tough spot.

bot, but they got the win yesterday, and they went to Tommy Canely, but I don't see it being him. Yeah, and that was extra innings. It was weird scenario. Jose Abrae, who needs surgery on his lower abdomen, is he worth hanging on to? Yeah, yeah, two weeks is how long they suspect he's going to miss. So I'd hold on to him. Carlos Martinez is off the DL. Is he going to be like a super reliever?

Or at least a reliever. he did pitch an inning yesterday, it was not a very good inning. He walked two, gave up a hit. That's Carlos Martinez. Yeah, I mean, somebody was asking me if he'd basically beat Colin McHugh now

and be worth holding on to for ratio help. I mean, maybe, but that's a big assumption, I think, that he'll be that good in this role. Right. Yeah, I agree.

I mean, I know there's that possibility, but I guess I wouldn't quite drop him yet if that's what you're looking for. It was a bad cameo. It was a bad audition, I suppose. But he's a talented pitcher. Maybe go two innings at a time. You know, be like a cue.

Be like a hater. The biggest thing is he's not going to be back in the rotation this year. So if middle relievers hardly matter in your league, just go ahead and drop him. Martinez threw 21 pitches yesterday in an inning in a third, only nine strikes. Tommy Pham dislocated his ring finger, so we'll keep an eye on that. Sometimes those aren't. major injuries, but I don't know what it's going to be for fan. Justin Upton's on the D.L.

with a lacerated finger. Nelson Cruz sat with back tightness. I believe he pinch hit. D.D. Gregorius is on the D.L. Who are some short stops that maybe can replace D.D. Wilmer Flores. He's shortstop eligible, right? He is not.

At least not on CBS Sports. Okay. Catel Marte is my go-to shortstop pickup He's been really bad He's been really bad Because he's in the notes He's in three down today Ketel Marte

Let's take a look at what he's done lately And see if you still feel that way Marte Do do do do Has in August He's batting 250 With a 333 slugging percentage One home run and two dollars

And most of it's been the last couple weeks He hasn't been very good. But the longer trend is what is exciting to me. His fly ball rate went up a lot in June. It stayed up. And since the start of June, he has an 863 OPS, nine home runs and 228 at bats. And a lot of extra base hits overall.

So I still think among short stuff you can find on the waiver wire, he's probably your best bet. Would you prefer him to Camargo? Yeah, overall. I would probably play matchups between those two, but both have been showing up in the top tonne sleeper hitters a lot in the second half. I'm going to give you four names. Well, okay, Marte and Camargo might be at the top.

I'll give you two more names. Ahmed Rosario and Willie Adamas. Any interest there? Yeah, Willie Adamas, that's a good call. I didn't think of him. He's definitely turned a corner here in August, 356 with four home runs for the. the month. And most notable to me is only 18% strikeout rate during that month. He was striking

out a ton during his first few weeks in the majors. And he's not that guy. He's not a guy who's going to strike out a lot. So this seems closer to, I mean, obviously he's not going to, that guy who's going to 356 either, but what he's shown in August seems closer to what the expectations should be for him. What is your read on Buster Posey? He's facing hip surgery. What do you think happens? Do he plays out the season? I don't know that he makes it the whole season. He's played with this injury all season, which upon hearing that,

I was kind of backpedaling from our conversation yesterday. It would probably help explain why he's had such a disappointing year offensively, and maybe he's able to bounce back as a stud catcher next year, maybe. Giants are eight and a half games out Of first place in the West So it's unlikely they're going to be competing for anything But there's enough of a chance that Posey's supposed to be Staving off surgery for now

I just wonder when the breaking point will come Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a chance that he gets shut down at some point And you're right, I mean playing through a hip injury, that's significant I just wonder, you know, he can't DH They could maybe move him to first or something like that but can he hold up as a catcher? He's up there in age, certainly. There's wear and tear on the body.

I didn't really want him going into this year. I'm not sure I'm going to want him next year. But he's going to fall so much that maybe it'll be worth it. Yeah, it just depends what the going rate is, frankly. If he's, I can't imagine he'd go in the first six rounds next year. But if he does, obviously, that's a no-go. Yeah, I think the other thing is, like, catcher was so bad this year that how many guys are going to actually jump him?

you know Gary Sanchez is definitely going to go ahead J.T. Realmuto But beyond that beyond that yeah I'm not sure there is a clear number three there I would take Rondal over Posey I think

yeah I'm sure a lot of people will I don't think it's crystal clear though I mean Wilson Ramos is in that discussion I think he's been the best the third best this year on a per game basis you will not have Gaddis as an option Kelvin Herrera is off the DL. So if Kelvin Herrera is available, that's a closer for you.

U. Darvish is out for the season with a stress reaction in his elbow. I had the same reaction to Darvish news as I have the posy news. All right, well, that explains it. He's had an injury all year long. They have not been able to detect it. Vince Velasquez and Tanner Roark did not go deep into the game yesterday. That was because of a rain delay. Starling Marte did not start.

He visited a doctor for undisclosed reasons. He was benched on Monday for dogging it on Sunday. A lack of effort got him bench, but he didn't start yesterday because of some undisclosed medical reason. I think Marta should be fine. Zach Davies has a chance to rejoin the Milwaukee rotation soon, and Mike Leek was scratched with an illness. Some lineup notes. John Carlos Stanton did play in the outfield yesterday in an N.L. Park. I thought maybe he wouldn't play.

Cedric Mullins homered. Kendris Morales, Homer. These guys have been popular pickups. I actually picked up Morales yesterday. I dropped. Someone crappy. Someone crappy, Scott. Who did I drop?

I don't know. Greg Byrd. No, I still have him, unfortunately. O for six with three strikeouts yesterday. But I dropped Tyler White for Tentress Morales. And, you know, I'm not sure I should have done that because Tyler White was in the lineup. And Evan Gaddis sat.

And that is something that you need to watch for. I think Gaddis could be a big loser. he's not going to sit all the time but Tyler White D.H. And Gad is sat with Jose Altuve back. Scott Shebler could come off the deal tomorrow. What's your interest level in Scott Shebler? Not insignificant.

He's going to be an everyday player now. I think that's clear with Winker Out and Adam Duval out of the picture. And he's been productive this year. He's a left-handed hitter who's always hit lefties better, which I always like to see. Yeah, he's pretty interesting. I made three moves yesterday in a Roto League. Let's do approve the move. Tell me if you approve.

We got, I dropped, I dropped you Darvish for Mike Leak. We approve. Yeah, of course. I dropped Derek. Darish for any of it. Derek Dietrich for New Walker. My goodness. Derek Dietrich has been so bad for like two months.

Just awful. That doesn't seem possible. Oh, really? Two months. Oh, really, Scott? I'll look it up. And I dropped Randall Gritchick for Kendris Morales. That's why I dropped.

Not Tyler White. I kept Tyler White. Good for me. You're right. He's been awful for two months. Yeah. Don't even have to look it up. Azor was right all along.

It's the start of July OPS under 700. Yeah, I figure Neil Walker's going to play a lot with the injury to D.D. Gregorius. Because that's what happened yesterday. He played second, and they had Glaber Torres in short. All righty. We got the Worryometer. It's Worryometer Wednesday. Only got one guy for you, Scott.

His name is A.J. Pollock. And you can cut his season in half. He's played 79 games, 40 before going on the DL, 39 after coming off the DL. And boy, what a difference. 293 with 11 home runs and nine steals in 40 games before going on the DL. 293, 11 with nine steals. 271, five homers and one steal in 39 games coming off the DL.

He's got a 778 OPS since coming off the DL with a 324 Babbitt. Now Pollock did just have a good week. so maybe he'll come out of it a little bit, but what is your Wuriometer reading on A.J. Pollock. Wow, what a difference. That was Blockbuster video? Wow, yeah, that's great. Good call.

Wow, what a difference. Yeah, Pollack, I noticed this yesterday, one steal since returning. That's obviously pretty crummy. And I moved him down in my rankings quite a bit yesterday. he's still top 25 because we know what kind of potential is there. Yeah, I don't know what's going on with him. It's pretty strange. So I guess we can wait it out and see, but maybe we'll talk about it on Monday.

Are we going to start? Are we going to sit AJ Pollock? He's really had an interesting career. I don't think you would really consider sitting him in five outfielder leagues. No, probably not. Three outfielders. I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'd be reluctant to drop him for a replacement outfielder,

but if there's a hot hand pickup out there, and obviously I don't have next week's matchups in front of me. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility to sit him. He's been pretty useless since coming back. Harrison Bader, if you dropped, not dropping Pollock, but if you sat Pollock for Bader, that wouldn't be crazy. Here's a category called Some Hot Hidders who I doubt Scott cares about, but I'm going to ask him anyway. Ready, Scott?

Sure. I doubt you care about them. Dansby Swanson, Kevin Pilar, Milky Cabrera, and Ryan O'Hern. Yeah. Yeah, I don't care. Danesby Swanson, Kevin Pilar, Malkie Cabrera, and Ryan O'Hern. Don't care. All right, then let's go to the rotation.

I don't even think O'Hern's that hot, is he? Last 7, 5 for 21. get out of here. Okay, but it's four homers. Whatever. Okay. Rotation. Rotation.

Kyle Hendricks, seven innings, like nothing good about this except for the earned runs. Seven innings, ten hits, one walk, three strikeouts at Detroit, only two earn runs. Yeah, he's been worth using lately. Do you just start Kyle Hendricks? No, I don't. He's not about start every week. Four of his past.

six starts, four of those past five starts have been six innings or more, which is a good sign for him, because innings just going to minimum for a quality start is something he doesn't do with regularity. And then on top of it, there are strikeout issues. So, yeah, he's not somebody I'm automatically starting every week. Jose Barrios, you are automatically starting, right? Yep.

I guess the only thing I'd say about Barrios is that is last five starts, two have been good, three have been terrible. the two good ones were against Kansas City and the White Sox So and obviously this one was Impacted by a rain delay Yeah I'm counting this as a good one five innings one room four Ks Sure It could have been better

But you don't care like he's got Oakland this weekend They're the hottest team in baseball now You're going to start him Yeah I think I'd still start him That's Berrios How do you feel about Shane Bieber? I Kind of like him

I think I said on one of last week's shows that if I saw him on waivers in any league, I would absolutely make a priority to pick him up. He's 80% owned, so that's going to be the case for some people listening. I definitely would not have started him in this game against Boston, at Boston, and he gave you a six-and-a-third three runs. I was surprised. Yeah, one start week at Boston, I wouldn't have started him either. But I think he has a lot in common with the guy who started for Boston. yesterday, Rick Porcelo. I think that's the kind of pitcher he's angling to be and eventually will be, just hasn't shown the consistency as a rookie.

Except you're a big liar. You're a real AJ Hinch because he didn't face Rick Porcelo yesterday. Rick Porcelo pitched two days ago. He faced Nate Avaldi yesterday. I meant two days ago. I meant talking about him on yesterday's podcast. By the way, I believe Bieber is a two-star pitcher. He's lined up to face the Royals this weekend. So, yeah, I would have started in a two-star week. I wouldn't have started in one-started Boston. Oh, that's true. That's true.

Yeah, and we were, yeah, I was saying, yes, the analysis Friday was, well, in a points league, you'll start. I'm hoping that Boston start isn't so bad. That'll still, that the KC start will be worth it. And clearly, it's playing out as well as it possibly could so far. To wrap up the rotation, Burios is going to be one. How would you rank the rest of them? Hendrix, Bieber, Evaldi, and Junjin, Ryu.

Hendricks, Beaver, Evaldi, Riu. I would go Boreas. Boreas. Hendrix just slightly over Beaver, and then Avaldi and Riu. Yeah, are you trusting Avaldi at the White Sox next week at Tampa Bay this weekend? So his next two start.

Red Sox have a great upcoming schedule. Tampa Bay, the White Sox. They have another crappy team in there. Are you trusting Avaldi? I don't, I wouldn't say. Trust him. His last three starts have been pretty uninspiring. But those are good matchups, and I think he's worth using because of that.

Okay. So we're going to do the fringy starting pitchers as if we were at a coldstone restaurant, Coldstone creamery. Okay. They have three flavors. They have three sizes, rather. A bunch of flavors. What mix in do you want?

No, the three sizes, Scott, are like it, love it and got to have it. Oh, yeah, that's true. Except we're going to add a hate it. I'd hate it. I've been to a Coldstone. It's really good. It's still really. A long time.

All right. So Coldstone Creamery edition of the fringy starting pitchers. Like it. Hate it. Like it. Love it. Got to have it. Dylan Bundy.

By the way, hate it means you're dropping. Yeah, I got to hate it at this point. I actually kind of like it, but not practical. Okay. He might have a start. at Kansas City next week. But he's dropable, Bundy. Seven runs in his last three starts.

Seven runs each of the last three starts. Yeah. That's amazing. Tyler Anderson, hate it, like it, love it or got to have it. I like it. I like Tyler Anderson, and I liked that he had no walks in this start versus eight strikeouts after some walk issues recently, three or more and four of his previous six.

But not in this one. 18 swinging strikes to get those 18. Eight strikeouts. Still a lot more good than bad. Junior Gera. I guess I'd like it. Not as much as Anderson, but he's been pretty consistent with an okay strikeout rate.

Jordan Zimmerman. Hate it. Got the White Sox this weekend, would you start him? Ate it. What's the worst flavor of Coldstone? To me, it'd be birthday cake. Okay. Birthday cake,

birthday cake is definitely a hit or miss flavor. Sometimes it's delicious. Full disclosure. I've never actually had it. Sometimes they put this like blue frosting goop in it that just destroy it. I don't like, I don't like when they put like a river of some kind of like sugary goo going through my ice cream and just completely ruining the texture and overwhelming the flavor.

Like that's the worst. I'd fudgy the whale cake again on Saturday. on Sunday. It's just the greatest dessert of all time. The greatest. Never had it. Go to Carvel. Never had it.

Get it. Yvonne Nova. Hate it, like it, love it, got to have it. I hate it. Stephen Mats. Stephen Mats. Hate it. Daniel Ponce de Leon.

I mean, hated seems a little strong because he's so unproven. I don't really know what to expect from him. And obviously a lot of strikeouts yesterday. eight and four innings. In terms of ownership, I'm inclined to say hate it. Yeah, Ponce de Leon, like, he could be a two-star pitcher next week with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. He had eight strikeouts in four innings.

No, it's not. But he has 18 strikeouts in 21 and two-thirds to 10 walks so far this year. His two starts have been very good. Well, I don't know if you'd consider it as very good. Yeah, it's hard to say if four-erning starts very good, but they're... I mean, I guess we were getting excited about that. Tyler Glass now four-inning starts. Kind of a different situation.

Right. But this wasn't a guy working his way up. This was just he threw 90 pitches in four innings. But eight strikeouts to do that to you, I guess. Brett Anderson. Brett Anderson's last six starts, he has a 186 ERA. I can't do this with Brett Anderson. I hate it.

All right, some more hitters to talk about. All right, let's talk about these four slumping hitters. We'll eliminate Coutel Marte, since we already talked about him. So three slumping hitters. And tell me if you think they're dropable. As Drewbel Cabrera, Corey Dickerson, Jake Bowers. I feel like the most

dropable is Corey Dickerson. Even when he was going well, wasn't showing a lot of power. Yeah, he's 11 home runs this year. It's ridiculous. It's terrible. Yeah. Yeah. The least dropable is probably as Drewbukabler, just because he's triple eligible all over the infield.

Bowers, you know, I could keep them or drop them based on whatever my needs are. Jake Bowers has one hit in his last 11 games. Yikes. Cabrera had a 998 OPS in his first 20 games. Since then, he's batting, he's got a 740 OPS. Since April 24th. So that's 99 games, 740 Opsis. I mean, that's just kind of like what I'm saying, man. You know his dribble Cabrera.

he's not that good. He was gonna slump. Like, that's just how it works, Chris Towers. It's a proven fact. Well, he's not, it's not bad. Why are you evoking Chris Towers' name, by the way? I'm not sure I got that reference.

You know Chris would never, like, no, I expect him to be his Drobo Cabrera. Well, I don't expect me. I expect to be bad because he was so good. Like, he... I mean, he basically has been as Drewble Cabrera. 782 OPS now for the year versus 785 last year. I know, but he had to be bad

after that incredible start to get to the OPS. Oh, I see. I see. Yes. Yeah, you're making the argument for statistical correction or over correction so that it's corrected. Gee, it only happens all the time, Scott. All the time. Yeah, it does happen a lot. I think Chris's process is probably the right one to have.

but I agree with you that it tends to happen a lot I do hope Chris is on the podcast soon because I want to tell him that he's not allowed to say trust the process because that's been taken and he does say that a lot it's been taken oh yeah it's a it's a Philadelphia 76ers trust the process like that's that's what they used to say

so nobody can say it anymore no I don't think so I think it's done I think it's uh it's spent It wasn't a thing people said before the 76ers, you know. Not really, Scott. Nobody ever said that. Any interest of these guys in deep leagues? Pablo Lopez, Robi Erlin, Felix Pena. Yeah, I think Lopez and Pena both are kind of interesting.

Yeah, man, Pena. 12% swinging strike rate on the year, which is very good. Two straight starts with a lot of swinging strikes. Yeah, his swinging strike rate would be like top 15 in baseball if he had the innings to qualify. Now, innings are definitely an issue for him. It's a good start when he goes six. And because he doesn't really have a third pitch,

he's basically just fastball and slider is the pitch that's getting all the swinging strikes. I don't know if he's going to be somebody they trust the third time through the lineup, but I think they're going to have to lean on him because of the way Heaney and Skaggs' innings are piling up. Skaggs obviously is on the DL, but... Yeah, how much will be there when it gets back. So this is Felix Penae we're talking about. Yeah.

Who do you prefer? Pablo Lopez had a sub-2ERA with a good strikeout rate in the minus. Hasn't had a good strike-out rate in the major so far, but he has four. This is, who am I talking about again? Pablo Lopez. Three of his last four starts have been quality starts. The other one was terrible. Yeah, the other was terrible.

I don't think he's I'm not rushing out to pick him up but I don't think he's useless I think he's probably on the fringe of being a top 100 starter in fantasy which in leagues deeper than 10 12 teams

you know getting to like a 16 team league that's the guy who's being considered yeah so Pablo Lopez Felix Pena they might be able to help you out Scott White's been very helpful we got to let him go and I will finish up the show I'll try to read some emails I'll do today's matchups

Scott we'll talk to you tomorrow all right see yeah All right, friends. Let's look at today's matchups. Not starting anybody in the Orioles Blue Jays game. Robert Stevenson and Freddie Peralta. I am sitting Stevenson and I am sitting Paralta. Boy, is he inconsistent, but just too many walks for Freddie Peralta. So I am going to sit him.

Starting Kyle Gibson, starting Carlos Rodon. Tough calls here in the Rangers and A's game. Mike Minor at Edwin Jackson. So ordinarily, I would say to start Mike Minor. I think he's been good enough. I put in a claim for him yesterday, it did not go through because I prioritized Mike Lee, because that's fine. The only problem is the A's are amazing right now. So I think that this is a bad idea, and I would sit him.

And then Edwin Jackson might have another good game, but just can't trust him. It doesn't strike out enough guys. I'm sitting both of them. I could see a case to be made to start both of them personally. I'm avoiding minor in Jackson. Charlie Morton, yes. Marco Gonzalez, I think I'm going to start him tonight. They skipped his turn.

They gave him extra rest. He's been terrible his last two starts. Ten innings, 11 run runs on 20 hits. So he's got the Astros. I'm leaning towards sitting, Mark and Gonzalez. I have to start him out of necessity. My pitching staff is in dire straits with like four guys on the DL. If that were not the case, I'd sit, Gonzalez.

But let's cross our fingers. Going to start Zach Eflin, going to start. Steven Strasbourg as Strasbourg comes off to DL. I am not aware of a pitch count. There probably is one. So keep that in mind. I'm going to try to take a look right now and cannot find anything. So I apologize.

But Strasbourg, you know, five innings from him, maybe. That'd be great. Julio Tehran at Trevor Williams. Another tough call. Man, this is a difficult segment when I actually have to give all the answers, huh? I never really trust Tehran. I think I told you to sit him last time, and he was awesome against the Rockies. He's had a problem on the road this year, I believe, at least recently.

Just start him, I guess, start him. Not with a lot of confidence. And with Trevor Williams, again, really good numbers, but a low strikeout rate recently. And he's got a 353 area on the year. He's given up three earned runs in his last six starts. So how do you sit a guy like that? Well, because he has like less than 20 strikeouts in those right around 20 strikeouts in those six starts. Facing the Braves, look, I think you can start him.

Just don't be surprised if the wheels fall off for Trevor Williams. Casey Kelly, no, Noah Cinderguard, yes. Cubs and Tigers, John Lester and Francisco Leriano. Well, definitely not Leriano. Do we trust Lester after he was just so bad. He finally had a good start, six scoreless sittings with eight strikeouts at Pittsburgh. he's now facing Detroit. I think it's going to be something like six-innings, three runs.

I think you can start John Lester. I will start Lance Lynn at the Marlins, and I don't think Trevor Richards is the worst idea. The Yankees lineup is not what it once was. It's basically Stanton and, like, Aaron Hicks and Duhar, and some not great players. But it's been three straight non-quality stars for Richard, so I'm not going to start him.

It wouldn't shock me if he were good, but I don't think you start him. In fact, don't start him. Jake Junis, no. Johnny Torinos, no. Carrasco, yes, Brian Johnson, no. Jason Nix, no. John Gray, yes, against the Padres.

O'Drisomer Despagne, no. Clay Buckholtz, yeah, I'm going to start him. I'm going to start him against the Angels. No Upton, no Trout. Start him. Cardinals at Dodgers are going to start both guys, Flaherty and Walker Bueller. All right, the segment got easier as we went along. So let's take a look at some emails.

Send us an email. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. We're getting a lot of emails, haven't had a chance to read that many. So we'll do a little bit of a mailbag tomorrow. We want to know some first base replacements for Jose Abraeu. Well, Miguel Seno is first base eligible. And he's somewhat I'd rather stash, but not a terrible, not a terrible guy there. Deeper League, Kendris Morales, he's hot.

Wilmer Flores in a points league could be good. Tyler White. He's 7% owned. I think that's a pretty low play. But I guess if you were in shallower leagues and you need someone, Ryan Zimmerman appears to be the guy that I would look for. He's 68% owned. Mitch Morland hasn't been that bad.

But I think Ryan Zimmerman is a pretty good one. Marvin Gonzalez has definitely been better lately. But really still a pretty horrible year. 245 batting average and 12 home runs. So Zimmerman and shallow leagues, deeper leagues, take a look at, at Kendris Morales, I'd say. And let's get to another email. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com.

This is from Stephen in Southern Illinois. Garrett Cole or Trevor Bauer next year. Really tough question. Give me Trevor Bauer. Give me Trevor Bauer. I trust him to, I know he's on the DL now, but that was from taking a comebacker, I believe. This guy's got a rubber arm. So I love Trevor Bauer.

I think I might be the only one that would take Bauer over Cole, but I'd do it. Here's another Bauer question. From Chris, I have Trevor Bauer on my DL in a league where the playoffs are weeks 22 through 24. Should I drop Bauer if I need the space on my DL so I can pick up a guy like Kelvin Herrera or Tyler Skaggs? Well, I don't know what week you're currently in. Are you in week 21 right now? Are you in week 20? You say your playoffs are weeks 20 to 24.

I think that means you can probably drop Bauer. But I would not drop him for Skaggs. I would drop him for Kelvin Herrera if we're going to do that. Here's an email from No Name. Should I bench Ozzie Albys for Wilmer Flores? I think in a points league you can do that. In a roto league, I'd probably stick with Albis. But I get it with Flores, and I get it with Albies.

And here's an email from Josh. Hot take, Blake Snell wins the Cy Young. Is he getting overlooked? Well, I think that Blake Snell, I think Chris Sail would have to not come back for Blake Snell to be in the Sion to get the Salyong. Like, he's definitely going to get a lot of votes. But how many innings does Blake Snell have? Like a 130? 139.

Chris Sale has 146. So he'd have to really outpace Sale. Is Cory Klobri going to win the Siong? That could have. I don't think Snell's going to win it, but on a per-star basis, he's been good enough to win it. And thank you so much for listening, everybody. We'll come back tomorrow. We'll do some regulate.

We'll do some mailbagging. Send us your emails at Fantasy Baseball at cbsi.com for Scott White. I'm Adam Azer. And we'll talk you on Thursday.