Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/25 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Rhys Lightning, Thu. Recap, Week 22 Help

Episode Date: August 25, 2017

Rhys Hoskins did it again (2:40)! More talk about the outstanding rookie before we get into Michael Conforto's dynasty value (5:50) and the continued success of Byron Buxton and Curtis Granderson (11:24) ... Some bullpen updates (18:30) including a Jeurys Familia outlook, the Dropometer (21:45), a new Cardinals pitching prospect to know (29:50) and why you shouldn't trust Edwin Jackson ... Two-start pitchers for Week 22 (41:00). Will Luke Weaver make two starts? Does it matter? Who else should you pick up? A look at today's matchups (50:00) ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Domingo's Tent. Wow, you do not see brawls like that very often, Scott White. No, you don't. And, like, would you classify it as one brawl, just one ongoing brawl? Because it was really like five, right? Three, maybe? The bench is cleared three times. It was a bunch.

It was repeated. It was ridiculous, Adam, frankly. Yeah. It was. It was crazy. Everybody involved ought to be ashamed of themselves. There are kids watching. There are adults watching, too, and we need good examples.

Well, Gary Sanchez, owners, this is not going to be good for you. He's going to get a suspension. And Miguel Cabrera owners, this will be good for you because he's going to get a suspension. And now you don't have to deal with him stinking up your lineup. So there's that. But a lot more to talk about from baseball yesterday. John Carlos Stanton, I mean, I still want to talk about him because in his last 54 games, he has a 1,200 OPS.

He's got 47 home runs, got a chance for the kind of record. And outfielders to add, outfielders to drop, bullpen stuff to update you on. And, of course, getting you're ready for Fantasy Week 22 with some two-star pitchers. And do you have any hitter matchups to talk about yet? No, not yet. Not yet. You'll have to check it out on the site. Top 10 sleeper hitters for the upcoming week, which will be week what is it?

22, I think. Two? Yeah. Wow, yeah, getting late, getting late. Yeah, top 10 sleepers hitters also have five best and worst matchups in that. Well, I'll tell you one guy, if you want to go get him now, I don't know what happens when Ian Desmond comes back, but Perrano Parra is slashing 397, 436, 603 at home.

They have six home games. The numbers have gotten worse. Oh, yeah? The last time I read about his home numbers, yeah, it was like betting 425 for a while there. I guess they could only get worse, right? But still very good at home. He's got six home games next week.

Two of them are lefties. Desmond will be back, so maybe he only plays four games. But in a five outfieler league, Hurrah Paro will definitely be in my lineup. So there's that. Scott, uh, whew, Reese's Pieces is killing me. He did it again. You should have put in a claim or two for him, Adam. I guess so, but he is.

Some podcast listeners have suggested Reese Lightning is a better name than Reese. pieces. Yeah, I like Reese Lightning. That is a good suggestion. Reese Lightning does it again. You know what? I'm going to skip around and go to an email here. Somebody said, who should I drop for Reese Hoskins?

Let me see if I can find this email. Okay, well, Craig Sherman from Middleton, Middletown, Delaware says I picked up Reese Hoskins. Do you think rest of season he could be better than the following players? I'll just list the names you tell me. Could Reese Hoskin be better than Eric Hosmer? Yes, he could be. I mean, he could be better than a lot of players, so I don't know if that's the verb we want to go with.

Could be. Do I expect him to be better than Hosmer? I have him just a little behind Hosmer. Cody Bellinger. I think he could even be better than Bellinger, rest of the way, yeah, but I obviously rank him behind. How about Josh Bell? Well, yeah, definitely ahead of Bell.

Okay, and finally, I think it's an easy one. Eric Thames. Yep, moved him ahead of Thames. I was even planning to before yesterday's home run, but now that Reese Hoskins, he tied Trevor Story and Carlos Delgado for the most home runs through 15 career games with eight. So he is on a record home run binge here to begin the career.

and with about as many walks or strikeouts. His two strikeouts yesterday actually gave him more strikeouts than walks finally, so I can't say he has more walks now, but it's close. Okay, so Hoskins is killing it right now, and yeah, you definitely got to pick him up if he's still available, even in 10 team leagues. Reese's Pieces, Reese Lightning. What stood out to you yesterday, Scott White?

So many things stood out to me, Adam. So many things. I was happy to see another fine start from Jake Junis. I feel like maybe his upside, he's not getting enough credit for the upside he possesses. And three in his last four starts have been good. The one that wasn't was pretty awful. Actually, I think that was a relief appearance. Oh, okay.

So a long relief appearance. Yeah. So all of his last three starts, Jake Junis, have been very good. And he's 13% owned. Yeah, his numbers in the PCL are considering he's kind of a no-name. prospect, you'd be surprised the numbers he's put up in the PCL this year. He had a 292 ERA-107 whip 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings versus 1.9 walks per nine. So Jake Junice, I think, may be bordering on mixed league relevance here.

All right. Keep an eye on Jake Junice. Does he have two starts next week? I don't think so. I think he's a one-start guy. But we will check on that for you. All right, we'll get to – You know it's – who's it against for Junus?

It's against Tampa Bay. All right, not bad. Man, I'll tell you, the Conforto thing really stinks. Really does. What do you tell the Michael Conforto owner in a Dynasty or Keeper League? I honestly don't know. I could not find a comp for this particular injury, because it was initially reported a dislocated shoulder. Okay, that's bad.

Probably puts him out for the season as late as it is, but he'll get over that, right? later it's also revealed he tore a shoulder capsule right and i feel like i've heard of that injury before but not a lot i wanted to see obviously what kind of what kind of comparisons there are to get an idea what we're dealing with for confordo so i googled n lb shoulder capsule surgery and the names that popped up were John Danks, Johann Santana, Dallas Braden, Sean Marshall, Mark Pryor. So his velocity is going to go way down next year. Well, they are all pitchers. Yeah.

But there were all pitchers who at one point in time we thought were really good and then suddenly fell off the face of the earth. I don't know if I can. All right, you can continue your point. I don't know either. The problem is we can't really find a hitter comparison. Right. And Conforto, it was to his non-throwing arm, which is also a good thing. But because he bats opposite of what he throws, he's a left-handed hit a right-handed thrower.

His top hand on the bat is actually his non-throwing hand. Power comes from the top hand. So that's the shoulder that's going to impact him most at the plate. And just even though it's all pitchers and he's not a pitcher and we can't really know how that's going to affect him, can't be encouraged by the fact that this shoulder surgery was for all intense and purposes, a career ender for these pitchers. It's a scary prospect in keeper leagues. 939 OPS for Conforto.

Only the number 27 outfieler in points, number 25 in Roto, but he missed some time. He hasn't played in 17 of the Mets, 126 games. Also, I think he kind of fits the category of guys who give you almost no steals, and that will hurt them a little bit. But Conforto, I'm assuming, with full health, would have been around number 20 outfielder going into next season. Is that fair? Yeah, I would imagine he'd be like maybe a sixth round pick in a 12th team league

and one who was thought to be on the rise. I honestly don't know. Somebody gave me, I think it was eight keepers he wanted me to choose from, and he gave me like a list of 12 names. and Conforto was one of those names I was opting for John Lester over him who you know

it is a good pitcher obviously but in his mid-30s Travis Shaw I was going to keep him over Michael Conforto it's just it's easy to overreact when the injury first happens but this

is very upsetting well we'll get to some more news notes now and yeah that stinks for conformal. Terry Collins, yeah. By the way, by the way, this is also the injury Julio Arias suffered. So that makes you feel not so great about him too. Do you want Brandon Nemo

or Nimmo in an NEMO in an in an NL only league? I do not. No, no good. He's had an awful time at AAA this year and doesn't really seem to have any power. Former first round pick, but that's the best I can say for him.

Terry Collins not expected back next season for the mats according to John Heyman No structural damage for Zach Britton But he still may go on the DL Brian McCann returned Evan Gattis did not But Gattis should be back today I don't know are they home today I don't know what's going to happen

And I don't know the geography well enough But the hurricane You know Hope everybody's safe in Texas Something to keep an eye on If there will be any cancellations Jose Altouva left with neck discomfort. He's a little bit worried Al Tuvei.

He's never had anything like this. Ultimately doesn't think it's going to be a big deal. By the way, they're on the road there at the Angels, so never mind. But Al Tuvei, a little concerned about the neck. Let's call him day to day for now. Stay with Muki Betts, day to day with a bruise knee. Juan Moncada left with shin splints. Chris Bryant returned to the lineup.

Carlos Santana did not. Max Scher could pitch on Sunday. All right, I got some more standouts for you. How about good old John Carlos Stanton? Another home run. It's now about. batting 284 with 47 homers and only 100 RBIs. But in the 53 games before this, he was batting 301 with 28 homers, 1,200 OPS, and then he homered again.

So, you know, I just feel like sometimes we take people for granted. Great fantasy players, we don't talk about them enough. Stanton continues to have his best season, and he's been the number one outfielder for a while, well, over a stretch for a while now, a long stretch. It's basically almost 55 games of him being just Babe Ruth. Yeah, might end up with more home runs than Babe Ruth that Ruth ever hit in the season. Call your shot. 62 home runs.

Will he get there? No, he won't. Sorry to be a buzzkill. Fine, I'll take the, I mean, I agree with you, but I'll also say yes, just to make it interesting. To live things up. Of course, Babe Ruth's career high was 60, which Roger Maris broke. Two outfielder's got who keep hitting. Byron Buxton, another homer.

Pretty good matchups next week, but only two lefties. He's been better against lefties, especially with the OBP. I don't know if I buy that. I feel like it's just probably faced lefties during his hot streak. I don't know. It's not so much better. And Curtis Granderson. Next week, five righties, one lefty at Arizona and at San Diego for Granderson.

He homered again. He's slugging over, he's OPS is over 1,000 in August. Buxton, Granderson, 64 percent owned, 40 percent on respect. effectively. What do you thinking here? Well, it's actually a seven game week for the Dodgers because they have a doubleheader Saturday. Oh, six righties. Oh. And I imagine, you know, you wouldn't expect somebody as old as Granderson to play both games with a doubleheader, but the lefty is in one of those games.

So he could start six games next week, and I think as hot as he is, he's absolutely worth playing. as for Buxton I mean I don't know that he's going to crack my top 10 sleepers the matchups are pretty good I'll have to see exactly where they fall within the top five if they're in it at all

may come up with 10 hitters I like more for this week but this could legitimately be a breakout for Buxton the strikeout rate has been down to still high but kind of a normal high level for Buxton a survivable high in August.

This reminds me of Aaron Judge, though. Like, oh, yeah, his strikeout rate is good. It's, you know, it's like 25%. It's not so bad. And then, now he's striking out of time. Like, I don't know. Well, I made the comparison last time we talked about Buckston to last September when he had a great month.

Yeah. And he was striking out still 33% of the time that month. So the fact is down to 25 now shows there's potentially growth in even that area. And that might be, that might be the key. I don't know yet. I'm just, it seems plausible enough that I'm willing to entertain the possibility. Did you pick one between Buckson and Granerson? Yeah, Granderson.

Grannerson. Okay, well, let me go to another email, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. It's about Buxton, among others. It is the Conforto owner. Where are you, Conforto owner email? Ah, here it is. Reggie from Charlotte. Boy, Reggie from Charlotte.

Dear Anthony, Chad, and Josh. Went with Josh instead of flee. Very interesting choice. In the playoffs in a points league, Conforto out, I need an outfielder, who do I take? Margot, Steve Pierce, Marcaquas, Dietrich, Buxton, or Kepler? Margot, Pierce, Marcaquist, Dietrich, Buxton, or Kepler. And he said it was a points league?

Yeah. Buxton clearly has the most upside, but because it's a points league, I think I'm going to go Markakis there. Once again, unsung points league hero. He has outscored, well, he's outscored. Let me see exactly where he ranks here. He sucks. But you're right. He does kind of suck.

He's just so good at that format. His skills happen to play well with the, when you factor in strike. When you factor in every kind of extra base hit and not just home runs, walks. He excels in those areas. He's 41st in points leagues. So not as high as I was thinking, but still pretty good. It's time for an impromptu segment called Adam suggests something that Scott will never agree upon. Okay.

I like it. I think that – I don't know if I really think that, but I'm going to throw it out there. Because you know I don't. Definitely not. We should start devaluing walks in points leagues. They are worth a full point. I think they should be worth a half a point going forward. That's dumb.

Why? A single's worth a point, right? A single's more impressive than a walk. Swing the bat. No, it's not. Put the damn bat on the ball. You're messing with the basic tenets of saber metrics if you make that claim. You don't think singles are more valuable than walks?

To a small degree because the other runners at base could potentially move up, even if there's a guy on sales. second nobody on first, a walk just puts a guy on first. The single probably scores the guy. So, yes, singles are slightly more valuable than walks, but you get a point for the RBI, too, if you drive that guy in, so that's already factored into the scoring. Yeah, but what about the guy that goes from first to third on your single? What about the times that there's an error in the outfield,

then now you just took second base on the single? It doesn't make out walk half as valuable as a single. It might be 90% as valuable as a single. You want to go 0.9 for a walk? I'm tired of mooky bets being a time. top five outfielder. You just want to drag him down. I guess.

I just like, because we have so many damn walks now. You know, we're at the three true outcomes of baseball. Start swinging the bat. Hit some damn singles, people. Stop walking. It's so boring. And I think if CBS changes their points scoring system, I think it will have a ripple effect through baseball.

And guys will start hitting more and walking less, Scott. You give us too much credit, Adam. I do. But, you know, I'm biased. I mean, Bet's basically been a five-win player this year. A lot of it's defense, but, you know, it's not like he's been a bad offensive player. No, oh, certainly not. But 10th sounds better to be than fifth based on what he's done.

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You're going to love it. In the bullpen, kind of interesting. Sean Doolittle was used in the eighth inning. I think it was just facing lefty, Scott. But Kinsler blew the save in the ninth. So, yeah. And Doolittle himself. allowed a run in the eighth, so that just went magically for the national.

Yeah, it was great. You get Dusty Begher, you get him to do something that's not in the book, and this is what happens. He didn't rule out doing it again, but, you know, obviously for fantasy purposes, we'd rather him not do it again. Damn right. Greg Holland got a save. They stuck with him.

He didn't strike anybody out, but he got a save. J. Reis Familia will be back today. Where do you rank Familia at Closer? I'm not sure he will be closer right away, so he's not particularly high in my rankings. I think he is, I can tell you exactly what he is with a couple clicks of the mouse here. I have him 33rd, about four spots behind AJ Ramos. But that includes Sparps or no? That does include Sparps, yes.

Okay, so he's probably, what, closer to like 25th? There's not that many sparps There were more than I thought There's Severino Godly Corbin And Bundy That's it Duffy

Duffy Duffy, yep Okay That's it All the 5 in there All right So 28th For Amelia

Yeah I think you have to be concerned He's first of all They stink Second He's a long layoff here I don't think that he's Necessarily Familias It's just going to go back to being great

even when he becomes the closer. Is that fair a concern? I don't know. I don't know. I think we definitely want to see him prove it first. I think the Mets do too. I would give the chances of him being there opening day closer next year. I put that at close to 100%.

But I do still think Ramos is going to lead the team in saves from today forward. No, what I said is that I'm not convinced that he'll come back from this injury this year and be great. No, I heard you. Oh, okay. I heard you. And I don't know either. All right, then. Kenley Jansen got what Dave Roberts called a paid vacation yesterday.

Just got the night off. Brandon Morrow got a save. And it seems as if David Robertson was going to be used as the closer if that situation came about. But stupidest thing in the world, Delambatantis got thrown out for throwing a pitch off the helmet of James McCam. And it was clearly unintentional. He got thrown out. And Robertson had to come in. But that was the seventh.

They used Batances, who got the loss. I think he threw one pitch and got the loss, maybe two. Brawls are done. Clearly unintentional, huh? Clearly? Yeah. Yeah, look, man. Six to six, they just come back, they tie the game. Six to six, they're in a pennant race.

They need to win. You don't put the lead-off hitter on. You don't do that. It's not smart to. I don't know that it'd be the first time it happened. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think, you can't get yourself thrown out in that situation. It just kills the bullpen.

All right, Scott, let's get the dropometer out. Zero to 10. How dropable are these guys? Ryan Zimmerman, one for his last 20, but he has good matchups next week. I'll give him like a three. Jose Battista. That's, gosh. It's pretty close to it.

I'm going to go 10 on anybody. I think it has to be him. Yeah, I'm done. Amazing. He's still 94% owned. And 75% started, because stupid people like me. Oh, Corey Dickerson. Last three games, five for 11 with two ding-dongs.

Yeah, seems to be coming back around. I'll still put it at like a five. Okay. Corey Dickerson, so five for Scott. Raphael Devers, won for his last 19. Go four. Not willing to, not ready to drop Devers. Nope, nope.

There was too many encouraging signs early on. He's still batting over 300. with this mini slump. Nomar Mazzara, 87%. He's like a nine. A nine. I could take him or leave him. He's in a five outfielder league.

Five outfielder roto league. I haven't been consistently starting him in that, even dating back to April. Nomar Mazzara, we said? Yeah. Yeah, I think he's... He's got three lefties on the schedule next week, and he can't hit lefties.

So, 87% of him. Azar's been so overowned. Ahmed Rosario, 65% owned. One walk, 27 strikeouts so far, but got four steals and three homers. He might be like a seven. The fact that, yeah, one walk to 27 strikeouts just is not at all what I expected from him. I thought he would be, you know, a contact hitter on the level of like Lendor, and he hasn't shown that. So maybe, you know, as hard a time as we gave the Mets,

about not calling him up for months when it looked like he was ready. Maybe they were right to hold him back, because it doesn't, based on that stat alone, it doesn't seem like he's quite ready. And Corey Spangenberg, eight games since homering four times in three games. He was all the rage. Spangengerberg is 5 for 28 with one walk to 11 strikeouts. Drop amito for a guy who's 33% owned.

I don't know that it's, I mean, It might just be 10 on principle. I just wanted to put some other names in the notes. We can't talk about the same guys all the time. I think I'd probably rather own Bautista than Spanjabird, the two tens there. Okay. So it depends on what I need, of course. But Batista himself is now dual eligible.

So that helps his cause. You know, let's do a segment called Catching On, Scott. Which position do you think Catching On is about? Pitchers. Yeah, no. Catchers. J.T. Ray Amuto is the number three. catcher in fantasy. He's

heating up, man, three home runs in his last seven games. Only batting 200 in August, but four homers. Two walks, 19 strike. It's been a weird August for him, but he's gotten hot. And Yasmani Rondal. Lanesan inside the Parker. Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Voted around. Loft it to first base,

and then still managed to make it all the way around. Catcher. Pretty fast. Yasmani Grondal, four home runs in his last seven games. Number seven catcher in fantasy so far. He's way behind number six, Salvador Perez, there's a big drop after the first six. But Grundal is number seven.

It's strange. She's batting 262 with 18 home runs and 25 doubles in 99 games, but the runs and the RBIs are low, and Grundal sits almost every time against lefties. Yeah, he is kind of, when we talk about the handful of catchers who are worth owning, which, by the way, is growing. of the handful of catchers who make an honest to goodness difference for your fantasy team. That's how I should have phrased it. It's a growing list.

I would add Yadir Malina to it. I would add J.T. Riemuto to it. Salvador Perez has been there all along. And then there's that line. And Gondal's on the other side of that line. He's probably the best one on the other side of that line. So that makes him must own by default, but he's not really a game changer. So what do you think about Rayamuto?

next year. Now in the last two seasons, Rayamuto's been a top six catcher, and now right now he's a top three catcher. He plays all the time. They got him playing first base a little bit. That might change when Boer comes back. But what do you think about Rayamuto going into next season? I think he's

legitimately good. I think he's kind of what Jonathan Lucreux used to be. And that's what I hoped he'd become when he first reached the majors. The power numbers weren't that great. the miners, but I thought, okay, there's enough to work with here, and he makes enough

contact that I could see him developing just enough power to become a standout at a weak position the way Lucroy did, and that seems to be happening. So he'll be top five heading into next year, probably draftable in the round 10 to 14 range. Yeah. Oh, you catcher. All right, here's a new segment. You seem bored by that answer. No, it's just like he is going to be a top five catcher, but I'm not going to take Rao Muto, I don't think. Okay. I'm going to be pretty all in on Gary Sanchez next year. His

price will be exorbitant, but I just yeah. Yes. Gary Sanchez for everyone. Welcome back. New segment. Not a new segment. We've done it before, but first time at a long time. Welcome back. Stephen Strasbourg and Robbie Ray

in mid-season form. Strasbourg was cramping a little bit or he would have pitched even deeper into the game. six scoreless with seven strikeouts at Houston Robbie Ray five innings one run nine strikeouts 94 pitches at the Mets I don't know anything to say about these two fellers It was nice to see

I actually want to check your work here Because I was under the impression Yeah this was actually Strasbourg's second start back Wow Two run runs and six with eight strikeouts in the first start So two great starts That's returning off the deal for him Real stellar work by yours, Julie, here.

Sorry about that. That's fine. Welcome back, Steven Straussberg again. I didn't welcome him back properly the first time. Clearly not. Yeah, so I just wanted to make sure that we got that in there. Well, Robbie Ray, though, that was good to see him come back and just be awesome. Yep, yep.

The liner to the head. It wasn't really the most exciting day in baseball. Like Mitch Morland hit two home runs. He's hit three in his last two games. Do you care? No, you don't care. I mean, I guess he was super hot at the beginning of the year, but he's 25% owned.

I don't think you're telling people to go pick up Mitch Moreland, are you? No, you're not. I'm not. No, you're not. And you're not either. It sounds like. No, I was talking to you, but no, I wouldn't. Chris Sale got pummeled, but what are we telling people to do about him?

Chris Sale stinks against Cleveland. It's weird. Yeah, he does. For his career, he has an ERA over five against Cleveland. It's very strange. And guess who Chris Sale is going to pitch against in the postseason? May very well be Cleveland. Probably will be.

I mean, I still think the Astros will hold off the Red Sox, and then the Red Sox and Indians will play in round one. Klobber Sale game one, Scott. That's awesome. Sale's going to get the Clayton Kirshaw postseason reputation based on this. We haven't seen. Have we seen sale in the post season before? I don't think we have.

Definitely not. I don't think so. I don't think so. But then again, I did forget that J.D. Martinez was in the National League when he was with the Astros, which was why he homered against every team. Yes, yes. The Astros in the NL. Do you have— Is a magical time.

Do you have any prospects you want to talk to us about, Scott? I have one I can talk to you about. Hit me with it. That's different from what we talked about last week. And that's Jack Flaherty of the Cardinals, who you could argue was even about. better prospect than Luke Weaver. I think it's pretty close. I'd probably rank Weaver ahead of him myself. But former first round pick and throws a little harder than Weaver. This year between AA and AAA, 2.13 ERA 102 whip right out of a strikeout per inning. And there's a chance he's

going to take over for Mike Leak on Saturday, going to start instead of Leak, Leak, removed from the rotation. don't know for sure that it's going to happen at all. And even if it does happen, there's a chance it's just kind of a one-turn, you know, give leak a turn-off situation. But I think there's a chance also that Jack Flaherty's just taking a regular turn to close out the year. So if you miss down on Weaver, that's somebody you might want to take a flyer on. Interesting. Jack Flaherty of the Cardinals, and the fact that they're willing to remove leak from the rotation

means maybe that even if Adam Wainwright comes back, Luke Weaver could stay in the rotation, which would be great. Yeah, yeah. It's a good chance of that. It's a big question mark of whether you can trust Weaver to make two starts. The second one would be at San Francisco, which would be amazing. But if Weaver is just a one-start guy at Milwaukee, are you going to start him next week? and Weaver is now up to 59% oh, and up 10% from yesterday?

Well, I don't think we're going to get a clear enough answer before lineups lock. So I will roll the dice on them just making the one start for the possibility of them making the two, especially since that second start would be against the Giants. So from that perspective, yes, I'd be willing to start Weaver for just the one start at Milwaukee. Under normal circumstances, maybe not, but I'm going to roll the dice on that second. start. Let's go back to the rotation. You mentioned Chris Sale. I got some other pitchers that I want to talk about. Michael Fulmer. Michael Fulmer is the number 24 starting pitcher in points, number 27 in Roto. He struggled in three of his last four starts, and he is at Colorado next week. Wampwom. Yeah, start or sit? Michael Fulmer.

Rather not start him. Rather not do that. Yeah, I do like Michael Fulmer? I mean, I know that you don't like low strikeout guys. And that's exactly what Fulmer's been. Well, he was on my preseason bus list. And for several months, that seemed like a terrible call. But I don't know. I don't know. It seems to all be catching up to him now.

Obviously, there have been some health issues there too that may have just as much to do with it. But, yeah, in today's landscape, I really don't trust pitchers who don't miss bats unless their extreme ground ball pitchers like Dallas Kikell level. And Michael Fulmer, he's, you know, he's a okay ground ball pitcher, but he's not that. And he's not as good of a strikeout pitcher as Kikl to begin with. So it's really hard to find pitchers with the kind of peripherals Fulmer has, who are and have been as successful as he has. His FIP, which of course takes into account the fact that he leads the majors in home run rate,

lowest home run rate. I don't know how sustainable that is, but theoretically, it's supposed to be something a pitcher controls. His FIP is 360, and his ERA is now 369. So he may have normalized as much as he's going to and still be a fine pitcher. But, yeah, I don't see him. I don't really think he has top 25 ability, even though he's pitched like that for most of the year.

That is Michael Fulmore we're talking about. Jose Burrios, food use. For you. He had a brilliant start against the Diamondbacks last time out, and he stunk it up against the White Sox yesterday. I mean, it wasn't the worst thing, but it wasn't very good. Three run runs, five total runs, and five in a third, but it did have nine strikeouts.

Burrios gets the White Sox at home next week. Would you start him against the White Sox who he just struggled against? Yeah, I would. I think there, obviously there's been a lot of hit and miss with Burrios lately, but there have been enough hits in there. that even with that I'm going to just trust him with the good matchup even though this time

you know it could have been worse too he had nine strikeouts and five and a third innings only three earn runs it wasn't a quality start but it was it was not enough to scare me away from his next matchup with the white socks Dallas Keiko all right looks to be back to doing his thing yeah

Trevor Bauer were you satisfied I probably weren't five and a third no runs seven hit seven hits and three walks against the socks, but he ate strikeouts. Yeah, I said Yolo yesterday and recommending people start Bauer against the Red Sox, and this is the trouble with Yolo.

Yes, you do only live once, but you only die once, too, Adam. People don't think about that. Yo Yodo. Well, Bauer's at the Yankees next week. That's a tough place to pitch. I think, you know, it might come down to whether. or not Gary Sanchez is in the lineup, to be honest. If he's not, I'd feel better about Bauer.

Starter Sid Bauer. I would sit him. Alex Cobb, 83% owned. Comes off to D.O. He could have been in Welcome back. Welcome back. Alex Cobb. He would have been more appropriate than Scrode. Four and a third scoreless. Another guy is not missing a lot of bats, but he had a 307 ERA and 11 starts before going on the DL, the most recent 11.

but only 44 strikeouts in 73 and a third. Yeah, what do you think, Alex Cobb? I think his injury brought his ownership down to a reasonable level, 83%. I'm fine with that. You know, he was, for not walking many hitters, he was pretty inefficient in this start. He lasted four in a third innings because he had already thrown 94 pitches by that point. But, you know, can't complain about the results.

It was a fine start and reason to at least think about him next week when he goes against the Royals. Okay. Alex Cobb against the Royals next week. Fringy starting pitchers. Armand Marquez, are you going to trust him next week against the Tigers at home? In Colorado, you mean? Yeah, yeah. No.

No, I'm not ready to trust him at home. Sorry. And I do this. This happens a lot when I'm writing. too against the tigers at home. Are the tigers at home or is he at home? Of course. So no one Marquez.

Junjin Ryu. Now on our website we have Junjin Ryu as a two-star pitcher. I don't think he's a two-star pitcher. Oh, well, oh, the double-header. Because the double-header. He is. No, I'm sorry. He's not.

Yeah, I still don't think he is. He is not a two-star pitcher. Okay. So he's going to be a one-star pitcher, I think, at Arizona next week. week, Junjun Riu. Right. Rich Hill is a two-star pitcher, but Junjun Riu is not. Well, he pitched six innings.

He only threw 93 pitches. You're going to get 90 pitches from Riu. Hopefully you get six out of that. If not, you're getting five. Would you start him in a one-star week at the Diamondbacks? I wouldn't, but I do think he hasn't gotten the credit he deserves this year. He's had, you know, 3.30-year-A? Like a lot of pitchers, you'd like them to pitch six innings more consistently, but very few disaster starts in there.

He's usually pretty solid. Absolutely, yeah. He's the poster child for the five-inning start. He and Kentimaeida. I mean, it's just what they do. I mean, the Dodgers really don't know what they're doing, to be honest. They really don't. They're no longer on pace for 117 wins.

They're only on pace for 116 wins, which would only tie. the major league record. You know what I was looking at yesterday? I was looking at who's on the Dodgers DL for something separate I was doing. Right now currently on the Dodgers DL. Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, U. Darvish, Alex Wood. I mean, you throw on Brandon McCarthy and Scott Casimir. So you got Kershaw, Darvish, Wood, McCarthy, and Casimir.

That's a, like a team has that starting rotation from start to finish. It's going to the playoffs, probably. And that's on the DL currently for the game. the Dodgers, and they've won eight of their last 10 games. Normally, when you see those caliber of players on the deal for one team, you're making apologies for why they had such a bad year. And the Dodgers are, it's unbelievable. Their organization is outstanding.

They've done a – I mean, look, they spend a lot. They spend a lot, but that doesn't guarantee you success. They've had so many injuries. Every year their rotation is like this, not like this, this, but every year their rotation is banged up and they always get through it. and they've turned Justin Turner into something incredible. Good for them. Good for them.

Last pretty starting pitcher was Martin Perez, who's actually been very good in three of his last four starts. I doubt you care about that, right? And Perez is the Astros on the road next week. I didn't even put it on my notes here, Adam. I don't care about it at all. Okay. Guess who the most added player is in our leagues?

The most added player is Byron Buxton. No, no, it's Reese Hoskins. He's like six. Buckson's third. Luke Weaver is the most added player, up 32%. Nicky Delmonico, 29% added. He's now 36% owned. Del and Batances, 72% owned.

I don't think Chapman's all that close to getting that job back. And maybe not. Yeah, so Batances and Robertson should get some saves. And then Edwin Jackson is number five. We're getting a lot of questions about Edwin Jackson. 59% owned. Do you think Edwin Jackson is good?

No. You remember when Matt Latos had a stretch like this last year? I think it was for the Nationals also, wasn't it? Possibly. Gosh, I don't remember. But I didn't even remember that Steven Strasbourg made a start last week. So what the hell do I know? I don't know.

It may have actually been two years ago for Latos, but no, this is not Edwin Jackson turning over a new leaf. Yeah, be careful. Be careful with Edwin Jackson. Is he two starts, he is? Miami at home, Milwaukee on the road next week. week. I just wouldn't do it. Wouldn't do it. Wouldn't be prudent.

No, no. Maybe in like an NL-only points league I'd go for it, but that's it. Well, Scott, let's look at the two-star pitchers for next week that do include good old Edwin Jackson. So, let's see, we might have some Corse Field effect here at the top. I know Justin Verlander is a one-start pitcher at Corse Field. Are you going to start him? Verlander at Colorado. I'm not going to flatly say yes, but I probably will in most of the leagues where I own him. Okay.

Okay, so I don't know that any of the – It's so dominant lately. Any of the good two-star pitchers are at Colorado, so you can start them. Dylan Bundy, Seattle at home and Toronto on the road. Now are they going to give him regular rest or what? Because he's been so good on extended rest. I don't know. I was actually going through the rotations before the podcast putting together my two-star.

my two-start pitcher rankings, which means kind of filling in the gaps for all the pitching rotations the upcoming week. And currently, the Orioles have six rotation members because Chris Tillman got a turn over the weekend. And the fact that Bundy's

innings are escalating, it would kind of make sense for them to stick with that. So I am not counting on two starts for Bundy this week. Now, he's been good enough lately that you may want to start him Anyway, against the Rays. Yeah.

No, I'm sorry, against the Mariners. Yeah, either one. But I wouldn't count on two starts. Oh, Scott. Do we have to sit Zach Godley? Zach Godley is home against the Dodgers and at the Rockies. Oh. I'm not going to.

I can't do that to my guy. Maybe I'd start him as a reliever in a point league. I feel like I've waited forever for the two-star. week forgot. And these are the matchups it gets. Thank you. Michael Fulmer is actually a two-star pitcher at Colorado and home against the Indians. So that's a tough call.

Yeah. I'm thinking no. Yeah, probably. I'd probably do it. Maybe not in Roto, maybe not in categories, but certainly in points. Trevor Bauer, at the Yankees and at Detroit. You kept telling me these pitchers. I thought they were.

I really thought they were. I guess the Indians are playing seven games next week. They are because of the. double header. Oh, see, that's the thing. The doubleheader's screwing me up. It looks like the way the off day lines up that he will indeed make two starts, Bauer. So I think I'd do it in points leagues, non-roto.

Will you roll the dice on Jeff Samarja at San Diego and home against St. Louis? Yes. How about, how about Yolishasin? Ooh. Two home stars for Shasin. They are against the Giants. and the Dodgers. But he has an injury with his pitching hand.

Yes. A minor thing. He did it day to day. Might be able to make those two starts. But considering what it takes for me to work myself up to starting Chassine, I don't think I want to do it. What It Takes by Arrowsmith. Yes or no.

You like it? Sing it for me. Tell me what it takes to start Chassine. I don't think I know that one That doesn't sound familiar Tell me what it takes Let You Go is the real line Oh it's a great song

I love that one One of their better One of the songs that has the best The highest upgrade When they play it live Compared to on the album It's a really good live song Fine observation from you

Thank you Better than when I sing it That's for sure So I don't know She seems good at home All the time So even against the Dodgers He was fine at home

So in a points league In a roto league, you might not give you good ratios. All right, whatever. You heard what Scott said. Mike Fires has the Rangers and the Mets at home. I think I'm going to do it. Do it. Two good starts in a row.

It's curveball spinning and he's kind of winning. Do it and let the English see you do it, Scott. Now some pitchers who are available in more than 40% of CBSports.com leagues. Edwin Jackson, that was a braveheart, by the way. Edwin Jackson, Luke Weaver, Matt Moore, Ian Kennedy. I haven't seen Braveheart What? Did you just say?

I know I should. I feel like this is a gap in life. Should? It's really long, right? It's three hours long. It's the best movie I've ever seen. It's my favorite movie. It's your favorite movie.

You're not the first person I've heard say that. Absolute favorite. One of the best movies I've ever seen. Definitely my favorite. I thought the godfather was your favorite. No. No, the godfather's a better movie, but Braveheart I like better. Also a long movie that I sat through because of you.

And? And it was good. I'm not. I'm not knocking the Godfather. Did I tell you about The Shield? You watched seven seasons of The Shield. That's a hell of a lot longer than Braveheart. Yeah.

I'm more... The kind of the place we are with TV right now, where everything is serialized, and it's just one long, ongoing story, and, you know, it's darker, the quality of the writing is so good. Like, movies, I'm finding more and more are a letdown by comparison. Oh, absolutely.

We are in the TV, the golden age of TV. I don't, like, they're not sitcoms. Like, that was probably, that was way back. We are in the golden age of TV dramas without questions. It's kind of like reading a great novel versus a short story. I mean, there are some great short stories out there, but by and large, I'm going to enjoy the novels more. So, listen, Scott, I like a lot of TV shows. There are none as good as Braveheart.

None. Okay. Friday night, you're not doing a damn thing. You got pregnant wife, you're not going out. You got a kid. When they go to sleep, you put on Braveheart and you watch it. I'll be really tired tomorrow because of how long I'm staying up watching. Saturday.

Who cares? Who cares? I got things to do on Saturday. All right, here we go. So these four pitchers, we like Luke Weaver or even if he's a one-star guy. So these three pitchers. No, we don't like Edwin Jackson. So these two pictures.

Matt Moore is interesting. at San Diego, home against St. Louis, Ian Kennedy, Tampa Bay at home at Minnesota. Definitely not Kennedy. He has blown my trust and has like a five-fifth this year. Matt Moore has been better lately, and these are two big parks he's pitching in, good matchups. I think if I was desperate to shoehorn an extra start into my lineup,

I could see starting Matt Moore, but by and large, on the whole, I think I just used by and large a couple minutes ago. On the whole, I don't trust Matt Moore. By and large, I don't trust Jaime Garcia. I wouldn't start him. Cleveland and the Red Sox at home. Not a chance.

Yeah. All right, Icky, at Philadelphia and at the Cubs. Interesting in points leagues. That'd be the only format where I consider it, though. Mike Montgomery, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta. I'm skeptical. He's actually going to make two starts because I think when John Lester went on the DL,

they were saying just a turn or two. So may make one, but I want to count on the second from Montgomery. Definitely not going to start Centitella, definitely not going to start Zimmerman. I don't think you can trust Wade Miley. Seattle and Toronto at home. Nope. What about Andrew Cashner, at Houston and home against the Angels? No, no.

He's going to get destroyed one of these days. Like, it has to happen. Paul Blackburn, at the Angels, at the Mariners. Well, he may not make two starts either because he's a little banged up, I think. In fact, I'd bet on him not making two starts. Trevor Williams. He may not even make one. Trevor Williams at the Cubs and home against the Reds.

No. Matchups aren't quite good enough for me to take that leap. I don't know who else there would be at this point. Heaney, Garza, Pardomo, Sims, Pruitt. Shields. Shields at Minnesota and home against Tampa Bay. Mark Leiter? Mark Leiter against Atlanta and at Miami.

Miami has a really good offense, but it is a big park. You know, Mark Lighter, since we dropped down to below the 60% threshold, well, I guess Luke Weaver's technically below that. But, you know, compared to guys like Jaime Garcia, even like Ari Dickey and Matt Moore, lighter might be my favorite. What about Shields? No. No, there's still seem, he's been better lately, but it still seems like there's a ton of risk there.

All right. Let's take a look at today's matchups to see who we're starting and sitting. I will skip the obvious ones. And Internet, whenever you feel like, thank you. Ariel Miranda, C.C. Sabathia, M's at Yankees. I'll take a bath. Ooh, okay. Jose Cantana, Jared Eichoff.

Was that weird? I'll take a bath. Sure. That's fine. Now it's weird that I'm picturing it now. But Jose Cantana and Jared Eichoff. Kentana's great I cough not so much

Jacob de Grom A.J. Cole DeGrom yes, Cole No Twins and Blue Jays Bartolo Colon J. Hap I could roll the dice on Hap

Not Cologne though I said I was going to skip the obvious ones I haven't done that O's at Red Sox Jeremy Hellixon Rick Porcelo I'll I'll sello it up

There you go Yvon Nova at Robert Stevenson Pirates at Reds. Not particularly motivated to start either. Nova's not the worst choice, but I'd rather not. Travis Wood? Adam Conley. I don't trust Adam Conley.

He's not throwing nearly as hard as he did last year. I know he's coming off a great start, and this is a great matchup, but it seems too risky. Jason Vargas at Cleveland against Ryan Merritt. Is that his name? Yep. Well, definitely not Merritt. Probably not Vargas either. Okay.

Rockies. A little better than Nova, though. Rockies at Braves. Chad Bettis, Julio Taran. Nope. Detroit at the White Sox. Verlander at Marco Gonzalez. Could have skipped this one, Adam.

It was obvious. Jake Oterisi and Michael Waka tonight. I will start Waka. The Giants are at the Diamondbacks. Ty Block. Zach Granky. Adam. The Rangers are at the A's.

Nick Martinez and Kendall Graven. Neither. I mean, Graveman, you could maybe talk me into it, but no. The Astros are at the Angels. Colin McHugh at Parker Bridwell. I like McHugh still. And I don't like Bridwell still. I guess some people might be impressed by those numbers,

but I don't think there's a lot backing up the 7-1 record 292 ERA. Team name Tuesday on a Friday. Bridwell Angel. Bridwell, I'm not sure I get the reference. Still well, Angel. From a league of their own. Stillwell.

It's the kid. Oh, good. Yeah. I haven't seen that movie enough. I've seen it. More than once. Goodness. But it's been a long time.

All right. Too long. Brewers at Dodgers. Chase Anderson, Kent and Maida. Give me both. Both disease. And let's read some emails to finish the show. Jonathan in New Jersey.

Hey, Hank, Jimmy, Tommy, and Pauley. I don't know who that is. So many options. Jimmy. Sounds like mobsters. That's exactly what. Oh, it's Goodfellas. Yep.

Yeah. Tell you a little something about Goodfellas, Scott. As soon as... I don't want to spoil it for anybody. As soon as one of the main character dies toward the end, you know, one that everybody loves, the movie just... The movie just takes a nose dive.

It gets like straight up bad the last 20 minutes or so. I don't remember a lot of the details, but I was less than impressed. It's great for like two hours, and then not so much. Okay, so Jonathan asks, do you think Curtis Granderson plays every day when Bellinger comes off the DL? No, I don't. I think he sits against at least the majority of left-handers, which is why I don't think he's must-own. I see him as more of a matchups type. Okay.

Garrett, would you drop Eric Thames? This is from Garrett. Would you drop Thames for Domingo Santana, Melki Cabrera, Josh Reddick, or Delano to Shields? Not just to do it. If it seemed like it was going to help my lineup for that week, I wouldn't be afraid to do it. I haven't looked at the matchups yet enough to tell

if that's clear that the case for any of these choices. But I don't think it's a crazy idea. Dear, I don't have a name for this one, Dear Man on Fire, Training Day, Flight, and Fences. Well, those are all movies, right? Starring. Starring Denzel Washington? Bingo.

No? No? Yeah, they are. Okay. I've seen three of them. I have not seen flight. I have any of them. Man, this is, I am, oof.

I am choking on the pop culture stuff this podcast. You need to. I need to see training again. I got it right. With a little help, but yeah. I have Andrew McCullors, Alex Wood, and Faria on the DL. Should I drop any of them for Mike Leak or Chase Anderson? My playoff start on September 4th.

So McCullors, Alex Wood, Faria, would you drop any of them for Chase Anderson? McCullors, by the way, rehab start today. I don't like the idea of dropping any of them. You drop Faria. You drop Faria for Anderson. I know you. That's what I was building up to. Yeah, I think I do.

If they're close enough, I think Win Healthy, that even if Faria does come back and pitch as well, it won't be something you regret greatly. Craig Sherman from Middletown, Delaware. Oh, I already read this one. Oh, no, I didn't. A two-star, oh, I read another, Craig. You just stuck two emails in here, Craig. All right, that's fine. Two-start, Luke Weaver, or one-start, Tanaka and Rodon.

Or Rodon. I can tell you who Tanaka plays in a moment. I can tell you this guy is a good pitching staff. He can only start one of these three. Tanaka has the Red Sox at home. Ugh. And Rodan has the twins or the Rays. I am going to say he has the Rays.

Ooh, Rays have a lot of left-handed bats. But Weaver might make two starts. I'm going to lean Rodon here. I'm going to lean Rodon. Over Tanaka? Yeah. With that matchup, yeah. All right.

John in Boston, should I start Justin Verlander at Colorado? Or a two-start Yolisha Seen? I would rather start Verlander, actually. Wow. Okay. We answered Reggie's questions. So we actually have a grade the trade from Sean. Dynasty.

A trade. Yeah, Dynasty. Five-by-five league with quality. starts instead of wins. Give up a $2. Fulmer and a $1, Tyone. So three bucks for

Fulmer and Tyone, giving that up for a $36. Madison Bumgarter. And he has money to spend, money to spare. This is, these are the kinds of trades I live to make in Dynasty leagues.

Assuming it's, you know, you can keep everybody you can afford, and there's very little roster turnover. I mean, those are two, neither is as good as Bumgarner, of course, Fulmer and Tiam, but they're both quality pitchers that you're going to keep for a long time at those costs, you know, depending exactly how the salary escalation rules work, but I think it'll take them a long time to get to where they're unaffordable starting that low. And Bumgarner, I'm not sure you'd keep it.

It'd be a close call. You might keep them at that price, but probably not beyond this year. I would absolutely take that deal. I give it, again, in a dynasty context, factoring in the difference in salaries, I will give it a minus. Now, listen, folks, Scott's a great fantasy analyst. He's so knowledgeable about prospects. You can ask him anything, he'll give you an answer. One thing you can't do, though, is give him great the trades, because he just doesn't seem to know which side is getting what?

Artie Beller here, Sean, is giving up former Entai-O to get bugler. No. Yeah. No. All right, then it's a D-minus. I could give some extra credit if you feel like Bumgarner's the piece you need to get you over the top and win you a championship. But even then, the highest I could go is C-minus. Scott just ripped your trade.

Don't let them buddy up after that. Thank you, Scott. Have a great weekend. Enjoy Braveheart. Thanks, Adam. Okay. For me, it's preseason football. all the way. Okay, everybody, I appreciate you listening.

Hope you enjoyed it. Hope it helps. And we'll talk to you on Monday. Have a great weekend. Monday morning.