Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Weaver! Junis! Bundy!

Episode Date: August 30, 2017

We're very excited about yesterday's pitching performances. Is Dylan Bundy an ace now (2:40)? Is Luke Weaver a must-start (5:00)? And Jake Junis should definitely be owned in more than 21% of leagues (7:15). Who should you drop for him? ... Why you should consider adding Kurt Suzuki (18:30) and Jack Flaherty (21:00). Is Jorge Polanco legit (29:01)? Also it's Worryometer Wednesday (37:25) for Marwin Gonzalez, Travis Shaw and a couple of others ... More from yesterday including Jake Arrieta's dominance despite a lack of swinging strikes and then a look at today's matchups (45:05) ... 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

Some very impressive pitchy performances on Tuesday night. Dylan, Bundy, complete game, one hitter with 12Ks. Of course, Luke Weaver strutting his stuff. Jake Junis doing his thing. And, yeah, we'll talk about it right now. We'll tell you who to add. We'll tell you who's legit. Welcome to the show.

It's fantasy baseball today. A lot of your emails at the end of the show at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Happy humpday, Scott White. Hey, hey, Adam. How's it going? Hey. We were having some technical difficulties just press. of the show and I got a chance to play around with the effects button on the soundboard here.

You want to do it on the air? Yeah, really? All right. You want me to reveal my song on the air live? Scott was, yeah, he was rapping a little bit and, yeah, we'll talk about the technical difficulties too, but go for it. This could be a little annoying for everybody, so beware. Maybe turn your levels down. This will be the best thing they've heard all the year.

Go for it, Scott, White. Ready? That's as far as I've gotten so far, but I think it's a work in progress. It's really weird. So I'm sitting, I'm skyping with Scott, then he sounds like a chipmunk. We can't figure it out. He sounds really high pitch. It was actually very funny.

And then he started singing the chipmunk song, and I'm sitting there. I turn off my computer. I reboot my internet. We both restart Skype, we can't figure it out. So I am Chris Tower and I say, hey, remember when we had that problem before? You sounded like a chipmunk. How did we fix it? So it comes in a little podcast room, flicks the switch on the back of the mixer off and back on.

And Scott, basic rule number one of troubleshooting and you failed. Turn it off, turn it back on. We need the genius of Chris Towers in here. We miss it dearly. We sure do. We saw a great start from Dylan Bundy yesterday, and we should probably start the show with that, but we have other stuff to get to. It's Worryometer Wednesday.

Jorge Polanco double dong yesterday. A couple players stole two bases. They play for the same major league team. I have a segment called the – well, I'm going to change it to the most confusing player in fantasy. The most confusing player in fantasy. But let's start with Dylan Bundy. I think he leads the standouts. So last five starts, Bundy has a 2ERA, 45 strikeouts to six walks and 36 innings, and 16 or more swinging strikes in four straight starts.

He's been outstanding. What's your take on Dylan Bundy right now? Yeah, he's figured it out, I think, here. This particular start, he threw 27 sliders, 10 of them swinging strikes. And that slider-cutter hybrid has been the key to his success all along. he started throwing it more recently here, basically coinciding with this turnaround, back to the level he was throwing it in April

when he had so much success, except this time around, he's getting a ton of strikeouts to go with it. I read after his last start that he felt like he lost the field for it mid-season, so he stopped throwing it as much. Hopefully, this stretch teaches him to do that, never to do that again,

because he is a different pitcher with that slider and absolutely a must start right now. Now, the last time he pitched on four days' rest, he gave up seven runs. That was five, six starts ago. They keep giving him extended rest. And it's been five days a couple times. It was eight days before his penultimate start or his second to last. I don't know.

Yeah, whatever. Second, most recent start. So I do want to see what happens if they pitch Bundy on regular four days rest. But they have a day off next week. So that should be – unless he pitches again this weekend, which would be against Toronto on Sunday. Yeah. That would be interesting. Let's see what happens.

But they're giving him more rest than it has been working out well. I mean, I don't care if he's pitching on regular rest. You're starting him this weekend. Well, I mean, yeah, you are. there is the possibility, depending on how this wild card situation plays out, that he just gets shut down at some point. He's a player with definite innings concerns, but the Orioles are in the thick of things right now.

So I can't imagine they would shut down. I guess Gosman's become reliable too, but basically one of their only two reliable pitchers if they're trying to secure a wildcard spot. Only one and a half games out of that second spot right now. Yeah, that's crazy. Okay. Rest of season, Dillon Bundy or Luke Weaver?

Well, I don't know if you heard about the little trade that went down right before the podcast started, Adam. Sure did. Mike Leak to the Mariners. Yes. So Luke Weaver's job is secure. That doubt is no longer in the picture. He's there. He belongs.

Back-to-back 10 strikeout performances is coming back from the miners. And then he made a start in early August, too, had eight strikeouts and I think it was about six innings. He looks great. He looks like somebody who needs to be owned everywhere. I would still prioritize Bundy over him, but the innings aren't as much of a concern for Weaver. So that narrows the gap between the two a little.

Is Luke Weaver a future star? What does the future hold for Luke Weaver? 2018 and beyond. I mean, I have a hard time being that precise with my projections of what a prospect could become. But I don't think that's outside the realm of possibility at all. It's not like he's this, you know, he wasn't as high profile as like Carlos Martinez when he got up. Certainly not like an Alex Reyes. He's not, he wasn't quite that caliber of prospect.

So it's not a slam dunk that a ceiling is that high. But the minor league stats certainly support that kind of ceiling. And just in terms of pure stuff, he reminds me a little of like Cory Klover. So I think Weaver could absolutely be that. It's too big of a leap right now for me to say he's going to be a star. Would you rather have Luke Weaver or John Lackey? I would rather have Luke Weaver. Luke Weaver or Michael Waka?

Luke Weaver. There you go. No, stop. It's terrible. It's terrible. Oh, you can't know. I can try different effects if you want. Please don't.

Please, no. Oh, that was terrible. All right. Luke Weaver 79% owned. Make him more. Make Luke Weaver more owned again. And how about Jake Junis? 20% owned.

If you are like 10 on the Luke Weaver addometer, where are you on the Jake Junis attometer? If I'm a 10 for, Weaver, I'm a 7 for Junice. Oh, yeah? I added him in two leagues last night, so good for me. I don't think he's making it on my roster even in all 12 team leagues, but if pitching was an area of concern for me, given his availability, he would be one of the first places I look on the waiver wire right now since returning from the minor leagues. Four of his five starts have been really good, including three with seven strikeouts or more.

is in line with the numbers he put up in AAA and in the PCL of all places. So Jake Junice is definitely somebody you need to have your eye on. Jake Junis is 20% own. I'll put the same names. Would you drop John Lackey? Would you drop Michael Waka for Jake Junice? I drop Lackey or Waka, sure. I don't, if we're kind of to the point of this season.

I mean, it's almost September, right? True. You can't trust a pitcher in his next. start regardless of what the matchup is if it's a matchup situation okay fine like if he's at colorado whatever i'm not talking about that i'm just regardless of what the matchup is if you have a pitcher and you can't trust that he'll deliver you that that you're willing to start him for his next start then he's absolutely expendable this time of year and those two lackey and waka i think would would uh meet that criteria junis has two starts next week also he's got detroit on the road

and he's got Minnesota at home, and Junis is now 21% owned. So, yeah, this is an opportunity for you. I did pick him up. I don't remember who I dropped. I dropped Michael Conforto for him, and Rajay Davis for him. Roger Davis stole two bases yesterday. We'll talk about that. But all right, Jake Junis, Luke Weaver's the obvious one.

Jake Junice will be owned in a lot fewer leagues, 60% fewer leagues to be precise. So somebody you can go ahead and get. Email us at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Oh boy, I'm watching some Jake Junis highlights right now. What a nasty slider. And he said he had a slider working for him yesterday. So good start for him against the race.

And the Royal scored. So how about that? They scored. They ended the streak. Yep. Here's an email. It's from Chris Taylor. You know him?

From the Dodgers? Not personally. I know who he is. Well, he emailed us. And he said, hey, Adam. Is Scott ever going to admit that I have taken a stud turn? Ooh. Stud turn.

Chris Taylor. You know, Bundy's taking an ace turn. I wanted to use that line, but I missed my chance. So here it is. But as for Taylor, here's where I stand with Taylor. Because yesterday I finished up my 30 bold predictions for 2018. Pretty significant piece. It's published on the site.

Go check it out. I wanted to include a negative bold prediction for Chris Taylor. But the thing about Chris Taylor is, yeah, the Babb has been high all year, unsustainably high, that's fair. But for him to really bottom out in terms of fantasy value, get back to being not a useful mixed league option, I would also have to buy that the power increase we've seen from him this year is illegitimate. And between the change he made mechanically with the leg kick this offseason, his impact. age, you know, he's just entering the prime of his career, the kind of contact he's making, I can't say that the power is illegitimate for Chris Taylor. So, you know, let's say the Babbitt

progresses and he's only a 270 hitter when all of a sudden done. I think he still provides enough power, particularly with all that versatility, that he's, you know, an even better version of Jet Jerko, basically. So is he a stud? I think that's taking it a little too far, is he must start with shortstop eligibility, I'd say yes. Oh, absolutely. However, he's only made six appearances at shortstop and eight at third base. So he's going to be second base and outfield eligible next year at this rate. I don't know if the standard head-to-head lineup I'd draft them as a starter,

but standard roto lineup where you have the middle infield spot, five outfielders. Yeah, that's fair. I'm going to say late-round pick. I'm going to stick with that late-round pick for the one-hit wonders, the ones that come out of nowhere. And I guess we can call it the Jonathan VR effect. But if it surprised us so much, there was no reason for it,

you know, I'm just not going to buy it. Okay. It's going to be dangerous to apply that across the board, I think. It will. And I feel like I'll be right more often than not. Well, I mean, do you, do you, you're going to take this approach with like Jimmy Nelson? Zach Godley next year?

No. I think hitters. Just hitters. He's becoming more and more arbitrary. No, I don't think so. I mean, first of all, Nelson was a good prospect. Yeah. I'm looking through our draft results to find another example,

because there were other examples other than Jonathan V.R. Of the one-hit wonders. I mean, I guess you could sort of look at Gene Seguer. I didn't really consider him a one-hit one-hit one-hurt. Yeah. I mean, Rick Porcelo and Kyle Hendricks, to some degree, they've had value, but not what they were drafted to be. Oh, their busts, no doubt. But then you have, like, Adam Duvall, you have Jose Ramirez. Like, I think you can come up with just... Do you think Ramirez is a one-hit wonder? I mean, a guy who's been, like, pretty bad in his career, and then all of a sudden just had this monster year.

Going into last year, I thought Jose Ramirez was, you know, basically a utility man, a guy who deserved to be a bench player. I didn't see him having mixed league appeal at all, and he became this great option that nobody wanted in the draft. I kept getting him in the ninth and tenths rounds, and then lo and behold, he becomes even better. So I don't know that you can normally expect them to become better, but if, if, you know, If they're already being downgraded because of the out-of-nowware quality of their breakout season, then there's a lot of value to be had there. I don't like making these kind of, like, overriding rules. Yeah, you shouldn't.

And I probably will make exceptions, but it will be my default. Alemus Diaz was the other guy that I couldn't think of. Gotcha. I guess, you know, I'm looking at Diaz. He didn't strike out last year. 60 strikeouts in 111 games. That's something that VR did a ton. Yeah, no, I mean, Alemus Diaz of all the ones you named, he was the one I had the most confidence in.

And Chris Taylor strikes out. So, all right, you know what? We'll revisit it. But I got burned by some one-hit wonders this year. So we'll see. News and notes, a lot of big ones here. First of all, Bryce Harper walking without a limp. He is improving no timetable for his return.

Clayton Kershaw will start on Friday. He's been on the D.L. since July 23rd. Chris Sale is the fastest player in baseball history to 1,500 Ks. Woo-hoo. Yep. A lot of Kays. Trey Turner's back.

Cody Bellinger will be back today. Curtis Grannerson expected to stay in the lineup. Adrian Gondalas. See you. Alex Wood will start Sunday. So Kershaw, Ballinger, Wood, all back, but it's not all good news. Corey Seeger sat on Tuesday with a sore elbow. He's day-to-day.

Carlos Carras. He's going to get more starts at short. Probably not enough to get 20, though. Carlos Corre expected to return from the torn thumb ligament on Friday. John Carlos Stanton tied a major league record with 18 home runs in August, and he's got two more days to set that record. Joey Gallo returned to the Texas lineup. He homered.

Delano DeShield sat, but Carlos Gomez is not good. So play Delano to Shields. Ian Desmond started in left field, but Carlos Gonzalez sat again. Desmond did steal a base and cargo pinch hit. Miguel Cabrera. He's been out with the back injury. He's also facing a suspension. He apparently will have chronic back issues that are going to be an issue for the rest of his career, according to Brad Osmus.

Yeah. Dun, done, done. It sounded like the quote read kind of like Brad Osmiss just kind of giving his own impression of the situation rather than passing on an actual diagnosis. so, you know, he just said basically it's something that they'll probably have to manage going forward. And, you know, Miguel Cabrera is going to have to be careful not to develop any bad habits, trying to play through it. And I don't know. I don't know exactly what to make of it. I do think Ausmyss wouldn't have said it if it hadn't been something Cabrera was dealing with all season. And in fact, I think the report.

said it started during the World Baseball Classic. So, you know, it's kind of an explanation for what's been going on with Miguel Cabrera all season. Will an offseason of rest make a big difference for him? I think there's a good chance. I mean, Bryce Harper had neck slash back slash shoulder issues all of last year and then, you know, he comes back after an offseason. He's completely different. Also, 10 years younger than Cabrera, but there's no substitute for rest when you're getting over an injury. Sure. Okay. Now, I'm getting a lot of questions about Gary Sanchez and when the suspension will be announced. It's possible he won't have his appeal hurt until after the weekend. So you made the right move if he started him this week. Next week could be stickier for Gary Sanchez.

How many games is it? Four? I mean, yeah. And if the appeal, as her, there's a good chance is reduced to three or whatever, right? Yeah. So it's a unique situation because you have now, with Posey's health issues, clearly the top player at clearly the weakest position and is any waiver wire catcher with twice as many games in a week as Sanchez, let's say, would you still trust him to outperform Sanchez? I personally won it.

I don't care that much when it comes to setting my life. lineups in a weekly format. If it was a 10-game suspension like Cabrera got, that's different, but I don't think it's long enough at that position specifically to scare me away from the best player. All right, fair enough, and I guess the best case scenario would be two games missed this week, two games missed next week, and he would more or less have a normal week. So we'll see. Now, Tyler Flowers is not somebody you want to rely on as a waiver wire catcher because he hurt his wrist. And actually, this is pretty interesting for Kurt Suzuki, Scott, because Tiroflower is going to have his wrist evaluated.

If he ends up out, I don't know that he'll go on the DL because September's right around the corner. But if Suzuki gets regular playing time, and he's performed, I'm guessing, like, OPS-wise, Kurt Suzuki might be a top-five catcher. Yeah. But he has not been. Yeah, probably. I know he is, of course, playing in the ballpark where you can trust the ball to touch the sun. You know, the park effects don't actually show a Sun-Trust park to be that great of a home-run park.

It's interesting because I test. with and just like uh the tarant test right right toronto test um so i don't know how much it's helped them i mean just looking at the dimensions i think it has to be better than turn of field but whatever i'm not going to start arguing whether or not we should believe the park effects but what about Suzuki do you believe in Suzuki um yeah i think it's very interesting because even if you don't buy the power he's shown this year and and i think he's he's equal to career high in home runs he used to be He used to have pretty good pop in his early days, but, you know, that's still topped out at like 15 when he was with the A's.

Obviously, much fewer bats this year. So even if you don't buy the big jump in home runs, he's still a very good contact hitter in terms he makes a lot of contact. So I think the floor is pretty high for him, too. And if he's getting regular abats, you know, I think, I think, I think at the very least he's Jonathan Luchroy And there's the chance he's better than that That is Kurt Suzuki

Keep an eye on that as Tyler Flowers deals with a wrist injury And finally yeah So Seattle did acquire Mike Leak Value up down to the same Probably down a little Just because he's going to the AL And has to face another hitter every time through the lineup But

He was already Fating From mixed league perspective perspective. This is maybe the final excuse you need to drop them there. A.L. Only league's a pretty exciting pickup and one that's unexpected this time of year. Yeah, absolutely. No doubt. So Mike League is in the American League and Luke Weaver

stays in the rotation. And by the way, Adam Wainwright is not expected to begin a throwing program for another week. So what does that mean? Who's going to jump in the Cardinals rotation? Got to be Jack Flaherty, right? So you said Wainwright won't begin a throwing program for another week. I'm actually going to write about Jack Flaherty later. That's what I saw. That's what I saw on the update on our website, yeah.

Yeah, that's good to know. So, Flaherty's had a great year at AAA, basically as good as Weaver's, and some prospect towns think he's an even better talent than Weaver. I'm a little skeptical of that, but, you know,

if they're at least in the same discussion, then he's somebody who you might want to look into in mixed leagues. I don't know about the innings if that's going to become a concern for him. Let's look at how he's doing with that. 148 and 2 thirds this year versus 134 last year. So there's a good chance he won't make it all the way through September. But, you know, maybe by the time before Wainwright's ready to come back, he can get two or three starts in, Jack Flaherty.

This is actually a big deal. I wish this had occurred to me earlier in the podcast because Jack Flaherty is somebody that you want to pick up. Would you pick up Jake Junis or Jack Flaherty? I think I'd pick up Junis, actually. Junis is a two-star pitcher next week. Yeah. But Flaherty's stats, just to point them out, that this is between AA and AAA, 218-E-R-A, 104-Wip, 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings. But he's seen a velocity spike this year, has a couple good secondary pitches and throw a strike.

So he looks like he could be pretty good. All right, bravo, Jack Flaherty. And bravo for you, the smart people out there. who have gotten yourselves a Harry's razor. Listen, I don't know how else I can put this. If you need a razor, I'm giving you one for free. Harris is giving you five blades and a razor handle and shave gel and a travel blade cover for free.

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The only thing you pay for is shipping. So just a few bucks for shipping. Harries.com, H-A-R-R-Y-S dot com, H-A-R-R-Y-S dot com, slash F-B-T. Harry's is great. Scott and I, Chris, Heath, we all have Harry's razors. I use it all the time. It's a really good razor. It's better than what I used to be using.

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all yours for the price of just shipping. Harries.com slash FBT. It's a no-brainer. Please make it happen. Let's talk about some more pitchers from yesterday, Scott. Fringy starting pitchers, Mike Fires. Curveball not spinning. We shouldn't have started Mike Fires.

No. Are you going to start him? he was bad against Texas. Are you going to start him against the Mets this weekend? Have you lost faith or will you start him in that cake matchup? I think so. And then you're saying his matchup next week is Oakland. At Oakland.

It's becoming harder and harder to predict a week ahead of time. Where exactly a pitcher spot is going to line up. But with two really favorable matchups coming up, don't think we can drop fires, but... So you're playing with fires. I hate that he did that yesterday. Yeah. And I hate that Matt Moore was in my lineup because he got crushed at San Diego.

This was a, I mean, I guess I could say it's a lesson learned about trusting Matt Moore, but I didn't trust him that much to begin with. I was just gambling. Yeah. And he will have a home start against St. Louis this weekend. Would you start him in a daily league? Nope. Yeah.

I mean, I was, you remember, I was hedging even at San Diego. Ultimately, I sided with you and said we should start him. but no, I don't have much faith in that more at all. Armand Marquez, he is a two-star pitcher next week. San Francisco at home, Dodgers on the road. He's 70% own. He pitched brilliantly against the Tigers last night. So San Francisco, actually, I think for Marquez, San Francisco at home,

I'd feel more comfortable starting him there against the Giants at Cors than I would at the Dodgers. Yeah, probably. I don't know that really that interested in starting him against either. I like Marquez. It's just, obviously, he has a course, field problem, and some consistency issues, too. Great that he had 10 strikeouts in this game.

Not the first time we've seen that kind of production from him, but his previous five starts, he had 20 strikeouts combined, so that's like for a start. They had gone missing for a while there. So there's consistency issues, there's venue issues, and it's just going to be hard to trust him in a standard mixed league going forward. Would you drop Marquez for Flaherty or Junis?

I think I'd drop him for Junis. Let's hear what the Cardinals actually planned to do before dropping him for Flaherty. All right. Edwin Jackson, what the heck? Two run runs and six innings, four walks, five strikeouts, and now a 333 ERA for Jackson.

He's been really good lately, and it's annoying because it shouldn't happen. I really don't trust it, no. Yeah, we don't trust it. We don't trust it. I'm not getting into it. We don't trust it, Edwin Jackson. No.

Stop it. Now, here are some pitchers in deep leagues. There's one in particular that I think is pretty interesting. They're all owned in 20% of leagues or fewer. And they're not Jake Junice, who's obviously the head of this class. Luis Perdomo has two starts next week. He had a good one yesterday against the Giants. Martine Perez pitched well at Houston.

In fact, last five starts, I think. He's had one terrible one. and then four good ones. Five combined run runs and the other four starts. And seven or more innings than three of those four. So Martin Perez is pitching well. He gets the Angels this weekend and then the Yankees next week. Erasmo Ramirez, last four starts, all quality starts.

And then there's Sal Romano, who's got three good starts in a row. And I like to match up if you want to pick him up for next week. Sal Ramano does start at Pittsburgh this week, but he's at the Mets next week. That's who he just faced yesterday. He went six innings and gave up three runs, struck out five, each 12% own. So Sal Romano, just if you want to take a shot on a guy with a good matchup next week, Sal Romano has the Mets. Yeah, yeah.

I still don't think Romano's a name we're going to be siding, you know, for the long run. He only had 5.8 strikeouts per nine innings in 10 AAA starts this year. So, you know, this isn't a priority. pickup. But the kind of run he's on, I think, with good matchups, he's usable. All righty. So, yeah, the other guys, I don't think we're all that interested in, Pardomo, Perez, and Erasmo. Maybe Arasmo on the same level as Romano, but, um, but no, they don't have, they don't have a lot of upside. Double dongs from yesterday. About time we talk about Jorge Polanco, huh? First of all, C.J. Crone, did you see what he won from Mike Trout as a result of

his two-homer game? I didn't, no. He won Phoenix Sun's season tickets. Mike Trout promised and season tickets to the Phoenix Suns. It's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard in my life. But he got him. Yeah, that's interesting. Quite.

It's not like it's the Diamondbacks, you know? Right. Yeah. I guess he lives there. But Crone double-donged. Jorge Polanco, last 28 days, he's the number three shortstop in fantasy with six of his nine home runs in the season coming in the last 28 days. And by the way, almost all of his home runs this year and more than half in his career

have come against the White Sox. That's even beyond what I was going to point out. I was going to say the two home runs in this game and all four of the ones he hit last week were against the White Sox, which is true. Like six home runs are against the White Sox. I don't know that there's anything to that. Just that the White Sox have a lot of bad pitchers. Yeah, exactly.

I don't know that all the home runs have come against bad pitchers. I don't either. I could look that up. But, yeah, I'm not really moved to add Polanco. I know shortstop is weak, and so anytime anybody heats up there, you could justify starting them. But it's becoming less and less weak, and I'd rather have Tim Beckham or Marcus Sinner.

Simian or there are enough highly available short stops. I don't even know that Beckham's that available anymore, but between Simeon and, you know, Ahmed Rosario, Katel Marte, if he's healthy, those were, those are all players I'd rather have than Jorge Polanco, even though Polanco is hot right now. Yeah, all right. Fair enough. And, you know, like, he's hot right now,

and he has like 13 career home runs or something. This is just weird. He's not a power hitter. So I'm pulling up the home run log. The six home runs were against Aaron Bummer. Bummer. James Shields twice. Still a bad pitcher.

That's terrific. Lucas G. Alito's, you know, pretty good, but not that good. Carson Fulmer, Derek Hollins. Yeah, bad pitchers. Yeah, Jorge Polanco. And Mani Machado hit two home runs, and Chris Towers are not on the show. That's a shame. I could try to come up with a Mani Machado song.

Oh, I got one for you. No, no, no, don't do it. Don't do it. It's terrible. Please don't. Please don't. Danny Machado. Sorry, folks.

Scott's a kid in the candy store right now. Why would that be so annoying? Are you hearing it? It's not annoying. It's fun. I like the Travis Shaw song. That was fun. And Travis Shaw's on Worryometer Wednesday, which is coming up in a second.

Those were the double dongs. How about the double steals? Rajay Davis led off and stole two bases, and Andrew Ben and Tendee stole two bases yesterday, which gives him 17. this year. Benintendi is... It's a Benintendi. Yeah, Benintennanty. Benintendi, Benintendi, Ben

Tenni's the number 20 outfielder in points, number 23 in Roto. Anything to say about Ragee or Benintendi? Not really. I mean, Davis is obviously a short-term fill-in for Jackie Bradley, so he's not somebody, you know, unless you're looking up to make a lot of, you're looking to make up a lot of steals in a short period of time. He's not somebody you need to pay attention to. I hope this becomes the norm for Ben-intendi. because since there is some question about how big of a home run hitter he'll be,

it would, steals would go a long way toward making him a legitimately high-end fantasy outfielder. Yeah, yeah, Ben and Tendi right now with 18 home runs, 17 steals. That's pretty good with a month left. So, I don't know. I mean, like a 22-22 guy is probably not that exciting, but it's good. And there's obviously room for growth. He's, you know, second year in the league.

He's very, very young. I'll be pretty excited about Ben and Tendi next year. And now it's time for the most confusing player in fantasy. Yassil Puig. Is he worth owning in 93% of leagues, starting in 78% of leagues? He's the number 33 outfielder in points leagues, number 38 in Roto. That's it, huh? With 24 home runs and 12 steals.

Yeah. He's got an 830 OPS, Yassio Pue. He plays on one. one of the best teams in baseball and he's scored only 62 runs and driven in only 60. He's on the best team in baseball. He's batted eighth a fair amount this year. Yeah. But I know he didn't yesterday.

He was in the middle of the lineup yesterday. He's batting 152 against lefties this year. And he's a righty. And that's not the norm for him. He's got one home run against lefties and 23 against righties. Yasil Puig is the most confusing player in fantasy. I just threw my pen down and discussed. I was pissed.

It is confusing. because he's also walked a lot and not struck out very much this year. He's going to come very close to 30 home runs. It's been, after the two seasons he just had, it's been a dream scenario for Yassil Pueg this year, and yet he's still pretty fringy. Yeah, to be outside the top 30 at outfield without a DL stint means you really haven't stood out.

But he's been consistent, Pueg. And then here's the thing, You want to talk about, is he a power hitter? Well, if he hits close to 30 home runs, it looks like he is. But he's got 16 doubles and only two triples. Yeah, that hasn't helped. 16 doubles is very, very low. You know what I think the biggest thing is,

is what I was saying about where he's batted this year. I think sometimes we can make too much of it, but when you're hitting eight consistently and he's hit eight 56 times this year, it does things like this. he's on pace to play 154 games, so basically every day, and yet he's on pace for only 508 at bats. And, you know, he's walked an above average amount,

but not so much that he should end up with barely over 500 a bath playing every day. So he's kind of gotten burned by the depth of the Dodgers lineup. When normally you think of that is a good thing. Now, you said he'd hit in the middle of the order, he also pique, so I just want to take a look, because Bellinger will be back today. that's obviously a middle of the order bat.

But I feel like he hasn't been batting eighth in a while. A couple weeks? A couple weeks. He's batted mostly six. Okay. Is it, what am I? He's batting. Am I looking at the wrong year?

What the hell is going on? Yeah, I'm looking at the 2013 Dodgers. He's batted mostly six. So when he bats six, Yassio Pueig, in 13 games, has scored nine runs and driven in six. So better numbers, especially with a run score. Hopeful or hopeless. Hopeful or hopeless, rest of season.

These guys are all owned in 73% of leagues or more. Hanley Ramirez, hopeful or hopeless. Mani Ramirez. Oh, this is fun. Hanley Ramirez. Yes, Hanley Ramirez. Hopeless. He's hopeless.

Not the first time I've said that in his. career and he has proven me wrong before, but I don't know that I'm ever going to go into a season believing in Hanley Ramirez again. I don't care if he wins AL MVP next year. This is rest of season. Rest of season. Oh, we're just doing rest of season? Yeah, last month.

Hopeful or hopeless. That's not the game we were playing yesterday. No, we were not. We changed it. Well, I still think he's hopeless just because there's so much depth of first base. Eric Thames, 86% own. Both Hanley and Thames. James Homer yesterday.

Thames hasn't done anything since April. I got to go with Hopeless. Yeah, he has a 749 OPS and a 209 batting average since May 1st. And he sits against lefties. Eric Thames is hopeless. Kyle Schwaburber, not bad the last couple weeks, but not great. Kyle Schwaber, 80% owned. Hopeless, hopeless.

No hope. And for some reason, Ryan Healy is 73% owned. Hopewell or hopeless? Ooh, he's hesitated. Well, I mean, the ceilings. The expectations. are much lower for Healy to begin with, right? Yeah, but the ownership isn't that much lower.

73%. Right. I mean, just understanding what Healy is, I would say, hopeful. You know, he's going to be a player who helps you in home runs and probably not much of anything else. So.

Okay, when phrased that way, makes sense. Worryometer Wednesday. Here are some studs. How worried are you? About Marwin Gonzalez, zero to ten. I thought he was overperforming all season, and I was happy to drop him in a league where I got Trey Turner off the DL,

and I've lowered him in my rankings recently. So Worryometer, I'll give it about an eight, or seven or eight. Let's say seven. Keep in mind with Marwin that Correa will be back on Friday, most likely. And that will probably mean some more days off for Gonzalez, especially against lefties. He's been bad against lefties this year.

Travis Shaw batting 232 with a 390 slugging percentage in August. Wariometer on Shaw? Maybe like three. You know what I noticed yesterday, Adam? Carlos Santana. Killing it. Has now outscored Travis Shaw in points league. What?

Really? Yep. Wow. Wow. Oh, Gene Seguera, number 16 shortstop and fantasy, he did have a DL stint. But what's your Wuriometer on him since the All-Star breaks? Cigura is batting 223 with one home run. Now, I'd probably rather own him than Marwin Gonzalez,

but I'm going to give him a firm 8 on the Wuriometer. Just because I think if you look at his season line, really not that good. I mean, he's usable at a weak position, startable. Right. But wasn't able to sustain the power gains from a year ago. And really, what's killed him is he's just not running as much either. So he's lost two of the things that really helped him stand out last year.

And I think he's just kind of a jag. Last guy. What about that big guy, that like six-foot-eight, hulking power hitter who, since the All-Star break is batting 179? What about the judge? All rise or all sit? Worryometer on Aaron Judge? Eight.

Maybe I'm overreacting. I can't go eight. I'm going to go six. Maybe six is better. But he's getting treatment on his shoulder. He's wearing down. Yeah, I mean, that's really the thing that makes me worry. Otherwise, I might go like a two for judge if I didn't worry about his health at all. because I think there was a lot of regression coming, and that's what we're seeing.

But, you know, eventually that pendulum is going to swing the other way, too. The quality of the contact he makes is as good as anybody. That is true. Basically, him and Stanton are on another level as far as that goes. So, you know, if he's not healthy, that changes everything. It's kind of vague just the nature of that injury he has. so it's hard to judge. But I'll give this.

Oh, nice. Nice, Scott. Very well done. And I didn't do it on purpose. And then let's talk about some players in the rotation. Zach Godley, Rich Hill, and Jake Areietta. Three-man rotation today. Zach Godley, Rich Hill, and Jake Areeta.

So Godley is at Colorado this weekend, first of all. Scott or sit. Starters hit Zach Godley. Well, I had him as a start for the two-start week, even though the first was against the Dodgers and then second at Colorado. If you're reducing it to just one at Colorado, I'm probably going to say sit. Though so far starting them for the two starts has worked out pretty well for you. The ERA was high in this game, four and runs in six innings.

It was on the high side. Technically missed a quality start. But low whip, only seven base runners in the six innings. And he got the wins. So it was for a start against the Dodgers, it was not disappointing. Yeah, certainly not. And he's faced the Dodgers a few times recently. and Godley's given up 12 home runs this year,

and six of them have come in August. Four of those have come against the Dodgers. Two of them came yesterday. Yeah, two came yesterday. Scott still loves Zach Godley. They are BFF. Twelve is a tiny, tiny number for this, for a pitcher in this environment.

Rich Hill, eight hits, six runs in three and two thirds, coming off the near-no-hitter, near-perfect game, but he only threw 99 pitches in that game at Pittsburgh. Is this just a blip in the radar? Just a weird bad start for Richel? Yeah. I think he took a liner off his hip in the first inning also, right? I don't know.

Not that he was pitching well before them, but it couldn't have helped. Yeah, he went from King of the Hill to a Hill of Beans. Ah. Right? Pretty good. Yeah, I know. I'm working on it. How long did it take you to think of that one?

Just now? Why do you guys think it takes me so long to think of these things? It would take me a long time. I reduce you to my level, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, no, don't ever do that. Jake Areetta, look, Jake Arenda, all of a sudden, is the number 14 starting pitcher and points

and number 13 in Roto for the season. He is a 336 ERA, a 1-18 whip, and about a strikeout per inning. And he had a great start. Scoreless start yesterday, and apparently he wasn't even at his best. You only have three swinging strikes against Pittsburgh. Like, the swinging strike rate has been really bad for Jake Arietta.

Yet, he's been pitching great. He's got a sub-2 ERA in his last 11 starts. I mean, I hadn't noticed the swinging strike rate had been really, really bad, do you say? Yeah, is it worse or is it just bad? It's like 8% swinging strikes in his last 11 starts or something. That's bad. I mean, the 10 starts is where he's really turned things around 185 ERA, 0.98 whip, 8 strikeout. per nine innings, which eight per nine isn't bad.

It's less than you expect from an A's, less than we used to expect for Marietta. But I think he's lost something in terms of stuff this year. And what I think we're seeing, we've seen over the last two months, is him accepting that the stuff is worse and adapting to what he has, becoming more, putting more of an emphasis on being a ground ball generator rather than a bat misser. His first three months, he had a groundball rate of 48.7%. Last two months when he's had all the success, 43.9. Only, I think, six home runs during that 10-star stretch.

The home runs have been down. He's getting more fly balls this year, Arieta. For the year? Yeah, a lot more. Maybe. A lot more. But for the last two months when he's had success, the ground balls have been up. I thought you, okay, repeat the stat because I thought you said it was 48,

and then recently two months has been 43. You know what? I said it backwards. Okay, okay. First three months was 43.9, the last two months, 48.7. All right. That's interesting. Because, yeah, season long, the fly balls have been like up.

I don't know if I'd say significantly, but somewhere between a little and significantly. They've been up for area. When he was at his best, when he was putting up a 170-7 ERA, and really it started the year before that, he was great at all three of the fit measurements, home runs included. It didn't get as much attention because home runs never get as much attention as straight-outs. But that was a part of his skill set that kind of got away from him as the stuff got worse. And it seems like he's made it a priority. Top 15 pitcher next year, Jay Garietta?

Top 20. I won't say top 15, but top 20. All righty. So let's look at today's matchups. I can tell you right now, I am sitting Justin Verlander at Corse Field. I did read, though, that I don't know what the stat line was, but last time he went to Corse Field, it was a while ago. He threw a complete game.

But we'll get to that. The Braves and Phillies are already underway. And Freddie Freeman has a double. Yeah, we have two double headers today. So we'll skip the one o'clock game. And I don't know. I doubt many people will hear this before, too. But Cardinals Brewers start Carlos Martinez and Chase Anderson?

Yes. Ariel Miranda, Ubaldo Jimenez. No. Verlander at Chad Bettis. All-Star Verlander at Colorado. Julio Taran at Mark Lighter. I'm... I'd rather not do either.

I'd actually be more likely to start Lighter, I think. You might get a stripped-down version of the lineups, you know, that happens with double-headers. Freeman's playing today. Maybe he won't play the second game. So keep that in mind. If Freeman's not in there, I think, light him up, as Scott would say. Light him up. There's no effect for that, I don't think.

It was good. Light him up. You have your own Batman effect. I love that scene. I freaking love that scene. When he says that and then he lights it up. Oh my gosh. Love it.

Standing Ovation. Marlins... The thing is, it was the worst of the three movies. It's my favorite one. Still love it. Oh, it's your favorite. I agree it's the worst. But it is my favorite because I enjoy it the most.

It's the most fun. I think, I mean, everybody can sit like on an objective level, the Dark Night is the best, right? Batman begins, probably my favorite. No, Batman McGins is the best to me. Oh, you actually think it's the best? I do, because I think the dark night

it does, it tries too hard to cram in Two-Face and ends up being about 45 minutes too long, and it just feels very forced, and it doesn't really go anywhere. It takes away from the plot, I think. It's really good. It's great, it's great, but I'm nitpicking here in order of like best made to me I go dark

I go one two three in order of preference what I would watch I would go three one two you least like I feel like the dark night has gotten better to me with every view

I love them all I love them all every time they're on I watch them but Batman begins what I love about Batman begins is it just it gets me emotionally invested in the character Bruce Wayne

in a way I'd never been before and you kind of lose that some in the second and third movies because there's more emphasis on the on the villains so but i don't know it still carries over enough from the first movie that uh dark night's probably the best but i like batman begins an awful lot sit adam conley starts steven strasberg ryan merit jordan montgomery today neither blue jays red socks porcelo and hap i will uh i'll uh i'll start porcelo Cashner and Kichel in Tampa.

Keikle. Ooh, that game's on ESPN. That's going to be a bad one to be on ESPN. They're going to be like 30 people there. Oh, Raphael Montero at Homer Bailey. No. Neither. Pirates at Cubs, Nova Kentana.

Definitely Kentana and not Nova. Derek Holland, Jose Burrios. I'll ride Burrios for this. Matchup. Odarezi and Vargas. No thanks. I'm going to pass. Neither are terrible.

Neither are avoid at all costs, but I'm not moved to start either, if I can help it. Are they both below Verlander? Odorizi and Vargas, yeah. Yeah. Ty Block, Travis Wood.

Nope. Junjin Ryu, Robbie Ray. I could do both. I'm a little hesitant with Ryu, but I think I'd do it. Kendall Graveman at Parker Bridwell This is probably the most interesting one It is

It is You know, I might I might actually start both I'm feeling pretty good about it Cool Kendall Graveman at Parker Bridwell A's at Angels And Scott let's read some emails

To finish off the show And here we go We have a bunch of them So let's see if we can go Kind of quickly here For Tim in Chicago Hey Walter Donnie and the dude Big Labowski.

Overrated. 12-team keeper Head-to-Head Categories League. I can only keep two players that I had before the trade deadline. So I have Trey Turner coming off the D.L. Who should I drop?

Witt Merrifield, who I can keep. Domingo Santana, I can keep. Trey Mancini, I can keep. Elvis Andrew. Yes, I can keep him. E. E. E. Horez cannot keep him. So you drop Witt, Domingo, Trey, Elvis, or Euhaneo. He can only keep two players.

players he's saying, so it's not like... Right, so he'll keep Trey Turner. Yeah. I'd drop Santana, Domingo, Santana, and Trey Mancini. I think he only has to drop one. Oh. Well, then I'll drop Domingo Santana.

Okay, this one is from No Name. I forgot his name. Sorry, I didn't put it in the email. How would you rank these closers in a points league rest of year? Viscayano Ziegler, Neris, Parker McGee. Man, it's a shame we don't keep rest of season rankings

for points and Roto Leagues both. I will rank them, hopefully I don't contradict myself, but Viscayino, Parker Ziegler, Neres McGee. Gisguano, Parker,

Ziegler and Eris McGee? Is that we said? Yeah. Okay. And then from George, should I drop Sam Dyson for Blake Parker in a Categories League?

Depends which category you need more of. I mean, Dyson's obviously the safer choice for his category, stolen bases, than Parker is for saves. Wrong. I think he meant Sam Dyson. Oh, that makes more sense. Yes, drop Sam Dyson for Parker, right? Dyson's a safer better for saves than Parker, but, you know, I think if Parker hasn't been picked up yet, then I don't think you need to be so protective of Dyson, so I'll do it. Isaac wants to know if he should drop Tommy Fam or Dexter Fowler.

Fowler. Mike wants to know who you would start. Robbie, I guess he starts, we're a little bit too late on this question. Sorry, because the Phillies already started today. And finally from Charlie D. Oh, no, we have two more. Charlie D. Hey, real quick. Who do I drop with Bellinger returning?

Thames, Duval, Fam, or Hoskins? I think it has to be Fames. It sure does. We actually have two more emails. They just keep on coming. Jason from Ottawa. Pick two closers to drop from this list of five. Brad Hand, Brad Ziegler, Zach Britton, Jake McGee, Blake Parker.

McGee and... I guess Ziegler. Part of me wants to say Britain. I know. I know it does. But I'm going to say Ziegler. McGee and Ziegler. This is Brendan from Toronto.

What do the Diamondbacks do with Archie Bradley next year? He also says, Dear Terry, AJ, and John. They feel like managers. Terry Francona, A.J. Hinch, and John Gibbons? Okay. Oh, so the division leaders in A.O. They're managers. I don't think John.

Oh, John Farrell. There you go. Yeah. Right, right, right. Yeah, sorry. That's who I thought you said, actually, even though it's not what you said. What happens with Archie Bradley next year? It's a great question. I think he should be there closer.

I think that would make a lot of sense. I mean, Fernando Rodney can't keep doing it forever. And we know Bradley can be a dominant reliever. He's proven it this year. I don't think they've abandoned the idea of him starting, and maybe they shun it. It wasn't too long ago. He was the top pitching prospect in baseball.

baseball. And now that he's showing some signs of success in the majors, look, it worked for Danny Duffy. And he's been more valuable in that starting role than as good as he was as a reliever. That, you know, a quality starter is more valuable. So I would guess they try him in the rotation next year, next spring. But it's going to be a crowded rotation. So it wouldn't surprise me if he winds up back in the bullpen. I don't think it'll be to close, though. Oh, it is so obvious to me. Write this down. August 30th, 12.54 p.m. Eastern. It is so obvious to me that the Diamondbacks are going to lose their wild card game on a Fernando Rodney blown save. It's just so obvious to me. It's going to happen. You don't think it'll happen on a Greg Holland blown save?

Did I say the Rockies? No, you said Diamondbacks. Oh. I was just saying. No, I don't. One blowing all the saves these days. I don't, because they have the guts at least to, to remove him if they want.

They won't remove Fernando Rod. And he hasn't deserved it. You know, he's been fine, but it's going to happen. I think Greg Holland will be fine by then for what it's worth. But, okay. I mean, that would be poetic in a way for all the Rodney doubters out there. But for the most part, he's been pretty reliable this season, so we'll see. I trust their closer in a wild card game more than I trust the Twins closer in a wild card game.

Isn't amazing how so many of the teams in the wild card mix in the AL were sellers at the trade deadline. So despite their best efforts, they're competing. Wouldn't it be poetic? The Eagles traded away reliever? Wouldn't it be poetic if the Yankees play the twins in the wildcard game and Jaime Garcia beats the twins to clinch it since they traded him to the Yankees? That'd be a wild scenario if the Yankees have to turn to Jaime Garcia. Yeah, it would be bad. Something's got really wrong.

It would be bad. All right, that's it for me and Scott. We'll talk to you tomorrow, everybody. Thanks a lot for listening. There will not be a show on Monday, by the way, for Labor Day. But we'll be here Thursday and Friday, so we'll see you then.