Fantasy Baseball Today - 08/31: Big News, Big Trade, Week 24 Help (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 31, 2018

Andrew McCutchen to NYY (2:00) and Shohei Ohtani back in the rotation (5:18)! We react to both stories and then give our favorite two-start pitchers for Fantasy Week 24 (7:35) and talk about Lucas Giolioto's awesome start (11:15) ... "Hey, Real Quick" (14:00) with German Marquez, Joey Votto and more. Also, will there be any minor leaguers getting the call next month that can make an impact on your Fantasy team (20:00)? ... Recapping yesterday's action (27:43), looking at the Most Added list (32:00), discussing Rick Porcello (37:05) and a few other SPs before a thorough look at next week's two-start pitchers (49:40) and a preview of today's matchups (53:40) ... 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

We're spending your Kokomo Friday with us, ladies and gentlemen. Getting ready for a holiday weekend. Maybe some of you were going down to Kokomo for Labor Day weekend. That'd be fitting. Yeah. It's a real place, right? I think so. I don't think it's like Narnia.

Okay. Well, that's Scott. I'm Adam. And we have got some big stuff to talk about. First of all, how much the spring training matter? We told you, Lucas Gialito was the big spring training riser. And you didn't listen. And you just left him on waivers and his terrible 8-E-R-A.

And now look who's got the last laugh. Lucas Gialito with a huge start yesterday against the Red Sox. We knew spring training matter for something. Well, it's about time. It only took five months for Gialita to become good. So we got to talk about him. We got a big trade. We got a starting pitcher coming back a lot sooner.

than I anticipated. We got week 23. Scott? It is week 24. 24 help. Yeah. Officially. Yeah. I was, I'm sorry. I was looking up because I felt stupid. There are several Kokomo's. But the one they referred to in the song is not real. Did you know that?

Is that the joke? I do now. Okay. Just as long as I wasn't outside the joke. We could be stupid. stupid together. That is weird that it's not real. Okay, so look, the Yankees acquired Andrew McCutcheon. How about that? Andrew McCutcheon on the Yankees.

Now I have to like Andrew McCutcheon. He is the number 26 outfielder in points, number 36 in Roto this year. 15 homers, 13 steals. More power after the all-star break, but only batting 238. I don't know. The peripherals are good. He should be better than this. Value up down to the same for Andrew McCutcheon.

I think the value is definitely up. And while I feel like, We make too much of deals sometimes and how they could affect player value. I'm not sure this is a small deal. I mean, he's going from one of the worst parks for hitters to one of the best, and that's with him having hit two-thirds of his home runs on the road this year. And last year, too. And I know he wasn't on the Giants last year, but he wasn't in a good park.

But last year, McCutcheon hit 19 of his 28 home runs, I think, on the road. Yeah, yeah, Pittsburgh's another bad hitters park. So, particularly for Rides. Yeah, I mean, now we've talked before on this podcast about how, like, it's his highest hard contact rate ever. He has a really good line drive rate. So his BAPIP and ISO probably should both be higher than they are. Now he's going to a better environment, better supporting cast. I have no doubt he's going to play every day.

This could be, this could really help his value. on the bad end, what I think it probably suggests is that the Yankees aren't confident that they're getting Aaron Judge back, at least not in the regular season. There's only four weeks left, and he's not feeling good enough to swing a bat yet. Well, I don't know. I was sort of just kind of feeling like mid-month. I don't know about the rest of the regular season because you say you're confident he's going to play every day. I'm definitely confident he's going to play every day until Aaron Judge gets back.

When Judge gets back, I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe that's something we just worry about then. It's not like anybody's going up and adding Andrew McCutcheon. You know, you just, you have them. You keep starting them. It should get better production now. I got to figure even if that happens, and again, I don't think it's likely, but if it happens, Brett Gardner would be out. Yeah, I just defense, you know, and they love Brett Gardner. That was my thought as well. We'll see how well he plays. I mean, if Andrew McCutcheon's still hitting like this, then I don't know.

But if he has a little bit of a bump, they're not going to take him out of the lineup. I think this is a big deal. I mean, it's a pretty big trade. And he has another – does he have another year on his deal? No. Is this a free agent? Okay. All right, so we'll see.

I think it's going to let John Carlos Stanton DH, which is a good thing. And I don't know what that means for Neil Walker. I know it's not a huge deal for fantasy owners, but Walker's actually played pretty well lately. and he plays some right field. They have a little bit of a log jam there when Gregorius gets back. So we'll see. But McCutcheon on the move, any impact on the giant side of this? It's not like there's some exciting outfielder waiting in the wings.

Yeah. Stephen Dugger out for the year, by the way. Shohay Otani's not out for the year. I really did not think he was going to make any impact for fantasy as a pitcher. They even said they were hoping for late September, mid to late September. He's starting this weekend. He's starting on Sunday at Houston. Sunday night baseball.

He'll be on a pitch count, so you probably don't want to start him. But Otani has a starting pitcher, 310 ERA, 20 walks to 61 strikeouts in 49 and a third. If you take out the start against the Red Sox when he had that blister, I mean, his numbers would be even better and they're already great. Give me your take on Otani. He was 86%-0. And so, again, you're very rarely, very unlikely to be able to pick him up. Well, you know, people who play on sites where they don't have him as a singular player, they split him up as a pitcher and hitter.

I would guess the pitcher version is available in a lot of leagues. Ownership tends to be lower on other sites just as a whole anyway. I mean, definitely got to pick him up. I mean, he was ace caliber. You said he's starting Sunday? Yeah. Of course he is. Why?

I mean, I know that's not the biggest part of this story, but remember how he got stuck starting Sunday every week. So if something happened to mess up the Angels rotation during the week, you just got no starts out of him. That was the most frustrating part about owning Otani even when he was healthy. But, you know, that's obviously not going to be enough to keep me from picking him up. He has a great start this weekend, then you probably do start him next time out. I'm trying to see. He is 63% owned the pitcher. version in Yahoo League, Shohei Otani is 63% own.

So who would you rather have? Eduardo Rodriguez, who's coming back or Shohei Otani? I would rather have Eduardo Rodriguez. I think he's underrated performance-wise, and I just have more confidence he's going to take a regular turn and pitch a normal workload and all of that. Okay. Yeah, I feel like if I can guarantee you the same amount of innings, you're obviously going to take Otani over Rodriguez, right?

Right. Right. But that's definitely a big factor with Otani. Still, it's pretty cool that he's coming back. And it now becomes a pretty interesting discussion, that rookie of the year in the American League. We'll see how Otani does. So who is your favorite two-star pitcher for Fantasy Week 24 that could be available? Well, let's pull up the list here, Adam, because I don't have a name off the top of my head like I so often do. Yeah, you usually do.

This actually is a segment you usually come prepared for. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm looking at the next here. Come on down, Nick Povetta, at Miami and at the Mets. Yeah, those are two good matchups. He's coming off two not so good starts, but still seems like a pitcher who seems like a good pitcher. Seems like a quality pitcher does all the things that a pitcher needs to do to succeed. And with those matchups, I definitely play. He's 76% owned, so he's not widely available. We talked about Trevor Cahill yesterday and how it's going to be hard to sit him even as bad as the two starts were,

at least in points leagues. Matchups aren't great, but he's 71%-owned. Oh, Tyler Glass Now. Tyler Glass Now, yep, Toronto, Baltimore, he's 63% owned. I would take him over Cahill. I might take him over Povetta. No, not with those matches.

Pettas are too good, but Glassnow's in that same range. All right, that's good. There's a healthy number. of available two-star options this week after two or three weeks where it seemed like there wasn't. There must be a lot of games next week because there are a ton of two-star pitchers.

There are a lot of games on Monday. Every team plays on the holiday. But there are four games on Thursday. Really? Yeah. Wow. I did add Jake Junis in the podcast Points League.

He has the Indians on the road and the twins on the road. Pitching a lot better. It's a scary one. but I'm not sure I'm going to use him But you know what? You don't have to start the guy Sometimes it's good to just pick up

A two-star pitcher To keep him away from your competitors From your opponents Yeah, I I think I'd be about using him in a points league Yeah, I'm probably going to start him I just want to say Is he getting, I know he's not giving up home runs lately

Only two home runs Or three home runs in his last eight starts. Is he getting more ground balls? That's what I want to know. Or is it just fluky? And I can tell you in just one moment. Well, he's a fly ball pitcher.

So I don't know that that's really a measure of success for him. He is getting more swinging strikes. And apparently a problem when he was giving up the home runs is his slider, which is his best pitch. It was just kind of flat. Yeah, Junis is getting more ground balls, but not to the point where it's not such a, such a jump, but he is getting more ground balls lately. Still more fly balls and ground balls, though. Quick programming announcement, and please do not find me and punch me when I tell you what's going to happen. For the month of September, we are going to be a three show per week podcast.

Usually going to be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, not next week. Next week will be Tuesday, and then either Wednesday or Thursday, then Friday. Always a Friday show, always a Monday show except for Labor Day, and probably Wednesday. Apologies for that. It's just September. Each of September. And we're not going to do like some other big baseball podcasts have done.

Oh, no, no, no, no. Definitely not. Go to three days permanent. I mean, obviously in the off season. We've never done every day in the off season. But yeah, we'll be back. So my apologies there. Thursday standouts, Lucas Gialito.

I also picked him up. for his one-start week against the Tigers next week. Six and a third, two hits, one run, two walks, eight strikeouts. And I saw the score, and at the time it was four-nothing white socks over the Red Sox. And I said, oh, who's pitching? Oh, Gialito's pitching. I got to watch this game. I turned it on.

I think he walked a batter or gave up a hit, and they removed him. That was in the top of the seventh inning. So I didn't see that. And then I turned the game off. Then the Red Sox scored every run and beat the crap out of them. But I watched, the only thing I watched Scott was the MLB.com highlight mashup. This guy, Lucas Gialito's changeup is like a video game changeup. It is dancing up there.

It was impressive. He's 46% owned and his start is against the Tigers. Do we need to add Lucas Gialito? I didn't see it in action, but the data backs up what you're saying because, let me see if, okay, so my Waver Wire article isn't up yet this more. it is. No, it is up. So I can pull the exact stat for you. Over his past,

it really changed over his past seven starts where he started throwing a change up a lot more and it got started to get a lot more swinging strikes. Although it took a while for the actual performance to follow that, now in August

he has the 386 ERA 102 whip 9.6 strike up for nine innings obviously the ERA a little high, but the other two numbers really, really good. Yeah, that's interesting. That's very interesting. His start this upcoming week is against the Tigers, which is obviously a really good matchup. And then the week after that's going to be a two-star week for him. So I think you could make the case to pick him up. I'm not calling a must-ad, but obviously there's a lot of potential there, and he may be beginning to tap into it finally. For Gialito, his last 12 starts, he has had three terrible starts, and the other nine were quality starts. So it's like, it's all or nothing, it seems, but I'm telling you, I could not believe.

First of all, I don't remember him throwing a 95 mile per hour fastball when I first saw him. That's another thing I saw. I believe it was Jeff Zimmerman of Fangraphs, kind of compared his mechanics from earlier, his how high he holds his arm from earlier this season to now, and it coincides with a velocity boost. Yeah. So, yeah. Your observations are spot on here.

I hope so, because when you watch the MLB.com highlights, they give you like a two-minute video, all you see are the good things. All you see is basically strike three. But that change-up was unbelievable, was like really looked like a special pitch. So, like Scott said, not a must start,

but Gialito, 46% own. All right, let's get to it here. Hey, real quick, this is a serious question. So don't laugh. Tyler White or Joey Votto in Roto, rest of season. I laugh, sorry. No, you can't laugh. It's a real question.

I mean, I'm taking Votto. But, yeah, like, I hate, like, I hate these kinds of questions that force me to choose against the thing, that it's totally appropriate to be excited. Because now, oh, you don't like Tyler White? No. I'm very, I've been talking up Tyler White back when he was. He was 1% owned, and now he's like 41% owned, but I still think that's too low. I mean, I don't even think Votto is a top 30 first baseman in Roto after the DL stint.

But even before that, he wasn't top 20. Yeah, well, yeah, I can't bet against him that hard. All right, well, Tyler White, homered again, so pick him up, he's 42% owned. Yeah, yeah. This one, I think I know where you're going to go with this one. Hey, real quick, Erman Marquez or Jose Burrios? I understand it September. but even so

Hermann Marquez is 81% owned Did you have, do you still have that Yahoo league up? I'm curious where he is in that Because as I said before, ownership tends to be lower on the other sites. I think that's because Yahoo does more 10-team leagues than we do, that's my guess. Regardless.

He is 89% owned, Hermann Marquez. Good grief. He's so good. He is so, yeah, he's amazing. His last 12 starts, 11 starts, I should say. He made him mechanical tweak and swinging strikes went up. The strikeouts went up. During that stretch, during those last 11 starts, the top starting pitchers in points leagues are Jacob de Grom, Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola.

and Hermann Marquez. Wow. That's the level he's performed. It's seven or more innings in six of his last seven starts. It's been home, it's been away. He's must start. Forget about should he be rostered. I mean, I would, yeah, I would start him over Jose Burrios right now because Burrios,

you know, he has control and a velocity issue in his last start. There may be a valid excuse for it, but still, I feel much. much more confident in Marquez now. I can't imagine sitting Marquez, much less leaving him available in 41% of leagues. All right. Hey, real quick, Johann Camargo or Mike Mustakis? I will take Mike Mustakis. Yeah. Mastakis quietly has actually been very good for the Brewers. And the fantasy points haven't really been there. So I said to myself, is he just not playing

every day? But no, he is playing every day. I don't really understand. Three home runs in his last six games, but in his last six weeks. weeks, only one week of more than 17 fantasy points for Mike Mastakas. I don't know what's happening here. But yeah, Camargo is still worth talking about. He's 52% own. And since the All-Star break, Johann Camargo is batting 317 with five homers and 12 doubles in 38 games. He's got an 868 OPS. Camargo, 52% owned. What do you think? I think Camargo is a useful high floor player at a time of year where it's hard to know who to trust. I kind of had him in Wilmer Flores in that same group,

although now it seems like with Jay Bruce back from the DL and playing first base, Flores isn't an everyday player anymore. So he's out of that mix. But yeah, Camargo's eligible at two positions, and I think a useful fill in more weeks than not. Gonna ask Scott about something that's on everybody's mind.

You know what tomorrow is, Scott? Tomorrow is the start. There was a game last night, but the start of college football. Actually, college football started last week. Did it? Yeah, I didn't know that until I got to the radio show that I do for CBS Sports Radio, Ion Fantasy Football, and the producers were watching college football. But yeah, it started, no, tomorrow's September.

September call-up, Scott. Oh, baseball. Yeah, that thing. I'm going to ask God about September call-ups. Well, I wrote an article about it, Adam. Good, good. So you're all prepared. But first, it's time to talk about Seekek.

It doesn't matter what month you're in. Seekkeek's agent is not going to be filing grievances against the White Sox for not calling it up. Like Elo Jimenez's agent. No, Seekek is awesome. Seek is the best. Seekik is the easiest and smartest way to get tickets to any game, any concert, theater, comedy. and it's all fully guaranteed. There's nothing like being there in person.

I love going to games, man. I can't wait. You know I'm going to go to some Yankees playoff games if there's actually plural playoff games and they're not just one and done. You know I'm going to some college football games. You know I'm going to some concerts. You know I'm using Seek.

Every time I need to go to an event, I've got it on my phone. It is extremely simple to use, and you're going to get the best prices because they search multiple sites. They grade every ticket based on value, and they help you immediately identify the best seats that fit your budget. Listen to the podcast, download the app, and use the promo code, fantasy.

Three things that you must do. Listen to the show, download the app, use the promo code fantasy. You'll get 20 bucks off your first Seekkeek purchase. Again, that code is fantasy. So next time you need to go somewhere, get the Seekek app on your phone and use the code fantasy at checkout for 20 bucks off. Seek, life's an event, and we have the tickets. All right, who's getting called up? So here's my overall spiel on September call-ups.

They are overrated. They are not nearly as exciting as you're making them sound right now, and people often do make them sound. Me, what I do? I think there was a time not too long ago when teams often introduced their best prospects this way. I know Freddie Freeman was introduced as a September call-up. technically speaking, Victor Robles and Francisco Mejia were last year,

but it was bit roles for a contender. And obviously, it was obvious even at the time that they weren't going to make a big fantasy impact. Most of the September call-ups are either going to be like organizational depths types, relief help, or they're going to be players we've already seen and had a chance to get excited about this year. So the ones who I feel like have the best chance of impacting fantasy, and I don't feel great about any of them. But I have five. Austin Meadows, who has been better in the Ray system than he ever was in the pirate system,

and obviously looked pretty good when he got a chance to fill in for Starling Marte, I think it was earlier this year. Yeah, for a while he did, and then he stopped. Yeah. Yeah. Even he though, like it's not clear there's a job, there's an opening for him. Like it would probably come at the expense of Jake Bowers. Alex Smith is coming off the deal soon.

But there's the least a chance for Meadows. Kristen Stewart, who's a guy we haven't seen before, Tiger's beat writer seemed to be indicating that he will, for sure, be a September call-up. And the Tigers obviously don't have anybody getting their lineup. So you got to think he'd play a lot. Good power hitter who can take a walk. Where's the eligible? outfield

outfield kind of a poor man's Carlos Santana is what I feel like he's going to be in a best case scenario I mean he could conclude What's his name? Kristen Stewart From Swilight? Wow, all right

Yeah Team Edward by the way Go ahead Spelled differently For what it's worth Yeah, whatever Francisco Mahia I think we'll see him

For a second straight September And possibly playing a lot For the Padres They're going to want to evaluate a peeking catch If he can hit in the majors, which he hasn't gotten the abats to do. I could see him, especially for being a catcher. I could see him making an honest impact in fantasy.

The Braves duo of Tucci Toussaint, Bryce Wilson. I think they'll each make a spot started to in September to help preserve the rest of the rotation. And then Josh James, who I mentioned on yesterday's show, he's officially in our site is Joshua James, but more concerned. commonly known as Josh James at the Astros' best strikeout rate in baseball among pitchers with, I think, like, 15 starts. Fastball pushes triple digits. It's 25 years old, so I don't know why the Astros want to start enjoying his work in the majors, especially since they have a couple of rotation openings. But we'll see. It's hardly a foregone conclusion he's up at all.

There you go. You can check out the article. If you missed anything, those are your potential September call-ups. So what about Eloy Jimenez and Vladimir Guerrero? also in there. I had three categories. One was ready to play and play often, which I just gave you. There's also, maybe they will, but will it matter. And then there's don't count on it. And Vladimir Guerrero and Aloi Jimenez are both in the don't count on it group. Because, and this gets back to what I was saying at the beginning of this segment,

financially it just makes more sense to call a pro, if it just, if it just, if it just, Your top prospects who you expect once they reach the majors, they're going to stay there forevermore. It makes more sense to call them up either before September and enjoy more of that first partial year of team control, that first extra year of team control, you know, from like the summer on, or to wait until the middle of next April and get close to a very full, close to a complete season free and extra from the six that is guaranteed. to every player. And if you do in September, you're just robbing games from that, how early you can call them up next year. And that doesn't make sense, I think, in either the case of Guerrero or Loy Jimenez. And obviously, since those teams aren't competing for anything,

we haven't seen them yet. I think if we haven't seen them yet, we're not going to see them at all. News and notes, Gary Sanchez could be back on Saturday. Joey Vado is back. David Price may be able to avoid the DL. Eddie Rosario left with a quad strain. Jason Hayward left after diving for a ball, and Hayward's going to miss a few games, at least. A. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. Hsuarez sat with back spasms.

Matt Shoemaker could join the Angels rotation next week. I'm guessing you have very little interest in Matt Shoemaker. Very little. He's been relevant in fantasy at times, but he has a lot to prove. We've got Chris Bryant, likely back this weekend. Dee Gordon's got to be shortstop eligible now, right? Did he get it yesterday? I think Dee Gordon got the shortstop eligibility. I will confirm. Corey Klooper shaved his beard. Yes, Steve Gordon is now second base outfield and shortstop eligible.

Corey Klober shaved his beard. His wife had a bet with him that he could go the entire season without shaving. His wife probably got sick of it. And now Corey Kluber has shaved his beard. And the Brewer sent Freddie Peralta to the minors. Of course, September is tomorrow? So is Peralta going to come back up? And is he going to be a two-star pitcher because he's currently listed as one?

Those are good questions. Those are good questions. I don't know what the rule is how long you have to stay down there when September comes around. Yeah, I don't, I was reading up on the rules when I was writing that article, and I feel like, you know, that wasn't something I was fixating on, but I feel like that doesn't apply anymore. So I'll have to look into it more.

Okay. So Freddie Peralta, I mean, you may not want to use them anyway. He's got the Cubs and the Giants at home, but he's currently listed as a two-star pitcher. He was sent to the minors. Fun stats for you. John Carlos Stanton became a. the fifth fastest player to 300 homers. The Cardinals have won 10 straight series.

The Brewers have homered in 22 straight games at Great American Ballpark. That's the longest streak for any team in that ballpark, including the Reds, who play their home games there. And this one is amazing. Joe Musgrove threw 21 consecutive strikes to start the game yesterday. That is the most since pitch tracking began in 19. Which made me think why only 1988? And secondly, like, throw some balls, I guess, because Musgrove had a bad start. 21 in a row.

21 consecutive strikes, wow. He did have his most swinging strikes of the season, though. Well, when you throw a lot of strikes, some of them are going to get swung and missed, right? On the topic of, on the subject of Freddie Peralta, Zach Davies is supposed to start Monday. So it's only a six-game week for the Brewers. if nothing else we know Peralta won't be making two starts. Yeah, the only, unless they remove Junior Garrow, which I think had been something of a rumor.

Well, it won't matter because Davy's taking the Monday turn. You're right. You're right. Redemption. Yesterday, a couple pitchers got some redemption. Andrew Heaney and Robbie Ray. I don't know. I guess it was redemption.

Well, certainly for Heaney. For Ray, he basically, you know, he had a good start, but he's got now six straight non-quality starts. He never gives up. He never goes six innings. Who do you want to roster? One, both, none, Andrew Heaney, Robbie Ray. I'm not to rather roster Heaney,

which isn't to say he's without his concerns, but it's really just innings for me. He hardly threw any of the past two seasons because he was recovering from injury. He had a bumpy August, but he pitched at least five innings in every one of those starts. Like he didn't have a disastrous start, you know?

So it was surprising to me that he was dropped in so many leagues. His ownership was down like 10% from a couple weeks ago. He needs 73% own. He's out there. Yep. Yep. He should be most. The problem is he's pretty close to must start, frankly.

I don't know if I agree, Scott. He's had a lot of bad starts lately. Bad but not like, you know, not like disaster starts, like I'm saying, right? Like you go five innings, you give up five runs. That's not a good start. That's obviously raising your ERA. That's terrible. That is a terrible start.

Oh, but if you're going to go by that, I mean, you can get positive point production from almost anyone. You can, but a lot of pitchers are going to have disaster starts that give you negative point production along the way. So I'm saying if that's the floor for a heaney start, that's a pretty high floor. I just see a pitcher who could be running out of gas. And I'm afraid of him being terrible, and he's at Texas next week, and he just was terrible at Texas. What was the line? That was the most recent start, which was the worst. We gave up, like, double-digit hits.

Five and a third, ten hits, six runs, two walks, five strikeouts. That was three starts ago for him. Yeah. Well, I will say the control's still really good. The swinging strike rate has stayed steady. I am worried about the innings, but I don't think it's clear to me that his rough patch in August

is directly related to that based on some of the supporting numbers. It's not clear. It's a theory. But, I mean, he just had a really good start against the healthy Astros. I know, but he just had a terrible start against the Astros before that.

Sure. So it's terrible's overstating. A terrible start to me is like three and two-thirds innings, six earn runs. You know, like that's a terrible start. He didn't have a very good start. I mean, okay, a terrible start to me is a 150 whip and five run runs in six innings. That's a terrible start.

I mean, obviously that if that was a pitcher's season line, he'd be a terrible picture. But if you're just, if you're just isolating a single start, it could get a lot more. I understand that, but it is three out of five where he's giving up five or six runs. So I don't think it's a single start. Like, I get what you're saying. You know, five and a third, six runs were just one star to be one thing. You make good points.

To be honest, I think we both make good points on Heaney. And you at home can choose. At Texas next week, he's 73% owned. Robbie Ray is more interesting to me. San Diego next week. Start him? I'd... Okay, if we're just comparing him and Heaney for next week,

he's at Texas, which is a rough place to pitch. San Diego, obviously, favorable match. I guess I would probably I would rather start Ray given those circumstances but I have a lot less confidence in him going forward. So the next category is called Wade a minute, W-A-D-E-E-A-M-M-A-M-Mint. Wade LeBlanc and Wade Miley were both really good yesterday. Do you want to start either of them next week? Wade LeBlanc has Baltimore at home, which is nice. Wade Miley has the Cubs at home, which is naughty. I don't want to start either of them.

They've been better than people would expect. They've been better than they probably should be. I know Miley's ERA is really low, but the FIPP is close to four. Yeah, Miley. I had the right way there, Miley. Wait a minute. All right then, let's move on to the most added players in CBSForts.com leagues. John Gant is number one.

Gant is a two-star pitcher who has pitched pretty well lately at Washington and at Detroit next week. And you know what? That is actually a good one. I didn't know he was a two-star pitcher. I thought he was a one-star pitcher. So how about that? John Gantt. I'm not sure why he is a two-star pitcher. I did the math this morning.

They don't have a four-man rotation, do they? They do not. But there's... Let's see. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. He's starting Tuesday. It's a... Huh?

Yeah, it's a six-game week for them. Maybe they do right now, actually, is, yeah, because Ponce de Leon is still in the minors, right? I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I wouldn't be 100% certain about John Gant making two starts next week. So I guess the question is, he has pitched well lately. Would you start John Gant if he only had one start at Washington? I wouldn't.

I wouldn't do that. they're supposed to be doing a bullpen game Saturday so they don't have a fifth starter right now and it seems like they're going out of their way to avoid having one. I think the chances are pretty good, Gant's a two-star pitcher, but yeah, it's not certain. But if they're doing a bullpen game,

then they are basically using that as a fifth starter. I guess they'd have to do that again next week. No, they wouldn't have to next week because of the off day on Thursday. Right, to bump Gant out of the first. that second start, I mean they'd have to do that again. Okay, okay, fine. So let's consider him a two-star pitcher.

Also on the most added list. Sam Gavillo. Oh, you know what? I'm sorry, I'm looking at only free agents. Now we got it, the most added real list. Tyler White is one. Kansas Morales is two. We talked about them yesterday.

Jeremy Jeffers is three. Josh Hader got a save yesterday, but Jeffers had to be unavailable. He threw two innings the day before. Marwin Gonzalez is up to 85% owned. John Gantt. There he is, number five. Sam Gavillo, number six. Is Gavillo a two-star pitcher?

He was supposed to be this past week. So that may just be carryover addition from that. Yeah, you don't need to own him. When we talk about the Cardinals in a bullpen game, it's worth bringing up that Luke Weaver and Tyson Ross are both in their bullpen right now. So it'd be very easy to just say this guy's a starter now. Sure.

So maybe we don't say Gantz a two-star pitcher. I don't know. It seems like there's too good if a chance he won't be to take that stab at him. Right. Like we'd rather have Tyler Glass now. Definitely. Okay. Back to the most saddalyst.

Greg Allen for some steals. He's 21% owned. Trevor Williams is interesting. He's two starts. We don't really buy it. We don't know how he's doing it. Luke Voigt is up to 11% owned, and he homered yesterday. That's pretty much all he does, but he batted clean up for the Yankees.

321, 5 homers now when Gregorius and Sanchez are back, Voight's not going to back cleanup. But he could bat at 6th or so, although now they have McCutcheon, so now I got him 7th. He keeps moving down. Yeah, what do you think about Luke Void, 11% owned? I think he could be a pretty good hitter. He has been the past couple years in the minors. There's the Greg Bird interference. I don't imagine he's just never going to start at all.

Right. So it seems like it's limited to deeper leagues. And if we're thinking, because I've had this question a few times, and I've wondered it myself, what are the chances Luke Voight is the Yankees' first baseman going into next year? I think that's pretty close to Slimton on. I mean, they have so many resources to upgrade. and it would just seem like an easy upgrade to bring in whoever, you know. I doubt they're going to go with Cardinals to cast off as their, you know, long-term first baseman.

But we'll see. I guess it's possible. Okay, for now, it's probably better in a daily league because Voigt's unlikely to be an everyday player. That's our interpretation of it right now. That's going to do it for the most added list. Just want to also mention Luis Erez is still on there. He's only 23% own, and he stole the base yesterday. What kind of stolen base potential does Luis Arias' Padres' second baseman have? Also, shortstop eligible and will be second base eligible shortly.

I don't think he ever had double-digit steals in the minor. Certainly not counting on him for that, although the fact he stole one in his third game. Does raise an eye, bro. All right then. Just real quick, Scott. I'm going to look at the rotation from yesterday. Bad starts for... Hap and Porcelo.

Do you trust Hap at Oakland? Do you trust Porcelo at Atlanta next week? Yes to both. Okay. And Fultenevich has two starts, Boston and Arizona. Can start him? I will start him. Yeah.

For Hap and Fultenevich, that was isolated incident. For Purcello, it's been a bumpy ride lately, but three bad starts out of five, but the two good stars were. among his best starts of the season. And, you know, it's not like he's had trouble missing bats during the stretch. I think it's just, I think it's just one of those things for Purcello.

What do you think about Joe Musgrove of 62% O and one start against Cincinnati next week? I don't think he's a bad option. He's given up some runs recently, but pitches deep into games. Early on, when he was having success, he was hardly missing any bets. and now he's missing a lot. So I think there's potential, and obviously that's a good matchup. Bullpen, Delam Betancis, I cannot believe what happened last night. He gave up two home runs for the first time in his career.

He gave up three runs. I'll get the exact stat. He did this against the Tigers. It came on in the same situation. I think he had given up two or three runs over his previous 35 outings. Yeah, he had allowed two runs in 30. five appearances, and then he gave up three yesterday. But they were

using him as the closer, and they said they're going to play matchups, but Britain pitched the 8th, Robertson the 7th, and Batances. Yeah, I don't have, like, I haven't seen the stats on this, but it certainly seems like whenever Batances gets the chance to close, he becomes

an inferior pitcher. And it happens. Yeah, in the past, in the past filling in for Chapman and Robertson himself before that he's he's had extended stretches and it's been a bumpy ride from what I remember

I don't know I don't even know if I could look up how yeah I can okay I'll do it right now look at I'll just look at as a closer versus not as a close situation um would that only count the ninth inning or would it count all hold situations too because the whole situation is a save situation until the pitcher is removed. I don't think so. You know what? I'm not sure I'm not sure I'm able to find it. It says in save situations he has a 0.49 ERA in his career and a non-saves 197.

I can't I can't imagine that's right. Yeah, because 49. Because does he, what's his career ERA? I don't know. Bottom line is that was stunning. They used, they used, no, those stats are not right. Robertson. I mean, Robertson is a very established closer and nearly has dominant as Patensis. No, nobody has been. Betancis for the last 35 games before yesterday, he gave up like 10 hits. He was unbelievable. I don't know that they go away from him. I don't think they're going to lose faith in him or anything like that. But it's not a certainty that anyone there is the closer.

Brad Hand got the save. I think it's more of a certainty that Hand gets the next save than Batances. Agreed? For the Indians and Yanke's respect. Yes, I would say that's more of a certainty. Let me see if I could find examples of what I'm talking about. Pedro Strope got a save, his first save in his last six appearances, and Josh Hader got a save as we mentioned.

All right, I want to read a ton of emails, then go through two-star pitchers. Because people got their questions, so here we go. Chase in Queens says, hey, Adrian, Cody, Steve and Gill. Adrian, Cody, Steve, and Gill. who those are. Are those Rangers third baseman?

Steve Bouchel Benji Gilnaut. No, I don't think that's it. I don't know what... Dodgers first basement maybe? Gonzalez, Bellinger. I have no idea. Okay.

Question is, I have Eduardo Rodriguez and James Paxon. A, do I start them both right away? Paxton, yes. Uh, Eduardo Rodriguez, it's a longer layoff for him. I'd prefer to give him a start to prove himself. Steve is Steve Garvey, by the way.

Okay, so does Dodgers first baseman? Uh, yeah, and Gil Hodges. Okay, there we go. And who do I drop to make room for Rodriguez and Paxton? Pick one, he gets the only has to pick one. Heaney, Musgrove, Gibson, Ryu, Roark, or Luis Castillo? I think Riu. This is from...

Oh, really? Really? Interesting. All right, Riu. This is from Rob in East Brunswick, New Jersey. Hey, Dave, Conan, and Seth. Is that Letterman O'Brien and Myers? Yeah, I think so.

Kind of... Kind of been... Yeah, weird. Why those three among the late-night pose? Oh, because late-night Scott White. I have James Paxson coming off the D.L. I have to drop someone. Do I drop Kopec, Luis Castillo, or Danny Duffy?

I would drop Duffy. Hey, Alfonso, Will, James, and DJ. Fresh Prince. Oh, okay. Pretty sure. Yeah, I think you're right. Okay. Player 1 versus player 2.

You ready? The question I think is who gets drafted first next year, and who would you keep in a keeper league? Player 1, 246, 14 homers, 59 RBIs. Player 2, 279, 23 points better, or 33 points better. 21 homers, seven more homers, and 60 RBIs, basically the same amount of RBIs. Three more steals than player one. Player 2 has been better than player one.

You see the stats there. Who goes first? Oh, Player 1 is 23 years old, player 2 is 21 years old. Both play the same position in fantasy. It would depend what their names are, I think. Player one is Carlos Correa, who is batting 246 with 14 homers and 59 RBIs. Player two is Glaber Torres, who is batting 279 with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs. It's, yeah.

I mean, obviously you knew there had to be some kind of trick going on here. Trickery. No, I mean, Carlos Correa is much more established and has been higher-end at his best. So it's still going to be Correa. This might just be. might go down as kind of a lost season for him from Andrew Jay Happer Mike Clevenger down the stretch

Clevenger is a borderline ace I feel like the last person I said that about was Jose Burrios and it's gone fairly poorly for him since then but man I think Clevenger doesn't get enough credit for how good he is Mark from Switzerland I have Jan Goams Danny Jansen and Taylor Ward Who do I drop Ward or Goams

Wait why are you keeping Danny Janssen drop Danny Jansen right you know gomes was actually an all-star this year you know that no he was an all-star um chance let's see how much Jansett has been playing recently I mean I think Gomes has the least upside of the three but he might be the most usable right now there's also jansen would be my preference to drop there's also keeper consideration so he could keep jansen I guess he's thinking about keeping Taylor but I don't think Taylor Ward is going to be Catcher eligible next year.

He's not. No. At least not on our side. I don't know. I don't know about all those other sites, eligibility rules. Is Danny Jansen like a good late round keeper? Um, I don't know.

I mean, not in like a 12-team mixed league. Good, then drop them. Elliot and Berkeley is in an eight-team Roto League. What's the question? Rank the following for 2019. Rosario, Hicks, Palanco, O'Donko. Dore and Shaw. Rosario Hicks, Polanco, Odor, and Shaw.

Roto. For 2019, I will go Rosario, Shaw, Um, Odor, Polanco Hicks. I mean, Hicks would probably be second if it was a points league. But I'm going to put them last to this group for Roto. This is from Jason and Toronto.

Dear Tatum, Bateman, and me. Jason? Yeah, they're Jasons. Yeah. Looking to stash a prospect for 2019 in a 13-team Keeper League, who are some 2019 prospects to stash? The next potential Acuna, Soto, Kopec, etc.

And Vlad and Eloy and obvious guys are already stashed. There's Joe Adele of the Angels, who's like 20 years old, I think, in his surge through the system. He may be too obvious. I don't know. I mean, he's not as obvious as Vlad and Iuloi, but he'll be pretty high.

the rankings next year. Brent Honeywell, probably going to be the top rank pitching prospect if Kopec uses up his eligibility. The final month, I guess Kopeck probably won't, but Honeywell will be the best we haven't seen yet. Coming back from

Tommy John's surgery. Let me think here. Who else is that high end? Oh, the Rangers, the Mets first baseman, Peter Alonzo, big power source. So he'd be up there too. All right.

A few more here. Then we'll do two-star pitchers. Pat and Boston. What are the nine ways you can reach first base? The nine ways you can reach first base? Get a hit. That's like a single, a walk, hit by pitch, a wild pitch on the third strike,

can you reach first? The fielder's choice. What? Fielder's choice. Is that, okay. Error. No, no, no. That's a different one.

Fielder's Choice error, wild pitch. How many are we up to? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. We have single walk, hit batsman, fielders choice, error, wild pitch. Intentional walk? Is that that different? I'll put that down.

I wouldn't count it as different, but maybe. I'll put it down. Huh. Nine ways you could reach first base. I had the guy email me the answer for when we get... For when we get... And you got fielder's choice already?

Yeah, fielder's choice, I said. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Now we're never going to get this. All right, single, walk, fielder's choice, hit by pitch, fielding error, drop third strike, got those. Catchers interference, fielders interference, obstruction, and a batted ball hits another runner before a fielder touches it. Okay.

Fun. Fun question. Thank you, Patrick. Matt from Ottawa has Devers coming back soon. Who would you drop to make room for him? Canoe, Wendell, Lorda Scuriel, or Yoam Moncada? I would drop to make room for Raphael Devers. I would drop probably Wendell.

And finally, what happened to Trevor Cahill? Should I drop Cahill for Beaks, Junis, Beaver, or Gialito? Beek's, Junis, Beaver, Geelito. You should drop him for Beaver or Geelito or Junis. Beaver would be my first choice. Scott, let's look at two-star pitchers. Here we go. All righty.

Big week of two-star pitchers, Scher, DeGrom, Clevenger. Madison Bumgarner, at Colorado and at Milwaukee. Start or sit? You are going to start Madison Bumgarner. Okay. Kikel, Minnesota, and at Boston. Start. How about Arellia at Miami and at the Mets?

Yeah, we're starting him. You might not start Kikele in a categories league, like a head-to-head categories league. Because he's not a big strikeout pitcher. Yeah, and he's starting Boston. He might not. But he's pretty good. This is an interesting one. Alex Wood, home against the Mets at the Rockies.

Yeah. Yeah. He's coming off a good start. and has been pretty reliable. Definitely points league you start on. I'd have some hesitations in categories. For Alex Wood. All right.

Sean Newcomb, Boston and at Arizona. That might just be a flat no for me. Sabathia, at Oakland, at Seattle. That's a yes. Trevor Williams. In categories. Trevor Williams, Cincinnati and Miami. It's fine.

If you need a two-star sleep, you're like, oh, 74% owned, gosh. Yeah, you're, you're, probably starting him in points, but I wouldn't start him in categories. I don't think, unless I was, you know, really doing everything I could to make up ground and strikeouts and wins. All right, Trevor Williams. And Gio Gonzalez, St. Louis in Chicago. No, no, no, no, no. Nick Povetta. 80% owned Geo Gonzalez. I know, I know. Nick Povetta at Miami at the Mets. We already talked

about that. That one's not bad. Cahill, Amazing at Home. Got the Yankees and the Rangers at home. I might keep them around in a points league, though I wouldn't feel great about it. No chance I start him in categories. Freddie Peralta, if he gets those two starts, Cubs and Giants. He's not going to get the two starts. And then who's worth adding? Tyler Glass now, Joey Lucasey, Matt Harvey, Michael Fulmer.

I'm not going anywhere near Harvey. We talked about Junis and... I did not say him yet. We are not there yet. We are at Glassnow, Lucchese, and Fulmer. Okay. Fulmer and Lucchese, I think, are both usable. Fulmer's last start was pretty bad.

But, you know, if he'd never gone on the DL, he'd still be universally owned probably and thought to be automatic in a two-star week. So he's pretty good. And Glassnow is, yes, we like Glassnow a lot. Yeah, Glassnow, sorry. Yeah, I thought that was obvious. I thought we covered him already.

When was the last time he pitched? I'm very confused. Tyler Glassnow, he hasn't pitched since the 23rd. No, he's not going to be a two-star pitcher. And that really pisses me off. I'm sorry for this bad advice. He's pitching today. So Tyler Glassnow is not going to be a two-star pitcher next week.

The raise, come on, raise. Yeah, I apologize. Another reason why we don't want every team going with this opener. That's why, you know, that stinks. Chaos. I gave that so much enthusiasm at the top of the show, and I'm sorry. Joey Lucchese, Harvey, former, okay, whatever. John Gant, who maybe will make that star, Rinaldo Lopez, Jake Junis.

Yeah, Junis is the best. and the only one I think I'd consider picking up. And then is there anyone else in these deeper leagues, 20% owner less? I would say no. Yeah, me too. Well, then let's have a look at tonight's matchups. Yolese Chasina Roark. I'm good with Roark.

Chasin, you know, maybe. It's a maybe for me. Jose Cantana at Nick Povetta. Probably not. Probably not, unless you're looking to make up ground and strikeouts you start Pabetta. Jordan Zimmerman at Luis Severino. Okay, that's easy. Aaron Sanchez at Dan Straeli.

Neither. Tyler Glassnow at Corey Klobber. You could do both. You could do both, certainly Klobler. James and Tyone at Annabal Sanchez. I'd go both. Stephen Gonzalez at Drew Hutchison. I'd go neither.

Jaime Baria at Fronmel. A Frumber. Neither. Frumber Valdez. Neither. Nate Avaldi at Michael Copac. Joe. Wait a second.

Red Sox. Hmm. I think I'll pass on Copac. Unless it's like Povetta and you really want to make up ground and strikeouts. Yeah. All right. I think he's going to be okay, but I'm not confident enough in it. What about Avaldi?

No. Homer Bailey. You want a matchup, just too unreliable. Homer Bailey at Austin Gomber. disaster starts are what Avaldi's been contributing, by the way. Who's Gomber facing? Homer Bailey. Reds.

That's a sleeper. I mean. Gomber. Yeah. Definitely not Bailey. Andrew Cashner at Brad Keller. I would go neither. Mike Leak at Mike Fires.

I'm struggling with Mike Leak. Awful start last time out. It was great before that. Pitchers Park, but Oakland's really. really good. Leak it fires. Yeah, I understand that struggle. I'd lean yes on both. Granky at Ryu.

Definitely Granky. Riu? Yeah, I want to mind starting Rieu. Sanzatella at Brett Kennedy. No. Zach Wheeler at Andrew Suarez. Just Wheeler. That's it for the show.

That's it for the weekend. And we'll come back on Tuesday. with another podcast. Everybody, have a great Coca-mo Friday. Enjoy Labor Day. Have fun. We'll talk to you on Tuesday.