Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/01 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Trades! Slumping Hitters & Week 23 Help

Episode Date: September 1, 2017

Scott White is not cranky today despite a late night writing about trades! Get his thoughts on Justin Verlander (2:20), Justin Upton (6:20) and everyone else who is on the move ... Kendrys Morales homered three times, does it matter (14:20)? We also talk STL bullpen (15:26) and players we are ready to add like Greg Bird (17:35). Plus a look at the Most Added list (23:16) and whether you should start or sit some slumping sluggers next week (29:15) ... Two-start pitchers for Week 23 (37:20). How many can you actually trust to make two starts? ... Your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Domingo We've got a three-day weekend coming up, but before we get to that, we've got to help you set your line up for Fantasy Week 23. Scott White is here. Yes, I am. Do you do that crazy thing with the mixer and his voice? We'll see.

Do you want me to? Not yet. I'll cue you up. I've got to surprise you with it. It works best when there's the element of surprise. I guess so. It is Friday, and it is September, Scott. I'm calling you up.

You're a September call-up. Welcome. I feel like I've been here all along. I feel very comfortable in my surroundings. Well, that's sure. That is true. I have nothing witty to say to that. I do need to make an announcement, though, to our listeners.

You need to understand I'm in bad shape right now. I had an event in Philly yesterday for Fantasy Football. We did a live podcast in front of a live studio audience, and it was really awesome. We had a lot of fun. But I got home really late, and I haven't had as much prep time as I'd like for the podcast. I think it will be fine. We're going to do a shorter show today anyway, and we're going to talk about all those trades. But Scott's going to be the star of today's show.

I hope you're ready for that. Responsibility, Scott. I'm ready, Adam. I was not prepared for that. All right. So Verlander got traded. Cameron Mabin got claimed. Brandon Phillips got traded.

Justin Upton got traded. Even a guy who's got a 311 ERA since the All-Star break and basically gives you a quality He started every time out. He got traded. So we'll talk about all of that. We'd like to tell you all, though, about ZipRecruiter. You know you need to get on ZipRecruiter. If you are hiring with ZipRecruiter.com, you can post your job to 100 plus job sites,

including social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, all with a single click. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. All right, here we go. Trades, trades, Trades, Houston Acquired, Justin Verlander. I did not know about this until this morning. I wish I didn't know about it until this morning, Adam. Why?

I think we're both in bad shape today because this happened at the stroke of midnight. Oh, it did? Yeah. Wow. John Heyman says it happened a minute before it was completed. And obviously there was a deadline at midnight for players to be traded and still be eligible for the postseason with their new team. So it didn't look like it was going to happen. and then suddenly it did happen, and Justin Verlander is an astro now,

which is great news for him, I mean. Is it? So, so. Big flyball pitcher, big flyball pitcher in that little park? Yeah. It's actually, Houston's actually not as favorable of the hitter's park as you'd think. What? How is that possible?

That park, there's like 250 feet to left field. Yeah. Slight exaggeration. It's not, it's not as acceptable. stream is, you know, like the Colorado's in Arizona's of the world. Detroit's a really good pitchers park. I mean, I'm just going to say, this reminds me a little bit of

David Price going to Toronto, and he had terrible numbers in the Rogers Center in his career, and he was completely fine. And Chris Sale going to Fenway, and I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, Verlander seems to be on the right track. Just like, you know, it was funny. I was writing this up at, you know, one in the morning, and explaining Justin Verlander's turnaround.

and pointing to the fact that in his first 16 starts he had like a 440 something like that ERA and then I was describing how last season played out for him last season when he he should have been the A.L. Sy Young Act was runner up. It was runner up to Rick Forcello but I think he was legitimately the A.L's best pitcher last year. Britain. First 16 starts, same number last year. He had a 433 ERA. So it's been a comparable turnaround for Verlander. A guy who even when he was struggling was still topping out at 98 every start, if not

higher. So the stuff was always good. He talked about how how he realized, he actually kind of blamed it on the seams of the baseball, how the baseballs are different, or at least suggested that might be the issue.

His slider was much harder, early in the year. It was a low 90 slider and not getting enough movement to differentiate from the fastball. So he started taking some off of it, started forcing the movement a little more, and it's been his best pitch since.

The data backs up what he's saying, and I buy the turnaround, and I think the Astros are going to be very happy with this pickup. It's really interesting. It's really interesting. And first of all, getting a trade deadline, the August trade deadline, with up-finnors, and Verlander and Phillips and Maven and Leonis Marti...

I mean, I know that the names aren't as big after the top two, but this is really unique and very fun. And Verlander... I don't know that I like the idea of two trade deadlines, but I guess for the baseball fan, it was fun. I guess I'm still that. I'm not just a guy who's cranky because he was up until three last night. Oh, right.

We have a Twitter poll in our podcast for the People League, posted by Ryan. One last poll for the season. Is Scott White cranky today after what must have been a sleep-deprived night? One, yes, a pregnant wife, a toddler, and lots of trade, of course he is. Or two, no way he's running on pure adrenaline and peeps. It's like a window into my soul. Well, no, I think you're pretty good right now.

So, all right, last thing on Verlander, I don't even know how many home starts he's going to make. His next two starts are both going to be in good venues. They're either going to be at Seattle and at Oakland or at the Angels, a combination of those three. But the Angels got Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips. Upton's been much better at home this year, but that's mostly been batting average.

And Cameron Maven is now off the Angels and on to Houston. So this outfielder roulette, tell me about it. Well, Maven's done. I mean, the Astros have... Marwan Gonzalez is already going to have to move to the Alps. feel with Carlos Correa coming off the DL. Jake Mariznick's had a good year and he's forth

in line there. It was a straight waiver claim for Mavon, so it's possible the Astros were just trying to block a rival from being able to trade for him. I don't expect him to play a lot. Of course he can run when the little bit he does play.

Upton, you know, I see it as a lateral move. Like, the parks are similar. Angels is a little worse, I guess, but not enough for me to really think it's going to matter. I think Upton has overachieved to this point. He has a 351 Babbup on the year, despite very similar batted ball data to previous seasons. 351 is, you know, that's versus like about 300 last year when he hit 240 something.

So, you know, I don't think he's really as good as he's been. so far, which is about a top 10 outfielder in fantasy, but he's going to be must start still to close out the season. And, you know, if he bats directly in front of or more likely directly behind Mike Trout, that's going to help make the slide not as extreme, probably. Well, what about Brandon Phillips? Does he... Phillips right now is... He's going to play every day. He's okay. He's batting 291 with 10 steals and 120 games, 11 home runs. He's nothing special. But Brandon Phillips now, AL-only owners obviously have to be excited about this. And I guess it means an extended look for Johann Camargo in Atlanta, though we've never been excited about him on this podcast. And that doesn't

really change for me. He was hot for a while there, but I've been on the DL the last couple weeks and was cold before then. So I don't think there's much to like there in Camargo. I do want to go back to the Astros rotation picture for a second because... Oh no! Brad Peacock? Well, Lance McCullors was already set to come off the DL Wednesday before this Verlander trade went down, so they were already going to be a man up, and now they got Verlander.

I assume Mike Fires is out for sure, so we can forget about him. But even then, you're looking at six pitchers. The Astros do have a double-header, next Saturday, so not this upcoming Saturday, but next Saturday. I think that's going to allow them to stick six men for a while. I don't know if they're going to do that rest of season. You know, the way some of the

national riders were talking about the Astros, when they were talking about how good the Astros rotation was now, they kept including Peacock as the fourth guy. And so I'm just going to guess the Astros are valuing him the same way, and more likely it would be Morton, Charlie Morton, or Colin McHugh that's out. But there's a chance it's none of them, and they just stick six-man for this final month.

And that would mean fewer two starts for all of them, two-star weeks. But, you know, we're looking at four weeks left anyway. Sure. So, yeah, that's interesting. I didn't think about that angle to it. Who's going to win the American League? Who's going to win the American League? Uh-huh.

The Astros. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't. I was a little concerned about the way Keichel and McCullors have been, you know, the health issues they've had in the second half, and if they'd really be so available to them in the playoffs or full strength anyway. But getting a true ace like Burlander, and I think he's back to being a true ace.

I moved him up from about 19th in my rankings to 11th with this trade. And maybe it was overdue to move him up a little from 19th anyway. But, you know, they have a true ace like that, and they still have Kichel and the colors and peacock. I mean, and then you get to the lineup where it's like... I'll tell you what, though, man. The Red So yesterday they got beat by Sabathia, and I saw a stat. They hit a lot better against righties and lefties. They're not so good, Boston against lefties.

And you think about... First of all, obviously, whoever wins the wild card game in the American League has no chance. No chance. Those three division winners are so much better than the wild card teams. I feel like the Yankees have a chance at it. I feel like the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs. Their schedule is pretty tough comparatively to the twins. Like the twins are a game back of the Yankees,

and they've got the cake schedule the rest of the season. It's crazy. I guess the Yankees probably are still in good shape to get the second wildcard spot, if not the first. And look, they have a strong one, two, three in their rotation. They have the best bullpen of any of the teams. They're not as good. But Indians just came in and swept them, you know. But they play the Red Sox, well, I will say that.

Man, I don't know who's going to win. I kind of like, I really like the Indians. But what I was going to say is the Red Sox don't really have to face a lot of lefties if they face the Indians, well, or the Yankees or the Astros. So that's a good thing. But okay, moving on. Scott, actually, we don't have that much time today. So let's go a little bit faster.

We've got to get to the two-star pitchers. I'm going to talk to you about some cold hit. and whether or not we should start them next week. We don't have a show on Monday. So, Leonis Martine goes to the Cubs. Doesn't matter, right? No. Miguel Gonzalez, he's 31% owned.

He has a 311 ERA since the All-Star break, and he's going to Texas. Do you think that Miguel Gonzalez should be owned in more than 31% of leagues? No, not really. He's been on a nice run lately. I actually pitched yesterday for the White Sox still, and it was another quality start for him.

I think he's up to five of those in a row. But he's had these stretches before, and it just generally doesn't end well for him. I'm not ready to trust him. Okay, I think Miguel Gonzalez was one of the league leaders in quality starts last year. He was, no, looks like good old Adam was wrong. I could have sworn.

He had like a 370-something ERA, I don't know. Shut up, Adam. Must be thinking in one of those Baltimore years. Maybe, maybe. Okay, anywho, Madison Bumgarner was scratched from his start due to illness. Adrian Beltre. Adrian Beltre, he might be out for the season.

It was a bad hamstring injury. Or he might come back in two days, I don't know. But he said it was bad. He's going to miss some time. And there's a month left, and he missed a lot of time with a calf injury. So Beltre out with the hamstring. Justin Smok could come back today. He's missed two games with a calf injury.

Addison Russell, we're looking at three weeks for him at least. The Dodgers have lost five straight games. And C.C. Sabathia apparently does not like being bunted on. That is an absolutely ridiculous complaint. It was smart of them to bunt on you. You have a bad knee and you're old and you're slow. Of course they bunt. You're a Yankees fan talking about your team like you're a Mets fan.

This is the second time in two starts against Boston that he has complained about Boston bunting on him. Yeah. Why wouldn't they do it? It worked yesterday. Right. Why wouldn't they do it? Of course. It's not personal, Cic.

No. They're just trying to beat you. Right. And they didn't. So take that Thursday's standouts. How about a three-homer game from Kendris Morales? Boy, there has to be a big trade in baseball to overshadow a three-homer game. Last six games from Morales, he's got four homers, two doubles, ten hits.

He had gone, he had gone 22 days without a home run before this little six-game streak. and he's much better against lefties. I don't think he has, he doesn't have, he has, he has Eduardo Rodriguez. He's got four righties, a lefty and a TBD on the schedule next week. But anyway, what does this three homer game mean for Kenjus Morales, who's 62% owed? Not much. I mean, he's up to 25 on the year, and, you know, it's good for the occasional home run.

I think, first base being as deep as it is, he's not, really an obvious mixed league guy, but somebody worth using when the matchups are right and probably not a, never really a bad start in a Roto League where you have all those extra hitter spots to fill. All right, in the bullpen, I know that you like John Brebria for the Cardinals, and it looks like you were right. It looks like they were going to use him as the closer. Tyler Lyons pitched the eighth.

It was at that point a five-to-one game. Yeah. And then Brebia came in in the ninth in a five to one game, and he sucked. He gave up a run on to his... It wasn't a safe situation. See, he was already in that closer mentality. Exactly. He can't pitch in non-save situations now since Scott declared him potential closer.

But he struggled. Then Zach Duke got an out. Then Senuano came in and got it out and got to save. Yeah. Still think it's Brebia or Lions maybe? I don't know. It might be O again, you know. We're kind of to the point.

with the Cardinals bullpen where we were with the Angels a week ago. And I own Brebietta 24 team league. I wasn't ready to drop him there after this showing. But it's a big guess who's going to get the next chance. Are you trusting Zach Davies yet? Seven innings, two runs against the Nationals, and he's at Cincinnati next week. I just don't seem much reason to other than the fact that he's pitched well lately.

It's been a while, though. I know, I know, it has been a long while So I'm looking for reasons And I'm just not finding them If somebody knows why Zach Davies has been better lately Go ahead and let me know Because I'm willing, I'm ready to believe him Like the Ghostbusters

Well, I think at Cincinnati is It's an okay matchup I mean, they can Homer Yeah, it's just You're talking about for next week Yeah, for next week for Davies I feel like every time we've bought into the pitcher who doesn't look like he should be good, but he's been good for a while. So we finally trust him, and that's when it backfires.

Parker Bridwell. Kind of gunshot. Parker Bridwell for sure. Yeah, exactly. Any major standouts from yesterday that I'm forgetting? Major standouts? What about your boy Greg Byrd? Let's go to the next segment, Scott White.

It's called Ready to Add with a question mark. Greg Bird, four for eight in his last two games with two home runs and seven RBIs. He homered off a lefty yesterday. He's... Call, call, call! He's 43% owed Greg Bird. That was terrific. How long were you playing to that one?

Oh, seconds. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I forgot who I said that he would be better then. Logan Morrison maybe Probably sure Sure I would drop Miguel Cabrero right now For Greg Bird

You mentioned it was off the lefty Right Edwardo Rodriguez Yeah Yeah he's been Homered in two straight games Seven RBI between them I think he's only struck out Four times in six games

Since returning from the DL And he was striking out Like four times every two games Early in the year when He apparently wasn't healthy that leg injury he suffered at the very end of spring training and he was the talk of spring training i'm sure everybody remembers so uh i may have been i may have been a little too dismissive of gregg bird especially seeing him homer off a lefty i i still don't know that uh in like a standard

head-to-head lineup where you just have the one extra hitter beyond the the starting eight that uh that he's going to be of much he that anybody's going to be able to squeeze him in but anything deeper than that, and I think Bird needs to take a long look at Bird. Yeah, and now he's got six road games next week, but the Yankees are at the Orioles and at the Rangers, so they're in good parks, and they're facing Bundy and Gosman, and other than that, no pitchers that really scare you, unless you're scared of Andrew Cashner. So, yeah, Bird is an opportunity here. I just took a look at in my Keeper League, where we keep only three players, but at round

value, and free agents are like 20 round, 20th round. I just took a look to see if he was available and he wasn't. But I just, you know, to put it in perspective, Brian Cashman said Greg Bird was their best prospect. He was a better prospect in their opinions than Gary Sanchez. And he was starting to show it. The injury obviously played a role. So Greg Bird, hooray. Are you ready to add Jonathan VR?

No, I'm not. This was his second start. And, you know, he's what, homered in two consecutive start. Two straight games with a homer, three straight multi-hit games for VR. Yeah, seven for 12. in his last three. But only two, started only two of the last six games.

He didn't even start all three of those games. So, you know, obviously if he keeps hitting, they'll keep starting him, but I think it's very much a question. You know, he takes an O for today is Neil Walker back in the lineup tomorrow. So no, I'm not ready. No on VR. How about Ozzy Albies?

38% own in his last 14 days. Ozzy Albies, I think he's like the number five second baseman, maybe a little lower. He's batting 367. but no home runs one steal. So four doubles. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, he's not completely punchless.

He has extra base hits apart from home runs. And I'm very encouraged as a brave span. The strikeout rate is low. You know, for being as young as he is, it looks like he's taking to the majors very well. But I don't think he's going to be able to crack the mixed league threshold at this stage of the season if he's not providing a lot of home runs steals. Okay. So that's Ozzy Albies, so

38% own probably feels about right. However, we did get a question in our inbox. Should I drop Ian Kinsler for Ozzy Albies? No. Really? I want to say Kinsler's been a little better lately.

Okay. I want to say. I had not not a notice. I'm sure of that, but when I was looking at the rankings the other day, that was the impression I got. So no. Okay, fair enough.

I would drop Ian Kinsler for a beautiful, custom, made-to-measure, Indochino suit. And we did our event in Philadelphia yesterday, which was so awesome. I'm exhausted, but it was... I would say it would have been completely worth it, but unfortunately Taco Bell was closed on the way home, which would have made it a perfect day. But either way, it was fun, and I wore my Indochino suit. I didn't wear the jacket, but I wore the pants. And I looked good.

Everybody was looking at my pants. It was weird. But look, these Indochino suits, they're great. I'm just a few weeks away from ordering my second one. And I'm going to get that for $379 for a custom made-to-measure suit where I can customize every detail, lapels, pleats, jacket linings, monogram, pants, cups, whatever you want to customize, make it your suit. The fabrics are beautiful. So many colors to choose from. And you place your order online, you get it in just a few weeks.

So how do you get 50% off? How do you get free shipping? You go to Indochino.com, I-N-D-O-C-H-I-N-O-C-I-N-O-O-D-C-O-C-N-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-O-C-E-T. Enter F-B-T at checkout. Get any premium suit for 3-79 with free shipping. That's promo code F-B-T on Indochino.com, 50% off. and free shipping. Oh, by the way, so Ian Kinsler last 13 games, three home runs, five steals, 13 games. Also batting 224, but you like the home runs and the steel.

Do like that. I do like the steals for sure. Mike Montgomery is among the most added players. We take a look at the most added list. He is number one. He is 60% owned. He is not guaranteed to be making any more starts after this week, right? Mike Montgomery?

Right. All right, so just keep it in mind. But he's pitched well, and he's RP eligible. Yep. We're not really buying Jorge Polanco. He's never been a power hitter. It's weird that he's hit all these home runs, and soon he won't play the White Sox anymore.

Mark Leiter is number three at 29% owned. He is also RP eligible. We talked about him. And he looks like he's in line for two starts next week. It was going to be this week, but forget what happened exactly, but now I have them in line to go Monday and Saturday of next week against the Mets and Nationals. So kind of a mixed bag there.

But I think, you know, at least given the start against the Mets, good pickup for next week. That's Mark Leiter, number three, most added player. Luke Weaver number four, Byron Buxton, number five. He did not play, right, yesterday? Buxton, I don't think he did. I believe he did not. He has a bone contusion. and he could be back any day now.

So certainly okay to go pick him up. Bucks and sat yesterday. Miguel Gonzalez. So Miguel Gonzalez, I'm guessing, was lined up to be a two-star pitcher. But with the trade, that can't be clear, him going to Texas. But he's 31% on. Who would you rather own Ben Lively or Miguel Gonzalez? I would rather own Miguel Gonzalez.

Did I say Ben Lively? Did you say Ben lively? Who did I say? Blake lively? Yeah, who did I say? I'm sorry. Ben lively or Blake lively? Who did I ask?

I don't know. I met Mark. I get them confused all the time. I met Mark Leiter, though. I don't think I said that. You definitely said a lively of some kind. I said a lively, light and lively. Yeah.

I said Ben lively, but I met Mark Leiter. Right. I'd rather have lighter than Gonzalez. My answer surprised you, right? Would you rather? Yeah, I was like, what? Would you rather have Jack Flaherty, Jake Junis, Mark Leiter? I would go Junis, Flaherty, and then Leiter.

Well, you know what? Since Leiter is making two starts next week, I'll put him ahead of Flaherty. Now, here's a 54%-owned starting pitcher, who, if this were mid-season, would probably be closer to 80% based on what he's been doing lately. Ooh, Blake Snell! Yeah. Pick him up. I don't know that.

I don't know that one. Here, sing it again. Sing it again. No, no, not going to do it. Just wait. You're going to get an opportunity to do it. It's going to be very funny. Where is that email?

Did I not put that email in the notes? Did not print that out? All right, I'll get to it. So Blake Snell, Scott. How owned do you think he should be? I think he should be like 80% owned. Kind of run he's been on limiting the walks and back-to-back seven-inning games with at least a strike-out per inning,

it looks like he's turning the corner here, and we know he has a ton of upside. I haven't let him go unowned in any of my leagues. I'm going to take a quick break, a quick hiatus from this. I'm going to point out to you, Scott, that Mike Fultenevich is starting at the Cubs today. And we have an email from Gandalf who says, I would be more convinced not starting a pitcher like Ryan Merritt, or in this case Mike Fultenevich, if Scott told me not to start him using his new toy and the phrase, you shall not start blank.

Okay. So should we start Mike Fultenevich today at the Cubs? You shall not start Mike Fultenevich. There it is. All right. Love it. Thank you, Scott. And thank you Gandalf, if that is your real name.

Probably not. Probably not. Yeah. Okay. So other players on the most added list? Kevin Kiermeier, whatever. Jake McGee, 11% owned. I haven't really seen what the deal is there.

They haven't had a save situation this week. But you know they want to get back to Greg Holland there. I don't really see. Curtis Granderson's 48% owned and he's cooled off. I need him to have a big weekend. Or he's out of my lineup next week. Also, if there are a lot of lefties on the schedule, he might not want to start.

He might be out of the Dodgers line, if at least some, because they're calling up Alex Vertigo, who's pretty big prospect. Great hitter at AAA. Didn't have as much power as you'd expect for the PCL, but they say they intend to play him a lot. He has for average there more walks than strikeouts, has the pedigree.

Could play center, so I would guess, Logan Forsyte loses some time with Chris Taylor going to second base instead of center field, but I would imagine Granderson loses some too. Are there any interesting September call-ups that fantasy owners need to know right now that you anticipate or that have already been called up?

Well, I mean, Jack Flaherty is technically going to be that. Of course, we've talked a lot about him. Vertigo is probably the biggest side from that that I've seen so far. There are some interesting names that have been called up, but not ones where you really see the opportunity for them to contribute. I did write a piece on Wednesday

about players who I anticipate being September call-ups, or ones we've talked about a lot who may not be September call-ups. So, you know, we're actually starting to see the names come in now, but if you want a heads-up on that, you can go to look at my piece on the site. It's the latest prospects report. Starters, sit these cold hitters next week, Scott.

Let's go to Aaron Judge first. I gave you the matchups in the notes. I don't want to read them out loud necessarily. It would distract us. Aaron Judge, start or sit next week. And let's just say that obviously what happens Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are going the matter. Yeah. But if he hasn't come out of this funk, starter sit next week, six games for Judge.

I am going to... So is he supposed to be back in the lineup? I'm not sure if I'm back up. He is back in the lineup. But they batted him, I don't know, like sixth or seventh last night. He walked a couple times. You know, three outfielder leagues, I'd think about sitting him, but the matchups are good. You know, if it's like a roto league, five outfielder league, I think I'd have to stick with him.

All right, yeah, so Judge yesterday batted four or five, sixth, and he went, oh, for two with two walk. He didn't strike out. Ryan Braun, last 28 days. Braun is batting 279 with one home run. He's batting 150 in his last seven games. Start or sit Ryan Braun next week. I'm sitting him in a 24-team league. Granted, I have really good depth in this league, but still.

Wow. Okay. Braun. Yeah, you can sit him. Raphael Devers. So the weekend will be interesting for him because he might be coming out of it, but last week he was bad. 6.5 fantasy points last week, that's terrible.

If you don't play in points leagues, if a hitter doesn't score, I don't know, 20 or or more, 18 or more. I'm probably disappointed. So 6.5 last week was terrible. 7.5 so far this week for Devers, but he has three more games. And okay matchups. Like, there are so many bad pitchers that I feel like most hitters have good matchups every week. But Devers, start or sit.

Yeah, it would depend on how many lineup spots I have to fill. I would guess in most 12 team head-to-head lineups, you don't need Tim starting. So probably sit him in those format. We talked about this yesterday, Jake Lamb. Jake Lamb's got three lefties on the schedule. He's got Ryu, Kershaw, and Travis Wood. He also has Ritees, Maeda, Chasin, and Perdomo. Startersit, Jake Lamb.

I'd rather start him the Devers, but I'm not totally opposed to sitting him. Starterset Matt Carpenter. He has two home runs this week, but still not having that great of a week. And no multi-hit games since August 8th. He's batting 202 in August. And he's been terrible against lefties, but only two lefties. But only two lefties out of seven games next week for Matt Carpenter. So Travis Wood, a spot starter for the Padres, to Nelson Lemette, Clayton Richard, Trevor Williams, Chad Cool, Avon Nova.

I'm starting Matt Carpenter. That's what he's looking at next week. I know, I know. But he hasn't been good this year. He just hasn't. It's been better. If you count walks, Carpenter's probably easy to start. If you don't, he'd probably, you know, gulp, got to start him.

And then Starling Marte slash Andrew McCutcheon. They've been cold, and they face Areietta, Kentana, Hendrix, Lackey, Lou Gweaver, Martinez, and Waka. Yep. Off matchups. I have that as the second worst matchups next week, the Pirates. Gotta start McCutcheon. Yeah? After that August?

He's just been a stud all year. And normally we don't sit studs just because of a little slum. Judge's case has been obviously a lengthy slum. and there's health-related issues, so you can at least think about it there. But McCutcheon's going to be fine. Okay. Marte, you know, Categories League,

I don't know that you could do it, but Points League absolutely sit them. So who has the worst matchups, if the Pirates have the second worst? The worst matchups belong to the Padres. Okay. Pirates, two Padres' worst matchups. Pirates' second worst.

Cool. So we will get into two-star pitchers for next. next week. A few more players. This is going to be tricky at him because fortunately I had a chance to go through this earlier than I normally do. Normally it's a after the podcast Friday sort of thing for me. But because of it being September, obviously roster is expanding, teams just wanting to preserve

their arms to begin with, there are a lot of teams that are going with six-man rotations right now. and they're not all reflected on the site. So anybody who's starting on Tuesday and has a two-start week, be careful. Yeah. If they're starting on Monday, it's easier. Right now I see, and it could change. Hold on, Scott.

Let's get to that in just a little bit. I had just a couple more things I wanted to get to before that. Okay. First of all, Scooter Jeanette and Tim Beckham are two hitters that are 77% owned. That just keep getting it done. Jeanette's a top 10 second basement over the last month. Tim Beckham had three hits last night. He cooled off a little bit, but three hits last night.

How much do you trust Scooter Jeanette and Tim Beckham in general? I trust Jeanette a lot more than Beckham, because Beckham still has the horrid plate discipline. And considering they're not out-of-the-park hits that he's getting, for the most part lately, it's been between the lines. I don't trust it to continue. Jeanette, though, I mean, he's just been doing this. Dating back to that.

Four Homer game he had. He's just been a must-start player. So I see no reason to doubt it. Now I'm starting him over Braun or probably judged, too. All right. And I got to ask you all if you're hiring. We're going to be hiring two-star pitchers for Fantasy Week 23. But if you're hiring for your business, you really need to use ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter lets you post your job to 100 plus job sites with just one click. And then their powerful technology efficiently matches the right people to your job better than any. anyone else. So that's what it's all about. You've got job openings. How do you find your candidates? What do you do? You go on ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's how you try it for free. And ZipRecruiter does all the work after that. It gets the word out. It lets people know that you are

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Scott, how dropable is Kentimaeata? Not very dropable, I would say. He had a 244 ERA. and eight starts prior to this one. Scott, how dropable is Eduardo Rodriguez? More dropable than Maeda. He's been, he's had a pretty rough lately. 17 earned runs in his last 22 and two-thirds innings.

Is that right? I don't know if they were down right. But he hasn't fish well lately. I think since coming off the D.L. Not very trustworthy. How addable is C.C. Sabathia at Baltimore next week, one start. Because of what he's looking at next week, next week.

Baltimore is scary. They're one of the hottest offenses in baseball. Right. So not a very big priority at all in mixed leagues. It'd have to be a deeper league. Bartolo Colon and Ben lively pitched last night. They both have two starts next week. Do you care, Cologne and Lively?

No. Okay. Well, with that said, Scott White, it's time to take a look at two-star pitchers for Fantasy Week 23. Four weeks left, everybody. four weeks left so again this is who i have marked down as going with six-man rotations right now and it could change pitching probabilities right now are mere suggestions this time of year so you know don't get don't go crazy filling out your lineup with two-star pitchers i guess so it looks

like the mets the astros the indians the giants with johnny quato coming back they don't want to remove anybody the orioles the podes because of a doubleheader coming up. They're going six-man right now. The Dodgers, they've been doing that for a while. And possibly the Marlins. They called up Dylan Peters, who's not really a big prospect, but he's going to start Friday.

I'm not sure if they're going to bump Justin Nicolino out for him or go with six-man. So that was the Mets, Astros, Indians, Giants, Orioles, Padres, Dodgers, and possibly the Marlins. Starters sit next week, Trevor Bauer, at the White Sox home against Baltimore. I will start him. Start Bauer.

Rick Porcelo, Toronto and Tampa Bay, both at home. Yeah, I'm going to start Porcelo, too. Jose Barrios at Tampa Bay, at Kansas City. Yeah, yeah, sounds good so far. Jay Hap at Boston, home against Detroit. Yeah, that one I might steer clear of. You know, there aren't many two-start options, so maybe in a points league, I rolled the dice. But it's a little scary.

All right, Julio Taran's been pitching better. Texas and Miami at home. Yeah, similar to half. It'd probably be just a points league situation. Now, I sat. Actually, I accidentally started Michael Waka, but I intended to sit him yesterday. And he had a good enough start, but he only struck out two giants. So I was ready to drop him.

And then I saw he's got two starts next week. Waka's at San Diego and home against Pittsburgh. Um, yeah, I mean, those matchups are good. It might be the kind of gamble you have to take if you need to squeeze an extra start in. I'm not touching Jason Vargas or Yvonne Nova. No, I wouldn't. They've been horrible for months. Armand Marquez, San Francisco at home, Dodgers on the road.

Yeah, I don't mind that one. I don't mind that one because the home start is the Giants, and then, you know, the Dodgers are going to be tough, but at least it's on the road and it's a second start. So I think I like Marquez a little more than I like Tehran and Hap. Okay. Now, some players who are available in more than half of our leagues, Jaime Garcia, Andrew Cashner, Kendall Graveman,

Sean Newcomb, Adam Conley, I hear all of you gagging out there. Here's a good one. Next one's good. Jake Junis. That's the one. Yeah. 25% owned.

Yeah, he's my favorite sleeper two-star option at Detroit versus Minnesota, so the matches aren't so bad. And he's looked good lately since coming back from the miners. A lot of strikeout potential. And looks like a safe bet to actually make two starts, too. Chad Bettis, Chad Cool, James Shields, Robert Stevenson. Interested in Stevenson, Milwaukee at home, bets on the road? Not ready to start him yet, though.

Not ready to start him yet, but it seems like he's making some progress here. Former top prospect, and 61 he are in his last five start. Still a lot of walks during that stretch, but he's introduced a slider to his arsenal that seems to be paying big dividends. Stevenson's not a bad Hail Mary if you need one, because he, Because one of those starts is at the Mets. And I'm not so sure the brewers are a tough matchup anymore. Like there's really almost nobody in that lineup that's hitting well.

Shaw, Braun, Thames. Yeah, Fair Point. Santana. They've been bad. Perdomo, Erasmo. He's got one of the starts against the Astros, the others with the Angels, who now have Upton. Derek Holland. Bartolo Colon.

I mean, Bartolo Colon is one of the better options this week because there's so many terrible options. Right, right. And I can't even guarantee that all the ones you've mentioned are making two-star. So Cologne does look like a safe bet too. Yes, he does. And those are pretty good matchups. So in a points league, if you need an extra start, he's, you know, I don't love it. I don't know that I'd do it myself, but you could do a lot worse, too.

Raphael Montero has Philadelphia and Cincinnati? Yeah. Probably steer clear that one. Homer Bailey, Travis Wood, Troy Scribner, Ben Lively, Odrysima, Despagne, Chris Smith. It's bad. It's bad this week. So look for Jake Junis. And pray for rain, as they say.

Kendall Graveman, Scott, Angels and Astros at home. Yeah. What do I feel about Kendall Graveman? How do I feel about Kendall Graveman? Not great. I thought you were ever going to do the I will not start. Now shall not start, Kendrick-Graibn voice. No, no, no, I wasn't.

I do apologize to everybody that we didn't get to read emails. I'll try to respond to them over the weekend. It's just we've got to go. Scott has to do some video. After everything happened late last night, it's just been a hectic morning with all the trades, with my travel, and Scott's got to do some video for the website. You can obviously read so much great content. We'll talk to you again on Tuesday.

and I will try to respond to emails and tweets over the weekend. So, Scott, thank you very much, my man. Burland, that was weird. I'm Adam Azer for Weird Scott White. See ya.