Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/06: Recapping the Last Two Days (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 6, 2018

A lot to catch you up on from the past two days of baseball! When will Ronald Acuna be drafted next year (2:15)? Can you believe the seasons that Trevor Story (4:35) and Scooter Gennett are having (9:30)? And are Gary Sanchez's days as a Catcher just about done? ... MLB news (10:50) and our thoughts on Shohei Ohtani's future (15:20). Then we look at some SPs who FOOLED US (20:00) including Michael Kopech and Lucas Giolito ... Bullpen (26:26), rotation (28:50), fringy SPs (36:18) and more from that last two days before we preview today's games (44:00) ... Email us 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

I care about statistical scarcity more than positional scarcity. Is I field fun? Yes. Podcast is going off the rails already. They're pop-ups. They're not infield fly balls. These guys told you look at Fip, not ERA. So wait for Glover's sale, but pass on Robbie.

Real quick, Scott's bummed about the humidor. And pick your milk for breakfast cereal, Mount Rushmore. They'll be there for... Hey, welcome back, everybody. It is Thursday. We got a lot to talk about. We got two days of baseball to talk about, Scott White. Two days.

Two days. That's what happened when he skipped days, Adam. Yeah, senior skip day, I guess. Did you have senior skip day when you were in high school? I think that was a thing. I don't think I took part of it. Oh, come on. Goody two shoes.

Yeah, well. What is that all about? That's me. You know what? I was actually, in senior year of high school, I was like constantly looking for ways to rebel against what was considered the cool thing because I just got like tired of trying to be cool and always went the opposite direction. So it definitely sounds like something I would have done. Good for you. Intentionally not skipping senior skip day.

I remember my friend called in sick on senior skip day. He wasn't sick. and then we went to a place called Grand Prix, which is like arcade, roller coaster, stuff. And then he was like, oh, I'm fine. And then he came in to, he met us there. But he originally skipped Senior Skip Day by faking an illness, by playing hookie.

Terrible story. Let's talk baseball. Here's our tweet of the day. And some of those things we're going to talk about today. We've got some bullpen stuff as always, but also Trevor Story. Oh, my goodness. And Scooter Jeanette, great calls. by Scott. Victor Robles is up.

Francisco Mahita is up. We'll talk about it all. Tweet of the day, those from Andy Wilson. Where does Ronald Acuna get drafted next year? Feel like he has to be a top 20 pick. Woo! I don't feel like he has to be. Yeah, I would say that. That seems kind of aggressive.

I would say, I mean, obviously we still have three ways to go, and he could lump those three weeks and completely change our perception of things. But the way things are looking right now, you know, he's probably going to get drafted under the assumption he's going to take another step forward in a sophomore year, which is an assumption that has come back to bite us on any players throughout history. I should point out.

But that's probably the way it'll go. And I guess that would probably mean fourth or fifth round for Ronald Acuna in a 12-team league. Yeah, do you think he's going to sophomore slum? Or is he slump? Is he too good for that? I'm not sure yet. Ask me again in three weeks. The strikeout rate is still pretty high.

I mean, he requires a high Babbat to hit for the average he has. And obviously, the home run pace he was on in August is not something he can sustain over a full season. So I kind of get the feeling his numbers right now are due for a correction due to be pulled down a little bit. bit. Not a ton, but a little bit. And so, yeah, I mean, I don't know that I'm going to have a lot of shares in him next year. But, of course, there's tons of upside. He's very young. And it could turn out great for you. It's just hard to say exactly how he's going to, the, exactly the way he develops into what he's eventually going to be.

Ronald Acuna, he's batting 289. He has 24 homers and 22 doubles and 11 steals in 88 games. Here's your article of the day. It's on CBS Sports.com. It is about clutch hitting among MVP candidates in both the NL and the American League. And quite surprising, Mike Trout's numbers in clutch situations. You should look that up.

Read that article. It is very cool. I want to talk about a couple of infielders who are having awesome season, Scott. Trevor Story, three home runs yesterday. He is the number four shortstop in points, number three in Roto, batting two 98 with 31 homers and the 25 steals ridiculous like who saw that coming nobody and nobody we'll talk about scooter

Jeanette as well but yeah let's talk about story holy cow what a year he's having yeah the steals are the big surprise obviously but the biggest key for me in terms of is the sustainable is he somebody who can expect to be a stud short step again next year is just the improvement he's made in terms of making contact

he was a horrendous strikeout hitter, his first two years in the majors, and I think that had us, a lot of us fearing that the numbers he put up last year were closer to what you could expect the baseline to be for story, then his rookie season where obviously he had that crazy home run stretch at the start of his career. But now his strikeout rate is pretty close to average, and what he's done, he's done, in a way that seems plausible, especially when you consider where he plays his home games.

Now, am I going to count on him for 30 steals next year? I don't know, but you at least know it's something he's capable of doing now. What's funny is he might be the first 30-30 man. If he could get five more steals, he'll be the first 30-30 man since 2012, I think I saw last night. Ron and Mike Trout both did it that year. It's been a while. Now, Moogie Betts might get there as well.

He's at 29 and 27. And let me see where Trout is. I don't think Trout has quite the steals to get there. Yeah, he's 31 and 22. So Trout's probably not going to get there. But Betts could and Story could. That's really interesting. And, you know, with Story, I guess you could say he had a sophomore slump.

And he is so good at home. So that does really help give him a little bit of a floor, a high floor. I guess with these segments, I'm not just talking about this year, but who's next year? Who's someone that had a great rookie year? It doesn't necessarily have to be rookie. Great one year, terrible the next year. People maybe gave up on him a little bit. He comes back and has a great season.

Not sure. Maybe Gary Sanchez. We'll see where he falls in drafts next year. Well, we'll see what he's playing next year. Yeah, my goodness. I tweeted that last night. Next year better be his last year with catcher eligibility. That guy cannot catch.

He actually cannot catch. He's just missing ball. Like four in the first inning from Luis Severino, right? Four. He just didn't catch them. Yeah, it's true. And two of them were worldwide pitches. And they just weren't.

Like, their pass ball. I mean, how long has this been going on? Because I don't remember this being. like a topic that came last year. It was bad last year, but it's worse this year. No question, it's worse. Yeah, it's embarrassing. And they got such a log jam.

So he should DH. What do you need? You need 20 appearances at a position to carry it over to the following year? Yes. So he should like DH most of the time and catch every five days or something. And that will give him catch your eligibility in 2020.

Well, if he's doing what he did yesterday, I mean, he can't. That's just not, that's not professional, you know? That's not professional level catching. You can't do that. Pretty bad. So I don't know, I don't know how he gets it turned around, but I don't know what the Yankees do the rest of this year, to be perfectly honest, because you can't have that.

It's a good point. It's a good point. I mean, I suppose without Aaron Judge, they could. No, they're using Stanton as the D.H. I know there's a lot of theorizing that maybe he could be the Yankees' first baseman. Do you think Adam that the Yankees are going to sign Manny Machado this offseason? Because I've got to figure they're the front runners going into the offseason. And so what would that mean for Miguel Antahar?

Oh, he's as bad a fielder as Gary Sanchez, Scott. I know, I know. So my point being, they can't stick both of them at first base. They got to make a trade. Maybe, yeah. Maybe that's the solution. Moron Severino, who was possibly affected by Gary Sanchez last night. Not so much, in my opinion.

Later. Scooter Jeanette, Homer twice on Tuesday. Going into Wednesday's game, he was the number five second baseman in points, number three in Roto. One of the best calls Scott made. He loves Scooter Jeanette, you know. Take him as a late-round piece. Nobody was really buying in. He had the four homer game last year, and then even after the four homer game, his numbers were terrific.

So, yeah, Scooter Jeanette's pretty legit, no? Yeah, I think so. There have been some questions raised about his shoulder this year, and remember he was in a, he went into a pretty deep slump after the All-Star break that people were attributing to health. But clearly he's fine now. clearly. I mean, he's, he had an awesome August off to a great start in September. And yeah, two years of this, I think it's safe to assume it's who he is. Yeah, that's good stuff. And he had some pedigree, right?

He did. He did. He wasn't a nobody coming out of the miners. He wasn't like a top 100 caliber prospect. And I don't, he was one of those prospects where I wasn't exactly sure what made him a prospect, because he wasn't hitting for power in the miners. obviously his first couple years in the majors. I'd say it's a surprise that he's developed into the player he has. Scooter Jeanette or Ozzy Albies next year. I am inclined to say Jeanette. Okay. News and notes. The Nationals called up Victor Robles and the Padres called up Francisco Mejia.

Did they matter? Probably not. Mejia has the better chance to. I could see him splitting starts with Austin Hedges down the stretch. and that's definitely a bat that could stand out at a thin position. Obviously, there aren't a ton of players who play every day at that position, so every other day wouldn't be a huge stretch to think Mejia could matter. But Robles, I don't see it.

I mean, they already have a full outfield unless they were going to bench out of M Eaton or decide Bryce Harper isn't worth playing since he's going to walk this offseason anyway. That's obviously not realistic. So Robles will just make spot starts and not really contribute much. Danny Duffy is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Gio Gonzalez is replacing Junior Gera in the Milwaukee rotation. I am an idiot. How did I not lead the show of this?

I am sorry. Shohei Otani. Let's have an Otani. All right, let's do the rest of the news and notes, and then we'll have an Otani segment. I'm going to update the notes right now and put in Otani segments. Kenley Jansen will not pitch this weekend at Colorado. who's your best bet for saves? I mean, it is three games at Colorado.

It's not a huge priority. But, hey, maybe you're in a head-to-head categories league daily like I am. I have Kenley Jansen. What are you thinking? Yeah. Maeda. I can't think of his name. Kent to Maeda.

Let me find his name real quick. Go on to the next thing. What about Kenta Maeda? You know his name. I do know his name. That wouldn't be my first place. Alexander? No.

No. Sorry, this is bad. Eric Gagne. This is a bad example. Okay, the answer I was thinking of was Dylan Floro. Oh, I never would have come up with that. Yeah, exactly. I thought Maida got a save a few days ago when Jansen wasn't available.

He did. So maybe it'd be him. But Floro pitches the eighth a lot and I don't know. Who knows? It could be a different guy every day. They may not win a game in that series. Who know? They may not.

Michael Conforto has been better against lefties than righties this year. Just wanted to bring that up. I sat him because he had lefties on the schedule. I don't know that that's the determining. He hasn't been very good if you look at the season-long line against either. But he homered off a lefty, I think yesterday. Two days ago maybe. Yaddy Molina left with a hamstring injury.

Clint Frazier will not play for the Yankees this year due to concussion symptoms. Charlie Morton. Oh, Deedegorius will be back tomorrow. Charlie Morton is going to start against the Red Sox on Saturday. Start or St. Morton on Saturday. I'd always prefer to play it safe than bench him. And I would guess most of the teams that are alive right now have alternatives there. So, yeah, let's say bench.

Joe Ross is going to start tomorrow. Are you going to pick up Joe Ross for the Natch? It would have to be a fairly deep league for me to devote a roster spot to him. I could see him being somebody who, you know, if he has a good start, maybe we do think about streaming him down the stretch I obviously don't know what his matchups are but

but yeah at his healthiest and I don't believe he was healthy for the time we saw him last year obviously leading up to the Tommy John surgery 8 but when he's been healthy the first two seasons of his career he was like

a mid-3s ERA guy good ground ball pitcher with just a little under a strikeout per inning so that's that's somebody who could be like a number five type in a standard mixed league. Joe Ross, all right. And Joe Madden said that it's, you know, probably not going to, there's not that much time to get Brandon Marl back is what he said.

So it looks like Strope is definitely the leader. He got a save yesterday. He's been not giving up a ton of runs, but struggling a little bit lately. Pedro Strope is 62% owned. He's the guy. He might not get every save, but he's definitely the best guy to have in that bullpen. Carlos Santana has now made three appearances at third base with Michael Franco out with a sore wrist

And Justin Bore could play some first base, I guess Zach Wheeler Oh, this bothers me Zach Wheeler, hopefully he's fine He got hit by a comebacker on the chest He stayed in the game He's going to have a CT scan But hopefully he's fine

All right, Scott, let's have a show hey Otani segment He homered twice yesterday He's awesome He started two of the last three games That they face lefties and he needs Tommy John surgery. Well, that's the crazy thing. Because you're kind of concealing the timeline here.

That's very Christopher Nolan of you. It was announced yesterday afternoon that more damage was found in his UCL. Tommy John surgery has been recommended. It was announced a little after that. Oh, he's in the Angels lineup tonight. and he hasn't committed to win, or if he's going to get Tommy John surgery. You're like, okay, well, how long is this going to last, right?

What's he honestly going to do if his elbow's that bad? He homers twice that night. Four hits overall. It's the most Chuck Norris feet for any baseball player this season, I feel like. You halfway expect, you know, Joe Otani performed his own Tommy John surgery, like those kinds of things to start popping up. because it's just so unbelievable what this guy can do when he's actually able to play. He's probably going to have Tommy John surgery.

I don't know if it'll happen if he'll give in before the end of the season or if he'll wait until the off season. It means either way he's not going to pitch in the majors next season. But the big question is, will he play in the majors next season? I mean, position players only need like six months to return from Tommy John's surgery. That's the off season, basically. Glaber Torres had it last June and was pretty much a full go in spring training. You know, they're not usually having to rehabilitate as a pitcher while that's going on. But, you know, Otani's a DH.

So he doesn't need to throw at all in actual. gameplay. It's just side-throwing that he'd be doing as he works his way back from the injury. So I'm thinking he probably will play pretty close to the beginning of next season and be close to a full-time DH, in which case the guy slugs 600, you know, the kind of exit velocities he gets on the ball. I mean, he hits it as hard as anyone. It may actually make him a more productive hitter because he's not having to sit as often to rest up for his next start, you know? Do the angels have any idea how to deal with elbow injuries?

Uh-huh. Right? I mean, they always seem so optimistic, and then it's just like, they should have... Well, yeah, they tried something unconventional with Garrett Richards rather than subject him to Tommy John's surgery, stem cell therapy, rest and rehabilitation. and, you know, it wasn't something a team had tried before on that level, and it seemed like it worked at first. I mean, he came back at the end of last season, started half of this season,

but now he's out with Tommy John surgery himself, obviously, so it just delayed the inevitable, and he ended up missing the better part of two seasons, now a half season, probably most of next season. That's part of the reason why I think Otani, that's part of the reason why I think Otani absolutely, will have Tommy John surgery, even though he hasn't committed to it himself because of their experience with Richards, and they want to get him back as soon as possible. But the timing of it, the fact he's going to not really, like, what's the fastest a pitcher ever returns from Tommy John surgery? 12 months. So that would put him, if he had it today, coming back next September, which why even bother at that point? Just play it safe, give him another offseason.

He's going to have two off seasons of rest before he has to pitch again, which he's. which is another reason why I think we can assume he's going to hit for the majority of next season because even if it slows down his rehabilitation, he's going to have a whole other offseason afterward to make up time. Yeah, and Chris Towers reminding me that they also delayed it with Andrew Heaney, Tommy John's surgery, at first. All right, so that is the Shohei Otani segment, as promised. Scott, let's transition to a new segment. Well, an old segment.

We haven't done it in a while. It's called... It's called... I hit the wrong button. It's called... There we go. At long last, it's called Fool Fool, Fool, You! Uh, yeah, we got fooled by three pitchers.

Michael Kopeck, Lucas Gialito, and Tyler Glassnow. Each one worse than the last. Well, nobody quite as bad as Glass now. Yeah. So Michael Kopeck, seven runs in three and a third. This guy is the rainmaker. Every time he starts, there's a rain delay. Lucas Gialito, four earn runs in an inning in a third against Detroit. And Tyler Glassnow did not make it out of the first inning at Toronto yesterday.

I gave up seven runs on five hits. Gross. Oh, man, what does your take on Kopec, Gialito, and Glass now? I mean, the worst part is they all had good matchups. I mean, we were talking up Gio Lido the most we had since spring training with the way he had pitched recently in the upcoming matchup against the Tigers. It's just bad luck. I feel like if you started them in fantasy, I still think they have a lot of talent.

They could be great the rest of the way. The most concerning, I think, to me, was co-packing. because he didn't have his usual velocity. He gave him four home runs, and he said he was, you know, he said he pitched like he had a 99-mile-per-hour fastball, and he didn't. But that begs the question why didn't he? Maybe it was the rain delay. He wasn't blaming it on the rain delay.

I don't know what the – so he pitched an inning and gave up a run, pitched a scoreless inning, then there was a rain delay, pitched another scoreless inning, and then gave up six runs in the fourth. Yeah. It's hard to say. It is hard to say. Glass now, he just didn't seem to have his breaking ball. Kevin Cash said, it seemed like the Blue Jays were hunting the fastball when you know what's coming. This is what happens.

And as for Gialito, I mean, this jury's still out on Gialito, whether he's good or not. There were some encouraging signs in terms of what his change-up was doing, his pitch selection, the swings and misses he was getting. But it's not. He's in a different class from these other two in terms of how much I trust. or how much I believe in the upside. I think the thing with Gialito is that you look at his previous, I don't know, 12 starts, and he had a pretty good overall number.

But he had some really terrible starts in there. So he's been able to bounce back from them. I mean, he gave up seven runs on August 8th, and then after that he threw four straight quality starts. Yeah, it was much better peripherally, what we'd seen from Gioledo. It was better peripherally than in terms of like ERA, which was still, you know, around four. So the question is, do you trust them next week?

Because Glassnow may have two starts. One of them would be against Cleveland, the other one may be Oakland, and those are two tough matchups. Lucas Gialito would be at Kansas City and at Baltimore. Those are great matchups. Michael Kopeck would be at Kansas City. I tell you, you know, I have a playoff team in the podcast league. And of all the playoff teams right now,

all the people that are listening, any of you that still have a team in the playoffs, I have the worst pitching staff of all the thousands of us. My podcast league pitching staff is worse than all of yours. So I am going to start Lucas Gialito, especially if he makes two starts next week. Yeah, I mean, I'd have a hard time sitting any of them, given their matchups. Well, Glassnow, Cleveland and Oakland? Yeah. Well, just the fact that he's making two starts.

and the first six with the raise were really good. Yeah. I would rank them in terms of how likely I'd be to start them. I'd rank Glass Now first. Then probably Gialito and Kopec maybe flip those two in a categories league as opposed to a points league. So Golito and points, Kopeck and categories. But, I mean, most likely if I own them, I'm starting all three. Scott, let me tell you the most overpriced thing on earth.

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Again, harries.com slash FBT. Support the show. Support Harry's Razors. Support your face, everybody, and go make it happen. That was a long read. But I got very excited talking about Harry's. razors. I really do love it. You sure did. I really do. Yeah, 95 years. I can't imagine they were selling them over the internet. No, I think that's how long the factory's been open. Okay. Yeah. More than 95 years. In the bullpen, Adamadovino got a save. Wade Davis was unavailable. Don't worry about it. But we've seen Jordan Hicks and Carlos Martinez get saves in the last two days. Hicks won out save. Martinez two innings save. What's your take on that

situation. My take is they're eventually going to go back to Bud Norse. Really? Yeah. Okay. I think I think they're just pulling back a while. I don't think they're going to make Carlos Martinez the full-time closer. I mean, look, I could be wrong. I'm just guessing. But yeah, that's my guess. AJ Minter has been struggling lately. He gave up a hole. Do you think he's in any danger, AJ Minter?

No, no, because Yeah, I mean, the real goat yesterday In the Braves bullpen was Dan Winkler Yeah, that would be the most likely option to replace him When you say goat, you're not talking about greatest of all time I know, like, I hate how that's happened My whole life, goat meant was like, you know The scapegoat, yeah

Yeah, right Bad It's, it is bad It's like how bad was a good thing for a while like in the early 90s, you know, who's bad? Oh, he's so bad. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Totes. Delin Batanzas is, it really looks like he's the closer. More often than not, at least. So, yeah. More stuff from around baseball. Double dongs. Not all of the double dongers from the last two games, but here are a few.

Marcelo Zuna. I dropped him in the podcast league last week. I picked him up just in case because he had four hits yesterday. They were all singles. but two home runs on Tuesday, four hits yesterday. OZuna's 96% owned. Got to watch playing time there. Kevin Kiermeier and Matt Adams homered twice.

Scott, any interest in them? Matt Adams started five of seven, but all seven of those games were against Ritey's, so there doesn't seem to be a lot of predictability there. Obviously, they're having to play Carpenter at third base when they start Adams. He still seems like a deep league option. And who was the other one?

Kevin Kiermeier. Kevin Kiermeier. Kevin Kiermeier. I can't get suckered into that at this stage of the season. I've already wasted enough time on him. Time for the rotation. Well, it's Thuriameter Thursday, Scott. What's your thuriameter on Luis Severino gave up five run runs in two and two-thirds?

I mean, he didn't get a lot of help from his battery mate, right? He didn't. Yeah, he still has no slider. Well, I mean, he had been pitching better, right? I mean, against the White Sox. He has one quality start in his last five. But a lot of strikeouts, and two quality starts in his past six. So it really was like, leading it to this start, it was a five-star stretch where he looked pretty good.

But all the matchups were very favorable. Exactly. And he wasn't going six innings. Who's he facing next week? You have that information? At Minnesota. Yeah, it's still starting. Yeah, I'll probably start him too.

I imagine he'll be throwing to Austin Rolmine. By the way, he had been throwing to Austin Rolmine so frequently, Scott, that apparently he didn't have the signs with Gary Sanchez right. That was the problem. Oh, they got their signs crossed, huh? Yeah, something like that. So we're all blaming Gary Sanchez when Luis is just as much. much to blame. No, he pitched very poor. I mean, I was watching it, and my blood was boiling.

It's just weird. Honestly, you know, you see sometimes where a pitch abandons a pitcher for a little while, but this has really gone on a long time where I just, I think his slider is just missing. You know, it came back briefly for like one start, but maybe more, but really, he's, for two months, I'd say, is pitching without his best pitch. Robbie Ray had a great great start at San Diego. He will be at Colorado and at Houston next week. How do you feel about that with Robert Ray? I like him against San Diego more.

I don't think he's must start with those matchups. It's been so inefficient this year, so many walks, and is Homer prone going to course field. That can't be a good thing. You know, points league I might do it just because anybody who you halfway trust is worth using with two starts in that format, But otherwise, you know, maybe if I was trying to make up ground and strikeouts, I'd chance it in a category of league, but otherwise probably not. Sean Newcomb, Sean Newcomb got crushed by the Red Sox, not a surprise.

Four terrible starts in his last five. The only good one was at Miami. He'll be at Arizona this weekend, I believe. You know, it's a little iffy with rotations these days. But, I mean, are you ready to drop Sean Newcomb? Yes, I am. And I'm wondering, I'm working on a piece. It's taking me forever, which I'm sure Chris just loves. But 30 bold predictions for next season.

And they're meant to be, you know, they're meant to put the limits of plausibility. They're not to be taken totally seriously, but just to make you think a little, you know? And one of them is that Sean Newcomb doesn't make the rotation out of spring training because the Braves have so many young arms who are going to be competing for basically one spot. Sean Nukem, sure he has upside. He has more experience than a lot of those guys, but at this point it's looking like some pretty mediocre experience.

His FIP is worse than it was last year. Yeah, too many bad stars for Nukem. Are you getting at all concerned about Miles Michaelis? His last three starts, he has given up 32 hits and 10 earn runs with one walk and 10 strikeouts but 32 hits and 10 earn runs in 16 and a third I wonder for a while

if the other shoe was going to drop for Michaelis and I don't know if this is it I don't think he's going to be bad but he has a 288 Bep even after all the hits he's allowed these past three starts which is obviously still low he's an extreme ground ball pitcher

who doesn't miss a lot of bats and while being a great ground ball pitcher and being a great control pitcher too, while you can keep the ERA down that way, you are going to give up a lot of hits. You are probably going to have a whip on the high side. You know, he's still must own. He's still, he's not somebody I'm necessarily looking to bench,

but I think he's pitched over his head most of this season. I think he's more of a back-end mixed league starter than a front-end one. That's Miles Michaels, but you're still going to start him. He's got Pittsburgh next week, maybe a two-star week with the Dodgers. I probably will. But I did at least look at my options. And Mike Fires. All right, Mike Fires, like I said, I watched.

Did I say, I forget what your question was. I'd probably start Michaelis next week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You said that. Okay. I wasn't sure if you asked me what I sent him or start him. But, yeah. I really felt like Mike Fires must have had a rabbit's foot around his neck

wrapped in a four-leaf clover. Like this guy was so lucky. He pitched great last night. He didn't give up the two runs until the seventh inning. He pitched six-plus innings. He gave up two runs on three hits against the Yankees. But I thought he was just so lucky. But what am I supposed to do?

I mean, at this point, I know his previous start was terrible, but he's got a 336 ERA this year. And he's at Baltimore next week, so I'm going to start fires there. But I don't know what to say anymore. Well, I mean, how many years are. are we going to do this with bike fires it's a long stretch though i know well that's that's that's what he's always done but he's going to end the year with an er a in in in the threes like he doesn't do that well last year it was 522 he did it in 2015 like every third year he does it okay he's cheap he's cheaper creepers he has a long enough stretch of this kind of production i mean the phip is normal

you know like I said well like I've I've I've I've always said when we get lured into Mike Fires he can be

he can command his pitches so well when he's on that he can look like an ace but if if he's just a little off he has starts like he did last time out and I don't think it's the kind of thing

he can sustain forever but he has shown he can sustain it for months at a time. So you can look on fan graphs. Use it for now, but don't trust him. I mean, I'm not going to rank him especially high going into next season even if he finishes this year on a high note.

I say a lot of things on this podcast that people probably like, Adam, you're stupid. You say you watch baseball. What are you, some scout? So I really felt last night that the Yankees were peppering the ball. And he got so lucky.

So I'm going to use Fangraphs to back me up. You know what his hard contact rate was last night? Fires? 73%. Mark Fires. 73%. And he gave up two runs in six plus sittings. Mike Fires.

Mike Fires. Mike Fires. That's ridiculous. I was right. He got, they hit that crap out of the ball. And all year long is his hard contact rate is high. All right. That's your rotation.

We got more pitchers to talk about. Fringies. Yeah, a lot of them here. All right. Heaney was okay. He gave up two home runs. Four runs and six innings against the Rangers. At the Rangers, I've placed the pitch.

Nick Povetta, hard to trust. Hard to trust. At Miami, he couldn't even get you five innings. He'll be against Washington next week. Mike Minor, another good. Last 13 starts, he has a 313 ERA and a 200 Babbup. Okay, so you're mixing. I got kind of confused her.

You're mixing Wednesday and Tuesday starts here. Yes. Okay. That's what I said. I said. We got two days of baseball to talk about, Scott White. You did. You did.

I just forgot. Well, we got Heaney, we got Povetta, we got Minor, Musgrove. Why don't we do part one and part two? That'll be part one. Those first four. Okay. Heaney, Povetta, Minor, and Musgrove. Who do you like?

For the rest of this season, I like Musgrove number one. Believe it or not. He has been, he's been, he's the top strike thrower in the majors. Nobody has a better strike percentage. than Joe Musgrove, and lately he's been getting a lot of whiffs, too. So that looks like a formula for big upside. Musgrove won. Mahoney 2, Povetta 3.

I wonder if he only threw four innings yesterday, because the innings are starting to catch up to them. I know they needed a pinch hitter, too, but I wondered if that factored into the decision-making. And then Mike Minerforth, I really don't understand how he's succeeding. Okay. Next up, we got John Gantz. Alex Cobb, Wade LeBlanc, Derek Rodriguez.

He's actually 80% owned. And he had a great start at Colorado. Speaking of I don't know how he's succeeding. Joey Lucasey pitching well lately. Jaime Barria, Brad Keller, Wade Miley. Gantz, Cobb, LeBlanc, Derek Rodriguez, Lucchese, Berea, Keller, Wade Miley. So I definitely want Rodriguez in a mixed league.

Like, he's must-own in a mix league. He isn't this good, but. he's good enough that you can certainly rely on him when he's as hot as he is. The only other one, you know what, I don't think any of the others are must-own in a mixed league. The one I'd come closest to rostering is probably Brad Keller because he has, he has the most impressive single skill of any of these pitchers, which is getting a a ton of ground balls. And it's led to a good ERA in a way that, you know, might be halfway sustainable.

Yeah, I added Keller in our podcast league. He might be a two-star pitcher next week. If he makes one start, it'll be against the White Sox. Keller has gone seven or more innings than three of his last five starts. He's got five straight starts allowing two or fewer runs. So innings and fewer runs, that's great in a points league. You're not going to get a ton of strikeouts, that's for sure. But he's got the White Sox and he might have the twins as well.

So good matchups for him. Let's check it on some hitters. Max Muncie, Scott. How are we feeling about Max Muncie? He is still 93% owned. And the Dodgers have just faced a ton of lefties lately. Six of their last 12 games have had a lefty starter. He homered against the Mets, two home runs in his last four games.

But I don't know. Overall, how are you feeling about Munchy? I hate what they've done to Munchy because I love Max Muncie. And I'm not sure he isn't their best offensive player. It's hard to say that now with Manny Machado there. Yeah, I am sure that he is now not their best offensive player with Manny Machado there. Well, my point is, I don't, yes, Mani Machado is their best offensive player, but Max Muncie isn't so far behind him that you can't at least make the argument.

Right. But, I mean, they're not playing him enough for him to have that kind of impact in fantasy. And I don't, you know, it's been going on basically since the ulcer break. Yeah, if he's got. round in daily leagues, but otherwise I don't think it needs to be that own. Yeah, if he's got nothing but righties next week, then maybe you stick with Muncie. They just have faced a ton of lefties lately. As Drewba Cabrera, three home runs, 333 batting average in his last five games going into yesterday's game.

Well, how about this? I'm going to give you three middle infielers, and I want you to rank them for me. As Drewbaugh-Cabrera, Andrewton Simmons, who did Homer yesterday, but he's been terrible since the All-Star break. And Jonathan V.R., as Drewucoabrera, Andrew Cabrera, Andrews and. I will go, Angelton Simmons, as dribble Cabrera and Jonathan VR. No! Sorry.

I hate it. Okay. How would you do it, Adam? Considering we don't have much time left in the season. I would take Simmons in a points league one, then VR, then Cabrera. In a Roto league, I would go VR Simmons. No, VR Cabrera Simmons.

I mean, Simmons... I mean, I can certainly understand VR if you're looking for steals specifically, because he has been running a lot. He's a top five-second basement since the Baltimore trade, since being traded to Baltimore. Yeah. And he has nine steals in 32 games with Baltimore. Simmons, it's weird.

You know, you love his plate discipline, but since the All-Star break, going into yesterday's game, I didn't update this, but going into yesterday's game, three walks, 18 strikeouts in 40 games since the All-Star break. I mean, no case, but we're the walk. I've been playing his best. Yeah.

But, eh, he'll come around. And be who he is. I mean, he's not a stud, but he'll come around to be who he is. Man, you know what? Max Muncie, I'm thinking about it more. Like, he's so good against left-handers, too. That's what's so frustrated about this. Like, I don't know what to do about him next year,

because obviously Machado's going to be gone. Docher's going to be gone. Kemp's gone. Kemp will be gone, right? Kemp's gone. I don't know. I hope they find it every day job for Monty next year. I don't know Kemp's contract situation, but he should, if he's not gone, he should at least be relegated to the bench.

All right, deep league's got Framber Valdez for the Astros and Sandy Alcantara for the Marlins. Any interest? Not in standard mixed leagues. They're both, you know, Alcantar is a pretty good prospect. but one that I've been slow to come around to because the strikeouts, I mean really good stuff, but the strikeouts just have to have been there throughout his minor league career. Valdez has gotten strikeouts in his minor league career, but he's been pitching five innings at a time for the Astros,

and isn't a great control pitcher. I'm not ready to buy into him. And you'd rather have Josh James? I mean, if he's pitching, I know he made one start. It seems like Valdez is ahead of him in the pecking order. Yeah, Morton's back. But, yeah, I think he's better. I think James is better.

Yeah. Okay. Well, let's take a look at today's matchups. Tomorrow we will have a mailbag because we only have four games tonight. And we'll look ahead to next week. And I don't know, we'll do some other fun stuff. Talk about the Eagles Falcons. Oh, you've pumped up for the Falcons tonight.

I am. I am. Obviously, I, well, maybe not obvious to the list. but I do most of my writing at nights now. So I can be at home with the kids during the day. Very super dad of me. But no, I, yeah, I'll try to watch it while I'm working. Yeah, absolutely.

Very excited. Big Falcons fan. Yeah, let's go. We got the Padres at the Reds. Eric Lauer, Luis Castillo. I will go with Castillo, given the matchup and the start he just had, although it's been rare this season that he strung together two starts like that in a row.

Got to do it against the posers. Kyle Hendrix at Steven Strasbourg. I'll roll the dice on both. Shane Bieber at Sam Gavillio. Let's go with the Bebes. Let's do the Bebes. Anabal Sanchez at Zach Granky. Both.

The Beaves is interesting. 78% own and yeah I don't know I have trouble trusting him

but he's not I understand his last two starts have been at Kansas City and home against Tampa Bay and in both of those starts

Bieber gave up four and runs in five and a third yeah yeah I understand but he is really efficient throws a lot of strikes

I think that gives him a high floor and enough of the ceiling that unless the matchup's just awful, I'm probably going to run them out there. You're happy with that? I'm doing that thing that good interviewers do, where they just sit silently to make the subject speak more and answer a question. Oh, wow.

Yeah, so that's what I was doing. Was my answer insufficient? No, it was very good. It was very good. I have 60 minutes to you. All right, that's Scott White. I'm out of Mazur. If you have a question, send us an email, Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com.

Please put baseball podcasts at the subject line. Got a ton of football podcasts coming in the inbox. So that would help us out. Fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. We'll answer it tomorrow. See you later.