Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/10: Weekend Roundup (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 10, 2018

Beginning the show with one SP and one hitter to add as Jake Junis will certainly be a popular SP this week. We also do our best to update you on two-start pitchers (3:00) as rotations continue to change, and we've got interesting one-start streamers (5:45) like Reynaldo Lopez and Steven Matz ... Is Joey Votto worth starting after his big weekend (10:30)? What other news items are we following (15:00) and can you trust Chris Sale and a few other studs who are coming off the DL this week (20:30)? ... Who we added and dropped (23:30), a look at the Most Added list (25:25), hitters to know about (35:25) and plenty of SP talk (40:00). Plus a look at today's matchups (54:50) ... Your emails at [e-mail] This episode is sponsored by www.ZipRecruiter.com 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

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports. Now, one, one pitch, basketball, bold, and got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now, here's Adam, Scott Heath and Chris. Are you ready for week 25, ladies and gentlemen? Welcome back to fantasy baseball today on this Monday morning, September 10th,

Adam Azer and Scott White with you here. Scott. I don't know what to say. Hello. Are you prepared to give us one hitter and one pitcher to add? You know, I actually wrote the Monday waiver wire. Cool. Since pressing normally writes, it is all tied up with football now.

Who is? Football has begun. Right. Am I right? But we still care about baseball. I sure do. Okay. So yeah, one hitter and one pitcher to add.

This being a Monday, I'm going to give you my favorite two-star pitcher to add. And it was also my favorite two-star pitcher to add last week. Who didn't end up making two-starts? Welcome to September baseball. And his name is Jake Junice. Is he going to make two starts this week? I believe so. It's a seven-game week.

He's starting Monday. Things would have to go very wrong for him not to. His matchups are against the White Sox and Twins, so still very favorable. 189 ERA over his past six starts, only one home run allowed during that stretch after his slider went flat on in mid-season and he allowed a ton of home runs. He seems to be back in form. Yeah, yeah, that's a big one. We want to start him?

Yeah, we do. What about a hitter? A hitter. I could go a few different directions here. I'm going to go with Jonathan VR, though, because I like the Orioles matchups. he's been a different player since joining the Orioles at the trade deadline 285 with six homers 12 steals already as many steals as he had with the Brewers and half as many of bats so they are letting him run wild and like he's he's erratic and inefficient not like

not you could understand why a contending team like the Brewers wouldn't let him run wild but the Orioles have nothing to lose and they seem to be letting him do it so he could be I think something over the final three weeks here, something close to what he was in 2016 with the Brewers, that guy who was getting drafted in the third round the following year because it was so productive. Jonathan V.R. if you need a hitter. Jake Junice, if you need a pitcher.

And I think one of the most important things we're going to do today, Scott, is we have to really try to sort out the two-star pitchers, you know, and who's actually making two-starts. Are there guys that... Well, I went... Yeah, yeah. I went through it yesterday afternoon. Okay.

So I think I have a good grasp on it. But there are some things I just don't know. So who do you think people might use as a two-star pitcher that will not make a second start? I mean, like Trevor Williams, Hyunjin Ryu. Who might not make a second start? Did you remove anyone from the two-star pitcher list? Gileo? I removed J-Hab.

I removed J-Hab because. It sounds like the Yankees are going six-man, at least this turn. Oh, okay. So even though half is starting their first game of the week, I don't think he's good. But, you know, you might start J-Hap and one-star week anyway. Chris Sale is technically making two starts this week, but the first will be of the two-inning variety,

and then he's supposed to increase in each inning, an inning each time. So you're probably going to get five total innings from him and no chance for a win. Doesn't mean you can't start him, but I probably want to do it in a points league. Yeah, that sucks. Yeah.

I mean, that just stinks. All right, so do you feel confident that Hyun Jun Ryu, Derek Rodriguez, Trevor Williams, and Lucas Gialito are going to make two starts? I think saying I'm confident would be overstating it. I'm not really confident in anything this time of year because they're not...

These clubs aren't going to announce, often won't announce well ahead of time if somebody with their expanded rosters is making a spot start. Yeah. What I'm not sure about is if Mike Fires or Daniel Mengden is making two starts for the athletics. You see their Tuesday starter listed as a different person in different places. Oh, well, that's frustrating because Fires is at Baltimore. and then at Tampa Bay is actually hitting pretty well. But that start at Baltimore... I mean, he should at least get a start at Baltimore.

Yeah, he should at least get one against Baltimore. So he's probably worth using anyway. Yeah, fires. And let's see, what was the other questionable one like that where it just wasn't great consensus? You can always look at this stuff on our website on cbsports.com slash fantasy. Brad Keller was another one like that, where he's either started.

Tuesday or Wednesday. And if you're starting Tuesday, it'll probably be two starts. If you're starting Wednesday, it obviously won't be. Well, how about some one-start streamers? What if you need one-start streamers this week? By the way, we have a lot of your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. We will discuss it.

We have to talk about Joey Votto, of course. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. We are going to be welcoming back several players, but I have the iPad all queued up to play the Welcome Back Cotter theme music, but it is currently doing a very long software. update. So how long can we stretch out these segments to give my iPad time to get ready to play the Welcome Back Cotter song?

I just don't know. So one-start streamers. All right, I got a few options here. Tell me if you'd be interested in any of them. Austin Gomber, four quality starts in his last five starts. He is 68% owned. He is the most owned player on this list that I'm about to give. Gomber is either going to have the pirates or the Dodgers, depending on five-man or six-man

for the Cardinals. If it's five-manorization, I'll have the pirates at home. If not, it'll be the Dodgers at home. Gomber, any interest? I think you could do worse, but I think you could probably do better, too. I would say, just preface this whole segment.

I would rather have a two-starts Jake Junice than any of these players, and I would rather have a two-star Lucas G. olito than any of these pitchers. Okay. Matt Boyd, I would really be kind of interested in Matt Boyd, but at Cleveland could be tough. It's a tough matchup this week.

One start at Cleveland for Boyd, but since the All-Star break, he's got a 306 ERA, a strikeout per inning, 11% swinging strike rate, which is okay. Would you start Matt Boyd at Cleveland? And that was the jammy through this weekend, Saturday.

Yeah, 11 strikeouts against the Cardinals. Yeah, only two hits allowed. But that matchup is scary, and I don't have a lot of trust in him. him, low BAPIP, fly ball tendencies. I'd rather not. I do prefer him to Gomber, I think, but I'd rather not. Okay.

You know how I feel about one-star sleepers. Yeah, but they don't necessarily have to be sleepers. They could just be under-owned. Like, Stephen Mats, I think, is someone I would really consider because he's got the Marlins this week, and he threw five innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts against the Phillies. And his last four starts, Stephen Mats, has 31 strikeouts. in 24 innings.

Only six runs, 13 hits, five walks. He's pitched great. And, you know, I don't know that I'd buy into it ordinarily, but the Marlins this week, that could definitely work for Stephen Matt's got 53% own. Yeah, that's probably my favorite of these one-start streamers so far. Okay, Stephen Matt's. Derek Holland, I mean, quite frankly,

354 ERA and a strike operating this year. He's just having a good year. 161 ERA in his last five starts. Derek Holland will either have Atlanta or Colorado this week. Either way, it would be at home. Holland is 39% owned. Yeah, that's probably in the Gomber class. Like, you could do worse, but I'm not thrilled to start him.

So he's behind Boyd and Mats? Yeah. Okay. And Rinaldo Lopez, 51% owned. 10 strikeouts against the Angels this weekend, and 132 strikeouts on the year in 168 and 2 thirds. But right now he's pitching pretty well, and he's at Baltimore.

Would you take a shot on Minaldo Lopez, 51% owned? So this is a four-starred stretch for Lopez, where the strikeouts have been up after, you know, remember how hot he started the season, and we were really buying it because he was averaging like six per nine. More than a strike-up per inning over his past four starts. And it's kind of like Gialito.

The change-up usage is up, and the change-up itself has been more effective. I don't know what they discovered, but they seem to have discovered it at the same time, and it's helping their fast. basketball play up, and it's kind of exciting. I think the matchup is good enough that

he moves ahead of mats as my favorite one-star streamer on this list. But, but... That's an upset. That's an upset. Understand that that's all it is is a one-start streamer, because his next two mashups, his final two to close up the season will be the Cubs and the Indians.

I cannot see myself starting him in a one-start week against either of those teams. All right, Ronald it'll open. ahead of Stephen Matt. So right now it's Lopez, Matt, Boyd, Gomber, Holland, and what about, just got to mention him because he had a perfect game through eight innings, Jorge Lopez, who was pitching great at Minnesota, and guess who he's facing this

week, Minnesota. Any interest in a 4% own Jorge Lopez? I haven't seen enough to win me over. All right. So, Scott, let's talk about the worst segment ever. We love bad segments, right? Well, we did one the other day because my advice was just dreadful. I reversed jinx to a couple of players.

It was the which high-end players are you just kind of done with the segment. And I started out, my whole thing was about Joey Vado. Done with Joey Vado in a Roto League. He's got six lefties on the schedule, yada, yada, yada. Well, he homered twice over the weekend, including a Grand Slam. And Andrew McCutcheon did too. But still, we do have six lefties on the schedule for Joey Votto. Are you starting him or sitting him this week?

I think I would sit him in a categories league, a traditional 5-5 league. Points league with all the walks, probably not. But in the categories league, I think I would. The numbers have been pretty awful against left-handers. And I'm concerned about Scooter Jeanette, too, because he's now sat against three of the past four lefties, the Reds have faced. So, yeah, that's, I mean, you have to weigh your alternatives at second base, because you may just not have a good one. but if you do Jonathan,

if you're sitting Jeanette or VR or you can pick up Rayo Mondesie Adelberto Mondesie as he goes by now Don't confuse everyone. Yeah.

My stat for at Alberto Mondesie his past 42 games if you project those 42 over 162 he comes out with 293 average 20 homers

6060 deals. Wow. 93 run scored. Wow. It's tough right now because there are a lot of hitters that are out there on waivers. Like eight of them are on the raise that are hitting well right now. And then you've got your high-end guys like Carlos Correa, even Nolan Aronado.

These guys are playing through injuries. They're not playing. Well, I mean, there's no way you're benching Aronado. But I think Correa is pretty benchable at this point. Vado is benchable in the right format. It's tough to make these decisions. Like, I am going to start Chris Bryant. But I don't have that much faith in Chris Bryant right now, you know?

But how can you sit him? It would take a lot of guts. You know, well, what? Well, it depends who you have. I mean, I only have him. I think he's outside my top 12 second baseman in the rankings. Chris Brian? Yeah.

Well, he's not second base eligible. Did I say second base? Silly goose? Yeah, you did. Hard base. Well, regardless. Like, if you have a Matt Chapman and Chris Bryant, which certainly seems plausible,

you'd start Chapman over him. You know? Yep, you're right. Swaras and Bryant, which seems possible. And, hey, if you live in Oakland, and you want to be, like, can I just call out the A's fans? How bad?

The stadium, I know, it's got to be bad. I've never been there. It looks terrible. The sewer system breaks. all the time, like you're probably sitting in actual feces. But you got to go to the games, man. Like, come on. They're the hottest team in baseball.

They're not only going to make the playoffs. Like, I think they're going to surpass the Yankees. And they're going to host the wild card game. That's my prediction. And when they do, you better go to the freaking game because I was watching the Yankees days last week, and it was an unimpressive crowd, okay? But now you're like, well, I want to go to the game, but it's so expensive. this wild card game is the playoffs.

All the bandwagon fans are tucking their pants into their socks because the sewer system broke, whatever, but we're still going to go to the game. I need to save some money. Well, we can save you money on the Seekekek app with the code fantasy. Download the Seek geek app. Get your tickets. Every purchase is fully guaranteed.

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It is Carlos Martinez. If you need a closer. You called that. Did I call? I kind of called that, right? You called that. I'll give it to you. Thank you, thank you.

I also kind of called Kent and Maeda, although he got one of two saves over the weekend. Yeah. But I don't know that you, I'm not going to give that one. Come on, partial credit. He got the first one. No, no. I gave you, come on.

All right, fine. He got one of two, and now he's not going to get any more. He is not going to get any more. That's true. Jansett will be back. Just crap news. Michael Kopeck needs Tommy John surgery. You want to react?

That ruined my Friday. I know. I knew you'd take that hard. It was, because, I mean, we've already seen Brent Honeywell, A.J. Puck. Who else? Alex Reyes still isn't quite. I mean, he's made one. start in the major since he had Tommy John's surgery.

I know another injury has impacted him since. But like those are the top four pitching prospects in baseball probably. And they're all not pitching. They've all not had a chance to make a real impact in the majors yet. That's, it just stinks. Jacob de Grom was scratched due to bad weather on Sunday. Noah Cindergarde left after taking a liner off the ribs. X-rays were negative.

You know, you look at his numbers. and it just seems like he's been so unlucky. He's getting a ton of swinging strikes. Babbeth is really high for Cinderguard. But he's a start, right? You're starting him? Yes, I'm starting him. I had hoped he was kind of over that spell

after his complete game two-hit 11 strikeout gym or whatever it was. I may not have those numbers exactly right, but his previous start was awesome. Right. And then he followed. And then he re-follows it up with more of that bad, babit luck. 12 hits, 12 hits, five walks. That was unusual.

Gregory Polanco is out for the year with a bone bruise in his knee and a shoulder injury. I'm going to give you three players, and you tell me if you could consider sitting them. Carlos Correa, who's playing through a back issue. Noon Aranato, who's playing through a shoulder issue, who did Homer yesterday, and D.D. Gregorius, who is just kind of being eased back into action. Okay, so Gregorius. Aronado and Correa I would

I don't think you could start any of them to be honest certainly not if you're in a playoff situation in a head-to-head league it's too much at stake to gamble on especially this time of year

I mean I guess the Rockies are really fighting for a playoff spot so they're most anxious to get their stud-hit her back, but his sounds maybe the most concerning of the three. Who's that? Aronado? Yeah. Well, they said the shoulder injury only affects his throwing.

But Bud Black said, quote, offensively, it just doesn't feel right. His timing's off. There's some other things going on. Yeah. So I said you can't bench Aronado. You clearly disagree. Well. That's fine.

That's fine. I shouldn't have said it so definitively. I still started every day, but let me just, let me just take a look. here for a second because you know how much time has he actually missed. No he hasn't missed any time. Miss one game. Yeah he was in the line of Sunday. Yeah, I

think you probably have to start him. Okay. Yeah, Correa on the other hand, like he's just playing horribly and he's got this back issue and then Didi, right, like you said I wouldn't start Didi. I don't know what their plan is for him but I just, he doesn't play nine innings yet. He sat on

Sunday. They're really easing him back in. It's been disappointing. Yeah. Aaron Judge is making good progress, though, so you might be able to get him back before the season is over. Shohei Otani has a bruised thigh, but he was in Sunday's lineup, which is nice. And he's like a stolen base threat, too. He's doing everything. And Scott, boy, do we...

I'm kind of excited to see him as a full-time hitter next year. It sounds like Jeff Passon of Yahoo Sports. He reported that it... It sounds like doctors are on board with him doing that next year. So that's exciting. I should mention him with young pitchers having Tommy John surgery too. Yeah. Although I don't think of him as a prospect in the traditional sense.

Yeah. And boy, did you miss a 30-30 guy, and the listeners tell you about it last week? Yeah. Jose Ramirez has gone 30-30 on us, 30-holmer's 30 steals. Yeah, I was going top of mind there. So it stands the reason I would miss somebody. but I wasn't really thinking he had that many steals either, to be honest. He's been a monster.

He should probably be the third player off the board next year. Trout bets, Jose. Yep. But which Jose, that is the question. I guess it's Riberius. All right, Scott. Based on the context, yes. Good news.

Yeah, yeah, good news for you, Scott. Good news. I don't care anymore. Good news. We had enough time for the iPad to reset. And that means we get to welcome a wish, a very hearty, to three players this week. We already mentioned Chris Sale. We're not starting Chris Sale.

He's going to give you five innings in two starts. He might in total. Yeah, yeah, right. You could start a really good reliever. But he ain't going to get you any wins because he's not going to qualify. Josh Donaldson could be. be back tomorrow and Jose Abrao could be back today. Are you starting them? I would rather not.

All right. If I was forced into it, fine, but I'd rather not. In the bullpen, did you see any saves situations that fantasy owners can take advantage of, other than Carlos Martinez, who is now 71% own the closer for the Cardinals? I am not sure what's going to happen in the Milwaukee Bullpen from this point forward Jeremy Jeffers has done a great job closing he didn't get the save yesterday

now he did throw over 30 innings in a multi-inning save Saturday so that makes sense he wasn't available he's fine Scott he it's well no it's not it's not that Jeffers has done anything wrong it's that Corey Kenebel has come back from the minors like a bat out of Hades

striking everybody out. He hasn't allowed a base runner in five appearances, and he's the one who got the save Sunday. And when he was first removed from the role, Craig Counsel said he hoped to get him back there because he thinks their bullpins better with him in the ninth. So that might be the excuse. Oh, wow.

Do I need to start Ken Giles over Jeremy Jeffers? Because Jeffers had pitched Friday and Saturday, so it made sense that he didn't get to save on Sunday. If saves are your top priority. They are. I think you have to. I think you have to start Giles over Jeffers. Yeah, and a couple other interesting things.

I mean, Brad Boxberger is really struggling. Yeah. And I don't know what to do there, but, yeah, I don't know. I don't know that it would for sure be Archie Bradley replacing him. Right. It might be the other guy whose name I never bothered to learn and always have to ask you to bail me out on. Harano. Horano.

What's his first name? Have you seen the back of his jersey? He just goes by Harano. Okay. His first name is... Horano Blue Jays. Yoshihisa. Ah, yes.

Yoseisha. No, you skipped. Yoshihisa, not Yosea. Yoshihisa. Yeah. Hirono. There you go. Get saved soon, so I will be motivated to learn your name.

And Sean Doolittle is back, but he actually... set up Greg Holland in the Nationals bullpen. So it might be Greg Holland's job. I don't know. But Sean Doolittle is bad. I don't know. I would imagine that's probably more of an easing end situation. But maybe not.

Okay, Scott, fine. Any interesting ad drops for you? Good, sir? Any interesting ones. I think Tyler White is to the point. Kind of like we were saying about Hermann Marquez a week or two ago. Where, like, get with the program, people. What more does he have to do?

It's been going on for so long of just 1,000 OPS production. I know he faked us out at the start of 2016, but that was really like just a two-week stretch where he did a lot of damage. This has been more than a month now. And since he entered the lineup, he's been the number three first baseman in points leagues. Amazing.

Yeah, so Tyler White is 60. He's 7% owned, I think. I did add him. I dropped Gregory Polanco. That was obvious. I dropped Hunter Renfro, even though he's hitting well. They have five games this week, so I don't know that I want to start Padres if I don't have to. I added Marcel Ozuna.

Ozuna's hitting very well right now. He'll be in my lineup this week. And one guy I dropped it I shouldn't have. Made a mistake. I dropped Michael Conforto last week. I think I talked about this because he was set up to have a bunch of lefties, so I sat him and then I dropped him. Michael Conforto actually, since the All-Star break, has like an 830 OPS.

He's been pretty consistent. He's been better against lefties than righties this season. So if Conforto is out there, I think he's about 70%-0. You might want to grab him. Okay, that's pretty much it for me, except there were a lot of two-star pitchers that I picked up earlier in the week. So let's go ahead and take a look at the most added players in CBS.com leagues. And I'm sure there will be a bunch of two-star pitchers on there,

or at least players that we thought were two-star pitchers. The most added player is Luke Voight. Luke Voight. Scott, Philip, all right, Phil. I'm going to get your email on. Philip and I had some email exchanges. He wanted to hear from you. He wants two out of three.

Luke Voigt, Joey Votto, and Jesus Aguilar this week. I think I'd go Aguilar and Votto. That's what I said. Yeah. Void on the sidelines. He didn't really like that. So I said, all right, fine. Go ahead, start Luke Voight.

I'm not going to argue with you. It works. Now, he is number one, and he's playing pretty much every day for the Yankees. What do you think of when you hear Luke Voight's name? John Voight. Obviously, John Voight. You think of John Voight? I think of volleyball. You think of what?

Oh, my gosh. Really? Yeah. That's a terrible call. Really? That's all I think about. Terrible call. I feel like the home run call should be Wilson, even though that's the company of grand.

I feel like it might be. It might be too big of a lead, but it would be a lot of fun. I don't know what his home run call is. All I know is that John Sterling has a home run call for everyone, except he did not have one for a Dany Etchavaria. He just assumed that a Dany Etch of Aria could never hit a home run. And when he did hit a home run, John Sterling had nothing. It was a big controversy.

So Luke Voitz number one. Wade Miley, Adam Wainwright, are numbers two and three on the most added list. Uh, yeah, I would not trust Adam Wainwright any further than I can throw them, which is not very far. What about Wade Miley? He's got the Cubs and the Pirates this week. Yeah, he's a two-star sure you could look at. I have not had much belief in what he's been doing this year, but it's been doing it for a while now. And no shame in riding the hot hand when you're trying to get an edge.

Hey, listen. On a week-to-week basis, anybody can sabotage you. It's true. Listen, everyone, this is important. I wouldn't say this unless I meant it. If you start Adam Wainwright this week, you deserve to lose your fantasy league. You deserve to lose your fantasy league. Just do not do it.

And if he has a good start, I will own up to it. He's going to have to have at least, you know, he's going to have to not be bad this week. He's got two starts, Pittsburgh and the Dodgers. How many innings is he going to throw first start off the DL? Like, this is a terrible, terrible idea. He's going to throw two and two thirds because he'll give up six runs. Yeah. And I think Francisco Mejia is a bad start as well because they only have five games.

You're hoping for three games this week out of Mejia. I don't think he's a bad ad in a Roto League or something. But in a points league, I don't know that you're probably going to get three games, I think. but I just, I think it's risky, and he's the fourth most added player. Then you got Junis, then you have Jaime Barria, who is scheduled for two starts. Berea has the Rangers and the Mariners on Monday and Saturday, so he'll probably make his two starts. He may baria.

Not great starts, and he rarely goes six innings. So he's not high on my list. Okay. We've got Mike Minor, who Scott just doesn't buy, at the Angels and at San Diego, if he makes his two starts. Yeah, he's okay I don't have a lot of confidence in what he's done since the All-Star Break But one of those matchups is really good

And kind of what I said for Miley It's been doing it for a while now It's going to end eventually But you're talking just one week Are you willing to roll the dice that it won't be this week I don't think it's a crazy idea And Fram O'Reyes

at Seattle for two games, home against Texas for three games. Yeah, it's just tough with the Padres. I don't know what to do with the Padres, Scott. I understand Reyes is hitting well. Renfro's hitting well. Mahia's hitting well. But only five games. I'm with you.

Five games is a good reason to not consider those hitter sleepers this week. None of them. I didn't have any Padres in my top 10 sleeper hitters. Yeah. Stephen Piscotti is 78% on. Makes sense. Who's a better deep. League ads. Brad Keller or Sandy Alcantara?

Keller. He is one of the best ground ball getters in the majors. And I think it helps explain why his ERA is so low. Probably still a little too low to be true, but he's a decent pitcher. Wade LeBlanc only has one start, but it's home against the Padres. And it's on Wednesday. He is 59% on. He's on the most added list. And he's RP eligible, LeBlanc. Do you have any interest in Wade LeBlanc? He's kind of like the other Wade, Miley, in that pitch pretty well. I don't know how he's doing it.

Among the one-star sleepers, one-star streamers we talked about before, I would take most of those guys over him. Rinaldo Lopes, Matt, Boyd, etc. And then two hitters who are barely owned, Ryan O'Hern and Kevin Kiermeyer. Scott's sleeper hitters sleeper hitters sleeper hitters

sleeper hitters list there you go Keirmeyer has been amazing he's like a 1600 O'Ps in September He had zero home runs in all of August But he's red hot right now Kevin Keirmeier O'Hern Keirmeier would you trust them this week I don't know that I'd go as far as to say I trust them Like you said O'Hern's in my top 10 sleeper hitters for this week

A bunch of Riteys on the schedule I don't know That he's really as good of a power hitters he's shown so far he had a sub 400 slugging percentage at AAA this year and that was the PCL

he has a couple 20 homer seasons in the minor so I don't doubt that there's some power there but if the matchups weren't favorable I wouldn't be using him okay and then what do you think about Kiermeyer we've been waiting and waiting and waiting is such a bad year yeah

I want to say and maybe Faulty memory. It's a bunch of singles, right? No. Like, he's for a good average. I'm wrong about that. In September, he's 13 for 25 with three home runs.

I think you're thinking of Malick Smith, who is since coming off the D.L. He is batting 296 and slugging 296. He has zero extra base hits in six games. Yeah. But Keirmeyer, no. Kiermeier has a 1596 OPS in September. Yep.

I see that now. Yeah, that's hotter than I realized. us, so he's worth considering, too. I like Malick Smith more because he's stealing like a base every game. Yep. Seems like. Yep. Four steals and six games.

But Keirmeyer looks like he's usable again. Okay, that's going to do it for the most added list. We'll get into hitters and pitchers. Talk a little bit more fantasy here. Tell you what you need to know. You need to know, though, about ZipRecruiter and making the smart move. There are job sites that send you tons of the wrong resumes to sort through, and that's not smart. And there are job sites that make you wait for the right candidates to apply to your job.

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And this rating comes from the hiring sites on Trust Pilot with over 1,000 views, a reviews, excuse me. So this is a really awesome website and a great way to try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. David Wright expects to return this season. I hope he does. I'd love to see David Wright play. Felix Hernandez left with a hamstring issue. Freddie Peralta is going to the bullpen. Scott, Josh James pitched out of the bullpen on Saturday, so it looks like he's out of the rotation. But he threw two and two thirds, scoreless innings at the Red Sox, with one hit, no walks, and four strikeouts. Do you think Josh James could be one of those

Bullpen guys is actually worth using? I don't know that we'll get a chance to develop that level of confidence in him before the season's over. Okay, fine, whatever. I mean, he has tons of upside, so yeah, it's possible. But, you know, we've got three weeks left, and he's made one relief appearance.

Let's not get out of ourselves. Guess who is third base eligible? He plays for the Phillies. Carlos Santana He sure is You could maybe start him over Chris Bryant If you have that option Because Carlos Santana is actually hitting the ball

Pretty well right now Three home runs in his last Five games It is good to see for Santana Any third base eligible Randall Gritchick left After colliding with a stool Weird

Hope he's okay Miguel Suno has missed four straight games With a leg contusion And Andrew Miller should be back today Hitters to know the weekend and recently. I've mentioned a lot of these guys actually, but Tommy Fam, Malik Smith, Kevin Kiermeyer,

they're all hitting well, Brandon Lau homered yesterday, I think, and who else on the race? Duffy's stealing bases. The rays are tougher. The rays aren't going to make the playoffs, but they actually, it looks like they're going to finish, they're probably going to finish ahead of the Mariners

and be the last team, like the first team out of the playoffs. Yeah, yeah, amazing year for them. Great job. Confordo, I talked about, Jeff McNeil. Jeff McNeil is 26% Owen Scott. Yep, I read about him in WaverWire. He is batting. Yeah, go ahead.

So he's been really hot. Batting, let me see the exact number here. 421 over his past 22 games with five doubles, four triples. And zero home runs. Well, let's not, I'll get there. He has a 340 batting. average on the year, right? Really high. Crazy high. His badbip is only 360, which is high, but it's not so high that, like,

you expect his batting average to come crashing down. He hardly strikes out ever. Now, he does have only two home runs in over 100 at bats, as you said. That's not great, but he did hit 19 home runs in 88 minor league games this year. So I think there's definitely more power there. I think he's kind of a... He may have the potential. to be like a poor man's Daniel Murphy. He strikes out so infrequently. It just needs to get those power numbers up. But I think he's usable just as he is in points leagues.

Jeff McNeil, we're talking about here. Would you rather have McNeil or VR? I'd rather have VR just more productive and more impactful categories. But in a points league, it's a close call, I think, between those two. I left Johann Camargo on waivers. But, I mean, maybe we should be starting Johann Camargo over Chris Bryant. He's got nine home runs and a 317 batting average and 917 OPS since the All-Star break.

Yeah. He is an underrated player in fantasy and real life. I'm not sure he doesn't deserve to be the Braves long-term option at third base. They're kind of waiting around for Austin Riley, and they've been mentioned in rumors for Nick Castellanos and Josh Donaldson and Mike Moussakis this past off season. But Camargo, he's batting second now, too. He's batting between Acuna and Freeman.

Yeah, you know who else is batting second is the guy we already talked about, Alberto Mondesie. So that is nice. And Eric Hosmer is homered in three straight games. Oh, boy, I really don't want to. Oh, you know what? Five games this week. That makes it easy to not.

buy into Hosmer. It's been crap all year, so I don't know. You're going to sit Hosmer, right? Yeah, I mean, unless it was deep league. Right, right. All right, double dongs,

Ozuna, Phil Irvin, Ramone Luriano, Gritchick, Blackman, Beltrae, Trout. Anything that jump out at you there with the double-dongers? I think Phil Irvin might be a pretty

decent player. He is a former first-round pick who got a lot of attention who hit the ground run when he joined the Reds Minor League system and then faded thereafter but I'm having a hard time figuring out what is what's wrong with them as a hitter

because he seems to do a lot of things very well a lot of line drives and not an inordinate number of strikeouts he might be I don't know that there's much incentive to use him the rest of this season but if the Red are willing to make a spot for him in the outfield next year, I might call him a sleeper.

I would like to call him Fleurvin. I think we should just combine it. You say his name fast, it sounds like Fleurvin. I think that would be a really... DeLurvan. That should be his nickname on nickname week next year. Flurvan? Flurvan.

I don't know. If somebody adopted a nickname from our podcast... Oh, how cool would that be? Right? It would be the coolest. All right, listen... It would never happen. Cincinnati listeners, get it going,

Hohen, hashtag Flurvan. Trend it. Scott, let's talk pitchers. Are you ready to start? The following guys have been pitching better lately. Robbie Ray. Robbie Ray, seven straight starts allowing no more than three runs. Only two quality starts in those seven, but they are his last two.

Robbie Ray is at Houston this week. Are you ready to start? Not at Houston. No. All right. How about Jose Barrios at Kansas City this week? It just had a good start against Kansas City on Saturday. I think because of the matchup, you have to start him.

Burios. All right. How about Chris Archer? Last two starts have been good enough. He had six innings, three runs, three walks, six strikeouts against Miami. He will either be at St. Louis or at Milwaukee this week, so it will not be an easy matchup for Chris Archer. Yeah, I feel like all three of these guys are matchup dependent right now. And I'm going to take a pass on Archer based on those matchups.

I'm going to skip the studs here. Studs being Studs at least. Studs being Duds we could look at, though. Cinderguard, we talked about. Like, he might be at Boston this week. I think he's going to face the Marlins. He's either home against the Marlins or at Boston this week. I don't think there's any more polar opposite scenario, you know, right?

But I'm going to start Cindergarde regardless. Yeah. I'm not to the point where I can seriously consider sitting him. I mean, he showed just two starts ago what he's capable of. And it's not like there are any obvious red flags, other than he's giving up a lot of hits. Well, are you seeing enough red flags in these guys that you would consider sitting them?

Jack Flaherty against the Dodgers, a lot of walks lately for Flaherty, Charlie Morton against Arizona, John Gray against Arizona. How is that possible? I suppose it's possible that Morton and Gray are both facing the Dynamics. And Eduardo Rodriguez against the Mets. I would start all four.

You would? Okay. Yep. So the Diamondbacks are at Colorado and at Houston. Yeah, so both Morton Gray are facing Arizona. Studs being Duds, part two. Hey, before I forget, I need to bring it up. What are we doing about Zach Granky this week?

He's at, and Zach Godley as well. I think they're both at Colorado and at Houston. Well, Godley is a two-star pitch. They're both two-star pitchers, you're saying? Granky might be only at Colorado. Yeah. If Godley was only at Colorado, I would not start Godley, but because it's two-star, it's probably going to start him.

Yeah, they both are two-star pitchers, at Colorado and at Houston. And definitely start Grinky in two-star week. Even though he hasn't been that good on the road? Yep. Even though the road starts at Colorado. Yeah. He's in the class of pitchers. just don't mess with it.

Okay, that's fair. He's probably going to be a top five Sye Young finisher in the NL. That's a big deal. It's the NL. I don't know what that means. Fringy starting pitchers part one. 65 to 79% own.

Would you want to take a shot on any of these guys? Sabathia against Toronto. Heaney against Seattle. Gio against either Pittsburgh or the Dodgers. Sabathia, Heaney, Gio. And Gomber. Oh, no, Gio is against Pittsburgh. Gombor is either.

Pittsburgh at the Dodgers, sorry. Oh, man. Scott's cell phone. Scott's cell phone makes it appearance. It's my real estate agent. Oh. Yeah. Okay, so what were you asking me?

Sorry. Sabathia Heaney, Gio Gomber. Do you like any of them? I will not use any. I mean, it was a, I don't know what happened for Matt Harpy. I think it was just... Scott, you're on the wrong part of that notes. Let me straighten you out.

All right, here's what we're doing. Not starting Sabathia. He's just not going deep enough and not pitching well enough lately. Not starting Gio Gonzalez. I don't care they had a good start. He's been terrible. He was pitching on 10 days rest when he has a great start. Austin Gomber, we already talked about.

You could do worse, but you could do better. Andrew Heaney, I have put him back in my lineup after seven scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts at the White Sox. Now, I have seen the White Sox make a lot of pitchers look really good. But last two starts for Hini, 13 innings, 18 strikeouts at Houston and at Chicago. He'll be home against Seattle this week. You're going to start Hini. Let's go to the next group of fringy starting pitchers. Man, you don't need me.

Stephen Mats is a start this week against Miami. Rinaldoz, Mapp-Bose-Map Boyd we already talked about. Scott actually likes Lopes better than Mats. He likes Mats better than Boyd, so he'd go Lopez, Mats than Boyd. Let's look at the next group of Pitchie starting pitchers. They are owned in 30 to 49% of leagues. And they are. Matt Harvey.

Now you can talk about Matt Harvey. Okay. Not yet. Hold on. John Gantz, Disclifani, Yvonne Nova, and Derek Holland. If you were going to pick from Harvey Gant, Disclafani, Nova, and Derek Holland. Who would you go with? Probably Holland and then probably Gantz. Who has been surprisingly consistent.

In a way, that's still kind of hard to believe. Because while he's an above-average groundball pitcher, he's not a great groundball pitcher. he's not a great ground ball pitcher and it's a high hard hit rate so I don't know it seems like he's had good luck but regardless he's probably my second favorite of this group I think it was just for Matt Harvey the stars aligning and the fact he was facing the Padres

it was clearly his best start of the year by far season high in strikeouts season high in swinging strikes by like five but he may have been throwing a little harder, but it's not like it was an outlier in terms of how hard he's thrown all season. I think he's still pretty average. I think we should read a bunch of emails. People have a question.

Oh, wait, deeply guys first. Tuki Toussaint, any interest in him against Washington this week? He's taking a couple turns in a row here, but the fact he had five walks in this start is still not like he's a reliable pitcher. Yeah. Jorge Lopez was now. Matt Shoemaker, Wey and Chen, Felix Pena. I like Felix Pena.

You do. I think he has a really good slider and a lot of strikeout potential. 12% ownership seems way too low. I couldn't put him on my waiver wire pickups for this week because it's a one-star week and it's not such a great matchup. It's either Texas or Seattle. But I think he's undervalued. You know, we'll see what the last two weeks look like in terms of matchups, but you might get some use out of him yet.

And it's far as Wayne Chen goes. I mean, he's on the road this week, but I suppose if he's home next week, you could be crazy and start Wei and Chen because he's been, like, unbelievably good at home. I don't think Scott's going to recommend it, though. This is from Leo. It's a little crazy, but...

I hear you. Here we go with the emails. Leah wants to know if she should drop Gary Sanchez for Francisco Mejia. I wouldn't. I wouldn't do that. No. I mean, you could argue there's playing time concerns for both. But I'd rather have Sanchez.

This is from Gabe in Vancouver. Hey, Mac and Cheese. Ah, that's a friend's reference. Or it's just... I think it's just a me and you have mag. Mac and cheese. Which would you rather... If you could only have one.

Would you rather have the Mac or the cheese? I call it a side dish, but they market it as like a meal in and up itself, right? Yeah, I think it's a meal. It's a meal. It's a meal. You think of it as a meal? I think, yeah, I do think of it as a meal, but it could also be a wonderful side dish. Yeah.

I prefer the Mac to the cheese, I guess. Well, I mean, depends what kind of cheese it is. If it's powdered cheese With milk and margarine added I'd probably prefer the Mac too So Gabe says Sorry for getting on a tangent there Gabe Still waiting for that late season hot streak from Brian Dozier

Where is he on the drop-o meter? He's a nine Okay drop him From Mike Rich Hill at St. Louis Or Eduardo Rodriguez home against Toronto Who would you start? Rich Hill at St. Louis

Or Eduardo Rodriguez against Toronto He'll feel safer, but Rodriguez is more upside with that matchup. I will say, everything being equal, Richel. Doug from Astoria, dear Rick, Randy, and Roddy. I feel like those are wrestlers. I don't know. Rick Randy and Roddy, I'm going to Google that. Yeah, the wrestlers.

Good for me. Yeah, he makes a reference to Jake the Snake here. so probably, yeah. Oh, okay. Junis' matchups versus the White Sox seemed too juicy to pass up.

Would you bench Granky for Jake Junis? I can't bench Granky. Would you bench Bieber for Junus? Yes. Yes. I can do that.

Yeah. Andrew wants to know if he should drop Odor for VR in a points league. Oh. Let's not pull the plug on Odor so quickly.

Come on. Plug your nose for Odor. I get it. No. Josh wants you to pick two of three. Two start Gibson, two start Gialito, one start Snell. Snell and Gialito.

Snell and Gialito. Okay. That's actually, I think, a pretty easy one. From Curtis. Which two players would you keep for the remainder of my season? 12-team points league. Well, your season. His season, yes.

Definitely changes that. All right, who do we go? Camargo, Luriano, Fran Mill Reyes, Odor, Adam Frazier, Will Myers. I would keep Odor and Will Myers. Oh, why not Camargo, eh? Not Camargo, he'd be third. Okay. This is from Dan, Scott.

Just Dan, not his name is not Dan Scott. Should I bench Votto for Gurriel in a category's league? No, not Coriel. That's too low end. This is from Veels in Atlanta. Should I bent Correa for Paraza? I don't think that's crazy, given Correa's health scare that's currently going on. Parazas has been surprisingly productive this year, even in Points League. I don't know if this is a Points League, but if it is, he's been, I think he's been top 12.

So I don't think you gave an answer there. I think you kind of politician. No, I said that's fine. Okay. From David S. Not sure if this is David S. Pumpkins, but it is from David S. Which two relief pitchers should I start? Leclerc, Jeffers, Musgrove, Glassnow.

Pick two. I shot LeClerc. Let's see. Always think of that. I would sit... Well, I would start LeClerc, yes. and I would start, I would start Musgrove over glass now.

Bill in Palm Desert, hey Adam and Scott, for the upcoming week, Justin Upton or Mitch Hanager. I'd say Hanager is the obvious choice, but Scott loves the Angels Hitters this week, so Upton or Hanager. Do I love Angels Hitters this week?

They must have good matchups. I don't have any matchups in front of me, but I would start Hanager. Let's see who the best matchups are. Yeah, Hanager, as soon as I traded him, he started being great. Basically as soon as they moved into the lead-off spot, Hanager was great.

The best matchups belong to the Angels, the Yankees, the Mets, the White Sox, and the A's this week. Angels, Yankees, Mets, White Sox, and A's. Make sure you check out Scott's Sleeper-Hitters column for all that awesome advice. Jared from Illinois has Donaldson coming off the D.L. Should I drop Renfro or Fran Milreyes for Donaldson? Now I'm rethinking this because the Diamondbacks have some rough matchups. See, this is why. Well, Mitch Hanigur is not on the Diamondbacks.

I should have brought my matchups in here. Scott? The problem is Justin Upton's coming back from a concussion. And that's always a little scary. He struck out eight times over the weekend. All right, I'm going to stick with Hanukes. Scott, Mitch Hanigers is on the Mariners, not the Diamondbacks. What is wrong with me?

What is wrong with me? I can't even blame text from the agent this time. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Adam. Yes, that makes it even easy. Hanigar. All right, there you go. Matt from Ottawa.

Oh, no, wait, wait. We didn't answer this question. Should he drop Renfro or Reyes for Donaldson? I would drop one of them. Let's say probably Renfro. Yeah, I drop Renfro. And Matt from Ottawa says, hey, Justin, Stephen, Paul, and Gene. And those are Canadian prime ministers.

I'm not sure how he thought we'd get that, Matt, but thank you for the help. In the last week of my regular season, I'm one game back of first place. I have picked up Keller, Junis, and Gialito. Should I bench Luis Severino so that I can start all three of these guys? Severino will have one start. Should he bench Severino for Keller, Junis, and Gialito? I would bench... Sorry, my son walked in.

I do have an excuse this time. That's okay. I wasn't listening because I was trying to shush him. I would start Junis and Giolito. I would not. Severino has a good matchup this week, right? The Minnesota, I believe. Yeah.

Ask your son. I would start Jason Severino. Okay, you're going to ask him what he thinks. My son's making his podcast debut now. All right. I guess we've got to do the matchups for tonight. Alex Wood at the Dodgers, at the Red, start.

or sit? I would start him. Areietta against the Nationals. I would start him. Clubert. I'm going to skip the obvious ones. Wade Miley at John Lester. I would...

I'd prefer not to start either. I'd be more likely to start Lester, though. Jay Hap at Kyle Gibson. Definitely Hap. No to Gibson. I mean, if it's a two-start situation, he's usable. but not a single start against the Yankees. It's, you know, setting your line up daily.

Trevor Williams and Adam Wainwright. Just, well, I'm going to say the same thing for Williams that I said for Gibson. Two starts. I like them. One start not so much. Lucas G. Alito at Jake Junis. Bothsies. I'd start both.

Yep. Zach Godley at Armand Marquez. I will start Marquez, for sure. Godley, just that Colorado start. Thanks. Mike Miner at Jaime Baria. I'll say yes to Miner. And Sean Nukum at Derek Rodriguez.

Just Rodriguez. All right, there are some tough calls tonight. That is going to do it for our show. Good luck, everybody. We'll talk to you on Wednesday. See ya. See ya.