Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Add Lamet! Zunino? Reyes?

Episode Date: September 14, 2017

Scott begins today's show with a peak at the waiver wire (2:15) and some players who can help you win next week. Does Luiz Gohara matter? Do you realize how good Mike Zunino has been over the last 3 months? ... Some listener suggestions about how to deal with Shohei Otani (15:26), more hitters to add including Odubel Herrera (23:55) and Eddie Rosario (24:22) despite next week's schedule and players we are concerned about (29:30) like Chris Taylor and Chris Archer ... Plenty of talk about yesterday's SPs midway through the show and then a look at today's matchups (39:23) ... 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

All right, back here on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on this Thursday afternoon, September 14th. I don't know why I said Thursday like that, just changing things up a little bit. And we're hoping that this Thursday is the last day that will be in Scott's beautiful bedroom. And just so you know, I am not in the bedroom. We're Skyfin. But Scott, actually, as someone... You've been welcomed in here. I mean, you're seeing it.

I am. You see the cat. That's probably what had you saying Thursday, like that. Like it would be like what the Like the old Batman series How Catwoman would say it Is that how she said it? I don't know

She used to say like perfect or something right I don't know well before our time I shouldn't know anything about it You should not You absolutely should not We'll talk about Wednesday's games Preview tonight's action And get you a look ahead

To the next week's two star pitchers We are planning on having a show tomorrow As well And we're hoping that that show is in the office for Scott White. Are you looking forward to getting back in the office? Are you going to be upset that you can't work from home anymore? I am very much looking forward to getting back to the office. The home's still a little less than settled as we're waiting for maintenance to take care of some stuff here. So it's been, I don't know, it hasn't been the easiest work environment. And I think the office would be easier very much. looking forward to it for however long I'm still there because of course my wife is still going to give birth any day now and then I'll be leaving you all high and dry but uh hopefully

I returned to the office before that happens right we're all hoping for at least another week before that baby comes so we can so we can keep having Scott on the podcast just be aware of that we have a backup plan we think yeah we yeah it should be me and Chris they're still around They should be making. Yeah, they should. They should. Absolutely. All right.

So getting into the action from yesterday, you just finished the waiver wire column, which is on CBSports.com now. Who are you recommending for the people out there? Well, some of them are ones who didn't necessarily perform yesterday. Like we talked about Carlos Gonzalez. We talked about Garrett Richards. They're among my favorites. Ozzy Albies we talked about yesterday. but more recently, I'm still amazed to Nelson Lament.

His ownership is still below 70%. Because you look at what he has done now, 10 games, with the 244 ERA 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings. And I think only one of the starts wasn't a quality start. So like a measure of consistency you rarely find on the waiver wire, especially after 10 games like that, of course, turned in another good start yesterday against the twins. I think you were concerned about that matchup.

He pitched great and has been pitching great and doesn't have any real innings concerns even though he's a rookie. He's equipped to go through the end. I don't understand how Denelsa Lemaith is doing this as a two-pitch pitcher. He is almost exclusively fastball slider. But he's doing it. Yeah.

I mean, it's kind of like what we were seeing from Lance McCullors. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Except it's a slider instead of a curveball. But McCuller is like... He's throwing the slider a ton of. I thought McCullors added a change up this year

He may have this year, but Okay, he's like McCullors was last year Except he's not walking Five batters in the inning No, it's hard to get away from Denals on the Met Do you feel at all the same way about Luis Gohara Or did you put him in the waiver wire? He's 7% owned Go Bigger Gohara

I guess I'm Well first of all it's one good start for Gohara Rather than 10 And it wasn't a really good start Don't get me wrong. Struck out six and six innings and did it all only 71 pitches, which I thought was impressive at the Nationals, who haven't hit well lately, but still. I guess my concerns for Gohara is, okay, we need to see him do it again.

And by the time he does that, you're talking maybe one more turn? Maybe not. I don't know how solidified is in the rotation. Oh, okay. He's scheduled to have a two-star week next week. And I don't know. I mean, the matchups are not good. Now, granted, he just dominated the Nationals.

But at this point, I'm going to say that the Phillies, in my personal opinion, are no longer a good matchup. I'm not saying they're a bad matchup, but they're not the kind of start that you say, oh, got to start up against the Phillies. Gohara right now is scheduled for the Nationals and the Phillies at home next week. I'm going to say there's no chance. I'm entrusting my fantasy championship to a guy who's made two starts. one good, one bad. I would guess when I do the two-star pitcher rankings, he'll be in the middle portion of that,

probably below what the cutoff would be for me, because I mention every week what that cutoff would be for me in a mixed league. I usually have two different cutoffs for categories versus points league, so I'm pretty sure how far would be below that, but he'll be close to it, probably with those matchups. All right, now you heard, if you're a bigger gambler than I am. There you go. You heard Scott's audio cutting in and out a little bit.

He's using Wi-Fi. He's at home. We're having a little bit. We're having some connection issues today, hoping to work through it. But yeah, I just want to give you a heads up on that. And anyone else, that's a must-ad right now, Scott? Oh, well, I don't know that I call him a must-ad. but Nick Williams

I think between the cargoes and Mitch Hanigers and Jose Martinez is all of whom I like more than Williams but I kind of feel like we just haven't talked enough about Nick Williams in general and he's only about 40% owned he has an 11 game hitting street going on right now he's been in an extra base machine

and been very consistent since getting called up only once since he got the call end of June has he had as many as three games in a row where he's gone without a hit. And, you know, doesn't walk much, so that brings down the upside and points leagues. But categories, leagues, I think he's five outfielder leagues, for sure. He's somebody worth starting.

And, you know, if you need a hot hand play, he fits that description, too. Nick Williams of the Phillies. Okay, we'll talk more about players to add a little bit later. I also have some other standouts from yesterday, such as. Lucas Gialito Lucas Gialito 6 in a 3rd 1 run 3 walks, 3 strikeouts Gialito or Lament

I would rather have Lament It's been more trustworthy I mean this wasn't that great at the start from Gialito As many walks as strikeouts He's technically a quality start He's got a 256 ERA Let's give him a little credit here 11 walks 26 strikesouts

We've been giving him credit I've given him credit He's had one good strikeout start A lot of swinging strikes But only one that's actually manifested in his strikeouts. So, I don't know. You don't sound too jazzed about Lucas Gialito.

All right. I felt better before this start, frankly. Because he didn't have a lot of swinging strikes? How many swinging strikes did he? I know he didn't have a lot of strikeout. I think he had like eight or something, maybe six. It wasn't a lot. No.

It's just one start. So harsh. All right, fine. Scott Alexander came in for the Royal. in a non-same situation, but it was a tie game in the ninth, and he gave up two runs. He had – Alexander had seven straight scoreless appearances before this, and he was not even supposed to be available for this game. He has pitched so much lately, but they got desperate.

They went to Alexander, and he got rocked. So I'm not going to hold it against him, and I have a feeling Ned Yos won't either. But, yeah, I mean, like we said yesterday, could be Herrera that ends up being the closer there. Again, Herrera pitched in the eighth inning. But don't hold it against Alexander for getting roughed up yesterday. He should not have been pitching. Scott, did you know that since Mike Zanino was recalled on May 23rd? All right?

That's a while now. That's almost four months. He's the number five catcher in points leagues, number three in Roto. Zanino is batting 267 with 23 home runs in that stretch. Yes, terrible play discipline. But the second most home runs, the third most doubles among catchers, number five in points, number three in Roto since being recalled. Mike Zanino is 62% owned.

No, I didn't know that. That's pretty impressive. I question whether you can even maintain a 260 batting average, with as much as he strikes out. I mean, we're talking Joey Gallo levels of striking out. But, you know, if he's the Joey Gallo of catchers, you know, pairing down the home runs a little relative to the position, did I say that right, pairing down?

Is that height? It sounded weird. Anyway, you know what I'm saying. I do. I think I'm all right with it. You're all right with it? Yeah. You're not going to be the English police with me?

No, believe me. Me, not the one to be the English police around here, Scott. I see him as a little less than a top 12 catcher, but clearly he's doing something for you right now. And that may be how you have to play the catcher position if you don't have one of the, the, you know, Sanchez Posey or Contreras. Yeah, like if you have even Brian McCann, who has not been bad lately, but he's had a bad year, you know, I think I'd probably go Zanino over him. And if you need a Wellington Castillo replacement, Evan Gaddis is back, but you definitely

wants Zanino over Gattis. They're owned in about the same amount of league, 62%. And then here's a really bad standout. Tyler Glassnow Ewe-Wa 35% own 2-2-2-3rds, 5 runs, 6 walks. There it is, 6 walks, 3 strikeouts for Glassnow at Milwaukee. So the results were similar to what we've seen

from Glass Now in the majors in the past, but he was different. He was throwing the ball considerably harder, which is saying something, because he was topping out in 97 before returning to the minors. Well, he averaged 97 in this start was topping out at 100. which was part of what went along with that mechanical change he made in the miners,

which was basically ditching the wind-up going from the stretch the whole time. So we did see evidence of the legit change there. I don't know if it was just nerves or it's in his head now. Like I said, he had 1.9 walks per 9, I think it was, over his final seven minor league starts. So I was surprised he still struggled with control to this. degree. And I think he still has a very bright future. It's just since he couldn't come through in this start, I don't see how there's a chance he wins our trust before this season's over, even if he's great next time now. It's not enough. 35% home for Glass now. So if you haven't

in a keeper league, you can keep him. If you haven't been a seasonal league, you're not going to be trusting Tyler Glass now anytime soon. I've got a quote of the day for you. It's from Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers. That Kenley Jansen, quote, I don't care how good the Indians are playing. I don't care how good the nationals are playing. We are still the best team in baseball. By ourselves, Scott. It's technically true. I think, I mean, like, they have the best winning percent.

Yeah, they do. It's true. I want to consider them the favorites going into the playoffs because I think a big strength of the Dodgers is their depth. And depth doesn't count for as much in the playoffs. I mean, you use fewer players in a postseason series. than you do during the regular season. And some of their best of that depth that they have, like Alex Wood,

and, I mean, U.Darvish had a nice start yesterday, but he hasn't been reliable since coming over. I don't know. It's not good timing for them. No, and I remember what they were on, like, 116 win pace. And I said, I look at their team, and I just don't get it. you know i feel like they're good but i don't see an elite team and i said well the sum we all agreed the the sum of the the the whole is greater than the sum of their part whatever that

stupid expression is this is why i'm not the english teacher and that was right yeah i can confirm that's right the whole is greater than the sum of this part uh and i feel that way but i think we're starting to see it now like i don't know i think they have one do they have a great hitter Corey Seeger is arguably a greater. He's a great hitter for a shortstop, but is he a true middle of the order hitter? Yeah, probably, probably. Cody Bellinger. Cody Bellinger is, scares me, though.

You know, he's a rookie. He strikes out a ton. Justin Turner. Again, I don't, I like. I mean, those are the three MVP caliber hitters. Right, but I don't really think they're as good. I think Seeger is. I don't think Turner or Bellinger at this point in 2017.

I'm not going to project the future for Bellinger, are as good as what they were doing earlier this year. And Turner was batting almost 400 at one point. He clearly is not anymore. So I just sort of felt like they weren't as good. And Chris Taylor is really the big difference. I mean, he's been horrible for like three weeks now. And he's going to be on the Thursday thuriameter.

If they're all right, I mean, Kershaw, Darvish, Hill, Wood. Oh, they're good. Yeah. That's as good of a forsome as you're going to find, too. It's just they're not all right. right now. Scott, I have no idea who's going to win the World Series. I have none. I feel like it could be any of the playoff teams except

whoever gets the second wild card in the AL, whoever gets the second wild card in the NL, and the Cubs. I really don't think the Cubs can do it this year. Really? I don't think their pitching staff is what it was last year. And yeah, their lineup hasn't been the same either. I just don't, I just think they're overmatched. They're going to barely creep in. into the playoffs, you know, in part because of the division they played in. So, you know, don't, I'm not a Cubs hater or anything. Don't come after me with torches and pitchforks, Cubs fans.

You had your moment last year, and I thought, I thought you were the favorites coming into this year, too, but it hasn't played out that way. Well, I want to read some Otani emails. Remember we were talking about Otani coming over from Japan on yesterday's show and what to do with him in fantasy baseball if he bats and pitches. So we got some feedback. Matt in York, Pennsylvania. Interesting conversation on league settings on Wednesday.

I've always entertained the idea of having the utility spot. I shouldn't have sped through that. I've always entertained the idea of having the utility spot on a roster being open to a hitter or a pitcher. It is the owner's choice to fill each period. If you use an NL pitcher that hits bombs, you could get credit for both pitching and hitting. or if the position pitcher in the utility the position player in the utility spot

throws an inning in an extra inning game and gets a win you get that too. What do you think about that idea, Scott, of having a utility spot and you could use it for either a pitcher or a hitter? I think you'd have to be...

I mean, it's doable, it's interesting. I just don't know... Like, I don't think the standard scoring is set up for it. I think you'd have to be very careful with the scoring and that the upside for those two was the same. And certainly when you factor in the fact that maybe a pitcher could be making two starts, if it's a weekly scoring league versus a daily scoring league, that makes things lopsided too.

It seems unnecessary to me, but, you know, I'm not opposed to, like if people like having a quirk in their league, that doesn't sound like a crazy one. All right, here's another idea. This is from David in Jacksonville. I have a slightly different idea on how to treat Otani if he comes to Major League Baseball. Batting stats would depend entirely on the position he's playing.

When he's in a game as the pitcher of record, batting stats don't count. When he's in the game as an outfield, as any other position, batting stats do count. I don't know. I don't know. I don't want to double count it. That's the bottom line.

I don't want to double count it for Otani. Yeah. I kind of liked, I thought more about it because you liked my idea of having two Otani, is a pitcher and a hitter, and he could be drafted for different teams. And the more I thought about your idea, for some reason, the way you phrased it, had me thinking something different than the way I thought about it. We'll say what it was. Yeah, so you have Otani on your team.

and every week when you set your lineup, you have to declare him as a hitter or a pitcher, and you get points for either one. I didn't really take into account daily lineups, but that's... Well, the way you phrased it declaring, it made it sound like a different kind of process than what I was imagining.

I'm thinking Otani's just... He's pitcher, he's outfield eligible, or D.H., whatever position he's playing in the majors when he's not pitching. He's pitcher eligible and he's eligible at the hitter position. And when you set your lineup, you slot him in as one or the other.

You just drag and drop him there like you would anything out, any other hitter at any other position. If he's listed there with the hitters, then his hitter stats count. If he's listed there with a pitcher and his pitchers getting staffed. And I think that's,

that to me seems like the tiniest solution. Now, again, I'm not really the one who makes that call ultimately, but it's something I'm going to bring up because I like it. Yeah, we'll call it. the Azer idea. So I also think, I don't know what to do.

I don't know what to do in that case in daily. I think, I think even if you're in a daily lineups league, you have to declare each week pitcher or hitter, and you can only use Otani as that for that week. That would be my choice. I don't know that that's necessary. I think you could just for that day declare them one or the other.

And yeah, that means you're going to get credit for the start that week as well as the hitting stats, except on that day he starts. Then he's the most... Yeah. Oh, the hitting... No, then he's the most valuable player in fantasy. In daily formats.

He might be. He might be anyway. Even in weekly formats, depending on how good he is at those two things. I mean, he might not be very good at one. He might not be very good at either. That's the other thing I thought about. I watched some highlights of him pitch. It looks like he's got a nice little arsenal and some good velocity. And he might be a great hitter, too.

I don't think he could do it. I was thinking about it last night off the air. I just don't, I'd have to see it to believe it. I'd have to see it to believe it where a guy could be successful as a hitter while being a pitcher or vice versa. But the thing is, if you're just playing in a points league, he wouldn't really have to be that good as a hitter. Like if you're getting points for both, which we don't think you should,

but if you were getting points for both, like he could just be mediocre and he'd still be the most valuable pitcher. You know, if you're adding in like just mediocre hitting stats, Yeah, so. Okay, I think we've talked about it enough. Thank you for your Otani feedback, everybody. Good times. News and notes, the Marlins and the Brewers are moving their series to Miller Park this weekend.

It's supposed to be at Marlins Park. Cleveland set the A.O. record with 21 straight wins. You didn't need me to tell you that. Reese Hoskins now has the record for fewest games to reach 17 home runs at 33 games. The previous record was 4.000. 42 games. He beat it by nine games. 17 home runs. Jed Jerko off the DL.

Scott, Jed Jerko off the DL. Are you concerned about either Matt Carpenter or Jose Martinez? A little. I think there's enough opportunities for Martinez in the outfield right now that he'll probably be okay. But it's a little concerning. Sure, I want to see how it plays out. Evan Gattis is back, but he's played only twice since Sunday. Jake Marisnick for the Astros could be out a while with a thumb injury.

Danny Duffy is scheduled to start on Sunday against Cleveland Start or sit Duffy against Cleveland Sit Seems like a loss to me 1,800 prove it David Price could be brought back as a relief pitcher this season Is there any point in holding on to Price or

Bryce Harper? Yeah, there is I mean it's easy to do when they're on the DL When they come off the DL Well, when Harper comes off the DL You'll probably want to start them If Price comes back as an RP maybe not

so I'd be a little more inclined to drop him than Harper right now but again if they're on the D-O makes it easy you don't have to you don't have to commit before the Red Sox do but did you see the other pitcher who might be forced to the bullpen who's coming back from injury

huh I didn't but I'm trying to think who can it be now who is it Who's the RP now? Jacob Faria. Oh, really? Kevin Cash is saying they don't have an opening in the rotation. So Jacob Farie is going to have to go to the bullpen.

Who's the bum who pitched for them yesterday? Get him out. He's been terrible. Who was it who pitched yesterday? Well, Matt Andresa, I know, is in their rotation. No, some guy, some righty, it throws like 98 miles per hour. Can't get anybody out? Archer?

Yeah, I remember who pitched for them yesterday. Something Archer. Oh, yeah. But no, Matt Andres, like, come on. Jacob Ferria was arguably their best pitcher this season, and they don't have room for him. Are you kidding me? I agree. I mean, he has innings.

He probably would have had enough innings even if he had state health. Scott, they don't care. They do not care anymore. They, like, I am unaware of them making a stink about playing at City Field. But, like, shouldn't they have made a stink about playing at City Field? against the Yankees. Maybe there were no other options, but like move that series to Milwaukee, or, excuse me, Milwaukee or something like that, or like somewhere where there's nobody playing.

Why would you play the Yankees at City Field? I couldn't believe they just went for that. It was, maybe they didn't, but I didn't see anything about them getting upset. I'm upset for them. Let's get on with fantasy baseball. Should you add these hitters? Oduble Herrera, brief time off the D.L. He's batting 355, 394, 548.

Oduble is now up to 2.92 on the season with 13 homers and 12 steals with a DL stint in there. 57% owned. Should you add Oduble Herrera? Yeah, you know, and I think I actually do like him more than Nick Williams, even, who I didn't realize the ownership was so close, but only 57% for Herrera. That seems too low. Should you add Eddie Rosario, who has three home runs in his last five games? Keep this in mind. I actually talked to Al about this last week, and he made a good point, because I asked should I start Eddie Rosario? He kind of let me down last week.

Should I start him this week? This current week. He said yes. He's much better at home. Start him at home. And sure enough, going into yesterday, 328 batting average 611 slugging at home, and he homered. That was before the homer. On the road, 2.49, with six home runs, a 376 slugging on the road this year.

He's got seven road games next year. Three of them are at Yankee Stadium, which is very good for a leftie. but two of them are against Sunny Gray and Masahiro Tanaka. So Eddie Rosario, 70% owned, given three at the Yankees, four at the Tigers next week. What do you think? I mean, Tigers' rotation's a mess. Yeah, it's awful.

Yeah, I mean, those are pretty good matchups, as far as I'm concerned, looking at the full week there. And, yeah, the home-away thing's interesting. I hadn't noticed that, and it makes a difference, sure. You know, I'm always a little skeptical when it's not like an obviously hitter-friendly venue or pitcher-friendly venue and splits her this dramatic. It may just be happenstance. But I think I'd lean yes towards starting him.

If he stays hot through the rest of this week and he has those kinds of matchups, even though it's on the road, I think I'd lean yes. Would you rather have Odo Moreira or Eddie Rosario right now? Oh, Rosario, it's pretty close, though. All righty. And finally, Jose Reyes, last 21 days, Jose Reyes is the number three shortstop in points. Number two in Roto, he leads short stops with six steals in that stretch. He's batting 3.49 hit his fourth home run in his last 21 days yesterday.

He's got three at Miami and three at Washington, but he avoids Scherzer. He avoids Gio. He does have Strasbourg, but not tough matchups for Reyes. Are you willing to ride this hot hand? would you drop Trevor Story, who's on the road next week for Reyes? Yeah, it's pretty easy to drop Trevor Story for any kind of hot-handed shortstop. And, you know, for as miserable as he was to start the year, Jose Reyes has turned out to be pretty productive this year,

contributing in that, certainly in points leagues, just the variety of contributions he makes with some steel, some power, not striking out a whole lot, walking a fair amount. A shortstop. I think Jose Reyes is underrated right now. Fair enough. 44% own Jose Reyes. Let's see if anybody would have the guts to start him over.

Carlos Correa. What do you think, Scott? I don't have the guts to do that. Carlos Correa is 8 for 40, with no home runs, two walks and 10 strike. It's coming off the DL. Yeah. Tis.

Is not good? No, it's not. It'll get better. You know what else isn't good? This next segment. It's called... Good billing. It's called Adam just lost.

Remember the three pitchers I needed to get crushed last night? I didn't remember all of them, no. Denelson Lament, Aaron Nolan, and Kevin Gosman. Yeah. They all pitched pretty well. They combined. for 20 innings, three earn runs, and 22 strikeouts. Crap!

That was the worst case scenario for you. They all look like two-star pitchers right now next week. Lemaith's got the... Well, I'm not facing them if I advance, which probably won't. No, but it's good news because I like all of them. Good. Well, you know, I know you like Lemaid. He's got two home games against the Diamondbacks and the Rockies.

Nola has been off and on, and he's got the Dodgers and at Atlanta next week, and then Gosman, Boston, and Tampa Bay next week. But I think all three of them make their second starts on Sundays, so you never know. Yeah, a little risky. Little risky, and... I don't know that I trust Gosman against Boston, do you? It looks like the worst matchup. The worst matchup for each is at the start of the week, which is not a pretty good.

Yes. Well, here's the thing about Gosman. Last 11 starts, so even one more than the lament line I cited earlier. Last 11 starts, 253 ERA, 123 whip, a little on the high side, but 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings. It's been very reliable for, you know, two and a half months now, basically. It's not the greatest matchup against Boston. and if he was for sure making one start just against Boston, I might say no to it,

but the chance of a second start there, I think I'd start him. All right, then. So those are Lamette, Nolan, Gosman crushing me last night. Let's go to, it's usually Worryometer Wednesday. It'll be Thurriometer Thursday for the alliteration. Tell me how Thuried you are, which is Thursday slang for Worried. About the following player, 0 to 10, Max Scherzer. Ah.

Ah. Not worried. Not worried. It wasn't a good start. Seven runs in six innings. Six walks. Four of those walks came in the seventh inning. He tried to work it to the seventh.

There was some plan for him. Yeah, I wanted to go well beyond 100 pitches. Yep. Because of there was a short start in there because of an injury. I think he got skipped to turn or he missed a turn. And didn't. feel like he was stretched out as well as he could be for the playoffs so um you know once once the pitches reached a certain number he kind of just lost it which is part of the reason why he

wanted to do it so uh you know i think he's fine though thanks max yeah let us know next time it was disappointing but you know i'm not worried about him going forward chris taylor thuriometer chris taylor maybe about a five on the thurreometer. I'm not automatically benching him because he's been cold his last 21 days. There was some regression coming and batting average, but I think the power increased this year, and the fact he's eligible is shortstop makes him still pretty hard to sit. Would you sit Chris Taylor for Jose Reyes?

In a points league? I might. I don't know that I wouldn't erode league. Just feels like be more likely to backfire in that format. First of all, Points League's race better format, and it's also probably, Roto's probably Taylor's better format. Chris Archer, Stephen Sousa first. Stephen Sousa, he is batting 158 in his last 21 games.

Only three hits in September. It's gotten even worse. Yeah, I'm not worried about him long term, but this is always players who strike out as much as Sousa does. It's always little, it's not terribly surprising when they have, a slump like this. So I'd give it about a six on the Worryometer.

All right, so you might want to replace Susan next week. We knew they had tough matchups this week, and they haven't even faced the Red Sox yet. They're going to face Chris Sale. I think Drew Pomeranz. Yeah, so it's a little tricky there for the raise this week. Ian Desmond.

Oh, wait, no, I keep skipping Chris Archer. Now, Chris Archer. Chris Archer, two terrible stories. starts in a row. We know he had that forearm injury. Three terrible starts in a row. Oh, one of them was... Because he didn't even record an out in that first one when he suffered the injury. Right, yeah, yeah.

Since then, though, two bad ones. He's got either the Cubs or Baltimore next week. What do you think? Thuriameter on Archer. That's about an eight, which doesn't necessarily mean I'd sit him. Obviously, it's a higher starting point per Archer than Sousa or Taylor even. But I think about it. I look at my options closely.

If I've been worried all season about Zach Britton because of forearm injuries that don't really show up in the velocity, but he just seems to be less effective, then I have to be just as worried about Chris Archer when the same thing seems to be going on. Ian Desmond. All six games on the road next week for Desmond, by the way. I mean, Desmond's pretty replaceable to begin with.

Yeah, he's a 10 on the road. So maybe. Yeah, well, I was going to go nine, but sure. He's a 9.5. Carlos Correa, thuriameter. Again, 8 for 40 since coming off the D.L. Yeah, I mean, 10 strikeouts and 40 at bats. Not a big deal.

I'm going to go like a 3. All right, not too worried about Correa. He'll be in lineups next week. Finishing up from yesterday, none up, none down, three-man rotation. U. Darvish, seven scoreless innings, only five strikeouts at the Giants. He will be at Philadelphia next week. He might get a second start, which would be against San Francisco. Do you trust you, Darvish?

Let's just say at the Phillies. Yeah, I mean, I trust him enough to start him. Yeah, he said he stopped, like, he simplified things. You know, Scott had mentioned yesterday that Dodgers were tinkering with his mechanics. He seems to think he figured it out. I guess I'll trust. I guess I'll take his word for it. Right.

And I never quite gotten to a point where I was sitting him. I think coming off a good start with what could be two very good matchups next week. Yeah, I'll start him. We got Chase Anderson, who's 88% owned. Do you start Chase Anderson every time out, even though he seems to just give you 5, 5 and a third now? No, I don't start him every time out. I'm never afraid to start him, but, yeah, that's been a real issue pitching deep into games. He was going on three days rest, I think, for the first time in his career,

in this start as a way of compensating for the Jimmy Nelson injury. But yeah, this is now less than six innings and five of his six starts since returning from the DL. They've all been pretty good starts, so it's not like I'm thinking about dropping him, but it doesn't look like the pitcher he was before going on the DL. Irvin Santana, do you just start him every time out, at the Yankees and at Detroit next week?

he's now like he's been more consistent lately irvin santana now is a 335 e r a on the season yeah no he's he's had a very good year and again i mean in a shallow league if i have a lot of two-start options or you know some true aces and two-star options to go along with them there's a chance santana could get bumped out of the lineup for me but it's it's not like i'm ever really looking to bench him. And some fringy starting pitchers.

Do you have interest in these guys next week? Dan Strayley, Mets and Diamondbacks. Mike Clevenger at the Angels at Seattle. Mike Leak. It's been very good in three starts with Seattle. Texas and Cleveland. Doug Fister got roughed up, but at Baltimore at Cincinnati, and I'm going to tell us skags.

Two good ones in a row. Cleveland and maybe at Houston next week, so tough matchups for Skaggs. Strayley, Clevenger, Leak, Fister, Skaggs, all lined up for two starts as of now. Clevenger's a must with two starts. He has been on, I mean, as you'd expect, the Indies 21 straight games. But even prior to, well, you know what, it's five run runs in his last six starts. Really good for Clevenger. He's a must.

The others, I mean, Strayley's matchups with the Mets. in the first turn, I think, are good enough that I'll look past this start against the Phillies yesterday where he got wrapped up. No. No, don't look past it for Australia anymore. He's done. 509 ERA since the All-Star break. He's now up to 29 home runs on the year. Like, I mean, I would start him in the one start against the Mets. If he makes the second start at Arizona, I think that's going to go horribly wrong for Dan Strelia.

It could. I could see that happening. Sorry for you. You know, it's a little skewed throwing that second half number out there. Why? Considering he just gave up eight earned runs in six innings. The eight starts before that. Yeah.

He had a 426 E.R. Yeah, he's not doing that well, I'm telling you. The thing is, though, you look at the game log, and it's a lot of, like, three earned runs starts, but it's like three earned runs in five innings. Yeah. She comes out to a bad ERA. And I don't think the strikeouts are really there anymore. You could tell me I'm not looking at the game log, but... 38 and 44 in a third innings.

Yeah, I mean, he's a middling strikeout pitcher. But I don't know. When he's making two starts, the disaster starts have been infrequent for him, and one of those starts is against the Mets. It might be more of a points league scenario than a categories league, but no, Australia's definitely somebody I'd consider. Do you trust Doug Fister next week? He was building momentum there.

Oh, interesting note on him. I don't trust him. Interesting little Doug Fister note. So even while he's been pitching well, almost every time out he struggles in the first inning. And they're going to change his routine to get him going a little bit differently. His routine, his pregame routine is a little different than, I guess, the other Red Sox pitchers. But John Farrell said they're going to change Doug Fister's routine, try to get rid of this first inning problem.

And hopefully that helps. Maybe he'll be good in the first inning, and then he'll be bad on the other ones. You don't want to mess with success here. But he's got Baltimore and Cincinnati both on the road next week. We can talk about it tomorrow when we preview the two-star pitchers, and Tyler Skaggs will be one of them. So we'll save that for tomorrow. Here's what's going on today. We'll do the, I think there are eight night games.

Marlins, Philly is Urania and Jake Thompson? Neither. Fultenevich, Tanner Roark. I think Roark's fine. He's been pitching well lately, and it's a good matchup for him. Don't trust Fulte. Wade Miley, Tanaka. Tanaka, yes, Miley, no.

Jake Junis and Josh Tomlin. Going to go with neither there. Although I like Junis, not starting a phringy pitcher against the Indians right now. Seth Lugo and Jen Ho Seng for the Cubs. Neither. Felix Hernandez, Andrew Cashner. Neither. Ah, really?

A return from the D.L. for Hernandez, right? He's not even the one that I'm reallying. You're not going to start Cashner. No. Okay. I will never trust Andy Cashman. Never. And eventually I'll be proven right about that.

It may be next September. Yeah, maybe. Or maybe tonight. We'll see. We've got the Blue Jays and the Twins. Brad Anderson, Jose Burrios. I will start Burrios. And Angels hosting the Astros, Brad Peacock at Ricky Nalasco.

I'll start Peacock. Yeah, Peacock. You didn't pick him up, Scott. I know. Yeah, shame. Did you put in a claim or did you just forget or what? I forgot. I mean, the truth is, with the innings limitations,

there's the chance he wouldn't have cracked my lineup anyway, so I wasn't too broken up about it. But he deserves to be rostered. And he is on Jake and Casey's roster now. Did I say an innings limit? I just mean early hooks. He gets pulled early a lot. Okay.

All right, we'll finish the show with some emails. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Miles wants you to pick two rest of season. Ben Intendi, Buxton, Hanager. Ben Intendi and Hanager. All right. This one is from, I think it's an Andrew. And he needs some two-star pitchers next week. So it's a Categories League.

Marquez? Ooh, man, these are bad. No, don't start any of them. So Marquez, Kennedy, Wainwright, Jaime Garcia, and Cotton. No. Marquez, you know what, Marquez is interesting, Scott. Yeah. At San Francisco, at San Diego.

I might do him, but that's only if you really need a second start, because if he ends up only making the one start, even at the Giants, I wouldn't feel great about it. and we got an email from Brendan that says Brendan from the North Hey, Fryen Bender, not sure if you saw this, but Reese Hoskins, ISO 474, is currently higher than Joey Votto's OBP of 450.

All hail Scott White. Good job, good job. Yeah, I've been taking a victory lap on that one for a while now. Andrew in North Carolina. Should I pick up Alex Wood against the Nationals tomorrow? We're practically even in a fight to the death with whip and strikeouts and losses. I need to win at least two categories to advance. So would you start Alex Wood at the Nationals?

I don't know. He's pitched lately. That could be a disaster. Tim wants to know if you can trust Chris Archer, but no, probably not. And would you trust Lance McCullors? I don't think I would. Yeah, we don't know when he's starting again, do we? No.

I just missed the turn yesterday because of the arm fatigue. Yeah, arm fatigue, which I don't think it's a real serious problem, but obviously we're dealing with a small window for him to contribute, and he just lost a big portion of it. I'd like to see a good start from McCullors before I put him in my lineup. Yeah, no, that's fair. That's absolutely fair. Finally from Wesley.

Go ahead, go ahead. I do want to mention one thing before we close out the show. because it was probably the waiver wire option I was most excited about, and it was the one I didn't think to mention. And that's Matt Olson, who I know we've talked about a couple times, and I was always like, yeah, the strikeouts are high, whatever. But during this 15-game stretch in which he's hit 10 home runs in the last 15 games, including another one yesterday,

amazing. His strikeout rate is only like 17-point. something comparable to Jose Ibrahim Raihu so not like and it's brought his season total down to a more palatable number

like I don't think the Joey Gallo comparisons apply anymore it's you know I don't think Olson's going to be able to sustain that strikeout rate long term but that's a hurdle that he's capable of clearing like I don't think strikeouts are going to hold him back

Three of his home runs have come against left-handed pitchers. He's been starting against them more, so I don't think that's the hurdle that's going to be unable to clear either. And he looks like he could be something special. I think he might be more than just a Categories League home run source. Matt Olson, love it. Now, Wesley's email, who would you rather stream? Rinaldo Lopez at Detroit or Ben Lively against Oakland?

Definitely Lopez. Yeah. Thank you, Wesley. Leslie, thank you everybody for listening. We'll come back tomorrow and help you get your line-upset for Fantasy Week 25. Can you believe it? Two more weeks left in the fantasy baseball season. Enjoy some football tonight. We'll talk you about baseball tomorrow.