Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/18 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Weekend Roundup

Episode Date: September 18, 2017

It's time to win a championship! We review the weekend standouts including Tim Anderson (5:50) and Matt Olson (8:13) and give you plenty of start/sit advice ... A look at the Most Added list plus changes to two-start SPs for Week 25 (12:20). Then we talk hitters as we look at the best from Week 24 (26:55) including Eddie Rosario and Jeimer Candelario, some steals sources (31:00) and tough calls for Week 25 (32:00) including Justin Bour, Joe Mauer and Carlos Gonzalez ... We spend the last half of the show on SPs (37:24), discussing James Paxton, Jeff Samardzija, Gerrit Cole and other questionable choices. We're also previewing today's games (47:40) and even Tuesday night's games at the very end of the show ... 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

Welcome to the show. I am blowing out Scott's ears, it appears. There was so much rhyming in that intro. Did you notice that? Unintentional rhyming, too. Completely. Completely. Hey.

Hey, what is this? Do I sound better? Do I sound better? There it is. He's back. He's back. Oh, he's got the mixer at his disposal. And today's going to be a goofy show.

It's Monday, the 18th. That we begin week 25. and I'm out, Scott, I'm done. No more fantasy baseball for me. I've been eliminated in all five of my league except the one roto league, which I have no chance of winning. It sucks. Bad feeling right now.

I'm disappointed in you, Adam. Even in that league where you were like undefeated for... Wow. I know. That's the most disappointing. The second most disappointing was yesterday. Yesterday I'm in my head-to-head categories league. 14 categories, seven by seven.

I go in... And it was so... close all week, neck and neck. I made two very smart decisions on Sunday. I sat Garrett Cole. I sat Dylan Peters. They both struggled. I go into the Sunday night game, winning 6 to 5 with three ties.

I end up losing 9 to 3. That's how close it was. He had like Strasbourg, I think he had Justin Turner. The categories were so close. I went up 6 to 5 with one game to play. I ended up losing nine categories to three categories with two So that league's done. That was a shame.

And I'll tell you who I have to blame for that in a little bit. But enough about me. How about you? Me? I'm doing pretty well. Good. Dancing in the podcast league. Not, of course, the Four of the People League where Team Scam was awful.

Team Scam, yeah, was bad. The league that counts, the league that matters. Advancing to the championship game against Jake from K.C. I think his name's Jake Doyle, right? Is that sound right? Jake Doyle. Yes, it does. Give him a shout out for advancing to the championship.

Yeah, and he's had a great year. I did manage to beat him last in week 24, but we have a two-week playoff, and he crushed me in week 23. So it was an uphill battle. So, you know, look, I lost in the semifinals in three out of five leagues. Team scam was terrible. My roto team is okay. So it was not a bad year for me, but not, you know, disappointing. And you, Scott, how many championships are you still in contention for?

Definitely three head-to-head points leagues. Three of the four of those I played in. I'm in the championship game and kind of makes you wonder why I like head-to-head points more. You are so amazing. It is incredible. You are so good at this format. You win the podcast league almost every year. I don't understand.

It's like you think luck would intervene at some point and you couldn't possibly. be this good, but you are so good. And I usually employ a very similar strategy to yours. And I don't know why I usually do well in the podcast league, but you do better every time pretty much, except for one year where I won it. Yeah. I don't know. I don't

get it. You know, there was two years where I didn't win it. So, you know, it's possible. I'm not unbeatable. Who knows, maybe Jake from Casey will take me down this year. But I feel pretty good. I think it was the highest scoring team this last round. And

feel pretty good about my chances in that one. As far as roto leagues go, because I'm not so bad in the roto leagues. Oh my goodness, I've jumped to first place in the Memorial Magazine League. I didn't even notice that. You liar. No. I got 91.5. How the hell did you do that? What? Keep setting your lineups, good things will happen.

I have been to, oh, oh my God, what a battle. Two weeks left. Scott has 91.5. Heath is 91. Mike Cicera has 91. Amazing. RJ is 86. He's still there. Four-way battle for first week. You just... How many points did you gain last week? Five. Oh, my God. Scott White.

Unbelievable. You lucky SOB. I don't want to talk about this anymore. Now I'm angry. Now I'm angry. Okay. Weekend standouts. What do you think about Garrett Richards? He's 60% owned.

And he's got a 2-ERA, 3 walks, 18 strikeouts, and 18 innings. He hasn't thrown more than 75%. four pitches since making three starts since coming off the DL. It's very encouraging, but at Houston this week, can you trust Garrett Richards, who, you know, otherwise if he were 60% on, I think it'd be easy to say,

go out, get Garrett Richards, but at Houston this week, he just pitched very well against Houston at home. What about this week? I want to be opposed to picking him up if, you know, even if it wasn't a situation where I wanted him in my lineup just to keep him from getting in somebody else's lineup, because, you know, he's

gone from 52 pitches to 63, 74 in this most recent start. One of those starts was against Houston. He pitched well, and he's pitched well in all three starts. So if he's able to, you know, top 90 pitches go to 100, there's a chance it's a really good start. Tough matchup, like you said. So, you know, for a one start week, I don't know that he'd be one of my starting five or six or whatever it is. But at least you don't have to worry about somebody using him against you if you pick him up. Sure. Now, any standouts for you, Scott? Big weekend storylines. Yeah. Yeah, there's a few. A player who's been hot who we haven't talked about much, and in part because I don't like him at all, is Tim Anderson. Yeah. And I don't like him because his plate discipline is horrific. And, you know, points leagues, even with what I'm about to say, he's probably,

Not that worth using in those. But in Roto Leagues, understanding how desperate so many of this are for stolen bases. And in fact, I picked up Anderson in the Memorial Magazine League because I know I can gain three points very easily in stolen bases. I'm like, you know, I'm within two stolen bases of like three different teams. So maybe build on that lead I just picked up a little. I picked up Tim Anderson, who has been running a lot more. He has only 13 stolen bases on the season, but seven have come in his last 11 games, seven of the 13 in his last 11 games.

And he's been hitting well for a while. I don't know that I trust the hitting necessarily, but stolen bases, as I've often said, are a decision-based stat. It's something he did a lot of in the minors, and he said he played it too cautiously upon getting in the majors was, you know, didn't want to make that out on the bases, and now he's just running like he doesn't care. So, which is exactly what we want to hear. We don't usually want to hear about players not caring, but, you know,

it sounds like this is something that's going to continue for him to close out the season. So middle infield shortstop eligible, easy to fit into a lineup, particularly a roto lineup. If you need steals, he's a good player to, To pick up. And as far as the hitting, last 41 games, 326 batting average, seven home runs, 891 OPS. So that's the good side. The bad side, of course, is during that 41 game stretch, three walks to 45 strikeouts. See what I'm talking about with the bad play discipline.

Yeah, I know. And that's why you've been hesitant to buy in long term to Tim Anderson, but it's really just about getting the win in those categories right now in those categories leagues. It's very important. Yep. So Anderson. I'm going to start him over Angleton Simmons in that league this week. Wow. Okay, he's 39% owned Tim Anderson, and he was one of the best hitters of week 24.

I'll tell you more about the best hitters and who had the most deals in week 24. That's coming up a little bit later. I think at this point it's amazing what Matt Olson is doing. Olson's 57% owned. He's homered in three straight games. Olson is homered 13 times in his last 19 games. He is now a better fantasy option than Greg Olson, who broke his foot yesterday for the Carolina Panthers. Yes, he is.

The better Olson. And you know what Olson brings to the table? right? The Olson twins? Unmistakable power. Oh, God. I didn't know it was coming. I didn't know.

I was not warned. Yeah. No, he's got some pop. Most start, right? 40 home runs between the majors and the minors, or he's getting close. There's no way you're sitting Matt Olson at this point, right? No, no.

And he's only like, he's available in like half of CBS Sports League. Yeah, 58% own now. It's really a matter of... He was second on my top 10 sleepers hitters, column. Well, it's really a matter of who you're starting Matt Olson over. You know, are there... All right. Daniel Murphy.

Would you start him over Daniel... No? No, I want to start him over Murphy. Andrew McCutcheon. McCutcheon homered three times last week. Still somehow managed not to have a great, great week. One walk, seven strikeouts. But three homers last week for McCutcheon.

That's nice. Olson or McCutcheon? Yeah, I'd probably start McCutcheon, too. You're aiming very... high here to start out. I would imagine... Here's one. I got one for you.

Adam Duval, last 24 games entering yesterday. This is something I just didn't even realize. He's batting 182 with two walks to 29 strikeouts. Adam Duval. Yeah, I don't know what Duval brings to the table that Olson doesn't. Right. The Reds don't have the best matchups this week. I was going to suggest somebody like Scooter Jeanette you said him for, but Duval might even be easier.

Do you start Olson over, Jeanette Duvall? Yeah, yeah. And I'm thinking about it in Suarez, too. Oh, yeah. The only reason I'm hesitant is because this particular league is a points league, and Suarez walks a ton. So I may not end up doing it in that format, but in a category's format, that'd be a pretty easy call.

Suarez has had three straight bad weeks. He's 88% own, batting 200 in September with two home runs, eight walks, 18 strikeouts, one double, so he's been cold. So streaky that guy's been. Right, yeah. It's just been April and August have been monstrous, and then every other month. Any other big time standouts? I mean, I've got plenty in the notes.

We'll talk about Matt Boyd. Actually, a lot of deep league pitchers who did pretty well. Well, he's a standout because of his circumstances. You realize Adrian Beltrae is starting again, right? He suffered a season-ending, quote-unquote, hamstring injury, and yet he started like five games in a row for the range. It's been D-Hing. 76% owned.

He got dropped, Adrian Belchre. Yeah, I mean, season-ending injury, of course he did. Yeah. So here's the thing. I mean, you come back two weeks early from a hamstring injury. I don't know, I forget what source I was reading. One of the local, one of the newspapers that covers the Rangers, basically described as he's not able to use his lower half in his swing.

which would be a pretty big problem for anybody. Beltray, you know, you're not as productive as he is through age 38 without learning to play through aches and pain. So if there's anybody who can play through it, it would be him. And he had a, he went two for, he had two hits and a double yesterday. So it seems like maybe he's starting to figure it out. I don't know that I'm particularly motivated to start him in the league of, say, 12 teams or fewer. It seems like a big gamble. But it's a situation like Richard.

So I don't want to be, I don't want to be the guy who left Beltray available for my opponent, and then he starts Beltray, and it's like, and Beltray has a great week. Like, that just, there's no reason that needs to happen. So I'd pick him up if only to stash him on my bench. And you'd have to start Matt Olson over Beltray, though, right, if it came to that. Yes, I would. Okay, so let's get into the most added list and see who the people out there are adding. And number one is Matt Olson, of course.

Number two is Mike Leak. He's a two-start pitcher. And, Sky, you can update us on two-star pitchers now. We probably have a clearer sense than we did on Friday. Yep. But Olson is scheduled to make two starts, or not Olson. Leak is scheduled to make two starts against the Rangers and the Indians. Still is.

Yeah. Okay. Then we have Josh Tomlin on the most added list. He's scheduled to face the Angels and the Mariners on the road. And he's been pitching pretty well lately. He's 30% owned. Would you trust your fantasy championship to Josh Tomlin? No, I would not just trust my fantasy championship to Josh Tomlin.

And let me see about this, because that doesn't sound familiar to me, him making two starts. So did he and Clevenger flip-flop? Is that what happened? Because I thought Clevenger was the two-star pitcher for the Indians. Let me double-check that right now. You can move on to somebody else if you want. All righty. We're going to check on Josh Tomlin. Martine Perez is on the most added list.

Perez is 33% on. Tomlin, by the way, is 31% own. Martine Perez at Seattle and at Oakland. Be careful what you wish for here. This is not a safe guy to start, although he has been solid. He has been very solid. Well, he's giving up a lot of hits. He's not giving up a lot of runs lately, but he's been fairly solid.

And I remember what happened with, With Andrew Cashner, right? Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, Cashner, yes. Yes, I do, I do. It's tough to trust Martin Perez. I wouldn't be starting him. I know a lot of people are going to hit the panic button and say,

I'm in the championship. My opponent's got like three more starts than I do. Do I start the one-star guys? Do I start the two-star guys? You know, obviously matters points versus roto. Roto league. There are so few two. There are less than, most of the year, there are more.

than 40 two-start pitchers in a given week. With all the six-man rotations, with all the spot starts, I'm only counting on like 28 this week. Wow. So you don't have to go, you don't have to extend yourself that far to get, you don't need to dig that deep into the two-start pitcher list, basically. And everything I'm looking at shows Clevenger starting Tuesday still and Tomlin starting Wednesday.

So I would not count on Tomlin making two starts. However, Clevenger is a great option. Okay, yes, Clevenger is a much better option than Josh Tom, and of course he's much more owned. The other thing is there aren't that many studs making two starts this week. So it's unlikely that your opponent is going to have three, like, aces making two starts. It's probably unlikely that he's even going to have two. That might happen, but...

The way I put it in the two-star pitcher rankings this week, it's a piece I write every week, and I update it on Sunday. so it gets, you know, the newest information out there. There are only four pitchers, only four two-star pitchers this week that are the kinds of pitchers I would trust in a one-start week. Like, for sure, every league across the board definitely start them one start or two. There's only four of them. Who are they?

Kershaw, Gio Gonzalez, John Lester, and... Darvish? The fourth. Who? Darvish? No, Darvish, I don't think, is actually going to make two starts because it would mean Kinta May to make zero starts this week. And I think they're going to insert Maida at some point that we don't know exactly when. Patrick Corbin?

Marcus Stroman's the fourth. Oh, Stroman, okay. Yeah. Do you think, well, do you know who on the two-star pitcher list might not be making two-starts? Like Chase Anderson, is he safe? You mean the two-start? list and like the people

and the drop-down menu when you go to players you go to two-star pitchers that little tool um all right so not off the top of my head but um let me see I don't think

I don't think Darvish is we already mentioned him um I don't think the colors is no he definitely is not he will not be starting on Tuesday it's not 100% clear that he's going to start it all this week

they're not going to start McCullors on Tuesday and then they're going to I think he's going to throw a bullpen or something like that and they're going to see where he's at so it's very risky to start Lance McCullors I'm going to say no to Kevin Gosman because I think they're you know he won't

make his first start until Tuesday and I think there'll be six men this week James and Tyone going to say no to him even though he's on this list I put Jack Flaherty on my list, even though I'm kind of skeptical. Adam Wainwright could come back this week, and Jack Flaherty's innings are piling up. It's not a great option anyway. Okay.

And I think that's it. Okay. So with the exception of a few guys, Clayton Kershaw, Strowman, Lester, and who was the fourth one, Scott? Was it Art? Joe Gonzalez. Okay. Yeah. Those four, those are making two starts, but they're the only four on the two-start list that are like true studs.

What about Archer? Is he going to make two starts this week? The Cubs and the Orioles on the schedule, and even if he does, would you start Chris Archer? Yeah, normally I'd call him a stud, of course, but the way he's pitched recently since dealing with that forearm strain, he should make two starts. I have an eighth on my two-star pitchers list, so realistically, everybody who owns him is probably starting him. But it might be a situation where if ERA and WIP were the most questionable categories for me in a Categories League or a Roto League, then I might sit him. I might play it safe and sit him since not convinced he's of sound body right now. All right. We've got a big series kicking off.

I probably shouldn't say that. First pitching in the Bronx today. Twins at Yankees could be a preview of the wild card game, probably will be. Maybe the Angels can catch up to the twins. Who knows? But bottom line is, if that wildcard game is in the Bronx, you bet that yours truly will be there. And you can bet that I'm going to use the Seekek app to get my tickets because Seekeekeek is the place I go to get all my tickets. Sports, concerts, comedy, theater.

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Use that for $10 off your first Seatkeek purchase. Scott, let's play a game called Do They Matter? These four pitchers were very good over the weekend and they are barely owned. Matt Boyd came one out away from a no-hitter for the Tigers. Red starting pitchers, Sal Romano, had a great start against the Pirate. White Sox starting pitcher Carson Fulmer was very good at Detroit on Friday. And Daniel Mengden for the A's through a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts at Philadelphia. Do any of these format are Matt Boyd, Sal Romano, Carson Fulmer, Daniel Mengden?

Wait, say it again. Say it, do they matter the way you wanted to say it? Do they matter? No, they don't. Wow, extended version there. Yeah, no, that was elongated there. Good. No, they really, I don't think any of them. Carson Fulmer has good stuff and when he was drafted, it was considered like a top-flight pitching prospect,

but he was so bad in the minors that, you know, I'm not really buying into him after a couple good starts, but there is upside there. It's worth monitoring. No way I'm going to pick him up now. Now, I told you I wanted to lay some blame at the feet of one of the players on my categories league team that I lost yesterday. So here's a new category called I supported Manny Machado all season long for nothing.

After all this, Chris Towers was right. Mani Machado, actually, I don't think he was. I don't even know what the argument is anymore. Do you realize Manny Machado went two for 24 with no extra base hits in week 24? But would you even be in a position to count on Manny Machado, if not for what he did the previous, what, two months

or so. Scott, do you know the expression, what have you done for me lately? Yeah. I know. Yeah, what a bummer. What a let down. And Delano DeShields let me down, too. No steals last week? Are you kidding me?

I lost steals by one. I'm still bitter. You know, last night, so like I said, it was up 6'5, and then I did a football podcast, didn't check the score. And then about 11.30, I got done with the podcast, done with editing. and I went up, my wife could not care less about my fantasy baseball team. First of all, she's working, getting ready for work today. And I said, I want to do something.

I need to do this with somebody. And I was like, I'm going to look at my fantasy baseball score, and I want you to be there while I do it. And I, like, held her hand, and I took out the phone, and I opened up the app, and I look, and I just let go overhand, drop the phone, walked away. She's like, oh, you lost, Tom. And then I want to be like, yes, shut up, you know I lost.

But no, I was polite about it. I was polite about it. News and notes. All right, Noah Cindergarde's going to return soon, but he may only pitch a few innings. There's no reason to trust Cindergarde, right? It's very unclear what they're doing with him. No, it's not. It's just, I'm not even sure if I want to see him pitch.

So I have some sense of security going into next year, like I know what to expect, or I just want them to rest him because the Mets are not very good at holding back on their young injured pitchers. I mean, there's nothing that he could do at this point that would influence me at all. Really? For next year? I don't think so. I mean, it would be one start in theory. I'm not going to base too much.

I guess if he threw it no-hitter. By the way, one no-hitter all season. One no-hitter. Edinson Volquez, that's it. Miguel Cabrera is injured. He has back pain. He's going to play a little bit. If you want to start Miguel Cabrera, then I wish I were still playing, and we're playing against you.

Wilson Contreras. Yeah, that's dated back to World Baseball Classic, which makes me feel a little better about Cabrera heading in the next year. Yeah, that's a good point. Wilson Conreras served his suspension, and so much for easing him back in, he started four or five games. Bryce Harper taking BP, but it really does not seem like he's going to play in the regular season. They are not even sure if he's going to be ready for the beginning of the postseason, Bryce Harper. Steven Strasberg allowed his first earn run in 40 innings last night. I think it's now been one in 40 innings.

I don't think that was the streak because he gave up a run in like the second. So I think it was like 35 innings, scoreless. Yeah. Something like that. Well, three total earn runs and six starts since returning from the DL. So that's also an impressive way of looking at it. Very good. You know, this is the year Strasbourg and Stanton basically stayed healthy.

and uh... Straussberg ended healthy he didn't say healthy he's only going to end up with like a hundred and seventy innings or something that's it I knew he missed some time but yeah yeah I mean it's had a great year don't get me wrong

he's maybe his best year in terms of percentages thanks in part to this streak and this was the year where he did just the wind up right? Yeah yeah 260 ERA would be a career low for a full season He's at 162 and two-thirds innings right now. I thought he had more than that. Okay.

Leads the NL and FIP. Wow. Great year. So he'll get 175-ish, which I think you would have signed up for from Strasbourg. Sure. Jason Kipnis. I wouldn't be sad I drafted Strasbourg this year. Jason Kipness off the DL.

He played center field on Sunday. I don't think anybody's going to rush to start Kipness. A lot of good second base options out there like, Yo, I'm Ankata. Adrian Belchre has been D-Hing at Scott Mench. and 76% owned. Do not count on Matt Kemp. Salvador Perez expected back on Tuesday. I hope this is just rest,

but Jose Ramirez has sat two straight days with a hamstring. They're calling it precautionary. They're calling it rest. Start or sit Jose Ramirez. I don't think they play today. That's the other problem. I think they play tomorrow. Those Indians, they suck anyway.

They never win. Yeah. I think... Hmm. I'd lean towards starting him, but, you know, it kind of depends what your exact situation is. Oh, my God, he's been so good. I know. I know.

That's the thing. Like, you can't. And if they're saying it's just a day-to-day thing, and this is the time of year where teams like the Indians just rest players sometimes. But, you know, the good ones still play more often than not. I think I would start Jose Ramirez. Yeah, I think so, too. I believe them. This will be a third day off in a row, basically.

Yeah. Yeah. Only, I think only seven games on the slate tonight. And I'm going to the Giants game. Caching. The New York football Giants. That's right. Those guys.

All right. Here are the best hitters from Week 24. Josh Donaldson and Eddie Rosario, both batted well over 400 with five home runs and seven RBIs. Rosario continues to be that home road splits kind of guy is so good at home and he has six road games this week but I think we already decided we're starting him because three of them are at Yankee Stadium

so there you know. I don't know that I really buy the splits because it's not like it's Colorado or Arizona or notoriously hitter-friendly park. I just, I'm always skeptical of that that it could just be, you know, the way the streaks lined up. And he's been,

I mean, the fact of the matter is basically half the season. Now, you go back to June 13th is where I marked the turnaround for Eddie Rosario. And since June 13th, he has hit, hang on, let me pull it up right here. Eddie Rosario, 83 games, so half the season, a little more. 322 with 21 homers and a 961 OPS. That guy probably needs. to start every week now, regardless of the matchups. The twins happen to have the best matchups this week.

Yohan Moncada is 70% own, and he batted 394 with two home runs and a steel. So if you're not feeling it at second base, I mean, you could easily get away from Rugnett Odore. Ruegnaudor, by the way, over the last 28 days, you know, I knew he was struggling. I didn't know it was this bad. 132 batting average, two home runs, two steals, and 28 days for Rugi. So Munkata's been really good. I know you like him, but I don't think you like Todd Frazier too much.

79% own. He was one of the best of Week 24. 294 with three home runs, seven walks, and five strike. It's been going on for a little while for Todd Frazier, but I feel like you're not really feeling it. I hung with Todd Frazier for a long time, Adam. Yep. Long time.

He was right there when I wrote that column about don't give up on these players back in early July or whatever it was. You were right. You were right. Look at that. Well, no. I'll take credit for Verlander. I'll take credit for Machado.

I can't remember who else was on there. But Todd Frazier was on there. I feel like it's too little, too late for him, though. I was going to mention Tim Anderson, but we already talked about him. Deep League guy 10% owned, Jamer Candelario, batting 391 with two home runs last week, five walks, three strikeouts.

I think he's been pretty good for the Tigers that came over from the Cubs. Do you have any interest in Jamer Candelario? Yeah, I do. You know, I don't know how many people will have to resort to a player who's less than 10% owned this week, but the Tigers have good matchups. I've always kind of liked Candelario. I don't know what happened to him at AAA this year. It seems like he got out to a good start, but after that,

his numbers just kind of faded on him. He used to be, for most of his minor league career, he was a great plate discipline guy, which you know I love. And his last three games for the Tigers, five walks to zero strikeouts. So it seems like he's picked that up again. But yeah, since taking over as a regular part of their lineup,

373, two home runs, 1064 LPS and 15 games, 10 walks to eight strikeouts. It's pretty good stuff. Yeah, third base eligible, Jamer Candelari. I imagine he faced some pretty bad pitching. with the White Sox over the weekend. But he's not exactly facing great pitching this week. Nope, they have good matchups.

Seven games against the A's and the twins. So would you start at third base, Jamer Candelario or Adrian Beltre? Hmm. Man. I think it's more important to own Beltrae. If you can own both, okay, maybe start Candeldera. Alario, yeah. Most steals in week 24. I did not list everyone here, but Tim Anderson had four, D. Gordon had four. Amad Rosario had three. And Rosario made two errors yesterday, but he went seven for 19. He did not have a walk or an extra base hit.

I don't know if you care about Ahmed Rosario. Tommy Fam stole two bases. Jacoby Ellsbury stole two bases, and Jacobi Ellsberg has been playing very well lately. So I don't know. If you're desperate in a five outfielder league or something, Ellsberg's been playing regularly, and he's on fire. Uh, yeah, I don't know. Ahmed Rosario, let's New York it. Ahmed Rosario, Jacoby Ellsbury, they have any appeal to you? Not really. I mean, if you're chasing steals, I'd still rather go for Tim Anderson over them because it, you know, he's voiced how deliberate this upticking steals is. But, you know, there's only so many stolen base guys out there.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, then. I think it's time to get into pitchers in just a second. Let's do some tough calls, though, hitting tough calls. Start or sit? Daniel Murphy. I will start him.

Andrew McCutcheon. Start him. And we talked about Suarez. We talked about Duval. I was looking for Phillies hitters that struggle against lefties. They've got Kershaw and Alex Wood. I mean, they have tough matchups to begin with because they have Kershaw, Darvish, and Wood to start the week. Are you avoiding any Phillies?

I thought maybe Nick Williams. Nick Williams is a left. but he hits lefties just as well as he hits righties so far this year. Yeah, but he's kind of fringy to begin with. I don't think many Nick Williams owners will need to start him. Obviously, really deep leagues and a lonely league is that kind of thing. You start him, but otherwise the matchups would steer me away from him. You know, most of the Phillies lineup is pretty fringy.

The only one that isn't, I think, is Reese Hoskins. Definitely start him, but I think you sit. assuming a standard-sized league, 12 teams are fewer, I think he said all the others. Really? Okay. And other, oh, Joe Mauer. Joe Mauer, last 28 days. He's 18% owned. Number eight first baseman in points, number 13 in Roto.

He had a grand slam yesterday. That's his first home run in 28 days. But he does have the most doubles among first baseman in that stretch with 12. He's batting 365, good walk-to-strikeout ratio. Joe Mauer, 18% own. Would you play Mauer over... Justin Bore actually is pretty interesting. He's been solid since coming off the DL.

He might sit against lefties. He's only faced one since coming off the DL and did sit against it. The Marlins have only faced one in that stretch. Borset. Who would you rather have Mauer or Bore? I'd rather have Bore. And I know... The Twins do have the best matchups this week, so...

You know, maybe there's reason to consider Mauer at least, but it would have to be a points league since he's good with play discipline but doesn't provide many home runs for first base. But I don't think in a categories league you could devote a spot to him. Okay. Carlos Gonzalez, start or sit,

six road games for cargo. Six road games, but good matchups. I actually have the Rockies. They were outside the top five best matches for this week, but they have good matchups. Those are bad pitching staffs. So I start him. Okay.

Marvin Gonzalez, playing every day. He is hitting 3-11 with seven doubles in September. Hit his first home run since August 20th, though, on Sunday and has just three since August 1st. Start or sit Marvin Gonzalez for the Astros. Yeah, he hasn't been nearly as good in the second half. I would sit him. And Travis Shaw, two good weeks in a row. He does have three lefties on the schedule, including Lester and Kintana. Are you cool with Travis Shaw? Yeah, I'm cool with him. I think I'd

start him. And we got to sit, Rue Nett-Odor, right? Yep. Yeah. I mean, he's going to hit five home runs, but he doesn't deserve a spot in your lineup. He hasn't earned it. Nah. All right. So I think you ready to get into some pitchers? Oh, yeah. Pitching time. Now, I know it's early in the morning. We're doing this a little earlier than usual.

But are you ready to get into some dinner? Okay. Good. Because today, the Blue-A. A apron delivery man shows up, and he drops a big box of dinner at my doorstep, six meals, all for less than $10 per meal. Oh, it's a beautiful day when that Blue Apron comes. We open up the box and we see the menus and we see what we've got to cook this week. And three great meals for me and my wife, again, for less than $10 per person per meal per meal. Go out to dinner. You're going to spend at one dinner out at a restaurant as much as you spend for six meals for Blue Apron throughout the week. So I went to the grocery store last week.

I bought some stuff for dinner, and it was such a hassle. I paid too much money. I wasted food because I bought too much, and now the meat's gone bad as I'm throwing that out. The quality wasn't the – it sucks, you know, and the quality wasn't the same. Blue Apron is convenient. It's affordable. I love that you never waste food and never waste money. And check out some of the meals coming up on Blue Apron.

Soy glaze pork and rice cakes with bok choy and marinated green beans. Skillet, vegetable chili with cornmeal and cheddar drop of biscuits. I don't even know what those are, but they sound amazing. That happens a lot. I'm like, what is this going to be? And it's so good. Garlic, butter, shrimp, and corn with green bean salad and roasted purple tomatoes. So you've got pork.

You've got vegetable chili. You've got shrimp. There's chicken. There's steak. There's beef. There's so many different types of things on Blue Apron. Get three meals free. Blue Apron.com slash fantasy baseball.

Three meals free with free shipping. Blue Apron.com slash fantasy baseball. Just give it a shot. There's nothing to lose here. blue apron.com slash fantasy baseball. Blue Apron, a better way to cook. You sell that very well, Adam. It is completely genuine, Scott.

That was your best promo read ever. Was it? Yeah. It's completely genuine. I love it. I mean, we're tailgating tonight, so we're not going to have our blue apron tonight. But tomorrow, it is on.

All right, so the pitchers. Studs being Studs Part Uno. Dallas Keikle. You know what? I'm not going to go through everything. everything, what they did, how they're doing, blah, blah, blah. Let's just do starter sit. Dallas Keiko against the Angels.

Start. Danny Duffy, nice start at Cleveland yesterday with eight strikeouts and five innings. At the White Sox, Danny Duffy. Match it makes it easy. Start. Cole Hamels was good enough at the Angels on Saturday, although he did walk four and give up two home runs. He's at Oakland this week, was recently terrible at Oakland. Cole Hamill, starter sit.

He's got that Matt Olson guy. Though it is lefty on lefty. And, yeah, I'm looking up his velocity in this ribose recent start, because we had seen that rise recently, which is a good thing. I'm going to say start. You know, I sat Alex Wood at the Nationals on Friday, and that was a big mistake. Six scoreless innings, three walks, three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts.

Got to start Wood now at Philadelphia? Hamill's velocity was back down in this start. That's interesting, but I'm still going to say start for him. And sorry, the next one. Alex Wood at Philadelphia. Yes, I'm going to start him too. Studs being Studs Part 2. These guys are all owned in more than 80% of leagues.

Rick Porcelo had a very good start at Tampa Bay on Saturday, and it's been mostly good for a while now. Start or sit Porcelo at Cincinnati? Eh. I don't think there's much need to. Two start Clevenger, one start Porcelo. Clevenger, easy. Two start Mike Leak, one start Clevenger.

Or, Porcelo. Leak. Jay Hap, four solid starts in a row who'll either get Kansas City or the Yankees this week at home. That's kind of a big difference, isn't it? I mean... I'd lean no on him either way. Okay. The guys who pitched on Friday, you know, they're set up for a Wednesday start.

That's off in the end of one series. So if they stay on five, man, Hap gets the Royals. If they bump him back, it's the Yankees. Yeah, I think with Duffy coming back, they're going six-man right now. Yeah, Yankees. Probably Yankees anyway. James Paxton got roughed up in his first start off the DL. Three runs in an inning in a third.

He'll get either Texas or Cleveland this week. Yeah, I think I'd play it safe in sit Paxton. He was not right mechanically in that first start back, showed some rust. Didn't really get a rehab assignment, obviously, because minor league seasons have ended. So I think I'd sit Paxton. Charlie Morton. Morton's been pretty good lately, actually.

Last six starts 3-51. Not great, but not bad. And a lot of strikeouts. Yeah, a lot of strikeouts. Good offense backing him. I think he's had a 12-and-7 record on the year, even missing time with injury. So he's a guy I start more often than not. And it looks like he gets the white sucks this week. If it ends up being the Angels instead, I think he's a fine starter.

Charlie Morden, start him up. And Jeff Samarja. All right, interesting. Samarja, great start on Friday against. the Diamondbacks at the Dodgers this week? I don't think so. Okay, no go on Samarja.

Studs being Duds. Garrett Cole, he's been pretty bad in two of his last four starts and he's been great in two of his last four starts. St. Louis at home this week and he's been very good against St. Louis this year. Start or sit, Garrett Cole. Yeah, he's been pretty bad lately.

I guess I would lean start in a points league and sit in a categories league. Taiwan Walker struggled against the Giants. And he's been walking a lot of guys lately that Taiwan Walker. And he has Miami this week at home. I don't think I'd start him. Really? I think so. The CBS crew has been looking for excuses to sit Taiwan Walker all year.

So I guess we've got it. Zach Davies got ripped by the Marlins in a road game. Matt Miller Park on Saturday, as the Marlins were playing in Milwaukee, due to the hurricane. And Dave, you know, again, why don't it have to be in Milwaukee? They couldn't have picked a neutral site. It's not really fair for the teams that are competing with Milwaukee. But you know what? Not important.

Zach Davies against the Cubs this week. Starter City just dominated the Cubs. Don't buy it still. I don't buy it. It's not as extreme as my lack of faith in Andrew Cashner, but it's pretty close. so I would sit him. I would sit Davies. Michael Waka at Pittsburgh.

Rather not. Alex Cobb at Baltimore. Closer for him than Davies and Waka, but I'd still rather not. Trevor Bauer, a rare bad start. He will be either at the Angels or at Seattle this week. Rather not. Really? Yeah, yeah, really.

Okay. I still don't have a lot of trust in him. At least the strikeouts have been there for him. So, you know, I take him over Davies Waka Cobb, and, you know, at some point, you're just going to have to start a less than great one-star guy probably. I mean, not necessarily. We are talking about the best teams in the leagues at this point. That's true. They might be in better shape.

But out of Cole, Walker, Waka, Davies, Cobb, and Bauer, Scott is not really excited to start any of them. No. Yeah. All right. Studs being something between Studs and Duds. Eduardo Rodriguez. at Cincinnati this week, start or sit? I'd be more likely to start him than any on the last list.

Okay. How about Julio Taran? Been pretty good lately. Gets the Phillies at home. Yeah, he has been pretty good lately, but the walks have still been kind of high. Still hasn't been a big strikeout pitcher. I'm encouraged because there's some arsenal changes he made that have coincided with this run, 240 ERA, and his last seven starts.

But I still think it's a little too risky in a one. start week. I'd rather not. And when I say I'd rather not, like, I understand some of you may have to, and it's fine. Maybe in some my leagues I have to, too, but it's definitely not the ideal.

You should at least consider a two-start option. I know there are many good ones out there, but at least look into it. Maybe somebody like Hermann and Marquez, who's still available in, I think, a third of CBS Sports League's pretty close to that. He has two good matchups.

So at least consider your alternatives. All right, too, Julio Taran. Fringy starting pitchers, part one. Sean Manaya, starter sit against Texas. That's a definite no. Marco Estrada, starter sit against the Yankees. Definite no. Really?

He's been pretty good lately. Really? John Lackey at Milwaukee. Lean against that, too. Yeah, don't get ejected in the fifth inning, John Lackey. One out away from qualifying. for the win, although I'm not sure what the score was at the time. Fringy starting pitchers part two.

Yoli Chasin at home against Colorado, a sub-2 ERA at home, Yolisha Seen. I don't care. I don't care. Get him out of there. Parker Bridwell at Houston. Really don't trust him, despite his good work against the Rangers on Saturday. Fringy starting pitchers part three. Owned in less than 50% of leagues. Brandon Woodruff, great start at Miami, or well, at home against Miami,

road game. Brandon Woodruff gets the Cubs this week at home. Now, I do actually like him as a pitcher, but one-star week against the Cubs, I don't think I'm going to do it. Robert Stevenson, Boston. Kind of like with Tehran, he's made some changes that are definitely encouraging, but still way too many walks, and it's just, it seems like a tight rope he's walking with that. Ronaldo Lopez gets Kansas City.

He has like a combined three strikeouts in his last Two starts. I mean, Kansas City is a pretty good matchup. Four strikeouts in his last three starts for Lopez. Four strikeouts in his last three starts. Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

It'd have to be a deep league scenario. Sean Newcomb, Nationals or Phillies this week. That's a big difference. It is a big difference, but I don't think it matters. He hasn't been better, but he hasn't been good enough. Dylan Peters crushed yesterday at Arizona this week. Yep. Yep.

Not worth it one-star week. So no, no. No, Peters. Kyle Gibson at Detroit Well, that was bound to happen, right? I mean, I guess he only gave him three hits and had eight strikeouts, but five runs and five walks. I haven't really been buying what he's doing.

And I don't even know if Jordan Montgomery is going to start this week, but he had a good start. I can't. He had finally a good start. First quality starts since July, so don't start him. So Woodruff, Steve Ritz, like, yeah, some people are going to have to start these guys. Woodruff against the Cubs, Stevenson against Bob,

Rinaldo Lopez against Kansas City, Kyle Gibson at Detroit. Who would you go with? I mean, these are low enough that I don't know that anybody has to start them. All right, but let's just say they did. Who would you go with? Woodruff and Lopez are my favorite of this group.

Did you see any developments in the bullpen? Blake Parker got a save on Friday. Then Yasmirot Petit got one on Saturday. Raisal Oglacius threw 42 pitches on Friday, so he didn't get a save on Saturday or Sunday. That had to be because of the work. I know it was on Saturday. I'm not 100% on Sunday.

And Jake Dekeman got a save for the Rangers on Sunday. I didn't understand that. But did you see anything that changed anything for you? Not really. I mean, I wish Parker could have turned around and gotten the save Saturday as well. But after pitching two innings, I guess it wasn't terribly surprising. He didn't go. Petit's up to four saves now.

Did you say that? I didn't say that. You may have said that. But yeah, he's up to four saves. He's been a pretty regular part of that mix lately. There's just, there's not enough clarity there for me to get involved, except in like an AL-only scenario. All right, let's look at today's matchups then.

And we have a lot of emails to read as well. Twins at Yankees, Irvin Santana, Jaime Garcia. I will start Santana and Sit Garcia. Clayton Kirshaw, Nick Povetta. We know what to do there, Sit Povetta. Yep. Chase Anderson and Stephen. Bralt.

I'll start Anderson. I will not start Bralt. Doug Fister at Dylan Bundy. Bundy, sure. Yeah? Well, I guess I said that too quickly considering the matchup, but I still think I'd start Bundy. And Bralt, I'm sorry, who's facing Bundy?

Fister. Yeah, I'm not going to start Fister. Jarrell Cotton at buckfarmers-only.com. You know, it's a Is this funny? I thought of this. The athletics open this week. The pitchers they're facing this week, the athletics open the week are the Farmer and the Bell.

That is very funny. Okay. It's actually, you know, the Farmer in the Dell, so I decided, I opted against tweeting it out, but I'll share it to the podcast. The Farmers and the Bell. Okay. Cotton and Farmer, no. No, no. Mets at Marlins.

Matt Harvey, Dan Straeli. I will. Hmm. Straitly's interesting with that matchup, but man, it didn't go well for him against the Phillies last time. I'm going to lean yes. Roll the dice on Strel. Okay. The Phillies are a lot tougher than the Mets, I have to say. Diamondbacks at Padres, Corbin at Pardombo. Corbyn's a great option. Perdomo, not a great option. All righty then. Let's see if we can empty out the inbox here.

Holy cow. You wouldn't not believe how many. emails we have been getting, but people need to win their leagues. Chris in the ICT. I feel like we haven't heard from Chris in a while. Chris in the ICT. Pick two. I'm going to give you the matchups here, Scott. Just give me a second.

So again, it's my fault, but it's been a busy, busy few weeks with football and baseball. So I haven't been quite as prepared with the emails. I usually just kind of sort through the inbox instead of putting them in the notes for Scott to read. So pick two of these. Chase Anderson. Clevenger, Weaver, John Gray. And this is when it gets really tough when you've got to pick these two-star guys versus one-star guys. Right.

And Anderson and Clevenger are the two-star guys. Weaver, oh, man, Weaver and John Gray have been so good. Yeah, I know what I would do. It's points leagues. It's points leagues, right? Yeah, it is. I think you've got to go with the two-start options. They're both in my top 10 two-start sleeper pitchers for this week.

Clevenger and Anderson. I hate sitting Luke Weaver especially, but I think you've got to do it. Okay, okay. For a points league. We need a baseball keeper here from Matt in New Jersey. First two keepers are Lance McCullors and Luis Severino. So who's the third one? Jose Martinez, Marwin Gonzalez, Clint Frazier,

or try to trade for Dede Gregorius? So pick one. Jose Martinez, Marwin Gonzalez, Clint Frazier, or he could try to trade for Didi Gagorius. I mean, it's kind of tough. I don't know what you'd have to trade. I also think Didi's coming back down to Earth next year, personally. Yeah. I think, I guess Clint Frazier, if you have to keep one of them.

Yeah. Jonathan says wants to know, well, we talked about this. Chris Archer, starter, sit, head-to-head categories. The guy I'm facing doesn't have the best pitching, but he does have a two-star week from Geo. Yeah, Jonathan, you just should know you might not get two starts from Darvish, but Archer is in a Categories league.

He's kind of iffy. We talked about that earlier. All right, Trevor from Canada. Head-to-head categories. Sit one of these guys. Harardo Parra, Kevin Kiermeier, Mitch Hanager, Travis Shaw and Tommy Fam. Sit one. Parah, Kiermeier, Hanager, Shaw, and Fam.

I'm going to sit Parra since it's a week in Big Parks. Yeah. All right. This is Tom from Chicago. He needs three of these pitchers. A two-start, Doug Fister. A one-start, Lance Lynn. Miata. Fister's the only two-star guy. Fister, Lynn, Maeda, Pomeranz, Quedo, Samarja, Pax. and Wade Davis, points league. So starting four of them? Three of them. Fister, Lynn, Maeda, Pomeranz, Quato, Samarja, Paxton, and Davis. Not a lot of great options there.

Pomerans, I guess, is a start. I'm going Wade Davis, too. Yeah, okay. That works. And let's say... I might go. with Fister, Scott. Quato? No, Lynn. I'd go Lynn. Last two starts haven't been quality, but he was so reliable

before then. I'm not scared of at Pittsburgh, Lance Lynn. All right, Scott and Rochester, finals and a head-to-head points, daily lineup league, time to drop and stream pitchers like it's my job. Who do you like on Wednesday? Tyler Skaggs, Marquez, Trevor Williams, or Jack Flaherty? Marquez would be my preferred choice of that group. Who does Skaggs have? I'm getting a lot of questions about Skaggs.

Yeah, Skaggs is for as available as he is, he's a pretty good two-start option, but he's further down the list than Marquez for me. Okay. And so those guys are not pitching Wednesday, Scott. I think they're pitching on Tuesday. He also says PS... Yeah, they're a vision Tuesday. They're two-star options.

P.S. football is insanely overrated. I don't agree. From Alex. That's a bold take. Yeah, from Alex. I need two of the following in a two-week championship. Runs and OBP are close.

The other stats are a done deal. So he needs runs and OBP. De Shields, Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar, Moncada, Tim Anderson, and Domingo Santana. Needs two. Okay, so two I would go with, it's an OBP League. Yeah. Tim Anderson is extra yucky in that format.

I'm going to say, Concotta and DeShield, Scott. What do you say? Although I think Domingo Santana had a pretty damn good weekend. Yeah, I think Domingo Santana is on it for me. If you need steals, then I think Tim Anderson still needs to be on it. But if not, then I'm going to go... If you need steals in an OBC league, how are you going to take Tim Anderson over to Lionel to Shields?

I guess it's a fair point. Just because it's OBP. I mean, and the Shields actually walk. You know, you're probably right. Damn right. Finally got one. We'll see. We'll see.

Okay, Chris needs three of these pitchers. Jake Areietta, we don't know for a fact that he's starting, so it's a little risky. Arieta, Bumgarner at the Dodgers, two-start leak, Garrett Cole, Gialito, John Lackey, Jeff Samarja. Give him three. Give them three. I'm going to go with Bumgarner. leak and

I will do we roll the dice on Areietta or not do we do it because the alternative's probably Garrett Cole yeah that's really tough I'm leaning

you know what let's go Cole let's go Cole because it might be a short start even if Arietta does start let's do Cole Lou in Connecticut head-to-head categories league pick one Dominic Smith

Tim Andrew James or Candelario. For this week, unless you need steals, I would go Candelario. Then if you need steals, obviously, Anderson. From Adam. Tight racing, home runs, RBIs, and batting average. So pick two. Home runs, RBIs, and batting average.

Trumbo, Chris Davis, Reyes, and Matt Carpenter. Trumbo, Chris Davis with a C. Reyes and Matt Carpenter. I think I would go with the two you would least expect me to go with, Reyes and Mac Carpenter. From Mike in New Jersey, I need to choose three of the following pitchers. Tanner Roark, Lou Gweaver, Chase Anderson, Rich Hill, and Nelson Lemette. Roark, Weaver, Anderson, Hill, and LeMette. Well, Anderson's the two-star guy, so he's in.

Rich Hill, to the point where I never sit him. And I don't really think you should be sitting Luke Weaver if you can help it. I know I had to tell another guy to do that. But I think Roark and Lemette, although they're fine options, they're the odd men out. All right, here's a tough one to end the show. Nick and Greenwich. Hey, Aaron, Brett, and Clint. Oh, we've gotten this before.

And I was wrong about them. No, it's not Boones. No, it's not Boones. It's Yankees Out of Boones. I don't remember what it is, but it's not Boone. Fielders. Oh, okay. For the ship in a 16-team points league.

Yoan Moncada or Matt Carpenter? For the ship in a points league carpenter. Okay, okay. Thank you, Scott. Hey, crap, I forgot to mention. Only three shows this week. Very sorry. Three shows this week.

Rubbing his hand down his face as he says that. He is completely exhausted and exasperated with me and with this, and he's just ready for a break. Wait, actually, I just thought of something. Since we're not going to do a Tuesday show, I'm just going to give you some questionable pitchers for Tuesday night. Oh, come on. Real quick. Okay. Brent Suter, James and Tyone.

No. C.C. Sabathia hosting Jose Burrios. Uh. Burrios I could see doing the other Not Sabathia Kevin Gosman I'm not going to start Burrios He's been so bad on the road

Kevin Gosman against the Red Sox Hmm Yeah I could do it Yeah I could do it Aaron Nola against the Dodgers Yeah Chris Archer against the Cubs Rather or not

Let's see Luis Gohar Against the Nationals No Gialito and Colin McHugh Astros hosting the White Sox, Gialito and McHugh. Not so inclined to do either. McHugh coming back from injury.

My preferred choice of the two. Are you going to start Mike Clevenger and Tyler Skaggs? Are you facing each other? Yeah. I hate that matchup. I could do Skaggs as a two-start option, but just an individual start against the Indians. I don't think so.

Martine Perez, Mike Leak. Leak's fine. I could do Leak. Zach Godley at Travis Wood, we'll start Godley, and Marquez, yes. Johnny Quedo against the Rockies. I'd rather not. Bye, Scott. Bye, Adam.

Good luck, everybody. Dominate Week 25. Let's win some championships. Dominate!