Fantasy Baseball Today - 09/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Most Added, Week 26 Help

Episode Date: September 22, 2017

Looking at the big stories from the last two days, we wonder if it's time to trust Kyle Schwarber (3:20) and Hunter Renfroe (4:21) and which RPs have recently emerged as closers (6:10)? ... A look at the Most Added list (7:32), plus relevant hitters (13:20) like Carlos Gonzalez, Justin Bour and Dexter Fowler and how much we like them next week. Then it's on to all of the relevant SPs who pitched Wednesday and Thursday and which ones we like in Week 26 (20:40) ... Best and worst hitting matchups for next week (32:00), two-start pitchers for Week 26 (35:26) and today's games (44:00) ... 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

Two more shows before the end of the fantasy season, before the end of the baseball regular season. We'll have this Friday show, and then we'll come back at you on Monday, assuming there are no little babies in the Scott White World. Somebody's going to be here. You may get one last chance to hear from Heath Cummings. Oh, okay. I think he would be the one to do it Monday, if that's the case. All right, good, good. So that means I shouldn't root for the baby to come in order to save me hours of work.

over the weekend because we're going to have a podcast. Now, of course, we'll have a podcast. We're not going to leave the listeners high and dry when they need it the most. But Scott is here. And if you, Scott, maybe you're hiring, maybe you need a nanny. If you are hiring, go to ZipRecruiter.com. You can post your job to 100 plus job sites, including social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, all with a single click.

Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. And how are you, Scott? Oh, I am just lovely, Adam. Lovely. Lovely. I love the uncertainty my life is shrouded in right now, never knowing from one moment to the next if I'm going to have to drop everything and take off. But that's fine.

It's good. This is a good thing. Cool. You're ready for some baseball? Do you sense the nervousness in my voice? No, I don't, actually. You seem very calm. Okay, cool.

You ready for baseball? It's good poker face. He's ready. He didn't hear me, but he's ready. Sure. And since you didn't ask, I ate a little bit too much lunch and I have a tummy ache. Other than that, I'm doing fine. News and notes.

Jimmy Nelson is going to miss part of the 2018 season after shoulder. Yeah, I guess if you combine shoulder and surgery, you get chuldery. But that's what he had. Mike Mustakas is now the single-season home run record holder for Kansas City with 37. R.A. Dickey may retire after the season. Jacob de Grom is having his start push back a couple of days to Sunday. The Dodgers moved Kent to my Ada to the bullpen after yesterday's start. Lance McCullors, Scott.

McCullors could start on Sunday against the Angels if he does start or sit Lance McCullors. Oh, you got to sit him. He is just a mountain of question marks, that guy. Okay. And it's kind of annoying because, you know, we don't need any more uncertainty inserted into this. last week's worth of rotations. Because it's just going to be madness, Adam. Next week, it's madness.

Yeah, all right. We'll get to the supposed two-star pitchers later, and Scott can tell you just how mad it is. And Mike Montgomery also back to the bullpen for the Cubs. And those are your main storylines, your main news and notes. So with that said, give me some standouts, Scott. Anybody jumping off the page at you?

Yeah. Um, good. Of course, of course. You know, I was kind of dismissive when we talked about Kyle Schwerber, I guess just Wednesday, but he homered again, five home runs in nine games. And I don't really think he's a great option for the final week because he's still not playing every day. Um, the Cubs, they are actually facing a lot of Ritey's, but tough matchups to open the week. So whatever. But just talking about Kyle Schwerber for next year, he's been much better in the second half. 251 batting average, 16 home runs, 913 OPS, and that's with the 306 BABIP, so it seems sustainable. Now, maybe a 250 batting average isn't exciting, but based on where Schwerber was and with the kind of power he has, I mean, it would make him, you know, he's definitely in the mix still for a mixed league pick next year. Now for this year, you're trying to plug an outfielder in there, a utility for the final

week. Kyle Schwerber or Hunter Renfro, who had a three-homer game on Wednesday and had a, hey, let me see, what was his OPS in the minors? It was 1448. Yeah. We expected him to tear up the minors, but they sent him down. He hit over 500. I think it was in 14 games. Yeah, they sent him down. He did great. He's come back up and he's hit four home runs in a pretty short amount of time. Hunter Renro, Hunter Renfro, Kyle Schwabber. Probably, probably, probably Schwerver. The Padres matchups are bad relative to the Cubs or otherwise. You know, I'm interested in seeing how the last week goes for Renfro talking about next season. We know he has a ton of power.

He did make a change in his setup at the plate when he was down in the minors, kept keeping his hands quieter, less movement, making it easier to square up the ball hopefully. So there's reason for hope for him. But I think it's even a three-homer game. It's too little too late. Okay, okay. So Hunter Renfro, too little too late. Scott White hates you for the rest of the season.

Oh, come on. Come on. You don't have to make everything so black and white. You know, there are shades here. Yes. Shades of gray. There are 50 of them. There are a matter of fact.

Have you seen the movie? Have I seen the movie? Have you seen the movie? Of course not. I absolutely refused. Yeah, well, I, I, I have no desire to see the movie. A lot of guys had no desire to see 50 Shades of Gray.

It doesn't mean they didn't see it. Well, fortunately, my wife wasn't interested in seeing it either. So we're good. Any other standouts, or shall we move on? Let's move on. Okay, bullpen stuff. Zach Britton needed a PRP injection in his knee. He may not pitch again this season.

You know, what's left of it. So Brad Brock got a save yesterday, and that's someone you could add. Mike Miner is another guy you might be able to add. He's gotten each of the last two saves for the Royals. And Mike Miner's actually having a really good year. He's got a 1.03 whip. He's got 84Ks and 74 innings. And now these two saves.

So Brad Brock, Mike Miner. And I don't think Keone Keller is really a thing. I think that was just Alex Claudio being rested. But Keller got a save yesterday. But Scott, just in terms of Brock and Minor, they look like options for the final week? They do look like options. for the final week. Rock, in theory, is the better of the two, but five games for the Orioles next week.

They're the only team playing five. The Royals have seven. So I actually think I like Minor more. Miner's had a very good season. I think, unlike Scott Alexander, you know, if Minor just keeps doing what he's done, he should be fine in the role. And, you know, good strikeout rate, 84 and 74 innings. Good whip, all of that. He's been a fine reliever for them.

And if I needed another source of saves, great pickup. I am taking a look at the most added list right now. And we are going to speak about most of these players, and we have already spoken about many of them. But here's a look. Matt Olson is number one. We know Matt Olson is hidden amazingly right now, so you definitely want Matt Olson. Daniel Mengdon is number two. How do you feel about it?

Daniel Megden, Scott, and he's 12% own now. These are two players I had in the Thursday's waiver wire column. Obviously feel much better about Matt Olson. The matchups are fine for him next week. He should probably start Matt Olson in the final week of the season. Mengton's interesting just because he's making two starts. And there aren't going to be many pitchers who make two starts. His last two starts were both scoreless, I believe.

One was the complete game shutout, the other seven innings. No walks between them. I see him as kind of a junkballer A guy I mean junkballer probably isn't fair He throws pretty hard But he's not a high ceiling player He's more of a change of speeds guy

And You know Didn't have a great year in the minors this year But he did have a sub 2ERA in the miners last year And maybe there's a little more Here for Mengden Than we're giving him credit for I just you know

Even with the success he's had Not a lot of strikeouts in the majors If he wasn't making two starts and if this was any other week, I wouldn't even give Mengden the time of day. But if you really need that extra start, he's probably one of the better of the available options. So Mengden, yeah, right now he is lined up for the Mariners and the Rangers. Mariners at home, Rangers on the road next week for Mengden.

Also on the most added list, Tim Anderson, Scott, 43% own, 12-game hitting streak, another steal this week. Yeah, Tim Anderson. Yep, yep, yep. Yep. If you, I like points leagues. I don't think there's much purpose in pursuing him because it doesn't walk at all.

And even as hot as he is, it's really not enough for him to make a big impact in that format. But categories leagues, as rare as steals are, and as, you know, you're usually having to fill an out field spot to get him. It's nice to be able to fill a middle infield. spot shortstop spot and he is hot so um you know there's a good chance he'll be on base enough to keep contributing steals in the final week it's it's been something he set out to do a concerted effort to steal more bases because that's something he did a lot of in the miners and i don't see why he

would stop now nick castiano and jamer candelario both hitting very well castiano's just had a stretch of four games or he just absolutely crushed it he's one for eight since then but, you know, whatever. And then Candelario, 12% owned. So Candelario is third base eligible. There's actually a third baseman that might be available in your leagues that you need to pick up, and that's Adrian Beltrae, who has seven hits in his last four games, and he's 79% owned.

Yeah, and he homered yesterday, first homer since coming back, which was nice to see because he is not, just because he's playing doesn't mean he's all himself. He's not really able to use the lower body on his swing. He returned from what looked like a season ending hamstring injury after only two weeks, and he's done okay with it so far. Seven for 16 in his last four games with a double and yesterday's home run. So I think the Rangers matchups next week are kind of middle of the road, but it's seven games.

I think I would rather start him than, say, Jamer, Candelario, but I've gone back and forth on those two. I do think Candelario is a perfectly fine sleeper for this upcoming week, but Adrian Belcheray, of course, probably has more upside. Tyler Skaggs is 34% owned. He's got another start this weekend at Houston, so we'll see how that one goes, but he's a two-star pitcher this current week, Tyler Skaggs. Jacoby Ellsbury is also 34% own, and he's been very good lately.

Scott said doesn't really buy it, a lot of singles, a lot of Babbip. Well, you said singles, I don't know. I'm sure. Yeah, that has actually been pretty good because he's hardly been striking out. Okay. He's not a bad play. The last week, good matchups for the Yankees, so it could do worse. And you can get some steals from Jacobi Ellsbury, potentially.

Not as many as Anderson, but yeah, potentially. Josh Tomlin is 31% owned. I believe he is in the notes for today. Yeah, right? Where are you? He's in the meh category. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Josh Tomlin, five and a third.

third two runs at the Angels. He is 4-0 with a 277 ERA against the... Since the All-Star break, excuse me. And he has the Twins and White So, maybe one bad matchup, one good matchup there for Josh Tomlin. Depends how you feel about the twins. What do you think? You're talking about this week into next week

because I don't think any Indians pitcher is making two starts next week. Then he wouldn't be a two-stance. Then he'd be just Minnesota next week, I think. Don't do it. I don't know why I had the southern twang in there. That was unnecessary. Josh Toblin, don't do it, says Scott, and voice of Scott as the echo thing, whatever the hell that we're going to call that effect. That one's called doubler.

Doubler. That's the one I use most often. But sometimes I go delay three, parentheses, slow. Which sounds like what? It sounds like VIX. That's pretty much all you need to know from the most added list. It's otherwise a bunch of guys we've talked about. So, Scott, how about some hitters here?

Beltrae, yes, Schwerber. Yeah, we talked about both of them. What do you think about Carlos Gonzalez next week? Carlos Gonzalez, he struck out four times yesterday, but he had been very good before that, but he faced a left-handed starting pitcher yesterday. And guess what he faces at least four times next week as of now? left-handed pitcher.

Left-handed pitcher. And that includes Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw. And Hyun Jun Riu, I guess that's kind of a question mark. Is Heng Riu going to make a start next week? What is happening? You asked me like, I know. Oh, okay. Well, he's scheduled to.

I would assume he is. I would assume I don't know when during the week it'll be. On CBS we have it as Ryu Pitching next weekend at Colorado. Yeah, it's going to be the Dodgers don't line up very well for the playoffs, which is funny because they probably have as easy a path to lining up their rotation the way they wanted as any team. So I think they're going to rearrange things a lot this final week

because as things stand now, well, it depends what source you look at. But Kershaw potentially could be in line to start the final game of the season, and that ain't happening. I don't doubt Kershaw will make a start at some point this week, and you should start them in fantasy, but it's very messy. Riu, I think will make one start this week, though I can't guarantee what team it's against. So you think Carlos Gonzalez will have fewer than four lefties on the side? schedule next week.

Yes, I think he will because I don't think Kershaw will be one of them. I don't know. Kershaw could go Friday, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. The Dodgers are the most frustrating one. I think the teams I'm really watching closely for that second half of next week are the ones who are going to the playoffs, who like definitively going to the playoffs and probably

just want to get their rotation in line for their playoff series. A lot of ace caliber pitchers on those teams are projected to go on Saturday or Sunday, and I don't think any of them will. If they do, it'll be like a two-inning tune-up kind of start. But the Dodgers are – the Dodgers, I think, have a lot of changes still to come. I got to say, I watched the really, really fun Thursday night football game yesterday. Right. Rams 49ers. Who'd have guessed it.

Amazing. But I wish I had also been keeping an eye on the Brewers' Cubs game. That was the first playoff game, it seemed, in the year. And it was awesome. Unfortunately, the Brewers didn't have Corey Canebel available, and they blew it in the ninth, and they lost an extras. And now it's a four-and-a-half game lead. So three games left in that series, they probably got to win all three of them, if they got any chance of overtaking Chicago in the NL Central.

More hitters. So without, okay, then Carlos Gonzales. I was considering all of his games are at home, and he won't have quite as many lefties. You're probably starting cargo next week. Justin Boer has a six-game hitting streak, two straight games with a home run. He's got seven games next week, and three of them are at Colorado. As of now, there are two lefties on the schedule, but Justin Boar, Scott, could win you a championship. Yeah, the Marlins are my second best matchups for next week.

Boer will absolutely be in my top ten sleeper hitters. Cool. Tim Anderson, we discussed. Hunter Renfro, we discussed. Chris Taylor. Chris Taylor has come out of it a little bit. Maybe it's because he's facing Phillies pitching. But six hits and two home runs and a triple this week for Chris Taylor.

Previous 22 games, he was batting 186 with four walks and 26 strikeouts. How much do you trust Chris Taylor next week, Scott? I'd be fine with them. Third best matchup is what I have for the Dodgers, the three-game series of Colorado, and they're facing the Padres pitching staff the other half of the week. Taylor's shortstop eligible. So, I mean, what's the replacement there? Yeah, I feel fine about starting Taylor.

Okay, dokey. Curtis Granderson, maybe keep an eye on him over the weekend. We know he's one of the streakiest hitters. He has been terrible for about three weeks, but now two home runs in his last four games, so keep your eyes on Granderson with those good matchups. And then there's two guys who are fairly safe in points leagues. And, you know, I thought Shinsu Chu was hitting better than he is. he's really not.

Like only two weeks in his previous eight with more than 18 fantasy points. And then there's Dexter Fowler, who is hitting very well, 11 for 21 with three homers in his last five games, plus a steal and three doubles. Seven home games next week for Fowler. Yeah, so Fowler and Chu are less than 70% owned, definitely better in points leagues. I don't know.

Anything to say about those two guys? Neither are going to be on my top 10 sleeper hitters. They both have bad matchups. The Cardinals I actually have with the fifth worst matchups, which is a shame because Fowler is heating up at the right time, but maybe by not recommending him, I'm just sparing you from him being removed from the lineup suddenly for some kind of previously unreported injury.

It so often seems to happen with Dexter Fowler. Well, he could have one of the worst pitchers in baseball against him on Monday, John Lester. Wow. That is cold. It is cold. Lester, we need to talk about, and we will talk about. Cubs fans, start buying your, I don't want to jinx it.

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Great opportunity to use your mixer. I don't know the reference. I'm sorry. Fantasy. Oh, yeah. Yeah, almost. I know the reference now. Okay, good. All right, let's look at some pitchers.

The good, the me. Did it so well. The bad and the ugly. The good. Call Hamels. Nice call, Scott. He had a great start at the Mariners. Three in a row that are pretty good.

Three straight quality starts. Lined up to face the Astros and the A's next week. Feeling good about Hamels? Yes. I mean, relatively speaking, he does seem like a pretty good bet to actually make both of the starts. So he's got to be one of the better pitchers who meets that criteria. And the velocity has been up a little for him the last couple months,

not to where it was last year, but with the rise in velocity has also come better results on the change-up. One of his best pitches. Its swinging strike rate has gone up during that same two-month stretch to last year's standard. So he's getting more swings and misses he had 15 in this one. He had 16, two starts ago. Those are his two highest swinging strike totals of the season. I don't think he's back to being the pitcher we know and love,

but I think he's good enough to use in a two-star week. It's so weird. Cole Hamels, he missed a lot of time. He's got 142 innings. He's got a 14-6 record. He's got a 380 ERA, which isn't great, but it's fine. He's got a 11-14 whip. but the strikeout's just so bad.

But like you're pointing out, things are getting better for Hamils. Hopefully he gives you two starts because if he doesn't, he's only going to face Houston next week and not the A's. Jose Urana was good, and he's got a 355 ERA. But let's just say you're not starting him because one of his starts is at Colorado. So no. Yeah, one of his starts is at Colorado. And also he's a fluke!

That was the doubler. That was the doubler in action. Zach Davies is 85% owned. And Scott hates Zach Davies because he thinks he's a fluke. That was the non-dubler. That was the other thing. But Davies had another good start. So that's only like one bad start in ages for Davies.

And he has the Reds next week. I know. And I can't for the life of me figure out what his deal is because... Okay, he has gotten more ground balls lately. And it's shown up in the home run total. His last 13 starts a 234 ERA, 115 whip, but only 5.8 strikeouts per nine innings. And while the ground balls have been better,

you know, he's not Dallas Keikle. He's not Marcus Stroman. He's not, you know, he's just an okay ground ball pitcher. So, yeah, I think it's a, fluke. Like I said, during that 13-start stretch where he's gotten such good results, only three home runs in 13 starts. So that's, you can begin the flukiness right there. All right. Starters sit against Cincinnati. Starters sit against Cincinnati. I'm going to sit him. All right. By the way, just 10 minutes ago got an email. It's actually a football email,

but part of the email from Ryan says, also finally tried seek geek, like it, deleted my other ticketing apps. Quite easy to use and nice to have the discount code. Cool. I just wanted to share that. I know it's a sponsor and I'm giving them free play here, but it is really going to help you. I think you should download Seatgeek. Blake Snell is 55% owned.

Oh boy. Crush the Cubs. Strikeouts have been up lately. This guy is surging in the next season, but Blake Snell, I wish it weren't at the Yankees next week. He might also get the Orioles in there. What do you think? 55% on Blake Snell. He's going to be my top two-starred sleeper, partly because the lack of alternatives.

I wish the match-ups were better, too, but he did just shut down the World Series champions. Last six starts for Snell, he's allowed a total of nine earned runs, and six of those came in one start. So five of them were just great. And I think there's enough momentum that two-star week, and I feel pretty good about the second start. Got to start Snell. Jake Junis, 44% owned. Six and a third, three hits, two earned, two walks, three strikeouts at Toronto. It's unclear who his next start is going to be against.

If he pitches Monday, it would be at the Yankees. If it's Tuesday, it's Detroit at home. He might also get a second start with Arizona. Jake Junis, you're going to recommend him? If I knew he was getting two starts, I'd recommend him for next week, but I don't think he's going to. But Scott, if Jake, Junis is one start against the Tigers.

I wouldn't mind that. Yeah. Here's a hypothetical. Like in a daily league where you're making changes, I can see putting them in for that. Hypothetical for you. Hypothetical. Okay.

What would you rather have for any pitcher? No, a fringy pitcher like Junis. Two starts at the Yankees and home against the Diamondbacks, or one start against Detroit? I mean, it depends what I need more. Points league, I'd rather have the two starts. If I need wins and strikeouts, I'd rather have the two starts. ERA and WIP, I'll take the one start against the Tigers instead.

Okay. Any interest in, Clayton Richard, Mark Lider, Matt Andris, Gabriel Enoa. No. No. Should I say fluke? Should I cry fluke? No, that's okay. The boy who cried fluke.

That was the good? Here's the meh. Carlos Martinez, the kind of meh. actually two starts ago he was terrible but he's got the Cubs and the Brewers next week Carlos Martinez has struggled against both of them recently any fears with Carmart fears

um yeah I'm a little concerned about him nothing specific I mean he's just not the way he's pitching lately it makes him hard to trust with everything on the line but I think I'd I think I'd do it reluctantly I think I'd put him out there

It's been one of my top two or three pitchers all year. And now is not the time to back away from him if he doesn't have some kind of known injury or something. Carlos Martinez, both those starts are home starts. He does have a 318 ERA at home and 402 on the road. Oh, right. It's a two-star week, isn't it? As of now, yeah, Cubs and Brewers. Yeah. Yeah, it seems pretty likely he'll make them.

If they're out of it and they just think he has enough innings, maybe they'll sit him for that. second start, but even so. I mean, Carlos Martinez, I'd keep him active for one start. Andrew Cashner said, do you think I'm a fluke, Scott? And then I was going to say, I was going for it. I was going for it. I was going for it. There was, too much hesitation. Sorry. He's 44% owed, and Cashner lined up for two starts against Houston and Oakland. Two starts, huh? Yeah. Not going to do it. Not going to do it. Too scary.

And Josh Tomlin, not really feeling, right? No. I mean, because I don't think he's going to make two stars, first of all, and that immediately takes him out of the conversation for me. So you might need to find some pitchers off waivers, hire some pitchers, you might say. You might need to, or you could maybe just go with your best pitchers and not worry so much about how many starts they're making. I guess you didn't pick up on the fact that I'm doing a zip recruiter read, Scott. Oh, sorry. No, that's okay. You heard the word hire?

Because when you hear the word hire, you think ZipRecruiter, everybody, that's what I'm trying to tell you. Are you hiring? And do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates? It's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike to get our free offer. Post your job to 100 plus job sites with just one click. ZipRecruiter takes over, finds the right people for your job. They do it better than everyone else. Because unlike other job sites, ZipRecruiter is not.

depending on candidates finding you. Nope, it goes out and it finds them. In fact, I love this stat. 80% of employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate through the site within one day. And it's just very easy to screen these candidates all through the ZipRecruiter dashboard. So find out why ZipRecruiter's been used by businesses of all sizes. Get the qualified job candidates that you need with immediate results and do it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. That's ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. One more time. Try it for free.

Go to ZipRecruiter.com slash strike. And now the bad pitchers from Wednesday and Thursday. De Nelson Lament struggled against Arizona. His previous four starts, he gave up five runs. He gave up six in this start on Wednesday. And he should have the Dodgers and the Giants next week. How do you feel about Lament? I don't have him as a two-star.

pitcher. I have Travis Wood going twice for the Padres. I mean, if he was making two starts, that would definitely put him in a better light for me. But the one he's most likely to make is against the Dodgers, and I'd rather not do that coming off the start he just had. I think he's good. I've been campaigning for him, you know, asking people to pick him up for weeks now. Maybe they finally did and blew up in their faces. I don't know. But probably not this final week. Yeah, more like Janelson Lament, you know? Waw. You know, what's great about this is that Scott, it's just so casual for him.

Like, he's not even entertained. It's just part of his daily routine now. He just not even smiling. He just does it. He's like a board op. You know, they know all the buttons to press and when to do the drops. He's just killing it. I must have a great poker face today because I could not be more entertained by this

soundboard. It is the most entertaining part of my job. You can't start James Paxton, right? No, you can't because he looks rusty and isn't stretched out. So, no, why would you do it? And do you start John Lester next week? Lester is supposed to make two starts. They would be at St. Louis and home against Cincinnati.

I seriously doubt he'll start the final game of the season. Like I said, if he does, it'll be like a two-winning tuna. start, get him ready, like a side session for the playoffs, before the playoffs, basically. So I would approach him more as a one-star pitcher. And he's John Lester, but, yeah, he's been really unreliable lately. He has not looked himself. So I would probably start him. Points League, it'd be easier to do than Categories.

Categories League. You know, if you're looking to guard ERA and whip, it's dangerous. You may have to weigh your alternatives there. I wish he was pitching better. Yeah, for sure. All right, that's John Lester. And how about some Week 26 help? Give us the best and worst matchups for Fantasy Week 26.

Best matchups leads off with the Braves who are the only team playing eight games next week. The Mets, they have a doubleheader with the Mets on Monday. So eight games for the Braves. They're number one, followed by the Marlins, spent half the week at Coorsfield, the Dodgers half the week at Coors Field, the Angels, and the Mets, the other half of that doubleheader. Rockies actually aren't in the five best matchups, though they didn't miss by much.

I mean, they're final week of the season. There are a lot of good matchups, teams with good matchups. Yeah, and matchups that might even get better. If the Cubs decide not to pitch Lester, Yep, they might go, here are all of our September call-ups. Have fun. Exactly. Exactly.

And a lot of teams could do that. Yeah. Okay. So any sleeper hitters that you know are going to be in the column? You said Justin Boar. Yeah, I would imagine Ozzy Albies for the Braves will be in there also. Okay. Jose Reyes, I would guess for the Mets, is going to be in there the way he's performed recently.

Good looking to C.J. Cron. I'm not sure he'll be in the top 10, but C.J. Crohn's had a nice second half. and Angels have good matchup. Also note that I was watching, I think, Fox Sports One, and they have like the whip around, and they showed, maybe was ESPN, I don't know, they showed Crone hit a home run off of Tomlin, maybe, Tomlin or Clevenger.

And the announcer goes, Game of Crohn's! Did he? Yeah, he did. Or did he go, Game of Crone! Yeah, he wishes. had done that, Scott. He wishes he did. Everybody needs a soundboard. Did you do the bad matchups?

No. Do them. Hit it up. Pirates, Padres, Giants, Blue Jays, Cardinals. And that doesn't include the team with five games, the Orioles. Pirates, Padres, Giants, Blue Jays, Cardinals? Yep. Start or sit, Andrew McCutcheon. Start or sit, Starling Marte. Sit. Okay. Giants, Padres. Yeah, I guess you've got a lot of easy calls there. You're going to start Donaldson, you're going to start Machado. Uh-huh. You'll start scope. But what about your boy Mancini, who you've loved so much?

No, not this week. Not this week for him. Not on a Renfro. Not, I don't know, who else is on those teams. You're obviously starting Posey. You're not starting Kendri Morales. You're not starting Will Myers, right? Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I don't know. You wouldn't necessarily start Myers. in like a head-to-head lineup so small. He's, you know, at first base, he's been kind of fringy this year. Oh, yeah. He's batting like 240, something like that. But he's had another 20-20 season, so, you know, there's some appeal there, but he's not so high in that you just automatically start him.

I start Will Myers all the time in my Yahoo League, my daily category, but daily head-to-head categories league. because of the steals. If he didn't steal bases, he'd be out of there. But they're very, very valuable. I'm looking at the two-star pitchers, and would you start Johnny Quato at Arizona at home against San Diego? I would. Certainly in a points league, probably in every league.

You're not going to start Parker Bridwell, are you? I thought about putting him in yesterday's Waver-Wire column as a two-star sleeper, but the matchups just aren't good enough, and I don't think he's any good. At least in the case of Daniel Mengden, I was able to bring myself to do that because his first matchups against the White Sox. No, no, Bridwell's first matchups against the White Sox. Oh, did I get it backwards? Okay. Well, I just don't think Bridwell's good.

Mengden has Seattle and Texas. Bridwell has Seattle and the White Sox. White Sox on the road. Yeah, right. No, I'd still rather have Mengden between the two, but like, Mengton's not a bust. just want to be clear about that. I don't have a great deal of confidence in Mengden. It's just, if you absolutely have to squeeze another start in there, and keep in mind, your opponent's probably not going to have a lot of two-star pitchers either, then Mengden,

you could do worse. Cashner. I'd rather not. I'd probably take him, well, I don't know, he'd be behind even Bridwell for me. No way on Felix Hernandez. No way. All right, Dickey is supposed to face the Mets. twice.

Yeah, he's... Well, no, he's not actually facing the Mets twice. He's facing the Mets and the Marlins. Okay, yeah. And should be a pretty good option for that, especially in points leagues. He's going to go out with a bang.

His last starts of his career, perhaps. Perhaps. Highme Garcia. I'd like to see him back next year. No way am I starting Jaime Garcia. He's been... He's been good. I think he has one...

I don't think he has one quality start with the Yankees. There have been a lot of short starts. It's been nothing but because he's so bad third time through the order. In fact, I am so interested in how bad Jaime Garcia has been third time through the order. I'm going to look up his splits right now. I think opponents are batting almost 400 against him. And that would be...

No, they're batting 344. Sorry. Royals and Blue Jays aren't bad matchups. And I feel pretty good about his two-star potential because... starting final game of the season, like they don't care about saving him for the playoffs. But like I said, I don't think... I'm not sure, Scott,

well, here, if they have anything to play for in the last game of the season, I think Louis Severino is going to throw it. And he would be a two-starved. If they do, but they probably won't, right? They probably won't. They're kind of fixed into that first wild card spot, barring something extreme. Oh, they're three games out.

I believe they have the tiebreaker. The Red Sox have the Astros next week to close the season, and they have Toronto. Probably, Scott. But Garcia is likely to make two starts. He is not guaranteed. So we'll just leave it at that. And I guess since there are so few two-star pitchers, you might get 10 innings out of him. So, you know, Garcia and Sabathia, and there was one other non-Yankis pitcher that they're, like, so streaky.

They go into these, like, three or four-week stretches where they're really, really good. And Garcia, I feel like, is one of them. So maybe you'll catch him at the right time. No way are you starting in, Kennedy. Raphael Montero, Atlanta and at Philadelphia? No. Anyone here that you see?

I mean, we got Trevor Williams, Ricky in Alaska, Chatwood, Seth Lugo, Shields. Mangdon would be the only one so far. Lucas Sims, Cologne, Fulmer. He left with a blister yesterday, Carson, Fulmer. Annabal Sanchez, Daniel Gosset, Brett Anderson, Aaron Wilkerson, rookie Davis. No. I just have disaster written all over them. I mean, you completely skipped by the Blake Snell class, I guess, since I already mentioned.

He's only 56% owned. So, you know, there's a decent chance he's available in your league, and I think he's a fine two-star choice. But otherwise, I mean, you're really just having to hold your nose. If you pick up Mengden or Garcia or Dickie, then I would probably rank those three Dickie, Garcia. And then after that, it's probably just a flat no to anybody else you could throw at me. Let's see if we have any questions here. We've gotten a lot of keeper questions lately. This one is from... This one is... No, I'm not going to read that one.

Eduardo Nunez. Need a possible replacement for Eduardo Nunez. This is from Matthew. Here are my options. let's see while you're looking over that before we leave the subject of two-star pitchers it's worth mentioning there are some higher end types kind of like Lester who I don't

who are going to show up on the two-star pitcher list on the site I'm going to leave them out of the column because I really don't see them starting that final date or two of the season and that includes Chris Sale and includes Jake Arietta Dallas Kichel probably even Mike Clevenger

I would suspect they give Danny Salazar that, assuming everything's clenched, they give Danny Salazar one last turn on Sunday rather than pitch Clevenger twice. No thanks on Salazar. But listen. Right. So you're probably starting Cale Arenda and Keikle one start or two, Clevenger maybe also. So in terms of lineup decisions, it probably doesn't matter whether they're making one or two. I'm just saying don't count on two from them.

Okay, but here's what I'm checking. When do the playoffs start? The wildcard games are Tuesday and Wednesday. So the ALDS starts on Thursday. So would they not pitch on Sunday? No, I guess not. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday will be three days rest. Would Chris Sale really go like a week and a half without pitching?

I don't know. Like I said, there's a good chance he might make like a side session kind of start. but that doesn't really count as a start. I mean, I guess it's better than nothing, assuming it doesn't go horribly. But I'm not going to count on two full-fledged starts from him. Okay, so the ALDS starts on Thursday, the NLDs starts on Friday. So in theory, you could pitch on Sunday. That's more rest than I was anticipating.

But even so, you want those guys well-rested. So, yeah, I just, if there's nothing to play for, I just, I don't see an ace for one of those teams going out there and throwing seven innings with nothing to play for. Like, save it for another day. All right. Who's your favorite from this list? Melkei Cabrera, Jed Lowry, Shinsu Chu, Yasio Puig, Danny, Domingo Santana, Yuri Uri-Uriel, Nomar Mazzara, Scooter Janette. Anybody I say really excite you? Chew, Pueig, Santana, it's probably down to those three.

Santana's hot right now, and looking at the matchups, well, Pueg has better matchups. But I think I'd rather go right now, Santana. Question from Miles. Should I drop Buxton, Yelich, Benintendi, Seguerra, or Cozart to pick up Yohan Moncada for next week? Should I drop Buxton, Yelich, Benintendi, Seguer, or Cozart? to pick up Yoan Moncada? I didn't hear a name there that made sense.

Like, I'm not motivated to activate Moncada for the final week. The White Sox matchups are kind of middle of the road. Yeah, okay, you send me the names now, so I'm looking at them, and I still say no. Also, Mike Zanino or Wilson Ramos? Let's go with... Let's go with Zunino. All right, we got a lot of emails to read. We'll get to them next week, probably.

if not then, we'll do it during the off season. But we got keep her questions to read. We got another thought on the two-way player situation. And we're going to end the show just by taking a quick look at tonight's matchups. And I am sorry that I'm rushing Scott off. I have to do another podcast as soon as we're done with Dave Richard, a mailbag for the fantasy football show that's airing tomorrow. So that's my schedule today.

That'll be my third podcast. Remember we started doing this, and then we realized we were doing Friday's games instead of Thursdays. Right. Michael Waka, Yvonneova. Neither. Alex Cobb, Ibaldo Homenes. I could do Cobb there.

Tanaka Estrada. Tanaka, yes. Estrada against the Yankees. I'll say no. Edwin Jackson, Robert Gazellman. Nope. Rick Porcelo, Sal Romano. Porcelo, I could, yeah, let's do Porcelo.

This is kind of iffy, but decent matchup. Kyle Gibson, Daniel Norris. No. And it's not going to be Daniel Norris. It's going to be somebody, but not Daniel Norris. John Lackey, Brandon Woodruff. Maybe Lackey. Okay.

Must see TV tonight. ESPN 735 Eastern. Cubs at Brewers. Ben lively, Sean Newcomb. No. Garrett Richards, Justin Verlander. Yes. I would say.

say yes to both. Saying yes to the dress. Yeah, I think Richard is going to get a longer leash this time. Jason Hamill, Renaldo Lopez. Lopez is kind of interesting. He hasn't been striking out anybody lately, but the Royals are a good matchup. I lean yes on him. Adam Conley, Zach Granky.

Granky, obviously. Conley, no. Nick Martinez, Kendall Graveman. No. John Gray. Jordan Liles in San Diego. Go Gray. Trevor Bauer or Asmo Ramirez?

Let's do Bauer. We'll do Bauer. Jeff Samarja at Rich Hill. Thumbs up to both of them. To both of them. All right. To both of them. Thumbs up to Scott. Killing it as always. Very helpful stuff.

We're back on Monday. Enjoy the weekend, everybody. We'll help you set your lineup one final time on Monday morning. For Scott White on Matt Amazer. See you later. Later. The