Fantasy Baseball Today - 8 Burning Questions! Edward Cabrera's Great Run & Gallen's Bounce Back (7/2 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Edward Cabrera continued his great run (2:30). ... Is Zac Gallen back from the dead (9:00)? ... George Springer had a monster game on Canada Day (14:51). ... News (18:51): Yordan Alvarez has been shut down with his hand injury. ... Kyle Stowers is hot again (30:48). ... Any interest in Andre Pallante, Jeffrey Springs and Tyler Anderson (40:00)? ... Let's get into eight burning questions involving Shane Baz, Rafael Devers and others (42:10). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (59:42). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Is that Gallen back from the dead? Not so sure about that.

Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wednesday, July 2nd. Whoops. I am Frank Stamphill, John. joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, Edward Cabrera continues his great run. George Springer had a monster game on Canada Day, and I've got some questions for Chris, so you better be ready.

All right, let's jump in. You know who's going crazy right now? Edward Cabrera, last 10 starts, 205 ERA 110 Whip. Another great one here. You know, you said I hope you're ready for questions. That's kind of the whole dynamic on the Wednesday show, right? Burning questions. Yeah, you ask me questions.

I answer them. That's most of the show. So yeah, I am, I think I'm ready. And Edward Cabrera, I mean, we have talked for, what, five years about Edward Cabrera. And the thing we have always said is if he could just throw strikes. And then starting around the beginning of May, he lowered his arm slot. And he started throwing a lot more strikes. And it's turned.

turned him into the kind of pitcher we always hoped he would be. Over his last 10 starts, 205 ERA 110 whip, 55 strikeouts over 52 and two-thirds innings innings in that stretch. That includes seven shutout innings against the twins on Tuesday. See, I almost said Monday. So I'm all screwed up too. Six strikeouts, only one walk, two hits allowed, 14 whiffs. and I think the biggest thing, and it's what I've always said about Edward Cabrera,

is the weirdest thing about him is when you actually watch him pitch, he commands his change up really well. He commands his curveball pretty well, he commands his slider pretty well, and it had always been the four seamer, which should, in theory, be the easiest pitch to command,

that he just could not throw consistently for strikes, could not throw consistently where he wanted to, and this season he's become much more of a, sinker pitcher. He only threw five four seamers in this one. His usage of that pitch has been down to about nine percent over the course of the season. The sinker's been up, you know, right around. He throws everything kind of equally except for the four seamer now. And, you know, it's not like the sinker's a great pitch. You know, it's not a worm burner. Is that what people say about a sinker? He's not like generating Jose Soriano level launch angles. His average launch angle on the sinker's

actually 12 degrees, which is really high. The average for a sinker is five degrees. And he gives up like a 390 X Wobah on the pitch this season. That's pretty bad. But the four seamers are a 496 X Woba allowed. So I think, you know, whether it's he commands the sinker better, it tunnels better with the change up in particular, or it's just not as bad as the four seamer, even if it's not a great pitch in its own right.

some combination of all that has allowed Edward Cabrera to take this big step forward. Now, I do want to say Scott White not showing up on Edward Cabrera's big day. I don't know. People are saying he's scared to face the music on Edward Cabrera after poo-pooing him last week. No, Scott, the reason Scott was down on Edward Cabrera last week was he had only gone six plus endings once in, I think at that point it was his last eight starts. Well, now it's twice in 10 starts, which is the same number of starts he has with four or fewer innings.

So there are still definitely limitations with Edward Cabrera. But this is the best version of Edward Cabrera that we've ever seen by far. And I don't think he's an ace. I think the Marlins are still a mediocre team, despite I think eight longest winning streak since 2008 now. But I do think at 52% rostered, he needs to be much more widely rostered. I'm going to say pretty much in any league. I could see there being some shallower points leagues because quality starts going to be hard to come by.

Winds are going to be hard to come by. I can see him being pretty fringy there. But I think anywhere else, Edward Cabrera should be rostered at this point. Yeah, he is a weird pitcher. He almost uses his, he pitches backwards. His change-up is kind of like his fastball, and then he uses his sinker as a change-up, which doesn't make sense, but it kind of makes sense for him.

It's because he throws his change-up harder than, like, most Hall of Fame pitchers through their fastball. His change-up averages 93.7 miles per hour. It's only three miles per hour slower than his sinker, which is, I mean, we're usually talking, like, seven to 10 mile per hour differences between changeups and fastballs. So, you know, he's a weird pitcher. There are clear limitations. But with the way he's going right now and the fact that a trade seems, if not likely, at least probable or possible, I, yeah, I think we've got to

just add Edward Cabrera and see what happens. Would you take him over Ryan Nelson or Quinn Pricer? Those two seem kind of like the recent standouts from the past couple days. I think I don't want to say trust Edward Cabrera because that's not the right word. But I think he has more upside than those guys. Ryan Nelson, I just, I don't know how sustainable this super heavy four-seamer approach is,

especially it's not like it's Brandon Woodruff's old foreseamer where it was like 33% whiff rates and you can get away with throwing it that much. So I do think at some point there's going to be some issues with those guys. But that's also true of Edward Cabrera. But I think the upside's a little higher here. I would lean that way as well. Yeah, Ryan Nelson remains confounding.

We spoke about him yesterday. He is just a weird pitcher, how much he uses that fastball. But it's worked. That's the thing. I mean, we're going on like a calendar year now. Nelson just being a quality pitcher. So I don't want to downplay him. And Quinn Priester has made some changes

where he's throwing his breaking pitches more and his sinker less, and that's been a recipe for success. But if I was ranking those three, I think I would go Cabrera Nelson Priester. I think that's right, yeah. I think just in terms of talent, that's certainly how I would rank it. All right, and shout out to those Marlins.

As you said, they now have a better record than the Braves, which is just kind of crazy to think about. But yeah, they are hot right now. And let's move on to Zach Allen. Because last week, famous funeral here on the podcast, is he back from the dead? Maybe, I don't know. Seven innings, two runs, one earned run against the Giants.

Ten strikeouts here to zero walks. 16 whiffs on 101 pitches through 69% of his pitches for strikes. And look, that is a big key for him. Control has been a massive problem for Zach Allen dating back to last year. The reason why I stopped short of saying he's definitely back, he still gave up 10 hard hits in this game, 96.1 average exit velocity. And we know he's capable of having good starts.

He has five starts now of at least six innings, one earned run or less. But they're surrounded by a bunch of bad starts this year. So I think this is a nice first step for zombie gallon, if we're, you know, continuing with that theme. But I need to see him string together, you know, two, three, four good starts before I want to say the word trust or that he's definitively back. What do you think about Zach Allen?

Can you go ahead and share the screen share that I put in there? Because this was an interview that Zach Allen did with, I think it was Dallas Braden. I guess he has a show. And I just think this quote is is so representative of Zach Allen right now. And that pitch is a love-hate relationship. It should be so good. I should be able to roll out of bed with it.

And it's when it's not right, it just drives me nuts. That's him talking about his knuckle curve. And that is, I think just sums it up because when he's got that curveball working, it can be a great pitch. But for some reason, it's just super inconsistent for him. and he really had it today. It was what, seven whiffs with that pitch, eight whiffs with that pitch on 15 swings.

It's actually overall, the whiff rate is 42% for the season, which is a lot higher than I thought it was because I know there have been plenty of starts and stretches this season where it feels like he doesn't have the curve ball, but I don't know. It's really frustrating.

I think I'm going to take the same stance with him that I've taken, with Kevin Gosman and to a lesser extent Spencer Strider. I made this comp recently. Those guys, I think, are better than Zach Allen, especially Strider. But it's nice to get the reminder that he's still capable of this. Is the floor anywhere near where it needs to be for you to trust him? No.

But at least we're getting glimpses of what the upside can be. now we had that Yankee start earlier in the season uh what was it 14 strikeouts best start of his career so it's not like we were totally hurting for evidence that zach allen was capable of this but it's it's a good reminder that if you're dropping zach allen for ryan nelson i don't really think ryan nelson's capable of this kind of stuff you know like his start yesterday was what eight eight strikeouts, it was good. Yeah. But I don't think there's any question when Zach Allen's at his best.

Ryan Nelson can't compete with that. It's just, it's been a long time since we've seen two starts in a row where Zach Allen was at his best, let alone a whole month where he's actually helping your fantasy team. It's been like a year since we've seen that. So it's, um, it's rough. But I, I don't think I was ever ready to drop him last. last week. Maybe you can run the tape back and I'm out there saying drop Zach Allen everywhere, but I don't think I ever said that. So I'm just hanging on to him and hoping the next one's

good, but I'm certainly not sure I'm ready to start him. What's the next matchup even? Well, he is in line for two starts this week. I'm not exactly sure what the next one is. Oh, I got it. At the Angels on Friday. Or no, sorry. Versus the Royals on Sunday. So he gets two awesome matchups in a row. If we had talked this one through beforehand, yeah, the Giants are terrible right now.

I still think you had to bench Gallen, man. I think so, yeah, especially in a roto league. Previous nine starts before this. It was a 697 ERA, 159 whip, 13 home runs allowed. So as someone, I think I have Gallon in two leagues. I benched him in both. And while it's annoying to see a start like this, I think the process was right with benching him.

So I think you and Scott were, you know, less likely to drop him last week than I was. You guys were definitely like, all right, he has to be on the bench for now. But I would stick with that. I think we still need to see more. But obviously, this was a great step in the right direction. It's lining up really well for him to close out the first half, though, because versus Kansas City and then at the Angels, it's a tough ballpark. but that's a team that can still strike out a lot.

So let's hope he carries this over for the next couple of starts. Yeah, I do think that was an interesting quote that you brought up too. I think there was a podcast earlier this season where I brought up this exact thing to Scott. And I said, I think Zach Allen just kind of goes as his curveball goes. And I think Scott kind of shot it down. But yeah, that's his best pitch. It is a hard pitch to locate, obviously. and starts where he doesn't have it.

Those are, you know, most likely his worst starts. So nice outing here from Zach Allen. And I cheated here because I chose two players. I got to give a shout out to George Springer who absolutely demolished the Yankees on Canada Day. Three for four with a double dong, including a Grand Slam 7 RBI. And over his last seven games,

he has a 462 batting average, three homers, 15 RBI in seven games with two stolen baseball. So Chris, remember that conversation we had last week about Springer struggling the month before all this? I think he's probably fine. Yeah, you know, I was writing about Kyle Stowers for tomorrow's newsletter because he's back on a good heater right now. And I think with both of these guys, the biggest takeaway from the last couple of weeks is just it looked like they were petering out after having really unexpected breakthrough. and it's good to see them bouncing back.

It doesn't necessarily mean that George Springer will continue to be a must-start player the rest of the way, but it would have been easy to write him off after a bad month or so. And now he's showing that he's capable of pulling out of it. And for what it's worth, the quality of contact metrics have been excellent pretty much all the way through. So he still has a 383X Woba, which is his best for a season since 2020. Yeah.

I don't quite understand how he's doing it, but it's been fun to watch for sure. Yeah, I don't exactly know how he's, you know, got back to hitting the ball as hard, but watching this game, I heard the Blue Jays mention that Springer has consciously tried to put the ball on the air more this season, and that is reflected in the data. He has his highest fly ball rate

and highest barrel rate since 2021. So it is working. He's putting the ball in the air. He's hitting it harder, barreling it up. It's leading the home runs, and it has been a great resurgence season here for George Springer. Before we hit our first break,

just a reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, scan the QR code if you're watching on YouTube. That will bring you right to the website where you can sign up for free and you'll get a newsletter delivered to your inbox every weekday of the season and big thanks to those watching us

live, make sure to hit the like button and subscribe on YouTube as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. News and Notes the Astro Strike again. Yordon Alvarez has been shut down from all activities after reporting

renewed soreness in his hand while taking swings on Monday. He'll visit a specialist within the next couple days and I did see some quotes from their GM Dana Brown when he was asked about is surgery a possibility he didn't say yes he didn't say no he said we'll see what the specialist says so that's uh that that's concerning and um i i'm i'm the the aster's are my mortal enemy now just the way all this has worked out over the past year with

kyle tucker and now yordaun alvarez and jeremy pania it's just so frustrating i i'm not saying I know better than them. I don't. I'm dumb. I didn't go to med school. I'm not a physical trainer. I don't know anything. It's just frustrating to watch this happen with so many high profile, high impact players for them. It's just more than anything. It's just frustrating. Might just be a string of bad luck, you know, that that could be the explanation, but it's just it's been a rough year. Another day, more Dodger pitcher updates. Tyler Glass Now is expected to ramp up to 75 pitches in his next rehab start with AAA on Thursday. Blake Snell is expected to face live hitters on Wednesday, and Michael Kopeck was placed back on the IL,

this time with right knee inflammation. Brandon Woodruff has completed his rehab assignment and is expected to be activated from the IL to start this weekend against the Marlins, and intense starts in the Miners, 279, ERA 117 whip, 7.5K per 9, 10.7% swinging strike rate. And most notably, his fastball has averaged four miles per hour or less than the last time we saw him back in 2023. So Woodruff is 86% rostered. Chris, I think a lot of that is people just holding on to the name value here. My expectations are pretty low, but I am happy to be proven wrong by Woodruff if it happens.

I would love to be proven wrong. But my expectations like you are extremely low. And I think the biggest thing is just that fastball velocity. I know you can look around baseball and see guys who throw 91, 92, and have good fastballs. Like that that's not the thing. It's just that when he's been good, he's been 95, 96, 97 with the fastball on average. And now he's at 91.9 so far in his AAA rehab start. And that's just, that's a huge drop.

I mean, we're talking a four mile per hour difference between where he was in 2020. And he had, let me make sure I got the number right, 72, 74 strikeouts in 2020. 52 of them were on his two fast balls. 47 out of 74 were on the four seamer. This Brandon Woodruff has been more than basically any pitcher in baseball reliant on his four seamer to get strikeouts. He was consistently a 33 to 29% fastball whiff rate guy. And I just don't see how he can be that at 92. Maybe he'll prove me wrong.

And I'm pulling for him. If you have him on your roster, you know, let's take that free look this weekend before you have to activate him. But unless he's averaging like 93, 94 in this start and look. really good and I'm talking like 70 strikeouts really good against the Marlins. I'm more inclined to just drop him than activate him when it comes time. The next question is who's spot in the rotation is he going to take? Because as of now they have Freddie Peralta, Jacob Mizziarowski, Jose Cantana, Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick.

I mean, Jose Cantana hasn't been very good lately. I guess they could go that route. but yeah i don't he still has a 330 era he hasn't had an era over 375 since 2021 it looks like um so i i don't know how likely it is that they just drop hosea cantana especially like quin priester i assume has some options and chad patrick has three options i'm looking at now so i don't think it's going to be maziorowski it's definitely not going to be pro ralieneroy it's definitely not going to be Peralta. It could be any of the other three. Hopefully they, I wouldn't mind just, hey, let's go with the six-man rotation for the next two weeks, right? We just got to get through

the All-Star break and then make that decision because two, you know, three turn, two turns in the rotation, a lot can happen in terms of injuries and underperformance. And that problem might take care of itself. So it does just, it stinks that Logan Henderson didn't get another chance before Woodruff came back. I don't even want to say it out loud, but this is the same team that sent down Logan Henderson when he was pitching well. So I don't think they're going to send Jacob Mizirowski down. I hope they don't play.

Because Mizziarowski threw more innings than, yeah, he threw about 20 more innings than Henderson last year. I would say there's almost no chance that they sent him down. It is funny that the twins made like a, or the Brewers, excuse me, made like a kind of panic trade at the start of the season to get Quinn Priester. They gave up a, they gave up a lot. Yeah. They gave up like a top 45 draft pick and a prospect for him. And then they've kind of had more pitchers than they had spots for most of the season.

It's been weird. Yeah. Kerry Carpenter was placed on the aisle with a right hamstring strain. Max Scherzer said he experienced. some forearm tightness after his thumb began to fatigue during his start against the Yankees on Monday, which he, that's been consistent with what he said. Most of the injuries he's dealt with the past handful of years have been because of the thumb that kind of lead to other injuries.

So it's not looking great right now for Max Scherzer. In a surprising turn of events, Hunter Goodman was not placed on the IL, and instead he started for the Rockies on Tuesday, and then he hit two more home runs. So now he's up to 16. He's been awesome this year. I feel for people, Chris, who might have benched Hunter Goodman based on the report, I am one of those people.

But it's, what else were you going to do if you thought he was going to go on the IL? I mean, didn't they call up another catcher or two? Yeah, I think they promote Austin Nola. Something like that? Yeah, I saw something like that, yeah. Yeah. I had one league where I was like kind of kicking myself

because I didn't remember until like seven a-clock. Oh yeah, I wanted this bench Hunter Goodman and I got two home runs out of it. So it was already worth making that mistake, I guess. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, Chris. Absolutely. There you go. Wilson Guturris left after being hit on his left hand by a fastball from Paul Skeens, which is always scary. X-rays came back negative and Wilson Gutreras is day to day. Josh Naylor was supposed to return to the lineup. He was in there and then he was scratched, continues to deal with that. neck injury. Jordan Westberg has missed four straight with the injury to his left index finger. Jacob Wilson was scratched from the lineup due to right hamstring soreness. I feel like this hamstring has been a problem for him off and on for weeks now, maybe even a month. It's just kind of been annoying for Jacob Wilson. Bo Bichette was out of the lineup for a second straight day after tweaking his right knee.

He is day to day. Nolan Aronado also out of the lineup with that right index finger. He suffered on Sunday and then he'd just. d-hed on Monday, and now he was, you know, dealing, dealing with some renewed pain in that, in that finger. So I have to monitor Nolan Aronado. Sean Mania resumed a rehab assignment at AA on Tuesday. I did not see the results of that, but he recently got a cortisone shot in his elbow,

so I hope all as well with Sean Minaya. Trent Grisham is likely headed for the IL with that left hamstring injury. The Rockies have recalled outfield prospect Yankeel Fernandez from Trinckham. AAA, and he's 22 years old, and this season at AAA was hitting 284 with 13 home runs in 849 OPS. Doesn't strike out very much, you know, okay exit velocities, the max exit velocity looks better. 6% rostered, I think just a name to watch for now, Chris. I mean, NL only leagues, sure, but he's a left-handed bat, wasn't in the lineup against

the lefty here. I will be interested to see if the Rockies just give him some run against right-handed pitching. Yeah, it's a somewhat interesting profile, and obviously the Rockies can use all the talent they can get, but I just don't know how many spots there are for him weirdly. Like, I personally don't think Mickey Moniac should really be blocking anyone with any whiff of long-term potential, but I don't think they're going to sit him. Tyler Freeman's been good. Jordan Beck has showed a lot of potential this season. So, yeah, I'm just not sure the opportunities are going to be there for Yankeel Hernandez. Yeah, that is fair.

Jeremy Pena went with Jeremy Pena going on the aisle. Shea Whitcomb was recalled by the Astros. He's 26 years old. All this guy has done is Crush AAA last year, this year. He was hitting 280 with 19 home runs, six deals, a 942 OPS. But the Astros opted to start Maricio Dubon instead of. of him. So I don't know if they're going to play Wickcombe, but he has crushed the minor leagues. Gabriel Arias was placed in the aisle with a left ankle sprain. Christian Kos was placed in the

aisle with a left hamstring strain. Luis Matos was recalled. And we had some bad weather here on Tuesday, three rainouts, and then the Reds and Red Sox got suspended in the fourth inning. They'll pick that game up on Wednesday. Plus, they'll play another one. I think we have 19 games on the schedule on Wednesday. So, yeah. It's going to be a tough one. I was just like going through the Mets, triple or minor league farm system to see like, where did Sean Minaya pitch?

And I see you put in the rundown. He was supposed to start at AA. Well, I looked at high A, double A and AAA. I think all of the Mets affiliates at all three of those levels also got rained out today. So it doesn't look like Manaya pitch today. All right. So then that should hopefully happen

on Wednesday. So, I mean, yeah, I'm seeing a report here that it was supposed to be his final rehab start. So whenever he makes that rehab start, assuming it goes well and his elbow bounces back fine, then I don't know, maybe as soon as next week we'll see Sean Binaa back up with the Mets. Also, I do just want to point out, just give Shay Whitcomb a chance. Like, he's only gotten 55 plate appearances at the Major League level, and he hasn't done much with them in fairness. but he has experience playing short, second, third, left, right, can probably play first base in a pinch.

Like, give him a chance. He's put up huge numbers. 19 homers this season already at AAA. I think it was 25, 25 last year. He's 26, so it's unlikely that Shea Wickham is much more than a quad A player, but I just would like to see them give him a chance at some point. Agreed. Let's talk some Waverwire hitters from Tuesday's 8.

action. Kyle Stowers, so you mentioned, he is picking things back up, two for four with his 14th homer, last 17 games, 327 batting average, four homers, an OPS over 1100. The annoying part, and I think Scott and I talked about this last week, he has started just two of their last nine game against lefties. That's despite him hitting 317 against left-handed pitching this season. So I don't really get it. He's up to 65% rostered. Chris, do you think that number needs to be higher. We're talking probably points leagues at that point. So I think

part of the problem is that stretch probably coincides with him getting really cold. He had gone before, I think his last, he had gone 31 games without a home run and then he has four in his last eight now

I think. And so I want to say it's probably just because of that. He had just gotten cold at that stretch. And now that he's heating up, hopefully, he remains in the lineup more consistently because he's, he looks really good. He went through that cold stretch, but then turned it around. And that seems really promising to me. Because it's always, it's not easy. Nothing as a major league baseball player is easy. But you'll see guys get off to hot starts. The league adjusts to them and they just don't have an adjustment.

back. Zach McKinstree was like top 20 in Wobah in the first month of the season, right? And what I like to see is when a guy struggles and then figures it out. They have an adjustment to the adjustment. That doesn't mean Kyle Stowers is just a superstar forever, but the underlying numbers back up what he's done. I think he's more like a 260 hitter maybe, but I think the power is real. So I do think Kyle Stowers is a viable target.

You're not taking him over any of the recent names we talked about though, right? The pro Fars, Austin Hayes. Not those guys, no. What about Joe Adel? Probably not. I think I'd take Joe Adel as well. Mostly it just comes down to left versus right. And Adele and Hayes both have much more locked in roles.

There's no question that those guys are everyday players. There's a question with Kyle Sowers. You mentioned Jordan Beck. He had himself a big game as well. He went five for five with a run scored. Last 24 games, he's hitting 316 with two homers, 12 runs, 12 RBI, and two steals. So you'd like to see more power and speed, but hitting over 300 during that time, 48% rostered.

I think that sounds right. I think he needs to be rostered in five outfielder leagues, but probably not points leagues because the plate discipline still not great. I mean, look, the thing that's nice about this, though, is this is what's supposed to happen at Coursefield. It's supposed, you're supposed to get these flawed Rockies hitters. Let's just, let's say what it is. They're Rockies.

They're not very good, generally. But Coursefield is supposed to inflate what they're doing. And so you have a guy who maybe is a 245 hitter. in the real world. But because he plays half his games at course field, can he hit 275? Can Jordan Beck be a 275 hitter with, you know, 20-20? Yeah, I think so.

And I think that's a very useful player in most categories leagues. Probably not a must start in three outfielder categories leagues, but certainly any five outfielder leagues, yeah. Andres Jimenez had himself a nice game, two for three with the walk, and his fifth home run had three RBI. The home run came off Max Fried as well, so lefty on left.

Very impressive stuff here for Jimenez, who has been disappointing. Obviously, he's hitting 207, five homers, 10 steals, missed some time, has only played 59 games a season. But his XBA entering Tuesday was 261, and his BABIP is 66 points below his career mark. So I would still bet on the batting average climbing here. And look, we know who Andres Jimenez is. 46% rostered means there are probably some Roto League. with a middle infield spot where he's not rostered and

I don't think that should be the case yeah but you'd rather have Otto Lopez right oh yeah let me think let me see if I can pull up Luis Garcia you'd rather have him yeah Bryson Stott

you know he sits against some lefties I always just tie them together it feels like they have such a similar skill set like Jeff McNeil has slowed down a little bit. Willie Castro has as well. I would take Kamenez over both those guys, McNeil and Castro. Probably not Stott just because Stod isn't a better lineup, better ballpark. Yeah, and steals a lot of bases as well. I think I'd rather have McNeil or Castro, but if Jimenez gets hot, I think it would be fine to drop them for him.

Like Polanco is still 51% roster. I would make that swap. I think I would make that one. He's cooled down a lot. He does not play every day. I think that's fair. I know Ernie Clement is hitting well right now. It probably comes down to, you know, what kind of skill set you need. I'd rather just ride the hot hand with Clement. Yeah? I think if you need speed, I'd be all right with Jimenez.

But Clement's hitting for a great batting average right now. He's been leading off too. He's starting to draw walks a little more often too. So, yeah, no, he's been pretty impressive. That one is closer, for sure. Gary Sanchez, we mention the name every day. Like, what year is it? Unleashed the Crack.

And here we go, one for three with his fifth home run. and this one came off of Jacob de Grom who's been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year. Last 13 games for Sanchez, he's hitting 354 with four homers, 19 RBI, OPS over 1,000. He did also... He's also getting x-rays on his finger after getting hit by a foul tip.

So got to make sure he's all right. Has started eight straight games. 27% rostered. Any two catcher leagues for sure. Like, some people have asked me about one catcher leagues, no way. There has to be just better options. But in all two catcher leagues, for sure, as how does he is. I haven't realized they have Jacob Stallings now. Okay.

I was wondering who the other catcher on their roster is, just because, I mean, if Sanchez has to go on the I.L. Basayo time? Just call it Basayo, right? Let's just do it. The universe is trying to tell you something. Two other names in the deepest of leagues. Jake McCarthy doing some nice things since being recalled, seven games, 240 batting average, but two home runs, one steal in 829 OPS.

And Victor Caratini for even deeper two catcher leagues, last 11 games. 270 batting average, four homers, 12 RBI. He's kind of playing sitting every third game, but, you know, in leagues that deep, I mean, you'll take anything as your second catcher. Any interest, Chris, and Jake McCarthy or Victor Caratini? I think these are just Mono League. guys. I don't think even 15 team leagues. I have a ton of interest in them.

All right. Let's take a quick break when we return. We'll run through some waiver wire pitchers and then I've got some questions for Chris. Some more questions. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Waiverwire pitchers we spoke about the most exciting one

already that it was Edward Cabrera but a couple of their names here. Scott, you win this time. Andre Palante had a strong start at the Pirates. Seven shout out innings one hit, two walks, three strikeouts, has allowed two earn runs or fewer in four of his last five outings. He's 34% rostered. Looks like he lines up for two starts next week. Jeffrey Springs was okay in his revenge game at Tampa Bay, five and a third, two runs, three walks,

four strikeouts. He is 57% rostered gets the Blue Jays next week, and Tyler Anderson turned in a quality start at the Braves. Six shot out innings, seven strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 87 pitches here. Velocity was up a little bit for Tyler Anderson. Might have helped him. His previous eight starts before this. 647 ERA and a 171 whip. So gets the debacks next week.

Not so sure we're into that one. But any interest in any of these names? No, not really. Palante just because he closes out the half with a two-start week against the Nationals and Braves, I think is okay. as a streamer in points leagues, but I don't look at any of these three guys

and think that their roster rate is too low. Like I saw Tyler Anderson had a good start today. For some reason, I remembered him having a couple of good starts recently, and that was totally false. My mind is playing tricks on me because he's been terrible lately. No, I don't really have any interest in any of these guys. Like, they'll have good stretches, but I would much rather have,

Edward Cabrera, who is rostered in fewer leagues in Jeffrey Springs right now. I would absolutely make that switch. Yes, 100%. I know Springs has done an okay job keeping runs off the board this season. Three earned runs are fewer and 12 of 16 starts. A 407 ERA, but that comes with a 477 FIP and a 470 XFIP. So I am not buying what Jeffrey Springs has done so far. All right, let's get into eight burning questions for Chris.

Shane Boz, strong start against the athletic, seven innings, seven hits, three runs loud, 11 strikeouts with 20 whiffs on 90 pitches, and last four starts since introducing that cutter. He has a 267 ERA, one whip, 32 strikeouts over 27 innings. Chris, how much do you buy into this new version of Shane Boz? Well, buying into Shane Boz has certainly never. bid us, not within the last three months, let's say. So I don't see how this could go wrong. No, I think the fact that we are seeing a conscious change in Shane Boss's approach with this new cutter, it's a different version of him. What was interesting tonight was it kind of wasn't.

he threw the the cutter i think 14% of the time in this one he had been more like 35 to 40 he'd been leading with the cutter his previous three starts um and he did not today but the the command on the four seamer especially was just terrific he was it was masterful all all up above the the belt or higher higher in the zone and that's what you're going to have to do if you're going to be you know, relying on a four seamer this much for WIFs. The nice thing that I like seeing, and this was what Shane Boss was struggling with early on the season, even when things were going well,

is he was just throwing way too many pitches in the strike zone. It was like 56, 57% zone rate, according to baseball Saffaunt early on. Today it was 48%. And the problem is, look, you can get a lot of cold strikes that way, but you need to miss bats. You need to put guys away. You just can't rely that much on called strikes. And he did generate chases in this one, 36%.

That's also a very good mark for him. I'm still skeptical. It's really only like two great starts in the past four, right? Because before that, one of them was bad. One of them was good, but it was like four walks and six strikeouts. Yeah. So it's really the last two where I think he's only walked two. He's got 20 strikeouts.

we're still dealing with a very small sample size here with Shane Boss, but it was, it's been impressive enough that I can't imagine sitting him for, you know, whatever his next start is. I think I wrote that down earlier. So he's in line for two starts next week at Detroit at Boston. So that's not great. Yeah. But I'm still going to start him, yeah.

I think so as well. You know, Boston's coming around. a little bit, but they still have so many young guys in the lineup that, you know, they can be prone to striking out and things. And no carry carpenter for the Tigers. Yeah. Yeah, that helps, but, you know, that's still a tough match. They've been a pesky team, man, just all season long.

Let's talk about Rafael Devers. Since joining the Giants, he is batting 204 with two home runs and a 37% strikeout rate, still hitting the ball very hard, but lots of ground balls during the stretch. An adjustment period here, but Chris, how worried are you about? Rafael Devers in Sanfran. The only reason I would be worried. And let me make sure. Okay, he has been dealing with a groin and back issue since getting to San Francisco.

They revealed that today. And it hasn't been enough to keep him off the field, but it has kind of delayed their plans to get him, you know, some reps at first base at least. And if you want to be cynical, maybe you can say, that, you know, he's exaggerating it, but given the performance, I think it makes sense that he's been so cold and, you know, the injury excuse certainly tracks there. So, look, you're not sitting, Raphael Devers, All-Star Breaks coming up. Hopefully that gives him a chance to get right. And I can't say I'm not worried at all, but his track record is so good and he's been so good

this season that if he just had this two-week stretch but he hadn't been traded, would we even notice? I don't really think so, you know? Yeah. What about Grant Holmes who was awesome against the Angels six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, 27 whiffs on 10 six pitches, 16 of those on the slider. Granted, he was facing the Angels. They have the second highest strikeout rate versus right-handed pitching this season, but he's been much better of late. It's four earned runs total over his last four starts. He has two double-digit strikeout outings during that span as well.

The question here, Chris, how high can we get Grant Holmes in the starting pitcher rankings? Because we all have him in that 50 to 55 range, but, you know, just going back to this kind of like, just inside the top 40, I have Gosman and Bybee and Castillo

and Flaherty. And thinking more about it, like, why shouldn't Grant Holmes just be in a similar range as those guys at this point, you know? I can't make a strong case against it. I have him 54th in my roto rankings. I'm not sure. Probably higher in points, I would imagine, because he's RP eligible.

The biggest thing is just his control is really bad. And it's been getting worse as the season's gone on. He has 18 walks in 31 and 2 thirds innings over his past 6th start, stating back to the start of June. That's the biggest thing holding him back. But the strikeout stuff is significantly better than I expected it to be. The slider is ridiculous. 16 whiffs with the slider in this one.

That's only going to drive the whiff rate up. It was already 43% entering today. And the curveballs come along really nicely after a slow start. His fastball gets hit really hard. He doesn't get a lot of whiffs with it generally. The command is bad. I do wonder if he might not be better. off like throwing the cutter more often instead of the four seamer but i don't know if he has the

command for it i think he's really good i think he's limited and so if you wanted to say that you rank grant holmes 40th i wouldn't really argue with you i think it's super fluid and it has been for a long time if you wanted to argue he was like i've got like a lot of injured guys in the like 40-ish range like Blake Snell and Hunter Green and Tyler Glassnell, Michael King, where we just don't really know Chris Sale. I have no idea when all those guys are going to be back. So like, if you wanted to put him ahead of any of those guys, if you wanted to put him ahead of Kevin Gosman, I think that's perfectly reasonable. So I can see the case for Grant Holmes as a top 36 pitcher even in roto. And obviously I think in ahead-to-head points league, it's even

easier to make that case because he is RP eligible. Michael Bush is doing. his thing. Three for three with a walk run and RBI. Last seven games, he's hitting 391, two homers, one steel, 1092 OPS. Strikeout rate is down this season from 29% to 22%. He's hitting the ball hard, expected stats look awesome. We know that there are limitations here because he doesn't play against left-handed pitching. Even with that, he's currently ranked as the ninth best first baseman in Roto, the 11th in head-to-head-to-head points. So, Chris, is Michael Bush just a top 12 first basement rest of season. This is another one where seeing him adjust to the adjustments had been really nice because remember he had an awesome start to 2024. I don't have the exact numbers.

823 OPS in the first half, but it was like a mid-800s OPS through the end of June. And then he really fell off, didn't have an OPS over 800 in any of the final three months of the season. So seeing him start off similarly hot in 2025, go through a big slump in May, and then come back out of it. And June has been really encouraging, and obviously he starts off July with a good game. I don't think he's a top 12 first baseman.

But it's a weak enough position after the first, I don't know, seven or eight, that, again, I'm not going to argue if you wanted to put him in the top 12. I would I trade him for Yondi Diaz? I think I'd rather have Yondi Diaz. I agree with that one. Then we've got this like whole Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler Soderstrom,

Spencer Torkelson, uh, Jack Caglione. That's the group that I think he, he's kind of surpassing right now. I think he is right now, but, you know, if we talked about this three weeks ago,

some of those guys looked ahead of him. So it's, I think they're all pretty similar, and it's just who happens to be hot right now is the biggest differentiator. Yeah, I think I still would take Torkelson. I know he cooled off in June. I would have Nick Kurtz ahead because, you know, he's been hot. Yandy Diaz. But then. I take Finney P. Oliver him.

You know, that's one too where, you know, Vinny P has been fine. Like the overall numbers have gotten up to, I guess close to what we've expected, buddy. still a little underwhelming. I think Bush is in this mix, man. So for me, I have Kurtz and Yadie Diaz at 10 and 11, and then I think I'm going to move

Aranda up a little bit. So I think 12 and 13 are like Aranda and Bush in some order, so I think he's right in that mix. It's been really good. What about Gavin Williams? Another bad outing against the Cubs this time. Tough matchup, five and two thirds innings, four runs, four more walks,

only two strikeouts here, 10 hard hits. He has three plus walks in four straight. He has three plus walks in nine of 17 starts the season. The strikeouts have been down lately as well. Still 86% rostered. Chris, can we drop Gavin Williams? He is so frustrating, man.

Yeah. That is now, did you say this? More walks than strikeouts than three of his last four starts? I didn't say that in particular, but... That's really bad. I don't know. because it really, it started to look like he was figuring it out

because Gavin Williams has had this weird thing where going back to his rookie season, it was like four seamer slider curveball maybe threw an occasional change up. Last year it was four seamer sweeper curveball and then he introduced a cutter. This year he comes out just four seamer sweeper curveball starts to work the cutter back in

in May looks like he's really found the feel for the curveball. He's got like a legit four pitch mix with a lot of different looks. And then he falls back on hard times. And I just, I don't know if it's ever going to happen for him. It's kind of Edward Cabrera-esque, right? I was just going to say, why wouldn't we just take Edward Cabrera? It's a similar profile where you worry about the walks, but Cabrera's pitching so much better.

Cabrera's at least doing it right now. I guess the argument would be, one, Gavin Williams just has a better fastball. His whiff rate on his fastball is stronger than anything Cabrera's ever done. And then that sweeper's been awesome. 42% whiff rate. Cabrera doesn't have that kind of swing and miss pitch either. And then on top of that, the curve ball has probably been comparable to Cabrera's best whiff pitch. So I think the aggregate parts are probably still, I think Gavin Williams is the better talent.

But like you said, Gavin Williams is doing it right now. Or sorry, Edward Capraer is doing it right now. So why not just take the guy who's hot? It's a good question that I don't have a good answer to. 5.1 walks per 9 for Gavin Williams this season, by far the highest among qualified starting pitchers. Luis Ortiz's second at 4.3. That's nearly a whole walk per nine innings. So, man, I think Gavin Williams is dropable at this point.

Maybe, you know, that comes back to bite me. I know he has prospect pedigree. There's no doubt that there's talent here, but just the inability to throw strikes has been so, so frustrating. So, yeah, for Edward Cabrera, I would make that swap right now. It's just, it's honestly just like, it's just inconsistency all the way around. Because it, what you'll see with Gavin Williams is, okay, the command is consistently bad, consistently inconsistent, let's say. Um, he goes through some stretches where he's like an extension monster and he's just way down the mound and he's getting like seven feet of extension. And there's other times where it's more like six foot six.

And there are times when he's averaging 97 with his fastball. And then there's times when he's averaging 95. It just, it really seems like he's searching. Cabrera has currently found it. So I think that's reasonable. Yeah. What about Willie Adamas who in 20 games since June 10th is, hitting 275 with five homers, 15 runs, one steel,

and OPS near 850, and the quality of contact is amazing during that time. So just wonder if there was a bit of an adjustment period, you know, signs the big contract, new location, playing outdoors again in San Francisco. Would you be looking to trade for Adamas now before the numbers kind of catch up to where they should be? I think that's reasonable.

I never wanted to get, give up on Adamas and I still kept him as a top 18 shortstop which given the strength of that position is still pretty high so I'm not terribly shocked that he's turned it around

and obviously I think he's better than what a 645 OPS or whatever he's at this season so yeah I think that's a decent idea the only problem is the person who has Willie Adamas on their

team already knows that he started to turn it around probably it's possible that they just haven't been paying attention they've just been frustrated um so like are you really going to be able to pull a fast one over on them i don't know but i think it's worth trying yeah i do think he's a a good middle infielder moving forward and somebody you might be able to trade for him is matthew boyd who turned in another quality start this one against the guardians seven innings two runs five strikeouts, just seven whiffs on 88 pitches here. There's no doubt that Matthew Boyd has pitched well. Two run runs are fewer in seven straight.

He's down to a 265 ERA and a 108 whip. He also has just a 9% swinging strike rate over his last nine starts. Underlying numbers say he should be more like a mid-to-high threes ERA guy. So I know you've been all over this one, Chris. I agree that I think Matthew Boyd is a sell high. I don't really know that you can get much for him in a trade, but you can try. Yeah, that's the concern, right? It's just who is looking at Matthew Boyd having, you know, 15 good starts and saying,

ah, now that's that's a guy I need on my team. I think most people are probably pretty skeptical of him. It is a 270-ish ERA since the start of last season, 136 or 137 innings. It's not a huge sample size, but maybe there is someone out there who sees that and thinks that Matthew Boyd is legitimately a sub-3 ERA pitcher. And look, if I could get Willie Adomis, like you said,

I would do that instantly and just figure out the pitching, you know, part of it. Just, you know, go add Edward Cabrera and hope he stays solid. Might be Matthew Boyd's teammates soon. but yeah I think Matthew Boyd is probably more like a 375 ERA guy which is still useful it's still a solid option but not

not nearly as good as he's been and probably not even a must start guy yeah and the big difference between last year and this year he had a 13.9% swinging strike rate last season which is an elite mark this season is down to 10.1% overall and that's even before this start where that number is going to just come down a little bit more as well. So not to just downplay.

Like I think Maggie Board is a fine pitcher. You don't have to just sell them. I got to get this guy off my team no matter what. It's not a drop. Yeah, but if you can, you know, if you could turn him into something valuable, then it's something I would look into doing. This last one, Corey Seeger is waking up right now. Last seven games, 3.46 batting average, three home runs, a 1269 OPS.

Chris, there's no question here. It's just please go and. try and trade for Corey Seeker. Absolutely. You should be trying to do that for sure. All right, let's wrap up with some pitching leftovers. First up, the good. Jacob de Grom turned in another quality start, this one against the Orioles, six innings, two runs with six strikeouts.

He had 12 whiffs on 92 pitches and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 15 of 17 starts, including 14 straight. So he has been great. Please, please, please stay healthy. Yoshinobu Yamamoto dominated the, White Sox, seven innings one run with eight strikeouts, only 10 wifts on 98 pitches. I did notice a sub 10% swinging strike rate over his last eight starts, which was, okay, a little interesting on Yamamoto.

Joe Ryan, tough luck loss at Miami, seven innings one run with four strikeouts for him, and Paul Skeens took yet another no decision, five shutout innings with five strikeouts. A little weird that he only threw 88 pitches. I just feel like he typically throws more than that. The Pirates. That's like right in the middle. Like finishing five innings and 88 pitches is like it wasn't exactly easy going. And then you like, you run the risk that if it's an 18 inning or an 18 pitch inning, all of a sudden you're pushing closer to to 110 pitches, which I can't imagine he's ever done as a professional.

So I get that one's like right in the middle where you'd rather him go deeper. He's thrown 108 as his career high. You'd rather him get that sixth inning, but I can understand why they pulled him. One thing that I thought was interesting, you didn't mention, I don't think Jacob Latt's got a save, right? He pitched a three innings save, yeah. Three innings save, okay, it was, oh, because I guess they tacked on three runs in the eighth inning, so it was probably closer than that when he came in. He pitched in relief here.

He had been starting for them previously. I don't know. I think he left his last start with some kind of injury. Oh, no, his previous appearance was also out of the bullpen. I guess I had missed that. All right, yeah. Jacob Lats has been pitching well, though. He was somewhat ahead, like a deep league eye on if he remained a starter.

But, yeah, it seems like he's pitching out of the bullpen now. Back to Paul Skeens for a second. The Pirate scored 37 runs in the four games before this. And then zero while Skeens is on the mound. They would go on to win the game. but that's just some kind of sick joke, Chris. I mean, it's, I don't know, like there could be something psychological to it. I know pitchers have talked about like pitching to the score and all that.

And like, you know, I think that's mostly that mostly exists to like puff up Jack Morris's Hall of Fame candidacy. But you see it occasionally where like a team's best pitcher is just. getting no run support. Jake de Grom for years had that problem in New York, and it just, it could just be random, but it's weird that it keeps happening to these guys. Any concern with Yamamoto's swinging strike rate

kind of declining over his last eight starts? I hadn't really noticed that. I guess, let me make sure, because I feel like what I had seen was the splitter hadn't been quite as effective lately. Yeah, the whiff rate's been below 40% for the splitter in both June and May. So that's a, you know, that's a big deal for him.

That's that and the curveball are kind of the two big swing and miss pitches for him. So that probably explains it, but I don't see much reason to be concerned. He's been in the majors for, what, 200 innings now, 180 innings over 35 starts. and he's been really, really good. I don't have much reason to be concerned there. And then the not-so-good pitching leftovers. Max Fried did not have his best stuff at Toronto, six innings, four runs, two walks, two strikeouts,

two homers allowed, only five whiffs on 99 pitches. And Kevin Gosman was erratic on the other side, five innings, two runs. More walks than strikeouts, four walks to three strikeouts here for him. Eleven hard hits allowed as well. Last six starts for Garikov. It's a 518 ERA and a 145 whip, but I mean, Chris, it just kind of feels like kind of the Jose Burrios thing where you just have to leave him in the lineup because as soon as you bench him, it's eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. Yeah, I think Kevin Gossman is probably just a high three's ERA pitcher now.

And there will be starts where he looks like a lot better than that because the split is really working and he can get whiffs with the fastball. but it's going to he's going to settle in right like right now it's 418 the the the phip is 375 i'll take the phip but i what i am done with with kevin gosman is these like random 10 strikeout starts that he has or like the eight strikeouts no walks where it's like is kevin gosman's starting to figure it no he's not it's been going on long enough this is what he is and what he is is still useful it's still good it's still someone you should probably just leave in your lineup and not worry about oh, am I starting him this week? Just probably start him more often than not. And don't worry about the headache. And then Max Fried, you love to see like worst start of the season

is still six innings. Yeah. That's the nice thing about a guy who's that efficient, right? Is even when he doesn't have his best stuff, you've still got a good shot at a win. I know it didn't work out here, but like it rarely goes so terribly for Max Fried that you're upset. set that you started him. Yeah, and watching this game too. The inning that he gave up the three-run Homer, it was extended by a bad defensive play by Jazz Chisholm, who should not be playing third base. Should not be playing third base. There was a piece in, I want to say the athletic, one of the sites today actually talking about, he was like, look, I don't make the lineup, I'm going to play wherever they want me to play, but I'm a second baseman and everyone knows I'm a second

baseman. And yeah, he's been much better defensively at second base than third. Is it crazy that I want the Yankees to sign Jamer Candelario? I mean, he's got to be better than DJ LaMahue at this point, right? I mean, if you sign him, then you can play jazz at second. Aronado? Just take on Aronado's contract. At least he'll be great defensively. I mean, the problem with that is the Cardinals are actually like right in the wild card race. So I don't know if they're still trading. I would guess they'd be happy to get someone to take him off their hands. He also has three years left.

I don't know. Does he? Three years on a contract, yeah. Well, I think two after this one, but it was three before the season. That's tough. But also, you're the Yankees. I know. But they've just done this thing so many times.

And I'm pretty sure the Marlins are paying like 10 million of John Carlos Stanton's contract for the next two years. So they're getting a little. relief there. Yeah, all right. You'll take the wins where you can get him. Some hitting leftovers, Shay Bangaliers. Homer's in back-to-back game since coming off the IL. He's up to 12 home runs now on the season.

Sea Suzuki, just having an underrated great season. 23rd home run. He's got 70 RBI. He entered Tuesday as the 24th overall player in Roto, 21st best hitter in points leagues. Adolus Garcia keeps hitting.

Three for five with a double four RBI. Update, 20 games since receiving that mental break. 275 batting average, three homers, 21 RBI and 20 games. Also has two steals. Shohei Otani joins the 30 home run club that includes Aaron Judge and Cal Rale. And Randy Arosa Rana, two for four, with his 11th home run. And that's three home runs in his past two games. So shout out to Randy.

Call to the bullpen for the Marlins. Anthony Bender pitched in the eighth inning with a two-run lead. Ronnie Enriquez got the ninth and he picked up his fourth save. The Marlins do not have a closer. But Enriquez has back-to-back saves and three of their last four. So do with that what you will. For the Pirates, David Bednar got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He allowed two base runners but picked up his 12th save.

For the athletics, Mason Miller got the 10th inning with a one-run lead. He struck out two for his 17th save. For the Cubs, Daniel Palencia struck out two for his ninth save. and he has been money. 180 ERA, 0.97 whip, 35 strikeouts over 30 innings, so kind of just feels like the Cubs have figured that out. Good for them.

For the Astros, Josh Hader got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He did give up a run, but picked up his 24th save of the season. Just seeing now, Carlos Estevez picked up his 23rd save, and there were no other saves. So that's that. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday,

we have Mick Abel against the Padres, Nick Martinez at the Red Sox, Brian Beow against the Reds, Tomoyuki Sugano at the Rangers, Noah Cameron at the Mariners, Landon Rup at the D-Backs. I think Cameron and Bayo are my favorites. I think that's fair,

and I think I would put Landon Rup third on that list. And then on Thursday, we have David Festa at the Marlins, Brandon Walter at the Rockies, Jose Cantana revenge game at the Mets, Luis Ortiz at the Cubs Kate Horton against the Guardians I think Fest is okay I don't like

anybody else here yeah I Brandon Walter's been pitching well I don't know Rockies are coming around it's in course field you know and the thing the Rockies are bad but at home they have the 18th best Wobah in baseball which is really bad by weighted runs

Creative Plus which accounts for how good course field is as a hitting environment they have the second to last offense in baseball but you know you don't like get extra points because their w.rc plus is lower right so I think it's still not a terrible matchup but a tough place to pitch and you just don't know how guys are going to react if he has it if Brandon walter has a great start against the Rockies I wouldn't be surprised but I'm not I don't think he's earned the benefit of the doubt to trust him in coursefield

I know Kate Horton has been bad lately I'm the guardian's They're hitting like 200 over the last month or something. Yeah, I was gonna, like, it's just, I would start almost anybody against DeCardians right now. But, yeah, last two stars for Horton, it's seven-erruns, six runs before that, three of those were earned. You know, he's struggling right now, but if you are desperate for a stream, right, I think I would take Kate Horton second behind David Festa. We were going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today.

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