Fantasy Baseball Today - Aces You Can Drop; Thursday Streamers and Hitters To Add (09/24 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 24, 2020

Ask and ye shall receive! We're here to help those of you still playing in daily lineup leagues. But first, who were our OMGG standouts from Wednesday (1:53)? Would you rather have Lucas Giolito or Trevor Bauer in 2021? What's happened to Luis Robert and Sixto Sanchez?... On to news and notes, Mike Clevinger and Max Fried both left their respective starts on Wednesday plus Julio Urias was used as a bulk reliever (14:53). ... Is it time to drop your aces because they won't pitch anymore this season (17:56)? Who might still make a start this weekend that you need to keep? ... Let's take a closer look at Thursday's streamers (26:38). Which pitchers are worth starting? Which hitters can you add for just Thursday and who has a favorable schedule over the weekend? ... We're hitting Wednesday's standouts (42:17). Bryce Harper had a double dong plus is Joey Gallo on the do not draft list? Where might Salvador Perez rank among catchers for 2021? ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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. I drive, center field, and swing. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Ask and ye shall receive. The people want more championship help, and that's exactly what you are going to get. Welcome to Fantasy Baseball today. on a Thursday, September 24th. He is Scott White. I am Frank Stamphill, and we are here for you,

the people. Today on the show, which aces are done in the regular season and can be dropped. We're going to try our best to figure this out together. Lots of daily lineup league

still in action, so we'll take a look at Thursday's slate and give you some hitters for the weekend. We'll take a little look at Wednesday. A few stud pitchers

made their final starts, of course, and what else happened? We'll talk about it. What's going on, Scott? I heard that you're building up that lead in Tout Wars. I'm happy to hear that. Yeah, when I looked today, I was up by six and a half again in a Rotter League. I don't know. I don't know how it changed that dramatically, but apparently the charge that Tim McLeod was making was Marage. And I'm still in a good position there, thankfully.

Shout out to Tim McLeod. Great player. Someone that I have talked to at previous stops in my fantasy. career. So I'm happy. I'm happy that you're getting back up there. But I said it all along, man. Like, this is not your typical rotos season. We're still going to see things fluctuating like crazy this final week of the season. So I'm telling you, it's all going to come down to Sunday. It's going to be insane. All right, let's take a look at Wednesday, first and foremost. Let's see, who was dominating? Who wasn't? Oh my goodness gracious. All right, Scott. You want to get a started? Oh, my goodness gracious. A standout. from Wednesday's action?

Sure. I want to talk about Lucas G. Alito because Lucas Gialito I am very high on heading into next year having put together my first two rounds. He comes out as the number five starting pitcher. Walks have been

kind of high. This was his third straight start with three of them, but he had 11 strikeouts in six innings. He had 22 whiffs, all right? 22 swinging strikes. That makes it five out of six starts now for Lucas Gialito with 20 or more swinging strikes. I believe, I believe that last look, he's second in swinging strike rate in between. Who do you think?

Jacob de Grom and Shane Bieber. Gialito is right there in the middle. The walk rate, like I said, is going to end up kind of high, but we know he's capable of more than that. I think if he continues to do this stuff-wise, everything's going to come together for him. He's still in his mid-20s. He has a lot of career ahead of him. And I think the best is yet to come for Lucas G.

Alito. So I brought this up in the past. Is Giolyto someone who has just feasted on good matchups this season? Looking at he struggled against the twins in his first start of the season. He allowed seven runs there. He allowed five runs, only four earned against the Cardinals. That should have been a good matchup, actually. It just really struggled against the twins mostly.

I can't really make an argument against him. And Scott, I know that you published a recent personal two-round mock draft. That is on the site, CBSports.com. You can check that out. So Scott gives you what he thinks the first two-round should look like his top 24 players who should be drafted in a Rotel League. Some honorable mentions as well. But you have Gialito as your 16th player off the board going just as a

after Aeronola and just ahead of you Darvish and Trevor Bauer. You know, I would try to, I would try and make the argument for those pitchers ahead of Gialito, but, I mean, they're not perfect either. Like, Darvish is 34 years old. Trevor Bauer, who I'm sure where, I'll bring him up right now what he just did again on Wednesday, was ridiculous on short rest again, but, like, Trevor Bauer has a history of having, volatile seasons as well. So, you know, who is the real Trevor Bauer?

Yeah. That's true. He was going on short rest today. And eight innings, 12 strikeouts. That was his third start in four with double-digit strikeouts. And by the way, he's supposed to get another start because the Reds playoff fight is probably going to go down to the last day. He's going to start on three days' rest again.

on Sunday. And, you know, he may have clinched the Cy Young Award with tonight's performance. I don't know, maybe if the short rest catches up to him next time out and his, you know, kind of skews his ERA, then maybe he'll lose it again. I don't know. But if he does typical Trevor Bauer things next time out, I'm sure he's a lock for the award. Yeah, I mean, the fear for Trevor Bauer is just every year he seems to tweak his entire arsenal. and you don't really know what's going to come out,

what's going to result from that. So, you know, some of the tweaks he made this year, they weren't what I thought he needed to do to get better. I saw a big rise and fly ball rate from a great 2018 season to 2019 and thought maybe he should feature the curveball more, get those ground balls up. He actually went the other way. The fly ball rate is even worse than last year,

and yet he's just been untouchable. I mean, the, what's the word? The spin rate, the spin rate on basically all his pitches is way, way up. And it's been, he's just been blowing it by everybody. So if, obviously, based on his performance this year, Bauer would be a top five pitcher heading into next year. But given his history of tinkering and this, having this vast arsenal where he's always working in pitches and taking them out.

And we just don't really know exactly what we're getting into. And we don't want another situation like happened to 2019 where it blows up in our face. And by the way, that's kind of the reason, you know, it's a less extreme version of that. But it's kind of the reason I'm putting you Darvish behind both G. Lido and Aaronnola because his, you know, his arsenal is so vast too that it would be easy for him to stray from this formula for success that he's landed on over the past, I guess basically five months of play, right? Less than a full season.

Take the second half last year, the two months this year. And obviously, U. Darvish has been amazing, amazing enough that I have him going in my second round. But I do have him outside the top five, like Bauer, even though recent performance would suggest maybe they both belong in the top five. And, you know, I was looking into Bauer and trying to figure out what is he doing differently this year than years past. I mean, the pitch mix does not look that much different.

He's throwing his fastball more this year than he has the past two seasons. 48% usage, that's the highest it's been since 2017, and the velocity is actually down. But you mentioned the spin rates, and I think that's what it comes down to. You look at on Stackast a bunch of red everywhere. Red on Stackass is good, and, you know, he worked with Kyle Boddy and Drive-Line Baseball

in the off season, so maybe that explains why the spin rates are up this year for Trevor Bauer. And speaking of Kyle Body, he actually had an interesting tweet. Of course, he's Trevor Bauer's biggest fan, so it's like whenever Trevor Bauer is out there, Kyle Bodies tweeting about him. But he had this to say. Should be, been waiting for the three days rest thing to come to fruition. Finally, it has. Should be interesting in 2021 when he does it for the whole year. Kyle Bodies said that about Trevor Bauer. So, look, I don't know if a team is actually going to let Trevor Bauer. pitch on three days rest for an entire season. Well, that's right.

I mean, body works with the Reds now and Bauer's going to be a free agent, so we don't know. Unless Body has insight on whether or not Bauer wants back in for 2021, we don't really know. But, yeah, Bauer's kind of their star pupil. And if everything he's done this year is what it appears to be,

then they've kind of turned him into this, this superhuman, pitching, a bit of pitching perfection. And I'm sure Body would like to continue working with that. It's going to be interesting to see where Trevor Bauer lands. Pay attention to this. If people are talking about him actually going on three days' rest, that means he is going to get more starts than every other pitcher in baseball next year,

which means more volume, potentially more opportunities to ruin your ERA and whip. It doesn't look like the case this season. but the volume could lead to more strikeouts. My oh my goodness gracious standout, I want to highlight two players who are kind of stumbling here to the finish line, two young players who, just a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about as being potential early round picks for 2021.

Oh, Louis. Luis Robert, really scuffling here. Last eight games, he is 0 for 26 with 14 strikeouts. entering Wednesday, Luis Roberts' 22.5% swinging strike rate led all qualified hitters. The stat cast numbers are not looking good either. The quality of contact has really come down for Luis Robert, probably because he isn't making much contact in general. Oddly enough, he is struggling mightily against fastballs this season.

He's doing quite well against breaking and off-speed pitches. So maybe that's actually something to be excited about for the future. I would imagine he, you know, those numbers normalize and he is better against fastballs. But Scott, what do you think about the recent struggles of Luis Robert and how that could affect his outlook for it next season? Yeah, it's an interesting observation because usually hitters when they first come up, fastball is what they hit well and they have to learn to hit the curveball to use a cliche. But, you know, the ways Luis Robert struggled are predictable. We didn't exactly know how his skills would manifest in his first major league season.

And for a while there, it looked like he was going to deliver on his best case scenario. Turns out that didn't happen, but I don't think we should come away from this rookie season disappointed. He did show us a lot. What he still needs to show is making more consistent contact. That's not an unusual thing for somebody so young.

but he ran a lot. He has run a lot, I guess. I shouldn't use past tense since he could end up still running some. But yeah, I mean, probably like for a Roto League, probably talking about like a fourth or fifth rounder still, I would think, because of that power speed combo. Yeah, head to head points. We're going to have to drop him down a little bit,

a 32% strikeout rate in the rookie season for Luis Robert. The other gentleman is Sixto Sanchez. and this hurts. I know it hurts a lot of people, but it hurts me in particular. I'm competing for the championship in my home league that I have never won. We've got a free-for-all going in the final two weeks of the season, and I had Sixtho Sanchez in my lineup for, I believe it was two starts, and he has given me negative seven fantasy points over those two starts.

Sixth though was at the Braves on Wednesday, allowed four runs, walking four over three innings pitched, only two strikeouts. He has now allowed nine runs over his last two starts, just seven innings pitched. The ERA is up to 3.46. The X-FIP is up to 4.06 for 6-0 Sanchez. Scott, I'm not as confident as I was a couple of weeks ago

when we were talking about him as a potential top 25 starting pitcher for next season. Yeah, if we're going to put a positive spin on this, it's that it's clearer now. take him next season as more of a perspective, a prospective stud pitcher for you as opposed to somebody who kind of performed in a studly way, but not over enough starts to feel really confident about it. You know, his ex-fib now, his ERA is 346.

His ex-fip is over four. The walk rate is still good, but after walking four and three innings, not as exemplary as it was. He got a lot of ground balls. I mean, he did a lot of things well, but he's far from approving. commodity and it kind of would have been a mirage if that it kind of would have been a mirage that he was a proven commodity if he had been able to sustain it through the end of the season but yeah I mean I was hopeful he'd do better against the Braves obviously that's a tough lineup I got

bit by him in one league where I'm playing for a championship too it happens that's all the more reason why you like to have as many true studs true studs starting pitchers as you can. Though, I mean, it's not like the biggest let down pitching-wise today was 6-0 Sanchez. It was a couple of guys who I'm sure most people considered studs. Mike Clevenger and Max Freed both removed after one inning of work because of injury.

Clevenger's one inning was good. Max Freed's not so much. But Clevenger's seems like the bigger injury, Freed sprained ankle or whatever. They've already clinched the division. Probably just want to make sure he's, good and ready for the start of the playoffs cleveringer it's more bicep stuff so he there's no assurances he's he's going to pitch in the playoffs yeah and that's that's a sucks for

podres fans my fellow Padres fans as you know my my my National League team the San Diego Padres of course I'm sure you were so conflicted in 1998 oh yeah of course you know when I was seven years old I was so conflicted Scott um But that brings us right into our news and notes. Of course, you mentioned Clevenger left his start after just 12 pitches, the biceps' tightness resurfaced there. So we'll see, we don't know if he's going to be available for the postseason, but no, this truly does suck because the Padres gave up, you know,

quite a decent package to get him, and we're hoping to have him as their potential ace in the playoffs. Max Fried, you mentioned left as well. Apparently, this was more of a precaution. He tweaked his ankle. They didn't want to take any chances with the playoffs approaching. they want Max Fried to be 100%, so they'll give him a little bit more

extra time for Max Fried to get rested up. David Doll was placed on the 45-day IL with a right shoulder sprain as poor guy, so young, just cannot stay healthy. I'm not ready to say that it's like the end of the line for David Doll, but

he's got to show us something, man. I feel so much better not having him in my dynasty league anymore. I traded him away at the deadline this year. and it's just such a relief not to have to deal with that. Did you trade him to Nando? Was that one of the trades?

I traded him to Nando. Oh, Nando. He didn't want him to be, to be fair. Yes. I mean, in the end, he took him. So I don't know how much of that was just gamesmanship, you know. Oh, David Dahl, I don't value him anymore. That's my Nando impression.

Good time. All right, Justin Turner returned to the Dodgers lineup Wednesday as he fights through that hamstring strain. Julio Arias wound up not starting for the Dodgers on Wednesday, but was instead used as a bulk reliever. And I think his line wound up looking pretty good. Yeah, it was six innings, two hits, one earned, two walks, five strikeouts. Maybe they should do this a little more often

because if you put this up against all of Arias's starts, probably one of his best appearances, all season long, so I don't know why they did that. I think I read somewhere they're toying with the idea of using a opener in the postseason, Bruce Star Graterall. All right. Could be interesting there for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nelson Cruz, Yosmani Grandaal, and Chris Bryantal and Chris Bryant all remained out for their

respective teams on Wednesday. Nate Pearson feels good and is expected to return from the injured list soon for the Blue Jays. He'll be used out of the bullpen and could potentially be a weapon for them. in the playoffs. Michael Conforto was back in the lineup for the Mets as their designated hitter. He went 0 for four with three strikeouts against Tyler Glassnow. Carlos Martinez was diagnosed with a, quote, mid-backstrain on Wednesday.

He also allowed eight runs over five innings. Sounds like he was just suffering from a case of dumpster fire. Joe Girardi confirmed that Reese Hoskins is unlikely to return before the end of the regular season. he is working through a UCL issue in his left elbow slash forearm. Email the day. This one's from Tyler. I don't have a specific question here, but I have a request.

If you could focus on some of the discussion on the podcast on how to approach late week starting pitchers, that would be extremely helpful. I have guys like Hazers Lozardo, Framber Valdez, Dallas Keikle. I'm afraid that any stud starting pitchers who play for a content, Hender, who is scheduled to start past Thursday,

is in danger of getting skipped or having an abbreviated start. So, this is going to be fun, Scott, because, look, we're going to try our best. There's no, there's no definitive answers. There, you know, I think the only person I've seen, like, Kevin Cash came out and said Blake Snell and Tyler Glassnow are not going to start the rest of the regular season. They're going to rest up and be ready for the postseason. Same thing could be said for Max Free.

Obviously, he's not going to start again for the end. for the Atlanta Braves. The rest... But, you know, they weren't even... Snell and Glassnow weren't scheduled to start a second time, and neither was freed, for that matter. So we will... Take a look at it. Try and figure this out together here, Scott. We're going to make a few assumptions,

but we'll try. Our best. Okay. Yeah. No, I mean, I'm not sure... I'm not sure what is exactly changed since we talked about this heading into this week. well, the only thing I know for sure that has changed is Trevor Bauer is going to make a second start, which means Sunny Gray isn't. And I'm not even sure that's totally set in stone. Presumably the Reds playoff standing will come down to the final day and then they'll want power in.

But I guess there's a chance it doesn't. So that's definitely changed. I don't know that any team would ask, any other team would ask, any other team would ask, any other pitcher to start on three days rest. So anybody who started today, that's the cutoff for three days rest. And so I think you can eliminate anybody who started today. I think a lot of this too is just that people want confirmation that they can drop their aces.

It's kind of just a weird thing to do, dropping Shane Bieber off your team, dropping Gioito, dropping Kentamaita just feels weird doing it. So I think people want that confirmation. But those pitchers are not going to pitch again. like Bieber's done, Geolito's done, Kentomaieta is done. So here's how this works. The AL Wildcard series starts on Tuesday, September 29th.

The NL Wildcard begins the next day, September 30th. Looking at the American League, six teams have clinched thus far, but seating is still up for grabs for a lot of these teams, honestly. And mentioned Kevin Cash. I assume Garrick-Cole is not going to make another start, right? I haven't seen anything for, certain but I don't think

that's the thing like I haven't seen anything for certain either he's scheduled to start well he was scheduled to start Sunday I'm not sure when he was scheduled to start on Saturday originally but that would mean he wouldn't be available

for the start of that series so and it just makes no sense because right why would they do that the Yankees okay now now it looks like Davey Garcia's schedule, at least according, I'm actually looking at ESPN.com. Now it looks like Davey Garcia is scheduled to start Saturday's game. So, yeah, I think there's no good argument for the Yankees to start Garrett Cole over the weekend that I can see.

So we can probably rule him out. It's not 100%. We're kind of, we're kind of intuiting this. You know, it's all we can do is look online. We don't have, all we can do is look online and intuit things. So, you know, hopefully we're not, we're not spoiling some dark secret there. But that's all we can do. Likewise, Jesus Lozardo, I don't know who else the A's would want starting game one of a postseason series.

Like if I were them, I wouldn't want that to go to Mike Fires or even Sean Maniah, who was good against the Dodgers today. I'd want it to be Luzardo. I'm not the A's, of course, but if I was, then I would say, why am I starting Lusardo over the weekend? And we talked about that heading into the week,

that there's a good chance Luzardo might not start at all this week. I'm still leaning toward that. Bromber Valdez is one that came up before. Presumably they'd start Zach Granky in game one, and he'll be ready to go after pitching on Wednesday. Game two. I mean, to me, Framber Valdez looks like their number two starter, but it's a close call.

They have Rikidi. They have McCullors, who I'm sure they like a lot. They, you know, Christian Javier's had a good year. So it's not clear to me that Valdez isn't going to start over the weekend. If it were up to me, he wouldn't. But it's not up to me.

So you'll just have to, you'll just have to keep an eye on. that. Anybody else we need to address specifically here? He brought up Dallas Kikell, the emailer, and Kikl is scheduled to pitch on Thursday, so I assume he will make that start, and then he'll be done, and that

will still line him up to pitch the second game for the White Sox. Yeah, they'd want Gialito in Game 1, obviously. Kikl does look to me like their number two starter, so that lines up perfectly. I don't think you have to... If anything, they probably want to make sure Kikel's stretched out

enough to give them the link they need in game two since his last start was his first start back from injury. So I actually feel good about playing Keikl this week, particularly in like the points league context. Obviously, that's his better format anyway. Scott, when I was scouring

the Twitter machine to find out information about Jesus Lazzardo, I actually found a lot of A's fans who said they didn't want him to start a game in the postseason, which I thought was crazy, but they were like, yeah, Chris Bassett for the first game in the postseason.

I'm like, what? Like, what's... Look, no one knows for sure, but you know, if that information comes out before we record tomorrow's podcast, and then we'll let you know. So pay attention on Lazardo in particular, because it's just

you don't know what's going to happen there. But I would assume some combination of Lazardo, Mania, Bassett are the three pitchers that they do want. Mike Fires, I mean, you kind of know who he is at this point. I don't want him pitching for my team in the postseason. But hey, I don't run the Oakland A's.

The National League is much more open, Scott. Four teams have clinched the Dodgers, the Braves, the Cubs, and the Padres. Clayton Curshaw is scheduled to pitch Friday this week, which lines up for him to start game one next Wednesday. So I assume Curshaw will make his normal start this Friday. Be ready for next week. As for the Cardinals, Marlins, Reds, Brewers, Giants, Phillies are all still battling it out. Trevor Bauer looks like he's going to go again

and I would assume if it's coming down to the last day or over the weekend Aaron Nola and Brandon Woodruff are probably both going to pitch again. Yeah, I would think so. Look, if those two teams are eliminated before the last game, I still would think they'd pitch again.

It's not like they've had, it's not like they've made 30 starts, you know, and a team might want to take it easy on them. They probably could stand to have more innings both of them. So the only way that might change is if either of those clinch their playoff spot early and need to be arrested for game one of the postseason. But I don't think,

judging where they are in the standings right now, I don't think that's going to happen. I assume Kyle Hendricks, who pitched Wednesday night, is also done for the season, right, Scott? Yeah, I would assume anyone except Trevor Bauer who pitched Wednesday is done. A team could decide to bring one of them back on short rest if they felt like their whole season depended on it. But I would bet against it.

I would bet against it. So I feel like anybody who started Wednesday, if you're in one of these daily leagues, except for Bauer, you could feel comfortable dropping them. All right, Tyler. So hopefully that helps you. I know a few other people tweeted out of Scott and emailed in asking about this exact scenario.

So, boom. I hope that was helpful for you guys. In terms of daily lineup leagues looking at, we usually save this for later on to stream or not to stream, we'll do that a little bit earlier right now with pitchers and we'll talk a little bit more about hitters as well. But for Thursday, I have the must-starts as Junjun Riu is going up against the Yankees.

Dallas Keikl is going up against Cleveland. He's probably on the border of being a must-star pitcher, but it's a good matchup going up against Cleveland. like it. Zach Pleseck against the White Sox, Lance Lynn, against the Astros. Corbyn Burns is at the Cardinals.

And then I assume all of those pitchers will be done for the season after they make those starts on Thursday. So Scott, Patrick Corbyn against the Mets. Yay or nay? I'm going to say nay. Like a horse. Nay!

Exactly what Patrick Corbyn has not been. this season. A horse for your fantasy teams. He's been quite the opposite recently in particular. So I agree. Yeah, I would not want to start Patrick Corbyn in this spot. How about your boy, Ian Anderson? He is going up against the Marlins. So it wasn't so great for him last time out, but not a real cause for concern either. I'd start him. Yeah, it's still a good matchup. The Marlins are 24th in weighted on base average against right-handed pitching. Walker Bueller in his return from the IL, don't know how how many endings he's going to give you in this start. He's going up against the Oakland A's.

Yeah, that one's a little scary. That one's a little scary. I think if you're, I think if you're picking and choosing, you have a limited number of starts or starting pitcher spots to work with. Maybe you avoid him. But if it's just,

if it's just start him and get something or sit him and get nothing, I'd go with the something and hope he gives me like three, four dominant innings. Yeah. weird season for Walker Bueller, but I would probably start him as well. Alec Mills at the Pirates.

Sit. Really? Good matchup? Risky? I know. I just, I don't think he's a good pitcher. You know,

if this was a points league call, but I don't think there are many daily points leagues out there. It could be wrong. Okay. And Roto, I just, I don't think the risk is worth somebody who doesn't really have much strikeout upside.

Alec Mills in points Not in Roto or Head to Head Categories leagues David Peterson at the Nationals I was really good last time But I don't He's got to do it again for me to think there's anything to it It's it Pablo Lopez at those dreaded braves

It's borderline I lean towards it after what just happened to Sixto Sanchez Martin Perez going up against the Orioles He's been friends frustratingly good this year. Frustrating because I don't know why. I'm going to sit. Frustrating, I'll tell you why, Scott. Because every time you probably picked up Martin Perez to start him, that was probably bad Martin Perez. And then after you dropped him, that's when he was good Martin Perez. I haven't picked him up anywhere, but I could just imagine that happening to anyone who tries to

figure out the rhyme or reason behind Martin Perez. Well, you know what? You know, you know, know another guy who, even beyond Martin Perez, has been good in a way that I just didn't even notice until tonight is Zach Eflin, who's K-per-9 after his second straight nine-strikeout effort. He went eight innings today. I got nine-strike-out, seven-nings, nine-strike-outs last time. He had a start earlier in the year that was that level of dominant. He's at 11.2 K-per-9 this year. Zach Eflin. that is not a stat I ever would have associated with Zach Eflin. His ex-fip is 308. He's got to be among the league leaders in that. Now, he's a good ground ball pitcher, which helps X-PIP. And obviously, that strikeout rate helps X-FIP. He's hardly walked anybody, so that helps.

It makes sense why he has that X-FIP when you break down the numbers like that. But I just, having experienced Zach Eflin for my position monitoring him start-by-start, I never would have guessed those numbers popped up for him. And his swinging strike rate has improved this year. It's not very good. But, you know, it's the kind of swinging strike rate, Zach Wheeler's always made work for him. So I don't know.

I don't really get why Eflin has landed on these numbers. And I don't think I'm going to be particularly high on him heading into next season. But nonetheless, this is what he's done. and it's pretty impressive. He is using his curveball more this year, which has been his best pitch, throwing his fastball a little bit more. Velocity is basically where he's been at in his career,

throwing his slider less than ever before. So I don't know. Maybe it's, you know, Gerardy being there. Gerardy's kind of helped Aaronola take that next step. Maybe it's been the same thing with Zach Gelfen. But yeah, I did not realize that he's been this good. 3.08 X-PIP, that would rank. he doesn't qualify, but it would be ahead of names like

Denelson Lament, Garrett Cole, Brandon Woodruff, Lucas Gialito, who's got as being drafted in the second round. All right, Zach Eflin, name to watch for 2021. It would be in the top 10. It would be better than Trevor Bauer, who I just called a pitching superhuman. Oh, gosh. This Trevor Bauer thing is so frustrating.

Chris Bubich is going up against the Tigers on Thursday to stream or not to stream. I'm loving Chris Bubich right now. Granted, I was loving Brady Singer going into his Tuesday start, right? It was a Tuesday start. Gives you a little pause there, Scotty. Take that for what it's worth, yeah. But I would say start here. The Tigers, man.

And I brought this up before. 374 weighted on base average as a team versus left-handed pitching this year. Second best behind only of the first. white socks. It's a little scary. I'll just, I'll throw it out there for Boobich. Christian Javier is at the Texas Rangers. I think he got to start him with that matchup.

He's been kind of limited his last couple of starts, so in terms of ennings, I don't know if that's like a workload thing. They're trying to limit him as the season's coming to a close. I think the matchup is still good. Get him out there, but don't be surprised if he only goes like four or five innings in the start. Quang-Hun Kim is at home against the Brewers. Yeah, he actually was.

wasn't so great last time out. We didn't talk about it. I don't remember what day it was, but it was, he's a guy who's, I wasn't trusting what he was doing at all because there was really no single thing he was excelling at except run prevention. And it's a good matchup against the Brewers. I'd be, I'd be inclined to sit him, though, in case I was just desperate for an extra start. His last time out was against the Pirates. You are correct. He allowed four runs over five and a third. The start before that was at the Brewers in Miller Park, seven shutout with six strikeouts.

So take that for what it's worth. He has dominated the Brewers in the past, but they've also seen Kim pitch now before, so that might favor the Brewers' hitters. So it's kind of open-ended there. I think it's a little risky as well. Mike Fires is at the Dodgers. No.

That is a no for Scott And that is a no for me as well A hitter that you might look to stream on Thursday That has a good matchup I don't know if it's actually possible For people to pick up hitters And start them the same day as they hear this But I'll give it to you anyway

Because this is what the people we're asking for I have Mikel Franco Going up against Michael Fulmer I think that's a pretty good start Alex Dickerson and Austin Slater Slater's been starting again for the Giants They're going up against Chi Chi Chi Gonzalez I'm not really scared of Chi Chi Chi Gonzalez

Jason Hayward is going up against Chad Kuhl, and Jackie Bradley is going up against Alex Cobb. Any of their names that caught your attention, Scott, for Thursday? No, not for Thursday specifically. Or for the next couple of days, the final weekend of baseball action. Yeah, I did look at the weekend series, look ahead to the weekend series. so Friday through Sunday

and a lot of them were the same names I was hyping for the entire week. Obviously we're talking about half a week still left so it includes like Brande Belt they have four games in those three days the Giants do a few teams have four games in three days actually

the Rockies do the Brewers do but Brandon Belt is still widely available he's having an okay week so far and at least in a points league context he is. And they have four games over the weekend against Rocky's pitchers. So that could be a strong finish for him. A team I'd like to add that I didn't really talk about for the

full week because they were only playing two games in the first four days, but they're playing four games in the final three days is the Arizona Diamondbacks. So it would include guys like Christian Walker, Cole Calhoun, who hit a bunch of home runs last week. Ketal Marte, I'm not sure what his roster percentages, but he just came off the IEL two days ago. and may have been dropped in your league. Yeah, Diamondbacks might have a few candidates to play there. I think pitchers are a lot more interesting in a streaming context. Like, if you're playing for your championship,

you obviously have really good hitters. And so I don't think, like, you're not going to win. There are no points for getting cute, right? You're not going to win on cuteness. So, like, don't, yeah, I mean, don't look so deep into the, matchups that you start, you know, Christian Walker over Josea Brayu or something like that. And there's no reason for that. Just start your studs. But sure, if you're, if you have, if you have an obvious hole in your lineup and you're looking to fill it with somebody who,

who, uh, the matchups favor, then those are some possibilities for you. Scott mentioned the Diamondbacks who have a double header over the weekend. and a few other teams that also have a doubleheader. The Cardinals, the Brewers, the Rockies, the Padres Giants, the A's and the Mariners. Cole Calhoun, I agree with, some other shallower names, names in shallower leagues that you can add. Ryan Braun, Kevin Pilar, David Peralta.

And speaking of the Diamondbacks, it seems to be a consistent theme. If you need a catcher, Carson Kelly and Dalton Varshow have been playing better recently. I mean, this is just us. If you are really desperate for a catcher, those are a few names to take a look at. And some deeper ads,

Dan Vogelbach, Jake Lamb, Josh Fuentes, all names that I have mentioned recently, but they are all on those teams that are playing double-headers this weekend. It sounded like you wanted to say something, Scott. Did you want to? Well, I wanted to mention the Braves play the Red Sox

over the weekend, and the Red Sox pitching staff is terrible. Of course, the Braves have already clenched their division. I don't know who they'd be inclined to rest, but if Adam Duval had one last big weekend in him, it wouldn't surprise me. Hey, I'll take it. I am starting him in that home league head-to-head points championship that I'm in.

So come on, Duval. Let's get another one of those three home run games this weekend. The last name I'll mention, I don't know what the matchups are, honestly, but he's just hot. Cabrion Hayes hit his fourth home run of the season on Wednesday. It's been a really nice showing. Nice start to the,

career of Cabrian Hayes, who we kind of just labeled as a defense, defense first type prospect, but he's looked good so far, Scott. That's what he was. I mean, we weren't, we weren't telling falsehoods there, but I get a good feeling about him. He's hitting the ball really hard. The strikeout rate is, you know, it's not going to be the sort of thing that holds him back. He has four home runs now and 69 of bats. He could stand to elevate more, sure. But, you know, if he's going to hit it as hard as he's been hitting it, in those 69 bats, four home runs, four doubles, two triples.

He has a stolen base, and that was kind of an underrated thing he did in the minors, too, was run a little bit. I feel really good about the way he's starting his career here. Obviously, tiny sample. Things could go wrong from here, but he's slowly, turning me into a fan is Cabrion Hayes. We're going to hit a quick break, but we have a new podcast at CBS,

and it sounds awesome, and I think everybody should go and check it out. You may know Patrick Peterson for striking the Heisman pose while at LSU or making eight Pro Bowls with the Arizona Cardinals. Well, now he's expanding his resume to podcasting. Yep, he'll go from the football field on Sundays

to the studio on Mondays for all things covered with his co-host and cousin, two-time Super Bowl champ, Bryant McFadden. The name of the pod says it all. Pat and B-Mac will break down the Cardinals and the NFL on a weekly basis, but we'll also discuss

much, much more. You can also expect them to chop it up with prominent guests on each episode. Download and subscribe to all things covered on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever else podcasts are found. We're going to hit the break when we come back, Take a look at some of Wednesday's action.

Bryce Harper with a little double dong. I appreciate that after we talked to you up, either on yesterday or the other day's podcast. Scott, I just lose track of days this time of year. It's like every day just kind of blend together. Football research, baseball research, trying to watch the NBA playoffs. It's a good problem to have.

But the days are just blending together. So we're going to take a break when we come back. We will hit all of those things here on fantasy baseball today. Have a day, Bryce Harper. I mentioned before the break. Double Dong with three intentional walks. How about this from ESPN stats and info? Bryce Harper is the first player with multiple home runs

and three intentional walks in a game since Albert Pooholz did so in 2013. The only other players to accomplish this feat since intentional walks were tracked in 1955 are David Wright in 2007 and a gentleman named Claudele Washington in 1980. Scott, what can you tell me about Claudele Washington? He's the name that.

comes up from time to time, but I think he was like a really fast guy. I have no idea who he is. Yeah, it was before my time. Mr. Washington or any relatives of his, if you're listening, I apologize. But honestly, I just, my history is not great. I mean, let's be honest.

He stole over 300 bases, so I think I was right about that. I'm trying to pull up his baseball reference page, but it's moving a little slow here. All right, Claudel, Washington. All right, it wasn't really a home run hitter, so to do that. Well, you know, it was the 80s. True. He had some 15 plus Homer seasons.

All right, so, yeah. Bryce Harper, what a stud. You know who's not a stud? Joey Gallo. He went 0 for 4 and his batting 175. And Scott, he might permanently be on my do not draft list. I just, I've never owned Joey Gallo. I don't want to own Joey Gallo.

People were excited about him for the first week or two of the season, just in a roto league. You can try and sell me on the, well, he has 50 home run power. That's fine. He also has the downside to hit 175. Yeah, I think he's not for me. I was encouraged by the line drive rate for last year

in the second half of the previous year. But when it gets right down to it, both of those weren't a huge sample. And, you know, it's, he just delivered his worst case scenario this year. So he's going to be better next year. But I just, I pulled him in some of my leagues. Well, there's really only one league where I drafted him,

but I pulled him, you know, probably halfway through. And the thing is, if I'm doing that after a month, what's going to keep me from doing that after a month next year too, if he has a cold month. And then you miss out on a lot of, like, it's easy to say, okay, well, over six months, these stats will even out. You know, he's going to wind up hitting a little over 200, but the home runs will be worth it.

But that's only true if you stick with him for all the home runs. And that's the part everybody forgets. Like, fantasy baseball is not a set it and forget it exercise. You are setting a lineup every week, and you'll be tempted to pull him out when he's struggling. Might miss a lot of the good stuff. That is a fantastic point again on Joey Gallo. We mentioned Lucas Gialito and what he did and how excited we are for him for next season.

How about the gentleman who was up against him? Shane Bieber, who just locked down the American League, Say Young, maybe even the MVP. I saw some chatter about this on Twitter. Shane Bieber winning the AL MVP, I guess it's not out of the question based on this season that he just had. 1.63 ERA, 0.87 whip for the Beeb's double-digit strikeouts in 8 out of 12 games. What? That is just ridiculous.

When I saw how many double-digit tri-out games he had, I was like, all right, well, maybe Scott's right. Maybe I need to rethink this. Shane Bieber versus Jacob DeGromp. It's close. It's close heading into next season. Shane Bieber's- Yeah, it's close.

I think it's a reasonable debate between this year and last year, that the main reason I like Bieber more than DeGrom is between this year and last year. He has shown, I don't know if it's the ability or just, I don't know, I don't know what you'd call it, but he has, he has been going deeper in games on average than DeGrom has. And that's a big deal. It might contribute in some small way to the wind discrepancy between the two. I mean, DeGrom would look a lot better if the Mets for three years in a row now didn't

have this tendency to just give him no support. and so his wins are never living up to the rest of his stats. But I don't know that it's fair to factor that into the ranking because that's, you know, the Mets aren't a bottom of the division club. They are going to win games for some of their pitchers. It stands to reason eventually DeGrom would be one of the pitchers they win games for. But it hasn't happened. I will point out to put a fantasy spin on the MVP context for Shane Bieber.

There is only, according to the roto rating, the rotissary rating, how players are rank in rotisserie. There is only one pitcher in the top 10 among all players. It's Shane Bieber, and he's number one. I noticed that too yesterday. When I brought up Jose Abraeu is the best hitter, the only person that was ahead of him is Shane Bieber in Rodo values. Just a fantastic season out of the Bebs. My Yankees got pounded. It lost 14 to 1.

The Baby Blue Jays are getting hot at the right time. Kevin Byschette, Vlad Jr., Lordes Gerell, and Danny Jansen all had multiple hits in this game. And I think if Bobeshed is healthy, he's probably like a third round pick. Heading it's next year, like a third or fourth round pick. The upside is evidence, Scott, for Boba Chet. Yeah, I mean, top of mind, I'm thinking round four.

It's, it'll be interesting once we actually get the players lined up, because I feel like we could probably come up with 30 names that are round four players. And that's kind of the way it was last year, too, which is part of the reason why I was in favor of drafting so many pitchers early is because, you know, it's hard to tell the difference between this third round hitter and the seventh round hitter. And I think that'll, I think we'll see a lot of that heading into next year, too. Zach Granky went four and two-thirds, three earned runs.

He has allowed three or more runs in seven straight starts. His season ERA will end at 4.03, but his ex-fip is still 3.49. I have a feeling that people are going to try to fade Granky in 2021. He will be 37 years old, so I kind of get it, but at the same time, I can be talking to Zach Granky as like my SP3 or SP4 if he gets push down far enough. Well, he's had a weird stretch here. Seven straight starts with three earned runs or more.

Some of them are quality starts, but, you know, barely quality starts. There's still a 450 ERA. So it's been a lengthy run here of really meh production from Zach Granky. And he is throwing about two miles per hour less than last year. But when you look at like strikeout rate, when you look at X-FIP, his X-FIP is actually lower than it was last year. And it's about the same as it was two years ago. So anytime there's a two mile per hour drop in a velocity, that raises some red flags, obviously.

But it would be reflected more across the board than it is if it was really limiting Granky's effectiveness. So I'm not that worried about him going into next season. I think he'll probably be right around 20th in my starting pitcher rankings again. If he's not for other people, then I guess I'll have a lot of Zach Grinky. probably as my number four starter. Yeah, I agree with where he should be ranked, but I think other people are going to be hesitant because of the age and they'll just see the surface ERA.

I'm going to be in on Zach Ranky if you can get him at a discount as well. Scott, is there anything else that you wanted to highlight from Wednesday? I know that there was like a lot of action. We talked a lot about streamers for Thursday and the weekend, but I'll just give you an opportunity here to open up. Well, worth pointing out, Dean Kramer was awful. After three, really strong starts to begin his career,

seven runs in two and two-thirds innings. He walked three. The control had been an issue, even as he was succeeding. Randy Arrow-Zerena. Let's talk Randy Arrozarena. He homered twice. Now has seven home runs. That's a lot of home runs for the abats he has.

His expected stats, though, 254 batting average, 477 slug Not bad But not great Not somebody who would be an obvious asset in fantasy Somebody who would be rostered in all leagues If he was doing that

Presuming he was getting full-time at bats You know you break it down He's not hitting the ball super hard He's not hitting it super high Meaning the fly ball rate isn't The kind that would lend itself to a lot of power It's kind of ble-plate discipline for Randy Arrows Arena.

Not seen a lot to get excited about here. I think that one's a mirage. There were a few other interesting two Homer games. Danny Jansen, Homer twice for the Blue Jays. Also had a double on a four-hit day. It was only his fifth multi-hit game on the year. I wonder if he was inspired by Alejandro Kirk, his big game the other day.

And look, I really want Alejandro Kirk to be a thing. He's 21 years old, so he has plenty of. of time to become a thing still. Danny Jansen, though, for as awful as he's been this year, he has a high line drive rate. He's hit the ball to all fields very well. Hit it more up the middle than pulled it, as a matter of fact. It's the kind of profile that lends itself to a high batting average,

not the bottom of the barrel one he's had. And look, the XBA isn't very high because he hasn't hit the ball very hard. But I don't know. I still think there might be something there for Danny Jansen. I'm not totally ready to give up on him. I'm not sure the Blue Jays are either. Felix Pena got a save. Probably too late to care about it.

For what it's worth, Mike Myers, who we talked about for a two-inning save earlier, he set up Pena. He pitched the eighth inning. So that was kind of interesting. Even of Valdi had another great start, eight strikeouts and six shutout innings, 18 whiffs.

But it was fastball cutter. Slider again. Now the slider's interesting, I guess. Okay, so there was a breaking ball mixed in there. It wasn't, it wasn't just, it wasn't just all hard stuff. So maybe he's onto something. Maybe he is starting to develop a breaking ball that's allowing him to be a little more consistent here.

Salvador Perez, that was one of those two homer games that was interesting. And his numbers are phenomenal this year. I mean, he's been better per game. than J.T. Real Muto this year. Real Muto. Sorry, I got to train myself to say it that way now. It's pretty exciting. I don't know

exactly what it means going forward for Salvador Perez because obviously he has a pretty lengthy track record of being one thing. He's already 30, I think, which is usually an age when catchers are slowing down. But particularly at a position with not

a lot to offer. Those numbers really stand out. He has been more of a line drive hitter this year, kind of lowered his launch angle in a way that seems to have improved his overall profile. And maybe that's just a small sample thing. Maybe it wouldn't continue

into next year. But I feel like I'm, because of the breakdown of the catcher position, I feel like I want to give him more of the benefit of the doubt than not. Salvador Perez. I was putting together my catcher rankings today, JT Real Mutant number one, of course.

I did go ahead and slot Wilson Contreras behind him, but I have Salvador Perez third, which I'm pretty sure is the highest I've ever ranked Salvador Perez. And you don't like it? No, Scott, come on. Salvi's number two. You think it's Salvador Perez number two easily? I think so, yeah. I was excited about him coming into the season.

I mean, he didn't. I mean, I'm going to side with track record here for both of those players, Wilson Contreras and Salvador Perez. Wilson Contreras's bat to ball profile actually hasn't been that different this year even though the production has been kind of disappointing. I'm willing to move Grandal behind Salvador Perez because of

the age. Grundal is getting pretty old and he wasn't playing as consistently with the White Sox. Travis Arnault knows another one that you're just not sure how seriously to take it. But he's been amazing and he's under contract one more year with the Brave so his role's not going to change,

the surroundings aren't going to change. And like the entire profile supports what he's been doing. So I actually haven't fit. I don't want to turn this into a catcher preview. But since we, I kind of got off on that tangent, I wanted to mention Travis Darnow. That's my top five at catcher,

J.T. Rum, Muto, Wilson Contrero, Salvador Perez, Travis Darno. I missed, I didn't name one of the five. I'll keep it that way. Keep some surprises there for you. I have a feeling of who it is.

someone who should be in that mix, but you're going to have to wait and see or listen, however you consume this podcast. Another bullpen note, I know you mentioned Felix Pena. I just wanted to talk about Nick Anderson for a second. He got the final out of the game with the score 8 to 5 for the Tampa Reyes. A few people tweeted at me asking why he didn't get the save. And it was because the tying run was not on deck technically.

and if you enter with a three-run lead, it either has to be for a full inning to get the save or it has to be with like runners on base, the tying run is on deck, and that's how you earn the save. So that's why Nick Anderson did not get the save in this particular instance. Some Apple Podcast Review, rating and review questions, Scott.

Let's go a little rapid fire on these. From Caleb 2405, rank these for next year. Kyle Tucker, Dom Smith, Ryan Moucassel, Luke Voight, in a head-to-head points league. Okay, let me find the email real quick. Okay, I would rank them Luke Voight number one, especially in a points league where you don't depend on steals as much, but still Tucker number two, Dom Smith, number three, Ryan Mouinthal, number four.

This one's from all the help, keeping Tateas, Bueller, and freed. I have to select two more. Soroka, round 14, LaMayhew, round four, Garrett Cole, round two, Zach Rankie, round eight. Cole, and LaMayhew.

Let's go, Yanks. All right, Scott. Coming over to the dock side. This one's from Alec, 1887, 10-team head-to-head categories league. I get to keep four. Judge, for a seventh. Darvish for an eighth.

Freed, 11th. Seeger, 12th. Sixth-toe, 15th. Ian Anderson, 15th. Kent, Maida, There were a bunch more, but I thought these were the best. Thank you for narrowing it down for us. I appreciate that, truly.

Darvish in the 8th, Maeda in the 19th, Seeger in the 12th, Fried in the 11th. This one's from Mike in Rochester, 16-team Roto with daily lineups. Keep five forever with no limitations. I have Mike Trout and Ronald de Cunia already. I need three more from Luis Castillo, Sunny Gray, Yurdon-Alvarez, Max Fried, Lance Lynn, Corbin Burns, and Jesus Lazardo. Three of those.

Three of them, I'm going to go. Castillo Burns. And it's between Gray and Alvarez. I think 16 team and you can keep him forever. I think I go with Alvarez there as the third keeper. That's exactly what I was thinking as well. Would you drop a $19? J.D. Martinez for a $1.

Clint Frazier in a 10-team Roto Keeper League with OBP and slugging percentage instead of batting average and home runs. I am thinking that Frazier would be good trade bait in the offseason and that J.D. Martinez would go for less in the draft.

Yeah, he probably will go for less than 19. 10-team especially, 10-team league. I don't know that Frazier is really going to be great trade-bait in a 10-teamer. But I'm fine with that move if you think you would be. I mean, you know the habits of your league mates better than I do.

A username Arch Kilo-Kilo left five stars and a question, but there was no context and there was no first name. So I was having an incredibly difficult time trying to figure out who these players were. So if you can email us at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Frank going above and beyond to get the guy an answer. That is CBS and the letter I, by the way. Someone emailed us the other day and said, I didn't know if it was like CBS EYE,

like your eyeball. Well, yeah, I mean, understandable because CBSI, you know, the logo looks like an eye, so that's always been a thing. Right. But no, the I stands for interactive, CBS letter I.com.

So if you email us your question, Archie boy, I will, or girl, I will answer, I'll send you a, an answer. And last but not least, my man, Matt, go cards. He asked a line-up question on Monday. I'm sorry, Matt. But unfortunately, there is a bit of delay on the Apple podcast rating and review questions. Those don't show up for us for like a day or two later than you actually post them. So I apologize. We weren't able to get to your lineup question. He is Scott White. I am Frank Stanful.

Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today on our YouTube channel. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.