Fantasy Baseball Today - Add Christian Scott or John Means? Guardians Promoting Kyle Manzardo! (5/6 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 6, 2024

Christian Scott had an awesome debut against the Rays (2:45)! John Means looked great in his debut against the Reds (6:45). Add Scott or Means? ... Is Ronel Blanco a sell high (11:58)? ... The Guardians are promoting Kyle Manzardo (16:25)! ... Luis Arraez was traded to the Padres on Friday (22:55). ... Trea Turner will miss at least six weeks with a hamstring injury (26:54). Who are the top replacements? ... News (29:27): Gerrit Cole threw his first bullpen. ... Garrett Crochet could be available in shallower leagues and Zack Littell needs more respect (40:35)! ... What do we do with Tanner Bibee, Reid Detmers and other confusing pitchers (51:30)? ... Who are the top Steven Kwan replacements off the waiver wire (58:36)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:07:50). 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, @CTowersCBS, @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 lead. Well, fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Holy crap, what a weekend. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, May 6th.

I am Frank Stanfel, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, it was a crazy weekend. As always, we had great starts from Chris. Christian Scott and John Means, the Guardians are promoting one of their top prospects, Kyle Manzardo. We had a trade. Luis Arise was sent over to the Padres, a ton of big injuries, and much more. No time to waste. Let's get into it.

The sun will come out. Tanaka. Bet your bottom dollar with Tanaka. That is a fantastic call. John Sterling at the end of one of Masahiro Tanaka's complete games. And I had to start working that in because I loved it. Let's stay in New York though and we are going to lead things off with

Christian Scott who looked great in his debut. He was at Tampa Bay, 6 and 2 3rds innings, one run, six strikeouts with 18 swinging strikes on 94 pitches, eight of those coming on the fastball, six on the sweeper, four on the slider, 35% CSW. He had everything working,

average 95.4 miles per hour with the fastball. Adrian Hauser has been shifted to the bullpen which gives Christian Scott a clear runway, at least for the time being, he is 58% rostered. Don't love that he has to face the Atlanta Braves this week. Well, maybe you do.

Braves have been pretty bad lately. I mean, it's got to change, and I'm not normally one to base my start and sit decisions on team matchups. But, you know, he looked really good is the bottom line, Christian Scott. And it's kind of funny that this was the... first start all year. His major league debut was the first start all year where he didn't give a home run, which is, which really seemed like the, the big concern for Scott, his propensity for giving up home runs. But he didn't. And his sweeper and slider, they were both getting chases out of the zone. The fastball played up in the zone. He got a ton of whiffs against a major

league caliber lineup. And I, if it, the funny thing is like, I looked at his roster rate that night and it was still only like 50% on CBS and I'm like guys if if you're not willing to pick up Christian Scott after that what's it going to take it feels like he's definitely must roster at this point and certainly in those 15 team leagues he was going for like a third of people's entire budgets initial budgets too initial budgets yeah I put in a quarter of my initial budget for him in those 15 team leagues of course that there's like nobody no good starting pitchers on the way everywhere in these kinds of leagues So I'm not saying all you 10 and 12 teamers need to do that.

But yeah, I mean, people are buying in and they're buying in hard. He's going to have starts where he gives up a lot of home runs. Sort of like I've been saying for Shoda Imanaga, there will be days probably where you regret starting Christian Scott because of the vulnerability to home runs. But when you're striking out of how many guys and you're walking so few guys, I think he threw 71% of his pitches for strikes, even with, even locating his breaking balls out of the zone like you,

was. This guy's really good. Yeah, I think Joe Ryan's another possible comp where when he's not giving up home runs, he's going to be awesome. And when he is giving up home runs, you're just, you're hoping there of the solo variety. But I think given his approach, you know, pitching in the up in the zone with that flat fastball, a lot like Joe Ryan does, it's going to lead to home runs. It's just, I think he can be good enough to overcome. Like the sweeper and slider, it's weird to throw both, but they look different enough. They're about four miles per hour, different in velocity, different enough movement profiles that, like, I think both those pitches are going to work for him. It'll be interesting to see against the lefty heavy lineup because that's usually how you counter a sweeper especially.

He only threw the splitter eight times in this one, only got, didn't get any whiffs with it. But all in all, just about as good as you could have hoped for. And I agree, must roster pitcher, Christian Scott. Yep, still 58% rostered. So he's out there in a bunch of CBS leagues right now. As Scott mentioned, I mean, in the three leagues where I had fad run already, he went for 275 out of a $1,000 budget. Christian Scott did 237 and 131. 131.131 is actually pretty low.

So for 15-183 in my TGFBI. Yeah. In a 12-team league, I don't think you'll have to spend as much to get him. But obviously, Christian Scott, really, really exciting debut here. Is he the number one waiver-wire pitcher of the week? or is it Scott's player of the weekend? Yes, my player of the weekend. We're going to talk about John Means here.

Wait, wait. Because we were, you know, we weren't, we, oh, you know. Why are you seeing his name like that? It's weird. We weren't really sure what we were getting from John Means. Obviously, we did see him return from Tommy John's surgery last year. He made four starts. ERA was low, but he wasn't getting any whiffs at all.

Didn't quite look like him. and then on his rehab assignment after the strained forearm this spring, it was mostly bad until he dominated in his last outing at AAA. So he didn't really know what we were getting into here with John Means, but now we know that John Means business. There it is, Frank. Yes. I had to build up to it.

So what he did Saturday was he went seven innings. Fresh off the I'll go, seven innings struck out eight, walk nobody as John Means' want to do. 19 swinging strikes on just 85 pitches. He had eight on his change-up, which has always been a good swing in this pitch for him. Also got six on the slider, which we hadn't seen so much from him in the past. Also, compared to those four starts we saw John Means last season, the velocity was up on both of those off-speed pitches by one to two miles per hour.

So a significant increase on them. And this looked like as good a version of John Means as we've ever seen, frankly. And it's kind of funny, you know, I said Christian Scott's Major League debut, first start all year where he didn't give up a home run. John Means, in Cincinnati, the most homer-friendly venue, didn't even give up a single run. I think the biggest reason for enthusiasm with John Means is that his home games are now in an extremely hitter, pitcher-friendly park.

Camden Yards, obviously. they've pushed the left field fences way back, which should play into the strengths of a fly ball left-handed pitcher like John Means is, who hardly walks anyone, as I've already said. And even with the old dimensions of Camden Yarns, John Means, prior to the Tommy John surgery in 2021, he had a 362 ERA, a 103 whip, 8.2K per 9.

It's pretty good numbers. If you're expecting some of those home run, he had a 1.8 home run. per 9 rate even you know even for having a 362 ERA then if you're expecting some of those home runs to become fly ball outs now you're going to see that ERA go down

you may see the whip go down some I don't know how much room it has to approve really I think I think there's a possibility of like Bailey Ober type numbers from John Means and with the Orioles offense backing him there's a durability risk here because 2021 was his last healthy season but I'm pretty encouraged by this.

Not on the level of Christian Scott because I think there's a decent to good chance means is just a streamer type. But there's a chance he's more. And if I'm in a league where, I don't know, at this point I might be willing to roster John Means over like Michael King,

who had a decent start Saturday himself, but for the most part, it's been pretty awful this year. Yeah, John Means, I didn't catch this game last, but watching the highlights, he looked filthy. Everything was working, the change up, down in a way to right-handed bats. It's throwing the slider look great too.

You know, it doesn't throw particularly hard. It's going to be low 90s with the fastball. But man, those secondary pitches look great for John Means. And this one, he's 53% roster. So right around a similar rate as Christian Scott. Chris, who would you rather have between the two, Scott or John Means? Oh, Christian Scott for sure. But that's not a knock on John Means.

it's just that Christian Scott is one, the young guy who has a lot more hype, two, I think the stuff is probably better. And three, there's just going to be a lot more competition for him. But I think John Means is a perfectly viable, what's it called when you don't win?

Consolation prize. That's, that's the one. So yeah, I think John Means should be pretty good, expecting him to play well moving forward. I think you go at him. you should seize the means of production.

There we go. I got one in two. The only problem I see what John means this week is that he's going up against the debacks. They have been a juggernaut against left-handed pitching. They are first in Wobah by far. So yes, I'd be looking at John Means. I don't know that I want to go ahead and start him against the debacks.

Christian Scott's got the Braves this week. You guys talked about that earlier. Probably don't want to start them there. I don't love the idea of starting either of those guys, but I want to have them around. In the 15 team leagues where we're spending, what, a quarter of our budget on Scott, and I was spending half of that on means, 12.5%. That's an eighth.

Yeah, thank you. You probably do have to start them in those deep leagues, but a chatteler leagues where you have choices. I wouldn't call them must start yet. Chris, over to you, player of the weekend. I'm going to go with Ronnell Blanco, who has been one of the best stories in baseball so far this season. He didn't have like an outrageously good start.

It was a quality start against the Mariners. And frankly, at this point, if you're not doing better than equality start against the Mariners, kind of leaving points on the table, they've been pretty bad. But this is the thing I want to point out about Ronel Blanco, who has been awesome and has a 248 expected ERA, which suggests that he has deserved his results so far. he has a 271 expected Wobah on contact right now.

And you might think, oh, that's a low number. How low is it? I'm glad you asked the lowest expected Wobah on contact that any pitcher has ever posted in the Stacast era with a minimum of 400 plate appearances is Ranger Suarez in 2021. Remember, he only started like 12 games that year, 292 expected Wobah on contact for Rangelo.

or Suarez there. There have only been two seasons below 300. One of them was like Justin Verlander when he won a Siam. I say this all to say that Ronell Blanco is probably a sell high candidate. I think there's a lot to like about what he's doing. That's not to say he hasn't deserved what he's done so far because he has. He is limiting hard contact extremely well. But like Kyle Hendricks, his career expected Wobon,

contact is 354. It's really, really hard to know when a pitcher is a true standout in this skill set. It takes, this is one that like literally takes multiple seasons before you can say for sure that a pitcher has this skill. And it's really the only thing Ronel Blanco stands out with right now. He's got a slightly above average strikeout rate. I think slightly below average walk rate. But for the most part, it's just that he's.

limiting contact really well. And I don't think he's gonna keep doing that. So yeah, Renal Blanco. So I'll High candidate. Alright, well, let's quickly promote a few things. The FBT newsletter. If you're watching us live on YouTube, you can scan the QR code that will take you right to the website

where you click on the FBT logo, you're punching your email address, and it's easy as that. Chris sends out a newsletter each weekday, and it has a bunch of statistical tidbits and news and waiver wire ads. So everything that you're looking for delivered right to your inbox. And big thank you to everyone watching us live. We do appreciate you for being here. Hit that like button and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.

Let's take our first break when we return. It's Kyle Manzardo time. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in and the prospect promotions just continue to come this time. The Guardians are promoting one of their top prospects. Kyle Manzardo who came over from the Tampa Bay raise in the Aaron Savali trade last year. Manzardo is 23 years old, a former second round pick back in 2020. and he is off to a great start at AAA this season.

Triple slash 303, 375, 642 with nine homers, 11.7% walk rate, not striking out all that much. It's 17% strikeout rate. Hitting the ball hard, 91.2 average exit velocity. He's 36% rostered. Scott is Kyle Manzardo a must add. I would say, it's getting difficult to frame things that way. because I know not it. I know I couldn't afford to make a spot for him in all my head-to-head points leagues,

though I looked and tried and made every effort to. So I guess just by the strictest definition, no, he's not must add. But I am more excited about adding Kyle Manzardo than I was about adding Jordan Beck, let's say, when he got called up for the Rockies. All three of the guys who got called up last week, I think Manzardo is more exciting than. Yeah, I was pretty excited. Jordan back and Tyler Black. But Monsardo has certainly been in the,

been a highly regarded prospect for longer. And I do have more confidence in his playing time. I think there was doubt about Lopofito starting against lefties from the get-go. Yeah, it's looking more and more based on what he did, well, based on what he did in the Arizona Fall League last year and what he's done at Triple Lake Columbus this year, that his 2023 minor league seasons split between the Rays

and Guardians organizations. That is the aberration where he hit only 237 with an 802 OPS. The numbers look great under the hood still. And then remember two years ago, he hit 327 with the 1043 OPS. And his numbers this year have looked a lot like that. In addition to the good exit velocities, the plate discipline, whether you're talking about the strikeout to walk ratio, or you're talking about his 90.5 zone contact rate,

which means when he gets. a pitch to hit he doesn't miss it and that is an impressive skill that I think points to a pretty high floor for Kyle Monsardo. So yeah, this could go well for him or it could go like we've seen it go for most rookies this year and not go well. I mean, Wyatt Langford, everybody had all the confidence in the world in him and he still hadn't gotten it going when unfortunately he suffered an injury this weekend too. But yeah, if you're, if there aren't a lot of exciting hitters, certainly if like Andy Pahas is already picked up in your league, then I think Mazzardo is definitely worth looking into. It's a shame we had to lose Shinsu.

I'm sorry, it's a shame we had to lose Stephen Kwan to get him. Yeah, that is the unfortunate part here. Stephen Kwan to the aisle with a hamstring injury as a result. That's why Manzardo is getting called up. Not entirely sure that he will play against lefties right away. but as we've mentioned on our FBT and 5 prospect episode, the Guardians have this revolving door of, you know, not so great DH options.

So I think Kyle Manzardo will play a lot with this scene. That is the problem, though, is that there is just no margin for error when it comes to his playing time. And this is the problem with any first base only prospect, is that you've really got to be an exceptional hitter to stick as a first base, slash DH. And like, it hasn't been a problem for Vinny Pass Guantino,

but that's also a team that was at the time he got called up, certainly much less competitive. The Guardians have a first baseman who's probably going to make the All-Star team at this point in Josh Naylor. So, yeah, Manzardo's got to be really good right away or else it's going to be really easy for him to lose playing time. So that's the thing is that there is real risk that we're talking. you know, 15 days from now about Manzardo getting sent down.

But I still think he's an extremely exciting prospect, 90 mile per hour average exit velocity in AAA, the last two seasons, 112 max exit Velo. So that's a solid number. I think he's definitely south of, like my excitement about Christian Scott is higher. Right.

But that's also just, it's a lot easier to get, excited about a pitcher after one start than even a top prospect minor leaguer. Yeah, maybe Monsardo comes up and hits two homers in his first game. That would be very exciting. I will say, like, the Guardians had a revolving door of no buddies at DH. That's how I was putting it. It was such a waste of...

I was surprised, though, the OPEC. Such an inefficient use of a lineup spot. Yates spot was getting them like a 780 OPS this season. I was surprised by that. Yeah, that is a little surprising. I mean, David Frye has put up some numbers there, I guess. But, like, he's David Frye, so who cares? Ideally, it won't matter.

Manzardo has the skill to make it a moot point. Would you drop any of these names for Manzardo? These are the questions I was getting most frequently on Sunday. Michael Bush, who went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts on Sunday, he's still 87% rostered. I think it's fine. Yeah. I don't want to. I mean, if you're in a shallow enough league where you can even think about dropping Michael

Bush, I don't think, I think you're more likely to lose Monsardo to somebody else than Bush if you drop them. If you're in that shallow kind of points league probably. Christian and Carnaccio Strand is batting 195 with two homers and a 519 OPS. What about him? I mean, look, I'm going to rank Bush higher than Mazzardo. I'm going to rank in Carnacian Strand higher than Mazzardo. But kind of the same situation.

Like in a shallow league, would I be scared to drop in Carnacian Strand at this point? Probably not. I wouldn't want to drop him in a roto league where you have an extra corner infield spot. I think that's fair. Last name is Spencer Torkelson who is betting 216 with zero homers this year. I still don't want to drop him,

but I get it. Yeah, it's kind of the same thing. I think I'd be least likely to drop Torkelson. I think I agree with that, yeah. All right, we had ourselves a trade on Friday night, and Chris, the Marlins' teardown has commenced as they traded Luis Arise over to the Padres in exchange for three prospects, Dylan Head, Jacob Marcy, Nathan Martarella, and reliever Wusa Goh.

I actually thought this was a pretty awesome return for the Marlins in this trade. And for a rise, he led off for the Padres on both Saturday and Sunday. He went four for six on Saturday. He was the designated hitter on Saturday and then played second base on Sunday with Bogart's at DH. This is, the arrow is up for Louisa Rise, right? I mean, I don't think this changes his output or his skill set drastically, but he should score more runs theoretically. Yeah, I think it's probably a net positive for him.

You know, he is what he is, though. It's almost entirely going to come from batting average. We talked about last year, I mean, he hit, what, 340 and had 160 combined runs in RBI, if that. So, yeah, any better lineup is going to improve. prove his outlook, hopefully. What do you guys... The Padres must have really not liked what they saw from Wusuk go. He didn't even make a single appearance.

Yeah. So that guy can go. Go ahead, Scott. And I do think it's funny, the return for basically a D.A. I was a little worried about Jake Croninworth when this trade happened. Like initially, that was my first, like, knee-jerk response. And it's like, oh, the Padres don't have a D.H. So they gave up that prospect capital for a powerless D.H was just a little.

funny. What did you guys think about the return? Again, it was Dylan Head, who is a 19-year-old outfielder, first round pick in 2023. Jacob Marcy won the Arizona Fall League MVP Award this past year. He's 22 years old. Off to a slow start in the minors this year,

but does have some speed. And Nathan Martirella, who is a 23-year-old first baseman, has a little bit of power, hits for solid batting average. What do you guys think? None of them seem like can't miss prospect. you know, ahead especially probably seems to have the most ceiling,

but also seems to be furthest away from that. So a rise is a really hard player to value. And we've talked a lot about that from a fantasy perspective, but it's also true from a real life perspective, because he has to hit 300 to even be an average player. He's hitting like 330 since the start of 2021. So he's a really good player as long as he keeps walking that tightrope. I think it's a fine return.

I saw a lot of complaining about the Marlins, like giving up on their season already. And it's like, I mean, the players did that. They're like seven and 23 or whatever. Of course, they're their seasons over. 10 and 26, Chris. Come on. It's four players. They got back four players that I've actually heard of, which is rare.

that a trade of one player for prospects could be that. Just like a rise is difficult to size up that these prospects are too. Jacob Marcy, MVP of the Arizona Fall League, he's hit for some power, but with really bad exit velocities, walks a lot, which is theoretically good, but that when there isn't power there, it doesn't always translate. and Nathan Martarella, first base only guy, so a difficult path,

some power, some on-base skills, but is there enough offensive potential to really stick at first base, or is he always going to be a quadruple-A guy? I think that's part of the reason why the Padres had to double and triple up on those prospects, because I think the Marlins are looking for one hit here

among the players they acquired. Let's get into the injuries, and the biggest blow of the weekend was Trey Turner, who will miss at least six weeks with a hamstring injury, and Turner was off to a nice start batting 3.43 with two homers and 10 steals. It looks like Edmundo Sosa will fill in at shortstop for the Phillies in the meantime. And if you're looking for replacements in Shalierrez, Zichael Tovar, 70% rostered, he has six games in Cores this week. Jose Caballero, 58% rostered, especially if you need speed.

similar kind of not similar expectation. He's like obviously a much lesser version of Trey Turner but he had four steals on Sunday. I think he's up to like 13 steals total. And Willie Castro, who's hit well recently and he's been running more lately. He's playing every day for the twins.

How would you guys rank Tovar, Caballero and Willie Castro? And Castro's playing every day even since Carlos Correa came back, which was I think the biggest concern there. I think I would rank them I guess Tovar at the top because of the games at course field, although I, I wish he was better and I don't know if it's going to happen.

This is the Rockies. I wish everybody was better. Well, yeah, but like he, I don't know. The Rockies just aren't good at developing guys or maximizing guys. And I just, I don't know if it's actually going to happen. But since his next six games are at Cors, I'll go with him at the top. Caballero in a Roto league. I don't think him or Castro really have any value in points leagues.

All right. And then in deeper leagues, some names that could be available. Zach Netto is 19% rostered. Jorge Mateo, 12% rostered. He has started five of the past six games for the Orioles, has two homers and one steal during that spend. And Edmundososa, who will be filling in for Trey Turner.

So you get some exposure to what should be a pretty good Phillies lineup. I'll also just in points leagues. I might prefer Von Grissom to any of those guys. He's 44% rostered. I mean, he's only shortstop. eligible right now. But, I mean, even in Roto leagues, I think.

Yeah, I mean, but especially in points leagues. I think he should be better than all of them. He should be a batting average standout. But yeah, I think in Roto leagues, I probably rank him ahead of those guys as well. You know, it might be a good plan in points leagues. And you may have so many players

on the aisle already that it's just not viable. But if you could pick up and stash J.P. Crawford, who should be back a month sooner than Trey Turner. I know he was off to a slow start, but he's always been a useful points league player. Yeah. All right. Let's get into the rest of the news and notes. Garrett Cole threw 15 pitches off a mound on Saturday. His first bullpen session since landing on the IL and there's been some speculation he could return sometime in June though. Yeah, there was a report about that this week. I think it was an article from

John Heyman. Yeah. So that would be good if we can get Garrett Cole back in June. Joe Musgrove placed on the with right elbow inflammation, and the hope is that he'll be able to return when first eligible. I don't believe you, but this might explain why he's been so bad this season. So. I mean, that's one that like Joe Musgrove is going to get testing, but he believes he'll be back when first eligible. That, that tells me nothing. And I will wait until the MRI comes back. Who was it?

There was a pitcher that came back very quickly. Well, like Nick Pabetta ended up coming back pretty quickly. And Hazel's Lazzardo made his rehab start today. So, like, I'm not saying it's impossible. It's just Joe Musgrove's opinion about this doesn't matter. No, it doesn't. He can't see his elbow. Until we get the testing, it's vague.

But if it is just inflammation, then it could be a short term. Lazzardo wasn't, was the one who he's going to be back right around 15 days. I think Framber Valdez was back pretty quickly too. Yeah. Yeah. Evan Phillips was placed on the aisle with a right hamstring strain retroactive to May 4th. Sounds like he could miss two to three weeks. Short term fill in, but do you guys have a preference?

Daniel Hudson, Blake Trinan in the Dodgers bullpen? Freaking Shohei Otani robbed us of an opportunity to see what it would be today. Because they were up three in the eighth. And Blake Trinin, I think he made his return, first time pitching since 2022. Yep. And pitch the eighth. And then Shohei Otani hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth. And so they went to Michael Grove.

I do not think it will be Michael Grove. My guess would be Daniel Hudson. My guess will be whoever David Roberts feels like that day. But if I was investing in any one pitcher from the Dodgers bullpen, it'd be Daniel Hudson. All right, Wyatt Langford was placed on the aisle with a right hamstring strain and is expected to miss three to four weeks. Obviously, we don't want to see an injury. But this might be the best thing for Wyatt Langford because he was just off to a terrible start. So getting an opportunity to sit for a couple of weeks

And I guess just reset and get his mind right Do you guys think Langford is a must roster Someone you need to hold on to in leagues with no IL spots Or even in leagues where you have three to five IL spots There are so many injuries at this point It's getting ridiculous so It's been a horror And the pace doesn't seem to slow down

It's more players going on the IL than can come off And it's very frustrating frustrating and I I'm looking at my Tower Wars team and fortunately there's infinite IL spots there

but I have 17 players on the IL I think what? And some of them I drafted that way but many more have gone on

than have come off it may be like 14 it's in the teens though yeah so I could understand how you know in a shallow league especially like a points league where your bench is all pitchers and Wyatt Langford goes down and your aisles already overstuffed.

I could understand dropping him in that scenario, but I really think you're going to regret it at some point, so I would try not to. All right, Mariners, manager, Scott Service said George Kirby has been dealing with a right knee issue and service added. It isn't considered a major problem, but is the reason that Kirby was pulled after just 88 pitches on Friday. Cody Bellinger and Seyosuzuki did defensive drills on Saturday. Both are inching towards

rehab assignments. Royce Lewis is on target to return around the original eight-week timeline in late May. He's been on the IL since opening day with a quad injury. Kodi Asanga completed a 32-pitch live batting practice on Saturday. He's hoping to return when first eligible on May 27. Paul Seawald is expected back on Tuesday. He spent the entire season on the IL with an oblique injury. you guys cool just throwing Seawald back in your lineups? It would depend on the circumstances, but if he was my best bet for saves, then yeah, I'd do it. And I did confirm it's 14, 14. Exaggerated a little with 17, but 14 players on the I.

It's still a lot. It's a lot. Sure is. Justin Steele is on track to return Monday against the Padres, which I think would make him a two-star pitcher against the Padres and the Pirates this week. How do you guys feel about throwing Justin Steele back in your lineups? I feel good. Yep, two-star pitcher. Let's go.

It wasn't an arm injury, and yeah, he's coming back for, if it was coming back for one start, it might be a different story, but coming back for two, let's do it. Ryan Pepio was removed from Sunday start after being struck with a comebacker. We're waiting to learn more on that one.

X-rays were negative, I believe. Okay, good. Yep, good stuff on him. Bobby Miller threw a bullpen session Friday, his first time since going on the aisle with shoulder inflammation back on April 13th. Clayton Kershaw also threw his first bullpen on Friday. his first time throwing off a mound since undergoing shoulder surgery in the off season.

He is not expected to return until after the All-Star break. Max Scherzer is still in a holding pattern while waiting for the soreness in his right thumb to subside. Nick Povetta will make his next start with the Red Sox and is slated to return Wednesday against the Braves. My guess is we probably don't want to start Povetta this week, right? Against the Braves, you said? Yeah. Yeah, I would avoid that one. Wu struck out six over five shotout innings in his third rehab start on Saturday.

He should be closing in on a return. He's 76% rostered could be out there in some shallower leagues if you want to look to stash Brian Wu. Pete Fairbanks and Brandon Lau will both begin their rehab assignments at AAA on Tuesday. Yasmani Granda was activated from the IEL on Friday and as a result, Henry Davis was optioned back to AAA. Davis was batting just 162 with a 35% strikeout rate. It looks like Spencer Turnbull has been charged.

shifted to the Phillies bullpen, still 73% rostered. Is Turnbull a drop? I mean, if that's who you need to drop to pick up Christian Scott or even John Means, then I, okay. Thankfully, the Phillies gave you an excuse. I guess if you're in a league where pitching is much harder to come by off the waiver wire, somebody else is going to get hurt at some point and Turnbull's going to go right back in. And I think in Roto leagues especially, like don't underrate. Spencer Turnbull could just be useful, even pitching out of the bullpen

because I've had multiple leagues where I've used Matt Strom, who's been a multi-inning reliever for the Phillies. He had 108 strikeouts last year and a 3-290. He was actually a pretty useful player. So it wouldn't surprise me if Turnbull is still throwing four to five innings a week out of the bullpen. And I think I'd rather have what Spencer Turnbull has done for five innings a week than I don't know.

some crappy pitcher whose name I can't think of and who I don't want to impugn. The Giants are promoting one of their pitching prospects, Mason Black, on Monday to start against the Phillies. And in six starts at AAA, he had a 101 ERA, a 0.90 whip, 29 strikeouts over 26 and two thirds. Only 5% roster. I think, if anything, this is a very deep league play. But Scott, any interest in Mason Black? I mean, the numbers are good. And he does have some. prospect pedigree. I don't think the upside is especially high

because he is more of a sinker-baller, Mason Black, who doesn't have an especially high ground ball rate for being a sinker-baller. And the strikeout numbers are good, but it's like with a 10% swinging strike rate, which is not very good at all.

So I'm not saying I wouldn't bid on him in those deeper 15 team leagues because pitching his the pits on the waiver wire when you get that deep. But I think most listeners can take a wait and see approach with Mason Black. Dylan Carlson returned to the Cardinals lineup on Sunday. He was batting fifth and I believe started in center field. He's 5% rostered.

Chris, any interest in Dylan Carlson in deeper five outfielder leagues? It's got to be deeper leagues. He's been pretty mediocre since 2021. Actually, mediocre might be generous for the way he's played since 2021. So yeah, I, just in 15 team 5 Alphiger leagues, I think. Guardians outfield prospect, Chase DeLotter, who had a big spring training, was diagnosed with a fractured bone in his left foot and is without a timeline to return to the double A lineup. Scott, this is like multiple foot injuries for him, right? Yep.

Yep, that's what delayed the start of his minor league career. Yeah. Other names placed in the aisle this weekend, Nathan Avaldi with a strained right groin, Byron Buckson with right knee inflammation. Patrick Bailey was placed on the seven-day concussion aisle and Stephen Mats with a lower back strain. Let's take our final break and when we return, we'll talk about some waiver wire pitchers right after this. Waiver wire pitchers part one. Let's keep it moving. There's still, oh my gosh.

So much to talk about. We already mentioned Christian Scott and John Means. They were the, they were the headliners of the weekend. Garrett Crochet has been dropped in enough leagues where he could be available. He's 79% rostered now on CBS and he has. He had a strong start at the Cardinals. It was six innings, one run, six strikeouts. Only eight swinging strikes on 88 pitches.

His first quality start since April 2nd. And John Gray is on quite the role right now. He was at the Royals this weekend where he threw seven innings, two runs, seven strikeouts to zero walks with 17 swinging strikes on 99 pitches. He is one of Scott's sleeper pitchers this week. That's John Gray. He's 78% rostered at Colorado. Scott, how would you rank this group of four?

Scott means crochet and John Gray. Oh, you said Scott at the start of that, and I thought you were like directly addressing me. But no, you were talking about Christian Scott because that's his last name. Okay. I should probably say his full name when I. It is a little confusing, but I just, it's, you know, Scott isn't an uncommon last name. I could have been Scott, Scott, if I was born into a different family. That would be a bad decision by that thing.

It would probably be a bad choice. I did have a middle school teacher, Mrs. James, who said if she ever had a son, she would name him James. But apparently she didn't. I don't know. I don't really know. Like, I didn't want people to drop Garrett Crochet. I thought there were, anybody brought that suggestion up to me. I shot it down. I'm not really sure where to play Scott next to Crochet.

I think I think I'm going to say Crochet ahead of Scott still. Mm-hmm. But it's very close. And then Means third. And John Gray, a rather distant fourth, just because he's been around so long and has never put together a season that I would consider high end. But I do think he's useful, obviously. He's among my sleeper pitchers for this week. WaverWire pitchers, part two.

Zach Lattell pitched very well against the Mets. He actually opposed Christian Scott in that game. Six innings, one run, seven strikeouts with 18 swinging strikes on 87 pitches. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of seven starts. 74% rostered home against the Yankees this week. That is Zeklll. Reese Olson was solid. He was at the Yankees, five shutout innings with five strikeouts.

He is at the Guardians this week. James and Tyone has allowed one earned run or fewer in all four of his starts. He was home against the Brewers this weekend. Six shutout innings with seven strikeouts. And he is at the Pirates this week. That's a really good matchup. And Gavin Stone has now turned in two strong starts in a row. he faced the Braves in this one.

Offense has been a little bit cold recently as Scott mentioned, but it was six innings, one run, five strikeouts with 14 swinging strikes for Gavin Stone in that start. And he has a great matchup as well. He is home against the Marlins this week. Chris, how would you rank these names? Gavin Stone, Tyone, Reese Olson, and Zach Lattel. I would go Letell, Stone, Olson, Tyone.

Why is it that like every time a pitcher gets traded to the raise, we like lose our minds and we're like, oh my God, Aaron Savale, the rays are going to unlock him. And then like Zach Lattel just comes out here and just pitches like quality, quality, quality over and over. And everyone's like, no, he stinks. I don't want to, I don't even want to look at him. He wasn't even a starter until he got to the race. He was kind of a low strikeout reliever. He's been really good. They did the same thing with Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen.

They traded for relievers and made them starters. I just, I don't understand why there's such a lack of enthusiasm around Lite. Look, I don't think he's an ace. But one, he's pitched like one this season. 3-0-0-E-R-A-292X-ERA, 26% strikeout rate, both the slider and splitter look like really good swing and miss pitches. I think Lattel's just a good pitcher. And I lean more towards him being a must start pitcher than I do him being a cell high candidate at this point.

So I think he's the clear number one. Gavin Stone, I don't know. I get the results have been better lately. Quality starts in three of his last four. He has 12 strikeouts to 9. walks in his last four starts. I just, I think he's got an awesome change up, and I think that's it. So I just, I don't know if he's ever going to put it together for more than a start or two at a time.

I think he will put it together this week against the Marlins. So why do you take Stone over Olson then? What's that? I would put Olson ahead of Stone, but you have Stone ahead of Olson? Um, I, let me see. I'm, because I did rank them. Okay, no, I have Olson ahead. So I'll go Olson ahead of Stone.

Yeah. I agree with. On Lattel, by the way, this was kind of an eye-opener start for me where I, you know, he is a strikeout pitcher. He wasn't as a reliever and he wasn't really when he got a chance to start for the raise last year. But now he is. He's got a 13% swinging strike rate, which, I mean, if you're a starting pitcher and you have a 13% swinging strike rate, good things are going to happen. I think we can both, I think we can all agree James and Tyone doesn't really belong in the discussion with these under three. And one more point in the favor of Zach Lattel.

he's a spark. So if you're playing a points league, that obviously adds to his value. Waiver Wire Pitchers Part 3, Javier Assad just continues to get it done. He was home against the Brewers this weekend. Six shutout innings with four strikeouts. He has allowed two run runs or fewer in all seven of his starts, and he is also at the Pirates this weekend, this upcoming week, excuse me. Andrew Abbott pitched well against the Orioles. It was five innings, two runs, eight strikeouts with 13 swinging strikes. He's at the Giants this week. Dean Kramer turned in a quality start at the Reds. shutout innings, only one hit, one walk, with six strikeouts there. He is home against the debacks, and Paul Blackburn pitched very well against the Marlins, seven innings, one run,

three strikeouts, and he has allowed one earn, runner, fewer in four of his seven starts. A three ERA, a 102 whip. You know, the wins are going to be kind of hard to come by, but, you know, Blackburn's pitched pretty well, and he's at the Mariners this week. It's got any interest in these names, Blackburn, Kramer, Abbott, and Javier Assad. I mean, this is like a who's who of sell high candidates to the degree that anybody is buying, which is probably not that much. You probably just picked up these guys off the waiver wire. They are globy-bby-bbyes.

They are like this is, I think this is where the glob has moved down to in the pitcher rankings because we've talked about how strong, like the 30 to 60 or even 70 ranges at starting pitcher. And then behind it you have these guys who, I mean, Kramer is like the poster child for this. He can, yeah, he could give you a seven one run innings one day and then give up seven runs and three innings the next. And it's kind of amazing he has an ERA below four, given all the home runs he's already

given up. I think that's going to be a problem for Dean Kramer in the long run. And Javier Assad I wanted to talk about specifically because his ERA is 166 now. but he is a fly ball pitcher who doesn't give up especially weak contact, and he's only allowed two home runs so far. So I think it's, I think Javier Assad's success is mostly good home run luck. And that is the way that he will regress. All right, this next group of waiver wire pitchers,

J.P. Sears pitched really well against the Marlins, six and a third shutout innings with six strikeouts. Chris Paddock has looked really good in two of his last three starts. He faced the Red Sox this weekend. He threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts there. Michael Lorenzen turned in a quality start at the Royals, six innings, one run, three strikeouts, the three walks. And Jose Soriano had a strong start at the Guardians,

six shutout innings with three strikeouts in that one. Chris, do you have any interest in these names? Soriano, Michael Lorenzen, Chris Paddock, and J.P. Sears. This was a really, really interesting start from Chris Paddock, who threw his slider a career high 29 times and got five whiffs on 12 swings. That's a pretty good rate. That's a pretty good sign for a guy who has basically spent his entire professional career looking for some semblance of a useful breaking ball.

And maybe he's found it. The changeup has always been really good. The fastball has come and go. But if the slider can be a viable pitch for Chris Paddock, I think it could potentially change his outlook. So I think he's the most interesting here for a lot of reasons, but specifically because of what he showed in this one. I think that's not run out an ad, Chris Paddock, but stay tuned. Let's see what happens. And five names in deeper leagues. Griffin Canning changed up his pitch mix this weekend and pitch well against the Guardians. Carlos Carrasco's

velocity was way up and he turned in his first quality start. Hayden Wesniewski returned to the Cubs and pitched very well, six and a third shutout with eight strikeouts. Cole Irvin has turned in three straight scoreless outings with six and a third shutout with four strikeouts in that one. And Ben Lively has pitched very well for the Guardians it was six innings, one run, five strikeouts.

He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his four starts. Scott, anything here, deep leagues. Ben Lively, Cole Irvin, Wesneski, Carrasco, and Griffin Canning. So the only one I was even giving a thought to picking up in some of those 15 teamers where they're among the best pitchers available on

Waver Wire was Cole Irvin in the hopes of playing the matchups game. More so having to do with venue, though, than the opponent he's facing. Because he's another extreme flyball left-hander like John Means. Doesn't have as much upside as Means, but similar calculation there with Cole Irvin. Ultimately, I don't think I'd put in a bid for him anywhere. So I was preferring guys like Ryan Weathers to him. And then so that doesn't speak very well of Hayden West Nesky, Carlos Carrasco, and Griffin Canning. Though I will point out, Carasco's velocity was way up in this start.

I don't know if you already mentioned that, Frank. But it's not like it led to a bunch more strikeouts. So I'm not sure it means anything yet, but it's something to keep an eye on. What do we do with these pitchers? It's been a weird start to the season for Tanner Bybee. He allowed six runs over five innings. and the ERA is 446. He's got a 138 whip. He's home against the Tigers this week.

So I kind of feel like we just got to roll with Tanner Bybee and start him again. But Chris, it's been a weird season so far for him. Yeah, I can't really figure out Tanner Bybee. I think his fastball shape is not necessarily ideal for the way he pitches because he's got a, I don't know, a steeper approach angle. And so when he gets hit, he tends to get hit pretty hard. And he throws his fastball up in the zone a lot to get whiffs. And I think that's because he's just not quite consistent enough with his three quality secondaries

that all should be pretty good put away pitches. And it's just he never seems quite able to put guys away. I looked this up last week. So the numbers are probably slightly out of date. But he, since his debut, he is like 37th out of 63 pitchers in strikeout rate once he gets to two strikes. And I thought that was a, that kind of summed it up where like, it really seems like Tanner Bybee should be good at putting guys away.

He's got a slider, a change up, and a curveball that all have solid width rates. He just, I don't know if it's a consistency issue or if it's a usage issue or what it is, but he's just, now that Grayson Rodriguez is on the IL, Tanner Bybee is kind of the poster boy for the, why isn't he better pitchers right now? And I haven't quite been able to figure out what the issue is. I think he'll get there. I think he'll get there and go on a run like he kind of did last year.

It's just kind of feeling his way through it now. Okay. Let's slide over to Reed Detmer's. Have we been duped, bamboozled by Reed Detmer's, because he was at the Guardians this weekend. He allowed seven runs over five and two-thirds. He gave up three homers in that start. He still had 16 swinging strikes.

But Detmerz has now allowed four plus earned runs in three straight. He has three-plus walks in two of those starts. It's a 4-24 ERA. Everything else under the hood still looks pretty good. Scott, how do you feel about Detmerge? He's 91% rostered. He's 59% started home against the Royals this week. Yeah, I mean, if I'm evaluating Reed Detmer's as,

like, this is picture X. Here are his numbers. What do you think? I'd still feel pretty optimistic about pitcher X, but because he's re-Detmers and he's faked this out so many times in the past, I kind of have an unpleasant feeling right now about him. I'm not, I don't think his numbers are such that you can sell high on him exactly, so I don't think it makes sense to do that.

I don't want to drop him either. So I think you just bench him and keep your fingers crossed because the upside is still really high as good as he isn't missing bats. I do want to point out, Frank does not have access to what I'm working on during the day. But my write-up about Redembers started the exact same way. Did we fall for it? Were we hoodwinked? So I'm glad you used bamboozled because that was the other,

That was the other word I was considering. It would be a plagiarist. Otherwise, he could have used Adam Mazers. Fool you. I did reference that one in the newsletter last week. It is not going too well for my guy, Aaron Savali. He was home against the Mets this weekend. He gave up seven runs over four and two thirds.

He has now allowed five plus earned runs in three straight. He has a 614 ERA and a 134 whip. Does get the White Sox this week, so maybe he could get back on track. Is Savali someone you absolutely need to hold? Would you drop him for Christian Scott? Yes. Yeah, I'd drop him for Scott. So we're answering your second question by saying yes.

We're answering your first question is no. Yes. Okay. Eric Fetty took a step back at the Cardinals, four and a third innings, five runs, five walks to only two strikeouts. The number is to look all right.

It's a 346 ERA and a 118 whip. Do we hold Eric Fetty? Would you drop him for Christian Scott or John Means? Okay, good. You phrased them. So yes. is the answer to both, I think. Okay, so I'll put it this way.

Like, ah, that's how I'm going to put it. Fetti's previous two starts were so good that it really got our hopes up again that he could recapture the form that won him MVP in the Korean League last year. And I'm not ready to say he, okay, he happened. Absolutely can't. Now, I'm not ready to totally discard Fetty. But I think, if anything, this start really drives home the idea that pitching for the White Sox to have fantasy value, you have so little margin for air. And you have to come through against starts against the Cardinals. And Fetty pretty much beat himself in this one with the five walks.

He had a couple of those previous two starts. So that's part of it right there is he's just got he's got to be in the Zs. zone for this to work. Hopefully you can still hear me. Kind of. Kind of. Okay. I saw you making a face and I knew.

Scott, look at the time. Look at the time. I think it's a 1 a.m. It's a 1 a.m. thing. We got to start this podcast earlier or later. Apparently. Yeah.

So, I mean, look, if it came down to it, I dropped Fetty for Scott. Would I drop them for means? They're probably about in the same category. Yeah,

I think that's, yeah. I think maybe just team context. I drop Fetty for means. But if you're facing harder decisions than that, then you're probably in the kind of league where it's worth holding on to Fetty. Michael King had a bounce back start at the D-backs.

He threw six shot out innings with three strikeouts. Only had six swinging strikes in this one. I think the bigger takeaway is that he didn't walk anyone. He had three plus walks in four of eight outings so far the season. I don't think we're starting him this week. He's home against the Dodgers, so that's obviously a no-go. Same question. Would you drop Michael King for either of Christian Scott or John Means?

Yes, I would. Yeah, that one's an easier one. Yeah, I mean, look, he was awesome for like six starts last year. That was the only time he's ever been good as a starter at their major league level. We have a, I think at this point, the sample size has grown beyond his, I think he made eight starts total, but two of them. were short. So yeah, I think it's pretty easy to take him at face value for what he's done this season. Waiver wire hitters, Stephen Kwan and Wyatt Langford replacements.

If you're looking for outfielders, Scott Sleeper hitters in the outfield this upcoming week, Andy Paez, Jorge Solair, who I actually just saw his dealing with a shoulder injury, so hopefully he's good to go. Joe Adele, Lars Neupar, Brenton Doyle, Richie Palacios, and Tommy Pham. Andy Paez, another. huge weekend. Four for five with two RBI on Friday. He went two for five with his fourth home run on Saturday. He is up to 73% rostered. Chris, it feels like that should be closer to 100% at this point. Yeah, I mean, the remaining ones are probably almost entirely three outfielder 12 to 10 team point

leagues. And that's a little harder to justify. But just with the upside and how much he's been playing, I think you have to add him just in case this is real. As good as Pa has his been to this point. It's hard to imagine him having a stretch better than this. He hasn't scored 20 points in a week yet because he hasn't drawn a walk yet. And so that's, I think, part of what's holding back the points leaguers from picking him up. I think I'd go ahead and do it anyway because I imagine there will be some walks at some point if he continues to perform like, hey, he's been hit by three pitches. Who needs to walk? Oh, there you go. And just, you know, the Dodgers lineup does him so many favors.

So I don't know. I was starting Jesse Winker in one of my points leagues, and I was fine dropping Winker for him. Maybe that's too obvious. But yeah, I'd like to pick a Pahas anywhere. He's available, including points leagues. That's interesting. You said he hasn't had a 20-point week yet.

Well, he's averaging 3.7 fantasy points per game, which is pretty awesome mark. Yeah, that is. That has a pretty awesome mark. Let me double check that. Hopefully I didn't make up a stat there. Yeah. So, I mean, I think in three outfielder leagues, like, he's probably going to approach my top 40 outfielders when I update the rankings later this week.

I mean, if he's just fallen short of 20 each week, that could still be a good average point per game because obviously there are some weeks where, okay, sorry, I got that wrong. He scored 25 and a half just this week. I must have been looking at a weird league or something. Okay, my bad. All good. Two other outfielders from this weekend. Jesse Winker had a big game on Sunday. Two for two with his fourth home run.

He added three RBI. And a huge weekend for Brent Rooker, one for three with a home run on Friday. Three for four with a double dung on Saturday. He's now up to eight homers and 20 RBI. Shout out to you, Scotty. I know you had Rooker as a sleeper hitter this past week. 33% rostered.

putting any priority on either of those names for this upcoming week jesse winker or brent rucker well i would definitely prefer winker in a points league because of how much he walks doesn't look like the nationals matchups are very good they only have five games the a's have seven ones a tour on the same day so rooker might not start all seven uh but i think rest of season i prefer winker either way though Rooker will hit more home runs. Okay. Waiver wire hitters, the non-outfield division,

Luis Garcia had himself a huge weekend, came on as a pinch hitter Friday, one-for-one with his first home run. He added three RBI, and then on Sunday, four-for-four with a sock and a shoe. He added four RBI in that game. The problem is that he's not playing every day. He's only started four of the last eight games for the Nationals.

That's Luis Garcia. He's 33-per-Rossered. And then Brett Beatty had himself a big game on Friday, three-for-four, with a double dung, and for RBI. He is betting 269 early on in the season. Chris, both Luis Garcia and Beatty are 33% rostered. Do those numbers need to be higher?

I'll say maybe on Garcia and no on Brett Beatty, who has cut his strikeout rate, and that's about the only thing that he's done well so far this season. Outside of the two homers in this game, that was great. His average eggs velocity is down to like 85 miles per hour. his hard hit rate is like 31%. His expected Wobon contact is really bad.

There's very little to be optimistic about with Brett Beatty right now. His ground ball rate is actually up, which was the opposite of what we wanted him to do. So yeah, I wish I could be more optimistic about Brett Beatty, but he has not shown any reason to be so right now. Well, I wish I could have more enthusiasm for Louis Garcia who I like a lot of what he's doing

but they literally never started against left-handed pitchers. And why not at this point? You're the freaking nationals like he's one of your few good players. He's 23 years old. You want him to learn at some point, right? This is the time when you're not good. Who are they playing over him? Like Ildomaro Vargas

or something like that. I don't even know. Okay. Yes, that's exactly who. goodness. That's exactly who's starting against the lefties. But Luis Garcia started just four games this week. And I'm looking at it now, so I definitely got this one right. He scored 31 points in those four games.

Not all four game stretches are going to be that good, obviously. So that's why it's hard to recommend him as long as this platoon continues. But he might, if he keeps doing this, it'll have to end at some point. And then we may look back and say Luis Garcia was the biggest, break out second baseman. Might be hard to say that with Jordan Westberg, but he'll be up there for sure, Garcia, if that comes to pass.

Because he's hitting the ball hard, and he's making lots of contact, and he's running, and he's doing it pretty much everything well. Could stand to hit more fly balls, but it's doing everything pretty well. All right. Four names in deeper leagues.

Do any of these names matter? Johnny DeLuca made his raise debut this weekend, and he played all three games. One was against a lefty, two were against righties. and he had four RBI, he added two steals, some interesting numbers in the miners as well. Michael Massey quietly hitting well for the Royals

over his last five games. He has eight hits, two homers, four runs, and six RBI. Josh Rojas had two three hit games this weekend, three for four on Friday, three for three with a steel on Sunday. He is batting 360 with a 1029 OPS so far. And, last but not least, the best. Willie Calhoun is inevitable. Three for four with a run scored on Friday.

He added a few more hits on Saturday and Sunday. This should tell you the state of the Angels lineup. He has hit cleanup in all three games that he has played with the Angels. So not great, but any interest here in deeper leagues, Johnny DeLucah, Willie Calhoun, Michael Massey, and Josh Rojas. Yeah, I think DeLuca is pretty interesting. He was one of those guys that when the race traded for him, he was part of the Glass Now trade.

The initial reactions were all like, ooh, that's an interesting one. And then he, what was his injury? in spring. I don't remember. A hand injury or something. But either way, it kind of killed any hype that he might have been able to build. But he's got a 960 OPS with 26 homers and 18 steals and 104 games between AA and AAA.

He's very old for a guy who's only played 104 games to double A and AAA. But yeah, I think it's an interesting skill. set, certainly worth keeping an eye on here. It looks like it was a hand injury for Johnny DeLuca, and that's why he was out. Let's wrap up with some leftovers here. I'll just quickly throw out groups of names from pitchers this weekend that stood out, and if there's anything you want to mention on those names, feel free. But the first group, Brady Singer, Sonny Gray, Dylan Sees, and Pablo Lopez, all had great

starts. Anything to add on any of those names, Lopez, Seas, Sunny Gray, and Brady Singer? I don't. Could I'm sorry, could we talk about Josh Rojas for a second? Yeah. Because you didn't cover him in the previous group of fetters, right? No. So his numbers, somebody asked me, would I rather have Luis Garcia or Josh Rojas, and my knee-jerk reaction was obviously Garcia, why are we even talking about Rojas?

And then I looked at his numbers, and his numbers look very much the same. 360 batting average three home runs, three steals. He's only starting ants righties, just like Garcia is. And a strikeout rate is way down. I'll say that for Josh Rojas. There are some interesting things going on here. But he's also a 29-year-old. We've seen for a while him not amount to anything.

And Luis Garcia is 23. So even though their numbers look similar, there's not much contest, too, I want more in fantasy. I think it's much more likely that Garcia builds off what he's already done than Rojas does. Okay. Chris, do you have anything on these pitchers that I mentioned? Singer, Sunny Gray, Dillen Cis, Pablo Lopez? Singer, it's just like every year there's one or two pitchers that go on a stretch of like seven or eight games in a row where every time we talk about them, I say, no, this guy's not any good. And then they keep pitching well for like seven or eight starts. And it's very frustrating.

And I get hardheaded and double down. And that's what I'm going to do here. I don't see really any reason to think that Brady Singer. is a much improved pitcher. His slider is playing really well. That's still all he has. It feels to me a lot like Ranger Suarez, where he's just executing really well right now. And maybe he keeps that up, but we'll see.

As you mentioned, the slider has been an awesome pitch for Brady Singer so far this season. The next group includes Jared Jones, Kevin Gosman, Logan Gilbert, and Tyler Glassnow. Anything on those four? Gosman got those whiffs up in this start.

happy to see that. Even a lot of his good starts, the whiffs had been down. I think Osman's trying to the right direction is ultimately going to be fine. Jared Jones bounced back from his like one suspect start and looked amazing again.

Yeah, Velocity was back up, so that's a good sign. Logan Gilbert has just been awesome. He's got this cutter that he's using a lot more that I think is helping him play up a little bit. I don't think he'll keep pitching quite as well. he has, but it's been very good to see. And the last group, Terrick Scuba, was great against the Yankees.

Six innings, two runs, 12 strikeouts. Nester Cortez was very good on the other side. Six and a third innings, two runs, nine strikeouts. Logan Webb, it's two rough starts in a row now. Four innings, five runs, four of those were earned. Did have six strikeouts in this one. Changeup just has not been there so far this season. And it's kind of weird because it's his best pitch.

And, yeah, one last mention of, of Alec Manoa. I mean, he returned to the majors on Sunday. He was awful again. Four innings, seven runs, six earned, four walks, two home runs allowed. I think there was like one or two hit batters as well. He had like five strikeouts through two innings, right? And I thought, oh, maybe this is going to work out.

But then it all fell apart for Alec Manoa. Yeah, and I'm a little concerned about Logan Webb. You mentioned the changeup hasn't been there. he has enough of a track record that I'm going to hold out hope he gets it back. Corbyn-Burn Burns, remember, struggled for a good portion at the start of last season. But I'm a little concerned about it for Webb. So, Webb, the thing is it's the velocity, spin, movement profile all looks pretty much identical to last season. So my hunch is that this is just the opposite of the Ranger Suarez effect where he's just not pitching well,

but not in a way that I think will sustain moving forward. I think he will pitch better. And then just Teres Scouble, like, are we sure he's not the SP1? Hey, it was my injury concerns. A young pick. He's the like on a per, on a per inning basis.

Do we agree he's the best pitcher in baseball right now, besides Mason Miller? On a per inning basis? I mean, he was last year. Objectively, it looks that way. I still trust the track record of someone like Zach Wheeler more, but he's absolutely, he's saying on a per inning base. As part of the calculation with Wheeler is he's going to get more innings,

one would assume. He's absolutely, scubble is absolutely a top five starting pitcher right now in fantasy. Oh, yeah. That's not a question. For me, it's, does he, should we just be moving him up to Corbyn Burns and Zach Wheeler and pass those guys?

potentially. There's an argument. Yeah, I mean, Tyler Glass now, I guess you could make the same case. There's a more pronounced injury history for Glass now that holds you back even more. I had a bunch of hitting leftovers, but don't want to run through all of them. I just have to mention Otani what he's done so far this season. One for three with two steals on Friday. Then he homered on both Saturday and Sunday.

In fact, on Sunday, it was four for four with a double dong, and he is now batting 364 with 10 homers. 30 runs, 25 RBI, and 7 steals. I have to add something to. Christopher Morel. Christopher. 38 point week. How many home runs did he hit this week? Three?

That sounds right. It's happening. This is what Morel does. Get them in your lineups. Hopefully you didn't already miss the hot streak. Usually it goes on longer than this, but it's coming. I don't want to make this a long discussion or anything, but if we were redrafting today,

where would you guys take Otani? I mean, round one. I think top five. Maybe, I mean, look, Freddie Freeman hasn't performed like a top five pick yet, but I expect them to. You know, there was something that I saw someone say very early on in the season about Freddie Freeman

passing up fastballs to let Shohei Otani run and like I wasn't I didn't take it seriously but it's something I'm considering looking into we'll say Freddie Freeman's had starts like this before he's I'm not actually worried about him yeah a couple bullpen updates from the weekend for the Brewers on Friday y'all pyeoms pitching the eighth inning with a two run lead facing nine one and two in the Cubs lineup Trevor McGill got the ninth and he struck out one for his second save he's only 18% rostered it's too low I think he's the closer again. The brewers have found a way to make each of the Devin Williams fill-ins the closer at some point or another.

Yeah, the answer was all three. For the Orioles on Friday, Craig Kimberle returned and struck out the side for his eighth save. And then on Saturday, Kimbril got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up one run and was pulled for Yaneer Canoe, who got the final four outs, final two outs, excuse me, for his first save. For the raise on Friday, Jason Adam got the ninth with a three-run lead. He gave up one run but picked up his second save. And then on Saturday, Jason Adam pitched in the eighth inning with the game tied.

He gave up two walks and got out of it. The race took the lead in the bottom of the eighth, and it was Phil Maeton, who closed it out for his first save of the season. For the Tigers on Friday, Jason Foley got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs on four hits. He took his first blown save and first loss. Any concern with Jason Foley? I know Alex Lang has pitched a lot better recently, and Shelby Miller has been good all year.

Any concern with Jason Foley? I made a little. I'm concerned about anyone in closing games for Agent Hitch, and you certainly don't want to give him a reason to start meddling with the bullpen rolls there. Yeah, I agree. For the A's on Friday, it was Lucas Erseg, who got the final four outs for his second save.

Mason Miller pitched back-to-back days on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time this season. My guess is they didn't want to use him for a third time in a four-day span. That seems reasonable, yeah. Does that, yeah, that would line up that way. Yeah, so I think that was the reason for that. For the Twins on Saturday, Yawand-Daron pitching the eighth inning with a two-run lead, facing the heart of the Red Sox lineup. He gave up a single, but Shrckhout 2.

It was Cole Sands, who got the ninth, Shrckout one for his second save. For the Cubs on Saturday, Hector Naris, got a third. the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up a run on a walk and two hits, but picked up his sixth save. He's been a little bit rocky, but he also has been converting saves, so he's the guy for now with the Cubs.

And then for the Phillies on Sunday night baseball, Jose Alvarado, got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up a solo homer, but picked up his seventh save of the season. To stream or not to stream for Monday. I think maybe Tyler Anderson at the Pirates, Sean Mania at the Cardinals. Yeah, I might prefer Mania to Anderson.

And maybe Andrew Heaney at the A's? Hmm. If you have to go with the third, that's probably it. Yeah, I agree with that. On Tuesday, we have Kent and Maida at the Guardians. Logan Allen is up against the Tigers. Patrick Sandoval, at the Pirates, I guess, could work out. Luis Heel versus Houston.

I mean... Yeah, they're just so patient and they're good luck. Yeah, that's the concern. but I think I Oh, I got the best one. I got the best one. I think I like that one. Maybe Emerson Hancock.

Jose Buto. Jose Buto at St. Louis. That's the one. All right. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.