Fantasy Baseball Today - Add Those A's Bats! What's Wrong With These 3 Players? (9/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

Henry Bolte just had a massive game and has a great schedule next week (2:40). ... Who is John Peck (7:07)? ... Jacob Misiorowski is human (14:02)! ... News (21:30): Shohei Ohtani might get shut down as a pitcher. ... Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter continue to smash (26:25). ... Max Clark has been just OK (36:02). ... What happened to these three players (49:24)? ... Did you realize (57:24)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:03:09).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, September 3rd. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White. Today on the show, it is time to add all the A's back.

for next week. They've got six home games on the schedule and only five Rides. Only five Ritees? They have five Ritees. So got a couple A's bats that I am very interested in adding for next week. Jacob Mizzierowski is human after all. His first start with more than three earned runs on the season. The battle for the AL-Sai-Young rolls on. And what happened to these three players? Tune in to find out. Let's jump in. The album would have surprised brains supreme. All right, I'm going to kick us off here, my player of the night, and it's one of Scott's favorites.

Henry Bolte, who had another big game, three for four, two socks and a shoe. One of Scott's least favorite combinations. I think most people would not like to have just two socks in a shoe. Yeah, that sounds like a frustrating afternoon. That is two home runs and a steal here for Henry Bolte, who had four RBI as well, and now over his last 30 games. He's hitting 320 with five homers, 21 runs scored three steals in 885 OPS.

He is hitting the ball very hard during that stretch. 92.2 average EV still way too many ground balls. His launch angle is negative during that span. So it does put a cap on the power ceiling, but still you like to see that he's hitting the ball hard. He's got really good speed. So when he gets on base, he can make things happen. And as I mentioned earlier, the A's have six homes.

games next week where Bolte has been better so far this season. 312 batting average OPS around 800 at home. So I like him. I also like his teammate Zach Gelloff who had another good game here. Two for five with his 15 home run. Hasn't been as good

since returning from the injury. But overall this season, he's got 15 homers, 10 steals. He's cut down the strikeouts. His 162 game pace, 27 homers, 103 runs, 18 steals. So it's been a very good season. for Zach Gelloff, who has second, third, and outfield eligibility,

also has those six home games next week. He's even better at home, a near 900 OPS. And I guess we could throw a couple other names in there. Lawrence Butler, with the five of six, again, being right-handers next week. I think if you're in a deeper league, Jeff McNeil, he's been hot. And again, a lot of right, he's on the schedule. So, Scott, anything you like to add on the A's Bats, in particular, my guy, Henry Bulte. You're doing my work tomorrow for me, putting together the sleeper hitters.

I got you, Scott. It's halfway filled out now. Yeah, I think the home away splits for all these hitters support picking them up and streaming them next week. Unless you're set at the positions they play, no need to mess with a good thing if you have one. But if you're hurting or you're just dissatisfied with the production you're getting in the outfield or, in Zach Gelloff's case, second, third base. Their home splits are very favorable, and they seem to be heating up at the right time.

Bolte is probably the one we need to get into the most because he has been hot the longest. You mentioned last 30 games. That's basically since the start of August, and I'll mention those numbers again. 320 batting average, five home runs, three steals. What's a little weird about it I want to say, okay, Henry Boltie's turned the corner.

He hits the ball very hard. He's always hit the ball very hard. So, like, there's clearly upside there. And, okay, maybe this is him, the stretch since the start of August, is him turning the corner. The strikeout rate hasn't improved during that stretch. It's still over 28%.

The ground ball rate has improved very slightly to 61%, which is still absurdly high. It is. So, like, those are two major. Red Flags in Henry Boltey's profile that suggests to me he hasn't figured it out.

But he's hot. A bunch home games next week. I'm not saying you can't pick him up to stream him. I just think that's still where we're at with Boltie. He's a streamer option rather than somebody who needs to be a fixture in fantasy lineups.

Yeah, he is a tantalizing player. He is a flawed player for the reasons you mentioned. The strikeouts being up the ground balls, but the tools are there. I mean, the speed and obviously hits the ball really hard. Got to work on that launch angle, but I really like a lot of A's bats for next week. So, Bolte, Gelloff, Lawrence Butler, who I will remind you in the second half, is hitting 288 with 7 homers, 4 steals, 869 OPS.

His OPS at home is 829. So definitely like him. And again, a deeper name we mentioned yesterday, Chris and I did, was Jeff Big Neal, who's been hot for a while now. Scott, over to you for your player of the night. Admittedly, a player I did not have on the rundown. Yeah, I want to talk about John Peck, one of the September call-ups for the Tigers, the shortstop prospect.

I want to talk about him in part because when I previously talked about him, I was kind of dismissive. I was trying to look stuff up on him as I was trying to give a take on him and decided that my memory of him wasn't enough to really tout him in fantasy, my memory of what I'd looked up previously. But a lot of that was based on a stint at AAA for John Peck, where he played just six games. So there's exit velocity data because it was at AAA,

but it was only six games worth of data. So I don't think it gave me a great impression of John Peck's upside as a hitter. If you just look at the home run stolen base pace in the minor leagues this year, again, most of that time was spent to double A. It was 11 home runs and 22 steals, but in 70 games. So, you know, double that to get to 140. That's still not all the way to what we usually treat as a full season pace,

and it's 22 homers, 44 steals. But that can be very misleading. The exit velocities go a long way to telling you how real it is. So keep that in mind. John Peck started a second straight game for the Tigers here on Wednesday. He went two for five with a double. That double was hit 109.9 miles per hour. And he also had a lineout that was hit 105.9 miles per hour.

So those two balls, those two batted balls for John Peck. in his second major league game were both hit harder than anything he hit in those six games at AAA. So already my expectations for quality of contact have been proven to be too low on him. Max Clark, the big prospect, Max Clark, who's been up for a while now,

still hasn't hit a ball as hard as the second hardest ball John Peck hit in this second game, 105.9 miles per hour. So he's making quality contact in addition to, like I said, that 22-homer 44 steel pace he was on in the minors. And like I said, started two straight games.

Shortstop. So you think, okay, well, the Tigers have the AL rookie of the leader year frontrunner, Kevin McGonigle, natural shortstop. How would Peck get to start that much? Well, McGonigle started at DH the first of those games. He started at third base, the second of those games. And it's not like the Tigers have a mainstay at third base. Peck is supposed to be a top-of-the-line defender.

So in addition to the hard contact we saw him make, the impressive minor league pace he was on, he is a premier defender at shortstop. There may be something here. I don't know that anybody needs to rush out and add John Peck in fantasy, obviously AOL-only leagues for sure. We still don't know how much he's going to play.

I doubt McGonigle's made his last start. shortstop. But two straight for Peck. He's made a strong impression with this two for five game. And the data actually looks pretty good for him. So I'm very curious to see how September goes. He might be somebody we're talking about as a sleeper for next year. And additionally, with that double that he hit, you mentioned right around 110 mile per hour EV 400 feet, it would have been a home run in seven out of 30 ballparks. It just was not a home run. in Minnesota where they were playing on Wednesday night. So, yeah, that was definitely a ball that was crushed there by John Peck,

who is 1% rostered. I agree with you, AL-only leagues. I said this yesterday about Yohandi Morales. Obviously, Morales needs to be added in NL-only leagues, but I think it's similar for him in Peck. Let's see what they do the rest of the week, this weekend, and if they do anything more or they just continue to play consistently, then I think they're in the mix in deeper mixed leagues.

15 team roto, things like that. I think you might be able to look at names like Johandi Morales and John Peck this weekend. Want to give some shoutouts here. There was a lot of interesting performances here on Wednesday. Alex Breggman, another one. Two for four with his 24th home run for RBI. The home run came off of the Mizz.

How about that? Updated second half numbers. 299, 15 homers, 37 runs, 40 RBI, 986 OPS for Alex Breggman, who entered Wednesday as the fifth best third baseman in Roto, the fourth most total head-to-head points at the third base position. So top five in both league types there, Roto and head-to-head points. It's a huge turnaround and obviously very welcome at the third base position.

And Raphael Devers, another one, just keeps hitting home runs. Two for three, two walks, 32nd home run. He has homered in three straight and has seven home runs in his past 13 games. I didn't look up the numbers, but basically, you know, since the start of May, he's been Raphael Devers. It's like a... Yep. I got numbers for you. Hit me, baby.

Raphael DeV. Now, this is, I think this is important because it's not just how good he's been, but the way he's done it. So I put it since the start of July. I think that is the clear turnaround in one respect. So the top line number since the start of July, 275 batting average. 17 home runs OPS nearing 950. That's basically normal Raphael Devers, right? The biggest change since July 1st is that his strikeout rate has gone from 29.2% very scary to 19.7%.

He's shaved about 10 points off that strikeout rate. And no, sub 20% strikeout rate, that's also classic Raphael. Devers. So, you know, I don't think we were overreacting to a three-month sample there. There was a big jump and strikeout rate all of last year. And if you remove the potential to contribute in batting average from Raphael Devers, he kind of becomes a one-dimensional slugger, which still has value in fantasy, but particularly at a deep position like first base, it doesn't stand out that much. We're definitely seeing a better version of Raphael Devers. since July 1st, which is about two months now.

A couple of shoutouts here. Jacob Mizirowski mentioned that he's human. He gave up five runs over four innings. His first start allowing more than three earned runs all season. He walked for struck out five, 13 whiffs on 92 pitches. He did not have that usual fastball working. The velocity was fine, but it just wasn't as effective. He used that pitch less than this one, and he gave up some hard hits on it,

and couldn't locate it, just a 39% zone rate on the four scene here. Everything else looked pretty good for Jacob Mizirowski. And look, he's allowed to have a bad start again. This is like his one truly bad start of the year. But I do just wonder if the innings will start to catch up a little bit to Mizirowski here down the stretch. Last year, it was 141 in a third total. That was between the minors, the majors, the postseason, and he's now up to 155. So just something to watch here down the stretch.

Yeah, something to watch. It's hard to say just one start like this, one shaky start where the walks kind of got away from him, something we've rarely seen from Mizorowski this year. It's hard to say that's the reason why we've seen very little let up from him with the innings reaching unfamiliar territory like they are. I still wonder at what point the Brewers are going to be like

okay this is our best weapon we're obviously going to the playoffs probably is the number one seed in the NL we got to make sure we can get as much out of this guy then rather than right now and pull back on Mizirowski's usage they've dropped no hints of that yet

so maybe it won't happen but if I was running the Brewers it would happen yeah I think that's fair. And they didn't really limit him here. They still let him throw 92 pitches. He just obviously was not very efficient. That is Jacob Mizirowski.

And I will highlight the battle for the AL-Sai Young rolls on. And both guys were just great once again. Dylan sees at the Guardian, six shutout innings, four hits, zero walks, four strikeouts. He didn't have his dominant whiff stuff, but he threw a lot of strikes. He avoided walks. He avoided hard contact. the as it has in previous starts the velocity starts lower you know in the first inning and then he builds up as the game goes on and even with the velocity being down over the past

like whatever um i think it's like five or six starts he's still been really good i have the numbers over his last 11 dillen sees 136 er a point eight one whip so he has been incredible as has cam schlittler who at the angels eight innings of one run ball nine strikeouts to zero walks and the four seam, seven of the 12 whiffs here. He did give up some hard contact for sure. Eight hard hits, 93.3 average EV. What helped is that he had a 59% ground ball rate. So a lot of those hard hits just right into the ground for Cam Schlittler.

Scott, anything on these two? I still think it's a coin flip. September will decide who wins the AL-Sai-Young. Schlittler pulled ahead just a little bit here. He was already ahead, I think, but it pulled a little further ahead. and he needed a start like this. It's funny that I say Schlittler needed a start like this because looking back, he had a 233 ERA in August.

But three of the six starts, I mean, three of the starts were less than six innings, and he had like a 130 whip. Yeah, the walks have been up. It was three plus walks and three straight and four of his last five. But it was nice to see him bounce back with a truly dominant start.

CES actually had a little, his velocity wasn't down quite as much as it had been in this start, and yet it's a little underwhelming. I mean, it's funny that we could say a start with six scoreless innings and no walks from Dylan Seas was a little disappointing, but we're used to seeing a lot more than four strikeouts, obviously. And now, credit to him that I can be that nitpicky. The updated F-war numbers for both of these guys, it was 5.1 after their last start.

It is now 5.4 for each of Dylan Seas. Cam Schlettler. Interestingly enough, Christopher Sanchez, 5.7 to 5.6 against Jacob Mizirowski. I prefer baseball reference war for starting pitchers for what it's worth. I think that's the position where I most prefer baseball reference war. Catcher is the position where I definitely prefer Fangraphs War, and then all the other positions, I don't have a strong preference. I'd just like to cite Fangraphs while we're doing the show, F-War, because you could actually get a live update on, including today's stats, like all season stats, including today, and they update the war as well. So you can see that like in real time. So it's just easier to cite

that. But yeah, I get it. It's close between these two. Schlitler versus Dylan C's for the AL-Sai-Young. Big thanks to everyone being here, watching live. We appreciate that. Make sure you hit the like button and stay subscribed. If you're not subscribed for some reason, you know, we still, we're going every weeknight for the rest of September. And then, you know, we'll be here in the rest of time. Until, no, don't tell people that. Then we have a lot more work to do in the office.

All right, let's take a break, and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. Dave Roberts said the Dodgers have not yet decided whether to shut down Otani as a pitcher for the rest of this season. And interestingly enough, we did get a text from Chris Tower. right as we were starting.

And he said, Shohay looks worse than I have seen him in the box today than I've ever seen him in the box today. So that's one man's opinion. But yeah,

there is a chance that, you know, that knee is starting to leak into other parts of Shohay Otani's production as well. And you looked it up beforehand, Scott, like he's,

like last 11 games has really kind of fallen off here. Yeah, 150 batting averages last 11. but was very hot before then. Yeah, it's like still a great season overall. And I think clearly PCA has pulled ahead for the NLMVP.

And I wouldn't, you know, put a pass off Tani getting hot and still finishing super strong. But yeah, it looks just a little bit off lately. Garrett Croucher. Strike out four times. Geez, tonight. Did you mention that? I did not.

But I saw he also had a stolen base. So I don't know. Take a strike out four times. It's going to look pretty bad. Yeah. Garrett Crochet will likely throw a bullpen on Friday. he is still trying to return as a reliever this season. Andy Pahez is scheduled to begin swinging a bat

within the next couple days. He suffered a fractured hand on August 22nd and underwent surgery to insert a compression screw shortly after. And the purpose of that is to try and get him back on the field sooner rather than later. Saddam Rafael left early due to quad tightness. He actually has been pretty hot hitter

over the past couple of months as well. So hopefully all is well with Sadan Rafael Adley Rutchman has missed three straight with that hyper extended elbow. J.J. Weatherholt was given a cortisone injection Tuesday to help the tendonitis in his right wrist. Not sure if we'll see J.J. Weatherholt once again, but we'll see. Josh Baez was out of the lineup. He was hit by a pitch on Tuesday, though he stayed in the game.

And he has now sat out three of the past seven games, as in not started. He did come on as a pinch hitter and actually made an impact. in this game on Wednesday night, but I don't know, the fact that he's, you know, sat out the three of the past seven, Sky. You don't love that for Josh Baez's playing time. No, you don't. I think he's less than must start

even in five outfielder leagues. All right, moving on. George Lombard Jr. has missed four straight with right knee inflammation. Kate Bert Ruiz left early after taking a foul tip off the mask. He passed concussion protocol. If for some reason he lands on the IL, that would open up more playing time here for Harry Ford, who... Does he deserve it?

I'm not exactly sure. I would still like to see what he could do with everyday playing time, but was having a pretty terrible season in the minors. He's, you know, hit a couple homers, swiped a couple bags since getting called up, but just not really playing enough to make an impact for fantasy. The Padres are pausing Joe Musgrove's rehab assignment because he's having issues recovering between. starts. He is 46% rostered and Scott, we're running out of time here for Joe Musgrove.

Yeah, we are. I think it, depending how I think he's more stashable than a lot of pitchers on the I.L. right now. But, you know, this probably changes that.

I think Deep definitely puts Nick Povetta out of him, for instance. Eric Lauer. was placed on the aisle with left elbow inflammation. Michael Soroka and Zach Allen will throw a simulated game on Friday. Pedro Ramirez has missed all three, has missed three straight, excuse me, with back spasms. And Jonah Tong is likely to make a start for the Mets next week. He has had a rough year at AAA.

He has pitched better as of late. His last seven starts at AAA, a two ERA, 108 whip, 10.5K per nine, also 4.3 walks per nine. 18% rostered. Scott, do you have any deep league interest in Jonah Tong? A really deep league. I'd probably pick up ahead of the start. I'm thinking like in L only. Yeah.

Otherwise, I'd wait and see. His most recent start was clearly his best of the season. Seven, one-hitting struck out eight with, let's see, 12 swinging strikes on 88 pitches. That isn't, it's not bad, obviously. It's not amazing. I don't know. I'm still, I'm still pretty bearish on Jonah Tong. And that's the bad one. Barish.

Yeah. If Chris is listening to the podcast right now, that just helped him out. So it's good. Let's talk some waiver wire pitchers from Wednesday's action and the two league winners, the two clear names that we think could be league winners down the stretch. They flashed that once again. Jacob Lopez, quality start at the Rangers, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts to two walks. He had 17 whiffs on 102 pitches. That slider was humming. It was awesome. Nine of his 17 whiffs.

And last seven starts now, 245 ERA 112 whip. He has a 14.7% swinging strike rate during that spin. And Andrew Painter was awesome at the D-backed 7 shutout, 2 hits, zero walks, six strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 93 pitches.

The fastball velocity was not up. And it had one more inch of induced vertical break. I know that's something we've been following closely in his recent starts, but he was still really good. And in his seven starts since returning from the IL, it's a 312 ERA.89 whip right around a strikeout per inning and a 13% swinging strike rate.

Scott, both these guys are pitching well, and it looks like both of them line up for two starts next week. That is Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter. Yeah, I really don't know what else to say about Jacob Lopez. We've been beating the drum for him for a, while now and his roster rate is it's moved a little i guess it's changed about 20 percentage points in the last week or so but still a long way to go he's closer to must start i would say than uh than than than than than being waiver fodder especially with two starts coming up i mean

i'm going to start him in every league where i have them which is plenty by the way Andrew Painter He's probably must roster at this point too and definitely somebody are going to look to start with the two starts coming up. I don't know that the fastball is going to get back to being a dominant pitch.

He did have that one start a couple turns ago where the induced vertical break was up and he got a lot of whiffs with it. A couple starts later, it's looking like an isolated incident. But even so, this changeup he's introduced since returning from the minors

has obviously transformed him into being a quality pitcher. Like he may not be the Andrew Painter we were promised three years ago, but he's good. And somebody who I wouldn't hesitate to use in any format right now.

All right. I do. I wrote down a bunch of names here that are rostered in more leagues than both Andrew Painter and Jacob Lopez. I would drop each of them for both names. So Kyle Leahy, he's still being limited. Will Warren, good start last time out, but he hasn't been very good for a long time. Joey Cantillo just had another terrible start. Bryce Elder, Peter Lambert, Casey Mize, he is not good since joining the Padres. And then Framber Valdez, who it just kind of feels like it's been a loss season for him.

And unfortunately, Chase Burns, who we know is being limited the rest of the way. Would you dispute any of those names? Not even a little. All right. Can I interest you in any of these projected two-star pitchers for next week? Landen Root. He's back from the dead at the Pirates, five innings, one run, four strikeouts. And I know we've told people to cut him in previous weeks, and I stand by that.

But he did change his pitch mix in this one. He threw a lot more cutters, 40% usage. That was just 13% entering. So he made a clear change. it was a solid start. He looks like he's projected for the Cardinals and the Padres next week. Hayden Wesneseke threw seven shutout innings with five strikeouts. And over his last three starts, 17 innings of one-run ball, 15 strikeouts to seven walks at the Phillies at the raise next week. And Davis Martin, he's also back from the dead. He's back from the IL. He was at the Astros,

five and two-thirds shutout, three strikeouts to one walk. And he also changed up the pitch, a little bit here. His last 13 starts before going on the aisle. We're terrible. It was the ERA over 7. He has the Pirates and the Cardinals next week. So, Scott, can I interest you in any of these projected two-star pitchers for next week? Definitely not Davis Martin.

One decent start after months of terrible starts is not enough to regain my trust. I'm probably most interested in Hayden West Nesky. The matchups are worse than Roops. But he has looked really good since returning. Really good's probably an overstatement. He's a 318 ERA 106 whip. The sweeper has been a special pitch. He had a good start against the Yankees last time out,

even though the sweeper didn't play that well. It got the majority, or at least the plurality of his whiffs here in this latest start. And he's RP eligible. So he'll definitely be on my sleeper pitchers list for this upcoming week. And Rup, there's a good chance he is, too, it'll just be pretty low in the range where I'd probably only recommend it for points leagues because there's so much whip risk here.

I don't know that emphasizing the cutter like he did today is really going to be a game changer for him, but it's nice to see him trying different things after a pretty bumpy stretch there where I recommended him a lot. It's funny, like I finally gave up on the idea of Land and Root being useful right as he's made his last two starts,

which were both pretty good. But even so, I think, I don't think the upside in this upcoming two-star week is enough to justify the downside in any leagues where you're protecting ratios. All right, got three other names to ask you about here. Are we holding on to Griffin Jacks, who got destroyed in his return against the Mets,

two and two-thirds, six runs aloud. The velocity downed a little bit here. nine hard hits, 92.9 average EV. But in his 11 starts before going on the IL, 297 ERA 10.6 whip, 10.6K per 9. He is a spark for those who play in points leagues. He's at the Braves next week. So I don't love the matchup,

but he was pitching very well. Scott, what do we do here with Griffin Jacks? You might have to make a decision whether or not to, if he's off to IL, you either have to keep him on your bench now or you have to decide to drop him. I think it'd have to be a pretty shallow league to think about dropping him.

I don't want to use them against the Braves in most cases. I think we need to see a good start from him to trusties all the way back. But he was verging on must start, I would say, before he went on the IL. And the velocity was down a little, as you said, but percentages of a mile per hour on most of his pitches, the sweeper was a little more. Not the sort that would really raise alarm for me. Not the kind of velocity drop that were raise alarm for.

me. So let's give Griffin Jacks a little more time unless, again, it's a shallow league scenario where you just have no other way to create an opening that you need to fill out your lineup. Is there anything here with Drew Anderson of the Tigers? He had a near quality start at the Twins. And it was five and two-thirds innings, two runs. One of those earned five strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 90 pitches. You know, you dig into the individual pitches. that he throws, his three most thrown pitches, four seam change up and curve. They all look pretty good to me.

He gets a good amount of ground balls, nearly 10K per nine. The walks are an issue. But I don't know. I'm like mildly intrigued by a very deep league, Drew Anderson, Scott. What do you think about him? Yeah, I'm intrigued.

I don't think he's that usable yet. It's more kind of like with John Peck, it's more like, I can see this guy being a sleeper next year if, if he continues on the path he's on right now. The outings have been short for Drew Anderson, and I want to say that some of the base runners have been high times.

But this is pretty solid start. I like that he gets ground balls at a good rate, pretty good whiff rate. Obviously, still making that transition to a starting role and proving that's something he can last in. But I, as of right now, Now, you know, maybe he goes six and two-thirds innings next time and becomes an obvious streamer candidate at that point. But as of right now, I don't see Drew Anderson being usable for the rest of this season.

What do you think about dropping Casey Mines, who had a not-so-great start here at the Reds? Four runs over four innings. Two homers loud. His six starts with the Padres. It's a 667 IRA 152 whip. He has one start against the nationals. next week, he's still 87% rostered. Are we

dropping Casey Mize? Yeah, I think that's fair. Even when he was going well, there was a certain fakeness to it, a certain phoniness. I mostly went along with it because

it was borderline and because a lot of name value there, Casey Mize. But it's not terribly surprising to see him fall off like he has. All right, let's move over to the waiver wire hitters. And Max Clark went three for four with three doubles, two walks, a run, and an RBI.

And he's played 30 games so far. He's been okay, 257 batting average. Two homers, seven doubles, three triples. Only one steals, 76. OPS. Oddly enough, he's crushing lefties in a small sample, but he's been very bad against right-handed pitching. Still hasn't hit a ball as hard as the two hardest.

John Peck hit today. Yeah. I think he's a very good prospect. I think long term, I see how he could be useful for fantasy. I kind of feel 61% roster might be a little too high for Max Clark right now. Yep. I agree.

All right, moving on to Ty France. He went two for three with a walk and his 20th home run and his updated second half numbers, 323, nine homers, 942 OPS, 51% roster. I don't know how many other times we can tell people, Scott, but Ty France is still under-rastered.

Drop Max Clark, pick up Thai France. I understand they don't play the same position in first base is among the deepest. Well, it's definitely the deepest. But even so, as a general rule, I would think most people could drop Max Clark for Thai France. We threw a couple of names out there the other day in shallower leagues,

like a Josh Naler or Christian Walker, who really haven't. Well, Walker was good early on. He's really falling off. Josh Nailer, I mean, his hitting for no power. If I play in a shallow head-to-head style lineup, I can see dropping either of those for tie friends. I could too.

All right, moving on here. We got a couple Marlins' bats. Herberto Hernandez is looking good. Two-for-four with two doubles and two RBI. Last 19 games, he's hitting 265, six homers, 16 RBI, two steals. Opie over 950 during that stretch. with a 23% barrel rate.

That is incredible stuff for Hernandez. 40% rostered. He's got six home games next week. Two lefties on the schedule. We like lefties for him. He crushes lefties. And Javier Sandoja is doing some things here. Three for five with a seventh homer.

He has started 11 straight and 15 of 16. Last 30 games, 3.46. Four homers, three seals, 9.11 OPS. 38% rostered, second, third, shortstop, and outfield eligible. Scott, do you think the numbers need to be? to be higher for either of these two. Herberto Hernandez at 40%, Javier Sanoha at 38%.

It's funny that you bring up Sanoha. My kids were just talking about him earlier today. They're in their first fantasy baseball league with some friends. Nice. Florida. It's a very poorly run, but you know, I'll give some grace to

11-year-olds. I still don't understand exactly how because they're not doing it on a website. So who's actually, how is the scoring done? Can they change their lineups? They act like they can change their lineups. But like, is somebody keeping, I don't know, I don't know, it may all implode on them. But anywho, someone in their league is a big Marlins fan and

acts like Javier Seno is the best player of all time. So it's interesting to see that he's been so productive. I actually wasn't aware of that. But I will take a look here and see. see if there is anything under the hood that would lead me to believe. A very low strikeout rate. Very low exit velocities. Pretty high pole air rate.

And good sprint speed. So, you know, the steals are probably legitimate. The power is questionable, to be sure. But, like, I could see him hitting for average with an 8.2% strikeout rate. Like, yeah, it seems like Javier Sanoha. in a deep enough league could be a handy utility option for you. I could see that. Where would you put Herberto Hernandez among the young outfielder's

that we've talked about recently? I'll mention another one here. Hector Rodriguez hit his fifth home run. Last 11 games, 341 batting average five homers. So Herberto Hernandez versus Hector Rodriguez, Lazzaro Montez, Spencer Jones, I'll put in that category as well, who's been very good over the past month. All right, say them again, Hernandez.

Herberto Hernandez versus Hector Rodriguez, Spencer Jones, Lazaro Monsas. Ooh, that is a group where I am still, I still feel like I'm waiting to see. Probably Herberto Hernandez, now that he's heating up again, has to go at the top just because the playing time's most secure. I'm inclined to go Spencer Jones next

since he's providing both power and speed. And I think I'd take Montes over Hector Rodriguez, but there's definite talent there for Rodriguez. He hits some balls very hard. I'm going to see how hard that home run was he hit today. Not among his hardest. It was only 94.6. So not a good example of admitting the ball,

but hey, it went out at the yard. Yeah. He did have two other hard hits in that game. A fly out at 95.7 and a ground out at 102 miles per hour. The ground ball rate has been too high for Hector Rodriguez, but he does have some juice in that bad for sure. He is interesting. Scott, before we started, you said you wanted to talk about Mickey Gasper.

Now is your chance to talk about Mickey Gasper. Yeah, so Mickey Gasper is another one that I think I may have sold short. he is playing every day for the Red Sox now with Wilson Contreras on the IL. Catcher eligible, but he's playing first base now. Has started 12 of 16 games, and that was even, I think he got sent to the minors during that stretch before the Wilson Contreras injury.

So here on Wednesday, Mickey Gasper went two for five with a double. During that 16 game stretch where he started 12, 395 batting average 8 home runs 11 walks to 4 strikeouts and that's something you see in his minor league numbers too

the incredible plate like Kevin Eucalus Greek god of walks kind of plate discipline he was slashing 337 455 66 in the minors 30 years old but one of those 30 years old that's always been kind of 30 year old

or, yeah, 30-year-olds that's always been kind of interesting in the minors and just hasn't gotten a good enough look in the majors. Also, average exit velocity about 91 miles per hour during this stretch. So he hits the ball hard enough. Great play to blend, like I said,

catcher eligible. I think Mickey Gasper is somebody who certainly needs to be rostered in two catcher leagues right now. and I'm kind of hoping he has a future beyond this year. And like a Christian Walker sort of way. He was a guy who similar situation just stalled out in the miners for years, even though he kept producing there because right-handed hitting first basement

is just hard to create an opening for that guy. I imagine Gasper, he can play catcher, but nothing special there. He's just kind of stalled out in the same way. But I think he's a pretty good hitter. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see for next year. Obviously, Adley Ruchman will be with the Red Sox. And I believe Wilson Contreras is still under contract as well.

So it would have to be some kind of, I don't know, DH situation, you know, play backup catcher here and there. Yeah, let's see. Wilson Contreras signed through 2027 with a club. option for 2028. So they're almost certainly going to pick that up. Yeah, I mean, or he could

get traded this off season or he could get DFAed just because he's a, this isn't his first stop, right? I think he was with the twins before. Or am I thinking of somebody else? He is a journeyman type, so he's probably been around, yeah, he played with the twins actually last year, 45 games.

So it's not beyond being DFAed and being picked up by someone else. Former Yankee farmhand, I had no idea about Mickey Gaffa. Scott, how would you rank these deeper two catcher league names? Gasper, Ethan Salas, who was recently called up by the Padres, and then two names here from Wednesday. Sean Murphy hit his third home run.

His third home run in the last seven games, he's starting to play more as well. And then Leo Bernal of the Cardinals, he hit his first career home run. He hit it off of Yamamoto. He has started both games for the Cardinals since getting called up, and they sent down Jimmy Crooks. So I think Bernal is going to get a chance to play a good amount here as well.

So how would you rank Bernal, Murphy, Gasper, Ethan Salas in two casual leagues? Ali Marmels actually said that Leo Bernal is going to play a lot. He's a good defender behind the plate. So they're kind of like the Padres in that they have a catcher who is definitely bat first and Yvonne Herrera and one who is definitely glove first and Pedro Pahas. And Leo Bernal might straddle those two sides of the fence best.

I think he's a legit prospect. And, you know, this started two in a row, one at DH. So clearly the Cardinals like his bat. I'm going to put Gasper ahead of him right now just because he's so hot, but Bernal would be second. And Salas, who was the fourth? There was a fourth, right? Sean Murphy.

Sean Murphy. Yeah, I'll put Sean Murphy ahead of Salas. It does, I don't get the impression. I know when we were talking about him getting called up, I said, I imagined him playing like 60% of the time. He did start here Wednesday, oh for four, two strikeouts. But the Padres are presenting it more like he's here to kind of an apprenticeship role, get his feet wet, left-handed pinch hitter, occasionally start a catcher. So clearly, Salas has the most upside of this group, but he's probably the least usable right now.

Murphy's playing a lot, by the way. I'm not down on Sean Murphy. He seems to be locked in at the plate right now. has long had offensive potential. I understand why we've all given up on it, but there have been a lot of injuries along the way, and he's getting a lot of playing time now and delivering on it. So I think between Gasper Bernal and Sean Murphy,

there are some intriguing catcher options emerging, even for two catcher leagues. One other very deep name. He is not a catcher, but he's had three good games in a row. That is Thomas C.J.C. of the Cardinals, two for four with his fourth home run, and over his last three,

games, seven hits, three homers, six runs, six RBI. Still only 24 years old. He was okay in the minors this year. He's a name that, you know, has popped up at previous, you know, times in the past. Got one percent rostered, second third, shortstop outfield eligible. Any very deep league interest in Thomas Sejacy? No. Wasn't even that good at AAA.

All right. Let's take our final break. When we returned, what happened to these three players? Yuri Perez, Brian Reynolds. Ben Rice. We'll talk about it right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy at Baseball today. What happened to these three players? And up first, we have Yuri Perez who got bombed at the Royals.

Four and two-thirds innings, six runs allowed, three walks, three strikeouts, three homers allowed in this one. The velocity down between like one and two miles per hour on his pitches here. And over his last two starts, 11 earned runs, seven and seven and three. two-thirds innings, eight strikeouts to seven walks, four homers allowed. Scott, what's going on with Yuri Perez? I don't really know. Obviously, walks have become an issue of late, most visible in his last two starts,

but last four starts is really where we've seen the walks climb again. 15 of them and 18 and two-thirds innings. It's a lot. He seemed to overcome that. mid-season by throwing a lot more sinkers. Thing is, he's still done that. These last couple starts, 23% sinker using this

one 31% last time. So that one weird trick doesn't seem to be working anymore, and that's concerning, because I don't know how Yuri Perez fixes it now. I mean, I didn't know how he did last time.

I trusted he eventually would, and he did, but eventually is difficult to work with right now because they're all three lineup blocks left. And next week, he is in line for two starts against the Mets and the Dodgers. So that's interesting timing. Look, the Mets on the season, they're 28th in Wobah against right-handed pitching, but for long periods, they didn't have their full lineup.

Now Soto's healthy. Lindor is healthy. They're in there together. And they are hitting better in the second half. And then obviously you have the Dodgers as well. So it is a tough decision here. for Yuri Perez next week. Yeah.

It is. I'd have a hard time doing it outside of points leagues. It's obviously not that strict of a line right now. I don't know about you, but I'm very much paying attention in my roto leagues right now

to what categories I need the most help in and taking bigger risks on unstable pitchers if I'm chasing wins and strikeouts. So in that, that scenario, you're chasing wins and strikeouts, maybe you start Yuri Perez even in a roto league. But it wouldn't be my general recommendation. Yeah. I do wonder if the, uh, the innings are starting to add up here for Yuri Perez. He's up to 139 this season and last year he threw

118 and obviously has dealt with injuries before that too. So just wonder about like potentially just wearing down as the season goes on here for Yuri Perez. And I realize now that I labeled the segment what happened to these three when I have had. a sound drop for this exact thing. Why didn't I just asked what's going on? It was right there Scott. What about Brian Reynolds? What is going on with him? 43 games in the second half. He is hitting 222, still has seven homers, two steals in that treach, a 604 OPS. Obviously he was having a monster first half, Scott, but what's going on with Brian Reynolds? Yeah, it's been it's been rough.

I haven't looked under the hood at it yet so you're catching me by surprise with this one but I would imagine a lot of his success has been fueled by him having such a high walk rate I know in points leagues especially Brian Reynolds was looking dominant earlier this year

but in the second half you know it would be hard to say anything he's doing his dominance So his eggs of velocity for the second half is, did I not put it in right? I don't think I put it in right. I have it. It's 90.3 average EV with a 12% barrel rate. Seems unlucky.

He has 14 barrels, but he only has, now he has seven home runs, so that's not true. But the expected stats are actually still pretty bad during that stretch. So the strikeout rate has blown up in the second half. Yeah, near 30%. Yeah, that's too high for Brian Reynolds. So that's a big part of it. And does he pulling the ball in the air as much?

Those are the main things I look at when a player is falling short. And the answer would be that he is... It's about the same. I think it's mostly just strikeouts. But he is hitting the ball about as hard. Same pull air rate. he probably overachieved in the first half. It was a better Brian Reynolds.

So we're used to seeing obviously better than last year. And now he's probably underachieving, regressing to the mean. Yeah, I mostly lean that way too. I mean, if you look at his season long numbers now, 263 batting average, still at 369 on base, 15 homers, 94 runs, nine steals, 789 OPS. It's basically where Brian Reynolds should be. So, yeah, I think it's mostly just pretty expected regression here for Brian Reynolds.

What about Ben Rice? We haven't really talked much about him. Two for five with the RBI here. But my leading suspicion, and I wish Chris was on to hear this, but the home run derby got yet another victim. And his name is Ben Rice. I don't actually believe that. Second half, 194 with a 641 OPS, 29% K-rate. That is a big number for Ben Rice.

But this actually goes back further. If you look, since Aaron Judge went on the IL on June 5th, Ben Rice is hitting 217. Still has 18 homers, but 747 OPS. So it could just be, look, Ben Rice had a crazy hot, unsustainable start, and he was always going to regress. Or, you know, perhaps losing the best hitter in baseball, just kind of affected lineup protection and things like that.

So what do you think about the fall of Ben, Yeah, I mean, your theories are as good as anything I could come up with. The strikeout rate has jumped in the second half. Same with Brian Reynolds. But everything else looks pretty much the same. And it's not like he came out of the blue this year. I mean, we had expectations for Ben Rice based on what he'd done previously in the majors, based on what he did in the minors.

I don't think he is just a product of Aaron Judge. but you lose, you become more of the focal point of a lineup. Pitchers pitch you differently, and that may be what's going on with him. I still think the fact he's catcher eligible. It's kind of a who cares? I mean, obviously, I want him to perform well. He hasn't been performing that well recently, but what am I going to do about it? Like, he's far and away the best option at catcher.

Yeah. So I think we'll see Ben Rice bounce back at some point. And I want him in my lineup when we do. Yeah, definitely still throwing him out there as a catcher. I guess it's more interesting for a next year discussion when he's first. He's only first base eligible. And now we have to factor in, you know, this second half downfall. But if Aaron Judge gets healthy for the rest of the season,

and he's healthy going into next season, that doesn't mean he's going to remain healthy, unfortunately. But I think a judge being in the lineup with Ben Rice obviously would kind of change the expectation for Ben Rice. Did you realize? I have four interesting stats here. Vlad Jr. had a huge game in Cleveland, three for four with his eighth home run, five RBI.

The season is lost for Vlad. It's, hey, just finish strong, give us some confidence going into next year. But how about this? He is in 098. ISO. That is tied for ninth lowest among qualified hitters with Nico Horner, and it's worse than Jeff McNeill, Ernie Clement, Andrus Jimenez, and Louisa Rice. Pretty bad. Want to talk about interesting ranks for next season, Vlad Jr.

Yeah. It's the whole draft board feels like it's upside down. We've talked about how disappointing most of the first and second rounders are. but there have been a lot of injuries to them. A lot of them have extensive track records. A lot of them are still in their prime. And it's going to be difficult to parse out who belongs where because of that. And I think in a way that might be kind of refreshing,

I probably at some point group think we'll take over just because everybody's too online, particularly in an industry like this, which is conducted entirely online. So probably group think we'll set in at some point. But I feel like we should see less unanimity in the early rounds next year than we've seen in many, many years because there are so many, like,

what do you do with Ronald O'Cone? What do you do with? And an opinion should vary widely on players like that. Yeah. So it'll be interesting to sort out who gets, who among the disappointing early rounders this gear gets preferential treatment and who doesn't. Yeah.

One player who I think everybody will like in the early rounds next season, probably just the first round, that is Jack Centurio, who had a big game, four for six with a double and its 21st homer. Last seven games, four 24, four homers, two steals. Last 30 games, 325, eight homers, five steals. 963 LPS. Did you realize

Jackson Trio's full season pace 32 homers, 114 runs, 23 steals. He is ascending to superstardom before our eyes got Jackson Trio. Yep, I think he is somebody

who there's going to be a lot of unanimity with him. Probably a late first rounder. Yeah. At least in categories leagues. Points leagues, he might still he might still suffer from a lack of walks. Carter Jensen, two for four with a walk and a double dung.

He is picking things back up. Last 11 games, he's hitting 282 with five home runs and a steel. And we spoke about him recently. I think perhaps we were a little bit too harsh on Carter Jensen because did you realize that entering Wednesday, he was a top 10 catcher in both Roto and head-ed points? I didn't realize that. So 10th in Roto and 9th and.

total headset points. Well, he's played a lot. I think, I actually, somebody tweeted me about this over the weekend and at the time Carter Jensen was tied for the third most games played at catcher. So, obviously, it's a position with a high attrition rate.

We've seen a lot of injuries there, particularly in the second half. I don't know that there's been any point this season where Carter Jensen has been one of the ten catchers most worth starting in fantasy, but he has come out to being the 10th best overall just because he's always been plunding. Yeah, and I don't really see how that would change for next year.

I mean, it seems like they like him, and obviously Salvador Perez will be one year older. I guess they do kind of have a logjam of like catcher DH first base types with Caglione and Vinnie Pasquantino, perhaps the trade. It is kind of in the mix here. But I still think Carter Jensen will play a lot heading into next year as well. And Ezekiel Duran, he is having a great season, three for four with his 16. home run. Did you realize since the start of July, he's hitting 288 with 10 homers,

four steals, and an OPS over 850? Did you realize that, Scott? Ezekiel Duran. He's really good. Somebody points out in the chat and I wholly agree that you need a flaming lips drop for this segment. Do you realize? Instead of

did you realize, but you know, close enough. You can change the verb tense for the sake of the sound drop. I feel like Chris has said that same exact thing about that same exact song. Chris is Chris, Chris knows a lot about

a lot of things. He knows more than me about music. That's for sure. So if he agrees, both of us combined about music. Yeah. I'm willing to throw that one out there. But I do like that song.

Let's see. Who'd you ask me about? Ezekiel Duran. He's been great. You can start him anywhere. I think, I don't think. it would be a bad idea to do that.

Curious to see what he looks like in head-to-head points leagues. So the season average 2.6, that's not amazing. It's not that different from like Brooks Lee or it's about the same as Manny Machado, frankly, this year. It's bad as Machado's been. And I would imagine it's a lot higher than that

during the stretch you're talking about. Yeah, Duran's a handy player. some pitching leftovers here and two big performances probably should have got to them earlier that's my bad Trevor Rogers a big bounce back in chorus field

six and two thirds two runs loud 11 strikeouts to zero walks he is 74% started looks like he gets two against the Guardians and the Blue Jays next week you are definitely using Trevor Rogers and Reid Detmers went toe to toe

with Cam Schlittler seven innings of one run ball eight strikeouts to zero walks 17 whiffs on 99 pitches. Scott, I know you often cite the, you know,

Reed Detmer's over his last, I don't know, 15 starts or whatever it is. But over his last five in particular, he has a sub one ERA and a sub one whip. Yeah. 32 strikeouts to five walks

over 33 innings. Anything to add. And all of them at least six innings. So he has been, last five starts, he's been about as good as anybody. I'll update for you with the last 18 for Reed Detmer's. 18.

261 ERA.9.9.9.10.2K per 9. This is the breakout we've been waiting for. It's happening right before our eyes. It's gone largely unnoticed, I think in part because he has, did he just get his fifth win today, or did he even win? He did not win. He did not win. So he still, Redemmer still just has four wins on the year.

I think he has the second lowest run support in all baseball. I don't know how anyone could have worse than him, but. Yeah. Things are changing in Anaheim. And maybe one of the things that changes is the uniform redembers will be wearing. Or maybe, you know, things will change around him enough that he's in a better situation next year. We'll see. If this is actually true, I just randomly Googled this and it's on a website called screwball.com. But starting pitcher run support, this. season. There are actually five pitchers who get less run support than Reed Debers. Tanner Bybee, Shane Boz, Michael Waka, Michael King

and Cam Schlittler. Do you have anything on Trevor Rogers? He was awesome. He was awesome. Good bounce back after a rare bad start, so I think you could feel confident. This was at Coorsfield, so it could be like, oh, he threw a lot of fastballs, got a lot of whiffs. You know, you can't

really get into the whole pitch selection and pitch shape stuff at a course field start. I just take it as, yeah, this is a sign you should continue to start Trevor Rogers. A couple hitting leftovers here. Ronald de Cunia had a huge game, three for five with a sock, a shoe, and three RBI, and six games since he got that mental rest day. He has 10 hits, one homer and two steals. Roman Anthony, three for five with his first home run since coming off to IL. He has multiple hits in all four games since coming back. And

Juan Soto, two for five, with his 23rd home. run. I did his pace stats as well. 41 homers, 100 RBI, 12 steals. So, steals way down this year for Soto, but I think we were mostly expecting that. Scott, what do you have on these three? And what are you laughing about? Share with the class. I'm laughing just because I had more time than usual to pour over the box scores and spend a lot of time looking up the sort of things. I would always like to look up, but don't always have the time to. And so almost every interesting nugget I came up with you have in the notes already.

So that's, it was a good, good use of time for me. Yeah, I think Ronald de Cunia, I'm hopeful he's back. My suspicion all along with him was that he just wasn't right mechanically. having to overcome injury, a lot of times bad habits set in, and you've got to break the bad habits. And hopefully that rest day, put him back on a good path, he's been looking more like himself since returning. Roman Anthony looks great.

Kind of funny that it was only his second home run overall. Yeah. But I think you can treat him as a must start going forward. But the four straight multi-hit games, Juan Soto, of course, you can treat him as a must start going forward. The call to the bullpen for the Orioles. Andrew Kittridge got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up a run on two hits.

He took his fifth blown save and the Orioles would lose in extras. For the debacks, Juan Murillo got the ninth with a one-run lead. He walked one, he struck out two for his third save. He has the last two saves for the debacks. Brandon Garcia pitched in the seventh inning of this game. And Murillo's numbers are actually very good. He is 8% rostered. And I think in deeper leagues where you,

you are looking for saves. I think Juan Murillo is an ad. What do you think? I think so too. I think he's got to be the frontrunner at this point after consecutive saves. Three of his last four appearances have been to finish out a game. You didn't have that in the notes. There's a nugget for you.

And Brandon Garcia, he's the only lefty that the Diamondbacks have. They really can't confine him to the ninth. So I think right now, Juan Murillo, got to treat him as the frontrunner. and he's been great this year. I don't think it's a bad choice. For the Giants, Dylan Smith, got the 10th inning with a two-run lead. He allowed the Manfred Man in on a hit,

but he struck out two for his fourth save. He is 6% rostered. He's been a little shaky, but it looks like he is most times going to be the guy for the Giants. For the Marlins, Calvin Foshae, got the ninth inning with the three-run lead. He picked up his third save. On Tuesday night, he worked the sixth inning,

and I proceeded to tell everyone that the Marlins do not have a closer and they never will ever again. And then Calvin Fosha got a save on the very next day. So, LOL me. So this is, so Calvin, was this two straight saves for Foshae? Is that what you're saying? No, no, no. He pitched the sixth inning on Tuesday with a three-run lead.

And I was like, oh, well, I guess they just will never have a closer again with Pete Fairbanks hurt. And then the very next day, Calvin Foshae got to say. Oh, confirming what you said. No, L-O-L about how right you were, not how wrong you were. No, I think I was wrong. because the very next day Calvin Fosha got a save and I just assumed like he would...

A day after work in the sixth inning? Yeah. Well, that doesn't... That would not suggest he's the closer then. So I still don't feel like they have a closer. Yeah, you're probably right. I'm right about how right you are. We're all right, Scott.

We are all right. Let's talk about the Astros, Josh Hayter, clean ninth inning for his 22nd save and then in the Dodgers and Cardinals game. Tanner Scott got the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a run to blow the game. He took his third blown save in the eighth inning. And then the Cardinals took the lead,

and Riley O'Brien picked up his 35th save of the season. 35 saves for Riley O'Brien. I know the ERA and the whip has kind of climbed up here, but, man, 35 saves. Give it up for that guy. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, we have. Blade Tidwell is at the Pirates.

Luis Castillo at the after. Kastro's, Quinn Matthews at the Dodgers. Bubba Taylor is not pitching. I lied about that. Nope. Nope, because he just pitched on Wednesday. Brandon Young against the Red Sox, Calquantrol against the Rays,

and Jack Perkins is at the Mariners. Hmm. Who's pitching for the Pirates? Lake Bacher. Hmm. I don't know. Pretty bad day. Yeah.

I'd skip it, to be perfectly honest. If I had to choose one, I think I would say Calquantrol. It's pretty bad. If you're making me pick three, Calquantrol, Brandon Young, and Quinn Matthews in that order. Yes, I know Quinn Matthews is facing the Dodgers, but that's the point. You're better off skipping this day.

On Friday, we have Walker Bueller. against the Yankees, Rhett Louder against the Brewers, Jared Jones against the Angels, Shane Boss against the Red Sox, Zebby Matthews at the White Sox, Kumar Rocker against the Reyes, Merrill Kelly at the Astros,

and Cader Montero at the Guardians. Hmm, not a lot better. Woof. It's a bad time for streaming. Hope you started, Jacob Lopez. And Andrew Painter. Yeah. man, boy, they're all at least as likely to ruin you and probably more than to help you, I would say.

Jared Jones, maybe against the Angels. Hasn't been going well for him lately, though. Shane Boz against the Red Sox hasn't been going well lately for him, though. Zebby Matthews, it has been going well for him, but he's facing the same offense, times in a row. Yeah. I love it. And I don't really buy into what he's been doing either. Agreed.

I don't like Friday either. If I had to give you a couple names, I would go Jones, Boz, Matthews, Montero in that order. All right. That's going to do it. We are going to wrap there for Scott. I and Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

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