Fantasy Baseball Today - Add Yainer Diaz! Drop James Paxton? Yankees Promote Everson Pereira! (8/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 22, 2023

Bid on a spot in our 2024 FBT listener league- https://www.ebay.com/itm/374885098315?hash=item5748e4a34b:g:5p8AAOSwy8lkiJds Bid on a guest spot on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast- https://www.ebay.com/itm/374885021676?hash=item5748e377ec:g:P0MAAOSwA~JkiJg3 Yainer Diaz is getting more reps at first base (1:15)! ... Is it time to drop James Paxton (6:25)? ... What about Cristian Javier (9:52)? ... The Yankees are promoting Everson Pereira and recalling Oswald Peraza (12:10). The Tigers also promoted Parker Meadows and the Red Sox plan to promote Wilyer Abreu! ... Javier Assad or Paul Blackburn (18:30)? ... Josh Bell, Kerry Carpenter and Zack Gelof are red hot (23:05). ... News (35:52): Mike Trout could be back Tuesday. ... Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor and Alex Bregman are hot right now (43:04)! ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (46:17)! Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, August 22nd. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, more prospects.

They just keep coming. are calling up Everson Pereira. The Red Sox are promoting an outfield prospect, Williare Abreu, James Paxton struggling big time in the second half. We'll talk about that. Zach Gelloff hit another home run, team name Tuesday, and much more.

Before we get started, help us out by liking this video and subscribing on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious.

Well, hello there, Scotty. You're up. Player of the night. I'm going to go with Yiner Diaz. Catcher for the Houston Astros. Or is he? See, we had some concerns that once... Once Jordan Alvarez was back to full health for the Astros, that the playing time would dry up for Yainer Diaz. But it hasn't.

In fact, he has started now, let me check here. He's started five of the last six games for them. And the way it's happened is he's become seemingly their primary first baseman. Didn't like what John Singleton was doing over there. Obviously, Jose Abraeu is out with injury. And at last report, Abraeu hasn't even begun swinging a bat yet, so his return is not in sight. Yainer Diaz has been getting starts over there.

And if that's the case, I mean, obviously, you know, we don't really care about him picking up eligibility at first base. But this is a catcher-eligible player getting close to every day at bats. Because he's a catcher, he doesn't have to quite play every single day. But he's getting a lot of bats as Yinder-Diaz. And he continues to deliver with him, two-for-five with a home run here on Monday, his 18th home run of the year, his third in the last five games. he is quickly

I mean now that the abats seem to be in place for him still he's I think solidifying himself as a premier offensive catcher and at a good time too because also on Monday Henry Davis a player who we thought was going to emerge as an impact catcher in fantasy he just went on the aisle himself

with a strained hand and he wasn't performing that well anyway so you're probably looking for an excuse to make a swap there. And now you have one. Henry Davis is hurt. Yiner Diaz is still playing, still delivering, and I think a better choice over the last five weeks. Yeah, and Yiner Diaz is widely available too.

He's 48% rostered, so out there in more than half of CBS leagues. The batting average is good. Got 18 home runs on the year, 842 OPS. I just looked this up entering Monday. He was the 12th ranked catch. in Roto this season. So even with the limited playing time, he's put up some big numbers for fantasy purposes.

Scott, the names I keep bringing up recently, Cal Raleigh, two more home runs on Monday. He's up over 80% rostered, but the MJ Melendez is Cabot Ruiz. Would you take Yainer Diaz over either of those names? I think Melendez is clearly the low guy on that list. Okay, let's go through them again. Diaz,

who are the other ones? Cal Raleigh. Cal Raleigh, I think, is above these guys because he's up over 80% rostered. Unless you would prefer Yiner Diaz over him. I might prefer Yainer Diaz to him. And then the last one was Kiber Ruiz. Kepard Ruiz, I think,

is number one in points league just because his strikeout rate is low. Last I checked, among qualifying hitters, only Luis Arise has a lower strikeout rate than Kiber Ruiz, which is pretty amazing for a catcher.

So he's number one in points leagues, I think, clearly. I think number one in Roto leagues for me, though, now that he appears to have close to a full-time role, I think it is D.S. I think I prefer D.S. Raleigh strangely has been hitting for average of late, but we know that's not going to last. These home runs here on Monday,

I believe we're just his second, and, oh, you know what, that wasn't updated because the game was still going on. So that was his fourth and fifth in August. Yeah, I guess he's been producing it every way recently as Raleigh. But I still think I'd prefer Yon your DS to him. Yeah. We know, we know Raleigh's limitations.

Cal Raleigh, I, hopefully this is right. I wrote down 13 home runs in the second half. So he's gone off here recently, has 24 home runs overall. And we know when Cal Rale, you know, he's pretty streaky power hitter. So when he gets going, he really gets going. So I think I might take him above the rest. but yeah, what Yiner Diaz is doing has been great. One more name here, Scott.

Francisco Alvarez has now sat out two straight games for the Mets. I read a report that the Mets might kind of take it easy on him over the final month of the season. They don't want to throw too much at him. It's obviously been a very eventful rookie season. I'll call it that for him. Would you drop Francisco Alvarez for Yainer Diaz the way they're both kind of trending right now?

So I haven't actually looked at what Francisco Alvarez is doing. It's been a brutal August. Yeah. I mean, look, there's no reason to drop them in a two-catcher league, obviously, if you want to go with the hot-handed and one catcher league, especially, you know, if you're talking a head-to-head league and it's crunch time, win-or-go-home situation, then I think you do have to swap them out for the hot hand and Yiner Diaz. I think I'm okay with that. All right. Let's slide over to my player of the night here,

and I've got James Paxton, pessimistic Frank. I've two days in a row, a negative pitching performance. James Paxton at the Houston Astros. Obviously it's a tough matchup, but he gives up seven runs over four innings pitched. Six of those were earned. Had three walks, four strikeouts. Still had 14 swinging strikes. It's interesting because he didn't allow a ton of hard contact, 86.5 average exit velocity against. And, you know, watching the start, the defense against him was so bad early on. There were a few balls that were basically booted, and they were ruled as hits. And it just kind of extended endings. And it just kind of extended endings. And it, It was a very rough start to this one for James Paxton. And all of a sudden here in the second half, he's made seven starts. He has a 550 ERA, a 160 whip just below a strikeout branding. Scott, your recent thoughts on James Paxton. And there I say, do we consider dropping him at this point?

I mean, we could play the fun with end points games here because you gave his second half numbers. In Paxton's five starts prior to this one, he had a 296 ERA. So from that perspective, he's been pretty good. I do think he hasn't been quite as sharp. Overall, the strikeouts haven't been as high either, but no, I'm not at the point where I'd consider dropping him. Let's check from the weekend the most added starting pitchers. No surprise.

All three were two-star pitchers, Javier Assad, Mike Clevenger, Paul Blackburn. Get to Blackburn in just a little bit. Kyle Harrison, who is the giant. top pitching prospect, he's going to get called up to start Tuesday. Scott, I'm assuming we wouldn't drop James Paxton for any of those names. Well, it doesn't sound like it sounds like you don't want to drop him regardless. Correct. Right.

So, ah, I got to test you here. I know you love Cole Regens. I do. I thought that's where you were going. Would you do it for Cole Regans? No. Hmm. I mean, that's a close one.

I got to think there's somebody else I could drop instead. Because I do want Reagan's on the roster. I was actually writing an article here earlier today, and I closed out all my notes on it. But I was writing an article looking ahead at the last five weeks of the season. So beginning next Monday through the end of the season. Just some recommendations for crunch time, basically. And so I was trying to size up which teams had the best hitting matchups

and pitching matchups rest of the way. Basically from that point forward, every team will have 10 series left. And, you know, I can't obviously break it down which pitcher is starting on which day because that's going to change a million different ways over the course of those five weeks. But based on the rudimentary way I was doing this, the Royals have like the second best matchups for pitchers to close out the season. So that works in Cole Reagan's favor too. Like if you're, whether you're talking about him in terms of how improved he is as a pitcher, the strikeout potential and all of that, or just matchups.

It looks like a great pickup down the stretch. So it's a really close call who I prefer between him and James Paxton over that time. But I'm going to lean Paxton still. Okay. I'm going to test you one more time because on the other side of that James Paxton start, we saw Christian Javier, who was just blah, once again, against the Red Soxton. Five innings, seven hits, three runs allowed, three walks, three strikeouts. So 10 base runners over five innings, a 2.0 whip on the nose there.

This is back-to-back starts with single-digit strikeouts for Christian Javier. Has not had a quality start, or excuse me, he has had one quality start since June 21st. We're talking about two months where Christian Javier has had a single quality start. Now up to a 452 ERA, a 126 whip. still 95% rostered, Scott, would you drop Christian Javier for Cole Regens? I do still think

Christian Javier is going to figure this out, but I have no idea when, and it may not be until 2024. So I think we're at the point now with so little time to go that I'd be okay with that. I'd be okay. I don't know what it's going to take

to make him usable again, and I'm not sure we have enough calendar left for me to arrive at that place with him. One other name, Terrick Scubel, he's a 78% roster. I think I would make that swap too for Javier, would you? I like the Tigers matchups for pitchers down the stretch too. They actually have the best matchup. They're the one team ahead of the Royals.

So I will say that about Terik Scouble, but there is the issue of Scoopal's only gone six in eight once since coming off the IL, and that's kind of the minimum threshold for workload-wise, for you to really make a major fantasy impact. You got to get to six with a fair amount of consistency, which Scuba hasn't been doing. So who are we considering dropping him for? Javier, who I was going to say,

he hasn't really been going six either. Oh, yeah, no, you're right. I would be more likely to drop Javier than Scuble at this point, yeah. Would I know, would you drop Javier for scubel? For Scuble. I guess so. Yeah, I think I would too. All right, let's talk about some of those prospects

who got called up. I mean, it feels like we've led every podcast recently with all these prospect promotions. This is the time of year where we're inside of 45 days left in the season where you could preserve that rookie eligibility. And plus for some teams like the Yankees, they kind of just want to see what they have in these young kids. So speaking of the Yankees,

they are promoting outfield prospect, Everson Pereira, and they're also recalling Oswald Parraza on Tuesday. Pereira is a 22-year-old outfielder. This season in the minors was batting 300 with 18, home runs, 11 steals, and a 921 OPS between AA and AAA. In the, I think it's a 35 game sample in AAA, the exit velocity readings look great for Everson Pereira. 92.8 average exit velocity, 11.5 max EV.

Strikeouts have been a bit of an issue here, but he's only 11% roster. It's got your thoughts on Everson Pereira and your interest level in adding him for fantasy. Yeah, the exit velocities look great. the plate discipline numbers look terrible. So it's a classic case of unstoppable force meets immovable object. And it could go a few different ways. There is upside because of how hard he impacts the ball.

And it does sound like he's going to get a lot of playing time for the Yankees down the stretch. So I'm not going to ignore Everson Pereira. But I wouldn't describe myself as optimistic about his chances. of impacting in fantasy, delivering in fantasy. I think outside of deeper five outfielder leagues, there's no hurry to pick them up. You can kind of just sit back and wait and see how it goes. And so that's the approach I'm going to take with it.

I was going to, would you do it in a 12-team, five outfielder league? Or do you think deeper than that? Look, I'm thinking of, I got a bad 12-team Rotel league out there. Probably my lowest player is Matt Walner, and that's on a bad team. And I want to drop Walner for Pereira. So I have a hard time in a 12-team league, even five outfielder 12-team league. Yeah, I have a hard time seeing how I'd make room for Pereira. Okay, so again, Everson Pereira is the name there.

If you're playing a 15-team league with five outfielder's, he's the one that you're looking at. Or I guess if you're just really desperate for power and anything shallower than that, but more so a deeper league ad. Oswald Parazza Scott, we've kind of seen him a few times here with the Yankees. I think it's kind of just a wait and see a point. approach, right? Like, let's see if he gets hot and then maybe we'll pick him up, but I don't think anything right. Yeah, I agree. I mean, this is probably, it sounds like the way the Yankees are talking that this is going to be the longest, this is going to be the most runway that

Oswald Paraza has gotten so far. So that gives me some hope that maybe he'll live up to his potential this time, but we haven't seen him do that to any degree all the other times he's been up. and usually a return trip to the majors after a prospect's already debuted and in Peraz's case that's, you know, he's been up a few times. Usually there's not a lot of excitement

for the return trip from the prospect who didn't stick the first time. So I don't think you're going to have a lot of competition for services. All right. Two other prospects here. You know, I missed this one on Sunday, but the Tigers also promoted their outfield prospect Parker Meadows,

who is the brother of Austin Meadows, and Parker is 23 years old, a former second round pick back in 2018. This season in the minors was batting 256 with 19 home runs, 19 steals, and an 8-11 OPS. The other name here, right before we went live, I saw a report,

the Red Sox are promoting outfield prospect, Wiliare Umbreu. Sounds like Jaron Duran could wind up on the IL. And Abraeu is a little bit older, 24 years old. He was batting 274 with 22 home runs, a 9-29 OPS. in the miners this year.

Scott, any thoughts here on Parker Meadows and Willier Abraeu? Yeah, I think they're both interesting, not so interesting that they'd be on anybody's top 100 list

probably. So also examples of prospects you don't need to rush out and add right away, but worth keeping an eye on because they were productive hitters in the miners.

Parker Meadows, you know, the data looks decent for him. It's not a case. it's not a case of a guy who the numbers look fine and then you dig a little deeper and it's like, oh my gosh, this guy doesn't hit the ball hard at all. It's not like it's amazing.

It's not like he crushes the ball. And that, you know, playing in Detroit, that still might be a shortcoming for him. But he has some speed. He plays good defense, as I understand it. So that should help him stay in the lineup if he's hitting it all. So I'd keep an eye on an awesome.

Boston Meadows, I'm even more excited about Willi or Bray, I have even more hope for him. I didn't see, when I first heard the news he was coming up, I didn't see the opportunity for him. They're already overloaded in the outfield as it is, but if Duran is indeed going on the IEL, then maybe Willier-A-R-Bray will get a chance to play some,

at least against right-handed pitchers. He's a left-handed batter. Good on-base skills, good power. His power mostly comes from a high-fly ball rate, so that's going to compromise his batting average, particularly since right field, other than around Pesky's pole. Right field's pretty big in Fenway Park.

But like I said, he walks a lot, and we'll see if he gets hot enough to attract some interest in fantasy. How would you rank the three here? Williara, Brayu, Parker Meadows, and Everson Pereira? I think like Pereira is the most boomer bust of them but I think he has to be number one

he is the most upside he has the clearest opportunity so he'd be number one followed by Williore U and then Parker Meadows All right, let's talk about a few Waverwire pitchers mentioned the names earlier

they were among the most added starting pitchers this week because of their two-start status Javier Assad has turned in three solid starts in a row he was at the Tigers where he allowed two runs over five and a third innings.

He had four strikeouts and does a good job limiting hard contact, something I have noticed with him. He does not get strikeouts, does not get whiffs. So what you want to see is, does he get ground balls? Does he limit hard contact? And he does a pretty good job of both of those things. Javier Asada 313 ERA and a 1-25 whip. Paul Blackburn now has a quality start in four of his last five outings.

He was facing the Royals all Monday night, six innings, two runs, six strikeouts with 11 swinging. strikes on 82 pitches and lowers his ERA down to four on the nose. Scott, any interest outside of the two-star week? Let's just say rest of season interest in Javier Assad or Paul Blackburn. More so in Blackburn. I don't see enough there with Assad to get to overcome the poor strikeout ability. I mean, that's the worst thing a pitcher can do is is not miss bats. The best thing a pitcher could do is miss bats, of course. So for a pitcher to get away with not missing bats in the modern game, he has to really just be lights out at something, whether it's a ton of

ground balls, a ton of fly balls, weak contact, amazing control. And I don't really see any of that with Assad, so I remain skeptical about him. Blackburn, so you mentioned four or five quality starts. If you look at Paul Blackburn's last six starts, a 225 ERA, exactly a strikeout per inning. The whip's kind of high. But, you know, he's been. he's been delivering usable fantasy starts here, going six innings with consistency, which you know I like. And he does excel at limiting hard contact.

His average exit velocity and hard hit rate, both 90th percentile, meaning both of them are very low among the 10 best, among the top 10% in baseball in terms of hard hit rate and average exit velocity for Paul Blackburn. And I think he does it

because he's another one of these pitchers. Now we talk about this with Mitch Keller and Joe Musgrove. He's got this six-pitch arsenal. And I think he mixes it up so much. He keeps headers off balance and is able to limit damage. We've seen stretches of success from Blackburn in the past. Just last year, he was usable at times.

And I think he could be usable again. It's obviously undermined by pitching for a terrible athletics team that is going to make it difficult for him to win games. And wins are the most important pitcher stat, the most valuable pitcher stat, anyway. So that's an issue. But I think we have, you know, four of his last five quality starts. I think we'll see even more quality starts here down the stretch from Blackburn. Two pitchers who you likely will not see quality starts from are Slade Sikoni with the Diamondbacks and Bailey Falter because they are mostly bulk relievers. But they did have good

outings here on Monday. So quick mention, Slade Sikoni five innings, one run allowed with two strikeouts up against the Rangers. And for Bailey Fultor, he allowed just one run over six innings of work with eight strikeouts. And he his velocity was up across the board here for Bailey Fultor.

Fastball up 1.6 miles per hour. The curve and slider up around 1.2 miles per hour as well. I don't think there's much here, Scott. But any thoughts on Slade Cicconi and Bailey Fulter? I may Falter had a successful minor league season and a successful run with the Phillies late last year.

You know, in some of those deeper roto leagues, those 15 teamers, he was getting drafted late in a lot of them that I saw. So I think there's a chance he's worth streaming at some point down the stretch. But I don't think there's a ton of upside. I don't think there's even as much as for somebody like Paul Blackburn. So I want to go crazy for him or anything. All right, fair enough. Let's take our first break. When we return, we'll talk about some waiver wire hitters.

You know, these guys, they're slowly creeping up there. Josh Bell, another home run. He's 74% rostered. Zach Gelloff up to 73%. We'll talk about both of those names right after this. Welcome back and a quick reminder to sign up for our Fantasy Baseball Today Facebook group. You can do so at Facebook.com slash groups slash fantasy baseball today. or if you have the app, just go on the website,

just search Fantasy Baseball Today. You'll find it that way. And you can join the group and you can start asking questions with other listeners, waiver wire questions, trade questions, dynasty, whatever you've got going on. Again, you could do so in our Fantasy Baseball Today

Facebook group. If you're watching us live, you can scan the QR code that will also take you right to the link. Let's talk about some WaverWire hitters here, Scottie, and Josh Bell continues to mash with the Miami Marlins. he went two for four with his 18th home run. He is 74% rostered. Do you think that number needs to be higher?

Do we need to be closer to 100% at this point? Yeah, I think so. For the year prior to him being traded to the Marlins, it seemed weird why he was performing as poorly as he was. The data still look good, the exit velocities, the plate discipline. It all still look good for Bell. And this has kind of been the story of his career,

extreme highs and lows while the underlying numbers still look strong. but he seems to be reinvigorated or seems to have fixed something that was wrong with him with him being traded to the Marlins. And so I think he's worth using again, even if it's not at first base, then it has the utility hitter or a corner infielder or whatever. I understand how in some of those smaller head-to-head leagues,

you just may not have any reason for him. You only go so deep into the hitter pool in those leagues. But somebody in your league could probably use him. Yeah, so I was looking at my rankings to try and find a name just ahead of him that I would drop for Josh Bell and I can. Spencer Torkelson I have just ahead of Josh Bell and he's red hot. He just had another home run on Monday. East Hawk Paredes has been pretty consistent all year long. I don't think I would drop Paredes for Josh Bell, would you?

Maybe. I mean, obviously Paredes can play more positions for you. Yeah. You get it to Alec Bome. Maybe Josh Bell has more upside. Bowman's been rock solid though, man. Like all year, he's just, he's been good. So I don't think I would make that swap either.

Yeah. Well, it's not going to universal. People's leagues don't directly follow our roster rates, of course. So it's not going to be a situation. Like the person, the player somebody's dropping for Josh Bell isn't necessarily going to be a player who's more rostered than Josh Bell. Fair. Yeah, the ones you mentioned are all pretty good.

And I don't know that, like, I don't know that you're the one who needs Josh Bell if you're already, if you already have those players. So that's fine. I do want to mention this for Torkelson because I thought this was an interesting note, since he did have another big game here. Homer twice. I'm sorry, homered once, four for five with his 23rd home run, his 28th double. He's batting 294 with eight home runs now in August. August is Spencer Torkelson. And since July, I'm sorry, since June 12th, more than two months, basically half the season so far since June 12th,

Spencer Torkelson is the fifth best first basement in point. And the only four ahead of him during that stretch, Matt Olson, Freddie Freeman, Christian Walker, Cody Bellinger. Wow. So he is an elite company there for the last two and a half months. That's huge. It's happening. It looks like it is happening for Spencer Torkelson, who is up to 82% rostered. We, yeah, I guess we could just talk about Kerry Carpenter too.

I mean, we continue to mention his name. He went three for five with his 19th home run. Also having a massive August batting 371 with eight homers and an 1192 OPS. he's up to 69% rostered. The next step for Kerry Carpenter's roster rate is, does he need to be rostered in three outfielder leagues, Scott? Points leagues, head-to-head category leagues. Your thoughts?

Yeah. No, I think he's definitely in the discussion. I was weighing over the weekend whether to swap out, who was it? Whether to swap out my third outfielder in such a league for him, and I ultimately decided against it. it was Chas McCormick, so, you know, obviously he's been pretty good, too. He just had a two-homer game.

But I think they're basically in the same category, those two. And I guess McCormick's in the better lineup and has a chance to contribute some stolen bases as well. So I would give him the edge, as I obviously decided to do in this league. But Carpenter's not far behind. If you have a worse outfield than that, I definitely think he's worth considering. And just as I was looked, just like I was looking at the teams, with the best matchups for pitchers over the final five weeks. I was doing the same for hitters.

The Tigers, I said, they have the best matchups for pitchers during that stretch. They're one of the top four teams in terms of hitter matchups, too. So that's all the more reason to invest in Carpenter or Torkelson, if he happens to be available in your league. Only true in 18% of CBS Sports Leagues, but I imagine he's out there in more leagues on more leagues on. Yahoo and ESPN. Let's slide over to Zach Gelloff,

who went one for four with his ninth home run and so far batting 306 with those nine home runs, seven seals, and an OPS just over a thousand in 32 games so far. The home run he hit on Monday, 428 feet to center field. And then, yeah, it was pretty impressive. It kind of, I was interested in the way

that he hit the home run. I'm like, all right, well, where has he been hitting his home run so far? Five of his nine home run, Zach Gelloff, have either gone to center field or right field. So again, the power, I mean, it looks legit. He's going to all fields. He's got, I think, four left field, and then he's got some to center.

He's got some in right field. Zach Loff up to 73% rostered. And I know you had him as your top sleeper hitter this week, Scott. I think an interesting name is Trevor's story. Trevor's story is off to a brutal start. Would you make that swap? He had the forehead game, and I think he's done literally nothing else, right? Yeah.

story. I mean, as hot as Gelloff is, you have to. I don't want to drop story really in any scenario, but I think Gelloff is more rostrable at this point. And I kind of put myself in a no-win situation, right? Or maybe it's a no-lose situation. I don't know. I made him, so I've been talking about how he's bound to regress here

from this slow star, bound to cool off. There are some underlying numbers I don't like with him. But I also had him as my number one sleeper hitter this week. So whether he was good or bad, I would be able to accept some blame for it. You're hedging the bet on Zach Loff, huh? I mean, that's the positive way to look at it, I guess. Some people tweeted at me that his strikeout rate has been coming down recently. And let's see, it's that it's not bad.

26% that is better than where it was a week ago. But look at his minor league strikeout rates Pretty consistently up near 30%. Right. So I would trust that over what he's like That's kind of more indication Oh, he's hot right now and he's bound to cool off Because he's exceeding his strikeout rates in the minors

Which seems illogical Given that he's facing much tougher pitchers now. Yeah. Let's talk about say a Suzuki who went two for four with his 13th home run and over his last nine games since returning from that mental break, they gave him a couple of games off. They said, let's, okay, sit you down. We'll hopefully get you back on track.

Last nine games for Sayas Suzuki batting 313 with three home runs. And obviously this Cubs lineup is red hot in the second half of the season. I'd like to get a piece of them any way I could. Obviously, I like to Sayas Suzuki a lot coming into the year. He's 58% rostered. I'd rather have Kerry Carpenter Scott, but is your interest growing with Seyazuki over the past, you know, nine games what he's been doing?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'd rather have Carrie Carpenter, too. But Seya Suzuki is another one of those hitters who I think could be a nice pickup for the stretch run based on what the Cubs hitting matchups look like over the final five weeks. All right. Let's slide over to Indy Rodriguez, who went three for four with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored, and he hit a single 1 10.4 miles per hour off the bat.

He's been coming around, Andy Rodriguez. His last 12 games batting 368 with one home run and hitting the ball harder. The plate discipline looks pretty good. I think this is more for two catcher league, Scott, but Indy Rodriguez is 21% rostered. How would you rank him, Logan O'Hoppy, and Gabriel Moreno, who we spoke about yesterday? I would rank Andy Rodriguez last of that group, and I would rank Logan O'Hoppy first. You mentioned Andy Rodriguez hit that ball 110 miles per hour, right?

That was three miles per hour harder than his previous hard hit ball, which maybe says something about the max exit velocity stat. I don't know. But it was a well-struck ball, and yeah, he's been hitting better lately. It's been mostly singles. It was all singles in this one. I think I'm more scouting Indy Rodriguez for next year than seeing him as a viable fantasy option, except in two catcher leagues, obviously, where you have to go very deep at the position.

I think in the Memorial Magazine League that we play in together, Logan O'Hoppy was available, and I dropped Andy Rodriguez to pick up Logan O'Hoppy. And it sounds like that's a move you would make, too. Yes, I would. All right, let's talk about Elvis Andrus. That's right. Two days in a row, I got to talk about Elvis Andreas. He went two for five with a

double and a run scored and over his last 14 games, he is now betting 386 with two homers, four steals, and a 90.5 average exit velocity. He is 11% rostered. Scott, would you take Andrus over any of the middle infield prospects

we spoke about? Noel V. Marte or Mason Wynne? I would take I think Mason win first of that group. It's a more difficult call with Noel Vimartic because we don't know what the playing time's going to look like. And Wynne hasn't done anything yet.

I understand. It's obviously just a couple games that he's played. But I do think he is capable of contributing in the most ways. And I think he's the best choice of that group. Yeah. All right. Well, I've got two hitters in deeper leagues here, Scott.

Johann Rojas with the Phillies, went two for four with two RBI, and so far in 28 games, he is batting 296 with one homer and six steals, very fast, 95th percentile in sprint speed. He does have a little bit of pop. You know, this year in the minors, he had nine home runs, had the 30 steals who's batting over 300. He's 11% rostered, plays mostly every day for the Phillies,

and DJ Stewart went two for three with his sixth home run, and over his last six games with the Mets, he has eight hits, five homers, and nine, RBI. We're talking deep leagues here, Scott. 15 team, five out fillers. Any interest in Johann Rojas and DJ Stewart? They do certain things well, but I don't think they do anything else well enough. So Johann Rojas plays good defense.

He runs fast. Probably not enough power to get excited about. And Stewart, lots of power. But this is far from his first opportunity in the major. and, you know, just because he's on a bit of a home run binge right now, I doubt he's going to emerge as a startable option. I think he hit 220-something at AAA this year, 224 or something like that. So I think outside of NL only leagues, you can pass up these guys.

Honestly, I think if you just merge them together, they probably would make a pretty awesome baseball player, right? It's kind of like the defense and the speed from Johann Rojas, the power from DJ Stewart. If you have a way of doing that, Frank, you could be a very wealthy man. Yeah, well, I'm on it, Scotty. One thing I'll point out with DJ Stewart, entering Monday, his expected sets, 274XBA, 585X slug. So I'll just throw it out there.

Let's see where DJ Stewart goes from here. Some news and notes, Mike Trout could be activated from the IL ahead of Tuesday. We heard the same thing before Monday. That game was postponed. So perhaps we do see Mike Trout on Tuesday. Wander Franco is expected to remain on the restricted list or shifted to the administrative leave as Major League Baseball continues its investigation. I've had some people ask me, Scott, when it's time to drop Wander Franco? Obviously, we have no idea where things are going to go.

But if you're playing a shallow redraft league, I don't know. What do you think? that's all I have Wander Franco in is a shallow redraft league and I haven't dropped him yet but I think at the next opportunity I'm going to All right That's again a shallow league

I mean it obviously depends what's out there But I would I would strongly bet against him playing again This year I think in Yeah you're probably right about that I think in any league Where it is a hindrance

for you to hold on to him where you're missing out on other free agents or if you play in a daily lineup league and you just need that bench spot to keep shuffling through players that you either want to stream or whatever it might be

then I think you probably could let go of him in those formats. Braves manager Brian Snickr does not believe Ozzy Albies will play in a rehab game before being activated. He was placed on the aisle last week with a left hamstring strain.

Tyro Estrada was hit by a pitch on the hand on Sunday and was out of the lineup Monday. X-rays came back clean so it appears just soreness, to be just sorness for now. He did have surgery on the hammate bone in his hand earlier

the season, so something to monitor and watch with Tyro Estrada. We mentioned this earlier, but Henry Davis was placed in the aisle with a strained right hand, unfortunate timing. If you play in a Fab League, we didn't find this out until Monday. You're basically just stuck with him, right? He's locked in your lineup.

Tout Wars for me, it's a two-catcher league. I had Henry Davis, and obviously I'm not carrying a third catcher on my team. So that's locked. Yeah. He's locked into your lineup. Not great. Kyle Wright will begin a rehab assignment Thursday at High A. His right shoulder checked out fine during his recent live batting practice sessions. And he is 62% rostered. Scott, who would you rather stash right now? Kyle Wright or Nicola Dolo? Lodolo, because he has a lot more strikeout potential. And he also benefits from a very pitcher-friendly schedule down the stretch, more so than

then Wright or the Braves as a whole do. All right. Let's move over to Brian Wu. He is scheduled to start Tuesday against the White Sox. And would you be okay starting him in a daily lineup league, Scott? First start back for Brian Wu. It's a good matchup, but he was pretty shaky leading up to that IL stent and his hardly a proven commodity.

I'd rather not start him in a daily league. I don't even know he's not, I can't imagine he's that way. widely rostered at this point, right? I think he's 44%. I think he's out there. So no. All right. Ryan Helsley is undergoing another round of tests and evaluation

as he continues to experience pain in his right forearm. My guess is Joe Joe Romero probably leads to Cardinals and saves for the rest of the season as long as Helsley is out. No one... Maybe. I mean, Gallegos got one

since... Has gotten one since the Jordan Hicks trade as well. But, you know, if I was, if I was picking who would get the most saves going forward, yes, Romero, but I don't think it's going to be like, I don't think he's the clear-cut closer or anything. All right. Nolan Gorman hit off a T on Monday and plans to increase baseball activity. He was placed on the IL last week with a back injury. Mitch Hanager will begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday, and he's been out since mid-June with a fractured right forearm. Mitch Hanigar, 32% rostered,

struggled in 2022, hit 39 home runs back in 2021. Do you have any interest in stashing Mitch Hanager, maybe in some five outfielder leagues? That would like five, 15 teams, five outfielder leagues,

that's the only format that I think I'd even consider it. I just don't think Mitch Hanigur has much left at this point, and particularly playing for the Giants. I don't feel confident that he's going to get consistent, and opportunities to prove he does.

Well, I just checked one of my 15 team leagues, and Mitch Hanigur is out there, so who knows? Maybe I'll go pick him up. Zach Grinke is expected to return Tuesday and start against the A's. He's been out since August 8th due to elbow soreness. I think that's a big old no on starting Zach Rankie, obviously. Jaron Duran held out of the lineup Monday with a left toe contusion that he suffered on Sunday, and there is a chance that he lands on the IL. Tyler Soderstrom was optioned back to AAA after batting just 165 with two home runs in 27 games.

Ryan Noda was reinstated from the IL as a result. Vaughn Grissom got his first start with the Brave since being recalled. It was against a lefty here on Monday. He finished two for four with a double. And I'm not expecting much playing time here, Scott. I assume the same for you with Vaughn Grissom. I mean, based on what you just should. shared about Ozzy Albiz that he's not expected to need a rehab assignment. The fact

they're bringing that up now suggests he's close to returning. So even without taking Nikki Lopez out of it, I don't foresee much playing time for Von Grissom either. All right. Emerson Hancock was placed in the aisle with a right shoulder strain. Johnny Quato was placed in the aisle with a viral infection. Ryan Weathers started in his place on Monday. Luis Medina was placed on the aisle with a blister on his right index. X-Finger retroactive to August 19th. And two quick prospect updates. The Pirates promoted their first overall pick, Paul Schemes, to AA,

bypassing single A entirely. And over the weekend, we saw something similar from the Nationals. They promoted the second overall pick, Dylan Cruz to AA. And in 14 games at A ball, he hit 355 with five homers, 24 RBI in 14 games. Crazy. And 1068 OPS. Those guys are coming soon, Scott. I think we could see Paul Skeens and Dylan Cruz as soon as next year.

I mean, Wyatt Langford, I think also. Yeah. He hasn't quite made it to AA yet, but he has looked very good, mostly at high A. And those three. Those three. If you have a first-year player draft in your Dynasty League, you want a top three pick. Oh, yes.

For sure. Wyatt Langford, by the way, was the fourth overall pick. he went to the Texas Rangers in this year's draft. Let's take our final break when we return. Got some hitters who are heating up. We'll do a quick mention on those. Then some leftovers. We'll do some team name Tuesday all after this.

Welcome back. Let's run through some hitters who've turned it on recently. Bryce Harper went two for five with his 10th home run. Inside the Park Homer, you'll love to see it. And so far in the month of August, Bryce Harper batting 309 with five homers and a 1020. OPS. He's slugging 632, far and away the highest of any month this season, which I think makes sense, right? Coming back from the Tommy John surgery, takes him a little bit of time to get going,

but right now, Bryce Harper looks good, looking very good in August. Francisco Lindor went two for five with his 23rd home run, and since the start of July, that's 42 games. He's betting 309 with seven home runs, 13 steals, 91.7 average. Exeal velocity, he's been great. And Alex Breggman went three for three with two walks and two runs scored. So far in the second half batting $2.99 with eight home runs and a 953 OPS. Scott, anything you'd like to add on Harper, Lindor, and Breggman. Heating up?

They are. And I mean, Alex Breggman, you'd be surprised how high he ranks in points leagues at a position with plenty of studs, third base. Let me see if I can pull that up. real quick because it's ahead of I want to say

it's ahead of like Austin Riley who of course has been hot for a while too but I'm still looking at that shorter stretch

no he's actually behind Riley just behind him yeah although that may have changed with this game yeah sounds like it

it will yeah so he's either top top third basement in points leagues year to date number one Bobby Witt

And it's not close. Yeah. It's crazy. Even with the poor strikeout to walk ratio. I mean, the strikeout rate is not that bad on its own, but he walks so little. It's just like I said a couple weeks ago, when a good stolen base total goes from being 2025 to 3540 as has happened this year, you know, you may not feel that adjustment as much in Roto League. because what matters is how many each player has relative to other players. But you feel it in points leagues a lot more because it's just stolen bases are worth two

points of piece. And that's a lot more points to be earned on stolen bases. So, uh, wits number one, Jose Ramirez number two, Austin Riley three. But he and Bregman are basically neck and neck. So ahead of Raphael Devers, ahead of Nolan Aronado, ahead of Yandy Diaz, the points league specialist. Yeah, Bregman, despite the low batting average this year, still been a points league stud. By the way, Bobby Witt Jr., mentioned how great he's been, hit his 25th home run on Monday. He's betting 281. He's got 37 steals. And so far in the

second half, he's hitting 340 with 11 homers, 10 steals at a 1031 OPS. Bobby Wood, Jr., league winner, getting it done here in the second half of the season. Let's talk pitching leftovers, Aranola, turned in his first quality start since July 23rd. That's right. Nearly a month without one for Aranola. He was facing the Giants, seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts for him. Luis Castillo had a great start at the White Sox. Seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts to zero walks.

Jordan Montgomery had one of his best starts of the season. He was at the Diamondbacks, eight shutout innings with six strikeouts to just one walk. He had 16 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. And Michael Waka's second start back from the IL was a solid one. Against the Marlins, five and a third innings, one run, seven strikeouts. Velocity was up a little bit in the start for Michael Waka, which I think is a good sign because before he went on the IL with the shoulder, the velocity was down pretty, you know, considerably.

So good signs here for Michael Waka. Scott, anything on him, Montgomery, Luis Castillo, and Aeronola. Michael Waka, yeah, I mean, he's just, the numbers kind of speaking. for themselves at this point, don't they? And that's following a very strong season last year that everybody dismissed because it looked like it was too good to be true. 332 ERA and 233

starts last year with a 112 whip. Now, all the ERA estimators were much higher because he doesn't get strikeouts at a great rate. And that strikeout rate has been similar this year, but the production has been even better. So it's gone the opposite way from what everybody expected. And it's

still gives me some pause, but at some point you just have to enjoy the ride and not worry so much, particularly in the year of the glob where, you know, 80% of the picture is susceptible to blow-up starts anyway. And yeah, that's my main takeaway from this group. Speaking of blow-ups, by the way, with Aaron Nova, two more home runs allowed in this game. he has given up 29 home runs this season, third most in baseball, behind only Lance Lynn and Jordan Lyle. So if you're trying to figure out

what went wrong for Aranola, home run ball has been a huge problem for him this year. So same thing happened back in 2021 when he had a 463 era. It did. And so there's that, that he has that in common between those two seasons. And because it's now been two of the last three years,

and because I'm no longer, I'm completely divested in Aaron Nola for this. That's not true. I haven't been one dynasty type league. But I'm otherwise divested in Aaron Nola for this year. I'm kind of rooting for him

to be as bad as possible. So that tanks his draft stock for next year and I can get him as like my number three pitcher. Wonder how realistic that is. I want to do it. My early takeaway is that he probably won't fall that far.

You could probably get him as your SP2. I think he's going to fall a little bit, but... What's the ZRA climbs over five? Maybe. His strikeout rates much lower than 2021. In a way that I don't think is really reason for concern, obviously, because I'm wanting to draft him. He is a free agent this offseason two,

so I think that could kind of change the narrative, too, depending on where he goes. I don't know. I don't know either. Sorry for everyone who has Aeronola this year, but I'm rooting against you. I thought your take was going to be, oh, I'm rooting for him to be terrible

so that the Braves can sign him for dirt cheap like they do everybody else. I mean, I'd be fine with that outcome too. Right. I don't know. I'm kind of off Aeronola. I didn't draft him anywhere this year, but he's just been so wildly inconsistent.

It depends on where the price tag falls. Yeah, if it's SP3, sure, because you're not as invested as, you know, when he's like a second or third round pick like he was this year. But I understand why people probably have been very frustrated with Aranola over the past couple of years. A few hitting leftovers, Marcelo Zuna went two for four with a double dong, both over 108 exit velocity, both over 415 feet, now up to 26 home runs on the year for Marcelo Zuna.

Chas McCormick, you mentioned the name earlier. He went 2 for 3, also with a double dong. He had 4 RBI, batting 286 with 19 home runs, 13 steals, and a 918 OPS. He entered Monday, Chaz McCormick, as the 29th outfielder in Roto, 91st overall, and a bunch less at-bats and played appearances compared to the other names around him. 3.2 fantasy points per game in points leagues, tied for 14. at the position. Chas McCormick has been amazing.

It's been really, really good. Hassan Kim went two for four with his first career grand slam. It was his 17th home run of the year. Speaking of really good, I mean, he's been a fantasy superstar this year. Hassan Kim, 280, batting average, 17 homers, 28 steals, 819 Ops, leading off, walking more,

great plate discipline. So regardless of format, Hassan Kim has been amazing this year. It's got anything to add on these three. Ozuno McCormick and, Kim? I mean, Chas McCormick to me is the biggest surprise in fantasy, because I had no inkling. He was capable of this. You look at his minor league track record, very lackluster. He's 28 years old, so you figure he's fully grown man. What growth is there left to be had? But he has been,

You know, it's been so good for so long that it's hard to dismiss. Last 31 games for Jasma Cormick, 33 batting average 11 homers for steals. So a home run more than every third game during that stretch. And you mentioned 14th best point per game average for the season. And that was with... That was before this game too.

Yeah. And that was with some playing time issues early on, right? Yeah. Yeah. That probably deflate that number. actually. So very impressive. And I'm reluctant to say he's to sell high at this point. All right. The call to the bullpen for the Cubs with Adbert Alzali, unavailable Mark Leiter Jr. got the ninth with a two-run lead. He did give up a run,

but picked up his fourth save of the year. And then the Rangers had a very eventful end to that game. So Will Smith had a rough Sunday. I figured, Okay, maybe they're just going to give him Monday off. So they bring in Aroldus Chapman in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gives up a solo home run to Cattel Marte. Tie game. Arolda Shatman stays on for the 10th. He throws a scoreless 10th inning.

The Rangers then took the lead in the top of the 11th. And guess who came out for the save? Will Smith? I thought it was pretty interesting. He had a two-run lead. And what did he do? He gave up three runs. He took the blown save and the loss.

And his. So they both blew a save. Yeah. Will Smith's ERA in August entering Monday was 9.45. And now it's a lot higher. Yes, it is. So. Yeah, I feel like,

the writing's on the wall here. I wish Chapman had come through and gotten the save. But he, you know, he allowed a solo home run. That's what caused him to blow it. That's going to happen sometimes. Entering today for Chapman, since joining the Rangers, a 169 ERA.

0.8.8. WIP, 17.4K per 9. I mean, as dominant, the numbers is dominant as you'll find for any reliever. And he's not closing for this team. They got Will Stinkin-Smith closing. So that's,

I think that's overdue to change. And I think Bruce Bochy is warming up to the idea, at the very least. I have updated numbers in August for Will Smith. that's an 1105 ERA and a 177 whip in the month. Let's move over to stream or not to stream, and we'll start with Tuesday. Who did we say yesterday?

I think Zach Lattel versus the Rockies, Wade Miley versus the twins, and Clevenger? You know, I'm getting a little nervous about Clevenger just because the Mariners are red-hot. They're on a seven-game winning streak. They put up 14 runs on Monday. That was without Julio Rodriguez in the lineup.

Well, there are lots of reasons to be nervous about Clevenger. True. That's an additional one. Unfortunately, we have to pick pitchers here because that is the segment. So I am going to say my first choice is Wade Miley against the twins. And I'm going to say my second choice is Zach Lattel. against the Rockies. I'm going to say my third choice is Clevenger.

You don't have to go with that. You don't have to start any of them, you know, just to be clear. Well, we know where you're going on Wednesday, Scotty, because Cole Regens is on the mound at the Oakland A's. So he's my top pitcher for this week. Yeah. Obviously, I'm streaming him on Wednesday. That is a streamer recommendation.

I can actually say I feel good about and recommend to everybody so naturally he's going to give up a runs in three innings. Nah, I don't say that. The other two names I think are okay here. I don't really like, and I don't like nearly as much as Cole Regan's, would be James and Tymon at the Tigers

and McKenzie Gore at the Yankees. Yeah, I like Gore more than Tyone. Okay. Team Name Tuesday. We did not get to it last week, but here we are. And we'll start with this one from Scott. Scott White?

Probably not. No. Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to puck wit. So you've got four names in there. You sure do. It's not bad. It's pretty good. From Stephen Waka Miles in my cruise.

All right. All right. This one's from Sid. Panic at the Francisco. What Francisco is that referring to? That's good. My guess is, I guess it could be Francisco Alvarez. But it also would make sense.

Joe Panic played for the San Francisco Giants. So it could be San Francisco. Oh, it could be that, Francisco. You're right. It's kind of dated at this point. It is, but it's pretty good. Would have been a great team name in 2013. Yes.

From Chris. I wasn't, Panic wasn't in the league yet. 2015. This one's from Chris. He sent in the Glob-Trotters. Okay. From Ian, and he says these are inspired by Scott's pronunciation of his name. Cole Rayguns.

Do you say Rayguns? Cole Reagan. Is how I thought I'd been saying it? Is that the wrong way to say it? It seems fine. Is it Ruggans or? I don't know. Probably not.

Yeah. From... I think it's Riggins. Like, you know, if you, if you pluralize the former president's name, there's more than one of them. They are Riggins. Right? That's the right way to say it. That's my lean.

Maybe I said Riggins once. Things come out of my mouth in a weird way. I think what I said peaches. earlier today. And I don't even remember what I was talking about, but the word peaches came out, and I quickly corrected myself. But if you listen, play it back, listen the whole thing again. Surprise, I say peaches at one point. These are from, wait, from Ryan. Oh, he sent in just the name Full House. And he has a roster that has Tanner Bybee, DJ LaMayhew, Adrian Houser, Michael Fulmer, Matt Olson, Reese Olson, and Joey Bart.

bonus for the San Francisco Connection. I like it. Yeah. It's that like, I don't know that anybody's going to figure it out unless you explain it to them. It's just kind of a problem.

It's pretty clever. Yeah. It's a TV show I've actually seen, Scott. How about that? From... You have Stephanie on that roster. Yeah. From Alex,

a classic, Acuna Matata. Uh-huh. Strider things. It used to be Acuna Moncata. That was all the rage for a while there. Munkata, he's, yeah, he stinks. Strider things. Okay.

Fopportunity Knox. Y'all remember Jesse Foppert, Foppert? I don't know who that is. I don't remember much about Jesse Foppert, and I doubt. I doubt many other people do either. Who is your Vladie? Mm-hmm. And Tati's faction guaranteed.

All right. This last group is from. Neil and he has, this is very relevant right now. All I do is win, win, win, no matter what. And he even gave us some names here. Mason win, Cole win and Keaton win. Mm-hmm. Wow, we. Only one of which is in the majors, right? No, Keaton win. Is he in the majors? Yeah. I don't know who Keaton win is. Apparently, you got a couple spot starts for the Giants earlier this year. This next one, E. Pluribus, Neuton, Tomb.

Mm-hmm. I think it's something to do with Lars Nupar, and it's also some kind of saying in the United States. Yeah, no, I know the reference, but I don't get how, I don't get the baseball, I guess, because you kind of get Newpar's name in there. Kind of, yeah. Kwanfish, two fish, Fredfish, Lukefish.

Mm-hmm. That's it. We're done. It's good to be done. We're going to rather than usual. Yeah, I know. Let's stop talking before we go for another five minutes. We're going to wrap there for Scott.

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.