Fantasy Baseball Today - Alex Bregman on Fire! Week 21 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers (8/19 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 19, 2022

Alex Bregman is on fire (1:00)! Michael Massey has some interesting underlying numbers. ... What do we do with Lucas Giolito (12:25)? ... Cardinals went off on Thursday, led by Lars Nootbaar (17:15). ... What do we do with Frankie Montas and Andrew Heaney (21:12)? ... Should you add Luis Patiño (25:28)? ... Is Andrew McCutchen undervalued (28:56)? Stone Garrett is off to a great start. ... News (38:53): Luis Robert was out again Thursday. ... Let's take a look at the Week 21 schedule and two-start pitchers (41:58). ... Which sleeper hitters should you target (48:28)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (51:35). Want a spot in our 2023 FBT listener league? You can bid on it with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374211896271 Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection 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

In to Fantasy Baseball today on August 19th, Frank Sandfield joined by the Scotty Dubbs, Scott White. Today on the show, we will talk about Alex Bregman. The man is on fire. He is coming for you, Scotty, after what you had to say about him. But we will also. It feels that way. Feels personal. We will also talk about what to do with struggling pitchers.

You know, the White Sox starter on the other side of that game. What is wrong with Lucas Elito? I do not know. We've got Week 21 sleepers, two-star pitchers, and much more. But let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scott. You do have a very interesting player here listed for, oh, my goodness, gracious.

But I think we need to start with Alex Bregman and this Astros game, because it was a massacre. They put up 21 runs on 25 hits against the Chicago White Sox, and of course led by Alex Bregman, who had one of the games of the season, right, for any hitter, four for six, a double dong, two doubles, six RBI, four run scored, and his first steal. Just a little cherry on top for Alex Bregman in this game, 23.5 fantasy points on CBS, which is normally what a pretty damn good pitcher would put up in a single start. It's just an absolutely... Oh, yeah, I mean, well, this is, and this would be a whole week for a hitter, like a good

week for a hitter. Massive. Just massive game here for Alex Breggman. Post all-star break now, he is batting 3.43 with seven homers, 12 doubles, 26 RBI in 27 games, nearly an RBI per game during this stretch. And you know, we talked about him the other day, Scott. I looked into the underlying numbers. It's not like he's hitting the ball all that much harder. It was kind of tough to figure out what has changed for Alex Breggman. But of course, the plate discipline remains fantastic. And he's hot. So I don't really know what else to say other than that, but, you know, depending on how he closes out the season here, if he remains this hot, you know, that will give us more confidence in drafting him next year. Yeah, it will. And, you know, I was peeking around, poking around on the Astro

site, trying to find some sort of insight into what's changed for Alex Breggman. And I found a pretty interesting quote here in the write-up for the game. So I'll just give the whole quote. It's pretty long. I know everybody always says 2018, referring to the year where he hit 31 home runs, or 2019 referring to the year where he hit 41. But I think each year is different, and definitely I'm trying to get back to the mechanics I had those two years. The previous two, I believe he's referring to 2020 and 2021 here. Mechanically, I wasn't the same. My front tip was wide open, and it was making me spin and cut the baseball instead of stay through it. and be able to drive it.

We've been working hard this year, and a lot of people have helped me out working in the cage. It's been good the last few months of being more consistent. So, it makes reference to some pretty specific mechanical issues and what's resulting from those issues. And, you know, he's a guy who's gotten by on suspect of exit velocities in the past. And I've, I've blamed his drop-off. on the new baseball, which doesn't carry as well.

And maybe he doesn't quite impact the ball well enough to be a real power hitter, if that's the case. But if it's more about, as he seems to be, as he seems to be alluding to here, if it's more about sort of the trajectory the ball takes off the bat, you know, that might explain it. We have talked about how, okay, one way that a guy without premium ex of velocities can still be a good source of power in this environment is to just is to pull the ball a lot.

And it kind of seems like, you know, it's a little more specific what he's talking about, but it kind of seems like it's in that same realm. So I may have been a little too quick to have Alex Bregman as one of my fallers and my latest dynasty stock watch. You know, I say too quick, but I gave him almost two years to get back on track, right?

So I don't know. I don't know what I don't know, right? But this is something I do know now. And it's causing me to rethink my stance on a player, who I was always very loyal to as a fantasy analyst before I wrote that in the Dynasty Stockwatch. I don't think that you should be too hard on yourself about this one, Scott. I mean, the way that Bregman had played the past couple of seasons and even the first half of this season, he was betting 238 with a, I think it's 764, 764 open. PS in the first half of the season, which is, you know, just about as replaceable as you can get as a hitter in both real-life purposes and fantasy purposes. So I think that you were right to kind of devalue him for, for dynasty purposes. But, you know, to that point, he's, he's changed things

and he's turned it around. Yeah. And to clarify, I'm not ready to swing all the way back the other way just yet either. It's just, he's clearly, he's clearly giving us more to think about. And as you said, a minute ago, the next six weeks are going to be interesting in terms of how we evaluate him for 2023. Last point on Bregman, while you were reading that quote, it just got me thinking about he was dealing with a lot of injuries the past couple of years too. So I think that's something that could definitely affect mechanics and, you know, maybe you're overcompensating for something or you just feel out of whack, right?

It was, you know, there was a bunch of different stuff that he was dealing with. So yeah, I think that could definitely be a reasonable explanation, but whatever the case, he looks healthy right now. Alex Bregman is absolutely on fire. Kyle Tucker within that same game went four for six with two runs scored and three RBI. The last one I wanted to bring up here, Scott, Chaz McCormick, who went three for six with his 12th homer, he added five RBI. Does this game matter at all?

Obviously, it's, you know, one singular game, but he has started four of the last six games for the Astros. He's 3% rostered. Probably more of like a deep league ad, but does this matter at all? Yeah, he might He might have some fringe Relevants in five outfielder 15 team leagues

You know, he's not He's not somebody most fantasy players Need to concern themselves with, I'd say For no other reason because he's not quite an everyday player But he's in a good lineup, he's not a total zero for power Gets on base at a, or at least walks at a decent clip I don't know about gets on base Because he doesn't hit for much average

But yeah, Chas McCormick is not a complete nobody in fantasy. All right. So in deeper leagues, just a need to pay attention to there. We will get to Lucas Gilito in just a little bit, who was the starter in this game, where he was tagged for seven earned runs, but that's just part of the bigger picture where Geolito has struggled for a large majority of the season. Oh, my goodness gracious for you, Scotty. Who do you have?

All right. I got Michael Massey. Mass Effect here. He had his first Major League home run. It wasn't like a monster dong or anything, 386 foot shot, hooked it around the right field foul pole as left-handed hitters are wont to do. But still, he's on the board with a home run.

And he also singled in the game, two-for-four performance, raising the batting average to 321. He was batting lead-off for the Royals. These are all positive things. But you look under the hood and I think it's even more positive. This may have been Massey's first home run, but I'm not sure how he only has one

because his average exit velocity, even coming into this game, Michael Massey's average exit velocity was 92.1 miles per hour. He was striking out at only a 16.1% rate. Who does that remind you of those two numbers? Vinnie Pee, baby. It's almost identical to his other left-handed hitting rookie teammate there in Kansas City. So, I mean, Michael Massey's minor league numbers are pretty impressive as well.

He doesn't walk like Vinnie Pasquantino does. That, I think, is a clear distinction between the two, but he can steal some bases potentially. He plays a weaker position, second base. and I think it's possible he's about to go off here too and emerge as an instrumental player in fantasy. Only 18% rostered is Michael Massey. I'm not saying he deserves to be rostered on the level of like a Vaughn Grissom,

but Von Grissom is like 75% rostered now as opposed to Massey's 18%. So if you've already missed out on Grissom and you want help up the middle or at second base specifically, I think Michael Massey you need to look into. Yeah, I think at least doubling that roster percentage makes sense. Obviously, any deeper leagues, I picked him up in some of my 15 teamers using him as a middle infielder right now. But even if you play in a 12-team Roto League with a middle infield slot, I could see some team in that league needing help and using Michael Massey there.

And just in case you didn't hear us talk about him when he first got called out to give you the specifics on the minor league numbers, Michael Massey between double and AAA this year, hit 312 with 16 homers, 13 steals. That's an 87 game. So, you know, almost double that for a 162 game base. 16 homers, 13 steals, and 903 OPS. So he was killing it down there. He was in the miners last year, too,

but that was in high A. He was 23 at the time. I think that's why he didn't get much prospect height because he was kind of old for that level. We weren't sure how it was going to translate to the upper levels? Well, it did. And now it looks like it might be translating

to the majors as well. Okay. With Michael Massey, Scott, you mentioned how hard he hits the ball. He puts the ball in the air, not an absurd amount or anything, 42%. I mean, that's fine,

but that's also led to a 16% barrel rate so far for him, which I get as a small sample size, but for a middle infieler, that's a really, really good number. So how does he only have one home run? It doesn't, between the exit velocity, the launch angle, the low strikeout rate,

it seems strange. He's put the ball on the ground like 33% of the time. If your line drive rate and fly ball rate are both that high, that you can have a ground ball rate that low, that's a really good sign. That was my very next point, Scotty. Yeah. The Royals, Kaufman Stadium,

over the past three years, three-year rolling average, according to stat-cast park factors. they are the third worst ballpark for home runs in all of baseball. So, you know, I think eventually things kind of even out. You don't play all your games in Kaufman, obviously, and we've already started to see Vinnie Pasquantino come around. But it wouldn't surprise me if even though these guys have really good stat cast numbers,

maybe the power is a little bit suppressed because of the ballpark that they play in. Yeah, that could be. And I think it's probably more of a concern for Massey than for Pasquantino. But to some degree both. I mean, we did see Mike Mustakis have the consistent power source there. So it's certainly possible. All right. Let's get back into that Astros game.

And now we can talk about Lucas Gialito, who was crushed. He gave up seven runs on eight hits over three innings pitched. The third time, he has allowed seven or more runs in a start this season. And Gialito has just one quality start in his last seven outings. The season-long numbers, now 5.34 ERA. 1.53 whip, still over a strikeout per inning, but the walks are troublesome, 3.4 walks per nine, career high 366 Babip.

His home runs per 9 are 1.47. That is higher than 2018 when he had the highest ERA among all qualified starting pitchers in Major League Baseball. So it's just a flurry of everything going wrong right now, Scott. And we were getting questions here on Thursday whether or not people could drop Gialito. And I still want to believe that he's going to get back on track, if not this year, maybe next year.

But with the season kind of winding down here, he sold 96% rostered. I don't know that that needs to be the case. I don't know that it does either. Here's the tricky thing. And how often has this happened? We get to a point with a highly regarded pitcher who people drafted high. and we're to the point where it's like,

we can't really stick with this guy, can we? And then, of course, the very next week, he lines up for two favorable matchups at Baltimore versus Arizona for Gialito next week. I think at least in points leagues, you've got to consider using him still. You can take a little more damage in a points league and volume is a higher priority in a points league

for pitchers, as we often point out. So that's where I'm going to start with this. As for how confident I am in Gialito getting back on track this year, you know, we're kind of entering late August now, and Gialito over his past 15 starts has a 664 ERA. So I see, you know, particularly with the strikeout rate, with the swinging strike rate, I see ability there still,

but there are, like his velocities down about a mile per hour on the fastball from a year ago. The spin rate is down, a couple hundred RPM from a year ago. Like, there are warning signs in the skill indicators themselves that I think have me concerned about Gialito from a long-term perspective,

as well as just, you know, is he going to figure it out this year? Yeah, it's just, it's always hard to know it to make of a player like this. I think we're late enough in the season that anything goes. And like if you don't, if you just feel like a roster spot is better served on, you know, a streamer type than hoping Giolyto, hoping it suddenly clicks for Gialito. I get that. But we've seen how quickly for play, like we know from the past three years Gialito has a

ton of talent and we know it can be like flipping a switch often for pitchers who are struggling. I mean, it's happened to Charlie Morton each of the last two years. He's just righted himself all of a sudden. And so it could happen with Gialito too, given his history. But I get it if you want to drop him. Yeah, same thing happened with Luis Castillo last year too. The first two months, he was absolutely brutal. And really since then, he's been one of the more reliable starting pitchers. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to happen for Gialito, but, you know, just saying it could happen. So I think if he's the worst player on your team, the worst pitcher on your team, you absolutely cannot stand putting him in your lineup. You could probably drop him. But to Scott's

point, you know, if you're playing a points league, two good matchups next week, in any type of categories league, I cannot see doing it. Just there's no chance. Yeah. Fortune favors the brave is coming a little bit later on. Lucas G. G. Lito is probably the face of that segment at this point in season. There was one other offensive outbursts here on Thursday. The Cardinals put up 13 runs on 15 hits. Paul Goldschmidt just keeps getting it done. Three for four with two doubles and two RBI. But I think the biggest takeaway here, Scott, is Lars Neupar, who, correct me if I'm wrong. Did you have him as a sleeper hitter this week? I did. You did? Well, kudos to you because he had a massive game. He went two for three with two walks. Kudos from Lars Neutbar.

Nice. You know, I did want to say before, with Michael Massey. I mean, there's so many opportunities for nicknames. Obviously, you know, Metallica fan, the first one that comes to mind is Massey of puppets, which doesn't really make sense,

but kind of makes sense in my mind. So I don't know. I might run with that, but if anyone has anything better, let us know. Lars Neupar, massive game here. Two for three with two walks, his sixth home run, two RBI, three runs scored.

Looks like he's, you know, leading off against right-handed pitching now quite consistently for the Cardinals. 13% rostered. He's got eight games this upcoming. coming week, Scott. And over his last 20 games, Newpar is hitting 300, two homers, 13 runs, two steals, more walks and strikeouts, hitting the ball hard. I, look, I don't think he's a must add, but he needs to be more rostered than 13%. Yeah, I agree. I mean, obviously the full season

numbers still look pretty bad because he was providing virtually nothing for so long. But he is clicking now and playing every single day he's not sitting against lefties, he's walking basically as much as he struck out. I'm looking at the last 28 games here leading at a Thursday, 16 walks versus 17 strikeouts,

934 OPS during that stretch. And Lars Neupar was only 24 years old and you look at his minor league track record well, I guess he doesn't have much of a minor league track record. But yeah, not much of a minor league track record. He was good at AAA last year, I guess is what I was warming up to. Small sample because he spent so much time in the majors,

but he hit 308 with a 900 OPS at AAA last year. All right. So I think, again, in any five alpha of the leagues, you need help right now. Lars Neupar, absolutely someone you should look at. And Albert Pujols, I don't think we're looking at him in fantasy scott, but it's pretty fun to see him in a Cardinals uniform in his final season doing what he's doing. Two for three, hit his 11th home run of the season, had five RBI in this game, and now has four homers over his last six games.

And 690 homers for his career. That is awesome. Yeah, I mean, obviously, it seems like he's going to fall just short of 700, which sucks. But, I mean, either way, it's an amazing career. it's, you know, probably the, I mean, the best hitter I've seen growing up in my teenage into adult life has been Albert Poole. So, yeah, yeah, I mean, basically right up to the time he went to the Angels.

So his Cardinals career, which spanned 11 seasons, Albert Pooholz slashed 328, 421, 617. a total of 445 home runs, one three MVP awards, rookie of the year, was four times MVP runner up. Like, he was,

you know, it's easy to forget, like, he was, you know, the premier hitter of his generation because it's, it's been,

it's been another 11 years since then. Yeah. You know, he kind of got ruined, by all the infield shifting, I think, in part, I mean, in part, he just was getting older. But, like, he was early on in his time with the Angels. I know he was the most shifted upon right-handed hitter

and famously said, you know, he's not going to change his approach because of shifts. And I think that kind of, that kind of contributed to a premature decline for him, namely the batting average category. I mean, he was still hitting home runs early with the Angels. But yeah, he's, he's, he's one of the, All time greats, even if the second half of his career was kind of a dud by comparison.

Trip down memory lane. Good old Albert Pujols. Let's take a look at a few other starting pitchers who are struggling-ish. What do we do with this group? And we'll start with Andrew Heaney, who went four and two-thirds. He gave up five runs at the Brewers. Three of those were earned. He had 10 strikeouts of the 14 outs that he recorded in this game.

Three homers allowed. The numbers are still really good, Scott. the problem is that he has not completed five in any of his five starts since returning. So Heaney is still 82% rostered. He goes up against the Brewers again next week. I don't know. Like, does Heaney need to be that roster? Are we starting him next week?

I don't feel great about it. Yeah. I mean, you know, if he were to start going six innings all of a sudden, the numbers would probably be pretty good. and obviously being on the Dodgers, that's a good thing for any pitcher because of all the run support they're going to get. So it's, you know, I don't think he needs to be started next week. It's just do you continue to devote a roster spot to him?

Well, Heaney or Geolito, who would you be more inclined to hold on to? I think I'd say Heaney. Neither. Well, I mean, it's never a bad idea to have upside on your bench. There's definitely upside here for Heaney. Yeah. But there's also the issue of how long are the Dodgers going to stick with the six-man rotation? Because now they have Dustin May coming back this weekend, who would be the odd man out if they cut down to five.

Presumably, well, you know what? I think he and he's fine even now because they have Ryan Pepeyo in the rotation. I guess it'd be more of an issue when Clayton Kirschall returns. So, yeah, that's not a concern just yet, but it could eventually become one. It might be a format question. Maybe I would go with Geolito in a points league because I, expect him to go deeper into his starts. But with Heaney, I mean, the ratios and the strikeouts are there.

He's just not going very deep. So they're kind of opposite in that way right now. Frankie Montas has allowed six earned runs twice this season. Both have come with the Yankees. So he was up against the Blue Jays here on Thursday. Six inning, six runs allowed. Only two strikeouts. Only six swinging strikes.

I don't want to prematurely just blame this on the shoulder injury, Scott. Velocity looks fine. His average exit velocity against in the start was very low. 82.8 miles per hour. But in five starts since returning from that shoulder injury, Frankie Montas has a 6.55 ERA. The walks are way up.

Do you start them next week against the Mets? It's a pretty tough matchup. Yeah, probably a probably don't. I think it's noteworthy that in this start Frankie Montas through only 14 splitters. And I think that would, you know, we've seen him, we've seen his splitter usage fluctuate

dramatically over the years when it's on, it's clearly his best pitch and the best stretches of that span of his career have been when he throws it a lot. I think he just may not have the feel for it right now. And so, you know, when he

uses it more, it doesn't necessarily go well. When he uses it less, it doesn't necessarily go well because the rest of his arsenal isn't quite on the same level. And that's That's kind of the story with Frankie Montas and what makes him frustrating. So I want to be interested in dropping him right now,

but I wouldn't be interested in starting them right now either. Luis Garcia of the Astros is quietly struggling recently as well. He was at the White Sox, five innings, three runs allowed. He also allowed 11 base runners in this start. Over his last eight starts, he has a 4.98 ERA, exactly a strikeout per inning. the ERA estimators still like him during this time. Scott, what do you think about Luis Garcia?

Would you still start him next week against the Minnesota Twins? I'd weigh my options. I wouldn't be afraid to start him, but I wouldn't necessarily expect a good start from him either. Yeah, I don't think he's a must-star pitcher. He's like a fringe top 50 starting pitcher, which, again, I think that's kind of what he is right now,

especially since he's struggling, kind of more of a match-ups play. Minnesota kind of hit or miss, I agree. Let's see who your other options are. Don't think he's a must start. Some waiver wire pitchers, not a great day for waiver wire pitchers, but a few semi-interesting names. That's what we'll go with. Luis Patino returned to the Ray's rotation. He had a strong start against the Royals, five and two-thirds shutout with four strikeouts and 16 swinging strikes in that start. Dane Dunning now has a quality start in three of his last four outings. He was up against the Oakland A's,

six innings, two runs, four strikeouts for him. Adrian Sampson hasn't been great recently, but he was at the Orioles, where he went five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts there. J.T. Brewbaker, a dominant start, gets back on track against the Red Sox. He went seven shutout, only two hits allowed,

seven strikeouts to zero walks. And Max Castillo, who is also known as Maximo Castillo on the CBS website, he came over in the Whitmerryfield trade, and he was making his royal Royals debut at the raise, five innings, one run, three strikeouts. It's got five different names here, all kind of varying degrees of roster percentage and

talent level. Does anyone stand out from this group? Luis Patino, Dane Dunning, Adrian Samson, J.T. Brubaker, Max Castillo. I mean, J.T. Brubaker remains low-key interesting because the overall swinging strike rate is good, and the slider especially seems to be a good. pitch for him. It kind of reminds me of Kyle Gibson that, you know, in spite of that, the results just aren't consistent enough and strikeouts aren't consistent enough.

And in Brubaker's case, he pitches for a bad team. So I think that's going to keep him in the streaming category. In terms of potential upside here, I mean, Patino clearly stands out, former high-end pitching prospect. You like seeing 16 swinging strikes in his return. Six on the fastball, four on the slider, five on the change-up, so he had a few different pitches working. It's encouraging.

I don't know that it makes a must-add, but certainly makes a must-monitor. And I kind of like Max Castillo, too. Minor League numbers were pretty good. Too many walks, but it gets ground balls at a nice rate.

He kind of had a similar breakdown with the swinging strikes. 10 on 69 pitches, so that's a good rate. Three on the fastball, four on the change of three on the slider. So he's not coming up with just one pitch, you know, the way so many young guys do. One good pitch, one pitch capable of getting whiffs. He doesn't, you know, none of those three pitches is like a standout either. They're all kind of middling.

But he seems to just have a feel for pitching and sequencing. And seems like the sort of prospect who performs beyond his his physical tools. And sometimes those guys turn into great fantasy assets. So I'd keep an eye on Max or Maximo Castillo. Okay. I mean, definitely two names there with Patino and Castillo just to check out in Dynasty Leagues or Keeper Leagues

if they're available and kind of stash them for the rest of this season. Let's see how it goes. And then maybe have some upside going into next year as well. I already checked one of my 15 team leagues and Luis Patino is available there. So I think especially in deeper formats, like Patino is someone who might be able to help us here down the stretch. Some waiver wire hitters, Andrew McCutcheon went two for four with a double dong,

three runs, three RBI. And remember Scott, he had that awesome June OPS over 900 in that month. Since the start of July, I noticed the batting average has been down. And, you know, overall the OPS is down during that time. Like, it's not impressive, but the numbers actually still look pretty good, right? So 253 batting average, six homers, three steals. counting stats look good. He's hitting in the middle of the Brewers lineup.

He's hitting the ball hard. 91.4 mile per hour, average exit velocity. 61% roster, like, maybe it should be a little bit higher. What do you think about Andrew McCutcheon? It's probably about right. Yeah, maybe a little higher, but I think we don't talk about streamables often with hitters.

I feel like that's kind of him. Okay. In deeper leagues and outfields, there, Jake McCarthy, I know I mentioned him recently. He does have some speed. He's been playing quite regularly for the Diamondbacks, and maybe, it looks like he sits out like maybe one, three, fourth, or fifth game.

He went three for five with a run and an RBI, and over his last 10 games, he's betting 394 with three steals. He's 14% rostered. Any interest got in those deeper five outfieler leagues, Jake McCarthy? No, not a ton of interest. I think, even though he has

performed pretty well of late, there's a chance he gets surpassed here. If not by one guy, the next guy we're talking about, then maybe by another guy, an even higher profile guy. The first guy I'm talking about is Stone Garrett. The next guy I'm talking about is Corby and Carroll, if it wasn't clear.

Because Stone Garrett here, so Stone Garrett actually got the start at DH here on Thursday. and you know that's that's been a bit of a revolving door for the diamond bag so i guess there's room for him and mccarthy both but stone garrett looks like the more interesting of the two to me and he's a right-handed hitter so it wasn't clear oh maybe he's going to platoon with mccarthy uh but you know was in the lineup here second game in a row this time against a ritey a good righty logan webb and stone garrett had another good game two for five with a double and a stolen base he is now between his two games, Stone Garrett is four for eight with three doubles, a stolen base,

and only two strikeouts. All four of his batted balls in Thursday's game were hard hit, meaning 95 miles per hour and up, and three of them were 100 and up. So he's making high-quality contact. We're talking a sample of two, but for a guy who had a good season to AAA, and, you know, obviously has opportunities with the diamond backs. So I could see him becoming useful. And how can you not root for a guy named Stone Garrett?

I mean, come on. That is an amazing name. And if there was ever... I think he was out of baseball going off memory here. I wrote about him early this year in the prospect report. I think he was working like as a real estate agent for a year. He was previously in the Marlins organization. then the Diamondback signed him.

So it's kind of an interesting backstory there for Stone Garrett. I'm seeing an article from the New York Post, Diamondback, Stone Garrett, revived baseball career with a LinkedIn message. So I don't know. There's, yeah, there's definitely a bigger story there. It's cool. I mean, I'm root for the guy. I want to see him get on track here.

He's a little bit older. He's 26 years old. But again, like, the guy, if there was ever a player's name that, like, match their body, this guy is, like, chisled. He's jacked up. He's, I don't know. I like him. I'm rooting for the guy.

So he's 2% roster. He's widely available in those deeper five outfielder leagues. Obviously, NL only, yes, I say, take a shot there. But now both he and McCarthy are going to be looking over their shoulder because the other guy brought up Corbyn Carroll. There is another article out here on Thursday, Nick Picoro of the Arizona Republic. He's covered the Diamondbacks for a long time. and it again suggests that Corbyn Carroll will be getting the call at some point soon here. He outwrites that in the article.

Diamondbacks General Manager Mike Hazen suggested that Carol's big league debut will occur at some point before the end of the season. No, but I mean that just that was the whole tenor the article. I think because we talked about this a little yesterday, Frank, before this article came out. And you were saying, oh, what would be the incentive? The Diamondbacks are out of the race. Why wouldn't they play the service time game with Corby and Carroll? And I think what we could be seeing, I don't know this for sure,

what we could be seeing is the effect of the new incentives with the new CBA, where high-end prospects after they get called up the first several years of their career, if they finish, you know, they place, if they get a full season, their first season, and then they place top, I don't know exactly the measures, but something like top three in rookie of the year, and then a couple years after that,

top three in MVP, there's a whole breakdown of ways teams can earn draft picks, extra draft picks for their prospects being up all year, and then placing in awards soon after that. and that may be enough incentive for some GMs, maybe even all GMs. They may see the possibility of more draft picks as more rewarding than the possibility of extra control, which I don't know if I agree with that.

I'm not running into a beat team or anything. I think I'd prefer the extra control to the draft picks, but maybe it is enough of incentive for them. And if that's the case, you're going to set your prospects up better for winning award, if you give them a little exposure the year before. That's true. So, yeah, I think we could see, it sounds like we will see Carol.

Like, they're not even hedging that much, the people who cover the diamond backs. But I think there's a good chance we see like Gunner Henderson, too. Yeah. September could become a popular call-up month for prospects because of these new incentives. That's a really good point, yeah. And one that I hadn't thought of, but I do think it makes sense. you know, call Corbyn Carroll up, get his feet wet a little bit, and then, you know, probably, I would imagine going into next year, he is the favorite for the National League

Rookie of the Year, just based on how he's dominated the minor league so far. So we shall see. Look, all in all, again, like, Corbyn Carroll's cool, but he's not Stoned Garrett. So let's come on. Okay, well, here's a direct quote from Hazen. I want to put him in a position to actually win those awards. I feel like coming up here and playing well when he does come up here is going to set him up to actually go win those awards next year. I mean, that's... It doesn't get more direct than that, right? Yeah.

He's literally telling us what they want to do. So, uh, all right. Look, if you haven't picked up Corby and Starryl and Stash him already, like, this is someone who we talked about Von Grissom as a league winner on yesterday's podcast. Corbyn Carroll can absolutely be a league winner if he gets called up within the next couple of weeks. There's no doubt about that. Last question on Stone Garrett, Scott.

I feel like we talked about him so much already. 2% rostered. Someone asked me on Twitter. Stone Garrett or Kerry Carpenter as a Dynasty League flyer? I got to say Carpenter. I mean, Stone Garrett is such an atypical prospect being older at 26, having been out of the game. You know, I think he's kind of a lottery ticket play for the Diamondbacks and could wash out of the majors very quickly. I think Carrie Carpenter is going to get more of a chance to really settle in.

All right, before we hit the break, reminder, fantasy baseball today has helped you all. season, dominate your league. But now you can represent your favorite podcast with official fantasy baseball today gear only found on the CBS Sports Store. Discover T-shirts, mugs, sweatpants, laser-engraved pine glasses, hats, water bottles, and more to remind your buddies how you got the inside scoop to crush the competition. Right now, FBT listeners will get 20% off orders when they use this podcast exclusive code. Fantasy Baseball 20 during checkout.

That's Fantasy Baseball 20, and it's only available to our. listeners. I am not going to read the link because it's very long, but you can find it in the podcast and YouTube description. If you want to hear about more prospects this weekend, listen to our Saturday episode of Fantasy Baseball Today and Five. It's our five-minute podcast. You can download and follow wherever you listen to this podcast. Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this. The news and notes, there was not much going on here on Thursday, so let's zoom by, and then we'll get to week 21. Luis Robert was out again on Thursday, but did go through a full workout, depending on how his wrist responds, he could be back this weekend.

Or I guess he can go on the IL. It's not really clear. Wander Franco has set out two straight since leaving Tuesday's game due to wrist soreness. He's attempting to return from a hamate injury, which is not great. Tyler Malley's shoulder MRI came back clean, and he remains day to day. DJ LaMahue returned to the lineup on Thursday. He was batting lead off, and interestingly, he was playing second base.

They could have easily deached him, but I guess. if he was healthy enough to play second base. That seems like a good sign to me. Jack Flaherty will make his next rehab start on Sunday at AA. The Mets are optimistic that Taiwan Walker could make his next scheduled start on Sunday against the Phillies.

Charlie Blackman left Thursday's game early due to a hamstring tweak. Mike Seroca is making his next rehab start Sunday at AAA. He was superb in his first outing, striking out eight over four schoolless innings. If you do have an available IL spot, definitely look to add Mike Soroka right now.

Brandon Marsh was placed in the IL with a left knee bruise retroactive to August 17th. And one other prospect update, Rangers third base prospect, Josh Young, is absolutely crushing it right now, Scott. He's batting 323 with eight home runs

in 15 games between rookie ball and AAA. Seven of those games have come at AAA, where frankly, I think he's hit the majority of those home runs. So it's not like he was just doing it at rookie ball. He's now doing it at AAA. Well, and he did it at AAA last year. His slash line there was ridiculous.

He was looked like he was in line to be the opening day third basement for the Rangers before he suffered that torn labrum. In his non-throwing shoulder, it's worth pointing out, in his not dominant shoulder when he's hitting. So, yeah, I think he'll be up in September 2. I would say Corbyn, Carol, and Josh Young, spelled J-U-N-G are the. the top two prospects to stash right now, even over Miguel Vargas at this point. A little bit of sneak peek to our FBT and 5 episode this weekend. Scott, did you know that I actually have a partially torn labrum in my rights holder? I did not, Frank. I haven't seen your medical records.

Yeah, I'll send them over right after the podcast is done. I think we need to review that contract you signed with CBS. Well, I'm going to blame that for the reason why I lost to Ariel Cohen in tennis on Thursday. I mentioned earlier on in the week that we were going to play. We always choose these disgustingly hot days. I don't know why it was like 90 degrees out. I throw the ball up in the air to serve and it goes right into the sun. I can't see it.

Of course, I'm making a bunch of excuses. But yeah, I did lose to Ariel in straight sets. He's clearly better than me at this point. I think if nothing else, that's what we figured out. So shout out to Ariel. Great fantasy baseball player. Great tennis player. Let's talk about week 21.

and we will start with the schedule next week, which is quite spread out. We have five teams with five games, the Diamondbacks, the Tigers, the Pirates, the Giants, and the Nationals. We have 16 teams with six games, seven teams with seven games, and two teams with eight games.

Those are the Cubs and the Cardinals. Start or sit these fringy two start pitchers for next week. And first up, we have Noah Cindergarde. He's up against the Reds and the Pirates. Good matchups. Yeah, and it's another light week for two-star pitchers. There are, you know, so many teams with playing only five games this week. So I have a list of 26 names in the two-star pitcher rankings, which is not many.

So Cinderguard is actually the sixth highest-ranked two-star pitcher for me, which seems high for him, but you mentioned good match-ups and, you know, not great options. So I think most people are going to lean yes on that. All right. Next up we have Eric Lauer at the dive. and versus the Cubs. Yeah, that's less than must start like Cinderguard, but still probably advisable given lack of options.

I wish the first matchup wasn't against the Dodgers, of course, but Lauer's been pretty effective. We spoke about Gialito, good matchups at the Orioles versus the Diamondbacks. He has been putrid, though, and you said points league only, right, for that? Yep. All right. Next up, we have Zach. By the way, my only three, just to further drive home to point,

My only three must start to start pitchers for this week are Max Scherzer, duh, Robbie Ray, duh. And I put Adam Wayne right in there too. He had a good start Thursday. One of his two matches against the Braves, but, you know, it's had a good season. Scott, is there a reason why you have Jordan Montgomery so low on this list? He's at the Cubs and at home against the Braves. He's pitched really well. Well, he's in the same category.

He's in the second highest category. So I have him behind Jeffrey Springs, Nick Lodolo, Michael Kopeck, Cindergarde. You know, one of his matchups is against the Braves, so that's part of it. True. But, you know, I think most everybody who has Jordan Montgomery is going to want to start him

for those two. I think so too. A couple of their names here. We have Zach Plesack at the Padres and at the Mariners. Yeah, lean no on him. Last one, Domingo Hermon, with the Jekyll and Hyde matchups, the Mets, and at the Oakland A's.

Yeah, that's a no for me. That's a no for Scott, dog. Two star pitchers to add and stream for next week. Who do you have there? Edward Cabrera is a pretty easy choice. We talked about how awesome he looks. He has a higher ground ball rate than Sandy Alcantara. He has a swinging strike rate on par with Garrett Cole.

He has four pitches with better, with a 30% whiff rate or better. And now he gets two matchups. Opposant ends of the spectrum, Oakland and Dodgers, but still, got to go with Edward Cabrera this week. Nick Lodolo,

also two matches on opposite ends of the spectrum, Philadelphia and Washington, but coming off a good start. I think it was against Philadelphia also, right? Yes. And did well against them. So, you know, like Lodolo stuff,

like that curveball. I'd roll him out there. Jeffrey Springs gets the Angels, great matchup, Red Sox, middling matchup. But, you know, the ratios are always pretty good for Springs and getting two starts this week

will help with the volume. And then much lower than those three, I have Ross Stripling, Angels and Red Sox, the same matchups as Montgomery actually, or the same matchups as Springs, actually, but flipped. And, you know,

he, Took a no hitter into the seventh inning. His last start has an ERA below three for the year. Don't entirely trust it, but two-star week, pretty good matchups. I can at least recommend Ross Stripling for points leagues. All right. That brings us to one of our favorites, Scotty. Fortune favors the brave, two-star pitcher of the week,

which means you should not play this pitcher. But if you are desperate and you need starts and you need volume, then you might not have a choice. Obviously, Lucas Julito is the face. of this segment, Scott. But I do have one other one. Rwanzi Contreras, as much pedigree as he has,

and as great as he looked last year in the minors, even in the minors this year, he gives up a lot of loud contact, and he walks a lot of batters, and he's got two tough matchups next week. The Braves and the Phillies, no, don't do it. But also, if you're feeling brave,

then you could do it. Yeah, I'm going to kind of cheat here, since it is such a short list of two-star pitchers. I actually do have Austin Voth as my 10th sleeper pitcher for this week. So he's a little higher than, I like him a little more than I normally like Fortune favors the brave picks. Austin Voth has polarized matchups, white socks, and Astros. So that's annoying.

But over his past seven appearances, six of them starts. he has a 227 ERA right just under a K per inning. And I believe the Orioles, no, they're only at home for the first half of the week. But that's a good environment for Voth, a guy who gives up fly balls. And he's been succeeding on the road during that stretch too. So I think he's, you know, if you're dead set on maximizing volume, I think you can look into Austin Voth. Let's wrap up on the pitching side of things.

single-start streamers for next week. What do you have here? I have Cole Irvin at home, which is always good for him, against Miami, the worst team for left-handed pitcher. So really like Cole Irvin for this week. Jesus Luzardo is at Oakland.

I wonder if those two are head-to-head. Revenge game. I love it. True for Luzardo, yeah. And obviously, Oakland's a good match-up. So he's pretty easy call. George Kirby gets the national. Kyle Gibson gets the pirates

and that's about it. All right, well, let's talk about some hitters. The best hitter matchups for next week are the White Sox, the Rays, the Astros, the Phillies, and the Rangers, the worst hitter matchups, the Dodgers, the Guardians, Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Tigers. With that being said, your sleeper hitters for next week,

hmm, I wonder who's number one on this list. I know. it's Vinnie P it's Vinnie P and number two is Von Grissom neither one of them you know their matchups aren't horrible but

normally I'd focus on players with better matchups than these two have this upcoming week but you know if the threshold is these are my favorite hitters roster

in 80% less than 80% of leagues to start this week I mean it really would be past Guantino or Grissom apart from the matchups I hope I hope this is the last week I have to include them here

because they finally get over that 80% threshold. But continue to stick with them. You mentioned the Rangers as my fifth favorite matchups this week. Got to like Nate Lowe. I got to like Laudy Tavares. He continues to, he keeps it going. He missed a little time with injury there,

but he's come back hot, and both of them have two games at Coresfield this week, which further bolsters their case. the Mets were not among my teams with the five best matchups, but they have pretty good matchups nonetheless. And only one of their six games is against the lefties. So I think that makes Brett Beatty pretty easy call for his first full week in the majors. And by the way, he hit another ball more than 100 miles per hour off the lefty in Thursday's game.

So that's a continue. needs to be impressive for him, Brett Beatty. Okay, so kind of going off the beaten path here, I have Derek Hall of the Phillies, who only plays against lefties, but as of now, the Phillies are, I mean, he only plays against righties. But as of now, the Phillies are scheduled to face six

and they're seven games this upcoming week. And they're all at home where, like, Hall has just killed it there. So I think only 20% rostered we'd hardly ever talk about it but Derek Hall a good power source and I think you will be this week and even more off the beaten path Jose Siri of the race

remember formally of the Astros we haven't I don't think we've talked about it at all since that trade he's been playing center field every single day for the race and providing some stolen bases underlying numbers look pretty good even though the production's been the actual production's been a bit lacking

The Rays have the second best matchups this week against the Angels four games at Boston for three. And given the playing time, particularly if you need stolen bases, Jose Siri, I think, is as true of a sleeper as you're going to find. Let's get into some leftovers from Thursday's action, and we will start with the hitters. Nate Lowe went one for three with his 17th home run. One of the sleeper hitters, as Scott just mentioned, he's betting 289 overall now on the season. Adoli-Scarcia went one for four with his 18th steel. and he currently has a career high 15 game hitting streak going. So starting to see more consistency out of Adoli's Garcia.

I mean, to be honest, he's consistently been great this year. Anyway, Wilson Contreras had a double dong. He's now up to 19 home runs, but since the start of July, it's got 32 games for Wilson Contreras. He is betting 184 during that time with six homers and 35 strikeouts in 32 games. His batted ball data has a ball. doesn't look so great, he's not hitting the ball as hard during that time. I think it's fair to say the trade rumors probably affected him mentally. He is a human. That's, I think, a very fair excuse

for Wilson Contreras, but I saw you moved him down in your rankings a little bit. He's no longer your number one ranked catcher. Yeah, he's not. Will Smith is. Will Smith's had a better season. I think, you know, the skill indicators are even better for him. So, you know, I haven't lost faith in Wilson Contreras or anything. Obviously, every good hitter goes through bad stretches. I don't think you need to bench him or anything. It's the catcher spot. So, you know, you can only expect so much production there to begin with. But yeah, I have Will Smith now as my number one catcher rest of season. Who is this Will Smith that you speak of, Scott? I don't know. I only know him as W.D. Smith, which I still, I got a research is because every time.

I go to the Dodgers box score now, it's just so weird. Seeing W.D. Smith, it's just, I don't know. It's just kind of weird for me. So. Okay, I was double checking his jersey number to make sure it wasn't 40. Because that would kind of make sense as a nickname then, right? But, yeah, 16. So that would be pretty cool. I don't know. But no, I've only seen the WD and the MOB box scores. So I don't know. I don't think that's an actual thing.

Yeah, we got to see. Brian Reynolds went three for four with a double dong. He is now up to 20 home runs. and it's been an interesting year for Brian Reynolds. The batting average, not where you want it. 265. I think you were mostly drafting Brian Reynolds for that batting average, but he's been very good in terms of power. He's on pace for a career high in home runs,

which last year was 24. He's already at 20. He also has five steals. The counting stats are very bad. But Scott, did you see this kind of this rivalry between Brian Reynolds and Red Sox broadcaster Dennis Eckert No, I didn't see that. So Dennis Eckersley on the air while going through the Pirates lineup just completely

rips them. He's just like, what is this? He, I think he went as far as to say it was like trash or there was nothing, like, just completely ripped the Pirates. Oh yeah, no, I saw. Let me look up the exact quote because it was funny. And then it was, I know they asked Brian Reynolds about it. He's like, I couldn't care less about what Dennis Eckersley has to say.

And you know, shout out to Brian Reynolds. He had a good series. He had three home runs and three games. Ultimately, the Red Sox won two of three, so I guess they get the last laugh, but I don't know. Player versus broadcaster beef. He called it a hodgepodge of nothingness.

Yeah. That's a little critical, I would say. Yeah. No, Eckersley's... He's not really wrong, but it's a little mean. He's retiring, so that's... Yeah. He's been pretty fun.

But anyway, I will mention for Brian Reynolds since June 1st, he is hitting 309. Oh, right. So there's your batting average. I stand corrected. George Springer went 5 for 5 with a double and two runs scored. I feel like he just always crushes the Yankees. Vlad Jr. went 1 for 5 with a 3-run homer, his 26th.

He now has three in his last four games. And gosh, I mean, what would he do without Yankee Stadium? That was just a Yankee Stadium special. Gosh, just imagine taking advantage of that all the time. just embarrassing. Anyway, pitching standouts part one from Thursday. We have Zach Gowan. It is unfair to Zach Gallen that we're just getting him,

getting to him this late in the podcast, but I don't know. What else are we going to say? He's very good now. He's performing awesome. It's three straight starts of at least seven scoreless endings for Zach Gallen, and he posts a career high 12 strikeouts at the Giants in this one. He had 17 swinging strikes. Ten of those came on the curveball.

He's been amazing, Scott. I mean, completely destroyed, like, our expectations this year. In fact, I think we all had him as a bust, and he's just been amazing. So shout out to Zach Allen. Yeah, three straight scoreless, seven plus, as you said, combine nine hits between them. Awesome stuff. Yeah, he's been great. Adam Wainwright has now gone seven plus innings in four of his last five starts.

This one was up against the Rockies, seven shutout with seven strikeouts there. Jose Burrios gets back on track after two very rough stuff. He was at the Yankees, six and two-thirds, two runs allowed, nine strikeouts with 14 swinging strikes. I didn't see anything that changed for Berrios in the start, Scott. Would you play him at the Red Sox next week? Oh, my gosh. It's so frustrating, right?

Like, it seemed like an obvious sit after 13-earned runs in seven to two-thirds innings, previous two starts. I can't imagine starting Barrios against the Red Sox in a category's list. league, even in a points league, like, I think I'd sell out for volume before doing that. I just, I don't have enough trust in him yet. I mean, I thought he had earned it with that great July, but then the first two starts in August were just dreadful. Brutal stuff. Pitching standouts part two, Jacob de Grom was somewhat human, still turned into quality start at the Braves, six and two thirds, three runs allowed, nine strikeouts,

20 more swinging strikes, and he has allowed six earned runs over. over his first four starts since returning. 37 strikeouts to just one walk. Just think about that ratio right now. 37 to 1. It's absurd. It's just crazy stuff. Max Fried on the other side of this game,

strong start and his return from the concussion aisle. He went seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts there. And then U. Darvish. U. Darvish has now gone six plus innings. In 21 of 23 starts this season. He has not gotten enough credit for the volume that he has provided this year. I would say, obviously, it's Sandy Alcantara.

He's head and shoulders above everyone. Aranola is like, you know, that pseudo workhorse. But after that, I mean, you're talking about U. Darvish as one of the main workhorses in fantasy baseball this season. Worth pointing out. Yes. Bring in the show full circle here. Lucas Gialito now is about in the place you Darvish was coming into this year.

Like, we don't know if he's got anything left. It was so bad to finish last season. Well, clearly he did. And hopefully Gilead O can too. You Darvish's final line in this one. Eight in a third, five hits, three runs, six strikeouts. They brought him out for the ninth inning. I think he had less than 90 pitches before that ninth inning.

So I get it, but like, eh, you probably left him out there a little bit too long. And ultimately, the Padres wind up losing that game. The call to the bullpen for the Brewers. Devin Williams struck out the side for his eighth save for the Braves. Kenley Jansen locked down his 20. For the Cubs, Brandon Hughes picked up his first save with Rowan Wick unavailable.

For the Nationals, the game was tied in the eighth inning. Carl Edwards, once again, pitched the eighth inning. As soon as I pick him up, Scott, you know, they take him out of the closer roll, or I guess they don't have roles there, but whatever, it's annoying. He pitched against the heart of the lineup, the Padres, three, four, and five, and then the Nats took the lead.

Kyle Finnegan walked to but picked up his sixth save of the season. Did want to point out. Go ahead. I'll just say real quickly. Brandon Hughes might be a name to remember. He's a left-hander with a 303-E-R-A, 103-WIP, 11.4K per 9 for the Cubs. Rowan Wicks done a good enough job there

that he's probably just going to keep handling the closer role, but Brandon Hughes is interesting in case something changes. So Josh Hater is who relieved you Darvish in the ninth inning. There was runners on first and second. Hater hit Luke Voigt with a pitch. He walked Nelson crew. So he walked in the go-ahead run, and then he gave up a sacrifice fly, gave up another hit to

CJ Abrams after that, and then Lane Thomas lined out to end the top of the ninth inning at that point. So Josh Hader, he's looked real shaky for quite some time now and has not really started off his Padres, you know, tenure very well here. For the streamers this weekend, got to stream or not to stream, we'll start with Friday, Aaron Aspie at the Cubs. Keegan Thompson versus the Brewers, Carter Crawford at the Orioles, Graham Ashcraft at the Pirates, Patrick Sandoval at the Tigers,

and Marco G, Marco Gonzalez, at the A's. Yeah, so as we said yesterday, it's a pretty interesting list. I think in terms of how interested I am in starting them, I'd go Patrick Sandoval one, Aaron Ashby, 2, Graham Ashcroft 3, Marco Gonzalez, 4,

Cutter Crawford, 5. And don't start Keegan Thompson. I wouldn't. I wouldn't either. On Saturday, we have Mitch White at the Yankees, David Peterson at the Phillies, Tyler Alexander versus the Angels, Michael Walker at the Orioles,

Justin Dunn at the Pirates. I know, he's not very good, but it's the Pirates, right? I feel like I had to throw him on the list. Glenn Otto at the Twins and Chris Archer versus the Rangers. He's facing that hodgepodge of nothingness. Jeez.

Come on, man. they called up O'Neo Cruz. Yeah, show a little respect. David Peterson at Philadelphia and get used to starting him a lot down the stretch. I agree with that. I think Michael Walker at the Orioles is okay too. On Sunday, Aaron Savali versus the White Sox, Mitch Keller versus the Reds, Mike Minor at the Pirates.

I will throw anyone who is facing the Pirates on its list moving forward. Eduardo Rodriguez versus the Angels in his return. Hopefully, I don't know if that's confirmed. Zach Ranky at the Rays, J.P. Sears at home against the Mariners, and Dean Kramer versus the Red Sox. Well, if it is confirmed, I do think Eduardo Rodriguez against the Angels is the best call. He looked great on his minor league rehab assignment. Apparently, the velocity wasn't quite all the way back. So I'm not saying he's must start, but obviously the gentle landing there going against the Angels.

And my second choice would probably be Savale against the White Sox, but it's a distant second. We are going to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watch Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again on Monday. Bye-bye.