Fantasy Baseball Today - Andrew Abbott Dominates, Gavin Williams Bounce Back & 28 Days Later! (7/9 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

Andrew Abbott got away with it again (3:10)! ... Gavin Williams looked much better in his second start (7:14). ... News (12:36): Mike Trout could take batting practice this week. ... Christian Scott is lacking strikeouts and Mitchell Parker looked great (21:36). Yilber Diaz looked very good in his debut! ... Brooks Lee put together another multi-hit effort (28:41). ... Which hitters have really turned things up over the last 28 days (35:50)? ... Should you look to buy-low or drop these cold hitters (43:57)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (52:26). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Well, hello, and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, July 9th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, you know we're talking about Andrew Abbott. Gavin Williams bounced back in his second start.

We had some pitching prospects pitched pretty well, and I will debut a new segment called 28 Days Later. More on that. Later. Let's jump in. Is this happening? It is. All right, Scott, Player of the Night on Monday or Day.

We had a few day games. He can't keep getting away with it. He can't keep getting away with it. He won't. Okay. No, he won't. I don't know. Andrew Abbott, he did it again. This time against Colorado, seven shutout innings, eight strikeouts, three hits allowed, just two walks.

And he had 19 swinging strikes on 106 pitches. So he thoroughly dominated this start, which even though he's managed to keep runs off the board all year, the lack of domination is obviously what bothered us. The reason we didn't think he could keep getting away with that, the reason most of the The IRA estimator showed he couldn't keep getting away with their FIPP, X FIP, both approaching five, is because few strikeouts, many walks, many home runs, Andrew Abbott, really bad on all three legs of the FIPP triangle, and yet managing to keep runs off the board nonetheless. Well, this was a start, like I said, where he thoroughly dominated.

I would say it was his best start of the year. Certainly the 19 swinging strikes were his most on the year. And just the fourth time this year, he had double-digit. at swinging strikes in a game, at least according to his baseball reference game log. So did he turn over a new leaf here? Probably not. Probably not.

I will note he was facing the Rockies on the road, which is probably as favorable of a matchup as there is. He was, meaning the Rockies were on the road, not the Reds, because that would be a less favorable matchup. But you got what I was saying. And it's especially favorable matchup when the Rockies are in your home. That sounds weird.

Sounds kind of creepy, right? It's an especially favorable matchup when the Rockies are away from cores and just left cores because they have that core's hangover effect where their minds are having to adjust to a more typical elevation and typical movement of pitches.

So Andrew Abbott had that. working for him. Having said that, his sweeper was up 1.6 miles per hour, and he threw it more 24% of the time versus 16% because it was working so well. So that probably contributed to him getting so many whiffs too. If every start looked like this for Andrew Abbott, of course, we'd have nothing negative to say about him, but this was his best start of the year. I will reiterate, and unless he starts having more starts like this, I will continue to say, as Chris says, as Jesse Pinkman says, he can't keep getting away with it. You know what's even better about this bit is that Andrew Abbott kind of looks like Jesse

Plemons from the show? Yeah. I just realized that. And I'm like, ah, all the Breaking Bad. Jesse Plemons from Breaking Bad or Jesse Plemons from El Camino? Oh, gosh. Well, I hope not El Camino because put on a few pounds for that performance. But yeah, I think he kind of does look like him.

Anyway, yeah, I'm not going to reiterate everything that you said. The sweeper usage stood out to me, the fact that he threw it more, and that it was different in this start. The velocity was up, and it looks like there was four less inches of vertical brake and four less inches of horizontal brake on that sweeper. So just throwing it harder. Maybe it was just a tighter sweeper, not as loopy as previously. But overall, he was dominant in this outing.

And I don't know. Obviously, if he can build off of this, you picked him up for a two-star week. You don't need to just go out and drop him right away. Let's see how the second start goes later on this week. But a reminder, his previous two starts before this, he had 10 walks to four strikeouts. And something like that is just not sustainable to pitch well while walking that many batters versus striking that many out. So great performance here for Andrew Abbott. And if he can do anything like that again in his second start, then maybe we will begin to build more.

confidence in him moving forward. Player of the night for me is going to be Gavin Williams, who looked much better in his second start, and this one was at the Tigers. He threw five and a third, shutout innings, four hits, one walk, five strikeouts, had 11 whiffs on 89 pitches, five on the curve, three on the fastball, three on the cutter, did a good job limiting hard contact in this one, and did change the pitch mix from his first start. He threw a lot more curveballs in this one.

It was a great pitch for him last year. It was a great pitch for him in this start. as well. And Gavin Williams continues to use that new cutter instead of the slider that he used last year. For some reason, the velocity was down three miles per hour from start one to start two on that cutter. So maybe he's just kind of tinkering with it and trying to figure it out. Maybe it's a classification issue. I don't know. Yeah, that's what I think for it to be, for him to basically have thrown just one slider in this start according to Stackcast, which was his primary secondary last year

and the fact that the average velocity on that cutter was down more than three miles per hours he said I wonder if and the movement profile is different on the cutter too I wonder if it's kind of blending with the slider and kind of confusing stack cast that way and actually it's two distinct pitches being classified as one for Gavin Williams because it wouldn't make sense for him to just eliminate the slider

completely and yeah And then the big drop in velocity from one start to the next, as he said. So I thought it was encouraging not just because of the results for Gavin Williams, but because he did bring back in those breaking balls that were so good for him last year. The curve balls, as you said, increased use. And I think the slider he probably got back to using more too, even though the data doesn't reflect that yet. Obviously, the results were better. And that first start was against the White Sox, remember, which made it especially trouble.

some like what's going on with Gavin Williams. Well, I think you can breathe a sigh of relief after this start. The only thing that I will push back a little bit on is that the cutter was still 88 miles per hour in this start. Last year, his cutter was 85 miles per hour. So that still seems like a pretty big difference in velocity. I don't know. It could be related.

Whatever it is, I mean, Gavin Williams bounced back in this one. He looked much better. And I will point out that his fastball velocity has been way up in his first two starts. He averaged 97.5 miles per hour in this one with the fastball. Last year, 95.7. So up almost two miles per hour on that fastball, and it's a really good fastball. So, yes, I believe I called Gavin Williams either a sleeper or a breakout for the second half on our Friday podcast last week. And I am sticking with it.

I'm pretty excited about what he can do in the second half. He's up to 79% rostered, maybe out there in some of the shallowest leagues. But yeah, if you picked up Gavin Williams, I would feel pretty good about that right now. Thanks to everyone for watching us live. We do appreciate you. Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven't already, it's YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. And if you enjoy the audio podcast, make sure to drop a five-star rating and review on both Apple and Spotify. We really do appreciate it. Let's take our first break. And when we return,

we'll get into the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in the news and notes. Mike Trout jogged on the first. and hit some soft toss on Monday. He should progress to batting practice in a few days. He's working his way back from a torn meniscus in his left knee, I believe. O'Neill Cruz was removed Monday due to his hamstring tightening up on him. Manager Derek Shelton said they did this out of an abundance of caution.

I saw some speculation that it might have just been a cramp instead of like a hamstring strain or a pull or anything like that. So we'll see if O'Neill Cruz is in the lineup here on Tuesday. Ketel Marte returned to the D-backs lineup after missing two games with a back issue. T.J. Friedel was clear to begin a running progression during a follow-up visit with the doctor on Monday. Friedel is currently on the I.L.

With a strained left hamstring, he's 60% rostered, and I think now is the time to pick him up, Scott. He was one of my sleepers for the second half. I love him. I love DJ Friedel, and I never dropped him in the leagues where I picked him up last time, except maybe one that was really shallow. But I tried not to drop T.J. Friedel because I still think there's a lot to like there.

Power plays in Cincinnati, even though there's not a lot of raw power. It works in that venue. And of course, he runs a lot and he bats lead off when he's healthy usually. And I agree that as long as he stays healthy and he's come back and gone back on the IL a couple times now. But as long as he can stay off the IL, I think good things are in. in store for T.J. Friedel still. Who do you think is better rest of season? Once he returns, obviously.

T.J. Friedel or Jared Kilnick? Oh, I have Friedel ranked higher. Okay. By 15, 20 spots, probably. Yeah, it's probably time for me to move Kelnick up a little bit. He has been really good since being moved to that leadoff spot, but I do agree. I think I would take T.J. Friedel as well. Jordan Montgomery will throw 20 to 25 pitches in a bullpen session on Tuesday.

He is on the I.L. with a right knee in. Meryl Kelly will throw a bullpen Tuesday. He's on the IL with a right shoulder strain and is not expected back until mid to late August. Eduardo Rodriguez will also throw a bullpen on Tuesday. Lots of D-back's pitchers on the men here. He is yet to make a start this season due to a left shoulder injury. Merrill Kelly is 78% rostered.

Erod is 52%. Who would drive their stash, Scott? Merrill Kelly or Eduardo Rodriguez? I think Merrill Kelly's the betel, the betel. the better pitcher. See, I had Merrill on my mind, and so I said, Betel. Merrill Kelly is the better pitcher. And if they're just now throwing bullpen sessions, I imagine they're on about the same timeline. So I'm going to say Kelly, who is more rostered already, it turns out. Would you take either of those debacks over Kershaw or Jeffrey Springs? No. I'd rather have Springs in Kershaw, who I imagine will be back sooner anyway. I have not looked into what Jeffrey Springs is doing, but I had a few people reach out and point out that he has been pretty good on his rehab assignment.

Last start, four Springs came at AAA on Wednesday of last week. He threw four shutout innings with six strikeouts to zero walks. I think we had an email about Jeffrey Springs versus Shane Boz. I think we'd all take Boz, right, over Springs? Just because he's in the majors, right? Let me double check my rankings. I was working on those earlier today. have Boz 62nd and Springs 65th.

Ooh, it's close. So it's very close. Yeah. Springs is more proven at the major league level. So the good thing about having, about opting for Springs is he can occupy an IL spot for now with, when for boss, he prevents you from from having another bench option. So I think that's very close. I, my rankings say boss just because he's back,

but I wouldn't blame you if he went springs instead. All right, some rough luck for Parker Meadows, who was placing the I.O. with a right hamstring strain. He was performing quite well in three games since being recalled, but then tweaked that hamstring on Sunday, and now he is out.

The Nationals option, DJ Herz, back to AAA. He definitely showed some flashes in those two great starts, the double-digit strikeouts, but his other five outings were pretty bad, So it has to work on some consistency. I don't know long term if there's a great pitcher there with DJ Hers, but showed some flashes. I think he's still their fifth starter, by the way.

We're going to see this. We're going to see a lot of this this week, where with the All-Star break coming up, teams aren't going to need a full rotation for a while. And so they're going to option guys with options to bring in more bullpen help or any kind of help that they need. Bryce Elder was promoted to start Monday against the debacks. Chris Sale was pushed back to Tuesday in order to get him an extra day of rest.

And Bryce Elder was fine. He had more walks and strikeouts, so I don't know that there's anything there with him. The Braves also selected Eddie Rosario's contract from AAA. He was starting in left field. On Monday night, he is 3% rostered. He's a name that could matter in deeper leagues at some point, and only 15-team Roto Leagues, things like that.

Stuart Fairchild was placed in the I. with a spine disc injury. And we have some trade rumors here, Scottie. Yeah, I believe the, when is the trade deadline? It's the 30th, 29th. I don't know. It's usually around there. I feel like they keep pushing it back,

not moving it forward. Right. So, you know, it used to always be July 31st, but they've been moving it around quite a bit. July 30th. July 30th, you're right, earlier this time. There you go. So we are exactly three weeks away

from the trade deadline. And here's the latest affiliate. are keeping a close eye on Brent Rooker. The Cubs are preparing a potential sale with Cody Bellinger, Nico Horner, and Jameson, expected to draw interest. According to Craig Mish, there is a growing belief

that Jazz Chisham could be traded away from the Marlins, and the Rangers could look to tradeaway players on expiring contracts at the deadline. That would include Max Scherzer, Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson,

and Kirby Yates. Is it fair to say that the Diamond won the Jazz Chisholm Zach Gallin deal? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, from a team perspective, they mean... I guess we'll see what the Marlins get for Jazz Chisholm, but I would imagine it's not what they could have gotten for Gallin if they still had him. Yeah.

It's kind of that weird trade with Manzardo and Savali, right? And then the raise just dumped Savali for some prospect recently. So that did not happen. That was one of the strangest deadline deals I've ever seen. I don't know if there were any other pieces involved, but it was just two up-and-comers being exchanged at the trade deadline. I feel like you don't see that a lot. Yeah.

One prospect update, the Reds promoted outfield prospect, Reese Heinz from AAA in 77 games down in the minors this season. He was only batting 216. He's got power and speed. There's no doubt. 13 homers, 12 steals, but also a 38% strikeout rate.

He made his debut on Monday and made quite the impression. two for three with a double and a massive home run 109.6 exit velocity 449 feet. There are tools here, Scott. I just don't know if Reese Heinz will ever make enough

contact to matter for fantasy. Yeah, if you're striking out almost 40% of the time against minor leaguers, I would bet against it. That home run was majestic though. Oh yeah, he can do that. Yeah. Remember, I'm not sure I remember.

Oh, okay, yeah, I had to look up the name again. Archimedes, Camino. Nope, is that the right guy? Are you thinking of Aristides Aquino? Yes, there you go. The Punisher. Archimedes. Who is that guy?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so you do remember him. I don't remember him, but you remember him. Oh, I was how he came up and hit like a zillion home runs for the Reds and then was never heard of again. that was in 2019. He had 19 home runs of 56 games. We.

And he got more chances than I remember him getting, but he batted 192 for the rest of his career. Anyway, I just brought his name up because he was a Reds prospect too excited us with his power before and never amounted to anything. And I'm going to guess that's how this goes for Reese Hines with T.J. Friedel on the way back.

Yeah, I don't expect him to get a ton of it bats in the short term either. All right, let's get into Waverwire pitchers from Monday's action, and Christian Scott had a solid outing at the Pirates, five and two-thirds, two runs allowed, only three strikeouts. He has four strikeouts or fewer in five straight starts, so not really sure what's going on with the lack of whiffs with Christian Scott. Mitchell Parker turned in a strong start up against the Cardinals,

seven innings, two runs. One of those earned, he had six strikeouts and one walkie, changed up the pitch mix quite a bit in that start. Miles Michaelis, back-to-back quality starts after getting crushed back on June 27th. He was at the Nationals where he threw six and a third shutout innings with three strikeouts. And Chris Paddock pitched well in his return from the IL. Great matchup at the White Sox, five innings, two runs, three strikeouts. Scott, are you actually excited about any of these names here?

The excitement is dwindling, I would say, for Christian Scott right now. Yeah, it is. He was in line for two favorable matchups, and look, this was successful enough. He allowed two base runners in five and two-thirds innings just for the low whip he gave you, I would say it was worth it. But he has been underwhelming in terms of strikeouts,

and it continued in this start, just three and five and two-thirds innings. As I said, I think the last time he started in his grand return to the majors, he's the sort of pitcher who has to get whiffs with his fastball. Did better with that in this one, five whiffs on the fastball, but that's on 57% fastballs. So it's not like it was a great rate.

He had only one whiff on his fastball in his previous start, remember? And rookie, obviously, could improve from here. But I would say given the, what's the, what's, a fertile environment for pitching in fantasy. I am not eager to drop a ton of pitchers I currently have rostered in my leagues. I don't know if you're the same way, Frank. I feel like Scott would be one of the easier cuts

on the teams where I have him. I am encouraged by this Mitchell Parker start because he had been trending the wrong direction, only one quality start in his previous five. But this was a really good start. and of his 11 whiffs, six came on the slider, which he hardly used before. He had thrown at 8% of the time this season.

He threw at 25% of the time in this start. And like I said, I got more than half his whiffs. For the little bit he used it before, it's had a good whiff rate. And so it's nice to see Mitchell Parker trying different things to get out of the sort of rough patch he was in. And maybe this opens up new potential for him. And even though he had struggled recently, Mitchell Parker still has a 344 ERA, a 109 whip on the year.

Great control, keeping that whip down. And I would say, I would say, is he more rosterable than Christian Scott? Maybe after this start he is. I don't think they're in vastly different categories. The underlying numbers are a little bit better for Parker than they are for Scott. Yeah, I would imagine so. Yeah. I think that's totally defensible, ranking or just one team.

Parker on your fantasy team more than Christian Scott right now. Two pitching prospects that pitched well. Yilbert Diaz of the D-backs. A great debut up against the Atlanta Braves. Six innings, one run, five strikeouts. He had nine whiffs on 83 pitches. A three-pitch mix, 58% fastball, 33% slider, 10% curve. Really good spin rates on that slider as well.

And K. Dare Montero of the Tigers. Back-to-back quality starts. Tough matchup up against the Guardians. and he pitched really well. Six and a third shotout innings with four strikeouts. He had eight whiffs on 73 pitches. So really efficient. Recording 19 outs on just 73 pitches.

Anything here, Scott. K. Dare, Montero, Yilbert Diaz. Well, Yilbert Diaz was one of the biggest risers among pitching prospects this year, I thought. So for him to come in and have a debut this good, I was pretty encouraged by it. and part of what made it encouraging is he did, he got a decent number of wifts on his fastball. It averaged 96. It peaked at 98.

It's the pitch that I feel like got the most attention in the scouting reports. Also, I'm looking at his pitch selection at AAA. He had a cutter that he threw one third of the time. He didn't even reveal it in this start. So he may have simplified things, given that it was his first start in the majors. We see pitchers do that often when they're first called up, try not to get too fancy. But there may be even more variety for Yilbert Diaz going forward. But I thought he looked good.

He threw 64% of his pitches for strikes. Remember walks were an issue we talked about in the minors. But that's a decent strike rate. walked only one. The ERA was over four in the miners, but again, AA, AAA for the Diamondbacks really hitter friendly. I think the stuff looks good for Yolbert Diaz, and I think he'll be sticking around after this strong debut.

Maybe he'll get sent down tomorrow because the All-Star breaks coming up. I don't want somebody to throw those words back at me, but I think they'll probably slot him in as their fifth starter for the start of the second half with all those pitchers they have on the Mint. Anything on Kedare Montero of the Tigers? Yeah, he's, like I said, last time, the changeup in slider both have good whiff rates. And so every time he has a decent performance, and this is two in a row now, it makes me wonder if he could be something. The minor league track record is pretty bad.

So I'm more skeptical than not, but I don't want to just completely dismiss him since some of the individual pitches have interesting. characteristics. Are you looking to add either right now? Like maybe Yilbert Diaz in a deeper league or just kind of wait for now? Yeah. I would prefer to add Yelper Diaz over Kate Air Montero. I don't think either needs to be added in standard size leagues. But anything 15 teams are deeper, I think it's time to look into Yolprudia.

Sure. Not for like a big bid or anything. But if you can, if you have somebody to do that. drop. I think there's enough upside there that you could make a play for him. I don't think either of these pitchers matter for fantasy, but they both pitched well on Monday. Chris Flexson and

Ryan Feltoner. Anything with those two? I agree that they don't matter. All right, so let's keep it moving. Waiverwire hitters for Monday's action, Brooks Lee, another multi-hit game, two-for-five with two RBI. Both of his hits were singles. He has multiple hits in four of six

games since being called up, and he is up to 63% rostered on CBS. is he the most, nope, second most added player from this past weekend. Ben Rice was number one, no surprise there. Brooks Lee was number two, and Jose Miranda was the third most added hitter. And Nick Gonzalez-

All of that makes sense. Yes, it does. Nick Gonzalez picking things back up after a recent slump, two-for-four with a double, a run in RBI last 12 games. He's batting 289. He's got four doubles, one steal.

No homers, though. Nick Gonzalez has not homered since June. 15th. I assume you'd rather have Brooks Lee's got at this point if we're just talking about I think you got to try for as much upside as you can get there. Not that Dick Gonzalez has none

but Lee is the more enticing like if we're calling them prospects I understand Gonzalez has no longer officially carries that label but if we're calling them prospects I think Lee is the more

exciting prospect Gonzalez, I'll note, has much better numbers away from Pittsburgh than in Pittsburgh, which makes sense. It's always been a difficult venue for right-handed hitters. But part of the reason I had them among my sleeper hitters for this week is because the pirates were playing nothing but road games. So something to keep in mind if you have the ability to carry more than one second baseman and can play the matchups in that way, home venue versus away venue for Nick Gonzalez. I do think their game today was at home, but it might.

Yeah, okay. So six of seven at home. I think it was like a weird makeup game kind of thing for the pirates today. All right, yeah, I think that's fair with Nick Gonzalez. Would you drop him for some of these other names we spoke about yesterday, Luis Garcia, Colt Keith? Do you think they have more upside than a Nick Gonzalez at this point? Colt Keith and who was the other one? Luis Garcia.

I think I'd rather have Nick Gonzalez, but it's it's not a slam dunk. If Luis Garcia's playing time was more regular, then I might give the edge to him because he steals some bases and Gonzalez doesn't. But I think with the playing time situation as it is, I like Gonzalez enough that I'll stick with him over those two. All right, some hitters in deeper leagues that should be out there on many waiver wires right now. Joshua Palacios has been picking up some playing time with the Pirates recently, one for four with his first home run. Two RBI has started three of the past four games with the pirates. Angel Martinez is a prospect with the Guardians that we have not spoke about,

and he went two for four on Monday. He's eight for 20 so far. He has started five games in a row for the Guardians has hit second in the lineup in each of those. Trevor Larnick went one for four with his ninth home run He added a walk and very odd His home run traveled 382 feet He also had a flyout that traveled 404 feet And it would have been a home run in seven out of 30 ballpark

So just an interesting little takeaway there for Trevor Larnick Matt Walner 2 for 4 with his second home run He had two hard hits over 111 miles per hour And Lioti Tavaris has been picking things up recently Five steals in his past 17 games Scott, are you interested in any of these names in deeper leagues? Tavaris, Walner, Larnick, Angel Martinez, and Josh Palacios. Well, you know, I talked about Trevor Larnick as a potential second half breakout.

All the data looks great for him. Exit Velocity readings. The strikeout rate is vastly improved from his previous stints in the majors. And I think he could be a breakout pick in the second half. Not that he needs to be added in standard-sized leagues yet, but somebody to keep an eye on, I think the most intriguing upside of this group belongs to Trevor Larnick. Is it Angel Martinez or Anhele Martinez?

However you want to pronounce it, he is somebody who gets on base a lot looking at the minor league track record. And so far in the majors, has done the same, has walked eight times in his first, actually this isn't even the updated number did he walk today he had

eight times in his first seven games yeah I have eight walks had two strikeouts so far yeah and so it makes sense why the guardians are batting martina second he doesn't have a lot of raw power like the eggs of velocity readings aren't impressive but he did hit

a relevant number of home runs in the minors I would say he had five in a hundred two of bets this year prior to getting the call. He had 14 in 525 at bats last year. Good poll rates, which help contribute to that. And I'm not saying he needs to be added much of anywhere yet. But I do think there may be something here with Angel Martinez. Worth keeping an eye on.

Okay. I was trying to listen to some highlights to see if they would say his name. and they did not say his first name. So the mystery lives off. I'll call him Angel for now. I will look it up right after this. Let's take our final break. And when we return, 28 days later, what is that?

I don't know. We'll find out right after this. 28 days later, inspired by the 2002 zombie horror classic with my guy, Killian Murphy, big fan. Is he your guy? Yeah, big fan at Peaky Blinder's great show. Have you watched Peaky Blinders? No, not yet.

Do you plan on it? Do you plan on it? Yeah. It is over so you can watch it now. I'm allowed to watch it according to my own watching rules because it is over. Yes. And so it's on the list. Yeah.

Now, I'm a fan. I think he does great work. I liked Killian Murphy and Batman Begins. He was good there? Tell you that much. He's great in Oppenheimer. Yeah. There, you see guys, I've seen some movies.

I've seen some shows. I've seen some things. that are not Adam Sandler related. Just nothing pre-2004. No. Honestly, this segment, I've been building it up. It's just a reason to talk about players who've either been really good or really bad over,

you guessed it. The last 28 days. So we will start with the good. I have five names here who we pretty much have been expecting to be good, but they have taken it to the next level over the past 28 days. And that includes CJ Abrams, who is betting 388 with four homers,

four steals, and 21 runs scored almost as many walks as strikeouts during this stretch. Ian Hap, 295 batting average, seven homers, 22 RBI, a 1062 OPS. Brian Reynolds, 330 with eight homers, 1041 OPS, Christian Walker. We know I had that crazy run in Dodgers Stadium recently. 297 batting average, 10 homers, 23 RBI, 984 OPS. And Willie Castro, a name we haven't talked too much about, but he's been really good. 317, 3 homers, 22 run scored,

three steals on 914 OPS. Anything to add on this group, Scott? I mean, it's pretty straightforward. Again, we were expecting these guys to be somewhat good this season. Yeah, we were. C.J. Abrams has had some ups and downs, and I don't know the last time we talked about him. I may not have spoken as optimistically,

because I know I loved at the start of the year, his ground ball rate was way down. He was getting line drives. He was getting fly balls. He was pulling the ball. He was hitting home runs. And then it dried up for a while. And I was discouraged because he wasn't running as often as we hoped for.

He wasn't running as much in the second half last year. I was thinking maybe 60 steals for Abrams. And he's way off pace for doing that. But it's picked up again, the hitting. And so I'm not sure it matters. Like, he's a stud. He's a stud. and I'm having a really difficult time ranking him at shortstop

because of mainstays like Corey Seeger and why is this not changing? It's not changing to shortstop so I can see what I'm talking about. Yeah, I don't know why it's not changing. But yeah, mainstays like Corey Seeger and others who are in that same vicinity, Trey Turner. I think I've decided I have to have Trey Turner. Turner ahead of him. But like, CJ Abrams has been a stud, even in points leagues. His point per game production is, again, I got logged off of CBSports.com, so I'm not going to be able to

answer this. I'd have to log back in first. Sorry. Go ahead and talk. It's going to take a minute. CJ Abrams is someone I've noticed. Yeah, he has almost as many walks to strikeouts during the stretch, as I mentioned. And I actually do have him ahead of Corey Seeger in Roto. Did I move him ahead in points. Yeah, I have CJ Abrams ahead of Corey Seeger in both formats, and it's not really a knock on Seeger because he's been really great over the past month or month and a half, but Abrams has also been

really good this season, so. Okay, here's the numbers I wanted. 3.45 points per game for Abrams, 3.08 for Seeger. That's a big difference. Yeah. And so that's ultimately why I made that move to. Of course, Seeger, what he did last year, he was well over 3.4 or 5 points per game.

But, you know, it's not like Seeger's 2023 is the standard form necessarily either. He's kind of, I know we've gone from talking about C.J. Abrams to Corey Seeger here, but Seeger has kind of slipped into having the BAPIP issues that he had in 2022. Remember his first year in Texas, the year before the shift ban, where he ended up hitting only 245, because his Babbup was so low. He's kind of having some of that going on this year, too. And I'm not so quick to dismiss it as a fluke, given that it's the second time in three seasons.

I don't know. I can't really explain it. Maybe it is a fluke. But I'm not just going to immediately dismiss it as a fluke. Five other names that are hitting well over the last 28 days. They could be out there on waivers. Jesse Winker, 286 batting average, four homes. A 962 OPS.

Sadan Rafael, Raphaela, 333 with four homers and three steals. Jack Peterson, 273 with six home runs, a 916 OPS. Michael Bush. This one surprised me. I didn't realize he's been good. But 316 batting average with three homers, 902 OPS. Lots of walks, a 13% walk rate during that time. And Spencer Horowitz of the Blue Jays, 338 batting average, 10 homers.

No, not 10 home runs. Three home runs, 10 run scored, a 956 OPS, just about as many walks as strikeouts. Do you think any of these need to be rostered in more leagues than they are? Winker and Raphael is 77%. And then Peterson, Bush, and Horowitz are all under 60% rostered. I think the two most under-roastered here are Winker at 77%. I don't know what format you want to roster him in at this point. his skill set works for both points in categories leagues.

Maybe if it's like a 10-team three outfielder league, Winkermike, it's squeezed out. But otherwise, I feel like he needs to be rostered most everywhere. And Spencer Horwitz is the other, the least rostered of them at 28%. It probably needs to be closer to 60. I'd rather have Spencer Horwitz than Jack Peterson, I think, Michael Bush.

They're all in the same range, let's say, and they're both rostered 50 to 60% whilst Horwitz is down there, 28%. He's eligible at second and first now, started just DH only. So it's become more versatile, great hit tool, walks a lot. Not going to hit for a ton of power, but has hit for enough that I don't think it's going to be a huge liability for Horwitz. So I would say those two are the most under-roastered here. I do like what Raphael is doing. 77% sounds about right, though.

Michael Bush, of course, has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and he's hot, as you point out. He's one of my sleeper hitters this week with the Cubs having seven righties on the schedule. I wish that he wasn't striking out 28% of the time during this hot streak. Yeah. because that needs to improve. For the season, it's even higher than that. It's a prohibitive strikeout rate, I would say.

And he's a rookie, so, you know, it doesn't mean he's going to strike out at this rate for his entire career. It's not like strikeouts were a huge issue for him in the minors. But I'd be more convinced that Michael Bush had turned the corner here and was going to live up to all the potential I think he has if during this hot streak, he wasn't striking out so much. All right, let's turn over to the bad over the last 28 days. Would you be looking to buy low on any of these right now?

Marcus Simeon, I had not realized this. 143 batting average with a 412 OPS. I know he picked up a couple of hits here on Monday. These numbers were before that, but that's pretty bad. Andres Jimenez, 212 with one homer, five steals, 531 OPS, Anthony Volpe, 180 with zero homers, three steals, 461 OPS, and Michael Garcia, 156, with one homer, six steals, a 471. So all of these names under a 540 OPS over the past month or so, you're looking to buy low on any of these names, Scott. Semyon, Jimenez, Fulpe, Michael Garcia.

Well, Simeon, I think, is the most obvious, just given the track record, given that he's been a fantasy stud for as long as he has, given that he's an all-star even this year, which is upsetting to some Jordan Westberg fans especially. I mean, the year-to-date production is still good for Marcus Simeon. So I'm not even sure how low you can buy on him. In terms just fantasy points, he's the sixth-the-best second baseman. And, yeah, I wish he was running more. that looks like the only three stolen bases this year.

Yeah. But that's kind of been an issue for the whole Rangers lineup. And he did lose a fair number of steals just last year, too. Went from 25 and 22 to 14 last year. So I don't know that that's going to be a big part of Simeon's game, even if he picks things up. But good plate discipline still. And yeah, the track record speaks for itself.

I would bet on him turning things around. Andres Jimenez probably will too. It's a little harder to get enthusiastic about him because at his best, he's kind of a middling option for 12-team leagues. But I expect a lot of steals for him. I expect the batting average to be decent in the second half. I think the most questionable of this group

are Anthony Volpe and Michael Garcia. I would be more inclined to bet on Volpe because of where he bats and who he bats in front of. But Garcia is, I guess their skill sets are kind of similar, right? Garcia does hit the ball harder, but in a worst venue, worst lineup, less of a prospect pedigree.

Those are the two I'd say you'd most successfully could buy. low on, but they're also the two that I'm least confident you're actually buying low on. Let's fire up the dropometer for the rest of these names and try and move through this a little bit quicker, but Alex Verdugo, 204 batting average, two homers, 573 OPS over the last 28 days. He's still 85% rostered. Where would you put Verdugo on the dropometer, Scott? 1 to 10. Oh, probably like an 8.

Even in five outfielder leagues, I think it's, I, think it's justifiable, maybe not deeper five outfielder leagues. I imagine he'll get hot again at some point, but the upside's only so high. Would you drop him for Jesse Winker, who we mentioned earlier? Yeah. Yeah, I think I would do that as well. Ezekiel Tovar, 188 batting average with two home runs of 515 OPS. He is still 86% rostered. When you chase pitches and swing and miss as much as Tovar does, Scott, I think this is just part of the package that you get year long with him, but what do you

think? Where is Tovar on the dropometer? Probably about an eight as well. I you know, maybe I'd be a little more reluctant to drop Tovar in like a standard Roto League where you have that extra middle infield spot to fill

than I would Verdugo. Because he contributes in a wire wider variety. But he has more home run power. He actually hasn't run as much this year as I thought. But he's more capable of stealing bases than Verdugo is.

But they're about in the same category. It depends on, I feel like we've had a lot of emerging in middle infield options lately that make it easier to justify. So, yeah, I'll say seven, I guess, instead of eight for Tofar. Yeah, I think a five. I'm just going to split it down the middle. Like, if you're playing in a points league, I think you could drop Tovar. If you're playing in a Categories League, I think you probably should hold on to him.

Reese Hoskins, batting 179 with three homers of 590 OPS has not looked the same since returning from that injury. Just a has a 38% strikeout rate over the last 28 days. Scott, where is Reese Hoskins on the dropometer? I think in shallow head-to-head leagues, he's fine to drop. but I imagine he'll look like Rees Hoskins again eventually and he's just going through a slump, maybe a little rusty after that long layoff. Not that he was immune to slumps during all those years in Philadelphia,

you know, there's a reason why he tends to hit 240 or less. I doubt he's just gone rotten here. So shallow leagues, head-to-head leagues where there's all. always ample alternatives on the waiver wire. Hoskins isn't high-end enough that you have to wait out the cold streaks. But every roto league, I'd hang on to him. So I'll put it right into five for Reese Hoskins. Would you drop him for Nate Lowe or Michael Bush?

Feels like six and one, a half a dozen of the other. They're hotter right now. So if you need somebody to slot in your lineup, I'd rather slot them than Hoskins. Okay. Especially low, because I think he's less matchups dependent than Bush is. What about Dansby Swanson, betting 155,

two homers, one seal of 498 OPS? The problem has just been these ground balls of 52% ground ball rate during the last 28 days. It's been a problem all season long. He's still 79% rostered.

Where is Danesby Swanson on the drop-o meter? Four. I'm giving him a long leash here because I feel like he's so established. and he's not in an age where we should really be worried about decline. So obviously, sort of the same thing as Reese Hoskins.

Head to head league, no middle infield spot. The sort of league where you're not going to Stash Watson on your bench. Okay, you can probably cut him loose. But anything deeper than that, any road of league, I've seen him dropped in some of those leagues and I've scooped him up right away because I don't think he deserves to be dropped. Okay. Dalton Varsho, batting 151 with one homer, two steals,

458 OPS, and a 35% strikeout rate. Where is Varsho on the dropometer? Let's see, I went 7 on Tovar, 8 on Verdugo, probably the same as Verdugo and 8. And Nolan Gorman, 167 batting average. Does still have three homers and four steals, but a 527 OPS, 42% strikeout rate. Man, I know he was streaking.

last year, but it feels like he has taken it to the next level. Where is Nolan Gorman on the dropometer? Let's say six. More dropable than Reese Hoskins, less droppable than Ezekiel Tovar. All right, that was 28 days later. How do we do, Scott? Good, bad, streaky hitters?

I don't know what to compare it to because it was a brand new segment. It's pretty good, right? I don't know. It's probably not as good as watching the movie. I agree. I mean, I don't know why people listen to this podcast for their entertainment as it is. You're doing a great job selling us right now, Scott. You know what?

They're here. I'm not going to chase them away, I don't think. But yeah, whatever. Well, we want you to stick around. So hopefully you are entertained and you enjoyed that segment. One pitching leftover, Mitch Keller was great up against the Mets, eight innings, two runs, six strikeouts to zero walks. and did change up the pitch mix after two rough outings in a row.

He used his sweeper and his slider a lot more, and both of them were very good, Scott. Anything else to add on Mitch Keller? Big bounceback. I think this is just Mitch Keller doing what Mitch Keller does. And if you try to get in the weeds too much, you're just going to end up getting lost. It's going to be like that scene in the Lost World Jurassic Park

with the tall grass. I don't know what that has to do with getting lost. They got attacked by Raptors. I don't know. That analogy didn't work. I'm sorry for it. But you get what I'm saying, hopefully. Mitch Keller.

Mitch Keller does things unconventionally, but he has enough of these gyms that he's worth keeping around. All right. Yeah, I would agree. Some hitting leftovers, Brendan Nimmo keeps on hitting. Two for four with his 14th home run. Last 21 games for Nimmo. he is betting 363 with seven home runs, 23 runs, 23 RBI, and an OPS over 1100.

He has been awesome. Alec Berluson, another one, he stayed hot, two for five with his 14th homer. Last 19 games, he's betting 320 with five homers and five steals. Did not see the speed coming for Berluson, but it's been a sneaky part of his skill set so far. Corey Seeger, picking things back up, as we mentioned, two for five with his 17th home run. he has homered in back-to-back games. He's batting 3.93 over his last 12. Wyatt Langford remains locked in, two-for-five with his fifth home run.

He was moved up to the cleanup spot. They actually moved Adoulos Garcia down in the lineup. Last 27 games. I should have included him in the segment, right? 28 days later. Wyatt Langford. Yeah, you kind of just added one more. Yeah, 3-43 batting average, four homers, six steals, and OPS close to 1,000.

And Paul Goldschmidt. A name we haven't talked about in a while. He went two for five with his 12th home run. It has been a pretty split season so far. If you look at the first 37 games for Goldie, 190 batting average, two homers. Last 50 games, he's betting 255 with 10 home runs and five seals. That's a 30 homer 15 seal pace over 150 games.

So I kind of feel like it's still been a letdown, no doubt about it. Yeah. Goldschmidt over the, like, I don't know. know last 50 games i think it was like mid-may he's been a lot closer to what you were expecting since then well he's he's proven he's not useless i the strikeout rate still a lot higher the batting average is still a lot lower i would say it's a close call who's going to be better between gulchmidt and rice hoskins the rest of the way i would rather roster gulchmidt because he's the one performing now and i think hoskins has been sitting from time to time gulchmidt obviously hasn't

But that's what Goldschmidt's last 50 games have reminded me of, Reese Hoskins when he's going well, you know? So I don't have him as a top 15 first baseman the rest of the way, but sure, Paul Goldschmidt isn't totally useless. How do you like this, Frank? So I told you I was working on my rankings earlier today. I've got Brandon Nimmo 13th in the outfield rest of season. I think a spot-hot.

higher in points leaks. I moved them up to 14th, maybe two or three weeks ago. I thought at the time, I was like, oh, man, this is really aggressive, but statcast numbers are there.

The actual numbers are creeping it up. He's been really hot. Batting average is still, but he's, by this year's standards, he's been a slugger. And lots of runs, lots of RBIs,

a few steals. Like you said, statcast suggests more correction to come, even than what we've seen lately. He's one of several outfielders. I finally moved ahead of Corbyn Carroll. Ooh. But probably the most surprising of that group is Brandon Nimmo.

I love it. I am all for moving Brandon Nimmo up the rankings. Some bullpen updates from Monday for the Tigers. Jason Foley was unavailable. Shelby Miller pitched a clean ninth inning for his first save of the season. For the twins, Yohan Duran got the 10th with the game tied. He walked one but got out of it. And then the twins took the lead.

It was Cody Funderberg. Great name. Cody Funderberg. Who pitched a clean-off 11th inning for his first save of the season. For the D-backs, Paul Seawald is struggling big time. He got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer to Sean Murphy. He has blown three saves in July. He's given up seven earned runs over an inning in two-thirds.

it's been a rough go. I don't think they have anywhere another option that they're going to go with. I just think it's kind of a rough stretch here for Paul Sewell. Right? It clearly is. I would agree, though, that his role is probably safe for now, but we're getting to the point now

where two or three more outings like this in the span of a week could quickly change that. And then on the other side for the Braves, Reisel Iglesias pitched a clean bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied. The Braves took a one-run lead in the top of the 10th. Eglacius came back out. He gave up an unearned run tie game. It was Joe Jimenez who eventually picked up his second save of the season.

To stream or not to stream on Tuesday. And we have some pretty solid options. Dean Kramer up against the Cubs, Ben lively at the Tigers. Frankie Montas versus the Rockies. Brian Beaux versus the A's. Jose Cantona versus the Nats Michael Waka at the Cardinals Colin

Colin Ray versus the Pirates I'd like that a little less but it's not terrible I would rank them this may be the best streaming day of the year honestly because you know I usually don't like streaming these guys

I would go walk out St. Louis 1 Montas versus Colorado 2 3 let's say Dean Kramer against the Cubs 4 been lively at the title Tigers, five.

You could just keep going here. Five, Brian Beaux against the A's. Six. You know what? Five is Kentana against the Washington. You know what? I think you get the point. There are some good options here.

On Wednesday, we have Drew Thorpe up against the twins. We have Reese Olson, home against the Guardians. Carson Spires gets the Rockies in Cincinnati. Tobias Myers faces the Pirates. That's a pretty good matchup as well. Who are your favorites for Wednesday? Yeah. I'm less enthused about this group.

Probably Olson, Reese Olson against the Guardians is my favorite. Obviously bad matchup, but I think he's just far and away the best pitcher here. And second choice, Spires against the Rockies. It's a distant second.

I'll throw Tobias Myers as the third option there on Wednesday. Let's wrap up with team. name Tuesday and these are from Tom. If I were Matt Carpenter and you were my baby. If I were Matt Carpenter and you were my baity. Give Dylan more rice and cabbage. Keep Dylan more rice and cabbage.

Okay. Lots of food names in there. Get tray cabbage, Ben Rice, let's go. You find Blades all over France. I think that. I just... You're subbing Bladay for Badee, I guess. Yeah.

There's a lot of names. Over for over and France is obviously a name. It's... You made a little sentence there out of a few names. Good job. These are from Brian. Winker, Winker, chicken dinner. I see what you're going for.

It doesn't. It's not doing it for me. Should I read this next one? What do you think? I don't know. Probably not. All right. Arise and shine.

Okay. Stott or sit? Hmm. I haven't seen that usage of Stott, but sure. And Semi an Angel. That's good. Do you know that song, Scott? I would never make the connection if I saw that team name on my league scoreboard page.

But I see it now. It's a tough one. I like it. It leads like an auditory clue. to make it click. You could just clip out me singing it just now and just somehow attach that to your team name. I don't think anyone wants to do that,

but you could try it. No, probably not. These are from Jason, knick, knack, paddock, whack, give a dog a stone. What are you giving your dogs? What's interesting is we got a very similar one to this from another listener.

We'll get to it in just a little bit. Stone Cole Kellers. All right. And amateur close pro far. Amateur close pro far? Maybe I'm not reading it right. Is it just, is amateur only there

because it's like the opposite of pro? Right? Maybe. I don't know. It sounds dumb Jason. Not going to lie. Jason also sent in some Breaking Bad themed team names. Okay.

And he sent in, I am the one. who not knacks i am the one who knacks okay uh myzenberg whose name are we using there casey myz oh okay all right mike ermine trout you know i always thought of mike trout when i heard his name so this works and with it you say my name

okay uh these are from ben in a city with a 50 win team, but just one all-star. I believe that's Minnesota. Carlos Correa? Hmm. Hmm. Pablo Lopez should have pitched better. I don't know what to tell you. Yeah. First up, Stone Cold Gunners.

Okay. Hater's gonna haze. Mm-hmm. Bryson. Bryson. What? Bryce. Bryce. Like Bryce Harper, N. The letter N.

Bryson. Bryson stop. Bryce and Bryson. Okay. Stott to go. Sure. C, C's. I don't know that I get that one, but I gather that you do?

No, I have no idea. Okay. I never know. Shimp fried rice. All righty. Just win, baby, or just win Beatty? Win with two ends, yeah. Fetty whip.

Okay. And, What's new Scoobled do? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Not the best list I've ever seen there, Ben. This one's from Sage.

Carol Boschienes. I gather that's from Tiger King, which... Carol Baskin. Okay. That's pretty good. From Brian. Here we go. Nick, knack, paddock, whack.

Give a dog a bone. That one's back. Ah. I think Brian cracked the code here. These are from Mateo and they are Braves edition. So just for you, Scott. Tromp and Circumstance. Chadwick Tram, but really?

Love it. Trump? Okay, pomp and circumstance. Sorry, I couldn't think of the expression that was based on. All right. Yeah. My new gardener is a good Ray Kerr. Oh, wow.

Gosh. Again, somebody would have had to read that aloud to me for me to get it. Yep. I've been to Schwellenbach. Been to Schwellenbach. Which I looked up, I think it's actually a city in Germany. Okay. And the last one is, you may call it a tree line, but I call it a forest wall. Hmm.

I think, and I don't have an example coming to mind right now, but I think the name forest wall can be used in better ways than that. right? Probably. Yeah. Yeah. So that's my critique, Mateo. I'm trying to think of something. Thanks for playing.

Trying to think of something Game of Thrones related with a wall and a forest, but it's not coming to me right now. We'll think on it. We'll workshop it. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and we will be

back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Thank you.