Fantasy Baseball Today - Andrew Painter vs. Jacob Lopez, Andy Pages Replacements & More! (8/24 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 24, 2026

Andrew Painter and Jacob Lopez are both shoving (5:40)! ... Blake Snell has been awesome since his return (14:40). ... How did Kade Anderson look in his debut (18:27)? ... News (29:37): Andy Pages suffered a fractured hand. ... Jo Adell and Vinnie Pasquantino are picking things up (44:40). ... Jake Bennett bounced back this weekend (55:32). ... Start or sit these pitchers (1:06:37)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:16:35).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, August 24th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and the returning Chris Towers. Today on the show, we have Kate Anderson's debut to talk about

Waver Wire ads and drops, Andy Pahez replacements, unfortunately, and much more. Chris, you're back. How was the vacay? How was Camden Yards? It was nice. I went to Washington, D.C. I went to, when I go to Washington, D.C.

I went to Washington, D.C. for something. There was something. Oh, I saw my chemical romance in concert. That was cool. That was fun. And then I went to Camden's. And Yards caught the Yankees and O's, the O's. The O's.

I saw the podcast House of R recorded a live podcast episode there. So that was cool. It was Camden Yards. Lovely. Starting to show its age a little bit. The only thing I was, my only critique is it's like, because it was the first of like the new stadiums. The first of the modern. Yeah, the first of the mod, because it's 30 years old now, which is crazy.

You're saying it's old. I mean, it's 30 years old. What has happened? What has happened to time? The concourses aren't open to the field. That's the one, like, comparing it to city field, which is like one of my favorites of the newer stadiums, I think that's the only thing Camden Yards doesn't have going for. Everything gets beautiful. It's great sidelines, everything.

That's the one thing is the concourses are closed. At least the two that I was in. Maybe there's ones that are open. But that was my only critique, but I think it's a top five. ballpark that I've been to. Had a great time. Easy to get to. Love public transportation near a baseball stadium.

Always a fan of that. Eight and a half, nine out of ten for Cannon Yards, for sure. Very good. I went last year for the first time. It was very cool indeed. We were talking beforehand. I got any type of food item covered in crab meat while I was there. We were talking, obviously, you mentioned you didn't eat any of, like, the crab meat in the stadium.

Did you eat any, like, crab cakes while you were just in Baltimore? I'm I did where did I I had one in a bar while I was there and it was amazing I was so good I um yeah I I did have the steady Eddie IPA which is a pretty good one I'm a fan of that one the Eddie Murray branded IPA so it was a good time look it's it's lovely love the the whole northeast corridor love it the whole Acela corridor as they call it I'm a fan

All right, Scott, you are here too and you were coming to us from parts unknown. I guess we should address this at the top for those watching and figuring out, where is Scott? What's going on? Yeah, yeah. I'm in Fort Lauderdale back in my own old stomping grounds if I could get the words out,

been traveling all day. But yeah, I'm here. I'm ready to podcast. There's a bed behind me, which I think I did a pretty good job of hiding it. and now I'm drawing attention to it anyway. I think you should have recorded the whole podcast. From the bed.

Just from bed. I was just thinking that Scott just laying down on the bed, just louding up the microphone while he's podcasting. I also think it would be hilarious if he gets a noise complaint while he's in a hotel. Like someone comes knocking on the door, stop yelling about baseball in there. I think it would be, make for a pretty good experience.

That would be funny. Yeah. But to you, it would be funny. I don't think I'd enjoy it. Maybe not so much for you. All right. Let's get it to the players of the weekend.

Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, we are going to start with you. Who was your player of the weekend? I got to go with Andrew Painter, who has been trending up since he returned from the miners. Five starts in all, a 362 ERA, a 106 whip, 8.6K per 9. It was pretty good numbers. Definitely better than what we were seeing from Andrew Painter before.

but this latest start was dominant. Flat out dominant against the Cardinals on Saturday. Andrew Painter allowed one run run in seven innings, no walks, eight strikeouts, 20 swinging strikes on 103 pitches. That change-up, that seems to be responsible for the turnaround. It was his most thrown pitch. It was also up 1.4 miles per hour.

So it was thrown it harder. It was responsible for six of the whiffs, which tells you, you know, he got a bunch of whiffs on other pitches too. Five on the fastball, four on the sweeper, three on the slider. The fastball had two extra inches of induced vertical break. It was up to 18. Which that's a good induced vertical break on the fastball. That can make it a bat missing offering again, as we saw in this start.

His 100th pitch of the start was 99.6. six miles per hour, which was the hardest he's ever been recorded. He became with this start, this was an interesting stat from MLB.com. Andrew Painter with this start, I'll just read it. The last Philly to throw at least seven innings

of one run ball with eight strikeouts at Painter's age was Aaronnola in 2016. Prior to that, it was Cole Hamill's in 2007. So basically the last two pitchers that the Phillies graduated that young, you know, they're both obviously Cy Young caliber pitchers. Neither actually won a Cy Young. But in their heyday, they were Cy Young caliber pitchers. And Andrew Painter now joins them.

And, you know, all those other stats I gave for this start, things are really starting to look up for a rookie who, you know, used to be the top prospect in baseball. and had been looking like a bust up until very recently. Yeah, his, to get into the, so the change-up is new-ish. That was when he went down to AAA. He swapped out his splitter for a change-up. And it was interesting because the splitter was never a bad pitch for him,

but the change-up has been much better. But I think the key thing is the fastball here, which he has now had a whiff rate over 20% in four straight starts with his fastball, before this stretch he had four starts all season with a whiff rate of 20% or better on the four seam fastball. Now these are all relatively small sample sizes we're talking about 25 to 35 pitches

but his extension on the pitches is up a couple of inches across the board. Lance Prostowski wrote about it in his newsletter this weekend. I think it came out on Sunday and he didn't notice any kind of like grip change or orientation change in the foreseamer to explain the IVB increase. So his speculation that was that it was probably

more of like a lower half mechanical adjustment. And I did see some talk that he had a different cue with his lower half when he was pushing off that he credits with some of this, Painter that is. So it's all to say that all season when we've talked about Painter, the storyline has been, he's just got to survive when he's,

throws fastballs and not get destroyed with them. And the rest of the arsenal kind of looks pretty good, right? The sweeper, slider, and change up, I think all have whiff rates, 30% or better. Now all of a sudden, if the fastball can even play average, that would be a huge deal, let alone. I mean, it looked legitimately great today. I mean, if he's throwing 97 mile an hour average fastballs with 18 inches, inches of IVB, that could be a legitimately good pitch, which could change the whole outlook for Andrew Painter.

I mean, this is the first time that I think in his major league career, which is only 18 starts, but still, I think this is the first time Andrew Painter has looked like the guy he was supposed to be since 2023, right? That was when he got hurt? No, no, it was 22 was the last time he pitched. Yeah, it was before that. like this is this is what Andrew Painter

was supposed to look like and it's one start and who knows if he can sustain this but the fast the fast ball was great for one start

he had been trending up for yeah and the IVB had been up the previous couple of starts and so if the fastball is just average I think Andrew Painter can be a pretty good pitcher if the fastball is like a legit plus pitch, then we can start to get really excited about him. So I kind of think you have to react

to this start, you know, small sample sizes as it is. I think you have to react as if he's a must add pitcher. You know, I think him versus Jacob Lopez is a really interesting question. And I'm not sure what the answer is. I know Painter has better raw stuff. But I think I would lean Lopez because he's been doing it longer. But I think Painter probably has the higher ceiling of these too. I feel like Painter was pretty close to must add even prior to this start. And if this start was the beginning of him

rediscovering a good fastball, a quality fastball, then of course the upside's very high. But you know, it is, and you did point out, it's right to point out that it's not uncommon to see a pitcher gain two inches of induced vertical break in a start. in isolation, and it goes back to normal after that.

So we don't know, we don't know that that aspect of this is going to stick. But we do know that he had been trending up, and it just keeps getting better. And so at this point, yeah, there's no way you can leave Andrew Painter available in your league. To answer the obvious. Everybody needs another pitcher. To give the obvious answer, yes, drop Bryce Miller for Andrew Painter. Bryce Miller for anybody. Painter, just a reminder again,

the last five starts since returning. 362 ERA 106 whip, 26 strikeouts to 10 walks over 27 and a third innings. Chris, you brought up Jacob Lopez there. I will point out with Painter, by the way, at the Angels this week. So that is a fantastic matchup. But this is a really close conversation

because they're both right around 40% rostered. I think if you can add both, that would be the most optimal answer. But if you had to choose between the two, Jacob Lopez, six innings of one-run ball, nine strikeouts this weekend. Last seven starts 233, ERA 103 WIP. He gets to Orioles this week. Who would you guys take, Painter or Jacob Lopez?

I think the difference is so small, and the remaining number of starts is so small. I mean, we're talking about, what, six more starts probably for most pitchers, that the fact the painter gets the Angels is probably enough to give him the edge. But I do feel more confident, confident starting Jacob Lopez. than Painter right now. As excited as I think you should be about Painter. It's still a lot of risk, whereas I think Lopez should just kind of be good the rest of the way.

It's just a question of can he be as great as Painter could be if this is real, you know? We saw this from Lopez down the stretch last season and it was very good in his minor league career. I don't know what happened early this season. I think he's just going to be one of those guys with a very thin margin for error since he's not overpowering.

But I think Andrew Painter is must roster and definitely in the discussion to be started every week. Right now, Jacob Lopez looks must start. I don't care who he's facing. Yeah, it's three starts of at least eight strikeouts

in his last five for Lopez, including two in the past four with nine. So very good. So I don't want to kind of disparage painter by putting Lopez ahead of him, but Lopez just has been that good over his last seven starts. So try to add both. I agree with Scott. I think if you can only choose one,

I would probably go with Jacob Lopez at this point. Chris, over to you for your player of the weekend. I will personally never be ranking Blake Snell as a top 30 starting pitcher again. But he is doing the thing where he shows you why someone will draft Blake Snell as a top 30 starting pitcher. pitcher again next season. He had a third tremendous start in a row since coming off the IL. He has allowed two runs in 18 innings and three starts since coming off the IL. I think he's got 21 strikeouts or no, yeah, 21 strikeouts in 18 innings. Only five or six in this one, three walks. The Pirates still couldn't do anything. He had 19 whiffs on 94 pitches and six

shutout innings. And the thing about I just watched. I rewatched all the X-Men movies yesterday. That was how I re-rewound. And don't worry, it'll make sense. You know, the Juggernaut? That sounds like you got a lot of time to spend there in one day. All of them in one day? We did the whole, I think we only watched like the first five.

The other two are really, I don't want to watch Apocalypse or Dark Phoenix. But, I mean, it's not like they're all good before that. But anyway, you know, the Juggernaut, next three, the last stand. his power is once he gets going, nothing can stop him. And that's kind of the thing with Blake Snow, right? It's not like Frambervaldez, where he's a headache because it's two good starts, three bad starts.

With Snow, it's kind of two bad months, or he gets hurt, but then once he's good, he tends to just keep being good. And so I think the reason that somebody will always draft him with the top 30 starting pitcher price is the hope that he just finally has another season where it's just 30 starts where he's good from the beginning. And I don't think you should ever bet on that. But you can understand why once he gets going, people can talk themselves into it.

And I think he's going to win some people some championships this year because he's probably going to be a top 10 starting pitcher the rest of the way. Yeah. I think that's all fair. and I just would expect as long as he's on the Dodgers that what we have gotten the first two seasons is pretty much what we're going to get. Doesn't necessarily mean that is how it's going to play out,

but that would probably just be my safe assumption. I mean, you make it sound like Blake Snell's just some hot hand play. Like look at his overall numbers every year, Ace like. Yeah, he's really good. He spends too much time on the IL and that's, you know, that's reason to down. But he also does have, we talk about it, every year.

He's streaky. But in here, you're Mr. full season stats are more predictive than partial seasons. But the thing is, we always have this stretch where people are like, oh, I'm going to drop blakes now.

And so like, that's like, yes, at the end of the season, his 108 innings are really good. But it's never a hundred and eight really good innings in a row. You know, there's always something that goes wrong,

usually multiple somethings, as did this season. But the point is, once he's rolling like this, he doesn't tend to stop. until he gets hurt. Right. And so...

It's in some ways more predictable in that way. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I'd rather that than the Framber Valdez

situation or, you know, whoever, whichever streaky but pretty good pitcher you want to pick because at this point, maybe Framber Faldes isn't actually any good anymore.

Yeah. Blake Snell, by the way, 81% started on CBS. I just think that number should be closer to 100%. Obviously, he's been amazing since returning.

You don't need me to tell you, but I'll tell you anyway, Star Blake's No, every single week. My player of the weekend really just need to highlight him up top, and that is Kate Anderson who did some good things in his debut. Obviously, there were a couple of concerns as well, but he finished

one out short of a quality start against the Cubs. Five and two-thirds innings, three runs allowed, five strikeouts to two walks. He did give up two homers in this one. Actually, could have been a third homer allowed, but Randy or Azorana robbed it, so thank you, Randy. Eleven swinging strikes on 81 pitches. It was a

four-pitch mix. He averaged 93.6 miles per hour on his fastball. And some people asking like, oh, like, you know, he only throws 93.6. I mean, that was kind of the expectation. We knew he wasn't a flamethrower, but he has four quality pitches here with the fastball, the slider, the change-up, and the curve.

And I do just kind of wonder, like, first start, some nerves going here, a 60% fly ball rate in this one. All year in the minors, it was 30. So I don't know that he's just expected to be a flyball pitcher here. No. But Kate Anderson, 84% rostered on CBS, still out there in a bunch of Yahoo Leagues. 29% started.

What did you guys see from Kate Anderson in his debut? Would you use him at the Blue Jays this week? I thought it was a solid debut. I think all the three, the two home runs and the near home run, those all came in the sixth inning, right? He was cruising before then, went five and two-thirds innings. And he didn't go beyond five innings much at double. A this year. It's also worth pointing out.

So, yeah, the velocity was the one question that came up with some people. I think most people came away pretty satisfied. But there were a few people like, this guy only throws 93.6 is what he averaged. We didn't have velocity readings at AA. You don't get those until AAA or if you know people. State League at low A or if you know people, I guess. But looking back at the scouting reports, 92-94 is where they say he says.

So this isn't a guy with a fastball on the level of Chase Burns or Paul Skeens. It's more the whole arsenal is so well-developed, so polished with the control and everything that he should have an easy time transitioning. And is he going to be, I don't know. I really don't want to put a limit on his upside. I think I'd absolutely start him against the Blue Jays.

That's a very favorable matchup, and he showed enough that I trust him in my lineup. But I don't know, and I would have said this the other day, too. I don't know that he can quite repeat the K-per-9 rate he had at double A, which was over 12, right? He's probably not going to be that big of a strikeout pitcher. Will he be like a strike-out per-inning guy or more like 10-per-9? Somewhere in that range, I would guess, in the end.

But he's not, you know, is it? it's a different kind of pitcher than Jay's Burns, Paul schemes. So I know we're running kind of long on the first segment, but I do want to get into this a little bit because there was a lot of interesting stuff going on with his fastball. And Kyle Badi from Drive Line talked about this,

and Lance Brosdowski, I'll cite him again. He's super smart. It's always smart to cite him. Both of them talked about this weekend. MLB uses the same baseball in AAA. and in the majors. They use the same ball

from the same manufacturer. They use a different ball in double A and below. And one thing that has become pretty clear is that the ball that they use at double A and below has more carry than the major league ball.

And so according to Lance Brousdowski, Kate Anderson's fastball average 93.7 miles per hour at AA. That's right where he was in this start. He averaged 18.8. inches of induced vertical brake with his four seamer. That was down to 15.4 inches in this debut.

And one thing Lance talks about is usually the way he just describes it is the high efficiency, low spin type pitchers like Kate Anderson, tend to struggle more with the change from the double A ball to the major league ball in terms of the way it affects their fastball shape. And so now we're looking at a guy who has, average velocity even for a lefty. 93.5, I think, is the average for lefty starters in the majors this year.

He's right around there. And he has kind of average-ish, maybe below-average shape if what we saw in the first start continues. The four-seamer could be a problem for Kate Anderson. And now I think the control and the feel for the rest of the pitches should be good enough. And I think the slider especially looked really good. but I've had a little bit of trouble getting in on like like I've seen comments that like Kate Anderson's already a top 20 starting pitcher in majors and I just like I can't I'm never going to be able to do that with

a guy who's never faced major league pitch hitters but also just this specific pitcher archetype it's a little harder to get to that level you know the great command, but you know, the stuff is more good than great. And in this start, if you look at the

various stuff models, maybe closer to average than good, but I think, you know, I'll give him good. I just, I don't know,

man. This is one where I feel like I'm being negative about Kate Anderson. If I say he's a top 40 starting pitcher in fantasy,

right? Just because expectations. We all have in between 30 and 40. Yeah. But, you're writing in with us. I think the audience would take that as, well,

you guys really hate Kate Anderson. I saw some comments to that effect. I watched the show and he got called up. And when you're talking about him in that kind of air, you know, we're talking about him as one of the best pitching prospects in the last few years. You have to split hairs.

And I think he's, I don't want to say he's overrated, but I think the people who are talking about him as like an immediate ace at the major league level, we're probably maybe overrating Kate Anderson. I think he's good. But I think it's really hard to be an ace at the Major League level without great stuff. And I'm not sure he has great, great stuff.

Maybe the command is good enough, but I think it might be more of a Parker Messick type of pitcher. And Parker Messick's a top 10 pitcher in fantasy, but I feel like people will take that as an insult to Kate Anderson. I think all fair points. I think one thing that is also in his favor, even though the stuff might not be on the level of other elite pitching prospects, is the fact that he makes his home starts in Seattle. Sure.

That absolutely helps. That definitely helps Kate Anderson. And I would use him this week, even though that start is on the road, at the Blue Jays. they are 30th and whoa-bo against left-handed. Yeah, one thing, too, like a lot of times when we say stuff,

we reduce it just to fastball. Sure. Like, he's got a lot of stuff beyond just the fastball. But the overall stuff plus rating for him, I think, was 48 per the Fangraphs model, which is above average, but not elite, you know? Mm-hmm.

Yep. Actually, that's closer to average. But that feels like, like if you said Kate Anderson has average stuff, I think that would be unfair. But if the fastball plays down the way it did in this start, maybe, you know? I don't know what the fan graft stuff plus,

I don't know. I don't know how to get that. It's on the 2080, it's on the 280 grading scale. So they gave them a 48 overall. I don't know the inputs for that, I guess. Yeah, it's based on the physical characteristics of the pitches. Okay, fair enough. Again, that was Kate Anderson who made his debut this weekend.

Want to give a shout out to two of the hottest hitters in baseball right now who just keep rolling. PCA, two for four with a sock in the shoe on Sunday. He also homered on Friday. His last seven games, 345, six homers, two steals. He has 33 homers and 32 steals on the season and Fernando Tatez Jr. Multiple hits in all three games this weekend. And huge game on Sunday. Four for five.

Two socks in a shoe. Four RBI in that game. And updated numbers in the second half alone. 328, 12 homers, 30 runs, 32 RBI, 6 steals. And OPS right around 1100 here for Fernando Tatis in the second half of the season. And I'm just wondering how high the overall numbers

could get to because I just assume that there is no way that he could pay off where he was drafted. Now he's up to 290, 17 home runs, 29 steals. Like, he's, his OPS is exactly what it was last season. Amazing. If he gets to somehow like 25 homers and 35 steals with a 290 batting average,

that's pretty good. What you expected, right? Coming into the season. Pretty good player. Pretty, pretty awesome ever since hitting that first home run in late May. Let's take that first break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes from the weekend.

And we have a bunch of dollars. Dodgers updates. And first and foremost, Andy Paix has suffered a fractured left hand on Friday. He had a compression screw inserted in an attempt to expedite the healing. He is expected to miss four to five weeks, which basically rules him out for the rest of the regular season. So if you play in a league with no I.L spots, I think you go ahead and drop Andy Paas, unfortunately.

Maybe he's back for the playoffs, but that doesn't really matter for us in fantasy. Alec Thomas was called up and should see time in center field against right-handed pitching. So if you're playing in an NL only league, I think Alec Thomas is a name you could look at. He's been waiting all year for James Tibbs and the center fielder goes down. Right. Yeah. So we've got to bring up another center fielder. There's no way Tibbs could play center, right?

I think he's a corner guy. Has he even been playing the outfield much lately? I don't know. There's a long stretch. He's been splitting outfield in first base. Well, so they have in their outfield. So it's Oscar Hernandez who definitely cannot play center. Yeah.

And then. Tucker. Kyle Tucker, who definitely cannot place interview. You're not going to put those guys inside. Yep, so it is Alec Thomas, unfortunately. Sleeper hitters for this week, if you're looking at outfielders, just playing it kind of week by week

right now. There's Zach Gelloff, West outfield eligibility, Trent Grisham, who's pretty hot here over the past month or so. Henry Bolte and Lawrence Butler. I know the A's have six home games this week and lots of righties on the schedule, so that's good news for Lawrence Butler. Other Dodgers

update, Shoahe Otani, through 30 pitches of live BP on Saturday and could pitch in a game as early as next week. But it sounds like he will be slow played quite a bit. If he does return next week, it sounds like he'll only throw about like one inning in that one. So I think they're going to kind of ramp him up very, very slowly here. Tyler Glass now will return Tuesday. And it looks like that should make him a,

doesn't make him a two-star pitcher? Are they going back to six, man? I know Eric Lauer. They've got some days off this in the next couple weeks, I believe. Oh, I didn't bring my schedule with me. Because they move lower to the bullpen, I think they just have a five-man rotation, but I haven't gotten a chance to update two-star pitchers yet.

The probable pitcher is great on schedule with me. On Fangraphs, has Glass Now going Tuesday at the Braves and Sunday at the Tigers. So I know it's risky first start off the IL, but I don't know. I think I'd probably throw Glass Now out there for the two starts. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yep.

As good as he looked on his rehab, assign. I mean, I guess that's not everything, but he's really good, obviously. It's Tyler Glass now, yeah. Yeah. Justin Robleski will serve as a multi-ending reliever once he returns from the IL, so I think that's a pretty comfortable drop, right? 71% rostered

for Roblesky? Yep. Yeah. Edwin Diaz will move into a lower leverage role once he returns from the IL. It seems like the closer role is pretty safe for Tanner Scott, who picked up another save this weekend. Will Smith will

take, took live BP on Friday. excuse me, and we'll start a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. So he's been out since June, probably needs, I mean, maybe there's a chance he returns this weekend, but if they want to play it safe, we're probably looking at early next week, I would think, with Will Smith. I just mentioned this one, but Eric Lauer, again, will be pitching out of the bullpen moving forward. Nick Kurtz was transferred to the 60-day IL and will officially miss the rest of the season with that right thumb strain, so you can go ahead and drop Nick Kurtz in any redraft leagues.

Brian Wu threw a bullpen on Sunday and he left his start last weekend which shoulder soreness did not make a start at all this weekend

Wu said he was encouraged by the bullpen no decision has been made on when he will start next do you roll the dice with Brian Wu this week or play it safe and maybe use

a Jacob Lopez or Andrew Paint or someone like that well that all depends is it at home or is it away that's fair it is

when is he scheduled to start? That has not been determined, yeah. So if it's the first half of the week, it's at home, if it's the second half, it's away. More likely to be away than home, I think. Probably. I'd like to play it safe. You know, in a deep league,

your best bet may still be woo, but I'd like to play it safe. Again, the probable pitcher is great off. Fangraves has him going Wednesday against the Phillies, so that start would be at home, but I don't know. We don't know exactly, like, will he be as effective? Will his velocity be

impacted at all? Because he's coming back from my shoulder. So, yeah, I think the prudent move is to probably play it safe and go with someone else other than Brian Will. Garrett Crochet has started throwing it with greater intensity from 90 feet, and if he can make it back, it will likely be as a reliever. And I think Garrett Crochet will be a

fascinating player to figure out his value for 2027, because it's like, okay, last year he was one of the best pitchers in fantasy easy top three pitcher drafted this year but obviously you know pretty long injury absence to his pitching arm so I don't know he's gonna be pretty fascinating one garc crochet yeah as long as he's healthy I I think I'd have to rank him as a top 12 starting pitcher yeah um but he has made it through one full healthy season one time in his whole life what wasn't he the consensus number three pitcher

two years ago too before anyone even knew if he could get through a healthy seat he was number four when he got traded to the Red Sox I think he was being drafted as a top definitely top 10 starting pitcher yeah I don't know if it was as high as top five but I remember being I remember us

having conversate like he might have gotten close there yeah it's crazy to draft crochet that high when you've never don't even know if he could take on that workload and then of course he did yeah but the innings jumps the past three years have really been pretty massive. So yeah.

It's kind of scary stuff there for crochet. Max Freed threw a 26 pitch bullpen on Saturday. It went really well according to pitching coach Matt Blake. And Freed remains optimistic that he will only need the minimum time on the IL. Let's hope that's the case. Joe Ryan completed a 35 pitch bullpen on Saturday. He is recovering from a left glute strain. Ryan Weather is left early Saturday with forearm tightness.

And on Sunday he went on the IL with a forearm flexor strain. pretty rough news. He was pitching really well for those who had him in fantasy. He'll be shut down from throwing for two to four weeks but apparently has a great chance to return this season as a reliever. So another one where I think you can drop Ryan Weathers in redraft leagues. I just don't really see enough impact as a reliever from him. Michael Soroka was placed in the aisle with right shoulder inflammation. He also got blown up on Saturday night against the

Reds and the debacks are hopeful that it will be a minimum stay here for Soroka. CJ Abrams has missed four straight with a sprained left ankle. Start or sit Abrams this week. We just don't really have much as of now. Boy, that's a, that's a million dollar question for me because I'm staring at like three different leagues right now where I've got to make that call. And I hope I have a better answer for you on Monday

when I have to make that decision. Right now I'm leaning towards starting him, but I don't feel super confident in it. Yeah. And the nationals do play at 640. 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. So we'll have an answer. See if he's in the lineup.

Again, that's C.J. Abrams. Connor Griffin progressed to taking swings on Friday. He's working his way back from a finger injury, and it sounds like they're hoping he can return in early September. Michael Garcia was officially placed back on the aisle with a left hamstring train.

The Royals scratched Jack Caglione on Sunday with ankle soreness. Kind of similar thing here with Caglione, I believe the Royals. Royals. Let's see if they play on, they do not play on Monday. So that is a little bit tougher there with

Caglione. Bryson's Stott left early on Sunday due to a right foot contusion, so pay attention to that. Casey Mize left Saturday start with a sprained ankle. X-rays came back clean and he hopes to make his next start. He's been kind of up and down lately. I don't...

I think it would be okay to go a different direction than Casey Mize this week, right? Oh yeah. He's good chance it goes on the I. Yep. This is an interesting one. Not really for fantasy, just for the Brewers,

I guess, but Brandon Woodruff wound up not having shoulder surgery and is scheduled to begin a throwing program on Wednesday. So could potentially factor into like their playoff bullpen or something. And I don't know that I went back

to the primary source. I think I was reading aggregation on this. But the way it put it was that there was unexpected healing and he no longer needs capsule surgery rather than he's just delaying the inevitable. Yeah. It's good news for him.

I mean, we'll see. I hope so. Yeah. It's, I think it's fair to be skeptical of that. But like at the same time, that is the report. And if that's the report, then we could see him next year, potentially. I also just think you have to look at it like this dude's, what, 30. 334, last time he had this surgery, it took him 20 months to get back.

You know, when we heard about this injury, I think everybody's thought was, well, that might be it for Brandon Woodruff. So, you know, is it, well, it showed unexpected healing or is it, it showed enough healing to try to avoid surgery, you know? Right. That's, that's why I framed it the way I did. Like, I'm just relying on the way an aggregator put, I, I should have got the initial report. No, no, no, no. That was the, that was what Pat Murphy said. Okay.

That's, but it's just. But even Pat Murphy could. Yeah. Not be phrasing it exactly right. Yeah. Reading, you know, what does that actually mean? Who knows? Yeah.

Rough weekend of Cardinals pitcher injuries. Andre Palante went on the aisle with right elbow inflammation. Hunter Dobbins also went on the aisle with right forearm tightness. Quinn Matthews was recalled. So he will get a little bit of a leash here. But he also got destroyed by the Phillies. Seven earned runs over five innings. So, dude,

we need to see more from Matthews before we consider re-adding him or even using him in fantasy. Louisa Rye has left early Saturday with hamstring cramps. Then he was out of the lineup on Sunday. He did appear in the game after Bryson's not left with a foot injury. So some good news there for

Luis Arise. Joe Musgrove will throw a bullpen before likely making one more rehab start. He is 43% rostered and I think this is a pretty high priority stash if you have Viles spots available. Joe Musgrove. Yeah, the way this went down is a little

concerning. Like, was there a setback? Right, because he didn't make a rehab start this past week, which was kind of weird. Yeah. So, I still think he's a high priority stash, but obviously he's rostered in about the same number of leagues as Painter and Jacob Lopez.

Prioritized both of them well ahead of Joe Mosker, for sure. They're all three, like below 50? Right around 40%. Yeah. That is surprised. I know Jacob Lopez has been lagging for a while now. And that happens. It's easy to say it's late August, but like, we've seen other players make big leaps and roster rate this time of year. Like, how are you leaving Jacob Lopez out there

still? I was about to say, I think Joe Musgrove should be 20 percentage points higher than that. He should be over 65 now. Just only in leagues where Painter and Lopez aren't rostered. Right. Of course. You know, we had the healthy, guys first. Yep. Kyle Teal will start a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday, so if you do play in a two-catcher league and Teal is available, he won't be back yet right away

this week, but perhaps next week and beyond. The Mariners placed Brendan Donovan on the seven-day concussion IL after being hit in the head by a baseball in the batting cage. So it's really, really unfortunate injury there for Brendan Donovan. Yeah, yeah, just like

injury after injury. Even when he's played, he hasn't been that impactful. So, And the Mariners gave up a good bit to get him in a trade in the offseason. Kyle Carros returned from the concussion IL on Friday, but then went back on the IL on Sunday. He is still dealing with concussion-like symptoms. The Marlins were called Davidson de Los Santos on Saturday. I wrote down all his numbers. I was going to ask you about him.

And then they sent him back down on Sunday. Second time that's happened to him this year, I believe. Yeah. It's the meme from The Simpsons where I don't know who, what character it is. obviously. Homer. Terrible. It's like the grandpa

walks in, he puts his, whatever, he puts his hat on the thing, and then he just like walks right back out. So, yeah,

poor, poor Davis and Dale and Sanchez. Grandpa's an acceptable name for him. Also Abe Simpson. Abe, that's it. Yeah,

yeah, love that character. Rock Tulaski, the top pick in this year's draft will be shut down for the remainder of the season

due to wrist-sornis. This could tell Marte's situation remains very bizarre to me. He was spot, at a casino in Arizona on Friday night while the team was playing. Technically he's on the IL so like he can't really do anything.

He can't help the team. But a lot of times you will see players who are hurt in the dugout and still like being with the team. But a lot of times you won't too. He can do whatever he wants, but it's just kind of a bad look the way everything is playing out for Coutel Marte. A lot of times players who are on the aisle are not with the team. Yeah. I'll just say I don't think Cotel Marte opens the 2027 season on the Diamondbacks.

they try The way all this has gone down, yeah. They tried to trade him last season. I think, you know, they had a lot of talks with the Red Sox, but I think it was always that the Debacks wanted one of Connolly early or Peyton Toley

and the Red Sox wouldn't give either one of those guys up. And then the Red Sox wound up trading Connolly early for Curtis Mead, which was... The problem is when it's known that a player is disgruntled, well, you don't want them to be disgruntled for you. You don't want to give up all these assets for him

and then he's disgruntled for you. He has a reputation for being disgruntled. Maybe he has good reasons to be disgruntled with the Diamondbacks. I don't know, but that's a reputation he's developed. And so it undermines his trade value. And I could see the Diamondbacks not being satisfied with what the market is offering again and just trying to work it out. Yeah.

You just got to hope he can get gruntled at some point. Others who went on the aisle this weekend, Nolan Chaniel with an intercastle strain and Ryan McMahon with a sprain left. thumb. Only wanted to mention that one because it's good news for Jose Caballero, who should regain regular playing time there at third base for the Yankees. Waiverwire hitters from the weekend. I do have some shallow league names here up top. Joe Adele, a nice weekend in Corres field. Multiple hits in each game. And he hit his 20th home run, had 3 RBI on Saturday. In 17 games with the Guardians, he has looked better. 258, 4 homers, 17 RBI 861 OPS. He's all the way up to 82% of roster, so this is a very shallow league play. those who play in three outfielder leagues.

And Vinnie Pee! Baby! Vinnie Pass Guantino has looked pretty good since returning. He homered on Friday, added another hit run in RBI on Sunday, seven games since coming back, 3.85 with two homers, and he has 77% rostered. So both of these in the shallowest of leagues, can you see not necessarily in a head-to-pointed league,

but any type of head-to-head-style lineup, re-adding either of Joe Adele or Vini-Pas-Quantino? they both feel pretty fringy to me in that format. They're just so many good first baseman that it's... It's hard to really call anyone a worthwhile ad at first base. Like, you got guys... I'm dropping Thai France for Vinnie Pasquantino. Sure, but, like, you've got like...

Abamelic Ortiz is looking really, really good right now. And it's hard for him to get over 50% percent roster guy. I know he doesn't play every day, but it's just, it's really hard to fit in at first base right now. Yeah. And I would put, I would prioritize Vinny over, um, Ortiz for what it's worth.

And, and like Ortiz was a sleeper hitter this past week because of all the righties on the schedule. I didn't do anything. And I have him as a sleeper hitter for next week, too, because of all the righties on the schedule. Uh, but, you know, obviously he let us down once, the one time where we felt like we could start him.

And I think Vinny Pasquino is less likely to let you down. He may not have as much upside for this upcoming week as Abamelik Ortiz, but I think he's less likely to let you down. All right, rank these outfielders. J.J. Bladay hit for the cycle on Saturday against the D-Backs, four for six with his 21st home run, three RBI. He was struggling mightily before that in the second. in half just hitting 185 with a 650 OPS. Spencer Jones, he is making things happen lately. One for three with a homer on Friday. He had a steal on Saturday. He went two for three with two runs on Sunday. 48% rostered, hoping that he still at least plays against right-handed pitching

with Cody Bellinger back. We did see Bellinger back on Sunday and Spencer Jones was still in there. So it looks like Elliot Ramos will be kind of more of a short side platoon at this point. and then Jordan Lawler big game on Friday 3 for 5 of the home run 3 RBI he has played 17 games over all this season 286 batting average two homers four seals 784 OPS

I still think there's a decent amount of upside here with Jordan Lawler how would you guys rank these three Bladay Spencer Jones and Jordan Lawler I would go I'd go Jones Lawler and Bladay actually might depend on if you're in like a points league

maybe you give Bladay a bump, but Chris, are you starting to buy, or you're starting to buy on Spencer Jones a little bit? Just when I think I'm out on J.J. Bladay, he has one good game. He pulls me right back in by hitting for the cycle. That's, I want to put him last, but, you know, obviously Spencer Jones

has a major drawback. It sounds like he's going to platoon now, because Cody Ballinger's back. Elliot Ramos got to do something. Platoon with Spencer Jones makes the most sense, right? The crazy part for Jones is it's a really small sample, but he has crushed lefties in the majors. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I just don't think they let Ramos go to waste on the bench, though. I agree with that. He's been pretty terrible, but yeah, I agree. At least against L. Yeah, but I think we know he's not terrible. He has been terrible, but I think we know, I think we have a good idea who L.A. Ramos is.

And he's not amazing, but he's not terrible either. There is another way for them to do this, I guess, against lefties. they could play Ben Rice at first base and have Luis Garcia on the bench and then use Elliot Ramos as a DH, right? That could work. But Ben Rice a catcher.

Why not? Cowards. I wish. It's not going to happen. Did you... I know Chris, you gave a ranking. Scott, did you give an official ranking on these three? Jones, Lawler, and Bladale?

I don't want to. No, I will. It's your job! Who is the third guy, Lawler? Because I was putting in claims for Lawler in Roto. too but I don't think I was dropping Spencer Jones for him so it's it's not the sort of I don't I don't have a strong feeling because I see the upsides and downsides to

both but I think I will agree with Chris at least in a roto context and go Jones Lawler Bladay but probably Bladay leaps to the top probably Bladay and Jones swap places actually in a points leak and Lawler stays in the middle either way Yeah, Spencer Jones, by the way, in 27 games since returning to the Yankees, hitting 233 with five homers, seven steals, a 790 OPS. Also 30 strikeouts and 86 at bat. So that is with nine walks. Yeah, it's over a 30% strikeout rate there for Spencer Jones during that stretch.

But, you know, this is kind of what we expected. Lots of strikeouts, but lots of athleticism. He hits the ball hard, and he obviously runs very well also. I think Tim Tawa should be more rostered. I know he bring him up a lot, but he just continues to do stuff. Two for four with another stolen base on Friday. He hit his eighth home run on Saturday.

He had two more hits on Sunday. And last 38 games for Tawa, 298, seven homers, six deals, OPS over 800, and he's hitting the ball really hard during that stretch. He is only 23% rostered, first, second, third, and outfield eligible. I think this is a useful player right now, Tim Tawa.

I think useful as the first. right word. I don't really believe that he's a particularly good major league hitter, but he's only 23% rostered. He's eligible everywhere except shortstop and catcher, and he's got a little bit of speed and a little bit of power. So I think he's under-roastered, certainly at 23%, but that's in like an Ezekiel Doran kind of way, right, where I think his primary value comes from the ability to slot him in anywhere in your lineup, right? rather than that I think he's an objectively great player. Yeah, I think that's fair.

Ezekiel Duran, by the way, is 80% rostered. And the other player I view in this light is Willie Castro. And Willie Castro is 55% rostered. So I think Tim Tawa should at least be closer to where Willie Castro is in terms of roster rate at 55%. Two names in deeper leagues. Tristan Peters had a nice weekend. Homer on Saturday, two-for-four with a sock in the shoe on Sunday.

including a walkoff homer. The White Sox have six games this week. There's only one lefty on the schedule, so that's good news for Tristan Peters. And Pedro Ramirez had a huge game on Sunday. Three for six with a home run, five RBI. He has started eight straight and ten of his last 11. He should continue to play with Dancy Swanson on the IL.

He's 13% rostered, second and third base eligible. Scott, any deep league interest in Tristan Peters and or Pedro Ramirez? Deep league interest, sure. I do like Ramirez. He hadn't done much in his, I think he only hit 212 in his first nine games starting. This was the 10th straight start he got at second base. But he hit three balls over 106 miles per hour in this one,

including the home run. And I still think it's a really good skill set. And I remain intrigued. Peters doesn't start against lefties, correct? Yeah, only one lefty on the schedule. this week, so that helps. Right. It would have to be,

obviously, a five outfielder league and on the deeper end, I would think. Yeah. One name in A.L. Only leagues, I'll just give him a shout out because he had a monster game for the Royals on Sunday, but John Rave, two for three with a sock and two shoes, Homer and two steals.

He sat out the previous six games. I don't know how much he's going to play, but the skill set in the minors this year was kind of interesting, and so perhaps he could play against some right-handed pitchers. There is John Raves. name for a AL. I'm throwing a rave right now for John Rays.

Scott and I tested beforehand and he had all these different kind of crazy lighting arrangements behind him, so we were trying to find the perfect lighting, and this is what we settled on. I appreciate it. And now I messed it up. I appreciate your range, Scott. No, it looks fine.

It's still right. It's still good. It's still good. There you go. All right, let's hit our final break when we return. We'll get into waiver wire pitchers. I've got starter sit decisions. We'll do all that right after this.

Welcome back, fantasy baseball today. Weaver wire pitchers. We spoke about Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter. Those are top priorities right now. One other name in shallower leagues that has been dropped because he was struggling a little bit. That is Jake Bennett, who bounced back against the Giants on Sunday. Seven innings, four runs.

Only three of those earned. Six strikeouts to one walk. He had 13 swinging strikes on 84 pitches. Previous five starts, 567 ERA, 144 whip, but I still think it's a solid skill set. I don't know that there's huge upside because he doesn't really get too many whiffs, but it's good command. He gets ground balls typically, and usually limits hard contact.

So at the Yankees this week, I would be okay using Jake Bennett in that spot, 76% rostered at the Yankees. He does something different in this start. It's worth pointing out he doubled his sweeper use, and that is a pitch with a 36% whiff rate. and a 143 batting average against, doubled it through 36% of the time, got a better result,

seemed to slow the decline here. I have pointed out that his ground ball rate has been cratering, and that was kind of his superpower. So I still don't know if, you know, I still don't know if, like, obviously throwing more of the sweeper, I don't think it's going to get it back to doing that,

but it worked in this one, and it has been an effective pitch in isolation. So it's notable that he got better results doing something different. Again, that was Jake Bennett. I have three names here that are between 20 and 30% rostered on CBS. Walker Bueller had a strong outing here against the twins on Sunday, six innings one run, four strikeouts to zero walks. And he has three straight quality starts.

And he doesn't really get whiffs, but he does have four different pitches to have an ex-Woba below 300. So, mildly interesting with Walker Bueller. Cal Quantrell, another strong start here against the Angels. Six shutout inning, six strikeouts, the zero walks, 14 whiffs on 96 pitches. Last six games for him, five of those being starts.

He has a 0.89 ERA and a 0.82 whip. He is a spark for those who play in points leagues. He is at the Brewers this week. And David Peterson, a great outing here at the Marriott. earners, six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts, 17 whiffs on 98 pitches. And with the Cubs, he has been better, still not great. 393 ERA 131 whip. And he gets the Reds this week.

Typically, the Reds lineup is pretty bad, but they're actually pretty good against lefties. So don't necessarily love that matchup. But Chris, do you have any interest here, some deeper names, but David Peterson, Calquantrell, and Walker Bueller? I would have to be really, really, really desperate to start any of these three guys in an important situation against the matchups they are all facing. They are all facing top ten offenses in baseball against their specific handedness. So no, no, thank you. All right.

I do like the way David Peterson is trending. I had to pick him up in a 15 team. Roto League where I'm chasing wins and strikeouts. I just need more starting pitchers to reliever heavy. His ground ball rates up to 57% or 56% in the second

half, which is really high and we've seen that from David Peterson before. It's useful on the Cubs too. Yeah. Yeah. I think he might appear on the sleeper pitchers list a couple times down the stretch.

I think it's possible. Four other deeper names. They're all under 20% rostered on CBS. Patrick Sandoval, a solid outing this weekend against the Giants. Five and two-thirds, two runs, six strikeouts, 14 whiffs on 93 pitches. He is at the Yankees this week.

Randy Vasquez, a great outing against the twins, seven innings, two runs, only three strikeouts to zero walks. He was kind of interesting earlier in the season when the velocity was up and he was getting some whiffs, but he has, in terms of strikeout to walk rate, he has turned all the way back into Randy Vasquez again.

against the Pirates this week. They're really good against right-handed pitching. Blade Tidwell, great outing here at the Red Sox, five-and-two-third shutout, seven strikeouts. He gets the D-backs this week. They are pretty bad against Ritees. And Ryan Johnson, a great start at the Rangers, seven shutout innings with three strikeouts.

He is home against the Phillies this week. So very deep league names, Scott, but anyone stand out to you here. Ryan Johnson against the Phillies, Blade Tidwell against the D-backs. Randy Vaskis against the Pirates, Patrick Sandoval at the Yankees this week? I mean, I do think it's an even worse group than before. Sandoval got a lot of whiffs in this start against the Giants,

and we've seen that from him in years past. Has trained really good. It entered. It got seven of the 14 whiffs against the Giants this weekend, and it entered with a 41% whiff rate, but he had only a 10.4% swing. swinging strike rate overall. I'm changing the denominator there,

giving you the whiff rate for the change-up and the swinging strike rate overall. But that whiff rate's really good. That swinging strike rate, not very good. And it's ultimately, like, I'm interested enough to keep monitoring Patrick Sandoval, but I don't want to put him in my lineup. Yeah, I mean, that's always been kind of the thing with him

is he has one great pitch, his change-up. And then not a lot else going on. for him. So, like, there's some interesting stuff with Ryan Johnson throwing the cutter more and, you know, kind of his cutter and sweeper have very similar movement profiles. And so, you know, maybe those two pitches tunnel really well off of each other. And he can just kind of throw those two a bunch and make it work. But I'm not, I don't really have any faith in it.

Like, I don't think Ryan Johnson's especially good. The director is. I like Knives Out. The Last Jedi is a good movie. but the pitcher for the Angels Ryan Johnson. Not a big fan. Spicy takes. Yeah.

Spicy takes. Whoa, we all love the Knives Out series. I know the last one. Don't happen. Do you love Knives Out. Yeah. I'm with you on The Last Jedi. I think it was by far the best of the sequel trilogy.

Looper is great. Ryan Johnson, good director. All right. I actually have seen Looper and I did enjoy it quite a bit. Really good? He directed the best episode of Breaking Bad. That's true. rated episode of Breaking Bad according to IMDB.

He also directed the lowest rated episode of Breaking Bad according to IMTV, which that'll happen. But Ryan Johnson with an eye, very good. Ryan Johns with a Y, not sure he's there. Yeah. Ryan Johnson with a Y, by the way, his last four starts. He has a 169 ERA and a 108 whip that also comes with a 568 XERA during its band. So not exactly buying it.

Are we dropping these players, some potential candidates, Freddie Peralta, he's on the raise, and he's still bad. Seven innings, five runs, two homers allowed in his start this weekend. Four starts with Tampa Bay, 717, ERA 136 whip. He is down to 79% rostered. He's at the Tigers this week. What do you guys think about dropping Freddie Peralta? Would you drop him for, say, Andrew Painter or Jacob Lopez?

Yes. I think so, too. No hesitation. I think you might rather have Joe Musker. at this point, even knowing you're not going to get anything out of him this week. Yeah. Cannot dispute that. What about Kyle Leahy?

This one's interesting because he's pitching really well, but it turns out that the Cardinals are planning to limit him here down the stretch. So four shutout innings, two walks, two hits, four strikeouts here, but only through 63 pitches, and he's already up to 126 in a third innings. Last year, it was 88 innings, mostly as a reliever. So tough one, Scott. I know you like Kyle Leahy a lot, but if he's being limited to sub-70 pitches,

it's kind of hard to matter for fantasy. Yeah, it is. And a report came out over the weekend saying ahead of this start. It was going to begin Sunday. They were going to start reducing his innings. And I thought it sounded a little too certain, but then this happens.

He throws four innings on Sunday. So it went exactly. Exactly. The report was a prophecy, and it definitely has me concerned about Kyle Leahy's usability rest of season. I think in points leagues, you could probably go as far as to drop them. I don't, like, we don't know exactly the implementation of this, right?

Like, does this mean he's never going to get another five-inning start? If he's never going to get another five-inning start, Kyle Leahy is useless in points leagues. It is weird because. I think he's still going to be a WIPP specialist and maybe an ERA specialist in Roto. It is weird because he hasn't had a lot of injuries over the past few years. His innings are low-ish because he's used primarily as a reliever. Well, I think it's weird just because he's 29.

Yeah, and also he's 29. What are you saving him for? Like the last time he was a full-time starter, he got up to like 150 innings. And so, I don't know. It just doesn't seem, yeah, it's a weird choice. but I'm sure they have some biometric stuff that they're monitoring that plays into it as well.

And I think the fact that they're falling out of the race probably contributes as well. They're now five and a half games out of a wild card spot. Yeah, Fangraphs has their playoff odds at like 3% or something. Yeah. Again, those are the Cardinals and Kyle Leahy.

And then I think two names that are just definite drops at this point. Bryce Miller, we mentioned earlier. Last eight starts, he has a 719 ERA and a 162 whip. Chris, I feel like you'll appreciate this. It's one of those weird stats. from like when the ain't like whenever the angels had otani and and trout we would get like this

hasn't happened since 1892 or something like that um mariner starter bryce miller did something not seen in mlb in 136 years he became the first pitcher since george van haltren of the 1890 brooklyn wonders to lose consecutive starts by at least 17 runs that's why I don't even know if you should count that as major league baseball. George Van Waltrow. Yeah, I feel like Van Waltren Street is probably a street in Brooklyn. Probably. Then the other name here is Nicola Dolo who got rocked at the D-backs.

I just don't think it's going to happen for him this year. And he's still 66% roster. I think the blister has been just really bad from all season. So go ahead and drop Bryce Miller and Nicola Dolo. Start or sit these starting pitchers this week. Logan Webb got rocked. Five earned runs over two and two-thirds innings in Boston this weekend. And everything has just been a little bit worse for him this year.

The whiff rates are down across the board. He's still been mostly fine. Like he was four starts before this were great. And he gets the Reds this week. So I think it's a pretty easy, like, continue to start Logan Webb. But it's unfortunate that he just hasn't been as sharp this season. Yep, definitely start him. But it's been a fresh race.

It's been a weird season because usually, The ERA is good and the whip is bad. And this season, the whip's actually, relatively speaking, better than the ERA. And I don't have a good explanation for why that's happened. Me neither. But yeah, I, I'm just starting him, yeah. Mackenzie Gore, everyone's favorite Charzard.

Great outing this weekend against the Angels. Six shutout innings with seven strikeouts, 21 whiffs on 100 pitches. And over his last five starts, it's a 210, the ERA, a 0.93 whip, 10.2K per nine. and he is at the White Sox this week. He's only 57% started, Scott. What do you think about using McKenzie Gore this week?

Looks like he is back on track, famous last words. Is Charzard learning to trust Ash finally? Did he get the leaf badge? We've fallen for this so many times before that I am inclined to say no. But, man, I don't know how you sit him right now. after those five starts. He's looked great.

Yeah. It's going to get, you're going to get burned eventually. You just know that anytime you start McKinsey Gore. You've gotten away with something. You know, that's why Ash didn't like to use Charzar. Look, he's a four-ish ERA pitcher

with a bunch of strikeouts. And that means that there's going to be good starts and there's going to be really, really bad ones. It just depends on what, your risk tolerance is and what your lineup looks like. If you need strikeouts, you probably just have to start him. Yeah. There also is no timing up McKenzie Gore because he's looked great over his last five starts. Yeah, this is not a Blake Snell situation. I would say there is a real chance that he gives up like six runs and four innings this week. I think there's also a very good chance that he

goes six shot out and gives you like eight strikeouts. Yeah, if Blake Snell is the rangernail is the Ranges all over the place. If Blake Snell's the juggernaut, Mackenzie Gore is the senator from the first movie, remember they turn him into a mutant, and then he like turns into like a weird jellyfish blob after a little while, that's, that's McKenzie Gore. Eventually he's going to turn into like a weird jellyfish blob.

I started watching the second season of X-Men 97 this weekend. I got to catch up on that, yeah. It is so good, man. Yeah. The episode showing the origin of apocalypse, A-plus, man. Really, really cool stuff. Eduardo Rodriguez keeps getting away with it. This time against the Reds, 5 and 2 thirds.

Shutout innings with four strikeouts. His velocity was down across the board. His change-up was pretty good in this one. He is allowed two run runs or fewer in 20 of 26 starts. He is 64% started. And I think it's pretty easy to say like, all right, yeah, the guy has a 261 year-e ready to throw them out there. He faces the Cubs this week who are number one in Wobah against lefties,

and they are one of the hottest lineups in baseball. So rubber meets the road. Do you start E-ROT against the Cubs? Don't ask that question. You've got to answer it, Chris. No. Because I've been wrong, I've been wrong literally the entire season about him. So why would I suddenly stop being wrong about him today?

I don't want to start him. I don't think he's very good. All of his peripherals suggest he's not very good. but logic doesn't seem to apply in this instance. So sure, start him. He's going to go seven innings, two strikeouts, two earned runs against the Cubs. I will point out while the XERA remains terrible for him,

his FIP is down to 378 for E. Rod, so if that matters to you at all. Would you start a 378 FIP guy against the Cubs, a left-hander at that? No. Like even if you want to paint that optimistic. I think it's fringy at best. Yeah. I, like, unless all the options would obviously be worse, you sit Eduardo Rodriguez,

which I think Chris agrees with. He's just obviously, uh, yeah, no, I'm just saying like, yeah, logically, you sit Edward or Rodriguez, but logic doesn't have anything to do. Like, there's nothing logical about this. So it's fine. I will never abandon logic. Never. I get yelled at for that.

Yes. Um, moving on. Don't be afraid to get. yelled that. It's good for the heart. Shane, oh, Matt. He's really bad for your heart, probably. It's good for the Constitution.

She builds character. Can yell that. Sure, yeah. Shane McClanahan. Look pretty good this weekend. Here comes the money. Here we go. Money talks. Here comes the money.

Five shout-out innings with five strikeouts to one walk. Still only through 74 pitches. He is. 50% started. He gets the Padres this week, who have been one of the best lineups in the second half of the season.

What do you think about using Shane O'Mac? I think in a roto league, you probably lean towards it, but in a points league, he just does not go deep enough into games to be viewed as a must-star pitcher. Yeah.

So I think in a roto league, he's fine, but in a points league, he's a pretty low-end starter. Another one, who keeps getting away with it? That is Nick Martinez. He bounced back at the

Orioles six shutout innings, one hit, zero walks, four strikeouts. His previous four starts, he wasn't getting away with it as much. 592 ERA 132 whip. He also gets the Padres this week. What do you guys think about using Nick Martinez? Is it just take everything we said from Erod and insert here? Yeah, I mean, it's a slightly different profile, better control, even fewer strikeouts, but he's got a much better matchup.

So logically, I'd rather start Nick Martinez than Eduardo Rodriguez. But again. Yeah. The problem with the... Do we consider Padres that good of a matchup for pitchers right now? I think it's a better matchup than the Cubs. That is exactly where I was going next, is that the Padres are pretty tough.

Let's see. In the second half, Wobba, the Padres are second. The Cubs are fourth. So they're both very, very good lineups right now. I think, what's the best way to put it? Because obviously we're dealing with so many different league types that changes your perspective on how startable a pitcher is especially.

Like, unless it's, there are certain leagues where it's obvious you have to start Nick Martinez and where Eduardo Rodriguez. If you're not in one of those leagues, then I think you try and sit up. Shane McLeanhan, same thing. Like, I'm thinking 12-te-to-head leagues. I'd rather use Jacob Loebuck.

Shanehan's a guy. I've been moving in and out of my lineup all year. But if it's a 15-team Roto League, I've never moved him out of my lineup, you know? Yeah. Last name I have here is Jose Soriano, who had a rough one at the Yankees. five innings, five runs, seven trycouts to three walks. And his previous seven starts before this one, he had a 275 ERA 112 whip, but 5.7K per nine and a 489 XERA during that span for Soriano.

He is 71% started and he is home against the Mariners this week. Good matchup. What do you guys think about Soriano? Feels like he's just unraveling, doesn't it? That's what it feels like. What justification is there for starting him at this point? He had been getting good results lately, but The process wasn't very good, yeah.

Not with a lot of strikeouts, not with a lot of innings. I think the base runners have been high still, right? It was a 11-whip the previous seven starts, but it was that mostly looks like just a really low appap. What about since he joined the Blue Jays? Because I feel like there hasn't been much of anything. Yeah, and I know his velocity was way down the previous start, not this one on Sunday. Let's see. Since joining the Blue Jays Soriano has made four starts, he's a 422 ERA at a 150 whip.

Yeah, I think Jose Soriano's just not that good. I mean, is he dropable? He's 93% rostered. I mean, at this point in the season, if you're not starting someone, there's not enough time left that you're holding on to them. drop them for Lopez or painter? Oh yeah, I would much rather use Lopez for sure than. Easily those two. I don't know that I'd go to as far as to say

if you're not using them this week, you can drop them. Because there are still, what, five weeks left and you may have, you may be, okay, this pitchers, not matchups aren't good this week, but they're great next week. You drop them, you miss those great matchups next week. But yeah, I think the overall sentiment is correct

that like you can't, Like, now is not really the time for reclamation projects. And that's what it feels like Jose Soriano is. And I'm not confident he's going to reclaim anything. I think I'd rather use Tyler Malley than Jose Soriano, right? Oh, yeah. And Malley's 68% rostered. So he's pretty available.

He wasn't amazing on Sunday, but he wasn't bad against the Brewers. You know, four strikeouts, one and run in five innings. Yeah. Four, four good starts with the Braves, four for four. And he had a couple pretty good starts with the Giants before that. Yep. some hitting leftovers here, some names who are on fire. Pete Alonzo hit his 30th home run on Friday.

He had two more hits on Saturday in August. 367 with seven homers and a 1083 OPS. Alex Bregman Red Hot, 3 for 5 with a double dog on Friday. He homered again on Saturday. Last 36 games, 308, 12 homers, OPS over 1,000 for Alex Breggman. Carson Benj, 3 for 5 with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. Two more hits on Sunday. he is having himself a big August.

Randy Rosa Rana, three for four with a double dong on Saturday, Homer to get on Sunday. He has six home runs in August, and that makes six straight 20-20 seasons for Randy a Rosarena, who has this reputation of being wildly inconsistent in season,

just like a very shrinky player, but I mean, in terms of your expectation when the season is over, he's probably one of the most consistent players there is in fantasy. I think he's a free agent at the end of the season. It's going to be fascinating to see what happens. happens with him. Yeah,

I think he is. Yeah, that's fair point. Because he's probably in his 30s, I would guess. I think he's right around there,

maybe 30 or 31. Oh, yeah, it's going to be real interesting to see what happens with Randy or Rosarena. Also, he let off the game with a home run

and then hit a walk-off homer, which was the third time that has happened in major league history. I'm pretty sure the second time was Pete Carr Armstrong like a month ago, which is kind of a lot. No, no,

that was like last week. Yeah. PCA did that. And then he hit a lead off Homer in the next game. Yeah. And a Rosarena robbed a Homer in that game. Yes. Which is wild.

And the walk-off home run was over Pete Crow Armstrong's head. There you go. That counts for something too. How about that? Yeah. They were playing each other. Yeah. When you say he let off with the home run,

he let off the Mariners half of the inning with the home run, right? They were the home team. So he let off the bottom of the first. Because otherwise, how do you walk off? if you're leaning off the gap. He hit a lead off home run. Okay. For the minute.

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Jackson Merrill added two more home runs this weekend as well. And basically since early June, he has been one of the, you know, better power speed players in all fantasy baseball. I believe him and Fernando Tatis are tied for the major league lead in home runs since the all start break. Nice. Hitter is trying to get back on track.

Boba Chet. Homer twice this weekend. And he has looked much better in August. O'Neil Cruz. He's making some noise. since returning four games back. He has two homers, seven RBI, and a steal. JJ Weatherholt, two for four with a home run on Saturday,

two for five with a steel on Sunday. It's been a pretty rough second half for Weatherholt, so it would be nice to see him finish strong. And Zach Netto, over his last six games, he's 14 for 28 with two homers, nine RBI, and two steals. So he was definitely going through it, very rough stretch for Netto, so nice to see him getting back on track. Some pitching leftovers, part one.

I'm not going to read off all the, the lines here, I'll mention the names, but Jacob Mizirowski outduled Chris Sale on Friday, Terrick Scoobel, Big Whiff, start against the Pirates. Cam Schlittler turned in a quality start, but the control has been shaky as of late. And Yamamoto, another quality start here against the Pirates. Scott, do you have anything on Yamamoto,

Schlitler, Scoobel, and The Miz? So Scuba, remember his first couple starts with the Dodge, were two of his starts with the most, two of the times he's thrown the most sinkers this year. And it's like, oh, are the Dodgers making him, are encouraging to throw a sinker. He threw 5% sinkers in this start and got the 11Ks

and got the 23 whiffs. So I think, I think we can put that idea to rest. I think Terrick Scoob was going to remain. Terrick Scoobble with the Dodgers. And he's by number one pitch of rest of season still, even though we've seen no curtailment in Jacob Mizorowski's. innings. That's still in the back of my mind. And, you know, who cares at this point? It's not like you're trading either of those guys. But I do technically have Scoobble ahead of Mizorowski rest of

season. All right. Pitching left over is part two. Dillon C. took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at the Yankees. He walked five. The, um, the velocity remains down and he's been walking more, but it hasn't really affected his performance. Like, he's still just dominating, but it's, I don't know, just a little eye opening, I guess, for Dylan Sees. Reed Deppmer is another strong start. Logan Henderson, another great outing for him. Chris, do you have anything here on Henderson, Reed Detmer's, and Dylan Sees?

Yeah, you mentioned Velocity with Sees being down. I've noticed some people kind of freaking out about it, especially early on in the games. And I think that's the thing is this feels very intentional from Dylan Sees. I don't know if he's necessarily talked about it, but it's been happening for about a month, now where every time he pitches, his velocity seems to be like three or four miles per hour down in the first inning. And then by the end of the game, it's closer to his season average.

So I think he's just starting to conserve himself a little more. But he's remained incredibly effective despite it. I don't think there's any concern there. The numbers, six starts with reduced velocity for cease. He has a 158 ERA, 0.85 whip 12.2K per 9. Yeah, he's had like multiple like 13 or 14 strikeout starts, right? Like, yeah, he's been awesome. I have no idea who should be the AL, Say Young, but him and Schlitler have both been incredible. It's been really fun to watch them.

So that's my takeaway there. And the Dettmers, got to be between those two, right? I mean, it's got to be. I think I'd lean cease right now, but it's really close. Hater. What? Continue. Yeah.

And then, I don't know, Dettmers, every three good start stretch just feels like there's a, you know, maybe a less extreme version of McKenzie Gore. But I never feel quite comfortable with Reed Dettmers. Just look at the totality of the numbers there. They're great. They're good.

And you don't even have to slice, you don't have to slice in dice his numbers anymore. I mean, he's, for the season, he's just down to a 362 ERA and a 10.4K per nine. Like, it's just, it's a really good pitcher. Still underperforming is fit by about 0.4 runs right now, which that's always true for him. I don't think that's ever not going to be true for. But I don't think it's true for the last, since the 14 strikeout game.

That was like three months ago. I don't think it's, I don't think it's been true during that. I think he's had a low three ZRA during that time. Yeah. Okay. Pitching leftover is part three. We got a great outing from. Michael Waka, Noah McLean, good results here.

The walks, four walks and back-to-back starts. You don't love that. And Christopher Sanchez, not great against the Cardinals. I just wanted to mention that over his last nine starts, his Babbat is over 400, and his whip is around 1.5 during that span. So any concern with Sanchez, or is it just kind of a weird coincidence for him? I know the Phillies defense is really bad, so. Yeah, I think it's mostly about the whip or about the Babbap,

but it's not entirely. fluky when you give up a lot of ground balls in front of a really bad defense. So there's something there, but I don't think it really affects how I view Christopher Sanchez moving forward. The other thing I want to say here is just I know most of the NLMV or NL Rookie of the Year discussion has kind of focused on like J.J. Weatherhole versus South Stewart and like the advanced stats versus the traditional stats. And South Stewart's like second or third in the NL and RBI. and let's not write off Nolan McLean as our rookie of the year. Like, there's a chance he gets that ERA below three. Well, I had the thought the other day because he is rookie eligible, yeah.

It feels like Kevin McGonagall has had the AL rookie of the year locked up for months. Parker Messick's a rookie. Yeah. He was up for eight starts last year, or seven starts, but he's a rookie. So is Peyton Toley Which is kind of crazy In baseball reference war He's a full mark

A full point behind McGonicle So like McGonicle Deserves to be the front runner But you just You mentioned Parker Messick's A top 10 fantasy pitcher this year Like that's

Normally he'd be having a rookie Of the year type season And I think he Probably deserves He already and 150 innings It's really good Attention than he's getting Yeah

No that's a fair point Yeah The call to the bullpen for the Orioles on Friday in a save situation Andrew Kittridge was used in the eighth and Rico Garcia in the ninth and he picked up his sixth save so they've been mixing and matching

I know Felix Bautista made a rehab appearance on Sunday he's probably gonna need a week or two maybe a couple of weeks didn't go well yeah it's one appearance but it didn't go well yeah so he's a name to watch there other than that do you guys have a lean on Kittridge

versus Rico Garcia Uncle Rico? No, I'm tired of There's a lot of There's a lot of really rough bullpen situations right now. Well, here's the Kansas City Royals. Stephen Cruz got four outs

across the seventh and eighth innings on Friday. Nate Pearson picked up the save. Then on Saturday, both Cruz and Pearson were unavailable. Old friend Craig Kimbril picked up his first save of the season. And then on Sunday, with a four-run lead, it was Pearson in the eighth

and Stephen Cruz in the ninth, do you guys have any idea with the Royals? I didn't notice what happened Sunday. I was kind of thinking maybe they're going with Pearson here because even prior to the save, he had worked the ninth. The appearance before the save, he'd worked,

I think it was the day before. He worked the ninth with a four-run lead, which a lot of times the closer gets used in that spot. And so maybe things were trending that way, but since they reversed the order on Sunday, I think we're back to wondering. I feel pretty confident it's not Craig Kimberl. So don't invest anything in him.

But Pearson may be closing the gap on Stephen Cruz. Yeah, I also think Stephen Cruz just isn't very good. So it might not take much for Pearson to get at it. But I will note, it was a far run lead. It was one of those situations where it was a two-run lead entering the eighth. Pearson worked the eighth with a two-run lead. Then they scored two more. It would have been a save opportunity for Cruz.

Yeah. It probably would have been Cruz on Sunday. That seems very ambiguous right now, but I guess lean cruise for now. For the athletics on Saturday, Hogan Harrison got the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He picked up his 11th hold, and then Elvis Alvarado got the ninth. He picked up his third save. Then on Sunday, Alvarado was unavailable. Hogan Harris picked up his 13th save.

Who do you guys think it's the next save for the A's? Hogan Harris or Elvis Alvarado? Oh, probably Harris. They did the Alvarado thing before. before, but this is another one. It's not quite as messy as the Orioles, but it's, it's, there's never been a stretch where we've really felt confident in anyone and we're five, six of the way through the season. Yeah.

For the Dodgers on Saturday, Tanner Scott picked up his 19th save for the Cubs on Saturday. Jacob Webb got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He allowed a walkoff homer. He took his fifth blown save and third loss. and that is not good for his chances of keeping the role now that Daniel Palencia is back. So we'll see who gets the next save for the Cubs. For the Giants on Saturday, Dylan Smith entered with no outs in the eighth inning two runners on, a two-run lead.

He got out of it without giving up any runs there. He started the ninth. He walked one. Then it was reliever Sam Hentges, who came on. He gave up three runs. He took his third blown save and sixth loss. So still think Dylan Smith will get the next save for the Giants. For the Cardinals on Sunday, Riley O'Brien got the ninth with a four-run lead.

He gave up six runs, including a walk-off homer to Kyle Schwerber. He took his fifth loss. I believe all those runs came with two outs. With two outs, that's correct. And at least three of the hits were after he got to two strikes. Brutal. It was just a brutal performance, yeah. For the Mets on Sunday, Kodi Is Sanger got the ninth with the game tied,

and he gave up a solo home run, took a single home run. his ninth boss, I guess you could say that the White Sox beat it in that game. For the D-backs on Sunday, Brandon Garcia started the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He got the first two outs. He gave up a single. Then it was Kevin Ginkle who came on. He got the final out for his second save. The D-backs are not really using Garcia as just like the closing.

His usage is kind of bouncing around. So that has been a little frustrating. To stream or not to stream on Monday, I did not write them down before. beforehand, so I'm just going to scroll through the schedule. We'll figure this out. Kumar Rocker is at the White Sox. George Claussen is home against the Guardians. I don't really. I know Claussen has gotten some hype. I don't really see it. His slider is awesome. I don't know. Yeah, that's it, though. Enough else besides that. Yeah, I don't really trust it. But his last two starts were really, really good. Frank's a fan, Chris.

I do like him. That slider's awesome. But yeah, I do need to see more. Merrill Kelly is against the Cubs Zebby Matthews is at the athletics Jeffrey Springs against the Twins and that is it. I will say I am starting Merrill Kelly in multiple leagues this week because I am dumb

Merrill Kelly The Cubs No it's just kind of we're at that point in the season where you got to make a call and it's like yeah let's just get some he's got two starts let's get some volume and I'm not really worried about the ratios and in a couple leagues or ones a points league but

if it's just the matchup against the Cubs. No, I'm sitting him. I'm close to dropping him in my N.O. only league. Yeah, no, that's totally reasonable. Tells you where I'm at with Merrill Kelly. Yeah, I think he's cooked. I am more on Chris's side with Clawson,

but I think he's the only one I could get behind here. Yeah. Yeah, I don't really like any of these options. It's not really anybody else that I could even half-heartedly recommend. I mean... No, it's a 10-game slate with a lot of Aces pitching, so there's not really... Monday's rough.

What about on Tuesday? We have Jackson Job against the Rays. We have Andrew Alvarez gets the Rockies in Washington. Seth Lugo is at the Blue Jays. Max Scherzer home against the Royals. We have Zach Thornton against the Brewers. Bryce Elder, but against the Dodgers.

Anthony K. against the Rangers. He's been pitching well. There's Chris Bassett at the Cardinals, Walbert Arrania, home against the Guardians. I think Brandon Fott is too rostered at this point. Gage Jump gets the twins at home. Aranola at the Mariner's. Two rostered dimension here, to be clear.

Who? You said you think Brandon Fott is too rostered. The way it sounded was like, oh, he's too rostered. We need to drop him, which maybe we do, but you meant he's too rostered

to mention in this segment. Yes, yes, that's what I... No, no, no, that is a fair distinction. And then there's Brady Singer at the Giants, too. So Tuesday is actually kind of good. Landon Rup is still... not rostered too much for this, right? Yeah, but I know.

But Chris, I've been, I've been going to that well so many times. It's a good matchup. He's bad. It is. In San Francisco? He's had a lot of good matchups lately. Wobreraena. Trust me on this.

Wobberdorania is, I think, by far my favorite. Yeah. Maybe Jackson Job against the race, but that's not a great matchup. I like Nola. I like Andrew Alvarez. No, Lade, Seattle. Against the. Oh, Rocky, San.

Yeah, that's a good one, too. Nolette, Seattle. Alphros against the Rocky. So those are, I think those are three really strong ones. Even Clay Holmes at the D-backs. The D-backs are bad against right-handed pitching. Don't mind that one.

Tuesday is good. Don't mind. Just skip Monday for streaming and stream a lot on Tuesday. Brady Singer at San Francisco, I think is pretty good, too. If you're feeling really gutsy, Max Scherzer against the Royals, I don't hate.

I don't like that. But it's obviously below those others. Yeah. I would put Arania, Nola, and, probably Clay Holmes at the top, but I don't mind Singer or Alvarez either. Again, that is... I don't mind Anthony Kaye, who you mentioned,

against the Rangers. All right, we are going to wrap there for Scott Chris. 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.

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