Fantasy Baseball Today - Ben Rice Triple Dong! Waiver Wire Adds & Rough Pitcher Outings! (7/8 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

Ben Rice hit three home runs on Saturday (4:16)! ... Luis Gil had a big bounce-back start on Sunday Night Baseball (9:30). ... Jose Miranda continues to rack up the hits (15:38)! ... News (21:01): Julio Rodriguez is dealing with a quad injury. ... The Dbacks are planning to call up Yilber Diaz to make his debut Monday (33:04). ... Brooks Lee is off to a nice start (34:50)! ... Shane Baz made his season debut and Tyler Anderson can't keep getting away with this (45:52). ... We got some rough outings from Pablo Lopez and Ranger Suarez this weekend (54:27). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:18). 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. Hey there. Hope everybody enjoyed the holiday weekend. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, July 8th.

I am Frank Sanfield, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we had some big breakout performance. this weekend, waiver wire ads and drops, pitcher regression continues. We'll talk about some bad starts. We'll also talk about some good ones, some starter sit decisions, and much more. Let's jump in.

There hasn't been much to cheer about with the Marlins this year, but that call was fantastic. From Bally Sports, Florida, so courtesy to them, Jake Berger with a walk-off home run on Sunday, great call there. Speaking of the Marlins, I did want to ask this

first and foremost. Scott, did you stay for the entire game on the 4th of July? Yes, yes. We stayed for all 12 innings. Oh. I can only imagine you with like your kids and just. Oh, they were so into it. It's pretty amazing.

Did any ice cream in a helmet? They did. I did not. Good, good. Yeah, it was, you know, because Nick Pavetta had a no hitter going into the seventh. And then there was a runner thrown out the bottom half of the ninth inning, a runner thrown out at home to keep the game going. So it got pretty exciting there in the later innings.

We stuck around for all of it. They were into it. It was great. Considering we had nothing invested in the two teams personally, I thought that was pretty impressive the way they hung with it. Yeah. So we'll be going back sometime soon. Awesome.

So the old ball yard. Let's think we just got player of the weekend we got. I'm going to go with Ben Rice. who homered three times on Saturday at home. And you might think, okay, left-handed hit her at Yankee Stadium. These may have been some cheapy home runs, right?

No, they were not. They were hit 103.7 miles per hour, 105.1 miles per hour, and 110.8 miles per hour, which was his new high by 3.4 miles per hour. I believe two of them would have been out in every state, stadium and one would have been out in 29 of 30. So these were legit home runs that Ben Rice hit.

And it forced me to look at what he's been doing for the Yankees because he hadn't had enough big games really for me to take notice. And what he's been doing is very impressive. His line drive rate is high. His fly ball rate is high. His pull rate is high. His ground ball rate is low. He has one of those swings that's optimized for damage, whether you're talking about hits

or home runs. And it was kind of the same in the minors. Ben Rice, amazing numbers as a minor leaguer, was not a particularly high-end prospect considering. I think a lot of it had to do with him being a defensively challenged catcher. But he's not playing catcher now. Very old. Yeah, that probably had something to do with it too.

The strikeout rate is low. He added a couple Sunday, but still just 17.2%. You look at his expected stats going at. into Sunday's game. They haven't been updated yet. Expected batting average 338. Expected slug, 698. So Stackcast believes his swing is optimized for damage too. And given that he has the minor league track record he does, I'm not so inclined to doubt it

at this point. He hasn't been playing quite every day. They faced a lot of lefties and he's played against some. But it hasn't been quite every day at bats yet. But considering Ben Rice's catcher, eligible, he doesn't necessarily need to. I don't know that I can get him in my top 12 in one catcher leagues. There's a case to be made for it if you're just chasing upside because I think there's

plenty of upside here. But I really like what I'm seeing from Ben Rice. And I am bold prediction right now. I'm going to say Anthony Rizzo doesn't get his job back. So that kind of begs one question that I was going to ask, which is, I don't know if there's any leagues where Ben Rice is not catcher eligible, if any of the fantasy providers aren't listing him a catcher eligible. I know all the ones where I have him in,

he's catcher eligible, but let's say you played in a 15-team league where he wasn't catch-eligible. Would he still be a viable corner infielder? 15 teams, I would say so. I'd have him in that discussion. Shoot, Jonathan Singleton's in that discussion. Yeah, I think even in 12-team Roto leagues with the corner infield spot, because even leagues, you know, like that,

I think someone like Ryan O'Hern is being used, right? So if Ryan O'Hern is being used, I kind of look at Ben Rice. Like, Ben Rice probably has more upside, but it's a similar situation where right now he's only playing mostly against right-handed pitching. So he started four games so far against lefties, though. Ben Rice?

Yeah. He's actually let all four games in a row. They dropped in and he'll be in the line. He moved into the leadoff spot, yeah. Yeah. No, there's lots of like here. And Ben Rice, 61% rostered. I do think he mostly has catch eligibility on all the fantasy sites, but some names that he is behind right now in terms of roster percentage on CBS.

Jonah Heim, that's an easy one, right? You take Ben Rice over him. He's hot right now. I know he had a big game here on Sunday, but overall, he's like hitting 360 over the last 10 games, but I think that's fine. Yeah. What about Ben Rice versus Connor Wong, who the stat cast numbers don't really buy it, but he's been hitting consistently. I'll take rice. What about Ben Rice versus David Frye, who has slowed down?

Rice. Yeah, as of today, I'm inclined to say rice. Rice over fry. Yeah. Are you telling me a shrimp fried this, rice? I'm just going to leave that one there. What about Ryan Jeffers, who got off to the great start? He slowed down.

He's kind of picked things back up again. He's hitting for some power. I think that one's really close. I'd have to look into Jeffers a little bit more, but I had been discouraged by the way he was trending and in shallower leagues where catchers are so interchangeable.

I think I might just go for Rice. Yeah, I think I'd be okay with that, yeah. Okay, I lied. One more. Sean Murphy, who has now set out three of the past five games and is hitting around 200 on the season. Yeah.

I may come to regret it, but I'm going to say Rice. I don't know if I could bring myself to do it, but I'm not going to say the wrong choice, I guess is how I would put it. All right, Chris, let's go over to you, player of the weekend. And I'm just letting everyone know I had nothing to do with who they chose here. Yeah, Frank tried to talk us out of picking two Yankees for our players of the weekend. But look, we have to talk about Luis Heel and what he did against the Red Sox on Sunday,

because after a just absolutely dismal three-start stretch where people were talking about dropping Louis Heel. He'll comes out, six and two-thirds innings, four hits, one earn run, zero walks. I think he had 13 in the previous three starts. Nine strikeouts. Velocity was up 1.1 miles per hour on the fastball. He was in the strike zone, 49% of his pitches, including well over 50% with the fastball. I don't quite know what to make of it because everything we said about Louise Heel after his terrible previous three starts is still true. There's still a lot of downside. There's still a lot of

concerns about how and when the Yankees are going to limit his usage at some point. But I will say, if you were on the edge of dropping Louise Heel, this should walk you back from it. There's no, there's no, even Shane Boz, I don't think I would drop Louise Heel for Shane Balls, although I would not be surprised for Shane Bos was better the rest of the way. You probably have someone less inspiring than Luis Heel when he's at his best. How often he will be at his best moving forward? It's a very, very reasonable question. And one, I don't unfortunately have the answer to because I cannot see into the future.

But, I mean, you have to feel better about him coming off at the start. And I do wonder if there was like the pitch profiles weren't that different. like the movement profiles weren't significantly different. Specifically, what you look for on the fastball would be the vertical break. That was identical. He wasn't generating more rise on the fastball. But the velocity was up and does make me wonder if there was some kind of mechanical flaw that the Yankees discovered in between the most recent start in this one or what.

But I think you have to feel better about the prospects of starting him moving forward now. So I wasn't on the podcast after his last start. It's easy for me to say now, I know, but I would have taken a more optimistic tone than it sounded like you guys took because from what I've seen from Louise Heel this year, it seems like he can only beat himself. When he throws strikes, nobody can touch him.

And that's... I don't disagree. Yeah, his previous four starts, he threw 57% of his pitches for strikes, which is terrible. He walked eight per nine. This one, he got back to the... throwing 65% of his pitches for strikes, which is actually good. And, you know, during that long stretch where he dominated, the strike percentage was, I think,

around 63%, which isn't great, but it's, it's not terrible, like 57%. Okay, so my only thing there was there's been one month in his career. Well, it hasn't been a very long career. I mean, we could have. No, but I even in mind. It just reminded me of the way people were abandoning ship on. on Garrett Crochet when he had a bad three-star stretch in April. And it's like, guys, have you seen him pitch?

The talent is there. And I don't know. I mean, yeah, Louise Heel, I don't think, clearly, I mean, the previous four-star show that he hasn't whipped this control thing. But we've also seen it go away for stretches that makes me think, okay, maybe he can put it aside for long enough to be a considerable fantasy asset. there is that wild card issue of the pitch limit, the inning limit, that could come into play at some point.

We don't really know. It's kind of impossible to account for that because only the Yankees know what their plan is to the extent that there is a plan. But if we're taking that out and just assessing Louise Heel as a pitcher, I see somebody who really just has one big flaw that could prove to be a fatal flaw, but I think there's been enough success this year that the jury's still out, whether it's going to be fatal or not. I would absolutely hold on to him. Right. I was never giving up on Luis Heel. I want to make that clear. And I think that should have come through in our

previous discussions. I was never dropping. I wasn't here so. People didn't listen to you guys, believe it. Wow. Wow. The royal people were. Yeah. But no, I think the distinction between Garretche and Louise Heel was. Yeah, Crochet is better. Crushche is better. They've never been dropping either of them, given the upside that they've shown. That was always a mistake no matter what. You shouldn't have been driving Louise Heel. You shouldn't have been driving Gary Crochet.

The distinction here, and it might be an unfair way, is that Louise Heel has a longer track record as a professional than Garrett Crochet. And throughout that track record, the little we saw of him in the majors before this season, but also April of this year, June of this year, and his entire minor league career. you're talking about walk rates in the mid to high teens. And then you had May, where it was 8.5%. That was the key distinction there, where Garrett Crochet had less of a track record,

but good and bad to go on. Whereas Louis Healt, that one thing that he fixed in May, that was the only time he'd really ever fixed it. And so that was why I was more skeptical of Luis Heel and Garrickruching. With all of that being said, Luis Heel is currently 62% started on CBS. he's at the Orioles this week. They are third in Wobah against Ritees.

In Chowler Leagues, if you can get away from it, I think I would try to. Yeah, I think that's reasonable. They scored seven runs in an inning a third against him the last time they faced him. So, yeah, I think it's perfectly reasonable to be scared off of him. But that just means that Louise Heel

is in the same range of my rankings as like Kevin Gosman and Carlos Rodon, guys who I, we saw a very good Kevin Gosman start this week. I think there will be very good starts from all three of those guys. I just don't expect excellence every time out anymore. Fair enough. Let's talk about my player of the weekend. That will be Jose Miranda, who has been racking up the hits.

Five for five on July 4th. Then he went four for four with his ninth home run on Friday. He's now betting 331 with a 906 OPS in 73 games this season. He's lowered the strikeout rate. It's really good 13%. He's posted career highs in average exit velocity. barrel rate, fly ball rate. The expected numbers look pretty good for Jose Miranda,

a 288XBA, a 470 X-Lug. He's up to 73% roster. He has first and third base eligibility. I will admit, I've been kind of skeptical. I'm like, uh, is he going to stick around? Is this actually for real? But he's been doing it for almost half the season now. And it kind of looks for real.

The season long expected Wobas is up to 349. That's a really solid mark. I felt a little bad. I was watching that game. They brought him in as a pinch hitter in like the seventh inning. After Correa's injury and he got replaced by Kyle Farmer, then Miranda pinch hit for Farmer. And Miranda was riding a 10-game hitting streak. And I hate when guys have even a short hitting streak and they bring him on as a pinch hitter.

He's like, you're not really gay. He got a single. Roped a single to left field, line drive. He's super locked in right now. I think he, Miranda probably needs to be 100% rostered. as long as this hot streak runs. The next question becomes, there are some pretty interesting corner infielder

that are still out there in about the same number of leagues as Miranda. We're talking about guys like Noelvi Marte, Mark Vientos. Other first basement I brought up recently that have been hot are Nate Lowe and Andrew Vaughn. Scott, would you take Miranda over Marte, Vietos, Nate Lowe, Andrew Vaughn? Well, at this point, I would say I'd like all of the third baseman

over those first basemen. So it's just a question of what order I put them in. And we may differ on this, which says that it's close. I think Noelle V. Marte has the highest ceiling and is capable of contributing in the most ways. So I'd put him number one. For points leagues, I'd put Miranda to

because he has a 13% strikeout rate. For Roto leagues, I'd put, but Vientos number two for the potential impact he could have at home runs. But I agree with Chris that they should all probably be rostered wherever possible. I know there's one league where I'm having to drop Viantos, but that's on the shallower end, obviously. I think that's fair. All right, quick reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, you can scan the QR code that will take you right to the website,

where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and it's easy. is that. You'll get a newsletter delivered to your email inbox every single weekday. And another reminder to that, Scott's week 16 sleepers are out. We didn't get to touch on those or preview week 16 last week because of the holiday, obviously, and we pre-recorded our July 4th podcast there. But yes, you can find them on the website, CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball, sleeper hitters, sleeper pitchers, two-star pitcher rankings for the week. So make sure to go check that out as well. Better do it quickly because the first game Monday is 1235 Eastern. Is that a makeup game or something?

Why is it happening? I don't know, but it means I have to stay up late to set my lineups because I sleep late. Because we record a podcast at one in the morning. Yes, I do not love that early start time on Monday, but here we are. Let's take our first break and when we return, news and notes right after this. Welcome back in. The news and notes, Julio Rodriguez was removed early on Saturday with discomfort. in his lower right quad and MRI showed no structural damage but Julio was out of the

lineup on Sunday how are you guys handling Jrod this week? I'm starting him unless we we learned that he's not the injury is more serious I'll start him. Shallower three outfield the league you might have alternatives it's not like in points leagues he's been pulling his weight anyway yeah but otherwise yeah I I think he'll probably play most of the week. Yordon Alvarez was diagnosed with a right knee contusion after getting hit by a pitch on Saturday. He was out of the lineup on Sunday, but manager Joe Espada seemed to downplay the injury. Similar case here.

Are we just starting Alvarez assuming he's in? Yeah, I think so. The Phillies, Phillies manager Rob Thompson, said Bryce Harper is, quote, in play to be activated from the IL on Tuesday. Thompson also confirmed that Kyle Schwabber will be activated on Tuesday. So Schwabers ago, he's fine. How do you guys feel about Bryce Harper this week? Risky or obviously, but he's Bryce Harper. So I'm probably going to activate him.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto will begin playing catch this week. He's been out since mid-June with a right rotator cuff strain. Jared Jones was placed on the IL with a grade two right latch train. He's going to be shut down from throwing for at least two weeks. It sounds like he will pretty clearly miss the rest of July, hopefully back in August. Devin Williams is scheduled to throw live batting practice Tuesday at American Family Field. It sounds like they're expecting him back at some point in late July. 65% rostered.

We mentioned the name a lot recently. But if you do play even in a shallower points league, Devin Williams, once he returns, he could be one of the top five, top three closers and fantasy. So make sure to get him on your teams if he's available. Blake Snell is likely to start Tuesday against the Blue Jays, which I believe makes him a two-star pitcher this week. Yeah. It does.

I feel like every time he returns, it's for two starts, and we have to make this decision. Yeah, but I think it's a pretty easy decision. You sit them. Yeah. You sit them. The matchups are good. Toronto, and I think, I presume the twins are bad against lefties. I don't have the updated info, but I presume so.

But, yeah, it's just, there hasn't been a good start from Blake Snell yet. The twins have the second best Wobah against lefties this season. Oh, that surprises me. Okay. All the more reason to say. sit him. Yeah, I'm, even in like a 15-team league, like TGFBI, I didn't, I didn't really consider starting him. The Tigers list, Jack Flaherty, as their scheduled starter on Thursday against the Guardians. He's been dealing with this back injury off and on recently. The only start that

we did see him make, or his most recent start, rather, was not a good one against the Angels. Would you guys start or sit Jack Flaherty against the Guardians? So this is a, actually the Jack Flaherty, Blake Snell decision is, want I have to make in TGFBI. And currently, I'm sitting them both. Oh, okay. And I'm starting Michael Kopeck, which I don't love. Oh, I have to.

Big meltdown Sunday for Kopeck. It's just, yeah, no, that was bad. And, uh, I mean, Snell has been so bad all season and Flaherty hasn't actually been that bad even amidst this little hiccup with the back. It's just, sure. he hasn't been great he hasn't been going

to keep innings and it's the Dodgers so the Guardians Guardians oh okay matchup tough matchup anyway you look at it

but yeah like if faced with that choice I'd go Flaherty but in a vacuum I'd try not to start Flaherty I think I'm leaning towards getting Flaherty in but I'm a little nervous about it

in your situation Chris I think I would use Flaherty of those three that you mentioned with him Kopeck and and Blarty Thanks now this week. Jose Altuva left Friday's game after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand.

He sat out Saturday but was back in the lineup on Sunday. Kattel Marte left Friday's game due to lower back tightness. He was out of the lineup both Saturday and Sunday and I heard on one of the broadcast that apparently this is something he's been dealing with kind of off and on all season. You wouldn't know because Ketel Marte has been amazing this season. But how do you feel about him? You know, backs are a little bit more tricky. That's tough.

I'd lean, yes, but if you have a great alternative, then better to play it's safe, I would say. Luis Renhifa was placed in the aisle with right wrist inflammation. Kestin-Hira had his contract selected by the Angels, and he was actually crushing it in the minors this year. 270 batting average, 18 homers, 882 OPS, still striking out quite a bit, but he's a name that could matter in AL-only leagues. Again, that's Kestin-Hira. The Angels have built like a team That the sort of team that I used to build when I was a kid Players I full of players I thought were good

But every team in real life had given up on them I'd like put that team together in a video game And try to win with it That seems to be what the angels are doing It's like Nolan Shanwell first round pick Kestan Here are a first round pick right I think Willie Calhoun was a first round pick

Zach Nettoe Mickey Moniak Joe Adele it's like, it's hilarious the roster that they've put together of. I think there was like a point where the heat had like four of the five or four of the first six players drafted in the 2003 draft. Maybe they're going for something like that. They don't really have a LeBron James or a Dwayne Wade or a Chris Bosch. Well, when Trout is healthy. But, you know, they've got some Hashim Thabit's.

Gosh. I mean, they're all right. I was actually the right. No, I don't think that was the right draft. Tyler Anderson. They have the Darko Milichichiches, Chris. That's who they have of that draft. Yeah, anyway, it's just like the island of Misfit toys.

That's what's going on with the Angels right now. They also have like Miguel Seno, who's been out of baseball, and just a very interesting team. Look, I'm rooting for Kesson here. I hope it works out. Pirates GM, Ben Sherrington said Sunday that he anticipates David Beddnard reporting to AAA this week to begin a rehab assignment. He's on the IL with a left oblique strain.

Here's a name we haven't heard in a while. Matt McLean has been cleared for baseball activities. He had shoulder surgery back in March and should be back sometime in August. He's 46% rostered. Are you looking to stash Matt McLean? Yep. And it sounds like Xander Bogartz is going to be back sooner than expected to.

He's already on a rehab assignment. So those were two I saw dropped in some of those 15 teamers that don't offer I L spots. I've picked them up. I've picked them both up where they were available. Max Muncie has been shut down from swinging a bat, and he's been out since mid-May with a right oblique strain, which just continues to crop up every time he is getting ready to ramp back up.

But, yeah, it's just a bit of frustrating season for Max Muncie. Glaber Torres left Friday's game with groin tightness and was out of the lineup Saturday and Sunday as well. I mean, this is an easier one in shallower leagues. I think even 12-team Roto, he just had. hasn't been good either, so I think you can get away from Glaber Torres if you have an okay alternative. Lars Neupar has finished his rehab assignment at AAA and could rejoin the Cardinals as soon as Monday. He's 36% rostered. Were you guys looking to add Lars Neupar here on Sunday

night? Yeah, maybe not in three outfielder leagues, but if he's out there in a five outfielder league, absolutely. Okay. Tommy Edmund is on track to begin his minor league rehab assignment at AA on Tuesday. He's been out all season after having surgery on his right wrist. How would you guys rank Edmund Bogart's McLean in terms of stash ability? Bogart's Edmund McLean? If it's a shallower league, I might put McLean ahead of Edmund for the upside. I agree with that. The Tigers were called Parker Meadows, who was hitting really well in the minors, and he had an immediate impact. One for four with a homer on Friday, two for four on Saturday, and then he stole a bag on Sunday. And then he was removed with a right hamstring injury.

And it sounds like he's likely to go on the IL, just terrible, terrible timing. He was somebody I brought up on our sleepers, breakouts, and bust for the second half, and it looked like he was ready to make that impact already. But, yeah, bad timing here for Parker Meadows. U. Darvish was transferred from the IL to the restricted list as he deals with a personal matter.

He's been out since early June due to a grointhrain and right elbow inflammation. Brandon Fott exited his starts early on 6th. Saturday after getting hit by a comebacker on his ankle. Fott is expected to make his next start. Eduardo Rodriguez's MRI came back clean on Saturday. He's expected to throw a bullpen soon. Jason Hayward was put in the IL with a left knee contusion.

James Outman was recalled. Outman was heading pretty well in the minors. He's 14% rostered. Any interest in, I don't know, five out in the leagues? Has he been in the lineup yet? I don't know. Let me look that up. Sunday.

He hadn't been called up until Sunday, I believe. No, so he was up on Saturday. He started Saturday. He went two for four. Then he was out of the lineup Sunday, but came on as a pinch hitter. Yeah, and look, they didn't commit to starting him every day. The quote I saw from Dave Roberts was something like, yeah, he's probably going to play against most righties, but he's been struggling against lefties even in the minor.

So I don't expect James Outman to be an everyday player. But he's 15% rostered, I think. I think any 15 team league James Outman we've seen him be a must-start fantasy player before so even in 12-team Roto leagues I think he's worth a look not necessarily a must roster but definitely worth a look I'd prefer those at bats just go to Miguel Vargas at this point not that anyone asked me

they're not going to Fargus by the way he has heated up a little bit here I just yeah I wish they would give him a little bit more playing time but that has not worked out. Two homers this weekend for Miguel Vargas, but he has started, I don't know, it looks like two of the past 10 games, something like that. Just not really playing much.

The Brave signed Eddie Rosario to a minor league contract. He could matter in deeper leagues later this season. Nixon Zell was designated for assignment by the Nationals. Trey Lipscomb was recalled, and Lipscomb has 10 steals in 39 games, so another name that could matter in deeper Roto leagues. Matt Walner was recalled by, the Twins and he was hot down in the minor since June 1st at AAA, 342 batting average,

12 home runs, and 1143 OPS 5% rostered. Scott, who would you rather speculate on in those deeper five outfielder leagues? Outman or Matt Walner? Outman. Walner, we could see him go on a power binge that wouldn't be out of character. Maybe he arrives hot, as you pointed out. But for now, I'm probably just leaving him for like AAL only leagues because the downs. side is so steep.

Walner is one of those players who like the fantasy community as a whole has really gotten excited about over the past like year. I don't really get it. I like him. Like, well, it's such a strong finish last year. He has a lot of power.

But like even in the miners, that's manifested in like 35% strikeout rates and high 800s OPSs. So I just, I don't really get what we're hoping for at the major league level. Like, maybe he runs into 25 homers as a part-time player and hits 220. Like, I just, I don't really see the ceiling with Matt Wallner. He's a fine target in a 15-team league, but I think that's about it.

A few prospect notes, the debacks are expected to call up one of their top pitching prospects, Yilbert Diaz, to start Monday against the Braves. And 15 starts in the minors this season, a 403-ERA-124 whip. Does pitch in very hitter-friendly environments, so worth pointing that out, lots of strikeouts, 105 strikeouts over 76 innings. And the Dodgers promoted one of their pitching prospects, Justin Robleski, to start on Sunday. He allowed four runs over five innings, gave up two home runs in this one. Minor league numbers are pretty good for Roblesky as well.

Scott, do either of these names matter at all? Yilbert Diaz, Justin Robleski. I think Yolbert Diaz is the more interesting of the two. He was one of my 10 pitching prospects who've improved their stock the most back when I wrote that on May 3. 30th. The walks have climbed a bit in recent starts, and that makes him a little less appealing, but he's got a fastball triple digits that he locates well up in the zone, and you see the strikeout numbers. And as you pointed out, he's pitched it really hitter-friendly places in the minors this year. And I think definitely bears watching. Yolbert Diaz. I do think Robleski is

interesting, but not necessarily for fantasy. He's just like interesting to watch pitch. because he's got like the least extension on his delivery of any pitcher in baseball from what I saw. He was like first percentile in extension, but he's got this crazy riding fastball that really works for him. So he was fun to watch. I think he's probably not going to be all that great, although I do think he only really made like two bad pitches in this one. They just, you know, both happen to be home runs.

Yeah. And as a lefty who throws mid-90s, it could be something there. We'll see. Let's talk Waverwire hitters. And we already mentioned Ben Rice and Jose Miranda in shallower leagues. I think a couple of their names that are popping up right now. Brooks Lee, who we spoke a lot about last week, getting promoted by the Twins. He's just off to a great start.

Five games. He has nine hits, one homer, three runs, six RBI. He's 53% rostered. He's got six games this week. Three at the White Sox. So I think some pretty solid matchups there. Chris, how much fad did you see Brooks Lee going for? Are you excited to try and add him?

Is he a must-ad player? What do you think? I don't view Berksley that differently than it sounds like Scott does. I think there are very obvious flaws in his game, and it requires the hit duel to really play up for it to all work out. But the minor league production is pretty good. I wish he ran more. He's not someone that I'm, like, pounding down the door for,

and I, the one league that I saw Fab run in, I didn't see Brooks League go there. Only $41 out of a thousand. So people are not. His bids are all over the place. Just, I've seen ones where he's over 300 for a thousand dollar fab. I won him in TGFBI for 34. Yeah. So like, I think that makes sense, right?

Like, I think he's worth a low but non-zero offer. And if you don't get him, I think the. the likeliest outcome is he's not a difference maker and it's not going to materially impact your chances of winning a championship this year. But he could get hot and hit 285 with, I don't know, eight to 10 homers and eight to 10 or five, you know, maybe five-ish steals the rest of the way. I think that's possible. It did surprise me how little he went for in some of those 15-team Roto leagues where you just rarely see a viable hitter emerge on the waiver wire.

And that's the kind of league you're talking about where he went for 4%. of the starting budget, right? And I didn't speak that glowingly of Brooks Lee, and given the context of that league, I put 20% of my budget in on him, and I could have only put 7% and won him. So I way overbid on him, it turns out, in one of those 15-team Roto leagues,

is somebody who I thought was kind of down on Brooks Lee relative to the consensus, but I guess that shows you where the consensus is. He has done it so far. I mean, obviously a tiny sample, but he struck out only twice. If he keeps the strikeouts that low, obviously improves his odds. That home run he hit was only 99.8 miles per hour off the bat, which is not the kind of exit velocity you normally see on home runs.

And yet he hit it at such an optimal angle that it traveled 395 feet. It was pretty impressive to hit it that far on that exit velocity. And he may just have one of those freakish short of swings that, that that breaks all the usual metrics. Too early to say that, but given how productive he was at AAA, it's possible. I'm keeping an open mind,

but I remain lukewarm on Brooks Lee. Jared Kellnick continues to impress since being moved to the leadoff spot. He went one for three with a sock and a shoe on Sunday, his 10th homer, his fourth steal. And in those 21 games since being moved to leadoff,

298 batting average, six homers, 13 runs 14 RBI, three steals. So doing a little bit of everything. Scott, are we getting to the point now where Jared Kelnick just needs to be rostered and even in three outfielder leagues because he's only up to 73% right now.

So could still be out there. I don't think so. I mean, my perception is he's doing well, but then I look at the week-by-week breakdown in a points league. I don't think he's had a 20-point week yet. If I'm just remembering off the top of my head, I was underwhelmed when I saw the week-by-week

point breakdown. So I believe the Braves aren't facing a single left-hander this week. It's not a bad time to try out Jared Kelnick. Obviously, five out for the fielder leagues, he's probably already rostered at this point. But if you haven't eaten three outfielder league, I just lost Luis Renheefo in one of mine and put in a bid for Kelnik. But I don't see him as like must add in that format. Fair enough.

Other catchers that could be out there in one catcher leagues, if you're just looking to stream that position. Mitch Garver has two home runs in his past four games, and he has seven homers, 19 RBI, in his past 25 games. So the power has been better recently for Garver. He's still batting right around 200 during that 25 game stretch.

And Shay Langaleers has also been hitting for power recently. He homered on both Friday and Saturday, and he is 59% rostered. Chris, who do you prefer between Langalears and Garver? Do you take either one over Ben Rice? No, I'd rather have Ben Rice than either, but I think they're probably pretty close. I would have Garver ahead just because he has a little bit of a better track record. But I expect very similar things from them, which is a lot of home runs.

But there's no reason to think Ben, or Mitch Garver is going to hit for any batting average this season. His XBA is 187, so it's not bad luck. So, yeah, I think they're both just number two catchers. Speaking of two catcher leagues, check to see if Bowenian. was dropped in any of those because he has been hitting better as of late last 15 games, batting 311 with two homers, 11 RBI, one steal, and a 947 OPS. Again, that's Bo Nailer. To catch a league.

He did stupidly start him ahead of Ben Rice this week. But Nailer was actually pretty good. It just, Ben Rice was a little better. A little bit better. But yeah, Bo Nailer is coming around. Jared Kalnick has had one 20-point week this year, 23 and a half. I wondered what you were looking up because, You looked deep in thought.

You were typing right in. Things weren't working like they were supposed to, so it took me five minutes to find something that should have only taken five seconds. Two middle infielder's that have been making some noise recently. Luis Garcia, four for five with a sock and a shoe on Friday, three for five with two RBI on Saturday. And Colt Keith, who went two for five with a double dong on Friday.

Last five games, he has nine hits, three homers, five runs, five RBI and one steal. So it was a lot of. a slow start, but we've seen this with many prospects. Colt Keith might just be starting to put it together a little bit. Scott, who do you prefer between those two? Luis Garcia, Colt Keith? Louis Garcia, but it wouldn't surprise me if Colt Keith had a breakout second half, and it wouldn't surprise me if this is the start of it. It's just, you know, Garcia's been much, much more productive. He just had, I think this was, I think he scored like 34 points this week, something like that for a player who's

generally not in the lineup against lefties, though I think that's changing. His numbers aren't good against lefties, but no, he's still sitting a fair amount against lefties. Put up a ton of points, though. Yeah, that's the tough thing about like this week, right? Great matchups for the nationals. Three lefties.

That's going to make it hard for Louisbourg. I wonder, and I could look this up pretty easily, because I know they've started to sit winker against lefties, but like they bring him in against the first righty reliever. So he still had a couple big games off the bench. And it looks like they've been doing that with Garcia too. He got three at bats in a game off the bench this week. Yeah.

Yeah, it may be less of a hindrance than it seems. For those who play in daily lineup leagues, I do think Luis Garcia could excel in a format like that. He's only 34% rostered on Yahoo, where I do know there are lots of daily lineup leagues over there. Some names in deeper leagues. Rowdy Tellez is heating up two for four with a double dong, five RBI on Friday.

Dane Myers had a good weekend against the White Sox. He had five hits, one homer, and one steel. John Singleton last nine games, batting 367 with two home runs, eight runs, and six RBI. And Lenin Sosa has been hitting well for the White Sox. Last eight games, 441 batting average, two homers, one steel. any of these names matter in deeper leagues.

Routy Teles, Dane Myers, John Singleton, Lenin Sosa. I mean, Dane Myers actually has decent minor league numbers. It's like high 700s OPSs, so it's nothing to get too excited about. But in and out, like, he bad a cleanup for the Marlins on Saturday.

So like, he's going to get an opportunity and he might, like I could see eight, 10 home runs and 8 to 10 steals the rest of the way. That's an optimistic projection, but I could see that in an only league mattering. I did not have Dane Myers on my bingo card today. I did not think he did a mention on this podcast.

Honestly, I only added him to the deep league portion of the waiver wire because I saw he's been batting like fourth and fifth for the martens. I think Singleton's the most interesting of these. But we've been curious about him all year and this is the first time he's shown any signs of life. So it's, you know, it's certainly not a priority at. All right. Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll talk WaverWire pitchers right after this. Welcome back in. Let's talk WaverWire pitchers. And first up, in Shallower League,

Shane Boz made his season debut on Friday at Texas, six innings, three runs, six strikeouts. Mostly a three pitch makes Velocity looked fine here with Shane Boz. Reese Olson pitched well again. He was at the Reds, five and two-thirds, two runs allowed, of those earned eight strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 88 pitches. Tyler Anderson. He can't keep getting away with it. He can't keep getting away with it. He won't. He can. If he keeps striking out 10 batters and walking none, he can. He's just not going to do that. A phenomenal start. If this is the mark of a skill change, him getting 10 strikeouts in 22 whiffs, then okay. But yeah. One start is not going to convince me that's the start of a skill change.

But that was always the caveat, right? I wouldn't believe in Tyler Anderson, even if he was doing this into September, unless there's a skill change along the way that changes the profile. He had, what, 10 walks to nine strikeouts in his previous three starts? Yeah, I think we had him as a sleeper pitcher last week when he had good matchups, and he let us down in a two-star week, and then he comes out here and just has an amazing start at the Cubs. If he'd be getting 10 strikeouts all along as FIP would look amazing

instead of like five. He does get the Mariners. That's exactly what I was going to say. So I think he could be useful again, but this was, I don't know if it's the single most unlikely 10 strikeout zero walk performance of the season because I think DJ Hertz did it twice,

but it's pretty unlikely. Maybe DJ Hearst can just do that sometimes. Maybe it's not so unlikely. I do want to comment. comment on Shane Baez here. Did you finish going through the names or did we jump in on time? No, I was going to bring up Spencer Schwellenbach,

but I'll save that. How do you guys rank the three? Boz, Olson, and Tyler Anderson? Boz Olson, huge gap, Anderson. Yeah, Boz Olson, Schwellenbach, Drew Thorpe, Andrew Heaney, Yadiel Rodriguez. I think those are the only ones

I would take above Tyler Anderson among the rest of the long list. So this was, wasn't the most dominant outing for Boz. Obviously, he escaped with a quality start, but it's not like he looked amazing. I will point out his curveball didn't seem to off. Everything else seemed fine. The curveball was up 1.7 miles per hour.

Its vertical movement was down three inches. It's horizontal off by two. And he wasn't throwing it much in the miners until his final rehab start. That was one reason I thought the rays were delaying him is because he didn't have the curveball quite up to speed yet. It got zero whiffs in this game. So I still don't think it's up to speed. But when it gets up to speed for Boz,

hopefully he doesn't shy away from using it because it's not totally up to speed. Because if he gets it there, the way everything else looks, I think we'll see him take off. And there is top 20 potential the rest of the way with Shane Boss. So I would prioritize him over pretty much

any pitcher that's not 100% rostered. This one's interesting because Boz, 74% rostered. If you get him, do you start them this week? He faces the Yankees who are technically first in Wobah, but their lineup has been scuffling lately, so. I would. The kind of shallow leagues we're talking about,

I think you could have somebody more trustworthy there. Okay. A couple other pitchers that pitched well this weekend. Spencer Schwellenbach, I'm just going to read off the names and you guys can elaborate. But Drew Thorpe pitched well at the Marlins. Albert Suarez, quality start at the, the Oakland A's, Andrew Heaney, pitched well, once again.

Sean Mania, strong start at the Pirates, and Simeon Woods-R-R-R-R-R-R-S. So there are six names here. Woods-R-R-R-A-N-A-Hin-Hiny, Albert-Swarpe, Spencer Schwellen-Bach. Were there any names there that you were prioritizing on the waiver wire? Schwellenbach, for sure. He's at the top of that list for me. I really like a lot of what we've seen from him.

The XERA, the FIP is all much better than the overall numbers. The splitter in particular looks like a really. really, really good pitch. So I, he doubled its usage in the start, the splitter, which, you know, he's been varying his pitch usage

a lot from start to start, which is kind of what makes him interesting. But it was nice to see him break out that best pitch more. Throwing 74% of his pitches for strikes, which has also been a common theme for him. I think there's a clear gap between him and the rest of this group.

Like I mentioned, I would take him over Tyler Anderson fairly easily. If I have Tyler Anderson in my roster, I wouldn't hesitate to drop him for Spencer Schwellenbach. And I also just want to highlight something we talked about when Andrew Heaney made his last start that continued in this one, which was the higher slider velocity. Up about 1.7 mile an hour,

the movement profile was a little bit different, looked more like it did in that 2022. Was that the year he was with the Dodgers? 2021, I think. 22, no, I think you're right. What every is here talking about here? Yeah. Okay.

Whatever year he was good with the Dodgers, a big part of that. And we hammered this, the whole year that he was good was he was throwing the slider harder. He had remade the shape. And then he went back the last couple of years. In the past two starts,

slider has looked more like it did with the Dodgers. And he's been really good. I think it's three out of four. It's three out of four where Heaney's had a huge strikeout rate and a higher velocity on the slider. So, you know, maybe, maybe. you do that three times in four and all the underlying there's like an underlying change beneath the numbers backing it up then I think I think it's time to take Andrew Heaney seriously if I didn't need to start this week I think I'd be fine dropping Tyler Anderson for Andrew Heaney as well yeah because the problem the problem with Heaney is he's at the Astros this week so you don't want to play him there but I agree I remain intrigued last four starts for Heaney a 270 ERA O. 103 whip 11.6k per 9.

Yeah. One last observation on these pitchers here, Drew Thorpe. So, yeah, his starts, he's had four good starts and five chances. The whiffs have been almost entirely on the changeup. That seems like the only pitch he has. But four good starts and five, right? Well, the four good starts have come against Miami, Colorado, Detroit, and Seattle. The bad one was against Arizona, the one.

legit offense he faced. So just something to keep in mind on Drew Thorpe. And he gets the twins this week, and their lineup has been pretty hot recently. So as much as I like that, I think he's doing some things. I think he's a name to watch. I would not want to start Drew Thorpe this week

if I could avoid it. The one name on this list that we didn't really talk about that has a great matchup this week is Sean Mania. So if you are looking for a starter this week, he gets the Rockies in New York. And obviously, it's a great matchup. And he's pitching well. five starts for Mania, 157, ERA, a 101 whip.

Did we get to the deeper league part? Nope, I was about to read those names off right now. So five names, Yario Rodriguez, Kyle Freeland, Luis Ortiz, Jonathan Cannon, and Hayden Wes Nesky. Anything to add on this group? I think Yadhi Rodriguez is pretty interesting. That's two starts in a row now where I believe he's gone over six innings. He's gotten a decent amount of strikeouts.

The walks, notably in both. I think it's two walks in each or three walks total across the two starts, something like that. Yeah, just two walks in each of the past two outings, allowing one run in 12 and two thirds innings of work. Just reading what I wrote earlier. He's interesting. He's got a handful of pitches that all look decent to pretty good. So I think, Adiora Riga is probably still just a 15-teamor, but, you know, in a deeper 12-team categories league where there's just nothing on the, wire. I think Yadier Rodriguez is an interesting ad.

Okay. Yeah, again, he's widely available 13% rostered if you just want to take a shot and see where it goes. Not that I don't think you should use him this week because he's at the D-backs. It's a pretty tough matchup. But yeah, two intriguing starts in a row there from Yari El Rodriguez. Some rough outings this weekend from starting pitchers. Some pretty big names here. Sunny Gray has looked a little bit more human recently at the nationals, five innings, five runs still had six strikeouts to one walk. Pablo Lopez got clobbered by the Astros, five innings, six runs, six strikeouts. His last two starts were great. They were also up against the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners. So not great that we see them up against a great

offense again and this is what happened. Garrett Cole has yet to turn in a quality start. A mixed outing up against the Red Sox, four and a third, four runs allowed, eight strikeouts. You know, the overall line is not good, but 14 whiffs on 90 pitches. I thought that was pretty encouraging for Garrickle. Hunter Brown, his great run came to a screeching halt up against the twins, six innings, 12 hits, seven runs allowed,

and Ranger Suarez has taken a step back. Two starts in a row where he has given up five plus earned runs. Anything you'd like to add on Ranger Suarez, Hunter Brown, Garicol, Pablo Lopez, and Sunny Gray? So the eggs of velocity against Hunter Brown

in this one, average exit velocity was only 85.5. miles per hour. He kind of summed up the start by saying soft contact is kind of what you're going for. So he had some bad luck there, it seems.

He did throw his fastball more, and he has been throwing it more the past couple turns than I would like. When he took off, he was fading the four-seem fastball, and now he's kind of bringing it back. So that makes me a little uneasy. But the bottom line is is I'm not ready to abandon ship here on

Hunter Brown after this bad start. on Garrett Cole, his velocity was up again nearly a mile per hour from where it had been just this year. So now it's almost to where it was last year, the average fastball velocity. So I think Cole is trending the right direction, but it would be nice to get some actual results here. And I think you're probably,

you probably just don't want to start him right now until we see him look truly like Garrick Cole again. Especially at the Orioles this week, too. Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a good start, but yeah, I think I would lean towards sitting him if I can. Yeah. I think the regression's finally coming for Ranger Suarez.

He's still a good pitcher, but I never bought into the ace outcome that he was delivering. And finally, Pablo Lopez. I think he's kind of going through. I'm wondering if it's an Aranola situation where if he's, if he's just not locating well enough, he gets crushed, because there just seems to be such a severe dichotomy,

you know, between the good starts and bad starts, kind of like we see from Nola. I don't know. I mean, it seems like he should be more overpowering than Nola and just from a pure pitch characteristics standpoint, but he keeps having these disaster starts. The one thing I would say that was, if you want to say, optimistic, but at least not as discouraging about this one,

was it wasn't home runs. That had been the issue. It had been a lot of home runs. It had been a lot of barrels. He didn't really give up a ton of hard contact in this one. He didn't really get hit all that hard. 89.1 mile per hour average. Hegues of velocity.

So on the whole, if it hadn't come after the horrible May in particular, I don't think we would talk about this Pablo Lopez start. So I still think he's fine, but I have thought he was fine all the whole season. And that hasn't been right yet. yet. So, I don't know. Last point on Pablo Lopez. He's 79% started on CBS. He's at the White Sox this week. So I do think

you want to get Pablo Lopez back in your lineups. Some pitching leftovers, part one. Justin Steele turned in the first complete game of his career Friday up against the Angels. He allowed two hits, one run with seven strikeouts. Terrick Scouble was amazing at the Reds. Seven innings, one run, a career high, 13 strikeouts with 23 whiffs. Paul Skeen, turned in another great start up against the Mets, seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts. He has gone seven innings and two of his last three outings. And Kevin Gosman turned in a strong start at the Mariners.

Six innings, two runs, ten strikeouts. He had 21 whiffs. Do you take that with a grain of salt? Because it comes up against the Mariners, probably. Well, well, well, Kevin Gosman apparently two days before the start decided to change his mechanics. He was more hunched over in his delivery as how he described it, which created a lower arm angle on his fastball. He got 17 of his 21 whiffs on the fastball,

which was up 1.5 miles per hour. He said it was something they were looking into trying to get him back to what he was doing in 2021. He thinks it'll allow him to be in the zone more, in addition to making the fastball more effective. He said that he hoped it, would create more vertical drop on his splitter too, because he's felt like it's had too much horizontal movement and not enough vertical. The data doesn't show that and he only got two whiffs on the splitter in this start, but the fastball, there seems to be some reasons why it was so effective

in this start getting 17 of those 21 whiffs. And, you know, if you make a legitimate mechanical change, then that's something that could take a pitcher's outlook in a completely different direction. I don't know if it's going to end up in a positive direction for Gossman still, but the first shot, it was great. We're hoping for reasons to be optimistic. Right. And that's definitely one. Yes, absolutely. Pitching standouts part two, we had, I'll just read off the names, you guys can go.

Nester Cortez, Cole Regens, Luis Castillo, Hunter Green. Any notes on that group? Hunter Green just continues to be a little inconsistent, but I think, think on the whole much better than we've ever seen from him. I don't know if this is like the fully realized version of Hunter Green that we've been hoping for, but his fastball just continues to play way, way better than it ever has in the past. That had always been the biggest problem. Mrs. Fastball just gave up way too much hard contact and specifically way too many home runs. And in terms of quality of contact allowed, the fastball suddenly looks like a really good pitch.

It's like a 280 expected Wobah on the season. So I don't know if that's the location. has been a little more consistent and that's helping it play up, but that may be less sustainable, or I think you can make a case that just the 9 to 10% of the time that he throws that splitter, maybe it's just making the fastball play up a little more. And so either way, I mean, the underlying numbers are much better than we've seen from Hunter Green.

I think he's legitimately a must-start pitcher now, where he has not been in the past. Only other thing I'll add from this group, Luis Castillo, His slider was different in this start. The velocity was down 3.2 miles per hour, but the spin rate was up 103 RPM. So I don't know. That seems like something that was conscious here.

And it was all right. He only got one whiff with the pitch, but there was good results on balls in play. So something to watch with Luis Castillo. I'll mention something here for Cole Riggins. His fastball was down like a mile per hour and a half in this one, and that's two starts in a row. And actually kind of everything was down for him in this.

start. You may not care that much because he dominated at Colorado, but the previous start when we first saw the velocity dip on that fast belt wasn't so good for Cole Reagan. So it's it's just something to keep an eye on. Pitching standouts part three. We had, this group is Tage Bradley, Rinaldo Lopez, and Nathan Avaldi. Anything to add on that group? So I don't feel like Tage Bradley was anywhere close to his best in this one. He got only six with. and all of them were on the splitter. We've seen all of his pitches. Normally when he's on, like all of his pitches are getting whiffs. And it seemed like only the splitter was working on this one. And yet, against the Rangers, he still allowed one-er-and-run run in six innings.

So I took that as a very good sign for Tage Bradley, that he could have such an off-day and still be that effective. Chris, I think you almost chose Ronaldo Lopez as your player of the weekend. Yeah. What do you have on it? So I was writing my newsletter earlier, and I listened to music while I write. And I had a 90s slash 2000s rock radio playlist. And the song, this is not a bit.

This is actually what happened. The song that came up as I was writing about Raynalde Lopez was newfound glories all down hell from here. Oh, gosh. And that is exactly how I feel about Raynaldo Lopez. He has, I think it's 11, is it 11 walks over his past three starts? The control has been significantly worse. He is outperforming his expected ERA by two and a half runs now. He's down to a 171 ERA.

The thing about Ranaldi Lopez is even if you think he has some ability to continue to outperform his expected stats to an extent that no other pitcher has. Let's grant that that he is a true talent level to seven. five ERA pitch. Let's grant that. I don't think that's true, but let's grant it. He's thrown, I think, 86 innings this season, 89 innings, something like that. The Braves just aren't letting him go deep into games consistently unless he's just absolutely pristine. They're not pitching him every fifth day. I think he is like the most obvious sell high candidate in baseball right now. And then maybe nobody's buying and you just hold on to him and drop him when the ERA gets back up to four, which I think it will. But, given the fact that I don't believe in the surface level numbers. And he's not as valuable as the surface level numbers would make you believe because of the volume. I just, I think you should be doing everything you can to try to try Bernardo Lopez right now. The last two pitching leftovers were Brady Singer who had a dominant start at the Rocky seven innings,

one run, seven strikeouts. And Cutter Crawford, who opposed Luis Heel on Sunday night baseball, he threw seven shutout innings with four strikeouts. he has thrown 72 pitches or less in back-to-back starts just seems a little weird, but he still went six plus innings in each. I don't really know what to make of that, but that's cut across.

It was freaking efficient. That's what I make out of it. You know, if it was five innings and they pulled him after 72 pitches, that's one thing, but six innings, I don't know. They probably just didn't want to let them go past six innings, because usually... Usually.

Seven today. Okay, seven. Yeah, seven, even better. And he threw 70 or six. Okay, 68 pitches and seven innings. That is insane. And that's really all I take from it. All right.

He's been a strike throwing machine this year and it continues. And it looks like he's bounced back nicely from that little rough patch he had. All right. Some hitting leftovers, hitters who have picked things up lately, Mani Machado, Byron Buckson. Brent Rooker, Lordus Guerrille, George Springer, all varying timelines and start points and endpoints that I chose. But those five names are hitting well right now.

Was there anything you'd like to add on Machado, Buxon, Rooker, Goreale, and Springer? You want to wax poetic about Byron Buxton here, Chris? I don't think I have a lot to say about this group. Yeah, I don't have much to say. Byron Buckson's really good. Yeah. I don't know.

He's going to get hit by a pitch next week. And he's really good, I told you so. whatever, but he's an awesome player. Sounds like you're telling us, though. And Brent Rooker, I think he's just the streakiest player in baseball right now. Like, he just, when he's hot, he's so hot, but man, the lows are super low.

And I think you probably just ride it. He's not as good as a 1078 average in 890 OPS. Helps that he's hot currently. I would imagine 12 games ago he was hitting like 240. But he's a good source of power. at a time when even when things are heating up, it's still hard to find. So I think he's, you know, certainly every category's league. Brent Rooker is a very, very viable starter.

Some other hitting leftovers, Brian Reynolds, a huge game on Friday, four for five with a double dong and six RBI. Wilson Contreras had a big weekend, really starting to round back into form since returning from the IL. Two for five with a homer on Friday and then two for five with a sock and a shoe on Sunday. his ninth home run, his third steal. Trey Turner, an 18 game since returning from the IL, 321 batting average with five home runs in OPS over 900.

Will Smith, 3 for 3 with a triple dong, four runs, 3 RBI, 2 walks on Friday. Just a massive game for him and great season all around for Will Smith. I know it's only been one week for James Wood, but he looks like he belongs so far. A huge game on Saturday, 2 for 5 with his first career home run. He added 5 RBI both all. of those hits went to the opposite field.

Pretty impressive stuff there. I think his first hit, which was like a 103 mile an hour ball was also the other way. Yeah. That's interesting. 96.9 average exit velocity entering Sunday. 76% crown ball rate for James Wood.

So he seems a little late. Just on the whole. That's kind of my take, but the fact that he's not overwhelmed right now makes him one of the more successful top prospect call up to the last year. Stephen Kwan continues his break. out. He hit two more home runs over his last four games. He has nine home runs in 62 games this

season. He had 11 home runs in his first 305 games entering this year. So whatever they're doing out in Cleveland, it is working. Shohei Otani continues to dominate two for two with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. He added two more seals on Sunday. Brenton Doyle had a huge week, 45.5 fantasy points on CBS. That's awesome stuff. full week in Cores Field, that'll definitely help. Yeah. Yeah. Bobby Witt had himself a big week as well. Last seven games, 536 batting average, three homers, nine runs, eight RBI. Christian Yelich continues to do his thing. Last 11 games, 386 with four homers and four seals.

And Raphael Devers crushes the Yankees. He just loves crushing them. Two for four with a sock into shoot on Saturday. And then three for four with a double dong on Sunday. I don't like to admit this, but I really like Raphael Devers the player. If he played on any other team, I would probably get his jersey, but I just can't do it. Not with the Red Sox. Some bullpen updates this weekend for the Yankees on Friday. Clay Holmes got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer to Masataka Yoshita.

Last seven outings for Clay Holmes, a 10.8 ERA, and a 165 whip. I don't know if there is a clear, closer candidate that the Yankees could go out and get. I would say there is a non-zero chance that Clay Holmes gets overtaken by somebody after the trade deadline. Yeah. I don't think it's impossible. All-Star Clay Holmes, I will point out. Probably the most objectionable All-Star on the AL team, considering he isn't the Yankees loan representative. I mean, would they try Louise Heel?

Is it too important to keep him in the rotation? Like, couldn't that be a way to save his innings while maximizing the team's chances of winning a championship? It's not crazy. I think that they would use him more in a multi-inning reliever role. Like, the way they used Michael King last year. The rotation's kind of in shambles right now. You know, Garrett Cole hasn't come back in pristine form.

Carlos Rodon's a mess. I'm blanking on the name. Everything is in shambles. Ambles, Scott. Lineups stinks too. Yeah. They're going to make several trades, I would say. I would bet on them doing that.

I think Tanner Scott makes so much sense. I don't know if he would become the team's closer or if they actually, if the A's even one trade, Mason Miller, I know I've brought that up before. But maybe, maybe they could just get a huge haul for him. I don't know. For the- Carlos Estevez, how you feel about that one? Oh, gosh. Been good lately.

Come on, Scott. Tanner Scott could work. Tanner Scott could work. Another All-Star there. For the Tigers on Friday, Jason Foley got the ninth with a three-run lead. He gave up two runs on four hits, but picked up his 14th save. And then on Saturday, Jason Foley started the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up a run on two hits.

He recorded two outs. He was relieved by lefty Andrew Chafin, who got the final out for his first save. This is another bullpen where if the Tigers could find someone else, I think they'd probably want to do that, but they just don't really have names. They don't have enough arms. Seems more likely they trade someone out than bring someone in. How I don't even know. Are they even competing? Are they close to a wildcard spot? I feel like I would guess not. Yeah. All right. There's six games under 500. So they're like. Yeah. Yeah. Great. For the White Sox on Friday, Michael Coppeg gave up a run, but recorded the final four outs for his eighth save. And then on Sunday, he imploded. Uh, got the ninth with a one run lead. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks took his fifth,

save and eighth loss. For the Phillies on Friday, Jose Alvarado got the eighth inning with a five-run lead facing the top of the Braves lineup. He gave up a three-run homer. It was Jeff Hoffman who got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out one for his eighth save. Hoffman at 36% rostered seems undervalued, under-roastered. He just probably needs to be rostered in any categories league. They went through a really weirdly long stretch in June with no saves, like 20, games or something where the Phillies didn't have a save. But Hoffman does have three of the last four for the Phillies. And he's an All-Star.

I think it's, I would guess it's 55-45-Forty-Farado Hoffman, but Hoffman's been the better pitcher this season. Scott is on actually that close. Scott is on top of the All-Stars, I don't know any of them, but Scott knows all of them. I was studying them earlier today. I tweeted out my thoughts on the All-Star team. Yeah, you were tweeting out like me for like a half hour there.

Hoffman. Francisco Lindor not being an All-Star is he has not the biggest the player with the most

wins above replacement at the All-Star break in four three of the last four years to not be an all-star

as Francisco Lindor. Wow. Like it's not even like he's had non-all-star he's been like a three-war

player by mid-July three of the last four seasons and has not made an all-star game. So actually it's wild. I did have Francisco

Lendor listed among my snubs, but I think the biggest snub in either league is Bryce Terrang. And it's especially upsetting because I mentioned Clay Holmes was the most egregious selection on the AL side. Luis Arise, the backup

second baseman, is the most egregious selection on the NL side. And again, like Holmes in the AL, it's not like he's the Padre's own representative. They didn't need him there. I think what is Bryce Terrang? I mean, obviously we love him in fantasy

for the steals. Top east and wins above replacement. Right. His defense is so good. He's at four war, according to baseball reference. Crazy. No, that is,

I didn't even realize the Bryce to rank thing, but yeah, I think that's a good call. For the Mets on Saturday, Edwin Diaz returned from suspension. He struck out one for his eighth save. For the Blue Jays on Saturday,

Chad Green gave up a run, but recorded the final four outs for his fourth save. And then on Sunday, Chad Green pitched a scoreless ninth inning with the game tied. The Blue Jays took the lead in the top of the 10th. It was lefty Hennesis Cabrera, who picked up his second save. For the Dodgers on Saturday, Evan Phillips was called upon in the 8th, with a one-run lead to face two, three, and four in the Brewers lineup.

He gave up a solo homer to Christian Yelich. The Dodgers then took the lead in the bottom of the 8th, and it was Alex Vescia, who pitched a clean ninth for his fifth save. This is either the second or third time Phillips has been deployed in the 8th to face the hard. of a team's lineup. Vesia's been... I think they've gone to him three times recently for the save, right? Yeah. So it seems like there's a little bit of a Philly situation going on here

between Phillips and Vesia, which nobody wants to see, of course. But if you're in a deep league where saves are impossible to find, I think Vesia, Alex Vescia, belongs in the discussion. Yeah, and one of those 15-team Roto leagues actually picked Vesia up here on Sunday because I'm desperate for save, so I think it makes sense. For the Pirates on Sunday, O'Oldus Chapman,

got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs on three walks and two hits, took his third blown save and fourth loss. I'm really excited for David Bednar to get back and hopefully look like himself so I can just drop Oroldest Chapman. Yeah. Bednar going out on a rehab assignment this week.

I don't, they probably won't activate him. Maybe over the weekend. Yeah, maybe by the weekend, but not starting him this week, but I wouldn't mind sitting our oldest Chapman either. To stream or not to stream on Monday, I think Christian Scott at the Pirates is in play. I think Andrew Abbott versus the Rockies in Cincinnati, I think is fine.

And then maybe one of either Michaelis or Mitchell Parker, they're facing each other. Yeah, I think all four of those are okay. I could see John Gray at the Angels having a good start. I know it's been a little rocky lately, and I'm not a big believer in him, but I can see that going okay. the first four we mentioned Christian Scott, Andrew Abbott, Miles Michaelis, and Mitchell Parker. They are all among the weekly sleeper pitchers

as two-star pitchers this week. Two favorable matchups for each of them. And then on Tuesday, some options here we have Ben lively at the Tigers. Frankie Montas gets the Rockies in Cincinnati, Brian Beaux versus the A's, Jose Cantana versus the Nats. Michael Waka at the Cardinals

Colin Ray versus the Pirates it's not a terrible day on Tuesday So remember Frankie Montas Like one great start this year Was against the Rockies It was at course field It was a weird start Where he threw a slider a bunch

But he has succeeded against them It's the Rockies on the road Which is probably the best matchup in baseball So I think that's an okay one And Brian May of his own He's my number two sleeper pitcher For this week Frankie Montas With two favorable matchups

Go ahead Chris And then Brian Bayo versus Oakland, I think, can be pretty good as well. Yep. Yep, he's on the two-star sleepers for this week. I know I'm kind of like mixing two segments here. We didn't have the segment last week. We didn't.

We didn't. That's why I'm trying to sneak a minute. Jose Cantana's a weekly sleeper for this week. All of them are two-star pitchers, which I think is a first for this year. Michael Waka is only in line for one-star, but at St. Louis, that's a really good matchup. And if I could have fit a one-star pitcher, There it would have been him. So if we're talking daily streamers,

I think Michael Walker might be my favorite actually at St. Louis, followed by Frankie Montas against the Rockies. Then Jose Cantana against the Nationals, who have the third worst OPS against lefties, Brian Beaux against Oakland. Really good streamer day here Tuesday. And then one we haven't mentioned yet, Dean Kramer against the Cubs,

who have, I believe, a bottom 10 offense now in terms of run score. They just famously struck out 10 times and walked none against Tyler Anderson. There you go. There you go. We are going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a 5-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.