Fantasy Baseball Today - Bench Cole Ragans & Garrett Crochet? Figuring Out Bullpen Madness (4/20 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)
Episode Date: April 20, 2026Cole Ragans walked eight on Sunday (4:32)! Garrett Crochet had a brutal two-start week (8:34). ... Ryne Nelson got bombed (13:57). ... Gavin Williams and Murakami look like early-season breakouts (18:...40). ... Every closer is hurt or bad (26:56). ... News (34:42): Juan Soto could return on Tuesday. ... Noah Schultz looked much better in his second start (45:34). ... Dalton Rushing won't stop hitting homers (57:23). ... Hold onto these pitchers (1:04:40)? ... Start or sit these pitchers this week (1:12:21)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:18:43). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CPTowers @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/ 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports.
And first pitch, watching.
Got a fantasy question?
Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com.
Get ready to win your league.
Well, fantasy becomes reality.
Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris.
What's up and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, April 20th.
I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott Wife and Chris Towers.
today on the show,
What the heck do we do with Garrett Crochet and Cole Regans?
We have more bad closer news, surprise,
and waiver wire ads, start or sit decisions, much more.
Before we get into the players of the night,
because I felt myself feeling this way a lot early on,
if you are frustrated by the start of the season,
you are not alone.
Like, there is a lot of very weird things going on so far
between aces, getting bombed,
and really good hitters off to terrible starts.
And every closer being terrible or hurt.
Or hurt, yeah.
But I will say, Frank, you pointed this out before the show.
It's a long season.
In the beat FBT league that we drafted before the season,
everybody was before this week.
We were in 12th place out of 12 teams.
It was not just a clever name to beat FBT league.
But Yordon went bonkers,
and Jose Ramirez had a great week,
and all of a sudden we're in fourth place in that league.
It's a long season.
Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to bring up,
is that things could change so quickly.
Last week, people were asking if they could drop Austin Riley.
He doesn't know how to hit a baseball, and boom,
now his stat line looks a lot like Austin Riley.
So things change very quickly.
We have nearly doubled our roto points in that league.
We entered last week with 35 standing points.
We were up to 69, nice,
and we are in fourth place.
So again, things could change very quickly.
If you are frustrated, I understand.
Let's talk about it.
And I don't believe what is going on
with Cole Reagan's and Garrett Crochet,
but Chris, I will let you kick us off.
Your player of the weekend for very bad reasons.
Okay, can I just read like 30 seconds real quick,
derail us on my actual favorite thing from this weekend,
which was Dalton rushing after Saturday's game
against the Rockies where the Dodgers lost four to three.
three. There's a quote, I just think it's odd that some of those hitters that they do what
they do. They go up there. They were only on the first pitch that was thrown. It's a little fishy.
Like, bro, don't rush. You're crying about like the Rockies cheating when you play for the Dodgers.
Like, come on. I'm not implying the Dodgers cheat, by the way. I'm just saying like, come on,
bro, you're in the best team in baseball. And then the Dodgers got beat 9-6 on Sunday. I don't know if you
I saw, but the Rockies celebration all throughout the game was fishing reels every time they got a hit.
I love this.
I love that Dalton Rushing spent the entire game getting trolled by the Rockies of all teams.
Don't cry about that.
Come on, brother.
All right, that's it.
Cole Regens was awful.
He's not right.
I'm not sure.
There's a lot of ways we can go with this.
And some of them are scarier than others, but Cole Reagan's walked eight.
against the Yankees on Sunday.
He actually like almost had a decent start.
And then in I think the fifth inning,
they probably should just not have brought him out for the fifth inning.
He gave up a three-run home run to Trent Grisham
and really set his line sideways.
But he was bad the whole time.
Eight walks.
That is 12 walks in his last two starts.
That is three starts in his first five with at least four walks.
Between 2024 and 2025 combined,
he had five starts.
with four walks, none, I believe, with more than four walks.
So clearly, something is wrong.
The worst case scenario would be there's something with like the elbow or particularly the shoulder
after he had that shoulder injury last season.
I think Scott, you're gesturing to the thumb.
That seems like the likelier explanation.
He took a comeback or off the hand a couple of starts ago.
Maybe he's just not gripping the ball right.
The movement on his fastball is a little different.
But we've also seen Corrigan's velocity and.
spring training was actually up. He was averaging like 97 miles per hour with his fastball in the
spring. It's down to like 94. So far this season, which is about a mile per hour down from last
season. So whatever is going on with Cole Regens. He's not right. You're not dropping him,
certainly, and I think it would be very foolish to trade him at this point in the season.
But I don't hate the idea of benching Cole Regens this week. He's going up against the Angels,
a team that is very jekyll and hide on offense.
They hit a lot of home runs.
They strike out quite a bit as well.
Not as much like Joe Adele has made some improvements this year,
but they are a volatile offense.
Honestly, I don't really know that it comes down to the matchup.
I just think it comes down to Colernerner.
He's just not right.
If he's right, he's one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Right now, he's not right.
So I co-signed.
Scott, what do you think about benching Cole Riggins?
Hello.
I was kind of playing a game where I could see how long I could go without speaking.
I think it would be kind of fun
for the listeners on the like
to guess for like however
for the start of the show whether Scott is on today
or not on today.
Obviously the YouTube viewers know
because they see me
but the list.
Well, and I referenced you.
You did reference me.
I was wiggling my thumb.
Anyway, yeah, I'm a little worried.
It looks like you have a little band-a-
Yeah, it does have a bit.
I wasn't showing off the Band-Aid
but there is a Band-Aid on my thumb.
got a shard of wood in there earlier.
Not important.
Not important.
What is important is Cole Reagan's.
And I think given that the two starts since he took the comebacker off the thumb have both been extremely out of character and both with a crazy number of walks.
The first start, it seemed like he didn't have his slider.
The second start, it didn't seem like he had his change up.
something
I wouldn't be surprised
if we hear Regens is going on the IL.
That's kind of what I'm expecting to happen.
But obviously it's just a hunch.
I searched for quotes after this game too.
I didn't see anything about calling.
Yeah, I haven't seen anything.
Yeah, he didn't reference it.
I found quotes from him,
but they weren't particularly illuminating.
Yeah, I just,
I think you said him until he gets right.
and that may mean, you know, we'll see if he goes on the IL, obviously,
stashed him in an IL spot if that's the case.
But don't feel like you can trust him right now in your lineup.
Well, let's get all the bad out of the way.
And I'll just talk about Garicrochet, who had another bad start.
This one against the Tigers on Sunday, five innings, five runs allowed.
Did have eight strikeouts, but two homers allowed in this one, too.
That brings his two-start week to six-and-two-thirds innings, 16 hits, 15 runs.
five walks to eight strikeouts, four homers allowed,
and his overall line, 78 ERA 163 whip,
and obviously doesn't look right either.
This is now two terrible starts in a row for him.
He gets the Orioles this week.
He's 93% started.
He was your first or second round pick,
so I understand why people who have him feel doom and gloom right now,
even more so than someone like Cole Reagan's.
But do we bench Garrecrow?
I'm less worried about crochet than Regens.
Agreed.
He was fine until the fifth inning in this one.
He had allowed one solo home run up to that point.
And then there was a series of bad things that happened in a row, kind of unraveled.
Crochet, you know, seems to think it's mostly a matter of him.
He said he started shying away from contact in the fifth inning, like not trust.
his stuff, that sort of thing.
So he might be a little in his head at this point, but I don't think I'd sit him personally.
And yeah, I think he's fine.
He's at Baltimore.
Their offense hasn't really clicked in yet.
The one thing with crochet is just, I've mentioned this, I think, after every start,
but he was frustrated with how his spring training went.
He seems like he's been just a little off for a while now.
Yeah.
But we don't really have.
have any reason to think there's an injury underlying this.
So I'm, I'm more inclined to, to have faith in Crochet than Regens, one, because
Reagan's had a serious injury last season and he had the thumb thing earlier.
Crochet has been very healthy for several years now.
Maybe there's something going on here and they just haven't identified it or haven't told us
or, but, um, I haven't seen any reason to think something is wrong with Garrow Crochet
beyond the results.
I think it's just,
look, Garretre Crochet's probably not going to be worth that first round pick now.
I think just with the way this start of the season has gone,
by the end of the season, in a Roto League especially,
you will not get a return on your investment for Garer Crochet.
I'm not moving him down in my rankings.
But all that matters is what happens today forward.
You can't change the past.
And just to get back to the original point,
I mean, I remember how things started out for Chris Sayle last year.
Chris Sayle after four starts had a 6-63 ERA.
After how many was it?
After six starts, he still hadn't gone beyond five innings last year.
Like, things were looking rough.
And then the next start, he struck out 10 and seven innings and was Cy Young caliber the rest of the way.
Obviously, he missed some time with a fractured rib diving for a ground ball.
but the rest of the way final 15 starts with the IL stint in the middle.
He had a 176 ERA, struck out 129 batters and 97 in a third innings.
So it's a long season and there are countless examples of players,
both on the hitting and the pitching end,
where you look back after the season at their monthly splits
and are like, wow, that was an ugly April,
but you don't even remember it anymore
because they just were basically fine
the rest of the way.
I also want to point out
there's one tangible thing I've noticed with crochet
which is his arm slot.
Back in 2024, he had a 38 degree arm angle.
Last season it dropped to 2035 degrees
which is negligible.
This year it's dropped to 31.
Again, it's a negligible drop.
I didn't mention that last time.
Yeah, it's a negligible,
negligible drop year to year.
But the overall is now we,
gone from someone who, you know, is closer to three quarters in 2024 to, you know,
maybe closer to a little closer to sidearm in 2026. So that's the one thing if you're
looking for like a physical change with Garrett Crochet, but I'm not, arm angle changes
aren't inherently good or bad. It's just maybe it's a sign that he's just got some mechanical
flaw to fix. But I don't see a reason to think he's hurt. I would absolutely not drop him.
and I would lean towards not sitting him.
Would you guys confidently send buy low trade offers
for Crochet and or Regens right now?
Confidently on crochet.
Still probably yes on Regens,
but it's always a matter of how low you're buying.
Somebody in the chat,
when we were talking about Reagan's a minute ago,
said Cole Reagan's easy drop.
Well, I mean, if that's the attitude of the Reagan's,
if the person who has Reagan's
in your league, then you could buy really low.
And that would be great.
I'd be thrilled to do that.
All right.
Let's keep the bad train rolling, Scott.
And you are up with another rough outing.
Yeah, Ryan Nelson this time.
He recorded one out.
He gave up eight runs.
That's bad.
That's really bad.
And it comes on the heels of him putting together two pretty good starts.
I mean, basically it looked like Ryan Nelson again.
And I was feeling pretty.
confident in him.
I will point out, just for the amusement of it, he didn't throw 60% fastballs in this one.
It's amazing.
It's amazing how often that happens.
If he throws 60% fastballs, he's great.
If he throws any less, it was 53% fastballs in this one.
Any less, it doesn't go well for him.
It's the first thing I look at, and I always think of you whenever I look.
I'm in the pictureless discord.
and someone was like,
I know Scott is going to bring up the 60% fastball thing for him.
I mean, it's not useful advice or anything,
because obviously you don't know going in
what percentage of fastball he's going to throw.
And like, you don't even know if it's a chicken and egg thing.
You know, it's easy to say, oh, he was bad
because he didn't throw 60% fastballs.
Well, maybe the fastball just wasn't working from that day.
I think that's probably the answer.
Throwing less.
But it's also 30 pitches.
I don't think.
you can really, I don't think there's really anything to gain from going into the pitch usage on a 30 pitch.
I just, I just find, it's just so funny to me.
It's fun.
It's consistency of it.
His description of it, Ryan Nelson's own description of it was, it was a weird one.
Yeah.
And then that's, that's mostly how I feel about it.
I mean, the pitch characteristics seemed normal.
The velocity seemed normal.
You know, I think things just got away from him.
And I, I was inclined.
to go ahead and recommend starting him still, even coming off this bad start, because, you know, the danger in reacting to the latest start is you miss out on the pendulum swinging the other way.
And you're a lot of a good example of that this week.
Yeah, absolutely.
But you pointed out before we started recording, Chris, that Ryan Nelson's next turn lines up for a game in Mexico City.
Yeah, do not start Zach Allen,
Armand Marquez, or Ryan Nelson.
I would probably still cite Michael King,
but even that,
Mexico City is 7,400 feet above sea level.
That's a couple thousand feet more than Coors Field.
There have been four games played in this stadium in Mexico City.
Very cool stadium.
There have been, I think, 68 runs was the total across those four games.
That's a lot of runs for four games.
Yeah.
I think you're likely to see Nelson dropped in some leagues,
and I think I would pick him up in all but the shallowest 10-team types.
Points leagues, he's got the RP eligibility.
Categories leagues, I do think he's going to be a whip standout in the long run,
and those are hard to find, but don't start him this week.
In a vacuum, Scott, would you drop Ryan Nelson?
I know you just said you would add him if someone dropped him,
but with other names popping up,
like Mick Abel, Spencer Arrogatti, Reed Detmer's,
Noah Schultz had a good start here on Sunday.
Would you drop Ryan Nelson for any of those four?
I personally am inclined to say no.
I mean, if Ryan Alson's your worst pitcher, I would.
Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.
The kind of league where we would recognize Ryan Nelson.
See, what's hard to, what makes this hard,
to answer is I can't put myself in the shoes of the person who thinks Ryan Nelson is their
worst pitcher because Chad Patrick has a lower ERA than Ryan Nelson.
You know, they're just mis-evaluating the pitchers based on early season numbers.
If it's a shallow league, a 10-team situation, or a league where 250 players are fewer
a roster, let's say, and you're chasing upside, Vic Abel has more upside.
and that might be the one of those four, maybe Schultz,
but there are some innings concerns there.
But I would try to avoid dropping Ryan Nelson
and really think about if, you know,
you could go look at where I rank them among other starting pitchers,
and if I think he's your worst pitcher,
and if you have a pitcher that I think is worse,
obviously I would drop that other pitcher instead.
This weekend wasn't all bad.
I do want to give a shout out to a couple of players,
who performed very well this weekend.
Gavin Williams was one of them.
He was awesome against the Orioles,
seven innings, one run,
11 strikeouts to one walk.
He had 18 whiffs on 100 pitches.
And obviously, the big key here,
only one walk for Gavin Williams.
He threw 73% of his pitches for strikes.
He really leaned on that sweeper,
and it was tremendous.
And all of a sudden, you know,
it's a 212 VRA 101 whip,
12.1K per 9.
He has two double-digit strikeout starts.
on the season already.
Kind of looks like he's carrying over from, you know,
that final stretch last year where he looked really good.
Chris, I know you had some skepticism on Gavin Williams.
What do you think?
Are you potentially buying the breakout now that we've seen some really awesome starts?
I remain skeptical mostly because it's just the control is still pretty bad,
even after a one-walk start over seven innings.
He has 5.2 walks per nine.
But I, look, he's made me look bad so far.
So if you believed in him, I don't see why you would be the one to want to sell high on him.
You were the one who believed in him more than anybody in your league.
So it's one of those situations where it's probably not a great opportunity to sell high.
But yes, I think in a vacuum, I'm inclined to think he's a sell high candidate.
Just because I think the walks will come back to bite him.
I don't necessarily buy him as one of the best strikeout pitchers in the league, which is what he's been so far.
but I've been wrong so far,
so maybe I will continue to be wrong about him.
Chris was talking about you.
If you believe in Gavin Williams,
then you should probably keep him.
Scott, I know that you believed in Kevin Williams.
So what do you think of him so far?
I did.
I'm loving it.
I still believe in him.
Yeah, the walks there have been a couple starts
where the walks were really high.
And so that does concern.
me. Obviously, we haven't seen it
as much here recently,
and we saw him overcome
that down the stretch last year. That's part of the
reason why I was so high on him.
The sweeper
especially has been great for him
this year. And
I think that
strike, because we did see the strikeout rates rise,
we saw the walks fall over the course of last
year, and a lot of my enthusiasm
for Williams was based on what he did in the
second half and increasingly toward the end of
the season. And I was still most
Mostly seeing that there's just those two starts where the walks were high.
But the result was still great in both.
He allowed two hits in one and one hit in the other.
And has had another star where he allowed two hits and two more starts
were allowed three hits.
So he's doing a lot of things well.
It's just those couple starts where the walks kind of got away from him
that are the only reason for Paul's.
Overall, I was high on him coming in.
He's got three double digit, no, two double-digit strikeout efforts now.
So I remain high.
And the last name I wanted to mention here
who had, you know, just keeps things rolling here
is Munataka Moracami.
He homered each game this weekend.
He went three for five with a home run for RBI on Friday
and three true outcomes.
They are back for Moracami, man.
It's 20 walks, 31 strikeouts,
eight home runs so far this season,
and a 918 OPS.
One of the comps we did hear when he was coming over
was Joey Gallo.
And look, I don't know that Moracami is going to run
like Gallo did at times, but it looks very Joey Gallo-esque so far, with even more walks than
Joey Gallo had.
I will also point out the home run on Sunday was off a lefty, and it was off a breaking ball,
which is the first time he's done that.
It was like maybe the worst breaking ball.
He lefty has thrown all season.
It was a center cut fastball or a slider right in the middle of the zone, but I don't know.
The criticism of Murakami coming in was he can't hit fastballs.
While he's been crushing fastballs, and then the criticism moves.
move to, well, he can't hit non-fastballs and he just hit a home run off of fast or non-fastball.
So I, um, wide range of outcomes, but you have to be happy with what you've seen from
Minutaka Murakami so far.
I was just looking at Joey Gallo's chase rates and zone contact rates over the course of his
career, which is not something I paid attention too much when Joey Gallo was actually playing.
It's funny how similar they are to Murakami, even in this small.
sample here. Joey Gallo was not a player who chased much at all, and Murakami hasn't been either. It's just
both of them swing and miss so much at actual strikes. Yep. And it's not like there is a perfect
correlation between zone contact rate and how good the hitter is. There are plenty of good
hitters with a not very good zone contact rate, but this is like basement level zone contact rate.
And it does concern me in a long run.
I think the longer Murakami is around
and the more robust the scouting reports become on him,
the more it could pose a problem for him.
We did hear a lot about his transcendent power
coming into the season Morikami.
Entering Sunday, his quality of contact,
95 mile per hour average exit velocity,
26% barrel rate,
64% hard hit rate.
So that is not an issue.
It's just, yes, he does need to make more contact in the zone.
But even with that, he is off to a great start so far in his major league career.
Big thanks to everybody watching live.
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Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today.
hit the news and notes and just a heads up that the Patriots Day game is today on Monday when
you're listening to this. So if you're listening early, make sure you set those lineups or right now.
That game starts at 1110 a.m. Eastern Time between the Tigers and the Red Sox.
So make sure if you have any of those players on those teams, make sure you get your lineup set.
The closer season from hell continues.
Yuan Duran went on the aisle with a mild oblique strain.
they said he could be back in a few weeks.
There was even some talk that it could be a minimum I-L stint.
He's had no bleak strain before.
I don't know that that is going to be the case.
They are pretty tricky injuries as well.
Brad Keller is the name that I saw
who should see the majority of save opportunities
in Duran's absence.
And it seemed like a pretty popular pickup here on Sunday night.
If you need saves, I think that makes a lot of sense.
I could see Jose Alvarado factoring as well.
I probably threw too many fab dollars, Adam and Tout Wars, where I have zero saves so far and I'm desperate.
But he's been pretty bad so far.
Keller hasn't been great himself, but Alvarado's been the worst of the two.
Obviously, the last three seasons, though, he's gotten a decent number of saves for the Phillies.
If they do the matchups thing, Alvarado could factor.
Daniel Palencia also went on the aisle, also with an oblique strain.
Lefty Caleb Thielbar picked up the save on Saturday.
Ben Brown through two innings across the seventh and eighth.
I saw that Thielbar pitched, I believe, the ninth or tenth inning here on Sunday.
It was a high leverage situation with the game tied.
He is 11% rostered.
And I don't know that he's just the guy, but he's been used as like the highest leverage reliever so far.
So you guys throwing any fad dollars on Caleb Thielbar.
I would take him over Ben Brown just because, well, I could see Ben Brown actually emerging.
as a very good high-lover reliever.
I would guess since he's a very recent pitching prospect as a starter,
they'd want to keep some flexibility to use him in multi-inning roles.
So I think I also saw the Cubs have, usually when it's a lefty,
you always think, ah, go with the righty, when it's like a lefty versus righty.
I think the Cubs have seven pitchers in their bullpen right now.
Five of them are lefties.
Yep, I was just looking at that exact thing.
Yeah.
So I think they're, I think they kind of have to use a lefty in some high leverage.
spots. Caleb Theobar has been a big part of that. I also want to point out, um,
in my injury database, pitchers who miss who go on the aisle with a strained oblique,
miss on average 46 days. Uh, the median is 37. So remember, Yon Duran, I think
2024 opened the season on the aisle with a an oblique strain. I think it was like six weeks.
Oh, geez. So not saying that's definitely going to be the case here, but that's the,
the typical outcome for pitchers with oblique strains.
And obviously we've seen that with Yon Duran.
Rysel Iglesias was unavailable to pitch Saturday due to shoulder discomfort.
Apparently he suffered that while sleeping wrong.
And then Roberts-Forest picked up the save in his place.
But then Iglesias notched the save on Sunday.
So I assume we're all good here with Ryssel Aglacius.
Jeff Hoffman served up a grand slam in a tie game on Saturday.
After the game, manager John Snyder, still showed confidence in Hoffman.
but it is a 771 ERA.
It's a 204 whip.
I think he has two or three blown saves already so far this season.
So if you guys are speculating,
would it be Tyler Rogers or Louis Varland in Toronto?
I'm going to be Farland.
Yeah, I'm inclined to save Varland too
just because Tyler Rogers is unique.
And with that submarine delivery,
he can bounce back quicker
and to confine him to a ninth inning role would just feel wrong.
And Varlane's been great.
I mean, he's 16 strikeouts and 11 innings coming.
I'm not sure if he pitched Sunday, but he had 16th.
Didn't he set the MLB record for appearances last postseason?
They clearly trust this guy and like him.
He pitched almost every day.
He pitched like 80% of their games or something.
And I, you know, Hoffman hasn't done.
done what he said he was going to do, which was get back to throwing his slider 50% at the time like he did in Philadelphia.
He, in this appearance, he led with his fastball again.
And actually, the slider was the third most used pitch because of the splitter.
And so if he's just going to keep doing the same things he did last year, I don't know why he can expect a different result.
So I'm pretty, as somebody who has several shares of Hoffman, I'm pretty frustrated with the way this is unfolding.
because I don't know that I can agree with Schneider at this point
based on what Hoffman is doing.
Edwin Diaz entered the eighth inning on Sunday down to run,
so clearly just a spot to get him in there
and try to get him right.
Obviously a weird start to the season for him.
He was charged with three earned runs on a walk and three hits.
He did not record an out,
and he averaged 95.2 miles per hour, I believe,
95.4 on his fastball last year, 97.2.
Velocity remains down for Edwin Diaz.
If you guys are speculating for the Dodgers,
would you go with Tanner Scott or Alex Vessia who picked up but saved this week?
Probably Scott.
Probably Scott.
He has last I looked, he didn't have many walks,
though that can change quickly with them.
That's always been the problem with Tanner Scott.
No walks entering Sunday.
So probably him.
it would be surprising if they backed off of Edwin Diaz for long
because they just paid him a ton of money deservedly.
He's been one of the best closers of his generation.
But, you know, if he's not the same because of the velocity,
then eventually it'll come too ahead.
And lastly, the Astros move Josh Hader to the 60-day aisle,
which means he cannot return until late May.
So perhaps Enel de Los Santos deserves more attention.
Ryan King was used on Sunday, but he either Saturday or Sunday, but just did not pitch well
and actually wound up with the loss there.
And De La Santos picked up a few saves earlier in the week.
So how would you guys rank, I guess, if you're desperate for saves, rank Brad Keller,
or I guess you could throw Alvarado in there too.
So the Phillies guys, the Cubs guys, De Laos Santos, Louis Varland, the Dodgers.
So Phillies, Cubs, Astros, Blue Jays, Dodgers.
Who are your favorite save sources from that group?
Okay, so we're not including Brian Baker here?
No, no, because I feel like Brian Baker should be ahead of this group, although he's still widely built.
He's only 44% rostered as of Sunday night.
And he would be at the top of the list for me.
If not him, I'd go Brad Keller.
Then Varland, honestly think I'd go Kirby Yates over the rest of them.
That one's speculative, but I just don't think they can keep going.
with Jordan Romano, Theobar, and then De La Santas.
Scott?
The new ones we just talked about, I'm going to go, I'm going to go Brad Keller,
then Caleb Theobar, then Louis Varlane, and then Tanner Scott.
And I'd still, I know it didn't go well for him over the weekend, but I don't,
I still think Brian King is the best.
reliever in the Astros bullpen who's healthy.
And I don't think Enel de los Santos is going to be any kind of solution.
So I think, you know, it's last among all these, the Astros situation, but I think I'd go
Brian King over and Yel de Los Santos still.
Non-bullpen related news.
Juan Soto continues to progress with baseball activities and remains on track to return during
the team's upcoming homestand.
It could be Tuesday, but we're not sure.
kind of a risky
proposition right now.
Start or sit
Juan Soto if you have him.
I would start him.
Okay.
Corby and Carroll left Sunday
with back tightness.
They said they expect him
to be in the lineup on Tuesday.
He also had a grand sock in a shoe
on Saturdays.
Season continues.
They were up 10-1.
They were up 10-1?
Or no, they were down.
Down 10-1, yeah.
10-1 by the time
they pulled him out of the game.
So that might have played a role, too.
I think so. Big name pitchers out on rehab assignments this weekend.
Garrett Cole pitched Friday at AA, 4 and a third innings, three hits, three runs,
three strikeouts to one walk. He got up to 44 pitches.
I was in attendance for this game. He looked a little bit rusty, which I think is to be
expected. A rough second inning where he allowed an RBI double and a two-run homer.
I have no idea how accurate AA scoreboard velocity is, but I was watching it closely,
and he was like 93 to 95 miles per hour,
Garicol, and he hit 96 a few times.
He averaged 95.9 back in 2024
and was throwing a lot harder this spring
when he made those two appearances.
So hopefully the velocity ticks up a little bit here for Garikull.
Zach Wheeler on Sunday at AA,
four innings six hits, four runs allowed,
four strikeouts to one walk,
two homers loud,
one to George Lombard Jr.,
who's been very good so far.
Chris, I know you watch some of the start for Zach Wheeler.
What did you see?
It wasn't good.
It was cold and it seemed like it was raining the entire game at the park where they were playing at.
So, you know, take it with a grain of salt.
They had the velocity on the broadcast for his first two pitches, which were 91.1 miles per hour and 91.8 on two sinkers.
And then they stopped showing it.
I'm not sure why.
But I also saw a Phillies reporter say it was mostly 91, 92.
given the weather, maybe the velocity, but that's down even further from where he had been previously.
It's been a bad rehab assignment for Wheeler.
I think the ERA is over five.
Strike out to walk ratio is pretty good, but he hasn't dominated.
And the velocity's down three to four miles per hour pretty much across the board.
And he's a 35 year old coming back for major surgery.
So I'm at the point where I'm.
I'm still going to give Zach Wheeler enough credit that I expect him to be a top 40 starting pitcher.
I am not hoping for much more than that.
I'm not hoping Zach Wheeler is going to be a top 20 starting pitcher.
I think that would be unfair to ask of him based on what we've seen.
Maybe he'll prove me wrong.
Brandon Woodruff did it last year in very similar circumstances,
lost three miles per hour off his velocity.
Very similar types of pitchers, fastball sinker, deep arsenals.
but I just I don't think it's fair to ask Zach Wheeler to be an ace certainly
and you're not you don't bear this burden alone I mean we've been pretty consistent on this
podcast given the you know not all not all arm surgeries are the same and people were
it seemed like the consensus was ranking Zach Wheeler as if he was coming back from
Tommy John surgery which doesn't have a flawless track record but it has an overall very good
track record given the severity of the procedure thoracic outlet syndrome doesn't and that's a big
drop in velocity and not unsurprising given the the history of that procedure so um we were all well
below the consensus in drafts and i think we're none of us are feeling optimistic about zach wheeler
coming off the rehab assignment and he was his adp in the final week of drafts and nf bcc
leagues was 116.2, which it was the number of 41 pitcher, given how closers get drafted,
I would guess that's around SP 30 in ADP. I had about 50 spots lower than that in my overall
rankings. I just thought people were being way too optimistic about Zach Wheeler and drafts.
I look, hopefully it works out. I'm definitely rooting for him, but I just, I, I, I, I, I,
don't think there's any reason to be optimistic that he's going to be a difference maker at this
point. And his next start is supposed to come with the Phillies, right? I don't think there's any
way we could start him that first time out. Yeah, I want to do it. Yeah. Bryce Miller made a rehab
start Saturday at AAA, one and two thirds innings, four hits, three runs, two strikeouts. His
velocity was up a ton. It also was a very, you know, short outing here. But his fastball average
97.1. His slider
was up almost four miles per hour,
57% rostered.
Would you guys consider Bryce Miller a
must stash pitcher?
Glad you clarified pitcher there
at the end, because I would not consider him a mustache.
He does have a pretty, well, it's not a great
mustache, but he has a mustache.
He has a mustache, right? He's one of those guys.
So do you both? I don't.
I'm the... I kind of,
this is a beard, you know?
You can have a beard without the mustache
and you don't. I mean, yeah, but nobody, like,
Abraham Lincoln did, but nobody really does that look anymore, you know?
It was kind of hip for a while, wasn't it?
But I just, if you say you have a mustache, I think that implies no chin.
Okay.
At least.
You can have mutton chops.
But yes, I'm inclined to think Bryce Miller is someone you should be stashing, yes.
I would not consider him a mustache pitcher.
but I
yeah I don't
I don't feel good
I'm not confident in Bryce Miller
has a pitcher anymore and I think
in most situations where I stashed him
in an I L spot
I would probably drop him as soon as he came off
because I think he would
be the worst pitcher on my roster
at least from like I don't know
a 12 team context
maybe I get to see that first start
and maybe he looks great,
and I can make the decision after it,
and I decided to hold on to him.
But that's not something I'm optimistic about for Bryce Miller.
All right, a bunch of other news items.
I'm going to try and just power through all these.
I missed this last week, so I do apologize,
but Ryan Pepio suffered a setback with his hip injury.
He was transferred to the 60-day IL,
so the hope is that he will return in late May.
The Angels pushed Reed Detmer's back from Sunday to Monday,
making him a two-star pitcher for this week,
the Blue Jays and the Royals.
Those are very good matchups.
So use Reed Dembers there, and I'm sure he will not let us down.
That's never happened before.
Kate Horton officially underwent Tommy John surgery and is expected to be sidelined up to 16 months.
So hopefully back for the second half of 2027.
The Dodgers placed Freddie Freeman on the paternity list Sunday.
Trey Savage will make another rehab start at AAA on Tuesday.
Nick Lodolo threw 31 pitches across two simulated innings on Friday.
He's scheduled to throw three innings on Tuesday.
Kyle Stowers was activated
and Davidson de Los Santos was sent back to AAA
Stowers hit fourth in the lineup
went two for three with a double
the Marlins have six games this week
one left on the schedule
I assume we're good to get Kyle Stowers back in there
yes and this one was almost immediately disastrous
his very first played appearance
he got hit on the hand
and it looked like he was going to come out of the game
he had two hard hit balls after that though
so luckily seems to have avoided
any issues there but that was
that would have been a real bummer.
Yeah, nice little return for Team FBT as well, so let's go, Kyle Stowers.
The Cubs are expected to activate Matthew Boyd and start him Wednesday against the Phillies,
starter sit Matthew Boyd.
That could go either way.
I think if it's a deeper league, you start him, if it's a shallower league, you probably can afford to sit him and see how it goes.
Edwin Hussaita suffered a setback dealing with renewed soreness in his right shoulder.
Dalton Varshow left Friday's game with knee discomfort.
He then sat out both Saturday and Sunday.
Start or sit Dalton Varsho this week.
I think if you can, play it safe and sit them.
We haven't seen him play in a couple days and could extend from there.
Don't know.
Royce Lewis began a rehab assignment at AAA on Saturday.
Kyle Harrison is listed as the Brewer's probable starter Tuesday in Detroit.
He was pushed back due to knee and wrist issues.
Lordeus Guerrille made his.
return on Saturday. He is widely
available. Would you guys be
looking to add Lordus Correel in
five outfieler leagues?
He has always kind of
just been the replacement level outfielder
in like a five outfielder
league context, so
I'd make him give me a reason
before I added him. The
Brewers called a pitching prospect Coleman
Crow this weekend and he pitched
well five in a third innings, two runs, four
strikeouts, but then they
sent him back down on Sunday.
So probably we'll have to wait to see him again later in the season.
The Dodgers promoted outfield prospect Ryan Ward this weekend.
He's 28 years old, but has put up some massive power numbers in the minors.
My assumption is he's only up because Freeman went on the paternity list.
So I don't think there's much fantasy value there.
Others to the IL this weekend, Jorge Polanco with a right-risk contusion.
He's also been dealing with that Achilles injury.
Joey Loparfito with a right quad train.
Zach McKinthry with left hip inflammation
and very sad news
as former Angels player Garrett Anderson passed away
at just 53 years old.
Great player, really strong career, gone way too soon.
So thoughts and prayers says family.
Let's take our final break when we return.
We'll get into the Waverwire ads and drops
from the weekend right after this.
Welcome back in Fantasy at Baseball today.
Let's talk Waverwire pitchers.
And Noah Schultz looked much better in his second start.
He was at the athletics.
Five innings, one hit, one run, six strikeouts to one walk.
His velocity was down compared to his first start,
and still not getting whiffs on his sweeper,
which I thought was a little bit weird, but very good result.
74% rostered.
He gets to nationals this week,
a lineup that has actually been very good so far this year.
Scott, what did you think of the second start for Schultz?
And where would you rank him again among that?
Detmer's, Aragutti, Mick Abel group?
Well, behind McAbel for sure.
It's tricky after that because, okay, Reed Detmer's and Spencer Araggetty are both two-star pitchers this week.
So do you want to start somebody this week?
And they're still, you know, they still have intriguing upside.
So maybe you keep them beyond this week.
I think for that reason, I would rank both Aragutti and Reed Detmer's ahead of Schultz.
But if you're not interested in starting them, you're just purely looking to stash them upside.
I think you've got to go with Schultz.
given the past failures of the other two.
The sweeper, so he only got three swings on the sweeper,
and I just wonder if it's one of those pitches that looks very impressive in Jiff form,
and I just wonder if it's too easy not to swing at
and maybe won't end up being as effective as it looks like it should be.
He still gets whiff set a pretty good rate on the fastball
because of the long arms and the unconventional delivery and all of that.
So I don't know that he needs the sweeper to be a big whiff pitch to be good.
And obviously, the jury's still out.
That's just something I've noticed with it since you brought up the lack of whiffs on the sweeper.
All right.
This next group includes Mitch Keller, who bounced back against the raise, seven innings, two runs with five strikeouts.
He is at the Brewers this week.
Jameson, a quality start against the Mets, six innings, one run,
four strikeouts,
14 whiffs,
that's pretty nice there,
on 100 pitches.
He is home against the Phillies this week.
Bailey Ober, a strong start
Sunday against the Reds,
six and a third,
one unearned run,
10 strikeouts to four walks.
His fastball velocity
remains down quite a bit,
but that's now 17 strikeouts
over his last two starts.
He's at the raise this week,
and Yusei Kikuchi had his best start of the season
up against the Padres,
six shutout with eight strikeouts.
And he,
every year,
Here, Kikuchi is a completely different pitcher.
I have no idea what to make of it.
He is throwing a new splitter and a new cutter.
It seemed like he was at his best in the second half of that season with the Astros.
I believe it was two years ago where he just threw a bunch more breaking pitches,
but seemingly has not been able to find that form since.
And I think immediately dropped his arm angle the next season with the Angels,
and it completely screwed up the movement profile on the slider,
which was the biggest pitch for him.
I kind of just, I'm just kind of done with you saying.
Kickuchi, like stream them against good matchups, I guess.
And maybe at the Royals is a good matchup, but I don't.
I don't even trust them with good matchups.
Yeah, I mean, that's also kind of part of it.
But I don't think any of these guys are particularly high priority ads.
And at least looking at Keller, Keller and Tyone are more widely rostered as of Sunday night.
We'll see what happens when Wavers run.
But they're more widely rostered than McAble.
and Spencer or Getty.
Yeah.
Yeah, and it should.
But, you know, when guys like that are available, I have a hard time having much interest in Keller or Tyone.
I know Keller's made some tweaks to his arsenal.
Nick Pollock has talked about that at pitcher list.
I think it's the kind of thing that, okay, maybe Mitch Keller jumps from like the 100 ranked pitcher to the 87th ranked pitcher with those.
But I don't really see much reason.
He's got a tough matchup at Milwaukee this week.
It's not a bad place to pitch.
Strikeout rates go up in Milwaukee, but I think he's pretty fringy.
James and Tionat Philly or versus Philly this week.
I'm not starting him.
Bailey Ober against the Rays, maybe, but he's been so bad for a long time.
Yeah, Bailey Ober is the one I wanted to talk about here
because this was a very impressive start against an offense that's off to a slow start in the Reds.
We'll just put that out there.
And it was in Minnesota?
Yeah, it was super cold there.
Yeah, that's, Reds on the road is pretty good.
He got obviously 10 strikeouts, 14 whiffs.
His fastball still averaged, what was it, 88.7, I think.
Yeah, this was a real like 2003 pitching matchup between him and Brady Singer.
Double-de-sweeper usage in this one, and it's by far been his best whiff pitch with a 46% rate on the year.
That's a good whiff rate.
I just like he hasn't
I keep waiting for the blow up
with the velocity being down like it is
and it hasn't happened yet
and instead he seems to be getting better
so I actually dropped him last week in TGFBI
which is a 15 team Roto League
and I found myself
immediately putting on a bid
to pick him back up regretting that move
I'm not saying he needs to be rostered
in all the 12 teamers but
I don't think
I think I'm totally out on Ober and I was a week ago.
Now I'm rethinking it because of this start.
Yeah, I picked him up in Tout Wars, which is a 15 team Roto League as well.
And it is scary because in Tout Wars, whoever you pick up has to go into your lineup.
And Paley Ober, I mean, when he gets hit, he gets hit really hard.
So it is scary.
I totally get that.
But impressive over his last two starts and I'm just super desperate for pitching on that team.
I lost Hunter Brown and I don't look at this.
I'm waiting for Ladolo and Garrett Cole, so it's, let's go Bailey Over.
I hadn't checked the Fab results in those NFBC leagues yet.
Oh my gosh.
Look at this.
I can't talk for the good or bad.
And the main event, my main event team that I share with Greg Lathrop,
we won Bailey Ober, $68.
The backup bid was 67.
Wow.
Wow.
And we also won Dalton Rushing for $17.
the backup bid was 16.
That's pretty good.
So that was some mighty fine bidding by yours truly.
I did not win back.
Oh, no, I did win back over and TGFBI too.
So now I have two shares of over.
Hopefully it goes well.
Let's go.
We're the Bailey Over guys, Scott, exactly where we want to be.
The next group includes Dean Kramer, who took a tough loss at the Guardian,
six innings, three runs, seven strikeouts,
14 whiffs.
He is throwing that splitter a lot and getting a lot of whiffs with that pitch.
He gets the Red Sox this week.
Davis Martin of the White Sox has quietly pitched very well.
Seven innings, one run, four strikeouts at the athletics.
This weekend, he is at the D-Mex this week.
Hermann Marquez pitched well, five-and-two-thirds shutout with five strikeouts for him.
And he is, I wrote down at the Rockies, but I think you said he's in the Mexico City.
Yeah, which is just as bad as pitching at Colorado, I guess.
And then Matthew Liberatore, quality start at the Astros, six innings, one run, four strikeouts.
These are deeper names, but anybody stand out to you, Liberator Marquez, Davis Martin, and Dean Kramer?
I kind of like Dean Kramer.
Me too.
He's like spamming the splitter, which is really, it's really hard to throw a splitter.
What's he up to like 40% of the time this year?
He's doing that doing the match shoemaker thing.
That's really hard to do.
Nick Pollock talks about this a lot when he's on the show.
It's really hard to go like splitter forward because that's a tough pitch to command.
But if you can do it, it's a good pitch for him.
it's always been his best pitch
so I'm interested here
I think
you know
depending on what the next matchup
looks like
I might have more interest in him than
Cacucci, Tione
Mitch Keller just because I think there's at least
a whiff of upside with Dean Kramer
making this sweat this move
mm-hmm do you guys
like me drop in match you maker references
we're just gonna let that go
that was a good one
that's a deep cut I used to
I used to really believe in that guy
do you guys have any
at all in Davis Martin, so far through five starts, a 216 ERA, one whip on the nose?
A little bit. A little bit. I can't say I was putting in any bids on him this weekend,
but he's another guy who's introduced a cutter this year, 15 to 20 percent of the time he's
throwing it, and it seems to have made his slider a lot better. And, you know, good numbers so far.
We've never cared about Davis Martin before, and it's not like he's been blowing other teams away.
He was the first kick change guy.
Was he?
Was he?
I think.
That's the only reason I remember everything about Davis Martin.
The Cutters seems to.
I think of it because there was a guy I went to high school with named Martin Davis,
and he was good at baseball.
So Davis Martin, I feel like, is the mirror image of him.
But the bizarro version of Martin Davis.
Davis Martin.
Yeah, it's worth keeping an eye on.
One name in AL-only leagues to watch out for
Walbert Urania got called up by the Angels
and he, not called up, I guess he was in their bullpen,
but he was inserted into the rotation.
Turned in a quality start against the Padres on Sunday,
six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts,
13 whiffs on 92 pitches.
Very over-the-top delivery throws really hard.
I watched some highlights of this.
His change-up is pretty wicked.
But his minor least.
league numbers are pretty iffy. So look, it's, it's an AL only name, but man, it's,
uh, I thought it was at least a little intriguing. Any thoughts? Walberry,
Urania. A little intriguing. Uh, track record isn't great in the miners and he had two
rough relief appearances prior to this start. So I, I'd say he has a long way to go to,
to win our, uh, affections. But Walbert, Urania does have an interesting change up and had a good
first start. We'll see what the next one looks like.
Is it okay to drop Kodi Senga?
Another rough outing at the Cubs.
Three in a third inning, seven runs, six of those earned.
Three walks to three strikeouts.
He has allowed seven runs in back-to-back starts.
883 ERA 190 whip.
What do we do with Kodi Senga?
Well, I had him as a sleeper pitcher.
If you listen to that special episode on Saturday,
I no longer do because it's been two really bad starts in a row.
I don't want to drop them because,
Prior to those two starts, he was looking really good.
The velocities remained up.
It's frustrating because what's it going to take for you to trust actually using him
if the downstarts are this bad?
But even in a 10-team league, I just couldn't find anyone interesting enough to justify dropping Kodi Senga.
So, you know, another start or two like this.
Obviously, that changes, but for now I'm holding.
I think I would be alright dropping him for that group.
We keep referencing.
Yeah, none of them were available in this particular 10-team league.
Yeah.
Or, I'm sorry, they were, but I had other pitchers I could drop ahead of Senga in my particular case.
Yeah, so Senga is...
Shane Baws.
I dropped Shane Baws over Kodi Sanga personally.
If Senga is your worst pitcher, I would be okay dropping him for Abel, Aragetti, and Reed Detmer's there.
Some waiver-wire hitters from the weekend.
Josh Young is picking things up.
Last four games, he has eight hits, two homers, five RBI.
and we referenced this last week.
His strikeout rate is way down.
He is 32% rostered.
And Dalton rushing, that Dalton rushing, who accused the Rockies of cheating.
Homer to get on Saturday, he has five home runs in 23 plate appearances.
So what do you guys think about?
Josh Young, would you be adding, I guess, at least in a 15 team or you would, Scott?
I did.
But what about 12-team two-catcher leagues?
Would you be looking at Dalton rushing there?
So it is worth giving that kind of.
context, I dropped
Miguel Amaya for Dalton rushing.
That is the situation I was looking at.
I added Miguelamaya in a league this week.
But did you drop Dalton rushing for him?
No, it was Gabriam-Moranil in the I.
Yeah.
It does seem like they're trying to get him more of bats.
They're sitting, Will Smith.
They even sat Shohei Otani.
They had him just pitch in that game
so that they could get rushing bat in the lineup
and rushing Homer in that game,
because that seems to be what he does
every time he plays.
He clearly deserves more playing time.
But until Dave Roberts is willing to try him in left field
where he got plenty of exposure in the minors,
I don't think he's going to matter even in two-catcher 12-team leagues
because he obviously can't sustain this pace of homering every time he plays
and batting 500 or whatever he's doing.
I mean, he is probably good, but he's not that good.
And in the current arrangement, there's no way for rushing to get the at bats he needs if he's merely good versus Ted Williams good.
They started Ryan Ward over him on Sunday at first base with Freddie Freeman out.
They did say it was because Ryan Ward got called up and it was kind of a, you know, you've been toiling for a long time kind of thing.
But with Freddie Freeman on the paternity list, this would have been the opportunity for Dawn Rush.
to get a couple of starts in a row.
He didn't.
So I think it's just going to be hard.
But he does have multiple avenues to playing time if either Freddie Freeman or Will Smith gets hurt.
So I can definitely see a world in which Donald Rushing.
Yeah, I think he'd be a top 20 catcher for sure, possibly top 15.
Or if Otani gets hurt.
Or if Otani gets her, sure.
There are three paths.
We're not wishing for any of these things.
I would hate all three of them.
But those are the three paths for rushing, unless there were.
willing to use him as a left fielder, but
they don't carry
a third catcher, right? So I think that
would have to change
first. I don't, I can't see
them being willing to use him in the outfield
when he's their just backup
catcher. Any interest
in Josh Young as a corner infield type?
Third base is a disaster, so
he might be your best option.
You might have lost
like Noelvi-Marté or Royce Lewis
or someone like that. Right. Yeah.
If he's the best option, then I'm interested, but I'm not interested just because I think he's great and want to replace my current starter with him.
Got it.
Some deeper waiver wire hitters here.
Marcel O'Suna's picking things up.
Last seven games, he's hitting 367 with two home runs and OPS over 1,000.
Daniel Schneeman has looked pretty good with the Guardians.
His last seven games, 435 with two home runs and 7 RBI.
He is second, third, and outfield eligible.
Casey Schmidt has been making the most of his playing time.
Hit a home run on Friday, had two more hits on Saturday.
He has started nine straight.
MJ Melendez has started four straight for the Mets.
He homered on Sunday.
He had multiple hits on both Wednesday and Friday.
And Drew Gilbert is getting some run in center field with the Giants
with Harrison Bader on the IL.
This weekend, Gilbert had five hits, including a homer.
He has started five straight.
So these are very deep names, like 15 team or like,
even AL or NO only.
But anyone stand out to you guys,
Ozuna, Schneeman, Schmidt, Melendez,
Drew Gilby.
I kind of like Casey Schmidt.
He, even before this year,
pretty good exit velocities,
moderate strikeout rate,
high pole air rate,
and then he,
you can start him almost any infield spot.
Yeah.
I mean, sharp stuff he's not eligible,
but everywhere else.
Yeah.
And he is keeping Bryce Eldridge in the miners.
right now because I think that's part of the calculation is just Casey Schmidt's doing so well
why rush him why rush Eldridge who's doing well himself at AAA don't ask Matt Chapman for his
thoughts on that why what happened you guys didn't see Matt Chapman yelling at Casey Schmidt a couple
times this season yeah I didn't love that I thought one of those throws was actually kind of bad
oh no it's just the vibes in San Francisco are absolutely rotten right now it was just not cool you
They had like a meeting on the mound and he just yells at Casey Schmidt, like catch the effing ball or whatever.
Yeah, it was a weird, weird move.
How about you just throw it to his chest, you ding dong?
My only addition here, I'm not, no, it's fine.
Don't, we'll move on.
I did add Schneeman and Melendez in a few deeper leagues this weekend.
Not that I'm like overly excited, but just super desperate for outfielders right now.
I saw a musician named MJ Lenderman in concert on Sunday night before the show.
I'm wearing the shirt.
So shouts to M.J. Melenderman.
Seven people will get that.
I always wanted MJ Melendez to be a thing.
He's also striking out like 50% of the time.
Signs of Life here from Cosima Okamoto.
I know a lot of people are nervous about him.
Rightfully so.
I mean, he doesn't have a track record in the majors.
And I did think there would be a little bit of an adjustment period here for him.
But he hit a home run on Sunday, back-to-back multi-hit games.
He's only hitting 221, 6.58 OPS.
Still 85% rock.
or are you guys holding on to Okamoto where you have him?
Yes.
I'd like to, yeah.
I would rather stick with Okamoto as my third baseman
than replace him with Josh Young.
Fair enough.
Or Casey Schmidt, for that matter.
So we mentioned these pitchers the past week or so
as potential drop candidates,
and I'm thinking, maybe we should hold on to him.
I don't know.
Maybe you guys disagree.
Tanner Bivey, he was back on track this weekend,
six shot-out innings with five strikeouts.
He had 18 whiffs on.
96 pitches.
Don't necessarily want to start him against the Astros this week.
They've been a great offense so far, but maybe we hold Tanner Bobby.
What do you guys think?
Yeah, I was pretty confident in dropping him last time.
Sometimes people, I feel like give me a hard time because I equivocate too much,
which to me is just, you know, life is complicated.
Playing fantasy baseball is complicated.
I'm not giving dishonest answers.
Would you want me to?
But anyway, I was very firm.
People would like you, too.
Yeah.
I was very firm about dropping Bybee last time.
And now I wish I had equivocated because, look, I don't know.
Maybe it's just a one-off.
I don't see a lot that he did different.
The cutter had two extra inches of horizontal movements.
So maybe it was just really working for him in this last start.
But if he had had this start two turns ago,
I know I wouldn't have been so firm in saying,
you can drop by Bies.
So I, you know, if I didn't drop him yet, I'd be holding on to him.
Casey Mize was great at the Red Sox, six and two-thirds shutout innings with seven strikeouts,
14 whiffs on 94 pitches, one earned runner fewer in three of four starts.
He's got a 278 ERA 119 whip.
Home against the Brewers this week?
I don't think that's terrible.
Chris, where are you at on Casey Mize?
Would you be holding him if you were thinking about dropping him?
Yeah, he's been.
he was a pitcher who was surprisingly cheap in drafts for a guy who I think is solid, not great.
He's got some like, I don't know, late era Jose Berrios in him where it's like the numbers
will probably be pretty useful at the end, even if over the course of the season there will
be more interesting pitchers.
But, you know, he's getting more whiffs this season.
He's always tinkering.
The swinging strike rate is up.
Strikeout rate is up.
It's been an interesting start to the season for Casey Mai.
So I definitely think hold if you have been holding him.
Mike Soroka, a great start against the Blue J, seven innings, two runs,
five strikeouts to zero walks here.
Two earned runs are fewer in three of four starts.
I believe his one bad one was four earned runs,
but he did have 10 strikeouts in that one.
His swinging strike rate doesn't necessarily reflect the strikeouts that he's getting right now.
Scott, what do you think about holding on to Soroka right now?
You know who's the reverse of that is Brian Beow?
He has a 15% swinging strike rate and two pitches with over a 40% whiff rate.
So I don't know what's going on with Bayo.
His swinging strike rate is like astronomically high with zero strikes and then just collapses once he gets to two strikes.
He can't put him away.
I saw something that was like whiff rate 16% with two strikes or something.
It's weird.
Maybe he just needs to change his selection there.
But anyway, Mike Soroka is looking good.
And I, you know, you hold on to him.
If he's still available, I think you pick him up.
If you already picked him up, I think you hold on to him.
I don't think you could sell high on him, realistically.
I could see him fading from here.
But I think it's worth seeing out.
seeing through what he's doing here
because you wouldn't get much for a minute trade anyway.
And then two Yankees pitchers,
Will Warren had one of the best starts of his career.
Seven innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts to zero walks.
And he is 78% rostered,
so perhaps some have already started dropping him.
He was just being incredibly inefficient before this one.
And then Ryan Weathers was great on Sunday against the Royals,
seven and a third shutout with eight strikeouts for him.
He is still 84% rostered.
The problem with them two this week at the Astros, again, I really don't want to use pitchers against the Astros if I can avoid it.
Chris, what do you think about Will Warren and Ryan Weathers?
Are you holding on to both of these two?
Yeah, Warren strikes me as a sell high candidate.
I just don't think the strike rate is sustainable with how few bats he misses along the way,
kind of what we were talking about with Soroka, I think.
One thing I saw on the broadcast, I didn't realize this with Will Warren.
he led the American League and called strike threes last season.
So that might just be a thing that's could be part of his arsenal.
I think he's solid.
I just don't think he's a 250 or even a 350.
I think it's more like 380 on a good team should be useful.
But I don't think he's a super valuable difference making type of picture.
I'm surprised Will Warren is as rostered as he is,
considering this was his second start of even five innings.
I think it's because he was a two-star pitchers this week.
Yeah.
Weather's is, the velocity's completely gone.
I think he averaged like 94.5 with the fastball today.
Remember, he was sitting like 96, 97, 98 this spring.
And even last season, he was above that.
And his velocity was down way more today than it had been all season.
I think there was one start lower.
It was like 42 degrees.
Yeah.
And we should have mentioned that with the Cole Reagan start too.
I don't think we like there was a long rain delay that made.
Yeah, it was a long rain delay.
But it didn't impact Weathers, probably because his name is Weathers.
He is Weathers proof.
But I don't know.
I don't know what to make it for Ryan Weathers.
He's always been kind of a weird pitcher because he's never gotten the results that the stuff should indicate.
Today he gets the results and the stuff wasn't there.
Like the pitcher list, PLV grade for the stuff was a C in this start.
It wasn't like they said the locations were great.
I think the location grade was also a C.
So I think this might just be the Royals are pretty awful right now.
Offensively outside of Bobby Witt and Michael Garcia,
is anybody else hitting on that team?
I mean, the stuff certainly played.
Eight strikeouts, 14 swing strikes.
Yeah.
It was just the model.
the second start in a row where Weathers used a slider a lot.
He wasn't really using it before those two starts.
In between the two starts, he has 18 strikeouts.
Yeah.
I'm not saying there's nothing there.
It's just I can't quite make sense of him,
and I would not want to trust him against the Astros.
But if he is a good start against the Astros,
then it's like, yeah, we might have to have some conversations
about how good Ryan Weathers is.
But I'm struggling to buy into both Weathers and Warren's current level of
success. I will say that I
look obviously I
don't know where either is going to go from here when it surprised
me if two starts from now we're dropping both
I do like weather's a lot more than war and myself
I agree. I am interested to see what the Yankees do when
Cole and Rodon are back because that could be
early to mid-May and there's one obvious move
well Louis Heels gonna be it's either get optioned or
he'll be in the bullpen but
not to figure out what to do with weather is
or Warren or maybe a six-man rotation.
I think six-man, at least for a little while.
Yeah.
Starters, sit these pitchers this week.
Did we get duped by Sandy Alcantara?
Because this was a terrible two-start week.
He really struggled with his control against the Brewers.
Five innings, three runs, six walks to one strikeout.
His two-star week, 11 innings, 10 earned runs,
eight walks to five strikeouts.
Do you start him at the Giants this week?
Yeah, I mean, all that stuff looked a lot better before the six walks and one strikeout.
I don't know.
I'm, yeah, definitely starting Sandy Alcounter against the Giants in San Francisco for sure.
Yeah.
His strikeout rate is super low, but his swinging strike rate is actually up to 11.8% this year.
So I think the strikeouts are going to come here for Sandy, and I would be okay using him at the Giants as well.
Bubba Chandler turned in his first quality start of the season against the raised six innings one run, but only three strikeouts.
breakouts here. Obviously, it's been pretty up and down for him at the Rangers this week.
What do you guys think about Bubba Chandler?
I'm still a little reluctant to start him, given all the walks we were seeing earlier.
So that would be my preference to sit him. But, you know, it's dependent someone on what alternatives you have.
Michael Waka continues to pitch well. He had a quality start at the Yankees, six innings, two runs, six strikeouts.
He is four for four in quality starts. He is home against the Orioles. This week.
week and I think if you have Waka, you just kind of ride it as long as he's pitching this well,
right? Yeah. I think he's a good team streamer. You have them on your team, you start him against
a good match. I think Baltimore's a pretty good matchup. Ron Hare-Swarres makes it two strong
starts in a row this one against the Tigers. Eight shutout innings with four strikeouts,
his last two outings, 14 shutout with 10 strikeouts. Home against the Yankees this week.
52% started.
What are you guys doing with Suarez?
I think you start them.
You drafted them expecting to start them most every time, I think.
It was a rocky beginning,
but the last two starts, he seems to be back in form.
So I wouldn't be scared off by the matchup.
I could understand in shallower leagues, you know,
you might just have better options.
But in most cases, I think you're always going to start Rangers.
Ron Hare, Suarez.
Taz Bradley, another quality start, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts against the Reds.
His velocity was down quite a bit.
It was also 39 degrees in that game.
He is at the raise.
Revenge game.
Yeah, wait, all they see this splitier splitter.
Yeah, I like that matchup for Tage Bradley.
Okay.
I do too.
I also think he's a South High candidate if you get the chance.
And Shane O'Mack, he fell apart late Sunday.
at the Pirates.
But the velocity was up a little bit.
So four in a third innings,
eight hits, four runs,
five strikeouts.
His fastball was up
0.7 miles per hour
and a slider was up
1.3 miles per hour
and actually had six whiffs
on his fastball.
Are you guys starting
Shane O'Mack
home against the twins this week?
Rather not do that.
To me, it's more of a question
did he buy himself
another week
on my roster with this start?
And I think he probably did.
I think he's kind of cooked.
Ooh.
Ooh.
I just like I had this theory because people will point to like the stuff metrics are still pretty good.
I think he's like 106 stuff plus or something.
But he was off the charts good before that.
And I had this theory that like I want to do some research on it.
But I have this theory that like the guy who starts at a 106 stuff plus.
will pitch better with a 106 plus the next year
than the guy who goes from a 110 to a 106.
You know what I mean?
I don't know if it's a psychological thing or command thing,
but it's just like there is a real detriment
to losing stuff beyond just where your stuff settles.
I mean, I don't, I'm still not convinced the correlation
between stuff and performance.
Sure.
strong. But I'm just, you know, I'm just using that as like an example. If whatever, like,
even if you think Shane McClanahan still has above average stuff, it's clearly a step down from
where it used to be. And I feel like this happens where like we did the Spencer Strider last year.
It's like, yeah, the stuff still should be pretty good. But it's so much diminished from what
it used to be that you, I don't think you can look at it that way. Yeah, I, I agree. It's, it's probably,
it's probably trying to quantify something that can't be quantified that well.
And so trying to have a baseline value that you compare every pitcher to
as opposed to comparing a pitcher to himself, his past self,
you know, the latter would probably be more effective.
Yeah, and also just like the command and control has been really shaky for Shane McClain.
I know zero walks today, but it's like, is he trying, is he having to go more all out to get to 94, 95 when he used to get 96, 97, 98?
I just, maybe he figures out it's not when I'm rooting for him.
It would be a great story if he did, but I just don't really expect Shane McClain to be a difference maker anymore.
And it was a rough two-star week for McKenzie Gore.
The two-starts combined nine and two-thirds inning seven runs, ten strikeouts to seven walks.
He is home against the athletics this week.
What do you think about using Mackenzie Gore?
I think it's fine to use him, but he's still at Charzard.
He still might be McKenzie Gore, as it turns out.
Yeah.
He kind of, look, he's not as good as what Gavin Williams has done so far,
but I feel like he's someone who's leaving your lineup.
Because unless we get that stretch of like, you know,
five or six starts in a row, like we always get that stretch for McKenzie Gore.
But he's capable of going out and, like,
like seven innings, one run, 10 strikeouts, and then you miss out on that. You feel terrible.
So I think he's someone you just kind of leave in there. Pitching leftovers, part one.
Cam Schlittler, six innings, one unearned run with six strikeouts. Joe Ryan, a strong start,
six innings, two runs with six strikeouts. Tyler Grass now was great in Cores Field, seven
innings, one run, seven strikeouts. Jose Soriano moves to five and O. Five and two-thirds,
shutout, eight strikeouts. Did walk four in this one.
But obviously he has been tremendous overall.
Any thoughts here on Soriano, Glass Now.
Joe Ryan, Cam Schlittler.
I'm still worried there's some Charzart potential here for Jose Soriano.
And I'm going to keep an eye on that walk rate.
I don't have anything to add.
All right.
I feel a little better about Soriano than Chris does.
But it's, it's the jury's still out.
The next group, Terrick Scoobal, was great at the Red Sox six innings one run.
10 strikeouts for him, Brandon Woodruff.
Great start at the Marlins, seven innings, one run.
four strikeouts.
Chris Sale, seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts at the Phillies.
And Yuri Perez, nice bounce back, six innings, one unearned run with seven strikeouts.
Anything to add on Perez, Chris Sale, Brandon Woodruff, or Terrick Scoobal?
So, Yuri Perez apparently took a tip from Sandy Alcantara.
Maybe Sandy Alcantara should have taken his own tip, considering he walks six and his
most recent start.
Yeah.
You know, the familiar line about trusting his stuff.
And then that's basically what he did.
He threw the highest percentage of fastballs he ever has, 67%.
He threw 69% of his pitches for strikes,
which was a big improvement from what we were seeing previously.
And I stand by that control hasn't been a longstanding issue for Yuri Perez.
So I think it's something he's going to overcome quickly.
And maybe this was the turnaround he needed walking just one.
in six innings, obviously got a great result.
And even without, you know, again, he threw his fastball.
It's really his secondary arsenal that's the most impressive,
and he didn't even need it that much.
All right, last two names that I have here on the list.
We have Brian Wu, great start against the Rangers,
seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts,
and Framber Valdez, strong outing at the Red Sox,
six innings, one run, seven strikeouts.
Anything on those two?
Brian, woo, Framber Valdez.
They look like themselves.
They're good.
All right.
Some hitting leftovers, J-RAM, Jose Ramirez.
He has been going off last nine games.
He's got 11 hits, five homers, eight steals.
Austin Riley's heating up.
Last seven for him.
Hitting 3-13 with three homers, 11 RBI, and one steal.
Michael Harris, big weekend.
He went three-for-three with a homer on Friday.
Three-for-three with a home run on Sunday.
Ben Rice, give Aaron Boone, no choice.
He has homered in four.
Four straight. Three of the four have come against left-handed pitching.
He started against Cole Regens on Sunday and led off in that game.
Yeah.
Let's go, Ben Rice.
Otto Lopez is off to a great start. He hit his third home run on Friday.
He's hitting 3.38 early on.
Three homers, three steals, 16 runs scored.
Yordon Alvarez will not stop.
He homered each game this weekend has homered in four of his last five.
Cody Bellinger, big game on Saturday, three for four,
with a double dong, five RBI.
Bryce to Rang quietly off to a great start,
hit his fourth home run on Saturday.
He also has 19 runs, 14 RBI, six steals.
So it looks like...
It's happening.
He is counting over that big second half.
And Connor Griffin quietly picking things up.
He has a steal in three straight games.
And over his last four, he has five hits,
three RBI and three steals.
So good stuff there.
Call it to the bullpen for the Pirates on Friday.
Friday, Gregory Soto pitched the eighth inning with a two-run lead,
clean inning. Dennis Santana got the ninth with a four-run lead.
He closed it out.
Kind of feels like they're now settling into Soto in the eighth,
Santana and the ninth.
Do you guys feel that way?
Yes.
And that's how it usually goes with what looks like a committee at first.
And I'm not sure Soto was going to be worth all those fab dollars in the 15 team leagues.
Continuing on for the Brewers on Friday,
Abner Arebe entered in the ninth of the game tied.
He was facing the bottom of the lineup.
He walked two, struck out one.
The Brewers took a three-run lead in the 10th,
and it was Trevor McGill who picked up his fourth save.
Then on Saturday, Abner Arebe
got the ninth inning with a one-run lead.
No, he entered with one out,
three-runners on, a four-run lead,
and he picked up his second save.
So I still think it's Arribi for now
until he falters.
Hopefully he doesn't.
For the Reds on Friday, despite the hamstring injury, Emilio Pagan, got the ninth inning with a one-run lead.
He struck out one for his sixth save.
On Saturday, they didn't want to go back to Paghan overuse him with that hamstring.
So Tony Santian picked up his first save.
And then on Sunday, Paghan was back in the ninth inning.
He did blow a one-run save, but wound up with the win because the Reds walked it off.
For the, well, no, they took the, I think they were in Minnesota.
So whatever, they took the lead.
They won the game.
For the raise on Saturday, Brian Baker entered in the eighth inning with a one-run lead.
He was facing the heart of the Pirates lineup.
He allowed a run on a walk in two hits.
He took his second blown save.
Baker's mostly been very good, but already two blown saves, so we'll see what happens.
That was a very weird game.
I think it was raining like the entire final four or five innings of it.
There was like a three-hour delay too, wasn't it?
Yeah, and it was very clear that they just needed to get that game over with.
and unfortunately they just kept going.
Yeah.
On Saturday for the Giants,
Ryan Walker got the ninth inning with a one-run lead.
He allowed a run, took his second blown save,
stayed out there for the 10th and got out of it.
But not great.
Ryan Walker finally gets a save opportunity
and does not convert it.
For the Cardinals on Saturday,
Riley O'Brien entered with one out in the ninth
and a two-run lead.
He got the final two outs for his sixth save.
Then on Sunday, O'Brien entered with two outs in the eighth.
He gave up a two-run lead, and then he pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
He took the blown save, wound up with the win in that one.
For the Rockies on Saturday, Victor Vodnick got the ninth with a one-run lead.
He picked up his third save.
17% rostered.
I know it's the Rockies, and they're gross, but, like, Victor Vodnick just kind of seems like the closer.
Yeah.
He does seem that way.
You guys don't sound it.
No.
I mean, this is the third straight year we've done this with Victor Vonnick.
He's a mediocre pitcher who calls Corsefield his home.
There's only so excited you could ever get about that.
All right.
And then to stream or not to stream on Monday,
I was trying to find some time to, like, write these in
because I didn't do it beforehand because I messed up.
Let's see who else I can add to this list.
Justin Robleski.
He's at Colorado.
Yeah, it's at Cors.
Debtmer is home against the Blue Jays.
which I think we'd be
alright with
Jeets.
Yeah,
there's some
like Max Meyer
against the Cardinals,
Bryce Elder
against the Nationals maybe.
There are some options
on Monday, actually.
Max Meyer's another
in that Brian Beyo group
where just if you look
at his strikeout numbers
you wouldn't think
there's much to like there.
But he's throwing a slider
more than ever
and I think it has a 56%
with rate.
Like he's leading with it.
His top pitch has a 56%
whiff rate.
That seems like it's going to eventually lead to good things.
But my only good pitch.
My favorite options Monday are Spencer Arrogetti at Cleveland and Reed Dettmers against the Blue Jays,
who, yes, are a sneaky good matchup, sneaky favorable matchup right now.
They have a lot of hitters who are hurting.
And they just stopped hitting for power this season.
They're still hitting for a lot of contact, which is what everybody focused on last year.
But you got to do damage when you make contact, and they fare much or not.
Uh, yeah, I know that these guys are technically not, we talk about them more than streamers, but they're still available. So, Arrogate at the Guardians, Detmer's against the Blue Jays. I think those are fine. I think Meyer against the Cardinals could be okay as well. Yeah. Then on Tuesday, we have Stephen... I don't mind Red Louder at Tampa Bay either.
We have Stephen Matt's against the Reds. We have Kyle Harrison at the Tigers, Mick Abel at the Mets. I don't hate Dustin May against the Marlins.
Yeah, I would go Abel, Matt's, and then probably Harrison, I think.
Yeah, Abel, Matt's, and May for me.
Yeah, I think the same order.
Yeah, I think I give the edge to Harrison over May.
Just a little worried about the injuries.
Maybe in a points league situation, I go May over Harrison.
Scott, what do you think about Sean Burke at the debacks?
Wouldn't be me.
All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott and 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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