Fantasy Baseball Today - Big Prospect Promotions, Waiver Wire Moves & Start or Sit Decisions! (6/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

We got some big prospect promotions this weekend, starting with the Rockie's Adael Amador (2:30)! ... The Braves promoted Hurston Waldrep and the White Sox plan to promote Drew Thorpe (7:53). ... The Mariners promoted Tyler Locklear and the Brewers plan to promote Carlos Rodriguez (14:54). ... Mitch Keller has pitched well since the start of May (21:52). ... We got complete games from both Kevin Gausman and Framber Valdez (24:05). ... News (29:30): Juan Soto is dealing with forearm inflammation. ... Add TJ Friedl or Ian Happ in shallow leagues (40:02)? ... Rank Matt Waldron, Hunter Brown and Taj Bradley (47:05). ... Start or sit Freddy Peralta, Bryce Miller and Bailey Ober (56:23)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:44). 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 lead. Well, fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. If you like Prospect Promotions, this weekend was for you. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, June 10th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we have five prospect promotions to talk about two big complete games from pitchers who really needed them, all the waiver wire ads, standouts, and much more. Usually, we lead with the players of the night, or in this case, players of the weekend. But let's change it up, dive right into those prospects gap, because there are a lot to talk about.

And we will begin with the Rockies, who promoted 21-year-old second-based prospect Adelae Amador with Brendan Rogers going on the IEL. And Amador in the minors this season was only batting 194 that came with a 337 on base percentage, seven homers, 22 steals. He did that at AA. He was heating up recently. His last 15 games down in the miners was batting 295 with seven homers,

seven steals in OPS up over 1,000. He is only 16% rostered. Talk to me about the player, Amador, and will he stick around? Or is he only around until Brendan Rogers returns? Well, this was a surprising one. This was one of the most surprising prospect. promotions I've seen in a long time. You said him so fast that I missed the exact numbers you gave there,

but he's batting 194 at AA. Hot in his last nine games, yes, but usually nine game sample. That doesn't mean a lot to us. So from AA, where he's batting 194, usually that does not make for a successful outcome, particularly when at a time, at a time when hitters especially are having a hard time breaking into the majors. I mean, look what Wyatt Langford's done with all his success at every level,

including spring training. And he's just one example, of course. So, you know, the Rockies don't have, they're not, they don't have a reputation as an organization of necessarily getting the best possible outcome out of players. And I kind of think this is a desperation move. That's what it smells like to me, which isn't to say Adelao Amador isn't a good prospect. He's a really good prospect, but very young and hadn't mastered AA yet. Unless the nine-game sample, the Rockies were convinced that that meant he had mastered double A.

I'm less convinced, but what do I know? So that's the one, that answers the one question. As for how long he'll stick around, I don't imagine it'll be for long. because I imagine it'll be until Brendan Rogers comes back, but that's me imagining this doesn't go well for Adela El Amador. If it does go well, then could it be a Wallypip situation? Sure, I mean, the Rockies have waited for years for Brendan Rogers to live up to his own potential, and he hasn't come anywhere close.

So if Amador is doing great things for them while Rogers is out, then he'll stick around. Great hit tool. It's got some speed. near one-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio each of the last two years. Hits for some power, but not a big exit V-Lo guy, so I don't think he's going to have high-end home run outcomes. But, yeah, it's definitely an interesting prospect. It's just the timing is very, very odd here for this promotion.

And as I mentioned, Amador, 16% rostered. Obviously, we're not taking him over like the Nick Gonzalez's, which we've talked a lot about recently, Joey Ortiz, names like that. but Connor Norby was another middle infield prospect that got called up earlier this week. He's not playing every day. You know, if you're playing in a deeper league and just looking to take a stab on one of these prospects, would you rather Amador or Connor Norby? Amador, I think he has more upside.

And I do think there's at least a path for him being a regular part of the Rockies line of breast of season. I don't really see that path for Connor Norby, given the surplus on the Orioles. and the expectation that eventually Jackson Holiday is going to be the one holding down the second base job. So, yeah, I would prefer Amador of those two. And Amador in my Tout Wars League, which is a 15-te-Team mixed Roto League. He went for $21 out of a $1,000 budget. He went for a good bit more in yours, right?

Right around 70. Yeah, and I won him at 76, and I bid the exact right amount because the second bid was 75. Oh, wow. So that's always fulfilling. But am I that excited about it? No, not really. I mean, I hope the takeaway from my explanation there for Amador at the top was that I don't expect this is going to pay immediate fantasy dividends. It's just in a 15-team Roto League.

There are only so many interesting players to bid on, and you kind of just have to throw your money at the next big thing and hope it pans out. I had middle infield needs. I have speed needs. Maybe I'll get lucky. That's kind of one of the things I don't like about deep leagues is it feels like you're handcuffed so often. Like you can't actually use that much discernment when you're playing the waiver wire. You can't actually discern okay. Yeah, I mean, there are those weeks where sometimes there's more than one interesting player on the waiver wire and so you can kind of prioritize.

But for the most part, it's just throw your money at the interesting thing and hope something good at. It's not like I'm targeting this guy because I think X, X and X. It's, okay, here's something I can throw my money at, I guess. So hopefully I'll get lucky. And that's, I don't know. That's a downside to deep leagues that I don't think gets discussed enough. All right. Let's slide into the pitching prospects here.

And interesting timing, right? We did the prospect spotlight on Friday's podcast about Braves pitching prospect, Herson Waldrop and what do you know? He gets called up this weekend. He made his debut on Sunday against the Nationals. He was cruising until he wasn't. Where the final line was three and two thirds innings, four hits, seven earned runs, four walks to only one strikeout. It's a three pitch mix, 40% splitter, 40% fastball average 95.7 miles per hour and 20% slider here for Hurston Waldrop. And the other promotion that we're getting is Drew Thorpe of the Chicago White Sox, he's being called up to start Tuesday against the Mariners.

He was a big part of the Juan Soto trade, originally going from the Yankees to the Padres, and then going from the Padres to the White Sox in the Dillon Seas trade right before the season. Drew Thorpe is 23 years old, has looked awesome in 11 starts at AA. I mean, to be honest, he's been awesome, basically his whole minor league career. He was, I believe, voted as the minor league pitcher of the year last year. He was great there. But this season, 135 ERA, 0.87 whip. just under a strikeout per inning for Drew Thorpe.

I know he's a polarizing prospect, Scott, because he doesn't throw hard, and, you know, it's a change-up first. And, you know, we express some skepticism about pitchers who change-up is the main pitch. They don't throw hard, and now they're calling up. Will he be as successful? We're about to find out on Tuesday.

What are your thoughts on these two? Who do you prefer, Waldrip or Drew Thorpe? Well, of all the prospect call-ups from this weekend and some of the ones that haven't happened yet, but we know they're happening later this week, of all of them. The one that had me most excited was Hurston Waldrop, who we talked about at the end of last week. All he brings to the table with the devastating splitter and everything, he peaked at 98 with the fastball in this start. The second most talented pitcher, a lot of people believe from last year's draft class behind only Paul Skeen's.

So that one had me genuinely excited, but the wind is already kind of out of the sales now, you know, because the first start went so. Might create a buying opportunity, though. Well, in leagues where he's already been, how rostered is he? I doubt he's that rostered yet. 34%. But what I mean by buying opportunity is that you can get him for cheaper than you would have if he had a great start, you know? Yeah. And I was kind of looking to see if they sent Waldrop down after this start because they still have Schwellenbach on the Major League roster.

They still have Ray Kerr on the Major League roster. And in fact, I think Schwellenbach is scheduled to start Wednesday. So they have, presuming Waldrop gets another turn, it's a six-man rotation right now, which isn't going to last long. And so is it a competition between Schwellenbach and Waldrop for who gets to stay around? I would say Schwellenbach is leading the competition as of now. Waldrop's more talented. And Major League debut, you don't want to write the guy off based on that, obviously. The walks, I think, are especially concerning.

and the fact he only got one strike out, he could be great next time out and never get sent down again. So on the one hand, it's not like, it's not like I'm saying you absolutely should not add Waldrip, but there is a situation, have we talked about for the last few weeks in fantasy right now where starting pitching is so plentiful and there are so many enticing options out there

that I'm not that eager to add him. most of my leagues based on this debut. I will say that in that Tout Wars League, 15 Team Rotel League Deep League where you kind of throw your money at anything that looks interesting. I was throwing more money at Amador than Waldrop. And I had a lot of skepticism about Amador, but it's just like he feels needs better right now than Waldrop does

for I think most people listening. What are your thoughts on Drew Thorpe, the prospect? I mean, I guess you said that Waldrop was the one you were most excited. Most excited about. Yeah. What do you think about Thorpe? I mean, Thorpe's been really successful in the minors the last two years. He has yet to advance to AAA, right?

I don't think he got there with the Yankees last year. I don't think so. Yeah, I think he got to double A at the very end of the year. And he's always been pretty old for his level. And it's pretty much just the change-up. And, you know, good control. He worked deep into games, especially. with the Yankees last year.

He was having some seven, eight-inning starts in their system. But, you know, he got traded twice in the off-season, which probably says something about how confident, how confident the organization who had him was in him,

in one case, the Yankees, and the next case the Padres. He's debuting for the White Sox, so how much good could he really do? I mean, Garrett Crochet has done a lot of good in fantasy, but I don't think. think Drew Thorpe is Garret Crochet. It was less than a strikeout per inning at

AA this year. Good swinging strike rate, 15%, but less than a strikeout per inning at double A. You know, I'm again, starting pitching being so plentiful, it's just it's hard for me to get that excited about Drew Thorpe. Could he be a success? Yes.

But I think in most leagues, you can wait and see how it goes. I don't think there's going to be a bidding war for him unless you play in one of 15 team leagues where anything interesting gets bid on. Yeah, I don't think it may be Amador in a 12-team Roe League. If you need a middle infielder with speed, you can take a shot there. I don't know that any of these are must-add immediately in 12-team leagues in Mytout Wars League.

If Waldrop was good in his debut, I would have said that about him, but since he was bad. I would agree with that. And I actually have a need for pitching in Mitow-Words League, and I bid $72 out of $1,000 on Drew Thorpe. And I had a higher bid on him than I did with Waldrop, which, look, if Waldrop had a great start again, that might have been different. But, you know, Thorpe is the higher rated prospect,

and his minor league numbers have been better than Waldrop. So that was part of my thinking. What's up? According to whom Thorpe is the higher rated prospect? I think MLB pipeline? Okay. I'm sure it varies. I know I had Waldrop ahead coming into the season.

If you care about some prospect rankings, the top 100 list curated by yours truly. Yeah, I mean, it's... It was probably about 40 spots ahead. Yeah, I mean, every list is different and like MLB pipeline isn't for fantasy. It's just, you know, straight up prospect ranking. But they have Drew Thorpe 54th and Waldrop 72nd,

which is like negligible. It's not like a huge difference by any means. But yeah, I did bit on Thorpe and I got him. And so we'll see where it goes. Obviously, the team context is terrible, but the minor league numbers have been amazing. Two other prospect promotions, are not nearly as big-name prospects, I guess you could say,

but the Mariners promoted first-based, first-baseman Tyler Locklear, with Thai France going on the IL, and the Brewers are promoting pitching prospect Carlos F. Rodriguez, and he will make his debut Tuesday against the Blue Jays. With Locklear, it's big power. The season of the minors, 2.93 batting average, nine home runs. The strikeouts were fine. I mean, it was like 26% at AA, 23% at AAA.

And with Carlos Rodriguez, it looks like two, really good secondary pitches, but some question marks there with a fastball. Any interest here in Locklear or Rodriguez? I mean, it would have to be in even deeper leagues, I would imagine, than these other names we're talking about. Okay, for what it's worth, baseball prospectus and baseball America both had wall drip ahead of Thorpe coming into the season. But as for those other prospects, I don't have a ton of interest in them.

I do think they are clearly fourth and fifth on the prior. list behind the three we've already talked about. I did win, actually in Towat Wars, I did win both Locklear and Rodriguez, but for a combined $9. So there weren't many people bidding on either one of them. Locklear is going to play for now, which I think is counts for something, right? If you're just hoping to play the lottery and get lucky, the fact that he has good minor league numbers,

Tyler Locklear, and he has an opportunity with Thai France being on the IL, it makes it worth playing in deeper leagues where options are scarce. So last year, Locklear slash 288, 405, 502 between high A and double A, and this year between AA and AAA and AAA, slash 293 404-520. So very similar numbers. The strikeout rate is kind of high

given how high the batting averages. And the power kind of low, the home run production kind of low, given how good the exit velocities are. But for a developing player, I think I'm more interested in the exit velocity readings than the actual performance. And Locklear's exit velocity readings were very good.

And we only have the data for his 10 games of triple. but 95.3 average exit velocity, 111 max exit velocity. So in 10 games, he hit a ball as hard as 111 miles per hours. That's a good sign for Tyler Locklear's power ceiling. So, you know, the rule for this year is bet against any hitting prospect getting the call because even the very tip-top ones have all been bad. But sometimes weird things happen, and maybe they'll happen for Tyler Locklear.

as for Carlos Rodriguez of the Brewers. So kind of a, like if you look at his numbers in the miners this year, pretty bad, but it's been much better lately. So 517 ERA overall, but in his last, let's see, did I write down these numbers or do I have to look them up on the fly? I think I wrote them down. Surely I have that kind of foresight. Apparently I didn't write them down. Okay.

So in his last six starts, Carlos Rodriguez, 283 ERA, it looks like more than a strikeout per inning, and a whip lower than one in his last six starts. So clearly turned a corner there, even though the season long numbers look bad. His arsenal, you know, he has a good changeup. It's not as good as Drew. Thorpe's change up.

And the fastball is low 90s. It just looks like Carlos Rodriguez, when he's going well, he can throw strikes and he's able to outmatch minor league kidders with his change up. But I'm not that confident. It's going to go well for him. I don't think he has a particularly high ceiling. If it does go well, it's because things have gone well for so many lesser pitchers this year.

And so you're kind of just gambling on that with Carlos Rodriguez. But I don't think there's the kind of upside that's going to. going to make him a standout in fantasy long term, or that makes him more interesting than her, or puts him even on the same level as Hurston Waldrip and, uh, Drew Thorpe. Again, the five prospects promoted this weekend. The Rockies promoted Adela Amador, the Braves with Hurston Waldrip,

White Sox with Drew Thorpe. He's coming on Tuesday. The Mariners promoted Tyler Locklear and the Brewers are promoting Carlos Rodriguez to make his debut on Tuesday as well. Big thanks to everyone watching us live. We appreciate you being here. Hit that like button and subscribe. to the channel if you haven't already.

And if you enjoy the audio podcast, make sure to leave a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify. It really helps, and we do appreciate it. Let's take our first break, and when we return, we will get into the Players of the Weekend right after this.

Welcome back in the, oh my goodness, players of the weekend. Can you believe it? Wow. All right, Scott, your first up. Who you got? All right. Old friend Mitch Keller had another good start

Friday, six shutout innings, struck out eight, 13 swinging strikes, eight on his sweeper, 2 through 17% of the time. So very high whiff rate on the sweeper in this start. And he's been really good since the start of May. He's done that Mitch Keller thing, you know, wide variety of pitches. Sometimes he adds velocity.

Sometimes he takes it away. He just kind of tinkers his way into success. And it's gone really well since the end of April for Mitch Keller. But particularly, I actually got some specifics here at the Pirates official team site, the write-up of this start for Mitch Keller. He's generating. So I pointed out the last few starts, Mitch Keller, things seem to improve when he added velocity to his cutter, when he started throwing his cutter harder.

Well, the fastball was harder in this latest start, too. And apparently this is a result of a mechanical change that the Pirates coaching staff is made with him to generate more power with his lower half. So it started with the cutter. He's getting more velocity with everything now. And what manager Derek Shelton pointed out after this start is when the velocity takes up on both the fastball and the cutter, then the sweeper becomes more of a weapon. And that seems to be exactly what happened.

Again, he had eight whiffs while throwing his sweeper 17% of the time. So I think Mitch Keller's on a good run right now. I don't think he's an ace, but I think you're going to be starting him more often than not for the foreseeable future. And you should patch yourself on the back if you were careful not to drop him early on when you may have been very tempted to do so. Those six starts since the beginning of May for Mitch Keller. It's a 113-101 WIP. The walks have been much better. It's 1.6 walks per 9 during that stretch, doing a great job limiting the walks and limiting the hard contact.

The overall ERA is now down to 316. It's been a great run here for Mitch Keller. Let's stick with the pitchers, and I'm just going to cheat and take two players because Chris isn't here, so whatever. I'll just take a player for him too. Complete games from pitchers who definitely needed them. Kevin Gosman turned in the first shutout of his career, which was actually kind of surprising. He's been really good for a really long time. But he did that at the Oakland A's.

It was a five-hitter, one walk, 10 strikeouts, and this one, 17 whiffs on 10-19 pitches. still allowed 10 hard hits in this game. But this is what Kevin Gosman is capable of when he has the splitter working. 13 of his 17 whiffs came on that splitter. It was awesome. The downside to this start is that the velocity was down again. It was across the board.

The fastball was down 1.2 miles per hour. The sinker down 1.1. The slider down 1.9 for Kevin Gosman. The overall ERA is 4. It's a 125 whip. He's going to need to put together more great starts like this, obviously, to get the season-long numbers to where they should be. I don't know, Scott.

I mean, like, this is obviously a fantastic start. It is against the Oakland A's. I worry about the velocity being down. Would you maybe try and cash out on Kevin Gosman, if you could after a start like this? Well, we were all saying after his last start that we were finally ready to move him down in the rankings. Still kept them inside the top 30,

but not top 15. more. It's kind of out of that ace range, basically, for Kevin Gosman, but still a good pitcher worth having around. And then he goes and has his best start of the season, arguably the best of his career, right? You're saying the first shutout. Yep. So I don't know how successful you'll be in that endeavor.

You could try it. If you can trade Kevin, like, I'm not ready to move him back. I guess the efficient way to answer this is I'm not ready to move Kevin Gosman back into the top 15 based on that. start. So if you can get that kind of return for Kevin Gosman, you can trade him as if he's a true ace, then sure, go for it. But you're probably not going to be able to do that. I think most people are going to look at those season-long numbers and less on the start that just happened. And, you know, they're going to want to low ball you.

Fair enough. What about the other complete game? That one came from Framber Valdez. He was at the Angels where he allowed four hits, one run. Eight strikeouts had 19 whiffs on 106 pitches. and notice he did throw a few more curveballs in this one, and it was a great pitch for Valdez. Ten of his 19 whiffs came on that curveball. He gave up eight earned runs to the Angels back on May 20th in three starts since. It's a 205 ERA, a 0.82 whip.

Not getting many strikeouts this season. The strikeout rate has come down considerably, but the ground ball rate is back to the elite levels for Franbrose. It's been a weird season for him to, you know, he spent some time on the I.L. that elbow injury. So perhaps it's just taking them some time to like really get going. Did you have any takeaways here or anything actionable, I guess, with Frambervaldez? Well, just how effective the curveball was for him.

It was of the 19 whiffs, it was responsible for 10 of them. And he said, how did he put it? When the pitch is misbehaving, I can't throw it for strikes sometimes. But today, I was able to throw it where I wanted to. I threw it outside the zone when I wanted to. to today it behaved. So apparently his curveball was misbehaving. He grounded it or otherwise penalized it.

Bad curveball. And now it's, you know, now it's behaving. Now it's doing what it's supposed to do. And that's always been Framber Valdez's key pitch. So it kind of makes sense. You know, I don't know exactly what he means by behaving. Or if it could continue, it's turned. for the better with the behavior.

But, you know, it's a good sign. It's a good sign for a pitcher who is probably still good. It just doesn't stand out as much in this particular pitching environment. Who would you rather have rest of season? Gosman or Valdez? I think I have Gosman ranked higher.

I'm more upside there with the strikeouts. Yeah, I think so too, but it is really close. I've slowly moved them both down the rankings, but Bolt's still top 30. Again, that's Gosman and Franbrevaldez. Want to give a shout out to Tey Oscar Hernandez in a series that featured Aaron Judge,

Shohey Otani, Mookiee Betts, Freddie Freeman. It was Teosker Hernandez, who was the best player this weekend in that series. He had six hits, three homers, nine RBI, one steal. So it's a huge series. The Dodgers won two of three. And overall, this season, Hernandez has been great. 266 batting average, 16 home runs, 48 RBI, four steals, and an 849 OPS. And what's that RBI pace?

because that was the case I was making for him coming into the years. He's taken over that J.D. Martinez spot in the Dodgers lineup. His RBI could be ridiculous. So let me check on that real quick. 48. We're more than a third of the way into the season now, but that is close to 120. Yeah, entering Sunday, it was 117 RBI pace.

Yeah. But still really good for a guy. Yeah, it's really good. I sound disappointed. I wanted it to be like 140. I mean, his pace numbers right now, Tay Oscar, 37 homers, 94 runs, 117 RBI, 9 steals for somebody you got outside of the top 100 picks.

Yeah. It's pretty awesome. Let's get into the news and notes. Lots of injury updates from the weekend. Juan Soto, which is where we left off on Friday's podcast. Well, technically we started the podcast with that. We had the injury scare. He was diagnosed with forearm inflammation on Friday,

missed all three games this weekend against the Dodgers. Aaron Boone indicated that Soto should rejoin the lineup at some point in their upcoming season. series against the Royals. Scott, I don't know, your read on the situation. Do you start or sit Juan Soto this week? Well, I guess we should feel relieved based on the way we were talking in our last podcast Friday.

I think I'd start him because he's Juan Soto. You know, if they haven't put him on the I L yet, I think I'd start him. It'd have to be a really shallow league and I'd have to have great outfield alternatives to consider otherwise. Kyle Tucker was placed on the IL Friday with a right-time. shin contusion, but is hopeful he will be able to return after the minimum 10 days. Joey Loperfito was recalled, but my guess is it'll be a short stay for Loporffito unless he lights the world on fire and or gets playing time.

I don't know if either of those things are going to happen. Trey Turner said Sunday, he's quote, getting close to returning and it's possible he's activated within the next week. Manager Rob Thompson said Turner is running at 75 to 80%. Those things, they kind of seem like they're clashing, 75 to 80%. Yet Trey Turner says that he's getting close. He already suffered one step back. So I don't know.

What were you going to say? I interrupted you. I'm so rude. No, I was just going to say, yeah, I don't know if he's actually going to be back within the next week. That seems a little hopeful on Trey Turner's part. We can hope. Some rehab updates for starting pitchers.

Garrett Cole allowed one run over four and two-thirds innings. He struck out four at AA on Sunday. He got up to 57 pitches. And after the start, Cole said that he'll require at least. least one more rehab start that could mean two. It needs to continue building that pitch count. You know, maybe he gets up around 70 in his next start. I don't know. It's like, I mean, weather's one or two. It's soon. It's close. Yeah. I mean, it's sooner than I was expecting. Could be the end of June, which would be very welcome with Gary Cole. Max Scherzer through four

shutout innings on Sunday. One hit, one walk five strikeouts in a rehab start at AAA. Bobby Miller through four innings of one run ball at AAA on Friday. And apparently his his velocity bounced back. It was down in his previous rehab outing before that. Shane Boz struck out 10 over five innings of one-run ball at AAA on Saturday. His best start yet. The raise do have. He had looked awful.

Yeah. And he's not on the IL anymore, right? He's just been optioned. Or do I have that wrong? That sounds right. So he had become more difficult to stash in fantasy, Shane Boss. but hopefully is a step in the right direction

because obviously we know how talented he is. Yeah, he was activated on May 23rd an option to AAA. That is Shane Baas and Edwin Diaz pitch a sclerless ending Sunday at High A and could rejoin the Mets

as soon as Tuesday. Corey Seeger has missed three straight with that left hamstring strain but has not been placed in the IL. Perhaps they're looking to rest him up. They have an upcoming series against the Dodgers starting on Tuesday. How you feel about Seagher?

Would you start or sit him this week? Well, I think it's more likely, particularly in shallower leagues with no middle infield spots, that you do have another quality short stuff you could plug in and play it safe. But I think it's more likely than not. Seeger will play at least half this week. And if you're having to turn to the waiver wire for a replacement,

may not be a good enough one to justify sitting Seeger, even if it is only half a week. Rafael Devers was removed Saturday with left knee soreness and did not play on Sunday. That's the same knee that forced Devers to miss nearly a week back in April. The Red Sox are off on Monday. How do you feel about Raphael Devers this week? Because it already cost him a week earlier in the year, I'm a little nervous about it. But, again, it's not like the waiver wire is bursting with,

high-end hitters, you know, that you can plug in and get Devers-like production from it. So I'm most torn on this one, but I probably leaned yes on Devers too. Manny Machado has misfortune with a hip injury he suffered on Wednesday. How do you feel about Manny Machado? Well, see, maybe it was showing small signs of coming around, but for the most part, he hasn't been that productive this year. So I think it's easier to play it safe with him, provided you have a halfway decent alternative. Alex Bregman

Exited Sunday after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand That's the same hand That got hit last week So pretty rotten luck here For Alex Bregman X-rays came back clean on Sunday

So that's the good news We'll see if he is in the lineup I don't know if they play on Monday or not Yeah They play Monday So we will find out Right away if Bregman is good to go Nico Horner was diagnosed

With a small fracture in his hand After getting hit by a pitch on Thursday He missed all three games this weekend And I would say plan to use somebody else in his place, partially because Nico Horner just hasn't really been that good this year anyway. Yeah, though they are saying they think he'll be able to play through this. His fracture in his hand, obviously, he's gotten a couple days off here, but they're not anticipating an aisle stint for Horner. But I agree that this is probably a good excuse to upgrade or to seek out an upgrade if you can get one.

Next up, Sayas Suzuki sat out Saturday due to left oblique tightness, but was back in the lineup on Sunday. and you'll remember Suzuki went on the IL earlier this season. That was with a right oblique strain, but he went on the IL last year with a left oblique strain. So I don't know what's up with those obliques. I would say, you got to do a better job stretching, Sayas Suzuki. I saw you traded Sayas Suzuki away in one league, right? I did you acquire him.

What did you think of my trade? I gave up Sayas Suzuki and I acquired Grace and Rodriguez. I mean, in a vacuum, it's... Seems fair. Good. Yeah, I mean... In a vacuum, I prefer Grayson Rodriguez. It's just what I mean by in a vacuum is in a normal league context

and not what we're dealing with now. So I think the league context right now with pitching being plentiful and hitting being scarce makes it closer to even. Yeah. You know, it's one of those weird leagues where on paper, I feel like my pitching should be good. I have like Logan Webb and Freddie Peralta and George Kirby, but it has been anything but reliable.

so I needed more pitching, and I had some outfield depth. Yeah, I thought it was an R-I trade. Here's a name we haven't talked about a while. Jacob de Grom is slated to throw his first bullpen during the Rangers June 17th to 23rd homestand, and he underwent Tommy John surgery last year. Sounds like he could be back by August. We're still pretty long ways away.

51% rostered is Jacob de Grom. Clayton Kershaw will throw a three-inning simulated game next week and then start a rehab assignment after that. 46% rostered is Kershaw. Sounds like he could be back in July, assuming no setbacks. Who would you rather stash between Kirchaw and DeGrom? I think actually Kershaw, just because there's going to be so little margin for error with DeGrom. Obviously, DeGrom's better.

Well, I'm saying that, Clayton Kershaw is a clear Hall of Fame pitcher. But, yeah, I'd rather stash Kershaw since we've got an extra month to work with and since it's not Tommy John's surgery he's coming back from. Tyler O'Neill has missed two straight with renewed knee-sornness, but Alex Cora said he expects O'Neill to return on Tuesday, and this has been a pretty big issue for O'Neill. He got off to that great start, but then he slowed down. He's been pretty banged up.

I would say in three outfielder leagues, probably get away from Tyler O'Neill, and five outfieler league's probably going to be tougher to do. Yeah, I'd like to get away with them in any, but it will be tougher in five outfielder leagues to do. that. Yes. Masataka Yoshita started a rehab assignment at AAA on Saturday and is somebody you could look to add if he was dropped in five outfielder leagues. Alec Manoa will undergo UCL surgery on June 17th and missed the rest of the season. Other players who went on the aisle this weekend, Ryan Weathers with a left

index finger strain Thai France with a hairline fracture in his heel and Brendan Rogers with a hamstring strain. Let's take our final break and when we return we'll get into all of the waiver wire ads from the weekend right after this. Welcome back in. Let's talk Waverwire hitters and in the shallowest of leagues. Two names that could still be out there. Ian Hap, who is 77% rostered and T.J. Friedel is up to 75%. Ian Hap over his last 14 games, only batting 240, but he's got four homers, 16 RBI and three steals. So making some things happen.

And T.J. Friedel had another big game on Saturday, one for three with a sock and a shoe. That was the second time he's done that in his past five games. Scott, who would you prefer between Ian Hattel? Tap and T.J. Friedel. Oh, Friedel. I've been pushing Friedel hard since he came back. Well, since he came back the first time, really. But since the second IL stent wasn't very long, then, yeah, I was excited about his return. It's gone well so far. The power is played. That's what we were most concerned about following his breakthrough season last year. And he's actually providing something in the outfield. What a novel concept.

Someone else who's providing something right now in the outfield is Elliot Ramos. Another name we've talked a lot about recently. He is just red hot. Three for five on Friday, then two for four with his sixth home run on Saturday. He's betting 314. He's got a 938 OPS in 29 games played with the Giants. Would you take Elliott Ramos over either of the names we just talked about, Friedel or Ian Hap? It's a close call with Hap.

I mean, Friedel is clearly the best of these three. in my mind. I think he has the Frito I'm talking about has the highest floor and also contributes in the widest variety of ways.

So pretty solid ceiling there too. But no, Ramos has been impressive and he's every day he seems to get more impressive. The strikeout rate is concerning but he does have good enough exit velocities

that maybe he could sustain something close to this in spite of it. and the Giants are showing a lot of confidence in him right now. So, I mean, I guess I'd probably lean Hap over him, but we're talking about 77% rostered for Hap, 54% rostered for Ramos. So it's much more likely Ramos is available in your league.

Would you drop three outfield prospects who got off to great starts this year, and they've really slowed down. Colton Couser, Andy Pawhez, and Joe Adele. Would you drop any or all three, for Elliot Ramos. I would drop Joe Adele for him. I would not drop Andy Pahas for him.

Pahas has actually kind of started to pick things up again. And what was the third one? Colton Couser. I really don't know what to do with Colin Couser. Certainly the shallower of the league, I think the easier it is to justify swapping him out for Ramos, just playing the hot hand, basically. Because, you know, Couser's just going to sit out there on waivers.

in a shallower league, but in a deeper league, I think Kouser's spot is a little more solidified than Ramos's. So I might play it safer there. In shallower one catcher leagues, Logan O'Hoppy had himself a huge game on Sunday, four for five with a sock and a shoe.

It was his eighth home run, his first steal, 71% roster for him. And Mitch Garver, who's showing some signs of life recently, one for three with a home run on Saturday. He also went two for two with a home run on Thursday, and the Mariners have the fifth best hitter matchups this week, according to Scott White.

Who would you rather have? Logan O'Hoppy or Mitch Garver? I would rather have O'Hopi. Yeah, I'd rather have O'Hopi. Take that. Fair enough. What about if you need a head-to-head, if you need a shortstop in a head-to-head points league? We've mentioned J.P. Crawford's name recently. Obviously, lots of injuries going on lately, but he did Homer twice this weekend. He had multiple hits on both Saturday and Sunday.

he's up to 66% rostered. Again, 12-team points leagues could be out there, and the Mariners do have those great matchups this week, so if you do need a shortstop. And some names in deeper leagues. Wilmer Flores is turning things up recently, two-for-five with a double-dong on Friday. He also went two-for-four with a home run earlier in the week on Wednesday.

Gavin Cheats had himself a nice weekend. He went one-for-two with a home-run on Friday, three-for-four with another homer on Saturday. Andrew Vaughn, over his last six games, has nine hits, two homers, seven run scored. Paul DeYoung, also pretty hot. I don't know where all these, it feels like the White Sox hitters are hot for fantasy,

but like overall, their team is still so terrible. But Paul DeYoung, three straight multi-hit games. He homered on both Saturday and Sunday. His last nine games, he's got five homers and 10 RBI. That's Paul DeYoung. And David Hamilton, who plays for the Red Sox, he's low-key doing some things right now, two-for-five with a sock and a shoe on Sunday.

It was his third home run. his 13th stolen base. He actually had four steals total this weekend. Any names stand out there, Scott, in Deeper Leagues, Hamilton, Paul DeYoung, Andrew Vaughn, Gavin Cheats, and Wilmer Flores. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that any of these guys is some kind of hidden gem

that is going to sustain this hot hitting rest of season. But these are the kind of pickups you have to make in deeper leagues. You can't afford to be that discerning. You just need. something you can plug in and at least they're hot right now. I know I did that with Paul DeYoung in one of those 15 team roto leagues.

You know, he's got the crazy high strikeout rate over 30%, but he was hitting, he was producing, he was producing and he's continued to produce. He's been hitting for power. I think it'll end and I think it'll end badly for Paul DeYoung, but

in there are league context where that's just the best you can do. I would say that of these, the one who I think could come closest to to continuing to play at this elevated level is Wilmer Flores, just because he seems to do this every year and get around 20 homers when it looks like for months,

he's just some forgotten guy on the bench, and then he finds his way into the lineup and he produces. It's not going to be like game-changing production, obviously, but it's, it could be usable. I could see him remaining usable. David Hamilton, just because he's stealing so many bases, is interesting. But, you know, he's batting 282. The expected batting average is more like 240.

It's not like a great line drive rate. And the strikeout rate is kind of high for a guy who doesn't have a lot of power. So David Hamilton, I would put more in the Paul DeYoung category where it's like, I don't really believe in this, but I got to be able to fill this lineup spots. If you're just speculating in deeper leagues, would you take Amador over all those names I just mentioned? Flores, Sheets, Vaughan, DeYoung, and Hamilton? Yeah, I think I'd chase the upside like that. All right, let's talk Waverwire pitchers and the first group.

These names are, could be available in shallower leagues. Matt Waldron has allowed two earned runs or less in six straight. He was up against the debacks where he allowed one run over six innings. And over his last six starts, Waldron has a 178. ERA and a 0.91 whip. Hunter Brown has turned in four quality starts in a row. He was at the Angels where he threw six shutout, two hits, four walks, seven strikeouts, had 11 whiffs on 98 pitches. His fastball velocity was up 1.5 miles per hour in this start. Again, that's Hunter Brown. Tage Bradley bounced back with a solid outing against the Orioles, five innings, one run.

Seven strikeouts had 18 whiffs on 99 pitches. He continues to get whiffs. That is not the problem. The problem for Taj Bradley is that he is allowing 91.8 average exit velocity against and a 17% barrel rate. I mean, that's like elite. If we're just talking about barrel rates, it's like top five in the league. And that's what's happening against Taj Bradley right now. So, you know, he gets the whiffs, but allows a lot of hard contact. But that didn't happen in this start, right? In this start, it was, no, just two hard hits allowed.

But just on the season in general, it's been a lot of loud contact against Bradley. How would you rank those names in shallower leagues? Waldron, Hunter Brown, and Taj. I love how I said his name like I know him. Taj. Yeah, that's my friend. Taj. Yeah.

Hmm. It'd be hard not to put Waldron number one. It's, it's, you never want to feel too cozy with a knuckleballer because it's just such a, it's, it's an enigma that pitch, and it's going to be erratic at times. and the number of really high-end pitchers who have been knuckleballers is very small. But he's all such a good run right now, Matt Waldron, 170-80 RA.9-1-whip 9.9K per 9-9 over his last six starts

that I feel like he's the top priority here. But I do really like Taj Bradley. And I will always prioritize whiffs over contact quality, especially since I believe it to be stickier. I believe particularly over a small sample like we've seen from Tosh Bradley so far, it's more meaningful to his long-term outcomes. And I like the way he bounced back from really bad start.

But Hunter Brown's trending well too. I just don't have a lot of faith in him since he was so miserable for so long. There's upside. here, though. And his success, his recent success, Hunter Browns has coincided with him fading his fastball. He threw it only 24% of the time in this one. He said it was harder. The velocity was up on at 1.5 miles per hour, but he's throwing it less, which seems to be a good development, 24% of the time in this one, 39% overall. But three starts in a row where he's been fading the fastball, Hunter Brown,

and the results speak for themselves. So hopefully he's turned the corner there, and I think there's a lot of upside still. Would you take any of the prospects we mentioned earlier, Hurston Waldrop, Drew Thorpe over any of the names I just mentioned, Waldron, Taj Bradley, Hunter Brown? Yeah, I'm glad you bring that up because it does offer some real perspective, doesn't it? I would not take any of them over these three. Waldron, Brown, and Bradley. They are not as interesting to me as these three. All right. Did I phrase that right, the prospects are behind. The prospects are lower priority than Waldron, Hunter Brown, and Taj Bradley. I think that's fair. Would you drop either of Reese Olson, who, uh, wow, I mean,

holy regression. What happened here? You gave up, uh, eight earned runs on 12 hits over four innings. You know, the overall numbers still look good. So maybe this was just whatever, exactly what I said. A regression start for Reese Olson. And, uh, Brian Beow and six starts since returning from the IL, he's got a 625 ERA, a 161 whip. Would you drop either of those names for the five I just brought up? Okay. I would drop Bayo for most anything. I've been a Bayo skeptic for a while now,

and certainly he's not done anything to win my favor. So I think if we were ranking the seven pitchers, Bayo might go at the bottom of the list for me. I mean, he did this against the white socks, too. He's got a lot to prove. I still have faith in Reese Olson. So in his last two starts, his ERA has gone from, sorry, I thought I had that number right here, ready to go. Okay, so in his last two starts, Reese Olson's ERA has, oh, no, it's not here either.

It was below two and now it's 3.43, okay? So it's been a quick turnaround. And really, especially this start, it was just so dreadful with the 12 hits, the 8 earn runs in four innings. But even in this start, his change up in slider had a very high whiff rates. They still have over 40% whiff rate on the season. He throws both of them a lot. The Tigers, you know, I went looking for answers after this start to see if something was wrong with Rees Olson. and they weren't talking that way.

They said they'd look at the tape and see what happened. And they feel pretty confident he'll turn things around. I kept them in my 10 sleeper hitters for this upcoming scoring period because this matchup is against the nationals who are in the bottom third and run scored. I moved him down the list quite a bit, Rees Olson, but I kept him among those 10 sleeper pitchers. And I think if he does get dropped in a lot of leagues, it might be worthwhile picking him up.

I like him more than Matt Waldrop. I didn't say the first name right. Hurston Waldrop, like Thurston Howell the third. I like Reese Olson more than Hurston Waldrop, and I like them more than Drew Thorpe still. So maybe I should rank all seven pitchers. Let's do it. Let's do it.

Okay. Matt Waldron won, Taj Bradley, two. Reese Olson, three. Hunter Brown, four. Hurston Waldrop, five. Drew Thorpe 6 and Brian Bay O'7. There you go. WaiverWire Pitchers, part two.

Kyle Gibson turned in another quality start up against the Rockies. Six innings, three runs, seven strikeouts, had 16 whiffs on 93 pitches. And over his last three starts, Kyle Gibson has a 15.5% swinging strike rate. I thought that was pretty interesting. Jake Irvin has the Braves number, apparently. He's looked really good against not just the first. Braves, but specifically them recently. He threw six shutout innings with four

strikeouts, had 16 whiffs on 96 pitches. He gets the Tigers this week. Great matchup. Ben Lively, not really sure how, but he's doing it. He was at the Marlins. He threw five shutout, three hits, zero walks, one strikeout. And Simeon Woods Richardson turned in a quality start at the Pirates, six and a third, one run.

Six strikeouts, zero walks, had 17 whiffs on 97 pitches. Scott, how would you rank? Ben Lively, Jake Irvin, and Kyle Gibson. Irvin 1, Gibson, 2, Woods Richardson, 3, Ben Lively, 4. And Lively is, I think, the one who stands out is I just have no explanation for why he's pitching well, and I really don't expect it to last. Woods Richardson, high-fly ball rate, low walk rate.

You could see home runs becoming an issue at some point if he continues with this approach, but with the ball not carrying so well, you could kind of understand the success he's had. My favorite two, though, of this group are clearly Irvin and Gibson. I think Gibson's going to continue to run hot and cold as he has throughout his career. But when he has a good start, he works deep into the game. He gets a lot of whiffs with that sweeper, and I think he's highly usable,

even in a pitching-saturated environment. The most interesting to me, though, is Jake Irvin, who I think I'm kind of leaning toward him just being good. Not like ace level, not like 312 ERA and 103 whip good like he currently has, but throws a lot of strikes. His fastball and curveball legitimately seem to be good pitches that have even going back to last year, they've delivered good outcomes for Jake Irvin. and I think he's I think he's just a really respectable number three, four type pitcher who's going to have value in fantasy

for the foreseeable future. Not number three, number four in a fantasy sense, but in a real life sense. Let's move into some starter sick questions and we have three struggling pitchers right now. Well, there's probably more than that, but these three in particular that pitched this weekend. Freddie Peralta at the Tigers,

He allowed four runs over three and a third innings over his last nine starts. It's a 498 ERA, a 132 whip. Walks and home runs have been a problem during that stretch. He is home against the Reds this week. What do we do with Freddie Peralta? I think he's start him. I think he's still a must-start category. I know there have been ups and downs.

There have been ups and downs throughout his career, but the good starts are still so, so good. Bryce Miller has taken a step back since the beginning of May over his last seven starts. It's a 536 ERA and a 114 whip. He is, I mean, for him, he faces the White Sox this week. So I think you just got to, you got to roll with Bryce Miller again. Yeah.

Yeah, it's been kind of up and down for him recently too. But the White Sox is, I think, makes him an obvious start. He might be somewhat of a matchup to play for the time being, but obviously the matchup favors him. And Bailey Ober over his last five starts at 761. ERA a 173 whip. And similar conversation, he gets the Oakland A's this week, which is a pretty good matchup. You know, I had some people asking me on Sunday if they could drop Billy Ober.

Oh, I don't think it's out of the question. It's not like he's a big strikeout pitcher and he is legitimately getting crushed. It's not like he's a big innings eater. So not giving you a lot of strikeouts, not giving you a lot of innings, never has for either of those things. he really has to be a ratio standout to have value in fantasy, meaning ERA and WIP. And the WIP is still respectable at 119,

but the ERA's up to 513 now. I don't think Bailey Ober's just doomed to failure, but he's, I don't think the ceiling is so high that in shallower leagues, even 12-teamers, he's like, it's unthinkable that you could drop him.

He's probably about in the same category as Reese Olson to me, to be perfectly honest. So if you're thinking about dropping Rees Olson, I think it's fair to think about dropping Bailey Ober as well. All right. Let's get into some other leftovers from the weekend. We had a ton of pitching standouts, and the first group includes Terrick Scoobal, who dominated yet again up against the Brewers, six and two-thirds innings, one run, 10 strikeouts, 17 whiffs on 95 pitches.

Chris Sale turned in another great. start as well. He was at the Nationals, seven innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts with 20 whiffs on 102 pitches. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was awesome at the Yankees. He threw seven shutout with seven strikeouts and safe to say he was pretty amped up for this one. His velocity was way up across the board like 1.5 miles per hour on everything. That is Yamamoto. And Cole Reagan's, another strong start up against the Mariners, six innings, one run, nine strikeouts, 22 whiffs on 107 pitches. 11 of those came on the change-up, which continues to look like a dynamite pitch.

Anything to add, Scott, on Reagan's Yamamoto, Sale, and Scoobel. These are really good pitchers, who you should always start. Fair enough. Next group includes George Kirby, who turned in a great start at the Royals, seven innings, one run, four strikeouts, only had nine whiffs.

Notice that the slider usage up yet again, that's now three starts in a row where it was the most used pitch for George Kirby. Logan Webb, a strong start at the Rangers, seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts to zero walks. Garrett Crochet, awesome, once again, up against the Red Sox, six innings, two runs. One of those was earned.

He had 10 strikeouts, and last eight starts for Crochet. It's a 137 ERA, a 0.76 whip. And Shota Imanaga bounced back with a quality start at the Reds, six and two thirds, two runs allowed, seven strikeouts. Anything to add on Imanaga, Crochet, Logan Webb and George Kirby. I will point out with George Kirby that this recent run of success, so it's been three good starts in a row,

four earned runs allowed between them, 21 strikeouts to one walk in 18 innings. So a three-start stretch here for Kirby where he's looked great. That was following a rough patch, remember? He allowed five earn runs and back-to-back. And what's changed over these three starts for George Kirby is slider usage has gone way up. In fact, it was his most used pitch in this start at 35%.

And that's an interesting development because one of the knocks, I guess the main knock on George Kirby, was that didn't have much of a secondary arsenal. So if suddenly he's throwing his slider that much and the results are that good, that could help him unlock the next level. He may have reached the next level. You may be seeing it happen in real time.

Let's go. Which is real exciting and good. Pitching standouts part three. Joe Ryan took a tough luck loss at the Pirates on Friday, seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts. And that one, he was opposing Mitch Keller, who we already spoke about. Justin Steele, a quality start at the red,

seven innings, three runs, seven strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 90 pitches. The slider looked great in that one for Justin Steele. And Chris Bauer, Bassett had one of his best starts of the season at the Oakland A's, eight innings, one run, seven strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 102 pitches. Anything on Bassett, Steele, and Joe Ryan? I don't think I have any specific observations. Obviously, Steele and Bassett had been largely disappointing this season.

So they gave us a nice reminder of how good they could be. And I don't think anybody was honestly entertaining the idea of, dropping them. But if for some reason you were, they made the case for why you shouldn't it. Chris Bassett might just be a slow starter every season because it was a really bad April. In 7th starts since the beginning of May, Chris Bassett has a 251 ERA and a 105 whip. He's doing Chris Bassett things, basically. So. Right. And that was part of the reason why it made sense to be patient with him. I mean, just look at the way last year played out.

Yep. And then pitching standouts part four, Kyle Braddish dominated again this time at Tampa Bay, six shutout innings, one hit, zero walks, nine strikeouts. Nathan Avaldi continues to pitch well. He was up against the Giants, seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts there. And Michael King has turned things around over his last four starts, a 190 ERA, a point 89 whip, and doing a much better job of limiting walks and hard contact. Anything on Michael King, Avaldi, and Kyle Bradish.

So we were worried about Kyle Bradish, because remember, his last start was his worst. And then there was all this talk about pushing his start back, his next start back over and over again. For a guy that we know has UCL damage, a sprain, that cost him so much time at the start of the year. So he had gotten six days off prior to this start. One hits the race, strikes out nine in six innings.

I guess he's fine, but I wonder how much rest they're going to have to build in for him over the course of the season. I'm actually seeing this a lot. I mean, the whole thing at the top of the show, Braves called up Hurston Waldrop and kept Spencer Schwellenbach around. And I'm seeing this with a lot of teams right now,

just inserting extra starters, which is making, like, the two-star pitcher rankings, a nightmare to keep up with because they're never going to be right when teams just out of nowhere, decide to insert a sixth starter. But I'm seeing that a lot at this time of year. And I just wonder if it's going to have to be a more permanent thing with Braddish.

Some hitting leftovers. Studs being studs. Aaron Judge just keeps on hitting. Two for four with a double dong on Saturday. Then three for four with another home run on Sunday. And this weekend total, it was seven hits, three homers, four runs, five RBI. Aaron Judge is up to a 305 batting. average with 24 homers and an 1139 OPS.

You know, it's like when nobody else is homering, Aaron Judge is like, I got to pick up the slack and be the home ride guy. Because remember it was two years ago, 2022. That was the awful year for offense. And he out-homered everyone by 16. It was one of the biggest gaps ever between number one and number two on the home run leaderboard. And now, two years later, offense is down. He's doing the same thing. He just wanted to take last year off

because he's like, you guys got the home runs covered. I'll take it easy this year. But now he's back with a vengeance. Good for him. We'll probably draft him number one overall next year and get burnt again. No, don't say that. Fernando Tatis is on a tear right now.

He hit two home runs this weekend. And over his last 15 games, he's batting 4-17 with four homers, one steel. and 1153 OPS. And we've mentioned Tate's here and there. We've always talked about how the expected stats looked awesome, and maybe it's just time that the real numbers are catching up to the expected ones with Fernando Tadis. Gunner Henderson becomes a second hitter to 20 home runs.

He went one for three, one for four, excuse me, with a three run shot on Saturday. Marcus Semyon on Sunday went one for three with a sock and a shoe. It was his 11th home run and second steel. Adlead Rutchman had a huge game on Sunday. Sunday as well, three for five with a grand slam. It was his 13th home run. He added six RBI. And Jose Altova had been scuffling a bit recently,

but did have a strong weekend. He went two for five with his ninth steal on Saturday, and then four for five with his 10th home run on Sunday. The rest of the hitting leftovers, big weekend for Bryce to rang. He had seven hits, two steals. And Anthony Santander, he homered two times this weekend. He has seven homers over his last 16 games.

Yiner Diaz, I think it was. was maybe last weekend. Recently, he got benched for like three games straight. And since then, he's just been awesome. Three for five with a home run on Friday. And that was him homering in four straight games at that point. Jorickson ProFar, another one continues to hit. It's just like the surprise of the season.

Two for five with a home run on Friday. Two for four with a home run on Sunday. The overall numbers for ProFar, 325, 10 homers, 38 runs. 43 RBI, four steals, 924 OPS. He's awesome. You know, he was once the number one overall prospect in baseball. Did you know that?

I did. Once the number one overall prospect of, it was like 12 years ago. But it's finally paying off. And Ezekiel Tovar had himself quite the game on Saturday, 4 for 4 with a double dong 4 RBI, and he's quietly been really good as well. 294 batting average.

He's got 35 runs scored in 812 OPS 4. for Ezekiel Tovar. Some bullpen updates from the weekend for the Mariners on Friday. Andres Munoz was still unavailable at that point. Ryan Stannick got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up three runs and took his second blown save and first loss. And then on Sunday, Andres Munoz did return and he pitched in the eighth inning with a two-run lead facing nine, one and two-in-two in the Royals lineup.

He retired them in order. It was Mike Bauman who got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer. He took a second blown save. The Mariners eventually won. in extra innings. For the Rockies on Saturday, Jalen Beeks got the eighth

with a one-run lead facing the heart of the Cardinals lineup. He struck out two. And then it was Tyler Kinley who got the ninth. He allowed a hit, but picked up his fourth save. And that's happened

at least each of Beek's last two appearances, right? They both been in the eighth and Kenley has followed in the ninth. So I guess the, I guess Tyler Kinley is the Rockies closer now for whatever that means to anybody. Yeah, I mean, I guess NL only leagues or if you're really desperate in like a 15-team Roto,

but Tyler Kinley has a 771-ERA and a 179 whip, so I don't think it's going to work out very well. For the Mets on Sunday, Reed Garrett recorded five outs across the seventh and ninth innings, and then he was relieved by Drew Smith, who got the final two outs for his second save, and likely does not matter because Edwin Diaz is on the verge of returning. And then for the Phillies on Sunday,

Jose Alvarado got the ninth with a one-run lead. he gave up three runs, two of those earned on two hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch. He took his second blown save and third loss. I know Jose Alvarado is really talented, but he has a 354 ERA. Jeff Hoffman has a 0.93 ERA and a 0.93 whip. So I just wonder if at some point, you know, they've kind of mixed in match all year, but maybe Hoffman just becomes the go-to guy at some point. Yeah, I'm guessing they'll stick with the tandem where,

you know, depending on matchups, either Hoffman works the eighth and Alvarado the ninth or the other way around. I think they're both equally rosterable in fantasy in that arrangement. But I do agree if they were ever to turn it over to just one guy. Hoffman might make more sense.

And he is far less rostered than Alvarado. Again, I'm not saying he should drop Alvarado, but Hoffman's been overlooked here, given that he's getting a fair amount of saves himself. To stream or not to stream, on Monday, and it's a shorter slate, not many options. I think the only one I would use is Chris Paddock against the Rockies in Minnesota. Yeah, yeah, I agree.

On Tuesday, I think Mitchell Parker at the Tigers is fine. I think Tyler McGill against the Marlins is okay. And if I had to choose a third, am I going to say Drew Thorpe in his debut? I don't know. The Mariners' offense, Mariner's offense pretty bad. And it could work out or it could be like Hurston Waldrop's debut. There's just...

True. Anyone who tells you it's going to go one way or the other is just guessing. And I don't like guessing. I mean, all we ever do on here is guess, but I like to feel like there's reason behind my guessing at least. So, Miguel against the, Marlins, Parker against the Tigers. If I had to pick a third one, I might go

Miles Michaelis against the Pirates because he's been okay recently, but I don't feel great about it. All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank.

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