Fantasy Baseball Today - Blake Snell IS BACK & Paul Skenes IS COOKED! Rockies Promote Zac Veen! (8/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 12, 2026

The Rockies promoted Zac Veen (2:30)! ... Blake Snell IS BACK (12:42)! ... This Paul Skenes stuff is scary (16:39). ... News (24:34): James Wood will not return this week. ... Buy or Sell (33:09): Kyle Harrison is not right. ... Buy or sell (47:33): Gunnar Henderson is droppable. ... Eugenio Suarez is picking the power up (53:06). ... Andre Pallante continues to get the job done (59:50). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:08:48).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Hey there, welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, August 12th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, Blake's Nell is back.

Paul Skeens is cooked. the Rockies promoted Zach Veen and much more it was just an annoying night Chris I hate starting the podcast like this but we were talking about it beforehand and I just want to warn everybody in advance

I'm annoyed I'm annoyed by Tuesday night's action of baseball I want answers and there are no answers but we will try to find them together let's start with something a little bit more positive and that is Zach Veen being promoted by the Rockies

and we spoke about him just yesterday on the podcast and I'm happy this happened with the timing and just he was completely destroying the miners over the weekend he had a game five hits three homers a double a triple his last 12 games at triple A he was hitting 462 eight homers 20 runs 24 RBI three steals a 1649 OPS video game numbers

just legit stuff that you would do and it'll be the show if your guy is rated a 99 and you are playing road to the show. You are just absolutely demolishing the miners. That is what Zach Veen was doing. So he has earned this opportunity. He is 17% rostered. Just wondering if there's enough playing time here to go around, Chris.

What are your thoughts on what Zach Veen has done this year? Complete transformation. Good for him. He's got his life back on track. And whether or not you, where you would add him in fantasy right now? I would add him, I think, in any five outfielder league. And, I mean, first, to start off, like you said, the turnaround for Zach Veen, you know,

if you don't remember in the offseason or in spring training, there was a story about how he had been dealing with substance abuse issues and spent the end of last season and then this offseason, you know, going to treatment and, you know, staying sober. and he put on a bunch of weight and just generally seemed a lot healthier, both physically and mentally. And it's great to see him back after all that. And I still think despite, you know, how bad his stint in the majors was last season, there's a lot to be excited about with Zach Feen. Like you said, the playing time is a concern.

You look at the Rockies. And, you know, I think we've reached the point where, like, Troy Johnston doesn't really need to be in line. Right. And so that that gives them three outfield spots and the D8 spot most days in which to use their, you know, right now, I would say four viable outfielders. And so that might just be it, right? Like Jordan Beck probably doesn't need to play. And, you know, Connor Norby, I know Kyle Caros left this game, so maybe Connor Norby slides in at third base. That's actually like in your deep leagues.

That's kind of a name to keep an eye on when they're at course field. least, but there might just be enough playing time right there between the three outfield spots and the D8 spot. But I think we should also consider the possibility of Cole Carrig continuing to play shortstop, at least a little bit, as another path to playing time for all these outfielders, because I believe he started at shortstop on Monday. And he has played there, I think it's only three or four times. but they have been more recent

I think three in the last 10 days two of them as a defensive replacement late in games but if they are comfortable with Cole Carrig in the shortstop spot a couple times a week makes it a lot easier to get everyone in the lineup too and it's not like

Ezekiel Tovar needs to be in the lineup for any reason other than frankly at this point the contract they're paying him I mean the defense is still very good but that contract is a thing man like he's signed through 2030 and he has a 2031 team option. Yeah. And he's still, I believe, a good defensive player.

I guess I will confess to not having actually looked at Ezekiel Tovar's defensive numbers, but yes, he still rates out very well. Defensively, he's just the worst hitter in baseball right now. And so that tradeoff may be worth it. And I, yeah, I have the concerns about Zach Vien's playing time, especially if they call up Charlie Condon, as we hope and maybe expect them to at some point. But one, that's not a guarantee on its own. And I don't think that's a reason to not add a player with Zach Vien's potential.

And two, we should focus on Zach Vien's potential because he has improved his play discipline across the board. He's chasing less. He's striking out less. He's walking more. His average axis of velocity, still 90 miles per hour. His barrel rate is nearly double what it was last year at AAA. The numbers are inflated by playing in Albuquerque and the Pacific

Coast League, which is, I don't know, maybe the best offensive environment in all of professional baseball, at least in the United States. And so, no, he's not a thousand OPS guy, but 24 homers, 18 steals, still has good numbers on the road. I think there's a lot to like about this kid. And there's serious upside here. So any Roto League, any five outfit a league, I'm adding Zach Vien, and we'll just hope the playing time works out. I'll worry about that when the cost is more than a little bit of fat, you know? Yeah, I agree. And ultimately, I think it comes down to if Zach Veen hits,

they're going to play him, right? Like, what else are the Rockies playing for the rest of the season other than evaluating their young talent and seeing what they have for future years? Like, Zach Veen has done everything he can do at AAA. There is nothing left for him to do there. Now the Rockies need to figure out if he is a major league player. And so he should have a pretty long leash.

Do they view it that way? I'm not entirely sure. I think he'll play at least every day. against right-handed pitching to start. And once they call up Charlie Condon, if they call up Charlie Condon, I think they will, although he has slowed down a little bit over the past month. His numbers in the minors this year are still very good. And they should see what they have in Charlie Condon as well.

Obviously, they invests a lot in him. He was a top pick, a top five pick in the MLB draft. And so once that happens, that will raise another question. But for the time being, they called Zach Vien up for a reason. he will play against right-handed pitching. He is 17% rostered. He is widely available. And I was getting a lot of tough questions today, admittedly, man.

So let's go through some of these. The one I probably got the most is, would you drop as Merlin Valdez for Zach Veen? And for me, it's tough because Valdez has not been the same since getting hit by a pitch on his hand. And to you and Scott's credit, you guys were expecting him to slow down. Obviously, he wasn't going to keep up that pace.

He was striking out way too much. So it's part of, all right, is he playing with, like, a hand injury right now? Is this just like normal regression? Because he was always going to slow down. But I still kind of worry about him getting hot again just because we saw a massive stretch from his Merlin Valdez looking really good. So what do you think about that one? Would you drop Valdez for Zach Veen? I think so.

It's not a slam dunk. It's not like Veen is a can't miss prospect. neither Vien nor Valdez were like top 100 guys before they made their debut. So they are interesting prospects with real skills, but also real downsides. And I guess part of the thing is we've seen both the upside and downside for Valdez now. Actually, if you play in an OBP league, he's been pretty good in OBP over the last like 15 games. He still has like 20% wall. Or something during this slump, but he's literally doing nothing else.

And so I think it would be okay to drop Valdez for V. I think it would also be okay to hold on to Valdez for V. I can't say definitively one way or the other, but I do lean towards saying yes, drop Valdez for V. So in the second half for Valdez, 157, four homers, still has a 368 on base percentage, as you pointed out, a 739 OPS. If you look at just August, which is nine games, he has two hits and 24 at bats, 12 walks to 16 strikeouts, and a 472 OPS. So I get why it's a question. The people who I answered, I said that I would hold on to Valdez,

but I think it's a really close call. Like, if you need to win now, if you need the production now, not that we know Veen is going to do anything, but Valdez is doing nothing. I think they're both super high, volatile, highly volatile players. Paul, wow. Okay. Sorry, I woke up early today. Frank and I hung out today. We saw Adam Azer. That's right. We did. In the show, we had lunch. We had to go into the big city to get photos taken. You'll be seeing our new faces sometime soon, somewhere. But yeah, I got up at like 9.30 today. It has been a very long day. It's been a little bit of a long day. But anyway.

The other question that I was getting regarding Vien is him versus other prospects right now. So, which is also tough because those guys could get called up as soon as this week. We just don't know yet. And they are high, they are much more highly ranked prospects than Zach Veen. So someone like Joshua Baez, who has picked things up again and his strikeout rate is down over the past couple of weeks. And Walker Jenkins, who's picked things up and the twins are playing for a wildcard spot. And, you know, maybe they just think Walker Jenkins. could help them win a wildcard spot.

So would you, if you're, I guess how would you rank those three just right now knowing that Vina's up and the other two are not yet? Well, which bird is worth more? The one in your hand or the one in the bush? That's a saying, right? Yeah.

Veen is here and the other guys aren't. And they might get called up tomorrow, but they might not get called up at all. I don't think that's the likeliest outcome, but it's possible. And so I'll take the guy who's already been called up. and just hope that Bias and Walker Jenkins aren't far behind him

and don't make me look dumb, you know? Yeah. All right, let's move on from Zach Veen, and we will get into the players of the night. In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened. Blake Snell is back. Yeah.

That's your cue, Chris. Yeah, he pitched today. He was back. He came off the IL and pitched for the dog. No, it was, I, I believe on Sunday's podcast, I think I said I'd lean towards sitting, Snell, and I did it in at least one league. I have so many leagues. It's hard to remember if I did it in every league that I have him in, but I definitely

did it in one league. It was my Tout Wars league. And yeah, he made me regret that immediately. Like literally, first inning he pitched. He struck out the side. And he finished with 10 strikeouts and six innings. The Dodgers did say that we're planning on limiting him to 75 pitches

or five innings. I guess when you're cruising the way he was, you can bend the rules a little bit. And he ended up with 10 strikeouts, one walk, three hits, one earned run over six innings, 15 whiffs on 84 pitches. He was dominant. He looked like the good version of Blake Snow.

I will say I'm not beating myself up for sitting him. Because, yes, I think as a general rule, you should just start a pitcher like Blake Snow. And a pitcher like Blake Snell, I mean a guy who goes through outrageously frustrating peaks and valleys throughout the season. And you're probably better off just riding it than trying to figure out

when you can start him and when not to. We say the same thing about Gavin Williams all the time. Yeah. But given the circumstances, given that he was coming back from elbow surgery, given that there was some concern about how deep he would pitch into the game, I feel okay about sitting him. I think that's okay process.

I think you're definitely starting him the next time he pitches and I don't think you take him out of your lineup the rest of the way. I think we see Blake Snell get absurdly hot, hotter than maybe any pitcher in baseball for stretches. He has won two Sall Youngs basically because he got crazy hot for like two months, both years. And I don't think you can miss out on that kind of upside. It's not a guarantee that he's going to be good.

There's lots of stress. stretches in Blake's career where he follows up a great start with the terrible one. But I think you have to give him the benefit of the doubt here. And if you did start him, congrats. It worked out great. And even looking at what he did last year in a very small sample, 11 starts 235 ERA, 128 whip. I think it is very likely that he's going to run a higher whip. But the ERA should be very good, especially with that defense behind him. You know, he's going to give you a lot of strikeouts. He will be inconsistent at times and with his command and walks could be issue. an issue, and let me pull up again what he did in the postseason. So that was 34 innings of a 318 ERA, a one whip, 10.9K per 9, 3.4 walks per night. Like, yeah, there's no doubting. Even though he's getting a little bit older, when he pitches, he still mostly looks like Blake Snell. So great start for him. I think if you waited this long, I wouldn't have blamed you for using him this week.

Obviously, we're riding it out the rest of the season. Now that he's, I guess we have to see how he bounces back, because he made one star earlier this year and then immediately went back on the IL. But assuming he's healthy, where do you think you'll rank Blake Snell rest of season? 30-ish for now and maybe higher?

That's just off the top of the dome. Yeah. I was thinking top 30, but I got to look through it. There is a real chance that he's just like right back in the top 24 starting. Absolutely, yeah. Again, that is Blake Snell. I did just want to mention with his velocity

because he's coming back from a year worth of arm injuries. he averaged 96.2 miles per hour on his fastball, and last year, 95.1. So I think a very good sign there for Blake Snell. And yes, he was going up against the Royals who generally have a bad offense, but they are middle of the pack against lefties this year,

and they have been middle of the pack in the second half in terms of Wobah. Terse Kuhl just had a pretty mediocre start against them yesterday. Yeah, yeah. How about Kags, by the way? Cags hitting Lefties, man. He's racking up the hits against lefties. He'll love to see that.

Let's move on to Paul Skeens, who we talk about all the time. and maybe some people are annoyed by it, but he is one of the faces of baseball, and he is going through the roughest stretch of his career, and we are trying to figure out why. And of course, we have no definitive answers, but the velocity being down once again.

So at the Marlins, five innings, five hits, two runs, one of those earned four strikeouts to one walk, just four swinging strikes on 65 pitches. Velocity down once again. Fastball was down 1.2 miles per hour. He averaged 95.7. He topped out at 96.5 miles per hour on his fastball. Last year, he averaged 98.2.

The year before that, he averaged 98.8. All of his other pitches were down as well. He gave up eight hard hits in this game. And he was helped out by Brian Reynolds, who robbed a run as well. So I watched a six-minute scrum after this game, trying to get some kind of answers with Paul Skeens. You sent me an interesting quote here. He was asked if he was surprised on being pulled after the 65 pitches.

Quote, not really. If I were the manager, I'd probably do it too. Wish I could have gone more, but it is what it is. That's the one that really raised the eyebrow for me. Because I am having trouble making sense of what we're seeing from Paul Skeens. If the answer isn't some version of he just isn't healthy. but the problem is there's not healthy enough to pitch, there's not healthy enough to pitch well,

and then there's just normal wear and tear. Like if you gave every single pitcher in baseball truth serum, I think every single one of them would say, yeah, I'm not 100% healthy. It's mid-August, at least the ones who have been pitching the whole season. So where he falls on the spectrum of healthy to not healthy, I don't know. But a couple of things stand out.

One, 95.7 miles per hour is the lowest average fastball velocity of his career, about a half mile per hour down from his previous low, which was about a month ago. The 95.7 average versus 96.5 max also really stands out. That is an unusually low spread between average and max velocity. And it suggests that Skeens is having to go all out to get to 95.7 miles per hour. And I have always viewed Skeens as a guy who the velocity came so easily that he didn't have to max out. He's always felt like one of those guys who if he wanted to, he could average 101 on his fastball.

And now I clearly don't think he can. And that's what's especially concerning is that he doesn't have. that extra gear now. And there are still good things in the profile. Generally speaking, he's still been missing a lot of bats. That was not the case today, though. And that quote, yeah, asked if he was surprised to be pulled so early,

not really. If I were the manager, I'd probably do it too. Well, he wasn't, like, pitching terribly. You know, two runs, one earned in five innings. It wasn't like the worst start we've ever seen from Paul Skeen. And so for him to concede that after 65 pitches, yeah, he probably should have been pulled from the game. I mean, what's going on here? I don't have an answer.

I mean, I think you have to lean towards he's not 100% healthy. But that is not the same as his arm is falling off. And so I, the way I play fantasy baseball, I would probably keep starting Paul Skeins. and I definitely wouldn't drop him. That should go without saying, but I definitely would not drop Paul Skeens. I can't start him confidently, and I can't say you're making a mistake if you're sitting him.

I'm just telling you what I would do is probably keep starting Paul Skeens. But I don't have a good explanation for why I want to do that, except that it's Paul Skeens. Last point, and then we'll move on. Part of the reason why I was frustrated, tonight is that I watched a six-minute video of reporters talking to Paul Skeens.

And I don't know if there's just an unwritten rule or you just can't ask tough questions, but not one of them asked him about his velocity or his recent, just directly, hey man, you have been crap over the last nine starts, not in those exact words. What's going on? And no one asked him that question. I just, I don't know why. And it's frustrating to me. So that is Paul Skeens.

I know we just talked about him for a lot and we didn't really give you a definitive answer. but there's no definitive answer. If you're looking for a definitive answer, if someone is offering you a definitive answer about Paul Skeens, you should not trust that person's opinion about it because there are just too many unknowns here. Until we find something out that explains why he's struggling, there is no definitive answer.

I wish there was. Unless it meant they was hurt. I don't wish that. My answer is if you have a loaded pitching staff, bench him. Yeah. That's it. I wouldn't drop him because there is, it might be a,

sub 10% chance that Paul Skeens figures things out and turns back into Paul Skeens over his final eight starts. I don't want to take that 10% chance on someone else's team. You won't be there if that happens. Yeah. All right, before we hit our first break, make sure to sign up for the FBT newsletter if you haven't already. You can scan that QR code in the top right corner.

That will bring you right to the website, CBSports.com slash newsletters, where you can sign up for free. Let's take that break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball, today, and let's hit the news and notes. James Wood, who is on the aisle with an oblique injury, is not expected back when first eligible later this week. And oblique injuries could take a long time, especially for big human beings. And so we just wait and see with James Wood.

Bad news for Nick Kurtz. He is set to spend three more weeks in a brace after receiving a PRP injection in his right thumb. Manager Marc Cate said Kurtz is unlikely to return. this season. So if you're playing leagues with no I L spots, I know it hurts. I think it's safe to drop Nick Kurtz. If you really need the IL spot, I also think it's safe. The one

saving grace here, although you will not replace Nick Kurtz, is that there are still a lot of first baseman that are available. You know, Ty France had another home run on Monday night, and he's been really good for a long time now, and he's only like 50% rostered. So someone like him, and even if you go a little bit

deeper, you know, I spoke up Nate Lowe recently. There's the ever-reliable Josh Bell, who's just boring but keeps getting it done. So you should be able to find decent first base replacements. Obviously not Nick Kurtz. Joe Ryan threw on Flatground Monday, and he went on the IL last Friday with a left glute strain. So hopefully back sooner rather than later.

Byron Buxton went through a full workout on Monday. He is working his way back from a right hip impingement. Roman Anthony is getting closer to a minor league rehab assignment. He's progressed to hitting off a trajectory machine. and his final step before rehab will be live batting practice. So we'll see how his wrist and then it was a... Finger. I think the finger has been the primary issue.

It's like one of the ligaments in the knuckle, I think, has been, which is apparently the problem here is that blood flow matters for the healing of various injuries. And that is a spot where there is very little blood flow. I was reading about this something last week and so it's that's the explanation for why it's been so tough for him. Kyle Stowers was placed in the aisle with a left hamstring strain.

He missed the first three weeks of the season with a right hamstring strain. So both hamstrings given Stowers issues this year. Griffith Conine started at first base here on Tuesday. Herberto Hernandez, Jacob Marcy and Estuary Ruiz in the outfield. Owen Casey at DH. And if Ruiz becomes an everyday player,

I think he's must roster in five outfielder Roto leagues, which might sound crazy, but he has made such an impact this year in a limited sample. He went one for two with a sock and a shoe. The home run came off of Paul Skeens. And in 76 games, he is hitting 266 with a 387 on base, six homers, 11 RBI, which is just hilarious. How does that even happen?

28 steals in 887 OPS. He is pulling the ball. on the air this year, 40% of the time. I don't know. He is one of these players, Chris, where it could be like, there's a point of diminishing returns where, hey, he's probably really good in a small sample and like pick your spots and use him here or there.

And he probably will just get a lot worse if he's being an everyday player. But on the off chance that he can maintain at least some of this power and just a ton of speed, I mean, he can maybe give you 15 or 20 steals the rest of the season. Like, he's that fast. to do that. So I think in five outfieler leagues, I am very interested in Estuary Ruiz.

Yes. I think certainly in any league where you're looking for speed, you should be very interested as well. I'm not sure the Marlins are going to fully trust him, but you know, he's mostly, I think, been starting against lefties when he's in the starting lineup and they started him against Paul Skeens.

So, you know, that could tell you something. He's striking out 30% of the time. Yeah. And, you know, For all the pulled air that he has, it's a 40% pulled air rate. It's still only 85 miles per hour, average X velocity. It's better than it's been, but it's still, it's gone from, like, worst in baseball to just plain bad. And so there are so many ways for this to go wrong.

But he has 28 stolen bases in 157 plate appearances. They're letting him run wild. I think you can absolutely look his way in a five out for the league if you need steals. And his splits this season, Estuary Ruiz, who we're talking about, 947 OPS against lefties, 831 against righties. So he's been good against both-handedness. Would you rather add Ruiz or Zach Veen? Veen, for sure.

All right. Tyler Glassdell will make another rehab start at AAA on Friday. The plan is for him to go four innings and or 60 pitches. Trey Savage is week to week after undergoing surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his knee. I did have some people asking if they can. drop tray of savage, Chris. What do you think about that? My understanding, two things here. One,

this is almost certainly not a repair of the meniscus. I know that's how it's been reported, but just from everything I understand about meniscus injuries, if you fully repair a meniscus, which is, I think, the more rare way of approaching them, you're out like six months. So it's almost certainly a...

They replaced it, right, or something? No, it would be called a menacectomy, which I believe is a debridement of the meniscus. So they cut off the injured portion. And that can have a four to six week timetable for return to play. That's pretty iffy, you know, like I guess the way it's reported, if you don't have to drop him, I wouldn't. But from my understanding of how meniscus injuries work, it's. unlikely he's going to pitch again this season. And if he does, he'll have to rush back for a team that,

I guess there are only two and a half games back of the wildcard spot right now. So they do have something to play for. But I think it's a long shot. You're going to get much out of Trayasavage the rest of the way. Shane McClainan through three perfect innings in a rehab start at AAA on Tuesday. His velocity looked great. He got up to 30 pitches. So good news for him.

Riley Green left early with right hamstring tightness. Cosima Okamoto was originally in the lineup but then was scratched for a second day in a row due to that left knee contusion. Geraldo Perdomo was out of the lineup after leaving Monday with left knee soreness. Josh Naylor was out due to right wrist sorness. Andy Rodriguez has missed four straight

with left hip discomfort. Joe Musgrove said he currently feels the best he's felt in two years and he got up to around 50 pitches in his latest rehab start. We talked about his velocity being up. I think he's an interesting stash right now for sure. I think he, I would bet on him being back before the end of August.

They'll probably give him like two more rehab starts, but even with that, it could be, you know, a late August return there from Musgrove. Corbyn Burns and Zach Allen both completed 30 pitch bullpen sessions on Tuesday. James and Tyone was placed in the aisle with right forearm tendonitis and the Angels fired pitching coach Mike Maddox, bullpen coach Dom Chiti and assistant pitching coach Darrell Scott. I saw something, I didn't. didn't really fact check it or check to see if it was real. But there was some kind of quote from John Moselle Act that like they were given pitching like statistics or some type of, I don't know,

pitching numbers or things to help with like whatever pitching plans and they just weren't really using them. So I don't know. Yeah, I mean, it's a weird situation because I think all these guys were only on one year contract anyway. And so was Kurt Suzuki, which was so weird. Yeah, the Angels had a weird offseat. season. Surprise. I don't know. I, Mike Maddox is a really good reputation as a pitching coach.

Yeah. I don't think he's going to be unemployed long. Yeah, it was because they weren't sufficiently using the technology available. Okay. I mean, look, if you want to be bullish on the on the angels moving forward, the fact that they want them, their coaches, using more technology and more data isn't a bad sign. Yeah, I don't know. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the personnel that the angels are throwing out. Right, I don't think that's his fault. Yeah.

You know? All right, let's do a little buy or sell. And what in God's name happened to Kyle Harrison at the Padres? Four and two-thirds innings, ten hits, eight runs, three walks, three strikeouts, three homers allowed, and his fastball velocity was down at nearly two. miles per hour. He averaged 93.3. Everything was down in this outing for Kyle Harrison. Coming off the start where he had 10 strikeouts in his return, maybe the calves were still an issue here. Another one that was just, I watched like a two-minute video of him being interviewed and

like they just didn't ask him about his velocity being down. It's like, I don't know, that seems like a pretty interesting thing to ask a question about. I'm not sure why they didn't, But by our cell, Chris, Kyle Harrison is not right. Strong lean towards by. Obviously, I would hate to come to a strong conclusion without evidence. But velocity down 1.7 miles per hour for a guy who needs his fastball to be dominant. His fastball got destroyed. Yeah, like he got two whiffs on 16 swings.

He gave up 12 batted balls with an average exit velocity of 92 miles. hour, that's really bad sign for Kyle Harrison. Like, it's hard to imagine Kyle Harrison's going to be good if he's not averaging 95 with his fastball. That doesn't mean he'll average 93.3 the next time out, though. But, you know, left his previous start with calf injuries or calf cramping. Okay, I don't have too much concern about that, but obviously he had just come back from an elbow issue before that.

So I, yeah, I definitely have a strong lean towards Kyle Harrison is not right right now. Yeah. Kyle Harrison, by the way, let me look up his start percentage this week. It was 69%. Not nice for Kyle Harrison. That's rough. Nick Martinez with one of the weirdest starts of the year, a complete game at the athletics,

eight hits, four runs aloud, five strikeouts to zero walks, eight whiffs on 101 pitches. his velocity was down. He gave up 11 hard hits in this game, and he threw a complete game. It's last eight starts for Nick Martinez, 276 ERA, 0.96 whip, 23 strikeouts over 49 innings.

All of his ERA estimators are over 4.30 during that stretch. I couldn't even think of a buyer sell, Chris. Why is this happening? Because he's got really, good command. And when you have really, really good command, you can keep the ball from getting hit to dangerous parts of the field. The problem is not can you succeed without striking a lot of people out. The question is, is that sustainable moving forward? Is that something you should bet on? And the answer is almost always no. But in Nick Martinez's case, he did have three straight seasons

with a sub-350 ERA. Now, his strikeout rate has dropped a lot since then. He was never a big strikeout pitcher, but he had one season with an above-average strikeout rate and was closer to average two of the other ones. He's not a 14%. That's like seven percentage points below average. So I think in the end this is going to go the way I expect Edward Rodriguez to go,

and the way Bryce Elder has gone. And the way, like, there's a... not that much difference between Nick Martinez and Zach Lattel. It's just, I think we're seeing the high end of the outcome on one, and we, Lattel got cut recently, right? We saw the very low end for him. He joined the D-backs, and he pitched in Long Relief yesterday. There you go.

Eventually, it's going to stop working, but it might not be until next year. So I think it's fine to just keep riding, Martinez. As for the, you know, the weirdness of this start, giving up four runs in a complete game, he had eight innings, two earned runs, heading into the ninth. And then he gave up two in the ninth.

His pitch count was low. They were blowing the A's out. So, you know, we saw a start from Justin Robleski, I think right before the All-Star break, where he went like eight innings, gave up like six runs. And it was just one of those like, yeah, it's your turn.

You're going to wear one for the team. That happens sometimes when the game's out of reach already. Yeah. I agree. I mean, there's nothing in the underlying numbers that say this is sustainable for Nick Martinez, but he's been so good all season that, look, I have him in a few spots. I don't trust it, but I keep starting him because he's doing things like this. So, yeah, just keep riding with Nick Martinez. But don't be surprised if at some point we get a couple of blow-up starts. I don't think he'll give it all back because you would probably have to start him, I don't know, five starts in a row where he gives up six run runs in each of those. And I don't think that is going to happen.

But yeah, just keep riding with Nick Martinez. You just look at Davis Martin, who was actually getting a ton of strikeouts early in the season. His perfluence were great. Bryce Elder is giving it all back. That happens. Yeah. It can happen. You need to have a short enough leash with these kind of pitchers that they can't give it all back.

Right. Like if you're going to ride it, ride the hot hand, that's fine. But you need to know, okay, that was a bad start. One more and we're out. All right, next step, we have Yuri Perez, who was awesome against the Pirates. Seven shot-out innings with seven strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 100 pitches. All of his secondary stuff was awesome in this start.

Four whiffs on each of the slider and the sweeper. His fastballs didn't get hit a little bit hard. But overall, his updated numbers in nine starts since returning from the IL, a 2-ERA, a 0.93 whip, 56 strikeouts over 54 innings, and doing a good job avoiding hard contact. So, by or sell, Yuri Perez is, entering stardom. Bye.

Yeah. This was always going to happen at some point. It was just a question of when. It's like the opposite of the Nick Martinez thing. A guy with the pure stuff Yuri Perez has, some of the best stuff in baseball, who debuted at 20, like a month after he turned 20,

he was always a good bet to figure it out at some point. And it looks like he has. That doesn't mean he'll, carry this over forever, but I've called out that stat of the, it's the pitchers who threw at least 90 innings as a 20-year-old since 2001. And it's like, Jose Fernandez, Felix Fernandez, Cici Zabathia, Zach Reinking, Clayton Kershaw, Oliver Perez, Madison Bumgarner, Rick Porcelo won a Cy Young. The only two pitchers in that group of pitchers who debuted at 20 and threw at least 90 innings, who weren't at least stars.

I think we can quibble about Porcelo and Oliver Perez, but these guys were really good at their peaks. Jeremy Bonderman and Jordan Liles were bad. It's like an 85% hit rate. That's pretty good. You should always bet on players this talented and this young,

figuring out eventually. All right. Next up, we have Dylan Seas, who was not great against the Red Sox, five innings, three runs, four walks in this one, seven strikeouts, two homers allowed.

He still got a ton of whiffs, 17 whiffs on 104 pitches. His velocity was down again, and we've talked about this recently. We haven't really made it too much of a thing, because even with the velocity down, he has been amazing lately. So Scott mentioned this last time out where

CES has been starting with his velocity lower in starts, and then it kind of builds up, and that same thing happened here. It was 94 miles per hour in the first, and then it was around 96 miles per hour for the rest of this outing. And his previous six starts, 0.84 ERA,

0.67 whip, but this one was obviously not very good for for Dill and C. So by our cell, we should be a little bit more worried about this velocity thing. Cell? I agree. Unlike Skeens, where I think it was

they averaged almost identical, right? 95.8 for CIS, 95.7 for Skeens. Skeens max was 96.5, you said? Yeah. Cases was 97.5. And then you have, like you said, averaging 94 in the first inning, 96.2 in the fifth. I think this is a case of a guy pacing himself and learning how to pitch. And I think we've seen all kinds of growth from Dylan Cis on multiple axes this season.

And I think this was just a fairly standard Dylan Cs didn't quite have it today kind of start. And that's fine. That'll happen. Yeah. I still think he's going to be awesome moving forward. It feels more like he just didn't have command rather than his velocity, just completely ruining his start here. So four walks, only 61% of his pitches for strikes. And again, that's within the range of outcomes for Dillen's.

So I lead more that way than anything. Next up we have Sean Burke, who had another great outing, this one against the red. Seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts to zero walks, 20 whiffs on 94 pitches, nine on the slider, five on the fastball, five on the curve. And the curve, the breaking pitches were a little bit different. The velocity down on both, he had much more drop on both the curve and the slider. Those pitches were great. And over his last 10 games now, nine of those starts, 160 ERA. 0.87 whip and 79 strikeouts over 62 innings.

So buy or sell, Sean Burke, a top 36 starting pitcher rest of season. It would be a lot easier to buy this one if that velocity jump that we saw for from Sean Burke in late June, early July, had stuck. That being said, I'm buying it. I know you expected me to say I wasn't. But I don't know. So the reason I bring up the velocity jump is the things that tend to be stickier. And this has been, you know, I think it's intuitive, but also it's been studied.

I've seen Kyle Body of driverline baseball has talked about it. You know, Saras has talked about it. Very, very smart people have talked about the fact that stuff is a lot stickier than command. And so I wish Sean Burke's breakout was being fueled by something a little more concrete than what's actually happening, which is just that he's pitching really, really well right now. He is locating his fastball up in the zone consistently. He's bearing the curveball really well. He's just pitching.

This is the best version of what Sean Burke can be. And the fact that when you look at the stuff metrics, when you look at the velocity, whatever it is, it hasn't really fluctuated all that much outside of those three starts. That's where it's like, okay, I wish there was something a little meteor to grab onto here. But I think he's good. You know, he's not a top, a sub 2 ERA pitcher like he's been for the last month or whatever, you know, whatever it actually is.

Oh, 160, yeah, last 10 games. He's not that. He's probably not the sub three ERA his ERA sits at now. But I look at everything and it's probably like a 350 ERA. Mid-3s ERA with a 10-K for nine? Yeah, that's probably a top 36 starting pitcher. So I feel very good about Sean Burke the rest of the season. I'm feeling very good about him for next season.

There's a lot to like. Remember, he was a, you know, not a top prospect, but he wasn't a nothing prospect. And he was an opening day starter last year and this year, I believe. So, yeah, I think there's definitely something here. And I'm buying him as a top 36 starting pitcher. I buy it as well. I had him already ranked inside my top 36. before this start. I moved them all the way up to

SP31 last week. So yeah, we are in on Sean Burke. Let's take our final break when we return. I have two more buyer cells to ask about two hitters. Gunner Henderson and Alex Breggman. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back. Fantasy baseball today. Two more

buyer cells to ask about and Gunner Henderson is next up. He went three for five with his 19th home run. He had two runs, two RBI. What has happened to Gunner? Henderson. 33 starts since the beginning of July. 184 batting average, three homers, three steals, his OPS right around 600.

Just a unfathomable downseason for a 25-year-old hitter right in the middle of his career. Now, he dealt with a lot of injuries last year and maybe some of those things have lingered or, you know, maybe they have contributed to him. Maybe they've just, you know, it adds up over time. So I, buy or sell, Gunner Henderson is dropable. Oh, yeah, Sal, you're not going to, you're not going to get that answer from me. There might be other fantasy analysts who will tell you to drop him and. I've had people asking me if they could drop.

Look, and that's, I'm not even saying that as a way to criticize people. I'm just saying, for me, I'm not going to be able to drop a player like Gunner Henderson. With his kind of track record at his age, I'm just, I'm not going to be able to do it. And look, that is hurting me in multiple leagues where I have Gunner Henderson. But I'm just not going to be able to do it. But I will say something that I've mentioned a few times over the last year or so, let's say, about Gunner Henderson, is we have this one three-month stretch at the start of 2024 when he was an absolute superstar. He had a 957 OPS in the first half of 2024. He hit 28 homers.

outside of that one stretch, he hasn't been that kind of hitter. And I do think maybe we are at the point where we have to consider that Gunner Henderson isn't a superstar caliber hitter. And whatever the explanation for that is, I think the Orioles probably have some blame. I think maybe he just wasn't as good as he looked in that one half of 2024. But when you look through his splits, basically every half-season split that you want to look at is around an 800 OPS, except for the first half of 2024. And then all of this season, he has just been terrible almost exclusively. And so, yeah, I do think there's something to, we've just been overrating Gunther Henderson. And we overreacted to that one great half season.

But I can't bring myself to drop him. Like even if he's never going to get back to what he was in 2024, what he was last year was still very good. He finished the season, even in what we thought was a down year. It was 17 homers, 30 stolen bases, 274 average. That's a very viable starting player. It's not a superstar. It's a huge disappointment for a first rounder. But if he's that moving forward, you're fine with him in your line.

Yeah. And I still expect something like that. But I do think we have to start seriously considering that maybe he's just not that elite player anymore or never was. All right. And the last name up here I have is Alex Bregman who went two for four with a walk, his 13th homer and three runs scored. Over his last 35 games, he's hitting 278 with seven homers, 27 runs, 27 RBI, and OPS around 850 during that stretch. By yourself, Alex Bregman is back. Yeah, that is a good question.

I lean sell. The underlying numbers are a little better, and he's always been someone who outperformed his underlying metrics, but his ex-Wobo over the past 100-plated appearances, even during this hot streak, is 305. His ex-Woba for the season is 308. Okay, even if you give him the credit for outperforming his ex-Woba, he's usually 15 to 20 points better.

That's still not a very good. hitter. It can work in fantasy at third base, especially in a points league, but no, I don't think we're getting Alex Bregman, you know, top 100 pick, top 75 pick back. I don't expect that, no.

Yeah, I do expect him to be better than what he was for most of the first half of the season, but I agree that I don't think he's back to, you know, for example, last year he was an 820 OPS bat, And before he got hurt, he was actually like much better than that. He was like a 8.50, 900 OPS bat. So I don't think we're like, yes, he has an 850 OPS over his last 35 games, but I wouldn't expect that the rest of the way.

I'd probably expect like a 750, 775. Like I think he could be an okay kind of like high floor hitter. But I don't expect him to maintain this like, and I think, 850 OPS. I think the hot street kind of tells that story, right? Like if your hottest stretch of the season is like an 850 OPS, I think you're kind of learning that that's not a huge impact player anymore. Like to name one player who I don't think is as good a hitter as Alex Bregman,

as Merlin Valdez's best stretch of the season was quite a bit better than that. So like, yeah, I think, like, that doesn't mean that's the best Alex Bregman is possibly capable of hitting anymore. But yeah, I don't think this is a difference-making player anymore. All right, we've got about 20 minutes left. let's see how fast we can move through the rest of this. Waiver wire hitters from Tuesday's action. A. E. E. E. Hennio Suarez, looks like he is picking the power back up. Hit his 17th home run.

He has homered in three of his last four and has eight home runs in his last 22 games. He's down to 70% rostered. So he was dropped in the most shallow of leagues. I think that's probably still fine. Like, if you held on to him in a deeper league, like, yeah, he'll probably pop some homers the rest of the way. But if he was dropped in like a head-to-head league, I don't know that I would go out and try to add Swares.

No, he's got to be really locked in to matter in a head-to-head points league with how much he strikes out. I would rather have, I think Royce Lewis is probably still less roster than him. I'd rather have Royce Lewis. That has moved way up. It's up to 85 or 90% of it. Okay, so finally.

Good, good. But then, yeah, you mean, you just start to look at the rankings and it's like, okay, yeah, you'd rather have Caleb Durbin with how hot he's been for such a long time. Austin Riley versus Ehio Heni Suarez. I mean, that's a, that's a real, I don't know, Sophie's bad choice there. I know this is gross, but I would rather use Nolan Aredado right now. He's actually over his last, yesterday I said, I think last 40 games, he's back to like an 850 Ops. Yeah, I think that's okay.

Yeah, I don't really buy it, but like Tommy Edmund. I think I'd rather use Tommy Edmund in a points league than Aahanias Suarez. So, yeah, I'm not super excited about Aahe of Hainianna Suarez is the point. Any interest in these two, Lawrence Butler, in the second half. He is hitting 240 with four homers, three steals, the 750 OPS. So he's looked a little bit better. He's 45% rostered. And Jock Peterson, one for one, with three walks and his 22nd homer.

In the second half for him, 317, seven homers, a 1096 OPS. He will not play against lefties, so a strict platoon against right-handed pitching, 27% rostered. And he's actually first base eligible. I didn't realize that I gained that at least. eligibility, but Chris, can I interest you in Lawrence Butler or Jock Peterson? Just looking at their roster rates, it's hard to get too much higher than they are, I think, because I don't think Lawrence Butler is going to matter at all in a points league.

Yeah. And even in a Roto League, I mean, this post-Allster break stretches like 24 homers and 18 steals, which, okay, that's not nothing. But again, when that's the best stretch of your season, it's not particularly exciting. And then Peterson's kind of the opposite problem where he's just, it's really hard to make that profile matter in a points league when volume is so key that unless he's hitting, okay, yeah, if he keeps hitting 320 with an 1100 OPS, that's going to work in any format no matter how often he sits. But Jack Peterson is not a 320 hitter with an 1100 OPS. So when he returns to being an 840 OPS hitter who plays, who starts 67% of the game, or whatever it is, that's a pretty fringy player. That doesn't matter in a points league.

Jack Peterson is very niche. If you're playing a deeper daily lineup league, I think he matters in a league like that, but it's how many people actually play in those leagues. And Lawrence Butler, I would just keep an eye on it because I think a reasonable explanation for why he's been so bad this year is he was coming back from knee surgery?

Yeah, I think it was knee surgery. The surgery on both knees. Surgery on both knees. So I think that's a pretty reasonable explanation for his very slow start. but we know he is capable, and we think he's, like, a decently talented hitter. You know, the ace thought so they gave him a pretty big contract extension.

So I would just keep an eye on Lawrence Butler. Like maybe he can, you know, take off here down the stretch for those who play in five outfieler leagues. One deeper name, Christian Ancarnassio and Tran, three for four with a sock in the shoe, his fourth homer, his first steal. And he's only started two of the past five games. Very small sample, but his underlying data is really interesting.

Deep League CES Thoughts Yeah I mean both him and Kobe May are kind of playing well right now And so that's kind of cannibalizing both of them and I'm not sure Christian and Carnacianne stran needs to play against most righties So I think there's pretty limited upside here

Despite he's doing some things well But it's just yeah I don't really I don't really see a ton to get excited about Unfortunately Yeah I think it's AL only only for now. I could see him working into 15 team roto leagues,

but the playing time is going to have to be a little bit more consistent and he's just going to have to be better against Ritey's. Like, he is destroying lefties. He's been awful against Friday's so far. Guys that can bounce around your lineup so have, you know,

three or more position eligibility. Luis Renhifo has actually been solid with the Padres. He hit a grand slam here. Revenge game against the Brewers who dropped him earlier this season. 24 games with San Diego, 321, three homers,

three seals, 872 OPS. He has started 17 straight. He has second, third, and outfield eligibility. And Tim Tawa, two for four, with two more steals. Last 28 games, 291, five homers, five steals, 92.3, average EV.

And he is eligible everywhere except for shortstop and catcher. So if you're in a deeper league, Chris, and you're just looking for a name that you can kind of bounce around. Who do you like more between Luis Renhifo and Tim Tawa? Tawa, I think he's a little more. interesting. I think we've seen

bat speed and exit velocity gains for him. He's playing very regularly right now. Renhifo is as well. But the one thing with Renhifo, and I mentioned this before the show to you, the Padra is just getting these like random best month of their lives from like Luis Renhifo and Luis Camposano and Freddie for me, like Freddie for me and Louis Campasano have been like superstars since the

Starbreak. I have no idea what's going on there. The entire Padre's lineup, I think they're first in Wobah in the second half. That one month where Samad Taylor was really good for them and Miguel and Duhar was good early in the season. It's just like they're having a good

season and it's really weird because they're just getting these random blow up months out of replacement level players. Ty Francis having the best season of his career. This is so weird. They did this last year.

too, Gavin Sheets and Miguel Anduart, you know. And, uh, uh, Romano Luriano. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, but it's just so weird because then you had the two months where Fernando Tatis, Manny Machado, and Jackson Merrill all couldn't hit at the same time. So it's like, what's happening here? I don't understand the Padres. They're weird.

That's baseball, Susan. Yeah. Waiver wire pitchers. I have, let's see, one, two, hmm. I will throw these first four at you. And that includes Andre Palante, who turned in another, quality start. He's just high floor pitcher gets a lot of ground balls. He's been doing

his thing. Looks like he lines up for two at the Reds at the Phillies next week. Brendan Young, solid outing here. Quality start as well had 14 whiffs on 104 pitches. His last two starts were rough. His three before that were very good. And it looks like he lines up for two both against the

raise next week. So kind of weird the way that works out. I think one of those is a makeup game. Martin Perez shut down the Mets, six shutout innings. Three walks to two strikeouts. So he's kind of doing the Martin Perez thing. Looks like he lines up for at the Twins and at the Brewers next week.

And Cody Bradford, a quality start, but only one strikeout, only four swinging strikes on 75 pitches. His first two starts have been okay, three earned runs over 11 and a third, and he gets the Angels again next week. So,

can I, they all feel like streamer types, Chris, can I interest you in any of these pitchers or matchups? Cody Bradford, Martin Perez, Brandon Young, and Andre Palante. Bradford, he's 38% rostered already. I don't really

think that needs to be much higher. His fastball's 88 miles per hour. Yeah, like, and I think he can be pretty good. Like, we have seen him be a useful pitcher, but it's pretty low end to begin with. And I don't think there's a ton of upside there.

Martine Perez, no, I'm not interested. Brandon Young and Andre Palante are both moderately interesting. I think Palante, two-star week at Cincinnati, at Philadelphia, tough places to pitch, but for a ground baller with a good defense behind him, I think it's okay.

And then Brandon Young, that's going to be, that's an interesting one, because if you look at, I was looking at ESPN's projected starters, and they have him projected to pitch on, Sunday of this week against the raise. And that would make a big difference because if I have to add him next week for a one start week against the raise, well, I think that could be okay. Like I'm not saying I expect him to be terrible, but he's a lot more interesting if it's a two-start week.

And so I think that's going to matter a lot. And unfortunately, I don't know if we're going to have an answer to that. Yeah. So Fangraph's probable pitcher's grid has Chris. Bassett returning on Friday, so that would push Brandon Young back to Monday of next week. Yeah, and then

at Tampa Bay versus Tampa Bay, I mean, it's always if he won a middling pitcher faces the same team two starts in a row, but it would be two good matchups in a two-star week, so I'm pretty interested in that, but if it's not two starts, then it's, I think it does get a lot less interesting, because I just

think he's a guy. Yeah, I think both are good to use in Points League, if you're chasing volume. I also think at this point in the season, there should be a day where we kind of like flesh this out a little bit more, but if you play in a Roto League, you need to figure out what categories you can realistically move up in

at this point in the season. And let's say your ratios are just kind of shot, but you can move up in strikeouts or wins. I'm at that point in a couple leagues, yeah. You should just be chasing pitchers like this, where you could just like, hey, let me go after volume and chase that as much as humanly possible. And yeah, they might blow it up,

but for this specific team, it doesn't really matter. So I think these are the types of pitchers you should be looking at for teams like that. Brandon Young and obviously Andre Palante, who we mentioned. A couple deeper names here. Walker Bueller, strong outing. He was struggling mildly before this. His first quality starts since June 3rd.

And Mitch Bratt had a quality start against the Rockies, six innings, two runs, four strikeouts for him. I don't really see it. I don't know if you feel differently with Mitch Bratt. I mean, the ERA is okay, but the whip and like the K to walk stuff has been terrible. And Carson Wisenhunt, a solid outing here. Former top prospect with the Giants, five and two thirds, one run, but three walks to two strikeouts.

Three very deep league names. Did you see anything here with Wizz and Hunt, Brat and Walker Bueller? Beeler, no. No. No. No. Mitch Bratt, probably not. I don't really think there's much here. He's got an okay minor league track record. I think he was really bad this season, but had been better before. But not someone I'm especially excited to chase. And then Wisenhunt, it would have to be the right matchups as a single start streamer. He's at Cleveland at Boston next week. I don't think I'd want to trust him with a start against Boston in a point. I wrote. League, so like that's, he just has,

he's got a change up and nothing. Carson was not. I think his slider is decent, at least based on the numbers on the season. Yeah,

it's getting decent results this season, but. And it was very different in this start. The velocity was way down and it had six more inches a drop.

So he might have two good off-speed pitches, but his forcing just gets demolished. So I, I would like to see, I would like to see him try maybe with like a sinker

or a cutter. Yeah. to get away from the four-scene fastball. I don't know if he has that. He has a sinker that he's thrown like 2% of the time, so he can try it. But yeah, as long as that fastball gets hit as hard as it does, I don't know that we can find success here with Carson Wisenhunt.

Next name up here, I have Nick Ladolo who made his return. It was a rough return. There's no way around it. Like four runs over four innings. He gave up three homers in this one. Some of the underlying stuff, 13 whiffs on 70 pitches. You pointed out to Scott and I,

that he threw like a modified curveball because he has a new grip because of the blister issue, so it was more like a slider. The stuff was good, but three homers is three homers, so it kind of is what it is. 75% rostered. And in leagues where I had him, I kind of used this as like a freebie,

left him on the IL just to see how he would look. If you have to make a decision, I think it's probably okay to drop Nicola Dolo. Yeah, a couple of things on this one. One, I just discovered something weird today while researching that baseball savant almost always, I think their policy is to default to what a pitcher calls their pitch rather than how it moves or whatever. And apparently Nicodolo calls his curveball a slider. So I think it's weird that they refer to it as a curveball, but he calls it a slider. And it looked especially slidery today.

He's always been a weird pitcher, and his curveball has always been a weird pitcher. I was doing some research just trying to find some physical comps for it based on his release point and the movement profile and all that. And it's like Brendan Bernardino is the only curveball that's even close. Like there's just nobody that really. And then today he starts throwing the curveball or slider or whatever you want to call it with 1.1 mile per hour more of velocity while the rest of his arsenal was down about a half mile. and four less inches of glove side break. So rather than looking like maybe a slow curveball sweeper combo like it did before, it now kind of looks like a gyro slider.

But from a funky arm angle and he got seven whiffs or eight whiffs on it, and I think there could be something here. But I don't think we saw enough in this start to overlook the fact that he's been pretty frustrating this season, hasn't shown the ability to stay healthy, and hasn't been all that good. So I'm okay with dropping Lodolo. I don't know if any of the guys we've mentioned so far. You know, I guess in a points league, does Lodolo have two starts next week? I did not look up as matchups.

Yeah. Because that, if it's like Lodolo versus Palante... I think he lined up for two this week, actually. Yeah. Yeah, because if it was like Lidolo versus Palante and Palantte is a two-star pitcher and Dolos not. He starts again on Sunday and then next week is at Arizona. Yeah, then I

think going with Palante or Brandon Young instead of him is fine, but not, I wouldn't drop him for like Mitch Brad or anything like that. But I would drop him for a lot of the other names we've talked about lately Sean Mania and Jackson Job and that seems okay. Jacob Lopez who's coming off another great start so

yeah, I'd rather just write it out with those guys than Nick Ludolo. Let's get into the leftovers on the pitching side of things the good. We got Good starts from Christopher Sanchez. Brian Wu, who actually did not get bombed on the road, so congratulations to Brian Wu. Weird start for him.

His velocity was up quite a bit, but he also gave up a lot of hard contact in that one. And Ryan Weathers pitched well once again. Over his last four starts, 0.74 ERA.95 whip. And it's interesting because Carlos Rodon is getting close, and Ryan Weathers has outperformed Will Warren. So I just think based on merit, he deserves to stay in the rotation. But he's also like way exceeded his career high innings.

Yeah, in the majors, yeah. I don't really know which way the Yankees are going to go. But if it's just based on performance, he deserves to be in there. Yeah, he does. And given that Rodon's velocity was way down, I'm not sure Rodon's going to be better than Ryan Weathers or Will Warren at this point. The one thing that I would imagine is part of the Yankees calculation is the innings, obviously Warren, I think, just has a little more room to go there.

But also, I think Ryan Weathers just seems like he'll play up in the bullpen more than Will Warren. I don't know if Will Warren has another level that he can reach in shorter bursts. Whereas I think Ryan Weathers could potentially be a really devastating bullpen arm. And so that is the one thing I've thought all season is when everyone's healthy, and as we've seen, that doesn't actually happen. But if it was my decision, I would probably go with Weathers in the bullpen just because I think he can be a better weapon there. Anything on Sanchez or Brian Wu?

Sanchez, I don't really, no, I don't have anything to say. He's awesome. I know it's been a little bumpy lately, but he's really good. Brian Wu, getting hit hard against the Yankees, that's just kind of what the Yankees do even without Aaron Judge. Like, they've got a lot of guys who can hit the ball hard. So given how shaky things have been for him this season, especially on the road, not really going to look a start like this, a scant.

You know, I'll take it. All right, we had two other meh starts and then two bad ones. Nolan McLean, solid outing. The line was okay, but he had just five whiffs on 85 pitches. Michael Waka was cruising, and then he ran into trouble in the seventh inning at the Dodgers. Final line, six and two-thirds, seven hits, three runs, zero walks, five strikeouts. But overall, you know, you'll take a quality start against the Dodgers. And then the bad, we had Chotee Imanaga, rough one, four and two thirds, four runs,

two homers loud in that one at the Nationals. And Hunter Brown, not great at the Giants, five innings, three runs, three walks, four strikeouts. He had just six whiffs on 89 pitches. He threw 63% of his pitches for strikes. He looked like he was coming around. His last three starts before this were great. He was limiting the walks. it's really frustrating

especially against this Giants lineup because it's just it's a run-down Giants lineup. It should have been better a team that should not walk very much. Yeah. But clearly they had

like going in they had an idea to just hey let's just be patient against this guy. But I think given how good he had been previously I'm willing to give Hunter Brown the benefit of the doubt here. It's kind of less so for Shodianaga

just because well, I guess for the most part I just think this you can file this under this is who Shoney Managa is and this happens sometimes for him. And so, you know, when you take the season in whole, 374 ERA,

very good whip, that's probably who he is. And he goes through stretches where he looks better and he goes to these stretches where he gives up a ton of home runs. I think that's probably just who he is though. All right. The hitting side of things hitting leftovers, Chase DeLauder, three for five with his 13th home run. run and updated numbers since returning from the IL, 36 games, 313, with six homers and five steals.

Willier Abraeu, Asak in a shoe, his 21st home run, his eighth stolen base. He has 10 home runs in the second half. Seidon-Rofiela hit his 16th home run and added to RBI. I mentioned his name recently, but basically since the start of June, middle of June, he has 10 homers and 10 steals in his last 52 games while hitting 293. Nice little bounceback season here for Ozzy Albies. We haven't talked much about it, but 20th home run of the year. He only has two steals, so you don't love that.

But everything else looks very like good year, Ozzy Albies-esque. Matt Olson is on a heater. He hit his 35th home run. And in August, he has six home runs at 1219 OPS. Junior Kamenero. Hit his 35th homer. He has six home runs in his last 11 games. And this last one does not matter at all for fantasy.

I just thought it was funny. Taylor Wals, two home runs at a game, double dong. He entered this game. First 96 games, zero homers, a donut, and then hits two home runs, the power of Sacramento. Anything on these names, Chris? I mean, Olson and Cominero both getting to 35 homers just highlights what an awesome home run chase. This is going to be the rest of the way, because you've got Schwerber, Alvarez, Olson, Comanero,

tied at 35 homers now, and Hunter Goodman sitting at 34. And it's easy to forget that it's only August 12, right? We still have like six weeks left in the season, right? Any of those guys could get to 50 homers. Yeah, I mean, we could have, you know, a handful of guys that are in the like 45 to 50 range this year. Also, if you, I believe the over-under for home runs before the season for Junior Common Arrow was 34 and a half.

So, boom! That was one of the easiest caches, I think, of the season. we've said it many times that there was a lot of, I think, not great analysis going on with Junior Commonero's Home Road splits last season, and it's a reminder that just seeing a large OPS split from home versus away, you've got to look a little deeper than that,

because that was really the only thing with Common Arrow was his road OPS was like 200 points lower than his home OPS. It was entirely Babbitt. driven. He actually had, I think, more homers on the road last season than at home. He's an awesome hitter. He's really, really, really good. Yes, sure is. Call to the bullpen for the Tigers. Kenley Jansen picked up his 14th save and he is 10 away from 500, which I don't think he's going to do this season. So I'm hoping Kenley Jansen could latch on one more time and get to that 500 number next year, assuming there's baseball. For the Marlins, Pete Fairbanks

picked up his 18th save. He has seven scoreless appearances in a row. For the Cubs, Jacob Webb picked up his eighth save. For the Yankees, David Bednar picked up his 27th. For the Blue Jays, Louis Varland was unavailable. Spencer Miles picked up his first save. For the Orioles, a three-run lead. It was Yaneer Canoe in the 8th.

And then Andrew Kittridge, who picked up his sixth save in the ninth inning. And so they've been mixing and matching, but I would lean towards Kittridge. It's just it's played out more. in his favor so far. For the Reds, Emilio Pagan picked up his 14th save. For the Cardinals, he,

being Riley O'Brien, picked up his 30th save, and just wanted to highlight, man, like, what a year. This guy was a very late round pick. We weren't even sure he was the closer. I mean,

he wasn't on opening day, right? Remember Ryan Stannick had a couple saves in the first part of the season? We're just like, what's going on? But a 3-14, ERA 113, with 30 saves for Riley O'Brien.

Great year for him. For the Angels, a one-run lead. Sammy Natera Jr. got the ninth. He struck out two for his third save. He looks really good. His numbers on the season are great. Ben Joyce did pitch on Monday. I don't think that they will use him in back-to-back outings.

But he also hasn't gotten a save yet. Yeah. I don't think he's even got a save opportunity. The only other save opportunity went to for mean, I think. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's Natera.

He's 8% of roster. So there have been a few of these very deep league names that have emerged. And I think Netara is one of, if not the most interesting one of that group. I will say he's been dominant this season. You watch him pitch and it's, it is kind of hard to understand why because he throws 80% fastballs. And they're like 94, 95. Interesting. But he's got a massive whiff rated with it.

And then you watch him pitch and there is like a, there's some funkiness to it. Like he's got a short step and a cross. crossfire delivery from the left side and hitters just seem to struggle to pick him up. But it is weird to see a guy without elite velocity dominating, dominating with an 80% fastball usage. Yeah, it is very over the top from the left hand side. I haven't actually seen him pitch before this, but, uh, yeah. Yeah, I was watching him earlier and it's, um, I would want to look more into like the, uh, pitcherless metrics and stuff like that on, on Sammy, Tara Jr.

For the Rockies, Jordan Romano picked up his 11th save. He is just the guy in Colorado for now, 16% rostered. And for the Giants, J.T. Brewbaker got the ninth, and he picked up his second save. Dylan Smith had worked two games in a row. He also blew a save on Monday night. So we'll see who gets the next save opportunity. I still think it will be Dylan Smith, but hey, J.T. Brewbaker, clean save here on Tuesday. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday, we have Shane Bos at the Twins,

Zebby Matthews against the Orioles Kyle Leahy against the Phillies Merrill Kelly gets the Rockies in Arizona there's Zach Thornton at the Braves Tyler Malley against the Mets Rhett Louter at the White Sox and Luis Castillo home against the Reds Shane Boss

Merrill Kelly I think would be my second choice I think there are actually some pretty decent options here though I don't mind Kyle Leahy versus the Phillies I don't hate David Peterson at Washington, Zach Thornton at Atlanta. Yeah, I think there are some okay options. Even Eric Lauer versus Kansas City.

I know his last star and maybe his last two have been bad, but it's a good matchup. My top three would be, I'm trying to remember who I said yesterday. I think it was Boz, Malley, and Merrill Kelly. But I would be okay with Leahy. I think I would be okay with Castillo. I know his first star with the White Sox

was bad, but this Reds lineup has been not great. It's a revenge game for Luis Castillo, so you've got to factor that in. Can it be a revenge game if it was like six years ago? Chris, it's always a revenge game. On Thursday, Kader Montero

against the Guardians, Tyler Phillips against the Pirates, Andrew Abbott at the White Sox, Max Scherzer against the Red Sox, Arindola at the Twins, Walbert Arania at home against the Rangers. Lots of TBDs as of now for Thursday, so I don't have a full slate of names, but I think Arania and Abbott are okay.

Arania is good. Abbott is okay. If you really pressure me into it, Kater Montero is getting really good results. I don't really buy it, but he's been awesome all season, basically. Is Shane drawn two-roastered to count for this? He's got the Dodgers. I don't know if I want to do that anyway, so I think he's good, but that's just asking. a lot. He's coming off a bad start too.

No, he's available. He's 59% rostered. Yeah, I'd add that one probably ahead of Montero. So he'd probably be second or third on the list, even with the matchup against the Dodgers. All right, we're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today.

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