Fantasy Baseball Today - Bohm and Carlson Arrive! Week 5 Planner (08/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 14, 2020

Get hyped! We have prospects! Alec Bohm made his debut Thursday with Dylan Carlson's looming (1:04). What should you expect from each? How much FAAB should you spend? Where do Carlson and Bohm rank ROS? ... Let's fire up the Stash-O-Meter (10:50)! Who is most desirable out of Gavin Lux, MacKenzie Gore, Casey Mize, Joey Bart, Brendan McKay, Ryan Mountcastle, and Clarke Schmidt? ... For the OMGG player of the night, Scott is buying Nick Senzel (14:31). He's buy-medium(?) in Fantasy right now. Yu Darvish was also fantastic Thursday night. He's picking up where he left off last season. ... Onto news and notes and Corey Seager is back with a bang (19:19). Spencer Howard will start Friday, while the Cardinals vs. White Sox is now a doubleheader for Saturday. What else happened on Thursday (24:10)? What's going on with Tyler Glasnow and Chris Paddack? Paddack or Dylan Bundy ROS? What's happening with Trea Turner and should you bench Rafael Devers right now? ... We're hitting the Week 5 planner, starting with two-start pitchers (43:02). A few names Scott likes include Dylan Cease, Jordan Montgomery, and Chris Bassitt. Who are some single-start streamers and sleeper hitters for Week 5? We finish up with the pitchers we would start on Friday, August 14 (54:13)! ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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

Domingo Santan, because of a Cicke, like Michael Walker, Palanco, and from... Get hyped. Dylan Carlson and Alec Baum are here. You Darvish and Mookie Betts were awesome Thursday night, while Chris Paddock was not. Welcome to fantasy baseball today on a Kokomo Friday. Frank Stanfield here alongside Scott White. We've got prospects. Thursday recap, Week 5 Planner, top five at each position.

Happy Alec Bomb Day, Scott. if this is Scott that I'm speaking with, not sure after yesterday's show. It might be the essence of evil, Franklin. You can never be too sure. What's up, Scott? I'm fine. I'm here.

I'm good. Alec Bombay. This is your guy. Bombababab bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb. He is here. Yes, he has arrived for the Phillies. I do, I do have a great affinity for Alec Baum. I like the plate discipline.

guy like the guy who makes a lot of contact. He seemed like he was developing power last year, hits the ball the other way well, a good size. I think he could be a really big deal. And it seems like he's going to get an opportunity to play a lot for the Phillies. Scott Kingery moving back into the super utility role,

going to play some outfield, Jean Seguera sliding over to second base, and Bomb playing probably close to every, day, at least as long as, you know, unless he's just totally awful and they have to move off of him. But yeah, I mean, prospect of that caliber getting that kind of chance, you take a flyer on him and see where it goes. I think a hopeful outcome for him is something like Justin Turner.

And the wild dream scenario outcome for him is something like Anthony Rendon. I think that's the kind of... profile bomb presents. So I was actually a little more excited about him than Dylan Carlson, maybe just because I have Carlson fatigue at this point. I don't know. I technically did rank Carlson higher coming into the season. But yeah, I mean, he's, the Cardinals just need healthy,

healthy players who've actually been playing in the last two weeks, which Carlson has down at the minor league site. So he is definitely coming up whenever they're ready to resume play. And of course, we've been hyping him for a long. time at this point. Scott mentioned it. He has Dylan Carlson ranked as his seventh prospect, while Alec Baum is his 12th ranked prospect. Dylan Carlson, 21 years old, former first round pick in 2016. Last year in the minors, a 292 batting average 914 OPS, 26 homers, 20 steals across AA and AAA. Really good

plate discipline across the miners as well. And he was tearing up spring training, if you remember, the real spring training, not summer camp training. Spring training. Spring training. Spring training. Spring back in March. He was actually performing well against some major league, some minor league pitchers as well. And then for Baum, a little bit older,

24 years old, former first round pick in 2018. The Phillies drafted him as an older prospect, knowing how old he was and hoping that he would make a difference sooner rather than later for their team. Last year in the minors,

a 305 batting average, 896 OPS, 21 homers, 30 doubles, 80 RBI, really interesting blend for Alec Baum. of contact, power, plate discipline. He hasn't struck out more than 15.7% at any level.

He was in the lineup for the Phillies on Thursday. He was batting sixth playing third base. He went, I believe it was one for four. Four with a double. So let me ask you, Scott. In a vacuum, who would you rather have, Baum or Carlson? Does it change depending on the format?

I think my head would say Carlson, my gut says bomb. Like I just, I have a better feeling about bomb. I don't know if that's what actually should be guiding me here. You know, format-wise, bomb strength seems probably geared more for a points league. Carlson's more for a roto league because it seems like there's an element of speed in his game. He had a 2020 season last year. And you obviously need more outfielders in the roto format.

So, you know, it might break down along those lines, though I think, you know, obviously either players delivers their best case scenario. They're going to be valuable everywhere. Keep going, Scott. It's not strictly a format thing for me. So how much fab would you spend on each if we have waivers running this weekend?

I feel like I'm just throwing out a number. I would say 25%. I'm not sure how much you've already spent. bent to this point, obviously. I'm not sure how much you still need to chase saves at this point and reserve cash for that. But, you know, that's just out of a blue. That seems like a good number, 25% of your budget.

Does that sound good to you? That might be a little aggressive in just like the standard 12-team points league just because lineups are so shallow. But in Roto leagues, I don't really have a problem with going that high. 20 to 25% is something that I had in mind. I play in a 15-team league that is going to have Fab run on 30%. Thursday night, so if anyone from that league is listening, it won't matter because Fab already runs. And I have $55 left out of 100, and I'm probably going to spend about 25 on Alec Baum and see if I get him.

So that's the type of aggressiveness that we're looking for for either one. Scott, I'll just throw a few names your way. Carlson rest of season versus this player in Roto. Dylan Carlson versus Joe Adele. Who would you rather have? Carlson. Carlson versus Kyle Tucker. I would rather have Carlson. Carlson versus Kyle Lewis. Carlson, come on. Carlson versus Nick Senzel, someone I know that you're excited about.

Ah, yes, yes, yes. So this is where it gets tricky with players like, I'm going to say Senzel because I have, like, how rostered is he? He's got to be up there right in terms of 70%. Yeah, you can't afford to let him go, especially since I think he might be on the verge of big things here. But it gets tricky with players like Jesse Winker. Guys we were hyping yesterday, Jesse Winker, Garrett Hampson,

Anthony Santander, though his ownership's getting up there too. It gets tricky because I feel like, I feel like there's genuine reason to be excited about those guys. I do feel like the prospects are higher price. because, you know, if those other guys aren't claimed yet, then there's a chance they will remain out there for a little longer and you can see what happens with the prospect. When the prospect, you know, they're going to be, they're going to be gobbled up because they're in the headlines right now.

So I feel like you have to take a shot on the prospect first. But when it gets to a fab situation and like a weekly run Fab League, the, the, the, the, the, a disproportionate amount of dollars you'll have to spend on a Dylan Carlson versus like a Jesse Winker may not be worth it. So that's something to keep in mind to. So just looking at your ranking, Scott, it seems like Carlson is probably going to climb into the top 45 outfielders, maybe closer to 40. But based on the names that I just mentioned, he's probably going to land in that range for now. And obviously has the ability to climb if he performs well early on here with St. Louis. Scott, Alec Baum, rest of season.

We'll go head-to-head points here, because I think that's probably his better format. Bomb or Brian Anderson? Bomb. Bomb or Miguel Sineau. Poinsley. Sano. Bomb or Hunter Dozier.

Bomb. Bomb or Kyle Seeger. Bomb. Boom. Bomb goes the dynamite. We have some team names regarding Alec Bomb that we were received. receive today. This one's from Patrick.

An abomination. Abomination. Hmm. Okay. That's a name. That is a name. Receive these from Twitter. Bomb goes the dynamite. Bomb, you just said that. I know. I didn't even, I didn't plan that. It just...

You pilfered it happened. I'm sorry. The bomb supremacy. Okay. Doesn't, yeah, it doesn't really work. I can't feign enthusiasm. I'm sorry. He's the bomb. That's the last one that we got, which is... It is what it is.

I mean, I can't be an enthusiasm. But maybe this guy can. Oh, such a lovely name, such wit. So creative. Oh, I just marvel at your creativity and wit and desire to entertain us all. Oh, so thankful for your presence here today. We got a dynasty question regarding Alec Baum today as well.

This one's from Matt. He has Vlad Guerrero Jr. in Dynasty as of now. And he received this offer. Scott, what would you do? He trades away Vlad Jr. and Carter Keyboom. He gets Alec Baum, Niko Horner, Brady Garrett, and Brendan Rogers. All right, go over those names again. Vlad Jr. and Carter Keyboom for Alec Baum, Nico Horner, Brady Garrett, and Brendan

Rogers. Okay. I don't think that's the... kind of hall that would really come close to convincing me to give up Vlad in the dynasty league. Even though there's some good prospects coming back the other way, I mean, Vlad, I mean, he needs a real haul. And I just don't think this is it. I agree with you. I responded to this and I said probably wouldn't do it either. While we're on the topic of prospects, Scott, let's fire up the stash o meter. We haven't done this yet. And for redraft leagues, obviously, Gavin Lux,

61% rostered. Where does he lie on the stashometer, Scott? Well, I drop him for either Baum or Carlson. I drop him for a lot of players, actually. I will put him as a four on the stashometer. I'm thinking in terms of that percentage needs to be more like 41 than 61. So I'll say four. Mackenzie Gore is 43% rostered, and he's probably the top pitching prospect that has not made a debut yet. Where does he rank on the stashometer? probably about a four as well. That ownership sounds right. His running mate, not on the same team,

but I just always kind of tie these two together. I don't know why. But Casey Mize of the Detroit Tigers, we kind of, we got a little tease a couple of weeks ago from Ron Gardenhires. It sounded like they were going to call him up, and then they didn't.

He's 41% rostered. Where does he lie, Scott? Three. Joey Bart, 24% rostered. Probably more than a two-catcher. league if you're stashing him. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm going to say for Joey Bart, 2.5. What you're hearing is that those percentages, the roster percentages, sound right for the most point, because I'm kind of echoing them with my ratings here. Brendan McKay, Scott,

is 28% rostered. Does that mean he is a 2.8 on the stashometer? No, I'll go to, I mean, that's one of those situations where he has to, he has to, he has even more to prove than I feel like a guy who hasn't played. Because he was pretty, pretty useless last year when he was up. And that, yeah, that's, that makes me less enthused to pick him up if you were to get the call, especially since we don't have numbers. You can't say, oh, he's dominating a AAA. Right. That's, we're totally blind to what they're doing unless we hear someone randomly reported on Twitter.

Like I saw a report today, Alec Baum was apparently hitting over 500 at the minor league site. I don't know if that was an exaggeration or if somebody's actually keeping official statistics. But I thought it was worth noting. Scott, Ryan Moutcastle, 14% roster. Don't look now. Baltimore is 10 and 7. Maybe they try to make a little run here, Scott. I mean, Mount Castle should be up.

He should. And I'm looking at their outfield now. Yeah, they could easily replace like Dwight Smith Jr. Or they get just playing him at first base, right? Well, Renato Nunez. I mean, I guess Renato Nunez usually plays DH, yeah. I think he'll be up Mount Castle, but, you know, the impact, you wonder what that's going to be. I'll give it a three, Mount Castle a three.

The last one that I'll mention is someone that we've received an email about recently as well, and it's Clark Schmidt, the pitching prospect for the Yankees. Honestly, Scott, it wouldn't surprise me if we see another really bad start or two out of J-Hap. I wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees called him up. I wouldn't be either. He's not quite the name-brand prospect of most of these guys. I will give that a 1.5. All right, Scott, this is probably the latest in the show

that we have ever gone to Susan, but let's do it. Oh, my goodness gracious. A standout from Thursday night, Scott. Who do you get? Oh, I got a great standout for you. You already mentioned him. Nick Senzel. Nick Senzell hit a home run, hit a double today,

Thursday after, it was a second game back, I think, after missing a few days with an injury, groin injury. But, you know, more than just what he did in this one game, the ways he needed to improve to take this leap in his sophomore season, he is doing. It's a better launch angle. He's hitting the ball much harder. He looks like, it looks like a stud hitting profile,

even beyond what the numbers have shown so far. and the very small sample size. And of course, it being a very small sample size, those underlying stats, the stat-cast measures could themselves normalize. But there is no reason to look at what Nick Senzel's doing right now and feel anything but super encouraged and super hopeful that he is this year's post-type sleeper.

Yeah, he went three for four on Thursday with a double. a homer and 4 RBI. You mentioned some of the batted ball data that he's putting up so far this year. A 92 mile per hour average exit velocity. That is in the 92nd percentile. Just a great athlete. He's 96th percentile and sprint speed as well.

The launch angle is up. You're right. I mean, he's doing everything he's supposed to be doing. You know, if someone in your league is not buying into what Senzel has done so far, because the numbers are not like eye-catching yet. But they easily could be. BATting average.

And that's after a huge game. you know, missed a lot of time. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, this sounds like a buy low opportunity. A pre-buy high opportunity, I think more accurately would describe it. It's a bi-medium, Scott. I've never heard that before, but that's what it seems like. He's been fine, but if people don't realize how good the underlying numbers are for him,

you know, especially in those five outfielder roto leagues, I would definitely be trying to acquire Senzel before he takes off for me. And it's hard for me to pass up on Mookie Betts, who, while we're recording this, has three home runs and might even make it four, maybe even five, who knows by the end of that game? So Mookie Betts is awesome, but you don't need me to tell you that. U. Darvish, Scott.

Someone who, I had a little bit of trepidation coming into the season because it just seems like so many things went right for him in the second half last year regarding his mechanics, his pitch mix, his command, something we have never seen out of U. Darvish ever before. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers, finished his night, seven innings pitched, one hit, one earned, two walks, 11 strikeouts, 19 swinging strikes on 104 pitches.

And what I like that I've seen so far out of him is that he is using that cutter slider as much as he did last year, which is really what I think helped him ascend to new heights in that second half. So, you Darvish, basically picking up. where he left off. Yeah, he threw it like more than half the time today. I think he has so many pitches that I feel like the pitch tracking system has trouble classifying everything. Yeah.

He threw something that came out to an average velocity of high 80s, like 51% of the time today. And it was responsible for the majority, as you would expect with all those pitches thrown, of his 19th swinging strikes. I mean, there's, there's, you're very happy with what you drafted and you Darvish at this point and have no reason to worry. Scott, would you rather have U. Darvish or Mike Clevenger right now? I know I have Mike Clevenger ahead. I'm going to keep Mike Clevenger ahead, but it's close.

I would agree with that assessment. Would you rather have U. Darvish or Lucas Gialito? Um, man, that's even closer. I'm definitely not using your rankings to ask you these questions, Scott. Yeah, yeah. And this, you know, this is why rankings are an imperfect, imperfect way of classifying players anyway. Because I don't really care that much.

Probably is the right answer. I'll say Lucas Julito. All righty, with that, I'm going to hit some news and notes. Corey Seeger was finally back in the Dodgers. lineup, which I was so happy to see. His first at Bat Back, he hit a home run, batting second as the DH for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Alex Wood threw another bullpen session on Thursday. He'll throw one on Saturday and a simulated game next Tuesday, if all goes well. So that is Alex Wood. We'll see what happens there. It's a lot of moving parts in the Dodgers rotation right now.

Gonsolin has pitched well in... Yeah, and I saw Dave Roberts said he's supposed to get another start. We don't know why he got the last start. Five. They have a six-man rotation right now for some reason. Yeah, this raises the worry a little bit more on someone like Ross Stripling, who we spoke about recently as well. So he's got to get his act together because Alex Wood and Gonselin are coming for his job. Jeff McNeil was carted off the field Thursday after crashing into the wall while making a catch. He was diagnosed with a bone contusion in his left knee. He is day-to-day, so pay attention to that over the

weekend and heading into next week for weekly lineups. Chris Bryant was out of the Cubs lineup Thursday due to soreness around his left ring finger and wrist. David Ross told reporters that he does not believe either injury is serious. Zander Bogartz was absent from the Red Sox lineup Thursday due to, quote, fatigue in his lower half. I guess he's dealing with the same fatigue that Aaron Judge is dealing with. Weird, whatever that means. There have been a lot of like vague injury classifications so far, haven't there? Like Kirby Yates had body soreness.

Yeah. Better than mind soreness, I guess. Mike Moustakis did some on-field drills during batting practice Thursday. If all goes well in the coming days, he could be activated when first eligible this Sunday. On the contrary, Raves manager, Brian Snicker said,

on Wednesday night, actually. Didn't catch this yesterday, that he is not expecting Ozzy Albies to be ready for activation next week. He is dealing with a wrist injury. Victor Velasquez pitched in relief Thursday, so it now appears... Vince Velasquez.

What did I say? Victor. Victor. What did I get? I even wrote Vince. When he first came up, remember when it was Vincent Velasquez? I do.

That was like Nick versus Nicholas Castellanos. John Carlos Stanton versus Mike Stanton. I don't know. Just a weird thing. I don't know where I got Victor from. I wrote Vince in the notes right there. Vince Velasquez pitched in relief Thursday. So it now appears that Spencer Howard

will indeed get the start on Friday against the New York Mets. Yeah, they have a bunch of doubleheaders coming up too. They have a double header this week. So they, it sounds like, it sounds like it's going to be more like a six-man rotation for a while than, uh, than how it was initially presented with Vince Velasquez

and Howard piggybacking. Buster only of ESPN reported that another staff member for the Cardinals has tested positive for COVID-19. Will it ever just go away? The Cardinals game against the White Sox on Friday has been postponed. The plan as of now is to play a double header this Saturday. The Cardinals again have not played since July 29th.

Probably going to be some rust there, Scott. But not for Dylan Carlson, we hope. What was that? I'm sorry, I said, I was talking over it. But hopefully not for Dylan Carlson. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, whenever they're playing again, he's going to be on the team.

We know that much. And in addition to this doubleheader Saturday, two double headers are scheduled for next week for them, Monday and Wednesday against the Cubs, which means the Cardinals are looking at a nine-game week, or maybe a zero-game week, but ideally a nine-game week, which I've never seen before. And the pitching matchups are actually pretty tough,

but still, nine games for just a regular length, a seven-day week, you know, that's going to be good news for Cardinals hitters, maybe, unless they're all super rusty, and you don't want any of them, Dylan Carlson, nothing else, right? Yeah, I think they're going to, my hunch is they're going to make this happen. If, like, if they can get through today, their next report tomorrow, no more positives.

Like, Saturday's going to happen because it's, it's, like, it's, the season's going to be over and the cardals haven't played at all, you know, if they didn't. don't get things going soon. Yeah, you're not wrong, Scott. There's a plan in place for players to, like, all rent their own cars and drive to Chicago so that they're not intermingling. It's traveling there. Yeah.

Yeah. 2020. See what happens. Some standouts from Thursday, Scott mentioned a triple dong for Muky Betts. We had a double dong from JT Real Muto. He is in Fuego, now up to seven home runs on the season. Tomas Nito. Not fantasy relevant at all, but he did have a double dung.

So there's your shout out, Tomas Nito. It's probably going to be the only one you get all season. Tyler Glass now, Scott. Almost made him my, oh my goodness gracious player of the night for all the wrong reasons. Let me not say that. He still had eight strikeouts. The strikeouts are still there for Tyler Glass now. Four innings pitched, eight hits, five earned, two walks.

Eight strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes on 84 pitches in Boston against the Red Sox. He has now failed to go more than four and two-thirds in every start this season. His next start comes at the Yankees. And I don't really want to start him, Scott. His last week against the Yankees, two and two-thirds, five hits, four earn, three walks. Yankees are a very patient lineup, a great lineup up and down. I said this about Blake's now last week. I don't want to kind of be burned and do this again.

But if I own Glass now, I really don't want to start him there against the Yankees. Yeah, optimally, I don't think you would start him. I wouldn't be afraid to start him, like, in a league where you just didn't have better options and you were really having to stretch, like, in a 15-team league, I'm thinking, the kind of pitcher you'd be picking up off the waiver wire. Because the stuff appears great. He's getting strikeouts. It's measuring like it did last year.

It's just not throwing enough strikes. He's 50. He entered this game, having thrown. own strikes just 58% of the time. That's versus 64.9 last year, which is a big difference. And that needs to change. I don't know if that's

Rust contributing to it, but if there's any organization I have faith in getting them fixed, it's this one. So I think it's going to be, I think Glass Now is going to be fine in the long run. But, you know, if you can avoid starting him, especially with that matchup, probably wise.

Will this gentleman be fine, Scott? Chris Paddock, Three innings pitched against the Dodgers, six hits, six earned runs, one walk, one strikeout. Before we started recording today, Scott, you said, I'm a little worried about Chris Paddock. Why is that? It seems like my concern about him coming into the season, just not having a diverse enough arsenal, might be catching up to him now that he's been around the league for a while. He's not getting the whiffs he did last year.

He is. He's giving up more contact and he's giving a harder contact, too. Three home runs today. I mean, his hard contact rate was up before you even apply today's outing to it. And, you know, the velocity seems fine. It's not like it looks like an issue of him not being ready for the season or him losing something stuff-wise, at least as far as I can tell. he's just getting hit a lot harder.

And, you know, having only two pitches, you wonder if that's contributing to it. So, you know, I don't know what actionable you can do with that. Today is not a good day to try and sell Chris Paddock. But I am not super comfortable that you're going to get what you bargained for when you bought him. Scott, if someone came to you right now and said, I will give you Dylan Bundy for Chris Paddock, you would say, blank. It's a good one.

I think I'd say yes. I don't blame you. How can anyone, you know, how can anyone bet against what Dylan Bundy has done to this point? I mean, he's completely reinvented himself. He has the three pitches, and not that his fastball is good, but it's a get-me-over pitch, and the slider and the change-up are very good,

which is something you can't say about Chris Paddock. Oh, I can tell you how you could argue against Dylan Bundy, and that's just look at his track record. I mean, we are reacting to just four starts. Granted, four starts at the start of a season. With a change in environment, I am encouraged. But what would cause me to hesitate with that Paddock deal is more about what happens to Dylan Bundy from here

versus what happens to Chris Paddock from here. I'm less concerned about missing out on what Chris Paddock's going to give me than I am using him to get what ends up being a total dud from this point forward in Bundy. So that's a risk, but it might be one I'm willing to take at this point, knowing how short the season is and having legitimate questions at this point about Paddock's upside and believing Bundy might actually have more. Yes or no, Scott. If you have Paddock,

would you offer that deal to the Dylan Bundy owner right now? I guess I have to say yes, right? I would do it. I would do it. It might be reactionary, but you're right, Scott. I mean, we're almost halfway through the season. You need guys that are going to contribute, and Dylan Bundy looks like one of the best pitchers.

We're going to go over the top five at every position a little bit later on, and Dylan Bundy is a... top five pitcher in fantasy right now. It's worth stating because we don't always address the dynasty angle. We want to do it into dynasty league. Oh, I agree. 100%. Yeah. We'd stick with Paddock there.

Trey Turner went 0 for three on Thursday with two walks and one run. We keep getting a lot of tweets, not necessarily questions through our email, fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. But he is now batting 218, Tray Turner, that is, 718 OPS with zero steals. Three caught stealing. The sprint speed is still. 99th percentile, Scott. Career high, average exit velocity.

The problem is the launch angles up, which I don't like, and it's something I've talked about before. I think he might be putting a little bit too much pressure on himself. He might be trying to swing for the fences and hit home runs. That's not Trey Turner's game. Willie Mays Hayes and Major League 2. Right. Right.

I mean... Come on, Turner. I think the steals are going to come. I base... Like, there is nothing that says, at least in the data, that he is any slower or anything. I just think if he had throw... Three steals versus three caught stealing.

Would we really be concerned over Trey Ternor right now? Maybe a little bit on the batting average, but outside of that, I don't think so. He's probably going to have one of these weeks where he steals four bases, and we forget all about what happened here at the start of the year. You know, the only case coming in for having any concerns about Trey Turner as a base stealer was there was this talk of him moving down in the order batting third. And that hasn't happened. He's batted lead off every single game.

So I don't know why his base stealing habits would change. It's the same manager as last year. I think it's just that he has a 290 OBP and just the distribution of steals is always kind of sporadic. And probably shouldn't worry too much. Someone else who's also struggling and was an early round pick is Raphael Devers, who went 1 for 5 on Thursday, is batting 169.

What is going on with Raphael Devers, Scott? I mean, next week he plays seven games, two against left-handed pitching. Would you consider benching Raphael Devers? In a shallow league, if I had a great third-base alternative, like maybe, I don't know, I'm having trouble getting G or O'Shella in my lineup. I could see that. But, you know, I'm not benching him because I just picked up Alec Baum. Or, you know, I'm not benching him for Kyle Seeger or Brian Anderson.

I don't think that's good process. I think that's a fair cutoff. So like J.D. Davis, Urchella, if you have one of those guys on your bench somehow, you might in a points league. Again, it's shallow lineups. Then I think that's something you can look into doing. But I think once you get past, like,

you get into the Lestella, David Fletcher, Kyle Seeger, range. You probably don't want to go that far down the list. Yeah, like we talked about last week, I mean, we were talking more from like a trade standpoint. But, you know, unless you think Raphael Devers has gotten worse, like his baseline is worse. He's just not a good player anymore.

Then you have to trust that he's going to be Raphael Devers sooner than later any day now. And you don't want to miss out on it when he is. Scott, is there anything else that you want to hit from Thursday? Because there's some other things I do want to get to in terms of the week five planner and looking at the top five at each position. Was there anything else that you felt necessary to get in here? Not a lot of games.

It was a short slate. I think we had six games on Thursday. Yeah, I mean, Row and Wick got a save for the Cubs. After working the 8th yesterday, and Jeremy Jeffers was saved for the 9th. It ended up not being a safe situation. But then Wick was back in for the safe. He allowed to run, but, you know, I don't know.

It seems like he's the front runner right now in that bullpen. Craig Kimbril hasn't worked in a week. So that's something. Ian Hap, I feel like, is deserving of more hype because he's only about, he's only rostered in about 60% of leagues. His slash line now after a two-hit game for the Cubs is 326, 456-609. Power has been there. He's striking out even less last year when we were encouraged.

He came up striking out only a quarter of the time. It's only like 22% this year. And like he might be taking. a stud turn here. So that's high on the priority list for players to add Ian Hap. Josh Bell, he struck out three times today. As far

as I can tell, that's the only thing going wrong for Josh Bell. His exit Velo launch angle about the same as last year. It's just that he's striking out about twice as often, as he ever has before, by the way, like striking out less wasn't a key to Josh Bell's breakout last year.

He never struck out that much. suddenly he is this year. I don't know if it's Rust or what, but I'm still trusting him to come around. And I think you can get Josh Bell for super cheap right now. I think the people that own Josh Bell are among some of the most frantic fantasy owners, right? Just in general. Yeah. No, maybe. I mean, they, they, he didn't, he wasn't drafted with a high degree of confidence in all likelihood, especially finishing last year on kind of a down note. So yeah, I think that's legit. Pedro Severino homered for the fourth time,

Renato Nunez for the fifth time for the Orioles. I'm not seeing a lot in the data to suggest their greatly improved players. It just seems like hot starts for decent players, players that might be worth rostering all season long, but not, I don't see them taking a stud turn here, so they're potential cell highs.

I had a lot to talk about, apparently. A couple more things. Colin Moran homered for the sixth time. He had gone three for 23 since his fifth Homer, so that he fell off pretty quickly, not too interested in him. J.T. Real Muto, Homer twice. I think you mentioned that.

He's up to seven on the year, which he's got to put him in the running for the major league lead, right? As a catcher, it's amazing. He's striking out more. He's elevating less. Two things that you think would be bad for a hitter's development.

He's just crushing the ball. JT Real Muto. Hard hit rate, barrel rates, both extremely high. To me, that screams. He's hot right now. And, you know, obviously he's J.T. Real Mutu. He's probably still going to be the best catcher from this point forward. But he has not transcended to a new level of stardom.

I don't feel like. So, you know, if you're weighing trade offers involving JT. Real Mutu, just keep that in mind. All right. Two more things. You ready? Hit me, Scott. Like running through the whole show. here. Anthony Descliffeani was horrible.

He was. Worth mentioning because he was great his first two starts. Is this why you don't like single-star streamers, Scott? Because he was someone that I think I was probably more so advocating for last week than you were. But we did mention him as a single-star stream this week. I mean, to me with single-start streamers, it's just how bad must you're pitching staff be if you're having to resort to a single-start streamer? You don't have any good pitchers?

because I you know if it's not weighing number of starts why would you sit your good pitchers yeah that's that's really what it's about for me but yeah I mean 9-urn runs three home runs against the Orioles right is that who's against the pirates which is one of the best matchups it's a better matchup than the Orioles right now the Orioles have the fourth highest batting average in baseball right now it's crazy that's it's weird 20s 20s 20s like I don't think he's great I don't think this start makes him worse necessarily. It's just the kind of thing Anthony's Descliffeani's going to run into from time to time. And I thought there was one more thing.

Oh, AJ Pollock Homer for the fifth time. He's been starting more lately. You know, hasn't been an everyday player for the Dodgers. And, you know, he's not making especially hard contact. But, Anthony, AJ Pollock's obviously been a good player before. And if the playing time increases, I could see him becoming. somebody that we really talk about in a must-start sense again. He's just owned in so many leagues right now.

79%. It doesn't really make much sense to me. Sure, in Roto leagues, five outfieler leagues, but I think I'd rather own the other guys we've talked about recently over him. Jesse Winker, even Santander, I mean, at least Santander plays every day. I think just if you're assessing it based on relative. ownership than, you know, Pollock, there needs to be a little switcheroo there, but that doesn't mean Pollack is somebody you're dumping. I mean, I'd rather have Ian Hap, certainly the glowing

things I said about him, and he's only about 60, 61 percent rostered. So, yeah, no, I agree with that. Pollack is probably over-roastered relative to them, but it's more about them being under-roastered, I think, than Pollock being over-roastered. All right, we're going to take a break here, quickly promote that to celebrate the fantasy football draft season. We've said it once, we'll say it again. Our friends over at Fantasy Football today, Adam Azer, Heath Cummings, Jamie Eisenberg, Dave Richard, Ben Gretch, the crew, they're giving away a 75-inch and a 55-inch TV. The contest is completely free to enter to win.

Go to CBSports.com slash giveaway, and make sure you subscribe to that podcast and their YouTube channel as well. and leave a five-star Apple podcast review for this podcast. We would greatly appreciate it. Drop a question in there, and we will answer it on a future podcast. We love you. Thanks.

When we come back, we're going to hit the week five planner and look at the top five at each position so far in fantasy baseball this season. Welcome back to fantasy baseball today. He's Scott. I am Frank Sanfell, and the main question to ask you at this point, Scott, is Jim Halpert a bad person?

No, no. We're not going to do this on the podcast. No. No, he's not a bad person or no, you're just not going to answer? I mean, if you're going to say Jim Halpert is a bad person, I think you need to first take inventory of your own life and maybe some missteps you made in it because I promise you, you didn't handle everything so gracefully either.

I promise you. We were talking about it during the break, so I wanted to throw Scott for a loop there with some Jim Jim Halpert. Yeah, no. Jim Halpert is honestly, probably one of my favorite TV characters of all time. I think he's actually the second most important character in the office after Michael Scott. I know most people would probably go Dwight. I just think that's because Dwight is so likable. But if you're talking about importance, yeah, it might make sense. And for anyone out there who doesn't like the office, normally I would say, look, you know, everyone has their own opinion. It's fine.

if you don't like something, it's all right. But the people who don't like the office, I think that they're just trying too hard to be cool and go against the grain. The office is awesome. Just accept it. I mean, it's so much cringe humor. I can understand how that might not appeal to certain people.

Oh, God. It's great. The Tots episode is like the most cringy thing. Oh, man. But he tells the kids that he's not paying for their college tuition. that was just it's something about that like have you ever seen my cousin viny it's i feel like the same like just that that that that that thrill you get of watching somebody step in it you know like when one of your classmates would get in trouble in elementary school and you'd have to like

kind of hide your giggle you know yeah i don't know all right week five scott let's get into it scott who is your favorite two-star pitcher that is rostered an 80% or less for next week Yeah, my favorite pitcher rostered in 80% of leagues or less. Well, let me pull up my two-star rankings here because I don't have an answer ready for that. I would say, man, but I don't actually like them. I don't love my sleeper pitchers for this week. Let me just preface it with that. Dylan sees among the two-start options who are available and, you know,

who are owned in less than 80%. of leagues. He's probably my favorite, and yet I'm always talking him down every opportunity I seem to get. But he is making two starts. One is against the Tigers. So I guess if you're looking for a sleeper pitcher for this week, he would have to be high

on the list. Jordan Montgomery is up there too. He gets the Red Sox and the Mets. Chris Bassett's two-star pitcher getting the Diamondbacks and the Angels. And among sleeper pitchers, at least

two start options. Like those are those are the ones that I'm most comfortable recommending. I think Zach Eflin, we talked about him after his big start, Wednesday, 10 strikeouts,

19 swingy strikes, both career highs. It's really risky turning him for a two-start week after, turning to him for a two-start week after that, at Boston, at Atlanta. I probably only do that in a points league.

And there's some, you know, there's a pretty good number of, widely available two-star pitchers that I might take the leap on in a points league where the threshold is easier to meet because a bad start doesn't hurt you as much. Let's find out.

Zach Eflin would be in that group, Alex Cobb versus Toronto versus Boston. His splitter's been interesting this year. Austin Voth, it was actually terrible on Thursday. He has a two-star matchup coming out, one start against Miami, Kyle Freeland. Been good so far, but not in a way we trust generally.

And both of his starts are away from Colorado. Houston and the Dodgers, so not great matchups. But in a points league, I could see it. It gets to be a question in points leagues of like, are you willing to free up a roster spot to pick up these guys? And usually the answer is no. But there's a lot of two-star pitchers this week. there's a lot of games happening this week.

So it's, we're going to have some fun, Scott. Yeah, we are. And you're going to be going against opponents with a lot of two-star pitchers in their lineup, probably. Scott, correct me if I'm wrong. Does Griffin Canning have a two-star week? Because CBS shows him against the Giants and at Oakland,

which he hasn't been great recently, but I don't hate those matchups. I don't either. It would be in, he's in this big group of, to start sleepers that might be worth considering in points leagues. He's right after Kyle Freeland for me. I could flip those two maybe.

But like as I talked about after Griffin Canning's last start, I'm not, I'm seeing a lot of reasons to be discouraged that he's actually going to be a useful pitcher this year after the excitement, you know, when he had such a good, his first couple turns turned out so well, but it's been downhill since then.

All right, Scott, I'm going to throw a few names your way and you just tell me whether or not you would start this player in all leagues, just points leagues, or in no leagues. So our good friend, Matthew Boyd, at the White Sox and at Cleveland. Do you start them anywhere, Scott? In a points league, I could see it. But I'd rather not.

I agree with you. Definitely one in a categories league. Zach Davies at the Texas Rangers and at home against the Houston Astros. I mean, same answer. Pointless League, I could see it. I can't imagine freeing up a roster spot just to add him for a two-star week, though. This is a fun name.

David Peterson of the Mets. We have not talked about him at all, Scott. He did pick up the win on Thursday. He wasn't especially good. He was just fine. He's at the Marlins, and he's at home against the Yankees. Well, I mean, he gave up only one hit

in five innings Thursday to the Nationals. He's not really a batmisser, though. He doesn't have great control. Pretty good ground ball pitcher, but that's, you know, in the long run, I don't think this season goes very well for him to start week against the Marlins. Again, it's something I could see doing in a points league, but probably won't have the roster to pay for it. Space for it.

Probably every pitcher you're going to bring up, that's going to be the answer. I'll run off a few other names who fall into that category, since we're so far into it already. Chris Boobich going against the twins twice. Yikes. Kind of an interesting scheduling quirk there. Brandon Belich. B'lach?

Brandon Belak of the Astros versus Colorado at San Diego. Jake Areeta at Boston and at Atlanta and Antonio Sensatella at Houston and at the Dodgers. You know, like those are those are desperation plays in a points league only I feel like and that's

I think at this point we're tapped out on options worth considering I mean Luke Weaver's in line for two starts but I just can't trust him right now so bad you can't even sing his name anymore I don't even think Adam would sing his name yeah it would be a more depressing version of it for sure

I'm trying to think how that's That's how that would sound. Luke Weaver. Yeah. Something like that. Get some blues playing behind it or something. He's been bad. He has been quite bad.

Some single star... Oh, gosh. Yeah. Discrised the uniform into your fantasy roster. Get him out of there. Before I do it for you. You can't argue with that.

Yep. Some single starts, Scott. Do you dare, medal with Robbie Ray at the San Francisco Giants? No. For one. No. That means you could drop him in all leagues.

I think if you're not going to start him in San Francisco, Scott, he probably shouldn't be owned. I understand the argument. I'm not necessarily disagree, but I don't know. A turnaround could be instantaneous, and then you could be rushing to pick them up again. All right, yay or nay on these names, Scott.

Josh Lindblum at the Pirates. That's a nay. Stephen Mats at Miami. You know, I'm less than enthralled, but not a flat nay. Spencer Turnbull at the White Sox. Neh. Is this, are we looking at tomorrow's matchups right now?

No, no, no, no. These are for next week. This is for next week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Adam Plutko versus Detroit. Yeah, I'm not sure that's going to happen because Pluco's out once Clevenger and Pleseck return. So I would not count on that happening. Randy Dobnack at Kansas City.

I'm going to say yay there, unless he gets sheled this weekend. Fair enough, Scott. On the sleeper front, on the sleeper hitter front, Scott, who are some names, some teams that have some good matchups, some players you like? All right. So like I said, the Cardinals may have a nine game week. they may have a zero game week. The matchups actually aren't that good,

so I'm not sure who I'd be interested in playing there. Dylan Carlson may be in a five outfielder league. The teams that I have down for having the best matchups are the nationals, the Red Sox, the Mets, the Angels, and the Indians. The teams I have with the worst matchups are the Rays, Pirates, Rockies, Tigers, and Mariner. some hitters that I think you could look into playing include Eric Hosmer

let's hope he starts every game over the weekend because if he continues with his in and out of the lineup stuff that's that's going to be a no-go but yeah seven games six righties matchups are not enough to steer me away from him as dribble cabrera i mentioned the nationals have the best matchups this week so second or third base for him would it be a bad to play renato nunez uh the orioles i didn't mention them among the five best matchups but they're up there too uh howie kendrick i feel like i recommend him every week and he hasn't done much but but yeah nationals have the best matchups he might be somebody to consider dominic smith the metts have the third best best

matchups, as I mentioned. They are scheduled to face just two lefties in a seven game week. And Dominic Smith homered on Thursday for the second straight day. You know he's going to be in the lineup at least against the five Ritees. He is elevating the ball well, already up to four home runs. I think he's, you know, a decent sleeper for this upcoming week. Robbie Grossman has been in the lineup every day for the athletics against Ritees, and that's all they're scheduled to face this week.

The Diamondbacks and Angels rotations. So he might be a sneaky sleeper too. Yeah, we'll leave it at that. We'll leave it at that. My usual preface this as I usually do with, you know, these are only things you do if you have a real hole in your offense. Like I'm not advising any of these players

over one of your studs, over one of your tried and trues, the guys you drafted to carry your lineup. But if you do have a hole, these are the types of players that can fill in that hole for you this week. If you're still listening at this point, you probably guess it.

We're not going to get the top five, get to the top five at each position. We'll do it at some point. I don't know if it's going to happen next week with all the games that are going on either. But whenever we see a soft spot in the schedule, we'll try and look over. the top players at each position right now in fantasy baseball.

But I wanted to get to this, Scott, and I know it's something that you guys have done in years past, per the request of Luke via email, and probably others, I'm assuming. We're bringing back looking at probable pitchers for the day that you are listening to this podcast. We'll let you know whether or not we would start each or not. So let's look at the probable starters for Friday.

I assume the must starts are Jacob de Grom, Garrick Cole, Brandon Woodruff, Clayton Kirschaw, Sunny Gray, Frankie Montas, to Nelson Lamette, and Aaron Savale, who is facing the Tigers. I did not include Lance Lynn. I probably should, but he's in Colorado. So I'll just ask Scott. Yeah, I'd start Lance Lynn. All right, so let's run down the list.

Tanner Roark versus the Tampa Bay Rays. Nope. Spencer Howard versus the Mets. I don't think so. Yvonne Nova versus Cleveland. No. Chad Kool at the Cincinnati Reds. No.

Kyle Wright at Miami. No. Pablo Lopez versus Atlanta. I might if it was a better matchup, but Braves are tough, so no. I kind of like it, though. Noah Cunia pitching at home in Marlins Park? Can I talk you into? I forgot Acuna wasn't there.

I could talk you into it, Scott. I'd rather not, but if, like, among pitchers that are available, this is the most attractive one. This is the most attractive play. if we've brought up so far. Fair enough. Jake Junis at Minnesota? No.

Jake Odarezi versus Kansas City. No, he was so limited first time out. I agree. The Royals have actually been a tough matchup so far. Tyler Chatwood, can he bounce back, Scott, versus the Brewers? I could do that. I could go for that.

I think the Chatwood we saw his first three turns, right? is closer. I think it was two. Two? Yeah, I'm still buying Tyler Chadwood. I think he just had a bad start last time out, so I could do that play. How about Ryan Castellani versus the Rangers?

Get out of here with this. Come on. You say Cacucci at Houston. Didn't it go so well for him last turn. I think that was also against Houston. I wouldn't be afraid to play him, I don't think. But I'd rather not. Framber Valdez on the other side.

game against the Mariners? Yeah. Yeah, let's do that. Let's run them out there. Patrick Sandoval versus the Dodgers? No. Merrill Kelly versus the Padres? Hmm.

I'd rather not. You could do it, but I'd rather not. I think he's delivered a quality start in every start this season. I would do it. Scott wouldn't. Johnny Quato versus the Oakland A's, Scott. No. A few questions.

Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. This one is from Matthew in a head-to-head points league. I need to sit one of these for next week. Max Scherzer versus the Marlins, doubt it. Aranola at Toronto, Ken Tamayeta has two starts. Zach Gallen has two starts. And you Darvish against the Cardinals. Well, what in the world?

This is someone who clearly listened to you, Scott, and went all in on pitching. And now they have a great staff. I'm sitting you Darvish against the Cardinals. What kind of league are you only starting four starting pitchers anyway? I mean, I don't know. Maybe he has, maybe as Shane Bieber also. I don't know.

Well, it would have to be one of the, who did you say you were sitting? Darvish against the Cardinals. Yeah. I mean, Scherzer, you got to play Scherzer. I mean, the problem is the two worst pitchers here are the ones with two starts. And it's a points league. Yeah, I think Darvish. Yeah, I agree.

This one's from Chris. You guys have talked a lot about fringe, second baseman, and other fringy ads like Brandon Nimmo, Garrett Hampson, Nick Solack, etc. But I haven't heard where names like Kevin Newman and Luis Urius rank among those guys. Very far behind them, in my opinion, Scott. Yeah. I mean, Newman was a late round pick.

Ereus was hardly drafted and they haven't done anything this year so I don't know why you would put them in the same class as those. Now I mean that could change very quickly but

I just I don't I don't see the incentive to use up a roster spot on neither Newman or Ereas who are very questionable heading into the year and in Newman's case I don't think there's a lot of upside anyway Yeah, no.

They're well behind them. And Arias started his first two games back and then sat the next two. So it doesn't seem like he's an everyday player yet. I see the path more so for him kind of taking off rather than someone like Newman, just based on the prospect pedigree for Arias. This next one's from Jeremy.

Can you please help me rank the following players? I have to drop one. And then whenever Donaldson comes back, I will have to drop a second. You ready, Scott? You got your pen and paper ready? I got the names in front of me. I can do this. Marwin Gonzalez, Jesse Winker, Austin Slater, Gavin Lux, and Garrett Hampson. How would you rank those five, Scott?

Hampson, Winker. Agreed. Lux, Slater, and Gonzalez. Now, Slater has a chance to overtake Lux here. probably in between now and Donaldson coming back, but for now that's how I rank them. Slater is dealing with an injury that has kept him out of the lineup,

I believe the past two days, so that is something to pay attention to, but I agree with your order. I would have Gavin Lux's third on that list as well. This one's from Caleb. Scott was on something last night. Too many peeps, I think. Nope, no peeps for me last night.

What did I have last night? Who is on the, pro peeps versus anti-peeps. I know that there's a lot of discussion about peeps on this podcast, but I don't know where everyone likes. I'm the only one defending the peeps here. And for the record, it's not like they're my favorite treat in the world or anything.

I just don't understand the overwhelming backlash they receive when they're basically a marshmallow covered in sugar. And why is that a problem? That's a lot of sugar. Yeah, fine. If you don't like sugar, then you want to like a peep. If you don't like marshmallows, you want to like a peep. But I'm of the understanding most people like marshmallows and like sugar.

And, you know, a single peep, I happen to know this, top of mind, a single peep has seven grams of sugar. That's not an overwhelming amount of sugar for a candy. So like, you know, like it's hard to make an, oh, this is unhealthy argument when you're talking about candy, right? Like, obviously, I don't know. I don't get why people are repulsed by peeps when there's nothing weird about them.

It's such a basic candy that's basically just a marshmallow covered in sugar. Yeah, I don't have strong feelings either way. They're fine. Like, if I'm offered one, I'll eat one. I don't seek them out. You really only have them one time of year around Easter's when they're most pot.

popular really, so they're fine. I mean, I love marshmallows. Smoors is probably like my favorite treat ever. Smoors are awesome, especially like freshly made s'mores. Yeah. When you, when you get it, I mean, it's, it's an art form. Not everybody can do it. Some people don't have the patience for it. Some people just don't get the technique. But when you can properly toast a marshmallow, smores is just, it just goes next level. You know, some people get impatient. and they light the marshmallow on fire. Yeah, next thing you know, you just have like a charcoal marshmallow that's not even warm on the inside.

It's obviously going to taste gross. What are you doing? If you can skill it enough, if you have like the stick and then the marshmallow, you place the Hershey's on top of the marshmallow and you kind of melt them together and then you have like warm chocolate, oh gosh, that is.

Yes. The toasted marshmallow with the melted chocolate is a tremendous, tremendous pairing. All righty. That'll do it, Scott. We're heading off into the weekend. Plenty of office and peep talk today.

More than I thought we'd get into. But boom, bomb. Alec Baum. Let's do it. For Scott, I am Frank. Thanks for listening and watching fantasy baseball today on our YouTube channel. We'll be back again on Monday.

Bye-bye.