Fantasy Baseball Today - Breaking Down the Latest Trades! Jazz's Huge Game & Waiver Wire Adds! (7/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

Let's start with the three-team trade between the Dodgers, White Sox and Cardinals (2:40)! ... Lane Thomas is headed to the Cleveland Guardians (14:14). ... The Astros acquired Yusei Kikuchi but the cost was pretty hefty (18:00). ... Jorge Soler is reunited with the Braves (22:45)! ... Let's quickly run through the rest of the trades (25:03). ... Jazz Chisholm had a huge game in just his second game with the Yankees (32:28). ... MJ Melendez has quietly had a strong July (33:45). ... News (38:58): Christian Walker left with an oblique strain. ... How do we rank Colton Cowser, TJ Friedl, Masataka Yoshida and Jeff McNeil (45:26). ... Any interest in Grant Holmes (48:55)? ... Zack Wheeler and Logan Gilbert got rocked (52:25). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (54:27). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Another day, lots of trades to talk about. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, July 30th. It is Deadline Day.

I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we'll break down all the trades that went down, some of them more significant than others for fantasy. We will eventually get to Monday's action. Jazz Chisholm had a huge game with the Yankees, some hitters who are heating up here in the second half. But, Scott, let's just jump in and start things off with this three-team deal. Get this one out of the way because lots of moving parts here

between the Cardinals, the Dodgers, and the White Sox. We will start with the Cardinals acquisitions. They got Eric Fetty and Tommy FAM from the White Sox in this deal. Fetty has been great in his return to the majors this season, a 311 ERA, a 114 whip. He obviously moves over to a much better team, slightly better ballpark to pitch in as well. Tommy Fam having a solid year, 266, 5 home runs, 6 deals, 710 OPS in 70 games played. Not sure he's going to be an everyday player. It feels like maybe they have better players in the outfield currently, but it's got your thoughts on the

landing spots here for Eric Fetty and Tommy Femm. Well, between the three teams in this deal, this seems like the Cardinals seems like they got the most beneficial return for 2024. The highest impact immediate return went to the Cardinals. But it's also probably the part of the deal that I have the least to say about. Eric Fetty, yeah, he's been stable, reliable for fantasy this year. I think in a way that's kind of hard to understand. And I think it's more likely that he takes a step back than forward, not because he's going to the Cardinals,

but because he would have anyway. 311 ERA, that's versus a 377XERA, a 376 FIP, a 396X FIP. His control is merely decent. His ground ball rate is close to average. His swinging strike rate is really bad. And yet somehow he's had that 311 ERA. Right. So I've been expecting Fetty to regress, and I don't think that changes with the Cardinals. You could argue that the better supporting cast maybe cancels out any rise in ERA, but he managed to win seven games with the White Sox.

So I don't know that that pace can actually improve that much. He may have been fortunate to win what he did with the White Sox, but nevertheless, those are the wins he got. I don't see that wins pace improving. Pham's going to play a lot. It's a better lineup because any lineup is better than the White Sox. but again, I don't, I don't know that this accomplishes much for him in fantasy other than maybe it puts them back in the fifth outfielder conversation. And both of these players are moving over to the National League. So again, for our NL, AL only players out there, I'll try to reference this as we go along. But yeah, Fetty and Tommy Fam both will become available in NL only leagues.

Let's talk about the Dodgers acquisitions. Tommy Edmund, Michael Kopeck, and a 17-year-old pitcher Oliver Gonzalez. Edmund's still working his way back from off-season wrist surgery. He's played in eight rehab games, but all of them have been a DH so far. So I'm not exactly sure how close he is. 55% rostered with three positions of eligibility, second-based shortstop and outfield. Michael Kopeck, you know the deal.

He has nasty stuff. Sometimes he looks unhittable. Sometimes it feels like he has no idea where the ball is going. Maybe the Dodgers can help get the best out of Michael Copac. And if that happens, he could factor into the closer mix at some point this season. But Scott, your thoughts on the Dodgers acquisitions of this trade. Well, this might be the most interesting from a real life perspective. Because my goodness, the Dodgers gave up a lot for Tommy Edmund,

a guy who's been out all season recovering from wrist surgery, which hopefully means the reports on the wrist have been good. the production on his minor league rehab assignment hasn't been great, but that's not the most important thing, how he's producing. What's important is how the wrist looks. And the fact that the Dodgers gave up, well, everything that went to the White Sox came from the Dodgers. And basically all the Cardinals gave up for Feddy and Tommy Fam was Tommy Edmund. So, yeah, the Dodgers really seemed to value him.

And you can understand from a defensive perspective, they've struggled to fill shortstop position, the shortstop position really dating back to last year, Mookie Betz was forced to play there. There's been some talk while Betts is recovering from his own injury that maybe he'll go back to second base. So I presume the thinking here was, okay, Tommy Edmund gives us a true shortstop. And even if I'm wrong about that,

even if they're okay with Betts at shortstop still, I know Gavin Lux has started to heat up, so maybe they want him up the middle still. Edmund can play the outfield. And the Dodgers have had some needs there, too. So it's versatility and quality defense for a club that's had trouble filling holes that have developed on the diamond throughout the years. But I think the main appeal here are shortstop for the Dodgers. Of course, any hitter added to the Dodgers lineup is going to see a boost in value in fantasy.

So I think I'm more enthusiastic about stashing Edmund. Now that he's with the Dodgers than I was before, he is on a rehab assignment, like I said. For the last few years, we've valued him as a base dealer. Who isn't a total, who won't totally sink you in batting average and home runs. There is a little bit of a contribution in those areas for Medman, but mostly it's about the stolen bases. And, yeah, now he'll be doing it for the Dodgers instead of the Cardinals.

So I think that's, I think that's good news. Just to get to the Copac thing I don't see him factoring in saves for the Dodgers They have at least four relievers Who I think would be ahead of him in that pecking order And they've been indecisive about who closes lately But Coppec has been not very good

They may like the potential And they may They may turn him into something But in the short term I don't see him having a fantasy impact I think this effectively zaps it. And do you have any indication who will save games for the White Sox?

Does it matter? I don't think it matters. You know, they weren't even that committed to Kopeck closing. He did get nine saves, but they turned to other guys at times. And I think they'll do that even more going forward. John Brebia, for what it's worth, pitched the eighth inning with a lead here on Monday. And he gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Bobby Wood Jr. So not a great audition there for John Brebio.

The White Sox side of this trade, they acquired Miguel Vargas and two infield prospects, Jarl Perez and Alexander Albertus. And Vargas will get the opportunity to play every day. You know, he's had sporadic opportunities with the Dodgers, but I think it's just happening now. He's going to get a runway here. We're going to get to see what Miguel Vargas can do. He's still only 24 years old, but in 129 career games, just a 201 batting average, 11 homers, five steals, 658 OPS,

does have second base and outfield eligibility. That is Miguel Vargas. And then the other two prospects, Scott, you could touch on Vargas first and whether or not he matters for fantasy and if you have any thoughts on the prospect package. I don't have many thoughts on the other two, but I think this Miguel Vargas part

is the most exciting part for fantasy. Because, yeah, he finally gets an opportunity and just to remind you of his potential at AAA this year, he slashed 290, 440 566 with eight home runs and eight steals. Did you see more walks than strikeouts? 440 OBP?

440 OBP. Yeah, he had more walks than strikeouts, eight home runs, eight steals, and just 41 games. And that basically sums up his entire minor league career. Miguel Vargas has always been a big time producer down there. We did see him get a run with the Dodgers last year at second base for a while. but remember he was coming back from a hand injury in spring training and the ex of velocities were unimpressive.

The performance was even less impressive. It's gotten better this year. It's gotten better this year in both the majors and minors. And to a point now that I don't think it's quite the liability I worried it was coming into this season. I have renewed hope for Miguel Vargas. and I think the biggest reason it didn't work out for him with the Dodgers was that they just weren't able to stomach his defense anywhere.

But that's not going to be a concern for the White Sox. They have so many holes in their lineup. I don't know exactly where they're going to play him if it's second base or left field. Those would be the two most likely, I think. But he's going to play. And I think it puts him, in consideration to be added, especially in Roto leagues where you have so many hitter spots to fill. And everybody needs to be keeping an eye on them because I think there's legitimate upside here.

Miguel Vargas only 10% rostered. So widely available, again, 12-team Roto leagues are deeper. You have a corner, you have a middle. Well, actually, he's only middle and outfield. But, you know, you have those extra spots. And, you know, I checked some of my 15 teamers today. He's available in those two. So I think there will be some enthusiasm for adding Miguel

Vargas this weekend. Another name who goes over from the NL to the AL will become available in AL only leagues. Let's take our first break and when we return on to the next deal, Lane Thomas traded to the Guardians. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in. Lane Thomas traded over to the Guardians in exchange for left-handed pitcher Alex Clemmy and infielders, Jose Tena and Rafael Ramirez. Lane Thomas having a strong year, 253 batting average, eight home runs, 28 steals with a 738 OPS. The power has come down a little bit this season. He's hitting more line drives, not pulling the ball as much.

But as we've seen, the Guardians have done a pretty good job getting power out of their players this year, Scott. What do you think this does for Lane Thomas's value? Well, that's more true for hitters batting from the left side than from the right side. Progressive field has been a pretty difficult place for right-handed power. to the point that if Lane Thomas had played every game there over the last three years, he'd have 11 fewer home runs.

So it's a similar stat to what we saw with Esauk Perretti's going to Wrigley Field. Now, I'm not as worried about Lane Thomas losing value as I am Perretti for a couple reasons. One is that the profile isn't exaggerated. it. Like, Isok Perretta's tiny little icicles on his on his stack cast page. He doesn't hit the ball with any authority at all. Lane Thomas is more middle of the pack as far as that goes. And Isok Perretta's power is so concentrated toward that left field foul pole where Lane Thomas is a little spread out. So I just think, I don't think Lane Thomas's his profile is as exaggerated as Issoc Perrette is and is one note. Like he's not as as a, as a, as a limited to being he's not as confined by his environment I guess

would be the way to put it. So that's one reason I'm not as worried about Lane Thomas losing value to other is because

his game has been less power than speed this year anyway. Last year he broke out with 28 homers and 20 steals.

This year, if you pace his numbers over the same number of games, 156, it comes out to 16 homers

56 steals. So I went from 2820 to 1656. Now, maybe he doesn't run as much with the Guardians. I can't say for sure. They're a team that likes to run a fair amount, not as much as the nationals, but they're on the upper third of the league

as far as stolen bases go. So I imagine he'll still have the same green light he did in Washington. So I think his value is pretty much going to hold. Lane Thomas, maybe loses a little with that park shift. Not that the nationals, not that the national, Nationals playing a great place to hit. But maybe Thomas loses a little with that. Overall, though,

I think there's enough, he offers enough that it's not going to drastically change his value. Yeah, I hadn't considered, the Nationals have been really aggressive this year on the base pad, second in baseball and steals with 147. The Guardians are tied for eighth with 88. So, again, there's still top 10. You mentioned that. And just the team context, I mean, if he's batting second behind Stephen Kwan and ahead of Jose Ramirez. He's going to see some pretty good pitches to hit. So, yeah, I mean, just considering all the different factors, it probably comes out to like a net neutral, I think, overall.

But another big name here going from the NL to the AL. So again, those who play in AL only, Lane Thomas will become available to you. The Nationals on Monday had James Wood, Jacob Young, and Alex Kahl in the outfield. Alex Kahl actually had a pretty big game here. But I think we're one step closer to seeing Dylan Cruz in the Nationals' outfield

at some point here in the second half. Just the name you need to know, I think, for deeper leagues for now. Again, that is Dylan Cruz. Let's move over to Yusay Kikuchi,

who is traded to the Houston Astros. Scott, I was floored by the package that the Blue Jays received in this trade. It was great job by them. They got pitcher Jake Bloss, who we've seen a few starts, hasn't looked great so far in the majors,

but the minor league numbers have been great. Infielder Will Wagner, who's actually the son of Billy Wagner. That's right, I got that. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, and Joey Loprafito. So I think, yeah, this is a great haul for the Blue Jays. We'll get to that side in just a second.

But Kukuchi, we know he's been really bad lately. Overall, it's a 475 ERA, a 134 whip, lots of hard hits, lots of home runs. The underlying numbers say maybe he's been a little bit unlucky, a 364 FIP, a 398 expected ERA, still lots of strikeouts. maybe the Astros can find a way to get U.S.a Kikuchi back on track. The one thing that worries me here, Scott, is Minutemate Park,

Kakucci being a lefty, giving up hard contact and home runs at times. The Crawford boxes in left field. I don't know. It just kind of worries me about the value here for U.S.Kakuchi. It's interesting to me that Billy is the dad and Will is the son. You'd think it'd be the other way around. They do have different middle names, so it's not a junior situation. But they're both William.

Anyway, I got sidetracked by that and wasn't really listening to what you're saying. So pardon me if I repeat something, you said, yes, yes, I did hear at the end there, you're worried about Cacucci with the Crawford boxes at Houston. And I agree. He's susceptible to home runs, a left-handed pitcher. Great place for right-handed power. Great place for left-handed power, too, because opposite field home runs. So, yeah, this is a head scratcher. I mean, this might be, it's up there with Carlos Estevez.

in terms of, wow, they got that for him. Because Kukuchi's a free agent at the end of the season, and he hasn't actually pitched all that well. And now he's going to a venue that may not serve him well. It's not all about venue. Maybe the Astros see some way they can get him back on track. Certainly, he's underperformed his ERA estimators this year, and he does have the 15th best strikeout-to-walk ratio among qualifiers.

So there's something to work with, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you, I'm supremely confident that Kukuchi's going to get back on track with the Astros. And then you have all that talent going the other way. I think Joey Lopofito is the one we're most excited about for fantasy. And spoiler alert, the Blue Jays also traded away Justin Turner. So there would seem to be an opening for Joey Loprfito in their lineup. He does have strikeout issues, significant ones.

But the way he improved his exit velocities in the minors, like elite exit velocities. It seems like there's considerable power here for low perfido, and I'm excited to see if he can make something out of it with a close to full-time role, I would imagine. So low perfido is the one we're excited about for fantasy, but if you look at real world prospect lists, Jake Bloss ranks even higher than low perfido. He was, I think, Baseball America had him number two in the Astros organization midseason. We've seen him make three starts in the majors. results weren't great, but in 13 minor league starts this year,

164 ERA, 0.78 whip, 8.6K per night, not a big strikeout guy, more of a generates weak contact guy, is Jake Bloss with good control. So he may be a better real-life pitcher than fantasy pitcher, but I think he's going to slot in the rotation right away, and we'll see where that goes. I think even Will Wagner's kind of interesting, and we're commenting on anyway.

He is 25 and at AAA. Oh, 26, actually. He's turned 26 recently. The day it was traded, actually. Happy birthday, Will Wagner. But 307 batting average 424 on base percentage at AAA. I could see him, you know, coming up and doing Spencer Horwitz type things. And now they're on the same team.

So, yeah. Yeah. I think there's a chance we could see all three of the prospects that came back in this trade. This season, and relatively soon, up with the Blue Jays. I know Jake Blas only made a few starts at AAA, so perhaps they want him to get a little bit more seasoning. But Will Wagner, Joey Loporfito? Yeah, I could see those guys kind of just slotting in here

for the Blue Jays moving forward. Scott, who would you rather speculate on in deeper leagues? Joey Loparfito or Miguel Vargas. I would rather speculate on Vargas. I think the floor is higher for him, if only because of strikeouts. All right, Scott. your Atlanta Braves reunited and it feels so good.

They acquired. So good. Jorge Saler and Luke Jackson from the Giants for lefty reliever Tyler Massick and third base prospect Sabin Sabius. And Saler having a down season, 240 batting average, 12 homers 749 OPS. I noted the other day he's been much better since the start of June. In 29 games with the Braves in 2021, we all remember he was awesome. 269, 14 homers, 882 OPS, hit that tit.

Panic home run in the World Series. I don't think it's landed yet. World Series MVP. I wish, I wanted to go upstairs, throw on my Jorge Salare World Series MVP shirt. But it would have woken up my wife and probably wasn't worth it. But yeah, I like, the author of probably my second favorite moment ever as a Braves fan is now back with the team. So this is the train I'm most excited about. If only for that reason, does it change Jorge Salare's value in fantasy tremendously? Probably not. He's going to bat lead off, I would imagine, but he was batting leadoff for the Giants the past couple weeks. I mean, he may be great with the Braves again, just because he was already heating up, as he point out, and we've seen him have these big second halves in the past,

including that year with the Braves. Still hits the ball very hard. I think his strikeout rate has been lower than ever this year, right? right? It's right around where it was last year, 24.7%. Yeah, I just realized. The big drop was last year, yeah. One of Saler or Ozuna will have to play the field now.

Oh, yeah. That was true back then, too. It's not great. I mean, I don't think you really want either of those guys in the outfield. Yeah, Saler, I mean, I don't think it matters what teeny more venue he plays on. I think it just comes down to Solair. When he's locked in, like we saw last year, he could still be one of the best. power hitters in baseball. He had 36 home runs

with a 853 OPS last season. This year he's been down, but you know, he's been shrieky, and it wouldn't surprise me if he gets back on track here. So I don't think he's a must roster in like three outfielder leagues, but he could get there if he goes on a heater. Again, that's Jorge Saler. A couple other trades. I think we can kind of breeze past lots of these, Scott.

But Justin Turner was traded to the Mariners for outfielder RJ Shrek. Does this matter for fantasy? I mean, if you had any hope for Mitch Garver, you could probably throw that out. I'm not expecting Justin Turner to be revitalized with the Mariners, though. Yeah, at 39 years old, it's been a down season for Turner.

253, 6 home runs, 718 OPS. Quality of contact is way down. Ahmed Rosario was traded to the Dodgers in exchange for pitcher Michael Flynn. We know the Dodgers could use help everywhere right now, third base, shortstop, maybe the outfield as well. Rosario's been fine this year.

He's batting over 300. He's got nine steals of 748 OPS. Deeper leagues, does this matter? I mean, they've solved shortstop until Tommy Edmund's back, I guess. I don't know. Yeah. They didn't play them much as much as I thought they would when they acquired them at the deadline last year. So I doubt it'll be any different.

I think Rosario is just around for depth. The Reds acquired Thai France from the Mariners for catcher Andrew Salcedo. And France also having a down year, I mean, it's pretty much been downhill since, you know, he had really good 2021 and 2022. two seasons. Cincinnati's a great place to hit, but will he get every day at bats? I kind of think this is a short side platoon role for Thai France.

Yeah. Yeah, if that. No excitement there, right? No. The Royals acquired Michael Lorenzen from the Rangers for left-handed pitcher Walter Pennington, and Lorenzen has a 381, ERA, a 128 whip. The underlying numbers all look much, much worse here.

Any interest in Michael Lorenzen on the Royals. No. He hasn't been that interesting, even though he has dramatically outperformed his ERA estimators. So I guess they're going to bump Alec Marsh, who actually started here on Monday. I guess he's the one who gets bumped for Lorenzen. I'm not sure that's an upgrade, really, for the broils or for fantasy. Yeah, pitching in that ballpark might keep that ERA usable, but Lorenzen's just a streamer at best.

The Brewers acquired Frankie Montas from the Reds for Joey Weamer and Jacob Junis. And Montas has a 501 ERA, a 144 whip. Wocks have been a problem for him. You know, Joey Weimer once upon a time, there was some prospect hype, some sleeper appeal there. Hasn't been great in the minors this season. We did see some power and speed from him last year. Anybody matter in this trade, Scott, Montas, Joey Weamer? Not. I mean, look, Montas has the best.

chance of mattering. He still has a splitter with a whiff rate over 40%. So there's something to work with. I think mostly just he hasn't had much control after a year lost to shoulder issues. So maybe I'll benefit from a change of scenery and bounce back. I think there's a there's some chance of that. But I'm not rushing out to pick up Montas or anything like that. All right.

The Red Sox acquired Quinn Priester from the Pirates for, second base prospect, Nick York, and this is an interesting, semi-interesting post-hype prospect swap between these two teams here. Priester has thrown 94 and two-thirds innings in the majors. Has not been good. 646 ERA, a 158 whip. The slider and the curve, both look solid. We know that the Red Sox are very much so into spin this year with their pitchers, so maybe they can get something out of Quinn Priester. And Nick York is a former first round pick back in 2020. he did break out in the lower levels of the minors in 2021, but hasn't really been able to get back to that level.

I know he's been better at AAA recently. But can you see either of these guys mattering, Scott, Nick York or Quinn Priester? I mean, the Red Sox have done interesting things with pitchers, so maybe they'll work their magic on Priester. I'm not going to bet on that necessarily. The York acquisition is kind of a head scratcher to me because he's a second baseman,

and they've had Nick Gonzalez. I'll let's break out as a second basement. I know he's on the IEL right now, but it seemed like he had stabilized that spot. And then, you know, their big draft pick a couple years ago, Tremar Johnson. He's still an A ball,

but he is a second baseman. So I don't know, I don't know why they need so many second baseman. I don't know how they're going to make all that work. I did want to quickly pull up Nick York's minor league page just to see if he's played in the other positions. And he has a little left field. played 27 games in left field.

So yeah, I don't know. I know he doesn't have, well, maybe I shouldn't say I know, but as I recall, he doesn't really have the arm to play the left side of the infield. And I think that's true for all of those guys. I'm not as sure about Gonzalez, but I think Tirmar Johnson's the same way.

The Pirates also acquired Jalen Beeks from the Rockies for left-handed pitcher Luis Peralta, and I believe I saw that he is the brother of Freddie Peralta. So Luis Peralta going over to the Rockies here. Jalen Beeks you know, there's no fantasy value here. He adds another lefty to

the Pirates Bullpen. Aroldus Chapman was the only other lefty there, so obviously they were looking to add some relief help. And that's it for all the trades, but the latest rumor, Jack Flaherty, was scratched from his start on Monday. It sounds like multiple teams are looking to acquire him ahead of the trade deadline

here on Tuesday, 6 p.m. Eastern time. Bob Nightingale reported the Yankees had extensive talks with the Tigers on Flaherty and that if they acquired him, they would look to move on from Nessor Cortez. So lots of moving parts, which includes a report from Bob Nightingale, so believe that, if you will.

But my guess is Jack Flaherty will be on the move somewhere here on Tuesday. A programming note, speaking of the deadline, which is fast, rapidly approaching. If there are lots of trades that happen on Tuesday, we will have a bonus podcast, which we'll go live for on YouTube,

6.15, 6.30 p.m. Eastern time, something like that. If there's not much going on, we'll just save the rest of the trades that happened for our nightly recap, our usual podcast at night. And I did want to point out something, and I know a lot of people have reached out to me to let me know there's something going on on the audio side of the podcast.

We are aware there's some annoying screeching sound that's been playing in the place of some advertisements. We understand that it's extremely annoying and we do apologize. I know we've already received a few... Even more annoying than an advertisement. Yes, it is that annoying. I can confirm.

You're wishing for the advertisement at this point. We're reverse psychology, psychologizing the listeners or something like that. But we've already received a few one-star reviews on Apple because of it, and I can assure you that we are aware of the issue, and we are working to fix it. And we'd love to avoid any more of those one-star reviews if possible because they are harmful to the podcast.

but I totally understand how annoying it is. Just know that we are working to get that back on track. All right, that's all the trade stuff. Let's actually talk about some baseball stuff from Monday. Jazz chishism, baby. Smooth jazz. Let's talk about it. Second game with the Yankees, two for four with a double dong.

One of the home runs came off of a position player, so all right. But one of them also came off Zach Wheeler. So I feel like that kind of cancels out. Pretty impressive game here. and it was also his first career start at third base. From what I saw, it looked pretty good. Some great defensive plays that I saw here from Jazz Chisholm. The overall numbers, he's up to 15 home runs, 23 steals.

It's only a two-game sample. I just get this feeling, Scott. He is going to really, really try and put forth, I don't know, as much effort as possible to stand out for his new team and his new fans, whatever it might be. and we could just truly see a breakout second half here. And I don't know, maybe the rest of his career playing in Yankee Stadium, but maybe I'm overreacting the two games.

Who knows? I mean, he's a talented player. I think his talents are going to be better appreciated. I think everything we said about him yesterday with the venue and everything. Yeah, it's hard not to be encouraged by the return so far. So far, that's right, two games from Jazz, So far, he has looked great. Scott, let's go over to you, your player from Monday.

Okay, I'm going to go with MJ Melendez here, who has always been an interesting player and has had an interesting July. So he missed a good chunk of the month with a, I looked it up right before, sprained ankle, I believe it was. And this was only his second game back, but he went two for five with a home run. That's his fourth home run in July. He's batting 286 for the month. His overall numbers are terrible.

And so I'm not saying you've got to rush and pick up M.J. Melendez. But just to remind you of a couple things about him. His average exit velocity for the year, not just during July where he's been hot, for the year, 91 miles per hour, his max exit velocity 112.9. his expected batting average 243, so about 50 points higher than the actual mark, has expected slug 435, again about 40, 50 points higher than the actual mark. And just last year, the first second half splits for MJ Melendez were Stark.

Second half, I think first half he was hitting like 210. Second half, he hit 273 with 10 home runs and an 836 OPS, which was pretty close. to must start, a guy with good plate discipline doing that. Maybe he's doing it again. The skills certainly appear to be there for MJ Melendez to have a productive second half. And yeah, if returned so far in July or any indication, it's happening.

Again, not rushing to pick them up, but you need to be aware of it. 16% rostered on CBS is MJ Melendez. Just a name for deeper leagues, I think 15 team roto with five outfields. I'll throw them in that mix. Scott, how would you rank Melendez, Miguel Vargas, and Joey Lopifito if you're just shooting for some deep league upside? I'll go Vargas, but I think I'll slot Melendez ahead of Loprfito. Okay. Wanted to give in, oh my goodness gracious shout out to Kyle Finnegan, who I guess does not want to be traded because in his audition before the deadline, he entered the ninth inning

with a four-run lead, and he proceeded to give up five runs on five hits, including two homers, a walk-off homer to Corbyn Carroll. And Kyle Finnegan only recorded one out. He took his fifth loss. He's been amazing all year. I don't think it's crazy for some regression to hit here. Sucks that it came all in one outing. For Kyle Finnegan. But yeah, a rough outing for him. And shout out to the debacks, man. They were down eight to two entering the seventh inning. And they came back all the way back and won that game. So good for them. Let's talk to Corby and Carol homered again. Yeah. As a pinchetter. He was the walk-off home run. Oh. In the ninth inning. Wow. You don't like to listen when I talk to you, Scott.

I don't. There's a lot of home runs for him lately. Not a lot of anything else. Yeah, I brought this up yesterday, is that Corby and Carroll, the power and speed has been great in July. The batting average is still terrible. It's around 200.

I think it might be 210, something like that. So it's been weird, but I mean, you'll take anything you can get from Corby and Carroll right now, right? just to put some numbers to it. 2.15 batting average, six homers, 19 runs, 15 RBI, six steals,

in 829 OPS. So everything's good except for the batting average. So maybe Corby and Carol can carry this over the final two months and finally get back on track. Let's take our final break.

When we return, we'll talk news and notes, some waiver wire options. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in. Let's talk some news and notes. And Christian Walker exited Monday due to left oblique

Tightness. Always scary to read that coming out from a slugger. So, I mean, my assumption is that this will either cost him a couple of days or likely to go on the IL. He was replaced by Kevin Newman, so I don't think that there's any, like, intriguing replacement, at least not on the D-backs there for Christian Walker. Maybe if they hadn't traded Davis and De Los Santos. I was just thinking the same exact thing, but he's gone. He's now on the Miami Marlins in the AJ puck trade. Cody Bellinger was activated from the IL but was not in the Cubs lineup on Monday. Why do teams do that, Scott?

Why do they activate a player and then not put them in the lineup? Who was it that was activated? Cody Bellinger. Was it a left-hander pitching? Let's see. They were facing the Reds, I think. No, it was Carson Spires. Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know. The same thing happened for Josh Young. He was activated and not in the lineup. It's weird. I don't exactly. It might be like some kind of weird roster maneuvering that I'm not aware of, but oh well, at least he's back, I guess.

Rinaloa Lopez is considered day-to-day after an MRI on his right forearm came back negative. The Braves are hopeful that Lopez will avoid the IL. Josh Naylor was back in the lineup after missing three straight with General Sornis. Brian Reynolds was back in the lineup after missing four games on the bereavement list. I just mentioned, but Josh Young finally activated from the IL.

He's been out since early April. April 1st, in fact, I wish that was some kind of cruel April Fool's joke. But it was not. He missed nearly the entire season. And he had wrist surgery, but Josh Young is back. Not in the lineup for some reason. Brewer's manager, Pat Murphy, said, Devin Williams will not be used on back-to-back days for the time being.

Trevor McGill was also placed on the aisle with a lower back injury. And I think this opens up for some short-term ancillary saves here, Scott. Do you have any prediction as to who would be the eighth inning guy or next up on those days when Devin Williams can't pitch? I would guess Yoel Puyamps. What's his name? Brian Hudson, if Brian Hudson hadn't himself gone on the aisle, maybe he would have been a candidate. But yeah, I mean, it's, and I'm not sure it's anybody worth caring about. I guess is ultimately what I'm saying.

Yeah, it would purely be a deeper league. You're really desperate for saves type thing. For what it's worth, they had, they won the game 8 to 3. It was 8 to 2 entering the 9th. They traded for Nickomeres recently from the Rockies. He struck out to, I don't know. It might not matter.

Let's move on. Francisco Alvarez was out of the lineup Monday due to left shoulder soreness. Carlos Estevez was asked what his role with the Phillies would be. He responded, quote, I'm down for whatever, man. So we'll see. John Carlos Stanton made his return Monday and was in the lineup.

That's nice. He was batting fifth for the Yankees. While the Padres remain hopeful, U. Darvish will be back at some point later this season. There doesn't appear to be a timeline for his return. He's been on the restricted list for three-plus weeks while dealing with an unspecified personal issue. Meryl Kelly will throw a three-inning simulated game on Wednesday.

his teammate Eduardo Rodriguez could make his season debut next week in Cleveland Scott who would you rather have or stash Merrill Kelly or E. Rod? Merrill Kelly, I think he's better. Yep, I would agree. The Astros are promoting outfielder

Pedro Leone to take Joey Loperfito's spot on the roster. I'm not sure how much he's going to play. I do know he's put up some big numbers in the minor, Scott. Is there anything here with Pedro Leone? I mean, I think it would be sort of the role low perfido was filling and he i want to say he has strikeout issues too and uh it's it's his he doesn't have a lot of uh believers at this point within the the prospecting world so no

i would not be particularly compelled to to pick up pedro leone just to put some numbers on it 297 Batting average 19 home runs, 23 steals, 896 OPS in 93 games at AAA this season. Again, that is... Yeah, the strikeout rate doesn't look so bad. I don't know. Maybe I need to take another look at him. But I don't think the role would necessitate a... You know, a hyperactive... Proactive move.

Yeah. John Gray was placed on the I.L. with a right groin-strain and could miss up to a month of action. Hirsten Waldrop was reinstated from the IL and optioned to AAA on Monday. The Debex optioned Gilbert Diaz back to AAA. He had three strong starts and one really bad one while he was up in the majors. Yario Rodriguez, speaking of bad starts, he was optioned to AAA after an awful start on Monday in game one of their double header. And another day, another player hit in the face with a pitch. This time, James McCann had the ball hit him in the nose.

he was leaking blood. I mean, some of the images I saw of him crouching to receive pitches with just gauze sticking out of his nose to stop blood from coming out. And he played the rest of the game. I never saw anything like it. It was crazy.

It was like crazy, like in the true sense. Who thought that was okay? I mean, clearly he thought he was okay with it. And it just seems like something reflexively you do. A guy gets hit in the face and is bleeding. You take him out. And maybe he's okay.

Maybe he doesn't have fractures or a concussion or whatever. But you take some time to figure that out. It's bizarre to me. The images were upsetting in my Twitter feed. Yeah. Tough guy, but weird, weird handling, I guess you could say. Let's talk some Waverwire hitters. and four outfielders who are either hot

or expected to be hot at some point. Colton Couser, three for seven across the doubleheader with a home run, three runs, three RBI. He has led off three games in a row for the Orioles. In the second half, he is batting 375, three homers, 10 runs, 12 RBI, two steals, OPS over 1,000, might just be heating back up. T.J. Friedel, one for four with his fifth home run,

three RBI. returned on Friday has started three of four games. Masataki Yoshita had a big game, three for five, with his fifth home run and four RBI. Also having a big July, three 38, three home runs, 20 RBI, 922 OPS. And Jeff McNeil stayed hot, two for four with a double two runs and three RBI, 11 games in the second half for McNeil, 359, four homers, 10 runs, 12 RBI, 1152 OPS. So lots of interesting options here, Scott, how would you rank Kouser, Friedel, Yoshida, and Jeff McNeil? I would rank them Friedel number one,

McNeil number four. Probably Kouser over Yoshida, two and three. Yeah. But Friedel's the one who I feel like even in three outfielder leagues probably needs to be rostered. And the most added outfielder's on CBS right now are Tyler Fitzgerald and Lawrence Butler. Would you put those at the top?

of the list? Butler and who was the other one? Tyler Fitzgerald. I would, I guess I'd put Butler at the top of the list, but I think I'd rather have Friedel than Fitzgerald. I think that sounds right.

Yeah, so Butler, Friedel, Fitzgerald, Kouser, Yoshida, McNeil. Maybe I swap Yoshita and Kouser in a points league because Kouser strikes out a lot, but I'm intrigued by really all these names here.

Kouser, the fact that he's leading off and the power and speed, we've seen him be good. He might just turn out to be a really shrieky player and looks like he's getting on one of those hot streaks once again. Corner infielders Michael Bush just continues

to be rock solid, one for three with a walk and his 13th home run. Since June 7th, last 43 games for Michael Bush. He's batting 290, five home runs, 22 runs scored an OPS right around 850. And Nate Lowe, two for four with his ninth home run, last 28 games

for him, 310 batting average, 7 homers, 24 RBI and OPS over 900. Scott, who would you rather have Michael Bush or Nate Lowe? Well, I will point out that they were both sleeper hitters for this week. So that's off to a good start. I would rather have Lowe, who I just think is going to be more predictable. But I do like the way Bush is trending.

I think the gap is pretty close there between those two. And yeah, low is up to 66%. rostered Bush is at 73. Some names just ahead of them. Reese Hoskins is at 76%. Would you drop Hoskins for those guys? It almost feels like a lateral move. I would not drop Hoskins for those two.

Yeah. Candelario has really slowed down. Would you make that swap? In a shallow enough league where you could think about it, where these guys might actually be available. I mean, that seems like go with the high hand to me. Okay. Let's talk some Weaverwire pitchers.

And not too many intriguing options, but some solid ones. Colin Ray, another solid start up against the Braves, five and a third, two runs, six strikeouts. And Jose Cantana turned in another strong start up against the twins. Six innings, one run, five strikeouts. Over his last eight starts, it's a 191, ERA, a 102 whip for Jose Cantana. Carson Spires, who pitches for the Reds. He returned on Monday up against the Cubs. Shutout innings, just one hit for strikeouts to two walks.

And Grant Holmes from your Atlanta Braves made his first career start. And he pitched really well at the Brewers, five innings, one run, eight strikeouts to zero walks. He had 11 whiffs on 70 pitches. A four-pitch mix. Both of the breaking pitches look pretty good. What do you think, Scott? Anything here on Grant Holmes, Carson, Spires, Jose Cantana, and Colin Ray. I mean, there might be something here with Holmes.

I don't know if he's going to get another start. This was billed as a spot start, but it went so well. And as a multi-inning reliever coming into this start, he had a swinging strike rate of 15.9%, which the only qualifying starting pitcher who comes close to that, and he doesn't surpass it, but the only one who comes close is Garrett Crochet. Now, that was in relief in a small sample,

but it was a lot of like three-inning appearances for Grant Holmes. So then he comes in and over a five-ending appearance, he does this. Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of intrigued. We'll see if he gets another shot for the Braves, but I think there might be some talent here. It wasn't long ago he was, I guess it was kind of long ago. It was long ago that Grant Holmes was a,

prospect of some notes. So it's not like he just came out of nowhere. Let's see. Who else are we talking about here? Ray, I mean, the same old story. You expect him to fall apart at some point, but hasn't happened yet. Kintana's on a nice run,

as we've seen from him before. Spires. I don't have a lot of confidence in Spires. He's a fly ball pitcher who has somehow, despite pitching half his games in Cincinnati, somehow just giving up five home runs in over 50 innings. So I feel like that's going to hit him pretty hard at some point. There doesn't seem to be a lot of swing and missability here.

So I'm not so much buying into spires. I would say he's of the lowest interest to me of these four. Grant Holmes, by the way, I was just watching a video of him. The hair? Fantastic, Scott. Yeah. Yeah. You got to love that. So it's, it's, it's reminiscent of, uh, Kenny Powers, right?

He's bounded down. Yeah. I can see that. Uh, Grant Holmes, one person at rostered. He is a spark on CBS. Deeper leagues for now. We'll see where it goes. But yeah, this was a pretty impressive first career start from him.

Another big day of offenses overall here on Monday. And we know offense has been up in July. We had three teams score 14 or more runs, eight teams that scored eight or more runs. And as a result, that led to some blow-up starts here from some pitchers. So, Zach Wheeler got crushed by the Yankees, five-innings, seven runs allowed, six strikeouts. He allowed three homers in this start.

Logan Gilbert got crushed at the Red Sox, two-and-two-thirds, seven runs allowed for him, four strikeouts to zero walks. And if you picked up either one of Simeon Woods- Richardson or Jordan Montgomery for a two-star week. I'm sorry because they had bad starts. Simeon Woods-Ritchardson at the Mets, three and a third, six runs allowed. Jordan Montgomery, four-innings, six runs as well. It's just, for those last two, Scott, I think if you picked them up for a two-star week, they're locked into your lineup this week. Okay, it is what it is. I think you can go ahead and drop them for anybody else who's more intriguing. Montgomery is more talented than this,

but we're 15 starts in. He's got a 651 ERA. I just, I don't think we can mess around anymore with him, at least for now. Yeah, I agree. I agree. But I'm not so much worried about the others. I mean, Simeon Woods Richardson, he seemed like an overachiever. Not that there was nothing there to work with. I liked him a little more than Colin Ray, for instance.

But it wouldn't surprise me if he fell off, if this was the beginning of the end for him. But there's nothing really to worry about for Wheeler and Logan Gilbert. They had been so solid. for so long. I think it's like you said at the top. Just the way the ball is playing right now, we're going to see more of these blow-up starts just out of nowhere, even for good pitchers, because the environment is shifting back toward offense. Yeah. And one other name I didn't mention there, but James and Tyone at the Reds, four and a third, six hits, six runs. He allowed two homers. He was also on a great run recently. So perhaps this is a regression start, tough ballpark to pitch in.

He's also auditioning likely to get traded, I would imagine, here on Tuesday. We'll wait and see if James and Tion is actually traded before the deadline. Let's get into some other leftover Scott and some pitching. Zach Eflin turned in a quality start in his Orioles debut up against the Blue Jays. Six innings, 10 hits, three runs. All right. Did have seven strikeouts. He picked up the win.

It is what it is. Tanner Bybee, quality start at the Tigers, six innings, two runs, only two strikeouts gave up some hard contact in this one. He left his last start with cramping in his right knee. I didn't see anything about it. Velocity was down a little bit, so maybe that factored in for Tanner Bybee. Luis Heel was solid at the Phillies. Five and a third, three runs loud, eight strikeouts,

continues to lean heavy on that slider, used it 47% in this one, and it was a good pitch for him. Nick Povetta, a strong bounce back up against the Mariners, six and two thirds, three runs, with 10 strikeouts, had 15 whiffs on 109 pitches. And Paul Skeens, a quality start at the Astros, six innings, two runs, one of those earned, six strikeouts with 16 whiffs on 101 pitches.

Five names here, Scott, anything to add on Skeens, Pavetta, Luis Heel, Tanner Bybee, and Zach Eflin. I would add that Bybee's strikeouts have been concerning me lately. Three good starts in a row, but less than, and a strikeout per in each. 9.8K per 9 still for the season. So it's definitely out of character. But I don't even really know how to explain it.

It just concerns me a little, is all. Luis Heel, what happened here, doesn't really concern me. Velocity was up on his pitches. He got plenty of whiffs. He strikes at a decent rate, too. Just issued three walks. You know, based in the Phillies. I don't think it's a big deal.

No reason for panic. Nice to see Pavetta bounce back after that terrible start at Colorado. For the most part, he's been good in June. He had another start that wasn't a quality start, but he had a bunch of strikeouts in it. In July. I'm sorry, July, yeah, in July. But that disastrous start at Colorado, I think we can just write that one off as a product of course field. Luis Heel, by the way, last four starts, a 235 ERA, a one whip on the nose, 30 strikeouts to just five walks over 23 innings.

So he had that rough stretch, but for the most part, it looks like Luis Heel is back on track here with the Yankees. The AL MVP Ray Scott is going to be insane because I would not want to be a voter this year. There are many great options, and we saw a few of them do some big things again on Monday. Aaron Judge, he's not human. Two for five with a double dong, three RBI. He's now up to 39 home runs, 99 RBI. and July is not over yet. It's July 30th.

So just interested to see where those numbers wind up. Bobby Witt Jr. continues his ridiculous second half. Four for five with a go-ahead Grand Slam in the eighth inning of that game. Ten games in the second half. He's betting 575 with three homers, 12 runs, 12 RBI, a 1580 OPS. And I don't hear anyone bring up Jose Ramirez's name. I feel like he's kind of on the periphery of the MVP race. The Guardians, I believe, still have the best record.

in the American League, but three for four with a double dong for him. I don't know who's going to win it, Scott, but all these players are awesome. Well, you didn't even mention Gunner Henderson, who I think is in that discussion as well. And Soto. And Soto, yeah. I mean, yeah, by baseball reference, Gunner Henderson is second in A.L. And Wore and Soto is fourth. It is third. Ramirez? Where is Ramirez?

Perhaps the defense drags him. Are I looking at the right year? Yeah, I'm looking at the right year. Where's Jose Ramirez and the war leaders? Wow. Is he that bad? Is not... Gosh, why is he so far down there?

I don't know. I'll have to figure that out, but it's behind Ezekiel Tovar. I don't know. I don't know what's up with that. Aaron Judge has a pretty commanding war lead, though. I will point out. Almost one. Almost a full war ahead of Gunner Henderson on baseball reference.

Mm-hmm. I don't know the difference between Fangrave. war and baseball reference war, but it's a lot closer. Judges at 7.1, Bobby Wood Jr. is at 6.9 on fan graphs. And Jose Ramirez is at 3.1. So it's pretty far down. Yeah, they interpret defense a little differently. And I think they place more value on what I call theoretical stats rather than actual

production, which is better in a predictive sense. But to me, that's not what you award awards. four. So I would value baseball reference more for this exercise, but I'm sure many out there would disagree. Some hitting leftovers, Vlad Jr. will not stop hitting. A huge doubleheader, it's seven for 10 with two home runs, four runs, five RBI, and I will give you an update. Since cutting the hair, 33 games, 376 batting average, 14 homers, 39 RBI, and OPS over 1100 for Vlad Jr. who is on fire. Anthony Santander became the fourth hitter with 30 home runs this season. He also has an 833 OPS. His career high, 33 homers in 152 games back in 2022. He's at 30 home runs

through 102 games this year. And he's in a contract year. So Santander trying to get paid and looks like he does deserve it quite a bit. Anthony Volpe hitting much better in the second a half so far two for four with his ninth home run 10 games after the break three 33 three homers three steals 944 ops cow raleigh two for five with his 23rd home run he's homered in three straight his 23 home runs lead all of catchers is six 67 rbi second at the position pitalonzo has homered in back-to-back games willie adams has had a bounce back july after a really down june 326 with four home runs, lots of counting stats, 914 OPS in the month for Willie Adomis, and Jackson Churio stayed hot, two for four with his 12th home run.

Since the start of June for Chorio, it's a 320 batting average, seven homers, 26 runs, 28 RBI, and five steals. So it is happening for Chorio, Scott. Lots of names there. Anything that you wanted to touch on? I will point out that during this strong, run for Volpe he's hitting the ball a good bit harder on average

now whether that's a chicken or egg thing chicken and egg thing and that okay of course he's hitting it harder he's hit three home runs or he's hitting it harder and that's why he had three home runs I'm not ready to commit to but I there's been a lot of

there's been a lot of big talk on both sides for for Volpe when he's going well see this is the big breakout this is what everyone this was why he was the big prospect what everybody believed in. And then when he's going poorly, it doesn't look like there's much here.

Fringy guy, whatever. And I just, I don't think he's really settled into who he's going to be yet. It's still awfully early in his career. He's still very young. And maybe we just need to let it play out for a while. I understand you have to make roster moves in fantasy, and I think it was totally fine if you dropped him

in shallower head to head leagues with no middle infield spot. But I don't want to make any, long-term, I'm completely in or I'm completely out on Anthony Volpe, because I still think we just need to see play out. Yeah, I think that's all fair. I think Volpe is interesting because he's a better fantasy player, I think, than real-life player. The OBP is not great.

The OPS is sub-700. So you look at those two and you say, but isn't the defense really good? The defense is good. But I just mean it in the sense of, you know, we see sometimes players that provide a little bit of power and speed, okay, the OVP and the OPS is subpar. I'm thinking of someone like Andres Jimenez, right? He's had really useful seasons for fantasy because he'll chip in 15 homers and 30 steals. And that's kind of the player I think

Volpe is turning into. And I think that's a useful player for fantasy. It's not, you know, an elite player. It's not a league winner. But if he gets to 12 to 15 home runs with 25, to 30 steals, that's, that's a useful player for fantasy. So, I kind of feel like, and who, well, I was thinking, like, just look at Tommy Edmund's numbers and how useful he's been in fantasy. And I kind of feel like that's the downside for Volpey with more walks. Yeah. Like, he could be Edmund with more walks.

I don't know if that's the downside. I think that might be like the median expectation right now, but he is young enough. Like, I think you were about to say where he could get better. better. It's not inconceivable. Well, isn't he basically on pace for Volpey numbers right now? I'm sorry, for Edmund numbers right now? Yeah, and this kind of feels like a median outcome for him, right? Okay. I guess. I mean, I don't expect him to be worse than this moving forward.

Yeah. So I think it's a downside argument. Well, so there. I think it comes into like what your expectations were, right? Because I was down on Volpe coming into the year. And yeah, I didn't really have. much faith. And obviously he got off to the hot start and then he regressed and now he's hot again. So we'll see where it winds up. But yeah, I think a

Tommy Edmund Andres Jimenez type fantasy output is kind of where we're trending right now with Anthony Volpe. Some bullpen updates for the Rangers Kirby 8 struck out one for his 19th save for the Astros. Josh Hater entered in the ninth with the game

tied. He gave up a three run homer to Michael A. Taylor. Really? Michael A. Taylor? Hader took his sixth loss. The ERA is up to 4-11. I did not look this up beforehand, but it feels like any time Josh Hader pitches in a non-save situation,

he is just terrible. And that was the case here again on Monday. For the Pirates, David Bednar got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up one run on two walks and two hits, but picked up his 19th save. I was watching that game. Really interesting.

The ninth inning, bases loaded. There was two outs at the time. They unintentionally, intentionally walked Yordon Alvarez with the bases loaded, a three-run lead. They just did not want to pitch it. He did not throw him any strikes.

They wanted to face Yiner Diaz instead. And so they walked in a run. They still had a two-run lead. And then Yiner Diaz popped out to end the game. So it worked out, but you don't see that every day. I mean, that was the kind of stuff they were doing back when Bonds was in his prime. But yeah, you don't see it much.

It does surprise me that they wouldn't just go for the intentional walk. Like, did they think Jordan Alvarez was going to swing out of his shoes at a bunch of obvious balls? Because your base is loaded. You risk a wild pitch. Yeah. When you don't even have to throw pitch outs anymore to get an intentional walk. It was an interesting call. All of the pitches were up and in.

And Alvarez actually swung 3-0 on a pitch that was like borderline up and in. it technically hit the box on the K zone, but yeah, after that, like right after that, it was not even close. So, yeah, just interesting strategy there for the pirates, and it worked out.

They won the game. For the Royals, James MacArthur pitched a clean ninth for his 18th save. And for the Blue Jays in game two of their double header, Chad Green entered with two outs in the seventh, runners on first and second,

a two-run lead. He got Adley Rutchman to fly out. Chad Green stayed out there for the eighth, and he pitched a clean inning. It was lefty Hennesis Cabrera, who got the ninth with a four-run lead. He gave up a hit, but struck out two. I just think it's telling, in case Chad Green is moved before the deadline tomorrow, Cabrera might be next up for saves for the Blue Jays.

This is something to keep in mind there. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, and no clue how many of these pitchers will actually still be on their teams by the time the deadline rolls around. but some interesting names. Gavin Williams is at the Tigers. We have Jeffrey Springs making his season debut. He's facing the Marlins.

We have Sean Mania gets the twins. Lanselin gets the Rangers. Michael Waka at the White Sox. Yeah, I think we said yesterday, Waka at the White Sox Springs against the Marlins and Williams at the Tigers in that order. I'm sticking with it. And on Wednesday, it is pretty,

bad. I think Brian Beyo against the Mariners Brian Beow is pretty scary throwing him out there. Yeah, the mayor's... He was among my sleeper pitchers

for the week, number 10. Yeah. Outside of that, I mean, Kyle Freeland at the Angels, uh, Drew Thorpe, I mean, there's no way. I can't recommend Drew Thorpe again. Andrew, Andrew Heaney at the Cardinals.

You know what? Heaney at the Cardinals might be okay. All right. Yeah. I'm okay with that one. Sounds good. All right, we are going to wrap there. Again, just a reminder.

If there's lots of trades going down, Tuesday, we will go live for a bonus podcast around 6.30 p.m. Eastern time on YouTube. So be on the lookout for that. If not, we'll just save everything for our normal nighttime recap. For Scott, I am Frank. Thanks, thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow.

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