Fantasy Baseball Today - Buy Or Sell!? Justin Verlander's Return & Waiver Wire Moves (8/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 22, 2024

Matt Waldron got bombed and should be dropped (2:46). Same with Jordan Montgomery (6:09). ... The Reds had four pairs of socks and shoes on Wednesday (10:57)! ... Aaron Judge and Juan Soto did it again (15:48). ... News (19:43): Luis Gil was placed on the IL. ... Joey Votto is officially retiring (26:30)! ... How do we rank Yoshida, McCarthy and Carpenter (29:25)? ... Any interesting waiver wire pitchers (42:00)? ... BUY OR SELL (46:14): will Justin Verlander be a difference maker? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (57:04). 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. With fantasy. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Hello and welcome into fantasy baseball today on Thursday, August 22nd. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, Justin Verlander is back. I've got some buyer sell scenarios. The Reds had four socks and shoes as a team. I don't remember ever seeing that. I'm sure it's happened at some point. Honestly, it doesn't sound like enough for a 25-man roster. Right, right. They're running out there.

Careful. What is this? I know it's a small market, but come on. Yeah, it's tough times, Chris. Tough time. Clothe the players, honestly. Do I want to thank everyone for being here. This is far and away our latest start of the season. Some technical difficulties.

Weird stuff going on behind the scenes. We are here. We are ready to talk baseball. Let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, and we will start with Scott, your player of the night. Matt Waldron. I wrote about Matt Waldron for the most recent weekend stockwatch that came out this past Monday. And I pretty much stuck a fork in him then because it had been real bad for a long while for our old buddy Matt Waldron. he had over a span of nine starts, a 58 ERA. And the odds are against a knuckleball are finding success anyway.

There's a reason there are hardly any out there. And there's a reason that the ones that have come along during my 25 years playing fantasy baseball have generally not been very good for fantasy. It's a mercurial pitch. and it has to work or else the pitcher just has nothing. And I thought maybe Waldron could buck the trend because he's a rare knuckleballer who actually can get his fastball up to 90 miles per hour. So that gave me hope when he was succeeding earlier in the season.

But things have only gotten worse here because this start on Wednesday for Matt Waldron was just an out-and-out disaster. Tenor runs in four and a third innings. 12 hits. That was against the twins. And yeah, I stick a fork in him. He's not of interest anymore, I think is all I really need to say.

Yeah, I'm doing a dropometer for the newsletter on Thursday morning, so Wednesday night. And Waldron's on there. He's a nine. The one thing I will say is like, I often say knuckleballers are random number generators. and if he went out and had a 3 ERA the rest of the way, I wouldn't really be too surprised because I'm not sure there's like, I'm not sure I feel comfortable saying, aha, Matt Waldron has been figured out or Matt Waldron has lost the feel for like,

I just think sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. And it might, he might just go out the next time out and it works really well. But his knuckleball usage has been trending down. And that's something that I, I've talked about a lot where like 40% has kind of been the sweet spot for him and he has not hit that in three of the past five starts. Looks like, yeah, it looks like it's like he's been below 40% with his knuckleball usage like pretty consistently lately.

So yeah, it seems to have lost it. And yeah, I think he's pretty dropable. Yeah. And look, you can say this about any pitch. If they don't have their best pitch working, it's most likely not going well for them. I think that's even more true for a knuckleball pitcher. And Matt Waldron's knuckleball was his third most used pitch in this start. So didn't have a feel for it.

Only 14% CSW. And if you look at the underlying pitch characteristics, it's far and away his best pitch, which makes sense. So yeah, still 70% rostered. Matt Waldron, 10. I'm going out there, Chris. Make it a 10 on the drop of a meter. for Matt Waldron. And from one pitcher who could be dropped to another,

your player of the night. Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't realize we were all going to be so negative when I picked Jordan Montgomery. But yeah, Jordan Montgomery, it's, uh,

there had been some flashes lately. That suggested that maybe he was starting to figure it out, right? Like the curveball, which we've harped on, was starting to look more like it had in the past when he'd been successful. It was a tighter, uh,

pitch that he was getting less break on. which is in this case apparently a good thing because it looked like it had in previous years. But then he goes out against the Marlins, gives up six earned runs on 10 hits over five and two thirds innings, two home runs. And the thing is this doesn't mean Jordan Montgomery won't have good starts moving forward. Probably has six starts left, maybe five. How could you possibly have any hope or any faith in starting him if he gets rocked by the Marlins like this? It's just, it's an untenable situation. And, you know, he was 40% started this week, 66% rostered.

I think that made sense with the matchup against the Marlins. Scott, I know you had him as a sleeper pitcher and I'll call you out personally. Unfortunately, I have to recommend 10 bad pitchers every week. I think we're done here. I can't promise I can't promise he'll never be on my sleeper pitchers list again. I feel more confident in Matt Waldron than Jordan Montgomery. Yeah, wow. Yeah.

I'm pretty much over both of them. Yeah. Yeah. And Jordan Montgomery is 60% rostered on CBS. And this has happened a few times this season where we get a little bit of a stretch where things start to look like they're turning around and we're starting to buy in. And then it's boom, we get hit with another terrible start. And especially against the Marlins, though I will point out, the Marlins have been pesky recently.

So I think you could see. still stream your pitchers against them, but maybe not with as much confidence as before. Look, if you can't get Christian Pache out, like, I can't trust you to get like real major league hitters out. I 100% agree, but man, Xavier Edwards, Jake Berger. They're doing some things. They're doing some things. They have some life.

But yeah, I think those two were done with. And I'll just spoil the newsletter for Tamara Garcrochay. we're also, I mean, we were done with him after the last start. He's still 87% rostered. I'm very excited to draft. I'm very excited to draft Gary Kerchay next year. That's what I will say. They actually, Grady Seismore, their interim manager, actually said, yeah, we're going to cut back on his workload.

So they've, it's been obvious now for a couple months, but now they've made it explicit. And they said they're going to reduce it little by little from here, from him being maxing out of four innings. 57 pitches today. I think it was 55, the previous start. He's been good the past two starts, and they've pulled him. So, yeah, that we're all three of those pitchers can probably be 20% rostered. And that 20% should probably just be the 20% of leagues that are just the walking dead at this point in the season, you know, like the teams that just have given up. I think that's probably where we're at. And Garrett Crochet is still 87% rostered on CBS. way too high. I think the problem is, and this is such a weird thing to say, there's more pitchers to drop right now than there are ones to add,

which sounds weird, but think about all the names we brought up recently. Garret Crochet, just today, three pitchers, some Dodgers guys, Walker, Bueller, Bobby Miller, those guys can go.

Nick Povetta, we spoke about yesterday, like he's another one that can go, but there's not... The most added pitcher right now in... Is that camp? Okay, sorry, I had the free... agent tab.

Like, the most added pitchers are Sir Anthony Dominguez, Michael Copac, okay, relievers, long starters, Martin Perez, eh, Zebby Matthews. It looked pretty, look pretty lame so far. Bowden Francis. Bauden, Francis, as the

Toronto listening audience would tell me. David Peterson, Osvaldo, Frankie Mont. Yeah, it's pretty, Francis is pretty interesting. From that, looking at it from that perspective, I could see how you might keep Crochet around in like a daily lineup league

where you just want to slot ratios into your lineup as often as possible, because his ratios should still be strong. Even that's been shaky lately, but he had nine strikeouts, what, two turns ago? But for conventional fantasy leagues, you're setting it once a week and you really need to have at least a chance

at a win from your starting pitcher, I think we're done with crochet. Yeah, completely done in points leagues. All right, my oh my goodness gracious from Wednesday is going to be the Reds lineup. They put up 11 runs on 11 hits, including four pairs of socks and shoes. Again, we got it from Ellie De LaCruz, Jonathan, India, Nelvie Marte, Spencer Steer, each with a home run and a steal in this game. Ellie DeLie LaCruz is now up to 22 homers and 60 steals on this season. It is August 22nd.

Where do you think this number winds up? End of season. Do we get 75? 80? I'm going to say 80. I think it's good because remember Ronald Acuna like really started running a lot more down the stretch last year once he had some like big milestones.

And I'm gonna, I'm gonna say Ellie gets to 80. That's my hot take here. Love it. I'll say 75, but that's not a very hot take. Tepp it. Luke warm water.

We did get an email today asking which players have the most, or does Ellie have the most socks and shoes? He is tied for second. I wanted to see if you guys could guess who he's tied with and who I haven't. I haven't seen an inside any of these players closets. Who has more? So one player he's tied with with six and one player has eight. I'll say Bobby Witt.

Not Bobby Witt. He is not in the top seven. Wow. He's not running as much this year. Yeah, he's only got three, I think. There are seven players with at least four. Fantasy feud, Scott. man I don't know

come on come on there's one guy who's got a ton of both and it's not Bobby Witt so it must be Shohei Otani Shohei Otani has eight socks and shoes this season

would you like to know who is tied with Ellie De La Cruz yes who is he tied with Francisco Lindor that makes sense too never would have guessed him yeah all right well Gunner Henderson has

five, by the way. Also, good for Gunner. Great player. Luis Garcia has five. Fun facts. Yeah, those are indeed fun facts. Back to the Reds lineup. Jonathan India, by the way,

last seven games picking things back up, 370 with three home runs and one steal. Spencer Steer continues his strong season, up to 19 home runs and 21 steals. Just want to take a closer look at Noelvi-Marté. He's a name we haven't talked about recently, and for good reason. He's not really on the fantasy radar right now.

He's been really bad. but why has he been so bad? We haven't talked about that. He's been sitting a little bit more recently, rightfully so again. He hasn't been good. 197 batting average, a 553 OPS. The strikeout rate is way up.

The quality of contact has taken a huge step back. I don't know if it's directly tied to like PEDs. I mean, it could just be, all right, a young player looked good last year, came back this year and struggled. Do you guys have any other hypotheses on Noel V. Marte? I think most people, would think the PED suspension and the fact that he is presumably no longer on PEDs.

I think history suggests that people tend to overstate what players lose after they get suspended for performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. So I don't know how much I want to tie that into it. I think it's probably the suspension though. You know, he didn't play for 81 games. He was, I think you have to be away from the team entire. when you're suspended. So, like, I think that stuff just takes a toll.

He didn't get a normal season. He's a young player. 22. So, yeah, I, that's my guess. But certainly my optimism for Novi Marte in the long run has taken a hit, you know, given how he looked overmatched at AAA, let alone the majors this season. So I'm, I'm certainly concerned about him moving forward. I don't know that I am.

I acquired him in a dynasty league a couple weeks ago, 24 teams, so deep. And I'm out of it. I'm not looking for Noel V. Marte to make an impact on my team this year. But he's 22, and he's been a big prospect since he was 17. And he has speed. He has power. The strikeout rate is out of character, and you wouldn't think that would have any impact from any connection to PEDs. I think he's just not squaring up the ball very well.

right now. And as the old prospect cliche goes, progress is not linear. So just because he was really good last year and really bad this year, you know, there's going to be some ups, some downs. And we've seen a lot of that from young talented prospects over the past couple of years. I have a feeling you'll be able to get Noel V Marte for dirt cheap entering next season, if you so please. I want to give a shout out to the Yankees. I mean, the two Yankees that show up every day. It's another day. Some more homers for Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. Soto hit his 36th. That is now a new career high for him.

And Aaron Judge, two for three with a double dong, three RBI. He is now batting his triple slash 334, 465, 722, with 47 home runs, 117 RBI on August 22nd. That's a hell of a season. And I think I saw he's on pace for 60 homers, right? So if he just stays on pace, he'll become the third player ever with two, with multiple 60 homer seasons. McGuire Sosa. Yeah, the first without PED ties. Plus, he's going to be challenging for the AL home run record that we all definitely cared about.

Yeah, his own. Yeah. Yeah, like, I think I saw Soto and Georgia the first teammates to have a 180. OPS plus since Ruth and Garrig. Jeez. Like those are the only two teammates that have ever done it before. I think they did it five times. That's,

you can make an argument that this is the best offensive pairing in a season in MLB history. Yeah, I think I saw some article on baseball perspective as making that argument. And by the metric they were using, it wasn't particularly close. I immediately thought, okay, well, what about Ronald de Cunia and Matt Olson last year?

But they were quite a bit behind. Jeff Passon, by the way, put out a tweet regarding Aaron Judge. Just comparing this season versus his 20-22 through 127 games then. He had 49 home runs this year 47. So he's really not far off from that pace. I know that he went off over the final month. So not sure he'll be able to exceed that. Can he get to 60?

It is a possibility. nonetheless, it's an amazing season once again from Aaron Judge. Let's take our first break. Oh, just wanted to remind everyone a little programming note. I will not be on tomorrow's podcast, but Scott and Chris will be here to hold it down. So yeah, make sure you are here on a Kokomo Friday to hang out with the guys.

Let's take our first break when we return, some news and notes right after this. Welcome back in news and notes. Luis Heel was placed in the aisle with a lower back strain, and Aaron Boone said the injury is considered minor. The Yankees are hopeful Heel can return when first eligible on September 5th. Will Warren has been recalled to take Heel spot in the rotation for now. I say for now because Clark Schmidt will start a rehab assignment on Friday and is 57% rostered.

There are multiple layers here. Scott, I'll start with you. Do you think Luis Heel returns as a starter when he's eligible to return? And are you interested in stashing Clark Schmidt? I think that this injury makes for a nice opportunity for the Yankees to slow down heels innings accumulation. And so they're obviously playoff bound and they're going to need to fill out a playoff rotation. And I imagine they still want heel to be a part of that. So we don't know how long he's going to miss, obviously.

and we don't know how urgently the Yankees are going to need him back. But I think they're thinking, okay, we give him a couple weeks rest, and this will allow us to keep him in the starting rotation deeper into October potentially. So that's what I suspect is going to happen. I don't know how useful he's going to be for fantasy rest of season, but that's what I'm guessing the Yankees are thinking. If there were pitchers worth adding, I think you might have a tough conversation to have about Louis.

Heal. Given that we don't necessarily love anyone who's widely available right now, you probably don't have a tough decision to make. But he's in that drop o meter segment for tomorrow's newsletter. I gave him a five just because like, if you're in a points league, three weeks from now doesn't really exist. Like, you got to get there. And if you really need the roster spot and you don't have an aisle spot to put Luis Heel in,

I think you can consider it. Yeah. I would say that Jacob de Grom is more stashable than Louise Heel. Probably going to come back around the same time. Yeah. I also think if you're in an NFBC League with no IL spots, you could probably go ahead and drop Louise Heel as well. Clark Schmidt, the other part of that question,

earlier in the season, he was having a career year, 252 ERA 114 whip. It was much better than we've ever seen him before, so I'm not sure that's going to carry over again. But he's 57% rostered, any interest in stash in Clark, I want to see how he looks on the rehab assignment, but I think he's stashable, yeah. We just read off the list of pitchers being added off the waiver wire right now.

I would say Clark Schmidt, based on what he was doing earlier, just to refresh everybody's memory, a 252 ERA, 9.9K per 9.9K per 9, a 12.5% swinging strike rate. No guarantee he comes back throwing like that again, but that's, that's, I'm interested in that, sure. I'll also say, like, Will Warren in Deeply, is worth a. He's had a really bad season at AAA. Still gets a ton of strikeouts, was good in his

spot start last week. It's a name in deeper leagues. That start did come against a minor league team, though, the Chicago White Sucks. I mean, look, I think the day before that start, who was it? Nestor Cortez got bombed. Who was it? No, it was Louise Heel, actually. Okay, there you go. It's better than Louise Heel. There you go. You heard it here first. Yesterday, Chris gave us Lucan Baker, who hit a home run on Wednesday. They called me a madman. Today, he says, Will Warren better than Louise Heel. You heard it here first.

Between Luke and Baker homering in his first major league game of the season and Richard Love Lady getting a save last week, I'm going to play the lottery. Let's go. This weekend. Get it done. Get it done, Chris. Apparently Tyler Glass Now has yet to begin playing catch.

Dave Roberts said that Glass Now likely won't be activated when first eligible on August 31st. Jazz Chisholm took batting practice on the field Wednesday, his first time swinging a bat since being diagnosed with a sprained left elbow. Alex Bregman returned to the Astros lineup as the DH. He went one for four with his 20th home run. Nolan Gorman was optioned to AAA. He was batting just 203 with a 38% strikeout rate and a 671 OPS. We'll always have that awesome stretch in like May, June, where he hit a bunch of home runs. But since June 5th, Nolan Gorman, had a 40% strikeout rate and a 511 OPS. The Cardinals have some problems.

Like, I don't know. They've still had a few successes with like Newpar and Alex Burleson, those guys like that, but like a lot of their most high profile prospects in the last few years. Yeah, your mic is doing that thing again, Chris, where you sound like you're underwater. So I don't know if you want to maybe unplug and then back in. Yeah, I'll dive down. But yeah, I think to you. your broader point. The Cardinals have kind of struggled here, not with all of their

prospects, like Mason Wynn is having a totally fine season. But, you know, even you mentioned Newpar and like Newt Bar hasn't been that good either, so I don't know. We'll see what the future holds for the Cardinals. Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a simulated game on Wednesday, his second Sim game since landing on the IL. Max Scher will make a rehab start at AA on Friday and is on track to return early next week. Jared Jones dominated his latest rehab start striking out 10 over five schoolless innings at AAA on Tuesday. Victor Vodnik was placed in the aisle with

right bicep inflammation. It was Anheel Chivigi who picked up the save on Tuesday, though they can also look to turn back to Tyler Kinley as well. Jorge Soler has been running the bases and remains on track to return this weekend. He actually did appear as a pinch hitter on Wednesday. Camilo DeValle is expected to be recalled

during the Giants' upcoming road trip. My guess, and I don't, I didn't read this anywhere, is that he will not pitch in high-leverage situations. I think they just needed an extra arm out of the bullpen. Do you guys feel differently? They said it was going to be a short-term stay from the beginning. I can't promise he won't quickly find his way back into the closer roll, but I'm not looking to drop Ryan Walker for him.

Yeah, I wouldn't drop Ryan Walker. I think Walker's pretty good so far in the role, right? He's been very good this season, yeah. But I think it could be a situation where a couple of good outings could get him back in there. D-Bax manager, Tori Lvulo, said Ryan Nelson is tentatively scheduled to start Friday against the Red Sox. Anthony Rizzo is closing in on a rehab assignment. He's been out since mid-June with a fractured right forearm. And one of the best of this generation, Scott is wearing the shirt right now.

Joey Votto officially announced his retirement. one of the best hitters in this generation, one of the most fun players, one of the most respected players. It's an awesome career for Joey Votto. Is he a Hall of Famer? He retired with a 409 career on base percentage. Yes, he's a Hall of Fame.

That's really good. It's crazy that it would even be a question. But Chris, he doesn't swing the bat. I've got a fun little titbit for you. So my very first day working at CBS was also Joey Votto's very first day in the majors, September 4th, 2007. A Tuesday, I remember, because my start was my start at CBS was delayed a day for Labor Day. So we've, Joey Votto and I, we've had these kind of like careers that have run parallel. And I'm the one still standing.

I'll just point that out. Oh, I thought this was turning into your retirement speech, Scott. No, no, I'm still here. When Votto goes, Scott goes. No, that's not what I'm saying. Joey Votto, so that following season, after he made that September debut, 2008, my first year covering baseball for CBS, I did have Joey Votto as a sleeper. Unfortunately, I liked Nick Johnson even more. Oh, man.

So I've, I've regretted that in the 17 years since. But Joey Votto was, you know, one of my early favorites. I loved him from the very start of his career. And I loved him for his numbers. But, you know, as he was in the league for a while, his personality came out more and more. And we all came to learn he's just like a delightful person, too. Kind of a weirdo.

Yeah, I love him. Yeah, one of my all-time favorite players. Everybody loves Joey Vado. This isn't the last we're going to see of him. I'm sure he could get any job in media he wants. And I think, you know, if any voter out there is on the fence about putting him in the Hall of Fame, I think just how beloved he is is going to be enough to put them over. Maybe that's not the way it should be, but I think that is the way it is.

And so I think it's very likely he does get in even on the first ballot. Yeah, Joe Mauer getting in on the first ballot has me. convinced that Joey Votto will as well. Obviously not the same player, but similar cases don't have like huge counting stats, but just historically great hitters. Yeah, 100% clean sweep across the board. I think Joey Vado is a Hall of Famer as well. It would be pretty awesome if we get them in their first ballot as well.

Let's get into some waiver wire hitters. And man, like we continue to talk about these outfielders. They're still available in less than 80% of leagues. So if you're playing a 10-team league, a 12-team league, a 12-te- points league. I know, you know, in leagues with three outfielders, you might have to drop someone. Less than 20% of leagues. Yes. You might have to drop someone who's like of bigger name value, but if you want to get one of the hottest hitters in the game, Jake McCarthy, Masataka, Yoshita, and Kerry Carpenter has been doing it for a shorter stint since returning from the IL.

But all three of these guys look pretty awesome right now. Just to remind everyone, Scott, how would you rank McCarthy, Yoshita, and Kerry Carpenter over the final five weeks of the season. Well, Yoshita is the one who I trust to play the most, and he has the best

skill set for points leagues. So I think in either format, I would say Yoshita, but twice over in points leagues.

Agreed. And then the other two, I'm going to go Carpenter and I'm going to assume he said Jake McCarthy

there, and I agree. This doesn't really work because it's office. Scott isn't in the right part of the

screen. Here, wait, hold on. But robot. Oh, Scott is back. Yeah. And Scott's picture is just frozen right now,

so it looks like he's just annoyingly rolling his eyes while talking. Oh, I'm annoyed all right. What a delightful disaster this podcast has been so far. It's been so great. All right, Scott, I don't know if you want to put a bow on your... Jake McCarthy was third. Carpenter, I will point out he had gone one for 14 and his four games prior to this one.

So it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbow since he came off the aisle, and he does still sit against left-handers. So I don't want to over-hype Carpenter. I think all three of these guys are in the, like, 40 to 50 range of my rankings. So not somebody, not players that you really need to care about in three outfielder leagues, except maybe Yoshida while he's so hot. I updated the ranks here on Wednesday, and I moved these guys. Yeah, right to that range.

that you just mentioned. I think I actually had Jake McCarthy the highest. So maybe I'm alone in that endeavor. But yeah, I have McCarthy at 40, Yoshita at 45, and Kerry Carpenter at 56. So maybe I need to move those guys up

a little bit more, but let's see. I moved like Lane Thomas behind them. I think that's a move you can make. Yeah. You guys good with that? I move Lane Thomas down. I don't think I moved him down that much, though. The playing time

has taken a step back recently. Right. I understand why you have. And I think the struggles in the playing time are connected. And so if Lane Thomas were to heat up, which I suspect he will at some point, the playing time would go back. But whatever.

I don't have a great fondness for Lane Thomas that would cause me to complain about you doing that. I moved Wyatt Langford behind McCarthy and Yoshita, too. I don't know if you guys would make that swap. You probably should. I haven't, but. No, I haven't either. Yeah, no, I...

That's why I said... You know, it's one of those things like, okay, how do you view rankings? Are we... How literal are we being? These are rest of season rankings, you know? Because I think I would rather bet on Langford if I'm betting on one guy for the rest of season, but I don't want Langford in my lineup as much as I want Yoshita right now. Yeah, I've kind of changed my rankings philosophy just because, you know,

we only have about a month left in the season. So I've kind of put more of a slant on who do I want to start right now? Like who do I want in my lineup? And so I've been a little bit more aggressive with players that have just been flat out bad or losing playing time. I was a little bit more aggressive in moving those guys down the rankings here. Some middle infielders, Mason Wynn has actually hit for more power here in the second half. 258 batting average, but six home runs, 18 runs scored. A 760 OPS, he is hitting the ball harder and barreling it up more.

69% rostered is Mason Win. And Brendan Rogers, if you are looking for a middle infielder, a middle infield streamer for next week, seven home games in Colorado and having a big August is Brendan Rogers. Chris, who do you like more, Mason Win or Rogers? I think Mason Win is the better player and the better hitter, but we have five weeks left, and one of them for Brennan Rogers is all seven games at course field.

So I'm okay with that. Win has been disappointing since moving into the lead-off spot, mostly because he only has three steals in 68 games as a lead-off hitter. And I thought he was going to start running a lot more. He's 88% on sprint speed. I think he's a really solid hitter. I've made the Tim Anderson comparison several times, and I think it's apt not quite as good as peak Tim Anderson,

but a really solid hitter. It's just that profile looks a lot better if it's 25 steals instead of 15. Yeah, I think he's certainly fast enough, Mason win. I'm a little surprised he hasn't run more myself. Some names in five outfielder leagues. John Kenzie, Noel is picking up more playing time recently.

He started seven of the past eight games. He had another home run here on Wednesday. The plate discipline, Scott, I have no idea how to explain John Kenzie Noel. I mean, a 50% chase rate is ridiculously high. Like, among qualified hitters, he would be number one with a 50% chase rate. His zone contact is 92.6%. That's better than Jose Ramirez. So, like, he is just a confounding player in terms of plate discipline. That's John Kenzie, Noel. Parker Meadows has hit well since returning from the IL. He went three for five with two doubles and two RBI. And Matt Walner continues to hit for power since being recalled on July 7th.

3-04 batting average, seven home runs in OPS nearing 1100 during that time. Five out of the league, Scott, how it drank Jean-Kenzie Noel, Parker Meadows, and Matt Walner. I don't buy any of these guys. Oh, really? I think all three of them

should be more rostered than they are. I think they're all kind of interesting, too. You said John Kenzie, Noel has a 96% zone contact rate? 92.6. Because that's not... Unless I was looking. looking at the wrong player, which is entirely possible. I see an 87.6%.

That is stat cast data. Oh, I'm looking at fan graphs, stat info solution, sport info solutions. It's different source. Yeah, okay. It makes a big difference the source. Yeah, I guess so. Versus 96%.

80s good. Yeah. Yeah, I, you got to love big Christmas, but that's not a disqual. disciplined enough hitter, I think, and the fact that the strikeout rate and the chase rate are both so high. Quality of contact is high. Like, he hits the ball hard, and you can't overcome it that way. But I bet against it.

At Noel's expected batting average is only 210 versus his actual 257 batting average. So I think in the long run, he's going to be pretty fringy for five outfielder leagues. But I don't have, like, a lot more confidence in Walner or Meadows. Walner had gone one for 14 in his previous seven games, so he's slowed down quite a bit, as you'd expect. I don't know. I guess, I guess, I guess, no, Noel is who I'd take first, but not with a lot of gusto, clearly.

I might go with Meadows, actually. He had obviously a horrible start to the season, was really, really good when he got sent back to AAA. had, I think it was three really good games after getting called back up, then got hurt. Yep. And has hit well since returning. So I think Parker Meadows is probably the best of this group. Noel and Walner have the one stronger skill.

Both of them are power standouts. And I think, like, Noel has 29 homers between AAA and the majors in like 102 games. and Walner we know has top end raw power. So I feel more comfortable that those guys are going to give me power than that Meadows is going to give me anything. But I think Meadows has the more well-rounded skill set. Parker Meadows in 14 games since returning from the IL, it's a 352 batting average,

one homer, five doubles, two triples, five steals, and a 949 OPS. So I am pretty excited about Parker Meadows in five outfielder leagues as well. Do any of these names matter? I guess in deeper leagues. Geraldo Pardomo has been doing some things, two for five with his second home run.

Hits for good batting average. Modest speed there. Spencer Horowitz, two for three with two walks, a double, and his eighth home run. He has homered in back-to-back games. Four home runs in August, so hitting for a little bit more power is Horwitz. And Ernie Clement, two for four with his ninth home run,

three RBI. He has homered in back-to-back games. He has three homers in his past six. and he is playing every day for the Blue Jays. Chris, do any of these matter? Ernie Clement, Spencer Horwitz, and Geraldo Perdomo. I think the two Blue Jays guys matter a lot more than Perdomo. I think he's just empty batting average,

but if you need that, I guess he's okay in deeper leagues. But Horwitz and Clement are both moderately interesting. I think Horwitz more so. There's a little more pop. He's a good on-base guy. So in deep points leagues, OVP leagues. I think Spencer Horowitz is a decent starting option. I like Horowitz more than any of the other hitters we've talked about in this segment.

So more than those three outfielders we just talked about, Noel Meadows, and Walner. I think Horowitz is actually good, and he's playing every day. He's started against six of the last seven left-handers or six of the seven left-handers that Blue Jays have faced in August. So he's not a platoon player. his line drive rate is very high his strikeout rate is low, his walk rate is high and he's showing more over the fence power than a lot of people gave him credit for

eligible at first and second base I think he's I think he's a really solid middle infield choice right now at a time a year where we don't have as many of those because of injuries and I will say I think I'm more interested in about five of the hitters we've talked about

than literally any of the pitchers we're about Yeah, and that goes back to what we said earlier is that there's just not that many interesting waiver wire pitchers right now. Let's take our final break, and when we return, we will talk about those names right after this. Welcome back in. Let's take a look at some waiver wire pitchers

from Wednesday. Michael Lorenzen has pitched well since joining the Royals, seven shutout innings with five strikeouts in four starts with Kansas City, 199, ERA, and a 115 whip. Andrew Heaney pitched well up against the pirates, five shutout innings with three. eight strikeouts,

22 whiffs on 90 pitches for him in this one. Mitchell Parker was great up against the Rockies, seven innings one run with six strikeouts. But in his previous start, he gave up nine earned runs, and his last 10 starts overall before this one, a 638 ERA and a 154 whip for Mitchell Parker. And Simeon Woods, Richardson,

a solid start at the Padres, five innings, one run, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 100, one pitches. Scott, you're up. Are any of these pitchers interesting for fantasy? Not particularly.

They should remain in terms of roster percentage. They should remain in that streamable range because these are the kinds of bad pitchers I have to choose from every week when I write that article. But I don't think they're good. I had my flirtation with Andrew Heaney earlier this season when his slider velocity first spiked, and it's remained up. He had 22 swinging strikes in this game in addition to the eight strikeouts.

But in terms of keeping runs off the board, things really haven't gotten better for him. His two starts prior to this one, a combined seven run runs and nine innings. The starts have all been on the shorter side. So even though Andrew Heaney is showing some swing and missability there, it just hasn't been that useful for fantasy. and I'm guessing that's not going to change at this point. Michael Lorenzen, we know his story. This was his first start with the Royals that was even six innings, much less seven.

So hard to get excited there. Mitchell Parker, the endings are escalating for him, and we've seen the production drop off. And I wasn't willing to recommend him against the Rockies because the previous start was such a disaster. I guess I should have in retrospect. But if the matchups any worse than that, I'd still be. disinclined to recommend Parker. I guess maybe the most advisable

of these pitchers is Simeon Woods Richardson, but that's not saying much. Yeah, he's a pitcher where his slider looks like it's a pretty good pitch, not even elite, and he doesn't really have much else going on. So, the results have been good, but

you know, it's a 432x FIP, it's a 391 FIP. It's, again, I think he's another name that's in that streamable territory, and, you know, we just got to play the matchups with a lot of pitchers like this. Two names in the deepest of leagues. Domingo Hermann.

Yeah, that's right. That Domingo Hermon, he is on the Pirates now, and he turned in a quality start at the Rangers. Six shutout innings with four strikeouts. He had 11 whiffs on 75 pitches, and Mitch Spence had an interesting start up against Tampa Bay. Seven innings, four runs, but had 10 strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 105 pitches.

Chris, anything. here in the deepest of leagues? With Amon, no, not at all. Maybe with Mitch Spence, just like he threw the slider more and it's been a pretty good pitch for him. So maybe that's a path moving forward in deeper leagues. He's got the Reds in his next game.

I'll keep an eye on that one. And, you know, he might be a two-star pitcher next week if he's pitching on Wednesday. So like as a spark, yeah, I could see him being useful. I'm going to go as far as to say Mitch Spence isn't any worse than that previous group because he gets ground balls at a high rate. He throws strikes at a high rate. The whiffs are weird that he got 15 whiffs, 10 strikeouts in this one, out of character.

But he does well on the other two legs of the FIPP triangle. And I think he's somebody to consider when the matchups are right. All right, let's do a little buy or sell. And some of these will be kind of slanted towards 2025, as I mentioned yesterday. As the season winds down, we'll start to get those gears turning a little bit for some next year value and drafts as well. Buy or sell, Justin Verlander will be a difference maker down the stretch. He pitched well in his return up against the Red Sox, five innings, two runs, six strikeouts, had 10 whiffs on 76 pitches. and the velocity was actually up slightly here,

which I think is something we always want to pay attention to coming back from injury. What do you guys think? By yourself, Justin Verlander, a difference maker down the stretch. Sell, specifically that wording, I don't think he's a difference maker. I was going to say the same thing. He needs to be rostered over any of the pitcher we've talked about as waiver wire options, but I don't think he's going to be the difference between you winning. and losing. I think he's just going to be a useful piece. Verlander, 28% rostered, and it looks like he is

at the Phillies next week, which is a little bit scary. He's a flyball pitcher. Although the Phillies line has been ice cold, yeah. So that one could go either way. I think if you're in deeper leagues, you probably could use Verlander, but in a 12-team league, you probably have someone better than Verlander, at least in that matchup. Next up, each of James Wood, Jackson, Chor. and Jackson Merrill will be top 50 picks in 2025, buy or sell. It's always hard when I don't have the names line. You don't know who the other 47 names are. Roll a decks of names in my head real quick to make sure they don't get pushed to 65 instead of 50.

But just in the spirit of the question, I'm inclined to buy this. I think they're trending toward being studs. Now, it's funny, we were grouping the Jackson's, all last week and then Jackson Holiday went super ice cold over the last like eight or nine games and now it's a question for him whether he'll get in that range.

Yeah, I think a lot of it depends on how he finishes the season obviously, but yeah, I mean, top 50, I think that would be a little bit tough for Jackson Holiday to get there. But yeah, I mean, if he's, if he gets as hot as some of these guys have been like, Jackson Merrill's second half, 333, 6 homers, three steals, a 1024 OPEO.

Chorio, second half, 327, six homers, seven steals, 917 OPS. And I did have a question on James Wood. Could his lack of success on the base paths hinder his ability to run next year? Now, the nationals are first in steals this year. They've been incredibly aggressive. As long as Davey Martinez is their manager, I think they're probably going to be aggressive again next year. But he has seven caught stealing to six steals. What do you guys think?

That's one of those where it's like, time to eat. That's one of those ones where like projecting steals is hard because it's not just ability, it's willingness. And in this case, it's not necessarily James Wood's willingness because I think he will be willing. It's now we're asking like, does he have the ability? Yes. Does he have the willingness? Yes. Will his team allow him to?

I'm inclined to say yes. I don't think the nationals are going to be a division favorite next year. And they've been far and away the most aggressive base running team this year. So I tend to think James Wood, look, it's probably not 40 steel upside, but 20. I still think that's pretty reasonable. I was going through the Rolodex of names some more as Chris answered that question. I think 75, top 75 is more realistic than top 50. once you start

working in other positions other than outfield. So I'll sell it in the strictest sense, but I like where your head's at. Bo, boo! Bo, Scott. Bo, boo! Top 20 outfielder's?

Yeah. Top 20 outfielder, sure. My thought was, I don't think Jackson Merrill will get there. I think Jackson Merrill's probably more of a top 75 guy. I think Torio and James Wood are top. I'd be inclined to take Merrill overwood if the season ended today.

I think Frank's hunch is correct, but I don't know if there's merit to it. No merit to Merrill. I think, well, I think there's lots of Merrill. Oh, he's awesome. There's no doubt about it. I just think people will, look at his expected stats. The other guys had.

People will talk themselves into the other guys more because of the hype, because of, you know, maybe better physical tools. But like, the prospect pedigree was better for both of those guys. Although Merrill was a top 12 prospect pretty much across the board. Like, maybe I'm understanding. selling you. No, you're right. There was so much more hype for those guys when they got called up in Jackson. Jackson Merrill was an afterthought for fantasy in a lot of ways.

But I think he's a more fully formed player right now. And he's just as young as them. I will commit right now. Uh-oh. Unless their paces change between now and the end of the season. I will rank Jackson Merrill higher than both Jackson Chorio and James Wood. of calling it now. I think James Wood has a chance to play himself into top 30.

Yeah, ADP. I don't think I will rank him anywhere close to that, but that's the one that I think people, like if he hits eight more home runs the rest of the way and like starts hitting the ball in the air to the pull side, I think people are really going to talk themselves into James Wood as like a third round pick next year. Let's move on and talk about Sean Maniah,

who's been pretty good for quite some time now, up against the Orioles, seven innings, three runs, nine strikeouts to zero walks. He had 13 whiffs on 90 pitches, and his last 13 starts now. It's a 283 ERA, a 102 whip, just over a strikeout per inning. Buy or sell, the Mets have unlocked Sean Mania.

No more than the A's unlocked Shaw Mania in 2019 when he had that really good stretch or the, like, I just feel like, we go through this with Shamanaya at various points throughout his career where he it's like, oh, he's doing some interesting things for like a 12 start stretch or whatever. And then he ends up with an ERA over four more often than not. I don't know. I don't really believe in it, but I haven't believed it in all season. And he's been really good. So what do I know?

So when he ditches that cutter, that seems to be the correlation between him getting nine or ten strikeouts over seven innings and him not. I don't know. Hopefully he's woken up to that and can be a little more reliable to close up the season. He's 87% roster, shockingly. So I don't even like, do I really think Sean Minaya's like this stud the rest of the way? No, not even close. I think you'll struggle to get him in your lineup most. leagues rightfully, most weeks, rightfully. But I think he needs to be rostered.

It looks like he already is. Man, the schedule has been extremely favorable for Sean Maniol lately too. Like today, dude, nine strikeouts against the Orioles, that's incredible. Before that, it was Marlins, Mariners, Cardinals, twin Yankees was probably his worst start in this stretch. Rockies on the road, pirates, bat against lefties, nationals, bad against. against lefties. Yankees, five walks, three strikeouts.

He's been really good against some really, really bad competition too. All right. Again, that was Sean Minaya. Let's move over to Nolan Aronado, who is heating up, three for five, with a walk-off grand slam. And in the second half, batting two-75

with six home runs, 19 RBI, and an 822 OPS. That is more of the Nolan Aronado we were expecting. So, by or sell, Nolan Aeronado will pretty much be Nolan Aeronado from this point forward. I don't know what Nolan Aronado means anymore. Let's say he just, he maintains this second half pace, 275 with an 820 OPS. That seems reasonable enough. The home run today was a perfect Nolan Aeronado home run. It was like almost exactly down the line, barely cleared the fence.

Yeah, like I could see him hitting 275 with a low 800s OPS the rest of the way. I don't necessarily know I expect that, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect it. Yeah. I couldn't phrase it any better than that. So did I actually get a buy herself from either of you? I guess a tepid buy. Yeah, sure. All right.

Let's wrap up this conversation with Garrett Crochet, who we already spoke about his workload and everything that's going on. By herself, Crochet will be drafted as a top 12 starting pitcher in 2025. Oh, boy. This is another one. We got to get out the mental Rolodex. So Strider's going to be back there.

Is he going to get drafted as a top 12? Yeah. Yeah, because he didn't have Tommy John, remember. Oh, that's right, yeah. I don't know. You're skeptical, Frank? All right, so let's get scubal, sail, Wheeler

Cease Probably Burns Regens Regins Skirons Skeekees Skee's 100%

Skeeons I'm going to say Strider That brings us to 10 If we put strider in there Could I get Crochet next Do we say glass now A glass now

We'll go ahead of him Yeah Garik Colts I think I think Cole should go ahead of him. Yeah, if he's healthy. Yeah. Okay.

So sell. Yeah, I think you get to like Pablo Lopez, Aaron Nola, Luis Castillo, Zach Allen, that like former ace tier that have disappointed this season. I guess Nola hasn't disappointed. You throw in Framber Valdez if he keeps the strikeouts up down the stretch. I think they're all in that conversation. So I will sell top 12 by top 20. Yeah. Oh, easily top 20, but I sell top 12.

Yeah, he's probably going to be, you know, in that range. Again, if you want to get those wheels turning, somewhere in the 12 to 20 range for Garrett Crochet. He's going to be very controversial. Let's get into some leftovers, and we will start with Max Fried here, who has had a weird season. Finally turned in a quality start since we're turning from the IL

up against the Phillies, seven innings, two runs, only four strikeouts, only seven whiffs on 91 pitches. Weird pitch mix. He leaned on his three iterations of a fastball, four seam sync. and cutter. He allowed a ton of hard contact. Yeah. Scott, what do you make of this, man? It's just, it's a weird season for Max Fried. You know, I have kept Max Fried in my top 20 as bad as he looked in his first three starts

back from the forearm injury. Mostly that was because of walks, which were completely out of character. Didn't have any problems with walks in this one. He threw a ton of strikes. walk just one. It was 11 walks in 13 to 2 thirds innings in the previous three stars. So got back on track control-wise, but yeah, a lot of hard contact. Didn't it look normal necessarily?

I'm inclined to keep him in the top 20 because he's Max freed and obviously has quite the track record there. And also with the way he's expanded his arsenal to like 7, 8 pitches, he has this Mitch Keller quality to him where it's like, if you're going to mix up your arsenal that much, it gets to be really hard to predict from one start to the next

what's going to happen. And so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. You've got to throw strikes to have any success. Obviously, it wasn't a perfect start for freed, but I'm going to trust it was a step in the right direction. All right. Let's get into some other pitching standouts. Logan Webb continues his great run.

He was up against the White Sox, eight innings, two runs, six strikeouts, had 15 whiffs on 93 pitches. Nester Cortez, back-to-back, scoreless outings this time against the Guardians. Seven shot-out innings with four strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 104 pitches. Ryan Pepio turned in a quality start at Oakland, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts, 18 wifts on 90 pitches. Maybe the best the change-up has looked all season for Ryan Pepio, and Jack Flaredy fell just one out short of a quality start up against the Marin. five and two thirds, two runs, five strikeouts, four starts with the Dodgers.

It's a 322 ERA and a 125 whip for Jack Flaherty. Chris, anything to add on Flaherty, Pepio, Cortez, and Logan Webb. Yeah, so Pepio, the changeup was supposed to be his best pitch, you know, when he was coming up as a prospect. And it turns out that he's got this dominant four-seem fastball as well. And if the changeup starts to become a legitimate plus plus pitch like it was expected to be, the whole profile looks a lot more interesting because I was really struggling with him early on. He was getting good results, but it was like 35% whiff rate with his fastball, which wasn't sustainable. And it's turned out to not be sustainable.

He's down to 32% for the season. But with that change up looking better and the slider has played okay in terms of whiffs, I think, Ryan Pepio's pretty good. I'm not sure. Go ahead. I'm not sure that the change-up actually got better in this start. I just think he made it less predictable. Like, he, usually his fastball and change-up usage are 30 percentage points apart.

51% fastball is 21% change-ups. They were only 8% of points apart. So he threw the fastball less, threw the change-up more, and they both played up because of it. That's what it looked like to me, which is something that I think Pepio could sustain. potentially. Some hitting leftovers. Move over, Ellie Dela Cruz. Jake Berger, one for three with a sock and a shoe. How about that? The wheels on Jake Berger. 25th home run. His first deal. He's up to a 780 OPS, 250 batting average, 25 homers. You know, when everything's set and done, we're probably going to get 30 home runs and a 250 batting average from Jake Berger. He's kind of like backing his way

into the season we hoped he would have or thought. I guess we hoped that the contact games from last year were real. Turns out they weren't. But yeah, if he ends up hitting 30 plus homers, we're probably going to feel pretty good about Jake Berger. Yeah. I mean, those of us who held on to him and didn't trade him for Craig Kimbril. Or if you're like me, I traded Jake Berger and Willier Abrae to Todd Zola in Tout Wars for Zach Allen. At the time, I thought, wow, fantastic trade. All the players traded went in opposite direction. I would make that. I would have made that trade a hundred times out of a hundred. I still might, frankly.

I thought it was very funny. I saw a tweet today before the game. And it was like home run plus our stolen base leaderboards since July 1st, maybe. And Jake Berger was like the only one in the top 20 who didn't have a steal. He goes out and steals a base today. I thought that was very funny. There you go. George Springer.

He homered yet again. He listens to the podcast. We spoke ill of him two days ago. What happens? Three home runs and two games since. And Luis Robert has had some big games recently. Two for three with two steals over his last six. He's got ten hits, two homers, and three stolen bases.

Some bullpen updates for the Orioles. Sir Anthony Dominguez got the ninth inning in a tie game. He gave up a walk-off homer to Jesse Winker. That is the second walk-off homer Dominguez has allowed this week. I just don't really know. know where else the Orioles can go. Yeah, I mean, Kimbril wasn't good in this one either.

He gave up a solo home run too. So he wasn't as wild, like we've seen from him recently. I think what they want to happen is Kimbril went his way back into the role, but he hasn't done it yet. And especially now that Dominguez

doesn't look like he's going to get a stranglehold on the role, you know? I just, you know, made fun of myself for trading Jake Berger for Craig Kimbril, but in Roto leagues where saves are scarce, I'd still be holding on to Kimbril, I think. For the Red Sox, Kenley Jansen was unavailable.

Chris Martin got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He picked up his first save. For the Rangers, Kirby Yates got the ninth inning. With the game tied, he struck out two. He earned the win because on the other side, David Bednar got the bottom of the ninth. Game tied gave up a run on three hits, took his sixth loss of the season.

Derek Shelton recently came out and gave Bednar a vote of confidence, but a roll of Chapman has been lights out in the second half. A 0.69 ERA, 0.46 whip, 20 strikeouts to just two walks over 13 innings. Well, you can understand Derek Shelton giving Bednar a vote of confidence because this bad outing interrupted his scoreless streak of two. So, yep. Yeah, he gives up runs more often than he doesn't. And I think a change to Chapman is about two weeks.

overdue at least. I don't know what Derek Shelton is thinking. For the Phillies, Carlos Estevez got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a hit and a walk, but picked up his 22nd save. For the debacks, Justin Martinez entered with one out in the eighth inning, a one-run lead runner on second base. He struck out Xavier Edwards and then got Jake Berger to ground out. The debacks tacked on a few more runs.

Martinez came back out for the ninth inning. He did give up a run, but picked up his fifth save. and that was back-to-back games that Martinez worked. 46% rostered. He pretty much looks like the guy in Arizona. For the Brewers, Devin Williams was called upon to work back-to-back days again. This is the second time this has happened in the past week, even though they said this really wasn't going to happen.

And he didn't look right. He gave up two runs on a hit and three walks and a hit by pitch. It was his first blown save. I know that they want to get guys out there and competitive spirit and Devin Williams is one of the best in the game there's no doubt.

But do you think maybe they're pushing him too fast too soon? Well, especially because McGill's back. Yeah, came back in recent days. Pye amps has been great.

But McGill actually gave up horrible. He gave up the grand slam to Aeronado. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. No, no. I recognize that.

But like, it's just, it seems like, yeah, they could probably avoid the back-to-backs like that for Williams. And maybe this is a sign that they should, you know, given his injury issue.

Yep. For the Royals, Lucas Ursaig got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He struck out two for his sixth save. And overall, he's had a great season. 287 ERA 102-102 whip. 34% rostered. It pretty much looks like Erseg is the top guy in Kansas City as well. Yeah, whatever, however much they may have been leaning toward Hunter Harvey before the injury,

I think he's been Wally Piped. I don't know if that's too grandiose of a term to use even, but I think Erseg is just the Royals closer now. And I feel kind of bad because you guys express some enthusiasm when the Royals acquired him like he could be a closer candidate. And I batted it down. How could you, Scott? You know what?

I have this, Lucas Erseg in my mind is still a Brewer's third base prospect. Like he should not be a major league pitcher much. less a good one. And like he, it's not like he just throws fastballs. He's got like a legit four pitch mix. It's, it's kind of fascinating.

You don't really see converted position players develop like a deep arsenal like that, especially a reliever. It's, it's been a very impressive season from Lucas Ersec. And I'm just seeing now

that Tampa Bay had another save opportunity two days in a row. This time they went with Manuel Rodriguez who pitched a clean ninth inning. He picked up his first save of the season. Yes, but Useta, Edwin Useta, had worked three of the past four days. So my initial lien once Pete Fairbanks went on the IL is, okay, well, Manuel Rodriguez has been the eighth inning guy since they traded Jason Adams.

So probably they'll default to him. But, I mean, Usetta's numbers are so good. So good. 0.90-ERA, 0.57 whip. It's insane. 10.8K per 9. So he's the, despite Rodriguez getting the save in this one, who set us definitely the raised reliever,

I would prefer to roster. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, the clear most appealing option here is Jeffrey Springs at the Oakland A's. Spencer Arroghetti, he's had some big starts, but he's at Baltimore, so I'm not so sure. We get Osvaldo Bito up against Tampa Bay. Gavin Williams at the Yankees.

Blah. What do you guys think? Springs. Bito, I could see Calquantrol having a good start against the nationals, but I wouldn't want to use him. So yeah, Springs is the only one I can recommend actively. Yeah, Springs is definitely number one. Number two for me, and I'm not excited to do it, but he might be number two by default is Spencer Arigetti at Baltimore. And then on Friday, there are some mildly interesting names here. We have Albert Suarez, who gets the Astros.

Ryan Nelson is pitched well, but it's in Boston, so I don't know about that. Brian Bayo gets the debacks. We have K there Montero at the White Sox. I feel like you can use anybody against the White Sox. David Festa gets the Cardinals. Savali is at Oakland. JP Series gets the Brewers and Hayden Birdsong at Seattle. Hmm.

Pitchers I don't really like at all with good matchups. Yeah. So I will say Aaron Savali has been throwing his sinker more, since joining the Brewers, and his groundball rate is up. It's not a very good ground ball rate, but it's not the very, very low ground ball rate it was with the raise. And so maybe he can navigate that A's lineup okay, give you a quality start.

That would probably be my second choice to cater Montero. Yeah. Kyle Hendricks at Miami. I know Birdsong has been bad, but in Seattle, Yeah, there's definitely, that's probably the highest upside option. And so if you're in a roto league with daily lineups and you really need strikeouts, Birdsong, I could absolutely see a nine strikeout game.

All right. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple and Spotify. I will be back again next week. These guys will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.

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