Fantasy Baseball Today - Cam Schlittler's Debut, Tyler Glasnow's Return & Dylan Cease Disaster (7/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 10, 2025

Cam Schlittler looked pretty good in his debut (2:22)! ... Tyler Glasnow was solid in his return (10:00). ... Dylan Cease continues to disappoint (14:30). ... News (20:38): Ronald Acuña was back in the lineup and homered twice! ... It might be happening for Roman Anthony and Jasson Dominguez (25:12). ... Adrian Houser or Brandon Walter if you need a SPARP (28:50). ... Noelvi Marte homered for the first time since returning (35:30). ... HEY REAL QUICK! Thoughts on Jesus Luzardo, Kris Bubic and others (45:55). ... Updated arbitrary endpoints for hot hitters (59:16). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:02:30). 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, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@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. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Hey there. Welcome in some fantasy baseball today on Thursday, July 10th.

I am Frank Sample, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, we had a return and a debut, both. Pretty interesting. Three young bats who might be figuring it out, and it might be time for another fantasy funeral. We'll get to that just a bit. Oh my goodness gracious. All right, players of the night, Chris, you are up first. Yeah, let's talk about Cam Schlittler, who was a Yankees prospect who didn't get overhyped, I think.

I thought he looked really good in this start. The results were, let me pull that up, five and a third innings, three earn runs, seven strikeouts, two walks. It wasn't dominant, but I think there was a lot to like about what he did. He's not a perfect pitching prospect, but he averaged 97.9 miles per hour with his fastball. He maxed out at 100. I think he was a little hyped up for his major league debut. The hardest he had thrown at AAA was 99.3. He was averaging 96.6.6.

So don't expect him to be sitting 98 and topping out at triple digits all that regularly. But the fastball looked really good. It was five swinging strikes on 20 swings. It was a 38% CSW. And then the slider was the other primary pitch that he threw. Four swinging strikes on 11 swings. 33% CSW. That was really good.

That was a 92 mile per hour slider that had some actually for how hard he threw it a lot of horizontal movement as well. Curveball, he threw seven of those five sweepers. The rest of the arsenal looked okay. I think the curveball probably better than the sweeper. The sweeper, the movement profile in the sweeper looked very, very similar to the slider. It was just four miles per hour slower. I kind of think maybe he just shouldn't throw the sweeper. sweeper very often and just focus on the slider or at least try to tweak the

the movements so that he gets a little more drop on the slider or a little more horizontal break with the sweeper but those pitches I think you know in terms of the usage and in terms of what we saw from them clearly lagging behind the fastball slider but it's a really good foundation for cam schlittler with that four seamer and slider and he might get sent down um in the next few days You know, the Yankees don't need him again until after the All-Star breaks, or maybe they send him down just to have another arm in the bullpen. But I think we're going to see him back in the majors very soon, even if that does happen.

I think he's going to be in the rotation for the second half. And could be a pretty good pitcher. The only thing that makes me hesitant to suggest adding him is when you look at all those pitchers that we've talked about, you've got guys Edward Cabrera, Emmett Sheen, Noah Cameron and Joe Boyle. all still rostered and fewer than 75% of CBS Fantasy Leagues, I think I would take Cabrera, Sheehan, Cameron and Joe Boyle ahead of Camp Schlittler. And then you've got like Ryan Nelson and Trevor Rogers who are probably, I think, in a similar range as Schlittler. So it does make, you know, should he be a high priority ad, it's hard to answer in the affirmative on that one for

Schlittler. But I thought it was a very promising start. And I'm excited to see what he he looks like moving forward. Yeah, I thought it was pretty good as well. The slider, he throws it so hard, it kind of looked more like a cutter to me because it didn't really, you know, have that much horizontal movement or anything. And when I was reading more about his scouting report and his pitch mix and things, his curveball is regarded as his best secondary pitch. And he barely threw it in this one. So just wondering, you know, if he'll just start to break that out, more starts that he gets under his belt. I do wonder about left-handed best. batters against him too. He gave up two homers against lefties in this one. Even if his main

pitch mix is fastball slider curve, you do kind of wonder how is he going to get lefties out. He might just be overpowering enough where it doesn't matter because, again, he throws as hard as he does. But just something I thought about here. Great minor league numbers. Go ahead. One thing I would say on that is that the fastball is he gets some cut on the fastball. It's not a pure fastball. There's a really good fan graph piece actually that came out about 10 days ago with him talking about his fastball and the way he grips it and the movement profile that he gets. And the fact that the four seamer gets has some cuttery elements, the slider like you said, comes in so hard. It's got some cutter to it as well. That does make me think that he might

actually be able to hold his own against lefties, at least in theory. And then you know, maybe does he develop a sinker? Can the sweeper be what he uses to get righties out? I'm hopeful that he can neutralize lefties enough that it's not a huge issue for him. But that is a fair point when you just look at the lack of a changeup especially or a splitter in the arsenal. And the fact that, you know, the two home runs were against the, I think they were both against the slider, right? The slider did get hit hard in this one. And I think that's partially. if you look at the box score or the strike zone plot Schlittler didn't throw a single slider below the strike zone

that's probably not great you know it's mostly like belt high and above and 67% of his sliders were in the strike zone he probably needs to be a little more aggressive about throwing that pitch lower to avoid barrels so I think that was You know, if I had to focus on one thing that Schlittler didn't do well in this start, it was probably the slider command. To go back to what you said about other Waverwire pitchers right now, it, yeah, it is kind of tough to rank all these right now. I think Edward Cabrera is at the top of the list and followed by Emmichian. And I don't think Noah Cameron has as much upside as those guys, but he's giving you volume.

He's actually, you know, making starts here. You know, Schlittler versus Joe Boyle was one that I actually had, I paused about because I had some people ask me that on Twitter. And I just don't really know what their role is going to be for either team like that long into the future, right? If the Yankees trade for a starting pitcher, Cam Schlittler could be sent back to the minors. Or maybe they just give Marcus Stroh in the boot. That's an option too. And Joe Boyle, all right, he's piggybacking Drew Rasperson right now. but what is he going to do after the All-Star break, right?

Like, we just don't know. So I think both Boyle and Schlittler have decent upside, similar upside. But, yeah, I pause on that one. I think I lean Boyle, which it sounds like you do too. I think so, too. I think Boyle is the better pitcher. But in both instances, you know, we always say it, life finds a way, right? We're talking about pitchers on the raise and Yankees.

Like, that's guys tend to get, pitchers tend to get hurt. Pitchers on those teams tend to get hurt. So, and actually, I wouldn't be at all surprised that the Yankees were trying to dump Marcus Strowman aggressively at the deadline as well. You know, it doesn't really seem like they want him in their rotation anyway. So if they could find someone who's willing to take on that contract, they'd take on someone else's bad contract, I could see that being something that the Yankees would be interested in doing. All right, again, that was Cam Schlittler's debut. Pretty good one here. Someone you can add, but not near the top of the list,

like other names we have talked about. Let's get into Tyler Glassnow at a successful return at the Brewers. Five innings, one unearned run with five strikeouts here. Nine whiffs on 85 pitches through 62% of his pitches for strikes. Velocity actually up in this one. Not sure we want to see that from Tyler Glass now, who the main thing is, is he healthy? Can he remain healthy? You know, how does he bounce back from

this start? Those are the biggest takeaways, but at least the velocity wasn't down. So that's a good thing for someone who's dealt with so many arm injuries. You know, Chris, it wasn't a perfect return. Would like to see him throw more strikes, would like to see him get more whiffs. But the fact that the line was okay here and the velocity was okay, I think those are probably the biggest takeaways for me with Tyler Glass-known. He more or less looked like himself. Even, you know, the three walks in five innings, that's not ideal. He threw 54% of his pitches in the zone.

So it's not like he was all over the place. So I'm not too concerned about that. Yeah, I think overall, this is what you wanted to see from Tyler Glassnow. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't dominant. But the stuff looked very good. And it looks like Tyler Glassnow should be very useful for fantasy. for however long it lasts,

I have no idea. It is interesting that, you know, that this could just be, you know, it's one start. You don't want to take too much from it. The curveball usage was way down. He had been throwing that a lot, you know, 22% of the time coming into this start.

Obviously, it was, what, three starts before this. Five starts before this. And then last year he threw it 19% of the time. In this one, Glass Island only, threw eight curveballs on 85 pitches. So that's something to keep an eye on. He threw the sinker a lot. Not really sure what's up with that as well.

So, you know, something to watch with Tyler Glassnow, but Tyler Glass, you're starting him when he's active. You know, how long can he stay healthy? That is a question none of us are capable of answering. So you just start him as long as Tyler Glassnow is active. Looking at the rankings now, I plan to update them on Thursday. I have Glassnow right at SP 30. You have him at SP 29, which that sounds about right,

just given his, you know, his low floor because of injuries and all that. This is always such a tough type of player to rank because... He's impossible. When he's on the mound, are there eight pitchers you'd rather have than Tyler Glassnow? Like if you told me Tyler Glassnow and Frambervaldez we're going to throw the same number of endings the rest of the season, you'll take Tyler Glass now, right? Yeah. If you told me Tyler Glass Now and Max Fried, we're going to throw the same number of

innings the rest of the way. I think you probably take Tyler Glass now, right? Yeah. So that's like, how do you rank that guy? Yeah, if Tyler Glass Now was making all of his starts the rest of the season and there was no risk of injury, He's probably my SP6. Yeah. I think he might be SP5 for me.

But he might not make another start, right? Like, this is the Tyler Glass now experience. So it's an impossible player to rank. Whether you should trade for him depends almost entirely on your personal level of risk tolerance. And there's really nothing we can say to talk you in or out of it. It's just, do you have? the stomach for it? Can you get a good price for him? Do you have enough pitching depth that if you lose him, you'll be okay? Then sure, go ahead and trade for Tyler Glass Now. If you don't have

the stomach for him, well, one, he probably shouldn't be on your team because you know Tyler who Tyler Glass Now is coming into the season and two, look to trade him if you don't want to have to deal with it. But just know that if you do trade Tyler Glass now and you don't get a guaranteed difference maker back or at least someone with that upside, it could be a big mistake. Yeah. Would you? Go ahead. Would you trade Tyler Glass now for Dylan Seas? Oh gosh. I think I'd rather have Seas the rest of the way.

I guess I would rather have Dylan Sees, but you know, Chris, I think I'm done. I think I am done. Now, I'm not going to be as passionate as I was last week about Zach Gallen. Give him the reverse curse. I mean, how many times can we go through this, man? Six innings, six runs. Runs. Three walks, three homers allowed. Okay, he gave you eight strikeouts. We know Dylan Cease is good at doing that, but I don't know what else to say. Everything else under the hood looked good. His two main pitches performed well. His average executive velocity against was 86.9 miles per hour. But this was the first start this season where he allowed both three walks and three homers in the same game. It's just when he misses, teams take full advantage of it, man. It's like he gives up. free passes, when he has to throw pitches in the strike zone, they're not missing it right now. It's just, I don't know what else to say. Like, we have been on this all season long.

His ERA is 488. His peripheral numbers, his ERA estimators are all in the mid-3s. So that is, you know, based on the way we look at things, a screaming by and has been all season long. But I just don't think I could defend this anymore, man. I have been three leagues and I'm ready to just bench him. And if I miss out on the 10 strikeouts start fine. But like every time you throw him out there right now,

he's just destroying your ratios, dude. Here's the thing that's tough with Dylan C's is we have seen the fluctuations from him in the past. But the big difference is that in the past, the skill set had fluctuated a lot, right? Like in 2021, he has a 391 ERA and a 365 XERA. So a little bit unlucky. But generally speaking, it was a ton of strikeouts. ton of walks, ton of loud contact. 2022, strike rate is basically the same.

Walk rate actually goes up a little bit, but he becomes this incredible suppressor of hard contact. He hasn't done that since. That's gone. He's not that. But then 2023, it's 458 ERA, 410 XERA. 2024, it's 347 ERA, 331 XERA. This year, what's the ERA up to now?

480. 480. 488. 352 XERA. This is the one that hasn't lined up. Yeah. Yeah. Like he's always been within a half run.

And now he's a run in a quarter above his XERA. Or his XERA. So I am inclined to give Dylan cease the benefit of the doubt. But I understand if people aren't. And I understand it's incredibly frustrating. So I don't know. I'd be trying to buy, but I've already got Dylan Cs on a few teams, and it's been incredibly frustrating.

So I totally understand people who don't want to deal with it. The only thing that we can hope for is that the last time I did this with a pitcher, Zach Allen has had two great starts in a row. I mean, that's the only thing that we can look at and hope. All right, this is it. We're done with Dylan Cis, and boom, now he's going to wake up and just be great for the rest of the season. I think you should have done the full Z's. Zach Allen reverse mush.

I think you owe it to yourself. I'm so over it. You owe it to the fans to get Dylan cease going. We got to, we got to get, Zach Allen's got 19 strikeouts in his last two games since you did it. You're very powerful. I hope so. I think we need a seance going.

Yeah, you want me to go light some candles? Yeah, prayer circle, everything. Bring some candles in here. Stiff as a board, lies the feather. All that. Look, I can't in good conscience tell people to try and trade for Dillen Seas anymore. Look, we've done it all season long. I'm just about ready to bench him.

If other people want to bench him, go for it. But that'll be the start that he goes off. I mean, I have nothing else to say. I think Ben, bench is fine. Yeah. All right. Well, before we get to our first break, reminder to sign up, sign up, to download and listen to FBT Express.

wherever you listen to this podcast, it's usually between 10 and 15 minutes, and we actually have one coming up later on today where we'll take a look at players who could gain more value after the trade deadline. So should be an interesting one there, and big thanks to those watching us live. Make sure to hit the like button

and subscribe on YouTube as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today, and let's get into the news and notes. Ronald Acuna was back in the lineup after missing Tuesday with lower back tightness, and he returned with a bang. Double dong, two more home runs.

He's up to 11 home runs now on the season, and he looks ready for the home run derby, so. Should be pretty awesome in that contest. Hunter Green is headed to the team's spring training facility in Arizona to continue his rehab, though Terry Francona said, quote, there's no roadmap for the next step in the pitcher's progression. Byron Buckson was removed Wednesday after getting hit on his left hand by a pitch. No, that does not make him injury prone in case anybody needed to hear it.

Alex Breggman has a really good chance of being activated from the IL before the All-Star break. Good news on him. Brandon Lau has missed three straight with a left side injury. Jacob Wilson was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand on Tuesday. Adley Rutchman hit off a T on Wednesday. He's not swinging at full effort. effort just yet, but continues to progress on his way back from a strained left oblique. Zach Eflin could make a rehab start on Sunday. He's on the IL with lower back discomfort.

Sean Manaya struck out five and allowed three earned runs over three and two-thirds innings in his rehab start at AAA on Tuesday. He built up to 73 pitches and looks poised to return. The last we heard about that is that he could piggyback Clay Holmes on 6.5. Sunday for the Mets and Sean Manaya is 73% rostered. So was really good in the second half last year. Totally a name that you can look to add and, you know, stash until he's back, which sounds like it could be this weekend. Emmachian will be the bulk reliever behind Shohei Otani on Saturday.

So no chance at a quality start, but hopefully good ratios and strikeouts from him. Tommy Edmund returned to the Dodgers lineup on Wednesday. They're hoping Teoska Hernandez will be back on Friday. Nolan Aronado returned to the lineup after missing three straight with a right shoulder impingement. Tyro Estrada has missed two straight with a jammed left thumb. He suffered on Monday. Masataka Yoshita was activated by the Red Sox and he was in the lineup batting sixth. He went three for four with a double, a run, and an RBI in his debut.

11% rostered, U-Till only. Just 15 team roto leagues for now, Chris, right? I think on Yoshida? Yeah. It was good to see and the fact that the Red Sox have talked about using him at first base. One would just be a boon to his fantasy value

because he's DH only right now and two would just give him another path to playing time. But those discussions are nothing more than discussions right now. I don't know if he's worked out more than once or twice at first base. So we're probably still a ways away from that. Hey, remember this name Luke Kishel took batting practice and faced live pitching on Tuesday. He'll likely need a lengthy rehab coming back from a fractured right forearm,

but it could be late July, early August, something like that. And he looked great when he first got called up. He was getting on base. He was swiping bags. Should have hit for some batting average as well. He's got a little bit of pop. So a prospect that can do a little bit of everything. And if you have IL spots, someone that you could stash right now.

Again, that is Luke Kishel. The Yankees DFAed DJ LaMayhew and recalled Yorbiqvaz to be their backup infielder right now. The athletics reinstated Miguel Anduhar from the IL and sent Colby Thomas back to AAA. And Jose Ramirez will not participate in the All-Star game next week while he focuses on recovery and preparation for the second half of the season. I don't know what he needs to focus on. He looks pretty good right now. He had a sock in the shoe on Wednesday. he's now up to 17 home runs and 25 steals on the season.

Let the man have some time off, you know? He's allowed to have it. He has earned that. It's just, you look, I know people get annoyed about the whole, oh, Jose Ramirez, underappreciated star. It's just, I never hear anybody talk about him, and he's on pace for another just ridiculous fantasy season. So, man, just flies into the radar, and he's so, so.

35, 40 pace, not quite last year's pace. Pretty good. Yeah, I mean, he's, uh, something like 30, 40 right now. He's on that pace, so pretty awesome stuff there again from Jose Ramirez. Might be happening for three prospect hitters. They stayed hot here. Roman Anthony, two for four with a run scored last 11 games.

He's batting 3.96 with one homer, four doubles, 11 runs, and OPS over a thousand. Hitting the ball extremely hard. Also comes with a lot of ground balls still for Roman Anthony. And it might be happening for Jason Dominguez, three for four with a one. walk RBI, two runs scored. Did have a caught stealing here, but at least he has been trying to run lately. He's let off two games in a row. He's let off three of the last four.

I think he might just be their leadoff hitter now against right-handed pitching. And last 11 games for Jason Dominguez, hitting 396 with two homers, four steals, and OPS over 1,000, hitting the ball very hard. Played discipline, not so good, 14 strikeouts to two walks, but overall, making a lot of hard contact. You know, Chris, if he's leading off ahead of Aaron Judge and Bellinger and Jazz the way he's hitting right now, maybe we're in for a big second half from Jason Dominguez. I sure hope so. The only thing that's holding me back from that is just it's still not clear he can do anything against lefties. Yeah, hitting from the right side of the plate.

He has one home run in his career as a left-handed hitter. He has struck out 27 times and 87 plays. appearances this season. He has a 266x Woba with an 86.9 mile per hour average exit velocity as a left-handed hitter.

So, or as a right-handed hitter, excuse me. So that's the one thing holding Jason Dominguez back right now. It's just, one, not clear that he's an everyday player, although

Trent Grisham's injury probably gives him a little more path right now. And then, two, it's not clear he should be an everyday player right now. So that's a concern. I do think you'd rather have, you'd rather have Anthony than Dominguez at this point, right?

Yeah, yeah. Especially there's a lot of smoke on a Jaron Duran trade. There hasn't been like any specific reporting that I've seen that they're like actively talking about it, but there's a lot of expectations that Jaron Duran could get traded. and that would obviously free up some opportunities for Roman Anthony as well. Yeah, definitely would rather have Roman Anthony over Dominguez's point taken against left-handed pitching. He has been terrible. My hope is that if he performs this great against Ritees that they'll just stick him at the bottom of the lineup against left-handed pitching and just see what he can do.

And you brought up Trent Grisham. He's actually been back from the injury, but I feel like this week, the Yankees kind of just, turned a new page here because, you know, DFA and would make you. Pretty bad for a while, yeah. Yeah, I think they're just like, all right, we're giving Dominguez everyday playing time, or at least against Ritees. Good. I hope that's the case, but that's what it feels like.

I guess we'll see you the next time a left-handed pitcher is on the mound. Also wanted to mention Caglione, Jack Caglione. He's Homer two days in a row. This one off of a lefty. It was just a bomb. 110.8 exit velocity, 466 feet. I mean, the things that he is capable. He, man, it's just, this is stuff that we see from, you know, O'Neill Cruz and Aaron Judge and stuff like that.

It's just, you know, all right, we have to develop a little bit more consistency here, but I'm hoping, all right, two days in a row with a home run. Perhaps this could be the start of something for Jack Cagliome. Let's get into the waiver wire pitchers from Wednesday's action. And Chris, which one of these sparks do you like more for those who play in points leagues? Adrian Houser did it again, seven innings, one run. Only two strikeouts here. but he has a quality start in eight of nine outings so far, seven plus innings in three straight,

and Brandon Walter had a quality start against the Guardians, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts to zero walks. He had 16 whiffs on 95 pitches. Does a really good job limiting hard contact and limiting walks. He has, what is it? I think three walks on the season so far. I thought I wrote it down somewhere. Oh, two total walks in 40 and two-thirds inning.

So just impeccable control so far for Brandon Walter. Who do you like more as a spark? Him or Adrian Howser? I think it's probably got to be Walter, just because talent-wise, it's probably pretty close. I might even give an edge to Adrian Howser, who has been a good Major League pitcher before, is throwing harder than he ever has as well,

or at least as hard as he ever has. Yeah, average fastball velocity higher than it's ever been. So that's a good sign. It's just he's on the white socks for now. I guess there's a decent chance they try to move him for something by the deadline. They probably should. And, you know, maybe if he lands in the right team gets a little more run support, I could see Adrian Houser being a viable option.

But Walter's already on a good team. I think the talents are a competitive team. I guess we should say. I don't know. Are the Astros? They're not anywhere close to winning that division, are they? No, the Astros are in first place, and I think they have the second best record in the American League right now.

How does this happen? How did I, I guess I had forgotten that. Jeez. They built up a six and a half game lead in the AOLS. They're 55 and 38. They're on like a 94 win pace right now, yeah, yeah. Which is like they lose Yordon Alvarez and this happened. I mean, they lost Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman.

Yorna and Alvarez barely played. It's, you know that tweet from like 11 years ago that's like, well, at least LeBron James is 34. We won't have to deal with this for too much longer. And it's like, yeah, he's still one of the 12 best players in the NBA or whatever, 12 years later. That's how I feel about the Astros every year losing some All-Star and just still winning 90 games. It's annoying. I'm sure you're even more annoyed. Yeah, I'm sure the Astros fans will love to hear that, Chris.

They're famously thick-skinned. Yeah, so you give the edge to Brandon Walter, mostly because of the team context there. Yeah, I do think both are serviceable in points leagues, though, if you are just looking to stick one of those guys in your RP spot. Are any of these pitchers more than just a streamer? So Jose Cantana, strong start against the Dodgers of all teams, who all of a sudden their offense has gone pretty cold here.

Six innings, one run, four walks to four strikeouts. It's a 328 ERA, but a 136 whip for Jose Cantana. Slate Cicconi, he was awesome at the Astros, seven shutout with nine strikeouts for him, 13 whiffs on 98 pitches. And David Festa, a solid outing against the Cubs, five and a third, two runs, only three strikeouts, but had 11 whiffs on 72 pitches.

changed up the pitch mix here, you know, through his fastball less, which I think is a good thing. That's like, that's the start of good process, I think, for David Festa. There is some prospect pedigree, but he also has been blown up quite a few times. So do any of these names stand out, Chris, as someone who could be more than a streamer? Could? Yes, I think David Festa could be more than a streamer. Is he currently more than a streamer?

No, no, extremely not. he has two pitches with a whiff rate of at least 35%. His changeup and slider look really good. And it gives me real resource and vibes where you can see how it comes together. He's just got to figure out a way to avoid damage on that fastball. And until he gets there, I'm not ready to buy in. I need to see more than a three strikeout. start even against a good matchup so Festa still just more of a speculative guy I I think

there's upside long term but I don't think he's anywhere close to it yet Sacconi kind of the same thing if I'm going to comp David Festa to Reese Olson I guess I'll comp slate Cicconi to ironically former teammate Brandon Fott where there's upside and he'll have these big strikeout games and then have these games when the the secondaries are getting a lot of whiffs like they were on Wednesday, but the fastballs are just really bad. And the Guardians are a really good pitching development team. Maybe they can keep coaxing something out of him, but 92.3 mile per hour average eggs of

velocity on the season for Sait Sikoni, 427 FIPP, 521 XERA. I think these guys are just streamers. There's some upside with Sikoni and Festa, but. but they look a long way away from figuring it out. Last name on the list, does this matter at all? Brandon fought eight innings, two runs, four strikeouts, zero walks against the Padres. Does it matter at all?

You know, I looked at it, and I had an open mind and an open heart to the possibility that this mattered. And then you just, you look at the, like he changed his pitch mix. He's been throwing the sinker a lot more lately, he introduced the cutter, I think, five or six starts ago. He didn't get a single whiff with either of those, which you can live with that if you're like dotting your spots and getting a lot of called strikes. Well, he had like a 24% combined CSW with the Sinker and cutter and like a 93 mile per hour average exit velocity on 12 balls in play with the sinker and cutter. No, no, I don't think, I don't think this matters.

I think Branafod is not a good major league pitcher. We agree on that. What about Waver Wire hitters here? Noel V Marte homered for the first time since returning from the IL. Two for three with his fourth homer. He has started five of six games since coming back. A small sample, but he's looked pretty good this year. 61% rostered.

Does that number need to be much higher, Chris? What do you think about Noelvi Marte? I think he's pretty fringy in points leagues and should be rostered. in most categories leagues. So whatever the number that it needs to be to get to that, I think is where he should be. 61% feels a little low. There's his sprint speed is 94th percentile.

He can hit the ball hard. The play discipline has been okay. Even like he was one for 12 in his first four games back from the IL, but he only struck out twice in those. So I still think Noelvi-Marté has a pretty decent shot of becoming a thing. three other names that are ranked right around him in terms of roster rate right now would you rather have martay or mark vientoz oh marty at this point yeah what about marty or zach mcynstri uh just to go back for a second vietos i think has sat like three straight games against righties

um yeah that that one looking pretty bad uh zach mcynstry all-star zach mckenstry that is correct i i just don't have any face in this. I think he's a decent player, but I think it's floor versus ceiling. I think McKinstree has developed into a pretty good floor play, but I think Marte has higher upside. Yeah, I guess maybe in a points league, you'd take McKinstree, but even there, I think he's going to end up being pretty fringy. I don't trust the counting stats to be there. So I would roll the dice on the upside with with Noelvi Marte. All right, and last name, would you rather have Noel V. Marte or Royce Lewis?

I will still take Royce Lewis. Ah, all right, I thought maybe I got him, but I didn't. Not that time. What about Nate Lowe? He went two for four with his 14th home run, three RBI. Last 16 games, he's hitting 281 with four homers, 16 RBI and OPS over 850. The batting average surprisingly low this year, 235, but 14 home runs. The power has bounced back this year.

He's got 61 RBI. 53% rostered for Nate Lowe. I think that's probably fine. Typically, I would say he's a good points league player, but his plate disappointment is not as good. Strikeout rate's been really high this year. Yeah, so, I mean, typically he is actually better in a points league usually, but this year,

the walk rate down, the strikeouts are up. You know, maybe selling out a little bit more for power, and that's how he's got there, has kind of caused that. So, yeah, at 51%, that probably feels right. It's interesting because he's always been a very passive hitter, you know, especially the last three or four seasons. His swing rate on pitches in the strike zone has been lower than league average. This year it's continued to be, but now he's getting pitched in the zone a lot more.

53% of the pitches he's seen have been in the zone. And so seems like, you know, he's not swinging and missing a whole lot more. He's just taking a lot more called strikes. And this could be a situation where being more aggressive could benefit him. And, you know, he's always had the ability to put the ball bat on the ball pretty well, Nate Lowe, without sacrificing quality of contact. So I could still see better from him in terms of the batting average moving forward. But so far that that's been the biggest thing holding him back. But, yeah, the RBI are nice.

So I think 53% roster is probably fine for Nate Lowe. A couple names that are ahead of him that I would drop for Nate Lowe. Ryan O'Hern has cooled off and doesn't play against lefties. Gavin Sheets is still fine. He actually hit another home run, but he's almost never going to play against left-handed pitching. So I think I prefer Nate Lowe slightly there. And Miguel Vargas has cooled off a little bit. I would be all right.

That's kind of just, all right, let's play the hot hand approach. And Nate Lowe is hotter than Vargas, so I'd be all right with that one. Nate Lowe versus Nolan-Shannuel is kind of interesting. because points versus roto shanuel points that makes a low in roto I think all right and and the two deep league names here has Sankim first multi-hit game with the Tampa Bay race he went two for four with a run and RBI reminder that last year he had 11 home runs and 22 steals and 121 games with the Padres so we do know there's a seven home three seven steals the year before right yep yeah so we know that there's definitely

some speed here there's modest power from Hassan Kim who's 22% rostered on CBS. And then Romy Gonzalez of the Red Sox, one for three with his fifth home run. The dude is on a tear. Last 13 games hitting 409 with four homers, 13 RBI, an OPS over 1,300, and the average eggs have lost in 96.2 miles per hour. So maybe he could just stick at first base and take over from Abraham Toro, but he really just looks like a lefty masher. That's, that's kind of of who Romi Gonzalez has been, and even this year he has been as well. So any deep league interest in Hassan Kim or Romi Gonzalez? Not in Romi Gonzalez, really, but Kim, I think, for sure.

He has three batted balls in his first game. Okay, hold on. Let me say this correctly. I was looking something else up while I was trying to talk. So let me actually focus up on what I'm saying. Hassan Kim has three batted balls over 100 miles per hour in his first three games since coming off the IL, including one that was 107 miles per hour on Wednesday. Hassan Kim is not going to hit for power. I think you're hoping for a 10-homer pace the rest of the way.

But this is what you need to see when a guy's coming back from shoulder surgery is do they look like themselves? and I think so far Hassan Kim has looked like himself, at least physically, the whatever power was there before, I think his Max X Vila last year was 107.9, so he's already within a mile per hour of that. That's what you want to see. So I feel pretty good about saying

that Hassan Kim is going to be a 240 to 250, maybe 260 batting average guy on the high end, 10-holmer pace, but probably a 30-steal pace. The race run a lot. has their pace slowed they were on pace for i think a major league record in steals last i checked was about a month ago they're up to 117 and 92 games they've probably fallen off the pace a little bit i think the the records like 2 30 or something

but they run more than anyone in baseball so yeah i do think hasson kim's going to be a big base dealer for them the rays have a 12 steel lead over the second place team. So 120 steals as a team compared to the Brewers who have 108 so far. Chris, deep league middle infielder, would you rather take a shot on Hassan Kim or a Colson of Montgomery from the White Sox? Hmm. Probably Kim. Just Montgomery's minor league numbers are really mediocre. So you're just hoping that whatever happened, those four homers in his final six games were the sign of something clicking. But I don't have a lot of hope there. I do also want to point out one of the most fun races the rest of the season will be raised stolen bases versus Marlins stolen bases allowed.

The Marlins have given up 114 steals. Oh. That is 19 more than any other team in baseball. They have caught 15 base runners stealing. Wow. They are historically bad. The Royals have allowed 20 stolen bases this season. season with as many caught stealing as the Marlins have.

Wow. Geez. All right. So for anyone who likes to, for our betters out there. Yeah, who do you have? Marlins stolen bases allowed or I don't know if they play again.

So. No, I just mean on a daily basis like, oh yeah. Just bet on anybody who's going up against the Marlins to steal a base. Yeah. All of their pitchers are terrible at holding runners, especially Sandy and Yuri.

And their catchers have all been horrible at their own base runners. out. It's actually kind of been an impressive thing to watch this season. All right. Let's take our final break. When we return, Hey Real Quick, starting pitcher edition. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in Hey Real Quick. Let's get a thought on these starting pitchers. First up, Jesus Lazzardo, back on track with a great start at the Giants. Seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Only one walk. That is a great sign because he had allowed a good amount of walks recently. I thought I wrote that down somewhere.

But the question or thought here, Chris, you might have missed your by-low window. What do you think on Lozardo? Yeah, I mean, look, he's always had these blow-up starts. And I cannot say that just because Jesus Lozardo has had a couple of good starts in a row and seems to have turned the corner that he won't have those blow-up starts moving forward. But the blow-up starts have looked like the huge outlier. You know, the quality of contact metrics, everything, the FIP, XERA, whatever you want to use, has been consistently mid to low threes or lower.

It's really just that he had, it's been what, four really bad starts now in like a seven-game stretch, and then he had, they have a 10-strikeout start in there as well? Yeah, I think Hazis Lazzardo is going to be a mid-3s pit ERR. pitcher moving forward with a bunch of strikeouts. All right, next up we have Lucas Gileto who shut down the Rockies this time. Six shutout innings with six strikeouts, a zero walks, 17 whiffs on 92 pitches, eight on the fastball, five on the changeup, four on the slider. So had everything working here, of course he was facing the Rockies on the road,

but that is six quality starts in a row and during that stretch a .70 and a .88 whip for Lucas Gileto, who, I think is a sell high candidate, Chris. If you can, I don't know. The name value, the fact that he's pitching well, I'd try it. Yeah, I agree with that. I know he's done really well the last, what, six starts.

He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs and six straight starts, only one with more than one earned run. He's been really solid. It's also Let me see if I can do some quick math 37 strikeouts in like 38 innings Maybe 39 in a third

So it's not quite a strikeout per inning The control's been good but not I don't know if that's going to be a strength He's not really missing a ton of bats The quality of contact allowed is Not great I just Yeah I don't see a ton of

to suggest that Lucas Gileo is a difference maker again. So I'm with you. I do think it's a sell high for Lucas Golito. I think he'll be useful moving forward. I've moved him into that category. But I'm not buying that he's a 3-5 ERA pitcher. He has done a better job lately limiting walks and hard contact and limiting home runs. So all those things together.

I mean, that is a credit to Lucas Gilito. But he's also had some really good matchups mixed in here. He got the Rockies, you know, at the Nationals, at the Giants, at the Mariners. Those are good spots to pitch. Also did it against Toronto and Tampa. Those are impressive starts. So I don't want to take everything away here. But, you know, some good matchups.

And again, it's a sell high. If no one wants him, keep him and hope that he continues to pitch well. Yeah, I think he's, I haven't updated my rankings yet this week. I would guess in the 50 to 60 range, maybe a little lower. Useful, but I don't expect Lucas G-Leader to be a star. Next up, Andrew Abbott was great against the Marlins. Seven and two-thirds innings, one run, five strikeouts with 15 whiffs on 100 pitches here for Andrew Abbott. Nice bounce back coming off his worst start of the season.

The strikeouts have faded a little bit. It's five strikeouts or fewer in six straight for Andrew Abbott. I can confidently say that he is a quality pitcher. Chris, I know he's been a bit of a confusing pitcher for us over the past couple of years. I have come to the conclusion that he is a quality pitcher. I still think there is going to be some regression this season. That doesn't mean I think he's just going to become terrible out of nowhere,

but I do think there will be some regression for Andrew Abbott rest of the season. Yeah, I think that's perfectly fair. Look, he has a 207 ERA. should view it as a knock on Andrew Abbott to say he's not that good because is Terrick Scoobel a 207 ERA good? He might be. He might be. Zach Wheeler might be. Paul Skeen's might be. Andrew Abbott's not those guys on his best day. So it should not be taken as a knock on Abbott that he's not as good as his numbers right now. It's just where does it? it settle. He doesn't miss a lot of bats. He doesn't have a single pitch within above average

whiff rate this season. He relies on a weird movement profile and a lot of weak contact. That's a tough profile to make work in Cincinnati, but he's done it. I think he's more like a 350 ERA pitcher. And that's very useful. It's just not top 40 starting pitcher for me. Yeah. I think I'm pretty sure I have him in that range. Yeah. Yep, top of 40. I'm perfectly fine with that. Yeah.

So I just want to keep everybody's expectations in check that while he's been great this season, you know, the ERA I think will be a little bit higher in the second half than it has been so far. Mackenzie Gore dominated the Cardinals, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts to just one walk. And nice to see just one walk after three plus walks in three straight.

Something that has stood out here, swinging strike rate down quite a bit two starts in a row. So just think that is something to watch moving forward. I still like McKenzie Gore. I think he's having a true breakout season. But let's watch to see where the whiffs are the next couple starts. Yeah, I mean, that's maybe we're just seeing a little bit of, of the regression to the mean there.

But McKenzie Gore, let me make sure I have this stat correct. He is the only. only pitcher in baseball with three pitches with a whiff rate over 50 or 40% this season. That is really good. His curveball slider and change up all have a whiff rate over 40%. Hey, the cutter, he doesn't throw it that often. He's only thrown 82 of them so far this season. That's got a 48% whiff rate too.

So I, yeah, I think McKenzie Gore, the breakout is, about as real as it could possibly be. And he's my number 16 SP the rest of the way. And that might not be high enough. You know, the whip is going to be high. He does give up some loud contact, gives up a decent number of hits. The control is just okay.

More like average. But I think Mackenzie Gore is what you wanted Dylan cease to be. and I don't think he's going to go the way of Dylan cease the rest of the way. Yeah, no, that is, that is fair. I mean, the one thing that stood out when I was looking into his pitch characteristics today is the fastball still gets hit hard, right? You mentioned his secondary pitches, they all get whiffs. They're all amazing.

And he has a good fastball. It gets above average whiffs. It also does get hit hard. So he throws that pitch around 50% of the time. You know, would it kill him to throw it 40% of the time? and mix in those secondaries even more. I don't know. Like, there might even be another level for McKenzie Gore to get to,

but that's only the really, I guess, glaring thing that stood out to me with McKenzie Gore's profile. Yeah, but I just want to point this out. His change-up with rate is 19 percentage points higher than league average. This was entering today's start. It might have changed. But 19 percentage points higher than league average for change-ups. Sliders 14 percentage points higher than league average.

Curveball's 10-percentage points points. better than the average. And his cutter, I think, is like 16 percentage points better than the average, too. So that is just bonkers stuff for Mackenzie Gore. All right. Next up, we have Chris Bubich, who was pretty mid up against the Pirates, five and two-thirds innings, six hits, three runs, two walks, six strikeouts, only had six whiffs on 83 pitches, gave up some hard contact in this one.

He just hasn't been as sharp over his last six starts. It's a 486 ERA, a 153 whip. I feel like I bring this up every time he makes a start that, you know, he might just be wearing down, you know? He's up to 108 and two-thirds innings. Last year he threw 66 total. And the year before that. He threw, what, 12 the year before?

It was 16. Yeah. So, I mean, I think it would be totally defensible to say that he's wearing down. I just, I don't know what else you, what can you do about it? Like, what is actionable here? I think you can try to sell. I mean, if people are paying attention, they'll notice that he's already kind of

taking a step back. But if they look at the overall numbers and you could still sell him as like a top 24 pitcher, then yeah, I would try that. No, no, I think he's definitely slowing down. Where does he end up? This is the thing that's tough because the royals are,

I don't want to say out of it. But it's not looking like. that they're going to make the playoffs at this point. They do feel like a team that has a chance to do some selling over the next couple of weeks. I don't know if it's going to be a huge sell-off, but there's been – Seth Lugo's been mentioned in some trade discussion and trade rumors. And I think it's unlikely they move Bubich, but could they start to limit him a little bit if they fall off, fall out of it? Yeah.

I think that's a perfectly possible outcome, because they do probably have to start thinking about next year a little bit and, you know, get him to 140, 150 innings, maybe 160 if you want to push it, but I think holding him back a little bit would make sense. So yeah, I'm thinking that might be the case. And last up, Sandy Alcantoro is bad once again at the Reds, five innings, six runs allowed. He has allowed five plus earned runs in three straight. He has exactly four strikeouts in four straight. What has happened this season? The walks and the hard contact are way up. The whiffs are way down. Also, his left on base percentage is 53%. It's 72% for his career. So he has

had bad luck with runners on base as well. There's not much defensible here, Chris. 78% their rostered. Sandy can be dropped. Totally fine. You know, drop him for any of the names we mentioned. Edward Cabrera, Joe Boyle, Cam Schlittler. I mean, you know, take a shot on some upside right now. It wouldn't surprise me if he figures it out at some point, but right now is not that point. Yeah, the ex-Wobo was actually very good in June. It was down to 290, or 326 in June. That's the lowest of the season. But his whiff rate has also been falling. And so, In some ways, he's starting to look more like himself. He's consistently, even while getting bad results, he's consistently going deep into games.

They're giving him a long leash. But that has the double-sided blade. Double-edged blade? Double-edged sword? I think that's a thing. Double-edged sword. Yeah, Sword of Damocles, something like that. He's staying in these games a long time and getting lit up for a long time.

So he's given up 18 runs in his last three. starts. So I definitely think there will be a point in the future where Sandy Alcounter is a must-start pitcher again. I'm increasingly not thinking it's going to be this season. Yeah. I look forward to taking him 290th overall in 2026 drafts though. Yeah. On which team, that will be the next question. But I don't know if it makes sense. I understand whoever traits for him gets a half a year more of team control, obviously. But like his values way down. Why would the Marlins trade him now?

I think, you know, let him try and figure it out this year, maybe rehab the value and, you know, maybe it's another off-season trade, or maybe even next trade deadline. So we'll see what happens. Updated arbitrary endpoints for hitters, Chris. Junior Camerro did it again. Kamenero!

Two for five with his 22nd home run. Last 42 games, he's hitting 280. 14 homers, 38 RBI, and OPS over 900, hitting the ball extremely hard during that time. He's also competing in the home run derby, which again, it's the field there, Caminero, Cowralee, Ronald de Cunia, it's going to be great. I'm inclined to think that O'Neill Cruz is the best bet there,

but Comanero could put on a show. His bat speed is ridiculous. Is James Wood in it or did he decline? Yeah, James Wood's in it, yeah. Wow. No, it's a... This is cool. It's a fun, and Byron Buxton,

who hits bombs. Assuming the hand contusion today is fine. Yeah, no, that's a really, really fun home run derby field. And I think we usually do our

home run derby bets ahead of time. I'm leaning O'Neill Cruz, but it's going to be him or junior Kamenara, I think. Are there only six in it this year? I feel like there's usually eight. No, there's eight. Oh, so who am I missing here? Raleigh, Acuna, Wood. O'Neill Cruz, Camerro, Buxton.

Two, three, four, five, six. But yeah, I, riveting, riveting podcasting right now. The only thing I'm thinking is O'Neill Cruz could put on like a Johncarlo-Stantan-esque show at the Home Run Derby. I think there's only six so far, but I heard somewhere that the... Okay, too yet to be named. I heard somewhere that it's been filled already. On the Yankees broadcast, Jazz Chisholm was advocating for himself. He wanted to be part of the home run derby, but they said that the field is full.

So I don't know who else the other names are. A couple other arbitrary endpoints here. Jaron last nine games hitting 364 with three homers, 12 RBI, 94. 94.9 average exit velocity. Randy Rosearena last 30 games. He is crushing it. 316, eight homers for him, a 994 OPS. Jazz Chisholm since returning, 31 games.

316 batting average, 10 homers, 26 RBI, four steals and OPS over 1,000. Salvador Perez, updated numbers from just yesterday, last 42 games. He's hitting 280 with 11 homers, 33 RBI, and OPS near 850. And Geraldo Perdomo slowed down a little bit. Now he's picking it back up. Last 18, 309, three homers, 15 RBI, two steals, an OPS near 900.

So a nice little bounce back, Chris. Anything to add on these hot hitters picking it back up? A Rosarano is one that every time I did my rankings, I would look at him and I would think, oh, I should move him down more. And I resisted. And I'm glad I didn't move him down too much. Because, yeah, he's been really good for a while now.

Mm-hmm. All right. And last up, we got some hitting left over. here. Kyle Schwabber is also picking the power backup. He has four home runs in his last eight games. He's up to 29 on the season. Maybe Bryce Harper isn't Wast just yet. Four for

six with his 10th home run. Added three runs scored. Four extra base hits, I think. Might have been. I didn't write that down. James Wood, 24th homer 115.9 exit velocity, 433 feet for him. A. E. E. E. E. E. Hennio-Swres

just keeps mashinge. He's up to 29 homers, 75 RBI. Josh Smith has low-key been very good, especially in points league. So last 28 games, 3.5 fantasy points per game before this one, he went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles, a walk, 2 run scored. So doing a really good job there is Josh Smith. Wyatt Langford, 2 for 4 with 2 steals. It's back-to-back multi-hit games for him.

Mike Trout, 2-4 with a Double-Dong 3 RBI. He was on that list of players last week. I brought up, I think could have a big second half if he's healthy, of course. Ronald de Cunia, two home runs. We mentioned that. Austin Riley hit his 14th. And Marcel Ozuena hit his first home run since June 13th.

Man. That's good to see. Are you any closer, Chris, to benching Ozuno? Because I have a feeling this hip injury is a lot worse than he's let on. Sure. I have him in a couple leagues where he's my utility and I've thought about it.

I haven't done it yet. Hopefully a little extra time off in the next week we'll do wonders for him. That's my hope with Marcelo Zuna. And yes, it was four extra base hits for Bryce Harper, 99 miles per hour, 106 miles per hour, 107 miles per hour, 111 miles per hour for him. And also, you mentioned 115.9 on the James Wood home run. He also had a 114 mile per hour batted ball today. So two of the three hardest tip balls of the day belong to James Wood.

That's freakish. Call to the bullpen for the White Sox. Grant Taylor was brought in the eighth inning with a one-run lead, facing 9-1-2 in the Blue Jays lineup. He allowed a double but got out of it. And then Jordan Leisure closed it out for his second save of the season. For the Dodgers, Tanner Scott entered with two outs in the eighth. Runner on second, a one-run lead.

He got Christian Yelich to ground out. He started the ninth where he gave up a run on three hits, took his sixth blown save, and then Kirby Yates got the 10th inning. The Brewers walked it off. On the other side, Trevor McGill started the 10th, got the top of the inning. And with the game tied, he struck out the side. He picked up the win. By the way, he had at least the five hardest thrown pitches of the day today.

I did not know Trevor McGill could do that. I know he typically isn't. He averaged 100 miles per hour with his fastball today. He's typically in like the 98 range. Yeah, no, he throws really hard, but yeah, he got up to 101.9. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was, that was imprided. Not know he got quite that high.

Mm-hmm. For the Yankees, Luke Weaver back on track. He recorded five outs across the seventh and eighth innings. He struck out three. Devin Williams then struck out two for his 13th save. I think it's just Devin Williams until he falls apart. I read about it for the site today, but I agree. That one, that one feels.

I think the leaf might not be super long. You know, and a bad week could cost him the job, but he's looked like Devin Williams for a month and a half now. So I think it's his job. For the Royals, Carlos Estevez allowed a hit, but struck out one for his 25th save. For the twins, Yohan Duran, pitched a clean ninth for his 14th save.

For the Guardians, Emmanuel Class A, Cade Smith, and Hunter Gattis were all unavailable. So Paul Seawald struck out one for his. his second save. And for the Angels, Kenley Jansen picked up his 16th save of the season. That game was crazy, by the way. It was like back and forth, seesaw. It felt like every single inning there was a lead change. Yeah, yeah. Fun game overall there. Not so much for Rangers fans, but fun game between. No, it even ended weird because Taylor Ward nearly, who was it? Tyler Soderstrom the other day,

had a ball bounce off his glove for a home run. Taylor Ward almost did that. Yeah. And he lost it on a double to Corey Seeger. So that one, it got a little bit interesting at the end. But the one hit Kenley Jansen gave up, Taylor Ward probably should have caught. Yep.

To stream or not to stream on Thursday, we have Charlie Morton up against the Mets, Colin Ray at the Twins, Logan Allen at the White Sox, Mike Soroka at the Cardinals. I felt like we didn't hate the Thursday options when we were talking about it yesterday but I kind of hate the Thursday options now. I don't know what happened.

I think it was Wednesday that we didn't hate and it actually turned out to be a terrible day for streaming so I apologize. Yeah, there weren't a lot of great ones. I don't really like any of these. Logan T. Allen against the White Sox could be fine, but I don't think he's particularly good. So wouldn't recommend it, certainly. Don't love Thursday. to go with Soroka and Alan.

Morton's pitching better, but tough matchup against the Mets, so I would put him third on that list. And then on Friday, Shane Smith, not pitching well right now, but gets the Guardians lineup. Quinn Priester gets the Nationals. Edward Cabrera is at the Orioles. Joe Boyle should be the bulk reliever

at the Red Sox, and Ryan Nelson is at the Angels. Yeah, I like Cabrera. I like Boyle and I like Nelson. I could see a good start coming from Shane Smith, but the one league where I have been using him as an RP as a spark this season, I did finally

get him on the bench. So he's just been really bad lately. All right, yeah, I do agree. I would put probably, based on the matchups, I'd put Nelson at the top, then Cabrera, and then Joe Boyle here on Friday. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks, thanks as always, for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a

five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.