Fantasy Baseball Today - Connelly Early's Debut, Hot Streaks & Temperate Check! (9/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Connelly Early had a historic debut for the Red Sox (2:55)! ... Emmet Sheehan dominated the Rockies (9:25). ... Joey Cantillo had the best start of his career (12:30). ... Ranger Suarez is going to get PAID this offseason (14:51). ... News (19:07): Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette both went on the IL. ... Josh Lowe has really picked things up (25:10). ... Kyle Bradish had another strong start (38:51). ... Are we buying these hot streaks (43:58)? ... Let's do a temperature check on these pitchers (52:08). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:42). 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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. The early bird gets the worm. Welcome into fantasy baseball today on Wednesday, September 10th.

I am Frank Sample, joined by Chris Towers today on the show. another electric debut from a rookie pitcher, are we buying these hot streaks? Temperature checks on starting pitchers, and much more. Let's jump in. All right, Chris, another rookie pitcher gets called up

and another awesome debut. You are up. Yeah, the meta this season seems to be start the rookies in their first start, and then maybe back off. Because we've seen a lot of bad second starts lately, but Connolly Early, this wasn't just,

the most impressive debut by a rookie pitcher all season. Legitimately like a historically good first start. He struck out 11 over five innings of work, shut out the A's in Sacramento, which is tough to do. 19 whiffs on 90 pitches, but we'll focus on the 11 strikeouts, which ties Don Ossie's Boston Red Sox record for a first.

start or for an MLB debut, but it's even more impressive than that. This was just the 17th time in MLB history that a pitcher had 11 or more strikeouts in their first major league game. And there are a couple of flukes in there. Steve Woodard of the Milwaukee Brewers in the late 90s struck out 12 in his first start, followed that up with one strikeout in his next two starts combined. but you look at the list and Freddie Peralta was the last guy to do it

Matt Harvey before him Steven Strasbourg before him Tim Hudson before him that's like four legitimate aces in a row you've got J.R. Richard and Luis Tion and Juan Marischal on this list as well it's a pretty impressive thing that Connolly Early

just accomplished and it wasn't clear if he was going to remain in the rotation after making this start, I think he's definitely going to remain in now. He's having a breakout season. It's been a real development win for the Red Sox. He was like a fourth or fifth round pick a couple years ago.

They've totally remade his arsenal. He's another one of these funky lefties who throws mid-90s. 94, I think, is around what he average with the sinker. Got seven whiffs with the sinker today. Four seamers looked like a pretty good pitch. He didn't throw it very often. but physical characteristics are good. Seven on the slider, three on the changeup, two on the curveball.

It's a legit starters arsenal. You know, we're at the point now where like even if Connolly Early does remain in the rotation, it's probably, what, three more starts at most, probably two. So, you know, who knows how much value you're actually likely to get out of him the rest of the way. But I have to imagine he's going to remain in the rotation. It looks like his next start should come against the A's next week if he does remain on turn. And he could be a two-star pitcher next week versus the A's and at Tampa Bay. I think you like that.

So, yeah, go ahead and add Connolly Early, who had good minor league numbers and has been a big riser. I think he did get into FanGraph's Top 100 at the midseason update. So, yeah, a lot to like about Connolly Early. And interestingly enough... He was right on time. He struggled with control in the minors, and he came out here through 68% of his pitches for strikes. Only one walk.

I saw this tweet from Gabrielle's star of... Who covers the Red Sox for the Boston Herald. And she wrote Connolly Early became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 11 batters within five innings in his debut. So like you pointed out, a historical start here for Connolly Early. yeah, I've really had everything working here, generating whiffs across the board. If you look at his minor league numbers this season, a 260 ERA 111-11 whip, 11.8K per 9, 14.3% swinging strike rate.

So the whiffs are definitely there. He's only 3% rostered. And the reason he got called up is because Dustin May went on the IL out of nowhere with right elbow under rightus. So I think he is going to stick in the rotation, obviously, after this start. And might be a two-star pitcher next week, as you pointed out. So I don't typically love young pitchers facing the same team two games in a row. But the A's are a beatable matchup, especially on the road. They swing and miss a lot.

They've got some lefties in there. They're volatile. Like they can hit home runs, but they also do swing and miss a lot. Oh, look, if he goes out and gives up seven runs in his next start, I would not be surprised. That's what we talked about yesterday, I think, with all the, maybe it was on Sunday, with all the volatility around the young pitchers and the way that they've, you know, we talk about them as lottery tickets.

And that's another, this is another lottery ticket. And there's a decent chance it doesn't work out. But with three starts left and the way he looked, I think you just go out and at him. Do you take him over Brandon Sprote, who got called up for the Mets this weekend? That might be as simple as who has the best matchup coming up. So Sproat faces the Rangers.

this week and I am filibustering so I can pull up his matchups for next week. Looks like he'd be one start against the Nationals and then probably one start against the Marlins. That's pretty good. The next two weeks.

So that's not bad. But the way it lines up, it does look like we'll get three more starts after this week from Connolly Early and only two more starts from Sproats. from Sprote the rest after this week. Yeah.

So if you have to set your lineup on Sunday morning or Monday morning, I would give early the edge. And I don't think that you, I wouldn't want to drop other rookie pitchers that we've picked up recently, but would you go ahead and throw early ahead of like Peyton Toley and I know, uh, Jonah Tongue, any of those guys? Tolly's remaining in the rotation. Yeah, he's actually pitching on,

Wednesday here against the athletics, yeah. So I think Tolly's the better talent. So I would probably just stick with him. But again, if Early is in line for two starts next week, the way it lines up at least, and Tolly isn't, that's a pretty good tiebreaker when there's only two weeks left. Yeah, so electric debut here for Connolly Early. Let's talk about another pitcher who was awesome.

He did face the Rockies. Emmett Sheehan. amazing start here, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 93 pitches, 12 of those on the slider, six on the fastball. He really just leaned on that slider here through it 47% of the time, 28% usage entering this start, and the velocity was up on that pitch, 1.2 miles per hour.

The fastball was great as well. Again, it's the Rockies, I get it. But now two of his last three starts have been seven innings, one earn run or less, nine plus strikeouts. And the last time he did that, it was against the Reds. Not a great lineup, but obviously a better lineup than the Rockies here. So undoubtedly, Emmachian has incredible talent. Like, there's no doubting that.

He's down to a 332 ERA 109 whip. And he gets the Phillies next week. Definitely tougher matchup. No Trey Turner in the lineup, so that helps. 58% rostered. Which one do you like more? Early or Emmett Sheen? Again, I think it's just, if it's a,

two-star week. I'll just take the guy with the two-star week. No, that's not a hundred percent certain because we don't know exactly how the Red Sox are going to use their rotation. And, you know, they might have enough days off where they could skip someone in the rotation. You know, it might work out that they could do that. They're off Monday. So they're off Thursday and Monday in the next five days. So if they want to, they could potentially line up their rotation so that they don't need early for two starts next week. So it's if he has a two-star week next week, right? I hope he does.

I assume he does. But, you know, if it's just one start Sheehan versus early, I would probably go Sheehan, yeah. Anything else you like to add on him? Because now this is two of his last three starts have really been, I mean, probably two of the best of his career. I there's never really been a doubt about emmashian's talent even going back to when he was a rookie and he had that phenomenal September he missed all last year with injuries but he was racking up big strikeout numbers huge swinging strike numbers just misses a ton of bats and so the only reason I wouldn't have faith in emmishian is that the um I'm not sure the Dodgers have a ton of faith in him or at least he is six that of six on the pecking order.

And so when it comes time to pull someone out of rotation or skip a start for a day off, it tends to be Sheehan getting pushed out as we saw last year, last week. So that would be the only reason to be skeptical of Sheehan. But I think he's legitimately good. Yeah, I agree with you there. I am looking at the matchups. Next week, it's the Phillies. And then the following week after that, it looks like he would line up for the D-backs there for Sheehan.

So not the best matchups, but if he's got his stuff, working. I mean, it might not really matter who MHN is going up against right now. So, great start from him as well. I want to highlight one other pitcher. Joey Cantillo, just a stellar outing here against the Royals. Bobby Wood Jr. was back in the lineup. So

look, typically the Royals lineup is not very good. When Bobby Wood Jr. is in there, it obviously is much better. But he went eight plus innings, shutout ball, five strikeouts to zero walks. The zero walks just key here. I mean, I always have thought that there's talent here. You look at the minor league numbers, lots of strikeouts for Joey

Cantillo also a ton of walks, but no walks here. That's a great sign for him. Velocity up across the board and way up on some of his foot pitches. Changeup was up over two miles per hour. The curve was up almost four miles per hour here for Joe Cantino. That changeup is ridiculous for Joey Cantino. It's kind of to a certain extent all he has. That's not entirely true.

He has a curveball and slider and some fastballs. But the changeup is by far in a way his best pitch. I mean, that's a potentially an elite pitch. the results he's getting so far this season. And then the slider and curveball are just, you know, kind of average-ish. But it's been enough lately. Four straights, good starts, three-runs over that stretch. And I'm pretty sure Joey Cantillo is a two-star pitcher next week because the Guardians play seven games in six days. They have a doubleheader next weekend. So he is likely going to start Tuesday against the Tigers and then probably Sunday.

against the twins, I would guess. And obviously the matchup against the twins isn't great, or the matchup against the Tigers isn't great, but a two-star pitcher with a matchup at the twins is very, very good. So I do think Cantillo is an interesting ad for next week at least. Yeah, he's 14% rostered. He does have RP eligibility for the, so for those playing in points leagues,

I don't know that you want to trust him in your fantasy championship or your playoffs at this point, but look, if you're just chasing volume to kind of match up with your opponent or whatever it might be, Cantillo is the name you can look at. His last four starts to put some numbers on it. 109 ERA and a 101 whip here for Cantio.

I think there is inherent volatility. If we get a start where he just can't throw strikes, it could turn out to be a really, really bad start. But lately, Joey Cantio has looked really, really good for the Guardians. And one last pitcher, all right, just one. Ranger Suarez. He dominated the Mets, man.

Six shot-out innings, one hit, three walks, 12 strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 99 pitches, and he is double-digit strikeouts in three of his last five outings. Had a bit of a rough stretch there in August, but over his last five starts, a 0.88 ERA, a 0.98 whip.

39 strikeouts over 30 and 2 thirds innings. During that span, he's down to a 277 ERA, a 115 whip. Ranger Suarez is chasing the bag. He is in a contract year. Someone's going to pay this guy. Very interested to see what the kind contract looks like, but if...

I mean, it's going to be $100 million, right? How old is he? Someone's going to give him... Five for a hundred, something? Five for a hundred. That feels low. Yeah, it might be. Like, a $5.125? Like, that's a $25 million a year pitcher. I don't know if it's going to be a good contract.

Yeah. We're talking about a guy who over the past five seasons has a 319 ERA. Yeah, it's true. Like, I know that there have been the up. and downs. And, you know, I think we've kind of gotten caught up in riding the ups and downs. But three, three, 19 lower than that ERA over the past five seasons, having a great walk year. He has five career starts with double digit strikeouts. Three of them have come in his last five games. It's been, uh, remarkable to see from Ranger Suarez. Now, I was looking at Eduardo Rodriguez's contract that he got four for 80. So yeah,

That's the floor for Rangers. Like, he's getting more than that. There's no doubt in my mind. So, yeah, it probably does exceed $100 million here. But if you had any trepidation based on what he did in August, obviously. And against this Mets lineup, remember, coming into this week, they were, you know, maybe the hottest lineup in the second half of the season. They were just tearing everybody apart.

So shout out to Ranger Suarez, man. Incredible outing here from him. But lots of really good pitching performances. Cantillo, Sheehan, and Connolly Early. So if you are chasing some waiver wire pitchers at this point in the season, we've talked about a lot of them lately. Now, it's worth, he only went five innings because he's connolly early and not calling it lately. Yes, yes. Thank you.

Thank you for getting that in there, Chris. Big thanks to those watching live on YouTube. Make sure to hit that like button. Subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Stay subscribe as we get into the off season. We'll have some fun content that we're doing, you know, position recaps and wait. too early mock trass. We're going to be doing a live, hopefully, live podcast from first pitch to Arizona, so that'll be very cool as well. So make sure to stick around if you want some

offseason baseball content. Let's take that break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's run through the news and notes. Kyle Tucker was placed on the aisle with a left calf train retroactive to September 6th. Moises by Asteroos was recalled by the Cubs. Willie Castro started in right field in this game. And obviously there is no replacing Kyle Tucker. I know he's mostly been bad for the second half, but was picking things up here lately. Brenton Doyle, I noticed,

has six games in Cores Field next week. He's been much better in the second half. Yesterday we spoke about Jung Hu Lee, Dylan Cruz, Austin Hayes. There's also Dalton Varshow and Josh Lowe. We were talking, I think, before the podcast yesterday, just about how plentiful the outfield position has been, right? Scott said he has 50 names that he wants to rank

as top 30 outfielders for next year. It's just, there's a lot of talent at this position right now. So not that you want to lose Kyle Tucker, but it does feel like a position where you can at least get some value off the waiver wire right now. Yeah, I think it's got to be Varsho. I can see the case for Hayes. And obviously, Brenton Doyle has been really good in the second half and has the six

games at Coorsfield. So if you want to go with him, I think that's fine. But Varsha has been really impressive. I believe in what he's done. The one thing I do want to stop on is the Moises by Astero's promotion, just because Kyle Tucker goes on the IL, they have a top prospect outfielder who they didn't call up Owen Casey. So I don't know what that means.

It might just mean that they didn't want to call Owen Casey up right now. I don't know. Has he been down long enough to get called back up yet? If you put a player on the IL, the 10-day waiting period is waived. So that shouldn't be an issue. So that says that maybe they're planning on using, say, a Suzuki in the outfield a little more and giving by Astero some DH opportunities. That's just speculation on my part. Carson Kelly has also mostly turned back into a pumpkin.

He has three home runs in five September games, I think, now. So he's done a little bit more lately, but he was really bad in August. his season by season, his month by month is like two good months, three really bad ones so far. So if I was running the Cubs, I might just give Carson Kelly a few more extra days off and see if by asteros can give us a boost. But I'm not necessarily saying that's what they're going to do.

I just don't think they trust him as a catcher yet, just to be able to call games. And obviously they're playing for a lot this time of year. So I don't disagree with you in terms of like offensive output. think he's a pretty exciting prospect, but yeah, defensively, my guess is they probably just don't trust by Astero's yet. Some Kyle Tucker replacements in deeper leagues, Harrison Bader, Andrew Ben and Tendee, and Dalyle. We'll talk a little bit about some of those players later on as well. Boba Chet was placed in the IL with a left knee sprain, and I mentioned this heading into this week.

He had a slide at home plate on Saturday where his leg kind of got caught and hit by the catcher. It was a rough collision there. Then he didn't put. play on Sunday. So it does go on the IL here. Kind of bad timing because, you know, in weekly lineup leagues, if you didn't have a backup shortstop ready to go, you're, you're kind of just stuck. So that, that sucks. But replacements for Bichette, Colson Montgomery, Otto Lopez in shallow leagues, Jeremiah Jackson in medium-sized leagues, though. He left after a hit by pitch on his elbow. I hope everything's all right there. He's been hitting the ball really well. And then Hassan Kim and Jared Triolo are two names in Debrer Leagues. Bobby Wood Jr. returned to the lineup

after missing three games with back spasms. Ryan Pepio has been scratched from his start Wednesday due to fatigue. Cole Regens. Yeah, another one where if you, I mean, yeah, I don't even think that they announced it early enough. I think it, they announces after the race game started here on Tuesday. So even in weekly lineup leagues, you might just kind of be stuck with a zero there from Ryan Pepio.

Cole Regens will make another rehab start Friday at AAA. Astro starter Luis Garcia left Tuesday start with right elbow, discomfort. He was just getting back from Tommy John surgery. He's been trying to get back for two years now. So obviously that's a pretty bad sign there for Luis Garcia. Trevor McGill through a successful live batting practice on Tuesday. First time he's faced hitters since being diagnosed with a grade one right flexor strain in late August. We have an update on the Cubs bullpen, kind of. It sounds like Craig Counsel is likely to deploy a committee approach in the ninth inning after yesterday we heard it would be Brad Keller.

But this is, Scott likes to point this out a lot when we, we have these situations. Managers almost never come out and say, yeah, I have one closer and he's the guy. True. They're always like, oh, we're going to play matchups. We're going to mix a match. And yeah, they might. I don't know. I think it's going to be Keller.

He's, I think, clearly the best option among them. Yeah, he's their best reliever left. And if it's any indication, Andrew Kittridge pitching the seven. seventh inning in this game. That's when it was still a one-run lead at the time. The Cubs wound up winning by five, so they didn't need Brad Keller, but Kitchridge was used a little bit earlier in this game. Byron Buckson returned to the lineup after missing Monday. It turns out Peyton Toley will start on Wednesday against the A's. We mentioned that earlier. Kyle Stowers has been shut down after suffering a setback to his oblique. Adley Ruchman will take batting practice this

weekend. He's on the IL with a right oblique strain. Michael Waka was placed on the seven-day concussion aisle. Jordan Westberg could begin. a rehab assignment this weekend. Brendan Donovan could be activated this weekend. Warming Burnabelle was placed in the seven-day concussion IL and we'll always have that two weeks span where warming Bernabelle looked like the best hitter in baseball and then quickly did not.

So Tyler Locklear will miss the rest of the season with left elbow inflammation and Frankie Montas is undergoing Tommy John surgery. Let's talk about some of those waiver wire hitters and I mentioned Josh Lowe as a possible Kyle Tucker replacement. He has turned things on. Last 17 games here, 3-02 batting average, four homers, 14 run scored, five steals in OPS over 900.

He's pulling the ball a ton. And he has started 10 of their last 13 games against left-handed pitching. Now, he's still really bad against left-handed pitching, but he's playing, so that helps with the counting stats and things. 57% roster for Josh Lowe. Chris, it sounds like you would rank him be. behind Austin Hayes and Dalton Varsho at least. Yeah, I mean, look, it might depend on what the matchups look like

if they have, you know, six righties on the schedule. I think then you could lean towards low. If it was two lefties on the schedule, maybe you go the other way. But I think they're all in the same tier. So it, you know, we talked about this. Was it yesterday the day before? in any short sample size,

the difference is between any given outfielder. It's going to come down to chance. It's going to come down to... And matchups, like you're pointing out. Yeah, matchups and chance. And, you know, do you roll a seven or a one? I don't actually know what those things mean. I feel like I always try to make the craps analogy.

And I don't understand. I've played craps one time in my life. I've never played. I made like 300 bucks and I have no recollection of what the rules were. So, you know. That checks out. That sounds right. It also might just depend on what skill set you need if you lost Kyle Tucker, right?

So Josh Lowe will give you some power and speed. Dalton Varsho, it's mostly just power. Much more power. Same thing with Austin Hayes. I think it's mostly just a power profile. Batting average. I mean, the run production for Austin Hayes has been terrific. Yeah.

So it might just come down to what you need. I guess if you're in a points league, Jung-Hul-Lee we spoke about yesterday. Obviously, he's good in points leagues. I know the plate discipline isn't great for Austin Hayes, but I probably would still lean with him just because he plays more consistently than all those other guys.

So yeah, again, it's very, it's dependent on, you know, what you need and what format you're playing. Jeremiah Jackson, two for three with his fifth home run. He is batting 314 with five homers, six doubles, two triples, 867 OPS. Once upon a time was a prospect,

had some seasons where he didn't do much. He was performing much better in the minors this year, left after a hit by pitch on his elbow, so we'll see how he bounces back. 40% rostered has third-based shortstop and outfield eligibility. I don't know, Chris. Does Jeremiah Jackson deserve more attention?

Yeah, there are a couple of guys like this. I know we're going to talk about him a little later, but Dan Lyle for the Nationals is another one where just kind of come out of nowhere, not really a big prospect, but has shown some real skills. And I think Jeremiah Jackson is in a similar, spot where I don't see a ton in the minor league profile to suggest that

Sharon Jackson is likely to be an MLB contributor, but he's shown some skills at the major league level. He's hitting the ball hard. He's got a decent barrel rate. Hard hit rate is like 70th percentile. So I'm open to one of these guys being a useful hot hand play. It's probably not much more than that. But, you know, a triple eligible guy who's hot right now can be useful.

if, you know, the elbow injury isn't serious. And he does hit the ball really hard so far. 91.2 average exit velocity for Jackson. And he's not really a big dude. He's kind of lean, but he also hits a lot of ground ball. So he's also a really good start. Credit to him. Chris, I don't think you realize, but you call him Jaron Jackson.

And now we are fantasy basketball today. How about that? Has there ever been a fantasy basketball today podcast? There was a fantasy basketball today podcast for a few years. years like, man, back in like 2011, 12, me and me and Joe Polito. Ah, Joe Polito. Yeah, me and Joe Po used to do a fantasy basketball podcast. Man, you know what?

Now I want to go back, search the archives and see what 2011 Chris Towers sounded like on a fantasy basketball podcast. Keith might have been on that doing some DFS stuff back in the day too. Yeah, I'm a madman. I'm in the middle of a rookie draft for a dynasty basketball league right now. That's too much. That's too much. Trying to do that.

Put in my football waivers. I mean, it is just, it is a crazy time right now. Victor Robles is done with his suspension and could make an impact here for the final couple weeks. Two for four with his fifth stolen base. Reminders that last year, he hit over 300. He had 34 steals in just 91 games, 31% rostered. If it is steals that you are specifically chasing at this point, there is probably not

a better name out there than Victor Robles. Yeah, I mean, he was running like a 50-60 steel pace, if I'm remembering correctly, when he got to Seattle last year. Yeah, it was 30 steals and 77 games. Showed some real improvements with the stick as well. I don't know if he's, I don't think he's a 320 hitter or whatever it was after he got to Seattle, but I don't think he's a total zero with the bat either. So I'm pretty intrigued with Victor Robles coming back.

Obviously, coming back from a shoulder injury is worrisome. But it's, I hope he does well for sure. Chris, I feel like you've kind of become the Kyle Teal guy. And you know what? He homered again. Three homers in his past six games. Continues this big second half where he's hitting 313. Seven homers, 22 runs, 23 RBI, two steals, a 906 OPS.

He is 44% rostered. I was updating my rankings today, long overdue, by the way, I do apologize. Kyle Teal, I moved all the way up to 14th in my catcher rankings, and you know what, that still doesn't feel high enough. If you wanted to take him over Samuel Basayo, just because Teal has been better so far, Basayo is the better prospect. I get that. Like, I'm totally fine with that, but man, it's still just a really, really good position.

I think if you wanted to take him over J.T. Roamed. If you wanted to like... I moved him ahead of Yiner Diaz, Real Muto, just ahead of Gabriel Moreno. Augustine Ramirez has been fine, but hasn't necessarily been impactful

lately. So like if you wanted to do Teal over Ramirez, I think that's reasonable. I'm not saying you should. But I think it's close enough. Like it's not like there was a huge gap in how they were viewed as prospects. Kyle Teal was basically a top 50 prospect entering the season.

I yeah it would not surprise me at all if Kyle Teal was just a top five catcher for the next five years Sal Stewart hit a bomb off of Michael King one for four with his second home run 106.7 exit velocity 419 feet to straightaway center field he has started five of eight games since getting called up he's got obviously the two homers in the five games right now he's second base only he needs one more game for first base he needs three more for third base. I like the prospect a lot. I think he's a very interesting player for next season. I just don't know how much he's going to play to make an impact the rest of this year, I guess. I kind of wish they would just pull the plug on Matt McLean and give Sal Stewart. I feel like McLean has been

better lately, yeah. Lately, but that's a, that's a relatively low bar. Yeah, in the month of September, which is eight games. He has a 974 OPS, one homer, three doubles. He had a 613 OPS in August. I mean, do we have to do the Gavin Lux thing anymore, you know? Yeah, no, like that's the thing is there should be somewhere to play South Stewart every day. I know they've given to Brian Hayes a couple of days off. I mean, benching Spencer Steer wouldn't.

Steer was out of the lineup here. Yeah, so like I think there should be. be enough playing time for South Stewart. They just haven't made that move yet. Very interesting dude, too. I was watching some interviews with him. He is vibrant. He is very enthusiastic. Miami Kid actually, too. Okay, there you go. How about that?

There's a lot of those in baseball. You know, a lot of... It's a hotbed for South Florida is a hotbed. Oh, Westminster Christian. There you go. Okay. I've heard of that one. Yeah. Apparently him and Machado are like best friends.

Okay, I think that's where Machado. Machado was kind of his mentor. No, he was Brito Miami private school. They text every day. That was a weird thing. I went to college in Miami after growing up in Broward. And in Miami, like a bunch of people, there's way more private schools. So there's all these like Miami Christian and all these places.

That was a weird cultural change for me. Hanging out with a bunch of private school kids once I got to college. But that's where all these. But that's where all these, Eric Cosmer and, yeah, I think there's a bunch of private school kids from South Florida in the majors. Makes sense? A couple deeper names here. Dalen Lyle mentioned him has been hitting for the Nationals, two for five with his fifth home run. Last nine games, he's hitting 432, two homers, 11 runs, one steel, tons of line drives.

Harrison Bader, three for five with his 16th homer. Last 19 games for him, he is hitting 438 with three homers and 15 runs. run scored, playing pretty consistently for the Phillies as well. Otto Kemp had a big game in Alec Boe's absence, two for three with a walk, a sock, and a shoe. And Parker Meadows, a nice game here, three for five with its fourth homer, three RBI, has homered in two of three games since returning. I still think there's talent here.

The dude just keeps getting hurt, so it's been a pretty just rough stretch for Parker Meadows since he's been called up to the Tigers, but I still think there's something there. Any thoughts on these deep league names? Lyle, Bader, Auto Kemp, and Parker Meadows. I think this is a really interesting group, actually. It's the kind of group that makes me wish it was like July. So we could see these guys get more run and find out a little bit more of them. Because Auto Kemp, remember when he got called up?

He had very interesting minor league numbers. There's some power. There's some speed there. We haven't really seen it at the major league level all that much, but would not surprise me if he went on a nice little run. I've been a big Parker Meadows fan for a while. I think just injuries have really robbed him of this season, but I still think there's a ton of talent there.

And, you know, Dail and Lyle, his overall minorly track record is like a 770 OPS kind of production, which is pretty uninspiring. But he took a big step forward this year between double A and AAA. It was more like an 870, 880 OPS. And the XBA, since he got to the majors, is over 300. Lots of line drives for him. Yeah, there might be something here. with Dailan Lyle.

Otto Kemp's minor league production, by the way. 74 games at AAA this year. He hit 310 with 16 homers, 13 steals, 987 OPS, 11.4 max exit velocity. So he is an interesting player. Not great defensively, but offensive profile looks very

fantasy friendly there for Auto Kemp. These are deep league names, you know, 15 teams or deeper, things like that. But I had a league this week where I was struggling at outfield. I picked up Dale and Lyle just because he was playing, and boom, I already got a good game out of it. So in leagues that deep, just take someone who's playing

and hope for the best. Let's take a quick break, our final break, and when we return, we'll take a look at some of the Waverwire pitchers. I've got some hot streaks. Are we buying these players? Temperature checks. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today.

Waver Wire pitchers, and we'll start with some shallow league names here. Noah Cameron took a tough loss at the Guardians. Seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks, had 16 whiffs on 100 pitches. Kyle Braddish was great against the pirates, and of course, you know, one pitch into the ninth inning, they blow his win, which is so annoying. Seven innings, one run, six strikeouts here for Kyle Bradish.

Will Warren, a quality start against the Tigers. Six innings, two runs, five strikeouts. Pretty interestingly, change up his pitch mix through a lot more changeups and curveballs, and that feels like a recipe for success for Will Warren. He also has a 316 ERA over his last 12 starts And Zach Lattel, a quality start at the Padres Six innings, two runs, four strikeouts

Has not been nearly as good since joining the Reds here. I'll pull up some matchups and get all those ready for you, Chris, because I'm sure that's the next question that you were going to ask me. But any quick thoughts on Cameron, Braddish, Will Warren, and Zach Lattel? I mean, Will Warren is so funny because the ERA has been low in the second half It's right around three since the start of August. It's 3.48 since the All-Star break, or at least it was coming into this start.

But the strikeouts have just completely disappeared. The walk rate has been better, and maybe there's a tradeoff to be made there that makes it worthwhile. But he was an elite strikeout great guy early who's missing a ton of bats, and he's been a pretty mediocre bat misser over the past couple of months. I don't quite know what to make of that. I think on the whole Will Warren is just a streamer type

I think he's been over-roastered for a while 73% but obviously the results have been good enough that you just kind of keep rolling with him Cowbraddish part of me is hey great I think Cowbrattish is great so I'm not surprised he succeeded and part of me is like well I'm glad this one came against the pirates because he didn't necessarily

have his best stuff today, didn't miss a lot of bats, only eight whiffs, still ended up with six strikeouts. It's the benefit of playing against the pirates, I suppose. Cameron, I, it certainly felt like he was starting to lose it before this start, and I tend to think he still is on that edge of, like on the other edge of being useful. But good start here, if you haven't dropped him by now, I think it's totally fine to hang on to him. Coming off this start, it would kind of be silly to drop him after his best start in a couple of months. So, yeah.

And then Lattel, like, he's just a guy. He's an innings eater, basically. Yeah, like he's efficient. He doesn't throw a lot of balls. Has massive home run issues, which have been exacerbated by playing in Cincinnati. Maddie and I think he's dropable. I think Zach Lattel especially, for the most part, I think Kyle Bradish is the only one that I

just in the long run think is just a very good pitcher who it doesn't matter. Who he's pitching against. The rest of them, I think it's probably what's the next matchup. Yeah, and Kyle Bradish is probably the only one you want to use next week too. He's at the White Sox. Noah Cameron gets the Blue Jays, so you don't like that. Will Warren is at the Red Sox later this week. So I will quickly pull up his next matchup.

Zach Lattel is a two-star pitcher at the Cardinals. Kind of like that. But then he also gets the Cubs. I mean, I guess there's no Kyle Tucker in the lineup right now. But I don't know. I wouldn't want to risk things with Zach Lattel right now. And Will Warren for next week. I think Lattel's fine for next week.

Warren at the Orioles. Probably the second best matchup on the. this list, I guess. Yeah, in a points league, I think Letell, you're starting. In a roto, I'd go Braddish. I would try to avoid Noah Cameron against the Blue Jays, though. They think they're the third best team against lefties this season. Yeah.

Don't think either of these two matter, but really nice starts. Mitchell Parker at the Marlins, seven and two thirds, innings, two runs, two walks, two strikeouts. He also allowed 12 hard hits in this game and still has a 569 ERA. And Kyle Hendrix, what year is it? because he dominated the twins, seven shutout innings with six strikeouts, had 12 whiffs on 80 pitches.

He's at the Rockies next week. So don't think either matters, Chris, but they pitch well. That's great. I mean, look, Mitchell Parker gets the Pirates next week, so he could have another good start. That's actually later this week. Oh, later this week, okay.

Then could be a good two-start week for Mitchell Parker. I think I had a draft and hold league where I had nobody else, and I just threw Mitchell Parker in there because of the matchup. There you go. Yay me. Hopefully it doesn't get bombed by pirates. Better to be lucky than have good pitchers.

I've always said that. Are we buying these hot streaks? Cade Horton, another quality start. This one at the Brave, six and a third innings. One run, two strikeouts to zero walks, just three whiffs on 87 pitches. Just leaned all the way into that fastball through it 60% of the time.

It was not great. It allowed a lot of hard contact. We were talking a lot about Kate Horton before we started here, Chris. He is a very interesting pitcher. He's allowed four total earned runs in the second half, a 0.84 ERA, a 0.79 whip. We've said this all season.

He has great secondary pitches, but he throws his fastball so much. He has an extensive injury history. I don't really know what to make of it. I don't want to talk about Kit Horton. All right, up next. Just because you know what I'm going to say. And then the Cubs fans are going to come for you.

Well, not just because it's like everybody's going to be like, oh, they're going to keep talking crap about Keith. Horton, he's going to keep dying. And it's like, yeah, he is. I don't, like, I don't have any faith in it. I don't have any, like, it goes without saying that Kate Horton is not a sub one ERA pitcher because he is not the best pitcher of all time. So that already goes out the window.

I think it probably goes without saying that Kate Horton is not a sub three ERA pitcher because he's probably not one of the five best pitchers in baseball, and there aren't more than five pitchers or so who you should expect to be a sub three ERA pitcher. I think he's clearly talented. There is a lot to like about him. And also his success so far is totally unsustainable. He has a 181 Babbup since the All-Star break.

He has a 3.4% home run to fly ball ratio. Those are both, I don't think there have been numbers that low in the past 10 seasons for a qualified starting pitcher outside of the 2020 season. It's obviously unsustainable. maybe it continues for the next three weeks but in terms of projecting Kate Horton forward I

one he's going to end up throwing about 120 more innings than he did last season at least we'll see what happens in the playoffs so that's going to be hard to account for next season he has a long history of injuries missed most of last season with a shoulder injury I think he had Tommy John surgery when he was in college as well

so I'm probably going to be out on Kate Horton relative to cost next year. Now it depends what the cost is. If he's a top 30 starting pitcher in ADP, I'm definitely going to be out on him. If he's a top 50 starting pitcher, then yeah, I think like the hundred and thirty. I think he'll be closer to that. I would hope so, but you never know. You know, he's a super talented pitcher.

There's a lot to like about him. He's going to finish the season probably with a sub three ERA. He was a top prospect, so I could see people getting really excited about him. I will be moderately excited about Kate Horton for 2026. I know we just spoke about this yesterday and how you don't necessarily want to just continue to ride the hot hand with starting pitchers because more often than not, the wheels will fall off eventually. Kate Horton, I think, is a little bit better than some of those names that we were talking about. Obviously, he does have the prospect pedigree.

There's talent here. There's no doubt. He's certainly more talented. Yeah, and he's a two-star pitcher next week. He's at the Pirates. He's at the Reds. So the way he's pitching, you're using him. I get that.

I was talking with people on Twitter earlier today, and I think he'll kind of settle in as an SP3 type for fantasy, where maybe it's kind of mid-to-high-3s ERA, okay whip, but he gets ground balls, and I think more whiffs are going to come because the secondary pitches are so good. Will he maintain this level of control? That's a question.

He also has a really, really good defense behind him, too. So I think that's that kind of helps suppress the Babbitt, although you shouldn't expect that. And there are some characteristics about Kate Horton that could be contributing to his success in that he's limiting hard contact. And I think the biggest one would be he's just got a kind of weird fastball. Most fastballs have arm side movement. So they tail away from opposite handed hitters. Kate Horton's got more of like a cutter fastball, which he throws at 95.7 miles per hour on average.

And, you know, that is just, we talk a lot about weird is good when it comes to pitchers. Actually, you know, I was watching this random video today of a guy who plays like amateur baseball. But he's like in good shape. He plays amateur baseball. And he wanted to see if he could hit off a major league pitcher, so he called up Trevor May, who retired, I think, last year.

And what they were talking about is everything that he was swinging at, he was swinging under, because when he's used to playing against 27-year-olds who never played outside of college, the ball drops. And Trevor May is thrown 91 with high spin efficiency, so the ball's not dropping. And that's the way to think about, like, all these, like, IVB and cut fastballs. and all is just you're trying to get the ball to a spot where the hitter doesn't expect it to be. And so the hitter expects the ball to drop because gravity. And so if you have a ball that doesn't drop as much as the hitter expects, that's good.

You will miss barrels and you will miss bats. And so Kate Horton does have a fastball that rather than running in on a right-handed hitter, it kind of runs away. and that might explain why he's been able to avoid the regression so far. When you first brought up that it's more of a cut fastball, instantly I thought of, hey, this is the same organization that developed Justin Steele. Yeah, that's another one. He throws three different kinds of fastballs, one of them being a cut fastball, which for years we look at his pitch mix and it just says fastball slider.

But that doesn't tell the story, right? There's more nuance to it. He has three different fastball. that he throws and two different breaking pitches, but it's interesting that you brought that up. It kind of just made me think of Justin Steele immediately there, although they're different-handedness and all that. Are you buying these three hitter hot streaks?

Mark Vientos continues to hit for power. His 17th home run, last 22 games. He's hitting 304 with 10 home runs and an OPS over 1100. Willie Adamas, last 23 games for him, 268, 10 homers, 20 RBI, 5 SEALs, an OPS over 1,000, and Mookie Betz is waking up. He has three homers in his past six games. Last 31 for him, 333, six homers,

22 runs, 21 RBI, and OPS over 900. So it's still not, you know, elite Mookie Betts that we're used to, but it's much better than what we got in the middle part of the season. So any thoughts here, Chris, Mookie Betz, Willie Damos, Mark Vientos. I think Scott and I were talking about it on one of the shows last week about Moogie Betz and he's probably playing his way back into the top 50 for 2026. I don't think it's back into like the top 25 though.

No, no. Because the one thing about Betts is he's kind of pretty consistently been a guy who outperforms his expected stats and he has not been doing that this season. But now the expected stats are starting to get better in the second half. And I think you can still expect him to be someone who outperforms those because he's a high pulled air. and just has great back control. And so I think you look at him for next season.

It's more like what Jose Altuve has turned into, where he's not that impact player anymore, but it would be easy to underrate him. And that's kind of where I think Mookie is, where it's probably 20 homers, a ton of runs, decent RBI, and a good batting average. Not a superstar play anymore, but still a very, very useful one.

temperature check on these starting pitchers Spencer Shrider first off the mustache it's gone what are we doing it's weird he looks like a completely new human being and I don't like it but he pitched better so good for him quality starting against the Cubs six innings two runs three walks eight strikeouts had 16 whiffs on 97 pitches has a quality start in two of his last three outings and the eight strikeouts were his most since July 18th so

where are you at on Spencer Shrider. I will be inclined to buy into any signs of life from him because he was so good at his best. And I hope he figures it out and closes the season out with two or three more good starts. And we can have some optimism going into next season. I think I've settled on him, you know, looking at ADP last year, right around the 100th pick is where I think you start to see a lot of those more questionable. upside plays at pitcher come off the board. And that's probably, I think, where Spencer Strider deserves to go.

So that'll be like in the SP30-ish range around the 100th pick. I don't feel great about that either way. Because he hasn't certainly been worth that. And obviously, the upside is best pitcher in baseball if he can get back to his pre-injury form. I think that's unlikely. But we've seen some hints of upside lately. that make me inclined to buy in a little bit for next year. And then is that the only one you talked about so far?

Yep, that's the only one. Okay. I, all right, he's a little bit worse on the road. Next week, it looks like he lines up for two starts at the Nationals, at the Tigers. But I feel like every time he's been listed as a two-star pitcher, it hasn't happened recently. Yeah, I think Scott said this,

this is like the third or fourth week in a row that Strider's been a two-star pitcher. They keep, I think they add. and released Cal Quantrell last week. They've been trying to find a sixth starter. But it's also seven games next week. I'm pretty sure he's going to pitch on Monday. And they only have a five-man rotation.

So he probably will make two starts next week. Well, let's hope so. I would start him if he does. All right, George Kirby. And if he doesn't, it's just one start against Washington, which is pretty good anyway. Yeah. George Kirby's last two starts have been rough.

This one against the Cardinals, four innings, seven hits, three runs, only two strikeouts, only three whiffs on 85 pitches, lots of hard contact allowed. The numbers on the last two outing, six innings, 17 hits allowed, 10 earned runs for George Kirby. The ERA is up to 456. Christy just keep throwing him out there.

He's at the Astros next week. That's the way I lean, yeah. You know, when you look at the per pitch metric stuff, he doesn't really look that different from last season. The results on balls and play have been mostly the same as last season. The one big change for Kirby, and let me make sure that that has remained the case because it's fluctuated throughout the year,

but he's just, he's gone through stretches where he just doesn't throw his change up or his splitter at all. He's brought the change up back a little bit lately, but the splitter's completely gone and I think that's a sign that he just hasn't been quite right this season

because the splitter was a very good pitch for him last season he got a lot of whiffs with it generated a lot of weak contact a lot of ground balls and that hasn't been there so I think Kirby just hasn't been himself this year remember he missed the first like two months of the season with a shoulder injury it would be reasonable for him not to be himself. I will be buying low next season for sure.

Michael King was solid in his return to the mound against the Reds, five innings, two runs, one walk, two strikeouts, two homers allowed, only one whiff on 63 pitches. And honestly, this should have been four earned runs because Tatis had an incredible home run robbing catch that saved two runs in this game. But look, this is Michael King's basically his first, normal start since May. He did not have a rehab assignment.

His first start back last time before getting hurt. He only went like two innings or whatever it was. But overall, it's still a 287 ERA and a 107 whip. He's only 30% started. It looks like he gets the White Sox next week. Chris, was this enough to, if you held on to Michael King or picked him up, actually use him next week?

Given the matchup against the White Sox, I would probably do it. Yeah, I don't think it's a must start. You know, he wasn't so dark. dominant in this one, and he only threw 63 pitches. So is he going to go 90 in his next start? That seems unlikely. So you're hoping for five, maybe six innings on 80 pitches next season or next start.

Not a lot of room for error there. By the way, I just want to point out there was a great piece from Jeff Passon about two weeks ago on ESPN.com. MLB 2025 inside the rise of the home run robbery. Very good piece going into like the the skills involved and what players have worked on and why there have been more home run robberies lately and it does feel like every single night there's just a ridiculous home run robbery.

So that was a fun piece worth checking out. Last name here is Casey Mize who looked good at the Yankees, six-hnings two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. Only nine whiffs here. Velocity was up in this one. He did change his pitch mix. He led with the splitter, which is a good idea.

That's his best pitch here. And, you know, this was just a second quality start since July 12th. 59% started and gets the Braves next week. So, you know, I don't know, the Braves are kind of hit or miss, but so was Casey Meis. So I don't know. I would probably just stay away. Yeah, I don't, I'm not a big Casey Meis believer. The last two starts of the season, he's got the Marlins this weekend.

I think that's fine to stream if you're in a daily league. And then Braves and Guardians. So I think those are okay. but I'm just not much of a believer. I think he's a, I don't know, a four-ish ERA guy moving forward. Not like moving into next season, I think. All right, so I'm hitting leftovers.

Jose Ramirez continued his strong season three for four with his 28th home run. I didn't realize, but the same thing is happening to him again this year. He has 76 RBI, even though he's having a ridiculous year. He's hitting 287. He's got 37 seals and 870 OPS. but because the guardians around him are bad, he has 76 RBI.

So that is quite unfortunate. It's a little frustrating. For J-Ram. Kyle Schwabher, welcome to the 50 home run club. The first time he's done that in his career, his previous career high was 47. Carlos Correa,

one for three with his 12th home run. 35 games since joining the Astros. He's hitting 291 with five homers and 18 RBI. Hitting well, not that much power here. It's still a sub-800 OPS. So he's been, Fine.

Randy Arosa Rana hit his 27th homer, added 4 RBI. He is vying for a 30-30 campaign. I saw a tweet somewhere that if him and J-Rod both go 30-30, it would be just the third time in NLB history that teammates have done that, which would be pretty crazy. So I hope it happens. And Teasca Hernandez, a big night, three for four with a double dong,

and it has been a disappointing season. is another thing. I think we were talking about it off the air the other day, Chris, Teasca Hernandez. But when you, like 23 homers, 80 RBI, he missed some time. That's actually not that bad. The batting average is, you know, lower than you'd like. But I thought he was having a worse season than this. I know he's very streaky, but he's having a very bad real life season. Yeah. And he's been really bad lately. The last couple of months especially, to Oscar Hernandez has been very bad. And he's been like a, basically a replacement. level player in real life. But for fantasy, the RBI especially are going to help. He's going to be a useful player. All right, the call to the bullpen for the Guardians. Cade Smith got the ninth inning

with a two-run lead. He gave up a hit, but Sharkout two for his 12th save. For the Orioles, Yaneer Canoe got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up a solo homer to Tommy Pham, took the blown save. For the Nationals, Jose Ferrer entered with two outs in the ninth. Runner on second. He gave up an RBI single, then got the final out for his eighth save. For the Astros, Brian Abraeu got the ninth with a two-run lead. He allowed two runs on two walks and two hits, took his fifth blown save. Boojays actually came back to win that game, so pretty crazy one there. For the raise, Pete Fairbanks pitched a clean ninth for his 25th save.

For the Rangers, Sean Armstrong got the ninth with a two-run lead. He allowed a solo homer but picked up his eighth save, and I believe he has the last five saves for the Rangers, so he is pretty much their guy. For the Padres, Robert Suarez got the ninth with the game tied. He gave up a two-run homer to Tyler Stevenson, took his sixth loss. On the other side, for the Reds, Emilio Pagan, got the ninth with a two-run lead, picked up his 27th save. He's been much shakier lately, so nice to see a clean save there for Emilio Pagan. For the Mariners, Andres Munoz got the ninth with a two-run lead, picked up his 34th save. Incredible season for him. Thank you to

oh, I'm forgetting the name of their manager right now, but he actually is using Andres Munoz like a traditional closer and has done it all year. And this is what he's capable of. Yeah. And then for the Giants, top five guy. Ryan Walker got the ninth with a two-run lead picked up his 15th save

of the season. I guess I never really paid too much attention to the way that Ryan Walker pitches, but I noticed today when he pitches, he turns his back completely to the hitter and home plate. How can you have any idea where you're throwing the ball when you turn that far back? It's, I don't know.

This is a weird thing I'm about to say, but bear with me. I think it makes sense. Ryan Walker is a righty who pitches like a lefty. Because, like, most lefties have different, like, when you, you ever, like, find yourself at a restaurant or a bar and you catch a glimpse of a game in a mirror. and you're like you can tell when a guy is a righty and they're a lefty even if you're not watching them you know like most lefties have more of like a cross-body stride or throw from a lower arm slot you just you see more homogeneity in how righties throw and ryan walker throws in a way that you see a lot more of from lefties because he's like a cross-body thrower and so he's he's

Kind of a weird pitcher in a few ways. Yeah, I think weird is a good way to put it there for Ryan Walker. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday, we have Peyton Tolly at the Athletics, Eduardo Rodriguez at the Giants, Tage Bradley at the Angels, Tyler Wells against the Pirates, Logan Allen against the Royals,

Michael McGreevy at the Mariners, Jason Alexander at the Blue Jays. I think Wells against the Pirates is fine. I think Tolly is my favorite. If there's blowup potential. I'm just, I don't, I'm not as convinced that Tyler Wells is useful as you guys seem to be. So I would go totally ahead. But I do think Tyler Wells is second there.

And then on Thursday, we have Johan Oviedo at the Orioles, Cade Povich against the Pirates, Ian Seymour at the White Sox, Shane Smith against the Rays, Christian Javier at the Blue Jays, Brad Lord at the Marlins, Ryan Weathers in his return against the Nationals, and Stephen Koleck at the Grays. Guardians. Also don't love most of these options. I would give Ian Seymour at the top of the list and Christian Javier second. I don't think I really want to use anybody else.

Oviedo has been pretty good. Oviato's been okay. Cade Povich has a good matchup. You probably won't get more than five innings from Oviato. I just don't believe. All right, that's fair. We are going to wrap there for 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 or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.