Fantasy Baseball Today - De Paula Flashes, Devers Replacements & More! (9/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 14, 2026

Payton Tolle tossed an immaculate inning and Jackson Jobe did some things differently (2:25). ... What happened to the Jacob Lopez (7:27)? ... Emmet Sheehan looks like a strong stream this week (12:46). ... News (18:19): Rafael Devers needs core muscle surgery. ... Steven Kwan continued his strong second half (36:47). ... Tyler Mahle turned in another strong start (53:00). ... Start or sit these pitchers (1:03:32)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:17:33).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday. September 14th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, more prospects called up. It turns out Rafael Devers was breaking baseball while needing surgery. Very weird. He's playing hurt, but he's like the best hitter in baseball. Crazy stuff there. We have starter sit decisions. We had an immaculate inning. We'll get into all of it.

Let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, let's begin with. Let's start with some good stuff. Chris, we'll start with you. Yeah, first of all, I want to highlight Peyton Tolly, who is not my oh, my goodness gracious player of the weekend. but certainly had the, oh my goodness gracious moment of the weekend with his immaculate inning against Kansas City in the first inning of Sunday's game. And this highlights why we love a great fastball so much.

He threw nine straight fastballs to get his immaculate inning. He got six swinging strikes on eight four seamers and a sinker to get an immaculate inning. And if you watch the highlights, there's a moment where the camera cuts. to him right before the final pitch. And it looks like he's like looking into the dugout and kind of laughing. Like he knows what's going on. And then he kind of just like throws one down the pipe and generates a swing strike and finishes off the inning anyway.

Because when you have the kind of stuff Peyton totally does, you can do that. I don't think he threw 10% curve balls. Not this time. Not this time. But it didn't matter. His fastballs are all really, really, really good pitches.

I think it's the third. highest whiff rate on a four seamer, the fourth highest whiff rate on a cutter. He's really good. But my actual, oh my goodness gracious is just because that's not really actionable. And I know you guys want actionable information. So my actual, oh my goodness gracious player is Jackson Joe, who had a really good start against the Rockies away from course field. Yes, we're all aware.

Six and a third inning to give up one earned run on three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts. He got 16 whiffs on 87 pitches. That's an 18% whiff rate. six on the curveball, five on the slider, and that's what we need to focus on is the slider and curveball because both of them look different. The slider velocity was down 1.5 miles per hour and had six more inches of drop.

The curveball up two miles per hour had five less inches of drop. Now you might think, well, isn't that just kind of making those two pitches similar? And not really. The slider is still about three miles per hour harder than the curve ball in this start. And it's still getting, there's like a 15-inch difference in the amount of drop those two pitches are getting. So I think there's still distinct looks.

And my thought here is if he can sustain this, you know, start throwing 86-mile-an-hour curveballs and 89-mile-an-hour sliders, if those pitches start to look the same, but they've got that different movement profile, you know, the slider drops in this start 37 inches, the curveball 46. if they're a couple of miles per hour apart but have that big of a gap in their movement profile, that could make things even more difficult for opposing hitters. And I think that's a really interesting wrinkle. And Jackson Job is someone that has always passed the eye test, right? Like the stuff looks so good. And he's got such a feel for spin and for generating movement.

And then when he's been in the majors, when he's been healthy, it's been a little underwhelming. and I wonder if he's one of these guys who like his pitches move too much or something. Like it's too easy for hitters to pick up. And so maybe blending these two pitches to where there's still clearly distinct pitches, but are a little closer to one another. Maybe that can help. I'm just speculating, but it's a theory. We like a theory, right?

Yeah. Love a good theory. Especially for someone as highly regarded, highly touted as Jackson Job entering the majors. Obviously hasn't really performed. very well so far in his that would be like almost 90 innings of work so far in his major league career his last two starts have looked good Chris

is this more actionable for next season like hey this is a post hype sleeper breakout type or is this someone that you would actually maybe take a flyer on and use at the White Sox this upcoming week I think it's more so the former than the latter I think there's some risk in using him although the White Sox aren't like a terrifying, unbeatable matchup.

I will note that they were responsible for his worst outing of the year on August 14th. There you go, yeah, six run runs in three and two-thirds innings. But that was before the new break. No, I mean, we got to see if he does it again. I think, yeah, it's been two pretty good starts in a row. I think this is more of a, hey, let's keep this name in mind for next season, than someone you want to go out and use in a high profile or a high pressure situation like this.

But, you know, if it's not like we're inundated with viable starting pitchers on the waiver wire. You know, Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter, Lopez more so, but both of them have come down to Earth a little bit. So, you know, you might find yourself in that situation. Yeah. Professional broadcaster Chris Towers. That is a segue into Scott's.

Oh, my goodness gracious. What's up with Jacob Lopez? Yeah. Oh, we got to rip the band-aid off here. He was one of the two. Chris mentioned the other, Andrew Painter, who we were one of the two waiver-wire pickups and starting pitcher who were actually excited about.

And it was a two-start week where he seemed like the obvious choice. He was on a multi-month run of good pitching and had two really favorable matchups, and they both went poorly. the second start Sunday even worse than the first. Let me see if I can give you the numbers here. Five run runs in three and two-thirds innings today.

Yeah, yeah. Still a decent number of whiffs. It's still allowed pretty weak contact, but it was against the Mariners, the worst offense baseball in Sacramento. So maybe that had something to do with it. But even so, it went really poorly this week. And, you know, I could talk about, you know, this is why you don't stream pitchers

unless you really have a need there for as much as we talk about it. It's not like it's something you need to be doing that regularly. But because there was genuine enthusiasm for Lopez, I streamed him in three of the four leagues where I was still competing for a championship. Are you still competing for a championship? Not in one of those leagues. So it cost me in one league. I mean, I may have lost anyway,

but it certainly didn't help the Lopez start. The other two, I got away with it. But I'm not going to start Lopez again in those two, even though he has a good matchup coming up against Cleveland. I will say I did keep him on the sleeper pitchers list, list of 10 guys. You could pick up off the waiver wire potentially. Moved him down.

Lopez was in the number one spot before this Sunday start. Now he's like sixth or seven. And I did that because, yeah, that meme is so dead, Frank, the six, seven thing. I didn't say it. I didn't say it. You did the hand thing. I saw you. You very, very uncool, sir.

Yeah, I moved Lopez down to sixth or seventh because the alternative would have been to move, you say, Kikuchi in. Who's facing the Mariners next time, obviously a good matchup. And he's coming off three starts where he got good results. So, like, I could justify it. Yeah, I'd rather go with Jacob Lopez. If push game to shove, I still think I'd rather go with Jacob Lopez over Kikuchi. But again, I'm not starting Lopez in those same. I'm not starting Lopez, I think, in any league next week when I had him widely started this past week.

So, you know, you don't have to stream everybody just because they show up in an article saying it's an advisable streamer. I do want to point out that Jacob, Lopez had seven batted balls in this game with an XBA below 200. And the Mariners were three and seven, three of seven on them. Yeah. So. It was only 80. One of the other.

Mile per hour average of loss. Yeah. Overall, which is good. He also gave up a hit on a batted ball with a 450 bad, BAT, which is high. But still, you would expect it to be an out more than half the time. So, yeah, it's, I don't know, it was a frustrating start. certainly, but I think the thing with Jacob Lopez

might just be that because his stuff is not great because he's more weird than dominant, the margin for error might just be pretty slim. And we saw that, you know, last season, we saw it early this season.

It's frustrating that it came once everybody started buying into him and you know, that stinks. But I don't really think, I don't know. I still think Jacob Lopez

could still be pretty good down. Yeah, I still like them. And if this was June and this happened, I'd still be

holding on to him. But the margin for error for your fantasy team is so slim right now, too, that I'd rather, in a situation where I'm not

like desperately looking for a pitcher on the waiver, I'd rather just not chance it. I suppose I should also mention Andrew Painter here since we've kind of brought them up

twice and these two are linked together. He had a better start on Sunday, but it wasn't good on Saturday, I guess it was a Saturday or Sunday. It was Sunday. Okay. It was, it wasn't good enough to make up for the bad start he had earlier in the week. So he was also a flop for his two-star week. He did walk four against the Braves Sunday. So that led to a high whip for the day, but only one run allowed. I think if you streamed a guy and you got this result, you couldn't feel too bad. bad about it, but there was the previous start, which was pretty bad. I do have Painter still second on the sleeper pitchers for next week. He's facing the Mets. I think the walks in the start against the Brave Sunday was a fluky thing that happened. And otherwise, I think he was pretty much fine. Given how bad the weeks went for both Painter and Jacob Lopez, I would like to get away from

those two. And one name I think I would use over both of them is Emmett Sheehan, who is Soback, Baby. He had a great start this weekend at the Marlins, six shutout innings, five strikeouts to one walk, 14 whiffs on 81 pitches. Getting whiffs has never really been the issue, right? And he's kind of flashed at and reminded us of that in the two starts since coming back from the IL. In those two starts, 11 and 2 thirds innings, one run, 15 strikeouts to two walks. He is 47% rostered. He has a home start later this week against the Giants,

who are 11th in Wobah against right-handed pitching, but they no longer have Raphael Tevers. So I like Emichion quite a bit this week. I would use him over both Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter. He is now the number one sleeper pitcher for this week. Jacob Lopez was going into the weekend and coming out of the weekend, it's Imichian. How many surefire major league caliber hitters do the Giants have right now? Two?

Bryce Eldridge? Bryce Eldridge and Junghoun Lee. And then it's a bunch of Quad A guys. That sounds. Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox, Turner Hill, Skis. Scott Bandaro, these are all real names. Shea Whitcomb, Drew Kavanaugh, Christian Koss. Yeah.

Andrew Caninzer. Oslivas Basabe. That's a nice trivia decade from now, Chris. Can you name the September 14th, San Francisco Giants Line? Yeah. This is where the real Sporkel weirdos shine. Yeah. I assume there's no pushback here on Emmachian, right?

You guys are. Well. I know he's been bad for most of the year, but he's come back. Yeah, maybe it would look good and the matchup is good. Like, it's, I, the only pushback is just feeling snakebitten from Lopez and not wanting to recommend any, anyone with some volatility in his history for the most important stretch of the season. But it's like, you're not going to find anyone without volatility on the waiver wire. So if you don't have to start she and don't.

But like, if you want to stream somebody, he's probably the best choice. And his next start, I believe, with all. also be at San Francisco. So lines up very well for the final two starts for a machine. Nice. Yeah. And you know, going back to the six, seven thing for a second, I realize it is infinitely more likely that you guys are more in the know of what's going on just in life and like reality and what's hip and what's not, what's in and what's not. Scott, you have kids obviously. Chris, you're like the grandfather of your building, right? And everyone is younger than you in your building. I kid got in the elevator the other day he just moved in I was like hey nice to meet you

I'm Chris you just moved in he was like yeah I'm starting my third year at NYU what I thought you were his R a yeah I moved into this building when you were like a sophomore in high school get out of here what's going on yeah man I live in a a massive apartment building and um I don't really know it like I've lived here for two years and I don't know anybody I definitely don't know any young people and I don't have any kids and I don't hang out with anyone else's kids so I have no idea what's cool and what's not but we'll have to lean on Scott and Chris for that

if you are here we appreciate you for being for doing so it's not good it's not good you never want to lean on me for what's cool make sure to hit that like button if you're watching on YouTube we appreciate you for being here if you're listening on the audio side of things drop a five star rating and review on Apple

or Spotify wherever you listen let's take a break we'll be back right after this welcome back fantasy baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. And this Raphael Devers injury truly came out of nowhere. He was placed on the 60 day IL with a core muscle injury is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday. And apparently he's been playing through it for much of the season. How could anyone know? His last 18 games before going on the IL. 377 batting average

11 homers, 28 RBI 14.03 OPS. Again, 18 games, 11 homers, 28 RBI. How is this guy playing hurt? That seems almost impossible. But he was amazing here down the stretch. You need Raphael Devers' replacements. Some names that are on Scott's sleeper hitter list for this week. We have Ty France.

He has four games in Cours Field this week. T.J. Easy replacement in 50% of CBS Sports Leagues where he's somehow still available. The only thing with Ty France is he's on the paternity list, I believe. He should be back Monday. Okay. Sunday was his third day. That's the most you get.

All right. TJ Romfield has a full week of games in course field. Griffin Conine, if you want to go a little bit deeper, Kobe Mayo as well. He has three lefties on the schedule. And if you're just looking for a corner infielder, a deeper name as well, Kyle Caros is someone who has returned recently from injury and again has those seven games in course field.

I had such mixed thoughts on this Devers thing because it's like, yes, he was so hot and he seemed to fix it. But since he had been dealing with this core, injury for so long, well, maybe that explains why he's struggled so much in the first place. But now he's having surgery, and it's like, how much is that going to affect him early next year? And so I, such conflicting emotions, not sure whether to be encouraged by it as a development for next year or discouraged by it as a development for next year. And I think it's going to be even harder to rank Devers for next year than it was this year. Yeah, I don't think it makes a ton of sense to think that this is why he struggled early on.

You know, like that, that just the, the shape, like, he struggled early on last season. He has been, April has been the worst month of his career. If it's a bad enough injury to require surgery, it's, it's got to be hard to play through. But it probably didn't require surgery in April, right? Like, that just seems like a safe assumption. What happened to make it need surgery now? The timing of it seems kind of weird. I don't know because they've had nothing to play for for a while too.

Right. You know, Matt Chapman had surgery eight weeks ago or whatever. So I don't know. I just, I kind of just take Raphael Devers at face value that the numbers are going to be there at the end of the season. You know, I think, I don't think like the last four months are the real Rafael Devers any more than the first two months are or whatever. I think the 250-ish batting average and the 35 homers are who he is. or less, assuming he's healthy next season, which we'll see what the timetable is and how ready he'll be by spring training. That could change it. But I think on the whole, I just kind of back to more of what he did this season.

It's a tough one, the core injury, because if you don't get that core strong enough, you develop back issues and those are even harder to get straight. So it's definitely going to be a tricky recovery, not that he can't be fine for the start of next year. I think the odds are he will be, but it's one of those that you're going to want to keep an eye on instead of just trusting, oh, six months, he'll be fine. Incredibly, he's the number 17 hitter in fantasy right now. Wow.

Yeah, the final season-long stat line for Devers, 258 batting average, 37 homers, 88 runs, 98 RBI, 865 OPS. So really good season. Pretty much a Raphael Devere's season. I'm just annoyed because he was one home run off from his career high. And the way he was swinging the bat, he was definitely going to set a new career high. Hitting 40 home runs while playing your home games in Oracle, that would have been really, really cool. I mean, before Willie Adamas last year, nobody had hit 30 at Oracle since Barry Bonds.

Right. True fact. I'm just a little annoyed because all offseason, I kept saying, why draft Pete Alonzo in the second round when you can get Rafael Devers? in the sixth. And Pete Lanzas going to end up with better numbers, but it was very close at the time of their injury. Yeah. Yordon Alvarez missed two games this weekend, Friday

and Saturday, dealing with an ankle injury, but he did return to the lineup on Sunday. So it should be fine to keep him in there. Just, I guess, if they play on Monday or Tuesday, make sure Yorda on Alvarez is all good. Jesus Lazzardo was scratched from his start this weekend with shoulder inflammation. He said Saturday that an MRI

revealed no structural damage, and he is hopeful to pitch sometime this week. Obviously, very scary stuff for Lazaro, who's been amazing this year and he's taken on an ace workload

with everything up for grabs. Are you starting Jesus Lazzardo this week? That feels like an impossible question to answer. I would lean no just because he feels like the kind of pitcher that when things go wrong, they go really wrong, and trusting him at anything.

less than 100% would be taking on risk, but I don't know. He might be fine. I can imagine some scenarios where I'd start him. I'd rather not, but, you know. Him versus Emmett Sheehan. Sheen, I think that's pretty easy. But if you have to start someone relatively scrubby. And also, I think it's easier to start Lazzardo in a Roto League than in a head-to-head,

because obviously head-to-head it's just this week in isolation and so a goose egg counts for a lot more if Luzardo ends up getting skipped again. So I think that's where I stand. All right, Byron Buckson will undergo season ending arthroscopic surgery on his right hip on Friday of this week

and there is no official timeline for his recovery but the twins believe Bucksin will be ready for the start of the 2027 season. Somebody who will be tough to rank I mean, we just, we won't, we won't really hear much because we'll be in a lockout. We won't get really any injury updates on any players. And Byron Buxton has dealt with a ton of injuries in his career. So his past couple of seasons, the ADP has fluctuated massively.

I would expect the same to happen in 2027. Shea Langalears was reinstated from the IL on Saturday. It seemed likely that he would miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his meniscus, but he is back. And I think he'll probably sit out more than he usually would have. but I think if you held on to Langaleers, you're probably just playing him, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

And I believe he's not going to catch at all. So maybe he's just in the lineup pretty regularly. I don't know. Yeah, it's possible. I got to tell you guys, I picked up Langaleers in three leagues where he was dropped, like right after he was dropped up talking leagues with ample I.L space. Yeah.

And somebody dropped them because they just assumed he'd be out for the year. And I'm like, well, they didn't, they said he might not be. so I'll pick him up and stash him. Why not? He's Shea Languiliers. And maybe he'll do nothing over these last two weeks, but I'll be starting him and we'll see. Yep.

And one of those weeks, this upcoming week, all the games are on the road. And then the final week of the season, the A's are back with a full week in Sacramento. Kyle Harrison was originally supposed to start on Saturday, but the Brewers changed that. And they moved him to the bullpen instead. And I actually did not look to,

did he wind up pitching at all this weekend? I'm sorry, who was it? Kyle Harrison? I will check right now. He made a release appearance and allowed more runs without. Oh, yeah. I just saw it. All right.

So Kyle Harrison in Redraft Leagues is just a drop. I mean, my next two weeks are going to be like my, I'm going to be writing, ranking the toughest, right, the toughest players to rank for 2027 for every position articles. And he's got to be at or near the top of the list for starting pitcher. He was so good for four, for three months, really. Then he got hurt and was basically useless the final three months, right? Like, he gave it all back.

398, ERA 131 whip. I mean, that's pretty close to his career numbers at this point. So gave it all back there for Kyle Harrison. Scott, Jared Jones over Kyle Harrison next season. You heard of here first? That might happen, yeah. That might happen. Yeah.

We did get more prospect promotions this weekend. The Twins called up outfield prospect, Emmanuel Rodriguez, on Saturday. He is a 23-year-old prospect. Lots of talent, lots of injuries. 49 games at AAA this year. He hit 262, 414 on base, 11 homers, 7 steals. And then he homered in his debut on Saturday. He is 12% rostered.

Scott, your thoughts on the player, Emmanuel Rodriguez. Do you have any interest in adding him for the final two weeks? I mean, the book on Emmanuel Rodriguez has been the same for like five years, it feels like. key. He has really strong

upside indicators like in terms of how hard he hits the ball. He's fast. He walks a ton. But he strikes out a ton too. And that didn't really improve as he made his way up to that. Well, he strikes out a ton and he gets hurt a lot. So there are two big flaws, strikeouts and injuries.

And then a bunch of really good strengths that you could see huge upside for uh uh uh Emmanuel Rodriguez thank you for Emmanuel Rodriguez you could see I remember the scouting report and then I blank on the name you could see huge upside for him but it it seemed like he he slipped in the prospect rankings as he

moved up the ladder and didn't improve in those two regards so transitioning to the majors I'm expecting it to be a pretty bumpy transition I'm not picking him up with the enthusiasm that I'm picking up Josue de Paula, Oswey DePaula, excuse me. But, you know, we'll see how he does. If he does hit the ground running,

then he'll be a pretty attractive sleeper for next year, I would say, Emmanuel Rodriguez. Definitely has the talent to be an impact player. The comp I made was like Dodgers Max Muncie skill set, but with some speed. You know, he's been like a 2015 to 20 steel guy. that could be really, really valuable, but he's got to stay healthy and show it first.

I would definitely rather have Hoseway de Pala. I kind of think I think Walker Jenkins is the better prospect, but since he's been so bad if you wanted to swap him out for Emmanuel Rodriguez, I think that's okay too. Yeah, lots of talk here about Hoseway DePala too. Just got to mention his game on Sunday,

two for two with a walk, his first career home run, a mammoth home run, 108.2 exit velocity 416 feet. He hit it off of Yuri Perez Chris, I don't watch every Marlins game I don't see balls land in the stands

where they did for that home run I, dude, it was definitely longer than 416. I don't know how they came up I know it's an estimated distance that was like 450 feet easy I mean Griffin Conan hits him up there pretty regularly yeah no it was a bomb

and I yeah it it's annoying that the Dodgers have a dude who's this clearly talented he looks like he could be an absolute super star remember they had Jordan Alvarez and they traded him for Josh Fields that's yeah Josh Fields that's what it was um wowsa rare misstep for the Dodgers I do wonder if DePaula is just okay down the stretch. Is he guaranteed, he's not guaranteed a spot on the opening day roster in 2027, right? Because both,

I guess Tucker probably has an opt-out, but they'll figure it out, I'm sure. Like, would they trade Teosker? Does Tucker have enough to opt-out after the first year? I thought it was,

he may be right. If he does, would he take it? He's not taking it, no. Yeah. And Teoska Hernandez is under contract for 20-3.

Right. My suspicion is if DePaula shows he's ready, they'll find a way to unload her. No, that's what I mean. but what if DePaul is just okay? Yeah. It could be like a junior Caminera situation where we were like, okay, he got called up at the end of the season.

He's going to be on opening day. And Camerra, I don't think got called up again until like... Very late to next year. July, right? August? Yeah. Josh Field was a relief pitcher, by the way. Somebody was asking if it was the third base version. No, it was the relief pitcher version.

I don't think that's going to happen, though. Like, I feel bullish about DePaula down the stretch as much as I can about anybody over. a two-week period, I suppose. He walked four times in his three games this weekend in addition to having that. Yep. Now, I couldn't, I didn't feel like I could put him on the sleeper hitters

for this upcoming week, Week 26, because there are three lefties on the schedule for the Dodgers. And my presumption is he'll sit against lefties. But we don't know yet. You may not. So I think in a five outfielder league, I might just chance it with DePaula. Not a three outfielder league,

but in a five outfielder league. I might go on and play him this week. All right. And the race promoted pitcher prospect. Brody Hopkins. He spent most of the season as a starter in the minors, but they recently transitioned him to the bullpen. He will pitch out of the bullpen for the raise.

But Hopkins is a name to have on your radar as a sleeper for next season. Freddie Freeman returned to the lineup Saturday after missing two games with a knee injury. He went 0 for 8 in the two games this weekend. Dave Roberts said Sunday that Freddie Freeman will be out of the lineup on Monday. My guess is that is for continued maintenance there on Freddie Freeman's knee. Wilson Contreras was reinstated from the IL on Sunday,

so you should be good to get him back in your lineups here, the final two weeks. Traja Savage is scheduled to make a rehab appearance at AAA on Tuesday. He might make one start. I don't think he's going to be built up enough to really matter for fantasy, but if the Blue Jays somehow make the postseason, it'll be interesting to see if Traeus Savage which makes it start in the playoffs and how he looks there. Kyle Braddish was placed in the aisle with abdominal discomfort.

And I wonder if that's code for just being really bad in the second half of the season. Maybe that's part of why he's been bad. Jack Caglione rejoined the lineup on Sunday after missing six straight games with that flexor strain. The Pirates activated Ryan O'Hern on Friday. He suffered a bad quad strain in late July. And there was thought that he could miss the rest of the season. But he is back for the final two. weeks. He hit a three-run homer on Saturday. He is 57% rostered, first base in outfield eligible.

But Scott, I know you have the Pirates as the worst hitter matchups this week. So Ryan O'Hern's been very good when he's played this year. Are you interested in picking him up and using him or stay away because of the matchups? I don't recommend fringy hitters when they have bad hitter matchups as a rule. When I do, it never ends well. And these are the worst hitter matchups. However, a deep enough league where your choices are limited. You know, it's only one lefty on the schedule. So I could see it going okay for Ryan O'Hern. I'm not going to sit here and recommend it, though.

All right, continuing on. It was previously reported that Roki Sasaki might return this weekend. He did not. And now he could return Thursday against the Reds. Pretty sure we don't want to use Sasaki first start back, right? No. Okay. As Merlin Valdez was placed in the aisle Saturday with a strained left hamstring,

that will probably end his season. Royce Lewis left Sunday's game due to left shoulder soreness. And so he's kind of banged up, but I know he's slowed down as well. So if you want to get away from Royce Lewis, it's a little bit tougher if you're using it at third base just because third base remains a wasteland.

But I could see with the struggles and the injury now, potentially getting away from Royce Lewis this week. Cail and Colpepper left. Kyle Caros, widely available. Or the two Orioles. Yeah. Cail and Coalpeper left early Saturday

after getting hit by a pitch on his shoulder, and then he was out of the lineup on Sunday, so he could be a risky play this week as well. He's mostly been pretty good since he's been called up, but obviously dealing with this injury now. The Nationals option, Clayton Beater to AAA on Friday. They had a whole bunch of bullpen shenanigans this weekend. Look, they don't have a closer, and they never will ever again,

so just stay away from the Nationals bullpen. Gage jump has a shoulder impingement, which sounds like an injury that will land him on the IL, but I haven't seen that transaction made just yet. doesn't matter in terms of setting your lineup. True, he's bad. J.T. Ginn, who's on the aisle with a right elbow impingement, is likely to miss the rest of this season.

Jacob Wilson underwent surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder. He could be ready for opening day, but it'll be close. Zach Giloff had a similar surgery in September of last year, and he returned to baseball activities in mid-March. And every player is differently. Every player responds differently to surgery and treatment and rehab and all that kind of stuff. So Jacob Wilson being ready for,

the start of next season. It's kind of up in the air right now. Michael Soroka will start Tuesday for the D-back. Zach Allen will move to the bullpen. Do we have any interest in Soroka this week, who I am trying to pull up the matchup?

It'll be one start against the Marlins. That seems pretty good. Yeah, but I doubt it'll go five. Yeah. All right, so that's a no. I'm Michael Soroka. Ryan Helsley started a rehab assignment at AAA on Saturday. Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that the Astros are considering it using Carlos Correa at second base.

The D-backs DFA'd Lourdes-Guriel. I wonder if maybe he gets picked up somewhere as a D.H. kind of, I don't know, pinch hitter, short side platoon situation. And the last item here, Owen Casey went on the I.L. With a lumbar stress reaction. Some waiver wire hitters from the weekend. And up first, Stephen Kwan had a steal on Friday. He had three more hits and a home run on Sunday.

And he's been great in the second half, 3.50s. batting average, two homers, 38 runs, four steals, 879 OPS. He's all the way up to 80% rostered. Really just a head to add points name, right? Like, it's, in a category's league, it's still kind of mostly empty batting average, I feel like it. Yeah, I mean, it's batting average is useful. Louisa Rize is 100% rostered or somewhere near there.

I think it's very similar to that. Continuing on, Lawrence Butler went three for five with his 14th home run on Friday. then he had a double don here on Sunday. And in the second half, 274, 11 homers, 36 RBI, four steals, 859 OPS. The problem, six road games this week. But if you picked up Lawrence Butler for this past week and you play in the final week of the season, just hold on to Lawrence Butler, keep them on your bench,

because again, the A's do have that full week of home games the final week. But I wouldn't use Lawrence Butler this week, unfortunately. No one. Yeah, that's fine. Go ahead. Yep. Nolan Aronado quietly has had a good season. He homered on Friday. He homered on Sunday. He has 25 home runs, 765 OPS, and both of those, the highest since 2023.

He has six home games this week. They're all righties on the schedule, and he's 70% rostered. Scott, can I interest you at all in Nolan Aronado if he need third base help? I mean, I want to take him over the three on my sleeper hitters list because he does qualify for the list and I didn't put him on it. But I could think of worse options. I never would have guessed he'd hit 25 home runs this year. He had a combined 28 the previous two years. Like his days as a power hitters seem to be done. And it's, I don't know, Arizona is not like a significantly better ballpark. I just think he was finally healthy again. I know he was dealing

with stuff the past couple of years. I think it was like a back that that kept popping up for him. I mean, we're not going to find that much positive in the data because the data hasn't been positive for him in a long time, even for some of his good years with the Cardinals. It's really like just an ESOC parade's profile. Yeah, it looks very similar. He is pulling the ball more consistently. And he needs to.

I mean, he has nothing beyond that, yeah. Yeah. Travis Bazano looks like you might be heating back up. Two for four with a sock and his shoe on Sunday. He reached base four times on Friday. He had two runs scored in that one. in 11 September games, 387, 3 homers, 12 RBI, 1 Steele. And he's 69% rostered, six games this week, two lefties on the schedule.

So, Chris, I think it's good to see Bazana went through his struggles, and, you know, it could be finishing strong here as, like, something to look forward to next year. But with the two lefties on the schedule this week, I just don't know that I could recommend using him. I mean, he's almost 70% rostered. There's not going to be a ton of leagues where he's useful and isn't already rostered. Yeah. Eohenio Suarez looks to be finishing strong. Three for four with a home run on Saturday, hit another home run on Sunday. And his last 50 games, he has 15 homers, 36 RBI.

His OPS is around 900. It's a lower batting average, but that's to be expected for E. Ohemio Suarez. And he has six home games this week, so you like that in Cincinnati. Four are against the Dodgers' top four starters. So I don't know. Scott, I like the games being in Cincinnati, but against the Dodgers pitching. this is another one like he's hot now

but I don't know that I can confidently recommend using Eugenio Suarez against those pitchers. Yeah and I'm not sure he's quite hot enough to get me that excited anyway if the matchups were pristine

sure but when you're hottest stretch of the season you're hitting like 275 an otherwise awful season yeah I think we can pass on Ehuhenio Suarez. Max Clark had a big weekend here

against the Rockies pitching, so you know, I never know how much to put into that, but hey, you face who's on the schedule, and Max Clark is hot. One for two with a sock and a shoe on Friday. Three for four with a run in RBI on Saturday. One for three with another stolen base on Sunday. He's having himself a nice September.

62% rostered seven road games this week, only one lefty on the schedule. He's actually been much better against lefties and righties, which is weird for Max Clark. But Chris, he's, you know, heating back up and he's 62% roster. Should that number be higher? Would you think about using Max Clark in like a three outfielder league this week?

Yeah, probably not a lot of points league. So that's going to be tough. Although I guess because he's not running much, he might not be like a worse points league player than a roto player. Let me tell you about this home run he hit Friday. It was hit 95.2 miles per hour. It had an expected batting average of 190. which you know some people hear that and they say who cares it still counted yes it still counted

but does that home run tell us much about his capacity to hit home runs going forward what it tells us is not very good as far as that goes so that's why i bring it up i would still i'm pretty i think he's been pretty good like a 799 oPS i think he's been a solid player but for fantasy specifically, it has not been a hugely impactful skill set, right? It's like, you know, he's played 39 games, so let's say that's a fourth of a season. You give him that full season pace. It's like 12 homers, 20 steals, which is okay, 80 runs, 72 RBA. Like, that's an okay player.

Yeah. But it's a little disappointed. It's not super impactful yet. But he's also- His actual slug is like 80 points above his expected. Yes. because he has not made high quality contact. Not yet, no.

At all. I'm not saying he never will. He's a 21-year-old rookie, but, like, you know, we're talking about right now his using this for a week that appears favorable. I'm just giving you all the reasons why I left him off my sleeper-hitter list,

Max Clark, because I did think about it. He looks like a fourth or fifth outfielder for fantasy right now. That was my next question, Scott. I'm seeing here that you have the Tigers with the number one hitter matchups this week. Yeah, I considered it, but I just,

I'm not even sure what a good week looked like for Max Clark. Fair. Kobe Mayo, we talked about potentially using him this week. He is on Scott's sleeper hitter list and had another home run this weekend. The updated second half stats, 270 badding average, 11 homers, 897 OPS there for Kobe Mayo. And again, he has three lefties on the schedule. Garrett Mitchell had himself a huge weekend,

three for five with his 10th home run for RBI on Friday. Four for five with a sock into shoe on Saturday. he's been okay this year 11 homers, 14 steals near 800 OPS, 37% rostered, six home games this week but two lefties on the schedule. So any thoughts,

any interest on using Garrett Mitchell in like a five outfield of league? Yeah. Yeah, he's been surprisingly good. Still strikes out too much to weigh too many ground balls, but he hits the ball. About as hard as anyone.

It's I think 97th percent average XIVAXE velocity and the max is up there too. And that's kind of been the scouting report with Garrett Mitchell all along, but he's managed to stay healthy. He's hot right now. Like there are actual skills there. You wish he could be better, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy what Garrett Mitchell is.

He might have had like the highest number of huge games for a guy who's otherwise not all that fantasy relevant. Like it just every like fourth day I look in the box score. feels like Gary Mitchell just had a huge game. And then you look at overall and it's like, he doesn't play every day and, you know, strike rate's super high and yada, yada, all the reasons that we're not particularly excited about Gary Mitchell.

But man, he has some really big games. Three deeper names. Brett Bateman has been playing well for the Blue Jays, hit his first career home run on Friday. He had another home run on Saturday. He is pretty much the everyday leadoff hitter for the Blue Jays. He is hitting 328 with an 833 OPS. so far he's only 16%

rostered. Leo Bernal stayed hot for the Cardinals. Three hits on Friday. Homer on Saturday. He has started all 12 games since getting called up. And I know that we don't have much confidence in Adelae Amador long term. But he is playing well. He homered again this weekend and he has seven

games in Corse Field this week. So 6% rostered. I'm interested in all three of these guys. I mean, we're talking 15 team roto leagues are deeper. But Bateman, Bernal, and Amador, I'm intrigued by either what they're doing or their matchups this week, all three.

I think Bernal especially looks very interesting. He's been productive from the word go, and he started every single game, right? All 12. When they don't put him at catcher, they put him at first base or DH. He was very productive at AAA. The underlying numbers all look pretty good.

He seems like he might be, Carlos has a lot of catchers. I can see them trading Herrera this offseason. Yeah, that would probably. I mean, Bernal brings defensive value too. So I feel like he might be their Drake Baldwin. Who I make that comparison less so because of what they can do, though partially because of that.

Then he was kind of a prospect under everybody's nose. He was a prospect of some stature, but he just didn't get hyped up that much, not nearly as much as other catchers, even in the Cardinals' organization. I think everyone's looking towards Reinell Rodriguez, right? And that's... Yeah, I mean, he's a big one, obviously,

but they've had others. Jimmy Crux got called up this year. I feel like you heard him talked about more than Bernal. I am excited enough that... I think he's fifth on my sleeper-hitters for this week, Leonardo Bernal. Even if you don't have an opening a catcher and you want to stick him in your utility spot

because he plays every day. Yeah. I could get behind it. I'm not saying it's a must, but if you need hitting help, I could get behind it. I'm doing that in L.A. I'm starting them in my utility spot.

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. All I can think when I hear Brett Bateman's name is like Brett Beatty's 19 years old and he's like trying to get a fake ID and they're like, well, what name do you want to go with? And he's like, oh, Brett Baitman. That's an adult.

They probably thought they were calling a Batman, but they ended up with Bateman instead. Like the commercial for whatever product that is. Like, I don't remember the part they actually want you to remember about the commercial. An insurance company. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yeah.

Well, good commercials because of how well Jason Bateman plays it. Like, he totally. Although you forgot the company. So. Yeah. Well, yes. It's not super effective for commercial purposes. Jason Bateman is awesome.

That's all I'm. Shouts to date night. One of the best movies of the last decade. Yeah, but I kind of like Brett Bateman for what it's worth.

It's like a Sam Antanachi profile. Like there's no power here, but he gets on base a ton. It was called Game Night, not Date Night guys, sorry. Yeah, Day Night's a different movie.

It's fine. Game Night's way better. Steve Carell, I think. T. T. Yeah. No, Game Night's better.

Because of Bateman. And also that other guy who was in Breaking Bad and Friday Night, lights. Jesse Plains so funny in them. Jesse Plumman's is so good in that. All right, anyway, Bateman, you know, it's a profile that doesn't bring a ton of upside,

but I think when it works, it can still be very useful. The high OBP base dealer type, who bats lead off. So keep an eye on it. Unless you're chasing specific categories, I don't know that you need to add them right now, but there might be something here. Back to the other Bateman for a second. I was, I don't know, five years late, maybe longer than that. Watch Ozark for the first time this year?

Really good. Yes, I wanted to bring that. See, Jason Bateman can make anything funny, even that rather silly premise of that insurance commercial. But then you see them in these roles recently like Ozark. And what was that movie on Netflix? Everyone was watching last Christmas. That one I don't know.

But I have seen Ozark. That was good. He was the bad guy. He was the bad, no, it was like... The family stone. No, come on, man. Like... Crazy Knights.

Was it like baggage claim or something? I don't know what it was. Birdbox. He was the bad guy and he was good in it. I don't think it was baggage claim. I'll find the name of it before this is over. It was good. Like Jason Bateman is the bad guy?

Carry on. Carry on. There you go. Holiday. Action thriller. It was about vultures. From 2024. I think we're off by a year here, Scott.

I don't know. I guess a year and a half. Whatever, almost two years. The years start coming and they don't stop coming. Oh, yep. That's what they say. Like that smash mouth song, walking on the sun.

Two other Waver Wire hitters, I just wanted to give a shout out to. I don't see how they're usable, but they're incredibly hot right now. Victor Mesa Jr. And Richie Palacios, they are both going off. But the Rays have six games this week.

with five lefties on the schedule. Victor Mesa has started against two of the last three lefties for Tampa, but I just don't know that he's going to... He's been good in a small sample size against lefties. I don't know how much he's going to play this week. So I can't recommend those guys. They're red hot.

I wanted to give them a shout out. You know, we don't have matches for the following week yet, but if there's a lot of righties, I could see using either one of those guys then. Mesa does, I think, come in a lot as a, like, like, game replacement once lefties come out. So you're not going to get.

nothing all week, but yeah, I have a hard time buying it, yeah. All right, let's take our final break. When we return, we got a bunch of pitchers to talk about. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back, fantasy baseball today. Let's run through the waiver wire pitchers. I'll bring up a name, their line,

and what their matchup is, and you guys could just tell me whether or not you would be down to use them this week. But Tyler Malley had another great start against the Phillies, seven innings of one-run ball, three strikeouts. Strikeouts haven't necessarily been there, but the results have. He's 73%

rostered. He's at the Astros this week. What do you guys think about Tyler Malley? Yeah, I think you probably want to. I think so, too. I'm struggling with would I do it over Jacob Lopez. I guess so. I guess so. I think you have to, just

the way they're trending, right? Yep. I think I would prefer Sheehan just because of the skills and the strikeouts. Although it's a higher ceiling for Sheehan, it's a lower ceiling for She and it's a lower floor. And Malley has had a couple of like nine strikeout

outings during this run, I believe, which kind of makes the 7K per 9 or 7.8K per 9 look a little worse even. Yeah, they were early on. He's not gotten them recently, and I don't know how long we can trust him, but he's, you know, the biggest issue there is, well, I don't know.

I guess the Astros aren't any tougher than the Phillies and his last two starts against the Phillies. We're good. Yeah. Michael McGreevy had a quality start against the White Sox, six innings, one run, six strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 90 pitches. He's turned in back-to-back quality starts after a pretty rough stretch. 59% rostered. He is home against the Nationals this week. Any thoughts on streaming Michael McGreevy? Nah. Nah. Yeah. The Nationals lineup has not been nearly as dangerous in the second half. See, I keep wanting to think that, but it has.

hasn't fallen off as hard as I would imagine for the players they lost well let's see they're like 4.7 runs per game in the second half versus like five in the first half or something like that I mean have seven

seventh and team Wobah last 30 days they're 28th in Wobah I guess Nationals okay I picked the wrong span of times but there was a lot of that stretch without James Wood and now he's back well yeah now James Wood is back

of it. He hasn't really done much. Yeah, I don't know. That's interesting. Yeah, I think it could be a desperation play from McGreevy. I'm not saying I'm overly excited to do it, but I could see it being a kind of high floor quality start, kind of boring outing there.

Dustin May needed a big start, and he got it here against the red. Six shutout innings with six strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 84 pitches. He did change up the pitch mix here in this one, more sinkers than curveballs. It seemed to work. And he is 59% roster. he's at the Pirates this week. They're really good against right-handed pitching.

I don't think I would. Yeah, I agree with that. Cal Quantrell, another quality start. This one at the D-backs. Six innings, two runs, four strikeouts, zero walks. Turns out he was pitching through some back tightness in this one. That's why he left after just 70 pitches. But he has a quality start in six straight.

It kind of feels like a can't keep getting away with this situation, but he's doing it. 58% rostered, good matchup against. the Blue Jays this week. But it's risky because I could see a regression hitting him all at once and he's kind of banged up right now. So what do we do with Quantrol?

Yeah, it was another one I debated taking out of the sleeper pitchers because now he's got the injury tag next to him, but he pitched this whole start with the injury. It was still good. And they say he's not expected to miss time. So good matchup. Like when you got a guy on a run like this

where, I mean, you didn't even, you didn't even, like, it's, the longer stretch makes the numbers even more impressive for Calquantrol. It's like a 170 ERA over his last, uh, uh, I didn't put it in my notes. I put it in the article. But yeah, like a 170 ERA over his last 10 starts with an ER with a whip below one. Yeah. He has an ERA over three overall, but his FIP and XFIP are both over four. So it's a pretty, pretty big disparity. Yes, he can't keep getting.

injury as an excuse to not use him. That's fine. Like, it is, I can't keep getting away with its situation, but how do you, when you're, when you're picking out bad pitchers on the waiver wire to possibly start, how do you go against the guy with a 170 ERA over his last 10 starts who has a good matchup on top of it? That's hard to do. Yeah. No, I get it.

Yeah. Zach Thornton had a great start here at the Yankees. Seven innings of two-run ball, four strikeouts to one walk. his velocity was up in this start, potentially, I don't know, pretty jacked up for the subway series. And his three main pitches all performed well, but he also gave up a lot of hard contact in this one as well.

12 hard hits allowed. He's managed at 344, ERA 116 whip. It doesn't really look sustainable under the hood. 54% rostered home against the Phillies this week. Any interest in using Zach Thornton? He's been better than he deserves, but that's not exactly. a praise.

I'd say it's a criticism. Yeah, so sounds like that's a no. I'm using Zach Thornton this week. What about his teammate Christian Scott? He took a tough loss at the Yankees on Sunday. Six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 82 pitches. And he's another one, the velocity was up a little bit in this one, both his four seam and sweeper look pretty good.

He's one where the underlying stuff has looked pretty good for most of the year, but he doesn't go deep into his starts. he was kind of coming off a rough stretch. He also has the Phillies this week. Any interest in using Christian Scott? I like him more than Thornton, but I don't love him either way. Joey Cantillo. He looked awesome in bulk relief at the Twins.

Four shutout innings, one hit, one walk, eight strikeouts. I mean, he is firmly in the Charzard conversation. You never know what you're going to get from this guy, Joey Cantillo. In fact, I don't even know if he's starting or relieving this week. He is still a spark, and he's 68% rostered. It's a good match. he gets the athletics in Cleveland so you get them away from Sacramento, but I just don't know what to expect on the mound. And when is he going to pick? Like, is he a reliever or a starter? I don't know. I mean, even when he's good, there's a ton of walks. So you do know you're getting a high whip and probably not very many innings. And then no chance for a quality start in leagues where that matters. If he is continuing to follow an opener, which you may not. I'll pass. All right.

Some names in deeper leagues here. Just one. Andrew Alvarez had a great start against the Angels. Seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. 15 whiffs on 97 pitches. He has an awesome curveball. I don't really know if he has anything else, but he has been good over his last eight starts.

244 ERA.97 whip. He is at the Cardinals this week. Any deep league streamer interest in Andrew Alvarez? It'd have to be a pretty deep one. Didn't he come out of that start with an injury? I thought I remembered reading something, but then he doesn't have the injury tag next to him. So maybe I imagined it.

Andrew Alvarez, I can say, at least has a 50% ground ball rate. So that is a profile that can work, but I don't think there's a ton of upside there. And, yeah, I'm not especially motivated to do it. I'm not seeing anything about an injury. Maybe I'm thinking of somebody else. Yeah, I haven't seen anything either. Yeah, in a deeper league context, I could see using Alvarez,

like anything shallower than 15 teams, probably not. But he's pitching well right now, and the Cardinals matchup is like middling. I do have a couple names for the dropometer here. Brandon Fott. I was going to do starter sit for him, but I realized he's all the way down to 72% roster, so people have started dropping him.

He has a 5754 ERA and a 128 whip over his last five. and he gets the Yankees this week. We know that Aaron Judge is back in the lineup, although he hasn't really done much yet. Chris, where's Brendan Fott on the dropometer? It's got to be, it's got to be good for you. Yeah, he's not good. He's never been very good.

He had a, like, a month and a half where his ERA was low, but he wasn't good. And I know we always want to come up with a hole. Well, I don't watch the starts. He's pitching well. You guys can't. Is that Nondo? I don't know.

Probably not. It's just like people. Just people being mean. And it's like, no, brain and thought's not good. Sometimes bad pitchers have stretches where their ERA is low. It doesn't mean they're good. It's fine. I hope you jump shit before.

It sounded like everyone's non-do impression. Before you get the fun. I've never done a non-do impression. Nando's also like the nicest guy that's ever existed. Yeah, I know. I just want to be clear that that was not a non-do impression. He loves everybody, but yes. But no, that was just unrelated person who maybe sounds like him.

Yeah, that is curmudgeony, you know, person on the internet. 20 years. People who are like, oh, you guys don't know anything. No, you know. I did bring up for a large start of that stretch. Like, the debacks have one of the best defenses in all the leagues. So I think that's part of why some of their guys have overperformed this season. You can overperform for a while.

And it doesn't mean you're great. It just means you overperform for a while. Yep. They're major league, like major league players aren't always, like even bad major league baseball players are not always terrible, you know? Yeah.

Robbie Ray, five earned runs and four walks in each of his last two starts. He's still 88% rostered. He's at the Rockies this week, and then it looks like he lines up for two in the following week, one against the Dodgers and one against the D-backs. So get them out of here. Get them out.

Get them out. That's Robbie Ray. And Chase Burns, look, we've told people he's limited to three innings per start. Each of his last two starts, only three innings. He's still 96% rostered. Unless 96% of the leagues on CBS are keeper or dynasty leagues, he should not be 96% of rostered.

So any type of redraft format, you can drop Chase Burns, unfortunately. Start or sit these starting pitchers. Garrett Cole, all of a sudden, struggling with the ding-dong. He has given up seven homes. runs over his last two starts. Got a beat up pretty bad here by the Mets. And I forgot, I had to remember this for next year. Since joining the Yankees, Garrett Cole has just been really bad against the Red Sox and the Mets. I don't know why. I don't know that there's any rhyme or reason to it. It could just be like a weird kind of mental, oh, I'm facing the rival kind of thing.

But he's been bad whenever he faces the Red Sox and the Mets. So remember that for next year. But are we starting Garik Cole at the D-backs this week? I'm sure Frank you saw the thing Scott did you see the thing where like the game didn't officially start until 138 and so he like stood on the like I think the ump said like we can start the game and he just stood there watching the clock

until it hit 138 and then like immediately gave up a home run did I did I get the sequence of events there yeah apparently I don't know I saw other people saying that like the umpire told him to wait until 138 I don't know how true that is but it could just maybe Garrick Cole and Yankee truthers. But yeah, he has started each of the last two games off by giving up a lead off

home run. The one before that he gave up three home runs to start the game. So look, home runs are I probably like he hasn't been very good. They have always been. Even Markets, like that's coupled with he just stopped missing bats again. The last four starts, 6.7K per 9 and 9% swinging strike rate, which is not good.

And this is what we saw from him earlier when he first came back from the I.O. And it wasn't pretty then either I think I would bench him for now I don't I want to go as far as to drop him I don't think if he bounces

back against the diamond backs I might be right back in for the final week but yeah I I don't have a lot of faith in Cole right now I would start I guess I have to break the tie it's tough because

the debacks are not good against right-handed pitching he's probably better on the road I think I would still use Garikol, but yeah, he has struggled mightily in September. Paul Skeens, pitch well at the Cubs, seven innings, two runs. Still only

four strikeouts. He gave up two homers in this one, but it was 12 whiffs on 82 pitches. Velocity, mostly in line with his season averages in this one. It's two runs or fewer in three of his last four starts, so he's looked better. The strikeouts aren't really there. 82% started.

He's home against the Royals this week. Start or sit Paul Skeens. I would start Garikol over Paul Skeens. Oh, I think I would use skeins over coal, but yeah. Yeah, I'm at the tiebreaker this time, and I'll say skeins over coal. Not with a ton of confidence. Like, he's not missing bats either, but like he doesn't, like, it seems less crucial for him to miss bats than it does coal. Continuing on.

Next up for Amber Valdez, solid outing this weekend against the Rockies in Detroit. Six innings, one unearned run, two walks, two strikeouts. He has turned in four straight quality starts, but he also has 10 strikeouts over 25 innings during that stretch. He is at the White Sox this week. Start or sit for Amber Valdes. I would start both skeins and Cole over Terrick Skoble. Or sorry, Framber Valdes.

I would start Territz Cooble over all of them. Yeah, I think Valdez is, it'd have to be, I'd have to be pretty desperate to start him. against most anybody, but White Sox it's not a big help as far as that goes. Continuing on, Carlos Rodon had a great start against the Mets and six and a third,

two runs, one earned eight strikeouts to one walk. He got big whiffs in this one. He also gave up some very loud contact. I thought this was interesting. Per opta stats over Rodon's last 24 starts, zero games allowing four or more runs, zero games allowing two or more runs, home runs, zero games pitching three or fewer innings.

He joins Jacob de Grom as the only pitchers in MLB's modern era to have no such games over a 24-star span. That's a really weird stat. It's a very cherry-pick stack because he's had a lot of four-innings starts during that time. You make it sound like he's some sort of workhorse. Yeah, I didn't make the stat, but I thought it was interesting. He's at the twins this week.

I'm hopefully turned the corner in this one after his latest IEL stint the slow built-up, where he didn't look bad, his outings were just short. I think I'd start him, Carlos Rodon. Yeah, I think so too. Brian, who, pitched well on the road at the athletic six innings, one unearned run with five strikeouts. He had 12 whiffs on 80 pitches. And three September starts,

20 innings, one run, 21 strikeouts to five walks. He's at the Rockies this week. If it was anywhere else, I wouldn't even be thinking about sitting him. His last three starts on the road have also all been doing. Yeah, I just think he's good. Like, I know it's been a rough season, but I just think he's good. And so generally speaking, I would probably lean towards starting him at the Rockies.

If you have Emmett Sheehan, I think it's okay to sit. Brian will. But if it's like Lopez, I mean, you might just get the same thing out of him anyway, right? So I might as well just go with Wu, who I think is a better pitcher. Yeah. It's tough, though. I would use Wu over both Painter and Lopez. Yeah, I would too.

I think so. Which means I'd use them basically over all of my sleeper pitchers except Imichian. Yeah. I agree. Ian Seymour was great against the Astros, six innings of two-run ball, 10 strikeouts to one walk. He had 19 whiffs on 79 pitches here. And he has 10 strikeouts in two of his last three. starts. 81% roster.

I guess he could be floating around out floating out there in some shallower leagues. 50% started is Ian Seymour. He is home against the Red Sox this week. They are pretty good against lefties. Starters sit Ian Seymour. That's a tough matchup.

But he does pitch better at home and I think there's something to you know, a guy with low fastball velocity who might need the shape enhancing of effects of

Tropicana field to help him so that might be why he's better at home. I don't know. I think In Seymour's just good, though. Like,

I think the home runs have been a big issue, but other than that, he's been awesome. His peripherals are really good. I think I'd start him ahead of Brian Wu, even with the Red Sox.

Yeah. And to be clear, the only reason we're hesitating on Wu is because it's at color. That is the only reason. Yeah. I agree. Seymour is a definite start for me, I think. All right. Next up, we have Tyler Glassnow, who had a wild start here at the Marlins.

Four innings, four runs, four walks, did have seven strikeouts, had 15 whiffs on 91 pitches. Last two starts, it's eight earned runs over ten innings. He has seven walks in those two. 64% started. He's at the Reds this week. So the Reds are, there are offenses battings righties, but it's in Cincinnati. Maddie, so what do you guys think about Glass Now? They're bad. Yeah, no, I think Glass now is an easy start. I'd

worry about the last two starts if there was something else to worry about than the walks. I think he just walked a bunch of guys, which, you know, maybe he will next time too, but I'd be more worried particularly with the time it was to injury if there was something in the stuff itself that really raised alarm for me.

First two starts were great, second two starts struggled with walks. I'd start him against an easy matchup like the Reds. All right, Ranger Suarez has looked like himself over his last two starts. This one against the Royals, seven innings of one-run ball, eight strikeouts to zero walks, 14 whiffs on 96 pitches. And his last two, 17 innings, one run, 11 strikeouts to one walk.

He is 60% started at the raise this week. They are pretty bad against lefties. I think that's a thumbs up for Ranger Swartz. Yep, he seems back. Taj Bradley, one of the Charzards. Great outing here against the Guardian six shutout innings with six strikeouts and he is 63% started

at the Angels this week. They're pretty bad. That's, and they're strikeout prone for a pitcher whose best trade is strikeouts. Yeah. Todd Bradley has 190 strikeouts this year. He's going to break 200. Yeah.

He might do it in his next start. It's been a nice little breakout for him. Yeah. Yeah. A little breakout. You know. He's, there are Charzard qualities here, but it, the numbers have arrived at a good place.

Not a great place, but, you know, high three ZRA, whip over one, two. With all the strikeouts, you can live with that. Good win, loss record for whatever that's worth. Yeah. We did get another rough outing from Logan Webb. This one, home against the Padres, five innings, six runs, seven strikeouts to one walk. and over his last five starts, 95ERA 185 whip,

23 earned runs over 21 and two-thirds innings. So more earned runs than innings pitched. And he's at the Dodgers this week. So I think that's like a... Even without Otani, I think that's a pretty clear stayaway for Logan Webb. I wonder if after the season we find out about a... He was pitching through injury type thing.

Well, they said after the game, they might shut him down after this start. So that makes the decision for you. Yeah. Yeah. Tony Vitello said they're thinking about shutting him down. So don't start Logan Webb because he might not start. Yeah, it's been hard to figure out why things have gone so wrong for him this season because part of it, my thought was like, well, the defense has been pretty bad for a long stretch of the season without Willie Adamas and Matt Chapman,

especially his worst stretch. But his babup is like 60 points lower than it was last season. So that explanation doesn't really seem to make sense. I don't know. It's a tough one. that I think we might need the offseason to get a good explanation for one way or the other. He has had a lower strikeout rate than usual.

Yes. Which he also did two years ago. And his ERA estimators are very similar to two years ago. He was, was he better two years? Yeah, he was better two years ago, but he overperformed while this year he's not overperforming by so much. But it seems like he's getting what he deserves. Yeah, no.

Freddie Peralta was pulled with a no-hitter after five innings, and he walked three. He had four strikeouts in this one. And the velocity was up on all of his secondaries, but his fastball was his best pitch. I have no idea what's going on with Freddie Peralta. The results have been pretty good lately with Tampa Bay. He is 65% started.

He's home against the Red Sox this week. What do you guys think about Freddie Peralta? I think he's an okay start, but not a must start. Joe Ryan, rough outing here against the Guardians four innings, runs allowed, two homers allowed, and two starts since coming off to IL. It's eight innings, six runs, eight strikeouts to three walks, two walks, three homers loud. He is 42% started at the Angels this week. So it's a great matchup. They strike out a lot, but Joe Ryan hasn't exactly looked great since coming off the aisle. What do we do with him? Yeah, I felt good after that first start,

but, you know, another short one. It's not like the velocities down, he was struggling before going on the IL. I think we hoped the IL time would get him right. But it's, let's see if I have the exact numbers here. In his last five, no, how many starts is it? I wrote down the numbers, but not the starts. Yeah, it's been bad. He's got like an 849 ERA over his last five or six starts, something like that.

The one thing I do want to point out, this was a short start in only four innings. He did still throw 84 pitches. So if he pitches well against the angels, I don't think it's going to necessarily be a short outing. It's just how confident can you be even against the angels who are very bad. Boy, I still think there's a big upside here. Oh, there is.

But like it's just that... I would start him ahead of Frambervaldez. I would say that. Sure. 849 ERA in his last five starts. A 49 ERA 167 weapon, even just 6. point nine K for nine and Joe Ryan's last five starts. All right. And then the last name I have for starters sit is Noah Cameron who had another

strong outing at the Red Sox six innings one run for strikeouts. Last 10 games, nine of those being starts, 164 ERA.78 whip for Noah Cameron. He is 78% started. He's at the Pirates this week and they're really good against lefties. They're pretty bad against really good against righties, really bad against lefties. So I would use Noah Cameron. Yeah. Now that you got, now we got the handedness straightened out, I agree. One curious thing to keep an eye on is he threw his most four seamers since he began

calling his own pitches in this start over the weekend. And the previous start, he had also thrown the most four seamers since he started calling his pitches. So I don't like that trend, because that's large. largely what we were crediting with Noah Cameron's turnaround. I don't like seeing the four seamers tick up, but so far it hasn't affected the results. All right, let's get it to some leftovers from the weekend,

and on the hitting side, I have a bunch. I will mention them in groups of four, but Riley Green is on fire since returning from the IL. Cody Bellinger, the same has looked really good since coming back from the IL. Cosimo Okamoto is finishing strong. He has eight home runs over his last 28 games, and Mookie Betts also finishing strong. seven homers, 955 OPS

over his last 30 games. Chris, anything to add or point out on those four? Betts, Okamoto, Bellinger, Riley Green. Betts is tough because he's shown so little over the past couple of years. And, you know, it's nice to see him having a good finish to the season. He still doesn't run at all anymore,

two stolen bases on the season. I don't know. It feels like just a hot, streak at this point and his overall numbers you kind of just take at at face value and even then given his age you know him sustaining just his surface level numbers is not a given next year it i would probably just expect him to to hold steady but i don't i don't think this is a situation you know we're now two full years removed from muki betts really being a difference maker i kind of think he's just a guy now.

Hitting Leftovers Part 2, Bryce Terang is having a big September after a pretty terrible August, so that's nice to see. William Contreras is finishing strong. He is homered in three straight and has six home runs over his last 23 games. Ronald de Cunia has been great since that mental day off that he received 16 games since then 403 batting average, four homers, two steals. The OPS is around 1,200. And Michael Harris, Big weekend for him. Sock and his shoe on Saturday. Three more hits on Sunday.

And he's had a big bounceback season. 25 homers, 11 steals, 291 batting average. Scott, anything to add here on Michael Harris, Acuna, William Contreras, and Bryce Horan. I mean, Akuna seems fine now. So I think it was just a mechanical thing going on with him. And now, as always, it's a question of if he can stay healthy.

Bryce Terang really needed to pick things up because his batting average dipped into like the 250 range at one point when he's supposed to excel at that. I guess he's up to 19 home runs now, 19 home runs, 18 steals. So like he's, I think that's an updated numbers. He's got a chance at a 2020 season still,

but like that seemed like a given early on. he's faded a lot. And he hasn't been running late. Like since that knee injury, I think he hasn't really run at all. Yeah. Yeah.

So it's, let's see. I think in his case... The last three home runs since the start of August, just five in the entire second half, only three steals in the second half. Yeah, the knee,

because I think the knee was in like mid or early August, and he kept playing, he missed like one game and kept playing through it. And there were some quotes at the beginning of September right around the start of this run

that it was really bothering him and that I think he got a couple days off at one point. Hopefully this just means he's feeling better and the slump was the result of the knee. I'm hopeful that that's the explanation. Yeah, I hope so too. It's like obviously Fernando Tatis is going to be the number one second basement for next year

and, you know, Cotel Martes had his own problem. So I think he'll be behind Terang also. But there are some competition there at the top of the position. I don't know that Terrang is automatically going to slot number two. I guess the biggest competition. Well, you know what? I had Sal Stewart ahead of him. Sal Stewart's not going to be second-based eligibility.

No, Tarang will probably slot number two. I just, you know, how high. Will he go as high next year as he did this year? I think that's fair to wonder. He was like a third, fourth rounder this year, right? I think it'll be similar for next season. I think so, too. Hitting leftovers part three, Francisco Lindor

crushed the Yankees on Saturday, three for five with a double-dong, five RBI, and lots of power in the second half. 15 home runs in 52 second-half games for Lindor. Randy and Rosarina had a big weekend. Three-for-five, double-dong on Sunday. He homered on Saturday, and he also added a stolen base on Friday.

And he is a free agent after the season, there might be more upside if he gets out of Seattle. He is pretty big road numbers this season. So that's something to watch for the off season. Vlad Jr. hit his first home run at home this season on September 13th, which is pretty crazy stuff. He only has nine home runs total on the year. And then both Jackson, Merrill, and Fernando Tatis had huge weekends.

They are two of the hottest hitters in the second half. Chris, anything on Lindor, a Rosarena, Vlad, Meryl, and Tatis. Yeah, I mean, a Rosarena Leaving Seattle probably wouldn't be a bad thing I don't know if Seattle can afford to do that Well, I don't know if they can fiscally afford to resign him I don't know if they Baseballically can afford to let him go

So it's a tough spot for them They're in a weird spot in their organizational development cycle With everything that's gone wrong this season Um, boy, I hope Vlad runs through the finish line we need to see something positive from him and we're starting to see it but it's still been just an absolute disaster season 56 RBI for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Like that's supposed to be the thing even when he wasn't great. He was still at least driving and runs because he hits for so much contact and there's just been nothing this year. It's been really weird. It's another one where you almost hope we find out about an injury. But yeah, he's got to do something. some mechanical adjustments this offseason.

Well, didn't we there was an injury we heard about early in the year that he was playing through, right? There's been multiple handspring. I think it was maybe a knee and a back. There was a lot of talk around the All-Star break. I think it was the knee.

Yeah. Yeah, that he had been playing with through a knee injury. So I think there's, I think there is a good chance that injury has affected him, but not one so severe that it sidelined him. Or he's just willing to play through it, yeah. Yeah.

But he's going to be really tricky for next year, as are a lot of the early round mainstays who have fallen short of expectations this year. All right, some pitching leftovers. I only have four names here. Drew Rasmussen, another strong start, seven innings, one run, four strikeouts. He has turned in four straight quality starts.

He has gone seven in back-to-back outings. He's just given a lot more length and volume this year. It's great to see from Rasperson. Chris Sale, a quality start over seven innings, but his velocity was down and it dropped off pretty hard as the start went on. So just something to watch there with Chris Sale. Cam Schlittler continues to dominate six shutout innings with eight strikeouts, this time against the Mets.

On his final out, he did take a hard hit ball off of his hamstring, and he was able to walk off, but just another thing to watch there for Cam Schlittler. And then we mentioned Peyton Tolley at the top with the Immaculate inning. But any thoughts here on Schlittler, Chris Sale, notably his velocity, and Drew Rasperson. I mean, Rasperson, it's always so interesting because he's gone at least 92 pitches in five straight starts, which I can't imagine that's ever happened or even come close for his career. And also, he hasn't thrown more than 97 in four of the five. So there are still, like the pitch counts are still relatively low compared to some other aces.

But he's so efficient that if he's going to be given. of 95 pitches, he's probably going to go six innings. So he's really good. I think he's got to be a top 24 starting pitcher for next season, right? With how good he's been the last two seasons and especially with the expanded role this year. And then I just, I did think it was so funny that, like, the first time Aaron Judge has ever said something mildly controversial in an interview in his entire life was when he was asked if Camp Schlottler should be the MVP this season. He was like, I don't think pitchers should be MVP. He did not say those words.

He said pitchers have their own award. He said he's pitching like an MVP, but pitchers have their own award. It was basically what he said. And I just think it's so funny because, like, hey, your teammates playing really well. Should he win an award is like the biggest softball slam dunk question you could ever ask? And Aaron Judge exclusively speaks in like boring platitudes. And this is the one time that he's like, no, no, I will not give you the boring platitude quote you're looking for.

Camp should not be the MVP. I just thought that was funny. Yeah. It was kind of a weird quote. I just wonder if maybe he... No, I get what he's saying. Like, I get like, I kind of agree. I don't think he meant for it to be controversial, but...

Yeah, everyone's talking about it. I just thought it was so... Because, like, he's never said any... Like, there's nothing controversial about Aaron Judge at all. He's decaptain. He can't say anything interesting. And that's the one time he picked. Hey, should your team?

he may win an award. Nope. No, he should not. Well, he did say he should win a award. He didn't say he should win two awards. Yeah, no. He said, should he win that award? And he said no. Well, by saying that, he's saying someone who's not a Yankee should win the award. I mean, because obviously not a Yankees in contention for the award. Maybe someone otherwise.

Ben Rice should be the MVP. Yeah, I guess you could make the case for him, sure, but he's not going to. He might finish third. Pretty bad. But, yeah. I mean, I think there's a pretty clear top two. Call to the bullpen. the Orioles on Friday, Andrew Kitchrich

pitching the eighth inning with a five-run lead. Alex Hoppey started the ninth. He gave up two runs, and so Rico Garcia came on to get the final out for his eighth save. Garcia, Rico Garcia has the last two saves for the Orioles. But Andrew Kitcherge is usually in that mix as well. I still

kind of feel like the Orioles bullpen is pretty murky, right? Unless you think Rico Garcia's kind of emerging here? No, it's very murky. Yeah. And I still think, you know, Helsley and Bautista could be back at point in the final two weeks. For the Royals on Friday, Stephen Cruz got the ninth inning

with a one-run lead. He picked up his seventh save. Nate Pearson pitched the eighth inning in that one. I mostly think it's Stephen Cruz for the Royals. For the twins on Friday, Yawendres Gomez got the ninth inning with the game tied. He was charged with three earned runs on two hits and two walks. He picked up his third loss.

And then on Saturday, Gomez was unavailable. Lefty, A.J. Minter picked up his first save of the season. For the Rockies on Saturday, Jordan Romano, entered with no outs in the eighth inning, a one-run lead, bases loaded. He walked in two, then a sack fly, then gave up a two-run triple.

It was just a disaster outcome here for Jordan Romano. For the Cubs on Saturday, they were down one run. Jacob Webb entered with two outs in the sixth, and then he also stayed out there for the seventh. And then later in the game, Ryan Rawlinson got five outs across the eighth and the ninth, and Ryan Zephyr-John got the final out for his sixth save. Cubs bullpen feels pretty messy right now too

It kind of feels like they're Leaning towards like a Rawlison Zephyrijon combo But I don't know that I would chase either one for this I don't think you really want combos this late in the year I love some combos Stick to potato chips That's my go-to road trip snack

The pepperoni pizza flavor Um so good Have you seen the stat that the Cubs Might finish first in Winds above replacement for hitters and last for pitchers this season. I did not see that. Yeah. That is wild. And the bullpen especially has been pretty bad all year, yeah. For the Angels on

Saturday, Ben Joyce got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up one run, exactly, on a walk and a hit, and he took his second blown save. The Angels would lose in extras. For the Marlins on Saturday, Pete Fairbanks picked up his 19th save, so we are back to having a closer for the Marlins. Love that. And then for the White Sox on Saturday, Grant Taylor started the seventh inning with the game tied. He recorded five outs. And then eventually, lefty Brian Hudson got the ninth, and he picked up his eighth save.

And he's 8% rostered, but he's been picking up saves lately. Any deep league interest in Ryan Hudson for saves? He hasn't been picking up saves exclusively, though, has he? No, I still think Grant Taylor is in that mix. but it's just if they need Grant Taylor earlier in the game they just won't hesitate to use them so let's see Hudson has gotten

looks like the last three for the White Sox and then Taylor got the two before that yeah it still seems pretty murky again you don't you don't want combos this late yep but I guess in desperate situations Brian Hudson

has been picking up saves lately to stream or not to stream on Monday we have Will Warren at the Twins. Dean Kramer is home against the Yankees. Brandon Young is at the Mets. Jonah Tong home against the Orioles. Ronaldo Lopez is at the Cubs. David Peterson home against the Braves.

Landon and Rup is at the Cardinals. Quinn Matthews, home against the Giants. And Corbyn Burns is home against the Marlins. But I think he'll be pretty limited once again. Yeah, I think Quinn Matthews is okay. Mm-hmm. That's the top choice. Maybe Warren, maybe Rup, but I don't have a lot of confidence.

in either of those guys. I think those are the three. Need to. Burns, you're hoping he gets through like five innings on 75 pitches, which is not impossible, but his velocity was way down across the board last time around.

I wouldn't go there. And then on Tuesday, we have Griffin Jack's home against the athletics. Davis Martin is at the Guardians. Drew Anderson is at the Blue Jays, Shane Boz at the Mets, Sean Medea home against the Orioles, Martin Perez at the Cubs,

Andre Palante home against the Giants. Patrick Sandoval's at the Rangers. Ryan Johnson is home against the Mariners, and then Michael Soroka, home against the Marlins. I think Palante is my top choice. I think Brian Johnson's my second choice. I think Jacks against the athletics could work. It could.

Yeah. He obviously got a good result against the Braves last time, but velocity was still down, and whiffs were still way down. And so I'm, I'm a... uneasy about it, but that's what it's like to stream pitchers in September. Is Soroka

stretched out at all? I don't think so. I think so. Yeah. That was before another I L. Sten, right? Yeah. No, his most recent was 58 pitches.

He's not going to leave. Yeah, you might be able to get like 75 pitches out. It's just similar to Corbyn Burns, who threw 57 in his last outing. they could be good against the Marlins like that's a definitely winnable matchup but given the likely limitations I don't think you can do it

I would put Palante and Jacks at the top of the list and then the fortune favors the brave slash bold would be like Sean Mania and Ryan Johnson we are gonna wrap there for Scott and Chris I am Frank 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 be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts. From executive producer Kim Kardashian and the producers of Love Island, USA. Baseball and Scott Snell go hand in hand. Comes a new series about the parents behind elite youth baseball.

What was that? We don't even know what's about to come. Team moms baseball. September 24th on Paramount Plus.