Fantasy Baseball Today - Do These Stats Matter? 2025 League Winners & Cubs Bullpen Updates (9/11 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Mookie Betts is on fire (3:00). ... Juan Soto will not stop stealing bases (10:45)! ... Blake Snell completed the trifecta against the Rockies and Tyler Wells looked pretty good (18:26). ... The Cubs had a save opportunity and it did not go to Brad Keller (23:04). ... News (24:39): Ketel Marte left Wednesday with injury. ... The Dog of the Week is Manny Machado (30:16). ... These four hitters were league winners in 2025 (34:49). ... Jakob Marsee is heating back up (46:30). ... Do these stats matter (49:00)? ... We had a pitchers duel out in San Diego (58:22). ... What to make of these confusing starts (1:00:37)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:04:43). 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. Hello, and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday. September 11th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Day on the show. Do these stats? matter. Highlighting some league winners from this season. We'll look into the 2026 crystal ball and much more. Let's jump in. All right, it's not often that we just all choose early round players for our oh my goodness gracious players of the night. But here we are, Scott, you're up first. I'm up first and I'm going to go with Mookie Betts, who had a three-hit game here on Wednesday, three for four with a double.

Oh, four hits. He added another. That game wasn't quite done when I did my research. So he's added another. Four hit game, five RBI. Oh, it was a grand slam. Wow, that was the hit I missed. Huge game.

It went from being a good game to Mookie Betts to a huge game. And now all the numbers I've written down are going to be a little bit off because of that final hit. I have them on the rundown, Scott. Just one home run and five RBI. So I have last 32 games. That's what I have two. Okay. So what are the last 32 games, Frank?

352, 7 homers, 26 RBI, 91 average exit velocity. Wow. I mean, wow, mooky bets. We did talk about this maybe a little over a week ago. I forget when, how he was trending up again. But it's just continued. It's gotten louder and louder. And really, the number I want to focus on is the 91 mile per hour.

exit velocity during that 32 game stretch for mooky bets because for much of the season it was around 88 and 88 would suggest maybe decline was happening for the 32 year old a guy who even let's just say for for most years of his career his exit velocities were kind of on the margins for being a power hitter. Like he was making do with suboptimal exit velocities. You look through year by year and there were a couple years where the exit velocity really spiked for mooky bets. But usually he was right on the marches.

So it wouldn't take much slippage there for him to stop being a power hitter. And I was afraid that was happening. I was afraid it was age related. But there was, of course, that lingering doubt because of the severe stomach issue he was dealing with at the start of the season where he couldn't keep food down for like a week and he lost a bunch of weight. And that's how he was going into the season, like clearly at less than full strength. And would he have a chance to rebuild that strength while he's playing baseball every day? And so it was hard to account for that. How was this factoring into this down season for mooky bets?

Well, I think the way he's closing things out here is relieving a lot of concerns heading into 2026. And I'm not saying he's going to be a first rounder or even a second rounder, uh, Mookie Betts. But I, I feel a lot more comfortable saying, he probably hasn't aged out here.

He's probably still going to be a quality fantasy contributor. Maybe worth drafting as early as round three. We'll see how the final two weeks go. But I, I'm thinking reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated, partly by me. I mean, when we did the redraft for the second round at the All-Star break, none of us were showing a lot of faith in Muky Betts because he wasn't even in that discussion. But it is, you know, obviously kind of an odd ball scenario there with the illness.

But it is another example. We've seen a lot of him here beginning in August of something we say all the time. regression will come. You know, players will, numbers will normalize. We just don't know how long it's going to take. And it turns out for a lot of players this year, it took a really long time of frustratingly, to the point that you can't really count it as a win when it happens

because it happened too late for it to matter. But I think Mookie Betts and Brian Reynolds and Ozzy B's and Brent and Doyle, like they're all examples of this. And there's probably more. Well, let's do some, let's do some level setting. Let's talk outfielders you would take ahead of Mookie Betts. Well, I don't think. Aaron Judge.

Don't think we can't take quick and draft him as an outfielder, can we? Oh, he's not an outfielder. You're right. Shortstop. That's the shortstop. Well, now I've got to pull up a whole different list. Okay. Bobby Witt.

Yes. Yeah. Bobby Witt over. Francisco Lindor, yes. Yes. Ellie de la Cruz yes yes Trey Turner yes

yes yeah okay hmm so that's four you know shortstop is going to be tough outfield

yeah shortstop's going to be tough there are a lot of great ones are we taking her older Pardomo ahead of mooky bets probably not me but

I don't know he might deserve it man I think so I mean look are we taking He's the number one shortstop this year. Are we taking Trevor Story ahead of Mookie Betts? No.

I don't think I would. Gunner Henderson is the other name that. Oh, Gunner Henderson. Well, Gunner Henderson, for sure, but there's also Cigar. There's also Pobes Chet. There's also Zach Nettow. There's also Jeremy Pena. Netto is a good one.

All right, so like 10th-ish at shortstop? I think probably seven or eight. Probably seven or eight. Like anywhere from like, seven to 10. You got like Bichette, Abrams, Netto. Abrams. Yeah, we didn't mention Abrams. That was

one, yeah. For sure. I mean, man, I think that I'll probably get bets in like the third or fourth round next year. I think bets are Seeger, maybe. Because neither one of them is going to give you many steals. Yeah. I think I'm kind of done with the Seeger thing, man. I don't know.

I think I'd do bets. I think I'd do bets over Seeker too. We're 100% sure bets over Jeremy Pena? Not a hundred. He's still hitting 300. He's going to end up pretty close to 2020. I know he missed like 30 games.

He hasn't been as dominant since coming back. Yeah. But obviously the overall numbers are still really good. And he's just now entering the prime of his career. Yeah. It's a fun discussion. I thought it was older. Isn't he like 27?

That's kind of prime-ish, right? That's kind of prime age, right? I don't know what prime. I mean, it was 25 years ago, but I think, I think we think of like 25 more as a player's prime. When I was a child, Scott Boris had that article where Alex Rodriguez was entering free agency at 27 and he was like, this is what happens when players turn 27. But of course, that was like coming out of this hero. I think the peak has drifted forward. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It's probably more like 25-ish or something. I think it's more 27 is probably more the end of the peak. and that's where you start to see gradual decline or leveling off. You stop projecting upward around then, I think, is the way I would put it. Yeah, I guess that's my point. Like, I think we just saw Maximum Pena this year,

and it's more likely he takes a little step back than another step forward. And so last season, Bobeshett was the number 12 shortstop in ADP at 118.2. Matt McLean. Good job, everybody. 11th at 85. So. Higher than that. It'll be higher than that for best.

Yeah. I mean, but what are we going to have like nine short stops in the top 50? I guess we did last year. And there was a pretty big drop-off. So yeah. Yeah.

I think that's, it'll probably go something like that next season as well. While we're talking about players in their prime, Chris, Juan Soto. This is so funny.

Juan Soto hit another homer, stole another base. He has 20, steals in 49 games in the second half. That is like a 66 stolen base pace in the second half for Juan Soto. And I'm writing about this for tomorrow's newsletter. How many players in either format would you definitely take ahead of Juan Soda next season? I think in points it's one-

I think in points it's just judge. It's just judge probably. Yeah. In Roto, it might definitely only be judging Otani. And even Otani is, if he's not going to run as much, I think he's probably still take him, but. Well, what makes it hard? And I think Frank and I had this conversation when you were out, right, Frank?

Yeah. Just projecting his steals forward? Yeah. Yeah. I have no idea. Yeah, me neither. It could be, he could steal five bases next year. And I don't think it would surprise anybody.

Like, this came out of no way. where he hasn't gotten any faster. And it's, he's such a valuable centerpiece in the lineup, just with his on-base skills for getting power, even, just how often he gets on base. I mean, earned him a $700 million contract.

He's so valuable that what good is an extra base every now and then? If it, if it increases his chances of injury in the slightest, like it just seems. Well, it didn't stop him this year, Scott. No, it didn't stop him this year. But that there was no reason, there was no reason for him to steal this many bases this season.

Right. I'm just saying that a lot of times when we get these middle of the order bats and it's like, oh, look, they do everything, even steal bases. They just suddenly stop running one day because it's just not worth it to the team or to them personally to keep taking that risk. And on the other hand. Francisco Lindor has been a more prolific base stealer as a Met than he was as a guardian. Yeah. Yeah.

It's also a time where stolen bases are more frequent across the league. I mean, it could continue. It could. I just don't know. Like, I'm reluctant to rank Juan Soto as if he's a true plus in steals just because he happened to be this year. But then the other side of that coin is he's been underwhelming with batting average. We've certainly seen him do better with batting average. And I'm pretty sure at some point during this very long contract with the Mets, he'll hit 300 or better.

I think that's a safe bet it'll happen at some point, probably multiple times. And if he does lose some steals there, there's a good chance he makes up for it with batting average. There's no like natural law that says there has to be that. trade-off, but it's a reasonable assumption that he could lose in one area and gain in another. There's no natural law that says he can't do both. He could just hit 310 next year and steal 25 bases again. True. I will say here's what's hard about it.

It's actually surprisingly not that rare for a player to go 30-30 and for that to be the first and only time they steal 30 bases in their career. I believe Christian Yelich, that's the case for him. Francisco Indoor, surprisingly, only has. has one 30 stolen base season. He got 29 last year. There were a couple of other ones. Lindor's probably close this year too, right?

He needs two more, I believe. Matt Kemp had a 30-30 season. It was his only 30-steal season. David Wright had a 30-30 season. It was his only 30-steal season. So that is actually not that uncommon. But here's what makes Juan Soto a real outlier. there have been 111 seasons in the stat cast era where a player has stolen 30 or more bases.

That is since 2015. And I don't think anybody did in 2020, so we're probably looking at just 10 or 11 seasons. Of those 111, 109, no, 108 were at least average in terms of sprint speed. Unsurprising, you generally need to be fast, or at least a lot. above average in speed to steal a bunch of bases. The three, Elvis Anderson, 2019, who was 39th percentile on sprint speed. Kyle Tucker in 2023, he was 32nd percentile on sprint speed. Wants said to his 15th percent down sprint speed.

He is by far and away the slowest player to steal 30 bases in a season since 2015, at least. And again, he has 20 in his last 49 games. it's just it's so bizarre that it it's almost impossible to actually analyze what wandsoda's doing just because there's really no precedent for for this kind of thing a player this slow becoming a base stealer eight years into their career yeah like i'm sure there's some example but you definitely do not see it and his previous career high i think was 13s So it's just, he's already doubled that, more than doubled that. So here on September 11th, I am setting the over under next season at 19.5 for Juan Soto.

Do with that what you will. Yeah, I think that's a good place to take it, and I have no idea what I would take. I bet the under. Oh, that's what a good over under should do. Yeah, right. Make it a struggle. Yeah. I think we got to move on from this.

It's a fun conversation, but there's a lot of other things to talk about. Let's take a quick break when we return. I have some things that I want to get to. then we'll get into the news and notes. We'll do that right after this. All right, three big topics here. I want to quickly hit on. Blake Snell, the Dodgers, pitching trifecta against the Rockies here.

He was awesome. Six shutout innings, two hits, two walks, 11 strikeouts, 22 whiffs on 104 pitches, had everything working here. We saw what Glass Now did. We saw what Emit Sheehan did. Last two starts before this for Snell were subpar. He had three walks in each of those. I think he's still just a must-star pitcher,

but I'll just throw it out there because I had some people ask me this week. He gets the Phillies next week. Yes. Do we just, all right. Anything else on Blake Snow? Well, I mean, it's Blake Snow. He's great.

He's been great. There was, like, because he was so bad in his previous start, at Pittsburgh, no less. You know, at the time I said, eh, it's a one-off. He'd been so good prior to this. Just keep starting him. But in the back of my mind, I was like, but this is Blake Snell.

And like when he loses it, he tends to lose it for months at a time. So there was that doubt. It's nice to see him bounce back as decisively as he did here against the Rockies. All right. Next up we have Tyler Wells, who was awesome against the Pirates.

Six and two thirds innings. One hit, one run, six strikeouts to one walk. He had 14 whiffs on 89 pitches, had three plus whiffs on four different pitches. And in two starts, he has gone 11 and two thirds innings, three runs allowed, 10 strikeouts to one walk.

He's only 10% rostered, and he's at the White Sox next week. So we're paying a lot of attention to schedules, rest of season schedules. Tyler Wells for next week, I mean, even in the deepest leagues, he could be out there at only 10% rostered. A big old thumbs up to using Tyler Wells

at the White Sox next week. Yeah, I'd say so. Yeah. Not in like every league, but yeah. It's still like, it could go wrong. He's not an especially high upside pitcher, but he is particularly good at a couple of things that can make starts to go really right like this.

Gets the ball in the air a lot, avoids walks really well. It's, you know, kind of that same profile we were talking about for Bailey Oberg coming into the season, which maybe is not a comp anybody wants to hear given the way Obers season has gone, but, you know, you could do Shoda Yumauga as the comp instead. I don't think Wells has as much upside as either of those pitchers. He doesn't have the strikeout upside,

but he has enough strikeout potential that as long as he's keeping the ball in the park, things should go pretty well for him. It was a good bet against the Pirates. It's not quite as good of a bet against the White Sox, but I think it's still a good enough bet. I will ask about these two just because they're so widely available, both 10% roster or less, but I think I know the answer. Tyler Wells or Connolly Early

We just don't know when early's next start is going to be They were non-committal when asked about it today So I certainly think early is the more talented pitcher But based on what I know right now I guess I'd have to go with Wells because I know he has a good matchup Let's see early Either gets the athletics or the race next week or both He could be a two-star pitcher

He could be. Yeah. And I mean, the way Peyton Toley's start, he actually did start here on Wednesday, even though they said he wouldn't start in his next outing. But it was a two-inning start for Peyton Tolly against the athletics. It was not totally unexpected. Yeah, Alex Cora said before the start that it would be an abbreviated start. But it was the first time in his professional career and maybe ever that he was pitching on four days rest.

But what it probably does is give early priority over Tolly. And so I feel pretty good that he'll make his next start. Is a matchup against the athletics good enough that I'd take it over Wells against the White Sox? I don't know about that. He did just dominate the athletics. Yeah, he did. And it could be two starts. Yeah.

If it's two starts, that'll be different. But, I mean, look at how good Tolly was. in his first start. And I actually like totally more than early if I'm just evaluating them on their abilities. So it was a great star for early, and he had a good year in the minors, and he could be great.

But I don't want to put too much on one start. And we did get a look at the Cubs bullpen in a save situation, finally. Brad Keller used in the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He was facing the top of the Braves lineup. He allowed a hit, but he did get out of it. Andrew Kittridge got the ninth. He picked up his third save.

I guess they'll just use Keller in the biggest spot in late game situations. So if that's the eighth inning with the heart of the lineup coming up, then that's probably what it's going to be. But I don't know, perhaps a little bit more unpredictable than we originally thought, I guess, with the absence of Daniel Palencia. Yeah, but I would still expect him to be the closer. Maybe it's not every single save opportunity, but we're using him in our highest leverage situations typically means he gets the save. It's not always the case, but typically the highest leverage situation is the ninth thing.

So maybe instead of thinking maybe I'll get five saves from Brad Keller, maybe it's three. Yeah, but what it might mean is for head-to-head league, shallower leagues where not every save source is rostered. this might be reason to say, okay, I'll go with Dennis Santana instead of Brad Keller. I think that's a stretch. Yeah, Brad Keller, 21% rostered, Andrew Kitchard, 7% rostered. So I think more so for 12-team, Roto Leagues are deeper. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel for saves right now. Those are the types of situations that we're looking at the Cubs bullpen for now.

Big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Let's run through the news and notes. Not too much going on here. Catelle Marte was removed on Wednesday due to a right foot contusion. X-rays were negative. Obviously something to watch because he is arguably the top second baseman in fantasy. William Contreras was scratched from the lineup with a forearm contusion.

Will Smith of the Dodgers scratched from the lineup as well with right hand sorenness. This has been a lingering issue for him for a while now. Mackenzie Gore is coming off the aisle to start Thursday against the Marlins. So he went on the IEL in late August with a shoulder strain. I'm actually surprised that he's even returning and making another start, but good for him if he looks good in this start. Maybe we're considering using him next time out. As we just mentioned, Alex Cora said he's not sure when Connolly Early

will make his next start, hopefully next week. Roki Sasaki will travel to Los Angeles to meet with team officials to discuss his next steps. And I read somewhere that his rehab wasn't going right and they're not very impressed with what's happened there. So I'm not entirely sure what's going on. His velocity was way up in his most recent outing. He had been averaging more like 94. Before this, he was up to 98.4 or 98.5 in his most recent one.

But if you look at like the various stuff models out there, I think the T.J. Stats stuff model had even sitting 98.5 had it as like a, 55 on the 2080 grading scale, which is just barely above average, which kind of highlights the issue for Roki Sasaki as currently presenting himself because basically he needs to have elite velocity to have a decent fastball. That's a tough line to walk as a major league starting pitcher. So I don't know if maybe he needs to work on a sinker. I think that's an interesting one. you know, maybe, you know, get a, get a cutter to help the fastball play up, but. Well, he was supposed to have a good splitter and slider, right?

Like the fastball. Yeah, for sure. Like the fastball was just going to be a bonus if he was able to regain the velocity on it. It's supposed to be. I mean, obviously, obviously his rookie season has been a disaster, considering he was most major list number one prospect coming into the year. Yeah. I think they'd like a do-over on that.

I know I would. None of his breaking pitches have worked well this season. It really has just been that splitter and not really much else going on. I remember one of my bold predictions before the season was that Roki Sasaki would make more starts in the minors than he would in the majors this year. Currently five in the minors, eight in the majors. So it may come true. It still might.

You seem very excited about this. Yeah, look, it's not often you get bold predictions. Right. I mean, not that I'm rooting against Roki Sasaki, but also on this podcast, we had our reservations, let's just say that. There was a lot of people that were excited.

I think that's a prospect, but none of us were into him as a 20-25 asset. People were drafting him as a top 30, top 24-starred pitcher. It was crazy. So, look, obviously still an electric arm, but obviously there's a lot of development that needs to happen.

And health. We need health from Roki Sasaki. Jeremiah Jackson was back in the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his elbow on Tuesday. Jonathan Aranda has been cleared to play catch and hit off a T. He's recovering from a fractured left wrist. Astro starter, Luis Garcia, was placed back on the IL with right elbow discomfort. Tyler O'Neill is on track to return Friday, 32% rostered.

Any interest in Tyler O'Neill? Sure. Our silence speaks volumes. He could hit five homers in the next two weeks, and I wouldn't be shocked, but he could also. So, so get Jake Burger. In fact, he's hit five home runs in the last two weeks, and you could probably check up him instead. He could strike out 45% of the time the next two weeks as well.

Neither of those things would surprise me. Or he could play one game and hurt something, and he's out for the season. Tyler Valley will make another rehab start on Friday. Mason Winn has been diagnosed with a meniscus tear in his right knee that will require off-season surgery, but he plans to continue playing through it this season. I wonder how long he's been dealing with this,

and maybe it's contributed to him, running like he said he wanted to coming into the year but i don't know we we kind of have this idea it's only two seasons of mason win but he's kind of just you know a 10 10 15 15 kind of guy i think he's fast enough and talented enough to steal more but we just have not seen any indication of that happening and anthony rizzo has announced his retirement he will officially retire as a cub this saturday oh i also wanted to mention uh the prospects were announced for the arizona fall league so for anybody visiting or living in Arizona or you're going to first pitch Arizona. Some of the names that will be out there, Kevin McGonigal, Sebastian Walcott, and Joe's Way to Paula of the Dodgers. Those are

kind of like the headliners, but there's, I think, 13 of the top 100 prospects are going to be there. So some pretty fun names. And, you know, Chris, we'll get a up close and personal look when we're out there. The home run derby and all-star game are like right across the street from our hotel. It's going to be great. The home run derby is dangerous, man. Bring your glove, but also bring football gear because wherever the ball is landing, there's like a mosh pit to try and catch the ball. It is, it is crazy stuff, but also lots of fun. All right, Chris, I'll throw it over to you for the dog of the week. And the dog of the week this week, Mani Machado, who has gone 0 for 12 with four strikeouts so far this week. And he just has not been very good for a while now.

37 games since the start of August, 193 batting average, three homers, sub 600 OPS. The weird thing is he's still hitting the ball hard. And the batted ball profile hasn't really changed. I was looking into his month-by-month splits on baseball savant, and his expected Wobah in the month of August was like 260, which is horrible. That's a really bad mark. With a 93.4 mile per hour average exit velocity and a pretty typical launch angle, strikeout rate was up 24% in the month of August.

That's much higher than, we usually see for Manny Machado, although not so alarming. It's not that high in a vacuum. Yeah. Not a guy who's hitting the ball 93, 94 miles per hour. Yeah. I don't have a good explanation for why things have gone sideways for Manny Machuio. You could see if it was a lot of ground balls, but that's not even the case.

He's putting the ball in the air like 45% of the time during that time. Not a lot of infield fly balls. It's if once when you when you look at all the potential red flags for a hitter over a bad stretch. None of them really pop for Machado. And I wouldn't be that concerned if they did because he's Mani Machado. Like maybe if they were all going wrong at once, it's like, oh, this guy's getting kind of old. I don't know.

But none of them are going wrong. I think all that's happened to Mani Machado since the start of August is baseball. Baseball's happening to him. And I wouldn't worry in the slightest, especially since he plays the position with probably the few all turn. Like I can't imagine sitting Nani Machado, even if he played. I don't know who you would do it for, but he's also 33 years old and his OPS by year, including this year, 790, 797, 781. So this is kind of who Manny Machado is in the grand scheme of things, not what he's been since the start of August, but when you look at the totality of his season, this is kind of who Manny Machado is.

So perhaps just some natural regression, maybe a little bit of bad luck here. for Manny Machado. Scott, we chose the wrong day to wear our Padre's shirts, man. I've got the home run Hermannos on. Well, one of these Hermannos hit a home run today. Fernando Tatis, Mani Machado. Should I get a hat? I got a Padre's hat I could throw on. I didn't realize I was missing out. Yeah, oh, you didn't get the text beforehand? It's, man, this, you know what? This is my biggest fear. Everybody's invited to a party except for Chris. They're all laughing about it.

Hmm. All right. Yeah, we're about the Padres fans here. Oh, sorry. But, well, no. I threw off your timing. I messed it up. I'm sorry. Okay. All right, let's take our final break.

When we return, I want to take a look at four hitters who have been some of the biggest league winners this season. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Some of this year's league winners across the board, just a ridiculous season for Geraldo Perdomo. I don't know what else to say. Two for four with a sock into shoe here on Wednesday. His 18th Homer. his 25th steel.

He's batting 284. He's got 90 runs, 93 RBI, and 832 OPS. He entered Wednesday as the 21st best player in Roto, the seventh highest scoring hitter in Head to Head-to-Points leagues. His pre-season NFBC ADP, 435.3. Crazy. It is crazy. And, like, we expected him to regress the other way, eventually.

And it's just gotten better. better and better. The second half has been so much better than the first, and the first had already vaulted Geraldo Perdomo into must-start territory. Like I said, he is the number one shortstop in points leagues this year, ahead of Bobby Witt, ahead of Francisco Lindor. In Roto leagues, I'll look up really quickly. At least according to CBS, Perdomo is sixth.

That's actually lower than I was expecting. but it's still really good. Six is still really high, especially at that loaded position. And it's happening in a multitude of ways where he can afford to give up some batting average. He can afford to give up some home runs and still remain really productive player.

So I don't think he's going to get much credit in drafts next year. That is my assumption. As of now, especially given all the great shortstop alternatives. And if that's true, if everybody's fading Geraldo Perdomo, I think I won't be. I think I won't be. I think I'll be happy to accept the discount. I think it'll be maybe next year's version of Jerksson Profar. I was going to say the exact same comp, yeah.

Yeah, because there is, I don't exactly buy everything at face value, but there's enough good here. that I could see him just like, like I said, remaining a quality option in fantasy, even if he gets something back. I think the thing to think about it is, okay, you don't buy it at face value. That's fine.

You probably won't have to. Right, exactly. You know, he's going to finish the season as like a top 20, top 25 player. If he goes, I don't think he's going to go top 50. I don't think there's going to be enough buying on that. I think a top 60 player,

like a top 60 player, like a, fifth round pick in a 12-team league? Top 75, top 75 player, something like that. I wonder where he went in Frank. I don't know if you could find it, that one of those, you know, that way too early draft that happened. I could see as good as Perdomo's been

just because it's so out of nowhere that I could see it, him falling more towards the top 100. It's so hard to have these conversations because there's where would we rank him, then where do we think other people will rank him? And one of those is already hard enough without like actually doing the ranking. But then trying to predict what other people will do is really hard.

But you know, this is one where. And then the other thing, it becomes kind of a speak it back to yourself. Because like I think we underestimate our influence a lot in these discussions. Like, oh, what's everybody else going to do? And early on it's like, oh, it's so different than we thought. But like we can talk it back in the direction we want it to go. Because we're the most listened to fantasy baseball podcast. And so I think sometimes we lose sight of that.

But anyway, I'm going to have. I might be way off here. So this way too early draft that happened, this, it's called the Meatball draft. It's done by Rob D.P.atro, Deadpole hitter on, I believe, all social media. But lots of great players. And at 15-team draft, he went 156th overall. That's what I'm saying. And like, that's, I don't think, I'm going to have a lot of perdoms.

That was three weeks ago. I don't know how much the perception is. Even if it's 30 spots higher than that, I'm going to have a lot of programs. He has to be a top 100 pick. He has 60. I mean, he's going to probably go 100,00, 20,5 with a 280-something batting average with the underlying numbers to fully back it up. I mean, it's, it's weird because it is like Juris and Profar. It's one of those situations where.

It wasn't a fluke. But he earned this production. It's hard to say if that's real or not. He doesn't hit the ball especially hard. Right. That's what's different about ProFar. Because I get what you're saying. The expected stats back it up.

Expected batting average expected slug, just a little below his actual marks, both of them. He's not hitting the ball any harder this. Unlike Pofar last year. It's just... 87.4 miles per hour. He's had a higher pull air rates than he's had this year. Not that it's been bad this year, but he's had higher. The biggest things that I would say are just one, just outrageous plate discipline. Herald or Pardomo is going to end the season with 10 more walks than strikeouts at least. He's currently got 13. He's number one in points versus number six. He is a great points league player.

But also his line drive rate. is up to 26% from 21.6 last season, and his launch angle sweet spot is up from 29% to 36%. Those are both line drive percentage and launch angle sweet spot. Those are stats that fluctuate a ton from one year to the next. There is very little year-to-year consistency on those, and if that's one of his biggest strengths, that is a really reasonable reason to be skeptical.

That being said, if he's dropping, to 120th in drafts. That's still a hundred spots lower than he's gonna finish this season. For a guy who's 25, I think, and for a guy who just got a four-year car or a five-year contract. He's turning 26 in October, but yeah.

I got a legitimately big contract for like a shockingly big contract for the Diamondbacks at the time. It looks brilliant now. And he has. I mean, the contract probably sealed this, but the job security there's no doubting that

for Padoomo anymore. Even with Loller, they could play him at shortstop, they could, you know, in the long run, or they could play Loller at third, they could move Marte off second

and play him at first or D.H to try to keep his bat in the lineup. There are going to be places for Jordan Loller to play. It's not going to be shortstop. That is Heraldra Pardomas position. You know what I was reminded of earlier today? Just popped into my head.

In Tout Wars, I traded Geraldo Pardoma at the end of April for Jonathan Aranda. Did not work out. Oh my gosh, what an idiot. I invite everybody to point and laugh at me and leave a comment, making fun of me, tweet at me, just. And you know what? I'm battling for first place. And you know who I could use right now? Heraldo Pertomo.

That would have made life a lot easier. A couple other league winners here from this season, Nick Kurtz, another home run. His 30th of the season, left on left, hit it to the opposite field. He's up over 300. He's got a 1023 OPS. His preseason ADP, 474, he was likely picked up in most leagues. Legitimate league winner. Byron Buxton, one for three with his 31st homer. He also has 22 steals and OPS over 900, all of that in 111 games, averaging 3.8 fantasy points per game entering today. That is the same amount as Corby Carroll, and it trails only Aaron Judge Juan Soto. and Kyle Schwabber.

His preseason ADP was 218. And Zach Netto, he's already up to 2525. He missed the first month of the season. And his ADP was 194.7. There was some skepticism coming back from a shoulder injury. You know, can he maintain the power that he put up last year? The answer to all of that is yes, definitively yes. So three other league winners here.

Anything you'd like to add on Kurtz, Buxton, and Netto. They have been big pieces of this season. I think Buxton is going to be faded pretty hard for obvious reasons. George Springer, who you don't have here, but I think he fits the description of a league winner because pretty much everybody was out on him. He's been like a top five outfielder. But he's going to be faded pretty hard the same way Perdomo and Buxton we expect will be. Netto's going to go higher. I think Netto people pretty much take him at face value.

Top 50, you said, Chris. Yeah, I would think so, certainly in Roto. Nick Kurtz is, I think, the one everybody's going to buy into the hardest next year. To the point, you might see him creep into late round one, particularly in the 15 teamers. Probably more like an early second rounder, but I would guess the top first baseman off the board. Vladimir Guerrero would go in about the same vicinity. and, you know, it'll be a close call between those two Kurtz and Guerrero. But like the one thing, you look at Kurtz and the one thing that gives you pause is strikeout rate,

but even that's inflated by that horrible start he got off to when he was striking out like 50% of the time, 40, 50% of the time. Because really, since things have turned around for him, it's a perfectly reasonable strikeout rate. It's trending back up in September, although that's a very small sample size. So, you know, take it with a grain of salt. 32% in September. So that'll be something to watch just because if it ends up being like almost the entire season, it was a 30% strikeout rate guy. And then there was one month where he was 25%.

Then I think it's okay to say, yeah, we're probably. It's been longer. It was longer than just one month where he was striking out. If you, well, if you just break it up by month, which is an arbitrary endpoint, but they're all arbitrary endpoints. August is the only month, I believe, where he had a. sub. It was like right on, it was 30 strikeouts and 101 plate appearances in July. So technically that was below 30%, but he's been right around 30% every month except for August,

but months are arbitrary timetables. So I'm not going to be drafting Nick Kurtz next year if it's like a top 20 pick. I think that's that's what I would say. I think he's phenomenal. I love him. I love watching him play. But you look at a guy like Matt Olson and you see the way his production has fluctuated from one year to the next, and that is not to say Nick Kurtz will be the same thing. But even like Pete Alonzo has not been super consistent from one year to the next, that's paying for a power only guy. You know, he might be somewhat helpful in batting average,

but certainly I don't think he's a 300 hitter. His XBA is 260. There just is very little margin for error paying for the ceiling. with a guy like that. All right, 20 minutes left, rapid fire. How much stuff can we get to in 20 minutes? Let's find out. All of it.

Waiver wire hitters. Just check to see in shallow leagues. I know, you're going to laugh me. Oh, Jacob Marcy, he's owned in my league. I get it, but he's still 78% roster on CBS and 54% on Yahoo. So he had a four-hit game here. He's had a little bit of a low there for like a week or two, but he's picking things up.

His last four games, eight hits, one homer and one steal. Jacob Marcy, he's good. Kyle Manzardo. stayed hot in the second half hit 280 he's hitting 282 with 11 home runs 30 rbi and a 923 OPS 51% rostered still seems too low to me on Kyle Manzardo um I feel like maybe I've said this for somebody else has he been playing against lefties maybe that was Josh Lowe who I looked at mansardo has I last I saw he has played against every lefty uh since Chris has brought it up a lot recently but maybe maybe when you weren't here yeah

They haven't faced many lefties. I think it's only three or four. But I believe he has started against every lefty. Okay. Yeah, it's last... He has started against three of the last four lefties there. Kyle Manzardo. Austin Wells has been better of late.

One for four with his 21st homer. Last 11 games, 313 batting average with four home runs. 61% roster, I mean, that still seems too high, and there's a bunch of great catchers. So I don't think we really care too much about Austin Wells, right? Nope. He's good. but that doesn't matter as much anymore.

I have been impressed by Dylan Beaver so far. Two for three with a walk in RBI. It was actually a walk-off single in this one. He hasn't provided much in terms of power and speed so far, but just the way that he's controlled the strike zone, 16 walks to 21 strikeouts, he's hitting 305. He is an 894 OPS, 32% rostered. You know, in five outfielder leagues,

maybe that number is a little bit too low for Dylan Beaver's. What do you guys think? Yeah, probably a little too low. He has not hit for much power, like he said. The exit velocities have run lower than expected, but the plate discipline looks terrific. I think he's giving you a lot of reason for optimism next year, even if he doesn't quite reach the threshold of being startable in a five outfielder league yet.

And he has only started against one lefty so far. Pay attention to that. If there's lefties on the schedule, probably do not want to use beavers. I used them in a league this week because they were facing all righties, and so far it's worked out. Do these stats matter?

Do these games matter? Let's find out. Eduardo Rodriguez, a great start at the Giants, six and a third shutout innings with six strikeouts. He has three quality starts in a row, 0.49 ERA, 0.98 whip. He's also Eduardo Rodriguez, and he faces the Giants again next week.

So does that matter? Does Erod matter? I mean, you're in a bad spot if you're counting on him. He has had three good starts in a row. I noticed, and I pointed out in his previous one, the induced vertical break on his fastball, took it from kind of the median range to the low range, which was a good sign.

He got a lot of whiffs on it. And oh, maybe this is something he's doing different. But it returned to normal in this one. Eduardo Rodriguez still got a good result, but now there's not really anything. that I can, you know, sink my teeth into there saying, oh, this is why. So I think I think I'd be wary of a good three-star stretch from this guy. Andrew Benatendi hit another home run over his last 15 games.

He's hitting 379 with five homers and a 1094 OPS. 25% rostered, Chris, does this matter? Andrew Benetendi. No. No, it's Andrew Benetendi. Come on. No. Like, whatever.

He's a major league caliber hitter, so he will go through stretches where he is productive. But there is no reason to believe that Andrew Benintendi is suddenly a good major league hitter. I think he's probably more startable in a five outfielder league than Beavers. That was the next question. I think I'd rather take the chance on Beavers personally. Okay. I mean, Benintendi is probably more usable, I think.

It's a two-year trend with the power. a better improvement and pull air rate twice over that I think makes it legit but it's you know it's it's not especially high end I think I have him like 60th in my outfield rankings rest of season so he's like right on the border of being start a pull in a five outfielder league next up taj bradley a quality start at the angel six in a third innings three runs five strikeouts but had 18 whiffs on 98 pitches 10 of those on the fastball he also faces the Yankees next week so Does this matter for Taj Bradley? Not in terms of whether I want to start him.

No, it's something to monitor. Like, his fastball has a good shape. And I saw that and it's like, oh, well, why hasn't he been getting whiffs with it all along? The added velocity obviously helped bump it up in this one. But it's not enough given the downside risk for Taj Bradley. We just see a lot more of it. It's not like we haven't seen good starts from him before. I need to see a lot more than one start.

I need to see a lot more than two starts. I probably need to see a lot more than like five or ten starts from Tos Bradley before I trust him. So yeah, I maybe. He could have a good start against the Yankees. That wouldn't shock me, but I don't expect that to happen. Big game for Jake Berger, two for three with a double dong, three RBI. All of that off of Freddie Peralta here, has four home runs in his past.

six games and has started seven straight. Does this matter? Jake Berger? Sure. I just brought him up earlier. If you're looking for cheap power off the waiver wire, I think he's a better source of it than Tyler O'Neill, for instance. We know he can hit a lot of home runs in a short period of time. Nothing about the data suggests that's any different this year. It's just Burger has that sort of profile when, where when he goes cold, he's given you absolutely nothing. So he's very frustrating in that way. But, you know, short term, you need power. He's a guy. Yeah, nobody likes a cold burger. Would you rather Jake Burger or Kyle Manzardo? Manzardo. It will probably be matchup dependent. And if I could pull up my temporary little guide here,

it looks like Cleveland's matchups versus Texas Texas Texas's look better for both of the remaining two weeks so I will give the edge to Burger. Sorry, that was probably more time

than that question deserved. Jason Alexander, a great start at the Blue J's seven shutout innings with only three strikeouts here but has done a good job limiting hard contact lately. Last seven starts a 220 ERA and a 0.9. 8 whip and looks like he might line up for two starts next week against the Rangers and Mariners.

Jason Alexander, does this matter? I know I've spoken highly of him in the past, but I was looking under the hood again today. And I don't remember what I liked about him. Didn't seem much to really get excited about there. He has a great changeup and not really much else. Right. And that's not enough for me on its own. particularly if it's not leading to soft contact or ground balls or it's none of that stuff.

And obviously not much of a bad miss or either. So like you said, two starts next week, kind of middling matchups there. I could see maybe if I had to stretch in a points league trying out Jason Alexander, but it wouldn't be ideal. All right. Next up, Parker Meadows is doing some things two for four with a walk, an RBI, three runs scored. Four games since returning. He has six hits, two homers, six runs, six RBI.

Actually started against a lefty here in Carlos Rodan. And he is widely available. Chris and I spoke about him yesterday. So I guess I'll go back to you, Scott. Parker Meadows. Yeah, we spoke about him yesterday. Yeah, we just kind of raved about, hey, we always like the talent to stay healthy. Okay.

Scott just blacked out for that one. Does Parker Meadows matter? He could. I'm not sure since there's so little track record there and the small amount he's played this year has been by and large very bad I don't know what it would take for me

to be compelled to start him maybe if the it may be if he's surging at the end of this week and the matchups are ridiculously good for the tigers okay let me check those matchups they're okay I'm certainly interested in Parker Meadows. I just don't know what it would take for me

to actually want to start him right now. So you would not take him over Benintendi or Dylan Beaver's. It sounds like. It depends what the matchups are. And in Beaver's case, there would have to be a lot of righties. I mean, in Meadows case, it would have to be a lot of rights as well, probably. Is he sitting against the lefties? Meadows, he started against a lefty today.

Six games next week, three lefties on the schedule. Parker Meadows. Yeah. Look, I don't know that any of these three guys are going to be among my sleeper hitters for next week. But if I have to pick one, I'm probably picking Benintente. Benintendi six games next week, only one lefty on the schedule. And Dylan Beavers has seven games next week, two lefties on the schedule.

So Ben and Tendi has the least lefties as Beninti that at Pittsburgh for three at Cincinnati. Oh no, sorry. That's the Cubs matchups. Never mind. Never mind. Let's just keep moving. All right, last two.

Michael McGreevy, a quality start at the Mariners. Six innings, one run, four strikeouts. He gets the Reds next week. And Max Kepler had a big game, three for four with his 16th homer, had five RBI, has two homers in his last five games. Do either of those matter? Michael McGreevy, Max Kepler. I'm Max, Michael McGreevy's been getting a lot of quality starts,

five of his last seven. He's got like a 360 ERA during that stretch. He's supposed to be like a high ground ball. guy because he doesn't miss bats at all. Groundball rate is underwhelming for McGreevy. It's like 44%. So I don't buy into him

at all. As for Kepler, I just want to point out, not so much Kepler, but his teammate, his outfield mate, who also had a good game here today

by the name of Brandon Marsh, three for five with two home runs. He's batting 542 in September. He's batting 287 over. all now. His strikeout rate, Brandon Marsh, has been way down this year. And that was always the big issue for him because he ran the sort of strikeout rates that would normally ruin a player and he managed to survive in spite of it. Now he's kind of doing well because it's more like a 25% strikeout rate. Still not playing much against lefties. I don't know that he matters that much. But

I have a little more hopeful Brandon Marsh. lefties too. Yeah. He's got two extra base hits and 74 played appearances against lefties. It's another one where it's just look at the schedule and see it's in deeper leagues if he's got righties on the scheduled. And yeah, you can go with a Brandon Marsh right now. All right, we had ourselves a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel out in San Diego. It's time to do, do, do, dole.

Andrew Abbott, up against Nick Pavetta. Abbott, eight innings of one-run ball, had six strikeouts with 15 whiffs on 100, 2-piguel. Pitches, nice bounce back after his previous three starts were pretty rough. And Nick Povetta, seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. The bullpen came in and immediately blew the win for him. And has a quality start in five of his last six. And has allowed two earn runs or fewer in 13 of his last 14 starts. That is Nick Povetta.

Anything to add here, Chris, on Andrew Abbott, or Povetta? Pivotta, it was a four-year contract he signed with the Padres, right? He's not going anywhere. That sounds right. Yeah, he's got three years left. That's the major concern for me with Nick Povetta is just how dependent he seems to be on having a good home park. And he has a good home park and should for the foreseeable future. So, yeah, he's, and is Nick Povetta going to be a top 20 starting pitcher next year?

There's no way that goes poorly. I mean. I don't think you will be. One good season out of 10. I think, I could see him, he'll be drafted as like a top 25 SP, I think. Low NSP 2, high in SP3, something like that. Yeah, I don't know that it'll be me. This is the type of pitcher to buy when his stock is really low,

and then the next year when you have to, you know, draft him as your SP2 or three, I'll look the other way. I just, as much as we all thought there was some certainly sleeper, maybe breakout potential here in San Diego, and it's worked out really well. he's a 32 year old he's going to be 33 on opening day he's had one good season at the major league level um it's not to say he hasn't had stretches where he's been useful before because obviously he has but yeah this is definitely one where i think there's some inherent volatility that make it not necessarily the smartest thing to buy nick pavetta coming off his best season ever

all right next up uh we did have some confusing starts here. I'm not going to specifically run through all of them, but I'll just mention the names here and if there's anything that kind of stood out to you, anything you'd like to talk about. Paul Skeen's, good start, limited to just 64 pitches. Kind of weird, kind of annoying for fantasy.

Freddie Peralta, rough outing at the Rangers, five runs allowed over five innings pitch. Also through 113 pitches in that one. Yuri Perez, five and two thirds innings, three runs. You know, we're still kind of waiting for Perez to get back on track. 784 ERA and a 139 whip over his last seven. Jack Flaherty shut down the Yankees because of course he did on the road.

It's just he is the bane of my existence, Jack Flaherty. And Peyton Toley, a short outing at the athletics, two innings, two runs, two strikeouts, two homers allowed. As we mentioned, Alex Cora did say this would be a shorter outing for Tolly, but, you know, if he's making starts like this, I don't know that it really matters for fantasy the rest of this season. So anything to add on these confusing starts here. Extremely Brian Cox as Logan Roy in succession voice to the Pittsburgh Pirates, you are not serious people. It's just like, like 64 pit, like what are we saving him for? Like I get it, they have nothing to play for so it doesn't matter for the Dodgers in two years.

But like, it's just so annoying that they're just so clearly not trying. trying to win games. And again, it doesn't matter if they're terrible. They're going to win fewer games that they did last year, which I think was one of my bold predictions before the season. So take that, Pirates. It's so frustrating to watch a team with a player like Paul Skeens just punt.

And they lost this game, by the way. Yeah, they punted two whole seasons with Paul Skeens making the minimum. He's going to win the Cy Young. And I think do they? Do they get a I don't think they get a A compensatory pick for that right It has to be when he's a rookie

Or maybe it's within the first couple of years It's within the first It's during his club control years So yeah they're gonna get a pick out of it too so Yeah so I can't remember the specifics The specifics are very complicated Because it's like depends on when you get called up And when you yeah so I don't know

I think I think I think for it But I don't know exactly what kind of pick or it's it's all uh it's all very complicated which is why i avoid going into details because the details are not worth spelling out because i couldn't even structure the sentences in a way that would make it easy to follow uh any other quick thoughts on any of these names here uri prez peralta flaredy and peyton toly i noticed with peralta there was um some quotes from pat murphy after the game and some analysis that I saw on the socials that his big issue here was, which is ironic because he had nine strikeouts, but his big issue here was finishing guys off.

He got into a lot of two strike counts and then just had a ton of non-competitive pitches. His velocity was down too. Yeah, that's worth noting. Between one in 1.5 miles probably. You know, that's notable. It's the end of the season. I think he's, is he at a career high already innings? If not, he's very close.

I know he was approaching that recently. He's a couple, he's probably one start away from a career high in inning. So could be running out of steam, could be a little bit of regression, but he's been so good this season that I don't have too much concern about it. But Peralta, I'll kind of tag Peralta with the Dillon C's tag that I've given him, where I will happily buy Peralta when his prices. depressed as it was coming into this season. Probably out on Freddie Peralta next season when his price is probably going to be much

higher. There's just a lot of inherent volatility there as well. There's a couple of hitting leftovers here. Bryce Tarang, another homer, his 18th of the season. Shea Langalears is up to 30 home runs now. Xavier Edwards, a big game three for four with his third home run. He was struggling mightily before this one, 120 in his last 20 games. Bryce Harper hit his 25th home run.

Carlos Correa, back-to-back games with a homer, has three in his past five, and has performed pretty well here with the Astros. And Nico Horner, a big game, three-for-five with two steals, having himself a nice September, hitting 351, one homer, three steals, 941 OPS.

Anything on these names before we move it along? I don't think I have anything at here. Man, my bold prediction of Bryce Terang hitting 25 home runs next year. You gotta get it up to 30, Scott. It's going to look pretty tepid the way things are going here. But I am very high on him. He might be my number three second baseman behind just Cotel Marte and Jazz Chisholm for next year.

The call to the bullpen for the Rangers. Sean Armstrong entered in the eighth inning with a runner on first. A two-run lead. He did get out of it. He started the ninth. He struck out one. He walked one. He was relieved by Phil Meiton, who got the final two outs for his fourth save.

I still think Armstrong is their highest leverage reliever. will get the majority of their saves moving forward. For the Red Sox, it turns out, Arolus Chapman is human after all. He got the ninth with the game tied. He gave up a run on two hits, took his third loss. I think this is the first two hits he's allowed in two months or something.

It's also his first loss since May, so he's been ridiculous. Mm-hmm. For the Angels, Kenley Jansen struck out two for his 27th save. For the Royals, Carlos Estevez tossed a clean ninth inning for his 39th. which leads all of baseball.

For the Blue Jays, Jeff Hoffman got the ninth with the game tied. He gave up a solo homer, took his seventh loss. He also has nine wins and 30 saves. Just a weird season for Jeff Hoffman. His ERA is well over four, but yeah, it comes with nine wins and 30 saves, and also seven losses, so I don't know. That's going to be a pretty valuable season, even though. It has been.

Yeah, it has been. I still rank him as a top five relief pitcher. It's just some of the ratio stuff. I think it's been a little bit fluky this year, but, you know, he's... You'd like that ERA to get down and stay down and stop spiking over and over again. True. Very true. For the Astros, Brian Abraeu bounced back.

He had a one-run lead. He picked up his fifth save. And then for the Reds, Emilio Pagan was unavailable. Tony Santian got the ninth with a one-run lead. He allowed a lead-off double, but then closed it out for his sixth save of the save of the season. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, we have Johan Oviedo at the Orioles.

K. Povich is facing the pirates. Ian Seymour is at the White Sox Shane Smith against the Rays. Christian Javier at the Blue Jays. Ryan Weathers in his return against the Nationals and Stephen Kolek at the Guardians. I like

I think Seymour's fine. I think Javier's fine. Those are probably the only ones I would go with. I know Frank you like John Oviato. I guess the Blue Jays are without Bichette now, but that offense has been ridiculous for a long while. I don't think I'd trust Javier against them. But I do think Seymour.

And who else did you say, Chris? Oviedo at Baltimore. I mentioned him yesterday. I don't love him. Won't get more than five innings, but he's been pitching well. I think I like Shane Smith against the race probably is my second choice to Seymour on Thursday. So opposing pitchers.

Time to do do do do do all. It's time! I said it wrong. Sorry. It's all good. And then on Friday we have Jonah Tong against the Rangers. How about this? Jacob de Grombs returned to City Field. DeGrom against a Metz phenom in Jonah Tong.

That's pretty cool. Martine Perez at the Guardians. Brandon fought at the Twins. Justin Verlander against the Dodgers. Andrew Alvarez against the Pirates. Friday is a rough. Yeah, I know Verlander's been. pitching well lately.

There's, I can't trust him against the Dodgers. Nope. Not especially the way they're swinging now. His matchups for the last two weeks are very good. So, okay. Might be worse stashing for those.

And then, I think it's, is it just Jonah Tong? Is that, you know how I feel about Brandon Fott. I'm not, like, it's a great matchup and he is capable of good starts.

I think was his most recent start good? He had a good start recently. I bet against it. Zero faith. in him being good. I'll say Jonah Tong, if you're really desperate, I guess Andrew Alvarez just because the pirates are bad.

Yeah. Yeah, I don't, Friday's bad. All right, we're gonna rat there for Scott 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.

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