Fantasy Baseball Today - Elly De La Cruz's Hot Start, Waiver Wire Adds & Predicting the Cubs' Bullpen (4/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 22, 2024

What have we seen from Yoshinobu Yamamoto so far (2:40)? ... Jack Flaherty is racking up the strikeouts (6:29). ... Elly De La Cruz is off to an amazing start (12:46). ... News (21:59): the Cubs' bullpen is up in the air. ... Spencer Turnbull continues to pitch well (35:00). Who is Mitchell Parker? ... Let's rank a bunch of waiver wire hitters (47:30). ... Are we looking to buy Blake Snell right now (54:50)? ... There were a bunch of great pitching performances this weekend, starting with Zack Wheeler and Nick Lodolo (1:01:43). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:06:35). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Well, fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. As usual, it was a wild weekend. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, April 22nd. I am Frank Samfell joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, we've got Waverwire ads, bullpen shakeups. Ellie Dealer Cruz is amazing and much more. Let's jump in. We will get to Ellie De LaCruz in just a little bit. But Chris, you're back from West Virginia. That means you get to go first. Who's your standout of the weekend?

Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And he's not standing out in the way we hoped coming into the season. I know there's a lot of consternation about this guy right now. And, you know, there are times, I think, when we oversimplify. the aspects of this job that require us to analyze players. And we'll say things like, hey, as long as Blake Snell doesn't throw his change up,

he'll be really good. And then Blake Snell goes out and throws his change up a bunch and he's really good. You know, we tend to overthink things. I think I've discovered the issue for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And it's incredibly simple. He is throwing his fastball right down the middle of the plate. every time.

And that's bad. Everything else is really good. He's got a 32% strike rate. He's got a 5.4% walk rate. His whiff rate on his curveball, splitter and cutter are all very good. It's just that his four seamer is getting absolutely demolished right now. He's giving up a 96.5 mile per hour average exit velocity on his four seam fastball.

Now, it's a pretty good pitch. In theory, 95 miles an hour, it's got a decent, like that kind of flat shape. It's not a sinking fastball, which is, you know, what we're not looking for. Like, in theory, this should be a really good pitch. And he's just throwing it down in the zone specifically, but or down in the zone generally, more specifically, right down the middle of the plate. If you look at the heat map on baseball savant, it's literally just a big red blob. right in the middle.

And that gives me reason for optimism with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, that he's going to be a very, very good pitcher moving forward because command was supposed to be a strength of his. This tells to me he's trying to throw it there. This is not an execution problem. It's a planning problem. And the Dodgers are very smart. He's got good stuff.

And I have a lot of faith that he's going to figure it out. But I figured I wanted to. pick him as my player in this one because I figure there's probably a lot of stressing going on. I've seen a lot of consternation. I'm confused why there's consternation because I thought his Friday start was good. Quality start, nine strikeouts, one walk. It was a really, I was like, that's a good start. Well, he gave up four runs, three earned, and I think it was like.

It was a quality start. It was a quality start. He's had one bad start. It was all early. It was in Korea. The bad results were all early in that outing, I believe, for him. So there was just a lot of, yeah, he gave up four runs in the first two innings. So there was just-

I would say that in his four outings since the first start in Korea, which was a week before the regular season started and was weird for all the reasons, it was weird. In four starts since then, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a 257 ERA.95 weapon 12K per 9. So if anybody's worried about Yoshinopu Yamamoto, like trade him to me. Because that sounds great. That is what I was going to say.

Yes, is that I am not concerned about Yamamoto. I think if you are concerned about him, you shouldn't be. And if you are really, really insistent on trading him, please trade him to me. Sorry for stealing your line. All right. So we are buying Yamamoto if you can. I don't know if you can technically. I mean, it's a 450 ERA.

So on the surface, I guess you can buy low. He's at the Washington Nationals this week, who have actually been surprisingly good. Their fifth in Wobah against right-handed pitching. but obviously you drafted Yamamoto as your SP1 or SP2, you continue to throw them out there this week against a national. Scott, you are up, player of the weekend. Okay, I'm going to go with Jack Flaherty, who was also great on Friday,

if I could say Yamamoto is Jack Flaherty, well, maybe even a little better because he allowed one fewer earned run, two in six in six innings, and he had one more strikeout, 10 in six innings, and he had 19 swinging strikes. And it was, a lot of swinging strikes on all three

the pitches he throws a lot and if you look at his whiff rate on his curve ball this year, it's at 55%. If you look at the whiff rate on his slider this year, it's at 44%. It's both of his breaking balls are getting tons of whiffs way more than we've seen from Jack Flaherty in recent years. I mean, I guess ever.

Let me go back, look at that 2019 season when he was widely regarded as ace. It was a 45% whiff rate on the slider and a 40% whiff rate on the curve. Great to have two pitches with that kind of whiff rate, but they're even better right now. And so, you know, his ERA is kind of high too. His overall ERA, like Yamamoto's is. It's 444 for Jack Flaherty. And so I think if people are just looking at the

full stat line, they may come away a bit underwhelmed. But if he continues with the way he's pitching, then We're going to like where his ERA ends up. And I see him as pretty close to must start right now. It is also the ERA thing. It is also kind of a trick of, I guess you could say sample size. He had one bad start, really bad start, like Yomamoto did.

In Flaherty's case, he gave up six earn runs and six innings. And then two starts since then that were both quality starts. So on an individual level, they were. were good starts, but it was five earn runs and 12 in a third inning. So what kind of ERA is that? It's three eight. Yeah. It's a height.

Like they were, if you're just like analyzing the game log, oh, look at that. Only one bad start for Flaherty, three good starts. But our perception of what a good start is could still be kind of a highish ERA that could have very easily been one earn run fewer in each of those starts. And then the ERA looks great. So bottom line is Jack Flaherty is missing a ton of bats, unlike he has since we regarded him as a fantasy ace. And I think basically every reason we were optimistic about him coming into the season is proving valid. And so don't shy away from him.

The one thing I would note about Flaherty, because I did notice this when I was writing about him earlier today for tomorrow's newsletter. White Sox, A's, twins, twins. those aren't all bottom five lineups, but White Sox and A's definitely are. And while the twin are terrible against rights. Are a bottom five lineup right now, I'm assuming and are striking out a ton against everyone. And so it's been a very favorable schedule so far for Flay.

But I agree. I don't think the 2020, 2020, 2021, 2020, 2020, 2020, 2020, 2020, 3 version of Flaherty would have taken advantage of lineups like that like this. Yeah. And he, it's also, it's not just that the slider and curve are playing really well so far, although they are. I think a big part of it's also his cutter was really bad last year.

And he's just not throwing it. Sure. And his sinker was really bad last year. And he's also not throwing that. And so it's a much more simplified approach. Fastball, basically four seam slider curve ball almost exclusively, 97.5. percent of his pitches. And that's probably a good thing because those have been his best pitches so far.

We'll see what it looks like moving forward. I think I have him in the 50-ish range at starting pitcher. And he's been better than some of the guys ahead of him for sure. Like McKenzie Gore has been much more up and down than him. I think I like McKenzie Gore's skill set a little better, but I think they're in the same range. So yeah, I'm optimistic about Flaherty moving. forward. And definitely, whatever the ERA is right now, four, four or something, I would take the under moving forward. Yeah, the underlying numbers all suggest that he should be better than that as well.

Jack Flaherty, 376 FIP, a 389 XERA. The biggest positive takeaway for me, four walks in four starts. Walks have been a huge problem for Jack Flaherty the past couple of years. So he's throwing strike so far. He's getting swings and misses. He is 76% rostered, which actually surprised me. I guess some people have dropped Jack Flerty recently. He's at Tampa Bay this week, which is actually a good matchup for right-handed pitching. Would you guys drop if you had him Gavin Stone to pick up Flarity? Because Stone, rough start this weekend, five walks. I know he's getting swinging strikes, but overall, it hasn't been great for Stone.

This is, if I may disparage another pitching prospect who has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve it. But Gavin Stone right now is showcasing my concerns with Drew Thorpe and why I'm not as excited about him as a lot of people are because this is a really hard profile to succeed with in the major league level. And that's a right-handed pitcher with an amazing change-up. Gavin Stone's change-up is legitimately a great pitch. And then after that, I'm just not sure what else he does well. Like Gavin Stone throws in the mid-90s,

and averages like 94.5 miles per hour with his four-seeing fastball. that's like slightly above average for a right-handed starting pitcher right now. He doesn't really have great breaking balls, which I know Drew Thorpe, I think, has a sweeper that is supposed to be a pretty good pitch. So it might not be a totally fair comparison, but I am totally fine dropping Gavin Stone at this point. If I could avoid it, I would like to, but yeah, I have no problem dropping. I mean, I'm not ready to like cast aside Gavin Stone because it's really hard to fail with a 14% swinging strike rate, too. but yeah, dropping him for Flaherty seems like a pretty easy call.

All right, let's talk about Ellie Dela Cruz, who just had a monster weekend. On Friday, he went two for four with a home run and three stolen bases. And then on Saturday, he drew a career high, four walks. On Sunday, he was moved up to second in the Reds lineup. And overall of the season, it's a 306 batting average, six homers, 10 steals, 12 walks to 26 strikeouts,

91.9 average exit velocity, and 18% barrel rate. And entering Sunday, Ellie Dela Cruz was the number two player in Roto. He was the number four hitter in head-to-head points leagues. He's doing all of this while still showing some of the wards that he has. 58% ground ball rate. He's struggled-ish against left-handed pitching and still has a 31% strikeout rate.

So I tend to look at this as a glass half full because he's already been amazing and he might be able to even improve on some of those numbers. So I had him as a bust in Bus 1.0, and whenever we talked about him this offseason, we always did highlight the upside. I think we were all very worried about what the downside case looks like for L.E.D. Le Cruz, but, oof, so far, he has been nothing short of amazing.

All right, so there is definitely room for him to improve certain aspects of his skills. I bristle a little bit at the, well, he can be even better part of what you said, because, I mean, I don't want to say Ellie De La Cruz cannot be better moving forward than he has been so far. It's extremely unlikely

that Ellie De La Cruz ends up with, what, 50 home runs and 80 stolen bases while hitting 306 with a 10-50. Like, he might. I'm not going to say he can't, but I would guess that while there are places he could improve,

he's also playing over his head and is unlikely to keep playing this well. And I just like, I've seen a lot of like, take your L's haters takes about L.A. de la Cruz. And like, I don't think anyone thought

that he couldn't get to six home runs and 10 stolen bases this season. Which is just to say that his season is not over. And nobody has to take an L or a W for what has happened yet. He is playing really, really well right now. He's an incredibly talented

player. I tend to be a little more optimistic about him than I was coming into the season, but a stretch like this was always well within the realm of possibility. And if anything, I think we all expected a 20 game stretch like this at some point.

It's that wasn't the question. It's what does it look like when things aren't going well? Because remember, 12 days ago, we had people saying, well, why aren't you talking about how much Ellie Dilla Cruz is struggling? And so it's... Yeah, well, I mean, and look at last year.

He was up. So he's played 20 games this year. Last year in L.E. De La Cruz's first 29 games. So longer. 50% longer. He hit 328 with four homers and 16 stolen bases, a 900 OPS. And obviously, things didn't go well after that. And so the fact that he's still striking out at that very high rate,

that his ground ball rate's gotten even higher than last year, I don't think we can draw any conclusions. And I would say the same thing if Ellie Dela Cruz was hitting 180 right now. It's gone very well so far. We've seen the very best of him. And that's great. Maybe it'll continue. Maybe next year we'll be taking them as a top five pick.

You're either drafting him around two or three, four at the latest this year. So it's not like this is a huge over. overachiever, any way you look at it. But could he still underachieve from here? Yeah, because his strikeout rate is still through the roof, and his groundball rate is still through the roof, and that's what we perceived brought him down last year. So, like, I'm not all in or all out on Elie De La Cruz here.

I'm saying if you could get a first rounder in return for him, I'd probably do that because it's hard to perform better than a first rounder. You know, like you're cashing in without taking any of the downside risk. I will say before this weekend, I had already moved Ellie Dela Cruz ahead of Austin Riley and Raphael Devers at third base. In Roto? Yeah, in Roto. Which maybe I should have just had him ahead of them before that, but I don't think any of us did. And here's one that I would really struggle with.

If you had Ellie Dela Cruz and someone called you on the telephone right now and said, hey, I will give you courteau. It's a very important move. You got to get on the phone to talk these things. I will give you Corbyn Carroll for Ellie Dela Cruz. I would probably say yes. But I would struggle with that decision. Specifically because I would struggle with that. I would not give up L.A. De La Cruz for Julio Rodriguez. Or I would not give up Julio Rodriguez for Elie Daylor Cruz.

That one I feel much more confident about. Corby and Carroll, I have enough questions about the power dating back to that shoulder injury last June where he has like 11 home runs, I think, something like that, where I would consider giving up Corby and Carol for L.A. Dela Cruz. Yeah, me too.

And I mean, you're mainly hoping for stolen bases from Corbyn Carroll, and I think that's the safest contribution from L.E. De La Cruz going forward, too. So if there's no positional, aspect to consider here, like I need an outfielder more than a shortstop,

then I don't think I would. I don't think, and that's fair, because Corby and Carroll was a consensus first rounder, so maybe there are some first rounders that wouldn't trade Ellie De La Cruz for. Now, if it was Corby and

somebody else halfway decent, then maybe that would be enough to push me over. And as I brought up on last week's show, if you could trade Ellie De La Cruz for Ronald DeCunia right now, which I think is possible. possible in some leagues out there.

I'm not saying the leagues we play in, but I, you know, there are, there are a lot of panicky people here after only three weeks. And Ronald de Kuna has one home run. So it's worth throwing the offer out there. The worst that happens is you're told no. But, you know, obviously,

what's like Freddie Freeman? I would trade Ellie De LaCruz for Freddie Freeman. Most first rounders I'd trade him for straight up. Yeah. Agreed. All right. I just want to give a shout out to Shohei Otani, who at his fifth home run on Sunday.

He now has 176 career homers, the most ever by a Japanese-born player, passing Hadeki Matsui. So I wanted to get that in there. Honorable mention for him, obviously off to a great start this season, but obviously he's also just amazing. Let's quickly promote a few things.

Subscribe to the FBT newsletter if you haven't already. If you're watching on YouTube, scan the QR code that will take you right to the website where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and it's easy as that. And let's take our first break. When we return, we'll get to the news and notes right after this.

Welcome back in. Let's talk some news and notes. Cubs manager, Craig Counsel, indicated Sunday that Adbert Aalai is currently, isn't currently the team's closer and that he'll treat the role as a day-to-day thing. Hector Neris and Mark Leiter are the most likely names to be in the mix. Aalai blew a one-run lead in game one of their double-header on Saturday.

He took his fourth-blown save and second loss. He's got a 409 ERA, a 127 whip, and then Hector Nairis picked up his first save in game two of that doubleheader on Saturday. How are you guys handling the Cubs bullpen here? Mark Leiter Jr. actually has pitched really, really well this season also. I still think the most valuable Cubs reliever to roster is Adbert Azale. The way it's being presented is he's just taking a break to get his confidence back. And Hector Nairis has been pretty bad so far this year as well.

So in those 15 team leagues where saves are scarce, I was putting in about 4% of my budget toward Hector Narris and about a fraction, a tiny fraction of my budget toward Mark Lider. And just in case, just in case it goes the way the Rangers' bullpen situation did with Kirby Yates. One of those guys really latches onto the role and appears to secure it. But I don't think that's what's going to happen. I think eventually Alzalai is going to retake it because I think he's the best of the three. See, I think

Nerris is a better pitcher. I could be wrong on that and I think ultimately they're relievers so it's hard to have a super strong opinion on them anyway given the sample sizes but that's my concern is I do think Neris is a better pitcher than Al's the line. Certainly has

experience as a closer. So I would bet he gets the first opportunity and I think there is a chance he runs away with it the way Yates did. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I'm basing a lot of how I feel about Alzalithe on last year, which was his first year as a full-time reliever, right?

I believe so, yeah. But, you know, Hector Neris is three years prior to the Astros last year were not very good. ERA was high. The whip and K-rate were good, I guess. But when your ERA is consistently over 3-5, I generally don't think of that as closer material. If I had to guess, I agree with you, Chris.

I think Hector-Narris will get the Cubs next save opportunity and, you know, if he performs well, we could have another Kirby Yates situation on our hands, but we'll just have to play it day by day here with the Cubs bullpen. Tristan Kossis was placed on the aisle with a left rib strain when asked if he was concerned about a lengthy absence. Manager Alecich Kora responded, yes.

Pablo Reyes started at first base on Sunday with Bobby Dolbeck at third because Raphael Devers is still out of the lineup as well. Replacements at first base in shallower leagues, Ryan Malkastle and Anthony Rizzo are both two of Scott's sleeper hitters for this week. There's also Nate Lowe, who is 56% rostered. Ty France, 43% rostered.

His stack cast numbers are actually really good, although his actual numbers that hasn't translated yet. And then, I guess in deeper leagues, if he's still out there, Ryan O'Hern, who we've talked about 39% rostered. He's going to play against Ritees, but it's a valuable spot in that lineup. In the middle of the Cubs lineup,

I mean, the Orioles lineup batting third. So anyone else stand out as first base replacements, or are there? those all the names to know. Oh, I bet there are other names to know. I would have to pull up the roster trends here to name some for you. Let's see. Did you mention Nate Lowe?

Yes. Yes, he did. That's the biggest one that I would say. Yeah, I'm actually not loving anyone else here. So I think you got them all, Frank. Let's go. I'll say in deeper AL-only leagues. Uh-oh.

There is a guy who is first base eligible, who, is hitting the ball harder than just about anyone in baseball right now. It's the guy we talked about off the air. We did talk about Miguel Sinoa off the air. Yeah. 96.5 mile per hour average exit velocity, I believe.

Quality of contact stats across the board are very good. I'm actually a little upset. I dropped him in AL only tower labor. He should be more roster than 4%. Yeah. There were some playing time issues because I think he wasn't performing. Yeah.

He wasn't performing. But now he's batting over 300. And the big game was this weekend Saturday. He went 3-4-4 with a home run. His first home run of the season. So he hasn't done a good job of elevating the ball. But yeah, his exit velocities are so high that even with the very high strikeout rate, we've always known Miguel Sino to have, his expected batting average is 294.

not saying he's going to hit 294 or 300 but you know if he can if he can start delivering the power that we've seen from him in the past certainly the exit velocities are there and the opportunity is there for him to do that with the angels so I think we're going to see him become a thing if not right now

then in the weeks ahead I was a huge Miguel Sinophane when he first got called up I thought this guy was going to be like the second coming of Barry Bonds I just started so much power. But he was out of the league for a couple of years. He's back, and he's getting a chance to play. So I think that's a good call on deeper leagues.

Francisco Alvarez needs surgery to repair a torn UCL in his left thumb. He's expected to miss six to eight weeks and replacements at catcher. Ryan Jeffers is a sleeper hitter for this week. Two other names, Travis Darno, had a huge weekend, three for four with a triple dong, six RBI on Friday. He had another home run on Saturday. He's hitting the ball really hard this season. he's 44% rostered

and Patrick Bailey went 4 for 4 with his second home run on Saturday. He's batting 321 early on in the season. Scott, how would you rank Jeffers, Darno, and Bailey as Alvarez replacements? I would rank them Jeffers, Darno, and

Bailey. I might put Darno ahead in the short term. I don't know. What's the latest on Sean Murphy? Sean Murphy still not swinging a bat with last report we got about a week ago. So he does not appear to be on the verge of returning. I might put Darnow ahead of Jeffers in the short term.

Bailey is sporting a 93 mile per hour average exit velocity and a 48.7% hard hit rate. He's also a left-handed hitter, right? I think he might be a switch hitter. Okay, primarily a left-handed hitter at Oracle Park, if not always, a left-handed hitter at Oracle Park. if not always a left-hand hitter at Oracle Park. So that's going to be tough to overcome, but I do think he's interesting. I will say,

I might, maybe this is dumb. I might roll the dice on Ivan Herrera ahead of Travis Darna if they were both available. I know that he is the number two catcher on his own team, and that's probably a good portion of why he's only 22% rostered. He's also, like his OPS is like 770 after a hot start, but they did just add a third catcher to their roster when they sent Victor Scott down.

I don't know if that's going to stick, but they called up Pedro Pahas. That makes me think they might just be going with a two catcher lineup moving forward. And then they're keeping Pahas on the bench to, so that they still have an emergency catcher and don't have to give up the D.H If something happens to whichever one is at D.H. So this is for the Cardinals, Wilson Contreras,

obviously being the other catcher of the two. So I've been very impressed by Yvonne Herrera what he's shown so far. Quality of contact is very good. His minor league numbers are pretty good, especially once he got to a double A. So I think there's some real upside there in a two-catcher league especially.

If they did do that, that would be bad news for somebody. Yes. Nolan or Jordan Walker. Yeah, Gorman's been getting a little bit of extra time off lately. Yeah. And Walker's just been really bad.

I like what we've seen from Herrera. My problem is that since Wilson Gattreras has returned, he's only started four of the past nine games. So some of the underlying stuff is very interesting for Yvonne Herrera. I just don't know if he's going to play enough. So I think I would take... That's why I brought up the addition of the third catcher if they stick with it. They called him up on Sunday morning.

So they might say, send him down on Monday. Alex Kora said Raphael Devers could return to action on Tuesday against the Guardians. He missed this weekend with a bone bruise in his left knee. Spencer Shrider suggested he could be back on the mound early next season after doctors found that his ligament was in, quote, surprisingly good shape during surgery. This one was annoying. Yeah, so there wasn't a ligament tear.

There was a bones spur in the ligament that caused instability, I think is the word they used. And they didn't know that until they went in and did the surgery, which is why the braids were being dodgy about it. They didn't really know what was going on from the images they were seeing. But that's what it ended up being. So he had the internal brace procedure to stabilize the ligament, but the ligament wasn't actually torn. And so that should make the rehabilitation much more straightforward.

And I think there's a good chance he'll be ready at the start of next year. Not 100% of course. but there's a chance. The annoying thing was apparently he was dealing with some elbow soreness in the spring that just never got reported because he tried to pitch through it. That's brutal.

Brutal. For Amber Valdez threw a 30-pitch bullpen session Saturday, his first time throwing off a mound since being diagnosed with elbow inflammation. Walker Bueller needs at least one more rehab outing before returning to the Dodgers rotation. He struggled in his last outing on Thursday. He allowed two runs and four walks

in just two and two-thirds innings of work. Max Scherzer will likely make his first rehab start Wednesday. He did not experience any issues after throwing 40 pitches in a simulated game on Friday. Christian Javier was placed on the aisle with neck discomfort and will be sidelined the next couple of weeks. Spencer Arrogati was recalled. Yohan Duran will start a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. Brian Wu made a rehab start at AAA on Sunday. I didn't actually check in to see what he did, but he did make a start.

and he started the season on the IL with right elbow inflammation. Merrill Kelly was scratched from his start Sunday due to shoulder soreness. He returned to Arizona after receiving an MRI. Tori Lavulo hopes a trip to the IL won't be necessary for Merrill Kelly. Bryce Elder is expected to be called up to start Monday against the Marlins and three starts at AAA. He had a 331 ERA, a 118 whip over a strike operator. He's 15% rostered, so widely available.

And obviously this is a great matchup. Scott, any interest in Bryce Elder for this? this week. I don't think I could do it personally, and I'm not confident he'll make two starts. He could. If anybody on the Braves is going to, it's him. Rinaldo Lopez will not be anymore. It may show up

in your league that he is, but he's not. No, I think it's a way and see for me with Eldor as bad as he was in the second half last year, and since he's probably not going to be a good source of strikeouts anyway, he could matter. Any Braves pitcher, I feel like, could matter because of the run support they're given.

But I don't have a ton of confidence in Elder right now. But Brian Wu did throw three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Velocity was down. 1.2 mile per hour on his four seam fastball, but it's basically his first start of the springs coming off of an elbow issue. So hard to be too concerned there. Ian Hap was removed Friday with left hamstring tightness.

He missed Saturday and Sunday as well. Blue Jay's top pitching prospect, Ricky Teeteman, underwent an MRI on his left elbow on Thursday. He was limited to just 44 innings last year because of shoulder and biceps problems. So it's a pretty worrisome one there for those in Dynasty leagues. The Rangers optioned Jack Leiter back to AAA on Friday after his rough debut on Thursday. Victor Scott was optioned to AAA on Sunday. Rough start to his career batting 0.085 with 15 strikeouts over 65 plate appearances.

Frankie Montas exited Sunday start after getting hit by a comebacker. X-rays came back negative. he'll likely miss his next start. DJ LaMayhew will begin a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday. He's been on the IL with a non-displaced fracture in his right foot. And J.D. Martinez could join the Mets as soon as Friday. Other players who went on the I.L. this weekend, A.J. Puck, with left shoulder fatigue, D.L. Hall with a left knee sprain.

Ryan Nelson with an elbow contusion. Kyle Freeland with a left elbow strain, Anthony Rendon with a hamstring, and Gio Orchella also with a hamstring. Waiverwire pitchers from the weekend, strapped in because there are, lots of names. We already spoke about Jack Flaherty, but what about Spencer Turnbull? He continues to pitch really well this time against the White Sox. Great matchup, obviously. Seven shutout innings. One hit, two walks, six strikeouts. Louise Heel looked great against the raise on Sunday, five and two-thirds innings. One unearned run, nine strikeouts to three walks. Casey Mize has

turned in back-to-back quality starts. This one at the Twins, also a great matchup right now. Six shutout innings with four strikeouts. Still not getting tons of whiffs, but all the sudden it's a 295 year a a 122 whip for Casey Mize Scott how would you rank that group Mize heel and Turnbull throw Flarity in there too okay well Florida is easy number one okay after that I don't think any our must roster I would go heel too because you know I like the strikeouts most of all but I will say because we haven't brought this up for Louis Heel yet I don't think when we've talked about him.

He has issued 17 walks and 19 and 2 thirds innings. Yeah. So it's like a three true outcomes pitcher. I don't know what his home run rate is like, but it's either walks or strikeouts with them. And there's, you know, been enough strikeouts to get excited about, but those walks, I think, are severely going to limit his impact potential in fantasy. But still, I would go Luis Hale behind Flaherty.

And then Turnbull third. I'm intrigued by him, but I think he's the obvious odd man out when Taiwan Walker is ready to go, even though it shouldn't be. It should be Walker himself that's removed, but I don't think that's how it'll go. I think Turnbull will be removed.

And then I'll go Casey Mye's last. He's getting ground balls at a good rate that might allow him to sustain his recent success, but yeah, the lack of wifts, it's an 8% swinging strike rate. and I just, I'm always going to be skeptical of a pitcher that has a rate like that because it doesn't get much worse. I will point out on Turnbull, who I actually, if there wasn't the looming specter of

Taiwan Walker's return, I would absolutely rank ahead of Luis Heel because I think what Turnbull's done so far this season has been really interesting. The new sweeper especially seems to be a really good weapon for him. Rob Thompson, I think Taiwan Walker threw a bullpen session with the team this week, and then he's going to go back out on his rehab assignment, make at least one more rehab start. And it kind of sounded a little bit like if Spencer Turnbull wasn't pitching so well, Taiwan Walker might already be back. And it felt very pointed that it was at least one more rehab start when he's already made a couple and had the pitch count.

you know, reasonably high. His velocity in the bullpen session was down like two miles per hour from what I was reading. And Rob Thompson was asked whether it was clear that Turnbull would be going to the bullpen after Walker returns. He said, quote, no, it's not clear cut. That's not exactly a denial, but it's not a denial. And it very much feels like a, we're hoping life finds a way somehow. here. And life finding away could be Turnbull just

imploding. Right, yeah. I'm not like even if there wasn't the Taiwan Walker looming I wouldn't say Turnbull is must add but yeah, I agree I would prefer him to heal if not for that.

Waiverwire pitchers part two. James and Tyone was solid in his debut against the Marlins five innings one run four strikeouts. Tyler Anderson has gone seven innings in three of four starts. He was at the Reds, seven innings, two runs. One of those earned. Three walks to two strikeouts.

Clark Schmidt pitched well against the Tampa Bay Rays. Five and a third, one run allowed, seven strikeouts with 13 swinging strikes. And Yario Rodriguez pitched pretty well at the Padres. Just not giving us length so far, but maybe that could come. Four innings. Four innings, one run, seven strikeouts for Rodriguez. Chris, how would you rank this group? Rodriguez, Schmidt, Tyler Anderson, and Jameson, Tyone.

What kind of timetable are you asking me to rank them on? Because if it's to start in week five, honestly. I think rest of season is what we're normally going for here. Yeah, I think rest of season, it's Rodriguez. Even though I think he's unlikely to be super useful in the near term, especially in head to head points. I actually think the way he's pitching right now and how he's looked. I don't think throwing him out there in a Roto league is terrible idea.

He's not going to get you any whiffs. wins because he's not throwing deep, but he's going to get strikeouts. I think the ratios are going to be pretty good. But Anderson, Tyone, Clark Schmidt, like I tried to find reasons to be optimistic about all of them. And I just,

I don't really see. You could throw Alec Martian there, who I think we're going to talk about a little later. They all had good starts this week, but they all borrow a term from our pal, Nick Pollock over a pitcher list. They're all Toby's, is what he uses for a middling pitcher who has little upside,

but a steady enough floor that may earn a spot on your roster for some stability. That's, I think, perfectly matches Tyler Anderson, James and Tion, Clark Schmidt. How did it come up with the term Toby? It's a reference to Toby from the office. That guy who goes to work every day and gets the job done, but he's super boring and you don't want to talk to him like ever. Okay. Yeah, I mean, I would say Yario Rodriguez is the only one I care about from this group too. And in fact, I would rank him second.

If we're including the previous group, Louise Heel and Spencer Turnbull, I would put him second in that group behind only Flaherty. If I were to take my Rangers hat off right now and put on my Homer hat, my Yankees hat, Clark Schmidt will just point out it's a 12.7% swinging tri-crate early in the season, and it's a great matchup this week against the Oakland days. So if we were talking about the short term, it's good for this week. I will point out Schmidt has more strikeout upside than any of those other guys we mentioned. year and he's done a very good job against lefties.

He has more strikeout upside than Yario Rodriguez. Well, no, I mean Tyler Anderson and those guys. Sure. He's doing a really good job against lefties so far. That has always been an issue for him in his career. 862 OPS against lefties in his career compared to 670 mark against righties. That being said, there's nothing really in the pitch mix that suggests he's improved or has made tangible changes that make me buy the improvement.

It's 37 play appearances against lefties. So I tend to assume that Clark Schmidt is going to turn back into Clark Schmidt at some point. Waiverwire pitchers part three. Who is Mitchell Parker? I don't know. Hopefully one of you two do because he was great against the Astros on Sunday. Seven shutout innings. Three hits zero walks.

Eight strikeouts with 12 swinging strikes on just 73 pitches. 24 years old, six foot four lefty. Minorly career is not that promising. But he did get lots of strikeouts. A lot of strikeouts, yeah. He's at the Marlins this week, and, you know, it's obviously a very good matchup. Jose Soriano turned in a quality start at the Reds, six innings, three unearned runs, seven strikeouts. And, you know, we had Lance Brosdowski on the show on Friday, and he spoke about Soriano should throw his fastball less and use his curveball more.

And that's exactly what he did in his start. What he did? It's like he was listening. Yeah, it's great. And he's 9% rostered. Jose Soriano. He's up against the twins this week. It's a great matchup.

I added him to my sleeper. pitchers. Very nice. Michael Lorenzen turned in a quality start at the Braves on Sunday night, six innings, three runs, seven strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes on 94 pitches. I thought slightly interesting there. And Alec Marsh pitched well against the Orioles, five and two-thirds shutout, three hits, two walks, six strikeouts in that one. Scott, how are you ranking this group, Marsh, Lorenzen, Soriano, and Mitchell Parker? Well, I think Soriano is the clear standout here for being only 9% rostered. I think that needs to go

up, especially since he's relief pitcher eligible. And I like his matchup this week, hearing how high Lance Brosdowski was on him was enough to win me over. I had my reservations, but the upside was pretty clear

there for Soriano too. Yeah, great secondary stuff. More walks than I'd like to see, but it is kind of an Edward Cabrera situation as far as that goes. And I think Soriano could be shockingly good. So he's the clear number one. And number two, I guess the chalk answer would probably be Michael Lorenzen, but he is a Toby.

He might be even less than a Toby. I don't know what it's less than a Toby is. We're just stealing pictureless terminology here. It's okay. I think if I'm investing in anyone beyond Soriano, it would only be in like those 15 team leagues. I did throw a couple of bucks at Mitchell Parker because, yes, good strikeout history in the miners. I've written about him in the prospects report in the past because of that.

What he did in this start was interesting because he threw a splitter. So he had 12 whiffs on 73 pitches. Seven were on the splitter, which he threw 25% of the time. He threw the splitter only 6% of the time at his first start. he threw it only 7% of the time at AAA. So he suddenly just broke it out and threw it a ton. And a change in approach like that for a pitcher who already has something to hang his hat on,

it could be a difference maker. I'm not saying I'm optimistic about Mitchell Parker, but compared to these other choices here who've mostly failed us in the past, I think I might take a shot on him if there were a lack of alternatives. And this final group is a much less interesting IMO. Tyler Alexander has made two solid starts in a row. He was at the Yankees this weekend, five and a third shutout with four strikeouts. Kyle Gibson turned in a quality start against the Brewers.

It was six innings, one run, three strikeouts there. And Trevor Williams turned in a quality start against the Astros, six innings, one run, four strikeouts for him. Did notice that he's throwing his sweeper more this year, and it's been a pretty good pitch for him. Chris, any interest here, deeper leagues, Trevor Williams, Kyle Gibson, and Tyler Alexander? There are about a dozen other pitching performances from this weekend. I'd rather talk about than literally any of these guys. So if you're in a deep league, just go add Mitchell Parker and don't worry about these guys.

Fair enough. Let's take our final break. When we return, the Waver Wire hitters from this weekend. We'll talk about it right after this. Welcome back in. Let's talk Waverwire hitters from the weekend. And we'll start with the outfielders. Kerry Carpenter is off to a nice start. He went four for five with two RBI on Friday.

He has started 11. straight games for the Tigers. He's betting 318, probably only available in points leagues, I would imagine. He's 77% rostered. Brian Dela Cruz looks like one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. He added two more home runs this weekend. Over his last nine games, he's got 11 hits, four homers, and 13 RBI. Dals and Varsho had a huge game on Saturday, three for four with a sock and a shoe. Over his last seven games, it's a 350 batting average with three homers and two steals. Brandon Marsh continues to hit. One for four with a home run on Saturday, one for three with a steel on Sunday.

He's betting 288. He's got five homers, two steals, and pretty widely available, 50% rostered. Chris, how would you rank this group of outfielder's Marsh, Varsho, Brian Dela Cruz, and Kerry Carpenter? I guess, now Varsho, Carpenter, Dela Cruz, Marsh, especially in a Rotter League. We need to come up with a nickname for guys like Carrie Carpenter

who they just, that ceiling is what it is, right? like 77% rostered is probably exactly where Kerry Carpenter needs to be because I just, you said he started 11 straight games for the time. All righties. That's what I was going to say is, yeah, he has not started a game against the lefty this season, so I assume they've faced five righties or 11 righties in a row. And that's the problem. It's just that guy's not going to be useful in a head-to-head points league unless they're playing six or seven righties in a week, maybe five. But it's, and it, that's a shallower format.

So it's just, that's probably the ceiling where Varsho, kind of the opposite way, right? He's very unlikely to be useful and head-dead points, but I think Varsho is probably under-roastered at this point, because I would guess there are at least some categories leagues he should be rostered in. De La Cruz is kind of in the middle. I quite like what we've seen from Delacruz.

He's hitting a ton of line drives right now. He's hitting them all over the field. So I think he's hitting second for the Marlins pretty consistently. so Dela Cruz context neutral might be my favorite of this group. The only one of these four who's changed my opinion on him since the start of the season is Brian Dela Cruz. And it's still, okay, so now he's a top 60 outfielder. When before I'm not sure he was a top 80 outfielder for me.

All right, let's talk middle infielders. Jose Caballero continues to run. He added two more steals this weekend. He's betting 286 with seven steals on the season. Ahmed Rosario stayed hot, back-to-back multi-hit games on Saturday. and Sunday. Five hits, two stolen bases this weekend. He's only 39% rostered.

And Luis Garcia, who we brought up last week, had a solid weekend, three for four with his steal on Sunday. He also had a stolen base on Friday. And he's actually hit cleanup for the Nationals in three of their past four games. 17% rostered, widely available. Scott, how would you rank this group of middle infielders? Man, this is a much harder group to rank than the last one. Well, that's why you make the big buck, Scott.

come on. So they say. All right, Caballero, I'm going to rank them right now how you have them listed. Caballero, Rosario, and Luis Garcia. However, if we're talking upside, it might be just the reverse.

And Garcia-Rizario-Cabiero. But Caballero, his steals pace, is just, I think, too much to pass up in Roto leagues, which are the format where you're most likely considering any of these guys. Rosario is triple eligible. and I can't help but think the rays are going to do their raise magic on him because it's always seemed like he's been an underachiever in the past

and I think there's pretty high stolen base upside there too if they let him make use of it which he hasn't really in the past so I'm definitely intrigued by Rosario especially since he's so versatile but all things being equal I think have to take Cabiero over him. Four names in deeper leagues.

Andy Pahez of the Dodgers hit his first career home run on Sunday. He went two for four with a homer and three RBI. He has started five straight games since being called up. Wiliere Abraeu had a nice weekend for the Red Sox. Two, three hit games. He had seven hits total with a home run. Also has four steals already, which I found pretty interesting.

Twins prospect Austin Martin has, you know, he hit well this weekend, two for four with two runs on Saturday, one for four with his first career home run. run on Sunday. And Blake Perkins, who has been filling in for Christian Yelich on the Brewers, multi-hit games on Friday and Saturday. And over the last seven games, it's a 385 batting average with one home run. Chris, any interest here in deeper leagues?

Paez, Abraeu, Austin Martin, and Blake Perkins. Pahas doesn't belong here. He belongs in that previous group with Kerry Carpenter and Brian Dela-Cruz. And I might just prefer him to all of them. I don't feel like I can start him right now. only thing because he's just been striking out a ton. Every game, including two against lefties,

which I was very surprised to see. I thought they might ease him in. I think he probably doesn't have as high of a floor as those guys we were talking about. So yeah, if you do have to start one right now, I'd prefer Brian Dela Cruz. I'd prefer Kerry Carpenter.

But in terms of upside, like if you're just looking to stash someone on your bench, I'd rather have Pahas than all of them, I think. Yeah. No, I agree with that. Though, Williard-A-R-Breyu is part of that group, too, I think, now that he's playing. Now, he's, I imagine he's going to sit against lefties, and they'll have to figure out the playing time again once Tyler O'Neill is back. But he's obviously making the case to stick in the lineup is Willier-A-Bray-U, and he has power and speed and on-base skills, and is more startable this upcoming week than

Paa has, I think, because the Red Sox only have one lefty on the schedule. So I was having a hard time sorting out De La Cruz, Brian De La Cruz we're talking about, Paez and Abraeu when entering my waiver claims of one league in particular. I think that what I think I came down Paez, De La Cruz, Abraeu, but you could kind of talk me into any order for them, I think. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about Abraeu as well. I won them in Taut Wars, which is 15 team Roto, $73 out of a $1,000 budget. So around 7%. I think I had 54 on Pahez. So, you know, that 5 to 7% range. Again, those are five outfieler league. So where they're available, yep, pretty interested in both Paix and Abraeu. Let's, yeah, there's a lot more to get to. All right, let's just, I guess,

go rapid fire here. The D-backs put up 17 runs on Friday. 22 hits, only one home run in that game. Blaze Alexander, three for five. With his third home run, it was a grand slam. He's 24% rostered, but he left on Sunday due to a hamstring cramp. Cotel Marte went four for six with a double in that game. Gabriel Moreno went two for five with three RBI. He's off to a bit of a slow start. Who did they do all this damage against, you asked?

And that would be Blake Snow. Four and two thirds innings, nine hits, five runs allowed, three strikeouts to one walk. He allowed ten hard hits in this game. His fastball and changeup are just getting crushed so far. I mean, this is part of the Blake Snell experience. I guess 1157 ERA. It's a 197 whip. Do you start him this week against the Mets?

You look to buy a low. I haven't in one league. It's a 15 teamer. And I'm not planning to start him until he has a good start. I think that's fair. But do not bench or do not drop Blake Snell. No. Don't.

Don't trade Blake Snell. Would you trade for? It's fine to drop him. Would you, would you trade four? Would you trade for Blake Snow? Sure, at a discount, yeah. It has to be a discount and hopefully it is. But if you are listening to this, do not trade him to me

because you will have to do so at a discount and you should not do that. I mean, like trade him to me. I would take him on my team. But like as advice, don't trade Blake Snow right now. This is the time to not trade Blake Snow. We do this every year. People need to hear it still. Do not drop or trade Blake Snow right now.

We had two big season debuts a quality start against the Nationals. It was six innings, two runs, four strikeouts, only four swinging strikes on 78 pitches. Velocity was down a little bit here on the fastball. Jordan Montgomery turned in a quality start in his debaq's debut against the Giants. It was six innings, one run,

three strikeouts in that one. Chris, are you just getting these two back in your lineups this week. It's Verlander at the Cubs and Montgomery at the Cardinals. Yep. Yeah, they both looked more or less like themselves. I don't expect elite results from either of them, but I expect them to both be very startable moving forward. Let's talk about Garrett Crochet who got crushed at the Phillies on Friday. Three innings, seven earned runs. It was three home runs allowed. He gave up a ton of hard contact in this one. Did not have his slider at all. He only threw 13 of them and he got zero whiffs on the pitch. This is now two

starts in a row where he has allowed 12 earned runs over 7 and 2 thirds innings. It's a 561 ERA, but the underlying numbers still look really, really good for Garrett Crochet. Scott, do you start or sit crochet at the twins this week? Well, considering the twins have struggled offensively, I think you start him. And yeah, I mean, just to put numbers on it, so he has a 561ERA, that's compared to a 286-X-FIP and a 190 XERA. so he might be the biggest underachiever as far as that goes, and it's mostly the fault of the last two starts. I still have a lot of confidence in him in the long run,

and yeah, I think the fact that it's an easy matchup next week makes it all the more defensible to just stick with him. The by-low window has closed for these four pitchers. Luis Castillo was awesome in Corse Field, seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. Zach Eflin had a great start at the Yankees. It was six shutout with six strikeouts there. Nestor Cortez had his best start of the season against Tampa Bay,

seven shutout with nine strikeouts to zero walks, and Bailey Ober turned in a quality start against the Tigers, six innings, one run, six strikeouts, with 14 swinging strikes. Chris, anything to add on Ober, Cortez, Eflin, and Castillo? Castillo was benched in 21% of CBS Fantasy Leagues this week. Well, you can't play them in Corse Field, yes. Look, you should be ashamed of.

yourselves if you benched Luis Castillo. That is all I will say. He had three bad starts during which he had 18 strikeouts and four walks. There was never any reason to be concerned about Luis Castillo. Eflin is very, very good. I wish I had like a good reason to believe that this was a turning point for Nestor Cortez. His fastball velocity was up in this one. It was up about half a mile per hour from his most recent start before that, which wasn't very good. So maybe it's just that half mile per hour, but I feel pretty good about him. I don't necessarily think he's back to being the 2021,

2022 guy where he was, you know, sub three ERA, but I'm probably starting Nestor Cortez moving forward. Yeah. Yeah, I think when he was at his best, we were ranking him as a top 40 starting pitcher.

I think I would feel more comfortable as ranking him as like a top 50 ish starting pitcher right now. Just, you know, he's got back on track. The underlying numbers are, great for Nestor Cortez. The K to walk ratio is awesome.

So he kind of looks like he's back. I have him more in like the 60 range, but yeah, I think that's fine. It's it's he went from being a pretty easy guy to drop to now. It's like, oh, there's no way. I'm dropping him. Yeah. I think that's fair. The by low window may have closed for all those pictures, but when one

window closes another, does, is that the saying? I don't know if that's. Yeah, that's when, yeah, when, yeah, when a door closes a window. open something like that. Yeah. I have no idea what we're saying. But the point is Cole Reagan's got rocked this weekend and it might be an opportunity to buy low because he gave up seven runs over one and two thirds innings. He had a 900 babbip against in this start.

He's a 432 ERA, a 148 whip that comes with a 207 FIP and a 348 XERA. So if you can buy Cole Regens, I think he should. Yes. And this one specifically, I think we can say, he got babipped, 900 babbip, that's unsustainable. I would probably give up a 900 babbip, but a major league pitcher shouldn't. He also didn't have his slider. And that's a little concerning because he's throwing his slider less so far. I think he threw it like four times in this start.

And he's down to like a 10% usage rate, which if you look at all of last season, the slider rate is about the same. But he didn't throw out the first three months of the season. And then the final two months, or four months really. Then the final two months, he threw at about 15 to 7. 17% of the time. He hasn't had it working for him this year. I think the whiff rate is like half of what it was last season.

So that's a little bit concerning that he hasn't had the feel for it and hasn't been able to find it yet. But I don't really. Nobody would have thought anything of it before this start. Yes. And then I will say like he had five hits with an average with an exit velocity of 81.1 miles per hour or softer. Yeah. Those usually don't all turn into hits. they were mostly line drives

and even an 81 mile per hour line drive is likely to be a hit. So like, I can't say it was all bad luck. I can't say it was all he pitched poorly. I think he just had a bad day. I'm not, I think if you get a chance to buy law and Carl Regans, you should definitely take it. Pitching standouts part one. Zach Wheeler

took a no hitter into the eighth inning against the White Sox. He finished seven and a third shutout with eight strikeouts there. Nick Lodolo had a strong start against the Angels. Six and a third. One run allowed. Six strikeouts to zero walks. Brian would you guys sell Nick Ladola right now?

I don't think so. I mean, I don't, I'm not imagining the offers blowing me away, but I like the upside. You know, I just, I wanted to ask because we haven't seen the home runs yet. And I think they are coming. And so I think he's going to look like an ace when he isn't giving up home runs,

but he gave up nine batted balls of at least 98.0. nine miles per hour in this one. None of them left the yard and four of them turned into out. So I don't think he's an ace is what I want to say here. He's more on the ground ball end of the spectrum though. He hasn't a good homer part. Yeah, he just, he gave up almost like three home runs per nine last year. So that's that's the concern.

And three starts. Would you trade three starts? Four starts. It wasn't many starts. Would you trade Lidolo for a garretre crochet? if you could. Yeah. But that's more about

Garrett Crochet than Lodolo. I think I would probably do that, but yeah, I would do it because Lodolo has his own injury concerns, sure. Would you do it for his teammate, Hunter Green? No. I think I moved Lodolo

ahead of Hunter Green before this outing. So yeah, I would do that. I would rather have Lodola. Yes, I would. It was seven starts for Lodolo last year. Brian Beaux turned in his first quality start of the season at the Pirates, six shutout innings, one hit, two-walk, seven strikeouts.

And Freddie Peralta continues to pitch well. He was at the Cardinals. Six shut-out innings with seven strikeouts. Scott, anything to add on Peralta, Beo, Ladolo, Zekweiler? Nope. All right. Pitching standouts part two. Carter Crawford turned in another quality start.

He was at the Pirates, six innings, one run, six strikeouts with 17 swinging strikes. Jose Perrios is off to a tremendous start. He was at the Padres. Six shutout, five hits, two-walk, six strikeouts. Now five for five in quality starts this season. Jesus Lazzardo bounced back with his first quality start. He was at the Cubs. Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts in that.

And Shota Imanaga finally allowed his first earned run, but it was a quality start. Six innings, three runs. Two of those were earned with five strikeouts and 17 swinging strikes. Chris, anything to add on Imanaga, Lazzardo, Berrios, and Crawford. I have a lot to say about all these guys, but we're out of time.

So I'll just focus on Berrios. We had someone on Twitter asking, why we all have, except for Frank, I believe, we all have Chris Bassett ranked ahead of Jose Burrios. And I think they're very similar. But I don't see much reason to think that this is like a brand new Jose Barrios that we all need to give more respect to. This is Jose Barrios.

He goes through stretches where the results are really good. He goes through stretches where the results are not great. We get yelled at for being either too low or too high on him, depending on what version of him is out there at any given. point, but under 8K per 9, good control, but not elite, decent quality of contact metrics, but not elite. This is Jose Brillo. Sometimes you get the good version, sometimes you get the bad version.

Let's not overreact. We know who he is. And for having a 0.85 ERA, he has a 432 expected ERA. So, yeah, I mean, with the Bassett versus Breos thing, like, I see no reason to change my evaluation of either. on what's happened so far. I also don't have a particularly strong opinion on who you should prefer of the two. I think they're very similar pitchers.

Bassett usually finishes with a lower ERA and with and about the same K rate between the two of them. So yeah, I still prefer Bassett. Pitching standouts part three. Aronola makes it back to back. Awesome starts. He was home against the White Sox. Eight innings to run seven strikeouts. Sunny Gray, awesome on Sunday.

Six and a third. Two runs allowed. 12 strikeouts against the Brewers. And Tyler Glass now also amazing. against the Mets. Eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. Scott, anything to add on Glass Now, Sunny Gray,

Aaron Nola. Well, I did want to say about Aaron Nola. Remember, he got throttled his first start of the season. And now, not even the end of April, his ERA is down to 316,

his whip is down to 109. These things can be corrected. They're not stuck with them forever, a bad start. And keep that in mind. Fine. Any pitcher who you have who's struggling, who we still think is good, who we still rank high. Things can turn around pretty quickly. All right. Some hitting leftovers. Nico Horner starting to get going. He had eight hits this weekend. Still doesn't have a steal, unfortunately. Alec Bohm had a huge weekend, two for four with a double dong on Friday. He had six hits overall this weekend.

Josh Naylor, off to a great start. He hit two more home runs. He's betting 325 with a 1016 OPS. Stalling Marte looks healthy again. He went two for four. five with a steal on Friday. It was two for five with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. He's got four homers and five steals so far. Jackson Churio had a big game on Saturday, two for three with a sock and a shoe, his fourth home run, his fourth steal. Signs of Life from Francisco Lindor, two for five with a sock and a shoe on Friday for him. Jordan Westberg continues to mash. Two for five with a steal on Saturday. It was two for three with a home run on Sunday. Julio Rodriguez enjoyed his series in Coors Field, four for five with two steals on Saturday and then added four more hits on

Sunday. Cal Raleigh also had a huge series. Four for four with a home run on Saturday. Go ahead, Scott. And suddenly Julio Rodriguez is up to a 276 batting average. Yeah, we need power. Obviously, I get it like people want to see home runs, but you know, he's running. The batting average is there, so. Hopefully they're less panicked. So I do have a couple things I want to. to mention about this group if I can. Jackson Chorio, he had that home run, but that home run was in what's become typical Jackson Chorio fashion.

He hit at about 103 miles per hour, 370 feet. He did have his hardest hit ball over the weekend of the year so far, but still not hitting it that hard with that much consistency. Nico Horner, it was good to see him bat lead off against a Ritey Sunday. That was the first time it happened.

It was because Ian Hap was out of the lineup. but I think that's his best hope Horner's best hope of living up to our expectations for him. He still has yet to steal a base even though he's been batting leadoff more lately. Yeah, he reached base three times as the leadoff hitter today

and didn't steal base. Right. It was hot all weekend and didn't steal a base. So I'm getting a little concerned about that, but it's too early to pull the plug on Nico Horner, I would say. And then Josh Naylor, I think he's just

I think he's just a stud. I think, I don't know. I've had a hard time because it took so long for him to live up to his potential. And there was a lot of in and out of the lineup during that time for injuries and lefty-righty stuff. But he hits left. He's fine. He's an everyday player now. His strikeout rate is as low as Stephen Kwan's.

And yet he's hitting the ball with the authority of a power hitter. And I don't see anything to really harp on about Josh Nailer anymore. He just looks like an amazing hitter. He's played 142 games since the start of last season. He has 117 RBI. He's just, that is the one thing that I think you can definitely, definitely count on Josh Naylor to be as a standout in RBI. Bullpen updates from the weekend for the Brewers on Friday.

Trevor McGill is back from the concussion I.L. He entered in the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He pitched a clean eighth and then stayed out there for the ninth. He got the first two outs. Then he walked Mason win. He gave up a single. It was Yoel Paiomps who came on for the final out. He hit Yvon Herrera with a pitch.

and then he walked Brendan Donovan to tie the game. It was a blown save for him. The Brewers would eventually win the game in extras. It was Hobie Milner who picked up the save. And then on Sunday, Yoel Pye Amps struck out one for his third save. And I feel pretty good just saying it's Pyeamps's job for now, I guess. The fact they went back to them after the blown save, I mean, that pretty much tells you what you need to know. And I spent $106 on Pyeamps in one of those 15 teamers.

All right. For the raise on Saturday, Pete Fairbanks was unavailable due to a stomach issue. Jason Adam pitched a scoreless ninth with the game tied, and then it was lefty Garrett Clevenger who got the save in extras. For the Twins on Saturday, Griffin Jack struck out two for his second save. Twins' bullpen has kind of been a mess for fantasy, and sounds like Duran could be back soon. For the Mets on Saturday, Edwin Diaz entered in the eighth inning

with a runner on first and a two-run lead. He walked Otani, he walked Freddie Freeman, and then he struck out to Oscar Hernandez, and Max Muncie. A gentleman named Reed Garrett then got the ninth, and he struck out the side for his first save. Where the heck did this come from? This guy has been...

What is happening? Amazing. Reed Garrett has not allowed an earned run. 17.7K per 9, 19% swinging strike rate. Saves plus hold leagues, for sure. Go get him. He's got like three amazing secondaries, and he just cut way back on the fastball usage,

and is just letting them those secondaries play. And yeah, he looks like a closer who doesn't have a role. Obviously, this Edwin Diaz work in the eighth thing isn't going to happen often. It was against the best part of the Dodgers lineup. But if you're in a league where holds count, read Garrett technically, technically. He doesn't have a hold yet, which is kind of amazing, but he will get holds if he keeps doing this. He has more strikeouts than Joe Musgrove.

He has as many strikeouts as Shoda Imanaga. He's got more strikeouts than Marcus Stroman. I picked him up in Tao Wars and it's not even a holds league. Yeah, it's... Just for the ratios. Yeah, the way Reid Garrett's pitching right now, he's useful in any category format. Yep.

For the Phillies on Saturday, Jose Alvarado entered with two outs in the ninth. Base is loaded with a four-run lead. He got Andrew Benintendi to ground out for his fourth save. For the Marlins, I don't think there are any more questions here. Tanner Scott got the ninth with a one-run lead on Saturday. He picked up his third save. and then on Sunday, Tanner Scott back at it,

pitch a clean ninth for his fourth save. And for the Rangers on Sunday, it was Kirby Yates who got the final four outs for his third save of the week. 57% rostered. That number needs to be higher. Second four out save in a row, I think, for Yates.

Might be right. Sounds right. To stream or not to stream for Monday, I am thinking Zach Lattel against the Tigers. Brandon fought at the Cardinals. That's fine. I want to say Paddock, but gosh, even against the White Sox, I don't think you can trust them. I'd more likely go Keaton win against the Mets. He's a pretty good floor pitcher because he gets so many ground balls with that splitter.

And Suarez, Albert Suarez should be a two-star pitcher this week, right? So in head-to-head points leagues, I think that's pretty interesting. I guess we don't know if he's going to stay in the rotation moving forward, but he's pitching on a Monday. That's right. I added him to the two-star roster. Chris, you befuddled, Scott. He was so confused when you said that. I didn't, yeah, I'm pretty sure I added him to the two-star rankings.

I just wasn't remembering it. On Tuesday, it looks like maybe Andrew Abbott against the Phillies. I want to buy the Andrew Abbott hot start, but he is not getting any whiffs right now. And things can go really wrong against the team like the Phillies. Who was it? Somebody got bombed by the Phillies. this weekend. Oh, crochet. Yeah. Yeah. I don't like Tuesday.

Maybe Eric Fetty at the Twins is because they're so bad right now, but yeah. If Ryan Feltoner was facing the Padres in San Diego, I might be interested, but I don't think I can trust him in Cores, even though I think his best start came at Cores. All right. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today.

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