Fantasy Baseball Today - Eugenio Suarez Triple Dong, Gerrit Cole Injury Scare & Jackson Holliday Is Back! (7/31 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

Sean Manaea struck out a season-high 11 (3:30)! ... Eugenio Suarez blasted three home runs and is one of the hottest hitters in baseball (6:26). ... Jazz Chisholm is off to quite the start with the Yankees (11:23). ... News (16:30): Gerrit Cole was scratched from his start due to general body fatigue. ... Jackson Holliday is rejoining the Orioles (18:06)! ... Gavin Williams has turned in two strong starts in a row (28:21). ... Jeffrey Springs wasn't very good in his return (34:01). ... Jorge Polanco has been hitting lately with the Mariners (38:08). ... These hitters are hot (43:57)! ... These pitchers are not (49:42)! ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (56:08). 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 league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, July 31st. I am Frank Stamfield, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, we have another Garrett Cole injury scare to talk about.

Jackson Holiday is rejoining the Orioles that happened about 15 minutes after we finished our trade deadline recap. So thanks for that, Orioles. Plus, we got some streaking hitters, slumping pitchers, and much more. And if you do want to hear about all the trades that went down, we put out a bonus podcast. So make sure to check that out. And you can get all of our thoughts on Jack Flarity, all the Marlins moves. It feels like almost every trade involved the Marlins. Garret Crochet not getting traded and more.

But for now, let's jump into Tuesday's action. The impossible has happened. All right, you heard the call there from the Mets broadcast, and Chris, we will start with you and a New York Met. Yeah, I don't know if I would say Shamaniah getting 11 strikeouts is impossible. I believe he had a nine strikeout game fairly recently as well. But boy, that was probably the biggest box score. standout for me. This was a 23 whiff effort for Shamaniah, which ties him for the Mets pitch

tracking era record with Johan Santana. That's a pretty good company. And David Peterson, which is less so. And I certainly think Shamanaya is more on the David Peterson side of things. Yeah, he had a nine strikeout game of four starts ago. He followed that up by giving up five earned runs with one strikeout in four five innings against the marlins. Shamaniah has these stretches. He's in one right now. He was in one early in the season where he can be pretty useful. I don't have any faith that this is the start of something real for Shamaniah.

I think he's a streamer at best. He had, let me make sure, I think it was 13 of his 23 swing. Strikes came on the sinker or the four seam fastball. Velocity was actually down on his fastballs in this one. Got eight on the sweeper as well. I hate, and it's happened a lot this season. I hate when a player has a really good performance and especially a pitcher and we come on and we're just like, yeah, who cares? It doesn't matter. But that's mostly how I feel about this one. Yeah, I would put Mania in a similar category, that streamer type, Jose Cantana, James and Tyone, those are among those streamer types, those high floor type pitchers, those are the ones performing best. And

Sean Mania, it's not just this start. His last nine outings, it's a 258 ERA, a 103 whip, 52 strikeouts over 52 and a third. It also comes with a lot of walks, 21 walks, and the underlying numbers, not buying it. I believe the FIP and the X FIP during that nine-star stretch are both over four. So, you know, I pretty much agree with everything that you had to say. I will add that he threw his sweeper a little bit more in this start. And it's a really, really good pitch for him, a 45% whiff rate on the season. I'm not saying he needs to throw that pitch like 50% of the time, but, you know, when it's on, it's a really good sweeper. And I think he's, you know, capable of having good starts.

Obviously not this good every time out. But the problem with Mania is that as of now, it looks like he is at the Rockies next week. So I think he's worth rostering in the right matchups. Obviously in Coorsfield, that is not the right matchup. So great start from Sean Mania.

We will talk about some other Waverwire pitchers along with him a little bit later on. Let's talk about A.U. Henio Suarez, who is on fire right now. Four for six with a Triple Dung! That's right, three home runs, four runs scored, five RBI in a game where the DBAX won 17 to zero against the nationals. Last 19 games for Suarez, he is betting 324 with 10 home runs,

19 runs scored 25 RBI, one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. He's 40% rostered. I think most of this, Chris, is just correction. He was so bad for a large majority of the season. I think there were reasons to think, all right, he's kind of getting towards the end of his career. Maybe this is the start of the downturn. But obviously, he's showing that he is still capable of hitting lots of home runs. Are you putting any stock in this? Do you think Ehio Horeno Suarez needs to be much more rostered than 40% on CBS? Much more.

I don't think I would say much more. But like, if he was 65% roster, I would think at that. that seems reasonable enough. That's what, 10 home runs in the month of July. And the thing that makes it hard to buy in is just, he's been bad all season, obviously, but he's been showing before this especially, almost no signs of life.

The underlying numbers across the board are pretty much the worst that they've ever been, 88.6 mile per hour average, eggs of velocity. That's his worst since 2017. Barrel rate, also his worse since 2017 and he's still striking out

29% of the time overall so I think like it's fine to ride him when he's hot I think that's perfectly reasonable but I don't see too much to believe in that being said it's not just a fluke right he his average average

velocity in the month of July is up to 92.5 mile per hour his whiff rate is actually the lowest it's been all season like he I think he's locked in right now. And so I think it's fine to keep riding him, play the hot hand. I just, I don't think this just erases

the very, very real signs of decline that we saw before this. A couple of third basemen I have brought up recently, they're mostly rostered, could be out there in shallower leagues at this point, but Colt Keith and Mark Vientos, would you take Eugenio Suarez over either of those?

Colt Keith, Vientos. Uh, no, no, I would definitely rather have Vientos. Keith doesn't quite have like the, the underlying raw power. So I could see if I specifically needed home runs. I could see a Johanis Suarez being a better bet for that specifically. But it is also worth noting that Patrick Corbyn was out there just throwing batting practice today. And it was one of those outings where like he was getting crushed from the word go. give up two runs in the first, seven in the second, two more in the third, 11 overall. And they just, he had to wear it. Yeah. And so, stop. He's already dead. Yeah.

He gave up 19 balls and play with a 92 mile an hour average eggs of velocity. You know, like that this was a special. But like, that's not to take anything away from me, Hennius Suarez. Nobody else in the Diamondbacks lineup hit three home runs. So that's not the only. the reason he did it. But yeah, I think the very real signs of decline, I wouldn't just overlook. How about Eugenio Suarez versus Michael Bush, who's been pretty good, pretty solid over the

past month or so? Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of a similar situation with Viantos, where because Bush does have, you know, the very good quality of contact. metrics. I think I would rather bet on him. He hasn't been quite as good as Aohannia Suarez over the past month or so, but his early season run, remember, was every bit this good. And I think you look through the month by month. He has one month with an OPS below 780 out of four. So I just think he's a better bet for consistent production moving forward. Last name I'll throw out to. Jake Berger has actually had a productive July, 289 with seven home runs and a 949 OPS.

Jake Berger or Suarez. I'm okay going Suarez there. I think that's probably a coin flip and you're just hoping they both stay hot. But Suarez is currently hotter. So I'd be fine going with him. Yep. I think that's totally fair. Got to give a shout out, Chris, to Jazz Chisholm because my gosh.

Way to make a mark. Three games into your Yankees career. three for six with a double dong, five RBI. He accounted for all the Yankees runs heading into extra innings. And one of those home runs came off a lefty in Matt Strom, who's been one of the best relievers. Very good lefty, yeah.

Yeah, one of the best relievers in baseball this season. So back-to-back games with two homers for Jazz. And how about this? I saw this stat on the Yes Network broadcast. Jazz had three multi-homer games in 405 career games with the Marlins. He now has two multi-homer games. games in his first three with the Yankees.

Yeah, first player in Yankees history with four homers in his first three games. Wow. I believe. I can't wait until he has his first two strikeout game in the Bronx and he gets booed. Ah, come on, Chris. If I'm wrong, you can go ahead and tell me. I don't think it'll be his first game, but yeah, like two games in a row with multiple strikeouts.

Yeah, then we're probably getting it. I know Scott mentioned the other day when we broke down the trade for, for Jazz that he thinks Jazz could have top 12 outfielder upside. Now, I didn't update my rankings yet. I plan to do that on Wednesday. Do you agree? Do you think Jazz could be that good rest of season, top 12 outfielder? Could be, yeah.

I mean, I can't imagine that he's too fine. I don't have it off the top of my head and it's not loading right now, but I can't imagine he's too far from that in Roto already. You have him ranked as your 14th outfielder. Yeah, so that seems perfectly. reasonable to me. So yeah, I could see it happening. Sure. Yeah, I have jazz a little bit lower at 22nd, but

again, that was before this move to the Yankees. So he'll climb inside the top 20 outfielder's at least. He has second base eligibility. I believe, did he, did he play enough at second to get it? And he's going to get third base. I don't think he played enough second base, but we can check that. Nah, he didn't. Yeah, he only appeared in how many games, three?

He's got to be off by like one. That stinks. Yeah, he needs two more to get second base eligibility. He needs three more for third base. Yeah, it's probably not going to happen with second base, but he is going to get third base eligibility. And really small sample, he's a good. He's a good out there so far defensively at third base.

So that is jazz, and so far off to a great start here with the Yankees. If you haven't already, make sure to sign up for the FBT newsletter. Scan the QR code in the top right corner. you right to the website where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and you'll get a newsletter delivered right to your email inbox every single weekday, all different kind of news items and articles that Chris links and just a lot of work

that goes into it, so make sure to subscribe if you haven't already. Let's take our first break and when we return, Garrick Cole Injury Scare, Jackson Holiday is back. We'll talk about both of those right after this. Welcome back in the news and notes. Garric Cole was scratched from Tuesday's start due to general body soreness. He reiterated that he's not dealing with an arm issue and that he expects to pitch this weekend.

Aaron Boone said that Cole has been battling a stomach bug as well this week. We know that Cole missed the first three months with right elbow inflammation. So I think it's fair to be skeptical, even more so when we're dealing with the Yankees. They've been pretty shady with how they've handled injuries over the past couple of years. So, Chris, your overall thoughts, obviously, we don't know. We're just, you know, throwing theories out there. But what do you think is going on here with Garrett Cole? I get the skepticism.

But the fact that he's been dealing with that stomach bug this week does make me believe that it's just what they're saying. Like, I understand being skeptical that they're given his history recently, given the Yankees, um, lack of transparency. transparency, that's the word, with their injuries. But, like, you get a stomach bug that can knock you out for a few days. I could see it. So I'm not going to be panicking yet. You know, we'll see if anything comes out in the next few days when he tries to throw again, presumably,

and, you know, maybe something goes wrong. But for now, I don't think there's much reason to be alarmed. You know me enough by now, Chris, to know that I am. You get alarmed. I am the pessimistic. a Yankees fan. So I saw this and I just immediately started thinking the worst case scenario. So hopefully that is not the case.

Jackson Holiday is rejoining the Orioles. We know that they traded Connor Norby away to the Marlins in the Trevor Rogers trade. And so we thought, all right, maybe Kobe Mayo could get a shot here. But no, it turns out Jackson Holiday will be rejoining the team. And this season in the minors, a 271 batting average, 10 home runs, eight steals, a 908 OPS, average X velocity over. 90 miles per hour. Still a fantastic eye at the plate. Over 20% walk rate.

Nearly as many walks as strikeouts this season in the minors. 65% rostered is Jackson Holiday. Chris, do you think he's someone that is a must add? You just got to go out and get them back on your fantasy teams. Absolutely. I mean, look, we have concrete evidence to suggest that Jackson Holiday is not a sure thing. He had 36 plate appearances at the major league level earlier. The season, he struck out 18 times.

was completely overmatched and he still made me, right? We've seen with a lot of prospects, the leap from AAA to the majors is a really, really difficult one these days. And if he struggles again, I wouldn't be surprised at all. But it's a bet on elite young talent. It's a bet that won't cost you a top 150 pick in your draft the way it did earlier in the season. It'll just cost you some fab.

And frankly, at this point in the season, probably not that much fab. You know, it's not going to be 40%, 50% of your budget like it would have been earlier in the season. So, yeah, I think you should absolutely be betting on Jackson Holiday. There are reasons to believe it won't work out. But look, Jackson Holiday doesn't turn 21 until this December, right? He is five months younger than Charlie Condon, the number three pick in this year's draft. he's like a full year, like a year and a half younger than Travis Bazana, the number one pick in the draft. These are players who were picked like a week ago.

And there's two weeks ago, whatever the MLB draft was. So that just gives you some perspective. I don't know if anybody had forgotten just how young Jackson Holiday is, but we're still talking about a guy that like he didn't drop in the prospect rankings because of his struggles. he's been very, very good since coming back from that elbow injury. It's like a 933 OPS with almost as many walks of strikeouts. Yeah, I think you should still be betting on these types of prospects when they get the call, even though we know that they've been struggling as a whole. Let me ask you a few players that are right around 70% rostered in the middle infield.

Zagnetto has had a pretty good season here. He's pacing for over 2020 this season. and who would you rather have between Netto and Jackson Holiday? I think I'd rather have Holiday. I do like Netto, but it feels like there's a cap on how high the ceiling can be. Like, it's a pretty quiet 2020 pace,

in large part because he's on pace for, I don't know, 75 runs and 75 RBI in a pretty mediocre Angels lineup. Doesn't seem like it's going to be getting much better. So while I do like, Netto, and I don't want to drop him. I would take the chance on Jackson Hollidays outside. Yeah.

What about Brandon Lau, who since the start of June, he's looked like himself. He's hitting for a bunch of power, pretty much playing against lefties. So I looked this one up the other day because I wanted to see he's, he is playing against some lefties. Some lefties. His numbers against lefties this year are actually better against Fridays. Yeah. He has started 35 out of. it looks like 47 or 48 games.

So not quite every day. Since the start of, that's just since the start of June. That's what you mentioned. Since the start of July, did he start today? I am not entirely sure, but I could pull it up.

If he did, then it's 19 out of 23 games. So that's a lot better. That might just depend on how much power you need. Because we know Lowe is a standout there. Lao. Holiday, I think, is unlikely to be a standout in power, and you're just kind of hoping that the overall profile clicks.

And last name, Jackson Holiday versus Xavier Edwards, who stole another base on Tuesday. Yeah, he did. Boy, this is not how my rankings look at all. So I think tomorrow I'm going to have some tough decisions to make, because I kind of want to say Edwards. I think the things you're hoping for, from Jackson Holiday, right?

Like some speed, a really good batting average. I think Xavier Edwards might be able to give you that. Holiday should hit for more power, obviously in a much better lineup, but he's going to have a worse spot in that lineup. That's one thing to keep in mind is there are going to be more runs in opportunity, more runs in RBI in the Orioles lineup, but Edwards hitting leadoff is going to get more plate appearances than Holiday. So that probably comes down to how badly I need steals.

Because Edwards has, what, nine already in like 30 something games? That's going to be hard to replace. Yeah, I think it's circumstantial. If you play in a Categories league and you need speed, I think it's a no-brainer to go with Edwards. If you play even in a points league and you just need production right this second, I would rather start Xavier Edwards if, you know, he's just on your bench and you're looking to stash for upside and you just,

you are, you want the highest upside player? I think Holiday has more upside. So yeah, it just probably just comes down to the circumstances of your fantasy team. Mike Trout had another setback and is being re-evaluated when asked if Trout could return this season. Angels GM Perry Manassian said, quote, we'll see. Not so sure. We mentioned this on our trade deadline recap. Christian Walker was placed on the aisle with a strain left oblique.

He's expected to miss about three weeks. He'll replaced by Josh Bell, who was acquired on Tuesday. apparently the Yankees backed out of a Jack Flaredi deal due to medical concerns, and this is a good call by you, Chris. Again, you brought that one up on our deadline recap, the fact that he went for so much less in a deal to the Dodgers than what it cost you say Kikuchi to go to the Astros. And so the only thing that it could have been is the medicals, right?

We know Flaherty has an extensive injury history, and it sounds like the Yankees backed out of a deal because of that. So hopefully Flaherty can hold up with a deal. Dodgers because it's a great situation. The thing to keep in mind is there is not some independent arbiter that is deciding this guy's healthy and that guy's not when a player gets traded, right? It's the team looking at the players medicals when the other team sends them and deciding on their own and look, there's probably not a pitcher in baseball who if they have

an MRI on their arm, obviously, but any part of their body. really. It's not going to show something that you could get scared of, right? These are professional athletes. What they're doing is very difficult on their bodies. It could be nothing or it could be the Yankees being especially cautious after the Frankie Monta situation a couple of years ago. Or it could just be like, you know, if we're going to be skeptical about the Garrett Cole stuff, you know, then I don't think it's unreasonable to follow that with, well, maybe the Yankee Yankee's training staff just isn't great. And they're overreacting to something that another medical staff wouldn't get.

So I don't think this should change how you feel about Jack Flaherty. Like, oh, there's something in his back. Yeah, we knew that. He missed a start and had two injections in his back. Like that kind of goes without saying here. So at least from our perspective where, I mean, I guess maybe you take a dollar off your only bid for Jack Flaherty. But as in that, it doesn't change how I view him.

rest of season. It's mostly house money, right? Where you got Jack Flaherty? Yeah. I understand that people are relying on him at this point, so I don't want to downplay that, but you got him really late in your draft or you picked him up as a free agent early on in the season. And so you've been playing with House Money for someone who's performed like a top

20 starting pitcher up to this point. So hopefully you can stay healthy. And if he does, I think he will perform quite well with the Dodgers. That is Jack Flaherty. Josh Young was in the Rangers lineup on Tuesday, batting seventh. He was activated Monday but was not in the lineup. Not exactly sure why. Francisco Alvarez has missed two straight with left shoulder soreness.

Mason Miller threw a bullpen session. He's on the IL with a fractured finger on his non-throwing hand. Lane Thomas made his Guardian's debut, batting second in the lineup. Pretty awesome spot there between Stephen Kwan and Jose Ramirez. Eric Fetty will make his Cardinals debut Friday against the Cubs. Esoc Paratus made his Cubs debut, batting fifth, playing third base. He went 0 for 4. Christopher Morel made his raise debut.

He was batting third playing second base. He went one for four with his 19th home run. And Morel currently has third base in outfield. So if he plays second base consistently, he will pick up that eligibility as well. Welcome back to St. Louis, Tommy Fam. He appeared as a pinch hitter and he launched a grand slam. Good for him. Miguel Vargas also made his debut with the White Sox.

He was batting second as the DH. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in that one. Starly Marte hopes to start a rehab assignment as soon as next week. He's been out since June 25th with a right knee bone bruise. Evan Carter is not expected to play again during the regular season. He's been out since late May with a lumbar sprain. And some news for next year, hopefully nothing changes. But Braves President Alex Anthopoulos told reporters that Ronald Acuna is likely to be ready for opening day.

he had surgery to repair a torn ACL back in early June. Let's talk some Waverwire pitchers, and we already mentioned Sean Mania, but Gavin Williams had a strong start at the Tigers. He threw five shutout innings with eight strikeouts, had 16 whiffs on 90 pitches, 12 of those on the fastball, which looked really good, and last two starts have both looked great for Gavin Williams,

both also against the Detroit Tigers. Lance Lynn, solid up against the Rangers, five innings, one run with three strikeouts, and Michael Waka turned. in a strong start at the White Sox. Seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts. Only had seven whiffs on 89 pitches, but we are now going on almost three months

where Michael Waka has a 256 ERA and a 107 whip over his last 12 starts. Chris, how would you rank Waka, Lynn, Sean Mania, and Gavin Williams? So one thing to keep in mind, and it's enough to drop. I mean, I think Lynn might have been the bottom either way, but he had a knee issue in this one that he mentioned, uh, that they

don't know the severity of. He's going to get tested on Wednesday, but he pitched through that. So yeah, I'm not particularly interested in, uh, Lance Lynn anyway, but his velocity is way down. Yeah, the fact that he's hurt right now makes it a lot easier to just ignore him. I would probably go Williams Waka, Mania Lynn, but if I needed someone, to start right now. I might be okay prioritizing Waka over Williams. He doesn't have as much upside, certainly, especially as a strikeout pitcher.

But we haven't seen a lot of reason to believe that Gavin Williams has a lot of strikeout upside this season. The last two starts have been very good, obviously. But I'm mostly referring to the lack of whiffs here. The fastball was really good, 12 whiffs on 32 pitches. he had four whiffs on his other three pitches. He only threw his change up two times. The slider still doesn't look right.

It still doesn't look like it did last year at least. I think we talked a lot in his early start about him throwing a cutter. And I'm wondering if that was just a classification error because he's just throwing his slider now, but it's harder. It's about three miles an hour up from last season. And it's not getting near the same amount of whiffs that it did last season. And so, you know, he threw 90 pitches to get through five innings today. Part of that makes me think, well, this is a guy who doesn't have multiple swing and miss pitches. And while the stuff is good and you can get through lineups consistently without it, it's going to be more difficult.

So I don't think I'm ready to trust Gavin Williams just yet. And Spencer Schwellenbach, who we spoke about over the weekend, he is very clearly at the top of this list, right? Yeah, I would prioritize him. What about somebody like Hayden Birdsong? Hmm. Yeah, that's one that we have seen the swing and miss with the non-fastballs, especially recently. I think I would put Hayden Burnsong below Shwellenbach,

but ahead of the Tuesday night guys. All right. What about some names in deeper leagues? Do any of these matter for fantasy? JP Sears was awesome at the Giants. He threw seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts had 14 whiffs on 95. pitches. Ryan Nelson, great up against the Nationals through seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts last in July, excuse me, six games, five starts for Nelson, 241 ERA, a point 96 whip.

Jonathan Cannon, a strong start up against the Royals, seven innings, one hit, one run, three walks to two strikeouts. I don't think he's good, but he's had some randomly good starts like this over the season. It could just be a, that's baseball kind of thing. Yeah, it's happened like three or four times now with Canon where every time it happens, I go in and I look and I'm like, is there something, there just doesn't really seem to be anything there. So I think you,

you look at the overall numbers and while there have been those, those, you know, what, three different starts, four different starts with seven plus innings and one or fewer runs, but it's like 433 FIP, 447 X FIP,

less than 6K per 9. I don't see much reason to buy into Jonathan Cannon. Yep. And the last name on this list was Bryce Elder, who had a strong start at the Brewers. Six and a third, one run, seven strikeouts, had 13 whiffs on 91 pitches. And the velocity was up across the board. Sinker up 1.3. The slider up 1.2 miles per hour.

Chris, do any of those other names matter in deeper leagues? Bryce Elder, Ryan Nelson, and J.P. Sears. So J.P. Sears gets the White Sox next week. Yeah. I think you can stream J.P. Sears next week. I don't think any of these guys, even in like a 15 team, like in the 15 team league I'm in, I don't think I would be all that interested in adding any of these guys

unless they had a good matchup. So like Sears has the White Sox next week, I think he'd be pretty useful in that situation. Ryan Nelson has the Guardians. I think I'm avoiding that one. I know he's had a couple of good starts lately. I think it's what? Two of his last four with nine strikeouts,

or two of his last three, something like that. I just don't see anything in the swinging strikes. Yeah, that's, yeah. I don't see the underlying skill set to support a strikeout breakout. And the overall numbers just aren't particularly impressive. So I think Nelson's a pretty easy fade. Let's talk about Jeffrey Springs, who was not great in his debut, up against the Marlins, three and two-thirds innings, six hits, two runs,

three strikeouts. He did have 10 whiffs on 76 pitches. That's a 13.2. swinging strike rate. He led with the change-up, which is typically his best pitch. But the velocity down quite a bit. Springs doesn't rely on a lot of velocity, but his fastball was down 1.8 miles per hour.

He averaged just under 90 with that pitch. The slider was down 2.1 miles per hour. So I think he can build up. We've seen this with a lot of the pitchers that have returned from injury, that it's taken some time. Some of them haven't even gotten back on track yet. someone like Gerrick Cole, who we were expecting much more from. But the velocity being down coming off an elbow injury, Chris, it's kind of concerning here for Jeffrey Springs.

Yeah, it's a concern. You know, he was decent but not great on his minor league rehab assignment. And remember, Jeffrey Springs is not someone with a super long track record of high level production. He was quite good in 2022, but he wasn't an ace. And then in 2023, obviously, he looked really good for three starts. So, you know, coming off the elbow surgery, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here. But the velocity being down almost two miles per hour as a concern makes me worried that he's not going to be able to recapture that upside. And this is a situation where, you know, we had kind of been grouping him with Clayton Kershaw and Robbie Ray. And was there another pitcher that we were throwing in there?

Clayton Kirshaw, Robbie Ray well, Kodai Senga. Kodai Senga, that was the other one. That makes sense that he's off the mind now. Rested piece of the calf. Ray and Kershaw, I think, have shown us more reasons to be optimistic. So I will easily rank

them ahead of Springs. And, you know, he's got a like this is about a soft Atlantic spot as you could ask for, right? Not just against the Marlins, but against the gutted if you can't. and got what has been left of the Marlins this year with, you know, like three major league

quality caliber hitters. You want to see more from Jeffrey Springs than this. So definitely a disappointing start. If you've been stashing Jeffrey Springs, I probably wouldn't want to drop them just because you've been holding on to him. But decisions have to be made, right? If someone like Spencer Schwellenbach is out there, I would make that swap. Yeah.

What about Springs versus Birdson? song. Hmm. I think I'd go with Bert Song now that he's pretty much guaranteed a rotation spot. Yeah.

What about Springs versus Gavin Williams? That's a little tougher. I think they're in similar spots. Williams has shown more, but he's had more

opportunities to show more. Remember, after his first start, there was a lot of pessimism and he's kind of slowly rebounded since. So I think I

gosh, I think I would go with Williams. I think so too. But it's close. It's really close. Like his velocity is not just back. It's up. Yeah. Back from that elbow injury. So, you know, while we have our nitpicks, the slider, especially, that's a positive sign overall. Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll talk some waiver wire hitters. Some others who are very hot right now. We'll do that right after this.

Welcome back in. Let's talk some waiver wire hitters. We already spoke about Jake Berger earlier in the show. let's talk about Jorge Polanco, who is hot all of a sudden for the Mariners, two for four with a walk, a homer, three runs, two RBI. Last nine games, he's betting 294 with five homers and one steal. The overall number is still not great, and he's dealt with lots of injuries over the past couple of years. There still might be a player there somewhere with Jorge Polanco. He's 30% rostered.

Very clearly he doesn't compare to like the Tyler Fitzgeralds and the Xavier Edwards, but if you get into a deeper league, Chris, and Jorge Polanco is out there, where does he stack up against Connor Norby or Gavin Lux, who's been hot lately? I would say ahead of Lux, who has shown

remarkably little at the major league level prior to the last like three weeks, really. Norby, I mean, I guess you'd have to prioritize Polanco just because we don't know if Norby is reporting to the Marlins or if he's going to triple So if you need the help right now, Polanco is more likely to give it to you. If we find out Wednesday morning,

yeah, Wednesday morning, that Connor Norby is going to join the Marlins and be part of their squad moving forward. I think I'd rather take the chance on the younger player than Polanco, who even if he bounces back here and keeps this up, I think we can say pretty confidently that,

like, going to be a huge upside. He's not going to, he's not going to sustain the 294, five homers over the last nine games pace. Yeah. What about Miguel Vargas, who should play every day for the White Sox moving forward. Would you rather take a shot on Vargas or Polanco in a deeper league? Man, Vargas is tough, right? Because he's 24, I think, so he's not that old. I think he's actually the same age as Connor Norby. He really hasn't shown very much at the major league level. It's a sub-700 OPS over 400-ish plate appearances,

but my only track record is still really strong. Consistently throughout his time at AAA, especially, he has been like a 900 OPS bat. So I think I would rather take the chance on the upside there than, you know, again, Polanco, we kind of know what he is in a best case scenario. Two names in five outfielder leagues, Victor Robles, the guy stayed hot, two for five with a steel and three runs scored.

In July, 373 batting average, two homers, seven steals, and OPS over a thousand. And Victor Robles has led off five in a row for the Mariners. Austin Hayes had a big game with his new team, the Phillies, two for four with a sock and a shoe, his fourth home run, his second steal. And he has started all four games since joining the Phillies. He also has been batting towards the back end of the Phillies. the lineup. Chris, in five out for the leagues, who would rather take a shot on Victor Robles or Austin Hayes? It's entirely league dependent, right? It's what you need. What, like, I think

Victor Robles at the very least is going to give you steals. That might, maybe probably, will be the only thing he gives you. But I will point out, over the past 100 played appearances, he has a 351 X Wobah. He has, I believe, by far the best batted ball metrics of his career, Victor Robles does. 8% 11.1.1.1.1% barrel rate this season for Victor Robles. That's like a legitimately well above average mark. That's like a 70th percentile mark. 33.8% hard hit rate is a career high. 88.7 miles per hour average. XIVa velocity is a career high. I don't know what it is. I think it's probably nothing. I think it's probably nothing. I think it's

probably just a random hot streak, but there is something there. And it's enough given that I feel confident he's going to steal bases that I'm, I actually think Victor Robles is is worth picking up in categories leagues. Yeah, I think so too. Between these two, like, if you need speed, it's a no-brainer for Robles. If it's just in a vacuum, who do I think will be better rest of season. I think I still have a little bit more faith in Austin Hayes. We saw him be a solid player last year and while he's batting towards the bottom of the lineup, it's one of the best lineups in baseball with the Phillies. So yeah, it is close. It's become a lot closer, but yeah, I would take the shot on Austin Hayes just in a vacuum between those two. Hitters who have been

hot for quite some time. We have one, two, three, four, four names on the list. Austin Riley has been much better. Four for five with a run and an RBI last 39 games. He is batting 315 with 11 home runs in OPS over a thousand. Yainer Diaz has been crushing it for the Astros 4 for 4 with his 10th home run

and since the start of June if you remember right around then he got benched for a couple days as like a mental break and since he's come back after that he's just been awesome. 345 7 home runs 35 RBI and OPS over 850 during that stretch

Mani Machado, two for four with a double dong here on Tuesday. Last 34 games for him, 301 batting average, 10 home runs and OPS approaching 900. And Lawrence Butler will not stop. Just having a bonger's July, 2 for 5 with his 12th home run. Another homer off of a lefty, by the way. This one came off of Robbie Ray. I will get the updated July numbers.

But I guess for the first three, Chris, do you think Riley Diaz and Machado are just back on track, not that DS has the longest track record, and I don't know, every day that goes by, like, are you just buying in more on Lawrence Butler's maybe being a stud? I don't know.

A stud is probably overstating it. You know, like if I'm going to be intellectually consistent, I've been very skeptical of jerks and profar, who has been good for much longer than Lawrence Butler has. So,

you know, I I don't want to make the mistake of giving Lawrence Butler credit for not having a major league track record before this, the way Jerks and ProFar does. I think it's still reasonable to approach it with skepticism. That being said, Lawrence Butler probably not 100% rostered yet. I think what he's shown over the last month or so, he absolutely has to be. The underlying skill set, there's very, very, very good skills there. He hits the ball really hard. he's a good athlete.

Maybe he's just figuring it out. You know, the AAA numbers were good as well. He's not that old. So I do think Butler is worth betting on. Riley and Machado, yeah. I never really worried about Riley. Machado, he had the elbow thing coming off the surgery. So I was a little concerned about that.

But this has been going on long enough that it's clear that either he just got off to a slow start because of the elbow surgery or if it was just a random slump. But either way, I think he's back. And then Diaz, like you said, not a long sample size with this, but we're now talking about half of this season and all of last season, where Yainer Diaz has been a very good hitter. He's not going to hit 345, but the 20 homer pace that he's on in this stretch, if he hits 275, 285, obviously that's a must start catcher.

I think that's what Yonner Diaz is. And what helps is he bats cleanup for the. I mean, this is one of the best lineups in baseball. And yeah, we have a catcher batting right there in the middle. So the counting stats should be there. The batting average is good. And, you know, he's up to 10 home runs now. It wouldn't surprise me if, I don't know, we get up to 16 to 18 by the end of the season, something like that.

XBA's 297. Like, look, last year, if you looked at the underlying numbers, he looked like Salvador Perez. Yeah. Like peak Salvador Perez. Okay, he's probably not that. The quality of contact metrics significantly worse than they were last season. he's not hitting the ball. Actually, the hard hit rate is higher.

It's just the barrel rate. He's not getting as much optimal contact. But for as aggressive as he is, he does not swing and miss very much. He shares that with Salvador Perez. He's got plus power. Yeah, I think he's just a note. You don't have to think about it. Surefire must start catcher.

The updated numbers, by the way, for Lawrence Butler in July, 379 batting average, 10 homers, six doubles, two triples, 23 runs, 27 RBI, four steals, a 1265 OPS. He is up to 84% rostered on CBS and 79% on Yahoo. So he's getting up there. Should be 100% in all formats,

even points just in case, right? Like points will be his worst format, but the way he's hitting right now, if it's at all real, it won't matter. Yeah, again, that is Lawrence Butler. One hitter that's actually cooled off in July, Wyatt Langford. You remember he had that huge June.

He has taken a step back here. One for four, hit his sixth home run here on Tuesday. But the updated July number is 225 with one homer, two steals, 630 OPS. I dug in a little bit. He's still hitting the ball hard in July. Lots of line drives. He's pulling the ball. For some reason, it hasn't translated to barrels.

I think there's enough underlying here in the month that I would bet on Lankford having some good stretches over the final two months of the season but it is just frustrating that the helium got out of control he had that big June we thought all right this is it, it's happening

and then boom July comes and he's kind of regressed the other way that is why at Lankford in a vacuum Chris who would you rather have Langford or Lawrence Butler rest of season? I would feel worse about losing Lankford and him going off, I guess is the way, the cowardly way that I will answer

that question. All right. So with hitters heating up, that means we do have pitchers who are struggling. And that has been the case for most of July. But Max Scherzer here on Tuesday was not very good at the Cardinals. Well, let me not say that. It was a mixed start. The results were not good. Four winnings, three runs. But he had five strikeouts. He had 17 whiffs on 68 pitches, a 25% swinging strike rate, so yeah, we'll go with mixed start from Max Scher. Chris Bassett has been struggling. At the Orioles, four innings, five runs aloud,

and over his last five starts in July, 701, ERA, a 175 whip for Chris Bassett. Justin Steele has struggled over his last three starts. This one at the Reds, five innings, five runs, four walks to seven strikeouts. Oddly enough, control hasn't been there last two, starts. He has seven walks. And last three starts overall, it's a 720 ERA and a two whip on the nose.

And Robbie Ray struggled with that juggernaut of a lineup, known as the Oakland A's, four and a third, seven hits, four runs allowed, three walks, three homers allowed, still had 11 whiffs. Velocity was down a little bit compared to his first start, but still up compared to where he was at last year. But anything that stood out here, Chris, the struggles from Robbie Ray, Steele, Chris Bassett, Mexcherzer. So I'll start with Basset and Steel because I think they're the least interesting. You know, with Steel, like we've seen the highs have been so high and the lows have been so low this

season and you add it all up. And he's got a 330A and a 1.1.1 whip. So it's one of those ones where it's like it's been a little frustrating along the way, right? Like he had that nine start stretch with a 1-5 ERA. Yep. And then he follows that up with three starts with, you know, two of them have been really bad, including this one. I don't really think there's anything there. And then Bassett, I don't know, we see these stretches like him pretty regularly,

and then he tends to figure it out. And there doesn't seem to be a good explanation for why the good stretches happen and why the bad stretches happen. So I tend to just assume he'll figure it out. Scherzer yet again after this start this is becoming like a recurring theme this is like the third or fourth time

complained of arm fatigue and that that is why he only made 68 pitches presumably that is why he was not all that effective this has happened several times now this season and it might just be that he's 40 yeah like not to put too fine a point on it but it might just be that He's 40 and he can't handle the rigors of starting every five days at the major league level.

Unfortunate, but I'm at the point now with Max Scherzer where I'm kind of viewing it as anything I get from him. The rest of the way is a bonus. And I can't build him into my mental model as a core part of my team. I'm not dropping him, but that's where I'm out on him. And then Ray, frustrating velocity was down after his first start. I didn't watch this, but what I noticed in the first start was he couldn't throw the breaking balls early on. And it took him a while to find the feel for them.

And the fact that he threw 65% fastballs in this one makes me think that it was something similar. And he just didn't find the slider and curveball this time out. The slider actually was in the strike zone like 55% of the time. The curve ball was like 27% of the time. I don't necessarily know if he wants to throw either of those pitches in the strike zone very often, but probably somewhere between 55 and 27 percent is where he'd want to land with both of those. So that just suggests that he didn't have it today. And maybe he's not quite ready to be the must-start guy that you hoped he would be after a very promising debut.

But my overall level of enthusiasm for Ray hasn't changed much. I was surprised that he came back out for the fifth inning. I believe he was up to 82 pitches through four. Obviously, was not efficient. But in his second start back, you know, they pushed him back out there. And he gave up another two-run homer in the fifth inning. So it made the line look worse. Not that it was good beforehand.

But obviously that did Robbie Ray in a little bit more in this start. Max Scherzer just wanted to mention he 73% started on CBS. And what's tough is he's a two-star pitcher for next week. So you might just automatically think, Oh, he's Max Scherzer, I got to start him. He gets the Astros and at the Yankees. I mean, Bassett's kind of in a similar spot next week where he's got Baltimore and Sunday, Oakland

looks like a matchup that you're at least a little wary of. Yeah, I don't think either one is a must start. Well, and this is challenging a truism that I think the FBT podcast has held for a long time, which is if you can't start a guy, if you aren't going to start a guy in a two-star week, are they must roster? I would say Max Scher and Chris Bassett are both must roster.

But I think it's a conversation worth having. And I feel it more with Scherzer than Bassett. I feel more confident that Bassett will bounce back and be a reliable starter than Scherzer. Scherzer's upside is higher. But it's been a while since we've, seen the must start version of Max Scherzer and it just still doesn't seem like he's physically there and may never be. Yeah. Again, he's 40. I have questions on both, man. Chris Bassett, he's 35

years old as well. So no spring chicken, the walks have been a big problem for him this year and consistently. That's the biggest thing. 3.5 walks per nine. His swinging strike rate is, if not a career low, it's close to it. So there's more balls in play. He's giving up more line drive so it's led to more hits plus the walks. The whip is massive. Obviously it's just led to more runners on base and scoring. So yeah, I just, I don't know that Chris Bassett will definitely come out of this like he has in previous year. Is it, you know, the endings just might be adding up here a little bit for Chris Bassett. Some other pitching leftovers from Tuesday, Corbyn Burns, a quality start up against the Blue Jays, six and two thirds, two runs with seven strikeouts. Luis Castillo,

a quality start at the Red Sox, six innings, three runs with four strikeouts, and Tyler Glassnow, a strong start at the Padres, wasted in a game that the Dodgers were up five-zip. They actually wound up losing that game. Seven innings, three runs, eight strikeouts, 14 whiffs on 102 pitches. Chris, anything to add on Glassnow, Castillo, and Corbin Burns. So for the newsletter, I always do like a standout section where I write about the most notable performances from the previous. day. And I haven't finished writing it, but I didn't include any of these three guys on the list because they all basically did what, like, they weren't perfect, but you can't complain

about any of these starts. Castillo, it just, the strikeouts still aren't there. Four and six innings today, nine whiffs on 10 pitches. It just hasn't quite been there. He reworked the slider, but that doesn't really seem to have fixed the issue. I don't quite have. I don't quite have a good explanation for it. And overall, the numbers are still mostly what you hoped for, especially when you factor in the volume that he gives. But it's been, it's been frustrating to have Luis Castillo on your team, even though he's, you know, still a top 20 starting pitcher for me.

Yeah. Someone who is drafted as a top five to seven starting pitcher coming into the season. I remember heading into my Tout Wars draft. I actually had two names written down that I wanted as my ace. Either Luis Castillo or Zach Wheeler. Well, I got Luis Castillo. So that did not work out exactly how I had hoped. Yeah, I think at this point, it's not to the same level as someone like Kevin Gosman,

but I think my mindset, my expectations for Castillo, they've just changed. Like, I don't expect SP1 outcome anymore. I think he's more of a pretty clear SP2. The fastball velocity is down one mile per hour. and I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but for someone like Castillo who relies on getting whiffs with his fastball, I think it does matter for him. Among starters last season,

Luis Castillo was, I think by far the standout and whiff rate with his fastball. It was like 34%, which is really, really high for a fastball. So, yeah, I like, I still have him as a top 12 starting pitcher,

but it's behind Logan Gilbert and George Kirby, and I do feel like there's, probably a tier drop there where Castillo is closer to the Pablo Lopez, Zach Gallin types than to the guys ahead of him. Yeah, it's, it just feels like there's no starting pitcher that deserves to jump up into that next tier, right? It's, Freddie Peralta has not had a great year.

I would feel fine ranking Pablo Lopez ahead of Luis Castillo. But I think that's okay. I wish I felt better about it. Yeah. I got I'm looking at could you do show dey monaga I think you can make a case for it yeah but I haven't done it yet

um Joe Ryan has slowed down a little bit like sunny gray is struggling in his own ways Zach Allen has had some weird results lately Logan Webb has been pretty bad for a while it's like yeah outside of that top

11 it feels a little globy yeah Yeah, 11 ends with Aaronola, have C's just ahead of him, Gilbert Kirby. I feel really good about all of those. I feel like the top 11 in some, like,

if you want to have, you know, sale number one or scoble number one or whatever, like whatever order, I think there's a top like six and then the next five guys, I think you can put in pretty much any order. And I wouldn't really argue with it. And you make a case for Dylan C's, belonging in that top six too.

But then outside of that, like, for me, it's Logan Gilbert at 11, where I feel really, really good about him. It definitely feels like there's a drop off after that. 100%. Yeah, all the names you mentioned, I'm looking up and down. Logan Webb has had his struggles, Gallin his struggles. Then you get into Justin Steele has struggled recently. Flarrity's got the back. Grayson Rodriguez, Garrett Cole. Yeah, it's just tough to find someone Like, you know what's crazy, Chris? Let's move Blake Snell into the top 12. It might be Hunter Green.

It actually might be Hunter Green, which is great. This is the problem. I wasn't on the most recent podcast, I think, when we talked about Hunter Green. I wish I had a better explanation for why he's been so good this year. Like, the explanation is that he's gotten much better results on balls and play. Time to eat. Time to eat. But why?

Like if you look into the location data, which pitcher list has really great location data on their picture pages, and like he's throwing middle middle about as often as he did last season. Like his locations haven't changed that much. And so like my thought is, well, the command's gotten better, but I don't know if that's true. He's throwing the splitter 5% of the time. Like if I had a better explanation. for why Hunter Green has been so good, I think I would be willing to make that aggressive move.

But like, I don't have that. And maybe I don't need that. Maybe it should just be Hunter Green. Maybe it should be Blake Snell after three good starts. Like, maybe. I don't know. But it's, um, Michael King's been a stud for like two months.

Yeah. Like I probably have him ranked way too low. He's 39 for me. Bailey Ober is 38. Those guys are probably way too low. All right. We're making moves here on Wednesday, Chris. But it feels, but it definitely feels like we're back to the glob.

Yeah. I thought we had escaped it. I agree. But like it's a better glob. I don't know, man. The way the ball is flying out in July, I don't know. Last year, it felt like nobody was good. Like, my concern is not that Zach Gallen is bad or that Sunny Gray is bad or

whoever you want to pick. It's just that they don't. feel like a number, like a top 12 starting pitcher. And that's what they would have to be to leap frog Luis Castillo, who also doesn't feel like a top 12 pitcher. Exactly. Yep. I think that's right.

Some hitting leftovers, Anthony Santander continues to destroy baseballs. He has eight home runs in his past 12 games. He's up to 31 on the season. Welcome back to Cody Bellinger, who went two for four with his 10th home run and two RBI. Raphael Divers had himself a huge game, three for five, with his 20. 24th home run added 4 RBI, now batting over 300 with a 981 OPS on the season. Kind of quietly having his best season? Yeah, I think in terms of batting average in OPS, I think this is...

Yeah, I don't think he's ever had like a 980 OPS before. He might have had another standout batting average season if I'm... He had a 311 batting average in 2019, but only 32 homers that year. Career high OPS 916. So yeah, this is... by far the best in power and overall production. It's just the batting average, not quite as good. Career high, 94.4 average velocity for Rafi Devers.

I mean, a reminder, he's only 27. For as long as he's been around, he might just be entering his prime. I've said this before. If he played for any other team outside of the Mets, I would probably have his jersey. I am such a fan of Devers. He is just so good. He's so fun to watch, man.

Also, if he played for any other team, he might have like 240 homer seasons because he plays in one of the hardest parks for lefties to hit for power in. Yeah. I don't know that I've shared this. I think I have, though. I saw him, the first year he got called up in September,

I saw him hit a home runoff a Roldest Chapman who was on the Yankees at the time. It was like a chest high, 105 mile per hour fastball. Devers just, took it to the other way, hit it to the opposite field in the Yankee Stadium as like a 21-year-old. And ever since then, I said, this guy's amazing. It was pretty bonkers.

I had a, I had a similar thing recently where I almost bought a Pedro Martinez jersey because he's one of my favorite players ever. And I just, I didn't want to walk around in public with people thinking I'm a Red Sox fan, you know. Yep, we're going to, we're going to like, I don't want, I don't want someone to come up to me and be like, oh, yeah, go socks. I'm like, no, no. Go Pedro. But I root against them all the time otherwise. Get his expose jersey. Why not?

That'd be a good one. Some bullpen updates for the Reds. Alexis Diaz walked one but picked up his 21st save for the Mets. Edwin Diaz recorded the final four outs to via strikeout for his 13th save. For the Yankees, Clay Holmes got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. Can you guess what happened next? He gave up a run on a walk and three hits. Now, this has happened a few times.

this year where he just gives up these little dribblers and sometimes it's out of his control. But part of the problem is that he doesn't get swing and miss. He doesn't get as much as a traditional closer. So there are more balls in play. It's more likely for things like that to happen to Clay Holmes than it is someone else. Watching that game unravel the way it did, all I can think of is like the Yankees are not going to win a World Series with Clay Holmes as their closer. It's just not going to happen. The other thing I will say, at least for our percentage, perspective. This is a fantasy baseball show, not a New York Yankees podcast, is getting out of the trade deadline with the moves that the Yankees made. I don't think anybody's coming for that job.

I will, I think I mentioned this on our, I don't know if I did. Maybe we were talking beforehand. I'll just throw it out there. Louis Heel. I don't think it's crazy. You did mention that. It's possible, but they just haven't, I don't think there's been any public discussion. about him changing his role the way there has been for Gare Crochet. Yeah, no, that's absolutely right. I am, that is 100% speculation on my part. For the Royals, Hunter Harvey got the eighth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up one run on two hits with James MacArthur unavailable.

It was the lefty Sam Long, who got the ninth inning. He struck out two for his first save. For the Angels, Ben Joyce got the eighth inning with a one-run lead, and he went three-up, three-down. Hunter Strickland got the ninth inning with a three-run lead, and then struck out one for his first save. Ron Washington, you know, kind of likes to lean on the veterans.

It wouldn't surprise me if this is just the way they go. I will point out, it's the Rockies, so like who cares what part of the lineup it was, but he did get the eighth inning with a one-run lead with four, five, six coming up. That was Ben Joyce. Ben Joyce.

That's a higher leverage situation than the ninth when they had a three-run lead. So, I would still bet on Ben Joyce getting the next save opportunity for the Angels, but I'll admit that's only because of the quote from Ron Washington early in the week when he said, if Luis Garcia gets traded, Ben Joyce would get, quote, the most of the save opportunities. Maybe this is just not part of the most group. And then for the Dodgers, they continue to search. Blake Trinan got the ninth inning with a two-run lead.

up two solo homers to Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill and the Dodgers would eventually lose in extra innings. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday, and I think this might be one of the worst streaming days of the year, but I'll go with Brian Bejo up against the Mariners, begrudgingly. If you need another one, I could see Kyle Freeland at their angels being okay, but I... That's what I was going to say, Kyle Freeland. These are, Beyo's the only one I would want to consider. And then on Thursday, we only have a five-game slate. So not too much going on here.

Ben lively gets the Orioles. It's a tough matchup. I wish it was a better matchup. I wish Dean Kramer had a better matchup. Yeah. Ryan Feltoner might be the best option, which at the Angels. He's picked. Tells you the quality of the choices the next two days.

He's pitched better lately, but it's gross. I think he's actually decent. Like if he pitched somewhere else besides the Rockies, I think Ryan Feltoner might be like a streamable option at least. Also, can we just talk about how stupid the schedule was this week? 12 games on Monday, 15 on Tuesday when the trade deadline happens, and teams are going to be running out like skeleton crews,

like the Marlins. Yeah. And then only five on Thursday? But they always have, they always have. the Tuesdays are always a full slate. So, I mean, I guess they could have either had to trade deadline on Monday or Thursday and did it that way. Or just don't have the full slate on Tuesday.

I guess, yeah. Like, just play the full slate on Thursday. Like, I get it. I get it. July 4th. So. Yeah, I understand the, but like, it's just, it was dumb. They probably need to push the deadline back a little bit more now that they added extra

playoff teams. because even today, after the deadline, there might be some teams that don't know if they're going for it or not. So it's just, yeah, it's maybe something they consider in the future. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank.

Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.