Fantasy Baseball Today - Evaluating Javier Assad, Michael King Disappointment & Rankings Risers/Fallers! (5/16 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Javier Assad continues to dominate but is it for real (3:05)? ... Michael King tricked us (9:02)! ... The Brewers blasted five home runs off Martin Perez (13:36). ... News (20:05): Gerrit Cole threw 36 pitches on Tuesday. ... We got a pitcher's duel between Andrew Abbott and Brandon Pfaadt (27:40). ... This is your last chance to add J.D. Martinez in shallower leagues (40:13). ... Dylan Cease and Brent Rooker were big rankings risers (49:10) while Paul Goldschmidt and Walker Buehler were fallers. ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:15). 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. Michael King, how could you do this to us? Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, May 16th. I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott White, and today on the show,

we have rankings, risers, and fallers, the Brewers, offense. went off, lots of interesting waiver names, and much more. Let's jump in. We will get to the Brewers' offense in just a bit. Five home runs, they clobbered Martine Perez. But none of those are the players of the day. Scott, we're going in a different direction, sticking in the NL Central, who you got.

Yes. Yes, I'm going with somebody who pitched well from the NL Central, and that is Javier Assad, shut down the Braves lineup over six innings, struck out seven, walked one. only had six whiffs, six swinging strikes on 86 pitches, but that's kind of been the norm for him. He has a swinging strike rate of only about 6.5, bottom of the barrel,

stuff there for Javier Assad. And yet, with his performance at Atlanta, he now has a 149 ERA on the year. I keep waiting for the regression to come, and instead he just keeps delivering good results despite giving up a lot of contact. And I will point out, it's not like he excels in terms of getting weak contact.

It's not like that's the trick he's pulling here. He's kind of middle of the road in terms of average exit velocity. He also tends to allow a lot of fly balls. So when you're not missing bats, you're giving up decent contact, in the air, you would expect that's a recipe for failure and for some trouble with the ERA and not a 149 ERA this deep into the season.

So is it all just good luck? Is it going to come crashing down here for Javier Assad? Well, I'm still not inclined to rank him especially high. But I think he is emblematic of what's going on. across the league. Yes, league trends. We haven't had this conversation much, but you may have heard rumblings elsewhere about how the ball isn't carrying very well. And it certainly seems to be true. Now, obviously, we talk about the juice ball era sometimes. That was roughly 2016 through 2021 and then came the 2022 season two years ago

where home runs became much harder to hit. We were referring to the dead ball that year, the deadened baseball. For a few different, we had a few different reasons for it, MLB tightening up its parameters for how a ball could be, the characteristics on a ball, the specs for how balls are manufactured. and also the humidors being introduced to all the ballparks.

And it just seemed like we were going to enter a year, an era of suppressed offense. That was in 2022. Then 2023, it all seemed kind of fine again in terms of home runs. So we were dismissing it as a one year blip that 2022 season. Well, in that 2022 season, the league home run to fly ball rate was 11.4%. So that's the percentage of fly balls that turned into home runs, 11.4% in the 2022 season, the bad season. Last year, it was up over 12%. And that was pretty close to what we were seeing before 2022.

This year, so yeah, again, 11.4% in 2022. This year, so far, 10.8%. Fly balls are for really as long as anybody, playing fantasy can remember are turning into home runs less. Now, is that going to be something that sustains over the full season? I have my doubts. April is always the worst month for offense in general and home runs and all of that. And as the weather heats up, especially with the effect of humidors being universal now,

it seemed like it amplified that effect in 2022, whereas the weather heated up, we saw home runs increase. And I think that'll happen this year. To what extent I can't really say for sure. I mean, will this end up being a worse home run year than even 2022 was? It may be. Certainly, it's trending that way so far. And if that's the case, then a pitcher like Javier Assad, who doesn't miss a lot of bats

and gives up a lot of fly balls could remain a useful fantasy option all season long, I'm not willing to bet that he will, but I'm open to the idea that. he will. And in fact, a lot of the pitchers that I've talked about to this point, I've referred to it as, oh, he's had good home run luck so far. He's only allowed two home runs or whatever it is. There's a few pitcher in the notes today who I'm inclined to say that about. Maybe it's not just good home run luck. Maybe it's just the league isn't conducive to allowing home runs at a rate we're used to right now. And specifically for Javier Assad, I know you just kind of threw the number out there, but he has only allowed two home runs this season with a 3.8% home run to fly ball ratio.

Last year, that was 12.3% for Javier Assad. Did want to point out that, with the exception of his cutter, I looked into all of his pitches just to see if he's doing anything differently. Not really, but he is getting great results on balls and play so far this season. Javier Assad is, with the exception of that cutter. So I did want to point out he's not getting whiffs, but, you know, he's doing something right with these. pitches and so far he's allowed two earn runs or less in all nine of his starts. Javier Assad down to a 149 ERA and a 103 whip and we will include him in our waiver wire discussion later on, you know, in some shallower leagues. He could be out there in like 10 team leagues,

something like that. 78% rostered is Javier Assad. Might be in line for two starts next week, but again, we will get to that again a little bit later on. My player of the night for all the wrong reason, Scott. Michael King all you can do is laugh. All you can do is laugh, Scott, because if not, you might go crazy trying to figure out. You might cry.

What do you do with Michael King? When do I start this guy? When do I bench this guy? No rhyme or reason. No one has any idea what's going on. Last week, he threw seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts against the Dodgers. And he did that on almost everybody's bench.

This week, he gets the Rockies in San Diego, great match. up, and he gets knocked around. He allowed six earned runs over five in the third innings. He gave up eight hits, still had seven strikeouts, 13 swinging strikes in this one for Michael King. You know, the crazy part, Scott, under the hood in this specific start,

it was actually pretty good. He didn't give up much hard contact, only three hard hits allowed. He had those 13 swinging strikes. You know, he allowed a homer, but he had a 438 bad up against. So I think he was a little bit unlucky in this start, but this has kind of just been the problem all season with Michael King.

It's a 431 ERA. It's a 136 whip. The home run rate is very high. The walks are very high as well so far this season. He's still 91% rostered. He's 74% started. And he might be a two-star pitcher next week at home against the Yankees, revenge game.

And in Cincinnati where obviously the ball flies quite well, what do we do with Michael King next week? Probably just start them in points leagues and sit him everywhere else. I think he risks doing too much harm to your ERA and WIPP in categories leagues, double the damage there potentially with two starts. I don't know. I'm at a loss here. I was pretty much writing off Michael King prior to that awesome start against the Dodgers.

And, well, I wasn't totally back on board after that. I was thinking, okay, maybe I was too quick to write him off. and in fact in the one league where I have him, I started him for this Rocky start, of course. Same. In that Dodger start, the main thing I noticed that was different was the movement on all of his pitches was up,

two to three inches. And so I don't know, I mean, maybe that was just a one-off. He happened to have a great feel. He talked after the game about how his mechanics, he felt like they were in a good place finally. And he gave some reasons why it could be that the movement of his pitches was up.

And then he comes back with this start, and it seems pretty much back to normal. So in a year where not many pitchers are giving up home runs, Michael King has given up the most home runs of any starting pitcher. I know you say he gave up only one in this start, but it's been a contributing factor to his struggles. He's giving up a lot of home runs. He's walking a lot of batters.

there is a lot in his stat line that is just really ugly to the point that it's it's kind of to his credit he only has a 431 ERA and 136 whip but I don't have a lot of trust in him right now I'd say sell high but I don't know I don't know just you're selling on name value basically in the fact that he dominated the Dodgers two years ago because I don't think last week to start or yeah let it's pretty you start. Yeah.

You know, in shallower leagues where you're looking for a pitcher to pick up, I'd be willing to drop King if there was somebody interesting enough. Who did we talk about yesterday? Reese Olson, yeah, I dropped Michael King for Reese Olson. Would you do it for Javier Assad if he was still out there? How available is Assad? He's 78%. So.

Yeah, I'm sure I have him ranked lower than King. So probably not. But in the shallow league where the consequences for that are low, you know, the consequences for giving up King aren't that big of a deal because there are constantly new pitcher options emerging on the waiver wire. I don't, I'm not going to tell somebody they can't. I think they're close enough in the rankings that I wouldn't have a problem with it. All right.

Again, that was Michael King, who led us down in a big way. I agree. In a Categories League, I know it's a revenge game against the Yankees next week, yada, two-star pitcher. but I don't think I could risk the ratios the way that Michael King has pitched so far this season. I want to give an honorable mention to that Brewer's offense, they blasted five home runs as a team.

William Contreras went three for five with his sixth home run. He added four RBI. This stat line, Scott, is unbelievable for a catcher. He is batting 359 with six homers, 39 run scored 34 RBI, three steals a 987 OPS. William Contreras,

entered Wednesday as the ninth overall player in Roto, according to the CBS, you know, scoring system, algorithm, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't matter. Like, top 10 player right now is a catcher. It's William Contreras has been amazing. Jackson Trio, one day after we throw him on the dropometer, a much needed two for four with his fifth home run.

It was a monster homer, 107.8 exit velocity, 441 feet. Slugger. That's right, Slugger. Sal Freelick, three for four, with his second home run in as many days, he is now batting 257. You know, maybe he's tweaked something, figured something out a little bit, could tap into the power a little bit more. That's what we've seen in the past couple days from Sal Freelich.

Two names that could be out there in deeper leagues, Scott, you tell me if you have any interest in either one of these. Joey Ortiz went one for two with two walks and his fourth home run. He has started six of the past seven games. He's batting 277 with an 895 OPS. He's walking a ton. 14% walk rate for Joey Ortiz. He profiles that someone that would play well in like a deeper OBP league.

I just don't know how likely those are or how many people actually plan those. And then Gary Sanchez went two for five. With his sixth home run, he is batting 243 with an 844 OPS, has started six of the past 10 games. And this is another one, deeper two catcher leagues. But any interest in a Joey Ortiz or Gary Sanchez, what they're doing right now? I think more so Ortiz. if you're in the kind of league where Sanchez is of value,

then you probably know it's probably a deep two-catcher league. And that's, if he's worth picking up, it's pretty clear he's the best that's available. In Ortiz's case, though, I think we are maybe about to see his fantasy value skyrocket, actually, if he gets in the lineup more consistently, because that has been my biggest objection to him, all along is that it doesn't seem like the brewers are playing them all that regularly.

Well, they've started to play them a little more regularly. In fact, he's started eight of their last 10 games. The slash line is 277, 384, 511. I think everybody would like that. You point out the walk rate, the strikeout rate is very good to. His max exit velocity, which I think is a better indicator of power potential than average exit velocity. Joe Orte's is max exit velocity, 84th percent. The average is a little on the low side, but like he's capable of hitting the ball very hard.

His pull rate is good too, which would set him up for good power production. The problem is Joey Ortiz has a ground ball rate over 50%, which is not so good. But that is like the one knock on his whole batted ball profile. It's just he's putting the ball on the ground too much. And, you know, a hitter can be pretty good in spite of that. and also that could improve with more regular opportunities especially. So there's a lot to like here for Joey Ortiz. Good sprint speed.

I think it's 71st percent. He has only one stolen base so far. But I think if he was playing more consistently, there would be the potential for him to steal some bags too. Dual eligible, second and third base, I think on some sites he might be shortstop eligible too. So if Joey Ortiz is trending toward being an everyday player for the Brewers, then I think he's trending toward.

being certainly a Roto League pickup, and maybe he has the upside to contribute beyond that, too. Who was the poor soul on the other side of this? The pitcher who started for the Pirates, Martin Perez, he allowed nine earned runs over five innings. He gave up all five of the home runs in this outing, 38% rostered. I think we had our fun with Martin Perez, but even if you have them in a deeper league, I think you could probably find somebody with more upside than a Martin Perez.

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Let's take our first break when we return the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in and let's talk news and notes. Garikull through approximately 36 pitches in a bullpen on Tuesday, and he set 89 miles per hour with his fastball, which might sound bad. It's nowhere near where he normally pitches, but pitchers usually throw with less velocity early on in their ramp up, so hopefully he continues to build, and it sounds like if all goes well, maybe about a month from now. We could see Garicol in the middle of June. Trey Turner went through agility drills and fielded grounders on Wednesday. He's less than two weeks removed from that hamstring, hamstring injury.

So perhaps he'll be able to beat the initial six-week timeline. Again, that was Trey Turner. Austin Riley has now missed three straight with left side inflammation. Joe Musgrove threw a light bullpen on Monday, his first time since going on the IL with right elbow inflammation. I did see a follow-up report that he's trying to return this weekend. So if Joe Musgrove bounces back well and the arm, Is all right?

Then we could see him as soon as Sunday. Josh Young played catch on the field Wednesday, his first baseball activity since he had wrist surgery back on April 2nd. Max Scherzer was transferred to the 60-day IL. He's been dealing with a thumb injury that will now keep him out until June at the earliest. Nick Lodolo was randomly placed in the IL with a left groin train. The hope is he'll only require the minimum 15 days. Lane Thomas ran the bases on Wednesday.

his first time doing so since being diagnosed with a grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee. Nico Horner has missed two straight with left hamstring tightness. Ronell Blanco will not appeal his 10-game suspension, which began here on Wednesday. Rinaldo Lopez, who left his last start with back tightness, has been cleared to pitch this Sunday against the Padres. The Orioles shook up their lineup against lefty Yusay Kikuchi on Wednesday. Jordan Westberg was moved up to leadoff,

and Gunner Henderson was batting cleanup. Westberg responded by going two for five with his seventh home run. Gunner Henderson, 0 for three, and has struggled quite a bit here in May. J.P. Crawford is likely to rejoin the Mariners this weekend in Baltimore. Ray's manager, Kevin Cash, said Brandon Lowe will rejoin the team in Tampa and will resume swinging the bat before heading out on a rehab assignment. He recently dealt with renewed soreness in his right.

right oblique. DJ LaMayhew is expected to... But he did see a specialist about that renewed soreness, and he was cleared to continue. Like, it seems like it's on the right track, was the specialist's conclusion, and he didn't shut him down from rehabbing further. So it sounds like it's,

it sounds like Brandon Lau is in the clear, though I'd rather him not be feeling any sorenness in there at all. DJ LaMayhew is expected to resume his reaffirm. have assignment on Thursday or Friday. He's missed the entire season with a right foot injury. Scott, are you looking to stash DJ LaMayhew at all? He's 22% rostered. I get a 15-team road league. I could see it. At the time you went down, he was in line to be the Yankees lead-off hitter batting ahead of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. So that alone, you would think, would give him some value. I don't know if he's going to displace Anthony Volpe in that

lead off spot now. I would I would guess not, but it is it is something that we at least have to consider. Tyler McGill will return to the Mets rotation either on Sunday in Miami or Monday in Cleveland. Jose Buto did indeed get the boot oh from the rotation and was optioned back to AAA. Alex Wood was placed on the aisle with left rotator cuff to Denitis and a prospect update junior camer who we're all waiting for, made his first start of the season at second base at AAA on Tuesday, a position he has not played since 2022. Scott, what do you make of this?

Is it just the raise trying to enhance position flexibility for junior Camerro? Or do you think maybe he's been so bad a third that they're just trying to find somewhere where Camerro can just be serviceable? Because at this point, it kind of feels like defense is the reason why he hasn't been called up yet. It's clearly not the bat, in my opinion. I think the reason he hasn't been called up is because they haven't had an opening for him. Let me look at some of the defensive numbers for him in the minors because I haven't heard any reports of bad defense. I saw an article from Mark J. Topkin who covers the team. It was more, I couldn't read it. It was whatever. It was like behind

a paywall or whatever, but the main point or like the headline was that Caminero has been struggling on defense and blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. Yeah, I mean, his fielding percentage is low. That's the only thing I'm able to look up, but that's not good. You don't want your third basement committing errors. I think more it's just the raise way of always trying to get maximum versatility

out of every player. And obviously, if Caminero shows he can handle second base, then that's one, another potential opening for him. I still don't see it happening imminently because... Brandon Lau is about to come back to play second base. And Jonathan Oranda just got activated. He started at second base. So yes, clearly Junior Cominero is blocked at the corners with Isok Peridus and Yondi Pirae

but he's blocked at second base pretty thoroughly too, especially now that everybody's getting healthy. So I don't know what it's going to take. I mean, if Isok Paredes were to get hurt tomorrow, I mean, then I imagine we'll see Cominero get called up. It's always one potential avenue is just an injury to the right player. But I see that as Commoneros only avenue right now. And one last update that I just saw, Jeffrey Springs is beginning a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on May 20th. So yeah, that's coming up at the start of next week.

kind of feels soon. I know he had Tommy John. Actually, I can't confirm that. Was it Tommy John or the other? I know he had elbow surgery. I just don't know if it was actually Tommy John or the other one. I think it was Tommy John. It seems kind of soon, though, because he had it in April of last year.

I mean, typically it's like 12 to 14 months until we see guys, you know, back in Major League action. So it's a little surprising. But would you be... Beginning of rehab assignment when? May 20th. So, like... In four days. You would think you'd rehab for at least a month.

Probably. At least, he's got to go through a whole ramp up. The max is, what, 30 days, right? I think you could do a rehab assignment for? Yeah. Are you looking to stash, Jeffrey Springs? He was awesome last year before he got hurt. Sure.

I just came out with IL stash rankings on Tuesday. I probably should have had him higher because, I mean, late June, that's, you know, only a couple weeks beyond, when we're expecting Garrick Cole and Max Scherzer. Now it's possible Springs to get pushed back as those two have. But the timelines are beginning to sync up, more or less. All right. Again, that is Jeffrey Springs.

Let's get into some of the Waverwire pitchers. And we had a pitcher's duel between Andrew Abbott and Brandon Fott here on Wednesday. Abbott was at the D-backs, seven innings, one run. Four strikeouts had 11 swinging strikes in this one. He's allowed two earned runs or long. less in eight of nine starts, but not really completing six innings all that often. So in leagues with quality starts,

look, Andrew Abbott, he's got a 306 ERA, a 114 whip. The underlying numbers are not buying it, but I will point out, expected ERA, according to Stackcast, really likes Andrew Abbott, and he's a fly ball pitcher. So maybe it goes back to what you were saying, Scott,

about fly balls this year are just not going over the fence as often as they normally are. Yep. Yep, I mean, his expected ERA is below three, yeah. So, and the fly ball rate's very high. The strike rate's very low. Andrew Abbott looks like a pitcher I wouldn't like it all. And yet the stat cast readings do like him.

Now, it could change very quickly. And I want to bring up this point. Sometimes people laugh when I make this point, I guess, because, I don't know, just the unpredictability of it, they find disconcerting. but it is absolutely true that the range of outcomes allowed for a ball's specifications in terms of seam height and weight and all of that. It's fairly wide that range of what's allowed. And all those balls are stitched by hand. So there is going to be a lot of variation within different batches of balls.

And a new batch of balls could enter the – like maybe they've just been a lot of loosely wound balls relatively. speaking so far. And that's why home runs aren't carrying, why fly balls aren't carrying as well. If we get a more tightly wound batch of balls introduced throughout the league, then the ball could start carrying a lot better. And suddenly your investment in Andrew Abbott isn't paying off as nicely anymore. So it's, I hate that it is that way, but it is legitimately that way. And unless MLB is going to crack down harder and how the and what specs for a ball are allowed

or unless they're going to stop having them stitched by hand. I don't know what the alternative is, but they are all stitched by hand. So you have to imagine there's a great deal of variability that comes with that. On the other side of Andrew Abbott was Brandon Fott, who allowed just one run over seven innings. He had nine strikeouts,

just eight swinging strikes on 93. pitches. I noticed that he has turned in four straight quality starts and that the home run rate is down considerably this year. I mean, last year it was a huge problem for Brandon Fought. Over two home runs per nine. This year he is right exactly at one home run per nine doing a better job limiting hard contact and barrels. A 417 ERA doesn't look great. But it's a 336 FIP and a 358 XFIP with great control. So under the hood, Scott, I kind of like what we're seeing from Brandon Fogg. right now. Who would you rather have between these two, Fott or Andrew Abbott? They're kind of in the same class for me in that, you know, I like bat missers.

Brandon Fott got nine strikeouts in this, but he had only eight swinging strikes. That is weird. You don't see that a lot. That is like stuff Mitch Keller does and nobody else, basically. And a lot of people doubt Mitch Keller can continue to do that sort of thing, have more strikeouts than swinging strikes. So I don't have a lot of confidence in Brandon Fott being another exception in that way. I think mostly he dominated because the Reds lineup is struggling that much. I think he could be a useful streamer type, but I think there are going to be some really bad starts for Fatt. And with the exception of this one, the good starts aren't going to be quite good enough to make up for them.

we'll point out that Brandon Fott's XERA was 337 entering the start. 11% swinging strike rate is fine. That's obviously going to go down a little bit after this one. I'm a little bit more hopeful. And between those two, I would take Brandon Fott ahead of Andrew Abbott. I would do. I guess I didn't actually answer the question. But I think they're both like right around 100 than my starting pitcher ranking,

so not must roster by any stretch. I had Brandon Fott at 75 and he is part of a pretty interesting group here from 71 through 76 John Gray, Reese Olson, Taz Bradley, Zach Lattel,

Brandon Fott, and Eric Fetty. Yeah, I have all those others ranked in that same range but not fought. All right, well, some other waiver wire pitchers just check to see if they're out there in shallow leagues. I realize they probably aren't, but this gives us a reason to talk about them.

Brian Wu, 77% rostered. He pitched well against Kansas City. Five in a third innings, one run, five strikeouts, had 13 swinging strikes on 79 pitches. He's doing a lot of what he did last year. He's relying heavily on a four seam and a sinker, like many of the other Mariners pitchers do as well. But so far, so good for Brian Wu, assuming he's healthy.

Tage Bradley was solid at the Red Sox five innings, two runs, six strikeouts, 12 swinging strikes on 83. three pitches. I noticed that the velocity that was way up in his first start, the fastball, not up as much. It was 95.3 miles per hour. In this one, it was 97 in his first outing. And Taj Bradley might be a two-star pitcher next week against the Red Sox and the Royals. We spoke about Javier Assad a little bit earlier. Scott, how would you rank those three? Brian Wu, Taj Bradley, Javier Assad. Woo Bradley Assad. I want to point out for Bradley.

that yes, the velocities weren't up like they were in his first start when I think maybe he had a lot of adrenaline going. But specifically on the cutter and what was it? The cutter and the splitter for Tage Bradley. They were both still up one mile per hour for last year. It was closer to two in that first start, but it was still up one. and looking at the velocities he was reaching in the miners, that cutter especially was up from last year. So it does seem like he's throwing a harder cutter this year,

and maybe that's going to help him. Take a step forward here in year two. Still pretty high on him in terms of upside, Taj Bradley. And that's why I prefer him to Assad, though Assad keeps making me look dumb for the opinions I express about him. This next group of waiver wire pitchers, Casey Mize turned in a quality start against the Marlins,

six innings, two runs, six strikeouts for him. His velocity was down quite a bit in this start between one and a half and two miles per hour on basically all of his pitches, but Casey Mize has allowed two earn runs or less in six of his past seven starts. Getting ground balls, he's doing something right. Robert Gasser pitched well in his second start.

This one was against the Pirates, five innings, one run. Two strikeouts had eight swinging strikes on 82 pitches. And I noticed that he threw, he threw a cutter in this start, Robert Gasser, 17%. Yep. He did not use it in his first start. So just kind of interesting showing us a little bit of a different look there. Alec Marsh pitched well at the Mariners, five innings, two runs.

One of those earned. Seven strikeouts, 16 swinging strikes. Got nine of those on his fastball, which does have a surprisingly high. whiff rate for a it's not like an overpowering fastball but it's doing a great job and griffon canning has now turned in three solid starts in a row he was up against the cardinals six innings one run five strikeouts in this one scott how would you rank this group canning marsh gasser and kacey myes i don't like any of them that much i i guess gasser would be number one just because i'm not really sure who he is yet but i haven't been a lot of whiffs through the first two starts the

The cutter usage that you referred to came mostly at the expense of his sweeper. He went from throwing that sweeper 46% of the time in his first start to I think it was around 25. So the usage cut down on the usage, and it's quite a bit. And it's not like Robert Gasser actually throws gas and has a great fastball. So I think he's going to have to, like the path to success for him is heavy use of the secondaries. And I don't really like the way it trended in the second start. And I'm saying he's my favorite of the group. Alec Marsh, to what extent do you think he can keep preventing home runs?

I think it's just a small sample early season fluke. But maybe the league trends, if they continue, then Alec Marsh can continue to defy expectations in that way. It's just what's your leaning as far as. that goes. My leaning is more normalization across the league and for Alec Marsh especially, so I'm going to remain skeptical of him like I am skeptical of Javier Assad. All right. And then we have two names in deeper leagues. Trevor Rogers pitched well at the Tigers. He threw five shutout with 11 strikeouts. And Austin Gomber, who is still on the Rockies, if you remember, is low-key pitching well. He's got a 302 ERA. He's got a 118.

whip. He was at the Padres. He threw six shutout innings with five strikeouts. Deep League stuff, Scott. Any interest here in Trevor Rogers or Austin Gomber? Not really. I mean, Trevor Rogers had been so awful. Austin Gomber has had stretches like this before, but seems to come crashing down every time. Any pitches for the Rockies anyway? They've had one good fantasy pitcher ever, at least as far as, at least by my standard of what makes a good fantasy pitcher. They've had one good fantasy pitcher ever. Ubalto Jimenez. That's it.

He's back. 130. My goodness. You start making faces and I know before Robo Scott appears. Robo Scott. Robo Scott. The only way, like I'm glad there's a bit now because that's the only way to make this tolerable.

I know. Yeah, Rocky's pitcher stink. The end. Yep, that's the end. Let's take our final break. And when we return, hopefully Scott's connection is better. We'll talk Waverwire hitters and rankings, risers and fallers. We'll do that right after this.

Welcome back in. Let's talk WaverWire hitters, and this is your last reminder to add J.D. Martinez while you still can. Two for five with his second home run, his last seven games, he's betting 321 with both of his homers. He's hitting the ball hard, he's barreling it up, and obviously we know how good J.D. Martinez can be.

He's still only 57% rostered on CBS. Scott, here is a different question, and maybe you want to pull up your out. outfield rankings so you can have a reference point. But some have asked, in leagues where J.D. Martinez still has outfield eligibility, where would he rank in our outfield rankings? And for me, I think it would be in the 40 to 45 range, which is currently Colton Kouser, Wyatt Langford, Jerkson ProFar, Alex Verdugo, and Andy Paez.

So I think right around ProFar and Verdugo, in a points league is where I would have JD Martinez. Oh, at a points league. Yeah. Why are we specifying points league? That's just what I pulled up first. In a categories league, I think it would, yeah, it would still be the same. So I have pro far, Adele, and Brian Dela Cruz as 43, 44, and 45 in Roto slash categories.

And I think I would have JD Martinez, like, right around pro far, probably. So I think our ranges are a little different. Okay. I think I have some of those players higher than you, some a little lower, which makes. makes sense because we're that range of the outfield rankings it just feels like nobody's good you're just kind of you're just kind of guessing who's going to take a step forward yeah I thought you were reacting because my internet was messing no no no I would that was like a disgusted ugh like ranking outfielders there stinks yeah there's a lot of things that stink um I think

I could get them in the top 35 Frank J.D. Martinez is an outfielder It's not crazy. I actually think he's going to be good. A little worried about the strikeouts, but he's J.D. Martinez. Yeah. I totally get that. So there you go. Another reminder to add J.D. Martinez while you still can.

This or that. I've got a couple of players here. Would you rather have this player or that player? And first up, Willie Arbrew, making some noise again. One for four with his fourth home run. He has homered twice in the past five games. he's 62% rostered. Could be out there in some shallower formats.

Brenton Doyle, one for four with his fifth home run. He also has eight steals on the season. And Doyle is 57% rostered. Scott, I know you haven't done your hitter team rankings yet for next week. I think the Rockies are going to be up there because they have three games at Oakland against their pitchers, and then they have three games at home next week. So sounds pretty good for the Rockies.

Who would you rather have? Williare Brayu or Brenton Doyle. You're talking about forever more that you're not talking about for next week, right? Sure. You're saying we're marrying this guy. I'd rather have a brayu in points

and you know what? I'd rather have a brayu either way. I wish he was starting more regularly, but I think he's good and I think he's going to force the issue there with the playing time eventually. This or that? Would you rather Mike Talkman, who went two for five with his fourth home run. He has started 25 straight games for the Cubs.

Or Jordan Beck, who just had his first, the first huge game of his career. He went three for four with his first career home run. He added a double and five RBI has a modest five game hitting streak. He also has a 39% strikeout rate. In five out through the league, Scott, who would you rather have Mike Talkman or Jordan Beck? if I have to start him right now, Talkman, because I don't have any faith in what Beck's going to do tomorrow. I'm glad he finally had a good game. Hopefully there are many more to come. If it's to just have on your bench,

I'll take the upside of Beck, because I don't think there is much upside for Talkman. I like that he's hitting leadoff most of the time for the Cubs. Maybe he can be a run scoring specialist, because he's always had good on base skills. but the power production's going to be little, doesn't steal bases. Batting average might be a slight benefit there,

but not much. So I think there's really limited potential there for Talkman. All right. Zach Netto is quietly just doing this thing. Last 22 games, batting 329, with four home runs, two steals, lots of line drives, and barrels during this recent stretch for Zach Netto.

Scott, we spoke about, Joey Ortiz up top, doing some interesting things. Who would rather speculate on as a middle infielder right now? Zach Netto or Joey Ortiz? I have been the low guy on Zach Netto all along. And I just see a lot more to get excited about in Joey Ortiz's profile. I understand he is not an everyday player quite while Netto is. I still think I'd rather have Ortiz.

In deeper leagues, I've got five names here. Do any of them matter? Andrew McCutcheon is picking things up, three for four with his fifth home run. Over his last five games, he has eight hits, two homers, six run scored. Corey Lee continues to hit for the White Sox, three for three with an RBI and his second stolen base.

He has started four of the past six games. Luke Raleigh is picking things up for the Mariners. He went two for four with the RBI and his third stolen base. and so far in 11 games in the month of May, Luke Riley batting 375, 3 homers, 2 steals, and 1132 OPS. My man, Willie Calhoun, all he does is hit, 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 2 runs, and an RBI,

and I don't think this one matters. What year is it? Kevin Pilar is just doing things? I don't know how he's doing this or why he's doing this, but 2 for 3 with his fourth stolen base. He's played 27 games, with the Angels. Kevin Pilar is betting 328 with four homers,

four seals, and an OPS over a thousand. Do with that what you will, Scott? Do any of these names matter in deeper leagues? Polar, Calhoun, Rayleigh, Lee, Corey Lee, and Andrew McCutcheon. Well, how deep earth of a league are we talking? ALNL only, of course, they all matter. But anything shallower than that,

I'm not especially motivated to make a play for them. I think the most interesting would be Corey Lee for those two catcher leagues. I think he's performed well enough that he belongs in the two-catcher conversation. He's batting over 300 and with a much improved strikeout rate from the Corey Lee we've seen in the past. It's around 20% versus 29% last year. Would you rather have Corey Lee or Gary Sanchez? I'd rather have Corey Lee. Okay.

Yeah, I don't I don't think they're going. to improve any of these other players are going to improve their standing much just because they're producing on some level now. I mean, they're always going to produce on some level. Right. I will just

quickly show everybody this magnificent piece of memorabilia that I have. If you're watching on YouTube, this is a Willie Calhoun, Game of Thrones Edition bobblehead. Calhoun Drogo. That's what it says there on the bottom. He's dressed up like a Dothraki.

Just in case you thought I wasn't a true Willie Calhoun fan. One of my buddies got that for my birthday. He knows I'm crazy and it's amazing. It's awesome. It is. I just finished a rewatch of Game of Thrones just this weekend, actually. Was Willie Calhoun in it? Willie Calhoun was not in it.

Noah Cindergarde was in it, but I guess that was always true. I forgot Willie Calhoun was one you mentioned here. I am actually pretty interested in what Willie Calhoun's doing, d-hanging every day for the angel. striking out like 11% of the time. Expected batting average is like 320. It's got a bunch of doubles. Good fly ball rate.

Wish he was pulling the ball more. I'm not sure the home runs are going to be there. The biggest issue with Willie Calhoun is that he's DH only in most leagues, and that's a really hard fit, particularly for a player who's not like J.D. Martinez, right? But I think Willie Calhoun could turn into something. potentially. And in deeper leagues, I might put in a claim for him just in case he does. All right. Let's talk rankings, risers, and fallers. Got us a little bit later than I would

like to. So we might have to move quickly through this. But Scott, who are some of the rankings risers for you this week? All right. I've moved down Paul Goldschmidt again. I think that's the third time. I've made reference to that in this segment this year. I'd The latest move puts him behind Alec Bohm and Isok Perretti's at first base. I think 15th is where he is now. And I know he's been kind of hot lately, two home runs in his past five games. But he also has 12 strikeouts during that time. So I'm not sure.

I'm not sure he's really coming around. I remain concerned about him. More upside, I would say, than Peretta isn't Bome. But as we talked about yesterday, getting close to dropping goldschmidt in shallower leagues. I've moved Yohan Duran down a bit behind Ryan Helsley and Robert Suarez and Mason Miller, actually, because it looks like Rocco Baldelli is doing this leverage thing and having Duran work the eighth inning a bunch. And it's going to lead to fewer saves if it continues, given Baldelli's history.

It may well continue. A little concerned about that. I, like you, I'm just giving you a bunch of ups and downs. I'm not giving you all. Normally we divide this segment by risers and then fallers and I'm just kind of all over the place. I was going to say, I threw it to you for risers and your first two were fallers. Yeah, we can't. We can't spend the time breaking it up.

Sorry. I moved moogie bets ahead of Ronald Cooney in Points Leagues, as you did, Frank. Yes. With the Coonias strike rate way up this year. I may regret it, but Bats is so good for that format, especially since he hardly ever strikes out. Let's see what else we got here. I moved Dylan Cease into my top 10 at starting pitcher.

Whoa. Oh, yeah. Whoa. An ace among aces, Dylan Cease. So that puts him ahead of like... I don't know why I reacted so crazy. I moved him up to 12th, so we're not far off. That puts him ahead of like Kevin Gosman and who else is that.

It moves him ahead of George. Doesn't move him ahead of George Kirby? No, you have them just ahead of Gallin, Reagan's, Gosman. There you go. Dylan Sees. I moved Chris Sale into the top 15 at starting pitcher ahead of Freddie Peralta because it's not like Freddie Peralta is, you know, Mr. Durable himself. I moved Shoda Imanaga into the top 20 just behind Max Fried.

Price Miller is up to 26. Ranger Suarez is up to 37 ahead of Tanner Halk and Cutter Crawford. Suarez actually has a better K-per-9 rate than both of those guys. I've moved down Reed Deppmers out of the top 50. No surprise there. Christian Javier, I've moved down behind names like Zach Lattel, Rees Olson, John Gray, Rinaldo Lopo, Eric Fetty, losing confidence in Javier, clearly. Not that, you know, some of those other guys obviously need to move up.

But Javier, moving down. And let's see, anyone else interesting here? I moved Jason Dominguez up about 25 spots. he's now in the top 70 in the outfield with him going on a rehab assignment. Probably got a month of rehab ahead of him. But he could be highly productive once he's ready to go. And I guess one more here, Jake Berger and Michael Bush, both of them, Burger and Bush. Two guys I've been high on at times this year.

Both of them falling in my rankings behind Ryan Malk Castle, Nate Lowe, and Anthony Rizzo at first base. Yes, I had a lot of the same moves. I moved Jake Berger down to 22nd at, let's see, 21st at 3rd base and 23rd at 1st base. So outside of the top 20 at each position, Michael Bush is down for me. Glaver Torres, I moved outside of my top 10 at second base. He is my 11th ranked second baseman now at this point.

A couple pitchers, Walker Bueller, I moved him down to SP 58. it's kind of twofold. It's the fact that he hasn't looked good so far and other pitchers have looked really good. So, you know, it's just a confluence of events there with Walker Bueller. Reed Detmer is outside of my top 60 starting pitchers. He's down to SP 63.

And I did move Craig Kimball down to my 20th ranked reliever just because his role is kind of in flux. I think if I thought he was completely out as closer, I would just, you know, he probably wouldn't even be in my top 40. but the fact that I still have him 20th means I think he will regain this, but because his, you know, things are in flux right now. That's why I moved Craig Kimbril down to RP20. Mentioned some of the risers.

Bryson Stott, obviously, I mean, the guy is on fire right now. He is inside of my top eight at second base in both formats and head to head points and in Roto. Second base has been pretty weak, so maybe I shouldn't say wow, but. Yeah. I have him one spot. I moved Jordan Westberg up as well, but Stod is one spot. about ahead of him. So I think Westberg... You have Stott ahead of Westberg. Interesting.

Because I moved Westberg into my top eight, I think last week. I believe Stott ranks higher in both points and in Roto as of now. So, yeah, because of this recent stretch, he is... Stott has just been awesome recently. Brent Rooker, probably the biggest riser of all.

He's inside of my top 40, ranked outfielders now. He's up to 36th in the outfield rankings. And it might just be a hot stretch, but he is crushing. the ball and his zone contact is way up this year. The expected stats are amazing for Brent Rooker. So as bad as that position has been,

he definitely is worthy of being ranked as a top 40 outfielder right now. That is Brent Rooker. Jerksson ProFar continues to hit. I moved him way up. He's outfielder 43. You say Kikuchi, who didn't have his most efficient start here on Wednesday. He was at the Orioles, four in a third innings, one run, had nine strikeouts. it's a 260 ERA, a 110 whip.

I have moved Kukuchi up to my 40th rank starting pitcher on the season. Seth Lugo, inside of the top 60 starters. He's at SP 59. I have a new number one, closer. That is a manual class A. He is the top rank closer for me now at this point. Yeah, I've been tempted to do that too because my actual top two, Edwin Diaz, Josh Hayter,

have done very little so far. but I do think their talent level is what we know it to be. And I've I've been doing this long enough to know that closers especially, they can go on these runs where they get a bunch of saves in a short period of time and the rankings change very quickly. And so I'm keeping the faith on them. They have very secure roles. They still get a ton of strikeouts.

And I think in the long run, they're going to be more valuable than a manual class A. but the longer this goes on, the harder it is to say that. Yeah, with me, Class A is just, we've seen him be the best closer in fantasy before, and it seems like he's recaptured that form so far this season. And Edwin Diaz, I mean, I'm not worried because he's still my second ranked closer, but he hasn't looked exactly the same coming back

from that knee injury from last year. So just the slightest bit of doubt moves him down to number two behind Emmanuel Class A. And I wanted to point out Clay Holmes, I've moved way up. He is now my seventh ranked closer. Mason Miller at six, Clay Holmes at seven. So didn't think that's how it would be here in the middle of May,

but I believe Clay Holmes has not allowed a single run, single earned run so far this season. And the Yankees, I think, are top five in save opportunities. So there you go. That gets Clay Holmes inside the top seven closers. One thing for you take Kikuchi there real quick, who is performing well. and I think is going to be a must prosper player moving forward.

But his home run per nine rate this year is 0.7. His career home run per 9 rate is 1.6. And it was high last year too. It was basically double last year what it is now. So I don't think anything has changed for Kikuchi that would lead to him allowing fewer home runs, except that it's a different home run environment, or at least it has been so far. So something to watch out for him. He may have some regression coming with.

the home runs. Or he may not. The only thing I would add to that is Kakuchi has a 44% ground ball rate this year, so that is up compared to last season. And his barrel rate was 6.7% entering Wednesday's start, and it was 9% last year. Sure.

He's doing a better job of limiting barrels, and he's getting a few more ground balls. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. But that is, you say Kikuchi. Let's move on and wrap up with the leftovers here from Wednesday's action.

And we'll start with the pitchers. This first group includes Framber Valdez, turned in one of his best starts of the season. He was up against Oakland. He threw seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and 13 swinging strikes. He threw a few more curveballs, a lot more change-ups in this start.

And it's just been a weird year for Valdez so far, spending some time on the aisle with left elbow inflammation, fastball velocity, well, sinker for him, sinker velo, not as high as it was last season. But regardless, it's back-to-back seven-inning quality starts for Valdez.

Logan Webb, back-to-back quality starts for him. He was facing the Dodgers. Six shot-out innings, three hits, three walks, five strikeouts, only five swinging strikes, once again for Logan Webb. And he changed up his pitch mix in this start. He led with the sinker. He obviously threw it more.

He threw more four-seem fastballs, and he faded his change-up. Now, that might scare people. kind of scares me. But I have a theory about Logan Webb in this start. He has struggled against the Dodgers mightily in his career, and he's faced them a lot. He's going to continue to face them a lot.

I think he actively wanted to change his pitch mix up just to throw a different look at them. That's my working theory here on Logan Webb against the Dodgers. Garrett Crochet was solid against the Nationals. He threw five shot-out innings with six strikeouts in that one. And Marcus Drummond, he was fine, whatever, blah, blah, blah. Six shot out innings, three walks, two, strikeouts. Anything to add, Scott, on Stroman, Crochet, Logan Webb, and Framber Valdez?

Yeah, Gary Crochet has been good lately, obviously, but he's kind of doing a weird thing with this pitch selection, too, where three of his last four starts, including this one, the slider use has been way down. And that's his best swing and miss pitch, at least in terms of percentages. So I have noticed his swinging strike rate overall trending down. in spite of the success. It's not a trend I like. I'm not about to dismiss Garret Crochet over it or anything like that, but it is something to keep an eye on.

I think at the long run, we prefer to see him throw more sliders than he's been throwing lately. Two quick follow-ups. Garrett Crochet is now the time to not just sell, but sell high, capitalize on his value coming off this four-star stretch with a 123 ERA. and Marcus Stroman is still 87% rostered. He has 15 walks over his last four starts.

Can you drop Marcus Stroman? Yeah, I think in shallower league, Stroman's dropable. He's been overrated in fantasy for a long time, I feel like. Not that he's useless, but he's just streamer level. Basically, the whip's going to be high, and the innings are generally going to be low. Yeah, he's pretty replaceable, I would say.

say Stroman is, especially in this pitching environment. Crochet, is it a good time to trade him? Yeah, maybe. He's won three straight starts. That's not going to happen often with the White Sox. So his recent point production, if you're in a points league, looks good. I have him outside of my top 40 rest of season. So if you can trade him like he's a top 25 pitcher, I don't know if that's realistic or not,

but it's worth looking into, sure. Pitching leftovers part two, Pablo Lopez turned in a quality start barely against the Yankees, six and a third innings, 10 hits, three runs, only three strikeouts in that one. And John Gray continues to pitch well this time against the Guardians, six and a third shutout, two walks, three strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes for John Gray. A lot of hard contact in this one. Didn't seem like he had his best stuff, and he still managed a great start.

I think that gives you a little perspective into how well John Gray is really pitching right now. And as soon as we talk about moving Charlie Morton up in the ranking, Scott, I moved him inside of my top 70. He has a rough start. Three innings, four runs allowed, three walks. The walks, you know, crept back up here. Anything to add on Morton, Gray, and Pablo Lopez? I watched this Morton start, and, like, there was a lot of, like, weekly hit ground balls to nobody. And I know the average eggs of velocity against him

was low. And so the inning, the first inning, especially just kind of unraveled on him. I don't know

that I think it's reason to, I want to say it's reason to abandon Charlie Morton this start. Is it likely

that he regresses to the walk rates we've seen from him the previous two years that made him a pretty middling at

best fantasy option? Yeah, I'd say that's the most likely outcome, but he's still a good strikeout pitcher on a great offense. So if there's

a chance that he can keep those walk that walk right down, then I think it's worth, you know, I think it's worth keeping an open mind as far as that goes. All right. So, hitting leftovers, Bo Bichette might be turning the corner his last six games. He's got 10 hits, one homer, four RBI, and one stolen base.

Adley Ruchman has found the power stroke recently. He went two for four with his ninth home run. It was a walk-off shot in the ninth inning. He has four homers over his past three games. And I noticed Adley Rutchman has been much more aggressive this season. His swing rate is way up. His chase rate is way up. It has affected his walk rate, but it has not affected his strikeouts.

So I think Adley Ruchman is just trying to swing for more power and it's working. Bryce Harper looks to be all the way back after a bit of a slow start. He went three for five with his 10th home run of the season. Speaking of being back, Aaron Judge, gosh, he just needed the month. to flip to May apparently. Four for four with his 11th home run. And in 13 May games, Aaron Judge is batting 378 with five home runs

and a 1367 OPS. Adolas Garcia is turning things back on. He's homered in back-to-back games. And Taylor Ward, quietly having a strong season, two for four with his eighth home run and the expected numbers look great for Taylor Ward. Anything to add on some of these hitting leftover, Scott? Taylor Ward was slumping.

And so it's nice to see a good game. from him. Even the underlying numbers look great, as you say. But we've been down this road a few times before with Taylor Ward, where we thought he was turning into this awesome must-star player. And then he would come back down to Earth. So his previous 24 games, he had hit just 224 with a 636 OPS. Hopefully he's coming out of it. All right. Some bullpen updates for the Blue Jays. Jordan Romano got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up a two-run homer to Adley Ruchman, took his first blown save and first loss of the season. For the Marlins, Tanner Scott got the ninth with a two-run lead. He allowed two hits but picked up his fifth save. For the White Sox, Michael Copac got the ninth with a two-run lead. He walked two, but picked up his fifth save.

Michael Copac, 34% rostered. Scott, how would you rank Trevor McGill, Copac, and Jason Foley in a league with saves? Well, Copac's definitely last. He's gotten three saves in the last week, so that's good. but it's going to be really sporadic as the closer for the white socks and not even the for sure closer for the white socks. Kind of a, at least Pedro Grifold hasn't declared him that. And he's used him in the eighth inning at times.

So yeah, Copac definitely third between the other two, McGill and who is the other one? Jason Foley. I'll go Foley over McGill. I think McGill's better, but you know you're working with just a, what, two-month window with him and then Devin Williams should be back and closing, obviously. So for that reason, I'll take fully over Miguel. All right. For the Mariners, Andres Munoz got the final five outs,

three via the strikeout for his seventh save. For the raise, Pete Fairbanks got the eighth with a one-run lead facing four, five, and six in the Red Sox lineup. He struck out two. It was Kevin Kelly who got the ninth, and he struck out two for his first save. Owning Pete Fairbanks this year, Scott, has been a headache. Nothing short of a headache.

Yeah. And I'll point out he's still only hitting, he's still only averaging 97 on his fastball, which sounds very high, but last year it was averaging more like 99. So I don't know. He's still the reliever to own from the race, but I don't feel totally at ease with Pete Fairbanks.

For the Astros with Josh Hader, Ryan Presley, and Brian Abraeu, all unavailable. It was Seth Martinez, who pitched two scoreless innings for his first save, and for the Giants, Camillo DeVal picked up his seventh save of the season. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, short slate, not great. And if I had to choose one, I would say Clark Schmidt at the Twins. I believe yesterday you said Cooper Criswell against the Rays.

Yep. And then on Friday, let's see, anything interesting here. Colervin against the Mariners could work out. Sure. I don't mind it. And, oh. Kyle Gibson. against Boston.

He's, he's, he's been pitching well lately, but that, that can go downhill fast for Kyle Gibson if history is any indication.

If you're chasing the matchups, Kyle Hendrix against the pirates or Ryan Nelson against the Tigers, but there's no way I'm starting Kyle Hendricks. I don't blame you. Uh,

yeah, I don't love Friday. I mean, Jake Irvin has pitched well, but he's at the Phillies. Their lineup is a juggernaut right now. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson are the only two I would consider. If you're forcing me to pick a third, maybe Tyler Anderson, just hoping that that magic he's had continues, but he's at Texas.

So it's another dangerous one. All right. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.