Fantasy Baseball Today - Felix Bautista Replacements, Jordan Wicks Promoted & Start/Sit Decisions (8/28 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 28, 2023

Felix Bautista went to the IL with a UCL injury (3:08). How might we replace him in Fantasy? ... Jordan Wicks was promoted by the Cubs and pitched well in his debut (11:20). ... Is it time to drop Hunter Greene in shallower leagues (19:45)? ... Parker Meadows is off to a great start (21:25). ... Cristopher Sanchez continues to pitch well (29:00). ... DJ LeMahieu is heating up (36:15). ... News (46:42): Bo Bichette is dealing with a quad injury. ... Start or sit these pitchers in Week 23 (56:08)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:02:57).  Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 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. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up, and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday. August 28th.

I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White. Hope everybody had a fantastic weekend. Today on the show, we've got big news. news at the reliever position. I mean that both literally and physically. The Cubs promoted Jordan Wicks and he pitched quite well in his debut this weekend. We've got waiver wire moves, starter sit decisions,

and much more. Before we get started, help us out by liking this video and subscribing on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five star rating on Apple or Spotify. We really do appreciate it. Scott, let's unfortunately,

start with that big reliever news of the weekend. Felix Bautista placed on the IL with a UCL injury. We don't know much more outside of that as of now. Obviously, hoping this isn't a long-term injury, no kind of surgery required, but we'll see, you know, reliever that throws us hard. It sounds kind of scary. But obviously he was amazing this year.

148 ERA, a 0.92 whip, 33 saves. Currently the number one reliever in Roto, the 20th overall player. That's how dominant he's been this year. The second reliever and head-to-head points behind only Spencer Strider. And now we need to figure out what to do. Who are the replacements here?

And I think one of the obvious candidates is the player on his same team. Yaneer Canoe, who picked up a save on Saturday. It was his fifth save of the season. He's 54% rostered. He also pitched on Sunday, had an unearned run, took a tough luck loss there. But your thoughts, Guy, this is big news.

And there's obviously a pretty big replacement here in Yaneer Canoe. Yeah. So, I mean, we talked in recent weeks about how Felix Batista is probably the best closer in fantasy now. And so, you know, we obviously don't like to see him suffer an injury like this. Usually, when you're talking UCL damage, it means Tommy John surgery, in which case, Batista would be wiped out for all of next year, too. Not always. I mean, it may be a sprained use.

which is technically a small tear, but a lot of times it doesn't require the full reconstruction surgery. It just requires rest. So we'll wait and see what the actual timetable is for this injury for Batista, but we know he's out for the rest of this year, if nothing else. I think it's safe to say. The good news, if you want a silver lining, is that there aren't many teams who have as obvious a replacement for their closer as the Orioles do in Yaneer Canoe. I've, I've, I've said a few times this year also that the Orioles might have both the best closer and the best set up man in the game. Cano's been very effective this season. He's not the big bat misser that Batista is, but a 160 ERA, a 0.97 whip entering Sunday for a guy who's been on the

roster since the beginning. And he has five saves. So, you know, one of them, those came after Bautista went down, obviously, but he was used as the backup closer at times this year. He's still available in half of CBS leagues, and I think he makes for a ready-made replacement there, and probably is going to be the top priority on the waiver wire for me and all of my leagues. Yep. Where waivers haven't run already. Yeah, absolutely there.

Big name in Yaneer Canoe this weekend. Just sticking with the Orioles for a second, what? else happens as a result here. D.L. Hall was recalled, you know, former top pitching prospect. He's expected to pitch out of the bullpen, so I don't think there's much there. Quickly on some other relievers that could be available, the most added on CBS this weekend. Obviously, Kano is up at the top and he's still widely available at 54% rostered. Cole Regens, who is a spark, 74%. Obviously, we talk about Cole Regens quite a bit.

Javier Assad is also a spark, and he had a great, another great start this weekend. Seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts. Seth Lugo, someone, I know both of us like quite a bit. He's up to 77%. And Kyle Finnegan, 65%. Scott, if we're just talking about the most added here, how would you rank them? Kanoe, Cole Riggins, Assad, Seth Lugo, and Kyle Finnegan.

Well, interestingly, you only mentioned one actual reliever. So obvious, okay, who was the other one? Kano and Kow. Oh, Knoe himself. Okay. So, you know, the Sparps only make for decent replacements in a points league. And so that kind of makes this little unconventional ranking them together. If you're in a categories league and you're mostly looking to replace saves, obviously you'd go for Canoe and Finnegan before you went for any of the pitchers.

With one exception, I'd say, because Cole Regens is just an amazing pickup if he's still available in your league as a starting pitcher. And if you can, slot him in your relief pitcher spot in a points league, great, that takes care of it. I think he'll perform up to the standard that's required for a starting pitcher to measure up to a closer's production in a points league. Otherwise, I guess I'd go, Cano second, Lugo third, Finnegan, fourth, and who's left, Assad? Yeah.

Assad fifth. Assad, a distant fifth, I'd say. If you do need specifically saves, obviously, we've very, He talked about Canoe and Kyle Finnegan has been pretty dominant for the Washington Nationals. Two other names that are less than 60% rostered. Alex Lang looks like they've gone back to him in the Tigers bullpen there. And Arolda's Chapman. He's only 45% rostered.

He had a save opportunity on Sunday. Unfortunately, he didn't convert it. He gave up a run and took his, I think, fifth or sixth blown save of the year. But I still think the next save opportunity will go to Arolde's Chapman when the Rangers have one. And then some names in deeper leagues, Jojo Romero, Tanner Scott. and Trevor May quickly on Tanner Scott. That's the other reliever news of the weekend. The Marlins expected to remove David Robertson from the closing roll

after blowing another save on Saturday. What happens on Sunday? Tanner Scott, save opportunity picks up his third save of the year. So a couple more options out there in deeper leagues. Let's rank all of them, Scott. If you need saves, Yaneer Canoe, Kyle Finnegan, Alex Lang, Aroledas Chapman, Jojo Romero, Tanner Scott, Trevor May. Lots of names.

I think that's seven names. That's a lot of names. I'm tempted to put Chapman, number one, because I think he's just the best reliever. But it's a little less certain to me that he will, for sure, be the Rangers closer the rest of the way. It certainly looks like they're leaning that way

in a strong way. But I think I will go ahead and put Yaneer Canoe ahead of Chapman. So Canoe 1, Chapman, 2. let's see I'm going to say Tanner Scott 3 even though that's a little bit

uncertain too he has the big strikeout potential that we want for McCloser 12.7 K-per-9 coming into Sunday's game so Scott 3 then I will go Finnegan for

Lang 5 May 6th and then Jojo Romero you mentioned that right? Yep. Seventh. Yeah, so just rattle that off again real quick. Yaneer Canoe, Eraldus Chapman,

Tanner Scott, Kyle Finnegan, Alex Lang, Trevor May, Jojo Romero. And would you be okay dropping David Robertson for any of these names? He's 81% rostered. I guess there's a chance he could get the rollback, but there's not that much time left in the season, so. I'd be fine.

with it if you, yeah, I'd be fine with it. I hesitate with those bottom two, Trevor May and Jojo Romero, because I think it's likely they do, they end up doing just as much harm is good. But yeah, if you need saves, they're more likely to give you them over the next couple weeks than Robertson is. All right, again, big news from the weekend, Felix Bautista,

placed on the aisle with a UCL injury, the Mountain. Get well soon, buddy. I say that as if we're friends, and he knows who I am. Let's talk about the rest of the weekend. That is a call from the Seattle Mariners, which, by the way, they are red hot. I think I saw they have the best record since July 1st.

And now they're in first place in the AOS. So shout out to them. Scott, you're up, player of the weekend. I'm going to go with Jordan Wicks, a recent call-up for the Cubs. He made his Major League debut over the weekend. It was Saturday, actually. Left-handed starting pitcher.

Look great at the Pirates, went five innings, allowed only one run on two hits, struck out nine. That is a nice debut for a prospect call-up who didn't get a lot of buzz in fantasy circles, had 13 swinging strikes on 80 pitches. That's obviously a great rate. Nine of those 13 strikes came on the change-up, which was his most thrown pitch at 34%. And that basically lives up to the scouting reports. his entire arsenal serves to set up the changeup that is his everything pitch

I mean he has several other pitches it's not one of those cases where he comes up only has two pitches does he have a deep enough arsenal he has a variety of pitches but it's all built around the changeup he leans on it a lot and it needs to be working for him to be effective and so I think that's why you look at the minor league numbers for Jordan Wicks they won't blow you away 355 VRA 117 whip 9.8K per 9.

No, solid numbers, but I wouldn't say spectacular numbers. But this was a spectacular debut, and sometimes, you know, sometimes pitchers are better in the majors than they were in the minors. I would say Jordan Wicks is worth picking up wherever you need pitching help. I don't know that he's a must add. I'm sure, like if it's Cole Reagan's versus Jordan Wicks, you're debating, then no contest. You go Cole Riggins.

I mean, Jordan Wicks, if he gets shelled next time out, I'm not going to hesitate to drop him for the next flavor of the week. But right now he's the flavor of the week and he's highly available. And I would say worth looking into. Again, Jordan Wicks, a first round pick from back in 2021. Scott mentioned the numbers from the miners. And yeah, that changed up everything that I've read. That's the money pitch for him.

But I thought it was interesting. He only uses curveball 9% in this debut. the spin rate, 2,881 RPM on that curveball. So there might actually be something there as like a second dominant pitch for Jordan Wicks. He's 18% rostered. Looks like he is at the Cincinnati Reds this week. Their offense has been up and down in the second half, and they're actually much better against righties and they are against lefties.

So it's a decent matchup. I don't know that I want to trust him maybe outside of deeper leagues if you're really desperate, but he's an interesting pitcher. This is a fun detail about him too, because you say, the Reds are better against righties than lefties. Jordan Wicks has historically, even those left-handed pitcher, been better against righties.

He has reverse platoon splits because that change-up is so good. That would make sense, yeah. Known for neutralizing opposite-handed hitters to the point that some pitchers don't even throw a change-up against same-handed hitters. Wix isn't like that. Like I said, the change-up is everything. But he does make for an interesting match-up case

because of those reverse platoon splits. Let's compare Jordan Wicks to some other WaverWire pitchers from this weekend. And the first group includes Graham Ashcraft, who, of course, just kept it rolling on Sunday. Another quality start, six and two-thirds innings, two runs, five strikeouts. He is at home against the Cubs this week. Mike Clevenger, an awesome start against the A's, seven innings, one run, ten strikeouts in that one. Brandon Fott picked up his first win of his career, five and a third innings, two runs with five strikeouts. and in seven starts since returning from the miners.

He has a 348 ERA and a 104 whip. And Heung Jin Ryu has pitched quite well for the Guardians. He has now made, I didn't write down how many starts, but the overall number is a 225 ERA, a 1.0 whip on the nose there. The problem, he is at Coorsfield this week, so not great there. Scott, how do you rank that group?

Ryu, Brandon Fott, Mike Clevenger, and Graham Ashcraft. I'm going to go Ashcraft. dangerously, living dangerously. Ashcraft number one, Clevenger, two, fought three, Ryu, four. Ryu has yet to go six innings in a start, and you know that's a big deal to me. And, you know, he's not a big strikeout guy at this stage of his career. That's a little concerning too. Excellent control pitcher.

He does look basically like the guy we saw prior to his latest Tommy John surgery, but that guy was pretty fringy himself. So Ryu's bringing up the rear here. even though I'm putting Ashcraft number one he didn't do what I hope did he'd do in this start because remember I pointed out after his last one when he had what 10 strikeouts in that one that it seems like the strikeouts are tied to his sinker usage

when he throws the sinker more we saw him throw it 16% of the time in that 10 strikeout effort two terms earlier he threw 21% of the time got seven strikeouts against the Marlins I think it helps the cutter to play up He threw only three sinkers in this game Sunday. So he's not committed to throwing. It doesn't seem like he's committed to throwing it more.

It's just kind of, I don't know exactly what his plan is for it, but it doesn't seem like he plans to throw it more regularly based on what happens Sunday here. So that makes me wonder if the strikeouts are not on the rise, really, in which case all the underlying stats still look pretty scary for Graham Ashcraft. Still, it's hard to argue

with the run of success he's been on when you're comparing him to other potential waiver wire pickups here. I also want to point out for Clevenger, who I did have as a sleeper

because he was making two starts this past week, but I didn't have a lot of confidence in him. This was an eye-opening start in a lot of ways. I mean, not only did he allow

just one hit and seven innings, had 10 strikeouts in seven innings. 21 swinging strikes, including 12 on his slider. In six starts now since returning from the IL for about with biceps inflammation, Mike Clevenger has a 231 ERA, an even one whip, 8.2K per 9. It was against Oakland. Definitely worth pointing out.

Worst offensive baseball. But still, to see that many whiffs on the slider makes me wonder, if there is something here. So it's, it's, it's sort of like, uh, it's sort of like I was saying for Jordan Wicks,

where if you need pitching help, I'm sure there's not a lot out there. I think it's a fine time to make a play for Clevenger, but you should have a pretty quick, you should have your finger on the trigger still if he looks, you know, if he turns back into a pumpkin at his next start, which is the more likely scenario.

I'm not saying you drop anybody valuable for him, but, if you are stretching yourself for pitching help, if you are willing to stretch yourself for pitching help, then Clevenger, I think, has entered the discussion as somebody who deserves a look. And of all the names that we've mentioned so far, Clevenger does have the best matchup this week going up against the Tigers. They are 28th in Wobah against right-handed pitching.

Scott, would you put Wix at the top of that list? I just mentioned ahead of Ashcraft, ahead of Clevenger? Yeah. Yeah, and I say that with some hesitance because I don't know what his next match. Like, of the three, he's the one I'd least likely trust to have in my lineup in his next start, knowing what Clevenger's matchup is, knowing the kind of role that Ashcraft's been on. Wix is still, seems like a total, he seems like a total wild card to me. So I'd be afraid to put him in my lineup, but just, you know, if that start goes well,

how quickly will he enter into the start-sick conversation for us? Probably pretty quickly. Let me see if I can remind myself how good the Cubs matchups are down the stretch. Yeah, they're one of the clubs

that has the best pitching matchups down the stretch. So that's another good reason to have Wicks at the top of that priority list. One last question on the WaverWire pitchers here. In a shallower league, would you drop Hunter Green for any of them. So Hunter Green has made two starts since coming off the IL. He has allowed 13 earned

runs. He's allowed eight walks, five homers in those two starts combined. There's absolutely no way you could trust him right now in your lineups. He is facing the Giants this week. He's in Oracle Park. So on paper, it's a good matchup. It's a good venue to pitch him. But again, I don't think we could trust him. He's 86% rostered. What do you think, Scott? In shallower leagues, drop Hunter Green for any of the names we've mentioned. So I do think this is. a good example to bring up to provide context to this whole discussion because I don't think any of Jordan Higgs, Graham Ashcraft, or Mike Clevenger is, I don't have high enough confidence in any of them to burn the high upside play in green. Obviously, you can't start green right now,

but it could all turn on a dime for him and then he's giving double-digit strikeouts almost every time out in September. That is a scenario that could play out much easier for him than any of these guys we've been talking about. And so I'd be afraid to give him up, let him fall into somebody else's hands, and then I suffer twice over. I don't get the benefit of having green

and somebody gets to damage me with green. That doesn't seem like an optimal scenario. So unless it's a scenario where you have to, you need someone else for your lineup, because you're right. You can't start green right now. But if it's just for a bench spot, I'd rather hold on to green.

All right, I do have some other waiver wire pitchers, but I'll push that off to the side for now. I do want to get to my player of the weekend and talk about Parker Meadows of the Tigers. We mentioned him last week. He got promoted, and he's the brother of Austin Meadows,

and it was a pretty solid weekend here for him. He went one for two with two walks and a three-run walk-off homer on Friday, electric stuff from him, and then went two-for-term. four with a stolen base on Saturday. He's played six games so far, so it's a very, very small sample size, but he is batting 300. He's got that homer, a steal, a 1040 OPS. And what I like most about Parker Meadows is the matchups this week, 9% rostered seven games all against right-handed pitching.

So I would expect Parker Meadows to be in there for every one of those games. I don't see why the Tigers wouldn't play him against right-handed pitching. They obviously want to see what this kid can do. and, you know, he's performed. Again, it's a small sample, but he does have nine strikeouts in the six games played, which is a 36% strikeout rate. He also is hitting the ball extremely hard so far. 93 mile per hour, average exit velocity,

had some power and speed in the minors. I mentioned only 9% rostered. I think this is more of a deeper league play, Scott. You know, he was available in some of my 15-team five outfielder leagues this weekend. But I think even in a 12-team-five outfielder league, if you're just pretty desperate for an outfield play, given the seven right-handed pitchers this week, I like Parker Meadows quite a bit.

Do you like Parker Meadows or Willier or Brayu more? Because Abrae is the one I put on my sleeper's hitter, on my sleeper hitters list for this week. And he did not, it's worth pointing out, the Red Sox faced two righties and lefty this weekend, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, two righties and lefty. Abreu sat against the lefty. He also sat against one of the two righties.

Yeah. The Red Sox face, depending on whether the Astros go six man or five man, they're either facing one lefty or zero lefties next week. So I expect Abraeu to play a lot, but will it be as much as Meadows, based on how they used them this week? And I would guess no. I like the skill set more. Meadows has an element of speed that Abraeu doesn't bring,

but a brayu is a more disciplined hitter. I think the power is going to play better in the long run. So I lean a brayu, but there is more of a baru. but there is more of a playing time question there, I think with him than for Meadows. So in all of my bids, I've got the backup bids going on on Sunday night. I had Parker Meadows ahead of Willier-A-Brayu,

and it is because of the playing time. It's on this time of year, really looking for volume, and I think Parker Meadows should play, you know, maybe they give them off one game throughout the seven-day week, just whatever, give him some rest.

But, yeah, I think he's absolutely going to have more played appearances this week, and I really like what I've seen so far. Yeah, it's tough. with a brayu because the red sox they have three great hitting outfielders right now i mean duval is red hot verdugoes heated up

like it's worth pointing out before you dig into the meadows and abracus of the world adam duval himself is available in 50 percent of cbs sports leagues five home runs in seven games red socks have great matchups this week a lot of people listening in those three

outfielder leagues aren't going to have to go as deep as meadows and abrayu but sorry i didn't mean to interrupt your thought there. No, no, it's all good. I guess the point is I would take Meadows over Abraeu if you're talking about a deeper league. I do agree on Duval.

I would say the same thing about Sayas Suzuki, who's really hot since returning to the Cubs lineup. He had that little mental breakoff for a couple of games. His last 16 games since returning to the lineup, he's hitting 389 with four homers, 15 runs, 11 RBI, just a 12% strikeout rate.

He's 64% rostered and has seven games this week. A couple of tough pitchers in there, Corbyn Burns, Brandon Woodruff, Andrew Abbott, but I would take Suzuki ahead of Parker Meadows. Who would you take between Adam Duval and say Suzuki? For just this upcoming week,

I have Duval higher. But if you're committing to one of those two the rest of the season, I'm going to make this really complicated. I'm going to say Suzuki. Because I think Suzuki's the more talented player and the Cubs have significantly better matchups than the Red Sox, beyond.

this week. All right. Fair enough. So lots of outfielders there. Some names in shadow leagues. The deeper league ones, Parker Meadows, Willier-Abreu.

Let's take our first break. And when we return, I'll mention those other waiver wire pitchers. I've got some other waiver wire hitters from the weekend. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today.

And a quick reminder that the fantasy football today draftathon is this week on Wednesday, August 30th, from 4 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time, and they've been doing a great job raising money for St. Jude Children's Hospital. And if you want to help contribute, you can head to tiny URL.com slash FFT donate. And you'll find some fun listings there on eBay. And if you're watching us live on YouTube, you can scan the QR code in the top right corner.

And that will take you right to the website. And again, if you just want to watch the stream, it'll be live on YouTube, 4 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time, and you can watch along with Adam and Dave and Jamie. They're going to have on a bunch of different guests, and they're going to talk rankings and mock drafts and all that kind of fun stuff if you're prepping for fantasy football. So make sure to check it out this week, Wednesday, August 30th from 4 to 10 p.m. Eastern Time, the fantasy football today draftathon. Let's talk about some of those other waiver wire pitchers that I have here. And this next group includes Christopher Sanchez, who has turned in three straight quality starts. He was home against the Cardinals this weekend

where he allowed two runs over six innings with six strikeouts to zero walks. Carter Crawford has turned in two solid starts in a row. Tough matchup against the Dodgers too where he allowed just two runs over five innings with seven strikeouts to one walk. And Patrick Sandoval seems like he gives us one of these starts every four or five times out

and there's not much consistency. But he did face the Mets this weekend and he allowed just one run over six innings with seven strikeouts. Anything on this group's got Patrick Sandoval, Cutter Crawford, and Christopher Sanchez. Well, I want to say with Sandoval, just when we think we're out,

he pulls us back in, but I'm not really feeling tempted to be pulled back in. So I guess that's not the right thing to say. Christopher Sanchez feels like what Ranger Suarez... Well, Sanchez feels like he could be what Ranger Suarez was down the stretch two years ago, like the sneaky waiver wire ad

who was just a rock for your pitching staff down the stretch. His ground ball rate since being called up, Christopher Sanchez, if that was a full season ground ball rate, like he had enough innings to qualify, it would be the second best ground ball rate among starting pitchers.

Only Logan Webb is better. So he has a skill that's known for limiting, damage and keeping runs off the board. And he's been in quality start machines since getting called up. Good offense backing him. I think Sanchez is a priority pickup. I like him, even more than that previous group we talked about.

I like Sanchez more than Ashcraft. Wow. I like him more than Jordan Wicks. He's, yeah, he's, like I said, a priority pickup for me. Crawford has been. Good. His starts tend to be short, and so the utility for fantasy isn't quite there. But he gets swinging strikes and strikeouts at a nice clip.

And is at least usable when he has the right matchups. The one I'm least trusting of these three is actually Sandoval. And what's funny about Sandoval is that he actually probably has the best matchup this week. He's at the Oakland A's, and they are 28th in Wobah against left-hand. pitching and you know we saw Cole Reagan's is kind of in a category of his own but he is a lefty yeah and he dominated Oakland last week so it wouldn't surprise me if sandavall does have a good start this upcoming week but it also wanted surprise me if you didn't it also true let's get let's get into this next group of pitchers from the weekend Javier aside as we mentioned earlier

turned in a quality start in three of his last four outings he was at the pirates he went seven innings with one run allowed seven strikeouts in that one grifford canney and david pearson they both pitched extremely well against each other on Sunday. Canning went seven innings. He allowed one run with nine strikeouts and 17 swinging strikes. David Peterson on the other side, seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts for him, 12 swinging strikes on 104 pitches. Any interest in this group, Assad, Canning, and Peterson?

I've long had interest in Canning and he's had stretches this year where he looked like he was about to break through. I made another great start here. What was interesting about this start for canning is that normally when he gets a bunch of strikeouts, it's the slider leading the way. And this one, it was his fastball. Ten of his 17 whiffs came on the fastball. We haven't known that to be, well, I mean, looking at the season long width rate, it's actually pretty good.

It's up over 27%, which is good for a fastball. Every time he flashes a new weapon other than that slider, I get a little more excited. and obviously he has room to run here. He has runway with Shohei Otani being available to pitch. By the way, this answers the question, I think, of, it was a good question, whether removing Otani from the rotation is going to mean the angels go five-man, go with a traditional five-man going forward, which would be good news for all of their remaining pitchers, right? Lucas G. Lito, he might actually get some two-star weeks again.

Canning wasn't in the rotation until Shoahatani went down. So it looks like they are going six-man, re-inserting him here. So even though I have interest in Canning, even though he had a great start here at the Mets, overall it's bad news that he's in the rotation, I would say. It's a net negative for fantasy players on the whole. As I mentioned earlier with Patrick Sandoval, the angels are facing Oakland later this week.

So if you're just looking for a matchup play, Griffin Canning looks like he is. is going to be at the Oakland A's later this week. Two names in the deepest leagues, and maybe you put a little asterisk next to them because they both face the Marlins, and obviously the Marlins are a pretty good matchup, but Yoan Adon, Adon, Adon, that's A-D-O-N,

Yo-A-D-O-N, a dominant start at the Marlins this weekend, six shutout innings with three strikeouts. He throws a bunch of different pitches, has not been very good in the minor so far, but he's 2% rostered, and guess who he's facing this week? The Miami Marlins. Once again, his teammate, Jake Irvin,

has turned in three straight quality starts, and he allowed just one run over six innings with three strikeouts at the Marlins as well. 8% rostered. Who does he face this week? You guessed it. The Miami Marlins. Scott, anything on these two in the deepest of leagues.

I actually did pick up a don in an NL-only league. I imagine it's the sort of decision I'll come to regret when he has a blow-up start. inevitably. But in his last six starts, Yohan Adone has a 291 ERA, a 112 whip, very low strikeout rate. I think he's getting it done

because he also has a very high fly ball rate. So as long as he keeps the ball in the yard, he's able to limit damage. But that, you know, that is a boomer bust profile, especially when you don't have a lot of strikeout potential. So I wouldn't have a lot of faith in it lasting. Ervin has been surprising, strong here as well. His last three starts a 145 ERA, 112 whip, 7.7K per 9, a little better than a don't, but still not great.

But what stands out for Irvin aside from the performance is now in four straight starts. He's seen his velocity up basically across the board. It still has only led to 7.7K per 9 in three starts, so I'm still. still thinking, probably not somebody we want to put much faith in. But I am taking note of Irvin every time he starts now to see how long you can keep this going. All right. Let's slide over to the Waverwire hitters. And we already spoke about some of the outfielders, Adam Duval and Say of Suzuki, who we are excited about right now. DJ LaMayhew, a bit of a power surge here, something I did not see coming for him. He went three for four with a double dung on

Friday and now has four home runs over his past five games. He's let off 10 straight for the Yankees. Not that that matters too much because their lineup has been very underwhelming in the second half of the season. But he's 42% rostered. He has triple eligibility, first, second and third. Seven road games this week. Got any interest in DJ LaMayhew? I think that would only be as needed situation. I don't, I don't, you know, I've been saying this for a couple years now. I don't know. Do you think he has much left anymore? Or you basically out on LeMayhew as a fantasy asset? I was basically howed up until this recent stretch. I don't really know where... So yeah, ha, and now you're back in? No, not necessarily. It's so, so over the last

three seasons, DJ LeMayhew has a 720 OPS. Right. Since the, since the pandemic shortened season where he was amazing, finished third in MVP voting. Since then he has a 720 OPS. And I just think that, I think that says it all right there. I know you and Chris at times pointed out, oh, he had an injury for this stretch, so that's why he struggled and blah, blah, blah. But I don't know. I think he's just a 35-year-old

who never had that much power in the first place. And now this is what the end of his career looks like. He still signed for three more years too. Oh, my gosh. Oh, gosh. I mean, look. How much is he making it? That's just my Yankee pessimism, by the way.

I mean, good for him. He's making like 15 million years. He's probably, he's a fine utility player. I'm not saying he brings nothing to the table, but for fantasy. Oh, no. I mean, you're absolutely right. It's just another guy. This is kind of, yeah, I mean, it's kind of crazy how eerily similar.

His OPS has been every each of the past three years. 711, 734, 717. And his strikeout rate has spiked in a big way this year, up to 22% after he wasn't over 14% in any season since 2015. So that's a pretty bad sign for an aging utility player, 35 years old now with DJ LaMayhew. Two catchers, Mitch Garver, someone we talk about a lot recently. He had two more home runs this weekend.

He has three home runs in his past five games. And he is 39% rostered. He's got six games this upcoming week. And Gary Sanchez, two more home runs this weekend. still just waiting for Gary Sanchez to slow down. It's kind of crazy. He has 18 home runs in 68 games, 18 homers that rank 6th at the catcher position,

and among catchers with at least 200 plate appearances, Gary Sanchez's 279 isolated power is first among all catchers. So I thought that was pretty interesting. Scott, the Padres, have the number one hitter matchups this week. So let's say if you're just thinking about this week, Would you rather have Mitch Garver or Gary Sanchez? I would rather have Gary Sanchez. Yeah, number one hitter matchups.

They have one more game than the Rangers. Garver, you can't reliably count on him to be in the lineup against righties. So, yeah, I think Sanchez is the better play. And he never lost his ability to hit home runs. he just lost his ability to hit. Honestly, the year he's having this year isn't unlike the year he had in 2021

when he batted 204 with 23 homers and 117 games for the Yankees. It's just, we had much higher expectations for Sanchez then, so it feels like a big surprise that he's doing this now. And it's so crazy because it felt like he was out of baseball

earlier this season, right? Like he was done, he was just kind of, bouncing around. He signed on with the Mets for a couple days, and then he signed on with the Padres. And I remember making jokes about him de-hing for them because they just had no other options at that point. And he's hitting for power. If nothing else, he's kind of doing Gary Sanchez things. And I was listening to the Padres broadcast earlier on Sunday. And they mentioned he's using a new bat this year, that axe-handle bat. Oh, yeah. Who knows? Maybe the-all-the-bridge.

That's what's helped. That's what's helped Gary Sanchez, potentially, this season. A few deeper league. infielders, Josh Rojas, went two for five with a home run on Saturday. He picked up another steal on Sunday and over his last 14 games, he's batting 367 with three home runs and four steals. The Mariners have the third best header matchups this week, according to Scott. Davis Schneider is someone I know that you and Chris spoke about the week that I was out, partying with Metallica. David Schneider went three for three with a home run on Saturday and then hit another home run on Sunday. There's current injury.

to both Boba Shed and Matt Chapman, so maybe David Schneider gets a chance this week, and they've got three games in Coresfield. I think in a deeper league, he's kind of interesting. The Rockies also promoted a prospect name Hunter Goodman on Sunday. He went two for four with a run and an RBI. He's 23 years old. This season in the minors, he hit 34 home runs with a 918 OPS,

the limited sample in AAA, where I could see the Stackass data. It looks pretty good. 91.7, average exit velocity. I do think there's some power here for Hunter Goodman. Scott, any interest in this group, Goodman, Davis Schneider, and Josh Rojas. Yeah, I mean, we were kind of excited about Schneider when he came up and had that nine-hit weekend for the Blue Jays fresh out of the miners. And then they hardly played him after that. So I think the playing time is still very much in question for him.

He started back-to-back games over the weekend, but he had gone one, two, three, four games with without having a start. He'd only started like one of the previous 10 games before those back-to-back starts over the weekend. But he was a player who showed great on-base skills in the minors in addition to having power. I don't know where all these multi-hit games are coming from for Schneider, but I would like to see more of him.

I'm just not confident he's going to get it. I think it might be a little more possible that Hunter Goodman does because the Rockies really haven't had an answer at first base, since trading C.J. Crone. We've seen a lot of Elehuras Montero there, who's not very good. Michael Tolia, also not very good. Goodman, you mentioned he had the 34 homers in the minors this year, 36 in the miners last year.

Didn't it get a lot of prospect hype because he was kind of Evangattesey, like he was a catcher originally, but he wasn't good enough to stay a catcher, but he wasn't really nimble enough to play anywhere else either. So he's kind of positionless, first base. Maybe he'll be able to handle that well enough. We'll see how much he actually plays. But the power is legit,

and he's going to have the benefit of Coors Field. So in deeper roto leagues, I think he's of interest. Both Ian Schneider are of interest. But between the two, I think I see a clear path to a bats for Goodman. I do kind of like Josh Rojas, too, who I threw in there, at least for this upcoming week. They do have two lefties on the schedule, so I'm not sure if he'll play in those games,

but he's hot right now. That Mariners lineup is, they're all hot, so I wouldn't mind getting a little piece of that. Again, that's deeper leagues. He was available in some of my 15 team leagues here over the weekend. Three other names, these are even deeper. I mean, we're talking AL, NL only. Are you ready for this name, Scott?

Carter Key Boom. He went one for three with a two-run homer on Friday, a former top prospect with the nationals. He's been out with injury the past couple of years. He has two home runs in five games with the Nats and looks like they're going to give him an opportunity to play down the stretch, see what he could do. Lennon Sosa started all three games this weekend,

even with Tim Anderson back. So similarly, I think the White Sox want to see what they have in him, and he hit two home runs this weekend. And then a gentleman named Nick Martini, who is on the Cincinnati Reds, he went two for three with a double dong on Friday, three for four with two RBI on Saturday. He's a journeyman, 33 years old,

left-handed hitting outfielder. I don't know how long he's going to stick around, but he had a big weekend. He's got anything on Martini, Sosa, and Carter Kibu. I can't really imagine picking up any of these guys outside of an AL or in a Lonely League. I mean, Keebom was, he did emerge as a top prospect one year, but he was kind of a one-hit wonder

in the minors if my memory serves me correctly. I guess he had a couple good years back to back. But, you know, this year in 44 games in the miners, Kibum, slashed just 256-362. I don't base percentage is pretty good, actually. 256, 362-4-11. So I'm not optimistic that he's going to be of much use other than just give you some of bats in an in-L-only league,

which not many people playing. Martini might be interesting, but he's clearly just. to fill in. And there's a reason he's been mostly confined to the miners through age 33. Team named Tuesday, Carter Kibum goes the dynamite. Not the first time I've heard that one. Ah, all right. He was all the rage back when he first got called up. I don't know if you were doing this fantasy. What year was that? I am well aware, Scott.

2019. My first year playing in the NFBC main event, Carter Keeboom got called up. and I thought he was going to be awesome. And I spent something like 25% of my fad budget on Carter Keyboom. It did not work out very well. It feels longer ago than 2019. If you told me it was 2013.

Yeah. No, you're right. It feels like it was ages ago. Let's talk about some news and notes from the weekend. Bobeshet left Sunday's game due to right quad tightness. Doesn't sound good for this upcoming week. Have you seen anything else, Scott? What do you think about start or sit on Boba Chet?

I mean, given the nature of the injury, I'd be, I'd be pessimistic. Make sure you have a backup ready, basically. Yeah. But we'll have to hear more. Yep. Rafael Devers, out of the lineup Sunday after getting hit by a pitch on his right wrist on Saturday, X-rays came back negative, and it's another, it's a similar situation. It's make sure you have a backup ready to go just in case for this week, because I would

say at the least, I would expect Devers to miss a couple of games. Well, the Red Sox, what I've seen from those on the Red Sox beat is that they're hopeful he can play tomorrow, meaning Monday. So that doesn't mean he will. I would be optimistic about Devers. I'm pessimistic about Bichette. I'm optimistic about Devers. Okay. So make sure to check the lineups on Monday once they're out. And if Devers is in, good to go. Make sure you keep them in your lineups. Pete Alonzo was hit by a pitch in the head slash neck area on Saturday, but passed concussion protocol and was in the lineup on Sunday. Some, I guess, rumors, news from the weekend, Pete Alonzo, sounds like the Mets are going to shop

him this offseason, like pretty legit. I don't, it's so interesting because he's a homegrown talent and living here in New York. He seems beloved by Mets fans. I don't know why the Mets wouldn't want to sign him to an extension outside of like maybe he's asking for some kind of exorbitant amount of money that they don't want to give him. But it's kind of weird, isn't it? He's good. He's really good.

Yeah. You know, he's a free agent after next year, right? Yes. Is that right? Wow, that came up quickly for him. He is older than you would think, though. He's pushing 30. Yeah, and there's that.

And obviously, he's confined to first base. And I kind of wonder if they want, if they think first base is the best spot for Brett Beatty, and that's factoring into this decision. because there have always been questions about Beatty's defense. But just, I don't know. I think, like, the way they were talking after trading away Scherzor and Verlander is that they're out for next year too, like next year is a rebuild year.

And so maybe they're just thinking this is a big trade asset to help us reload our system. And it might just depend on what they get in return for Alonza, whether they actually go through with it. But of course they are New York, and you're right, he's been a star-level player there. And if any team can afford him, you would think it's them. So it is a bit perplexing, I agree. I know the Milwaukee Brewers were linked to Pete Alonzo. There was a story that came out earlier in the week from, I think, Ken Rosenthal,

that they were, the brewers were poking around at the trade deadline. So that could be a team this offseason to watch with Pete Alonzo. Yandi Diaz has missed two straight with a sore left forearm. and Aranda has started both games in his place. I guess we had to find out more. Same thing with Andy Diaz. It's like when he's in the lineup, he's amazing. But we've got to see if he's good to go on Monday.

Scary moment on Saturday as Chase Silseth was hit in the head by a throw from his teammate, Trey Cabbage. Thankfully, Silseth was released from the hospital and has not been diagnosed with a concussion. My guess is that he won't make his next start. But I don't know that for sure, Scott. Have you? Maybe the Angels will go with a five-man retain. after all.

They might. They could do that. Yeah, I had Chase Silseth as a sleeper pitcher for this week, scheduled to go against the athletics. I have since removed him from that list. So I would definitely, I would plan on starting someone else for sure. Jared Kelnick is set to begin a rehab assignment at AAA this week.

He's been out since July 19th with a fractured left foot. He's 56% rostered. If you have an available spot in your I-I-E-A, if you want to stash Jared Kelnik. The Dodgers optioned Ryan Pepeio back to AAA this weekend. It sounds like he could be back up this week to serve as either a fifth starter or a bulk reliever. Is this surprising, Scott, or is this just kind of roster manipulation for the Dodgers? More of the latter.

I know I was pretty excited about Pepeio last week, and I still am. But it does seem like the Dodgers are taking. this unorthodox approach of kind of rotating him, Gavin Stone, and Emmett Sheehan through rather than just sticking with any one of them. And so that makes them all pretty unusable. But hopefully, hopefully one of them emerges. If one of them, my bet would be Pepio, if any one of them is. Speaking of the Dodgers, Tony Gonslin was transferred to the 60-day IL and could need surgery that would affect his 2024 availability. You mentioned the name there, Gavin Stone. He was recalled, and he pitched six innings in relief on Sunday. He allowed four earned runs in his last

eight games, seven starts in the minors. Gavin Stone had a 285 ERA and a 102 whip over a strike operator inning, but as you just mentioned, it sounds like you like Pepio more than Gavin Stone. Yeah, I do. He's still allowed three home runs in this one, right? Yep. Yeah, there's, I have not been impressed by what I've seen from Stone at the major league level this year, good as his minor league numbers were last year. Lars Newbar is expected to be activated from the aisle within the next week. He's been out since August 17 after taking a foul tip off the pelvic region. Cabert Ruiz is likely to return to the Nats lineup on Monday.

He's been dealing with some lightheadedness after taking a foul tip off his catchers mask. Matt Chapman left Sunday due to an inflamed right middle finger. And he hasn't been great this year. so I probably wouldn't risk it. Make sure you have a replacement ready to go for Matt Chapman as well. How did Matt Chapman get that inflame middle finger? I wonder.

Who did he inflame with that middle finger? I wonder. I don't know. I don't know. Middle finger injuries are always funny to me. More to come. Stay tuned on the Matt Chapman saga. Michael Brantley could be cleared

to return to the Astros on Tuesday and he is only 12% rostered. Two questions here. Scott, any interest for fantasy in Michael Brantley and does this affect Yiner Diaz? It's like every week

we have a new obstacle for Yiner Diaz. It's annoying. And every week he leaps right over it. Let's go. I think Dusty Baker's in now. I noticed he got a couple starts.

Was it a couple starts at Catcher over the weekend, Diaz? Double check that. Fucking out of my behind here. He started Thursday a catcher. He started Saturday a catcher. So, I don't know.

Baker's, Baker, who calls him Baker? Everybody calls him Dusty. Dusty seems to want to see him in the lineup. So with Yiner Diaz, he didn't start on Sunday, but he started the previous two, four, six, eight, nine games before that.

So there you go. And he came off the bench Sunday and went two for two with the homer. So that's all he does, baby. That's all he does. Two players who went to the IL this weekend worth mentioning Jake Cronoweth with a right wrist fracture and Michael Conforto with a left hamstring strain,

Elliot Ramos was recalled. Let's take our final break when we return. I've got some starter sit questions and then a few leftovers. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. Scotty, let's go rapid fire. We got to keep these answers short and sweet.

Start or sit, these fringe two-star pitchers. Framber Valdez is better. that a French pitcher. And these aren't two-star pitchers. I don't know why I said that. But he threw seven no-hit innings this weekend. Probably should have mentioned this earlier. Did have five walks,

16 swinging strikes on 114 pitches. But he has been so up and down. He's made eight starts in the second half, a 533 ERA, a 122 whip. And that includes two starts where he allowed no hits. So, yeah, some of those other ones have been pretty bad here.

Scott, quick thoughts on Framber Valdez. in the nine no-hit innings, remember he made the curveball his most used pitch. In these seven no-hit innings, he threw the curveball 14% of the time. So, like, even usage-wise, pitch usage, we can't. It's hard to make sense of. But, you know, two starts this week, you said, Valdez.

I'm not even sure that's true. It's going to depend on whether the... I don't think it is. I think he's one start against Boston. Yeah, if the Astros have any two-star pitcher this week, it's Javier. air, but I'm not sure if they're going six-man or five-man, so it might be no one. Anyway, probably Star Val-Dez, yeah.

Okay, let's slide over to Joe Ryan, who made his return. He was facing the Rangers, where he allowed one run over five innings. He had seven strikeouts with 12 swinging strikes on 80 pitches. Pretty successful return, I would say. Would you start him at the Rangers this week? That's back-to-back starts against the same offense. They've been a little bit cold recently, but overall, they've been good against right-hand pitching. I think Ryan is fixed, though, those seven starts prior to going on the aisle where he gave up like 17 home runs. We came to find out the groin injury was messing up his delivery. And he looked great on his rehab start, look great in this return.

I'm starting right. Mitch Keller has turned in back-to-back dominant starts. He was facing the Cubs this weekend where he threw eight shutout innings with six strikeouts. The velocity was down. So something to monitor with Mitch Keller. He is at the Royals this week. Start or sit? Start.

There's three pretty good starts in a row. Two great ones. And obviously, that's a great matchup. Dylan Seas was clobbered by the Oakland A's this weekend. He allowed nine runs. Eight of those earned over four in a third innings. He's now rocking a 487 ERA and a 146 whip on the season. I think there's no way we could start him at the Baltimore Orioles, right?

Well, you're right about him being globy. I said he wasn't. you said he was. You were right and I would prefer to set him against the Orioles. Yep, same here. U. Darvish has been a pretty globby himself all season. He allowed five runs over four innings and he is at the Cardinals this weekend.

They are sixth in Wobah against right-handed pitching. Oh gosh. That's somebody who's been up and down. Uh, like he feels like a random number generator himself. I don't love it, honestly. And that's a middling matchup. I could go either way. It depends what my options are,

but I don't think it's a high priority to get Darvish in your lineup. Julio Arias was on a great stretch recently, and then what happened? Hit hard by the Boston Red Sox. He allowed six runs, three home runs over six innings. And this week, he's home against the Atlanta Braves,

number one in Wobah against lefties. Pye a lot, too. Yeah. But it is Julio Arreus. Eileen, yes. I lean talent over matchup usually you don't like it Frank

you can read it all over your face you don't like it I kind of feel like outside of the top 10 to 15 pitchers there is not a single pitcher I would want to play against the Atlanta Braves so I don't have Julio I think I have

Arias more like a top 25 starting pitcher personally so if you have a better option if in a points league if you want to go with some volume even with like a two-star pitcher or something like that. I don't think it's crazy. James Paxton on the other side was facing the Dodgers. Obviously, it's a pretty tough matchup,

but he's kind of going through it right now. Four and a third innings, four runs allowed, five walks of four strikeouts, and in the second half, eight starts for Paxton. He has a 582 ERA and a 166 whip. He's at the Royals this week. That's a pretty good matchup. Scott, what do we do? Well, I was all geared up to say sit-in,

but yes, that is a great, that is such a good matchup that maybe Paxton does deserve one last chance. Somebody tweeted at me, I forget who it was, can't give you credit, sorry, after I was talking about Paxton last time saying once they began going with a traditional five-man rotation, that's when he started to fall apart. Like, he started getting less rest in between starts.

And I looked it up. So in 14 starts with five or more days of rest, five or six days of rest, basically. Paxton has a 2.95 ERA and four starts with only four days rest, 939 ERA. So there's probably something to that. His fastball was down 1.5 in this start against the Dodgers. So not what you want to see.

But I'm inclined to give him one last ride against the Royals. Would you start, here's the good one for you, Frank. Would you start Paxton against the Royals or Rurias versus the Braille? You stole my next question, Scott. I'm going to ask you because I don't want to answer it. I would probably start Paxton, but I don't feel too great about either. Hunter Brown had a bounce back start at the Tigers. He allowed two runs over five innings with nine strikeouts.

He's still 87% rostered, but only 44% started on CBS. He is home against the Yankees this week. Their lineup is not great. Thoughts on Hunter Brown? Yeah, I was pretty much riding. him off. He had a great start this weekend. That's a good matchup. I lean yes on that one. That is one there where I would definitely start Arias over him if it came down to that specific choice. For the few people that impacts who have both Hunter Brown and Julio Arias and

no obvious leaning on either. I say Arias over Brown, but Brown's an okay start with that matchup. Last name on this list, Bailey Ober hit hard on Sunday against the Rangers. He allowed five runs over four innings, and in five starts in August, a 563 ERA, a 150 whip. He's at the Rangers again this week. So back to back, facing the same offense. I think it's a pretty clear sit for me. I agree. Six straight starts less than six innings for Ober, who is well over his previous high-in

innings. And I imagine the twins are going to take it easy on him all the way home. Pitching standouts, pitching leftovers from the weekend. We've got this first group here. Garrett Cole strengthened his Syung case at the Tampa Bay Rays, seven and two-thirds innings, two runs allowed with 11 strikeouts on the other side of that. Zach Eflin put up a season high, 11 strikeouts against the Yankees. Kodi Isanga turned in his third double-digit strikeout start of the season,

six and two-thirds innings, two runs, ten strikeouts with 21 swinging strikes against the Angels, and Sunny Gray, another strong start up against the Rangers, seven innings, one run, four strikeouts. Fun fact on Sunny Gray. He has a 286 FIP this year that is tied for second among qualified starting pitchers with Kevin Gosman trailing only Spencer Strider. Any thoughts on Sunny Gray, Senga, Eflin, and Garrick Cole? That is a funny fact. That is a fun fact on Sunny Gray. See, that's why I got confused. I didn't want to point out with Zach Eflin. So of his 17 swinging strikes in this 11 strikeout game. Seven came on

the sweeper, which he threw 13% of the time. That's a pitch he hardly was throwing prior to this start. It was like 2% was his usual usage on the sweepers. 13% and it got 7 whiffs. If he has a new weapon there developing, that

could make him pretty special. Pitching standouts part two. Brandon Woodruff had his best start of the season up against a Padres, six innings, one run, 11 strikeouts there. Spencer Shrider, dominant at the Giants, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts with 24 swinging strikes. Max Fried had a bounce back start at the Giants as well. Six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts with 12 swinging strikes. And Logan Gilbert, a strong outing up against

the Royals. He allowed just one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts and 16 swinging strikes, anything to add on Gilbert, Freed, Shreider, and you know what I just thought of, Gilbert Godfried? That was funny, Gilbert Fried. Spencer Shreider and Brandon Woodruff. Yeah, so Woodruff and Freed both looked more like themselves. And I'm going to mention a guy here who I don't think you have in the rundown, but it's probably even more notable. Is Carlos Rodon? He only lasted four and two-thirds innings at the raise, but he struck out seven.

He had 18 swinging strikes on 84 pitches. It was the most Rodon like Carlos Rodon has looked at in any start this season. Interestingly, he threw 52% sliders in this one versus the usual 30%. And the slider's been like the slider entering this game had a 45% whiff rate. The slider has actually been more effective than last year. While the fastball's been less effective than last year. So maybe he's figured that out. He's like, I've got to throw more sliders.

It worked against the. raise. It was just a short outing. But I have some hope for Carlos Rodon after this one. Carlos Rodon, the problem I noticed with him, the matchup this week at the Houston Astros, they are third in Wobah against left-handed pitching. So, yeah, I'm not saying you have to start him yet, but I'm saying there's hope. Pitching standouts part three, Yuri Perez, another strong start, six innings, one unearned run with seven strikeouts, 14 swinging strikes on 76 pitches. That is just a great percentage of swinging. strikes. Tyler Glass now, a bounce back start up against the Yankees, where he threw six

shot out with four strikeouts. Did you know, Kyle Bradish is third in the American League in ERA? Well, he threw another quality start this weekend. He had eight strikeouts. His ERA is now down to 303 on the year. Freddie Peralta kept it rolling this weekend as well. Five and a third innings, two runs, nine strikeouts, and his last six starts, a 175 ERA, 0.86 whip, 59 strikeouts over 36 innings for Freddie Peralta. Anything on him, Braddish, Glassnow, and Yuri Perez. I would say for this group, I mean, Peralta just enjoy, just continuing to enjoy it while it's happening.

I have no idea. I have no idea what's changed for him from earlier this season when he was struggling so badly, but he's clearly lighting it up right now, and we've seen him do that before. So just enjoy it. Braddish, I still think Bradish belongs in the glob, even though his ERA is now down to 303. And so part of that worries me, like, okay, when is the tide going to turn here for this globy pitcher?

But, I mean, obviously, practically speaking, you just have to enjoy that while it lasts too. There was something interesting with his pitch selection. Let me see if I can find it. So he threw his slider more And it got 10 of his 17 whiffs And I know that that pitch has good metrics Like stuff plus-wise

Yeah So that's probably a step in the right direction for Braddish I'm the reason I'm calling him Globy is You know his actual strikeout rate's pretty ordinary Not bad but not great either Last group here Max Scherzer with a vintage performance At the Minnesota Twins Seven innings two runs 10 strikeouts

Zach Wheeler posted his fourth double-digit strikeout start of the season. He allowed just one run over seven innings with 10 strikeouts there. Aaron Nola, two great starts in a row. I'm sorry, Scott. I know you want them to struggle so you can get him at a discount next year.

Seven shutout with one hit, one walk, nine strikeouts for Nola and Luis Castillo, a great start Sunday against the Royals. Seven shutout with six strikeouts there. You know, the old Wiley Vets, Luis Castillo, Well, Wheeler, and Max Scherzer.

I don't know if this is actually encouraging or not for Nola, but in his last 10 starts, he has a 394 ERA. Pretty high, but below four. 112 whip, 10.4K per 9. Scherzer has looked like retro-surger, Scherzer ever since joining the Rangers, basically. So I think that's fine to just assume that's who he is going forward. Wheeler, this is definitely encouraging.

Last seven starts for Wheeler, 251. money are a 0.88 whip 9.4K per 9. Just a few quick numbers here from the hitter side of things. Some standouts from the weekend. I did want to give a shout out to Teasca Hernandez, who looks pretty hot right now. He hit three more home runs this weekend, and in the month of August he has an OPS over 1,000.

Otani played obviously this weekend, even following the UCL diagnosis. He had three hits, including two steals. and Corbyn Carroll became the fourth rookie ever to hit 20 plus home runs and 40 plus steals in a season joining Mike Trout, Mitchell Page, and Tommy Agee? I think that's how you say that, yeah. Yeah, I definitely know how to say that guy's name

and I definitely should know how to say that guy's name. The call to the bullpen, a few updates from this weekend for the Angels. Carlos Estevez picked up two saves. good to see from him. He's now up to 28 saves. It's been a little bit scary recently for Carlos Estevez, but look good this weekend. For the debacks on Friday,

Paul Seawald was unavailable. Kevin Ginkle picked up his fourth save, and then on Saturday, Seawald was back. He had a one-run lead. He gave up two runs, and the debacks wind up losing in extra innings. And then on Sunday, Seawald was unavailable once again. Ryan Thompson picked up his first save of the year.

For the Mariners, Seawald's former team on Friday, Andres Munoz did run into some trouble, but picked up his ninth save. And then on Sunday, he struck out the side for his 10th save. I feel like we could say this for both teams. The Mariners and D-backs, it feels like they have had a save opportunity every night or every day since making that trade. It's just like, Seawald and Munoz are just getting so many opportunities right now. It is, it's crazy stuff. And Munoz has had his ups and downs, but eight for ten and saved since the two.

trade. Yeah. He's, you know, I think he's been mostly what we'd hope he'd be in fantasy. For the Red Sox on Saturday, Kenley Jansen was nursing a hamstring injury, so John Shriver picked up his first save. And then on Sunday, mentioned this earlier for the Rangers, Aroldus Chapman did get the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a run on two walks and a hit.

Took his fifth blown save of the year. But I do think Aeroldus Chapman is the guy for now. To stream or not to stream on Monday, you know, we have nearly a full slate of games Monday. Scott, I think it's 14 games. Yep. It's going to be a busy night for the boys. And then there are only three games on Thursday. Oh, oof.

All right. Well, I might have to have the Welsh on a little fantasy feud this coming Thursday night. Wait a second. Four games. Four games on Thursday. Still going to have to do something crazy. Four games. On Monday, we have.

I think Brian Wu against the Oakland A's. Probably the top option. Yes, sir. This is probably too risky, right? Like, Severino at the Tigers? I don't trust Severino. I'd be more likely to start Johan Oviedo at KC. Okay.

Not that I love that, but... Right. He kind of feels like a random number generator, but, you know, his good starts have been really good, and that's a great matchup. I don't really love any of these other ones. Like, if I could trust Kyle Harrison to go five innings, I'd like him against the Reds, but he might not even go four innings.

Right. So it's mostly Brian Wu and Johan Oviedo on Monday. On Tuesday, we've got Dean Kramer up against the White Sox. We have, ah, I mean, Cole Regens, duh, he's the guy versus the pilots. Cole Reagan, obviously pick him up, he's more than a streamer, but he is number one amongst both Monday and Tuesday. So I said Kramer against the White Sox. I like Brandon Williamson at the Giants.

That's my guy. Yeah, he's a distant third for me on this list. There's something to this. I said third instead of third because my next word was going to be four. And I did that a minute ago. I don't know. Trying to crack the code here. Yeah, anyway, Regans, Kramer, and then a distant third is Williamson.

All right, a little bit of a longer episode today, but obviously lots of news with the Felix Bautista, lots to recap from the weekend. We're going to wrap there for Scott. 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.