Fantasy Baseball Today - Framber Valdez Changes, Pitchers on the Rise & Hitter Questions! (7/11 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 11, 2024

Framber Valdez made some changes and was awesome against the Marlins (2:43). ... Tobias Myers has been great since the start of June (4:48). ... Is Alec Burleson a stud for Fantasy (9:22)? ... News (15:42): Zack Wheeler had an MRI on his back. ... Luis Severino made some changes on Wednesday (26:39). ... Mark Vientos continues to hit but will the strikeouts catch up to him (32:42)? ... These three pitchers are on the rise (43:42)! ... Is it time to drop Nolan Jones (50:47)? ... These four pitchers had mixed results on Wednesday (53:06). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:00:12). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, July 11th. I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, Framber Valdez had a very interesting start. plus we have three pitchers on the rise.

I have three hitter questions for the guys and much more. But let's jump in. Can you believe it? Wow. All right, Chris, you are up. And who is your player of the night? It's Framber Baldess, who had a very interesting game, I think, is the way you put it. And look, it was against the Marlins, right?

So like that caveat out there, you're not going to expect seven innings one run, 10 strikeouts from Frammer Valdez every time out. But he led with the curveball in this, which was an awesome pitch for him, 10 whiffs, 48% whiff rate, 41% CSW. He also threw his slider 14% of the time, which was a career high. He got five whiffs on, I think, seven swings with that pitch. It was really, really good for him the most he had thrown that pitch. This season was nine times in a start.

He threw it 14 times in this start. And that's interesting because Framervalde's strikeout rate over the course of the season has gone down. I think it was 19% entering this start. And he had been in like the 23 to 25% range the previous couple seasons. And his slider usage had gone way down this season. It was only like 3 or 4% coming into this start. So that's a very interesting sign for a guy who, like, we never expect Frambervades to be an elite strikeout pitcher. but there's a difference between a 19% strikeout rate,

and even a 23 or 24% strikeout rate, which is merely above average. So I think that's definitely something to keep an eye on moving forward. Maybe he's rediscovered the slider feel. Maybe he just feels more confident throwing it, whatever it is. This was a very promising start in that regard. I agree completely. The 10 strikeouts, a season high.

He had 17 whiffs on 95 pitches. I love what he did with the pitch mix in the start, leading with that curveball, throwing. his slider more. He lowered the sinker usage in this start. And I know throughout his career, the sinker has kind of been, okay, that's his main pitch, that's to get me over pitch, you know, the fastball that he relies on, and then he kind of mixes in the secondaries. But his sinker has gotten hit really, really hard this year. Each of Framberval does his curve, changeup, and slider have actually performed very, very well. So him leaning more on those pitches and then having

a great start, albeit up against the Marlins, I thought it was very, very, very, very encouraging and hopefully Framber Valdez can build off of this. Scott, over to you for your player of the night. I'm going to go with Tobias Myers, who I believe had the second most impressive start of the day. He went eight shutout innings against the Pirates, so favorable matchup like Valdez. But obviously Tobias Myers is not somebody who we have given much thought to in fantasy, even as he's had a smattering of impressive starts for the Brewers here. He had 12 whiffs on 103 pitches. But I do think it is worth looking a little deeper into him because of that smattering.

Is it just a young pitcher catching the league by surprise? And eventually it's all going to come back, fall back on him? Yeah, maybe, maybe. I mean, the ERA estimators don't love Tobias Myers. He's outperformed them. But if you look at the individual pitches, it's a little like Reese Olson, where he has a slider and a change-up. And there is third and fourth most thrown pitch. So, like, he's not throwing them a ton.

But the characteristics, the results on them are amazing. His slider, which he threw a little more in this start 25% versus the usual 18%. has a 182 batting average against and a 33% whiff rate. His change-up, which he throws about 12% of the time, has an 095 batting average and a 42% whiff rate. It's not common to find a pitcher with two pitches, with numbers that good, and it leads me to wonder if Tobias Myers were to emphasize those pitches a little more,

might the success he's had stick? might he become somebody who is worth rostering in fantasy? I think it's possible. I think it's worth monitoring his progress. And we'll see where it goes from here. I am not interested in Tobias Myers. And that shouldn't be surprising. I haven't been interested in any pitcher who has been good this season, it feels like.

So why would we change that with this guy? Like, I hate how dismissive I've been of these Tobias Myers types because there have been so many of them and they've had so much success. I just, if he had qualified, he would rank 33rd out of 68 qualifiers and walk rate. He would rank 46th out of 68 and strikeout rate. He would have the 22nd highest fly ball rate. And his quality of contact metrics are pretty much all below average. and that would all be bad enough, except he also has like miserable numbers in the high miners,

like a 452 ERA at AA, a 567 ERA and 40 appearances at AAA. Check out those strikeout rates, though. Yeah, I mean, the strikeout rates are, they were good at AA, pretty bad at AAA once you account. I think the per inning number, are inflated by how poorly pitched. His strikeout rate in AAA was only 21%. So, like, the note about the slider and change-up and their characteristics,

that that seems like a good sign. And maybe there's a path to unlocking something more. But I'll just say, in order for me to be interested in Tobias Myers, I think he would have to be a very different pitcher than the one he has been so far. Results have been great. Two starts of eight shutout innings. this season. That's remarkable, but I don't think it's going to last. Seven starts since the beginning of June for Tobias Myers, a 179 ERA, a 0.93 whip, 35 strikeouts over 45 and a third. He's just

kind of middling at everything is what I saw. He doesn't excel at strikeouts. Command looks okay. He doesn't get a bunch of ground balls. It's one of those where, like you said, Scott, maybe he's kind of catching the league by surprise. If you picked him up, I think I would just kind of stick with it as long as he's hot and he's pitching this well and then okay if it falls off the rails just get rid of him but yeah yeah i mean i don't even know that i go that far i'm just saying keep an eye on him that's all i'm saying well he's already like he's up to 61% rostered yeah so people have added in cbs leagues cbs over inflates pitcher roster ship you guys know this all right well that was tobias my player the night that is going to be alec burleson who's

just continues to mash. Across the double header here on Wednesday, two for eight with his 15th home run, he added two runs and three RBI. Last 21 games, he is batting 313 with six homers, 24 RBI, and five steals. Overall, he's up to a 282 batting average, a 790 OPS.

He's got some pop. He's got some speed. This was part of a segment for later, three hitter questions, but I'll throw it your way. Is Alec Berlison a stud? because he is playing one like one right now. I mean, if I thought he was a stud, I'd rank him like a stud.

So no. But I like Alec Berlinson. I've liked Alec Berlinson for a long time. I'm glad he's finally living up to his potential. I just think to be a stud in fantasy, generally you either have to walk at a fair clip or steel bases. I guess he has stolen a decent number of bases, but not in a way that's believable.

And I don't think his past. power is, like, I don't genuinely, I don't think he genuinely has 30 homer power. The max exit, the average exit velocity is good. I think he's a good hitter in general. But I don't think he's somebody who's

going to deliver big home run totals with consistency. More like decent home run totals. Try to think of a good comp. Yeah, I was trying to think of one and it's like... I was thinking like a Lordus Gueriel. I think it could be better than that. like a 275, 20 homer, 10 steel kind of guy.

Something like that. Yeah. That's a useful player. You can hope for a better batting average. Right. But like Lordus Gariel last year hit 261, 24 homers, five steals. I would say you would hope for more steals because he has seven already, but... 10th percentile sprint speed.

Yeah, that makes it hard to believe. But like, Guriel's had some really useful. seasons and and I think Alec Berluson can be useful but yeah I think there's probably a he's probably a little over his head right now um

I guess maybe I'm thinking well no I don't think Brian Reynolds is a great comp either that could be a high end comp if it's because he does get on base at a decent clip but well Burleson just doesn't walk much at all that's yeah um so it's it's not a perfect one but

I think in terms of what his value could be to fantasy, it could be more in that range. That's not bad. Yeah, I could see that being like Gurriel is kind of the, you know, if everything just kind of works out normally the way things have played out so far for Burlinson, but the high end comp could be, all right, if it all works out, like, you know, he really excels and kind of keeps up this pace, then maybe he could turn into a Brian Reynolds type. Again, that is Alec Berluson to answer my own question. I don't think he's a study either, but I think he's a viable fantasy option and he's

playing really well right now with how about Glaibor Torres prior to this season like not the year that he destroyed Baltimore but yeah the previous couple seasons

where he was hitting 260 275 25 homers 50 you know 10 to 13 stolen base is like yeah that's a really useful player right it's must start yeah it's a must I think it's probably a low end number two high end number three outfielder and

yeah that's really valuable but And that's about where I rank Burlinson. Yeah. Yep. All right. Thanks to everyone for watching live. We do appreciate you. Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven't already, YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. And a reminder that you can listen to both this podcast and our five-minute podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today and Five on Spotify. If you're watching, there's a QR code. You can scan that and that will take you right to our FBT feed on Spotify. Let's take our first break. When we return, the news and notes. right after this.

Welcome back in. Let's talk news and notes and an MRI on Zach Wheeler's back revealed no structural damage. It's uncertain whether he'll make his next start on Sunday per Rob Thompson. Quote, we're going to be very cautious with him. We'll know Thursday. And that was referring to

Wheeler's status for Sunday. It wouldn't surprise me. You know, don't really push him. You're going into the All-Star break. So if you're planning on a two-star week for Wheeler, my guess is that it won't happen. But we would surprise me. We're We will find out tomorrow.

Yordon Alvarez was removed Wednesday due to right hip tightness. He is day to day. Bryce Harper was out of the lineup Wednesday with a bruised glove hand. He was hit by a line drive on Tuesday. It was not related to the hamstring injury, which he previously dealt with. Bobby Miller was optioned to the minors. The team didn't specifically say that Miller would go to AAA. It's possible that he's going to the Dodgers facility to work on his mechanics.

it's also possible that he got sent down so that they can get an extra reliever on their roster and that he'll be back right after the All-Star break. Many different scenarios here. How do you guys read Bobby Miller getting sent down? So did you guys see the Walker Bueller stuff today? I don't know if that's, yeah, we've got that in the notes a little later, but he's like away from the team working on his mechanics.

And so I think they're willing to experiment and let players do what, comfortable when they're struggling to try to find some answers. And so, you know, whether Bobby Miller goes down and pitches at AAA, where he goes to the team's complex and, you know, just puts inside work, my guess is he's not going to be gone long. And they're, you know, as soon as he looks like himself, wherever he's pitching, I think we'll see him back. But I don't think it's a guarantee that he's just back in 15 days or, you know, 12 days,

whatever it would be. because he's looked really, really bad. So he needs to, he has a lot to prove, I think, to the Dodgers and obviously to us before we trust him again. That being said, I would prefer to hold on to him. You know, my preference is we know Bobby Miller has significant upside. We know he has top 20 starting pitcher upside. I would prefer not to throw that away when a guy is not currently hurt. You guys let me know if I overreacted because this news came out when I was updating the rankings here on Wednesday.

I moved Bobby Miller down to SP 68. I didn't move him at all. I mean, I moved him already because of how he performed. But I didn't move him additionally with this news because I think, yeah, like Chris said, I don't think he's going to be gone long. He's not the first nor the last pitcher with options to be. be demoted heading into the All-Star break. And I still think everything we said about is upside, but unusability in the moment still applies.

Yeah, I moved him down to 57, which is like kind of a turning point in my rankings between like guys I believe in and guys I don't really believe in, but who have good numbers. So that's where like Gavin Stone and Ranaldo Lopez, I would still rather have Bobby Miller than those guys, although obviously if you were talking about trades. that would be a tough one, but I still think the upside is significantly higher for Bobby Miller. And I, he's 74th for me for what it's worth. Bobby Miller? Yes.

Okay. So yeah, you moved them down quite a bit as well. Yeah, I moved them just behind Shane Boss, Reese Olson, Gavin Williams, Brian Wu. All young pitchers who I think have pretty good upside as well. So it's not like, oh, I'm just, you know, throwing them behind some scrubs or anything, but, you know, those are other pictures that I'm interested in as well. also. This is where the...

74 puts him behind Eric Fetty, Brady Singer, Gavin Stone, Zach Eflin. We're not talking bad pitchers. I would say, I... This is where you see the... We are ranking rest of season.

And I'm inclined to put a guy with this kind of upside higher, even though right now, certainly I'd rather. have Ranelda Lopez or Gavinstone. You know, for the next month, I would rather have those guys. But I still think over the course, over the long run, Bobby Miller is the better picture. Yeah, it gets tricky when putting together the rankings because, yes, you're answering the

question who's going to be best rest of season. But I always feel like when you get to a point low enough in the rankings that it's a question of rosterability. I want my rankings to reflect who I'm most likely to roster because I imagine that's how people are using my rankings. Oh, he has Gavin Stone ahead of Bobby Miller, so I should drop Bobby Miller for Gavin Stone. Yes, I would recommend you do that. The disaster season continues for Boba Chet,

who was removed Wednesday due to right calf soreness. Cody Bellinger left after getting hit by a pitch in the hand, a 97 mile per hour sinker. And yeah, I mean, I feel like, I don't know, I say this every year. I feel like this is happening more than ever before. I don't know if it actually is or not, but it just feels like. The same feeling.

I've had the same feeling. Like every day it feels like a couple guys are getting their wrist x-rayed. Right. Yeah. It's happening a lot this season. Weird. Matt McLean has started swinging a bat and is hoping to begin a rehab assignment August 12th. He's going to need extended rehab.

So we're looking at late August, maybe even early September. it's, you know, at that point we're running out of time for Matt McLean to make a difference this year in fantasy. John Carlos Stanton could skip a rehab assignment and return from the IL shortly after the All-Star break. He is currently out with a strained left hamstring. Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts said Walker Bueller continues to work on his mechanics, which we mentioned earlier. Dave Roberts added, quote, I can say there's progress, but I really can't speak intelligently what that progress is.

He's away from the team. So that's kind of, I think the key takeaway there is they're, they're optimistic, but he's not pitching for the team right now. So I guess they just can't see what he looks like. T.J. Friedel is trending toward a return from the IL in 7 to 10 days after the All-Star break. He's 59% rostered. If you're looking for an outfielder to stash. Speaking of stashes, Jeffrey Springs completed four innings for the second consecutive rehab start on Tuesday. He allowed three runs, two of those earned with two strikeouts. He is 50% rostered.

I feel like I ask you guys this all the time. But how do you rank Kershaw, Springs, and Robbie Ray? Because it feels like those three are the closest. So I just put together new IL stash rankings the first time in almost a month. So I can answer this with more confidence than ever. That's good because people have been tweeting me asking for the stash rankings. Yeah, yeah, me too. Jeffrey Springs, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray.

That is the exact order I ranked them today. So yeah. I'm doing something right. Jimmy Garcia has had his rehab appearance delayed two days in a row due to neck stiffness. Gabriel Moreno was scratched from the lineup due to lower back tightness. Luis Camp Usano has started just once in five games since we're returning from the IL. And if that trend continues, Camp YSano will be pretty hard to roster even in two catcher leagues. and it is good news for Kyle Higashyoka

if you picked him up in some of those deeper two-catcher formats. The Ray's plan to bring Drew Rasperson back as a reliever this season, which kills any excitement for his fantasy value. We recently just, I think it was yesterday, we brought him up for the first time. Reed Garrett was placed in the aisle with right elbow inflammation, and it's a sad day as Adam Major was optioned back to AAA. I guess he'll just have to, I don't know,

host a fantasy football podcast in the meantime or something like that. He was dead to me once I found out his name was pronounced Mazur instead of Mazur. It was over in my mind at that point. Yeah. We have one. Go ahead. Can I go back to one thing? Yes.

This is the fourth highest hit by pitch rate season in MLB history. Okay. The previous three highest were 2020, 2021 and 2023. The fifth highest was 2022. All right. So it is becoming an incredible. increasingly common thing, but it's also like, you know, 1.2% of plate appearances end with hit by pitches. So it's not especially common still. That, that coincides with the sticky

substance band, doesn't it? Yep. And it also coincides with, no, not really. Kind of, but not really. When was that? The sticky substance crackdown was 22, right? I thought it was 20, 21. I thought it was 12. 2020 was the highest ever but it's been

above 1% each of the past seven seasons. Nobody ever counts. And it's been rising you know for the last couple of

right. I'm just saying the era where sticky substances were banned is also the era where consistently hit by pitches

has been higher. It probably correlates me I don't think that's it. It probably correlates more with velocity than anything.

And that's what we have more of over the past decade, right? It's, you throw harder, you don't really know where it's going kind of thing. Things happen. Players get hit by pitches. I mean, that was the pitcher's big concern when it was announced is you're going to get guys hurt by banning sticky substances. So it would. That's true. I don't know why it's such a far-fetched theory.

Hey. I wouldn't say it's a far-fetch theory. I just, the change over the past seven years doesn't really seem to coincide with the sticky substance ban. That's what I would say. Fair enough. Let's move on. One prospect, DeBak's shortstop prospect, Jordan Lawler recently aggravated his strain left hamstring

and will be sidelined an additional six to eight weeks. Brutal, brutal, brutal year for the development of Jordan Lawler who dealt with, I believe it was a broken thumb early on, then a strain hamstring, and now he re-injured that same hamstring. Last news item for those watching us live, I apologize. My face is extremely red, and I have seen some comments about it, and I know that it's there. I keep doing this thing where every Wednesday I go out to play pickleball,

And I don't put any lotion on my face and it gets... Just put sunscreen on. I don't know what I'm doing. Like, it's not just because of the redness. It's for your health. I know. I just, I forget. I don't know what's going on.

But yeah, that's why I look like a tomato. That's exactly why. All right, let's talk waiver wire pitchers. Not sure if he's out there in any leagues anymore. He's up to 79% rostered. And honestly, he hasn't... It's always out there in some leagues. Yeah.

But he hasn't been great recently anyway. This start was interesting for Luis 7. A quality start up against the Nationals, six and a third innings, two runs, three walks to four strikeouts, only nine whiffs on 92 pitches, but he completely changed his pitch mix. He led with the sweeper. He threw 23% of the time. That was only 12% entering the start. He lowered his sinker in fastball usage.

He threw a lot more traditional sliders in this start as well. I just wonder if maybe this can lead to more whiffs in the future, even though it didn't happen here. What do you guys think? I think it's a mark of a guy who's searching for it. Because his, you know, when he was having some success earlier this season, he had reinvented himself as a ground ball pitcher. It's Luis Severina we're talking about, which it's reasonable to be skeptical that it would work.

That's a pretty big transformation. But it was working. I've noticed recently the ground ball rate has kind of become. middling. It's regressed and the success has stopped. So I'm just not sure he's capable of missing bats like he used to. I had him as my last weekend stockwatch I had Luis Severino as one of the fallers. And I think, I think he's over-roastered at 79%. Yeah. Now is going to be my next question. Yeah. He's gone from an ad to a potential drop, right? I guess in that way. Yep. All right. Let's talk about some other names in shallower leagues.

Reese Olson, a quality start up against the Guardians, six innings, three runs, three strikeouts, but did have 12 whiffs on 95 pitches. We already spoke about Tobias Myers, who had a great start. Drew Thorpe turned in his fourth straight quality start up against the twins this time. Six innings, two runs, one walk, only one strikeout, five whiffs on 76 pitches. I don't know if he has anything outside of that changeup, it doesn't look like it. but how would you guys rank Olson, Tobias Myers, and Drew Thorpe? And would you drop Severino for any of those?

I was in a, yeah. Olson's in a different category as far as I'm concerned. The others are, I could take them or leave them. I'd rather leave them if I had better choices. But ranking them and how rostered they should be, you said Severino Tobias Myers and who was the third one? It was Drew Thorpe. You didn't remember.

Severino Myers-Thorpe. I think I'd go Severino, Thorpe Myers. Okay. Yeah, I mean, was there anything optimistic about the true Thorpe start? No, it was discouraging as far as I'm concerned. He just doesn't have anything except the change-up. Yeah. And this was a day where the change-up wasn't really on,

and so I think he was lucky to get through it, to be perfectly honest. Yeah. All right. against a good twins lineup. Some names in deeper leagues. Alec Marsh turned in a quality start at the Cardinals, six innings three runs. He had eight strikeouts with 16 whiffs on 101 pitches.

J.P. Sears, a strong start at the Red Sox. Where did this come from? Five and two thirds, one run, eight strikeouts, 20 wifts on 114 pitches for J.P. Sears. Kyle Freeland, I know it's Kyle Freeland, and it's the Rockies. He's pitching well since returning from the IL at the Reds, six and two-thirds.

two runs allowed, nine strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 93 pitches. 10 of those came on the curveball. Any interest here, deeper leagues. Kyle Freeland, J.P. Sears, Alec Marsh. I mean, the only moderately interesting thing about Kyle Freeland early on this season was that he was throwing harder

and was getting disastrous results. And now his velocities back down. It's not quite where it was last year. It's still, you know, a two miles per hour up. but I don't know, maybe there's a sweet spot where throwing 92 he stinks, but throwing 91 he's good. I don't know. Either way, he plays half his games at course field, so I don't think it matters.

Yeah, probably not. I'll point out that his curveball has gotten whiffs at a ridiculous rate, which even in this start, I mean, that ridiculous whiff rate's going to go up after this one. And so I don't. 10 on 16 swings, yeah. I'm not really seeing what's changed with it, for Freeland and building an arsenal around a curveball playing half your games at Coorsfield, I don't think is going to lead to much success anyway. So long story short,

I think we can continue to ignore Kyle Freeland, just as Chris said. Did want to point out with Alec Marsh that he changed his pitch mix in this start. He upped the slider usage. He faded the sweeper. I don't know. Maybe it's a classification issue. Nonetheless, we said this with Tobias Myers. Individual pitch results. look pretty good. Same thing with Alec Marsh. His four seam, his sweeper, his curve. They all look like either good to very good pitches,

but the results haven't been there. So just thought I would throw it out there. It's, I think, like a three-star trend of him upping his four-seamer use considerably. It's close to 50% in this one. And like you said, it's been a really effective four-seamer. It has an 188 batting average against,

So it's kind of reminiscent of Jake Irvin in that way to me. But yeah, I think overall I'm still pretty skeptical. It's just, I guess kind of like Tobias Myers, it wouldn't be the most shocking thing to me if Marsh became respectable for fantasy. Yeah, the thing I struggled with there is just, we saw an even better start earlier in the year against the Yankees, I think.

You had like an 11 strikeout start against the Yankees. Yeah. And immediately was a complete non-factor for fantasy. And so that's one where it's like, I don't think I'm going to do the full me twice thing on this one. Fair enough. Let's talk waiver wire hitters. And Mark Vientos, we talk about him every day. He keeps on hitting two for three with a walk, two doubles, a run, and an RBI.

He is up to a 293 batting average with an 897 OPS. The only thing with Vientos is I don't feel like I could get him any higher in the rankings. Like he's just behind guys that are just serviceable like Candelario and Matt Chapman and I know Christopher Morel has kind of been bad recently but we still like He's just been bad

We can just say like I had Chris Morrell on my second half Breakouts list so I still have some hope But like his OPS starts with a six If I'm not mistaken Well would you drop him for Viantos? I do have Vientos ranked one spot ahead of him.

So, sure. I agree. Viantos is 17th for me at third base. And I could move him to 14 without really changing my opinion on him or any of the players ranked ahead of him. After that, it would be harder. But I, yeah, I think it'd be okay to drop Christopher Morales, especially in a points league.

I think that'd be fine. You know what's funny, though? I've pointed that out before. For as bad as Morel's numbers look, his actual fantasy point production isn't so bad. He's outscored Austin Riley this year. He's right in between Machado and Riley in terms of total fantasy points,

which is on the verge of dropping outside the top 20 at third base. There are some kind of obscure third baseman who have outscored Riley and Machado this year, but it's still kind of funny that Morel's numbers could be that bad. And if you've just been starting him this whole time in a points league, you probably haven't noticed that much.

With Viantos in particular, like, there's a little bit of luck here with what he's doing, like luck or positive variance. I don't know, whatever term you want to use. Like, he has a 358 expected Wobah.

He has a 374. Actual Wobah. The strikeout rate, 24%, is kind of hard to square with how, much he swings and misses, although the overall whiff rate down from 37 to 33%. The in-zone whiff rate or the end-zone contact rate, I guess the way we usually phrase it,

is up from 72 to 76%. Still bad, but moving from disaster to playable. And given how hard he hits the ball, given that his overall plate discipline has improved, He's swinging at more pitches in the strike zone, swinging at fewer pitches out of the strike zone without sacrificing quality of contact. In fact, the quality of contacts even better. I think Mark Viantas is under rostered at 71%. Yeah. The zone contact is something that stood out to me because 76.5% is actually pretty bad, but it could be something where he kind of changes his approach with two strikes and he's just done a better job in that way.

or maybe a month from now, his strikeout rate will be 30%. I mean, that's not out of the realm of possibility. But we will see where he goes from here. You know, I don't want to overrate zone contact rate either. I mean, Matt Olson is generally below 80% and he's Matt Olson. When you have big time power like that, you can swing and miss in the zone some. I just remember last year it was, I think Zach Geloff was around 75% for most of the season. And we were like, yeah, it's bad.

but he succeeded. And then he came in this year and now he's striking out over 30% of the time. Yeah, but just for some context. Go ahead. I mean, it's, it's, it's a, it's another interesting data point,

but it doesn't, it doesn't say everything on its own because no data point does. And if you just sort league leaders and zone contact rate by the highest and then by the lowest, you'll find good players on each of those lists. And last year,

his 72% mark would have been a bottom three mark in baseball. Now, it's still not great, but it's like just ahead of Michael Bush and just ahead of Danesby Swanson and Teosker Hernandez is lower and Raphael Devers is surprisingly lower. Some guys who strike out a ton like Brent Rucker is a little higher than him, but also like show Hey Otani who doesn't really strike out very much at all is one percent ahead of him. So I think it's all the combinations, right? And it's the fact that while he is still swinging and missing too much overall, the fact that he's swinging at fewer pitches outside of the strike zone,

that's where more of the swings and misses live. And so, you know, avoiding that, I think is as big of a deal as, you know, cutting the strike out or the swinging strike rate. So are we a Mark Viantos podcast? Like, do we all generally like him? 100%. Yeah, I mean, I have him like 17th, the third base. I don't know if that's.

That makes me a Mark Viantos guy. But I, yeah, I'm buying in. I think he should be, based on how well he's played since he returned in mid-May, I think Mark Viantos should just be universally rostered until he slows down. Fair enough. Let's move on to Zach Netto, who continues his fine season. Three for four with his 12th home run, two runs three RBI. He has 12 homers and 14 steals on the year.

He's 50% rostered. I just don't know that that number needs to be higher. And I've been the Zach Netto apologist. Chris too, I know you like him. But only 2.3 fantasy points per game. It's just, if he's 50% rostered, he probably just needs to be rostered in category leagues anyway. Right? Zach Netto?

Yeah, I mean, he's on pace for close to 2020, but it's a really blah, 2020. Yeah, like he's, if you can accept that answer. He's 13th among shortstops and home runs. He's eighth in stolen bases, but he's got a low batting average. He doesn't get a lot of the other two stats. So, yeah, I don't think he's a points league starter at all. I think he's a middle end fielder in a, in a categories league.

Fair enough. Some names in deeper league. and for the second day in a row, Lawrence Butler has been picking things up. Two for three with a double, a walk, a steal, and two RBI. His last nine games, he's batting 3.45 with three homers and three steals. Max Schumann, trying his best to fend off Jacob Wilson. Two for three with his ninth steal. And in his last 11 games, he's batting 367 with two homers and five steals.

So far, so good for Matt Walner, since getting called back up. He had a big double header, three for six with his third home run. He is homered in back-to-back days. Joey Loperfito had a big game two-for-four with a triple a homer, two runs, two RBI. The problem, he's only played five of the last 11 games for the Astros.

And Geraldo Pardomo had himself a big game, three-for-three with two doubles, two runs, and an RBI. Again, deep league names here. But does anyone stand out? Perdomo, Lopo, Lopheedo, Matt Walner, Max Schumann, and Lawrence Butler.

I mean, Butler has some pretty interesting, minor league numbers and like I've watched a lot of bad baseball in my time as a Marlins fan and this is like exactly the kind of guy that when your team is terrible like the A's are you get irrationally excited about and then you know he he has a 600 OPS but like there are definitely tools here he's a really good athlete he hits the ball hard when he hits it um I don't know how much I want to buy into, you know, what has been, what, an eight-game stretch of him being decent? Nine. Nine games.

Nine games. I don't know. Like, I think he's a more interesting talent than anybody here except maybe Walner and Loperfito. I think all three of those guys are kind of interesting, but not much more than interesting yet. Yeah, I would say so. I'd be curious what the twins' matchups are next week. see if you could catch lightning in a bottle here with Matt Walner, but nobody has any clue what the twins' matchups are next week,

because next week is the start at the second half after a four-day break. All right, let's take our final break, and when we return, how high is too high to rank these pitchers? Some guys that have been on quite the run. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in, How High is Too High to Rank these pitchers? Michael King, a tough luck loss up against the Mariners. six innings, three hits, two runs, one of those earned.

Nine strikeouts had 13 whiffs on 91 pitches. His velocity was up across the board. Michael King allowed six earned runs back on May 15th. In 10 starts since, he has a 254 ERA, a 11-whip, 68 strikeouts over 56 and two-thirds innings. I know tomorrow is more of the rankings talk, but kind of feels like Michael King's been pretty, pretty good for quite some time.

We probably need to move them up. Or maybe you already did. What do you think? He is SP48 for me. That's pretty good. We haven't been about the same spot. Yeah, even higher at RP, obviously. It's interesting.

And I'll admit, I was very, very skeptical of Michael King. And so when he came out and stunk up the joint in April, I pretty much just wrote him off. I think I moved him outside of my top 70. And if there's, like, if there's, One criticism I get more than anything, it's that I'm not aggressive enough with my rankings moves. And so I was with Michael King.

And now I regret it and I feel stupid about it because I let my skepticism of him coming into the season, I did the confirmation bias thing. I didn't think he was going to be good. And so once he wasn't good to start the season, I just gave up on him entirely. And the thing that's tough about it is it has not come. with a dramatic change in his approach.

The stuff has not really been dramatically different. He's not throwing much harder. There's been maybe a little bit of a velocity gain as the season's gone on, but not really a notable one. It's just he's pitching a lot better. He's not walking everyone like he was early on. He's not giving up three home runs every start like he was in the first month. So he's just executing better and maybe that will prove unsustainable.

but it's now, you know, two plus months of Michael King pitching sub three ERA, you know, since the start of May. You said the May 15th start, but he was really good the two starts prior to that. So you just take it all since May 1st. It's a sub three ERA with a bunch of strikeouts. Yep. I don't want to go too far the other way. 48 feels like a good middle point, but I, I,

I think he's certainly must roster and probably must start moving forward. Welcome to another episode of Scott fights his microphone. What does that? I feel like I'm usually the one that's just randomly punching my microphone. My foot got caught on the cord underneath my desk and yanked down on the microphone.

So I think we're fine. I think we're good. I'm podcasting barefoot, by the way. Ooh. I didn't need to know that actually. Weird move. I think I think. I do. I think I always do. Oh, I think I'm always in socks. Never shoes, but always sucks.

I live in South Florida. Like, I don't leave the house. Okay. All right. We don't have, I don't have central air here. You know, my building's not well ventilated or well, well insulated. It's very hot in my apartment during the summer. Same. I am still wearing socks. I am podcasting in a room that does not have air conditioning. My wife, my wife doesn't like it when I'm barefoot in the apartment. So, yeah, it's, I'm just saying culturally, it's a little more accepted not to wear socks and south Florida. You are in Jimmy Buffett territory. Yep, yep, that's true. Let's talk about Christopher Sanchez,

who turned in a quality start up against the Dodgers, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts, had 14 whiffs on 91 pitches, and I told myself, I'm going to be aggressive. I'm going to move Christopher Sanchez way up, and it wasn't high enough, because Scott moved Sanchez all the way up to SP35, and it's hard to argue with a 296 ERA.

The whip is a little bit high, but the underlying. numbers are buying it too. Yep. Yeah. I just think he's, last time we talked about him, I think he's just good. And there was a lot of anxiety early in the year with him consciously increasing his velocity and would it compromise his control.

And for a while it seemed to. But not lately. Not lately. He's been a strike throwing machine again, elite ground ball guy just like last year. And the whips a little high, all things considered. But part of that is just carryover from the walks being high early on. I think Christopher Sanchez, I'd put him a little less than must start, but not much. He kind of just looks like Framber Valdez right now.

Yeah. Like the really, really good versions of Frambervaldez when he figured out his own. I have him 32. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, it's been going on long enough. The stuff is really, really good. I don't see too much reason to doubt it.

He's got really good quality of contact results. The strikeouts have been better as the season has gone on, although still not great. Yeah, I'm buying in. All right, well, you guys have inspired me. I have to move Christopher Sanchez up the rankings. One name that we might all need to move up, or maybe not, I don't know,

Eric Fetty. He pitched well again up against the twins, five shutout innings, five strikeouts. He had 16 whiffs on 90 pitches. 12 of those came on the cutter, four on the sweeper. He is down to a 299 ERA, a 113 whip.

Less than a strikeout per inning. The ground balls are pretty good. I think it's pretty likely he gets moved to a much better team at or before the deadline. Are we all too low on Eric Fetty? I still think he's performed. he's he's overperformed and all the ERA estimators show it he doesn't really excel at any one thing he's just kind of a middling pitcher he's kind of Kyle Gibson like and yeah that would have

some value on a better team but and and he'll probably get moved to a better team I agree I mean there's only like one team he could get moved to that would be worse right there's nobody worse than the white socks come on I don't know didn't the Marlins just lose a series to the White Sox. Is that true? I genuinely don't, generally don't know. The White Sox have Eric Fetty and Garrett Crochet, which might make them better than the Marlins in their current state. God, the Marlins are seven games better than the White Sox.

Wow. And both of those assets might be moved anyway. Oie. All right. Yeah. I hope it gets moot. You know, the Orioles, the Dodgers look like they need a ton of pitching right now, too. So I have a feeling both of those teams will be pretty active.

Three hitter questions. I already got one out of the way. We spoke about Alec Berlinson. Nolan Jones, a solid game here on Wednesday, two for three with a walk and a run scored. Also caught stealing. Since returning from the IL, 22 games, he's batting 239 with two homers,

one steal, a 29% strikeout rate, tons of ground balls. I don't know if he's healthy. Maybe last year was a fluke. Maybe a little bit of both of those things. but overall, Nolan Jones is batting 199 with a 616 OPS. He is down to 72% rostered. Can we drop Nolan Jones?

I'm perfectly comfortable dropping Jones in a three outfielder league. Yes. And I probably already have. Anyone listening probably already has. Five outfielder league. You go so much deeper into the outfield pool that I think he's worth keeping around just in case. I mean, generally we're talking about. roto leagues anyway with five outfielders and you can, you don't need your bench to be all

that usable in a roto league if it's weekly rosters. So you can kind of just stash upside. And I think Nolan Jones is more worth stashing than like, I don't know, junior commonero, some kind of prospect you could stick there instead. Just in case. I mean, it could turn around very quickly. I think the talent is still there, but he may not get to it this year. He has some pretty big flaws. Yeah, he's dealt with multiple injuries throughout the year. And I remember in spring training, he had a few things pop up. I think there was a slide that went wrong where he hurt his knee,

I think a hit by pitch somewhere that kind of knocked him out for a few days. I just wouldn't be surprised if at the end of this season it comes out, man, Nolan Jones was never healthy or something like that. Luis Robert provided some power and speed across the double header, one for seven with a sock into shoe, his 11th home. run, his eighth steal. And in 32 games since coming off the IL, nine homers, seven steals,

that also comes with a 221 batting average and a 32% strikeout rate. So yes, the power and speed is nice. The batting average, eh, not so nice. Do you guys think Luis Robert gets traded before the deadline? I would guess no, but it's certainly possible.

Chris? I agree with that. All right, let's move on to some pitchers who had mixed results here. Tanner Bybee at the Tigers, seven innings, four runs allowed, eight strikeouts, 13 whiffs. And I noticed the velocity was down in the start fastball down, 1.5 miles per hour.

That's two starts in a row. The fastball velocity is down, and Tanner Bybee has given up four earned runs in each of those starts. Any thoughts on Tanner Bybee? I'm more concerned about the slider, actually. This was a second start in a row where it had two fewer inches of vertical movement. I guess I should say two less inches, because you can have a fraction of an inch. two less inches of vertical move or a horizontal movement and it got hit really hard both times average exit velocity and it's the slider in this one 104.5 that that pitch normally has like 85 mile per hour average exit velocity a 129 batting average against so I don't know what's gone wrong here with by B slider but to me that's the clearest explanation for why his last couple starts of

been a step in the wrong direction. Yeah, him and Grayson Rodriguez are just like the the captains of the, why isn't this guy better All-Stars for me. It's like we had the really good stretch for Tanner Bybee, you know, around like mid to late June. I think he had like the really good stretch. But overall, it's like 377 ERA,

one, one-two whip. The whip is actually pretty good. And the ER estimators are all good. You know, mid-3s, three, four. four to three seven, that's probably just who he is right now. But it's like, why isn't he better?

That's the thing I can't quite figure out. You know, the slider stuff that Scott notes, maybe that's the explanation for right now. Is that the explanation for why he's been so inconsistent all year? That's the tougher one to answer. Bryce Miller turned in a quality start at the Padres. Kind of six shutout innings,

five hits. All right, that's good. The ratio's great. One strikeout, six whiffs on 80 pitches. So like the overall results were fine here, but the fact that he only had one strikeout, that's what makes this a mixed result. Anything on Bryce Miller?

He's just kind of whatever, you know? He's in that, he's kind of in that Ryan Pepio class, I feel like, where even his good starts are just kind of going to be, pretty good. And then there's going to be some bad starts mixed in. The overall stat line should be decent, but it's just hard to get excited about Bryce Miller right now. Yeah,

it's worth noting that the Padres have the lowest strikeout in baseball as a team. So, you know, tough matchup there, the fact that he only allowed one earned run, or actually no earned runs, sorry.

That's a very good sign. It's just, yeah, the lack of strikeouts is so, makes him so unexciting. even if I think he can be useful. If there's an opportunity to sell him, I would. Maybe make that Miller for Miller swap.

Make that B Miller for B Miller swap. I would give up Bryce Miller to get Bobby Miller. I think there's more upside with the Bobby Miller. Yeah, there probably is more upside. Yeah, it probably comes down to circumstances. Like, obviously, if you need a pitcher now, you've got to hold on to Bryce Miller. But if you have a lead and you want to stand.

for upside. I feel like you could do better, though. I think we're very close to the point, or at least I am, where I stop thinking, I stop thinking about the possibilities for a player and zero in on the immediate utility of a player

because we're past the halfway point. We're running out of calendar. Can't afford to mess around too much. True. So I would make that trade with you, Chris. would take Bryce Miller and give you Bobby Miller. I agree Bobby Miller has more upside, but... See, for me, it's just...

I just don't think Bryce Miller's that useful. Yeah, it depends on the depth of the league, probably. Yeah, in like a 12-team league, I'm not that worried that I couldn't stream. But in a 12-team league, I'm not even sure I'd continue to roster Bobby Miller, so it's... Yeah, I get what you're saying, though.

Let's talk about Nick Povetta, who had a mixed start up against the Oakland A's, six and two-thirds, four runs allowed, but he had 10 strikeouts. He had 16 whiffs on 105 pitches. He leaned on the sweeper in this start, and obviously it was really good. It's 10 strikeouts, two starts in a row.

But four earned runs to the Oakland A's. Yeah. He's Nick Povetta, man. I don't know. This is like, even last year, he finished with a 4-EAR. You know, like that's just kind of always who Nick Povetta has been. I know he was really good for the final two or three months,

but I just, I think this is what Nick Povetta is. And what he is is a guy who gets a lot of strikeouts and gives up more runs than you want. I think he's a useful fantasy pitcher, especially with that RP eligibility in points leagues. But I don't have some like, ah, Nick Pavetta is going to be an ace for the next three months. I don't have those hopes. All right. Last of the mixed results, Bailey Ober at the White Sox. He might have expected a little bit more.

It wasn't a bad start, but six innings, three runs, six strikeouts. He had 17 whiffs on 84 pitches. And over his last five starts, Ober has a 216 ERA, a 0.87 whip, 41 strikeouts over 33 and a third. Are you guys just ready to say Bailey Ober is back, back in our good graces? Yeah, I got them right outside. the top 40 if that sounds like good graces. To me it is because I had dropped him outside the top 70,

I think at one point. I've noticed that his success has broadly speaking coincided with decreased cutter use. And he threw a ton of cutters in this one. And it wasn't really the pitch that got hit hard. It was the fastball that got hit hard. But it's just I find it interesting that he brought back the cutter and had worse results. Yeah, the fastball has, the fastball has been the issue this season for the most part and it's played much better lately,

although it's still probably his worst pitch. I haven't found like a good explanation for why the fastball, like why the introduction of the cutter has coincided with the fastball becoming a problem for him. But, you know, what, eight whiffs with the fastball today. A lot of loud contact. I think that's going to be a problem for him. But, you know, if he can avoid the contact, I think Bailey Ober is going to be pretty good with the occasional blowup. Let's get into the rest of the pitching leftovers. We had three good and too bad on this list. Shote Imanaga, an impressive start at the Orioles. He threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts. Pablo Lopez was okay at the White Sox, five innings, two runs. Five strikeouts, he did have 18 whiffs on 90 pitches.

And Zach Eflin turned in a great start versus the Yankees. Seven innings, two runs, one of those earned with six strikeouts, but only six whiffs on 103 pitches. Any thoughts on Eflin Lopez and I'm so annoyed at Zach Afflin because like I have him in a bunch of leagues and I that's a, he's typically at the type of player, the one year veteran breakout that I fade, but I liked him a lot this year. And it's like, you know, we've done this like, well, why is like Jake Irvin and all these, you know, mediocre pitchers getting great results. I don't know why Jake Irvin is the one I picked on, but, you know, Tyler Anderson or whoever. And it's like, well, maybe it's, you know, these guys who have really good control and they throw a lot of different pitches and hitters can't get comfortable against it. Like, well, that's Zach

Eflin. So why hasn't he benefited from it? I think the biggest thing is he's just not throwing his curveball as much as he was last year. It's been like right around 19%. It was 19% in this start. Last year is about 27%. It's by far his best strikeout pitch. And with pitch. And his strike. And his strike. got rates way down. And I think that those two things are probably related, but I generally think Zach Lufflin's going to be very good moving forward. Whether it's ace production, I don't expect that. I don't expect him to be what he was last year. But mid three ZRAs, very good whip. I do expect that from Zach Eflin. All right. Two rough outings. Logan Webb got crushed by the Blue Jays five plus innings. He allowed seven earned runs, which was a season high, and 14 hard hits allowed in this

start for Logan Webb. I don't care who you are. You give up that much hard contact. Something bad is bound to happen. Gavin Stone has struggled in two starts since throwing that complete game shutout. He was at the Phillies. Tough matchup, obviously. So maybe you give him the benefit of the doubt, but four and two thirds innings, nine hits allowed, and four earned runs. Scott, any any lingering concerns here with Gavin Stone or Logan Webb? Man, I think I missed this Gavin Stone start. I regret speaking of him favorably earlier in the show, given how bad this start was. I don't know.

He's been a tough one to figure out. And I would say it continues because right about the time we were buying in, This is back-to-back clunkers for him, right? Yep. Yep, since that complete game shut out. Yeah. And so I guess he's probably back in the drop-upal category, too, because it's not like there are some obvious indicators of dominance here underneath it all

that would cause me to have a great deal of optimism for him. How's that? I didn't even know what happened to him until just this second. I think I pulled that analysis out of my butt pretty darn well. Yeah. Professional broadcaster. I was like the best I've ever done. Yeah.

In that scenario. Let's get into some hitting leftovers. Brendan Nimmo, all he does is hit home runs. One for four with his 16th homer. He has homered in three straight games. Bryson Stott looks like he might be picking things back up. Two for four with an RBI. He is batting 273 over his last 15 games with one homer and three steals.

Huge game. I have no idea what to do with Bryson Stott in the rankings. He has been so streaky this. He got off to a terrible start, and then he was red-hot for, like, the start of May. And then for the next month after that, he was pretty bad. And now he's been okay over the past two weeks. I'm with him. I just marry him to Hassan Kim.

Honestly, I know what to do with him in the rankings. I do the same. Yeah. They're pretty similar players, right? I mean, look, Graham has been a much better base stealer this season, right? I don't think so. Stott has 21 steals. He might actually have more.

I think Kim actually has hit for more power. Yeah, Kim only has 17. Yeah. I like how he made the exact same noise there. Yeah, but. I think that's a tendency I've picked up from you then. You're second guessing somebody. I'm not so sure that's the best tendency of mine to pick up.

It's gone to me. It's not too judgmental, but it's also not like, I don't feel in a different direction. Yeah. I would say my expectation for both of them is around a 250 batting average, 10 to 15 home runs, and 30 plus steals, right? That sounds about right.

Yeah. Huge game for Willie Adamas, three for five with a double, a homer, and four RBI. He struggled massively in June, but he has picked things up so far in July. Salvador Perez had a huge day across the double header. Three for seven with two home runs and four RBI.

And Marcel OZuna, who will be competing in the home run derby, turning the power back on. He has three home runs in his past six games. Let's get into the bullpens because there was a lot happening here. On Wednesday for the Tigers, Jason Foley walked one but got the final two outs for his 15th save. For the Mariners, Andres Munoz walked two but recorded the final four outs for his 15th save. For the Mets, Edwin Diaz was unavailable.

It was Jose Buto who recorded the final four outs for his first save of the season. season. For the Phillies, Jose Alvarado entered with a two-run lead in the eighth, facing the heart of the Dodgers lineup. He gave up a run on two hits. And then it was Jeff Hoffman who came in for the ninth. He struck out one for his ninth save. And Jeff Hoffman is 41% rostered. I think he needs to be rostered in all category leagues. Is that fair? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Even before this stretch where he's gotten four of the Phillies' last five saves with Alvarado working the eighth in the last two of them, So I think, I still don't think it's crystal clear that they're going Hoffman full-time closer, Alvarado full-time setup, man.

But it's, you know, just looking at recent distribution, you'd have to give the edge to Hoffman, who's been the better pitcher this year anyway. Entering today a 121 ERA, a 0.88 whip for Jeff Hoffman, who is only 54% rostered on Yahoo. and I'm pretty sure those are all category leagues. So yeah, he probably should be rostered in more leagues over on Yahoo. For the Rockies, Jalen Beaks entered the ninth with a three-run lead. He gave up two runs on three hits but picked up his ninth save. For the Yankees, Clay Holmes recorded the final four outs for his 20th save. But he owes a big old thank you to Trent Grisham,

who made a great catch in center field. Eighth inning, Clay Holmes came on, two runners on, two outs, and Yanny Diaz hit a screaming line drive into the, the gap and Trenk Richem made a great play or else it's a tie game maybe the race take the lead there so I still don't think we're in the clear with Clay Holmes for the A's mason miller gave up a hit but struck out two for his 15th save for the royals I don't know how often we have seen this I don't I don't know that I've ever seen this James MacArthur across a double header got saves in both games I feel like that never seen it I'm sure does that happen I feel like I've never seen that it happens

It's definitely happened. It doesn't. Generally, they'll just work them in one of the games. And so it is kind of rare, I guess. But I'm sure it's happened before. I'm sure I've seen it before. I can't tell you when because I don't think it was not met. Camilla Duval, July 18th, 20203.

How did you find that so fast? Yeah, what the? Josh Hater, May 30th, 2022. I wasn't working that day. Did you just Google it and somebody has a list up there? Yeah. John Doolittle, July 25th, 2019. Did a lot that day.

All right. So there was a, there was a big gap between, what was it, like 2023 and 2019? Oh, I don't know if those were the most reasonable. Those were the first three I found. Fair enough. For the White Sox, game one of their double header, Michael Copac pitched an immaculate inning for his ninth save.

The guy has talent. It's, you know, few and far between, but. This is the, he's like a hundred and sixtyth, I think. in reliever war this season. And like if you watched him today, it's like, how does anybody ever hit? He was like pumping 100 easily throwing like 92 mile hour cutters.

Baseball is hard. Yeah. You kind of left out the most important detail of this emaculate inning for Michael Kopeck. I was trying to find this. That's that the last White Sox pitcher to throw an emaculate inning was some guy named sloppy Thurston in 1923. which if you have a name like sloppy Thurston

and you throw an emaculate in it like that is something to celebrate yeah wow I think I did see a tweet from Chris about it but I just kind of saw it in passing so yeah shout out to sloppy Thurston that's great for the twins in game two of that doubleheader it was Yawain DeRan

who struck out two for his 14th save and for the D-backs Paul Seawald back on track. He pitched a clean ninth for his 12th save of the season. To stream or not to stream, maybe one of the worst days of the year. No, I lied. I think that's Friday. Actually, no, these aren't so bad.

I don't know, you tell me. Thursday, Albert Suarez faces the Cubs. Yeah, this is not a good day. Albert Suarez against the Cubs, Savali against the Pirates, and David Peterson against the Nationals, I guess. Suarez, I, I hear about,

Peterson's okay, because the Nationals are bad against lefties. I think there are three or four I like more on Friday than anybody on Thursday. Yes, so let's talk about Friday where we have Sean Mania

who's facing the Rockies in New York. We have Carson Spires facing the Marlins. We have Andrew Heaney at the Astros. Don't love that. Spencer Schwellenbach

at the Padres. And yeah, I think that's bad. Yeah, Rodriguez against the Diamondbacks could be good. Diamondbacks. Man, they are...

Yeah, no, they're super hit or miss and they can get really hot and put up runs, but I like him better than anyone on Thursday. I would go for Friday, Schwellenbach-Maniah Spires in that order. Sure.

Schwellenbach-Maniah Spires. Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to disagree, though, that in the next two days, I think Albert Suarez against the Cubs is my favorite. All right. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. 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.