Fantasy Baseball Today - Francisco Alvarez Promotion, Two-Start Pitchers & Week 3 Sleepers! (4/7 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 7, 2023

Chris Sale is off to a weird start this season (1:45). ... Buy-low on Lance Lynn and Blake Snell (6:50)? ... What about Merrill Kelly (14:30)? ... There was a pitching duel in Coors Field (16:42)?? ... Top prospect Francisco Alvarez will be promoted on Friday (22:18). ... News (28:25): Michael Harris left early with back tightness. ... The Giants put up 16 runs Thursday (35:50)! ... Which two-start pitchers are worth using next week (43:21)? ... What about sleeper hitters to add (51:15)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers for the weekend (55:20). 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.  Fantasy Baseball Today is a finalist in the Baseball Category for the Sports Podcast Awards! Quickly create an account and vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ 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

To fantasy baseball today on April 7th. Frank Stamphle joined by Scottie Dubbs, Scott White. Today on the show, we're going to recap all six of Thursday's games. Francisco Alvarez being promoted by the Mets. A bunch of crappy pitchers to talk about, as it seems like we do every day. Are they crappy pitchers or are they crappy pitching performances? I don't know. I don't know.

I guess we'll have to figure that out. It's going to have to be sorted out, isn't it? Hey, look, if your name is not Dustin May, then it's probably a crappy pitching performance. Before we get going, make sure to like this video and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating. It really helps. Let's jump right in. Oh my goodness gracious from Thursday's action.

That is the home run call made famous by the legendary Bob Yucer on the Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcast. Scott, kick us off. a player to highlight from Thursday. All right. Let's talk about an old friend of mine, a personal favorite, Chris Sale. Let's talk about Chris Sale.

The start Chris Sale had against the Tigers on Thursday. Because I feel like there are a lot of Chris Sale overreactions on Twitter today in response to this start, which was, okay-ish.

Three-earn runs and five innings, seven strikeouts. He did walk three. But, you know, given the context of this season and the way pitching performances have gone so far as somebody who's heavily invested in, Chris Say, oh, I will say, this is one of the best starts I've gotten it for many of my pitchers all year. You've got to win, he got seven strikeouts.

And we need to start grading on a curve here. But no, I mean, it didn't start out great. So I mentioned he had three walks. the very first two batters of the game walked on eight straight balls. So that's where the panic kind of started for people. Then he struck out the next three hitters and seemed to settle down from there. Once we got past the whole, oh, eight straight balls to start the game thing, the concern for people seems to be as velocity was down.

And it was. He averaged about 92 on his fastball. I will point out that it was 47 degrees in Detroit. His opposing starter, Spencer Turnbull, his velocity, was way down. Alex Lang for the Tigers, his velocity was way down. Didn't see a lot of concern for either of them on Twitter.

I'll note that a lot of high-end pitchers around the game, their velocity was down Thursday. Kevin Gossman's was way down. Spencer Striders was down, and he was pitching an 80-degree weather. So I don't know if it's just kind of that time of year. Everybody's

arms are a little spent. They got to like push through that wall, you know, the dead arm phase or whatever. I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I'm sure the cold front that went through, because last time I was on, we were talking about,

oh, it's warming up. There was a cold front that went through since then. So temperatures were down around much of the country again, and that's contributing to it. But back to sail. So his velocity was down, 92 on his fastball. A couple of reasons this doesn't worry me is,

one, his velocity was fine, his first starting was cold. I already mentioned that. Two, Chris sails velocity throughout his career has average fastball velocity has fluctuated between 93 and 95 miles per hour, which is a pretty wide range. And it's gone back and forth over the course of his whole career without affecting the pitching results too much.

I just don't know that he's somebody who's that, whose velocity is that important. More velocity is always good. But Sale has so much deception with his delivery and so much movement on his pitches. His sinker, his two seamer in this one, was getting like two feet of horizontal movement. I think that's part of the reason he struggled with control early on is because he was caught off guard by how much the pitch was moving. And so, you know, obviously he had the seven strikeouts, 10 whiffs on 74 pitches. That's a pretty good rate.

We get six weeks in and he doesn't have a better start than this on his record. I think it'll be time to worry. But I think there's enough good signs amid the concerning sign. and enough reasons to, you know, question the concerning signs. I'm not that worried. I still think it's worth being invested in sale. I don't think it's time to consider panic selling him or panic dropping him or anything like that.

Okay. Yeah. I mean, what I've noticed so far is obviously the first start, he was bombarded with home runs, and he's been a little bit wild so far. I mean, three walks over five innings pitched. He still has 13 strikeouts in the eight innings he's thrown so far this season for Chris Sale. I thought his pitch usage in this one was a little bit weird. You mentioned the sinker that he was using.

He threw it 36% of the time. He only used it 19% in his first start, and it's generally his fourth most used pitch just on a regular basis for Chris Sale. So it might have just been a feel thing where maybe he didn't have a good feel for the four seam in this start and went with the sinker more. But I thought that was a little bit interesting.

He did have some nasty sliders too, Scott. I mean, I saw these classic Chris Sale, back foot sliders to right-handed pitchers that were just like absolutely nasty and he was getting a bunch of whiffs on those too. So overall, I thought it was like a mixed bag but trending in the right direction for Chris Sale here. This was part of a segment I had planned later on,

but it sounds like if you could buy low on Chris Sale, it's something that you would look into doing. I mean, as much as I can make sense of any at the state of pitching in general in baseball right now, then yes, I would say I'd probably buy low on Chris Sale. But it's been a headache in the early going. I mean, the fact Josiah Gray

bounced back with a great start at Colorado, no less. Kind of sums it up, doesn't it? Yes. I mean, it's just so unpredictable right now. And with that, I mean, while we're talking about by low pitchers, why don't we just talk about two names that I told people to draft this year, Lance

Lynn and Blake Snell. You know, Scott, this is a bit of a rough day for your boy right here because honestly, rough day I'm probably selling it a little bit short here because what Lance Lynn and Blake's knell did, it was quite bad. We'll start off with Lance Lynn,

up against the Giants, four and a third, nine hits, eight earned runs, three walks, five strikeouts, all right, fine, over a strikeout for any, three homers allowed in this start. Just didn't really have anything. Another pitcher where the velocity was down, is fastball veloed down 1.7 miles per hour.

The curve down 2.8 miles per hour. I watched some post-game interviews. I read some quotes. basically just said he didn't have it. I think the exact phrase that Lance Lynn used was that he was piss poor in this start, which is about as Lance Lynn as it gets. He gave up eight hard hits.

It's another star where it was pretty cold. I mean, they were pitching in Chicago in this game right around 50 degrees, so look, I don't want to make excuses for the guy. The control has been off for him. First two starts, two, seven walks. Typically not something we see from Lance Lynn. You know, that stretch that we saw last year

where it was his final 12 or 13 starts, I think he had, you know, something like less than one walk per nine during that time. So, it was a brutal start and there's no defending it. You know, he's one where, yes, if people are panicking and they're just, look, looking at spite drop or spike get rid of Lanselin. Yeah, I would jump all over it. I mean, he has enough of a track record where I think he's going to get back on track. Blake Snow, I think this is kind of the territory, right? With Blake's now, I mean, we see him get off to slow starts every year.

And then he reels off like a two or three months stretch. where he looks like one of the top 12 starting pitchers in baseball. So I think you just kind of have to take the good with the bad. And based on where you were drafting him, you know, you're going to get volatility with Blake Snelly. He gave up four runs over three and two thirds. He was, you know, wild in this start. He had four walks, six hits allowed, only 10 swinging strikes.

The velocity, yeah, also down in this one, 1.6 miles per hour. So I think you're on to something with that. Scott. Eight hard hits allowed by Blake Snell. I actually really like the pitch mix in this one. What do we say every year with Blake Snell? Do not throw the change up. We want to see more breaking pitches.

Like through his slider 27%, Curveball, 23% in this start, and his four-seen fastball, 43%. He just could not throw strikes. So another one where rough outing, but, I mean, these are two guys, Lancelan, I think, a little bit more proven, higher floor

than someone like Blake's knell. If anyone is just panicking early on, then yeah, I'm sending out offers and I'm trying to get either or both of these guys right now. Yeah, I think especially, especially Lynn. I mean, his previous start, he had 16 swinging strikes against the Astros. He struggled with control then, too, so the overall line wasn't great.

But, like, there's clearly still the kind of stuff we want to see from Lance Lynn. And he had a terrific star in the World Baseball Classic, you may remember. So it's not like we've seen no good signs from Lance Lynn. I think it's just a bad start. And look, he's in good company as far as that. goes. As we keep saying, like if you get a bad start from the pitcher, like a really bad start, then you're just like everybody else because there have been so many of those in the early going. And so it's probably not wise. It's probably wise not to overreact to any of them.

Snell, a little more concerned about Snell because, yes, it's true. He got on track in the second half each of the last two years. But the second half's a long way away. And we're what do you do with him in the meantime? Because he can really wreck your ERA and whip if this season plays out, like those two seasons did. So I'd be a little more reluctant to just ride him through thick and thin. But, Lynn, I feel good about, and as I mentioned, sale. I still feel pretty good about.

I would say, you guys talked about Corbyn Burns yesterday, I present you and Chris. Yeah, I wanted to get your thoughts on him because we had a pretty spirited discussion. about Corbyn Burns, we had to fire up the Worryometer already, Scott. I mean, we'll be a week into the season. People are asking me for a worryometer on Corbyn Burns. And I had it at like a three and a half. I said, I'm not overly worried,

but, you know, there are some warning signs early on here. I don't want to overreact, but I would look to, if someone is panicking and looking to sell low on Corbyn Burns, then yes, I would pounce on that opportunity as well. And did Chris feel similarly, or was he more? Oh, I mean, Chris, we had both Chris's on yesterday. Towers was, I mean, he was like not worried whatsoever. And he's like,

yeah, I would absolutely buy. You know, Welsh and I were a little more like wavering like, yeah, there's some warning signs there. But if you could still buy it, then we would look to. I mean, I just, I don't really understand it. I do feel a little better about Burns today, seeing the velocity down for so many other pitchers. And even in favorable pitching environments, the cold ones, okay, that's a little more understandable. Burns was pitching indoor. obviously for his starts. So it wasn't, but it wasn't for Strider or Snell today either. So that gives me some reassurance that maybe we're just kind of at that stage in the pitching

buildup where everybody's velocity is a little iffy. And there was a lot of happy talk coming from Burns. I mean, I guess what else would you expect him to say? But Craig Counsel seemed really confident too. and I would put some stock in that. It's just like not only was the velocity down, he wasn't missing bats at all. And it's concerning.

I just don't know what to do about it. The level of investment you have in Corbyn Burns, like you're not going to want to sell that for 75 cents on the dollar at this stage of the season. I think that would be reckless and potentially self-destructive. So would I trade Corbyn-Burnes for Sandy Alcantra now? Well, yeah, but is the Sandy Alcantra, is a person who drafted Sandy Alcantra going to want to do that?

Probably not. So I don't know that there's anything to do with Burns, but just, you know, cross your fingers and hope you see signs of a turnaround soon. But it's concerning. I have more concerns for him than I do for most pitchers that we've seen struggle the first two times through. But obviously, Corbyn Burns deserves a lot more patience than every other pitcher because by ADP, he was the top one drafted. Yeah, and the track record the past two years is he's arguably been the most valuable pitcher in fantasy baseball. So I think we just give Corbyn Burns the benefit of the doubt for now.

If you did have to put a number on it, Scott, the Wuriometer 1 to 10 for Burns, where would you be? I think 3.5, like you said, sounds pretty good. Yeah, take that, Chris. Scott's with me. Anywho, just getting back to this conversation. So if you were looking to buy low, you would rank it in terms of preference. It would be sale, Lynn, and then probably a pretty big drop and then Blake Snell, right? I mean, I had Sale and Lynn ranked pretty close. I think I'm a little more comfortable with Lynn than sale at this point.

I'd probably go Len over sale. All right. The only other pitcher I wanted to mention in that conversation was Merrill Kelly. Another blah outing against the Dodgers. Obviously, it's a tough matchup. Five and two thirds, four earned runs, four walks to four strikeouts. So first two starts, he has four walks in each of them, and they were each against the Dodgers.

So obviously some pretty tough matchups. This is a much lower end starting pitcher, Scott, not the same level of investment as the other names that we were talking about. I think you might even find some people drop Merrill Kelly after this. and then you could just go out and pick him up. Maybe in a deeper league, would you be looking to acquire him on the cheap? Yeah, it depends how cheap. I mean, certainly if somebody dropped him,

I'd be looking to make a play for him. I liked the value on draft day, but I understood the discount. I mean, obviously he's not especially proven. He was really good last year and basically sustained it from start to finish. And I thought with the new environment we were working with, what the balls not carrying as well, that maybe he was a success story as a result of that.

But now the environment's completely in question again with the way balls have been traveling, at least when the temperatures have been warmer. So, you know, I don't view Merrill Kelly as somebody who's super safe at all. I think he's definitely still worth rostering after two shaky starts. And mostly what's been wrong with him is control, right? Four walks and back-to-back starts. he's been

Merrill Kelly's been as erratic as Chris Elliott with those walks there but it's not like he's been getting pounded or anything so that's reason

to be encouraged it probably wasn't a good idea to start him against the Dodgers I know in the leagues where I have him I don't think I did in New York leagues

where I have him but let's see what's his matchup next timeout Chris not Chris I got Chris Elliott on the brain now Merrill Kelly next week is going against the Miami.

Is that right? No. He's going against the Brewers. Yeah. Let's see. Yes. So that's... And just a one-star week.

Yeah, I don't know. On the fence about that one. Probably want to do it in 12 teamers. All right. Well, let's actually talk about a few real aces, Scott. The ones that pitched in Coresfield. That's right. Josiah Gray and Kyle Freeland.

Josiah Gray turned in a quality start. Six innings, one run, six strikeouts, exactly like we drew it up. 19 swinging strikes on 102 pitches. 11 of those came on the slider. Four on the curve. Three on the fastball. Really leaned into his slider

through at 42% in this start and moved away from the cutter after giving up two home runs on that pitch against the Atlanta Braves in his first start of the season. And then Kyle Freeland, you know, a strong start, but there's just really nothing there.

So obviously we're not chasing things that already happened. Six and two-thirds shutout with five strikeouts for him. Only four swinging. striking strikes and a 17% CSW overall. I mean, it's just really, really bad numbers there for Kyle Freeland. Despite that, I mean, he pitched well.

So I want to give him his credit. Do we do anything with this, Scott, Josiah Gray and Kyle Friedland? Well, Freeland, no. I mean, we know who Kyle Freeland is. And I do think it's worth mentioning bringing up that Coorsfield this time a year probably isn't going to play like Coorsfield. It was 51 degrees there, so on the colder side. And the reason you're hearing us emphasize temperature so much more this year than maybe we have in the past, you know, pitching velocities is one thing, the effect on that.

But just to remind everybody who may not have followed the whole storyline completely, the humidor is being installed in every park last year. they were also set to a certain temperature and a certain humidity level that's basically on the warmer side. It's for a warmer climate. Balls are stored for a warmer climate, basically. And so when you get those balls at that temperature and that humidity level and put them in cold, dry air, they play extra debt. So the way the ball plays is much more influenced.

by the environmental conditions now, at least if it's the same as it was early last year. I mean, who knows if they've changed those humidor specs. But as far as we know, the ball is much more influenced by the weather conditions than it has been in the past. So that applies to Coorsfield also. When it's cold there, you got that giant outfield. The ball's not carrying very well. Then you might see some lower scoring games during this.

early stage of the season. I think what's most impressive about Josiah Gray's start in that context, considering all those factors, is the number of whiffs he got with the slider specifically. Because I wouldn't think it would change the, like, you know, part of the issue with Coors Field is not just that the ball carries better in the thin air, but that breaking pitches don't break as much.

They're flatter. And that's part of the reason why pitchers get hit so hard there. so that Josiah Gray, the fact Josiah Gray got 19 whiffs against the Rockies in Coorsfield, 11 on that slider tells me, like, that's extra impressive. Yeah. And I'm not rushing to pick him back up because there's still serious vulnerability to the home run ball, the long ball. And given that it was so cold there and the fences are so far back,

there. I don't know. Maybe that helped keep the ball in the yard for him, actually. Pitching in Colorado actually helped him as far as that goes. But he has good breaking balls. He has good breaking balls. I mean, all I've known that for Josiah Gray. And if he can continue to emphasize them over the fastball or that new cutter that he developed this spring, then the season might go pretty well for him. Yeah, again, using that slider 42% in this start for Josiah Gray. So his most used pitch and lowering that four-seam usage. Last year, I think he gave up 27 of his 38 home runs on the fastball. So, yeah, emphasizing the slider and the curve ball over the fastball could yield some good results for him.

I think if you play in any league that has rotosized lineups with nine pitchers and the extra outfielders, corner middle, I probably want to roster Josiah Gray, just on my bench. I don't want to start them. But I think anything that size or deeper, I probably would want to have them and just see where it goes. Next week at the Angels, I'm not starting Josiah Gray there, but if he has another good start,

then maybe, you know, starts to slowly work his way into the circle of trust. Let's take our first break here, and when we return, we'll talk about Francisco Alvarez on Fantasy Baseball Today. Ever dream about buying a Fantasy Baseball

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Nice little fantasy baseball today hat. So anything that you want, again, you can find it on the shop. Let's talk about Francisco Alvarez. Just a few days after the top pitching prospect gets called up by the Orioles. We are now getting the top catcher prospect called up by the Mets.

Omar Nervaez has a severe calf strain and will miss eight to nine weeks. Alvarez will be promoted on Friday and should see regular playing time moving forward. He's 21 years old. last year in the minors hit 260 with 27 home runs in 885 OPS, walks a lot, strikes out quite a bit, around 25% strikeout rate last season. Scott, what are you expecting from Francisco Alvarez?

And how much fab are you throwing on him this weekend? I'm going to do the whole fab question. Yeah. Well, in two catcher leagues a lot. Now, the complication here is that, okay, in CBS Sports Leagues, Francisco Alvarez is already catcher eligible. A lot of platforms he's not.

He's DH only based on the way the Mets used him in the very little time he was up last year. And I think it's fair to wonder exactly how the Mets are going to use him because his bat

was known to be well ahead of his glove in terms of development. His bat's major league ready, glove not so much. That's why he was never really in the mix for a roster spot this spring. But he's the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. So, all right, ready or not, here he comes. But is he going to be, I mean, obviously they're not calling him up to set him on the bench? He's going to be mostly de-hing and just backing up at catcher, in which case it'll take him a long time to regain catcher eligibility in those platforms where he's not eligible,

or will he be more or less the primary catcher and pick it up quickly? That remains to be seen. But because we now know Omar Narvaez is out for a third of the season, basically, we do know Francisco Alvarez is going to bat a lot. So if you can pick him up as a catcher, I think it's worth doing, probably even in one catcher leagues. I moved him up to 13th in my rest of season catcher rankings. Obviously, he has room to rise from there. His power potential at the position is second to none. Probably. I mean,

Salvador Perez obviously has a ton. And so maybe I'd put Alvarez's power potential behind him. But no one else. He is only 21, so he could have some growing pains. And maybe it doesn't work out for him as a rookie. It's always possible. The fact that catcher is so much deeper than we're used to seeing it,

I think maybe makes it. he gets left on the waiver wire and some one catcher leagues. I could understand that. But the upside is very high. And certainly in two catcher leagues, even ones where he's not catcher eligible yet. I think you should probably go ahead and put in a claim for Francisco Alvarez, Alvarez,

and the hope that he does pick up that eligibility sooner than later and that he ends up being an impact player at that position. I don't think either of us know for sure, Scott, and you highlighted this, but my guess is that he'll catch. maybe half the games per week. I know Tomas Nido is actually a very good defensive catcher and he's good at calling games.

So I think that they're gonna value him pretty highly in that regard. But I don't know, maybe we get like two to three catcher starts per week and two D.H starts, something like that. So I think the playing time will be there and he'll probably catch, you know, again, I think two to three times per week. That's my guess for now.

I would guess so too because like they're not gonna wanna stall his development as a catcher. Right. It's just, it's a tough position for the Mets division be in because obviously they have major ambitions this year. And to break in a catcher who, I think that it's pretty much the agreement, it's universal agreement. He's not quite there defensively. That's tough to do. I noticed, Scott, you didn't actually answer the fab question. So I will ask you one more time in two catcher leagues. Let's talk two catchers because I think that matters more.

For those who play in 12 and 15 team leagues, yeah, I mean, I think you're going to I mean, the first thing that came to mind is if you want to kind of play it safe, like 15%. But if you really want them, you're probably going to have to go like 20 to 25. Yeah. I mean, I think it really just depends how big your need is a catcher, whether he's already catcher eligible on your platform or not. So somewhere in the vicinity of 8% to, like you said, 25% of your budget. It's hard to, it's hard to arrive at a specific number when I don't know.

the specific circumstances. And of course, we're speaking to weekly, leagues with weekly fab run, where the bidding's going to be higher than leagues with daily fab run, which we're speaking to a minority when we talk about weekly fab run. But it is, it is the version of waiver wire that the industry tends to gravitate toward. Last question here, Scott, you mentioned you have Francisco Alvarez ranked 13th at catcher now. Is that ahead of both Logan O'Hoppy and Gabriel Moreno, other young catchery prospects? Yep, it is. I have Alvarez 13th, Moreno 14th, O'Hopi 15th, as things currently stand.

I like all of them. I think Alvarez has the most upside. So that's how I rank them right now. But of course, subject to change as things evolve. Yeah, it's hard to argue with that. I put Francisco Alvarez up to 15th. So I have the order Logan O'Hoppe, Alvarez, and then Moran. I do think Alvarez for sure has more upside than Moreno.

But Logan O'Hopi has played well so far. I think he already has two home runs. And I might just trust the playing time off the bat. Just like right now more for O'Hopi than I do for Alvarez. So I'll lean with him. He's only sat one game, right? Oh, Hoppe? That sounds right.

I think he sat one so far. But yeah, it's really close between O'Hopi and Francisco Alvarez. Let's talk news and notes. Michael Harris exited Thursday's game with lower back tightness. the Braves called the precautionary, and he was replaced by Sam Hilliard. Jazz Chisholm is officially listed as day-to-day with a right-shoulder stinger, and we'll see if he is ready to return on Friday. Apparently, he texted his manager and said,

if they played on Thursday, he would have been good to go, but we'll see if they want to play it safe with Jazz. Tony Gonslin completed live batting practice on Wednesday. He'll throw one more bullpen, a live batting practice session, and then go out on a rehab assignment. so, you know, perhaps two to four weeks away, you know, a couple of weeks away for Tony Gonsland. Max Fried has been playing catch, but is still unable to run as he rehabs the hamstring strain. And Scott, that means we're probably not getting Max Fried back next week, right?

So we could trust Bryce Elder as a two-star pitcher? Yeah, he's among my sleeper pitchers for next week, as a matter of fact. Yes, because I picked him up in my home league, and I am battling injuries there. I've got Justin Verlander, Robbie Ray, and Joe Musgrove. Obviously, I drafted Musgrove knowing he was hurt, but I really... Only 7% rostered is Bryce Elder. I need some help, man. As I'm sure many people do.

Eloy Jimenez was able to play catch and do some running on Thursday. He said he could pinch hit if he was on the active roster, but the White Sox chose to play it safe. Mitch Hanigar is not expected to join the Giants on their upcoming homestand, which extends through next Wednesday. He's still rehabbing that grade one oblique strain. Jorge Palanco began. a minor league rehab assignment Thursday at low A,

so we're perhaps a couple of weeks away for Polanco. Miguel Vargas' thumb is still sore, but was available to pinch hit. I currently have this Dodger game on. I don't believe that he's gotten in there. No, he hasn't. And they're up five to two, so probably not going to happen either. Mookie bats started yet another game at second base.

I think that's three. Three already, Scott? So, yep. Where... It helps, obviously, to have that versatility. second base in outfield. But I think in any leagues where you start five outfielders,

I think you're probably just going to continue to use mooky bets in the outfield, right? Yeah, I think his second base eligibility when he picks it up will be most useful in shallow leagues. Like, the shallower your league is, the weaker second base seems because the depth

at second base is all in the is all in the deeper range of the position where you don't You might not even have to dip into it at all in a 10-team league where there's no middle-end field spot, for instance. So in that format, maybe Betts is more valuable at second base, but in leagues of any real size, it certainly roto leagues with the five outfield spots, you'll probably keep him as an outfielder. Garrett Whitlock recorded eight strikeouts over six innings in a rehab start on Thursday.

Was it Thursday? Maybe it was Wednesday. Maybe I wrote that down wrong. Anyway, Garrett Whitlock is 53% rostered and has SPARP eligibility. Scott, would you be looking to stash Garrett Whitlock right now? I don't know what to make of any pitcher right now, basically. So it's, and I know that's, that's not what anybody wants to hear. They want me to have decisive answers, but I, like, I have no clue right now how to assess pitching. No clue. Everything is so muddled between the, the big fluctuation and temperature and the ball seemingly playing so differently from last year.

It's hard to figure out. I think Whitlock has modest upside as a starting pitcher. I think the Red Sox tried him in that role last year, stretching him out beyond an inning or two at a time. He lost a little bit stuff-wise and was kind of shaky for fantasy purposes. So this was a good start of AA. Maybe he has more upside than I'm giving him credit for. But outside of points leagues where you could take advantage of that relief pitcher eligibility,

I'm not that interested in Gary. Whitlock. Yeah, if we look at it just from a macro perspective, it's a bad team context pitching for the Red Sox. And in his career as a starter, 4.15 ERA, 1.26 whip for Garrett Whitlock. He's been much better as a reliever. It's only nine starts, so it's a smaller sample size. But do with that what you will. Kyle Wright got knocked around in his most recent rehab start, allowing five runs over six

innings at AAA. He got up to 84 pitches in the start, which is. the positive, and it sounds like Kyle Wright could be close to returning as a result of that. Sean Mania will start on Saturday against the Royals after appearing in a relief role earlier this week. Jared Schuster was recalled and will start Friday

against the Padres. I would say stay away in daily lineup leagues. Miguel Rojas said he's hoping to return to the lineup Friday. He's missed the last few days after tweaking his groin. Brandon Crawford was out of the lineup due to mild left forearm tightness. Madison Bumgarner will make

His next scheduled start Friday, despite battling arm fatigue. And I missed this yesterday. Kind of interesting situation, Scott. I don't know if you saw it. Tyler O'Neill was out of the lineup Wednesday after his manager, Oliver Marmole, publicly called him out for a lack of base running effort. And then O'Neill publicly spoke out against his own manager about how Oliver Marmole handled the entire situation.

So I just thought it was kind of interesting. It was. it's one of those situations where like if you're going to call somebody out publicly like generally speaking that's not something you should do and you better be really, really sure that you're right about it and that the person you're calling out is going to take it

the way you want it to be taken. And so I think it reflects poorly on Oliver Marmole, especially since you look at the play in question, it doesn't look like he's dogging it to me. You know, the camera only goes to him as he's rounding third base. He got thrown out at home on the play.

So maybe he didn't bust it to third base, and maybe that was the issue? I don't know. Like, I don't have the complete information, but it is, it does make you wonder if there's already signs of a strain there given the how many outfielders the Cardinals have, if that's bad news for Tyler O'Neill rest of season.

But who knows, maybe it'll light a fire under him and he'll go crazy after this and end up having a good season. We'll just have to wait and see. Yeah, I mean, I think it could go either way. You know, obviously the latter, which you just mentioned, maybe it inspires Tyler O'Neill or, you know, maybe they look to trade him at some point because he just doesn't fit the team chemistry or whatever it might be.

Let's, oh, I did have a prospect note. I wanted to mention Philly's top pitching prospect, Andrew Painter is scheduled to start throwing next week. He was shut down for a month after being diagnosed with a UCL sprain during spring training. But I thought I saw he went on the 60-day IL today. I don't think that would prevent him from throwing, though. No, it wouldn't prevent him from throwing, but obviously.

I mean, he's not anywhere close soon. He pushes his time cable back to June. Yeah, he's not anywhere close to returning, but yeah, just the fact that he's going to start up a throwing program. It sounds like next week. Well, Lance Lynn got crushed, right? that means the Giants must have put up a ton of runs. Who did all the damage?

Let's talk about that. 16 runs on 20 hits in that game, including five home runs. Michael Conforto went 3 for 4 with a homer, two walks, three runs scored, and 3 RBI. That was his second home run of the season. And then we get into the players that might be available in your leagues. Do any of them matter? J.D. Davis went 3 for 6 with a homer and 5 RBI.I.

He had four hard hit balls all over 103 miles per hour, exit velocity. He has homered in back-to-back games and has started only three of six games so far. That is J.D. Davis with the Giants. David V.R. went two for five with a double and three runs scored. He has started five straight for the team. And then Scotty, yeah boy. Blake Sable went three for six with his first career home run

and has started all six games for the Giants. Four in the outfield, two at catcher. And I picked him up in Tout Wars where he only has the outfield eligibility. So let's get those catcher starts because, I have Christian Betancourt as my second catcher, and it's not really working out. I really could use Blake Sable with catcher eligibility. What do you think about those three? They're widely available.

Sable, David V.R. and J.D. Davis. So you know I like Sable at Catcher. We keep getting new catcher options to like, and it kind of pushes him down in terms of favoritism. But who would have guessed a week into the season that Travis Darnow and Blake Sable would have started every single game for their respective? teams. That's one of the biggest surprises I have to say. In Sable's case, the Giants haven't faced a left-hander

yet, so we don't know if he's going to sit against every left-hander. That was the expectation I had coming in, and they just happened to avoid that so far. But encouraging performance for him, but encouraging, like, I mean, part of what makes this

four-home run outbursts for the Giants so impressive is it was 46 degrees in Chicago. Five. They had five. They had five. home runs, Scott. Five home runs. Yeah, in 46 degrees. During a time, as I just talked about, when cold weather impedes the flight of the ball more

than ever because of the way the humidors are set. Specifically, Sable, like Sable, his home run was 434 feet. It was a monster shot. So very encouraging to see. Certainly needs to be rostered and started in two catcher leagues, I would say, though not over Francisco Alvarez. or Logan O'Hoppy. As for the other Giants here, obviously,

much lower utility for them at this point. David V.R. is pretty interesting because he hit, what, 34, 36 home runs between the majors and minors last year. And the Giants really view him as an everyday player. And they're a team that views like nobody is an everyday player. So they really seem to like him. And I think there's a chance he could be somebody

who emerges at third base. It's too early to say if he's there yet. I'm not as excited about him as others we've seen. Step up at that position this year. Yohamal Makata, for instance. I think VR's still definitely a step below them. But worth monitoring. And J.D. Davis, yeah, all those hard hit balls.

Remember how much I liked them going into 2020? Yeah. I think it was it him and Markana? Those were the guys? Yeah, those are my guys. and didn't work out so well for either. But, I mean, if he can find consistent playing time for the Giants, as you mentioned with the four balls hit 103 miles per hour plus in the cold weather,

I do think they're still upside there. Giants have a tendency, have a history of bringing out the best in these veteran retreads. And so they may be able to do some interesting things with J.D. Martinez. Just so far, I think he's only started three of their games. So unless that changes with this big performance, not really on my radar yet. All right. That is JD Davis. You said JD Martinez, Godson.

Just wanted to clarify. JD Davis. Yeah. Was they saying Martinez the whole time? No, just that last time. Okay. But I agree with you. I would say Sable rostered in any two catcher leagues.

David VR, I would 15 team leagues as a corner infielder, maybe a bench bat. Yeah. I kind of. Spencer Steer, I would take over via. What about Brian Anderson? Would you rather have VR or Brian Anderson? I guess I'd rather have Brian Anderson. I have Brian Anderson as a sleeper hitter for next week.

Oh, wow. Turned around. Well, what got into you? It's hard to find sleeper hitters, Frank. That's fair. JD Davis is definitely an NL only for now. If you want to speculate on him in deeper leagues with a corner infielder, I would say throw him on your bench for now,

but probably don't want to start J.D. Davis until he earns more regular playing time. Not much else going on on the waiver wire here on Thursday. Adam Duval went one for three with his third home run. He's batting 458 early on, but he's up to 77% rostered. So that's typically past the point where we'd recommend someone. I moved him up to outfield or 49, Scott up to outfield 57. So maybe I was a little bit too aggressive, but I like what I've seen so far.

Ella Harris Montero went three for four with three singles. He's batting a cool 333 so far. and he's 36% rostered. Scott, would you rather have Montero or David V.R? Montero, but that's close. I've been waiting to see Montero at Coorsfield, and as we just talked about, I don't think Coorsfield's playing like Coors Field yet.

So I don't, even now that he's played a game there, it's hard to assess him. Last one here, Monster game for Orlando Arcia. I don't know, Scott. Maybe the Braves got it right. He went three for four with a home run. his second already of the season, a double and a walk-off single. He's betting 370 so far.

His average exit velocity entering Thursday was 92.3 miles per hour, and he added that home run, which was 107.9 miles per hour off the bat. He now has second base and shortstop eligibility. 14% rostered is Orlando Arcia. I mean, maybe any leagues with a middle infielder, Scott, but I think even in 12-team roto leagues, there are probably better options out there, right? Yeah, probably.

I mean, we've seen RCA play a lot in the majors. He started very young and was an everyday shortstop for the Brewers for the first few years. There just wasn't a lot there offensively. Now, because he started so young, he's only 28 now. And, you know, the past couple years, the start of his prime, basically, he's been stuck in a bench roll. So, crazier things have happened than an Orlando RCA breakout.

If that happens this year, crazier things have happened than that, given that he's a former top prospect and started so young. But I would bet against it. I would bet against it. He is one of my sleeper hitters for this week. The Braves have good matchups.

He's hot right now. You mentioned 92.3 average exit velocity so far. But I would bet against Orlando RCA being an impact player this year. All right. a few teases there from Scotty on the sleepers. Let's talk about those. Let's take our final break

and then we'll get to the week three planner right after this. Let's get into our week three preview and for those who are new to the show here, fantasy baseball today, this is what we'll do. Every Thursday, second half of the show, we'll talk about two-star pitchers,

sleepers for the following week. And of course you could follow, you can find all of Scott's articles breaking these down at cbspsports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. Let's start off with some two-star pitchers, Scott, and whether or not you trust these guys

for the upcoming week, and we'll start off with Grayson Rodriguez. He's going up against the A's, and he's at the White Sox. Yeah, with those matchups, I liked the number of bats he missed against the Rangers in his first start. It gave him some hard contact,

but Oakland and the White Sox, I think that's, I want to shy away from using Grayson Rodriguez in that context. And it goes downhill after that. Miles Michael is at the Rockies and versus the Pirates. One great start, one extremely scary one.

Yeah, I mean, maybe it's still cold in Colorado then. Should be. I could pull up the 10-day forecast probably. But, you know, he got knocked around so much in his first two starts. In a points league, I might do it where you're trying to maximize volume, but otherwise I don't think I'd roll the dice on Miles Michaelis in a categories league. Kyle Gibson versus the A's and at the White Sox. Yeah, that's a no-flex.

for me. Like, I could see it in a points league again if you're, if you're just looking to maximize volume and, you know, if he takes a real ugly stat line, you could absorb it easier in that format than you can in the categories league where you're trying to preserve the ER and whip. But ultimately, even though he was good his first time out, I just don't have a lot of confidence in Kyle Gibson.

I have a feeling we're going to get a lot of those answers for the rest of the names on this list. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, yeah. The list of... So I do two-star pitcher rankings every week. It's its own separate article on the site. You can look at every projected two-star pitcher how I'd use them. And I categorize them under different headings in terms of how usable they are.

And half the two-star pitcher slate this week is under the no-thanks heading. Kyle Gibson was the highest of the no-thanks two-star pitchers. There are a ton of like studs making two-starts this week. And so that's why there are a few sleeper candidates among the two start options, just because so many studs are starting twice. But yeah, there's going to be a lot of nose from here on out. Okay. Is there anyone else that I'm going to mention right now that maybe you could see doing it in a deeper league?

Johnny Brito, Zach Rankie, Wade Miley, Matt Strom, Kyle Muller, Jose Suarez, Rwanzi, Rwanzi, Steven Matz. Not me. I mean, unless you disagree. Feel free to disagree, Frank. No, I'm looking up and down the list. I like Jose Suarez, the pitcher at Boston. I don't really like that as a left-handed pitcher.

Shram, the matchups are good, but at Cincinnati, yeah, it's probably a no for me as well. I think Kyle Gibson, you got that right. He's probably the top of that list. Two-star pitchers to add-in stream, Scott. You have four names here that actually could be available in leagues. Yep. So Ken Tamaya is the obvious one.

He's still only 54% rostered, which I think is crazy. Maybe people hear me say that about Maida and then go look at his career stat line. And I know he's not that impressive. Why should I be interested in him? But remember in 2020, his first year out of L.A. Where he was never handled all that conventionally. He had a lot of early hooks. He was moved between the rotation and the bullpen a lot.

and it wasn't as favorable of a pitching environment for him. He goes to the twins. He's a breakout candidate of mine and many others throughout the industry and has a breakout season, the very short 2020 season. Granted 270 ERA.75 whip 10.8K per night was an ace. He actually, in that very short season, was the runner for A.L. Sy Young. And then 2021, he's alpha for the twins.

Well, that's the year he comes down with the elbow injury. and usually struggles are a precursor to that, very common. So him having such a dominant start, his first time back from Tommy John surgery, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility 2020 Kintamai, it could show up again. So 54% roster rate, whether he's making two starts this week or not, that needs to go up. He's going against the White Sox in his first start at the Yankees and the second start. Obviously, that's a little scary, but I'd still use them. Okay, is there anyone else you wanted to mention on this list?

Oh yeah. Mitch Keller, coming off a good start, versus Houston at St. Louis. Ooh. If you want a two-start option off the waiver wire. You're not going to do much better than that, unfortunately. Andrew Heaney got crushed in his first start. He gets the Royals first time out. That's exciting at Houston in the second start.

So that, again, like this is the unpleasant situation I'm in. where I have to come up with pitchers who are available in a certain number of leads to recommend, and that puts Andrew Heaney on that list, but it's pretty scary. And then I mentioned Bryce Elder already. Only 7% rostered. He's against the Reds in Atlanta,

and he's at Kansas City. So those are two really good matchups. Don't know exactly what to expect from Bryce Elder, but he was good in this season debut the other day, and it was good last September, too. All right, and he won't start pitcher, streamers that you're looking at, Scott, that have good matchups for next week. Well, there better be because the two start options are so bad.

Anthony Descliffeani goes against the Tigers, and I'm a believer in Anthony Desclophani. I'm not going to go into it as much as I did on Kintamaiata, but he was last year, I think, affected by an ankle injury from the very start. And so we can just throw out the numbers he put up then. Look at what he did in 2021, his first year with the Giants. It was really good. and now he's going against the Tigers. So I like Anthony Desclavani.

Hayden West Neski is going against the Mariners. There's a pretty good matchup. Struggled in his first start, but I think we all still have high hopes for West Nesky. Dylan Dodd gets the Royals, another Braves rookie pitcher, who was good first time out. Mike Clevenger gets the Orioles.

So-so matchup there, but Clevenger got a lot of wifts against the Astros his first time out. Ryan Nelson at Miami is a pretty good play, I think. In a revenge game, I know you love those, Frank. Cole Irvin against Oakland in Baltimore. Bad lineup, obviously, good plays for Cole Irvin to pitch as an extreme fly ball pitcher who throws left-handed. I have a...

Here we go. I have a soundbite from... I used to host the DFS podcast. Let's see if you know where this is from, Scott. I will have my vengeance in this life or the next Can you name the movie? It's a famous line

It is I can't think of what the movie is though I know I've heard the line before many times Now I want to look it up to make sure I have the right movie Because you know how bad I am I believe it's from Gladiator Okay Yeah famous movie

I've seen it once it's been Yes it is It's been 15 years years probably. Ah, classic movie. But yes, I love the revenge games and all that was just to say, yes, Cole Irvin is going up against his former team. The Oakland A's best hitter matchups for next week. We have the Cardinals who have three games in Corpus Field and then four against the pirates. Two second on this list is the Orioles followed by the Angels, the Brewers and the Braves. The worst hitter matchups for next week, the Diamondbacks, twins, tigers, marlins, and the Giants.

With that being said, Scott, your sleeper hitters that you're looking to add and start. A little side note here real quick, the Red Sox are facing are scheduled as of now, and it's subject to change over the weekend, of course. But as of now, the Red Sox are scheduled to face six lefties next week. So don't start Tristan Kossis. All right. So who would I say to start? Well, start all your Brewers.

I mean, the Brewers have a bunch of hitters. right in the range of rostership that I could call them sleepers. Just missing the cut because they're a little too rostered are Jesse Winker. And well, yeah, Jesse Winker just missed the cut. Actually, Rowdy-Tiles clocks in at 75% roster ship somehow. I don't know if all these people have dropped them already. I don't think he's sat out a game yet. So they've been starting him lefties or righties.

I think he's going to break out with his seven games against. against the Diamondbacks and Padres, pitching staffs. Also, Garrett Mitchell. There are only in those seven games. There are two lefties on the schedule, so we should see plenty of Garrett Mitchell. He's been delivering in his starts so far. Brian Anderson, who's been hot to open the year.

Joey Weemers look good so far. Bryce Terrang. Also, like Garrett Mitchell might sit against the two lefties, but the five righties he should be golden in the matchups, as I said are good. And yes, Winker, who actually did start against the left-hander recent. even though he is, we view him as something of a platoon risk too. Okay, so the Brewers are good. My top sleeper hitter for this week, you mentioned the Cardinals have the best

matchup. They begin the week in Colorado for three games, then face the Pirates pitching staff for four. Only one left-hander on the schedule with all those good matchups. So Nolan Gorman is a definite go for this week. Start Nolan Gorman. He's two rostered. I'll go ahead and mention

Lars Newbar, I think, is supposed to come off the aisle Monday. I think that's the plan. So you'll probably want to go ahead and get him in the lineup too. Okay, other hitters I like this week. The Orioles, you mentioned, have the second best matchups.

Jorge Mateo, not a bad play. Austin Hay is not a bad play. Orlando Arcia, you mentioned the Braves had the fifth best matchup. He's a hot bat right now. I think that's a good play. Miles Straw. I believe he's the Major League

Leader in Stolen bases so far. everybody wrote him off coming off the down year. He hit well this spring. His line drive rate appears to be more like 2021. Obviously a tiny sample, but I know I did a lot of work on a swing this off season. He's off to a good start and he's still stealing a ton of bases. And the Guardians matchups, well, not in the top five, are pretty good. So Miles Straw, if you're looking for some extra speed in your lineup in particular,

I think he's a decent play. I also want to mention this is the late addition to my 10 sleeper hitters. I didn't send it to you, Frank. Francisco Alvarez, in his first full week up, the Mets are scheduled to face four lefties in their six games. So I think we can be pretty confident he's going to get a lot of DH starts. And the four lefties they're scheduled to face are Ryan Weathers, Blake Snell, J.P. Sears, and Kyle Muller.

So I think Alvarez is in a prime position to do a lot of damage. right from the get-go. And frankly, if Eduardo Escobar does not do damage against those lefties, which typically does, maybe we see Brett Beatty up pretty soon as well. So something to watch there with the New York Mets. Scott, let's wrap up with some leftovers, some bullpans, and some streamers for the weekend.

Pitching standouts from Thursday, Kevin Gosman had a great start at the Royals' six shutout with seven strikeouts. His velocity, I mean, the other guys we talked about, okay, one, two miles per hour. Kevin Gossman's fastball was down 3.7 miles per hour compared to last year. His splitter was down 2.4 miles per hour. So definitely something to watch with him. Dustin May is one of the only good starting pitchers out there apparently.

Six innings, one run, five strikeouts against the Diamondbacks in that start. And Spencer Strider was human against the Padres, five innings, three runs, three walks with nine strikeouts, 18 swinging strikes. A little wild and then gave up that three-run home run to Matt Carpenter. Anything you'd like to add on those three, Gosman, May, and Strider? No, not really. I actually watched Spencer Strider pitch. I was wearing my Strider T-shirt.

Oh, yeah. Today. And he looked better than the final line. That Matt Carpenter home run was a low-line drive that barely got over the fence. And all three runs came on that. For the most part, Strider was pretty dominant, even though his velocity, was down. All right, some hitting

leftovers. Rafael Devers is off to a hot start. He went two for four with a double and his second home run. Masataka Yoshita had a big game. Two for three with a double, a walk, and his second steal. I mean, we weren't really expecting much speed,

but two steals in the first week of the season, maybe we could get, you know, 15-ish steals from Yoshita this season. I don't think that's crazy. He also has three walks to two strikeouts, so good play discipline. 74% ground ball rate entering Thursday. All right.

Let's work on that. Bobby Witt Jr. is on the board after going two for five with his first home run of the season. Vinnie Pass Quintino is not off to a good start. He's ice cold. What's going on with him? He's batting 143. Plate discipline looks fine. Four walks to four strikeouts. Ground ball rate is up a little bit. All seven games that the Royals have played so far have been in Kansas City. And it's been cold there. It wasn't over the weekend. That's fair. But yeah, it's it was cold two of the three series so far. And yeah, I don't know. The whole lineup is ice cold. I don't know that there's anything to make of it yet. It's just too early to say.

I still have a lot of faith in Pasquantino. If anybody's freaking out about him, then take advantage. All right, Vlad, Jr., back-to-back three hit games with a home run in each cold weather. No issue for Vladie. Sean Murphy, reach base four times. A single, a double two walks, narrowly missed his first home run of the season as well. relax. Let's all relax, especially me, because I have a lot of Sean Murphy. So look good in that game there.

Call to the bullpen for the Blue Jays. Gordo Romano was unavailable. Adam Simber converted his first save of the season. For the Braves, A.J. Minter pitched a ninth with the game tied. He wound up with a win. For the Dodgers, Evan Phillips pitched a clean ninth with a three-run lead. His second save of the season. So far, so good.

Kind of looks like the guy for the Dodgers. Yeah. Could wind up being a steep. in fantasy drafts and then the regulars just one for the Boston Red Sox. Kenley Jansen fired a clean ninth for his first save of this season. To stream or not to stream for the weekend on Friday Tyler McGill versus the Marlins. Pierce Johnson got a save by the way. Oh yeah I should mention that. He's still widely available. Yes. So he's settling in for the Rockies. Tyler McGill

against the Marlins. You could do worse. Probably not for me. Pierce Johnson 21% rostered. So, 12-team leagues are deeper. If you need saves, definitely go out and get them. Clark Schmidt at the Orioles. I like him more than Miguel. Dean Kramer versus the Yankees. Nah. Aaron Savali versus the Mariners. No. Zach Eflin versus the A's. That's my favorite of the Friday matchups.

Okay. He's more rostered too. Yeah, he's up to 82%. So probably not available in many leagues. Of course. Nick Martinez at the Braves? No. Jared Chuster versus the Padres. No. Saturday. Hey.

Don't be rude. It was his first career start. Hopefully he's better, but I want to bet on it. Look, he could get better, but obviously we're just not betting on it against the Padres. Saturday, Billy Falter versus the Reds. That's okay. Yeah? Even with the man amongst boys, Jason Vossler swinging the bat.

He probably won't even be in the line up against the bat. Fraley's probably going to be out of the lineup. Yeah, true. Ross Stripling versus the Royals. I mean, it's a good matchup. You're the Ross Stripling guy. Do you have any faith in him right now? He got crushed this spring, got crushed in his first start.

Not particularly, but I would start him in that matchup. All right. Justin Steele versus the Rangers. Yeah. I'm more because I have faith in steel than because it's a good matchup. Tanner Halk at the Tigers. No. Trevor Rogers at the Mets

No Mike Clevenger at the Pirates Yes Michael Walker at the Braves No and Sunday Taiwan Walker versus the Reds You could do worse

Cutter Croft It's a little scary Cutter Crawford at the Tigers Uh Probably not Matthew I think Cutter Crawfer is kind of interesting But I'm not ready to turn them loose

Matthew Boyd versus the Red Sox In Detroit That's, yeah, that's fine. I do that. James Caprillion at the Rays. No. Domingo Hermon at the Orioles. No.

Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I don't know. I kind of like it. Michael Kopeck at the Pirates. I don't think so. Yeah, he looked so bad in his first start. It's a good matchup, but, oh, man.

What do you give up? Five home runs in that first start against the Giants. James and Tyone versus the Rangers. that's okay he wasn't great in his first start but I still think Tyone's gonna have a pretty good season I was surprised to see

I think he's only 66% rostered it seems kind of low for James and Tyone yeah that was a big change too I think because he started out over 80 Anthony Descalfani versus the Royals yeah you say Kakucci versus the at the Angels

I guess I'd lean no but I think there were encouraging signs in his first start Ryan Nelson versus the Dodgers? Not with that matchup. Michael Grove at the D-backs? No. Seth Lugo at the Braves?

No. And Dylan Dodd versus the Padres. Not with that matchup. All right, 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. We'll be back again next week.

Bye-bye.