Fantasy Baseball Today - Freddy Peralta League Winner! John Means' Debut & Elly De La Cruz Struggles (9/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 13, 2023

What does the future hold for Edward Cabrera (3:16)? ... Freddy Peralta has been a league winner in the second half (9:45). ... Trea Turner did it again (14:00)! ... How did John Means look in his season debut (19:00)? ... Bryan Woo pitched really well Tuesday night (24:46). ... Davis Schneider continues to crush (33:35). ... News (43:05): Max Scherzer left his start with right triceps spasm. ... Elly De La Cruz continues to struggle in the second half (51:51). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:00). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Over Freddie Peralta's last nine starts, he has a 201 ERA and a .75 whip league winner. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, September 13th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, Trey Turner and Matt Olson, they both just did it again. Guys that are on fire, smacking home runs. We'll talk about those two. Freddie Peralta, in my opinion, has been a league winner in the second half. Ellie De LaCruz has been the opposite and much more. Before we get started, help us out by liking this video

and subscribing on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Let's jump in. All right, Scott, you are up. Player of the night. I'm going to go with Edward Cabrera. Edward Cabrera.

I'm not even really sure how to classify his outing here at Milwaukee. He did follow an opener again in his second outing back from the IL. He followed a couple openers last time out. And it was a mixed bag. It was a mixed bag. He looked good enough that we can't dismiss him as a viable fantasy option down the stretch. He allowed one hit in four and two-thirds innings, also allowed one hit in that previous outing against the Dodgers.

He struck out five and four and two-thirds innings, did allow two-run runs. Walk six, though. So I've called McKinsey Gore. I've kind of labeled him Charazard for the extreme highs and lows that his kind of erratic pitching makes for. But Cabrera might be a truer example of that. when he limits the walks,

there aren't many pitchers with more upside, but he often doesn't limit the walks. And these last two outings put that dichotomy on full display through 68.1% of his pitches for strikes in that Dodgers outing through just 55.8% of his pitches for strikes in this Brewer's outing. The reason why, despite the concerns over his control and despite the general unpredictability. I mean, let's be honest,

general unpredictability has defined the entire pitcher position this year. But in spite of that for Edward Cabrera, the reason why I think he's worth picking up for the final two weeks of the season is his remaining matchups. Presuming everybody stays on turn. Next week, he's going to line up for two against the Mets and the Brewers,

two good matchups. And then the final week of the season, Edward Cabrera is going to get the pie. pirates. So I actually went through and was working on a column, like, players you can pick up for championship week, whether your championship week is the second to last week of the season or the very last week of the season. And Edward Cabrera was kind of setting off alarm bells with those matchups as one of the players who's going to be prominently featured in that article. it is a bit of a you know you're playing with fire a bit because of the way those walks come and go

but if nothing else he's worth picking up just so your opponent doesn't pick him up and then get an 11 strikeout game against you you know even if you're not like even if your pitching is good enough that okay I don't really need to bother with Edward Cabrera it's still probably worth picking him up just for defensive reasons So I thought it was interesting you chose Edward Cabrera Just to highlight these matchups which I get I mean it sounds like they're great down the stretch here I had a segment plan for later on What does the future hold for Edward Cabrera? Because he was a pitcher that I loved coming into the season

I think he has Incredible stuff I think it was like three secondary pitches with a 30% whiff rate or better coming into the year and There's no doubt like he has great stuff he can get strikeouts I looked at his batting average against this year it's 210 in his career, it's 203. You know, limiting hits, that's something that Edward Cabrera does really well. 6.3 walks per 9 this season.

That is second highest among pitchers with at least 80 innings this season. So I just think it's untenable with the control. I mean, I get those matchups, but fourth time that he's had six or more walks this season and he did it in only four and two-thirds innings. Like, maybe I'm just being harder on him because I rostered him a lot

and I was excited about him this year, kind of been burned, but I don't know. I don't think that I would be able to trust it. I get why you would want to. But my original question, Scott, I mean, trust probably isn't the right word. You know, we are in the unfortunate position of having to recommend bad players in pivotal moments. And that doesn't mean everybody should follow through on those recommendations.

Hopefully most people don't have to. And that's why I framed it more as a defensive measure picking up Edward Cabrera. Just to put that out there. we're building to a different point. But, you know, I'm not, I'm not going to say Edward Cabrera, like, if WIP is your primary concern over the final two weeks, then there's absolutely no way you can start. I agree with that. Right, right.

And we'll talk about a few other pitchers that I think I like more. Some guys that could be available, Brian Wu, Cal Quantrell has some good matches coming up as well. What do you think the future holds, Scott? I know this does not pertain to this season at all, but with control this bad, but stuff this good. It kind of feels like sticking him in the bullpen or even, I don't know, in a closer roll or something. I think they're going to give him another chance to start probably at least next year. He's still too young. But I don't know. I kind of feel like maybe the bullpen is

where he winds up long term. I've seen players make bigger developmental leaps than this one. We do have to remember he's had about a season's worth of innings. He just got over 180 innings for his career with this outing. So he's still pretty early in his major league career. Last year in 14 starts, he issued 4.1 walks per nine innings, which is manageable if you're going to be one of the best strikeout pitchers in the game. I think it's too early to condemn him to the bullpen. He, you know, he's going to have to have better than six walks per nine.

I don't know. The potential NL. Sy Young winner has pretty close to six walks per nine this year. But he's obviously, Blake Snell is obviously an outlier and being that good despite that high of a walk rate. Yeah, I mean, Edward Cabrera is going to have to throw strikes with more consistency. As I pointed out with that Dodgers outing with other, like if you look at Edward Cabrera's game log,

it's usually like one or two walks or five or six walks and not a lot in between. So he's shown one outing at a time that he can command the strike zone. And so I think it's a possibility, but he has to, you know, he's not a finished product, clearly. If he is a finished product, then you're right. He can't last in the starting rotation. And I hope I'm wrong because I'm rooting for Edward Cabrera. I think he's awesome. Let's talk about my player of the night here and I've got Freddie Peralta. Not much actionable here, but I guess just highlighting really truly how great he has been recently. Another masterful start against the Marlins, six and a third innings.

one run aloud, nine strikeouts to zero walks, 20 swinging strikes on 95 pitches, nine on the slider, seven on the fastball, three on the changeup, one on the curve. Limiting hard contact in this one, his curveball velocity was up 1.5 miles per hour here. And something I've noticed recently is he's throwing his change up more.

So less fastballs in this start. He nearly doubled his change up usage. Four starts in a row where his change up usage is up over 20%. So it's been a pretty good pitch for him this year. 224 batting average against 30% width rate entering this start. The slider and curve are better. But a big problem for Freddie Praalta this year was giving up hard contact, giving up home runs.

So if this change-up is helping him get left-handed batters out, then yeah, it feels like that might have been the missing piece here. Of course, he's been better than just these last four starts where the change-up usage has been up. But just those numbers once again, last nine starts, 201 ERA, 0.75 whip, 82 strikeouts over 53 and two-thirds innings. He has allowed 29 hits, 29 hits in 53 and two-thirds innings over to this nine-star stretch. He's been amazing, Scott. Any thoughts on Freddie Peralta?

He has been amazing, and at just the right time, you know, there's been so little reliability within the pitcher ranks, so you're always waiting when a guy has a run this good for that eight run outing to kind of mess it all up. and maybe it'll still come. But if you can't rely on Freddie Peralta right now, you obviously can't rely on anybody. Interestingly, I did trade for him at the very start of this run in an NL-only league where I was in second place. So shallow league, I mean, deep league,

you would think the impact of Freddie Peralta's performance would be even greater. I traded for him when I was in second place. I'm still in second place. So he hasn't. Because being an NL-only league, I've also had pitchers like Yohana Done in there and that is the frustrating thing.

That is a frustrating thing about Roto Leagues, particularly in this boomer bust environment for pitchers where it only takes one bad apple to sink the whole ship, which is a mixed metaphor, I know, but it's like, you know, you're really performing a tight ropewalk in that format with pitching more than. more than I can remember in the past. And yeah, everybody has to be good.

Everybody has to be good or else you're pitching is bad. And so that's what's happened to me in that league, even after acquiring Freddie Peralta. And something I've noticed in a few of my Roto leagues too, which makes it tough is that if you're chasing counting stats, if you're chasing strikeouts and wins, you want to throw more starting pitchers out there, right? Two-star pitchers, but then you kind of expose yourself to more risk

with these guys getting blown up. So it's kind of tough to balance. It's like, do I want to just kind of play caution with the ratios here, but not go after counting stats? You know, maybe just play relievers or something, but it's tough because then you fall behind in those counting stats. I have another Roto League where I'm much lower than second place. And my pitching staff consists of guys like Chris Bassett and Jose Burrios

and Sandy Alcantra, a bunch of pitchers like that, who we think of as good pitchers, but they've had their share of duds this year, like really bad starts. And so I'm just buried in the pitching categories, even though, like, if you put that same pitching staff in a points league, that would probably be a contender, but it's not in the Roto League because the bad starts have dragged me down

so much in the pitching categories. And I find that frustrating. All right, let's move on to this Braves-Filly series has been really fun so far. We've had some comeback games and bunch of home runs being hit. Stop me if you've heard this before. Trey Turner and Bryce Harper,

they both did it again. Trey Turner, three for five, with a sock and a shoe, his 26th home run, his 27th steel, updated numbers since that ovation on August 4th,

34 games. Trey Turner is betting 388 with 16 home runs, 41 RBI, and six steals. This was a fun stat per opta stats on Twitter as well. Trey Turner is the first player in MLB history

to have at least 11 home runs and 11 multi-hit games over a 13 game span. Wow. Crazy. That is an unprecedented hot streak. Wow. Yeah. Good for him.

And we were talking before and I said, there's a chance he's going to wind up with the numbers we were expecting this year. Probably not in the batting average if you were expecting like a 300, but if you're expecting 280, he might get there and he might get 30-30. You know, he probably, you know, think in this environment, he could steal 40, 50-plus bases, but a 30-30, you know, home-run steel season with a 280 batting average,

it's still pretty good, you know, it's still pretty good. Yeah. It's not, you know, he was drafted number one overall in some leagues, so it would still be disappointing relative to that, I would say. But. Especially if you took him over Ronald de Cunia. Oh, my gosh. Well, if you took anybody over Ronald de Cooney,

that's a disappointment, which, you know, unfortunately I did in multiple leagues. I had the first pick-took judge. So, oops. But I didn't take Trey Turner. And, no, I mean, he's done a lot to salvage his value for next year, I would say. And we've had this conversation a lot during this hot streak. Like, where do we draft him?

I still think, you know, round one, two turn is probably going to be the appropriate place, lower than that in points leagues. My main concerns with Trey Turner are, will he ever get back to being a batting average standout? Because, you know, some of his plate discipline numbers, not so much the surface level strikeout rate and walk rate, but, you know, in terms of swings and misses in the zone, against fastballs, all that have gotten worse. And so is that going to prevent him from being a 300 hitter again? Is he more like the 270 hitter, which he has now gotten his season mark up to? And will he be, you know, before he was one of a handful of true league winner base Steelers? And is he just kind of, is he just a good base dealer now as opposed to that in this new environment? and both of those would change his appeal and fantasy enough to drop him a full round, I would say.

But, you know, he's proven he's still a really good asset. This could be a slippery slope, but I'm already kind of talking myself into it that the first four months of the season, he was just pressing first year of a mega contract in, look, at times a hostile location in Philadelphia. So I could see that being the reason. And then boom, August hit and the guy just took off and he was awesome. You know, if this is any indication of what we might see next year, I mean, I think there's a chance he could still hit maybe well over 300. And even if he's not stealing, you know, the 40 or 50 bags,

the counting stats in this lineup, the upside, I think, is still pretty high. So that's just my early lean, I guess. One thing I want to do when I have more time, probably after the season ends and I'm putting together my rankings for next year is dig deeper on. those plate discipline numbers and see if they improved while everything else improved. And maybe that would feed into that theory that he was just pressing at the start of a new contract. And it wasn't so much the fact that he's getting older, you know, 30 years old now.

So I'll dig into that and I'll see if my feelings about him come out any different. But yeah, I think right now I'm leaning that he's more like a two. 270, 280 hitter than a 300 to 320 hitter. All right, his teammate Bryce Harper went two for three with two walks and his 17th home run. And in the second half, he's batting 303 with 14 homers, four steals, and a 15% barrel rate. Another day, another three home runs for the Atlanta Braves. Matt Olson, two for four, with his 50 first home run that ties the Braves single season record and barring something catastrophic happening, I would assume Matt Olson is.

going to break that record for the Braves. Ronald de Cunia, one for five, another home run, his 37th of the season, and Marcelo Zuna, two for four, two for five, rather, with his 34th home run of the year. Before we get into some Waverwire pitcher, Scott, let's quickly take a look at John Means' season debut, a fan favorite of this, I guess not a fan favorite, just a favorite of this podcast for the past couple of years. Certainly of mine, yes. Happy to see him back on the mound.

He was facing the Cardinals in his debut here. Five innings, three runs allowed. Only one strikeout to zero walks did allow two home runs. He is a fly ball pitcher. But overall, I mean, didn't allow too much hard contact. It was 85.7 average exit velocity. That's actually pretty good. Velocity was close to where it was back in 2021.

That was his breakout season. The pitch mix was a little bit changed here. Scott, what did you see from John Means? And would you have any faith in starting him? his last three starts are at the Astros, at the Guardians, and home against the Red Sox. And unfortunately, the Astros and Guardians are kind of going to come in the same week, right? So unfortunately, you can't wait to see how he does against the Astros

to then get the good matchup against the Guardians if it goes well. That would have been the ideal scenario, the most likely scenario in which I would start John Means. It was a mixed bag, you know, kind of like. Edward Cabrera. When I just saw the stat line, the one strikeout, the two home runs allowed, I thought, oh no. But then when I dug

deeper and saw the quality of contact against him was very low. He did have the eight whiffs on 75 pitches so better than a 10% swinging strike right there. Six of those eight came on the change-up, which is his best pitch. Even though the change-up was the one that was

down the most, 1.4 miles per hour. It still was getting whiffs and, you know, a harder change-up isn't necessarily a better change-up. So maybe that'll serve him well, it being lower in velocity, or maybe not. Maybe he just needs more time to get his pitches back where we're used to seeing them. But if nothing else showed,

he can be competitive with what he has right now. And if he continues to show that down the stretch, then I'm going to be excited about John Means as a sleeper for next season, but it's hard to say that I'm going to put much confidence in him over his final three matchups. Yeah, especially for next week too, because those matchups, the Astros and Guardians, it's Jekyll and Hyde against left-handed pitching. The Guardians are the worst team against lefties. The Astros are the second best. And pitching in Houston with that short porch and left field, it seems pretty scary. So I think it's kind of opposite layout from Camden.

yards, which I've said this before. I feel like the Orioles redesign their stadium around John Means because it's so perfect for his skill set. I'm sure that's not really what they did, but it just seems like it. And now, hopefully he'll get a chance to enjoy it because he was around so little of last season after they made those changes. Yeah. So I think the only way I would use him is if you're like really desperate in a points league for next week. But anytime, category league I think I'm a think I'm gonna stay away here from John means that for those daily leagues I think it's worth I'm not saying you have to pick them up right now because that Guardians matchup is going to be so fruitful but if you do

have a spot to play with or if you don't want to make the move yet you just want to see how that outing against the Astros goes and if it does go well then maybe there's a chance you might plug in means for that start against the Guardians but it's not it's not the highest up priorities right now I would say all right let's take our first break when we return. I've got a bunch of Waverwire pitchers to talk about. We'll do that right after this. Waiverwire pitchers part one. This group includes Brian Wu, who had a great start up against the Angels, five and two thirds, shutout innings, four hits, zero walks, eight strikeouts with 20 swinging strikes on 83 pitches. Cal Quantrell has turned in

three straight quality starts since returning from the IL. He was at the Giants, six innings, one run, three walks to two strikeouts. You don't love that, but really limited the hard contact in this one. He's got a 1.5 ERA and a one whip on the nose since returning. And Jian Riu turned in his first quality start of the season. He was up against the Rangers, six innings, three runs, five strikeouts there. He's allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts. He's got a 293 ERA and a 105 whip.

Quickly mentioned the matchups for each of these. Brian Wu is at the A's at Texas, home against Texas. Cal Quantrell is at the Royals, home against the Orioles, and at the Tigers. Junjun Ryu is home against the Red Sox at the Rays, and then home against the Rays. Scott, how are you ranking those three with the, I don't know, with their skills and their matchups, I guess, over these final three starts? I would rank them Wu Ryu Quantral, which probably means I'm not going to use Quantrell. if he's third on this list,

even though two of his three matchups are against some of the worst offenses in baseball. Just don't trust it. I mean, even, I understand he's been a guy who's long outperformed as peripherals, but normally his strikeout rate as bad as it is, isn't as bad as this. You know, he's striking out nobody right now.

And I'd be concerned about a blow-up start, especially given that those have been so common for so many pitchers this year. Wu, because especially, well, let me put it this way, that Oakland matchup and that first Texas matchup theoretically will come in the same week next week. So he'll be a two-star pitcher next week with one of them at Oakland. And so I think that's going to put him pretty high

on the sleeper pitchers list. obviously that Texas matchup isn't so favorable, but the Oakland one, I think, hopefully cancels it out. And we've seen a lot of really good starts from Wu just since he returned from the IL. I think he'll be somebody worth picking up for that second to last week of the season. Riu has been very consistent since coming back from Tommy John surgery.

This was the first quality start, but because it was the first start in which he went six innings. Certainly a lot of the other start, starts were quality lowercase queue 295 ERA 105 whip it's just the matchups are not

good at all and let's see would he line up for two starts next week or would it be the final week where he gets two starts Boston, Tampa Tampa last three I think all three of these are going to wind up

being two star pitchers next week so but I can try to confirm. On the site, it says Riu only has one start at Tampa next week, so maybe not. Yeah, I'd have to look into that more, but the matchups might steer me away from Riu as the bottom line. I think the one of these three that I'm most confidently going to recommend in my sleeper

pitchers list at some point over the next two weeks is Brian Wu. What do you think of this comp, by the way, Scott? And it's very lofty, but I think Brian Wu kind of reminds me a little bit. bit of Brandon Woodruff, the way that Woodruff relies so heavily on his four-seem fastball and his sinker. He throws those usually a combined 60% of the time. Brian Wu uses his even more, but he does a really good job getting whiffs with both of those pitches. So I yeah, he's kind of like a really, really poor man's Brandon Woodruff, I guess. But that could be the upside.

Well, he means on them even more in this start. Right. Because normally he throws a cutter about as much as those other two, and he hardly used it in this one. He was coming off a bad start. Of the three, the cutter gets hit the hardest. So maybe it's for the best that he doesn't throw it as much. It certainly worked out for him against a weakened Angels lineup. I don't know. That's an interesting comp. Brandon Woodruff is a pitcher for whom there are a few comps.

So maybe he's just a unicorn. But we've seen a lot of good from Brian Wu this year. And I think he probably has a future on some. level as a major league pitcher. Whether it's that level, now seems unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility. All right. Let's talk about Waverwire pitchers part two. Nick Povetta racked up 10 strikeouts in game one of their double header against the Yankees. Five and a third innings, three runs allowed, 10 strikeouts with 15 swinging strikes. We know that whiffs are not a problem for Nick Povetta, but walks, home runs, hard contact. If you look at its previous eight starts,

or eight games rather because some of those are relief appearances. 597 ERA and a 153 whip there for Nick Povetta. Zach Lattel has gone seven plus innings innings innings innings innings innings innings, three runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks, 12 swinging strikes on 85 pitches for him, and J.P. Sears turned in a quality start at the Astros, six innings, two runs, three strikeouts, and he's turned in three solid starts in a row,

but he is just prone to home runs because he gives up so many fly balls and so many barrels. That's JP Sears. I'll quickly mention the matchups. Sears is facing the Mariners, the Tigers, and the Angels. Zach Lattel is at the Orioles,

home against the Blue Jays, and at the Blue Jays. So I don't know, those are kind of like middling. I actually didn't write down Nick Povettas, but I'll look it up now. What do you think, Scott? Well, Nick Povetta, he may not... So this was his first start in, let me see here.

I wrote it down. This was his first start in five outings. And it was a doubleheader. And it was a double header. Maybe he's not even going to start, you know? That's what I was getting at. I'm looking at his roster resource page, and they do have him as one of the Red Sox five starting pitchers right now.

So he could. But it's hard to know exactly. when he's going to slot in and how often. So to give his remaining matchups, I think, is fraught. So, yeah, he would be the least interesting, well, I don't know, I guess he's more interesting than J.P. Sears. None of them are that interesting, though, I guess is the bottom line. Because Zach Lattel, okay, back-to-back good starts.

Him getting eight strikeouts in seven innings, I think that was a product of facing the Twins lineup, who's one of the most strikeout prone lineups in the history of baseball. So starts like this can happen against it. I think he's a pretty middling pitcher, though. Certainly the ERA estimators point to that. I mean, the actual ERA does as well. And then the fact is matchups, Orioles, Blue Jays, to close out the season.

I'm not going to get excited about any of those three. So he's probably the most usable of these three pitchers for fantasy, Zach Lattel, but he's still not that usable in my estimation. All right, two names in much deeper leagues. Bailey Falter turned in a strong start against the Nationals. Six innings, one run, four strikeouts there. And Jose Buto plays for the Mets, by the way. He had a solid start against the Diamondbacks.

Five innings, one run, seven strikeouts with 17 swinging strikes. And he's 25 years old, his career in the minors, a 386 IRA and a 126 whip, just below a strikeout per inning. I don't think there's too much there, but. This would probably have to be, I don't know, NL-only leagues or super deep leagues. Got any enthusiasm for either of those two? I mean, I liked what Budo did in this start.

I don't know where it came from. His minor league numbers this year were dreadful. And so 593 R.A. 163 whip, 8.1K per 9 at AAA for Jose Buto. Back-to-back good starts in the majors, and this one he got a ton of whiffs, 13 of the 17 on the change-up. But I am not convinced this is

who Jose Budo actually is. All right, let's slide over to the waiver wire hitters and Davis Schneider is a name that we've talked a lot about recently and he just keeps on doing his thing, two for four with his eighth home run. He's now played 25 games with the Blue Jays

where he's betting 370 with a 500 on base percentage, eight home run. of 13-15 OPS. He's 62% rostered, has second base and third base eligibility. I was going to pull up the matchups for next week. I don't think it really matters.

It's just if you need a second or third basement or utility bat, whatever it might be, get to Skyny your team. He's really good. David Schneider's another one featured in, well, going to be featured in that article about players to pick up for championship week. Even if you don't need help

at second and third base. You just don't want him to be the player who brings you down because the way he's going now, he could be. Maybe he cools off. Maybe he goes totally silent over the final two weeks, but I wouldn't want to take the chance of, I want to be the one, I wouldn't, my bet on that,

it would be, like it doesn't feel like a strong enough bet to leave him out there, I guess. And I think there's a chance, David Schneider is just a really good. hitter. I mean, his minor league production was great. You look at the numbers, the underlying numbers. A big part of what makes him so successful in spite of modest exit velocities is just he hardly ever puts the ball on the ground. A lot of fly balls, a lot of line drives. Fly balls come with a high pole rate, which gets them over the fence. It's it's, it worked for him at AAA Buffalo. It's translated to the majors. He draws a ton of walks on top of it, which is why he has that 500 on base percentage. Like, his back, a ball profile is not all that dissimilar from Mookie Betz historically. Mookie Betts exit velocities are actually up quite a bit this year.

So I don't know where that came from for bets. But like the typical bet season isn't that different from the underlying numbers aren't that different from Davis Schneider. I'm not saying David Schneider is going to be Mookie Betts. That would be a ridiculous bet. But is he good enough to be a full-timer in the major leagues? I'm feeling pretty good about that right now. And have you seen the guy's picture?

It's amazing. Look at the mustache on that guy. He's got the rec specs on and everything. Dude, the guy is awesome, Scott. What would we have to do? I feel like you and I, we need to make some kind of bet. Oh, well, we are playing against each other

in the podcast Points League for the chance to go to the finals. Uh-huh. So... I think David Schneider's out there still, isn't he? If I win, you have to grow a Davis-Schneider mustache. Ah.

And if you win, I don't know, you can choose something for me to do. I'll shave my face. I mean, isn't the winning and losing enough? Isn't that enough? Why do we need to attach additional stakes to this? I'm afraid if I do that, my wife won't look at me for the whole time I have it, much less anything else. So I would rather not bet on that, Frank.

I'm sorry if that makes me unfun, but it's not worth it. That kind of fun isn't worth it to me. Sorry. Oh, Matt, I'm rooting for David Schneider. He's a New Jersey kid from here in the Northeast. Let's go. Let's go David Schneider. He's my new man crush.

I'm going for David Schneider. Let's go. Two middle infielers that could be out there. Two rookies, Edward Julian, one for three with his 12th home run, just his second home run since July 28th, so he has slowed down quite a bit here. Batting 273 with a third. 383 on base percentage. He's got a 15% walk rate this season.

The problem, he also has a 31% strikeout rate, and he has been dreadful against left-handed pitching. Ronnie Maricio went 1-4 with his first career home run. A moonshot, 112.4 exit velocity, 440 feet. In the highest deck that they have in City Field, it was a majestic home run. And now in his first 10 games, Ronnie Maricio, batting 306 with one homer,

four steals, a 786 OPS. Who would you prefer between these two, Scott? Edward Julian and Ronnie Maricio. I prefer Julian, but they're both going to be pretty matchups dependent. What's interesting is the twins might have the most favorable hitter schedule remaining, but it looks like there are a lot of left-handers and all the rotations they're facing, so it'll probably be irrelevant for whether or not.

you use Edward Julian. It's certainly not irrelevant for whether you use Royce Lewis, whose roster rate is up over 80% now, but he could be a league winner down the stretch, I think. And Jorge Polanco currently away on paternity leave, I think it is. But he's healthy and has been hitting well and can take advantage of those good matches.

But as for your actual question, I don't think either's going to be so usable down the stretch. just in a vacuum, I prefer Julian to Maricio. Unless you need steals, obviously. Maricio is going to give you more of those. Yeah. For Julian, the problem, as you mentioned,

he's got six games next week with four lefties on the schedule as of now. And he straight up just has him in playing against left hand of pitching. So how many games is he going to play next week? Like two or three? So I think that could be a problem. These are more so, you know,

middle infielers in a Roto league at this point. I really like Maracio. I think I would go with him. I don't want to get sucked. in too much, but like, so far I was just thinking out loud, I think he's going to be a great sleeper for next year. Ronnie Maricio hits the ball hard, power and speed, has some good prospect pedigree. He's lowered the strikeout rate this year. I think there's a lot to like with Ronnie Marisio. So there is a sentiment that he's an overrated prospect, but when I see how hard he hits

the ball. It's amazing. To rehash it, like in case you weren't listening to that podcast when he debuted. His first at bat in the majors, he hit a ball harder than any MET has all season, including people. Or even last season. Yeah. Yeah.

And then this home run, he hit it 112 miles per hour, which is a ball, which is something, you know, Zach Gelloff has not hit a single ball 112 miles per hour, even within three miles per hour of that.

A lot of hitters haven't this year. And so, like that speaks to Ronnie Maricio's upside. is he going to have, is there going, like is he going to get buried by quality breaking balls? I think that's the biggest concern. He chases too much.

But that can be overcome. That could be overcome. And just from a pure talent perspective, I think Mauricio has a lot of it. All right. Three names in deeper leagues. Willie Castro went one for three with his seventh home run. And in nine games since returning to the twins,

he's got a 393 batting average, two homers and two steals. He started eight straight for them. 29% rostered. He has second base, third base, shortstop, and outfield eligibility. DJ Stewart went three for five with a double and a run scored.

He's played 43 games with the Mets now. He's batting 281 with 11 home runs and a 997 OPS. The expected numbers are not as good as the actual numbers, but they're still really good. He hits the ball really hard. The problem with him,

he doesn't play against lefties either. And then Ceydon, Raphaela went two for five with his first career home run. He's played 13 games now with the Red Sox. I would imagine most of those are as like a defensive replacement or a pinch runner. 345, one homer, one steel, a 939 OPS, has started three straight for the Red Sox. Scott, how would you rank those in terms of your interest rest of season? Willie Castro, DJ Stewart, and Raphael. Not sure I'm that interested in any of them.

Yeah, these are more, I don't know, Five outfielder leagues, 12 team, Roto, maybe even deeper than that. Yeah, it'd have to be deeper than that. If the playing time was more consistent for Raphaelah, he would be my top choice. He started both games of the double header today, one at shortstop one in center field. And that's an interesting combo. But yeah, I mean, the Red Sox haven't been that committed to starting him. And so it's, I'm not convinced that's going to change.

just because they wanted to give Trevor's story a day off and a doubleheader, a game off. DJ Stewart, like he has power and he hasn't slowed down yet. I keep thinking it's going to happen. A 29-year-old with a really

unimpressive history in his previous major league opportunities. We have seen him go on home run binges in the majors prior to this year, but then he would fall off pretty quickly. And I'm just expecting that to happen at some point, probably the time you activate him is when it's going to happen, just because that's the way these things go. The Mets matchups to close out the season aren't particularly

favorable for hitters. So I'm going to say DJ Stewart's the most usable because he has that standout skill, but I don't think he's actually that usable. All right. Let's quickly run through some news and notes. Max Scherzer was pulled from his start due to a right tricepasm, and he recently dealt with tightness in his forearm a few weeks back. Kind of feels like he's walking this tight rope right now, Scott, with all these different injuries. And we've seen a bunch of stuff over the years. Back, neck.

This year it was forearm, triceps now too. I mean, I hope he's all right, but it's, I don't know what's going to happen here with him. I mean, he's been, he has a lot of mileage on that arm, that now 39-year-old arm that he throws, you know, he throws 98 miles per hour with a weird angle and has a lot of mileage on it. So it stands to reason that he may be on the verge of breaking down physically. And it comes at a bad time for the Rangers, obviously, to leaving back-to-back starts with health concerns.

Not sure how that's going to work for them in the postseason. Hopefully he bounces back. But in terms of how we target Max Scherzer next season, Scherzerzer and Verlander both. And I was probably one of the most sanguine fantasy baseball analysts about their age coming into the season, but they both have shown, I think, pretty even clearer signs of their age this year than they did last year. And so I think you'll want to approach them with extreme caution. And I will probably rank them within the glob as opposed to ahead of the glob, you know, pretty high up in the glob. But I'm not going to be, I'm not going to be, I'm not going to be

treating them like aces next year. Yeah, I don't think so either. Otani was out again Tuesday, marking his ninth straight game missed due to right oblique tightness. Kenley Janssen left the second game of their doubleheader due to fatigue and illness symptoms. Clayton Kirshaw is expected to make his next start Saturday in Seattle. He was, his last start was skipped as he battles shoulder issues. U. Darvish has officially been shut down for the rest of the season due to a bone spur in his right elbow. Yand Di Diaz exited Tuesday night after fouling a ball. off of the family jewels.

I guess we can go with that one, Scott. Insert, whichever. I mean, I don't know what's wrong with saying testicles. I don't know why legitimate news sources are so afraid to say that. Like, it's not vulgar. It's just, I don't know. I don't get it. But that's what happened, yes.

And hopefully he's okay. And, you know, Lars Neupar went on the I.L with a similar injury. just a few weeks ago. So I wouldn't just laugh it off, but hopefully he's okay. Hopefully, Andy Diaz is okay. No, this is no laughing matter indeed. Wilson Contreras was removed with a

right hand contusion. O'Neill Cruz will not return the season and will shift his focus to 2024. Instead, he had surgery back in April to repair a fractured left fibula. Christian Yelich has missed four straight with back stiffness. Jamer Candelario

was placed in the IL with a lower back strain, Alexander Canaria was recalled, and perhaps this helps Pete Crow Armstrong play a little bit more, Scott? Yeah, no, I had the same thought. And it's like, Pete, Pete Crow Armstrong didn't really do anything at the plate in this first start of his, but he made multiple highlight real catches, like his defense, his standout defense, he put that on full display right away. And, you know, I saw a couple highlights that left the pitcher. on the mound applauding his effort in the outfield. So like I said, energetic player, like the kind of player that can help help propel a team

across the finish line, a team that's fighting for a playoff spot across the finish line just because he has that infectious energy. And yeah, the fact that Jamer Candelario is on the IL now with his back strain, I think it changes the calculus with regard to Crowe Armstrong's playing time. and maybe he'll end up playing a lot more down the stretch than I laid out yesterday. I still don't know that he's going to be worth starting in fantasy, but at least in five outfielder leagues, I would say,

it's not a bad idea to put in a claim for him. I'd be more willing to put in a claim for Pete Crowe Armstrong than, like, DJ Stewart, of that uninspiring trio that we looked at earlier. All right, Nolan Gorman, exited Tuesday with right hamstring tightness. Jose Siri was placed on the IL with a right hand fracture, Curtis Mead was recalled. Luke Reilly started in center field and Jonathan Aronda started at DH.

Aronda's actually started seven of their last nine games but hasn't really done much with the opportunity yet. Michael Lorenzen could be moved to the Phillies bullpen as they shift back to a five-man rotation. Wittmeryfield was out of the lineup due to left groin tightness.

Brandon Belt was placed in the aisle with lumbar spine muscle spasms. Spencer Horowitz started at first base with Vlad Jr. at designated hitter. Garrett Mitchell, remember the name. The Brewer's outfielder is set to meet with a doctor later this week and could be cleared to begin a rehab assignment. As soon as this weekend, he had surgery back on May 2nd

to repair a left shoulder subluxation. The Dodgers are calling up a pitcher named Kyle Hurt. He's 25 years old and has a ton of strikeouts in the minors, 145 over 88 and a third innings this season. tons of swinging strikes. I don't know that there's that we're going to add this guy, Scott. I don't know.

Maybe if you're in an NL only league in tasting strikeouts, but it's mildly interesting. Kyle Hurt. Oh, yeah. I mean, that kind of strikeout potential is interesting. And if there's any organization

that knows how to get the most out of that, it's the Dodgers. I think it's more of a monitor Kyle Hurt for next season situation than rush out and pick him up in fantasy situation. But he's a, among prospect towns, he's a noteworthy name.

Last but not least, not fantasy news, but the Mets are hiring David Stearns as their next president of baseball operations. He stepped down with the Brewers last October, and he's been on the Mets radar for quite some time. So they got their guy, and we'll see what he could do in his first offseason coming up in a couple of months here.

Oh, well, yeah, a couple months. Let's take our first break, second break, what am I saying? And when we return, we'll talk about Ellie Dealer Cruz updated numbers in the second half. He hasn't been too great. I got some pitching leftovers. We'll do that right after this.

Welcome back and let's talk about Ellie Dealer Cruz who continues to struggle in the second half. He went one for four with a walk and two run scored here on Tuesday and in 54 games post-all-star break, 182 batting average, seven homers, 10 steals. So the power and speed is still helpful, but that batting average is brutal. a 37% strikeout rate.

He's still hitting the ball hard, 92.1 average exit velocity, but a 50% ground ball rate. And something I noticed overall, Scott, just with the splits, he's been terrible against lefties here. I know they were facing a lefty on Tuesday, and they dropped him down to seventh in the lineup this year

against South Paul. He's batting 188 with a 509 OPS. So just, I guess, a reminder here that he's very clearly not a finished product. He's still very young. and I think there's a ton of upside in terms of power and speed for next year, but I think in points leagues,

anywhere where you lose points for strikeouts or just where plate discipline matters, like, I think Ellie Dela Cruz is going to be a huge, there's going to be a huge difference in his draft stock depending on like the league format where you're drafting him next year. Well, maybe. In theory, yes, normally I would say that.

But, and I've pointed this out before with other players, because the stolen base threshold has been raised this year, we're seeing a lot more like really prolific base dealers. And Ellie De La Cruz is among them, 26 steals and 84 games. That's almost a 50 steel pace over a full season. And so can he steal enough bases to make up for those losses and strikeouts? Because in the standard CBS points format, stolen bases, two points apiece.

Yes, you lose half a point for every strikeout. but, you know, is there enough of the stolen bases to balance that out? And so far in his rookie season, even with kind of struggling down the stretch here, 2.93 points per game is what he entered with, which is, let's see, who is that comparable to at that position? I mean, it's well ahead of Zander Bogartz and Danesby Swanson. It's ahead of Bo Bouchet even. So I think, you know, I think that might.

be overstated given, you know, provided your points league awards two points per stolen base. Gotcha. Are you, is there any actual concern with how bad he's been in the second half for next year? I mean, I think the idea of him being a first round pick has certainly gone out the window. And you were, when we did that exercise yesterday where you were reading off where some players went in your early mock draft, I think, L.E. de la Cruz went 25th overall in that. And I said it was too early. Not by much. That was the one I struggled with the most. But it matters to that extent. I don't think L.A. De La Cruz is going to be a bum next year or anything like that. Yeah. No, I think that's fair. You know, I'm just thinking about it now.

Like, we already have a few wild cards for next season. Otani. Is he going to have Tommy John surgery? How is that going to affect, you know, when he plays next season? I think Fernando Tatis with, you know, how bad he's kind of finished out the year here. And he really has only had one exceptional month, and that was back in June. I think he's kind of a tough player to evaluate for next year. And I think Ellie Dealer Cruz is maybe not to that level. You know, those guys are borderline

first round picks when everything is going right for them. But, you know, is he a second rounder? Is he a third rounder? I think there's going to be some fun conversations around Ellie De La Cruz. Yeah, with Fernando Tatis, I've been thinking about that a lot lately because his OPS for the year now is below 800. Yeah. And as

you pointed out, really one standout month. and I saw somebody share an article written by, oh gosh, am I going to say the wrong one, Jeff Zimmerman of Fangraphs. Did I get the right, Jeff? He does work for fan graphs, but I haven't seen the article, so I don't know who wrote. Okay. So he kind of went through the history of a torn labrum of having that surgery on the shoulder for hitters and the drop in power,

which isn't universal, but it's widespread enough that it might explain what's going on with Fernando Tatis now because shoulder, I mean, it's complicated joint, it moves, it's notoriously difficult to operate on. And so regaining the mobility in that,

it's not always regained fully, or sometimes it takes time. It's maybe more of a, a variable than we gave credit for coming into the year. It might explain the struggles he's had this year, and it might not get better. And then there's also, you know, the wrinkle of the PED suspension. How much was that helping them to the members he put up in 2019 and previously, or 2019, whatever year was. You know, I think that, I think that, I think it's fair to wonder that.

So I'm not, after reading that, I'm more inclined to consider Fernando Tatis now a late first rounder. I was kind of leaning more early first round. Like, okay, let's give him a pass for them first year off of injury. It sounds like Chris Towers. That's what he's thinking is making the comparison to Ronald Acuna, his first year back from surgery. And obviously, he's looked a lot better a second year back. It could certainly go that way for Fernando Tattis, too. but I think

the questions with Tatease and the disappointing production this year are even bigger than they were for Acuna coming off last year. All right, yeah, I mean, well said. It's going to be a lot to kind of figure out and I guess decide which side do you fall on here when it comes to Fernando Tatis in 2024.

It's Jeff Zimmerman. I got the right, Jeff. All right, let's do a little bit of rapid fire here and wrap up with some fringy starting pitchers here. Starters sit over their final three starts. Good old Dylan Sees. So far so good, Scott. I know you said you'd be all right using him this week in the two-star week. He was up against the Royals, five and a third innings, one run, one walk,

eight strikeouts with 14 swinging strikes. He has one walk or fewer in just seven of 30 starts this season. So when he can keep the walks down, I think he has a chance to, to actually be pretty solid here. And I just realized I didn't write down the starts for Dylan Seas. So talk about this one and then I'll figure out who he's facing. I don't know what to do with Dylan Sees. I mean, obviously this start was against the Royals,

so how much does it really count? The previous eight starts for Dylan Sees. Like he had rendered himself unusable. Previous eight starts a 765 VRA, a 195 whip. Is he back? Is he back? Can we trust he's back because he did this against the Royals? No. Like I know he was lined up for two starts this week

and I had him as a recommended start because, you know, the match was good enough in the two-star week. If it didn't work out this week, we'd probably be done with them for rest of the season. But I'm more like breathing aside of relief that it worked out well than like, oh yeah, Dylan Cease's back. I knew it all along.

You know, that's kind of my take on it. And I'm not sure I want to use them with only. well, let's see. So the one start he lines up for next week is against the twins, you're saying? Is that what you just wrote in here? It looks like it's at Boston. That second start this week is the twins.

And then it's at Boston. So that's part of the reason why I liked them. Next week at Boston for one start in the final week against the Padres. I'm disinclined to use Cease. Unless he just looks amazing against the twins. Maybe I'll rethink it. But yeah, I mean, it's been a lot more bad

good lately from him. All right. We will cease to use Dylan. Carlos Rodon bounced back with a solid start at the Red Sox five innings, one run, nine strikeouts to four walks, 16 swinging strikes on 93 pitches. The velocity was way up in this one, slider up 1.8 miles per hour. The curve was up two miles per hour. And are you kidding me? I didn't write down the starts for him either. Scott, what do you think about Carlos Swarden? Bad job, Frank. What am I doing? I mean, I mean, I'm interested in reading what it said about this start for Carlos Rodon. There wasn't anything out there as of the time we recorded. Because the velocity was way up, less so on the fastball than the other pitches, but it was up.

And this was his most dominant start since coming back, nine strikeouts of five innings. And this was his second start in four where he's looked like a genuine badmiss or for the most part he hasn't. So did he turn the corner here? there's a chance but just looking at data alone I don't feel confident saying one way or another it has to start somewhere

this may be the start of it but I'd like to hear if there's some kind of explanation for the velocity being up if you approach this start differently so who's he got is Pittsburgh this week is the Pittsburgh matchup this week

so he's already locked in for that Pittsburgh matchup And then the final two weeks, it'll be the Diamondbacks and the Blue Jays respectively, which are middling. Let's see how it does against the Pirates in that second start. I'll say this. If you roll the dice on the two-star week, you feel pretty good so far because, you know, at the Pirates this weekend, hopefully it should go well. Last start against the Tigers did not go so well. Mike Oaka was hit hard at the Dodgers. He allowed seven runs over four innings, and he's really struggled over his last four starts, giving up a ton of runs.

He has 13 walks over 19 and a third innings during that time. His last three starts are home against the Rockies, home against the Cardinals, at the White Sox. So I might have made the argument that you could drop Michael Walker, Scott, but two of those three matchups are pretty good. Rockies on the road and at the White Sox. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, another frustrating case. In a way, you could argue we should have.

seen it coming with WACA because the ERA estimators are all like mid-fours, but he, you know, he was so reliable all of last season had been so reliable this season prior to these most recent starts. So you get, you get comfortable, you get comfortable and think he's just going to do that forever. And so should we punish a blip like this harder for somebody like Michael Waka than for somebody like, you know, any other pitcher it happens to? I don't know. It's been happening to everybody, like we've been saying. Is the Rocky starting the second start this week, or is it the first start next week?

Does Waka line up for two starts next week? Let me see. I could pull that up rather quickly here, hopefully, but I think he's going to wind up as a two-starter next week. Yeah, I don't remember I'm being in my two-star rankings this week. Yeah, that's what it looks like, two starts for next week. So we've got to make this decision, Rocky's Cardinals next week. Are we going to use WACA? Eileen, yes, right now.

I think so. It's easier to say in a points. League than in a categories league where you probably have to consider what categories are more important to you. But Eileen, yes, two starts, even as rough as Waka's last two starts have been. Everything comes full circle, which means we've got to talk about Lance Lynn, a quality start up against the Padres, seven innings, two runs, three strikeouts in this one. He was at 100 pitches through six, and he came out for the seventh and managed to get through one final inning there. And in eight starts with the Dodgers, he has a 460 ERA, a 126 whip. He leads baseball

with 41 home runs allowed. Last year, Josiah Gray led baseball with 38 homers allowed. Lance Lynn still has three starts left where he can add to this terrible lead. But the matchups are kind of good, man. Last three versus the Tigers versus the Giants at the Giants. I hate to keep asking you this but okay so it looks like I don't think he was a actually he might be a two-star pitcher this week

I think he's a two-star pitcher next week if you're saying his next matchup is against the Tigers yeah that's right yep it's next week points league only points league only for Lance Lynn with those good matchups against the Tigers and Giants next week all right fair enough a quick hitting left over here

Freddie Freeman, four for five, with his 26th home run and 55th double of the season. And it came on his birthday. Happy birthday, Freddie Freeman, 34 years old today. He is now batting 339 with 26 homers, 18 steals, 121 runs scored, and a 995 OPS on the year. Fantastic season from Freddie. I want to free him get those two more steals. I want Freddie Freeman to be a 2020 player. They were talking on the broadcast.

I mean, this is lofty. I don't think he'll be able to get there, but if somehow he can get to 30 homers, 60 doubles, 20 steals. Oof. I just got to go on a power binge here. Like an incredible power bin. No, wait, no, he's at 26 home runs.

It doesn't have to be that incredible. You could hit four home runs in two and a half weeks time. He could. That's not crazy. He kind of slowed down before this. So, I mean, I think there's a chance. But man, that would be awesome. Great season for him.

Call to the bullpen. A few updates here for the Yankees in game one. Clay Holmes walked three but managed to escape with his 19th save. And then in game two, Nick Ramirez for the Yankees pitched a clean ninth inning for his first save of the season. For the White Sox in game one of their double header, Gregory Santos, recorded the final four outs for his fifth save. Brian Shaw had got the previous save for the White Sox. For the Cardinals, Ryan Helsley pitched a clean ninth inning for his dad.

ninth save, and he has back-to-back saves for the Cardinals. For the Rangers, Aroldus Chapman got the ninth inning with a four-run lead. He gave up a solo homer to Davis Schneider, friend of the podcast. We're rooting for you. And Arolda Chapman struck out too in that outing. For the Braves, Reisel Eglacius entered the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up a solo home run to Trey Turner. That was the Ryselaglacius' fourth blown save of the year.

Brad Hand would eventually pick up his first save. in the 10th inning for the Braves. For the Phillies on the other side, Craig Kimberle was called upon in the top of the 10th. He gave up a hit, so the Manfred man scored, and Kimberl took his sixth loss of the season.

For the Reds, Alexis Diaz pitched a clean ninth inning with the game tied, and he wound up with the win. Eventually Buck Farmer picked up his third save in extra innings. For the Mets, Adamadovino, recorded the final five outs for his 10th save. He's a 21% rostered, more of a deep league name. But if you are looking for saves there.

For the twins, Yohan Duran pitched a clean ninth inning for his 26th save of the year. And I guess, I mean, there was some concern coming in that, you know, the twins haven't traditionally used a closer. But Duran has basically been the guy and he's got great ratios and all these strikeouts and he's approaching 30 saves. So pretty awesome season for him. For the Brewers, Devin Williams struck out one for his 33rd. for the Royals. Carlos Hernandez got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up one run but picked up his fourth save.

And then for the Rockies, one night after, I believe his name is Tyler Kinley, took the loss. Justin Lawrence was back in there. He struck out two for his 11th save of the year. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday, we got some pretty good options here. Logan Allen at the Giants,

Kyle Harrison versus the Guardians. we have Mike Clevenger against the Royals and Ryan Pepeio against the Padres. Yeah. I don't mind any of those four. I would rank them Pepio number one. Logan Allen 2 just because the Giants are so... Well, the guardians are so bad against lefties too.

Harrison's the higher upside play than Logan Allen. But I'll go Pepeio 1. Now, what the heck? Harrison 2, Allen 3, and Clevenger. kind of a distant fourth. All right. And then on Thursday, we have Josiah Gray at the Pirates. Reese Olson versus the Reds.

Michael King at the Red Sox. And anybody else? Not really. It's a smaller slate. We've got nine games on Thursday. Any of those three? No. Michael King has pitched well, but...

He has. I would be most like... to use him. I mean, if it's a points league situation, you can slot him in a relief pitcher spot that feels like a cheat code. By the way, Michael King lines up for two starts the final week of the season, so he might be worth picking up just to keep him around for that. Adrian Houser is going up against the Marlins? Can I interest you in that? It's not getting better. A result against the Reds is probably my second choice, though I'm not thrilled with it. Okay. I'm not thrilled with any of the Thursday's options.

I'm not thrilled with any streaming options ever, Frank. No, really, Wednesday's not that bad. But generally speaking, I'm not thrilled with any of our streaming options, any of your streaming options that you single out for us, Frank. Hey, they're not mine. I don't play in a single daily lineup league. So solely for the listeners out there. We're going to wrap there for Scott.

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