Fantasy Baseball Today - Fun Night for Rookie Pitchers & Pirates Promote Bubba Chandler! (8/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

The Pirates are finally promoting Bubba Chandler, but they plan to use him in the bullpen (2:46). ... It was a fun day for rookie pitchers including Hurston Waldrep, Cam Schlittler and Parker Messick (14:13). ... Brice Turang continues to impress (20:22). ... Is it time to drop Kodai Senga (23:14)? ... News (27:00): Kyle Tucker had a fracture in his hand back in June. ... The Dog of the Week goes to Jacob Misiorowski (33:03). ... Jesus Luzardo is back (37:20)! ... Sandy Alcantara just had one of his best starts of the season (39:56). ... Are these waiver wire hitters over-rostered, under-rostered or just right (42:47)? ... Will any of these waiver wire pitchers matter down the stretch (52:37)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (59:00). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. The Pirates finally did it. Kind of.

Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, August 21st. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, fun night for rookie pitchers. Jesus Lozardo looks like he is back. And we'll play a little over, under, or just right. Before we get into the players of the night, the pirates are finally promoting top prospect Bubba Chandler. But he's going to pitch out of the bullpen.

So this kind of throws a wrench and all the fun and excitement for, you know, a prospect of his caliber getting called up. And it's been a weird season for sure for Bubba Chandler. got off to a great start. Many presumed he was going to get called up after that great start. Maybe it was like, you know, sometime in May. And then he's really kind of gone downhill.

And what's even weirder is that his last six starts before getting the call have been really bad. 742 ARA and a 199 wish. That's the thing that's the hardest to understand. It's like you wait a full year. Like he made his AAA debut about a year ago. He was awesome last year. He had like a 191 ERA.

through his first eight starts this season. So he had like a sub two ERA, his first 15 starts at AAA. Things go off the rails from there. Things really go off the rails. The last six starts. He has a 732 ERA, a 199 whip since the All Star break. And now they're like, now's the time. Let's call him up to be a reliever.

Yeah. Well, what I was, first of all, I don't think, okay. So there's a lot that could be said here. obviously i don't know how much we want to get into it right now but i guess we are so um it it is like frustrating because bubba chandler has been a fixture in my five on the verge and the prospects report all season long i basically said he's one of the top five prospects to stash he's remained rostered in 65 to 80 percent of cbs sports leagues all season long and he's finally coming sounds like it's going to be in a role where he's not particularly useful.

I don't think it's a true relief role like he's going to be throwing an inning at a time. I think it's more of a piggyback role where, you know, three to five innings at a time. They actually said that. They said it's going to be a bulk relief role, yeah. Right. So I, but I still don't think there's much utility for that in fantasy. Maybe a little more than if he was in short relief, but still not much. And we have no idea how he's going to perform because it got bad there.

Now, there's certainly an argument to be made. I can't get into his head, but he has expressed some frustration that the delay in calling him up earlier this season contributed to him going off the rails. Like he just started pressing or started doing something different because he felt like he had to do something different and it just, it totally imploded on him. But it did totally implode on him. So through May, 11 starts in at 203 ERA 107 whip 12.8K per 9. Everybody knew he was about to get called up at that point, including presumably him. But he didn't. He was probably close.

I mean, it was, they may have been waiting until late June. They may have been waiting until the Super 2 situation passed. It was probably on the verge of being called up at that point. But then his next 13 starts. So it was the first 11 amazing. Next 13. A 596 ERA, a 187 whip. 9.1K per 9.

Like at that point, how could the pirates call him up? Like he was going so poorly. What I said last week in the Fantasy Baseball Express when I was talking about 13 prospects who we could see called up with 45 days left, I think we're to a point now where you know he's not going to use up his rookie eligibility. It doesn't seem like things are turning around to AAA. You just got to try it out and see what you have for next year. And so I think that's what the pirates have ultimately decided to do here.

They're going to get him in this, you know, harshest environment where he felt like he deserved to be and just let him go and see what they have. And if it goes as poorly as his last 13 starts at AAA did, well, he's probably beginning next year in the minors. But maybe it won't. And so, like, I'm sure they're frustrated with the way the season has played out for, for Bubba Chandler, just as Chandler himself is. But now they've got to fix it. Now everybody's got to come together and figure out how to make this work.

I think you are giving one of the most poorly run organizations in professional sports, frankly. Way too much benefit of the doubt here. Well, in what way? What are you protesting? What? What are you? So I looked it up.

I looked at the pitchers ranked in the top 50 in baseball prospectus's preseason rankings over the past three seasons. And I looked at how many starts they got at AAA before getting called up. Okay. And some of them have not been called up like Andrew Painter for obvious reasons. Quinn Matthews for also obvious reasons. but there were they've been bad

are the obvious reasons yeah bad and hurt there have been 15 who have been called up of those 15 Kyle Harrison made 20 starts at AAA before he got called up

he wasn't all that impressive that makes sense Mick Abel made 33 he was not a top prospect by the time he got called up so that also makes sense everyone else every other one of those 13 pitchers was called up with 14 or fewer starts at AAA.

But how does that conflict with what I was saying? Well, no, I'm just saying when Bubba Chandler made 15 starts at AAA, he had a sub 2ERA and like 13K per 9. Yeah, he was doing great. Because he had seven starts last year and then the first eight this year. He was incredible. It really turned in June. They should have called him up then. That's my thing.

Yeah, no, they should have. That should have indefensible. I'm just saying. And there was a detail from a Pittsburgh Post Gazette story last week that, and they are two weeks ago that has gone a little under the radar, but I thought it was crazy. Because I don't think I've ever heard of this. It was reported that multiple players on the Pirates,

Oregon is on the Pirates active roster, contacted Bubba Chandler and apologized to him for the team not calling him up. That is crazy. Yeah. No, it's like that's, this is, this is. This is, they should have called him up in May. But I'm saying he probably would have been called up in June if he hadn't started. Right.

But I'm saying, I'm saying the pirates screwed this up. Yeah. And that it's only human. It's only, like, they over baked it. They over. You guys watch Great British Bake Off. If you don't, you should. They overproved it.

You can't leave the dough in the proving drawer for too long or I don't know. It gets too much air or not enough. I don't really understand baking. I'm very bad at it. it, but they overproved it. Paul Hollywood would hate it. Bubba Chandler's got a soggy bottom now, and they screwed it up. Oh, gosh.

That's a reference from the show. Yeah. Bringing this back to... But he just keeps doing what he's doing. I'm not saying the pirates handled it well, but like, Bubba Chandler has agency here. Yes. What's frustrating is that this is clearly one of the most talented young pitchers in baseball. and we're not excited about him being called up.

And whether it's the Pirates fault, whether it's Bubba Chandler's fault, that stinks because he's not pitching well right now. He has to turn it around. He has to show something. And he's going to be pitching in a role that he's not used to. The Pirates have already said it's going to be like they've done with Graham Ashcraft, who, no, Braxton Ashcraft.

Yep. Yeah. There shouldn't be multiple Ashcrafts in the NL Central. And he was pitching two, three innings for the most part. He's in the rotation now. And I believe the Post Gazette also reported that they do plan on giving Bubba Chandler starts before the end of the season. But this was one where we thought he was going to get called up and it's a five alarm fire. We got to add him everywhere immediately.

And now it's... He's still pretty widely rostered. At least in CBS leagues. But if you've got the roster spot, sure. Yeah. hang on to him, but I can't say we have to rush out and at him where he's available, unfortunately. I don't have any interest in. He is widely rostered in CBS leagues.

You know, give me, give me Hurston Waldrop instead. I might say give me Cam Schlittler ahead of him. He's like 47% rostered. He looked really good tonight. We're going to talk about all those pitchers a little bit later on. There's also Nolan McLean. I mean, those are guys that are starting right now and can help you now. I mean, maybe in a Roto League, Bubba Chandler,

if he's throwing, you know, three or four innings of relief twice a week, that can help you as well. But, yeah, it's mostly in bulk relief for now, and it sounds like he's actually going to follow up Braxton Ashcraft when Ashcraft starts on Friday. So we'll see how many innings he throws. We'll see how Bubba Chandler looks. If you held onto him this long, I guess keep holding on.

Because if he looks really good, his first couple of relief outings, who's to say maybe they just throw him in the rotation and see what he could do in September. So that is a chance. There's a chance that can happen. Obviously, very exciting prospect, but just the way everything was handled, the way his season has gone, the role that he's being put into, it's very frustrating from a fantasy perspective. Let's take a quick break when we return. We'll get into our Players of the Night.

We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. Let's get into the Players of the Night. Oh my goodness gracious. How did that get in there? That's crazy. Fun night for rookie pitchers. top of the list, Hurston Waldrop, awesome again against the White Sox here.

Seven shutout innings, seven strikeouts to just one walk, 14 whiffs on 87 pitches. That splitter is disgusting. I mean, it just kind of like floats up at the plate. It's almost kind of like a knuckleball. It's crazy. Through 69% of his pitches for strikes here, that has been a big key because, you know, when he was in the minors in, you know, previous years or year,

control has been an issue for him. But so far, it's looked pretty good here in the majors. He's allowed just two earned runs total over 24 and two-thirds innings. He's changed the pitch mix this year. He's throwing this new cutter, this new sinker, and it's all working out right now for Hurston Waldrop. 72% rostered. Looks like he lines up for two stars next week at the Marlins, at the Phillies.

I think this is as close to a must-add must-raster pitcher, given what he's done and his pedigree so far. Yep, he's been great. He featured that splitter even more in this one. It was more like 40%, 28% was where it was previously, and it got even better results, got more whiffs overall. He's allowed two run runs in 24 and two-thirds innings. Three of his four appearances have been six innings or more,

so he's given you plenty of length too, and he has innings to work with. And you mentioned the pedigree. you know, his major league debut last year went so poorly, and his minor leagues, his time in the minors thereafter was pretty shaky too that I think a lot of people lost faith in Hurston Waldrop, but coming out of the 2023 draft,

if you look at first-year player rankings for fantasy, I know our buddy Chris Welsh certainly felt this way. After Paul Skeens, the topic in that draft obviously, after Paul Skeens, Hurston Waldrop seemed like he was going to be the most relevant pitcher for fantasy. So it went to skew there for a while, but, you know, 20-23 draft. That was only two years ago. And now it finally, finally.

Now it seems like Hurston Waldrop is living up to that initial hype. Let's just talk about all the other rookie pitchers who performed well here. Cam Schlittler had the best start of his young career. Took a perfect game into the seventh inning at the raise, wound up 16-2-thirds shut-down. out, one hit, two walks. Eight strikeouts, had 19 whiffs on 95 pitches, 11 of those on his fastball, but he had everything working.

He's allowed two earned runs or fewer in four straight. But this was his first time even completing six innings, let alone pitching into the seventh. He's 47% rostered. The matchups for next week, Nationals and White Sox. So that looks amazing for Cam Schlittler. And I want to give a shout out to Parker Messick,

who looked very good in his major league debut at the D-back, six-and-two-thirds inning. one run, six strikeouts. Only eight whiffs on 83 pitches, but that changeup looked as advertised for those eight whiffs on the changeup. He's a fiery dude. He's animated.

He's talking to himself. It was pretty fun to watch. Yeah, he looks like he's going to be a fun one there. He looked good. I think he's behind those names because he's just, you know, I guess, I don't even want to say not as highly regarded. I mean, he was a pretty big prospect in his own right, but only 9% rostered.

I think it's mostly for deep leagues. Who do you guys prefer between Waldrip and Cam Schlittler here? Oh, Waltrip. Yeah, by a lot. I still, this was a great start for Schlitler. Don't get me wrong. It was great in every way. He entered this with a swinging strike rate less than 10%.

And very fastball heavy. It's a fastball, though. It's a good fastball. It's not one. It's high velocity. It's got a pretty good induced. vertical break, but it's not like the shape is good enough that I think he can get away with throwing that fastball two-thirds of the time. He did in this start, but I don't think that's a long-term

plan for Schlittler, and I'm not sure the secondary arsenal is there yet for him to be a reliable option of fantasy. I don't think he's that far behind ahead of Messick, which is not necessarily for me an indictment of Schlittler. I just, I really liked what Messick did today. Yeah. Yeah, Messick. look great too I don't think his controls normally going to be this good key through 67 of his pitches percent of his pitches for strikes it was only 62 percent in the minors this year so this is I don't think this is going to be the norm for Massick I will say I would take Schlittler over him yeah I'm shocked that Cam Schlittler is the third hardest throwing starter in baseball right now. I just did not

expect that to be the... Am I... He's averaging 98 miles an hour with his fastball? Yeah. That is what... It's Hunter Green and Paul Skeens are the only guys ahead of him. I guess Miserowski and Chase Burns if they had enough to

qualify, but that is stunning. I did not think we were going to see that from Cam Schlittler. What if I throw Nolan McLean in that mixed? Where would he rank among the rookie pitchers? Messick Schlitler, Waldrip, and McLean. Waldrop, McLean, Schlittler, Messick.

And I think it's Waldrop, tier, McLean, tier, Schlittler, and Messick are probably in the same tier for me. I agree completely. My answer might depend on what McLean's matchups look like for next week. Sure. Just because again, like,

that two-star week for Schlittler just looks really, really tasty right now. McLean, it looks like he gets one start against the Phillies next week. At this point in the season, I think we're kind of, you know, going week to week. It's, you know, there's not much time left. Yeah, that's true. That's a good point.

That's a fair point, yeah. So I think I would lean with Schlittler over McLean, but Hurst and Waldrop at the top of that list. All right, players of the night, let's go over to Scott. Who you got? I want to talk about Bryce Terang, who you look up suddenly and he has 13 home runs. How did that happen? Well, seven of them, more than half, have come here in August. It's been a crazy.

crazy month for Bryce to rang. And it continued here on Wednesday. He went three for three with a double. For the month of August now, 358 batting average, seven home runs, two stolen bases. What's going on?

Well, he's hitting the ball harder for one thing. Really, that's been going on all season long. His average exit velocity for the year, 90.6 miles per hour. That's 60th percentile. Previous years, he was like 30, 35th percentile average exit velocity. So he's just hitting the ball harder.

And it's been even harder here in the month of August, more like 91 miles per hour. But more than that, in August he has, he's been angling it optimally off the bat. Polari. It's about 20% here in August. For the year, it's just 7%. And, yeah, I mean, if Bryce Terang is going to impact the ball 60th percentile, You know, that kind of quality of contact. It's not going to take much for him to become a power hitter.

It's just going to take what he's doing here in August, basically, elevating to his pull side. So I think we regarded Bryce Terang as pretty much just a pure base stealer coming into the year. And kind of a, if he wanted that, I know he was on my bus list. But he's grown into some power here in his third major league season, 25 years old. It's not the most unprecedented thing ever. And very interested to see if he can maintain this pull air rate the last week of August into September. If he can get to 20 home runs, probably not 20 home runs, but if he can get, you know, high teens, then that might give him a 20 to 25 homer projection for next season to go with all the steals. So Bryce Terang may be turning into not just a solid starter at second baseman, but at, at, at,

at second base, but truly high end. Yeah, it's a great season for Bryce Terang. I guess the one drawback to his season is you probably drafted him to give you a huge sum of steals and he's only giving you 21 this year. Now, overall, he's still been a great player. He ranks as the 50th overall player in Rodo entering tonight, so that's only going to go up and he was drafted outside the top 100. But the shape of the production has changed, right?

It's a better batting average, more power, counting stats look pretty good, but, you know, it's 21 seals versus the 50. they gave us last year. So I guess that's the one drawback, but who's going to complain, right? He's obviously giving you a great season. Chris, over to you for your player of the night. I want to talk about Kodi Senga because I, do we have to talk about dropping Kodi Senga? Maybe. I'd be more likely to drop him than Strider. It's been pretty bad. I know he was, the thing that's tough is he had a 147 ERA when he heard his. hamstring in June. And since then, it's like a 522 ERA, I think. He has 19 walks and 31

innings, only 29 strikeouts in that span, giving up a lot of hits. It's just been everything's gone sideways for him. He's only gone five innings three times in seven starts. And it might just be, you know, the hamstring derailed him. His expected stats and his peripherals were pretty bad early on. And I kind of sort of think this was always going to happen to Kodi-Singa. He just has not looked the same since his rookie season when he dealt with the shoulder injury last year. And I think he's a pretty fringy fantasy option at this point.

I agree. I think that low ERA early on was fake. And we were saying that at the time. I didn't think it would go quite this poorly for him. But now seven starts back from the I.L. less than a strikeout per inning. And only once is he exceeded five innings in any of those seven stars.

So they're short, they're not that. He's not showing a lot of upside within some of the struggles there. You know, the thing, I just said I'd be more likely to drop Kodai Senga than Strider. That's kind of an upside case for Strider. Sure. It's mostly I'd be afraid of him falling into the wrong hands and then suddenly clicking into place.

then I'm not really worried about that with Senga. Like, I'd invite somebody to start Senga against me. So, yeah, I mean, if it came to it, I'd be totally fine dropping Senga for Waldrop. Would you drop him for any of the other names we mentioned? I mean, maybe looking at Schlittler's matchups next week, if I knew I was going to start Schlittler with that two-start slate, I could see doing that.

Yeah, I could see doing that. I'm going to rank Senga ahead of Schlitler rest of season, but I could see, you know, just in the name of maximizing that line up next week doing that. I'm not that afraid of dropping Senga's bottom line. But, man, the stuff metrics on Senga are all way down from his rookie season. He just does not look like the same guy, which is bad because the command was never great. Yeah. What if I told you that Senga's in line for two starts next week against the Phillies and Marlins?

Does that change anything? No. Why would it change anything? In a points league? Points League, you might want the two starts, I don't know. Two four innings starts against a good lineup and a decent lineup, the Marlins, I would say. I think the Marlins are. No stowers, I think they're pretty bad again.

Okay. Okay. They are without stowers, but they got some other ammunition in there. Yeah. I mean, to your point, both Waldrop and Schlitler lineup for two stars next week as well. So if those are your alternatives, then it probably makes sense to move. off of Kodi-Senga. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure to check out

our 10-minute podcast, FBT Express. We have a prospect episode coming out later today, so be on the lookout for that. And big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you are subscribed, don't leave. Don't, you know, unsubscribe for the off-season and stuff.

You know, we're still winding down. We're gonna have a bunch of fun conversations looking forward to the future, and then we'll do a bunch of really cool off-season content as well. So we invite you to stick around if you've made a this long. News and notes. So it turns out the hand injury Kyle Tucker suffered back in June was a hairline fracture. Why we're just learning this now? I have no idea. I was going to ask you to get

I've got you babe by Sonny and Cher as a drop. This is another reference that Frank, there's no way you got that one. I absolutely do. My dad loves like old classic rock and all that stuff like no. No, but okay, but you don't get the movie. It's brown hot. No, no, I know the song, but it's great it's the song that plays at the beginning of the day at groundhogs day and that's that's what it feels like we're going through with kyle tucker again how does this happen two years in a row are his bones just really fuzzy i think they knew about it though i think they knew about it back then i think we're just learning about it now it's like why his bones just really they didn't i mean i don't show up in high definition yeah it took me a minute but that's that's funny um yeah no the report is that he's

pushed to play through it. And like, this is the hard thing about professional athletes. If you've made it to the majors, you are by definition an outlier who beat like impossible, unimaginable odds. So of course you think you can always do the impossible. And it's on the management to say,

let's take three weeks. I get it. He's playing for a great team. He wanted to, you know, he's got that big. contract coming up. Yeah.

Man, it just feels like he pushed a play through it and he shouldn't have and it's, it's a bummer. Well, what's weird is like, he was good in the immediate aftermath of that injury. He was great. He was great in June. He had 311 with a 982 OPS in the month. And he's been awful since the start of July. So it's just really weird the way all this played out.

What do we do with Kyle Tucker, if anything? I mean, knowing now that they say he's healed, but I don't know, clearly it's had some kind of effect on him. Does this maybe open up your mind a little bit to benching Kyle Tucker? Only if the Cubs are giving indication that they're planning on sitting him out more like they had done this week. I still, like if truly he's healed and they're saying he is, then I still have faith in that player with that track record pulling out of this slump. And maybe this mental reset he's getting gotten here in recent days,

maybe that is going to be the trick. We've certainly seen that work for players in the past. Yeah, Frank, who's the other mental reset guy? You've mentioned him a bunch. Adoli Scars. Was that the one? There was someone who got like a mental reset day, and it really turned things around.

There might have been another one too. But I know for sure Garcia, but it feels like maybe there was another player that that happened for as well. Felix Bautista underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder and is expected to be sidelined at least 12 months. My goodness, that means he'll probably just miss all of next season too. I mean, we're, you know, 12 months from now,

it's mid-August next year, and I don't know how maybe the Orioles bounce back and they have a better season, but if they're not playing for much, it doesn't really make sense to kind of rush him back. So we'll see what the Orioles do with their bullpen heading into next season. Shohay Otani was pinch hit four in the eighth inning.

was hit in the leg by a comebacker as the pitcher earlier in the game. Dave Roberts said he's pretty confident. Otani will return to the lineup on Friday. Thursday apparently was a scheduled day off before Otani. Yeah, they already said that a couple days ago, yeah. Zach Netto left after a hit by pitch on his left hand. Let's hope it's nothing serious. He's been amazing.

Brandon Nimmo left early with neck stiffness. He's day-to-day. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has missed two straight with hamstring inflammation. O'Neil Cruz has ramp... Have you guys heard of that? injury classification before hamstring inflammation? I've never heard that. Usually you hurt your hamstring, it's a strain.

I just wonder if they're kind of softening the language here. I mean, yeah, that's always because like, remember when Jared Jones got hurt and it was like someone, someone reported it's not a tear, it's a strain. And it's like, well, yes, that's a tear. Like, definitionally it is. teams will put out different verbiage and it's kind of

I think the point in what they're saying is that it's not serious. Hopefully. They've said it's great today today. I have my doubts. O'Neill Cruz has rant up activity recently but isn't ready to return from the seven-day concussion IL.

Pablo Lopez will make his first rehab start Thursday at AAA. Jackson Merrill has missed three straight with that left ankle issue and we later learned that he's dealing with some bone bruising, which can, quote, take a while to heal, according to manager Mike Schilt. So do we know when, what that dates back to? That was on weekend, right?

Sunday, I think it happened. Oh, okay. So not very long at all. Yeah. I'm looking for excuses. I'm looking to make excuses for Jackson Merrill. I think he's really talented, but it's been a disaster. It's been tough.

I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up on the aisle. Both Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates are expected to be activated this weekend against the Padres. Austin Riley will visit a specialist this week to examine this abdominal injury that he's dealing with. Tyler Stevenson was placed in the aisle with a fractured left thumb. The Blue Jays are shifting Eric Lauer to the bullpen with Shane Bieber returning on Friday. Kenley Jansen is dealing with rib pain on his left side after he tweaked it during a workout. And what do you know, they had a save opportunity right away. And it was Luis Garcia who closed it out for the save. Colson Montgomery returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday with a sore left side

and Hassan Kim was scratched from the lineup, re-inserted into the lineup, and then scratched again with lower back tightness. All right, Chris, I'm going to throw it over to you, if you're ready, for the dog of the week. And the dog of the week, unfortunately, is everyone's favorite pitching prospect, Jacob Mizirowski, who suddenly... One hit, Chris. I mean, hey, one hit, that's not bad. Three earn runs allowed, three walks, five strikeouts and four innings.

Obviously, he was really bad, his first start back from the IL last week as well. So I don't know. I kind of think, do we have to talk about dropping Jacob Mizirowski? I think they're going to be really careful with his innings. Yeah. I think it's going to be a lot of short starts. I think it's going to be a very slim margin for error. And the command seems to have backed up the last couple of starts.

So I'm less worried about the command because I think that's just obviously it's something Miserowski struggled with throughout his career and as a young pitcher. It's going to flare up from time to time. But the workload issue, I don't remember if it was last time he started or a few days ago or whatever. But I boldly predicted that I don't think we'll see another five-inning start from Miserowski this season. And obviously if it starts less than five innings, it's pretty much worthless. fantasy. Especially in points. But to safeguard against the possibility that I'm wrong because it is just a hunch,

I'd be pretty scared of dropping Mizorowski. I don't want to start him right now, but it's sort of like the strider argument where what if he's had this time to kind of let his innings, you know, he's spared some innings now so that he has more later. Sort of like what's happened with the arrest process. Yeah. Three straight six innings starts when we weren't sure he'd ever go six innings again.

What if the same happens with Mizorowski? He goes six innings next time, strikes out nine or whatever. And then it's like, oh, I dropped them. What a numb skull I am. So, no, I can't go as far as dropping Mizorowski, but I am not really counting on him making an impact for my fantasy team anymore. And rest of season. Are you starting him next one?

week, two-star week, Diamondbacks and Blue Jays. That is tough matchups. That's a tough matchups. I'm probably not. Probably not. I have a 50th rest of the season. I think it has to be a specific scenario. I wouldn't start them in a points league, but

if I'm in a Roto League chasing strikeouts or something, I can see that, but even then it's like he could wreck your whip. Yeah, absolutely. All right, let's take our final break. When we return, kind of looks like Jesus Lazzardo is back. that right after this.

Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. Jesus Lazzardo. I'm thinking I'm back. That's right. I'm thinking I'm back. One of the best delivered lines. I feel like the delivery of that line gave the franchise the legs it has. An awesome start here against the Mariners.

Six innings of one-run ball, 12 strikeouts, zero walks. The 12 strikeouts, a season high for Lazzardo. 21 whiffs on 89 pitches, leaned all the way into that sweeper and it was amazing here. Now last five starts a 232 ERA and a point 84 whip 34 strikeouts over 31 innings doing a much better job limiting walks and hard contact. What do you guys think? Is Lazardo back? Yeah, I was never that worried about him other than that horrendous two-start stretch last start of May, first start of June when it was clear he was

tipping his pitches. And if you take that. those two starts out. I know some people hate when I play this game. I think it's fair to do in Lazzardo's case since those two starts were obviously tainted by the tipping of the pitches. If you take out just those two starts, he goes from having a 410 ERA and 130 whip to a 297 ERA and 117 whip along with 10.6K per 9, which would probably put him in the top 20. Now, I don't have them in the top 20, but I have them not far beyond. that he's pretty close to must start in my mind I think he's definitely must start mostly because you're gonna drive yourself crazy if you try to like pick and choose

when because he's he's had five double-digit strikeout starts it's tied with garrick crochet for the fourth most in baseball Logan Webb has six that's crazy pretty stunning and then Terrick scubal has eight because he's a freak and he's also had I think five starts of at least five earned runs Hazel Azus Lizardo so it It is the two bad starts. It's not just the two bad starts, though. He's been frustrating. All pitchers are random number generators to a certain extent,

but Luzardo feels more random than most. It never feels like there's a good explanation, I guess, except for the pitch tipping. But I think you just got to roll with it and understand that the ERA might be a little high, but he's going to be worth it for the most part. And he's still 80% started on CBS, so most people have kept him in the lineup,

and it looks like he lines up for two starts next week against the Braves and the Mets. Again, that was Jesus Lazzardo. Like most of this season, not really sure what to make of Sandy Alcantra here, who actually, on the surface, looks like he had one of his best starts of the season, seven innings, two runs,

one of those earned nine strikeouts with 20 whiffs on 114 pitches. All of that, awesome. He also allowed 11 hard hits in this game and had a 96.2 average exit velocity against. And that has been a huge problem for Sanio Concora all season. So as much as I love the whiffs, and I really do, I mean, that has been the other big problem for Alcansara.

He's still giving up a lot of hard contact. So I don't know. I don't know how to look. I know Chris probably does because he's good at looking up things. The ground ball rate specifically for this start for Sandy Alcantra, because it's been down for the season. He's normally a very high groundball guy. He's been kind of just above average this year.

And the reason I bring it up is because hard contact bothers me a lot less if it's on the ground. Like ground balls are hit harder on average than fly balls. There's eight fly balls to six ground balls today. It was 33% ground ball rate sitting. Not good. So actually. Okay. Well, so much for that.

I, um, I don't know. He's got a 356 ERA since the All-Star break, which, you know, the last two starts are carrying a lot of weight there. but it's really like I think it's seven starts total for really good ones three pretty bad ones. I don't know. I think this was the best he's looked since he had the surgery. And anytime you're talking about a pitcher with Sandy Alcantar's history, I'm going to be inclined to take a sign like this that he's starting to figure it out. But I don't think you should look at Sandy Alcantra as a must start pitcher.

He's got two starts next week. Looks like it's going to be Braves and Mets. I don't think he's a must start there certainly not in Roto and points he might be just because he's going six innings really a lot even when he's struggling he had that seven run

or six run seven innings start a couple turns ago I think the first start of August so like you're getting volume there so I think in points Sandy's a pretty good start for next week I think in Roto it depends on who else you've got yeah I mean four of his last six starts now have been good.

And the shortest of them, to your point, five innings. He's had two, there were five innings. The rest, two, seven innings. How long was this? He's averaging over six innings per start since the all-star break. Yeah, that's, that's, yeah. I think for points leagues, two starts. One start week, you know, I still not be that motivated to start out contra,

but if it's a standard points league where innings count three points a piece and you're obviously not worried about ratio stats, you're probably right. Probably got to start Alcantra in that format. Over, under, or just right? Let's take a look at Waver Wire hitters. Lordes Guerriel is coming alive, or might be, looks like it, two-for-four with his 17th home run,

2 RBI, and in August, hitting 275 homers, 23 RBI, 3 steals, and an 835 OPS. So pretty good month here. He's 74% rostered on CBS. Is that over-rastered, under-rastered, or just right? Just right. Just right.

Okay. And we're not taking him over Marcy, Luriano, ProFar, and none of those, right? Nope. No. Next up, Matt Shaw hit another home run, one for two with his 11th homer, and a second half update here. Hitting 302, nine homers, four steals, a 1065 OPS, 66% rostered for Matt Shaw. Is that over-rastered, under, or just right? Under?

Under-rostered. He is my number 13, third baseman and roto rest of season, number 12 in points. So not only should he be rostered in basically every league, he should probably be started. Yeah. Now, I don't know that you person listening to me right now has a need for him. I get that, but somebody in your league does. So one thing holding him back in points leagues is it's like not a lot of four play the parents of game. I guess he's maxing out at four plate appearances, but he's betting.

Yeah, he's had one four played appearance game in his last nine, it looks like. Yeah, that does hurt. Yeah. So only five games with four played appearances in the month of August so far. That's tough to get around in a point. So even when he's playing well. And I wouldn't be surprised if they moved him up just because the Cubs, the vibes are rotten right now and just kind of shake things up. That wouldn't be a bad idea.

but he's also probably still one of their worst hitters. Yeah. Not right now. Part of why he's so high at third base is because there are a few third baseman ranking that high that deserve to rank that high. So Noelope Marte is ahead of him. It's Max Muncie and Matt Chapman getting hurt.

Made a bad situation worse at that position. So Marte and Shaw feel like godsends in that context. It feels like there's nine, good third baseman. And that's even Jordan Westberg getting hurt every other game kind of might make it eight. Would you guys drop Addison Barger for Matt Shaw? He's cool off quite a bit. That's the one.

That's the one that I have ahead of Shaw in Roto but not in points. Got it. All right. Fair enough. So it's close. They're like basically neck and neck. I think I like, even though he's been slumping recently, I like Barger's profile more. Chandler Simpson racked up two more steals.

He is up to 36 steals in just 78 games. He has 53 steals total in 110 games between the minors and the majors. He has started 13 straight for the raise, so he's playing every day. 61% rostered, over-rastered, under-rastered, just right. I want to look up where he ranks and points since he returned, because I bet it's surprisingly high. It's been surprisingly high all season. Now, some context, because I know CBS is a little odd in this respect.

Standard CBS scoring is two points per steep. I think a lot of people who play in Points League set it up with one point per steal, which really hurts base Steelers. But if it's two points per steel, I feel like base Steelers with little power often undervalued, especially with the kind of totals that are reaching now. I mean, Simpson's been the most prolific base stealer in baseball. I don't have his numbers. It would take a few extra steps to look it up since he returned.

But for the season, 2.80 points per game, which is better than Wyatt Langford is average this year. Better than Andy Paix and T.J. Friedel. Like, plenty usable in points leagues. He's right around 40 since he came back. So a fringe starter in head-to-head point. He's like actually ahead of some surprising names like Riley Green and South Freelich have been Riley Green's been slumping since then but South Freelick has been really good and has a very points friendly profile. So I'm surprised Simpsons ahead of him. So yeah, I think he's a fringe

starter in points and a must-start guy in Roto. So 61% I think you said. Yeah. That feels a little low. Oh, yeah. Simpson or Lorda Scrio. I think I prefer Simpson. Lorda Scuriel is ahead of him, but that's with an edge in playing time that might not exist the rest of the way.

So I think it's really close. I think Simpson's better. Simpson missed like five games a couple weeks ago because I think it was like a wrist or a hand injury or something. He started every game since. Yeah, it was a finger. Yeah. Including three against.

against lefties. Next up we have Trent Gresham had a huge game three for five with a double dong here and in August he's got five homers and eight 60 OPS quietly has just been really good 23 homers on the season of 353 on base percentage 57% rostered and has started 13 straight for the Yankees over rostered under rostered or just right 57 under rostered because he's back to playing basically every day he's back to hitting home runs. It was kind of dried up a little mid-season, but they haven't gone away. I mean, it's up to 23 now.

They haven't, they didn't dry of that much. And actually, earlier this week, you know, may remember hearing me talk about the article where I looked at matchups rest of the way, which teams have the best remaining, face the weakest pitching stats moving forward, which teams face the weakest lineups moving forward, and, you know, identifying some potential. stash, stash candidates for head-to-head playoffs during that time. Grisham made the list. He was 10th among my 10 hitter recommendations.

And that wasn't even counting this current week. And look, he's already off to a good start. Does his playing time get affected if Judge starts playing the outfield? I guess that could happen. Yeah, I mean... I'm not sure Judge is going to start playing the outfield. Yeah, I don't know. It might not be worth worrying about.

Right. I mean that that would bring Stanton back into the lineup more regularly so somebody would have to vacate more often. Now, Cabiero's been getting a lot of starts. Jason Dominguez has been getting a lot of starts. Would Grisham get priority over them? I would assume so. But that he might sit on occasion.

He might sit against some lefties, yeah. Yep. Next up, Austin Wells, back from the dead. Two for four with a double dong, his first home run since July 25th. Previous 21 games before this, he was hitting 123. with a 356 OPS. He is down to 59% rostered. Is that over-rastered, under-roastered, or just right for Austin Wells?

I think he's only relevant in two catcher leagues right now. Yeah. That's too high. It feels high. Over-rostered. Yeah. I would- I think it's only like 25 to 30% of CBS leagues or two catcher leagues for as much as we talk about them.

I would take Kyle Teal over him, who we spoke about recently. Yeah. I mean, the plan time alone. Yeah. Next up I have three, I guess, deeper league names here. Gavin Sheets, a big game, two for four with a double-dong, four RBI. Could get more playing time here if Jackson Merrill does have to go on the IL. Brett Beatty hit another home run and has started eight of the past nine.

He's got four homers and a steal in those eight games. And Tommy Fam has been hitting well for quite a while now. Last 42 games, he's hitting 338 with six homers, 27 RBI, two steals in OPS over 900. And Chris, I know you mentioned this. He got some new contacts back in June, Tommy Fam did. And it seems to have helped. You know, he has a history of issues with his eyes and everything. And so he's very sensitive to things like that.

But it looks like he's got to figure it out. Deep League names here. Tommy Fam, 10% roster. Brett Beatty, 19%. Gavin Sheets, 35%. What do you think about those three? Just fun with end points. So you gave FAM's numbers last 42 games, which are very good.

He entered this game betting 1-196 in August. Yeah, but we don't care about that, Scott, 42. It really cooled off. And then Beatty, I tell me how many righties they face next week. If it's six, then I'm on board. If it's four, I'm definitely not. I think that's all it is. The Mets play.

Let's see a couple lefties here. Yeah, because he's got a 619 OPS against lefties. on the season and has only started 12 games seven games next week two lefties so I'll probably play five yeah yeah like I don't hate like I think he's pitchers it's it's tough it's tough matchups overall too I think he's an okay hot hand play but I I think it's just a deep league option so I think 19% that could be too low but it's not not something that I think like in the long run we're gonna say yes Brett Beatty's been a must start player I should be more roster than Sheets though sheets is like twice his rostered

he is. I know you said sheets might start playing more with Merrill out. Well, he'd been playing basically not at all. This was his second start in 13 games. Yeah. Do any of these waiver wire pitchers matter down the stretch? And two that I think might. Bailey Obera strong start against the athletics. Five and two thirds innings, two runs seven strikeouts had 18 whiffs on 82 pitches, but velocity down in this one, so not really sure what to make of that. And Charlie Morton, a quality start against the Astros, six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 94 pitches. He threw more sinkers and cutters in this start, and I wonder if that's kind of a Tigers thing, the way that they've changed Kyle Finnegan's pitch mix. They're also kind of tweaking Charlie Morton's pitch mix as well, but he has a quality start in three or four outings since joining the Tigers.

What do you guys think? Bailey Ober and Morton, can they matter down the stretch here? Yeah, I think both can matter. do I really want to start over in a Roto League against the Padres and Blue Jays next week? That's tough. I don't think so because there's not a lot of strikeout upside there and there's a lot of ERA risk especially. He could, he's one of those guys who could have a bad start and still have a decent whip. So I guess, you know, he might not hurt you there, but you're not likely to get a lot of strikeouts and there's a lot of ERA risk there.

And then Morton, I think the ratio risk is the biggest thing. If you need strikeouts next week at the athletics, there could be a lot of strikeouts there. It's just they could also have four home runs against them. Yeah, I think Morton is a fine streamer rest of season, but you'd rather not have to stream. It should go without saying that you'd rather not have to stream. You'd rather just have good pitchers you can start.

I've never heard you say that before. That's so weird. Yeah. It should go without saying. But, you know, sometimes I get messages. You said I should start Charlie Morton. And so I, you know, I sat Brian Wu for him or something. That's kind of a ridiculous example.

But, you know, sometimes I get those messages. And it's like, well, obviously, you don't sit a good pitcher for him. Like, Ober, I have maintained the most faith in Ober here. I don't know what to make at this start. I don't know what to make it. Because my hope in Ober was that, okay, he comes back from the IL stint for that hip issue that's bothered him since spring training. He's got some velocity back. Velocity was down in this start.

It was worse. Fastball velocity worse than his season average. And he only missed one bat. He only got one whiff with a fastball. It's not like it performed well for him. But his secondary pitches performed so well. He got 18 whiffs on 82 pitches, which is an absurd whiff rate. And it's like, okay.

If this version of OBER shows up again, it's going to go well, but I don't know where it came from. I don't know that he can do it again. I still don't know that he could survive without that fastball velocity. I just have no clue. I think he needs to be rostered in more than 67% of leagues. I know we're not playing that game anymore, but I think he does. But I'm not to the point where I'm like, okay, I can trust a starting spot to Ober now.

Two-star pitcher next week, probably do it in points leagues. Yeah, points. Are you taking Ober over any of the rookie pitchers we talked about earlier? Yeah, all but Waldrop. Okay, I think I would take Schlittler over him with his matchups being better, but... I would start Schlittler over Ober next week, but I still think I'd rather roster over in most cases. The one thing I'll just say is if you're in a points league especially, I'd rather start, but I'd rather roster. Just go with the guy you'd rather start because there might not be a next week, you know?

Yep. Two waiver wire pitchers, I don't think will matter much down the stretch here. They both had good starts. I'll just mention the names, Brandon Fott and Nick Martinez. Yeah, no, I saw the good start and I have my little standout segment for the newsletter, and I'm always trying to not write about everyone and trying to come up with reasons to not write about some starts. And I just, it's Brandon Fott. That was a good enough reason to not write about the good starts because this is a 5ERA guy. This is what he's been for three years. We don't, I don't know. He's still 72% rostered, man.

I don't understand it. Yeah. The strikeouts are down. Yeah, the strikeouts are down this year. He's routinely giving up a lot of hard contact, a lot of home runs. Everything is worse this year than it's been in the past. Nick Martinez, I guess, could matter in a points league as a spark, but he's at the Dodgers next week, so I don't think I want to get involved with that.

A couple names here in deeper leagues. J.P. Sears rejoin the Padre. with a quality start against the Giants. Martine Perez pitched well at the Braves, five and a third, one unearned run with five strikeouts. And Johann Oviedo, who had some okay moments two years ago with the Pirates back in 2023,

but he pitched well here against the Blue Jays. Five innings, five innings one run, six strikeouts, mostly deep league names, but any interest in Oviedo, Martin Perez, or J.P. Sears. Not really to pick up in fantasy, but I am, I do want to monitor Sears and Oviedo. I think there could be something there for both.

In Sears case, if he had the innings to qualify, he would be the, he would have the top flyball rate among starting pitchers. So an extreme, extreme flyball guy. And we've seen how that's gone for Nick Povetta going to San Diego. I don't think Sears has near Povetta's upside. He doesn't have a strikeout potential. but could he become useful in San Diego? I could see that. Oviedo has had stretches where he gets a ton of whiffs.

And he obviously did in this start against the Blue Jays during his two starts back at AAA, because remember he made a start for the Pirates a couple weeks ago, went back to AAA, two starts there. He had an 18% swinging strike rate, which is enormous. And I just don't know that we've seen Oviedo's best, Yes. Obviously, coming back for Tommy John's surgery, he's missed a lot of time. He's been out of sight out of mind for a while.

Interested in seeing how this goes. All right. I have a trio of pitchers here. The velocity was all down, and they all pitched pretty poorly here on Wednesday. For Amber Valdez, Luis Castillo, and Shohei Otani, the pitcher. Granted, he was in Corse Field, but the velocity down for all three. Does that concern either of you for Valdez, Castillo, or Otani? I'm concerned about Castillo, not necessarily because of the velocity, just because I think he's maybe not all that good anymore.

And he was getting away with it for a pretty long time. And I think it's coming back to haunt him in August. If I remember correctly, it's like an eight ERA in August. 605 ERA 166 whip in August. He can't keep getting away with it. Yeah, he's gone less than five innings in three of the four. His XERA is up to a career worse, 415. I'm not saying drop Luis Castillo,

but I think we're in kind of that Kevin Gosman territory where there will be good starts, he'll be useful. I don't think you should expect him to be a difference maker anymore. Framber... Yeah, I want to talk about Framber. He's not throwing his curveball. It was not working in this one at all.

Yeah, it was actually kind of a miracle that this game was as good as it was. Seven runs in five in a year. He gave up six run runs in the first inning and like, threw a wild pitch and was getting just crushed in the first inning. So again, it could have been worse. And his curveball usage was down to like 20% in this start. It's down to 25% in the month of August. And it's one of those chicken or egg situations.

Is he bad because he's not throwing his curveball as much? Or is he not throwing his curveball as much because he's bad right now? You know, like that that's the question. Well, yeah. I mean, is the curveball itself not coming out right? Yeah, that's why. That's the way I would lean, yeah. Yeah, because it is a four-star stretch throwing his curveball about 25% of the time.

The key threshold for Fromber is 40%. When he throws his curveball 40% of the time, that's where he gets those double-digit strikeout games. Like prior to this four-star stretch, he had a 12 strikeout game. He's had four double-digit strikeout games this season. That's stretching the second half last year. Yeah, it's, and so 24-4. percent usage of the curveball is not good. Whether it's fair, because it's just not working,

okay, I can't speak to that, but it's not what you want to see. Last four starts now for Framberraveldez. It's a 733 ERA 176 whip, and as reactive as people are for bad stretches for good pitchers saying, can I sit him, can I sit him, can I drop him? I don't think anybody's asking to drop Valdez, but can I sit him?

I don't think I would, but I get it. Yeah. He's another one of those where if you try to get into the game of sitting Framber, he goes out there and it's like seven one, seven innings of one run ball, A strikeout. You're absolutely not sitting him next week. I was sorry, I'm just about to look it up. I know you might want to versus Colorado.

You're not sitting for Amber Valdez next week. And that start is in Houston. Yeah, in Houston against Colorado, you're starting him. If it goes poorly, it goes poorly, you live with it. Yep. Updated arbitrary endpoints for three hitters. Julio Rodriguez continues his tear. for four with his 25th homer.

Last 35 games, hitting 310, 14 homers, eight steals, in OPS over 1,000. Another night, another homer for Che Langaleers, his 28th. He is homered in three straight, and 40 games since coming off the IEL.

309, 18 homers, 33 RBI, 15% barrel rate during that stretch. Tyler Soderstrum has also picked things back up. This has been going on quite a while, by the way. I mean, he slowed down a little bit in May, the early part of June, but last 51 games for Soderstrom, 301, nine homers,

29 RBI, and OPS over 850. So he's been really good overall this season and basically since the middle of June. Anything to add on those three? They're hot. Shane Langalears, we're going to have to have some interesting conversations about him in the offseason. He might end up with like 35 homers

and a K rate below 50 or 819%. Like, that's really impressive. His underlying numbers haven't improved quite as much as the above-line numbers, but this is one of the things we talked about in the off-season with that new ballpark. This was a huge dramatic ballpark shift going from O.Docco to Sutton-Sutter Health. Sutter Health. That's right. And yeah, I don't know.

He might be top five catcher next year? There are 12 catchers I won my top five. Yeah. I think Languiliers is going to win out. We had an extended conversation about this yesterday, and Langaliers didn't come up. But yeah, like, Shea Langaleers versus William Contreras next year? It would be a real interesting conversation. Yeah.

If Cal Raleigh is the big, big dumper, is Shay Langalear's the mini-dumper? We were making that comp coming into the year, too. Now, I don't think we expected either to improve. Like, it's funny because you can still. make that comparison. Langliers is the poor man's Raleigh, because they both improved their production in a way that corresponds to

each other. Yeah, I think obviously Raleigh is in a tier of his own, but you get into like William Contreras, Will Smith, Langalears, and Hunter Goodman. That feels like a really strong two through four, two through five for catcher, early catcher rankings for next season. How late

is Adley Rushman going to go next year? He's just going to be the forgotten man. Yeah. Looks like deservedly so, but... It's gonna be a year and a half since he was good, so... That's a conversation for another day. Some other hitting leftover is George Springer. Homered again, five games since returning.

He has six hits, three homers, and a steal. Huge games for Trey Turner and Kyle Schwerber. Turner, five for six with a triple and two steals. Schwaber hit his National League leading 45th home run of the year. Vinnie Pee! Baby! He continues his power binge.

He's homered in three straight. He has five home runs in his past 10 games. He's up to 25 homers. is an 86 RBI. That is just really good stuff there for Pasquantino. Nice game for Waya Lankford. He reached base five times. He went two for two with three walks

and its 18th home run. He actually let off in this game. The fourth time he's done that this season. And John Carlos Stanton is Thanos. That is it. He is inevitable. That's it. He homered again in the X-Ratings.

Off the bench. Pinch it, go-ahead home run off of Pete Fairbanks. One of the best one. A hilarious one too. Like a half swing. It was crazy. Just crazy stuff. Some pitching leftovers.

Chris Bassett took a tough luck loss at the Pirates, five and two thirds, two runs, with 10 strikeouts that tied a season high. Drew Rasmussen has been really efficient going deeper into his starts. He went six innings of two-run ball against the Yankees here. Actually, through 91 pitches,

his most in a start since June 19th. Yeah. It's like a most all season. And you say Kikuchi was great against the red, seven innings, one run, four strikeouts, but only had six whiffs on 88 pitches. Anything to add on those three? The one question I have on Rasmussen,

who continues just prove me wrong at every step. They mentioned 150 inning as his limit. He's up to 123.2. Do we think it's just five more starts and then they just cut him off early? Probably. That would seem to... How hard of a limit was that?

How did they put it exactly? The Yankees broadcast mentioned it as well, so it's got to be out there that it's like a real thing. Because sometimes it's like, we're hoping he gets to around 150 innings, which seems like a very loose threshold to me. Especially because the Rays won't be playing for anything in mid to late September.

I think they'll probably just give five more starts. So there are how many turns are left for pitchers? Mark Tompkin of Tampa Bay Times, who's the guy for the raise, basically, said he has 150 innings. limit for the season. Okay. So that sounds like a pretty hard limit.

Yeah. That's probably, yeah, that's probably, probably five more starts. Five starts of five innings. Gets him to 148. Yeah. So that would be my guess is, is, and that would put us.

Pretty close, but not quite at the end of the season. I mean, yeah. I kind of just feel like he's a, I don't want to say must start pitcher, but yeah, pretty close to it, man. He's pitching really, really well right now. Yeah, you just, Start them until the finishes.

There's nothing actionable there. It's just know that you're probably, if you're playing through to the end of the schedule, you're probably going to have two or three weeks where Drew Asperson's not there. You'd prefer that in fantasy to... Oh, yeah, to three. ...for-endings, yeah.

...that take us to the end of the season. Absolutely. Call to the bullpen for the pirates. Dennis Santana pitched a clean ninth inning for his ninth save. For the Guardians, Cade Smith entered with two outs in the eighth. One run lead, he got Corby Carroll out, and then came back out for the ninth. and he gave up a game-tying home run, took his fourth blown save,

and the Guardians lost in extras. The Braves, Riesel Iglesias, struck out one for his 21st save. For the Nationals, Jose Ferrer, got the ninth inning. With a one-run lead, he allowed a hit but picked up his third save. 20% rostered. It looks like the main guy for the Nationals, though. I guess they could use him in the eighth inning if there's a lot of lefties coming up. For the Cubs, Daniel Palencia got the ninth with a two-run lead.

He allowed a run on two hits and two-wits, and two walks, but picked up his 18th save. For the Yankees, never a dull moment. David Bednar got the ninth with a two-run lead, gave up two runs on two hits and a walk, nearly gave up a walk-off homer. It was a foot away from going over the fence. The Yankees put up three runs in the top of the 10th,

and good old Devin Williams got the bottom of the 10th. He gave up a run on two hits, but picked up his 18th save of the season. For the athletics, Sean Newcomb pitched two scoreless innings across the fifth, sixth, and seventh with the game tied. The athletics took the lead in extras. Tyler Ferguson walked one but picked

up his second save. I kind of was leaning that Sean Newcomb was the guy, but maybe not. Yeah, I'd still lean that way, but I don't know how many saves you can honestly expect. Four? Three. I think maybe not. Yeah. That's not to say it's not, but maybe not.

And I mentioned this earlier with the Angels, but Kenley Jansen was unavailable. Luis Garcia picked up the save. Reed Detmer's pitch in the eighth inning. If anything happens where Jansen has to go on the IL, they would probably play matchups, I would guess, between those two, Reed Detmer's and Luis Garcia.

Deadmers hasn't been as good. I was looking at it because I was debating whether to drop him in Tout Wars, where I have a few prospective saves guys, and he has like a five ERA in the second half or something. Don't quote me on that, but it was something like that. He's kind of slowed down. All right, to stream or not.

not to stream and I must remind you that Scott White does not like any of these pitchers and you should not use them unless you are extremely desperate. There's one I like on Thursday. All right. Let's see. On Thursday we have Jack Perkins at the Twins, Justin Verlander at the Padres and Jason Alexander and Brandon Young are facing each other. Jack Perkins is the one I like.

I like him a lot rest of season. He's widely available. I think I prefer him to. I prefer him to Cam Schlittler. Certainly not for next week with those matches. But maybe just in general, I do. And I know overall the athletics have good matchups for their pitching staff. So definitely the twins, obviously, their lineup is pretty weak at this point.

And he's got, he's been piling up withs, expanding his arsenal to four pitches. I think Jack Perkins, the future, both immediate and long term, is bright. If you need a second one on Thursday, Ferlander at the Padres, is over. okay. He's been pitching better and coming off his best start of the season. So, I don't hate Jason Alexander at Baltimore. Yeah, that would be my third option as well. And then on Friday we have Nolan McLean at the Braves. Joey Wentz is facing the Mets. Adrian Houser gets the Cardinals, Zebby Matthews at the White Sox, Aaron Savoy against the Twins and Slade Sacconi at the Rangers.

McLean and Zebby Matthews are my two favorites. I prefer Zebby to McLean because the Braves lineup is kind of ridiculous right now and he's obviously not a proven asset but he is probably my second favorite for Friday after Zebby. All right we are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow

and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.