Fantasy Baseball Today - Gavin Williams Near No-Hitter & BUY OR SELL! (8/7 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Gavin Williams nearly had a no-hitter against the Mets (2:36)! ... Cade Cavalli looked pretty good in his return (8:00). ... Josh Naylor keeps running wild (11:49)! ... The Blue Jays scored 45 runs in a three-game series against the Rockies (13:25). ... News (17:07): Aaron Judge could be back in the outfield soon. ... The Dog of the Week goes to Spencer Strider (25:05)! ... Andrew Vaughn hit another homer (30:15)! ... Michael Wacha or Jeffrey Springs (42:21)? ... BUY OR SELL (47:30): did we get duped by Carlos Rodon? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (58:30). 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 lead. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. It was a little delayed, but Gavin Williams' breakout might be happening. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, August 7th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we have buy or sell for a bunch of pitchers. The Blue Jays will not stop to shrine the Rockies. They put up 45 runs in a three-game series. That is incredible. And we had some return. Spencer Arrogatti, eh, not so good. Nessar Cortez and Kate Cavali.

All right, a little bit more interesting. Let's jump in. Oh, my goodness. Holy cow, do you believe it? Do you believe in miracles? Because Gavin Williams took a no-hitter into the ninth inning at the New York Mets, where he came, well, he gave up a hit with two outs left in the game. Unfortunately, his final line, eight and two thirds innings, one hit, one run,

four walks, six strikeouts, had 14 whiffs on 126 pitches here. And, you know, he's been tinkering with the pitch mix all season. He's been trying to figure it out. He threw more curves and sinkers in this one. It was a recipe that worked. Those are good pitches for him this season. The sweeper, the curve, the sinker in particular, have been probably his three best pitches.

So again, kind of tinkering to see what works. And eventually, we are kind of getting there for Gavin Williams, who has four starts in the second half now with a 130 ERA and a 0.83 whip. He's getting ground balls, limiting hard contact. and best of all, he's not walking as many people. He had four walks in this one, but leading up to the start, the walks have been much better. Scott, is it happening?

Is it finally happening for Gavin Williams? Maybe. I don't know. I wish there was something other than the top line performance that I could point to and say, aha, here's what he's doing differently. You have mentioned the curveball use has been up some lately. So, you know, playing off his sweeper,

which is his best swing and miss pitch. Maybe that's a good strategy. You mentioned the control has been better. Yeah, for the first four of those six starts, there's a six-start stretch you gave, right? I gave just the four starts in the second half. I know he had a few okay starts before that. The walks were so bad in those.

Right, okay. So he had a couple good starts coming out of the break where the walks were lower. But his last two starts, just a 60% strike. great for Gavin Williams. It was really bad. I mean, that's like bottom of the league, at least as far as qualifiers go. So I can't sit here and say, oh yeah, Gavin Williams, he's solved the control problem. And that's why it's been a bunch of, I don't know, it's, it's searching for an answer, honestly. I need to explain what's going on with Gavin Williams. So maybe I could hit the

strike thing. Maybe I could hit the pitch selection thing. And I'm just not seeing anything that's convincing enough for me. He's always had a ton of talent, obviously. I mean, this was an elite pitching prospect who's had plenty of believers since he got called up, plenty of people who thought he was on the verge of breaking out. So maybe it's happening just because it was always destined to happen. but because I don't really know how to explain it, I'm going to remain a little bit skeptical.

I'm not saying you can't start him or you shouldn't start him, but I'm just not totally on board yet with Gavin Williams. And I don't want people to call me out for flip-flopping here because I think it was maybe a month ago. I think I told people that Gavin Williams was droppable, and somebody reminded me of that on Twitter today. I will point out that as recently as July 11th, Gavin Williams did have a 143 whip and over five walks per nine at that point

with a 485 FIPP. So he was pitching pretty terribly up to that point in the season, but we know he is someone who has a lot of pedigree, lots of talent. It was just a matter of him figuring it out. And he is kind of figuring it out right now. Where do we go from here is the question, because he's still rostered in a lot of leagues.

Only 56% started. But he threw 126 pitch. in this start, Scott. So, you know, gets the Marlins the next time out. They have hit better. Obviously, their offense has been, you know, much better over the last month or two. But I'm kind of interested to see how does Gavin Williams look

coming off a 126 pitch outing? What do you think? I know. I got to admit I'd be kind of reluctant to start them. Some leagues that are on the deeper end where it's a struggle just to fill out your pitching staff every week. okay. Obviously, I think Gavin Williams has earned the right to

start regardless of the circumstances in that format, but the kind of leagues that most people listening play in where you're kind of swapping out pitchers every week based on matchups and recent performance,

I don't know. I might I might let Williams sit this one out. If only for the pitch count, it's not often these days that anybody throws 126 pitches, but it is, it has kind of, it's been an effective strategy in recent years, usually in a situation like this, when a pitcher threatens or actually completes a no-hitter and the manager, you know, lets him go a little further than he should to make that happen.

It's generally been a good strategy to sit him the next time out. Yeah, I probably agree with that as well. I think more importantly, you should just be happy that you have Kevin Williams on your team if you held on to him because as of now looks like he is turning things around here in the second half scott over to you for your player of the night i think i got to go kade kavali here he made his long-awaited return to the majors it was his second career start his first coming way back in 22 and a lot of injuries since then including tommy john surgery but that wasn't the only one.

Cade Cavali has been a walking infirmary, and you can understand why he's only now getting his major league started age 26. The stat line on its own, you're just looking in the box score. Okay, he threw four and a third scoreless inning, struck out six. That's, you know, that's pretty good, but maybe not as big of an eye-opener as the fact but he had 19 whiffs on 88 pitches, including five on the fastball, eight on the curb ball,

five on the change-up. I mean, the athletics just could not touch him for only the fact he only threw four in a third innings. I mean, it was very impressive. But part of what made it so unexpected for Cade Cavalli is you look at what he was doing at AAA prior to this promotion,

He had a 609 ERA there, a 155 whip. And it's not like things had turned around recently. You look at the game log. It's pretty awful. So I see these 19 whiffs for Kate Kavali. I see the sudden effectiveness here. The fact his fastball peaked at 100 miles per hour, average 97.3. It's all very impressive.

But that velocity on, you know, basically all things. three of his pitches that he has been throwing since that 2022 debut that he was throwing in the minors this year. Basically, they were all up one and a half miles per hour. So it kind of reminds me of remember Mick Abel's major league debut earlier the season where he just flat out dominating and is like, whoa, where was this guy in the minors? I wonder if Cade Cavali was just amped up for this start

and had extra juice on all of his pitches because of it. and that's what made him more effective. So obviously it bears watching. He is a former prospect before all the injuries. Former first round pick, yeah. Former first round pick. But it wouldn't surprise me if Kate Cavalli dropped off in his next start. And unless I just was really having to strain to fill out my pitching staff

and just desperate for some kind of upside play, I'd probably leave Cade Cavali alone. I think he's mostly a scout team, watchless kind of guy in most standard-sized leagues. Deeper leagues, I might take a shot in Adam just to see what comes after this start. Looks like he's in line for two starts next week, but you're not starting Cade Covelli, obviously.

Just kind of a stash to see what happens here. You read off the numbers in the minors. They were really bad. Walks in particular, a big problem for him. There was some good, though. I mean, 10K per 9, 55% crown ball rate. So there are some skills here for Cavali. I don't remember him really having a legit three pitch mix,

but at least based on this start, like he had three legit lift pitches. So very, very interesting. And there was a sinker that was new. We hadn't, that wasn't around to 2022. But yeah, I mean, just the fact is velocity was up that much across the board when that wasn't happening for him at AAA prior to this promotion. That's what makes me the most skeptical.

I am intrigued. That is the word I will give there on Cade Cavali. Josh Naylor won't stop, man. I just had to bring this up another huge game for Nailer where he goes two for three with a sock and two shoes. That's right. Two more steals for Josh Nader. That's back to back two steel games. He has 10 steals in 12 games with the Mariners and is up to 21 this season. I, at this point Scott, I just want to say, see how far it can go. Can we get Josh Niller with 30 steals by the end of the season? I mean, it might happen before the end of August, but can we get it by the end of the season? That might be the most improbable. I mean, it already kind of is at 20 steals, but yeah, 30 steals. Imagine we get

30 steals out of Josh Nailer, my goodness. How much time do we have left? We have, this is the 20th week of 27. I think we have like just under 50 games left. He'd have to average. more than a steal a week. I'll take the under on 30, but... 25, even 25. You've already banked so many with Josh Naylor. Oh, my gosh. You're already playing with house money there

in the stolen base category. I don't think you could complain. Baseball is... Even if he gives you zero, I mean, you're thrilled with what he's done. Oh, of course. I just, I want to see how far it can go. I mean, beyond the two steals he had, that home run was a tank.

Did you see that? 450 feet? Oh, I didn't see how far it went, no. Yeah, it was a tank. Very nice. Yeah, you know what? Facing the White Sox that will help with the home runs, but, you know, he's been running on everyone. So definitely give credit where it's due to Josh Naler.

And to the Blue Jays, man, I mentioned this up top. 45 runs scored in a three-game series. Yes, it's in Corse Field. But you know what? Other teams play in Corse Field, they don't put up 45 runs. This Blue Jays lineup is on fire right now. Vlad Jr., four-for-7 with his 18th homer. Bo Bichette, two-for-six with his 16th home run.

How about these numbers in the second half, Scott? Bo Bichette, 382, four homers, all right, but 25 RBI, 1033 OPS. That is awesome stuff there for Bichette. Ernie Clement, 4 for 7 with his sixth homer. He is 43% rostered. He's got every infield position eligibility outside of catcher. Who would you rather have on your bench, Scott? Bichette or Clement?

Is that what you're going to ask me? What's that? Bichette or Clement? No, no, no, no, no. I think I have something more compelling than that. Would you rather have Clement or Lenin Sosa as a kind of bench utility guy that you can move around with? Lent Sosa hit another home run, by the way. Yeah, Sosa has more power.

It's not just what he's done in the majors this year. It was apparent in his minor league track record, too. I wasn't sure he'd ever amount to much just because he wasn't highly regarded as a prospect, but he was productive. in the miners. The stat cast data looks solid for him this year. Not very good play discipline at all. That's the biggest drawback for Sosa. But I sort of buy what he's doing.

While Clement is more of a defensive standout with really good contact skills, and that's more valuable in real life than fantasy, I would say. All right. And then Davis Schneider went three for seven with a double dong. Don't really think it matters for fantasy, just because this playing time is so sporadic. He plays every other game, sometimes every third game.

So big game for Schneider and the Blue Jays, but I don't think he in particular matters for fantasy. Before we hit our first break, big thanks to those watching live. I realize we went live pretty late here. So we do appreciate you hanging out. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe here on YouTube as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today.

and let's run through the news and notes. Aaron Judge could return to playing the outfield, quote, sometimes towards the weekend or early next week. And that is according to John Morosi. So look, it worries me to death as a Yankee fan that they might be pushing this thing a little bit too quickly here. But it would be good news for John Carlos Stanton and getting him back in the lineup.

So we shall see. It's the same timeline they've been giving all along too, both in terms of when he came off the IEL and when he was projected to return to the outfield. So I guess you could see that as a reason for optimism, just that he keeps hitting all the markers and doesn't give them reason to say, well, let's slow play this a little bit. But I get you. I mean, like, I know Stan's been great so far,

but they have an outfield surplus. And they could occasionally stick them out there if they really wanted his bat. Why would you risk this with Judge your franchise player? I mean, an all time great at this point. I don't think it's a stretch to say. And the only chance you have of making the postseason still. Yeah. And, you know, God forbid, you throw him out there and he kind of makes this forearm or elbow injury worse, Aaron, Judge.

It could affect his availability for next season as well. So, I mean, it's just pretty scary all around there. So, you know, play it safe, man. Let's not rush judge back into the outfield. Zach Wheeler's next start will be pushed back from Friday to Sunday while he manages shoulder stiffness. He did go for an MRI, which came back negative. Obviously, any time you see a shoulder with a pitcher, it's worrisome.

I feel like we've heard shoulder things pop up for Wheeler here and there, and most of the time, he just kind of bounces back fine. so I'm going to assume that's the case for now for Zach Wheeler. Yordon Alvarez took batting practice on the field Tuesday. Last we heard is he was targeting a mid-August return, but who knows? Roman Anthony agreed to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension with the Red Sox. The deal will go into effect in 2026 and includes escalators that could take the maximum value up to $230 million. dollars it's always kind of difficult to

kind of judge these early extensions for players that are so young into their career especially i mean someone like roman anthony who was the top prospect in baseball and he's already hitting well and we all you know expect him to get even better over the next couple of seasons so we'll see how it plays out i don't know if you have any thoughts on the the number or anything else that stands out for this extension no i hadn't looked into the escalators i don't know how easily is achieved those are because I don't know what they are specifically, but 230, if he does reach that maximum of value, that's kind of a eyebrow razor for a deal given to a player this early

into his time in the majors. Because what you have to remember in a situation like this, yes, we don't know what Roman Anthony is going to become. So that is one issue, one potential hurdle that. is it's a gamble on the Red Sox part. A gamble on a really high-end prospect with great skills. And so obviously they think it's a winning gamble. But that is not the extent of the incentive for them,

the incentive that they're buying him in for a lower price here. The reason why it works for the other side is the first three years of Anthony's career. He's going to be essentially free. so he's going to be making basically the minimum amount before arbitration starts. And even in arbitration, the salary is suppressed. So they're giving him more money for those years where he's making, a lot more money for those years where he would be making essentially nothing. And then the hope for the Red Sox is that on the back end of that deal,

he's a bargain, a relative bargain to the type of player he'll be at that point. And you lock it in now before we get a point. potential lockout in 2027, right? So I know people don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it, but we'll have to have the conversation at some point, Scott, because it kind of looks like we could be headed that way in a couple years. Chris Sale will throw a live batting practice on Thursday.

He continues to rehab from a fracture in his left rib cage. Cole Reagan's remains on track with his throwing progression and has increased his throwing distance off flat ground to 120 feet. Byron Buckson resumed hitting on Tuesday, and could return within a few days. He's on the aisle with left rib cage inflammation. Aeronola built up to 69 pitches in his latest rehab start nice on Wednesday. He allowed one run over three and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts at AAA.

So I don't know, he's already up around 70. Maybe it's like one or two more outings and we get Aranolo back. Tanner Scott completed a bullpen on Tuesday his first time throwing off a mound since he landed on the aisle with left elbow inflammation. Tyro Estrada went back on the aisle, this time with a right hamstring strain. Christian Javier is in position to make his season debut with the Astros next week. In five rehab starts, he is a 514 ERA, a 179 whip, 15 strikeouts to 15 walks. Over 14 innings.

Mathematician, no, that doesn't sound very good. 20% out rostered. It's got any interest in stashing or adding Christian Javier. He is in my IL stash rankings, the latest top 50 that came out on the site. Wednesday, but he's pretty low, especially for as late as we are in the year, as many players have been ruled out for the year. I'm just double-checking where he is in that top 50. He's 34th.

It's higher than I thought, but certainly not among the high-priority stashes. During that stretch in the minors, his swinging strike rate is only 10%, which I think is more telling, even than the top line result. So this, I mean, in the years prior to Tommy John surgery, Christian Javier was falling off pretty hard in fantasy. It just seemed like his fastball didn't have that same swing and miss ability at the top of the zone that made Christian Javier a standout to begin with. And you might have held out some hope that,

okay, his elbow, you know, who knows the extent of his elbow leading up to this Tommy John surgeon, who knows the extent of the damage, what he may have been pitching through. But seeing him return and not missing bat still against minor league hitters, I don't know. I think that's pretty discouraging. And Gerard Encarnacion is heading back to the IL with a right hamstring strain. Bad news for him, you know, two games in a row he got a chance to play. And he homered him both. He actually homered here on Wednesday, but pulled up lame running to first base. So hamstring, train there for Gerard Encarnacion. Speaking of that name, Scott, have you seen Nacho Libre?

The movie? I have not. Oh. I mean, it's not, you know, one of the best movies of all time, but it's another, it's another, you know, corny, cheesy comedy. So, you know, it's right up my alley. Nacho Libre, yeah. Yeah. There's a, there's a song in there where he sings Encarnacion.

It's a great scene. in my opinion. Before we get into other stuff, let's get to the dog of the week. Scott, I'm sorry to bring up this name, Dog of the Week. Spencer Strider, very rough outing here against the brew crew who, man, they are one of, if not the best team in baseball right now. Four and two thirds innings, 11 hits, five runs. Two homers allowed here for Strider. The good, he was still able to generate whiffs. He had 15 whiffs in this one. Slider had three. 13 of those 15 whiffs, the bad, is that his fastball had nothing,

despite the velocity being up a little bit. And his slider got hit really hard, man. This hard contact allowed has been just such a huge issue for Spencer Strider thus far. And, you know, his last two starts before this were kind of underwhelming. And then obviously this one was flat out bad. I had Strider as part of the buy yourself for later on, but what do you think about this? Strider is not a must-star pitch or rest of season. Do you buy or sell that?

I buy it in the strictest sense that he's not a must-star pitcher. There are weeks, particularly if you have a good pitching staff or you might want to sit him. The root of the hard hits, the root of him having these not-so-great outings despite still having an elite swinging strike rate, I mean, he's still one of the best generating whiffs on the whole. The root of it is the fastball. As you mentioned, striders slider is still elite. It is still one of the best of its kind, but he needs something other than the slider. And peak strider had one of the most dominant fastballs in baseball, too.

It's not purely a velocity thing. What made striders fastball so dominant during his best season, 2023, was the induced vertical break on was over 18 inches. I mean, it was elite. So it had the optimal movement for a fastball in the modern game to generate those swings and misses at the top of the zone hitters swinging under it. That is what a dominant fastball looks like, leaving velocity out of it. It's down to like 16 inches of induced vertical break this year, much more in the ordinary

spectrum. So that whiff rate on the fastball, which was 29% in 2023, elite, elite whiff ray for a fastball, it's only 17% this year, which is not good. So Strider still gets the big whiff number because nobody can touch that slider, but he needs more than the slider.

And the fastball, it just doesn't have it. So I don't know if that's going to change. I don't know if that's something he can improve in between starts. He's going to have to go, I think back to the drawing board this off season, and figure out how to get that old movement on the fastball, that old shape that made it such a dominant pitch, or he's going to have to figure out how to flesh out his arsenal otherwise

because there's just nothing to go with the slider right now. Yeah, no, that's a great call on the fastball here too. I pulled up his profile on the pitcherless website, and back in 2023, Strider's PLV, which is kind of this all-encompassing pitch metric, was in the 100th percentile. It was one of, if not the best fastball and all of baseball.

And so far this season, entering the start, it was in the 47th percentile. So all the things you pointed out, the pitch characteristics, the IVP, yeah, it's way down from where it was a couple years ago. So we kind of need to see the progression now of Strider as a pitcher. I mean, there has to be something else involved here.

I don't know if that's adding in a cutter, if it's a sinker, if it's a change-up, whatever it has to be, but we kind of, we need to, we need another pitch here because I don't think that he can succeed with two pitches if one of those pitches is just not elite. Cutter, splitter, maybe. Maybe, yeah. Although that might not be the greatest for his elbow. He was prior to 2024.

Obviously, he got injured early in 2024, but he was, that curveball was looking pretty impressive in spring training. I know there was a lot of enthusiasm for Strider over that curveball. And he's just not really focused. on it this year. So that could help too. But yeah, he needs a fuller arsenal or he needs to get his old fastball shape back. Or preferably both. Both would be, both might get him back to Ace standing. Right now, though, I would say he is a volatile pitcher with big strikeout upside. Yeah, I think that's fair.

89% started on CBS 4 Strider. I kind of feel like you still have to throw him out as a two-star pitcher next week. He's at the Mets and at the Guardians. You know, Mets kind of a hitter mismatchup. You know, sometimes they show up. Sometimes they don't. At the Guardians, they don't really strike out much, but it's not like a terribly tough lineup.

I feel like you probably still have to throw them out there for two, right? Strider? I think so. I think even in a Roto league, I would, for the strikeout upside. And because that Cleveland matchup is so favorable. Let's talk some Waverwire hitters here, Scott. And another day, another homer from Andrew Vaughn. He's 12th home run, and his updated numbers with the Brewers hitting 377 with 7 home runs,

28 RBI, and OPS over 1100, and he still is not universally rostered. So at 69% rostered, that should change, please. Anyone out there listening, if he's in your league, go pick up Andrew Vaughn. Another strong game for Luke Kishel, two for five with two doubles, three RBI, two games since coming off the IL. he's got four hits, one homer, six RBI. In the nine games he's played, he's 11 for 28. He's got one homer, five doubles, five walks, five steals, 45% rostered.

I know it's our job, Scott, not to overreact. I kind of just want to overreact about Luke Kishel, man. I'm like all in. I almost want to call him a must roster player as well, along with Andrew Vaughn. He was one of my favorite prospects coming into the year, kind of a pet prospect, because I felt like I had. I liked him more than his ranking. And then he came up and had immediate results.

We did talk a little bit about where he should rank among second basement. And I had the most conservative ranking of the three of us. I've since moved him up some in part because I didn't find my own argument convincing yesterday when we got into it. And part of why I think I had him ranked more conservatively conservatively is I just didn't trust. the twins to play him every day. Because if you'll remember, when he came up earlier in the year, he was pretty much just deaching. I think he made a couple of appearances at second base, but defense is a weak point for Luke Kishel. So sort of like Edward Julian when he was just coming up.

You play in second base because you're trying to hide his defense there. And so I wondered if that might impact Kishel's playing time, even with the twins in there, reduced state. But that doesn't seem to be the case. It seems like they're just going to give him plenty run here. And yeah, I'm excited about the possibilities for Luke Kishel. Yeah, I am going to update the infield and outfield rankings. I updated pitching here on Wednesday.

So I'll do that on Thursday, but just eyeballing it. I think I'm going to get them up to 16th in the second base rankings, Luke Kishel. So that would be just ahead of Otto Lopez, Luis Arise, Luis Garciol. Luis Garcia, Bryson Stott, Matt McLean, guys like that. So Otto Lopez, I think, is still fine. He's, like, kind of slowed down a little bit. And I think there's just more upside with someone like Keishel.

Yeah, it's, so I have Keishel 20th in Roto now. Arise, Otto Lopez, Zander Bogart's Jackson Holiday, are the four ahead of him. I could, I am so close to moving him ahead of all those four. And maybe even Brendan Donovan, who's the next one up. Bogarts has actually been good for a while, so I... And, yeah. So I feel right about him, but yeah.

All those other names, I think, are okay. I don't want to get caught up in streaks, you know. I think Bogart's is pretty fringe at this point. Fair. So I could get Keishel as high as 15th, I think. Can't put him ahead of Xander, or Sander. Can't put him ahead of Xavier Edwards. I don't feel like who had another huge game here on Wednesday.

I agree with that. 330 since the start of June. But, yeah, potentially right behind him. If you want him over Jackson Holiday, because particularly in a shallower league, I think that's totally fine. Kobe Mayo, two for four with a three-run homer off of Ranger Suarez, 108.5 exit velocity, 421 feet.

Very impressive here for Mayo, who, you know, over his last 30 games, he's looked better. It's still not, it doesn't, like, blow you away. 256, four homers, 791 OPS, you know, 29% roster. I still think it's mostly deeper leagues, leagues that have a corner infielder, more like a stash on your bench to see what happens. And one other name here,

Ryan Jeffers has been hitting better. Two for four with a double, a run, and an RBI. Last 21 games, he's hitting 355, but only two homers during that stretch. The playing time is up. I don't know, Scott. How do you feel about Ryan Jeffers, maybe as like a two-catcher league ad?

I think he's fine in two-catcher leagues. He is below... So the list of usable catchers in a one catcher league exceeds 12. It probably goes as deep as like 17 or 18. And so Jeffers is outside of that 17 or 18, but, you know, 12-team two catcher leagues that probably still needs to be rostered in those formats. And at 38%, I think he probably is. By the way, Kobe Mayo needed this game, I feel like,

because he had been two for 16 since the Ryan O'Hurran trade that opened up a spot for him. He was kind of blowing it. Then he has the big game here. It's going to be really interesting when Ryan Maltcastle comes back, which is going to happen Friday, I believe, and he's looked great on his rehab assignment. They have a spot for him. D.H. is basically open.

They've been cycling different players through it. So they can play Mayo and O'Hern. I mean, Mayo and Mountcastle. They can have them both in the, the lineup at the same time. But then August 15th, it's not that far away. August 15th is the day baseball prospectus says Samuel Basayo, the Orioles top prospect, can come up.

And as long as they keep his at-bats below 131, he'll retain, as long as they wait until August 15th and keep his at-bats below 131, he'll retain his rookie eligibility for next year. So I imagine it's going to happen. You know, that's a little over a week from now. Posayo's up. He's in the mix. He's been killing it to AAA.

He has split his time between first base at catcher. It's not really that good of a catcher. Could he back up Adley Rushman, particularly in the year where the Orioles aren't contending? Sure, he could make a few appearances at catcher. But I think primarily he'll have to be part of that first base DH mix. So if Mayo isn't going strong, then, or I suppose if Mount Castle isn't, they may find the playing time lacking down the stretch. All right, some deep league names here are going to quickly run through.

Alan Rodin hit his first home run with the Twins. He has started four of six games since coming over at the deadline. Herberto Hernandez, who is this guy? He plays for the Marlins, two for three with his sixth home run. Looking at his minor league profile, there's definitely a lot of power here, but also lots of swing and miss. Jacob Marcy keeps making things happen, one for four with a walk, his first steal.

And the Brewers, outfielders, they just keep on hitting. Isaac Collins, three for four with a walk in his 13th steel. And Blake Perkins, three for five

with his third home run. Scott, any deep league interests here in Perkins, Collins, Marcy, Herberto Hernandez, and Alan Rodden.

I like Alan Rodin. I don't think one good game with the twins is enough for me to buy into him in fantasy, but I'm keeping a close eye on him. I think it's a good skill set, good plate discipline, good spray angle, at least in the miners, the kind that should optimize his power output to go along with all those walks that he should be getting.

But, you know, it's been a struggle for him as a rookie. We'll keep watching it. Marcy, we've talked about a lot, Jacob Marcy. He's obviously hit the ground running here. Another good on-base guy who's going to need to be. rely on angling the ball correctly off the bat to muster any power at the major league level. But he did in the minors and he stole a ton of bases in the minors too. So I think Marcy is the most interesting right now for fantasy.

With the exception of maybe Isaac Collins, who's got to be part of the rookie of the year mix now. It's strange because he's 28 years old and never really registered as a prospect. but he's showing good on base skills just a really good all-around profile. Nothing, not really dominating in anything, but he'll give you a few homers, he'll give you a few steals.

He gets on base at a really high rate, and it's been going on long enough that I think we need to take it seriously. What's a good comp for him? Somebody who is kind of old, but Nick Markakis-type of profile, except with more speed, which Markekekeke has had some early in his career.

What's more recent comp for that kind of player, though? Maybe. Yeah, it is an interesting profile. It's kind of a tough one. It's a good O.B. It's like okay power, but it looks like pretty good speed. I don't know. I'm blanking on that one.

It's a unique player for sure. And his number's in the second half, too, man. He is hitting 391 with a 480 on base, two homers, three steals, a 1058 OPS. Like, he's doing it right now. he is he is like i almost wonder if there's a middle infielder with this kind of profile just because it's you're not going to get a ton of power from them the average exit velocity's pretty low and there's not a lot of room room for growth there since he's 28 yeah i don't know it's tough yeah tough comp i mean is it it's like brendonovan with more speed is it

i don't know i don't have a good one there uh who would you take between collins and Jacob Marcy as deeper five outfieler league names? I think Marcy's the upside play, but Perkins... You mean, Collins? I'm sorry, Collins, yeah, Isaac Collins. Blake Perkins is a different outfielder in the Brewers. On the Brewers. So, yeah, I think...

If you only had one shot at it, I might go Collins. I might play it safe, particularly in a deeper league scenario like that. But Marcy's the upside play because he could be really impactful and stolen bases. All right. Let's take our final break. When we return, I've got some WaverWire pitchers, buy or sell. We'll do all that right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today.

WaiverWire pitchers, two shallow league names here. Jeffrey Springs, a great outing at the Nationals. Their lineup is scuffling mightily right now. But Springs, six innings, one hit, one run, five strikeouts to zero walks. Last 10 starts for Springs. He has a 293 ERA and a 0.89 whip. just not really giving you many strikeouts at all. And Michael Waka, very good outing at the Red Sox,

six innings, two runs, three strikeouts. Last five for him, it's a 178 ERA with a 0.69 whip. Scott, both of these, right around 75%. Who do you prefer between Springs and Waka? The one with the better matchup. I think they're actually very similar for fantasy. They're good. They're good enough to start in any league, I feel like.

but nobody trust them because the strikeout rate isn't good. And we're rightfully suspicious of a pitcher who doesn't miss bats in the modern game. But certainly in Waka's case, it's been a multi-year success story here. So I think we can trust it. Not saying he's going to deliver a gym every time out, that certainly hasn't been the case this year. But the overall numbers now, 336 ERA 115 whip, if you had put him in your lineup every year,

week. I think you'd be pretty happy with where things stand right now. And then Springs, you know, he had been a strikeout pitcher previous iterations as a starter, but basically since the start of May, he's been doing this. So I think we need to give Jeffrey Springs more credit too. Yeah. And the matchups for next week, Jeffrey Springs looks like a two-star pitcher against the race, revenge game. And he also gets to Angels. And then Awaka gets, It's the Nationals. So I like the matchups for both of those guys. If you want to maximize the volume, I could see going with Springs.

I think that's fine. But, you know, Waka's pitching well and really good matchup for him as well. A couple names here in medium-sized leagues. Cade Horton, another strong start this time against the Reds. Five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts. His scoreless streak is up to 23 and a third innings. Jose Cantana, a quality start at the Braves. Six innings, three runs with seven strikeouts, zero walks.

And Nestor Cortez was just okay in his return. Also, his Padres debut at the Debex, four and two-thirds innings, two runs with three strikeouts. Velocity up a little bit on his pitches here. Again, that's Nestor Cortez. Scott, how would you rank this group? Cortez, Kentana, and Cade Horton. I mean, I'd rather have both Waka and Springs. Their roster rates are higher, so maybe I'm not breaking new ground there.

I think Kentana is exclusively a matchups type, and this was a good matchup for him. He was one of the pictures I suggested streaming, if you'll remember. So maybe he had, it looks like he gets the pirates next week too. Yeah, so another good one. I mean, maybe that makes the case right there. Just think short term go with him. The upside case, though, is obviously Kate Horton. And he's had a lot of success here recently with just the, you mentioned the scoreless

streak he has going on 10 hits in 22 and 2 thirds innings during that four-start scoreless streak. But the strikeouts have been low, and I feel like Kate Horton, despite this recent success, has avoided doing the obvious thing that would make him better, which is fading his fastball. It throws it about 50% of the time or even more. It's a bad pitch for him, that fastball, 328 batting average against. just a 13% whiff rate. His sweeper and changeup, third and fourth pitch, they both have better than a 40% whiff rate.

So, like, if it's something we see a lot from young pitchers that's just over-reliance on his fastball when they have great secondary offerings, and often they eventually figure it out. Horton's been slow to come around. I suppose you could say that the success he's had in spite of that recently is all the more reason to like Horton long-term, but personally it makes me just a little suspicious of the success he's had recently.

That's mainly what it does here in the short term. I'm sorry, the sweeper and change up are second and third most thrown pitch. I said third and fourth. But they're great, is the point. One thing I like what we've seen. He's gotten better as the season has gone along here. Would like more strikeouts. But they are starting to limit him a little bit.

He's been held to 67 and 71 pitches, two starts in a row. and his innings are up to 108 and a third. Last year was just 34 and a third and he does have an extensive injury history. So I do wonder if the Cubs are going to continue to kind of limit him a little bit here moving forward. That's a good point too, yeah. That would make sense for Kate Horton. Well, I do like the pitcher.

Yeah, I think maybe we do get some shorter starts here down the stretch as well. All right, Scott, let's do a little buy or sell. And I got a lot of pitchers here to talk about. First up, Carlos Rodon continues to struggle. with control, this time at the Rangers, where five innings, two runs, okay, that's fine. But four walks to three strikeouts, he has three plus walks in five of his last seven,

and over his last 11 starts, 450 ERA, 132 whip, 4.4 walks per nine. And that's a pretty big chunk of the season now. That's 11 starts we're talking about for Rodon. So, by or sell, we got duped by Rodon's early season success. I think I'm going to sell this for the most part. I'm looking back at the game log now. He was struggling with walks early in the season too.

April actually wasn't that good for him. He went on a heater in May and June. Yeah, yeah. So to the extent I'd buy it, it's that, you know, he's basically an ace and fantasy. I'm buying the idea that he duped us to the extent that we were saying. No, he's an ace. He's a top 20 pitcher in fantasy, whatever.

He's probably not that. He's probably closer to where we ranked up to begin the season. But I'm still not that interested in sitting in. Still getting a ton of strikeouts. I think the walks is going to be a short-term issue. Not that control won't remain a problem for Rodon, but to the extent we've seen recently, that's not going to continue. All right.

Next up, Ranger Suarez had a rough outing against the Orioles, six in a third innings, five runs allowed, three walks, zero strikeouts. He had six whiffs on 95 pitches, his velocity down again. This is now four starts in a row where the velocity is down, and during that stretch,

it's a 579 ERA, a 146 whip. A lot of that damage did come in this game. But by yourself, Scott, that this Velo dip is concerning for Ranger Suarez. Yeah, it's pretty much always concerning. So I had been holding out some hope because it's a four-start stretch, right, with the velocity down.

The first of those starts was terrible, but he also walked four in it. The second and third of those four starts, they were both great, and he was throwing strikes at a higher rate. So, okay, maybe he's purposely taking a little off so that the control doesn't get away from him. but what we saw in this start for Ranger Suarez is good control walked nobody through 66% strikes but he still struggled with that reduced velocity so the the sort of like optimistic case the glass half full case for what he's doing would you know it it didn't pan out at least this time

and given Ranger Suarez's history of having really dominant stretches followed by really severe struggles. I'd be pretty worried about him going forward. All right. Next up, we had another clunker from Jack Flaherty, this one against the twins. And my gosh, Scott, I mean, the way you feel about Sunny Gray, I think that's how I feel about Jack Flaherty this year, because trying to figure him out, you can't. You just can't because the last two starts before this, it's like six innings, one run, six shutout innings at the Phillies, right?

And I said, all right, I had them on the bench, I think, for both of those. Get them back in the lineup against the twins. And what happens? Four in two thirds, six runs allowed, five of those earned, only three strikeouts. Lots of hard contact in this one. And it's more of the same. His fastball and slider have regressed a lot. He really just has his curveball, which has been an above average pitch for him this season.

It's been very, very frustrating. So buy or sell, last year's Tiger's success. was an outlier for Jack Flaherty. Like him being an ERA around 450 or over 4 is more the norm for Jack Flaherty and what we should expect. Hmm. I'm actually going to sell this one

because apart from the ERA, everything else that he gained from last year is kind of still there. Like it's still a much better swinging strike rate than his last few years in St. Louis in that half year in Baltimore. It's still a much, much better K rate.

Like they have they have tapped into something here for Flaherty. That's more than just a one year phenomenon. Now maybe you're right that it's mostly just the curveball and there's not enough else going on there. Sort of like we were saying with Strider and the slider. But even so that like at least there's something to work with for Flaherty. And you know, as frustrating as it was, this this uh this performance against a bad twins lineup where you thought flared you come through previous five stars 273 a 12k per nine like you've been on a nice run it's been frustrating but i think

flairty is i think i i see the talent in flaredy they're still good in him as mark hamill once said about his fictional father spoiler alert i think the strider comp is really good. He's just like a much worse version, right? This is just a volatile pitcher that gives you lots of strikeouts. That's basically where I'm at with Fierty, but just to a much lesser degree than Spencer Strider here.

Just the walks being up, the hard contact up, the barrel rate, home runs, it's just a recipe for disaster. So look, I know people are going to see two starts in the schedule next week at the White Sox at the Twins and you might be right to get them in there for that one.

I'm going to be more cautious about it. I'm going to be very pick and choosy about where I play him if I need to protect the ratios. The Twins and the white socks, you said? Yeah, I just, I can't trust the pitcher, Scott. It's not, like, I don't care with the matchups are. This is more of about a Flaherty thing. How much can you trust any pitcher? I don't know. That you could pick up and start instead. Like, if, if you're ranking two-star pitchers, as I have the privilege of doing every week, you're going to pick some waiver guy with good matchups over Jack Flaherty? Like, do you think that's more trustworthy?

I mean, it's going to depend on the pitcher. We'll talk about it more tomorrow. We'll see what that list of pitchers looks like. And I guess I'll put it actually to the test here, but he makes me want to rip my hair out. Gosh, Jack Flaherty. All right, well, we'll see. We'll talk more about it tomorrow.

Shane Boz remains an enigma, this time at the Angels, four innings, four runs allowed, did have nine strikeouts to two walks, but, I mean, gave up more hard contact than this one. Velocity was up, but didn't really matter, obviously. Lots of hard contact against. I just mentioned that with him. Four starts in the second half, a 950 ERA, a 189 whip.

Scott, buy or sell that chain boss is a drop. Now, this is a pitcher that, like, he's frustrated me. He is shaping up to be my next sunny gray, which, by the way, that's been a, that's been a frustration that spanned my entire career and his because my career outlasts his. But, you know, the Jack Flaherty thing is not a good comparison because it's year after year after year with Sunny Gray. And so maybe Baza is shaping up to be the same way. I don't know.

But the ERA is approaching five now. The trick of adding a cutter, which worked at first, seemed to work at first. That trick seems to have worn off. Three of his last four starts have been terrible. I don't think he'd need to use Bosz. They're still good in him too, but I don't think he's figured it out yet. Yeah, he's 49% started. I don't think there's any way you could start him right now.

And if you play in one of those shallow leagues where in Edward Cabrera or Ryan Nelson or Trevor Rogers is still out there, I would make that swap. I would drop Shane Boss for any of those names. I realize that not many leagues that those three are available, but yeah, I would take those three over shame bots. Trevor Rogers, another quality start this one at the Phillies, six innings, one run, six strikeouts to two walks here, and he has turned in six straight quality starts.

He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of ten outings. Buy or sell, Trevor Rogers is a must-start pitcher. Right now. right now I think I have to buy it I mean his last two starts were against the Cubs and Phillies and he dominated both of them or at least pitched really well in the case of this start against the Phillies so earlier you could look at the game log and say yeah but what happens when he phases a real lineup well we know the answer

he just continues to succeed so I think with the last time we talked about Trevor Rogers Chris made the point that the skill level may not be high enough for him to remain a plus fantasy option when he isn't, he isn't pitching impeccably, which it seems like he is right now. Like, it's just, it's sort of like we say for Ranger Suarez. Like, the reason he goes on those runs is because he's just pitching flawlessly, but the skill level isn't enough to make up for pitching less than flawlessly, you know, and Trevor Rogers might be the same way. But right now he's got it going on. So I think he's must start. All right. And I have two bonus hitter ones here. Are you buying these second

halves? Christian Walker so far after the break, 282, four homers, 887 OPS, and Michael Harris, 356, four homers, four doubles, three triples, a 1040 OPS. Scott, are you buying into these bounce back second halves for Christian Walker and Michael Harris? Yes. I'm buying into both of them. I don't find them surprising. A little more surprising in Walker's case because he's 10 years older than Harris. And so there was some fear that maybe he had just aged out of usefulness.

But, you know, it's not surprising. It's not surprising that he's bouncing back. And I have him as a, I believe him as a top 15 first baseman going forward. Maybe top 12 if you take out all the catchers who happen to be first base eligible. All right. Let's run through some leftovers here. And I've got four hitters who are trying to break out of slumps here. They all had big games on Wednesday.

But I'm not going to read off all the numbers. All these have been scuffling for between like 15 and. and 40 games. So, Trey Turner, Sayas Suzuki, Dansby, Swanson, Ian Hap, almost all of them are like must-start players, Scott, but are there any of those four that you're actually worried about, the slumps recently? I would say, I mean, the two Cubs, I guess there's three Cubs here, right?

Yeah. Swanson and Hap, I think, have more downside risk than Turner and Suzuki. So I could see, like, particular, I mean, head-to-head league with no middle-end field spots once and I wouldn't say he's must start. In fact, he might be available on the Waver Wire in the podcast listeners league as of this moment.

I know because I just dropped them. Ian Hap has always been better suited for points leagues because the plate discipline's so good. But even him, three outfielder league, you know, I could understand if you want to go with a hotter hand. And he's older than you might think, right? How old is Ian Hap now?

I don't think he hit 30 yet. I could be wrong. He is 30, but only 30. I was thinking more like 32. Yeah, he's not that old yet. He's probably fine. He's probably fine, but if the upside isn't such that in a three outfielded league, you have to stick with him.

We had a rough return for Spencer Arroghetti, who was at the Marlins, three and two-thirds innings, 11 hits, five runs allowed, but did have 16 whiffs on 86 pitches here. So a mixed bag, mostly bad, good to see the wifference. here. I think it's totally understandable. His first start since May, I think, for Spencer Aragutti. But just last year, had three pitches with a whiff rate over 37%. 77% rostered is Aroghetti. Not using him next time out against the Red Sox, but keeping a close eye. And if you

added him, I would keep him around and keep him on the bench to see what he does. Yeah, I'm not, I've had trouble tapping into my feelings for Arogate. because I did like him. I mean, even going back to the preseason, he was a very trendy sleeper pick, breakout pick to start out. And then it seemed like everybody cooled on him once the Gavin Williams's

and the Clay Holmes's emerged in spring training. I think Eric Eddy was kind of scuffling in spring training. And so everybody kind of wrote him off at the same time. Then he threw six one hit innings in his season debut. And it's like, oh, the sleeper call. was right all along. Then he struggled in his next start and went on the IL. So, I mean, long story short, he was dominant down the stretch last year for the Astros.

But it's not like he's a fully formed asset. It's not like we really know what to expect from Marigetti going forward. Struggled in his rehab start, his rehab assignment. But he comes back. The velocity seems fine. I think he threw 65% of his pitches for strikes. So control wasn't really an issue. 16 whiffs on 86 pitches is awesome.

several of them getting several of those pitches getting multiple, but then it got knocked around. So it was a mixed bag, clearly not good enough to start Erigeti yet, but I do think enough that you probably want to hold on to him because there are enough reasons for optimism there. All right, some other pitching leftovers. Robbie Ray, a quality start at the Pirates, six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts for him.

Kevin Gosman, great, in course field, seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 15 whiffs here. And he is on one of those streaks again. One of those famous Kevin Gosman streaks. Last eight starts, 254 ERA and a point 99 whip. So Hey Otani continues to build up as a pitcher. Four innings, one run, eight strikeouts.

14 whiffs on 54 pitches is actually insane stuff here. So he looked amazing. And George Kirby, very good against the White Sox. Six innings, two runs, nine, strikeouts, 19 whiffs, and last eight starts for Kirby, 266 ERA, and a 0.95 whip. It's got anything you'd like to add on Kirby, Otani the pitcher. He also homered in this game, by the way, Gossman and Robbie Ray. Yeah, Kirby seems back to form.

So kind of sneakily, he's gotten back there. Must start moving forward. Not that anybody was sitting him, but you know what I mean. He looks like a stud again. All right. Gosman has been great. So I think we're back to starting him basically, regardless of matchups too. I think it's probably time to start Otani again if he's going four innings.

I mean, the next start might be five, and then you got a chance at a win. You know, it was an efficient four innings and that he only threw 54 pitches. But it is trending up. I think we can actually discuss starting him now. And anything to say about Robbie Ray? Not really. I think he's good and I think he had a good start. Some hitting leftovers for Kerry Carpenter up first, turning up the power.

He has four homers and nine games since returning from the IL. Spencer Torkelson hitting for a better batting average in the second half. 280 so far does have three home runs here after the break. Junior Camerro continues to hit for power. Two for four with a double dong. He is up to 30 home runs. The sixth player with 30 home runs. homers six player was a third he's going to get to 35 i got to say i mean the way the way the common

arrow song starts can you name the ray who hit that drive over the fence that makes 35 i went with that number because the original canyon arrow song can you name a truck with four-wheel drive smells like a stake in seats 35 i wanted to keep the same number but i thought it was a tad ambitious right, 35 in his first full season. Is he honestly going to get there? He's going to get there. Yeah. I'm more prophetic than I knew.

How about that? Mike Trout, two for four with his 20th home run. It's been a weird stretch lately. You know, the power has been a little bit better, but he's striking out a lot. It's a 37% strikeout rate last 22 games for Mike Trout. Nice game for Xavier Edwards, four for five with his 18th stolen base.

Augustine Ramirez, he picked up two more steals in this one has five steals in his last eight games and Julio Rodriguez continues to impress. Last 22 games for him, 297, 10 homers, six steals in OPS over a thousand. So, and all of a sudden, he's at 2121. So, I mean, where does it wind up? We have seven weeks left in the season, something like that. I think J. Rod's going to hit 25, 25, and he might even approach 30-30 after a pretty slow starts of the season here. Call to the bullpen for the Pirates. Dennis Santana entered in the eighth inning

with the bases loaded, one out. One run lead, gave up a game tying sack fly, then came out for the ninth inning with the game tied. He gave up two more runs, so he took the blown save and the loss. On the other side, Randy Rodriguez pitched a clean ninth inning for his third save. So a nice bounce back for Randy.

Santanas look pretty shaky here so far in the ninth inning. For the Guardians with Kate's, Smith unavailable Hunter Gannis got the final out of that game for his second save of the season. For the Yankees, with almost everybody in their bullpen unavailable, David Bednar recorded the final five outs, all via strikeout for his first Yankee save. He was not perfect. He allowed three base runners here, but he got the job done. Again, all five outs, strikeouts. 47 pitches, right for Bednar? Yeah, they don't play tomorrow. He probably, maybe he won't be available Friday either.

He threw nearly as many pitches as Otani did. Yeah, they had nobody. They had nobody left in the bullpen. It was like Weaver, Williams, and Deval worked back-to-back days before this. True Yankee, David Bednar. My guess is he gets the next save opportunity, but with Aaron Boone, you never know. We'll see. If you want to speculate on somebody else in the Pirates bullpen right away,

Isaac Mattson would be the one. He has numbers nearly as good as six. Santana. In fact, a better strikeout rate than Santana. He contributed to the terrible inning for the Pirates in this one. So, you know, it's not like he's been showing

up Santana lately, but Isaac Mattson would probably be next in line if they did decide to make a change. For the Rangers, just worth mentioning here that Robert Garcia was used in the seventh inning with the game tied, and he gave up a go-ahead home run to Paul Goldschmidt and he took the loss. So

I think Phil Mayton probably gets the next save opportunity for the Rangers. For the raise, P. Fairbanks struck out one for his 19th save. For the Cardinals, I told you, just yesterday. Jojo Romero entered with two outs in the seventh inning, down one run to face Otani. He struck him out. The Cardinals took a one-run lead.

Romero's back out for the eighth. He got two outs. He allowed a single. He was relieved by Riley O'Brien, who got the final four outs for his first career save. So he's 2% rostered. Any deep league interest in, Riley O'Brien for saves.

I really wish his name was Brian O'Reilly. So we could go, Oh, oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly. You could still do that with O'Brien. Y'all! Yo! Do you know O'Reilly Auto Parts?

I don't know how... Oh, I know. Thankfully, I've never had to go there, but I've heard it many times. All right. Nothing against him. Riley O'Brien. You know, maybe.

He's been decent. Could be. Could be. He's a righty. Jojo Ramero, excuse me. They're short on lefties. Maybe. For the Marlins, Anthony Bender was used in the sixth.

Ronnie Enriquez in the seventh. Calvin Foshae in the eighth. And then who got the ninth? It was Luke. Nope, not Luke. Lake. His first name is Lake. Lake Bocker, which is spelled B-A-C-H-A-R

in the ninth inning with a two-run lead and picked up his second save of the season. This is your daily reminder that the Marlins don't have a closer and they never will ever again. For the athletics, Sean Newcomb pitched two scoreless innings across the seventh and eighth. With the game tied, Michael Kelly allowed a run on two hits in the ninth. He took his first loss.

And that gives me more confidence in Sean Newcomb moving forward there. For the nationals on the other side, it was Jose Ferrer, who pitched a scoreless ninth and wound up with the win. So good for him. For the Brewers, Trevor McGill got the ninth. With a two-run lead, he gave up a solo homer but picked up his 26th save. For the Padres, Robert Suarez was unavailable. Mason Miller got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He allowed a walk but struck out three for his 21st.

And for the Mariners, Andres Munoz, got the ninth inning with a three-run lead, gave up a solo homer, and then he walked two. So kind of scary start to the inning. And then he retired the next three for his, I didn't write it down, but for another save for Andres Munoz. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, just a four-game slagely. Jacob Lopez at the Nationals, Shane Smith at the Mariners,

Brady Singer at the Pirates, Carlos Carrasco against the Marlins. I feel pretty good about Brady Singer at the Pirates. I could live with Jacob Lopez at the Nationals if I had to. That lineup is terrible right now. I'm good with it. I don't want any part of the others. Agreed.

And then on Friday, it's not a great list here. I think Aaron Savali against the Guardians' revenge game. Long time coming revenge game there. Yep, three scoreless in a row for Savali, too. We have Cam Schlittler against the Astros, Michael McGreevy against the Cubs,

J.T. Ginn at the Orioles. Not doing it for me. I think I'd just stick with Savali. I think that is it. We are going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a high star rating

on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.