Fantasy Baseball Today - Injured Pitcher Replacements, Gunnar Henderson Coming Soon & More! (8/31 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 31, 2022

All of the pitchers are hurt (1:00)! ... Who can you add to replace Shane McClanahan and Justin Verlander (7:00)? ... Ken Waldichuk will make his debut Thursday (10:15). ... Matt Manning was awful on Tuesday (13:40). ... Jake McCarthy deserves more love (19:25). ... It sounds like Gunnar Henderson could be with the Orioles very soon (28:55). ... News (36:15): Ronald Acuña was out again. ... Miguel Vargas is getting called back up on Thursday (42:00). ... Aaron Nola got rocked while Framber Valdez kept chugging along (44:20). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (50:30). Want a 2023 Fantasy Baseball pre-draft Zoom call with Scott White? You can bid here with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374227992145 Want a 2023 Fantasy Baseball pre-draft Zoom call with Frank Stampfl? You can bid here with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374227991188 Do you want to join the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast as a guest? You can bid on it with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374225470953 Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. If you had Shane McClanahan, Justin Burlander, or dare I say, both, then we've got some work to do. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, August 31st. Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, there is so much to talk about. Pitcher injuries crushing us. Pitcher struggles crushing us. Gunner Henderson looks like he could be on the way to the Baltimore Orioles and much more. Scott, we're going to just jump right into these injuries. I mean, there's just literally no time to waste. We'll get to, oh my goodness gracious, a little bit later on. But I almost want to ask you how to address this from like a philosophical sense, right?

This late in the season, what do we actually do here? So the big news on Tuesday was Shane McClanahan scratched from his start due to a left shoulder impingement. And there was actually a video that Jeff Passen tweeted out from the bullpen where Shane McClainahan looked visibly upset. Like something was terribly wrong. So we're waiting to learn more about it, but it doesn't look good there. Justin Verlander was placed on the IL, which we kind of had a hunch that was going to happen. He's dealing with that calf injury. And then we lost Tony Gonson yesterday.

So, I mean, there's just so many pitcher injuries adding up, Scott. There's no replacing those guys. We know that. I mean, these are two of those guys are top five, top ten pitchers. Tony Gonson's like a top 25, top 30 guy. But what's the best way to attack it? You know, I, in the podcast Points League, I have both Verlander and Shane McClanahan.

I have no idea what I'm going to do. Do you attack it with more volume? Do you maybe pick your spots more carefully, Sky? Like, pay even more attention to streaming matchups, so on and so forth. What do we do when we have this many injuries? Well, when you have this many injuries, I mean, obviously you can't make a trade or anything. I don't know that there is a magical solution.

You just keep doing what you've always been doing, playing the waiver wire hard, setting the best lineup you can with what you have. I guess you may have to stream more, and of course you have plenty of resources to pick out streamer pitchers. Some weeks, that goes better than others. Matt Manning. But yeah, I don't think there's a magical solution. I mean, the thing I always say about injuries this time of year is that they all have the potential to be season enders just because we're running out of season. There is five weeks left.

So that is five weeks left and four chances to set your line up again if you play in a weekly league and your season goes through the very last week. Now, obviously that doesn't mean every injury that does happen this time of year is going to be a season ender. And fortunately, in the case of all three of those pitchers, Shane McClanahan, Justin Verlander, and Tony Gonsolin, there's at least optimism that they're going to miss a minimal amount of time. McClan himself said he was cautiously optimistic. So did manager Kevin Cash. He said fairly optimistic, that it is just a shoulder impingement. And he may have to not throw for a couple weeks, which could leave him with five starts still this year.

You know, he will have an MRI. Maybe it shows up more, and he is shut down for the season. But let's not jump to that conclusion just yet. Early indicators are optimistic for him. And in Verlander's case, even though he went on the IL with a calf injury, It's not a full-blown strain. It's just a matter of him feeling better. He says he feels better every day he wakes up

and feels like he can walk a little easier on that calf. So he doesn't think it's going to be much more than a minimal stay on the IL. And Gonslyn said something similar for his injury. So we talked about him yesterday. So, you know, obviously you're not dropping any of those three guys. Even if you don't have an IL spot to stash him, and you're not dropping them because they're too impactful, and it's highly possible that they're still going to be big contributors for you

before the season's over. I don't know if that's enough of an answer, but let's not lose our minds yet, I guess. It just feels like, especially this time of year, Scott, if you've got head-to-head playoffs coming, it feels like the sky is falling. I had a few people tweet that my way on Tuesday night, And again, you know, podcast points league.

Next week, they'll playoff start. And I've got both Verlander and McClanahan. I don't think I'm going to have either one of those available. So it kind of just feels like the sky is falling at this point in the season. But yeah, I don't think that there is just one answer, right? It's like you said, Scott, I mean, you just kind of keep plugging away and put out your best lineup. I mean, based on the two-star pitchers we went with this week, you know, maybe don't chase as much volume this time of year. be a little bit more careful with where you're going with those with those matchups and those streamers.

But yeah. Yeah, I mean, just for some reassurance, you know, if you're, if you have an honest chance at the championship at this point, it means you have a whole good team. You know, it's not just, it's not just a good pitcher or two. And specifically in the context of a points league, I mean, any pitcher could replicate an isolated Berlander star. What is the averaging per start? About 20 points per start. Any pitcher could give you a 20 point start. Any pitcher could give you a 25 point start.

Obviously, the likelihood of any pitcher doing that is much less than Verlander doing it, depending what pitcher you're talking about. But if you get a little lucky and you play the matchups well, you might still get similar point production. you can, when you're talking about a small sample of a week, you can make do with lesser talent. So your season isn't over, even if his is, is what I'm trying to tell you. I appreciate that, Scott. It just kind of feels like it's over right now.

Justin Verlander, by the way, averaging 21.8 fantasy points per game. That is by far the most in fantasy baseball this season. Let's quickly run through, Scott. I picked out a bunch of different waiver wire pitchers that might be a depending on your league size, just to kind of help people out who are dealing with these issues right now. In shallow leagues,

these are pitchers rostered in between 65 and 75% of CBS leagues. Reed Detmer's, Alex Cobb, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Cantana. How do you rank those four? I would rank them Detmer's, followed by Cobb, Kentana, and Sandoval. Okay, and Kintana, for those who, play in points leagues does have SPARP eligibility as well.

Next up, we have a group that is rostered between 50 and 60% of CBS leagues, a group of three who have all pitched to varying levels this season, but Nick Ladolo, Domingo Hermann, and Eduardo Rodriguez. How do you rank those three? I rank them Lodolo, Rodriguez, and Hermann. And I would say in both of these clusters of three, there is a clear favorite. Detmer's for that first group and Lodolo for the second. All right. And then we have a bunch of stashes available right now, too, Scott. Jack Flaherty. He's a little bit more rostered.

He's 79%. Sounds like he could be back as soon as next week. Mike Soroka, who's around 55% rostered. Trevor Rogers, I think is 47 or 48, so he's a little bit more available. And then Tyler Glass now, who I think is probably the furthest away at this point. How do you rank those for? Flaherty, I think, would be number one. Though I don't have a, I don't have a ton of confidence. It's hard to have a lot of confidence in him at this point. but just looking at his career numbers. You have to take a shot on him because I'm not just talking about that 2019 season, which was great. The career numbers are ace-like for Jack Flaherty.

And I'll lean Trevor Rogers over Mike Sorocco is my second choice here. I was really impressed by that last minor league rehab starts, six no-hit innings, 12 strikeouts, 24 swinging strikes, that it's the best he's felt all year. And while I've been pretty pessimistic about Rogers' chances of bouncing back, that doesn't mean he can't bounce back. So I think it's worth, if you do need pitching help, if you do have a roster spot to play with, I think it's worth taking a chance on picking up Rogers, seeing what happens.

In deeper leagues, we have those Orioles pitchers in Dean Kramer, Spencer Watkins, another one that didn't come through on Tuesday, and Austin Voth, along with JPC, years and Rwanzi Contreras. These are all rostered in less than 35% of CBS League. Scott, how do you rank those five? So I'd probably just play matchups between them, to be honest. I don't feel like any one of them deserves a higher degree of confidence than any other. They all deserve little confidence.

So I'd probably lean towards. either of Austin vote, Dean Kramer, just because the volume is more likely there and they have the best supporting cast, as funny as that is to say, since they pitch for the Orioles. But it's, I want to be,

I want to be tied to any of them. All right, and that brings us to a few prospects, Scotty. Ken Waldichuk is getting called up to start Thursday against the Washington Nationals. He is now with the Oakland A's. He came over in the Frankie Bontas trade from the New York Yankees. He's 12% rostered, having a really strong season in the minors. 284 ERA, 116 whip, 137 strikeouts, over 95 innings pitched.

And Hunter Brown, we mentioned yesterday, getting called up on Thursday for the Astros. Sounds like he could get a chance to start. I haven't seen that confirmed. I saw a few people talking about it. So he could start in Verlander's absence. I know Christian Javier is starting on Wednesday, but what do you think about adding either or both of those, Scott? Ken Waldershuk, Hunter Brown. I mean, they're comparable to the previous group, those three Orioles, pitchers, J.P. Sears, Rwanzi Contreras. It's, of course, hard to know how they're going to perform coming straight from the minors. And then there is a role question, at least for Brown.

I also, there did seem to be more buzz just among the commentaria that Hunter Brown could maybe get some starts with Justin Verlander going on the IL. But you pointed out, Christian Javier already has his next. start schedules. He's clearly rejoining the rotation. That gives them five starters without Brown. And I suspect, and I actually did see somebody on the Astros beat say this, they're auditioning Brown for a bullpen role in the playoffs. So I don't think he's just going to hold down a rotation spot. He may get a spot start here and there, but primarily, I would guess he's going to work in relief to audition for that playoff spot. Walter Chuck has a better chance of starting, much worse supporting cast, obviously, being with

the A's, but definitely intriguing. I mean, he's been a strikeout machine in the minors the past two years. Kind of gimmicky because the stuff, the stuff is okay. It's not quite as much of, like, Walde Chuck isn't as much of, isn't as atypical of a prospect as like Joe Ryan, let's say. Like, the stuff looks better than that, at least. by traditional metrics. But it's mostly about this funky left-handed reliever,

left-handed delivery that Waldichuk has. And will that translate to the majors? Well, I guess we're about to find out. Well, pitching in Oakland Coliseum certainly should help. It's something that has helped Cole Irvin all season long, which we will talk about in just a little bit. With Hunter Brown, I will just point out, in deeper category leagues,

I think I would add him. Even if he is just in a reliever role, I think he might be able to have an impact similar to what Spencer Shrider was doing earlier this season. Not that he's going to be Spencer Shrider. Like, Strider has turned out to be awesome. But, you know, maybe going multiple innings and giving a bunch of strikeouts and good ratios. So I think there could be control problems for both of these pitchers. Brown especially, though pitching out of the bullpen could mitigate that somewhat.

Yeah, I mean, I could see him making an impact as a reliever. But I would guess for most people, listening, there are other relievers that could also make an impact in those categories that I could, that I would pick up over, Brown. All right, fair enough. Let's finally get to, oh my goodness from Tuesday. Oh my goodness gracious. We'll get to Gunther Henderson in a little bit. We've got a few other prospect notes coming a little bit later on. But Scotty, where would you like to start from Tuesday's action? Well, I got to own the Matt Manning performance, I guess, since I was so a high on him coming into the week.

He was coming off the best two starts of his career, four straight with double digits swinging strikes after only two in any start previously. All of his starts combined previously. So he was on a nice run. His slider was playing up. He put in some work with it while sidelined by a shoulder injury seemed to have fixed it. And with two great matches a week, this first.

when coming against the Mariners, I was pretty optimistic about how he would perform. More optimistic than we usually see for pitchers as available as him this time of year. Like, it's hard to get excited about any pitcher on the Waver Wire this type of year. And Matt Manning seemed like somebody to get excited about. Well, it blew up pretty badly. And that is the danger of streaming pitchers. It's why that is generally not,

something you should want to do. It's more something you have to do. But I did it in a couple of leagues myself. Points leagues only, I think. I don't think I had to do it in a categories league, thank goodness. Because in a points league, you know, he still has another start coming up against the Royals. Maybe he'll go six innings and get you a win and end up, you know,

more or less breaking even, coming out a little ahead, potentially even. But it's going to be hard for him to do that in category. league. Even if you throw seven shutout innings next time, the ERA is still going to be not where you were wanting it to be for the week. Yeah, I mean, obviously, Scott, we have to be transparent with the Matt Manning call. Obviously, we were all over it coming into the week. But like you said, and, you know, what I tell many people is when something goes sideways like this and it's something that we were recommending, it's something that we also do on our own team. So it's like, not that it should make people feel better, but at least know that

you're not alone. Like, whatever we tell people to do, I typically do myself. So, like, I picked up Corbyn Carroll in a few leagues. And if he, you know, went over 28 to start his career, then that would have all been in my lineup because I told people to pick them up. And that's exactly what I'm doing. So, well, I mean, sometimes just the nature of the job, I am, I am forced to recommend things I wouldn't actually do. But I think I make that clear when I'm doing it. Like, the streaming pitcher segment at the end of every show. there's Frank that I don't actually want to start. But money may have to.

And really just writing the sleeper, pitchers and hitters column every week, same thing. Like, I have to come up with 10 names that are shy of this roster threshold. And like, a lot of times it's a strain to do that. And I'm picking players that I could see going okay, but I wouldn't want to be in a position to use them myself.

So, but I, you know, I try to be transparent about that even when, even when that is the case. and anyway, yeah, that wasn't the case with Matt Manning. I was genuinely excited about him. Last point on Matt Manning, again, it sucks, we messed up. But I don't think it was terrible process. I mean, we're talking about a former top prospect where he was pitching really well,

his last five starts, I mean, 2.40 ERA, 12% swinging strike rate during that time. The bigger picture for Matt Manning's MLB career is that he's been awful. So if you wanted to look at that and say, all right, why do we trust that guy? That's definitely fair. But I think the process leading up to it wasn't terrible. It wasn't terrible, but it was the having the two starts with good matchups, it was bad timing. It was, it was, I would have liked to see more from Matt Manning before trusting him with a lineup spot,

but you only get two starts like that so often. And it was enough to lure me in and hope for the best for a player who was showing, with some pedigree, who was showing signs of maybe. living up to it, but it was a risk. It was a risk and it didn't pay off this time. While we're talking about Matt Manning, we might as well mention the other two that we liked coming into the week. Spencer Watkins, he was cruising early on in the start. I was watching it. Then he just got hit by a brick wall. He went four and two thirds. He gave up six hits, five runs allowed in this start. But his previous nine starts before this, 2.83 ERA, 1.11 whip. He was

pitching pretty well. It's another one there. But I think, we were skeptical all along, but ultimately, Spencer Watkins, bad start there. And then Cole Irvin was the other one. We've mentioned the home road splits. This guy, for some reason, just kind of pitch on the road. I know Oakland Coliseum is a great place to pitch. They've got all that foul territory. It definitely likely helps him.

But at the Nationals, I mean, I really was not expecting this. He gives up five runs over five and a third. His road ERA the season is now 5.20. So two more that weren't great, Scottie. Cole Irvin, Spencer Watkins. Yeah, and a lot better pitchers than them and Matt Manning had awful starts today too. Oh, we'll get into those. Aranola, G. Let's been bad, but we'll get to it.

Yeah, Cole Irvin's falling apart here. It seems like five run runs in three of his past four starts. And the underlying numbers were never great for him. He kept it going for long enough that I was willing to give him some benefit of the doubt, but I think that is over at this point. All right. Oh, my goodness, gracious for me, Scotty. it is going to be Corbyn, just kidding, actually.

I'm going to talk about his teammate, Jake McCarthy, who perhaps we haven't given enough attention or enough, not attention, because we brought him up. We haven't given him enough love so far. He went two for, I think it might have been five. He definitely had at least two hits. He hit his fifth home run. He added five RBI.

He had a triple. He had a home run in that game. Both of them coming off of Aranola. He is now batting 290 on the season. He's got five homers, 12 steals. Hitting well against lefties early on, Scott. we were talking a little bit beforehand. You mentioned he's been playing a little bit more frequently

against left-handed pitching as of late. The debacks are weird because they kind of have this log jam of mediocre to intriguing talent on their roster and they got to figure out how to kind of work everybody in. But Jake McCarthy seems to be part of that mix right now and he's playing. So he's 34% rostered, Scott. What do you think?

Does he deserve more love? Than 34%. Yeah, I can. go along with that. I'm skeptical he's going to be an integral part of a three outfielder lineup and fantasy

because the power just isn't there. He did have a home run here in this game, but he doesn't hit the ball with the kind of authority you'd expect from a power hitter. His home run pace this year isn't good. But what he does do, what Jake McCarthy does do, is he runs really well, and he has the sort of swing that's geared for Babbup.

A lot of line drives, hits it to all fields, just a good, solid hit tool for this guy. And if he is going to play every day, you pointed out the splits between lefties and righties. Similar, he does seem to be getting priority over a higher profile rookie, Alec Thomas. Alec Thomas has been the one sitting against lefties so that McCarthy can start.

If he is going to play every day, then there's potential value in that. So I agree, I need to stop being so dismissive of Jake McCarthy. But there are clear limits to his ceiling too. This isn't, I don't think this is a stud in the making. I think his skill set is probably more suited for Categories leagues with the speed. And, you know, the batting average has been there so far. A little bit skeptical on the power.

I know he hit 15 home runs in the minors last year. But I don't think that's going to be a huge part of his game. but Jake McCarthy is playing well right now. Just to reiterate the actual numbers on the splits, he's hitting 283 with a 771 OPS against lefties, 290 with an 805 OPS against right-handed pitching. That is Jake McCarthy. Scott, would you take him over these other outfielders

who did something of note on Tuesday? Lane Thomas, I don't know why I just, like, there was like a glitch in my voice, what just happened there? Lane Thomas went two for four with his 14th home run. Kind of sneakily, I didn't realize he had 14, runs. It's not a bad tool for an outfielder. Second straight year, he's having a big August. Yeah. He added a walk, two runs, two RBI, and now in the second half, Scott, 32 games played.

294 batting average, five homers, four steals for Lane Thomas. He's 13% rostered, widely available. Nick Gordon had a massive game here on Tuesday. He went two for four with a grand slam, his sixth home run of the season. He had six RBI against the Red Sox in this game, and he has started 10 of the last 11 games for the Minnesota Twins. So he's playing, he's got three different eligibility,

second shortstop outfield. The last one, Jose Siri, who I know you've kind of mentioned some intrigue on him recently. He went three for four with his fifth home run, a double, three runs,

two RBI, massive game. Now 25 games with Tampa Bay. He's hitting 259, two homers, four steals, a 24% line drive rate. You know, he's widely available.

deep league kind of stuff, 4% rostered. Do you like McCarthy more than those other three? I do like McCarthy more than these three, but I do, I am beginning to like Nick Gordon, who's playing a lot for the twins, and he has, his ex-slug is 91st percentile. Wow. He's profiling for power. He has seven home runs now to go along with six stolen bases.

but the data is strong for Nick Gordon so if the playing time's going to be there with that versatility I think he does deserve more love particularly in Roto leagues where you have bigger lineups to work with Jose Siri he's playing a ton strikes out too much but runs you know will steal you some bases has some power as he showed in this game

and if the rays are showing that kind of confidence in him to play him in center field every day there's there's a chance he can make an impact down the stretch So it's close between those two and Jake McCarthy. And there are a couple other outfielders here. Oh, I guess we're about to get to them. But there are a couple other outfielders here who I might like even more than Gordon and Siri. Okay.

Lane Thomas, you didn't mention him. Is he above those names behind them? He's behind them. Okay. Now I'm kind of interested. Who do you want to talk about here, Scotty? Because I know Joey Menesis is playing well. I believe he has outfield eligibility.

also has first base eligibility. Is that who you were referring to? Yeah, that's one of them. He's not slowing down. And I know it's weird. I know he's... How old is he 30? Yeah, he's kind of like a journeyman.

He's this year's Frank Schwindella. That's totally fine. We could use that. Sure. He spent some time in Japan, in Mexico, just one of those guys who's spent a long time trying to break into the big leagues.

and had really good numbers of AAA. 286 batting average 20 homers, 830 OPS. But, yeah, what he's been doing in the major. So he went three for five with three doubles in this game on, what's today, Tuesday. And that gives him a nine-game hitting streak. He's batting 3.48 with six home runs overall. The data looks just as strong as the actual production, hitting the ball hard, not striking out a ton.

less than 20% of the time he's striking out. The max exit velocity, the average exit velocity. They're both good. I don't know. This could be a thing. If only in that Frank Schwendell way that he makes an impact for two months, and then we never hear of him again. That could be Joey Minness's fate,

but I'm willing to take a shot on it now, particularly in five outfielder leagues, particularly in leagues where you have an extra corner infield spot to Phil. I like his chances of making an impact even better than like Jake McCarthy unless you specifically need stolen bases. So yeah, that's one of them.

The other is Nick Prado, who I'm surprised is only rostered in 16% of leagues. It's Prado actually, right? Nick Prado. Yeah. Yeah, the phonics is failing me there. Sorry. Nick Prado.

So he just had a huge game, two home runs and a double here on Tuesday. It was his fourth straight game with a double, much less a hit of any kind, and his three home runs during that four game stretch. So that was after a stretch of him basically doing nothing but striking out for a good long while. But, I mean, this is of all the guys we've mentioned here in this, discussion of hitters. He is the one with the most highly regarded, he was the most highly regarded prospect. He is the best

pedigree. And so if he's showing signs of breaking through, I think Nick Prado, who is not just first base eligible. He's played enough outfield that he's eligible there too. And I imagine people are more likely to use Prado there. I think in those five outfield leagues anyway, he deserves he deserves another look.

All right. So let's kind of put a bow on all this. Guy. You're taking Joey and Minesis over everybody not named McCarthy, and maybe even McCarthy. Yep. Okay. Nick Prado. Are you taking Prado over Lane Thomas,

Nick Gordon, Jose Siri? Let's say you need an outfielder and a five outfielder league. Over Lane Thomas, it's close between Prado, Gordon, and Siri. Prado is going to be the one who doesn't give you many steals of those three. He's going to give you the few of steals,

but he'll probably give you the most power. provided he doesn't get buried by strikeouts. I think the most usable of those three, regardless of need, is Nick Gordon. As long as he keeps playing regularly, that's a question for him. But they're all interesting. They all have upside.

Okay. And the last name I had on this list was Gavin Cheats, who hit a double dong on Tuesday, and he's been playing more consistently recently, and he's been playing well. I know he's been popping a few home runs as well. How do you feel about Gavin Sheets? Not as good.

Okay. I think Gavin Sheets and Lane Thomas come up a little short in the skills department compared to the rest in this group, even if they have been productive of late. Okay. We'll get back into waiver wire hitters. We're kind of jumping all over the place because there's just so much stuff that happened here. But let's talk about Gunner Henderson, Scott. We probably should have got to it a little bit earlier, but that's fine. Gunner Henderson and D.L. Hall added to the Orioles taxi squad.

and that is likely in anticipation of rosters expanding on Thursday. September 1st, rosters expand to 28 players. So Gunner Henderson, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Scott. I mean, we were talking about him on our FBT and five episodes in the same vein that we were talking about Corbyn Carroll, right? So in the minors of season, Henderson was hitting 297, 19 homers, 22 steals, great eye at the plate. I mean, we're talking about massive walk rates.

He's got a 416 OBP in the minors this season. He's 38% rostered. He's only shortstop eligible on CBS. Scott is Gunner Henderson a must add, and where do you see him fitting into your shortstop rankings? I think he's more or less a must add. I mean, we've talked to when Corbyn Carroll was called up that a lot of people have him as the number one overall prospect.

I have him as the number one overall prospect. I think the most popular pick for a number one overall prospect right now is Gunner Henderson, though. And so, I mean, if the number one prospect is getting called up, yeah, you probably take a shot on him. The one format where I might hesitate is a points league with only nine hitter spots to fill, and you already have a good shortstop. I mean, do you want to pick Henderson up, take a bench spot for another, take a bench, take a bench, take a bench, spot away from a pitcher. I'm not saying you don't. Maybe you do, but I don't think it's automatic that you would want to do that.

If you have a weak util, Scott, I think I would take that shot, though, on Gunner-R-Henerson. Yeah, that's fine. Based on his skill set, right? It seems like he is going to be suited well for points league just based on how much he walks. In theory, yeah, I would say just in speaking generally, you know, it's hard to have much confidence in any prospect who gets called up given the way. so many of them have failed us recently. In Henderson's case specifically,

I mean, this is a really aggressive move. He's only 21. He was striking out at not such a great rate at AAA. The strikeouts, compared to what he was doing at double A, had gotten a little too plentiful, and he had struggled against same-handed pitchers. He's a left-handed hitter. So is this going to go well?

It may. It may not. I wouldn't say that I'm confident. Gunner Henderson's going to be a difficult. difference maker for you down the stretch. But if there's any player who's going to emerge off the waiver wire and be a difference maker for you down the stretch, like he would be among the most likely candidates to do that, right?

So that's, it's a lottery ticket, to just to shorthand it. Most likely, you should treat it like it's most likely not going to be a big game changer for you, but it could be. And so you, you roll the dice on that because those opportunities don't, come along very often. Now, if it's like a 15-team Roto League, obviously much less of a bar to meet for Henderson to be an impact player for you. So I think it's more likely in that format than like a 12th team head-to-head league. Yeah, it's time to empty the bag, Scott. All the prospects are coming right now. I mean, if you have any fab left, I mean, this is the time.

Because I know I said it about Corbyn Carroll, I said it about Von Grissom, but if Gunner Henderson, he's not going to hit his potential right away. But if, you know, if he hit some of that potential, he could be a league-winning player. I'm just going to throw it out there. It's a possibility for Gunner Henderson. D.L. Hall is also coming back for the Orioles, but that sounds like it's going to be as a reliever. So I don't know that he'll have much fantasy relevance. If there's an injury, maybe they throw him back into the rotation.

But it seems like it's going to be more so as a reliever now, more than anything. I did want to mention this up top. These were some honorable mentions for, oh, my goodness gracious. Corbyn Carol went two for five with a double, and he just, missed a home run, Scott. I know you watched it. And straightaway center field, off the batters eye, you know, and Chase Field, they kind of have that weird. The yellow line is a lot higher. It, it should have been a home run. Yeah, a very high center field fence. And it just, it hit just below the yellow line. Yeah. He had three hard hit balls, too, according to stat cast. So Corbyn Carroll just

looks awesome so far. First couple of games with him. And then Aaron Judge, another one, three for five with his 50 first home run. He's now 10 home runs away from Roger Maris. And he has 15 more homers than the next closest hitter in baseball, which is Kyle Schwaber with 36. I mean, his ridiculous season just continues. That is Aaron Judge. Before we hit the break, do have a few things that I want to fill you in on here. Starting next week, I know a lot of people hate this, this time of year, but I do have some other obligations that I need to attend to.

We're going to four podcasts per week. So we're still going to be here four times a week. You know, last year, we were doing it three times per week. So we're still trying to keep up with baseball as much as we possibly can. And we'll let you know what the schedule looks like the week before. But for next week, we're going to go Tuesday.

We're going to have podcasts for you, Tuesday through Friday. We'll go live Monday through Thursday nights on YouTube. Obviously, you know, Sunday night into Monday is going to be Labor Day, so we're not going to be live on Sunday night. And the fantasy football today draftathon is today, technically.

When you're listening to this, when you're watching this, it's on Wednesday, August 31st, from 6 p.m. to midnight. So please go support our friends, fantasy football today. It's for a great cause, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, all the proceeds going towards them. We mentioned many times that we have a few listings available. There's a guest spot on this podcast that you could bid on.

The link is in the podcast in the YouTube description. You can bid on a pre-draft Zoom call, 2023 for your fantasy baseball draft with either Scott White or myself. By the way, Scott, you are blowing me away in terms of the eBay win. and I told you it was going to be that way. You just, you didn't believe it. But if you want to bid on that,

if anyone listening or watching wants to bid on that, all the listings are in the podcast in the YouTube description. And again, it goes towards a great cause. So we're very excited to do that. Let's take a break and we'll hit the news and notes here on fantasy baseball today. The news and notes, Ronald Acuna, unfortunately, was out of the lineup once again on Tuesday. His third straight absence due to that sore right knee.

Manager Brian Snitker didn't sound worried and said, the absence is out of an abundance of caution. Do you feel the same way, Scott? Well... I'm a little bit more worried than that. I am a little bit more worried than that. I think what he means, and he did go on to say this, more or less,

is that Ronald de Cunia could play. If it was the playoffs, he could play. Would he look like Ronald de Cunia? that that I think is where I make the distinction that it's more than just an abundance of caution he's still you know he's still not 100% and it's showing in the numbers and we've been hopeful that as the year progressed

he would get he would be able to put the surgery behind him but it's still it's still bothering him and he's still flaring up from time to time it's putting him out of the lineup you have to think it's impacting his performance when he's the lineup. He's still a must-star player when he's in the lineup, but the production hasn't been there like we were expecting. And that's going to make him an interesting player to evaluate for 2022. I don't think we have time to get into that too much in this particular show. But I don't

know. I don't know. It's, I'm not sure even in Roto leagues he's going to be a slam dunk top five pick. They are very different injuries, obviously, but perhaps seeing what Acuna went through this year will give us a little bit more pause when drafting Fernando Tatis Jr. next season, and speaking of which, they are very different. And by the way, like, I think, I think Acuna is going to be fine for next year. I just think because he never got all the way back to being 100% this year, it's going to give people pause drafting him next year. I personally think he'll still be a top five pick, but you're right. There's a lot of time to talk about that in the offseason.

Fernando Tatis Jr., by the way, his left shoulder surgery was delayed on Tuesday after he came down with a non-COVID illness. So, I don't know. Hopefully is that right, but just kind of another weird thing for Tatis this season. Ozzy Al-Bs will begin a minor league rehab assignment at AAA on Thursday. He's been sidelined since mid-June with a fracture in his left foot. Clayton Kirshall will return Thursday to start against the Mets. Scott, would you throw him back in your lineup in daily lineup leagues? First start back.

I guess I'd lean no, but it depends how badly you need his numbers. Fair enough. Wilson Gattaris exited Tuesday with soreness in his left ankle. Carlos Carrasco is expected to return from IL during this weekend series with the Nationals after he felt fine following a 55 pitch simulated game on Monday. I'm assuming this means that David Peterson will go bye-bye. Yeah, I guess that's a fair assumption. This weekend series against the Nationals.

Ah, David Peterson was most supposed to make a start against the Nationals. I didn't think Carasco would be back quite that soon. I didn't think so either. Yeah, that's unfortunate. Maybe he'll get, maybe he'll still get one more turn before Carasco. enters. Let me double check on that. But yeah, unless I'm going to go six man, Peterson would have to be

the odd man out. All right. Eloy Jimenez was back in the lineup Tuesday while Luis Robert was out for a four straight game. And speaking of Eloy, he did have a pretty big game. He went three for five with his eighth home run of the season. Yordan Alvarez has missed two straight with left hand soreness. Jazz Chisholm will be evaluated next week.

He hasn't taken part in baseball activities since being diagnosed with a stress fracture in late July. Mike Soroka will make another rehab start with AAA on Friday. He threw 75 pitches in his last rehab start, but the results were not great. He is 55% rostered. That is Mike Soroka. Jameson exited his start Tuesday after getting hit by a line drive on his forearm.

I saw X-rays came back negative on that. A's reliever, Zach Jackson was placed in the IL with right shoulder inflammation. I assume that AJ Puck will be the closer by process of elimination. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm assuming. One would surprise me if they employed some chicanery there and disappointed us with how often Puck gets a chance for a save. Look, he's not going to get that many chances pitching for the A's anyway.

But yeah, he's the clear frontrunner with Zach Jackson down. Yasmani Grandal is set to return on Wednesday. He went five for 11 with two walks. and a home run across three rehab games. He's 52% rostered, and he has been terrible this season. So I don't know that you should add him. But Scott, what do you think?

Back end of the top 12, like, would you drop a Jonah Haim or a Cal Raleighamani Grandal? Probably not. Probably not. I mean, that's right at the range of catcher, catcher rankings where I think about it. But probably not.

All right. Kate Cavali is headed to the I. He made just one start, unfortunately, with right shoulder inflammation. And as a result, Josiah Gray will make his next start Friday against the Mets. He was skipped his previous turn into rotation as part of workload management. A few more prospect notes. There's a lot going on right now, Scottie. A lot going on.

Miguel Vargas will be recalled on Thursday. Obviously, we're excited about the long-term prospects of Miguel Vargas, Scott. I just don't see how he's going to play much. So how are you handling this for fantasy? Yeah, I have questions about that too. It's just kind of a little late, I think, because since Miguel Vargas was up last time, Max Muncie's come around, Justin Turner's picked it up,

Joey Gallo is entered the mix. Vargas didn't mostly play left field after being sent down. So he's added some versatility to his profile. file there, third base, first base, outfield. It's played a little second base as well. So maybe they'll bounce them around some. I mean, the Dodgers have

they have nothing to play for because they're so far ahead of everybody, right? They can afford to give Miguel Vargas some experience for experience sake if that's what they want to do. But I'm a little skeptical that's going to happen. The other prospect note is that the Rockies have promoted Michael Taglia from AAA,

and this season in the miners, who's betting 249, with 30 homers, seven seals, and 851 OPS. It's got any interest in, probably just NL only, but I don't know, maybe some deeper mixed leagues. What do you think about Michael Taglia? I mean, of course, Fields, you know? Course Field can do some magical things on, perform some magical things on otherwise flawed players.

Michael Taglia, the main reason he had 249 in the minors this year he struck out at a near 30% rate. And so that definitely gives me some pause, but the power's legit. And, yeah, I would say the usual Coorsfield enthusiasm applies here. It doesn't mean Michael Taglia is going to be a must-start player, but it definitely improves his chances.

And I think they'll play him a lot, is the thing. They started him in this first game. We went 0-4-4 without a strikeout. It was on the road. CJ Cron started at DH, and I expect we'll see a lot of that over the next five weeks. All right, we had a few pitchers get rocked here. Well, more than a few, but we spoke about a bunch of them earlier on. Aranola, I mean, he follows up his shutout by just getting absolutely rocked by the Diamondbacks.

He gives up eight hits, eight runs, rather, on 10 hits over four innings pitch. He did have five strikeouts and 15 swinging strikes. You know, Scott, it's a really weird start because the underlying numbers, looked fine. The swinging strikes, 34% CSW. His average exit velocity against was 82.5 miles per hour. Yet he had a 529 Babbup in this start. So look, he did give up a three run Homer. He, you know, he wasn't completely free from blame. But it seems like he probably got the short end of the stick here. That is Aranola. Yeah, it's, it's unfortunate. I don't take much away from it. I mean, we were just talking about how good a year he's had after his previous start.

This one start raised Nola's ERA from 308 to 343. It's the highest it's been since early June. It looks a lot worse than 308, obviously. But 82.5 mile per hour, average exit velocity, so clearly didn't get hard, a ton of whiffs. Think some bad defense, some bad Babbitt luck contributed. Yes, there was the one home run. but normally you'll take just a pitcher giving up just one home run. That's normally a trade you'll live with,

especially when he walks nobody. You know, it's just he was giving up all those base runners in other way. So I just think it was a bad luck start for Aeronola. Yeah, he's now giving up four or more earned runs nine different times this season, which is something I pointed out last time we talked about him. It just feels like Aeronola isn't as consistent as your typical ace, right,

for fantasy baseball purposes. Mike Gianella, really smart guy. He pointed out to me on Twitter, you know, really bad defense behind Nola and his ballpark. I think those two things combined. Always going to hold him back a little bit, but even with that, he's having a really,

really strong season. That is Aeronola. Lucas Jolito, what do we say about Lucas Jolito at this point? He was hit hard once again, up against the Royals. Unlike Aranola, he didn't give up one homer. He gave up three home runs in this start.

He gave up five runs, over five and a third innings pitched, eight hard hits allowed 91.5 mile per hour average exit velocity the walks the homers have been a huge issue this season for him Scott he's now up to a 5.27 ERA

yet he's still 95% rostered. Yeah. In deeper leagues I get holding on a Gialito just on like that off chance that he turns it on and there's just really not much available in those formats but I mean in shallower leagues got there's got to be someone better that you could stream than Lucas Gialito at this point

Yeah, I've been out on Gialito for a while, even longer than for like Jose Berrios, who of course is still struggling with an ERA over five himself. But I see no reason to start Gialito right now. He was coming off a quality star, but it wasn't a particularly good one. And he hasn't had, like at least Berrios has had those occasional great starts that remind you, reminds you who he could be. Geolito really hasn't. No, he has not.

From bad pitchers to some good. good pitchers. Ones that are actually chasing history right now. Framber Valdez makes it 22 straight quality starts, which gives him the Astros record and also the record by left-handed pitchers in Major League history. But the actual record here is 24 straight quality starts in a single season. That was done by Jacob de Grom a few years back.

So that is the record that Framber Valdez is chasing. He was at the Rangers, eight innings, two runs, eight strikeouts. In this one, he had 13 swinging strikeouts. drops the ERA to 2.63. He's been amazing. As has Zach Gallen. Five straight scoreless starts for Zach Gallen now. He goes seven shutout, two hits, one walk, seven strikeouts against the Philadelphia Phillies. And he is threatening Brandon Webb's Diamondbacks record for a 42 straight scoreless inning. Zach Allen now up to 34 and a third scoreless. He's also been amazing, Scott. He has. He has. They're both good.

but I am no longer a gallon naysayer, and I have never been a Fromber Valdez naysayer. So good for them. Yes. I was actually updating my pitcher ranks here on Tuesday, and both guys are firmly inside of my top 25 starting pitchers. And I don't know how much higher I can get them, but it feels like they've pitched even better than that,

especially as of late. All right, let me jump back around this rundown and see what else I have. There were, you know, not many waiver, wire pitchers available here. There were two that were going up against each other, widely available. I don't know if either one matters, Scott, but Jason Alexander, he was going up against the Pirates. He goes five innings, one run, six strikeouts, and that one. His overall numbers are still pretty bad. He does get a lot of ground balls, but not much outside of that. And then Mitch Keller put up a career

high, 10 strikeouts on the other side of that game at the Milwaukee Brewers, six innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts to just two walks. He had 14 swinging strikes. Notice that haven't mentioned, Mitch Keller in a while. That's because he turned back into Mitch Keller. His last three starts, he had a 7.36 ERA. I don't know, Scott. Do either one of these matter, Jason Alexander, Mitch Keller? It was a really impressive start for Keller.

But I don't know. The four-seem fastball that he had kind of shied away from during his better stretches this season, he was emphasizing it. It got six of his swinging strikes more than any other pitch. So he just, he can't figure out who he wants to be, I think. And I don't know. I have no

confidence in him as the bottom line. Yeah, I mean, especially pitching for the Pirates too, right? It's like, how can you have confidence? You're not going to get much run support. It is what it is. Great start for Mitch Keller, but can't really recommend him at this point. A few other pitching standouts worth mentioning, Cal Quantrell has been really good now in four of his last five starts. He goes six innings, one hit, one run, only four strikeouts, but did have 12 swinging strikes. And over his last five starts, Quantrell has a 1.41 ERA. Kevin Gausman bounces back with a strong start against the Cubs. He goes six innings, two runs, nine strikeouts in that one. George Kirby turns in a sclerless start at the Tigers. He goes five

shutout with five strikeouts. I think they kind of limited him. They had a big lead, you know, 79 pitches. Feels like he could have gone a little bit more, but, yeah, I I think they're going to be cautious with George Kirby down the stretch. It was going up against Matt Manning. They didn't need any more from him than that. No, they did not. And then Blake Snell was the last one I wanted to mention. Back on track after two rough outings.

He goes six shutout with eight strikeouts at the San Francisco Giants. Through his fastball 74% of the time. So it's not like he really did anything that impressive, but it was still a really good start. So anything on Snell, Kirby, Galsman, and Cal Quantrell. I'm usually checking the walks for Snell because they've held him back so much over the years and he did have three in this start after having a combined having a combined five in the previous six starts.

So that was a step in the wrong direction. But obviously the final result was good. He didn't allow three home runs like last time out. And overall he's been great in the second half. Cal Quantrell is another one. We don't talk about him much. but he's another one of those pitchers that has succeeded this year in ways that are difficult to understand. Nothing really in the underlying numbers suggests he should be this good or even good in the general sense at all.

But it was kind of true for him in the second half last year too. He finished very strong and he continues to succeed. Indeed, he does. George Kirby, Scott, we don't talk. about him much. He's kind of a weird picture to figure out. I don't know. Do we talk about George Kirby a lot?

I feel like we talk about him every time he starts. Is that true? Could be wrong. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't on that podcast. But I just don't, I don't really see how he does it right now. I know he has really, really good control. George Kirby does.

I mean, maybe the best along starting pitchers right now. But he doesn't really have that it pitch, pitch, that put-away pitch. I know he gets some whiffs with his fastball, which is always a good thing to see. I like that he's pitching this well as a young pitcher, obviously, but I just don't really understand it. What do you think about George Kirby? I think he has really good control

and a really good fastball, and that's enough to sustain him, at least for right now. I mean, his expected ERA entering this start is 3.30. It was almost exactly the same as his actual ERA. So he's not giving up, he's not giving up especially high quality contact. I mean, the stat cast believes in what he's doing. And like there's no pitch you'd rather be a, there's no pitch that you would rather get whiffs on than your fastball. Like if you can get whiffs on your fastball, that just opens up so many possibilities for you,

because it's easier to get whiffs on off-speed pitches. And they don't have to be as good to get whiffs. The fastball has, like, if you're getting wiffs with your fastball, though, that's a really excellent fastball. And Kirby has that. And just when we say good control, we're uncommonly good control. Yeah. Like I said,

might be the best among starting pitchers in the game right now for George Kirby, which obviously says a lot. Hasis Lozardo, Scott, I wanted to bring him up. He didn't have his best start against Tampa Bay. He gave up five runs over six innings pitched. only three of those were earned. He had four strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes, but the velocity remains down.

The sinker was down one mile per hour. The curve was down nearly two miles per hour. Same thing with the fastball. Since returning, he's still been really good. So I don't know how much it actually matters. He's got a 2.99 ERA in six starts since returning. But does this lack of velocity concern you at all for Jesus Lazzardo? Well, I'm going to keep pointing out what I've been pointing out.

yes, his velocity is down relative to this season, relative to the rest of his career, it's not really. His velocity was way up at the start of this year. And I'm not saying it doesn't matter that he's lost something from them because then he was looking like an emerging ace, right?

And I don't know that he looks like that now. But I think the bigger issue in this start for him, which was technically a quality start, but it wasn't great, was that he threw his sinker more than any other pitch. Anytime Jesus Lazzardo

throws either version of his fastball more than his change-up and curveball, it's not a good thing. Unlike George Kirby, Jesus Luzardo doesn't have a great fastball unless it's peak it at 98, like it was earlier this year. So I want to see more change-ups

and curveballs from him. and in his best starts, that's generally what he does. Let's move over to some hitting leftovers. Tommy Edmund stays hot with another homer. He now has three in his last eight games. Jonathan India went two for three with a walk and two runs scored. You know, Scott, very quietly in the second half, Jonathan India hitting 292 with four home runs,

22 runs scored in 32 games played. I mean, he's not running or anything, but I had this impression that he was just awful in the second half, and it hasn't really been the case. Yeah, he's been in and out of the lineup some, which I think adds to that perception. But he started to come around, sure. Yep. Randy Rosarena went three for five with two steals and two runs scored on the season now,

batting 267 with 18 homers and 26 steals overall. So he's been really, really good this year. Love to see it for a Rosarina. He's been amazing in August. Yeah. But pretty much just a terrible April and then has been great since then. Sean Murphy went three for five with his 17th home run. He added five RBI,

and he is currently the fourth best catcher in head-to-head points league's fourth, and the sixth best catcher in Roto slash Categories League. So just... He has been... Quietly, he has been amazing the last two months, Sean Murphy. Since the start of July, 306 with eight home runs and a 919 OPS. And I think what stands out most for him during,

that those two months. Remember early on he was hot, but the strikeout to walk ratio looked terrible. Well, since the start of July, his walk rate is 10.9%, which is good. His strikeout rate is 15.4%,

which is even better. Wow. They both improved drastically. And more in line with what he was in the minors, the kind of hitter he was in the minors. And so I think Sean Murphy is beginning to emerge is, he may be.

anyway, emerging as a stud catcher. We could get to a point, Scott, where the three best players on the Oakland A's are all catchers, or have come from a catcher background, right? So between Sean Murphy, Shea Langaleers, and Tyler Soder Schram, who many people believe

will move off of catcher, but it's pretty interesting. You don't really see that often when it comes to a major league roster construction. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went three-for-four with his 27th home run. He is quietly having a really good second half as well. Teosker Hernandez went one for three with his 19th homer.

He's been the opposite. His batting average in August has really tanked. It's been a weird season for Teascar. He's going to be one that's interesting to go back and just look at the entire season for him. Ty France went three for four with his 16th homer. Starling Marte went two for four with his 15th. Adoles Garcia keeps plugging away. Two for four with his 22nd steel.

Salvador Perez went three for five with his 19th homer. O'Neil Cruz, He loves hitting against the Milwaukee Brewers. He just crushes them. He went two for four with a double, a walk. I like to see the walk. You don't see that often. And two RBI, Jose Altuve,

two for five with his 22nd homer. I mentioned what Eloid did. And Anthony Rizzo hit his 30th home run. He is now two away from his career high mark. So I think we might get a new career high for Anthony Rizzo this season. Don't count your chickens before they hatch there, buddy. That's true.

Back in trees, they can flip. at any time. The call to the bullpen for the Blue Jays, Jordan Romano recorded the final four outs for his 28th save. For the Dodgers, Craig Kimbril was likely unavailable. Jake Reed pitched a ninth inning and he picked up his first save of the season. For the Rockies, Daniel Bard struck out two for his 28th save. For the Astros, Hector Neris struck out two for his third save. Raphael Montero last pitched on Sunday.

I didn't see anything with Montero. Montero, so I don't know. That's kind of interesting. Yeah, that was weird because he seems like the clear-cut backup choice to Ryan Presley, and he seemed like he should have been

rested enough to appear in this one. And Dusty Baker's been pretty conventional with his clothes or usage, whether Presley's been available or not. That's why Montero has nine saves. So it was weird. I still think Montaro's the one to have.

For however long, they need to replace Presley, which sounds like it won't even be that long. For the pirates, Jace DeYoung recorded the final five outs for his first save. Will Crow was unavailable. And Crow has been pretty bad recently. This is just a really

deep league name. I have 15 team leagues where I am chasing saves desperately, so Chase Chase. Just gonna remember the name Chase DeYoung and see where that goes. For the Padres, Nick Martinez gave up a two-run homer to Jock Peterson but did pick up his eighth save of the season. To stream

or not to stream for Wednesday, Jose Cantana at the Reds, James Caprillion at the Nationals, Annabal Sanchez versus the A's, Marco Gonzalez at the Tigers, Patrick Sandoval versus the Yankees, and Bailey Falter at the Diamondbacks. Remember, these are streaming options. You don't have to do it. But I'm okay with Jose Cantana at the Reds.

I think I'm okay with Marco Gonzalez at the Tigers. If you're feeling really gutsy, Bailey Falter at the Diamondbacks is interesting. I don't know. those diamondbacks, the new look lineup, with all those kids. With Corbyn Carol in there. Completely transformed. They are crushing it.

On Thursday, we have Eduardo Rodriguez versus the Mariners, Ken Waldichuk in his debut at the Nationals, and Kyle Bradish at the Guardians. Yeah, I take back the falter thing. Come to think of it, after what they just, after what the Diamondbacks just did to Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola. Yeah. Yeah.

No. Of these three, Eduardo Rodriguez against the Mariners is, I could see it going very poorly, but it's the best choice of these three. Not going to start, Ken Waltecuk in his major league debut, even if it is a favorable matchup.

Scott, give me a virtual high five, man, because we had so much to get to today, and we did it pretty well, man. That was efficient. We could try it. Do you want to? Three, two.

Oh, sorry. Okay. Count out again. Three, two, one. Oh, yeah. Let's do it. All right. We're going to wrap there for Scott.

I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. This dorkiest thing we remember done.