Fantasy Baseball Today - Injury Replacements for Spencer Strider, Shane Bieber, Luis Robert & Trevor Story! (4/8 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 8, 2024

Spencer Strider has UCL damage and Shane Bieber will have Tommy John surgery (3:12)! ... Why are these injuries happening so often (8:40)? ... Luis Robert and Trevor Story are injured, too (18:25). ... Is Reid Detmers breaking out (21:43)? ... Are we concerned about Kevin Gausman (24:41)? ... News (28:14): Gerrit Cole will play catch on Monday or Tuesday. ... Who are the top waiver wire pitchers to help with all of these injuries (31:30)? ... Who are the top Luis Robert and Trevor Story replacements off the waiver wire (46:54)? ... Do we have concerns with Max Fried (54:00)? ... We wrap up with the rest of this weekend's leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (56:55)? 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, @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/ 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. One of these days, I hope we won't start the podcast with awful news, but the show must go on. Welcome in to fantasy baseball today on Monday. April 8th, I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, so many injuries. We'll recap the top performers from the weekend. Talk WaverWire ads. We'll fire up the Wariometer a little bit later on. But let's just rip the Band-Aid off, Scott, and get into it. My goodness, I cannot, in the history of you and I doing this podcast together, remember a weekend that had this many injuries and not just in totality, but just the magnitude of the...

the injuries as well. Spencer Strider, let's just get into it. Spencer Strider reported discomfort in his right elbow after his start on Friday, an MRI on Saturday showed damage to the UCL. He'll be further evaluated by Dr. Keith Meister at some point in the week. And Strider was officially placed on the 15-day IL on Sunday. And if he does need Tommy John surgery, that would be his second in five years. While we're talking about potential Tommy John surgeries, Shane Bieber does need Tommy John surgery and we'll miss the rest of the season.

It's got huge blows, obviously. You know, Bieber looked great. His first two starts, moved inside of our top 30 starting pitchers. Strider, the best pitcher in all of baseball. Yeah. Your reaction. I'm sorry to you. My condones is to you and Braves fans because that is just, it's just the worst of the worst.

Well, this is, this was the most depressed I think I've ever been about fantasy baseball. in how many years of covering 16, 17, I've lost count. It's the most depressed I've ever felt about it, though. Obviously, the Spencer Strider news was devastating enough. And, you know, I didn't think it would be good news with the elbow ligament. I checked in on Saturday at some point Saturday morning, okay, have they determined whether it's the ligaments torn, whether he needs surgery?

and I see Shane Bieber needs Tommy John surgery out of nowhere, out of nowhere. And I just like, that's it. Like, I can't take this. And all this was coming on the heels, to remind everyone, of the Yuri Perez news on Thursday,

him needing Tommy John surgery, when it seemed like he was out of the woods there with his elbow, no structural damage was found, they said. And then he suddenly needs Tommy John surgery. Obviously, Shane Bieber was out of nowhere. He was off to a great start. We were loving him as a bounce back candidate.

So in one weekend, we lost the most exciting second year pitcher, the most exciting bounce back candidate at starting pitcher, and the most exciting pitcher, period. Boom, boom, boom. We lose them all to elbow ligament injuries. Obviously, we don't know yet whether Shane Spencer needs Tommy John surgery or surgery of any kind. Strider, strider. Spencer Strider, yeah.

What did I call him? Shane Spencer. Just combined the two. Yeah. We don't know yet whether he needs Tommy John's surgery or surgery of any kind. It's possible, you know, they might do the injection thing depending on where the tear and the extent of the tear. And I'm not optimistic, though. I'm just saying that so you don't drop him yet.

But I, you know, I think we're going to get back. news along those lines too. And it's, yeah, I just had to check out when I saw that Shane Bieber news because it's like, I, what else can go wrong? That's, I think, the most upsetting part. People say, oh, you're upset because you're a Braves fan. Yeah, I mean, I like watching Spencer Strider. I know his history with this.

I feel bad for him. I feel bad. I'm not going to see him. I still anticipate the Braves winning the division. I think the playoffs are basically a crapshoot. So it's not so much that. It was really the Shane Bieber news that was like the straw that broke the camels back for me. Because, you know, you mentioned you can't recall a weekend where there was so much injury news.

This is the second weekend of the season, Frank. We're not even two weeks into this season. And already this much has gone wrong after a. pretty rough run up to the season. We already lost Garrett Cole to an elbow injury that we think isn't going to require Tommy John surgery, but we thought that about Yuri Perez. So, you know, the top two pitchers are out for who knows how long now in fantasy.

And obviously, Khoda Senga and I don't know, what seems like a dozen more. And we've just started. We've only started. This isn't the end of it. This is the beginning of it. And so, like, I didn't even, I think I drafted Shane Bieber once. I didn't draft Spencer Strider at all.

I kept them in a couple leagues, I guess. So I'm still feeling the hurt of that. But this isn't even so much about my fantasy teams, why I'm so upset. I mean, it's just terrible for the fantasy landscape that, you know, people design their whole pitching staff around Spencer Strider and what he was going to do for them strikeouts-wise in particular. And it just, it doesn't feel like we're going to. get a fair accounting of that. And, you know, even though my pitching staffs were mostly untouched,

there's this feeling of what's next. You know, what's going to go wrong next? So much has already gone wrong, my guys aren't safe. Like, what is happening here that is causing all of these pitchers to suffer such brutal injuries when the seasons only barely started? And that's the most upsetting part of all to me is just like, what is going on and when are when is it going to impact me because it just seems like only a matter of time well do you have any hypotheses while we're talking about that just from a macro level view right

of the state of pitching in baseball because obviously everyone on twitter x whatever we're calling it they have thoughts about it there are people speculating and there are conspiracies and you know maybe it's related to the pitch clock i don't know that if we have enough data, I'm sure shaving two seconds off the pitch clock probably is not the smartest thing, considering how early we are in its inception. To me, it feels more just like velocity and max effort, where arms are not made to throw 100 mile per hour fastballs, whatever it might be 30, 40, 50 times throughout a game, and then trying to sustain that over 30 starts throughout the course of the season.

That's where I'm mostly at, but I feel like maybe we just don't even have enough data yet on the pitch clock to know if that's causing it as well. Yeah, I mean, I think they all could be contributing factors to what extent is hard to say. And of course, it's not like there was a conversation, even before there were any, it was any talk of pitch clocks or any of the other rule changes

we've seen the last two years. There was a conversation of, oh, pitchers are getting hurt too often. So it's not like the conversation is new. It's just, it feels like it's hitting harder to the most exciting players in the game. And that's actually something Spencer Strider himself touched on before the season. He was blaming the pitch clock and in particular, shaving two more seconds off with runners on base. He said there's an injury epidemic in the game regardless of velocity. If anything, the league is making rule changes despite an injury epidemic that could very well be encouraging injuries, such as the pitch,

clock limiting the number of pitchers on the roster, how many pitching changes you can make, how many mound visits you can have, all those things are making pitcher harder and potentially, I think, making health more difficult to manage. With injury rates, where they are, I don't know how we can blindly decrease the clock after the worst injury season in baseball, arguably, without having a conversation about injuries. The league talks about creating more action on the field. Well, when the best players in the league are hurt, how much interest is there in the game.

And, you know, that was a month prior to him suffering an injury. Now, is the pitch clock the number one reason? It's, there were a lot of ideas being bandied about on social media. And within media, this whole weekend, like Enosaris and Ken Rosenthal for the athletic wrote a report where they were talking to one of the games leading orthopedic surgeons and he was blaming the advent of the sweeper and the power changeup. as reasons for the increase in injuries. I think back to 2021

and Tyler Glassnow, who was vocal, sort of like Spencer Strider here, Tyler Glassnow kind of called his own injury with the sticky substance crackdown. He's like, I have to change the grip on my fastball, on my curveball, I have to hold them deeper in my hand now.

And he was talking about how the first start like that, It was one of his best starts of the season, but he felt pain in all sorts of places he hadn't felt it before because the amount of tension he was having to apply to the ball without any kind of the sunscreen and rosin mix that players used to be able to use without having that available to him. And like the next time out,

he tears his ligament and needs Tommy John's surgery. So, and, you know, I think about pitchers coming over from Japan where they have a tacky baseball, not having any health issues over there and they come over here and it's not long before they start having health issues. So if I'm pointing the finger at any one thing, like that, the lack of tack on the ball

to me seems like the biggest problem. But that's just because I find that explanation most convincing the way players break it down. It's not so much that I know, obviously. Like I said at the beginning, I think it's a combination of all of these factors. But I think it's depending on how things play out from here. I mean, maybe, hopefully the injury slowed down. And all the concern we're feeling now just seems like it was overblown.

But if this becomes a season where like somebody's having to call Jamie Moyer out of retirement because their rotation is so devastated by injury, which is what we're on pace for right now, then I think it's something that's going to have to be evaluated in the off season and probably, I mean, it sounds like the players unions already making noise about it. So that noise would get even louder, I imagine. I tried to make myself feel a little bit better, Scott, that we could see some pitchers return from injury soon, the Justin Verlanders, Sunny Gray's, Walker Bueller's of the world. But it didn't really do the job.

You know, the fact is what happened this weekend happened, and it looks like, Like, yes, Shane Bieber is out for the season and potentially Spencer Strider as well. While we're just wrapping up the conversation on those two, who do you suspect will fill their places in their respective rotations? Because my guess is Bryce Elder, probably for the Braves. I don't think it'll happen this week because apparently he pitched on Saturday, so he's not going to be ready to go by Wednesday. So maybe it's like Dylan Dodd for one start, but then Bryce Elder after that.

For the Guardians, I mean, they are already dealing with injury and injury to Gavin Williams as well. So they're already short-handed. I was speculating maybe Joey Cantillo, who's a pitching prospect in their organization. What are your thoughts? They could move Tyler Beattie out of the bullpen. He was stretched out this spring. I don't think it'll be long, right?

Gavin Williams is expected back soon. Maybe. Unless something, yeah, it's an elbow issue. So hopefully. Yeah. More interest in Bryce Elder, I would say. And I saw a couple people in deeper leagues where we go pretty deep into the pitching pool.

I saw them picking up AJ Smith Schaver. I think in all of those cases, Bryce Elder was already rostered because that's how deep we go into the pitching pool. And I think it will be Elder over Smith Schaver, but there's now obviously one less obstacle to Smith Schaver joining the rotation. His first start in the minors wasn't so good.

So that's why I think he'll get passed over for now, but it's another name that's potentially more interesting in the long run. I also want to say, for fantasy, I think the way you interpret this depends a lot on your league depth because it's no secret that a lot of the big industry leagues that get discussed the most online are 15-team Roto leagues, which are very deep in there. Those kind of leagues where Bryce Elder was already rostered

because we go so deep into the pitcher pool. But if you play, as more people do, if you play in something shallower, 12 teams or fewer, you're one of those people who we've been addressing over the last week. Oh, do you pick up Ronel Blanco? Do you drop AJ Puck? Do you, how do you find room for Jared Jones? If you're in that kind of league where there are more interesting pitchers than can be rostered, this is going to feel less devastating to you

than if you're in one of those deeper leagues where like you're already like pitching is just completely gone on the waiver wire and your your whole pitching plan is ruined like that that's where I think it's most devastating those deeper leagues

and um you know I'm I guess I'm just trying to give people hope out there like because there's a lot of doom and gloom I feel it you feel it It's real. It's fair. But not all is lost in leagues where you have pitching depth on the waiver wire. You know, you can navigate this much easier.

All right. Let's hit our first break when we return. Two other big injuries. Got to talk about not pitching related Luis Robert and Trevor Story. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in. Two other big injuries from the weekend. Luis Robert was placed on the IL with a grade two right hip flexor strain.

and apparently it was to a similar location to his tear from 2021. And Bob Nightingale reported the White Sox privately fear Luis Robert could miss three to four months. That's one report. I'm not saying that's necessarily going to happen, but it could be a possibility considering this is an injury that he has suffered in the past. And then Trevor Story was placed in the aisle with a dislocated left shoulder and is without an official timetable to return. He said he hopes to play again.

this year, but indicated there is a chance he's out for the season. So. Yep. And that was the minor injury news from the weekend that Luis Robert and Trevor Story are possibly gone for a very long time, an early round outfielder, and another popular bounceback candidate that I know you and Chris were particularly invested in, Frank, and for good reason. So, yeah, that stinks. Can I address one more thing about Strider real quick?

Because there was a lot of I Told You So's on the internet. Like, oh, the fact that he throws hard, obviously he was going to get hurt. Well, I mean, I guess from the perspective that all pitchers get hurt eventually. All pitchers have probably need Tommy John surgery eventually. That's true. But I don't think there was anything uniquely troubling about Strider. He reinvented his whole delivery after his first Tommy John surgery. surgery in college. That's why he wasn't a big prospect coming out of college. His whole delivery

was different. He didn't throw his heart. He didn't have that rising fastball. His delivery was so focused on the lower body. It's why he had those giant quads and was called quadzilla. He put, like, his lower body was as integral to his delivery as any other pitcher. And in theory, that should have made for less strain on the arm. Obviously, he ended up having surgery anyway. I just, like, I'm not sure that's the victory lap you want to take. Like, I understand, look, I didn't draft Spencer Strider in any league either. I think it's almost always too risky to take a pitcher that early. And this is why. We're seeing now why. But I don't think like, yeah, I avoided him because I knew he was going to get hurt. I don't think that's the victory lap you want to be taken. Yeah, no, I think that's

very well said. And I would agree. Yeah, Luis Robert and Trevor's story, just to, I guess, kind of put a bow on that. Dominic Fletcher started Saturday. Sunday in center field for the White Sox. They also, I believe, promoted Robbie Grossman, who was leading off this weekend for them. And for the Red Sox, they had David Hamilton start on Sunday against the righty, and they had Pablo Reyes start Saturday against the lefty. So it looks like they could go with a platoon.

Von Grissom, they're hoping to return soon. He's still likely to play second base anyway. Alex Cora also downplayed the possibility of Ceylon Raphael playing shortstop. But who knows? Plans change, obviously. But yeah, those are the biggest injuries of the weekend. Let's maybe move on to something more positive and talk about some standouts from the weekend.

Wow! I want to talk about Reid Detmer, Scott, who tied a career high with 12 strikeouts against the Red Sox this weekend. Six innings, one run, one walk, had those 12 strikeouts. 21 swinging strikes on 94 pitches, 10 on the fastball, five on the changeup, four on the slider, two on the curve, everything working, only gave up two hard hits in this game. And we spoke about Dettmers after his first start

and noticed that the velocity on the slider is down a lot this year, like three to four miles per hour. That is on purpose. He is trying to not throw it as hard. And as a result, maybe he's able to command that pitch better. Certainly looks that way so far this season. He's also using his changeup more through two starts,

11.5% usage on the changeup last year. That was just 5%. So wanted to give Reed Dettmers's deal. do. I know if Chris was here, he probably would want to talk about Redet Mers as well. But man, I know it's only two starts. Redet Mers might be pulling off the breakout we thought was coming last season. Yeah, I mean, he certainly appears to be well on his way. And I think the most impressive part about it is that for those changes he's made to his slider, it's really the fastball that's been most impressive. So he had 21 whiffs on Saturday,

10 were on the fastball. He got 12 whiffs on the fastball in his first start of the season. That is a lot of wiffs for a fastball, particularly a pitcher who hadn't really been known for the strength of his fastball previously. And I don't know what's changed there. RPM's up about 80. I should say the spin rate is up about 80 RPM on Demmer's fastball, which doesn't seem transformative. There may be something going on there with the angle. I'm not too great at reading that data. But it's, I can certainly look at the results and the fastball has been playing really well for Reed Detmer's and has been most responsible for his, what appears to be the start of a breakout

season here. He says it's been playing well off his off speed stuff and he's talked about how, maybe he's tunneling it better. Maybe. I don't know. But like I said, it's, it's looking really good for Dempers right now. And if you had invested in him, that's a victory lap. I think you should be taking.

And Detmer's is up to 83% rostered on CBS. He's only started in 54% of leagues and he is at Boston this week. So, just face the Red Sox this weekend. Now he's going into Fenway where it's tougher to pitch as a lefty with the green

monster there, obviously in left field. Scott, how would you feel about starting Reed Detemers this week in Boston? Fine. Yeah? I feel fine about it. All right. Happy to do it. All right. I wish I could. I don't think I have him anywhere.

I don't think I do either. In fact, I traded him to Chris in the Dynasty League before the season. So I guess I don't feel too great about that decision so far. All right, so I lied. Let's get back into the negativity, Scott, because you're, oh, my goodness, gracious player of the weekend is Kevin Gosman. Yeah, let's wallow in our sorrows a little more here. We have to address him early, I think,

because he was probably the most discussed pitcher of the weekend beyond Strider and Beber. And the reason for that is that Kevin Gossman, who himself had elbow problems this spring. Shoulder. Shoulder? I believe it was shoulder, yeah.

I thought it was elbow, but I didn't look it up, so he may be right. He had arm problems this spring. His velocity was down 3.3 miles per hour on the fastball, four on the splitter, was 50 degrees,

and we have seen velocity down for most pitchers across the league with temperatures being colder this past week. But that's a lot. Three to four miles per hour is a lot. And while most of the pitchers still perform like themselves, even with the reduced velocity in the cold, Kevin Gosman was a disaster at the Yankees on Saturday. Six runs, five earned, no strikeouts in an inning in a third.

He only had two swinging strikes on 51 pitches. did not look good at all. Now, I think there was, people were presuming we'd hear bad news about Gosman after the game. So far, we haven't. In fact, I know one Blue Jay's beat writer pointed out that he had to start April 6th last year, where the similar drop in velocity,

he averaged 91 on his fastball, on that start early last season, April 6th. The very next time out it was back up to 95. So it made that four mile per hour jump in one star. Gossmann himself said that's kind of the running joke. I'm 88 to 98. They don't know what they're going to get. I don't know what I'm going to get either.

I think it was just cold weather more than anything. So like he's not talking about how his elbow feels bad or a shoulder or whatever it was. He's just saying it's a weird thing that happened. And it happens sometimes and maybe it was because it was cold. Okay. I'm not especially reassured. after everything we saw this weekend? I don't know.

I don't know that there's anything actionable to suggest here. I guess you could think about shopping, Gosman, but I imagine the offers are going to be lowball because everybody can read what happened in his last start. So I think you're probably just stuck with them and crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. There is hope. There is hope based on everything I just discussed.

but I don't have a good feeling about it. I had Kevin Gosman lined up for the Worryometer later, Scott. So 10 being you are the most worried. One, you're not worried at all. Where would Kevin Gosman fall 1 to 10 on that Worryometer? Like an 8? I mean, again, I don't know. From an actionable standpoint what that means, but I'm really worried.

Do you start him this week against the Rockies? That start is in Toronto. Like in those deep 15 team leaguers I was talking about, probably have to. But in leagues where you don't have to, leagues where you have some pitching depth, that's actually good, I'd try to avoid it. All right. Well, let's hit some other news and notes

before we get into the injury replacements. And Garrett Cole is scheduled to resume playing catch either Monday or Tuesday, and he's been shut down for nearly a month after being diagnosed with nerve irritation in his throwing elbow. So hopefully we continue to get more good news on Garikol. Yohan Duran threw on flat ground from 105 feet on Saturday,

said afterward that he no longer has pain in his oblique. Even with that, he does not have a timeline to return as of now. Mani Machado has been extending distance when playing catch and is, quote, a little ahead of schedule in terms of rehabbing from off-season elbow surgery. The Padres won't consider having him return to the field for at least a few more weeks. Sunny Gray will make his season debut Tuesday against the fifth. He's expected to be limited to about 65 pitches. My guess is you probably want to sit him this first time out, right, Scott?

Yeah, I think I would prefer to do that, especially given that doesn't sound like he'll be able to go very deep into the game. All right, Walker Bueller checked out well after Saturday's rehab outing and is scheduled for at least one more rehab, starting through four and two-thirds scoreless innings with six strikeouts in that one. Lars Neupar will be re-evaluated on Monday, and if everything checks out, he could be ready to return.

So that would be a good help for the Cardinals and for fantasy. Nick Ladolo is targeting a return Friday against the White Sox for his season debut. He is 71% roster. Do you think that number should be higher for Nick Ladolo? Yes, I do,

especially with him being so close if you can stash him in an IL spot this week. When you set your lineup this week and then you can see how it goes Friday. you want to hold on to him, but there's a lot of upside there, particularly in the strikeout department for Nick Ladolo. Wilson Contreras was initially in the lineup Saturday, but then scratched again due to hand so he's now missed three straight. He didn't play on Sunday either. So if you play in a

weekly lineup league, you might just want to have a catcher on your bench in case he misses a few more games. That is Wilson Contreras. Alex Cobb has been shut down from throwing a few days due to some flexor tendon inflammation. He was rehabbing from off-season. and hip surgery. J.D. Martinez won't participate in baseball activities for two days after reporting overall body soreness. He could be ready to join the Mets this Friday against the Royals. And Mike Clevenger is set to make his White Sox debut around May 1st. Other names that went to the IL this weekend, Eloy Jimenez with that left at a doctor

strain. He'll be eligible to return this Friday. Haraldo Pardomo has a torn meniscus in his knee, expected to miss at least one month. And we have mentioned Blaze Outer. Alexander quite a bit recently. He started at least two games at shortstop this weekend, and the debacks have the best hitter matchups this week, so I think he's a name you could look at in deeper leagues. Jacob Junis went to the IL with a right shoulder impingement. Aaron Ashby was recalled from AAA,

and Yankees reliever Jonathan Loisigga will miss the rest of the season with a torn UCL in his right elbow. He will have season-ending surgery. I didn't even hear about that one. Yep. It's just so many. Speaking of all the injuries, we need replacement, Scotty. So let's take a look at the Waver Wire and our first group of Waver Wire pitchers.

Tanner Halk was great this weekend at the Angels, six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in that one. Ronell Blanco took a no-hitter into the sixth inning at the Rangers on Sunday Night Baseball. He eventually did give up a single to Adoles Garcia. Had four walks to four strikeouts, only five swinging strikes. So not as dominant, but hey, one hit over six. six innings, it's still pretty awesome. Jordan Hicks turned in the first quality start of his career. That was up against the Padres.

Seven innings, two runs. Only one of those was earned. Five strikeouts to zero walks. And Sean Mania, another solid outing at the Reds. Five innings, one run, six strikeouts. Scott, how would you rank that group? Mania, Hicks, Ronell Blanco, Tanner Hout. Fun group. I'm going to go Hicks just a little over Hauk.

But, you know, Howk Howke made a strong statement in this start following up that 10 strikeout effort with another six shutout innings and he was basically going two pitches in this one he was going sinker and slider he's been leading on the slider more this year in general

but he didn't have to use his splitter that much which is I don't know maybe good news because he's facing the angels again next time out But it just seems like he has a much fuller arsenal now does Halk and he can kind of pick and choose what to use and he's getting good results no matter how he mixes it up. So I think very impressive what Halk's been doing so far. So Hicks, with that new swing and miss splitter,

already has great groundball tendencies and the Giants are letting him work deep into games. Tanner Halk is number two. I'm going to go, I think I'm going to give Ronell Blanco the number third spot, the number three spot here. on this rank list combined one hit allowed in his last two

outings the lack of swinging strikes is notable because swinging strikes have always been very high for Ronnell Blanco but it is just one start and obviously

the production was still good and then number four is Sean Manaya but I'm encouraged by what Sean Minaya is doing too new change up grip new sweeper and he's had two

really good starts in a row so I think all four are you know, if they're available in your league, they probably need to be added at this point. And three of the four have pretty good matchups this week, too. Halk is going up against the Angels, Hicks against the Nationals,

Sean Mania against the Royals. Renele Blanco will face the Texas Rangers once again. So, you know, back-to-back starts against the same opponent. It's a really good lineup. It's a little worrisome, but obviously Blanco has looked really, really good so far. The next group of Waverwire pitchers

includes Luis Severino, who bounced back in his second start with the Mets. He was at the Reds, five innings, two runs, seven strikeouts with 16 swinging strikes.

Mackenzie Gore was solid up against the Phillies, five and two-thirds innings, two runs, six strikeouts in that one. Brady Singer is now two for two in quality starts this season, facing the White Sox, six and a third innings,

one run, four strikeouts, and then Michael Waka through a gem, also against the White Sox, seven shutout innings, eight strikeouts to one walk. How would you rank this group, Scott, Waka,

Singer, Mackenzie Gore and Severino. So I do think this group is they're all behind the other group. I would rank them Severino, Waka, Singer, and Gore. Waka is a floor play, though. He was somebody I liked drafting

in those deep 15-team Roto leagues I talked about just because I felt like he was going to be a nice stabilizing force. I don't think there's a lot of upside there. I will point out as fastball was up one mile. per hour in this start at a time when most pitchers' velocities are down. His was up. I don't think it's going to be a game changer.

It's not like he was missing a ton of bats, but that is one thing I noticed that was different from Waka. I still think of him as a floor play. The reason I like Severino more than him is just because of upside. Obviously, we know what his upside is. It was a little strange, though, the way this bounce back happened for Severino. Because remember the story coming off that first start was he didn't have a feel for a slider.

Maybe it was because it was cold. And both Mets and Severino himself were saying, coming into this game, he had rediscovered the grip on the slider. It's all going to be fine. Well, he hardly threw any sliders in this start. And the slider is supposed to be his best pitch. He threw, he didn't throw many.

I didn't write down the exact number. It was a lot of fastballs, and most of the whiffs for Severino came on the fastball. So I don't know if that's going to be a plan that'll work for him in the long run. We've never known him to be effective without that slider. So I don't know. I'd feel better about Severino and I'd be more likely to include him with the previous group, with Jordan Hicks and such, if that was part of the bounceback here.

But since it was so fastball reliant, I don't know what to make of it. Still, he's the top of the second group for me and then Waka. As for Singer and Gore, I just don't have a lot of faith in Singer still. It doesn't seem like he's doing anything different, even though he's been effective so far. Gore is doing some things different. We see that disparity between the fastball

and change-up velocity that's widened. And hopefully that makes him a more versatile pitcher somebody who can maintain his effectiveness deeper into games. And so far, he's been pretty good through two starts, but he's only been pretty good. It's not like he's been missing a ton of bats or anything. So I remain skeptical there, even though those changes to Gore's arsenal are a good sign.

A few follow-ups. Severino only through four sliders in that outing on Saturday. Six sweepers, which is a new pitch for him. But I do agree it's a little weird that, I mean, I guess you can look at it both ways. Class half full is he had a pretty damn good start here with 16 swinging trikes, and that was without a slider. So maybe once his slider, you know, he has a better feel for it. He might be even better. But then how do you explain the first start

when he didn't have the slider and was terrible? You don't. Or at least I don't. You don't explain it. You don't even try. Don't even try. Yeah, I'm pretty interested

in what McKenzie Gore is doing so far. His velocity is way up. His fast balls up 2.2 miles per hour. This year he's averaging 97 on that pitch. The slider velocity is up. He's throwing more changeups. So I'm pretty encouraged. Obviously, we have been burned

by McKenzie Gore many times before. That pun intended. Could say he's a Charazard even. That's right. Burning you like that. And of that group, Severino has the toughest match this week at the Atlanta Braves. So I agree he's probably at the top of the list, but I would not want to play him, obviously, against the Atlanta Braves. The next group of Waverwire pitcher, Zach Lattel, solid in Corse Field, five innings, one run, five strikeouts in that one.

Ranger Suarez turned in a quality start at the Nationals, six innings, two runs, four strikeouts for him. Louise Heel has not completed five innings in either start, but the strikeouts have been there. He faced the Blue Jays this weekend, four and a third, two runs allowed, eight strikeouts to four walks, and Max Meyer turned in the first quality start of his career at the Cardinals, six innings, one run, three strikeouts. Scott, who do you like most from that group? Meyer, Heel, Suarez, and Zach Lattel. I like Luis Heel the most. I think he's the upside play of this group, which isn't to say,

Max Meyer doesn't have upside. Of course, former top prospect, former number three overall pick, I believe, who he liked quite a bit before Tommy John's surgery. And his first two starts have been effective, just not getting a lot of whiffs. So I don't know how much I trust in that. Whits are what I value most in the pitcher. And Louis' heel is getting that ton of them. Strikeouts have been there. That new change up he developed seems to be playing well off his fastball and is becoming a swing and miss pitch in his own right. He has, been limited to less than five innings in each of his first two starts. And that obviously has to change.

You've got to go five to even qualify for a win. And wins are kind of a big deal in fantasy. But I think the stuff has been so impressive that he'll keep getting opportunities and eventually start lasting deeper into games. Plus, I think there's more job security there than for Meyer. I don't dislike Zach Lattel and Ranger Suarez necessarily, but I do see them, sort of like I was saying about Michael Walker before.

I see them more as foreplay. Floor plays, man. I got to, maybe I should come up with a different term there than floor play. Yeah, they're not as reliable as Waka, even though, I don't think. I love last week, Scott, I think we were talking about Christian Walker, and you said,

who gets excited about floor plays? I just, I started cracking up in the background. It just sounded so funny. Next group of three includes Dean Kramer, who looked great at the Pirates, seven innings, one unearned run, six strikeouts in that one. Cody Bradford has actually pitched really well in his two starts, and it's kind of unfortunate that he's going to lose his job, I guess, whenever Michael Lorenzen is ready.

Are we sure about that? Yeah, I don't know if he could keep this up, but he was great. Up against the Astros, seven and two-thirds innings, one run, four strikeouts, for Cody Bradford and then Paul Blackburn has turned in two scoreless starts so far. He was at the Tigers where he threw six shutout innings with four strikeouts. Any enthusiasm for Blackburn, Bradford, or Dean Kramer? I could bump Heney, Andrew Haney to the bullpen maybe to keep Cody Bradford.

I saw Chris took kind of a half a victory lap over Cody Bradford on Twitter. so I don't want him, I don't want to deny him that. Though ultimately I don't see a lot to like in Cody Bradford, extreme fly ball pitcher, which can lead to some low-hit outings sometimes, but it can also lead to great home run devastation.

And I don't think Texas is a great place for that pitching profile, particularly if he's not going to be a big batmissor. So that's my take on Cody Bradford. Dean Kramer's probably my favorite there. He's another flyball. pitcher, but he's in Baltimore. Obviously, there's a good place for a fly ball pitcher.

He's about as globy as they come, because he can have some pretty awful outings at times. I don't think his splits were that dramatic home in a way. So I don't know that that's a reliable indicator of when to start Dean Kramer. But at his best, he limits walks. He goes deep into games. He has a good offense backing him. It's probably not going to be a great ERA in the long run, but I think in point. Points Leagues especially, Dean Kramer is going to be pretty usable.

Blackburn, Paul Blackburn, is probably my least favorite of this group. I did look into him in some of those deeper 15-team leagues where there isn't a lot of starting pitcher pitching available off the waiver wire. But I ultimately decided Blackburn was too combustible, even for those. I'm just trying to see there was something he was doing differently. He's throwing his change up more this year. Yeah, throwing his change up and it's a good swing of his pitch, but it's not like he's getting a lot of strikeouts. So I'm not totally sold on that.

I'm with you in deeper leagues. I was looking at Blackburn. I don't mind the matchup this week. He's at home in Oakland against the Nationals. So that seems like a pretty good matchup. And Cody Bradford, even if this is his last start in the rotation, he's facing the Oakland A's this week. So that one looks pretty good as well. And then in the deepest of leagues, four final names.

Bailey Falzer pitched well against the Orioles, six shot out innings, one head. hit one walk, one strikeout. Not sure how that happened. Ryan Feltoner with a career high 10 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and the start was in Cores Field. Six innings, one run, 10 strikeouts,

so two walks, 18 swinging strikes for Ryan Feltner. Marco Gonzalez's first two starts have both been pretty solid with the Pirates, six innings, two runs, four strikeouts against the Orioles, and then Colin Ray against the Mariners, six innings, two runs. One of those was earned,

and three strikeouts. Anything on those four, much deeper leagues? You know, I'd like to get excited about Ryan Felner, but even if he's on to something here, the fact he's at Colorado half the time. Like, it's not just that,

it's not just that your numbers are worse at Colorado. It changes the whole way you pitch because the movement profile of your pitches is so different. I understand this start was at Colorado, but I think once we get into the summer months and Colorado starts playing more like Colorado. I don't think you're going to like that you invest in in Ryan Feltoner if you decide to do that. So I'm just steering clear of him.

The others, I mean, I guess Colin Ray is the most interesting, but he's not very interesting. I think we can move on from this group. I agree completely. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll talk about some waiver wire hitters, Luis Rue. Robert replacements, some Trevor Story replacements. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in and let's talk some Luis Robert replacements.

M.J. Melendez, who we also spoke about on Friday, has homered in three of his last four games. He's only 51% rostered and one of Scott's sleeper hitters this week. I would imagine he's up near the top of the list in terms of Luis Robert replacements right now. Jose Siri added three more steals this weekend. He's now up to six. He is 38% rostered, has six games this week. including three lefties on the schedule. So I think that should play pretty well for Jose Siri

and other outfielder's that were in Scott's sleeper hitters for this upcoming week. Michael Conforto, Will Benson, and JJ Bladay. Anything to add on those five, Scott? I'm probably most excited about MJ Melendez's rest of season, but if you need speed in particular, and, you know, Luis Robert is supposed to provide speed. So I could understand how Jose Siri might be a more fitting replacement.

for your team depending on your build. Wouldn't want anything to do with Siri in a points league because the plate discipline's so bad. Definitely lean Melendez in that case. But those would be my favorite two of these outfielders for the long haul. More Luis Robert replacements in deeper leagues. Jacob McCarthy went two for four with two RBI on Saturday.

He's betting 353 early on and the debacks have the top hitter matchups this week. The problem is that there are three lefties on the scale. schedule and I don't know if Jake McCarthy is going to play in those games. Brenton Doyle, back-to-back multi-hit games to end the weekend. He went two for four with a home run on Saturday. He said he was focused on making more contact this season. And he's got a 34% strikeout rate early on.

Not focused enough. No, he is not. And then Jerksson ProFar went one for three with a grand slam on Saturday. Again, we're talking probably 15 Team 5, Outfieler League, Scott, but any interest in McCarthy, Doyle or ProFar. We know McCarthy could make an impact in steals if he hits enough and gets enough playing time. I think those are very big ifs, but if we are talking about deeper leagues, then you don't have a lot of alternatives on the waiver wire right now, probably, especially for speed. So he's probably the most interesting of this trio, McCarthy Doyle and ProFar.

Yeah, I would say McCarthy's my choice there. And let's move on to Trevor's story replacements, the three names that I found here, all rostered in less than 70% of CBS leagues. Jeremy Pena, Ezekiel Tovar, and Bryce Terang. How would you rank those three? I would rank them. Pena, Tovar, Tarang. I really don't have a lot of confidence in Terang.

I looked at the batted ball data for him. It's still awful. He's managed to steal a bunch of bases so far, but I think particularly once everybody's healthy, if, you know, Joey Ortiz does what he's supposed to do and Sal Freelick eventually starts getting looks in the infield, or maybe they have this other guy, Oliver Dunn, maybe he starts getting more consistent playing time.

Maybe they call up Tyler Black. Tyler Black, yeah, I was trying to remember what his first name was. Tyler Black, yeah, I don't think in the long run Terranx bat is going to provide enough for the brewers to stick with and particularly given their alternatives. I'll also throw Von Grissom's name out there as a potential Trevor Story replacement, obviously not available right now.

And I don't think the Red Sox are going to stick him at shortstop, but he's already eligible at shortstop. And the Red Sox, I do think, will play him. so I think if you can afford to stash someone for the long haul I think Grissom might be better

I might prefer Grissom to everyone here but Peña I don't know I might prefer Grissom to everybody once he's healthy I might agree with you I think in a points league probably

I mean none of those names really stand out in a points league because they're just a plate discipline is not great and you know The tarang is really most helpful in stolen bases. So, yeah, I would agree with that. I liked Grissom a lot before his injury and then obviously started the season on the aisle. Any interest in these two hitters in deeper leagues, you already mentioned his name.

But Oliver Dunn is off to a nice start for the Milwaukee Brewers. He went two for four with a sock and a shoe on Friday, his first career home run, his first career steal. And then he went two for four with another steal on Sunday. He actually let off in that game against a right-handed pitcher. He's 26 years old. I actually saw him play in the AFL. I was texted in the Welsh the other day.

I said, we saw this guy, right? Oliver Dunn. I think he was in the Phillies organization at the time. But yeah, now I think he got snatched up maybe in the Rule 5 draft or something like that. But yeah, he had a great AFL. Last year in the minors, 21 home runs, 16 steals. He's only 4% rostered.

Has second and third base eligibility on CBS. Any interest, Scott? Deeper Leagues, Oliver Dunn? Yeah, a little bit of interest. Like I said, I think there's more to like there with the hitting profile than Terrang, and since Joey Ortiz can move around, I could see Oliver Dunn coming into more, but he's already been getting a fair amount. I could see him coming into even more.

Wasn't he betting leadoff on Sunday, too? Yep, against the righty. His slash line in the miners last year, 271, 396, so good on base skills, and 506 for the slugging. and I'm looking at the eggs of velocity readings this year, pretty good. Pretty good. I think Oliver Dunn's pretty interesting. Not for standard 12 teamers, but for deeper ones, like you were saying.

Yeah, I picked him up in Tout Wars, actually. That's a 15-te-team Roto League with corner, middle, five outfielder spots, so definitely could find a place to get him in the lineup. The other name here is Reese McGuire, who is a catcher with the Red Sox. He hit a home run on Friday, and then a sock in the shoe on Sunday. started six of their last nine games. He's a career 260 hitter, but just a 683 OPS.

Any interest in deeper two-catcher leagues? Reese McGuire. Yeah, so I actually did pick up Reese McGuire in a 15-team two-catcher league. Renee Pinto hasn't been starting as much as I thought he would for the race, so I dropped him for Reese McGuire. And that's the extent of my interest in Reese McGuire.

Who's also been... well, he's actually been playing more than we thought, because we thought Connor Wong would be the primary catcher for the Red Sox, but he's on the short end of the stick so far. Yeah, I actually did the same exact thing. I dropped Renee Pinto for Reese McGuire in one league. I dropped Jake Rogers for Reese McGuire in another, so hopefully it works out.

We fired up the Worryometer a little bit earlier on for Kevin Gosman. Let's do it for Max Fried, who got rocked by the debacks this weekend, four in a third innings, 10 hits, eight runs, seven of those earned. He had five strikeouts to one walk. He gave up eight hard hits in this game. The sweeper and change-up velocity were both down.

Just a real rough start. His first two outings here, and he's someone who also dealt with a forearm injury last year, so I hope it's not related to any type of injury or anything. But where are you at Worryometer on Max Fried? Well, lower than Gosman. but maybe about a six. I'm a little, I had concerns coming in.

I avoided Max Fried actively because of that forearm issue last year. And he came back from it and he pitched well. But he didn't quite seem like himself. Like I know it took him a while to build up to throwing multiple innings. And I don't know. He just felt off to me as somebody who watches Max Fried a lot. So I was kind of concerned about him. And now he gets off to this start that's really hard to figure out.

You mentioned his velocity was down a bit in this most recent outing. It was way up on everything in his first outing of the season, which was very short. It was even shorter than this one. But he just has looked not like himself. I will mention, if you're looking for reason to be encouraged, that six of the runs he gave up on Saturday were in the first inning. And then he retired 15 of the next 16, I believe.

put a couple runners on and I think they were allowed in once he came out so that's why he ended up allowing eight runs total but there was a stretch there where he looked more like Max Fried I will remain concerned

until he looks like Max Fried for two or three starts in a row would you start or sit Max Fried at home against the Mets this week I would probably start him but I wouldn't blame anyone

for sitting him it does depend on your alternatives obviously I know that sounds like kind of a cop-out but like if I have oh who's one of my favorite sleeper pitchers for this week like if I'm looking for a way

to get of course I closed out the article if I'm looking for a way to get in my line of reshuls and two-star resoles against the pirates and the twins or two-stared Rinaldo Lopez against the Mets and the Marlins, or even if I had like Jordan Hicks against the Nationals,

as good as he's looking. Tanner Halk against the Angels again. Like, I could see starting any of those over Max Reed if you're in a shallow enough league that you have that luxury, just to play it's safe. But you may not be in a shallow enough league where you have that luxury. Let's get into the rest of the standouts from this weekend. And first up, we have the pitcher side of things.

And this first group, We already spoke about Reed Detmer's, who had 12 strikeouts. Ryan Pepio struck out a career high 11 in Corse Field against the Rockies. Six shutout innings, three hit zero walks. Those 11 strikeouts, 21 swinging strikes. Bryce Miller had an awesome start at the Brewers, seven shutout innings. With seven strikeouts, he had 12 swinging strikes on 78 pitches. Continues to use this new splitter, and it actually looked really good in this start.

So I'm kind of encouraged by Bryce Miller. And then Jared Jones turned in the... the first quality start of his career, up against the Orioles, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts with 21 swinging strikes on 80 pitches. He's had at least 21 swinging strikes in each of his first two starts.

Anything to add on Jones, Bryce Miller, Pepio? Well, if Jones is still out there, Jared Jones, he should be a very high priority for you off the waiver wire because he looks fantastic, just overpowering. Obviously, there are going to be workload concerns at some point, but I wouldn't worry about those yet.

Jared Jones, the impact he can make on a start-to-start basis is very high, and he's very exciting. So he's my favorite of this group. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that because there's DeBers and there's... Yeah, you know what?

Jared Jones is my favorite of this group. I prefer him to read DeBers and Ryan Pepeo, though they're all must roster in my mind. Pepeo is a nice bounceback start, remember the first time out. He had some controlled issues like we hadn't seen since 2022. But here he is walking nobody in six-innings, striking at 11.

Looks like the Ryan Pepeio we were seeing at the end of spring training and the one we're so excited about in our drafts. So very encouraged by that. I agree with your assessment of Bryce Miller that that splitter seems to have given him a legitimate secondary. He was searching for one, had a very good fastball,

equal number of whiffs on both in this start against the Brewers, those seven shot-out innings. And it looks like he's... like he hardly threw any sliders in this start, which was his secondary of choice last year. It seems like he's fading it because of how the splitter's going. And pitching sandouts part two.

Aranola bounced back with a solid start at the Nationals, five and two-thirds shutout with four strikeouts there. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has turned in two solid starts after his first short outing in the Korea series. Five shutout innings with eight strikeouts for Yamamoto. And then Michael King had a strong start at the Giants. Seven shutout with four strikeouts. Velocity does remain down. I don't love to see that with Michael King. And it's not like he got a lot of whiffs, but he was efficient and pitched well here. Anything to add on King, Yamamoto, and Aronolo? Yeah, I was, I think we most needed to see a bounce back outing from King. I think if he had

one outing, definitely two more outings, like the way his first two went, then he would be in dropable territory. But this buys him some more time. I agree. I wish the whiffs were higher. But one thing that didn't get pointed out, you know, he had like 11K per nine during his stint as a starter for the Yankees down the stretch last year with a very low swinging strike rate. So swinging strikes aren't really Michael King's thing. I guess we wish we had seen more strikeouts, but we'll take a little we can get for now. Seven strong innings. This is a step in the right direction for Michael King.

Yamamoto seems fine. I was never really worried about Aaron Nola. He's obviously can put up these ugly starts from time to time as we saw as recently. last year. So, Flattie bounced back, but I figured that was going to happen sooner or later. And lastly, Jack Flaherty, what happened against the Oakland A's supposed to be a great matchup here? He gave up six runs over six innings. Still had five strikeouts and 14 swinging strikes. You know, gave up seven hard hits in this one. I looked into the bab-up. It was a 400

bab-up in the start, so maybe just a little bit unlucky. Only one walk-through two. starts. I thought that was really encouraging for Jack Flaherty. What do you see in this one, Scott? Yeah, I wish the velocity was up more. It hasn't been up as much as was reported this spring. And obviously, good results in the first outing. The fact he got as many swinging strikes as he did

and walked as few hitters as he did, I don't think he reverted back to pre-2024 Jack Flaherty. I still think he's trending the right direction overall. But I thought this would go a lot better, and I thought his velocity would be higher. And I'm just a little unsure now. I'm just a little unsure he's everything we were hoping he was going to be.

But not like I'm thinking about dropping him or anything. The hitting leftovers from the weekend, Spencer Steer is off to a great start, one for three with his second home run on Friday and then he went two for three with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. He is up to three homers and two steals so far early in the season. Kattel Marte has homered in three straight.

He's got those three homers and one steal early on. Tyler O'Neill is off to a great start with the Red Sox, three for four, with a double dong on Friday. He added another home run on Sunday and he is up to five home runs, which is tied with Mookie Betts for the league lead. Ellie De La Cruz running wild early on

He's got he added three steals this weekend He has five steals total John Carlos Stanton hit two Mammoth home runs this weekend One on Saturday and then a grand slam on Sunday Anthony Volpe Stole three bases this weekend He looks like a different player early on He's batting 424

One homer, three steals, four walks to seven strikeouts A 36% line drive rate And what we heard this spring was Volpe has leveled out his swing more and he's not upper, it has tried to eliminate that uppercut a little bit and so far the results have been fantastic for him. Lane Thomas

had three steals on Sunday. Zach Gelloff had a big game, four for five with a triple, a Homer, four RBI. William Contreras, a double dong with four hits on Sunday as well, and then Jackson, Merrill went four for four with his first career steal. Scott, was there anything you wanted to add

to some of these hitting leftovers before we talk some bullpins? Well, it was encouraging to see just on Sunday what Zach Galloff did with the four-hit game, what Francisco Lindor did. You didn't even mention him here, but he had a home run on a double. I know he was somebody who people were freaking out about because he was off to a one-for-31 start. But hopefully he's put everyone's mind at ease now. Kind of a mixed bag for Nolan Jones this weekend. I know people worried about him.

He had one good game and whatnot. so good game. It's still very early. People keep giving me grief about Vinnie Pasquantino because he hasn't had a big game yet. Okay, maybe he never will, but I'm still going to bet on him coming around and being a hitter who delivers

in batting average with pretty good power. It's still very early for hitters and they're difficult to analyze. But yeah, I agree with what you're saying about the changes for Anthony Volpe. They back up what we were hearing in spring train. If it was just the results on their own, I wouldn't think as much of it, but it supports what we were being told.

And so I think that makes it easier to buy into. One last thing, Tyler O'Neill, it's been huge. He's been huge, and I know he's had a lot of injuries. Remember, though, in 2021, his most healthy season ever, Tyler O'Neill hit, 34 homers stole 15 bases, batted 286. He's walked more than he struck out so far, which I don't expect to last, but it shows how locked in he is right now.

And he has yet to play his first game at Fenway Park. He's got a full week of games there coming up. His power should play well there. Very encouraged by Tyler Mendy. I think he should. And he's 81% rostered, but I saw him out there in one of my own head-to-head points leagues. And I'm looking to pick him up.

And this is one of those situations, Scott, where I tell people all off-season how much I love Tyler O'Neill. I think I have them on maybe one team. Just whenever that happens, I know it's only whatever, two weeks of the season, but yeah, I really liked O'Neill, and I kind of wish I had him on more teams right now.

So that part of it sucks. Yeah, it's like me with Pepio. Bullpen updates from the weekend for the Blue Jays on Friday. Chad Green got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up two hits, but picked up his first save, and looks like the guy, while Jordan Romano is out for the Blue Jays. For the Tigers on Friday, Jason Foley got the eighth inning with the game tied facing the heart of the A's lineup.

The Tigers then took the lead. Andrew Chafin got the first two outs in the ninth, but he also walked two. And then Alex Lang got the final out for his first save. What do you take from this usage, Scott, for the Tigers? It kind of just feels like they wanted to use Jason Foley and what they thought was the biggest spot in the game. And I guess that's why they use them in the eighth.

So here's what AJ Hinch said about that. Foley went through the middle of the order in the eighth. That's an example of being a little bit unpredictable. My apologies to the fantasy lovers out there. So I appreciated that A.J. Hinch was at least thinking of us. Yes. It was a nice little laugh at the start of the weekend before all the carnage. And I think it's basically what we thought all along.

There will be times when Foley works the eighth. he is mostly going to work the ninth. And that seems to be what Hinch is indicating here. And he remains the one to roster from the Tigers. And that's basically it. For the Tampa Bay raise on Friday, Pete Fairbanks got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He walked the bases loaded without recording an out.

And then he was relieved by Jason Adam, gave up a walk-off grand slam to Ryan McMahon. And then on Saturday, they had a two-run lead. Jason Adam worked a clean eighth inning, but it was Colin Poshay, who pitched in the ninth, picked up his first save, and then on Sunday, Sean Armstrong pitched the final two innings. He allowed one run, but picked up his first save. I almost wonder if it was a Corse Field thing,

and they just didn't want to bring Fairbanks back in on Sunday after how bad he looked on Friday. But I'm not overly worried about it. Well, there were all the walks and the velocity was down quite a bit too. Like I said, it was down for a lot of pitchers this weekend. It's been down for relievers especially to begin the year. But both the fastball and slider were down nearly two miles per hour. And Fairbanks has a pretty extensive injury history.

I don't think he's ever had a healthy season. So I'm a little worried something's going on there. I think Jason Adam. remain, I know you have the Wall Cough of Grand Slam, but I think he remains the backup option for saves there in Tampa Bay and probably want to handcuff him to Fairbanks if you can. For

the D-backs on Friday, Kevin Ginkle got the final out in the eighth inning and then stayed out there for the ninth. He gave up two runs to tie the game and hasn't looked so great early on, but he is still the guy until Paul Seawald is back. For the Royals, lots of things happening this weekend on Friday.

Will Smith started the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He got a strikeout and then gave up a double and a walk. He was relieved by James MacArthur, who induced a double play for his first save. On Saturday, they went with Chris Stratton in the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He struck out one for his first save.

And then on Sunday, with a two-run lead, Will Smith pitched the eighth inning. James MacArthur got the ninth, and he picked up his second save. Is James MacArthur just the guy now for the Royal? Scott, he's only 13% rostered, so widely available. Yeah, and I was putting in claims for him in leagues where saves are scarce, but not with very big fab bids.

I don't think he's very good. And so I don't think this is going to last. I imagine, you know, if the Royals had a save chance tomorrow, I don't know, maybe tomorrow he's been worked enough lately that he need a day off. But I'll say the Royals have a save chance two days from now. I imagine James MacArthur would get it. It might just be too messy to bother with in most fantasy leagues. My hunch is that Will Smith finds his way back into that role at some point

because he always seems to and they don't have anybody better. But now Chris Stratton is involved and Nick Anderson is there. And in the long run, I don't think the Royals are that good of a team. So I don't know. It might just be a mess all year. For the Mariners on Friday, Andres Munoz got the ninth inning with the game tied. He walked four and took the loss. And then on Saturday, Munoz bounced back with a clean inning.

For his second save. For the Pirates on Saturday, David Bednar got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up two hits and a run. He took the blown save. For the Phillies on Saturday, Jose Alvarado got the ninth with a three-run lead.

He walked one, but picked up his second save. And then for the Rangers on Saturday, Jose LeClerc recorded the final four outs to get his first save of the season. Let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream. And on Monday, I think the,

Best options are going to be Reese Olson at the Pirates, maybe Graham Ashcraft versus the Brewers, and I don't know, Turnbull at the Cardinals. What do you think? Oh, I guess that's about right. Olson at the Pirates is the only one I'm really excited about. But yeah, Ashcraft and Turnbull would be my next two choices. on Tuesday

All right We got a few Options here I think Logan T. Allen Against the White Sox Martine Perez versus the Tigers

And maybe Casey Mize At the Pirates Uh Yeah I guess I don't know This day looks even worse

To be honest Yeah That's That's fine What you said is fine I guess if I had to pick one, it'd be Casey Mize at the Pirates. Man, really picking on the Pirates, aren't I? Or maybe I just like Tigers, pitchers.

Who knows? Who can say? The Pirates are, I believe, off to a pretty great start, huh? Eight and two. They are. They are. Look at the Buccoes. Let's go. Anyway, we're going to wrap there for Scott.

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