Fantasy Baseball Today - Is Blake Snell Broken? Rankings Risers & Fallers! (5/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

In case you missed our emergency podcast we started things off with Mariners pitching prospect Logan Gilbert who will be promoted Thursday (1:38)! ... What is wrong with Blake Snell (6:03)? How far should he drop down the rankings? Is it time to sell-high on Taijuan Walker? ... News and notes (13:30)! Zac Gallen was placed on the IL with a UCL sprain, Mike Soroka is having a procedure done on his Achilles and more. ... How do you climb out of a hole in Roto (18:26)? ... Which players have elevated their game recently (23:46)? Is Julio Urias legit? Is it time to re-add Andrew Vaughn? ... Which players are moving up and down the rankings (36:16)? ... Gerrit Cole is the unquestioned SP1 plus we have some deeper waiver options (47:21). ... We wrap up with some bullpen updates and streamers for Thursday and Friday (55:55)! ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank, @AdamAizer 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. I drive. Center field. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam. Howdy, everybody, and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today, presented by Sonos Ark, the premium smart soundbar for TV, movies, music, gaming, and more. Stay tuned for additional details about Sonos Ark later in today's show. Frank Stamphle joined by Chris Towers, and we've got some rankings movers for you. What is going on with Blake Snell,

players who have elevated their game recently, and much more. But let's just do a little recap, Chris, on Logan Gilbert, who will be promoted on Thursday, just in case you missed our emergency podcast. One of the top pitching prospects in baseball, It was confirmed by Jeff Passon of ESPN that Logan Gilbert will start on Thursday against Cleveland and making his debut in the same game as Jared Kalanickman.

This is a fun time for Seattle Mariners fans. Very excited for them. And within the next year, so they'll be getting Julio Rodriguez to have a few other pitching prospects there. So it's a really, really fun time for Seattle Mariners fans. Chris, so if you want to recap what we said about Logan Gilbert earlier, must-add starting pitcher,

how far are you moving up in the rank? How much fad would you spend on him? Give it to me. I ended up moving him up to 59 at starting pitcher, which is right outside of that group that I was talking about the other day, where I feel like, I guess the way I would put it is he is right at the border of the pitchers I feel good about versus the pitchers that I'm still very iffy on at best. And so, you know, right ahead of him.

He's 59th overall. James and Taun, Sixth de Sanchez, Sean Minaya, you say Kukuchi, Danny Duffy are the five in front of him. Obviously, six to Sanchez I don't feel great about. But, you know, I think if he does come back in June, I think he'll be very good as long as he's healthy. And then after him is Tony Gonsolin, Nathan Avaldi, Armand Marquez, who I probably need to move down,

Framber Valdez, De Nelson Lemette, Patrick Corbin. So I think that kind of sums up, you know, where that line. is. And I think Gilbert, it's a good spot for him and he could move up very, very quickly. I mean, what we've seen this season is, you know, a lot of pitchers having real breakouts in the early going, partially because of what they're doing, partially because of the offensive environment. And so, you know, we'll see how quickly he can get his feet under him and really get going. But, you know, there's a lot to like about him. I don't think he has necessarily

fantasy ace potential, but you know, you read the scouting reports, he's six foot six, but he's, you know, got a really repeatable delivery. He doesn't really struggle with command, which is a rare thing for a big starting pitcher like this. Uh, but, you know, what, what you usually hear is like average, maybe a little above average fastball velocity, tends to sit 93, 94, he'll touch 95, 96. Um, and then good command of three secondary is a slider, a curveball and a change up. Depending on, which scout you talk to, seems to be the curveball or the slider are considered the best of the pitches.

You know, you add it all up and it kind of sounds a lot like where Aaron Nola was when he was getting called up. You know, people were saying, well, he doesn't have the ace potential, but he's a high floor pitcher. And it took Nola a couple of years, but obviously he has become a bona fide ace.

I think there is that kind of potential for Logan Gilbert, but I don't think, you know, he's not someone that I'm, he's coming up and I'm expecting. to dominate. I'm expecting him to be a must-ad player. I would go as high as 20%

on Fab in a 12-team league, perhaps as much as 25% in a 15-teamer. And, you know, hopefully he's really good. Yeah, and very high expectations for him there, and he's 39% rostered on CBS,

so still widely available. And on our emergency podcast, I read this from the Welsh, Chris Welsh, who formerly hosted this podcast. Good time to announce that we're going to be doing a prospect roundup. We're recording that on Thursday. That's going to come out on Friday.

I'm doing that with the Welsh and maybe Scott White as well. Chris, you're welcome to join us if you'd like also. But basically, he said Logan Gilbert might be the best starting pitcher in the minors. So I trust what the Welsh has to say. He's very into the prospect world. And I said earlier that I thought Logan Gilbert would be the prospect who, the pitching prospect that has the most fantasy value this year. Someone else pointed out in the YouTube comments

that Alec Manoa is also crushing it in the minors. I think there's a chance Manoa could have a lot of value as well. But I'm still going to stick with Gilbert. But yeah, Menoa is moving up. And he could be promoted pretty soon as well. The difference there is Logan Gilbert's much more proven. Yes. You know, Menoa did have 12 strikeouts in his first start.

That was the seventh start ever as a professional. he's starting 23 innings. So, you know, Gilbert has proven himself. He made it all the way to AA in 2019, made I think six, nine starts there, nine starts, 56 strikeouts and 50 innings. So, again, may not have the huge wipeout stuff, but figures to profile as a pretty good pitcher right away.

Fair enough. So there you go. Your Logan Gilbert update here at the top of the podcast. Let's get into some of Wednesday's action. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Chris, your oh my goodness gracious standout from Wednesday. Yeah, I guess it's got to be Blake's now.

You don't want to panic too much about someone struggling at Corse Field except that he's been pretty bad this season. And he's not really showing signs of improvement. He's still not going deep into games. I don't really know what to make of Blake Snell so far. I haven't really moved him down, but

four innings, five hits, two and runs, three walks, seven strikeouts, 84 pitches and four innings. He has continued to be very, very inefficient. And I guess it, you know, maybe Kevin

Cash has owed some apologies for all the teeth gnashing and tongue wailing over, that's his name, right? Kerry's manager? Yes. All right. I don't know, managers so well. Yeah, maybe he's owed a little leeway because, yeah,

Blake Snell's looked a lot like the guy he's looked, you know, really since that Cy Young season where he just hasn't been quite as dominant. The strikeouts are still there. He's still racking up whiffs, but, you know, everything else just, he labors really is, I think, the best way to say it. Yeah, and you mentioned the inefficiency. He has at least two walks in every start the season. He has 12 walks over his last three starts, Blake Snell does.

And Scott actually just wrote an article that's on the site right now about eight pitchers that people are concerned about and what his concern level is. And Blake Snell's up there. He's worried about Blake Snell. And he pointed out it's now been 28 straight starts that he has failed to complete six innings Blake Snell has. and entering Wednesday, 41 starts since his Sy Young 2018.

Blake Snow has a 3.99 ERA and a 1.29 whip. It's just, I think we're just kind of, he's riding that 2018 Sy Young season, and we keep drafting him every year as a top 20th starting pitcher, third, fourth round, and he's just, he's not delivering. So I've lowered him, Chris, I've lowered him down to SP 30. Chris has Scott has lowered him down to SP 28

you mentioned that you haven't moved them but I think kind of with the state of starting pitcher there's just so many pitchers that are pitching better than him

at this point I think he got to lower him so that's kind of where I'm at with Blake's now unless he makes some kind of drastic improvement look when the guy's on he's on

like we saw that in the postseason he can have three four fantastic pitches but right now he's just not on so I'm lower yeah and he is averaging it's not just that he is not throwing a lot of pitches in his starts. He's only gone over 93 times,

but he is averaging 19.3 pitches per inning. Now, he doesn't show up on MLB.com. You can actually, their stat leaderboard does show pitches per inning pitched if you go to expanded. He doesn't show up as the leader because he doesn't qualify for the ERA title right now, which is kind of amazing because he hasn't missed a start. But he would be a full pitch. per inning ahead of the current high guy, which is Mike Minor at 18.3. That gives you an idea of what he's struggling with. It's not, it's not a he's being taken out early. It's he's laboring through these starts.

I guess I'm a little more concerned about him than, than like Luis Castillo. But I guess it's because it's kind of continuing a trend. That's why, I don't know. But yeah, it's, it's definitely. I can't say that it's not. So yeah, that's where we are with Blake Snell. It's not what you want to see.

Oh my goodness gracious for me on Wednesday. Taiwan Walker continues to get it done against the Baltimore Orioles. Seven innings, one run, three walks, four strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes on 97 pitches. The fastball velocity was down a little bit in this one. I was kind of excited about him earlier in the season because he was throwing around 95 miles per hour.

He was averaging right around 93 in the start against the Orioles. So it's down a little bit, but overall on the season, the ERA is at 2.20, with a 3.94X-FIP, 3.93 XERA. And yesterday, Chris,

we spoke about Matthew Boyd. And Matthew Boyd has done a great job of suppressing hard contact and suppressing home runs this year, which is normally something he's struggled with, which kind of makes sense based on what we've talked about

with the hitter landscape recently. Yeah. But I feel the same way about Taiwan Walker, right? Like, he's allowed just one home run this season, I can't see that remaining with the weather starting to heat up across the United States. So I would be looking to, if you can turn Taiwan Walker, I mean, you could just kind of sell, hey, this guy is a 2.20 ERA. Former top prospect. What can you get for him? I don't know. Can you, do you think you can get any of these struggling middle class hitters? I don't know what's

realistic, but I would be trying to sell Taiwan Walker if you could. A couple of names that jump out to me would be Hazers Lozardo or Chris Paddock. You know, Luzardo, obviously, on the aisle, we don't know exactly how long he's going to be out. Paddock just hasn't been there yet, and I think people are probably losing faith. So I think that would be worthwhile. I think it would be worth trying to make that flip.

Yeah, people were asking me all day, would you drop Chris Paddock for Logan Gilbert? And I'm not at that level yet. So I still, I've got to see a little bit more. from Chris Paddock. It's been a weird season for him. He had that, I guess he either had COVID or he was a close contact.

He was on the IEL for that. So we'll see a little bit more from him. Chris, you think you can get, the other day you said you would trade Carl Sordaun to get Lordis Correel. I wonder if you can just, if you could trade Taiwan Walker for Lordis Coriel, as bad as Curiel has been.

Oh, yeah, if I could do that, that would be great. 100%, right? because, yeah, I think Taiwan Walker's most likely outcome, you know, in a month is he's probably a streamer. I think that 393.5, 394XERA or whatever it was probably tells you the story of what to expect moving forward better than his ERA does.

Yeah, I would agree with that. So if you can make a move there on Taiwan Walker, it's something you should be looking to do. Before we get to news notes, FBT listeners, we've reached that point of the year where there is a lot of sports going on at once, which is why we wanted to tell you about the CBS Sports app and how it's not just the best scoring app for your phone,

but it's also where you get breaking news alerts and stories by us. It's not just real sports stories. You can find all the fantasy sports stories on there as well. Standing schedules, team pages, and all the sportsy digital stuff that you're used to. And of course, if a game is airing on CBS, that means it's streaming right on the CBS Sports app. Easy, right?

Why not? Go out and download it. It is for free. Again, the CBS Sports app right there. Go and get it. News and notes. The Debex. This sounds kind of ominous, Chris. The debacks placed Zach Gallen on the aisle with a minor sprain, a minor sprain of his UCL in his right elbow. Manager Tori Lvulo said they will reassess in a few weeks. Apparently their optimistic surgery won't be needed, but it doesn't get much scarier than this. yeah I mean sprain is or I guess strain is it a strain or a sprain I saw a sprain okay because like

that usually means that there's a small tear and that doesn't necessarily mean he'll need Tommy John surgery it could heal but I think you probably like I just moved him down to about 30 at starting pitcher

and I obviously I think he could move quite a bit lower. You know, so maybe it should be more like 45. But yeah, it's ominous. It is very ominous sounding. I dropped Zach Gallen to SP 41. So. Yeah, I just moved him to 44 as we were talking.

I think that makes more sense. I put him right behind Stephen Strasbourg, Freddie Peralta, Kyle Hendrix, Zach Plesec. So it could go either way. I mean, the guy comes back again and he's pitching fine. Sure, we'll move them right back up, but I think as of now, you kind of have to proceed with caution there. Mike Soroka is scheduled to undergo an exploratory procedure on his inflamed right Achilles next week after he experienced renewed discomfort during his recent workouts.

So on top of the Achilles, he was dealing with a shoulder strain, and now it seems like the Achilles has flared back up. If you remember last year, he tore his Achilles in August, and it always kind of seemed like just way too optimistic that he was going to be ready for any were close to the start of the season. So I think the Braves are going to be pretty cautious with this one as well with Mike Soroka. I wouldn't be surprised

if he shut down for like a few months. And then at that point, I mean, it might just be a lost year from Mike Soroka. So, yeah, I'm pretty pessimistic that we see him at all this season. You know, it's... Players had been coming back from Achilles' surgery is a little better in the last like five years or so. There was a point where that

that used to be a death now, but you remember Adam Wainwright actually. Yeah. I ruptured his Achilles and he's been very good since coming back, given the fact that he's also in his mid to late 30s. So there was hope that Soroka could come back and not have too many issues,

but a setback setbacks happen when you're coming back from surgery. And it's definitely risky to try and acquire him in any type of keeper or dynasty setting right now, but I've been trying to do it in the Skywhite dynasty league, Chris. I mean, you know, people are scared about it. You might be able to get him for cheaper.

You definitely will be able to get him for cheaper. than what he was coming into the season. So if you're a rebuilding team, like I am, it might be something you want to do. Jose Orquidi left Wednesday start with shoulder discomfort. Hope he's all right, but maybe this is something that helps Luis Garcia remain in the rotation.

D.D. Gregorius left his game due to right elbow stiffness. Will Myers was moved to the COVID-IL after testing positive. Of course, Fernando Tatis was placed on the COVID-IL after testing positive yesterday. Eric Hosmer was also placed there. as a close contact. At Alberto Mondesi, finally! We'll begin a rehab assignment

with AA Northwest Arkansas on Thursday. All right, some good news for Monashy. Carlos Rodon was pushed back from starting Thursday due to back and hamstring tightness. Not gonna say we told you so, but, no, he should be all right,

but this kind of comes with the territory with Carlos Rodon. The Yankees played on Wednesday despite having seven staff members tested positive. for COVID. Claiboros was out of the lineup as a precaution. Byron Buxton has been cleared to throw and is expected to begin hitting Thursday or Friday. There you go, Chris.

Alex Kirloff has been cleared for the wait room and is expected to test his swing this weekend. Cody Bellinger has made very encouraging progress, but the Dodgers still don't know when he'll be able to play. Diego Castillo threw a successful bullpen and is on track to be activated this weekend. Nico Horner and Jake Arieta are both expected to return. on Friday. Christian Walker placed back on the IL with that right oblique soreness. Once again, Avisael Garcia started in right field on Wednesday, despite not feeling 100%. With a minor back issue, he went on to Homer. He had a home run, right? Yeah. So, all good. Avicayel Garcia. Nick Pavetta was placed on the COVID-IL as he's feeling effects from the vaccine.

Dodgers pitching prospect Josiah Gray was shut down due to a shoulder impingement. So there was some talk with the injury to Dustin May. Maybe Josiah Gray can be elevated sooner rather than later, but it seems like they're going to put that on hold for now. Email of the day, this one's from Drew. He plays in a 10-team daily lineup

and daily Waver League 5-5-R-O with quality starts, saves, ERA, whip, and K-per-9. He starts four starting pitchers and three relief pitchers. I drafted starting pitching early with Shane Bieber, Aaron Nova,

Kenna Maita, Zach Wheeler, Steven Schrossberg, and Shoahe Otani. I left relief pitchers until late, drafted Daniel Bard, Greg Holland,

and Amir Garrett, sorry about that, and missed out on early waiver wire ads like Alex Reyes and Ian Kennedy. Between Maida and Shrosberg and the bullpen, I'm last in saves,

ERA, whip, and it's not really close. Since I've never been in this position before, how do I try to make up ground? Do I limit my starts to try to stop the bleeding, or do I need to try to overwhelm it with quantity?

So I thought this was an interesting email, Chris, because we basically have only been talking from the perspective of teams that have really good pitching, right? Because there's obviously this huge middle tier that is overperforming right now. Maybe they're overperforming. But most roto teams have great pitching, the ones that are at the top there.

What do you do if you're on the other side of that? You know, if you're in last place and you have pitchers that were expected to be great, like Maeda and Strasbourg's hurt for this gentleman and Luis Castillo's been struggling. What do you do in this kind of situation to try and climb out of the hole? I think you try to buy low on Junjin Ryu and Kyle Hendrix and Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Luis Castillo, those guys who are struggling. And I mean, maybe they're all done, but I would guess that chances are most of those guys are going to turn it around.

They've got very long track records for the most part of being very good. So I think that's probably your best bet, but, you know, that's speaking more generally. If you're struggling with starting pitcher, I would think going after those really slow start is probably your best move. That being said, in this specific instance, when you're playing in quality start, saves ERA, WIP, and K-per-9, I think this was the wrong. strategy anyway, going with starting pitcher heavy. And that's just because

one of the reasons starting pitchers are so valuable in a roto league is because it's not just you know, the, you want the elite ratios. Because if you want elite ratios, you can just go with relievers. It's also that wins and strikeouts are two of the five categories. And starting pitchers are going to help you out way more

there than any other type of pitcher. Here, you've only got quality starts. So, you know, because K. Pernert, is actually that all tend to favor relief pitchers more than starters. So I think this was probably the wrong strategy going starting pitcher heavy. But generally speaking, in a standard roto league where your starting pitching has been poor,

I think your best bet is to chase those slow starters. And you can supplement your rotation with, you know, high-end relievers who are not closers, you know, a Trevor May or something like that. So in this person's particular league, they have to start four starting pitchers and three relief pitchers. So it might be harder to find what we called R-passps, our passps, which are relief pitchers

as starting pitchers, the opposite of Sparps. But they do exist. I would, I think you try, you just punt saves for now, Chris. Like, don't start Daniel Bard or Greg Hollander or Amir Garrett, who are crushing your ratios in the hope of getting maybe one save,

per week. I would add some of those relief pitchers you mentioned, like a Trevor May, a few others that stood out to me, who give you some volume, they give you good ratios, strikeouts, use Mero Petit, Ryan Weathers comes in as a bulk reliever and has performed well, Craig Stamin, Ryan Stannick with the Astros,

Jonathan Loisaga, who used to be a prospect for the Yankees, he's been bounced around between the majors and the minors the past couple years. He's really figured it out this year. He's got great ratios, striking out a ton. They're using him for multiple endings at a time. So I think you throw those guys in your relief pitcher spot, you punt saves for now, you try and help get those

ratios back up. And to answer the question of do you limit the starts or do you overwhelm it with quantity, I would be very selective with which starting pitchers I start. Like people in good spots, in good matchups, sure you run them out there, but, you know, if you have a struggling Louise Castillo, don't just keep throwing him out there because his name's Luis Castillo. Like, he's at Colorado on Thursday. Don't do that. If Kenta Maida has a lot of. like a really tough matchup on the road somewhere. He's giving up a lot of home runs this year. Facing a team like that, just keep

them on your bench for now. I think you just kind of have to pick and choose your spots to try and get your ratios back up. But adding the relief pitchers there, I think is a good way to start that going in the right direction. So it's tough. It's tough to climb out of those holes, but especially this early in the season, it's doable.

I believe me, I've done it before. So I know it might seem grim, especially in a Roto League, but it is possible to climb out of some of those holes. Chris, let's move on to raising the bar presented by Sonos Ark and talk about some players

who have elevated their game recently. I hope you guys were listening yesterday because I gave you an outfielder that I thought you should buy high-ish. And his name was Tiaska Hernandez. And sometimes it's crazy how often this happens, Chris, where we talk about a player

and then the very next day they go out and do something. It's very weird. We talked about Mike Musacki's yesterday. same thing he comes out and hits a home run on Wednesday. It's very odd. But Teasca Hernandez goes out, hits two home runs on Wednesday,

and since he returned from the aisle, Chris, he has something like a 13, 14% strikeout rate. I don't think that's going to remain, but he's clearly made an adjustment, and we didn't like him coming into the season, but if you can get him for cheaper, then what his draft day value was,

I think it's something that you should look into doing. Yeah, I think that makes sense. Where he is right now for the season, I don't think he's going to hit 293. But an 844 OPS, I think that makes sense. He's on something like a, I don't know, 35 homer pace, probably, just eyeballing it there. He'd like to see a few more steals than just the one so far.

But, you know, he's still in the 90th percentile for sprint speed. So, you know, I think there's a lot to like here. You know, he's still in, I, believe my top 20, maybe top 25 outfielders in Roto. Yeah, 21. So I haven't moved him down too much. I think he's a perfectly fine by low high-ish. Low high, yeah, by media for Tiaska Hernandez. You'd rather have him than Lourdes-Gariel at this point, right? I think I still have Gouriel higher. I think garrielle's a better hitter. I think all around, you're probably right. And the strikeouts are going to about, they're gonna come back a little bit for Teasca Hernandez,

but I really like what I've seen. So I don't know if it's gonna be as easy to do now after he hit the two home runs in a game. But yeah, I do like the idea of trying to acquire Teoscar Hernandez. Let's talk about Julio Arias, Chris, who continues his fantastic season. Start is still going on.

I wonder if he's about to come out for the eighth inning or not. Yeah, 87 pitches. He's got 87 pitches through seven. He's allowed one run. one walk, six strikeouts for Julio Arias, who has continuously given you volume this year, which is not really something we were expecting from most of the Dodgers pitchers, but especially not Julio Arrhus.

He has now gone seven or more in one, two, three, four starts this season. So it's pretty impressive. The ERA for Julio Reyes is down to 3.26. How far should we be moving Arias up the rankings right now? Yeah, I mean, part of that is he's pitching very efficiently. He's second in baseball in pitches per inning pitched, right behind Jacob de Grom, 13.9 coming into this game. I think that'll probably drop based on what he's done today.

But yeah, like he's topped out at 95. He's thrown 92 other times. So I think moving forward more often than not, you should expect. Julio Reyes to not be going deep into games. I think you're probably looking at more like five and six paintings per start rather than six and seven. I'm not so sure, Chris, because part of the reason he's been so efficient

is because he's not walking anybody. Right, and he has very good control. On the season, 1.27 walks per nine. That is by far a career best. And it's possible that he sustained that, but it is a little out of the norm for him. So I would think there's a little bit of regression coming. He's got, you know, the one thing that Holioreas does very well is he has a 275 Babbat.

That's 291 for his career. It was 257 and 256 in the previous two seasons. We're talking about still relatively small sample sizes all around, only 281 innings for his career. But he has been one of the better pitchers at suppressing hard contact in his career. Actually hasn't been the case this season, which is interesting. he's got a career high strikeout rate, but 398 X Wobah on contact allowed so far. But you kind of feel like Julio Arias is going to turn that around given his career. So I think he's going to be very good moving forward.

I still wouldn't expect him to, like I would be shocked if he averaged six innings per start this season. But there are not that many pitchers going deep. He was just pulled from the game, by the way. So finishes with seven innings, two hits, one run, six strikeouts. He's really good. You know, I, let me see where I end up. I think he's still in the 30-ish range, but I see him at 31. I think I probably need to move him up.

Yeah, moving up to 23. He's ahead of Blake Snow. Oof. All right. Changing the rankings on the fly. So you're going to move a Rias ahead of Charlie Morton. Kyle Hendricks, Jose Berrios, Ian Anderson. So, all right, he's climbing up there for you.

And I think rightfully so. I mean, I think he's a hold overall, Chris, but like if you can sell high, again, the emphasis is I would have to get a, I don't know, Kyle Tucker, you're probably not going to be able to do that because he's coming around. But I would want like a legitimate, viable hitter for fantasy in return for Julio Reyes.

If not, just hold on to him and reap the rewards. Someone else was coming around recently, Chris. Andrew Vaughn hit his first homer of his career. On Wednesday, he finished one for four with a walk, a homer, three runs. Over his last 15 games, he's batting 306, so it's nice to see the power start to come around. 64% rostered, and he has started eight straight games. So as a result of that Luis Robert injury, Andrew Vaughn has, like we hoped, been playing more recently. So he's 64% roster, Chris.

What should that number be higher? Would you drop someone like Josh Bell for Andrew Vaughn? I think that's probably fine. Yeah. I actually might just have Vaughn higher than Bell right now. And I think I do. Why can't I find Andrew Vaughn here? No, I don't have him higher.

I have him pretty low, but I'm going to move him up. Moving up to 20, just ahead of Josh Bell. So there you go. I like it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, so far,

he's not making as much contact as we hoped he would. That was supposed to be, plate discipline was supposed to be his, you know, in addition to the hit tool and power and all that, plate discipline is supposed to be very good for him. He is hitting the ball very well,

90% average, takes of velocity, 379 X Wobon contact. If he can get the 24% strikeout rate down to like 20%, I think you're going to, to see him be a very, very good hitter moving forward. It's not guaranteed, but, you know, it might be an opportunity to still buy low on him. And you know what I like about is May? Just pulled up the splits here, Chris. He, earlier in the season, he was hitting a ton of ground

balls. And that had me a bit worried. In April, it was 50% ground ball rate. So far in May, he has a 29% crown ball rate with a 57% fly ball rate. So he's probably hitting too many fly balls. He's gone too far the other way. But I do like the fact that he is consciously making a change here. Also in May, the strikeout rate is down to 11%.

So he's trending in the right direction, Chris. And it made sense, right? This guy barely has any minor league experience. He was thrown right into the fire from the start of the season. And we're all freaking out. Why isn't he playing every day? I mean, he's still a rookie, right?

And he doesn't have that much experience. So I think it makes sense that, you know, he's slowly coming along now. And I think if anyone dropped Andrew Vaughn in your league, you should go out and make it a priority to get him. He has that dual eligibility as well now between first base and outfield. Chris, Casey Meyes, I know he was someone that you had some pretty high hopes for coming into the season. We spoke about him recently.

And he's coming along-ish. Let's talk about it. Six innings, two runs, two walks, four strike, against the Royals. He now has three straight quality starts, albeit with 13 strikeouts to nine walks during that span. So the strikeout to walk ratio is not where you like, where you want to see it.

But just 54% rostered. It looks like he's on pace for a two-star week next week at Seattle and at the Royals once again. Should you be adding Casey Meis for that two-start week? For the two-star week, I think he might be worth adding. I'm pretty disappointed with how his season's gone. so far, you know, strike got right way below average, 16.3% in the league where it's 24.1% overall. Walk rate's still where it was last season, which is extremely disappointing.

He's doing a better job on contact. Like when guys are putting the ball in play, they're not doing as much damage, but he's not, you know, Julio Reyes there right now. So I think as a two-star pitcher, especially in points leagues, I think you're mostly okay there. But my expectations moving forward are definitely lower than they were coming into the season. I think he is, he's 91 for me now. I've ended up moving a lot of guys above him and moving him down quite a bit. Would you drop Herman Marquez for him? No, I don't think I would.

Maybe for the two-start week. Depends on what Marquez has next week, I guess. Would you drop Stephen Mats for him? No, probably not. Anyway, that was raising the bar presented by Sonos Ark, and if you love baseball the way I do, there's just something about hearing

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Head to Sonos.com to learn more. Let's take a quick break. But when we return, we'll talk about some rankings movers. Chris's latest trade chart is up on the site. We'll talk about it next. Fantasy baseball today. Let's start Chris with Sunny Gray, who has been slowly climbing up your rankings.

Didn't have the greatest start on Wednesday against the Pirates. of all teams, but I will point out that he allowed seven hits. Only two of his batted balls were hard hit balls. The average exit velocity against him was 81.9 miles per hour. League average this season is 89 miles per hour. So, Sunny Gray kind of got babb to death a little bit here in the start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

How far have you moved them up the ranks, Chris? so he is a $16 player in the trade values chart thinking about it like you know like FAB or not FAB but salary cap values before the season you know that that's kind of the way to view it and he's 30th starting pitcher for me which is you know in that

glut where he could move up or down quite a bit moving forward but I like what we've seen so far from him more strikeouts than ever walk rate, still right around where it's been. I don't think he's an ace, but tons of strikeouts and probably a mid-3s ERA moving forward. I feel pretty good about him. How about Freddie Peralta? Actually, an omission of mine,

apologies on yesterday's podcast, didn't get to Freddie Peralta, but on the season, the guy has just ridiculous numbers. A 2.77 ERA, a 3.33 X-FIP, 14Ks per 9, and he is walking quite a bit. He allows a lot of fly balls, 54%, but his homeowner fly ball ratio is actually, you know, just below league average.

So I don't see anything crazy there, Chris. How far should Freddie Peralta move up the rankings? And are you worried about an innings limit with him at some point? I don't know about an innings limit. I mean, he hasn't thrown a ton of innings over the years, but it's not like, You know, it's not like he's been necessarily hurt a ton. It's not like he's been in the rotation, but not going to,

he's been pitching regularly. And he made 39 appearances in 2019. He made 16 start, 16 appearances in 2018 plus what he did in the minors. So, you know, I don't think he's going to throw 170 innings, but like 140 might, might be doable. And you're not going to get a ton of volume from Freddie Peralta either way. I mean, you know, the way he pitches kind of, it's its own. in a way. But the strikeout rate is just massive. You know, it's like almost 40% right now,

39.4. He's always been really hard to like make solid contact against for his career. 372 ex-Wobon contact, but you know, last year or this year, 276. So he's very good in that regard. And given the strikeouts and given the fact that he is, you know, throwing three pitches now, I think it's he's a top 50 pitcher for me right now. And in headhead points leagues, I think he might be a top 20, maybe top 15 relief pitcher.

In terms of accumulation, he's got to be close to RP1, right? In a points league, I would imagine? I'm not sure, but maybe. So, Scott and I both have Freddie Peralta at SP 35. Is that too high, Chris?

Because you have him at SP 48. That's a little higher than I would go. but I don't, you know, I don't feel like it's a mistake necessarily, you know, as we've talked about a lot. Really from like, I guess now it's 16 or so at the starting pitcher ranks down to about 45.

There's just a lot of fungibility right now. So I, you know, wherever he slots in there, it's mostly a matter of personal preference. At what point do you try and trade one of these, pitchers that you have any concerns about, Chris, like Trevor Rogers or Freddie Peralta. Do you wait another month from now?

Do you wait closer to the All-Star break, like mid-July? Specifically with Rogers and Peralta, it's as much about how well they're pitching now as the innings limit. I don't think Trevor Rogers' value is ever going to get higher. I don't think Freddie Peralta's value is ever going to get higher this season. So knowing that at some point, they're going to have their innings limited,

I think does make it easier to try to move them now because you know that whatever, maybe it's not a hard stop, maybe they get stretched out, whatever it is, the value is going to be diminished moving forward. This is the most value they'll add to your team.

So, yeah, I think right now is the perfect time to sell any of those guys with innings concerns who are pitching really well right now. Carlos Rodano would add to that. And so, like, if I could, could move Freddy Peralta or Trevor Rogers for Luis Castillo, I would definitely do that.

I feel like you can get more, though. I think you can ask for Castillo and maybe even a struggling hitter that's on someone team as well. Maybe. Yeah. As a two for one return. So I just, I think people are just so spooked off by Castillo right now. And rightfully so. I mean, kind of ERA over six. But I mentioned some quotes the other day. They feel like they're close to figuring it out with Castillo. So we'll be watching them closely on Thursday at Corsfield to see if he can turn it around there. Let's talk about a few players that are falling down the ranks, Chris,

and Austin Meadows. We mentioned this update that they did to expected stats recently on baseball savant. And Austin Meadows for a while, it looked like he was, okay, he was underperforming,

it looked like, you know, the XBA, he was going to bounce back and stuff like that. They've lowered it. His expected batting average is 228. His expected slug is 4802. He's hitting way too many fly balls, Chris.

The launch angle is 25.3. Now, that was an issue for him last year. My hope was that he was going to get back to the player he was in 2019, where hit more line drives, you know, don't put the ball in the air as much in terms of fly balls. How confident are you that Austin Meadows gets back on track? Somewhat confident. I think he's better than this.

But the thing to remember about Austin Meadows is he's really only had the one very good season, 2008 and 2019. 2018, he was fine. You know, he's a decent player, but, you know, his minor league track record wasn't all that great. He was like a, it was like a high 700s, low 800s hitter in OPS in the minors. But, you know, the thought was, well, he'll play better once he fills out. I still think he's more like an 850 OPS guy than what we've seen the last couple of years. But the early returns aren't great.

And it is that launch angle. He is just, he's getting under the wall too much. You know, a lot of infield fly balls. I still have him, I think, in the top 25. Yeah, me too. At the outfield, I haven't moved him that much down, but he's definitely moved down overall. Yeah, and I think rightfully so.

I was very excited about him so far, and I will admit he has not lived up to expectations, but a 60% fly ball rate, that's just the way that, you know, We've talked about the ball of this season. It's just, you don't want to put the ball in the air that much. So Austin Meadows, surprise, he's actually performing pretty well against lefties. So that's actually one of the better signs.

Not great. It's like a 750 OPS, but that's serviceable. Chris, you wrote an article yesterday where you mentioned that Glaber Torres should be a cell low candidate. And Scott and I kind of went back and forth on this, a little bit on yesterday's podcast as well. He's been so just mediocre for such a long time now, basically,

over the last 74 games since the start of last season, he has the ninth lowest hard contact rate among, I think it was like right around 300 played appearances. So, what would you look to move Glaver Torres for right now if you're trying to sell low on him?

Let's see. I would try to get, I think you could probably try to get someone like Carlos Correa, who's been a little disappointing so far, I think, you know, I might rather make that trade. I would do it if you could pull it off. Correa had three hits on Wednesday, so hopefully a sign of things to come.

See if you could snag Luke Voight before he gets back. See if you could. Voight's already back, Chris. Oh, sorry. He was in the lineup on Monday, right? They, I think their first game was on Tuesday, but yeah, he's been in the lineup each of the past two days. So yeah, I, you know, in that range, I, I, I haven't moved him a ton down my rankings yet, but, you know, it was like in looking at him over the last couple of days, I finally was just like, I feel like we're giving him a lot of credit over the last couple of seasons because one, he was this top prospect, which totally makes sense. He's still very young. He's only 24 years old. But the 2019 season especially was so good. Uh, 38 home runs. in, you know, not even quite 600 played appearances or maybe just a little bit more so.

But then you look at like his career numbers per 150 games over the last, for his entire career, including that 2019. He's hitting 268, 79 runs, 29 homers, 85 RBI, 6 steals, which is good, but it's certainly not elite. And I compared him to D.D. Gregorius in that same span, hitting 259, 88 runs, 28 home runs, 102 RBI, and 8 stolen bases. So lower batting average,

but better or comparable in every other category. And then, I mean, if you take out that 2019 without the Orioles, because he hit 13 of his 38 home runs against them last season, that season hasn't actually hit a home run against the Orioles in the, you know, two partial seasons since. You know, 2018, 2019 without the Orioles

Kind of looks a lot like what he's been overall So I'm not writing him off He's still so young, he's super talented But has not been impressive At all since that 2019 season Yeah, I definitely holding Dynasty leagues Now is not the time to move him where he's Yeah

You know, on this downturn Would you trade him for Ehio Horez, Chris? I think that's fine. Yeah, I think it's kind of a challenge trade, and those are always difficult, but yeah, I think that's fine. Would you do it for Marcus Semyon? In a points league, I think I would rather have Simeon. Let's take a look at some studs being studs,

ACE's edition from Wednesday. Garrett Cole, this guy, he's just the SP1. There's no doubt at this point. At Tampa Bay, a team that does strike out quite a bit, eight shutout with 12 strikeouts to zero walks, 24 swinging strikes in this start. He has 78 strikeouts to three walks

in 52 and 2 thirds this season. I mean, Garikull is, he's just on a different level. I think he's gone 56 strikeouts since his last walk. Yeah. I think is what he's up to now. His change-up.

We talk a lot about John Means his change-up. Garik Cole is number two in that pitch value standing that they have on fan graphs. So we already knew he had a great breaking pitch and fastball, but now, I mean, if the change of performing at this level,

it's this might actually be the best version of Garrett Cole that we've seen. A few other studs, Hyunjin Ryu at the Braves, nice little bounce back, seven innings, one run, six strikeouts. Max Fried on the other side, six innings, one run, four strikeouts against pretty good Blue Jays lineup there. Zach Wheeler at the Nationals, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts. Chris, did you have the opportunity to see the defensive laps in the outfield for Zach Wheeler on

I did not. What happened? Oh man, go to my Twitter feed and pull it up if you can. It was there's a ball hits like the warning track easily catchable ball and Bryce Harper and Oduble Herrera just looking at each other then they try to go and get it at the same time and then they just collide and the ball just like lands right behind them. It was like watching

a third grade little league game. It was pretty rough to watch. That is excellent. That is very good. It was bad. Brandon Woodruff versus the Cardinals man, he is just a bona fide top 10 starting pitcher guy is awesome. Seven and two-thirds, one earned 10 strikeouts to just one walk. Let's take a look at some deeper waivers, Chris. You tell me if there's anything here with any of these players.

James Caprillion, who we've kind of heard the name for a while now. He's 27 years old, so getting up there, he's dealt with a lot of injury issues, did not pitch at all in 2017 or in 2018. Former Yankee prospect was traded to the A's in the sunny gray trade a long time ago, made his first career start on Wednesday at the Red Sox, five innings, one run, three walks, six strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes on 95 pitches against a pretty good Boston Red Sox lineup.

So anything here, Chris, 4% rostered. Given how many good starting pitchers there are right now, I don't think I'm running out to add him, but in a 15 teamer, he might be worth a look. I don't know whether there's a ton of upside there but given how little he's pitched I guess it's hard to say

Jock Peterson had three hits including a double and an RBI on Wednesday he is 12 for 27 that's a 444 batting average since returning from the IL 30% rostered Chris seven games next week but faces three lefties Jock Peterson anything here

I am regretting the fact that I cut him in one of my roto leagues because he was off to such a terrible start. He was on the IL and I just couldn't afford to keep him on the roster. And he's looked a lot better. I think overall there's a ceiling here and he's probably just kind of a one-dimensional power hitter. But there have been flashes of him being more than that. and the fact that he is playing against lefties. Maybe he can be better than we've seen so far.

You know, probably more like a top 60 outfielder. But that's worth owning or rostering a, you know, 12th or 5-outfeiter league. Any type of 5 outfielder league. Even a 12 team or 15, so Jack Peterson, a name there. Starling Casher went 4-4 with a run in RBI. He is betting 303, 46% rostered, has dual eligibility. second base and third base,

seven games next week. He's kind of boring, Chris, but I feel like we kind of have to capitalize on boring hitters that provide batting average right now because there's just so few hitters that are. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, Star and Castro is, he's kind of the guy that you're never happy

he's on your team necessarily, but, you know, more, you're just kind of hoping he won't hurt you. And, you know, I think right now he's not hurting you. So, you know, it's, I don't think he's a 300 hitter, but honestly, if he even hits 275, that's, that's almost good enough these days, sadly. Yeah, that's a plus plus contributor in batting average based on the numbers you gave out the other day, right? What is it a two? The average first place team in an NFC 15 team, right? league. So 12 teams, it would probably be

a little higher. But in a 15 team league, the average first place, the average team leading and batting average is a 2.70 average right now. Yikes. Oh, man. Yeah, that's pretty bad. I'm going to lump these this group of players together, Chris, maybe in deeper leagues you might be looking at them.

Jonathan VR has five hits with two steals over his last five games. He has triple eligibility. Nico Goodrum, his last 15 games, he's batting 264 with two homers and six steals. Oduble Herrera went two for four with his second home run on Wednesday, came off of a lefty in Brad Hand. Amade Rosario had four hits, including a double and two RBI. Billy Hamilton, blasting the

past, went four for four with a double, a triple, and his fourth steal of the season. So between VR, Goodrum, Herrera, or Dupil Herrera, that is, Ahmed Rosario, Billy Hamilton, any interest in a deeper league? I think Amad Rosario is probably the most interesting of this group, which is definitely sort of damning with faint praise for sure, but he's been hitting the ball better of late. And, you know, the four, you know, not just the four hits today,

but the exit velocity has been up over the last like 10 days or so. And, you know, he's still only 25. I know that it's been a very disappointing start to the career so far, but he's fast. You know, I think he can be a decent contact hitter. And, you know, maybe this is the start of something. I actually added Nico Goodrum in a few 15-team category leagues,

and he's kind of like Starlin Castro where, like, you're never happy to have Goodrum on your team, but he contributes steals, and he has dual eligibility, and he's pretty much playing every day for the Detroit Tigers. So if you do need some speed, I do think Nico Goodrum is a name there. Chris, I just got to ask, with the Renaissance of Alex Wood and Madison Bumgarner and all these oldies, but goodies, John Lester,

he allowed one run over six ennings on Wednesday against the Phillies he has now allowed just four runs over 16 in his first three starts he's 28% rostered anything there just gotta ask

I think he could be a league average pitcher moving forward I think that's probably a not unreasonable expectation for him but the strikeouts have just disappeared you know, obviously the sample size isn't huge this season or last, but a strikeout rate under 16% in 2020,

strike rate under 15% in 2021. It's really hard to be effective that way. You can do it, but I don't know if I believe Lester has the skills to do that. So more of a streamer, more of a two-star guy. Some signs of life from these hitters on Wednesday, Dom Smith, had three hits, including a double and two RBI. he's betting 364 over his last seven games. Mike Mustakis mentioned he heard us.

He was listening to the podcast yesterday. He had two hits, including his fourth home run of the season. A. Eugenio Suarez now has five hits, including a home run and four RBI over his last three games. And Kyle Tucker now has six hits and three homers over his last four games. Tucker, much like Austin Meadows, not to the same level, but he's putting the ball in the air a lot this season. So we'd like to see that come down a little bit, but some of those home runs are starting to pop now for Kyle Tucker. The call to the pen, some bullpen updates for the Reds.

I still feel like we have on a day-to-day basis. I can't tell you who would. Who would get a save for the Reds if they, when will they get another save opportunity? That is just the question of the day, because it feels like it's been forever. Anyway, T. T.J. Anton recorded four outs across the fifth and the sixth in a tie game.

Sean Doolittle pitched in the seventh. Lucas Sims pitched in the 8th and the 9th. So maybe Sims is the guy, but Amir Garrett is currently serving as suspension. So that also throws a wrench in things. For the Padres, Mark Moulanson recorded five outs for his 12th save. For the Rockies, Daniel Bard. He is National League, Raphael Montero.

That's what I'm calling him at this point. He was going for a five-out save. In a one-run game, he wound up giving up three hits and a run. He took his third blown save of the season. For the Tigers, Michael Fulmer was. using the eighth. Gregory Soto used in the ninth for his fourth save.

Chris, are you ready for musical chairs with the Oakland A's? Lutrovino was using the eighth. Jake Deekman in the ninth for his fifth save. This is how the Oakland A's saves have gone this season. Lutrovino got the first two.

Then Jake Deekman got the next two. Lutrovino got the next three. Dekeman got the next one. Then Trino got the next one. And now Deekman has the last two. It's just been all over the place. So I just, if you play in a Categories league,

keep them both on your team because it seems like you're kind of mixing a match. Did they have lefties coming up when Dekeman came in? I've looked at that pretty consistently and there's been, I'll pull it up right now for Wednesday, but it was, there was nothing on, I mean, he got to save on Tuesday as well.

And there was nothing, there was no reason why. No, it was, I mean... He faced Hunter Renfro, who's a righty, Jonathan Arauz, who I can't tell you which way he bets. And Michael Chavis, who is also a righty.

Yeah, and... I don't know. Trevino faced three righties in the eighth, but Devers was up third, so... I have no idea, man. It doesn't seem like there's any rhyme or reason to it. If you have one of them or both of them, just...

They're going to split safe. but at least they're giving you something. For the Nationals, Brad Hand blew a one-run lead. He allowed a solo homer to O'Dubel Herrera. Hand has now allowed runs in three straight games. For the Yankees, a oldest Chapman picked up his ninth save. Hector Nerris got his seventh for the Phillies. And Josh Hader got his eighth for the Brewers.

Wrap up with some to stream or not to stream, Chris, this time on Thursday. Daniel Lynch at the Tigers, Spencer Turnbull versus the Royals, Merrill Kelly versus the Marlins, Garrett Richards versus the A's. Mike Fultenevich at the Astros and Rich Hill at the Yankees. Rich Hill versus the Yankees. He's at home actually.

I think the first two that jumped out to me were probably Garrett Richards versus Oakland and Merrill Kelly. I would really prefer not to have to use any of the other ones. I'm pretty sure Scott didn't want to just, he just didn't want to use any of them at all. But I know he liked... That's fair. I know that. I think Kelly against the Marlins is going to have a good start. Yep. And, uh... I do remember Scott saying he liked Gary Richards as well. So for Friday to stream or not to stream,

Tyler Anderson versus the Giants in a revenge game. Griffin Canning at the Red Sox. Jake Arenda in his return at the Tigers. David Peterson at the Rays. Drew Smiley at the Brewers. Adrian Howser versus the Braves. I think Anderson and Smiley are good starts. And I'm torn between Peterson and Canning,

but there's a big gap. between the two of them, or between the first two. So I'll go with Peterson, but Smiley and Anderson, I think, are the top two. Yeah, I agree with you. I like Canning. I like what I've seen from him. The underlying numbers are very good, but I don't love it in Fenway. Yeah, it's just not a matchup for him.

Yeah, David Peterson against Tampa. They've struggled against lefties. They swing and miss a lot. So if you need one between those two, I would go with Peterson as well. We're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow.

Bye-bye.