Fantasy Baseball Today - James Outman Breakout!? Week 5 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers (4/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 21, 2023

Xander Bogaerts is proving the doubters wrong (2:05)! ... Is James Outman a breakout (8:30)? ... Madison Bumgarner was DFA'd and Brandon Pfaadt could be on the way (13:25). ... Connor Joe is back (16:45)! ... Tanner Houck is kind of interesting (19:30). ... Does Luke Weaver matter (24:22)? ... News (26:35): Max Scherzer will be suspended 10 games for using a foreign substance. ... What do we do with these players off to slow starts (35:50)? ... Let's preview Week 5 (45:25)! Which two-start pitchers and sleeper hitters should you target? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (52:55). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  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/ 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

And welcome in to fantasy baseball today on April 21st. Frank Stamfield, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we're going to recap all of Thursday's action. Smaller slate, only seven games on the schedule. Week 5 sleepers, two-star pitchers. Fernando Tatis Jr. is back. We'll get into all that. Before we get started, please like this video, subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already.

If you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating. it really helps and we really do appreciate it. Guys, let's jump right in. Oh my goodness gracious. At a girl, Susan. Yeah, Epic fail by me. If you're watching on the video side, I played the wrong Kokomo Friday video.

Okay, I was going to call you out on that. I was going to say something because on the day that Connor Joe hits a home run to get his OPS above 1,000 for the season and you don't play the Connor Joe Kokomo? I'll play it now. Unbelievable. I'll play it now.

Don't tempt me. Amateur hour. It's kind of hard, you know, producing and hosting at the same time. So I click the wrong one. Apologies for those watching. If you're listening on the audio side, I will play the right one. And I do love Connor Joe. And we'll talk about that in just a little bit.

Scott, why don't you kick us off? Oh my goodness gracious, player of the night. Scott is frozen, but he just has the most happy look on his face of all time. And now he's gone. So Chris, I'll start with you instead. Oh, my goodness gracious, player of the night. Oh, the timing was perfect there. I am going to go with Zander Bogartz, who hit another home run today.

I think that gives him. Is that four? Five on the season. Five on the season for Zander Bogartz. Frank Stample and Scott White said he wouldn't even hit five this season in your faces. No, I think it's worth talking about the start to the season that Zander Bogartz has had because he's been incredible. He has a, he had a 941 OPS coming into the game. He's now hitting 350 with a 993 OPS through the first 22 games of the season.

Obviously, we understand that sample sizes are small. And then Zeta R. Gargarts will likely not hit 350 for the remainder of the season. But I think, I think you and Scott owe him an apology because I think the arguments you were making against him coming into the season were pretty sound. His quality of contact metrics, not so good. Certainly not as good as the kind of draft price you were paying for Zander Bogartz, usually. And the move from Fenway Park to playing half his games of Pecco was a downgrade in

park. And so I think it was reasonable to have some concerns. This is also, this is one of those things as I get older and as I get a little more experience. I do tend to like start trusting my gut a little more. I'm never going to be a, an eye test or gut guy in terms of my fantasy analysis. But for a guy like Xander Bogart's, to a certain extent, I don't really care about the quality of contact metrics. Like even right now, he's had five barreled balls this season. His hard hit rate is 23.5%, which is very low. It's actually the lowest of his career. His average axis velocity 86.8 miles per hour, also not very good.

And yet I, like what he's doing is not sustainable, but I think he's going to continue to be really good. And it's one of those things where it's just like most of the metrics that I use to analyze most players suggest that Zanderbargertz won't be a particularly good player moving forward. I just, whatever it is, whatever he's got that dog in him, or he's built different, or he's him with a capital H, whatever the kids are saying, I think that applies to Xander Bergerz. I think he's one of those guys that just, for whatever reason,

the metrics just don't account for what it is that makes him great. And that's not to say that he's going to have a thousand OPS moving forward. I would think 150 points less than that is probably more realistic. But I do think Xander Bargerouts is not really a sell high candidate right now. I think he's just going to remain. one of the better hitters at the shortstop position in a fantastic lineup that just got better today with the addition of Fernetta Tatis. So I just think Zander Bogartz needed some love. Yes.

And Zander Bogartz, if you're out there listening, I would like to personally apologize for you for being wrong. So far three weeks. I think we're exactly three weeks into the baseball season so far. He's looked fantastic for all the reasons. You mentioned, Chris. And I tried to work that into my analysis more, too. I mean, there are just some players that defy the numbers, defy the underlying analytics. Jose Al Tuve is somebody that comes to mind.

His quality of contact is never good, but he maximizes what he does because he pulls everything in the air and it's a great ballpark and a great lineup to hit in. Chris Bryant is another one where the quality of contact never looks good for him, but he just finds a way to put up numbers. So I think that there are just players. No, Aironado. Yeah, there are just players that defy these numbers. And when they've done it for so long, I think you just kind of trust it.

The first thing I was going to say, well, you know, process over results right now. If you look at the underlying metrics for Bogarts, it looks pretty bad. But I think for the most part, I disagree with you, Chris. Like, the counting stats are already there. Five homers, 14 runs, 12 RBI. That's been without Fernando Tati's Jr. in the lineup so far too. So I think the counting stats will only continue to get better. Like, yes, some of these numbers are going to drop overall.

But like, what can you even sell Bogart's high for right now if you wanted to a pitcher? Okay, maybe. I mean, everyone needs pitching right now. Or I'm just looking at the shortstop position. Can you get Bobby Wood Jr.? I don't think so. I don't think so. If you could, sure. I think in a, like, Wander Franco is an interesting one. I think if I could get him in a points league, but the person has Wanderfranco is feeling pretty good about that too. So I don't think they're going to make that move. I think I'd still rather, I'd rather have Zander. I'd rather have than Dansby. Yeah. You know, I guess if you have like a short. stop to play with.

If you could get Corey Seeger plus something, maybe that'd be worth doing. And you could just weather the storm for the next month. But all in all, I just, and I think it's like, Manny Machado is another player like that where like I had somebody say, well, the underlying metrics look pretty bad. And it's like, it's Mani Machado. Right. Like that guy's going into the Hall of Fame. Zanderberg, he might not get into the Hall of Fame, but he's been a pretty awesome

player for like a decade almost. These are the kind of players. It's not everyone. But there are a handful of players who, one, like we talked about, Nolan Ernato, Chris Bryant, a handful of other guys who just, like, the underlying metrics don't seem to encapsulate what they do well. Jose Altuve, it's three, two for sure, Hall of Fame caliber players. I just, yeah, I don't worry too much about any of those guys either like, oh, sell high

because they're not playing as well as their metrics suggest or anything like. that. I think those guys are just, they're just really, really good. Yeah. And I have Bogart's as my seventh ranked shortstop right now. He's just behind Wander Franco, but to me, those guys are very similar value. It's kind of a wash. So I don't think that makes sense. The move for a pitcher, that's the move that might make some sense. If you need pitching and maybe you just got Bogarts and another, you know, breakout shortstop so far, I don't, I don't even know who that would be like a Volpe. He's come around recently. Then yeah, maybe you could look to flip Bogarts for that. But if not, I would just rather hold on to him and I think he's just going to turn out to be really good and probably

make me look dumb this year. Oh my goodness gracious for me. James Outman is someone who coming into the season, I told everyone like, this guy's kind of interesting. You know, Dave Roberts right before the season started said, this kid's going to play. He's made the opening day roster. We're not going to put him on the roster for, you know, just for him to hang out and play and be on the bench. He's going to play. And man, he has played so far. Two for five with a double Dong on Thursday night, including a go-ahead grand slam in the ninth inning of that game. He's been leading off the past couple of days with Mookie Betts on the paternity list, so I don't think that's going to last. But either way, he has earned everyday playing time with what he has

done. He's batting 290, 5 home runs, 12 runs scored, 15 RBI, 2 steals, good plate discipline, at least in terms of the walks, 10 walks, 22 strikeouts is high. He has been whiffing quite a bit. That's a 30% strikeout rate. He doesn't really chase, though. 2% chase rate. That is really impressive for a rookie. It's really impressive for anyone, especially for a rookie. He hits the ball hard. He had a 19% barrel rate entering Thursday.

He also 92nd percentile sprint speed. And he had a really good season in the minors last year. James Outman is up to 88% rostered. So I don't really think he's available anywhere, Chris. But I'm starting to get that feeling. I know we're only three weeks in and anything can happen. It's so early in the season. But given what he's done in the minors,

even, you know, age to level, he's, you know, probably was too old for some of the levels. In that lineup, a lineup that needs him, a team that typically gets the, you know, gets a good amount out of their hitters, I feel really, really good wherever I have James Outman right now. Yeah. And I mean, we're talking about a very small sample size against lefties. Only 13 plate appearances. So basically nothing. But like, he hasn't been overmatched at least five walks to one strikeout. That's a key thing when you're looking at a young left-handed hitter is, you know, can they at least hold their own against lefties? so far in the small sample size he has. So yeah, it's been pretty impressive. He had cooled down considerably since his last home run before this double home run

game. I think it was like his previous 11 games or something he had hit 235 with like a 650 OPS. So there had been some some definitely cool down. Yeah, his previous 10 games before the 621 OPS. But all in all, like you said, the underlying metrics all look very, very good. good. There aren't too many red flags here. I'm pretty pleased with what we're seeing from him so far. I recently moved outman inside of my top 50 outfielders as well, Chris. Up to outfielder 48. That's just ahead of Jake McCarthy. McCarthy has a nothing. He's been sitting out the past couple of games, a couple games as

well, just ahead of Michael Conforto, Austin Hayes. So he's kind of in that range of like high floor players. But I think there's a lot of upside. So what do you think top 50 on outman? Yeah, I think that's pretty reasonable because the thing about outfield is like once you get to, I mean, 35, 36, 37, like I've got Brandon Nimmo and Ian Hap at like 36, 37 mark, then Nick Castiano's, who's hitting well, but has no home run so far this season. And then it's Oscar Coloss and Jared Kellnick and Jorge Saler. And yeah, it's, I think top 50 makes sense.

And it's partially just how good he's been. and impartially that the outfit position stinks. Yeah, and I guess you could call James Outman a sell high, but he's so unproven that I don't think anyone's really going to pay much to get him right now. I'd rather just hold on, especially on that team, the way he's playing, and see, you know, where he actually goes. Like, maybe this is just a full-on breakout. So really liking what I've seen from James Outman so far the season.

Chris, obviously, it was Fernando Tatis Jr. Day. I'm rocking the home run Hermano shirt from Ron. Roto Ware. Didn't look too great. I think he went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in that game. But hey, you know, it's his first game back. He's probably going to shake off some rust. Wasn't going to, you know, hit three home runs in the game like he was down in the

minors. But it is good to have him back for fantasy. Yeah, still had a batted ball at 110 miles per hour. Had a, you know, we were watching the end of that game and he lined out in the ninth inning. And we both kind of had the same reaction like, oh, he didn't really hit that one that hard. It looked like it was kind of off the end of the bat. It was 100.4 miles per hour. Exit velocity on that one.

So, yeah, I think he's going to be very, very good. I think you can make a very good case that he's going to be the best player in fantasy moving forward. I know there is one guy in our chat every night on FFT who does not agree with us, but that's okay. I think Fernando Tatis is going to have an awesome season, and I'm glad he's back. Yesterday we had the Welsh on the podcast,

and his, oh my goodness gracious, was Madison Bumgarner. Turns out he was spot on because Mad Bum got DFAed on Thursday, and apparently Tommy Henry is going to take Mad Bum spot in the rotation. That's what they're saying. I don't know how true that is, Chris.

Maybe they just called them up to have an extra arm in the bullpen. I don't really know how that can be the move when Brandon Fott just went out on Thursday night and had his best start of the season in the minor, seven shutout with eight strikeouts. What do you think happens here? Like, is Brendan fought up next time in the rotation?

Or do they actually give Tommy Henry a shot? What do you thinking? So I am not sure what the situation with their 40 man roster is. But I know that that was the thing with Fott was he was not on the 40 man coming into the season. So, you know, that could be a limiting factor if they don't have the roster about to play with, although they did DFA Madison Bumgarner. So they should. in theory have that spot.

Yeah, I would think it's before long we see him. I'm not, I'm not thinking that that Hunter's going to stick around in the rotation for long. So, yeah, I'm a little more skeptical of thoughts upside than perhaps most people. I think, you know, in reading the scouting reports, I get a sense that like he might be more of like a Tommy, Tyler Malley type, which that's a good player. But I do have some concerns there, but not enough that I don't think you should add him. And, you know, especially when he gets the call. And, you know, I don't think we shouldn't be excited about him.

I just want to, you know, I feel like we sometimes talk about him like he's like a Grayson Rodriguez level pitching prospect. He's not that. You know, he's not one of the consensus top guys in, in. baseball. He's a good pitching prospect. Brandon Fott is 42% Rosser. The question I kept getting Thursday, Chris, is Mason Miller or Brandon Fott. And it's tough for me to answer because if you need someone to pitch right now, Mason Miller looks like he's a two-star pitcher for next week. But the team context is much better for Brandon Fott. And he was

a much higher ranked prospect than Mason Miller coming into the season. So even if you have to wait one or two more weeks, you know, after Mason Miller. I think that that's the way that I lean right now. What do you think? Fott versus Miller. I would have a tough time dropping Miller. But like if you have to make the decision, you know, before your Sunday night waiver wire runs on Fott or Miller, I think picking Fott over Miller is a reasonable choice because if nothing else, Fott is likely to come up to the majors and throw 90 pitches in his first outing. I'm not sure we're going to see that from Mason Miller. I certainly don't think we're going to see 100 innings from Mason Miller and the majors. So that's, um, that's, I think where the distinction comes from, even if I think

Mason Miller has a decent chance to just be better than him on a per inning basis. All right. So hopefully we're seeing Brandon Fought soon. Again, he had his best start at AAA on Thursday night, seven shutout with eight strikeouts there. Go out and add him if you need pitching. If you're looking to stash, uh, a prospect that could be up very soon with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bad job by me. we already mentioned, like, played the wrong Kokomo Friday video to start the podcast, and

I buried the lead. Chris, Connor Joe, he is back. I don't know what he is back to, but he is back. One for three with a three-run homer. That's his second home run of the season. He's batting 3.40. Good plate discipline so far. Six walks to 12 strikeouts.

He's hitting the ball hard. The barrel rate looks good. He has started eight of the last nine games. Tell me I'm wrong, Chris. Tell me I'm wrong about Connor Joe. I mean, you're probably wrong. He had a 697 OPS playing for the Rockies last season. So, yeah, but they're the Rockies.

It's fair to assume that he's not particularly good. Now, that being said, his quality of contact metrics, and really most of his metrics this season look very good. He's hitting the ball hard. His plate discipline's been very good. We're talking about a 57 plate apparent sample size. So skepticism is, well earned, but if you have a roster spot to play with, I think it's fine to take a chance on him.

I think like, like Trent Grisham has been pretty good lately. I think I'd rather have Trent Grisham than him or some other hitters. It's so funny. You bring that up. Joey, Joey Gallo. I would rather take the chance on Joey Gallo. I think Josh Lowe. I agree.

I would rather take the chance on Jorge Soler. But like, if I've got Andrew Benintendi on my team, and to be clear, I don't on any of my teams, but for some reason he's 79% rostered. Drop him for Connor Joe. Sure, yeah. So the first thing you brought up was Trent Grisham. I moved Connor Joe up to my 85th ranked outfielder,

which mind you, that's not very high. I realize that. Yes. It's one spot behind Trent Grisham. So it was just so funny that that was the name that you came up with. And look, as much as I love Connor, Joe, I am kind of being facetious with it. I said the other day,

if he continues to hit well and he continues to play, I think that he has earned at least deeper mixed league relevancy. 15 team, five outfielder leagues. You need a corner infield as well. He's got first base. He's got outfield eligibility. He's only 5% rostered.

He's got six games next week. I think in a league that deep, yes, I would be willing to take a shot on Connor Joe if I need a body, if I need someone who's playing. And there are a bunch of guys who like in 12 team in deeper leagues, we took flyers on.

Like Joey Manessus and Brandon Jury and Will Myers, guys who we, you know, wanted to see what they have. And at least in the early going, they have nothing. So I think it's perfectly reasonable to drop any of those guys for him. I was going to talk about, we'll get into some pitchers. Actually, let's just talk about him now.

We'll talk about some of the interesting pitchers on the Waver Wire who emerged here on Thursday. And we'll start off with Tanner Howick, who was great up against the Twins, career high, seven innings pitched, three runs allowed, seven strikeouts with 16 swinging strikes. and he is a new pitcher this year. He's throwing a new cutter 15% of the time. He's increased his splitter usage. He actually doubled the splitter usage in this start, and it looked like a really good pitch for him. So kind of interested in Tanner Howick, more of a deep league play.

25% roster for him. Rwanzi Contreras looked great up against the Reds. I know they're kind of going through it, and they're the Reds, so they're not very good. And this game was in Pittsburgh. Six and two-thirds, one run, eight strikeouts, 14 swinging strikes on 93 pitches for Contreras. All 14 of those coming on the slider.

I thought it was so interesting, Chris, because yesterday we were talking about Luis Garcia, not all of them, but 19, I think, of 21 or 23 whiffs on his cutter. And then one day later, Contreras gets all these whiffs on his slider. So it's just a very interesting timing. Matt Strom, he struck out a career high, 11 up against the Rockies. He did allow three earned runs over five and a third innings in that one.

But he's actually been pretty good so far this year, 27 strikeouts over 18 innings pitched, 19% rostered. I think all of these are deeper league plays, Chris, but any interest in Tanner Hauk, Contreras, and Mestrom. You are muted, sir. Yeah, I was surprised that Strom got the kind of strikeout numbers he did. And overall, he's got, what did you say, 26 and 17 innings. It's pretty wild, a six straight, six and three straight starts.

I don't think there's anything there, but I can't say for sure. Pitching is very hard to predict. And, you know, maybe there's something there. But I'm less interested in him than I am in Contreras and Tanner Halk. And to be honest, I'm not all that interested in any of these guys. Contreras, I think he's a one-pitch pitcher is my concern. You know, you mentioned the 14 whiffs with the one-pit with the slider today. I just, like, he throws hard, but he doesn't seem to have a particularly good fastball.

He's talked about working on the change up, but it remains a non-factor for him. So I just, I don't see too much to get excited about. Halk is interesting because of the changes that he's making, because he's one of those guys. He used to just be, like, the slider was the only thing he had that was at all useful for him. And, you know, now he's, he's throwing that splitter about 15. percent of the time. He's gotten good results with it so far. And, you know, the new cutter, like you mentioned, it's gotten okay results. We'll see that the problem is he's got like three variations of a fastball, sinker, four seam and cutter. They all have a 91 mile per hour average

exit velocity allowed so far this season. So that's concerning. The slider, I think, remains the clear class of his pitch mix. But yeah, we're seeing some interesting stuff from him. There are interesting changes and changes are always worth talking about. I guess. I don't know if that means Tanner Howick's necessarily worth adding, but yeah. I mentioned recently that I like to create these scenarios in my head, right? And I've got another one. Tanner Halk, back up against the wall. James Paxson getting ready to make his return. He does not want to lose his spot in the rotation. So what does he do? He goes out and he shoves against the Minnesota Twins. And he looked really good doing it. I mean, that slider has always been an awesome pitch for Howl.

It looks very Chris Sale-esque, and we've made that comp before. But he hasn't really had anything else. And now he's throwing this cutter. And the splitter looks really good in this one as well. Yeah, I mean, six whiffs on 20 pitches with the splitter. That's pretty impressive. Yeah. So I don't think any of these pitchers is a must add or in the conversation of guys like

Johan Oviedo or Mason Miller or the other pitchers that we've talked about recently. But in deeper leagues, yeah. Like, if you, everyone needs pitching right now, then why not? Next week, Tanner Halk is going up against the Orioles. That's in Baltimore, so it's a better ballpark to pitch in. He's RP eligible, so if you need a SPARP in a points league, I think there's something there with Tanner Halk as well.

The stuff has always been good. We just need more consistency, and hopefully Tanner Halk can build off of that. Let's take our first break, and when we return, I've got a few other pitchers. I don't think they matter, but we'll find out from Chris right after this. Welcome back and make sure to download and follow our five-minute podcast as well. Fantasy Baseball Today and Five. If you're watching us on YouTube, you can scan the QR code in the top right, or if you're listening on the audio side, just wherever you listen to a podcast,

just search up Fantasy Baseball today in five. Few other pitchers worth mentioning, or maybe not, I don't know, but they were good. They weren't great. They're worth mentioning. Let's talk about him, Chris. Luke Weaver. Do you want to do the Adamator? Luke Weaver.

There you go. He got touched up for four runs in the first inning and then just completely settled down. Six innings, four runs, eight strikeouts for him. 14 swinging strikes on 93 pitches. Seven on the changeup. Four on the fastball. Did allow a lot of hard contact. Has not been fantasy relevant since 2019 when Adam Mazer was hosting this podcast.

So do with that what you will. Ryan Feltoner. He pitches for the Rockies, if you didn't know. He had a strong start at the Phillies. Five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts. Velocity was up a tad across the board. He didn't really do anything different with the pitch mix that I noticed. anything here, Chris?

Probably not. I'm looking into Weaver because the issue for him, you know, he came up with some regard as a prospect but never really, you know, figured it out. And I think the biggest issue for him was just that

he never quite figured out a way to become less fastball reliant. You know, the last couple of seasons, he's been like 60% fastball usage, always above 50%. In the, this one, it was down to 38%. He threw his change up 35% of the time.

Curveball, 16%, cutter 11%. So, you know, it's like with Halk, with, you know, I don't know if this is necessarily meaningful yet. But anytime we're talking about a player with, you know, pretty obvious limitations, when that player takes steps to address those limitations, I think that's worth noting. It doesn't necessarily mean Weaver is going to be great moving forward. it doesn't necessarily even mean that he's worth adding in the vast majority of leagues, but it's worth noting and worth keeping an eye on is where I'm at with him.

Yeah, put Luke Weaver on the scout team for now and let's see where he goes from here. He did change up the pitch mix from the last time we saw him, much less fast balls, more changeups and curve balls. So I would imagine throwing his secondary stuff is probably better for somebody like Luke Weaver. Let's hit the news and notes. Max Scherzer has been suspended 10 games due to the use. of a foreign substance, and he was going to appeal, but decided against it. And I was going to get Scott's thoughts on the fiasco, but Scott is not with us for now, and obviously, if that changes,

you'll just hear him pop in. So hopefully he gets back. Both Corbyn Burns and Hunter Green have been cleared for their next starts with both of those coming this Sunday. Amazing news, as Liam Hendricks announced on Instagram that he is cancer-free. Obviously, baseball is on the back burner in a situation like this, but he was not placed on the six. Day IEL, and he said all along that he would like to pitch at some point this season. We don't know when that will be, but hopefully sometime soon. It would be awesome to get Liam Hendricks back just for baseball and obviously for fantasy as well. James St. Tyone was placed on the I.L. with a left groin train.

It's being called mild to a moderate. Javier Assad was called from AAA, and I believe Assad went three innings with two runs against the Dodgers on Thursday. Chris, anything there in deeper leagues, Javier Assad? No, I mean, that's one where the fact that he came up and threw three innings, it wouldn't be surprising if he got sent down, you know, just to bring up a fresh arm. Bryce Harper made throws from 60 feet and took live batting practice on Thursday. There's still no exact timetable, but...

Although... Sounds like progress. There was, I think Rob Thompson said today that he may not go on a minor league rehab assignment when he's ready to play. You may just get called. I mean, it's kind of surprising, given the lengthy layoff and the fact that he's going to be learning a new position. But they, I don't know, every little bit of information that we get just seems to make me more and more optimistic about his timetable. Like in May is probably still optimistic, but like it wouldn't shock me if that happened.

Yeah, late May. I mean, we've heard mostly, you know, June, some people have said July floated around like the second half of the season. but look if everything is going right, maybe a month from now. We could see Bryce Harper. And I wonder if Rob Thompson said that just because the Phillies are off to a slow start and they've been inconsistent.

They're 8 and 12 so far this season. Look, they could turn it around in the next week and none of that will matter. But we'll see with Bryce Harper. Carlos Rodon will not throw for a few days and is set to undergo a CT scan. All the other tests on his back have already come back normal. They don't know. I don't know.

Nobody knows what's going on with Carl's Ferdon. Tony Gonsland allowed two runs. over three innings in his first rehab outing at AAA. Sounds like he could be back soon. Starling Marte missed Thursday's game with a stiff neck but was feeling much better and said he could return to the lineup on Friday. Dodgers catcher Will Smith is not expected to return this weekend. He is still on the concussion I.L.

Michael Conforto was back in the starting lineup Thursday after missing nearly a week with a calf issue. Evan Phillips was placed on the paternity list and Bruce Starr Gratterall actually pitched a ninth inning of Thursday's game with a four-run lead he struck out too he did look very good in that outing. Logan O'Hoppy was pulled Thursday after injuring his left shoulder. He'll be evaluated in the next couple of days and it's quite unfortunate because he's been one of the rookie catchers that actually looks awesome so far this season. So if you're playing in a one catcher league,

you might have to plan on having a backup for next week if you have O'Hopi. Brett Beatty was out of the lineup again against a lefty on Thursday night and Chris, this was part of my fear. I mean, they've done this with Francisco Alvarez, and I understand maybe you don't want to put too much on a young player's plate, but at some point, too, like, don't you just let the kid play,

and let's find out if he can hit lefties at least, right? Like, I don't know. I didn't wind up with Brett Bady in any fab leagues. I have him in a few drafting holds, but, you know, if I picked him up, I'd be pretty frustrated about this. Absolutely, and it's,

what's the, I don't understand, the point of calling a guy up to not play him. You know, in Francisco Alvarez's case, you know, maybe he just really needs a lot of work behind the plate and they're in a dire situation. And, but like, Bady's played left field in the minors. Bady could potentially play first base, I would imagine. He's played third base.

I just don't, I don't understand not having him in the lineup every day. It's, you know, one thing with Alvarez in particular, they talked about was like, they don't want to use him at DH yet. But if he looks comfortable and he proves himself, they'll use him there. And so it's,

in both of those cases, I do think it's a situation where like if either of those guys gets hot, I think they could play their way into everyday playing time. But it's just, it doesn't quite make sense to not give them that chance.

How can you get hot if you're not playing, Chris? Yeah, exactly. Like, that's really tough. Yeah, it's, It's frustrating so far for Brett Beatty and for Alvarez. I mean, the difference between those guys is Alvarez got called up because of an injury situation. That was not the case with Brett Beatty. They called them up based on merit, what he was doing in the minor.

So if that's the case, they should be playing him every day. I don't know. Maybe I just sound like a salty fantasy player and the Mets know what they're doing. But it's the kind of thing that like the rays and the Dodgers are known for. You know, they'll call up a top prospect. And if they don't think they're ready to help them against lefties, You always saw this with Gavin Lux when he got called up. We've seen it with Josh Lowe.

We've seen it with countless guys. Brandon Lough, who is good against lefties in his career, hasn't really played against them this season. So it's frustrating. I get it. And it's the kind of thing where, like, I guess if I'm completely blanking on the Mets third baseman who hit, Eduardo Escobar,

if he hits well in the next couple of games and earns his playing time back, then it's hard to argue with it. But like, I think even after tonight, he's got like a 450 OPS. So it's pretty disconcerting, and it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Well, don't speak it into existence, Chris,

because Eduardo Escobar did go two for five with a home run on Thursday night. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said that Jorge Polanco is pretty close to returning your thoughts, Chris. What happens with Edward Julian? Do you think he sticks around once Palanco's back? that's a good question he hasn't done so much

to suggest that like he's he can't stay up or that he can't go down hasn't walked yet or I think he's going to walk once in 30 plate appearances which is surprising there are positive signs he's hitting the ball hard he's his chase rate is like 11% I think he's got an 11% chase rate and his in zone swing rate is like 75%

or something it's wild so there are things to like but yeah I think there's a decent chance Polanco sends him down, although will Polanco be ready to play the field every day? That's a fair question. Yeah. So Edward Julian, he was actually batting third on Thursday.

He had the big game Wednesday night where he hit the home run, but he's got nine strikeouts, a 30% strikeout rate, 18% swinging strike rate. So I kind of lean towards he'll get sent down. You know, last week I said if he hits, he'll stick. And I stand by that. The problem is, he hasn't really hit, you know, he's been inconsistent so far.

He's kind of looked like a rookie, so, yeah, as of right now, I think he's probably going to get sent down, but I hope I'm wrong. Kenta Maeda left to start early after taking a line drive off of his left leg. X-rays came back negative. Giants manager, Gabe Kapler, said Mitch Hanigur is getting close to a return. Alex Wood is set to miss at least several weeks with that hamstring strain. Ross Stripling is expected to re-enter the Giants rotation. Old friend, Joey Lucasey,

It will be called up to start Friday for the Mets with Carlos Carrasco on the IL. A few prospect updates. Matt Mervis is doing Matt Mervis Things at AAA. And I actually wrote this down before Thursday's game where he hit his fourth home run, but he was betting 267 with a 426 on base percentage, more walks and strikeouts. Did you see the home run he hit today? Mammoth. Mammoth.

It was one of those ones where the announcers was like, oh my. It was delightful, yeah. And I started freaking out on Thursday night because Eric Hosmer was pulled in that game and it's like, well, did something happen? Was there an injury? And I'm searching Twitter and I can't find anything. And a couple of Cubs fans told me,

no, they just pinch hit him because it was a lefty-on-lefty matchup. So I don't know how long the Cubs neat can justify sticking with Hosmer's 245 batting average and 649 OPS. But outside of Brandon Fought, if you're looking for a hitter prospect to stash right now, it is Matt Mervis. He is 24% rostered and he could be a big impact player this season. I know that Scott wrote up

Guardians prospect Tanner Bybee as well. So like I think once we get past Brandon Fott, once he gets called up, we'll probably turn our attention to Tanner Bybee. I think he's the next name after that. Chris, what do we do with these guys? It's a hodgepodge of struggling players. Do we hold on to them? Do we drop them? Do we bench them in the case of certain pitchers here. We'll start off with Jose Miranda, who's betting 213 with zero home runs. He's slugging 250. He is making contact, but a lot of it is into the ground right now. Still 74% rostered. What do you do if you have Jose Miranda? I think he could probably drop him. He just has not been hitting the ball with authority.

He didn't really do that last season either. He was someone that I feel like we all started the draft season back in like, you know, January. Like, oh yeah, we like, we like, a Miranda potential breakout candidate. And then I feel like we all just kind of independently came to the same conclusion like digging into the numbers. Just like, is he good though? And now we're 144

games into his career where he's hitting 260 with 15 home runs. And it's like, I think he might not be good. So I'm fine dropping him. And you might be able to drop him for somebody like Patrick Wisdom, 75%. Yeah, that's probably more of a shallow league play. Josh Rojas.

has looked very good so far, and they have three games in Cordes Field next week. So that could be an option. JD Davis has been hitting the ball hard. He's, you know, he's been pelvic. I think all those are fine, yeah. Yeah, he's, you know, thrusting his way through, uh, through these, this new batting stance that he has going on. So, uh, yeah, I think in shallower leagues, you can drop Miranda.

If you're playing a deeply like a 15 teamer, there's probably no one out there worth justifying it for, but shallower leagues, I think you could probably make that swap. What about Tristan Kossis? This is a name that I know at least Scott and I were interested in. I don't know how interested you were coming into the season, Chris, but he went one for two with two walks on Thursday. He's only batting 143. He hasn't been playing against lefties.

He's walking quite a bit. He's also striking out a lot. He's got a 31% strikeout rate. Lots of fly balls has led to a low babib, a lower batting average. But this is a big-time prospect who, you know, at least for now, is on the strong side of a platoon. He's still 63% rostered. What do you do with Tristan?

Casas. He's got, I believe, a 177 expected batting average. So you can't even really say that it's like bad luck there with the 176 Babb. He's one of those players who's got a 90.8 average exit velocity, which pretty good. His hard hit rate is 32.3%, which is pretty bad. And that that tells me that there's just a lot of inconsistency here. You know, there's clearly talent when he squares one up, it tends to go pretty far and he tends to hit it pretty hard. It's just not doing that often enough. So no, he's not someone who needs to be rostered everywhere, I would say. I feel similarly to Jose Miranda as I do with Casas.

You know, deeper leagues, I don't think there's anyone out there to justify dropping Kossis for, but, you know, if you play in a 12-team points league, if, what if Torkelson's available, Chris, would you do that? I'd rather roster Kossis than Miranda. I do think there's more upside with Casas. So if neither of them's hitting, I'd rather just bet on the upside long term. But yeah,

I think both of them are droppable. And Torkelson, I think would be a reasonable option. I'll tell you what. If Matt Mervis gets called up and we know he's going to play every day, I'll make that swap too. I'll drop either Miranda or Kossis for Matt Mervis.

But only if he gets called up. Patrick Sandoval was quite bad at the Yankees. It really was early on in that game. He just could not throw strikes, which way. Patrick Sandoval is off. That's what tends to happen. That's the issue. Five earned runs over four innings pitched, six walks in this one.

Still had 13 swinging strikes, 31% CSW solid. Changeup was his most used pitch. It was just throwing strikes, Chris. So what are you doing with Sandoval? He's up against Oakland next week. Starting him against Oakland. Yeah. Yeah, it's been another frustrating start to the season for Sandoval.

Changeup was his most used pitch today. He threw it in the strike zone 35% of the time. Overall, only 43% of his pitches were in the strike zone. So, yeah, just didn't seem to have it. And he goes through these stretches where he just can't throw strikes. And it's pretty frustrating, disappointing. But I still believe in the stuff. I think he'll figure it out.

But yeah, it's frustrating for sure. I'm not dropping him, though. Yeah, I think I'm still starting him against Oakland. I mean, they're just so bad. Ezekiel Tofar, this is an interesting one, because I know you drafted a lot of Tovar, Chris. Another ofer, he is batting 180. He's got zero home runs.

Four walks to 19 strikeouts. That's a 29% strikeout rate. 246 slugging percentage. He's not hitting the ball hard. Look, I know we're talking a lot about a lot of young players and prospects. And last year, just look at what Julio Rodriguez did in the first month.

Ezekiel Tovar is not Julio Rodriguez. But prospects can get off to slow starts and then pick it up very quickly. So that's why like I kind of want to preach patience, but in shallower leagues, I kind of understand if people want to cut bait on Tovar. Yeah, I mean, he's batting at the bottom of the lineup for the most part. He's, I mean, look, he's hitting 180 and that's actually better than his expected batting average right now. His expected batting average is 168. Like you said, not hitting the ball hard at all, 22% hard. Hit rate one barrel, 85.7 mile per hour. of velocity, 27% strikeout rate. He's really just not doing anything well.

I would want to hold on to him just because of the course field of it all and the fact that he's a good prospect. But I would rather have him than Jose Miranda. I don't know. I just, I find Jose Miranda very underwhelming. Jeez. I think there's just more upside with Toe. Like if Tovar figures it out, I think it's going to look a lot better than Miranda if he figures it out. But yeah, I can't say he's Tovar.

is worth, you know, rostering in all formats either. Three names that are rostered in less leagues than Tovar. Bryce Terrang, Zach Netto, C.J. Abrams. Would you take any of those over Tovar?

Probably Netto, because I do think there's similar upside there. And ultimately, if I'm hanging on to Tovar, it's for upside, not for using him right now. I don't think Abrams or who was the other one?

Bryce Terang. I like Terang. I just, the playing time in Milwaukee is so uncertain that I, I think it's only Netto that I would drop Tovar for. Okay. Two pitchers that were going up against each other. Kodi Senga, bad once again. I've watched each of his starts. I have him on my most important league, the NFBC main event. He went five innings. He allowed four runs, four walks, two home runs allowed. He only had nine swinging strikes and he has three or more walks in all four of his starts. His whip is now up to 1.52. Chris, what do we do with Kodi-Singa? He's going up against the Nationals next week.

I'm probably starting against the Nationals. I understand being frustrated. And look, this is one where when I finally saw him pitch in spring training, I was like, oh, this guy's, this guy's really exciting. And then I, you know, now seeing him pitch a couple times through. you start to understand why, like, the projection systems weren't super high on him, and why there were concerns about the command, because the command has been super iffy so far. I think he'll figure it out. You know, we've seen this a lot with players making the jump from Japan to the United States.

They use a different type of ball. The ball in Japan is tackier. It has, I think, higher, lower seams. And so it's just a different experience. And so there can be an adjustment period. But, yeah, if it wasn't a matchup against a bad, offense like the nationals, I'd probably stick away. You mentioned it being command for Senga.

And I know command versus control, it's like kind of nitpicky, but for me, I actually just think it's control. I don't think he knows where the ball is going half the time. Command is, okay, I'm missing my spots within the zone and maybe I'm getting hit hard because of it. He can't throw strikes. Like his stuff moves so much that he can't throw it for strikes. Even the fastball, he's had a hard time commanding too.

So, like, that's why you see the swinging strike rate is not impressive. impressive for Senga so far is that a lot of the time, opposing batters are just not... Yeah, they're able to lay off, yeah. It's, he's been really, really frustrating to watch. I agree with you. I think against the nationals, you're probably rolling out there. I'm not dropping him or anything, you know, maybe if you're playing a shallow league, just kind of sit him for a couple of weeks and hope that he gets back on track.

That's Kodai Senga. The last name here is Sean Baniya, who he had a great start against the Tigers. His velocity is up this season, but he's got an ERA over six. He's got a 1.3 whip. He's still 66% rostered. Chris, I think any of the recent most added pitchers that we've talked about, I'd be all right, drama. Sean Mnaya.

Oviato, for sure. It is tough just because, like, he's always had better results than you would think from a guy who doesn't throw particularly hard with his fastball. Now he is throwing pretty hard, especially for a lefty. He hides the ball well. He gets good extension.

There's a lot of individual components to it, and it's just not working out for him so far. so I don't want to give up on him entirely. But yeah, if Oviedo's out there, for sure, I would drop him. All right. Let's take our final break here. And when we return, we'll do our week five preview here on fantasy baseball today. Welcome back.

And let's jump into our week five preview. And we'll start off with the schedule for next week. 13 teams have seven games. 16 teams have six games. One unlucky team has five games, Chris. The Padres. As soon as we get Fernando Tati, Junior back. He's got a five

game week. Obviously you're still starting him, but it's just kind of frustrating. Yeah, you're starting all those Padres guys, even with the short week. But like, I don't know, if you picked up Trent Grisham, you can probably sit him. What about the Rockies? We always want to monitor what's going on with them. They've got six games

next week. Three are at home against the Diamondbacks. So if you are looking to take advantage, I'll get to a few Diamondbacks hitters a little bit later on. Scott's two-star pitchers to add this week. Again, Scott dealing with some issues right now, some internet issues. So we'll just quickly run through some of these names, Chris.

And no surprise, Johan Oviedo is at the top of the list. And I know if Scott was here, he would rave about Johan Oviedo. And rightfully so, he's got those Jekyll and Hyde matchups to Dodgers and at the nationals. But the way that he's pitching right now, I think you just got to roll with Johan Oviato. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, like you said, the matchup against the, Dodgers is an ideal. And I don't know how much we can take away from a good start at Corsefield because

Coorsfield's such a weird place. But yeah, the way he's pitching right now, I think you have to roll with him with two starts, especially in a points league. Hey, we talked about these names last night as well, but Kyle Braddish, only 31% rostered. He's got the Red Sox at the Tigers next week. Edward Cabrera at the Braves and versus the Cubs. Mason Miller at the Angels and versus the Cincinnati Reds. Chris, how would you rank those just based on their matchups for next week?

your likelihood to play them. Braddish, Cabrera, and Mason Miller. I wish Cabrera didn't have such a tough matchup against Atlanta at the start, because man, that's one that if he doesn't have his command early, they can jump on him real quick. I'd still go with him ahead of Braddish and Miller. Miller's tough because two start pitchers we usually like more in points leagues. But I don't think Mason Miller's going to give you a quality start. I will say, I think it's unlikely Mason Miller gives you a quality start,

neither of those. That's a big part of points league value also wins. He's not a great bet for wins either. So Miller, I actually prefer in a roto league this week and Braddish probably in a points league. All right. Eduardo Rodriguez is also 52% rostered, but I'm pretty sure we like him less than all those other names we've mentioned so far, right? I think I would start him over Miller in a points league, but other than that, yeah. And Eduardo Rodriguez, the matchups, by the way, at the Brewers and versus the Orioles for him. And then in deeper leagues, Josiah Gray at the Mets and versus the Pirates. So again, it's, you know, one tough matchup and one, I don't want to say easy matchup.

Like, the Pirates are pesky right now. They are hitting. They're putting together good at bats. And of course, they've got that slugger Connor Joe on their team. So I don't know. I'd watch out. I do kind of, in a points league, I think you could get away with playing Josiah Gray. And then in the deepest of leagues, Dean Kramer.

are only 9% rostered. Again, the matchups for him, Boston Red Sox and at the Detroit Tigers. Single-star streamers, three names here. Hayden Wesniewski going up against the Marlins. Very interested to see how Wesnesty does this weekend against the Dodgers. We know his last time out, dominant against the Oakland A's, seven innings, one run there. But the Marlins are a team that he definitely could take advantage of if everything is working. And then Eric Lauer up against the Tigers, Kyle Gibson also up against the Tigers.

Chris, how would you rank those three for next week? I think I would go Wazniewski, Lauer, Gibson, the same order you have them in. But I think all three of them are fine single-star streamers. I don't love any of them, but Wazniewski did finally have a good start in his last outing. Velocity hasn't been up nearly as much as we thought it would be in spring. So I think he's pretty middling, but, you know, with a decent matchup, it's okay. What about the hitters, the best hitter matchups for next week? The Diamondbacks, the twins, the Angels, Guardians, and the Orients.

The worst hitter matchups, the Phillies, Astros, Padres, Royals, and the White Sox. Scott's top sleeper hitters for next week. We'll start with his top five. Joey Gallo going up against the Yankees and the Royals. Patrick Wisdom, we know he has been mashing home runs this week. Josh Lowe going up against the Astros and White Sox. I'll pull up his schedule, but I'm pretty sure if Scott has him on this list, he probably is playing mostly righties next week.

Yeah, I'm looking that up right now. Andrew McCutcheon has been hot. As has Cabrion Hayes, the numbers don't reflect it yet for Hayes, but he's hitting the ball hard. He's been leading off the past couple days. He's been running a little bit, and the launch angle is up for Cabrion Hayes. So it could come together very quickly for him.

Chris, your thoughts on these. Gallo, Wisdom, Josh Lowe, McCutcheon, and Cabrion Hayes. Yeah, the way it sets up right now, it looks like Lowe's going to face all right-handed pitchers. He does... Nice. ...oflyde Bramber Valdez with the Astros series, and then it's,

cease, Lynn, Gialito, and Clevenger. You know, obviously those guys can be good, but outside of cease, I don't know if anyone necessarily is worth avoiding. And the way Josh Lowe is playing right now, I think you have to consider him. He's not striking out very much. He's hitting the ball really hard.

And he's stealing bases. I wish they'd give him a chance against lefties to see, but given the way the schedule works out, yeah, I think he's absolutely worth adding for this week. The rest of Scott's sleeper hitters, J.D. Davis, look, if you need a third baseman, if you had Jose Miranda, or you have Jose Miranda in a shallow league, I think you make that swap. J.D. Davis for next week. Edward Julian, assuming that he's with the team, he's got seven games next week going up against the Yankees and the Royals. Miles Straw, specifically if you are looking for speed. And then Kerry Carpenter and Rodolfo Castro for those playing in deeper leagues. Chris, I mentioned the debacks have three games in Coorsfield. Can I interest you in a

Josh Rojas or Alec Thomas in Colorado. I like Rojas more if I'm going to start one of them. I like Thomas more as a long-term stash, but there are still playing time concerns for him. So I, yeah, I would prefer Rojas. Rodolfo Castro, there are some interesting things going on with him. He's hitting the ball really, really hard. 77th percentile average X velocity at 91.4 miles per hour,

48.6 percent hard hit rate, not striking out. very much. He's hitting the ball in the air. There are some interesting signs for Rodolfo Castro here that are worth keeping an eye on and potentially starting next week. And then Carpenter,

you know, the three games at Milwaukee, that's a good home park or that's a good park. And then you know, at Detroit is not great, but that's interesting. And for the Diamondbacks next week, the three games in Colorado, two of them are against

lefties. So, you know, maybe Alex Thomas sits out one of those. But Rojas has been playing every day even against lefties and he's been leading off too. So I am very interested in him. If you need a catcher in a one catcher league, Gabriel Moreno. We'll also get those three games in course field.

So if you lost out on Logan O'Hoppy in a shallower league, maybe that's a move you go out and make. Let's hit some leftovers here, Chris. And just one pitching leftover. Nesser Cortez, solid once again, six innings, three runs, seven strikeouts for him. He's followed his pitch mix to a team.

so far this season, he's looked like Nestor Cortez. He's picked up exactly where he left off, a 309 ERA, a 103 whip, right around a strikeout per inning. I don't know that there's much to add, but it's nice to see some consistency from a mid-round starting pitcher.

He's just so consistent. He's just, he's so good. You know, you've got here on the rundown, he has a 480 X-FIP. That is a stat that I think will be misleading for him because X-FIP attempts to normalize home run rate

based on fly balls. So FIPP is based on the amount of home runs you hit or give up, excuse me, XFIP is the amount of home runs you would be expected to give up based on the number of fly balls you give up. The thing with Nestor Cortez is

he gives up a lot of fly balls, but a lot of them are weakly hit. A lot of them are infield pop-ups. So I, like, you look at the expected ERA, it's 3.30. So that's a lot of, little behind his 260 ERA, but not very much. So I think, yeah, I don't think there's any concerns there. He's really good. Sorry, 309 is his ERA right now. A few hitting leftovers. Alex Verdugo went

two for four with his second home run. He's doing Verdugo things. He's betting 338 early on. Masataka Yoshita went two for five with two RBI and two runs scored. Want to see him get going. He's only batting 189. But he really needs it. His, his, his, Stackass page is disgusting right now. Discussing any bad? Bad. Yeah, he's got one barrel. His exit velocity is 85.1 miles per hour. His expected Wobah on contact is 219. I don't know if I've ever seen one that low. Yikes. His average launch angle, negative 5.1 degrees. Eat your heart out Eric Hosmer. Oh, gosh. Yeah, he's been a pretty massive disappointment so far. Yeah, look, it's It's going to take some time.

Again, there's a transition phase for, you know, players coming over from, you know, different countries. And, you know, that Yoshita is no different. I still like what I saw from him in the WBC in spring training. So if anyone is freaking out, especially in a points league, like his skill set fits perfectly. I would be looking at by low on Masataka Yoshita right now. Anthony Rizzo is off to a great start.

Three for three with two walks, two runs. He's batting 344. And his batted balls, He's kind of back to vintage Anthony Rizzo. Lots of line drives. Not really selling out for power. Wouldn't surprise me if, you know, gets that batting average back up this year with the new rules.

He's looked really good so far. Jonathan India continues his solid start, three for four with his fourth stolen base. He's already got 17 runs scored. Excuse me. Max Muncie went one for two with two walks, Asak and a shoe, his eighth home run, his first steal of the season.

Cody Bellinger went one for two, with his fourth home run, two of his four homers have come against the Dodgers. You love to see it. I'm not a Dodgers hater or anything, but I mean the drama, right? Like, this guy gets cut by the Dodgers, former MVP, and two of his four home runs have come against his former team. It's awesome. I love that. His home run was 420 feet on 420.

If you know, you know. Christian Walker went three for four with a double, batting average slowly climbing for him. A few bullpen updates. I mentioned Bruce R. Gratterol closed out the 9th with Evan Phillips on the paternity list. For the Cubs,

man, Michael Fulmer is, he is losing it. It's not going to go for him. Brad Boxberger pitched the 8th with the game tied. He was facing the top of the lineup. So you can argue that was the biggest spot at that point in the game.

He walked two, but got out of it. Michael Fulmer got the ninth. Game cell tied. Gave up that go-ahead, grand slam to James Outman. And also worth mentioning, Brandon Hughes, is back with the Cubs.

He pitched two innings on Thursday, did not allow a base runner, and he struck out four. So he looked dominant. I think the next couple of save opportunities go to Brad Boxberger, but if he falters, then Brandon Hughes might not be far behind.

So keep that of mind, and I don't feel great about Michael Foamer right now. Not at all, no. The regulars in the bullpen for the pirates, David Bednar picked up his sixth save. Josh Hader also picked up his sixth save. To stream are not. to stream for the weekend.

On Friday, you say Kikuchi at the Yankees. I would rather not. It's the kind of thing where like, if he struck out nine and six shut out of things, I would not be surprised. If he gave up nine runs in one inning, I would also not be surprised. Before I get into the rest of the names,

I do want to promote. Chris, you've been writing up a weekend preview, right? So you can find that on the site? Yeah, yeah. I've been looking at like basically just trying to identify, like, it's basically like a what to watch. for the weekend. So like here's the pitchers, here are the hitters to keep an eye on. Latest injury stuff. So yeah, check it out.

Cool. Domingo Hermann is going up against the Blue Jays. I think I would. Yeah, he's it's been really funny. His strikeouts by start this season 8.0.11. So we'll see how how intent they are on checking the sticky stuff this time out. Well, you know, it's a odd even start. So maybe he's going to give you zero strikeouts again. Chris, I don't know. Drew Smiley going up against the Dodgers. Nah. Mitch Keller versus the Reds. Yes. Tyler Wells versus the Tigers. Uh, no. Bracks and Garrett at the Guardians.

I'd be fine with it. J.P. Sears at the Rangers. Nah. Seth Lugo at the Diamondbacks? Yeah. Stephen Matt's at the Mariners. No. On Saturday, Hayden Wesnesty versus the Dodgers. Nah.

Kyle Freeland at the Phillies. Nope. David Peterson at the Giants. Probably not. Rich Hill versus the Reds. Probably not. Kyle Gibson versus the Tigers. Probably not.

I'm like on the fence with Kyle Gibson. Have you been watching the Mandalorian? No, no. They gave Baby Yoda a little like button. And he can hit yes, yes, yes, yes. Or no, no, no, no. And it's delightful. One of the best things on the show.

And we should just get that for the show. We'll just get that for this portion. We absolutely should. I'm absolutely, you don't have any kind of baby Yoda paraphernalia? Yes, I do. I have a baby Yoda plush doll on my bed.

Okay, well, I was going to say, next time we do this segment, just pull them out. Yeah, let's do it. Garrett Whitlock at the Brewers. Yes. Wade Miley versus the Red Sox. No. Zach Rinkie at the Angels.

Maybe. And then on Sunday, Matthew Boyd at the Orioles. Nah. Vince Velasquez versus the Reds. No. Peyton Batonfield versus the Marlins. No.

Brian Bayo? Maybe. Brian Bayo at the Brewers. No, but I'm going to watch it. Kyle Muller at the Rangers. No. Dre Jameson versus the Padres. No, but I'm going to watch it.

I think that's the right call. Tyler McGill at the Giants. No. We are going to wrap there. Chris, I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We'll be back again next week.

Bye-bye.