Fantasy Baseball Today - Jared Jones Changes, Connor Norby On Fire & Start or Sit Decisions! (9/9 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

Episode Date: September 9, 2024

Jared Jones threw his curveball a lot more (2:38)! ... Sean Manaea has made some big changes (6:44). ... Connor Norby is on fire (12:05)! ... Spencer Horwitz is turning up the power (15:51). ... News (20:17): Kyle Tucker is finally back. ... Is it time to drop early-round busts (30:50)? ... Add Dylan Crews or PCA (33:00)? ... Who are the best pitchers to stream this upcoming week (42:02)? ... Start or sit pitchers Luis Gil, Max Fried and others (53:06)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (59:16). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, September 9th. I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, we have all the waiver wire moves, start or start. decision. Jared Jones made some big changes to his arsenal. I received a strategy question I thought was really interesting and much more. But let's get into our players of the weekend. All right. How was that? Did I do all right? It sounded great. All right, let's start with the audio side. They have no idea why you asked that. First time that we've recorded the start of this podcast, nothing has ever gone wrong. Yeah. All right, Chris. Let's stick with you. Player of the weekend. Jones, who had his best start in quite a while, and I think it was a really, really interesting start. He went seven innings.

He gave up two run runs, nine strikeouts against the Washington Nationals, 15 whiffs on 92 pitches, including seven on his curveball? That's new. I don't know if Jared Jones had thrown more than seven curve balls in a start before this one. Technically, his season high curveball uses before this, I believe it was 11.5 percent. but it was 34% in this, 32% in this one. And he got the seven whiffs. 52% CSW rate is elite. That is a really interesting sign for a guy who has been one of the more extreme to pitch pitchers in baseball.

You know, for the most part this season, the curveball has been used around 5% to 7% of the time, not much different for the change up both right around 7% of the time. But in this one, he throws the curveball 32% of the time. The velocity was also up significantly on the curveball, which makes me think that he's made some changes to that as well. Velocity was up across the board, but especially with the curveball. And one thing I did look into, and it doesn't seem to be the explanation here, but I thought maybe it was a situation where, oh, they're lumping some sliders in as curveballs.

That seems really unlikely. His lowest slider was 88.5. His fastest curveball was 85.5. clearly distinct pitches. And so a conscious change on Jared Jones's part. And I think that's potentially really significant because we were talking about a guy who early on in the season looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball.

We were talking about him as a potential fantasy ace after the first month or so. And then he ran out of steam. He wasn't terrible before the injury up until the last couple of starts. But he wasn't quite as dominant. clearly something needed to change. And maybe the curveball can be part of the answer for Jared Jones at the very least. It makes him, I think, one of the most interesting pitchers to watch between now and the end of the season.

I think in, you know, the leagues that are still playing, we just start Jared Jones. I'm pretty comfortable with that. But how the final month goes, final three weeks and how. how that curveball looks especially, I think is going to be one of the key things to watch moving forward because we know Jared Jones' ceiling is ace level. It's a question of whether he can get back to that. And I think it's probably more likely if he has a very good third pitch

to go along with a very good fastball and a very good slider. So really fascinated to watch Jared Jones from here on out. Throughout that analysis, Chris, you said just start Jared Jones this upcoming week. He's only 54% started on CBS. So people had some trepidation this past week. That was even with a two-star week. They should have listened to me. I said, go ahead and start him.

Despite the poor return. Yeah. Well, Scott, are you good with starting Jared Jones this upcoming week against Kansas City? Pretty tough offense. Yeah, I'm good with it. It's not automatic. You know, if you've got a load of pitching staff, which most of the people, people still listening, they probably have good teams, then you might have a better option.

But I would be fine starting Jones with that matchup. Yeah, I think it's totally fine as well. Awesome start here. Big Wifts, curveball, velocity being up for Jared Jones. And as Chris mentioned, let's see how he finishes out his season. Scott, over to you, your player of the weekend. All right, so I feel like we're leaving some breadsticks on the table here because I'm also going with a pitcher. who probably wasn't the biggest standout from the weekend.

But Frank, Frank needs to carboload. Yeah, for sure. Sean Mania against the Reds Friday kept doing what he's been doing. Well, I guess he allowed four and runs in six and two thirds innings. So that's probably a little disappointing. But he got the nine strikeouts. He got the 19 swinging strikes. He continued to be this big time bat misser that we're not used to seeing.

And now in his last eight starts, Sean Mania has a 235. ERA, a 0.7-8 whip, and 10.9 K-per-9. That's an eight starts. That's, the sample's getting pretty significant here. And after his last start, I said, okay, clearly, the analysis was basically, clearly he's, he's missing a lot of bats now. He's performing well. You ride it out for as long as it last. I wish I could explain it beyond that.

But I haven't seen anything that would really. explain it. Well, now I have because an article was written by Tim Britton of the athletic who went into great detail describing what changed for Sean Mania during this eight-start stretch.

And it's an interesting read if you have access to it. But basically, on July 25th, the Mets were facing the Braves, Chris Sale on the mound, he was dominating. Sean Manaya saw the way he threw the ball,

said, I think I can do that. He decided to just copy Chris Sails low release point. And like since that day, since July 25th, that signals the eight-star stretch. He did drop the release point on the fastball. It's played up. You can see him getting a ton of whiffs on that pitch now. So that was the biggest change for Sean Mania. But then during this eight-start stretch, there was one big misstep.

I believe it was against, it was on August 10th. one big misstep for Sean Maniah. And since that start, he began incorporating a changeup more with a new grip. And so the change-ups become an effective pitch. It was responsible in this latest start for six of the 19 swinging strikes. So between that lower release point making his fastball more effective in that new change-up grip, giving him an effective change-up, Sean Mania is like a completely different pitcher now. And the results are pretty impressive.

And it may be something he can sustain, even into the new. next year. We'll see how he closes out this season, but he's, he's, I hesitate to call him must start, but he's not far off. Yeah, I'll admit I didn't notice the, uh, the drop in release point. But what I'm seeing is it was more, so you said it was July 15th, July 20, where I lost the year? 24th. 25th was the day Chris Sale started. Okay. So yeah, the, the big drop comes on July 30th. And it's actually on his fastball, been getting lower since then. But yeah, he dropped his arm angle, his release point about a quarter of an inch on that day. And if you include the most recent start, he's down about a half an inch or maybe a third of an inch.

So that's something ahead and seen. And obviously that is a tangible change that Shamanai has made. So that's, that's interesting. I don't know from like a long-term perspective what to make of it. You know, when we're looking at like 2025, because the thing I always come back to with Shamanai is we've seen stretches like this before. You know, not perfectly analogous, but like he had a stretch of 15 starts in 2021 where he had a 283 RA and 108, 104 strikeouts and 89 innings.

That's a half season of like, borderline ace level production and you know ultimately he ends the season with a 391 era so things clearly went south from that point on but that's um yeah that's interesting i'm inclined to think of sean mania next season more or less how i did before this stretch but that makes me rethink it a little bit yeah no exactly because this is i mean if A new delivery is transformative. And if it's a new delivery that makes his fastball more effective, that makes it a swing and miss pitch. I mean, that is the most valuable thing a pitcher can do for himself.

Miss bats on his fastball. And I'm not sure he's had that before. And, you know, he'll have to stick with it. It'll have to remain effective for him to stick with it. But if he does, then I don't know that he's the same guy anymore. And that obviously opens the possibility for him being a much better fantasy option. I do agree that Sean Mania is not a must-start pitcher. He's 73% started on CBS.

He's at Toronto this week. They are 26th in Wobah against lefties. Probably starting him out there, yeah. Totally fine using him there, yeah. And he has RP eligibility too. So if you're playing a points league, it's a nice little cheat code there for you using Sean Manaya this week against the Blue Jays. All right, you guys saved the carbs,

the breadsticks for me. I'm going to go ahead and let's talk about Connor Norby. Just another huge weekend. The guy has been raking for the Marlins recently, two for five with his sixth home run on Saturday and then two for four with a double dong, four RBI on Sunday. All three home runs this weekend, over 400 feet for Connor Norby.

In 18 games with the Marlins, he's betting 329. He's got six homers, 18 runs scored, two steals, You dig a little bit deeper, and it's not the most impressive. 84.5 average exit velocity, 29% strikeout rate. He is pulling the ball a lot, a 52% pull rate during that span. And as we've said, for many hitters who don't really profile as power hitters, that is a way you can kind of cheat the system there is by pulling the ball. But...

But... Only two of his home runs are to the pull side this season. That's the weird thing. thing is when when connor norby got traded to the marlins my first thought was well it's mediocre quality of contact metrics but does seem like the kind of guy who might be able to just kind of consistently pull that you know isaq paredes or or nolan aranado trick and just hit a bunch of pullside home runs and miami's not a great park but it's better than baltimore for that and here we are he has what six home runs on the season four of them are to eight six home runs on the season with

the marlins four of them are to right field but but his longest home run this weekend was to the opposite field he hit one four hundred thirty five feet to right center so if like not not every player these days can hit the ball that far to the opposite field and it's even stranger coming from conor norby whose exit velocity readings on the whole aren't that impressive, but he's shown the capability of doing that. I believe his second longest home run this weekend was also to the opposite field, the 418 footer on Sunday, I believe it was. I think it was just the 401, that dinky 401 foot home run he hit Sunday that he pulled.

And so I, I'm less worried for Norby about the exit velocities now than about the strikeout rate. He's going to have to get that down. And I'm not confident he will because even at AAA this year was above 28%. But I'll tell you this much, the Marlins, and we talked about this on Friday's show, the Marlins have the fifth best hitter matchups. And even more significantly, five lefties on the schedule, nor be murdered lefties at AAA this year. So I think he's, I'm not going to call him a must start. but he's as close as a guy who's rostered in what 40% of leagues can be.

Sorry, sorry Hazer Sanchez this week, unfortunately. 53% rostered for Connor Norby. So still widely available out there. Yeah, the underlying plate discipline is pretty scary. Zone contact is bad. Chases lots of pitches, 18.5% swinging strike rate.

What we're telling you is that the underlying numbers do not really back up everything that Connor Norby is doing right now, but he is hot. He's one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. So, yeah, with the dual position eligibility, second base, third base, you can plug him in wherever you see fit. I say just ride it out as long as he's hot. Maybe it's a Zach Geloff situation from last year where he just stays hot the rest of the season

and then, okay, maybe he takes a step back next year. But yeah, as long as he's this hot, I think Connor Norby needs to be rostered in more than 53% of leagues. What about Connor Norby versus the other breadstick? Spencer Horwitz, who had another, had a big weekend as well, four for five, with a double dung on Saturday, two for two, with his 12th home run on Sunday. He actually only started one of three games this weekend,

and he's been really bad against lefties, but over his last 28 games, Horwitz is betting 290. He's got eight home runs. He's hitting the ball in the air more. He's pulling it as well. The barrel rate, 12.2% during that span. So I think he's doing some good things as well. I like what we've seen here.

Scott, who do you like more, Connor Norby or Spencer Horwitz? Well, for next week, it's Norby. Long term it might be Horwitz. And I actually did add Horwitz to the sleeper hitters for next week, too, lower on the list than Norby. But after this big weekend performance, the Blue Jays do have two lefties on the schedule, but the four righties are pretty mashable. And what Horowitz did this weekend was impressive.

I didn't watch that Saturday game, but I heard that a couple balls were hit. off the wall in addition to the two home runs. And then he had some long foul balls in the game Sunday, where he came off the bench and hit a home run and a single. And the two home runs he hit Saturday were both over 420 feet. So kind of like Norby, this is not a guy who we think of having a lot of raw power. But Horwitz showed he can hit the ball a long way when he gets a hold of one. And he had something to say after that game Saturday that I thought.

was worth bringing up. He gave credit to assistant hitting coach Matt Haig. He said, we're doing drills working on my tightness to make sure I can pull the ball the right way. It showed today. I don't see anything that's changed in like the poll rates for Horwitz or anything, but like it's, there's more data that can probably be dug into there that might explain him. maximizing his, his, like, spray angle for power. He said the sort of thing that we like to hear hitters say is the bottom line.

And I think he's a pretty, I think he's a pretty impressive hitter if he can learn to hit lefties at least adequately. Again, that was Spencer Horowitz. We are taking Connor Norby over Horowitz for this week, but two names that are pretty hot right now. And Horowitz could be out there in slightly deeper leagues, too. He's less than 30% rostered on CBS. Big thanks to everyone for watching live. Hit the like button, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today.

And if you enjoy the audio podcast, feel free to leave us a five-star rating and review on both Apple and or Spotify. We really do appreciate it. Let's take our first break. When we return, we'll hit the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in News and Notes. Kyle Tucker made his long-awaited return to the Astros. weekend he started two games he went one for four with two runs and in rbi are you guys good to use kyle tucker this week i hardly care anymore he took too long i'm over it thanks for nothing

kyle tucker but obviously you have to activate him now okay he didn't play in the outfield yet right i don't e h both games leave so no apparently that's made jordan alvarez very mad and he's hulking out right now so that's good news. He's what? He's hulking out. Oh, hulking out. I thought you said holding out. I'm like, what is it?

No, no. He's hulking out. He's been hulking out for months. Yeah, I mean. He's having a monster second half, Alvarez. Ketel Marte also returned on Friday. He was back at leadoff, so another name you could get in your lineups. Tyler Glass now threw a 25-pitch bullpen on Saturday,

his first time throwing off a mound since landing on the aisle. Jackson Merrill fouled the ball off of his knee Friday. He was out of the lineup Saturday and then returned on Sunday, X-rays came back negative, and I guess he's fine because he homered on Sunday. Hello. Maybe sit this week. Jackson Merrill? Along with everyone on the Padres, unfortunately.

Why is that? They only play five games, right? Yeah, they do have the worst matchups, five games, and a couple of them are against the Mariners pitching staff. So, I don't know. I mean, you're probably still starting him in most leagues. I feel like he's so good. I think I'm going to go Xavier Edwards over him in a points league.

Yeah, I mean, Xavier Edwards is basically must start too, I think. So in shallower leagues that don't have the extra outfielders and middle infields spot, I could see Merrill, Jackson Merrill getting squeezed out. But most people are probably still going to use him. Yeah, I think so too. To Asker Hernandez was hitting the foot by a pitch on Friday and then left the game immediately. He also missed Saturday and Sunday. X-rays came back negative.

He's hoping to return on. Monday. Luis Castillo left Sunday start with a left hamstring strain and will undergo an MRI on Monday. Alec Boem was placed in the IL with a left hand strain retroactive to September 3rd. In the shallowest of leagues, just check for any of Eugenio Suarez, Mark Vientos, or Junior Camerro. They're all between 79 and 85% rostered on CBS. If those names are gone, Connor Norby, who we spoke about, does have third base eligibility. He's 55% roster. Michael Bush, if you're just looking for a matchup play for this week, he has some games in Coors Field, 66% rostered,

and then some names further down the list. Brooks Lee, 30%, and Jose Tana 10%. Again, those are some Alec Boe-Bohm replacements. Bo Bichette will begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. He's been out since mid-July with a right calf strain. Gavin Stone was placed in the aisle due to right shoulder inflammation, and Dodgers, President of Baseball Operations, Andrew Friedman was asked about all of the injuries to Dodgers pitchers this season, and he said, quote,

it's been a really challenging year on that front and something that we're going to need to spend a lot of time on this winter to really dig in on. He also mentioned reimagining their pitching development this offseason. I feel so bad for the Dodgers. All right. I thought it was interesting that, you know, he's fine. All right, Scott. We all feel real bad for the Braves. I'm not even like saying that necessarily from a Braves fan perspective

just from a baseball fan like there's few organizations that I have you know the Dodgers get whatever they want basically and I imagine the way they'll dig into it this offseason is by signing three really good pitchers and they're getting Otani back as a pitcher next season how about that Jeffrey Springs was placed on the aisle with left elbow fatigue retroactive to September 5th he was returning from Tommy John surgery

this season, are you guys okay dropping Jeffrey Springs? Yeah, I think he's, I think he's done. A bunch of leagues are done this week or next week, so he's not going to be back for either of those. Yeah, I just, I know there are some roto leagues that are still out there, and NFBC, there's no IL spot, so leagues like that, I think. Best case scenario there, you got him back for the final eight days of the season. Yeah, so maybe two starts at best, but probably not.

Jeffrey Springs, okay to drop. Brandon Lau missed Friday and Saturday due to a right middle-fing inflammation. Was he in the lineup on Sunday? Brandon Lowe. Let's uh, let's, I don't think so. Quickly check that. He was not in the lineup. Did not play this weekend. So he is a name to monitor here on Monday. Jonathan India was removed from Sunday's game to due to left elbow discomfort. Calvin Foshae was placed on the aisle with a right shoulder impingement retroactive to September 5th. Chris, who is next up for saves on your beloved Miami Marlins? Well, you know, the way this weekend

when it may not matter they put up nine runs in consecutive break up the Marlins yeah I don't have a strong maybe Anthony Bender if they think he's you know fine coming off the injury

I don't really I think that's this is like the third time this year that we've touted Anthony Bender is probably next in line I just don't know who else it would even be like you yeah you look at the name on their active roster and it's like

Declan Cronin. John McMillan. That's the guy. Yeah. Darren McLaughen. I think that's, I don't know. You don't even know how to pronounce them. Yeah. And you're a Marlins fan. Yeah, it's probably nobody.

Chris, didn't we see Declan Cronin pitch in spring training? We did. Down in Florida. That was, we saw him in that spring training game and I had literally never heard of him before that. So, yeah. Yeah. All right.

So these are just names for deeper and only leagues. I think I would put John McMillan at the top of the list. But yeah, there's a chance they go with Anthony Bender. Or maybe they just don't have a save opportunity for the rest of the season. I mean, if you're that desperate for saves, and I'm sure we'll get to the bullpen section later where there are better options. But Victor Vodnick just got activated from the I.L. I think I'd rather have him, and I'm sure he's available almost everywhere.

I think I'd rather have him than speculate on anybody in the Marlins' bullpen. J.T. Rulamuto left Friday's game after filing a ball off of his knee was not in the lineup on Saturday. Another name here. Let's, uh, you know, I took these notes on Saturday and then I didn't update them on Sunday. What a bad job by me. Uh, J.T. Rulamuto, he was not in the lineup Sunday either. So, hmm, another name to a lot of it. It's a little concerning given the knee surgery. Yep. Trevor Story made his return this weekend. He started both Saturday and Sunday, and he picked up a hit in each. Any interest in Trevor's story. who is 21% roster.

Only in roto, but, you know, he's still had like 19 homers and 26 steals, I think, uh, in 143 games since joining the Red Sox if those numbers are accurate. Um,

I wrote about it earlier today, so those numbers should be fairly accurate. And, uh, you know, it's a 2.30 something batting average. So I'm not super excited, but yeah,

I still think there's a chance. Trevor Story can be helpful. All right, we got to do the contextualization thing, right? Norby, Story, and Horwitz. I would put that at the bottom of the list. Yeah, Norby Horwitz story. Yeah. I agree, but if we're not taking the matchups next week into account,

I think it's probably closer than you're making it sound. All right, team name for anyone who picks up both Horwitz and Story, American Horwitt's story Oh, oh, ho ho. Pretty good. Do you watch the show? Never watched it. I watched it for a long time, but then, I don't know, they really started getting wacky, so I fell off.

But, I don't know, maybe I'll jump back in, you know, spooky season is going on? I think so, I think so. I would just say check for Trevor Story in, like, deeper Roto leagues because he was available in all of my 15-team Roto League. So I had... I was supposed to be out for the year. No, yeah, exactly why. It's got it crazy. Just, yeah, check on Trevor Story in those deeper leagues.

Tanner Hauke's next start was pushed back to Friday, which means he won't be a two-star pitcher this week, as we originally anticipated. Jordan Romano has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Chad Green will remain the Blue Jays closer. I think he's blown three saves in a row, but not really sure where else they would go. Jeff McNeil is out for the season with a fractured right wrist.

Jose Iglesias started at second base, and Jose Soriano will not return this season. He went on the I.L. August 17th with arm fatigue. I will say I saw one report that the Mets are considering giving Luis Angel Acuna, Luis on Hell, Acuna probably, a look, but that's just something to keep an eye on over the next couple of days, perhaps. He's been pretty bad in the minors this year. Ronald Acuna's younger brother. So I think that's the most interesting thing about him as a prospect.

He's shorter. He's not nearly as powerful. He was a top 100 guy entering the season. I don't think he will be next season. But yeah, he was entering this season. Other names who went on the IL this weekend, Kyle Harrison with left shoulder inflammation, Max Meyer with right shoulder bursitis,

Derek Hill with a left shoulder impingement, Joe Adele with a left oblique strain, Kevin Pilar with a strain left thumb, and Henry Davis with left hand inflammation. One prospect update, Tiger's top pitching prospect, Jackson Job was promoted to AAA, and 16 starts at AA. He had a 195 ERA 109 whip. Uncharacteristically bad control this season for Jackson Job, which has never really been an issue at any other levels.

But he's 22 years old. Chances you think he's up on opening day for the Tigers? Opening day? Yeah. 49.5%. Sure. I thought 50 and then I thought 40 so I'll say 45.

45% there you go Jackson Job and I did get a strategy question on Twitter Sunday and it got me thinking a little bit I think mostly for people in Chalo leagues maybe head to head playoff formats how would you approach the playoff run with year-long busts like Matt Olson and Marcus Semid would you drop them and go with the hot hand

or would you just keep them in your lineup? And I think it's kind of an interesting question this time of year. I haven't. looked at it super recently, but I, Olson's been better the past couple months, right? He has, he hasn't been quite himself. He's hitting 237 with 12 homers in the second half.

But like, that's a 45 homer pace with a bunch of RBI. So I think if I got to this point with both of those guys and I dropped them now, I feel like I would feel worse if they went off. you know, so I don't think I would do it. I will say like, I expected Simeon to turn it on and he did in July. And he's been just been miserable and on August and, you know, the week of September so far. So that's been disappointing. Yeah.

I mean, Semyon is batting 238 with a 695 OPS on the season. That's a pretty bad player. Mm-hmm. I mean, he's still giving you lots of volume. He leads off for the Rangers. Yeah, I think in a point, like I'm probably sick. with him. Like, I'm, I'm, I don't know, Connor Norby's been so good. Maybe I would consider that, but like, I might not for Horwitz. Band-Aid. Yeah, not for Horwitz, who's like not playing every day.

But I want to drop Simeon. Yeah. Even if I was picking up Norby to start over him this week. Okay. Because I just, I hate the idea of, you know, you giving, you stick with him all season and then he goes off against you. You know, I, I'd like to protect that from happening, prevent it. So maybe it's not a, you drop these players, but if you have the bench spots and you could afford to just keep those guys on the bench and you can start someone else who's hotter right now, again, like a Connor Norby,

who's been much better than Marcus Semyon recently, I do think that's a perfectly fine route to go down. Let's talk about some other waiver wire hitters. And Dylan Cruz had a big doubleheader on Saturday, two for six with a sock and two shoes across two games. and 12 games so far with the Nats. The batting average is lower, 2-17, but he's got three homers, five steals,

a 780 OPS. He's 72% rostered. We've talked a lot about Dylan Cruz, but clearly he's still out there in some shallower formats, maybe some three outfielder leagues. Who would you guys rather add? Dylan Cruz or Pete Crow Armstrong?

Well, only one's a sleeper header for this week and it's Pete Crow Armstrong. I do think Dylan Cruz's ceiling is higher and I'm pretty confident. and I'll be drafting them earlier next season, but we're playing it week to week right now. So I'm going Crowe Armstrong. I would go with Cruz,

who like the one thing I was going to say is like, well, Pete Carrar Armstrong at least has the edge and speed, but not actually sure that's true. Cruz's been running a lot. He's got five steals and 12 games. Core Armstrong, it's like 7 and 43 or something, whatever the pace is. So he's been good.

I think Cruz is a better hitter. So I would go with him. All right. I've got to break the tie. going with PCA. What about Dylan Cruz or Taylor Ward, who's been pretty hot recently? Cruz.

Cruz. And Dylan Cruz or JJ Blede? Cruz. Cruz. Okay. We obviously spoke a lot about Connor Norby. Did just want to ask if you would drop any of these players for him. Would you drop a Ryan McMahon?

Yes. Yep. What about Jackson Holiday? Yeah, I think so. I don't have a ranked that way. I don't have it ranked that way yet, but I think I'm just going to do that. Yeah. What about Glaber Torres?

Yeah. Oh, gosh, if we start. Yeah. Yeah, I would happily drop Glaber Torres for Connor Norby. And Essock Paredes, who's been pretty bad with the Cubs. Boy, we talk a lot about a win-win trade. Morel for Paredes looks like a lose-lose trade right now. Both those guys have just been dreadful.

Yeah. I'd be, that I'm perfectly fine. dropping Paredes for Norby. What's especially confusing about the Paredes deal, I mean, it seemed obviously like a bad venue shift for him, as we talked about at the time. But he's under control for several more years. They seemingly have found their long-term first baseman and Michael Bush.

They got, you know, their top prospect as a third baseman. Matt Shaw, he should be up at some point next year, if not before the end of this season. and what are they going to do with Paredes at that point? I think they could flip someone like Nika Horner to this offseason. I've thought about that. I've thought about even Dansby Swanson and move because Horner was a good shortstop

before they signed Swanson and moved into second base. Yeah, it is a possibility. Paredes, by the way, betting 162 with a 556 OPS so far with the Chicago Cubs. The fly ball rate way down for ESOC Paredes since joining them. back over to Spencer Horowitz. I wanted to compare him to some other players at his position. Would you rather add Horwitz or Kyle Manzardo?

I would much rather add Horwitz. I removed Manzardo from the sleeper hitters for next week because at least Sunday he was out of the line against a Ritey. What about Horwitz versus Thai France, who's hit very well since joining the Reds? Horwitz. I think I would go with France, especially in a points league,

just because I think he's going to play more. I, hmm, yeah, that one's close. I think I would go with Thai France as well. What about Spencer Horowitz versus Perdomo? Geraldo Perdomo, who's another name, you know, over the past month or so, he's hit really well for Arizona. Unless I absolutely only need speed,

I would go with Horwitz. Yeah, I don't buy the Perdomo thing at all, so I agree. Okay. What about Horowitz versus his teammate, Will Wagner? Ooh, I know you like both, Scott. Well Horwitz. I mean, he's playing more regularly than Wagner at least and producing more than Wagner.

Yeah. Joey Bart is back. He returned this weekend, one for four with his 13th home run on Sunday. He's had a very fine season. 271 batting average 848 OPS in 66 games with the Pirates. He's 26% rostered. How would you guys rank

Shea Langalears, Austin Wells, and Joey Bart. One catch a leeks. I'd go Bart Langalears Wells. I'll flip the top Oh, Langalears, Barth, and Wells. Okay. Some names in deeper leagues, Johnny DeLuca, who I mentioned recently, continues to hit. He had a big weekend.

Last 18 games, 3-38 batting average, three home runs, seven steals. He's only 4% rostered. Otto Lopez, who plays for the Marlins, has been hitting well. Last 33 games, he's batting 297, providing some speed. He has eight steals during that time. Grant McCray has been doing some things for the Giants, two-for-four with a double-dong, five RBI on Saturday. and he has started 20 of the past 22 games for them.

He had over 50 steals in the minors last year, so it's just kind of an interesting profile there. Trey Sweeney had a huge game on Sunday for the Tigers 4-4 with a sock and a shoe, and Pavin Smith had a huge game on Sunday night baseball, a truly massive game. Three-for-four with a triple dong. He had eight RBI, but he barely plays.

He's only started five of the past 16 games. You remember it was the start of last season, I think Pavin Smith had like 10 RBI in the first seven games or something. Sounds familiar. I distinctly remember that you like, should we take Pavan Smith? No, of course, we shouldn't take Pavan Smith seriously. No. He's like a part-time, part-time player.

So I think he's easy enough to write off. DeLuca, 4% rostered is probably too low. Like he's got an interesting minor league track record. He's got a lot of speed. and he's playing pretty regularly. So I think 4% roster is too low for him. He's worth a look in any 15 team, Roto League, where you need speed down the stretch.

The rest of this group is pretty uninspiring. I agree to Luke. It needs to be rostered in 4% because 4% is essentially 0%. But I do. I'm unenthusiastic about him overall because it feels like fool me.

twice shame on me situation. Remember when he first got called up, he was delivering and we got really excited. And, you know, even during this stretch where DeLuca has been productive, his average exit velocity is like 87 miles per hour. So I'm just not. Yeah, I don't think the power is anything remarkable.

Yeah. I think it's more of a speed play than anything. And I might prefer Grant McCray for that, to be honest. I don't think there's. that far apart. Obviously, DeLuca's the hotter hand. Grant McCrae, by the way, he's played 20 games with the Giants, betting 243 with five homers, three steals, and 803 OPS, striking out an ungodly 42% of the time. But man, he is hitting the ball hard, 93.6 average exit velocity, 18% barrel rate. So, you know, you could get

some sneaky power and speed in deeper five outfielder leagues. Again, the name there is Grant McCray. Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll hit the Waverwire pitchers from the weekend right after this. Welcome back in Waver Wire pitchers, part one. And the first group includes Tobias Myers, who had 11 strikeouts against the Rockies this weekend, James and Tyone, who had a quality start up against the Yankees, Shane Boz, who also had a quality start at the Orioles, and Clark Schmidt, who pitched well in his return at the Cubs, four and two-thirds, shutout innings, only two strikeouts there.

The matchups for this group, Schmidt gets the Red Sox, Shane Boz gets the Phillies, James and Tyone in Corse Field, yuck, and Tobias Myers is at the Debeck. So be honest, don't want any of these matches. Tobias Myers, huge star 11 strikeouts. It was, what, all in the fastball, basically. It was the

Rockies on the road, and now he goes to Arizona to face one of the best lineups in baseball. I've been less interested in him than I think either of you, and I can't imagine either of you are particularly interested in him at Arizona. So I

And having already done the exercise of looking at every team's schedules for the rest of the season, I don't remember exactly how it plays out for these four, but none of them made the list of pitchers I was picking up to stash beyond this upcoming week. So I think if we're going to talk about him, it's in terms of scouting for next year. And I do want to point out a couple things there if I could. Tobias Myers, obviously this was a, an unusually good start for him with the 11 strikeouts and a very favorable matchup. His fastball was up one mile per hour and he got 10 of his 19 whiffs on it, which the fastball

had been a problem pitch for him. Only a 17% whiff rate overall. We've wanted them to mix in the secondaries more. So that's just something to keep an eye on if he can throw it harder and it can be more effective. The other thing is I feel like Tobias Myers is kind of faded, but it's just the opposite, it actually. His last 10 starts, he has a 225 ERA. So the numbers have actually been getting better, not worse with him, which I also thought was

interesting. We'll see how he finishes out the season. And then the other one thing I wanted to bring up with Shane Boz, who faded his slider in this one, which is supposed to be his best pitch, but he's had trouble regaining the effectiveness on it. He threw it only Let's see here. He threw it not much at all. 8%. There's a lot more curveballs, a lot more changeups, and he had a really good start.

15 swinging strikes against the Orioles lineup. Seems to be trending up overall, making some changes, trying some different things. But again, not ready to start, Shane Baas, with a matchup at the Phillies next time. Waiverwire pitchers, part two. Kyle Gibson was great up against the Mariners. Six and two-thirds,

shout-out innings with nine strikeouts and 18 whiffs. Andrew Heaney turned in a quality start against the Angels. Six innings, three earned runs, eight strikeouts had 14 whiffs in that one. Frankie Montas, an impressive start, also against the Rockies on the road. Six innings, three runs, 10 strikeouts.

Seven starts with the Brewers. He's been solid, 392 ERA and a 121 whip. And Dean Kramer was great up against Tampa Bay, six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and 17 wifts. If we're looking at the matchups for this group, Kramer is at the Red Sox. Montas is at the Giants Andrew Heaney at the Mariners

and Kyle Gibson is at Toronto I think Heaney and Montas probably stand out most in terms of matchups here. Yeah I think they're the only ones I would want to stream here. Heaney is among my sleeper pitchers for next week. All right. The next group includes

Jose Cantana who pitched really well up against the red six and two-thirds shutout innings with six strikeouts and 13 whiffs. Matthew Boyd famous last words. guys looked good man and this time he was at the Dodgers. He's got the White Sox this time too.

Next up. Yeah. I like it, Dodgers. He does this against the Dodgers. What's he going to do to the White Sox? Probably give up four home runs. Probably, yeah. But he is among my sleeper pitchers. Six innings one run, six strikeouts, 15 whiffs for Matthew Boyd,

who again is at the White Sox this week. DJ Hurs through five no-hit innings at the Pirates. He also had five strikeouts with 12 whiffs. He gets to Marlins. this week. Obviously great matchup. And Edward Cabrera was awesome on Sunday against the Phillies. Seven shotout innings with six strikeouts. He had 14 whiffs and he's at the National. So a couple names here who could be in play, maybe some deeper league stuff, but Cabrera at the Nationals, hers gets the Marlins and then obviously we mentioned Boyd at the White Sox. I think all three

of those could be in play. Yeah, I think I like Boyd best, probably hers after that. Cabrera, it's extremely Jeremy Renner in Avengers Endgame where he's like in the rain and he like just murdered a bunch of gang members and he's like don't give me hope

that's how I want to believe but I my brain is too smart to let me believe it. Chris do you think of these scenarios beforehand and then you're like off the top of the dome this is this is just that's pretty good You get these gems just improvved, baby.

I really wasn't sure where you were going with there at first. Edward Cabrera murders what? What's going on? Murders your whip more like, hey. He murdered that Phillies lineup here on Sundays. This is the thing. Like, if he could do this consistently, he'd be awesome. But we're several years into this.

whole experience and I'm not going to buy in no. I mean, case in point, you probably don't even remember this listener, but he had a similar start on August 9th where he threw seven shutout innings. And what happened in between? I'm not exactly sure, but I wrote down last eight starts for Cabrera, a 302 ERA and a 121 whip. So not great, but solid. Yeah, sometimes looking at the box scores more revel.

I mean, looking at the game log, I should say. I will say, like, if I had any faith in DJ Hertz's ability to pitch deep into games, like, I think he's legitimately showing some very impressive skills. And I think as a sleeper for 2025, DJ Herves is definitely in consideration. Since the start of July, he has a 265 ERA and a 289 FIP. The problem, he's averaging fewer than five innings per start. Wow. And it's a lot of like 85, 87, 77 pitch starts.

So I think there's talent here, especially if he can keep the walks under control. But I don't think he's like, he's a fine streamer against Miami, but not someone to get excited about for the rest of the season. That could be a workload management thing. But given that he really just has a fastball, it makes me wonder if they don't trust him a third time through the lineup, which would be a longer standing issue for hers. A bunch of names who pitched well in deeper leagues could be out there.

Not going to run through the lines, but I'll mention the names Landon Nack, Jack Leiter, Davis Martin, Samuel Aldegher, Jacob Junis, and Kyle Freeland. All six of those pitched well this weekend. This is very deep league stuff, but any of those names stand out. Well, Landon Nack, I think the velocity was up on everything. obviously got a lot of strikeouts against a good lineup should have a rotation spot now with Clayton Kirshall being down and is a fly ball pitcher.

So you could see him, if home runs don't get the better of him, you could see him being pretty good in terms of hit prevention. So I have some low interest, low level interest in Landonac. I picked him up in an NL only league. I'm very interested in Jack Leiter.

I don't know if that's, interest is ever going to amount to anything, but he is clearly super talented. He had 20 whiffs in this start more than any other pitcher this weekend, 12 of them on the fastball. That pitch when he's got it going is massive for him. And I just, I don't think he's that close to putting it together yet. And so it's more of a, let's see what the next couple starts are for 2025, although I'm not sure he's going to have a rotation spot in 2025 given de Grom coming back, Kumar Rocker knocking on the door.

They should just go old and young. It should be like DeGrom Scherzer, Rocker, Lighter. Bradford. And yeah, Cody Bradford's awesome. And of all the, I think he's still. Yeah, it's a legitimate crunch. I don't think Kumar Rocker is going to make the opening day rotation next year. But, you know, lighter, I think, is a really interesting talent.

and I would love to see him go on a run here. It's just if you're in a 12-team points league, there's zero chance you could start him this week, even with one of the best matchups for a strikeout pitcher at Seattle. Yeah. I think if you're chasing strikeouts and you're just whatever, your ratios are in the dumps anyway, you could go for it.

Jack lighter at the Mariners and maybe you get a win out of it too. But yeah, I could see lots of strikeouts there. against the Mariners for Jack Leiter. What about, I just want to quickly mention, man, Justin Verlander, it's always rough to see the legends go out, but like very rarely do they end their careers like David Ortiz does, right? It's just not looking good for Verlander.

You give up eight earned runs on Sunday night baseball. He's 91% rostered. I think you could drop him. It's never been more over. Yep, I agree. Can I give a honorable mention here to a pitcher nobody's ever heard of who had a good first career start this weekend and that is Brady Basso.

I'm not the one I thought you were going to mention. Of the athletics, okay. Where do you think he was going? Richard Fitz? I thought he was going Richard Fitz. Well, Basso Star was more impressive. No earn runs in six innings against the Tigers. I believe that was Saturday.

And the overall minor league numbers aren't great and he's 26 years old. But last eight starts at AAA, 229 ERA, 0.96 whip 11K per 9. and good a K-D-B ratio overall for Brady-Bassau. The problem is he got sent down right afterward. Yeah. So we may not hear from him again this year, but if we do, I'm going to have my eye on Brady Basso. The only reason I didn't include him was because he got sent down.

Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah, I guess Richard didn't fit the rundown. No, he did not, unfortunately. Let's get into some starter sick questions for some pictures that could be on the fringe here. Luis Heel was dominant in his return at the Cubs. He threw six shutout innings with seven strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 89 pitches.

Velocity was down quite a bit in this start, but obviously was still effective. You guys start or sit Luis Heel up against the Royals this week. I think you got to start him. You could go either way. It depends who else I had. I'm not eager to start Heel, but I wouldn't be afraid to if he was clearly my best option.

Okay. What about Max Friede, who was great up against the Blue Jays? seven innings, one unearned run, eight strikeouts. He had 16 whiffs. Overall, since returning from the I.O. It's a 408 ERA and a 129 whip. He has been better lately, and he's at the nationals this week. Yeah.

Start. Spencer Swellenbach has looked a little more human recently. He faced the Blue Jays this weekend where he gave up 10 hits, six runs, only three of those were earned. He also gave up two homers in that game. I think both were to Spencer Horowitz. Spencer on Spencer crime. Yeah.

Schwellenbach gets the Dodgers this week. Yeah, I think you're sitting. I think I want to bench him. I agree, and I think he might be running out of steam here. He's well over last year's inning total. He's like 90 over last year's inning total, right? And you know what? For Spencer Schwellenbach believers, this could be a great thing

because he was getting so much hype there before these last couple starts. And I think the hype was justified. I think there's a lot to like about Spencer Schwellenbach. This might push him out. outside the top 36. We'll see how he finishes out. But I think he's running out of steam here for 2024. Dylan Cease has taken a step back lately over his last five starts,

a 527 ERA, a 154 whip walks have been a problem. He's at the Giants this week, though, which is a good matchup. Strikeups have also been a problem. It's not getting very many of them lately. I'm going to go down with the ship. If Dylan Sees is going to end the season poorly, it's going to be in my lineup. agree. Luis Severino has pitched better as of late.

His last five starts a 195 ERA, a 118, a 1-18 whip over a strikeout per inning. And he threw his sweeper a decent bit more in this start, and it was pretty effective. The problem is he's at the Phillies this week. Yeah, I'm not starting. I'm not either, but there has been a longer-term trend of Luis Severino. Throwing that sweeper more, it was especially more in this start. when we've seen the strikeouts go up, he's kind of reinventing himself again

after becoming more of a ground ball pitcher earlier this year. Michael Waka turned in a great start up against the twins, seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts, and he is only 68% started at the Pirates this week. I think we're a go on Michael Watt. Yeah, with the most underrated pitcher in baseball, Michael Waka, I would say. What about Garrett Cole, who took a tough luck loss at the Cubs on Sunday?

Sunday, six innings, two unearned runs, seven strikeouts. He is still searching for that slider. But in spite of not having that pitch, his last seven starts, a 158 ERA and a 105 whip. He is home against the Red Sox this week. What do you think about Garrett Cole? Start. I feel like he always gets hit hard by the Red Sox. Yeah, no, the numbers against the Red Sox the last couple of seasons are,

I only checked the last three seasons, but it's like close to a seven ERA. They were just... The past three seasons against the Red Sox. Raphael Devers especially just... They owns him. They were and always have it. Okay. He doesn't have it anymore.

He's going to be fine. It's a good thing he doesn't have the slider, actually. No, I'm probably starting him, but... Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I was doing it with a ton of confidence. 18 career starts against the Red Sox for Garacol. 484 ERA 123 whip. Yeah. A ton of home runs.

Rafael Devers has like nine or ten career home runs off him. It's like something bonkers like that. Yeah, it'll be the e-movable force. I don't know what I'm saying. Something for us. Unstoppable force and movable objects. There you go. That's why teamwork makes the dream work.

Devers has been ice cold lately and he's dealing with a bunch of injuries. So we'll see who comes out on top in Devers versus Garrett Cole this week. Jack Flaherty was awesome up against the Guardians. Seven and a third shot out innings with six strikeouts. He had 14 whiffs. on 92 pitches, and he is at the Braves this week. I think I feel okay, we check Flaherty. Yep.

Agree. Okay. Shout out to some third baseman that have been awesome for a good amount of time. Mark Viento's 3-4-5 with a double-donged 4 RBI on Friday, including a walk-off homer. He's up to a 284 batting average and an 895 OPS on the season. Mani Machado, since the start of June, has been great. 299 batting average, 20 homers, and an OPS near 9-9-9.

A. Eugenio Suarez continues to dominate two more homers this weekend. 60 games since July 1st, a 316 batting average, 20 homers, 58 RBI, and an OPS over 1,000 for A.U. Hennelian, Swarres. He can end up with 100 RBI season. Yeah. How? I mean, batting fifth or sixth in a top three offense, that'll do it. That's, yeah.

I know, I get it. Almost an RBI per game for like three months, but. Yeah. He was dreadful. early on. Yeah. Big, big year for Machado

next year. I'm calling it now. I mean, he's going to end up basically having the season you expected him to have. Well, it's going to be a season

like last years, but next year will be the first year in three years where he wasn't impacted by that elbow injury. Yeah, I mean,

I've read off the numbers since June, but even the overall numbers from Machado, 275, 25 homers, 90 RBI, nine steals.

Like, he's going to come close to 30 homers. 100 ribbies, and double-digit seals. That's basically what you want from Machado, right? I mean, that's a really, really good season for him. So, yeah, hopefully he can carry it over to next year. Some pitching standouts from the weekend.

The first group, Framber Valdez, Cole Regens, Bryce Miller, and Michael King, all big performances from those. Scott, anything that stood out from King, Bryce Miller, Regens, and Framber Valdez. The biggest thing that stood out for me is we've continued to out Framber Valdez increased curveball usage. It's a, his last 10 starts now, 177 ERA. And that's when the curveball usage ticked up.

But this latest start over the weekend was the lowest curveball usage during that stretch, 28%. He's still two hit the diamond backs. But you know, he was a good pitcher before he added the curveball. So I don't know, something to keep an eye on the rest of the way. Does that end up being a short-term development or relative? relatively short-term development, the curveball, the increased curveball usage, and will he basically go back to being the Fromber Valdez we remember before then? And like the stakes are relatively low, right?

Like he was always a top 24 starting pitcher. For me, it's just like he's pitched like a top 12 pitcher in this stretch. Oh, for sure. 1770.0.0.80 whip 11 keeper nine. The underlying numbers almost entirely back it up, too. He's been outstanding. It's four double-digit strikeout efforts, I think, in that stretch as well. It's just if he doesn't, you know, back it up the next four starts and it goes back to being less than a strikeout printing, then it's probably he's just for Amber Valdez.

Next group includes Logan Gilbert, another start, no run support, eight innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts, and he took the loss. If you want to convince your league mates, like, I'm agnostic about the win in fantasy. But if you want to convince your league mates to get rid of the win, just show them Logan Gilbert's game log this season. He has, I think, 11 losses this season. Let me make sure I get the number. He has, I think, six quality starts in a loss this season. And he has a 270 ERA in no decisions. It's bonkers.

The only time he gets a win is if he's like the best pitcher in baseball right now. He has a, I think it's a sub, sub.7 ERA in his seven wins. It's so stupid. He had a quality, a complete game loss today. That is so dumb. Not today, Friday. The ratios are ridiculous. He has a seven and 11 record on the season.

It says, yeah. Yeah. So it's, I think six quality starts and 11 losses or something like that. It's sometimes baseball is just dumb. Yeah, he's been, I think he's third innings, top 10 in ERA overall. Like he's been a fantasy ace He's been a top 10 starting pitcher I just don't know if it's actually reflected

Because he has seven wins and 29 starts It's so annoying Again that was Logan Gilbert Bailey Ober had an awesome start at the Royals Seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts And Chris Sale continues to dominate Six shutout with seven strikeouts After his last start I did bring up

That the velocity was down And it was down again in this one Not as much but fastball Down 1.3 miles per hour Slider down 1.2 he still was really good in both of those starts, but this is a pitcher that has an extensive injury history. So just, I don't know.

Let's watch it. See where it goes. Chris Sale Velocity. Anything? I mean, you're not going to drop him. No, you're starting him. It's just, yeah, I think, I mean, it hasn't appeared to limit his effectiveness.

So I think he's clearly the NLSA Young, and I think, you know, arguably the top pitcher in baseball this year. Do you think all four big singular awards are locked up already? I do. I do. There is a movement to try to make Francisco Lindor the NL MVP, but I don't think he's going to be that.

I think what the voting actually comes out, it's not even going to be close between those two. Some hitting leftovers, Jose Altuve had himself a big weekend. Again, seven hits, one homer, six runs scored. Yordon Alvarez, a double dong, six RBI on Friday. And in the second half, he's batting 344 with an OPS approaching 1,100. Julio Rodriguez is picking things back up, his last 15 games,

batting 295 with three homers, 13 runs, 11 RBI, and three steals. Willie Adamas had another huge game on Saturday, two for four with a sock and two shoes. Tyler O'Neill had a big game on Saturday, three for four with a double dung. Marcus Semyon, big game on Sunday, two for five. with a sock and a shoe and Shohay Otani just doing his thing. Two more homers this weekend. He's now up to 46 and 46.

I mean, 50-50s happening, right? Yeah, we might be selling him short. Have you guys seen the weird Willie Adama stat about the three run home runs? So I think he has more three-run home runs than like a handful of teams do this season. But I know he tied the record. Which is helped by Ken Griffey Jr. 13 3-run home runs this season. Yeah.

Which is one of those, it's just weird. Like, but yeah, it's, I think, yeah, it's tied for the most in a single season in M. M.L.B. History. Willie Adamas. Yeah. I did want to ask about Tyler O'Neill, 17 games since being activated from the I.L. In mid-August, he's betting 1.95. It does have five homers, but a 41% strikeout rate.

Would you be all right dropping Tyler O'Neil in like a three outfielder league for, like, PCA or I think in a points league it'd be okay, but it's not like Cruz and PCA are incredible in points leagues. I think like depending on the matchups and the number, like the Red Sox only have five games this week, right? No, they have seven. They have seven. Okay. So then I think I'd probably just stick with O'Neill over Cruz. But the strikeouts do make it an interesting question in a points league. Yeah, I'd be afraid of him blowing up for somebody else.

He's been a fixture in my top 30 outfielders all season And I'm disinclined to change it at this point For Tyler O'Neill All right, some bullpen updates for the Yankees on Friday Well, they got really creative Three-run lead, Jake Cousins got the seventh inning Tommy Canley got the eighth And Luke Weaver got the ninth inning

He walked one but struck out two for his first save And he's 17% rostered I don't know if this means he will get their next save But you got their first one I just thought of something. Oh. Luke, if Luke Weaver's a closer now.

Luke Weaver. Oh my God. I believe you can get me through the night. That was the joke I used to make like eight years ago. That was that amazing. I used to say I wish he was a closer so we could. Oh, yeah, yeah. We could sing that version of the song.

It's happening. And now it's happening. So, wow. It needs to text Adam. I got, I absolutely have to get him to sing that and I use it as a drop. Because the fact that he used to sing that, and now Luke Weaver is closing for his favorite team, which I'm sure he absolutely hates, is amazing. So, yeah. I'll work on that.

I'll work on getting that from Adam. For the Rockies on. We don't actually know he's the closer, to be fair. But he got the first save since they demoted Clay Holmes. And he was the eighth inning guy. So it's looking pretty strong. I'd say pretty annoying. We didn't get a second a save this weekend.

Yeah. And they had a same opportunity Saturday. They just let Nesser Cortez throw the final four innings of the game. Yeah. Which apparently he was not happy about it. Yeah, we didn't mention that, but he was removed from the rotation. I think he's going to start this week. Yeah.

Yeah, I think it's just temporary. And along those lines, I wanted to make sure I brought this up, because we talked Friday about how Spencer Erigetti might be a two-star pitcher for the upcoming week. But it sounds like they're reinserting Ronel Blanco, despite however many balls you see. next to Aragetti's name and your set lineup page. It sounds like they're going to re-insert

Ronell Blanco and go six-man next week. So just one star for Araggeti against the athletics. I still think you're going to use them in most cases, but it's obviously the rewards are not as big if he's just a one-star guy, obviously. And also along those lines, because I also mentioned him among sleeper pitchers for last week, for the upcoming week.

Osvaldo Bido, he worked, two innings in relief Saturday, but it sounds like he's going to be back in the rotation this week. We just don't know when. I presume it'll be the second half of the week, which would line Osvaldo Bito up against the White Sox, which means I still have him among my sleeper pitchers. I think I saw that he's going to pitch on Tuesday.

I saw some sites, just they filled them in for Tuesday, but I have not seen it reported that Asvaldo Bito is starting Tuesday. So this is just the latest news item on CBS for Bita. it says is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Astros. That's according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. All right. Well, then that sounds like reporting. So I will, even better then,

if Bito is going to line up for two starts. For the Rockies, Tyler Kinley picked up a save on both Friday and Sunday. But as we mentioned earlier, Victor Vodnick, he was activated from the aisle on Sunday. He didn't pitch in that game. I wonder if maybe they kind of work them in slowly, but my guess is he will once again take over as a team's closer. For the Orioles on Friday, Sir Anthony Dominguez recorded the final four outs for his ninth save.

He is 48% rostered. For the Tigers on Saturday, Jason Foley recorded the final two outs for his 21st save. For the Royals on Saturday, Lucas Ersig struck out one for his 10th. And then on Sunday, he picked up his 11th as well. And all of a sudden, Lucas Ersig has three saves since Wednesday. So he was kind of shaky there for a little bit. He injured his hand, but looks like he's right back in the closer mix. for the pirates gain two of their doubleheader on Saturday.

Aroldus Chapman got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up four runs on a walk and four hits. He took his fifth blown save and fifth loss. Are we discovering why the pirates were maybe a little reticent to give Chapman the role? Yes. This is the Aeroldus Chapman experience. For the raise on Sunday, Edwin Useta recorded the final five outs

for via strikeout for his second save. I think it's pretty clear that he's, better than Manuel Rodriguez. I just don't really trust the race. Yeah, I don't either, and I agree that he's better, Ucetta, than Manuel Rodriguez. I think I'd rather have Rodriguez of the two still, but not by a lot.

For the Blue Jays on Sunday, Chad Green got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a run on two hits. He took his third blown save. All three blown saves have been his last three outings. and for the Cubs on Sunday, Porter Hodge walked one but also struck out one for his fourth save and he is 30% rostered.

Let's rank some names that are on this list. Sir Anthony Dominguez, Erseg, and Porter Hodge. How do you guys rank those? Dominguez, Hodge, and Ersig. I'd go Erseg, Dominguez, Hodge. Sounds like Scott was going to say, Hodge first. I was. Hodge Erseg and Dominguez.

Dominguez to me is a distant third. Okay. To stream or not to stream on Monday. Anybody interesting here? What do we have? David Festa against the Angels. Reed Detmer's is at the Twins. I think those are the two most interesting by far. I'm not sure how much I trust them.

Detmer is obviously very good in his most recent start and reworked the slider down in AAA and was terrible at AAA, but the last three starts were really good. And then this one was really good. So would not surprise me if we got another. good re-Detmer's run here. Yeah, Fest is my favorite for Monday against the Angels, but I think Blackburn, Paul Blackburn and his return at Toronto and Nick Martinez

at Atlanta, if you're really having to stretch, those two might be okay. You like them more than Detmer's? I mean, Demers is the higher upside play, but I tend to think in terms of high floor for this daily streamer segment. I don't know why. I just, I just, it's kind of a do no harm mentality. And Demers, I feel like could do a lot of harm. The Twins mash lefties pretty well.

And I'm just not sure. I'm totally there yet with him. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, we have Aaron Svali at the Giants, J.P. Sears at the Astros. Rhett Louders at the Cardinals. David Peterson is at the Blue Jays. Mackenzie Gore gets the Braves.

and Tage Bradley is at the Phillies. I think McKenzie Gore probably shouldn't be in the streamers section anymore. I don't know if there are enough active leagues that he'll get out of it before the end of the season. But last, what, three or four starts, three starts have been really, really good for him. Three straight quality starts, the velocity's back. Seems to have figured out the mechanical issues that were plaguing him. I feel pretty good about him moving forward. two-star week this week,

starting McKenzie Gore. Yep, yep, he's the headliner for sleeper pitchers. So, yeah, I like him for the first start against the Braves. Even more of the second start

against the Marlins. Yes. I think Peterson at the Blue Jays is probably fine as well. Yeah, he's kind of doing a shamaniah thing where last start, especially, like,

20 swinging strikes on his fastball, or 17 swinging strikes on his fastball? and Chris Sale too. I don't know what was happening there. It was his birthday, so maybe he was just hyped. But yeah, I think he had 20 swinging strikes

between his four seamer and sinker in his last start, which has never been what David Peterson does well. So yeah, he's probably second on the list, I guess. All right, we are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank.

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