Fantasy Baseball Today - Josh Bell Hype, Grayson Rodriguez's Best Start & Struggling Hitters (8/15 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

Josh Bell seems to like hitting in Miami (3:17)! ... Grayson Rodriguez just had his best start in the Majors (8:46). ... Do we have any interest in Anthony Volpe, Ke'Bryan Hayes or veteran outfielders (13:11)? ... Brady Singer continues to pitch well (28:00). ... What's going on with Fernando Tatis Jr., Paul Goldschmidt and Henry Davis (30:48)? ... News (42:11): Wander Franco was placed on the restricted list Monday. ... Max Scherzer turned in a vintage performance (52:00). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (56:43). 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

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. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. In six starts since returning from the minors, Grayson Rodriguez has a 3.03, a 0.98 whiff.

The kid looks like he's figuring things out. Welcome into fantasy baseball today on Tuesday. Thursday, August 15th. I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White, today on the show. Max Scherzer had a vintage start. What's going on with some struggling hitters? I'm looking at you, Fernando Tatis. And of course, we will talk about Grayson Rodriguez

and much more. Before we get started, help us out by liking this video and subscribing on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We really do appreciate it. Let's jump in. The impossible has happened.

All right. Scott? Who is your player of the night? I am going to go with Josh Bell. Now of the Marlins. He had a great game here on Monday. Two for four with a home run, his 16th overall, and his fifth already in 12 games since joining the Marlins,

batting 326 during that time. And I find this interesting. I find this interesting because as bad as he was in Cleveland prior to the trade that sent him to the Marlins, Ashperl's data remained strong. For the season, his expected batting average his expected slug are both about 75th percentile. He still makes high-quality contact. He still has really good plate discipline. this has remained steady for him pretty much throughout his career.

I mean, he's had years with a higher average exit velocity than this year, but, you know, the max exit velocity is pretty much attacked. It's still a good average exit velocity. That's why his expected stats are so strong. And he's been a little, it's been pretty difficult to match up Josh Bell's actual production with what the data says he should be because there have been, highs and lows, even as the data has remained fairly steady. Of course, he had a great start to last year with the Nationals, got traded to the Padres and completely dropped off a cliff statistically.

And then he continued to be at the bottom of the cliff with Cleveland. Another mid-season trade happens with the Marlins, and suddenly he appears to be reborn. And so I don't know if he would have normalized had he stayed in Cleveland or if this change of scenery jumpstarted him in some way. I mean, we don't know how it impacts guys psychologically, obviously. We can't read their mind like that. But what I'm saying is this version of Josh Bell that we're seeing right now feels closer to what we should have been seeing all along

than the Josh Bell we were seeing in Cleveland. I'll also add, you know, he's mostly been batting third, some second. I think he hit cleanup today for the Marlins. He's batting in a better spot. One of the things that was holding Josh Bell back in Cleveland is he batted like in the lower Art of Bad lineup. And this is amazing. Even though he's a guy with good on base skills,

he scored just 26 runs in 97 games. 26 runs in 97 games with Cleveland. That just seems impossible. Already now he's... How many runs did he score today? Not just one, I guess, on the home run. But he has 10 and 12 games with the Marlins. So, like, that in and of itself is reason to think he's going to be better with this new team.

He's pretty available. Obviously, first base has been a position of neat all year. Josh Bell, 67% rostered. I think it's time to give him another look. Looks reborn here. Yes, indeed. Josh Bell, you mentioned the numbers, 12 games with the Marlins, batting 326 with those five home runs,

and looking under the hood, getting the ball in the airmore, barreling the ball up. That's been much better for him. He's so streaky in his career, which, you know, you pointed out as well as Scott, first half last year, great. The second half gets traded, not so much. This year, the first half terrible. Now, traded over to the Marlins. Looks like he's taking off once again. You know, we haven't had much of a reason to play this soundbite for Josh Bell, but I think it's about

time. We ring the bell. Josh Bell is 67% rostered, and we do, we have had some injuries at first base recently as well. The past couple of weeks or so, Josh Naler, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Abreu. So if you lost any of those names, I think, obviously you can go out and add Josh Bell, three players that are just ahead of him, Scott, that are also kind of interesting between 70 and 75% rostered. Christian Encarnaccio Strand, Spencer Torkelson, Joey Meneses. Does Josh Bell rank at the top of that list? I think he's the most usable right now. I still have a lot of faith in incarnacion strand, and I'm hesitant to say Josh Bell is going to be better than him rest of season. But I would definitely take Bell over Torkelson and most definitely over Joey

Meneses. And if you need the player active right now, get production out of him right now, I would also take him over in Carnacios Strand. Encarnacian Strand, hitting the ball hard so far, lots of line drives. Pop-ups have been a bit of an issue, so have strikeouts. Yeah, I think I would still take Incarnacion Tran. I asked the Chris's similar question last week, and they had Josh Bell at the top of the list. I'm sticking with CES, but I understand why if you need that

player in there, Josh Bell has been a little bit more productive, well, not a little bit, a lot more productive than Encarnacion Shren recently, so I do get that. Let's talk about Grayson Rodriguez, who is my player of the night here. He completed seven innings for the first time in his career. He was at the Padres

where he allowed just one run with six strikeouts. He had 15 swinging strikes. on 95 pitches, seven of those on the fastball, five on the slider, three on the change up, limited the hard contact. The velocity remains way up since getting called back up to the Orioles. And something I noticed in this start, he's pretty much been moving away from the cutter since he's been recalled. But he more than doubled his slider usage in this start, Grayson Rodriguez.

He used it 34% of the time, and it was very good. He had five, again, five of his 15 swinging strikes, 38% CSW on that pitch. And now in six starts since returning, I mentioned at the top, 303 ERA, a 0.98 whip. He is up to 86% roster. Scott, I don't know that there is too much actionable with this, but Grace Rodriguez is kind of developing into that,

not front of the line starter yet, but that high-level pitching prospect we were expecting him to be coming into the season. Yeah, I mean, I've kept saying, he looks much better since returning, but we're still waiting for that, like, breakout start. And I'm tempted to call this that, because as you point out,

his first seven-inning start is a major leaguer. He now has three of four, six-plus, which is also an encouraging sign. He only had throughout his minor league career, he only had two seven-inning starts ever. So this was this third seven-in-stard as a professional at any level. And that's very good.

and obviously he got good results. The one number you didn't mention since his return from the miners, Grayson Rodriguez, is 7.7K per 9, which is not very good. And he had six strikeouts in the seven innings in this one, so it wasn't a big strikeout start. And that's, I think, the last piece of the puzzle. I think you'll get there eventually, since returning he has a 13% swinging strike rate. You'd expect better than 7.7K per 9 with a 13% swinging strike rate.

and obviously he has several swing and miss pitches at his disposal. But he's definitely trending the right direction. And, you know, if you had him stashed all year, picked him up when he was recalled, then I think you're pretty happy right now. Somebody on Twitter asked me if Grayson Rodriguez has graduated from the glob yet. And I said no, I think he's kind of working towards that. I think we need to see a larger sample of consistency here from Grace Rodriguez,

which again, he's done a pretty good job of, but it's only been six starts. So keep that in mind. You know, when I update the starting pitcher ranks, I think he can get closer to that top 40, which, again, it's, you know, it's not ahead of the glob yet, Scott, but he's kind of working on it. He's working on it. He's basically how many pitchers are ahead of the glob? 20 or so.

Not many more. that. So unless I'm ready to call Grayson Rodriguez the top 20, top 25 pitcher, I don't think I could say he's transcended the glob. But he has, like, I mean, even just ranking among rookie pitchers, is he less globby than Andrew Abbott? You know, Andrew Abbott has had his ups and downs recently. We didn't talk about him yesterday with, you know, all the weekend action to go over, but

he had a nine-strikeout performance over the weekend. So, you know, he's been doing more of that than we've seen from Grayson Rodriguez. In a Dynasty League, there's no doubt. I'd rather have Grayson Rodriguez than Andrew Abbott. But rest of season is, of course, a different story. And I think Abbott has shown a little more. Like, he's realized his upside, I think, to a fuller extent than Rodriguez has. Scott, is he not a two-star pitcher this week?

Because some people were asking about that on Twitter. Yeah, people were asking me all weekend about that. So Cole Irvin got inserted into the rotation over the weekend, making it a six-man, and he pitched well over the weekend. And so it was actually reported he's expected to make another start. So no, I don't think Grayson Rodriguez is going to get another start this week because they currently have six pitchers in the rotation. All right, fair enough. Let's talk waiver wire hitters.

We already mentioned one of the best right now in Josh Bell. And I guess, God, just tell me your interest level on each of these names. Anthony Volpe, not available in many leagues. He's 79% rostered. It would probably have to be a 10-team league, a really shallow points league. Two-for-four-four with a double, a triple, and an RBI on Monday.

And so far in August, 13 games, he's batting 250 with three homers, a steel, 904 OPS. The plate discipline looks much better. 12.5% walk rate, 17% strike-out rate. And, you know, Scott, I think if Volpe can at least hit 250,

that's enough of a batting average for him to be productive, get on base, seal bases. Obviously, the power has looked good so far this month as well. Are you gaining some confidence or interest in Volpe, I guess re-adding him in some of those shaller leagues? I am not, though shortstop is a position that is difficult to fill off the waiver wire.

And some people may have reason to fill shortstop specifically off the waiver wire right now. a certain high-profile shortstop is no longer in use. So, I mean, if Volpe is the best option out there, he's the best option out there, but I don't. I still don't see him being hugely impactful down the stretch. It's a shame you missed out on Hassan Kim and C.J. Abrams when you had a chance at them. Of course, Abrams left his last game with an injury. I don't know if he's going to be in the lineup Tuesday, hopefully.

Yeah, CJ Abrams is. dealing with... Looks like I don't have this... Oh, I clicked on the wrong page. Well, he's dealing with something. Backspasms. That's what's going on here with C.J. Abrams. I had another shortstop written down here.

Scott, Ezekiel Tovar, three for four with his 13th home run. Nice welcome back into Cores Field. You know, they've got a bunch of games in Colorado coming up, so that's good for him. So far in August, Tovar also playing well, hitting 292 with three homers, two steals, and an 896 OPS. Would you rather have Ezekiel Tov,

Tovar over Anthony Volpe if he needed a shortstop. I do feel like Volpe is able to contribute in a wider variety of ways. Let me look up the home away splits for Tovar. Yeah, pretty bad on the road. So, you know, you're going to have to play the matchups a little closer with him. I would say Volpe is my preferred choice of those two. Okay. Let's talk about Key Brian Hayes, who has hit very well since returning from the IL.

went two for five with a double in an RBI here. And since returning, batting 286 with three home runs, his average exit velocity 94.7 miles per hour. Guy-Briyan Hayes usually hits the ball hard, but that's really hard. That's like Aaron-judged levels of average exit velocity. It's a smaller sample size. He's 61% rostered.

It's got any interest in Kebrien Hayes. I mean, it's got to take a lot more than this, I think, for me to get back on the Hayes Bandway. I don't mean to shoot everybody down. I understand it's the middle of August. And nobody that you've mentioned yet is anywhere close to as appealing is Josh Bell for me. That is fair. I was looking at some roster rates here at third base.

Yeah, Brian Hayes is at 61%. You know, we lost Josh Young a couple of weeks ago, so people might be struggling a little bit. for a third baseman, Jordan Walker has struggled quite a bit as well. You know, the names that are right around 70% Encarnacian Strand,

which we mentioned, Eugenio Suarez, Ezekiel Duran. How would you rank that group, Scott? Encarnacio Stran, A. E. E. E.Henio, Suarez, Duran, and Cabrian Hayes. I think I'd still go, I think I'd go Walker, number one,

but it's close between him and Ezekiel Duran. I didn't have him in that group, Scott. Oh. Encarnacio, Strand, Suarez, Duran, Duran and Hayes. Okay, incarnation Strand, Duran, Hayes and Suarez. Okay. Let's talk about

two veteran outfielders. Any interest in these two, Charlie Blackman in his first game back went two for three with a walk, a run scored, and he let off in the game. You know, kind of is what he is at this point. 279 batting average.

Only five homers, 57 games played. The plate discipline is really good. So I think if you're playing a deeper points league, That's where you'll have some interest in Charlie Blackman. And Eddie Rosario had a huge game. He went three for four with his 17th home run, three runs, four RBI, and that one. I might know the answer here, Scott, but any interest in two vet outfielders, Charlie Blackman, Eddie Rosario. Well, Rosario doesn't play much at all against lefties.

So that really limits his utility and fantasy. Double-checking to make sure that's still correct. Yep, Kevin Pilar. pretty much always starts over him against left-handed pitchers. Five outfielded leagues with the right matchups maybe, but otherwise I don't think Eddie Rosario is a high priority pickup by any means. Charlie Blackman, I will point out, you mentioned he might be more usable in points leagues.

He entered this game, so prior to his long eye out stint, he had 2.85 head-to-head points. per game. And that's pretty good. That's pretty good. I'm trying to give you a quick comp here. Lordus Gurriel 2.83.

Nick Castionos 2.83. Anthony Santander 2.87. Even like Kyle Schorber, 2.89. So Charlie Blackman on a per game basis is in the same range as them for Points League purposes. He's had a nice slow strikeout rate this year. and let me see what his home-boyce splits are like. Definitely better at home.

I mean, I think most rocky sitters you'd prefer to start at home. Yeah, I mean, if you're hurting in the outfield in a points league, you know, usually you're just starting three outfielders in that format, so that makes it a tougher fit. But I could see Blackman, as you said, having an impact in that format. All right, two names in deeper leagues. Curtis Mead had the best game of his young career. Three for four with two-run scored.

The first multi-hit game of his career, the problem is that he played. for the Tampa Bay raise, and he has started just five of ten games since being called up. Isaiah Kinerfalefa went three for four with a run and RBI. He led off for the Yankees against the lefty Max Fried. And so far this year, you know, modest production. 261 batting average, six homers, 10 steals. I scooped up Kineer Folepha in a 15-team Roto League this weekend in the Scott White Dynasty League. That's a 24 team head-to-head points league. So these are very deep formats, but he's someone who's playing right now,

and he's hitting decently well. It's got any interest. in these two in deeper leagues. Curtis Mead, IKF. Look, I mean, if you're going to pick up a glove first infielder with no pop and a little bit of speed, rather than going for Isaiah Kinerfalefa, seems like Nikki Lopez is the guy to go for, isn't it?

That's a good call. I like it. So, Nikki Lopez here in his second start since joining the Braves, three for four with a stolen base. Over the week, in that 21 to 3 game, he went four for six with a home run, a double, five RBI,

pitched a scoreless inning. Not that you're going to get into credit for that. Just a monster game for Nikki Lopez. He's been bad with the Royals the past couple of years, but he was actually very useful in fantasy in 2021, hit for average with speed. And he looks like he's going to be the fill-in for Ozzy Albiz with Albies headed to the aisle with a hamstring injury,

which we haven't gotten to yet. There is a possibility of Von Grissom could get called up, I suppose, and that would be exciting in its own right, though maybe not as exciting as... Because we already saw Grissom first stretch in the majors this year when Orlando Arcea was heard, and he didn't make much of an impact, had a lot of singles, that's about it.

And you look what he's done in the minors this year, Grissom. sit for a great average, not much power. And eggs of velocity readings aren't good. They weren't good last year either. So I'm a little bearish, I would say, on Von Grissom's fantasy utility at this point. I'm not as confident he's going to deliver the power numbers that he led us to believe he will during his late season trial last year. and I'm not sure he's going to be enough of a base dealer to make it worthwhile either.

All of which is to say, Nikki Lopez is my bet right now to play most every day with Ozzie Albis hurt, and he'll be in a very good lineup. And so far he's done well in it. Not a ton of upside there. But, you know, if you're comparing him to Isaiah Kynar-Felda, even if you're comparing him to somebody like Ezekiel Tovar,

I think he could. I think he could have, I think he could be halfway useful. Nikki Lopez is 2% rostered. So available in all the leagues, second base, third base, shortstop eligible. I mean, this is a name

that instantly becomes a priority in NO only leagues too. So if you play in a league that deep or any type of deeper format where you just lost Ozzy Albies, if you're playing a daily lineup league and you're scrambling, you need a midweek replacement right now,

again, it's a cheap way to get exposure to, arguably the best lineup in baseball with the Atlanta Braves. Again, Nikki Lopez playing very well for them. Scott, I think the obvious answer where if you're looking for someone, I guess, a little bit more sustainable, we don't know how long Ozzy Albies is going to be out. But Zach Geloff, I mean, we've talked about him repeatedly, right? He's up to 49% rostered.

He's the most added second baseman on CBS. That feels like a pretty natural fit if you lost Ozzy Albies. You know, I have my critiques of Geloff, which you can hear about at the start of Monday's show. But obviously he's in a much higher category than somebody like Nikki Lopez, who I already feel kind of silly for talking about. No, I think it's actually a pretty good call.

Again, it's, you know... I did like him going into the 2022 season because he hit 300 with 22 steals in 2021. And that was after a very slow start. It was something like 330 over the final four months that he hit. Of course, steals aren't as scarce as they were in those days. So I don't think Nikki Lopez is going to be hugely impactful, but he may be surprisingly impactful.

I'll just put it that way. Zach Gelloff, by the way, the second most added hitter on CBS this weekend. He's up to 49% rostered. Kerry Carpenter, the number one most added hitter. He's up to 47%. And I think that makes sense. He's an everyday player now for the Tigers

and lots to like there with Kerry Carpenter. And just to put some specifics on the Grissom thing, on Grissom, so I mentioned he wasn't, really hitting for power in the minors. 327 batting average, got on base at a nice 412 rate, six home runs and 406 plate appearances. That's it.

He does have 32 doubles. That's a lot of doubles. Yeah, so, I mean, he does have a 906 OPS. You know, a lot of that's built into that high batting average. I don't know what kind of, like, it's clear there's offensive talent there with Von Grissom, but is it the kind that's going to translate to fantasy production? That's what I'm beginning to question.

Are there going to be enough of the home runs and the stolen bases? I'm not saying he's going to be a zero in either of them, but if he's more like a 10-10 guy than a 2020 guy, how far is that going to take him? All right. Let's take our first break. And when we return, we'll talk about one lonely waiver wire pitcher from here on Monday night. We'll do that right after this.

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Join up and start asking away. Let's talk about that lonely waiver wire pitcher from here on Monday night. Brady Singer continues to pitch well. He was up against the Seattle Mariners where he threw seven and a third innings, two runs allowed with eight strikeouts to one walk, 13 swinging strikes on 106 pitches. 10 of those came on the slider. And over his last five starts,

Brady Singer has a 245 ERA, a 0.73 whip, and just over a strikeout per inning, he is 67% rostered. Scott, are you starting to slowly buy in or you're still skeptical here on Brady Singer? I'm still skeptical. I mean, he was, obviously useful for most of last season as well.

There were some people who were very high on them coming into this year. I wasn't one of them because I didn't really see how he managed to get to a 323 ERA. You know, it wasn't like the strike array was very good. The ground ball rate, you know, it's not like he was succeeding with that. And I think the quality of contact wasn't great for him last year. either. Let me double check that. So I didn't really, yeah, he had a 397 XERA to go with that 323 ERI.

So I wasn't really understanding what others were seeing in him and I was feeling validated when he was pitching well. Maybe I'm missing it again. But it just seems like too much contact and too much high quality contact for Brady Singer to be trustworthy. I mean, he's clearly shown now multiple times in his. career he can go on a run but I think you're going to get the rug pulled out from under you

if you decide to buy into it and besides he pitches for the royals so how many wins is he going to get for you anyway brady singer was the sixth most added starting pitcher on cbs this past weekend uh the five names ahead of him emerson hancock cole regins chase silseff graham ashcraft and nick pavetta scott would you agree with those five being ahead of brady singer Even Ashcraft, yes.

I do think Ashcraft is kind of singer-like, and that I don't quite get his recent run of success. But at least in Ashcraft's case, he throws very, very hard, which you can't say for Singer. So, yeah, Singer would be behind all of those guys for me and well behind the other four. Silceth, Regens, Hancock, and who was the other one? It was Nick Povetta?

Did you say him? Yeah, those are all pitchers I'm excited to add on some level. Singer, definitely not. All right, let's slide over to some hitters who have been struggling recently. The first name up, obviously a very big one. Fernando Tatsis Jr. had a solid game here with one for three with a walk and his 20th steel. If you remember his June, Monster Month, Tatees hit 318 with a 991 OPS.

Every other month this season, he has been held under a 770 OPS. And so far in the second half, he's hitting 193. Does have three homers and six deals, so that helps out. The line drive rate is way down. Scott, what are you seeing with Fernando Tachis Jr.? And are you actually worried for him? I'm not worried for him.

No. I mean, I'm disappointed. I'm not angry. I'm disappointed. You're hitting him with the dad quote. Yeah. Look, it's still XBA 96th percentile, X-Lug 95th percentile. His stat-cast pages all lit up in red. You know, not everything's coming off the bat the way we like to see right now, but that's going to change. I thought it, I thought it was already beginning to happen in July. I thought, okay, he's back to being retro Fernando Tatis, the guy we all remember from 2021 and previously.

but he has slowed down here again. It's fine. I think his skills are still elite and the production's going to match sooner than later. Yeah, as you pointed out, the expected numbers still look really good for Fernando Tatis, and I agree because...

It was June. It was June that was the big month, not July. Yep. I noticed in the second half, I mentioned he's batting 193, the line drive rate is way down. The average exit velocity in the second half still 92.8 miles per hour,

and he had a lot of, 15 barrels. 15 in the second half entering Monday. He only has three home runs on 15 barrels. That seems pretty unlucky for him. That does. Yeah. So I would think better days are coming here for Fernando Tatis.

It's just been a weird season all around for those San Diego Padres. We've waited all year for their offense to get going and clicking together. It's one month it's Juan Soto, one month it's Manny Machado, Hassan Kim. But it's like, it's

Never happened with all of them at once. It's pretty frustrating. Let's talk about Paul Gulchmidt, who had a big game. He went two for two with three walks, a sock and a shoe, his 19th home run, and his 10th steal of the year. His previous 11 games in August, he was betting 213 with zero homers and just two extra base hits. Scott is just us the ebbs and flows of the season, a veteran hitter, having, you know, a couple of weeks struggling here, or is there anything to worry about with Paul Goldschmidt? I think it's ebbs and flows.

Part of that is because he's Paul Goldschmidt, and we've doubted it many times in the past, and he's always made us regret doubting him. You know, you look at his stat cast page. His expected stats is expect a batting average, expected slug, expected Wobah. They're all actually better than last year when he performed like a first round player.

So I think he's fine. Of course, the fact he's in his mid-30s, 35 now. you never know when the end is coming, but I don't see enough evidence for it. I think more likely it's just the ebbs and flows of the seasons. One thing I... Ups and downs, if you will. One thing I do worry about with just,

I guess, veteran hitters on teams that are not competing once we get past the trade deadline and you kind of realize teams like the Cardinals and the Mets, it's like, what are they playing for, right? What's the motivation? What's going to keep Paul Goldschmidt excited to show up to the ballpark? And look, I don't want to doubt his motivation or whatever it might be. But it's just, I guess I'm trying to figure out what would it be for them.

So I worry a little bit about that. You know, maybe these guys kind of slow down a little bit in the second half of the year. One thing that stands out for the batted ball data, Paul Goldschmidt going to the opposite field, 32% of the time. And that is a career high. It's 27% for his career. And, you know, typically those power alleys, you know, we want guys to pull the ball. That's, I think we've made a pretty big case for that the past couple of years.

So I think going to the opposite field that might be what's kind of driving down the power numbers a little bit this year for Polk Goldman. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe. I do hesitate to say that pulling the ball more is always better. I think it's better for players who don't have a lot of raw power. if they're going to become impactful in fantasy, they have to maximize what little power they have by pulling the ball.

But somebody who has a lot of raw power like Goldschmidt does, I do think it's better to see him going the opposite way because you're still going to get a higher percentage of hits that way. Like basically you have to have the kind of power where you can drive the ball out of the park the other way, and Goldschmidt does have that power. So I'm not saying there is no correlation there, going the opposite way more and producing less power.

There may be some correlation there, but I don't think flatly it's just a bad thing that he's hitting a third of the balls to the opposite field. All right, let's talk about Jordan Walker, who also had a big game here. He went two for three with a triple, three RBI, and his sixth stolen base of the season.

His previous 25 games in the second half, Jordan Walker was batting 193 with a 548 OPS, the average exit velocity down around 89 miles per hour. This is a rookie who, obviously, he's had his ups and downs this year and, you know, some pretty weird handling, I guess, by the St. Louis Cardinals. Scott, what have you seen from Jordan Walker? And I either asked you or the Chris is this question last week, but would you be okay

dropping Jordan Walker at this point? Yeah, we did talk about it a little last week. I'm fine with dropping him. I look at the leagues where I have him, and it's like, well, there's nobody worth him. dropping them for. The leagues where I have them tend to be on the deeper side. But if you're talking a head-to-head league, 12 teams are fewer, yeah, it would be hard probably to continue to devote a roster spot to him in that format.

Doesn't mean he won't be worth picking up again at some point. Clearly, there's a lot of upside here. I just think he's, well, I mean, he's clearly shown that he's one of those prospects who obviously stand-out tools, a lot of upside, but it's just taking him some time to acclimate to the Major League game. And we've seen a lot of that in recent years especially. I don't want to, no, just because Walker's been disappointed this year, I don't want to really make any comment about how it's going to play up for the rest of his career,

because we still don't know. There's still a ton of upside there, and we still don't know when it's all going to click. It could happen mid-season. But if it doesn't, I'm going to be very high on him going into next year. And, yeah, in the meantime, in shallower leagues, don't feel like you have to devote a roster spot to him because he's clearly doing your lineup more harmed than good right now.

I can't say this with 100% certainty, Scott, but it feels like whenever we've had a big-name prospect, come up and kind of fall flat that first year. The following year in fantasy, you get them at a pretty steep discount. So again, I can't say that's 100% going to happen with Walker, but it wouldn't surprise me if,

you know, going into drafts next year, he's, I don't know, outside the top 150, outside the top 200 picks. And, you know,

we're talking about him as a, you know, mid to late round sleeper. So that's why I plan to be heavily invested in him. Now, it hasn't gone well for the people who've done that with Andrew Vaughn. True.

It doesn't always go well. But I do think... Jared Kelnick was the name that kind of came to mind this year. He started off well and obviously kind of tapered off. Yeah. I mean, obviously, we have seen... Okay, so who's an example of a player who had a bad rookie season, but we stuck with them?

I feel like there are obvious examples, but not are coming to mind right now. Yeah, I mean, it's... I think of guys immediately from back. in the day like it took Byron Bucks in a while to get going I mean that could have been more injury related than anything but I mean Lucas Gileto took him forever to get going and eventually he you know kind of turned into a quasi ace so but I you're right there definitely it feels like there are more recent

examples of players like this that we could buy back in on I wish I hadn't brought it up because we're not naming that take our word for it I swear let's talk about Henry Davis and look he's only been up for like 50 games so far. So look, we have very high expectations for him. But he has kind of scuffled recently. He's batting 228 with a 684 OPS. He does have five home runs and three steals.

And he plays every day in the outfield. So that helps you at the catcher position. The plate discipline looks fine. Average exit velocity is, you know, okay. I guess it could be better, Scott. What have you seen from Henry Davis? Because, you know, the batting average in OPS have been a little lackluster.

Yeah. have and he got off to a really impressive start and then slumped pretty badly there. The plate discipline has been good. I think there's hitting talent there, but obviously he's another one who's struggling to find his footing in the majors. And that's okay. I do wonder, because he seems to be a liability now for. field, it's clear the pirates think he's a liability behind the plate.

So I do wonder where his future home is defensively and how long, how much of a leash they'll give him as a hitter since he doesn't seem to be a great fit on the diamond. That would concern me a little bit. But I do think he's going to break through as a good enough hitter that it doesn't really matter, sort of the way Kyle Schwerber has. Not that I'm saying he's going to be exactly exactly the same kind of hitter,

Schwerber is, just that. Schwerber was in that same position at the start of his career. Not really good enough to catch, but a liability in the outfield as well. And obviously, he's carved out a home in the majors. I think Davis will be not as much power as Schwerber, but a better, like, all-around hitter than Schwerber is. And it'll still be a positive outcome. Something that certainly does not help Henry Davis is playing in PNC Park, which,

according to stat-cast park factors is the worst ballpark for right-handed power over the past three seasons. So it seems like that might be a bit of a hindrance here for Henry Davis. Let's move over to the news and notes. And as you mentioned earlier, Scott, the raise placed Wander Franco on the restricted list on Monday

while Major League Baseball investigates accusations made on social media. Ozzy Albies is headed to the I.O. with that left hamstring injury. Seems like Nikki Lopez is the natural next man up unless the Braves decide to call a Von Grissom. Wilson Contreras exited early with right hip tightness. Nolan Gorman was scratched due to lower back tightness, which has been a lingering issue for him in the past couple weeks.

Stephen Mets, out of nowhere. Place on the IL with a left latch train. Zach Thompson will join the Cardinals rotation. Edwin Diaz recently began throwing from the base of the mound. He could progress to full mound, work over the next week, and it has been reported Diaz would like to return, but it just doesn't really seem to make much sense. Scott, what's your read on this situation? Do you think we see Edwin Diaz here in 2023? I don't think so. I mean, it was always a stretch, and it kind of made

sense when the Mets were hopeful of a deep postseason run that, okay, maybe they could bring it back at the end of September, get them ready for the postseason. But they're obviously not going to the postseason now, So it's, I don't know what incentive there is to do it. I love the way you said that. Obviously, they're not going to make it to the postseason now. Obviously, they traded away their whole rotation. Well, well, Scott wears his Matt Olson, Atlanta, Braveshirt. Must be nice.

Rune for the best team in baseball, Scott, huh? I see if you're switching allegiances to the Texas Rangers there. I mean, yeah. Sandwagon fan. Did you see the product the Yankees put out on the field on Monday night? Not very good. He's wearing a Rangers hat for those who aren't watching. That's true.

But I've had this Rangers yet for a few years, Scott. And let's not forget, my allegiance started way back in the day with a gentleman named Willie Calhoun. That's where it all began. So let's get it out there. No, banwagon here. Is he still with the Yankees? No, he's actually, I think he might be in their AAA affiliate. He was, he was DFA, but no one picked him up.

So I think he just got optioned to AAA. So you turned on Willie Calhoun and the Yankees. Well, I mean, I still love Willie Calhoun. I think he could be a contributor somewhere. I just, I don't, I don't know why teams aren't giving him a shot. It's kind of crazy, Scott. I don't know. It's just a wrong, a long running bit.

It's probably not going to amount to anything. The Mets believe Starling Marte's current groin injury could be related to this all-season core muscle surgery that he had. He has no timetable to return. And much like Edwin Diaz, I'm not sure it makes much sense to push Stalling-Marty at this point in the season. Anthony Rizzo will undergo tests on Tuesday in New York. Rizzo said he is, quote,

he is feeling, feels like he is progressing. Would be nice if I could speak. He's been out the past few weeks with post-concussion syndrome. Chris Bryant will remain in a splint for a couple more weeks after undergoing a checkup x-ray on his fractured left index finger.

Kyle Wright has advanced to throwing live batting practice. The hope is that Wright will return in early September. Mason Miller will begin a rehab assignment at single A this week. And yesterday I asked Chris to rank Nick Ladolo, Tanner Hauk, and Mason Miller. Scott, I will throw two more names, two more stash candidates in there for you, Walker Bueller and Kyle Wright. So we've got five names.

Bueller, Wright, Halk, Ladolo, Mason Miller. How do you rank those five in terms of contribution in this season? You don't want to throw John Means in there too? Throw them in. Throw them in. All right, let's see if I can keep all the season. the name straight. Nick Lodolo, number one,

Kyle Wright, number two. Close call between John Means and Walker Bueller. Obviously, Bueller's the better pitcher, but he's furthest away, and we're running out of calendar here. I think the latest thing I saw from the Dodgers is they're going to build him up to four innings in the minors and then have him start in the majors after that.

How long is that going to take? How many starts does it mean in the majors? I'm guessing not that many. So I will go, what number of mine on now? Lodolo, right, means Walker Bueller. I am going to go Mason Miller over Tanner Halk. I know Chris had them reversed yesterday, just because, like, Hout might be completely useless.

Mason Miller might never go five innings, but they could be like four innings, seven strikeouts. Those kind of starts for him. So those two are clearly the last two. I think the ones you actually care about stashing are Nicolodolo, Kyle Wright, John Means, Walker Bueller. All right, the Braves optioned Alan Wynens back to AAA, which kills that idea, in the short term at least.

Jake McCarthy was optioned back to AAA. Kyle Lewis was recalled and in the lineup for the debacks on Monday. The Giants optioned Luis Matos back to AAA. He was batting just 241 with one homer and three seals in 50 games. And the Orioles optioned Colton Couser back to AAA. He was batting 115 with zero homers. and one steal in 26 games. Scott,

would you be looking to buy low on either of Luis Matos or Colton Couser in Dynasty Leagues? Couser, yes. Couser, I don't think, got a fair shake. Motos, I feel kind of about, I feel about him kind of like I do about Von Grissom. I think there is,

I think there are some offensive skills in there, but is it going to amount to much in fantasy? Is he going to be able to put the ball over the fence enough? for us to really care about him beyond just a fringe contributor. Lastly, the race promoted Oslivas Basabe and will apparently give him a fair shot at shortstop while Wander Franco is on the restricted list, which again, we have no idea what the timeline, what the timetable looks like. It's for at least this upcoming road trip, which spans this entire week. Scott, anything here on Basabe. He is 22 years old. He was hitting 296 in the minors this

year four homers, 16 steals. Known for his hit tool, but I don't know that there's much power or speed with him. Yeah, I don't see much reason to get excited. I'd pick up Nicky Lopez over him. Okay. TBH. All right, let's take our final break, and when we return,

got some studly pitching performances. Max Scher was great, so was Merrill Kelly. We'll talk about those two right after this. Welcome back, and a big thanks to everybody who has submitted a five-star Apple podcast rating and review. You can obviously leave a question in the review,

and sometimes it takes me a while to check those out. But we did get one from a listener named Jason. So a quick question here, Scott. He said he is looking to solidify pitching down the stretch, and he does have a really great offense. Would you move Aaron Judge and Tristan Kosses for Corbyn Burns and Pete Fairbanks? Judge and Kossis for Corbyn Burns and Pete Fairbanks. I guess.

I guess like if you need pitching more, that's fair enough. I don't like the idea of trading judge for Burns. Like just aesthetically, that bothers me. But if it meets your needs more, I suppose it's fair. I don't know what better pitcher you'd get for Judge than Burns. So, yeah, I guess it's fine. All right. And I hope your trade deadline didn't pass, Jason, because, you know,

it's August 15th when we're reading that question. I think we got it on August 7th. So who knows? Maybe still out there available to make trades in your league. Let's talk about some studly pitching performance. It's got Max Scherzer, a dominant outing against the Angels. He went seven shutout with one hit allowed, one walk allowed, 11 strikeouts, 20 swinging strikes on 100 pitches. Velocity was up a little bit across the board.

Scher now has 20 swinging strikes in two of three starts with the Texas Rangers. Merrill Kelly posted a season high, 11 strikeouts in course field. He allowed two runs over six innings. He had 21 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. He looked great. As did Tyler Glass now in his return to the mound. He's been dealing with, I think it's, is it a back scott? I think it's a back injury for Tyler Glass now recently.

I don't remember. He was scratched recently and he looked good in this one. Six innings. Was that the injury? What was it? Got scratched by a cat. A real Nick Fury thing going on. Isn't there some kind of new,

Nick Fury show out or something like that. Yeah, I heard it wasn't very good. I gotta be honest. I wish they ended the MCU with endgame. Yeah. It was so like it was so good. And he felt like it was, it had reached the epic conclusion it had built toward.

And I'm not saying everything that's come since has been bad, but the good ones haven't been good enough to justify the bad ones, is my feeling. I am so far behind Scott I caught up to end game I watched all those Marvel movies I guess that's what like phase one of the Marvel universe

and so I saw that I saw the end of end game it was awesome I saw like the most recent Spider-Man movie everything after that I have not seen basically the two Spider-Man movies that have come since have been worth it

and I'm not going to say I've enjoyed nothing else at all but again I haven't enjoyed them enough to justify sitting through the not-so-good ones. You know? It's starting to feel like homework. It's so much content.

Yeah. I get what I understand the formula, right? Put out as much content as humanly possible, but it's just there's so much to keep up with. I mean, especially, look, we're doing baseball every day. Football's coming. I try to watch some anime here and there. You can't watch everything, Scott. So it's tough.

Tyler Glassnow was out with a back injury, by the way, and he went six innings, one run, seven strikeouts at the Giants with 13 swinging strikes. Three big outings here, Scott, anything to add on Glassnow, Barrel Kelly, and Max Scherzer. I mean, Glassnow look great. Congratulations to those who got him back in your lineup. Hopefully he'll make a second start this week. Scher. I never had major doubts about Scherzer, and he looks like vintage.

Max Scherzer again. So congratulations to those who have Max Scherzer. And Merrill Kelly, look at that. At Coors Field. It didn't matter. He was great too. Just keep starting these guys. I can't really imagine a scenario in which I'd sit any of them. And maybe that's

saying something for Merrill Kelly, but he feels better than Globby. Doesn't he? Like in the year where the glob has consumed all, somehow Merrill Kelly has risen a Like seemingly the globvious pitcher of all coming in.

Somehow he has transcended the glob. Doesn't that seem weird? It does seem weird. Wasn't he one of your Mount Rushmore pitcher, Scott? He was clearly the best of the Mount Rushmore, which I should have named the Four Horseman, and I definitely should not have named the Golden Girls. Yeah, Merrill Kelly was the best.

Miles Michaelis has at least been usable. Tyler Anderson and Martin Perez. Stop. Yeah. Yes, they have. I was only counting on a 50% success rate anyway. I don't know that it, you know, Michaelis has been hit or missed,

so I don't even know that it's quite 50%. But Merrill Kelly, definitely, definitely worthwhile. Yeah, I have them inside my top 40 starting pitchers, but yeah, there is an argument to get them inside the top 30. I, you know. I mean, if I can't imagine a scenario where it'd sit up, that in it of itself suggests he's better than the glob, right?

I think so. Can you imagine a scenario where he'd sit him? Clearly, you shouldn't send him at Colorado. No, no, I mean, I think I have them on two or three different teams, and I started him everywhere. I know he had that little injury sign next to him going into the week, but, you know, it turns out he was good to go here. And obviously, an awesome performance from Merrill Kelly.

Some mid-pitching performances here on Monday. Braxton Garrett, five shutout innings with just one strikeout against the Astros. Framber Valdez turned in a quality start at the Marlins. I used the term quality start very loosely here. Seven and two-thirds innings. Okay, that's great. He gave you volume.

Four runs allowed. Three of those were earned. Only four strikeouts. And we know that Framber Valdez threw that no-hitter. But even with that start, Valdez has made six starts in the second half. He has a 5.59 ERA and a 1.16 whip. So really hasn't been. great outside of his no hitter. Max Fried had a quality start against the Yankees, six

innings, two runs, and two strikeouts in that one. And U. Darvish, it's just, you know, it's, this has been you Darvish for most of the year, seven innings, four runs, six strikeouts there. Anything on this, these mid-performance. It's got Darvish, Fried, Valdez, and Braxton Garrett. I really haven't been tempted to sit Valdez. I think it's just a rough patch, and he was so reliable before then. and obviously he's shown he can take on tons and tons of innings so I don't think it's a situation like we may be seeing with Jesus Lazzardo wearing down

so I'm not I'm not really worried about him Darvish is very globy but he's on a good run right now four and runs in seven innings I'll take that more times than not freed you know he looked great in the first start back the next two he just hasn't quite seemed right I mean, obviously this was a decent enough outing. Two strikeouts and six innings, eight hits, though.

That's not great. And I've noticed he's doing something different with his slider. The velocity's been way down on that. I don't know. I talked yesterday about how it seems like a bunch of pitchers are taking something off their slider. Freed's drop in velocity there has been more exaggerated. I wonder if it's even being classified right.

The velocity seems okay. otherwise it's just that one pitch I don't know what's going on there yeah I noticed that as well and my first thought is that the slider might be misclassified for free because he also throws a sweeper which is right around three miles per hour less than his slider so it seems like that would make sense but I don't know I maybe we're getting a lot of that recently with the misclassifications of sliders versus sweepers versus cutters it's obviously pretty tough to tell those pitches apart. Logan Gilbert's got a disappointing outing here. He goes from his

best career start to a lackluster effort at the Kansas City Royals. And this has kind of been the problem with Logan Gilbert. You want to get excited. And he goes on a run where he pitches well. But then he, you know, just kind of puts up a clunker like this one, four in a third innings, seven hits allowed, four runs allowed. And what I've noticed. You know, we have a word for that, Frank. In the year of Our Lord 2023. You know what that word is? Does it rhyme with Bob? Well, rhymes with Bobby.

I was going to say Globby. All right. Close enough. Globby. Logan Gilbert. Globby Gilbert. Yeah. I mean, that's frustrating.

You know, against Kansas City, no less. But it's the story of all of starting pitching this year. And I don't think, I don't think it's reason to think any less of Logan Gilbert, it's just, you know, makes the whole, the whole thing makes you want to tear your hair out. I don't want to put a ceiling on a 26-year-old pitcher, Scott, but it also kind of feels like this might just be who Logan Gilbert is. He has a 3.8 ERA on the season. His career ERA is 3.79. Kind of feels like, you know, through three seasons, this might just be who Logan Gilbert is, which is fine. It's like a, you know, SP2, SP3. It's okay. It's a, it's a, you know, it's a,

I don't know that we'll ever get more than this from Logan Gilbert. A few hitting leftovers. Julio Rodriguez went two for five with a double 4 RBI and his 28th steal. He has turned it on here in the second half. Bobby Witt Jr. went 4 for 5 with his 22nd home run.

It was an inside-the-park home run. A line drive hit right at Dominic Canzone in right field, which he lost in the lights. It actually kind of like grazed off of his glove. I wonder if there's a chance that stat corrections kind of catch this and turn it into an error. I hope that's not the case.

I'm just bringing it up where if that happens a couple days from now, don't be surprised if Bobby Wood Jr. somehow loses a home run. I hope I'm wrong. Two Rangers that had big games here. Adoles Garcia went one for three with his 30th home run. He hits that plateau. He also has 89 runs and not plateau, milestone, I guess you could call it.

89 runs, 91 RBI for Adoli Scarcia. Marcus Semyon, two for five with a sock and a shoe, his 19th home run, his 11th steal. One thing I wanted to point out with the Rangers this season. Adelaes Garcia seven steals. Marcus Semyon, 11 steals. Their stolen bases as a team are way down this year. And I hadn't really noticed it,

but they ranked, they're tied for 24th in stolen bases as a team this year. Under Chris Woodward, their previous manager, from 2019 through 2022, the Rangers led to all of baseball, with 414 steals. So my point here, Scott, is I think it might be a team philosophy thing under Bruce Bochie not to be as aggressive on the base paths.

And look, it hasn't hurt their team. Their offense has been amazing. But obviously, it changes our expectations for fantasy purposes. Yeah, I don't remember a lot of big base Steelers for those Giants teams. There wasn't. I looked into this too. Before the year, I think it was. While Bochy was with the Giants, I think they were like somewhere between 20th and 25th in steals over his like decade there.

Now, obviously, that was mostly during a period where stolen bases were way down across the league too. And we've seen them. We've seen a massive increase across the league this year. So I don't know. I guess the proof is in the pudding, though. It doesn't seem like Bochie wants them to do that. And as you point out, it hasn't hurt them this year. I wonder if they were having less success offensively,

and they had to manufacture runs more, if you'd be a little more open to it. Yeah, it is interesting there. But honestly, I don't think that I would expect many steals from the Rangers this season, or honestly, as long as Bruce Bochie is with the team. Call to the bullpen, a few updates here for the Cardinals. Jojo Romero got the final four outs of the game. He struck out too.

He actually picked up his third win. instead of a save in that one, but looks like a committee, maybe a little bit more in the favor of Jojo Romero right now. For the Royals, wild ending to that game, Austin Cox started the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He walked two. He was replaced by Nick Whitgren,

who gave up two runs, but he wound up with the win because, on the other side, the Mariners, Andres Munoz was unavailable. Matt Brash got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up two singles, a sack fly, and then a blunt single. It was technically a suicide squeeze

where the guy was off and running at third base and it turned out to be a bun single. Pretty crazy ending, but I guess this is what happens when Andres Munoz is unavailable for the marriage. Well job security for him, which is good. You didn't mention that for the Royals,

Carlos Hernandez worked part of the eighth and didn't work it very well. Gave up two runs on three hits. So Austin Cox started the ninth, as you mentioned. That bullpen situation is looking like a mess, and they're not going to win mini games anyway.

It might be the worst in baseball right now, just trying to find saves there. Yeah, I mean, A's aren't good either, but Trevor May does at least appear to have, you know, appear to have kind of a stranglehold on the roll, at least. Yeah. For the Rockies, Justin Lawrence struck out the side for his 10th save, and he's had a very solid season,

276 ERA, 11-WIP, over a strikeout per inning. He's 24% rostered. Rockies are not going to win many games, but if you are desperate for saves, Justin Lawrence is widely available. For the Orioles, Felix Bautista got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He walked two, but picked up his 30-second save of the year.

Let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream. And looking at Tuesday, I think we were pretty excited about Tuesday. Actually, I have to remove Nick Pavetta from the list, Scott, because he's now 86% rostered. He is not eligible for this little segment anymore. Yeah. A lot.

He is way up there. Regardless, we still got some solid ones. We got Kyle Hendricks against the White Sox. We have Graham Ashcraft against the Guardians. I think Emerson Hancock at the Royals is okay. That's fine. Yeah. Yeah.

Those are the top three choices, I would say. Yeah. Uh, man, I guess if you're feeling risky, Dakota Hudson against the A's, probably don't need to do it, though. I'd rather not. Okay. Let's take a look at Wednesday and a few names here. Hmm. Reese Olson at the Twins, maybe second time he's facing them in a row.

Yeah, I did get eight strikeouts last time, but it feels risky. Mm-hmm. Dean Kramer at the Padres. He's been much better on the road this year. You know, I was reading about Matthew Liberator. Uh-oh. After that gym he threw last time, what was it, eight innings, two-hit, seven-strikeouts, something like that, 15 whiffs. Velocity was up on everything.

And I didn't have much to offer at the time. I said it was just, you know, it was right then it was an isolated event. We had to see it become a trend. But I got to read as more articles came out about it in the days that followed. The Cardinals seem really optimistic that he unlocked something mechanically. He had been doing a lot of lower body strengthening exercises throughout the season, trying to incorporate that more into his delivery. It really has to do with the way he pushes off.

And they think that uptick in velocity was it all coming together for him finally. And they're very excited about the way the rest of this season could go for Liberator. And he's facing Oakland. So, I mean, it's still just a theory right now. And it could all come crashing down spectacularly. But with a matchup that favorable, it might be tempted to roll the dice. All right. And there's not many options on Wednesday.

So I think it makes some sense if you're looking for a streamer, Matthew Liberator versus the Oakland A's. No team name Tuesday today. I actually had a very busy Monday. So we will say that for tomorrow's podcast, Chris will be able to tell us all the pop culture references, all the music references, all that fun stuff. But we are going to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank.

Thanks as always for tuning in Tough 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.