Fantasy Baseball Today - Joshua Baez's Historic Debut, Noah Cameron Shutout & More! (8/17 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

The Cardinals promoted Joshua Baez this weekend and he homered three times in his debut (3:00). ... Noah Cameron threw a one-hit shutout and is on fire right now (8:30). ... These three other pitchers are trending up (11:30). ... News (19:10): Paul Skenes had his start pushed back. ... Jacob Lopez is at the top of the waiver wire pitchers (37:00). ... Add any of these A's bats (47:50)? ... Start or sit these two pitchers (54:32)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (56:28).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Welcome to the Biggs, Joshua Baez, and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday. August 17th, I am Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White today on the show.

Noah Cameron tossed a one. one hit shutout. He is on fire. We had a lot of injuries. You need replacements. We'll get to waiver wire names and much more, but there is only one place to start. He is Homer to center. Homer to left. Homer to right.

Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness, indeed. The Cardinals promoted their top outfield prospect Joshua Baez on Saturday, and he responded, not one, not two, three homers in his debut the first time.

that has been done in Major League history. He had five RBI. Homer to all fields, center, left, right, as you heard on the call. The first home run, an absolute bomb. 108.6 exit velocity, 449 feet. And he is 23 years old.

He was a second round pick back in 2021. We have talked a lot about Joshua Baez this season, but, man, Scott, you could not ask for a better debut than this one. No, you can't. There's never been a better debut. for a hitter, I would venture to say, three home runs, never been done. And, you know, that first one especially was a bomb to center field, 449 feet.

Yeah, like a guy who hit 33, 34 home runs in the minors this year, huge exit velocities down there. To see him put it to good use right away was definitely gratifying to those who, had him stashed. We have talked about him a lot. Joshua Bayes this year, as you say, he was for the past several months, usually a part of my five on the verge

in the prospects report. But there was always a word of caution attached to that. And basically, not a lot of contact being made overall, very high strikeout rate at AAA, very low zone contact, rate. So he swings and misses a lot on pitches in the zone. And in particular, reading about some of the analysis, reading up on some analysis from people on the Cardinals beat this weekend, it seems like elevated fastballs are what give him the most trouble. And so we'll see if that becomes an issue for Joshua Baez over time as the scouting report gets out. He was facing Matthew Boyd. in that first game.

Matthew Boyd, who didn't seem to have his slider and obviously doesn't have a particularly hard fastball. So we'll see

if it becomes an issue for Joshua Bayez over time. But for now, a guy hits three home runs and his debut. If he's available in your league,

you pick him up. And in fact, I think it's probably too late already in CBS Sports Leagues, which tend to have daily ad drops and tend to have

a pretty active user base. So already Joshua Baez is up over 80% rostered in CBS leagues. But if you have weekly Fab run or WaverWire run or you play on one of the platforms where there isn't such an active user base and you still

have a shot at Baez. Again, he just had the best debut for a hitter in history. So you pick them up. Like even oh, do you sell high? I don't even know that that's a conversation worth having because I presume most leagues trade deadlines are passed by now. Yep.

it really makes for simple straightforward analysis, but obviously it doesn't it doesn't guarantee anything for Joshua Baez over the next six weeks. You just have to be open to the possibility that he might be one of those rookies who comes up and makes a big splash right away. You mentioned he's up to 80% rostered on CBS.

Again, this is Josh Baez that we're talking about. That's 59% on Yahoo. Have to imagine it's even lower if you play on ESPN. So on other platforms, still could go out there and add Joshua Baez. Scott, where would you rank him among the recent young outfielders? I guess ones that have just been promoted or either other ones that have slowed down as well. So I'm thinking about guys like Zach Veen, who homered again on Friday, someone like Max Clark, who was called up a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago at this point. But then other names like Esmerlin Valdez, who is kind of slowed down

here. Where would you put Joshua Baez among that group? I mean, among those specific names, probably one. Probably number one. I mean, Valdez has been cold enough for long enough that I'd take the shot on Baez instead if that's what it took.

And I think they profile similarly, but I think Baez has more upside overall. He probably is going to steal some bases. And Valdez didn't. And actually, Baez, I think, had more than 50 steals last year. It didn't run quite as much this year. probably because he was too busy homering.

But he has that as part of his skill set. And even the strikeout rate, I should point out, it got a little better over the course of this year, not like steady improvement, but it was 32% through May, and it's been 27% since. And that's meaningful improvement. 27% is still bad,

especially against AAA pitchers. But it's observable and meaningful improvement that is worth mentioning. It's been a little better than the overall rate over the last two and a half months. Would you drop either of AJ Ewing, who had slowed down and Sam Antenachi? He's kind of slowed down.

He's not playing its lefties either. Would you drop those two in a shallow context for Joshua Bias? I have a little more confidence in those two overall, but they're not so high-end that I think if that was my shot. and potentially winning the lottery here with Baez.

I'd still want to buy the ticket, you know? Yep, no, I get that again. Amazing debut here for Cardinals prospect, Joshua Baez. And the future is now. It's a fun time to be a Cardinals fan. Jordan Walker, huge breakout season this year. Obviously, JJ Weatherholt having a great here as well, and now you get Joshua Baez on top of that.

So very, very fun times in St. Louis. Let's keep things moving and go over to Noah Cameron, who tossed a one hit shutout at the Angels. He had eight strikeouts in that game to just one walk, 21 swinging strikes on 115 pitches, and he continues to do the thing that we want. What is that thing? It's moving away from the four-team fastball.

It's using his secondary pitches more, his slider, his change-up. Both of those pitches were awesome in this one. And Scott, over his last five games, four of those being starts, 119 ERA.48 whip for Noah Cameron, who's all the way up to 88% roster. There's not much actionable here,

but just got to talk about one of the hottest pitchers in baseball right now. Yeah, he had a little bit of a misstep last time out against the Dodgers, granted. But we wondered if maybe that was the end of this incredible run, and then he bounces back with arguably his best start yet. So you mentioned the overall numbers during that five-yard, a five-start stretch. In four of the five starts, he's had at least seven innings,

no more than three hits, no more than one-and-run. In fact, I think it's a combined one-on-run run between all four of those five starts, and no fewer than seven strikeouts. So you don't get starts better than that. For the last five, Cameron has delivered a start as good as you would expect for many pitcher in baseball.

and I find the whole explanation a little dubious that it could be this transformative, calling his own pitches, cutting back on the fastball, not eliminating it entirely, just making it not the primary pitch anymore. Obviously, he can't sustain this, but it was good as a rookie,

and I kind of liked him coming into the year, and I buy that, I buy that Cameron I guess I mostly buy that Cameron is good again but I don't buy that he's going to be who he looks like in his last five starts not even just literally like okay how do you buy a 118 ERA

nobody's that good isn't that the number you said 118? 119 but yeah 119 but even just I don't buy that Noah Cameron is suddenly an ace I do buy that. Like he's somebody you're going to be happy to rostered. You're going to start him. I don't know.

There may come a point where he gives you a reason to take him out of your lineup, but I doubt he gives you a reason to drop you over the last six weeks here. Yeah. To drop him. And he is up to 88% rostered on CBS, that being Noah Cameron. He's 70% started. So I think that number needs to be higher. If you have Noah Cameron, you got to pitch him the way that he's going right now.

now he gets to tigers this week. It's not a, you know, incredibly tough matchup. So, uh, yeah, Noah Cameron, one of the, uh, hottest pitchers in baseball right now. I do have three others that are trending up, like three kind of fringy names. I know like Reed Detmer's has kind of been a polarizing player. Most of his career, I guess you could say, as well as this season. But he was awesome against the Royals, eight shoutout innings, 11 strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 92 pitches here. He has allowed three earn runs or fewer in six straight. and this is his second start with double-digit strikeouts on the season. Ryan Weathers, another strong outing for him.

This one at the Blue J, seven and a third, one run, four strikeouts to one walk. Obviously not massive whiffs here, but it's one earned runner fewer in five straight games here for Ryan Weathers. Very interested to see what happens once Carlos Fordon is back. And Trevor Rogers, another quality start. This one at the raise, six innings, two runs, six strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 98 pitches. 10 of those on the fastball, which he did throw more in this one. And last 13 starts for Rogers. It is a 245 ERA 105 whip, 12% swinging strike rate.

So doing some great things. These three, Scott. Any thoughts on Trevor Rogers, Ryan Weathers and Reed Detmer's. Yeah, I really don't think Reid Detmer should be polarizing anymore. And I've been pointing this out his past several turns. So I'm going to point it out again. updated numbers last 15 starts that's basically half a major league season

and I haven't I haven't cherry picked I haven't removed any bad starts from those 15 starts last 15 starts for Reed at Mersey has a 297 ERA 0.91 whip and 10.8K per 9 I mean that's Cy Young caliber numbers I'm not saying he's a Cy Young contender but I'm just saying over the last 15 starts he's pitched that well. Helped back by the Angels not giving him run support, but I think also held back by his own

success. He'll have starts like this, a shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, a two-hit innings with 11 strikeouts. And people will want that version to keep showing up. And invariably, he'll have a five-and-two-thirds inning start with, you know, eight base runners allowed, and people will get mad about that. But like, every pitcher has a lot of. ups and downs. Like the ups are so high for Detmer's that he can afford to have a few more little missteps like that that aren't really like awful starts, but they're just not as dominant as you're hoping for because you know what he's

capable of in an individual start. But like, just keep starting him because he's having a breakout season and he's been really good for, again, 15, a 15 start stretch now. And then as for Ryan Weathers, you mention how good he's been. Recently, it coincides with him more or less ditching his foreseamer. Seven straight starts of throwing it 12% or less when for the season he throws it 23, 24%. So he's cut the use in half more than that even in some starts during the seven start stretch. The strikeout rate hasn't been as good, but it was a pitch that wasn't doing him any favors.

I think the average Xelofelocle on it is 95 miles per hour, so it was getting hit hard. And just fading it has made a big difference for weather's not quite as big of a difference as it has for Noah Cameron. But enough that I think it has weather's in the must roster range again. And I would have to think at this point, Will Warren is out of the rotation over him. I know earlier in the season that was questionable, Weathers wasn't pitching as well, and there were innings questions about him. But I think as late as we are into the season, I think that those questions are going to fall by the wayside. And Will Warren hasn't pitched nearly as well of late.

Yeah, I think those are all fair points. I mean, the one thing with Weathers, you mentioned the innings, he is up to 134. And last year he threw just 38 and a third. his velocity was also down in this most recent start. His fastball down almost two miles per hour, his sweeper down a 1.4 miles per hour. So look, he still had success in the start and it has been really good lately.

But I do wonder if that factors into the Yankees decision at all. I don't think that it should just because, again, he has been so much better than Will Warren. But, you know, he's 100 innings over where he was last year. So it's a talking point. Well, let me see. So he has two more years of control left after this one. So they do have more of a longer-term investment in weather.

It's not like he's just called up and they're looking at six, seven years of control. But still, yeah, I don't know. He's pitched so well. And at some point, you do have to take the reins off. He's six years into his career at this point. Obviously, not all of those are full seasons for service time, but he's been around a while. And obviously, if he starts struggling,

it changes the calculation, but he clearly isn't right now. All right, before we hit our first break, make sure to like this video and subscribe on YouTube. If you haven't already, let's take that break, and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today.

Lots of news, lots of injuries, lots of replacements to talk about. And first up, we have Paul Skeens, who had his next scheduled start moved from Sunday to Wednesday. Don Kelly indicated that there is no injury. They just wanted to get him more rest. This just doesn't feel right, Scott.

I don't know. The vibes are just way off with Paul Skeens right now. I mean, it hasn't felt right for a while now. Now, it may not be health-related. it may be, and just not something that that's that detectable yet or not something that the pirates are willing to report yet or whatever. Because I think it's too minor. It could be. I don't know.

But did you, I don't think I was on after Paul Skeen's last start. Did you and Chris talk about the Tom Verducci video that he put out? We might have mentioned it, but you could go ahead and break that down. Comparing Skeen's delivery from earlier this year to, to the stretch where he struggled, basically, which began, I think, in June. At the start of the year, Paul Skeens was looking like Paul Skeens. It really fell off mid-season,

and he basically changed so that his delivery was more straight to the plate rather than having kind of a crossfire effect, and that seems to have compromised the effectiveness of his fastball. and that's basically it. Yeah, just that. He pointed it out in video, of course, but doing a side-by-side, you can notice the difference

in how Skeens is moving toward the plate on his delivery. And because it coincides with the struggles, there probably is something to it. So, you know, it could be health-related, but mechanics are always at issue too. and at least by what Tom Verduci has observed. It seems like it may very well be mechanical,

which would be better, but obviously they have to take the time to fix it, if that's the case. Would you automatically start Paul Skeen's if you have him? It looks like if he does actually pitch Wednesday, it would be against the Tigers. Pretty good matchup. I can't say it's automatic at this point,

but I probably would. All right. Aaron Judge began playing catch on Friday. Aaron Boone said Saturday that judge could be clear to return in about a month, but there is still no official timeline for Judge. Juan Soto did win sprints Friday and said he intends to play again this season. He is on the IL with a calf train. Nationals manager, Blake Buterres said James Wood

has been progressing from that left oblique strain more slowly than the team had hoped. So probably not back at all this week as well. so you can keep James Wood in your IL spot or on the bench. Speaking of the Nationals, they moved CJ Abrams to second base this weekend. So he will have presumably second base and shortstop eligibility for next season. Scott, do you think this is prepping for a potential Seaver King promotion, moving Abrams over to second base? I mean, it could be. King's been playing some second base himself in the minors.

It hasn't actually happened yet, right? They made it sound like it was going to be immediate, but Abrams has not, his, did not appear at second base over the weekend. He continued to start a shortstop. Hmm. So. That's weird then. I didn't actually look at,

I assumed to play second base because that's what they said was going to happen. No, no, he hasn't done it yet. Oh, that's weird. So I don't know why it hasn't happened yet until it does. It's obviously just an idea, despite what was reported. Nassim Nunez is a better defender, and maybe they're happy to just ride out,

write it out with him at shortstop. But he's not a long-term answer there. And they have several middle-in-field prospects working their way up the pipeline. Seaver King would appear to be first in line. He's at a great year at AAA. And I would say the odds are better than not that we see him at some point over the next six weeks.

So there was some reporting that they still plan to play C.J. Abrams a couple of times per week at shortstop, but that he will be their primary second baseman. So I don't know. That's kind of weird. I think if you're going to commit to him playing second base, why don't you just do that and not really mess around with shortstop anymore? But I think it makes sense too because he grades out terribly defense.

It seemed inevitable, but technically hasn't happened yet. Vlad Jr. was placed on the seven-day concussion aisle after colliding with George Lombard on Friday. If you are looking for replacements, I mean, you probably have been looking for replacements all season for Vlad Jr. But Josh Bell and Abamelik Ortiz are both on Scott's sleeper hitters for this upcoming week. So those are two first base corner infield types that you can use in lieu of Vlad Jr. Logan Webb left his start after 80 pitches Saturday due to back and shoulder tightness. And he did pitch well before leaving six innings, one run, seven strikeouts to zero walks.

His velocity was fine across the board. Scott, did you see anything else here on Logan Webb? is 77% started on CBS and he is at the Red Sox this week. I'm not entirely sure he's going to make a start. Yeah, I'm not either, but I haven't seen anything other than him leaving the game

with the issue. He was pitching well, by the way. Yep. I would hesitate to play him. If we don't get any updates between now and lineup block, I think you got to you got to, I think it's a better safe than Zari situation. Jacob de Grom had imaging on his right triceps,

which confirmed the fatigue that he was dealing with. And it's good news that it's not anything more than that, but obviously it's an arm-related injury for DeGrom, who's dealt with a lot. And still seems iffy for his next scheduled start. So similar situation, would you maybe play it safe and not use Jacob deGrom this week? Yeah, the impression I got from reading the quote,

which I don't have right in front of me, but the impression I got was that it was even less than if he seemed unlikely. He was going to make his next start. So I would sit Jacob de Grom. Hunter Goodman has missed three straight due to left shoulder inflammation. And it's bad timing because the Rockies have six games at home this week, four against lefties. So obviously it would line up pretty well here for Hunter Goodman.

So let's follow the news and see if he is in the lineup on, let's see if they play on Monday or if it's a Tuesday game. It is, they play on Monday at 840. So hopefully Hunter Goodman is in the lineup for, that game. We need that. Next up, Trey Turner left early Saturday after fouling a ball off his right knee. He was out of

the lineup on Sunday. Thoughts on using Trey Turner this week? I would probably use him still. Like I think it's probably, it sounds like more of a day-to-day situation than a serious injury.

He hasn't been amazing this year. So if you had good alternatives, it wouldn't be a bad idea to send him just for that reason. But if he's your best option, then I think you're probably fine with it. I'm trying to look more into this Logan Webb thing. So I saw the diagnosis

of shoulder tightness, which sounds more like a pitching injury, but apparently he just took a comebacker off of it. And that's why he left. Not so much he was hurt throwing a pitch, which makes me feel a lot better. You know, they called him day to day. I think it was probably just precautionary,

and I feel better about using Web this week based on reading that. All right. Next up, Bryce Terang missed all three games this weekend with left knee discomfort, but is trending towards a return on Tuesday. So I think you should be all right to go with Bryce Tarang there. Justin Robleski was placed in the aisle with left forearm inflammation. He allowed four earned runs over six innings on Saturday, two more homers allowed,

10 hard hits in that game. His velocity was up quite a bit, so perhaps that contributed to this arm-related injury. And last four starts for Robleski, 869, ERA 158, with 11 home runs allowed. So if you play in a league with no IL spots or precious IL spots, can we drop Justin Robleski?

I think that's probably okay. He hadn't been pitching well recently anyway, and the Dodgers were going to have to manage his innings at some point. I'm not saying this is a fake injury, but I'm saying something was bound to happen to take him out of the rotation, at least for a stretch. And, you know, they got five strong without him at this point,

with Blake's now looking really strong in his return, and Tyler Glass now is close behind. So I don't know how much room there's going to be for Rebleski even when he's healthy again. All right, next up, Danesby Swanson is going on the aisle with an oblique injury, so that should mean more playing time for

Pedro Ramirez. If you play in a deep league, you could take a shot on Ramirez. Replacements. Cole Carrig now has shortstop eligibility on CBS. He's 75% rostered. George Lombard is 71. Willie Castro with the full home game, full slate of games

in Corse Field this week. He's 51% rostered. And then some slightly deeper names at shortstop. Anhele Hanow, who's 35% rostered. There's Kael and Colpepper at 33. Chase Midroth at 50%. And Andrew Monasterio, who's been playing pretty well, getting lots of playing time, 27% rostered for him.

Not much help in my 2014 Dynasty League with the playoffs. They're about to begin, no. No, no. No help for somebody who lost Danesby Swanson there. Hmm. Hmm. Who is the best of it? Like, who are you adding to try and report?

Well, I don't want to say. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm not picking them up, but I guess someone else might be able to be. I think the best pure short. Probably like Joseph Ortiz, among those eligible short stuff. I think Jim Jarvis is out there. He's been playing a lot, but not doing a lot. Yeah.

It's not good. It's not great. I maybe should have traded for Swiss Army and I, Ezekiel Duran at the deadline. as I had a deal in place to do before you came knocking and sent me down another path. Little did I know about this Dansby Swanson injury coming down the pike. That's how it is with injuries, you know?

That's how it is. Especially in a league that deep, man. It is so tough. 24-team head to head points league. Ketel Marte left early Friday with knee soreness and then missed Saturday, but he did return to the lineup on Sunday. Quinn Matthews is getting called. called up to start game one of the Cardinals doubleheader on Monday.

No clue if he will stick around. He's 27% rostered. Scott, do you have any interest in using Quinn Matthews? I would guess just one start at the Reds on Monday. Not really. Not a lot of interest. Deep leaks, maybe. It's a pretty good matchup.

Roman Anthony will begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. He's been out since early May due to a sprained wrist and finger. he is still 86% rostered so most leagues he's still rostered but I did see a few NFBC leagues where it's harder to hold on to injured guys where

Roman Anthony was available so leagues like that I would try and pick him back up it was originally reported that Cody Bellinger would begin a rehab assignment Tuesday but Aaron Boone apparently misspoke and it sounds like Bellinger will start rehab later this week perhaps Thursday or Friday

Samwell Bessio started a Rehab assignment at AAA on Sunday, so he is inching closer to a return. Tyler Soderstrom went on the IL with a left hip impingement and a couple outfielders on Scott's sleeper hitters for this week. Cole Carrig, Stephen Kwan, Chandler Simpson, Willie Castro, Zach Gelloff, Ryan Walschmidt, and Anhell Martinez. Did you leave those two on there, Scott? I know you said you updated your sleeper.

Yeah, the only one I removed is Nolan Aronado because it sounds like he's probably going on the IL and put Jake Berger in his place. but that's, those aren't outfielders. Well, if you're using Tyler Soderstrom at first or corner, a couple of first base

sleeper hitters, we have Willie Castro, Josh Bell, Abameli Cortiz, and I guess Josh Burr Jake Berger is on that list. Jake Berger, not Josh Berger.

Don't know who that is. Josh. Wasn't that somebody? Like in football or something? I think I'm thinking of Josh Booty. Not Josh Berger. I have no idea.

Will Smith took, part in on field batting practice on Friday. You mentioned Nolan Aronado left Sunday with an intercostal strain. He did have a two-homer game on Saturday, but I would guess that winds up in an IL stint. Griffin Jacks threw from 120 feet on Friday. He is on the IL with an elbow injury. The Cubs reinstated Edward Cabrera on Sunday. David Peterson was moved to the bullpen, and Edward Cabrera was terrible.

Three and two-thirds, inning seven runs aloud. Apparently he was dealing with a blister. He's 51% rostered. I was going to ask if you have any interest. and Edward Cabrera, but being bad and hurt seems like a bad combination. No, I didn't even before he pitched, to be honest. So the plot thickens on Josh Booty.

He only professionally, he only did play baseball. But he was better known as a quarterback for the LSU Tigers. So football and baseball. But professionally, just baseball. and now he's 51 years old. Life comes at you fast. That has been your Josh Booty update here on Monday, August 17th.

Joe Musgrove made another rehab start on Friday, four and two-thirds innings, five runs, five strikeouts. He did get up to 70 pitches. His fastball average around 95 miles per hour, which is up two miles per hour from where it was two years ago. He is 35% rostered. I remain interested in stashing Joe, I'm not even sure it's the same Josh Booty. I'm sorry. It might be different Josh Booty's going on. I'm going to stop talking about Josh Booty now. And talk about Joe Musgrove. Yeah. Yeah, I think, you know, obviously this results here on Friday weren't very good. But the velocity's been up. And I think that's more what we care about as he's working his way for

injury and that's it. All right, Felix Batista could begin a rehab assignment in late August. He is 7% rostered and perhaps somebody who could pick up saves in the month of September. So just pay attention to Felix Batista. Luis Severino is not expected to return this season. He's been out since May 30th with a shoulder injury. The Astros demoted Ronel Blanco to AAA. Usa Kikuchi could rejoin the Angels rotation this week.

He is 13% rostered. but he was having a pretty terrible year. Don't think we have interest in Yusayakuchi. And other names who went on the IEL this weekend, Masataka Yoshita with a left hamstring strain, Abner Arebe with a right forearm, flexor strain, and Colt Emerson was actually placed on the Major League IL with left wrist inflammation.

He was not sent down to the minors, as originally reported. Let's take our final break when we return, a bunch of waiver-wire names from the weekend, and we'll get to those right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today, and let's hit the Waver Wire pitchers from the weekend, and the name up at the top, IMO. Jacob Lopez, another solid outing here, this one against the Rangers. Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts, 14 whiffs on 93 pitches.

His velocity was down across the board, so something to watch. Don't know if it was intentional, but his slider was really good, even with less velocity here. and in six starts since re-entering the rotation 248 ERA a 110 whip. And he is at the Astros this week who actually aren't very good against lefties. So 39% rostered, I feel like that number should be much higher, Scott, for Jacob Lopez. I think so too. You missed out on a great two-star week already. So that's disappointing.

And I think he'll remain volatile in that when things go wrong for him, they go really wrong, but we're seeing him at his best right now, and it's very useful, Jacob Lopez, and we saw it down the stretch last year. He can, at his best, he can be dominant, and he has been lately. I don't remember exactly, hmm. Did you have Jacob Lopez at the top of that list from last week, the Castillo, Mali, Leahy, Mania group? Oh, like in terms of how to,

how rostered they should be? No, just your, like, how would you rank them, basically? Who do you like most rest of season? I think you had Lopez at the top of that list, right? Of those names you mentioned, I think so. But, I mean, obviously I do now, even if I didn't then. But it's probably more important. Yeah.

A couple of names here between 60 and 80% rostered. So, shadow league names, Bryce Elder. He's 78% rostered. A lot of people picked him up for the two-star week this week. the first start was terrible. This other one was much better. Six innings, one run, five strikeouts to one walk.

The velocity down here for Bryce Elder, who is at the Brewers this week. Don't really love that matchup. Brandon fought a great outing here at your Atlanta Braves. Got seven shutout innings, seven strikeouts, zero walks. Different than the other starts we've seen.

He actually picked up swinging strikes in this one. He looked really, really good. And Brandon fought now. Zero earned runs in four straight. seven innings in three of those, and nine starts since returning to the D-backs, 115 ERA.8-8-WIP. He is at the Red Sox later this week.

Joey Cantillo, great outing at the Padre. We'll get back to him in a second. But Cantillo is great against the Padre, six innings, one hit, one run. With seven strikeouts, he did throw that curveball a lot again, and it was very good. And Clay Holmes, much better in his second Cubs start. This one against the Cardinals,

six and two-thirds, shutout, one-hit, one-walk, three strikeouts for him. He gets the white socks later this week. Scott, how would you rank these four? Clay Holmes, Joey Cantillo, Brendan Fott, and Bryce Elder. I mean, I think I have to put Fott at the top at this point. But, you know, I'm still skeptical.

You said last night starts 115 ERA. 0.88 whip. That's amazing. What you left out was 4.9 K-per-9. Ah, you got it. Which is, you know, even if it was, 6.9K per 9, I could be like, yeah, you know, but it's a lot of weak grounders. He could probably make that 4.9.

It's like that you don't ever see a K per 9 rate that low anymore. And so, I mean, obviously he had 9 per 9 in this latest start against the Braves, so I guess you could argue it's trending up. And, you know, it's, I just said he belongs at the top of, this list. I think rather than just harp on the negative for fought, you know, there are negatives for Bryce Elder, Joey

Cantillo, Clay Holmes, too. I just think it's easier to see the negatives with them. And right now you could have rose colored glasses for fought. I don't know that you can just count on him to be a fixture in your lineup the rest of the way. But sure, you should

be rostered at this point more rusted than these other three. And maybe the strikeouts will pick up and it'll be harder. to say anything negative about him at that point. I'm open to weak ground ball specialists having fantasy value. I mean, it's, I think I've been pretty positive about Andre Palante all year. And so, I mean, if, if fought can just miss bats at even that rate, I think there's a path for him being successful here. But 4.9 is really low.

I do want to just, again, give him credit. Credit where it's due here for Brandon Fott, especially the last three against the Braves, Dodgers, and Padres, who are the best offense in baseball in the second half. Really tough matchups. And he's doing what he's doing against these teams right now, these tough lineups. So shout out to Brandon Fott, who is not walking anybody.

He is not giving up hard contact. He's getting ground balls. But again, not missing many bats there at the Red Sox later this week. week. Did you have anything else you wanted to add on Elder Cantillo or Clay Holmes? Oh, not really. I feel like we know the story with Cantillo, especially, though he did what he did against the Padres also, I think is worth pointing out and stressing. Elder, now, Elders turnaround has happened with him fading the slider. He's six straight starts now, and he's got a 334 ERA during that stretch. 120 whip, 6.9. K.

Pater 9. So fading the slider, Elder has basically turned into Andre Palante. I don't know what the ground ball rate is for him during that stretch. I think it's improved over where it was earlier. But there obviously isn't the same history of success there, and I'd be very wary of it. Obviously, his start prior to this one, Elder wasn't very good. And was there something different for Holmes? Or did he just? kind of velocity was down a little bit from his first start.

Yeah. I have the most hope for Holmes, I would say, other than fought, I guess. He'd probably be second on this list in terms of how much

I want to roster him. Yeah. With Joey Cantillo, by the way, he's also at the Rockies this week. So as a SPARP, I get using him,

but really tough match of going into Corse Field for Joey Cantillo. Three more names here, Michael McGreevy, Turned in a quality start at the Cubs, six innings, three unearned runs with six strikeouts. He is at the Reds later this week. Nick Ladolo, solid outing against the Marlins, five shutout innings, two walks, two

strikeouts for him. Did use his sinker a little bit more in this one. It was all right. The curve ball has been playing differently since returning. I know he has like a modified grip on that pitch. He's at the D-backs this week. And Shane Bieber shut down the Yankees, six innings, one run, five strikeouts. seems very fortunate for him.

He gave up 12 hard hits in this one. He threw just 58% of his pitches for strikes. He had just five swinging strikes on 84 pitches. And he is at Tampa Bay this week. So I am not overly interested in using any of them. Probably McGreevy at the Reds would be at the top of this kind of streamer group, I guess you could say. McGreevy, Ludolo, and Bieber. Yeah, I had to remove...

Who did I remove? had to remove Shane Drohan from the sleeper pitchers list for this week because his matchup changed from a good opponent to a bad opponent. And I consider putting Michael McGreevy in as the replacement. Ultimately, I went with a two-star Brandon Young instead, but McGreevy, let's say, he would have been 11th among my sleeper pitchers for this week with that start at Cincinnati. McGreevy isn't as much of a groundball pitcher as you might think as he's been in the past, and he gives up hard contact.

so I'm a little worried about him in Cincinnati, but he's been fairly reliable in spite of that. Obviously not tons of upside, but a pretty high floor. Two follow-ups here. Obviously last week, lots of talk about Jackson Job and Sean Mania. Job got rocked by the White Sox three and two-thirds inning, six runs, two homers-loud in this one. Pretty normal pitch mix and velocity,

but clearly just didn't have it, gave up lots of hard contact. and Sean Mania not as good this time around against the Nationals who typically hit lefties well I thought perhaps he could have more success with no James Wood in the lineup but it was four runs over six and a third two homers allowed still had seven strikeouts

and 17 swinging strikes on 93 pitches and the velocity was up for Sean Mania so I don't think there's any way you could use Jackson Job coming off the start he just had he gets the pirates they're really good against right-handed pitching Sean Mania, while the final line was kind of mixed here, I still liked that he got a lot of whiffs and the velocity was up. So at the White Sox as a spark,

I could see using Mania in a points league this week. Yeah, I can see it too. I don't think it's the worst idea. I'm torn on him because, of course, I do like that he got all those whiffs against the nationals, even if the overall result was less than awesome. I don't like that he brought back the Sinker because remember that was the main source of enthusiasm,

at least for me, when he dominated the Pirates in his previous outing, 11 strikeouts in seven innings, he went just, he brought back the two-pitch focus that made him so dominant with the lower arm angle down the stretch in 2024. Sinker has not played very well for him,

particularly from that lower arm angle. and it seemed like maybe he recognized that in the start with the pirates and just got rid of it. Well, he brought it back to about its normal usage against the nationals here in this start. And so I'm less enthusiastic about Manaya because of that because it turned out to be just a one-off, that arsenal change.

But, you know, he's done, apart from that 11 strikeout, he's been decent now for a few starts. I think he's at least in the streamer conversation. Slide over to the waiver wire hitters from the weekend. And I have a trio of athletics. Zach Gelloff has looked great since returning. He went two for five with his 14th home run to RBI. I believe that was on Sunday.

Has three homers in his past six games. And he's 70% rostered, has second third and outfield eligibility. I moved Gelloff up to 16 in my third base rankings. and yeah, I think he's close to a must roster player. He's been really good when he's played this year, and obviously using him at third base is a big boost right now. Lawrence Butler has homered in four of his last five games. He has started 17 straight, and in the second half,

he's hitting 242, six homers, three seals, 8-12 OPS, and Henry Bolte, who I know, Scott, you just, there's no way I can get you to buy in on Henry Bolte. But back-to-back three-hit games, he homered on Saturday. again, three for five with a run on Sunday. And he's looked really good in August. 339, three homers, two seals, 927 OPS. Your thoughts here on a trio of A's.

Zach Gelloff, Lawrence Butler, and Henry Bolte. Gelloff is trending the right direction for sure. And I would say if you need help in any of those positions or just need a versatile guy, again, that's second, third, and outfield, then he should be added. I have him among the sleeper hitters for this week. it is a full week of road games, which if you look at the splits for Gelloff

doesn't favor him. I still am among the sleeper hitters because you know, picking from a bunch of guys who are less than 80% rostered in mid-August, you have to

you have to just cross your fingers sometimes and hope for the best. But, you know, most of his damage comes at home. It's worth noting. Butler was on last week's sleeper-hitter list and turned out to be a pretty good call, I guess.

You do have to play the matchups with him a little more, being a left-handed hitter in addition to probably doing the home away thing. I don't have his splits off the top of my head how Butler's been doing on the road. I can pull those up. Okay. And then Boltey, I mean, the problem is he has strikeout issues, but even beyond that, he puts the ball on the ground 60% of the time. Yeah, he does.

He is an intriguing athlete. He's just the sprint speed and the bat speed, but yeah, the ground ball rate is very high. He definitely hits the ball hard enough. I just question the angle off the bat and how often he hits the ball. So since he's headed out on a road trip this week, like the rest of the athletics,

I don't know that now's the time to use Henry Boltey. And I'm open to him being good at some point in the future. I'm just not sure it's there yet. Yeah, Lawrence Butler, by the way, this is not the week to use him on the road hitting 169 with a 504 OPS. Stay away from Lawrence Butler. What about Alec Bohm, who had a big weekend, five for five with two runs and an RBI on Saturday,

two for four with his 14th homer for RBI on Sunday. And so far in the second half, he's hitting 327 with three homers, 21 RBI and 853 OPS. We know he had that terrible first month of the season. He has been much better basically since May onward. He's 54% rostered. Now first and third base eligible, but obviously just much more useful at third base.

Who would you rather add, I guess, for third base? Alec Bohm or Zach Gelloff? Gell off pretty easily. The first month was terrible for Bohm, but in May he hit 277. Okay, that's not bad. That's not used to seeing Alec Bohm, but it's not bad.

277. June was 247. July was 226. Oof. August has been great, but I guess I'm just saying, like, yes, it has been better since April, April being as bad as it was, but it's not like he's looked like Alec Bohm again.

And bold prediction, I'm not sure he signs as a starter anywhere next year. It's a free agent, not a very good defender at third base, right-handed hitter with poor on-base skills and at best C-grade power, I don't know that he's going to be a full-timer anywhere. Two guys who you can move all over the diamond, Luis Renhifo hit another home run this weekend.

27 games with the Padres. 323, 4 homers, 16 runs, 3 steals in 884 OPS, has second third and outfield eligibility. And Tim Tawa, he's actually been good for a while now. He homered on Friday. He had two more hits on Saturday. Last 32 games, 282, 6 homers, 21 RBI, 5 steals. And hitting the ball hard during that stretch,

93.2 average EV, 11% barrel rate. First, second, 3rd. third and outfield eligible. Scott, who do you like more as like a versatile piece? Luis Renhifo or Tim Tawa? Don't like either that much. I'm kind of intrigued by Tawa with the way he's hitting the ball. At least how hard he's hitting the ball.

Yeah, I think there's probably a little more juice there. But it's not a lot of enthusiasm for me. All right, two deeper catchers. in two catcher leagues. Can we get Eduardo Valencia more playing time? Because he's looked pretty good in a small sample. He ate his sixth home run on Saturday. He also had two hits on Friday.

In 19 games, he's hitting 389 with six homers and a 1244 OPS. And Raphael Flores of the Pirates. He has started four straight. He went three for four with his fourth home run on Friday. I mentioned this last week, but his numbers in the minor is terrible this year, but they were very good last year.

He came over to the Pirates in the, David Beddard trade. But, you know, two, I would say 15 team, two catcher leagues, names here. Eduardo Valencia, Rafael Flores. Do you have any deep league interests there? Yeah, and some of those deep two catcher leagues where I didn't like my second catcher, probably because I lost one to injury. Like I had Miguel Amaya starting in one.

It's like, okay, I'll throw a dollar at Rafael Flores. And if nobody else does, I'll slot him in for Amaya. that seems like a low-risk move for a player who, at least at this time last year, looked like he might be something and is off to a good start. So there may be something there for Flores, but I'm talking to deep league two-catcher scenario. It's the only place where I'm taking that shot. Yep. Starters sit these pitchers this week.

Hunter Brown struggled with control once again this time against the Mariners. five inings, two runs, five walks, five strikeouts, only had five swinging strikes on 90 pitches, and he threw just 56% of his pitches for strikes. His third outing with five or more walks this season, and he is home against the athletics this week. They're dealing with a lot of injuries, obviously better to get them in Houston.

What do you think about using Hunter Brown? He just hasn't looked right since coming back from that shoulder injury. I think it's mainly just control, and this is something we saw from him earlier in his career. So from a long-term perspective, I'm not especially worried. But for the here and now, it does make them less the must start. I think this matchup is fine if you want to use them. If you have other options that you're aching to use, though,

I think it's also fine to sit brown. What about Michael Soroka, who fell one out short of a quality start at the Atlanta Braves? Revenge game, a long time coming. revenge game for Mike Soroka. Five and two-thirds, two runs, five strikeouts to one walk. He, in his first two starts back,

it's 10 innings, two runs, nine strikeouts to four walks, and he is home against the Reds this week. 59% started. What do you think about Soroka? I think it's okay. He wasn't on my sleeper pitchers list. Well, I guess he couldn't be because he's 91% rostered. And come to think of it, I

looked into it to see if I could put him on my sleeper pitchers list. So I guess, I guess, he He is more startable than, let's say, let's say the bottom half of my sleeper pitcher list. So I'd go with E&C Moore over him, two-star Kyle Leahy, Dustin May, two-stared Andre Palante, two-star Tyler Malley. But if those are all off the board, then Soroka's fine.

All right, some other pitching leftovers, Aces being Aces, the Miz. Jacob Mizierowski, another strong outing. This one at the Dodgers, six innings, run six strikeouts to one walk. He had 17 whiffs on 98 pitches. Has a quality start in three straight, and he looks completely built back up.

I know we did have some scare, like right before the All-Star break, but it looks like he is built back up. That's the Miz. Terrick Scoobble, a tough loss against the Brewer, six innings, two runs. One of those earned seven strikeouts, had 18 whiffs on 109 pitches,

moved away from that sinker, so I thought that was a good sign for Scoobel. Chris Sale took a tough loss against the D-back, six innings one run, nine strikeouts, zero walks. And Yoshinobu Yamamoto, he had a great outing here against the Brewers. Six innings, one run, nine strikeouts,

13 whiffs on 97 pitches, and three earned runs or fewer in 13 of his last 14 starts. So very consistent here for Yamamoto. It's got anything on him, Chris Sale, Scoobel, or the Miz. So, if you'll remember, I pointed out

concerning maybe a little strong but a trend I didn't like for Tarek Scoobol last time out. He had thrown he had three starts this year with 30% sinkers or more

and two of them were his first two starts with Dodgers and he wasn't getting many strikeouts in either and I just wondered if that was part of the game plan with him if you were going to see a lesser version of Tarek Scoobull because of his

emphasis on the sinker. Well, in his third start with the Dodgers here against the Brewers on Sunday, he threw just 13% sinkers. So pretty normal usage. Got 18 whiffs on 109 pitches. Seven strikeouts and six innings won't blow you away,

but it was against the Brewers. He got a lot of whiffs. I think that concern to the degree was a concern is basically gone. Misarowski, I still think, they're going to have to do something. Maybe it'll just be the last couple weeks of September.

They give them a couple of three-inning starts or something like that. Presumably, they'll have the division more or less locked up by then, and obviously, they'll want to use them as much as they can stand in the playoffs if they're looking to go anywhere. And the innings, you know, they got to be careful with that, with misery. and they can afford to be because they have such a big lead, best record in the NL Central, or I'm sorry, in the NL, baseball, all of baseball, in fact. The one hesitation there is that the Cubs are by far the best wildcard team.

So right now the Brewer's lead is only five games for as good as their record is. But I'm talking like a month from now, how big will the lead be? how many, what will their magic number be at that point in time? And I could see them pulling the reins a bit on Mizorowski if they've got it basically locked up. All right, some more aces here. Dylan Sees, another double-digit trikeout start against the Yankees, six and a third, two runs, ten strikeouts,

14 whiffs on 104 pitches. His velocity remains down. This is now five starts in a row where he's kind of started slow and then the velocity builds up over the start, but like he's still been amazing during that stretch. So not sure that it really matters for Dylan C's. Chase Burns, a great outing against the Marlins. Seven shotout innings with eight strikeouts to zero walks.

Jesus Lazardo, another strong outing for him. This one at the twins, six and two thirds, one run, nine strikeouts, 17 swinging strikes on 109 pitches. And Brian, woo, a quality start on the road. How about that? At the Astros, six innings, two runs. runs, five strikeouts to one walk. Now that's two starts on the road this past week, 11 innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts

to two walks. So there you go. Good signs here for Brian Wu. Anything else on him, Lizardo, Chase Burns, and Dylan Cease. So Cease going, I'm sorry, not Cease Burns, Chase Burns going seven innings was a surprise in part because, let's see. It had been a long time since he had gone even six. Eight of his previous 10 starts were less than six innings.

So it seemed like the Reds were really cutting back on Chase Burns' usage, and I was lowering him in my rest of season rankings little by little as a result. So to come back with seven here, I think, is a good sign. Not that there's been any drop in effectiveness. Dylan Cease's velocity has been down now. believe it's five starts in a row, but his numbers during that time are better than his season long numbers.

Cross the board. 162ERA.81 whip, 12.4K per 9. Wow. With the velocity being down. Yeah. So it seems to be working for him. I'm guessing it's probably intentional, part of the Blue Jays continued efforts

to have him in the strike zone more. And, yeah, it's nice to see Brian Wu come through in a couple of road starts, as you point out. It's a good two-star week for him. Good to see. All right. Next group of pitching leftovers here. Sandy took a tough loss at the Reds,

seven innings, one run, four walks to two strikeouts, but he has a quality start in 12 of his last 14 outings. Again, that's Sandy Alconcert, Garrett Cole, a tough loss at the Blue J's six innings, two runs, one of those earned five strikeouts here. three earned runs or fewer in eight straight. I will point out the whiffs have been down once again,

just an 8% swinging strike rate in three August starts for Gary Cole. Emerson Hancock, a great outing at the Astros seven innings two runs, eight strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 97 pitches. I've wanted him to use the sweeper more, and he actually did that in this outing, and it was a great one for Emerson Hancock, so very consistent over all this season. Sunny Gray, yet another quality start for him.

he was at the Pirates, seven shutout innings, seven strikeouts to one walk, and he also has a quality start in 12 of his last 14 outings, going six plus innings in 13 of those. So lots of consistency there for him as well. Sonny Gray, Emerson, Hancock, Gerichol, and Sandy Alcancor. Scott, anything on this group? I don't think I have any noteworthy observations, really. I would say Emerson Hancock's performance was the most noteworthy,

but I didn't see anything that really pointed to a change in approach or direction or anything like that. I think it was just a good start. Petrie was at a good year, but this was a particularly good start for Emerson Hancock. I do want to point out in the chat, somebody mentioned Brian Wu having an injury here on Sunday, and it's true he left with shoulder discomfort, it was reported. Oh. That's not great. But Adam Jude of the Seattle Times said, but he quickly shrugged it off post-game, quote,

nothing I'm concerned about. We'll see if the Mariners are concerned about it, but Wu thinks it's no big deal. Obviously, putting them on the IL for a couple weeks would make for a clear path for Kate Anderson. I don't know when Kate Anderson last started, but obviously Wu just started, so the spot to fill in the rotation would be five days from now. But yeah, something to keep in mind. You should already be stashing Kate Anderson,

but this might be his ticket in. Kate Anderson's most recent start was the 14th, so on Friday. So that could make some sense. Brian Wu, by the way, is home against the Cubs this week. week. So, Cubs tough matchup, but you would hate to miss a Brian Wu home start. Obviously, he's been so good at home this year, so

we'll have to see if there's any more news on this before we set lineups here on Monday. Last group of pitching leftovers, Eduardo Rodriguez keeps getting away with it. Another one, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts to zero walks at the Atlanta Braves. Casey Mai shut down the Guardian, six shutout

with three strikeouts for him. He has just a 5.4 percent swinging strike rate over his last four starts. So the lines have been okay. There was one really bad start in there, but the strikeouts have really gone away for Casey Mize. Yuri Perez shut down the Reds, despite the walks here. Five walks over six shutout innings also had five strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 100 pitches. And Logan Henderson out-duled Terrick Scoobal at the Dodgers on Sunday, seven innings, one run, six strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 93 pitches. Has gone six plus innings in three straight. I think that's a really good.

sign there for Logan Henderson. Scott, anything on him, Yuri Perez, Casey Meis, and Erod. Well, it's probably worth following up on Eduardo Rodriguez's previous start because that was against the Dodgers. He struck out nine. But most notably,

he had this different looking change. If it was down three miles per hour, it was responsible for 11 whiffs. They were 26% of the time, 11 whiffs. The velocity was down on the change again in this latest start against the Braves, but it got zero whiffs,

and he threw it 11% of the time. So it's not the magic trick that's going to make Eduardo Rodriguez look more sustainable in our eyes, yet it continues to pitch well for reasons that elude us. and I don't know, I can't tell you to sit him if he keeps doing these sorts of things for you, but I remain skeptical of it. Logan Henderson, honestly, the only concern we had about him was would the Brewers let him

pitch that third time through the lineup or would he just always be a five-inning guy? This is now three starts in a row, six innings or more. And in fact, the last two have been more than six innings. Career high seven here against the Dodgers. And three hits allowed. And he held the Dodgers to two hits and his start against them earlier this year. So Logan Henderson's really good.

And is becoming increasingly so increasingly good. The last pitching left over. I just want to mention here, Gavin Williams is human. After all, he took a step back, five runs aloud. Over four and a third. He walked four. Homer's loud in that start as well, but he was so ridiculously good before this.

His previous six starts, 258 ERA, 0.63 whip, 62 strikeouts to five walks over 38 and a third, which is just an incredible strikeout rate and just K to walk number there for Gavin Williams. So bad start, but he had been so money before that. Some hitting leftovers, Miguel Vargas, had a big game here on Friday,

four from five with a double dung. He homered again on Sunday. He is now up to 28 homers and 12 steals on the season. Jack Caglione stayed hot. Three for four with a home run, five RBI on Friday. One for three with a steal on Saturday. And last 33 games, 302, eight homers, 27 RBI, three steals.

Cags looks like he is locked back in. Ben Rice is going through it right now. He homered on Sunday. It was his 33rd, but his August has been a struggle. 102 batting average, two homers, 30% K rate, a 4.7. 73 OPS. The home run derby strikes once again.

I wish Chris was here to hear about that. Matt Olson, a big game on Sunday, one for three with a sock in the shoe. His 36th homer, his third steel. Power has just been massive here for Matt Olson in the second half of the season. And Alec Berluson picking up the power as well. Hit his 21st home run on Sunday,

also homered on Saturday, and hitting 340, six homers, 19 RBI, 1221 OPS here in 14 August games. So five names. Anything to head, Scott. Miguel Vargas, Cags, Ben Rice, Matt Olson, and Alec Bartlinson. Have you checked in on how Jordan Walker's doing since the home run derby? Yeah, pretty good.

No, he's not. Oh, he's not? I looked at him earlier. Maybe it's just like an August thing, but. He did Homer. Well, I think he had a big game on Sunday. So, yeah, three for four with the home run. And that made his August numbers look better.

But even so, since the home run derby is batting 250 with two home runs. Oh, yeah. But seems to be trending up. I think he's going to be fine. His strikeout rate is only 21.6% during that time for what it's worth. So making more contact. Yeah, I'm not actually worried about Jordan Walker, but I have seen others note that concern since, of course,

he won the home run derby, was participating in it deep into the night. Not really worried about Rice either, for what it's worth. and yeah, not much to add on the rest of this group. All right, the call to the bullpen for the Cubs on Friday. Jacob Webb picked up his ninth save, and I know Daniel Palencia has been rehabbing, so once he's back, obviously I think he'll just slop back in as the closer, but Jacob Webb has been the guy for now.

For the Pirates on Friday, Luke Weaver got the eighth inning with a five-run lead facing the heart of the Red Sox lineup. He threw a clean inning. Kirby Yates got the third. 9th. It was still a five-run lead. He was charged with a run on three hits. Mason Montgomery came on to get the final out for his fourth save. And then on Saturday, Luke Weaver got the 9th down one run. So trying to keep it close. He gave up three runs on four hits. And there was a quote about Don Kelly saying that like Mason Montgomery, they're going to kind of mix and match and use

them in different spots, but that he's been good in the ninth inning. So we just kind of hope that Luke Weaver would be the closer. I'm not so sure that is the case for the Pirates. Yeah, but there's only a sample of one, really, since the trade, right? I believe this is the team's first save. Gosh, how long ago was the trade deadline, August 3rd, two weeks ago? The pirates have completely fallen off during that space. Yeah, they really have. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I wouldn't be so quick to drop Luke Weaver if you had invested any capital in him. but it's not not looking good so far for the Mets on Friday Kodai Senga got the ninth with a three-run lead he allowed a hit

but he picked up his second save and then on Sunday he struck out two for his third save he's 21% rostered and he is just looking like the guy as long as Devin Williams is out with the Mets for the Orioles on Friday

Andrew Kittredge got the seventh inning it was Rico Garcia in the 8th and then Yaneer Kano got the 9th with a four-run lead he was charged with three runs, and it was Cam Sanders, or Cam Sonders, who got the final out for his third save. And then on Saturday, Andrew Kitchard got the ninth with a one-run lead. He allowed a run on three hits. He took his fourth blown save.

He wound up with the win. Once again, it was Saunders, who picked up his third save in the 10th inning of that game. Saunders in 15 games, 632 ERA 166 whip, but he picked up two saves this weekend. Scott, do you have any deep league save? interest in Cam Saunders? Not really. It's kind of messy there, I feel like, in Baltimore. Yeah.

But I don't know. Maybe he moves to the front of a messy situation. I just, I feel like the Orioles and the Giants. I know you've been talking of Sammy Natera for the angels, but I'm starting to believe Ben Joyce is ahead of him there. Yep. He picked up his second save this weekend, Ben Joyce. So maybe that's the neatest of the three situations,

but that still isn't saying much. Yeah. For the D-backs on Friday, Brandon Garcia got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out two for his fourth save. But then I believe he was working the seventh inning on Saturday or Sunday, and he gave up a home run.

So Garcia is their highest leverage reliever. It's not always going to be in the ninth inning, unfortunately. For the Mariners on Friday, it was a brutal outing for Andres Munoz, who gave up five runs for those earned, a walk-off homer. He did bounce back on Sunday for his 22nd save. It's been a downseason for Andrus Munoz 437 ERA-124 whip.

He's still the guy, but it just hasn't been as dominant as previous years. For the Royals on Friday, Stephen Cruz got the ninth with a one-run lead. He picked up his fourth save. For the Dodgers on Friday, Edwin Diaz, got the ninth inning once again, a two-run lead. He allowed three base runners on a hit-by pitch and two walks, but he picked up his seventh save. The Dodgers seem extremely committed to Edwin Diaz. So it is, I don't even know how bad he would have to pitch to lose the role because I feel like he's kind of done that, but they're sticking with him.

So good news if you have Edwin Diaz. For the White Sox on Saturday, Grant Taylor got the eighth with a one-run lead facing the top of the Tigers lineup. He picked up his 10th hold. It was lefty Brian Hudson, who got the ninth with, and he picked up his fifth save. And then on Sunday, Taylor was unavailable. Sean Newcomb got the final seven out. for his fourth save.

You know, the White Sox kind of mixed and match a lot here, Scott, but I still think Grant Taylor would be my bet to get the next save, but they don't always use him in the ninth inning, unfortunately. Yeah, it's not a very strong bet. I don't know that they're ever going to just outright make him the closer, as long as it's taken them to do that already. But, look, he gives you great ratios, and maybe he'll give you four or five saves.

the rest of the way. That and deeper categories leagues, roto leagues, I don't even know that you need to say deeper. In those formats, I think Taylor is still worth rostering and maybe even using most of the time. For the Nationals on Saturday,

Clayton Beater got the eighth inning with a one-run lead facing the heart of the Mets lineup. He allowed three base runners but held on to the lead. It was Yovani Cruz who got the ninth inning. He allowed two runs on a wall. in three hits, he took his second blown save and first loss. The Nationals do not have a closer, and they never will ever again.

For the Angels on Saturday, we mentioned Ben Joyce struck out two for his second save, and the Angels have five saves since the trade deadline. Two have gone to Ben Joyce, two have gone to Sammy Natara Jr., and one has gone to Jose Fermin. But I believe Joyce has each of the last two, their most recent two. So kind of messy, the angels aren't great. But yeah, I think Ben Joyce and Netara are the names to know there. And then for the athletics on Sunday.

Godi Senga over all of them for what it's worth. And being only 21% rostered. Like I think... He's the guy. Yeah. Yeah. Until he blows it. But he's look good so far.

And then for the athletics on Sunday, Hogan Harris struck out two for his 12th save. He is 24% rostered. He's also kind of just looking like the guy for the athletics. Would you rather have Hogan Harris or Kodi Senga? Senga. Okay. And then to stream or not to stream, more not to stream on Monday.

We have Brandon Young at the Rays. Mitch Bratt is at the Red Sox, Walker at the Mets, Martin Perez at the Twins, Bailey Ober against the Braves, Luis Castillo at the Cubs, and Rhett Louder, home against the Cardinals.

I guess you could throw Quinn Matthews in that mix as well at the Reds. I don't know that there's anybody I love here. Probably my top choice would be Brandon Young at the Rays, who slipped to the middle of the pack in terms of

run scored. Luis Castillo is awfully tempting, coming off the start he just had, but it could be a one-off with the increased change abuse, like we saw with Sean Maniah ditching the sinker. And Cubs, tough matchup, obviously. But I guess I'd say Castillo is a reluctant second choice, and then maybe Martin Perez has my third choice. He's pitch well lately. And then on Tuesday, we have Will Warren at the Orioles, Cade Air Montero, at the Pirates.

Carson Wizard Hunt is at the Guardians. Andrew Abbott gets the Cardinals. Merrill Kelly at the Red Sox. Tyler Malley at the Twins, Zebby Matthews against the Braves, and George Claussen at the Astros. Coming off three straight good starts with better whiffs,

I think Tyler Malley's got to be the top choice. Yep. Don't mind Andrew Abbott against the Cardinals. Hopefully he doesn't get biased. I don't know. Third choice is rough. Montero has been keeping runs off the board, but the pirates are really good against Ritey's.

Yeah. Tough. George Closson. The Astros. Will Warren's been bad lately. Yeah, I don't love anyone as a third choice. I guess if you're going to make me pick somebody, I'm going to say Montero at the pirates,

but don't love it. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. And welcome to Plutofo.

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