Fantasy Baseball Today - Kevin Gausman SHUTOUT, Week 26 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers! (9/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

Kevin Gausman is having an awesome second half (3:24). ... Bryce Miller set a new career-high with 11 strikeouts (10:47). ... News (17:04): Chase Burns is returning, but to the Reds' bullpen. ... Chandler Simpson is up to 40 steals (21:40). ... Ian Seymour has been solid in the Rays' rotation (27:53). ... Welcome back to MacKenzie Gore and Ryan Weathers (38:06)! ... Start or sit these pitchers next week (41:02)? ... How will Junior Caminero perform in Tropicana Field next season (45:07)? ... Scotty doesn't know (49:42)! ... Let's preview Week 26, looking at two-start pitchers and sleeper hitters (58:00). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:07:30). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

Cocoa Friday and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on September 12th. I am Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White. Today on the show, Kevin Gosman threw a two-hit shutout, and he has been amazing in the second half. How will raise hitters fare moving back to Tropicana Field next season? I wanted to get to that yesterday, so we'll talk about that a little bit later on. Today, we'll preview week 26, the second to last week of the season. Here we are, Scott.

It's... Yes. Maybe people's... A lot of people don't do the last week. It's been crunch time, but man, even, even more so now. And Scottie doesn't know. Yes. Yes.

Bring it back. I never know. Yeah. Let's celebrate it. Let's, uh, let's show. Yeah. Oh my good goodness gracious. All right, Scott, there's only one place to start.

Kevin. Yep. Gossman. The gauze man. He, uh, wrapped it up here against, uh, wrapped up. but not quite wrapped up a good season, but he's been on a great stretch and threw a complete game shutout here

against the Astros. I understand every official shutout as a complete game. Still, I feel the need to stress it because it is so rare that somebody goes nine. Gosman did it, two hits aloud, one walk, nine strikeouts, and this continues a trend. It's difficult to say exactly when the trend, began. Really, Gosman's season has just kept getting better and better and better.

So the more, the further you go back, the ERA is a little higher, the shorter you go back. It gets lower and lower. Anyway, last 10 starts for Kevin Gossman, a 225 ERA, a 0.75 whip, and just shy of a strikeout per inning. Now, Gosman was a guy who I think everybody, most everybody thought coming into the year was sinking like a rock. Like he was clearly in the last days of him being a useful fantasy option. And you didn't want to get caught holding the bag when he completely dropped off the cliff. And at the start of the year, like I said, it kept getting better and better. So at the start, it seemed like he may have dropped off that.

that cliff. But what happened around mid-May is he took a little off the splitter and it started getting its old vertical breakback. If you look year by year at Kevin Gosman, the splitter's, of course, always been the key pitch for him. But that vertical break on that splitter last year when he first took a dip, it was 31 inches of vertical drop. The year before that, when he was still like ace level, it was 34 inches. The year before that, it was 33 inches. No, I'm sorry, it was 32. It was 33. The year before that, it was 37 inches. And then it was usually around 37 inches for a stretch of a few years there for Kevin Gossman. So last year was the outlaw. So last year was the outlier in terms of that splitter only having 31 inches of vertical drop.

Well, when he took a little off that splitter in mid-May, it got back to 34 inches. It got back to really his best mark since, or his highest mark since 2021. And that kind of signals the turnaround for Gosman. He got the old movement back on that splitter, and he's been pretty much great ever since, certainly here recently. And so it's another case of a guy who we were riding off because of age showing that, you know, we're too quick to ride him off. Now, is he an ace?

Like he was in his first two years in Toronto, in his two years in San Francisco. Well, no, he's not getting strikeouts quite at that rate. Like I said, it's just under one per inning, even during this awesome 10-start stretch. At his best, it was like 10.5, 11 and a half per nine. So I was not doing that anymore. But because of how much he leans on that splitter, Kevin Gosman is he's limiting damage and getting enough strikeouts and working deep into games. And just not quite an ace, but like the next best thing. I have him as, I think I have around 30th in my starting pitcher rankings now, which I wouldn't have imagined coming in.

He's really done a lot to rehabilitate his family. Menacee standing. It will be 35 next year, so how much do we want to trust in that? Well, I think he'll probably, we'll probably see Kevin Gosman faded again in drafts, but I will be less reluctant to accept a discount if there is one this year, I would say, or next year I would say. Yeah, just a big bounceback season here for Kevin Gosman. And I like to remind people last year, he started the season with that shoulder injury and perhaps it just kind of lingered because he never looked quite like himself.

And this year, you know, while the first half was a little bit shakier, he certainly looks like he's back to form now here in the second half. Is it a hot streak? Is it just because, all right, that splitter is on and, you know, splitters can be very fickle pitches. And when they're on, you can get a run like this. But, you know, we've seen stretches where Gosman Splitter and anyone's splitter. I mean, it's just an inherently volatile pitch. It can lead to some kind of erratic performance, but he has certainly bounced back in a big way this year.

I do think the whip is a little bit fluky. Even at his best, he was not a great whip pitcher. And this season, his bat-up is down to 239, which is a career best by far. So I'm not sure I would expect that to maintain again next season. I think he's probably more like, even if he's really good, he's probably in that 110 to 115 whip range for next year. But he certainly has bounced back and showing no real signs of decline.

So even at 35 years old, I think he'll be a serviceable pitcher once again next season. Scott, let me throw a fill in the blank your way. You have muted yourself. So if you've been trying to talk to me, I haven't heard any of it. I don't remember muting myself, so that's weird. You pulled a Chris. Yeah, I was going to say that, that the BABIP, the career low BABIP, probably coincides with the career high fly ball rate.

Wouldn't that make sense? You get more outs on fly balls than ground balls. And I was, I don't know if you noticed I caught myself. I was talking about how Kevin Gossman leaning on the splitter so much, I was about to say, gets a lot of ground balls. I was looking them up in the moment of saying that and like, oh, his crown ball rate is surprisingly low this year. Yeah.

So I don't really know how to explain the increase in fly balls, but I think it's helped with the hip prevention as it usually does. That is fair. His fly ball rate entering today was 43%. And last year was 42%. So not a huge difference. And last year his Bavit was 281. And again, this year it's 239.

But most of his career, it's been about 35%. So it's really the last two years were the only years the flybubes. all right's been over 40. I still do think there has been some level of luck in the Bavbav department here for Kevin Gossman. Fill in the blank Scott, he will be drafted as a top blank starting pitcher next year. Not where you would draft him or where you will rank him, but where do you think just like when everything kind of shakes out ADP, the consensus kind of group think, Kevin Gossman drafted as a as a top blank SP next season. I'm going to say 30. I'll say 36. Yeah, I was going to say 40.

So I think we're kind of in lockstep there with Kevin Gosman. Let's talk about my player tonight. Bryce Miller, who set a new career high in strikeouts against the Angels. 11 strikeouts here, but still kind of a mixed outing. Five and two-thirds innings, six hits, zero walks. So the whip is okay. But four earned runs and two more homers allowed. 21 whiffs on 99 pitches, 14 on the fastball, six on the splitter.

He really just leaned into those two pitches and they were great. But he continues to give up a ton of. of hard contact since returning. Five starts since coming back. He has a 95 mile per hour average exit velocity against 533 ERA and nine homers loud in just five starts. So as impressive as the whiffs were here, the strikeouts, you know, career high, it's congrats,

Bryce Miller. You know, there still is concern here, just with everything else, I guess. Yeah, I mean, the fact he did this against the most strikeout prone team in baseball. baseball, I think, puts a different spin on it for Bryce Miller. He served up the two home runs. He really faded his sinker, which maybe contributed to him giving up more home runs.

Obviously, a sinker is intended to put the ball on the ground. Yeah, it's hard to know whether to take this as a good sign for Bryce Miller or to just toss it out completely. because I'm not sure if he took the same approach against a different team, it would go nearly as well. For what it's worth, Bryce Miller is scheduled to face the Royals next week, which is a good matchup. And so does this put him in the streamer category? I currently have him outside of the top 10 sleepers for next week,

but I could be convinced to do it. We'll talk about them later in the show and see if Bryce Miller against the Royals deserves to go ahead of any of them. Why am I even here, Scott? You just asked the question I was going to ask and then you answered your own question. So I didn't answer my own question, though.

You kind of did, right? It was a... I chickened out. Yeah, I think he's in play for that start. Look, I think in deeper leagues, if you held on to him, I have him in Tout Wars. It's a 15-te-team league.

I'm going to consider starting him at the Royals because, you know, 29th in Wobah last 14 days and he just, you know, have mostly been a bad offense all season. So, yeah, I think he's in the mix, but, you know, again, he's getting whiffs, at least in this start, not in the previous starts. He's giving up a lot of hard contact, though. So it's one, only one time in five starts since returning from the IEL. One in five has he gone six innings.

Yeah, and this was the only start that he had more than four strikeouts. Yeah. for turning too, so keep all those things in mind. Shout out to Aaron Judge, my guy, Scott. Three for four with two homers in this game. He tied Joe D. Joe DiMaggio, fourth all time on the Yankees home run list. So not many more games before I'm sure he passes Joe DiMaggio. But yeah, putting the finishing touches on a big season here for Judge. Obviously could have been much bigger if we didn't have that, you know, elbow, forearm thing going on. But, yeah, still right in that MVP conversation, Scott.

Season ends today. Who is your pick? Is it Big Dumpa or Aaron Judge? My pick. If I had a, if I had a vote, it would be Aaron Judge hands down. Ooh, yes, I love it. Hands down, hands down, be faster your last. That's what it would be.

But if you're asking me to predict what everyone else is, who everyone else is going to vote for. It may still be Aaron Judge, but I think it's going to be close between him and Cal Raleigh, and it's possible Raleigh would edge him out just because of the defensive value he brings. Like, he got the award for best defender, regardless of position last year.

And then he's gone on the next year to have a historic season for a catcher offensively. Yeah. So I could see him getting a lot of support And this is not me hating on Cal Raleigh. I mean, selfishly as a Yankee fan, I want Aaron Judge to win the MVP, but I think Cal Raleigh is obviously very deserving.

He's having the best offensive season by a catcher of all time, and you mentioned the defensive numbers as well. So I think it's going to be a very, very close race between those two. Big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit that like button. Subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And let's take our first break. When we return, we'll get into the news and notes.

We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. News and notes, not too much going on here, but Chase Burns is set to return on Friday, but will initially pitch out of the bullpen. Not much time left in the season, so I don't know if he will make any starts anymore. Obviously, from a Reds real life perspective, Chase Burns can be an incredible weapon out of the bullpen, but I'm not sure it will matter too much for fantasy. Yeah, and I don't, just in case somebody is out there thinking this, I don't, I don't imagine it'll change Chase Burns' long-term trajectory. I think it was simply a matter of we don't want to take the time to stretch him out with so little of the calendar left. We'd rather just get whatever he can give us. Maybe it helps push us into the postseason and then we'll start fresh with Chase Burns and the rotation.

next year. Well, all of a sudden, Scott, I don't know if you have seen the NL wildcard race, but the Reds and Giants are just one and a half games behind the New York Mets for the final wildcard spot. So, yep, we've got a little over two weeks left to play. And the Diamondbacks are three games out too. So, and the Mets are just kind of free falling right now. It is as crazy as Juan Soto has been in the second half, I don't know. What is, what has gone wrong with the New York Mets? It's been a crazy season for them. The Giants plan to have Logan Webb and Robbie Ray pitch on four days' rest against the Dodgers this weekend. So, look, I don't exactly love that as someone who has both Robbie Ray and Logan Webb

rostered in multiple leagues because, A, it's on short rest, and B, it's against the Dodgers. Robbie Ray has kind of had a rough second half, too. I was looking into some numbers on him, but we'll see. Hopefully it goes well. If they're locked in for you, they're locked in. Hope for the best. Joe Adele was scratched Thursday with Vertigo. He missed two games earlier this week as well, so something to watch with him.

Turns out Anthony Volpe has been playing through a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder. He got a cortisone shot to kind of help with inflammation there. Maybe I'm just too close to this situation, Scott, but the Yankees' mishandling of injuries, it just seems criminal to me, right? So Volpe heard his shoulder on a diving attempt back in May, and at the time I saw the play he was down on the ground he was writhing in pain

that he just got up and they kind of popped it back into place or whatever and he stayed in the game and he played the next day it's like okay I thought he was out for the season the way you know he was kind of rolling around and stuff

yeah and it turns out he's been dealing with this injury since then and they never put him on the IL they've rarely given him any days off it's it's very weird and then a couple years ago they had the whole Anthony Rizzo situation

where he was playing through concussion symptoms for like months. So it is, it's not great the way that they've handled injuries. And as just the eternal pessimist, I would not be surprised if Aaron Judge needs surgery after the season

or something crazy like that. I just would not surprise me. All right. But I mean, it makes sense that he, that's a case where it would make sense to delay it because obviously they're playing for something right now

and he's performing well enough. He just had a two-homer game. Yeah. Right? I wouldn't disagree with that. No, no, no. They've got to go for it. So I just wonder how long until, you know, maybe it's kind of a Bryce Harper situation, like just kind of move judge over to first base.

I kind of feel like that's a pretty natural transition for somebody as big as him, but we'll see. Getting back to Volpe for a second, if he does have to go on the aisle or miss his time here to end the season, I think Jose Caballero would make for an interesting play in the final few weeks. He went two for three with a walk-run, RBI, and two steals in this game alone.

He's up to 45 steals on the season. Obviously, has a bunch of upside in that department. 43% rostered, has second, third, shortstop, and outfield eligibility. You know, they haven't said that they're going to put Volpe on the aisle, but just something to watch, because I think Caballero can kind of be a needle mover this late if you do need steals in a Roto League or Category League,

whatever it might be. Logan O'Hopi is expected to return to the Angels lineup during the upcoming series at the Brewers. Chase Dolander will be. placed in the IL with a knee injury. Tomoyuki Sugano has been clear to start Saturday against the Blue Jays. He left his previous start after taking a comebacker off of his right foot. Walker Bueller will make his Phillies debut Friday against the Royals,

and Reed Detmer's was placed in the aisle with left elbow inflammation. Got a couple of waiver wire names here, Scott. I want to quickly ask you about. Chandler Simpson, nice game here, 4 for 4 with his 40th stolen base. He almost has more steals than run scored. which seems impossible. 292, zero homers. He has 14 extra base hits on the season.

Just a very unique player is Chandler Simpson. 61% rostered. That number feels right to me. I don't know. I don't know that he has to be a, like a must roster player in a points league. No, he's, I'm getting the updated number now for Chandler Simpson. So it doesn't include this latest four-hit game with Stolen Base.

but entering it, Chandler Simpson was at 2.64, head-to-head points per game. That's pretty fringy. It's been higher before, but yeah, that's like Miguel Vargas. Andy Pahas has slowed down to the point that he's close to 2.64, but he's still a little better than that for the season. So that's the range we're talking about for Chandler Simpson. and I could see how, depending on the build, he could be more harm than good in a roto league, too.

I mean, if you've got steals well covered, he's providing zero power, zero RBI potential. Sounds like he's not even that impressive for runs based on the number you gave. I don't know if, I don't know if that's just he's stealing so many bases that it's outpacing the run. runs or if he's not scoring them in runs. I guess I can check that real quick. 45 runs in 96 games. So that's still not a great pace. Yeah. Not that impressive.

So he's kind of just a two category guy. And you might need those other categories more. And so obviously it would be a detriment to have Simpson in your lineup, even in a roto context. Next up, Dylan Dingler has quietly had a solid season here, two for four with his 13th home run. He's hitting 282. He has a 769 OPS, 35% rostered. He's not a standout just because the position is so loaded now at catcher, but he has just settled in as a serviceable second catcher in two catcher leagues. And I think he'll be that again next year. There might even be a little bit more upside for more because I saw his expected numbers for the second half.

Dylan Dingler, 326XBA 507X slug. Really, really good numbers there. So in the second half, I mean, even for the year, it's a 290. 98 XBA. That's 97th percentile. Yeah, Dylan Dingler is a player I felt like we've never seen fit to talk about

just because there are so many other catchers. Yet in a typical season, given the typical distribution of talent at that position, Dylan Dingler would be a noteworthy breakout this year. Yeah. It was really flown under the radar. But he is solid,

a rare point in fantasy, baseball history where solid isn't nearly good enough at catcher. I think next year will be the year that we finally, we said it so many years, right, where, ah, this is the year where catcher is going to be a good position. It really feels like it's going to come true.

I mean, it already is, but. Yeah, this year, I think next year. It's only going to get better, right?

If we get a full season from Samuel, Bessio, it should be, right? Right. I mean, it is a position second only to pitcher. pitcher, it seems kind of unfair to count it as one position because it's so big.

But second only to pitcher catcher is the position most susceptible to injury. And so you have to factor in a certain amount of attrition that's going to take place there. But there are, there's so much surplus even beyond the standouts this year that I think in one catcher leagues you can, you know, Maybe it'll be worth paying up to a certain degree for Cal Raleigh. Maybe even William Contreras, certainly in a points league. But beyond that, I think you take whatever's left. Take your favorite of what's ever left, because there's going to be some high upside players at the end of drafts next year.

Two names in deeper leagues. Chase Midroth has been solid lately. Last 20 games, he's hitting 3.47, but not with much else. One homer, 11 runs scored two steals. during that time. And Otto Kemp is making some noise here in Alec Boehm's place, two for four with his sixth homer,

three RBI, and last three games he has five hits, two homers, five RBI, one steal. And the minor league numbers were great this season. The exit velocities are very impressive for Auto Camp.

I wonder if we can get a Wally Pip situation here for Otto Kemp over Alec Aleg Boe Bome, just because, you know, Boehm has been pedestrian for many years. He's been rock solid,

but he's been worse this year, and obviously Otto Kemp has looked really good lately. So two very deep league names, Scott, but do they stand out at all? Chase my draw off, Auto Kemp? Probably not. I'm not saying there isn't talent there. Just is it going to make enough of a dent

to make them worthwhile in fantasy? And in the case of Otto Kemp, I don't think there's enough time for him to establish himself as someone who deserves to start over Alex Bone. Alec Bone. Boehm's going to be back before the end of the regular season and then obviously into the playoffs.

I think the Phillies are going to trust him over Kemp. Midroth might have more real life upside than fantasy upside because of his ability to work the count to take walks. That's a bit more valuable real life. scale than fantasy scale. I'm not sure there's enough power and the speed is pretty fringy for him to amount too much in fantasy outside of deeper leagues. Waiverwire pitchers, anything to see here for next week. First up, we have

Ian Seymour who was okay at the White Sox, five in a third inning, three runs with five strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 90 pitches. I know he, look, he's been solid four starts since joining the rotation 233 ERA 109 whip. Numbers a little bit misleading because he had a lot of unearned runs scored against him during that time. But the underlying skills here are very, very interesting for E&C Moore. And he lines up as a two-star pitcher next week. The matchups are tough, the Blue Jays and the Red Sox. What do you think about that, Scott?

I think in head-to-head points leagues, you could risk it. Now, he hasn't been working that deep into games. And obviously, that matters in head-to-head points leagues. So it's not like he's automatic even there, particularly with those tough matchups. But he might just be good enough to overcome them. He's been missing bats at like a 14% clip during its time in the minors. And by the way, during his time in the majors, I should say,

by the way, he was even better in the minors with that swinging strike rate. Never got a lot of attention, Ian Seymour in prospect circles because he didn't throw particularly hard. It's just an unconventional pitching prospect. but it really reminds me of Joe Ryan when he first came up, also in the Ray's organization. And Ryan's kind of become a different pitcher in the years since he started to throw harder, started to mix in more pitches.

But just from the perspective of guy was dominating in the minors, particularly in the strikeout category, and yet did not get much love as a prospect seem more the same way. I think he's plenty usable with two starts. Wish he'd work a little deeper into games, but there's a lot to like here. All right. I am following along with this Angels and Mariners game,

it's still going. It's a pretty crazy one here. The Angels have taken the lead in both the 11th and the 12th innings, and then the Mariners have came back to tie it both times. So that game's still going. We'll see if they can walk it off. I'll keep everybody updated.

Well, if you're listening to this tomorrow, you already know what happened. Shane Smith, blank the raise on the other side five and two-thirds shutout innings with four strikeouts he had 13 whiffs on 98 pitches and an eight start since returning a 284 ERA

a 0.95 whip and he gets the Orioles next week for one start. He's also RP eligible. Do you think there's any usability for Shane Smith next week? I think he's been reliable enough

since returning and that matchup is it's decent. against the Orioles. You could consider using him. It's not, he's not on my sleeper pitchers for next year. Or for next week.

I said that before, right? Like, I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry. I can't, I can't speak. Anyway, Shane Smith, I think, like, mixing in more sinkers since he returned seems to have helped.

It's made his foreseamer more effective. He's been getting more whiffs with it. I don't know how much, how deep we want to go into the breakdown there. But like he's made some changes. He's getting more consistent results. I think he's still an interesting pitching talent, but only so usable here still in his rookie season on the White Sox, not working deep into games with great consistency.

It puts a limit on how usable he is, but he is usable. All right. Next step, Johann Oviedo fell one out short of a quality start at the Orioles, five and two-thirds innings. Two runs. Five strikeouts here. Had 14 whiffs on 85 pitches. The fastball was great in this one and actually had two more inches of IVB than usual for Johan Oviedo. He gets the Cubs next week. You know, their lineup has not been great in the second half. I think it's more of a deep league play, Scott, but what do you think about Johan Oviedo? Yeah, I see something to work with here. And it's not the first time I felt this way about Oviedo. He has, you know, prior to Tommy John surgery, he was making some noise with his ability to miss bats. And it's three pitches that he's capable of getting whiffs with.

Obviously, the fastball was the standout in this one with the added induced vertical. break, but the curveball has been the standout pitch this year. The slider's always earned good marks. I think Johann Oviedo might amount to something, but he's in a similar situation to Shane Smith, where it's a bad team. He's generally going five innings at a time. And even compared to Smith, it's not like Oviedo has,

repeated it enough times for me to fully trust it. I just think there are some encouraging signs. And the Mariners just ended the game. They walked it off on a sack fly by pinch hitter Harry Ford. First career RBI, first career walkoff for him. So how about that? Next up we have Kate Povich, who also fell one out short of a quality start facing the pirates, five and two thirds innings, two runs,

six strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 93 pitches. Changed up the pitch mix in this one. He really leaned on his curveball and changed. and both of them are actually great in this start. Obviously a good matchup against the Pirates. He's at the White Sox next week. I don't think that I can with, you know, any confidence recommend Cade Povich to people.

But it's a good matchup and he looked good here. But I think it's too late in the season. Yeah, too late in the season for him to gain our trust, I would say. And he has a long way to go to do that anyway, which is why it's too late in the season. and he is part of a six-man rotation right now. They had to skip Dean Kramer for his last term, but he's supposed to be back in the middle of next week.

So it's not even clear Povich will remain in the rotation to finish out the season since they may decide they don't need to go six-man anymore. But Kia is a former prospect, obviously. he has a deep enough arsenal that it wouldn't surprise me if he found the right sequence to make this work. It's just this one start against the pirates, no less, isn't enough to really move the needle. Next up we have Stephen Kowek,

who has been pitching well for the Royals. He was at the Guardians here, six and two-thirds innings. One run with four strikeouts, does not generate any whiffs, but gets a lot of ground balls and has a quality start in all three outings with the Royals, a 183 ERA, a 0.76 whip.

He gets the Mariners next week, also a SPARP, but I mean, I don't really trust it, but he has been pitching well. Any thoughts on Stephen Kolek? Yeah, I mean, sometimes ground ball guys like this, particularly if they're throwing strikes, not hurting themselves with walks,

they can go on a run, like where they're getting, quality starts with regularity. But you don't want to be there for it when it goes wrong, you know, because it's, they can't get strikeouts. So when it goes wrong, it tends to go really wrong like we've seen with Andre Palante this year. It's a similar sort of profile here for, for Stephen Kolek.

So, yeah, I wouldn't be particularly motivated to use them outside of like an AL-only league. And then the last name is Randy Vasquez. He was facing the Rockies and he was great. Six shutout innings with nine strikeouts. But I just don't think he's very good. So I don't think this matters at all, Scott. Randy Vasquez. Yeah, I think it was just he got the Rockies away from Coorsfield.

And we don't need to look any deeper into it than that. All right, let's take our final break when we return. Welcome back to two pitchers. Mackenzie Gore and Ryan Weathers. They both look solid. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back to these two pitchers. Shout out to Adam Azor.

He either used to sing that or play that sound drop at some point, right? Am I making that up to that? I think he used to sing it. Okay. Adam Azer. I'm not the singer. Adam's the singer. You want to hear Adam sing.

Go listen to the fantasy football podcast. But yeah, I don't. Singing is not. Not really for me. We do have two pitching returns here. Mackenzie Gore solid at the Marlins, five innings, two runs, 11, not 11 strikeouts, four strikeouts, but had 11 whiffs on 78 pitches. He gets the Braves next week, a team that has the worst Wobah as a team over the last 14 days.

So if you held on to McKenzie Gore, Scott, is there any chance that you're using him in the second to last week of the season? Yeah, that Braves offense was rolling there. in August, but it's really cooled off here in September. So I think it's fine to use him against the Braves. Not must start. I mean, obviously, he showed a lot of vulnerability before landing on the IL with the shoulder injury, which is Y, ZRA and WIPP are as high as they are.

He crashed pretty hard, but he looked solid here in his return, looked healthy, velocity was good, missed plenty of bats with the fastball, kept the walks in check through 64% strikes. it was good enough that I think it's fine if you want to use Gore

against the Braves, but less than must start. All right, and on the other side, Ryan Weathers looked pretty good in his return. No James Wood, no Josh Bell in the lineup, so that might have helped out a little bit. But five shutout innings here, five hits, zero walks, four strikeouts, 13 whiffs on just 68 pitches here.

The change-up and sweeper looked great. He threw both of those pitches a little bit more. The velocity looked fine coming back from that lat injury. And the problem here is he's at the Rockies next week. So yeah, good return, but you know, in course field, I don't, I don't think so. No, no, I wouldn't do it. I want to do it. I think we're kind of just scouting Ryan Weathers for next year at this point. Maybe we could take a peek ahead and see who the Marlins are facing the final week that may be. he would line up against if your league happens to use that final week of the season.

Phillies and Mets. Phillies and Mets. Every the Marlins are facing. So we're probably just scouting Ryan Weathers for next year. That sounds right. But a nice return. He wasn't throwing his fastball quite as hard as before he got hurt. He averaged 96.5 when it was 97.2 previously.

96.5 is still higher than the rest of his career. So I think we should be pretty encouraged by this return for Ryan Weathers. Starters hit these pitchers for next week. Cam Schlittler. He bounced back with a strong outing against the Tigers. Six innings, one hit, seven strikeouts. He, uh, not one hit, one run allowed, excuse me, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 95 pitches. That fastball continues to play really well here for Cam Schlittler, who has a quality start in four of his last five.

He has seven plus strikeouts. in four of his last five. And he is, I think, at the Twins and at the Orioles next week, only 50% started. If he legitimately does make those two starts, Scott, I feel pretty good about getting Cam Schlettler in there. I mean, just saying he has a quality start and four of his last five kind of undersells it

because it's one run or less. Yeah. And for it. So he's been phenomenal apart from that one misstep last time out. And lining up for two starts, pretty good matchups. Minnesota and Baltimore. I have him just outside the must-start tier of the two-star pitcher rankings.

Maybe I should have him inside it. I can't imagine sitting Cam Schlittler anywhere where I'm rostering him. Next up we have Gavin Williams, who turned in a quality start against the Royals. Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts. Did have three more walks, but 13 whiffs on 105 pitches. He also allowed 10 hard hits in this game. So perhaps a little fortunate to. come to come away with a solid outing here.

And the numbers don't lie, I'm just going to tell you what they say. Last 12 starts for Gavin Williams. It's a 230 ERA and a 108 whip. It also comes with a babbip in the low 200s and a 94% left on base percentage. So I don't trust it, but he's doing it. Gavin Williams is doing it. He is at the Tigers next week.

What do you think about that matchup for him? I think I would not be eager. to start Gavin Williams. Yeah, I haven't been, I haven't been quite as dismissive of this stretch he's been on as Chris has. And Chris feels very strongly about it. So, you know, he has much stronger feelings than mine.

Mine are more tepid. So I'm, I haven't really seen fit to challenge him on it. But during this 10-start stretch with the 228 ERA 106 whip, 8.6K per 9 for Gavin Williams, which are obviously solid numbers. Maybe you wish there was more strikeouts. He's kind of making up for it with more ground balls than we're used to seeing from him a 50% ground ball rate

during this 10-start stretch. It still doesn't explain the Babbitt being so low. You'd think the Babbitt would be a little bit higher getting more ground balls. But he is a very talented pitcher. He does have, you know, the breaking balls are still pretty impressive for Gavin Williams. if the strikeouts were a little higher or the walks a little lower,

I think would be a lot more excited about the stretch he's on. And I'm not sure it's worth, I guess I feel like we might be being a little nitpicky with it, given the amount of talent he has. But we'll see. I mean, it could come crashing down. I'm not, like I said, this is not something I have a great amount of confidence in. I'm just not willing to totally dismiss the stretch Gavin Williams is on.

I agree with you that the talent is there. The pedigree was there for Gavin Williams. We were excited about him coming into the season. He looked good in spring training. Even during this 12-star stretch, he has 30 walks over 70 in a third innings. And on the season, 4.5 walks per nine. It also comes with a 460 FIP and a 425 X-P. So I think he's been a little bit fortunate,

maybe a lot of bit fortunate during this 12-star stretch, but he's getting it done. He made one start earlier against the Tigers where he went six shutout innings with eight strikeouts, so I don't think it's the worst start. If you have Gavin Williams, I think it's okay to use him at the Tigers next week. I wanted to get to this yesterday.

We didn't have time, but I wanted to just ask you, quick thought on it because I've received a few questions about this. The rays are headed back to Tropicana Field next season, or at least that's what we think as of now. and Yandy Diaz and Junior Camerrero are two names that stood out to me because Yandy Diaz is having this big power year. He's got 23 home runs.

A lot of his homers have gone to the opposite field. Clearly likes playing in George M. Steinbrenner Field. 17 of his 23 homers have been at home this year and he is slugging 5-11 in that ballpark. Junior Camerero, on the other hand, 42 home runs on the season. The home-run splits are fine. 22 homers at home, 20 on the road.

But you look at his actual batting average in OPS, huge difference between home and road. So at George Steinbrenner Field for Camerreux, 320 batting average, 976 OPS. On the road, 201 with a 699 OPS. So I think more so for Camerro, like Yandy Diaz will probably be drafted as a, you know, maybe a low-end starting first basement corner infield or something like that. But if we're talking about drafting Camerero as a first or something. second round pick. We need to be pretty sure about what we're getting here. And I don't know, this kind of just adds another question, another variable, I guess, in the mix for junior

Camerro. Yeah. So I would be more worried, I think, if the home run split was more drastic. Because that is the ballpark that the race are playing in now, that is what it is more likely to boost. It has the same dimensions as Yankee Stadium. It's being played in a more humid environment where in theory the ball carries better. So if Commonero was taking advantage of that, which it sounds like Diaz is, and Diaz obviously doesn't have a great history as a power hitter, set a career high in home runs already this year. But Junior Commonero, that split, the home run split home away is more even. I don't see that environment as, as so much of a Babbitt boosting environment where you'd see more balls falling in.

And so therefore, the batting average is going to be inflated at home. I think it's probably just one of those oddities you see in the splits sometimes and not something I think is going to be a longstanding issue for Common Arrow. What adds a wrinkle to that is that Tropicana Field in particular can sometimes affect certain hitters. It can sometimes be detrimental to specific hitters because of,

it doesn't have the best view for the batterer. Yeah. Doesn't have the best batters eye. And we've seen hitters complain about it. We've seen Willie Adomis most famously struggled all the time there. So if it has, even like he could help probably just by the law of averages,

he'll probably gain some on the road in batting. average, but if he loses disproportionately on his home batting average because they're returning to Tropicana field, then I think it'll be a problem. I'm not especially worried about it. I can't imagine at this point who else should be the second third baseman taken other than Cominero next year after Jose Ramirez, obviously. So like he's going round two sometime. I don't see any way around it.

It's just, I think I'd rather be mid to late second round than early second round. And so if people are drafted him early second round, I think there's enough reason for skepticism there that it won't be me. And we just don't have a big sample of Junior Camero playing in Tropicana. He only has 19 career games there, triple slash of 263.449, 397. So that's just a 747 OPS. it also was very early in his career, so keep that in mind. I don't want to doubt the talent, but this makes me a little bit more nervous about Camerro for next year. Let's see where ADP and everything kind of settles in for him, but my guess is, look, you have a season this good, this young.

He probably will be a fringe first round pick or somewhere in the second round for Junior Camerro next season. All right, Scott, are you ready for Scottie doesn't know? Let's do it. because no. All right, up first. I have the lowest OPS among qualified catchers in the second half. Mind you, there's only 12 qualified catchers on fan graphs in the second half of the season. So you have a 1 in 12 chance, at least based on those names there of getting it right, Scott.

So lowest OPS among qualified catchers in the second half. So it's got to be a guy who's gotten a lot of it bats. I know this guy's been cold. Is it Augustine Ramirez? Scott, he does know! Yes, I know something. Oh my gosh! It is Augustine Ramirez.

So I wanted to just quell any fears, I guess, going into next season because people will look at the second half and say, oh, you know, he's hitting 207 with a 609 OPS, still has five homers, still has 11 steals in the second half from the catcher position. is amazing. And a 19% strikeout rate, that's not prohibitive. You know, exit velocities have come down a little bit. It's 89.1 miles per hour.

The biggest thing is lots of infield fly balls. The ground ball rates a little bit high. 2.36 BABIP. All the underlying plate discipline stuff looks really, really good in the second half. I think this is just a young player going through a bit of a slump here. It does not worry me one bit for being excited or projecting forward Augustine Ramirez for next season. I think he will for sure be a top 12 catcher for me next year.

He's honestly for as hard as he hits the ball for him to be striking out less than 20% of the time as a rookie is it's kind of a miracle. And you see in the expected stats, they look a lot. But like his expected batting ever just 270. So it's just the finer points of getting the right. ankles off the bat, I think. Not that that is nothing, but that is something that we often see rookie hitters have to improve upon, and many times

they do. That was great, though, Scott. Look at that. First name coming out here, and boom, you get it right on the nose. I think that's the first time I've ever gotten the first one. All right, next up, over the last 30 days, I have the best expected ERA among qualified starting pitchers. So XERA on Stackcast, the best

over the past 30 days. Hmm. Way too many pictures to choose from. Way too many. It's probably somebody surprising, right? Not somebody who's been amazing. I'm ready to press the button. I'm going to say Brian Wu.

The answer is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has a 167 XERA over the last 30 days. The next closest is Freddie Peralta at 225, so it's, It's not really close at all. Yamamoto has been amazing. And the more I think about it, I know we spent a lot of time the other day talking about who's in the mix for SP4. I know we kind of mentioned Yamamoto in passing.

We all kind of settled on like, all right, Chris Sale or Logan Gilbert. I think Yamamoto deserves more. I think he is in that mix. The one thing that holds him back is just volume. He has 155 in a third innings this year. That's 37th in baseball. So that does hold him back a little bit.

But man, what he lacks in just pure, strikeout with stuff that other aces have he makes up for in ground balls and the fact that he pitches for one of the best

teams in baseball so the wind should be there too so I really do think Yamamoto is firmly in that mix to be drafted as the SP4 I agree and he's over 10k per 9

so I don't want to undersell the strikeout ability right and the reason why he's lacking in volume I kind of danced around this last time we talked about it

but to zero in on it. The reason why Yamamoto is lacking volume is because the Dodgers are so often going six-man. And they're probably going to continue to do that with Otani and the rotation from the very start next year. It's really for his sake. Yeah. Why they're going

six-man. But if a pitcher's going to lose innings, I would rather be that way than because he's pitching five innings every time out. Or just missing time, right? So if this helps keep Yamamoto healthy too, it gives me 170 innings of a

being a top five pitcher. Yeah, okay, I'll sign up for that right now. Six of Yamamoto's last 11 starts, so more than half of them have been seven innings or more. Yeah. So his starts are highly impactful. They're just spaced apart more. All right, last one here. In the second half, I lead all qualified relief pitchers in K-minus walk rate, and it's not close. All qualifying relief pitchers in K-minus walk rate in the second half. half. Relief pitchers, so not closers. Relief pitchers. Relief pitchers. Ooh. I mean, there's an infinite amount of names to choose from, but I'm pretty sure you know who the best relievers are, Scott. I think I know who it is, though. Uh-oh. I think it's Mason Miller. Wow. Wow. Two for three.

Scottie does know. Scottie does know. So I wanted to talk about Mason Miller because I really think the Padres are going to transition transition him back into a starter this offseason whether or not it's going to work whether or not it's the smart thing to do I don't see any other reason why they would give up a top three prospect in all of baseball

for Mason Miller other than transition him back into being a starter I really think they're going to do it best reliever in baseball moving forward and because he has several years of team control left did you see the relief pitcher market at the trade deadline. He was obviously the best and demanded the biggest. To give a Leo DeVries for a reliever, look, they've had success doing it in the past. He did it with Seth Lugo and he pitched very well.

Obviously, they have Michael King on their team. They didn't do it, but the Yankees did it. So that's another pitcher that, okay, they've kind of seen from afar that it can work. I really think that they're going to try it. I think they're going to try Mason Miller as a starter. Remember why it happened is Mason Miller couldn't stay healthy as a starter. That's true. He couldn't. He couldn't. He couldn't get even to like 75 innings as a starter. Let me double check that to make sure I'm not exaggerating. I think it was 65 innings, something like that. Yeah.

Yeah, he really couldn't. Man, he couldn't even get to 20 innings his first couple years in the minors. So he couldn't stay healthy as a starter. I don't know. Maybe they'll try it. But keep in mind also, Robert Suarez is probably gone. He does have an option. Fair?

Well, he has two options, one for 26 and one for 27. But it's only $8 million a year. And you imagine he'd get more than that on the free agent market. So, I mean, they may have been thinking ahead. Okay, Suarez is going to walk. Yeah, that is a possibility. Replacement closer ready. I'm predicting Mason Miller will transition back to a closing role next year.

But certainly would be interesting if he returned to being a starter because they're, that upside would be significant. Either way. I do want to just quickly see, yeah, Jeremiah Estrada is under team control, and he is having another very good season as well. So, I mean, he's just another option. If they wanted to try Mason Miller as a starter,

they can maybe just put Jeremiah Estrada as a closer or something like that. Adrian Morayhon has had a great season as well. So they have options. They do have options there, but I think that they're going to try and put Mason Miller back as a start. and we'll find out more in the offseason.

Scott, you crushed it, man. Scott, he does know. Two out of three. Look at you. That is awesome. Thank you. All right. Appreciate the recognition.

Let's wrap up with the week 26 preview. First up, we have the schedule 18 teams with six games. We have 12 teams with seven games next week. The Braves, Orioles, Cubs, Reds, Guardians, Dodgers, Twins, Yankees, Giants, Giants, Rays, Blue Jays, and Nationals. What about the Rockies? They have six home games next week, three against the Marlins and three against the Angels. Let's get into two-star pitchers.

Starter sit. Jack Lighter is at the Astros and home against the Marlins. So he had a great three-start stretch and then kind of a clunker last time out. But those matches are pretty good, Astros and Marlins. And I like things he's been doing with his pitch selection. lately. I think in most cases Jack Lighter is going to be someone you want to start. All right next up we have Zach

Gallen who faces the Giants and Diamond Phillies. He pitches for the Diamondbacks. He does. He does. Giants pretty good matchup. Philly's terrible matchup. But Gallin's been on a nice run lately, giving quality starts with regularity. I think at points

leagues you could consider using them. Good old Jackie Boy. Jack Flarity against the Guardians and the Braves. Yeah, I decided I could justify it in a points league because the Braves offenses, like I said, struggled over the last couple weeks after a very hot August. And obviously, Guardians, one of the best matchups you could get for a pitcher. Three of Flaherty's last five starts have been very good. It's just the other two have been terrible.

So I think in points leagues where you can withstand the terrible starts a little better than categories, it's probably. fine to use Flaherty. His nationally counterpart, the mustacheless Spencer Strider, is at the nationals and at the Tigers. But I feel like he's been listed as a two-star pitcher for three weeks in a row, so I don't know.

It's true. It's true. He keeps making the list here and then something happens to bump him back a day. So maybe it'll happen again. I think either way points leagues is the only place you'd consider it. There were some good signs in his last start, but not like he looked like, not like he was back to being peak strider. How could he be

without the mustache? Yeah, I would bench him just for that. You can't, you can't get rid of the mustache. Jose Burrios at the raise and at the Royals. Points, leagues, it's probably okay. He's been bad. He's been better lately. His last three starts have been good. Okay, I made that up then. He was really bad before that. He was really bad before. Yeah. Yuri Perez is at the Rockies and at the Rangers. I think I'd pass. If the first start wasn't at course field, maybe I could see doing it in a points league at least.

But because it is, I just think there's too much downside risk for Yuri Perez this week. Jose Cantana against the Angels and at the Cardinals. I don't mind that in points leagues, though. His results haven't been as good lately. pretty good matchups there. Jason Alexander against the Rangers and Mariners. If you're really, really aching for volume in a points league, it's justifiable.

I don't really buy into the pitcher, though. Man, next week is crazy for the AL West and wildcard race. You have the Astros facing the Mariners and the Rangers in the same week, so that can just decide so much for the rest of the season. And that is, yes, stressful times for everybody involved. Two start pitchers to add and stream for next week. Scott, who you got? Got a few names for you here.

Kyle Braddish, even with me lowering the threshold to 75%. He still qualifies for this somehow. It's, I don't know why, I don't know why people have been so slow to flock back to him. He had a really good track record prior to his injury, and he's been great since returning. Even the one not so good start of the three was still pretty good under the surface. And he's only 41% rostered on Yahoo too.

Yeah, his matchups, he gets the White Sox for his first turn. And then he gets the Yankees for his second turn, which isn't as great. But I think he's good enough that I really don't care what the matchups are, two-star week. Kyle Braddish are starting him. Jeffrey Springs, he's got the bipolar matchup situation here, too, at Boston for his first start,

but then at Pittsburgh for a second. So probably just a points league play, but a more attractive points league play than like some of those others we mentioned earlier, Jose Barrios and Jose Cantona and Jason Alexander. I'd rather have Jeffrey Springs. Connolly Early, in theory, he lines up for two starts. I know the Red Sox have been noncommittal

about when he'll start next, but I don't really see what their alternative is. I think he's got to go Monday, or excuse me, Tuesday. they don't play out Monday, which would line Connolly early up for two starts. Athletics and raise, so the matchups could be better, probably would only consider in a points league.

It's just the one start, obviously. So he stills a lot to prove. But you look good, look good in the minors, Connolly early. Zach Lattel gets the Cardinals and Cubs, which don't sound like good matchups, but they actually kind of are. Cardinals rank in the bottom half in offense and the Cubs have been sinking like Rock.

They're barely inside the top 10 now and run scored when they were first or second for much of the year. And Lattel tends to work deep into games get a lot of quality starts. Ian Seymour, we talked about him earlier, Blue Jays Red Sox, not the greatest matchups, which is why I would only consider in a points league.

James and Tyone gets the Pirates, which you love, and the Reds. He's only a few starts back from the IL, but he's logged a, he's throwing enough pitches that you expect and work deep into games, maybe giving you a couple quality starts. And finally, Joey Cantillo,

surprisingly reliable of late. He's at Detroit and at Minnesota. Two pretty good matchups there. What about the one-star streamers? You have three names on the list. Louise Morales gets the pirates, so I think we put our trust back in him. Parker Messick gets the twins,

who are especially bad against left-handers. I don't actually know where they rank against left-handers, but I know a lot of their hitters are bad against left-handers. So it stands to reason they want to rank very high. And then finally, Tyler Wells gets the White Sox. We talked about him. Not as favorable matchup as the Pirates, who he came through in a big way against this current week, but still a good matchup. So I think you could use Tyler Wells again. Best hitter matchups for next week, the Reds, Braves, Rockies, Marlins, and DeBacks, the worst hitter matchups, Astros, Royals, Dodgers, Cubs, and Cardinals.

Who are the sleeper hitters for Week 26? Mentioned the Reds at the top of that list. So love Austin Hayes, who's been hitting well again. Yankees just missed. Yankees are one of the teams with seven games. The matchups are pretty good. So I think John Carlos Stanton, especially now that Aaron Judge is playing

some outfield again. He has had a rough stretch here, Stan, apart from the home run Thursday. His last 12 games batting 100 with a 41% strikeout rate. He's swinging at everything. But but matchups are good. He gives a lot of power. What do you want? It's a sleeper header. Let's see here. So the Braves have the second best matchups. Drake Baldwin looks like as close to an everyday player. as a catcher can get moving forward. So I think he's an easy call. Rockies are at home for all six of their games, which is good news for Brenton Doyle,

who's been much better in the second half anyway. Zekiel Tovar is batting like 360 at home. So it's a good week to give him a look. The Guardians don't have especially good matchups, but seven games, six against righties, Kyle Monsardo's been hot. I think he's a fine play. Jake Berger's been great.

Just had the two-homer game Wednesday in the Rangers. Just miss being in the top five hitter matchups. Wensiel Perez of the Tigers, good matchups. Three of the six games are against lefties. He's batting about 330 against lefties. So I like Perez for this week. Andrew Vaughn has started to pick things up again. and we have yet to see Reese Hoskins start over him.

So I don't think that's a major concern. Good matches for Brewers. So he's in. And the Marlins are one of the two teams visiting the Rockies at course field this week. Otto Lopez is available enough to mention here. And he's been performing well at the play lately. So I think he makes for a fine play.

All right. Let's wrap up with some leftovers here. And on the hitting side, Jackson Holiday has been hitting better as of late. He went two for four with his 16th steel. last 12 games hitting 378 with two homers, four steals, an OPS over 1100 during that time. Vinnie P. Baby!

Continues his power-filled second half, hit his 30th home run in the second half. 15 homers, 538 slug, 849 OPS for Vinnie Pasquantino. And Jackson Merrill, some signs of life here lately. One for three with his 11th homer. Last five games, he has eight hits, two homers, five RBI. So if you made it this far, I'm sure he's in. your lineup, or if he's not, maybe you have a little bit more confidence to get Jackson Merrill in there. One lonely pitching leftover, Jesus Lazardo. He got bombarded early in the start

and then really settled down against the Mets. Eight innings, four runs, 10 strikeouts, zero walks, had 15 whiffs on 97 pitches, and over his last nine starts, Lazardo has a 291 ERA, 0.92 whip, 64 strikeouts over 55 and 2 thirds innings. So, hmm. Yeah, I think he's basically must start. Yeah. You look at his ERA on the season is 403. His FIPP is 290, man. So, you know, we had that crazy stretch where he was tipping his pitches.

And, you know, look, he really set some people back in ratios. I get that. But everything else has been mostly really, really good here for Hazel's Lazzardo. Part of what he's done is at least last three starts, he's kind of led with the sweeper, thrown at over 40% of it. at the time. And that's his best swing of miss pitch. For the year, it's more like 30% usage. But he's been using it more and more and getting a lot of strikeouts. Seems to be working for him. And yeah, like I said, a lot of faith in Jesus Lazzardo right now.

The call to the bullpen for the Orioles. Kegan Aiken got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He allowed a hit but picked up his fifth save. For the Marlins with a two-run lead, Tyler Phillips tossed two scoreless innings across the sixth and seventh. Ronnie Enrique has pitched the Then the Marlins tacked on three more runs, so no longer a save opportunity. It was Michael Peterson who closed it out. For the Guardians, Kate Smith got the ninth with a one-run lead. He struck out two for his 13th save. For the Phillies, Yohan Duran struck out the side for his 29th save.

And for the Padres, Robert Suarez, struck out one for his 37th save. To stream or not to stream on Friday. We have Jonah Tong who's up against the Rangers, Martin Perez at the Guardians. Brandon fought at the twins, Brad Lord against the Pirates, and Justin Verlander against the Dodgers. Man, we really didn't like this selection, did we? No.

I think Tong is fine, and it's risky, but I would stream almost anybody against the pirates. Brad Lord has had some okay starts, so I think it could go fine. Yeah, I agree. If you forced me to name two, those would be my two, Tong and Lord. I don't really want to do it. I mean, Tong hasn't actually had a good start yet, right? Yeah, and the Rangers' offense actually has been hot lately.

Yeah. Even with no Seeger and I'm pretty sure they're missing. Oh, it's Semy and too, so it's kind of interesting. On Saturday we have Bubba Chandler at the Nationals, Andrew Alvarez against the Pirates, Brandon Sprote against the Rangers, Charlie Morton at the Marlins, Ryan Bergert at the Phillies,

Parker Messick against the White Sox, Bryce Elder against the Astros and Mitch Farris at the Mariners. So Parker Messick against the White Sox, that's a good one. Morton at the Marlins, maybe could go well, but he's been pitching really bad of late.

Yeah, I'd have to talk myself into any of the others. Messick is the only one I can get behind fully. Brandon Sprode against the Rangers could go okay. It's risky in his second start. He walked a lot in his first, but otherwise looked good. Andrew Alvarez, if you want to go with the theory, anybody against the Pirates is worth starting.

You know, maybe him. All right. And then on Sunday, we have Mike Burroughs at the Nationals. Cade Cavali against the Pirates. Jacob Lats at the Mets. Slade Cicconi against the White Sox, Nebiel Chris Matt at the Twins and Adrian Hauser at the Cubs.

This is a little better, but only a little. Cade Cavali against the Pirates. I think is the best of the Nationals. Pitchers you can start against the Pirates as we. again? I don't know. I mean, Nabil Khrismat didn't go well last time.

No. But he might be my second choice here. Slade Sikoni. Even though it's the White Sox, he's just too combustible. Yeah. No, it's very risky.

I agree with you. Cavali at the top, I think Burroughs at the Nationals could be okay. He's pitched a right. It's just probably going to be a four-enning start. That's fair. Yeah.

So what's the point? I don't know. If you're chasing ratios, maybe there's a point. Yeah. But. I mean, yeah, you're not going to get a quality start. So just keep that in mind. All right, we're going to rat there for Scott.

I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.