Fantasy Baseball Today - Kopech's Gem, Bobby Miller Promoted & Machado Replacements (5/22 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 22, 2023

Is it time to sell-high on Christopher Morel (1:05)? ... Michael Kopech threw a gem this weekend (7:18). ... Rank James Paxton, Kopech, Jared Shuster and Reid Detmers (10:27). ... Drop Blake Snell for any of those names (14:03)? ... Gavin Stone will start Monday and Bobby Miller will start Tuesday (17:50). ... Is Michael Wacha legit (26:25)? ... Go add Jorge Soler if you need an outfielder (34:12). ... With Manny Machado on the IL, who are the best replacements (39:50)? ... News (42:46): Jacob deGrom will throw a third bullpen session Monday. ... Luis Severino made his debut Sunday (50:18)? ... Start or sit these pitchers (52:10)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (55:05). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up, and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, May 22nd. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, we're going to recap all of this weekend's action. Big Waver Wire ads. Severino made his return, start or sick questions, and much more. Before we get started, please like this video and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Let's jump in. Holy- How about that!

How about it, Scotty? What's going on, man? Oh my goodness gracious for the weekend. Okay. Let's go with Christopher Morel. Christopher Morel. hit a home run Sunday you know at this point

I can't even really say oh my goodness gracious about it because he's hit a home run in eight of the 11 games he's played since getting called up from the minors it's been as regular as anything can be and of course it won't last I mean he's not he's not going to set a record a single season record for home runs or anything

can't continue to home run at home at this pace but he's hit safely in all 11 games. He's homered in eight of them. He continues to get playing time. He continues to strike out at a ridiculous rate. Actually higher than last year when remember he got off to a great start as well and then eventually cooled off.

So I'm a little torn on this. He's been slow to be picked up in fantasy. At this point, he's, I think, think 85% rostered. So he's beyond the threshold where we normally talk about, oh, do you add him or not? We're beyond that with Christopher Morel. But it took him a while to get there. People were kind of slow to buy in. And so I wonder how realistic it is to even have the cell high conversation here because we've experienced Morel in the past. And because people were kind of slow to buy into what he's doing now, I'm kind of inclined to just say, don't even bother. just enjoy it for however long it lasts,

which the quality of contact he's making now, maybe he can survive a 35% strikeout rate and be a regular contributor for you at the rest of the season at either second base or the outfield. I do think that's more probable in a rotissory league where there's a lot more spots to fill, where the strikeouts don't directly impact you the way they do in a point.

I do think that's one possibility. Is it the most likely possibility? Probably not, but it's likely enough that I do think there's a case for just sit back and enjoy the ride with morale. Keep your expectations grounded, of course, but it probably isn't worth your time to pursue a sell high trade. Having said that, if you're managing one fantasy team, you've got nothing but time. It's not a bad idea to make some offers. Like any time there's a player who's performing B. beyond what is reasonable to expect.

It's not a bad idea to make some sell high offers. I mean, a great example of a similar situation. Austin Riley, his rookie season, he came up and Homer, let me see if I can get the exact number. It was like nine times in his first 18 games or something. It's so similar to this. Yeah, nine times in his first 18 games. This is 2019.

and I wrote an article talking about selling high on him then. There was a lot of like, how could you say this? This is amazing prospect, but best any of us have ever seen. And then from that point forward, after those 18 games where he home run nine times, Austin Riley hit 192

with nine home runs the rest of the season. So it would have been a great time to sell high if you can pull it off. And of course, the whole idea behind selling highs, you've got to get back a lot more than what you invested in Morrell in the first, place to make it worthwhile. So if you got time, not a bad idea. If you don't have time,

you know, it's probably not going to work out that you're going to get that great of return for them, given how long it took people to buy in in the first place. Scott, I wrote down six names here, two at second base, two at outfield and two starting pitchers. And you let me know if we're like in the right ballpark if that's a player that we should be trying to sell Christopher Morel for. At second base, I have Tommy Edmund and Miguel Vargas. What do you think about those two as potential targets for Christopher Morel? I think I would prefer Edmund to Morel. I think you could start aiming higher than that

because Edmonds not performing up to expectations. That's almost like a combo bylaw on Edmund, so high on Morel. And let me double check just to make sure Edmund isn't losing too much playing time because Paul DeYoung's been getting the majority of playing time to shortstop. I imagine we'll talk about him later. Paul DeYoung crushing it. Yeah, well, we'll talk about that.

Edmund, it seems like he's mostly been playing every day. He sat out on Friday, but I think he was dealing with an injury. Mm-hmm. But he's up to six homers and six steals and 273, so all of a sudden, Edmund's numbers kind of look like Tommy Edmund. If you're forcing me to pick one of Edmund and Morel rest of season, I will pick Edmund. But I am going to take Morel over Miguel Vargas,

even in a points league where Morel is disadvantaged and Vargas is advantaged. Okay. Fair enough. A few outfielders. Again, these are potential buy low and selling high on Morel. Teasca Hernandez and Starling Marte. Yeah, I really hate the way they've both been performing so far. If it's a deep league, I'll take Marte or Teosker Hernandez. I just think they're a higher probability plays talking rest of season.

If it's a shallow league and you can afford to swing for the fences, so to speak, and you want to gamble on that lower probability outcome of a true Christopher Morel breakthrough, I think that's fine in a shadow of our league. Okay. And then a few starting pitchers I wrote down who are both borderline top 40, top 45 starters, Hunter Green and Hayes-Euse Lozardo. Well, I mean, it just depends how much you need pitching. I think given that there's a shortage of pitching around the league, you're probably not going to get much better pitching than that for Morel. And so I think it's fine if you just want to cash in on some pitching, some high upside pitching there and both. who've underachieved so far. Again, it doesn't hurt to aim higher to start out.

Yeah. Then, you know, if those offers get rejected, then maybe you eventually settle on like a greener Luzardo in return. But I think that's fine if pitching is a greater need for you. Oh my goodness gracious for me from this weekend. Michael Kopec had his best start of the season by far. Up against the Kansas City Royals, eight shutout endings, only one hit allowed. Zero walks to 10 strikeouts, 20 swinging strikes on 98 pitches with 15 of the

those coming on the fastball. And Scott, when I was looking this over, I had your quote ringing through my head is, if you can get whiffs on the fastball, you must have pretty good upside. 15 wifts on 20 pitches, on 20 of those swinging strikes, specifically on the fastball.

It was very impressive for Kopec, only allowed one hard hit in this game. The velocity was up on the fastball, nearly one mile per hour. The slider was up a mile and a half. We know he had off-season knee surgery this year, so maybe he just needed some time to get going. The control has been a huge,

problem, three plus walks and six of nine starts for Kopec. But clearly that wasn't an issue here. Zero walks, only the one hit, all those whiffs, 44% rostered and at the Guardians this week, Scott, which on paper is a fantastic matchup. What do you think about Michael Kopeck and the potential of adding him after this weekend? I have some renewed hope for Kopeck. I don't think it's like a huge priority to add him. Like for instance, we don't have a lot of faith in Michael Lorenzen, but I do have him as a two-star pitcher, as a sleeper this week, making two starts, coming off two really good starts. And so, you know, when I was deciding between, do I pick up Michael Lorenzen to stream him for this one week, or do I pick up Michael Kopec as a potential maybe year-long solution?

Like, I don't have enough faith in Kopeck that I was opting for him in most cases. But I do think there is renewed hope for him now after I was pretty, much out on him, like coming into this year and certainly the way he started this year, that seems like a wise choice. But yeah, he's throwing the fastball harder. He's relying on it more in a lot of these starts 70% of the time sometimes, and he's getting wifts at a nice rate with it. If he could cut down on the walks, then I think he'd really be onto something,

but that hasn't, apart from this start this weekend, where how many walks didn't he end up having? He had zero walks in the start. Yeah, he had zero walks this one, but I think last time out he had six and four and two-thirds innings. So, like, it's been, there's been no consistency along those lines for Kopec. And so it's hard to get, that's why it's hard to get behind him too forcefully. But there does appear to be upside again, and that's encouraging.

If you're not adding them yet, then you should. should at least be scouting him from start to start. On the Michael Lorenzen versus Kopec, I think it comes down to like how desperate are you right now? If you really need pitching help this week, then I agree with you. I would go with Lorenzen, but I still do think that Kopec has more upside rest of season.

If, you know, maybe this is a catalyst or something that can really, you know, kind of set them off and get him going for the rest of the year. A couple other names that have emerged this weekend, Scott, Waverwire pitchers. We just spoke about Kopec. Reed Detmer's had a tie day career high, with 12 strikeouts up against the twins, five and two thirds. Still allowed three earned runs with three walks in that one.

24 swinging strikes on 105 pitches. James Paxson, back to back, very good starts to open his season. Quality start at the Padre, six innings, one run, five strikeouts there. And Jared Schuster, best start of his young career up against the Mariners on Sunday.

I was really impressed watching highlights of this game. That slider looked tremendous. Six innings, one hit, one run, seven strikeouts to one walk. 14 swinging strikes with eight of those coming on the slider. Scott, how do you rank that group? Kopeck, Detmerz, Paxton, and Jared Schuster. I'm going to go Paxton number one. I mean, the big concern with Paxton right now is just how long does his arm hold up? Because back-to-back starts now where he's averaged 96 on his fastball.

It's the most he's averaged on his fastball since 2016. And certainly the results have been what we wanted. So he looks he looks like a must at this point. I kind of felt like that after his first start, but the second start only validates it. I'll still go Detmer's number two. I mean, he's been getting, he's been getting whiffs at a great rate. He's beginning strikeouts at a great rate.

He's just, I think only once has he gone deep enough for a quality start. So there have been efficiency issues there with Detmer's. It's almost like another Blake Snell situation. But that, I mean, that points to a lot of upside. I think there's less for Dettmer's to overcome to become a mainstay in fantasy than maybe there is for for Kopeck or who is the other one? Schuster. Schuster.

Oh, yeah, Schuster. Yeah, so Kopeck third and Schuster fourth. I too was encouraged by what I saw from Schuster in this one. He was throwing harder in addition to. to throwing a lot more strikes. And even at his previous start, he looked pretty good. He looked pretty good. It wasn't quite a quality start.

He didn't get a strikeout per inning or anything. But watching it, he looked more impressive than the stat line. His fastball seems to have a lot of zip on it that, you know, beyond the velocity, it seems like he can get that rising effect with it sometimes. And like I've said going back to spring training, I like the way he hides the ball in his delivery. So I do think there may be something here with Schuster. But even in the miners before this call up, he was struggling with walks and his swinging strike rate down there was only 11%, which is pretty average. And, you know, it's going to take a lot more than this start, I think, for me to buy back in on Schuster outside of like deeper 15 roto leagues where I was putting in some low dollar bet.

low dollar bids on him this weekend. Yeah, I had some as well. Let me see how much did he go for in my main event league, which is a 15-team Roto League. He went for $54 out of $1,000, so right around 5%. I would have gone. Yeah, I mean, it was, I'm basically limited to, like,

low teams or single-digit bids at this point because I spent a lot of money on Bryce and Mason Miller. But, yeah, I clearly was not going to spend that much on him. But, yeah, just to give you an idea of what people are looking at for Jared Schuster in deeper leagues. Scott, you mentioned the name Blake Snell while talking about Reed Detmer's. And I think it's probably time to bring him up again

because he got rocked again this weekend. Four innings pitched, five hits, two walks, six earned runs, two more homers allowed, eight swinging strikes for Blake Snell in this start. He allowed seven hard hits, 91.9 average exit velocity. The numbers are bad, Scott. The numbers are really bad for Blake Snell.

5.40 ERA, a 156 whip. He's over a strikeout per inning, but five walks per nine. The FIP is 5.57. Like, none of the underlying numbers like him. The swinging strike rate is down this year. Velocity is down like one mile per hour as well. The problem with dropping Blake's Nell is that

we've seen the past couple of years. He goes on these runs where he looks like one of the top 12 or 15 best pitchers in baseball, and you don't want to miss out on that. But right now, there's just no way that you can use him. So with that, would you drop him for any of the names you've mentioned so far? I would drop him for Paxton.

I might drop him for Debtmers. I think that's it. And I wish I was a little more forceful in discouraging people from drafting Snell during draft prep season because I didn't have interest in drafting them. I was the opposite. I think I ever came close. I will openly admit, yeah, I thought this was going to be a great year for Snell, but it clearly has not worked.

And we were reverse. We were the reverse last year, if I recall. But yeah, it's the, yes, what happened within the last two years, you know, you say he got off to his slow start and then he went on this great run. Well, the slow start lasted basically the entire first half. So we're not even close to the breaking point if he follows the pattern of the last two year. So in the first half last year, he had a 522 ERA a 148 whip. And in 2021, Blake Snell, in the first half last year, 499 ERA 155 whip. Like just, and these were often very short starts, just completely unusable in fantasy. And both times, there came a point in 2021, 2021, where I said, that's it, we're done, dropped Blake Snell. And then, and then he,

he, you know, pretty much coming out of the all-star break, he's bananas. And so we've seen it happen twice before, and that makes you reluctant, that makes me reluctant to pull the plug on him again from an analyst perspective. But there's no guarantee that's going to happen again. I mean, just because that's how it's happened the last two years doesn't mean that's like programmed in him or something to happen again. We're just, so we may be chasing a false hope here. And so like that, how do you work with that?

Obviously, he has very little trade value. How long can you stash Blake Snell away in the hope that his second half, which is still two months away, goes like it did the last two years, you know? It's really, it's a real quandary. It's a real quandary. So I think in shallower leagues you shouldn't be afraid to drop him. In deeper leagues, you might just have to keep him on your bench for a long time. Yeah, I know people get annoyed when we say this.

I would like to hold Blake Snell and stash him on my bench because, I mean, who knows? Maybe he kind of flips that switch earlier than the second half this year. And it's, that could be too. And it's like two thirds of the season where he pitches like an ace. He clearly has that outcome. It's just we haven't seen it yet. And I understand why people are frustrated there with Blake Snell. Let's take a little break from the waiver wire, Scott.

I want to ask you about some prospect updates. Not only is Gavin Stone starting on Monday for the Dodgers, but their other top pitching prospect, Bobby Miller, will start on Tuesday. So Dustin May went on the IL earlier this past week. And then Julio O'Reas also landed on the IL this weekend with a hamstring injury. So what are your thoughts here on Bobby Miller, Scott? Like where does he kind of rank? It's hard to say because there's so many rookie pitchers at this point.

How about just between the Dodgers prospects? Who would you rather have between Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller? Well, I'm not that crazy about having either to be perfect. perfectly honest. Gavin Stone, I would say Gavin Stone. I might still say Gavin Stone because, you know, at least what he was doing at AAA Oklahoma was pretty good at times. We talked about him last week when we first learned he was coming back and I said,

wow, in his major league debut, remember he debuted the same day Brandon Fought did. Between the two, Stone had the more discouraging debut to me because that changeup was supposed to be a world beater and he got one whiff on it, throwing it a lot. Like it just didn't, it didn't, it, it wasn't as advertised. And maybe it was, maybe nerves were at play in his major league debut. That's certainly possible. But usually you see something there that you can get encouraged by. And I didn't see it. Maybe he'll come back looking different. But he was walking a lot of guys at Oklahoma after he returned there had seven walks and 11 innings between his two starts.

So, you know, that's not great. So I'm not especially optimistic about Gavin Stone's chances of being, if you're holding out for a hero, I'm not sure it's going to be him. And I would say the same for Bobby Miller, who for a couple years now has not really performed up to the scouting reports like he got a lot of hype during the

he wasn't as especially high draft pick I think he was the Dodgers first round pick but they were picking 29th you know normally the 29th pick in the draft isn't like a surefire prospect but then that was the pandemic season so we went to the the um

what did they call that the like training camp for the minor leaguers the alternate training side. That's what they called it. And impressed the scouts there, rose up the you know, rocketed up the prospect ranks and then

it's kind of maintained that standing even though he's struggled in the upper minors. And this year at AAA Oklahoma, which is in the PCL and PCL's tough to pitch and I get it, but 565 ERA, only 12 strikeouts in 14 and a third innings.

And is that going to get much better in the majors? Now, I will point out that his last start at AAA, Oklahoma, two hits in six innings, had six strikeouts in those six innings. So he is ending his time there on a high note, but it was just six swinging strikes on 76 pitches. It was less than 10% whiff rate,

or swinging strike rate, I should say. And, yeah, I don't know. It just doesn't seem like, it seems like it's a rare case of the Dodgers hand being four, and them not being able to control the timetable in the most optimal way for their minorly call-ups. Cocoa great. There's talent here, obviously, in both the case of Stone and Miller, but they want to be my top choices off the waiver wire right now.

Yeah, I was encouraged by that last start, Scott, as you mentioned, the results were good, not many whiffs, but I know Bobby Miller was coming back from a shoulder injury, so maybe those first three starts, he's, you know, kind of working his way back into things, and this last start, maybe he was feeling better or whatever, but something else. Even last year in the miners, he had a 425 FRA. It was well more than a strikeout per inning,

but it's not like he dominated. Yeah. And I worry with the injury to Julio Reus, it's a hamstring. You know, maybe it's like two, three weeks, and then who gets sent down between the two. I think it's solely going to come down

to who's pitching better. So it is really a tough situation to figure out right now between Gavin Stone and Bobby Miller. I think if you're playing a deeper league and those guys are available, take a shot. I don't think you want them in the lineup

because Stone is going up against the Braves and Dodgers. No, he plays for the Dodgers. The Braves and the Raes this week. And Bobby Miller has only one start against the Braves. So I would not want to use either one if I did pick them up. Jorge Polanco was placed on the IL

with a hamstring injury as well. And Nick Gordon also placed on the IL with a fracture in his right tibia, which means Edward Julian was recalled and he's 16% rostered. Any interest here, Scott? It feels like it might just be for as long as Jorge Polanco is out.

it seems like Royce Lewis is getting closer to returning as well. Yeah, does seem like Royce Lewis is getting closer, though he, I think, has he been playing third base? Let me double check that. I think the plan is for him to take over a third base, which they freed up by optioning Jose Miranda to the miners. I will point out that Kyle Farmer has been playing very well for them. He has, but we know who Kyle Farmer. You're right, that may be like the twins would stick with him for a while just because he's hot, but I don't think that's a long-standing thing.

Royce Lewis has played six games and three a third and three at shortstop it looks like. Yeah, he's obviously not playing shortstop because they have Carlos Correa there. I think outfield's out since that's how he hurt his knee last time. But so, yeah, I think third base is the plan for Royce Lewis. Maybe they do slide Kyle Farmer over to second base. I mean, I like Edward Julian. He'd been hitting well at AAA since getting sent down, still reaching base at like a 450 clip. like he always does.

I know he was out of the lineup against the lefty Saturday and then ended up pitch hitting once the opposing team with the bullpen, the lefty starter was out. So it seems like whenever a righty is on the mound, Julian is clearly the priority for the twins.

But yeah, they may run into a playing time crunch there again. I did win him. I did put in the highest bid in both of my, well, in the 215 team, roto leagues where he was available. And obviously, that's a deeper league scenario. I'm not saying everybody needs to rush out.

No, Julian, but I still like him. And I do think there's a chance if he gets hot. They find a way to keep him around. They could give him time at D.H., some time of first base, maybe. Like I said, I think Kyle Farmer is eventually going to cool off in his best role as a utility infielder. So I do like the Julian's back, at least in deeper leagues. I try to put in a bid for him. And I'm just seeing now.

I'm just seeing now that in the other one of those 15 team roto leagues, one where Julian wasn't available, I put it a $68 bid for Matt McLean and won them. 68, the number two bid, 67. Ooh. Boom. Boom. That is one of the-

How do you like that? See, you know what I was thinking? It's because I usually end my bids with the $7 too in these $1,000 budget leagues. Right. Seven, because it's like, okay, you don't want to do an even five. or an even zero. But if you go one up from that,

everybody's going to go up. You've got to go two up. And this time I was thinking, you know, everybody knows to go two up now. So I'm going three up. I'm going 68, baby. And it worked. That is a great feeling.

I would say that and throughout the draft, if you're debating, taking a player in one round, and they fall all the way back to you in the next round, that is also one of the best feelings in fantasy. So good work there. I was going to bring out Matt McLean and talk about how much he went for in my other leagues. He went for $32 in Tout Wars. That's a 12-team Head Ted Points League. That's 32 out of

a thousand. So about a $3, 3% bid in my NFBC main event league, 15-team Roto, 303, pretty aggressive there. And in TGFBI, that's another 15-team Roto League, $88. So based on that, it seems like you got a pretty good discount on Matt McLean, Scott. So good job. One other prospect note here, Orioles Outfield Prospect, Colton Couser, was placed on a minor League IEL with a quad injury. So unfortunately, we won't be seeing him anytime soon. Let's take a break. And when we return, we'll get back into the waiver wire here on fantasy baseball today.

Welcome back and let's get into the waiver wire. And back into starting pitcher, a few low ceiling type options in Miles Michaelis, who put up, up back-to-back quality starts. He was up against the Dodgers this weekend, seven innings, three runs, two strikeouts. Quietly over his last seven starts, Michaelis has a 2.90 ERA. at 1.21 whip, but comes with very low strikeouts, and the underlying metrics don't really believe in it. Kyle Gibson turned in one of his better starts of the season at the Blue J's seven innings, one run, five strikeouts there.

Cal Quantrell with a near quality start at the Mets, five and two thirds, three runs, six strikeouts, zero walks, and over his last four starts has a 277 ERA, and Michael Waka is dominating right now. Strong start up against the Red Sox, six shutout with four strikeouts to one walk. he is down to a 3.58 ERA and a 115 whip on the season. 72% roster. Scott, how do you rank this group? Again, lower ceiling type options, Michaelis, Gibson, Quantrell, and Waka.

So I think these are better thought of his streaming options, probably permanently. I know Miles Michaelis was basically a must-start pitcher last year. But as you point out, he's reverted to kind of where he was before last year, where he can give you quality start sometimes. but with unappetizing underlying stats for the most part. So I'm not especially moved by what he's done here recently. I would say if you're going to make a play for one of these guys

as potentially being something more than a streaming option. At this point, I'm willing to say Waka, because, I mean, not only has he been on just a great run here in general, but he started to get he started to get whiffs at a nice rate he had in this start he had 15 of them I believe 14 14 on 88 pitches

still a good rate he had 10 on the change up alone and that's two starts in a row where he's had 10 on the change up alone and this is a pitch that historically we've seen Waka dominate with before remember you may remember

remember, or you may not, that earlier in Waka's career, the first three years of his career, he was considered like a stud in fantasy when he was with the Cardinals first breaking in with the Cardinals. He was like must-start level of pitcher. It's been a while since we've seen Waka at that level, of course, because this goes back to like 2015. But like that's how good his change-up was for him back then, starting to get wist with it again, combined one-er-run run in his last four starts now. Again, remember how I framed this at the beginning. It's most likely just a hot streak for a guy that we're going to consider a streaming option for most of the season. But there is also the fact Waka last year and 23 starts had a 332 ERA. So I don't know. I don't

know. Maybe Waka's reborn. Maybe he's pitching. Maybe he's capable of getting results similar to what he got at the start of his career. I'll bet against it. But I think there's more hope for him than somebody like Michaelis, for instance. Would you take Waka over any of the Kopeck, Detmer's, Paxton, Schuster group? Close call between him and Schuster, I'd say. I'd probably take walk over Schuster. Okay. This next group, somewhat interesting options.

Braxton Garrett has six plus strikeouts in three straight since being destroyed by the Braves on May 3rd. He went six and a third shutout, one hit, one walk, eight strikeouts up against the Giants this weekend. J.P. Sears has allowed two earn runs or fewer in three of his last four starts. He was at the Astros, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts there. He has a 357 ERA over his last four starts. Brandon Belak put up a career high nine strikeouts up against the Oakland A's, including 17 swinging strikes. And Ben Lively, who pitches for the Reds, had a successful first start with them.

He was up against the Yankees, and he went five and two thirds, two runs, eight strikeouts. His slider has been really good so far. He hasn't allowed a hit, and it has a 53% whiff rate. This, Scott, obviously this ranges from, I mean, it's mostly deep league names, but any thoughts here, any interest in Braxton Garrett, J.P. Sears, Brandon Belak, and Ben lively. I'm intrigued by Sears. For the season, he has about a 13% with rate, or, sorry, swinging strike rate. With rate would have a different denominator. They both have the same numerator, but they have different denominator, swinging strike rate and whiff rate. 13% swinging strike rate, which is really, really good. And he's a guy who gets whiffs with this fastball. It's not like a high octane fastball. It's not what you picture is when you think of a dominant fastball, but J.P. Sears on

that fastball has a 25% whiff rate. So I'm kind of mixing up stats here in a way that's probably confusing. But the point is it's a good whiff rate for the fastball. he pitches for Oakland he doesn't have a win yet so that's a big hurdle to clear but if you're not as concerned about that then he's of some interest I think I think there's a chance

Braxton Garrett is good too I liked Braxton Garrett last year once he became solidified in the Marlins rotation it was closer to the All-Star break when that happened but his slider is legitimately a good pitch and when he's leaning on it more good things tend to happen

and interestingly this two-start stretch where he's had success he's been leaning on the cutter more he threw it about 25% in this one normally it's a pitch he doesn't feature so I don't he doesn't feature much at all so I don't know

if that just like pairs with his breaking ball better and his help bringing out the best in it that slider but he's he's had success with that change and maybe he can get back to how he was doing toward the middle of last year when he became a fantasy asset. Yeah, over Braxton Garrett's last three starts, he has a 2.70 ERA and a 0.84 whip, 22 strikeouts of three walks and a 14.6% swinging strike rate.

If you're just looking for one of these names to use in a deeper league this week, Braxton Garrett is at the Rocky, so I think you probably want to stay away. J.P. Sears is at the Mariners. They're 27th in Woba against lefties. So I think that's actually a pretty good matchup for him. And this last group here, Scott, pretty uninspiring, but alas, let's talk about them. Johan Oviedo turned in his first quality start since April 19th. Six innings, one run, seven strikeouts in that one. Adrian Howser, six shot out with four strikeouts at Tampa Bay.

It's pretty impressive doing it against Tampa Bay, but, you know, it's also Adrian Howser. Patrick Corbyn continues to limit the damage somehow up against the Tigers this weekend. Six innings, two runs, three strikeouts. And over his last seven starts, he's a 3.40 ERR. and a 1-13 whip. And Dean Kramer, another solid start for him at the Blue Jays, five and a third, one-run, seven strikeouts with 15 swinging strikes and a 1.96 ERA in the month of May for Dean Kramer.

Scott again, we're talking probably 15 teamers and deeper, but anything on Oviedo, Hauser, Corbyn, and Dean Kramer. I'd keep an eye on Kramer and Oviato. I think they've shown enough flashes in the past, including Oviato, just this year. that I could see them emerging as more. But right now, I would leave them for deeper leagues. Okay.

Some waiver wire hitters. We spoke extensively about Jorge Soler on Friday. One of, is he the top sleeper hitter for you, Scott? Or top two? Solair this week is number one. Number one. Okay. He had a huge game on Sunday.

Four for five with his 12th home run. It did come off of another lefty. He's now batting 247 with an 842 OPS on the season. 71% rostered with seven road games this week. four in Corr's field. So regardless of what size format you're playing. If you need an outfielder, Jorge Salare is that guy this week.

Two other names, Scott. I would say more so for five outfielder leagues. Brian Dela Cruz, we spoke about him as well on Friday, but he hit a home run on Friday. He stole a base on Saturday. He's got those great matchups coming up. And Marcel Ozuna has really turned his season around

in the month of May. He's betting 333 with six homers and a 1095 OPS. Who would you rather have, Brian Dela Cruz or Marcel Ozuna? Oh, it's a little hard to trust Ozuna after the way the previous two years went. Yeah.

So I'm going to say Brian Dela Cruz. Obviously, Brian Dela Cruz is somebody like coming into the year. He kind of lost steam as a sleeper because for much of spring training, the Marlins were talking about him not even making the roster potentially. But just in terms of the metrics, in terms of how he finished 2022, I had, there was a lot to like a bright bout about Brian Delaunton. La Cruz. He's playing a lot. He seems like he's beginning to live up to it. So he's the choice for now. But Ozone at his best, it's been a few years since we've seen him at his best, but Ozuna at his

best has been a genuine stud. And that was true early in his career with the Marlins. He had times with the Cardinals when he looked like that. And in 2020, his first year with the Braves, short though that season was, he was the number one outfielder in fantasy. Yeah. So, like, if you have a spot to play with, I think just picking up Ozuna with the way he's been picking it up at the plate, the same way you would pick up a prospect, the same way you'd pick up like a Brett Beatty and keep him stashed away

just in case he makes good on his potential. I don't think that's a bad idea. I haven't seen fit to do it in any of my league. but I don't think it's a bad idea because just like we've seen Ozone to be a stud in the past, like we've seen him collapse in the past and come out of it

and regain stud status. So this is, he's had kind of an up and down career and he may be back on the upswing. I think it's, I don't think you have to squint too hard to envision that possibility. Speaking of up and down career, Scott,

Paul DeYoung, who we mentioned earlier, two for three with a walk, added, and his seventh home run of the season on Sunday. He added four RBI and four run scored, truly a massive game. He's now batting 282 with a 954 OPS. He's 12% rostered. I know you like the Cardinals matchups this week as well.

It looks like, I mean, the quality of contact looks pretty good right now for DeYoung. 11.5% barrel rate, a career high 46% hard hit rate as well. Are you buying this? Are you looking to add Paul DeYoung in any leagues? Are you painting it a rosier picture? than I would paint, looking at those same numbers. I actually had Paul DeYoung in the 2014, in the Skyway Dynasty League, the 2014 points. I picked him up for this week.

I saw he was a free agent. I was like, why did you drop him? Because I don't believe in it. Yeah, all right. Ultimately. I mean, yeah, he had a good game Sunday, and he had a nice point total for me this week. He entered Sunday's game betting 129. in his previous nine games.

The reason he managed to be productive is because three of the four hits he got in those nine games were home runs. So does that help mask the 129 batting average he was putting up during that stretch? And yeah, average exit velocity entering Sunday's game, 88 miles per hour. That's pretty much in line with what he normally does.

Max Xex exit velocity. You know, it's lower than what it was in either of the previous two years. You mentioned the hard hit rate is a career high. The barrel rate is a career high. Okay, those probably go hand in hand, but as I've said with other players at times this year, an abnormally high barrel rate is probably just an indication that the guy's hot.

And so you shouldn't necessarily... Like, I see that more as a symptom than a cause. And, you know, the strikeout rate's better this year than it was last year, it's still over 25% and it's still like what it was what it's been for most of Paul DeYoung's career. I just, I don't think, I'm not convinced that he's actually turned over a new leaf.

I mean, this is a 29-year-old who has faked us out several times in the past and was close to being DFAed by the Cardinals at times in the past year. And they certainly have alternatives if he begins to slump. So I don't think he's a high priority target off the waiver wire. could do worse is a hot hand play, but I want to treat Paul DeYoung as more than that. I mostly agree with you. I was just playing devil's advocate. I think in deeper leagues,

if you're looking for a middle infielder or some pop, that Cardinals lineup is getting hot again. So maybe the counting stats could be there. They certainly were on Sunday. Again, the name there, Paul DeYoung. Manny Machado, Scott finally placed on the IL on Friday with a fracture in his left hand. He spoke about that last week, how it seemed like that was likely to happen. It's possible he returns when first eligible on May 27th. I'm a little bit skeptical. but how do we replace him? Looking at the Waver Wire in shallower leagues, third base eligible players,

Ezekiel Duran stays hot this weekend with five hits, a home run, and a steal. He has still started every game since Corey Seeger has been back. 64% rostered. He's got that third base, outfield, and shortstop eligibility. Jake Berger in seven games since returning from the IL,

batting 423 with three homers, and we know he has some big exit velocity numbers this year. I just kind of worry about what happens when Eloy Jimenez returns, does Jake Berger still play every day? I hope so. I just don't know if that's going to be the case. It's a few weeks from happening, right? They said there's a chance this upcoming weekend, so with Eloy Jimenez. And then J.D. Davis had a big game on Sunday, and the overall numbers still look very good for

J.D. Davis. He went two for three with his eighth home run. How would you rank that group, Scott? If you're replacing Machado, you need a third basement, Duran, Berger, and Davis. Well, for this week, I'd go Berger, at least. He was one of my sleeper hitters for this week. White Sox have good matchups. He's probably of like, if we're talking rest of season type of replacement, and obviously we're not expecting Machado to be out that long, but just in terms of, you know, if you're

not thinking short term, Berger would probably be the last of the three. They're very close, though, in either context. I guess I'll go, well, let me see what the matchups are for this week. Okay. So if you're going this week. week, Burger 1, I would

say, Duran 2 and Davis 3. If you're thinking long term, I'll go Duran Davis Burger. But it's very close either way. I mean, if you have a strong favorite there,

you could talk me into it. Okay. And then in deeper leagues, I mentioned the name on Friday, but Jamer Candelario, he's out right now. His last seven games, he's batting 521 with two. homers, he's 18% rostered, and Kyle Farmer in the month of May, since returning from the IL, 11 games, he's hitting 381 with two homers and a 983 OPS. So let's say deeper leagues here, Scott.

Kyle Farmer or Candelario. I will say Candelario for this week. The twins have the very worst hitter matchups, and the nationals have good hitter matchups. It's not, you know, we don't need to engage in single factor analysis here, but neither of these players are especially high end. They're both hot. And Candelario is much better matchup. So let's go with him. All right. Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll get into the rest of the news and notes. I've got some leftovers. We'll do all that right after this. Welcome back and let's get into the news and notes from the weekend. Jacob de Grom will throw a third bullpen session on Monday. And he could possibly throw to live hitters by the end of the week. Still remains without a timetable for now. Logan Webb left

Saturday start with lower back tightness. He told reporters he doesn't expect to miss a start, but I guess it's somewhat up in the air right now. Scott, do you start Logan Webb at the Brewers this week? I would depend to what my alternatives were. If I could afford to play it safe, I would, but Webb's been on a great run. So if you'd have to put somebody risky in instead, then I think I'd just stick with them. Worst case scenario, you get nothing. But there are a lot worse outcomes than Nothing, especially this year. As we have seen. Carlos Rodon threw from 120 feet and then went back to New York Saturday to continue his rehab.

The hope is that Rodon is nearing mound work. Like de Grom remains without a timetable. Jose Altuve made his return on Friday. He picked up two hits, a run and an RBI in three games. Byron Buxton was removed Saturday with tightness in his calf and was out of the lineup on Sunday. Same question there, Scott. Do you play it safe maybe and leave Bucson on the bench for this week? Yeah, yeah, I think that's an easier call.

Again, it always comes down to who you could start instead, but probably said Buxton. All right, Tyler Glassnow made his fourth rehab start at AAA on Sunday. Actually did not see the results of that start, but assuming that his body responds well, he could return next weekend against the Dodgers. Let's play it safe. Don't throw Glassnow back into your lineups yet,

but it would be good news to obviously get him back. White Sox manager, Pedro Grifold, said on Friday that there is no set date for Liam Hendricks to return. And I'm not really sure where they're at with that because Hendricks struggled in the minors. And then he threw a live bullpen session on Thursday. And then this news came out. So for the time being, it looks like Kendall Graven will be the White Sox de facto closer. I got an update for you on Glass Now's line from today.

You ready? What do you got? Six innings. Two hits. One run. Two walks, six strikeouts. And to get through those six innings, He only needed 67 pitches.

48 of them were first strikes. I was about saying something I shouldn't. But yes, that is very encouraging for Tyler Glass now. I love to see it. Matthew Liberator pitched out of the bullpen on Sunday. Scott, what are the Cardinals doing? Welcome to the latest episode of what are the Cardinals doing. Well, I read this was a possibility going to the weekend.

He would be available if needed out of the bullpen. But the plan was still for him to make a start if he wasn't needed. So I don't know. I guess now we don't know when he's going to start. They do have five healthy starters, so they don't need him to start this time through. But they're trying to figure out a way to have their cake and eat it too with him.

And once again, it backfired, considering he gave up two runs in his inning of work or whatever it was. Who's to say what he would do in his next start? But I just find the way the raise with Taj, Bradley and the Cardinals with Liberator. The way that they've handled these young pitching prospects, you know, Taj Bradley was pitching well. They send them down.

Liberator, great first start. They use them out of the bullpen. It's like, you have starters that are actively hurting your team right now, and instead of using Liberator, you're using those players. So it's just very confusing usage, in my opinion. Justin Turner left Friday's game with left knee soreness and then missed both Saturday and Sunday. AJ Puck has up to his throwing distance to 90 feet.

it's positive news, but he remains without a time day bill. Brett Beatty could shift to left field on occasion as the Mets try to find ways to get Mark Vientos into the lineup. Vientos has started just two of four games since getting called up. Astros GM Dana Brown said Lance McCullors's return is probably somewhere closer to the All-Star break or after. So this is weird, Scott, because it seemed like things were trending up for McCullors, and then out of nowhere, it just kind of hit a wall and maybe even went backwards. Apparently there's a report Liberator might pitch Wednesday still. That was the only thing I'm seeing on Twitter is that was somebody reported that before the game even started this.

If he came out of the bullpen today, he'd still likely pitch Wednesday at Cincinnati. So that might be. So he still might get a turn. I don't know that I'd want to use him. But they might get to have their cake and eat it too. Yeah. Look, Libertor only threw one inning on Sunday. so I guess theoretically he still could start.

Yeah, like his regular throw day or whatever. All right, so who did you actually ask me about? I was looking at it. Lance McCullors. Oh, yeah, he might not be back till after the All-Star break. Yeah, it's kind of a mess. Forget that. Yeah, I mean, I had, I'd been stashing in the TGFBI,

which is one of those 15-18 leagues where you don't have IL spots. No more. I dropped them. Yeah, I have an I-L spot. He should be a good pitcher when he returns, but that may be two months away still. Yeah, same. I actually was stashing him in that same exact league, and I dropped him for Brandon Williamson.

Let's see how that works out. Wade Miley is likely to be scheduled, likely to be sidelined, six to eight weeks with a strained rib cage. Seth Brown will rejoin the A's on Monday and is 22% rostered. For those in deeper category leagues, there is some power and speed there with Seth Brown.

Derek Hall is getting close to a rehab assignment for the Phillies. He's not eligible to return from the 60-day I-Eye. until early June. Aaron Hicks was designated for assignment by the Yankees. Greg Allen was recalled. Eric Hosmer was designated for assignment by the Cubs, which makes you feel a touch better about Matt Mervis' job security

throughout his struggles. Hunter Gadditz is expected to start Monday for the Guardians. Some suspected it could have been prospect Gavin Williams, but Aaron Savali is close to returning, so I don't think it makes much sense to rush Gavin Williams to the majors yet. Joey Avato took live batting practice with AAA this weekend and could begin a rehab assignment soon. He's eligible to return May 30th.

Doesn't mean that will happen, but Scott, this does throw a bit of a wrench in things for the Christian Incarnation Schran promotion if somehow Joey Votto makes it back to the team. Yeah, it does. I'm starting to lose a little bit of faith there that that's going to happen soon. Of course, you never really know.

I can speak to that. we try to read into the signs. Like, for instance, another discouraging sign here is that he's played mostly third base at AAA lately, a lot less first base than he was playing originally. So it doesn't seem like they're preparing him to take over a first base in the near term. But who knows? Again, that is Christian Ancarnassion. And Cran, Ken Giles signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers and players who went to the IEL.

this weekend, Cody Bellinger with a left knee contusion that's retroactive to May 16th. Mike Clevenger with right wrist inflammation also retroactive to May 18th. Lamont Wade with right wrist inflammation. Brad Keller with a right shoulder impingement. Peyton Battenfield with right shoulder inflammation. Zach Jackson with a flexor strain and Ross Tripling with a lower back strain. Joey Bart with a left groin strain. Scott Luis Severino made his debut on Sunday and he looked pretty good. At the Reds, four and two thirds, one run allowed, five strikeouts with 12 swinging strikes on 75 pitches.

Velocity looked good. He didn't throw the cutter in this start. It was a pitch that he used sparingly last year, didn't allow any hard contact. Do you start him at home this week against the San Diego Padres? I wouldn't mind it. I was pretty encouraged by this start. He got, oh, I didn't write down the number here. See if I can find it real quick.

So his change-up velocity was down notably from last year, nearly two miles per hour. But it was down to the same velocity it was in 2017, which was his best season. And, you know, having lower velocity on your change-up isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be a good thing. And notably, his fastball got eight of his 12 whiffs on this one. if he was, if that lower velocity on the change-up helped the fastball to play up,

you know, it could be a really good thing. It could be by design. And as I said, the only time he's had is a similar change-up velocity, the only year where he's had similar change-up velocity was 2017, which was his best year on record. So even apart from that, it was encouraging for Severino, but maybe that's another reason to be encouraged. So we threw 75 pitches in this one.

I would imagine his next start, maybe he's in the 80 to 90s. 90 range. So yeah, you know, 5, 6 inning, something like that. The Padres have struggled against right-handed pitching this year, so I'm not really worried about the matchup. Right. No, it's, it's, I think the Padres offense is going to get better, but it's been bad so far. So it's, you could view it as a favorable matchup, even. Starters sit these pitchers. Bryce Miller turned into quality start at the Braves this weekend, six and a third, three runs, four strikeouts. Did allow nine hard hits and used his fastball 78% of the time.

Scott, it's kind of getting a little confusing to analyze Bryce Miller. I guess that's the word that I would use. He's going up against Oakland this week, so I think we're still starting him. But yeah, he's kind of an odd one so far. Yeah, I think you could make a strong sell-high case for Bryce Miller. He just, he hasn't, he hasn't been much of a bat misser since his very first start. And, you know, George Kirby was able to keep going it, keep it going as a rookie last year, low swinging strike rate, mostly just fast.

balls. Maybe Bryce Miller can do the same, but if you can get a good return for him, I think it's worth exploring. Okay. Alec Menoa actually turned in a solid start up against the Orioles this weekend. Five and two-thirds, two runs allowed, five strikeouts. Did allow eight hard hits in this one. Only one walk obviously helps a bunch. I assume that we are benching him at Tampa Bay this week. Manoa against Tampa Bay. No, I'd encouraging results this time. Step in the right direction. they're issuing only one walk in five and two-thirds innings. But with that matchup, it's not enough for me to feel comfortable using up again. I think you could say the same thing about Grayson Rodriguez, five innings, two runs, six strikeouts at Toronto this weekend, but also allowed nine hard hits and is going up against the Rangers, which has been a great offense and they just got Corey Seeger back.

So that's a note for me. That's a bench guy. Right. I agree. Lance Lynn put together two quality starts this past week, so hopefully this is the start. of like good Lancelan pitching rest of season. The turnaround. Let's go. He's at the Tigers this week. That's a thumbs up, right?

Oh, for sure. And your boy, Jack Flaherty. I don't know if he's actually your boy, but you hyped him up recently. Four and two thirds, three runs aloud. Four more walks in this one. He's at the Guardians, which is a good matchup. But again, we got bad Jack Flaherty.

Yeah. I do have him on the sleeper pitchers for next week still because that matchup is so good. but I said when we talked about it on Friday's show, a lot of it hinged on how this follow-up start went over the weekend. It was funny because, you know, I was monitoring the start through four innings. He looked great. It's like, oh, yes, Flaherty, he's back.

Look what he's doing against the Dodgers even. And then the fifth inning came. He issued three of his four walks in the fifth inning alone. So kind of makes you wonder how we'd feel about the start if they pulled him after four. why would they pull him after four, I understand. Only 59.2% of his pitches in this start ended up being for strikes, which is still really bad and a lot closer to his season mark than last start was. So I'm very skittish about Flaherty again, but the matchup is really good.

All right, let's wrap up with some leftovers here, Scotty. Studs being studs on the pitcher side of things, Shane O. Mac. Here comes the money. Here we go. Money talks. Here comes the money. Shane McClanahan up against the Brewers this weekend. Seven shutout with seven strikeouts for him.

Joe Ryan, another strong start at the Angels. Six innings, three runs. Two of those were earned, nine strikeouts to one walk. Mitch Keller now has eight plus strikeouts in five straight. Up against the Diamondbacks, six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. And Aaron Ola had his best start of the season up against the Cubs. Seven innings, two runs, ten strikeouts to just one walk.

Anything on this group's got. Ryan Keller and Nola. I think Nola's needed the most, had the most to prove, I would say, because he, his year, you know, he's had stretches where he struggled with the ERA before struggled to keep the ball in the park, but he wasn't missing bats like we're used to seeing Aaron Nola do,

whether you're talking about swinging strike rate, whether you're talking about good old strikeout rate. In this start against the Cubs, struck out 10 and 7 innings, had 15 swinging strikes on 98 pitches. The velocity was up half a mile per hour to a mile per hour on everything. He looked more like the Aeronola we know and love.

So I hope that it gets him back to A. standing here. The others just continue to do what they've been doing. Mitch Keller, the strikeout rate has been great, even though the swinging strike rate has been very pedestrian. But it's been a career high. swinging straightout rate. So, you know, there are different ways you could look at that for Keller. I think ultimately there's just a lot more reason to be invested in him to be encouraged by this, than by what he's been doing, the not. All right. Studs being studs part two. Kevin Gosman turns in

another great start up against the Orioles. Eight innings, two runs, four strikeouts. Max Scherzer had a strong start on Sunday against the Guardian, six shut out with five strikeouts. For Amber Valdez hurled a four-hit shutout against the Oakland A's seven strikeouts to zero walks the second shutout of his career and Shohei Otani bounced back up against the twins

six innings one run nine strikeouts to three walks anything on this group's got Otani Valdez Scher and Gosman I will just point out that I've noticed Gosman's velocity has been up substantially for a few starts in a row now

this, let's see, it was four starts in a row. And in this start, it was up between 1.2, 1.7 miles per hour on everything. And previous starts has been up more than that. Of course, the thing is when your velocity is up by a certain mile per hour, it brings up the season average. So it may just be that he's been throwing, you know, his velocity jumped by a couple miles per hour four starts ago and it stayed up that high.

So I don't know what to make of that. I mean, obviously he's pitching well. so it can't be a bad thing. Yeah. There was a pitching duel on Sunday night baseball between Justin Verlander and Shane Bieber. Bieber went eight innings, two runs, four strikeouts, and Verlander on the other side,

eight innings, one run with five strikeouts to zero walks. Obviously, a very welcome site for Bolt Scott. What do you think? Yeah, I have more optimism for Verlander continuing to perform like an ace than Bieber. We've talked about our concerns for Bieber, and that hasn't changed. I mean, he only had four strikeouts and eight innings in this one. His whiff rate on the slider was 28%.

His whiff rate on the curveball, 17% in this star. Both of them were closer to 40 last year, which helped him survive with a reduced fastball velocity. So I don't know how this is going to end for Bieber, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yeah, we saw that in his previous outing, too, when he got rocked as well. That was the first shoe. Yes.

When will the other shoe drop? It's a fair question. Not quite studs, but they're pitching like it. Let's take a look at this group. George Kirby, another quality start at the Braves. Seven innings, three runs, six strikeouts, and his velocity was up across the board. The fastball was up 1.7 miles per hour in this start.

Justin Steele, another great one. Six shutout with six strikeouts at the Phillies. And Hunter Brown had a strong start up against the Oakland A's. Six innings, two runs, nine strikeouts to zero. Anything you'd like to add on that group? Scott, Kirby, Steele, Brown. Well, it was nice to see Steele bounce back from what was only his

second, or I'm sorry, what was only his first bad start of the year. He bounced back from it. That was good to see. Hunter Brown now, he entered last start with an 11.2% swinging strike rate. It was pretty pedestrian. 19 swinging strikes in that start,

and you pointed out 15 swinging strikes in this start. So that number appears to be on rise for him. And that's a good trend. We'll see if it continues for Hunter Brown. This next group, Logan Gilbert, had a great start at the Braves. Six innings, two runs, nine strikeouts. He did allow some hard contact. But change up the pitch mix a little bit. He severely lowered his four-scene fastball usage, and he more than doubled his splitter usage. It was a great pitch. Eight whiffs, 36% CSW. Chris Sale stays hot, Scott. Revenge Week continues. Last six starts for sale 305 ERA, a 0.89 whip, 10.1K per 9.

And Pablo Lopez bounced back at the Angels, six innings, two runs, nine strikeouts. Anything on Lopez, Sale, Gilbert. Got to say, a lot of those roto teams of mine that were struggling. They're starting to climb. They're starting to climb in the standings. And I think Chris Sale's performance is a big reason why. really happy with the way things are going for him. All right.

What is wrong with this last group here, Scott? Sandy Alcantra has just one quality start in his last five outings. He's at the Giants this weekend. You know, not one of the better offenses in baseball. Five and two thirds, four runs allowed, five strikeouts to three walks, still had 17 swinging strikes. And Joe Musgrove, another subpar outing up against the Red Sox, five innings, four runs, six strikeouts to one walk.

He is at the Yankees this week. Do you start Musgrove in that spot at the Yankees? I don't think I would if I could help it. I don't know that anything's that wrong with either of these two. I mean, Alcantra has a much higher, we have much higher expectations for him. He's a much higher talent level. There are a few pitchers you can compete with Alcantra's talent level. So I don't see anything that wrong.

Obviously, the results aren't where we want them to be, I think if you just stay patient with him, he'll come out of it. And you'll be happy with the final outcome. And I think that's true for Musgrove, too. I mean, Musgrove, obviously, we're still talking about a really small sample for him. It is, I think part of the reason we saw pitchers struggle so badly early, I mean, obviously there were some environmental changes at work there. But, and maybe they were just having to adapt to that.

And Musgrove is still in the early stages of it because of all the injury time he missed. So I'd be patient with him, but if you can afford to send him for now, it's not a bad idea. A few bullpen updates here, Scott. On Friday, Jason Adam pitched in the eighth inning with a one-run lead. Pete Fairbanks got the ninth, picked up his fourth save. And then on Saturday, I assume they don't want to use Fairbanks on back-to-back days yet. Jason Adam entered the ninth, but two runners on with a four-run lead. He picked up his sixth save of the season.

Do you have a lean here on which way this goes, or do you need to just kind of chop it up, maybe split the saves with Adam and Fairbanks? I think Fairbanks is the one to have that Adam's save Saturday was pretty unconventional but I do worry that he's going to interfere with Fairbanks more than before Fairbanks injury Okay for the Guardians on Friday This is kind of a sneaky storyline right now Scott

Emmanuel Class A entered in the 10th inning with a two-run lead He gave up three runs on four hits Took his fifth blown save and fourth loss of the season He's got a 352 ERA a 1.3 whip And his K-per-9 and swinging strike rate are way down from last year. I know relievers, it's smaller sample sizes that we're dealing with, but any concern here for a manual class A

was likely draft it as the top closer in fantasy? A little bit. A little bit. I mean, every closer is just a bad week away from losing his job, right? His average fastball velocity, which is actually a cutter, in his case, is also down more than a mile per hour from a year ago. which might have something to do with those numbers. I mean, Slider, the same thing. That's his better swing and miss pitch.

So he does seem a little bit off here in the early going. It's still relatively early. And he's a pitcher who can do well on contact. But there's a little bit of concern, sure. For the Nationals on Saturday, Hunter Harvey pitched in the eighth inning with a two-run lead. Kyle Finnegan pitched in the ninth with a three-run lead and picked up his ninth save.

And then on Sunday, Kyle Finninginigan came in. And in the sixth inning of that game, he recorded five outs. Hunter Harvey later would pitch in the ninth and pick up his second save. Obviously, the nationals are not a great team. But in deeper leagues, I have some Kyle Finnegan, and I'm starting to think, you know, maybe they'll just use them in some higher leveraged spots and he'll lose out on some saves and Hunter Harvey will gain some. Well, that's what they said coming into the year.

And that may be what's happening here. It's also worth pointing out that Kyle Finnegan has an ERA. I was going to say that he stinks. He has an ERA over five. Meanwhile, Hunter Harvey, whose dad, former All-Star Closer Brian Harvey, by the way. So he's got closing in his jeans, Hunter Harvey this year has a 3-ERA.95 whip and 24 strike gets a 21 innings. So things may be starting to shift his way a little too early to say. I think Finnegan still the Nationals reliever to have.

But they've, they've been trying out Harvey a little more at the end of games. For the Diamondbacks on Saturday, Andrew Chafin entered in the eighth inning with a two-run lead to face the heart of the Pirates lineup. He did give up a run. Miguel Castro got the ninth and struck out three for his fourth save of the season. And I asked the Welsh about this last week and he said, yeah, it's kind of like a, you know, closer by committee type approach. And Chafin, they'll use him in bigger spots earlier.

And I think as a result, Miguel Castro is going to earn some. saves if you're looking for those in deeper leagues. For the Yankees, Scott, we keep trying to figure out what's happening here on Saturday. Michael King pitched the seventh in the eighth inning with the game tied. Clay Holmes then pitched in the ninth, and Ryan Weber pitched the 10th.

Once they took the lead, picked up his first save of the season. And then on Sunday, Wondie Peralta pitched in the eighth inning with a three-run lead. Clay Holmes got the ninth inning. A lot two hits and a walk, but did escape with his fifth save of the season and his first since April 12th.

I think it's very up in the air right now. I think it's some kind of combo of King, Clay Holmes, Wondie Peralta. Yeah, I agree. Yep. All right, and then let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream, Scott, on Monday. The name's that look most attractive, Dane Dunning at the Pirates, and Michael Lorenzen at KC. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I have them both as sleeper pitchers this. We can part because they're two start options, and obviously this is a different exercise here. But yeah, I like their matchups, and they're good enough to take advantage of them. On Tuesday, the names I was looking at most, Logan Allen against the White Sox.

Yeah, that's fine. Brian Beow at the Angels. I don't love the matchup, but I like the way Bayo has been pitching recently. ESPN has Liberator at the Reds. I don't know if he's actually going to start on Tuesday, though. It sounds like Wednesdays more likely. Uh, yeah, if you want to go, if you need to go real deep, Ryan Weathers at Washington, you could think about him.

Marco Gonzalez against the A's. Not with the way he's been pitching lately. Yeah, I don't think so. All right. Well, we're going to wrap 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.

We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.