Fantasy Baseball Today - Kyle Bradish Dominates, Prospect Promotions & Week 26 Sleepers (9/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

Kyle Bradish came within one out of a shutout against the Astros (2:53)! ... Kolten Wong hit a triple dong on Thursday (7:12). ... Drop Dustin May for Hunter Greene or Marcus Stroman (10:15)? ... Joey 'Two Hits' Meneses stayed hot (17:50). Who is Matt Wallner? ... Ezequiel Tovar was called up by the Rockies (23:00). ... News (29:50): Julio Rodriguez is headed for an MRI on his back. ... Which sleeper pitchers and hitters should you target for Week 26 (37:38)? ... Zack Wheeler and Luis Severino are back (47:10). ... We wrap with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (48:55). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection 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

Been to Fantasy Baseball today on September 23rd. He is Scott White, I am Frank Stanful, and today on the show, we've got two days of baseball to recap. Zach Wheeler and Luis Severino are back. We've got a few prospect promotions, do they matter? And, week 26 sleepers. Scott, before we even get into the action, I did notice that your week 26 sleepers are for basically the final

week and a half, right? So... Yeah. And why is it? 10 days. And why is it like that? Just asking. Because I assume that's the last scoring period in most leagues.

Yeah. I mean, I'd imagine for most head-to-head leagues. Roto lineups, you probably still set twice, I would imagine, next week, and then the short week after that. So it's weird because we're playing three extra days of baseball, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, into October because of the holdout because we got started a little bit later. So that's why it's kind of like the schedule is broken down weird, this, this late the season, but in case you're wondering, that's why we won't have our full allotment of,

you know, Fortune Favors the Brave and all those kind of fun things because, um, yeah, it is, it is abnormal for the season to end on a Wednesday, pretty much always ends on a Sunday. And, uh, you know, obviously that, that goes back to the, to the lockout and them having to start the season later. That means an extra series was, was tacked on to the end. and so that's why we get kind of this awkward finish. But that's a good point. Let me check. Okay, so I'm checking my roto leagues here

because, yeah, there would be, I mean, look, even in a head-to-head league, you could make one three-day scoring period at the end or just eliminate those three games altogether. True. I am checking, though, to see, let's see, I'm not finding this very easily. Advanced Schedule Editor, let's look at that.

Okay, so even in Roto League, at least on CBS, it looks like the default is to have that be just one long scoring period at the end. All right, fair enough. So that is the reason why we're doing it that way. And that means most, not all, but most pitchers will have two starts next week. Let's get into the past couple days of baseball.

Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, you are up. We were talking beforehand, and you have chosen the Olive Garden breadstick. Who is it? It's Kyle Braddish. Oh, yeah. Kyle Braddish had another great start.

He's had a few of these lately. It was against the Astros. Came within it out of a two-hit shutout. It only ended up making it eight and two-thirds innings. Did not allow a run. Struck out 10 again against the Astros of all teams. Despite having 10 strikeouts, he only had 11 swinging strikes, which, you know, isn't particularly impressive.

and his swinging strike rate for the year isn't particularly impressive either. But now in his past six starts, Kyle Bradish has a 164 ERA and a 0.78 whip. Only seven strikeouts per nine innings. So I'm generally reluctant to buy into a pitcher who is bad at strikeouts. Like, you can be just okay at strikeouts and maybe be good,

but to be not very good at strikeouts. Like, generally, the only way you get away with that in the modern game is you're either exceptional at generating ground balls and or an exceptional strike thrower. And so far, Bradish has been neither of those. You look at his numbers in the minor leagues, though, so we only got six starts there this year. But last year, 11.8K per 9 between AA and AAA.

Let me see if I can look up the swinging strike rate real quick, because sometimes strikeout rates can be deceptively high or low in the minors. So, okay, and in between, in the minors last year, But yeah, it was only an 11% swinging strike rate. So that's interesting, even though he had more than 11K per 9. And I should point out also, his whip was really high last year in the minors because the walks were so high. So control issues here with Kyle Bradish, not an exceptional.

He's pretty, he's okay at ground balls, but it's not like he's a standout in that area. I'm not seeing a lot to get excited about here. even though he's had the success of late, there will come a point, like if this spills over into next year, if he continues to do things like this, where I'm going to have to take him seriously in spite of that. But right now, I'm not particularly motivated to move Kyle Bradish way up the rankings

or anything like that. Shout out to the Orioles, man. What they've done with their pitching staff this year, I know the alterations to the ballpark definitely have helped in that regard. but that doesn't tell the whole story. I mean, you don't turn around this drastically just by moving the wall back. But yeah, a lot of their pitchers

have turned out to be fantasy viable, you know, mostly as streamers throughout the course of the season. But Kyle Bradish, yeah, once again, amazing in this start against the Astros. And I did have numbers over the last six starts, Scott. 1.65 ERA. I already gave him.

Oh, there you go. Look at you. You give them again. No, no. It may not have been listening to me. No, it's fine. It's fine. I should have been listening to you.

That's the point. problem. But I do find it kind of interesting that despite having a pretty solid swinging strike rate during that stretch, he's not getting more strikeouts. You know, sometimes it happens that way for pitchers. Like maybe they're sequencing. You know, they just can't finish batters off in that way. But I think, you know, based on a swinging strike rate, maybe we should see a little bit more strikeouts from Kyle Bradish. He is 21% rostered and his last two starts at the Red Sox and at the Yankees. So while, again, amazing start, not sure that I want to trust Kyle Bradish with those two

matchups in the final week of the season. So maybe you can do it in like deeper leagues, but your traditional 12 team or points leagues, probably not adding Kyle Bradish there. Oh my goodness gracious for me is one Colton Wong, three for four with a triple dong here on Thursday, which brings him to 15 home runs. He also has 15 steals on the season. He's been Colton Wong. Rock solid middle infielder

hits around 250. Again, little pop, little speed. I thought he would have had better counting stats, frankly, because I thought the Brewers were going to be a lot better. Don't tell anybody, but they were one of my World Series picks coming into the season. Not great. But he is 78% rostered.

Could be out there in some shallower league, Scott. Let's say 12-team points league, he's available. Is he someone that maybe you would look to add in a shallower format for this final week and a half? Okay, so let me look at the matchups here for the Brewers, kind of middling. Yeah, they're not in your best or worst matchups,

so I was going to ask you where they kind of rank in that mix. Yeah, you know, there are other second base eligible players I'd recommend ahead of Colton Wong if you're looking for them, and if you're looking for one, and we'll get to them a little bit later in the show. You know, he's in, 78% rostered. I think that basically sums it up. That's the kind of player he is where it'd have to be a pretty deep league for me to call him a must-starter, or even must-rostered, but at the same time, you could do a lot worse.

I was so surprised Scott to see that Whitmeryfield was still rostered in 80% of CBS leagues. I know he was drafted early, but the guy has not been playing consistently now. That might change because Santiago Espinall went on the IL, and Whitmeryfield did hit a double dong here on Thursday, so maybe he's, He could finish out strong, but man, I was surprised to see he was still rostered in that many leagues. Let's just say, you know, final week and a half here, would you rather have Colton Wong or Whitmeryfield? I would rather have Colton Wong because at least he plays with some regularity. Yeah, I mean, Whitmeryfield. I wrote about him in a Dynasty Stockwatch the other day, and he's not a young guy, so maybe it's weird to write about him in a Dynasty Stockwatch.

But, I mean, I just think Woodmerfield's done as a fantasy asset. I mean, maybe. maybe at some point next year he'll be kind of a he'll get enough playing time that he could be I don't know like a 15 team steel specialist but I don't think he's going to play enough to be this like integral part of a fantasy lineup the blue jays just don't seem to have that kind of use for him and he's not at an age where they're going to take a longer look at him next year

if they're not using him in that role now the blue jays will have a 20, club option on Whitmerryfield. And his base salary is $2.75 million, which is pretty low, with $4 million worth of incentive. So I think he'll wind up back with Toronto,

but maybe it's not a guarantee. We'll see what happens here in the offseason for Whitmeryfield. Let's talk more about some waiver wire pitcher, Scott. We mentioned Kyle Bradish here up at the top. I think the other two names that really stand out, just from a shallow league perspective, Hunter Green, strong start once again

against the Brewers. He went five innings, two runs, eight strikeouts in that one, 21 swinging strikes, 16 coming on the fastball. He is 70% rostered and looks like his final two starts at the Pirates and home against the Cubs. Marcus Stroman is the other one. Again, shallow league,

65% rostered. I did turn in a quality start on Wednesday against the Marlins. He went six innings, three runs, seven strikeouts, and in 14 starts since returning to the Cubs, I believe he was on the before that a 2.87 ERA 1.14 whip for Marcus Stroman so he has I know he's had some ups and downs but overall the collective is he's been pretty good dating back to

July or so he's got who would you rather have Hunter Green Marcus Strowman and I don't know so Kyle Bradish in that mix would he rank over either of those oh no those two would definitely be ahead of him in fact Hunter Green and Marcus Stroman are both among my sleeper pitchers for next week let's go yeah i mean hunter green like these two starts off the iL he's looked as good as he has

all year in fact uh well i know the 11 strikeouts last time out was his new high and uh follows it up with an eighth strikeout performance i mean in five innings that's really good and then he gets two amazing matchups the final week of the season presuming you're treating it like one long

scoring period. You mentioned pirates and cubs. Now there is some uncertainty how the Reds are going to handle their rotation. They could go six-man with Graham Ashcraft coming back. I suspect they won't that they'll bump either

Chase Anderson or Luis former Yankee. What's his name? Louis Sessa. Yeah, Luis Sessa. They'll bump one of them is my suspicion, but it's possible Green doesn't make that first start against the Pirates, and instead he makes two starts against the Cubs. That'd still be really favorable.

All right. I do have four other names here. More so for deeper leagues got, but Mitch Keller turned in another quality start against the Cubs. He went six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts in that one, 29% rostered. Jordan Lyles threw a complete game against the Tigers on Wednesday. He allowed three hits, one run, six strikeouts. And even with that, His ERA is 4.50 on the season. He's 36% rostered. James Caprillion has allowed two earn runs or fewer in five of his last six starts.

The one that he didn't, he allowed eight earned runs. So I'm not sure that we are in love with James Caprilyan. And then Hayden Wisniewski, he's looked very good so far for the Cubbies. Came over in the, I want to say the Scott Frosch trade with the Yankees. And he went six and a third, two runs loud, six strikeouts.

And he's just 11% rostered. It's got more so deeper, leagues and anything, but you like any of these. Mitch Keller, Jordan Liles, James Caprillion, Hayden Wisniewski. You know, I don't think I like any of them for next week. I'm double checking what Keller's matchups are. I have the Reds and Cardinals. Yeah, those aren't, well, Cardinals are pretty tough. You know, a pretty good matchup in there, a pretty bad matchup in there. I think he's usable. He's had five straight quality starts now.

This is Mitch Keller. We're talking about five straight quality starts. It's with a 203 ERA, an even one whip, and an even strikeout per inning. And just pretty good numbers. It's one of the best stretches we've ever seen for Mitch Keller. But he does pitch for the Pirates, and, you know, he's Mitch Keller. He's driven as crazy all year. I don't, you know, I'd rather not be in a position where I have to even consider him.

And he isn't among my 10 sleeper pitchers for this week. But he is possibly trending a good direction here. If we think about him maybe being an asset on some level in 2023. Hayden West Nesky is maybe the most exciting of this group. Again, not so much for the last week of the season. but just in terms of, you know, he's reached the majors and has looked really good right away. Now, when you look at the underlying numbers,

the things I like to lean on, like ground ball rate and swinging strike rate and all of that, there's not a lot that stands out there. And even in the minors, he wasn't a big strikeout pitcher, but the scouting reports seemed more, they expressed an optimism beyond the production.

that I think has to be factored in with Hayden West Nesky, especially as he's finding success. I'll also mention here James Caprillion because he has had back-to-back good starts and an arsenal change during that time throwing his slider more. That may, you know, there may be something to it.

I'm sorry, that wasn't the arsenal change. She actually has been throwing a sinker more and dispensing with the four seamer. And he's had some vulnerability to the long ball, so that kind of switch might make sense for James Caprillion. And I mentioned him also because he has two good matchups, final week of the season, Angels and Mariners. Wasn't good enough to get him in my 10 sleeper pitchers for next week, but it at least had him on the fringes. So if you're in a deep league or really desperate for volume, I don't, I don't, I don't, like James Caprillion that much, but you could at least think about it. You know, talking about his pitch makes reminded me a point I wanted to make about Kyle Bradish is at least in this start,

he completely faded his fastball, and he went heavy into his slider and his curveball, and he did increase his sinker usage. So if nothing else, that slider looks like a pretty good pitch for Kyle Bradish, but we'll see if he can obviously build off that down the stretch here. I did want to ask you about Dustin May. Scott, we got an email asking about whether, you know, we need to hold on to Dustin May for his final two starts, which looks like they're at the Padres and home against the Rockies. So, frankly, pretty good matchups, but he has not been good himself. He gave up five runs over four innings pitched against the Diamondbacks, and now in six starts, Dustin May has a 4.50 ERA, the FIP, the XFIP, both over four as well. He's walking way too many batters over four

walks per nine. What do you think about Dustin May? Do we have to hold him or can we maybe drop him for a Hunter Green or Marcus Strowman set? Yeah, I mean, I'd rather start either of those two in the final week than, than Dustin May. I do think there is some danger of you dropping him, somebody melts picking him up and getting two great starts out of him, but you know, you only have so much roster space. And if you have a better use for that spot, I think, I think it's okay to drop Dustin May. Just not in a position where we can trust him right now. I'll tell you what to do, Scott. You drop him on Sunday night so that he can't be picked up by another team. If you want to drop Dustin May, that is. Let's talk about a few other waiver wire hitters. Colton Wong, obviously,

we mentioned 78% rostered. I have a few other shallow league names. Josh Donaldson showing some signs of life here down the stretch. He went three for five with a run and an RBI. His last 15 games, he's hitting 276 with three homers and an 824 OPS. He's 68% rostered. Taylor Ward also coming back to life. His last 15 games hitting 377, 2 home runs, a 980 OPS. 67% rostered for him. And Joey 2 hits.

That's right. Joey Minesis, he went 2 for 4 with his 10th home run on Wednesday. Now batting 328 with 927 A927 OPS. So you know what, Scott, you could take your tough matchups, and Joey Minesis is going to mash against everyone. It doesn't matter who they are. He continues to clean up all of our messes. He is 51% rostered.

How would you rank those three, Scott? I guess just for the final week and a half. Donaldson, Taylor Ward, Joey Meneses. Well, I actually have ranked them for the final week because two of them are in my 10 sleeper hitters and one was slightly left out. So I rank them Joey Meneses. Again, the matchups aren't great,

but he's hitting 328 with a 927. PS. So I'm kind of wondering if we should just give him the stud treatment at this point, even though he's only 51% rostered. And, you know, I'm not saying he's a stud for next year or anything, but like he just continues to get it done. So join Manessus won, Taylor Ward, with this strong finish and really good matchups for the Angels next week. So they're playing nine games, six of them against the A's, and the other three against the Rangers. Nice. And the Yankees are pretty good in matchups next week, too,

but Josh Donaldson missed the cut, just slightly. All right, well, speaking of those Yankees, I do have three names in deeper leagues, and Oswaldo Cabrera is coming to life recently as well. He went two for five with a grand slam on Wednesday. That was his third home run of the season. He added five RBI in that game. He's 9% of roster.

He's got second base and outfield eligibility. Matt Walner, someone who kind of stuck under the radar here, Scott. this one, apologies. The twins number five prospect in their organization. He was called up last week and he's playing pretty well.

Seven games so far. He's hit 320, one homer and 890 OPS. Pretty strong numbers in the minors as well this season. He's only 2% rostered. The name there Matt Walner. And Edward Olivares,

who I don't know what the guy needs to do to just get a chance, but it looks like he's getting a chance once again. I feel like every time this happens and he plays well, the Royals just find a way to send him back down.

but he hit his fourth home run and has started five straight has at least one hit in each of those games so any interest got again deep leagues five outfielder 15 teams something like that as Waldo Cabrera Matt Walner

and Edward Olivares you know I wrote about Matt Walner Walner and the final prospects report which was no name prospects for deeper dynasty leagues that's how I kind of framed it and I included Walner in there

and I hadn't noticed he was called up either I just flew out under the radar, right? I think maybe than a lot of the news aggregators out there have devoted a lot of their resources to football or something. So baseball is just getting short shrift. And that's because Matt Walner is not the only one I've noticed that with. It's like, oh, that's actually a prospect I've heard of. Why did I not hear about him getting called up?

But yeah, Walner is, again, he's a no-name prospect for deeper dynasty leagues. really good power, really good walk rate, a lot of strikeouts. It's kind of like an Adam Dunn sort of profile. And Adam Dunn had a, you know, long career of fantasy relevance. He was kind of a punchline at times, but he was a quality fantasy option for a long time. And I'm not saying Matt Walner is going to live up to that, but that's the kind of profile he has. He hit two, despite hitting 277, he had a 412 on. based percentage in the miners, 27 home runs in 128 games.

And I think he was ended his time in the minors on a tear. Let me double check that. So I was pretty interested in him as the season wound down. But, you know, am I going to recommend him for the final week of the season? It'd have to be like a pretty deep five outfielder league for me to think about it. Twins matchups aren't bad. They're not particularly good either. but he has been playing every day, Walner, Walner, since being called up.

So in 13 September games in, I just said September, in AAA, rather, Matt Walner hit 333 with two homers and an 1,100 OPS. So, yeah, he was pretty hot down the stretch, a name that you can look at in deeper five outfieler leagues. Again, Matt Walner with the twins. And I do have some other prospects here, Scott. Ezekiel Tovar does indeed get the call by the Colorado Rock. The Rockies, the problem is that he's going to finish out the rest of this week in Corr's field, but if you play in a weekly league, you're not going to get any of that. And then the Rockies don't have any more home games after this.

So I don't know how excited we should be about this, but Tovar, a great prospect. You know, I think like a top 10, top 20 fantasy prospect, considered by many people. At this point, he hit 316 with 14 homers, 17 steals in 71 games between AA and AAA. Do you have any interest got in adding Ezekiel Sovar? It would have to be a pretty deep league and probably a daily lineup league. I think for me to devote a roster spot to him. Not only are we not going to see him at Coors Field, which maybe isn't that big of a deal because he's such a high-end prospect

and he hasn't played at Coors Field yet, so he's not going to have that course hangover. He's not going to suffer from that at this stage of his, you know, this might be the only time in his career where he's not going to feel that influence. So it may go fine, but then you run into the fact, okay, in the most important time of the year, you're putting a guy with who you haven't seen play a major league game yet in the lineup.

And we don't even know how much the Rockies are going to play him. Like, is he here to become their shortstop? Or do they just kind of want to let him get a feel for what it's like to be in the majors? Maybe they'll play him two or three times down the stretch, you know. I don't really know. so it's just it's just happening too late to care, I think. Yeah, that's fair.

And he was promoted on Thursday, not in the lineup. So there's nothing more Rockies than them calling up one of their top prospects and then not playing him down the stretch. So that would not surprise me either. We know that they have fumbled many young players over the past couple of seasons.

A few other names here, Scott. And ones that I do know that you like because we spoke about them on FBT and 5. Miles Mastrobone, is with the Tampa Bay race and Will Brennan in outfielder with the Guardians. They were both called up here. Not sure how much either one is going to play. Will Brennan was another one I missed.

I just noticed that today. Oh, when did they call him up? How did I miss that? Both of these players. So Master Woboni and Will Brennan of the guardians, not to be confused with Will Benson, who's another outfielder who was promoted earlier this year. Brennan is better, I think.

He went two for four in his debut. Kind of a Stephen Kwan profile. I have a feeling that's a comp I'm going to make with a lot of players over the years. I've made it for Sal Freelick of the Brewers before, too. It basically means really good contact skills and enough speed to be a factor in stolen bases. And, you know, the limited ceiling with that profile, but potential to be a useful fantasy player

if he plays enough. But, you know, that's still a big if. I think these guys, all of these guys are coming up too late for us to really get any use out of them this year. Plus, the Guardians play, they face five left-handers in their nine games next week and Brennan, being a left-handed batter,

I'm not, that makes it even less likely he's going to play all of those games. Okay. Masterobwony, it's a little less clear what kind of player he's going to be. Speedy, versatile. I think super utility is his role,

but how many of bats that translates to, particularly with the race, it's hard to say. He did start to show a little bit of pop this year, but I don't really think that's going to be his game. Yeah, I was going to say, so he's basically a Tampa Bay raise player, Scott. A super utility type that, you know,

could put the bat on the ball, he's got a little pop, he's got a little speed. It feels like they're always finding these players. So just a few names to remember. Let's see. Maybe if they play over the weekend a bit, then you do pick them up in deeper leagues for the final stretch.

Again, Miles Mastroboni and Will Brennan. And if it's more contact you want, Rob Manfred, I think we're going to get it, at least on the Guardians, between Brennan and Kwan, and then you mentioned Sal Freela coming up with the Brewers, hopefully sooner rather than later as well.

Before we hit the break, I do want to let everyone know the schedule for next week. Of course, we will have four podcasts for you and we'll be live on YouTube Sunday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night. So we won't be around on Monday night. There's only four games on the schedule on Monday,

so it feels appropriate to skip that day, if anything, and you will have an audio podcast in your feed Monday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, and Friday morning of next week. Let's take a break and we'll hit the news and notes here on Fantasy Baseball today. The news and notes. Julio Rodriguez exited Thursday's game with that recurring lower back injury and he will go for an MRI on Friday.

Not great because obviously he's been so instrumental in getting people this far in either their playoffs or their roto standings, high up into roto standings. And we need Julio, but we'll see what happens over the weekend for him. As a result, Jared Kellnick, well, you know what, Kellnick was recalled even before this injury. So it's not as a result. But Kellnick was recalled on Wednesday, and I guess he could see more playing time if Julio is out. And Kellnick went two for three with his fifth home run on Thursday. It was an impressive one, Scott. 108 exit velocity, 427 feet for Jared Kellnick.

It was at that launching pad on note. Oh, in Oakland. All right, fair enough. I feel like we've said this before, Scott. We need to see it happen in the majors. But he was playing very well since getting sent down. he had 33 games at AAA, 307 batting average, seven homers, six deals, a 16% strikeout rate.

That's exactly what we need to see. We need to see more contact for Kelnick. So he's 28% rostered. What do you think about him in a deeper five outfielder league for the final week and a half? No. No, we need to see it at the majors. His problem is the classic case of trouble with the curve.

You know, he can't hit a breaking ball. and I don't know how it just kind of got it just kind of slipped by on all the scouting reports I don't think I don't think it really became apparent until he started facing them with the frequency that that players do in the majors

and it seems like it's it's only gotten worse and worse with every return trip there it is it is nice to see him cut down on the strikeouts in his most recent stint in the minors but like it's it's not like for the majority of his minor league career strikeouts have been a big problem for him. So ultimately it's going to be a sustained stretch of success in the majors that makes Kelnick worth using again.

Ronald de Kuna was scratched on Thursday due to mid-back tightness. Trevor's story was finally placed on the IL with that left heel contusion retroactive to September 19th. And I would be surprised personally if we see Trevor's story again this season. Aaron Boone said Wednesday that the Yankees will go with a closer by committee approach. And I would imagine that includes a roll this Chapman, Scott F. Ross, who was just activated, and Clay Holmes, who did pitch the ninth and tenth innings on Thursday, and he wound up with the win. And he looked really good.

So, I don't know. We'll see what happens. Yeah. That kind of makes me think, like, Boone is just giving himself an excuse not to use Holmes if he feels like he's not feeling it that day. You know, oh, yeah, I said I was going to use closer by committee. But I do think he's kind of rooting for Holmes to recapture that role heading into the postseason.

Yeah. And for what it's worth, A Rollis Chapman pitched here on Thursday, and he was not good. I think he recorded one out and he walked two. He threw 16 pitches, 10 of them are balls. He just same old issues for A Rolla's Chapman. Freddie Peralta could return this weekend against the Reds. He's been out since September 8th with shoulder fatigue. Santiago Espinall was placed on the IEL with a left oblique strain.

I mentioned Whitmerfield in the lineup Thursday with a double dong, so hopefully he can get hot these final two weeks. Brendan Nimo was removed Wednesday with left quad tightness and his MRI came back clean. David Bednar was activated by the Pirates and could be available in some shallower leagues. He's 66% rostered. What do you think, Scott? You're looking to re-ad David Bednar if you need either saves

or a relief pitcher in a points league? I don't know in a points league that it's a huge priority. I would say if Jose LeClerc doesn't matter to you. I like Bednar a little more than LeClerc, but not that much. Okay. Ryan Nelson was placed on the IL

with Wright's scapula inflammation, unfortunate because he was pitching well for the Diamondbacks. Andrew Benetendi is not expected to return before the playoffs. He's on the aisle with a broken hamate bone. Sayas Suzuki is not expected back this weekend as he awaits the birth of his child. Yandy Diaz has missed three straight with left shoulder soreness but did receive a cortisone

shot recently and hopefully he can get back on the field because he was mashing in the second half. Drew Smiley will make his next start either Tuesday or Wednesday against the Phillies will likely make his next start on Tuesday or Wednesday against Phillies and he was scratched this week with left shoulder fatigue. Mike Soroka was placed on the minor league IL with right elbow, soreness, and will be shut down for the rest of the season.

We have not seen him pitch in a major league game since August 3rd, 2020, mostly because of the Achilles injuries that he suffered, but this stinks, Scott. I mean, obviously we're rooting for the guy so much that he's dealt with

the past couple of years. I want to see him back on the field. He was, frankly, one of my favorite pitchers when he was coming up, Mike Soroka, and it's just kind of unfortunate that this keeps catching up to him. Yeah, I mean, it's not unexpected to have some soreness in the elbow after ramping it up again all that time away from the game.

So it doesn't sound like the Braves are terribly concerned from a long-term perspective. They're treating Mike Soroka's finish to 2022 as a success. And, you know, he's going to be competing for a job next spring, I would guess. Trevor Rogers was officially placed on the IL with a left latch drain. He'll miss the rest of the season. Joey Wendell also placed on the IL with left hamstring tendonitis. I did have one other prospect note I wanted to mention Scott. Sedane Raphaela, who is a prospect in the Red Sox organization,

was named the minor league player of the year by baseball America. And this season in the minors, he hit 299 with 21 homers, 28 steals in 116 games between high A and AA. And I haven't checked to see how much he's rising in prospect ranking scout, but I would imagine it's going to be quite a bit. Again, the name there is Sedane Raphaelah. Yeah, he's going to be on top 100 list next year. I mean, he's already been added in the ones that have been updating.

Kind of a weird prospect. He's short and he doesn't walk much at all. So the bat, well, on the one hand, the bat really needs to come through because he doesn't walk much at all. On the other hand, he's like a tremendous defender in the outfield. And he can play the infield too. Like,

that's, I think that's where he started out, but he's moved to the outfield and is just outstanding there. So that's going to, to give him a higher margin for error. Did I say that right? Higher margin?

Yeah. I don't know that he has, and I realize 21 home runs in 116 games, games. I don't know that Sedane Raphael has the raw power that's needed to be an impact player in fantasy these days, unless he's going to be like an elite-based dealer, which is possible. I don't know. I have some questions about the upside for our purposes, especially since the defense is doing so much to boost his prospect stock. But he's clearly a prospect of note now, and somebody whose name you should commit to memory.

Let's get into our week 26 preview. Again, this is for the final week and a half combined. So every team plays between eight and ten games over the next, what will start on Monday through the following Wednesday, which I believe is October 3rd. Fifth? 5th. October 5th.

So we're just going to jump right in and we'll start off with the sleeper pitcher. Scott, who are you looking at for that long week and a half? well before we get into that i want to make a brief introduction here we if you'll notice behind me we have a new lamp here in the corner of our living room nice um people like to critique our living room decor they have they have a lot of complaints about how we we make up our living room here in the white household and one of their complaints was lamp so you know apparently my wife didn't like it either she a big box came in the mail today and I was like

what is this? He was a lamp. She unpacked it today and set it up and was giddy. She said I love lamp apparently. Nice. In her mind. She didn't say it out loud, but that's, she loves the lamp and hopefully you do too. Okay. So having said that, can you even see it?

We could kind of see it. There's a throw pillow blocking it too many throw pillows, man. Yeah. Do you want to go unplug it and just bring it over here? and I'll just fill the time in the meantime? No, you don't want to... That's fine. Okay. That's fine.

I figured I would offer, you know? Okay, so sleeper pitchers, as we already discussed, Hunter Green is on this list. Pretty much they're all two-star pitchers with one exception, because probably something like 70% of all pitchers. If you are treating the final 10 days like one scoring period, pretty much like 70% of all pitchers are going to be making two-star. So you should have a lot of starts in your lineup. So I like Hunter Green, obviously, with those two matchups.

If it's not Pittsburgh in the first start, then it just means he'll be facing the Cubs twice, which is good either way. John Gray has looked good since returning from the IL continues to build up innings. One good matchup of the two is we got Seattle. And he also has to face the Yankees, but I think John Gray is good enough with that with two starts.

You should consider him. Alex Cobb gets the Rockies. Of course, that's in San Francisco, because the Rockies are done. at home after this weekend. And he's at San Diego for a second start. And Alex Cobb has been really good for several months now. Patrick Sandoval gets the A's twice.

Got to like that. Jose Cantana gets the Pirates twice. Got to like that. The one-one star pitcher is Nick Glodolo. He has a little shaky against the Red Sox last time out. It didn't get knocked around or anything. And of course, we've been hyping up how well he's pitched lately. He is at the Cubs, his final start of the season. So only one start there, but

worth using, I think, if you don't have a lot of studs lined up already. We talked about Marcus Stroman. His matchups are so-so. It gets the Phillies and Reds, but he's among pitchers who are available in enough leagues to qualify for this list. Marcus Stroman is one of the better ones. The deep-leafs, special, I'm going to call him because he's only 10% rostered, is Cody Morris, who we've highlighted a few times, barely pitched in the minors this year and was kind of like getting stretched out again with his promotion to the majors. But he did go six innings in his most recent start. He's looked good this whole time. His matchups, the final week, are against the raise and

against the Royals. So two good matchups. Not saying everybody needs to use him, but he's 90% unavailable. So if you're hurting, you can feel pretty confident Cody Morris is going to be out there for you. Rounding out the list here, I have Bailey Ober, who's kind of a deeply special himself. He gets the white socks and tigers. Might only be a five-inning pitcher, but those are two good matchups. And I did put Jack Flaherty on here. We haven't mentioned him yet. He had his best start so far on Thursday. Two earn runs in six innings, nine strikeouts. Also four walks. That was at San Diego.

Velocity was up across the board. You know, you don't like to see the walks. I'm still not, I'm still not sure we're ever going to see Ace Jack Flaherty again, but his final matchups at Milwaukee, that's okay. And then at Pittsburgh. So, we're at the bottom. of the list here. It's not, it's not the most, it's not the most full-throated recommendation, but Jack Flaherty did make the cut for the sleeper pitchers this week. I'll tell you what, Scotty. I do like seeing Cody Morris on this list because picked him up in Tout Wars last weekend. So I picked him up for his matchup this week against Texas, which I believe will come on

Friday. And then, of course, you do like those two matchups next week. I'm going up against our guy here, Greg Jewett, in the finals of Tout War. Scott, I'm trying to go for the back-to-back championship and Greg has made a furious comeback against me so I'm gonna need all the help I can get from Cody Morris and the rest of the squad. Let's get into the hitter matchups for next week and the best matchups go to the Mariners, the Angels, the Reds, the Guardians and the Blue Jays, and the worst hitter matchups, the Rockies, Diamondbacks, Padres, Braves, and the Rays. With that being said, Scott, your sleeper hitters for basically the rest of the season. Gunner Henderson

Oh yeah It feels like It feels kind of like cheating Putting him on this list now But he technically qualifies Only 73% rostered He just keeps looking better and better And is eligible

At both third base and shortstop So there's probably It's probably a way for you to get him In your lineup Maybe not in shallow head-to-head leagues And that's fine But Everybody else should probably have them

In their lineup now Elvis Andrews of course Is on the list still I should mention for Gunner Henderson, the Orioles are one of, how many teams have 10 games? Just six? Seven with 10 games.

One of seven teams with 10 games. Okay. For the, yeah, Elvis Andrews, the White Sox matchups are pretty good. And of course, he's just been on fire, even contributing stolen bases now. We talked about Joey Meneses. The matchups could be better,

but whatever. He just keeps getting it done regardless. Here's an interesting one. Luis Renhifo, of course, he's been on a role lately himself. And I mentioned the Angels are, the final week of the season, they get the A's six times and the Rangers three times.

But what's especially notable for Renhifo, four of the nine pitchers on the schedule for the Angels are left-handed. And Renhifo this year is batting 338 with a 973 OPS against lefties. and he's versatile, like I said, he's hot. It's going to be really easy for you to get Renhifo in your lineup to take advantage of that. His teammate, Taylor Ward, is here. He's having a really strong month of September as well, as you pointed out. Frank, I don't know that I have the updated stats,

but I think he's hitting like 3.30 in September with a couple home runs. Oscar Gonzalez is here. The Guardians have good matchups again. If any past, Quantino is here, because, of course, is Carlos Santana gets a spot on this list for the second straight week. The Mariners actually have the best matchups of all, as you mentioned. They're one of those seven teams playing 10 games. Carlos Santana's been hitting a bunch of home runs lately.

All right, I got a deep league special here too for the hitters. Carrie Carpenter, Tigers rookie outfielder, who is beginning to produce in the majors, Kind of like he did in the minors. He is a left-handed hitter, I should mention. Only one left-hander on the schedule next week. I'm sorry, two left-handers in 10 games for the Tigers next week. So A. Righty's on the schedule.

He should play a lot. And he's homered four times in his past 11 games. Or is it 12? Because the Tigers played today? They... Did they play? I don't think they did. So, yeah, four times in his last 11 games, Carrie Carpenter.

You know, probably want to consider it outside of deeper five outfielder leagues, but he's only 9% rostered. So that's your deep league special. You said this person's name, Scott, Vinnie Pasquantino. Who is that? Never heard of him? No, no. He usually goes by something else.

Vinny P. Baby. That's all. All right. Now it all makes sense to me. Vinny P. Baby. He is on the sleeper hitters for the final week of the season. And that'll do it. for our, not for the podcast,

we still have other things to do, but basically our last schedule planner preview for the next week. Our next preview will be previewing the next season, I guess. But we have all off season to do that. Let's get into some pitch of returns here, Scott. Zach Wheeler made a successful one up against the Blue Jays. He went four shutout with three strikeouts,

only had three swinging strikes on 58 pitches. So that was curious, but everything else looked good. The velocity was way up across board. His fastball was up two miles per hour. His curve was up two and a half miles per hour. He did throw his fastball quite a bit. Did not use many breaking pitches in this one, but Zach Wheeler's final two matchups at the Cubs and at the nationals. And Luis Severino returned on Wednesday as well against the pirates. He went five innings, one run, six strikeouts in that one. His velocity was also up 1.1 miles per hour on the fastball,

1.5 on the cutter. And his final two matchups at the Blue Jays and versus the Orioles. What did you see from those two? And are you comfortable putting them back in your lineup, Scott? Yeah, I think everybody should probably start them. They, you know, everything looked good for them in their return, which, I mean, Luis Severino actually got something of a rehab assignment. It had been longer since we'd seen him. We hadn't seen him since before the All-Star break, I don't think. So it was especially encouraging the way he came back.

But, you know, just to put it into perspective. perspective, if I was, of course, they're two rostered, both Wheeler and Severino to qualify sleeper pitchers. But if I was ranking them along with the sleeper pitchers for next week, Wheeler would be number one. Then Hunter Green, my actual number one would be number two. And then Luis Severino would be number three. So only one of my sleeper pitchers is even in the discussion here alongside Wheeler and Severino for the final week of the season. All right. Let's get into the rest of the pitchers. pitching standouts, and we'll start with Wednesday.

Scott, there was a lot of really good pitching over the past two days. I know I mentioned on, I think, Tuesday night that pitching was kind of like scuffling recently down the stretch, but man, these pitchers just turned it back on. And one of those was Lance McCullors, who makes it three straight quality starts. He went seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts at the Tampa Bay Rays. Jesus Lozardo, double-digit strikeouts for the second time of the season. Up against the Cubs, he went six and two-thirds, one run allowed, 11th strikeouts. Kevin Galsman gets back on track, six shutout innings with eight strikeouts at the Phillies,

and Tristan McKenzie, awesome start. Eight innings, two runs, 13 strikeouts to zero walks up against the Chicago White Sox. The Guardians went in to Chicago and swept the White Sox. They now have his seven-game lead in the American League Central. Shout out to the Guardians. They are getting it down the stretch. So McKenzie, Gossman, Lazzardo, and Lance McCuller, Scott. Anything you'd like to add on those four?

Yeah, I mean, I guess I wasn't sure what to make of McCullors at first. It was a pretty serious injury he was coming back from, and he didn't seem quite right, but he seems to be on track now. And he's always been slightly less than a must-start pitcher in fantasy, but like right on the cusp of that. And I think, let's see, did you mention his?

matchups for the final week of the season? I did not. So let's look at that real quick. Arizona. That's pretty good. And then the second one would be Brewers. The Brewers?

No, no, no, no. Not Brewers. Sorry. Second one would be the Phillies. Let's see what I have them for, Scott. Yeah, Phillies. I have, yeah, Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks. You know, kind of middling matches. There.

I'm not going to say he's a must start, but again, it's another situation where I'd start McCullors over John Gray, who was my number two sleeper pitcher. So, yeah, good chance you'll start him. Scott, I know that you will be waiting on pitching next year, at least, you know, early on your first two or three picks, maybe you're looking at hitters. And of course, because I'm like a mad person and this is all I think about, I'm starting to think about my strategy for next year already. I'm like, what am I going to do?

Like, what's going to be the optimal draft strategy in 2023? And I think I will also target hitters early. And then target some of these like quasi aces where they're not valued as aces, but they might have ace upside. And I think Trissomack McKenzie just falls in that category. Zach Gallen is another one who, I mean, he probably is just an ace once again.

And we'll get to him in just a little bit. But just some of those names that I think will go in the middle round, Scott, who have that ace like upside. And I think McKenzie is one of them. Yeah, Tristan McKenzie, I talked about the Dynasty Stockwatch I wrote earlier. He was one of the risers because I think he is, I mean, this was, as good as this star was, 13 strikeouts, 23 swinging strikes. He actually had a 14 strikeout, 25 swinging strike effort just like a month ago. So he's been, this wasn't foreign to him.

And while the fly ball rate makes me a little nervous, it's something I think he can navigate in this new. environment and that actually becomes an asset for him. So I agree. Like starting pitching is, I mean, you mentioned Zach Gallen is, you know, you could call him an ace now,

but he's an ace that I'll have trouble ranking in my top 20 at the position, you know, just because there's, there are so many that I think have maybe higher ceilings than Gallin. And, yeah, I mean,

there's plenty of starting pitchers to go around. I was actually ranking my first two rounds for next year, and that's another article you can find on CBSSports.com. I kind of just wanted 19 straight hitters at the top. Now, I was ranking specifically for 5x5 scoring for like a roto league. Points league might be a little different,

but I don't really... My first pitcher doesn't come up. I did slot de Grom in 18th, one spot ahead of Vladimir Guerrera. I don't even know that I feel great about that. But it's kind of just a clump of pitchers there at the end of round two. because I'd rather that the high-end hitting seems scarcer and harder and harder to manufacture later in the draft,

which, you know, for the vast majority of the time I've been playing fantasy baseball, that's been the case. It was weird during the juice ball era that pitchers were so valuable by comparison. And, you know, partly that was because home runs were so well distributed among hitters. but that's clearly, we're clearly coming out of that and back to a more traditional, more traditional the way, how valuable pitchers are versus hitters. Other pitching standouts from Wednesday, Scott, part two.

Logan Webb gets done in Corse Field. He went five and a third shutout, only one hit allowed, five strikeouts in that one. He did throw just 66 pitches, so I'm kind of concerned about how much volume we're going to get from Logan Webb or these final two starts. Robbie Ray put together another great outing,

at the A's six shutout with seven strikeouts. Miles Michaelis, another great start at the Padres, six innings, one unearned run, six strikeouts in that one. And Blake's Nell might be another one of those quasi-aices, the way that he is finishing the season. Put up a season high, 13 strikeouts over seven shutout innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. Traditionally a team that has been very good

against left-handed pitching this season. Velocity was up for Blake's Nell. His last 15 starts since July 1st, 2.76. ERA, 1.16 whip. The FIP, the X FIP all lines up with it. 121 strikeouts over 81 and two-thirds endings pitched. 13.3K per 9. Blake Snell, I had him as a bus coming into the year. It looked right in the first half. It has been dead wrong in the second half, Scott.

What do you think about? He's faked me out two years in a row. I've written him off and then he's come storming back at the end. I mean, that makes me a little worried that he's going to be bad to begin next. year too and maybe I'll lose all faith in him but the 29th swingy strikes Blake's now got on Wednesday were a career high wow a guy who's won a Cy Young before and um yeah he was he was proud of himself after the game for hitting 99 apparently that was a new number for him and that's that's what he took away from this start which maybe tells you a little something about Blake's now but that's fine he's he's kind of an interesting dude if you've ever uh

Seen interviews with Blake Snell. He's, yeah. I'll just, I'll leave it there. Interesting is the word I would use to describe him. But nonetheless, he has pitched extremely, extremely well since the start of July. And I think he'll wind up being another one of those mid-round starters. Where exactly? I don't know, round five, six, seven, something like that.

And all right, just load up on a few of those guys and hope like one or two of them hit. And that'll help your pitching staff for next year. Thursday pitching standouts, part one. Jack Flarrity, I was going to mention. but you already talked about him, Scott. Jose Barrios, man, fool me once, shame on you. But I feel like he does this over and over where he gets blown up, we're out on him.

And to your credit, Scott, I'm pretty sure you said that you were just done with him anyway. But then he'll put together a stretch of like two or three quality starts, and I start to think, all right, like, can we get Barrios back in our lineup now? And then boom, he gets crushed again. Six earned runs over two innings pitched at the Tampa Bay Rays. So there's one on the bad side and on the good side. Brandon Woodruff was lights out at the red.

Six headings, one run, 11 strikeouts in that one. What do you think about these two, Scott? Berrios and Woodruff. I mean, Woodruff's been quietly great for a long time now. And he's just kind of gotten lost in the shuffle of aces. After doing that exercise yesterday, plotting out my first couple rounds and some of the players I had left over, that I know are going to comprise round three.

I mean, I'll probably be able to get Woodruff in my round three. Like, I'll probably be able to rank him there, but it's going to be tough. Like, then that's more the state of pitching and pitching versus hitting than anything about Woodruff for himself. Because my point is, like, Woodruff is still, like, a true ace, I feel like, one of the more bankable ones. And yet, I don't know that I'll be drafting them as early as round three next year.

and yeah, Berrios. It had actually been five quality starts and six for Burrios, but I got the ERA back over five with this start. Oh, gosh. Absolutely brutal. 5.27 is the ERA for Jose Burrios. Scott, I think if you expand it to a third round, like if you're projecting the first three rounds,

you should just go all hitters first two and then all pitchers in round three. How about that? Yeah, I mean, that would be. It'll never happen, but it's just fun exercise. I do think there comes a drop-off in the hitter ranks where it's appropriate to start taking some of those very best pitchers. But if push comes to shove, I don't know that I personally am going to do that.

I might just my first five picks are hitters or something like that. It depends. Obviously, haven't actually sat through a draft before, seen what everybody else is doing. But I can see it going that way. The last three pitchers I wanted to mention, Scott. Justin Verlander, another quality start at the Orioles, six innings, two runs, four strikeouts for him.

Shane Bieber, just doing Shane Bieber things at the White Sox. Seven and two-thirds, two runs allowed, five strikeouts, and Zach Allen was awesome once again at the Dodgers. Eight innings, one run, 13 strikeouts, zero walks. Anything on these three, Scott. Gallin, Bieber, Verlander. Not really. All right.

They continue to do their thing. Fair enough. And let's get into just a few hitting leftovers that I have here. I was just looking up Stephen Kwan, his post-all-star break numbers. And let's see if I got this right. No, that's 12 steals. All right. He had a sock in the shoe on Wednesday.

So Stephen Kwan has just been really, really strong here in the second half. Batting 3, 18, 4 homers, 12 steals. I get it. He's not a huge contributor. And look, he doesn't contribute much. power in terms of categories leagues, but in points leagues, I think Stephen Kwan is like absolutely a top 30 outfielder drafted next year, just how much contact he makes leading off and obviously finishing the season as strong as he has. He's going to be really, really good in that format.

Vlad Jr. and Mani Machado both reached the 30 home run threshold over the past two days. Machado went one for two with a sock and a shoe on Thursday, his 30th home run, his eighth steel. Scott, are you looking at the rundown right now? Yeah. Ah, so you see, I was going to ask you. Oh, no, no, I don't know that I, I, I, all right, don't look at it. Don't look at the rundown.

When do you think Mani Michado's last stolen base was before Thursday? I know he hasn't been running much. And it looked like he was at first. I'm going to say it was in May. May 20th. Are you kidding me? This guy went four months without a stolen base? What?

Yeah, that happens. I mean, Vladimir Guerrero has been the other way. I'm only trying to convince me on Twitter that Vladimir Guerrero is going to be a 15 to 20 steel guy next year. I mean, I wouldn't, you know, five to ten, I think is generous. I have made the case that, you know,

the rule changes are going to make stolen bases more accessible to everybody, and we'll see a lot more 20 steel guys. But if Vladimir Guerrero is among them, then everybody is going to be a 20 steel guy. Yeah, that is true. So, Glaber Torres, I wanted to mention. Massive game on Wednesday.

He went three for four with a double dong, and he has come back to life. I know he was slowing down there for quite a bit in August, but last 15 games for Glaber, he's batting 317, 5 homers, three steals during that time. Corey Seeger extends his career high with his 32nd home run.

Brian Reynolds, finishing up strong. He went 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and his 7th steel. Last 15 games for him, 350 batting average, three home runs, a 9-59 OPS. And run, Randy run. A Rose Arena. Really strong finish as well.

He went three for four and picked up his 30 second steal of the season here on Thursday. Some bullpen updates got on Wednesday we saw Kyle Finnegan pick up his 11th save. Alexis Diaz picked up his eighth save. Domingo Acevedo, struck out one for his fourth save. So those three are all pretty widely available if you do need saves this time of year. Other names, not available. For the Astros, Ryan Presley picked up his 30th. For the Royal, Scott Barlow picked up his 23rd.

And for the Padres, Josh Hader picked up his 34th save. He now has each of their last five saves. So very clearly, Josh Hader is back in that closer role for San Diego. On Thursday, Jose LeClerc picked up his seventh save, and he is 22% rostered. Scott, give me your... How many do I have here? Four. Actually, just ranked them.

Kyle Finnegan, Alexis Diaz, D. Domingo Acevedo, Jose LeCluclure. if he needs saves. Jose LeClerc, Kyle Finnegan, Alexis Diaz, Domingo Acevedo. They're all pretty terrible teams, so it's not even like you can just rank them

based on who's the best, because again, they're all not good. For the Royals, Scott Barlow was unavailable. On Thursday, Brad Keller struck out two for his first save. For the Giants, Camillo DeValle picked up his 24th. For the Cardinals,

Ryan Helsley pitched in the eighth inning with a two-run lead facing the heart of the Padres lineup, he did give up a home run to Mani Machado. Giovanni Gallegos then pitched a ninth for his 14th save. For the Cubs, Brandon Hughes recorded just one out in the seventh inning, and then Mark Leiter Jr. recorded the final seven outs for his third save. For the Orioles, Felix Bautista got the final out for his 15th.

For the Phillies, David Robertson was unavailable, Jose Alvarado, picked up his second save, and for the Guardians, Emmanuel Class A picked up his league-leading 37th save. Remember how slow of a start he got off to, Scott? I think he had like two or three saves in all of April. He's just been lights out since. Yep. Yes.

All right. Streamers for the weekend, we've got Friday. Javier Assad at the Pirates, Josiah Gray at the Marlins, Dean Kramer versus the Astros, John Gray versus the Guardians, Cody Morris at the Rangers and Marco Gonzalez at the Royals. I guess the start for Morris at Texas over the weekend will determine really if he's a sleeper pitcher for next week. I would prefer to star John Gray against the Guardians.

But Cody Morris might be my second choice. All right. On Saturday, we have Domingo Hermann versus the Red Sox, Bailey Falter versus the Braves, Eric Fetty versus, just kidding, at the Marlins, Wade Miley at the Pirates, and Davis Martin versus the Tigers.

I'd be tempted to say Miley, if his last start didn't, go so poorly. So I don't think I want to start any of these guys. I don't blame you. And then on Sunday we have Luis Ortiz going up against the Cubs, Adrian Samson at the Pirates, Jose Suarez at the Twins, Aaron Savali at the Rangers, and making his debut to the program, Brian Beowulf at the Yankees. I think this group's even worse than like I think I'd rather start Wade Miley than anybody here. That's not saying much. Yeah, you're probably right. I'm intrigued by Luis Ortiz

and Savali at the Rangers but it is kind of dangerous this time of year so proceed with caution we'll make that our fortune favors the brave streamers of the weekend if you really need them

we're gonna wrap there for Scott I am Frank thank you all for listening and watching fantasy baseball today we'll be back again on Monday oh bye