Fantasy Baseball Today - Labor Day Weekend Recap! Aaron Judge IS BACK! (9/8 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 8, 2026

The big man Aaron Judge is back (2:21)! ... Parker Messick keeps racking up the whiffs (4:45). ... Henry Bolte just had a massive game (10:50). ... Jesus Luzardo and Rafael Devers are locked in (14:48). ... News (22:20): Ohtani returned to the lineup on Monday. ... The A's bats have picked things up (44:44). ... Jared Jones looked great this weekend (54:57). ... What's the latest on Wheeler and Skenes (1:04:32)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:08:00).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, September 8th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, we have a long Labor Day weekend recap.

latest waiver wire names, Jesus Lazzardo did something he never did before. Raphael Devers is red-hot, probably the hottest hitter in all baseball. Pete Carr Armstrong, I don't know. It's close between those two. But first, Chris, the big man is back. Aaron Judge will return on Tuesday.

I don't know how much that helps people in fantasy, but obviously he's one of the biggest names in baseball. And I'm very excited about it, so he's back. It's very exciting. the best hitter in baseball. And, I mean, you've got to assume he's just like, I think you compare him and Shohei Otani, right? Like, arguably the two best players in baseball.

Both Otani came back from his injury on Monday. It was only a four-game absence. I feel a little better about Aaron Judge the rest of the way than I do about Otani, because my only question with Aaron Judge is just whether he'll be rusty. And obviously no minor league rehab assignment. That's a little iffy. But we have seen this from Aaron Judge before coming back in the middle of a playoff run. And no minor league rehab assignment, he's fine.

In 2023, he came back. It was at the end of July, I think. But he came back without a rehab assignment. He had 18 homers in 57 games. He had a 965 OPS. He was Aaron Judge after that. So I think he's probably just going to be Aaron Judge for the next. 17 days or whatever it is, 18 days.

Otani, I have no idea because he's looked legitimately pretty bad the last couple of weeks. So at least between that, those two, I do give Judge the edge. Yeah, I said I don't think it matters for fantasy because I assume most people that drafted Aaron Judge in the first round, anything could happen, man. If you hit on mid-round breakouts, like you could obviously be competing for things right now. But to go this long, nearly, it was actually 99 games exactly. The number on his back without Aaron Judge. It's pretty hard to make that up in your fantasy lineup. So if you managed to make it this far, obviously you get Aaron Judge back in there.

There is some talk that he could be limited in the first couple games. Maybe it's like five, seven innings, something like that. But he's back, very exciting times. We'll see what he could do. The Yankees put out this hype video. I actually got kind of emotional. It was weird. But I'm like, yes, Aaron Judge is back.

So excited to see what he could do. rest of the way. Let's get into the players of the weekend. Oh my goodness gracious. All right. There is no shortage of names to talk about, Chris. Where do you want to go? Yeah, there's a lot to go with. I'm going to go with Parker Messick. And part of that is we didn't bring him up in yesterday's podcast with Casey Bubba talking about that meatball draft, the first draft for 2027. But I realized Parker Messick was SP 29 in that draft. he was like a couple rounds after Kate Anderson. He was behind Brian Wu, a couple other pretty iffy names.

And boy, I don't know. I mean, I get that the fantasy community has kind of had a little trouble fully embracing Parker Messick. Like he was awesome last year, but he was outside of the top 280P coming into the season. And I get it. He doesn't look like your typical ace. and he's 30 94 mile per hour fastballs, and he's short and stocky. I mean, he's six feet tall.

He's taller than me, but he seems short. And he plays short. And so I guess people just struggle with the fact that, like, this guy's an ace, but this guy's an ace. He struck out 12 against the Tigers over the weekend. It was three run runs allowed. I had a couple home runs, but 12 strikeouts. He has a 253 ERA for the season.

his peripherals are all in the 2-9 to 3-1 range. I think if you... Let me... I wrote this down earlier. It's something like he has like the third best XERA since the start of last season. Yeah, only three pitchers have a lower XERA since the start of the 2026 season than Parker Messick.

And only eight have a better K-minus walk ratio than Parker, And again, he was SP 29 in this draft. It's just one draft, right? Like, who knows what the rest of it's going to look like. But this guy should be a top 15 starting pitcher, shouldn't he? Like, what, what, what's the, what would be the possible hang up on Parker Messick? I have him ranked close to that. Let's see.

I have him right at SP 15. Yeah. Well, obviously, you know, that's not me ranking for next season. but I think he should be drafted as an SP2 somewhere in that, you know, 13 to 20 range. I think he's probably going to be there. For all the reasons you mention it, he doesn't have like the gaudy strikeout rate,

but it's a very good strikeout rate. It's over a strikeout per inning. The control has been better than I think we all thought it was going to be at the Major League level so far. And the ratios are there. He is starting to flash even more strikeout upside, 10 double-digit strikeouts in two. of his last four outings.

He's had the 12 strikeouts here, 19 whiffs on 103 pitches. His velocity has been up in the second half as well. He's got this really good fastball change-up combination. Yeah, that is a sample of one, the first draft that we recapped on yesterday's podcast with Bubba. But I have to imagine he'll go higher

in other drafts, but if for some crazy reason that's just like the price tag on Parker Messick, that's awesome. Yeah, like I feel like people are kind of maybe viewing him like Shodhi Minaga coming off his first season, I think the skills are better than Shoda. Like, Shoda always had that home run issue

that he just danced around as a rookie and it's proven to be a pretty big one. I don't think Parker Messick has any glaring flaws like that. So I just... Wow. I don't know. I get that he didn't come to the majors with hype and that stuff does matter ultimately,

but I just... I think he's really, really good. And, like, Who would you rather draft next year? You got to choose one. Parker Messick or Yuri Perez? Yeah. I think two weeks ago?

It's a good time to ask that with Yuri Perez completely falling apart. I think two weeks ago, you might have said Yuri. But he's falling on hard times again. I think it's got to be Parker Messick, right? I lean Messick because I think the floor is higher for him. And look, I think eventually given the stuff, that Yuri Perez has, he could be an ace in the game. I still think that his range of outcomes

is potentially wider than someone like Parker Messick because of the control issues that he battles at times and the fact that he gives up hard contact in the air. So it's like home runs with runners on base because you walk some guys. Like that was part of why I was off of Yuri Perez coming into this year and it's still something that's in the back of my mind.

When he returned from injury, he went through that stretch where he was amazing. And now over his last three starts, he has a, wait for it, 1234 ERA and a 266 web. So he is really, really struggling to the finish line here. And my theory of the past couple of weeks, Chris, is I think Yuri Perez is just kind of wearing down here. Sure.

He's up to 143 total innings. Last year it was 118, and the year before, he didn't throw at all. So I think the innings are just kind of adding up here for Yuri Perez. That could also just be me making an excuse for him. So I lean a bit of both. Like obviously I think that explanation makes perfect sense. He's also pitching like he did in May, you know? Yeah.

When he was presumably feeling perfectly fine. So I agree it makes sense that that would be an issue, but I can't say that's all the issue is, you know? Yeah, again, that is Yuri Perez. I had a lot of people asking this weekend whether or not to use him. I actually told a lot of people to just bench Yuri Perez. A, the two-star Steve is coming off of. the matchups this week were the Mets and the Dodgers. And the Mets, while they don't rank highly for the season, I mean, everyone's healthy now.

It's like Lundor and Soto are there now. And obviously, like, the Dodgers is a really tough matchup. So I actually told a lot of people to bench him this week. He was still 76% started. So a very rough first one there for Yuri. And he'll get the Dodgers later on this week. Yeah, good call. Yep.

Let's get into my player of the weekend and really the player of Monday night. Henry Bolte, huge game here against Dylan Sees. That game is actually still going. Of course, the A's bullpen blew it for Jacob Lopez, who kind of fell apart late there. But while Dylan Sees was in the game, mind you, competing for the A.L. Cy Young this season,

Henry Bolte went one for one, two walks, a homer, three steals, three runs scored. All of that damage against Dylan Seas, one of the best pitchers in baseball. And Henry Boltee's previous 34 games entering this game. 314 batting average,

five homers, 23 run scored, four steals, 867 OPS, 92.6 average exit velocity. Sky and I have talked a lot about him. He is a collection of skills right now. He is still, in my opinion,

a raw player because while he does some things very well, he hits the ball hard, he's very fast. A lot of that hard contact is still on the ground, and he does strike out more than you want

for someone who's supposed to be like a power speed type player, right? Like with his speed, it's like, man, just try to put that ball in play as much as possible. But I think he's kind of figuring things out, Chris, and we're seeing what the upside could be with the potential power and speed here from Henry Bolte, who is still only 46% roster. That number feels way too low.

Yeah, it's tough because there's still, like you said, pretty obvious limitations in the way he goes about hitting the ball. He can hit the ball really hard. He's a great athlete. Doesn't elevate the ball very well at all. Doesn't elevate the ball to the pull side very well. And that remains an issue. Like in August, his average launch angle was negative 1 degrees.

It means he's hitting the ball right into the ground. In September, small sample, but in September, it's only zero degree average launch angle. 92.4 mile per hour average exit velocity. That's awesome. And you can run high batting average. And, you know, I think we do get caught up a little bit too much in like the low pulled air rate. What that means is they're not going to maximize their power production.

And Henry Bulte is not really doing that, right? He's got what is, five homers in 34 games, you said? On the season, it's nine and 102. But you can still be a useful fantasy player if you're a 15 to 20 homer guy. Yeah. You can look at the underlying raw power. and say, well, he's hit a 114-mile-an-hour baseball, and he's got 91-mile-per-hour average-velocity.

Boy, could he be a 30-homer guy? But not everybody has to be a 30-homer guy. And you don't have to be a 30-homer guy to be worth at it. You know, it limits the upside. It limits how good he can be. But I think with how hot he's been, yeah, you kind of just have to just add Henry Bolte and don't worry about what he could be. You worry about what he is.

Yeah, and this was a good week to add him, and I brought that up last week for all the A's hitters because, again, they have six home games this week. Next week they're on the road again, so you do have to kind of play it a week-to-week situation. It's not the same as Corse Field, but it's kind of close to Corse Field. And look, he has some other limitations as well. He's much better at home. He's much better against lefties than he is against righties so far. So again, he's still kind of like this collection of skills, and we're kind of seeing him like mold some of these skills right before. for our eyes here.

But I think he's going to be a pretty fun player for next season as well. Again, one more full season in Sacramento. That obviously makes you excited to draft some of the 80s hitters again next year, but there's some power, there's a lot of speed. I don't really know what the batting average

is going to wind up because he strikes out too much. But interesting player is Henry Bolton. I think that roster rate for the last couple of weeks of the season, maybe you don't use them next week. You use him the final week, but 46% rostered. I want to give some shoutouts here, Chris.

I mean, two of the biggest performances of the weekend, Jesus Lazzardo. His first complete game, his first shutout of his career. He is on a crazy run. A two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts on Labor Day here against the Atlanta Braves. Obviously massive game, massive series

between the Braves and the Phillies. 23 whiffs on 109 pitches. And he, over his last seven starts, 108 ERA. 0.80 whip. 64 strikeouts over 50 innings for Jesus Lazzardo, who's down to a 287 ERA overall.

And Rafael Devers, man, this dude is absolutely on fire. Three for four with a homer, five RBI on Friday, two for four with a double dong on Saturday. And over his last 22 games, he's hitting 349, 11 homers, OPS around 1250. And I heard this on the broadcast on the peacock. I guess it was Monday night or Labor Day broadcast. But apparently once the trade deadline passed,

they said that there was kind of a switch that flipped here for Raphael Devers. Perhaps he was concerned. He was going to get traded, but he took on more of a leadership role, and he was just able to lock in more once he got past the trade deadline. And you're seeing that now.

Like, he's up to 35 home runs. His career high is 38. He might set his career high in Oracle Park, which is kind of crazy for Robbie Devers. So any thoughts on him and Lazardo? They are locked in right now. Well, I think one thing that this does highlight is San Francisco is the worst park in baseball for left-handed hitters,

and I think that goes without saying. But part of the reason I wasn't totally out on Raphael Devers after he got traded to San Francisco is Fenway's always been a very tough park for left-handed power. It plays really well overall for lefties because it's a big outfield in general. but it's been a tough place for left-handed hitters to hit for power. And it's better than San Francisco, but they're both in the bottom five and home run park factor for lefties. So I'm not terribly surprised like that power is going to play anywhere.

You know, with the bat speed he's got, he is a flawed and increasingly limited player. There is, you know, the strikeout rate continues to be a problem. the contact rate in the zone especially, but I don't know, there is, there does seem to be a desire, and it's not just among fantasy players. I think of all, a lot of baseball fans online to like bury Raphael Devers prematurely. I think we saw it early last season when he had that shoulder issue. He had one bad month again this season, and he's going to end up having the typical numbers you hope for from Raphael Devers. Batting average will be a little lower than

it was at his peak, but 260, 35 homers, 92 RBI, 86 runs right now. That's like, he's going to end up being a really good pick. And I would guess there's still going to be a lot of skepticism around him next season. And given the end zone whiff rates, maybe

there will just always be just added risk with Devers. And that's fair. And maybe that's enough to drop him a tier at the first base position. But he's going to end up putting up pretty similar numbers to a lot of guys who are drafted. ahead of him. And I think he deserves credit for that. Yep. Again, that was Rafael Devers. And again,

just watching his at Batsman, he's playing with so much confidence right now. It is, it is really, really fun to watch. And I've always liked Devers, too. I was actually at a game, like, the first month he got called up and he hit a home run off of a roll to Chapman. It was Red Soxie versus Yankees at the time. I was at the game. And ever since I saw that, him as a rookie, I was like, this kid's bat speed is absolutely insane. So I've always been a big fan, even bigger fan, now that he's not on the Red Sox anymore. Yeah, as long as he's not fencing Garikol, I'm sure you love him. Yeah, exactly, dude.

He, oh my gosh, he absolutely owns Garikull. Didn't he, he intentionally walked Devers last year with like, I believe so. Like, for no apparent reason outside of just, hey, Devers owns me. Yep. Is this like crazy? Rafael Devers might end up having a better season than Matt Olson, who has slowed down quite a bit.

But if you look at it, after today, Devers is one homer, I think, and he's got a better batting average, and he's got like 12 more RBI. And this is just our latest. That's kind of shocking, isn't it? It is. It is. And this is just the latest of many examples. And there will continue to be examples like this.

Like, it is a long season, man. You have to let it play out. And I understand you want to get off to a hot start and fantasy. But also, the guys that finish strong are the ones that can help you win your championship down the stretch of seasons as well. So I get it. Like we all were very excited in April and May, and we want every one of our players to get off to great starts.

It doesn't always happen that way, but it is a sixth month season. And guys that we know are talented, you just have to let it play out. And we're seeing that right now with Rafael Devers. Before we hit our first break, make sure to hit that like button. If you're watching on YouTube,

we do appreciate you being here. If you're listening on the audio side of things and you enjoy the podcast, make sure to drop us a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify wherever you listen. Let's take a break. We'll be back right after. this.

Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. And Shohei Otani missed four straight as a hitter and then returned to the lineup here on Monday. He went 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts in that one. And it does not sound like he's going to pitch again the season either. He wants to focus on

getting healthy and getting his swing right ahead of the postseason. He's been battling the knee, the biceps, the neck, So he's trying to get through those things and obviously get things locked in before, as a hitter before the postseason. But I'd be very surprised if we see Otani as a pitcher anymore this year. Garrett Crochet threw a 16 pitch bullpen on Friday. It was his first time pitching off a mound in over three months.

He threw exclusively fast balls, but it's a good first step. And he could be back, you know, by the end of the season as a reliever. It's only going to be as a reliever. But, you know, someone that could factor into the postseason bullpen. here for the Red Sox. Kyle Harrison struggled once again on Sunday and after the game. Pat Murphy said Harrison could be shifted to a relief role or make shorter plan starts. And then on Monday, Murphy clarified he said Harrison will start on Saturday against the Reds

and that the Brewers will probably have a long man ready behind him. In that start, Kyle Harrison, it was six runs over three and two thirds. Four of those earned, four walks, four strikeouts. He's 93% rostered. Chris, what do you think about dropping? Kyle Harrison. I guess they'll play it inning to inning. Like first time through the order on Saturday.

If he looks good, they'll kind of just let him keep going. But if he's bad early on, they're probably just going to pull the plug. So what do you think about dropping it at this point? I think any player, look, there's 18 days left in the season. If you're playing in a head-to-head points league, there might be five days left in the season, right? So, yeah, I think anybody that you're not,

using right now, you can have the conversation about dropping them. And in Harrison's case, he's been struggling lately, obviously, and he is, I think, likely to have some short starts moving forward. So, yeah, I think it's perfectly reasonable to drop him. Where it becomes a tricky situation, and I had a few people ask me about this exact scenario, is most people drafted Kyle Harrison late or picked him up as a free agent. If you play in a keeper league, he has good round, for next year, you might not want to drop them, but it's tough because you're competing for a championship.

So I totally understand that dynamic, but at this point, I think you have to question, like, how good is his keeper value heading into next season as well, the way that, you know, this second half has played out for Kyle Harrison. Yeah, it's hard because in the short term, I do think, hey, he had a forearm injury is probably a pretty good explanation for why his season went so sideways, but we don't have an especially long track record here for Kyle Harrison. And, you know, forearm injuries, I don't want to say they tend to lead to more forearm injuries, but it usually isn't a one-time thing, you know?

It could lead to the worst injury. Yeah. And so that is, like, I think he's super talented. I think the gains he made this season were real. The brewers were able to coax something out of him that neither the Red Sox nor the Giants were able to. but in the short term, I think he's definitely dropable,

and he's not going to be someone you can draft with a ton of confidence next year. I mean, in that meatball draft, he went top 24, I'm pretty sure. Yeah, that'll fall down now.

That's definitely not going to happen. And I think it's got to be more like a 40-ish range now, because you also just look at the numbers. It's 366 ERA, 127 whip, 373XERA. For as good as he was for a lot of this season, the overall numbers look just okay.

Shane O. Mack, Shane McClanahan was placed in the IL Friday with left forearm tightness. And Twins manager, Derek Shelton, told reporters Friday that Byron Buxton is likely to require hip surgery. So if he needs that, I mean, sooner rather than later, it would make sense. I guess the twins are kind of, you know, in a post-season wildcard battle,

so maybe they can get like some D.H. chip bats out of him. But yeah, I mean, that recovery is probably going to take a while, I would imagine for Byron Buckson thinking about next year, you know, so that one's tough. Yeah, I mean, they are down to 2.4% in the Fangraph playoff odds. So I... Let's get that surgery. I, yeah, I am usually a proponent of, if you're alive, go for it. But I think in this instance, it makes a lot more sense to just get the surgery than than trying to have him potentially delay it.

I mean, if you're talking, if it's a six-month recovery, well, already you're talking about the start of spring training with no delays. Yeah. You know, six to eight months, you're talking about May. Like, that's,

you're already starting to talk about some pretty worrying timetables there. Joe Ryan made his return on Monday against the Tigers, four innings, two earned runs, seven strike. breakouts to one walk. He had 12 whiffs on 66 pitches. That's a pretty healthy number there for him.

368 ERA 113 whip on the year. 26% started. I totally get people, you know, wanting to play it safe his first time around this week. But assuming he comes out of this weekend or I, you know, final couple of weeks, I think you'll be all right to get Joe Ryan back in your lineups. Jack Caglione left early Saturday and then was out on Sunday. Did they play on Monday?

the royals they did I don't think he was in the lineup yeah he was not he was not so so Cags was out on both Sunday and Monday he was diagnosed with a grade one flexor strain and this is another one like you know would like to see Cags finish the season strong and in leagues where you have them

obviously he was playing well but if it's a flexor strain and it's something that can linger it's like dude just shut him down you're not really playing for anything else so we'll see if Caglio can make it back Brian Baker left early on Friday due to an illness. It's nothing arm related.

So that's good news, but hopefully it's all right. We haven't seen him in a game since Friday. So hopefully... His velocity was down like three or four miles per hour in that. And he didn't finish his appearance either. Like they had to come get him and take him out of that game. So hopefully all is well with Brian Baker.

Chase DeLotter left Friday with a sprained right wrist. And then he missed Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Manager Stephen Votes said that DeLotter is, quote, feeling a lot better. So we'll see if he's in the lineup. on Tuesday. The Mariners promoted another one of their top prospects. This time, it was Michael Arroyo,

21 years old, 114 total games in the minors this year, 283, 18 homers, 17 seals, 830 OPS, only 8% rostered. He started at second base on Sunday. Chris, do you have any deep league interest in Michael Arroyo of the Mariners? So he started just one of the first three games, right? Yeah, but he didn't get called up until

Sunday, right? I don't think he was promoted over but he started against a lefties. So he might just be a short side platoon. I'm not entirely sure. Yeah, I mean, part of me just things like they should just play him every day and see because a Rosarine is a free agent.

No idea what they're going to do there. J.B. Crawford's a free agent. I would assume, you know, Emerson Hancock, sorry, Colt Emerson is going to be the main replacement there, but there are still potential spots for Michael Oroyo who has,

primarily played second base. He's played a little bit of shortstop. And I think this season he had been increasingly playing more left field. So there could be opportunities for him. I think they should probably see what they've got there. He was interesting at AAA. 18 homer, 17 steals and 114 games. If you add in last season, I think, oh no, he only got to AAA this year.

So, yeah, I think he's a pretty interesting player, but not. I think he's a step below, like, Lazarus. Agreed. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just not entirely sure that he's going to play every day, but I agree with you. I think he should, right? They've been using Rodden at third base, right?

Like, I don't know if he's, you know, part of their long-term future, but, you know, they can find ways to get Michael Oroyo in the lineup and would be nice to see what he could do. He was putting up some pretty good numbers down in the minors. Ceydon Raphael was placed in the IL with a right quad strain. Eli White started in San Francisco. center field on Sunday against a right-handed pitcher there for the Red Sox.

Nick Povetta returned on Monday against the Nationals. He looked really good in his final rehab start. It was four and a third shutout with seven strikeouts. And then in his return against the Nats, five shutout, two hits, two strikeouts. Only one swinging strike on 63 pitches. The velocity was down a little bit here. And obviously coming back from an arm injury, 63% rostered. It looks like he's a two-star pitcher this week.

the Nationals and at the Giants. So it's, in most cases, I think, unless you play in a daily lineup league, it's too late to use him for this week. But what do you think about potentially adding Nick Povetta

and using him the final couple weeks of the season? I don't think he's someone you have to view as like a must-add pitcher. He was, look, we'll take five shot outings every time, obviously, but only two strikeouts, one whiff,

velocity down. I think he seems like a diminished version of himself. And that doesn't mean he can't be effective, but we have seen Nick Povetta's career is very hit or miss. And it feels very risky to take that on. All right. Continuing on here. Next up, reinforcements are coming for the debacks. Corbyn, Zach Allen, and Michael Soroka will return this week.

Burns will officially start and make his return on Tuesday. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, also had a terrorist major strain in his shoulder. I don't think it matters for fantasy, Chris, but it'll be fun. Welcome back, Corbyn Burns. We'd love to see him pitch well over the, I don't know, seven innings that he's probably going to throw the rest of the way

because he only made the one rehab start, right? I believe it was only one and it was only two innings. Two innings, 17 pitches, no strikeouts. Worked very efficiently. I would guess it's going to be a very, very, very, very limited workload for carbon burns here. And the latest wild card standings have the D-backs are half a game ahead of the Padres.

So man, that one is, that's coming down to the wire. The other teams, you know, Marlins, Cardinals, pirates, they're all between five and five and a half games out. So it seems very unlikely. But that final wildcard spot is solely between the D-backs and Padres. That is a kind of annoying. Really close race. The Marlins are one game under 500.

they're not going to make the playoffs. They have a 0.5% chance of hanging the playoffs. And then you look at the clown show that is the American League, the junior circuit. They would be right in the mix. Yeah, the Marlins would be, a game back of a playoff spot right now.

It's just a shame that they'll just let any wildcard team in in the American League, huh? I know you're trying to take a jab at the Yankees here, but... Oh, I would never do that. The Yankees are doing their thing. Look at my hat. 117 plus under 17 run differential. What is that saying?

It says New York or nowhere. I'm with you. All right. All right. All right. All right. The final wildcard spot in the AL right now is held by the Guardians. The Blue Jays are a half a game out. The Rangers are one and a half out. The Orioles are three out. Are the Mariners are... Are the Mariners really not going to... The Mariners are not going to make the playoffs.

No, no, no. Yeah, they're... There are six games out. in the division there, five and a half. I didn't realize it was that bad. I didn't realize it was... I mean, they have a 420 ERA as a staff. That they just haven't done anything well this season. Yeah.

Well, my pick to represent the American League in the World Series before the season. That's not going to happen. Nathan Waldy could pitch in a relief role once he returns before hopefully building up enough to make some spots starts towards the end of the season. And there's a chance that the Rangers in the post season. so I'm sure they would like to have Nathan Avaldi back for that.

Trent Grisham was placing the IL with a grade two right hamstring strain and could miss the rest of the regular season. Bad news for Trent Grisham. Good news for Spencer Jones, who now has a clear opportunity in center field. And we've been talking a lot about Spencer Jones, and he's been doing some good things. He's flashing power and speed.

Yeah, his overall OPS for the season is up to like 760, which is pretty solid. And he's been even better since. Yep, since coming back. That second stint. He's up to 64% rostered. I think that number's probably right. Yeah, it's hard to make the case in a points league.

Yeah, he's going to strike out so much. But I think any five outfielder league, any head-to-head categories league, even with three outfielers in that format, just with his power and speed, I think he probably needs to be rostering those as well. I did notice with Trent Grisham. He, presuming the season ends,

he's on pace for the same number of extra base hits as last season. If he had played the same number of games, he would have had 46 extra base hits last season, 46 this season. But last season, 76% of his extra base hits were homers. This season, it was a much more normal 46%. And so he had a huge downgrade of a season, even though in a lot of ways, I think he was a similar player. I know you referenced that a lot before the year. I believe it was Derek Van Riper who had that stat, right? about like home runs turning into doubles the following year.

So yeah, shout out to DVR. That was a good catch there on Grisham. His stack as stuff was still pretty good, but just didn't really play out as expected here for Trent Grisham. Jason Dominguez, by the way, was recalled, but with Judge Bagg, it feels like Dominguez is probably going to get sent back down. Ian Hap was scratched from the lineup Sunday with left knee discomfort.

Then he was also out of the lineup on Monday. I have a head toad championship in my home league where I have Ian Hap, and I chose not to play him this week, just because A, he hasn't really been that great this season. He's having a down year. He's been sitting against some lefties and obviously dealing with this knee injury now as well.

Haraldo Pardomo was hitting the helmet by line drive while running the bases on Sunday, and he left early but did not land in concussion protocol, and he was back in the lineup on Monday. So good sign there for Geraldo Pardomo. Lazzaro Montes left Friday's game with left hip-thornis, then did not start Saturday. Saturday or Sunday. He did appear as a pinch hitter both days. And I think that's a pretty good sign,

especially with the off day on Monday. I would bet on Lazaro Montes being in the lineup on Tuesday. And I picked him up in Tout Wars, which is a 15-Team Roto five outfielder league. So I think, you know, any five outfielder league, I still would have been looking at Montes this weekend. Yeah, I think that's fair. Yeah. Man, sorry, I was just looking at one of my teams and who would have thought we'd be at this point? I benched Kyle Tucker for Junghoo Lee in a league. I just got distracted by

the reminder that I did that and that I don't feel bad about it. Yeah, this weekend I have Tucker and a few NFBC teams and I benched him for Lars Neupar in one of those. Newpar against three righties. I'm like, all right.

Kyle Tucker, although he was on the road and he did home run, so maybe not the best call but man like whenever Tucker's at home just don't play that guy he's been so bad in Dodgers Stadium this year Ryan O'Hern should be getting a rehab assignment earlyish this week and he has been out

since August 1st with a quad-strain he is 55% rostered first in the outfield eligible could return this weekend could return early next week very productive player when he was healthy this year so I would be okay you know in deeper leagues if he's out there still re-adding Ryan O'Hern

Max Meyer has resumed his throwing program. He's been out since before the All-Star break with a next train. Just not sure he has enough time here to get built back up. Ronaldo Lopez will return and start Wednesday against the raise. He is 22% rostered. He had a 364 ERA and a 134 whip. Chris, do you have any interest in Ronaldo Lopez? Very, very limited interest in a points league because he's SPARP eligible. I think that's about it, though.

All right, the D-Backs, DFA, Max Kepler, which I think is good news for Ryan Walshmit, potentially good news for Jordan Lawler as well. Lawler, unfortunately, still not playing against every right-handed pitcher, which is annoying. The Yankees option, Elma Rodriguez, back to AAA, which means Will Warren should start on, I believe, Wednesday against the Rockies here. That start in New York, so I know Will Warren has not been good in the second half, but a home start against the Rockies. I think that could work out pretty well for him. Emmett Sheehan is scheduled to be the bulk reliever.

In fact, that happened on Monday. It wasn't just a bulk reliever. He was the starter, and he was pretty awesome. It was great, yeah. Start against the Reds, reminding us what his potential could be. Five and two-thirds, one run, ten strikeouts to one walk, 18 whiffs on 82 pitches, and in its four starts in the minors, 150 ERA, 0.94 whip, 12K per 9.

35% rostered. I just, I don't know if he sticks around. What do you think? Is there anything called Cheon? I don't know. but look, he's clearly talented, as tough as this season has been. I mean, imagine telling us before the season that Emmett Sheehan and Chase Burns would be starting against each other in early September, and neither would really be worth using, or at least neither would be likely started in most fantasy leagues. That's a pretty big disappointment, although Chase Burns is obviously just because he was limited.

But, yeah, Sheehan, I mean, there were some differences here. his velocity was the same, but the movement profile, his foreseamer was different. He was getting one inch less of induced vertical break, which usually is not a good thing, but you have to keep in mind, it's not just number go up equals good when it comes to induced vertical break. There's also the relationship between horizontal movement and release point and all this stuff. And he had a couple more inches of horizontal break with that pitch as well. The changeup looked way different, had five more inches of drop. than it did before. It was about a mile per hour slower.

It got three whiffs. Maybe the combination of those two pitches played better in this permutation. But I, look, when you've got a pitcher as obviously talented Zemichian, who we've seen flashes from, you're always going to look for positives. And I think we saw some here. So I don't know what the role is going to be moving forward

or if he even sticks around. But he's, he's pretty talented and this might have been a turning point of some sort. Yeah, I think it's a deeper name that you can look at and the Dodgers are still running with a six-man rotation and Eric Lauer and Roki Sasaki are on the IL. So Sheehan and Robleski are in the rotation right now and Robleski was not good in his first start back or relief appearance, whatever it was. So I think Sheehan probably has gained a leg up on Robleski.

so perhaps could stick around for like two or three starts the rest of the way. Again, that's Emmett Sheen. He's 35% rostered. Dalton rushing was placed in the IL after re-injuring his right elbow. And other names who went on the aisle this weekend, Willie Castro with left heel inflammation, J.T. Ginn with right elbow with a right elbow impingement, and Luis Robert with left hamstring discomfort. Poor Baltimore Orioles, who just picked him up,

and Luis Roberts already on the IL. Let's take our final break when we return. we'll see if we can get through all of it. I've got a bunch of waiver wire names, some polarizing pitchers to talk about all the leftovers. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today, and we'll start off here with Waver Wire hitters,

and the A's I wanted to point out, they are doing their thing, mentioned Henry Bolte up top, but Zach Gelloff, he had two more steals on Monday. Last six games, three homers, four steals, and lots of improvements this year for Gelloff, 17 homers, 14 steals. He's all the way up to 78%

rostered, but even if you are in a shallower points league, I know his plate discipline isn't the best, but he's just making things happen, man. Power and speed, so. Yeah, that's tough because it's just, it's a points league, and it doesn't, it's not his best format. It's a pretty bad format for him.

But he's eligible with three different spots, and it's always nice to have a guy like that around, so I don't, I don't hate the idea of- So bad, man. Yeah, I don't hate the idea of adding him. And if you've been starting, like Cosimo Okamoto or somebody, you could probably start, go off ahead of him at home at least. Yeah. Jeff McNeil, previous 38 games entering Monday. 333, 5 homers, 6 steals, 8.58 OPS. The strikeout

rate is 10.5% tons of line drives. We know who Jeff McNeil is. His first half was dreadful. Obviously, his second half numbers. Don't expect him to be that player. And, you know, an 850 OPS bet. But everything is kind of evening out here. And I think he is the name that you could stream whenever the A's are home. Had the game winning hit off of all-universe closer Louis Varlane on Monday night.

And it didn't even get out of the infield, right? It came off the bat 51.9 miles per hour. It reminds me of the scene in bench-warmers where he's like pointing to the sky like he's going to hit a home run and then he just keeps lowering the bat and he's like, actually I'm going to hit it right here right in front of home plate.

And that's exactly what he does. Major League, right? That's what he does, right? he calls his shot and then buntz for the game winning hit Henry Dorn? Is that that guy's name? I'm due for a rewatch of Major League. I watched it a bunch when I was growing up,

but I probably haven't seen it in 15 or 20 years. And I remember liking it a lot. It's a great movie. It's been a few years. I'm sure I butchered that. I don't think Henry Dorn is the name of that player. Roger Dorn. Roger Dorn. Yeah, yeah.

No, Jake Taylor. Geez, we got all of it wrong. Unbelievable. All right. Deleting that part from the podcast. Take me. And Chris has gone. Shallow league names.

Weaver wire hitters from the weekend. Josh Baez is picking things up here. Two for four with his seventh home run on Saturday. He went two for three with a run and an RBI on Sunday. And now in 23 games, 244. Batting average is low. He strikes out a lot. But he's got seven homers, two steals.

The OPS is up to 866. That number looks pretty healthy there for Josh Baez, who's 77% rostered. I think any categories league, yes, any points league where he lose points for strikeouts. It's a no for Josh Baez. And other names here, Tommy Edmund is picking things up. Homered on Saturday. He had two more hits on Sunday.

And he's got six homers and six seals in 67 games. It's around a 15-15 pace. You know, not a high ceiling player, but I think a pretty good floor here in the Dodgers lineup. Second, third and outfield eligible. And Ehuehanyos-Wares has. looked more like himself over the past month. He homer twice this weekend. Last 30 games, 232,

8 homers, 24 RBI, 907 OPS, 69% rostered. Chris, if you were just looking to, you know, continue stashing, not stashing, streaming a third baseman, how would you rank Suarez, Edmund, and Zach Gelloff? I know the matchups would probably decide that answer,

but I guess matchups aside, Gelloff, Edmund, and Suarez, how would you rank those three? probably Gelloff-Swarres-Edman but since two of them have really good home parks it might just be whoever's got yeah whoever's got the most home games you know yep let's talk about those fighting fish

herberto hernandez big game on Sunday two for four with a sock and a shoe he has started 23 straight games for the marlins and over his last 24 games he has eight homers three steals and OPS around 950 still only 45% rostered and Javier Sinoja two for four with his his eighth home run on Sunday,

had two more hits on Monday. He has started 16 straight for the Marlins, and over his last 21, 375, four homers, three steals. The OPS is around 1,000, and I did not write down his roster rate, but I'm pretty sure it's sub... Very low, yeah.

40% here for Snowha. Let's see, it is... actually 44%. So that number's getting up there. Second, third, shortstop, and outfield. Do you think these roster rates need to be significantly higher for either, Hernandez or Sanoha. Yeah, I think Hernandez has just been under-rastered for a couple of months now.

I know part of the problem was he started to get really hot. I feel like in like July, he started hyping him up a lot. And then he had like a two-week period where he just went completely ice cold. And he's been pretty good since then, but it, you know, that'll happen. And when you're talking about a fairly marginal player, I think I understand why people would get scared. off when they add him and he goes cold. But I think Gerra Brett DeHanandez is just a good hitter. I don't think it's ever going to be a good batting average.

I think he's probably like a 240, 250 guy, but I think the power is real. He has a 248XBA, but a 490x slug. 242 ISO there is very good. So I think he's a legit 25 homer guy. It's not a terribly exciting profile. It's kind of in like a Lardis Gerell kind of way, but in a five outfield league, that matters. I think his power is more legit than anything we ever saw from Gouriel. And not to discredit Gouriel, he was a fine player in his prime.

But, you know, I think he probably maxed out around 20, 25 home runs. I think if Hernandez just gets full, like he's at 24 home runs and he wasn't even an everyday player in the first half of the season. So I think the power is pretty legit here. Very similar roster rates. Who do you like more Hernandez or Henry Boltee rest of season? Oh, it's clearly Hernandez for me. Bolte or sorry, oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry, I thought you were asking Herberto versus Javier Sanoha,

who's also 44%. Hernandez versus Bolte, yeah. Gosh, I think I would still go Herriberto, but it's closer. Bolte, you know, the batting average especially really helps him, but that's very fickle. So I think Herberto has stronger skill set overall as a hitter.

It is super close. I lean, Bolte, but it might just come down to what you need the rest of the way for chasing categories. I think batting average

and speed will probably favor Bolte, and I think the power will favor Herberto Hernandez. A couple catchers here, Mickey Gasper, Homer, again on Friday. Last 19 games,

327, batting average, eight home runs, 15 RBI. He has started eight straight with Wilson Gattreras in the IL, 34% rostered. Welcome back to Kyle Teal, who returned on Friday. He homered on Sunday. It was a three-run homer.

The numbers this season, very bad. He's dealt with so many injuries. Last year, he was much better. We know it was a big prospect pedigree as well. Chris, if you're looking for a second catcher in like a 12-team league, who do you like more, Gasper or Kyle Teal? Teal's a better player, but I'd just go with Gasper. The way he's locked in right now, just ride it until it,

falls off. I haven't seen any updates on Wilson Contrera, so I don't think he's going to come back this week. So I would just go with Gaspher here. And then some deeper names, Thomas said Jacey last eight games for him. 15 hits, three homers, two steals.

Second, third, shortstop, and outfield eligible. Getting some consistent run here with the Cardinals. And Kobe Mayo had himself a big game on Monday. Two for five with a double dong, three RBI. In the second half, he's hitting 279 with nine homers. Two steals, a 905 OPS, also a 31% K rate.

He plays against every lefty, sits against some righties, like every second or third righty on the schedule. 31% rostered. Do you have any interest in these deeper-ish names, so J.C. and Kobe Mayo. Yeah, the one thing I've noticed about Kobe Mayo is in their last, I think it's 22 games, is what I looked up. They have had 12 lefties.

start against them. And I would guess the numbers haven't updated yet. I would guess because he homered against the righty today, that he does have an OPS over 500 against right-handed pitching this season. But it's very close. And obviously... Did you say OPS over 500?

OPS over 500 for Kobe Mayo. Let me make sure, because I know baseball savant updates that. 513. OPS against right-handed pitching. Kobe Mayo has 16 homers against lefties. That is two more than anyone else in baseball. 1136 OPS against lefties. He is crushing lefties.

He has five homers and a 5-13 OPS against righties. I generally don't put a ton of stock into can hit lefties, can't hit righties profile. There aren't a lot of guys who are actually good against lefties and not good against righties. He seems to be one of them. And he certainly hasn't proven anything. beyond that.

So I'm, I'm pretty skeptical that Kobe Mayo has suddenly figured it out. So I don't think he, if you want to do a hot hand play, I don't know how many lefties

they have coming up, but I just, I think you should approach it very, very skeptically for both of them. So, J.C., I just, I don't like the,

the skill set is especially strong. He's hot right now, but it seems pretty Babbit-fueled, and I don't, see a lot of reason to believe if the underlying skill set is strong with C. All right, some waiver wire pitchers from the weekend and shallow names here. Tyler Malley, another solid outing, six innings, two earned runs, three strikeouts.

Last 10 starts, 210, ERA, one whip. He is 73% rostered. He gets the Phillies again this week. Walbert Arainia took a tough loss at the Pirates. Eight innings of one-run ball. Only four strikeouts here. Has been much better over his last two outings. 15 innings, 2 runs, 12 strikeouts to one walk.

The one walk is a very big key here for Urania. And he is at the nationals this week. Shane Baez took a tough loss against the Red Sox. Six and a third, one run, six strikeouts for him. And Jared Jones had a great outing here against the Angels. Six shutout innings, nine strikeouts to one walk. 21 whiffs on 91 pitches. 19 of those on the slider, which was awesome.

He is 61% rostered. He's at the White Sox this week. We've talked about the limitations. This is just the fourth time that he has gone six innings in the 17 starts that he's made. I'm going to be really excited to draft Jared Jones next year, Chris. I'm pretty sure everybody's going to be excited to draft Jared Jones. I still don't know about his utility for this season,

but I am excited long term. How would you... I mean, we're probably going matchup to matchup, but these names are already locked in. How would you just rank these four rest of the season? Jared Jones, Shane Baas, Walbert O'Rania, and Tyler Malley. I want to say Jones at the top, but I just don't know if he's earned that.

As good as this start was, and the slider was just absolutely absurd. He threw it half the time. He got 19 whiffs with it. It was just, he didn't need anything else with how good that pitch was. But he also only threw 91 pitches as his season high

in this one. I would love if the pirates are just like, look, we got three starts left from you. Let's let the leash out and see what you look like getting closer to 100, but I don't have a ton of faith in that. It's been more like 84 pitches for most of the season, and they really haven't gone away from that.

So I don't know if Jones can be at the top. I think Tyler Malley has to be at the top with how he's looked since he got to the Braves, throwing that splittermore, and we saw a stretch like him, like this from him last season as well. And then Walbur Rainia, I just continue to be very impressed by what he's doing. He's not getting the strikeouts that you want to sustain a sub three ERA,

and that makes it harder to buy into. But he does a lot else well, including limiting hard contact. So I would go Malley, Arania, Jones, and then Boz just, he's giving me real Trevor Rogers vibes where I don't really have a good sense for why he's turned his season around. I think he's not terrible. I don't think he's great, though. Yeah, over the last 20 starts for Boz is a 333ER, but a 125 whip.

And obviously, like, that whip doesn't really line up with a 33 ERA. So one of these things is not like the other. I think Irania versus Malley is close. I might favor Arania, but Malley gives you better shot of getting wins with the Braves backing him, obviously. And then I would also put Jones third on that list and then Shane Bows fourth. I don't really buy it with either of these two, but they are pitching well right now.

That is Grant Holmes, who threw six shutout innings at the Phillies. He had six strikeouts. He had 17 whiffs on 89 pitches. The velocity was up slightly in this one. And he did mix in some other pitches more, but he also gave up 10 hard hits and 98.7 average EV. Every grand home start just kind of feels like you're walking a tightrope. And then Walker Bueller has pitched well lately. Five innings of one-run ball, six strikeouts against the Yankees.

last five starts, 257 ERA.8.89 whip. A ton of ground balls during that stretch. He gets the nationals this week. I don't really buy it. They're pitching well, Chris. Any thoughts here on Bueller and Grant Holmes? I don't buy it at all with either of them. With Grant Holmes, I mean, okay, this start he went six innings.

It's usually even the good start to five, and he doesn't get a lot of strikeouts, and it's just you're really not getting a lot out of him. So, I don't know, in deeper leagues, he's an okay streamer, but I don't have much faith in Grant Holmes. And then Bueller, it's kind of the same thing. There are very few deep starts. There are very few strikeouts.

It's a good home ballpark and he's got a good supporting cast. And so you'll have stretches where he's useful, but I don't think either of these guys need to be added. I did have two post-hyped names here. One of them was Emmett Sheehan. The other being Jonah Tong, who made his return to the Mets on Monday. He was at the Marlins, five innings, four hits, four runs. seven strikeouts to one walk, a mixed outing, because he had 16 whiffs on 87 pitches,

so you like that part. The one big mistake he made was he gave up a three-run home run to Graham Pauley. And, you know, Chris, looking at his pitch mix here, it was fastball changeup cutter mostly. I see the vision. I see a Logan Henderson vision here for Jonah Tong. The problem is that his command is just much, much worse than Logan Henderson's. Henderson on the season has a 107 location plus. and Jonah Tong entering the start 91.

So I see the vision, but I just, he needs that command to be better to make it work. Yeah, and it was a lot of, I was watching this start. It was a lot of buried changeups, you know, non-competitive pitches. I think there's talent here. And it's a name I want to keep an eye on,

but like when you're giving up home runs to Grand Polly, it's hard to get excited, you know? Yep, no, I totally get that. Anything to see here with these, let's see, One, two, three, four, five, six. Six names. They're very deep names, but they all pitched well this weekend. Ryan Johnson of the Angels, Brian Beo with the Red Sox,

Yusay Kikuchi with the Angels, Jeffrey Springs with the Athletics, and then Anthony Molina and Cesar Pardomo with the Giants. So six very deep names here, Chris. Anything to see here. Kikuchi and Springs, we know what they are. And in both cases, it's not very good. least Kakucci occasionally has, you know, the big strike outing, so you can keep an eye on that. But I don't think either I'm someone you rush out to add.

I know Ryan Johnson is someone that people have liked and have gotten interested in. I don't really see it. There were some interesting changes to his approach here, throwing the sinker last, the cutter and sweeper more. Maybe there's something there. I need to see more. because he's got a 163 ERA recently over the past five starts. It's not even a 1.5 K to walk ratio. That's just untenable.

That's not going to last. So I don't have a ton of faith in it. And then Beo, he's turned his season around. He deserves a lot of credit for that. It's largely been as a bulk reliever. He's been really good in that role. It was good to see him get overweight. whatever mental hurdle might have existed by getting a start in this one.

But again, I don't know what the next outing would look like even, like who he's going to go up against. So it's hard to, hard to suggest. I did have one name I wanted to bring up as a potential drop. We did see the final plan here for Chase Burns against the Dodgers. It was three no-hit innings with five strikeouts. He looked great, but I think this is part of what we're going to see. three innings,

44 pitches for Chase Burns. He's still 97% rostered. I could see potentially holding him in a categories league, Chris, but I think in any head to head points redraft league, if it's a head to head points keeper league, obviously you're holding on to Burns,

you keep him for next year. But head dead points redraft, I just don't think there's going to be enough volume for him. Yeah, I don't actually, I think in almost any league, it's hard to justify because

like let's just come up with a random relief pitcher name who's got incredible numbers let's look at okay they're all closers they're all closers like Adrian Morrowone

yeah I'm sure he's widely Tyler Rogers has a 184 ERA on the season Paul Blackburn somehow is a 172 area I don't buy that it's been really good but like Abner Uribe is probably pretty widely available.

We know there are relief pitchers who can give you three good innings in a week who actually have a better chance of getting a win than Chase Burns now. That's the thing, is that you might get three great innings out of him. Heck, if he has two starts one of these weeks, I think it would be this week. might get six great innings from him. If he gives up one three run homer, that's, that's it. It was not worth starting him. And he's not, he has zero chance of getting a win.

He's not going to be in his position to qualify. So I just, I think you are better off using most good middle relievers than, than Chase Burns, unfortunately. Two very polarizing pitchers that we've talked a lot about lately. They looked pretty good this weekend. Zach Wheeler actually looked great. against the Braves, six innings of one-run ball, nine strikeouts, he had 19 whiffs on 95 pitches,

and he used the four-seem fastball more than the start. It was mixed results. Obviously, 10 of his 19 wiffs on the fastball, that's very good, but also 94.4 average EV against his fastball. Overall, great start, two quality starts in a row for Wheeler. You'll take that. And then Paul Skeens was okay against the Angels. Five and a third shutout, four hits, one walk,

Good whip, good ERA, only two strikeouts, 11 whiffs on 87 pitches. Limited the hard contact here. What did you see, Chris, from Zach Wheeler and Paul Skeens in a great and good start from these two. Yeah, with Skeens, it just seems like he didn't have a ton of confidence in the non-fastballs. And he had a lot of trouble putting hitters away as a result. I think I saw something, I want to say he only had two swinging strikes in two strike counts. I think it might have been just the two strikeouts he got. That's really tough to go, because he pitched.

Well, he got ahead of a lot of hitters. I think the number was something like 37 pitches in two strike counts was what I saw. And he just couldn't put guys away. He just doesn't have that extra gear right now. And that's really tough because Paul Skell. It's supposed to be a stuffed monster, and he just isn't right now. As far as Wheeler, I kind of think looking ahead to 2027, we kind of just have to take it as a whole and say, yeah, I know it got real ugly in August. And maybe there's some downside here.

This guy's going to be a top 15 starting pitcher in fantasy this season. Despite not starting until April 24th, I think, is his first start. You probably just have to draft him as a top 12 starting pitcher next year. and it's going to be hard because we saw how ugly things can get, but now he's put together a couple of really good starts in a row. I think you mostly just give him the benefit of the doubt there. I get it if you don't want to be the one to do it.

Yeah. But yeah. I hate being the person because we just did this this year, doubting Zach Wheeler, I don't want to be that person. But at the same time, it's like, I'd rather get off one year early rather than one year late, and it's, you know...

Sure. I just don't know if... A guy in his late 30s, who, again, is like second year removed from the thoracic outlet and, you know, hasn't looked the same in the second half. But also 323 URA, 304XERA. He has been amazing this year. Elite strikeout rate, elite walk rate, like... There's no doubt. Yeah. Look, if he...

If these last two or three starts are awesome and he, like, shoves in the postseason, like, maybe I could talk myself back into it. It shouldn't be that hard. Like, you're saying he, was amazing this year. But it's just these things that popped up in the second half where the velocity was down that one star. And ever since then, it just hasn't looked the same.

It's like, I don't know, this makes me a little weary here of Zach Wheeler for next season. But we have a long time before we get there. We did have a pitcher, Zool, speaking. We had a few. But this one I would like to focus on, it was out in Texas. It's time to do, Drew Rasmussen up against Jacob deGreau. Drew Rasmussen up against Jacob de Grom. Rasperson, seven innings of one-run ball, seven strikeout, zero walks,

14 whiffs on 97 pitches, and that is three straight quality starts. I mean, what an awesome season for Rasperson. 288 ERA, 0.91 whip. No doubt, a league winner this season is Drew Raspson. Jacob de Grom getting himself back on track, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, did allow two homers in this one,

actually used his change-up more in this start, and it was pretty good for him. Seven of his 18 whiffs. That's back-to-back quality starts after a disaster outing on August 25th. Chris, anything here, anything you'd like to mention with Jacob DeGrom, Andrew Rasperson.

I mean, are we going to have to draft Rasperson as the top 12 starting pitcher, top 15 starting pitcher next season? I'll probably rank him as a top 20 pitcher. I don't know that I will be the one to want to use that price tag on him. Yeah, because he's not going to get quite to 170 innings probably

and I guess it's possible he goes six innings each of the next three and gets there but he's at 153 right now with probably three starts left it's a good team it's a sub three ERA literally every season of his career since 2021. Whenever he's pitched

I mean if you just look at his career it's a 289 ERA and a 103 wet. Yeah it's it's hard to dispute it yeah I it's gonna be hard to that's going to be one I'm going to have to wrap my head around

is if Rasmussen's going to be a top 15 starting pitcher, I'm going to struggle with that, even though I know he's probably worth it. That might be a version of what you're going through with Wheeler where maybe I'll rank him that way. I probably won't draft him that way. Who do you think will be higher Raspson or Parker Messick for next year? I mean, it's got to be Messick, right?

It seems like a similar range. Messick is younger and I would bet on the volume being better for him. Yeah. And I think the, I mean, he's having the better season. But we also just have a longer track record of Rasmussen just being good whenever he pitches. Yeah, yeah. No, that's a, that's a fair one. I think it has to be Messick.

I think you're always going to have to have some kind of downgrade for Rasmussen for the injury risk. I don't think he's a three-time Tommy John guy because I think it was Tommy John twice and then internal race. But that, yeah, that always feels. risky. With DeGrom, it was really nice to see. This is something I mentioned in a recent start when he was struggling. Like, is he going to start reacting to his struggles by throwing more of the change-up and curveball, which both rate out as excellent pitches and have for years? And against a very lefty-heavy lineup, he did throw his change-up a lot more. And it was excellent, because it's a really good pitch. He got seven whiffs with it, 54% whiff rate, a bunch of hard

contact, a bunch of soft contact. I do think there is a world where DeGrom diversifies Arsenal starts mixing in those secondary secondary secondaries a bit more and

you know, kind of finds a way to reverse some of the slide we've seen. So that's something to keep an eye on the next couple of starts. A bunch of leftovers from the weekend on the hitting side. Peacrow Armstrong stayed red hot. Two for four with a sock and two shoes on Monday. That's a home run, two steals. He also homered on Sunday. He had three steals

this weekend. He's up to 41 homers, 35 steals. He has 18 games to get five steals, and I think that PCA will do that easily. Bo Bichette, finishing strong here. Last 30 games, 310 batting average, six homers, a 927 OPS. Cal Raleigh. He homered on Friday. He had three hits on Saturday. Last 15 games for him. 358, 8 home runs, 13, 38 OPS. Ronald Acuna has been raking since he got that mental day off. He homered on Saturday and Sunday. A huge game-tying home run on Sunday. Last 10 games, 459, three homers, two steals for Acuna.

Kyle Swarber has homered in three straight. He leads baseball with 43 home runs. Riley Green has been on fire since returning from the IEL. He had a two-homer game on Saturday. He had two more hits on Sunday. Also homered on Monday. Ellie Dela-Cruz has homered in three straight. no quad, no problem.

He seems, he is awesome. He remains awesome. He has two quads. Yes, yeah, but one of them is, you know. Mom's a little balky. Compromise, I guess he could say. Vinnie Pee! Baby!

Vinny Pass Guantino, two more home runs this weekend, and he has looked much better since returning. Jake McCarthy, man, just want to give this guy a shout out, like, legit one of the league winners this season, preseason NFBC ADP 416, as the 108th outfielder off the board, probably picked him off waivers. How about this, Chris?

I think the first month of the season, I dropped him in Towers, 15-team, Roto, five outfielder league. Like, he wasn't playing every day, and he was as bad to start. Well, that lineup was a disaster early on, and they were just, like, nobody was playing every day

except like Ezekiel Tovar and Hunter Goodman. I completely fumbled the bag there with Jake McCarthy. I did keep him on my NL Labor team, and it looks like I'm running away with that one. Knock on wood, so we'll see if I can hold it down. But yeah, lots of Jake McCarthy this year. And then a welcome back to Connor Griffin who didn't do anything this weekend.

He went 0 for 10. Did Flash's blazing speed on Friday. He scored from first on a double. And that was the lone run in the game. So we'll see what Connor Griffin could do to finish it out. Lots of names here, Chris. Anything that you would like to touch on. Really good to see Car Rally

finishing strong seemingly. I mean, I know there's about 18 days left. We'll see if that changes, but we needed to see something from him. And we are. And I don't think that means you should take Cow Raleigh as if 2025, 2025, 26 never happened. It did. And we saw what the downside can look like for him.

But I do think it's pretty clear that the oblique injuries he played through were causing him a lot of problems. He's healthy now and can still be a big difference maker. So in that draft we talked about yesterday, I think he went around 100, maybe 120. That'll be the range. And I did, catchers went pretty early in that draft. Yeah, Drake Baldwin was a second round pick. But even like Augustine Ramirez was like a top 150 pick. They pushed up catchers, I thought a lot.

And I think Cowrally 100 to 120 is going to be the right range. maybe he forces his way even higher with a big with a final three weeks that are even better but I'll stick with a hundred-ish and then really love seeing Ronald Acuna just signs of him getting back on board because it's been a very rough season for him two different IEL stints with the hamstrings given all he's been through it is fair to wonder if Ronald McCune can still be that guy. On the other hand, his pace for the season now, you've got it here, 28 homers, 35 steals. I understand injuries have been an issue, and it's been a frustrating season, but this is still a difference maker when he's healthy and on the field.

And, you know, he might drop outside of the top 30 like he did in that meatball draft, but I'm probably is still going to rank Ron Nakunia as a top 24 player, I would guess. Yeah, I wrote in his full season pace there. The problem with Akuna, obviously, is the injuries, and he's only even hit 150 games twice in his career, so it's just hard to bank on, like, how many games are we going to get from Ronald Okunia? But he's a name where, like, the shallower league, I would take a shot on the upside,

but the deeper it goes, like, if you play a 15-teamer, you just really want to prioritize floor and guys that, like, are healthy and have done it before. And it's, I think Akuna probably slips in a draft, like that. Some pitching leftovers and the first group I'm just going to mention names

there's lots of names here but Gavin Williams another 11 strikeouts he has double-digit strikeouts in eight of his last 11 that's crazy Peyton Tolly had 12 strikeouts Brian Woo

eight shut out with nine strikeouts here and Cade Cavali another quality start facing the Dodgers didn't matter guy has just been so consistent here in the second half Chris anything to add on Cavali

Brian Wu Peyton Toley and Gavin Williams. No, it's good to see signs of life from Brian Wu. He's turning it around here in the past month or so. I never had a good explanation for why things went so wrong for Brian Wu beyond just the, you know, we saw the home road splits and that wasn't nothing, but it wasn't particularly, like we've seen him be good on the road as well, also wasn't particularly convincing explanation for what changed.

So I'm glad to see him looking like himself again. That was one that, you know, when I was looking at the draft results, and he went ahead of Parker Messick, and that was one that I flagged. And then I was like, I'll probably still take Brian Wu over Parker Messick. Maybe that's dumb,

but we've seen a dominant season from Brian. We've seen the top five season from him before. So I see. still think I would go that way. The peripherals are still very good. I do wonder, just on the whole, but I don't know if you have Logan Gilbert in here, but he had another bad start.

Seven earn runs and four innings, I believe. I do wonder if the Mariners have to just kind of clean house with their pitching coaches, because that pitching staff has just been, everyone but Emerson Hancock has been a disappointment this season. I think I saw over the last 30 days, they have the highest starting pitcher, ERA in baseball, which is just insane to think about.

Yeah. Or one of the worst. Given the talent there and given what those guys have done, like, it's not like it's just blind faith and talent. These guys have all been, I mean, Wu, Gilbert and Kirby at least have all, I would imagine have all finished top five in Salyang before. So it's just weird to see how bad things have gone for them this season. You can make sense of it from a hitting perspective.

But having a 420 ERA for the team when you're the Mariners, when you have that talent, and when you pitch half your games at Safeco? Yeah. Team Mobile? That is, I think that's got to engender some kind of change in thought process. And you look at the way, like especially Gilbert and Kirby have just been, they've both just felt kind of lost this season. Like, woo, it just seems like there's been some bad luck.

but Gilbert and Kirby, it's like different pitch mixes, different approaches, what's working, what's not. You know, Gilbert introducing the change-up, introducing the cutter, throwing some sinkers. Like, it just, I don't know what the plan is. And I do wonder if they just kind of need collectively a reset with that team. Pitching leftovers, part two, Ranger Suarez had his best start in a while. First quality start since coming off the IL on July 26th. Max Fried looked much better in his second start back from the IL, the velocity. Not all the way back, but it was up from where it was in that first outing.

Blake Snell, another great start here against the Nationals. Five starts since returning 0.93 ERA, 0.93 whip. And Sunny Gray is closing in on 20 wins. That is insane. 17 wins leads all of baseball, and he had an IELston. That's crazy. I know he's overperforming his peripherals by quite a bit, but just based on results, I had Sunny Gray as a bus this year,

and I have been dead wrong about Sunny Gray. Really, really good season for him, even at his older age. Anything you'd like to add on Gray, Blake Snell, Max Fried, and Ranger Swarres? I will just say I'm going to have Sunny Gray as a bus for next season. Maybe he'll just make me look bad this year. But that's fine.

And then, I mean, what else can we say about Blake's now? He is going to be the best pitcher in baseball for exactly two months every year and no more than two months every year. And figuring out how to value that is impossible. I won't draft him. I'm just, as long as he's on the Dodgers, I will not. If his ADP is inside the top 150, which I'm sure will be, I'm not drafting.

Let me find it. Okay. His finishes over the past five seasons, not including this year. SP 61, SP 43, SP2, SP 49, SP 78. Like,

it's the kind of thing, I know, you know, Scott always says, like, well, the numbers end up being there at the end.

It's like, well, kind of. It's also volume. Yeah, like you just, I'm not going to say he can't stay healthy

next season, but given that he's on the Dodgers, given that we know that team does not care about anything but what happens in October. I just don't think you're ever going to get more than two great months out of him every year.

And so I know someone's going to draft him as a top 30 starting pitcher next season in every draft because that's what happens. It just, it can't be me. It will not be me either. Pitching leftovers part three. Framber Valdez, big bounce back start for him. He did change up the pitch makes quite a bit in that one.

Arndola kept it rolling. Last eight starts, 231, ERA, 118 whip over a strikeout per inning. Eduardo Rodriguez, another strong start. He has legitimately been much better lately. Last six starts, 196 IRA 106 whip, nearly a strikeout per inning, and 12% swinging strike rate.

Like for most of the season, that was 8 or 9% on swinging strike rate. Lowest strikeout and swinging strike rate pitchers in baseball. He's, I can't even say he's getting away with it, Chris. He's now just doing it. He's doing the thing that we want,

and that's be good. That's annoying, but it's also, like, that happens sometimes where guys pitch over their head from a result standpoint, but then the results can catch up too. And that's what we're seeing with Edward Rodriguez. I think... That happened with Robleski earlier in the season, too.

Yeah. And then he fell apart again, but, you know, he did have a stretch where, okay, the skill is actually improved. Yeah. I don't think Edward Rodriguez is someone we need to be drafting as a top 50 starting pitcher next season, no matter how he finishes the season.

But it looks like he's going to run through the finish line. props to him. For Amber Valdez, I don't know what to make of this good start. Very few strikeouts, only five whiffs. He threw his four seamer a bunch more. I don't know if that's the answer, especially if it's not missing bats. That would be the one thing you could say is like,

okay, he's going away from the sinker, throwing four seamers up in the zone, try to miss some more bats. Well, he had five whiffs in this game. So I don't buy that. The one thing I'll say with Valdez, he gets the Rockies in Detroit this week. So if you held on to him this long, I would have used him for that starts.

And then Nola, I think this is just clearly a case of a guy's locked in. And it's nothing more than that. His location has been much better in the second half of the season. And that's great. I don't think we're witnessing a skills change here from Nola. He's pitching well, and that deserves credit. But I don't think it changes how we view him. All right.

And then the last group of pitching leftovers is Trevor Rogers. was great once again. His last 17 starts 288 ERA 105 whip. Noah Cameron, another great start for him. Last nine games, 166 ERA.77 whip. And Logan Webb bounced back. I think last time it was like eight or nine earn runs. Six innings of one run ball here,

eight strikeouts against the Cardinals. Anything on Webb, Cameron, and Trevor Rogers. Rogers, I can't make any sense of. I just don't understand what he. he is, who he is, what kind of pitcher he is. When things are going poorly for him, when things are going well for him, you watch

him pitch, and it doesn't look that different. And I don't know, maybe there's just some Ron Harris in him where it's just the margin for error is super slim, and he's not a similar pitcher to Suarez in that he gets more strikeouts,

doesn't have quite the command that he does. But it does seem to be a similar thing, where it's just a question of if the feel happens to be there in that moment and time. And it's there right now. I still don't have a ton of faith in Trevor Rogers, though. All right, the call to the bullpen for this weekend for the Rockies on Friday. Jordan Romano got the ninth with a two-run lead.

He allowed three runs, two of those earned. He took his fourth blown save and third loss. And then on Saturday, Romano got the final two outs for his 15th save. It's mostly been very good with the Rockies. He is just their closer. Don't trust it long, long term, but he is the guy for them right now. For the athletics,

it was looking like Elvis Alvarado was taking that rollover once again, but on Friday, he got the eighth inning with a two-run lead. He was facing the heart of the Mariners lineup. He gave up a run, but he got out of it. And then Hogan Harris got the ninth. He picked up his 15th save.

And then here on Monday, Hogan Harris got the ninth inning with a one-run lead, and he gave up, a solo homer to tie the game, took his seventh blown save, but he wound up with the win because the A's walked it off.

I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado, Chris. I thought with Alvarado being the younger pitcher, you know, they would kind of want to test him out in that role and see how he does the rest of the season,

but now Hogan Harris has the last two save opportunities once again, so. Yep, I think that one's just a mess, and it's not a very good team. So, one guy might get two saves, one guy might get one, it's not a huge priority, I think.

For the Cubs on Saturday, Jacob Webb was banged up. He's dealing with injury. Daniel Palencia is struggling. Ryan Zephyrjohn got the final five outs for his fifth save. I did read heading into Monday that Craig Counsel said Jacob Webb was available. So we'll see. Hopefully he gets the next save opportunity there with the Cubs. For the D-backs on Saturday, this one is a mess right now.

again the debacks Kevin Kinkle entered with one out in the seventh inning, one runner on, down one run. He got the final two outs. Juan Murillo got the eighth inning with the game tied. He allowed a double, but then he got out of it. Jonathan Loisiga got the ninth inning with the game tied. He allowed a single.

He got out of it. And then Brandon Garcia picked up the save in extras. And then on Sunday, it was Murillo in the seventh. Brandon Garcia finished out the seventh, so both of those guys combined for the seventh. Loisigua and the eighth, Kevin Kinkle, and the I don't know that there's like a rhyme or reason to the debacks bullpen right now.

No, I just also don't know if any of these guys are good enough to. Murillo's numbers are actually really good this year. Yeah, that's fair. I just wanted to check in on, okay, so Justin Martinez, he's pitching okay, the control's been pretty bad. Yeah, I think this is just likely to remain pretty messy. All right, and then for the Mets on Sunday, Kodi Senga, a clean ninth inning for his sixth save.

As long as Devin Williams is out. Kodai Senga is the guy. He is 38% rostered. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, we have Brandon Young at home against the Guardians. Dean Kramer and Drew Anderson are going up against each other. Hayden Wisniews at the Phillies. Shawmanian is at the Marlins.

Patrick Sandoval home against the Angels, Bubba Chandler's at the White Sox, David Peterson at the Brewers, Quinn Matthews at the Giants, and Landon Rup is home against the Cardinals. Do I trust anyone here? There are a few names that I kind of like. Manaya, I don't really have a ton of faith in Wesnowski,

but the Astros have gotten good results out of him. The Phillies, it's like you just got to get past two guys really in that lineup. So he's okay. Yeah, I think Wesnesty and then I like, Brandon Young has been okay. Guardians lineup is not very good. And then I think both guys in the Cardinals Giants matchups could be all right. Quinn Matthews at the Giants.

He's really only had one very bad start. And then Landon Rup, who I don't fully trust still, but he's looked better over his last two starts. I just don't trust either of those guys to throw enough strikes. That's fair. There's a lot of risk with both of them. But yeah, I think in terms of talent, they might be the two most talented pit.

Well, Bubba Chandler, but that's a different question because that's, yeah. Yeah. On Wednesday we have Will Warren against the Rockies in New York. Zebby Matthews is at the Tigers. Kater Montero against the Twins. Walker Bueller gets the Nationals. Shane Boz against the Guardians. Ryan Johnson at the Red Sox. Griffin Jacks at the Braves. Davis Martin Home against the Pirates. Yeah, I want to just see because Will Warren seems like the right call, but he only threw 28 pitches his last time out.

before that it was 98. I know he had gotten switched to the bullpen. So how comfortable do they feel letting him go 80 pitches? That might be the distinction, right? Because you could get five good innings out of Will Warren over 80 pitches. It's just is it 80 pitches? Is it 80 pitches? Is it 90 pitches?

I have no idea. I would still think Warren is the top choice. Probably Boz versus Cleveland. Yeah, I like Boz. I like Warren. I wish I could say Griffin Jacks, but I just don't trust it. Yeah. First our back was terrible.

At the Braves, it's a tough, tough lineup to face. Yep. If I had to choose a third, I think I would say Walker Bueller, but that's pretty gross. Fortune favors the bold on Griffin Jacks, but I really would rather wait and see on him before throwing him back out there. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five.

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