Fantasy Baseball Today - Labor Day Weekend Recap! Most Added & Trea Turner's Resurgence (9/5 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 5, 2023

Jasson Dominguez hit a home run in his very first at-bat (5:10)! ... Ronny Mauricio has the hardest first career hit in Statcast history (12:05)! ... Who were the other most added hitters from the weekend (19:30)? ... Trea Turner is on a tear right now (26:00). ... We have an injury update on Shohei Ohtani (32:00). Julio Urias was arrested Sunday night, too. ... Who were the most added pitchers this weekend (38:25)? ... News (48:00): Luis Robert has been dealing with a cramp. ... Anything to see with Griffin Canning and Emmet Sheehan (55:15)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:01:47). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, September 5th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White,

and hope everybody had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Today on the show, lots to talk about big news from the weekend, including an update on Shohei Otani, the most added players, both hitters and pitchers. Trey Turner is on a tear. Turner. Before we get started, help us out by liking this video and subscribing on YouTube, if you haven't already.

And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. I know football is coming. Everyone's excited. I get it. But we're still going to be here doing five podcasts per week throughout September. Maybe you got eliminated from your head to head matchups, whatever it might be. I would encourage you to stick around. We're obviously going to talk about a bunch of prospects

in September and what they're doing. And we'll have some thoughts for next season as well, some very early 2024 thoughts. So just some reasons to stick around here throughout the end of the season. Scott, you and I are officially enemies for the next two weeks as we square off in the semifinals of the podcast Points League. Are you ready? I hope so. I set a line. Let's check in. Oh, boy, you're up one point. It's going to be a slobber, knocker, man. One point.

This is a two-week playoff matchup, because that's how. That's how we always do it. For the head-to-head leagues, reduce the element of luck a little bit, reduce the impact of two-start pitchers a little bit. So it's going to take a while to sort this out. I am the higher-seated team. I had a first round by. You advanced to round two to face me.

and so far you're up one point. So far, so good. You had Merrill Kelly. I had Cole Reagan. They kind of canceled each other out. They really did, man. Merrill Kelly, 31 fantasy points. We'll talk about him later on.

Of course, we'll talk about Cole Reagan's 29 and a half fantasy points here on Monday. Let's give a shout out to the other people who are still left in the playoffs as well. Kyle and Aubrey, they're on the other side of the bracket, so they'll be facing one of you and me in the finals. here, Scott. And in the For the People Podcast League, the final four, Chris G., Corey, Alfredo,

and Scotty Dubbs, still alive? I got knocked out last week by Chris. Not nice. Anyway, let's talk about the weekend. Some highlights here, some performers. Let's jump in. In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened. Let me redo that. I did not mean to press that button. Oh my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, I'm just going to go ahead and start us off here with the Homer Pick. I want to talk about Jason Dominguez, who made his majorly debut on Friday as a 20-year-old. Obviously, a very hyped-up prospect from the time he was signed. You know, 16 years old back in the day and, you know, comparisons to Mike Trout and all these kind of legends and crazy stuff.

First swing in his major league career against Justin Verlander in opposite field home run on Friday. He finished one for four, actually collected a hit in each game this weekend, then hit another home run on Sunday off Christian Javier. He's 68% rostered. So far so good, and we've got a segment coming up. The 10 most added hitters from the weekend.

No surprise. Jason Dominguez, up to 68% rostered. He was the most added hitter. Should he have been? Scott, do you agree with this? move getting up to 68% because to me, that sounds like he's probably being added in some three outfiller leagues as well.

Well, I don't think 68% is too high. I do wonder if there were some other hitters worth adding more than Jason Dominguez this weekend, which we'll get to, I'm sure. So I'll say this.

Here's what we learned about Jason Dominguez over the weekend. One, we learned that he's going to bat every day. Like, he's a priority for the Yankees. He started all three games over the weekends. You know, the Yankees didn't play on Monday.

So obviously, we're just talking about three games. We're talking about four games for a lot of players. We're only talking about three for the Yankees, though. He started all three games. He started two of them as the number three hitter. So clearly getting playing time for Jason Dominguez is a priority for the Yankees down the stretch. We learned that much.

Two, we learned he's not intimidated up there. As you pointed out, very first at that, he hits a home run off a slam dunk call of famer in Justin Verlander. Double his age, by the way. Verlander exactly double his age. Yeah, I mean, that's, you know, clearly, clearly he's not intimidated. He's not overwhelmed by being in the majors. Now, does that mean that he's going to produce as a 20-year-old? that major league pitchers as a whole aren't going to get the better of him.

No, that doesn't necessarily mean that. And I will point out, you mentioned it was the opposite field home run. Opposet field home run. Dominguez was batting left hand to do the switch header in Houston. So it was into the Crawford boxes. I think Stackcast said it was one of four parks where that would have been a home run. Also, his second home run was 358 feet. So the first was 360, the second was 358.

These were wall scrapers. These were not hit especially hard. So I think that does paint them a little bit different of a light. That doesn't mean Jason Dominguez isn't worth adding, certainly in five outfielder leagues. It sounds like those are already covered given his roster rate. In three outfielder leagues, it's not a bad idea to invest an upside, but I could probably come up with 36 to 40 outfielder.

that I'd rather have than Jason Dominguez right now. So, you know, I hate to say don't add him in those shallower formats. But, you know, use judgment because I don't think we've learned. We have learned some things about him this weekend, but I don't think one of the things we've learned is that he's going to be somebody who can carry your team. The sixth most added hitter on CBS this weekend was Adam Duval. He's up to 75% rostered, also an outfielder. would you rather have Duval or Jason Dominguez?

I mean, until it's clear that he's cooled off, Duval. And it looked like he might be starting to over the weekend, but then he homered on Sunday, and it's like, well, now you're still talking about eight home runs in 12 games or something like that. So I think Duval is the hot hand to play, especially since we're into the playoffs right now in fantasy, is the better choice.

Two other outfielder's not on the most added list, but also pretty hot. Say, a Suzuki, two more, home runs this weekend. 24 games since that small mental break that he had earlier in August. Sayas Suzuki batting 337 with six home runs, 19 runs scored, and 15 RBI. He's up to 70% rostered. And Nolan Jones over his last five games has eight hits, one homer, three steals, still batting 282, has an 872 OPS. He is 66% rostered. Scott ranked the four. Adam Duval, Jason Dominguez, Sayas Suzuki, Nolan Jones.

Let me see. I'm counting up Adam Duval's home run to see if I can give an accurate statistic. So that's eight home runs in 14 games now with Monday's game added in for Adam Duval. Okay, so I'm ranking these outfielders that you want to talk about. Run through them again for me. Duval, Dominguez, Suzuki, and Nolan Jones. I'm going to go Nolan Jones 1. And I think I'm going to go Suzuki 2. And Duval 3.

and Jason Dominguez 4. I always love when we have an oh my goodness gracious player and then we wind up ranking him at the bottom of the list, right? But it's... Well, we do have to be realistic with it. Like, it's, I'm excited for Jason Dominguez. It's a top prospect who came up

and hit two home runs over the weekend. I think in general we should be excited about it. But I think, like you said, we also should temper expectations somewhat as well. So... You're giving me great alternatives here. Sure. Yeah. You know, it's not like you're saying,

Mickey Moniac or Jason Dominquez, you know? Right. So those are, I mean, Nolan Jones especially. It's baffled me how his roster rate has remained so low because the production has been awesome. And he has the advantage of playing half his games at Core's field. So, you know, I think that's a pretty easy call. And the thing is, like, even if Jason Dominguez goes off

and has this historic run for a 20-year-old. old outfielder that gets them in the early round conversation for next year. It's September 5th. Like, how, when is it going to be obvious that that's happening? And, like, how much time will be left in the season that we see that's happening? Oh, well, clearly, this is a must-start guy. I don't know. I think the timing works against him is all I'm saying.

All right. Well, from one New York prospect to another, Scott, your player of the weekend. Yeah, so we're going to lead with both the prospects here, kind of thematically. I'm going to go with Ronnie Maricio. Now, I told you before the show, just in case anybody's freaking out. I really think the two,

oh my goodness, gracious players we should have gone with were Mitch Garver and Royce Lewis. We'll get to them. But, like Jason Dominguez, Ronnie Maricio started all three games for the mats, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. They like the Yankees had an off day, Monday.

So we don't know about that. But start all three games, all three at second base. There was some question where he'd play. They bumped Jeff McNeil to left field. So it does seem like playing Ronnie Maricio as an actual priority for the Mets. And he stole two bases too, which is great.

He had more than 20 steals in the minors. It's good to see him putting that to use right away. The thing that really made me say, oh, my goodness gracious for Ronnie Maricio this weekend, though, his very first at bat. So, you know, Dominguez homered off Hall of Fame in his first at bat. Ronnie Maricio, in his first at bat,

hit a ball, 117.3 miles per hour. It went for a double, so it wasn't just like a loudout or anything. 117.3 miles per hour is the hardest hit ball for any MET this season. And need I remind you, the Mets have a feller by the name of Pete Alonzo he hasn't hit a ball that hard this season Maricio is very first at bat

he hits a ball that hard and so like I do think there's been a certain I think there's been some sentiment he's had cold stretches this year so there's been a certain sentiment that oh what's the big deal about Ronnie Maricio why do you keep talking about him

I mean first of all he did hit 2992 with 23 homers and 24 steals during his time in the minors. But, you know, there are flaws. He doesn't walk much. And in the past, strikeouts have been an issue, but not so much this year. He hit a ball 117.3 miles per hour. Like, there is, it's such a small group of players that can do that,

and it speaks to the upside he has. I feel like he's a guy at 22 years old who did take a leap this year that put him on our radar, in redraft leagues, but there's still more in there. There's still another leap he can take because he is capable of impacting the ball in a way very few players can. If you're, the logical next question is probably Mauricio or Jason Dominguez, which would you rather roster, and this is a great way to put it all into perspective.

I would rather roster Dominguez. I do think outfield is a greater need for people by and large, certainly in five outfielder leagues and the overall ceiling. I was just talking on Mauricio's ceiling. It may be even higher for Dominguez. But if we're speaking to leagues

where 350 plus players are rostered, both of these guys probably need to be rostered. And that's generally rotissory leagues with the extra lineup spots to fill. Correct. And Ronnie Maricio, by the way, that exit velocity 117.3, not just the hardest by a

Mets player this year. The hardest by a Mets player in more than two years, and it was also the hardest hit ball on a player's first career hit in the Stackcast era. So, again, to put all those things in perspective, it was hit really hard and pretty impressive stuff there by Ronnie Maricio. Mention Dominguez was the most added hitter.

Ronnie Maricio was the fifth most added hitter this weekend. The three hitters just in between them, Davis Schneider, up to 54%, J.P. Crawford, up to 65%, who hit two more home runs this weekend, continues to have a great second half with the Mariners and Luis Renhifo, the fourth most added hitter on CBS. He's up to 50%. Scott, how would you rank those middle infield options?

Davis Schneider, J.P. Crawford, Luis Renhifo, Ronnie Maricio. I would rank them. Davis Schneider, number one. That's your guy. You like that. J.P. Crawford, number two, and then Mauricio 3, Renhifo 4.

I think Renhifo, his ceiling doesn't really compare to the others. And he's kind of, he's a hot hand right now. And that's fine if you want to use him for that. It's a close call between those top two, Davis Schneider and J.P. Crawford. I think Crawford is especially good in points leagues because the walk to strikeout ratio is more than 80 walks. I was commenting on this because I wrote about both of those players in Monday's edition of Waverwire, Davis Schneider and J.P. Crawford. JP Crawford has averaged more head-to-head points per game this season with this recent hot streak of his than Bo Bichette. It has like a 60-walk advantage on Bichette, which is helping to factor into that.

But the bottom line is Crawford has emerged as certainly a viable starting shortstop. Not quite as useful in a standard 5-by-5 league because he's not big on, He's at a decent number of home runs this year, but that's not really his forte. So it is a close call between Crawford and Davis Schneider at the top. But I do want to point out with Schneider that, let's see, what did he do here on Monday? Was he in the lineup? He was out of the lineup. He pinch hit, went over one.

He had started, let's see, eight straight games prior to sitting on Monday, had Davis Schneider bouncing all over the place, third base, second. of base, left field, DH. They've just been looking to get his bat in the lineup. During that eight-game stretch, Schneider hit 429 with three homers, a triple, five doubles, a stolen base, and more walks than strikeout seven to five for Davis Schneider. So he's working toward picking up multi-eligibility. He's a huge on-base threat. That was true in the minors, too.

The exit velocities won't blow you away for Schneider, but as we've talked about with Zach Gelloff, He hardly ever puts the ball on the ground. A lot of line drives, which are good for batting average, a lot of fly balls, which are good for power, especially if you're pulling them a lot, which is another thing Schneider does well. So everything he's doing in the minors basically backed up by what he was doing at AAA Buffalo.

The batting average, I think, was like in the 270 range at AAA, but the on-base percentage was well over 400, and he was hitting for plenty of power. didn't get a lot of prospect attention at all, but I think the way he's like hasn't slowed down at all with increased exposure, and in particular the way that the plate discipline has carried over makes me pretty bullish on Schneider moving forward,

as long as he can continue to get bats for the Blue Jays. He could turn out to be a sneaky Keeper League dynasty asset as well. I believe Whitmerfield is in the final year of his contract, so if they can find a way to, you know, Have David Schneider be an everyday player at the start of next season? I think it's a pretty sneaky player to have on your roster in those formats as well. Players, hitters 6 through 10 in the most added list on CBS here from the weekend. Mentioned Adam Duval.

He's up to 75% rostered. Royce Lewis also up to 75%. Mitch Garver, 55%. And then Hunter Goodman and DJ Stewart, more so for deeper leagues down there. But we've got to talk about Royce Lewis and Mitch Garver. Lewis, the dude is locked in right now. 3 for 5 with a sock and a shoe on Sunday. Then went 3 for 4 with his 11th home run on Monday.

His third Grand Slam in the past week. 18 games since returning from the aisle for Royce Lewis. He's hitting 306, 7 homers, 24 RBI, 3 steals, hitting the ball hard, putting it in the air a ton, and it is working out very well right now for Royce Lewis. Mitch Garver also red hot 4 for 4 with a double dong on Sunday, two for three with his 16th home run here on Monday as well, having a huge second half.

Scott talked to me about Royce Lewis and Mitch Carver. Well, I'm glad Royce Lewis's roster rate is finally getting up there because we've talked about it a lot the past two weeks, how his major league career has been nothing short of studly so far. In the majors, you know, we're talking just a handful of games last year, But in the majors between last year and this year, Royce Lewis is at 314 with 13 homers and 901 OPS, and now a 56 game sample.

This for a former number one overall pick, who, you know, hits the ball pretty hard. It's not like there's a lot of reason to think he's faking this. The plate discipline could be better, I guess. But when you're talking about potential waiver-wire pickups, there's, that's, you know, that's being a little nip picky. I think.

And certainly with what he's done here with the grand slams, if you have been starting Royce Lewis in a head-to-head categories league the past couple weeks, he has carried you in RBI. Like, he's, he has been one of the clutches pickups you could ask for with those grand slams. I don't think he has a particular, like, knack for hitting grand slams or anything. I think that's, you know, obviously just a bit of the luck of the draw there. But the point is he's a good hitter.

and so he did what good hitters do, regardless of how many men are on base ahead of them. And it's time to treat him like a must-start player, whether it's a third base or shortstop. I think if we're talking points league specifically, I might actually give the edge to J.P. Crawford because the plate discipline, and they're kind of on opposite ends of the spectrum there,

but it's a very close call in that format. It's not a close call at all in Categories leagues. Lewis is a must. All right. Quickly on Mitch Garver, by the way, mentioned what he's been doing. Would you move Garver ahead of Cabr Ruiz, Cal Raleigh, Yiner Diaz?

It feels like those are the top catchers we've talked about over the past couple of weeks. But Mitch Garver in the second half, batting 307, 12 homers, a 1035 OPS, playing every day, batting in the middle of the Rangers lineup. Would you move Garver ahead of those names? I think every single one you mentioned, the one hesitation may be is Ruiz in a points league.

But even then, here's what stands out to me about Garver, beyond the production, which has been amazing. So this home runny hit Monday was his 11th since the start of August and OPS well over 1,000. During that time, you had the 4-4-2-Homer Performance Sunday. So a huge weekend, but really a huge month and a week for Mitch Garver. But what stands out most of all, this start he made on Monday was his, let me make sure I get this right. He started now 18 of the Rangers past 19 games. Every single day, Mitch Garver is in the lineup for them, usually at DH, which, you know, his performance has earned him that. but sometimes backing up Jonah Hyme at catcher.

But that's more than the typical catcher eligible player gets to play. And in points leagues especially, that makes a huge difference. So, yeah, I think Garver is, I think you should treat him like a stud going forward. And we forget this because he's let us down so much over the years with injuries and inconsistent playing time and whatnot. I looked into this for their entire careers, Garver has. is homered at a higher rate than Will Smith, which we think of as like the gold standard for power hitting catchers, right? If you just do home runs divided by plate appearances,

Garver has done it more frequently than Will Smith, and we're seeing the dividends of him getting the bats he needs to shine. Last question on Mitch Garver, this is one that a couple of people asked me, on Twitter, actually, would you drop Salvador Perez for Mitch Garver? I think we're at a point in the season, Scott, where if you have big-named veterans that maybe are slumping

or, you know, really haven't been great in the second half, you might be able to go with the hotter hand in a shallower type league. Would you make that swap Salvador Perez for Mitch Garver? Yeah, I think so. Though Salvador

Perez did just have a two-homer game on Friday. So I know he was cold before then, but it could change very quickly, and he obviously has an impressive track record of his own. But I mean, the numbers I just gave for Garver, you think at some point when he has one of these stretches where he's not playing much and he's banged up,

okay, when he comes back, he can't possibly be as good as when we last saw him have a stretch like that. And apparently so. He's come back and he looks as good as he ever has, and he is healthy right now. He is playing every day right now. So I think that's right at the line, Salvador Perez versus Mitch Garver.

But as of right now, I'm inclined to say I prefer Garver. Yeah, that would make Mitch Garver a top six or seven catcher rest of season. And I think that's fair, given the way that he's played. A quick, oh my goodness gracious shoutouts, a few of them from this past weekend.

Trey Turner, the guy just continues to do it right now. I mean, since that ovation, in Philly on August 4th, Trey Turner has been amazing. He had three homers and two steals this weekend. He's got seven home runs in his last seven games. And since that date, August 4th,

28 games for Trey Turner. He is betting 362 with 12 homers, 26 runs, 33 RBI, four steals, 92.3 average exit velocity. Just last week on CBS, he put up 57.5 fantasy points. Any quick thoughts on Trey Turner? I remember Corey Seeger had a year like this.

I'm trying to remember which one it was. But the production was underwhelming all year. And then he just went bonkers in September, which in Trey Turner's case, really, it started in August. We still have, you know, most of September to go. Maybe he won't sustain it right up until the end. But it certainly changed everyone's perspective. on Corey Seeger heading into the following season,

the fact he was able to redeem himself late like that. And certainly it's proven to be everyone was right to change their opinion on Corey Seeger to buy into that late hot streak because he's gone on to be better than ever since then. So hopefully that happens with Trey Turner. I know I've been skeptical that he'll deserve a first round pick next year or maybe even a second round pick,

but I mean, if he keeps this up over the final four weeks, then obviously I'll have to change my tune. Yeah, the overall numbers for Trey Turner. He's up to 262 batting average, 761 OPS, 22 home runs, 25 steals. Depending on how hot he stays, I mean, he could go, I don't, can he approach 30-30? I mean, I don't know if he can hit eight home runs in a month,

but, you know, he could wind up somewhere. Yeah, I mean, he just, He would have to do it in consecutive months. Right. But, I mean, he's probably going to wind up somewhere 25 to 30 home runs, potentially 30 plus steals, which is not far off from what we wanted, but obviously we would have liked it better distributed throughout the course of the season for Tray Turner. Ronald Cunia, too, I mean, just bananas type stuff.

Thursday, 3 for 4 with a sock in a shoe, he created his 30-60 club. Friday, 2 for 4 with a sock in a shoe. Saturday, 1 for 5, with his 30-second home run. Last week, I predicted 35 home run, 75 steals for Ronald CUNya by the end of the year. I might have sold him short, so we'll see where that winds up. He put up 56 fantasy points on CBS last week as well. And yeah, Ronald Lucuna has been amazing all season long. Let's take our first break when we return.

We will talk about some of the big news from the weekend. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. a quick reminder to join our FBT Facebook group. Obviously it's free. You go to Facebook.com slash groups slash fantasy baseball today or just log on to Facebook and search fantasy baseball today. You'll find it.

You can join up, ask any types of questions that you have, waiver wire, trades. I'm assuming not happening, maybe Dynasty League trades at this point. But yeah, you can ask any type of questions. And again, for free. Our FBT Facebook group, last week I teased that I didn't interview with a former Yankee Great. find that on demand on both YouTube and in the podcast feed.

Bernie Williams was the player I interviewed and such a nice guy, had some cool insight hearing him talk about Jason Dominguez, former Yankee Center Field legend talking about maybe the center fielder of the future. So really cool stuff. Make sure to check that out as well. Let's talk the biggest news from the weekend. Shohei Otani's agent on Monday revealed that Otani will need surgery at some point. He will need a procedure.

they've labeled it. They didn't say what type of procedure. He said it's quote inevitable that something is going to have to happen. And then a few hours later, Otani was scratched from the lineup with quote, right oblique tightness. I don't know, Scott. Color me a little suspicious on that one, but the timing is very weird here. Your thoughts on Chohei Otani. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I don't know why they'd have to make up an injury to take him out of the lineup. But I don't know. It could be related. As I've said before, if I was Otani's agent, I would be begging him every day to just shut it down for the season.

But maybe that's just me. Maybe that's why I'm not an agent. I don't know. If he does in, like if this oblique is what, you know, is more than a day-to-day thing. His oblique injuries often are. That's good news for you in our head-to-head matchup in the podcast league. because I haven't started as my utility player.

Oh, I know the feeling, Scott. As I mentioned last week, same thing happened to me with Matt McLean. It's, you know, he went on the IL 10, 15 minutes before lineups locked. So that obviously was not great. We'll see what happens with Cho Hay Otani, but he's going to go for more testing on Tuesday for the oblique. And obviously, if he has any type of strain or grade one, grade two, my guess is they're probably just going to shut him down for the rest of the season. The other big news from the weekend, Julio Arias, was arrested. and charged with felony domestic violence late on Sunday night,

and he served a 20-game suspension for domestic violence back in 2019 as well. Arias was placed on administrative leave Monday afternoon. Obviously, it's a very unfortunate situation. Just hate reading things like this happening in sports as often as they do, frankly. And it kind of feels weird talking about fantasy, talking about this from a fantasy perspective. But unfortunately, that's what we got to do, Scott. We're here to talk about it. And Julio Ria is still 97% rostered.

My guess is he will not pitch again this season, likely looking at another suspension at some point. What do you think about, do we drop Julio Rias? Do you think we could see like a Ryan Pepio? I know Emmett Sheehan started over the weekend and look pretty solid. Your thoughts on this whole situation? Well, we've been pretty excited about what Pepio's been able to do. So I don't think it's a bad idea to make a play for him if you haven't already.

understandably, if you haven't already, because the Dodgers have been so indecisive what they want to do with that rotation spot, bringing a guy in, he pitches well, shipping him out for another guy. They have another rotation opening that's obviously going to change the math there. As is for what you do with the Rias,

I don't think it's wise to do anything just yet. I agree with you that he's probably not going to pitch again this season. And who knows when he'll pitch again. But there have been times when I thought that about other players, and they weren't out for long at all. So, like, you know, Arias is somebody who, if he is pitching for the Dodgers, then of course he has fantasy values. So I would just hang back for now and wait for more information.

The other big news from the weekend, Max Scher left his last start early on Friday due to right forearm tightness. He did throw a bullpen over the weekend. and has been clear to start this Wednesday against the Astros. Funny the way this works, by the way, too. That matchup will be Max Scherzer going up against Justin Verlander, former Mets teammates. How about that?

I actually benched Max Scherzer in our matchup, Scott, the 12-team points league. I had John Gray going up against Oakland, which I thought was a pretty awesome matchup. John Gray, I know he's been a little bit shaky, but I just kind of worry about this. Like, maybe Scher kind of suffers a setback while he's pitching or leaves the start early.

It's, I don't know. I kind of felt a little scared. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, the fact they're already saying he's cleared to start Wednesday, I'm not going to say I'm totally at ease with that,

but the way Max Scherzer has pitched since joining the Rangers, I'm obviously not going to sit him in fantasy. Hopefully, they've used all the caution they need to use, and he'll be fine, and we'll never talk about this again. but it does give me some trepidation for sure the forearm injury.

The Reds promoted pitching prospect Connor Phillips, who is set to start on Tuesday against the Mariners. He's 22 years old. He was the 64th overall pick back in 2020. And this season in the minors, a 386 ERA, a 141 whip, 154 strikeouts over 105 innings for Connor Phillips. He was much better at AA than AAA, where it was the league he was pitching in

where they had the pre-tapped baseballs, right, Scott? So it might explain some of that discrepancy between his AA numbers and his AAA numbers. This is Connor Phillips that we're talking about. Any thoughts on him? He's 13% rostered. Would you be looking to add him in deeper leagues, 15-team leagues, stuff like that?

I wasn't really motivated because it seems like a, it seems like an obvious case of a spot start. They have, the Reds have several pitchers who are on the COVID-I-L. You know, it's apparently making the way through the clubhouse. Brandon Williamson, that's who spot Phillips is taking on Tuesday. He's one of them. I can't remember who else is.

Hunter Green is on the COVID-I. Hunter Green and the guy who just came back, Ben Lively, I believe is as well. Graham Ashcraft went on the actual IL-2. So that's why I'm thinking maybe Connor Phillips could stick around, but I don't know. I mean, if he pitches well, there's a chance. The other thing is I don't really expect him to pitch well as much, as poor as his control has been. I've said that about other pitchers,

and they come up and they're throwing more strikes in the majors than they ever did in the minor, so I guess it's possible. But I am not, I'm not counting on Phillips being a significant fantasy contributor down the stretch. All right. Let's talk about the 10 most added pitchers from the weekend, starting with the top five.

Jordan Wicks is up to 55% rostered. He had another solid outing at the Reds, five innings, one run, three strikeouts for him. Kyle Harrison, 64% rostered. Followed up that amazing performance early last week by giving up four home runs in his third start at the San Diego Padres. He gave up six runs over five and two-thirds innings.

But through three starts now, a 470 ERA and a 124 whip for Kyle Harrison. Darius Vines, unfortunately, up to 20% rostered. He was optioned back to AAA on Saturday. Come on, Braves. Come on. Lined up for two starts and everything. What are they doing, man? What do they do?

I had to make a lot of changes to the sleeper pitchers on Sunday when I updated. That was one of them. Yeah. And it sounds like one of Michael Soroka or Dylan Dodd could take that next turn in the rotation for the Braves. The other two Matt Manning at 42% rostered. Kyle Hendricks at 70%. Obviously, we'll give Darius Vines the boot here, Scott, but how would you rank Jordan Wicks, Kyle Harrison, Matt Manning, and Kyle Hendricks,

four of the top five most added pitchers? I'm going to give Harrison the slight edge over Hendricks. Hendricks is the boring, steady guy. Harrison is the exciting, super high upside guy. So I'll go Harrison 1, Kyle Hendricks 2. Those are the two who probably are pretty close to must roster. And then Jordan Wicks 3 and Matt Manning 4. I will say about Harrison there are reasons to be encouraged by this start

even though he gave up six earned runs even though he allowed four home runs he went five and two-thirds innings for the second straight start he went further than he went in any minor league start this year so the Dodgers are treating him like a conventional starter which was a big hurdle to clear the Giants but the Giants excuse me were treating Kyle Harrison like a

a legitimate starter, which was a big hurdle for him to clear, and one I wasn't sure he would have a chance to clear. He also walked just two in those five-and-two-thirds innings, walks were the other big hurdle for him to clear. He threw 61% of his pitches for strikes in this one, which isn't great, but it's better than the 59% of the 59% strike rate he had in the minors. So the biggest concerns we had for Kyle, Harrison when he was promoted, this start still alleviated them, even though the final line was

bad for him. And I thought Gabe Kapler's quote after the start was telling, because he basically said sort of the same thing. He said, not trying to discount the outcome. It wasn't a great outcome for the Giants, and Kyle's disappointed about that. But I'm very confident in him going forward. I'm very confident that this, what he did tonight, If he does it over and over, it will work, and it will beat a lot of major league hitters.

And that was kind of my takeaway as well. So it was, I guess, comforting to see the Giants manager say the same thing. Kyle Harrison's stuff is amazing. If he's able to command it, they're going to be great results. It didn't happen. You know, he didn't get those results over the weekend, but he was, you know, able to be efficient enough to go almost six innings, and that's good to see. All right. The rest of the most added pitchers from the weekend, Jose Cantana up to 44%.

He is in line for two starts this week against the Nationals and the Twins. We had Javier Assad up to 56%. He continues to pitch well. This weekend at the Reds eight shutout endings with seven strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes on 98 pitches for Javier Assad. He's down to a 269 ERA and a 118 whip. Jesse Shultons, 17%. Scott, did you recommend this guy?

I didn't recommend him. Oh, no. I'm trying to figure out why people were, I know he had two starts. It's a good starts there, but I don't even think we ever talked about him because we knew, we knew there was nothing to see there. Yeah, that's, that's a weird one. Tanner Scott is up to 43% and of course, Cole Regens continues to climb closer to 100%. He's up to 89% after another great start here on Monday. Cole Regans.

Anything else on this group? Let's see. Javier Assad. I feel like we haven't given him his credit, Scott. I know he doesn't get strikeouts, but he's done a really good job limiting hard contact. He gets ground balls. I don't know. Are we selling him too short?

Well, I did finally feature him in Monday's edition of Waver Wire on this, after this latest start where he went eight innings, struck out seven. That's the thing. Like my biggest objection to Javier Assad was he's not striking anybody out. And then back-to-back starts with seven strikeouts. So he started striking guys out. it's as if he heard me or something. So now this is a five-star stretch for him with a 162 ERA, 0.93 whip.

It kind of reminds me of Christopher Sanchez in that it looked like there was nothing to see with this guy at first, but then he starts to have some success and you dig a little deeper and it's like, oh, he has a 48% ground ball rate. It's not Sanchez's 58% ground ball, which is about as high as it gets.

But it's still high for Assad. He's still good at, putting the ball on the ground. And quality of contact is low against him. I think he's 83rd percentile for average exit velocity. Yeah, that's right. Now, even with that, you know, the expected ERA is not amazing, even factoring in those good quality of contact metrics for Javier Assad.

So it still seems like a pretty combustible profile. file and I expect he's going to have some hard days ahead. But at the same time, the Cubs have some of the best matchups for pitchers down the stretch. And I imagine Javier Assad will be appearing on my sleeper pitchers list from time to time in the weeks to come. He does have RP eligibility as well. So a SPARP on CBS, that little cheat code for head-to-head points leagues. Scott, I assume Kyle Harrison and Kyle Hendricks are both ahead of Assad. Who would you rather have between Assad and Jordan Wix?

I think Wix has more talent, but it's pretty close. You're going to force me to pick. I guess I'll say Wix. I think so too. But it's pretty close. Yeah. I do want to point out for Reagan's because, like, obviously he continues to impress. And in this latest start Monday against the White Sox, one hit in six innings.

22 swinging strikes on 92 pitches, seven on the fastball, five on the cutter, five on the change-up, five on the slider, which he hardly even threw. That was the pitch that he introduced once he rejoined the Royals rotation

is allowed him to take off like this. So now in seven starts since then, since that return with the Royals, 148 ERA, 0.94 whip, 12.7K per 9. There probably is an example like this where a guy who, you know, wasn't, he's kind of on the older side. It's not like he's, this is his rookie season,

but he's 25 years old. It's not like he was some big name prospect joining the rotation. He was, you know, kind of kicking around in the Rangers bullpen, not putting up great numbers. Then he gets traded and he becomes this ace. And in every way, like Cole Reagan's looks like a legitimate ace now. Like, it's really getting to be serious.

And I can't, I don't know, Can you think of a comp, a pitcher who did something similar? Like he... The one that came to mind most, it's not entirely the same because this pitcher did not get a lot of whiffs, but he was incredibly dominant. He was a league winner of the year that happened, and it was Ranger Suarez,

who also had amazing matchups. The last three matchups for Cole Regens, the A's, the Pirates, the White Sox, and he's taking advantage. Again, it's not exactly the same. Reagan's is putting up crazy swinging strike numbers. But if you remember, I think it was the final seven or eight starts. It might have been 20, 21.

Ranger Suarez that year was amazing. And he also came from the bullpen. So that's like the most clear comp for me that I came up with. I mean, I'm just going top of mind here. I remember Esteban Loiza in 2003. You didn't know that name? Because I'm like, yeah, I was 12 years old. I was in junior high school.

He won 21 games for the White Sox. the majors in strikeouts and that was after he was like a five ERA guy previously. So I guess it's not totally unprecedented, but it's worth pointing out Loiza kind of turned into a pumpkin after that. And I don't expect that to have it to Reagan's. I mean, he did have some prospect pedigree kind of because of injuries in the minors. It was, it kind of was forgotten. But like he just, between the velocity and the fact he gets whiffs on so many different

pitches. He just looks like he looks like he's here to stay as long as he can say healthy and as I already pointed out, Rakeans has a pretty pronounced injury history. Yep. All right. Let's quickly run through the rest of the news and notes from the weekend. Luis Robert has missed three straight with a right quad cramp, but it sounds like he's going to try and return this Wednesday. Yerdan Alvarez banged his knee in the outfield on Sunday, but was thankfully in the lineup on Monday. Good news. Boba Chet could return from the IL when first eligible this upcoming Friday. He's currently out with a right quad strain.

Felix Batista has received an MRI on his injured right elbow, but the Orioles will wait for the inflammation to subside before a decision is made on his next steps, which doesn't sound too good to me, Scott. I mean, if there's enough inflammation where they need to wait for it to go down, it sounds kind of scary.

Yeah. Yeah, I guess. I mean, look, we're expecting Tommy John for Felix Batista. So if there's any hope of something something less. I take that as good news. Don't even say the words since shivers down my spine. It was reported Friday that Kodi Senga is expected to make five more starts this

season as the Mets keep an eye on his workload. He already made one of those five starts. An awesome start on Friday, we'll talk about that in a bit. That would get him to 29 starts and close to 170 innings for the year. That's Kodiysanga. Nathan Avaldi completed a bullpen session Sunday and could be activated Tuesday against the Astros. He's been out since July 18th with a strained forearm.

Shane Bieber threw all of his pitches during his latest bullpen session last Thursday. Max Muncie left Sunday's game due to a shoulder injury. Dave Roberts does not believe it will be an IL situation. Jorge Saler has missed five straight due to right hip tightness. J.D. Martinez is expected to return Friday against the Nationals. Josh Young is hoping to take dry swings before the end of this. week. He's been out since early August with a left thumb fracture. Alex Verdugo is unlikely to return to the Red Sox lineup until Friday as he deals with left

hamstring tightness. That should mean more playing time for Williare Abraeu and Sedan Rafaela, hopefully. Jonathan India could begin a rehab assignment within the next week. He's been out since July 30th with left foot plantar fasciitis. Mason Miller will be activated at some point this week. He threw four perfect inning Saturday at AAA, but only got up to 37 pitches. Sounds like the A's are going to be pretty cautious with him, Scott. I think

maybe he gets up to 50 pitches. I just don't see the A's letting Mason Miller throw more than, I don't know, three to four innings per start. But maybe I'm wrong. It was actually three innings that he worked over the weekend, not four. He had four strikeouts, so it was even less than that. He didn't

go beyond three in his five rehab starts. Yeah, I mean, that's my take too, is I don't, I expect he'll be limited to four or five inning outings. But that's what I thought the first time he came up too. And he went seven innings, six innings, his last two appearances before getting hurt. So I don't know, maybe they'll, maybe they'll be more aggressive than we're thinking again. I think in leagues where you, in specifically categories leagues where your biggest needs are ratios. ERA, whip, strikeouts to an extent. That's where Mason Miller is most attractive to me.

All right, players who went to the IL this weekend, Riley Green with right elbow inflammation, Graham Ashcraft with a stress reaction in his right big toe, Danny Jansen with a fractured right middle finger, Brandon Williamson and Hunter Green went to the COVID IL, Michael Taylor with a right hamstring strain. Willie Castro started in center field on Monday, and Jason Adam with a left oblique strain.

Some quick prospect updates. The Orioles top prospect Jackson Holiday will be promoted to AAA at some point this week. In 36 games at AA, he hit 3.38 with three homers, three steals, and a 928 OPS. Is it just the layover, Frank? On the way to Baltimore. It would make some sense, right?

If the Orioles really want to go for it, why not? I don't get, I mean, I suppose if he hits a brick wall at AAA, the way he did it at AA or high A or low A this year, then that'll determine it. But if he hits the ground running at AAA, they haven't really had anybody to pair with Gunner Henderson on the left side of their infield.

This would solve that. And if they think Jackson Holiday, if they think there's a good chance, he'll be on the opening day roster next year, why wouldn't they give him a shot here in September? If you have a roster spot to play with, I'm not saying that Adam over Jason Dominguez or anything, but it's not crazy to invest in Jackson Holiday at this point. No, it is not. The Red Sox are promoting two of their prospects, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teal to AA,

and the Rangers promoted 17-year-old Sebastian Walcott from rookie ball to high eight. Let's take our final break when we return. I've got a few other waiver wire pitchers, and some leftovers will do that right after this. Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. Let's talk Waverwire pitchers. Obviously, we mentioned the most added pitchers earlier on. These are ones that are a little bit lower down the list. The first group includes Griffin Canning,

who has turned in back-to-back quality starts. At the A's this weekend, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts for Canning. Reese Olson pitched very well, but just didn't have many strikeouts. Seven shutout with one strikeout this weekend. Dakota Hudson turned in a quality start against the Pirates, seven innings, one run, two walks, zero strikeouts.

It's the most Dakota Hudson start, I think you can have. And then, Hyun Jin Ryu has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of six starts. He was in Corus Field this weekend, five innings, two runs, three strikeouts for him. It's got any enthusiasm for this group. Heungin Ryu, Dakota Hudson, Reese Olson, and Griffin Canning. Well, I did add Canning and Olson to my updated sleeper for this week. When I did do that update Sunday,

Canning facing the Guardians, Olson facing the White Sox, so both good matchups, both coming off good starts. I think there's a better chance Canning remains somebody that you hold on to because we've seen him put up good strikeout

totals in the past. He has good swing and miss stuff. He hasn't been the most reliable pitcher, but when he's on, he can miss a lot of bats. And the Angels have very good matchups moving forward. Of course, he gets Cleveland this week next week. They're facing the Mariners and Tigers.

After that, the race, but also the twins who strike out a lot. And then the final week of the season, the Rangers, but they face the athletics again. So there are a lot of good matchups there if Canning's turns happen to fall on the right days. And wouldn't it be a bad pickup. I don't think he's on the level of even like Javier Assad for me, but he's right behind that. All right, Waverwire pitchers part two. Michael King had another solid start. This one at the Houston Astros.

Five innings, one run, four strikeouts. The five innings and 69 pitches were both a season high for Michael King. He's up to 30% rostered, does have that RP eligibility. I mentioned Emmett Sheehan had a solid return to the Dodgers facing the Braves this weekend. Only went four innings, but had only allowed one earned run, had six strikeouts, 18 swinging strikes on 76 pitches for Emmett Sheehan in that one. And Tage Bradley was recalled by the raise. He was at the Guardians this weekend.

Five innings, two runs, five walks, seven strikeouts, kind of more of the same. We know the guy could get whiffs. There's no doubt. It's just can he limit walks, can he limit hard contact. He didn't show us either of those things in this start. He's got any interest in these deeper names.

Michael King, Emmett Sheehan, and Taj Bradley. Well, King is, I'm curious. curious about King, if he can make this transition to the rotation, if he ends up being as effective there as he was in the bullpen, that could turn him into a real fantasy asset. I'm not convinced of that yet, not enough to pick him up outside of the deepest leagues, but I'm certainly monitoring Michael King's performance from start to start. Bradley, yeah, a mix of good and bad in his return to the rotation, and that's kind of been his whole year, so I'm reluctant to invest much in him at this point either.

and I'm not saying I'm investing in Emmett Sheehan, but this was, I think of the three Sheehan showed me the most, first of all facing the Braves, getting those 18 swinging strikes on 76 pitches. Seven came on the change-up, which he threw 29% of the time, usually about 16%, so he more or less doubled his change-up usage in this.

And that's noteworthy because his change-up this year has a 172 batting average against in a 42% whiff rate. It is a really good pitch for Emmett Sheehan. The more he throws it as this appearance against the brave shows, the better he's going to be. All right. Let's quickly fire up the dropometer.

I've got three names here on the list. James Paxton, another rough outing. He only recorded four outs at the Royals. He gave up six runs. And over his last six starts, he has a 762 ERA and a 196 whip. He's still 74% rostered. Scott, where are you at the dropometer 1 to 10 on James Paxton?

I'm going full 10 on this. I've been a Paxton apologist, but I mean, if he can't even get through two innings against the Royals, it's over. I can't trust him. I can't trust you. I don't care how deep the league is. I'd rather have the NHG hand, I think, at this point. All right.

Speaking of pitchers with great matchups and getting clobbered, Mike Clevenger, are you kidding me, man? Against the Tigers, four innings, 12 hits, eight earned runs, 56% rostered, 1 to 10 on the dropometer. I mean, if I went 10 for Paxton,

I guess I have to go 10 for Clevenger because I think I'd still rather have Paxton than Clevenger. Yeah. I wasn't really buying into Clevenger in the first place. I did. I may have had him as a sleeper pitcher because I have to come up with 10, but it was with a lot of reluctance.

All right, and the last name is J.P. France. He was at the Rangers on. Monday, he allowed five runs over five innings. He gave up three home runs in this start. Still has a respectable 372 ERA, but this is now two of his last three starts where he's been hit pretty hard. I know there was one start in there where he gave up 10 earned runs. Still 84% rostered, where are you at on the dropometer for JP France, 1 to 10?

All right, so I'll go a little lower on him and say eight. Seven, seven. 7.5 for J.P. France. I do think this start was revealing, you know, because a couple turns ago when he got totally obliterated, we could just, okay, that happens. But now this is two of three starts where J.P. France has been just playing bad.

And I think it's, I think that's reason to believe it's probably regression here. His ERA is up to 372. That's still compared to a 464 expected ERA and a 452 expected FIP. So maybe even more regression to come for Mr. France. All right. Would you drop him for Kyle Harrison or Kyle Hendricks?

Both Kyle's, yes, sir. All right, let's wrap up with some leftovers here. The pitching standouts from the weekend, Part 1. Codai Senga matched a season high with 12 strikeouts against the Mariners. Joe Ryan looks like he's back Friday at the Rangers, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts. with 14 swinging strikes. Freddy Peralta continued his dominant second half.

Six innings, one run, 10 strikeouts with 17 swinging strikes for Freddie Peralta. And Mitch Keller looks like he's getting back on track. He was at the Cardinals. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts. And over his last four starts, a 138 ERA and a 112 whip for Mitch Keller. Any thoughts on this first group?

Keller, Peralta, Joe Ryan, and Kodi, Senga. Yeah. Yeah, they're all good. I mean, Peralta, Peralta, Peralta looked like an ace, and you were on this. I didn't see, you know, I didn't know what to expect for him once he had those first couple great starts

because I, you know, I didn't understand what went wrong for him in the first place that he wasn't doing this all along, but now his last seven starts, 171 ERA, 0.79 whip, 14.8K per 9 with an 18% swinging strike rate. It's a seven-starred stretch in which Freddie Peralta has been as good of a pitcher as there is. And so, yeah, I mean, must start, obviously. Joe Ryan looks like he's fixed after taking some time to let his groin heel.

Hopefully he's able to, I mean, it certainly appears that he's able to follow through on his delivery as needed to pitch like he was earlier this season. and Mitch Keller appears to be back on track too. Still with some, you know, he had only 10 swinging strikes on 98 pitches despite getting these eight strikeouts in six innings. But that was going on when he was, you know, looking like an ace early in the season two. So it's a strange profile Keller has. But I think we've seen over the past year and a half,

we've seen a lot more good than bad from him. And so I think my trust level is, is, is, remains pretty high for Mitch Keller with the way he's performed recently. All right. Pitching standouts part two. Max Fried had his best start of the season at the Dodgers. Seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts in that one. Blake Snell put up another scoreless outing against the Giants, six shutout, three hits, four more walks, eight strikeouts, 21 swinging strikes for Blake's now. Chris Sale had his best start since returning from the IL.

at the Royals, five shutout innings with five strikeouts for him. Did have 16 swinging strikes. His velocity was also down big time, two plus miles per hour on all of his pitches. But I don't know, that seems to happen from time to time for Chris Sale. Terrick Scuba, another dominant start at the White Sox. Seven innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, 20 swinging strikes for him. Anything to add on Scuba, Sale, Blake's Nell, and Max Freed. Not really

Not really I mean I guess Sale is the one People have the most concerns about But Other than the outings being short I've liked what I've seen from him His start this week is against the Orioles

So I think I may have sat him in a couple leagues Just because I had better options But I remained pretty bullish On Sale down the stretch and these others, I mean, Freed seems to be back to form. Scoopal seems to be rounding into form.

He's consistently working deep into games now. They're all pretty close to must start. I'd say pretty close, because as I said, I did bench Sale in a couple leagues. Yeah. A couple of those really good playoff teams that I have. That's a good call, too, because Sale has been crushed by the Orioles this year. I remember his opening day start against them. He gave up seven runs over three innings.

his fifth start of the year, he gave up five runs over five innings. I think they also saw him in spring training too, so the Orioles definitely, I think they got the book there on Chris Sale. The standouts part three, Bobby Miller had one of his more impressive starts against the Braves this weekend, seven innings, one run, five strikeouts for him. Justin Steele made his Cy Young push on Monday. Career high, 12 strikeouts, over eight shutout innings for him, 18 swinging strikes on 107 pitches against the Giants.

Truly dominant start. Merrill Kelly now has double-digit strikeouts in three of his last five starts. Aaron Savali put up a career high, 12 strikeouts against the Red Sox. Five and a third, three runs, 12 strikeouts to three walks. I noticed he threw his slider more in this start. So perhaps that's the raised devil magic kind of coming into play here for Savali. and Grayson Rodriguez just keeps churning out quality starts at the Angels Monday night, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts.

Lots of names here, Scott, Grod, Savali, Merrill Kelly, Justin Steele, and Bobby Miller. Yeah, a lot of names here. An impressive start for Bobby Miller, especially given the competition. I think they're, I think he's shown he has the kind of upside we're looking for. The kind that could separate. separate him from the glob and maybe make him worth singling out among the glob in drafts next year.

But consistency has been an issue, and that makes him a little less than a must start. Savali, I noticed the same thing with the slider. He's hardly used it at all this year. I think the 16% usage in this was the most he's had in any one start, but the numbers on it are tremendous. So if the raise, I've looked into that and are encouraging him to throw it more, I think that's ultimately good for Zavali. And a strikeout rate's been way up since joining the race.

That's also good for Zavali. Grayson Rodriguez, so yes, another quality start, seven strikeouts, that's actually the most he's had in all these quality starts. And all these starts since returning from the miners, Grayson Rodriguez had had no more than six strikeouts until this one where he got seven. still waiting for that 10-11 strikeout game. I say that and people, I think, presume, oh, you must be down on Grayson Rodriguez.

No, my point is, as well as he's pitching right now, I think he can be so much better than this. And I hope we see it before the year's done. Yeah, he's moved inside of both of our top 40 starting pitchers rest of season. That's Grayson Rodriguez. In nine starts since being recalled, 285 ERA and a 104 whip. He has been money.

Some quick hitting leftovers. Cody Bellinger had another huge weekend. He's up to 23 home runs, 19 steals. There was also a report that four teams in particular planned to be pretty aggressive on Bellinger this offseason. The Cubs, Yankees, Giants, and the Padres. Kyle Schwabber, he is on one of those runs right now. He's hit 10 home runs in his last 16 games, a 26% barrel rate during that time. Back to back 40 home run seasons here for Kyle Schwabber. Juan Soto had a sucko kind of August, but might be bouncing back in September. He's homered in three straight games over the weekend. Marcelo Zuno, also red hot. He's got eight home runs over his last 13 games. Who else here? Jordan Walker, looks like he might finish strong now. He's homered in three of his past four games.

Pete Alonzo, a double dong on Sunday. Jose Al Tuvae, a double dong on Monday. Corey Seeger, a double dong on Monday as well. Fernando Tatis had a big game on Sunday on Sunday on Sunday. on Monday, one for four with a sock and two shoes. He's up to 22 home runs and 25 steals. A few bullpen updates for the Marlins on Friday. Tanner Scott got the bottom of the 10th inning with a one-run lead.

He did give up an RBI single, wound up with the win in that game, and then on Sunday, also Tanner Scott pitched a clean ninth for his fourth save. He's 43% rostered if you're looking for saves at this point in the season. For the Mets on Friday, Drew Smith picked up his 3rd. third save. Not really sure why they didn't use Adam Aravino or Brooks Raleigh there. They last pitched on Wednesday, so it felt like they should have been available. But then on Sunday, Adam Aadavino did pick up his eighth save and he is 19% rostered. Still feels like Adam Aadavino is probably the name to have there, if you want any. Yeah, if you want any. It does seem like

a true committee though, maybe the truest committee in all the majors right now and for not a very good team. The fact that Ottavino works a lot in non-save chances. Yeah, it's kind of a mess. But if I did have to pick one Mets reliever to roster, it would be Otavino. For the Tigers, they gave Alex Lang two more save opportunities this weekend. He converted on both of them. Scott, would you rather have Alex Lang or Tanner Scott? Tanner Scott, but I think they're both more rosterable than Ottavino, for instance. Yeah, I would agree. For the Cardinals on Friday, the game was tied. Hensley pitched a clean eighth inning.

That's right. He's back with the Cardinals. Jojo Romero then pitched a clean ninth. He came out for the 10th. He gave up three runs and took his second loss. And then on Sunday, Giovanni Gallegos actually got the ninth inning and picked up his 10th save of the year. For the Rangers, the Roll of Chapman, he's kind of going through a funk right now. He got the final two outs in the ninth inning on Saturday with the game tied.

He came back out for the 10th. He was charged with three runs. He took his fourth loss. And over Chapman's last six appearances, he has a 794 ERA and a 212 whip. I don't really know where the Rangers go from here, Scott. They don't really have many other options. I think it's still Chapman, but I don't have as much confidence anymore. Yeah, I think Will Smith has five straight scoreless appearances,

and Jose LeClerc has been pretty much untouched the past couple months. I still think Chapman's their best reliever. I'm hoping they stick it out with him. But they may not. It's been pretty bumpy since they moved him into the role. All right. On Saturday for the Rockies,

Justin Lawrence got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up three walks, a hit and a hit by pitch. He was then relieved by Tyler Kinley, who got the final out for his first save. And then for the Dodgers on Sunday, Evan Phillips was unavailable.

Brewstar Gratterol picked up his seventh save of the year. Let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream, and we will start with Tuesday, where, I believe, Kyle Hendricks against the Giants, Jose Cantana at the Nationals, and I'm going to go with Brendan Fott

against the Rockies in Arizona, in Arizona. Okay, that's defensible. I prefer Dean Kramer. Kramer against the Angels, at the Angels, without Trout, of course, and potentially without Otani, too. Yeah. Brady Singer.

Without Hunter Renfro. Yeah. Let's be honest. Brady Singer against the Angels. I mean, against the White Sox, excuse me. It's probably not terrible. The White Sox are just so bad right now.

And I probably would not use Connor Phillips in his debut. I know some people have asked me about that. It seems a little too risky to me. On Wednesday, we have Jordan Hicks against the Giants. We have Junjun Riu at the Oakland A. and I think that's it. I know Matt Manning pitched very well against the Yankees last time out, but now he's going to Yankee Stadium.

He's got to face the Martian. I don't know. I don't love it. I don't either. If you were forcing me to pick a third, that would be the third. But I agree that Jordan Wicks and Junjiu are better choices. All right. Well, we went a little bit long here, but gosh,

four days worth of baseball to recap. There's a lot going on. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.