Fantasy Baseball Today - Masterful Pitching Performances, Weekend Waiver Adds & More! (6/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

Spencer Steer is coming alive (2:25)! ... Quinn Priester dominated the Rockies (6:53). ... Kumar Rocker is doing some interesting things (10:55). ... News (16:19): Yordan Alvarez is making progress, we think. ... We got some masterful pitching performances from Sonny Gray, Spencer Schwellenbach and Tarik Skubal (26:01). ... The Orioles put up 22 runs on Friday (28:23). ... How do we rank the latest waiver wire outfielders (31:00)? ... Lucas Giolito is pitching well and Nick Martinez took a no-hitter into the ninth (43:21). ... We had some big blow-up starts by pitchers this weekend (53:04). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:03:33). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome in some fantasy baseball today on Monday, June 30th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we had some masterful pitching performance.

performances this weekend. We had an Orioles offensive explosion on Friday night. 22 runs scored. We needed that. Latest waiver wire moves, injury updates, and much more. But let's begin with the players of the weekend. Oh, my goodness. Holy cow, do you believe it?

All right, Scott, do you believe that Spencer Steer is back? I don't know. He certainly looked like it the last couple weeks, and especially on Friday, three home runs in one game. For the month of June, that brings him to a 315 batting, average five home runs, three steals, 876 OPS. Obviously, his June numbers were improved greatly by that one game

with the three home runs. But I really look at the last two weeks. We've seen a big spike in Spencer Steers point production the last two weeks. In fact, he is the beginning June 16th. So the last two scoring periods in fantasy, he is the number two first baseman. And that's not even including Sunday where he had another two-hit game. So he may have passed Nick Kurtz for that two-week period to be the number one first basement during that time is Spencer Steer. Obviously, he's still contributing with steals.

I've noticed that, you know, even just isolating it to June, his average axis of velocity, still only 87 miles per hour. And that's, it's always been bad for him. He's never really stood out for how hard he hits the ball. But it's been worse this year. And I don't know that we're seeing clear improvement there for Spencer Steer. But his pull air rate is by a pretty considerable margin, the best of his career. It's a different shade of red on his baseball savant page than it normally is. And so that might, in theory, more.

more than make up for that mile per hour of exit velocity lost. And there's a chance he regains it. Certainly the way he's performed the last two weeks, it's been trending up a little. I think it's worth opening your mind to the possibilities of Spencer Steer. And I say that as someone who has been a Spencer Steer detractor each of the last two years. I had him as a preseason bust each of the last two years. But now, of course, nobody expects much of anything from him. So it's worth looking into again.

And I think it's worth just noting that he dealt with that shoulder injury this spring that had, I think, lingered from last year, had limited him during the spring. I think he was limited to DH duties for the first couple of weeks of the season as well. And it might just be that he's healthy now. And he wasn't early in the season. The quality of contact metrics don't back that hypothesis up. June is actually his lowest expected Wobah of any month so far this season. But, you know, like Scott said, he's hitting the ball to the pole side a little more often. The strikeout rate looks like it's a little bit down.

So I'm willing to take into account the possibility that Spencer Steer is starting to find it, especially because it's really the last two weeks. It's seven multi-hit games in his last 11 in this stretch. And over the past 50 plate appearances is expected Wobba. is up to 326, much, much higher than his actual season mark. And 326 is pretty average. But if that's the baseline and you're talking about someone who hits the ball in the air to the pull set a lot, that should be a pretty good hitter.

Not a great one, but one in a good park who steals some bases, who should be pretty useful for fantasy. I do think the shoulder injury in spring is a perfectly reasonable excuse for why Spencer Steer got off to such a bad start. If you look at March and April, he hit 174 with a 519 OPS. In May, he hit 270. All right, OPS climbing a little bit, 726. And then Scott read off the numbers here in June.

So he's coming around, obviously helped out by a three homer game on Friday. 67% rostered, first base and outfield eligibility. Outfield quietly has actually been a pretty good position this year, but we've lost some big names recently. Corbyn Carroll went on the aisle last week. Wyatt Langford on this weekend as well. So Spencer Steer could fill in in the outfield Or if you need a first basement, whatever it might be.

We'll talk more about some Wyatt-Lankford replacements a little bit later on. But comparing and contrasting outfielders will be a pretty big part of this show because there are lots of interesting names like Cam Smith is popping up, Revenge Game Weekend for him. So we'll talk about more of those names a little bit later on. When I get to my player of the weekend, it is Quinn Prester who was awesome against the Rocky. Seven shutout innings, one hit, two walks, 11 strikeouts,

had 20 whiffs on 95 pitches, only four hard hits in this game. Worth noting, this was the Rockies first start away from Corse Field, first series away from Corse Field. So typically very good pitcher matchups in those matchups. And Quinn Freezer obviously was great here. Both the breaking balls were awesome, slider and curve. And I mean, that has been consistent for him all season. The breaking pitches are great.

He's now throwing his sinker a little bit less. He's mixing in those pitches more. and it has led to some great results. If you look, last 10 outings dating back to early May, seven of those being starts, he had an opener for some of those, but a 230 ERA and a 101 whip since over his last 10 outings, seven starts.

So pretty good numbers here for Quinn Pryster, who's at the Marlins this week. A lineup that's performing a little bit better, but I think we still consider that a very good matchup. How do you guys feel about Quinn Pryster? Yeah, that's what I was going to say. The thing I like most about Quinn Pryster, that his next starts against the Marlins.

I don't, I think he's okay. I think he's a pretty talented pitcher, but I don't think he's someone who you are likely to just start in all matchups no matter what moving forward. So the fact that he's got a good matchup in his next one makes me like him a lot for his next matchup. After that, I think you see how that one goes,

see how he pitches the next few starts heading into the All-Star break. And I don't think you're going to be, dropping Quinn Priester necessarily. So I'm on board. We're starting him this week for sure. It's a high floor start, I would say, sort of like Andre Palante. It's similar because they're both high ground ball pitchers. And so they can have stretches where they keep runs off the board like Priester has here recently.

His ground ball rate is pushing 60%. I mean, it's really good. Just Andre Palante exceeds 60%. and he is facing the pirates this week. And so that's why I had him on my sleeper pitchers list. And I don't think this is like a coming out party for Priester, the one hit 11 strikeouts against the Rockies. Remember, this is the same.

Actually, no. You think about Bryce Elder? That was against the Giants, wasn't? I don't know why I got. No, I think Bryce Elder was against the Rockies, wasn't it? No, I think Bryce Elder was against the Giants. And I was about to say it was against the Rockers. Rockies, but then.

Oh, no, it was his next start was against the Rockies. Yeah, yeah. That's when we started buying in and then he was crap. This is the same Rockies lineup that gave up 13 to Strider one day and 15 to Graham next and like they're the most strikeout prone team at baseball now. They've surpassed the Angels. And so I think we need to take that aspect of this performance from Prester with a pretty big grain of salt. Totally agree.

But I do like his combination of getting ground balls. obviously unlocking a few more whiffs here, throwing these breaking pitches a little bit more, and his control has been a lot better. So he has just two walks total in his last four outings. That is much different than what we saw early on in the season. So Quinn Priester, he's hot right now. He's a good matchup this week, and someone you definitely can stream against the Marlins. I do have to point out one thing.

What's that? His start after that is going to be against the Dodgers. Well, we're not using them there. And then if he lines up in the first three for the Brewers to open the second half, his next start would also be against the Dodgers after that. So that's not great. That doesn't augur well for Quinn Priester as a must roster pitcher. I don't think he's must roster.

I think he's a viable streamer for this week. I think he's a streamer. All right, somebody who might have a little more upside is Kumar Rock or Chris, your player of the weekend. You know, pitchers are funny because Kumar Rocker had this like 70 grade slider and he doesn't have that pitch anymore.

He just straight up does not throw. It was never clear if it was a slider or a curveball. It was this like mid-80s killer two plane breaking ball that was racking up like 50% whiff rate last season was dominating in AAA. It's been his best pitch going back to Vanderbilt and that pitch just does not exist in his arsenal

anymore. He has replaced it over the past four starts with a hard cutter that he throws about 90 miles an hour and he's throwing it as his primary pitch brand new pitch that he basically didn't throw until his June 4th start and now he's throwing it like 40% of the time he's getting whiffs with it he's he's throwing it in any count it's his primary pitch in oh oh counts it's his primary pitch in two strike counts and given that Kumar Rockers fastballs and especially his four scene have always been pretty bad, despite some good velocity.

I think this change makes sense. The question I have with Kumar Rocker moving forward is, can he do it all? Can he have this cutter? The curveball, the slower curveball has been a pretty good swing and miss pitch, although not in this one necessarily. Can he throw the cutter and then that harder slider off of it, that 85, 86 mile an hour slider and really bring it all together? if he can, I think there's a lot of upside here.

Because that slider has been a really, really good pitch for him. It's just that's the one thing we haven't seen. He threw it three or four times in his start over the weekend, which I should mention the numbers. It was six strikeouts over six innings, two earned runs, four hits, one walk against the Seattle Mariners. I think we're still a long way from considering Kumar Rocker a must roster and certainly not a must-start pitcher,

but I am trying to add him where I can this weekend solely as an upside play. And he's like 50% rostered, I think, already. No, no, 27. Yeah, 27, widely available. So, yeah, I'm trying to add him not with the expectation that, great, I've got a new pitcher I can slot into my roster because I'm into my lineup because I don't think Kumar Rockers at that point yet. It's three pretty good starts in a row,

but this was his first really good one. but I'm intrigued by what we're seeing. I'm intrigued by the skill set, and I'm always going to be looking when a pitcher with this kind of talent shows flashes. So if we're just pitting these names up against each other, I think Quinn Priester, if you need to start this week, Kumar Rocker, if you're thinking more long term,

that would make more sense, right? Yeah, I think that's right. But if it came down to picking which one to add, I think I'd rather take the flyer on Rocker. and just make do for the one week with Priester obviously having the better matchup. Rocker is projected to face the Padres this week. So, I mean, not a lineup that's been, you know,

great by any means over the past month, but a team that doesn't strike out very much. And again, I think we do need to see more before we get Rocker in lineups. But I've been pretty intrigued by this cutter that he's throwing. And so far it's been a really good pitch for him, a 280 ex-Woba and 36% whiff rate on that cutter. So we'll see if he can continue to throw.

throw that and if he can mix in other pitches as well. Before we hit our first break, just a big thanks to those watching us live here on YouTube. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel. If you haven't already, let's take a break. And when we return, we'll get into the news. We've got some injury updates. We'll do all that right after this.

Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes from the weekend. And Astros GM Dana Brown said Sunday there's a chance that Yorda Alvarez joins the Astros next weekend against the Dodgers, but added it. It's quote, not the most likely scenario. I don't know that any other team provides updates that are not really updates quite like the Astros.

I mean, over under on three and a half fractured ribs for Jeremy Pena after he's missed the last two games after being hit by a pitch, right? Like that's how this has worked, right? Yeah, I have no idea. I'm certainly not going to put Yordon Averaz in my lineup. Correct. If he's back before the All-Star break, I will be. thrilled.

He did do live BP for the first time, I think, on Saturday or Sunday. So that, like, he was out there swinging a bat with presumably some ferocity. So he does seem to be making progress. Bryce Harper took swings in a live batting practice Saturday as well, assuming he doesn't experience any setbacks with that right wrist. He could return on Monday, but obviously just pay attention to the news. If he's back, boom, get him back in your lineup. Wyatt Langford was placed in the IL Friday due to a left oblique strain,

retroactive to June 25th. So he's now dealt with strains to both of his obliques this season, and this one, again, landing him on the IL. So not great. He has been struggling for quite some time. Tyler Glass now is expected to require at least two more rehab appearances before being activated by the Dodgers and sticking with the Dodgers because they always have updates on their pitchers.

Blake Snell is, quote, probably not close to facing hitters, according to Dave Roberts. So a pretty ominous update on him. And Emmichian's next start will come at AAA, despite an awesome outing last time. It seems like they're kind of slow playing it here with him again. I will say, Justin Robleski's looked better. He was really good this weekend as well. So that makes me a little bit concerned about Emmett Sheean, but if he goes out there

and throws 85 pitches in his next start, then I would imagine his next, His next one after that is going to be with the Dodgers. He only got to 75 in his previous one. Here's the exact quote from Dave Roberts. He'll have another start with OKC, and then at that point in time, there might be some things happening. Cool.

All right. Very, very Houston Astros there. There you go. Jeremy Pena has missed two straight after being hit by a pitch on his ribs on Friday as Chris alluded to. Have you guys seen anything starter sit this week? How do you feel about pain you? Seems like he's in pain, so I would rather not play him.

Seems like he's in pain, so nah. I thought you're just going to go with the he's in pain, yeah. But either way it works. No? No. All right. Josh Naylor has missed two straight with neck stiffness. What about him?

Starterset? The neck is so close to the shoulder. Is this just the shoulder injury that he dealt with last week? I think he's dealing with both. I was watching the D-backs game earlier. they said neck slash shoulders. It's that's a little concerning just because even if he does play, is he going to be effective?

I think I lean towards sitting him if I can. Hunter Goodman has missed four straight due to left hamstring tightness. Anything on Hunter Goodman? They seem optimistic. He's not going to go on the IL, but they're the Rockies and don't seem to know much of anything. So I, given how loaded the catcher position,

is right now, I imagine you can find a fill in and reassess at the start of next week. Carrie Carpenter left Sunday night baseball with a right hamstring injury. They also said on the broadcast that he dealt with a right hamstring injury last year. I couldn't find it in the pro sports transactions database, but maybe it was like a day-to-day thing that he kind of battled through. But he's looked better lately. I know earlier on in June, Kerry Carpenter was scuffling mightily. So I don't think that he is a must start by any means of this upcoming week.

Shane Bieber is expected to progress to live BP this week. He's still building up after Tommy John surgery. He's 55% rostered. U. Darvish threw three simulated innings against single A hitters on Wednesday. He threw 51 pitches and his fastball topped out at 94.5 miles per hour. He's 61% rostered. Luis Heel is expected to work up to about 35 pitches in a live session this week. and if all goes well, he could be sent out on a rehab assignment.

He's 54% rostered and Nestor Cortez through two simulated innings on Friday and is expected to begin a rehab assignment at AAA this week. He is 38% rostered. How would you guys rank Bieber, Darvish, Luis Heel, and Nestor Cortez as stash candidates? You just did. I think I'd go Heel ahead of Darvish. I might go ahead of Beaver just because Beaver's furthest away of this group.

I would think it's still another month. They've been saying mid to late July, but that seems optimistic. I'd rather have somebody good than somebody bad, even if it takes twice as long. I don't think Heal is definitely bad, though, and I don't think there's a guarantee any of these guys are good. I don't think,

like I think Shane Bieber is mustache any leagues that offer IL spots. I would not say the same for Heal. Yeah, I don't think there's a guarantee any of these guys are good. I think there's a decent chance they're all pretty bad. And so if they're all around the same timetable, which I think is a reasonable expectation, then yeah, I go Bieber ahead of him.

If Heal is two weeks ahead, that might be enough to pitch it his way. Scott, watch how you talk about the AL rookie of the year, right? Defending a rookie of the year. Come on, come on. Okay, he had like a 6ERA from June 15th on or something like that. All right, but the overall.

numbers? What do we wind up with like a 3-5 ERA? That counts for something, I think. I, listen, you guys are entitled to your own opinions. Wow. You don't think you're entitled to your own opinion? I think you know. All right, let's move on. I think Luis Heels very good. So I, that's fair. I would rather not have him approach my fantasy teams. He's free and there's no other choice. Jordan Westberg aggravated the injury to his left index finger on Friday and then he

missed both Saturday and Sunday. The expectation is that he won't go on the IL, but who knows? Luis Robert was placed in the aisle due to a left hamstring strain. Royce Lewis could return from his rehab assignment as early as Tuesday. He's 64% rostered, but he has hit just 202 in 30 games this season. So I don't really have much interest in Royce Lewis. Do you guys disagree? He has shown so much upside in the past that I'm not going to say. I have little. I very much want to give him a chance. And if all it costs me is, you know, $2 a fab or a waiver wire claim,

then I'm absolutely going to stash him because, I don't know. I'm looking at one of my teams right now. I need a third baseman. My best, okay, I'll probably slide Camp Smith in a third base. But if not him, I'd have to go add someone and the best options are not very good. So, like, third base is a position or Christopher Morel, I will give Royce Lewis a try. Royce Lewis or Casey Schmidt.

I'll give Royce Lewis a try. I think Casey Schmidt is somewhat interesting. But like the upside for him or Ernie Clement or Christian Koss is nothing. I don't think you have to go that far down before I'm interested in Royce Lewis. Yeah, I'm just looking at what's available in my league. Those are my actual options. So yeah, Rice Lewis. Zach Eflin was removed from Saturday's start with a lower back strain and is trending towards an IELstant.

He's been bad lately too. So in leagues with no aisle spots, you could go ahead and drop Zach Eflin if you didn't already. Griffin Canning was officially diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles, which means he'll miss the rest of this season. And perhaps all of next season as well, it's such a tough injury to come back from. So rough go there for Griffin Canning. The Rangers offered J.D. Martinez a non-guaranteed contract on Friday. He's now 37 years old and struggled last season, so don't think we have much interest. The Reds released Jamer Candelario on Sunday.

He was awful earlier this year. I had to imagine some team will take a flyer on him. Probably won't matter, but we'll see. And Chase Burns, this isn't a news item, but I just wanted to ask if you saw any big bids on Chase Burns. He became available in most NFBC leagues. I saw in my TGFBI league, he went for $252. and in our NFBC online championship, he went for 189.

That is a 12-team roto. The other was 15 teams. So around like 20 to 25% is what I saw for Chase Burns. Yep. 237 in my league. So, yeah, that's about right. Interesting Kumar Rocker was dropped for him. I'd rather have Burns, obviously,

but got to put in a bid for Kumar Rocker now just to make sure I got a chance next week. So I don't forget. Interesting timing on that. that one. And speaking of Chase Burns, Monday, we get Chase Burns against Kara Crochet. So that should be quite the battle there in Fenway, too. So, uh, so, you know, hostile environment for Chase Burns. We'll see how he handles it. Mentioned at the top, we had some truly masterful pitching outings this weekend and three that stood out above the rest, along with Quinn Prester, of course.

Sunny Gray, one of the best starts of his career on Friday. At the Guardians, a one hit shutout, Zero walks, 11 strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 89 pitches. A Maddox, 89 pitches is insane. Especially with 11 strikeouts. Look, I don't want to diminish what Sunny Gray did here. He's obviously been better lately. But man, the Guardian's lineup is so bad right now. Spencer Schwellenbach up against the Phillies,

seven innings, one run, 12 strikeouts for him, 19 whiffs on 90 pitches in that one. And he has gone 7 plus in 4 straight. He also has four double-digit strikeouts this season, so he's been pretty awesome. And Terrick Scoobel, he was just filthy on Sunday night baseball against the twins. Seven shutout. He tied a season high with 13 strikeouts, 22 whiffs on 93 pitches. He's the best pitcher in baseball.

You didn't need me to tell you that. But he proved it once again. Anything that stood out to you guys on Scoobel, Schwellenbach, and Sunny Gray, just three awesome outings. So Sunny Gray now has... and I just counted them up. I'll count them again because I forgot the number. He has one, two, three, four, five, six starts this year, uh, uh, ah, uh, with zero earn runs in six plus innings.

Six with zero and six plus. And three of those have double digit strikeouts. So I know there have been some ugly starts. There was one two turns ago, six earn runs and four in a third innings. but you just, you can't sit up. You can't play the game with Sunny Gray because, and this is kind of the story of his old career. As soon as you think you haven't figured out,

he's going to change everything on you and usually in a good way. Schwellenbach, too, just wanted to point out. He had a little bit of a rough stretch. I think it was, you know, maybe late April, early May, where, you know, we're thinking, all right, I don't know, is he really breaking out? Is it going to happen? last 10 starts since that point.

It's a 260 ERA.88 whip over a strikeout for ending 13% swinging strike rate. So, Shwellenbach has been awesome. Good for him. We had an offensive breakout by the Orioles on Friday. They had 22 runs on 21 hits, including four home runs in that game. I believe two off of Jose Caballero.

Poor guy. I mean, just crushing his ERA there. But I also didn't realize, Chris, you pointed this out to me. They were down six zip in the second inning, and then they go on to win 22 to 8, which is just bananas stuff there. But Gunner Henderson, four for six with his ninth home run in that one.

He's actually hitting better in June. 32-batting average, 8-57 OPS. We just need more home runs. It's only two home runs for the whole month. So it's, I don't know, it's just kind of been a, I know he dealt with the injury early on. Yeah, it's been disappointing.

A weird season for Gunner Henderson. I think he'll be great moving forward. I also think if you need a catcher, Gary Sanchez, I'm surprised, but. Yeah. That certainly felt like a bad signing at the time. $8 million for a backup kenscher when you've got Adley Rutchman. Didn't seem like a need, but, you know,

Ruchman's going to be out a decent amount of time. And Gary Sanchez has looked great since coming back from his own injury. So I'm adding him in a couple leagues. They're hopeful Rushman will be back for the start of the second half. He did express some like pessimism about that. He said it was feeling better. But that's still three weeks. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, short term, sure. Catchers, like, I'd rather take Augustine Ramirez over a game. Well, yeah, he's 77% roster. Yeah, this is like two catcher league stuff with Gary Sanchez. For sure. Colton Couser, big game, three for four, with three runs and three doubles and four runs scored.

Since returning in June, Couser's hitting 257, five homers, 13 RBI, 862 OPS, 63% rostered. Who do you guys like more? Moving forward to Colton Couser? or Spencer Steer? I would go Kouser. My knee-jerk reaction was to say steer, but you answered so emphatically

then now I'm second-guessing myself. I'm going to say steer for the speed element. Yeah, I think I would lean steer as well, but it's pretty close. Couser's been hitting well, and Kobe Mayo is on the board, two-for-six with his first career home run, which came off of Jose Caballero,

but we'll take it any way that we can get it there for Kobe Mayo. Still counts in your scorecard. Kind of playing every other day right now. I never know what the Orioles are doing. Kobe Mayo is not a player to add, but it's just a name to watch to see, maybe this starts to get him going a little bit.

We know that there's big power potential, but just not playing enough, which, you know, has been the story of Kobe Mayo's career thus far. Let's get into some other waiver wire hitters from the weekend, and here we are. Wyatt Langford replacements, Corby and Carroll replacements,

if you just need an outfielder, there are lots of interesting names right now. Cam Smith, revenge games against the Cubs. He homered on both Friday and Saturday night. And overall, he's got the OPS up to 777. We know he's been hot in the month of June. He's up to 77% rostered. That is Cam Smith.

Joe Adele continues to rake two for five with a home run on Friday, another multi-hit game on Saturday. Josh Lowe picking things up last five games. He's got 10 hits, a home run, and a steal. We spoke about Spencer Stier. Kyle Stowers coming alive once again. Two more home runs this weekend. He's got three homers in his past six.

Sadon-Rof-Elella, quietly just doing his thing. In June, hitting 281, six homers, four seals, in 858 OPS. And so, all right, there's a lot of names here. I'm also going to throw Jerks and Profar in here. I'm going to throw Colton Couser in this mix. So there's eight names total. I have them on the rundown.

If you want to follow along, this will help you guys. But Cam Smith, Joe Adele, Josh Lowe, Spencer Steer, Kyle Stowers, Raphaelah, Jirkson Profar, Kouser, eight names. Who are your top three from that group? Hmm. Okay, I think it's ProFar,

Cam Smith. I think it's very close after that. I know you didn't mention Austin Hayes, but he's in that group. He's only like 47% rostered, and he's back from his injury. So I think Hayes, Adel, low, steers, Kouser are all very similar,

but the top two clearly for me is pro far and Cam Smith. Cam Smith, ex-Woba has been increasing every month of the season. It's up to 385 in June. That's a really good mark. Yes, it has come with a lower launch angle, but he's starting to barrel the ball a little bit more. He's hitting the ball really hard.

The plate discipline has gotten better every month. I think Cam Smith, be in line for a really big second half. So I would prioritize ProFar, but Cam Smith is second for me. And then I think everyone else is a lot closer. The thing about this group is I don't think I dislike any of them. Oh, no, I agree. It's a great group, yeah.

Should probably be rostered more than they are. I will point out that for week 15, there are three of these in my sleeper hitters, and those three in order are Joe Adele. Kim Smith. Is it just two? I think Kyle Stowers was a near miss. Kyle Stowers sat against the lefty on Sunday, but the Marlins don't have any lefties scheduled for next week.

So he would be a fine play, Kyle Stowers. But if you're asking me my favorite three rest of season, yeah, I want to give pro far a look pretty much anywhere he's available. Part of that is because he is best suited for points leagues, which tend to be shallower. And so, okay, five outfielder league, obviously I'm picking up pro far, but also the shallower points leagues I'm picking up pro far too. And so I think that gives him the top spot. Second and third, I'm inclined to go Austin Hayes and then Josh Lowe, I think, though Lowe has the issue of sitting against lefties oftentimes too. He sat against three of the last four, the rays have faced.

But in theory, in theory, there's a lot to like there with low. I don't disagree with Chris's broader take on Cam Smith that, like, it could be happening. Like, he started to turn things around a month and a half into his rookie season. And it was kind of a hollow batting average at first, but then we saw the two home runs over the weekend. So, you know, top prospect, great minor league numbers. There's a lot of upside there. He's underperforming his expected stats. There's a lot of upside there, clearly.

But I do think there's a lot of upside for those other three I mentioned as well. More on the pro far thing, who Chris and I both chose is our favorite. But there are a couple developments for him over the weekend. One is, first of all, I should point out he's coming back Wednesday. Wednesday's the day. Assuming Tuesday's game doesn't get right down. Yeah. one is that Brian Snitker initially was saying he wanted to slot him second behind Ronald de Cunia.

He kind of changed his tune on Sunday, said the middle of the order somewhere. I think that's because he's come to like Matt Olson in the number two spot and doesn't want to interfere with that. So that, you know, we'd rather pro far hit second. Middle of the order still isn't bad. The other thing I want to point out, and I don't want people to take this the wrong way, because there will be people who hear this and think. Scott White is saying jerks and pro far is going to be bad. I'm not saying that.

I am totally open to all possibilities for jerks and pro far. I want to pick them up and see how it goes. But just to give the complete picture, even though his production has been good on his AAA rehab assignment, his average exit velocity only 87.2 miles per hour and his max only 104.7. That is much closer to pre-2020. 24 pro far than 2024 pro far small sample obviously maybe means nothing but

Got to give the complete picture eggs of velocity's not looking that good at triple a But I guess to kind of play the other side again we should the numbers that he's putting up in triple a It's 366 with three home runs and an 1101 OPS and in 11 games. So it's been good, but yeah, I mean you might say that maybe pro far is you know Lacking a little juice right now Maybe. Who knows? We have a second baseman that's heating up. It's Otto Lopez who homered twice this weekend.

He also swiped a bag on Sunday. Last 22 games, he's hitting 322 with four homers, 17 runs, 20 RBI, three steals, and OPS near 900. He's been really, really good. He's 30% rostered. Actually has second base and shortstop eligibility on CBS. And second base has kind of been, I don't know, lacking at the top end of the position. Like there's some okay players in the middle, but I don't know. I think overall, I don't think it's been a great position.

How interested are you guys in Otto Lopez? I think he's a perfectly fine middle infielder. I don't think he's much more than that, but shouldn't hurt you in batting average, 260 is right around what I'd expect. And he's probably pretty close to a 2020 pace because I think he missed a little bit of time. And so, you know, he had what? You have like 18 or 15 homers last year something like that. Am I remembering that correctly?

I think it was reverse. I think he had six or seven homers, but close to 20 steels. Six homers, 20 steals last year and fourth. But his underlying quality of contact was better than his actual production. So I think like 1520 with a 260 batting average, how useful is that?

It's a fringe starter and a 12-team Roto League. It's a must-start middle infielder and a 15-team. league and it's probably not that useful in points. But he's hot, so sure. I put in a move in a Roto League, drop Jake Croninworth pick up. Yeah, that's fine. Otto Lopez. I don't know if we'll go through, somebody might have bid me for Lopez, but I prefer him

to Cronidworth at this point. I think if I had Ozzy Albies, I wouldn't drop him for Otto Lopez. I think I'd start Otto, yeah. I think I would maybe pick Otto Lopez up and just start him over Ossiali's right now. Try to try to light a fire. under Ozzy Albiz. You got to bench him. Scott, are you looking at Marlins' matchups this week?

Is that what you were peeking at? I was looking at Bray's matchups. Oh, how are they? Which are good. They're not top five good. But the Marlins have good matchups, right? Marlins are pretty good to mostly just. Any lefties for Ozzy?

Is that there are zero lefties for the Marlins. There are three for Ozzy in Brae. I would imagine he's been bad against everyone. Yeah, that's what it feels like. I'm not sure if you have this in your notes, while we're on the subject of underachieving Braveshitters, it looks like you do not. Michael Harris sat out both Saturday and Sunday against lefties.

Wow. He is not great. He's, yeah, I mean, I don't think that's going to be a permanent arrangement, but right now they're pulling back on him a little because he's been so bad. I think he has three more walks this season than I do. Geez. Three walks all season? No, he has 10.

I'm overstating it, but only a little bit. But maybe you have like seven walks in softball, Chris, and then he only has three more walks in here. We have the same number of walks in a major league game in the month of June. It's a 3% walk rate. That's probably what I was thinking. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Which is interesting that they would even bench him against lefties

because he's such a good defender. You would think, all right, they'll just throw him out there and whatever. We'll take a zero offensively if he's giving us great defense. You've got to get Eli White's bat in the lineup. Yeah, anytime you can. A couple deep league names here. No one Gorman. Looks like he might be coming alive a little bit.

One for three with a sock into shoe on Sunday. Last seven games, he's hitting 296 with three homers and one steal. Playing more with Yvonne Herrera on the IL. Jacob Young, Deep League name if you need speed. Last seven games hitting 320 with four steals. He had 33 steals last season. And Jake McCarthy, one for four with a sock into shoe on Friday. He's getting playing time because Corbyn Carroll's hurt.

He has a hit in four straight. He had, I think, 25 steals last season as well. So any of these deep league names stand out to you guys, Nolan Gorman, Jacob Young and Jacob McCarthy. Jacob Young and Jacob McCarthy stand out if you need stolen bases, and that's it. And Nolan Gorman is currently hot. I don't expect that to continue in the long run, but he's currently hot. He's got a lot of power, and he's, I think it's, is it five or six home runs in the month of June for Nolan Gorman? Six of his seven home runs of the season have come in June.

And the underlying numbers are improved over his last 100 plate appearances. This is 364X Wobah. So I'm totally fine, Ryan the hot hand with Nolan Gorman. Again, only in deeper leagues, but we know he's someone that could get hot and obviously provide a lot of power. Let's take our final break when we return. We'll get into Waverwire pitchers from the weekend. We had someone take a no-hitter into the ninth inning. We'll talk about that right after this.

Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. taking a look at Waverwire pitchers from the weekend. We already spoke about Quinn Priester, but also Lucas Gilito has been pitching better of late. Seven innings, one unearned run with five strikeouts, and he has four quality starts in a row during that span, a 0.72 ERA and a 0.92 whip. Chad Patrick, a nice out against the Rockies,

five shutout with eight strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 99 pitches, but as we highlighted, everyone strikes out the Rockies, or almost everyone. And Nick Martinez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, against the Padres. Ooh, I just realized a revenge game for Nick Martinez. How about that?

Eight plus, one hit, one run, six strikeouts, had 14 whiffs on 112 pitches. Did change up the pitch mix a little bit here. It was his first start since June 19th when he allowed seven earned runs. So a nice bounce back here. But who stands out most? What do you guys think? Quinn Priester, G. Jolito, Chad Patrick, and Nick Martinez.

I kind of like Chad Patrick. and before I was I was more dismissive of him when his ERA was low because it's like he's I don't see any thing he's doing all that well that he's going to be able to sustain this as the ERA has risen though so has the swinging strike rate in a pretty significant way so the swinging strike rate for the season is only 10.3% or at least coming into Sunday it was but in his last eight starts it's 13.4% which is pretty darn good he's rostered in two-thirds of CBS sports leagues now, Chad Patrick, because he had, he's just coming off a two-star week against the Pirates and Rockies. But his next start is against the Marlins. And I think,

I mean, I still had him. I have him in the sleeper pitchers for this upcoming week. I think he's worth picking up for that outing. If you need a one-stared streamer. All right. I think these guys are all pretty jaggy, like 380 to 4-ish.

ERAs is what I expect from all of them, but at Washington for Lucas Gialito this week, at Miami this week for Chad Patrick. And even at Boston's not terrible for Nick Martinez. So I think they're all fine. Yeah. This was weird because Nick Martinez worked out of the bullpen twice in the green starts. And then he throws 116 pitches. Is that what it was? Yeah.

And he was awful in his last start before the bullpen games. So I wish, like digging into all the usual stuff we dig into, I didn't see anything that noteworthy. He threw 67% of his pitches for strikes. Of course, you know, he was like an elite control guy last year. So we like to see that, but I don't know that that's just going to be the norm for him now because it happened to happen against the Padres here on Friday. And similarly, Lucas Gialito.

So I don't, he has been good with some consistency. Last four starts, last four starts whip under one with nearly a strikeout per inning. But the swinging strike rate still low, the average exit velocity is still high. It wasn't in this particular start, but overall still high. And I'm pretty skeptical of Lucas G. Leto, despite his recent success. I agree with that. Yeah, even looking at the individual pitch characteristics, there's nothing that stands out very much for Gileto. It's, you know, the change-up is usually his best pitch.

It's not getting many whiffs on it. So look, it's good results. Hope it works out for them. But don't see much that fully backs up what Gileo is doing right now. Going a little bit deeper here, we have Mike Soroka, who has been pitching well. He was at the Angels, six innings one run with five strikeouts and five starts in June, a 349 ERA, 0.81. whip for Soroka who faces the Red Sox this week and is a spark for those in points leagues. Dean Kramer, strong outing against Tampa Bay, seven shutout innings with six

strikeouts and I mean, look, against Tampa Bay, the way that they're hitting right now, that's pretty impressive. Last six outings for Kramer, it's a 315 ERA, 128 whip is high. And we spoke about Kumar Rocker. Is Rocker's probably the most interesting of this group, but Soroka in a points league, he's pitching well right now. So, SROCA is interesting. His slurve has been really, really good against righties. And in the month of June, he's been very good against lefties. It's a lot more changeups. He has that new harder kick change. He's starting about 20% of the time in the month of June to lefties. And the results have been much better. And that's been the biggest problem for Seroca. So I think he's mostly interesting as a spark. But I, I, have at least one roto league where I'm starting him this week against Boston. It's not like they've been a terrifying matchup since they traded Rafael Devers. So I think Soroka is not significantly less interesting than Gialito, Patrick, and Nick Martinez.

I think he's right in that range. Probably has more strikeout upside than any of them. Who would you rather take a flyer on, Chris, Soroka or Kumar Rocker? I probably feel more comfortable starting Soroka right now than Rocker. I think Rocker probably has more long-term upside So it probably just depends on if I need someone this week All right and then some deep league names Brandon Walter another strong start against the Cubs

Six innings one run with five strikeouts for him He has a 334 ERA 104 whip Also has just two walks in five starts Which seems unsustainable but it's noteworthy David Festa bounced back at the Tigers Five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts only reason I bring him up here is because he's at the Marlins this week, so maybe

a deep league streamer, and Adrian Houser has quietly pitched very well for the White Sox, seven shutout innings with five strikeouts against the Giants. He has a 190 ERA, 117 whip. The velocity's up quite a bit this season for Adrian Houser. He's at the Rockies, which Rockies have hit a little bit better in Corse Field recently. I don't know it's

the cakewalk that it was, I don't know, two or three weeks ago, but Hauser's pitching well. Anybody stand out here in deep leagues. The Rockies just look like a normal bad team now rather than the worst team ever. Yeah. They're on pace for like 50 losses now, or 50 wins now, which is really bad, but probably not going to break the White Sox record next season or from last season. So I think, like I'm not avoiding them, but I'm probably not starting Adrian Houser, certainly in a league where there could be some long-term ERA ramifications if I do start him.

You know, head-to-head points league, whatever. He's a spark, but it's probably fine. I like Brandon Walter, and I think the Astros do too. The Astros kept him in the rotation instead of Ryan Gusto. They kicked Ryan Gusto to the bullpen. They kept Walter in once they got Lance McCuller's back and so that would suggest that they liked what they saw and want to see more of it and why wanted they? Because Brandon Walters delivered a lot of interesting results here.

His control was good at AAA too. He had just 1.3 walks per nine innings down there. His ground ball rate in the majors over 50% swinging strike rate 12%. Strike rate nearly 70%. that's a lot of top of the scale well i mean ground ball rate and strike rate there near the top of the scale swinging strike rate is decent it's a very solid swinging strike rate so you know different pitch mix from most of his minor league career and uh i think he might be a late bloomer here as we've been saying after walters other starts i think it's probably going to go really poorly at some point

like i just don't think he has the stuff to live in the zone as much as he does but I agree like the way he's commanding his pitches right now. I think you kind of just roll him out there and live with it. But I do think at some point it's probably going to be a really ugly era for Brandon Walter. I just don't trust the stuff. Festa, I'm trying to think if this is an insult or not. He's giving me like poor man's Rysolson vibes where the changeup and slider are really good and the foreseemer is awful. and he just can't get himself in enough situations where the slider and change up matter

because I don't think he can command either pitch to be a primary pitch, and so he has to throw the four seamer. One thing I have noticed is this season he's throwing his sinker a little bit more, and in this start it might have been up like 15% when he usually throws it about 9%. Last year it was 0%. He didn't throw any. So that could be one where it's not a great pitch on its own. but might just be able to mitigate the damage of the other fastball enough

to make the change-up and slider play. I'm not totally convinced that David Festa's there yet. But as a streamer against Miami this week, I don't mind it. I think there's some upside there. All right, I mentioned up at the top that we had some big... Actually, no, I don't think I mentioned this. But we did have some big blow-up starts this weekend as well. It was not all good.

And Bailey Ober, you know, if I didn't just have a funeral for Zach Allen last, week I might have had another funeral for Bailey Ober this weekend because my goodness at the Tigers five and two thirds innings 11 hits seven runs four homers allowed and over his last five starts nine ERA 153 whip 14 home runs allowed by Bailey Ober who is still 83% rostered and 50% started facing Tampa this week look this goes without saying but still 50% of leagues are starting him get Billy Ober out of your lineup I there's probably an argument to drop him. I don't know if you guys are there yet.

I really considered it. I feel like we've been saying the same thing after his last several starts. He's messed up right now. Don't start him. Don't start him again until it looks like he's good again. Can you drop him? Yeah, I mean, in a shallow enough league, you can. But if I did not feel.

constrained by roster space. It just wasn't that sort of setup. I would just plop them on my bench and hope he turns things around. I did see a stat earlier that like Chris Paddock was the first twins pitcher and X amount of years to have two starts of eight plus earned runs in the same season. I was like, yeah, give Bailey Ober some time. And amazingly, he hasn't done it yet. But I think it's three different starts of at least seven earned runs now for Bailey over.

And another one was like five or six. Yeah, it's been a disaster for him. I'm not dropping him, but I was just looking. I have a 12-team league where I would really like to. It's just that like I'm not going to drop Bailey over to two-start stream Andrew Heaney. Like that's not going to be any better for me. You know, like the options just weren't very good. No.

But if you have like a Jacob Lopez to stream with two-star. Sure. Yeah, I would do that. I would just do that now. I would prefer to drop somebody else, but if that's what it came to, then, yeah, I think I'd do that too. All right, Scott, let's talk about your guy,

Jose Soriano, who got bombed on Friday against the Nationals. Four innings, eight earned runs in this one. He allowed 11 hard hits, and he was cruising before this. Previous three starts were awesome for Soriano, but he's allowed seven plus earned runs two different times this season. I think this is just kind of in his range. of outcomes because he does give up hard contact.

Are you holding on? I don't think we're starting at the Braves this week. What do you think about Soriana? I think he's better than this. Is he as good as his previous three starts? Remember two were double-digit strikeouts. Is he as good as that? Yeah, probably not.

The velocity was down in this one, and if that continues, it's a problem. Curiously, he threw 67% of his pitches for strikes. Normally, his bad starts or during, rougher stretches of the season, Soriano was struggling with control. That didn't seem to be an issue in this one. He was also mixing in that slider, that new pitch that seemed to pair so well with his curveball, seemed to contribute to the increase in strikeouts we've seen from Soriano recently.

He threw 12% of the time that slider. So I mostly attribute his struggles in this one to the diminished velocity. And that's like, that's concerning. If it continues, that's the most concerning thing that could happen to a pitcher. But I don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater here. I think he's not much roster, but I wouldn't mind rostering him still. There's still a lot to like, still throws very hard normally, still has the best ground ball rate in baseball last I checked,

and we're showing signs of growth prior to this start. So, yeah, I think there's still things to like here. Sandy Alcansra had a rough one at the Dback, six innings, 10 hits, seven earned runs, 14 hard hits allowed in this one. He's another pitcher that was pitching better before this start. Previous 4-274 ERA,

a one whip on the nose. He allowed just five walks in his previous five starts, which was progress. He's still not getting a lot of whiffs, but Chris, what are your thoughts here on Sandy Alcantara? Rough one. Still 84% rostered, 42%

started. I don't think we should be starting Sandy right now, but what do you think about holding him. I think he's a fringe starter. I'm not dropping him. I liked the way Roto World put it in their blurb at NBC Sports. Roto World, it's back to Roto World. It's been Brito World for a couple years now. They said this was a classic bad Sandy Alcantra start where he still managed to get through six innings despite getting bombed. And that is in its way almost promising because yeah, this used to happen to Sandy Alcantra. This is what what is so tough when we're talking about Spencer strider and and Sandy O'Conter and other guys like that

is now that we've seen a little bit of success was the success establishing a new baseline and is this just a hiccup Spencer strider also had a pretty iffy start this weekend and that's two in a row now for him is this just a hiccup or were the good starts the outliers I'm in inclined with both Strider and Sandy to believe that the bad starts are more the outlier now. Not that they're back to being who they were prior to their injuries because I don't think they are. But I think they're both in their own ways at their own levels back to being useful fantasy options. And that means there will be starts where they look like their old selves, but that's not the baseline. There will also be bad starts.

And that's not the baseline either. I think Sandy is in that, you know, Gialito. and whoever else we were talking about in that stretch of guys who are like probably 380-ish ERA pitchers. So that's not a must roster and certainly not a must-start pitcher. But I'm not dropping Sandy O'Contra if I have him. All right, next up, Chris Bassett got bombed by the Red Sox on Saturday.

Two innings, nine runs, eight of those were earned. He had more walks and strikeouts in the start. And in his first four outings this season, It was a 0.77 ERA, a 107 whip, and his next 13, 545 ERA and a 145 whip for Chris Bassett, who was still 95% rostered. He's facing the Yankees this week. I think obviously if you can get away from that, you'd probably want to. But I don't know, is Chris Bassett still a must roster player?

For most of the season, you know, he's been kind of meh. I mean, he had been good recently, except for this start. is my recollection as somebody who has Bassett in a few leagues. So it was a blow-up start. It was an ugly start. But, yeah, three of his previous four were quality starts. Two of them just one run aloud. Yeah, I think he's still worth keeping around.

All right. Starters, these pitchers, Dylan Cease. Still getting lots of questions about it. I understand people are frustrated. Might have drafted Cease as their ace this season. At the Reds, four runs. Three of those were earned. Still had eight strikeouts.

I get that it's frustrating, man. We sound like a broken record with some of these players. I just look under the hood. I don't really see anything that's broken for Dylan Cs. I don't think it's all bad luck either. Like, okay, he has bad command, so he misses his spots, and maybe sometimes he gets hit hard as a result of it. If you don't want to start him at the Phillies this week,

I mean, I guess that's up to you, but you could also miss out on a, like, seven-inning, 10-strikeout performance. So that's just kind of Dylan Cease. Yeah, that's always the risk when you're talking about guys who aren't playing to what you project their talent level to be. And this goes for, you know, guys on the low, Brandon Walter. Let's use him as an example. And it goes for Dylan Sees where you can keep starting Brandon Walter. But each start, unless you think he's good.

But I think it's going to end at some point. unless you think he's good. At some point, there's going to be a start that undoes it all. You know, remember the Ryan Yarbrose start, where he gave up like eight runs in three innings or whatever it was, and he went from like a 220 ERA over a span of five starts to like a 450 ERA over a span of six starts. And on the opposite end, you have Dylan Seas,

where, oh, he's just not good right now. He doesn't have the feel for it. Oh, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you sit him and you might miss one of those mid-May starts that he had where he had 10 strikeouts in six and two thirds innings. I'm not saying you can't sit him, but that's the risk you run. And with C specifically, it's mostly just been alternating good and bad starts lately. It was three and runs and five innings, then seven shutout with 11 strikeouts against the Dodgers on June 10th.

Then six and five innings against the Dodgers as well. Then the Royals, one earn run and six and two thirds. And then the Reds, that should have been a good matchup. struggled so i i don't think you want to get caught up playing the is dillen cease going to be good in his next start because i don't think the opponent matters i don't think the the the weather matters i just is this one of those days for dillen cease and you have no way of knowing that before it happens so i think you just start him i just i think you just don't worry about it and you hope the rest of the way it's more like a 320 yr than the 450 it's

bet. Nathan Nivaldi made his return on Friday against the Mariners. Three innings, three runs, two strikeouts, only 45 pitches. He did not have a rehab assignment, which explains the short outing here. Only 41% started. He's home against the Orioles this week. I can't imagine he'd throw more than 60, 65 pitches. So I would prefer to bench him for at least this next start.

Agreed. All right. Hitters who remained hot this weekend. Brandon Lau has homered in three of his last four. And in June, he's hitting 337 with seven home runs, a 979 OPS. He has an OPS over 900 each of the past two months. That's Brandon Lau. Jazz Chisholm, coming alive, three home runs in his past four games.

23 games since returning. 318 batting average, six home runs, four steals. 979 OPS. Byron Buxton, maybe he's just a stud again. Maybe he's just healthy. That's all it took. But two pairs of socks and shoes this weekend. He's up to 19 homers, 15 steals, 913 OPS.

And Trey Turner had himself a huge game on Friday, four for six with two home runs and a steel, putting the finishing touches on a strong June as well. Anything to add on some hot hitters here? I just want to say anytime Brian Buxton comes up in any context, like fantasy, real baseball, you tweet it, you make a video about it, whatever. There's always someone who's like, very everybody can't stay healthy.

And I just think that energy, sucks. And if you can't appreciate what Byron Buxton does when he's on the baseball field without doing that, you don't really like baseball and you should just go away. He is one of the most talented players of his generation. I think there's no question about that. I genuinely think injuries have robbed us of a Hall of Fame career. And I'm going to enjoy and get joy out of every time Byron Buxton is healthy because there are not more than 20 better players in the last decade than Byron Buxton when he's right. That's my little rant. That's all.

My only point on Byron Buxden, based on what you just said, but he has such a reputation, is regarded so widely as perpetual damaged goods. I don't know that a sell-high scenario exists here. I mean, I do worry he could get injured any day, but can you cash in on this? Yeah, exactly. I think you just kind of enjoy it for as long as it lasts. I agree. All right.

And one hitter who is waking up lately, Brian Reynolds' last seven games, 419, batting average two homers, eight run, six RBI. Lots of questions this season on Brian Reynolds, which I get. He has been a disappointment, but looks like maybe starting to finally put things together here for Brian Reynolds.

Some other hitting leftovers, some signs of life for Corey Seeger, who's homered in three straight. Kyle Tucker's first series back in Houston, He went four for five with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. O'Neill Cruz, back to life on Sunday, two for four with a double dong for RBI, but overall having a pretty rough June.

Nice weekend for Cody Bellinger, who had a steal on Friday and then hit his 11th home run on Sunday. Aaron Judge, two more home runs on Sunday as well. He now has 30 home runs here on June 30th. And James Wood had four intentional walks on Sunday. The first player to do that in a game since Barry Bonds. Wow. How about that? That's weird.

I want to point out that Cody Bellinger in his last 43 games, because you look at the full season slash line, it's not that great. But last 43 games, he's batting 316 with seven homers. His average exit velocity is about a mile, is about 1.5 miles per hour higher than the last two years. and so I think he's I think he's pretty much just must start across the board I know there have been times where we've doubted that even this year but he's really on a nice run here yeah and remember his timeline he had the huge spring

and then a slow start he was dealing with some back stuff in April so I think that kind of derailed his start of the season but yeah last 43 games that kind of tracks to what, the middle or end of May? Now, there is the complication of the Yankees still having too many cooks in the kitchen, and so he does sit a little more often than you'd like, but even so. I think he's pretty close to must-start. Some pitching leftovers. Part 1, Framber Valdez continues to pitch well this time against

the Cubs, six shutout innings with six strikeouts. Last 10 starts, 172 ERA 104 whip for Valdez. Ranger Suarez out-duled Spencer Shrider on Sunday, seven innings one-rength. run eight strikeouts. Notice that his velocity was down quite a bit in this start, his sinker and sinker curve and fastball all down between two and three miles per hour. So he succeeded in spite of it, but something to watch. Spencer Strider on the other side actually pitched pretty well, seven innings, two runs, only four strikeouts, but overall solid outing here. Anything on Strider, Suarez and Valdez? Yeah, so I mean, Chris described Strider start a minute ago is not

not very good. It was disappointing. Yeah, so you're two-run runs in seven innings. You like that. Four strikeouts, not so much. Ten whiffs on 95 pitches, that's not strider-like either. I believe only one whiff came on the fastball. When in his previous start, he had his most wifts on the fastball since 2023, the year he

led the majors and strikeouts by a huge margin. So it feels like a one-step forward, two-step. back situation for strider whose velocity two steps forward one step back two steps forward one step back I got the steps wrong but his velocity hasn't been as high as it was in that rocky start with the 13 strikeouts it hasn't gotten there since it has been up in general since then so it hasn't dropped below it hasn't dropped to pre rocky start levels but it hasn't quite reached rocky start levels either um which means it's still lagging from, you know, prior to last year's elbow entry. So I don't know. He seems like he's trending up overall. I think he's basically back to being must start this strider.

But for me, it's the difference between very good and best pitcher in the world. Yeah, maybe. And he's not that. I, yeah, I'm a little uneasy about him. still, but I don't see myself sitting him in any league. I think he's more like Dylan's Seas at this point. Like not the same, I think the control will probably be better than Dylan Seas, but that same kind of range where it's a little frustrating but overall good.

Yeah, more like a mid-3s, ERA, 115-ish, with lots of strikeouts, obviously. A couple of their pitching leftovers, Brian Wu, another strong start against the Rangers. Six innings, two unearned runs with nine-strived. strikeouts. He has now gone six plus innings in all 16 starts this season. Jose Burrios has been much better of late. He dominated the Red Sox seven shutout with eight strikeouts. And Zach Lattel was great at the Orioles. Seven innings, one run, five strikeouts for him. He allowed seven earned runs on April 10th, 14 starts since it's a 298 ERA and a 104 whip. It's just none of the underlying numbers line up with Zach Lattel. I think if you can sell

high on him, do it. Maybe that's obvious. I don't know how much you can get for Zach Lattel, but I would try. I just don't think anybody's giving you anything for Zach Lattel, unfortunately. Most likely. And then Berrios, he has now, this is three years in a row where his ERA is at least like 0.85 lower than his XERA. That's wild. That's really weird to do. Seth Lugo's doing something similar and we didn't have time to get into him, I guess, but I have no idea. Berrios is a situation where I don't think there's any value in selling high. I think he's a high 3-ZRA pitcher, like 36, 38, whatever it ends up being. I think right now it's 3.30, but nobody's going to beat your door down for Jose Berea.

So I think you just hang on to him and he'll be mostly good and then occasionally give up seven runs and it'll be frustrating and you just live with it. Seth Lugo You can talk about Seth Lugo if you want Chris I'm just going to keep looking dumb Because I'm going to say Seth Lugo is the biggest

Sell High candidate in baseball I'm pretty sure I said the same thing Like exactly a year ago And he continued to make me look stupid But this year He last year he outperformed his XERA By three quarters of a run And okay

Maybe there's something there This year his strikeout rate is I think identical The quality of contact he's allowing Is significantly worse And his walk rate is significantly higher. And his ERA is a quarter run lower. I don't know. Baseball's stupid. Nobody knows what's going to happen. I don't get it. I should just clip that out and make it part of my next, the next FBT promo, right?

Baseball's stupid. We have no idea what's going to happen. But we're here anyway. Call it to the bullpen for the Yankees on Friday. Luke Weaver got the eighth inning with a three-run lead, struck out one for his seventh hold. Devin Williams got the ninth inning struck out one for his 11th save. Weaver has yet to get a save opportunity since returning, despite Aaron Boone's say that said that they would split save. So I don't know, kind of just still feels like Devin Williams for now. For the Giants on Friday, Camillo Duval struck out two for his 13th save, despite a kind of rough June for him. For the White Sox, on Saturday, Grant Taylor pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts for his second save. he's been quite good.

He's an interesting prospect for them. He's 14% rostered. Then on Sunday it was Mike Vassel who got the final five outs for his second save. Just assuming Grant Taylor was unavailable, but he might be taking over as the highest leverage reliever for the White Sox. Bad team, but interesting pitcher.

For the Phillies on Sunday, Orion Kirkoring got the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He allowed a hit, struck out three for his 12th hold. Matt Strom got the ninth inning. He allowed two base runners, picked up his fifth. save, are we any closer to figuring out the Phillies or is it? That seems like a true time share.

Yeah. I think on Sunday, Kirkering got the 8th and Strom got the save. But I think Strom and Kirkering have flip-flopped each of the last five save opportunity, or five saves for the Phillies. So I- Sounds right. I think Strom's a better pitcher, even though his ERA's higher this season. So if you have to prioritize one of them, I'd go with him. All right, for the Padres on Sunday, Robert Suarez,

got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs on a walk and four hits, took his third blown save and fourth loss. It has been an awful June for Suarez, 784 ERA 174 whip. Meanwhile, Jason Adam has a 169 ERA on the season. Over a K-per inning. He's been reliable for years across Tampa Bay and San Diego. I actually put some bids in in some of my deeper roto leagues.

here on Sunday to pick up Jason Adam. I don't know that they're making a change or anything, but it could happen at some point. In those leagues where saves are scarce, those deeper roto leagues, where anybody who assumes the closer role is going to go for a million fab dollars, like, this is how you beat the rush.

You avoid spending all those fab dollars. And I did the same thing. I picked up Jason Adam in Tau Wars, which is a 15-team Roto League. Same, Scott. Whoop. Yeah. Robert Suarez, the ZRA for the year now is approaching four.

And then for the Marlins on Sunday. Calvin Foshae got the eighth inning with a four-run lead, facing 9-1-2 in the D-Backs lineup. He gave up two runs. Ronnie Enriquez got the ninth with a two-run lead. He picked up his third save, and Enriquez now has two of the last three saves for the Marlins. For the rest of the season,

if I try to proclaim that there is a Marlins closer, please, can you guys just like virtually slap me and tell me I'm dumb because I don't think that there is a closer for the Marlins and there probably won't be it's whatever they mix and match and they're not a good team but I don't know Hey hey hottest team in baseball

franchise record nine straight road wins first ever series or road trip where they swept with more than six games Let's go Marlins Hey they're hitting the ball man my guy Otto Lopez He's doing work to stream or not to stream on Monday Some options Eric

Fetty at the Pirates, Max Scherzer gets the Yankees, Jacob Lopez at Tampa Bay, Trevor Rogers at the Rangers, Ryan Nelson against the Giants. So I like Ryan Nelson for this week, more because of what his second matchup looks like against the

Royals than this first one against the Giants. He's been surprisingly good, though, for a long time now, dating back to last season in a starting role specifically. I don't know what makes. his fastball so difficult for hitters, but when he throws it like 65% of the time, he's, they just can't do anything with it, it seems like.

So I don't mind starting him as the Giants. I prefer to chase the strikeout upside of Jacob Lopez at the raise, I think, even though that's a difficult place to pitch, tough lineup. Just kind of hoping that gimmick continues for now. I think it's a pretty good gimmick. Maybe it won't even be a gimmick in the long run. Revenge game as well, Jake. Yeah, it's true.

Yeah. And it also helps that a bunch of their best hitters are lefties. So that. Yeah, Aranda and low, both low. Low and Lao. So that does make me a little less because as a general rule, extreme fly ball pitcher in Tampa would be a stayaway. But the matchup should be okay.

And I'm hoping he gets through it. By the way, do you guys see that 467 foot home run? for Aranda this weekend. That's your guy. It's killing it. It was a good one. Did we give another streamer besides Lopez, Ryan Nelson, kind of?

Nope. Those are my favorite too. Yeah, I... Yeah. I'm excited Matt Waldron's back. Baseball's more fun when there's a knuckleballer. 1,000%. And he was pretty useful

for like the first three months last year before he lost the feel for it. So I would be very excited if we got a fantasy relevant Matt Waldron run again. And then on Tuesday, we have Andre Palance at the Pirates, Edward Cabrera against the Twins, Jeffrey Springs at Tampa Bay, revenge game, another one.

Charlie Morton at the Rangers, Hayden Birdsong at the D-Backs, Shane Smith at the Dodgers, may. Booth Bird Song and Smith. I'm not doing that this time. I've done it too many times, and those are bad matchups. I like Belonte.

I like Palante at the Pirates, as I mentioned earlier. I think I like Cabrera a little bit more, but sure. They're both in the same range. I don't mind more than a Texas. All right. I'm a little scared of springs at Tampa Bay. Yeah, I agree. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris.

I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into 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. Mount Podcasts.