Fantasy Baseball Today - Max Scherzer's Return, Brayan Bello Promoted & Did You Know? (7/6 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 6, 2022

If you support the show, please nominate Fantasy Baseball Today for The People's Choice Podcast Awards in the "Sports" Category: https://www.podcastawards.com/app/signup/ Max Scherzer returned with a bang (2:34)! Sandy Alcantara was amazing again. ... Is Nick Lodolo a must-add (9:23)? ... Is it time to drop Michael Kopech and Jameson Taillon (11:35)? ... Brayan Bello is making his MLB debut Wednesday (16:25)! ... Nate Lowe and Alex Kirilloff keep crushing it (20:00). ... News and notes (30:44): Juan Soto has now sat out two straight with a calf injury. ... Did you know Julio Rodriguez has performed like a first-round pick since the beginning of May (37:20)? ... Are we buying Noah Syndergaard's recent strikeouts (43:05)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (46:20). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What a day for returns. Max Scherzer, Nick Ladolo, and me.

Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, July 6th. Frank Stamphill joined by Chris Towers. today on the show. We'll break down Max Scherzer's return. Red Sox prospect Brian Beow is getting the call. Take a look at him, the dropometer. I've got a new segment.

Did you know? Just some random stats and fun facts about players doing something of note recently. But before we get into all the baseball talk, oh my goodness gracious, of course, coming up. Chris, happy belated birthday, buddy. How you doing? Thank you. I'm good.

I'm 34. I would be the oldest player in baseball. by seven years, where that's what it feels like anyway. The oldest player in softball. The oldest player in softball, that's you. I have realized I am the oldest player on both my soft boy and flag football teams. So I'm the weird old guy now in my life. So that's fun.

No, it's good. You know, watch some fireworks. Tried to make my sad dog feel better about the scary fireworks, which is just continuing to go on. I literally just heard one as I. I said that. So it's, it's rough times for dogs. Like the, the day is leading up to and coming out of July 4th, but I think he'll be okay. I'm okay. Uh, congratulations on getting married. Boom. That was a, it was a very fun wedding. If you, uh, yeah, how's the, how's the ring feel?

You know, someone asked me today, they're like, are you typing with the ring on? Because I don't ever wear a ring. And I will say that was the first thing that I noticed. Typing on a computer with a ring is very weird. So I'm still trying to get used to that. But so far, so good. Here, for those of you watching, I've got a little video of Frank dancing to some Polish tunes. He had some moves. It was a good time.

I don't remember that video. But I'm happy you took it and I'm happy you posted it on Twitter. For those watching on YouTube, you just got a nice little kick. Anyway, let's finally talk about baseball. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right. Oh my goodness gracious. We'll start with you, Chris. Who do you have? I'm going to go with Max. Max Scherzer. You know, it's a big, been a big few days for Maxes. You had Stranger Things, Max, you know, big part of volume two. I don't know if you've watched it yet, Frank, but it's very good.

I have watched it, but for the sake of the audience, no spoilers. No spoilers. But it's very, very good. And she plays a big role. And Max Scher played a big role for the New York Mets today in his return from that oblique injury, and he looked amazing. He averaged 94.6 miles per hour. This fastball was actually up a mile per hour from his season average, 15 swings and misses. He said he was aiming for six innings or 90 pitches. He ended up needing only 79 to get through six shutout. It was soft landing, 11 strikeouts.

And we always talk about when it's a guy coming back from injury, a lot of the times you want to give them like a start to get right and get their feet under them. You don't want to do that with Max Scherer. He's too good to ever not have in your lineup, especially in a matchup against the Reds. And I mean, look, I don't know if you can just throw Max Scher back in the top five now that he's healthy, but he's probably going to be a top five pitcher when he's healthy. So, yeah, I'm throwing him right back in the top 10 at the very least. Yeah, I think I was ready to just move him back into the top three, right?

Where he was before the injury up there with Corbyn Burns and Gerard Colts. Kind of a tier of their own right there. And then we get into like Verlander and Zach Wheeler. And look, obviously Saniel Cantor will talk about him in just a little bit. Strikeout. Of course, yeah. I think there is a pretty clear top six or seven starting pitchers right now in fantasy baseball. And it includes all of those names that I just mentioned.

But this was a fantastic return for Max Scherzer again. Six shutout. 11Ks, 15 swinging strikes, VLO up, ERA down to 2.26, just picking up right where he left off. The biggest thing for him is, now he just needs to stay healthy. He needs to show us that he can remain healthy, obviously a little bit older, getting up there, but when he's on the mound, he's obviously still one of the top, I don't know. Might be top three starting pitchers, might be top six or seven. I mean, might be the best starting pitcher in baseball still. He might be, he might be. Let's talk about Sandy Alcansera, who I've already mentioned,

has now gone. He might be the best starting pitcher in baseball. This is crazy. He has gone seven plus in 11 straight starts. He was up against the Angels on Tuesday. He goes eight shutout, two hits, zero walks, 10 strikeouts, and the swinging strikes were here in this one. 18 swinging strikes on 10thwinging strikes on 10. And what's even crazier about the start is he did not have his slider.

He couldn't throw it for strikes, 9% CSW overall on that pitch in this one, and still has one of his best starts of the season. And of course, the Marlins tried their best to blow this game. Tanner Scott had the bases loaded in the ninth inning. With a two-run lead, he did allow a run to score. But ultimately, walks away with the win. Sandy now has nine wins on the season, second most in the national league. That actually ties his career high and were about halfway.

I'm stunned that he has nine wins. As someone who has watched most of his starts and follows the Marlins, like, I'm actually shocked that he has that many wins because it feels. feels like there have been so many situations where the Marlins have just blown. Amazing starts by him. But, yeah, I mean, he is, what, six and seven and one during this stretch of 11 starts with at least seven innings. Yeah, I mean, look, he's not the strikeout guy.

So that's what keeps him from being in the top, I don't know, two or three or five, whatever you want to define it as. But he's pitching as well as anyone in baseball. and he's pitching as well as anyone as you possibly can without being an elite strikeout pitcher because his his control's been incredible. He's got a walk rate, I believe, under 5% now. It might be under 4% actually now that he's through this start over this 11th start stretch. He's just been outrageously good.

I don't think he's this good moving forward, obviously. I don't think he's a 1-5-ERA or a 1-8, whatever it is for the season even. but yeah, Sandy, someone I was very, very skeptical about for a long time, but he is literally just different from him in the best way possible. Yeah, I can't believe I've been talking about it. We've been talking about him for two to three minutes and I haven't even said it yet.

Sandy. Sandy. I mean, the guy, like, he's just absolutely crushing here right now. Someone did ask me a fair question on Twitter about whether or not this workload can catch up to him, Chris. And I just pulled up the innings pitched leaders since 2019. Sandy Alcantara

is second on that list behind only Zach Wheeler. And I think the fact that, look, what he's doing right now is kind of like unprecedented in baseball today, going as deep as he is consistently. But I think because he's not done it to this level,

but he's done it like kind of close to this level, I'm not really as worried about it. What do you think? I mean, I'm trying to remember if Sandy Alcantra has missed time at the major league level because of an injury. I know in 2020 he missed time because of COVID, but I don't think he's actually missed any starts, at least since he became a full-time starter with the Marlins due to injuries. In 2018, between the majors and minors, he threw, he had 28 starts in 2017. He made 27 starts plus three relief appearances. So, yeah, I think

I don't know, he's a pitcher. So there's an inherent amount of risk involved, but he seems about as safe as anybody possibly could. And what is he on a pay? Like a 230 inning pace? I mean, this is more. So yeah, I mean, we're,

he's not going to keep doing this because, you know, that would require a sub two ERA. And like, I don't think he's going to keep doing that. but he's one of the most reliable sources of volume at the position, and it makes up for what he lacks in per inning strikeout numbers. He's a bona fide ace, a definite top 10 guy, and I think you can make a case that he's in that top six, like you mentioned. All right, for sure, yes, Sandy Alcantra and Max Scherzer.

You know those guys are awesome. You don't really need us to tell you that. How about Nick Lodolo, who was going up against Max Scherzer? also making his return to the Reds rotation in this start. Four and two-thirds shutout, three hits, three walks. He had eight strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes on 89 pitches. And according to baseball savant, he threw a slider in this start 33%. Earlier in the season, his only breaking pitch was a curveball.

Maybe this is a classification issue, I don't know, but something that I'm going to monitor for like the days after this to see if they change it. But I thought that was interesting. and Nicodolo is 43% rostered, and I'm getting questions, Chris. Do I go on and add Nicololo? I think it's a pretty good one. What do you think?

I do think it was the curveball, and it was just a classification error, and it was very good for him today. It swings and misses on 29 pitches, and it's been by far his best pitch this season, 193 expected Wobah, entering today's start 38% whiff rate. And that's going to have to be the recipe for success for him.

know, the comp that that comes to mind was someone like Reed Detmer's, who also has a very, very good curveball, but didn't really have the rest of the pitches. I think Lodolo is showing, you know, the upside that can come from that profile. If you're spotting the fastball well and you're spotting the curveball well, but, you know, he's also, we're dealing with relatively small sample sizes here. You know, with Lodolo, what's he made four starts at the major league level? So there's still reasons to be skeptical, but I think there's plenty of upside here, and I definitely think Nick Lodolo is someone worth adding. Do you think he's a must add? No, I mean, not in like, I think he's probably not roster, not a must roster player in like a 10-team points league,

but a 12-team points league, I think he's probably worth rostering 12-team roto after this start. I would go ahead and say he's worth rostering. you know, hopefully he'll be able to build the pitch count moving forward and pitch a little deeper into games. But yeah, I think there's a lot to like about Lodola. All right. Well, would you drop these pitchers for Nick Lidolo? We'll start with Michael Kopeck. Let's fire up the dropometer.

He has not been the same since leaving a start with knee discomfort back in June. And on Tuesday, he gave up six runs over four and two-thirds innings, four walks, four homers allowed. The fastball and slider v. low down one mile per hour each. And over his last four starts, Michael Kopeck, a 6.86 ERA. The home runs are up, the walks are up. The strikeouts have been okay.

But objectively speaking, Chris, 10% swinging strike rate, 4.3 walks per 9. These are quite bad numbers for Michael Kopeck. Still 94% rostered. Where is he on the drop-o meter 1 to 10? I would say pretty low, below a 5 for sure, maybe a 3 or a 4.

just because I do think there's quite a bit of upside with Kopec and it seems like if you look at you know what he's done this season the biggest issue by far seems to be that his slider just hasn't been an effective pitch for him and that's really tough because he's a three-pitched guy and two of the pitches are breaking balls you know today he had three whiffs on 29 sliders he got hit really hard within 99 mile per hour average exit zhex of velocity on six balls in play so that's really bad and for the season Copec has just a 19% whiff rate with his slider. That's a really poor number.

I mean, that would be pretty middling for a fastball. His fastball actually has a 26% whiff rate. So, you know, when you look under the hood, like the results on this slider have still been pretty good. But I think when you look at the biggest issue for him, it's probably just that he has to be too fastball heavy in pretty much all counts. I mean, the fastball has been by far the biggest contributor to his strikeout numbers. he has 44 of his gosh i'm going to do some math on the top of my head 63 strikeouts have come with that fastball and that's really hard to do like you have to be a really really special pitcher Carlos ron is kind of one of the few guys who can do that and and copac probably isn't that guy

so i think he probably needs to figure out whatever it is that's gone wrong with the slider it's not breaking as much um and and try to figure out a way for that pitch to be more effective if he's going to remain a viable starter, but I still think the upside is there for Kopec to be a very good starting pitcher. So I would try to avoid dropping. I would rather have him than Lodolo. All right, fair enough. That was the next question. What about James and Tyone? He's been slowing down as well. This time he was at the Pirates. Five and a third innings pitch, five strikeouts, five earned runs allowed. Excuse me. Last six starts for James and Tyone, 6.26 ERA, right around a strikeout per inning.

is actually surprising because earlier in the season he was not getting many strikeouts but the walks, the babbip, the home runs have all climbed for James and Tyone. He's still 96% rostered. Where does he fall on the dropometer? Yeah, I mean, I think the one thing to keep in mind with Tyone is yes, he's getting closer to a strikeout per inning, but that's also because he's facing a lot of batters. He has a 1.38 whip or he had a 1.38 whip in the month of June. So a 30 strikeouts and 33 and a third innings, that sounds okay, but it's actually, you know, more like a 21% strikeout rate, which is below average. So it's partially a function

of him just facing so many batters. You see today five strikeouts and five in a third, again, almost a strikeout per inning, but five on 22 batters, that's more like a 22% with rate or strikeout rate. So that's partially a function of just him pitching worse. And I think Tyone is it's totally fine to drop him I just I don't think he's all that good even when things were going well I wasn't buying it the ERA is still

fine but the expected ERA more like league average and I think he'll probably be league averageish maybe a tad worse so that's kind of the only place he might stand out is wins all right would you drop James and Tyone for Nick La Dolo

I'd be fine with that I think Tyone is very dropable. Yeah, I think based on what you just said, like, Tyone is going to get more wins than Nick Ladolo. I think we can say that pretty consistently because La Dolo pitches for the Reds, but I mean, if you're chasing ERA, whip, strikeouts, I think that there's more upside with Lidolo.

And even then, I mean, they both make 16 starts the rest of the season. I don't know, you figure Tyone probably wins two to three more starts. I don't know how big of a, you know, impact that's going to be. All right. Well, would we drop either of those for one of the top pitching prospects in the game, who will make his debut for the Red Sox on Wednesday? That is Brian Beio.

And it's actually spelled B-E-L-O. So if you're looking for him on whatever fantasy site you play, it looks like it's Bello, but it's actually Bayo. And if you listen to our FBT and Fives over the weekend, you know Scott's been talking about Bayo for quite some time because he is just lighting it up. the minors this season. 2.33 ERA 104 whip 114 strikeouts over 85 innings pitched the walks are a little high but 12k per 9

63% ground ball rate 16% swinging strike rate I mean Chris basically every metric you look at Bayo is incredibly impressive and interesting he's 35% rostered what do you think about dropping either Tyone or Kopec to take a shot on Beio totally fine dropping Tyone 4 him the question with Bayo and I'm a little disappointed when I first saw his name I thought was it's Brian Bellow and made me think of Brian fellow Safari Planet from Saturday Night Live for those of you who remember that in the mid-2000s which is one of my favorite skits alas we won't be able to make those references uh the question with Bayo is whether he's going to be in the rotation long term he's coming up right now because Michael waka was scratched from a start and you know he's dealing with some dead arms so I don't know how long term that is and then

Chris Sale, it sounds like he's going to return to the rotation next week. So this could be a situation where Bayo really just makes one appearance. On the other hand, they have is, was it Conner Sebald, who's made a couple starts for them? They have a- So it's possible. They have a fellow named Josh Winkowski who's been starting for them. Yeah, so it's possible that if Bayo comes up and lights it up like he's perfectly capable of, I think it's possible that he will be in the rotation moving forward. And so that upside is worth chasing.

when it comes to dropping someone like Tyonia. I think that's an easy call. Bayo, there have been, you know, I think the scouts have kind of looked at him as a future reliever in the long term because he's got a very violent delivery. But, you know, the walks are a little high, but not so high that it's alarming.

He's got like a 36% strikeout rate in the miners right now with an ERA in the low to mid-2s. And Scouting reports tout a three-pitch mix with a fastball slider and changing. up with potentially all three pitches rating out as plus. So it's a really exciting profile that, you know, Bayo can bring to the table. And I'm excited to see what he, what he can do in his major league debut. Who would you rather add Bayo or Nick La Dola? I think probably Bayo just because it's one of those opportunity costs things where it's more likely that Bayo gets called up. Like

Lodolo was good in his first start, but he wasn't so good that I think he's going to be hugely rostered moving forward. Mm-hmm. You know, I'm looking at the roster resource page right now for the Red Sox, and I forgot they have Nathan Avaldi who's going to return at some point, too. Yeah. Yeah, I think he threw a bullpen session. Yeah, on Tuesday.

Yeah. Yeah, this is tough. I agree that if Bayo finds a way, right? If Bayo pitches well, he's going to remain. Like, the Red Sox can use quality starting pitching. And again, yeah, like, he has this type of upside. There's a reason why they're calling him up. So it's really close between him and Lodolo.

I think I would lean with Bayo as well, but there is a lot to like there. I agree I would drop Tyone. Would you drop Kopec for Beio? I would prefer not to. I think they're similar upside there. All right, let's move over to some waiver wire hitter decisions

in shallow leagues. It feels like I bring these names up a lot, but they're still available in, you know, it's got to be either 10 or 12 team league. So Roddy Tellez went one for three, hit his 17th home run. He now has six homers. over his last nine games, he's 77% rostered.

Nathaniel Lowe went two for three, hit his 12th home run. He's now batting 2.82 overall. Like, this batting average just continues to creep up for Nate Lowe. And since the start of June, 31 games, he's seeing 311, 9 homers, a lot less ground balls. He's 56% rostered. And then Alex Kiroloff went three for four with a double dong, three RBI here on Tuesday. 18 games since returning for Kiroloff. He's hitting 306, three homers.

17 RBI and hitting the ball extremely hard, 70% rostered. Chris, how would you rank those three? Rowdy Telez, Nathaniel Lowe, and Alex Kirloff. I would go with Kirloff, Lowe, and Telez. I think I've been pretty skeptical of low. And, you know, I don't think, like, you know, his numbers since the start of June are much better than his overall numbers. I don't think he's a 3-11 hitter moving forward.

But the expected stats mostly back up, like a 280-ish batting average with decent pop and I think that's what he can give you moving forward. So I think him and Tiles are fairly similar players, but I don't know, I'll give, I think Lowe and Tiles are very, very close, but I'll give Lowe a little bit of an edge right now just because we've been faked out by Tiles so far this season already once. So, you know, I think he's going to remain streaky, whereas, you know, maybe Lowe can be a little bit more consistent. But I think they're similar players.

Kirolov has a little more all around upside. think. We do drop someone like Jared Walsh or Joey Votto for any of these names? I would be hesitant to do it with Votto, but I know I'm increasingly on an island there. I know there's a lot of frustration with him. Walsh, I think, is perfectly fine to drop. I think he's very clearly just a guy. You know, last year's overall numbers, I think overstate what kind of hitter he is. All right. I was quickly pulling up

what Joey Votto has done since returning back in the middle of May. 257 batting average, six homers, 22 RBI, and that's not including whatever he did on Tuesday, which I think that game ended one zip,

so probably not much. Certainly no RBI or runs. He's still, he's hitting the ball really hard since returning too. Joey Votto is. Yeah, I still think there's enough positive in Joey Votto's

underlying skill set, whereas Walsh, too many strikeouts, still can't hit lefties. So I'm more okay dropping him. All right. Let's move over to two outfielders in I guess we could say medium-sized leagues based on how rostered they are right now. Garrett Cooper, when one for three hit his sixth home run, this guy is hitting 315 with an 8.54 OPS.

I mean, he's been really solid. You wish there was more pop there. Hits the ball very hard. Just too many ground balls, as we've seen in the past. Gary Cooper is 45% rostered and then someone I know you like a lot Chris Jaron ran went two for four with his fifth stolen base

he is betting 329 early on he's been leading off for the Red Sox interestingly enough for someone who I don't know maybe we unjustifiably look at him as like a slap hitter because he's fast and he's like a lead off hitter but he's hitting the ball hard over 90 mile per hour average exit

velocity he's leading off like I mentioned is struggling against lefties so far three for 19 against them 55% rostered is Jaron Duran. Who would you rather have between those two? Cooper, Duran. Duran. Just the stolen bases give him, I think, more overall upside. But Cooper, I mean, he's played now 174 games since the start of 2020.

He's got a 297 average and an 846 OPS. Like, I think he's just a good hitter. You know, not as much pop as you might think, only 20 home runs. And obviously, he's only played 174 games over the past three seasons, really two and three eights or whatever the 2020 season is, but still he's had a lot of trouble staying healthy, is the headline there, but he's been healthy this season.

He's playing pretty much every day. And, yeah, I think, I think Eric Cooper is a very solid starting option. Okay, would you take Cooper or Duran in a points league? There I would go, Cooper. Yeah. Okay. It's still close,

just because I love lead-off hitters for good offenses and points leagues, just because more volume leads to more opportunity to score fantasy points, obviously. It's not the greatest profile for a points league hitter, but yeah, it's still close. I think I would go with Duran, but that one is much closer. In a one-catcher league, M.J. Melendez has three homers over his last two games. He's 69% rostered. It could be out there in some, you know, 10, maybe 12-team points leagues.

Mitch Garver, back-to-back games with a homer. He now has three home runs over his last seven games. And he's 56% rostered. Has noted that he's playing through a forearm injury, that he will need surgery for eventually. Chris, which catcher would you rather add if you need one? MJ Melendez or Mitch Garver. I think I would go with Garver, but it's really close.

I'm fine with either of them as a fringe one catcher option. But Garver's just a little more proven. And Melendez, you know, before the last couple of games, he was ice cold. I think he had gone like 30 days without hitting a home run or something like that. So I'm, I lean towards Garver. I think they're similar players, though. The primary thing that you're going to get out of them is pop.

Any interest in these hitters anywhere? Derek, Derek Hall. This guy actually looks like he might be pretty good. He went three for five with a double three run scored. He's only played six games so far, but he's batting 304. And the batted ball distribution is very equal across the board. it's not like he hits too many fly balls or too many ground balls or anything. I worry about him against lefties.

We'll see what happens there. But 23% rostered. He's been interesting so far. Chris, what do you think about adding Derek Hall anywhere? Yeah, I think Hall's interesting. I don't know if,

you know, adding him everywhere would be the way that I would go because, like you said, there's still a question about what he's going to do against lefties, whether he's even going to play. He hasn't necessarily shown, like, outrageous raw power. and I think that's kind of the question is, like, are the physical tools there to match up to what he, you know, the pretty solid numbers he put up in the miners? But, yeah, based on what he's done so far, I think he's worth a look.

Eric Hoss has four home runs over his last seven games. He's playing every other day right now for the Detroit Tigers, which out of nowhere, offense has kind of been coming around for them. I guess you could thank Riley Green and Javier Baez for that. Eric Haas, 9% rostered. Chris, are you looking at him in any of your two catcher leagues? Yeah, he's fine for two catcher leagues. With two catcher leagues, Eric Haas is kind of what you get from your number two catcher in a lot of ways. Like last season, he hit 231 with 22 homers,

61 RBI, 48 runs. That's kind of like a, that's like a 65th percentile outcome for a number two catcher in most often. So I think he can be that. I think he can be a decent number two catcher but he's certainly not a difference maker.

All right, the last one here is Sam Haggurty who went three for four with a sock and a shoe on Tuesday. His first home run, his second stolen base of the season. He is zero percent rostered so widely available. Chris, I mean, I guess it would have to be AL only or 15

team, five outfielder leagues, but if you just kind of do like the fun with small sample sizes things, Sam Haggurty is kind of Interesting. What do you think? Yeah, the, the thing that I would say to kind of throw some cold water on it is just the Kyle Lewis, I believe began his rehab assignment either yesterday or today. So sounds like he could be back from the, I think he has a concussion. So he could be back any day now. So that that might make playing time hard to come by for Sam Haggurty. Um, so that I would I would guess he's not going to play too often. All right. Fair enough before we think Mitch Hanager is getting close. Ish to coming back. I think he's like a late July guy or maybe post All Star Break, something like that. He's like hoping to start a rehab assignment in the next week or so, hopefully. I think he's been out since April with an ankle sprain.

I mean, this must have been the worst ankle sprain of all time because... He's had some bad luck the last few years. Oh, for sure. And for anyone who doesn't know, look into the history of Mitch Hanigar's injuries. And you'll know exactly what we're talking about. But he started, he started like running around the bases and, you know, sounds like he could be, you know, cleared soonish. As of June 30th, he hasn't progressed to running at full speed yet. That is Mitch Hanigar.

So we shall see. Before we hit the break, just want to remind everybody that if you are listening to us on Spotify, please help us out with a five-star rating. If you listen to FBT and 5 on Spotify as well, we could use some five-star ratings with that podcast, it's our five-minute podcast, download and follow wherever you listen to this podcast. But look, I understand we're getting closer to fantasy football season. Maybe you don't have as much time to listen to the full-lane podcast. We hope you stick with us all season long, obviously.

But if you listen to the five-minute podcast, help us out five-star rating with that one as well. Let's hit a break and we'll be back right after this. The news and notes, Swan Soto has now missed two straight while he recovers from a left calf injury. Cross your fingers. get back on track. Jacob de Grom is penciled to make his second rehab start Friday at single A. He recorded five outs all via the strikeout in his first rehab start on Sunday. And apparently came away perfectly fine.

He said the shoulder is 100%. So let's hope so. Honestly, can we get Jacob de Grom back on the field like in a Mets uniform? It would just would make baseball much better in general. Whenever he's out there to have him in Scherzer as a one-two punch, it would be awesome. So please, let's make that happen. Kevin Gossman, dealing with an ankle injury, did not throw his schedule bullpen on Tuesday,

and it sounds like he won't make his next scheduled start on Thursday. That hasn't been confirmed, but it's not looking good right now. Bobby Witt Jr. left Tuesday after getting hit on the hand by a pitch. X-rays were negative more tests coming on Wednesday, and we really cannot lose him because third base is not a great position, and I think he's sound like a 25-25 pace right now, so he's actually been very good, despite a lower batting average. Craig Kimbril underwent a CT scan on his back Tuesday.

Yenzi Almonte converted the save for the Dodgers on Monday. Chris Taylor has been diagnosed with a small fracture in his foot. His timeline has yet to be determined, but this could open the door for Dodgers prospect Miguel Vargas, who is crushing it in the minors this season. 294 batting average, 13 homers, nine steals. He mainly plays third base, but has also played first, second, and, left field this season. So he kind of would fit that mold that Chris Taylor is in for this team. And he's widely available, Chris. What do you think about speculatively adding Miguel Vargas?

Yeah, it's interesting because Muky Betts did play his first game at second base on Monday. So that's going to be part of the plan for him. Whether, you know, hopefully he'll get enough to get to five appearances and have that second base eligibility because that would be really big for one of the weaker positions. But yeah, Vargas, I think there's a chance that he gets called up. The problem is the Dodgers have been more than happy to call their top prospects up and then not play them every day if they think that gives them the best chance to win.

So not necessarily a guarantee that he comes up and makes an immediate impact. So that's the one thing to keep in mind. Yeah, I mean, they're running a little thin here right now. They've got like Jake Lamb playing left field and they've been using Trace Thompson who, I mean, I think to his credit, he's actually played well for the Dodgers.

But yeah, obviously he hits lefties well. Miguel Vargas would be much more interesting if he gets the call. So if you have a spot on your bench and you just want to take a shot, again, the name there, Miguel Vargas, 26% rostered. Gene Seguera had his pins removed from his broken right index finger. He's still not expected back until mid to late August. I don't think you want to stash him yet unless you have unlimited IL spots, but just a name to remember there. Anthony Rizzo was scratched Tuesday due to lower.

back stiffness, which is worrisome because he's dealt with back injuries the past couple of years. So we'll follow that closely with Rizzo. Elo Jimenez concluded his rehab assignment and rejoined the White Sox, but hasn't been activated yet. He has not played a game since April 23rd with that torn hamstring. Kyle Hendricks left his start due to right shoulder soreness. Chris Archer was placed in the aisle with left hip tightness retroactive to July 2nd. Josh Winder started in his place on Tuesday. instead. Edward Cabrera completed a 25 pitch bullpen session on Tuesday. He was placed on the

aisle with right elbow tendonitis on June 15th, but has also been dealing with some kind of personal issue, which I have seen zero details about. Chris, I don't know if you know anything about this Cabrera situation, but I have still been stashing him in some leagues because I was very aggressive in adding him in Fab. I don't know if that's the right answer here, but do you know anything about what's going on with Cabrera. No, we mentioned this on the mailbag podcast on Monday. I think that the only thing I've seen really was Craig Mish, very cryptically saying that what's going on privately doesn't match the public statements or something like

something to that effect. So I have no idea, but it's a good thing, good sign that he was able to throw a bullpen session and it seems to be on the way back. All right. both Jazz Chisholm and Jorge Soir have been taking part in mobility and core strengthening work at the Marlin Spring Training facility. Dodgers pitching prospects, Ryan Pepio, was called up to start on Tuesday. He allowed one run over five innings, struck out six. I think the bigger part of his stat line is the fact that he only walked one because control has been a major issue for him.

He's 9% rostered. And I think normally, Chris, we would want to add someone like this, but I think it's just going to be a spot start. So what do you think? Yeah, that would be my expectation. That's how they've used him so far this season. And, you know, yeah, the one walk is a huge thing for Pepio because he's got really good stuff. It's just control has been a constant issue for him. And that's what we've seen so far from him in these spot starts, it's been kind of iffy control. So not necessarily someone I'm running out to add right now.

All right. Last bit of news here. John Birdie was out of the lineup on Monday and Tuesday due to, quote, lower extremity tightness. So one of the great upsets of the season, actually, is that John Bertie didn't get to play against Noah Cindergarde. That is, that is just so upsetting. Do you know who stole a base against Noah Cindergard today? I do.

Hazes Aguilar. Not just Hazer's Aguilar. Billy Hamilton also. That's less surprising. Yes, it is. But just Billy Hamilton's on the Marlins. But yeah, Hazer's Aguilar, first career stolen base.

He was, I believe, the only player in Major League history with 100 plus home runs and no stolen bases before this. So, this was disappointing that he's no longer of the lone member of that club. This was his 7001st career game for Jesus Aguilar and he picked up his first steal against Noah Cindergarde. Something we pointed out in the past, like if you see Cindergarde on the schedule and you have an aggressive team in terms of, you know, someone that's willing to run and you need steals, you should definitely play that player because Noah Cindergard is absolutely terrible at holding opposing runners on. Did you know? Let's take a look at some fun facts and stats.

Julio Rodriguez, who admittedly we talk about a lot because he is awesome. He went two for five on Tuesday with his 21st stolen base. Did you know since May 1st, 62 games? He is batting 300, 15 homers, 12 steals. That is a 36 homer, 29 stolen base page. over 150 games. And Chris, I've seen this has kind of been the talk of town the past couple of days on Fantasy Baseball Twitter is that Julio Rodriguez, I think more so in category leagues than any other leagues,

could be the first overall pick in fantasy next year. What do you think about that? I think that's probably a little too early to start saying that. Like, as awesome as he is, like, let's not forget that he's basically doing. doing a decent Fernando Tatis impression. And we do expect Fernando Tatis to be back at some point in the next couple of weeks

and presumably be healthy for the start of next season. So it would be really hard for me to say after 70-some-odd games that Julio Rodriguez has surpassed Fernando Tatis when Fernando Tatis is two years older than him and more proven. So that's not a knock. And I think that's the comp. Like you're hoping that Julio Rodriguez can continue to be the kind of guy who's just such a special hitter that it makes up for, you know, lacking plate discipline. But I certainly wouldn't take him over Fernandez at this point.

All right. I think in a category. To name one, Ronald Acuna. Yeah. I was just going to bring up. There's some pretty good players out there. I was just going to bring up Ocuna who on the season is hitting 285. He's got 17 steals in 4.

48 games. That is just a ridiculous pace in terms of running. The power has been a little bit lacking. Only seven home runs, but my guess would be that the further he gets away from this knee injury, the more we start to see the power come back in that lower half specifically. And rest assured, we're going to get Julio Rodriguez in those first two rounds. We didn't do it last time when we redrafted. Scott wouldn't let us put him in there. but we're getting Julio Rodriguez in the first two rounds at least.

Hey, he might be in the first round. I don't know about first overall yet, but he is, he's getting there. That is Julio Rodriguez. No June, no problem for Kyle Schwaburber, who had a double dong on Tuesday, now has 25 home runs total, and he leads Major League Baseball with 14 home runs since the start of June. Did you know, over the last 28 days, Schwerber is the number one. hitter in both head-to-head points and category leagues. Did you know it, Chris?

That sounds about right. I didn't know it, but I believe it. He has been amazing. Again, Kyle Schwerber leading off of the Phillies. He's tremendous. Regardless of no Bryce Harper in the lineup, he's getting it done. As we get into these warmer months, it seems like that's when Kyle Schwerver really starts to heat up. And that was the case last year. And that's been the case so far this year. I think we are well on our way to a 40 home run season, assuming that Kyle Breaker could stay healthy. Byron Buxton, stole a base.

Would you look at that? Did you know this was his first deal since April 11th? I know he's been dealing with a sore knee off and on all year. He still ranks 91st percentile in sprint speed according to stat cast. Chris, really?

Since April 11th? It's kind of crazy. It is surprising. The good news is he's crushing baseball still. So he's not like you're exactly disappointed. in his production. I mean, 222 batting average is a little disappointing. But yeah, I mean,

I think the stolen basis, you know, maybe this is a sign that he's starting to feel a little better. In which case, maybe, you know, hopefully he'll start running more because he's certainly capable of being a big stolen base guy. Just not, uh, doesn't do it. Austin Riley went three for four with a double and his 21st home run of the season. Did you know that Austin Riley is another one of these Aaron Judge, Jordan Alvarez type hitters. I did not know this because I looked at the stat cast page, 97th percentile average at exit velocity,

99th percentile hard hit rate, 91st percentile barrel rate. I knew that he hit the ball hard, Chris, but I didn't know that he was like upper echelon in terms of crushing baseballs. That is Austin Riley. Yeah, he's been awesome. 5.05 expected Wobon contact, strikeout rate.

Right around where it was last season, that's the one thing that's keeping him from like the upper upper outchalant of hitters overall. But yeah, he's really good. I have that conversation from the preseason Chris just ringing in my head of me and you like, you know, Austin Riley might just be a jag. Who knows, man? Yeah. Jeez.

Yeah, sometimes, like, sometimes we say, look, you say several hundred things over the course of a, of an offseason. Dozens of them are going to sound very stupid. Very stupid, indeed. And I like bringing them up because obviously transparency. And look, you have to learn from your mistakes too, right? It's the only way to get better. And really anything but fantasy news is fault.

Here's the problem though. Is you know who could have been that guy? Who's that? And who a lot of people thought was going to be that guy? It's Tyler O'Neill, who was also a stat cast standout. So, you know, it's hard to know what lesson to take from that yet, at least. That's fair. But Riley is awesome.

He's a very good player. some pitching leftovers from Tuesday's action. Noah Cindergarde's strikeouts are up over his last two outings. He was at the Marlins, five endings, two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. He had 11 swinging strikes in this one. And I noticed that the slider usage has been up over his last two starts as well, at least 34% in each of those. And he's right around 19% for the season.

So, Chris, are you starting to get a little bit more optimism that maybe we're starting to get the strikeouts from Noah Cindergard once? again. It's weird because the slider hasn't actually been a particularly good swing and miss pitch for him this season. It's a 26% entering today. That's, you know, better than his fastballs. So I guess if he's trading fastballs for sliders, that would be a good thing. But it's certainly, it still doesn't look like the, you know, it's, it's, I mean, it's not the same pitch that it used to be.

He used to average 92 miles an hour with his fastball. And obviously his velocity has, as, as, it's, it's, I mean, it's not the same pitch that it used to be. a hole is down. It's down about three and a half miles per hour from his peak. But the slider velocity is down about eight miles per hour from his peak. So it's just a different pitch than it used to be. And I think that's probably limiting the effectiveness of it. So I still think Noah Cindergards more along the lines of a fine pitcher than someone that I must have on my roster.

So yeah, I'm still pretty pessimistic about him. All right. What about Jose Cantana, who has allowed two earn runs or fewer in three straight. He was going up against the Yankees. He gave up one run over five innings. Seven strikeouts to zero walks. He lowers his ERA to 3.33. And he's done a very good job preventing home runs this season. This is Jose Cantana. And he's got a career high 12% swinging strike rate. So actually pretty interesting. 23% rostered. Chris, how does Kentana compare to like Ladolo and Beo, who we mentioned earlier, as waiver our pitchers. Less interesting than those guys, I think. I would rather take the chance on Ladolo or Bayo than Kentana, but he's starting to be worth, I think he's worth

rostering in a 12 team league at least. Would you drop Jameson Tyone for Jose Kintana? I'm fine with that, yeah. Okay, last one I wanted to mention here, Christopher Sanchez put together a solid start for the Phillies, filling in for Ranger Suarez. He went five shutout, only had two strikeouts, very heavy with the changeup in this start. He used uses three pitches, sinker, change up slider. And in the minors this year, he was performing quite well. He gets a ton of ground balls. We're talking like every level 60% plus on the ground ball rate.

Chris, I guess in very deep leagues, do you see anything here with Christopher Sanchez, who does have a SPARP eligibility? It would have to be like an AL only. I think even in your head to head points leagues. The rosters are typically too shallow for, for me to. to think that Christopher Sanchez is worth much attention, even as a SPARP. So, you know, maybe if he remains in the rotation and gets a two-start week at some point, I guess maybe that would have been this week if it, if it's not going to be the case.

So, yeah, I don't have much interest in him. All right. Some hitting leftovers from Tuesday. Bobby Witt, Jr., I mentioned earlier, went two for five with his 12th home run. He also has 12 steals. That is a 25 homeber, 25 steel pace for the season. Alex Bregman went three for five with his 10th home run and over his last 16 games he's batting 3.57, four homers

and hitting the ball much harder. So you'll love to see that for Alex Bregman. And you love to see Sayas Suzuki. Earlier in the season got off really the first week. He was amazing. And then after that really, really slowed down, was on the IEL for a long time. Returned and his first two games back,

two hits in each game, a home run. On Monday was an inside-the-park home run off of Josh Hayes. actually, and then on Tuesday, of course, it was a traditional home run. So I think a nice bounce back so far for Sayas Suzuki. Cedric Mullins went three for four with two walks, two runs, and three RBI, including a walk-off RBI single. And since the start of June, I've mentioned this a few times. Mullins has been much better, not much power, but he's hitting 319, 13 doubles,

five steals, hitting the ball a little bit harder, making more contact. he's been doing a good job getting back on track leading off with Orioles. This one I think that we should expand on a little bit more, Chris, because I saw you tweet about him recently and I hadn't realized this, but Wander Franco, he went one for two with three walks, three runs, and his fifth still on base.

It's been a weird season for him. One where he was out a long time with his quad injury. He's hitting 261. He's got five homers, five steals, and in 55 games. He doesn't walk that much. He doesn't walk as much as you think. He makes a lot of contact.

his batted ball distribution very similar to last year hits probably too many ground balls and his max EV is impressive but his actual average ex-velocity is not and he hasn't been good against right-handed pitching so far in his career a sub-700 OPS bat as a switch hitter. It's kind of just been a weird season so far

for Wander Franco who many had pegged as a breakout. What do you think? Yeah and early on in the season it looked like there were real reasons to believe he was breaking out. You mentioned that Max Exezylo, there were some small sample sizes, but he was hitting the ball very hard early on. And I do wonder how much of this is just the quad injury,

kind of derailing him, because his numbers were better before the injury. And, you know, there seems to be some bad luck involved. His expected batting average is 308. His actual batting average is 261. So I do think there's probably room for improvement there. I'm not sure if, like, maybe he's being a, especially hurt by the switch, by the, by the shift. I don't, yeah, there's something there maybe as a right-handed hitter.

His boba against the shift is really low, but I think the sample size is pretty small there. So I think it's too early to say definitively one way or the other. It might be a situation where he just, maybe he swings too much, you know, maybe that, maybe that's the case. Maybe there's just like, like he's got a really high chase rate. He's in the 18th percent on chase rate. He's got a 33.7% chase rate. He swings in the strike zone, 76% of the time, which is,

it doesn't seem like that high of a rate, but it could be a situation where he could just benefit a little bit from being more selective. 54% swing rate overall. You know, he probably is swinging at some pitches that he shouldn't. And maybe there's a difference between aggressiveness and discipline that he needs to find a balance with. So the second coming of last. Vladimir Guerrero, huh?

Well, look, no one else is Vladimir Guerrero, but it sounds a lot like Vladimir Guerrero just based on being that aggressive with your swing, chasing pitches, but also this uncanny ability to make contact. So the profile just kind of makes sense in my head, but of course, Wanda Franco has a long way to go. Max Muncie had two hits on Tuesday,

including a sock and a shoe, his eighth home run, his first steal. Don't really expect Max Muncie to run, but some signs lately last seven games, 61 batting average, three home runs, and we need to see something. So let's go, Max Monty. Chris Bryant went, I think I saw he picked up a second hit. So two for four with his first home run with the Rockies.

First home run on July 5th. I know he's missed a lot of time, but like, whoever thought they could have predicted this with Chris Bryant, geez, couldn't have been me. The call to the bullpen, some bullpen updates for the Marlins, Tanner Scott walked two and gave up a run but picked up his 10th save of the season. For the Orioles, I assume that Jorge Lopez was unavailable.

He worked three of the last four days and he allowed five earned runs in those three outings. The Orioles turned to Felix Bautista who gave up a go-ahead home run to Corey Seeger in this outing. And then on the other side, Joe Barlow enters in the bottom of the ninth with a one-run lead. He gets the first two outs.

He gives up a game-tying home run to who? Rugnett Odor, of all people. Yeah, that game was kind of bonkers because the Orioles went up 4-0 nothing early and then it was just back and forth after that. It really was an interesting game too because the Orioles scored a run in each of the

seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth innings, yeah. Yeah, so they scored three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. Spencer Howard came up and I was interested because his last start in the minors was really good. I think he had like 11 strikeouts, but he was, Bad again. I just don't think it's going to happen for him.

Not great from Spencer Howard. For the Pirates, David Bednar picked up his 13th save. I did see on the other side of that game. Not that it matters much, but for the Yankees, O'Ollus Chapman pitched in the, I guess it would have been eighth inning when they were down five to two. And his velocity was way up. It was like two or three miles per hour up on his fastball.

So just something to watch. That's a good time. Unless you have Clay Holmes, in which case. potentially not a good sign. For the... I think it's probably... Okay. Astros...

Just keep talking, Chris. It's cut me... I'm being honestly... Like, yes, just keep doing it. Rafael Montaro gave up a run but picked up his sixth save. Not sure where Ryan Presley was in this outing. I read that he pitched on Sunday

and then he was warming up in the bullpen on Monday. So perhaps they just wanted to give him the night off. Sometimes they count warming up as like technically pitching. So I don't know. But we'll follow. all that. And then for Oakland, I saw that Lutrovino picked up his six save and he's only 24% rostered. So in deeper category leagues, I picked him up in a few 15 teamers last week. You know, with, uh, with Danny Jimenez on the I.O. It looks like Lutrivino is the closer once again for

the Oakland A's. Again, Jimenez, I think through a bullpen session, but he's probably still, uh, you know, a couple weeks away. Oh, right. How about to stream or not to stream? We'll start with Wednesday, David Peterson at the Reds, Graham Ashcraft versus the Mets, Glenn Otto at the Orioles, Spencer Watkins versus the Rangers, Brian Bayo in his debut against the Reyes, Alex Cobb at the Diamondbacks, and Mitch White versus the Rockies. That game is in Los Angeles. I like Peterson, Cobb, and White all quite a bit, more than our typical streaming options. I think I would go Peterson, Cobb, and White in that order. And then obviously, you know, I want to see what Bayo looks like, but I'm interested in picking him up before he makes the start anyway.

All right. And then on Thursday, we have J.T. Brewbaker at the Reds, Mike Minor versus the Pirates, Michael Lorenzen at the Orioles, Austin Gomber at the Diamondbacks, and Marco Gonzalez versus the Blue Jays. I'm significantly less interested in any of these options than the previous three that I mentioned. And I mean, Marco Gonzalez, like, I, he's pitching really well right now, or at least he's getting really good results right now. But I can't, I'm sorry. If Mark Gonzalez has a good start against Toronto and you don't have him in your lineup, I think you just eat it. Like, that's, that's one that like, I can't, I can't recommend him.

I'm sorry. Cue up the tweets, Chris. They're already in your inbox when it comes to, uh, to Marco Gonzalez. I did just see this. I wanted to bring it up for the Dodgers. obviously Kimbril dealing with his back injury. Yancey Almonte got the save on Monday. That game just went final.

Bruce Stark Gratterol got the save on Tuesday. So if anything happens to Craig Kimball, perhaps we see a little bit of a committee approach here in the Dodgers bullpen. We're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball. Today will be back again tomorrow.

Bye-bye.