Fantasy Baseball Today - Montero Throws A Maddux! Eight Confusing Pitchers & Yamamoto's Return (9/11 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

Episode Date: September 11, 2024

Keider Montero threw a three-hit shutout in less than 100 pitches (2:04)! ... Seth Lugo dominated the Yankees (7:34)! ... The Braves had a big offensive night (9:13). ... News (12:02): Reynaldo Lopez left his start with shoulder tightness. ... What do we do with these eight confusing pitchers including Taj Bradley and Ranger Suarez (19:50)? ... Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a successful return (32:31). ... Any interest in adding Albert Suarez for two starts next week (35:36)? ... Matt Wallner continues to hit for power (38:06). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (42:11). 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, @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/ 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. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, and welcome into fantasy baseball today on Wednesday, September 11th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Chris Towers.

Today on the show, welcome back to Yoshinobu Yamamom. Motto, what to do with these eight confusing pitchers. We got big games from the Tigers and the Braves, and much more. Let's jump in. Holy cow. How about that? How about P. Crow Armstrong?

I just want to give him a shout out up at the top. That game just went final. He made three incredible catches in center field, including a game-ending home-run robbery against Max Muncie. He's just a madman, Chris. Like, he is so good in the outfield. And he's, he's gotten much better as a hitter throughout the season two. I mean, that was always the thing with Pekar Armstrong is like, you know, as a prospect,

early on his MLB career, it was like, if he's just decent as a hitter, he's going to be a freaking star because of how good the defense is. And he might be the best defensive centerfielder in baseball already. And the bat seems pretty good right now. So yeah, he's, he had a couple of just kind of bonkers plays in this one, including one that like, there was some miscommunication with him and Cody Bellinger. And he had to like kind of make a last minute like backhand like Willie May's Hayes catch. Yeah. You know, have you seen that movie?

Yeah, that's a major league, right? Okay. All right. You never know. No, it's worth asking for sure. All right, Chris. Let's stick with you and your player of the night. Cater Montero

the I think most impressive performance of the night in terms of results Complete game shutout He tossed a Maddox For those you don't know That's a complete game shutout With fewer than 100 pitches

And he was awesome 17 whiffs on 96 pitches Five strikeouts, three hits In the complete game shutout I just don't think it matters Very much for fantasy And I always feel bad when we do this We have this portion of the show that is dedicated to the most impressive performances of the day,

but it's not really just about the most impressive performances of the day. We're also like meant to give a reason why this was exciting for fantasy. And nobody started Cater Montero, and I don't think this necessarily means he's someone you need to care about for fantasy. He is the 16th pitcher to throw a complete game shutout in the majors this season. and there are some really impressive names on the list of guys who have done it. Tyler Glassnell did it. Blake Snell, obviously, Dylan Sees with their no hitters. But you've also got Tyler Phillips had a complete game shutout and Joey Estes and Brexton Garrett had a complete game shutout against the Diamondbacks.

Back in like May or June, I completely erased that one from my memory. And then some like Gavin Stone and Luis Severino and Kevin Gosman have all had complete game shutout. So it's like about half of them are really good pitchers and half of them are just kind of guys at best. And I think Cater Montero is much more of just a guy. But this was a really good start. And that's great.

Tremendous start for Cade Ar Monteiro who did have 17 whiffs on 96 pitches, kind of wish that He could just face the Rockies on the road every time out, but that is not going to be the case. I did want to highlight a change that he made in this one. He did lower his fastball usage, and he threw more sliders and curveballs, which is a great idea because his fastball gets hit really, really hard. So a tangible change that he made

and obviously went out and through an amazing start. He's 12% rostered. It looks like he lines up to face the Orioles later this week, and then at the Orioles again next week. So I don't think you're using him for either. Those two starts would line up for the white side. the final week of the season. So I'll just throw that out there now,

get it on people's radars. And you know, Chris, last night to stream or not to stream, I actually did say, use Cater-a-Montaro against the Rockets. How about that? Look, that's the thing. It's like the Rockies on the road,

the White Sox. Yeah, I think he can be useful in those matchups. Two straight against the Orioles. Probably not rolling that dice. No, no, no. Let's just stick with the Tigers who had a big game here. Want to highlight Parker Meadows,

who went two for three with two walks and his six. seventh home run in 30 games since returning from the IL, a 308 batting average, four homers, counting stats look good, five steals, 896 OPS, 28% rostered. He's been serviceable against lefties. I'm not going to say good, but he's been okay against them, and he's pretty much playing every day right now for the Tigers. I feel like we've expressed a little bit more optimism here, enthusiasm, I guess, for Parker Meadows. It feels like he should be more than 28% rostered. Roster rates always get a little...

at this point in the season. There's a lot of teams that are out of it. There's a lot of leagues that are just over by now. I'm in a couple that either the finals have started or, you know, they haven't or or they're just finished. So, you know, that could explain it. But yeah, he has started, I believe, 29 of 34 games overall since returning from the IL. He's hitting really well. He's running the bases really well.

He's not striking out that much. I think it's like 27 strike. Let me get the exact number. Yeah, 27 strikeouts, 125 plate appearances. That sounds pretty good. 22%. Like, that's not a poor strikeout rate at all in a head-to-head points league.

So I think Parker Meadows, even in three outfielder leagues, is looking like a pretty viable option at this point. I'm really impressed with what he's doing. And I think he could make for a sneaky sleeper for next year as well. So just keep that name, file it away for next season, you know, five outfielder leagues. And we've said it for the past couple of years.

We keep thinking the Tigers lineup is going to take that next step with some of these young guys getting called up. They're like actually pretty good right now. Are they? I don't know what the overall record, but I think in the games that Parker Meadows has played since coming off the IL, they're 21 and 9. I did see, I think just yesterday,

I think there are only three games out of a wildcard spot, which really surprised me. Yeah, there. Tigers are slightly feisty-ish. Yeah, they're two games over 500. Let's go, Tigers. I just pulled up there, Wobah. Three games over 500.

Wobah in the second half for the Tigers, still 25th. Yeah, the offense isn't great. Yeah, I wanted to give a shout out to Riley Green, who clearly has had a, you know, a breakout season here. He's missed some time, but 263 batting average, 20 homers, 837 OPS, and obviously had a really good game here for the Tigers.

My player of the night is going to be Seth Lugo, who dominated my New York Yankees. Seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He had 14 whiffs on 105 pitches, five on the curve, four on the cutter, four on the fastball, barely allowed any hard contact in this one, and he changed up the pitch mix.

He threw a lot more cutters, he threw more changeups, and he threw less fastballs, Less four seams, less sinkers. And that is a really good idea for Seth Lugo, who throws about 18 different pitches. But of all those pitches, the fastballs are the ones that get hit quite a bit.

So yeah, I think throwing in, mixing in a little bit more spin, upping the change-up usage. That has helped Seth Lugo, and he now has three straight seven inning quality starts. So we had a pretty rough stretch in there, Chris, but it looks like Seth Lugo is now finishing strong once again. Yeah, I think the overall, like you look at the, overall numbers. I think the R.I. still under three for the season. Since the All-Star break,

I think it's 381. That sounds right. That sounds right. And I think that's what I always expected Seth Lugo to do, is be more like a high three ZRA guy, but with the ability to go deep into games as much as he does and, you know, pretty good team backing him up, it still does make for, I think, a must start pitcher moving forward, especially now that he's out of that. like August doldrum or whatever you want to call it. And he might help people win some championships because next week, two start week against the Tigers and the Giants. So two pretty awesome matchups there for Seth Lugo.

Wanted to give a shout out to the Atlanta Braves as well. Their offense had a big night against the Nationals. They won 12 Zip. Michael Harris, three for six with a double dong. Matt Olson, three for five, with a double, two runs, and two RBI. and people may not have realized this about Olson because the overall numbers are still lacking.

But over his last 46 games, he basically has been Matt Olson. 272 batting average, 12 homers, and an OPS right around 900. So, you know, that's basically since like mid-July. Matt Olson has been basically himself. Wanted to spend a little bit of time on Michael Harris because he's not a name that we've talked a lot about this season,

missed a ton of time with that hamstring injury, 26 games since returning from the IL, only betting 234, he's got six home runs, 17 RBI helps, but zero steals. He's got two caught stealing during that time and a 680 OPS. On the season as a whole, it's a 661 OPS. Everything that I was excited about Michael Harris doing last year and the improvements he made from his rookie season to his second season have basically all taken a step back here in the third season for Michael Harris. Yeah, and I think the fact that, you know, he had that injury in, what, May? I think it was June. Yeah.

Yeah, missed two months. It was one where like, remember, he got off to a really slow start last year as well. As the summer months came, he really heaved up and ended up being the breakout that we hoped he would be. And, you know, it's kind of like the hamstring injury maybe prevented that from ever really happening. So, yeah, it hasn't been this. season that you wanted from Michael Harris. I'm still mostly willing to buy the dip for 2025. I still think this is a should be a very, very good lineup. I know it's been a little hit or miss this season, but I think when the Braves are, you know, when everyone's not hurt except for Marcel

Ozuno, which it seemed like is what happened this year, I think the Braves are going to be a good offense and Michael Harris is more like the 800-ish OPS bat we saw last year than the 6-61 he has right now. All right. Before we hit the break, reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, I realize it is a crazy time in the sports calendar. Football has started up. Obviously, baseball is winding down here, but we're not going anywhere.

We're still podcasting five times a week. Chris is still putting out a newsletter every single weekday. So again, if you are watching on YouTube, scan the QR code, that will take you right to the website, where you can click on the FBT logo, punch in your email address, and you can sign up for the FBT newsletter for free. Let's take our final break.

Final break. First break, and when we return, we'll hit the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in News and Notes. What do you know? As soon as we pump up Ronaldo Lopez for how well he's pitched since returning from injury,

he left Tuesday's start due to right shoulder tightness, and his velocity was way down across the board. Fastball is down 3.6 miles per hour. His slider down nearly five miles per hour, which is a very troublesome sight. My guess is this won't end well, at least for the rest of this season, but that's just speculation on my part. Yeah, I mean, no way of knowing, but we've now had one, he's thrown more innings than any season since 2019, I believe, maybe 2018, and then we've now had an elbow and a shoulder scare. So I would be surprised if we saw

Ronaldo Lopez pitch again this season. The fact that the velocity was down seems to indicate that it was an issue from the start. Yeah, doesn't look great. Yeah, Ronaldo Lopez up to 128 and two-thirds innings. Last year, he threw 66, and this is his most since 2019, as you mentioned. Luis Castillo was.

placed in the IL with a grade two left hamstring strain. And I apologize, a lot of people were asking me what to do with Luis Castillo. They said he was going for an MRI on Monday. And those results didn't come out until like later on on Tuesday. So it kind of got a little bit difficult in terms of like, do I start? Do I sit? Do I drop Luis Castillo? But the fact that he's gone on the IL, I think it's pretty safe to drop Luis Castillo there.

Yeah, grade two with only two weeks left in the season, basically. Yeah. 18 days. Yeah, I think it's pretty unlikely. We see him again in the regular season at least. Tyler Glassnell felt good after his bullpen on Tuesday and will face hitters in a simulated game over the weekend. Kyle Swarber left Tuesday's game. He's, what I saw was he's going to return after that.

If it goes well, he may not be fully stretched out, but they're just kind of running out of time. So what I saw was they are likely to just have, kind of like Yoshiyamamoto today, who only pitched four innings in his first start back, right? Yeah, yeah. I think that makes sense. They're running out of time. They've got to build Glassnow up for the postseason.

So, you know, the first couple of times out, it's, you know, maybe he gives you a three, four, five inning, something like that. But they could be really good endings there from Tyler Glass now. Kyle Schwerber left Tuesday's game with left elbow discomfort. Jacob de Grom will make his season debut Friday against the Mariners. Max Scherzer will make his return on Saturday, also against the Mariners. DeGrom in four rehab starts, pretty much Jacob de Grom, 0.84, ERA, 0.47 whip,

15 strikeouts over 10 and 2 thirds innings. He only got up to 49 pitches in his last start. So my guess is 60 to 70 pitches in his debut. But against the Mariners. Yeah, like it'll be hard in a head-to-head points league. because wins and quality starts are so important there, and he might only go four innings. Yeah.

He might strike out 10 in four innings. Like, he averaged 98 miles per hour with his four seamer in his rehab outings at AAA. His whiff rate on his slider was like 50% on the changeup. It was like 43%. Yeah, this is the lead for the newsletter tomorrow, but I'm basically, I don't know what to expect from Jacob de Grum.

coming back from his second Tommy John surgery, I think he's probably just going to dominate the rest of the way, even if it's only like 14 innings. And it's a tough spot for me as a baseball fan, as a fantasy baseball player, because obviously I'm rooting for Jacob de Grom, and I want him to do well. But if he is awesome for his final three starts,

I mean, that will give people confidence to draft and even higher next year in draft. So I don't know how good I want Jacob deGrom to actually do, but yeah, still rooting for the guy. To Oscar Hernandez was out Tuesday and has now missed four straight after fouling a ball off of his ankle last Friday. Connor Norby was scratching the lineup for unknown reasons. Chris, did you see anything here for Connor Norby? I didn't see anything.

Yeah, weird. Ben Joyce was placed in the IL with right shoulder inflammation. And I guess one of Hunter Strickland or Rwanzi Contreras would be next up for saves. But that's pretty gross. Yeah, it's like we talked about Miami with Calvin Foshae on the IL. I just, I think it's unlikely to matter enough to worry too much about it. But if you're truly desperate, yeah, I would guess Strickland. He's got a little bit of experience in that role.

That seems like something Ron Washington would care about. So if you have to do that, yeah, I guess he's the best option. Ben Lively left his start early after getting hit in the leg by a comebacker. Osvaldo Bito was placed in the aisle with a right, wrist flexor tendonitis. Brady Basso was recalled and is a name to watch in deeper leagues. Robbie Ray is scheduled to throw 50 to 60 pitches in a bullpen on Wednesday. He's on the IL with a hamstring strain. The Cardinals promoted one of their top prospects, Thomas Sejacy, who is 22 years old and he's played all over the infield in the minors. This season, a 253

batting average, 20 homers, nine steals, a 751 OPS, has taken a step back this year, put up some pretty massive numbers in the minors last year. Only 5% rostered. Anything to see here, Chris, with Thomas Sejacy, or maybe just a name to watch in Dynasty League? Among the three prospects we learned about getting called up yesterday, Jason Dominguez, Kumar Rocker, and Thomas Sejacy.

Sejcichy is clearly the least interesting of that group. But it's worth a look, I think, in deeper categories, leagues. There's a little bit of power speed there. Yeah. Tyler McGill is sticking in the Mets rotation for at least one more start

following his great outing on Monday, and Anthony Rendon was placed in the aisle with a left oblique strain retroactive to Sunday. Can I just one real quick complaint? So in the podcast listeners league, the first round of the playoffs was two weeks, right? We did a two-week scoring system. Yeah.

I thought we were doing that for the six. second round of the playoffs. We are. We are? Yeah. I don't, are you sure? Yeah. It didn't carry over. The scores have reset. No, no, no. From the first week then. Yeah, yeah. So we're going to add them. I just add them together at the end of the two weeks. Okay. Because I thought I hope you, I hope you set your lineup. I did, but I was looking at that earlier today. And I thought that I lost last week. And I was going to say that the reason I lost is because I started Justin Verlander. and my opponent had Ryan Nelson and I had like a 25 point lead

heading into Sunday night baseball and I was like, great, it's safe I don't even need to worry about it. Turns out I did need to worry about it. It went very poorly. Yeah, I did set my line. I know there's a way on CBS to like add in the previous week's score

so you see that. I'm fine. I'm a little lazy to be honest with it. So yeah, we're just going to add the scores together at the end of the two week scoring period there and you know, you still have a chance, Chris. Yeah, it's not looking great, but I was confused, so I'm glad I got some clarification on that, because I thought it was two weeks.

The lone representative on this podcast, who is still alive in one of the podcast league. Love to see it. Shout out to you. What do we do with these eight confusing pitchers right now? Start, sit slash hold. Do you drop any of these names? I don't know. Let's find out.

Tage Bradley turned in a quality start at the Phillies, six innings, four runs, three of those were earned. He had six strikeouts with 16 whiffs on 90 pitches. Still allowed two homers in this one. Lots of hard contact. But completely changed the pitch mix and it did help him get a ton of whiffs. Seventy-six percent rostered, 50 percent started for Tage Bradley, who's at the Guardians later this week. He looks like he's home against the Blue Jays next week and at Boston the final week of the season. What do we do, Chris? Are you just holding Tage Bradley to prevent other teams from getting him? Is he all right to drop? Do you want to start him? I don't know if I love starting him in any of them. It is worth noting the splitter looked better in this one. He got seven whiffs with it. The movement profile wasn't quite where it was earlier in the season. He was still not getting as much drop on the pitch.

But I think in his previous start, he was getting like five inches of drop less. And in this one, it was two inches less. So that's a good sign. But I don't see how you could start Tage Bradley with coffee. against any of those matchups. Maybe Toronto would be the closest, but he just seems after a stretch where it looked like he had figured it out,

it seems like he's back to being the guy. He was early in the season, last season, where the stuff is really good, and the highs are going to be really high, and maybe you're desperate, and he can give you something there, but I can't trust him right now, no. Are you okay calling him a drop

if you need the roster spot? How badly do you need a roster spot? spot this week, right? If you want to pick up Matthew Boyd. I can't say I'm more confident in Matthew Boyd. I mean, Matthew Boyd has really good matchups, right? He faces the White Sox this week. And then I think he's a two-star pitcher for next week.

One of the starts is against the twins. I will quickly look at that. Yeah, whatever the, yeah, I remember we talked about this the other night. Twins and Cardinals next week for Matthew Boone. I think in a points league I'd be fine dropping Bradley for Boyd. Okay. Ranger Suarez has been pretty mid since returning from injury. He was up against Tampa Bay.

Five and a third innings, 12 hits, four earned runs, two walks to two strikeouts. He allowed 10 hard hits in this one. Velocity was down. Four starts since returning from the IEL, a 419 ERA and a 155 whip. He has only completed six innings once in his last eight starts. That's Ranger Suarez. He's 69% started. Looks like he's in line for two starts next week at the Brewers and at the Mets.

kind of tough matchups. What do you think about, what do you think about Rangers Forres? I think at a points league, I might be okay starting him, but I think I'm leaning against using him in a roto league,

especially if you need to protect your ratios, just because he's been getting hit really hard. And, you know, this was what we talked about earlier on in the season, where he was doing really, really well, and what he was doing really well with was pitching in the shadows of the zone,

you know, close enough that hitters had to swing, close enough that he could steal a few strikes, but not close enough that hitters could do much damage with it. And that can work. Dallas Keiko's whole career was built off of that. But it's really hard to do it consistently. And whether it's the back injury, whether it's just regression to the mean,

Ranger Suarez has seemingly lost that ability. So I think he's pretty fringy moving forward. Yeah, Ranger Suarez, those two matchups next week, the Mets and the Braves, both Mets and Brewers, excuse me, top 11 in Wobah against left-handed pitching this season. So in a points league, you could probably get away with it in a Categories league.

If you're protecting ratios, I would probably stay away from those two matchups. It's been a few decades since the Braves played in Milwaukee. I have to tell you. That's fair. U. Darvish was solid at the Mariners, five innings, two runs, five strikeouts. He did allow two homers in this one,

12 whiffs on 63 pitches. That's a 19% swinging strike rate. And on the season, 352 ERA, a 114 whip. He's only 79% rostered, 31% started. And looks like two starts next week for Darvish, up against the Astros, which is scary, but also the White Sox. This is tough because it's what, 63 and 63 pitches

in his last two starts since coming back from the IL. Hadn't pitched since May, didn't go on a minor league rehab assignment, right? No, I think he threw some simulated games, but that's it. How much, like, can he get to 85 pitches in his next couple of starts? That seems reasonable. Like, he's, you know, a veteran. Maybe they just wanted to get him out after five innings.

And, you know, in different circumstances, he might have pitched six or more than 63 pitches. I don't know. I think I'm okay starting. him. I think I would start him ahead of Ranger Swar as next week, actually. I feel better about Darvish than either of the first two pitchers we spoke about. I think, yeah, I think so. Yeah. Let's talk about George Kirby who got

hit hard once again up against the Padres, five innings, five runs. He'll have two more homers in this one, and over his last six starts, Kirby has a 668 ERA and a 158 whip just under a strikeout per inning. Nine homers allowed in his last six starts.

Lots of hard contact. The bab-up is high. The hits are obviously adding up here, but when you live in the zone and you give up that much hard contact, I mean, you can be prone to stretches like this. This one's kind of a tough one to figure out. He's at the Rangers next week. That's typically a good matchup. I start him.

It feels lazy to just say, oh, yeah, you're starting Kirby. He's ranked as like a top 12 starting pitcher. I'm a lazy guy. You know? Yeah. Is that it? There's like nothing else to out here. Yeah, like I'll have that conversation with my guys in the 30 to 50 range.

Yeah. But we've seen stretches like this from Kirby this season. He has generally figured it out. I'm going to go down with that ship. All right. I did want to quickly pull up his season-long splits just to see if he's faced Texas already this season and how they've done against him.

And one start, six shot-out innings with six strikeouts. So, all right. Maybe that bodes well for George Kirby next week. Chris Bassett pitched very well up against the Mets. in a revenge game, six innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 10 whiffs on 101 pitches. And he's turned in a quality start in two of his last three. He's got a 250 ERA over that span.

24 strikeouts over 18 innings, so starting to get the strikeouts back. And Chris Bassett, 63% started on CBS. Looks like a two-star pitcher at the Rangers at the raise next week. I kind of like it. Good matchups. He's pitching well right now.

Look, Chris Bassett, he's going to end up with a pretty disappointing season. And maybe we've been a little, a little too hesitant to be critical of him, given his track record, which has been, you know, bad stretches that he always generally bounces back from.

And he has not really this season, you know, 420 ERA, 141 whip especially is really tough. But I'm going to start him against Texas and Tampa Bay for sure. Spencer Arrigetti bounced back with a strong start up against Oakland, six and two thirds innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 97 pitches. And there's been some ups and downs. We know that the last start

out was obviously really bad. But not as bad as we thought. Over his last 11 starts, it's a 316 ERA, 116 whip, well over a strikeout per inning, and he's home against the Angels next week. So I think I'm good with that. Yeah, what makes Araggeti's recent stretch especially frustrating. And I think what might make people think he's been worse than he has been is that his two worst starts by far in that stretch were one against the White Sox coming off what, the back-to-back double-digit strikeout games?

Yep. And then the most recent one against Hugh, no, not against Houston, Seattle? It was a good matchup, yeah. It was a team we, yeah, it was a team we expected him to dominate. He got let down by the defense a little bit, ended up only pitching. Did he even get out of the first inning?

I don't think so. And so the lows have been not just really low, but very memorable. And so I think people have probably a perception of Aragutti that he's been less useful lately because the two times you tried to use him were really bad. But a bunch of people started him this week, as they should have.

He's got a great match. matchup next week as well. It's a volatile profile. We know the command especially has been inconsistent, but the stuff is really good. And I think I'm just rolling with Aragutti. I would start him ahead of Suarez and Bradley for sure. Darvish is tough just because it's two starts. But I feel better about the ratios for Aragutte next week than either Darvish or Bassett. I think he's a better bet at least. Mm-hmm. And probably, well, I can say better for strikeouts because they have two starts.

But yeah, yeah, on a per-star basis, yeah, I think obviously Arrogatee has a ton of upside in that department as well. Two starting pitchers that turned back into pumpkins here on Tuesday. Mackenzie Gore, not great up against the Braves. Three and two-thirds inning, seven runs. Two of those were earned. Some bad defense behind him. But he did have three quality starts in a row before this one. So we were touting McKenzie.

Gore, but a bit of a letdown here. Does get the Marlins later this week, and then he's at the Cubs next week. David Peterson, also pretty bad at Toronto. Four and a third, five runs. Four of those were earned. And previous seven starts before this, he was dominant, 181 ERA and a 112 whip. And David Peterson looks like a two-star pitcher next week, up against the Nationals and the Phillies.

So, Chris, what are you doing here with McKenzie Gore and David Peterson? Um, so these are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of the amount I believed in them. But with Gore, the frustrating thing is he had turned his season around in the last month or so or a couple of weeks, at least by getting his fastball velocity back up to like 96 miles per hour on average, which is where he was early in the season when he looked like a breakout. It was back down to 95 in this one. And so that's where it's like, well, if we can't. I think he's good when his mechanics are on and he's throwing hard and the fastball is a plus pitch. If the difference between McKenzie Gore being really good and being pretty bad is 96 to 95 miles per hour, I just don't know if he's a guy you can trust.

So yeah, I, if you're in a daily lineup league, I think I'd still start him against the Marlins. Probably not after that though. Yeah, I think that's totally fair. If you're locked in for the weekly lineup and he's, already started one. I'd be okay dropping him for somebody else with better matchups next week. And David Peterson lines up for the two first. Kumar Walker, honestly. I know we don't know what the workload's going to be like, but I think there's a chance he just shoves for the next three weeks. And we're talking about him in really,

really interesting ways for 2025, because he's been completely dominant. What about David Peterson? Yeah, like I said, I never really believed in him, not nearly as much as McKenzie Gore. So this backs up my prior. I don't think David Peterson's particularly good and he had a bad start. I'm fine letting him go. In a daily league, like if you want to hang on to him until that start against Washington, they've been bad against lefties.

They're still a bottom five offense against lefties, I believe. I'm fine with that. I'm not starting him against the Phillies and Brewers after that, though. Mm-hmm. Again, that was David Peterson. Let's take our final break, and when we return, welcome back to Yoshinobu Yamamoto. We'll talk about that right after this.

Welcome back in, and welcome back to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was dominant in his return up against the Cubs, four innings, one run, eight strikeouts to zero walks. He had 11 whiffs on 59 pitches, 18.6% swinging strike rate here. He only got up to 59 pitches, so maybe 70 or 10%. 75 in his next outing. He's only 29% started and looks like a two-star pitcher next

week, home against the Rockies and at the Atlanta Braves, I think it's wheels up for Yamamoto. Yeah. Anything you would like to add on this performance here? No, I mean, Velocity was up a little bit, which is a good sign coming back from the shoulder injury. He's only got to make it through three more starts.

You know, if this was July and he was coming back, I might have some questions. But yeah, I'm certainly starting him with Road Rockies and the Braves next week. Yeah. He will be a fascinating Yamamoto, a fascinating pitcher to evaluate for next season. Yeah.

Because I was looking into just all the underlying numbers, a 251-fip, 277X-FIP, 10.6K per 9, and he gets ground ball. It's 48% ground ball rate pitches for one of, if not the best team in all of baseball. But we're going to have this lingering shoulder injury in our minds and just the concern of whether or not his body can hold up for a full MLB season. We just haven't seen that happen yet.

So it's a concern for me at least. But on a per star basis, talent-wise, I think he's probably one of the top 10 or 12 pitchers in baseball. Well, and I think this is something we're going to have to keep in mind with all Dodgers pitchers next year is. This is. True. Likely going to be a six-man rotation next year with Shohei Otani returning to the rotation. Obviously, given that everyone else there has gotten hurt or been bad, this. year, it probably behooves them to keep Tyler Glass now on a six-day, six-man rotation and

Yoshamamoto. Will they even have enough arms to fill out a six-man rotation? Yeah, they might have to sign whoever the best pitching free agent is. Corbyn-Borbin Burns. Yeah, just to get to a six-man rotation. But no, it's something to keep in mind just with, you know, in Japan, generally speaking, they throw on every six day rather than every fifth day. And so, you know, it's not just Otani, you know, that way.

A lot of teams have had to make adjustments with that. We saw that with Kodaisanga as well. And yeah, the fact that he wasn't able to hold up does raise questions about his long-term value. But top 20 pitcher for sure next year, right? Yeah, I think so. I think if, you know, if you draft, if you're someone who typically drafts like two pitchers in the first four or five rounds, if you can get Yamamo. as your SP2 in round four? I think I'd feel really, really good about that.

Yeah, I mean, he's been as good as advertised. Yeah, it's just workload. Like the talent plays. Yeah, it's just workload. Like, how many innings are we going to get? That's really the only lingering question I have on Yamamoto. Let's talk some Waverwire pitchers from Tuesday's action. Albert Suarez turned in a strong start at the Red Sox.

Six innings, one run, eight trackouts, 21 whiffs on 101 pitches. Pretty awesome start here for Albert's. Suarez, Rhett Louder, was solid at the Cardinals, five shutout innings with three strikeouts there. J.P. Sears, a quality start at Houston, six shutout innings, only one strikeout in this one. Last eight starts for J.P. Sears, 281 ERA, 0.97 whip, and Aaron Savali, a solid start at San Francisco, five in a third, two runs, two strikeouts. 11 starts with the Brewer's 384 ERA, 123 whip. If you're looking at matchups for next week, Savali is at Arizona.

JP Sears home against the Yankees in a revenge game. Rhett Louder is home against the Pirates, and Albert Suarez two starts against San Francisco and Detroit. It's pretty nice. Yeah, Louder has been pretty much as advertised, and what I mean by that is he was kind of, he was a top prospect, but it was more of a, this is a high projectable floor,

not necessarily a high ceiling. That's always tough when it comes to pitchers, because we are not as good as projecting either ceiling or floor as we think we are. But he's basically been what we expected. But he's got a good matchup against the Pirates next week. I'm not really super impressed by what Ret Lauder has done, despite superficially pretty impressive numbers. But I think he can be worth streaming against the Pirates next week.

But if you're asking me to rank these four, did you ask me that? I didn't, but you can. I don't know if like any of them all. particularly impactful fantasy pitchers in the long run, but Albert Suarez gets two bottom five offenses next week. And he's pitching well right now and he's got that. I am fine with Albert Suarez as a streamer next week. I think he probably should be like 65% rostered next week.

So that would be about double of where Suarez is now. So I would sign off on that as well. And then the rest of these, yeah, I probably would take J.P. Sears. The Yankees are actually pretty middling against left-handed pitching this season. Not that I love it, but, you know, if you're desperate for a streamer, I think that could work out fine. And then probably louder and Savali at the bottom of the list. Some waiver wire hitters, Carlos Santana hit another homer, his 21st home run of the season. He's 40% rostered.

I think that's probably fine, right? like, I don't think there's any overwhelming excitement for Carlos Santana. Carlos Santana is someone that like realistically could fluctuate between 40 and 70% roster. And I would have no opinion on it one way or the other. Like, I just, if you need a corner infielder this week, he's perfectly fine to add. But I'm not, I'm never going to complain if you drop Carlos Santana either. Some outfielders in five outfielder leagues, Matt Walner, two for five with his 12th home run, updated numbers since being recalled on July 7th,

290 batting average, 11 home runs, an OPS over 1,000, and just incredible stack cast data, 94.6 average exit velocity, 21% barrel rate for Matt Wallner during that stretch. Tommy Fam has hit well since joining the Royals, two for five with his ninth home run, and with the team, he's let off all nine games, 270 batting average, two homers, and one steel.

Andrew McCutcheon has quietly had a very strong second half, 284 batting average, eight homers, 25 RBI, a 939 OPS for Andrew McCutcheon. More so deeper league stuff here, Chris, five outfielder leagues. I'll throw Parker Meadows in this mix.

How would you rank Meadows, Walner, Fam, McCutcheon? Meadows, Walner. Fam has not played every day, right? With the royals he has. He started all nine and he's let off all nine, yeah. I'd probably go Meadows, Walner, Fam, McCutcheon.

Cutchin then. I think Meadows and Walner both should be more widely rostered than they are. I think probably the problem with Walner specifically is the strikeout rate's always going to be so high that it's just going to make it hard for people in points leads to get over. But Meadows, you know, we talked earlier, he's playing close to every day. And I think over the last two or three weeks, it's actually been every day. I don't think he's missed a game in like the last 14 or something. thing. So I would go Meadows at the top. And I just want to shout out, Andrew McCutcheon, homered today, right? Yeah. He's got 20 homers. He's like been way stronger in his 30s than I think

anyone expected him to be. I feel like he fell off pretty hard and it was just like kind of forgotten. And this doesn't really matter for fantasy because he's not an everyday player. And, you know, he's in a bad lineup, so the county stats are pretty bad, but like 37-year-old Andrew McCutcheon with like a 112 OPS plus, he's starting to put together like an interesting fringe Hall of Fame case is what I'm going to say for Andrew McCutche. I don't think he's ever going to get there, but he had the peak four straight years with top five MVP finishes. He's starting to put, like he's going to get around like 50 plus wins above replacement,

300 plus home runs. I just, he's going to get some consideration, is all I'm saying. Yeah. 300 plus homers, 200 plus steals for his career. 831 OPS at this point, over 50. 370 career OBP, really, just really awesome career. I love him. Andrew McCutcheon and has not declined as sharply as I think a lot of people,

including myself, expected. He's playing on one leg too. Like, doesn't he have a partially torn Achilles? Yeah. He's still doing it. in this? Like, man, one of my favorite players, Andrew McCutcheon, like, basically when I started playing fantasy baseball is exactly when he got called up. So I have only known in my fantasy career, Andrew McCutcheon being the top prospect and following his career throughout. So I've always just

kind of thought about it that way. Like, yes, the year I started was the year Andrew McCutcheon got called up. And I've just, I've always looked at it that way. And I've, yeah, special place in my heart. wire. Love, love Andrew McCutcheon. Some pitching leftovers, Pablo Lopez finally did it. The ERA is under under four for the season. Seven innings, four underd runs, ten

strikeouts in this one. His ERA, Pablo Lopez, was 563 on June 18th. In 14th starts since, 232 ERA, 103 whip, over a strikeout per inning. This is the Pablo Lopez experience,

I guess. Zach Allen pitched well against Texas. Five shutout innings with seven strikeouts for him. He has scoreless starts in three of his last four. Seven plus strikeouts in all four of those starts. And Chota Imanaga turned in a quality start at the Dodgers. Seven innings, three runs, four strikeouts. Three homers allowed in this one.

They were clearly all solo homers, which helped. But 16 whiffs on 89 pitches. Lots of hard contact, 12 hard hits. I think Imanaga is a little bit lucky to walk away with a quality start in this one. But anything to add, on him, Gallin and Pablo Lopez. Gallin seems to have figured it out. It's been a weird season, especially since he came back from the hamstring injury.

It's been a lot ups and downs. But the control seems to be better of late. You'd like to see him pitch a little deeper into this one. But I think you feel pretty good about him, Pablo Lopez. We're going to do this next year. Maybe it's not with Pablo Lopez. Maybe it's with, I don't know, George Kirby or someone. some very good pitcher is going to get off to a miserable start and people are going to

cry and complain about it and just have faith. I know it's frustrating in the moment when Pablo Lopez had a 583 ERA or 563 on June 18th. The worst thing you can do with a pitcher who you know is good when they are struggling like that is to trade them when their value is the lowest because what you're compounding the problem. you're banking the 563 ERA. You're selling them for a player who will probably not be as good as them.

And then you're not getting the improvement. And so that's just, I know it's tough. I know it's frustrating. Have faith in these guys. And then I'ma, you know, I've seen some discussion about his changeup and he threw it more in this one, three whiffs with it. it is a distinct pitch from his sweeper or from his splitter. You usually don't see pitchers throw both a splitter and a changeup,

but it's an actual pitch for him. And he's shown an ability this season to add and subtract things to his arsenal when he needs it. Look, I know he gave up three home runs today. You're right. He was probably lucky to get out of this one with a quality start against the Dodgers. It's also the Dodgers. You know, most teams aren't quite.

that good and he's had a remarkable rookie season. And I think he's going to be a really interesting player to value next year because there's some ace production there. The ERA certainly, the whip really, really good. Strikeouts are just okay. The underlying metrics suggest there's been a decent amount of fortune on his side. I don't know if I want to say luck, but it's an interesting profile when you're looking ahead to 2025.

All right, Chris, I'm putting you on the spot here. September 11th. Obviously, not going to hold you to it, but who do you foresee ranking higher for next year, Pablo Lopez or Yoshi Yamamoto? Probably Pablo. The innings are safer. Yeah, that's the thing.

He's going to end up with 110 more innings, right? Yeah. And I know he had the shoulders stuff earlier in his career, but Pablo Lopez has... A complete non-issue four years in a row now. He's going to wind up with 180 plus innings in three years in a row. And the one before, oh no, 2021 was the one before that.

But the last five years, he's only missed time with injury once or one of those years in 2021. He made it through 2020, short in season, but he didn't get hurt. So, yeah, I think we're kind of past that. I mean, look, he's almost 30, or he will be 29 at the start of next season.

so I don't think he's any more of an injury concern than any other 29-year-old starting pitcher, I guess, is what I would say. Again, that was Pablo Lopez. Let's talk some hitting leftovers. Cedric Mullins had himself a huge game, two for four with two socks and a shoe. He is now up to 17 homers and 27 steals for the season. Having a pretty big second half is Cedric Mullins.

You know, early on, we kind of wrote him off because, all right, the playing time was dwindling. The Orioles had all these options. but the second half numbers, 286, 8 homers, 11 steals, 939 OPS. That's a pretty awesome player. He's going to end up, he might end up with a 2030 season. Close to it. Yeah, that's pretty remarkable.

It's a bad batting average, but I think you were expecting that. And it still does feel like we saw in the first half that the floor is super low. And at some point the Orioles might decide it's not worth it. but didn't happen this year. So, yeah, I think there's a decent chance. He's just undervalued in fantasy in 2025 again. Again, that was Cedric Mullins. Trey Turner is turning things back up,

three for five with a double dong, four RBI. Last 25 games for him, he's betting 304, five home runs. Only one steal. You'd like Turner to run more, but he had the hamstring injury earlier on in the season. So I think that probably has affected him. Zach Netto continues his breakout. season two for three with a double and his 21st home run.

Another one, big second half, 272, nine homers, 15 steals, 869 OPS. Lane Thomas is coming back to life, two for four with his 11th home run, nine September games. He's betting 364 with three home runs, one steal and an 1140 OPS. Fernando Tatis hit a homer, Manny Machado hit another home run, and Christian Walker, his first big game since returning from the IL, two for four, with a double dong and three RBI there. Lots of names, Chris, but anyone stand out here? Anything you'd like to mention?

So I think Trey Turner is a really interesting one for 2025 as well because overall, the hitting has been pretty solid. You know, 295 average. If not for the injury, he easily would have gotten to 100 plus runs, probably 75 RBI as well. 15 steals is really disappointing. However, you mentioned the hamstring injury. He got hurt on May 3rd. Did you realize on May 3rd, Trey Turner had 10 steals already? Yeah, no, he got off to a great start. Yeah, he was on a 50 steel pace.

And he's stolen five games in, or five bases in what, 70 games since then, something like that? Yeah, that's 71 games. So like, he's still 96th percentile spin speed. Which is actually, I think he'd been like 99th or 98th percentile, like every previous year. So he has slowed down. a little bit. And I think the hamstring injury is a reason why. But, you know, last year,

we are also like, well, he didn't steal as much as he probably could have. He was on pace to do it early on. I don't know how much you can expect Trey Turner to steal next season. But I will say it's just, he always seems to get there in some way. Like if the steals aren't quite there, he usually hits a little better, probably a second round pick, right? Exactly what I was. was thinking, he just feels like a second rounder at this point. He's just not, in my opinion, a first round impact bat. And I mean, what it looks like, if he can stay healthy for a full season, I think he's still capable of hitting 300 with like 25, 25 and really good counting stats. But it's, you know, the first couple of years in Philly, it's, it's just been a little bit

off for Tray Turner. So I think he's still, he's still a really good player, but just feels like a second round pick. And then the other thing I will point out, Fernando Tati, He's good to see him do something since coming back from that injury. Another guy who did not have a minor league rehab assignment. So not terribly surprising that he's been struggling. Manny Machado is the Padre's all-time home run leader now. What? Right.

Wow. The, who is the other one? There are three currently active players who are the franchise home run leader for a franchise. It's Mani Machado with the Padres. I can't remember the second one and Giancarlo Stanton with the Marlins. Wow. Yeah, I thought that was kind of funny

that Mani Machado. Like that doesn't seem like it could be right, but like then you start to think about like who were the long time. They didn't really have Padres. Like Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles were there for a while, but like they weren't, they were in a horrible park for their power.

So yeah, It's, that was, that was a weird one to see today. But as far as I know, a true fact. I really want to know that third player now, who's an active franchise home run leader for their team. Previous Padres home run leader, by the way, Nate Colbert, a name that I will admit I was not familiar with. No clue.

Before today. All right. Some bullpen updates from Tuesday for the Pirates. Aroldus Chapman got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up one run on three hits but picked up his eighth save. For the Orioles, Sir Anthony Dominguez got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out two for his tenth save. For the Reds, Alexis Diaz was unavailable.

Emilio Pagan got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He allowed three base runners, but also shrug out three for his first save. For the Brewers, Devin Williams allowed a hit and a walk, but struck out two for his 10th save. and for the Cubs, Porter Hodge. Got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He walked one but picked up his fifth save. There was something going on there. He was holding his chest.

The trainer came out. It feels like maybe he had a shortness of breath or something like that. But he was able to close it out and hopefully everything is all good there with Porter Hodge. Three names on this list that are available. Chris, how would you rank Hodge, Dominguez, and Chapman

if you needed saves? Dominguez, Hodge, Chapman, I guess. Yeah. I think I'd probably put Hodge at the top of the list. Sure, that's fine. Yeah, I think Hodge and Dominguez are probably interchangeable there. By the way, it's another one that makes sense, but is also kind of surprising.

Mike Trout is the Angels' Frenchman home run record. Yeah, that makes some sense. To stream or not to stream for Wednesday, we have Matthew Boyd at the White Sox. Absolutely 100,000% start him. Cody Bradford is at the D-Backs. We have, man, can we get a good? start out of Casey Mize against the Rockies in Detroit.

He was good back in like April. It could happen. I could, yeah, that one I could see for sure. Yeah, Zebethi Matthews is home against the Angels. We got Colin Ray at the Giants. Yeah, I think for me it's Boyd Bradford and man, if you want to try, I guess Casey Mize, but honestly, I would go Mize or Gomber ahead of Cody Bradford actually. It is a tough matchup.

Yeah, it's very tough, but he's pitched really well. He's been really good all year. It's just that's a really tough matchup. Yep, sure is. For the Thursday slate, we have DJ Hers is home against the Marlins. Gavin Williams is home against Tampa Bay.

He got destroyed his last time out against the Dodgers. Kumar Rockers debut against the Mariners and Frankie Montas is at the Giants. So I you guys presumably talked a lot about Kumar Rocker yesterday, right? Yep.

I my hot take this might be too hot but I'll I'll put it out there I am more excited to see Kumar Rocker the rest of the way than Jason Dominguez I don't I don't think that's a hot take especially just because we've seen Dominguez once before already

yeah and but like I mean even for fantasy like I think Rocker could be a difference maker down the stretch I think there will probably be some innings limitations. He's only thrown more than 70 innings or 70 pitches once so far. But the landing spot at Seattle, the stuff looks incredible. He might be that guy we thought he was, you know,

four years ago when he was in college. For the Thursday slate, I will go with DJ Hers, Montas, and, yeah, probably. I'd go rocker. Yeah. Yeah, I'd probably put them third on that list. All right, we are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank.

Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.