Fantasy Baseball Today - New Cardinals Closer, Drop-O-Meter & Prospect Updates (5/2 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 2, 2022

Is Eric Lauer's breakout for real (1:00)? Is Ryan Helsley the new Cardinals closer? ... MJ Melendez has been recalled by the Royals (8:25). Should you stash Jose Miranda? ... Let's fire up the Drop-O-Meter for Matt Brash, Joey Votto and others (14:15). ... News and notes (26:33): Trevor Bauer has been suspended for two years! ... Sheldon Neuse should be rostered in more leagues (40:38). ... Are Dane Dunning and Michael Lorenzen worth adding (49:10)? ... We wrap up with start or sit pitchers and streamers (55:35). 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 league. With fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, May 2nd. Frank Stample joined by Scott White today on the show.

Very eventful weekend. No hitters, relievers throwing 103 miles per hour, prospects getting called up. The drop o meter. We'll recap all of it. We'll have fun here on fantasy baseball today. Let's do it. Susan, what do you got?

Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scott. What made you say, oh, my goodness gracious this weekend? Eric Lauer. Eric Lauer made me say, oh, my goodness gracious. He had 11 strikeouts in his start against the Cubs on Saturday. That was after having 13 strikeouts in his 6th. start against the Phillies previous timeout.

And as we talked about last time, his fastball is up this year. It's up 1.3 miles per hour. That's significant difference, especially since his fastball is largely responsible for all these whiffs. In this start with the 11 strikeouts, 21 whiffs total, 14 came on the fastball. in that last start, 17 whiffs total, 11 came on the fastball. He calls it the Zoom ball. That's his name for it.

And it's obviously an effective pitch. And here's the thing. A pitcher can have a double-digit strikeout, like any pitcher can have a double-digit strikeout effort out of the blue, right? But to do it two times in a row, particularly for a guy who showed something. to break it out last year too. If I can find the numbers exactly. So last year in his final 15 starts,

Eric Lauer had a 223 ERA. Now, he didn't have the zoom ball yet. So the strikeout rate wasn't as high, but he was using his secondaries more. And he's continued to use his secondaries a lot, even with the effectiveness of his fastball. Maybe it's making the fastball more effective. But the point is, I'm really buying it.

I'm buying it hard. And I think Eric Lauer is one of the big breakout pitchers this year. congratulations to everybody who drafted him. I cannot include myself among you, but I will be rooting for him from the sidelines. I have a whopping zero shares of Eric Lauer myself, Scott. So I'm right there with you, unfortunately.

I think I picked him up in the Scott White Dynasty League last year, 2014 team head-to-head points league, and then I dropped him at some point. Like right before he went on that awesome run. I did that in that same league with Corey Kluber before he broke out as the multi-sai young winner he eventually became. Rough, rough life right now. Yeah, Eric Lauer, he looks legit.

You mentioned everything that he's got going on. 34 strikeouts to five walks over his first four starts. His 31.2% K-minus walk rate ranks fifth among qualified starting pitchers just ahead of fellow breakout candidate, Kyle Wright. So those guys look like the very clear to really out of no, not completely out of nowhere with Eric Lauer, but not a lot of people were touting him. So kudos to those who have Eric Lauer on the team,

swinging strike rate way up, looking very legit. Who else might be legit? Ryan Helsley, reliever with the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched the final two endings of Sunday's win, two perfect endings with four strikeouts. He averaged 100.6 miles per hour on the fastball. He maxed out at 103.1 miles per hour, the fastest pitch thrown in Major League Baseball this season.

And Ryan Helsley entered Sunday leading all qualified relievers in swinging strike rate, a near 27% swinging strike rate for Ryan Helsley. His K-minus walk rate was also the best entering Sunday. And I would imagine it didn't go anywhere but up because obviously based on this outing that he just had on Sunday. 16 strikeouts to zero walks thus far. Scott, Ryan Helsley is. 7% rostered on CBS.

And I have a few 15 team leagues where Fab already ran on Sunday night. He went for $166 out of 1,000 in one of those leagues. He went for $58 out of 1,000 in another league. Again, this is Ryan Helsley. What do you think of him? How aggressively are you pursuing him on the waiver wire right now? Yeah. And I thought he was going to be like a sneaky pickup because, you know,

okay, maybe it was just this weird event, him getting a saved. throwing two innings. You don't have to believe me, Scott. You don't have to believe me, but I did have bids in before this save on Sunday. Well, it makes sense. I guess I just hadn't looked at the numbers, but the fact he's allowed one base runner in his eight and a third innings, 16 strikeouts. That fastball, as you mentioned, hit 103 in this start.

And I believe it had a spin rate. I don't know if it was the same. I think it was the same pitch. had a spin rate of Is that the same pitch? I think it was 3,000 RPM is what I saw. Yeah, but that's not what Stackast is showing. So maybe not.

Yeah, I saw somewhere on Twitter. Somebody said it had 3,000 RPM, which is like a Charlie Morton curveball. That's not a spin rate you ever see on a fastball, regardless of what the spin rate actually was. It looks like that pitch is supercharged this year. And yeah, he ended up. entered in the eighth inning, but Giovanni Gallegos hasn't pitched since Monday.

He hasn't pitched in a whole week. So they could have brought him in for the save if they wanted to. It didn't go well that last out. He gave up four-hand runs, did Gallegos. So, I mean, with those kinds of numbers, why wouldn't they give Helsley a shot as the closer? If they were at all losing confidence in Gallegos or preferred him in sort of the role he's filled in the past as a bridge guy, multi-inning sometimes. I think Hellsley is in the mix. I'm not saying he is the closer now, but I can understand those 15 team leagues where anybody who starts sniffing saves gets big bids.

I can understand why he got those big bids. Would you pick him up in a 12-team Categories League as well? Yeah. I mean, I don't know that I'd spend a sixth of my budget on him. But yeah, I'd put in a bid for him, sure. Would you be all right dropping somebody like Jake McGee or Matt Barnes for Ryan Helsley? Yeah. Yeah, they're definitely not closers.

I mean, today, McGee, like the Giants haven't shown an interest in using McGee as a closer. He has, I believe McGee has yet to follow. Doval in a game. Like every time they've both pitched in the same game, Doval has always gone after McGee. And McGee gave up a few runs just today. So he's not ingratiating himself to Gabe Kepler anymore. And though Alex Cora has given lip service

to having Barnes move back into the closer roll at some point, it's the velocity hasn't come back and he's not being used in high leverage situations very often. so I don't really see that happening in the near future. So yes, Helsley definitely over both of those guys. Okay, yeah, because they are still rostered in many leagues. Matt Barnes, 57% on CBS and Jake McGee up at 69%. McGee is actually the one I was going to drop in my 15-team league for Ryan Helsley.

But unfortunately, I did not get him. I was the backup bid. It seems like that happens way too often. But alas, Ryan Helsley is the name there that you want if you do need saves right now. Scott, we got some news about prospects on Sunday as well, specifically a very big one in MJ Melendez, Royals catcher prospect, recalled from AAA, their backup catcher, Cam Gallagher, is headed to the injured list. Melendez has struggled so far this year in the minors.

He was batting just 160 with two homers, three steals, but last year he was amazing. 288, 41 homers that was between AA and AAA. Scott, what's the scouting report on MJ Melendez? Will he play enough? He's widely available, only 19% rostered on CBS. Yeah, that's the big question. And I'm skeptical since they are calling him up as an injury fill-in, as opposed to because he forced them to call him up.

Off to a terrible start. And a lot of high-end hitting prospects are, just like kidding has struggled in the majors. It has in the minors as well. However, I do think it's starting to come around at both levels. It hasn't really started to come around for months. Melendez yet. He's been struggling this whole time.

So obviously they needed another capable catcher with their backup going down. And so my suspicion is that Melendez is just going to fill a backup role. Like, if ever Perez needs a day off, God forbid he gets injured, then they'll have another catcher on the roster. Obviously, you need to have a backup catcher. I could be wrong. He could. They could want to see what he could do in the majors.

In spite of that poor start at AAA, and he's gotten some time in right field this season. He's gotten some time at third base in the past. They could experiment with him. Obviously, there's the DH available also, and they like to play Salvador Perez there more often. So maybe Melendez will get in the lineup more often than I think. But I can't see myself making a move for him except in a two-catcher league where I actually need a catcher. like I'm actually really struggling to fill that second catcher spot. And so I'll take the shot on Melendez and just hope he plays enough and performs

with the playing time he gets. So let's say that you play in a one catcher league, Scott, and you have one of the back end options, the fringe, Gary Sanchez, Alejandro Kirk, who's not really hitting right now. Would you drop one of those just to see if MJ Melendez plays enough? Nope. I have confidence in those two, especially Kirk. If I've been scooping up Kirk everywhere, I see somebody else drop him. Okay. I added MJ Melendez in one of those deeper 15 team two catcher leagues as well.

I picked him up for $67 out of $1,000 budget. So right around 7%. Again, two catcher league, deeper format. I'm willing to take the shot there and see what happens with M.J. Melendez. Scott, you told me right beforehand, there was another prospect in the news, Jose Miranda with the Minnesota Twins. Apparently, Kyle Garlich was injured on Sunday. there's a chance that he lands on IL.

And if that happens, there's talk that Jose Miranda could get promoted by the Minnesota Twins. He is 26% rostered. Do you see him as a priority ad right now? I would put him as a higher priority ad than Melendez because he's started. His numbers so far this year overall are bad, but he started to come around. Unlike Melendez, in his last 13 games, Miranda has at 300 with a home run and eight doubles. and struck out only three times in those 13 games. So that looks more like the Miranda we saw last season.

And there's, without garlic in the lineup, it looks like there's an opening for him. If they want to play him, there's an easy way to do it. So I've been dropping Miranda in all the leagues where I drafted them, just having to clear up roster space and looking at his minor league numbers and say, okay, it's not going to happen. and the call-up's not going to happen anytime soon.

And then suddenly it happens. I tried to cancel my last, the league where I held on to him the longest. But I was too late. The bit already went through. So I picked up Trevor Larnick and dropped Jose and Miranda. And I wish I didn't do that because I like Miranda more. And he's third base eligible. And really good contact skills, broke through with big power numbers in the

miners last year. We'll see how much they play and we'll see if he sticks. But that's an investment I'm more willing to make than Melendez. All right. Let's take a look at a pitching prospect who got promoted this weekend, not nearly as high profile as NJ Melendez or Jose Miranda, but Orioles prospect, Kyle Braddish. He is top 10 in their organization.

He threw a quality start against the Red Sox on Friday. Six innings, three runs, two of those were earned. He only had two strikeouts, nine swinging strikes in the start. Last year, a 3.68 ERA, 1.36 whip in the minors. He's only 5% rostered. Scott, what do you think of Kyle Braddish with the Orioles? I don't think much of them. Clearly, there's some strikeout potential there.

The 11.8K per 9 in the minors last year, though with a high whip and a not-so-great ERA. He didn't really show a lot of strikeout potential in his Major League debut with just the one strikeout. But, yeah, I mean, it was a quality start. technically. So it was a good first showing for Kyle Bradish, and it's not like the Orioles have a lot of mainstays in that rotation. I can see him sticking around, but I want to consider him a high priority ad. All right. Let's just pay attention to Kyle Braddish. Strong on the scout team for now. Average 94 miles power with the fastball. His fastball slider combination accounted for 81% of his pitches in this debut. He also has a curve and a changeup. That is Kyle Bradish. Let's pay attention to see what he does. Let's take a look at the dropometer scout. Of course, we're talking about adding prospects. That means we have to be willing to drop somebody as well.

Matt Brash, another prospect who was rocked again on Friday at the Miami Marlins. Two endings of work, seven hits, six earned runs. He still did have 10 swinging strikes on 56 pitches. Not that it ultimately mattered. Yeah, it's not been a great go for Matt Brash. 6.88 ERA, 1.82 whip. He is 64% rostered.

The dropometer, 10 being, He could be dropped everywhere, one. No, I'm going to hold on to this player. Where does Matt Brash land on that dropometer? I'll go eight. I'll go with an eight for Matt Brash. I would like to hold on to him, but it's a luxury that I don't have in many leagues.

I think I am holding on to him in like a 15-team Roto League, but I was ready to pull the plug in a 12-te-to-head points league where you prioritize pitching. And of course, if you get sent down, which hasn't happened yet, then it, you know, it even goes up on the dropometer. I do think there's definite talent there,

but yeah, it's, it's, the last three starts especially, you know, he got rocked here in the start against the Marlins and then combined 10 walks in the previous two starts. And it's not like he's been getting a lot of swings and misses

for as impressive as that slight. better looks. So it's purely just, I like the upside. I'm going to keep him around to see if you can figure it out. And if you're not in a position where you can do that,

then I think it's okay to move on. All right. What about Joey Votto? O'4 again on Sunday. He's batting 122 with one extra base hit on the season one. And that is a double. He does not have a home run.

The strikeout rate is up 32%. He's still rostered in 89% of league. Scott, where are we at on Joey Votto, the dropometer? I will say, I will say five. I haven't let myself drop him in any leagues yet because I just have so much faith in him. To self-diagnose and self-correct, we've seen him do it so many times, including dramatically last year.

Well, really, it began late in 2020, the changes he made to unlock more power. So I am very hesitant to drop him, but I'll go as high as high as. five because I understand for most people listening if they drop him he'll probably just stay dropped the shallower of the league of course the more likely

that is but most people listening play in shallower leagues so I'll say five again in an ideal world you don't have to drop them but you know you might have to clear that might be your best way to clear roster space the only leagues where I have Joey Votto are again those deeper 15

team mixed roto leagues so I'm holding on to Votto there. It's like really anybody who gets consistent playing time is either on a roster or is on your radar. So I'm going to hold Votto in those deep leagues, but yeah, if you're playing a 12-team points league, I can see making the swap if he's like the worst player on your team. Scott, would you drop Joey Votto for our good friend Eric Hosmer who hit another home run this weekend? Probably not if if Votto is your only first baseman and You just need some production from that spot. And Votto is the only one you could drop.

I could see doing it, but, you know, if you have somebody else, you can plug in at first base and just let Votto write it out on the bench, then I'd rather stick with Votto. All right, let's move over to another veteran. This time a pitcher again. Kyle Hendrix, another clunker at the Brewers this weekend. Four and a third, seven hits, six earn runs.

The chase rate I noticed for him is way down. And as a result, the walks are way up. He's also allowing more fly balls this year. so Kyle Hendricks getting himself in trouble with that. He's got a 5.47 ERA, a 1.50 whip. The problem is, Guy, we still see flashes here and there. Two starts ago, he goes out, seven shutout innings. 86% rostered.

Where is Kyle Hendricks on the dropometer? So he's had two good starts. He's had one whatever start, and he's had two terrible starts. So you break it down that way. I know the ERA is high because of the two terrible starts, but I think we've seen enough good. I don't like the fly ball rate is so high, but it's so out of character that I doubt it's going to continue.

I would consider Kyle Hendricks like, let's call him a 3.5 on the dropometer. Okay, you probably don't want to start him this week. He's at home against the Dodgers. Yeah, I'd rather not start him. All right, what about Hunter Green? Another prospect pizzer here who's kind of hitting some tough times right now. He was at Corse Field, of course, tough place to pitch.

Four and a third, six hits, four earned runs, four walks, did have six strikeouts. The fastball velocity down once again, right around two miles per hour, lower than where his fastball was at entering the start on average. Hunter Green still 82% roster. Scott, where is he on the dropleter? Well, if I went 3.5 on Hendricks, I'll go even lower for Green 3. But that velocity is obviously very concerning. I mean, it was greatly improved from his last start when it was down like four miles per hour.

But yeah, still down about two from the season average. So I don't know if he's going to be able to be effective with that, but they insist he's not hurt. And if that's the case, then hopefully we'll see it bounce back soon, in which case there's a lot of reason to be excited about Hunter Green, which we all were prior to these last two starts. All right. So try and hold Hunter Green.

like Kyle Hendricks, probably don't want to play him this week because he is at the Milwaukee Brewers. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't matter who he's playing. I'd sit him until I see that velocity come back. Right. Joe Adele, we'll stick with the theme here. Another, you know, former top prospect has started just two of the Angels last six games, basically on the short side of a platoon, as Joe Madden said would be the case. Joe Adele still 72% rostered, Scott. Where is he on the dropleter?

72 is probably too high at this point. I will go I'll go seven for Adele any three outfielder league unless it's just insanely deep like 20 teams or something. You could probably drop him in any three outfielder league. Five outfielder leagues,

I still like to keep him around, but, you know, I mean, Taylor Ward is obviously entrenched himself and so Adele's not breaking in there without an injury. And Marsh has played well himself deserves to continue playing. So I don't really see a path for Adele aside from injury. Three of the five top added hitters from this weekend,

Max Kepler, Brandon Marsh, Randall Gritchick. Would you be okay dropping Joe Adel for any or all of those? I would say all of them. And it's amazing to me Gritchick in particular that he's still rostered in only 68% of leagues. He's hit three home runs in the last. I don't know, five games or so. So, and he's been batting over 300 all this time. I mean, the BAP boost of, of course, field.

He's taken advantage of that exactly as we hoped. So I don't know what the hesitation is to add Gritchick. I agree. I think he's criminally under rostered right now. Five hits this weekend for Randall Gritchick, including another home run on Sunday. Go out and get him on your teams. You could drop Joe Adele for Randall Crichick.

I got two more veteran pitchers here. here on this list. Eduardo Rodriguez, he was Blat again on Sunday at the Dodgers. Of course, tougher matchup, five and two thirds, eight hits,

six runs, four of those were earned, did have five strikeouts to zero walks. This has been one of my worst calls thus far. The ERA is 5.33 for Erod. Scott, where are you at on the dropometer for him? So I'm going to go,

let's see, I had Kyle Hendricks at 3.5. I'll go. I'll go five for him, which is the same I gave Joey Votto. I'd be more likely to drop Eduardo Rodriguez than Joey Votto probably. Let's lower Vado to 4.5 just to keep things consistent. And go five on Eduardo Rodriguez. Yeah, I don't, I wasn't as high on him coming in, though he did look very good this spring.

And I moved him way of my rankings about where everybody else had him toward the end of spring training. so I am disappointed too. But even when he's been at his best, he hasn't been like an ace. So I don't know that it's worth suffering through this lesser version of him in the hopes that he can become the best version of himself again. I'm just not sure the best version of himself is worth the weight. After today's start, his season is kind of looking similar to what he had going on last year as well, where his ERA is 5.33, but his FIP is 3.72.

His ex-fib is 3.83. So he's been unlucky, Edwardo Rodriguez has. But, yeah, I think in those shallower leagues, you can probably cut bait with Erod. Last one here, Aaron Savale, he was blown up again at the Oakland A's on, I believe it was either Friday or Saturday, four innings, seven hits, six earned runs. And this one, the walks are way up.

The ground balls are way down. an ERA over 10, Scott, for Aaron Savali, 72% rostered. Where is he on the dropometer? I won't go as high as 10. I'll go 9. He's not somebody I was hesitating to drop because the velocity, it's been down on everything

between 1.5, 2 miles per hour from last year and hasn't really shown any improvement all this time. And I'm just not sure there's much there if his velocity's diminished that much. Certainly, there's no way you can have. have them in your lineup right now. And as I was saying with Rodriguez, except it goes even more so for Savale,

I'm not sure the upside is worth holding out for. Fair enough. Yeah, I've seen him dropped in deeper leagues, too. 15 team, roto leagues, those really deep formats. So if Savali is being dropped there, then likely could be dropped in nearly all leagues.

Before we hit a quick break, I want to remind everyone that we'll have team name Tuesday on tomorrow's podcast. You can send over a five-star Apple podcast rating, and you can drop some of your team names in the review. Of course, we'll take some of your email submissions as well. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Let's take a quick break, and we'll get to the news and notes right after this. The news and notes.

So on Friday, we finally got the decision on Trevor Bauer. He was handed a two-year suspension for violating the league's joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. He's appealing and said he expects to prevent. Vale. Scott, are you dropping Trevor Bauer in all redraft leagues? Yes. And worth noting this is this is two-year suspension, not including time served. So we won't see him this year. We won't see him next year. We won't see him for the start of

2024. So I don't I don't know that it's just redraft leagues where I'd be dropping him. So Dynasty League soon. Unless he has some success with the appeal. But I'm not expecting that to move the needle much in spite of what he thinks. Trevor Bauer, for example, was dropped in the Scott White Dynasty League. Again, that is a 24-te-to-head points league where pitching is pretty hard to come by. So if he's being dropped in a Dynasty League that deep, then I guess that tells you everything you need to know about Trevor Bauer right now in that format. Chris Bryant was placed on the I.L. with that back injury on Friday.

It's unfortunate. We were expecting this huge year from Chris Bryant. It has not surfaced so far. Jonathan, India was placed back on the IL on Sunday with that same hamstring injury. This move is retroactive to April 30th. The Astros hope to activate Jose Altuve on Monday. I think there's an early game on Monday, too, 2 p.m. Eastern Time. So the Astros aren't playing that game. I think it's the Angels and the White Sox. But anyway, you'll want to pay attention. Set your line up there. Mitch Haniguer was placed on the IL with the a grade two high ankle sprain, which is unfortunate because he just returned from the COVID IL recently. Bailey Ober placed on the IL with a groin injury retroactive to April 29th. Brandon Bellton tested positive. Let me mention for Bailey Ober because on the last show I talked about how he had two great matchups. If he was able to make those starts, Chris Paddock inherits those matchups now. And I added him to the sleeper pitcher sleeper pitchers list for this week. week. I don't trust him as much as

over, but if you need another two-star pitcher, those matchups are what are the A's and somebody else really bad. The Oakland A's and the Baltimore Orioles. There you go. Does not get much better than that for a starting pitcher. So Chris Paddock

is 40% rostered. He's widely available if you need a two-star pitcher. Brandon Boke tested positive for COVID and was placed on the IL on Friday. Mark Balanson was placed on the IL Friday with no injury designation, which indicates that it is a COVID situation. We don't know if he tested positive, how long he's going to be out.

But in the interim, Ian Kennedy will be the closer for them. He picked up a save this weekend as well. Ryan Presley threw a flat ground on Friday while wearing a protective sleeve on his injured knee. The Astros have yet to announce Presley's return. And this whole situation has been kind of weird because last week, I believe either Sunday or Monday, they said he was close to activation. Some people put him back in their lineups. and then they just never activated Ryan Presley.

So it's just kind of a weird situation right now with him. Mike Clevenger will make his season debut Tuesday against the Cleveland Guardians, a revenge game for Mike Clevenger. He threw 67 pitches in his most recent start in the minors. Scott, would you throw Mike Clevenger back in your lineups? So I originally thought automatic yes, because that would put him in line for two starts coming back Tuesday. But they're going six-man for now, at least for this first.

time with Clevenger back. I guess they're unsure whether they want to remove Nick Martinez or McKinsey Gore. I can't imagine they'd remove gore, right? I mean, he's been amazing. Scott, don't even say those words. There's not even a possibility. Yeah. So it actually is a possibility, but I don't even want to imagine that happening. Yeah, I would be surprised if they took McKenzie Corps out, but I he has options, obviously, if they don't want to confine Nick Martinez to the bullpen for whatever reason.

Maybe they'll go sixth man for a couple turns. But the point is, it's just first start back for Clevenger, and I imagine he'll have a short hook, not throw that many pitches. So probably give him a turn before you activate him. But he did look good in the minors. He struck out 16 and 8 and 2.3. three-innings, I believe it was.

That's pretty good. All right, so we'll take a wait-and-see approach. 15 and 8 and two-thirds innings. Wait-and-see with Mike Clevenger. Josh Lowe was optioned back to AAA on Sunday. Scott, should he be dropped in even five outfielder leagues? Yeah, probably. Yeah.

I mean, unless you can afford to stash upside, I'd rather have Joe Adele than him. Sure. Alex Cobb was activated and started Sunday against the nationals. he could not escape the first inning of that game, unfortunately. Robbie Grossman exited Sunday's game after getting hit by a pitch on his hand. X-rays came back negative. Alex Kirolov doesn't have a clear timetable for when he will return from his rehab assignment at AAA. He's trying to work back from that wrist injury.

He had a cortisone shot recently, but no timetable for Kierloff. Just to mention on Alex Cobb, it was an awful start, obviously, but the velocity was normal. The pitch selection was normal. I don't think there's any reason to freak out about that. Yeah. Some bad, dropping him or anything.

Some bad defense behind him too. So he gave up five runs. Only one of those were earned. It's unfortunate. Andrew Heaney is also unfortunate. Still not throwing because of that shoulder injury. It looked like he was kind of headed for a breakout season as well. Jake Farrelli was placed on the I.

with right knee inflammation. James Carpillian made his season debut Sunday against the Guardians. He is 23% rostered. Scott, do you have any interest in James Cropillion? No. Not really. Okay. G. Man Choy was placed on the IL due to loose bodies in his right elbow.

J.D. Martinez returned Sunday after missing three straight games with a groin injury. He went three for five with a grand slam. Stephen Kwan returned on Saturday. He went two for four. I believe he also picked up another hit on Sunday. Scott, I've been getting some questions about dropping Stephen Kwan. Is that something you're thinking about doing? I don't think so.

If it's a three outfielder categories league where he's not going to help you much in home runs and steals and it's only three outfield spots to fill, I can see doing it there. But three outfielder points, of course, he has that incredible strikeout to walk ratio and then five outfields league, five outfielder leagues.

So, yeah, I mean, I can understand getting frustrated because we haven't seen him in the lineup for a while. and the luster is kind of worn off, but I definitely try to hold on to Kwan. Okay, would you drop him for Randall Gritchick? Yeah, yeah. Maybe not. I think in all standard formats.

It'd have to be like a points league where it's minus one per K or something for me to go on over Gritchick. No, I agree with that move, though, too. Yeah, I would make that one, but I still think Stephen Kwan going to be very good. It's just frustrating. He's missed so much time with that hamstring injury. Tigers outfield prospect, Riley Green, is making progress on his broken right foot, but he

hasn't started running yet. Tanner Halk will continue to pitch out of the bullpen for now. Garrett Whitlock will start again on Wednesday against the Angels. Evan Longoria ran the bases Saturday and could begin a rehab assignment next week. He's on the IL with a finger injury. Scott, would you look to stash Evan Longoria in deeper leagues? He's 17% rostered. Deeper leagues, that seems fine. Obviously, third base is a need for a lot of people.

I'd rather pick a pose a Miranda. I think I'd rather have Nolan Gorman stashed away, too. He's probably just second base eligible on most sites. Sites not third base eligible. So maybe he's not relative to this, relevant to this discussion.

But I think Gorman is coming up soon, and he's been the hottest hitter in the minor leagues basically from the start of the season. Yeah, I know Tommy Edmund was removed from Sunday's game due to hip flexor tightness. Oh, I didn't even hear about that. If anything comes of that, then we could see Nolan Gorman fill in for him if, of course, if Edmund has to go on the aisle. Lutrovino began a rehab assignment at Single A on Sunday. He's been on the COVID aisle since April 18th. Noah Center Guard was scratched from Friday's start with a non-COVID illness. Bobby Dalbeck has fallen into a short side platoon role with Franchi Cordero starting against

Ritees. Lots of prospect talk today, Scott. Didn't expect it to be this much, but would you look to stash Tristan Kossis in redraft leagues now that Bobby Dahlbeck's kind of falling out of favor? People ask me about Tristan Kossis a lot when I release my prospects report and I have my five on the verge and Kossis isn't in it and I always tell them if it was 10 on the verge, it would be in it. So, uh, You know, I read that he wasn't in consideration when they called up Cordero instead. So it doesn't sound like he's close, but he will be called up some point at some point this season. So, you know, I don't think it's a high priority to stash him right now,

but it's not a bad idea to stash him right now either. Okay. Again, that is Tristan Kossis. We had a big milestone for Clayton Kershaw Saturday as he broke the Dodgers' all-time strikeout record. Awesome to see. First, I assume, first ballot Hall of Fame or right, Scott? Quaint Kershaw? Oh, yeah.

Easy. Good. Start or sit these banged-up players based on what we know right now. Scott, Joe Houtani left Sunday's game due to right groin tightness, but told reporters he plans to play Monday, quote, as of now. Well, I guess I'd start him. He's my first round pick, and he says he's going to play. So hopefully he does.

Yes. So there's actually two early games on Monday, 115 p.m. Eastern time, the Royals and the Cardinals, and then at 2.10 p.m. Eastern time, we have the Angels and the White So we'll know early on Monday if Shohei Otani is in the lineup. Same thing with Tommy Edmund. Based on that, he was removed from Sunday's game due to hip flexor tightness. manager Ali Marmole described his concern level as low for Tommy Edmund. Wander Franco was scratched from Sunday's lineup due to right hamstring tightness. Scott, have you seen anything on Wander Franco?

I have not. But that is a little concerning. I'll see if I see anything right now as you continue to read on. Jack Peterson has missed three straight games with a grade one at Dr. Strain. Scott, would you get Jack Peterson out? Yes. Let me see how many lefties are on the schedule for the Giants, two and six games. But, you know, factor in the injury concern.

I think it's pretty easy to bench people. What about Andrew Vaughn? He's missed two straight with a right hand injury. Yeah, but they say he's supposed to be back in the lineup Monday. And I like the White Sox matchups this week. And I like Vaughn in general. So, you know, if you have a lot of alternatives in the outfield that you like and you want to play it safe, fine. But I think most people should just stick with Vaughan. Joey Gallo left Saturday's game with left groin tightness and did not play on Sunday. Would you keep him out?

Yeah. Maybe not in a five outfielder league, but three outfielders, sure. Keep Gallo out. I mean, there are reasons outside of the groin tightness to keep Joey Gallo out of your lineup, but... Well, he has hit a couple home runs recently, and the thing about Joey Gallo is when he gets... If you bench him when he gets hot,

you miss out on all that you drafted him for. Because you can do a lot of damage in a short period of time. It's true. Scott, I haven't been that arrogant, annoying Yankee fan yet, but nine in a row is nine in a row. So let's keep this one going here.

Yankees are hot. Yeah, even though Gallo isn't. That is true. All right, who else do we have here? A couple of their names. Trey Mancini missed two straight games with rib soreness.

he's like a fringe player anyway. Bobby Witt Jr., scratched from Sunday's lineup with a right wrist contusion, Scott. Would you leave him in the lineup? No. I wouldn't. If I could help it, I mean, I'm sure most people have him slotted in at third base at this point.

So alternatives may be hard to find, but if you can find one, Bench Witt. Bobby Witt, by the way, slowly coming around since he was dropped to a lower spot in the lineup and he has four steals so we just don't know right now but yeah most titters

are slowly coming around I feel like that's my casual observation of the whole thing and I did calculate this just before we went on the podcast this weekend so Friday through Friday Saturday Sunday this weekend teams average

4.4 runs per game that's compared to 4.0 runs per game prior to this weekend So that's, you know, half a run difference. Hey, all we needed was May, Scott. So let's flip the calendar and let's get some offense going. And that was with a lot of high-end pitchers going Saturday.

Saturday was actually a low-scoring day, but Friday and Sunday were so many runs were scored those two days. It made up for it. All right. Let's talk about some waiver wire hitters. We already mentioned Randall Gritchick. Sheldon Noisy, Scott. He just keeps hitting. Five more hits this weekend, including a home run off of Shane Bieber on Saturday.

Noisy is 30% rostered. He has second and third base eligibility, six games this week. Scott, how deep a format should Sheldon Noisy be rostered in right now? Well, considering he's third base eligible, I think it's justifiable in just about any format. He's somebody you could pick up to fill in for Bobby Witt. He is legitimately hitting the ball hard. His XBA right now is 285.

The launch angle isn't great. so the X-slug isn't that high, but that could change, obviously, this early in the season. He's shown power in the minors before. He already has three stolen bases, even though he's not that fast. And, yeah, Sheldon Noisy is somebody who I think is usable as a fill-in for now, and we'll see where it goes from here. Scott, are you buying this J.P. Crawford hot start so far,

three multi-hit games in a row this weekend. including his fourth home run on Sunday. And he's doing some things differently too. He's making a ton of contact right now, just a 10% strikeout rate. The line drive rate is up. The pull rate is up. J.B. Crawford now up to 82% rostered.

So he's not really out there anymore, but are you buying what we've seen thus far? I'm not really buying it. He's been around a while and has done the same thing. I mean, he has never been bad at putting the bat on the ball. Strikeout rate is the best it's ever been. this point but it was still good the average exit velocity is bottom 6% of the leagues his barrel rate is a lot higher than usual but as I've been saying about barrel rate in

recent days I feel like that's an indicator of hotness this early on where you know the number can change so much over a short period of time so the fact he has the best barrel rate he's ever had to me suggest he's just hot but it's not like it's a ridiculously high a barrel rate. He's a guy who normally has a very low peril rate. So maybe he's done something. I just, I can't, I'm not ready to predict that. When Crawford has the track record, he does,

and the data otherwise isn't that great. All right, let's take a look at some hitters in deeper leagues. Brian Anderson had four hits this weekend, including his first home run on Sunday. I noticed that his slugging percentage, is 423, but his ex-slug is 500. Scott, do you have any interest in Brian Anderson in deeper leagues? Well, he's third base eligible, right?

Not a ton. I mean, we've seen him be a productive player before, but it's been a couple years. It was that 2019 season where everybody put up good numbers. Juiced ball. So I don't think, I don't know. I'd probably pick up Hunter Dozier before I picked up Brian Anderson. if I was looking for a cheap third baseman.

All right, well, look, Scott, if we're talking about Andres Jimenez, you know I've got a smile on my face. Six hits this weekend, including a grand slam against Frankie Montas on Friday. The line drive rate is back up for Jimenez this year. He's 29% rostered. Scott, do you have any interest in Jimenez in leagues

with a middle infield spot? Not a ton. I just don't see a lot of upside there. It's not going to be much of a power hitter. he's fast enough to steal a lot of bases, but he hasn't shown much inclination to run, including this year. So I think he's,

I see him as pretty Frenchy, even though he's hot right now. Andres Jimenez, what's dead may ever die. Some deeper outfielders. Jordan Luplo hit a double dong on Sunday, his first two home runs of the season. Travis de Merritt of your Atlanta Braves,

Scottie, six hits, including an inside-the-park home run over his last four games. He's 8% rostered. Any interest in those? Jordan Loplo, Travis DeMert. Not so much Loplow. DeMert has continued to play

even with Ronald DeCunia coming back. So we'll see how long that goes on. Historically, he's shown good power speed in the minors before, but his strikeout rate was just prohibitive. It was like a third of the time against minor league pitchers. That's just not going to work.

But it's been, better both in the majors and minors. I think beginning last year, it was better. And he hits the ball hard, he runs fast. There may be something there. I put in some bids for Demerritte in a 15-team league. I don't, I can't see him holding down a job for a long time.

But if he plays well enough, obviously he could. Are you adding any nationals for their series in Cores Field this week? Victor Robles, I noticed, has nine hits. You want to talk about what's dead may never do. die. I mean, Victor Robles. Just back from the grave. Nine hits over his last four games, apparently hitting more line drives, according to Fangraphs. Yadale Hernandez went three for four with five RBI on Sunday. And then, you know, Mikel Franco has done some things this year. Scott, are you

adding them for that series in Coorsfield this week? Personally, no. If you play in the league with daily lineup changes, I could understand why you do that. Franco has been hot. I think from a long-term perspective, well, I mean, Victor Robles, if he gets back to running, of course, he has the most value from a long-term perspective. But thinking more realistically, I think Yadiel Hernandez could be useful as kind of like a poor man, Stephen Kwan. Not a lot of power, but not zero power.

And good contact skills, good line drive skills, should hit for average pretty safely a good source of batting average probably won't play every day but between those two Robles and Yadio Hernandez Lane Thomas looks like

short side platoon guy now which is understandable if you look at his career splits and he's never hit right he's very well so that's somebody else that I was dropping even in those 15 team leagues Lane Thomas so yeah of these three my favorites probably Yon

Adio Hernandez, so there's not a super high ceiling there. Okay. Some other hitter standouts from this weekend. Julio Rodriguez, it's coming around. It's getting hot. Three for four with his first home run of the season on Sunday. He also picked up his ninth stolen base on Friday. So good to see from Julio Rodriguez.

Kyle Tucker, three multi-hit games in a row with two steals on Sunday himself. Taylor Ward, six more hits this weekend, including his fifth home run, which came off of Lucas Gialito. Taylor Ward is up to 84% rostered and rightfully so that number should continue to climb even in the most shallow leagues. Aaron Judge hit a double dong on Sunday. He now has seven home runs over his last eight games. Hunter Renfro hit three home runs this weekend, including a double dong on Friday. They're coming around.

They're all coming around, Frank. We need it. We need it. Coming around. Who is that? Are they in your notes here? Oh, it's got to be the beefcake, right? No, go ahead.

mentioned the beef cake. I got a couple extra names here for you. Kyle Swarber. Three homers with a stolen base this weekend, including a double dong on Sunday. Both of those coming off of Max Scher, George Springer, two socks and a shoe on Saturday.

That's two home runs and a stolen base. He's now up to six homers and two steals on the season. Carlos Correa, 10 hits over his last four games. Byron Buren hit his seventh home run on Sunday. C.J. Crone hit his eighth home run on Sunday. Any other name, Scott,

that I missed, Yes, Jorge Saler has Homer twice in his last three games Not giving up on him is a big source of power this year Now that the weather's getting warmer And even Brendan Rogers Lowly Brendan Rogers It looked like he was about to go on the IL

Instead he comes back Sunday And has a two-hit game Including a double Four ribs Not giving a up on Brendan Rogers either. It's my guy. All right. Let's move over to the pitcher side of things. Waiverwire pitchers

Part 1. Scott, do you have any interest in these names? Dane Dunning went 7 and 2 3rds, one run ball, seven strikeouts against the Atlanta Braes. Cole Irvin now has allowed one earned run or less in three straight starts. Michael

Lorenzen on Sunday, he was going for a complete game. What's going on here, Scott? I don't know. Keep going. I'll draw attention to it. Michael Lorenzen, 8 in a third. He gave up three runs on Sunday.

And then Madison, Bob Gardner, another strong start this weekend. Five endings of one-run ball, two strikeouts. The ERA has looked great so far. Scott, any interest in Dunning, Cole Irvin, Michael Lorenzen, Madbub. So the most interesting here is probably Lorenzen. But obviously, you don't like just two strikeouts

and eight in a third innings. I just, like, the swinging strikes have been better than that, and he has so many different pitches that I think there's the potential for more. And it's encouraging just to see him go that deep as a converted reliever. I also have some interest in Dane Dunning. I haven't moved to pick him up anywhere, but when he first got called up for the White Sox a couple years ago, he had to run with a lot of strikeouts,

and I thought he was, I thought he was going to be the next big thing. and seeing him up that slider usage get a lot more swinging strikes with it in this most recent start. A swinging strike rate for the year is to less than 10%, which is horrible. But if he can continue the approach

that he showed in this latest start, then maybe he could get back to being interesting again. I guess he's pre-interesting, Dane Dunning. We'll see if he can keep it going. Yeah, I like Dunning too. I wouldn't start. him this week. He's at the Yankees. Obviously, they're hot right now, but I'm pretty impressed by what we've seen. Cole Irvin and Madbom. I'll just mention, uh, they've got some pitch

mix changes going on. Cole Irvin has lowered his four seam fastball usage. His, uh, sinker and curb ball is way up. And Madison Bumgarner leaning all the way into this cutter that he throws 51% usage last year. That was 34%. He's got a solid matchup this week at the Marlins as well. Waverwire pitcher is part two. Adrian Hauser put up a quality start against the Chicago Cubs. Tyler Anderson, five innings of one-run ball against the Detroit Tigers. Taiwan Walker was solid in his return. Five shot out with just one strikeout.

And just when you think you're out, Scott, Mitch Keller, he pulls you back in. Six innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. His ERA is over five. Mitch Keller's ex-fib is 3.32. So I don't know what to make of this. What do you think about Hauser, Tyler, Tyler, Tyler, Tyler's fastball usage was back up to 62% in this start. The two starts where he's thrown more than 60% fastballs have been good. The rest have been bad.

However, he only had seven swinging strikes on 85 pitches in this start. When the other start where he threw a bunch of fastballs, he got a ton of swinging strikes too. So I don't... I am, you know, intrigued. but skeptical. I have him on my sleeper pitchers list for this week because I had to come up with 10, and I kind of joked about having Mitch Keller on there again.

But realistically, I am not ready to put him back in my lineup and just a one-start week. And Adrian Houser is probably my second favorite of these names. But it's weird that is groundball rating. is down so much this year because that's like he is an elite ground ball pitcher normally among the league leaders in that category which is why I've been interested in him in the past he just didn't go deep enough into games ground ball rate is so you have 39% here which is horrible so that's opposite end of the spectrum basically yeah so far for hauser he'll probably revert to normal

but it it makes me hesitant to recommend him with that ground ball rate as low as it is. All right, Weaver wire pitchers part three. We have two Rockies on here. Chad Kuhl now has three quality starts in a row. This weekend, seven and a third, three runs, four strikeouts against the Reds. Kyle Freeland, seven innings of one-run ball. Four strikeouts, also against the Reds.

And then Josh Winder, kind of an interesting pitcher here for the Minnesota Twins. He made his first start, first career start at the Tampa Bay Rays. and six innings, two hits, one walk, seven strikeouts. He has really good minor league numbers, but it looks like this might just be a spot start. So Scott, do you have any interest in those Rockies or Josh Winder? Well, are we sure it's a spot start? Because they have an opening with Ober now.

That's true. What I read on Sunday, one of his CBS updates was that, This was a spot start, but... Okay. It's because Sunny Gray is supposed to return later this week. Okay. Right. Well...

But I'm kind of interested. Well, yeah. I mean, last year and 14 minor league starts, Josh Winder had a 263 array. 0.94 whip 10K per 9. That whip is so low because his control was amazing. And obviously the results were great. Only three base runners in six innings at 10.

Tampa. I'm kind of interested in a deeper league sort of way too, but you know, obviously not much reason to pick him up if he's going right back to the bullpen. I had he been to bull, I think he had been in the bullpen all this time. Yeah. Yeah, since the start of the year. All right. So, well, I mean, he's another one. We'll just throw him on the scout team. Josh Winder is the name there and we'll see what happens. Starters said these pitchers got Corey Kluber put together his best start of the season this weekend, six innings, one run ball, six strikeouts.

He is at the Oakland A's this week. Would you be okay starting Corey Klober there? So I added him to the sleeper pitcher list because I had to replace Jacob Junis, but I'd rather not start Kluber. Fair enough. Adam Wainwright posed a quality start this weekend, but he walked five. I've noticed his chase rate is way down this year. Adam Wainwright has 12 walks over five starts.

Scott, are you worried at all? Would you start him at the Royals? I'd start him at the Royals. I'm not that worried. The walks are so out of character that I think they're going to normalize. And yet even with that high walk radius, a 342 X-FIP, I'm not that worried. Okay.

Merrill Kelly posted a seven-ending quality start this weekend. That's three quality starts in a row. He is home versus the Rockies this week. Start or sit, Merrill Kelly. Since it's not in Colorado, I would start him. but he's starting to look more like the underlying. Obviously, he's continued to pitch great, but the underlying numbers are starting to look more like

normal Merrill Kelly, which I'm not sure I'm buying a breakthrough so much anymore for him. Fair enough. Miles Michaelis, three scoreless outings in a row, and this weekend against the Diamondback 7 and a third, two runs, seven strikeouts to zero walks. Would you start Miles Michaelis at the Giants this week? No, not at the Giants.

Yeah, I don't love that one. Jesus Lazzardo, back-to-back starts, allowing one earned run. This weekend, he did that against the Seattle Mariners. Would you start him at the Padres later this week? Yeah, I'd be okay with that. Josiah Gray had a strong start on Sunday against the Giants' sixth shutout, four walks, three strikeouts. He is at the Angels this week.

I could go either way with that. I think I'd be more likely to start him than like Corey Klobber. Tristan McKenzie had his best start of the season at Oakland, 6 and a third shutout with seven strikeouts. Would you start him at home against the Blue Jays? No. No, I would not do that either. Marcus Stroman had his best start of the year at the Brewers. Seven shutout with five strikeouts.

Would you start him at home against the Dodgers? Not if I could help it. Some other interesting pitcher notes slash standouts. U. Darvish made it three quality starts in a row with a start against the Pirates this weekend. And I noticed the cutter usage is way up again. That's what helped him get back on track in 2019. So maybe it can do the same thing moving forward for U. Darvish.

I mentioned at the top, the Mets threw a combined no-hitter. It was the second in franchise history. There weren't really any fantasy takeaways. Tyler McGill was fine in the start. Five no-hit innings, obviously. three walks, five strikeouts. He has allowed two earn runs or less in four of five starts this season. Shane Bieber, three quality starts in a row.

This one at the Oakland A's, seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts to one walk. Scott, that fastball velocity is just kind of sitting right there, right around 91 miles per hour. Bieber still gave up a lot of hard hits in this start, but he's having success. So, overall, I don't think that I'm that worried about. Shane Bieber right now. No, me neither. I don't think he's going to return second round value, which is probably where you drafted him, but I think he's still a fixture in your lineup.

Shane McClain-Ain, career high, 11 strikeouts, but he did give up two more home runs this weekend against the Minnesota Twins. He has a 3.00 ERA. His ex-fip is 1.55. His ex-fip is 1.75. So... Yeah, I was going to mention that ex-fip, 155. So the whiffs are way up. for McClanahan and the ground ball rate is way up too so he's doing everything better I think he's I think he's taking the biggest step forward of the pitchers who you know who already impressed his rookies last year and I don't know that you'll be able to buy

Shane McClanahan but people might see the three ERA and I don't know not value him the way that his underlying numbers suggest so if you can acquire Shane McClan of course you know I would tell you to do it. Robbie Ray finally put up more than five strikeouts at the Marlins this weekend, but it wasn't great. Five innings, three runs, eight strikeouts, two, four walks.

Scott, the ERA is over four for Robbie Ray. The underlying numbers basically match that. The fastball velocity was actually up in this one, but are you worried about Robbie Ray? It was up from this year. It's average, 1.1 miles per hour, still down 1.2 from last year. Yeah, the walks are back to an uncomfortable place after improving in that area last year.

I think that was even a bigger key to his improvement than the velocity. But yeah, I'm a little worried about Robbie Ray. It's not panic time, but I'm a little worried. Yeah, me too. It's been a weird one so far for Robbie Ray. Nathan of all the back-to-back seven-inning quality starts. Garrett Cole, another strong outing at the Royals six shutout. with six strikeouts. Clayton Kirshaw has now allowed one earned run or less in three of four

starts. Joe Musgrove has five quality starts in a row to open the season, seven endings of one run ball, eight strikeouts against the pirates on Sunday. Kevin Gosman legitimately looks like one of the three, five best pitchers in baseball right now. Three quality starts in a row. He has 41 strikeouts on the season without a walk. This one against the Astros, seven endings, two runs, 10 strikeouts, 22 swinging strikes. Just give him the Siong now. It's over. He is awesome right now.

Kevin Gosman has at least 16 swinging strikes in each start this season. Logan Gilbert has now allowed one earn run or less in all five of his starts this season. Sandy Alcansara, not a great start on Sunday against the Mariners. Five and two-thirds, five runs, four walks, six strikeouts.

The walks have been an issue for, Sandy Alconstra. And they have been in the past. Last year, one of the things I love most is that it looked like he took a huge step forward in terms of his control. Sandial Alcancera did, but so far this year, three plus walks and three of five starts. So that is not going to get it done. We need to see better from Sandial Concerra. And last but not least, Corbyn Burns makes it three double-digit strikeout efforts in a row, seven innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts to two walks, 10 strikeouts to one walk against the Chicago Cubs, the E.R. Ray is down to 1.93.

To stream or not to stream. And let's start with Monday. We've only got eight games on Monday. Who is available? Chris Paddock at the Orioles. We're good at that one, right, Scott? Yeah. Tyler Wells versus the twins, no.

Anyone else here? Jake Oteresee versus the Mariners, no. Drew Rasperson at the A's? That's the one, yep. Number one. All right. And how about Dalton Jeffries on the other side of that game?

against Tampa. Not a big believer in Jeffries. Okay, let's see. What do we have for Tuesday? We've got a Mets doubleheader that day. A lot of TBDs so far. Bruce Zimmerman at home against the twins. I'd rather not.

I agree. How about Michael Walker versus the Angels? Not so wild about that either. The Angels are crushing the ball right now. Michael Paneda versus the Pirates. How about Christian Javier against the Mariners? That's all right. How about the other side of that game,

Chris Flexson at the Astros? Nah. No. How about Dakota Hudson at the Royals? Yep. Solid. Yep, that's probably the number one choice for this day. I don't mind either pitcher in that game.

Brad Keller is low-key pitching well right now. So don't love it. I'd rather have Hudson, but he's fine. Paul Blackburn versus Tampa? Nope. Nope. All right, that'll do it. For Scott, I am Frank.

Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.