Fantasy Baseball Today - Nick Lodolo Dominates, Josh Jung's Debut & Start or Sit (9/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 12, 2022

Nick Lodolo just had the best start of his young career (2:12). ... Drew Smyly needs to be added in more leagues (5:08). ... Jake 'The Snake' McCarthy was at it again (12:50)! ... Rank Josh Jung, Joey Meneses and Eduardo Escobar (16:40). ... Mark Vientos was promoted by the Mets this weekend (26:40). ... News (30:38): we have updates on Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Shane McClanahan. ... Start or sit Lance McCullers, Joe Musgrove and other pitchers (37:35)? ... Carlos Rodon and George Kirby were great again this weekend (48:20). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (54:50). 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. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. The head-to-head fantasy playoffs roll on. Let's help set those lineups. And welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday.

September 12th, Frank Stamphle joined by Scott White. Today on the show, all the waiver wire moves, the Mets prospect, Mark Vientos got the call. We'll talk about him, starter sit questions, and much more. Scotty, how's the weekend, man? How you living? Oh, I am in an unpleasant mood. Oh, I'm sorry, bud. Unpleasant mood.

Things not shaping up well for the fantasy teams this weekend, not the least of which is my one and only fantasy football team. Back to being a one-league guy. in that particular sport, as God intended. And Super Flex League, my quarterbacks are Tom Brady and Dak Prescott. Ouch. My quarterbacks got outscored 62 to 17. It's hard to win that way.

Hard to win that way. I keep losing in Catan when I play online. I was doing so well, and now I'm not. I forgot. It's like I feel like I'm bad at everything. That's the mood I'm in. I feel like I'm bad at everything. Hey, it happens to the best of us, Scottie.

I mean, I think that's a good lesson for anyone listening. It's like, you know, we all go through these streaks, right? Where it just kind of feels like everything's snowballing on you, but we'll get you back on track. Hopefully we can help out any fantasy baseball teams that you have. I lost in the Scott White Dynasty League. I'm not going to get the first draft pick next year. It's only the consolation bracket.

Yeah. But hey, I mean, I want to win it. I get it what I can win. Yeah, why not, right? Get yourself a little Drew Jones or Jackson Holiday. But I guess not anymore. Nope. Sorry, bud.

I think Jackson Holiday will fall. Who knows? We'll see. Let's get into the action. Oh, my goodness gracious. Oh, my goodness gracious. Scotty, where would you like to start? I would like to start with Nick Lodolo, who was great.

He was great over the weekend. He was better than me over the weekend. Nick Lodolo, if I can find it in the notes. See, I'm not even good at that. that. My gosh. What's going on? Nick,

no, I went up instead of down. Go down. Down. Okay, Friday. Friday. Nick Ladolo at Milwaukee, team that's not so good against left-handed pitchers.

This is best star, yeah, right? Two run runs in eight innings with 11 strikeouts. And in his last nine starts, that brings Nick Lodolo down to a 280 ERA, a 10.5K per nine. That, ball looks amazing. The fastball is starting to get some whiffs for him. And as I've pointed out a couple times just in the past week, Nicodolo has optimal matchups down the stretch. His next one this

upcoming week is Pittsburgh. He can't ask for better than that. By the way, Hunter Brown was my favorite sleeper pitcher going into the weekend. Heading into the weekend for the upcoming week, Hunter Brown was my favorite starting pitcher. He's lost two-star status. They move Framber Valdez in front of him. Fromber Valdez is the Astros, two-star pitcher next week. So that means Nicodolo is now my favorite sleeper

for sleeper pitcher for next week with just the one start against the pirates. After the pirates, Nick Lodolo gets the Red Sox, he gets the Brewers again, who he just dominated, and he gets the Cubs to finish out the season. So you might just if you pick up Nick Lodonel now and he's still available in more than a third of

CBS Sports Leagues, you might just keep a minor lineup for the rest of the season, especially with the kind of run he's on right now. Yeah, I think he's unquestionably the top waiver wire pitcher ad. Scott, wherever he's available. Just looking at the most added pitcher is Hunter Brown, who you spoke about. He will have one start this week at the Tiger. So it's still a really good matchup. And I would like to play Hunter Brown, but not over Nick Ladolo. Bailey Falter, two-star pitcher, Trevor Rogers, two-star pitcher. And then you get into the Lodolo and Jose Suarez. But I think personally from that group, I prefer Lodolo over all of them. Let's say you.

Yes, I agree. Cool. All right. So we're in agreement. Go pick up Lidolo. Great name, by the way, too. I just like saying it. Lodolo. You know what? It looks like it looks like an internet typo, you know? Like somebody meant to hit L. There's not even L-O-L-O-L and they meant to hit L but they hit D instead.

Yeah. And some people do that, right? They just write L-L over and over again. So I mean, they're on opposite sides of the keyboard. So it's not the most common type. but I could see it happening. Nick Ladolo, he is really good. Let's talk about some other waiver wire pitchers from the weekend. And these are in the shallower leagues.

Ross Stripling put together another quality start. That's now five straight for him. He was at the Rangers, where he went six innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts. And his ERA is now down to 3.03 for the season. He's 76% rostered up against the Tampa Bay raise this week. Cole Irvin, I know he's been really bad recently. his previous five starts, 7.45 ERA. But he did bounce back on Sunday.

He went seven innings, three runs, only two of those earned, with five strikeouts up against the White Sox. And then Jose Cantana also had a solid start at the Pirates. He went five and two thirds, one run, four strikeouts allowed there. And since joining the Cardinals, he has a 2.93 ERA. He's 68% rostered. He's got the Reds this week, which is an okay matchup. What do you think about those three, Scotty?

Ross Tripling. Cole Irvin and Jose Cantana. I think the most of stripling at this point. Irvin is driving me nuts because I pretty much wrote him off after his last start and decided his home park was now a hindrance rather than a help and bounces back with a really strong start in his home park. Yeah, Kentana, I mean, he's made eight starts with the Cardinals now and this was the third time he's gone more than five innings,

and it still wasn't a quality start because he only went five and ten. two-thirds. So there's real limits to the upside there with Kentana that I think limits him to a being kind of a low-end matchups play. So, you know, if you're asking me to rank them, I guess I'm going to put Irvin ahead of Kentana and rank them, uh, stripling Irvin Kentana. The only thing on Irvin, Scott, is that he's at the Astros this week. So I just can't even see any scenario where I'd play him, but neither can I. But I, but I don't, I don't, I don't have much interest in playing Kintana this week either is the thing. That's fair.

I mean, the Reds obviously is a better matchup, but he doesn't have sparkbells ability. Let me pull up the athletic schedule, see if we can really write off Irvin because of how the matchups look. Rest of season should be pretty easy to figure out. So he started here on Sunday, right? Yep.

I'll figure this out. Give me just a minute. You can go on to the next thing. All right. Well, there were other waiver wire pitchers. Part two. These are names that are rostered in less than 50%. of CBS League. So much more widely available. We had Drew Smiley up against the Giants. He went seven

innings, one hit, one under a run, eight strikeouts. And over his last seven starts, he has been amazing. 2.29 ERA, 0.99 whip, 13.8% swinging strike rate. That is Drew Smiley. He's 28% rostered widely available. Mitch Keller makes it three straight quality starts. It's like every time you want to be out on Mitch Keller pulls you back in. Seven shutout innings, six strikeouts. up against the Cardinals. It's a pretty tough matchup, and he pitched well. Got the ERA down to 4.01, so still not great there. He's at the Mets this week.

Rwanzi Contreras, another solid outing, also against the Cardinals, five and a third, one run, one strikeout. He's 37% rostered at the Reds this week. And then Matt Manning, yes, Matt Matt Manning. Turns in another quality start. He was at the Royals, he went six and a third, three runs, two of them earned, with four strikeouts,

and he is 46% rostered, Home against the White Sox this week. So we have four names here. Smiley, Keller, Rwanzi, Kutreras, Matt Manning. Scott, before I ask you about those four, did you figure out what you need to figure out about Cole Irvin? So Irvin's next, his last four matchups to close out the season here. Houston, not good.

Matt's not good. But then the Angels twice. Might be pretty good. Let's see. What are the angels doing the last 14 days? Because I feel like they've been better with Mike Trout in the lineup. They are. I mean, he homered in, what, six straight?

Yeah, six straight. Ended on Sunday, that streak? I don't know if he played on Sunday. I think he was out of the lineup. So I think technically that streak is still alive. Oh, okay. Yeah, he didn't play at all on Sunday. So still alive.

And the Angels are 16th and weighted on base average over the last two weeks. So more of a middling matchup and an average lineup during that span. Well, if that continues, it's a small sample, obviously. Yep. All right, Scott. So talk to me about these four names. How would you rank them? Drew Smiley, Mitch Keller, Rwanzi, Kutreras,

and ya boy, Matt Manning. No, no, no. Oh, yeah. I mean, Matt Manning, like that his slider was his fourth most used pitch in this start, even though it was a successful one. Like, he's not going to succeed if the sliders, with that kind of usage on the slider, he had seven swinging strikes on 94 pitches.

So I'm not, I'm not being suckered back in. on Matt Manning based on this start. So Drew Smiley, I think, is the most interesting one here. And he might be more interesting than the previous group, actually, at least up there with Ross Stripling from the previous group. So 23 swinging strikes in this seven-inning one-hit effort against the Giants. He was bad last, like he was really bad in his previous start, seven runs in two into third innings.

Yet even with that in there, Drew Smiley. in his past seven starts has a 229 ERA. And his swinging strike rate during that seven stretchers is like 14%. It's really good. So he's kind of showing some things. Now, this week he gets the Mets. So you probably don't want to use Drew Smiley this week. But then after that, Marlins and Pirates are his next two matchups.

So might be good to file away for next week is in week 25. Yeah, no, I agree completely. I think he's up there with Ross Tripling, and I'm surprised it's taking people this long to Adruzma. I know, obviously not everyone is alive in their playoffs or still paying attention to their roto leagues, but if you are, you should look to Adry Smiley because he's pitching very well.

And then in the deepest league, Scott, I just have three more pitchers here. Joey Wentz is someone who pitches for the Tigers, and he had a great start at the Royals. He went six and two-thirds, shutout with five strikeouts this weekend. Adrian Houser turned in his. his first quality start since June 19th. He went six innings, one hit, one run, zero strikeouts.

Like classic Adrian Howser start. And then Kyle Bradish, another great start on Sunday, up against the Red Sox. He went seven innings, one run, three strikeouts in that one. And over his last nine starts, Bradish has a 2.87 ERA. So he's pitching well. He's finding a way to get it done. 27% roster he's at the Blue Jays this week.

Anything on these three, Scott. It's obviously very deep league stuff, but Joey Wentz, Adrian Howse, or Kyle Bradish. Yeah, it is deep league stuff. Braddish is probably the most interesting. He's actually had three of his last four starts, seven innings or more and just two hits allowed.

So that's really impressive stretch he's on. I'm not sure he... I'm not sure any of the underlying numbers are enough to give me that interested in him. In this start, as good as it was against the Red Sox, because fastball velocity was down almost two miles per hours. That was weird. And even if it wasn't,

I'd still have a lot of reservations about Kyle Braddish. But these are three bad options you presented me with, so I'll take Bradish among them. Yeah, I would look to add him in a deeper league. Obviously, if you can avoid playing him, he's at the Blue Jades this week, but he's doing some things. The name there is Kyle Bradish.

Oh my goodness gracious for me. It's someone we talk about a lot, but he's still available. Could be out there in some 12-team leagues, some three outfielder leagues. Jake the Snake McCarthy. Another huge weekend for this guy. Three for five with a sock and a shoe on Friday.

He went four for six with another stolen base on Sunday. So he is 68% roster. He's got seven home games this week. He's playing quite consistently. Corby and Carroll sitting out every third or fourth game. Even though Stone Garrett has played really well when he's in the lineup, he's just not playing that much. Jake McCarthy is one of their regulars,

and he has been really, really good. 296 batting average overall. eight homers, 17 steals. And it would not surprise me if he keeps this up at season's end, Jake McCarthy winds up on a lot of winning rosters, specifically in Roto leagues, because he has been that impactful at this point. 68% rostered Scott, Jake McCarthy.

I think even in points leagues at this point and shallower leagues, he has to be rostered. I think he's a must roster player at this point. Well, I don't love the Diamondbacks matchups for this upcoming week. they are facing the Dodgers and the Padres to teams with good starting rotations in a seven game scoring period so I didn't have

his roster rate would allow him to be among my 10 sleeper hitters and I don't have him in there I think at five outfielder leagues it doesn't matter I mean you got five outfield spots to fill I don't know how you're going to find somebody that you can bench McCarthy for but in three outfields

leagues. I might be a little hesitant to start him this week. But yeah, if you can roster him. So let's look ahead at the Diamondbacks matchups. It's easier to do for hitters because obviously I can't project exactly what pitchers they're facing. Exactly what pitchers a hitter is facing in the upcoming weeks. But next week it's not looking so great for the Diamondbacks either. They have only a five-game schedule Astros and Giants. So wait, no, no, no, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, that's two weeks from now.

Excuse me. But next week they're facing the Dodgers and the Giants. All right. So bad matchups remaining for McCarthy. It is an eight game week, however, next week even with the not so great matchups. So it might be a little hard to play in a three outfielder league, but it's, you can certainly do worse. I think, you know, just from a general analysis standpoint on Jake McCarthy, like, he's proving himself to be a good source for average and stolen bases. I'm not even sure what a great comp for that is.

Like, maybe he could be what Whitmerfield used to be, just as an outfield only guy. Maybe like a faster Andrew Benintendi is a little fair. I don't know, but useful, definitely. Definitely useful. Jake McCarthy, getting it done right now. He's 68% rostered. And Scott, would you be willing to drop Lars Neupar for him? Because Newpar is just one for 24 over his last eight games.

And he's also 67% rostered. So if you're riding the hot hand, that might be a move you're thinking about making. Yeah, I mean, the main thing for Newpar with me is, like, they've just been, they've started sitting him so much. I thought he had emerged as such an on-base machine that that wasn't going to happen. But the slightest bit of slumpage from him and they're taking him out of the lineup every other day. So that makes it hard to stick with him.

I think that's fine. Yeah, dropping new bar for McCarthy's fine. All right, let's get it done. And let's take a look at some waiver wire hitters from the weekend. The Corner Infield, which brings us to Josh Young, who had an amazing debut on Friday. a sock in a shoe, a home run and a steal in his very first game. I don't think that we should expect much speed from him,

because frankly, I saw him rounding the bases on his home run. He didn't know it was a home run, so he was running hard. It doesn't look like he runs very fast. So I don't think he's going to steal many bases. More socks than shoes in Josh Young's future. Definitely, definitely. He's 43% roster. He's got seven games this upcoming week,

and I believe on Friday's podcast, he was the number one sleeper hitter for this coming period, Scott. But do you like him more than these other two names? Joey Meneses, well, I guess you would if he's your number one hitter. But anyway, Joey Meneses, back-to-back multi-hit games on Saturday and Sunday. He had hit another home run. It's now his eighth homer. He's 50% rostered.

And then Eduardo Escobar, the dude is hot right now. He hit two more home runs this weekend, 14 games since returning. He's batting 413 with five homers, and he's 56% rostered. So how do you rank those three, Scott? If you need a corner infielder or maybe just a utility bat, Josh Young, Manessus, Eduardo Esquivar. Well, it gets so tricky this time of year because it's, you know, for five months, we're thinking like just who's the most talented player that's going to get enough playing time.

And we're not really thinking about next week all that much. At least I'm not when it comes to waiver claims. But obviously there are in weekly lineup leagues, presuming your season goes through week 26, they're just three left. And by the time you're listening to it, it may be two left. So you really got to think more short term. Josh Young would be the easy answer if it was long term.

As you mentioned, he is my top sleeper hitter for next week, but it's not by much. I pointed out on Friday show that this upcoming slate of sleeper hitters, there's not a lot of differentiation between them so it's kind of arbitrary putting Young at the top of the list so I have a slight preference for him this upcoming week over the red hot Eduardo Escobar if you want to you know I want to blame you for disagreeing with me

I'm not good at anything right now but Joey Manessas is his five games for the Nationals this week so he's probably not a high priority for me All right, so if we are ranking, then we're probably going young, Escobar, Meneses, right? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we're mainly looking at next week. Yeah. Sure.

All right, a few other outfielder. These probably more so for five outfielder leagues, but all rostered in less than 40% of CBS leagues. Oscar Gonzalez went four for five with a double dong on Friday. He's got eight games, eight home games this upcoming week. AJ Pollock had six hits this weekend, including a four for five performance. on Saturday where he stole his second base of the season. He's 35% rostered with six games this week. And I believe you said that you do like the White Sox matchups this upcoming week. And three lefties who he has he's got an OPS over a thousand. Pollock does against lefties.

Nice. Yeah. And in the month of September, he's just playing very well. 366 batting average, two homers, nearly a thousand OPS. And then Lane Thomas, obviously the problem, the nationals only have five games this week. But he is also crushing the ball. hits, including a steal this weekend, and post-all-star break, he's hitting 3-11, six homers, five steals, and 867 OPS. And, you know, that's been sustained for almost two months now. So, Scott, how are you ranking these three outfielders just for, I guess, this upcoming week? Oscar Gonzalez, A.J. Pollock, Lane Thomas.

Well, Oscar Gonzalez and A.J. Pollock both are among my 10 sleeper hitters. Yeah. Again, just a slight preference for Gonzalez over Pollock there. and Lane Thomas is third. You mentioned the five games for the nationals, but even skill-wise, I have less confidence in what he's doing, even if it's been basically since the All-Star break.

Would you draw? We should mention for Josh Young, you know, as good as that debut was with the sock and the shoe, he struck out four times on Sunday. So it's been a, his first weekend in the majors was a mixed bag. sure was. Speaking of Lars Newpar, I mentioned him before, Scott.

Would you be okay dropping him for any of these three outfielder? Oscar Gonzalez, A.J. Pollock, Lane Thomas? Look, if you need an outfielder for this week specifically, I trust Oscar Gonzalez and A.J. Pollock over Lars Newpar. So either of them would be fine. Probably not. Probably want to drop Newpar for Lane Thomas. All right.

We spoke about Eric Haas recently. if you are looking for a second catcher in a two-catcher league. But there were a few other names that emerged this weekend, along with Haas, who had a double-dong on Friday, so another good game for him. He's 19% rostered. He's got six home games this week. Elias for the Rockies,

Monster game Friday, 4-4-5, double-dong, walk-off homer, just a massive performance for him. He's 24% rostered, only five road games this upcoming week, so nothing in Corse Field. And then Danny Jansen went 4-4-5 with his 12th home run on Saturday. 18% rostered has eight home games this week. So Scott, second catcher, how do you rank these three for, I guess, this upcoming week? Jansen, Diaz, and Hoss.

Okay, let me glance at their matchups real quick. So I think the Blue Jays have the best matchups of these three. But Danny Janssen is probably just my least favorite of the three. Um, man, Tiger's matchups are tough. Rockies have five games on the road. Okay, I guess Danny Jansen. All right, Danny Jansen. I probably would put Eric Haas second on that list

and then Alia C.S. Deeper corner infielders, Spencer Torkelson quietly doing some stuff. Last seven games, he's hitting 375 with a homer. He's 38% roster. He's got six home games this week. David V.R. went two for four with his fifth home run on Saturday.

He's just quietly racking up some multi-hit games recently over his last 15. games, David V.R. hitting at 300 with four home runs. And he has first, second, and third base eligibility. Albert Poole's, you love to see it. He had two more home runs this weekend, which brings him to 697 career homers. He moves into sole position of fourth place on the all-time home run list. Passing Alex Rodriguez. He is now 30% rostered. Basically starts every other game. He gets in a few pinch hit appearances, seven home games this week. Scott, let's say you need a deeper corner infielder. Spencer Torkelson, David V.R. Albert Pujos.

Well, none are among my 10 sleeper hitters for this week, so we'll start there. The one I'm most eager to pick up, just in general sense, is David V.R. The Giants, you know, the Giants aren't known for having the same hitter in their lineup every day, for giving anybody every day at Bath, but it sounds like Gabe Kapler in my waiver. wire piece from Thursday. I had a quote in there, basically saying, you know, they're going to give him a chance to play

every day down the stretch, and so far he's looked good with that chance. So the Giants have the Braves and the Dodgers in six games this upcoming week. That's not great, obviously, so I'm not eager to start VR for that. Following week, they get the Rockies and Diamondbacks in a seven-game scoring period.

Actually, the next two weeks, they get the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. So David VR might be a sleeper hitter for not for this upcoming week, but for the next two. All right. A few other deeper outfielders. Robbie Grossman had a very big weekend. Sock and a shoe on Friday and then hit another home run here on Sunday. He is 12% rostered.

He's got six games this upcoming week. Jack Swinsky is back up with the Pirates and he has a home run in back-to-back games, has started six straight for them. He's 6% rostered and the Pirates also have eight games this week. and then Stone Garrett, who I mentioned earlier, he's playing really well. Maybe they're just picking the right matchups to play him in, and that's why he's crushing the ball,

but he went one for four with two walks and two steals on Sunday. He's now batting 405, three homers, three steals, and an OPS approaching 1,200 in only 11 games played. So it's a very small sample size. That is Stone Garrett. He's 6% rostered, seven home games this week. Scott, let's say, you know, 15 team leagues, five outfielders,

Grossman, Grossman, Swinsky, and Stone Garrett. If it's a 15 team, even if it's a 15 team five outfielder league, if I'm starting any of these guys, it's a problem. But if I am forced to pick one, let me just double check how much Swinsky is playing.

He started six straight. Yeah. I'm going to say Grossman. It's gross. I know. Last one. Did Elvis Andrews make it into the sleeper hitters, Scotty? Because I know he had another monster weekend. Yeah, he did. Yeah. All right. I bummed Nick Gordon for him with the Sunday update here because Andrews continued his rampage over the weekend. Sure did. All right. So

could not be ignored. If you are looking for a shortstop or a middle infielder this week, Elvis Andrews is sixth on Scott's sleeper hitters this week. It's 27% roster. and he's just ahead of Spencer Steer on that list. So again, Elvis Andrews, really hot right now. I did want to mention Mark Vento, Scott, who we spoke about on our fantasy baseball today and five podcasts this weekend, where we typically talk about some prospects

who could come up here down the stretch and hopefully help your fantasy teams out. He was called up on Sunday. However, he didn't have a great debut. He went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts, six men left on base, and he was having a great season in the minors, big pop here.

He was batting 280, 24 homers, 877 OPS, and 101 games at AAA. And he started Sunday, which was up against the lefty. So I'm not exactly sure how much he's going to play, but what do you think about Viantos guy, your expectations? And if you're trying to add him anywhere, like, what size league are you looking to add him? Maybe a 15-teamer. I don't think he's going to play enough. He started at DH, and he started at DH because there was the left.

on the mound, presumably. Jesus Lozardo was on the mound for the Marlins. I imagine Daniel Vogelbach's going to continue to be the Mets D.H. against Rides. They don't seem to trust Viantos' defense at third base so much, and plus Eduardo Escobar is so hot, why would they take them out? I do want to mention, though, Vientos was one of mini minor leaguers who was just miserable in April. So from May 1st on, he had 303 with a 937. PS at AAA. So really productive season.

Strikeouts were high, but everything else look great. And I think if they can find a place to fit him in the lineup, he could be kind of a poor, another, like not Pete Alonzo, but like a poor man's version of Pete Alonzo. Scott, I don't want to tack on to the weekend of bad news and bad fortune for you. But do you want some news about your quarterback? in fantasy football.

Okay. Jack Prescott needs surgery on his thumb and he's going to miss multiple weeks. Oh, gosh. I'm sorry, bud. It looked like he needed surgery. Yeah, not that many people

care about football happenings on here, but... Everybody cares about football happenings. Yeah, hey, it's week one. It's a big weekend. Yeah, now that's not great, Bob. I'm sorry, bud. It looks like there's a lot.

Looks like there's a lot of Mac Jones in my team's future. I don't know. I don't know. Springer. Yeah, that's probably not great either. But we'll figure it out. Just a reminder that this week, the schedule is that we will not have a podcast tomorrow. So you're listening to this on Monday.

We will not have a live stream on YouTube Monday night. We won't have a podcast in your feed Tuesday. But we will be here live on Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. Podcasts in your feed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday morning. so just a heads up once again on that. Let's take a quick break and we'll get to the news and notes here on fantasy baseball today.

The news and notes. Justin Verlander is hoping to return to action next weekend against the Oakland A's. Now, Scott, would that mean that Hunter Brown will get booted from the rotation as a result? I imagine so. It's possible they could shift Christian

Javier to the bullpen, I guess, but they probably want to audition Brown for a postseason bullpen role. He's not going to be part of the offseason starting rotation. Yeah. So it turns out, Brown was just going to get one start anyway. One start against the Tigers,

and then he might be useless to you. But you know what? That could be a really damn good start against the Detroit Tigers. Max Scherzer threw a bullpen session on Sunday without any issues, and he is currently on the IL with an oblique injury, so as we learn more, we will let you know. Shane McClanahan could return on Thursday against the Blue Jays, though that is not confirmed for sure to happen.

Let's say we don't hear anything else, Scott. Would you take a chance and start Shane McClanahan in your lineups this week? I don't think so. It's going to be a short start if he starts. I think it's safe to say. Zach Wheeler threw approximately 15 pitches off a mound on Saturday. If all goes well, the hope is that he'll be activated around September 20th when the Phillies return back home.

John Gray will return and start Monday against the Marlins. He is 59% rostered. Scott, are you looking to add John Gray anywhere? So this is an interesting one because this will probably be a short start, but it's against the Marlins. And I think it'll line them up for two starts. It's a little tricky because it's a double-hatter Monday. So theoretically, the next time through,

they could go with either of the pictures that starts, Monday. Dane Dunning is the other one. Dane Dunning is, or not Dane Dunning, Glenn Otto, right, Glenn Otto? Yep, 1-800. Glenn Otto is in his first full year, so I would imagine they'd rather preserve his innings and let Gray go first, let him continue to build up any.

So I think it's going to be a two-start week for Gray with the matchups being against the Marlins and the Ray's favorable schedule. I added him to my sleeper pitchers for that reason. but it's definitely risky both because we can't be sure he's going to make that second start and, you know, fresh off the IL. I'm assuming you like Nicolodolo more than John Gray, right? Yeah, yeah.

What about someone like Drew Smiley? Would you prefer there, Smiley or John Gray? Well, for this upcoming week since Smiley's going against the mat, so I'll take John Gray. Yeah, fair enough, makes sense to me. Luis Severino will make his next rehab start on Thursday. He threw 45 pitches last time out, at AA. Byron Buckson is expected to return prior to the end of the regular season for the Minnesota Twins. Tim Anderson is scheduled to meet with a hand specialist on Tuesday, at which

point the White Sox could have a better sense of if or when he will be able to return this season. Ryan Presley, Wander Franco, Sir Anthony Dominguez, and Vinnie Pasquantino were all reinstated by their respective teams this weekend. So some reinforcements coming. Definitely useful. Dominguez in his first game back Sunday work the 8th and David Robertson the night for the save and the Phillies manager said Dominguez might now work back to back

coming off the aisle here so I don't know I don't know that you can plug him in right away and expect saves I think he will get some but I don't think it'll be a consistent thing and you know if you're not getting consistent saves with, what, two and a half weeks to go, three and a half weeks to go, then it's a problem. Yep.

Jazz Chisholm was ruled out for the remainder of the season due to that stress fracture in his back. DJ LaMayhew hopes to return from the aisle during the Yankees' next homestand, which begins on September 20th. So that would be a week from Tuesday. Nico Horner left Sunday night's game with tightness in his right triceps.

Gavin Luxe, who is dealing with a back injury, likely will not return to the... the Dodgers lineup until next weekend. So you probably don't want to play him in any of your lineups this upcoming week. Mackenzie Gore made a rehab start at AAA on Sunday going at 1 and 2 3rd scoreless with zero strikeouts.

He's 46% rostered. I don't know how many starts he'll technically get in with the national scyat, but are you looking to add McKenzie Gore? Nope. Nope. He'd been bad for a long time before he got hurt. True. Aaron Ashby will throw off a mound in the next day or two, but is not being stretched out as a starter.

They expect him to return this season as a reliever. To the IL this weekend, Starling Marte with that non-displaced fracture of his right middle finger that is retroactive to September 7th. Chris Archer with right pectoral tightness. Eric Lauer with an elbow strain. Nick Madrigal with a right groin strain. Cabert-O-Ease, I mean, poor guy.

Testicular contusion expected to miss the rest of the season, and Lordus Guerrille with a left hamstring strain. Start or sit these banged up players, Scotty. Luis Robert feels like he hasn't played at all in the second half, but he is missed five straight once again with a hand injury. What are you doing with Luis Robert this week? Probably sitting in. I think so too.

Trevor's story was removed from Sunday's game due to left heel pain. The Red Sox have an off day Monday, so we won't necessarily know until Tuesday. How do you feel about Trevor's story? They have an off day Monday and an off day Thursday. Five game week for the Red Sox and a week where a lot of teams have eight games, much less seven, much less six. So, you know, 12-team context, you could probably find a better option than story for this week. Elvis, baby.

Let's do it. Thai France was out on Sunday with his wrist acting up again. He missed time with it earlier in the season. Starters hit Ty France. Did he end up playing? I mean, not starting, but did he end up getting in the game? I was watching that. Heartbreaking loss by the Braves.

He did have a pinch hit appearance. Okay. So that, with a wrist, you'd think if it was that bad, they wouldn't let him pinch hit. However, the Mariners also have just five games this week. So maybe better off sitting Thai France anyway. Brandon Jury is targeting a Tuesday return from the Concussion I.O., but I don't know that we'll hear more before then. Well, I guess we'll know if he's starting that day.

But how do you feel about Brandon Jury if he is back? I, well, you know, depends how deep the league is. A 15-team Roto League, you might want to get them in the lineup right away, but otherwise, probably not. All right, let's move over to some starting pitchers. Starters, these. It's a combination of players who have either had a good start over the weekend, but the underlying numbers don't line up or pitchers that just haven't been great recently. So it's crunch time, Scotty. We've got to help the people out.

Do they start Lance McCullors, who put together his second quality start? was up against the Angels. He went seven endings of two-run ball, six strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes, and through five starts. He has a 2.20 ERA, however, a 1.33 whip,

4.37 X-FIP is pretty high. He's walking a lot of batters. He's up against the Oakland A's this week, so it is a really good matchup. Well, that's what we said about Johnny Quo, too. I haven't gotten to his start yet. I would, I don't, McCullers hasn't shown me enough.

This was like the one good start so far. And yeah, I'd rather sit him, obviously. It depends on how deep the league is always. But generally speaking, we're talking about a 12-teamer, and I'd rather sit in the colors than that. All right. Mike Clevenger's last seven starts. He has a 5.98 ERA and a 1.38 whip.

He's going up against the Diamondbacks, who have the eighth best weighted on base average over the last 14 days. So they are hitting the ball quite well. Scott, what do you think about start or sit Clevenger? Can you drop him? You might be able to drop him. Well, I'd rather start McCullors over him if that was the choice. Okay.

I'm not particularly eager to start Clevenger. And yeah, in a 12-team league, I think he's pretty dispensable. I'm not saying he must drop, but he's whatever. I would drop him for Nicola Dolo. Sure, me too. next up we have Dustin May who has given up nine earned runs over his last two starts which

includes 10 innings pitched he is also at the Diamondbacks this week who again they're swinging a hot bat what do you think about Dustin May so I'm not particularly eager to start him either and the walks

have suddenly become an issue in his last two starts which is out of character for him coming off Tommy John's surgery you kind of understand it but after this week, I believe he'll be lined up for two starts the following week. So if you don't have much use for him now,

he might still be worth holding on too for a two-star week against the Padres and Rockies in Los Angeles, not Colorado. All right. Next up we have Corey Klobber, who could not escape the first inning at the Yankees. He recorded just two outs, and he gave up six runs. The ERA is now up to 4.36.

I only ask because he's still 86% rostered Scott. Oh, I keep looking one week ahead. I hope I haven't given wrong information doing that. Okay, so next week it would be two starts against the Diamondbacks and Cardinals for May, not Padres and Rockies, but two starts is the point. Okay. Anyway, who are you asking about now? Corey Klobber, I don't think anyone's starting him in a 12-team league.

He's at the Blue Jays this week, but I feel like we could probably drop him as well. He's 86% rostered. Yeah. I have no reason to hold on to him. His previous four starts before this disaster where quality starts, but not in a way that was particularly enticing. Next up, Logan Webb turned in a strong start at the Cubs.

He went seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts. I think most people are probably like, what are you talking about? It's Logan Webb, it's a no-brainer. But he's going up against the Dodgers this week, and he has a 4.76 ERA in three starts against them this season. How do you feel about Webb against the Dodgers? It's not an automatic sit,

but if you have good enough pitching that there's any that you'd ever think about sitting Logan Webb, then this is a week to do it. Let's say you picked up Nick Ladolo, Scott. Would you ride with Ladolo or Logan Webb? I think I'd go Lodolo. I think so too.

Carlos Carrasco got back on track at the Marlins. He went six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. Only 74 pitches, but obviously it was still very good in this one. And he is at home against the Pirates this week. Yeah, Carasca is fine. It looked much better. And his second start back, I'd start him against the Pirates.

Pablo Lopez. We're good for at least one of these Pablo Lopez starts every season. Absolutely crushed by the New York Mets. Where he goes... Yeah. He goes three and two thirds. He gives up eight runs on 10 hits, three walks. The ERA is now up to 4.04.

The whip is 1.24. and over his last 18 starts, those numbers are even higher. 5.42 ERA, 1.39 whip, and he is at home against the Phillies this week. What you think? What's annoying is he had been bad for so long and then seemed like he was getting back on track, three good starts in a row for Pablo Lopez.

Well, the last one was really short. I'm not sure why, but it was maybe there was, I don't know if there was a rain delay or something, but yeah for how short it was the results were good and the previous two before that were good so I thought I thought you know he was trustworthy again and then he goes and does this so I'm not going to ERA over four now I'm not going to start him next week I don't know that I'm going to be able to start him again this year he he burned me for the last time negative 14 fantasy points for those playing in head to head points leagues over on CBS this past week

that is Pablo Lopez. Jose Riccii gave up 10 hits and 6 earned runs on Saturday up against the Angels, but I think we probably want to start him up against the Oakland A's. It's not in Oakland, so that's a good thing. Yeah, yep, I'd start Rikidi against the A's, sure. I mean, look, his number, even with this bad start, Riqui's numbers in his last 14 games, he has a 291 ERA and a 0.91.

whip. So he's, yeah, against the A's definitely start him. And he's one of those pitchers that routinely outperforms his underlying metrics and peripherals. So I think he's just a good pitcher and he pitches on a good team. So as a result, I would trust Jose Rickey. Jack Flaherty was not great at the Pirates this weekend. He went five innings. He gave up three runs, six hits, four walks. So a whip of two and a good matchup. So it was unfortunate. And he is going up against the Reds this week. He's only 43 percent started. What do you think about Jack Flaherty? I mean, I'm not going to start him, and I'd be okay

dropping him in a 12-team league because I'm not sure he's going to get a chance to earn our trust again before the year's over. Like, it's not all bad this start. I realize he didn't get any whiffs, and it didn't seem like his slider was working, which was his best swing in this pitch in his previous start, but the velocity was still up from where it was in June, that three-star stretch where his shoulder clearly wasn't right. He is on, he is still looking better than that.

And so I don't want to dismiss him as a bounce back candidate for next year. But this year it might be hard to trust Jack Flaherty. Jack Flaherty is out of the circle of trust. Taiwan Walker tied a season high with 10 strikeouts at the Marlins. He went seven innings, one run, had those 10 strikeouts to just two walks. And he is also home against the pirates this week. I mean, you got to start him against the pirates. Yeah.

I don't, this start, like it seemed like Taiwan Walker was falling out of the circle of trust, but then he has a start like this and you got the great matchups. All right. Yeah. We'll start Taiwan Walker. Brady Singer turned in another great start up against the Tigers. He went seven shutout with six strikeouts in that one. However, he's at the Red Sox this week.

And they are 11th in Wobah against Ritees. They are second in Wobah over the last 14 days. So kind of hot against him. What do you think about Brady Singer? Clearly not must start. I wouldn't be that stressed if I had to start him either. He's fine. Yeah. Joe Musgrove, another lackluster start. It was up against the Dodgers. So very tough matchup. Five in a third. He gave up four runs in this one and over his last 14 starts.

Nearly half the season at this point. 4.95 ERA for Joe Musgrove. He's at the Diamondbacks. I didn't think we would get to the point where we fear the Diamondbacks got. But again, they're hitting well. What do you think about Musgrove? Yeah, it's a tough one. It's a tough one. He's carried you. This might be the first time you're considering sitting him

because even amid this 14-start stretch with a 495 ERA, there's been some great starts in there that keep you coming back. I'd put him in the same category as Brady Singer, I guess. Like, I wouldn't mind sitting Joe Musgrove at this point, but if you have to start him, I don't think it's, I don't think it's the end of the world. I wanted to pull up his splits real quick

to see how he has performed against the Diamondbacks this season. So I'm just going to say a couple of words while I pull this up, and he has made two starts against them, and he has a 5.23 ERA, so doesn't make me feel great about Chalmusker. Johnny Quato got roughed up on Sunday

at the Oakland A's where he gave up seven runs, five of those earned over four and two-thirds innings pitched. However, he's at the Tigers this week. What do you think about Quato? So this was still just his third start all year, allowing more than three earned runs. Two of them have come in his last four starts, though.

So he may be just when we're like, okay, I guess we got to start buying into Johnny Quoito. He starts to fall apart. Tigers, though, I'd give him one more shot. Let's say you have Quato and Musgrove. Can you actually do that, Scott? Can I actually sit? Yeah, sit Musgrove for Quedo.

Can I actually do that? Let me just double check and make sure. How did I overlook him? How rostered is Quato? Surprise I overlooked him as a sleeper pitcher for this week. He's too rostered. He's two rostered? Okay, that would be Y then.

He is 83%. Yeah. Yep. Queto or Musgrove? No. I think I'd start Musgrove. Grove. I think I would go Quato, but you're right.

It is a really tough call. Flip a coin, I guess. Pitting standouts, part one. The leftovers from the weekend. Carlos Rodon now has double-digit strikeouts in four of his last five outings. He was at the Cubs where he went five and a third, gave up two runs with 11 strikeouts on the season. I mean, in that start, rather.

Drew Rasmussen posted a career high, 10 strikeouts at the Yankees. He went six shut out with 10 strikeouts to zero walks. his ERA is now down to 2.57. Lance Lynn put together another strong outing at the Oakland A's. He survived the launching pad that is Oakland. Six innings pitched, two unearned runs,

five strikeouts for Lance Lannia, 21 swinging strikes in that start, and now has a 1.81 ERA over his last eight outings. He's getting the Tigers this week. Beautiful. That is wonderful. He's coming through in the clutch,

Lance Lynn, baby. Potential league winner. Yeah, Lance Lynn. And then Tristan McKenzie had another strong outing at the Twins. He went seven shutout with five strikeouts in that one. Lowers the ERA to 3.05. Anything you'd like to add, Scotty, on McKenzie, Lynn, Rasmussen, and Carlos Rodon. So I was just looking at Joe Musgrove's game log to see if I could talk myself into Quato instead.

So four of his past six starts, Musgroves, have been quality starts. It's worth pointing out. No, wait a second. that doesn't include Sundays. Never mind. That would be four of his last seven then. Yeah. Okay.

All right. You were asking me about who here? Mackenzie, Lance Lynn, Drew Rasmussen, and Carl Srodon. Do I have any juicy nuggets to offer? Yes, sir.

Well, if, since you asked so nicely, I will tell you that Drew Rasmusson out in his past seven starts has a 134 ERA.72 whip and 9.6K per 9. That's insane. Yeah.

That's insane. And he got 22 whiffs in this one at the Yankees. Did you say that already? Yep. Okay. Sorry, I was looking that thing up on Musgrove that I ended up saying wrong. Well, yeah, I guess Rasm... I don't know.

Rasmussen's getting to be mighty interesting. Mighty interesting. I don't know. What is his matchup this week? Do you have it here? It looks like he has two starts this week against the Rangers and at the Blue Jets. Oh, yeah.

That's what that's what's currently showing up on the website. But I don't think that's true. I think his next schedule starts for Wednesday. I think it's doubleheaders sometimes screw up the automation there with the probable pitchers. So that would be just one start at the Blue Jason. Yeah, it's okay. Yeah.

It's okay. It's in the same category as Brady's Singer, I think, where you could do it or you can not do it. It just depends what you have. He's just pitching so well, Scott, as you highlighted, even if you just look at the season-long numbers for Rasmussen, 257 ERA 104 whip, underlying ERA numbers look really good for him,

nearly a strike-out per inning, good ground ball rate, good swinging strike rate. He might just actually be a really good pitcher. Drew Rasmussen. Pitching standouts part two. Julio Arias has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 straight starts. He was at the Padres where he went seven innings. Two runs allowed, five strikeouts in that one. Max Fried turns in another solid start at the Mariners.

Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts for him. ERA now down to 2.50. And George Kirby, another strong start as well. He was up against the break. six innings, one unearned run, and six strikeouts. And in nine starts since returning to the Mariners, George Kirby has a 1.90 ERA with 53 strikeouts to five walks, over 47 and a third innings pitched.

Anything on these three, Scotty, Arias, Fried, and Kirby? Yeah, with Kirby, so those numbers I noticed were really good too, but not consistently going deep enough for it to, really impact you in fantasy. I guess two turns ago, he went three innings. Let me double check that. That may have been because of a rain delay. Let me double check that.

No, no, I didn't make a note of that. Can't remember if it was or not. But yeah, it's been a little inconsistent the amount he's pitched. So that makes him more difficult to trust than some of these guys. but he's usable with the right matchup, sure. That was a rain short and start, by the way, Scottie. Okay, good. And he is at the Angels this week, so I would be okay, starting George Kirby.

And then pitching standouts part three. Chain Bieber, another great start at the Twins. He went six and a third, one run, seven strikeouts in that one. Now down to a 2.91 ERA on the season. He's been very good, and I was very wrong about Chain Bieber this season. Brandon Woodruff put up his fourth double-digit strikeouts start of the year. He was up against the Reds. Six innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts, just one walk for him. And then Zach Gallen, finally, he gave up a run, but he was still very, very good. In

Corse Field, he survived, where he went six innings, gave up three runs, but had 11 strikeouts to zero walks. And the ERA now stands at 2.50 on the season for Zach Gallen. Anything on him, Woodruff and Shane Bieber. Really tough going into Core's field when he's have a scoreless streak going. It ended up being the seventh longest all-time, 44 and a third innings. Wow. So technically he set the Diamondbacks record

because I think Brandon Webb was 42 and a third. Okay. There you go. Good season for Zach Allen. I was wrong about him. Sure. Yeah, me too. I did not draft a single share of Zach Allen anywhere,

and I think I have like 14 or 15 teams. I do have him on one team. It's my best team. but it is also trailing at the halfway point of its playoff matchup, two-week playoff matchup. Adding to my misery. Don't worry. This week, Scottie, we're going to get you back on track. Some hitting leftovers from the weekend.

O'Neill Cruz added five hits, including a home run and another steal. And over his last 17 games, he is hitting 313 with five homers, one steel, crushing the ball, hitting it hard, putting it in the air, still striking out a lot, 32% for O'Neill Cruz. But people are adding him. He's now up to 80% rostered, and he's got eight road games this upcoming week. Boba Chet had six more hits this weekend, including his 23rd home run.

Scott, we were talking beforehand. This week that Boba Chet just put together was insane. He finished a week with eight doubles, five homers, 11 runs, 13 RBI, which totaled 59 fantasy points on CBS. That's crazy. Yeah, he is really trying to get up to, last year's OPS before the season ends.

It's climbing close to the eight. Well, did he cross the 800 mark today? I guess he probably did. Because he entered. Let me double check here. He's at 794. Okay. Okay.

It actually went down today. Yeah. So he's at 794 and last year, Bo Bouchet's OPS was 828. So I don't know that he's going to get there, but he's trying. He's trying. He's definitely put it within reach. Now, nowhere near last year's stolen base total, and that's the biggest issue at this point.

But yeah, he's... Bo Bichette is trying to remind everyone why he was such a highly regarded pick coming into the year. And I hate this too, Scott, because it felt like we were trending towards getting Bichette at a discount for next year. And if he just continues to crush it in September, that's going to be the last thing in many people's minds.

and they're going to probably just treat him like a second round pick again or something like that. And we won't really get a discount. So, it kind of stinks. Maybe. Maybe. But can we count on him for steals? I mean, what do we know? What is the steals environment going to be like at all next year?

It's going to be chaos. I mean, theoretically, it should be easier for him to seal bases, right? I guess. Right. But it's going to be easier for everyone to steal bases. Also true. I think just in general, stolen bases are going to be overvalued next year. Overvalued?

Overvalued. Once again, even though we're going to have more places to get them from throughout the draft? Well, I don't know that that'll be accounted for enough. And maybe fairly, because we don't know exactly, we don't know exactly how it's going to play out. But I think it's going to lead to a democratization of stolen bases, the same way we saw democratization of home runs during the juice ball era. And I mean, the cost of home runs has gotten ridiculous the past few years in Routisserie leagues.

The cost of home runs or the cost of seats? I'm sorry, the cost of stolen bases has gotten ridiculous in Ritissory leagues the past few years. So I welcome it. I welcome that change. And if anyone wants to hear more about that, the previous podcast that we did, we talked all about these proposed rule changes and how it could affect fantasy baseball. So if you want to go back and listen to that. Mike Trout hit two more home runs.

this weekend making that six straight games with a home run. He's now up to 34 total. And again, he did not play on Sunday, so he has a chance to extend that streak. Michael Harris hit three more homers this weekend, including a double dong on Sunday. He is now batting 311 with 18 homers, 65 runs, 56 RBI,

and a 909 OPS. So he has just been completely ridiculous. Scott, how early do you think, Michael Harris goes next season in drafts. Well, what's weird about him? We were talking about this before the show is his ground ball rate is like 57%. It's ridiculous. And the plate discipline's not very good.

It's not like the exit velocity stands out. The average exit velocity stands out for Michael Harris. It doesn't stand out. And yet the expected stats are great on stat cast. So he is like, he is making his flag. liebos count. He is optimizing the launch. He's optimizing exit velocity on the right launch ankles. He's kind of threading the needle as far as that goes to deliver the production he has. So, you know, if with that home run and stolen base combination, Harris is something like a,

I don't know, could he be as high as a third round pick as much as people pay for stolen bases? talking specifically roto or categories leagues at this point, not points leagues. I mean, if he's going that high, I'm not going to be drafting much of him. It just seems like it's a little bit of a tight rope walk. And he could get better. He's very young.

Yeah. But I'll let somebody else see the glass half, the glass half full there. My first thought was he's going to be drafted as a top 50 player. But, I mean, third round, top 40 player, That's... Yeah, third or fourth is what I was thinking. Yep.

So that home run to fly ball ratio entering Sunday before this two home run game was 25.8%. That is a really high home run to fly ball ratio. But... Yes, it is. And I've made this point with Juan Soto in the past. You can maintain a high home run to fly ball ratio

when you hit the ball very hard in the air, which you alluded to, Scott. But Harris's exit velocity on fly balls and line drives is 23rd. among qualified hitters. So when he hits the ball in the air, he hits it really, really hard. It's just, can he maintain that?

It's, you know, he's done it now in his rookie season. Juan Soto has done it for three or four years, so we can trust it. Well, I don't know how much we could trust it yet with Michael Harris. And, you know, not to, I don't think it's totally an apples to apples comparison because to put it into context, 57% ground ball rate for Michael Harris,

you know, we talk about how 51% ground ball rate, and ground ball rate is high for Juan Soto. And that's a big difference, 51 and 57. Yeah, no, it is. Freddie Freeman had eight hits this weekend, including two home runs. His season-long line now is 331 batting average, 19 home runs, 103 runs, 90 RBI, and 11 steals. It just really does not get better than that as an all-around player for fantasy purposes.

Manny Machado had a double dong on Saturday, which brings him to 28 home runs on the season. A. E. E. E. E. Hennio Suarez hit three, more homers this weekend, including a double dung on Sunday, and he's now up to 30 home runs. So the, I'm not going to call it a great season. It's been a very good season for Svarez continues. Yeah, a lot better than it could have been. Yep.

John Carlos Stanton returned on Saturday, and he hit home runs in back-to-back games, so maybe signs of life there. Glaver Torres went two for four with a double dong on Sunday. He's now up to 21 homers. but before this game, his second half was an 189 batting average, five homers,

and a 530 OPS. So, I don't know he needs to be rostered in points leagues. And yeah, you probably should still have him in Roto leagues. What do you think,

Scott? Claibor Torres. Yeah, I guess that's fine. Roto with extra middle end field spot, that would still make Torres useful,

but he had been really unproductive prior to this game. So not to be so eager to have him in a points league. I thought, or any had to head league, really. I thought Stephen Kwan only hits for batting average. And then on Sunday, a sock and a shoe. He went three for five.

He hit his fourth home run. His 14 steal, obviously not much power. But he is running more than I thought he would, and he's batting 291 overall. So it's been a pretty productive season for Stephen Kwan as well. Roddy Tiles went three for five with a double dong. He's now up to 30 homers. Adoli Scarcia hit two more home runs.

He now has 25 home runs and 23 steals on the season. Another guy with just so ridiculous here. Justin Turner had a double dong on Sunday, including a Grand Slam. His last 50 or so games have been just basically prime Justin Turner. Trey Turner, his teammate, went two for five with his 20th home run that enters him into the 2020 club on the year. He's got 24 steals.

He's betting 306. And then Julio Rodriguez also went three for four with a double dong, including a game-tying home run off of Kenley Jansen. Now has 25 bombs on the season. Julio Rodriguez. Let's wrap up, Scottie. Some bullpen updates, some streamers. The Colts of the Bullpen.

For the Cubs on Friday, Brandon Hughes recorded the final four outs for his fourth save and is 16% rostered. The Cubs are not a good team. They kind of mix and match right now. But I think if any... Like, the most likely person to get their next save is Brandon Hughes.

Yeah, they're clearly not treating him like a conventional close there. This was his first save since August 23rd, and they had had two other guys record save since then. But I agree. If you have to pick somebody from the Cubs rotation, it should be Brandon Hughes. For the Orioles on Friday, Dylan Tate recorded the final four outs for his fourth save, and Felix Bautista is dealing with arm fatigue. So I hope he's good to go heading into the week.

I've got to wait on some more news with him. But if he does miss some time, it looks like Dylan Tate would be the next one up there. For Tampa Bay on Friday, J.T. Chargua, great name, started the ninth inning with a three-run lead, but gave up a run. He was then relieved by Sean Armstrong, who recorded just one out for his second save of the year. Jason Adam and Pete Fairbanks both pitched last on Wednesday. I think they should have been available on Friday, but maybe they were just playing it safe. Whatever, it's Tampa Bay. For the Rangers. So Felix Batista was available on Sunday. Sunday and said he was feeling really good.

So you're probably safe to start him this week. Nice. For the Rangers on Friday, Jose LeClerc entered the ninth inning with the game tied. He gave up a run on a hit and a walk. He took the loss. And then on Sunday, he bounced back, struck out two for his fourth save of the season. If you need saves, looks like Leclerc is kind of stepping up as the guy for the Rangers. For the A's on Friday, AJ Puck entered the ninth inning with a three-run lead.

He gave up five runs, five. He took his fifth blown save and his third loss. Oakland is just, they're Oakland. So I'm not excited to have any reliever for the Oakland days. For the Red Sox on Sunday, I skipped a whole day. There was like not really any bullpen stuff on Saturday. For the Red Sox, they had a one-run lead, and this was their order of operations. John Shreiber in the 6th, Matt Strom in the 7th, Garrett Whitlock in the 8th, and

what's dead may never die. Matt Barnes in the 9th. Once again, his fifth save, 12% rostered. I don't really have a good read on this one, Scott. I think they're just kind of mixing and matching where they need guys, but I think it could be any of Schreiber, Whitlock, and Matt Barnes on a given day. Yeah, I think so too.

For the Phillies on Sunday, we mentioned this earlier, earlier, but Sir Anthony Dominguez pitched in the eighth. David Robertson struck out the side for his 19th save. For the pirates on Sunday, it looks like they went to Chase DeYoung for the save, and he had a two-run lead. He wound up giving up four runs. He took the blown save and the long. And then wacky final game here.

The Mariners and the Braves for the Mariners side of things. Diego Castillo entered the game with a four-run lead. He gave up three runs, was replaced by Paul Seawald, who then gave up two runs. So the Braves have the lead going into the ninth. I'm sorry, Scott. Thanks for reliving this for me. And then Kenley Jansett gave up two solo home runs, and he took his seventh blown save, second loss of the year. He's been pretty shaky recently.

Do you, I don't think they would- Yeah, I think he's blown three. saves and six chances, I think. Do you think they would actually try anyone else down the stretch? Realistically, no. I kind of wish they would. I mean, I have Ricelle Iglesias there, who of course has plenty of history as a closer himself. But realistically, I don't think that's going to happen. To stream or not to stream on Monday, we've got Trevor Rogers up against the Rangers, Glenn Otto at the Marlins, Eduardo Rodriguez versus the Astros, John

Gray at the Marlins. Braxton Garrett also making his return up against the Rangers, and then Ryan Nelson up against the Dodgers. Yeah, and Braxton Garrett, by the way, he's kind of in the same boat. John Gray could end up being a two-star pitcher or not, since he's the young guy. I lean that he won't in his case. But just for Monday streaming purposes, I don't feel great about either one of those two coming right off the IL.

but of these options, well, Trevor Rogers against the Rangers is probably my favorite. And I think John Gray would be my second favorite even with the concerns about the volume.

On Tuesday, Luis Sessa up against the Pirates, Jose Suarez at the Guardians, Hunter Brown at the Tigers, Bailey Falter at the Marlins, Dean Kramer at the Nationals, Ken Waldachuk at the Rangers, and Jacob Junis

versus the Braves. I will go Hunter Brown. For sure. Bailey Fultor at Miami like that. The Marlins are terrible against lefties, and he did okay against them in his last outing. Well, you know what? I like Jose Suarez even more.

There are a lot of good options here on Tuesday. Okay. Hunter Brown's first choice. Jose Suarez at Cleveland, because Cleveland is terrible against lefties as well. Bailey Fulter at Miami, third. And even Dean Kramer, Washington and Louis Sessa against Pittsburgh. I don't think either of those are bad.

Wow. The rare streaming recommendations from Scott. So if you do need a day, it looks like Tuesday is your day this upcoming week. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I have Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again on Wednesday. Bye-bye.