Fantasy Baseball Today - Nolan Gorman On Fire! Connor Norby & Adam Mazur Promoted! (6/4 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

Nolan Gorman hit two more homers on Monday and is on fire (2:40)! ... Heliot Ramos is doing some things for the Giants (7:00). ... Rhys Hoskins got his revenge against the Phillies (10:17). ... The Orioles promoted Connor Norby while the Padres will promote Adam Mazur on Tuesday (14:10). ... News (19:10): Blake Snell was placed on the 15-day IL. ... Add Jeimer Candelario and TJ Friedl in shallower leagues before they're gone (28:12). ... Matt Waldron didn't have his best stuff and still turned in a great start (39:20). ... These five hitters are heating up (43:21)! ... Kevin Gausman took a big step back (47:45). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (52:10). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome into Tough Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday. June 4th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, we have multiple prospect promotions, five hitters who are picking things up. Nolan Gorman is on fire, and Kevin Gosman took quite the step back, and we'll talk about much more right now. Player of the night, Scott, there's only one place to start, and I am going to take Nolan Gorman, who is on fire right now, two for three with a double tongue on Monday, his last 19 games. He is betting 339 with nine homers, 19 runs scored 18 RBI, and he's got the overall OPS now up to 8.8. 12 for the season. We've talked a lot about Nolan Gorman recently, so I don't think we need to spend too much time,

but he is up to 74% rostered. I think this is your last chance. Your last chance to get Nolan Gorman if he's still out there in a shaller league. Yeah, if he's what you're looking for. I mean, I think he's still fundamentally the same player is the thing. I don't think it ever changed. It's just this is how a Nolan Gorman season is likely to play out.

It was just a week ago, actually, that I said he will eventually have a two-week stretch where he hits eight home runs and his numbers are back on pace. Little did I know that it already started because now in Nolan Gorman's last 14 games, he has exactly eight home runs. So kind of almost perfect timing there with that. And, you know, he's probably going to hit about 230 with about 30 homers. And there will be ups and downs along the way. it'll probably be more frustrating in head-to-head leagues,

especially points leagues, because the strikeout rate isn't getting any lower. But he's hot right now. And if you want to ride that, if you want to ride that in shallower head-to-head leagues, which are probably the only ones where he's still available, you know, I had him as a sleeper hitter this week, so you probably should have already been doing it.

But it's not too late, probably. His roster rate hasn't changed that much from when I featured him as a sleeper hitter for this week. Gorman, as I mentioned, up to 74% rostered on CBS. That's 72% on Yahoo. So still could be out there in some shallower leagues. One name that'll bring up, Scott, in head-to-head formats, head-to-head-style lineups.

You know, it's one of each position. Would you drop someone like Glaber Torres, who's still 92% rostered and seemingly has looked lost all season for Nolan Gorman, the hot hand right now? I mean, Nolan, case in point. what's happened to this point isn't what's always going to happen. And I think more likely than not, Glaibre Torres will get hot at some point and we'll look back on the first couple

months where he was such a disappointment. And we won't even look back on it actually because it'll just be a total afterthought. We won't think of it again. So that's what I think is most likely to happen with Glaver Torres. But we're talking about the shallowest leagues where Nolan Gorman is available. And if you want to swap out Glaber Torres, like I don't think Glaber Torres quite,

you look at his head to head points per game last year as productive as he was. It was nothing special. So it's not like Glaber Torres even at his best as this irreplaceable kind of player in those shallow leagues that we're talking about here, Randolin Gorman is still available. So rest of season,

I would predict Torres to be more productive than Gorman, but head-to-head league. you're going week to week. I don't see a problem with swapping out the player who's dragging you down for the hot hand. Yeah, I think it's all about context. Obviously, if you play in like a 12-team Roto League or deeper, then Nolan Gorman is probably not even available. But yeah, in some of those shallower formats where you do want to play the hot hand a little bit more,

Glaver Torres does look lost. Not that that will remain for all season, I do agree. At some point, he's likely to pick things up. But for now, I think he is quite replaceable, and I would be all right with that move as well. Scott, let's go over. Go ahead. Just to demonstrate the point here,

you know, actually it was a little better than I thought. Glabertores' points per game last year was 2.97. It was about the same as like Luis Arise, and it was better than Nolan Gorman. But it was probably about 10th best at the position at second base last year in terms of head-to-head points per game. So, you know, it's not like he was a difference maker in that format was the point I was trying to make. All right.

Let's slide over to you for your Player of the Night. My Player of the Night is somebody I don't recall us talking about yet. Elliot Ramos of the Giants who homered for a second straight game. And he's started 22 games in a row for the Giants. And the slash line looks good. He's slashing 295, 361, 477. Like I said, is up to four home runs. And that gives him 12 home runs between AAA and the majors this year.

Not many hitters you can say that about. Elliot Ramos delivers the kind of exit velocities that would suggest legitimate power. And, you know, as consistently as he's playing as well as he's performing right now, I think it's time to at least give some thought to him, at least put him on our radar. I do think there are concerns here. He's, for as good as that slash line is, Elliot Ramos is striking out 33% of the time in the majors.

And in the minors, it was, I think it was like 27% against AAA pitchers, which is concerning. So if he keeps doing that, he's not going to keep batting 295. But will he hit enough home runs? Will he play often enough that we can accept the batting average liability that comes with Elliot Ramos? And potentially, we were just talking about Miguel Anduhar yesterday and saying in five outfielder leagues, you need, you're struggling to fill all five of those spots with the productive hitter. So even though we don't have a lot of confidence in Miguel Andouhar, it's understandable why you might want to pay. pick them up in that format just to get whatever you can.

And I guess Elliot Ramos would be in the same category. I'd put him a little behind Miguel Andouhar in terms of priority, but he's more of the mystery box as a former prospect who's, I think this is his third year appearing in the majors. And he hasn't come through yet, but he's still young enough that he could. He's 24 years old. So he's a little more of a mystery box than Miguel And Duhar, a wider range of outcomes probably. And at least worth monitoring for as much as he's playing.

Yep. As you mentioned, still just 24 years old, Elliot Ramos. And he's posted a 950 plus OPS in each of the past two years in the minors. He only 9% rostered. So in some of those 15 team, five outfielder leagues, I brought up three names yesterday. in addition to Andohar in deeper leagues, Jesus Sanchez, Trevor Larnick, and Luke Raleigh. Would you take Elliot Ramos over all of those?

I would because the playing time is so limited for those other three. Yeah, I know Trevor Larnick is doing some interesting things right now, hitting the ball hard, but he plays for the twins. He's never going to play against left-handed pitching. It could still go somewhere, but I kind of like what we're seeing right now from Elliot Ramos for those who play in deeper leagues. And by the way, Elliot is spelled H-E-L-I-O-T.

Yes, correct. What I give an honorable mention to Reese Hoskins, who got his sweet, sweet revenge. Scott, first game back in Philadelphia after all those years on the Phillies. One for two with a walk, a sock, and a shoe. His 10th home run, his second stolen base. And overall this season, a 243 batting average, 3.45 on base. 10 homers, 28 RBI, and 831 OPS in 41 games. Hoskins just returned last Friday.

He was out a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury, but he's basically doing what Reese Hoskins is supposed to do. And this is coming back from a torn ACL that he had last year. The strikeout rate is a career best. He's pulling the ball, hitting it in the air, tons of barrels, expected stats look pretty good. I think if you got Reese Hoskins and, you know, as a corner infielder, Even as a first basement, I think you're probably just going to feel pretty good about having him.

I mean, he's one of the few hitters who's done what he's supposed to do in the entire league. Exactly. Yeah, it's hard to feel anything less than satisfied. I don't know how many times in his career, Reese Hoskins has had a sock in a shoe because this was his 17th career stolen base. But yeah, the power production. even the batting average by his standards is pretty much right on point.

So happy to have him back. Welcome back. Welcome back to Reese Hoskins. A few things to quickly promote. Thanks to everybody watching us live. We appreciate you being here. Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.

And as always, if you enjoy the podcast, make sure to leave a five-star rating and review on both Apple and Spotify. We really do appreciate it. Let's take our first break. and when we return, we got a pair of prospect promotions to talk about right after this. Welcome back in,

and I don't know why I was so compelled to find this out, but Reese Hoskins in his career, one, two, three, four. This was the fifth time he's ever had a sock in his shit. Wow. Wow. That's kind of crazy, right? Like, he only runs whenever he hits a home run. He hits a home run, and it just, like,

just feels like a total world beater. He feels the power coursing through. him and just has to take off, has to let it out somehow. That is so, so uncanny. But let's talk about those prospect promotions. We got two names announced on Monday. First up, the Orioles promoted second baseman Connor Norby, 23 years old, a former second round pick from back in 2021.

In 51 games at AAA this season, he was batting 286 with nine homers, seven steals in 884 OPS. But that also came with a 31% strikeout rate. He is on the smaller side, 5 foot 10, so the exit velocities don't necessarily jump off the page either. Scott, your thoughts on Connor Norby, the prospect. Is he worth adding? Will he stick around? Your thoughts?

I mean, Jorge Mateo's no great shakes, so it wouldn't take much for Connor Norby to just hold down second base. It didn't work out with Jackson Holiday. Connor Norby's not his high end of a prospect, obviously. But he does have some prospect pedigree, and he's been productive. in the minors. But I don't think it's going to work out. And he was striking out 31% of the time at AAA, which is a departure from his minor league career.

His minor league strikeout rates were in the low 20s pretty consistently. So I don't know why he's striking out so much more this year, but he is. And the exit velocity readings are much worse than you'd expect, given the home run rate for Connor Norby. which, okay, you could argue he's doing a less extreme version of the ESOck Paredes thing, the spray angle. But I don't think that's going to work so well for a right-handed hitter at Camden Yards.

I made that argument against Jordan Westberg. But Jordan Westberg actually delivers good ex-velocities. Connor Norby. Average ex-velocity is 87.5 max 106.9 at AAA. I just, I don't think, with the high strike rate on top of it, I just. I don't think that's going to cut it. This other prospect promotion, this one goes out to the OG listeners out there

and I did not make this name up. This is a real person, a pitching prospect in the Padres organization, Adam Mazer. That's Adam M-A-Z-U-R, but for those who have been around for a while, Adam Azer, the former host of this podcast, he hosts the Fantasy Football Today podcast.

Uncanny's got him. The fact that we're getting a prospect named Adam, Mazer is great. Yeah, I mean, it's a different last name. Obviously, it starts with a different letter. But since Adam ends with an M, you know, we're not, we're not going to stress the pronunciation the way you did just then. We're going to be talking about Adam Azer on this podcast now.

And it's going to be super confusing for everyone who wonders how that guy is now pitching in the major. How did he turn 23 years old? What is happening? Yeah, that's like, whoa, he was podcasting when he was 10, basically. basically. Maybe I could get like an image of Adam Azer, like the podcast host, and I'll just throw it up on the screen every time. I mean, more realistically, it could be his son. That's, that's, that's at least physiologically possible, though it's not. It's not Adam Azer's son. Again,

completely different last name, but his name is Adam Mazer, yes. And he's a pretty good prospect for the Padres, a good strike thrower especially, but had good whiff rates. the whiff rates that were better than the strikeout rates throughout his minor league career. I know if you go and look at what Adam Mazer has done most recently in the minors, you're going to be horrified because he had a 7-11 ERA in four starts at AAA, but that's AAA El Paso. It's a really awful place to pitch. Prior to that, he had a 195 ERA and six starts at San Antonio.

and yeah, he's, he's, given that he's entering a much more friendly pitcher league than hitter league right now, it wouldn't surprise me if Adam Azer, now I'm saying it, now I'm just saying it wrong, if Adam Mazer just performed well enough to be of use in fantasy. I'm not saying you need to rush out an Adam. Adam. I'm not saying you need to rush out and add him. Add Adam Mazer. Oh, gosh.

But, you know, I could see it working out. So we'll track his starts here. See how it goes. Yeah, I would say between the two, I think it's more likely that Mazer could make more of a fantasy impact right away than Connor Norby can, which might sound weird because Norby was the high. ranked prospect, but I just think the way the environment has gone so far, that would be my bet.

But let's see what Mazur can do. He will start Tuesday against the Angels. Other news and notes, Blake Snell was officially placed on the 15-day IL with a left groin-strain. Jordan Romano received an anti-inflammatory injection in his right elbow on Sunday. He'll be shut down for three to five days, but the plan is to resume a throwing program later this week. Ranger Suarez will play catch Tuesday and throw a bullpen Wednesday before the Phillies decide on the next step.

Suarez is currently dealing with bruising and swelling in his left hand. Max Scher threw a 25-pitch bullpen on Saturday and then gave a thumbs up when he arrived at the clubhouse on Sunday. That doesn't necessarily give us any information, but we'll see where things go from here with Max Scherzer. Zach Eflin threw a 40-pitched bullpen on Sunday, his second in the past four days. The Rays have yet to confirm when Eflin will return.

There's still a chance that he will start later this week. C.J. Abrams has now missed three straight with that jammed left shoulder, and I only have him in, I have him in two leagues, even though I wasn't really on Abrams. And I benched him in bolt, so we'll see if I wind up regretting that one. Zach Gallen will begin a throwing progression Tuesday. He was diagnosed with a right hamstring strain last Friday. Merrill Kelly will also begin his throwing program Tuesday. He's been out since April 15th with a right shoulder strain.

The raise activated Josh L from the IL and option Jonathan Aranda back to AAA on Monday. If you play in a league where you could still make lineup moves because the race haven't played yet, they only have five games this week and I believe there's three lefties on the schedule. So I'm not so inclined to get Josh Lowe back in my lineup. I don't think he's a must start this first week back. Yeah, and I'm disappointed. Jonathan Aranda got sent down. Yeah.

Single tier for Jonathan Aranda being sent down. Pour one out for the boy. Yeah, he'll be back. He'll be back, but will he play enough? Will either of these guys play enough? No, I agree that Josh Lowe is kind of a wait and see at this point. He was not playing as consistently as, I would have liked when he was healthy, quote unquote, before.

And the raise are annoying like that. So certainly five outfielder leagues, Josh Lowe is a must, three outfielder leagues. I don't even say, I wouldn't even call a must roster at this point beyond whether or not you start him. I think he still is just because we know what the upside can be. and outfield is such a mess, but yeah, I get what you're saying. In a points league, you need volume, you need a batts, and Josh Lowe probably is not going to play every single day.

Nolan Jones began a new rehab assignment at AAA on Sunday. Nuel V. Marte is scheduled to begin his rehab assignment June 11th. He's eligible to return from his suspension on June 27th, and he is 37% rostered. Now is the time to stash Noel V. Marte, if you're in need of a corner infielder, you're in need of steals. I think he'll obviously provide both of those things.

Francisco Alvarez could be ready to rejoin the Mets on June 11th. He's been out since April 20th with a fractured left thumb. 68% rostered. Scott, do you think Francisco Alvarez is a must add in one catcher leagues if he's still out there? Like, is there somebody in every one catcher league who could use Francisco Alvarez? Yes, I think there is somebody in everyone catcher league. Now, is that somebody you listening? there? Not necessarily, but I'd consider him an upgrade from like Jonah Heim. I'd consider him

an upgrade from like Danny Jansen if you happen to pick him up. Camp Usano, I think. Yeah, over Luis Campusano, sure, over Logan O'Hoppy for that matter. If you picked up, if you picked up David Fry, you, I don't think I would make a one catcher league. I, yeah, I'd rather have Alvarez than Frye. I'm going to rank Alvarez higher, but if I, I don't think I would make, had David Frye on my team, I don't know that I would drop him to pick up Alvarez. And a one catcher league? I mean, David Fry's has been so good. I mean, you know, in a one catcher league, it's a similar thing to like Nolan Gorman, ride the hot hand.

There is no hotter hand than David Fry right now. Right, but I just, I don't know that you're going to get another shot at Alvarez. True. We just listed, what, four or five catchers who are likely rostered in one catcher league. that we would consider Alvarez an upgrade over. So, yeah, I think I'd drop Frye for him. I understand what you're saying, and if you want to risk it and trust Alvarez will remain out there.

I just don't think I could do that. I don't think I'd be willing to risk it. Masataka Yoshida could begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He's been out since April 28th with a strained left thumb. 52% rostered. Would you be looking to stash? Yoshida. So I just put together a new IL stash rankings.

He's pretty low on the list. Just because I'm not sure what, I'm not sure of how much of anything he brings to the table. It's a pretty good, pretty good play discipline guy, I guess. So you could make the case for him in a points league, especially because of that. But points leagues, you're talking fewer outfielders started. And I doubt Masataki,

Shita is going to make the cut there. Does he need to be rostered in five outfielded fielder leagues? Probably just because there's so many outfield spots to fill there. But considering he's already 52% rostered. Which surprised me. Yeah. Yeah. That about covers the five outfielder

leagues, I would think. So he's pretty low priority coming back from this injury. Masataki Yoshita, I would say. It doesn't mean we'll never want to pick him up. He could come out of the gate blazing hot and and then just by virtue of people wanting to get production in their lineup,

he gets added in a bunch of those three outfielder leagues. But I don't think that's something we should anticipate happening. By the way, I wanted to say Francisco Alvarez, he's beating his timetable by like two weeks. Remember he was given an eight-week timetable following that thumb surgery? Yep. And it'll be more like, yeah, he'll be beating it by two weeks if he does come back next week. Robert Gasser is dealing with left elbow soreness

and is in the process of receiving a second opinion. Brandon Marsh was placed in the aisle with a right hamstring strain. Manager Rob Thompson said it was, quote, very mild and old friend. I don't know whose friend he is. She's not my friend. Yeah, I don't know. Someone who used to be of interest in fantasy. He doesn't know me from Adam.

And I mean Adam Azer or Adam Mazer. Right. David Doll is who we're referring to. He was recalled by the Phillies and he had a great game. He went two for three with the home run, and I just wanted to mention that he was crushing it in the minors this season, 340 batting average, 12 homers, and a 1076 OPS. Do with that what you will.

Luis Arise was out of the lineup Monday with a neck slash shoulder injury. He suffered on a slide Sunday. Spencer Schwellenbach will make a second start. This one up against the Red Sox in Fenway Park, and poor old John Means. He underwent a second Tommy John surgery. It was successful on Monday. Monday, and obviously that's pretty rough news.

We know the statistics of getting a second Tommy John and what it does for your career. And, you know, I don't know. Maybe we'll see John Means at some point next season. Single tier for John Means here, who I have kept rostered all this time in two 2014-dynastly leagues. I've held on to him for ever since. what was it?

Was it late 2020 when he first showed signs of breaking through? And I've had him rostered in those leagues ever since then, waiting for the payoff. And I will not have him rostered anymore in those leagues. Suffice it to say, I will keep him in neither. The odds of him making a successful return from second Tommy John surgery much lower, doesn't mean it won't happen. But, you know, this isn't exactly Walker Bueller.

we're talking about either, who gets that kind of benefit of the doubt. Means has hardly pitched since 2021, right? And it's not like he was an ace before then. So, yeah, sad day. But I'm officially moving on from John Means in all the places where I was very invested in him. Let's get into the waiver wire options from Monday's action. And it might be your last chance for all three of these hitters. We already spoke about Nolan Gorman, but Jamer Candelario, he's coming around.

He's actually been pretty good over the past month. He went two for five with his seventh home run, added two runs to RBI. Last 29 games, batting 288 with five homers, 13 runs, 15 RBI, tons of line drives. Just doing Candelario things. He's up to 75% rostered. The other name is T.J. Friedel, two for four with a run, and in RBI. He had a homer on Sunday. He picked up a steal on Saturday, and he has let off four of the past five games.

for the Reds. He is 68% rostered. Scott, let me first ask you about Candelario. I think he's more useful at third base. That position has been a little bit wonky this year. Would you prefer Candelario over, I mean, these are pretty low-end options at this point, but like Michael Bush, Brian Hayes, and Jake Berger?

I mean, he's the hotter hand, and one, it surprised me if he's just more productive than those guys the rest of the way. I had him, I think we all basically had Jamer Candelaria's sleeper going to the most Homer-friendly park in baseball. And for what it's worth, he's tried to take advantage of that. Jamer Candelario has a career-high fly ball rate and a career-high pull rate, which would seem to be a formula for success going to Cincinnati.

But of course, the league as a whole hasn't been favorable for home runs. And maybe he's trying to force the issue and just needs to go back to what he was doing before when he was still a pretty good fantasy option, Jamer Candelario. Mostly, I'm encouraged that after striking out 34% of the time in April, he got it down to 19% in May. So the strikeouts are back under control for Jamer Candelario And now he's off to a good start here in June So I put him in the same category as those other guys And if you want to just write out the hottest one of them Which right now is Candelario

Then yeah, I would say I'd prefer him to those two If it's a deep league scenario where they're all already rostered I don't know that I'm trading Jake Burger for Jamer Candelario You know? Yeah. But that's what happened to there. Whoa. It's been a while since we have seen Robo Scott.

Robo Scott is back and he is here to infiltrate the podcast. Don't like it. Don't make it at all. Are you here? Are you here, Scott? I think so. All right, Scott is back. We were doing so good for so long.

What happened? Yeah, I thought I had figured it out. It might just be a blip. Hopefully. We'll see. Let's talk about T.J. Friedel, who is up to 68% rostered, and he's a name I know you've mentioned quite a bit recently. Do you think Friedel is someone that needs to be added in three outfielder leagues now while you still can?

Yeah, no, I was picking him up in all of mine this past weekend. I think I left him out there in one of them. I just didn't have room for him. But I think he's going to be, if I had to guess, he would be a top 30 outfielder rest of season. In categories leagues, the stolen base contributions are obvious. The impact T.J. Friedel could have there. But even in points leagues, he was 3.09 points per game last year,

which was more than Brian Reynolds, for instance. So, you know, we had doubts about whether he could follow up on the power production he had last year. But I think given the hitting environment, the scarcity of quality hitters, even for shallower leagues, you get a newcomer, which is sort of what T.J. Friedel is a newcomer to the 2024 player pool because he spent so much of it injured. you're incentivized to hope for the best because you need all the help you can get. I'll give you four names, Scott. In shallower leagues, would you drop any or all of these for Frito?

Cedric Mullins, Joe Adele, Colton Couser, Jackson Churio. Yeah. I drop all of them for T.J. Frito. What was the second one? It was Colton, no, Joe Adel. Joe Adele, who cooled off a lot in May. Yeah, but a stat cast page is still splashed with red, isn't it?

Or I guess the strikeout rate is, oh yeah, the strikeout rate's gone way up. Yeah, yeah, I'd drop Adele, any of those four for T.J. Friedel. Let's talk about two names in Roto-sized lineup. So deeper into the player pool here, Alec Berluson, he went one for five with his seventh home run, last 17 games with the Cardinals, 292 batting. average. Four homers, 11 runs, 8 RBI, 2 steals, doing a little bit of everything, hits the ball hard,

lots of line drives, expected stats look pretty good. Shout out to you, Scott. I know it's only one day, but you had Gorman and Burleson in your sleeper hitters for this week. And Mark Vientos, he might be a thing. I know it's a small sample, but he's doing some interesting

things right now. Two for three, with two walks and his fifth home run. He's batting 339, 1070 OPS, strikeout rate is down to 20% this season, which is a career best, again, in a small sample size, but he's barreling the ball up, expected stats look good, only 31% roster. I think either one in a 12-team, five outfielder roto league with a corner infielder. I think both guys need to probably be rostered in that format, Burleson and Vientos. Yeah, I, you know, I've always been high on

Burleson, I think the combination of, he gives you high quality, high quantity, let me say this right, Burleson delivers high quantity contact and high quality contact. And normally that translates to production. It certainly did in the minors and now it seems to be in the majors as well. Is he going, like he doesn't, he doesn't walk much. So in points leagues, it might be hard for him to meet the three hours. outfielder league threshold, but five outfielder leagues, I think he can sustain a good batting average and how many homeruns is he up to now? Yeah, he could approach 20 homers, if not surpass it. I guess maybe like he could be Lordus Gurriel like. Yeah, I was thinking he could kind of be what Yoshita was last year. Good batting average,

15 to 20 homers. It's, you know, it's not an elite. outfielder, but a useful war. Sure. And for what it's worth, since it's always, like we talk about players in isolation and just we can take a negative tone or a positive tone relative to where we think perception is. And then when we try to crisscross players, it can get confusing. Because we were just talking about Masataki Yoshita, and I had kind of a negative tone. And now we're talking about Alec Berluson and I have kind of a positive tone. I would rather have Masataki Yoshida than Alec Berluson to be clear.

I think that's a good point. And I think it's just a reminder that we still think Yoshita is a good player. And obviously what he did last year was pretty impressive as a rookie. So, you know, if Burleson could become that hitter, then yeah, it's useful. My opinion on Yoshita is lower now than it was coming into the season. And my opinion of Burleson is higher now than it was coming into the season. I guess is why you get this kind of. confusing sounding messaging.

As for Mark Vientos, I'm with you and that I'm pretty enthusiastic about what he's doing. I could see him being this year's Jake Berger. Jake Berger himself is not this year's Jake Berger. It doesn't seem. But maybe Mark Vientos could because he always had the power, the big eggs of velocity readings, and just struck out too much to take advantage of it. And now he's got the strikeouts under control. It's a small sample, but 21% or 20%,

strikeout rate is much better than the 33% we saw from him in his previous time in the majors. And the Mets have option Brett Beatty. So Mark Vientos is getting plenty of run right now. One name to, I would say, just follow in deeper leagues to see where it goes. But Austin Hayes, he hasn't played much since returning from the IL. But he did make the most of his playing time on Monday. He went two for four with a double dong, three RBI, his first two home runs of the season. and he's been useful at times throughout his career.

So just something I pay attention to and we'll see where it goes with Austin Hayes. Let's take our final break and when we return, we'll get into some pitchers. We'll do that right after this. Waiverwire pitchers from Monday's action. And first up, Matt Waldron turned in another strong start. He was at the Angels.

He went six and a third innings. He allowed one run, four strikeouts, only had four whiffs on 95 pitches. And I don't think he's, really had much working in the start. So I thought he showed growth as a pitcher that he didn't have the fastball, he didn't have the knuckle ball, and still managed to turn in a really good start. Last five outings for Waldron, 184 ERA, a point 92 whip. Kyle Gibson was solid at the Astros, five and two-thirds innings, three runs, eight strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 96 pitches and

through more sweepers. Now, this is his second start in a row where the sweeper was his most used pitch and that is a really, really good sweeper. So there could do something with Kyle Gibson. The sweeper has a 41% whiff rate. And it was actually 47% last year. So I think the more Kyle Gibson throws that sweeper, the better he's going to be. I understand this wasn't a quality start,

but there were some good things about it. I don't regret including him among the 10 sleep of pitiful for this week based on how this week has gone so far. Yeah, and to get 15 whiffs against the Astros lineup, that's pretty impressive. Andrew Abbott, the last one I wanted to mention, he survived Corse Field with a quality start, six innings, three runs, six strikeouts, 13 whiffs, that's more than we're used to seeing from Andrew Abbott. So I thought that was notable. He's up to 66% rostered.

Scott, how would you rank these three? Waldron, Gibson, and Abbott. Waldron Gibson and Abbott? Waldron's the clear number one. I don't think it's generally going to be advisable for him to throw his knuckleball 33% of the time like he did in this start. But you make a good point that it wasn't getting whiffs at its usual rate. It didn't seem to be as effective as usual. And he found a way to succeed in spite of that, which is rare for knuckleballers, frankly.

He has a – I pointed out before Matt Waldron throws his fastball much harder than the typical knuckleballer. And he has a sweeper that he used a lot in this start. It doesn't get whiffs at a great rate, but it has a low batting average against. It seems to work in conjunction with everything else well enough. And now we have four really good starts in a row now for Waldron, right? That's five. I think five. Okay, five really good starts in a row.

Last five starts, 184 ERA, 0.92 Witt. So I think he's in the top 75, top 80 range among starting pitchers now. While Kyle Gibson and Andrew Abbott are both strong, struggling to be in the top 100 for me. I have a little more faith in Kyle Gibson being usable the rest of the season than I do Andrew Abbott. But Abbott probably has more upside. I say probably because maybe Gibson continues to throw the sweeper as often as he did in this start and unlocks upside. We never even thought he had.

So, yeah, I would, I guess I'll give Gibson the edge over Abbott rest of season. wanted to mention a news item that I should have gotten too much earlier, a bad job by me. I just forgot to include it in the news and notes. But Kyle Tucker left that game with a right shin contusion. He fouled the ball off of his shin, and the broadcast was talking about how this is the exact same spot that he recently fouled the ball off of.

And he was like rolling around in pain. It took him a while to get up. He tried to stay in the game. I was watching all of it. And then he just said, no, I'm in too much pain, so he left. X-rays were negative, so that's the good news here. Day-to-day, wouldn't surprise me if Tucker gets a few days off, but obviously it looks like, you know, big damage has been avoided,

and we need that because Kyle Tucker has been one of the best players in fantasy this season. So, my bad, should have got to that earlier. Some hitters who have picked things up lately, and I've got five names here on the list, two of them being Astros, Yordon Alvarez went two for three with a double and his 12th home run. Last 24 games, he's betting 359 with five home runs, 13 runs, three steals. I don't really think that's sustainable, but worth noting for Yordaun Alvarez. Alex Bregman seems to have found the power stroke recently as five home runs in his past seven games.

And over his last 21, he's betting 277 with eight home runs, 16 RBI, tons of fly balls, good amount of barrels as well. Anthony Santander has picked things up lately. Not an elite option, but someone who's been very useful over the past couple seasons. He went two for four with his 11th home run and over his last 10 games,

batting 297 with four homers, tons of hard contact. And then two other veteran names. George Springer slowly coming around last seven games, batting 391, one homer, 1113 OPS. And Mani Machado, last 16 games,

batting 316, one homer, six doubles, two steals, and starting to hit the ball very hard. Any observations here, Scott, on Machado, Springer, Santander, Breggman, and Alvarez? Yeah, that home run for Machado, didn't make a note of what it was. It was 112.9 miles per hour. So he really smoked it. Yeah, I think I think all of

a lot of this is just players who were always good certainly have very consistent track records and not enough in the underlying numbers this year to suggest okay, they're just they're too old or they're broken

or they've fallen apart. Not a lot in the underlying numbers to suggest they're a fundamentally different player. They've just underperformed to this point. And that would certainly go for, well, certainly Alvarez, but I don't think anybody was doubting him. But Bregman, Machado, and I'd even say George Springer to an extent. And I think, I hope that their recent success is a sign that this season is going to play out similarly to 2022 when remember offense was just abysmal for the first month and a half. And it ended up

being a bad year for offense overall, but things didn't feel nearly as dire for the rest of the season. And I'm really hoping this year plays out the same way because, you know, most hitters numbers like superstar, long-time superstar hitters like the ones we're talking about here, just too many of them. They just, the numbers just look terrible. And it's going to be, we're all going to be really dejected at seasons end if it remains that way. So hopefully it's not. Hopefully this is a sign that things are coming around. Things are changing.

Anthony Santander, he's not of the same calibers these other hitters, but he's been productive for two or three years now in a good lineup. And I guess I'd be most concerned about him just because the Orioles have so many hitters waiting in the wings who really deserve playing time already. I'm thinking, Heston Kirstad and who else is there? Kyle Stowers, I think there's some other big name I'm forgetting. But so many. Jackson Holiday, Kobe Mayo is out injured right now.

Yeah, yeah, so many waiting to break through that Anthony Santander, if he continues to struggle, wouldn't be able to hold them off all season. But, no, he's probably going to come around too and deliver a nice power production. Yeah, I would say, to the extent. you can still buy low on these guys. Go ahead and try. I think Manny Machado and George Springer, you'd have a pretty good chance with those two of buying low.

Bregman might be harder at this point because he's been hot for so long. And Alvarez, I'm not sure he could ever realistically bought low on him. But yeah, the point is I think they're coming around. All right. Some offense is coming around. You mentioned on yesterday's podcast that we are starting to see more of these blow-up regression starts.

lately and we got some more of those on Monday. Kevin Gosman, two steps forward, one big step back, up against the Orioles, six in a third inning, six runs allowed, three homers allowed in the start. That was a season high for Kevin Gosman. He allowed 16 hard hits in this game, 16 batted balls, 95 mile per hour, exit velocity, or higher. I don't think I've ever seen a number that high as long as I've been tracking this, which is, I don't know, basically since 2020.

So lots of hard contact against Kevin Gossman in this one, and he just didn't have anything. His splitter got just two whiffs. It was a 9% CSW, and specifically on that splitter, the whiff rate is way down this year. Velocity has been down all season, although it was up in this start,

but just in general, the velocity has been down. And Gossman's now allowed five plus earned runs in four starts this season, Scott. I don't want to just write him off. Like, we're only two months into the season. But I think the ace outcome, I've kind of moved on from that being a possibility for Gosman this season. Well, I think it's appropriate not to rank him like an ace anymore.

I'm not closing the door on that possibility. But I don't think you can value him as an ace right now. Must roster still, top 30 still. But top 15, no, I think he's out of the running there. There was just too many red flags. you know, there are reasons for optimism, too. You mentioned the velocity was up in this start. Yeah, it was basically where it was last year.

So the velocity is becoming less concerning for Gosman as time goes on. And when he's looked good, especially lately, he's gotten whiffs. He's, he's genuinely looked good and not just like he happened to have a good start. So in this start in particular, the big step back, His splitter wasn't getting its usual drop. I believe it had, let's see, what did I note here, had three fewer inches of drop, the splitter in this start. So I don't know why he didn't have a feel for it,

but that seems to have been the issue. And there's been a little too much of that for Kevin Gosman this year, I understand. But it's not to the point that he's unstartable for you in fantasy. like we've seen from Redetmers, for instance, who obviously has been sent down because he was doing so poorly. Three other pitchers who had rough outings on Monday.

Mackenzie Gore up against the Mets. He allowed six runs over four and a third. He walked four, only had two strikeouts in that start. Tyler McGill, not great on the other side. Five innings, five runs, four of those earned. Three walks to four strikeouts. He allowed 11 hard hits in that game. And Justin Verlander, not awful.

but just not good. Five innings, four runs allowed. I gave up three home runs in this start. Eight hard hits allowed. I think where I'm at's got with Verlander is that, look, he's 41 years old. That's obvious. I think he's more of the Jose Barrios,

Chris Bassett type, where he's like a borderline top 50th starting pitcher. That doesn't mean he's bad. I just think, like, our expectations, and I think for the most part, they have changed. But the way we view Verlander is that's more of the pitcher who he is at this point in his career. And it's who he was last year, too. So I don't think it's at all a leap to say that.

Yeah, I think that's a good, those are good comps for him. Burrios, you know, when he pitches well, he's going to go seven innings. He's going to limit damage enough to get a win in all likelihood, but less than a strikeout per inning. and that hitability is going to lead to some ugly starts like this one. I say ugly because it wasn't a good start, but four runs in five innings isn't a total disaster either. That makes you regret. That makes you never want to start him again.

It was just, you know, it was a bad start for Justin Verlander, and those are happening a little more often, but the good ones are still good enough that most weeks are going to want to start him. Mm-hmm. Let's get into some other pitching leftovers, and we had ourselves a bit of a pitcher's duel out in Texas. It's time to do. I haven't heard that one in a while.

Yeah, I brought that one back. Someone tweeted at me. They said, please play the Yu-Gi-O drop for the pitcher's duel, so I must oblige. Let's talk about Terek Skubel up against Nathan Avaldi. Both pitched very well in this one. Scoobal, six innings, one run, six strikeouts, had 11 whiffs on 96 pitches.

To be honest. I don't think he had his best stuff in this start, but obviously it was still a really, really good one. And Nathan Avaldi on the other side, five and two thirds, one run allowed, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 71 pitches. Nice to see that pitch count get up.

His last time out, I believe he was, yeah, he was at 37 pitches, and in this one basically doubled that up to 71. Velocity way up across the board. Splitter looked awesome in this outing for Nathan Avaldi. I think we pretty much know how this. This story goes, Scott, as long as the V-Lo is there, as long as Nathan Avaldi is healthy, he's going to be a really, really good pitcher, and that's what we saw here.

Yeah, this is probably all the reassurance you need to get him back in your lineup. Of course, you probably had him in your lineup since he was scheduled for two starts, the first being against the Tigers. It was a bit of a risk since he only threw 37 pitches in his first start back, but it paid off, and I feel pretty good about it paying off. and then the second turn of all D takes this week. All right. Let's talk about some other pitching left over.

Zach Wheeler turned in another strong start up against the Brewers. Seven innings, one run, six strikeouts. Only had nine whiffs on 114 pitches. You don't love that, but obviously it's been a fine season for Zach Wheeler. More than that. More than fine. He's been the best pitcher of fantasy. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that Ranger Suarez has, right?

But I would. Of the aces, he is the, one that's, you know, done the best. Right. We all rank him number one. Except maybe, does Chris rank him number one rest of season? I'm not so sure. He held out there for a long time. I think

I called him out before he went away to Europe and then he changed it. No, he has Corbyn Burns as number one pitcher. So, uh, it's nice. Yeah. Let's, uh, the other names here I wanted to mention, Grayson Rodriguez, a quality start at the Blue Jays, six and two thirds. Two runs

allowed. One of those earned. He had four strikeouts, 11 whiffs on 86 pitches for Grayson Rodriguez, and Tyler Anderson. He can't keep getting away with this, yet he does. Up against the Padre, six and two thirds, one run, three walks, two strikeouts, three earned runs or less in 11 of 12 starts for Tyler Anderson. He's down to a 237 ERA, 10th best among qualified starting pitchers. I'm not really sure what to say about Tyler Anderson's guy. He could do this all the way to September, and I would still be telling you to sell.

Right. I will never believe in what Tyler Anderson is doing. Of course, he would have more walks than strikeouts than this start and pitch well in spite of it. Yeah, it's, it's, there is going to come a crash here. Can't sustain a two. Why does this not updated with the numbers from today? Fan graphs usually has the numbers updated with today's stats. 2.37.

2.37 ERA and the XERA FIP and expected FIP are all mid to high fours. Like that's that is a gap. And it's not like, you know, sometimes you'll see some disagreement there in those ERA estimators. And you can point to one, oh, okay, the FIPP and X FIP are bad. But look at the XERA here. He's clearly doing the job of surprise. pressing hard contact and maybe that's the best gauge of who he is. And you can kind of dismiss those others for a variety of reasons.

But when they're all in agreement like that and he's outperforming it by two runs, yeah, that's a dead giveaway that Tyler Anderson is phony baloney. I mean, if you could get something for him in a trade, please, please try. I don't know how realistic that is, but... I mean, yeah, he's... He's less than 80% rostered, so it's probably not that realistic outside of deep leagues. And if you're playing in a deep league,

the people are probably pretty knowledgeable playing with you. A couple of hitting leftovers, Starling Marte has quietly had a very strong season. He went three for five with his 10th stolen base, batting 275. He's got six home runs, 729 OPS, average exit velocity, a career high for Starling Marte. I think it was very obvious that he can still play.

Just wasn't healthy last year. And Wyatt Langford has three multi-hit games since returning from the IL, six games total. So he's getting some hits. He's doing some things. We'd like to see some power in speed. It's, you know, one homer, one steal. But he's just returned.

Let's give him a shot. See where Wyatt Langford goes from here. Some bullpen updates for the Phillies. Jeff Hoffman entered. in the eighth with a two-run lead facing nine, one, and two in the Brewers lineup. Jose Alvarado then pitched a scoreless ninth for his tenth save of the season. For the Mets, it was Drew Smith. Was it Drew Smith?

Or was it the other gentleman that's been? Deekman. Jake Deekman. It was Drew Smith. Why did I? I thought this was someone else. Oh, you're talking about it. You're not talking about who got the save?

No, I was thinking of Reed Garrett for a second. but Drew Smith entered with one out in the eighth runners on first and second, a three-run lead. He recorded the final two outs. Adam Adavino started the ninth inning for the save, but then he gave up two runs on a walk, a hit by pitch, two hits. He was relieved by Jake Deekman, who got the final two outs for his second save. It's messy. It's just, I don't know.

I think on most nights, it's probably Reid Garrett, but kind of messy. I mean, Adam Ottavino has been pretty awful, especially lately. his ERA is approaching six now. So don't think he's the answer. No. No, please. I mean, the answer is just for Edwin Diaz to get healthy, but I don't, I haven't seen a timeline for that.

No, me neither. For the Tigers, it was Bo Briskey, who pitched the final three innings and allowed just one hit. He struck out four. He wound up with the win. Jason Foley had pitched both Saturday and Sunday. For the Astros, Josh Hader struck out one for his ninth save.

For the Angels, Carlos Estevez also struck out one for his ninth save. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, we have Trevor Williams up against the Mets, Dane Dunning against the Tigers, and do we go with Adam Azer in his debut against the Angels? Adam Mazer. No, I would not go with him in his debut.

It could work out. It's Angels. Yeah, you know what? Actually, if you're forcing me to pick a third option from Tuesdays, I will just say, Yolo, let's start Adam Mazur. Call up Adam Azer. We can watch it together on the stream and have a grand old time as he hopefully doesn't ruin our fantasy teams. But realistically, no, Tuesday is not a good day to stream anybody. If Mazur has a great start, I want everybody to tweet at Adam Azer.

That's A-I-Z-E-R, the host of the Fantasy Football Today podcast. and let him know how well he pitched in his debut. On Wednesday, we have Braxton Garrett, who is up against Tampa Bay, Albert Suarez at the Blue Jays. Both of those were sleeper pitchers for the week, so. Yeah, there's a few options here. I know you're skeptical of Tyone. I don't think he's great, but he's facing the white socks,

so I think that could work. And maybe Soriano, Jose Soriano, up against the Padres. Yeah, we're really lacking a third choice here on Wednesday. But between Tuesday and Wednesday, I would say. say Braxton Garrett against the Rays and Albert Suarez that the Blue Jays are the best choices. All right, Scott.

We are here. Team name Tuesday. And there's no Chris Hauer, so we're left to figure these out on our own. That's fine. We're not total idiots, Frank. Okay?

People want to make their obscure music references. Nobody. You have to be a total hipster to know. Nobody said we were idiot, Scott. You kind of make me feel like, an idiot, Frank, and not in the good way. You're dragging me down to your level. Oh, come on.

What you... Geez. Why are you going to pull me down? All right. Whatever. Let's talk about these. This first one's from Justin. I feel like I have to sing it to get it right.

I'm going to swing from the Langalee here. Do you know that song's got it? I don't, but I get what Langalee. Lears is substituting for here. It's fine. I'll send you the song after this and you tell me if I did a good job or not. From Raphael, Alex Braggs, man. But Joey is a low perfido guy.

Um, I don't know that one. Sorry. These are from Todd. These may not even be very obscure music references. I'm just not good with music in general, okay? Unless it's like timeless songs. From Todd. Imanaga, work here anymore,

anyway. Okay. Yeah, I know that one. Imanaga, work here anymore anyway. Office space. Yeah. That, you see, I have no idea. Okay. Whistles go woo-woo. All right. No clue. From Eric. Bryce, yeah, these are all different versions of some kind of ice cold Miller light. Bryce Cold Miller Light. Okay, that one's obvious. Bryce Cold Miller Light. Was that the... Colt? Was that like the backup catcher

that got called up to the pirates recently? I see what Eric was doing here. He knows I don't like when you force too many... Force too many player names into a team name. And so it becomes a stretch for it to read properly. He knows I don't like that. And so he just kind of gave you three choices here and it lets you decide whether you want to,

want to do incur my wrath or not. Yeah. That's what Eric did. And I will do just that because the last one is Bryce Cold Miller Lighter. No. Some people email these in and they purposely write, I know Scott will hate this. Please read it. This one's from Justin.

Burger Whit fries. Okay. So it's like with? Yeah. And you get three player names in there. You know, I like food ones in general. This one's pretty good. So I kind of like this one.

Yeah. These are from Tom, the Fott calling the Ketel Blackmon. Blackmon, I don't know why I said it like that. The Fott calling the Ketel Blackman. That's pretty good. I like it. Shannual transmission. I think Scott's frozen.

What is going on here? What an end to the podcast. I'm just going to throw this up here whenever he returns. I'll keep reading these. This last one from Tom, Hap Springs Eternal. This one's from Tony. Naler Swift. I think Chris probably would have enjoyed that.

Actually, there's a bunch from Tony. Ellie Tubbies, pretty good. Devers, have I ever? A little bit of chicken fried. That's pretty good. Beowulf. I like that one. And you serious Clark?

One of my favorite Christmas vacation quotes. I like that one. You serious, Clark? And that's spelled Clark with an E. Clark Schmidt. And a last one from Brian. This one came from Twitter. I feel like I have to probably

read this one too. I don't think you're fady for this jelly. Those out there, you know where it's from. We're going to wrap there for Robo Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.