Fantasy Baseball Today - Nolan McLean's Strong Start & BUY OR SELL! (9/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

Nolan McLean just had another strong start (3:11)! ... Tyler Wells looked good in his return (7:57). ... The Mets' offense remains red hot (10:55). ... News (18:33): Kyle Tucker left early with a calf injury. ... Max Fried and Framber Valdez are trending in opposite directions (22:56). ... Trent Grisham continues to rake (26:54). ... Cade Cavalli looks like he has some nice matchups next week (38:00). ... Let's fire up the DROP-O-METER for hitters who struggled in August (42:50). ... Let's talk WAY TOO EARLY Buy or Sell for 2026 (51:55). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:03:10). 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, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@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/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome in some fantasy baseball today on Wednesday, September 3rd. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, another strong start from Nolan McLean.

We'll fire up the dropometer for hitters who were honestly terrible in August. And I have some way too early buyer sell for next season. Scott, look at us. We're back. We're reunited for one day. And then I'm going to go. One day. Again.

Always leaving us, Frank. I am always. I got a wedding to go to, but I'm sure you guys will do a great job, hold it down. Maybe I'll convince Chris to do a little Scott. He doesn't know on Thursday night. We'll see about that. Don't let me know. All right.

we'll keep it a surprise. Let's jump in. The impossible has happened. The impossible has happened. The Mets have a good starting pitcher. That is impossible, right? No one McLean. You know, I throw the term around, I throw the term league winner around probably too much.

But Nolan McLean looks the part through four starts here. He was at the Tigers, six innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts. Only eight whiffs on 90 pitches in this one, but he has now turned in three stray quality starts. He has allowed a total of four earned runs. He has six plus strikeouts in all four outings. I saw a stat from the underdog baseball account on Twitter. And they said the only pitcher with more strikeouts

through his first four career starts with the Mets was Tom Seaver. So that's a pretty good company to be in there for Nolan McLean. He's got a fastball that racks up a bunch of whiffs. And through four starts, it's a 137. ERA, 0.76 whip, gets a ton of ground balls. He's all the way up to 84% rostered. So there's not really much actionable here, Scott. Outside of, if you pick this guy up, he might just help you win a championship. Well, it's interesting that that strikeout number is so historic because the K-per-9 rate for Nolan McLean, it's good, 9.6. It's not like, particularly over a four-star

sample it's not like blow you away good but i guess for your first four starts it's pretty impressive right but i mean think about some of the huge bat messers the mets have had in recent years um i don't know i was kind of surprised by that because the number that really stands out uh to me for nolan mclean is the ground ball rate which is verging on 78 or verging on 70 percent i think it was 68 percent coming into this start and among qualifiers hose sauriano is a distant He's at like 65, 66%. So Nolan McLean has him be. And he's getting strikeouts at a pretty good rate as well.

We did see the control kind of slip a little bit in this start. Remember previous two starts zero walks. And that was the main thing I felt like he couldn't sustain. He walked three in this one. I think he threw about 62% strikes. So that's more in line with what Nolan McLean was doing in the minors. still it was a good start against a pretty good team here the tigers and i had him as a sleeper pitcher coming into this week i felt a little dirty about it because like i should agonize over my sleeper

pitchers they shouldn't be layups like this so i'm glad to see that nolan mclean is now up to 84% rostered no longer qualifies for that list and i think it's to the point where you just start him until he gives you a reason not to. And hopefully that doesn't happen this year. Feel free to disagree, Scott. But I updated my starting pitcher rankings here on Tuesday. And this was the order that I put the rookie pitchers, the guys that have really kind of emerged here,

or ones that were really excited about. So I had Nolan McLean at the top of the list, followed by Cam Schlittler, Jonah Tong, Peyton Toley, and then Hurston Waldrop. That's the order of those specific. How much you'd want to roster them right now? that how you were ordering them? Yeah, I guess just what I'm, my excitement level, the one I'm most likely to start, I guess, rest of the season. I would go Tully over Tong. And I think both Tully

and Tong, I think their ultimate ceiling is higher than McLean's and maybe Schlittler's also. But if we're talking startability, I mean McLean and Schlittler, I think have earned it more. So that's fair. But I was really impressed by Tully. I think he's, I think he's, I think he's, By the pitching or the mustache? By the pitching. I mean, the mustache too. The whole look, like the whole aesthetic, the Payton Tolly aesthetic.

Like the way he stared into his dugout after every strikeout is just like menacing. It was an experience. The whole thing. His fastball looked like it was on a ramp. It was crazy. Yeah. And it was just so impressive to watch.

So I think Peyton Tolly is going to be a big, deal. You know, Jonah Tong, his first start was fine. It wasn't as good as I hoped for. And maybe my expectations were off the charts because his minor league numbers were so ridiculous.

It wasn't reason to like, not roster him or anything. But I think Peyton Tolly's first start made the stronger impression. And his minor league numbers were fantastic too. All right, Scott, let's go over to you for your player of the night. My player of the night.

A little less scintillating here, but Tyler Wells returned from UCL surgery for the Orioles. We hadn't seen him pitch in a major league game since, I believe it was 2024, early 2024. It's the last time we saw Tyler Wells pitch. And well, well, Wells, he looked about the same as when we last saw him. Two run runs and five innings, no walks, four strikeouts at Sandy. 11 whiffs on 85 pitches.

That's a pretty good rate. He was never like, you know, he wasn't Kyle Braddish. He was never this high-end must-roster type in fantasy. But he was interesting. His last full season, Tyler Wells, in 25 appearances, 20 starts, 364 ERA, 0.99 whip, and right out of K Per inning. He has that profile, like we've talked about, I don't know. Maybe Andrew Abbott would be the best comp, right-handed version of Andrew Abbott,

but great control pitcher who gets fly balls at a really high rate. So as long as he keeps the ball in the yard, good things should happen. I guess, you know, that's kind of the Bailey Ober profile too. Obviously, things have gone wrong for Ober this year. But we've seen them go right before. And that's what I think Tyler Wells could be, particularly since coming back from this procedure. He looked about the same. The stuff was about the same pitch selection, was about the same, certainly compared to that last full season, 2023.

Got a little different in the three starts he made in 2024. But basically, he looked like the 2023 version of Tyler Wells again. And his next start is against the pirates. Yep. So it's particularly in deeper leagues where... The top half of my sleeper pitchers list is probably, you're probably going to be, they're probably all going to be rostered already in your league

because you're playing a deeper league. But maybe toward the bottom, I'll have Tyler Wells in there against the pirates. And if, you know, I'm not saying he's for everybody at this stage, but I think in deeper leagues, given that his next matchup is against the pirates, Tyler Wells, somebody to look into.

Yeah, yeah, I agree with that completely. The last time we saw him in 2023, he was a serviceable starting pitcher. He, I feel like he got a, off to a much better start and maybe kind of faded a little bit towards the middle part of that season. But yeah, nice start here for Tyler Wells at the Padres, five innings, two runs, four strikeouts, and gets the Pirates next time out. Only 4% rostered. So again, it's a deep league play,

15-team roto, you know, maybe even 12-team roto. If your waiver wire is just barren, I think that's a totally fine start there with Tyler Wells. Before we move on to the break and hit some news and notes. I did just want to run through this Mets offense again because they are on fire. They had another huge game here. 12 runs on 17 hits, including four homers in this one. Pete Alonzo, two

more homers. He's up to 33 on the season. 112 RBI with like 20, 25 games left to go. So how high will that number get for Pete Alonzo? Juan Soto, Scott, is unreal right now. He is a man possessed. I have

never seen Wansoto. like this man, just running wild, stealing bases, hitting home runs. He is unstoppable right now. He had another homer, another steal. He's up to 37 homers, 27 steals on the season. And over just his last five games, it's five homers, nine runs, 12 RBI, four steals. And he is a man possessed. So Chris and I were talking a little bit about this yesterday.

he probably just has to be a top five picnics here, right? Overall, not that we expect him to replicate the steals, but I mean, I don't know, first year with the Mets and he's running, like maybe this is just a part of his skill set now. That's interesting that you say that, because I feel like Chris especially, it was hard to talk him into Juan Soto even as a first rounder. Yeah.

And he hasn't had a good year for batting average. We know he's capable of more. but so much of that first round profile for Juan Soto was tied to well what batting average will he hit for? Will he be a 300 plus guy or will he struggle to hit 270? And it's been the latter this year and you know the venue he finds himself in may have something to do with that. He's still like vastly underperforming his expected stats.

And I think there will be. years with the Mets, given that he's likely to spend the rest of his career there. There will be years with the Mets when Juan Soto hits 300, but it's not a gimmy. So, yeah, this stolen base total introduces a new wrinkle that I don't think anybody saw coming. And only 15% sprint speed. So he's not fast. But he's only been caught twice. So, like, he has master.

the art of stealing bases and I hope it's something that continues. I can't say off the top of my head whether I'd take him in top five. I mean, certainly in points leagues because plate discipline he's always been a top five guy in points leagues. But in Roto, I can't say off the top of my head

whether that's where Soto belongs for next year. But I've found that there are even when the stolen bases when he wasn't piling him, them up at this rate. I was finding that I was having,

there weren't many outfielders I felt like I could move ahead of him in my rest of season rankings because there were a lot of people falling short of expectations at that position in particular, at the top of that position. So I, yeah, go ahead. It might be just by default Soto finds his way near the top five for next year. I mean, the floor is just so hot. right, as a hitter and, you know, the way he controls the strike zone.

You would expect the batting average to bounce back. Maybe there's some give and take. The batting average comes up next year. The steals come down a little bit. It'll be very hard to kind of project what the steals look like for next year. But, I mean, I have no reason to think Carlos Mendoza won't be their manager again next year. And, you know, if they were this successful this season, you know, why not carried over into next year? So we'll see.

It's like stolen bases are so hard to predict. Yeah. So particularly for middle of the order hitter. like this because they could just like, it's not worth getting hurt. Like, I'm doing enough. You know, I'm, stealing bases hurts because you've got to fall on the ground at the end.

Like, they could just decide for any number of reasons. I don't feel like it anymore. I'm not going to steal bases, you know? Yeah. So it's, it's really hard to say. And we've seen other outlier seasons from players who are not fast, stealing bases, right? Freddie Freeman, a 20-seal season.

Josh Naylor has 20 steals. this year. Cal Raleigh has 15 steals the season as well. So, you know, we've seen something like, I guess not to this level because he's about to go 40, 30, but, you know, it's, it's interesting. It's going to be a fun talking point. Luis Torrens is killing it as well right now for the Mets, two for five with a sock and a shoe. Last four games, he has six hits, two homers, eight RBI, and a steal. He's filling in for Francisco Alvarez, just very deep league name for now, deeper two catcher leagues and all only, things like that. Last two, names on this list. Jeff McNeil, three for five with three RBI and his third steel. He's been hitting

much better of late. And Brett Beatty, three for five with his eighth steel. Last 21 games for Beatty, three steals, OPS over 950. Any interest in a Jeff McNeil or Brett Beatty? Scott, they both have multi-position eligibility here. Probably just for the deeper roto leagues. But I, I've been beating the, the Brett Bady. for years now and refusing to give up on his upside. So I am pleased to see how he's closing out this season. I hope it earns him true every day at bats next year. He still sits.

I think he sat against like the last two lefties, the Mets of face. Doesn't sit against all of them. But they have kind of a crowded infield situation. So Bady isn't totally an everyday player yet. But I hope he's earned himself a more prominent spot for next year because this was a big step forward for him. All right, before we hit our first break, just a big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this.

Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. News and notes, Kyle Tucker left Tuesday night with left calf tightness. And before leaving, he went two for three with his 22nd home run. He has been hitting better as of late, starting to wake up here a little bit. so let's hope it's not too serious. Calfs can be pretty tricky here, but my guess is he misses at least a couple of days, and if it's worse,

then perhaps we get an IELston here from Kyle Tucker. Roman Anthony left with oblique tightness, and he will undergo further evaluation. Another injury that's very tricky, obliques for hitters, and we're up against it here towards the end of the season. If it's a real oblique strain, sometimes those can take four to six weeks to heal.

So we'll see. When we learn more about Roman Anthony, we will let you know. Fernando Tati Jr. returned to the lineup after missing Monday with a lower body tightness. Mike Trout was scratched in the lineup with a skin infection. Nick Kurtz returned to the lineup after missing three games with oblique discomfort. Let's hope that's the best case scenario for Roman Anthony. Nick Lidolo was scratched from his start Tuesday due to an illness. Chase Burns through a live bullpen on Tuesday and we'll throw another one later this.

week. He is currently on the aisle with an elbow sprain. Lordes Gouriel Jr. was placed in the aisle with a torn ACL in his right knee. Brutal news for someone who just had a really great August. He'll miss the rest of this season and probably part of next season as well. Jorge Borosa started in left field for the debacks here on Tuesday. Jerkson ProFar was placed on the paternity list and we'll likely miss the next two games before rejoining the team on Friday. I hope he got a chance to welcome his buddy, Hassan Kim, to Atlanta. Apparently, those two are close. There you go.

Would have. I don't know. I don't know exactly when he left, but the timing of it is just kind of funny. The day Kim joins the team is the day Pro Fargo's on paternity leave. Yeah, they played together last year in San Diego. So nice little pickup for the Braves. I think Hassan Kim could still play. He's just still with so many entries this season coming.

back from the shoulder surgery, which kind of delayed his season as well. So he's got a month, I guess, to audition for the Atlanta Braves. They need a shortstop heading into next season. Well, it's like, it's not their decision. It's his.

It's a $16 million player option. Oh. So they're taking a big risk by claiming him off waivers from the raise here. So, I mean, evidently, they have confidence in him. And if he does return, to being the guy who was in San Diego.

He's well worth that. He's a plus plus defender at shortstop. So they're not taking a defensive downgrade there, exchanging Nick Allen for him. Not transactionally, but, you know, taking Nick Allen out of the line to put Kim in. And then Kim hopefully gives them a 15-home or 30 steel guy with pretty good on base skills.

And that would be a big upgrade. So I probably excludes them from pursuing Bo Bichette in the off season, but this is the path they've chosen, the Hassan Kim path. It gives him good job security, if nothing else. Yeah, and you've been beating that drum for a while. I know you want Bo Bichet to wind up on the Atlanta Braves. So we'll see. I do.

I have a buy or sell question for Boba Chet and his projected contract coming up later on. So that should be interesting. Max Muncie of the Dodgers will begin a rehab assignment at AAA later this week and could return it during. next week's homestand. Tommy Edmund could begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. Not could, he did begin a rehab assignment. Mackenzie Gore played catch on Tuesday, a good sign as he went on the aisle with left shoulder inflammation this weekend. And yesterday I said I would be surprised if he returns this season. Maybe I'll be wrong about McKenzie Gore. Dustin May will

not make a start for the Red Sox this week, but will be available out of the bullpen. Tyler Stevenson will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday. And Cabert Ruiz will begin a rehab assignment at AA on Tuesday. I don't know why I keep saying we'll begin. Tuesday is in the past. So he began a rehab assignment here on Tuesday. Again, that is Cabr-Ruiz. Two pitchers trending in opposite directions.

Just wanted to hit these two up top, Scott, because they are high-end names. And, you know, it's been a mostly rough second half for Max Fried and then kind of a rough August and continuing into September here for Framber Valdez. So Max Fried, seven innings, one run, five strikeouts at the Astros. That's three quality starts in a row. He's gone seven innings in back-to-back outing. So kind of looks like maybe he's getting over that blister issue

or whatever was bothering him for most of July and August. And then Framber Valdez, a rough start against the Yankees, five innings, six runs. Did have eight strikeouts, but two homers allowed in this one. He did throw the curve more, which is typically what we want, and it was very good for him. but his sinker got hit really, really hard in this start. And over his last six outings is a 637 ERA

and a 156 whip year for Franbervaldez. So any thoughts on these two, Scott, kind of trending in opposite directions here in September? Well, yeah, I think you can trust Max Fried totally. Now moving forward, three great starts in a row. Notice he faded his cutter even more in this one. So that's been part of this three-start trend for Freed. I don't know if the cutter just wasn't working for him.

It's been his most thrown pitch overall this year, but he's faded at the last three starts and found success. So he may have gotten to the bottom of what was wrong there. Framper Valdez, I mean, yeah, it's been a rough stretch beginning in August, right? And now one start in September, though the last August start was really good. So we hoped he was back on the right path, but then obviously had a bad start. As you said, that was with a lot of a lot of curveballs being thrown.

Normally, when he gets that number close to 40%, the result is great. It had been more around 25% during this rough stretch. So, okay, Framber Valdez doesn't have his curveball working. How do you explain this one? I don't know. But I will say, look what happened to Max Free. He turned it around. Framber Valdez has just as strong of the track record.

It's been a good pitcher for a long time. He's overcome bumps in the road like this before. I'd be reluctant to do anything crazy. Like, you know, I was kind of talking up Tyler Wells as a potential pick up across the board because he's available virtually everywhere. Would I sit from Bervaldez to start Tyler Wells? Almost certainly not.

I say almost certainly because there is maybe a scenario in a roto league where if I was just trying to beef up my whip as much as possible, maybe Wells against the Pirates makes more sense than rolling the dice on Framber Valdez with the way he's been going. But, you know, think about Tyler Wells' profile. He could give him four home runs next start. Like, that's in the range of outcomes for him.

So it's not like he's foolproof. I think most people who have Framber Valdez should just stick with him and hope for the best. And if you lose, you know, at least you gave it your best shot. Yeah. And shout out to Chris. He actually threw this on the rundown here. The Astros used their third or even fourth string catcher in this game,

Cesar Salazar. And it seemed like multiple times him and Framber Valdez were not on the same page in this one. And he actually got crossed up on a sinker that hit him directly in the ribs the catcher did. Valdez just turned around and kind of walked off the mound and looked extremely frustrated. So, I mean... That doesn't help. Yeah, that could be a part of, you know, giving up two homers to two left-handed hitters in the lineup.

That's typically something that does not plague Framber Valdez. So we're looking for reasons here, and perhaps that is the reason for this specific bad start with Framber Valdez. Let's run through some waiver options here from Wednesday's action. Obviously not much time left in the season, Scott, but we'll quickly run through these. Trent Grisham continues to deliver two-for-four with a grand. Grand Slam, his 29th homer, has eight home runs in his past 13 games.

I feel like roster rate, it's kind of hard to trust, hard to cite this time of year. How many people are legitimately paying attention? It moves a little slower, but at least on CBS, it gets up there. Like I said, Nolan McLean's up to 84% now. So there are still, like, the majority of leagues are plenty active. I guess maybe the guys on the bottom half of the standings may not be paying as much attention, but if a player is good enough for long enough, he'll get picked up by the contending teams.

Well, is that Trent Grisham, Scott? Because he's been pretty good for a while and he's only 71% rostered still. You know, let's look at his, is he playing every single day because for the last 29% of leagues, that might make the difference.

He has sat just once since August 5th. And that was Sunday, actually. So, yeah. Yeah, I would say even in some of those shallower three outfields where he might still be available, Grisham is at least in the discussion. He's had very good year and is obviously on a big power binge right now. Next up, Jorge Polanco continues to hit well.

Two for two with two walks and his 23rd home run, has five homers in his past 11 games. We know he's capable of getting hot and going on these crazy runs. We saw it early on in the season as well. 68% rostered, second base, third base, third base eligibility. I feel like you probably need more help at third right now. Yesterday I asked Chris about

Royce Lewis and Colson Montgomery. Would you take Polanco over either of those? I mean, it's hard to take any of them, anyone over Colson Montgomery right now. It's got to end sometime. It does have to end sometime. He's not like a 45-50 homer guy. And that's the kind of pace he's on.

So it's gone on longer than anyone could believe, but that doesn't mean it's going to go on forever. And at some point, you're going to get a bad week out of him and wish you'd started somebody else. But at the same time, to the degree we can predict the future for any third base eligible player off the waiver wire right now,

I don't know that anyone's profile is so sparkling that you need to go with them over Montgomery as hot as he is, right? So, yeah, Polanco's hot too. Last 11 games, 371 batting average five home runs. I think the profile is a little more stable. And he's back to playing every day, which wasn't always true this year. So I think maybe he's being underappreciated here a little bit.

I think especially in points leagues where Montgomery's strikeout rate does so much harm, it might be neck and neck there. between Montgomery and Polanco. I would say Lewis is bringing up the rear among those three. Just hasn't been reliable enough. Colson Montgomery, we've said it once. We'll say it again.

He can't keep getting away with it. He can't keep getting away with it. He won't. But he does. Two more outfielers here. Dalton Varshot continues to hit for power, his 17th home run in just 50 games this year. So among hitters with 100,

90 plate appearances, Varshot is first in isolated power at 363. That's better than Judge, better than Cal Raleigh, better than Kyle Schrober, better than everybody. So the power binge continues for Dalton Varsho. And Austin Hayes looks like he is getting back on track. Last 10 games, 324 with three homers, 11 RBI, two steals, tons of line drives, huge exit velocities. Scott, who do you like more between those two?

Dalton Varshow? Austin Hayes. it probably depends how many Ritees are on the schedule for the Blue Jays Actually you know what I'm looking at it now Varsha sits a lot even against Ritees So he had a I think he had a hand injury recently That he was out for bumped him out of the line of those three games

And then he actually has started three of the last four against lefties too I noticed So yeah He's twice started five games in a row since returning But there's it's it's it's there's a lot of sits over the last month since he returned too

so I think just by virtue of that I got to give the edge to Hayes but if it does become more consistent you said he started against three of the last four lefties if

that does become if that continues if that trend continues then I do think I do think Varsha might be more productive moving forward All right, and next name up here, Kyle Teal continued his nice second half, one for three with a walk in his fifth home run.

And after the All-Star break, 325, five homers, 17 RBI, one steel, 898 OPS. I still think he's just a name for two catcher leagues just because the position is so loaded. But it's nice to see him do this, someone with pedigree who gets a lot of playing time, heading into next season. I think Kyle Teal is going to make for a very interesting kind of sleeper breakout. in two catcher leagues for next year. But for now, it's, yeah, I think he's just kind of limited

to those two catcher formats. With the upside, I guess, long term to work into one catcher leagues. You know, I don't know, I don't know how catcher's going to play out and draft next year. Because Kyle Teal's not going to rank very high by virtue of there being

so many other catchers who've accomplished more this year and maybe have louder exit velocity readings and whatever else. he's just going to get pushed down. But I feel like he has top eight upside at least. So I don't know about you, but I'm thinking there certainly there have been years in the past where I didn't invest very heavily at catcher. But it might be less than ever next year.

Like just take me, just give me whatever guy falls because there are going to be so many like in a way. one catcher league, they're going to be like five worth choosing after the other 11 teams have already taken their catcher. There are going to be five that you're debating between probably still. And then in two catcher leagues, you know, obviously you can forward to way too. Some deeper waiver wire hitter names here. Andrew Benintendi had himself a huge game, four for five with two homers and five RBI. Jared Triolo continues to hit well last 17 games, 375, two homers.

12 runs, five steals for Jared Triolo, and very deep leagues, just a name to watch here, is Oswald Parraza, who is now with the Angels. Former prospect, didn't work out with the Yankees, but he went two for four with a run, RBI, and steel here on Tuesday. He actually had a home run and a steel on Sunday and has started three straight. So, look, AL only and very deep dynasty league. Sure, look at Oswald Paraza, but anything here, Scott, with like a Benintendi or Triolo in very deep leagues? Ben Intendi, I think at any kind of five outfields or league, he's startable because he is on,

we're seeing him hit a bunch of home runs here, or a few home runs here recently. He's now set, he's within one of the career high he said last year, 20. And what we saw from Andrew Ben and Tendi last year was a big jump and pull air rate. So he started optimizing the angle of, off the bat for more power. It's taken another leap forward this year. So it was kind of a pinkish color, the Polair rate on Stackass last year.

It's now like deep red. It's as red as the shirt I'm wearing. So like Ben Intendi is selling out for power and he's delivering on it. And I think in five outfield leagues, that makes him usable. I didn't want to mention this comment from Jordan Earhart in the comments. he asked if Cal Raleigh is still somebody you have to keep in a four keeper league. Like, do you keep four players? Cal Raleigh has to be one of them.

Yes. Like that is the one catcher next year that I think you might pay a premium for. But he's probably a second round pick, right? I don't think that's where I'd want to go in round two. But if you're saying he's one of four players you're keeping, well, that's like giving up a fourth round pick for him. And so absolutely you'd keep Cal Rale. Yeah, 1,000%.

I think he'll, look, there might be someone in every league that wants to take him in the first round. Like maybe he's a late first round pick. You know, if he winds up hitting 55, 60 home runs, like, it might be justifiable. I don't think I'll be the one to do it, but, you know, it wouldn't surprise me if that's where Cal Raleigh winds up next season. Let's take our final break when we return. I have a few waiver wire pitchers to ask about. We'll fire up the dropometer. I've got some buyer sell.

We'll do all that right after. this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Just have a few waiver wire pitchers to ask about. Luis Severino was okay in his first start back at the Cardinals. Five shoutout innings with four strikeouts. Looks like he lines up for two starts next week, but against the Red Sox and Reds. Both of those are at home in Sacramento, where Severino has been very bad this year. And Cade Cavali bounced back with a solid start against the Marlins, five innings, two runs, six strikeouts, gave up seven earned runs in his previous start. But before that, he looked interesting.

And if this is correct, lines up for two against the Marlins and the pirates next week. So it's risky. There's blowout potential here, but man, those matchups are pretty good. Any thoughts got on Cavali and Severino? Yeah, those matchups are pretty good for Cavali.

He's gotten ground balls at a nice rate too, nothing like Nolan McLean like, but pretty good ground ball rate, pretty good strikeout rate. He's done a good job of limiting walks to. Basically, what happened to Kate Cavali in that previous start that was so bad is he gave up four home runs.

But you wouldn't imagine that's going to happen often as high as his ground ball rate is. So that was in Yankee Stadium, obviously a favorable home run venue. It may have just been a fluky thing that happened to Kate Cavali. I'm not saying he's particularly trustworthy

or particularly high upside, but with two favorable matchups, if you have to play the Waver Wire at starting pitcher, he might be among the more attractive pickups for next week. As for Luis Severino, I don't see any reason to get excited about this. It was a decent enough start back from the IL, but we just need to see a lot more than that, I think, based on the way his full season numbers look. Two very deep league names,

a gentleman named Mitch Ferris, who pitches for the Angels picked up the win in his major league debut at the Royals five innings one run three strikeouts. Minor league number is not very good but he did generate a lot of whiffs down in the minors so just

mildly interesting and very very deep leagues and Nabil Chrismat of the D-backs a quality start against the Rangers six and a third innings two runs three strikeouts he is another one that gets a good amount of ground balls here. He has a really good changeup

not really sure that he has anything else that's like even average in his arsenal, but it's got any interest or any thoughts on Mitch Ferris and Nabil Khrismet. Yeah, I don't know what to make of Mitch Ferris yet. You're right that the swinging strike rate's very, very impressive in the minors. And that's been true for his whole career down there. even at just looking at K per 9 at AA this year, it was 11. So too many walks gives up a lot of fly balls. So there's some vulnerability to home runs there too that maybe didn't show up in the minors like it could in the majors.

I don't know. Let's keep an eye on Mitch Ferris, but it's a little early, I think, to make a move for him since he doesn't have that – That prospect pedigree. And then who else were you asking about? You were asking about, oh, Nabil Krasmat. I'm kind of like it, Nabil. I got to be honest with you. This was one that snuck up on me.

I didn't realize how long he'd been around as a reliever. He had pitched for Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Cardinals previously. It's really this stint with the Diamondbacks where he's gotten to start now. This was his third start. They've all gone well. And he has the combination of a really good ground ball rate and weak, week, week, weak, contact. 86.6 miles per hour is the average exit velocity against Nabil Krasmat.

The ground ball rate is, where did it go? It's like 47 percent, I think. So it's good. it seems like a nice high floor profile as long as he throws enough strikes and so far so good on that front. So I think Nabil Krasmet, particularly in deep points leagues, depending on the matchups, he might be usable.

Would you rather take a deep league shot on him or Tyler Wells? I think Wells is more interesting, but maybe not as safe. So I'll say Wells, but it's, they're closer than, uh, than some people might think. All right, let's fire up the dropometer on hitters who were just terrible in August, Scott. And someone we keep getting questions about, rightfully so, because he was one of maybe the best player in baseball in the first half of the season, one of them. Pete Crow Armstrong, who in August had a 446 OPS. He hit 160 with one. home run, two steals, two caught stealing.

People might think I'm crazy for asking this, but we're actually getting a lot of questions right now, Scott, on whether or not people could drop PCA. So he's 99% rostered. Where is he on the dropometer? I guess I don't even really understand the mindset of speeding to drop. You know, I'm going right to drop.

It's not even like, oh, should I sit him? It's should I drop this guy who everybody was calling a first round type player in fantasy just a month ago. Where does that come from? Like, what is going on in somebody's head that would lead them to raise that question? I don't understand. Like, probably Crowe Armstrong gets back on track in September

because he's slumped for a long time and eventually that reaches his end. I mean, just look at his August compared to his September last year. Now, September was the terrible month, rather than August. But it's, it goes to show how, how much things can shift

from one month to the next. Because last year, Crow Armstrong hit 314 with a 933 OPS in August, followed it up by hitting 256 with a 677 OPS in September. So, you know, we could see the opposite from him this year. I just looked how now he has the, the calf injury,

but look how suddenly things flipped for Kyle. Tucker. He was suddenly catching fire. I think 400 with four home runs in how many games? Not that many games. 11 games, 400 with four home runs for Kyle Tucker. After a really rough stretch where everybody was talking about him like he had totally lost it. It's rare that a player totally loses it.

I think Pete Crowe Armstrong, you know, obviously he's been a contentious player. Maybe not contentious player. but like on this podcast specifically, we've taken a lot of heat for being slow to embrace Crow Armstrong. That's probably the fairest way of putting it. So I think it's probably true that he was overperforming for the first three and a half months, the first half of the season, basically. But he's not this bad either.

And so if you want to sit him, I think particularly in the three outfielder league, there are good enough alternatives that you could justify doing it. Fine. but dropping him is just like much more harm could come of that than good. The only good that comes of it

is maybe you get to stream a different pitcher this week. That's the only good that comes of it. The harm is somebody else picks him up and he hits like a combined 15 home runs and steals in September and that's the reason you lose your league. Like that,

you don't want that to happen, obviously. Let's move a little bit faster through some of these names, Scott. Nick Castellanos had a 509 OPS in the month, just two homers, three RBI. He's starting to sit out every third or fourth game and still 89% rostered. Where is Nick Castellanos on the dropometer?

It's pretty fringy, so I would say seven. I don't think it's beyond the pale even in five outfielder leagues. There's just not that much upside there anymore, but it depends what in those deeper leagues, it depends what you would have to drop for them, or what you would get by dropping it. Next up is Stephen Kwan, who had a terrible month as well. A 514 OPS hit 2.14, one homer, three steals,

just not hitting the ball hard at all, which is pretty typical for Stephen Kwan. Still 97% rostered. Where is Kwan on the dropometer? Maybe, let's see, I gave Castiano. Let's bump Castianos up to 8. You know, we kind of kind of recalibrate this. And then I'll go, I'll go,

Do I want to go as high as six for Kwan? The thing about Kwan is unlike Castiano's, his profile is geared toward points leagues, which we tend to think of as the shallower leagues. So it would be really hard to drop them in that scoring format. I'm not saying you can't, but you'd need a really good alternative. Roto leagues, you know, those are usually five outfielder,

and I think it'd be hard to drop them there too, just because you only go so deep in the outfield. So five or six, I'd say, for Kwan. All right. Next up is Mason Wynn, who hit 200 with two homers, 11 runs, 11 RBI, three steals, 559 OPS in August here. It's a disappointing season for Mason Wynn.

I believe Chris and I were much more excited about him this season. It's just we thought he was going to run, and that hasn't really come to fruition. Yeah. Where is Mason Wynn on the dropleter? Yeah, well, we had that comment about stealing 40 bases. Yeah. Not that I was thinking to actually steal 40 bases,

but I thought he'd try to run a lot more. And it hasn't been, it hasn't been something he's been the least been interested in doing. So I had Mason win as a breakout this year too, maybe later than you and Chris signed on, but I still signed on. I haven't seen much of anything. I think 9, 10 drop win for anybody who you think is going to be more helpful for you.

Otto Lopez, 219 batting average with a 5.000. 64 OPS in August here. Still hitting the ball really hard in the month, but lots of ground ball is 55% ground ball rate. Where is Otto Lopez on a dropometer? He is eligible at second base, which is harder to fill than shortstop, at least in leagues of normal depth.

But even so, I thought he was kind of faking it even at his best. So I am happy to go nine or ten for Otto Lopez too. All right. Next up, we have Luis Arise. right. He had a pretty rough August as well, hit 235, zero homers, 573 OPS. And his batting average is just 285 this year, just 285. But normally, Luis Arise stands out much higher than that. He's 96% rostered, whereas a rise on the dropometer? Like a 7 or 8, a little less dropable than Castiano, I'd say, because he's harder to replace. But the upside's only so high, even

when he's hitting 320. It's not like he's a stud. He's just startable. So I'd be fine dropping a rise if there was something interesting out there. Cey, Don Raphael, a 208 with a 583 OPS in the month. He actually had a pretty big game here on Tuesday, two for four,

with his 16th home run. But yeah, he has terrible plate discipline, has been very streaky, and is 88% rostered. Maybe this home run is a sign that he's about to pick up. things back up, Scott, but where would you put Raphaela on the dropometer? How interesting that both he and P. Crow Armstrong slumping badly at the same time, because I feel like that's been an easy comparison, those two, say, down Raphaela, P. Crow

Armstrong, some of the same strikes and weaknesses for those two. But obviously, Raphaelah wasn't producing the numbers. Crow Armstrong was in the first half. So he's more dropable, I think in points leagues, very dropable. Like, I'd go as high as nine in that format. Roto, I might put it more at like a five or a six. All right, Scott. And this last one, brace yourself.

It's going to hurt. Addison Barger, 2-11 batting average, three homers, 583 OPS in August. He is down to 72% rostered. Where is he on the dropometer? I still love the profile for Barger.

and I still think he has a bright future if the Blue Js stick with him but that's part of the question because he's not, was he already 26 and he wasn't a highly, he's 25, he turns 26 this off season, but it's not like Addison Barger was a

highly rated prospect. He had some interesting minor league numbers, but they've started to sit him some with him slumping in August and he has the left-handedness, which makes playing time even harder to come by sometimes. So I think probably belongs up there with Nick Castiano's an eight. He is eligible at third base,

which is a position of needs, so maybe closer to a seven, but certainly in points leagues, there's no reason to roster barger now, and even in roto leagues, I would be looking to upgrade. All right, Scott, as the season winds down, we'll continue to look into the crystal ball

for next season. Way too early buy or sell and up first is Junior Caminero. Caminero. Now up to 40 home runs

on the season. Again, shout out to the underdog Twitter account. I saw this from them. Players with 40 plus homers in their age 21 season or younger.

Caminero, Ronald de Cunia, Eddie Matthews, and Mel Ott. That's it. That's the list. Just those four players to do that in Major League history.

So by yourself, Scott, that Caminero will be a borderline first round pick next season. Borderline first round pick. Somewhere around the turn. Are we ranking him second at third base next year behind just Jose Ramirez,

so ahead of Mani Machado, ahead of Rafael Devers? Yeah. I guess those would be the only two in the discussion. I think so, yeah. You think definitely Cominero second? I mean, again, it's to do this,

as a 21 year old, it's, it doesn't, he's at 100 RBI too. It says, he doesn't walk enough, I think, for points leagues to rank him ahead of those two.

So if we're, if we're separating points in Roto, I'm going to say no for points league's border line first round pick. He might be more like a third round pick even. Mm-hmm. But for Roto, for categories, or walks don't matter.

We probably should be drafting Commonero next year about like we were, drafting Austin Riley before, you know, the trouble he's had the last two seasons. And that was a mid-second rounder? Mid-second round pick. So is that borderline first rounder?

I think it'll be higher. Because, A, this season that Camerro is having now is already better than anything else Austin Riley has done. And he's doing it as, again, as a 21-year-old. So, I mean, it's hard to say that he's going to get better. I don't know that it's better than anything, Austin Riley's. Austin Riley put up some good batting averages. That's true, but he never got to 40 home runs.

He never got to 40 home runs. He was high, mid-high 30s. Yeah. I think it'll be there. Yeah. Whether or not I'll make the pick, but I think. Are you taking him over? Are you taking him over like Julio Rodriguez,

who's going to be a borderline first round pick? Are you taking him over? Probably not for me. Probably not. Who else would be in the borderline there? Like Tatees? I mean, Pete, Croh, Armstrong's probably out of that discussion. Tatis.

Yeah, Tatees. He feels more like a late second rounder. I think James Wood has kind of fallen out of that conversation too. Jackson Churrio is probably out of that conversation, right? I don't think you and Chris had him in your second round pick for the second, or at least Chris didn't it for the second half. When we drafted the second round for the second half, I don't think Chris had Churio in there.

That's close, though. That's the right conversation. Like 25. Cal Raleigh or junior common arrow. Oh, probably neither for me. I don't know.

If I had to choose, I would say Caminero, I think. But I'm going to come off as like a hater. I just don't like investing in catcher that early in draft. So, I mean,

it's nothing against Raleigh, the skill set, but, and I think he will. Are you anticipating improvement from Common Arrow from here? Are you just happy

what he is right now? You'd be happy to get that early in round two. I still think he's capable of having a better batting average in this. So. But yeah, he's capable, but are you willing to draft them in the assumption that he's going to deliver on that? I think so. Because I think that's what it comes down to. Like if you see him hitting 275-280 next year, then early second round for sure. Specifically in Roto, if you're in

towards the back end, obviously you got to pair him up with speed because you're not kidding much speed from Camerro. But if you could go him and J-Rod to, together. I mean, that sounds, that sounds kind of cool. Him and Lindor, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I'll be doing this in a couple weeks. I'll be starting a series of articles, you know, basically starting my rankings for next year. I usually do that as the season's winding down. And I start with redrafting the first two rounds. So I'll line it up then. But, you know, you start eliminating some people from the exercise we did around the All-Star break, redrafting the first two rounds. So I'll line it up then. But, you know, you know, you start eliminating some people from the exercise we did around the All-Star break, redrafting the first three. So I'll line it. You know, first two rounds. We've been listed some, you know, Jordan Alvarez, who's always been, has been a mainstay in that range. He's going to be out. So yeah, I mean, it may just be that Common Arrow rises to that level for those reasons. Nick Kurtz, Nick Kurtz, Nick Hertz, or Camerro. I think they're going to wind up in the same range. I like late first, early second. I think so. So it's a fun conversation. George Springer is unstoppable. Three for four with two more homers,

three runs, three RBI. 16 games since coming. back from the IL, hitting 381, 8 homers, four seals in OPS over 1,200 during that time. Scott Byersell, Springer is drafted as a top 24 outfielder next season, which on the surface might sound like a dumb question, but he's also a mid-30-year-old hitter who is kind of having this random resurgence, so I don't know what to do with that. Well, yeah, I think that's the dumbness to me that you'd consider it. Not you specifically, but that fantasy analyst would consider him a top 24 outfielder given his age and very recent signs of decline. I don't know.

I'd have a hard time with that. I think I could come up with 24 outfielders I like more. But you kind of are short-changing. You gave his number since returning from the concussion. Since the start of July, George Springer is batting. 375 with 15 home runs and seven steals. What is going on, man? Boba Chet has been about as hot, at least batting average-wise, during that same stretch.

Like the Blue Jayser have been ridiculous the last two months. I mean, Vladimir Guerrero has been hot too. Yeah. Well, let's talk about Boba Chet, who continued his big second half at his 18th home run. And after the All-Star break, hitting 371 with six homers, 38 RBI, 17 doubles. a 987 OPS. The overall batting average is up to 310 on the season. Buy or sell,

Bo Bichette will get less than Willie Adamas did in free agency. So seven years, $182 million. Buy or sell, Bichette gets less than that. I think I'm going to buy that. I'm buying it too. He's a much worse defender. Right. It feels like he might be a shortstop in name only at this.

point. Well, Willie Adama's, there was some reason to believe he was even a plus defender. He did kind of fall off in his last year with the Brewers, but that was more recent development with him. So yeah, I think Bo Bichette, like there's a good chance that the team that signs him signs him not even to play shortstop, and that's going to hurt his value. So, yeah, I think he gets less fewer years and fewer dollars. Bob Bichette, minus 13 outs above average. He ranks in. in the first percentile in range for short stops this season. So I would agree.

I do think he'll get a good contract. Somewhere in the 150 to 175 range. One million, obviously. But I don't think that he'll exceed what Willie Adomis just got last year. Next up, Joe Adele won't stop hitting home runs. Three for four with his 32nd homer has 10 home runs in his last 25 games. The stat cast data is incredible during that span. By or sell, Joe Adele drafted as a top.

36 outfielder next season. First of all, I want to apologize. Apologize? Apologize? I'm having trouble saying that word. I want to apologize to Willie Adomas because I talked about his defense falling off some. It's falling off from amazing to still good. So, yeah.

Like, he's still good. Okay, who were you asking me about? I was looking that up and not listening to you. By yourself, Joe Adele is drafted as a top 36 outfielder next season. the prospect pedigree he's up to 32 home runs now like mm-hmm i mean i feel like it's another huge divide rhodo in points because play discipline so bad there's just no chance he's drafted that high in points leagues but if we leave that out we're just talking categories leaves roto leagues it's possible i'm kind of i think it might depend how september goes like if he keeps up

this recent surge gets to 40 home runs then yeah sure it'll be a 30 top 36 outfielder next year. If he hits 180 with two home runs in September, then no. As of right now, I'm going to say no, but it's trending up. It's looking more likely.

Like, Outfield has a lot. Elfield has a lot of really good players. Yeah. Like you're taking Kyle Stowers or Joe Adele next year. I'm thinking Stowers as of now, but again, a big September could change that.

That is a good question. One that, I won't answer right now because we have all off season to think about it. Jazz Shizm, another huge game, three for four with two socks and a shoe. He's up to 28 homers and 26 steals. And remember, he missed a month of the season. So he's done all that in 106 games. Buy or sell that Jazz will go 40-40 next year in a contract year.

It's an easy sell. I mean, it's not outside the realm of possibility, but it's just... Hey, guys find a way to stay healthy. those contract years. Yeah. I mean, for someone who's been around this long and has never come close to that. His numbers pace out to it this year.

Sure. I mean, we've said that for Chisholm a lot over the years. True. I think, I think not. I think I'd bet it. Like, if you want to put that in a bold predictions article or podcast like Chris and I did a few days ago, I'll hear it.

But I don't think it's just a standard. standard prediction. I can't get on board with that for Chisholm. Fair enough. Last one here. James Wood, two for five with his 27th home run. He's been better-ish

over his last 23 games. Still comes with a 41% strikeout rate. By or sell, James Wood will not be drafted in the top two rounds next season because of the second half strikeouts. It just kind of spooks a lot of people off. I'm going to sell, but I'm going to sell in part.

because I think he hits back up in September and nobody's thinking about this anymore by the time we're ranking and drafting for next year. All right, let's wrap up with some leftovers. Otani, a nice game at the plate here. His 46th home run in the season. Andy Paez is getting back on track. His last 15 games, 273 with five homers and 875 OPS.

Yvonne Herrera, the power is coming back here, has three home runs in his past five games. Cal Raleigh hit his 51st home run. Julio Rodriguez continues to hit well since right before the All-Star break. So if you look at the last 46 games for Julio 5 batting average, 16 homers, 9 seals, an OPS around 1,000. Ozzy Albi stayed hot. Last 19 games for him, 333 with five homers, 18 RBI, and an OPS over 950. Rafael Devers continues to rake his 30th home run.

And, you know, he gave it a nice long look. what happened? Benches clearing brawl. Multiple people throwing punches here. We had ejections. Willie Adomis got thrown out of the game. The starting pitcher Kyle Freeland got thrown out of the game. So that was entertaining. And on the other side, Hunter Goodman, just putting a bow on this great season, three for four with his 27th homer and four RBI. Lots of names here, Scott. Any, anyone that you'd like to quickly mention or touch on? So you mentioned Cal Raleigh. I'm sorry, not Cal Raleigh.

Yvonne Herrera has the three home runs in his past five games. Last date, he's actually batting 375 as well with those three home runs. So he seems to be finally living up to our bold claims for him once he was moved to the DH role full time. Shaming won't have catcher eligibility for next year, but I think he's good. Maybe good enough to start as DH only. uh, Ozzy Albies, second home run from the right side now.

And this was something we haven't brought up before when we've talked about Ozzy Albies. Maybe you and Chris did without me, but, um, Brian Snicker talked recently about how he was still feeling the effects from last year's broken wrist. Yeah.

I actually just, just mentioned that yesterday. Yep. Okay. Yeah. So that, that might explain it, um,

as much as anything. And, So I think Ozzy Albiz is going to be a guy I'm pretty heavily invested in next year unless everybody jumps back on board with the way he closes out this season. Anything else to mention here?

I don't think so. I mean, Hunter Goodman is just like the quietest he's so little discussed that you assume he's fallen off, but he hasn't at all. He's just been doing this all year. His numbers are phenomenal. Yeah, from the catcher position, 27, 27 homers, 80 RBI, and 846 OPS.

It's just been a fantastic season for Hunter Goodman. A couple pitching leftovers here. Bubba Chandler is already up to two wins and a save in his only three appearances so far. He pitched against the Dodgers in relief, four innings, six hits, three runs, three strikeouts, zero walks, two homers allowed in this one. He actually wasn't very good, but he just, he pitched at the right time. and he got a win. So how about that? Garret Crochet had one of his worst starts of the season

against the Guardian. Six innings, seven runs allowed, four homers allowed. Both the seven runs and four homers. Those were actually season highs and they both tied career highs as well for Gary Crouch. To Cleveland? To Cleveland?

What is going on? Are you serious? Yeah, this was his worst start. He had given up five earn runs twice at Crochet and then seven in this one. But I don't see any like real real real. flags to be concerned about. I'd keep running crochet out there. That's baseball, Susan. That's what they say. And Chote Imanaga picked up the win in a quality start against the Braves, six

innings, three runs. Only two strikeouts here. Also allowed two homers in this one. Thirteen hard hits allowed. His splitter actually was on in this one. It's been very inconsistent. His other pitches got, you know, obviously hit really hard. He's turned in six straight quality starts, but still, it just doesn't feel as clean as it was last year for whatever reason with Shoti Imanaga. Yeah. I mean, his strikeout rate hasn't been nearly as good, so that's part of it. It's just the results are there technically.

You know, he has six straight quality starts, but it just feels a little fluky, I guess you can say, with Imanaga. Fluky? Maybe fluky is not the right word. Yeah, I just feel, I think he's more of like a mid-rotation fantasy pitcher than top of the rotation guy. Yeah. So like it's not like he's bad.

It just, he kind of, and we talked about this prior to the season, but he kind of exaggerated his upside last year, I think. Yeah, that's fair. Call to the bullpen for the Pirates, Dennis Santana, got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He allowed a run, but picked up his 12th save. For the Blue Jays, Jeff Hoffman,

picked up his 30th save and he had been pretty bad lately, so that's a nice sign for him. For the Nationals, Jose Ferrer picked up his sixth save of the season. He's actually been really good since moving into the closer roll. Yeah, sure. Shockingly, because the ZRA was like five before then. Let's see, 10 scoreless appearances in a row for Jose Ferrer. He throws really hard from the left-hand side, right?

Yeah, he does. It's like 98 miles per hour or something like that. There's talent. We'll see. For the Cardinals, Jojo Romero got the ninth with a one-run lead. He picked up his sixth save. For the Cubs, Daniel Palencia got the ninth also with a one-run lead. He allowed two hits, but picked up his 22nd save. For the Giants, Ryan Walker struck out one for his 13th save

and seems pretty locked into the closer role. Randy Rodriguez having Tommy John surgery, so if you picked up Ryan Walker, he is the guy. And for the D-back, somebody named Taylor. Rashi pitched the final two innings and picked up his second save. I do not think that matters for fantasy. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday. Let's see what we got here. Zebby Matthews against the White Sox,

Ryan Bergert against the Angels. We have Jeffrey Springs at the Cardinals, Jose Cantana against the Phillies. I like Braxton Ashcraft, but he's facing the Dodgers. So that's a little scary. Nestor Cortez against the Orioles. I feel like we were just here with Zebby Matthews against the White Sox, and it went horribly.

That's true. Jack Leiter's been pitching well, but he's at the D-backs. Tough matchup. I'd probably say Jeffrey Springs at the Cardinals is the best choice. I still think if we're assessing this objectively, Zebby Matthews against the White Sox makes sense. His last start against the Padres was pretty good. But if you have Zeb Matthews' fatigue at this point, I understand. It's not like I'd be thrilled to do it.

Frank, you want me to say that? Yes, I do. Yes, we need it. At least once per segment. Got to do it. I don't think there's anybody else I want to try here. I think Berger is okay. He's been pitching well.

He's, you know, been kind of a quality star guy. Angels, they do. I just don't think he's good. They do hit home runs, so it's a little bit risky here. But if I had to choose to, I would say Zebby and Ryan Bergert from this list. Over Jeffrey Springs, you're leaving. Springs out? Yeah, I'm just, I'm not a, I'm not a Jeffrey Springs guy, but, um, I get it. I mean, it's an okay matchup at the Cardinals. It's been pretty reliable. He had a couple of rough

starts in early August, but he's bounced back. But I feel like his ERA estimators all season have been in the mid-fours, and he's just kind of overachieved. A long time to overachieve. Fair. Fair enough. Then on Thursday, it is just a six-game slate. So Chris, if you're listening, Scottie doesn't know. You get that done. Uh, Christian Javier. gets the Yankees. We have Shane Smith at the twins, and Taj Bradley is on the other side against the White Sox. Not much to choose. Shane Smith has been a lot better lately. Twins are a really good matchup. Yep. I think that's the best you're going to do on Thursday. I wish Christian Javier was facing a bad lineup because I really liked what I saw from him last time out. But the

Yankees seemed like a potential disaster in waiting. All right. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Paramount Podcasts.