Fantasy Baseball Today - Paul Skenes' Debut, Waiver Wire Adds & Start or Sit Decisions! (5/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 13, 2024

Alek Manoah had one of his best starts in a long time (2:42). ... Taj Bradley had a successful season debut against the Yankees (6:20). ... What did we think of Paul Skenes' debut (10:16)? ... News (16:50): Gerrit Cole threw another bullpen this weekend. ... Add Christian Scott if he's still available (25:41)! Braxton Garrett made his season debut. ... Jo Adell or Lars Nootbaar (38:50)? Davis Schneider is hitting well. ... Start or sit these confusing pitchers, beginning with Michael King (52:43)? ... Yusei Kikuchi, Ranger Suarez and Seth Lugo are on the rise (1:00:23). ... We wrap up with bullpen updates and streamers (1:05:08). 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. With fantasy! Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, and welcome in Tough Fantasy Baseball today on Monday. May 13th, Frank Stanfel, joined by Scott White.

And a happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there. Should have wished it on Friday's podcast. But alas, I forgot. How can I forget about all the great moms? So happy Mother's Day to all of those out there. Today on the show, a bunch of fun names on the waiver wire. We have some starter sit decisions. Paul Skeens made his debut.

I would say it was an eventful and up and down debut for Paul Skeens. Your Atlanta Brave, Scotty, nearly through a combined no-hitter. And you'll get to much more. Let's jump in. Is this happening? It is. All right, Scott. What was happening this weekend? Who?

is your player of the night or day or weekend, whatever. Well, I guess all of the above. I guess it can't be both day and night. But anyway, he pitched Sunday. His name is Alec Manoa. And let's talk about that because he actually pitched well. There hasn't been a lot of that from Alec Manoa in two years. But it did happen for him Sunday against the twins.

He went seven innings, allowed four hits, no earned runs, three unearned runs. six strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes on just 78 pitches. So he was very efficient getting through those seven innings, very effective by basically every measure. 15 swinging strikes were well distributed among his four pitches. His whole arsenal was up about a mile per hour. But it's really that efficiency I want to focus on with Alec Manoa. The fact he only walked one, the fact he threw 71,

percent of his pitches for strikes. That's in contrast to his last timeout is his first major league start of 2024. He threw just 57% of his pitches for strikes and walked four in that one. And you go back to the start of last year when Alec Manoa, you know, his major league career had been nothing but success to that point. And he felt like a very safe starting pitcher pick. There were some questions about how high the upside is, but he felt safe, if nothing else. And when we first started to see this trouble for him was the walks. That's how it first manifested.

And, you know, his manager made a good point after this start. Like, the stuff never went anywhere. And that was an argument I remember us making early last year as he was struggling so badly. But Manoa said he, you know, in that first start when he walked the four, when he threw just 57% of his pitches for strikes, he said he was nibbling too much. much, and then this start he focused on attacking and just trusting his defense and obviously got a good result. It's one start after a lot of discouraging times, including multiple stints in the minor

leagues, so it would be ridiculously premature to say Alec Manoa is back. But if he was going to bounce back, this is what it would look like. And certainly in deeper leagues, you don't get the luxury of waiting to see if it's just a one-star blip or not. And I think the results were encouraging enough that, you know, if it is a deeper league and you're just, you got somebody pretty useless on your bench, I think it's worth taking a flyer on Manoa, seeing where this goes. Yeah, I think that's all fair. This was a great start for Manoa. The velocity has been up for his first two-star. in his return to the Blue Jays rotation.

I think in 12-team roto leagues are deeper, anything that size, that format, Manoa might be the most interesting waiver-wire pitcher available, but in some of those shallower formats, as we're about to talk about, I'm not going to say that he's the priority, Alec Manoa, but yes, in the deeper leagues and the ones that you mentioned, Scott, I do think that you should take a shot.

Not that you want to start Alec Manoa, he's going up against the Tampa Bay Rays this week, but let's pick him up, and see where this goes because it wasn't an encouraging stuff. Yeah, you know, I say, I'll say something positive about Manoa, and it's like, how could you think he's already back? No, I don't, you know, I don't, I have no idea. But obviously, like, if you wait until you're sure he's back,

you're two weeks late picking him up, you know? So you just kind of have to act on it and hope for the best. One of the pictures that I think I would prioritize over Alec Manoa is Tage Bradley, who made his season debut. this weekend against the Yankees. He threw six innings of one-run ball, seven strikeouts to two walks, had 11 swinging strikes on 93 pitches.

Four of those came on the fastball, three on the splitter, two on the cutter, and two on the curve. Did allow some hard contact in this one, but I was encouraged to see that he tweaked his pitch mix a little bit. He threw more splitters and curve balls

in this start than he did in starts last season. And the velocity was up quite a bit here. for Tage Bradley. The fastball was up 1.2 miles per hour. He averaged 97.3 on the fastball. His cutter was up 2.4. His splitter was up nearly two miles per hour. Tage Bradley is 60% rostered.

He's at the Red Sox this week. Another one where not so sure I want to throw him out there in Fenway against the Red Sox. But I was very encouraged by this. And I think he's probably one of the priority pitching ads this weekend, Scott. Yeah. Yeah, I would say he's the highest in leagues where he's available unless somebody strange is available.

Unless there's somebody out there rostered to more than 80% of leagues who's available. Cough Cough, Garek Crochet, who is available in like 17% of leagues for some reason. But yeah, Bradley and anything semi-normal, he would be the priority pickup. And Tage Bradley was throwing his cutter much harder. You said velocity was up across the board.

On the cutter especially, it was up 2.4 miles. per hour. And our friend Lance Brozdowski, his big takeaway from the start was that he thinks the harder, the harder cutter was the stickiest part of Tage Bradley's first start, as if to say it was intentional and not just him being all pumped up on adrenaline. And he was, you know, it was just two minor league rehab starts, but he was untouchable. Bradley was. And of course, has a top prospect pedigree.

so it wouldn't be that surprising to see him take a big step forward in his second major league season and he's off to a good start as far as that goes. Would you drop either of these two names that have been scuffling lately, Scott, Reid Detmer's or Aaron Savali to pick up Tage Bradley? Well, Savali, yeah. Reed Debtmer's probably not. There is the fact that the matter that, the matter that, that Savali is scheduled for two starts this upcoming week.

And I think is, given his track record, you almost have to go with them in a two-star weekend at Points League. But I don't think I would let that stop me. If Savali was my chance at getting Tosh Bradley, even though Savali's lined up for two starts, I'd go ahead and do it. All right, we'll get back into some other waiver wire pitchers a little bit later on. I do want to touch on Paul Skeen's debut

because obviously it was a very, eventful one. It was a very exciting debut, a lot of anticipation for Paul Skeens. Saturday afternoon. My kids were wondering why I was watching this dumb pirates game instead of the Braves who were on at the same time.

But I had to explain to them. This is the most exciting pitching prospect in 15 years. That is true. It was exciting. Yes, it certainly was. I mean, the first inning was great. Did you see this was just a completely random story that I saw afterwards?

Andrew McCutcheon was the leadoff hitter in both Paul Skeen's debut and Steven Strasberg's debut. That's funny is that. I did not see that. 15 years apart. That is so crazy. Huh.

Yeah. I mean, it would have been for different. He was on the pitcher's team in this case when he was facing the pitcher. Exactly. Last time. Yeah. Okay.

That's cool. But anyway. Let's talk about Paul Skeens, right? Let's do that. Yeah, let's do it. His debut against the Cubs four plus innings he was charged with three runs gave up six hits two walks seven strikeouts had 14 swinging strikes on 84 pitches and seven came on that classified as a splitter but it's known as like a splinker it's like a splinker sinker type pitch four on the fastball two on the slider one on the changeup did give up some hard contact in this one he averaged 100.1 miles per hour on his fastball 20 of his fastballs went for a hundred plus miles per hour in this start. Scott, what did you see? Because obviously, just the surface level numbers

on paper, it's not a great start. But he throws really hard and the whiffs were there. What did you see from Paul Skeen's? Though that's interesting. You said 20 of his pitches were triple digits? That is according to Stackass. I just sorted by their pitch velocity and counted how many were 100. I was reading the article and they said 17. So I wonder what would cause that discrepanic. Either way, It's a ridiculously high number. And what I also thought was strange about the velocity for, I guess not strange, but noteworthy about the velocity for Paul Skeens is even though he averaged 100.1 miles per hour, his max was 101.9.

So we're talking, yes, he was very consistently over 100, and yet he never. quite got to 102, which means there's not a lot of range of velocity there on the fastball. It's just 100, 100, 100, 101, 100. So that's interesting. And I point that out in part because

the one thing that I think stood out most in a negative way was he gave up six hits in his four innings. The average exit velocity was 92.6, which isn't very good. It's a sample of one start.

So, you know, I'm not going to I'm not going to draw any conclusions from that, but it's something to keep an eye on. You know, there were, there was all that, all the, um, criticisms of him as a prospect come, like, the criticism basically went away when he was knocking the bat out of everybody's hands at AAA, but before that, it was concerns about the fastball shape and for as much velocity as it has is it really a swing and miss pitch. and he threw 39% fastballs got four whiffs with it. It was actually that splinker that was the best swing and miss pitch

as much as we heard about the fastball as much as we heard about the slider. It was actually the splinker that got the most whiffs. I think you could see the nerves watching it. He was just missing too much. And he talked about how he's got to be. more efficient. The pitches, he maxed out at 75 in the minors, but he got to 84 in this one. So I don't think that's going.

I think the pirates are going to let him go within reason. So that's encouraging. And we'll see how a second start goes. I mean, it's understandable there would be some nerves. It wasn't a terrible start considering. There were a lot of good things, but ultimately it wasn't, I think the net result wasn't a positive outcome for fantasy, which might cause some disappointment. But I think it's too early to be disappointed

and I think there's a lot, in fact, to be encouraged by. What are you doing with Skeens this week, Scott? He's only started in 39% of CBS leagues and he's at the Cubs, the team he just faced in his debut. They're 15th in Welba against right-handed pitching. Typically, a young pitcher facing the same lineup twice in a row, even though it's the top pitching prospect, I don't love it. Yeah. I want to call him a must start.

I want to call him a must-sid. I think it just depends how deep your league is, what your alternatives are. If he, you know, I'd rather, I'd rather start him over, I don't know, like a J.P. Sears, but I'd rather not start him over a two-start Christopher Sanchez. Yeah, I think in a 12-te-to-head points league, I can probably find somebody else that I want to get in my lineup over Paul Skeens this week. But he made his debut. It was eventful, and hopefully he's a little bit better and more efficient here his second time out.

Let's hit a break before we do that. Just a reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter if you haven't already. If you're watching us live on YouTube, thanks for hanging out. We appreciate it. Hit that like button, but you can scan that QR code that will take you right to the website where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and boom, you're signed up for the FBT newsletter for free. Let's take our first break when we return. Lots of news to talk about right after.

this. Welcome back in. Let's talk some news and notes. Garrick Cole threw 29 pitches in his bullpen session Saturday. 13 of the 29 pitches were breaking balls. He's staying in Tampa to throw another bullpen this week. And as we continue to learn more, it sounds like June is a realistic target for Garik Cole. That's assuming no setbacks, of course. Shohei Otani left Saturday with lower back tightness and then was out of the lineup on Sunday. Scott, have you seen anything on Otani or do you have any

feel on whether or not you play him this week? Are you worried about this injury? It's a lower back. That's the sort of injury that who knows, you know? I think unless we hear something more concrete, you got to start him because he's Shohei Otani.

Hopefully we get some more. Let's see, when are they playing? The Dodgers are playing Monday. Hopefully I don't know. Hopefully we find hopefully we hear something more concrete before you have to lock them in. Austin Riley left Sunday night's game with discomfort in his side. He's hopeful

to return at some point this week. Scott, this is one of those weird situations where, you know, it's an oblique. Those are some things that could linger, they could pop back up. Austin Riley is off to a slow start. Would you play it safe and maybe go with another, if you have a decent third base option?

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, if I had a decent an alternative. I think I'd play it safe given that he's saying, hopefully some point this week, which suggests to me probably not the next, he's probably not going to play the next series. And

once you sit out a certain number of games and you're a hitter and it's only 10 days on the aisle, it's pretty easy for the team to just bite, just go ahead and make the move and apply it retroactively to the time already missed. Mike Trott said Thursday that he doesn't

yet have a timeline to return from the surgery on his left knee. He also stated that he was given the option to postpone surgery and instead play exclusively at DH, but he obviously opted against that. Though I will say, because I don't think we brought this up when he had the surgery last weekend, it ended up being not the kind that's going to keep him out three months, the kind that has more like a six-week timetable, six to eight weeks. So it was a very positive outcome. as far as having a meniscus repair done as far as that goes. So I think that's reason to be encouraged, even though they haven't come out with an official timeline yet.

Grayson Rodriguez tossed a 30-pitch bullpen on Sunday. He said he felt good following the workout. He's eligible for activation on Wednesday, but seems like he might need a bit more time than that. I would be surprised if we see Rodriguez this week. Max Scherzorz revealed that he had a cortisone injection in his right thumb after undergoing additional tests on Wednesday. The exam revealed the issue is more nerve-related than skeletal.

We also heard a forearm pop up recently for Scherzer, so not really sure what the latest is. We'll just kind of play it by ear, and when we learn more, we'll let you know. Brian Wu was removed from his season debut on Friday with tightness in his forearm. Don't love that. He acknowledged that he experienced the injury

during some recent rehab outings. I have so many questions here, Scott. Like, did the Mariners know about this? If so, why did they activate him? If not, why didn't Brian Wu tell them? Just kind of weird. The way he talked about it, it was almost like it wasn't an injury. It was just, oh yeah, this is something I deal with.

I've been dealing with after every start. It's not a big deal. Weird. So it was kind of strange, but the Mariners say they expect him to make his next start. I have some apprehension about that. Yeah. But I don't know. I mean, if you're debating whether to add Wu or Taj Bradley, I think I'd, I mean, I think I'd lean Wu, but it's, it's kind of a close call.

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Hmm. Weird situation right now with Brian Wu. Jung-Hou Lee suffered a dislocated left shoulder and will undergo an MRI on Monday. Rough timing as Michael Conforto was. placed on the aisle with a hamstring injury.

So the Giants are stuck right now. Jorge Saler is on the aisle. They have lots of injuries. Luis Matos was recalled. And in 31 games at AAA, he was betting 218 with three homers, three steals, a 6.63 OPS. He's hitting the ball a lot harder in the minors this season

and barely striking out. But my guess is he's just hitting way too many fly balls and that's why the Babbat is as low as it is. Luis Matoz. A lot of infield fly balls too. Yeah. Luis Matos is 6% rostered. I had some small bids on him, Scott, in these 15-team, five outfielder leagues. Did you have any interest here in Luis Matos?

I can't say that I did. In those 15-teamers, I was looking more at like Jake McCarthy or Whitmeryfield to meet my outfield needs rather than Luis Matos, who was terrible in the majors last year. And as you point out, it's been terrible at AAA this year. even though some of the underlying stuff is encouraging, it's hard for me to feel confident he's going to make a fantasy impact. Devin Williams is scheduled to begin playing catch within the next two weeks. He's not expected back until around the All-Star break. Kyle Swarber left Friday's game with a sore back and then was out of the lineup on both Saturday and Sunday.

The hope is for him to play on either Monday or Tuesday. J.C. Realimuto was out of the lineup Sunday due to a knee injury. manager Rob Thompson said Real Muto's knee was quote a little banged up when he reported to the ballpark. Evan Carter has missed three straight due to lower back stiffness. Brandon Nimmo left Saturday with right inculcostal irritation and then he was out of the lineup Sunday, but did later appear as a pinch hitter and I believe hit a walkoff homer or some kind of walkoff hit. So I think Brandon Nimmo is good to go. Yeah, yeah, I mean, we've talked about him, Scott.

The stack has numbers look great. So if Nimmo is healthy, just get him back in the lineup. Hassan Kim left Sunday after getting hit by a pitch on his left wrist. X-rays came back negative. He's day-to-day. Pete Fairbanks was reinstated on Saturday. Jackson Trujillo sat out four straight games since Christian Yellich returned from the IL. And then he was back in the lineup Sunday.

So I believe that was Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Chirio was out all four. That doesn't seem great. No, it doesn't. I'd like to hear what the Brewers play. plan is if they're having him sit because he's working on something, then maybe that's not such a bad thing. But if they're having him sit just because he's bringing them down, like they probably just need to send to the minors. I know he has a guaranteed contract already. But like he's got to play, obviously, or he's never going to come out of it. So I'm thinking that's something we'll be hearing about soon. one way or the other. Masataka Yoshida got a third opinion on his left thumb and won't require surgery.

Eduardo Rodriguez began a throwing program out to 45 feet on Friday. Matt McLean was cleared Friday to throw and run. He could start swinging a bat in about six weeks. The goal is still to return sometime in August. Jameson Tyone was scratched from Friday start due to back stiffness. His next start will come Tuesday against the Braves. T.J. Friedles suffered a right thumb contusion on Sunday. appears to have avoided any fractures.

Actually, I don't know if that was true because then I started reading more about it and they said X-rays were inconclusive. So T.J. Friedel is day-to-day. Would not be great. You know, we waited for them all season and then obviously this happened. So just bad luck.

Danes B. Swanson was placed in the aisle with knee-sornis retroactive to May 8th. Nico Horner has moved over to shortstop with Miles Mastroboni playing some second base. Kenta Maeda was placed in the IL with a viral illness, retroactive interactive to May 8th. Matt Manning is likely to take his place in the rotation. Key Brian Hayes was placed in the aisle with a back issue. Hayden Wesniew was moved to the Cubs

bullpen and Jason Dominguez will start his rehab assignment which with Singale on Tuesday. He'll only play D.H for the first few weeks and then he'll move into the outfield. We spoke about Dominguez last week. I don't really see a spot for him in the Yankees lineup unless someone gets hurt. They have lots of injury prone players so it's a possibility. but as of right now, I don't really see a spot for Jason Dominguez. Nope, but it's going to be a long rehab assignment, and life finds a way, as you know, Frank. Certainly does.

Let's talk WaverWire pitchers, part one. And these are some shallow league options are between 70 and 80%. So, you know, could be out there in some 12-team points leagues or just, you know, shower options. Again, John Gray is on quite a run. He was at the Rockies this weekend, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts with 19 swinging strikes.

He is 78% rostered home against the Guardians this week. It was a nice bounce back start for Mackenzie Gore, who was at the Red Sox. He allowed two earned runs over six innings. He had nine strikeouts and 17 swinging strikes. He is down to 76% rostered at the Phillies this week. Christian Scott turned in a quality start against the Braves. Six innings, three runs, eight strikeouts with 15 swinging Strikes. He's still only 71%

rostered. I don't really know what's going on. I think Christian Scott just needs to be universally rostered at this point. He will also face the Phillies this week. And then I also had Taj Bradley in this mix who is 60% rostered. Scott, how would you rank that group? Taj, Christian Scott, Mackenzie Gore, and John Gray. I am going to rank them. Christian Scott number

one. Not sure why his roster rate is lagging. as you point out. I'm going to go Taj Bradley number two. I think I'm going to give the edge to John Gray over McKinsey Gore because McKenzie Gore he entered

he entered this start with only 59 fantasy points on the year. This start against the Red Sox was only his second going six innings and obviously he's pitching for a bad team not working deep into games. We like what's going on with his arsenal with the strikeouts,

but he's certainly from a head-to-head context, just not that productive. I'm not saying I'm in many leagues where I'd just let him sit on the waiver wire, but I'm in some leagues where I'd let him sit on the waiver wire. And so I get why McKenzie Gore's roster rate is where it is, which is 76%. As for John Gray,

my goodness, his slider has looked so good for, I guess, about a month. month now. His last seven appearances, six of them starts. John Gray has a 164 ERA, a 0.97 whip, and 10.3K per 9. He is throwing that slider 46% of the time this year versus 34% last year. So it was up the usage considerably. It was responsible for 14 of his 19 swinging strikes on Friday. And again, that was at Colorado. So the, the, the, The rare occasion of me picking a one-start pitcher at Colorado as a sleeper pitcher. It worked out with John Gray.

And no issues with the team context there for them. It's only a benefit. So there's a lot to like about John Gray. Waiver Wire pitchers part two. Casey Meis turned in a quality start against the Astros, six innings, one run allowed, two strikeout. He does have a 358 ERA, 130 whip, pitching to contact, getting lots of ground balls. He's fine. Great matchup.

week for Casey Mize. He's going up against the Miami Marlins. Clark Schmidt continues to pitch well. He was at Tampa Bay where he went six and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts and 14 swinging strikes. He is 65% rostered at the Twins this week, a lineup that has been red hot recently. Braxton Garrett did not pitch well in his season debut, but he's pretty widely available and he was a good pitcher last year. He allowed five runs over five and a third innings. He did have eight strikeouts in this one. And he is home against the Mets this week. That is Braxton Garrett.

And Tyler Anderson, the underlying numbers don't agree with it, but he just continues to get it done. At least for now, another quality start. Six and two-thirds innings, three runs, four strikeouts against the Royals. He's got a 292 ERA, a 114 whip, and he is at the Rangers this week. Scott, do you have any serious interest in any of Tyler Anderson, Braxton, Garrett, Clark Schmidt and Casey Mize. Well, I got to say you mentioned the twins have been a potent lineup lately.

And again, that's who Alec Manoa faced on Sunday. So that makes it even more impressive. Yeah. But getting back to this group, because Alec Manoa is not among this group. I would say Braxton Garrett is the most interesting here. He did kind of limit his arsenal in this first start back. It pretty much just went sinker. or slider and mostly abandoned the cutter that he threw last year.

He kind of mixed in everything else a little bit, but it was like 80% either sinker or slider. And so, you know, it wasn't a great result against a tough lineup, but he had eight strikeouts and five in a third innings. He limited the walks. He's not going to be a game changer in fantasy. I'd rather have McKinsey Gore than Braxton Garrett. I think there are the same issues there in terms of pitching deep into games.

and having a bad supporting cast. But I think Braxton Garrett will be more reliable in the long run than any of these other three, Casey Meis, Clark Schmidt, and Tyler Anderson. Waiverwire Pitchers, Part 3. This is where we get to Alec Menoa, who we spoke about up at the top. He's 34% rostered and home against Tampa Bay this week. And I'd take him over any of that previous group. You may be dropping him sooner if he goes back to Walkin' Five next time out.

But I think the upside for Menoa is way more interesting than anyone from that previous group, including Braxton Garrett, given who Braxton Garrett is pitching for. Would you take Menoa over anyone from the first group, McKenzie Gore and John Gray and those guys? No. Okay. Other names in the third group here, we mentioned Menoa. Cole Irvin pitched well against the debacks, five and two-thirds innings, two runs allowed, six strikeouts there. he has allowed a total of two earned runs over his last four starts combined. Again, that is Cole Irvin.

Taiwan Walker turned in a quality start at the Marlins, six innings, one run, four strikeouts for him. He is home against the Mets this week, and Andrew Heaney has allowed two earned runs or less in three straight. He was also at the Rockies, where he threw five innings, two runs, eight strikeouts with 17 swinging strikes. Andrew Heaney is home against the Angels this week. Any interest in this group, I guess, outside of Manoa, Cole Irvin, Taiwan Walker, and Andrew Heaney. I think the most interesting to me is Cole Irvin, who you're going to have to play the matchups with him. He's a fly ball pitcher. So the venue especially, I think counts a lot for him.

But left-hand of fly-ball pitcher, like we've been saying for John Means, I think it applies to Cole Irvin. And he's on a really nice run right now. his ERA and whip for the year after, after remember he got he got hit pretty hard in his first couple turns. He's down to a 290 ERA and a 107 whip. Yep. That's with only six strikeouts per inning, per nine innings, six strikeouts per inning would be amazing and impossible.

But six per nine is not very good. And we wouldn't expect it to be good for Cole Irvin. So I'd rather leave him as a streamer type, but in those 15 team leagues where there's not much of any starting pitching to be found on waivers, I was putting in some small bids for Cole Irvin. Other names that could be out there in deeper leagues, Robert Gasser. Brewer's prospect pitched well in his debut on Friday against the Cardinals. He threw six shutout innings with four strikeouts, 10 swinging strikes on 79 pitches.

He only allowed one hard hit in this game, mostly a three pitch mix, 46% sweeper, 27% fastball. 23% sinker. And that sweeper, it sweeps. There's a lot of movement on that sweeper for Robert Gasser. Look pretty good. He's going to get another start at home against the Pirates this week. Alec Marsh pitched well in his return at the Angels. Five and a third innings, one run, seven strikeouts with 19 swinging strikes.

He is at the Mariners this week. Jake Irvin pitched very well at the Red Sox. Seven innings, two runs. Six strikeouts with 18 swinging strikes for Jake Irons. Irvin. He's got a 355 ERA and a 109 whip. And then A's prospect, Joey Estes, pitched well in his debut, season debut against the Mariners. Five innings, one run, five strikeouts for him. It's got any interest in these names, Deeper Leagues. Joey Estes, Jake Irvin, Alec Marsh, and Robert Gasser. Well, Robert Gassers, obviously, the most interesting

good strikeout numbers in the minors. Not an especially impressive fast, ball, but as you point out, the sweeper, he throws it a lot. It's a good swing and miss pitch. He didn't walk anybody in his debut. It was against a weak Cardinals lineup, so obviously we'll need to see Gasser tested more. But I think he's a lot more interesting than any of the other pitchers in this group. And in fact, I'd take Gasser over most of the pitchers in the previous two groups. I'd take him over Andrew Heaney, Taiwan Walker, Cole Irvin, Tyler Anderson.

I take them over Clark Schmidt and Casey Mize. I guess the two exceptions would be Braxton Garrett and Alec Manoa in terms of prioritizing those pitchers on waivers. Alec Marsh has been very steady for the Royals. The underlying numbers hate him, the ERA estimators hate him, doctors hate him, because of what he's doing. And yeah, the XERA and the XFIP are both over 4.

20 for Alec Marsh. So I'm not especially interested there, but I am in Jake Irvin. I've pointed at this out before. When he emphasizes his four seamer and curveball, two pitches that have had a bad, the hitters of the last two years have hit only about 200 off of those two pitches.

And when he emphasizes them, good things seem to happen. I'm not convinced there's a ton of upside here for Jake Irvin, but I could see a path to him becoming fantasy relevant. He threw those two pitches that combined 78% of the time in this one and got 18 swinging strikes, as you pointed out. So just something to keep an eye on there with Jake Irvin. All right, let's take our final break when we return.

We'll get into the WaverWire Hitters. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in. Let's talk Waver Wire hitters and outfielders that could be out there in some shallower leagues. Joe Adele, rough start to May, but he's picking things back up. He's homered in three of his past five games, and overall he's batting 255 with seven home runs and a seven steal so far. Kerry Carpenter had a big game on Saturday, two for five with a double dong, three RBI. The problem is that he does not play against Lefty.

and there are three lefties on the schedule this week for the Tigers. Lars Neupar is picking things back up as well. His last seven games, he's betting 320 with two home runs. He is only 41% rostered. And Joey Loperfeito has multiple hits in two of his last three games. He went two for five with two runs and one RBI on Sunday. The problem is that he's only started three of the past six games for the Houston Astros. I think only one of those that he sat was against.

a righty, if I'm remembering just off the top of my head. I think two were against the righty. Two were against righties. Well, the thing is, Joey Lopafito, all of a sudden is batting 321 after a couple games with multiple hits here. So that's how quickly things can turn around. And I mentioned on Friday show that the Astros have the best hitter matchups this upcoming week and I kind of wanted to put Loporffito in there, but he had done next to nothing.

Now he's batting 321. So I went ahead and added him. The Astros are scheduled to face just one lefty in their seven games with their very favorable hitter matchups. So you could look to Loporfito for that. But I will point out Joe Adele is higher on that list with the Angels having the second best hitter matchups. And you mentioned the home runs.

You did not mention he's still striking out less than 25 percent. at the time, which is very, very encouraging still for Joe Adele. Having said all that, I would say Lars Nukbar is my favorite. Of all of them, I did not, I don't have him in the sleeper hitters for this week because the Cardinals matchups aren't as good as the Astros or Angels, but I think he's going to be the most impactful for fantasy rest of season. It's the ball very hard, really good plate discipline, and it's beginning to show up in the numbers.

I think in a Categories league I would take Adele. In a points league, I would take Noobar. Is that fair? I hear the argument. I think I'd take New Bar either way. With Joey Lopoferito, I will point out, it looks like you were right, Scott. Of the three games that Loporffito sat out recently,

two were against lefties. So that's pretty much expected. That's right, Frank. That's right. How? I get something right. every once in a while. How about some names in five outfielder leagues?

Leotie Tavares, so hot right now. Two for four with a sock in the shoe on Saturday. Over his last nine games, he is batting 353 with two homers, 13 runs, and two steals. Brenton Doyle has stolen a base in three straight over his last four games. He's got six hits, one homer, three steals. And on the season, he's batting 289. He's got four homers, seven steals.

that's Brenton Doyle we're talking about. The problem this week, six games on the road where he has a 605 OPS. So I don't know that I want to do the Brenton Doyle thing this week. But he's a name I would want to have on my bench in all category leagues and just play him whenever he's at home. I mean, certainly the five outfielder ones. It is worth pointing out with Brenton Doyle.

His strikeout rate is much improved too, not to the same extent as Joe Adele, but he was 35% last year and he's down around 28% now. So you could see, like given where he plays his home games and the effect it has on Babbip, what is his Babbip right now?

His Babbip is 387, which is normally crazy high, but not unbelievable for Coorsfield. So with the, with the, with the speed there as well, I think Brent and Doyle could remain useful

in five outfielder leagues for being a guy with little name value. All right. Three names who could be available as corner infielders in Roto leagues. Lamont Wade is hitting well right now, one for three with two walks and his second home run. He did that on Sunday.

He is batting 340 with a 937 OPS. He does not play against lefties. There's only one lefty on the schedule this week. for the Giants. Carlos Santana homered in three straight, and over his last 21 games, he's batting 280 with seven home runs and 19 RBI. Connor Joe, that's right.

My Connor Joe, he's homered in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. He has started seven of the past eight. Scott, how would you rank these just as corner infield options moving forward? Connor Joe, Carlos Santana and Lamont Wade. Oh, go, Santana Wade, Joe. I don't have, I mean, look, Wade and Joe don't play every day.

So that's a big issue for both of them. Could you play them with the right matchups? Yeah, especially right now while they're hot. I don't think they're going to remain this good all season. Santana, I think his full season numbers, there's not much room for improvement on them. He's got his batting average up over 200 again. But, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I just think he's well past his prime, and it'd have to be a pretty deep league for me to turn to him. Two middle infielder's that could be out there. Abraham Toro is on quite a run right now, racking up the hits, two for four with his fourth home run on Sunday. Over his last 16 games, he is batting four, ten with two homers, 12 runs scored, nine RBI, hitting the ball hard, lots of line drives again. That is Abraham Toro.

And Davis Schneider had a huge game on Saturday, three for four with a sock and a shoe, his fourth home run, his second stolen base, and he has started 12 of the past 13 games. He's hitting the ball hard. He's barreling it up. Expected numbers look pretty good. I think there's something to like here.

Davis Schneider, 18% rostered, second base and outfield eligible. Are you looking to add any of these guys, Scott, and let's say, roto-sized leagues, Schneider or Abraham Toro? I'm pretty excited about Schneider. He might be. the hitter I'm most excited about from the week.

And I guess I can't say over Brent Rooker and Max Kepler was struggling. Matt Kepler, that doesn't sound right. Yeah, over Brent Rooker and Max Kepler, those are in leagues where they're available, points league or otherwise, they're the highest priority hitters to add, I feel like. And in fact, Rooker's up over 80% at this point.

So maybe he's not even worth mentioning from that perspective. but Schneider, among those widely available, I'm very excited about him because look at his minor league numbers. The guy walks a ton. He has the optimal spray angle for hitting home runs. It led to huge production down there. And so far, what we've seen from the majors,

it's been the exact same thing. And he can play left field. He can play second base. The Blue Jays need help on offense. And I think they're finally realizing Davis Schneider is one of their best choices. Like, for the season. So I'm not talking about just, you know,

that 13-game stretcher for however long he's been hot. For the season now, Davis Schneider is batting 278 with a 383-on-based percentage and a 500 slug. That's considerable production. And I'll be honest. I was looking to add on some three outfields leagues even. Again, that is David Schneider.

In case you're still looking for a Wilson Contreras replacement in a two-catcher league, Danny Jansen has been raking since he returned in mid-April. He went three for five with his fourth home run on Saturday. He has started seven of the past nine games. He's 31% rostered. Yvonne Herrera looked good this weekend. He had back-to-back multi-hit games, five hits total. He is batting 263, 20% rostered.

Again, that is Yvon Herrera. and then in the deeper leagues. Three names, if you're in those two catcher formats. Corey Lee is a name that we haven't talked about, but he's quietly hit when given an opportunity to play this season with the White Sox. He went two for four with his fourth home run on Friday. Yasmani Grandaal had his first big game with the Pirates on Saturday, two for four with a three-run homer,

and Jose Trevino had a big game on Sunday, two for four with a double dong and three RBI. Anything to add on those catchers? No, I mean, Ivan Herrera and Danny Jansen are the most interesting, too. Oh, you know what? You know who I'd put ahead of anyone else on this list? Behind Herrera and Danny Jansen still.

Tyler Soderstrom. Hmm. Did he do anything this weekend? Well, he has been playing first base. I think he got a day off Sunday, but he had been playing consistently at first base. And I think he homered this weekend. he homered on it looks like Wednesday last week

but he did have a couple hits this weekend okay yeah I mean for a second catcher in a deep league you know compared to like Asmani Grundal and Jose Trevino it's no contest I'd rather take the shot on Tyler Soder Strom and if it doesn't work out it's just like most any other second catcher you'd pick up a couple other names in deeper leagues that are not catchers

Eddie Rosario is redhot Over his last seven games, he is betting 455 with four homers and three steals. That brings his batting average all the way up to 174. I know. He's so hot. And yet, the mic, the batting average is tiny. Yep. What happened, Eddie?

He left the Braves. That was part of the problem. Paul DeYoung over his last eight games is betting 357 with three homers. And, man, I just love this podcast. This is one of my favorites ever, Scott. We get to talk about Connor Joe. We get to talk about Willie Calhoun, who went three for four with his first home run of the season on Sunday.

He is batting 333 with a 967 OPS, has started nine of the past 10 games for the Angels, and he has hit cleanup in eight of those games. Very deep league stuff here, Scott, but did you have any bids in on Eddie Rosario, Paul DeYoung, or Willie Calhoun here on Sunday? You know, I did have one in on DeYoung, not because I liked a young,

but because it was a deep league and I really needed a middle infielder. And you only have so many options. I think everything else being equal, I am most excited about Calhoun of this group. Now, I believe he's DH only, and he's only playing DH, so that's not going to change,

so that makes him the most difficult fit. And I'm not saying like he's a priority pickup now or anything, but the angels are giving him an opportunity, unlike he's had in a long time. He doesn't strike out much. He doesn't have a lot of raw power, but he's hit home runs in the minors. So he's going to have to be a guy who succeeds

by elevating to his pull side well. And I think it remains to be seen. Like he hasn't been doing that so far in this stent. He's already up to six doubles in the short time. He's been there, but first home run. He does elevate well. is he going to pull it enough in the air? I think that's the key to Willie Calhoun becoming anything.

And we're all waiting with baited breath to see if that happens. Yes, we are all. Especially me, yes. I see that baited breath. I'm so excited about Willie Cahoon. Let's get into the rest of this weekend's action. There was a lot going on. We'll see how much we can get to in the next 20 minutes or so.

As I mentioned up at the top, the Braves took a combined no-hitter all the way up to the final batter of the game on Saturday, and then Ryssela Iglesias gave up a solo homer to J.D. Martinez. In that game, Max Fried tossed seven no-hit innings, three walks, five strikeouts.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, no, you're right, never mind. Sorry, I thought you were talking about Sunday night's game. You're not. You're talking about Saturday. Carry on. Saturday's got on. I thought you were blaming the wrong guy because the walk-off Homer Sunday was AJ Mentor's fault,

but, yeah, no. Max Fried. I don't know if there's anything much else to add. He obviously was great in this start. He did not give up a hit over seven innings. Over his last four starts he has a 124 ERA and a 0.52 whip. And that was his second hitless outing

in that four start stretch. He's doing it a little bit differently Freed. He's not getting strikeouts but he's just getting a lot of ground balls and limiting hard contact. It's working for now. He's doing the thing where he has

he's going with like seven pitches and throwing them all a little bit and I don't know how long it's going to work for him I don't I don't love the approach necessarily but it's it's hard to blame it's hard to fault the results right now all right let's get into some other pitchers start or sit these

pitchers this upcoming week they are very confusing names for me and they might be for you as well Scott Michael King that's baseball susan dominated the Dodgers. As soon as we have written him off, he goes out and has an amazing start.

He threw seven shutout innings, two hits, three walks, 11 strikeouts, with 19 swinging strikes on 106 pitches. Again, he did that against the Dodgers. I need to emphasize that. I didn't really see much change here in the pitch mix. Michael King did throw his sweeper

a little bit more in this one, but it was the change-up that looked great. That's now two starts this season with double-digit strikeouts. The whip is still high because the control has been a problem. Michael King is still 87% rostered, but he's only started in 48% of CBS leagues.

He is home against the Rockies this week. If you held on, I think you got to get Michael King back in there. Okay, so what I saw for Michael King was he was getting an additional two to three inches of movement on his fastball sinker and change up, which is notable.

I don't know why they were playing better. He says that he has more comfort with his mechanics now. and he's making command an emphasis, which is interesting that he said that because I think the velocity was up a little bit in this start, right? Yes, up slightly, yep. So that's the explanation we had for why King was so much better

in this start than all the others. Maybe it was just one of those fluky things that happens in baseball sometimes, but I think coming off the start, facing the Rockies on the road next time. go ahead and roll the dice. I would agree. Kevin Gosman got crushed by the Minnesota Twins.

He went three innings. He gave up 10 hits, seven runs. Six of those were earned. He still had six strikeouts. He had 12 swinging strikes. Gave up some hard contact. Oddly enough, like the whiffs were there. The velocity was up for Kevin Gosman.

The problem is that he's been giving up some hard contact. He's allowed five plus earned runs in three of eight starts. Kevin Gosman has a 499. year a 151 whip. He is home against the Tampa Bay Rays this week. Scott, would you be benching Kevin Gossman

as bad as he's looked? I wouldn't automatically start him, but, you know, we were just celebrating how good he looked after his previous start. So, I think I'd be fine starting him unless I just clearly had better options.

Okay. Keep things moving. And let's talk about Nick Lodolo. He's a now, allowed four earned runs in back-to-back starts. He was at the Giants this weekend where he went six innings, he gave up the four runs, still had six strikeouts,

13 swinging strikes in this one. He has now allowed a home run in a three straight, and he is down to 59% started. The problem at the Dodgers this week, Scott, would you maybe play it safe and bench Ladolo coming off to, I guess, not so great starts? Not an automatic sit, but in shallow. leagues I think I could do better.

Okay. James Paxton has turned in back-to-back quality starts. He was at the Padres this weekend where he threw six shutout innings. Four hits. Zero walks. That is the key. Four strikeouts here for James Paxton, who threw his curveball a lot more in the start. He's got a 258 ERA,

but a 141 whip. He still has more walks than strikeouts so far this season. Still 86% roster, but only 59% started, would you start James Paxton at home against the Reds this week? I'd like to avoid it. I think this is all going to come crashing hard at some point. And I don't want to be caught holding the bag when it happens, Frank. I want to have given up the bag.

So, you know, Paxton, I'd be fine with streaming him, but I don't think that's a good enough streaming situation for most leagues. has not looked very good in either of his first two starts. He was at the Padres this weekend. Three and a third innings. Three runs allowed. Two walks, two strikeouts, two homers. Only five swinging strikes on 77 pitches.

Gave up some hard contact. Only through 58% of his pitches, four strikes. And he's 96% rostered. I think that's fine. But only 61% started. As bad as he looks got it, I would really try and get away from Walker Bueller. He's home against the Reds this week.

week. Yeah. So, I mean, like, velocity and stuff looks fine. He says, this is how he put it, there's just these little weird way to say it, but delicacies to starting pitching that when you don't do it for a long time, you kind of got to figure them out. And that's kind of where I'm at. And specifically, he cited some sequencing mistakes that he felt like he made in this one. So I don't want to bury him. I've expressed my concerns over him. even before he got reactivated by the Dodgers. But it's too soon to pull the plug in fantasy. However, yeah, I don't think I'd want to start him in any league right now.

Again, that is Walker Bueller. We had three returns this weekend. Jesus Lozardo pitched well against the Phillies, five and two-thirds innings, two runs, eight strikeouts, 18 swinging strikes. He is home against the Mets this week. Christian Javier got crushed at the Tigers. He only recorded four outs. He gave up seven runs on five hits, four walks, two homers allowed.

Javier is home against the Oakland A's, and Brian Bayo was okay in his return against the Nationals, five innings, two runs, two walks, one strikeout, and he is at the Cardinals this week. Scott, what do you think of these returns? And what do you think about starting any of those names? Luzardo, home against the Mets, Javier, home against the A's, and Brian Beaux at the Cardinals. I was most encouraged by Luzardo. I'd be most likely to start Luzardo, Bayo. I think with that matchup at St. Louis is a fine play as well,

though I'm not as convinced of his upside as Luzardo, obviously. Christian Javier, I think I'm still going to rank him ahead of Bayo, but I'm really not liking what I'm seeing from him. I wasn't liking, even when the ERA was good before he went on the IL, he's just not missing bats like he did in his prime. It doesn't look like he had this, he's had this new change up, right, that he was mixing in a lot, and maybe hitters were just unfamiliar with it,

and that's why he was succeeding. But his swinging strike rate this year, 8.8%. That's down from 11.4% last year when he wasn't very, very good, and 13.8% the year before. So huge drop in that number for Christian Javier. And actually in a 10-team league, so shallow, but 10-team league where only nine starting pitchers can be rostered, I had to go ahead and drop them in that shallow league.

He was my 10th best pitcher coming off the I.O. Can only have nine. I was about to ask, would you drop him for Christian Scott or Tage Bradley? Scott, definitely. Bradley, probably not. I'd probably have Javier over Bradley still, but it's a close call. Okay, let's talk about Seth Lugo. Is it time to push these pitchers up the rankings?

We've slowly raised them so far this season, but they're all pitching really well. So it might be time. You say Kikuchi, eight innings, two runs, three strikeouts. He is down to a 264 ERA and a 105 whip. Ranger Suarez continues to dominate. He threw seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts. At the Marlins, he's down to a 150 ERA and a 0.72 whip.

And Seth Lugo was a beast at the Angels, eight innings, one run, 12 strikeouts to zero walks, 17 swinging strikes in this one. He has allowed two run runs or less in eight of nine starts. He has eight plus strikeouts in three of his last four, and Lugo is down to a 166 ERA, a 0.96 whip. Scott is it time to move him on up. Seth Lugo, Ranger Suarez, you say Kikuchi.

Well, we've already moved Suarez up quite a bit. Probably not as high as the people who have him in fantasy would like. I have him 44th at the last update. You say Kukuchi, I have 54th. Seems a little low, but then I'd have to move him ahead of guys like Kyle Bradish and Christian Scott. And, you know, obviously it's pretty crowded there. I still think Ranger Suarez is going to start walking more guys eventually, and we're going to see his eye climb a bit when that happens.

Not that he's going to lose his rosterability in fantasy, but, you know, he's not as good as he's been so far. But let's talk about Luca, because he's the one who's still, you could argue, buried in the rankings. He's outside of my top 80 in them. And his ERA is now down to 166. So I will point out, first of all, that compared to that 166 ERA, he has a 329 FIP, which is good. He has a 381 X-FIP, which is pretty much in line with last year.

And obviously not as good. He has avoided home runs so far as what that disparity would tell you between the FIP and the X-FIP. but maybe in a way that's difficult to believe. He did with this 12 strikeout effort take his K-per-9 rate up from 6.3 to 7.2s. So big jump just in one start, but it's still only 7.2. And that's actually lower than last year for Seth Lugo

when Seth Lugo, you know, a decent space filler, but not like a fantasy stud or anything. And that's ultimately where I think he's going to wind up. If I could point to a process change for Seth Lugo that may cause him to continue to is that he is really hot out, not like I talk to Max that it seems like hitters maybe can't get a read on it or it's working right now, obviously. I don't know if it's something because like to continue with eighth pitches, you kind of have to be able to throw eight pitches.

And we've seen the kind of problems. Chris Bassett runs into that for me. time to time. But that's a process change for Lugo and maybe it'll help him exceed expectations, but he is exceeding expectations by all the underlying numbers. And I'd be inclined to bet against that from the extent of calling him to sell to the extent of calling him a sell high, not that I'm saying you shouldn't roster Lugo at this point or anything like that. I do think he's a cell high. I also think he needs to be higher in the ranking. So I think I'm probably going to get him up inside my top 60 starting pitchers. This is Seth Lugo we're talking about. I have

a little group of Jordan Montgomery, Mitch Keller, Ronaldo Lopez, like 59, 60, right around 60, I think Seth Lugo could be in that mix, so I'm probably going to get him up to around that point. Are you taking him over

Nester Cortez, Seth Lugo, over Nester Cortez. I mean, shoot, I got you Darvish 64th. Yeah, I have Darvish right around there too, but he's going to move up because he's been pitching well. Right. Right. I would rather have Nester Cortez than Seth Lugo. But I don't know if that's the right answer,

but that's just how I feel. I could get him in my top 70. 60 might be hard. Yeah. Again, that is Seth Lugo, but I do agree. Like, if you can flip Seth Lugo for a struggling Tanner Bybee right now,

would you do that? Yes. Okay. So, yeah, it's something you could look to do, potential sell high, not just a sell, but make sure if you're going to sell, get the requisite return for Seth Lugo.

Some bullpen updates for the, Tigers on Friday. Andrew Chafin started the eighth with a one-run lead. He gave up a run on a walk and two hits and he was relieved by Jason Foley, who allowed three more runs in on a hit and an error. Chafin was charged with the with the blown save and the loss. Any feel, Scott, for the Tigers right now? Like, what's what's going on there? I mean, things aren't looking good for Foley. Alex Lang seemed like the most likely alternative. but then he gave up a bunch of runs on Sunday, so maybe switching to him when it makes sense. I think Foley is still the guy to have, obviously, but I wouldn't put it past AJ Hinch to go with the committee for a while. For the Orioles on Friday, Craig Kimbrel entered in the seventh with a one-run lead facing eight, nine, and one in the D-backs lineup. He pitched a perfect inning striking out one. Yaneer Canoe later pitched in the ninth. He gave up a hit but picked up his second save.

and then on Saturday, Yanir Kanoe pitched in the ninth with the game tied. Craig Kimbril later pitched in the 11th with the game tied, and he wound up picking up his fourth win. What's your feel for the Orioles bullpen? Do you think maybe Yaneer Kanoe is starting to take over? Look, it's possible. We saw something similar happened with LeClerc in Texas, where it seemed like Boji was just giving him a temporary demotion

to help him get back in the field for things. and then Kirby 8th just took over. And maybe that'll happen here too. I think Kimbril is better than Canoe. He certainly from a conventional closer perspective, because he misses bats in a way Conno doesn't. I think it's less likely that happens. Obviously, Kimbril, the Oriol signed him to close.

Brandon Hyde said he wanted to give Kimbril a different look. That's why I brought him into the seventh inning of that one game. and basically he just wants to get him right. But I think he still wants him closing, ultimately, once he feels like Kimbril is right again. And I actually traded for Craig Kimbril and Towars over the weekend. I gave up Jake Berger for him. I had more corner infielders than I could start.

So it was kind of a surplus situation there too. But saves are hard to get in those 15-team roado leagues, and I thought it was a good time to buy low on Kimbril. All right. For the Twins on Friday, Yohan-Duran got the 8th, inning with a one-run lead facing the top of the Blue Jays lineup. He gave up a walk but got out of it. Griffin Jacks got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up one run on a walk and two hits, but converted his fifth save. And Duran has now worked the eighth inning in three of six appearances.

That was entering Sunday. I believe Duran pitched a ninth with a four-run lead. So he's worked the eighth in three of seven appearances so far. And it's not ideal, but it's... No. It's Rocco Baldelli doing his things. I put in some decent bids in those same 15 teamers where saves are very scarce. On Griffin Jacks, I was putting like $30 bids in with a $1,000 budget.

And nobody else was putting much of anything in on him. I kind of overpaid for him and won him everywhere he was available. So I guess the thing, thinking is Rocco Baldelli eventually is going to snap out of it and to run will just be full-time closer again and maybe that'll happen. But if not, then Jacks, you know, Jacks could get a dozen saves from here on out if the two continue to split the role like that. For the White Sox on Friday, with Michael Coppec unavailable, Jordan Leisure got the final four outs for his second save. And then on Saturday, I guess Coppec was unavailable again. He did pitch back-to-back games on both Wednesday

and Thursday. It was John Brebia who got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out one for his first save of the season. For the Rockies on Friday, Justin Lawrence entered with two-outs in the seventh. Runners on first and second with the two-run lead. Facing the top of the Rangers lineup, he walked two, he allowed to run in. It was Jalen Beeks, who later got the ninth with a two-run lead. He pitched a clean inning for his second save.

And then Jalen Beeks picked up another save on Sunday. He has the last three saves for the Rockies. He's 1% roster, very widely available. Scott, this was the name I was going out after in deeper leagues. I get it. It's the Rockies closer. They're not going to win games. It's a tough place to pitch.

But desperate for closers in some of those deeper leagues. And I won Jalen Beeks for $43 out of a $1,000 budget in one of my 15 teamers on Sunday. Yeah, I mean, I don't, I was not even thinking about the Rockies bullpen. I basically written it off. But, yeah, maybe Jailen Bates. Beaks can take hold of that role and be worthwhile. For the Angels on Friday, Carlos Estevez got the ninth with a one run lead. He gave up two runs on a walk and three hits.

He took his third blown save and second loss. He now has an ERA over six. Scott, have you been speculating on anybody in the Angels bullpen behind Estevez? No, but I guess it's probably time to start, isn't it? Yeah. If only Robert Stevenson hadn't gotten hurt. Yeah. Luis Garcia pitched the eighth inning in this game. Matt Moore in the seventh. I believe both have an ERA over four, so it's...

Yeah. I don't know that there's a slam dunk. No, I don't think so. And I don't think Ron Washington is going to be so inclined to go with the committee. So I wouldn't be too concerned about Estefez's job security at this point, but he's, you know, you can't keep blowing games, obviously. Yeah. For the Royals on Friday, James MacArthur was unavailable. John Schreiber got the ninth with a one-run lead. He allowed a hit but picked up his first save. For the Brewers on Saturday, Trevor McGill got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up two hits, but picked up his fourth save. And he has the Brewers last four traditional saves. I believe there was a two or three-inning save in there somewhere for the Brewers. And McGill remains the top ad. You know, if you need saves, if he's out there, 34% rostered, widely available. And then for the Cubs on Sunday, Hector Nerris got the ninth with the game tied, facing the bottom of the Pirates lineup. He gave up two hits and a walk, but escaped the jam.

And then the Cubs scored three runs in the top of the 10th. Adbert Alzalai got the bottom, and he gave up two runs. One of those earned. He picked up his fourth save, but still think Nerris is the name to roster for now. To stream or not to stream on Monday, and... Yeah, it's not great.

I think Jose Soriano at home against the Cardinals. Uh-huh. Matt Manning against the Marlins, maybe. Yeah, I was going to say maybe Trevor Williams at the White Sox. Yeah, those are probably the best three. Yeah. That's not saying much. And then on Tuesday, we do get Reese Olson against the Marlins.

So we do like that quite a bit. And then, well, there's Eric Fetty against the Nationals. That one's pretty good. Yeah, that's good too. Gavin Stone at the Giants. I like all three. Man. Hey, look at us.

Look at that. We made it through a streamer segment without Scott ripping his hair out. I love it. Tuesday. It's a good day for streaming. We are going to wrap there for 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'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.