Fantasy Baseball Today - Players On Fire Right Now, Injury Replacements & More! (7/6 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

Eury Perez tossed 7 perfect innings (2:20). ... Luis Garcia Jr. is one of the hottest hitters in baseball (5:35). ... Caminero vs. Yordan Alvarez was fun (11:38)! ... News (15:44): Ohtani left early Friday with a bicep injury. ... Sean Burke has elevated his game (30:02). ... Chase DeLauter looks better (38:48). ... These hitters are on fire right now (45:15). ... It was a bad weekend for pitchers named Hunter (51:00). We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:04:36).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

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. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome in. Tough Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, July 6th.

I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White. Today on the show. We have a lot of injuries to talk about, which means you need replacements. We have a bunch of hitters who are blistering hot right now. It was a bad weekend to be a pitcher named Hunter and much more. Scotty, how was the weekend, man? How was tubing?

How'd it go? Tubing was totally tubular. It was, it was, it didn't quite love up to my memory. Of course, we were on a different river, and I think the water level was a little low, so it didn't go quite as fast as it normally would. but the kids had a good time. I think we're going to try and do it again at some point.

And I got a little sun. I don't know if it shows up on the camera. Got a little sun. It was a good weekend. All in all. What about you? Yeah. Yeah, it was all good.

Lots of baseball, lots of soccer. Lots of volleyball in the pool. Went out to my aunt's house for, you know, Fourth of July cookout. Totally got sunburned, even though I applied multiple times, sunscreen. and all that fun stuff, but yeah, you know, older you get, you play volleyball in the pool, sports and stuff. It's just like, I don't know.

I sound like an old man even though I'm not, but my body is so beat up today, and I'm like sunburned and fatigued and all that fun stuff, but yeah, it was cool. It was cool. Anyway, let's get into the players of the weekend, brought to you by Stitch Fix. If you're like me and clothes shopping isn't your thing,

Stitch Fix has you covered. Get $20 off your first order at stitchfix.com slash baseball. All right, Scotty, let's get into the players of the weekend, and you will kick us off with a perfect game, kind of, into the eighth inning. Yeah, by one Yuri Perez, seven perfect innings for the Marlins. They actually took them out after just 92 pitches. So they had a hard cutoff there, and they stuck to it even though he was perfect through seven. looked really good.

I mean, look, he's a very talented pitcher. Has a lot of pitches that he's capable of generating whiffs on. This was his third start back from the IEL. He's looked better overall, I would say, in those three. He did have four walks in the second of the starts, but also had eight strikeouts, and then he follows it up with this performance. A total of five hits in 17.

innings in the three starts since returning. But I want to focus more on the last seven starts, because in the last seven starts, he's thrown a sinker that he didn't have before. He introduced that sinker to his arsenal, Yuri Perez, seven starts ago. And, yeah, obviously he was having trouble throwing strikes before then.

We've seen this a lot from certain pitchers who are having trouble commanding their fastball, they introduce Sinker, and they seem to get a little bit better command when they do that. And this seems to have happened to Yuri Perez as well,

because in his seven starts since introducing the Sinker, if I could find it in my notes, Yuri Perez has a 250 ADRA. 0.76 whip. That'll do. And 10.3K. again, that's in seven starts.

So I think he's back. I think he is must start, and I think this start proves it. What was crazy about this start in particular? And I know a lot of people will be upset about the Marlins pulling Yuri Perez with a perfect game. But again, this is only his third start back from the IL, as you mentioned. And the pitch counts in the previous two before this one were 68 and then 86. So he's still getting built up. So I understand why they took him out after 92 pitch.

which is the scary part is that the Marlins relievers nearly blue in eight-run lead, which would have just been insane and terrible for Yuri Perez not to get the win in the start. He wound up getting the win, but overall, I agree with your takes wholeheartedly here. It looks like he is back, and we knew that he's immensely talented, and obviously now he is showing that off. And I believe it was even before the injury, he had like two starts where he looked really good, and you brought up something that you read about, like, tar. target practice. They were working on him hitting specific targets during his bullpins and everything.

And I think that potentially in conjunction with the sinker has kind of unlocked Yuri Perez and got him back on track the season. So he's only 60% started. Obviously get him back in your lineups. He gets the Guardians this week. And as I will continue to tell you, no J-Ram in that lineup, I think you could pretty much use almost any pitcher against the Guardians right now. And definitely Yuri Perez. So get him back in your lineups. One of the hitters who is red hot right now is Luis Garcia Jr. My goodness, two for four with a double dong on Friday, two for four with a sock and a shoe here on Sunday. And over his last 27 games, he is hitting 330 with 14 homers, 33 RBI, an OPS over 1,200. Normally when you see an OPS that high over, you know, one of these arbitrary endpoints that I give you, it might be like, you know, 10,000. I'm not. 10, 15 games. Sustaining a 1,200 OPS over a 27 game stretch is pretty darn insane here for Luis Garcia. During that stretch, 92 mile per hour, average EV an 18% barrel rate.

And the overall line now, 282, 19 homers, 64 RBI. He's got three steals and 874 OPS. 19 homers, already a career high for Luis Garcia Jr. So again, to put this run in perspective, you know, two years ago, we had that breakout season. It was 18 homers in like 140 games. He's got 19 and like 85 or 80, whatever, 84 games. So on an absolute heater right now,

I don't know how much I trust it. I mean, it is backed up this stretch with the underlying numbers, how hard he's hitting the ball and obviously barreling it up as well. We bring up the numbers against lefties and, you know, whether or not to use him. He's got six games this week, only one lefty on the schedule. But honestly, Scott, the way he's playing, I don't really think it matters, man.

I think you just absolutely continue to roll with Luis Garcia Jr. He's on fire. I guess the question now is like, what do we expect moving forward? Should people try to, do you just roll with it? Do you try and sell high on Luis Garcia Jr.? What do you think? I think it might be hard to sell high just by virtue of. And a lot of leagues, he's only been picked up over the last week or two. And so it's always difficult to trade that sort of player. Like, obviously, you got a guy coming off a stretch this hot. His numbers are overheated a little bit. I think it's fair to assume

because you're catching him at the hottest possible point of his entire career. They're going to have to cool off some. But, like, he's better this year. He's hitting the ball significantly harder. Also striking out a little less, the pull air rates higher.

Like, everything points to more production and he is delivering more production. There is still the major issue of him being out of of the lineup against lefties, which he just was again against the two most recent the nationals faced on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I did notice something different about those Tuesday and Wednesday games for Louise Garcia. Remember, he sat out the previous week, both Thursday and Friday when he was still in the

midst of this incredible power binge. He only got one at bat between those two games against lefties two weeks ago. in the two games against lefties this past week he's still got seven at bats he came off the bench early in both games and still got a bunch of it bats so that is an encouraging development obviously if you know

they're going against Christopher Sanchez or some lefty who's liable to throw eight innings or seven at least and it's unlikely Louise Garcia is going to play much at all and so you're going to have to choosy particularly in daily leagues, even looking ahead in weekly leagues

when there's a bunch of lefties on the schedule. And that's not normally how you'd like to have to approach a second basement. I think most of us for an infield position like that, we'd just like to have a set-it-and-forget-it type. I don't know that Luis Garcia is that yet. But you're obviously starting them this upcoming week,

as hot as he is, only one lefty on the schedule. Could you shop them? You know, second base has been stacked this year. Second base is so stacked that Ozzy Albiz and Luis Arise were the NL's two all-star representatives at the position. And, you know, by in a vacuum, just looking at their numbers, they seem like they deserve to be. Ozzy Albies and Luis arise. And yet it seemed like an outrage because them being on the roster meant Bryce Terang, J.J. Weatherholt, and Brandon Lowe were not.

And that's just on the NL side. So that gives you an indication of how stacked second base is, I doubt in leagues that don't offer a middle infield spot, you're going to find enough of my market for Luis Garcia, especially considering he was recently picked up off the waivers that I think a trade is realistic. But of course, his numbers are a little overheated right now. And the other position that he's eligible at is first base,

which is, in my opinion, the most stacked position in fantasy this year. So between those two positions, I mean, look, it's good to have that versatility, that flexibility for fantasy with Luis Garcia, but yeah, he does play at two very stacked positions. He's up to 86% rostered on CBS, so there's nothing you could do there.

On Yahoo, 78%, so still could be out there in some leagues, and he's among the hottest hitters over the past month of the season, and just want to take some time here to give credit to the nationals this season. know, like no expectations coming in. In fact, you know, I only made two season-long bets, and one of them was the season-long under-win total for the nationals because I just thought they were going to be dreadful this season. It was like under 65 and a half games.

They already have 46 wins. So clearly that is not working out very well. But, you know, this front office and new coaching staff, it's a lot of young guys and very analytical approach. And they've gotten a lot out of their players this season. So I just want to give credit, man. James Woods, C.J. Abrams having a great year. Luis Garcia.

on this heater now. Curtis Mead, Dylan Cruz has looked good since he's been called back as well. So they're doing some really nice things. Credit there to the Washington Nationals. I want to highlight this battle for the AL MVP this weekend too. The raise up against the Astros, just

an awesome series to watch superstar hitters because Junior Caminero will not stop. Homered again on Friday and Saturday. Saturday was a sock and a shoe in that game and he had an 11 game stretch. I think he went 0 for here on Sunday, but 11 game stretch from June 23 to July 4th, hitting 386 with 11 homers 23 RBI and a 1585 OPS for Camerro. And then Yordaun Alvarez

hit another home run on Friday, 3 for 4, double dong, 6 RBI on Saturday, including a walk-off homer in that game. The battle for the AL MVP, we'll see when Aaron Judge gets back, but I I think he's just going to miss too much time where he's not really going to factor into the race this season. But it feels like these two are going to be the top two. Obviously, like Bobby Witt's still amazing and he can still get back into it. But Alvarez versus Camerro, Scott,

that looks like the ALMVP race right now. Yeah, I think that's fair. I can't off the top of my head think of who else would be. And you mentioned Witt and that, you know, it's possible he rejoins it. I think he would probably add the most defensive value of the three. You know, it was, it's interesting.

This is semi-related. So we're talking about Commonero and Jordan Alvarez, guys who weren't drafted in the first round, obviously, in fantasy this year. I was commenting on X earlier tonight that I've regained first place in Tout Wars, even though I drafted Ronald de Cunia in the first round. but who is happy with their first round pick so far this year?

And so I went through ADP, and in a 12-team league, I only came up with three people who may be satisfied with their first-round picks so far. The one who drafted Shohei Otani, of course. Probably the one who drafted Bobby Witt. I think so. And then the one who drafted Juan Soto. And that's it.

They've all been everyone else in round, one has been a major disappointment. And then if you extend it to 19, the first 19 players drafted, only five of them have performed up to two expectations so far. You got Witt, you got Soto, you got Otani, you got Corbyn Carroll, and you got Junior Commonero. And that's it among the top 19. So the early rounds really letting us down this year.

I know you might say Ellie De La Cruz he's been good but obviously he missed a lot of time with injury Aaron Judge a lot of it's

injury related but still it's been it's been a rough go it definitely has I think that's a fair point to bring up and want to give a thank you

once again to Stitch Fix for sponsoring today's players of the weekend Stitch Fix takes the hassle out of clothes shopping just take a quick style

quiz share your size your vibe and your budget and you'll be matched with a real human stylist who will send you a fixed box with clothes that fit and makes sense for your life. Get started today at stitchfix.com slash baseball for $20 off your first order. That's stitchfix.com slash baseball. And one reminder here before we hit this first break, make sure to like this video if you're watching right now

or on demand and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Last I checked we were like 10 subscribers away. I lied. We have just passed 38,000 subscribers on YouTube. So, Thank you to everyone who was subscribed. Please stay subscribed throughout the course of the baseball season. That would be fantastic. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Instacart knows that some people go bananas about getting the perfect, well, banana. Some want them green.

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Welcome back. Fantasy Baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. And there were a lot of injuries that popped up this weekend. Some of them completely out of nowhere. But Shohay Otani left after six innings on Friday due to a bicep injury. And he said it was similar to what he dealt with a couple months ago and that it subsided quickly. He pitched well before leaving that game.

six innings, three runs, nine strikeouts. The velocity held throughout. He was out of the lineup Saturday, and then he was back here on Sunday. So I did lead the news and notes with this one before I saw he was in the lineup on Sunday, but considering he was back and in the lineup, I think we're probably all good here with Otani. Right, Scott?

I would say so. Would you, in leagues where he's two different players and you have him as a pitcher, would you be okay using him as a pitcher this week, even though he's coming off a bicep injury in his last pitching start. I mean, that's a little dice here, of course, but I have not heard any suggestion that they'll skip that start. It wouldn't surprise me if they did, honestly. Going into the All-Star break, too.

Yeah, I think it depends how deep your league is how good your alternatives are. But I'd lean against starting Otani as a pitcher. Julio Rodriguez was placed on the seven-day concussion aisle after taking that throw off of his helmet on Thursday night. And if you are looking for an outfield replacement this week, Scott's Week 16 sleeper hitters, we have Jake McCarthy, Elliot Ramos, Lars Neupar, AJ Ewing, Esmerlin Valdez, and Gavin Sheets,

McCarthy, by the way, Monster Game Friday night, four for five with two homers, six RBI, and a steal. He's up to 74% rostered on CBS. Scott, I know Tommy Edmund was on there before, and I assume you took him off, because he was scratched on Sunday? Is that? Yes.

Yes. And they called it precautionary, but I've gotten burned by presuming players who are dealing with an injury would be back in times. I've left him on the sleeper hitters. And gotten burned by it enough that I just kind of never do that anymore, especially since he was low on the list to begin with. So I added Gavin Sheets instead with the Padres having the best hitter matchups

and zero lefties on it. You bring up Jake McCarthy. Jake McCarthy is basically splits-proof. He's good on the road, even as a Rockies hitter. He's good against lefties, even as a left-handed batter. So I think he's fine to start with the Rockies on the road this week. T.J. Rumsfield.

Rumpfield, thank you. I always think T.J. Friedel. No, that's not him. Yes, T.J. Rumfield is also good on the road as a Rockies hitter, but he struggles against lefties. so with three lefties on the schedule, he is, look, startable in certain contexts, but I wasn't going to put him as a sleeper-header. This next one, out of nowhere.

Carlos Rodon went on the IL Friday with left elbow inflammation. Rodon said his UCL is intact, but he's dealing with, quote, heavy inflammation. And of course, this off-season, he had a procedure to clean up some loose bodies in his elbow, and it took him a little bit longer to get back as well. so I think overall this is pretty concerning for the Yankees in their rotation. I'm sure it will affect how they approach the trade deadline as well, but they called up Brendan Beck, who started on Saturday. He was not very good.

They sent him down after that start too. I have to imagine they'll probably recall Elmer Rodriguez at some point, unless they make a trade, but Rodriguez hasn't looked very good in his starts in the majors this year either, so I don't think we really have much interest there, right? I would agree with that, yes. Brandon Woodruff left Saturday to start early, and then he went on the aisle Sunday.

By the way, by the way, Ryan Weathers. He's stinky. Well, the Weathers has cleared for him. That's true. It's blue skies ahead for Ryan Weathers. Not if he keeps pitching like this, though. Well, I may look at the alternatives. That's fair.

Brandon Woodruff left Saturdays start early and then went on the aisle Sunday with right shoulder. inflammation. And last year was an incredible story for him to even get back after having shoulder surgery and then not only get back, but perform to the level that he did. But this year, I just don't really think it's going to happen, Scott. I mean, it's been one step back after another. They were weird about Brandon Woodruff during spring training as well. The shoulder thing keeps popping up. I think in leagues where you don't have IL spots, like in the NFBC, for example, I would be alright dropping Brandon Woodruff.

Yeah, it doesn't look good. If you have an IL spot, I wouldn't mind holding on to him. But if you don't, you know, your expectations have to be pretty low for Woodruff with another issue coming up. Somewhat related, it sounds like Logan Henderson will make his next start with the Brewers, and he is 75% rostered. And whenever given an opportunity to pitch in the majors, he's looked really good. And so we've kind of put him at the top of that, you know,

waiver wire group of starting pitchers that has been very, interesting lately. Scott, would you still have Logan Henderson at the top of that group? You know, some, some names have kind of shuffled around. Like, some have moved up, some have moved down. I kind of think Ian Seymour is near the top of that list now. Yeah, I was about to say, Ian Seymour bolstered his case with another amazing start this weekend, but, or was it Thursday. Yeah, Thursday. I think it was, yeah. But even so, I think, uh, I mean, it's a close call. I mean, Cantillo's still up there, Seymour, and... Troy Melton.

Yeah, I mean, Melton's right there, I guess, also. Logan Henderson, where does he fit? He's already 75% rostered. So, you know, outside of... I don't know, maybe in Yahoo Leagues, he's more widely available. But I don't know that there's that much competition, that much ability. to pick him up, I should say.

He's probably behind Cantillo for me. But, you know, it's pretty close between those four we were talking about. Yeah, Logan Henderson, by the way, 43% rostered on Yahoo. So, yes, widely available over there.

If you lost some pitchers, go out and seek out, Logan Henderson. Some sleeper pitchers for Scott this week. Again, if you lost Woodruff, if you lost Rodin, if you lost someone else, you just need some help.

We've got Joey Can't Landon Rup, Ian Seymour, J.T. Ginn, Griffin, Jax, Troy Melton, Shane Baz, Michael McGreevy, Shane Drohan, and Connor Prelip. Of course, those articles are on the website, CBSSports.com, slash fantasy, slash baseball. Or if you go on the CBS Fantasy app, you can read both the sleeper pitchers and sleeper hitters for this upcoming week. I think we were expecting this move. The Orioles placed Ryan Helsley on the IL Friday with right elbow discomfort, and they did have a conventional save opportunity Friday as well. Rico Garcia pitched two innings in the sixth and the seventh.

You near Cano got the eighth. Tyler Wells got the ninth. It was a clean inning for the save. And then he also picked up a save on Saturday as well. So Tyler Wells has looked really good this season. He's 9% rostered. The Orioles could always kind of shift things around. But, hey, their first two save opportunities went to him.

I think in leagues where you need saves, he's widely available. He's got to be one of the top waiver-wire relievers had. right now, I would imagine. Yeah, and he was getting a bunch of holds before then. Getting the first two saves on back-to-back days after the closer goes down, I think puts him in strong contention, Tyler Wells, to just be the guy for the Orioles.

Really early on, when Hale Helsley went down last time, RICO Garcia quickly emerged as the front runner and then they weren't very consistent about it thereafter. So no guarantees or anything with Wells, but yeah, he's the obvious front runner at this point. Byron Buckson was removed from Sunday's game after re-agravating his right hip impingement. The twins are off Monday,

so we probably won't have an update until Tuesday, and you might want to play it safe and have a replacement ready to go. I think he missed three or four games before returning over the weekend, and then, of course, re-agravated it. So perhaps the twins just kind of shut them down until after the All-Star break or something like that. So I would say play it safe here with Byron Buckson.

Mike Trout took BP Saturday and said he could return as soon as Tuesday. What do you think about using Mike Trout this week? I mean, it's still iffy. I might hold off in three outfielder leagues. But in five outfielder leagues, you're probably desperate to fill one of those last two spots. Cade Cavali left early on Sunday. and originally it looked like it was injury related, but I haven't seen any update.

The only thing I could find is that it looks like he left with dehydration. So I don't think that that's too worrisome for him. His velocity was down in his final inning of work. Went from 97.6 miles per hour on the fastball to 96.1 and then down to 94.2 in the third inning. And I mean, I guess even for this week, like he might have to serve that suspension. So I don't even know if you're using Kavali anyway.

Right, right, because of the looming suspension and now the question of why he left the start sounds like dehydration, but I don't know, we may hear more about that in the future. And then just, you know, how effective is he? I will note that even though it was an ugly stateline against Pittsburgh, he's still got a 45% whiff rate

on his four seamer. And the four seamer, the way it played up in his previous start when he struck out 13, That was kind of the headliner pitch. Where did that better four seamer come from? It still played up in this start. So a lot to sort out still for Cade Cavali. You don't start in this upcoming week,

but maybe don't be so quick to drop him. Jazz Chisholm left Sunday with right big toe discomfort. X-rays came back negative, so he's a name you need to monitor. The Yankees do play on Monday, so we should know about that one pretty soon. Max Fried threw a successful live BP Sunday, and we'll do so again Thursday or Friday before,

potentially going out on a. rehab assignment. Mutataka Morikami ran for the second consecutive day on Saturday and could start a rehab assignment in the coming days. Sounds like if there's no setbacks, I would expect Morikami back right after the All-Star break. Edwin Diaz said he felt really good while facing hitters in live BP on Sunday. So he's working his way back, his way back closer. That doesn't sound like right to me, but he's working his way back. He's closer to getting back. That's Edwin Diaz. Shea Langalears has missed two straight with left thumb with a left thumb contusion

and probably not a big deal but sometimes with catchers and stuff it could be a little annoying so in the leagues where I have Langalears I did put in some bids to pick up like a second or a third catcher just to have a backup just in case there with Chey Langaleers Dustin May is scheduled to start Monday against the Brewers

despite leaving his previous start with an ankle injury Scott what do you think about using Dustin May this week I think it's pretty scary. Not so much because of the ankle injury, but because he's got a 1702 ERA, it is last two starts. Now, the previous start against Atlanta,

Fiverr, and runs in two and a third innings, you know, a lot of that happened because he took that liner off the ankle that turned into a basis clearing hit, but even so, it's hard to trust May performance-wise right now and health health aside.

Ryan Jeffers started a rehab assignment at AAA on Friday and he is 60% rostered. I would say for those in two catcher leagues just check to see because I had a few

where he was still out there on the waiver wire so Ryan Jeffers I mean I guess even in a one catcher league he's probably going to be right near that top 12 conversation.

Connolly Early who went, go ahead. Yeah, I wanted to point out Ryan Jeffers for people who don't remember how well he was playing. 3.58 head to head points per game,

which would be tops at the position. Ben Rice is 3.57. Ryan Jeffers was 3.58. Yeah. He was mashing. He was awesome. So definitely, definitely check to see on Ryan Jeffers. Connolly Early, who went on the aisle

with posterior elbow inflammation, will seek a second opinion. Jeremy Payne will play in rehab games this week. Could be activated next weekend. I think you should clearly stay away from Jeremy Pena this week. Even if he plays over the weekend, you know, you'll only get like two or three games out of him. Will Smith began hitting in the cages Thursday and has also begun throwing.

He's been on the aisle since June 11th with neck inflammation. Michael Garcia is rehabbing in Kansas City but has yet to resume swinging a bat. He'll be reevaluated during the All-Star break. He is out with a muscle strain in his left hand. Brendan Donovan will go out on a rehab assignment Tuesday. He's been out since mid-May. with a left groin strain, 71% rostered, so probably only available in some shallower leagues. But I think in Points League, Scott, if you needed third base help, I would be pretty interested in re-adding Brennan Donovan.

He's typically pretty good in Points Leagues. He is. He is. His roster rate held at over 90% for a long time, too. I know it's 71% now, but I think that was just fatigue. more recently caused it to fall that far. Points Lake player, Brendan Donovan with that multi-eligibility,

is somebody to look into. All right, Josh Young was out Sunday due to a sore knee. Martine Perez is expected to land on the aisle after taking a line drive off of his left forearm and some others who went on the aisle this weekend, Randy Vasquez with a bruised right ankle, Freddie Fermin with a head bruise. Let's take a look at some waiver wire starting pitchers

And look, a lot of the names that we're going to talk about here. They're names that we've talked a lot about lately. But three names that are very clearly surging are Sean Burke, Trevor Rogers, and Jake Bennett. So, Sean Burke, awesome start at the Guardian, six innings, one run, 11 strikeouts to zero walks. And his fastball velocity remained up. His last four starts, 180 ERA and a 108 whip. And he's 76% rostered. So, again, only out there in some shaller leagues, gets the athletic sense.

this week. Trevor Rogers, he kept runs off the board. He did struggle with walks. It was five shutout, two hits, five walks, four strikeouts for him. But last three starts with the VLO up for Rogers. It's 18 and a third innings, one run, 17 strikeouts to seven walks. 75% rostered gets the Cubs this week. And Jake Bennett, a great outing at the Angel, seven and two thirds, two runs, six

strikeouts to zero walks for him. He has turned in three straight quality starts. He's 50% rostered. He gets the White Sox this week. Scott, how would you rank this trio right now? Sean Burke, Trevor Rogers, Jake Bennett. I think it's a definitive ranking because there's a lot of space between the three of them.

And it's Sean Burke number one, Trevor Rogers, number two, Jake Bennett, number three. Sean Burke is the absolute must of the group. You mentioned the 180 ERA over the last four starts, 11.9 K per 9. And this velocity increase isn't subtle. It's about

1.5 miles per hour on the fastball, which has turned into a big swing and miss offering with that velocity jump. Sean Burke is just a different pitcher now with that pitch and a big bat misser and somebody who needs to be rostered everywhere.

Rogers definitely has improved. It's hard to say why he's improved. I know the velocity was up one on the fastball in this start, and it's been up a little in previous starts, but we're not seeing the huge jump there that we've seen from Sean Burke. And, you know, it's

the margin between good and terrible for Trevor Rogers seems to be very thin. And because there aren't clear indicators of this turnaround, clear reasons we can define that it happened. I'm very wary of it. He has to be picked up again.

We know the upside is good from what he did last year, but it just seems like it could go bad again and do a lot of damage to your fantasy team. Jake Bennett is interesting. We talked about him after his last few starts. He continues to deliver good ones. but I will note it's 6.9 strikeouts per inning

for him this season. It's a lot of ground balls, a lot of weak contact, a good expected ERA 282, but he's not actually getting a lot of strikeouts. So I think there are limits to Bennett's upside that maybe Rogers and certainly Burke aren't limited by. How does that trio compare to the previous names we mentioned earlier, Joey Cantillo, Ian Seymour, and Troy Milton. I would say the only one who is among them is Burke. And he might be at the very top.

It's really close. It's really close between all of them. But Burke might be at the very top. All right, four streamer types who pitched well this weekend. Peter Lambert looked good against the race. He's five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts. He had 18 whiffs on 90 pitches in that one. And he's a spark.

He's at the Rangers this week. Andre Palante bounced back at the Cubs. Five and two thirds shutout. Two strikeouts, one walk. Overall, less walks this season. He's doing a better job, limiting hard contact. He gets to Brewers this week. Luis Castillo turned in a quality start against the Blue Jays,

six innings of two-run ball with four strikeouts there. And last seven games, which includes five starts and like two piggyback appearances. 272 ERA 105 whip for Luis Castillo. He is at the raise this week. And Jack Flaherty pitched very well at the Rangers. Five and two-thirds shutout. Five strikeouts to zero walks. And two starts since coming off to IL.

10 and two-thirds. Five hits. 14 strikeouts to three walks. The velocity has been up in those two as well. I think Flaherty is very combustible, but he's looked better in his last two. And he gets the Phillies this week. Scott, do you think any of these guys are more than streamers?

And if not, do you like any of the matchups for these guys this week? Lambert at the Rangers. Palante against the Brewers, Castillo at the raise, and Jack Flaherty against the Phillies. The one who might be more than a streamer is Castillo. Because, you know, even just last year, I would say he was more than a streamer as recently as last year, even though he took a step back.

So he's not that far removed from being a reliable fantasy option, and he's pitched reliably recently. And we may have been too quick to ride him off. Don't have a ton of confidence in Castillo. He'll want to put him near that group of waiver wire pickups we talked about earlier, but he's the one of these four who I have the most trust in. If I was ranking the other, so I'd go Castillo one, Andre Palante, too, even though there's not a lot of upside there,

I think there's just a level of trustworthiness that is higher than Peter Lambert 3 or Jack Flaherty 4. Interestingly enough, Flaherty might have the most upside of this group, and he has been missing bats a lot more recently, throwing harder, short outings, and yeah, very combustible, like you said. So I have the least trust in Flaherty, but he might have the most upside of the four. Overall, though, I wouldn't consider any of these four

to be the kind of players you break the fab budget for. They're more like, I got a spot to play with. I'll pick them up for nothing and see. how this trend goes. If Spencer Arrigetti was dropped in your league, would you be looking to re-ad him, or do you think you need to see more? He did pitch better this weekend against the race,

six innings, one run, four strikeouts, just one walk through 63% of his pitches for strikes. That's a good sign. He only allowed two hard hits. Obviously, he had been pitching very poorly before that. 73% rostered at the Nationals this week. Where are you at on Spencer Argetty right now? So if I was putting him in that previous group,

he'd be right in the middle. I'd take Luis Castillo over him. I'd take Andre Palante over him, especially since Palante has two starts coming up. And, uh, but I would take Eric Eddy over Peter Lambert or Jack Flaherty. And I have one very deep name, very, very deep name for you.

That is Mason Engler, two pitches for the raise. Uh, he actually had a really good start at the Astros this weekend. Five and two thirds, two runs, nine strikeouts to one walk. He had 16 whiffs on. 101 pitches here.

And on the season, 382 ERA 137 WIP recently got recalled from the miners. He is RP only on CBS. The deepest of leagues, Scott, do you have anything on Mason Englert? Sure,

in the deepest of leagues where there aren't starting pitchers on the waiver wire, like an AL only. Right. But I don't think, I don't think there's much to Mason Englert.

I don't know how long he's going to stick around. I kind of hope he doesn't make another start. because if he doesn't, that would mean Ian Seymour gets two starts next week. I think Ian Seymour is a good streamer next week regardless, because, you know, even as good as he's looked at the last two outings. And did we even actually talk about what Seymour did yet, or is that coming up? Ian Seymour pitched on Thursday night, so we...

Right, right. So you already covered it with Chris. He was my players of the... He was one of my players of the night, Scott, and I just, I wax poetic. I went off on Ian Seymour, so I think... Yeah. I think we got it covered. Um, I know I wrote something down for Inglard, but I don't,

I don't think he's worth digging it too much. All right, fair enough. Let's take our final break. When we return, I've got some waiver wire hitters from the weekend, other hitters who are just on fire right now. They're already rostered,

but definitely going to give those names a shout out, and we'll do that right after this. Welcome back, fantasy baseball today. Let's talk waiver wire hitters from the weekend. And Chase to Lauder. Could be out there again. shallow league name, 78% rostered.

But he has looked much better since returning from the IL. He went two for five with his eighth home run on Sunday. And in eight games since coming back, he's hitting 333, one homer, seven RBI, one steal. 78% rostered. Scott, the next step is that he should just be rostered everywhere.

Do you think that's the case with Chase the Water? Well, certainly five outfielder leagues. I imagine it's 78% rostered he already is. Yeah. He was so cold for so long before that IL stint. And it's not like it was a lingering injury he was playing through.

It was, you know, he hit the wall. They took him out, and he went on the IAL the next day. So I don't know. I don't know that he's a must in three outfielder leagues yet, but his skill set is well suited for points leagues, which is, you know, tend to be on the three outfielder side. So I'm keeping a close eye on. DeLotter, certainly if you'd have an outfield need immediately.

You know, you could look to him. I probably prefer Trent Grisham in that scenario, though, who just came back from the IL. And yeah, I know he's averaging more points per game than DeLotter this year. Would you just off the cuff like to guess when Chase DeLotter last hit a home run before Sunday? Like what date in the season? April 10th. May 17th. Okay.

I went back too far. I took all the wind out of your sales. Either way, I mean, it's been almost two months since the guys hit a home run. Yeah, it had been along. Like five of the seven, I think, came in the first week or two. Cody Clemens homered on both Friday and Saturday, making that three straight at the time. He has five home runs in his past nine games.

He has only set out three games since the start of June. So he is playing quite a bit, getting some starts against lefties as well. Not every lefty, but some lefties. And he's got 16 homers. He's got six deals, OPS right around 800, 63% rostered. He's first, second, outfield eligible. This is another one, Scott. I think he's already rostered in most, if not all,

roto leagues where you have the five outfielder, you have the corner, you have the middle. Does he need to be rostered in anything shallower than that? Cody Clemens. Probably not. Yeah, first base, second base, we've talked about how deep they are. Outfields, not as deep, but, you know, if it's not a roto league, it's probably just three outfield spots.

Yeah, I don't think Clemens' upside quite compares, even though he's been surprisingly useful. I could see in a daily lineup league, if you're on top of it, you're diligent. Just play him at whatever position you need. He would be like a bench player where if one of my other players is just out of the lineup, boom, that's the guy that's to fill in

and you just play him whenever he's in the lineup against right-handed pitching. But yeah, I think I agree. In the shallower formats, I don't know that it's a must there on Cody Clemens. Col Carrig went two for four with three RBI on Friday, two for four with his fourth home run, three more RBI on Saturday. But he sat out on Sunday, and I noticed he has sat out for the past 12 games, which is annoying for Cole Carrig. But overall, he's played very well.

289, four homers, two steals, 940 OPS in the 24 games that he's played so far. 59% rostered, I kind of feel like given his upside on what he showed, he should just kind of be rostered everywhere at this point. but the playing time thing is a little annoying. Yeah, I hadn't noticed that. Kind of makes sense, though, with Mickey Moniac coming back. And Troy Johnston and Tyler Freeman, they have good enough numbers that the Rockies have to keep them involved. That's part of the reason why people who listen to the prospects podcast,

the mini podcast we do every week, Charlie Condon and Zach Veen are killing it in the minor. but the Rockies are overloaded at the positions they play as it is. Cold Carrags look great, though. I mean, the pull air rate is in the red. The walk rate is 12%. He hasn't been stealing as much as he was in the miners, only two so far, but 92nd percentile sprint speed.

I think that's going to change. There's a lot to like here. So I don't think I would have a problem picking him up in a three outfielder league. I don't know if he's immediately useful with the Rockies on the road this week and the playing time issues, but I do think I do think Cole Carrig is trending toward being must roster. We have already mentioned multiple times today and pretty much all season that first base is loaded, but I will just point out Josh Bell has been really hot last 25 games. He's hitting 304 with eight homers, 27 RBI, and OPS over 1,000 during that span.

So if you play in a deeper league with a corner infield spot and Josh Bell is out there, I think he's a fine hot hand play right now. Two deeper outfielders got Nathan Church, Homer, again on Friday. That one off of a lefty and David Peterson, so I thought that was a good sign for Church. He has three home runs in his past six games. He has started nine straight. And Khalil Watson, with the Guardians, he is doing some things. He's got four steals this weekend.

He's got a homer so far. He's got nine RBI. He also is striking out 33% of the time. but he's hitting the ball hard he's got some speed two deeper outfield names but any interest in Nathan Church and Khalil Watson in like a 15 teamer

Church yes especially the Cardinals they have eight games this week three are against lefties but still I don't know about Watson apart from the steals

which have been prolific I don't see a lot to get excited about here and we're kind of past the days of needing a stolen space special stolen space he stole the space

stolen base specialist that's not as much of a thing anymore because stolen bases are so prevalent everywhere I suppose in the oddball scenario you might need it but I don't think Kalia Watson's a high priority even in deeper rotissory leagues

Hitters absolutely on fire right now. We spoke about Luis Garcia Jr. Up at the top. I want to give a shout out to a couple of Marlins here. Huge weekend for Kyle Stowers. Four for five with a double dong on Friday. Hit another home run on Saturday. He was out of the lineup against the lefty gauge jump on Sunday.

He does play against some lefties, but not all. Last 16 games for Stowers, 355, six homers, 17 RBI, 1235 OPS. Still striking out a lot, but hitting the ball extremely hard. 94.7 average EV, 23% barrel rate during that 16-game stretch. And his teammate, Otto Lopez, I keep waiting for him to slow down, Scott. It's not happening. It is not happening for Otto Lopez. Two for five with a steal on Friday.

Three for five with a homer, three RBI on Saturday, three for four with another homer and another three RBI on Sunday. Last 30 games now for Otto Lopez, 373, five homers, 27 runs, seven steals, 1031 OPS. The Marlins, the fight and fish. These guys are surging. Any thoughts on Stowers and Otto Lopez?

Man, the Marlins got Otto Lopez off waivers from the Giants, who themselves got him from the Blue Jays. He was DFA'd twice, and now he's an all-star, which is awesome. Yeah.

Yeah. So, I don't know. I don't know what more there is to say about Otto Lopez. I don't think he's going to end up hitting 3-46. or even 316. But I think he's good. I think you're going to be happy starting him.

Moving forward. Stowers, yeah, this is nice to see from Stowers because it would have been easy to give up on him. I'm sure in a lot of the leagues where he was drafted, he was dropped and understandably. But from an analytical, you know, from the standpoint of analysis where you have infinite roster space and can just say, oh, I like this player.

I didn't want to give up on Stowers yet. And it was kind of difficult to justify, give it the limited track record in that he was, you know, the Marlins bought low on him from the Orioles and he wasn't expected to turn into the All-Star he did last year. But I thought a lot of the underlying data

still look good for him, and it's good to see him coming through and I think putting himself in a position to be picked up even in some of those shallower leagues again. All right, again, that was Kyle Stowers. We were just talking about two big-name bats that are picking things up as well. Rafael Devers hit three home runs this weekend.

And over his last 25 games, he's hitting 261, 11 homers, OPS over 1,000. Has the strikeout rate down to 23% during that span, which is a huge improvement for Devers. And Mady Machado, big game on Sunday. One for two, three walks, a sock into show.

last 24 for him, 250, which again, we still want more batting average from Machado, but overall we'll take it, you know, based on his first three months of the season. But yeah, last 24, 250, seven homers, 19 RBI, OPS over 900 during that time

for Machado. Scott, are you thinking these guys are just back-ish? What are your expectations, I guess, rest of the season? Devers and Machado. I don't think Devers is back. has a lot of power.

But I think, you know, this is the second straight year of greatly diminished plate discipline. And I know it's been

a little better during this hot streak. That tends to happen during hot streaks. It's been long enough, though, that I'm not counting on it sticking.

Like, I think Raphael Devers is a lot closer to being Jake Berger than the guy he was previously. I mean, just compare

their number side by side this year. It's pretty close. Yeah. And they have a lot of the same strengths and flaws at this point. So, you know, I'm not saying Devers is worthless in fantasy. Again, a lot of power. But yeah, I don't want to overrate him based

on a hot stretch here. Machado, you know, obviously third base, there's a much greater need than first base. So you're more inclined to see the glass have full with him, I would say. I

I kind of you know how he went on that rant a few weeks back to the media about analytics and stuff? Scrum in the locker room and he just kind of yeah he just kind of railed

against analytics you know it's kind of become like a boogeyman because that covers such a wide range of topics but I wonder if he had gotten some data had been shared to him by Padres management.

You know, obviously the conduit from the front office to the field has changed with Craig Stamen coming in. If something was shared with Machado that he tried to apply early on and it didn't work, and that's why he was frustrated and went on that rant. Because about the time he went on that rant, his production took off. And I'm just wondering, this is kind of what I made up in my head. Okay, that was the moment he decided to heck with it. I'm just going to go back to what I always did.

And now he's playing like the Machado of old. In any case, third base being what it is, I think you should feel pretty happy to have Manny Machado right now, even though his overall batting average is still 189. It was a rough weekend to be a starting pitcher named Hunter, and we will start with the Green. He got destroyed in his first start back against the Orioles, three and a third, seven hits, eight runs, four walks, seven strikeouts here.

Still had 15 whiffs on 89 pitches. Slider was filthy, had 14 of his wiffs. Velocity mostly looked fine as well, but the command wasn't there, obviously got hit hard. Scott Hunter Green, he's only 38% started. Gets the Cubs this week. What are you doing with Hunter Green? Probably not starting him as rough as things were in that first start. Terry Francona said he just wasn't commanding,

you know, walked four through, didn't throw strikes at a particularly high rate. Green said it just didn't do a good job channeling the adrenaline, not an excuse by any means, just reality. I was aware, I was amped, especially on the late heaters that I pulled early. Obviously, at this level, we've got to be able to make adjustments. I didn't do a good job of that.

So he was fired up to be back, and just wasn't commanding very well. That's all it seems like. The velocity was good. I'm still bullish on Hunter Green rest of season, but you might want to give him a chance to shake off all the rust before you get him active again. It might be too late for some of you.

Sorry about that. But I'm going to see if I won him in the league. He was available in one of my, I think it was my main event league. And I put 222 down on him. and I got him. 222, the backup bid was 189. Yeah, I mean, that could be a top 15 starting pitcher post-all-star break.

It leaves us with only like 7% of our fab budget rest of season in a league where you got to spend at least $1 to get a player. So that's a little scary. But, you know, a 15-team rode a league getting Hunter Greenoff waivers. That's pretty awesome. You're good about that. Yep. Hunter Brown, a rough outing against the raise, four-inning, six-hit.

seven runs, six of those earned, four walks to three strikeouts, also allowed two homers in this one. Oh my gosh. He, what happened? Lost as Merlin Valdez and Tyler Wells in that same league by a dollar each.

Ooh. So you win a few, you lose a few. I'd rather have Hunter Green. Overall, that's still a win. What was the backup bid on Hunter Green? 189 and we spent 222 yeah all right that's yeah it's not bad at all uh hunter brown he struggled to throw strikes in this one uh over five walks per nine now on the season he he's had two good starts two bad starts since returning from the iL he's at the rangers this week what are you doing with hunter brown

probably starting him you know this this was the this was the this was the a big miss obviously but it's a good matchup against the Rangers, and I had no reservations about starting him prior to this miss. And I didn't see anything in the miss that would really concern me about Hunter Brown. He didn't throw enough strikes, mainly it. And he's been struggling to throw strikes in general since returning, to be fair. But that kind of comes and goes with them even at its best. I think he's fine.

Logan Webb got crushed in Corse Field. Three innings, 11 hits, seven earned rugby. runs two homers loud in this one. Velocity was down a little bit. Is this one where we just give Logan Webb a pass because it's Corse Field? He was amazing in his five starts before this one. Yeah, definitely a pass. He changed his pitch mix, really leaned on his cutter.

Yep. Throwing it about 40% of the time. And I think we've seen this more from pitchers when they go into Corse Field. They do something different because they know. they can't expect their pitches to move as much as they normally do. Both he and the Giants talked about how they had a good game plan and it didn't work out. I think they just had a bad game plan is what happened, throwing that cutter so much. And so we got rocked.

But I think Logan Webb's fine. I have two names who could be potential dropped who got rocked this weekend. Shane Bieber, four inning, seven runs, three walks, three strikeouts, two homers allowed. He just has looked like a shell of himself since coming back. I have no idea if he's completely healthy. He's 68% rostered. I think it could maybe matter at some point, Scott, if he gets right and gets healthy.

But I feel pretty confident that Shane Beaver's a drop right now. I've resisted dropping him the leagues where I have him, but I think all the leagues where I have them are 15 teamers. So, you know, if 12 teams are shallower, I probably would have pulled the plug because you have a good chance of getting him back if he does turn things around. There's no reason to,

have any expectations whatsoever for Bieber. It's just that his name, Shane Bieber, and we've seen him bounce back from rough stretches before, so maybe he'll do it again, but maybe not. Nobody knows. This next one, I don't want to flip-flop, but it was a really rough week for Gage Jump, man. He got beat up by the Marlins, three in his...

He got jumped. We were talking beforehand. In one of our listener leagues, I lost by four fantasy points, and Gage Jump gave me negative 18, in a two-start week. It's a pretty terrible feeling. But yeah, three innings, eight hits, six runs allowed,

three walks to one strikeout, two homers allowed against the Marlins on this one. And the final numbers for the two starts this week, seven and two-thirds, 19 hits, 11 earned runs, four homers allowed as well. Are you holding on to Gage jump? Yeah, jumped. Yeah, I'm probably holding on. But this is what concerned me.

It was well-timed those concerns that I first brought up for gauge jump when after six starts he had a 204 ERA a 0.96 whip. But he was throwing his strikes at a 68% rate during that time. And I remember last year in the miners, he had a stretch of six, seven starts. I was waiting for you to do the hand gesture. Six, seven starts where he walked like nobody, and then the walks came in

and I just felt like, okay, 68% strike rate, that doesn't seem like the sort of the gauge jump can sustain. So what happens when he starts missing the zone more, starts missing his spots more, is his stuff good enough to survive that? And I wasn't sure it was. Since those six starts with the 68% strike rate,

it's been a 62% strike rate. And he's gotten knocked around, two starts in a row. So, you know, I think the command will come back at some point. I think he is, I think he's good, but I don't think he is like studly. And so he is more vulnerable to these little blips in command. And if you want to sit him right now, I think that makes sense. I want to be quick to drop gauge jump, though. All right, I do have some starter sit decisions for these six starting pitchers.

And Garrett Cole, we know it's kind of been rocky since returning so far. He did look better on Friday against the twins, five innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, zero walks, still only eight whiffs on 88 pitches. At the raise this week, his first start of the season was against the raise. It was six shutout, three walks, two strikeouts. What do you think about using Garrett Cole this week at Tampa Bay? Not wild about it. It was better, but it still wasn't, it still wasn't like retro Garrett Cole. It still doesn't seem like he's himself right now,

and the Ray's offense can be pretty dangerous. So I'd rather not start Cole. Michael King, for whatever reason, seems to pitch very well against the Dodgers, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts for him, and he now has a quality start in three of his last five outings. The other two in there were kind of bad, but, you know, I guess overall he's been trending up-ish.

He gets the debacks this week. They are 30th in Wobah against right-handed pitching, So if you have Michael King on your team, he's 55% started. I think I would mostly be alright using him against the debacks. Yeah, he makes me nervous, but I think that matchup's fine. And now it's last, so too good in a row for King? It's three of his last five have been quality starts. So he's kind of alternated good starts with bad ones.

Yeah, I think it's fine. It's not a must, but it's fine. Kyle Braddish took a tough loss at the Reds, seven and two-thirds, three runs, five strikeouts to one walk. he had 11 whiffs on 106 pitches. He has a quality start in three of his last four outings. He went at least seven and two thirds in each of those quality starts. And if you look at his game log, Scott, the key is obvious. And what I'm about to say is even more obvious.

But I wonder if it's the one same key I've spotted with Braddish. In the starts where he has two or fewer walks, he has been great this season. In any starts where he has three or more walks, he has not been very good. So yeah, maybe it's as simple as that. That's not what I know it was going to point out, but that, you know, that's maybe even better. I was going to point out he tends to do better when he emphasizes the curveball over the slider, which he did again in this start. The one exception was two turns ago, his best start of the year, but the velocity was way up on the slider in that start.

I just don't think he has the slider this year. And he keeps trying to bring it back. It has been his best pitch in the past. But I think he should lean on that curveball more. and of course limiting the walks would be good too. 60% started for Kyle Bradish. He gets the Royals this week, so overall I feel good about that matchup, which means Kyle Bradish will probably walk four and be terrible.

But yes, I think overall I would be alright using Kyle Bradish. In fact, I would even advocate doing so. Nick Ladolo looked solid against the Orioles on the other side of that game. Six innings of one run ball, four strikeouts to two walks. Still not completely there yet. Eight whiffs on 97 pitches here. He did have better command, which was good to see only two walks. 67% of his pitches for strikes.

73% first pitch strike percentage, so he was getting ahead of hitters. He's 80% rostered, 49% started, gets to Cubs for just one start this week. What do you think about Nicola Dolo? I think he has sneakily been better. We don't see it a lot. Obviously, this out against the Orioles was pretty good. we don't see it reflected in the game blog so much. But, you know, we all know the key to Nicolodolo's arsenal is the curveball.

And the curve ball, the whiff rate on it, has been much better in each of his last three starts. There have been weird stuff going on in those starts. Again, so it's kind of been on the sneaky side. But, oh, across the three starts, a .60ERA, 107 whip, 8.4K per 9. I think he's trending up. I want to call Nicolidolo a must start yet, but all the more reason to hold on to him. All right, Tray Savage took a tough loss at the Mariners on Sunday,

six innings, three hits, three runs, two of those earned, seven strikeouts to two walks for him. Also did a much better job throwing strikes in this one. Has looked better over his last four starts. 78% started. He's at the Padres this week. I think we're good, right? We're on board with that one for Traya Savage.

Yes. This was a really encouraging star for you, Savage, because he didn't really have his splitter or a slider. Neither of them were getting many whiffs. He got them all in the fastball. Man, it still ended up being a great start. So I didn't know he had it in him. It was good to see that he did. Yeah, we like it.

Emerson Hancock on the other side of that game. He was great against the Blue J. 7 shutout, two hits, two walks, five strikeouts, 14 wiffs on 92 pitches. And he used his fastball, forcing fastball in particular, a lot more in this one. And it was really good for him. It had seven of his 14 whiffs. And he has bounced back nicely in his last two starts.

Emerson Hancock. Looks like he lines up for at Tampa Bay this week. But I don't know because they keep saying they're going to piggyback him and then they don't do it. So I just don't know. They don't have the follow through. Come on. It was a good start for Emerson Hancock. The induced vertical break was down three on his fastball to seven, which is tiny.

Of course, he has that low arm ankle as well, which makes it hard to compare apples to apples induced vertical break to induced a vertical break. But, you know, it's probably better in his case, the lower it is. And obviously that pitch played up. He had been kind of slipping a bit. Emerson Hancock, but not breaking. Bending, but not breaking. Like your team's defense when things are going well.

How do you feel about using him this week? Against the race, it's not a must, but it's fine. I feel better about using him against the race than Garik Cole. I think I would agree with that. Some hitting leftovers, big weekend for Brian Reynolds, five hits, two homers, and a steel. Overall numbers, just awesome from the C.E.

got the batting average up to 282. The OBP is outstanding. The counting stats look really good for Brian Reynolds. Connor Griffin is running wild. He has four steals. Had four steals this weekend. He has six deals over his past six games. And overall, he's looked pretty good since coming back.

Riley Green stayed hot. He went two for four with a homer on Saturday. Three for four with another homer on Sunday. Last five games for him, he's got eight hits, four homers, 10 RBI and a steal. And Jordan Walker, nice signed. to see him coming back around. He did struggle for like a three-week stretch there.

But last five games, he's got two homers, seven runs, nine RBI, and a steal. Anything to add here, Scott, on. Jordan Walker, Riley Green, Connor Griffin, Brian Reynolds. Brian Reynolds was a low-key, all-star snub. He's been great this year. I think in points leagues. Is he top five among outfielders?

Total points or points? Yeah, total points. He's got to be up there. He's got to be up there. And I also want... The fourth ranked outfieler in points leagues right now. There you go. Riley Green, just...

You want to ride him off, and he always finds a way, it seems like, and he's doing it again. Yep. I brought him up on Friday's podcast with Chris. We did some players we think are going to have a big second half, and I had Riley Green on that list, because if you look, it lasts like 30 games.

His barrel rate is... 17% his average EV is over 94 miles per hour. So I just feel like the power hasn't caught up to how well he's actually hitting the ball. And so I think in the summer months we could get some big power production here from Riley Green. Some pitching leftovers, aces being aces. Yoshinobu Yamamoto dominated the Padres seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts for him. Joe Ryan dominated the Yankees seven shutout, nine strikeouts there, 17 whiffs on 106 pitches. Dylan Cis got back on track at the Mariners,

seven shutout, nine strikeouts, only one walk. That's a big key for him. He had four or more walks in each of his previous three starts. And Logan Gilbert, he was so good, they couldn't piggyback him. He was awesome against the Blue Jays, seven and a third shotout, seven strikeouts, zero walks, 18 whiffs on 91 pitches. Last eight starts for Logan Gilbert, 178 ERA, 0.73 whip, 14.8% swinging strike rate.

So Logan Gilbert, looking like he's back. Anything else on him? Cease, Joe Ryan, and Yamamoto. Yeah, I mean, this turnaround for Logan Gilbert seems to be tied to fastball usage. Did you point that out already? I did not. Nope.

So, like, I think this happened with a lot of Mariners pitchers. They had great fastballs, and they just got too fancy. Bryce Miller, to a certain extent, George Kirby, he's still kind of going through that, but Logan Gilbert was among them. Last four starts, he's thrown that fastball 55% of the time or more. 195 ERA. 0.58 whip. 10.4K per nine.

Nasty. Pitching leftovers, part two. Jesus Lazardo, a great outing at the Royals, six innings of one-run ball, nine strikeouts to zero walks. Sunny Gray was great once again, this time at the Angels, six innings of one-run ball, seven strikeouts to two walks. Last seven starts for Sunny Gray. 197 ERA, 101 whip over a strikeout per inning. And Sandy, Sandy Alcantara, great outing here at the athletics.

Eight innings, one run, eight strikeouts to one walk for him. Has a quality start in six of his last seven. And during that stretch, it's a 298 ERA 114 whip. So, looking like, I don't know, three names that have kind of got their seasons back on track. Lozardo, Sunny Gray, Sandy. Sandy's going to be a big, not Sandy. Sunny. going to be a big trade target. He was also an all-star snub. A lot of these snubs are going to end up

not being snubs as players drop out over the course of this week. True. So not worth freaking out about yet. I don't know how they're going to get all those second basement on the NL team, though. Yeah, that's going to be a tough go there. I realize I haven't played the sound drop in a while, and he deserves it. So Sandy Ocounserra, you're the man pitching well. Sandy. Tell me about it. Stud. Stud. Call to the bullpen for the Dodgers on Friday. Tanner Scott got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He struck out the side for his 12th save,

and he has been amazing this year and a great fill-in for Edwin Diaz, but it does sound like Edwin Diaz is progressing. Perhaps he's back in late-ish July, something like that. For the Pirates on Saturday, Mason Montgomery came in with two outs in the seventh inning. Bases loaded a four-run lead. He struck out Andres Chaparro to end the inning. then on Sunday, Montgomery entered in the fifth inning with the bases loaded. No outs, one run lead.

He gave up a sack fly to tie the game. Then he got the next two outs. It looked like Mason Montgomery was maybe kind of the next in line for saves with the pirates, but based on these last two appearances, Scott, I kind of think it's back up in the air. Yeah, it is back up in the air. I wanted to see

Hmm I wanted to Like it might be Dennis Santana Who's next in line Honestly I think he pitched The 9th inning here on Sunday

Yeah Yeah that's what I was trying to look up I thought I saw him do that once over the weekend Yep he did And did Soto pitch the 7th and 8th Santana pitched the 9th Of a game the Pirates

One by 6 But it was for The lead going into the 9th So I don't I don't know. I don't know. Maybe Santana. Maybe they make a trade.

That is probably their best option. For the White Sox on Saturday, Grant Taylor got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He walked one but picked up his third save. And I think, I guess there's, well, you can probably look up how he does in just one-inning stints versus multi-inning stints. But a lot of people mentioned last week on Twitter

that he's not as good whenever he has to go multiple. winnings, Grant Taylor. I think maybe if they just use him as a traditional closer in the ninth inning, like maybe he'll have better results. But then on Sunday, Taylor was unavailable and Sean Newcomb got the final five outs for his third save. I still think we're kind of trending towards Grant Taylor just being the guy. Yeah, eventually. I don't know. The venerable, well, venable. He's got to make the call here. For the Giants on Saturday, Caleb Killian got the ninth with a three-run lead. He did allow a run, but picked up his eighth. save and he's been getting a bunch of saves lately, so he looks like the guy.

For the Reds on Sunday, Emilio Pagan got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up a run on two walks and a hit, but picked up his seventh save. He was definitely walking the tightrope in that one, but it was his first save since returning. For the Cubs on Sunday, Jacob Webb got the final two innings. He allowed a hit and a walk, but picked up his third save. I would still lean towards Webb getting, I guess, a majority of the saves until Daniel Palencia is back, but I guess we don't know exactly when that will be.

No. No, we don't. Maybe the Cubs has got to make a trade too. I don't know. For the Tigers on Sunday, Kenley Jansen pitched a clean ninth inning for his 10th day. That was nice to see.

He's been pretty bad this year. And for the Rockies on Sunday, the recently called up Jordan Romano. Got the ninth inning. That's right. Romano pitching in Corr's field. that should work out very well. He allowed a hit, but he struck out two

for his first save with the Rockies, his fifth save overall this season. The Rockies scored three in the bottom of the eighth. They took a one-run lead. Jimmy Hergett pitched the seventh. Victor Vodnick pitched the eighth. Probably doesn't matter. Don't.

I know only if you are the most desperate person ever for saves, I don't know. Maybe maybe Hergit or Romano gets saves for this team. You know, we're actually a little ahead of pace for a Sunday show here, Sunday night show, Monday show, if you prefer.

I wanted to ask you, because they were talking about it in the chat, did you consume any hot dogs this weekend, Frank, 4th of July weekend? You know, there were... Somebody suggested you look like you eat a hot dog sideways, which... Why would I do that?

I don't know why anyone would. I don't know what about your appearance would suggest that if it's the sunburned face sir. No, there were hot dogs available. I didn't eat any hot dogs, though. You didn't eat any hot dogs? No, I had a...

What? I had a burger. I had like a shrimp skewer. I don't know. I got filled up really fast. I don't know what was going on, but I couldn't... You got to eat a hot dog on the 4th of July. They look good.

Come on, man. I had two. Yeah. Should have got to a hot dog. Didn't get to it, though. Anywho. Well, that would that come? kind of fizzled out, didn't it?

Yeah. My bad. Be more hot dogs. To stream or not to stream on Monday, Griffin Jacks against the Yankees, Mike Burroughs at the Nationals, Rinaldoz against the Mets, Shane Drohan against the Cardinals, Walker Bueller against the D-Backs, Landon Roup against the Blue Jays, Eric Lauer against the Rockies, which normally I would never bring up.

But this is the Rockies' first game after Cores Field. So maybe you're into that thing with Eric Lauer. The hangover effect. course hangover Did you have one of those this weekend? No comment. It was actually Friday into Saturday. I was actually good today.

Good. So you did comment. Do you like any of these streamers on Monday? Oh, we got to do our job. Root. I like Root. I think he's still good despite walking six last time. Obviously that's a tough matchup for Jacks,

but he's been so reliable. Scott, this Yankee lineup is so bad right now. You can stream anybody against them. Okay, let's stream Griffin Jacks against him. I guess Shane Dron would be my third choice, but keep the expectations low because he tends to have an early hook. Keep an eye on Raynaldo Lopez. He looked good last time out, but I'm not ready to trust him yet.

I picked him up in Tout War is 15 teamer. I'm kind of excited about it. We'll see what he could do. Yeah, I like Rup. I like Jaxx. I like Drohan. I think Lopez could be all right.

And honestly, I don't, I think the Eric Lauer thing against the Rockies actually could work out here on Monday. On Tuesday, we have Shane Bos against the Cubs. J.T. Ginn at the Tigers. Tutsu Yi-e-Mai at the Nationals.

Andrew Abbott against the Phillies. Noah Schultz against the Red Sox, Trevor McDonald, against the Blue Jays. Let's go. with J.T. Ginn at the Tigers. And let's stop there. Now, if you want me to pick some others,

I will say Trevor McDonald against the Blue Jays. Don't like it. And I don't like any of the others, Frank. I don't. I mean, Shane Boz against the Cubs and Andrew Abbott against the Phillies, they might turn out okay, but those offenses have been hot.

say J.T. Ginn? That was number one. Yeah, yeah. Ginn's the only one I really like on Tuesday. I would agree with that. I would probably say Ginn McDonough, Ginn-Bos McDonald, in that order, for Tuesday. But, yeah, Ginn is probably the only one I actually like. 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 will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts. Hello and welcome to Pluto Fo.

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