Fantasy Baseball Today - Priester Dominates Dodgers, Third Base Replacements & Waiver Wire Adds! (7/21 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 21, 2025

Quinn Priester dominated the Dodgers this weekend (2:20). ... Brandon Walter continues to pitch well with the Astros (8:37). ... Eugenio Suarez is going bonkers right now (12:34). ... News (16:25): we have more third base injuries with Isaac Paredes and Alec Bohm going on the IL. ... The Dog of the Weekend goes to Sonny Gray (33:48). ... Let's rank a bunch of waiver wire pitchers (38:24). ... Royce Lewis and Austin Hays had a pair of multi-homer games (49:22). ... Start or sit these pitchers (57:39)? ... Any concern with Logan Webb and/or Ranger Suarez (1:02:48)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:06:05). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hey there, welcome into Fantasy Baseball's Day on Monday, July 21st. I am Frank Stanful, joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, we have the latest waiver-wire moves. more third-paced injuries, start or sit decisions, and much more. But let's jump in. Oh my goodness gracious. Oh my goodness gracious, Scott. And there's one name that jumps to the top of the list. And his name is Quinn Preezer, who dominated the Dodgers. Six shutout innings, three hits, zero walks.

Ten strikeouts had 12 whiffs on 77 pitches here. Limited hard contact. He used this cutter more. which, you know, he's been progressively using more as the season has gone on, and it has, it was a very good pitch for him in this one. The breaking pitches perform quite well. You know, typically we want him to use his sinker less, but it was a good pitch for him in this one.

It seems like the Brewers have helped Quinn Priester kind of figure something out here with this pitch mix, adding that cutter in. And the fact that his control has gotten so much better this season, if you look at his last 12 games, that includes eight starts and four, bulk relief appearances. It's a 258 ERA, a 101 whip, 8K per 9. Okay, you want more strikeouts, but how can you argue with those ratios? The way he's pitching right now, the ground balls that he's getting as well.

At 74% rostered, Scott, I stopped short of saying Quinn Priester is like a must-raster pitcher, but obviously this performance is worth talking about. What do you think about Quinn-Prester? I mean, to a certain extent he is a must-roster pitcher, I suppose, in the shallowest leagues you just may not be able to find room for him but he has been great honestly great in his last 10 starts with the 241 era 102 whip 8.8 kper 9 so right out of k per inning and like he has the sort of profile quen priester where you don't really need him striking out guys because he's such a good ground ball pitcher 50 on the year a 58% ground ball

rate. That's Christopher Sanchez. And we always talk about how good Christopher Sanchez is getting ground balls and how we don't necessarily need him striking out batters. It's nice that he's done it well this year. But that's, you know, there's always a bit of a tradeoff there for Sanchez between the strikeouts and the walks. But the reason why he's good ultimately is the ground ball rate. And priest is doing the same thing. And you mentioned the brewers seem to have a unlock this potential in him. They've been one of the best organizations at developing pitchers in recent years. They don't get as, they're not shouted as loudly. They're not lauded as loudly, I guess, for that as maybe some other organizations are. But, you know, who had heard of Chad Patrick prior to this season or, you know, Logan Henderson wasn't a big, a big prospect. He had some good minor league numbers last year, but wasn't a big prospect until we saw him pitching the majors.

for the brewers. So they're doing it as well this year as any other year. I don't know if you remember back when we were making preseason predictions. It's like, well, obviously the Cubs are going to win the Central. It's the best roster on paper. You hate to write off the brewers because they somehow always figure out a way to be in it. But I just don't see how they have the pitching. Well, the brewers are very much in it because they've just managed to do the usual brewers thing

of cobbling together the pitching. Yeah, and they are just on a roll right now. Obviously, they just swept the Dodgers. They swept the season series against the Dodgers, so they won all six of those games there. They've won 10 games in a row. They are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the best record in the National League,

and I believe, yeah, tied for the second best record in all of baseball with the Chicago Cubs. So magical season, why would we ever doubt the Milwaukee Brewers? They always find a way to get it done. getting back to Quinn Priester here, 74% rastered. Some names that are rostered in a few more leagues on CBS. Someone like a Clayton Kirschaw, Scott, I know the results have mostly been okay for him

in terms of keeping runs off the board and everything, but there's not many strikeouts. That's a swap I would be okay making, dropping a Clayton Kirschaw to get Quinn Prester. Yeah, I think so too. I think I'd be fine with that. I haven't given Clayton Kirschaw much thought this year. I was surprised, you know, just looking at his game log

after his not so great start Sunday. Four of his past six starts were six innings or more. I was, it kind of snuck up on me that the Dodgers were letting Kershaw work that deep into games. And so that does help his appeal. But overall, I think Prester has more. Yeah. And two other names that are rostered in more leagues,

Brian Beaux and Will Warren, I would be okay swapping both of those out for Quinn Preister. Yeah. Well, especially Warren. I don't see much there left. left for Warren. I mean, there are some interesting details with some of the individual

pitches that we've talked about every time we've talked about him this year, but he's just not getting the results. Beyo's been pretty stable with that new cutter. He had another good start over the weekend. But Priester has shown more upside, I feel like. And it's not like Priester came out of nowhere. He was a top 100 type

prospect with the pirates. So, you know, that, if you have reservations about them, maybe that, maybe that's enough to tip you over. We'll talk about some of these more names in depth a little bit later on, but we had a bunch of pitchers in shallow leagues. Pitchelley's pitch pretty well this weekend. Just mentioned Preester. Todge Bradley had a good start. Brandon Fott. That's two great starts in a row for him.

Ryan Nelson, Trevor Rogers, Jose Soriano. So all those names, Scott, would you put Prester at the top of that list? again Soriano, Trevor Rogers, Ryan Nelson, Brandon Fott, and Tage Bradley are the other shallow league names there. Yeah, I'd have to. I mean, as good as this start was against the Dodgers. And like I said, last 10 starts for Quinn Priester, it's a 241 ERA, 102 whip right out of strikeout per inning.

Yep. All right. Hard to argue against that. Right there with you. And Quinn Prester gets the Mariners this week. Their lineup has been better recently, but I still. don't think it's a great lineup overall. So not completely scared off

using Quinn Priester in that spot. All right, Scott, over to you, player of the weekend. Another potential waiver wire pitcher, Brandon Walter, man. He just continues to pitch well. Yep. He also pitched on Friday. He also had a good start. It was actually at Seattle. One run in six innings, three hits allowed,

seven strikeouts, one walk. Way too many walks for Brandon Walter, that one walk, because that was just his third walk in 46 and two-thirds innings this year. So in addition to elite control, if that's not elite control, I don't know what is. In addition to that for Brandon Walter,

we have an 11.6% swaying strike rate, which is pretty good. We have a 48% ground ball rate, which is pretty good. We have an average exit velocity you have 86.1 miles per hour, that's more than pretty good. That's 96th percentile.

So he's a decent badmissor, a decent ground ball guy, elite hard contact suppression, and then elite with control. I think that all adds up to a pretty good pitcher. I know he's a 28-year-old kind of minor league journeyman type, but he wouldn't be the first of that type, I think especially among the pitcher ranks.

Like it feels like quality major league pitchers come with with every sort of background. And at this point, you know, I didn't find this week to be particularly robust in terms of waiver wire additions. But Brandon Walter was the name I was putting in claims for the most. And Brandon Walter, just 34% rostered. He's also a SPARP on CBS for those who play in points leagues at the debaes. this week. Don't love that matchup. We'll talk about Suarez in just a bit,

but man, that D-backs lineup. If there's one thing they can still do, they can match. So that does worry me a little bit about Brandon Walter, who throws as many strikes as he does. But it's hard to argue

with what he's done thus far. Two earn runs are fewer in six of eight outings for Brandon Walter. And among the shot... I'm not eager to start him this week either for what it's worse, but I just think...

Well, imagine if he does have a good start against the Diamondbacks. And you didn't pick him up before that. that. Among the most shallow league names I mentioned earlier again, Taj Bradley, Priester, Brandon Fott, Ryan Nelson, Trevor Rogers, Jose Soriano. I think I take Priester ahead of Walter. I think Nelson and Rogers are close. What do you think about, those are the three I think I would take ahead of Walter. What do you think about Nelson and Rogers ahead of him? Well, I definitely

like Nelson more for this week because he is facing the pirates. I'd believe. Yep, that's what I have. Yep, Pirates. So he's one of my top sleeper pictures for this week. And as long as he throws that fastball over 60% of the dime, it's just so funny how consistently that determines how Nelson performs. Because his last start before the All Star break, it wasn't very good.

He threw like 58% fastballs. And then first start after the All Star break, great. He throws 69% fastball. So it's like 60% is that magic number. he's nothing without it and that that goes back to like when he joined the rotation last year I've been tracking that for a long time now with Nelson

he's so he's pretty reliable as long as he does that I think maybe Brandon Walter has more upside but yeah it kind of depends what you're looking for if you want the higher floor play if you want the more immediate play with that Pirates matchup coming up, maybe Nelson.

But otherwise, I think I'd go Walter. All right. Before we get to our first break, do you want to mention a few hitters improving their trade value. Eugenio Suarez, I mean, the guy is on fire. Back-to-bag multi-hit multi-home run games on Saturday and Sunday. He now has multiple home runs in three of his last five games, and he's up to 35 homers on the season.

That's second in all of baseball leads the National League. He's behind only Aaron Judge overall. You know, the debacks are so interesting. They pretty much control this trade deadline. They've won four games in a row. They're still four and a half games out of a wild card spot. So I don't know that it's just a complete slam dunk that they sell, but they do have a lot of expiring deals.

And I think they can get a pretty good haul for some of these players right now. So very interesting to see what the debacks wind up doing at the deadline. And Louise Robert, he's trying to improve the value here. Strong weekend for him, five hits, one homer, seven runs scored, three steals. The overall numbers are still bad. We know there's talent with Luis Robert. We spoke about this last week, but I think maybe a change of scenery can help get Luis Robert back on track here.

Sky, anything to add on Suarez? I know you almost chose him as your player of the weekend. No, I think, you know, it's the sort of thing. Like, the performance needs to be pointed out. But where do you go with it from there? It doesn't change anything, right? Yeah, just keep starting Suarez. He's great.

It'll a trade, if he does get traded, if the Diamondbacks decide to do that, it would be interesting because he has really thrived in Arizona specifically. You look at his homeway splits the last two years, and his career was on the rocks kind of before going to the Diamondbacks. So I do wonder a little bit how we'd fare outside of it, but obviously we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Before we hit our first break, a reminder to listen to FBT and FBT Express on Spotify. If you're watching on YouTube, you can scan that QR code that will take you right to the FBT Spotify feed.

And if you do listen on Spotify, leave us a comment on today's episode with which DBAX player you think will be traded first, if any. And big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe on YouTube as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes from the weekend, and we have more third base injuries, unfortunately. Esoc Parade is placed in the aisle due to a right hamstring strain.

You might remember back in June he dealt with a left hamstring. Now it's the right hamstring that lands him on the IL. And Alec Bowm placed on the IL as well with a fractured left ribcage. Otto Kemp should get some playing time in his place. in Alec Bohm's place. So for those who play in deeper leagues, I think Otto Kemp is kind of an interesting player. But for those in the shallowest of leagues,

the names we keep talking about, Scott, Addison Barger, who had four hits on Saturday, another home run on Sunday, and Noel V. Marte, feel like the two best replacements at third base. Yeah, they're both over 70% rostered in CBS leagues now. So they're getting up there,

but they could get up there faster. Yeah, I think Barger's big weekend helps. Also, Royce Lewis, who's only 66% rostered. He homered twice on Sunday. His first two home runs since coming back from, I believe it was his own hamstring injury. Yep. He'd been pretty cold. But homer twice in Colorado, worth pointing out, but they were legit home runs.

Nothing cores aided about them. Yep. So Royce Lewis, hopefully trending up. A couple of their third base replacements. If those shallow league names are no longer available, Colt Keith, only strong side platoon, but he has been hitting well. Willie Castro has been hitting well over the past month or so. Jorge Polanco has turned things back on here in July.

I know you like the Mariners matchups this week as well, Scott. Caleb Durbin has been hitting really well over the past month. And Brady House for those in deeper leagues. If you do need some third base replacements, there are honestly a lot of interesting names out there right now. So not a terrible position if you need help at their base. And... I do think Austin Riley is going to be back this week.

He's already taking batting practice. He's already run. So if he's the third baseman you lost, maybe he is about to be found. He's the replacement himself because I think he's eligible to be activated as soon as Tuesday. Tuesday? Yeah. So I expect him. In shallower leagues, maybe you don't play Austin Riley if you have a good alternative.

But the leagues where I have them, I think they're both 15 team. and I'm just planning on starting him. All right, Freddie Freeman left Sunday after getting hit by a pitch on his left wrist, and he left the game immediately. It seemed worrisome. Anytime we get these hit by pitches, it's always scary. X-rays did come back negative.

He's considered day-to-day. I've had a couple people ask me on Twitter, Scott, what do we do with Freeman this week? He has been struggling mightily since the start of June. I just wonder if, you know, he has been getting his ankle, heel worked on all season. he had a thigh thing that popped up and now he's got this wrist.

I think if you have a serviceable first base replacement, this might be a reason to just get away from Freddie Freeman while he kind of deals with all these ailments right now. Yeah, I don't mind it. I mean, this doesn't seem like the kind of injury that's going to put him on the IL. They were treating it more like a sigh of relief that it was just a contusion

when it surprised me if he missed a game or two. I'm generally not. going to be not someone who likes to be reactive when it comes to stud hitters. You know, I'm just going to stick with them through whatever slumps they're going through.

It's really been since the start of June. And remember, Freddie Freeman entered June batting like 375. So he was due for some correction, I would say. What's been, the weirdest thing about it, though,

was he struck out nearly 30% of the time during this slump, which is very uncharacteristic. You would have to have a really good alternative, I'd say you'd have to have like a Michael Bush or Jonathan, a Ronda that you're struggling to get in your lineup. I don't think I'm picking up, you know, I'm not picking up Carlos Santana to start him over Freddie Freeman or something like that. Yeah, yeah, I agree with that as well. Yordaun Alvarez started swinging a bat on Friday and is traveling with the team.

He's been out since May 5th with a fractured hand. Hunter Green is on track to make a rehab start in the Arizona Complex League early this. week. Max Freed is hopeful that he'll be able to start against the Blue Jays this week. Sounds like it could be Wednesday. He's been dealing with a blister since before the All-Star break. And this is something that's actually landed him on the aisle a few times in the past couple of years. Scott, do you start or sit Max Fried, who's dealing with that blister? I don't think there has been actual talk of him going on the IL. No, it sounds like he's going to start Wednesday. I just, I wonder if it's kind of affecting his

you know, his ability. He's slowed up a little bit recently and maybe it's because of this blister. But he is a viable Cy Young candidate. I think if he's expected to start, I probably just start him. All right, speaking of the Yankees, apparently Cam

Schlittler has been dealing with upper arm'sorness and imaging came back negative. The Yankees are hopeful that he'll pitch in their upcoming series against the Blue Jays. The Phillies signed David Robertson to a one-year $6.2 million deal for the rest of the season.

Pro rated over a full year. That would be $16 million contract. So that's pretty sizable get here for David Robertson for the final two months of the season. He did pitch with the Phillies back in 2022. He's now 40 years old, was still very effective last year, a 3-ERA, a 111-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-9.

Scott, what do you think about David Robertson's fit here in the Phillies bullpen? I took him long enough. I don't know. I don't know how he couldn't find a deal it was liking for the first four months of the season because plenty of contenders could have used bullpen help, plenty of teams that might,

that are non-contenders now, but might have been contenders if they had a good bullpen. Yeah, I mean, the Phillies closer spot is in flux right now. It doesn't feel like either Orion Kirkering or Matt Strom has really taken the job and run with it. Meanwhile, you have Jose Alvarado dupe back from suspension in less than a month now. So I think it'll remain in flux.

But David Robertson is good enough that, you know, if his first three or four appearances, he lights out, then I could see him kind of claiming that job for himself. It's possible. Pick them up in an in a lonely league, if nothing else. Yeah, David Robertson, 1% rostered. Deeper Roto leagues for sure. I think 15-team mixed Roto leagues for now.

and if he climbs that leverage ladder quickly for Philly, then maybe we're even talking about him in 12-team leagues as well. Again, that is David Robertson. Stephen Kwan missed all three games this weekend with a wrist injury. He received an injection on Saturday. Scott, start or sit Stephen Kwan this week. I would prefer to sit him. I might be tough in a five outfielder league,

but if you have anybody respectable to plug in in his place, I mean, this sounds like something that could potentially, put him on the I.L. Nathan Avaldi was scratched Sunday due to tightness in his back. It's not clear if he'll need an IL stint. Do you start or sit Nathan Avaldi this week? I would try to avoid him, I think.

Yep. Pete Alonzo was out of the line of Sunday with a contusion near the base of his right thumb. X-rays were negative. I believe the Mets play on Monday, so we should find out more about that right away. The D-backs reinstated could tell Marte from the restricted list, and though he wasn't in the lineup on Sunday,

He was away from the team for a few days after a burglary took place in his home during the All-Star break. So terrible news there for Cattel Marte, but it sounds like he could potentially be back in the D-Backs lineup early this week. Mookiee Betts was given Saturday off to reset and then was back in the lineup on Sunday as the lead-off hitter. It sounds like the plan is for Betz to lead off until Max Muncie rejoins the Dodgers hopefully sometime in August. I did read an article just acknowledging that Betts is. stomach illness at the end of spring training through his mechanics off early in the season, and it's been hard for him to regain form ever since. So, you know, we've speculated that. Makes sense that it would kind of derail Betts' season, but Scott, we're talking about a sub-700 OPS

at this point for Mookie Betts. I mean, this has gotten really bad. Yes, it has. It has gotten bad. I think because the shallowest leagues tend to be points leagues and that is a format where Muky Betts is still, he's still producing. I mean, his plate discipline is so good. And that's the shallowest formats. And so between that and the fact he qualifies to a different position, shortstop and outfield, I still think he would be awfully hard for anybody.

to sit. Obviously, batting near the top or at the top right now, I guess, of the Dodgers lineup. Also helps to bolster his numbers. So it's been disappointing for sure.

And given that Mookie Betts is turning 33 this off season, I think even with understanding the stomach issue will be well behind him when next year is starting up. I think we're going to see Mookie Betts go much later than we've ever seen him go.

Round four, round five, something like that. Obviously, it depends how the last two months go. But if it continues to play out like this, it's going to be, it's going to hurt his value, for sure. It might create an incredible buying opportunity, too, because, I mean, it was hard to see that stomach illness thing coming. We just had no idea how, or, you know, we didn't know about it until most people. had already drafted, and so we didn't know how it would affect him as well. But if he's healthy this offseason, maybe... I'm not saying he gets all the way back to Mookie Betts levels, but...

Yeah. If he's healthy, I could see a bounce back next year for sure. I could see a bounce back, but what I'm saying is it's an easy scapegoat. Yeah. And that doesn't mean it's false. It's just... It's... You're looking for things to blame.

The thing you don't want to blame is I'm just older now, I guess, and not as good. you know. So if he finishes the season like this, Mookie Betts, I wouldn't be drafting him with a lot of confidence next year. There would certainly be a point where I draft him for the possibility that it was all the stomach thing and he's going to be totally fine now.

But it's not like I would be totally banking on that. Brandon Low left Saturday's game due to a flare-up of plantsar fasciitis in his left foot. He just returned from the aisle after dealing with an oblique. injury. No surprise. He was not in the lineup Sunday as well. Hassan Kim started at second base. Now has two games at second. So would be nice if we could get that second base eligibility from Hassam Kim. Grayson Rodriguez has been shut down again for one week after experiencing elbow discomfort and just feels like this season might not happen. Might just be a lost year for

Grayson Rodriguez. And honestly, could even be a longer term thing, Scott. I mean, this whole arm feels like there is something off right now for Rodriguez between the elbow, the lat, he's dealt with shoulder. It's just these all kind of feel like compensatory injuries too. So I don't know. It feels like there is something very wrong right now with Grace Rodriguez's arm. Who else was it who I think he's returned by now, but he had a similar situation. Oh, I think it was Sean Minaya, right?

where he had just an elbow thing happened on his rehab assignment and the initial reports were very doom and gloom, but it's like, no, he's just going to miss a couple. Yeah, he had an injection for, I think, loose bodies in his elbow. Was that it? Yeah, that was Mania. It was just weird that they said he's going to shut down for a week. A week.

That doesn't sound like much for elbow discomfort. So I don't know. I don't want to go overboard. I think Look, I was looking to create roster space in a couple leagues And I felt like I could drop Grayson Rodriguez in order to do it Just because I think He was easy to pick up off the waiver wire a couple weeks ago

And so I don't think he'll be any harder to pick up Now that he's got an elbow thing too So it's fine. You don't have to hold on to him but I'm not totally writing off his return either. Edward Cabrera, who left his last start with elbow discomfort, will start Tuesday against the Padres. Do you start or sit Edward Cabrera this week?

I mean, it's a pretty good matchup, but I don't have the highest level of trust in Edward Cabrera to begin with. And coming back from elbow discomfort, I'd lean against using him. Adley Rutchman is on track to begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. we mentioned earlier, but Austin Riley ran in the outfield and around the bases on Sunday, and he seems likely to be activated when first eligible on Tuesday. Chris Bubich left after just 66 pitches on Sunday, and his velocity was way down across the board.

It turns out that he was pitching through illness, which might explain it. Let's hope that's it. That's the main reason, because we know Bubich has been wearing down lately as well. Noel V Marte made his first career start in right field on Sunday. the Reds had Santiago Espinal at third base against a left-handed pitcher, so perhaps Marte could gain outfield eligibility at some point as well.

Marcel Ozuna has only started one of three games this past weekend, and we know he's been struggling a lot. Scott, do you just bench Ozuna right now, struggles, playing time? Is he, dare I say, a drop? I think in 12-teamers, at least you could definitely think about dropping him.

12-teamers are shallower, obviously. Because I don't know that the playing time is going to recover completely, presuming he stays with the Braves. And, you know, his struggles are likely tied to that tear in his hip. Now, I did read, he said that the hip feels great now, and it's just a matter of getting his timing down. I don't know how much I believe that. Like I was saying, I don't know that we can totally blame Mookie Betts struggles on his, the illness earlier this year, I don't know that we can

totally dismiss the concerns over Ozu and his hip just because he's saying he's feeling fine now, but that is what he's saying, and if that's the case, there is still hope of him turning things around,

but he's got to get in the lineup to do that. And right now, with the way both Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin are going, I don't think that's a given at all. All right, Dustin May, will be used in Long Relief Monday

after Shohei Otani starts the game. Shane Bieber will make his next rehab start on Tuesday. He's 63% rostered. Luis Heel built up to 57 pitches in his second rehab start at AA on Friday. He's 70% rostered. Spencer Arrogetti tossed three scoreless innings in his rehab start at AA on Saturday. 71% rostered. And Kyle Bradish will report to High A on Thursday to make his first rehab start.

He is 27% rostered. Scott, how would you? rank Bieber, Heel, Araggeti, and Braddish as stash candidates right now. I would go Bieber, Aragetti, Heel, and then Braddish. I suspect Heel will be back the soonest, but I also think he's the worst. So that's why he's only third on that list for me. All right, other players who went on the aisle this weekend, South Freelick with a hamstring strain, Shane Smith with a left ankle sprain, Nolan Gorman with a lower

back pain, Jake Bowers with a left shoulder impingement that should help the playing time for Andrew Vaughn and Ryan Ritter of the Rockies with a finger injury. Want to mention one potential prospect stash. I'm not sure it happens with the Yankees, but if he is traded in a deal somewhere else, Spencer Jones is on fire right now. Four for five, he had two more home runs at AAA on Sunday. I believe he's up to like 10 homers in like 15 or 20 games at AAA. he is just completely mashing.

So if Spencer Jones has traded somewhere else, maybe he gets playing time towards the end of the season. If he stays with the Yankees, it probably won't happen for him this year, but he'll probably be a name to know for next season. Let's get into the Dog of the Weekend. And Scott, we are here to talk about one of your favorites to talk about.

No. No. It is Sunny Gray. No. Got destroyed at the day. D-backs this weekend. Three and a third innings, 11 hits, nine runs,

eight of those were earned, two homers allowed, 11 hard hits allowed in this one. He is just so maddeningly inconsistent, Scott. You just, you don't know from start to start which Sunny Gray is going to show up. He has three starts with six plus earned runs

in less than five innings this season. He also has four starts of six plus shutout innings. with eight plus strikeouts. So, I mean, you can't really play the game of, do I start or sit sunny gray? Because, I mean, this is kind of like the Charzard, Scott. He's just as likely to help you as he is to turn around

and burn your ratios. Yeah, yeah. You don't know who he is from start to start. You don't know who he is from year to year. The balance of it, I would say, is positive, which is why he's stuck around so long in the, majors and pretty much been a must-art fantasy pitcher for all 13 of his years in the majors. But like, we should have known this.

Like, I don't even know what to get into analysis-wise here because it's just Sunny Gray, but I'm kind of just noticing this now. His name, Sunny Gray, it's either going to be sunny or it's going to be gray, you know? It's like his name's an oxymoron. Yeah. And it describes the state of affairs in that particular moment, the state, well, the state of like the, you know, how the sky looks outside. But, but yeah, like whether it's a good day or a bad day, that's basically what his name, Sunny Gray, described. So it makes total sense when you put it in those terms.

Yeah. He has a career low walk rate this year. I think he's throwing too many strikes, and that's how he can just get in trouble and just get bombed at times. So Sunny Gray, just an impossible player to kind of figure out here for fantasy. I think you mostly just leave them in the lineup, Scott. But I'll ask anyway, do you start them this week against the Padres? It's a good matchup. And who knows?

Who knows? You know, who knows? Diamondbacks wasn't a good matchup. He got throttled by them. Let's see. It looks like the first start of July at Pittsburgh. not such a great outcome. But the start before that,

a one hit shutout against the Guardians. I don't know. I mean, if you have a stacked rotation, you could probably play it safe and sit sunny gray, but otherwise you're probably got to start them with that matchup. Yep, I agree as well. Let's take our final break when we return. We'll get into all the waiver-wired names from this weekend.

We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's take a look at the waiver-wire pitchers from this weekend. I mentioned a lot of these names. Scott, let's dig a little bit deeper. Shallow league names part one. Tage Bradley, great start against the Orioles. Six shutout innings with six strikeouts. Had 13 whiffs on 87 pitches, nine of those on the fastball. He's turned in back-to-back quality starts. Quinn Priester, who we mentioned earlier, Brandon Fott, makes it two awesome starts in a row.

This one against the Cardinals. Seven shutout innings with six strikeouts for him. Ryan Nelson, who we mentioned, strong start against the Cardinals, six innings, one run with four strikeouts. Trevor Rogers, another quality start for him, this one at Tampa Bay, six innings, two runs with three strikeouts. He allowed 13 hard hits in this game, but managed to escape with a quality start. He has a quality start in five of seven outings. And Jose Soriano, your boy, Scott. He bounced back with a quality start at the Phillies, seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts. So we have one, two, three, four, five, six. Who are your three favorites from this group?

Okay. Three favorites. I think is Quinn Prester as part of this group? Yeah, we talked about him at the top too. So I think Quinn Priester is number one, and then I am going to go. I'm going to go Ryan Nelson number two. You don't have Brandon. Brandon Walter listed here.

But I do think part of the next group. Okay. Yeah, I do think he belongs in this discussion. But if we're just talking about this group, Quinn Priester is number one, Ryan Nelson, number two. And remember I like Nelson's matchup against the pirates this week, especially. Tosh Bradley, you know, it's funny.

He gets the white socks this week. So he is now among my sleeper pitchers. I say now among my sleeper pitchers, when we recorded Friday, he wasn't among my sleeper pitchers then. Frank, I had to change out half my sleeper pitchers. I believe it. Because so many rotations, alignments coming out of the All-Star break turned out to be not what we were expecting them to be,

which maybe tells us what we should do next year coming out of the All-Star break is just wait until Sunday maybe to quickly go through sleeper pitchers for the upcoming week. But anyway, yeah. So Taj Bradley has the White Sox coming up. So if you're prioritizing this week, maybe he gets the nod there. He actually already has 11 quality starts this year, which is surprising. He hasn't had a good year overall, but he's been racking up those quality starts.

But if I'm doing rest of season, so again, it was Quinn Breaster 1, Ryan Nelson 2. If I'm doing rest of season, I am going to take Soriano. there. I think Soriano is good. Unfortunately, he's a bit of a Charzard too. The previous two outings were bad because he threw just 57% of his pitches for strikes. Basically, nobody's going to be good if they're throwing 57% of their pitches for strikes. But in this latest outing, against the Phillies, we should stress. So nobody was starting him for it. But against the Phillies, he threw 65% of his pitches for strikes in a way, great. So like if he doesn't beat himself, I think Jose Soriano is good. And I'd be willing to gamble on that, I think, over

what we've seen from Trevor Rogers here recently. By the way, Trevor Rogers fastball was down like 1.3 miles per hour in this one. It was a good outcome. But part of the reason I was expressing optimism for Trevor Rogers because his fastball, he'd regained the velocity. after losing a bunch last year. So it wasn't what I like to see. Even though the result was good for Rogers at Tampa Bay, losing the velocity on the fastball, that can't become a trend or else he's not going to last.

All right, next group here. Some intriguing talents, but rough starts this weekend. So Zebby Matthews did return to the Twins on Saturday. Unfortunately, he had to pitch in Cores Field, where he gave up five runs over four innings. He still had 17 whiffs on 77 pitches. and the underlying skills remain pretty intriguing here for Zebby Matthews, who is 44% rostered, and Emmett Sheehan, who had a rough start against the Brewers.

Three innings, seven hits, five runs, three strikeouts, had eight whiffs on 65 pitches. His other three outings before this, a one earned run in each of those. So still looks like there's a ton of talent. Lots of swinging strikes here as well. Scott, do you think those two names are, I don't know, at the top of the entire list of names that we've talked about thus far, Zebby Matthews and Emmett Sheehan. And no, I'd put Quinn Priester above both of them.

Okay. And maybe that's it. It depends how immediately you need to use them. I really couldn't see my self-starting Emmett Sheehan next week, just because the results haven't been there. You see the talent, but the results haven't been enough that I want to get them in my lineup. So it is kind of a stash and wait situation for him.

And Zebby Matthews kind of the same thing. He does get the Nationals this week, which is a decent matchup and better than Corse Field. And yeah, he got a ton of whiffs. As bad as the result was on Saturday, 17 whiffs on 77 pitches, more than five on two different ones. Or five or more, I should say, on two different ones. So I liked what I saw from Zevue Matthews.

And I think since it went poorly, it gives you a chance to pick them up for cheap. You know, you don't got to spend a lot of fab dollars maybe on Zebby Matthews, and at least in shallower leagues. So I think I like them a little more than Sheehan at this point, but I'm not planning to start either next week. Or I guess I'm not planning to start Priester next week. But I'd be more likely to start Priester next week, I guess. Yeah, Sheehan at the Red Sox and Zebby Matthews home against the nationals,

this upcoming week. The next group of Waverwire pitchers, Brandon Walter, who we spoke about earlier. Eric Lauer turned in a great start against the Giants, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts for him. He's got a 280 ERA and a 0.97 whip. Dean Kramer was great at Tampa Bay.

Seven innings, one run, six strikeouts, 13 wifts on 98 pitches. Last six starts for Dean Kramer, a two ERA and a 0.97 whip. Kumar Rocker, strong outing against the tiger. Six and a third shotout with five strikeouts. had 13 whiffs on 96 pitches. And Cade Horton, strong start against the Red Sox,

5 and 2 3rd, shutout innings with four strikeouts, 15 wifts on 86 pitches. I remain intrigued by Cade Horton. His fastball is not good, but all of his secondary pitches get whiffs, and they all look like pretty good pitches outside of the fastball. So just kind of intrigued here by Cade Horton, Scott. What do you think of this group here?

Horton, Kumar Rocker, Dean Kramer, Lauer and Brandon Walter. I think Walter is very clearly at the top of this list, right? Yeah, Walter's definitely at the top for me. He'd be kind of in the middle of the previous list. So, yeah. And I've gone, you know, you know why I like Brandon Walter. If you don't rewind to the start of the show, play it back

because I explained it all there. These others, I just, I can't get excited about any of them. Of course, Rocker has the pedigree. so maybe just by default Horton has the pedigree too Horton you say I remain interested in Horton while he was a consensus top 100 prospect a couple years in a row

so that makes sense but I just don't know what it would take for me to use either Horton or Rocker I'm not anywhere close to that yet and then Kramer he's a fine streamer we've seen him get hot before but I think he's been around long enough

that we know where it ends up and Lauer sort of the same for him I know he pitched in the Korean League last year so sometimes they come back pitchers come back and they're different

from that experience like actually different like they have different pitches and stuff I'm not seeing a lot here with Lauer that leads me to believe he's unlocked some new level of talent

you know, high fly ball rate, which can help improve whip by just limiting the number of hits that you're allowing. But he's giving up hard contact. And that's normally a bad combination. And I imagine it's going to catch up to Eric Lauer before too long. I do think some of these names are worthy of streaming. If you just miss out on all of Scott's other sleeper pitchers for this week, Kate Horton is at the White Sox. Dean Kramer is at the Guardians.

And yeah, those are the only two good matchups from this group. But I think both are totally fine if you do need some help with streaming this upcoming week. Two names in the deepest of leagues. Jonathan Cannon, a strong start at the Pirate. Seven innings one run with two strikeouts here. And Joey Wentz, who is pitching for your brave, Scott, look pretty good against the Yankees for shutout innings. Two strikeouts had six whiffs on 59 pitches.

He's made two appearances with the Braves. He's thrown seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and a 14.7% swinging strike rate. So two of the deepest league names here, but anything here, do either matter? Jonathan Cannon, Joey Wentz. Realistically, no, I'm not going to hype Joey Wins for fantasy. I am interested in seeing how this goes.

because he's gotten to the Braves and two great appearances to start out, throwing his cutter now like half the time, immediately got to the Braves, started throwing his cutter half the time instead of about a third of the time like he was doing it before. So made a change there with his arsenal and has had this immediate success, guy who had a really successful year in relief for the Tigers once and used to have, used to be a prospect way back in the day. I'm curious to see where this goes for Wince,

but realistically, no, I'm not going to hype him up for fantasy. All right, let's take a look at some Waverwire hitters from the weekend. You mentioned Royce Lewis had a big game Sunday, 2 for 4 with a double dong, 66% rostered. Another third base replacement for all those injuries right now, but Barger and Noelvi Marte ahead of him. Austin Hayes, another name we've talked a lot about, two for three with a double dong on Friday. 55% rostered remains a name that you can look at.

in shallower leagues. Again, that's Austin Hayes. Caleb Durbin, Scott, any interest here? Two for four with a homer on Friday. One for four with this deal on Saturday. Has been hitting much better over the past month. 36% rostered has second and third base eligibility. What do you think about Caleb Durbin right now?

I haven't had many thoughts about Caleb Durbin, if I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. And the reason for that is he's... I'm looking at the get. So the way I usually go about my process every night as I'm preparing for this podcast is I go through the box scores. And if a hitter has a big enough game that I need to look into, I more I will.

And Durbin hasn't had that game for me yet. But you're right. There have been a lot of multi-hit games here over the past month or so. and he has some stolen base ability. The average exit velocity is second percentile, so you don't love that. But he pulls the ball in the air pretty well and has a good minor league track record,

like he performed in the minors. I don't know. I want to call Caleb Durbin a high priority pickup, but it's not hard to imagine him turning into a useful fantasy piece. Caleb Durbin in his previous 25 games entering Sunday was hitting 366 with three homers, 18 runs, four steals, and a 954 OPS.

So yeah, he's been coming on strong here. If you want to ride the hot hand, you can use him as a middle, a corner, a little bit of pop, he's got some speed. I'm impressed by what Caleb Durbin has been doing over the past month or so. Nice weekend for Rocky's hitters. Jordan Beck had a big game Friday, three for five with a sock into shoe.

He had three more hits on Sunday. No surprise. He's been really good at home this season, so you can stream him when he's in Corse Field. Ryan McMahon, another name looking to get traded here at the deadline. He homered twice this weekend, had two more hits on Sunday. And Ezekiel Tovar returned this weekend. He went three for four with a home run and three RBI on Saturday. still just 23 years old, very productive season last year.

This year has just been, you know, derailed by injury, unfortunately, for Ezekiel Tovar. Scott, any of these names stand out as, I don't know, should they be more than 50% rostered, like a Tovar, McMahon, or Jordan Beck? Well, it seems like any time the Rockies have a week at home, Jordan Beck is the hitter. I'm recommending as a streamer option. Lately, I've been doing that some with McMahon too, because, He's been better since a terrible April, but his July hasn't gone that well

until very recently with the two-humber game. So I don't know. It's probably about right. Beck, I could see, gaining the most in roster rate because he steals some bases and even just for five outfielder leagues, like obviously he needs to be rostered in those.

but yeah pretty fringy overall. All right, some names here in deeper leagues. Anheel Martinez has been hitting well for the Guardians, three for five with his ninth home run. He let off all three games this weekend with no Stephen Kwan. And in July, hitting 288, four homers, one steal, 912 OPS again. That's Anhele Martinez with the Guardians.

Victor Caratini continues to perform well. Back-to-back three-hit games on Saturday and Sunday. He has started nine. and he's getting a lot of playing time right now with Yordon Alvarez still out. And the debacks called up Adrian Del Castillo on Friday, and he hit the ground running. Three hits on Friday, two hits on Saturday, started all three games for the debacks as their designated hitter.

25 years old. He looked really good in both the minors and the majors last year as a hitter. So three deep league names here, Scott, any interest in Anhelle Martinez, Victor Caratini, and Adrian Del Castillo. Well, Del Kestey is the most interesting of them. And it seems like he's getting the playing time now. He's catcher eligible for now.

It would help his cause if catcher hadn't been such fertile ground for breakouts this year. I'm not sure outside of two catcher leagues, I'm not sure anybody's really hurting for a catcher at the moment. And then if it turns out he's just de-aging for the Dymax, well, he won't have catcher eligibility anymore for next year. So it's not clear that Adrian Del Castillo has a bright future in fantasy. But I think he's a pretty good hitting talent. I mean, the numbers in the minors the last two years certainly speak to that. So, you know, two catcher leagues maybe maybe.

maybe you have a use for them. Otherwise, I think we're just scouting what Del Castillo could be for the future. Gotta be honest with you, Scott. You know what really grinds my gears? What grinds your gears, Frank? I picked up Adrian Del Castillo in Tout Wars, which is a 15-team

Roto League, two catchers. Goes pretty deep into the catcher pool, obviously. Yeah. I put $28 out of a thousand-dollar budget. Seems like a fair bit amount for Adrian Del Castillo. There's some upside there. Sure. There wasn't a single backup bid.

What? Come on, man. I mean, I'm happy I want him. No, get me wrong. He's not eligible at catcher in Tau Wars. That would be terrible. So I hope he is. I don't know.

Now you got me wondering. But yeah, you know the deal. I mean, with FAB, it's just so tough. It's, you know, put $28 on him and no one else even has a backup bid. So a little frustrating there. I am furiously trying to see if he has catcher eligibility, which, I think he does. Have you felt like you have too much

fab dollars left? No. I have just under 200. I think I have one 90, 180 left. Yeah, under 200 or let's say under 20 if it's $100 league, like less than 20% left with about what 40% of the season left,

but it feels like too much. It feels like too much just because we've had a few weeks in a row now where there hasn't been worth throwing that many dollars than anybody. I disagree, man. I think the trade deadline can be crazy. And I think, like, we can get some new players and new roles and maybe some closers emerging and stuff.

I always like to have a little bit more money to spend around the trade deadline because I just feel like crazy things can happen. But it's not a guarantee. So we'll see. Yeah. I don't know that it's going to be a crazy trade deadline. I mean, I guess you don't know that either. You're guessing it will be.

Yeah. And, yeah, I don't know. I don't know, because it seems like there are so many fence sitters, so many teams that could go either way, that there aren't a huge number of clear-cut sellers. And the ones that do exist don't have a lot of sellable assets. Like certainly the Braves fall into that category. Yeah, that's why the debacks remain so confounding, so important for this trade deadline. So, you know, again, they've won four in a row. not a guarantee that they're going to sell.

So we'll see how the next couple of weeks play out here. It's not even weeks. It's 10 days until the deadline. So we shall see. Start or sit, these starting pitchers. We had some questionable performances this weekend, as always. Jesus Lozardo continues to struggle this time against the Angels. Four and two-thirds inning, seven hits, four runs, two homers allowed.

And last nine starts for Lazzardo. that includes two massive blowups. But a 771 ERA, a 183 whip. Nine starts stretch. I mean, that's a lot, man. It's over four walks per nine. His bat up is over 400

during that time. It's been a mess, Scott. What do you do with Jesus Lozardo this week against the Red Sox? I think in most cases you're going to start him. It is a little a little bit of having fun with the end points in the game.

When you include those two starts where he was very much impacted by a pitch tipping issue. Yeah. So if you eliminate those... I think it's still pretty subpar though, right? It's a 396 ERA in his last seven starts. Okay. That's not... With 46 strikeouts and 36 in a third inning.

So a huge strikeout rate. Yeah. I think most people are going to keep starting Luzardo or they should. It's not the greatest matchup, the Red Sox. but you'd have to have a lot of, you'd have to have a pretty deep pitching staff, I think, to consider sitting in. All right, Scott,

we know you love yourself some Sean Mania. He pitched well this weekend, but remains on a pitch count up against the Reds. Four innings, one hit, one run, six strikeouts, had eight whiffs on 69 pitches. 13 strikeouts over seven and a third inning. So far, two appearances for him. 45% started.

Are you using Mania this week? kind of feels like the Mets are kind of deliberately bringing him along slowly. Yeah, they are, but five innings seems like it would be the next box to check off there for Manaya. And he goes five innings, he gets your win, and he's facing an Angels lineup that is the most strikeout prone against left-handers. So I would lean towards starting Minaya. Not saying you have to start him, but I would like to. What about Gavin Williams, who had one of his best starts of the season Sunday against the athletic, seven innings, one run, 11 strikeouts to just one walk, 19 whiffs on 96 pitches, and through 69% of his pitches for strikes. That is such a key number here for Gavin Williams.

He flashes these great starts, Scott. It feels like too far and too few and far between for him. Are you using Gavin Williams at the Royals this week? Oh, that's such a good matchup. Yeah. Coming off what may be his best start of the season with the 11 strikeouts. Yeah, I think, I think that's something I'd like to do. He's a bit of a Charzar himself, right?

But he also did something else different other than just throw a lot more strikes in this start. He threw a lot more sinkers, 22% versus the usual 3%. And faded his four seamer in response. that seems legit. It doesn't seem like it was a pitch categorization error, at least from what I could see by looking at the pitch characteristics.

But I don't know. I wonder if maybe he has an easier time locating that sinker than the foreseamer and that contributed to the improved strike throwing. We'll see if that continues moving forward for Williams. Definitely something to monitor. All right. Next up, we have Mackenzie Gore who got crushed by his former team,

the Padres, two and a third innings, eight hits, eight runs, three walks to two strikeouts, allowed two homers in this one. Had a 5.45 bad-up against, despite just four hard hits allowed. So, look, he still gave up two home runs, so it's not all bad luck here for Mackenzie Gore.

But he's, you know, struggled a little bit lately. The control has been, you know, a little bit worse here for McKenzie Gore. Does he just remain a must-start, Scott? at the twins this week for McKenzie Gore. I mean, it should have gone better against the Padres. I've mentioned a couple times this show that they're a good matchup.

I wonder, I mean, the twins feel like a good matchup too. I wonder how they fare against left-handers specifically. We could find that real quick. And the answer is that they have the 10th highest-ststststrikes. out rate against left-handers, and they have the... They're like middle of the pack and OPS. Okay, that doesn't really tell us that much. I probably start Gore because I don't see a clear enough red flag here

to make me think he's just losing it. But obviously, you regret starting him for this one. It was, I think it was minus 15 in points leagues. Brutal. Bruttle for McKenzie Gore. Scott, any concern with these two pitchers here? Logan Webb's strikeouts have really faded here. He was at the Blue Jays this weekend.

Granted, they are a team that does not strike out much at all. Six innings, 11 hits, only one strikeout in this one. He allowed 12 hard hits in this game. Last six starts for Logan Webb. It's a 434 ERA, 142 whip, and just a 9% swinging strike rate. And the other name, Ranger Suarez, got roughed up by the Angels on Sunday. Four and a third innings, six runs, four walks, four strike rate. out and his velocity was down quite a bit i mean between 1.3 and 2.3 miles per hour on all of his

pitches this is the second time his velocity has been down this much in his past four outings so i don't know just kind of catches me off guard here a little bit of a red flag any concern with swarres and logan webb here i don't really have any concerns with webb you said that was what what span of time did you say last six starts he has a 9% swinging strike rate. So the strikeouts have just kind of fallen off here. The ERA's 434 during that stretch. I mean, it's not completely awful, but... Yeah,

because I look at that last six starts for Webb and the first four were great. It's really just the last, like the first one of that six starts stretching, he had nine strikeouts. Yeah. I mean, it's mostly just that the swinging strike rate is kind of collapsed to you for him.

Now, I don't see a lot to worry about there. Now, Suarez is a different matter because he's done this a couple times in his career. I mean, this is just look at last year for Ranger Suarez. So last year, through 16 starts, he had a 183 ERA, was throwing 66% of his pitches for strike. 16 starts with a 183 ERA.

Final 12 starts, he had a 604 ERA because he threw his just, 62% of his pitch of strikes instead of 66. So like, and the reason I'm bringing that up is because I know you're talking about the velocity, but he also just didn't throw a lot of strikes in this start. He walked four. I believe he threw the actual strike percentage was 58%. Yeah. And remember, it was the bad stretch with the ERA over 6 last year was 62%.

So his control very suddenly went from elite, well, not elite, but good to very suspect. And it all kind of fell apart from there. And I say this has happened a couple times in Ranger Suarez's career because go back and look at 2021 down the stretch when he first entered the rotation and then how things went for him in 2022. it just, it seems like he can have stretches where he's commanding so well that nobody can touch him. But then once he loses it, he's a very ordinary pitcher. And I'm afraid that's happening with him. If more's going on with the drop of velocity, okay, that's all the more reason to be concerned. I have no explanation for that yet, though.

All right, let's wrap up here with some leftovers on the pitching side. the first group, Joe Ryan, dominated in course field. Seven innings, one run, 11 strikeouts with 18 whiffs on 88 pitches. Terrick Scouble, dominant once again on Sunday night baseball. Unfortunately, wound up with a no decision. At Texas, six and two-thirds, one run, 11 strikeouts to zero walks. Finally, Dylan Cease, a strong start at the Nationals. Five and a third, shutout innings, ten strikeouts to zero walks.

And Spencer Strider shut down the Yankees, six shutout, with eight strikeouts for him. Scott, anything that stood out for these four. Strider, Sees, Scoobel, and Joe Ryan. I guess it was a little odd that both Seas and Scoobal. Oh, you know what? Never mind. Sees' velocity was actually up on everything.

I was remembering wrong. I thought it was down. Scoobal's velocity was down. I'm not sure it matters. Obviously, he struck out 11, but it was down. Seasons was actually up. and he actually did not throw strikes at a particularly high percentage, but walk nobody, missed a ton of bats at Washington.

I still think much better days are coming for him than he's already banked to this year, and people are tired of hearing that. But hey, maybe this is the start. Strider still doesn't look like old strider, but you look at the game log, there's a lot of eight, nine strikeout efforts in there. It certainly seemed good enough to make him, Close to must start in fantasy. The biggest problem I see with Strider right now,

and it's remained the case all season, he's just allowing so much hard contact. 92.4 average exit velocity against for Strider, it's never been higher than 88.5 miles per hour any other season of his career. So, I mean, we're talking, it's up four miles per hour than we've ever seen before for Strider. So getting lots of whiffs, but also lots of hard contact.

Right. And striking out a lot of guys is one way to counteract that. If you're just allowing less contact in general, then you can deal with the hard contact more. But now is ERA's 359? And I'd say he's earned every bit of that. And I'm not necessarily counting on that dropping drastically. Yeah. I mean, if you told me we're getting a mid-3s ERA 115 whip 11K per 9,

from Shrider rest of season. I think we're all pretty happy with that. It's not Prime Strider, but that's obviously a really, really good starting pitcher. Next group here, Louise Castillo, great outing against the Astros, six and two-thirds shutout with seven strikeouts for him. He's got the ERA down to 321 on the season here,

but I don't know, perhaps a sell-high opportunity here on Luis Castillo. Tyler Glass now, a tough luck loss against the Brewers, six innings one run with six strikeouts. Shote Imenaga makes the two strong starts in a row, this one against the Red Sox, seven shutout with five strikeouts, and Nick Lidolo dominated the Mets, seven innings, two runs, seven strikeouts. Scott, anything on Lidolo, Imanaga, Tyler Glassnow, and Luis Castillo.

I mean, Imanaga's going deeper into games even more than before he had that IL stint. He's starting to look more like his 2024 version again. I know it started because he threw a sweeper. sweeper more. That was back just before the all-star break. He threw his sweeper 21% of the time, and that was his first seven-inning start. Actually did not sustain that. Got that sweeper, that sweeper usage was closer to what it's been all season in this latest start against the Red Sox, but he still went seven shot on aies, still got 15 whiffs. I think he's fine. I think he's trending the right direction, and you could think of them as a must start moving forward.

All right. Some hitting leftovers, Xander Bogartz, has been hit. hitting well over the past month or so. Two for five with a steel on Friday. Two for four with a grand slam on Sunday. Kyle Schwabre, continuing his huge July. Two more home runs this weekend. He's up to seven home runs and an OPS over a thousand for the month. Bryce Harper turning things back up as well.

Three for four with a double dong on Friday. Added another home run on Saturday. Hopefully big second half coming for Harper, who just dealt with a bunch of injuries here in the first half. Shea Lange Lears started the second half with a bang. he homered on both Friday and Saturday. Kyle Stowers continues his tear. Two homers on Friday,

including a walk-off shot that was, if you include that game and the game before the break, five home runs over the course of two games there for Kyle Stowers. And then he hit one in the All-Star game, sort of. You hit one in the swing-off. In the swing-off, that's right. Yeah. He's been awesome.

Ozzy Albi is maybe coming back to life here, second half, home run on Friday, and then two for four with a sock and a shoe on Saturday against the Yankees. He also had five RBI in that game. Nine RBI and a two-day spam. A welcome site. We'll take anything we can for Ozzy Albies. Go ahead.

And like I brought this up before, but mainstays at the top of the second base rankings, let's leave Coutel Marte out of it. The mainstays have been over the years, Jose Al-Tuvre, Marcus Simeon, and Ozzy Albies. And all three of them make weak. contact on average. That's always been the case for them. They thrived in spite of it. So we have a year like this one.

It doesn't seem like the ball's carrying as well. Maybe that nerfs them, you know, since they're not players who hit the ball that hard to begin with. They all got off to terrible starts. Altuve and Simeon have come around. Altuve especially. It's been going on for long enough now that we have no concerns for him. Simeon, a little more recent, but, you know, seems to have gotten, seems to have righted

the ship as well. Albies hasn't, but because they all have the same underlying concern, he's actually the youngest of them by a lot. It wouldn't surprise me. I have more concerns about Albies bouncing back than our dog of the first half, Michael Harris. I think Michael Harris' talent level makes it a little more certain he'll be fine long term. But there's still a good chance Albies bounces back too. He's 95% rostered in CBS Sports League still, so I know a lot of other people must believe that also.

This weekend is your reminder that it could still turn around. Does not look like the home run derby has affected Junior Caminero swing at all. Caminero. Three for five with a double dong for RBI on Friday for Camerro, and then two for five with an RBI on Sunday. Willie Adamas, two home runs on Saturday as well, has been hitting much better over the past month. Nick Kurtz continues to rake seven hits this weekend,

including another home run. In July, Nick Kurtz is hitting 3.46 with six home runs and an OPS over 1,300. PCA, picking up right where he left off, two for four with a sock and a shoe on Saturday, and Shohei Otani is doing Shohei Otani things. Stole a base on Friday, and then homered in the east.

on each of Saturday and Sunday as well. Call to the bullpen. Some updates here for the Nationals on Friday. Kyle Finnegan entered the ninth inning with the game tied. He was then charged with five earned runs on a walk and four hits. He took his fourth loss, then bounced back on Saturday with two strikeouts for his 19th save. Even with that outing, last 12 games for Finnegan.

It's a nine ERA and a 136 whip. So not sure that any team is actually looking to trade for Kyle Finnegan at this point. Didn't happen at the deadline last year and he just kept racking up saves. So yes, sir. That'll happen again. For the Marlins on Friday, Anthony Bender pitched a clean seventh inning with a one-run lead facing 9-1-2 in the Royals lineup. Ronnie Enriquez then pitched a clean eighth with a one-run lead facing the heart of the order.

Calvin Fosha got the ninth and he gave up a game-tying home run to someone named John Rave. the Marlins would eventually win in extras. And then on Saturday, Ronnie Enrique pitched in the eighth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a solo home run to tie the game. Anthony Bender got the ninth, and he picked up his third save of the season. So, if you think you know anything about the Marlins' bullpen,

you don't. And that's that. That's that. All right. For the Rangers on Friday, Robert Garcia got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out two for his seventh save. remains the pseudo-closer, I guess, for now,

unless they bring somebody else in. For the Rockies on Friday, Seth Halverson got the ninth inning with a two-run lead, struck out two for his ninth save. For the Braves on Saturday, Reisel Iglesias got the ninth inning with the game tied, gave up a go-ahead grand slam to Trent Grisham took his sixth loss of the season.

And then for the Tigers on Sunday, Will Vest got the final four outs for his 16th save, and feels like he's, Lock that job down more because Tommy Canley has been struggling quite a bit recently. So not that there was really much of a question, but yeah, Will Vest is just the closer for the Tigers. So it was an ugly outing for Iglesias Saturday. But we had talked about how much better it had been. And to demonstrate this, I will point out his eight appearances prior to that ugly outing Saturday.

Eight appearances, one hit allowed. 11 strikeouts. He'd been locked in. And so, you know, I still think he's back in that closer role, even though it went poorly Saturday. All right, to stream or not to stream on Monday. We have Tomoyuki Sugano at the Guardians. Brady Singer is at the Nationals.

Hayden Birdsong at the Braves. Noah Cameron at the Cubs. Cameron's up to 79%. I'm going to take him off this list because that's cheating. Jacob Lopez at the Rangers. Jack Leiter gets the athletics. Fest at the Dodgers. 79% on CBS probably means like 49% on Yahoo.

I'm exaggerating slightly, but only slightly. If Noah Cameron's out there, you could stream him on Monday. Although the Cubs is the Cubs, it is a tough guy. To be fair. Yeah, I mean, Jacob Lopez at Texas jumps out of me. Not that I am eager to. to do it, but it seems like the best one, most upside anyway. Brady Singer at Washington should go okay.

And I guess, I mean, I really don't want to start Tomoyuki Sagano. Cleveland's a great matchup, but he has like an ERA and a two whip in his last six starts and no strikeout upside to speak of. So I'd rather not. And then on Tuesday, we have Cam Schlittler at the Blue Jays. Frankie Montauntas gets to Angels Landon Rup is at the Braves Oof, Eduardo Rodriguez

against the Astros Brad Lord, I am Lord, up against the Reds I don't I don't know He's been in relief, right? So that just seems like a bullpen day.

I guess I would go Schlittler at the Blue Jays and Rup at the Braves but I don't love Rup is my favorite. I don't know that I'm ready to do Schlittler. But it's a decent matchup at Toronto. All right.

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