Fantasy Baseball Today - Rankings Movers, Freddy Peralta's Debut & Gerrit Cole Struggles (8/4 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 4, 2022

Lance Lynn got back on track while Jose Urquidy continued to roll (1:00). ... Gerrit Cole struggled big time on Wednesday (8:50). ... Miguel Vargas had a successful debut for the Dodgers (12:08). ... Let's rank some waiver wire outfielders (16:12). ... Nico Hoerner and Jurickson Profar are on the rise (23:45). ... Whit Merrifield and Tommy Edman are falling (30:05). ... News (36:57): David Bednar went to the IL. ... Can Yusei Kikuchi get back on track (42:45)? ... How did Freddy Peralta fare in his return (45:25). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (47:45). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, August 4th. Frank Stamphill joined by Chris Towers today on the show. We've got rankings, risers, and fallers.

Freddie Peralta made his return. Garrett Cole stinks, and much more. But let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious! All right, Chris. I don't see an Olive Garden breadstick available, but we did have some notable performances, so where are you going?

Oh, my goodness gracious. Yeah, kind of a weird game in that the most noteworthy performances were among pitchers who are very, very highly rostered. I'm going to go with Lance Lynn, who had a very, very strong bounce back performance in this outing. Six innings gave up one-earned run against the Royals. His third quality start in 10 times out.

17 swinging strikes on 89 pitches. Fastball velocity was up, and look, it's been a rough go of things for Lance Lynn. Coming back from knee surgery, two of the last three have been good. He's had at least a strikeout per inning in, I believe, four straight now. he may be starting to figure it out. Obviously he's given up, you know, a lot of runs in two of those four starts, but over the last four, he's given up 11 runs now in 22 innings. So, you know, ERA near four and a half.

But 28 strikeouts in those 22 innings, only, I believe, one walk. And, yeah, I think we might be starting to see Lance Lynn turn things around, hopefully. Scott and I talked about him recently, and it just seems like he's been on the bad things. side of variance so far this season. Look, there's been times where he hasn't pitched well. There's no doubt about that. His velocity has been down for most of the season, but his underlying numbers are actually better than they've been in years past. So it just seems like, again, bad variance right now. ERA is, you know, ballooned for Lance Lynn, but the underlying

numbers. Yeah, it depends which underlying numbers. You know, he is getting hit very hard. He gave up. What is that? They do the little fireballs on baseball savant for the hard hit balls. And like, I like the graphic, but it makes it hard when you're counting just like, you have up 10 hard, no, eight hard hit balls today, which is, that's an okay number. It's not great. It's not terrible.

Yeah. Actually, I guess trying to do the math in my head. Yeah, it's not great. And, you know, his expected Wobon contact is 407. That's by far the highest in the stack cast error for Lance. and this might be one of those situations where his walk rate is way down. It's probably around 4% now. And for some pitchers, that's a good thing.

But, you know, for guys who don't have like huge swing and miss pitch, miss stuff, maybe pitching in the strike zone can make them a little more hitable. And maybe that's what we're seeing with Lance Land. because he is getting hit very hard so far. So, you know, I do think there is some bad variants at play in the way things have gone for him so far. but he's also, I think, earned a lot of what's gone wrong for him. The question moving forward is how much of that is just, hey, he's a 35-year-old, 35-year-old starting pitcher coming off of knee surgery, bigger guy, you know,

it's possible that he just needed some time to figure things out. And the past four starts, granted two of them weren't great, but the strikeout to walk rate, again, 28 to 1, I think that's, there's more positives than negatives there, I think. Okay. Throughout this whole kind of recent stretch of badness for Lance Lynn, have you moved him in the rankings or you just kind of sticking with, you know, top 35, top 40-ish starting pitcher? Yeah, he's, I've moved him up. I've moved him down.

I think, yeah, 35, that's probably too high right now. But I do think it's a reason, a pretty reasonable range of possible outcomes for him at the very least. Yeah, I have him at SP 37 and it's a range that includes Jose Barrios who has had his ups and downs this year. Zach Allen, I think you could say a similar thing. Christian Javier, he flashes dominance, but still inconsistent as well. Lots of walks, lots of home runs. Tyler Anderson has been very good. I mean, I guess you can argue he should be higher. But then you start to get into like Clevenger, Tyler Malley. Guys that I like. That's a reasonable range for him. Yeah. I think that range. Yeah. I think that range. makes sense for Lance Lynn. He's not, you know, the SP2 or maybe even SP3 that you thought,

but he's just outside that group. For me, oh my goodness, gracious from Wednesday's action, Jose Urquitti, who makes it nine straight quality starts and arguably had his best start of the season. Actually, it's probably not arguable. This was his best start of the season up against the Red Sox. Seven shutout innings, just two hits, zero walks, ten strikeouts, ties a season high. He had 15 swinging strikes on 97 pitches. He actually lowered his. fastball and curve usage in exchange for more change-ups and sliders in this start. And those two pitches are technically his best pitches. So it could be something that helps him moving forward, but that's what he did specifically

in the start. And it worked very well against the Boston Red Sox. And this recent run coincides exactly Chris with when he gave up on his cutter earlier on in the season. So basically over these last nine starts, he got rid of it. He's not using that cutter anymore at all. and it has worked out for Jose Orkitty. His ERA drops down to 3.62.

I kind of think that he's just always going to be one of these pitchers where the ex-fip does not like him because he gives up so many fly balls. But he's kind of proven now that it's pretty good at limiting hard contact. A lot of those fly balls do not leave the yard. He has very good control. And all those things kind of add up to a very good pitcher on a very good baseball team.

So I think he just kind of outperforms his underlying numbers. What do you think about Jose or Kiti? Yeah, the weird thing is he's not actually that good in terms of limiting hard contact. He has a 378 expected woeba on his career, 387 this season. 43% hard hit rate. His XERA is more than a full run higher than his ERA this season, which, you know, that's the one where you would think, okay, well, if there's something about a guy where he does a better job of limiting hard contact

than you think maybe that's why he's outperforming his peripherals where in this case that's the one that does take into account on a very granular level, the quality of contact that the pitcher gives up and he's still out shooting that. So I don't know. He's been a difficult pitcher to figure out for the entirety of his major league career,

which is only 300-ish innings. So it's not like we've got a massive sample to go off. But yeah, I think I default to him being good. I don't know about great. But I think at this point, you know, I certainly buy him as a good pitcher. Yeah, you notice I stopped myself short of saying great pitcher, but I did say very good pitcher in Jose Orkidia. I moved him up my rankings as well up to SP62.

And you could argue that he should be higher than that. You know, he's right around Merrill Kelly, who, I kind of think is similar, like, pitches to contact, but Jose Riccii is on a better team, so maybe I should bump him up a little bit higher, not giving him the credit that he deserves. But look, he's now made, how many, he's pitching 53 games in his career, 51 starts.

He's got a 366 ERA and a 109 whip. That's a very good pitcher in Jose Arquitie. So, yeah, he's kind of one where I think maybe I just brush those underlying numbers under the rug and just say, let's just look at the results. There's something about him. Yeah. That has allowed him to outperform his peripheral so far.

Dare I say the name, Chris? Marco Estrada. Mark and Estrada in performance. Yeah. From Jose Orkitti so far this season. Honorable mention, oh my goodness gracious. Obviously, I was being a little facetious. Garrickle does not stink,

but he did stink on Wednesday. no doubt about that. He was not great. He quite literally had the worst inning of his career, where he gave up six earned runs in his first inning against the Seattle Mariners, which was a career high. And after that, he settled down. So he goes six innings, six earned runs allowed. He had eight strikeouts. He had 23 swinging strikes on 103 pitches. He gave up three home runs. All of those came in the first inning. He's just not the ace that he was before. And this is kind of something we've said a lot, or at least I have, about Garrick Cole is he's not going to be the pitcher that pitches to like a mid-2s ERA. I don't think he's going to have this crazy dominant,

you know, far in a way, the best pitcher season that we've seen. I don't think he's going to be that pitcher anymore. I think he's going to be very, very, he's going to be an elite pitcher, but just not elite in the level that we've seen before. And I think we're kind of seeing that this year, Chris. Home runs have been a little bit of an issue. He's now giving up five or more runs five different times this season, that's just a little bit more than you'd want your SP1, your ace on your team to do. So I still think he's very good. He's just not as good as he once was, which I think makes sense. He's getting a little bit older. Yeah, and there's the sticky stuff of it, and there's the playing at Yankee Stadium of it, and there's the, you know, all kinds of

factors that have changed since the peak of Garrett Cole's career. But I still think given the number of innings he throws, the number of strikeouts he gets you, the fact that, I mean, really, like, 85% of the time he's going to be excellent based on how the last couple of seasons have gone. There's really, it's just been like a handful of starts consistently. And right now he's going through a funk. There's no doubt about it. The last six starts, he's given up three earned runs or more and four of them. five earned runs or more in three of them. So that's a rough stretch.

But we also saw a rough stretch for him last season. I think it was June when he was really bad. It was right around when they stopped. Yeah, right around when the band started. And that was things, things were tough for him. But then over the final month and a half of the season, you know, he missed a little bit of time. What was a hamstring injury?

Something like that last year? Yep, down the stretch. But his final. nine starts 51 innings 67 strikeouts 3 5ER a like it's like you said it's not going to be the corbin burns you know sub two or low 2 z r i don't think he's that guy anymore but he's still such a steady source of innings and strikeouts and wins that it's mostly i'm willing to overlook it if you want to argue that corbin burns is the best pitcher in baseball now i think that's fine you know i don't necessarily have a problem with that.

This is kind of one of those therapy things, Chris, where I think if people have Garrett Cole, they just kind of want to hear us cope with them because there's no doubt about it. It's frustrating. Just acknowledge that he had had a bad start. Yes, that's what people want. He's a first round pitcher, and he has a 3, 5, 6 ERA. Like, that's a little underwhelming.

I can understand if someone's frustrated with that. Let's move over to some hitters. Miguel Varius made his debut here on Wednesday night, and it was a very strong debut. He was the DH for the Dodgers. He was batting seventh in this game. He went two for four with a double two RBI. He also stole third base, which I thought was pretty interesting. Zero strikeouts in the game.

The double, 106 miles per hour off the bat, 396 feet. It was to right center field, so I like to see that approach early on from a young hitter. 33% rostered is Miguel Vargas. Only five games next week. I think we still kind of have some question marks about the playing time. So I don't know if I want to use them next. week in a five game week and maybe he even sits out one of those games. But at 33% rostered, Chris, I really want to add Miguel Vargas and just see where it goes. Yeah, I think as long as

you've got a roster spot to play with, I'm not sure I'm willing to drop someone that I feel very good about, but if you've got like, I don't know, I'm sure a bunch of people still have Josh Donaldson on their roster. I'm fine dropping Josh Donaldson for him, you know. So, you know, it depends on where you're at. I'm not necessarily dropping Matt Chapman for him. No, no. Chapman has been amazing. Yeah, but like there's a lot of third

basement out there that are on a lot of rosters you can drop for Miguel Vargas, I think. That being said, you know, we don't know what the long-term role is in addition to the short-term role. We don't know how long he's going to stay with the Dodgers. This is a team that, you know, they've been willing to call top prospects up

and not play them every day. And they've been willing to call top prospects up and not stick with them. So there's no guarantee that he's going to work out down the stretch, but he's a very intriguing player. I think I'm a little, like I know Scott has him as the number seven player

in his mid-season update. From what I've read of Miguel Vargas, I'm a little more bearish on him. Just because it doesn't sound like the raw power is quite there to match up to, you know, some of the gaudy numbers that he's put up in the minors. and then that's always a concern for me. I think Dylan Carlson's another example of a guy like that

in the minors who, you know, we've seen disappoint a little bit in the majors. So that would be my concern, but that's not enough to make me say you shouldn't add it. For what it's worth, our buddy of the Welsh, who we had on recently, he recapped the MLB drafts here with Chris. He's running these prospect one prospect mock drafts,

or I guess it's real drafts right now, just to kind of round up some ADP and get like thoughts around the industry on certain prospects and Miguel Vargas went ninth overall in the draft that I'm in so there's other industry people that are pretty excited about Miguel Vargas as well and I don't want to sell him short obviously like he's a prospect the sky is the limit for him but even if he doesn't hit that power potential Chris I kind of feel like a 270 plus batting average 20 homers 10 to 15 steals from the third base

position like that would be pretty awesome just like a really good profile for a third baseman for fantasy. So I do like him. I think that's something that... It could be more... It's a weird comp because it's a different type of player. You know, Cabrion Hayes' issue isn't necessarily a lack of raw power.

It's a lack of putting the power into play. But it could be a similar profile to that. Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Hopefully a better batting average than Cabrian Hayes. I was thinking more power, too, than Cabrion Hayes. He just puts the ball on the ground so much. It limits him. So I agree.

I like Miguel Vargas. I would like to add him right now. Just kind of eyeballing my rankings here. I initially slotted him in. at 28, which seems very low. I have him behind Ramon Arias and Josh Rojas and Wilmer Flores, but all those guys are playing relatively well right now. The problem is dropping him for Donaldson or, I guess even Max Munty or Cabrion Hayes,

is that you would have to play him right away, and I don't know if I want to do that. So if one of these guys is just occupying a bench spot for you or your utility bat, then sure, I would make that swap. But I just don't know if I want to play him right away. Sure. So that's my take here on Miguel Vargas. A couple other waiver wire hitters from Wednesday. Andrew McCutcheon went two for five with two doubles

and his eighth stolen base of the season. He is 60% rostered and he's been really good over the past two months. And I'm still surprised that he's 60% rostered. I feel like that number should be higher. But maybe it's just people are lagging behind because he's an older player, not that exciting, yada, yada, yada. Trey Mancini, his first game with the Astros. He went one for four with his 11th home run.

and he hit a homer to over that short porch in left field. I think he's going to love Minutemade Park. Yeah, that's a 320 expected batting average on that home run. It looked like a pop-up and it went out to left-field. I mean, it went 377 feet, so I don't want to. But yeah, he hit it. It was a very steeply hit home run. Yeah.

But Scott talked about this. He had 10 home runs on the season playing in Camden. And if he played all of his games in Minutemade Park, he would have had 22 home runs based on his batted balls. So I think big days are coming for Tray Mancini. Jared Kelnick went one for four and hit his fourth home run of the season.

It came off of Garrett Cole. He did have three hard hit balls in this game. He's 42% rostered. And then Alec Thomas has slowed down recently, but then I feel like this has happened with Thomas already where he slows down and then he just has another big game off of a well-known pitcher.

And he just kind of reminds you like, yes, I have upsides. still. Don't forget about me just because I'm a rookie. Thomas went two for four with a double, hit his eighth home run. All of that damage came off of Shane Bieber, which just seems very impressive for me. Forty eight percent rostered is Alec Thomas. And even more notable, seven games next week, three of those in Corse Field. Chris, how do you rank these four? McCutcheon, Mancini, Kellanick, Alec Thomas. I think I would go Thomas, Mancini, McCutcheon, Kellanick. But if I was in a three outfielder league or if I'm not looking,

for an immediate contributor. I might be willing to go with Kellanick over McCutcheon just for upside alone. I think McCutcheon kind of runs into the problem where he's probably better as a head-to-head points league player, but I don't think he's one of the 36 best outfielders in that format anyway. So it's like 60% roster rate seems low, but it probably is right for the type of player that he is. Um, in Kellnick, you know, the, he had two swinging strikes on 18 pitches today. So that's, I don't know, an 11% swing and strike rate. Obviously, it's a very small sample size, but hey, we're looking for signs of improvement.

Both swinging strikes came on forcing fastballs by Garrett Cole. That means he saw five breaking balls or off speed slash breaking balls and didn't swing and miss it either, any of them. So that's a good sign because that's been Jared Kellnick's issue so far in the majors. there's still, even as much as he's struggled, there's no doubting the talent. You know, he's hit balls a long way. He still has one of the hardest hit home runs by a left-handed hitter all season. So I remain intrigued. You know, we'll see what happens if Holioregiz gets healthy enough to play.

But yeah, for now, I think Kellnick is definitely worth a look. I'm going to rank them Trey Mancini, McCutcheon, Alec Thomas, and then Kellnick. Kellnick, I just kind of worry once Julio is back and Mitch Haniguer getting ready to return. Will he have a spot to play every day? He's been striking out a lot since getting called up again too. But I heard what you said, obviously about not swinging and missing against Scarcault. It's very impressive and just signs, good signs. We need to see more of these from Jared Kelnick.

For what it's worth in Roto Category Leagues this year, Chris, McCutcheon is the 130th ranked player overall. and he's better than J.D. Martinez, Cody Bellinger, Michael Harris, who, you know, obviously hasn't spent all of his time. Yeah, Cody Bellinger, that's not surprising. Yeah, that's fair. I'm just looking for names at this point. He's been better than Brian Reynolds. So, like, McCutcheon's been pretty good, like, regardless of format. So, I don't want to sell them short, even in categories leagues, but he probably, I just, like, I think he's fine to have a round in a, in a Roto League. It's just, he makes, he would,

make more like if there were five outfield or head-to-head points leagues that would be the the sweet spot for Andrew McCutcheon's value I kind of wish we can make that the standard too right like that's that's my I like the rhodo lineup more than the head-to-head points lineup I look I love head-divance I feel so cranes it's like watching college basketball you know like the three-point line so close I just feel like there's no room to operate yeah you know I need uh I need a little more room to, I need a little more flexibility with my roster. There's two more weight, too many waiver options. Like everyone's team is stacked. Uh, in Tout Wars, it's a head dead points league. We do have Roto style lineup. So it's, it's,

I like that. It's pretty cool. It's like you start seven starting pitchers, two relief pitchers. And then of course, five outfielders, corner, middle, two catchers. And, uh, I like that as well. A couple names in deeper leagues. Oscar Gonzalez, uh, has returned recently for the guardians. He went two for four with his third home run. It's only his second game. back. He had three hard hit balls in this game. And we spoke about Oscar Gonzalez earlier in the year. And he was making a lot of loud contact. He does not walk at all. He puts the ball in play. Doesn't strike out much either. Kind of interesting. Oscar Gonzalez, 18% rostered. And then Luis Garcia, just another shout out. We spoke about him yesterday. He went two for five with two RBI.

His third straight multi-hit game, he's 21% rostered. Chris, what do you think about Oscar Gonzalez and Garcia? I really like Oscar Gonzalez. He's one. one of those guys who, I don't know if he hits the ball in the air enough, but he hits the ball hard. 90th percent on max, exit velo, 90.5 average exit velocity. He's athletic, 91st percentile sprint speed. So, you know, he's the kind of guy who does a lot of things well. And that, I think, could make him a pretty useful fantasy option. I don't know in your 12 teams standard, even roto leagues, how much value he has. But, you know, I think he's at least worth considering. in the 12-team roto format

and certainly anything deeper than that. Yeah, I think in particular, if you need a batting average power combination, I feel like Oscar Gonzalez might be able to provide something like that. So I'm definitely interested in five outfields. He reminds me of Harold Ramirez, which is not a name that a lot of people

would view as a compliment, but I always liked Harold Ramirez, and he was actually playing very well before he got hurt. Yeah, yeah, he sure was. I wanted to mention a gentleman named Luke Williams, who plays for your Miami Marlins, Chris. He went three for three with three steals. You don't need to add him anywhere. Maybe NL only if you need steals. But he has nine steals on the season, 91st percentile in sprint speed. Just a name to remember later on, like if the

Marlins start shutting people down and Luke Williams are just kind of throwing them out there every day. Wouldn't surprise me if he just goes out there and steals 10 bases over the final two months. I mean, looks, he's got, he's played 46 games at AAA. He's got 16 steals. That's like a 45 steel pace. And he was at a like 35 steel pace and double A as well. He's, I don't think he's good at anything else. But he is fast. He is fast.

And the Marlins have let guys run. That's true. Maybe we've got a John Birdie 2.0 on our hands. The name there, Luke Williams, if he needs speed. Rankings, risers, and fallers. We haven't done this in a while and I was out, honeymoon, marriage. Admittedly, it's been kind of tough to get to the rankings. But I made a huge update here on Wednesday.

Chris, I know you were making some moves as well. So let's talk about some of those. The rankings risers for you, Niko Horner, Andres Jimenez, Spencer Strider, and Felix Bautista. Yeah, Nika Horner is someone who I have liked all season and I've kind of tried to drag you and Scott kicking and screaming into liking him.

And I'm not really sure what you guys dislike about him. Yeah, he doesn't hit for much pop. That's fair. but he seems like one of the better bets for batting average, and he does it without being a zero in stolen bases. He's got 10 of them in 87 games. He had 5 and 45 games last season. So I think there's legitimate chance that Nico Horner is a 10 to 12 homer,

20 to 25 stolen base guy who's very good in batting average. And, you know, that's not a superstar player, but like, Gene Seguer has been getting drafted for a decade. doing that. So, you know, I think that's the kind of player Nico Horner can be. And I think that's even at a super deep position like shortstop.

I've got him 24th. Shortstop is just incredibly, incredibly deep. But, you know, the guys that I've got ahead of him in the rest of the season rankings, two guys are hurt, Jazz Chisholam and Wander Franco, don't really know. And then O'Neill Cruz. So I'd probably rather start

Nico Horner than O'Neo Cruz right now. Although it is worth noting, Ornique Cruz just every day does something freakish. Yesterday it was a 440-foot homer on off a pitch that was like five inches out of the strike zone with like one hand. And today I think he had another 430-foot homer. And so, and he's on a 33 homer, 21 stolen base pace for 150 games. So even though he's striking out 56% of the time, O'Neo Cruz is still doing a lot of good

things for fantasy. But I think Nico Horner is overlaught. looked and deserves more credit than he has gone. I think that's fair. So I'm looking at my rankings now. I have him 27th at second base. And that's behind Colton Wong, Josh Rojas, Gavin Lux, Max Muncie. He's 19th at second base for me. Muncie, I mean, I keep dropping Muncie. I guess it depends on me. Oh, yeah, I've got him way ahead of Muncie at this point.

Yeah, that's fine. I could see that. I mean, Gavin Lux is playing well over the past month. that maybe it's just buying into the Dodgers versus the Cubs, but... It's very similar, though. It's a lot of batting average, but Nico Horners are better source of stolen bases. You know, I think... Does Gavin Luxe have more home runs than him? Kevin Lux has not hit for much power this season. Probably not, but...

Yeah, he has four home runs. Josh Rojas... Four home runs and six steals. I think Nico Horner's just better. Rojas is a name that's ahead of him that I think is very comparable as well. Yeah, that's a fair one. He, you know, leads off for Arizona. scores a few more runs.

He runs a little bit more as well. And then Colton Wong, I've always kind of been a sucker for him. Power speed combination is kind of interesting. Batting average is very bad. There's no doubt about that. But I guess it just comes down to what your need is when comparing those middle infielders. Some risers for me.

DJ LaMayhew, I think I got him upside up into my top five second baseman and top five third, no, top five third baseman would not make sense because the top five are very good at that position. It's after that. realize how much he'd turned things around because he got out to a good start and then kind of fell apart. Yeah. Past month or so, he's hitting like 350. It's been crazy. He's been awesome really since the start of June. That's one I did not, I'll admit I had not noticed that. Yeah. Other risers for me, jerks in pro far. Profar is like jack of all trades this season, master of none. He's

He's got 12 homers. 62 run scored is fantastic for him. That's very good. Five steals, 261 batting average. He's getting on base, 357 OBP. Walking a lot. He's now leading off for the Padres. Hitting behind him on Wednesday,

Juan Soto, Mani Machado, Josh Bell, and they don't even have Fernando Tatis yet. Like, wherever you have jerks in ProFar, it's too low. You've got to move them up. Hunter Renfro has been awesome since returning. Recently, he's hitting a bunch of bombs and someone I, we spoke about in our, around the All-Star break, is like a buy for the second half.

Anthony Santander, another one, you just, you don't even realize he's just quietly going about his business and having a very, very good season, moved him inside of my top 50 outfielders. And then Mike Clevenger moved them up around top 40 starting pitchers, just outside of it. He's pitched very well. Looks like Mike Clevenger, he's going deep into his starts.

And Reed Detmer's, another one. We talked about him a lot recently. Moved him inside of my top 60 starting pitchers, throwing this harder slide. more swinging strikes, more strikeouts in general. I worry a little bit about the workload down the stretch. Maybe the angels shut them down because they're not really playing for much. But for the time being, as long as he's out there,

I'm pretty interested in Reed Detmer's. I don't know how much of a concern that is for Reed Detmer's. I guess I haven't looked, but he's thrown 88 innings so far this season. He's got a career high. I mean, going back to college, he threw 113 innings in 2019. So I don't I don't really think he's a shutdown candidate he only threw 75-ish innings last season But I don't know how much of that like it's tough with minor league pitchers because last season remember the miners didn't start until a month later But they weren't just sitting around you know they went from spring training to the alternate site and

I'm sure teams are including that in their you know internal calculations because they were playing games you know It's like the 2020 alternate sites. They were playing, you know, inter-squad games, but those will still count for whatever there. So I don't know if there's much risk of Detmer's getting shut down, especially he's only pitching once a week anyway in that Angels rotation. Yeah, I hope you're right, because I move them inside of my top 60,

and I think it's well-deserved. Top 60 starting pitchers, that is, for Reid Detmer's. Some followers for Chris, Whitmerfield, Alex Kirillov, Cody Bellinger, Terrick Scoubel, Mackenzie Gore, Patrick Sandoval and Michael Kopeck. When it comes to Merrifield, Chris, is it a combination of unvaccinated with the Blue Jays,

question marks about his playing time, or is it also performance-related? A bit of all the above. I mean, he just really hasn't. He's shown a little bit. I think he hit like 270 in the month of July. Since the start of, I think, May, he's basically been with Maryfield.

It's like a 265 batting average. It's the batting average. That's where he's just. He used to be super helpful, and now he's just kind of an average. But yeah, it's mostly, I don't know if he's going to play. Like, I assumed when they traded for him that they had gotten some indication that Whitmerfield was like, all right, yeah, I will get vaccinated. And for what it's worth, you know, there were the weird comments where he said, like,

maybe if we had something to play for, I'm paraphrasing, but that was essentially what he said, is that if we had something to play for, blah, blah, blah. so I think it's not an unfair assumption but he hasn't done it yet which means that he probably can't play for even if he got it today he probably can't play for two weeks because the you know the inocular I'm not sure exactly what the what the standard is

but I believe I read that it was 15 days after you get the first dose is when you can get the second dose and then you have to be cleared so um yeah there's not that much time left. You know, there's two months left in the season. He might not be able to, even if, even if he gets it right now, you know, he might miss 25% of the rest of the season.

That's a lot. Yeah. No, that's a good point. And one that I hadn't really considered. Now I'm pulling up the Blue Jay schedule just to see how many home games they've got coming up. They're next, uh, I think they're on the road right now. Yeah. For the next two series.

And then they have two series at home. So, and then they go back on the road. Yeah. I mean, it is feasible that he misses some of those games. That would be Friday, August 12th through Wednesday, August 17th. Those are all home games for the Blue Jays. So, look, obviously we're getting into like non-fantasy baseball territory with this. But it's relevant.

No, it is. This is a factor. This is absolutely a factor in whether he will be allowed to play games. Like, it's... No, it's a good point. Yeah. And, you know, I didn't really... I made the huge rankings up there.

I didn't really move him just. because again, he's kind of been Whitmeryfield since the start of May. But yeah, I think that's probably something I should consider more and move Whitmeryfield down as well. Some fallers for me. Tommy Edmund, Max Muncie, Tyler O'Neill, Ryan Mountcastle, Nathan Avaldi, and George Kirby. And just quickly run through each one.

Tommy Edmund had the amazing April. He's basically been the reverse Whitmeryfield. It's like, actually, I think he had a really good May as well. So since the start of June, I know Edmund has really, really slowed down, batting average. We weren't expecting much power for him anyway, but that has completely fallen off. And if you're not getting on base, it's hard for you to steal bases. Max Muncie, that goes without saying, looks like a shell of himself right now. Tyler O'Neill, in and out of the lineup, he's been banged up, and when he's been on the field, he's looked very bad.

Ryan Moutcastle, he had that stretch, I think like May and June, where he looked very good, but since then, past month or so, he has slowed down tremendously, and they traded away, Mancini. You know, the lineup is obviously not great there. Nathan Ovali, velocity has been down quite a bit. It's affected his effectiveness, frankly. And George Kirby, I just don't know what the plan is, Chris. Like, there was a report that they're trying to figure out a way to still get him a turn in the rotation,

but he's only been throwing four innings per start recently. I just don't know what it is. And because of that uncertainty, I'm just kind of lowering George Kirby in the rankings as well. Yeah. But no, at admin, he's got, he's hitting 245. with a 646 OPS since the start of May, actually. Oh, geez.

Yeah, 20% strikeout rate. That is way up from last year when he was down at 14%. It's where he was early in his career, his first two seasons, which is, you know, he hit 250 in 2020 with a 21% strikeout rate, remember. So, yeah, he had that, like, what do you have, like, two home runs in the first week or something? Three home runs in the first week. He's got four home runs since then.

So, yeah, I don't know. He's still running. He's got 16 steals in the in you know, May, June, and July. So that's going to keep him in your lineup and you're going to be happy about that. But yeah, he he looked like he might be a difference maker early on. And now he's just kind of looking like a steel specialist. Again, that is Tommy Edmund. He's kind of looking like John Bertie.

Yeah. Like, I'm not dropping Tommy Edmund, but no, man, based on those numbers, it's, I mean, in a points league, it's probably hurting you more than he's helping you, honestly. In a pointly, he might be droppable. Yeah, so, all right. You know, he's eligible in so many places that that helps. Yeah, indeed. All right, that is Tommy Edmund.

He has been dropping here in the rankings. Before we hit the break, just to just want to remind everybody to subscribe to our fantasy baseball today newsletter if you haven't already. CBSports.com slash newsletters. And then you'll see a bunch of different logos. Honestly, I would recommend you sign up for all of the CBS Sports newsletters. But specifically for this podcast, fantasy baseball today, a lot of the things that we talk about each and every day here on the podcast are delivered to you in written form, right to your in-bubborn.

So all you got to do is click on that logo on the at that link and then put in your email address and that will be delivered to you every day for free. So definitely do that. And of course if you are ramping up for fantasy football, you can subscribe to Chris's Fantasy Football Today newsletter as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. The news and notes. David Bednar was placed on the IL with lower back inflammation and on Tuesday, Will Crow picked up the save for the pirates and then he's, he was placed on the IL with lower back inflammation and on Tuesday, Will Crow picked up the save for the pirates. And then he was placed on. on Wednesday. I had a three-run lead in the eighth inning. Yeri de los Santos came in, gave up three runs. It's a tie game. Will Crow then pitches the ninth inning once again, and then they walk it off in the bottom of the night. So he winds up with the win.

And as of now, if you have David Bednar and you need a replacement, it looks like Will Crow is the guy. He's the one who has pitched in the ninth inning two days in a row there for the pirates. Terrick Scoobel was placed on the aisle with left arm fatigue, and I dropped him out to the guy.

of my top 60 starting pitchers. Sounds like you did something similar to your rank, yes, Chris. Frankie Montas will make his Yankee debut on Sunday against the Cardinals. Tyler Malley will make his twins debut Friday against the Blue Jays, and Noah Cindergarde

will make his Phillies debut on Thursday against the Nationals. Great matchup, so I'm happy for him. Jake Oter Rizzi will make his Braves debut Saturday in one of the double-heder games against the New York Mets, and it sounds like the Braves are going six-man rotation for the next couple of weeks

because they do have a couple of double-headers coming up. So that's where Jake Oteresey will fit in and I don't think we have anything to worry about with Spencer Strider losing his rotation spot. So he's good, he's good to go. The Royals promoted their second base prospect, Michael Massey on Wednesday. He was batting seventh in the lineup

and he was having a pretty big year in the minors. 3-12 batting average, 16 homers, 13 steals. he went two for three in this game, and he's only 4% rostered, Chris. So any kind of deeper league where you need a middle infielder, 15 team leagues, anything like that, like I would be pretty aggressive

in adding Michael Massey. I think he's going to play a lot down the stretch for the Royals. Yeah, he's a weird case because he was a fourth round pick, joined the Royals organization as a 21-year-old, played a rookie ball,

and then didn't play in 2020. And since the pandemic, He's been awesome. He had an 882 OPS last season at High A. He has a 903 between AA and AAA this season with 16 homers, 13 steals in 87 games. It's a really interesting statistical track record. It's not necessarily clear whether the scouts like him as much. You know, I'm looking at Fangraph scouting report.

They've kind of got him on the 2080 scouting scale as like 35 hit, 45 power, 50 run, which is like average to below average at everything, but maybe he's one of those guys who, you know, leverages the physical tools in a way that maximizes what he can do. I think he's definitely interesting enough to keep an eye on. I know Scott likes him a lot. He told me he was trying to trade for him in the Dynasty League

and he's kind of raving about him when we did the podcast about Whitmerfield being traded and Michael Massey was someone he definitely wanted to talk about. Red's prospect, Jose Barrero, rejoined the team on Wednesday, was batting eighth in the lineup for them. This season in the minor is only 209 batting average, nine homers, five steals in 55 games. Chris, let's say one of those deeper leagues, would you rather take a shot on Michael Massey or Jose Barrero? I think I would rather take the chance on Massey. I agree.

Yeah. The Rangers, they have a pitching prospect named Cole Ragan's or Ragan's. It's spelled R-A-G-N-S. Apologies, Cole. He will make his debut on Thursday, and I think he's just a name to watch. The minor league numbers were very good here in 2022. 304 ERA, 112 whip, 113rd strikeouts, over 94 and 2 thirds. Endings pitched.

He's a 6'4 lefty, and I'm kind of intrigued, Chris. I don't know if you have anything to add on him, but, again, deeper leagues. I think you throw him on the scout team for now. Yeah, keep an eye on him. We'll see how his first start goes. Mitch White, acquired by the Blue Jays on Tuesday, is expected to start on Saturday with Ross Stripling landing on the IL. Andre Palante will move to the Cardinals' bullpen after the team acquired both Jose

Kintana and Jordan Montgomery. Avisael Garcia was placed on the aisle with a strained left hamstring. Garrett Cooper was reinstated as a result. Both Bailey Falter and Mark Appel were optioned back to the miners after the Phillies acquired Noah Cindergarde. And Eduardo Escobar is moving into a shortside platoon role with Chris's Dopple, Ganger, Luis Giorme, picking up the majority of the starts at third base. If you guys have never done a side-by-side with Chris and Luis Giorme, please do it.

It really is. Incredible. You know, he did shave his beard at some point, Chris, and I was so upset because... I don't know if he's bald because he wears hats. That's true. But I was at a bar with my softball teammates, and I think he had a home run while we were watching it. and one of the guys on my team went, dude, that's you.

So the brand is extremely strong. And actually, if I shave my beard, I'm looking at him without a beard, pretty much what it looks like. You know, he's, he's got a little bit of a stronger chin than I do, but, but yeah, not, not dissimilar. Wow, I see a picture of him with a handlebar, like a strong handlebar mustache.

And that is, now I'm just, Alright, well, that's what Chris looks like with a handlebar mustache, and I kind of want you to do it now, because it looks amazing. Luis Guillermo, by the way, does have a full head of hair, so keep the hat on, Luis, and, you know, we have our doppel-go-off. Some waiver-wire pitchers, it was a pretty light day in terms of these options, but the ones that did emerge. You say Kikuchi, another decent start since returning.

He was at Tampa Bay. Four innings, two runs, five strikeouts, did have 11 swinging strikes on 74-pins. pitches and since returning he has ditched his cutter and in this start he threw his change of 24% which is a very good thing his change up has a 104 batting average against and it's his best with pitch so I'm kind of intrigued by this pitch mix change for you say cacucci he is 36% rostered looks like he might be in line for two stars next week against the guardians and at the Orioles James Capillian another solid start at the angels five and a third one run four strikeouts and over his last six starts he has a 1.9-0-E-R-A underlying numbers very bad so I don't know

what to make of that he's 15% rostered and the last one here Kyle Braddish two solid starts in a row since returning he was at the Rangers five innings one run five strikeouts here and he's four percent rostered looks like he has two starts next week against the Blue Jays and at Tampa Bay Chris what do you think about Cacucci Caprillion and Kyle Bradish I don't think there's much there with Caprillion. Bradish, more like badish. 23% CSW in this start is pretty mad.

Even with, I mean, he had 12 whiffs, and still on 93 pitches, was actually a decent whiff rate, and still ended up with the 23% CSW rate. So that's pretty bad. I don't think there's a ton there. Kikuchi is clearly the most interesting of them, and maybe that's just because I've been

a Yasea Kikuchi-Turther for years and years and years, but yeah, I think getting rid of the cutter, probably not a bad thing that just has never been a great pitch for him. So, you know, we'll see it's not like his regular fastball and his slider have been great pitches for him either. So, you know, I'm not exactly sure expectations should be high, but he's certainly talented. And I appreciate his willingness to tinker and, you know, maybe he'll figure out a mixture that works. Look, the Blue Jays have done a really good job figuring pitchers out the past couple of years. Obviously, Robbie Ray comes to mind.

They've done a great job with Kevin Gossman this season. Berrios, a little up and down. But for Cacucci, I understand why he'd be skeptical. Like, maybe you don't want to throw them out there, but maybe Adam and see where it goes, because we have seen stretches where Cacucci looks very, very dominant for fantasy purposes. Freddie Peralta made his long-awaited return, and he was at the Pirates. The results, not great, but. I know Chris, you usually don't look at results for a pitcher making their return.

He went three and two thirds, two runs loud, three strikeouts. His fastball velocity was up nearly two miles per hour in this start. So you like to see that. What I don't love here, Chris, is that he completely changed this pitch mix. Less fast balls and sliders, more changeups and sinkers. So it was more of a diverse pitch mix. Through five different pitches in this one, four seams, slider, curveball, change-up, sinker.

And that's not what we've seen from Freddie Peralta. Obviously, last year was far and away his best season. And he did that, relying solely on the fastball, the slider, and the curveball. So I just kind of thought this pitch makes change was kind of weird. What do you think? Yeah, it's something to keep an eye on, you know, with the change-up. He throws the change-up over the past two seasons about 10% of the time. So it's not a nothing pitch for him, but it's certainly not.

you know, been one of his great weapons. However, it was quite good last year. 234 expected Wobah allowed 31% whiff rate. This season it's had a good whiff rate as well. So, you know, I don't think it hurts him and it's, you know, potentially the kind of thing that, hand to God, you know, it's August 4th. The trade deadline just passed. I can't eyeball the pirates lineup and tell you how many of those guys are right as your lefties at this point. I know O'Neill Cruz is. I, you know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just looking at the names, it's hard to tell.

So it could have just been a situation where they had a bunch of lefties in the lineup, and that's why he threw the change up more. It's also the case that it was 67 pitches total. And so it's one of those where if he throws three extra changeups, all of a sudden his changeup usage rate is 6% higher or 5% higher or whatever the math would end up being. And it's like, it might not necessarily be meaningful, you know. So I'm not too worried about anything here. I'm excited that Freddie Peralta was back.

You know, he only threw 67 pitches, so hopefully he works his way up. And I'm just excited to see him back. I expect he'll be very good moving forward. Two words for you. Pitchers duel. That's exactly what we got here between Zach Wheeler and our guy, Charlie Morton.

Full confession, Chris. I watched every pitch of this start for Charlie Morton. The curse is gone. He was amazing. And then, of course, the Braves bullpen blew his win, but alas, we won't talk about that. Zach Wheeler, seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts in this start. On the other side, Charlie Morton, six and two-thirds, three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts. Of course, six-and-two-thirds shutout, by the way, I don't think I mentioned that.

18 swinging strikes on 101 pitches. Charlie Morton's last nine starts, 2.41 ERA, 68 strikeouts over 56 and a third. 13% swinging strike rate. Anything you'd like to add. Zach Wheeler, Charlie Morton. Charlie Morton's back, and it is just fun to remember back to Zach Wheeler having three bad starts

at the beginning of the season and being worried about him. And really, it was two bad starts in his first three. He has a, I want to say a sub two ERA since those first three starts, if I'm doing the math

they're in my head correctly. If not sub two, it's got to be close to two. So either way, I think it's right around too. Somebody asked me here on Wednesday, Chris, if I would trade Shane McClainahan for Zach Wheeler, and I said yes. That's tough.

I can't say, I can't say that I wouldn't. I think, yeah, I think I would, given the concerns that just the likely innings gap between the two of them. And this breaks my heart to talk about. I think in a points league especially. I hope his next start out, Shane McClanahan just comes out and he's amazing once again. But there is just a slight worry in the back of my mind

because his most recent start, his velocity was down almost two miles per hour on his fastball. So, you know, innings are adding up. I'm kind of worried, like slightly, but I hope he proves me wrong. Pitting standouts part... It's funny, that was his fourth most pitches of the season. Yeah. His four and a third...

Yeah, four in a third inning start. Yeah. Pitching standouts part one. Sandy Alcansara, he's also very good. He leads baseball with three complete games. Technically should be four, but one of those went into extra endings, so whatever, Marlins. Complete game shut out in this one, six hits, one walk, three strikeouts. Yes, the strikeouts are underwhelming, but he did have 14 swinging strikes in this performance.

So maybe a little bit unlucky in the strikeout department. He threw his sinker a lot in this one, 36%. And I feel like there are starts, Chris, where he, he, purposely does that because it allows him to be more efficient. Obviously, if he's throwing the sinker and he's getting ground balls early in counts, it's by default that allows him to go deeper into the start. And I try to watch as many of his starts as I can. Every single time he pitches, the broadcasters say the same thing. He wants to finish every single start that he makes. Oh yeah, he's one of those guys who like, they'll cut to him in the dugout when he's getting pulled and he's usually not happy about it.

And yeah, when you're going against the Reds, why nibble? You know, go after them with the sinker. They're not going to hurt you. So I don't know. Like imagine being a person who would complain about Sandy Alcantra and not giving you enough strikeouts this season. You know, like that just, what kind of curmudgeon, you know, is missing the forest for the trees there?

He's got to be like top 10 in strikeouts, right? I'm pulling it up right now. far and away number one in in the endings pitch by the way he has 158 in a third that's nearly 20 more than the next pitcher Aaron Nola he is 8 7th and strikeouts this season so it's like

yeah yeah that's good yeah you'll take that for sure a couple other big names here Shane Bieber strong start at the Diamondback six innings two runs eight strikeouts to zero walks fastball velocity up one mile per hour again that's now two starts in a row

so I do like to see that he threw his Cutter a season high 29% in this start, and he has been using the cutter more over the past eight starts, so since June 19th. And I thought it was interesting that his ERA is 3.91 since then. So I don't know, maybe that's not the best decision using the cutter that much. And then Julio Arreus now has four straight quality starts. He was at the Giants, six shutout, seven hits, zero walks, six strikeouts in this one, 19 swinging strikes. You love to see that. He's having an awesome season.

He's bona fide, top 15, top 20 starting pitcher. That is Julio Reyes. Chris, what do you think about him and Bieber? Yeah, Bieber, you know, the 391, ERA, it doesn't sound great, but I think that's pretty inflated by the six earned runs he gave up against Chicago

on July 24th. Other than that, I think it's been, oh, he had two bad starts. He had one against Detroit, one against the White Sox, where he gave up a run per inning. As in that, it's been quality starts or better every time out.

The strikeouts have been a little, underwhelming of late if there was one thing to be concerned about. You know, the cutter was a pitch that he threw most often in 20, was it 20-20. Yeah, that was when he introduced that pitch. Obviously, he was the best pitcher in baseball, and it was a very good pitch for him. But in terms of quality of contact allowed, it was actually his worst pitch. And this season, it's been, you know, right there with his fastball. His fastball and his cutter have both gotten hit harder than his breaking balls.

And so I generally think the answer for Shane Bieber is there as many sliders and curveballs as possible. You know, I think the cutter and the far scene fastball are kind of interchangeable in a lot of ways. So maybe it's just a matchups thing. I don't think it's necessarily too concerning, but you'd prefer more sliders and cutters and curveballs than cutters and fastballs just in general for him.

More pitching standouts, Chris Bassett, at the National seven shutout innings with four strikeouts, Blake Snell was great against the Rocky. Six innings, one run, nine strikeouts to zero walks. His last six starts, he's got a 260 ERA, 49 strikeouts over 31 and two-thirds. And he's pitched.

The problem, Chris, is like a scorned lover. I'm scared to get hurt again by trusting Blake Snell. And frankly, I don't have him on any of my teams. When I say trust him, I mean moving him up in my rankings. I'm scared to do that. Joe Ryan ties a season high with nine strikeouts against the Tigers. Martine Perez, four straight starts

allowing exactly one earned run. He goes six, one run allowed, nine strikeouts against the Orioles. He's awesome. I finally moved him inside of my top 50 starting pitchers. Good for Martin Perez. I did want to point out with Joe Ryan, Chris. He only threw 78 pitches in this start,

and he was cruising against the Tigers. I looked into his third time through the lineup numbers in his career, 7.71 ER. I think this could be a sign of things to come moving forward for Joe Ryan. That's not surprising given his approach and, you know, fastball, relatively fastball heavy, not sure if the secondary pitches are all that great. He kind of gets away with a lot of deception on that fastball.

It's not the super, the hardest fastball in the majors. So, you know, it could be a situation where guys just do a little better once they're more comfortable against them. That seems like a perfectly reasonable explanation for the Joe Ryan experience. You know, Blake Snell, I mean, we're going on six starts in a row that have been very good, with the exception of one disaster in Colorado where he gave up five earned runs and three and two-thirds innings, walked six. Other than that, he's been outstanding. And, you know, it's not like he came back from injury on July 1st, and, you know,

he had been pitching pretty regularly for a couple, you know, about a month and a half before then. He was bad. So I don't want to just, you know, we're kind of just. you know, we're kind of drawing arbitrary endpoints there, but lately he's been very good. And we saw last season, the end of the season, he looked very good. So I just think Blake'snell is one of those guys that like, I don't know if there's a lot of moving parts in his delivery, his arm angle has been inconsistent throughout the year. So it could be the kind of thing where when he's right, he's really, really right.

And when he's not right, he's not right at all. And you just, you know, sit him on the bench at the first sign of trouble, which, a start at Colorado doesn't necessarily count as that. Yeah. So I think right now is that time where you want to get Blake's all back in your line. Because he looks very, very good once again. Luis Castillo... But don't trade for him, I think would be the way to play.

Luis Castillo was decent in his Mariners debut at the Yankees, six and two thirds, three runs, eight strikeouts. I did notice that he threw his sinker more than his four-seem fastball. It's the first time he's done that since June 5th. So I hope that's not something the Mariners want him to do because he's been very good throwing that four-seeing fastball recently. It's a better pitch for him. Bree Singer, our guy who we've been excited about recently,

he did get knocked around by the White Sox, six innings, 11 hits, four runs, only three strikeouts. I still like him, but the sinker velocity was down 1.3 miles per hour in this start, and it had been up recently. So when he doesn't have his best stuff, velocity's down a little bit. This is well within the range of outcomes for Brady Singer. Some hitting leftovers from Wednesday. Teasca Hernandez went two for four with his 15th home run.

Not really sure what's going on with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. All of a sudden just decided he wants to run. He has four steals in his last seven games. Those are all four of his stolen bases for the season. So I don't know. Teasca Hernandez's numbers are going to end up where we thought they were going to be by the end of the season. It's kind of amazing.

He was dreadful for his first 20 games. I don't think he was healthy. I think he was playing. No, yeah. I mean, he missed most of April in the beginning of May. He came back for three, you know, he was back for three weeks and was really bad. But since he had a little hitting streak that started on May 24th, so a little bit of an arbitrary end point. But we like those sometimes.

You know, we used to call those azer stats back in the day. Chris, you're getting a little soft with your full season statistics are more predictive than you. Well, you know, but when you're injured, you know, he was hurt on May 23rd. He was healthy on May 24th. You know how it goes. Oh, of course. You know, the human body is a binomial experience. Yeah.

But anyway, his pace since then, he's hitting 310 with a 9-11 OPS, 33 homers, 11 stolen bases. Like, that's what we thought. I mean, it's probably a little better than what we thought Teoscar Hernandez was going to be. But he's as bad as he was to start the season. I'm going to guess he's going to end up with an OPS right around where he was last season. Nick Cassiano's went one for three with his ninth home run. It was his first homer since June 30th.

That is a 26-game home-run drought. And yes, he is someone who has been following down the rankings as well. A Eugenio Suarez, back-to-back games with a home run. He's now up to 18 for the season. Omeda Rosario went two-for-four with his sixth homer. He's now batting 3.8-93. That would be something. He's betting 2-93 overall for the season.

Jose Al-Tupe. A bomb. 450-foot home run for Ahmed Rosario. That's the thing is that, you know, I talked about it, I think in the off-season, maybe early in the season, he was one of those guys that, like, I couldn't quite get out of my mind just because he does have a really high

max ex-evalo usually. And, yeah, there's still, like, I mean, he is breaking out, but I think there's still, like, a little bit of room for a little more from Ahmed Rosario. I agree. It's, he puts the ball on the ground a lot,

so I don't think that we could ever get, like, a truly, you know, good power season out of him, but if he, man, Put the ball in the air a little bit. I mean, we could be talking about like a 15-15 guy with a really good batting average. You know, he's not going to blow you away,

but it could be a very, very serviceable player for fantasy. Jose Al-Tuvae went four-for-four. He's now betting 280 overall with an 875 OPS. Every year we undervalue Jose Al-Tuvei every year. He's great. Kyle Tucker was listening yesterday. He went two-for-four with a double and two RBI. Bobby Whit Jr. went two-for-four with his 15th home run.

Eloy Jimenez, back-to-back three-hit games. And I mentioned recently, please buy, if you can, still on Elo Jimenez. 19 games since returning. He's batting 328, 4 homers, 94 mile per hour average exit velocity, with a 27% barrel rate. Jose Ibrahim went 2 for 4 with his 14th homer. He has three homers in his last four games. Pete Alonzo hit his 28th bomb. Brian Reynolds went 3 for 4 with his 16th homer.

It was a walk-off home run off of Devin Williams in the ninth inning. O'Neill Cruz, you mentioned this, Chris. two for four with his eighth home run, a 430 foot homer. I'm kind of struggling here. What's going on? 434 foot homer off of a left-handed pitcher. So you do like to see that for O'Neill Cruz. He's got four homers in his last nine games. And last but not least, the Padres, they were pumped up, man. That stadium was rocking. Sellout. Juan Soto, Josh Bell, in the lineup. Mani Machado hits his 19th homer. Jake Cronomworth hits his 11th homer.

Brandon Drury, the very first pitch he sees. As a Padre, Grand Slam, his 21st home run. I apologize for bringing up your home road splits when playing in Cincinnati because that was awesome. The call to the bullpen for the Phillies, a two-run lead. Sir Anthony Dominguez pitched in the eighth inning. David Robertson pitched in the ninth,

picking up his 15th save. Kind of just think that David Robertson is going to be the closer for the Phillies moving forward. I sure hope so. For the twins, they had their first save opportunity with Jorge Lopez. and it went exactly how we thought it would. Yohan Duran pitched in the 8th,

Lopez in the 9th, picks up his 20th save of the season. For the White Sox, Liam Hendricks pitched a clean 9th for his 21st save, and then some non-save opportunities here. For the Rangers, they were down 4 to 2. Jonathan Hernandez did pitch in the 9th inning.

He gave up two runs. I think he's the closer for now, but Joe Barlow is on a rehab assignment, so it could kind of muddy things moving forward. For the Orioles, they had a four-run lead. Felix Bautista pitched in the ninth inning. He gave up a run, but struck out the side.

And that one, I think they were leading by two, and then scored two in the top of the previous inning. So I think he was warming up for a save. Yeah, and they mentioned, Brandon Hyde mentioned, that Dylan Tate and Ciano Perez could work into the closer mix. Tate pitched in the seventh inning. Perez pitched in the eighth inning. Felix Bautista pitched in a ninth.

So it looks like that is the way things are going for now. We spoke about the Pirates earlier. We let you know what happened there. For the Brewers, Devin Williams, he pitched in a ninth inning in a tie game. He gave up that walk-off homer to Brian Reynolds. To stream or not to stream for Thursday, we have Marcus Strowman at the Cardinals,

Jacob Junis versus the Dodgers, Jansson Junk versus the A's, Jose Cantana versus the Cubs, and Johnny Quato at the Rangers. I think Kentana and Quato are probably the most interesting ones, although, I don't know. St. Roman, I don't love him against St. Louis, but I don't mind just adding him and not necessarily throwing him in the lineup.

Agreed. I don't mind Jans and Junk against Oakland because whatever. It's Oakland. There are the days. On Friday, we have Justin Steele versus the Marlins, Mitch Keller at the Orioles, Dean Kramer versus the Pirates, Glenn Otto versus the White Sox,

Zach Rankie versus the Red Sox. and Madison Bumgarner versus the Rockies, that game is in Arizona. Justin Steele versus Miami. You almost had Mike Minor here on Wednesday, Chris. Almost. He pitched well enough, you know? It wasn't a disaster.

What, three runs and five innings? That's, yeah, it's not great, but it doesn't kill you. I think Mitch Keller at the Orioles is fine as well. Yeah, that's fine. Um, yeah. Yeah, that's basically it. I was going to say Mad Bum, but like, nah. Nah, don't start an album.

We're going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.