Fantasy Baseball Today - Rays Promote Junior Caminero! Blake Snell vs. Chris Sale & Five Struggling Players (8/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

The Rays are finally bringing Junior Caminero back (2:33)! ... Blake Snell is on one of those runs again (9:25). ... Chris Sale was actually better than Snell on Monday (12:21). ... News (16:55): Jazz Chisholm left with an elbow injury. The Cardinals recalled Jordan Walker and the Twins plan to promote Zebby Matthews. ... What do we do with these five struggling players (30:29)? ... Tyler Mahle racked up the whiffs on Monday (41:33). ... Joe Musgrove made his long-awaited return (47:20). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (49:28). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Welcome back, Moopy Betts. Welcome back Joe Musgrove. And welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today.

On Tuesday, August 13th, I am Frank Stample, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we got some big prospect promotions, Junior Caminero with the Reyes, Zebby Matthews with the twins. Jordan Walker was also recalled by the Cardinals. There was a pitcher's duel out in San Francisco, Blake Snell and Chris Sale, just awesome, awesome stuff in that game all around. I've got five struggling players I want to take a closer look at.

Betts and Musgrove made their returns and much more. It was kind of an eventful day here on a Monday where we usually don't have too much going on. But let's kick things off with Raye's top prospect, Junior Camerro, who is getting called up on Tuesday. Arguably the top prospect in all of baseball was part of a clear top four entering the season with Wyatt Langford, Jackson Holiday, James Wood, and Junior Camerero himself. He's 21 years old, having a strong season in the minors, 274 batting average with 16 home runs in 858 OPS. He's done all of that in only 59 games because he's missed some time due to a quad injury. Where this gets a little weird, Scott, is because normally I think we should be excited in general,

one of the top prospects getting called up. But it's coming earlier than I thought it would. And if the raise hoped to maintain that rookie eligibility for junior Camerro next year, I just wonder if they're going to play him every day, or are they going to be the raise and not play him every day? What are your thoughts on Camerro, the player, and potential playing time moving forward? Well, at bats should be irrelevant because they're calling him up. He has 10 days of service time already.

There's a service time threshold for maintaining rookie eligibility too, and it's 45 days on the active roster. So your 46th day on the active roster, you're no longer a rookie regardless of how many of bats you have. And provided they don't send Common Arrow back down after this, provided he's up for good, he's going to cross that 45-day threshold into the 46th day. and beyond, actually. So I don't know that that's what would limit his at bats. The rays tend to find ways to limit hitters at bats anyway. So that is a thought to consider. But I don't want to view this as anything other than triumphant news.

It's undercut just by the fact that Commonero's been in the majors before at the end of last year, the 10 days. And it's never as exciting the second time around as a prospect when. a prospect gets called up. But just look at the way that went for Jackson Holiday. Tons of hype the first time. Total dud. Second time, not nearly as much hype. And he's quickly emerged as maybe a must-start player in fantasy. And I think Cominero could do the same. It's the ball incredibly hard for somebody his age. Hasn't been as productive in the minors this year as he was last year and he missed some time with an injury so that probably factors into it as well but he's really picked things up in august 350 batting average three home runs in nine games and i think you know

even though the rays have have a tendency to to mess around with young hitters playing time the path's wide open for him at that third base after they moved isaq paredes they've been playing Jose Cabiero there mostly, but he's not really a starting caliber player. I think everybody's decided. And I could see Cominero solidifying that third base job and holding it down for years to come. Yeah, this could be a last gasp effort here by the race who on August 13th, they're five and a half games out of a wild card spot. So if they want to make that push, it's now or never. And so they are calling up their top prospect, Jr. Camerro, who is six. 63% rostered on CBS.

He has third base eligibility. He's played some other positions in the minors, shortstop, second base, first base, but I think he is mostly going to play third base for the race moving forward. Do you think this is a must-add player, Scott? Like I just said, 63%. Does that need to be closer to 100% on CBS? Yeah, I think so.

And I haven't said that about many hitters called up this year, at least not since very early in the season, just because I've been playing it more cautiously with them. given all the fakeouts in recent years, not just this year. But I did say it about James Wood remember, and so far he's turned out to be pretty useful. I'm going to say it for Common Arrow also, because I do think if I was ranking every prospect today, I'm trying to remember who I had at the top of my mid-season top 50. So in my mid-season top 50 prospects, I only officially ranked those with no major league experience,

so Common Arrow wasn't officially ranked, but I showed where he would rank. And I think I may have had him behind James Wood. I may have had him number two, but I think I had him ahead of Jackson Holiday. So he's in that same category is the point. And now that I think he has a clear path, yeah, I'd be looking to add him wherever he's available.

Would you drop Brendan Donovan to add Junior Camerro? Oh, yeah. Would you drop Jim or Candelario? Sure. What about Willie Castro? Yeah. Would you rather add Camerro or Michael Bush? I'd rather add Commonero.

And it's interesting. Somebody presented that name to me on Twitter as well, Bush. I think they were presenting it should I drop Michael Bush for Commonero. Like the odds are better. The odds are higher. Like if you're picking who is who is, who is the likeliest to have

the better numbers going forward? I think Bush is the likelier to have better numbers going forward but how good are those numbers going to be for Bush? And the kind of league where you could even think about not rostering Michael Bush, I'd rather shoot for the

stars with Caminero. Last one, I'll give you Camerero or Jake Berger, who we know is on fire. Yeah, that's a tough one. Just because Burger is on fire and I don't see how you rid yourself of him at this point. He is going to cool off eventually, one would suspect. So I think if push came to shove, I would drop Burger for Common Arrow.

But it's not an all-in, all-out sort of thing. Like, burger is more startable today than Common Arrow is. if you're relying on him in your lineup, okay, you're going to have to, you're going to have to factor that into your calculation. All right, once again, the rays are promoting their top prospect, Jr. Camerro, who should be up and in the lineup on Tuesday. With that said, let's get into some of the players of the night from Monday. Is this happening? It is.

All right, Scott, we are kind of tag team in that pitchers duel out in San Francisco because it was awesome all around. And you will get things started with Blake Snow, who is amazing again. He is. He took a, remember just a couple turns after having a no-hitter. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves. Or he took it through sixth-th inning. He took it into the seventh inning.

Allowed a couple hits in the seventh wasn't going to make it all the way for a second no-hitter anyway. His pitch count had gotten too high. But the point is he was dominating. Loud just the two hits in six and a third struck out 11. Ended up with 114 pitches. Eight of his 18 swinging strikes were on the curveball, which has been pretty typical during this turnaround for Snell. The curveball has been the pitch that has been the most dominant.

But others are coming along here. Remember, he mixed in the change up more. Actually, threw it more than the curveball in his previous start, and it got a good number of whiffs. He got three whiffs or more on four different pitches in this start. so that the curveball was working best, but the change-up was working. The slider had a great whiff rate for as little as he used it. And that's when he became Cy Young-Snell last year,

when he got all four of those pitches working. And so I wonder if he's about to really put it into overdrive here. I don't even know how he could possibly be better than his last seven starts. Here are the numbers. Seven starts for Blake Snell, a 0.9.9. ERA, a 0.62 whip, 11.9 K-per-9, which actually seems kind of underwhelming relative to those other two. But yeah, Blake Snell, I stand by calling him a top 12 starting pitcher the rest of the way.

When he gets in this zone, he is just untouchable. Man, we've seen this year after year where it just takes some time, but once he gets going, it's just he, he, Seems like one of the best pitchers in all baseball. We saw that last year, and it seems like we're seeing it once again with Blake Snell. That seven-star stretch where you read off the numbers. I just want to put some perspective on this.

45-and-a-third innings, 13 hits allowed, five earned runs, 14 walks, 60 strikeouts in 45-and-a-third. So, yeah, Blake Snell is all the way back, and he is awesome once again. So more walks than hits, you said, during that seven-start stretch,

which remember last year when he won the Siyang, his walk rate was very high. It was five per nine on the season. And I wonder if it was the same was true for that incredible run he went on. I think it was his last 22 starts where he dominated. Let me double check here. Yeah, 22 starts. He had a 118 ERA, 118. His final 22 starts last year.

68 walks to 68 hits. I don't know how he does it. I mean, pitchers are not supposed to succeed that way, but Blake Snell is doing it. What about on the other side? Chris Sale was just as good. Actually, he was better. Seven shutout innings with 12 strikeouts,

19 whiffs on 107 pitches, leaned all the way into that slider, used it 59% in this start. 14 of his 19 whiffs came on the slider. The fastball was very good as well. He had his other five whiffs on the fastball. His previous two starts before this Chris Sale, a little meh by his standards,

just because he's been so awesome this year, but obviously bounced back in a huge way, and he's down to a 261 ERA, a 0.98 whip, 11.8K per 9. He's been ranked as a top five starting pitcher for, I don't know, the last two or three months. Don't really think there's much else to add here, Scott, except if you are a fan of pitching,

this was the game for you. Yeah, well, I mean, I was encouraged by this for Snell since his outings had been so much shorter recently. You mean for sale. For sale, yeah. You said snow. Okay. Their name sounds similar.

It's true. Sale, Snell. Sale. Sale is who I'm talking about for a previous five starts, less than six innings. So to see him go seven was great because the Braves have been managing his innings all year. You said he's been in the top. he's been one of our top five pitchers

and the rest of season rankings for months now. I feel like he's been in the two-start pitcher rankings for months now and just never makes two starts because they keep inserting other pitchers to bump sail back more. So we'll see if he actually makes a second start this week. He's certainly in line two. Like as careful as they've been with his innings and as close as they are to losing a wide,

wild card spot, you'd think they'd want to get as much as they can from sale now. Like, that's what all the innings preservation was for, one would think. So I'm hopeful that this seven-inning start is a sign of them turning the corner and how they use sale. Yeah, and I actually had both of these pitchers in my home league, which is a head-dead points league. They combined for 49 and a half fantasy points on CBS without either one getting the win. So it's just, again, a testament to two great pitchers here on Monday.

Did want to welcome back Muki Betz. He was officially activated in the lineup, batting second against the Brewers. We know that Otani is going to continue leading off. And of course, Wookie Betz returned in only the way he could. Two for four with a sock in his shoe, his 11th home run, his 10th steal. It's like he never left. I want to give a shout out to everyone watching live. We appreciate you for being here.

Make sure to hit that like button and subscribe on. YouTube, if you haven't already, YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. Let's take our first break, and when we return, some other news and notes, some more promotions, we'll do that right after this. Welcome back in news and notes.

Why can't the Yankees just have good things? Jazz Chisholm, left Monday night, due to a left elbow injury, x-rays came back negative, and here's what Jazz had to say after the game. Quote, I'm not super concerned about it. We went through all the tests and all the tests that we've done,

in here have been pretty positive, which is a weird way to spin that because it's positive and negative on x-rays. Anyway, I still feel a little bit, still kind of sore, but I think that we're going to be good. He's also going to go for an MRI on Tuesday to be sure. I was watching this game.

He had an awkward slide earlier in the game, and then later on he had a slide into home where afterwards in the dugout he was kind of like flexing his shoulder around, and then later on got pinch hit for. So, jettishism, no stranger to, Injury, many things have happened before. I hope he's all right, but I guess we'll learn more on Tuesday.

Kyle Tucker ramped up his on-field workouts on Monday, jogging and taking fly balls in left field. The Red Sox issued Jaron Duran a two-game suspension after using a homophobic slur on Sunday. He started serving the suspension immediately. Michael Harris is expected to return on Wednesday. He's been on the IL since June 15th with a strained left hamstring. Two months with a strained left hamstring.

That's a pretty long time. Kutel Marte was back in the lineup after missing Sunday's game with a left ankle contusion, but he would later leave Monday's game after re-agravating the injury. He'll undergo an MRI on Tuesday, which does not sound very good.

The Cardinals recalled Jordan Walker from AAA and his overall numbers in the minors this season, they have been pedestrian. He's been better as of late. Last 16 games at AAA, 3-43 batting average, five home runs, a 1087 OPS. He was in the lineup batting seventh on Monday against a lefty in Andrew Abbott. Jordan Walker went 0 for three with a walk and a strikeout.

And per Katie Wu of the athletic, the Cardinals' initial plan is to use Jordan Walker mostly against left-handed pitching, although he could certainly play his way into a more expanded role against right-handed pitching as well. 31% rostered. What are your thoughts here, Scott? Jordan Walker's return, does he need to be added? What do you think? I don't think he needs to be added in the same way Junior Cominero does, especially since the plan they're revealing here doesn't amount to much playing time. Obviously, there's a possibility he earns his way into more.

He's still younger than I think people realize. I know Chris likes to point out that Jordan Walker is just a couple months older than the first. pick in this year's draft. Trevor Bazzana. Travis. Travis Bazzana, thank you. 22 years old, Jordan Walker. So a lot of prospects haven't even debuted by his age.

And we shouldn't hold it against him that he was good enough to debut at age 20, I believe it was. And it didn't work out. It turned out he had more developing to do. I don't think I have a way of looking up. he was elevating better during that, that hot stretch, those final 16 games at AAA where he went nuts. It looks like among the five homers, a couple of them were just absolute monsters, 446 feet, 4344 feet. So, yeah, I mean, it makes sense that he's getting another shot now. I just wish it was more consistent playing time.

Yeah, I can only see the overall number. at AAA, not the numbers in segments, at least for batted ball data. And it was a 44% ground ball rate in 78 games at AAA, which is not bad. If he came back up to the majors and played every day and had a 44% ground ball rate, my guess is he would probably hit for a decent amount of power. We just have to see if that's going to translate at the Major League level. It's something he's done at AAA before a 44% ground ball rate getting it that low. though that does, if just going off memory here when I looked earlier in the season,

that does seem lower than it was, but I can't say for sure. I'm just going off memory. Gotcha. Again, that is Jordan Walker recalled by the Cardinals. And let's move on to another prospect. We speculated on this yesterday. And it was confirmed on Monday that the twins are expected to promote one of their top pitching prospects, Zebby Matthews later this week.

He's 24 years old having a breakout season in the minors, 260 ERA. 0.87 whip, 114 strikeouts to just seven walks over 97 innings. He's a big guy, 6'5, he has swing and miss stuff, obviously immaculate control. He did get up to AAA, struggled in four starts there, 18% rostered. Scott, what size leagues would you be looking at Zzeb Matthews if anywhere? Well, as we said on yesterday's show, you probably... aren't going to have to fend off a lot of people for him right now. I'm more inclined to wait and see how it goes with him, but I do like him.

I mean, how could you not like a guy whose control is that good? I mean, the walks, that's the most eye-popping stat, of course, but he threw 70% of his pitches for strikes in the minors, which is elite. It's up there with Spencer Schwellenbach and George Kirby. that's the kind of level only those kind of pitchers reach in the majors. His fastball peaks at 98. He has a nice full arsenal of pitches here. A cutter, it looks like, a slider, a change-up, a curveball.

I mean, honestly, the whole thing kind of looks like Spencer Schwellenbach, just from what I'm seeing on paper. And, of course, we all celebrate. what he's done for fantasy. I wrote an article May 30th, so going back a while, the 10 pitching prospects who've improved their stock the most. Spencer Schwellenbach was on it,

by the way, and so was Zebby Matthews. So I'm excited to see what he can do. All right, Bobauchette is progressing well from a right calf strain, and the team is hopeful he can resume baseball activities within the next week. Jordan Romano is progressing well and feeling good

after his arthroscopic surgery on July 3rd. He's yet to restart a throwing program. Logan O'Hoppy left Monday night due to right knee sorenas. Ronaldo Lopez will begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. He's currently on the aisle with right forearm inflammation. U. Darvish has been working out and throwing on his own. Most recently tossing a live BP at a San Diego high school on Sunday.

Darvish has not pitched since May 29th. He originally went on the aisle with a left groin train. He felt minor elbow inflammation. And then after that, he stepped away. in early July to tend to a personal matter and is currently on the restricted list. Everything we've heard is the Padres expect him back at some point,

but he's probably going to take some time to get built up as well. Nathan Evaldi was diagnosed with a low-grade right oblique strain and is expected to have his next start push back. The expectation is that he will avoid the injured list. Starly Marte could return from the aisle this weekend.

He's been out since June 25th with a bone bruise in his right knee. The Brewers recalled Tyler Black, who is 24 years old, was having a solid year in the minors, 276 with 11 home runs, 16 seals, and an 837 OPS, 12% rostered.

Scott, any interest here in Tyler Black? Maybe in those deeper roto leagues where you're looking for a little extra stolen base help. But I feel like his stock has diminished this year. He was an exceptional base dealer. and on-base guy in the miners last year. And he's gone from exceptional to just kind of decent at both. And I feel like given his limited power potential as a corner man,

he really needs to be exceptional in those areas for him to turn into anything notable in fantasy. So I'm kind of bearish on Tyler Black right now, and we'll see how much he actually ends up playing for the Brewers. but there is stolen base potential there in those deeper roto leaks. Ryan Nelson will be available out of the bullpen Wednesday in case there's an abbreviated start for Jordan Montgomery. If Nelson isn't needed, he'll start Friday against the raise. Either way, it sounds like his time as a starter could be coming to an end. Obviously, things happen. Someone could get hurt, but as of now, the debacks have a full rotation.

It's Galen, Merrill Kelly, Brandon fought, Edwardo Rodriguez, and Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery hasn't been good, but they're paying them money, so I guess they're going to probably stick with him in the rotation. The Brewers' Option Deal Hall back to AAA on Monday after a mixed start on Sunday. James Paxson was placed in the aisle with a right cash strain. Another prospect promotion, the Blue Jays called up Will Wagner on Monday.

Son of Billy Wagner, of course, came over from the Astros in the USA Kikuchi trade. He's 26 years old, having a solid season in the miners. 315 batting average, 432. on base percentage. Six homers, three steals, 59 walks to 37 strikeouts in 876 OPS. Actually, it reminds me of his now teammate, who already got called up Spencer Horwitz in a way, where there's not a lot of power, there's not a lot of speed, but it's really great on base skills. Any interest here, Scott and Will Wagner, Deeper Leagues?

Yeah, I am interested in him, and we talked about him at the trade deadline when he came over in the USAC Cucci deal. and I made the comparison actually in my write-up. I wrote about 15 of the prospects traded, and I made the same point that I could see him coming up soon, but they already have a Spencer Horowitz. So we'll see how that goes. I will say I do have a little more hope for Will Wagner to become, to maybe become a little something.

Like there is raw power here. There is raw power. His max exit velocity almost 111 miles per hour at AAA this year. He averaged probably about, I'm looking between Houston and Toronto's AAA affiliates. It was probably close to like 89 miles per hour. So he does hit the ball hard. He just, the swing just isn't optimized for power at all for Will Wagner. Tons of ground balls.

You'll note two of the three hits in this game where ground ball sink. that just happened to find a hole. Also, in the minor leagues, tended to hit the ball the other way more than he pulled it. So that diminished his power production, too. So it seems like maybe if they could tweak his swing, the way the ball, the direction the ball takes off his bat, Will Wagner, might have the juice to become something resembling a power hitter,

But that's a big if. And if he does just remain as he is, even having the success that Spencer Horwitz has managed to find in the majors is far from certain. But I'm fairly interested in Will Wagner. I'm more interested in him than I think his prospect standing would lead most people to be. I also want to say that I feel like whoever runs scouting for the Blue Jays was somebody who just collected baseball cards. in the 90s, because Billy Wagner

joined a lineup that had Dalton Varshot's son, Vladimir Guerrero's son, the organization that has Dante Bichette's son, the organization that drafted Craig Bigeo's son and

frankly I think this is something any of us could do. It doesn't take a special talent to say I want that guy's son. Yeah. So good on him, I guess, because most of those players have turned out to be worthwhile. They've all turned out to be major leaguers, if nothing else. Yeah. Will Wagner, by the way, was in the lineup batting sixth here on Monday. He went three for four with a double, a run, and an RBI. Only 1% rostered, second base eligible on CBS. You know, in the deepest of leagues, AL only, 15 team Roto. I think they're going to give him a chance to play. So if you're just looking for playing time, I think Will Wagner could be of interest to you. You know what, this team is really missing, though?

What's that? Phil Nevin's son. I think you were going to say a third generation player. I don't know who that would be, though. I mean, Cecil Fielder's grandsons out there now. They just get drafted? Yeah, it's only a matter of time until he's traded to Toronto, right? A couple of their news items.

Chris Bryant was placed in the aisle with the backstrain. Jordan Beck was recalled. Could be a name to watch in those deeper five outfielder leagues. And the Mariners must really like what they see from, Victor Robles because they signed them to a two-year $9.75 million extension on Monday. Let's take a look at five struggling players, and we will start things off with Sunny Gray, who got burned by the long ball in Cincinnati, five innings, six runs allowed, still did have nine strikeouts, but three home runs allowed in this start,

and that has been a problem for Sunny Gray this year. If you remember last year, the home run rate was minuscule. 0.39 home runs per 9, 5.2 home run to fly ball rate. This year, that's jumped up to 1.17 home runs per 9, 15.5% home run to fly ball rate. And over his last 8 starts, a 589 ERA and a 131 whip. Scott, what do we do with Sunny Gray? I think we just keep starting him and accept that there are going to be bad starts sometimes.

The previous two starts were great, went seven innings in both. he probably won't be the runner up for Cy Young this year like he was in the AL last year. But he is somebody who puts the ball on the ground more than in the air. So the home runs are a little surprising, a little out of character for Sunny Gray. And I don't want to make too much of them. The underlying numbers are fantastic. 315 FIPP, 273 XFIP. I mean, that's more than a run lower than his actual ERA.

at some point, you can't just completely rely on those numbers because someone like Pablo Lopez had great underlying numbers all season and at one point he had an ERA over five. So it's frustrating, but it seems like Sunny Gray should have better overall numbers than he does right now. What about Taj Bradley? He got rocked by the Astros, four in a third inning, six runs allowed, gave up two homers in this one,

still did have 13 whiffs on 93 pitches. Looks like he really only had the curveball working. He struggled with the fastball and the splitter, which has, you know, those have been his money pitches over the past couple months. Maybe he's hitting a wall. The last three starts have all been pretty bad for Tage Bradley, a 964, ERA, a 193 whip. Scott, what do you think about Tage? Is he hitting the proverbial wall here?

You know, I don't really know what's going on with him. I actually was spending time prior to this podcast putting together a list of pitchers. with innings limit concerns. And Tosge Bradley didn't make the cup for me. Remember, he missed time with injury earlier this year, and he still has a ways to go to get to his career high innings. So I don't think that's going to be an issue for him. He does allow harder contact than he might expect for a pitcher who has been as dominant

as he's been this year, and maybe that's all catching up to him at once. I know two of the three bad starts here for Tage Bradley. He's given up two home runs in them. And it's hard to have a good start when you give up two home runs. It's not going to happen very often. So that might be factoring in. You look at the breakdown of his pitches individually.

Everything but the fastball has a batting average against below 200. So maybe he was, maybe it's just a lot of regression catching up here. and he was overperforming for so long. And he was untouchable for like two months, right? Yeah. Taj Bradley. So I still think there's a ton of talent. Because this is a two-star week,

you probably had him activated. I had him as a must-start two-star pitcher. So he'll make the second start, and we'll see how that goes. If it turns out to be bad, you could think about sitting him for, whoa. Whoa!

Oh, it's been a while. But Robo Scott is back. Here we go. Oh, boy. Wow, I wasn't expecting an appearance from this guy. I know. Everybody's been saying they've been missing him. Well, he's back to me.

I don't know what that says about me that they prefer my robot alter ego. But you can hear me now, right? Yes, I could. Yeah. Speaking it to avoid. I think that was just a temporary internet blip and not a reverse. of my past issues. But anyway, what was I saying? Todge Bradley? I was saying probably more than I should. I think he's good. If he's bad his second start this week, you can think about benching him.

But as soon as he turns it around, you're going to want to start him again. Yeah, I mostly agree. I think some regression here, he was so good for so long. And even after this rough three-star stretch, it's a 349 ERA and a 114 whip with a great strikeout rate. So I don't think anyone is complaining what they've got from Tage Bradley overall this season. Let's talk about William Contreras, who really struggled in June and July. He has picked things up so far in August,

but this is a name that we just didn't really talk about because he was so good for so long, but two for three with his 14th home run here on Monday. June and July combined 47 games. Contreras hit 2.30 with just three home runs, a 638 OPS, and a 58% ground ball rate. So far in August. He's up that 333 batting average, three homers, 11 RBI, 1191 OPS.

This could be just a similar thing here, Scott, where there's ups and downs throughout the course of a season, and here's where we've landed. It's still a really good year for Contreras. But what do you think about those, you know, that like two-month struggle that we saw from William Contreras recently? Well, I mean, since he's turned things around here in August, I'm inclined to think it was just a little blip, maybe a mechanical list. issue, maybe an approach issue. The fact that the ground ball was up near 60% leads me to believe he was maybe overswinging or swinging too early or something was off. Something was off for him, but it doesn't seem like it was a permanent situation.

And now that he's come out of it, yeah, I think William Contreras is going to be the number one catcher rest of season. And like we could do this any time of player slumps. We could say, oh, look, there's probably going to be something you could find in the numbers other than just the batting average down. In this case, it's the ground ball rate was way up. But it doesn't mean it's going to be any more permanent than the drop in batting averages. Let's talk about Spencer Steer, who had himself a big game on Monday, two for three with two socks and a shoe. He's now up to 18 home runs and 19 steals.

He needed this game. Previous 15 before this, a 182 batting average, a 519 OPS. I don't think you can complain. You've gotten 18 home runs, 19 steals already, but it has come with a lower batting average 237. Any concern here at all, Scott, about some recent struggles from Spencer Sear? Well, I mean, since he's picked things up here recently,

not so much. He's been kind of, his batting average has been kind of underwhelming all season, but there's been enough power. in speed that he still ranks among the top hitters at every position he's eligible. And so I haven't really worried about him too much. Yeah, last five games, eight for 16 with three home runs. Did you say that already for Spencer Steer?

Last five games? I just brought up his last 15 total, which was before the start, which was a... Looks like he's coming out of it. Yep, it does. What about Lane Thomas? He has plummeted since joining the Guardians. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in this game. 13 games with the Guardians.

He's 5 for 46 with 20 strikeouts. That's a 109 batting average, a 40% strikeout rate. It's obviously a really small sample size. Still has a 92.1 average exit velocity during the span. Still 94% rostered. What do you think here, Scott? Lane Thomas, struggling in Cleveland. I think he's more of a 237 hitter,

which is now what his batting averages overall, than the 253 hit. he was in Washington. And we did write when he was traded that it does seem like Cleveland could be a worst place for him to hit. They aren't as aggressive

of a base stealing club as Washington is. I know it doesn't matter when he's getting on base as little as he does. So I'm not going to say that it's terribly surprising to see Lane Thomas have a two-week stretch like this.

whether or not it's just a coincidence that it corresponds to his move to the Guardians. I can't say at this point. I would guess so. I would guess so. To whatever degree the park's going to hinder him and the approach on the basis is going to hinder him. I don't think it's going to make him a 109 hitter, you know. He's still a hold, right? You're not dropping late times.

Yeah, yeah, I would say. So I do worry that it could cost him playing time if it continues. much longer is much better against lefties than righties. Yeah. No, it's a fair point and one that we'll have to watch, but it's been a rough go since the trade deadline here for Lane Thomas. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll talk about some waiver wire options right after this. Welcome back in. Let's take a look at some waiver wire pitchers from Monday. Andrew Abbott turned in a strong start up against the Cardinals, six and two-thirds innings, one run with six strikeouts. Brian Beow, a quality start against the Rangers,

six innings, one run with five strikeouts. And Tyler Malley was solid at the Red Sox, four and two thirds, two runs, seven strikeouts. The overall line, you might think, eh, it's not great. But 15 whiffs on 92 pitches, 11 of those on the fastball. I thought that was pretty impressive here from Tyler Malley. The other two names, Scott, Beyo, Andrew Abbott. They're right around 75% rostered, so they're probably not out there in many leagues. But what do you think of Tyler Malley in this one?

I was mostly encouraged for a second straight start. He still doesn't have the velocity he had in 2021, which was his best season. In fact, his velocity took a step back, and this is second start back from Tommy John surgery versus the first. But he got 11 whiffs on his fastball. And, you know, looking at past years for Tyler Malley, that's been a key to his success. fastball is supposed to be a good swing and miss pitch even for not having particularly impressive velocity i mean it's it's down for 2021 but it's not like it was amazing in 2021 you know the velocity but gets a ton of whiffs and it didn't this start and i i think there's

there's uh enough talent here in tyler mallee that he could emerge as a worthwhile option this is a two-star week for him so i don't know i don't know if he's going to get any more of those the rest of this year. But he could perform well enough, maybe in his next start or the start after, that we think about adding him even for one start weeks, if the matchups is right. I think Tyler Malley's a pretty good pitcher.

Yeah. Honestly, I think I'd rather just take the shot on him to see what he can do versus someone like Bayo or Abbott, right? I mean, they're probably all three matchups dependent. Bayo is, has, has been pretty consistently getting quality starts recently, but they're barely quality starts. So you can't expect him to help much in ERA and Whip.

And Abbott, he continues to outperform his ERA estimators, but a fly ball guy and a small park who also walks a lot of guys, it just doesn't. It just seems like it's all going to backfire eventually for Andrew Abbott. So I would agree. Tyler Malley, I think, has the most upside of the three. Do either of these two matter in deeper leagues? Bode and Francis was awesome at the Angels, seven innings, one hit, one run, eight strikeouts,

zero walks, and Jake Woodford, who pitches for the pirates in case you were wondering, he pitched well at the Padres, six plus innings, one run allowed, had just two strikeouts. Do either of these matters, Scott? Bodin Francis and Jake Woodford? Well, you're not going to catch me saying anything positive about Jake Woodford. He gets a lot of ground balls, I guess, when at his best. But I am intrigued by Bowden Francis, and I feel kind of dumb every time I say it. But I don't know how you look at a guy who had a .93 ERA at AAA Buffalo this year

and a 240 ERA in the miners last year, a 173 ERA in 203 ERA in 20. major league relief appearances last year and not be at least curious about it. I can't really pinpoint anything that would suggest Bowdoin Francis is supposed to be good, but then he has a start like this and, you know, it raises the curiosity even more. I'm not looking to go at him in any leagues really yet,

other than AL only, of course. But I'm keeping an eye on you, Bowden. Francis. Lighten up, Francis. I will just add, he used the new sinker in this start, 12%. He had never thrown a sinker in his major league career before this outing. So that's one thing. And looking into his pitch makes, he does have a swing and miss slider, but he also relies heavily on his four-scene fastball. And it's not very good. It's kind of low velocity. It gets hit hard. So I don't know how to explain it. If he turns into a decent pitcher, maybe we'll have more data. then, but so far it doesn't seem like there's much under the hood for Bowden Francis.

One lonely waiver wire hitter, Jean-Kenzie Noel went all big Christmas on Monday. Two for four with a double dong, four RBI. The problem is that he's just not playing enough. He has started four of the past 11 games. He does have eight home runs and 887 OPS in 31 games played so far. 16% rostered. Maybe this can lead to more playing time. this performance here, Scott, but so far, the playing time has been very inconsistent for Noel.

Yeah, I don't see that why there's any reason to bother with him until that changes. You know, the power production has been great, but that bats have just been too sporadic. And he strikes out a ton still, at 30%. I don't know that things would go well for Noel if he got consistent playing time, is my point with that. Yeah. He does seem like a fun player. Like, I'm rooting for the guy. I saw a video of him rounding the bases

and he's like doing some basketball shot thing. It seems like a fun dude. It's just, yeah, for now, not getting enough playing time is Jean Kenzie Noel. Let's talk about Joe Musgrove's return. He was solid up against the Pirates. Four and a third, shutout innings, two hits, one walk, only one strikeout, six whiffs on 63 pitches.

Allowed a lot of hard contact in this one. Eight hard hits allowed 93.1 average exit velocity against. That was a big problem for Musgrove earlier. the season. But returning from an elbow injury, the velocity was actually up across the board, which I think is promising for Joe Musgrove. Scott, what are your expectations here for Musgrove moving forward? Well, it was a late game, so I didn't get to see any reports on, like, the recaps from the beat writers haven't come out yet. I don't know if they had anything to say about his delivery, if it looked different, if they even commented on it at all.

Because that would be worth discovering for Joe Musgrove, given that it was talked about during his recovery, him still pitching through the bone spur and his elbow. He might have to change his delivery to pitch through that. But, yeah, fairly encouraged by these initial results for Musgrove. All of his pitches were up in velocity, some quite a bit. did give up hard contact, didn't miss that many bats. So I don't know that I'm rushing them back into my lineup,

but it wasn't a disaster by any means. And we've seen Joe Musgrove the past couple of years. He's been one of the most consistent pitchers in all baseball. It just looked really bad early on in the season, and he dealt with multiple injuries last year. So you just kind of wonder if those things carried over, and he's missed a lot of time. So, yeah, I think my expectations are very low,

much lower than coming into the season. But I'm not going to rule out the possibility that he could get back to, I don't know, must-start status. That might be a little bit too optimistic. Muskgrove status. Yeah. But someone who obviously should be rostered and used in the right matchups.

We'll see where Joe Muskgrove goes from here. Some pitching leftovers from Monday's action. First up, the good Pablo Lopez turned in a quality start up against the Royals, six innings, three runs, two of those were earned. Five strikeouts had 15 whiffs on 96 pitches. Framber Valdez pitched well at Tampa Bay, five and two-thirds. One run allowed, had nine strikeouts, continues to lean on that curveball, and it was great for him once again.

Clayton Kirchall picked up his first win of the season, this one at the Brewers. Five and two-thirds, one run with six strikeouts, only seven wiffs on 83 pitches. but the first time Clayton Kirshaw completed five innings, and he nearly completed six. So I thought it was very encouraging. Scott, anything you'd like to add on Kirchaw, Valdez, and Pablo Lopez? Yeah, I wanted to be encouraged when I saw, oh, Clayton Kirschaw actually gave us a reasonable number of innings.

I had said last week that this two-star week would be make a break for him. He would have to show us that he could, give us five or six innings a start in order to keep earning starts in the one start weeks that are sure to follow this two start week and okay, so far so good

except he got through those five and two-thirds innings on 83 pitches, which is a mark he had already reached this season. So if you're measuring how long the Dodgers are willing to use them by pitches

rather than innings, this start didn't tell us anything. Unfortunately, we'll see how the next one goes for Kershaw. Framber Valdez to update the numbers since he began throwing his curveball about 40%

of the time. It was 38% in this start. Close enough. Since he began throwing his curveball about 40% of the time 229 ERA.8.86 whip 11.4K per 9. Pretty good. Yeah.

Sounds good to me. strikeouts. So this was a nine strikeout effort. He's had a couple 10 strikeout efforts during that six-start stretch. I remain skeptical that this is just who Valdez is going to be. But, you know, after six starts, it's who he's been. Three-10 strike-out efforts, actually. And this was a nine-strikeout effort.

Yeah. I did want to point out with Pablo Lopez, his last nine starts, a 327 ERA, a one whip on the nose, 62 strikeouts. over 55 innings. There have been some rough outings in that nine-star stretch, but overall, if I told you coming into the season, a 327 ERA and a one whip,

I think we'd all sign up for that with Pablo Lopez, who has looked much better. Let's move into the bad outings here. Shota Imanaga served up some more home runs this time in Cleveland, five innings, seven runs allowed, three of those were earned. He gave up two homers, only had six whiffs on 81 pitches,

and he's now up to 19 home runs allowed on the season. Luis Heel struggled against the White Sox, really? Oh my gosh, the Yankees, they got crushed by the White Sox. Just a pitiful showing. Oh my gosh. Luis Heel, by the way, four innings, four runs aloud, three strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 98 pitches. I watched this game, like, there wasn't a lot of hard contact against him.

It just felt like a lot of balls in play that there were no fielders there. And so sometimes that happens. Scott, anything on Emanaga and Louise Heel? All right. Well, to update the stats on Eamonaga, first nine starts this season, three home runs, a 0.84 whip. Last 13 starts, 16 home runs of 482 ERA. Did I say whip last time? Yeah, you did.

Okay, let me say it again. First nine starts for Shota Imanaga, three home runs a .84 ERA. Okay. Last 13, 16 home runs of 482E, all right? So just pointing out that when the ball has been flying out better, it's kind of ruined Imanaga, which was how we thought this would go all along. He's had some great starts during that 13 start stretch. Like his last start was great, but it's too vulnerable to home runs for him to sustain. that success like he was earlier in the season. And then for Louis Heel, I will point out that this was his fourth straight start of less than six innings. And he faces some pretty serious innings concerns that may be coming home to roost. A little slower than they have been for Garrett Crochet, but I would say he's right up there in terms of concern level.

And one mixed outing we got from Brandon Fott, who faced the Rockies in Arizona, seven innings, eight hits, four runs loud, 11 strikeouts tied a career high. He had 19 whiffs on 94 pitches. Obviously, we love the strikeouts here, Scott, but the overall line, the ERA, what do you, anything to add here on Brandon Fott? Yeah, I mean, I hope for better against the Rockies in Arizona, but. 11Ks, a good whip. I don't know.

Mixed bag. He's kind of a mixed bag pitcher. Yeah. Yeah, not much more to say than that. He is who he is. He's branded thought. I wonder if he can ever find a way to get closer to his peripheral numbers

because he has a 398 ERA, but it's a 348 FIP and a 367 XFIP. He might be one of those guys that just, you know, when things go bad, he gives up hard contact, he gives up home runs, and so maybe that's just the pitcher he's going to be, which is fine, you know, he's a serviceable pitcher. It's just if he could ever get to a mid-3 ZRA with like a strikeout per inning,

that would be an even better pitcher. So we'll see if he can continue to progress. Some hitting leftovers, Ian Hap is picking up the power once again, one for two with three walks and his 20th home run. He's homered in three of his last four games. Stephen Kwan continues his awesome season, one for two, with two walks and his 13th home run. Kwan had 11 homers in his first two seasons combined, 305 games.

He now has 13 home runs in 93 games played this season. Yainer Diaz continues his run of great hitting 1 for 4 with his 12th home run at 3 RBI. You remember way back in early June, Yiner Diaz got benched for a little mental break. In 55 games since then, 342 batting average, nine home runs, and an OPS over 900. Bobby Witt, Jr., one for three with his 23rd home run. His second half has been ridiculous. Royce Lewis, two for four with his 15th home run since returning from the IL. 16 games, a 255 average with five home runs and a 98 OPS.

Shohayotani just continues to dominate one for three with a sock into shoe, his 36th homer, his 33rd steel, and Corey Seeger is on fire here in August, two for four with his 26th home run, seven home. in 10 August games for Corey Seeger. Anything stand out here, Scott, that you would like to touch on? I don't think so. I don't think so. I think they're all good things to point out, but not much more to add.

All right, some bullpen updates for the Guardians. Emmanuel Class A struck out two for his 36th save. For the Dodgers, Daniel Hudson pitched a clean ninth inning for his ninth save, and Hudson has the last two saves for the Dodgers. he also has five of eight in the second half. I think on a given night, if everyone's available, he's still my pick to earn the save, but I don't say that with that much confidence.

No, but more confidence than I had a week ago. I would say Daniel Hudson needs to be rostered everywhere. Saves are in demand again. Yeah, it's crazy. There's just so many options that have become available out of nowhere. Like, I think I'd rather talk. take Ryan Walker over him just because I feel better about knowing he's the closer of his team. Right. He's a declared closer. Yeah. But Daniel Hudson has the most upside of all of them.

And I would take, I think I'd take the one we're about to get to here, Justin Martinez. I think I'd take him over Daniel Hudson. But I would take Hudson over like Calvin Foshe and Lucas Erseg. Yeah. And I assume you would do it over Chapman and Sir Anthony Dominguez, too. right? Yeah, probably because we're just speculating on those two. Well, let's talk about it for the D-backs. A one-run lead. Ryan Thompson pitched a clean eighth inning. Then it was Justin Martinez who got the ninth. He gave up a hit, but picked up his third save. Martinez is 41% rostered, so widely available. For the Padres, Robert Suarez got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up one run, but picked up his 26th save. For the Blue Jays,

Chad Green got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up a three-run lead. He gave up a three-run lead. He gave up a a solo homer, but picked up his 12th save. And for the Braves, Rysel Iglesias, pitched a scoreless ninth inning with the game tied. The Braves then took the lead in the top of the 10th, and Iglesias then shut down the bottom of the 10th inning, picked up his second win of the season. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday,

and it is not the best day, but we do have Paul Blackburn in a revenge game against the A's. And who else? I don't know. Shane Oz against the Astros? I guess. I think that was my second choice yesterday, but it was a distant second.

And Chris mentioned Eduardo Rodriguez against the Rockies. Yeah, I think I would lean Erod over Baas, but yeah, don't have much confidence in either of those. On Wednesday, we do get Jordan Montgomery up against the Rockies. He's been so bad. It's such a good matchup. Yeah. It's obviously risky.

We have Dean Kramer who faces the Nationals, Jameson-Tayone at the Guardians, Martin Perez faces the pirates, revenge game there, Tyler Phillips gets the Marlins, Kyle Gibson at the Reds, Grant Holmes at the Giants, David Peterson gets the A's.

Oh, man, I don't know. I feel like the best bets to give you are quality starter, Jameson, at Cleveland and Kyle Gibson at Cincinnati don't really love the matchups for either, but they're innings eaters, and they get quality starts all the time. So maybe they'll do it again.

If you are hoping for a lot of strikeouts, I think Grant Holmes at San Francisco is a sneaky play for that. Okay. Yeah, I don't love Wednesday either. Yeah, like Dean Kramer against the Nationals could be okay. Yeah. I'll just piggyback

the options that you gave out there. Let's wrap up. We haven't done this in a while. Team Name Tuesday. We've had lots of different things going on. The All-Star Break kind of threw things off and then I was out and other people were out and yada, yada, yada, yada.

But here we are. We're back to Team Name Tuesday. And these are from Tom. Only DeYoung can save us. Already. Gallon of gasser. Yeah, if it's not clear from the sound, gallon is that gallon.

And then gasser is proper gasser. Yeah, that's not bad. Like Cole Sands through the hourglass now, so are the days of our lives. He capitalized days, D-A-Y-S. Is there a player named Days? Let's see. There was some kind of explanation that came with this, but I didn't include it. Days being Darius and Joshua.

That's what he included in the email. I don't know if that means. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. But using coal sands like that with glass now, that's creative. I like that, Tom. This one's from Gavin, Honeynut Chorios. Oh, Gavin.

Knows his way to my heart. You like Honeynut Cheerios, Scott? I don't have a strong opinion on them one way or another. I like him. I usually go with Honey Nut Cheerios or Honeybunches of oats with almonds. Big fan. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. I eat cereal almost every day for breakfast, actually. I did for 30 years. I don't really eat breakfast much at all anymore. I have recently begun to work cereal back into my diet as like a snack. Hmm. But I go for like Cocoa Krispies or something like that. I was going to say if it's a snack, you got to go all in, right?

Right, right, because you're not looking to fill yourself like that. necessarily just go for the flavor baby yeah oh man i mean uh cocoa crisps are amazing so that's a great choice uh these are from paul we all scream for paul skeins all righty skeins from an italian restaurant okay and zero lux given gavin zero lux gavin there you go i see what i see what they're going for there yep this one's from alfonzo vento's the hit maker oh I kind of like that. These are from Chris. Okay, I got to mentally prepare myself and get into a singing voice here.

Can you take me higher? That was my creed impersonation. Good enough. And from, okay, from the old school workout fanatics, burns of steel. No. Because steel is Justin Steele. burns obviously yeah yeah it's not bad it's not buns of steel but burns of steel these are from jess

three for one deal at walmartay had all three martets on her team okay three for one deal at walmartin i like the contextual it's good extra credit yeah uh fought chance mm-hmm and are you for scubel that's i had to look this up this was a scene in along came polly with Hank Azaria who I think is underrated, like really good act, really fun, just a fun guy. Uh-huh. Yeah. I've not seen along came, Polly.

What? I haven't. Believe it or not. It's not the same as not seeing Jurassic Park. That's fair. But, uh, no, I never got around to see in that one, so I can't. I, I would recommend it. I don't know if it holds up.

I saw it a few times when I was younger. I remember really enjoying it. I'd like to re-watch it now and see how it holds up. But this is a good movie. Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston. Pretty good. All right. Well, that's it.

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