Fantasy Baseball Today - Red Sox Promoted Marcelo Mayer & Weekend Waiver Wire Adds! (5/27 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 27, 2025

Ronald Acuña returned with a bang (2:30)! ... Tarik Skubal had an insane start (5:06). ... The Red Sox promoted Marcelo Mayer this weekend due to Alex Bregman getting hurt (8:35). ... News (15:52): Logan Henderson was optioned on Monday. ... Who are the top Bregman replacements (25:47)? ... Ryan O'Hearn or Gavin Sheets (29:00). ... Who are the top waiver wire pitchers from the long weekend (31:19)? ... Let's talk about Kevin Gausman, Matthew Liberatore and Spencer Schwellenbach (44:53). ... These hitters are performing in May (52:53). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (56:36). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Ronald Acuna is back, and it went exactly the way you thought it would. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, May 27th.

I am Frank Sample joined by Chris Towers. Everybody enjoyed the long Memorial Day weekend. Today on the show, buckle up. We have four days of baseball to recap. We had a big prospect promotion, more injuries, waiver wire moves, and much more. But Chris, I am making an executive decision to just lead today's podcast with two of baseball's best. Ronald Acuna, are you kidding me? He homered on the very first pitch that he saw from Nick Povetta Friday, and it was a moonshot.

one one 15.5 exit velocity 467 feet and then he went out and homered again on Saturday. Chris, he is back. How high did you put him in the trade chart? Yeah, that 115.5 mile per hour batted ball, the hardest ball he's hit since that 2023 season. He didn't hit a single ball last year that hard. So hopefully that means that the Braves decision to work him back slowly from the torn ACL. Remember, he got about two extra months of recovery relative to 2021. Hopefully that means that he's going to avoid the struggles he had that season. I moved Acuna into the top 15 overall players in both Roto and head-to-head.

He's number 14 in both. And honestly, if you wanted to put him ahead of Gunner Henderson and Freddie Freeman and Francisco Lindelke, I wouldn't really argue that strenuously. We know he has number one player upside. He has been his 2023 season, unanimous MVP, historically productive season. We know he's capable of that. The thing is, we've seen him coming back from a torn ACL. He struggled in 2021 or 2022, 2022.

He struggled. And he's already talked about running less. this season that he expects moving forward. He's not going to be a 70 stolen base guy. Now, he could cut his 2023 number in half and still be a 35 steel guy, which would be awesome. But it does make the margin for error a little slimmer. 2023 was a big outlier in terms of his strikeout rate. So I'm not quite ready to put Ronald Acuna in the top five overall.

But if you were, I really wouldn't argue. Look, man, I said this on Friday. Baseball is better when Ronald Acuna is out there and he's healthy and he's himself. Even last year before he hurt the knee, it looked like, you know, he wasn't right. I know he dealt with some stuff in spring training too, but happy to have him back. Ask Scott a similar question on Friday and he said he moved to Kunya up to his seventh ranked outfielder. So that's behind just Judge Tucker, Carol, Tatis, Soto, and Mukhi Betts. Just to give people some perspective on the position.

but Acuna is back and it looks like he is back to being Acuna. I want to talk about Terrick Scoobble too, because I mean, Chris, this game is just insane. A two-hit shutout, a Maddox, less than 100 pitches. It took him only 94 pitches to throw a two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts, 26 whiffs, 14 of those on the change-up, and his final pitch of the game was a strikeout at 103 miles per hour. I understand that there's not really anything actionable with talking about this, but it's just one of the best starts you will ever see. And he's coming off a Siyung season where he's managed to get better.

Yeah, and especially remember he was like a little bit shaky the first couple of starts. He has given up 15 runs on the season now through, what is that, 11 starts? That's pretty bonkers in and of itself. seven of those 15 runs came in his first two starts of the season. Sorry, 19 runs total. And seven of them came on the first start. He also had that five run start against the Red Sox a couple starts ago. That is just, he is operating on a completely ridiculous level.

And the 102.7 or whatever it was that was the final start, final pitch of the start looked easy. Like did not look like he was like, reaching back for everything he had, it just looks so fluid. He's just a remarkable pitcher. As good as Paul Skeen's is, I think the people who took Paul Skeens ahead of Terrick Scoobal looking pretty silly right now because Terrick Scoobal has gotten even better and Paul Skeen's maybe taken like a half step back. So look, I have no idea. Injuries are always a concern, right? but he is going out there and throwing his best pitch even more than he did last season. That change up.

He threw it 27% of the time last year. It's up to 32% of the time. It has a 50% whiff rate this season. That is just to throw a pitch that often and have it be, have a 50% with rate. I mean, look, his four seamer also has a 25% width rate. And actually the most impressive thing might be the 25% whiff rate on the sinker. just because you don't see sinkers miss bats like that.

You don't see a lot of four-seem fastballs at 25%. Wraight on a four-seamer would be pretty close to elite. And he's doing that with his sinker. So look, I don't expect anyone to remain as dominant as Terrick's Gouldwell has been lately. He finishes, likely finishes. We'll see if he has one more start in May, but likely finishes the month of May with 52 strikeouts to two walks. my gosh I mean that is just

absurd 10.4 strikeouts per start in the month of May he might make one more start we'll see but that is just ridiculous man he is again

it's not actionable but let's take a moment and appreciate it because this is an elite pitcher operating at an elite level yep again that was just wild It really is. That was Terrick Scoobel. Let's get into the biggest news, biggest thing that happened this weekend. I would say, although there's a few things to talk about, but the Red Sox promoting one of their big, I guess it's a big three now, right? Because no more Kyle Teal. But they promoted Marcel O'Meer with Alex Breggman going on the IL. And Breggman is a huge loss. We'll talk about that a little bit later on. We'll get you some replacements on him. But Marcel Omeyer, 22 years old, a first round pick back in 2021. We've heard the name for a long time.

He was hitting well in the minors, 271, batting average, nine home runs, 18, OPS. 62% rostered. Chris, do you think Marcelo Meyer is a must add? How long does he stick around? What do you think? Well, I think we can't talk about that without talking about the Bregman injury

because the quote from Bregman was it similar to 2021. He missed 58 games when he suffered a quad strain in 2021. Now, maybe it won't be quite that, bad, but I think you have to prepare for at least a month. And that's going to give Marcela Meyer plenty of runway. That doesn't mean he's going to. It's May 27th, right? Second half, like post all start break? It's entirely possible. Yeah. I mean, if it's, if it's as bad as 2021, yeah, that would be the timeline. You'd be looking at the second half post all star break. It's not necessarily guaranteed it will be that long, but it's possible. So Marcela Meyer is going to get some runway here. He's going to

get I think the idiom he's going to get enough rope that he could he could hang himself right like he's going to have an opportunity here. I don't think this is a situation where he's going to play a week and they get sent down. It's just a question of whether he hits. I think his his destiny is in his hands. And it's not just the Breggman injury, right? Because you look at the middle infield in Boston, Trevor Story was a really good story for about two weeks. at the start of the season. He's been one of the worst players in baseball since. Since about mid-April, Trevor's story has been horrendous.

And Christian Campbell hasn't been much better. I certainly expect Christian Campbell to play better. I would hope Trevor's story will as well, but there's no guarantees. And so if Marcel O'Meyer, if we get to Alex Breggman being back and Marcel O'Meyer looks like one of the two best options for one of those two spots, or if Christian Campbell starts playing first base. A lot of, a lot of permutations this guy. could take. I say that all to say, Marcelo Meyer's got a chance to stick the rest of the way. I think he's clearly the third best of their prospects. I think Christian Campbell's a more talented player. I think Bremen Anthony's clearly a more talented player. Marcelo Meyer gives me a lot of

Danesby Swanson vibes as a hitter or as an offensive player really where he doesn't have any obvious weaknesses in the profile. There are some questions about the hit tool. He struggled but especially, like, low in the zone. And that's something that could get exposed in the majors. But I think the biggest thing is he just, he's pretty good at everything. Pretty good hit tool. Good power, not like incredible power. Good speed, but not incredible speed.

And that's kind of, can he become more than the sum of the parts? Yeah, there's examples of guys like that. I think Cal Tucker's kind of one of those guys where it's not like 70 grade tools across the board, but it's like he gets the most out of a 55 to 60 grade across the board. And Marcel Omeyer could turn into that. That's like the high end outcome. Or he could, you know, struggle to make contact and not be a difference maker. I think at this point, you kind of expect that most rookies won't be difference makers immediately.

But he'll get the opportunity. I think that makes him a muster-roaster player. The fact that he's going to be playing a lot of third base and will have eligibility two days, I think. Yeah. That helps because it's a lot harder to break in at shortstop than it is a third base.

So I'm not expecting Marcel O'Meer to be a must-start player, but certainly must roster just in case it works out. Yeah, I was just looking at my shortstop rankings and it's still a loaded position. So kind of looked like he would slot in around 25 for me.

And that's behind names like Haraldo Perdomo and Brendan Donovan who's hitting 3.30. and Ezekiel Tovar who came back and right around Carlos Correa, who has two home runs since coming off the IL. So it's not like a knock on Marcela Meyer. It's just the position.

Shortstop is a really good one. And then if it were third base, probably in like the 20 to 25 range. So behind names like Shaw and Berger and Josh Young, but once you get into like Aeronado, India, I might take a shot on Marcela Meyer over those guys just to see what we have here. But it looks like he's going to play every day.

He's played every day since being called up. And yeah, like you said, I think there could be okay batting batting average here. Power is probably his best tool at this point. And, I mean, you mentioned a lot. A left-handed hitter in Fenway, it's not the best part for power, obviously. So we'll see. I mean, if he could spray the ball to all fields,

obviously that would help with the green monster out there in left. Again, just want to reiterate, Bregman going down. You know, could be out until mid-July, and we'll talk about Bregman replacements a little bit later on, but he has been, you know, one of the best stories, one of the best players in fantasy this entire season. Before we hit our first break, a reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter if you haven't already. If you're watching on YouTube, scan that QR code that will take you right to the

website where you can sign up for free. You'll get a newsletter delivered right to your email inbox every weekday of the baseball season. And big thanks to those watching us live. Make sure to hit the like button and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in the Fantasy Baseball today, news and notes. Continuing on from the weekend, and this one kind of caught everyone by surprise, Chris, and I understand why people are so frustrated. I too, because I have Logan Henderson on a few fantasy teams,

but I get that he has options. The Brewers reinstated D.L. Hall from the 60-day I.L. And as a result, they sent Logan Henderson back to AAA. Through four starts, he has a 171-ERA, a 0.95. WIP, 29 strikeouts over 21 innings. I still think he's a hold in fantasy. I get that there are other names that have emerged, and you know, you might have some decisions to make here,

but it sounds like Brandon Woodruff and Jose Cantana are going to join the Brewers rotation soon enough. I've seen people on Twitter bring up that maybe it's a workload thing. He only threw 81 in the third innings last year. He's already up to 51. So incredibly frustrating. But Chris, are you, is it just a must-hold player in Logan Henderson? Yeah, I would think so. Look, if you're in one of the 24% of CBS Fantasy leagues and I assume higher in Yahoo or ESPN where Ryan Weathers is available, okay, you could drop Logan Henderson for Ryan Weathers because I think the talent level is fairly similar and Ryan Weathers is currently in the majors. But there's a really good piece on the Brewer's website. One, there's a quote where they talk to manager Pat Murphy and basically said,

Like, we understand why it happened and we hate it. And the quote from Brian from Pat Murphy is, I almost feel the same way sometimes. The kid has been so good. It is not a performance issue. It is not anything like that. Their bullpen has been overworked. I think they've had the most bullpen innings of any team this season,

I think I saw, or one of the highest. And it basically comes down to Logan Henderson has options. Quinn Priester. if they send him down for nine more days, they lose an option for next year. And they are trying to avoid that. I think that's as simple as it is,

is just this is about flexibility. The fact that Brandon Woodruff and Jose Cantana are coming back does make it a little less certain that Logan Henderson will be back soon, but there's no guarantee those guys stay healthy. There's no guarantee that Aaron Savale stays healthy. healthy. There's no guarantee that any of those guys are good. And so I do think it's going to be, he's not going to get called up until June. I'll say that. It's a little joke. It's four days.

But I don't think we're waiting until July to see Logan Henderson again. So I would try, look, this is what bench spots are for. I know people want to have bench spots that they can use. But when you have a player who's shown the upside that Logan Henderson has, that four seamers, and change-up combo has looked really good. When he's thrown the slider and cutter, there have been times when they've looked pretty good as well. I think he's looked too impressive to drop. Agreed.

So yes, again, Logan Henderson, option down to the miners, but try your best to hold on to him if you can. A bunch of players went on the aisle since Friday. Michael King is the headliner here with right shoulder inflammation. Was reading more about this. Apparently, he just slept on it wrong, and that just didn't feel right. and so they, you know, they're opting to play it safe here.

Hopefully that's all it is because, you know, contract year. And Michael King's just really important for fantasy. You know, he was ranked as a top 12 starting pitcher by all three of us. Miguel Amaya went on the I.O. with a left oblique strain. Ramon Luriano with a left ankle sprain. Gio Orchella with a left hamstring. Jacob Young with a left shoulder AC joint sprain. Jock Peterson with a fractured right hand.

Those were the names that we lost to the IL this weekend, along with Alex Bregman, unfortunately. It appears that Jacob de Grom was bothered by a finger issue on Monday. He allowed two earned runs over five and a third, but had zero strikeouts for the first time in 229 career starts. And I saw afterwards he said that he had a hot spot on one of his fingers, but it wasn't a blister. So the fact that this isn't, you know, arm related is a win, I think, Chris, but it was a weird start.

It was weird. Yeah, they didn't, there didn't seem to be too much concern. he didn't leave with a trainer. I saw very few quotes even about the finger. So I'm hoping that it's just a coincidence. This stuff looked fine. I mean, it was down like a half mile per hour on all his pitches, but that doesn't seem too concerning.

I distinctly remember him having a start like this in 2020. He only had one strikeout in two innings. He left after 40 pitches. And that was like actually much more worrisome. in the context. His next start, I think he had 14 strikeouts. I think he had 10 in the one after that. I think he had 51 combined swinging strikes in the next two starts.

As long as Jacob de Grom's healthy, he's looked enough like himself that I'm not going to worry too much about it. I'm a little concerned that he's not healthy, but I don't have a good reason to be. That's just me being a worry here. All right, Yoron Alvarez is taking part in baseball activities, but manager Joe Espada said he won't put a specific game or day for Alvarez to be activated. Mike Trout is expected to resume running the bases at some point this week. Logan Gilbert completed a simulated game on Friday and could need multiple rehab outings before he returns from that right elbow flexor strain.

Corey Seeger faced live pitching Saturday and is expected to be activated during the Rangers home stand, which spans this entire week. It's a pretty big range. We don't know exactly when he's going to play. Some Yankees updates, Jazz Chisholm could be clear to begin a rehab assignment this week. John Carlo Stanton will likely take BP over the next two weeks and is getting close to going on a rehab assignment himself. Cole Regan's has been playing catch and is expected to return from the aisle when first eligible on June 1st.

So that's great. Shota Imanaga is slated to throw a bullpen on Tuesday. The expectation is that he will not return until well into June. Kyle Finnegan was unavailable Saturday due to shoulder fatigue. Jorge Lopez picked up his first save of the season in that game. So it feels like a pretty clear replacement. Obviously, it's worrisome. None of us expected Kyle Finnegan to be awesome,

but the past two years, he's just racked up so many saves that he's become really valuable for fantasy. Yeah, absolutely. He's not a great pitcher, but he's been a really valuable fantasy option. So hopefully it's nothing serious because I do think Jorge Lopez is a significant downgrade. Yes, agreed. Shane McClanahan threw from 90 feet on Friday.

He had been throwing from 60 feet in early May, but began to feel some discomfort. So had a little bit of a setback there, but looks like he is back on, back to throwing. The Rangers dropped Marcus Semyon to ninth in their lineup, which is just crazy to think about it. There's still a pretty big amount on that contract, right? I'm not imagining that, Chris. I think it's like four or five more years. If I'm remembering correctly, it was a pretty big deal.

Yeah, so I looking great. Jordan Westberg is on his way to AAA to begin a rehab assignment. He's been out since April 26th with a- Only three more years after this on the Sinean deal. Only three years and 72 million. That's fine. Jordan Westberg has been out since April 26th with a left hamstring strain. The A's option J.J. Bladay to AAA and designated Seth Brown for assignment.

Sean Manila will throw a live batting practice this Thursday, his first time facing hitters since going on the IL with a strain left oblique. He's 63% rostered and was great in the second half last year. If you have a spot to stash Sean Mania, Frankie Montas started a rehab assignment at High A on Saturday. He is only 7% rostered. I think much less interest here, Chris, but do you want to stash Frankie Montas or not really a priority? If you have unlimited IL spots, I'm not saying I'm not at all interested in Frankie Tos.

The Mets have earned some benefit of the doubt, but yeah, you don't, it's not a guy you need to stash. Hassan Kim of the raise. I'm going to have to make that distinction a lot moving forward. Started a rehab assignment at AAA on Monday. He's been rehabbing from off-season shoulder surgery.

This is the Hassan Kim that was on the Padres the past couple of years. He did have shoulder surgery. We know he has a little bit of power, good amount of speed, 17% rostered, a name you can look to stash in leagues with middle infield spots. So, you know, 12-team Myrtle Leagues are deeper. And the Nationals promoted outfield prospect, Dailin Lyle, on Friday.

He's 22 years old, a second round pick back in 2021. This year at AAA, he was hitting 337 with three homers, nine steals, 892 OPS. Makes a ton of contact, lots of line drives. He's only 2% rostered. Feels like just NL only for now, Chris, but any, Shallower interest in that in a Daly and Lyle? Not really. There's a little bit of stolen base and batting average upside because he does make a lot of contact. He's run strikeout rates below 17 or 18 percent, basically at every level since 2023.

He's still 25 bases last season. Doesn't seem like there's a lot of pop there. So probably just, and I'll only in deep, deep leagues. All right. Let's get into the waiver wire. and we do have to talk about Alex Bregman and replacements because I mentioned that is a big loss. I mean, even now on Tuesday,

he's a top 30 player in fantasy this season. It's just such a big loss. He was looking awesome in Boston. Some names in shallower leagues. Matt Shaw has looked good since rejoining the Cubs. In seven games, he's hitting 346, five doubles, two steals, 952 OPS, all the way up to 78% rostered.

And Jake Berger is the other name. He continues to hit well. 16 games since returning to the Rangers, 269 batting average four home runs and OPS around 900. I've asked you this question a lot recently, Chris, but I'll ask you one more time, Matt Shaw or Jake Berger. I think I have Burger ranked ahead of Shaw. That sounds like what I would do,

but I think it's very close. I think they're both guys who should be rostered at least every Roto League because of those deeper lineups. Yeah, that's where that's what I have it as I have burger ahead of Shaw, but it's fairly close So yeah All right, some slightly deeper leagues We looking at Alex Breggman replacements Miguel Vargas has performed well in May

Hitting 265 with six home runs and an 892 OPS Brett Beatty continues to impress he hit a home run on Friday then three more hits on Saturday He has started seven straight and in 17 games since being recalled by the Ames Angels by the Mets, excuse me. 280, I'm watching the Yankees Angels game right now in the background. It just ended. But Brett Beatty, 17 games since being recalled, 280 batting average, five home runs, and a 908 OPS for him.

And Addison Barger has also looked pretty good for the Blue Jays. Last 16 games, hitting over 300, two homers, one steel, an OPS near 900, and hitting the ball really, really hard during that time. Chris, how would you rank Vargas, Beatty, and Addison Barger? I don't really believe in Brett Beatty much. I know Scott has a little more faith in him than I do. I saw you spend some big money to get him in the Dynasty League. I did.

I mean, it was what, $17, I think, in the Dynasty League. And like, that's a league where you're, what you add them for on waivers is what your keeper value would be. He might be worth keeping as a $17 player next year. It's pretty unlikely. But in that league, it's a 2014 league. So whatever. Who cares? He's a useful player in that league.

I'm not sure he matters in most leagues. I guess, okay, that's not fair. If he continues to hit at a 900 OPS level, he will matter in every league. I'm just not sure I have a ton of faith in him continuing to hit at this level. The quality of contact metrics are really good since he came back from AAA.

So maybe it's something real, but he's still platoon bat. I would put Vargas ahead of Beatty, for now. I think Beatty's probably the more talented player, but Vargas wasn't a nothing prospect himself. And his quality of contact metrics

are pretty good himself. So I think I would put him ahead of Brett Beatty. And then Barger, third of the three? Yeah. All right, some other waiver wire hitters. Ryan O'Hern is quietly doing his thing. Three for three with a sock and a shoe on Sunday. He had three more hits on Monday. He's hitting

340 with eight home runs at 968 OPS. And, And Gavin Sheets finding his power stroke, four home runs in his past five games. He's hitting 274. He's got an 818 OPS. I think pretty similar players here, Chris. You know, first base outfield, platoon bats. Do you have a preference between the two?

I want to say Sheets is playing a little more versus lefties. It's not much, but he's getting some opportunities. Now, that might not actually be a good thing for him, right? Like that could that could be the biggest reason why his rate stats are worse than O'Herns, but he has started every game since May 6th. There you go. So I would give him the edge over O'Hern just for that. But like in a daily league O'Hern might be better because you can just put him in there when he's in against Ritees. He's really good against Ritees.

That's just that's kind of all he is. And I don't think he's a 9608 OPS good against Ritey's either. So I'll bet on some regression there as well. The other name here is Tyler Stevenson. Hopefully, you know, this breakout game on Monday can kind of propel him forward because it's been a really slow start. He went three for five with his second home run. Last year hit 258, 19 homers, 782 OPS, which from a catcher obviously is awesome.

42% rostered right now in CBS leagues. I don't know that that number needs to be too much higher. Like if he gets back to the player, like a near 800. OPS, then I think we're having a conversation about being a top 12 catcher. But before he gets there, I think, you know, two catcher leagues for sure. You know, if he gets hot, maybe he's in a one catcher league conversation. Who do you like more between him and Moreno, Chris? Someone who's also picked it up recently.

Probably Stevenson. I just think it's a more well-rounded skill set. Moreno's kind of just a source of batting average. He's hit for good power since the start of May, but he has four home runs. May, I think, his career high, I believe it's seven for an MLB season. He's been around for three years, so it's not a huge sample size. But I think Stevenson's the better overall hitter. All right, let's get into Waverwire pitchers from the weekend and some names in shallower leagues between 75 and 80 percent rostered. Ryan Weather's strong outing here on Monday

revenge game at the Padres. Five and two-thirds innings two unerned runs with six strikeouts there. Rasmussen has managed to be more efficient two starts in a row. He's gone six innings, but still between 75 and 80 pitches in those two. Grant Holmes was great against the Padre, seven innings one run with six strikeouts for him. The control has looked much better recently. He has a quality start in four of his last five. And David Peterson, great outing against the Dodgers, seven and two thirds, two runs, seven strikeouts here. David Pearson has a great slider. I just don't really have much faith in anything else in his arsenal. But to his credit, I mean, he pitches deep into games.

He's on a good Mets team and making the most of his opportunity right now. So, Chris, how do you rank those four? Peterson, Grant Holmes, Rasmussen, and Ryan Weathers. Weathers, really big gap. I don't know how much I care about the other three, like, ranking them. I guess I'll go Holmes. head of Rasmussen, but I don't think any of these guys are top 50 pitchers, certainly. I think Peterson's a little bit behind the other two.

So I'll go, Weathers, Holmes, Rasmussen, just Rasmussen hasn't had the strikeout upside lately as well. Yeah, it's swinging strike rate is way down the season. Yeah, I don't have any of these guys in the top 60. I don't think a starting pitcher. So yeah, I think they're all fine. But I think Weathers is the only one I would definitely drop Logan Henderson for. If you need someone, then okay. But I expect Logan Henderson to be more valuable than the rest of these guys.

Except in a head-to-head points league, Grant Holmes being a spark. That does give him an edge. All right, Waverwire pitchers, part two from the weekend. Noah Cameron turned in a strong start at the twin, six and two-thirds, one run eight strikeouts. First time we've seen strikeouts from Cameron. He had 14 whiffs on 82 pitches. Nick Martinez, another quality start up against the Royals, seven innings, three runs, two strikeouts.

Last seven starts for Nick Martinez, 227, ERA.96. Whip, he's just not getting any strikeouts during that time. And Landon Root has turned in back-to-back quality starts. This one at the Nationals, six shutout innings with just two strikeouts here. Chris, how are you ranking this group? Noah Cameron, Nick Martinez, and Landon Root. probably Rup Cameron Martinez. If it's a points league,

maybe you give Martinez an edge over Cameron. This is, it should be noted, the first time that I think Noah Cameron has really earned the results that he got. He had two very good starts to open his career, but it was three strikeouts in each start. He had six combined strikeouts to five walks. Well, eight strikeouts, one walk in this one, that's impressive.

That's good. Even against a pretty broken down twins lineup. Not putting their best out there at all times. 14 swinging strikes on 82 pitches. That's excellent. The change-up looks pretty good. I'm not sure the rest of the arsenal is quite up to it, although, what was it,

five swinging strikes on the slider on six swings. That's very impressive. Maybe there's something there that he can lean on more. But overall, I'm, I'm not terribly impressed with Noah Cameron. He's not a high priority, despite the very good results so far. Yeah, I wouldn't have him in that kind of Ryan Weathers.

Even Will Warren, we've kind of hyped up a lot recently. I don't think I'd put Noah Cameron in that conversation. I do like more than these other two here. There's a mystery box element, I guess, and good prospect numbers. And, you know, the numbers in the minors, The strikeout rates were much better there. So, I mean, maybe this could be a sign of things to come for Noah Cameron and getting those strikeouts.

He's home against the Reds this week. So I think that's a pretty fine place to use Noah Cameron again this week if you wanted to. Next group includes Jake Irvin, who threw eight shutout innings with seven strikeouts up against the Giants. Lucas Gilito, a great outing against the Orioles seventh shutout with six strikeouts. He has three quality starts and then two awful ones. And Zach Lattel, another quality start. It's, you know, him and Nick Martinez. It's kind of the Spider-Man meme.

It's, you know, they pitch to contact. They're getting good results right now. Can you bet on that? I'm not so sure. But last eight starts for Lattel, 296 ERA 103 whip. Only 28 strikeouts over 48 and two-thirds innings. Any of these names jump out to you, Chris? Jake Irvin, Lucas Geolito, and Zach Lattel.

I suppose Gialito would be at the top of the list, but I actually haven't found him to be particularly impressed. so far. Like you said, it's three quality starts in five, but only one start, I believe, with more strikeouts than walks,

and that was the first one. So I don't, sorry, more strikeouts than innings pitched is what I meant to say there. So I'm not super impressed. I think the biggest thing is going to come down to the change up.

He hasn't had the feel for it. That's historically been either his best or his second best whiff pitch and he's got a 16% whiff rate with it. If he can get that back, yeah, I think, you know, Lucas Giuleter can be pretty interesting. But on the whole, uh, does not look like a must roster pitcher or anything close to it right now. Deep leagues, anything to see here. All these names made strong starts this weekend. Slade Cicconi, who is now on the Guardians, Quinn Priester, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Nelson of the D-backs, Chris, anything to see here on those four.

I think there are some interesting talents. Edward Cabrera actually looked great. I watched this start. The curveball looked phenomenal. Maybe the best I've ever seen it. He just, I was talking to someone the other day about him because he's such a weird pitcher, and it remains the case. It's been true for like five years now with Edward Cabrera where I don't know if he's actually been around for five years, four years, three years, whatever it's been. He's got unbelievable stuff.

and he actually commands the curveball and slider and change up okay, and he just cannot command his fastballs consistently. And that's always been his Achilles heel. He'll have these stretches where he looks awesome, but it's not even a stretch. It's one start right now. So I'll reserve interest in Edward Cabrera. I think Slate Cicconi is probably the most interesting of this group overall,

but I'm not rushing out. to add him. Like I would rather have Zebby Matthews, who's been a little underwhelming overall. I'd rather have him than Soconi. But he's, I think it's 14 strikeouts, just two walks. He's a lot of four runs in 11 innings in his first two starts. Four Seamer looks better. I think he's changed his arm slot a little bit, and he's getting a couple of inches of induced vertical break on that. That's helping that playup, he's introduced a cutter to expand his arsenal, and the slider and curveball both have really good whiff rates in the early going.

So I think Sacconi is pretty interesting. Might be, I might have more interest in him than Noah Cameron, actually, despite Cameron having the better results so far. Only problem with Slate Sikoni this week is that he gets the Dodgers. So you're not, don't want to use him there. You're not using him there, but, you know, if you're in a deeper league, pick him up, see what happens here. Or if he pitches well against the Dodgers, then all right.

Then it's, yeah, all systems go. I will say this is, I saw a little bit of criticism of Gavin Williams. And like not so much criticism of Gavin Williams, just that he had like two decent starts. And now people were starting him against the Dodgers. And I wrote very positively about Gavin Williams in my last, my last write-up of him last week. Don't start these guys against the Dodgers.

Don't start most pitchers against the Dodgers. Rogers. They're just, like, you have no margin for error against them. Don't do it. Yeah. Anything to see here, part two. Ryan Yarbrough, a quality start up against the Angels, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts for him. Trevor Rogers got called up by the Orioles to start the double header at the Red Sox. He looked great in that outing, six and a third shutout with five strikeouts. Adrian Howser, could he be a thing on the White Sox? At the Met, six shutout innings with six strikeouts for him. Velocity way up once again.

And Charlie Morton's first start back in the rotation, equality won, six innings, two runs, five strikeouts there. Chris, anything to see here with Morton, Adrian Houser, Trevor Rogers, Ryan Yarbrough. Okay, a little bit to say about everyone. Morton, I think it's the best he's looked since last season, at the very least.

It is his first quality start since last season. Yeah. And he had been pitching better out of the bullpen. The command had been much better. I'm not going to rush out and add Charlie Martin at this point. There's way too many interesting pitchers out there who I would prioritize before him. Adrian Houser, two good starts in a row, I believe. I think it's two quality starts to open his season.

His velocities up, up about two miles per hour from last year. And we've seen Adrian Houser be a pretty useful player. He's never much more than useful. And there's a reason. he was available for the White Sox to sign in mid-May. So I'm expecting things to probably fall apart for Hauser. But in a deeper points league, he is a SPARP eligible pitcher. So maybe there's something there.

Trevor Rogers got a little bit of his velocity back, not all the way to where it was in his one good season now, which was back in 2021, I think. We got to go pretty far back. I think he was throwing his sinker less, For Seamer Moore, introduced a sweeper, I think, for the first time Trevor Rogers did, only through a couple of them. He was really bad at AAA, but maybe he was just working on stuff. And they'll give him another shot here soon.

I'm sure he'll get another opportunity before long, given the state of the Orioles rotation. That's a name to keep an eye on. But Yarbrough actually looks pretty interesting right now. I don't, he's gone six innings. just the one time. But he had shown some strikeout upside before this. I think he's probably not going to be a consider. I think it's a five and dive kind of situation where they're just hoping they get five

innings out of them every time and whatever those five innings look like, the Yankees are going to be happy with it, at least for now. So I don't think there's a ton of upside, but he is also a spark. That could be one where depending on what the next matchups are like, I think Yarbrose, moderately interesting. All right, before we take our final break, I just wanted to mention a news item.

I just saw here. Logan O'Hoppy apparently exited early in that game. He was hit in the head with a back swing in the eighth inning. They said he's fine. He wants to play tomorrow, but he's, I guess, being evaluated for a concussion. So that is why Logan O'Hoppy left that game. Let's take our final break.

And when we return, I've got three pitchers. I want to talk about these guys. Let's see what's going on. We'll do that right after. this. Let's talk about these three pitchers. Kevin Gosman, awesome start at the Rangers, which is just a great matchup right now. They are not hitting the ball at all. Eight innings, one run, six strikeouts to zero walks, 15 whiffs on 96 pitches for Gosman. The splitter was awesome in this one. That's back-to-back starts with 11 plus whiffs on that splitter. Last two outings,

15 innings, one run, 15 strikeouts to zero walks. I'm not sure. sure if he can keep this splitter going this well, Chris, but I mean, this is kind of the Kevin Gosman that we were used to years ago. So it's, I find it very encouraging. Yeah, and the movement profile on the splitter starting to look more like it used to. He's getting back to, you know, kind of mid-30s in terms of vertical break on his splitter. Earlier on this season, it was more like 29 inches, 30 inches. So getting a little more dive out of that pitch. And it's been excellent lately.

Early on in the season, it was pretty easy to be skeptical of Kevin Gosman because he just wasn't generating the kind of whiff numbers he needs to on the splitter. But last start, it was a 48% whiff rate. This start, it was 42%. He really needs to be in like the 40% range to be a very,

good pitcher. Last year it was 33.5. This year it's up to 34.5 before this start. It'll creep up a little more. Still not quite back to where he was in 2023 and I don't think he ever will be. And my my gut feeling is that this is just guys are capable, especially as they get older. You're still capable of the high level performances. It's just doing it every day or every fifth day in this case is much more difficult. I think of, there's an interview with Dwayne Wade towards the end of his career. He had like a surprisingly athletic dunk. And they asked him, I think it was Dwayne Wade. It might have been Vince Carter, either one of them. It was, wow, I didn't know you could still jump like that.

And he responded, but it's not the jumping. It's the landing. And it's like that you're still capable of it. It just takes a little more out of you. And it's harder to do consistently. That's kind of how I feel about. Kevin Gossman where the spike starts, you know, we saw a couple of them last year. I think he had three 10 strikeout starts.

He's had two so far this year. He's still capable of these really impressive performances. He just can't do it as consistently as he used to. I do think that he has earned the right to move up in the rankings. I think closer to a top 40 starting pitcher, I'm eyeballing it now. But I think a head of names like Bassett has kind of come back down to Earth recently. Yeah, his last couple of starts have been better. but I think they're in the same range.

I have Seth Lugo in the same range. Zach Gallin is one. You know, Aspian, who would you rather have rest of season? I think I would say Gosman. Yeah, I mean, if Gosman's next start is bad, you might say Gallen.

So that one's really close, but same range. Yeah, I have Gallin a few spots ahead, but they're both in the 40 range. Let's talk about Matthew Liberator, who just keeps performing, this time against the D-back, seven innings, one run,

four strikeouts to zero whiffs. Obviously you want more strikeouts here, but the control has been so good this season. I mean, it's eight total walks in 10 starts. Another one where I don't know if he can keep that level of strike throwing up, but he has to this point, it's two earn runs or fewer in eight straight starts for Matthew Liberatora.

Once upon a time, this guy had pretty decent prospect pedigree here, and maybe he's just figuring it out. Just last week, I moved him inside of my top 50 starts. pitchers, Chris, and obviously this start won't deter me. I think he's earned that. I think he's earned the right to be ranked as a top 50 starting pitcher. Yeah, my most recent update, I had him at 59, but I'm looking ahead and it's Taj Bradley, Dustin May, Zach Eflin, Casey Mize, Clay Holmes, Sandy Alcantra, Kodi, Senga. It wouldn't take much to get him around 50. Even Shane Baws and Gavin Williams, I think those guys have more upside than Liberator, but I'm not necessarily sure I feel

better about either of them than him. So yeah, it wouldn't take long. I wish, I just wish there were more strikeouts. You know, he's throwing a lot of strikes. He's getting a lot of contact. He's avoiding walks, but a 3.4% walk rate is really hard to sustain. That is Terrick Scoobles up there, George Kirby, you know, those guys, Brian Wu, Bryce Miller maybe, but it's really hard.

And so does he have a. going for him if it creeps back to like a 6% walk rate, which would still be good. You know, a 6% walk rate would still be a very good mark. But if it comes with an average strikeout rate, then it puts a lot of pressure on him to generate a lot of weak contact, which he's done a good job of so far. It feels a little more like Ranger Suarez in the first half of last season where the results are awesome. The consistency has been a godsend.

I think the margin for error here is pretty slim, especially now that the strikeout rate has backed up in the last few starts. All right, let's talk about Spencer Schwellenbachwetti. Mixed start at home against a Padre, seven innings, four runs, but only two of those earned 11 strikeouts to zero walks here, 20 whiffs on 101 pitches. I mean, this is something we've been waiting for. His first time with more than six strikeouts in a start since April 4th,

when he, I think it was the double-digit strikeout game against the Marlins. But he did in a weird way in this one too. It was more fastballs and cutters, which is what we're not really used to seeing that from Schwellenbach. So look, when it comes down to it, he's got a mid-3s ERA. He has a low ones whip. Like, you know, he's been really good.

I want to see something that I could hang my hat on more, I guess, like in terms of the strikeouts, more consistency there. But obviously this one was great. Yeah, I mean, relative to other pitches, This is a weird way to put it, but let me see if I can explain. Relative to other pitches of the same type, his four-seamer has probably been his best whiff pitch so far this season. His slider, splitter, and curveball all have better whiff rates than his four-seamer, but relative to other versions of those pitches, they're kind of average-ish.

And the four-seemers been very good. 27% whiff rate on a four-seemers, very impressive. So that's good to see. Look, I think it's good that Spencer Schwellenbach has the ability to, to, to find ways to get guys out, regardless of what is or isn't working for him on any given night. Like last year, the curveball and splitter looked like just excellent strikeout pitches for him.

And right now, neither really looks like a great strikeout pitch. They look like kind of average. And it's been the foreseamer that's been carrying a little heavier load. I think that's a good trait. I think it's good that even if you don't have your best stuff on any given day, you can still get guys out. I just,

I don't know if he can be like a true ace, but given the attrition at the position, he's pretty close to top 12 again, just because of the guys who have dropped out ahead of him. So I'm fine with Spencer Schwellenbach. He's been a little disappointing, but that's not the same as being bad, you know? Yeah.

I just want, like, as someone who hasn't been a lot of spots, I just want more strikeouts, so obviously to get more, get D-11 strikeouts here is awesome, and hopefully Spencer Schoenbach can build on it. He just, again, he did it in a way that I guess I wasn't really expecting here. Hitters performing well in the month of May. Brandon Lau, 282, six home runs, a 9-13 OPS. All of a sudden, you know, he's up to 10 home runs,

a 243 average. That's kind of what you were expecting, I guess, from Brandon Lowe. Kutel Marte has been mashing since he returned in May, 263, eight home runs, two steals, a 966 OPS. Trey Turner is locked in, a sock in his shoe on Friday, another home run on Sunday. In May, he's hitting 3.40 with four home runs, 20 runs, eight steals, and a 908 OPS.

Raphael Devers had one of the best games of his career on Friday. Four for six with a double dong, eight RBI. One of those home runs came off of a position player, but we'll take it regardless. And Vinnie Pee, Baby. Vinnie Pasquantino picking things up last 10 games, hitting 425 with two home runs and an OPS over a thousand during that time.

So much needed there for Vinny P. I think all these other guys, you know, it's all expected. Pass Quantino is someone that was really lagging up to this point, Chris. Yeah, I mean, it is still a little frustrating that like his hot stretch is two home runs in 10 games. Like, come on, shouldn't you hit him? for more power than that. So he has eight home runs and 30 RBI. He's on pace for 24 homers and 91 RBI.

That's probably... That sounds about right. Yeah. That's probably close to what we were expecting, you know? Yeah, it's the 258 batting average, lack of doubles. Yeah, that is funny. That's, yeah, because 24 homers and 91 RBI, you'd be fine with that at the end of the season.

Maybe you prefer 280 than 260, but yeah, okay, that's fine. That's interesting. It certainly doesn't feel that way for Vinnie Pasquantino. But hey, maybe that's a point in his favor that he's not, he hasn't been great. He's not living up to expectations overall. And yet he can still find a way to be productive. That's an interesting way of looking at it. I think Trey Turner is pretty interesting here just because something we talked about a decent amount last spring or this spring,

but we haven't really had much chance to talk about him since then was. He only had 19 steals and 121 games. That was very disappointing last season with the new rules and everything. The fact that he had the lowest stolen base pace of his career, I have to imagine. Yeah. That was disappointing. And at the big age of 31, maybe he just couldn't be a big base stealer anymore. But we talked about last season before his hamstring injury, I think he had 10 stolen bases in like 28 games or 30 games.

or something. And well, that pace was closer to 40, 40 or 50. And lo and behold, he's stayed healthy so far. And he's on like a what, what, a 45 stolen base pace?

Yeah. Yeah. We'll take that. That seems to be a good sign that he's feeling okay. That he still has that in his bag in a way that maybe some people didn't expect. So happy to see that.

And then Ravreira Devers is just like, Alex Breggman gets her and it's like oh, are they going to ask him to play third base? He just keep slugging. We need to like just keep getting like whispers that they're going to ask him to play the field and he can just keep crushing the ball out of spite. That's my theory.

Yeah, we're uh, they might need him a catcher at something. No, that's next to us. Carlos Norvias. How about that? I mean, he's kind of taken over as the starter there for the Red Sox. Some other hitting leftovers here. Pete Crow Armstrong, massive game on Friday. Three for five with a double don.

6 RBI. He's got 14 homers, 14 steals, insane counting stats. I mean, he is just, he is blown away any possible expectation. He has been so, so good. Sayas Suzuki is on fire, three hits and a home run

in each of Friday and Sunday. 49 RBI leads baseball for Sayas Suzuki. Thought that was interesting. O'Neill Cruz now owns the hardest hit in the stat cast era, a home run on Sunday, which left the bat at 122.9. miles per hour. He's up to 11 home runs and 18 steals. That's O'Neill Cruz. Aaron Judge, two home runs.

Two more homers this weekend in Corace Field. He's up to 18 home runs. Awesome counting stats. 1248 OPS. Ellie De LaCruz, big game on Saturday. Sock in the shoe. It feels like Ellie has been disappointing because his batting average is 251. Although for him, that's probably just within the range of outcomes. That's pretty normal. But nine homers, 17 steals, and very good counting stats. Like, L.A. Dela Cruz is just

having a very good season. And two more homers for Shohei Otani. He retakes the lead at 19.

I do want to point out. One, Shohay and Aaron Judge are so, so good. It's ridiculous.

You did say O'Neal Cruz now owns the hardest hit in the statcast era. Oh, he probably already did,

didn't he? He broke his own record. Yes. He, him, there have been four bad

balls over 122 miles per hour. John Carlos Stanton hit one. John Carlos Stanton hit the other one. O'Neill Cruz hit the third and O'Neill Cruz hit the fourth. That one, I think, left the stadium. On a line, like never got more than like 35 feet off the ground. That was bonkers. He's freakish. Yes. Pitching leftovers, part one. All great starts from these names. I'll just read off the name. Chris, if there's anything you want to add, go for it. Paul Skeens, Chris Sale, Zach Wheeler, Crochet, all great starts in the past 40s. Yeah, I mean, we took some very mild shots at Paul Skeens. Just because he's not Terrick Scoobble doesn't mean he's not awesome.

I think he's probably not Zach Wheeler right now. I think Zach Wheeler's a little better than him. There's no shame in being the third best pitcher in baseball. That's pretty good. So I don't want to make it seem like we're down on Paul Skeens. Even without the huge strikeout totals this season, he's been awesome. I don't really have anything else to add on the rest of these guys. They're all great.

Crochet, I've been very impressed. His stuff probably hasn't been quite as good as it was last season. He's getting close to like half a foot less of extension than he was last season. He has talked about not having his best stuff at times so far this season. And yet he's still been utterly dominant, going deep into games consistently. I hope it holds up. I'm not going to downgrade him for my concerns that it won't, though. Yeah, I mean, he leads all of baseball with 75 innings pitch,

which is just so interesting for, you know, Gary Crochet, who was only a starter last year for the first time. So we'll see if he can hold up. Hopefully he does, because the talent still looks. really great. Pitching leftovers part two, Yamamoto. Quality start at the Guardian, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts there.

Max Fried dominated the Rockies in course field, seven and a third, one run with seven strikeouts. Chris Bubich continues his breakout season, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts for him. And Jesus Lazardo, another double-digit strikeout effort, seven innings, three runs, 10 strikeouts.

Anything to add Chris on Lazardo, Bubich, Fried, and, Yamamoto. So these are all, I think all four examples of something we talk about quite often that I don't think any of them are likely to sustain their current level of run prevention. And I hope that doesn't come off as me criticizing them because it's not. They just all have what sub two ERAs, Luzardo, the highest at 215. I think you probably add a run to each of these guys, ERA at least. Chris Bubich, you might add two runs to his rest of season ERA.

That would still be a 345 ERA. That would be awesome still. So there might be a sell high window with all four of these, Yamamoto, Max Fried, Chris Bubich and Hazis Lozardo. That does not mean that I think it's unsustainable, that they're not doing, that they're not going to continue this. I think all four of them are just awesome. So I'm not saying like get out while the getting's good or whatever, the is.

idiom is. Yeah, no, I think that definitely makes sense for that group there. And then the final three, Robbie Ray continues to pitch well, six innings, one run, seven strikeouts for him. Mitch Keller, six innings, one run with seven strikeouts against the Brewers. And Ryan Pepio, one of the best starts of his season, seven shutout with five strikeouts. Anything on Pepio, Mitch Keller, Robbie Ray. There was a really good piece in fan graphs.

last week about Robbie Ray and just what a weird pitcher he is and how like nobody has pitch a pitch selection that moves like his he's just a real weird pitcher so that was fun i think he's awesome i'm fully on board i think we we got the the Robbie ray breakout call right and i think he's going to be awesome moving forward i think Keller and peppio are just guys i think they're they're both capable of good starts. I don't expect either to be difference makers moving forward. Keller's been good. He has these stretches.

And then he has these stretches that are just awful and they consistently happen. So I expect one to come up at some point, but he'll be useful more often than not. I think he's probably better than Papio at this point. All right, the call to the bullpen. Some updates here from the weekend and for the Phillies on Friday. Jordan Romano got the ninth inning with a four-run lead. He gave up a three-run homer.

He was pulled for Tanner Banks, who got the final out for his first save. This was the first time Romano had struggled all of May, pretty much. And then on Sunday, Matt Strom got the eighth inning for the Phillies with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs, took his second blown save and third loss. My guess is Romano would have probably come in in the ninth inning for the save there on Sunday. For the devax on Saturday, Justin Martinez, got the eighth inning with a one-run lead.

Facing the heart of the Cardinals lineup, He gave up two runs on two hits, took his first blown save and first loss. I believe he pitched the eighth inning here on Monday as well. So, I mean, it wasn't a save situation. I just kind of assumed that he would get right back into the closer role. And maybe that does happen. Maybe it's just, you know, first couple of times out here. Or maybe they continue to use Justin Martinez as the highest leverage reliever.

And he's just not the closer. But we'll see. For the Pirates on Saturday, Dennis Santana got the eighth inning with a one-run lead facing the heart of the Brewers lineup. He got a hit, gave up a hit, but struck out too. David Bednar got the ninth inning, picked up his fifth save. For the Cubs on Sunday, Daniel Palencia got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He allowed a hit, but Chuck out one for his second save.

Then he picked up another save on Monday. Daniel Palencia has the Cubs last three saves, and, I mean, famous last words, but he kind of just looks like the guy. So for now, yeah, I think he can be the guy for now. I don't think he's particularly good despite throwing hard. So I do expect at some point he'll have the same issue, Ryan Presley and Porter Hodgad, and he'll struggle. And it'll be someone else's turn.

But yeah, I think Danny Palencia is the guy right now. Yeah, he's only 26% rostered. So I think he's the clearest name that has popped up for saves in the past couple of weeks. So definitely a name to go after. you are in need. On Sunday for the Rangers, Luke Jackson entered in the sixth inning with a two-run lead.

Runner on third gave up a sack fly, then a single and he got out of it. But later in the game, left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He allowed a run on two hits but picked up his second save. Robert Garcia only 11% rostered.

I don't think Luke Jackson is very good. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the route the Rangers go moving forward. I don't know if any of these guys are all that good is the problem. Yeah. But sure, it could be Robert Garcia. Why not? There was a report from Bob Nightingale that the Rangers might use Kumar Rocker as the closer, which actually kind of makes sense. But the Rangers brass shut that down on Monday. So

does not sound like it's true. They had another prospect, Emiliano Tejoto, who maybe could be in that mix, but I think he's been hurt in the minors this season. So I don't know. I understand not wanting to move a guy that you have some long-term hope for into that role, because if they thrive in it, that might just be what they do forever. We've seen plenty of examples of that. I still think they should try, especially if Cody Bradford gets healthy and they have some depth. I get something useful out of Kumar Rocker because I'm not sure he's going to be a good starter this season anyway. Yeah. For the Marlins on Sunday, somebody named Ronnie Enriquez got the ninth inning with a three-round lead and he struck out two for his first save. I feel like last week, Chris, you told me to stop bringing up the Marlins bullpen. Is there anything to see here with Ronnie Enriquez? I don't know. Probably not, but maybe. I just, I think all of the guys in the Marlins bullpen are mediocre. And so if one of them gets hot, like Calvin Foshae was good last year.

he's just not a good pitcher in that way, but he was for most of one year. And maybe Ronnie Enriquez can be that. I don't really expect it, and they're not a very good team. But if you are desperate for saves, yeah, go ahead and add him. I just, I can't say I expect him to run away with it.

For the Tigers on Monday, Tommy Canley pitch in the eighth inning, picked up his sixth hold, and then Will Vest got the ninth. He allowed a hit but struck out one for his sixth save of the season. And just wanted to mention for the athletics, Mason Miller picked up the save on Sunday. He's low-key.

I mean, the ratios are bad. It's 579 ERA, a 139 whip. I had not realized this. Underlying numbers look much better. The walks are up the season. His bad dip is massive. Still getting tons of strikeouts. But those ratios are bad, Chris.

Yeah, it's been a bad month for Mason. and Miller. He had gave up five earned runs and a blown save. Actually, it wasn't even a blown save against the Marlins, I think. Give up five runs in a loss to the Marlins early May, had another three earned run outing against the Phillies a couple days ago. That's kind of it, though. He's given up 12 earned runs on the season. Eight of them came in those two outings. He's had one other outing with more than two runs. Ironically, it's been the White Sox, Marlins, and Phillies. So two of the two of the worst offenses in baseball have gotten him. The control's been a little worse, but we're dealing with such a small sample size that it,

in this amount of innings, a 12% walk rate, which is what he has now versus an 8% walk rate, which is what it was last season, I think that comes down to two walks over the course of two months. So it's hard to draw too many conclusions from it. He's getting hit harder. the whiff rates are still crazy. The stuff is still unbelievable. I am not particularly concerned with Mason Miller. All right, to stream or not to stream on Tuesday,

we have Tomoyuki Sagano is home against the Cardinals. Brady Singer at the Royals in a revenge game. Kate Horton gets the Rockies in Chicago. We have J.P. Sears at the Astros, Tyler Anderson, home against the Yankees. What do you think? Like, Sagano has been good, but what? I like Kate Horton.

Yeah, Kate Horton against the Rockies is probably the best option. There are some, like, Kolek was a somewhat interesting streamer for a SPARP and against Miami. He could have a good start in San Diego, but I don't necessarily expect it. I would say Horton is probably at the top of the list. And then, yeah, maybe Brady Singer, since it's on the road. I could see that. I don't have a ton of, yeah. Cigano, Cardinals have actually been pretty tough lately.

So, yeah. And then on Wednesday, we have Clark Schmidt at the Angels, Clayton Kershaw at the Guardians. Landon Rup is at the Tigers. Severino at the Astros. Kyle Hart is home against the Marlins. Shane Smith at the Mets. Noah Cameron, home against the Reds.

I think, didn't Shane Smith have a good start against the Mets at some point? recently. It's internally. I don't think they face each other yet. Okay. I don't think you have to look it up. It's not that important.

Cade Povich is coming off a somewhat interesting looking start, but I'm not ready to trust him. I think Clark Schmidt at the Angels is by far the best option on Wednesday. I don't hate Lainterrup. And Severino, yeah, the Astros aren't totally scary. It would maybe change if you're on. Alvarez is promoted by then or activated by then yeah yeah like Schmidt for sure um Noah Cameron against the Reds that game is in Kansas City I could be down with that and then

sure yeah yeah I don't know one of like Rupert or Severino but I do like Schmidt and Noah Cameron the most of that group we are going to wrap there for Chris 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