Fantasy Baseball Today - Rutschman Promoted, Waiver Wire Adds & Bieber Optimism (5/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 23, 2022

Finally, Adley Rutschman was promoted (1:00)! Also, Roansy Contreras was recalled by the Pirates (5:27). ... Sandy Alcantara threw a complete game, Michael Kopech was awesome and Martin Perez shut out the Astros (11:22). ... Should you add Hunter Greene, Zach Eflin, Bailey Ober and other pitchers from the weekend (20:00)? ... News and notes (32:41): Stephen Strasburg is headed for rehab and there's an update on Fernando Tatis. ... Are Profar, Wisdom and Josh Rojas worth adding (44:07)? ... What did we see from Robbie Ray and Shane Bieber this weekend (51:34). We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (56:34). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Hey there, Adley Ruchman. Get hyped.

Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, May 23rd. Frank Stample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers today on the show. More prospect promotions, the weekend waiver wire, start or sit, and much more. Before we even get to, oh my goodness gracious, I guess we shouldn't be surprised, but it happened. Adley Rutchman, one of the top prospects in the game. The Orioles catcher called up this weekend. He was promoted on Saturday, made his debut when one for three with a triple and a walk. Scott, what are your expectations for Adley Ruchman?

And where did you move him up to in the rankings? I have him seventh in the rankings at catcher immediate top 10 catcher in fantasy look he was basically being drafted by like one even before he heard it before he heard his triceps this spring and then he kind of dropped just outside of the top 12 but the point is people were drafting rushman expecting him to make a major impact in soon and I think that's appropriate because at catcher I mean how many impact players are there half the league is starting somebody who is completely dispensable and likely to be swapped out for whoever gets hot on the waiver wire. So I'm fine given Rushman that immediate shot. And of course, because he was drafted so high, I mean, people weren't drafting him. People weren't making that investment if they weren't willing to see it through. So he was at the moment he got called up, he was already 86% rostered in CBS Sports Leagues.

Now he's up over 90 appropriately. And, you know, we've had a lot of big prospect flops and recent. recent years and maybe that'll happen with him too, but obviously you got to take the chance on it, particularly the position where you don't have much to lose in doing so. And he's a particularly high-end prospect. I mean, he's the kind who he had more walks than strikeouts at the time. He was called up, great on base skills, really the perfect prospect, both offensively and defensively.

I mean, I don't think it's a stretch to say Adley Rushman might be the best catcher prospect ever. So if anybody is going to make an immediate impact, he seems like one of the likelier candidates. And I like that right away. He was called up Saturday. He was catching. And then Sunday, boom, in the lineup again as the DH.

So I think we're going to see a lot of that moving forward for Adleadrushman. They need that bat in the lineup, obviously. Sevens across the board. He's ranked seventh for each of us, Scott, Chris, and myself. What I'm noticing here, Chris, is that while Adley Rushman is 91% rostered, he's only started in 51% of leagues, so I assume that to change by tomorrow morning, right? Yeah, I would guess that's just leagues that already set their lineups for last week before he got called up. It's hard to imagine. And a scenario where you're not starting him, I guess

it's possible you drafted both him and Dalton Varsho, and we do all have Varshow ahead of him. So that's probably the only realistic scenario I could see where you're starting. anyone ahead of Adley Rushman. Yes, the six catchers that we each have ranked ahead of Adley Rushman right now. Salvador Perez, even though he's on the IL, J.C.R. Muto, Dalton Varsho,

Wilson Contreras, Will Smith, and Yasmani Grandal. All in different order, but those are the six. And I'll point out, like, you know, Scott said he might be the best catching prospect ever. He might be the best catching prospect since Matt Weeders,

who famously was a disappointment for this same Baltimore O'O's team. Very similar types of prospects, actually highly drafted out of college, produced a ton of the minor, showed power, plate discipline, all those things. And Weeters is remembered as a disappointment.

I think it would be a disappointment if Adley Rushman had his career. But Weeders as a rookie was also right around an average major league hitter with a 288 average. So, like, there's still room for Adley-Rushman. Rutchman to disappoint this season and be a must-start catcher. And my expectation is not that he's immediately a superstar.

My expectation is that there's going to be some struggles, but at catcher, the bar is so low that, like, well, Jared Kellenick probably wouldn't be a must-start catcher, you know, before he got sent down, but Joe Adele would have been. So, you know, I guess there's that. Yeah, it doesn't take much. It doesn't take much. That's a good point.

It's, I can't, like, we all have Rushman's seventh. For him to slide outside of my top ten, it probably means he was so bad he got sent down. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I could see sliding, like, I could see him struggling to the point, or maybe Mitch Garver out, Alejandro Kirk keyed up, that he ends up dropping behind them.

But he's going to be, chances are he's going to be your starting catch the rest of the season. All right. Let's move over to a pitching prospect who got recalled by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Ronesi Contreras, 20% rostered over on CBS. He gets called up on Sunday, and he was getting stretched out in the minors. His most recent start, he went more than five innings down at AAA. Scott, do you think Ronsie Contreras is a must add? Only 20% roster right now.

He's an exciting ad. I mean, a starting pitcher for the Pirates without much of a track record. I don't know that I could go as far as must, but if you were holding out hope for Spencer Strider, making an impact in fantasy. It doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon because he's having to play more of a setup role now. But I think Roanzi Contreras, he has similar potential,

similar strikeout ability. He has a fuller arsenal than Strider, that's for sure. He's got two breaking balls with tons of spin on both, tons of spin on the fastball, too. He has weapons, for sure. His issues are more durability. Command. And sure, and also supporting cast is terrible.

Yeah, so wins could be hard to come by for Ronesi Contreras. Not sure how consistently deep he's going to go into his starts, but I think there's potential for lots of strikeouts. I remember when he was up earlier, Scott, you're right, the spin rates on the curve and the slider definitely jumped off the page, and he averaged 97 miles per hour with the fastball. That's Ronesy Contreras, 20% rostered. Chris, I'll come to you on Nolan,

who we talked a ton about on Friday's podcast, but he made his debut this weekend. five hits, including two doubles, just one strikeout to two walks. I thought that was encouraging. But he didn't start against a lefty on Saturday. So mentioned in the minors, he didn't, he wasn't great against left-handed pitching. Again, this is Nolan Gorman. He's 69% rostered, and I know that you won him in Tout Wars. So how much did you win him for? And what do you think about what we saw this first weekend? I won him in NFBC. He was, got you, either. I think he was already rostered in Tout Wars.

Yeah, I got him for 176. The runner-up bid was 134. I would guess that's probably around the mid-range of what you should expect to be able to get Gorman for. I think Scott said in his league he went for over 200. Yeah, over 250. So I would say

around 15% at minimum if you want to add him this week. As for how his weekend went, like, I think it's promising that he only struck out once. I think it's promising for sure. that he was batting second on Sunday. The fact that he didn't play against the lefty, that is a concern, obviously, because

it's going to be hard to live up to expectations if he doesn't play every day. And, you know, that might be a scenario where, like, just Jesse Winker last season, he put up really good numbers, but the counting stats were a little underwhelming because of how often he sits against lefties. Maybe that's a situation that we see with Gorman. But that's not a reason to not add him, I would say. I'll point out also he got to a bat Saturday still even though he didn't start So like they if they are go I first of all I don't I don't think they're going to sit him like if he's good

He's not going to sit against every lefty all season part of the problem is the Cardinals They called Brendan Donovan Yeah Brendan Donovan they called him up before gorman and he's been great and and there's not really a dedicated lineup spot for both so they're having to find ways to get Brenda Donovan in the lineup, at least while he's hitting well. I mean, he obviously doesn't have the pedigree, and I don't think the skill set of Gorman, so that may not last.

But, you know, the strikeout thing may not last for Gorman either. His avoidance of strikeouts may not last. We talked about how bad his matchups are next week. It's like strikeout pitcher after strikeout pitcher. Let me read those names off again. Jose Barrios, Kevin Gosman, Brandon Woodruff. Freddie Peralta is out now, so that improves the situation. Adrian Houser and Corbyn Burns.

It's a tough first full week in the majors there. But at least they're all righties. In terms of Fab, I saw Nolan get added in 215 team leagues. So far, he went for 187. This is out of a $1,000 budget. 187 in one league and 203 in another. So again, like Chris said, I mean, the floor probably 15%. But if you really won Gorman, you might have to go 20 or 25%.

percent of your fab budget. And I might, and I don't think I'd personally go as high as 10, 15 in a, if we're talking points leagues. Yeah. Obviously, if you were line-up spots to fill and the strikeout issue and all that, I mean, if you don't need a second baseman, still worth putting in a bid for him, but more of a hope everybody's sleeping at the wheel situation, then, uh, then I'm going to blow everybody out with my, my bid for him situation.

Last prospect happening from the weekend, Scott, we saw Matthew Ler, Liberator make a start on Saturday, his debut, and then he was sent back down. He allowed four runs over four and two-thirds, but I think there's a chance he could be back because Stephen Matt's dealing with a shoulder injury now. I guess Liberator would have to be down for at least 10 days or whatever it is, but what did you see from Liberator? Is he worth holding on to in the meantime? I don't think in the standard-sized league I'd be that motivated to hold on to him. I was pretty skeptical of that skill set anyway, and it was pretty disastrous first start against the pirates.

So, yeah, I mean, he had a 9% swinging strike rate his last four starts in the minors and doesn't have much of a track record of striking out minor league hitters. So always rated highly as a prospect in spite of that. And I'm not going to rule out the chance he's a... He ends up having a great career. But I can think of a lot of pitcher targets

I prefer to go for than Libertor. All right. And let's talk about some of those pitching targets. There was a lot going on this weekend. Take it away, Susan. Oh my goodness gracious. All right, Chris, why don't you kick us off here? Oh, my goodness gracious player from the weekend.

I'll start us off with Sandy Alcantra, who threw the, I think the third complete game of the season by starting pitcher so far this season against the Braves on Sunday. Actually, no, he got the win. Sorry, it was a 4-3 win. He gave up zero-iron runs, two walks, seven strikeouts on 115 pitches. but he was the, I believe, the major league leader in swings and misses on Sunday.

25 of them had at least five with all of his pitches, the sinker, the slider, the change-up, and the four seam. Really impressive start for Sandy Alcounter. I know he hasn't been quite what we hoped for this season so far, but I feel quite good about him moving forward, even if the, you know, you'd like to see more strikeouts, I suppose. And I'll tell you what, Chris, if those. those whiffs remain. I think that we're going to see a lot of strikeouts moving forward for Sandy Alcancor. For the reasons you mentioned, I mean, to get at least five swinging strikes on each of his four pitches, I mean, that is just fantastic against a really good brazed lineup too. So I think put that in his perspective as well. His change up especially, you know, that's one he threw more in the second half last season.

That's especially been a very good pitch for him. He had eight more whiffs on 19 swings today. That's a 42% swing strike or whiff rate. He had a 38% coming into the start with that pitch. So very good sign. I think you probably missed whatever by low opportunity there might have been with Alcantra. Actually, his name is Sandy. So get it right, next time, Chris. All right, Scott, you're up.

Oh my goodness gracious from the weekend. Who you got? Yeah, I love that you led into this with pitchers that can be picked up. I have one. At least one of us three will have a waiver wire pitcher. I can assure you that. I'm going with the last pitcher to pitch

this weekend, which tells you how much thought I put into this exercise. I'm going with Michael Kopeck, who one hit the Yankees over seven innings. It was his most impressive start of the year, I would say. But what made it so impressive wasn't just that final line, wasn't that he got 16 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. It was that his velocity was way, way up. I don't know what got into him. His fastball was up two and a half miles per hour on average his sleep.

slider was out 3.1 miles per hour on average. His velocities were basically what they were when he was a reliever last year. And he's pitched pretty well this year well enough that like nobody's given a thought to dropping him. But it's also been kind of disappointing. He hasn't lived up to our full expectations for him. He's had less than a 10% swinging strike rate, which is really bad. And, you know, the velocity drop, I'm sure has a lot to do with it. If he can, like I said, I don't know, I don't know what got into him where he just started

rifling it in at like a reliever over these seven innings. But if he can sustain that, then I think there's a lot more upside to be had here for Kopeck. Yeah, I think the White Sox team in general was pretty amped up for this game. And rightfully so after everything that happened with the Yankees this weekend, I mean, Josh Donaldson is, I don't know what's going on there. Very weird thing that happened between him and Tim Anderson. There could be a suspension coming for Josh Johnson. So keep that in mind. Be on the lookout for that on Monday. But yeah, Kopeck was fantastic. And as long as he can keep the walks down too. I mean, that's, that's been an issue for him at times this year. When the control gets out of control for Michael Kopeck, then that's where he can kind of spiral there.

Scott, the one concern I do have, and it was still there in this start, was the slider hasn't really been getting a ton of swinging strikes for Kopeck. He got four of them on 30 pitches today. So that's like a, what, 13% swinging strike? rate four on 14 swings is a 29% whiff rate that's okay but for the season his whiff rate is 15.9% with the slider that is really bad that would be pretty mediocre for a fastball yeah so last season his his whiff rate was 36% since since they've come up for the same picture here I mentioned Michael Kopeck swinging strike rate was less than 10% entering their different denominators right yeah so whiff rate is swinging strike per swing swinging strike rate as swinging strike per pitch yeah so when you're talking about swinging strikes and whiffs just as a count it's the same thing

it swings and misses but when you're talking about whiff rate it swings and misses per swing and swing strike rate is swings and misses per pitch so it's yeah they're scaled very differently yeah it's a little confusing too and i think it's a good point that you bring up Scott, because there are times where we reference swinging strike rate, and then times where we reference whiff rate, and one's on baseball savon and one's on fan grafts. So it's, you know, they're all very easily accessible, but you could get confused,

and I think it's worth bringing up. Scott, are you starting Michael Copac at Toronto this week? Probably. Okay. Yeah, coming off this start, unless I just have a stacked pitching staff. And Toronto, by the way, I mean, we mentioned it before. Their lineup has not been as great. I believe they're 16th in Ways'Wing.

on base average, 18th, against right-handed pitching. So it's not like they've been fantastic so far. Make sure to get Michael Kopeck in your lineups. Oh my goodness gracious for me, Martin Perez. And we've talked about Perez quite a bit recently, but put together his best start of the season. As Chris punches his microphone again, I'm happy that we're right back where we left off last week.

Good times. Martin Perez, by the way, complete game shut out at the Astros. He allowed eight hits, one walk. He struck out five. 13 swinging strikes on 108 pitches. Looking into his season so far, I'm trying to figure out what has he done differently

than years past. He's doing a great job limiting walks and hard contacts, and he's throwing his sinker a lot more this season, which has led to his highest ground ball rate since 2015. Right now, a 56% ground ball rate for Martine Perez. He's 67% rostered at Oakland this week. Chris is... we're asking you this in the year

2022 is Martine Perez a must add? No, I don't know. Not for me. I don't know. Maybe you guys disagree and maybe this is me not being fair, but I just I don't see enough

in like, again, maybe this is my own bias and maybe I'm limiting myself and I need to open my heart to the possibility of more. but like when the like primary difference between a player from one year to the next is they're throwing their sinker you know 35 39% instead of 25% of the time it's just like that doesn't seem like a really like big enough deal to change my evaluation like martin Perez looks like a different pitcher right now and he's getting a ton of ground balls but like I don't think the limiting walks thing is sustainable to this extent and I just I just don't see any reason to be excited about him. I'm sorry. Look, I don't want to be on the record as, like, buying into Martin Perez.

Because I think, I mean, just look at his track record. Odds are, this falls apart spectacularly. But at the same time, the guy has a 164 ERA, and we're, after eight starts, we're near the end of May, and his ERA is 164. And these are not like four and five innings starts that he's making. And he just complete game to the Astros of all teams. And it's just like, okay, you have to pick him up.

I mean, there's somebody you can live without on your roster. And the way he's going right now, you pick him up just to see where it goes. And look, maybe you can flip him for somebody you like a lot more. Probably not right after you pick him up off the waiver wire, but he has another couple starts like this. maybe you can flip him, and that would be, that would, he would have served his purpose in that alone. But even if you can't, I don't know, I just don't see a lot of downside to picking him up.

All right. Well, would you pick him up, Scott, ahead of these names? These are Waver Wire Pitchers, Part 1, Martine Perez versus Zach Eflin, who posted a career high 12 strikeouts against the Dodgers on Sunday. He's 50% rostered. He's at the Mets this week. Christian Javier was on the other side of Martine Perez. was quite good in that game as well.

Six innings, one run, nine strikeouts. He is 61% rostered. And then Hunter Green has now allowed two earn runs or fewer in three straight starts. He's 68% rostered. He's up against the Cubs this week. So all these names between 50 and 70% Scott. Perez, Eflin, Javier, Green. How do you rank those for?

Javier. I think Javier is good. And hopefully this is when he sticks into Astros rotation. The close call is between Perez and Chris. green for me because talent-wise, green obviously blows Perez away, but he's on a terrible team. I mean, not that the Rangers are great, but the Reds are terrible. And I'm not sure how limited he's going to be as a rookie. I'm not sure if he can sustain this model of 50% sliders being the solution to what ails him. It's worked his last three starts, but I'm not

sure how sustainable that is. So I have a lot of questions about him. And if I could trust him to take on the workload, I know Martin Perez is going to take on, that would probably be enough for me. But I think I lean Perez over Green, but it's very close between those two. So Javier, Perez, Green, and then Eflin, pretty far behind them. No love for Eflin, huh? What I noticed Sunday is he threw his curveball more 33%, and that's far and away his best, his best pitch. Yeah, I mean, if he can keep doing that, then it changes the math. A 12 strikeouts against the Dodgers is very impressive.

I would take all of these pictures ahead of Martin Perez. I just can't bring myself to get excited about sinker baller Martin Perez. You know, like... I don't blame you. I mean, like, yeah, I just... Like, I think there's only

ERA possibility there. And like, that's not nothing, obviously, but... Well, if he's going six consistently, he's going to win some games. Yeah, yeah, I guess. Sixth consistently. Yeah, I just it all goes back to like he can he's physically capable of it

I just I think when his ERA is closer to four he's not going to be going six very often So what in in Zach Eflin's track record I mean obviously if he can keep doing what he did in this start against the Dodgers But we have no reason to believe he can based on one start It's not that I'm super excited about Zach aflon on his own merits It's mostly just that, like, he's been better than Perez the last two or three years. But neither of them have been worth rostering. Right.

But I'll take the guy who's got a little more strikeout upside. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there's actually a bunch of other starting pitchers as well. So let's just kind of talk about all of them. Waiverwire pitchers part two here. These are less than 50% rostered.

Michael Lorenzen back-to-back quality starts. Bailey Ober made his return on Sunday. He was solid. Five innings, one-run ball, four-strikes. at the Royals. Brady Singer was on the other side of that game. He threw seven shutout innings with three strikeouts and then Johnny Quato solid at the Yankees back to back six shutout innings starts quality starts he's 23% rostered. Chris how are you ranking this group Lorenzen Ober Singer Quedo? You left out the relevant details in the

Lorenzen back-to-back quality starts part. This is that both came against Oakland. That's that's right. I'm trying to go through their lineup right now. They've got like two left-handed batters, maybe three. And that's been the issue for Lorenzen so far this season, is he just has not been able to get strikeouts on lefties. So I'm just looking, yeah, for the season, he has 10 walks to eight strikeouts and 75 plate appearances

against left-handed batters. That's a strikeout rate. that's a strikeout rate about 11%, which would be pretty mediocre for a swinging strike rate, let alone a strike out rate. So yeah, I remain skeptical. There are things to like. Like his swinging strike rates this season have been very healthy.

He's got multiple pitches that he can get whiffs with. He just, he's got that such an obvious platoon issue that I just, I can't get excited about Michael Lorenzen until he finds a way to fix that. All right. Is there anyone you actually like from this group? I'm interested in Singer. Anytime a young guy who, you know,

was a reasonably well-regarded prospect shows well. I'll be more interested. Like, I'm more interested in him than Martine Perez, I think, at this point. Singer throwing his change-up so far more this season. And he's predominantly been Sinker Slider in the past. and it's worked so far. It's a small sample size. He's at Minnesota again this week,

so I'm not sure you want to completely trust it. Singer had that crazy swinging strike total, 18 swinging strikes. Last time it was down to 8 on 95 pitches was more which we expect from him. The one I like from this group is Bailey Ober, who is coming off the IL, and strong numbers in the minors.

I mean, in the majors last year, he looked pretty good too. My hesitation with him is the twins are being so careful with him. He has, this was his fifth start. Obviously, just spent time on the IEL. So this was his fifth start. And none of the five starts has he thrown even 80 pitches. And let's see.

Let me look at last year how often that happened. So only once last year in 20 total starts, did he throw even 90 pitches? So they're just, and like he's this big guy. he's six foot nine. I don't know why they're treating him like he's delicate, but they are. And so that makes me wonder how usable he's going to be. It might be a third time through the order thing.

That's what I was thinking. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah. So I was going to say him over Eflin from the previous group. But I'm hedging on that. I mean, I wish I knew if I wish I knew if Eflin can plan to do this with his curveball

moving forward because if he has this in him that's a very exciting prospect. Like the metrics on the curveball are great. He gets a ton of whiffs with that pitch. And like we've seen a lot of pitchers have to find success over the past three years just by throwing their best pitch more. So like I could see this being a path to success for Eflin, but it seems like the more likely scenario is just he goes back to his normal usage

and it's back to a 4ERA with 7.5K per 9. So at least in the majors, Bailey Ober has had more of a second time through the order problem. He's got a 672 OPS allowed the first time through the order and a 653 the third time through the order. Second time through the order is 896, which is bad. Not great. Not great there.

A few other names that popped up this weekend and just have been solid all around recently. Alex Fayetteau, Taiwan Walker, Austin Gomber. Zach Thompson has allowed just one-earned run over his last three starts. Justin Steele has 19 strikeouts over his last two starts. And Jeffrey Springs has been pretty good

for the Tampa Bay Rays transitioning into a starter role. Scott, any names pop out here for you? Jeffrey Springs, Steele, Thompson, Gomber, Taiwan Walker, Alex Fayetteau. Well, you know I like Faieto, especially now that it looks like he has a permanent spot in that tiger's rotation, at least for the foreseeable future. The velocity on the slider was down over two miles per hour in this start, and that seems like the make-or-break pitch for him. You didn't get a lot of whiffs. So I don't know what happened there, but hopefully he turns that around next time out, or he's not going to be very usable.

The one who I was even prioritizing ahead of him with my waiver wire pickups this weekend, though, was. was Jeffrey Springs of the Rays, who this five-and-two-third inning start against the Orias. Like, that's the first time I really noticed. Oh, they're treating this guy like a conventional starter. It's not just an opener situation. And so I was forced to take a deeper look at him. His swinging strike rate.

So he had 16 on 80 pitches in this star, which is a great rate on its own. But for the season, it's over 15%. That's elite. That's a lead. If he can do that as a starter, there's a lot of upside there and he did have four walks against the Orioles in this start but only 2.3

per 9 on the year so it's not like that's a that's going to be what holds him back it's interesting if the rays continue to use springs this way then I think he has the potential to be an impact pitcher and fantasy yeah I think the key for him

yeah he's got really bad reverse splits um Jeffrey Springs does. He's a lefty Before his career lefties are hitting having an 842 OPS against him compared to a 717 for righties

Now you're only talking about 223 plate appearances Against lefties so still a pretty small sample size But his slider Last season got crushed 422 expected Wobah allowed Five of the eight or nine home runs he gave up We're on that slider and so You know that's one where

it's such a glaring issue. Like you usually don't see the reverse splits and I guess you can mitigate that because most teams aren't how many left handers Yeah, most teams aren't going to be able to put seven lefties in the lineup anyway. His change up is his best pitch And that's usually something that neutralizes

opposite handed hitters. So that makes sense. Yeah. He's throwing his change up a lot more this season. Yeah. Overall, which is partially, I think, just a reaction to him facing more righties than he did last season on a rate basis,

which probably not a bad thing for him. Yeah, I was going to mention that change-up is really nasty. 24 and a half percent swinging strike rate for Jeffrey Springs. The chase rate on that pitch is 53%. I think league average is around like 30, 32 percent. So 53 percent O-swing, that's a really good pitch for Jeffrey Springs. He's just 8 percent rostered. He's against the Yankees this week.

So I don't know if you want to start him necessarily, but I do think he's interesting and someone you should consider adding in those deep release. Although those reverse splits, you know, this is not a Yankees team that true has got a lot of left-handed pop. I guess it's really just Rizzo and Gallo. So. And Gallo is on the COVID I.O. That is true. Before we hit the break, make sure to join our fantasy baseball today Facebook group. That's facebook.com slash groups slash fantasy baseball today. Really fun community. A lot of our listeners, people who watch us on YouTube, they're asking questions, waiver wire, prospect-related questions, dynasty keeper, trades. It's a fun community to be a

part of, and I would recommend joining up if you have a Facebook. So make sure to do that. Let's take a quick break, and we'll be back right after this. The news and notes, Stephen Strassberg is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. He has not pitched since June of last year due to thoracic outlet syndrome, so I think we have to keep our expectations realistic, but it would be nice to see Strasberg back on the mound. Fernando Tatis has begun fielding slowly rolled grounders, but he has yet to resume swinging a bat. This is just me speculating, but I'm not sure how realistic a June return is for Tatis just because I've heard nothing about it, and we're about a week away from June. So I don't know if you guys have heard anything, but I know originally

June... I mean, the fact he's not swinging a bat, much less taking at bats. I don't know that I rule out all of June, but certainly not early June. And remember, he didn't play at all in spring training, right? So you're probably looking at a spring training-esque ramp up, you know, not necessarily a four-week rehab assignment, probably like a two-week maybe, but you're probably going to see him down at the, you know, alternate site or something like that for, you know, a little while to get up to speed before he's even playing in games. So, yeah, I think. June looks less likely right now. Clayton Kirshall is likely a couple of weeks away from throwing a bullpen session. He's on the aisle with inflammation to his right SI joint.

Matthew Libertor mentioned earlier that he was optioned back to AAA. Stephen Mats was removed from Sunday start due to left shoulder stiffness. So perhaps that creates an opening for Liberator in the future. A roll with Chapman received treatment for an Achilles injury on Sunday after giving up two runs. Clay Holmes has been amazing for the Yankees this year. He is, I'll pull up his roster rate, but so far this season, he's got 0.42 ERA. He picked up his fourth save on Saturday.

Chris, would you be looking to add Clay Holmes, given this a roll-dis Chapman injury? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure whether I'd be willing to start him right away. But yeah, I think you absolutely want to take a look at him, especially in your 15-team leagues especially. but even 12 Team Roto, he's looking worth a speculative ad. I was on a Marlins podcast on Friday,

and they asked me, like, who is the Marlins guy if you're speculating on saves? And I was kind of like, nobody. I don't really have a good sense of, like, who the person, who is most likely to get the next five saves for the Marlins? So, like, I might rather just take a chance on Clay Holmes than anyone in the Marlins bullpen right now. Yeah.

He's 53% rostered, so he's already been added in some leagues. And I picked him up in the For the People League a couple of weeks ago. That's a saves plus holds league. So any type of format like that, especially, whether he's getting you saves or holds, it doesn't matter. Clay Holmes has been awesome for them. Reds manager, David Bell, said Sunday that Nicola Dolo has been cleared to restart a throwing program, but won't be ready to rejoin the rotation in the near future. Justin Upton signed with the Mariners on Saturday.

He hit 17 home runs in 90 games last season. Scott, do you have any interest in Justin Upton in deeper leagues? I have to be pretty deep. I don't think the playing time's going to be that consistent. I have a soft spot for Justin Upton. I started playing fantasy right around the time when he got called up, so I have his Diamondback jersey from back in the day. I love Justin Upton, but I hope he can make an impact this year for the Maritors.

Dylan Carlson was out of the lineup Sunday with a tight left hamstring, and he could be bound for the I.L. Terrick Scoobel was removed Friday after taking a liner off his leg. He does expect to make his next start. Andrew Heaney threw a 30 pitch bullpen session Friday. He's 70% rostered and should be stashed wherever he is available. Riley Green played in an intra-squad game at the Tigers Spring Training facility on Friday. He's essentially redoing spring training.

So maybe Riley Green is back in a month or so. Chris, I know I asked you about him recently. 47% rostered is Riley Green. But it seems like news is a little bit more optimistic for him now. Yeah, I mean, the fact that he's going to redo spring training probably means a month. And then I don't know if it's 100% clear if he's going to just go to the majors. Once that happens, I mean, I know that was the plan coming out of spring training. But after you're missing a couple months, is that still the plan?

I'm not so sure. So I don't know. It's tough to stash once you're at this point in the season with injuries piling up and all that. but yeah, I think he's a fine stash. All right. Red's prospect, Jose Barrero. He started a rehab assignment on Friday. Apparently they're going to take their time

and it's going to be a long rehab assignment for him. But a name to watch in those deeper leagues. Yandy Diaz was out of Sunday's lineup due to a strained left shoulder. Taylor Tremel was recalled by the Mariners and started in right field on Sunday. Two Yankees pitchers need Tommy John surgery. Reliever Chad Green.

It's a pretty big blow for them. Not as much for fantasy. And prospect Luis Heel. Carter Key Boom also undergoing Tommy John surgery, which means Mike El Franco will remain the Nationals starting third baseman. Red starter, Connor Overton, was scratched Sunday with backsorness, and Aaron Ashby will start at some point during the Brewer's upcoming road trip, though the team has yet to announce which game.

I believe they announced that even before Freddie Paralta got hurt on Sunday. We'll talk about Paralton just a little bit, but Scott, it seems like there's a very clear opening, for Aaron Aspy now. Yeah, beyond just the, okay, we need a sixth starter right now because we're playing a bunch of games in a row. That's the role he's been filling to this point. So it's been hard to get behind him as a fantasy asset.

But he's another pitcher who's seen his velocity tick back up to where it was last year. Recently, he had the eight strikeouts and four innings of relief two turns, two outings ago and has a lot of upside. So I would say he's right up there with Rwanzi Contreras, maybe even a little ahead of him in terms of how interested I am in adding him. Okay, yeah, that was going to be the next question. So just for clarity sake, you would take him over contraris? With the Peralta injury? Yeah, I would because that he may never look back.

Like this may be what gets him in the rotation for the rest of his career because it's not like Adrian Houser deserves to be a fixture in that rotation. Players who went to the IL this weekend, Max Scherzer officially placed on the IL with that oblique strain. Freddie Peralta, as I mentioned, he left Sunday start with right shoulder tightness. Very unfortunate because he really was coming around recently, and he is headed to the IL, which opens that spot for Aaron Ashby.

Andrew Kittridge went to the IEL with lower back tightness. I don't know who we're going with when it comes to Tampa Bay. I don't think they know who they're going with. They're probably just going to bounce around like they always do, but Chris is there one or two names that stand out like a Brooks Raleigh Jason Adam

for saves in Tampa Bay Yeah Brooks Raleigh got the first two save opportunities without Ketridge, didn't he? Am I making that up? I know, I think he has three saves on the season, but

yeah, I think I was with Kitcherich still healthy he just... Okay, yeah, I think Ralee would be the guy I would go with his numbers look really good, so Jason Adams do too. Yeah, yeah.

And he's a right-hand. He worked the fourth inning of today's game. Yeah, that's the problem. Yeah, Jason Adam pitched in the fourth inning of that game. Brooks Raleigh then pitched the fifth and the sixth. JP Fire-Ason pitched in the seventh. Ryan Thompson came in for the save in the ninth. He gave up two runs and takes his third blown save.

I imagine, look, they were mixing it up even with Kittridge there, though he was clearly the top leverage guy. I'm guessing it'll be even more of a mix while he's out. All right. Eduardo Rodriguez went to the aisle with a left rib cage sprain. Mike Clevenger with a right tricep strain. So that'll get McKenzie Gore back in the rotation. He started on Sunday.

It looked very good. Brandon Belt with right knee inflammation. Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashoka went on the COVID aisle. And then Josh Winder landed on the aisle with a right shoulder impingement. What do we do with these banged up hitters right now? Start or sit for this up? coming week. Jazz Chisholm was removed from Sunday's game, which stinks because he's like one of the best second base slash shortstop hitters right now due to left hamstring tightness. Scott,

what do you think about jazz for this week? I don't feel like hamstring quad stuff. I feel like usually that results in an I L stint. So I'd be careful with this one. If I could avoid starting them, I think I would. The good news is the Marlins play at 640. The first game is at 635 tomorrow. So we'll have an idea if he's in the lineup,

at least. If he's not, I think you probably just have to sit him. All right. Taylor Ward has missed two straight with a stinger in his arm. Apparently he crashed into the outfield wall on Friday.

He will receive an MRI on his shoulder slash neck area on Monday. Chris, what do we think about Taylor Ward for this week? I think anytime you get an MRI involved, especially with what's already been a multi-day absence, you probably want to

avoid it, but it could come back and he could be fine. I will say he's said, even with the news of this MRI, that he plans to play Tuesday. So hopefully, probably not since it's a West Coast team, but if we don't hear anything new

on Monday, I'm probably going to start him. It's been the best player in fantasy, but it's, it could obviously it could obviously go wrong. Wander Franco has set out two straight games with a right quad injury. Scott, you were just talking about quads and hamstrings. Probably play it safe with Wander. Yeah, probably.

I mean, however much you can. It's not easy to find a replacement shortstop. It's even harder to find a catcher, especially if you're playing a two-catcher league. Wilson Contreras is day-to-day with a strained right hamstring. We'll see what happens with him. J.D. Martinez was scratched Sunday due to back spasms. Frankie Montas exited Saturday's start after being hit in the hand with a line drive.

Chris, would you still start Montas against the Texas Rangers this week? I would prefer not to unless I hear something. I mean, it's always so tough because starting pitchers, they don't necessarily have to make a move immediately. But yeah, that's a concern. I'm surprised we haven't heard anything one way or the other about his status, considering this was Saturday. I guess no news is good news.

I saw that I think he was playing catch on Sunday so that should be good. Yeah, I have to look into it more, but I think I saw, yeah, he was playing catch on Sunday. That's Frankie Monta, so it should be good to go, but something to monitor there. Nelson Cruz left Sunday with a sprain left ankle, Ramon Moriano out of the lineup Sunday,

receiving treatment for swelling in his hand. So two more names to pay attention to there. Waver wire hitters from the weekend. Scott, did we write Jerks and ProFar off too soon? Seven hits, two steals this weekend. He's 64% rostered. He's got seven home games this week, including three against the Pirates pitching.

Yuck. I don't think we wrote him off too soon. No. I am surprised how long people held on to the idea of Jerks and Profar. Even now he's batting 217. And I don't think any of the hits this weekend, And no, not a single one of those hits this week and it was for extra bases.

Okay. What about Patrick Wisdom? Home runs in three straight. He's now up to nine homers for the season. He's 66% rostered. He's got six road games this week, including three at the... It might even be four.

It's either three or four at the Reds. So obviously, Red's pitching and in that ballpark. A 40% strikeout rate for Patrick Wisdom. He strikes out so much, but he's 98th percentile and barrel rate. So, Chris, I don't think you could do it in a points league, but in a Categories league where you need pop, sure. Yeah, I think he's off the radar in points leagues for the most part.

Even like in a roto league, like Cole Cowhoun's been hitting a bunch of home runs too. I'm not necessarily like I didn't. I pointedly did not add Cole Cowhoun in leagues this week, despite the five home run week. And so I feel like I would be a hypocrite if I said that Patrick Wisdom somehow needs to be more rostered than he currently is, which is 66%. That sounds pretty high.

Yeah, that's true. He's probably as rostered as he needs to be. But I am starting him in the podcast for the People League, which has head to head categories, 16 teams. And he probably needs to be somebody's third basement in that format. Somebody dropped him in my 15-team NFBC main event league. That's a 15-team rhodo. So I scooped them up for $23 out of a $1,000 budget, so 2%. You're in constant search of an upgrade when you have somebody like that in your lineup.

But he was on a 40-home-er pace last year, and he's doing similar things this year. So you just, you got to take the bad with the good. It only took me 45 minutes, but we're here. Josh Rojas hit three home runs on Friday, a triple dung. but he left Saturday's game after getting hit by a pitch on his hand. So it's kind of weird because he had this awesome game, but now he's banged up, not really sure what to do with Josh Rojas.

Scott, he was almost my own, my goodness gracious player. Yeah, we're just now getting to him. Well, it sounds like it's a day-to-day injury, and I don't know that if you're adding him,

it's to put him in your lineup right away anyway. He was pretty disappointing last year, but has that incredible, those incredible minor league numbers he put up in 2019 that we're still hanging on to. A couple things about this. Okay. So the wind was blowing out 25 miles per hour to center field at Wrigley on Friday.

So it was one of those Wrigley games where like everybody hits a ton of home runs. David Peralta had two in addition to Rojas' three. However, I will note that all three of Rojas's were over 400 feet. I'll also note that he has a better launch angle this year, a higher hard hit rate. That's still not a great one. And a better K rate. So he's doing things better than he did them last year. And he also has three stolen bases already.

I think he's only played like a couple weeks because he was hurt, right? Yeah, 15 games. Yeah. So he's looking, in that small sample, he's looking better. He's looking like he's eligible like everywhere. So I can see adding him in like a roto league is, you know, just add him to your bench and see where it goes. Especially if he's going to be some kind of stolen base source for you. I think he can be like a 15-15 guy who doesn't kill you in batting average.

How about this, Chris? Here's the comp. The good version of Trent Christian. I was thinking like what we wanted Oscar Mercado to be a couple years ago. So yeah, I think those are kind of the same guy. Yeah, maybe a 250, 260, like a 15-15 pace for Josh Rojas. He's 37% rostered. He's got second, third base shortstop and outfield eligibility.

I like him more than the other hit. as we've mentioned so far. So ahead of ProFar, ahead of Patrick Wisdom, I would easily make those swaps. Darren Ruff hit a double dong on Friday, and he's having a very solid May, hitting 333 in the month,

three homers, three doubles, 13 RBI. He's 15% rostered, first base and outfield eligibility. He's been playing a little bit more consistently. Chris, are you looking to add Darren Ruff anywhere? Not really like a 12-team context, I don't think. The playing time is too sporadic,

but I think he'll be good when he plays. Like, it was weird how bad he was to start this season. So I do feel pretty confident that Ruff is going to be productive when he plays. I just don't think it's enough to matter too much in a 12-team league. Here's something weird I noticed with Ruff. Like, he got off to a bad start. He's still batting 240 or whatever. Yeah.

He doesn't start all that regular. He already has 21 runs on the year, which is a pretty good number. I mean, he's got 154 plate appearances, so it's not, it's not like he's not playing at all. They're putting him, they're having him pinch hit a lot in games and stay in the game. Yeah. So kind of like the Cardinals do with Gorman on Saturday, which in all teams can afford to do more now than maybe we're used to.

Amazingly, he's actually leading the Giants and plate appearances. That is. Even though he's, he's sat about, I don't know, fifth of their starts their games so far? I think any five outfielder league Rough needs to be rostered. I still think better days are ahead and may be starting for him.

He's absolutely crushing left. He's this year too. 934 OPS but against righties 620 so not too great there. Some names in deeper leagues. Jonathan V.R. is heating up he's batting 308 with two homers two steals over his last seven games. Michael Chavis is hot right now.

Kevin Kiermeyer over his last four games. He's 11 hits, two homers. Brett Phillips's last six games for the raise. He's got 10 hits, two homers, three steals. Emmanuel Rivera with the Kansas City Royals had three hits this weekend, including two home runs. And then Lane Thomas, back-to-back multi-hit games, including a home run on Saturday. He has started four straight games with three of those coming against right-handed pitchers. Seems like he's kind of taking over that starting center field job from Victor Robles. Scott, do you have any interest here? Lane Thomas, Emmanuel Rivera, Brett Phillips, Kevin Kiermeyer.

Michael Chavis and Jonathan V.R. I did put in in some of my deeper leagues, some of those 15 team roto leagues, my very, very last waiver claim after all the others failed, Emmanuel Rivera. I did put in a few claims for him. He's third baseman.

Showed good power so far. Not a great on-base guy, but has been productive so far and was productive in the minors the past couple years, too. So I think in those deep, leagues somebody you could consider taking a flyer on. All right, let's check in on some of these polarizing starting pitchers. Robbie Ray this weekend, eight plus strikeouts in three straight games.

This time he did it at Boston. He gave up four runs over six innings. He did have those eight strikeouts, 17 swinging strikes for Robbie Ray. And then Shane Bieber posted his first double-digit strikeout start of the season. He was up against the Tigers on Sunday. He gave up three runs. Two of those were earned. He had 10 strikeouts, 24,

swinging strikes. Chris, what did you see from these two, Robbie Ray and Shane Bieber? Yeah, Beaver, it was a ton of swinging strikes. I think it was what, 23, 24? Yeah, season high for him. 11 of them came on the slider. I think seven of them on the fastball. The fastball being effective was really surprising because the velocity was still, you know, in the 90 to 91 range. So it wasn't like he fixed that issue. It wasn't like he was. spinning the ball a ton like he has in the past. His spin rate was actually down from his season average. So that was weird and I'm inclined to just chalk that specific part of it, the fastball

being effective to just this is a crummy Tigers lineup. But, you know, I think it's a, it's a reminder that we can get kind of doom and gloomy about someone like Shane Bieber when things aren't going well. We can talk about all the ways that things can go wrong. But he's still, like I don't think he's going to be Zach, please hack. you know, I think he's still going to be an effective pitcher. There's a reason he's still in my top 20, even though I've been concerned. And I think the thing to keep in mind with Shane Beaver and potentially with Robbie Ray is that it's likely not so much that they can't be good,

but that there's a thinner margin for error every time they go out there, and there's more risk of them blowing up. And so I think you could see a scenario where Robbie Ray and Shane Bieber are still effective pitchers who put up decent fantasy numbers. It's just the ride along the way could be pretty rocky. All right. Let's go to the other side here. Two pitchers might have some concern over.

Trevor Rogers hit hard once again on Friday against the brace. He gave up five runs over four innings pitched. Julio Arias, he was solid actually against the Phillies. Five shutout with five strikeouts. But his fastball velocity was down once again to, it was down one mile per hour. Kerr ball was down 1.3. Scott, are you worried about Trevor Rogers and or Julio Arias? More worried about Rogers. I am... Naturally.

Yeah, I am not that confident in him at all at this point. Like, I wonder how many starts we are away from having the drop conversation with him. I don't think we're there yet, but he hasn't earned that long of a leash. and the season's a quarter over now. So yeah, I mean, that change-up's really not coming around for him. So I'm pretty worried. I'd go, I don't know how you calibrate the worryometer.

I'll go seven on Rogers. Yeah, like, that's the, it's really, I come back to the change-up. Like in this start, his fastball and his slider got hit hard and he didn't get a lot of swings and misses it with anything. But the change-up, 95-mile-per-hour average exit velocity allowed, three whiffs on 27 pitches. It's just continuing to be an issue.

His whiff rate is, I believe, below 20% with that change up now, which, you know, from where it was, there was 21%. Last year it was 34%. The quality of contact metrics are much worse. It's just...

Even when he came up as a rookie and had like a 6ERA, you'd look at that change up and like, oh, there may be something here because of that pitch, you know? But that's... it's just yeah but it's also like Miami's track record with the change up in particular with their pitchers has been so strong that like I have to feel like

they're like that's such an organizational focal point for them that you have to think they'll figure it out you know like the the change up is kind of the the signature pitch for the Marlins but it's frustrating because I don't know what the specific explanation is beyond just, it's a bad pitch right now. I read an article this weekend that suspected he might be tipping his pitches. That's Trevor Rogers.

They've been saying that all year. Everything is going, what can go wrong will go wrong for Rogers right now. And the problem is his fastball was, like it got a lot of whiffs last year, but it tended to get hit pretty hard, and there were reasons to be concerned about that. But when the changeup is going,

well, he can overcome. I don't think he can't without it. All right, let's take a look at some studs from the weekend. Studs being studs, a pitcher edition. Adam Wainwright, seven innings, one run, three strikeouts at the Pirates. Eric Lauer, a strong bounceback versus the Nationals. Seven shutout with five strikeouts for him. Alec Manoa has allowed two earn runs or fewer in each of his eight starts.

He went eight innings on Saturday against the Reds. Four strikeouts there. Joe Musgrove is now eight for eight in quality starts this season. He went seven shutout. with four strikeouts at the Giants. Scott, anything on Musgrove, Manoa, Lauer, Wainwright? Not really. The velocity on Lauer's fastball

has been trending down lately. It hasn't collapsed and returned to where it was last year, but it's trending the wrong direction, and we've seen the swinging strikes do the same. So I'm not bailing on Eric Lauer or anything, but it's something to keep an eye on. Would you look to try and... Sorry, Chris.

Would you look to try and sell high now, Scott, while you can. I mean, that's generally not the way I operate. Like, okay, if I had a need, a hitting need, and I had a pitching surplus, Eric Lauer is the pitcher I would probably try to use to meet that hitter need.

Makes sense. But just sell for the sake of selling, that's probably not. Go ahead, Chris. I was going to just point out, like, Alecmano's strikeout rate is way down. It's down to 22% now. last year is at 28%.

Obviously the results have still been incredible. He's getting a ton of walks. But it's just something to keep an eye out with Alec Manoa. He gives up a lot of fly balls so far that hasn't really hurt him. But, you know, it's, he's on the wrong side of two of the three, as Scott likes to call them, the legs of the FIPP stool or FIPP triangle. I don't use that one and you can. couple of years.

And so, uh, you know, that's something to keep in mind, but there's a lot to like in the underlying numbers for Alec Manoa still. The fastball and slider combination, especially still looks pretty impressive.

So definitely not a panicky thing, but just something I'm, I'm monitoring. I really like for Manoa that the walks have been down tremendously this year. He's basically cut his walk rate in half. The swinging strike rate is actually a tad better than it was last year. So I would trust that the strike rate, Strikeouts more calm. Maybe not to like the 10k per 9 he had last year, but I think Mino was probably more of like a strikeout per inning kind of picture.

SP Studs being studs part two. Carlos Rodon solid bounce back against the Padres Six shutout no six endings with two two runs loud six strikeouts Justin Verlander Three scoreless outings in a row. He had 15 swinging strikes and eight strikeouts. So you like to see those whiffs get back on track Those have been going up for him. Brandon Woodruff turned in his second quality start of the season six innings one run six strikeouts and then Nathan Avaldi had a very nice bounce back on Sunday, six endings, two runs, 11 strikeouts to one walk. Chris, anything on Rodon, Verlander, Woodruff, Avaldi.

No, not really. I think, you know, I might quibble with Avaldi belonging in this discussion. I would imagine we all moved him down in our most recent update. At least I did. But, you know, he's still worth having. I just don't know if I'd call him a stud. That's fair. It was a studly performance, but he's probably not a stud himself. He's pretty close to a start, but yeah. He was a stud in this game. He's more like top 40 while these others are top 15. Yeah, yeah. Top 10 potentially. Hitting leftovers from the weekend, Marcel Ozuna is heating up over his last eight games.

He's got 10 hits, including four home runs. Ronald Ocuna has three steals in five games since returning from the groin injury. He now has seven steals total. He's a free game. He's awesome. Huge weekend for Randy a Rosa Rana. And if you had him on your team, you needed to see this. Eight hits, a double dong on Saturday.

He added a steal on Sunday. And all of a sudden, in May, Randy Rosarena batting 321, four homers, four steals. The ground ball rate is down. The average exit velocity, 91.9 miles per hour. So good news for him. Trevor Story hit two more home runs this weekend following his three homer game on Thursday night. You love to see it. Bo Bouchette had a double dong on.

Saturday, he's bounced back in May. And Chris, I saw you tweeting about Muky Betts this weekend. He's Moogie Betts. He's really good. Once again, he hit two more home runs this weekend. He's betting 273. 10 homers, three steals, 40 runs scored, leads Major League

Baseball, and it feels like Moogie Betts hasn't even been that good yet. All of a sudden, he's on like a 245 run plus RBI pace. It's crazy. He's on pace for almost 100 RBI. In addition to being on pace for like 155 runs. It's a pretty good start for a guy having a bad start.

Yeah. The call to the bullpen, some bullpen updates from this weekend for the Cardinals. On Friday, Giovanni Gallegos recorded the final five outs, all via strikeout for his eighth save. And then on Saturday, Ryan Helsley picked up his second save of the season. For the Twins on Friday, Yuan Duran recorded five outs across the side. seventh and eighth innings.

Emilio Pagan allowed a run but picked up his sixth save and then on Sunday Duran was back in action pitched a clean ninth for his third save. So for Oakland on Friday Danny Jimenez pitched a clean ninth inning for his eighth save

for the Diamondbacks on Saturday. Mark Melanson gave up two more runs but picked up his ninth save of the season. What's amazing about that is last year the Diamondbacks top three guys who, the top three finishers and saves for the Diamondbacks combined for 16 saves.

This year the top three guys have 15. Already for the Diamondbacks? They have been a surprising team so far. Malamson, Mantiply, and Kennedy have... I mean, they've had three, like, fantasy relevant guys get saved so far. Yeah. So, just goes to show you last year's results, especially when it comes to save totals and close games and all that,

are not, you know, necessarily going to tell you. you much about the upcoming season. Oh, there's so much volatility. Year over year. They had 22 saves last year as a team. They're 15 already. If for nothing else, there's so much volatility in just bullpents and relievers year over year. One year's amazing reliever could come back the next year and just look awful. And vice versa. It's, there's so much volatility at that position. It's pretty crazy. For the Blue Jays, Jordan Romano returned this weekend. He had two more saves. He's now up to 14. For the Red Sox, cue the Benny Hill music, because another fun one this weekend.

Saturday, Hansel Robles pitched in the seventh inning in a tie game. Matt Barnes later pitched in the ninth. He picked up his second save, and his fastball velocity was basically where it was last year in this outing. I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful for Barnes. It's who Alex Cora wanted in the roll all along. And we've been a few outings in a row now with the velocity back up. they haven't all been clean innings.

So, you know, it's certainly not an open and shut case, but it was encouraging to see Barnes get the save here on Saturday. And this is a scenario where someone can take it and run. Yeah. And, you know, presumably Barnes will get that opportunity. Hansel Robles then returned on Sunday, and he was in for the save and he gave up a game tying solo home run. So maybe the next time out we'll see Barnes at it once again.

For the Reds on Sunday, Alexis Diaz pitched in the 7th, and eighth innings. He was perfect with three strikeouts. Art Warren pitched in the ninth. He picked up his second save of the season. To stream or not to stream, let's start with Monday. Chad Cool at the Pirates, Revenge game. J.T. Brubaker versus the Rockies,

Drew Smiley at the Reds, Tyler Anderson at the Nationals, Tucker Davidson versus the Phillies, Marco Gonzalez versus the A's, and Adrian Houser at the Padres. You know, this isn't a bad... This isn't a bad group, I think. No, it's not.

I kind of like cool. I like Anderson. I kind of like Gonzalez. I agree. Those are the three for me too. Anderson, Tyler Anderson is my number one choice. Yeah. All right, let's move over to Tuesday.

We've only got three names here. Still lots of TBDs on the schedule for Tuesday. Bruce Zimmerman at the Yankees. Nick Povetta at the White Sox. Dane Dunning at the Angels. Povetta. I would guess Povetta is going to be too rostered to be available. for this on Monday's podcast or Tuesday's podcast.

That's fair. So pick him up now so you can stream him on Tuesday. He's 65% rostered. He's Nick Povetta. All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow.

Bye-bye.