Fantasy Baseball Today - Sandy Struggles, Cedric Mullins Replacements & Drop-O-Meter! (5/31 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

What is going on with Sandy Alcantara (3:00)? ... Is Bryce Elder really this good (11:18)? ... What is Josh Jung's outlook (18:40)? ... Can you sell-high on Miles Mikolas or Kodai Senga (25:00)? ... Which players can we look to add with Cedric Mullins on the IL (30:23)? ... AJ Smith Shawver was promoted by the Braves (33:36)! ... News (36:44): Eduardo Rodriguez was placed on the IL. ... Let's fire up the Drop-O-Meter for Jorge Mateo, Martin Perez and others (41:23). ... Is it time to add Ben Lively (48:10)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (52:40). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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 league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up, and welcome into fantasy baseball today on Wednesday, May 31st. I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are going to recap Tuesday's actions.

Cedric Mullins was placed on the IL. Let's find some replacements. The Braves promoted pitching prospect A.J. Smith Chauver, the dropometer and much more. Before we get started, please like this video and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. And if you're listening on the audio side, download, follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Chris, I just realized yesterday that I did not get to congratulate you on the Miami Heat going to the finals. So congratulations. Title Town USA, baby, South Florida.

We got two finalists as I'm rocking my Phillies jersey, you know? Although I guess the one I actually should be congratulating is the Florida resident, right, Scott? Yeah, I guess. I mean, it's funny because, like, people who know what I do for a living, they will come to me all the time with just like general sports. or wanting to have general sports discussions. And it's almost never baseball. And like, I used to do a pretty good job of following all the major sports.

But really, like, once I became a dad, that kind of stopped. I obviously have to follow baseball with this incredible intensity that it just leaves little time for anything else, you know? Oh, I know. So I'm mostly in the dark as to, I did follow the, the, the, you know, wins and losses during the semifinals for the, for the heat and that, oh,

they blew the three nothing lead and usually, you know, usually when a team blows a three nothing lead and then it goes to game seven, you just assume they're going to lose at that point. So it was nice that they pulled it out. But, but I couldn't name a single player on the Florida Panthers,

for instance. Even though they're like right down the street from me, I couldn't walk to the arena. They got, they got Keith Kachuck's son. That's a name you probably recognize. That's not a real person. Come on, Chris.

Come on. Cute-Kichuk was a star in the 90s. That was the only player you might have recognized. Anyway, I'm a disappointment to people constantly, is what I'm trying to say. Never. Never that, Scotty. Let's get into it. Oh, my goodness gracious.

Speaking of disappointments, let's actually start with the player you'd like to talk about here, Scottie. All right. Let's talk about Sandy. Alcantara because here it is one third of the way through the season, believe it or not, and he still has an ERA near five. It's $4.93 now. His latest start Tuesday against the Padres, four run runs in six and a third innings. Five hits allowed, which is fine, but he also had five walks allowed.

And that's been a more recent development, the control kind of going sideways for him. This was the first where it was terrible, five walks, but he has 11 walks in his last three starts. It's 21 on the season, to put it in perspective. So the walk rates a little bit on the high side. Not exactly what Alec Mano is going through, but it's contributed to Alcantra's struggles lately. But it has been a struggle overall.

I mean, his worst start was his third of the season. He's been hovering right around a five ERA this whole time, with some extreme highs and extreme lows along the way, and mostly I've been content to dismiss it as, ah, he'll come around. And even here a third of the way through the season, I'm content to dismiss it as, ah, he'll come around. And I'll tell you why. So when I'm looking to see if a pitcher's just lost it,

the first thing I look at is velocity, very slightly down from last year, basically the same. I don't see anything to be concerned about there. for Alcantra. The second thing I look at to determine if the pitchers just plain lost it is swinging strike rate.

Entered the start best of his career. So I don't think there's indication there that he's lost it either. I guess the next place I'd look is, you know, probably walks, which are a little high,

but they're not like insanely high. So I'm not that worried about that either. I guess then I'd look to how hard, you know, quality of contact is he getting up a lot of hard contact? It's not great as far as that goes, but then again, he wasn't last year either

with the sub 2ERA, and he puts the ball on the ground a lot, and it hasn't been doing that as much this year. But the thing is, the real fundamental ones, I think, are velocity and swinging strike rate. And if you check those boxes, I think you're probably going to come around eventually

unless your control is just disastrously bad. And again, that hasn't been the case for Alcantra, apart from this one start. So I, you know, I just think in the long run he's going to be fine. And I know last year I held on to that idea all year for Jose Barrios and it didn't work out. It took until the next year to work out. Two years ago it was Aaronola. He was the guy.

All right, he's going to come around. He's going to come around. It didn't actually happen that year. But it didn't happen the very next year. So it usually eventually happens. There's just no predicting when. Of course, there have been many cases where it's happened. in-season, but we can't even think of those examples because we just forgot about it once the

pitcher eventually came around, you know? And I think that's what's going to ultimately happen with Sandy Alcantra. Not predicting he's going to be the NL Cy Young winner again, but I do think he's going to be a fantasy ace when all is said and done. A lot of it does seem to be the walk so far. I know entering the start, it wasn't terrible. The walks per nine was right around 2.9. That is up right around, you know, one walk compared to last year. But maybe he needs to have that immaculate control to have an ace outcome. And really, we haven't seen that so far this season. He has two starts already with more walks than strikeouts. And that's in 11 starts so far. He did that only one time all of last year in 32 starts. So as I, as I pointed out, prior to these last

three starts, he had 10 walks all year. It is a high walk great. came in his first start, I believe. Oh, did they? I think so. Four, four in his first start. Yeah. Okay. So like it's, okay, yeah, he has a high walk right now.

Again, not like Alec Manoa, but he has a high walk rate. Not so high that it wouldn't take just a couple starts to change that. And suddenly he has a walk rate just like last year's. I think the likeliest explanation, like everything Scott said, there's no one glaring. issue. There's no like, wow, this is really wrong for Sandy Alcounter. It's just like he's kind of a little bit worse at everything, right? His strikeout rate a little bit worse than last year, has walk rate a little bit worse than last year. His quality of contact, actually quite a bit worse than last year, but that's a very noisy stat. But it all to me suggests that it's just like probably a few small

tweaks here and there. And, you know, I look in the chat as we're doing the show throughout and like, you know, I've seen some like, well, he's getting left in too late and, and too long and he's giving up runs late. And it's like, there's something to that. He's got a 643 ERA from innings seven through nine. He's also got a six 92 ERA from innings four through six. I doubt the Sandy Alcantra is just getting really tired in the fourth inning or fifth inning. Like, I'm trying to find some explanations, right? Like, yeah, his, you look at his, you look at his extension. That's one of the things that Stackass tracks, how far down the, the pitching rubber.

The ball is released and it's like last year it was 5.9 feet across all of his pitches. This year, it's 6.1 feet. It's 5, 6.0, 6.0 across his 4 start. So it's like a little bit different from last year, but also a little bit inconsistent. You know, his release point on his change-up is further down the mound than it is on his forcing fastball. And that's the most concrete thing that I can point to and say, these aren't we're talking about to 10ths of an inch difference. So it might be nothing. But it also might just be like his mechanics or just a little bit off, right?

Or he's tipping his pitches in some way that like is barely perceptible, But baseballs are really difficult sport. And the differences between even high-level success and mediocrity. We see this every year with guys making very, very small changes that turn into big either improvements or, you know, steps back. And that might just be what we're seeing with Sandy Alcantra here. But the fact that there's no glaring red flag does lead me to believe that he will figure it out. You know, Scott said it's hard to remember the situations where guys do figure it out. Luis Castillo a couple years ago is like the prime example for me.

Remember, he was, I think it was two years ago now. He was just an absolute disaster through this point in the season. Much worse than this. Yeah, ERA was like north of seven. And he figured it out. So I tend to, I need really compelling evidence to change my opinion, especially about an established star like Sandy Arcontera. I don't think anything we've seen is compelling evidence yet.

Last points on Alcontera, talking about going deep into his starts, third time through the order to this year, 11.93 ERA. Last year, third time through the order, 3.41. So that is massive. I'm sure it's a very small sample size too, but I don't know, maybe it's something with like the pitch clock. Maybe he's kind of getting worn down some stamina, but he's also the pitcher that goes deepest into his starts.

So I don't know if that's a real thing. And we were talking beforehand. I just kind of threw it out there that he was day to day with left biceps tendonitis in. Yeah, he had a start, start skipped. Late April. And I'm like, maybe it's just something that's lingering and they're just not talking about it. And they're not bringing it up. But it wouldn't surprise me.

I mean, sometimes these things just come out like after the season. Like, hey, I was pitching through this for like a month or two. And, you know, we just never hear about it. So that's it. That's the latest on San Diego concert. Chris, we'll go over to you. Oh, my goodness. from Tuesday.

Yeah, I want to, I'm going to go with Bryce Elder, who had another very good start. This time it was one earned run over seven in the third innings, if I'm remembering correctly. It was.

Yeah. And he now, I believe, leads the majors in ERA down to 1.92. He's been absolutely incredible. That's three straight quality starts. That's four and six starts

in the month of May. And I just, just want to make sure that we're not unduly giving this guy short shift because I think every single fantasy analyst, maybe 95% of fantasy analysts are just, there's nothing sustainable about it, sell high before the bottom falls out, his ERA is going to be two runs higher than this in the next month. And I just want to make sure that like there's not something we're overlooking. I don't really think there is.

I really, like, I want to, I want to make sure that we're being fair to Bryce Elder because he's been remarkable. And we are accused sometimes of being too slow to change our opinions of players and that it causes us to miss out on breakouts. And I, there are a few things that Bryce Elder does well that could make him confounding to our modern conception of what makes pitchers good. And specifically, I think the thing that jumps out to me is he's a high ground ball rate pitcher. He's not, you know, Framber Faldez, but he's 56% for the season.

He also has a 49% pull rate overall and a 32% up the middle rate. So far this season, which strikes me as an incredibly high mark, especially that 49% pull rate. And so, you know, combining that with a high ground ball rate, maybe that makes it so that he will be inordinately more likely than even your typical ground ball pitcher to turn ground ball out, ground balls into outs. He also, you know, specifically on a pitch by pitch level,

his slider, sinker, and change up are all excellent ground ball pitch. pitches, his average launch angle allowed on each of those pitches is below five. The one that stands out is the four seam fastball, which has a 28 degree average launch angle. And one thing that made me think is maybe this is a situation where when he gives up contact with the four seam fastball, it tends to be weak fly balls that can help him suppress batting average. That one, I'm not so sure his expected Wobah allowed on the four seam fastball is 460. that's really, really bad.

That's like Hall of Fame offensive player production. So I don't necessarily think there's a good explanation there. So that is to say that maybe the high pull rate combined with the high ground ball rate might make him a candidate to outrun his peripherals more even than most ground ball pitchers. even having said that, his expected ERA entering this start was 446. His actual ERA entering this start was 201. So I don't necessarily think that there's like a magic sauce in the quality of contact that's going to make him outrun his peripherals by two and a half runs. I still think, like even I think the optimistic case on Bryce Elder

is probably that he's more like a 3536 ERA guy. Well, that's what FIP and X-FIP have now, basically. So, you know, some of the expected, the ERA estimators put him right there. Yeah, I mean, like, it's hard to imagine him sustaining a sub 2 ERA, even leading the majors in ERA. But it's getting harder to just dismiss what he's doing, especially when you factor in. Over his last five starts last year, too, he had a 165. So this is a continuation of that and now basically half a season's worth of starts where Bryce Elder has been this good. I'm still going to call him to sell high.

Obviously it depends how high you could sell. I'll keep an open mind if I have him and there just offers not good enough. Whatever. I'll write it out. Maybe it'll last the whole year. Something close to it anyway. But I would still treat it. Like, it's one of those things where, yes, you could miss, you could, you could, you could, you could follow the same process that you always follow that's usually very successful.

And you could keep, you could just kick yourself over the misses because whatever, you don't, you don't have that, that crucial bit of information you need to make the right call on this one particular player. And you could decide your process is all wrong based on that. Or you could just say, whatever, this player is an exception to the process. And that's why I missed. And I'm still going to follow the process for the next player who's showing the same signs. And I think there's a good comp to Bryce Elder right now from last season. I'm pulling up the ERA leaderboards from roughly the same point last season. Remember, the start date was a little different.

And number one, Esther Cortez. Number two, Martine Perez. And I think Martine Perez is the cop here. He had a 156 ERA through his first 11 starts last. season. Strikeout rate, 7.27K per 9, walk rate 2.08 walks per 9, 55% ground ball rate. That's all very, very similar to what Bryce Elders doing. I'm not, it might be like, almost eerily similar. The walk rate, yeah, right around there, 2.60. Martin Perez had a 361 ERA the rest of the season from that point on. He was really good. He was a valuable pitcher the

rest of the season. There was not really a point last season after that where we were like, yeah, you can probably drop Martine Perez. I think Bryce Elder can do that and be a useful pitcher moving forward. What I heard throughout all of that is that if you can sell high on Bryce Elders, something you would try to do. And the obvious name from Tuesday that stands out for me is Logan Gilbert, who got knocked around by the Yankees. He gave up seven runs, five of those earned over four innings pitched. He gave up two homers. But, But based on that process that we use and K-minus walk rate and swinging strike rate and these peripheral numbers, FIP, XERA, everything says that Logan Gilbert is currently pitching

like a top 20 pitcher in baseball right now. So if you can flip Bryce Elder for Logan Gilbert, is that something that you would do? Yes. Yes. Yes. So we are all in agreement. Do it. More on Gilbert a little bit later on.

But yeah, I do think he is like now. Now is the time to buy, especially after a bad start. another bad start, do it. Go out and get yourself some Logan Gilbert. Oh my goodness gracious for me, I really just wanted to show appreciation. Some people tweeted at us today and said, look, you got to talk about this guy.

Admittedly, we haven't talked about Josh Young enough, and he's been really, really good. He went three for five with a double and his 12th home run of the season. He's batting 291. With an 869 OPS, he's got 39 runs scored 37 RBI. One of the best lineups in all of baseball this year. Even without Corey Seeger for most of it,

they are just putting up runs. at a rapid pace, and he's hitting the ball hard. Like, a lot of this looks pretty sustainable. 92.2 average exit velocity, a 12.4% barrel rate for Josh Young. And you look at the strikeout rate, it's still hovering around 29%, which admittedly, it's a touch high. He did improve. From April, it was 32.6% in May, 26%.

I mean, that's trending in the right direction. Again, hitting... Okay, I mean, if he can sustain 26% the rest of the year, then I will trust in Josh Young. And I'm sorry, I don't need to cut you off. I know Chris and I've talked a lot already. But go ahead. Finish what you wanted to say about Josh Young.

No, I mean, just highlighting the improvements and where he stands right now. I mean, he's a top seven third basement in head-to-head points, and he's the fourth best in Roto. Like, he's been amazing. Yeah. And he's helped by his supporting cast. Basically, the whole Rangers lineup is bolstering the rest of the Rangers lineup

because you look up and down it, and they all have a ton of runs in RBI, and that's good for them. And hopefully that can continue. I'm still pretty skeptical about Josh Young specifically because he basically has a 30% strikeout rate. Like I said, if you can sustain the 26% for May rest of season, the math changes. But if we just approach him as the 30% strikeout rate guy,

he's been for the season, the only ways we've seen hitters overcome that in all of history is with elite exit velocity. You said he's hitting the ball hard. His average exit velocity does look good. His max exit velocity is still 57th percentile. So this isn't an Aaron Judge type hitter. Who is, right?

But he's not even really in the same stratosphere as Aaron Judge in terms of hitting the ball hard. Now, strikeout rates keep going up and up. And, you know, if that continues eventually, we are going to run into some hitters who figure out how to put up good numbers, even with the strikeout rate higher than what we thought they could do just a year ago. So maybe Josh Young has discovered something new that no hitter has ever done before. But if he continues to strike out at the rate he has for full season,

I think the batting average has to regress. Now, is it going to regress? He's at 290 right now. It's definitely going to regress from 290. Right. But is he going to be like a 260 hitter, or is he going to be a 240? hitter. I think it could be the comp that I have come to is like, I don't want to say a poor man's Austin Riley because I think that might actually be underselling Josh Young a little bit,

but like that kind of archetype, not as good as the certainly the best versions of Austin Riley, but like the 2021 version of Austin Riley, less batting average, more strikeouts. Austin Riley that season was like 25, 26%. He hit 303 that year. Right, right. But like not, but like a 265 hitter. Yeah, it's like a four category home runs. I think he could be that.

Like a four category. 40 points lower than Austin rightly in 2020. Sure, but we didn't think that was. But he didn't think he was going to hit 300. Yeah. The basically like a four category contributor. Just a third basement that can hit 270 with like 30 plus homers and 100 RBI. That's.

Yeah. That's still a really. I'm going to take the under on 270 though. I would definitely take under. His XBA is 265 even with a 29% strikeout rate. So, I mean, it's close to it. I'll still take the under. I think that's fair.

Just to strike out that rate. Again, if he improves it, then the math changes. Yeah, look, 29%. It's a little high, but I mean, guys in the past, a little high, 29%, yeah. I mean, he's doing that. Nobody in the past has had a strikeout rate that high and been a quality hitter unless, you know, he was like a 95th percentile exit velocity guy.

He's 87th in average exit velocity and 81st and in 81st and barrel rate. Like, I don't know. I still think, I still think you're kind of underselling him. Here's a comp from last season. Teoscar Hernandez hit 267 with 25 homers in 131 games. So that's close to a 30 homer pace over the course of 150 or 160 games with a 29%, 28.4% strike. right. Teasca Hernandez, good, not great quality of contact, but I think that's like a reasonable goal. Now, I think the downside is someone like Ahoyonio Suarez, who is still pretty useful when he hits 235. It's, you know, it's harder to stomach when he's, you know, 200 as he does occasionally. But like I think those are realistic or reasonable comps for Josh Young. I don't think it's like a superstar outcome, but I think it's well within the realm of possibility that Josh Young establishes himself as a top 100 player.

All right. Well, let's move on because we have a bunch of other players to talk about. Let's take our first break and we'll be back right after this. Ever dream about buying a fantasy baseball today podcast shirt and then jumping over to get a Yellowstone whiskey glass or Top Gun Maverick hat. Well, now you can with the Paramount Shop, which offers a mountain of merch from the Paramount shows and move. that you love. Shop official apparel, drinkwear, and accessories inspired by over 150 fan favorite titles, Paul Patrol, Yellowstone, Top Gun, Star Trek, South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants, and your favorite CBS Sports podcasts

like PICS, Fantasy Football Today, and of course, fantasy baseball today. Paramount Shop where products are Paramount, use promo code summer to save 20% site wide, offer expires at the end of May. I have two other pictures I wanted to bring up here as potential sell highs after awesome performances again on Tuesday. Miles Michaelis has now been great over his last nine starts.

I don't think it's very sustainable and that's why we're having this conversation. But up against the Royals on Tuesday, eight shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, had 14 swinging strikes. Both the strikeouts and swinging strikes were a season high for Miles Michaelis and over his last nine starts, a 2.12 ERA, a 1.05 whip, but a 6% swinging strike rate. and obviously the underlying numbers are not really buying it. Michaelis is up to 79% rostered. Actually could be out there in like 10 team leagues or whatever.

Kodai Senga just had his best start of the season. I know he said that recently up against Tampa Bay. This start was actually better because he only allowed one base runner in the game did not walk a single batter. That was the first time he's done that since he has come over to the States. He went seven shutout with nine strikeouts and a season high, 22 swinging strikes on 100 pitches. 12 of those came on that ghost forkball,

five on the cutter, four on the fastball, limited the hard contact, and again, obviously, throwing strikes. 66 of his 100 pitches went for strikes, 66% rate, obviously. That was 60% entering the start. So being able to throw strikes did help Senga in this one. Scott, I'll start with you. I don't know how much you can get from Michaelis,

but I mean, Kodai Senga coming off a start like this, I think if you shopped around, you probably could get something pretty good. What do you think about actually doing it, though? I'd be surprised if you got something good, but I'm usually a pessimist as far as trades go because, like, 95% of my offers get rejected, if not more than that, and it just bakes me to ever want to offer trades. But Kodai Senga did some good things in this start. You mentioned zero walks, Frank.

It was only the second time all year. He's had fewer than three walks at a start, which is part of the reason why I don't really think you can get much for him. It was encouraging. What I liked most about it is 20 through that ghost fork, 29% of the time it was responsible for 12 of the 22 whiffs. And the usage has been trending up with that pitch. This was his highest usage since his MLB debut. And normally it's like half of that. So this was 29% it may not sound like much for a pitcher's best pitch,

but it was a lot more than we're used to seeing sing and throw it. And if that continues... You're lagging up a little bit. So hop out and then jump back in and we'll get your finished thoughts there on code I singa. Chris, same question to you. I don't know if you can actually get anything for Miles Michaelis right now. But what are your thoughts on, I guess, trying to shop around on either of those names? Yeah, I've been doing some Google searching because I feel like Miles Michaelis actual legal name might be,

I don't know if this is sustainable for Miles Michaelis. Because that seems to be how we refer to him every time we talk about him. Yeah, look, he is one of those players who does not do the things that we typically associate with good pitchers. He doesn't get strikeouts. He's got good control. That's the one thing he's really got going for him. But he's not even a great ground ball pitcher. He's like 45% 39% this season.

Yeah, I think the likeliest outcome for Miles Michaelis is his ERA's north of four moving forward. but he has outperformed his expected ERA every season so far, five straight years now. So, you know, if I think he's a 4-2 ERA pitcher and he has a 3-8 ERA the rest of the way, that seems in keeping with Miles Michaelis's track record. So I think that's reasonable. Scott, your wrapped up thoughts here on Kodai Tinga? Do I sound like a robot now? Robot, Scott.

Beep, boot, beep, boop. Okay, Kodi Senga. What was I saying about him? Oh, yeah. Like, if he keeps throwing the ghost fork as often as he did in this start, maybe there's room for him to improve. But I expect we're going to see a lot of walks from him still moving forward. And, yeah, I still think he's pretty volatile.

Chop them if you want, but don't hold your breath. There was someone we talked about yesterday. who I said felt like a random number generator. And I think it's a similar situation where it was like, when he's not walking a ton of people, he's really good, but there's no, Hunter Green.

That's what I was talking about. Not really a walk thing, more of a quality of contact thing, but it's like, was there any sign that Kodi-Senga was going to have this kind of start based on his most recent start? And it's like, not really.

He had the one start a couple starts ago, where I think he had 12, strikeouts, but three walks. He had five walks in his most recent start. Then he goes out, zero walks here. So it's like there's just no, there doesn't seem to be any pattern. Well, there's actually one pattern. I don't know if you mentioned it, but like 120 ERA at home, north of six on the road. I don't know. Something about the water in New York makes for good bagels. Maybe it makes for good Kodaisanga. I think that's probably just random. But that's the, that's the one pattern so far.

All right, let's get into Cedric Mullins who went on the IL with a grade to right groin strain. The team is hoping that he's out weeks instead of months, but even just saying something like that sounds kind of ominous. They signed Aaron Hicks to a one-year deal to help with the absence of Cedric Mullins in the meantime. And I think if Colton Couser was completely healthy in the minors right now, he's on the IL, probably would be due for a promotion right now. But that is not the case. And obviously, this is a big loss for Fantasy Mullins is currently the... the fifth best outfielder in head-to-head points leagues, the seventh best in Roto.

And if we're looking at the waiver wire to help us out, Brian Dela-Cruz had a big game again on Tuesday. He went three-for-four with his seventh home run, added two runs and three RBI. He had three hard hits in that game, and just having a much better may overall, hitting the ball hard, he lowered the strikeout rate.

He is 55% rostered. The other names that stood out to me, Chris, I'll throw this year way. Marcel Ozuna, he's up to 51% roster. He's the second most added outfielder on CBS. And Jake McCarthy, look, if you needed Mullen's for speed, McCarthy might be like the closest to his, I don't know, skill set, I guess. Back-to-back games with multiple seals for Jake McCarthy.

He is up to 39% rostered. Your thoughts on those three. Brian Dela Cruz, Marcel O'Suna, Jake McCarthy. I mean, Brian Dela Cruz, we liked as a sleeper slash breakout candidate coming into the season. So I don't, yeah, I don't hate the, the idea of him as your option. The problem is, you know, we liked him because he was putting up these really, really impressive expected stats last season.

The quality of contact metrics were really, really good. Quality of contact metrics have been okay this year. 91 mile per hour average. X of velocity is very good, but not elevating the ball, striking out a little bit too much. Quality of expected stats, not quite as impressive, but I, I certainly think he's a better hitter than Jake McCarthy. So if that's what you're looking for in a points league, I think I'd rather have Brian Dele-Cruz. He also hit lead-off today for the first time all season, which, you know,

we always like to see that, especially in a points league that's just going to mean an extra plate appearance every day, if that sustains. And as for Jake McCarthy, I think he's just a speed specialist, but, you know, that's fine. He's going to give you that. I think, like, let me see, Jared Duran is still like 48% roster. I know he's been really bad in the month of May, strikeout rate almost at 40%. so that's concerning, but he has that power speed potential. And Owen Miller, you know, he is outfield eligible in CBS Sports.com leagues. He's batting second when he's in the lineup.

And he's given you a little bit of power and a little bit of speed so far. So I think those are some names. Those are some names. There's not much that says what Owen Miller is doing is sustainable. He does make a lot of contact and hits in a pretty good ballpark in Milwaukee. but yeah, I think he's more so for deeper leagues out there. It might just come down to what you need. Again, McCarthy for speed, Ozuna for some power.

Brian D. LaCruz, probably like a combination of some batting average and power as well. But those are three names for Cedric Mullins. Scott, I want to talk to you about an aggressive, I would say aggressive prospect promotion by the Braves here, something that has worked in the past for them. They promoted pitching prospect, A.J. Smith Chauver with Lucas Lutkey designated for assignment, and he's only 20 years old. He made three starts at high A, two starts at AA,

and then two starts at AAA, and boom. Now he's in the majors, and he's been great in the minors, but the expectation, for now at least, is that he's going to pitch out of the bullpen. What are your thoughts on Smith Chauver and if we should be adding him in any leagues? Well, it would have to be a pretty deep league

to speculate on the chances of him joining the rotation sooner than later. As you point out, It seems like a multi-inning relief situation right now. But his whole situation, AJ Smith-Shawver, is a little reminiscent of Spencer Strider. They played him a little slower, the Braves with Strider. They did this rapid rise through the whole organization over the span of a full year rather than just a couple months. But, you know, he moved up the ladder very quickly.

And then when he got to the majors, it was more like a multi-inning reliever with the expectation. Okay, if that goes well, maybe we'll move him in the rotation. They did last May, and the rest is history. It's hard to imagine we're going to get a strider outcome from Smith Schaver. I'm not saying we will, but his fastball does have very good characteristics for the modern game. It gets a lot of whiffs itself. He has a good swing and a slidder. Clearly, the stuff is exciting enough for them to move him that quickly.

for them to say, okay, this is already a major league caliber arm. Let's make sure he hits all the stops, and we get A.J. Smith-Schauver up here to help sooner than later. I would say the biggest reason for his rise this year, as opposed to us not really talking about him coming into the year, big improvement in control. It's not like he's a great control pitcher now, but he was just a disaster with that last year.

He was learning to pitch late in the game, his senior year of high school, and basically just chucked it as hard as he could and had nothing more than that fastball, didn't really know where I was going. And he made the biggest stride of developing pitcher can make. And that's what allowed him to get to the majors all of a sudden. So keep an eye on it. But I wouldn't be adding A.J. Smith-Schauver yet. It's more of a monitor situation.

And, you know, hopefully he proves. that he deserves some starts. AJ Smith-Schaver, 12% roster for now. I mostly agree, Scott. I think maybe in those 15-team rotos, if you have a roster spot to bench with, you just want to kind of stash him and see if he earns an opportunity to start

because, as you mentioned, it is eerily similar to what happened with Strider last year where he started off in the bullpen. The next thing you know, he's starting, and he's amazing. I don't think that will necessarily happen exactly the same way, but yeah, just the name there to speculate on again,

AJ Smith-Shawver. Some news and notes, Eduardo Rodriguez was placed on the aisle with a pulley rupture in his left index finger. Never heard of it, but sounds not great. He'll be shut down for seven to ten days before being re-evaluated. Manny Machado.

I'd say it's a predominantly seen in rock climbers from what I understand. And it's it's the part of your finger that keeps your tendon attached to the bone. I've never, I think I saw one instance of this in Major League Baseball. So yeah, it's sort of impossible to know what to expect here. Weird. All right.

Mani Machado went through a full pregame workout on Tuesday. The expectation is that he won't be activated until they return to San Diego. The Padres start a homestand this Friday. Jacob de Grom will throw another bullpen on Wednesday and will be re-evaluated once the Rangers return from their current road trip. Cody Bellinger hit in the cage and through on Tuesday. He's been on the aisle since May 19th with a left knee contusion. Julio Arias threw a 15-pitch bullpen and the plan moving forward will be to throw off the mound Saturday and then a simulated game a few days after that.

Apparently, Xander Bogart's has been playing through a lingering wrist issue, which would explain why his numbers are awful in the month of May. Harrison Bader was placed on the aisle with a right hamstring injury. he fits in perfectly with the Yankees. You're an outfielder and you get hurt. Perfect fit. Yeah, he really has struggled to stay healthy in his career, but he was having a fine season before this.

Gavin Stone has been optioned back to AAA. It sounds like Michael Grove will start for the Dodgers this weekend. Michael Conforto is day-to-day after leaving with a bruise on his left heel. Riley Green left with lower leg discomfort. The MRI on Pete Fairbanks's hip revealed no structural damage. Jason Adam will take over as closer with Fairbanks on the IL. Willie Adomis went through a light workout in Milwaukee. It was his first time working out of any kind since suffering that concussion.

He's unlikely to return this week. A.J. Puck began a rehab assignment at AA and could be back as soon as this weekend. And boy, do the Marlins need him. Dylan Floreau has fallen apart lately. Yeah. Entered in a tie game on Tuesday and allowed five runs. So not great. Jose Alvarado is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Wednesday.

He's been on the aisle since May 10th due to elbow inflammation. T.J. Friedel exited with left hamstring tightness. Trevor Rogers started a rehab assignment at Single A on Tuesday. He threw four shutout innings with seven strikeouts and is 47% rostered. Scott, would you be looking to stash Trevor Rogers if you have a spot available? It's not an especially high priority. I don't have a lot of faith in him as a pitcher at this point.

probably just doing it if I have a free IL spot or glaring pitching needs and just hoping to get lucky with him. Terrick Scouble is expected to begin a rehab assignment shortly and we'll make four to five starts which means he's probably about a month away. Chris, same question for Terrick Scubel. Are you interested in stashing him?

He actually kind of broke out last year and was serviceable. Yeah, he was showing some interesting skills last season. I have him stashed in one league where we have five IL spots and it's just not enough because I've got Dustin May taking up a bench spot. So we'll see what happens with Terrick Scouble. He's probably still, what, a month away? So I've got him stashed, but push comes to shove.

I would drop him. I think I would drop him instead of Dustin May, even though there's a decent chance. Dustin May just doesn't pitch again this season. So I don't know. We'll see. Who would you rather stash between Scouble and Rogers.

I would rather have Rogers. I think he's the more talented pitcher. All right. Matt Beirling was placed in the aisle with lower backsorness. Jesse Winker on the aisle with a cervical strain retroactive to May 28th.

Aaron Savali will make his return from the aisle and start this Friday against the Twins. He's been out since early April with a left oblique strain. Seems like Calquantral is the one that will lose his job when Tristan McKenzie comes back

because he got destroyed on Tuesday. Josh Donaldson is on track to return this weekend. Any interest in him? 11% rostered. No. Yeah, no. Yeah, I don't think so either.

Let's take our final break, and when we return, we'll fire up the dropometer here on fantasy baseball today. Let's fire up the dropometer. We'll start things off with Jorge Mateo, who, frankly, has done the exact opposite of his teammate,

Anthony Santander, who had an awesome May, and now Mateo has been awful. He's batting 122 in the month, zero homers, five steals, a 2.95 OPS. He's more than doubled his strikeout rate from April to May. Hard contact is way down as well.

Scott Mateo is down to 75% rostered. Where is he on the dropometer? Let's think about this. So in Roto, it's probably very different Roto versus head-to-head. Obviously, a lot more of minus spots to fill in Roto and stolen bases are more of a requirement. so I will put Jorge Mateo at about a 4 for Roto and about a 8 or 9

for head-to-head points. How does that sound? I feel like a fool for buying into him and his awesome April. The strikeout rate was so much better. But in the end, Jorge Mateo is who he thought he was. This is what happens. People are like, Scott's always a downer

telling us this good player is actually bad. That's why it's so frustrating. It's like every time we're down on a player, every time a player's playing well and we say, yeah, but it's not going to last. I want to be wrong. I think it would be great if every single baseball player was a superstar. I mean, it brings up questions about can you be a superstar if everyone is a superstar?

But you know what I mean. I don't want any player to struggle. and I feel bad when we say someone will. But like, we're not dummies, you know? I don't know, Chris. At least you guys aren't. I am. The internet would tell you differently.

But it's like, this is, yes, it was possible that Jorge Mateo's April was the start of him figuring something out. Remember, he was a top prospect at one point, but like the likeliest outcome was always this. that he turned back into what he's always been because larger sample sizes are more predictive. Sorry. Would you guys be okay dropping him for either or both of Royce Lewis and Matt McLean? Absolutely.

Unless I just absolutely am desperate to make up ground and steals and if I have Jorge Mateo already, I'm probably not. I'd drop him to stash Ellie de la Cruz. Yeah, I mean, it depends who you have to plug in it. I know even in the 12th team wrote leagues I'm in. It's hard to fill that middle infield spot sometimes and I'd rather not have to put

like Orlando Arcia there if I don't have to. But in the shallower the league, the more justified bull dropping Mateo for De La Cruz is. We mentioned the name earlier in the podcast, but in a very different circumstance because Martine Perez was awesome last year, this year. He is not. He was hit hard once again at the Tigers. He allowed six runs over four and two thirds innings. He has a 443 ERA and a 154 whip. He is still 83% rostered. Chris, the dropometer on Martin Perez. Yeah, I don't really know what's happened here.

I mean, his velocity's down a little bit, which maybe that's it. Maybe he just doesn't have much margin for error. But like, his sinker has just been blasted so far. He had a really good sinker last season, four degree average launch angle. It's up to 14 degrees right now. That's just a ton of line drives. That's not what you want. And given the larger sample size of his career,

I tend to think that Martin Perez is probably closer to a 4 plus ERA pitcher than the Siong candidate he was last year. So I think he's probably a five on the drop of meter. Okay. I think it probably should be higher. Yeah, I'd go seven. Yeah, I was thinking it's something like that. But we'll talk about a few names.

I'm trying to temper myself here. There's a more restrained Chris Towers today is trying to make apologies for Bryce Elder. Yeah, I don't know. I kind of like my Chris Towers from the top rope, you know, just like, you know,

elbow drops on everybody, right? Let's do that. We talked about Jaron Duran earlier. He, over his last 14 games, is betting 170 with a 38% strikeout rate. The hard contact has come down. The ground ball rate is now way up,

and he is down to 58% roster. It's got dropometer on Jaron Dore. I'm not taking the fault for this one. I was calling him a cell high. I would say, you know, big difference between five outfielder leagues and three outfielder leagues, of course. Three outfielder leagues, it's a 10.

Yes. Five outfielder leagues is probably more like a five. But we were talking, I think just last week, oh man, Adam Duval's going on a rehab assignment. What do the Red Sox do when he comes back? I think now, Jaron Duran is giving them an answer.

sending him back down is probably how this ends. And would you guys be okay dropping him for any of the outfielder as we mentioned earlier? Brian Dela Cruz, Marcel Ozuna, and Jake McCarthy? Yes. I think that's fine, yeah. The last name here, another outfielder who got off to a great start. Brent Rooker has now set out two straight games for the Oakland A's. He last hit a home run on May 12th and in 16 games since.

He is batting 1.35 with a 36% strikeout rate and a 3.6% strikeout rate and a 3.7. 78 OPS. Chris, this is a lot like Jorge Mateo where, you know, we pick him up. Let's see if he can sustain this kind of breakout month.

And it hasn't happened. What are your thoughts on Brent Rooker? Yeah, I think the strikeout rate is the key thing because when he was running well, he had cut that strikeout rate way down. It was 15 strikeouts and 85 plate appearances in the month of April.

It's been much higher since then. I think Brent Rooker's probably like a six. The quality of contact metrics are still, the stack has page is still very, very impressive. He's still hitting the ball very, very hard. So I don't want to give up entirely, but it looks like he's more like a 30%

strikeout rate guy and the margin for error there is very slim. I wonder if he'll start to only play against lefties too, because the Oakland A's have been so platoon heavy this season as well. So yeah, you look, Rookner against lefties this year, 306 batting average, 1068 OPS,

against Ritey's 241 and a 793. So it's not something that would surprise me if Rooker kind of turns into a short side platoon bat there in Oakland. Let's take a look at some Waverwire pitchers. Would we drop Martin Perez for any of these names? Ben Lively, another impressive start at the Red Sox this time, five and two-thirds shutout with six strikeouts. And that slider, it wasn't as dominant in this start,

but overall on the season, the slider has been a fantastic pitch for Ben Lively. Kyle Hendricks had a solid outing in his second start up against Tampa Bay. Again, another tough matchup. Five innings, one run, three strikeouts, three walks. Obviously, you don't love that. Brandon Belak, strong start up against the twins, five and two thirds, one run allowed. Six strikeouts with 14 swinging strikes on 91 pitches. Scott, any interest in these names, Belak, Hendricks, and Ben lively.

And would you drop Martine Perez for any of them? I think the most interesting, I mean, the most interesting is Hendricks. but I don't know that he's as like if you're going to pick one up right now it would be Ben lively boy I always want to call Blake lively but that is not the same person and has been lively

just because he has a 199 IRA so that's going to attract attention on the waiver wire for sure in a way Kyle Hendricks probably isn't yet now do you does that mean you need to pick up Ben lively I mean I bet against him being a fantasy asset for long He's had amazing control so far, which has led to some pretty good ERA estimators in addition to that 190.8 ERA, 331X-FIP, even lower expected ERA. So that's notable.

I'm going to be the one that says it. I don't think there's anything here. I think this is a total, total flash in the pan. He pitches in a terrible ballpark with bad team confidence. So the Reds are kind of feisty. We're talking about a guy who had a 409 ERA at AAA last season, a 426 ERA in the KBO, which is probably equivalent to like somewhere between double A and AAA in terms of the quality of competition. I just, I don't see anything here. All right.

Well, this next group includes Ranger Suarez, who had his best start of the season at the Mets, six and two thirds who runs loud for. strikeouts in that one. Zach Grinke put together another solid outing. He was at the Cardinals, five shutout with six strikeouts to one walk, and over his last six starts, Zach Rankie has a 2.30 ERA and a 0.83 whip. They are basically not letting him go third time through the order, and it's working so far for Zach Rankie. JP Sears, another solid start up against the Braves, six innings, one run, two strikeouts, but did have 13 swinging strikes on 90 pitches. Chris, any interest in this group J P. Sears at Granky, Ranger Suarez. Ranger Suarez, I think is the most interesting. I would take him over any of the

lively Hendricks or Beelik. Is that how pronounce it? I was B. Lax. I was thought was Bialik. Yeah. Belak. Okay. Um, did I just mispronounce it after you told me how to pronounce it? I think I did. I think so I would take Ranger Suarez over any of them, but that's not like I think I'd still rather have Martin Perez. So not a big fan of any of these guys. Man, I kind of like what JP Sears is doing. It's just his team context is so bad with Oakland. He pitches in a great ballpark, right?

Like, you know, if you're a flyball pitcher in Oakland, it's like you could kind of make it work. And he's getting some swinging trikes, too. So I don't think he's a priority ad. But if you play in a deeper league, I think you could do worse in JP Sears. Zero, zero wins for Sears still for as well as he's pitched of late. Though the Braves have now taken the first two and three games, I'm sorry, the A's have taken the first two and a three-game series against the Braves. Crazy.

And low-scoring games. So, you know, I had the Braves as the second best hitter matchups for this week, mostly because of their series in Oakland. And that's not going to pan out. I don't know. Maybe they'll score 19 runs tomorrow. I don't know. Well, you know, Scott, you probably should account for aces like J.P. Sears when they're on the mound.

I apparently should have, yeah. Not to mention, I forget who started yesterday, but Lucas Urseg through three shutout innings against them. That's not a real basement. It's not a real person. Yeah. I'm pretty sure he plays hockey for the Florida Panthers. Yeah, that's, yeah, he's, he's a third string defenseman.

Yeah, something like that. We spoke about the biggest struggles from Tuesday, Sandy Alcantara, Logan Gilbert. Joe Ryan was also kind of hit hard at the Astros, four innings. Actually, he didn't, by definition, he was not hit hard. He didn't give up a lot of hard contact. But he gave up five runs over four innings pitch. He still had six strikeouts, 13 swinging strikes. And he kind of tweaked the pitch mix in this one.

It was interesting. He lowered his four seam and his splitter usage, which for the majority of the season have been his best pitches. He threw more sliders and sweepers. It's kind of interesting, I guess, to differentiate those two pitches. But Chris, I don't really actually see anything to worry about here with Joe Ryan. But I thought the change in the pitch mix was kind of interesting for him. Yeah, I don't know if it's necessarily a good.

good or a bad thing, but I kind of chalk this one up to bleep happens. And, you know, that's one where I wonder, I don't think we probably have time to go through it, but I do wonder if that was like a, as the game was going on and his results weren't quite as good. Maybe he, you know, starts throwing the sweeper and slider a little bit more to, uh, to, to see if he has a counter to what was going on. So that's, that's my hypothesis. I guess. I think that's possible because his fastball was giving up a lot of hard contact. So yeah, I'm looking through the pitch logs now and it does seem like it's more slider sweeper as he goes on. So yeah, that's not surprising. Okay. Again, that is Joe

Ryan. Let's get into some leftovers here. We'll start with the hitting side of things. Jonah He went two for four with a double and four RBI. He had four hard hit balls in this game, but was slowing down recently. It's got any concern that with me, Mitch Garver getting closer to her return, he kind of eats into Jonah Haim's playing time a little bit? Not that much. I don't think they really trust him behind the plate, nearly as much as Haim, and he's had so much trouble staying on the field since joining the Rangers. I do fear just natural regression coming for Heim,

but I don't think Garver is going to be what causes him to lose fantasy value. Anthony Santander had a huge game when 3-4 with a triple. two doubles, three RBI, and enjoying a great month, batting 344 with six homers and a 1057 OPS in the month of May. Gunner Henderson, two for four with a double and three RBI, three hard hit balls in this game over his last 16 games. Gunner Henderson is batting 280 with three homer, three doubles, two homers, still hitting the ball hard,

still striking out a lot during that time, 34% strikeout rate, so some good, some bad. Juan Soto continues his hot month when two for three with two, Two walks, two RBI, and his sixth seal. We had a few catchers show up here. William Contreras went one for two with two walks and his sixth home run. He's got five homers over his last 15 games. Alejandro Kirk had three hits slowly coming around over his last 11 games.

He's betting 3.38, but not a lot of power. Only two extra base hits during that time. Wander Franco went one for three with a walk and his 20th steel becomes the third player in baseball to 20 steals behind S. Sterea Ruiz and Ronald de Cunia. The race as a team. It's crazy. Are way ahead of it.

Like, clearly they've decided we're taking advantage of this rule. And, you know, that... What that tells me is the way they're succeeding with it is that other teams are going to follow their lead in future seasons. And maybe we'll see stolen bases increase even more after this season, right? That's an organization others like to copycat. Do you guys know what Wander Franco's career high and stolen bases is? Like in the minor leagues as well? At any, at any level.

Yeah, it's probably 20. 20, yes. Yeah, it's crazy. He had 18 in 2019 between A ball and high A. I'm positive that projections didn't have Wander Franco for even 20 steals over a full season, let alone. Not that fast. A third of the season. It's crazy stuff.

He's only 63rd percent down sprint speed. Just so aggressive. The Ray's entered today with 73 steals. Next closest team is the Pirates with 58. Wow. Yeah. I know Taylor Walls has been running wild lately too. Like 15.

I think he's up to like 13 or 14. And what is the most backward thinking organization if you had to pick one? Yes. The Rockies, three different players have more steals than the Rockies so far this season. Yeah, they're dead last with 19 steals. Behind in the times again. Yep. No surprise there.

Corbyn Carroll with a sock and two shoes. He is up to nine homers and 16 steals. He's betting 285 with an 894 OPS as well. Aaron Judge, dude is just red hot right now. One for three with his 18th home run. J.D. Martinez also red hot. Went one for three with his 12th homer of the season. A few pitching leftovers here.

Shane O. Mac. Here comes the money. Here we go. Money talk. Here comes the money. He actually took his first loss, so maybe I shouldn't have it, but he was still okay, I guess. Five and two-thirds.

Two runs allowed, seven strikeouts for him. Zach Gallant, another strong outing up against the Rocky, six shutout with seven strikeouts and 15 swinging strikes. Nessor Cortez was solid at the Mariners, five innings, two runs, six strikeouts of three walks. Did have 14 swinging strikes, but still allowing a lot of hard contact. The walks are up this year, too many fly balls. And it's been, uh,

I think the fifth inning was where he gave up the runs in this one, right? Because I think that's been the issue for him where he's been worse as the game goes on, which is pretty typical. But he gave up two runs in the fifth. Yep. Yeah. So it's like he was doing really well. And it's one of those where it'd be really nice for him to just like leave a start with really good results to like build on moving forward. And it's just like they haven't been able to do it because you can't pull them after four innings, you know.

Yeah, I remember his last outing, too. He gave up, I think it was a three-run homer to Adam Fraser in his sixth inning of work. It was, yeah, completely. I'm looking at his numbers third time through the order this season. Entering Tuesday, 23.76 ERA for Nessor Cortez. That's, yeah, that's not going to cut it. Yeah, it's, and, you know, he's a guy who gets by on guile and deception more than, like, pure stuff. Yeah.

So, you know, maybe it's, maybe there's something. there. Yep. Some bullpen updates for the Mets. They had a two-run lead. Adam Adavino was using the 8th. David Robertson in the 9th. He picked up his 9th save. We spoke about Dylan Floro earlier, being bad. For the Orioles, Yaneer Canoe recorded four outs for his 11th hold, and Felix Bautista pitch a clean ninth for his 14th save. For the Reds, Alexis Diaz got the final two outs for his 13th save. For the Cardinals, I assume Ryan Helsley was unavailable. Here, he pitched on both Saturday and Sunday. He took the loss on Sunday. Giovanni Gallegos gave up a run

but picked up his seventh save. He now has more saves than Ryan Helsley this season. Yeah, it's been a really frustrating situation for people who invested in Ryan Helsley because I do think he is the Cardinals' most trusted reliever. They just don't wait till save situations to deploy him. So often he is unavailable when they do actually get a save situation and it goes to Gallegos instead.

Yeah, Gallegos didn't have a save, had one save through May 8th, the first 36th. games of the season. I believe he has six of their last eight since May 9th. Yeah, kind of messy situation there for the Cardinals. And for the Cubs, Mark Lighter Jr. got the seventh inning with a one-run lead. Adbert Alzalai then pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts and picked up his second save. I feel like the Cubs bullpen is pretty wide open right now. I mean, Mark Lighter Jr., his underlying numbers are actually really, really good this year. But, you know, their usage has kind of been all

over the place. Yeah, and I thought they were leaning strongly toward lighter as the closer, and then they went two weeks without a save chance. They went two weeks without a save chance and hardly used him, which kind of only reinforced the idea. Oh, they must be saving him for the ninth. But then, you know, there have been a couple instances where something like this has happened. Meanwhile, he did get their second to last save, I think.

We just need to see the Cubs get more consistent save chances to really figure out what's going on. And then for the pirates, David Bednar struck out two for his 10th save. Let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream. And on Wednesday, I'm looking at Dane Dunning at the Tigers. James Paxson is going up against the Reds. I think Braxton Garrett against the Padres is okay. That one's at home, right?

Yes. Yeah, I think that one's fine. Jared Schuster at the Oakland A's, I think it's fine. Actually, yeah, Wednesday's pretty good. Alex Wood against the Pirates, I think is okay too. Yeah. I wouldn't mind Louis Varlane at Houston. You didn't say him yet, did you?

No, no, I did not. Yeah, Houston's like... The Astros lineup is waking up with Altuvei, though. Very middle of the road overall, though. I just think Varlane is a quality start machine with pretty good. Pretty good strikeout rates, too. Okay. Well, there you go.

Six names to stream on Wednesday. Guess what? Thursday? Very short slate. Not much going on here. I think the only name that maybe you look at is, Detmer's at Houston, but the way he's pitched with how the Astros lineup is kind of picking it up, but I don't feel great about it.

Yeah, that's fair. I think I like Varland at Houston more than Deadmer's at Houston. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the way both of them have pitched, I think that's fair to say. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks, as always, for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Thank you.