Fantasy Baseball Today - September Offense, Prospect Updates & Grade the Season (9/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 14, 2022

Merrill Kelly has slowed down recently (1:00). Is it because offense is up in September? ... Ryne Nelson has been very impressive in his first two starts (7:40). ... Joe Ryan hurled seven no-hit innings and Framber Valdez threw a shutout (10:55). ... Is Trevor Rogers back (13:30)? Can we trust Cubs pitchers with good matchups? ... Oscar Gonzalez has played really well over the past few months (20:40). ... News (28:05): we have updates on Verlander, Wheeler, Scherzer and more. ... Let's check in on what Gunnar Henderson, Triston Casas and other prospects have done (37:15). ... Grade the season: Bryan Reynolds, Carlos Correa, Ian Happ and Tommy Edman (45:20). ... We wrap with leftovers, bullpens, and streamers (50:10). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, September 14th. Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we had a near-no-no for Joja.

Joe Ryan, that is. Checking in on some prospects, how are they doing in the majors? We'll do a few grade the seasons for some hitters and much more. But let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious. Oh, my goodness gracious. Scotty, we've had a lot happen in the past two days. Where are you going?

Oh, yeah. I didn't even think to check Monday for, oh my goodness gracious. Hmm. Oh, well, I'm locked in now and I'm locked in with, with Farrell Merrill, Farrell Merrill Kelly, who had a wild performance as Farrell ones tend to

against the Dodgers here on Tuesday allowed three run runs in five innings, walked five, that's really out of character for Farrell Merle. And eight strikeouts, which is fine, allowed two home. home runs. So yeah, the walks, like I said, out of character. And I don't really, I'm not that

concerned about them for Merrill Kelly. He was facing the Dodgers. Okay, obviously their lineup is redonk. So it's not surprising that he had a shaky start against them. But this is now one quality start and four for Merrill Kelly. He's kind of sputtering here at the end after a season of of overachieving greatly. And so I was, you know, kind of looking into the underlying stats for Merrill Kelly like I haven't in a while. And noticed,

you know, the biggest difference between this year and last year, it's not strikeout rate, it's not walk rate, it's not how hard he gets hit, it's just home run rate. And that's even with a similar fly ball rate. It's just home runs.

He's allowed fewer home runs this year. In a year, you know, we're talking about it all the time, how home runs are down, dead in baseball, and all of that. So that got me thinking, how are things shaping up across the league in September as far as home runs go? And so I pulled up the whole month by month home run to fly ball rate. Looked at those again. Okay, so in April, remember, disastrous, 10% home run to fly ball rate, awful. in May, 11.4%.

Okay, we're going up. That's a big jump. And it's usual for that to increase as the months get warmer. In June, 12.3%. Okay, that's pretty high. Have we peaked? Have we peaked yet for the season? In July, 11.5%.

Okay, back down. Again, maybe we did peak in June there. In August, 11% continuing to go down. That's even lower than May, actually, August was. And then here in Sunday. September 12.8% for home run to fly ball rate. The most homerie homering homery month of all has been September. And I know that's going to bring out the conspiracy theorists. Are they switching out the ball again? You know, we got a home run, high profile home run chase going on. When there's a loss of faith in institutions, the conspiracy theorists.

run rampant. So that's, you know, that's neither here nor there. I think most likely it's just been a really hot month of September. It's been like the peak of summer has been here in September a week away from fall, basically in many parts of the country, like California included. You know, we've talked about Oakland looking like a launching pad lately. So that's all I think it is. And no conspiracy theory. But I bring it up because Kelly has allowed 15 home runs this. season, six of them have come during that four-start stretch where he's been shaky. So he's looked more like last year's Merrill Kelly all of a sudden because the environment has looked more like last years in terms of how many balls are leaving the park.

So that's just something to think about. I mean, obviously things, it could start to look not like summer very suddenly. And then maybe Merrill Kelly's a great start again. And I'm not saying you bench him or anything. but it's just something to keep in mind. The next question, Scott, is how do we feel about Merrill Kelly's upcoming matchups? Because it looks like he will get the Padres this weekend. So if you play in a weekly league, you're already locked in.

But then his next two are both against the Giants, which they've slowed down quite a bit. I think we're okay kind of leaving Merrill Kelly in for those. What do you think? Against the Giants and who is the other one? Both two against the Giants. Yeah, I'd lean yes on that. Sure. I agree. And I'm happy you brought that up because I saw a Bo Bichette home run on Monday, which was a great in-game sequence where earlier in the game he got like hit on the helmet with a pitch and he was like super frustrated. He threw his bat down. And then later on in the game he hits his clutch home run clutch go ahead home run. Nonetheless, it looked like he just flicked his bat on it, Scott. Like any other hitter, I don't know if it's just like a Boba-Shett thing, but it just seems.

seemed like it was a routine fly ball and it just kept going and kept going. So I had the same idea. I was like, we haven't looked into this in a while. Let's look at offense in September. So I'm happy you brought that up with the home runs of fly ball ratio. Slugging percentage is also at 411, which is the highest of any month this season. 1.24 home runs per 9 for pitchers is the highest of any month this season. So I think that all just kind of backs up your thesis there. It seems like a lot of hitters are really hot. now, right? I mean, Bo Bichette, chief among them, but also Zander Bogartz, has hit four home runs in his past 17 games. He has only 14 home runs all season, four have come in his last 17 games. Oloi Jimenez is

ridiculously hot. Those are the only two examples I can provide at the moment, but it does seem like a lot of hitters are hot right now. Well, what about Aaron Judge? He hit two more home runs here on Tuesday. A double tongue brings him to 257 home runs. Now four away from Roger Maris's 61 with 20 games left to play in this season. You know, knock on wood, stay healthy, Aaron Judge, but I feel pretty good about him. At least matching that record, we'll see if he can break it. Last point on Merrill Kelly, he has made four starts against the Giants this season.

He has a 1.27 ERA, and I started him over Alex Cobb in a very important home league head-to-head playoff matchup, and I feel sick to my stomach, Scott, because Alex Cobb was awesome on Monday, and don't feel great about that. But from one Diamondbacks pitcher to another, my oh my goodness gracious player actually comes from Monday's action. And it's Ryan Nelson with the Diamondbacks, one of their prospects who was not having a good season in the minors at all. But now he has made two very impressive starts at the major league level. He was up against the Dodgers where he went six shutout with six strikeouts.

He had 13 swinging strikes on 81 pitches. Nine of those coming on his fastball. And he threw that fastball 69% in the start. really just leaning heavily into that pitch. Average is around 95 miles per hour on that fastball. And now over his first two starts, Ryan Nelson has thrown 13 shutout innings with 13 strikeouts.

So just two walks. He has given up a lot of fly balls so far, 56%. So based on this environment now in September that we're talking about, maybe that's not the best thing. But he's looked very good and he's widely available. 18% rostered next two starts against the Padres and Dodgers,

the first two teams that he's already. face. So don't really love that part of it, Scott, but he's looked really, really good. What do you think about Ryan Nelson? Yeah, I'd be reluctant to trust him with those matchups, too, but he has far and away exceeded my expectations. I mean, you wouldn't expect a guy who struggled this much in terms of limiting runs in the minors, both at AA and AAA.

Now, I will point out, double A and AAA for the diamondbacks are extremely hitter-friendly, and I pointed that out when Alec Alec I'm forgetting his last name it's not Alec Minoa it's Alec Sammas no the outfielder for the Diamondbacks Alec Thomas

yeah Alex Thomas he said Samas okay yeah Thomas when Alec Thomas got called up I pointed out that those were hitter friendly because the power production was pretty impressive for him in the and it hasn't been in the majors. And so maybe Ryan Nelson was just a victim of that.

The fact that he's done it against San Diego and the Dodgers, I mean, plenty of swinging strikes, throwing plenty of strikes. You know, between the two starts, he's issued how many walks? He's issued two walks, yeah. So it's just that those matchups coming up, especially since it's teams that are going to be seeing him for a second time,

that makes me nervous. So I think timing is not on Ryan Nelson's side here as the season winds down. But if we're talking about scouting him for next year, I mean, if you just watch him pitch,

it looks like he has one of those fastballs that, you know, it's not just there to get him a free called strike. You know, like it's a overpowering. pitching its own right. Right. Yeah. So I agree. I think he's probably more of a deeper league ad at this point. It's, you know, if you play in the 12 team standard league, I don't know that you

want to or even need to trust Ryan Nelson, but you're right. If you play in a dynasty league, I would say, you know, you got a spot available, pick him up. Let's see where this goes. Or if you already have him in a dynasty league, let's see what he does. Let's see how he finishes out the season. And maybe he's someone we're drafting next year as well. Some honorable mentions at, oh my goodness gracious, two huge pitching performances the past two days. Joe Ryan through seven no-hit innings against the he was going up against

Kansas City. Kansas City. I'll help you out this time. Great matchup there for Joe Ryan, who if you listen to Scott, he said leave Joe Ryan in your lineups this week for two starts, so I hope you did that. But a little bit surprising. They pull him after seven with the no-hitter

intact, and he was at 106 pitches. 110 is his career high. So I kind of see both sides. But anyway, he had nine strikeouts in this one. 13 swinging strikes and the velocity way up. It was up a mile per hour on his fastball, three and a half miles per hour on his curveball. So I haven't looked into that to see if maybe he's doing that consciously.

Maybe it's kind of a new, harder curveball that he's throwing, but that is just... The changeup was up three miles per hour too. So his second and third pitch is velocity, significant increase in this start. And yeah, I don't... I'd like to hear the story behind that.

You know, we're so close to the game ending that there are no quotes to cite yet. But I'm curious what happened there with Joe Ryan. Is it something he can continue? And he did do something differently just in terms of his pitch mix. He threw his curveball 18% in the start, and that was just 6% entering this one. It hadn't been a good pitch for him all season, 3.81 batting average against, but it was something different. So we'll read more into that curveball.

and see maybe he's doing something consciously different there. That is Joe Ryan. Awesome start here on Tuesday. And then Framber Valdez on Monday. He makes it 24 straight quality starts. This one in style. At the Tigers, a six hit, complete game shutout, one walk allowed, eight strikeouts,

with 16 swinging strikes on 107 pitches. Someone asked me on Twitter, Scott, why isn't Framber Valdez getting Syung recognition? And I didn't really have a good reason. I mean, I guess outside of the obvious, Justin Verlander and Shane. McClannahan have also been amazing, but Dylan cease. Yeah, Dylan Cease too.

But, you know, Valdez is the one who's provided the most volume of all those guys, and he's been really, really consistent soon. Yeah, he's not going to be the Cy Young, but he's, you know, they're in a different year, maybe. Yeah, no, he's, that a great season. He's, you know, I've got, I have no complaints about Framber Valdez. No complaints whatsoever. Both him and Joe Ryan past few days have been awesome.

Let's take a look at some waiver wire. pitchers. We mentioned Ryan Nelson and we'll compare him to a few of these names. Trevor Rogers feels like we talk about him every start out because we want to see something. We want to see if he can get back to the pitcher he was last year. And for the most part, he has looked like that pitcher. So he was strong once again on Monday. Six and a third, two runs allowed, nine strikeouts to two walks against the Texas Rangers. He had 18 swinging strikes on 89 pitches and he faded his slider and basically just focused on fastball, change in this one.

Now three starts since returning, Trevor Rogers, 2.98 ERA, 22 strikeouts, over 18 and a third, and he's 74% roster. So moving up there and could be out there

in some shallower leagues, but just comparing him to a few other names, Scott, John Gray made his return at the Marlins on the other side, and he went three and two thirds, one unearned run

with five strikeouts. He's had a good season whenever he's pitched, but, you know, has kind of been banged up here. And then Billy Falter, another solid outing at the Marlins.

as well. He went six endings, one run, four strikeouts, and in five starts since rejoining the Phillies rotation, 2.47 ERA for Bailey Falter. A lot of really good matchups in there. And it sounds like he will make another start this weekend, Zach Wheeler. I don't think we'll be ready yet. But after that, I don't know what happens with Bailey Falter. So I guess rank these three, Scott. I'm talking too much. Trevor Rogers, John Gray, and Bailey Falter. I think he just ranked them. I think he just did. This was the start for Rogers that the one I was waiting for, the one that really wowed me. Because, yeah, the first two starts off the IEL were the best two he's had all season, but that's not saying much looking at his season game log.

This was a pretty tough matchup against the Rangers, and it was clearly the most whiffs he's gotten in a game since returning, and the fastball and change up both had eight. So that was good to see. So now, yeah, I mean, his best three starts have been since coming back from the IL. And remember, his final rehab start was ridiculous. So I think Trevor Rogers looks like he's back to form. John Gray, I'd have a lot more faith in him if he wasn't building up on the fly here.

Of course, just three and two-thirds innings in his return. He looked great. But it has to continue that build-up, obviously. And then Falter, he may just have the one start left, and it's against the Braves. So probably, if you can help it, probably not going to use him. Would you take Ryan Nelson over any of those names? No. Well, maybe Falter, but not Rogers or Gray.

Okay, and would you drop Red Demmers for any of those names? Over his last four starts, he has a 5.68 ERA, 1.89 whip. The walks have been a real issue for him. he is down to 68% rostered and his next two starts are at the Rangers versus the A's. So some okay matchups here, Scott. Would you drop Detmer's for any of Rogers,

John Gray, Falter, Ryan Nelson? Yeah, I mean, it's just been so long since we've seen a good start from Debtmers. I think his return from the miners has been a net positive and is going to make him draftable heading into next year. but where we are right now,

I mean, this matchup against Cleveland was supposed to be great. Second worst lineup against left-handed pitchers, and, you know, it was this third start and four, allowing four earned runs. So Demmers is gone, give me Rogers or John Gray instead. Okay, a few other waiver-wire names here. Two Chicago Cubs, actually. Adrian Samson out-duled Jacob deGrom.

What is going on? That's baseball. Susan. Six shutout endings for him. He had three strikeouts to four walks. He continues to walk this tightrope. I don't really know how Adrian Samson is doing it. His velocity was down in the start.

Nonetheless, he's having a solid season. 3.48 ERA. Doesn't get many strikeouts, doesn't get many ground balls, doesn't get many whiffs. 4% rostered. So why am I talking up Adrian Samson? Well, it looks like he's on track for two starts next week at the Marlins and at the Pirates.

That is just prime streamer. territory. I don't know if we trust Adrian Samson enough, but those matchups are amazing. And the same thing could be said for his teammate, Javier Assad, who had a strong start on Monday at the Mets. He went six innings, one run, six strikeouts and that one. His ERA is down to

2.53. It's pretty fluky. Don't trust it. His whip is 1.41. He's up against the Rockies this weekend and then at the Pirates next week. So we've got two Cubs here, Scott, with presumably really, really good matchups. But do you trust them enough? No.

If it's a situation like we do in a lot of our head-to-head leagues where it's a two-week scoring period and you can set your lineup each week like usual, you know, you'll go into the second week knowing how far behind you are. And maybe it'll justify you just throwing as much volume as you can at your opponent and using a guy like Adrian Sampson might make sense. But that's the only thing I could see. I mean, I guess in a roto league, depending on what categories you're looking to catch up in. But Samson and, you know, usually you think of two-star pitchers helping you in strikeouts. I don't think that's necessarily going to be the case for Samson and Assad. It's just you're hoping to get wins from them. So probably not.

Well, if there are any two teams that the Cubs might be able to beat, it is the Marlins and the Pirates. So I think in a points league, again, like if you need volume, if you're chasing it, If Samson actually has those matchups, that is really, really enticing for next week. Anything on this Pirates pitching prospect, Scott, Luis Ortiz, believe he was just called up for this double header here on Tuesday.

A borderline top 30 prospect in their organization, he had a great debut. At the Reds, 5 and 2 3rd shutout, just one hit allowed, three walks, five strikeouts, 11 swinging strikes on 83 pitches. He averaged 99 miles per hour on his fastball. This season in the minors, not great numbers,

a strikeout per ending is good, but 4.56 ERA. Anything on him, Scott? Maybe Adam in a deeper dynasty league or just pay attention there. Luis Ortiz is the name. Yeah, maybe. I think there's some ability here. You're right that the minor league ERA was high, but in the minors this year,

Luis Ortiz had 36% of his pitches for strikes. You like to see that. He had a 14% swinging strike rate. You'd like to see that. And it looks like the stuff. rates pretty well. His last start at AAA, six no hit innings with nine strikeouts. So there seems to be ability here for Luis Ortiz.

It's not a high priority to add him even in Dynasty leagues, but somebody to keep an eye on. I could see him developing into something. All right. Let's slide over to some waiver wire hitters. Stick with the pirates here. Cabrion Hayes showing a little bit the past two days. Scott, I know he's mostly been a disappointment this season, but he's got four hits with a home run and two steals over the past two days. He's 73% rostered.

They got six games next week. Overall, I don't think I'm looking to add him unless you're chasing steals in a categories league. 17 steals from a third baseman. That is pretty valuable. He just doesn't really offer anything else. Yeah, on the way stolen bases work, I mean, who knows? He could get two more tomorrow.

He could get one more the rest of the season. You know, so it's, I, you know, if you're chasing steals, then you got to do what you can. I understand. But I agree that Brian Hayes is not somebody that everybody should be looking to add right now. Oscar Gonzalez, outfielder for the Guardian, stays hot here on Tuesday. He went two for four with his eighth home run. And in 37 games since returning from the IL, he is hitting 297, six homers, 20 RBI.

Not hitting the ball as hard as earlier in the season, but he's putting it in the air more, which I think is an okay tradeoff. Obviously, we'd like to see him do both of those things, hit it hard and hit it in the air. But he's 43% rostered. He's got seven games next week. Scott, we talk about Oscar Gonzalez a lot.

It just seems like the roster percentage is climbing too slowly. Would you, a few names that I noticed have really slowed down over the past month. Would you drop any of JD Martinez, Jorickson Profar, Andrew Vaughn, to pick up Oscar Gonzalez. A profile, I'd be fine dropping him.

JD Martinez probably as well that that might be matchup dependent. I'd be more reluctant on Andrew Vaughn. I think he's the most impactful bat of those three. So I'm just checking real quick to see what the matchups look like for Gonzales. Next week, you mentioned seven games.

It's got the Rangers at the end of the week, So those are going to be some pretty favorable matchups. White Sox early on, those could be tough. It just depends who the exact pitchers are. But certainly in five outfielder leagues, if Oscar Gonzalez isn't rostered already, he needs to be. I can envision some five outfielder leagues, him still being available, 43% rostered.

Yeah, I think it's possible, yeah. Just to see on CBS who they have projected for those pitching matchups, Sunny Gray, Dylan, Seas, Gileito, Lance Lynn. So, yeah, Cese and Lynn, obviously you don't like to see that. Gialito, not really worried about. And then the Rangers.

So kind of a mixed bag in terms of matchups for Oscar Gonzalez next week. Some deep league names here. Jonathan Aranda, someone we've mentioned a few times, has had a really good season in the minors for Tampa Bay, and he has now started four straight games for them, Brandon Lau, back on the IL. So I think he's going to get some playing time here.

He went two for seven across the doubleheader with his first career home run. He is hitting the ball hard. 92.2 mile per hour average exit velocity, but a lot of it on the ground. 57% ground ball rate. He is 4% rostered, 7 games next week. That is Jonathan Aranda.

Aristides Aquino, the Punisher. He's kind of back. 11th September games, he's hitting 297 with four home runs and an OPS over 1,000. 95 mile per hour average exit velocity. Just crushing the ball right now. And his strikeout rate is manageable. 4% during that time.

One other name here, Mark Matthias. He plays for the Rangers, and he went 3 for 5 with a double dong on Tuesday, including a walkoff home run. 20 games now he has played with them. He's hitting 298, 5 homers, 2 steals, and a 98-83 Ops. 28-year-old journeyman type, but he was playing very well in the minors this season. Scott, obviously very deep leagues here, but

do you like maybe adding Jonathan Arronda, Aristides Aquino, or Mark Matthias in some of those? leagues. If you're chasing home runs, and again, we are talking about deep leagues. We're not talking about standard 12 teamers. If you're chasing home runs, then Aquino's playing enough that he might be somebody looking to, thinking like 15-team, five outfielder league, something like that. Aranda, it's going to come down to how much he plays.

He was a great hitter in the minors, and Rates, pretty well as a prospect, somebody who profiles to hit for average more than power, but not a zero for power. And because he's left-handed, I'm skeptical the Braves will play him as often as they need to play him for him to matter in 12-team leagues. But he's a player with ability. Okay. Again, that is Jonathan Aronda, and he has seven games next week. Obviously, things can change. they always do. But just forecasting next week, it looks like all seven are against right-handed pitching.

So that bodes very well for Jonathan Aronda if you are looking for a middle or corner infielder. He has first base and second base eligibility on CBS. So just a name to look out. Some tough matchups going against the Astros and Blue Jays, though. But yeah, we'll see how the rest of his week goes and maybe he'll maybe he'll be someone worth looking into.

All right. Before we hit the break, just want to remind everyone to drop a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen, if you can help us out. We obviously do appreciate it

quite a bit. Somebody recently left us a one-star rating, Scott. If that's your opinion, you're entitled to it, obviously, like, it doesn't matter that much. But they were kind of complaining

about the oh my goodness gracious soundbite, but then they ended the review with Keep Up the Good Show's. So I was just so confused. is like, do you not like the show? Do you like the show? Anyway, to whoever left that rating, if you're listening right now,

these star ratings actually matter quite a bit. So if you were just joking, please feel free to change that back to a five-star rating because that would be great, and it goes a long way. Let's take a break, and when we return, we'll get to the news and notes here on fantasy baseball today. The news and notes, Justin Verlander played catch on Monday and is eyeing a return against the A's this weekend.

So obviously... So do we just see Hunter Brown's last start? That's what I'm wondering. Yeah, I don't know. And we'll get to Hunter Brown a little bit, but he looked pretty damn good once again against the Detroit Tigers. So it's a fair question.

I guess they could move Christian Javier back to the bullpen as well, but my early guess is that it will be Hunter Brown. Shane McClainan is indeed a likely to return on Thursday against the Blue Jays. Let's say you play in a daily lineup league, Scott. Are you okay just throwing them back in there? Oh, yeah.

I mean, a pitcher that good. Yeah. There was no rehab assignment, right? Not that I'm aware of now. I haven't seen one. That's a tough call. Because it's, I'd be some... Yeah, I think I'd throw him in there

in the hopes he eked out five innings and was able to get you a win. Yeah, it's... If you have any kind of start limit and you have other names that you like, obviously, I would look to bench him. For example, one of my buddies texted me. He said he only has like six starts left for the rest of the week.

And he had some pretty good options. So I told him, just don't play McClanahan. He's probably not going to go more than four or five innings. So just, you know, it depends on your situation if you play in a daily lineup league. Zach Wheeler threw a bullpen session on Tuesday and will throw again on Friday. So that again leads me to believe that he will not be pitching this weekend. He could rejoin the Phillies rotation next week. So Bailey Falters two-star week looks to be safe.

He will face the Braves later on this weekend. Max Scherzer is targeting a return when first eligible on September 19th, which is next Monday, and I believe that means he will be a two-star pitcher. So that's good news. Tony Gonsolin wasn't able to throw at full intensity during his bullpen session on Sunday, but he will try again on Wednesday. The Dodgers are still optimistic that Gonsolin will return this season. Ozzy Elbies went five for five with a walk-off homer in a rehab game at AAA Tuesday night,

he is getting closer to return. Scott, have you seen anything definitive on what they're going to do with Von Grissom? Are they actually going to try him in the outfield with Ozzy Albi's returning? Because I haven't. No, I haven't either. And they actually sat him

here on Tuesday. Is it the first time he sat since being called up? They wanted to get an extra left-handed bat in the lineup. And so, you know, he didn't start anywhere. I wonder, because the Braves outfield is, Ronald O'Cunia has kind of become the permanent DH at this point with his knee issues. So Michael Harris is flanked by nobody who needs to be in the lineup, you know? So it was kind of curious to me that if they were going to try Grossman, like maybe this first, maybe this game on Tuesday would have been the first time to try him in the outfield.

So I don't know. I'm guessing he's going to play some outfield, but I don't know. Yeah, that's tough too, because he's just been so, so good. That is Von Grissom that we're talking about. David Bednar began a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. Could return, I guess, at some point with the next couple of weeks. Tim Anderson is resuming baseball activities and could return at some point during next week's homestand if all goes well. Brandon Lau was placed in the IL once again with lower back discomfort.

mentioned that should help with playing time with Jonathan Arronda. Anthony Rizzo will not play until this weekend in Milwaukee at the earliest. Mitch Hanigur may be out until Friday due to a back issue he's dealing with. Tyler Glassnow allowed one run over an inning in a third in his second rehab appearance with AAA. He got up to 31 pitches. Obviously the talent level Scott for Tyler Glassnow is off the charts. I just don't know if he's going to make a fantasy impact the rest of. of this season. What do you think?

Yeah, I'm skeptical. He will. He's 41% rostered. Obviously, if you're just stashing him on the IEL and you have spots available, it doesn't hurt, but I just wouldn't really be expecting much from him. Mackenzie Gore is scheduled to make his next rehab start Friday at AAA. He threw 36 pitches in his last outing. Jake Frailey, scary moment,

was hit on the head with a pitch Tuesday, but thankfully is not experiencing any concussion symptoms. hopefully he's okay. Anthony Rendon took batting practice on Monday and continues to target a return from the 60-day IL before the end of the season. This one kind of feels like a long shot too, Scott.

24% rostered, but you know, deeper leagues, you need a corner infielder. I don't know. Anthony Rendon. Third base has been so weak all year. And obviously it's different too between a pitcher and a hitter because a pitcher needs time to build up the innings to go

to be able to go deep enough and do a start for him to factor in fantasy. And I just don't think Glass now has time to get to that point. But Rendon, once he's ready to go, it'll be ready to go, presumably. And I think it's possible he could factor. All right. Hunter Green is on track to return this weekend at the Cardinals. Avicel Garcia was placed in the IL with a hamstring strain. Both Oroldus Chapman and Harrison Bader started their rehab assignments on Sunday.

and I've just got to mention it because he's always one of my favorites. Willie Calhoun was promoted by the Giants, started for them on Monday. I don't believe he started here on Tuesday. I'll check their lineup out. Yes, he did, and he went over two, unfortunately. The dream will always live on, Scott, Willie Calh. No, that's not the line you usually use. What's the line you usually use for situations?

What's dead may never die? There you go. There you go. Willie Calhoun, 2% rostered. I saw he's available in the Scott White Dynasty League. I wish I had some fab left, man. I would have picked him up. Prospect updates.

We were wires closed. You couldn't even if you did. Oh, Scott, if I had money left, I would have picked him up weeks ago, the way I saw him raking down at AAA. Some prospect updates. Brewer's prospect phenom, Jackson Trio, was promoted to AA on Monday, and we had a few of those. Yankees' 19-year-old outfield prospect, Jason Dominguez, was also promoted to AA, which seems pretty aggressive, Scott. I know some people kind of soured on Dominguez last year, didn't really. really perform well at rookie ball. He was regarded as one of the top prospects a couple of years

ago. Then he kind of dropped down a little bit. But he's had another really strong season now here at high A, which obviously earned this promotion to double A. So I don't think- Yeah, it was only 40 games because he started at low A, but in those 40 games at high A, Dominguez hit 306 with a 906 OPS. And, you know, it's not like there was a real high strikeout rate or anything like that. So he looks, he's only 19 and he's at AA. That in and of itself is an accomplishment. Yeah, I don't think we'll see him next year, but hey, I guess crazier things have happened.

Orioles pitching prospect, Grayson Rodriguez, will return to AAA this weekend as he continues to rehab from his injury. Perhaps we see him final couple of weeks with the Orioles. Rangers outfield prospect, Evan Carter, was promoted to AA, and the Marlins promoted Jordan Groshen's from AAA, who went 0 for 3 in his debut here on Tuesday,

was once regarded as a pretty high-ranking prospect in the Blue Jays organization. He came over in a trade for that would have been, I don't know, what trade was that, Scott? With the Blue Jays. I can't remember. I'm trying to remember. Anyway, the point is. That's awesome that one to me.

The point is that Jordan Groshen's once was a prospect, Scott. Is there anything here with him, would you maybe look to add in deeper leagues? That may never die. No. So it was the Anthony Bass trade? Ah, yes. I will say no. Because, yeah, he did look like a good prospect at one point,

but he was supposed to hit for power, and it just never materialized. In fact, it got worse in the minors this year. He hit a total of three home runs in 103 games. So, you know, in the past, during the juice ball year, I would say, whatever, man. If you got bat skills, the power's going to come, but I don't.

I don't feel so sanguine about that anymore. Never say never, but Jordan Groshen's I'm betting against at this point in time. For whatever it's worth, let's say you haven't in a Dynasty League, and you're just looking for the glass half-full approach. In 31 games at AAA and the Marlins organization, Jordan Groschens hit 301 with seven doubles, only two homers, and an 814 OPS. So I don't.

A 115 ISO. Yeah, and especially now playing in Marlins Park. How are you going to get any power out of him? So I don't know. Hopefully he proves us wrong. Let's check in on some other prospects here, Scotty. Gunner Henderson, we haven't talked about a couple of these names in a while. He went two for five with a double in RBI and a run scored on Tuesday.

And now in 13 games played, he's betting 304. He's got one homer, one steal. Strikeout rate looks okay, 22%. nearly a 90 mile per hour average XIVor velocity is fine but he's hitting a lot of ground ball is 53%. What have you thought of Gunner Henderson so far?

I thought he's been pretty great. I've been happy to have him in the leagues where I picked him up. I think those are mostly deep rotisserie leagues so it's easier to get him in the lineup, of course. But there's nothing nothing I don't know it's pretty much all been good

could it be better could he have two home runs instead of one sure but he's he's kept the strikeouts in check he's played all over the end field he's going to be triple eligible before the season's done

and I think what's been most surprising is that he sat out only one game for the Orioles because remember we they're not going to let him go past 130 at bats, presumably, so he can preserve that rookie eligibility for next year and potentially score them a draft pick.

But so far that hasn't happened. Maybe as they drop out of the race, he'll sit more and more. So if you play on CBS, where it's five games played at a position to earn eligibility, Gunner Henderson will have third base eligibility starting Wednesday. He played his fifth game there on Tuesday. Obviously, I would love for him to get 20

so that he has it for next season. I don't think that's going to happen. But either way, he's going to have third base eligibility. Well, how it'll work if he doesn't get 20 anywhere as it'll just be the position he plays the most, which may well be third base. Let's hope for that, Scottie. Let's hope for that.

Tristan Kossis went one for three with a sock and a shoe, which you should not expect any speed. In fact, the stolen base that he had here, it was a hit and run. It was kind of a busted play, and it was just like a bad pitch that he was able to steal on, but he's not really a fast guy,

but anyway, Tristan Kosses hit his second career home run off. Garik Kohl, that part is actually very impressive. He went, he's gone just three for 24 early on. He's got eight strikeouts to four walks, a 54% ground ball rate, and a 46% fly ball rate. So according to Fangraphs,

Tristan Kossis has not hit a line drive yet, which I don't know how much you actually trust that. But what have you seen from Tristan Kasa so far, Scottie? This is more what I've come to expect from rookies, from call-ups the past couple years. It's just it takes them a while to find their footing and sometimes months to find their footing. So I want to panic if you have Tristan Kossis in the Dynasty League or anything like that, but he doesn't look particularly usable right now. He is 38% rostered.

He does have six road games next week. at the Reds and at the Yankees. So if you do have him in a deeper league, those are really good parks for a left-handed power hitter, presumably. Josh Young hit another home run on Monday, and through his first six games, he's batting 250 with two homers and three doubles. He also has 13 strikeouts,

which equals a 54% strikeout rate, not hitting the ball particularly hard, and everything is in the air, 78% fly ball rate, 49% rostered so far, Six home games next week, Scott. What have you thought of Josh Young? A mixed bag, obviously.

He can't continue to strike out more than 50% of the time. Nobody can have success with that kind of strikeout rate. But it's such a small sample that it doesn't mean a lot to me yet. I would say the fact he's third base eligible and is already having some success is, he has a chance to be useful down the stretch. I give Josh Young more of a chance of that than Tristan Kossis. And if I had already picked up Josh Young, I wouldn't be so quick to move on from him.

But yeah, it's not a sure thing with him striking out at the radius he has so far. Do you think he should be more than 49% rostered? I think so. Third base? That kind of upside? Sure. Probably. All right.

Corbyn Carroll has now sat out two straight with both coming against left-handed pitching. And it seems like maybe they're just not going to play him against lefties. much like Gunther Henderson, the Diamondbacks want to keep Corbyn Carroll below that 130 at-bat threshold so that he can have rookie eligibility for next season as well.

But through 11 games played, Corbyn Carroll hitting 275, two homers, three doubles, does not have a steal yet, but he is blazing fast whenever I've seen him run. He does have a caught stealing,

hitting the ball on the ground a lot. His launch angles, negative 1.3. I don't know, Scott. How worried are you about Corby and Carroll just not playing against lefties at all this season? I think there's a good chance to continue. Yeah, they seem to be, he has a left-handed hitter.

I don't think it's going to be a long-term issue, but they seem to be using it as a way to control the at-bats. So Corbyn Carroll probably has some utility in five outfielder leagues, but three outfielder leagues, probably not. So let's just say you're playing the matchup, Scott, three outfielder league, would you rather have Corbyn Carroll? I'll pull up his matchups or Oscar Gonzalez for next week. Not knowing anything, I'll say Oscar Gonzalez.

Let me see what the matchups look like. I got them right here too. Yeah, it looks like a bunch of lefties on the schedule next week for the Diamondbacks. So Oscar Gonzalez. That stinks because I have Corby and Carol on a few points leagues. And I think if they just played him every day, he'd be fine. But I get it. Like, you know, obviously they want them to be a rookie for next year.

awful matchups too, the Dodgers and Giants. All right. Get Corby and Carroll out of there. Obviously not in Deeper League, so. A few pitching prospects, Scott. Hunter Brown, we mentioned him earlier. Another strong outing at the Tigers. Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts. He did only have six swinging strikes, so I would like to see more there. And 96 mile per hour average exit velocity against.

Don't love that. But he has given up two earn runs over his first two starts. that spans 12 innings pitched. And then Ken Waldichuk, I just wanted to kind of check back in on him. He's made three starts. He's got a 5.40-E-R-A, 1.40-0 whip, almost a strikeout per inning.

He's giving up three home runs, lots of fly balls. Swinging strikes haven't necessarily been there. What have you seen from Hunter Brown and Ken Waldichuk? Yeah, launching pads so far there in Oakland, not doing Ken Waldichick any favors. No.

He's been a, It looks like the stuff is going to play at least. He's getting whiffs on the fastball and the slider. And those are good signs. Too many walks, too many home runs. It's his first three starts in the majors. I don't think he can use him in fantasy rest of this season, but I think there's a good chance Ken Wildechuk turns into a fantasy asset next season.

And Hunter Brown's been very impressive. He's exceeded my expectations. Yeah, the whiff rate has been a little low, especially considering he was going against the Tigers in this start. But just the strike percentage has been very encouraging, 70% of his pitches for strikes in each of his first two starts. And that's an incredible rate for anybody, but particularly a guy whose biggest issue was supposed to be control,

just got to see if he sticks in the rotation. I would bet not, but it's possible. All right, let's grade the season for these four hitters. Scott. Brian Reynolds has now homered on back-to-back days. He's up to 23 homers. He's hit 256 this year, six steals, 62 runs, 54 RBI. The counting stats are obviously not ideal in the Pirates lineup, and you drafted him for batting average, so a letdown in that regard. How would you grade Brian Reynolds' season? I would give Brian Reynolds a C. A C. He's been fine. I mean, like, he's obviously been plenty startable. You got off to an awful start,

but so did many hitters. But you drafted him expecting him to be, to stand out mainly in batting average, and he clearly hasn't done that. He's given you enough power that he hasn't, you know, he doesn't deserve an F or anything, but sees the highest I can give Brian Reynolds. Next up, we have Carlos Correa who went two for four with his 20, home run and he is hot right now. In September, he is hitting 356, five home runs in OPS up over 1100. So another one of those hitters is kind of taken off here in September. And he's averaged 2.8 fantasy points per game that's tied for 15th among short stops. And he is the 123rd overall player in Roto. How would you grade Carlos Correa season? I will give Carlos Correa a B-minus.

for his season, missed some time with injury, as has been the norm for him. And it's taken a surge late in the year to bring his numbers up to expectations. But they're pretty much up to expectations at this point. It's not like he was, it's not like he was an early round pick this year.

So B minus, mostly losing a little because of the, uh, the time he lost and trying to remember what the injury was here. So he missed time with a finger injury. in about with COVID. Yeah, I think he had a COVID situation, yeah. Yeah.

So I have 15-ish fantasy teams, and I do not have Ian Hap on a single one, and I kind of regret that, because he's having a very solid season. He went two-for-four with his 17th home run on Tuesday. Hit it off Jacob de Grom, by the way. He's batting 272, 17 homers,

as I mentioned, eight steals, 66 runs, 66 RBI, OPS up over 800. he's the 87th overall player in Roto Scott. How would you grade Ian Hap's season? I will give Ian Hap a B-plus. I expected more power, particularly with the way he finished last season.

But we're talking about a guy who was drafted pretty late, low level of investment and has been somebody who's been rosterable all season. So pretty strong grade there for Ian Hap. Yeah, he's going to wind up close to a 20 and 10-ish player with a batting average in this day and age that actually helps you if you play in a rhodover category. So, yeah, I think B-plus is definitely appropriate for him. Tommy Edmund went two for three with two more steals. He's now up to 29 solo on bases for the season. And it's been like an up and down roller coaster.

You know, first month was amazing for Tommy Edmund. May kind of cooled off a little bit. June and July cooled off a bunch. and then over the last 30 games, he's red hot again. He's hitting 333 with six homers and six steals during that time. He's averaging three fantasy points per game this year, the 37th overall player in Roto, and that's before these two steals are even factored in.

So I think he's going to move up even more. Scott, how would you grade Tommy Edmund's season? I think he's an A. I think he's in A. He's managed to increase his power production this year. It's not amazing or anything, but in a year when so many middle infielder's have lost power, the fact he's now average there in terms of power, I would say,

instead of below average while continuing to contribute a significant number of stolen bases. And the fact he's multi-eligible, startable at second base, third-base outfield in addition to shortstop, so three-week positions there and then also shortstop, he's been indispensable. And I think he's an A. He has third base eligibility? He does. Wow. Yeah.

I don't know if he recently picked that up or not, but certainly he has had second base and outfield for a while. Yeah, no, I mean, even without third base, second base and outfield have been two of the worst positions. So damn, to lock up all three. He's at second and outfield all season. Yeah, that's really, really valuable for Tommy Edmund. Let's get into some leftovers the past couple of days.

We'll start with the hitters. And on Monday, Mike Trout hit his three. 35th home run and he homered in seven straight games. That streak did come to an end here on Tuesday, but regardless, seven straight with a homer, 35 on the season. Mike Trout's back? I think it looks pretty good. I think he looks like Mike Trout. Bobauchette, I mentioned in this earlier. He hit his 24th home run and then he added three more hits across the doubleheader on Tuesday. Remains red hot in the month of September. On Tuesday, we saw Yordon Alvarez went two for four with his 33rd home run and now has two homers in his last three games. So hopefully heating back up. Adolice Garcia,

dream season continues. He went two for two with a sock and a shoe. 25th homer, 24th steel. Garcia is going to be a fun one to figure out for next year, especially in Roto. It's just how early does he go? Is he at, I don't know, third round player, Scott? It seems like he deserves it, but I just don't know if it's not going to be me. It's not going to. It's not going to. Like, I am going to be punting steals hard next year because I think there's going to be a lot more of them. And we're not going to know exactly where they're going to come from, but with the rule changes, particularly the limited number of pickoff throws, I think we're going to see an explosion and stolen bases. And I'm not the only one saying this, by the way. I did write an article for CBS.

It just went up on the site today. kind of, it was a pretty long article where I kind of examined what the rule changes could mean for fantasy next year. And my biggest takeaway is, and I've mentioned it on the show here, but democratization of stolen bases, where, you know, somebody like Brandon Lowe could end up with 20 if he stays healthy. I think that's within the realm of possibility. And I'm not the only one saying this. I noticed one of baseball prospectus, as writers wrote something very similar today. So, yeah, the only reason you draft Adoli-Scarcia that early is because you think stolen bases are going to be incredibly scarce again. And I don't think, I don't think that's true.

I don't know that I necessarily agree with that because Adoli-Scarcia, he looks like a four-category player. It's not just steals. He gives you home runs. He gives you runs. He's got 79 runs, 92 RBI in what should be an improving Rangers lineup. With his on-base percentage, I wouldn't count on him. meaning an asset and runs. And there's only downside with the batting average.

So yes, power, yes speed, poor on base skills. And is it possible his batting average collapses and he just gets pushed out of the lineup at some point? I think it's possible. That's obviously a bottom out scenario.

But I think it's possible. I wouldn't want to invest a third round pick in somebody like that. Yeah, I mean, just spitballing for now. I don't know if he'll wind up that high because, like, does he go in the same?

round as Michael Carter. It's arguable. It's I don't know. Michael Carter. Man, football has started. Michael Carter. Michael Harris is who I meant. But yes, Adolese Garcia is going to be an interesting one. Eloy Jimenez went one for three with his 13th home run here on Tuesday. He has four homers in his last six games. And since returning way back in July, and he's kind of been in and out of the lineup, but he's betting 335 during that time, 12 homers, 38 RBI, crushing the ball, hitting it in the air, 17% barrel rate. This is the player you want. It's just, can he stay healthy over the course of a full season?

That remains to be seen. Kyle Swarber, this is kind of a fun stat, Scott. He picked up his seventh steal on Tuesday. He now has more steals than Byron Buxton on the season. That's funny. Someone pointed that out to me on Twitter, so I just couldn't believe it. I had to look at myself. Some pitching leftovers, and on Monday, aside from Framberval,

We saw Tyler Anderson just keeps plugging away. He went seven shutout with two strikeouts at the Diamondbacks. He's got a 2.62 ERA with a 103 whip now on the season. And then Alex Cobb was amazing. He shut down the Braves. He went seven shut out with six strikeouts, 18 swinging strikes on 106 pitches. And you don't even have to look at his last 13 or 14 starts anymore.

Just look at the season long numbers for Alex Cobb. 3.48 ERA. The whip is high at 1.27, but up over a strikeout per inning, 61% ground ball rate. He's just really good. Anything you'd like to add, Scott, on Cobb and Tyler Anderson. Yeah, I had Alex Cobb is too risky, I think, for anything other than points leagues. And it'd be a stretch to start him in points leagues. Two start week, but the matchups were Braves and Dodgers.

So far so good for Alex Cobb, but I doubt he was widely started. I'm just kicking myself, Scott, because I have him in two different spots in a head-to-head matchup, my home league and Tout Wars, and I didn't play him in either league. I just feel so terrible about it. Gosh, why did I doubt the Alex Cobb? I mean, maybe he'll get knocked around by the Dodgers and he'll still be glad you sat on. We'll see. He's honestly, honestly, though, Alice Cob has been great since his last.

last IL stent. And yeah, we thought he was going to be good coming into the season, and he pretty much has been. On Tuesday, some pitching left over is Jeffrey Springs with a great start at the Blue Jays. He went six shutout with five strikeouts, including 19 swinging strikes on 78 pitches. I kind of wonder if Jeffrey Springs will fly under the radar next year in drafts just because he hasn't really done it before, doesn't have the track record. But, man, all of his numbers this year are just really.

really good. So I thought about him earlier. I think he's going to be somewhat I'm going to be excited to draft next year. He and Drew Rasmus and both are going to be really interesting because do the rays

unleash them next year and let them take on a more conventional workload? Because if so, then they could be standouts. Springs especially. Springs for the year now. I mean, it's easy to lose sight of this because, you know, so the starts tend to be so short.

But 241 ERA, 109 whip, 9.6K per 9, and a 13.4% swinging strike rate, which is elite. It's been, there's clearly a lot of, a lot of potential there for Jeffrey Springs. Scott, just imagine this rotation next year for Tampa Bay. Shane McClennahan, Tyler Glassnow, Shane Boz, Drew Rasmussen, and Jeffrey Springs. you will be hard-pressed to find a better five than that in Major League Baseball.

That's true. That's pretty awesome stuff. A few other standouts from Tuesday, Sandy Alconsoir turned in another quality start. He was up against the Phillies. He went seven innings, two runs, four strikeouts in that one. Alec Manoa, another day, another quality start for him. He went six and two-thirds, two runs allowed with five strikeouts. And I do have a few others, but I'll save those.

Anything Scott on these two, Sandy and Manoa? Um, not really. I mean, Sandy's been kind of shaky recently, so it was nice to see him bounce back, obviously. But I was never entertaining the thought of sitting him or anything like that. Yep, agree. To see.

Jacob de Grom looked somewhat human, and I say that in a game where he had 10 strikeouts. So up against the Cubs, he went six innings, three runs aloud, 10 strikeouts to zero walks, 24 more swinging strikes, and through eight starts, he has a 201 ERA. I am just astounded every time I read out his stats. A 0.57 whip.

It's just like, it's something you get from one of the best relievers in baseball, not a starting pitcher. 73 strikeouts to four walks. 73 to 4. That's not normal. 21% swinging strike rate for Jacob de Grom. And then two others. Clayton Kirshaw went seven shut out with five strikeouts at the Diamondbacks.

U. Darvish was fantastic at the Mariners. He went eight shutout with seven strikeouts himself. You know, three middle to older age starting pitchers. Just looking amazing still, Scott. They are. Three awesome starts for Kershaw since returning, and I would say he's must start in fantasy moving forward. And U.Darvish has ended up putting together a really nice bounceback season.

Wasn't sure it was going to happen for him. Yeah, but it asked. Early on, definitely was skeptical. And I think there was reason to be skeptical, but, you know, really after the first month or so, Darvish has just taken out. What was his ERA in the second half last year? It was over six, right? Oh, I had him in a few very important leagues, and he was unstartable towards the end of last season. Yeah, it was, I thought I had it right here.

Yeah, 616 in the second half last year for you, Darvish. So, and considering he's 36, you know, a lot of people thought it was the end. Clearly not. Clearly not. The call to the bullpen, the Rangers on Monday, Jose LeClerc struck out two for his fifth save. Remains widely available if you need saves off the waiver wire. For the Pirates, on Monday, Will Crow pitched a final two innings for his fourth save. And then on Tuesday, with Crow likely unavailable, Dwayne Underwood Jr.

picked up his first save of the season. For the Cubs on Monday, Brandon Hughes gave up a run, but recorded the final five outs for his fifth save. And he pitched the ninth inning again on Tuesday. He's just a guy. Like, they are not using Row and Wick at all in high-leveraged situations. And rightfully so. For the Giants on Monday, Camillo DeVall was unavailable. Left-handed pitcher Scott Alexander recorded the final four outs for his first save of the season.

For Tampa Bay, Pete Fairbanks recorded the final four outs on Tuesday for his seventh save. And I believe he's widely available as well. Scott, would you rather have Fairbanks or Jose LeClerc if you need saves? Well, Fairbanks does have three of the raise past four, but we know how the raise are. I think if it's just saves you're looking for, LeClerc is going to be the better bet to finish, to have more from today forward, just because you can't be sure Fairbanks is going to get all of the raise. But Fairbanks is a better pitcher and will probably have better ratios.

And if you play in saves plus holds, just pick Pete Fairbanks up because he is an elite reliever in that format. On Tuesday for the Astros, Ryan Presley struck out the side for his 27th save. For the Phillies, Sir Anthony Dominguez pitched the eighth inning once again. David Robertson pitched a ninth and picked up his 20th save. For the Orioles, Felix Bautista, looks healthy. Hopefully he's fine. He struck out two for his 13th save.

for the White Sox, Liam Hendricks, picked up his 33rd, for the Red Sox. Now, Matt Barnes pitched a ninth inning in a tie game. Now that's the second

game in a row that he has worked behind both John Shriver and Garrett Whitlock. It would not surprise me if this just kind of flips on a dime, Scott, but if you're playing

in a deeper league, I think Matt Barnes might get the next save opportunity. What do you think? He might. I think if I had to have one Red Soxie, Sox reliever, it'd be John Triber, actually.

But it's, I think it's still pretty messy. Yeah. You probably want to save those Red Sox relievers for saves plus hold leagues as well. But the problem is the Red Sox don't really win that much. For the Yankees, Clay Holmes pitched in the ninth inning and then started the 10th with a three-run lead. He hit a batter, struck out one. And then Wandi Peralta relieved him, got the final two outs for his fourth save. For the Padres, Josh Hader gave up a hit, but struck out the three run.

the side for his 30 second save. And what do you think, Scott? Is it just Josh Hader's job again? I think so. But is it striking out the side if you allow any base runners? Is that? I think so. I feel like I've heard that before.

Yeah. When you record all three outs, no matter what happens in the inning, they say side retired, right? Yeah. Yes, I guess it would be striking out the side. I guess so. But this is a. debate I've seen before. And, like, striking out the side

sounds like a really impressive thing, right? So if somebody gives up four and runs but gets three, four runs in the inning, but gets three strikeouts, do you want to say he struck out the side? I don't know. No, you probably... Obviously, that didn't happen with Josh Hader, but... Yeah. Why would you even phrase it like that at that point, right?

Like, Josh Hater gives up four runs, but strikes out the side. I think you... Yeah. You probably just shut it down after the four runs, right? It's a good point. Yeah, not one that I've thought about. To stream or not to stream for Wednesday, Rwanzi Contreras at the Reds, Nick Ladolo versus the Pirates, Tyler Wells at the Nationals, Drew Smiley at the Mets, Brian Beaux versus the Yankees,

Zach Rankie at the Twins, and Dane Dunning versus the A's. So according to Wikipedia, striking out the side refers to when a pitcher strikes out all the batters he faces in the defensive half inning in which he pitches. So. So all the battered heat faces, that means if you allow a baseman, then that shouldn't count as striking outside. According to Wikipedia. Yeah. Which is not the most authoritative source.

But anyway. Okay, Wednesday, stream or not to stream. Nicolodolo against the pirates, of course, of course. And that's all I really want to do. Drew Smiley at the Mets could go okay. Dane Dunning against Oakland could go okay. but Nicola Dolos is the only one I'm excited about. Man, Thursday is not looking too good here.

I'll just read it off, but just to let you know, Scott's not going to say it. It's a very small slate. J.T. Brubaker at the Mets, Daniel Lynch at the twins, Dylan Bundy versus the Tigers. No, he's versus the Royals, excuse me. And then Madison Bumgarner versus the Padres. No. Don't do it. And I agree.

For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening. And watching Fantasy Baseball today, we'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.