Fantasy Baseball Today - Shane Bieber's Return, Bubba Chandler's Debut & Start or Sit Questions! (8/25 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Shane Bieber looked great in his return (2:48). ... Nolan McLean had another great start (7:37). ... Bubba Chandler impressed in his debut (10:39). ... Cal Raleigh set the single-season home run record by a catcher and Logan Gilbert bounced back (14:47). ... Zack Wheeler needs thoracic outlet surgery (19:26). ... What did Frank see at the Somerset Patriots game this weekend (34:56)? ... Who is this weekend's Dog of the Week (36:41)? ... Jakob Marsee keeps on hitting (41:00). ... Cade Horton had another great start (51:08). ... Start or sit these pitchers (59:14)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:04:06).  Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. Hey there. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, August 25th.

I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, The Bebs is back. Bubba Chandler, look great in his debut. We'll talk about waiver wire moves, starter sit questions, and much more. Let's jump in. Let's get things started here with Shane Bieber's return. He looked great in his first start of the season, his Blue Jays debut. He was at the Marlins, six innings, one run, nine strikeouts, zero walks, 15 whiffs on 87 pitches. His first start since March 28th of last year. The velocity he looked good. In this one, he averaged 92.7 miles per hour on his fastball that was up from the two

starts he made last year and actually right in line with 2021. So I think that's a good sign if he can maintain that moving forward. Breaking stuff looked great. I actually thought his change-up looked really good and not a pitch that we normally see a lot of from Shane Bieber, but that pitch in particular had four whiffs as well. We know that Bieber has had a great career. He's joining a really good team. Run support should be there, solid defense behind him. I thought this was A great return. Great Blue Jays debut here, Chris. He's 87% rostered. I think he just became available in a lot of NFBC league,

so I saw him getting bit on in those. 40% started this week. Do you go ahead and throw him right in your lineups? He gets the Brewers. Pretty good offense. Yeah, you don't love the matchup. The Brewers are, they're such a weird team because you look at the lineup and it's like everyone has like a 740 OPS,

but I guess if everybody has, as like a slightly above average OPS, that can be a really tough matchup. I kind of think you just have to treat Shane Bieber as a must-star pitcher at this point. It's one start. You don't want to overreact too much. He's found money.

You know, like if you drafted him at all, it was super late. If not, you picked him up midway through the season and stashed him. So I think you just keep, have him active in all leagues this week, view him as someone who's going to be. being your lineup moving forward.

If he struggles this week, then we reconsider, right? Because the Marlins are up a much easier matchup than the brewers, especially without Kyle Stowers. And maybe this was just a fluke. But he averaged 92.8 miles per hour with his fastball on the rehab assignment. He was at 92.7 in this one. Like you said, that's what it was back in 2021. It's about 0.7 miles per hour higher than it was last season in those two starts.

And remember, those two starts were unbelievable. What do you have, 20 strikeouts in his two starts? So that's what, 29 strikeouts in his last three starts going back to the start of last season. It's just, I don't think expectations could be too high for Shane Bieber right now. And with the way he looked in his first start back, the way he pitched on that rehab assignment, the fact that he is like 16 full months removed from the Tommy John surgery. So he's got, you know, he's got the advantage of. of being further removed further in the process of rehabilitation,

but also not just jumping in cold, right? Like he did have the rehab assignment. It wasn't like, you know, Sandy Alcantra starting the season and we just didn't see him. So it could go poorly. You know, Bieber's a pitcher who's always had a pretty thin margin for error when it comes to giving up home runs especially. But based on one start,

it's about as good as one start as you could have hoped for from Shane Bieber. and I do think you probably just want him in your lineup moving forward. Yeah, and just to put some numbers on that rehab assignment, he made seven starts altogether, a 186 ERA, 0.86 whip, 11.5K per 9, 15% swinging strike rate. He was getting ground balls. I mean, this is about as close to, you know, peak Bieber as I think we've seen, right? And so maybe not peak, you know, like the short and season, he was amazing.

Obviously, he won the Sa-O-1-21, right? Yeah, I think he won't Say Young, right? Yeah, in 2021, he only threw like 96 innings. I think that's when the injury started for him. But it was like a 33% strikeout rate, a 318 ERA, I believe. So yeah, he's never going to be what he was in 2020 again. He was averaging 94 with his fastball. He was otherworldly that year.

But that was never the expectation anyway. I think a low 3s ERA, 10K per 9 is seemingly well with. the range of possibilities for Shane Bieber. And in the NFBC leagues where he became available as a free agent, he went for $71 in a 15 team league that I'm in. That's a lot at this point in the season. Yeah, and then he went for 56 and a 12 team league that I'm in. So, yeah, there's not much money left in terms of fab.

So that is perhaps the last, like, crown jewel of the rest of the season when it comes to Waverwires there with Shane Bieber. Speaking of which, it's been an impressive time for rookie pitch. pitchers and Nolan McLean had another great start this weekend. Yeah, I, this was the two leads of the waiver wire column for week 23 where Beber, who was 87% rostered. Obviously, at him anywhere he's available, but that's not particularly actionable. But then the other one was Nolan McLean, who I think has looked really, really impressive so far. And his second start was even better than his first.

He struck out seven over seven innings against the Braves lineup that has been better lately for sure since getting Acuna back, getting pro far has been awesome. Seven strikeouts, zero walks over seven innings. He has gone 12.1 innings in his first two starts allowing two runs, 15 strikeouts, four walks, all four walks came in that first start. What's really interesting about McLean is that the sweeper hasn't even been good for him yet. He only has one strikeout with it. Whiff rate's not that impressive. He gave up a home run off of it. That was supposed to be his best pitch and everything else is actually working really well. It's the curveball, especially that has been awesome. And the sinker has a negative 22 degree launch angle.

He has a, I think he has a 69% ground ball rate through two starts. He's getting strikeouts. He's missing bats. The four seamer has been a great with weapon early on. There is still some concern about the command for Nolan McLean. There's still a little bit of concern, I guess, about just pitching for the Mets and they tend to be very careful with their pitchers and they tend to have a very short leash with their guys. But you're missing bats, he's generating a lot of ground balls. If the control is just average, I think Nolan McLean's going to be a difference maker down the stretch. I'm very excited about what we've seen from him so far. No surprise, but the three most added pitchers on CBS right now are Hurston Waldrip, who's up to 80%,

Cam Schlittler at 67% and Nolan McLean at 65%. So Chris, not much left in the season, right? We have a little bit over a month left. How would you rank those three, Waldrip, Schlittler, and Nolan McLean? I think it's Waldrop. I think McLean is right there with him. And I think Schlittler's a tier below because with Schlittler, it's really just been the fastball has been really impressive.

And the rest of the Arsenal hasn't quite been there. I think both McLean and Waldrop McLean with the curveball. and eventually sweeper, I think, and Waldrop to splitter, but also the expanded arsenal overall, I think just they bring a little more to the table than Schlittler does. But, you know, Schlittler's, I think,

a two-star pitcher this week. I definitely tried to add him. Yeah, I definitely tried to add him in a couple of different spots. So, yeah, it's White Sox and... Nationals. Nationals, yeah. So it's gearing up to be a very good week

for Cam Schlittler, if he can take advantage of those matchups for sure. So I like all those guys. Would rather have all three of those guys than Bubba Chandler. And that is what they call a good transition. Let's talk about Bubba Chandler's debut, who... It's actually not a knock on Bubba Chandler. I feel like I made it sound like, oh, I'd rather have those guys

and Bubba's just on how he was great. No, he looked great. Yeah, again, but the problem here is pitching in relief. Now, maybe he could still pick up wins. He picked up a save in this one, which I don't know how often that's going to happen. four shutout innings, two hits, zero walks. A big key here for Bubba Chandler.

He had three strikeouts, six whiffs on 40 pitches. So he was incredibly efficient. 40 pitches over four innings of work. He threw 73% of his pitches for strikes. It was a four-pitch mix here. He averaged 98.4 miles per hour on his fastball. He maxed out at 100. He was actually locating his pitches really well,

like 100-mile-per-power fastballs on the black. Perfect pitches, right? So very, very impressive debut. 67% rostered. My guess is he'll probably just be a bulk reliever again the next time that Braxton Ashcraft pitches. By the way, he looks kind of interesting too. We'll talk about him later on.

But what do we make of that, right? Like, how do we project what we're going to get from Bubba Chandler? It's really tough to do. Yeah, I mean, Ben Charrington did speak to the media this weekend, and he did mention that they want to get Bubba Chandler some starts at some point as well. So I don't want to make it seem like I'm writing him off entirely for. fantasy but I think we know the role that Nolan McLean and and Camp Schlittler and Hurston Waldrop have and we're hoping Bubba Chandler can get that role and if that happens

do they give him you know seven inning upside maybe but I don't know they've they've slow played they've slow played skeins last year they've even slow paid skeins at various points this season so I just think the workload is going to hold Bubba Chandler back there's No question he has the talent to be a difference maker for fantasy, and I do expect at some point he is going to be one. I just think it's going to be tough for him to do that right now. Did you know that like Bubba Chandler is just like Paul Skeen's mini-me? Did we all just learn this on Friday after Friday night?

It looked very similar. He's like going the exact same look, like the same haircut, the same little mustache. I did not think that that was the case, but it was like, wait, is that? Is that Paul Skeens? Mm. That throws just about as hard as him too, right? Yeah. So, yeah, pretty interesting there with Bubba Channel.

You know what? They have seven games this week. All of them are on the road. I kind of feel like maybe he might get a start this week. If they want to, like, space everybody out. I mean, typically when we see teams with seven games weeks, they find a way to get another starting pitcher in there to give everyone a... They've already got.

They have five pictures. five without Chandler. Yeah, Skeen's Keller. Pan, Oviato, Ashcraft, and Mike Burns. Maybe. It's possible. It would be weird to have Chandler's first appearance come as a home reliever and then start him on the road. But, you know, the pirates do weird things all the time.

I don't know. Yeah. Look, in terms of talent, I think he's a step below Chase Burns and Jacob Izierowski in terms of the guys we've seen this season. But if you were just ranking the rest of the pitchers based on talent, I think Bubba Chandler is more talented than Noel McLean. I think he's more talented than Camp Schlittler. It just comes down to the role for Bubba Chandler. And that can change very quickly. So if you have him, I'd hang on to him. If he's available, go look to see if he's worth adding. It's just I would prioritize McLean. I would prioritize Schlitler this week especially.

Yeah, it's just easier to throw those guys in your lineup knowing that they have starts that they're going to make this week. And Cam Schlitler's place, we know that he's making two starts this week. But yeah, maybe that'll change as soon as this week. Maybe Bubba Chandler winds up getting a start as they have seven games on the schedule. So we'll see about that. Do you want to mention a couple of Mariners here. Shout out, man. Cow Raleigh, the big dumper. His historic season continues three for five with two homers for rb i on sunday and he broke the single season home run record for catchers now up to 49 homers with over a month left in the season so where will this end i don't know i mean i i think he does he get to it would be crazy if he got to 60 man obviously

i'm rooting for it but i don't i don't know if he'll get there we'll see that's basically the pace yeah like he's basically on a 60 homer pace he's three through five of the six months, basically, with 49 homers. So it would take a great month to match the American League home run record that we all care deeply about and have long had strong feelings about. But 60 feels pretty within reach for sure, yeah. That American League record, by the way, Chris, is 62, so. Yeah, no.

I don't know if Raleigh will get all the way there. I think we might need to start breaking. into some college football games for Cow Raleigh play appearances here pretty soon. What are you doing with that? I'm trying to figure out where are you going with that? That was just what they used to, that was what they were doing with Aaron

Judge because we all cared about the American League Home Run record. That's true. I definitely did. And I know you did too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember me and my friends just talking for hours about the American League home run record. Why? You're such a hater, dude. We don't talk about Logan Gilbert who had a huge bounceback start here. One of the best starts of his

career against the athletics. Six innings, one run, a career high, 13 strikeouts to just one walk, 25 whiffs on 93 pitches. He had everything working. The slider in particular was disgusting. 10 of his 25 whiffs on that pitch. His previous start, he allowed six earned runs over two innings against the Phillies, so obviously really tough outing that timeout, but obviously he bounces back with a huge start here. He's 85% started. He's at the Guardians. Obviously, you're using Logan Gilbert, but if you needed the confidence to see him bounce back, obviously we got that on Sunday. I know the results have not been there, and obviously he missed some time with that forearm

injury, but a lot of the underlying stuff suggests this is the best Logan Gilbert's ever pitched. At the very least, I think he's still in the discussion for that second tier of most talented pitchers in baseball. He's not Paul Skeen's or Terrick Scoobal, but he's right there after them, I think. All right, before we hit our first break, a reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already,

if you're still listening to this podcast and you haven't signed up for the newsletter, what are you doing? Scan the QR code in the top right corner if you're watching on YouTube, that will bring you right to the website where you can sign up for free and you'll get a newsletter delivered

right to your email inbox every weekday of the rest of the season. And big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to like this video and subscribe on YouTube if you haven't already. Let's take a break, and we'll be back right. after this.

Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's run through the news and notes from the weekend. And it turns out, Zach Wheeler will undergo season-ending thoracic outlet decompression surgery. The projected recovery timeline is six to eight months, which does put opening day in doubt for next season. And there are some moving parts here with this because we were talking beforehand, Chris,

and you were explaining to me this isn't the typical thoracic outlet surgery. But obviously, anytime we hear that, it's pretty scary because a lot of these thoracic outlet surgeries have, like the guys haven't bounced back to what they were, or anywhere close to what they were before. So what do you have on the surgery? Yeah, I would say from what I've read, the track record for the thoracic outlet surgery is mixed at best.

There have been a few guys who have come back, but there have been some really high-profile guys who had seemingly ruined their careers. The key thing to note here is that, While the surgery for thoracic outlet surgery is the same, generally speaking, it involves removing a rib and usually like shaving away some of the musclature in the shoulder to relieve pressure. What we typically are talking about with thoracic outlet syndrome is a nerve issue where the the muscles and the bone are pinching a nerve and that leads to loss of feeling in the fingers

and that is not what Zach Wheeler is dealing with. His was related to the blood clot that was diagnosed last week, that apparently the rib was causing pressure on the vein, and so they're going to do the surgery. It will hopefully relieve pressure on that. But I follow a, he's a physical therapist and sports science kinestiology doctor. Lucas C. Hafer on blue sky. He said, if there's any solace, it's that outcomes for Venus thoracic outlet syndrome are typically better than those of neurologic or arterial thoracic outlet.

It's a really tough surgery. It's going to take a six to eight month recovery period. We don't know how Zach Wheeler is going to recover from it. But hopefully it's better than some other cases. It's still a serious surgery for a. 35-year-old, 36-year-old. So I certainly don't think, even if Zach Wheeler's going to be ready by opening day, you can't draft him like he's going to be himself.

I think you have to bake in a lot of risk. Where that's going to come, you know, I think wherever we end up drafting Spencer Strider next year, just eyeballing that feels like a good balance of upside and downside. But, you know, if Wheeler is six months would be what, February 25th from now, if that's pitchers and catchers reporting. If Wheeler reports with the team and he's throwing on a relatively normal schedule and he looks like himself late in spring training,

I think we're going to see him get pushed up in drafts. I don't think you can draft him as a top 20 pitcher, 30 pitcher. I don't know what the exact number is yet, but I personally, I really hope that Zach Wheeler gets back to pitching like he was pre-injury, I really, really hope that this doesn't end up being the difference between him making the Hall of Fame and not. You know, that would be such a bummer for his career to end that way.

Yeah, that's the biggest thing too. Obviously, the health and you want to see him bounce back, but just the ability to get back to the pitcher he was and kind of go out on his own terms. I mean, you hate seeing. Which he was planning on doing. Yeah. He's already talked.

He was planning on retiring after the 2027 season. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. It's tough to kind of see it play out this way, but we'll see. We'll see what happens. It's a really tough injury for a pitcher in his mid-30s. So yeah, a very polarizing pitcher for next season, Zach Wheeler will be. Yoron Alvarez has a strong possibility of returning from the 60-day IL Tuesday against the Rockies, and you waited this long. So my guess is you might as well just start them, right, Chris, if you have them? you'd have to be pretty stacked in the outfield not to i think yeah Aaron Boone said Saturday that Aaron Judge is close to throwing to bases and I was watching the game Sunday night baseball they said

maybe within a week or so I mean we still don't have a firm timeline there but it sounds like Aaron Judge is progressing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has missed five straight with hamstring inflammation he did appear as a pinch hitter on Sunday do you start or sit Vlad Jr. this week I think if they were willing to use him on Sunday, you have to think that he's close enough to playing. So I would probably lean towards starting him. But hopefully we get an update Monday. Jacob de Grom has been clear to start Monday against the Angels.

And assuming he gets through that start with no issues, he should be a two-star pitcher this week. So he lines up for the Angels and the athletics. Are you starting Jacob Grom? I think you have to, yeah. Yeah. Chris Dale is expected to start this Saturday against the Phillies. and he got up to 77 pitches and his latest rehab start. Do you go ahead and start Chris Sale, his first time off the IL?

That one's a little less clear just because it's only definitely one start, assuming he gets it on Saturday. Any kind of setback, rain delay, anything like that could push him to next week. So I think that one's riskier. You might have some two start pitchers to consider ahead of him. On the whole, I lean start. You know, Chris Sale is such an insane competitor that he's not the kind of guy I think needs that cushion start that we typically give. But you never know.

If you have the luxury to get away from him, there's always risk with guys coming back from the IL. Yeah. I lean towards starting him if you have them, but it does depend on your situation. And if you have other fine options, then maybe you do play it safe there with Chris Sale. Jacob Lopez left his start Sunday with left forearm tightness, and he also allowed nine earn runs in that game before leaving. He is set to be further evaluated, so that sounds like it's not going to end.

Well, not jumping to any conclusions, but my guess is he probably is going to wind up on the IL. That is Jacob Lopez. Randy Rodriguez was not used Sunday because he's dealing with soreness in his arm. If he has to go on the IL or miss a couple of days, Ryan Walker would be next up for giant saves. O'Neill Cruz began a minor.

League rehab assignment at AA on Saturday. Jackson Merrill was finally placed in the aisle due to a left ankle sprain, which means Gavin Sheets should get more playing time as a result. The Orioles signed Samuel Bessio to an eight-year $67 million extension with a club option for 2034. And at first thought, you might see that and think, wow, that's pretty low for one of the top prospects in baseball. But this mostly just buys out his team control years, right, Chris?

And maybe there's a few extra years on top of that. I'm guessing. Yeah, I think the thing you have to keep in mind is the next three years, no matter what, Samuel Bessai is making the league minimum if he doesn't sign this. So the way the contract plays out, I believe it's a million dollars in 2026, 2027, and 28. And that's when he would be eligible for arbitration for the first time. So it's basically a four-year, $64 million contract that covers his fourth through, fourth year in the league through his first,

what would be his first free agent year, with an option at the end. So that makes a lot more sense. You're talking a pretty long way down the road for a catcher. A lot of things can go wrong. Bessayo seems like about as good a bet as you can make if you're going to sign a catcher long term. So maybe they'll start signing other guys long term

because that's been one of the weird things about the Orioles is they haven't signed any of these guys. Have they signed any of the other? guys long term? I don't think so. Not Adley, not Gunner. No to Adley, no to Gunner. Yeah, I don't think they have.

Westberg Holiday, I don't think so either. Yeah, it's weird. And my guess is Gunner probably wants to make it to free agency, right? Everyone saw the Juan Soto contract and started to ponder. All right, who's the next player who can maybe get a contract? Maybe not as big as Juan Soto's, but like could approach it. And everyone's mind kind of turned to Gunner Henderson because he's young and he's going to hit free agency pretty early on.

But, you know, he's having a bit of a down season, so we'll see where he goes over the next couple of years. Brandon Woodruff had his start pushback from this weekend to Monday against the D-backs. They want him to get at least five days of rest between his starts. He lines up for two starts this week against the D-backs and Blue Jays. Are you good with Brandon Woodruff this week? Yeah, I think so. And I think you look at the way that that one start on four days' rest went, and you think

that's a pretty good idea. Now, his most recent start was on, I think, five full days of rest. Yeah, five full days of rest. I had to count it off on my fingers to make sure. That's the kind of math you get. And it wasn't great, but I think given how good he's been this season, you just got to start him at a two-star week. Kyle Bradish has a good chance to return Tuesday against the Red Sox.

The Orioles have seven games this week. So I think that would make him a two-star pitcher as well. We haven't seen Braddish in a long time. He's coming back from Tommy John surgery. I would lean sit. It just kind of sucks that it's a two-start week, his first week back. You never know if it'll be actually a two-start week. Yeah, the Tuesday, Sunday is a little bit tougher to know. Gives you no margin for error. They have been working like a four-man rotation lately. They sent Brandon Young to the IL this week. So Braddash is taking his place. So they don't exactly have a six-man.

starter and you look at the bullpen and there's not like an obvious six starter so maybe bradish makes that second start i will just say you know in terms of upside bradish's just right there with shame beber i don't know if he's going to hit the ground running the same way beaver did in his first start and the way we think he will moving forward because his surgery was i think a couple months after beavers but let's not forget this guy was one of the biggest breakout stars of the 2023 season and then in 2024 took a step forward. He had like a 33% strikeout rate in eight starts and his stuff on his minor league rehab assignment looked like it was all the way back. His velocity was basically where it was in 2024. I think Braddish, you know, this one feels a little riskier than Shane

Bieber, but he could really play his way into some interesting 2026 conversations if he has a good final month or so. Yeah. And I was a big fan of his before he got hurt to. his breaking pitches are really, really good. And he's actually available in some leagues right now. So 53% rostered. I think he should be rostered pretty much anywhere just in case he hits the ground running. Because remember, in 2024, he was coming back from an elbow sprain. He sprained his elbow in spring training.

I think he returned at the end of August or April, early May and had this incredible run over eight starts before needing surgery. So it's entirely possible he hits the ground running and is an absolute difference maker. Again, that was Kyle Bradish. went on the aisle with a right ankle sprain. Marcus Semyon was placed in the aisle with a left foot contusion. Actually, I think that turned out to be more, and he's going to miss four to six weeks, so probably could go ahead and drop Marcus Semyon in your redraft leagues.

One name to watch for the Rangers in deeper leagues, Cody Freeman. He should get some more run here. He was crushing it in the minors. 336 batting average, 19 homers, eight steals, 932 OPS. So just a name to watch there, Cody Freeman with the Texas Rangers. Apparently, Geraldo Perdomo has been playing through a bone bruise in his left hand for months, but we'll push through it for the rest of the season.

Well, we couldn't tell because he's been awesome, had another big game on Saturday, two for five with a sock in his shoe. So I can't imagine a world where he could be even better than he has been this season, but I guess it's possible if he's playing through this. I'm going to be honest, this is like one of the, one of the most unexpected, legit breakouts that I can remember in recent years, especially, you know,

from a, like, you'll see it with like a Brent Rooker types who just like never got a chance when they're older. But her older Pardomo is 25 years old. He's played a ton over the last few seasons and just been a guy. And man, the underlying numbers have just been phenomenal. All season, his ex-Woba over the past 100 plate appearances is 412.

over the past 250 played appearances. Heraldur Pardomo's ex-Woba is 403. That is like... It's crazy. A top 10 mark in baseball. Max Muncie for the season is 10th at 400. And Heraldo Pardomo's been that good for 250 played appearances. Basically half a third of a season.

It's unbelievable. According to Fangraph, he's a 5.3 war as well for Pardomo. He's like... He's not going to be... getting the MVP votes, but he is top 10 in MVP, or in war, at least. That is crazy stuff. More walks and strikeouts and good on the D-backs, man. They signed him to an extension, I think, before this year or last year or something like that.

It was in like May, I think. And we were all questioning it because I think they had just called Jordan Lawler up when they signed him to their extension. Yeah. Good on them, man. Perdome. Yes. Awesome, awesome season for him.

Nick Lodolo faced hitters for three simulated innings on Friday. He's on the aisle with a blister on his finger. Todd Bradley was recalled to make his twins debut on Sunday and he got destroyed by the White Sox. Five innings, nine hits, seven runs allowed. Only one strikeout, also allowed a homer in that one. Mason Wynn was scratched in the lineup Sunday due to left knee pain.

The Red Sox have moved Walker Bueller to their bullpen. The Ray's demoted Joe Boyle to the miners and Ian Seymour will start on Monday, so I believe he lines up as a two-star pitcher as well. He's kind of interesting. the stuff is not Joe Boyle. You know, he's not pumping triple digits or anything, but he's been really good out of the bullpen.

He was really good at AAA before getting called up. That's a... Ian Seymour is a name to watch, and he is RP eligible. So in your points leagues, that's a potential two-starter to look at. And he is a former prospect of no, right? He used to be a pretty big prospect

and then kind of like fell off list there for a little bit, but he has... Pitched well, yeah, 386 ERA 116 whip, 10K per 9 for Ian Seymour. So another name to watch there with Tampa Bay. The Frankie Montas's UCL injury in his right elbow is season ending and Tommy John surgery is being considered. Other names who went on the aisle this weekend, Bailey Falter with a left bicep contusion, Evan Carter out for the season with a fractured right wrist,

Jack Perkins with a strained right shoulder, Joey Ortiz with a left hamstring strain, Brandon Young also with the left hamstring strain and Landon Rup with left knee inflammation boots on the ground Chris I went out to watch the Somerset Patriots on Friday so I'm going to give you my detailed scouting report as if I can actually give you one of those

but I'll just let you know what I saw with my own eyes here because there were some pretty big prospects here in this game so pretty fun to get out there watch some minor league baseball Charlie Condon of the Rockies George Lombard Jr. and Elbow, Rodriguez Cruz with the Yankees who is a pitching riser in their organization and I think definitely a prospect who should be rostered in Dynasty Leagues at this point. Condon destroyed a baseball. Two-run Homer off Rodriguez-Cruz that I saw. He later had an RBI triple off of Major League reliever Fernando Cruz who was down there actually rehabbing. Lombard Jr. put together very nicely. He had a laser double off the wall. Also had a really bad strikeout. So I think he still needs quite a bit of development. I know Yankee fans have had enough of Anthony Volpe. They're ready to call up George Lombard Jr.

He is not close in my opinion, based on what I saw there. And Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, a five-pitch mix, sinker, slider, cutter, curve, change-up. 95 to 97 miles per hour. He sustained that throughout. He pitched into the seventh inning. I thought that was pretty impressive for a prospect. You don't see that a lot in the minors. Yeah, nine strikeouts for him.

I think he has a ceiling to be like an SP2 or SP3 type. I kind of got some like Pablo Lopez vibes from him too. so yeah, just a name there that probably should be rostered in Dynasty Leagues. I was texting our buddy the Welsh. He is pretty confident Charlie Condon will be out in the Arizona Fall League as well. So a former third overall pick last year with the Rockies. I think there's a pretty good chance we see him up with the Rockies next season. Again, that's Charlie Condon.

All right, Chris, I'll throw it over to you, the dog of the week. Seth Lugo, who I continue to just almost not want to mention when it, goes poorly just because again as I say every time we talk about him I have been so consistently wrong on this guy for so long that why do I think I would be right now but yeah he is going through it he allowed six earn runs for the third time and four starts on Sunday against the Tigers gave up two home runs for the fourth straight start that is let me see one two three four five seven multi-homber games allowed by Seth Lugo and his past nine starts.

Wow, not great. That is a lot of regression all at once. His ERA since the All-Star break. Up over seven, he has 32 strikeouts to 20 walks. I think that was before this one. And this is the thing about Seth Lugo is all season. His strikeout rate has been lower than last year. His walk rate has been way higher than it was last year.

And he's been giving up hard contact in a way that he wasn't doing last year. And yet he had a 306 ERA as recently as August 3rd. It's felt like a mirage all year, but it felt like a mirage for most of last year too. And I had just resigned myself to Seth Lugo being one of those pitchers

who defies expectations. And now he's not. I don't know where you're out on Seth Lugo. I am pretty much out, I think, on at least starting him. I mean, he's 69% started on, CBS. He gets to Tigers again this week. So you're talking about facing the same lineup two times in a row. They just saw him. They just hit him really hard. Six earned runs over four and a third innings this weekend. 90.8 average exit velocity. So I think that's a pretty easy sit. Again,

69% start. I think that number needs to be a lot lower heading into this week. And his FIP now on the season is up over five. So that is, look, maybe the underlying numbers are not everything, but I mean, the way he's trending, even if you think he's the one of those guys who can outperform his fit by a full run every year, and that's really hard to do. That would still mean he's just a mediocre pitcher. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm, I'm pretty far out here on Seth Lugo. I think he should be on your bench moving forward. Dropable? I mean, at this point in the season, I'd rather take a shot on the upside names we spoke about. Nolan McLean and Hurston Waldrop and Cam Schlittler. Yeah, be alright with any of those guys over Seth Lugo.

All right, let's take our final break. When we return, we'll get into some waiver wire questions from the weekend. Starter Sit questions as well. We'll do that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's take a look at waiver wire hitters from the weekend and a couple shallow league outfielders. Feels like we probably shouldn't be talking about Jacob Marcy anymore, but he's only 74% rostered. So still could be out there in some shallower leagues.

continues to impress 2-4 with a double-triple-3 RBI on Sunday. Over his last seven, he's hitting 333. He's got a homer, 10 RBI, a steal during that time. He's obviously been amazing since getting called up. So anywhere that he's out there, obviously 10-team leagues, points leagues, whatever it might be, changed that with Jacob Marcy. Two other shallow league outfielder's, Adolas Garcia returned on Saturday, and he did impress in two games homered in that game,

and then one for two with two steals on Sunday, 72% rostered, And another big game for Brenton Doyle on Saturday, two for four with a sock in the shoe. And updated second half numbers for him at 394, seven homers, four steals, 1084 OPS. Chris, who do you like more between Adolas Garcia and Brenton Doyle? Well, okay, Doyle has three games on the road to start this week. But then I think the Rockies play nine straight at core. So that's three in a row at the end of this week and then the whole week next week. So that might be enough with only, you know, what, 30-something games left to tip it in Brenton Doyle's favor, yeah.

Yeah, I think that makes a ton of sense. Some outfielers in medium-sized leagues, Trent Grisham continues to impress. He had two home runs, two walks on Sunday night baseball, has multiple homers in two of his last five games. He's up to 25 on the season. That is very easily a career high for him. Josh Lowe, off and running, has four steals in his past three games. Colton Couser, a nice weekend. He hit two home runs.

And in seven games since returning, 233, two homers, one steal. Dalton Varsho, two more homers this weekend, has seven home runs since returning back on August 1st. Chris, how would you rank this group here? Medium-sized leagues, Grisham, Josh Lowe, Colton Couser, Dalton Varsho. Is it crazy to say I think Dalton Varsho is head and shoulders above this group based on what he's done so far this season?

I kind of lean with Grisham just because he's... They're kind of doing the same thing. Yeah, he's leading off, he's playing every day, the way that, you know, everything has kind of worked out with, you know, Judge at D.H. They need Grisham in center field. And I know the Yankees have really good matchups this week, too. So I think I would put Grisham at the top of the list, but I'd be right with Varsha second of this group. I mean, he's not this good.

But Dalton Varsha, if you take what he's done over 43 games this season, it's a 57 homer pace. That's crazy. It's crazy. And I've talked about it a lot, but he used to be one of those guys who had to, you know, do the lift and pull thing to get, I think his career high was 27 and his second highest was 20 after that. I mean, he had to hit the ball in the air of the pull side a huge amount just to ring whatever power he could because he was generating average X velocity is around 87, 86 miles per hour. Well, this season's average X velocity is 90 miles per hour. He's hit several batted balls harder than he ever had before this season.

and he still has a huge pulled air rate, 28%. That's how you get a huge power breakout. I think it might be for real. He hasn't really slowed down. Last 100 plate appearances, Ex Wobos, 360. That's really good. Career high for Dalton Varsho's 328 before this season. So I don't know.

I kind of think, you know, Grisham and Varsho are very similar. They're doing a lot of the same things. You know, maybe you give Grisham the edge because he's hitting lead off against righties. But I think both of those guys, unless you need speed, are clearly ahead of Josh Lowe and Colton Couser right now. Shallow League, third baseman, big weekend for Royce Lewis, three for five with a sock into shoe on Friday. And then he homered again on Saturday. Has performed pretty well here in the second half. Colson Montgomery will not stop hitting home runs.

He homered in each game this weekend. He had five hits and eight RBI in the three games. Mark Vientos looks like he's heating up. Three home runs this weekend. I believe all three came on consecutive swings, like three swings in a row. All three of them were home runs. Last seven games for him at 357, five homers,

11 RBI. We know he had a ton of upside last year. We saw that. Maybe he's looking to finish out this season strong as well. Chris, how would you rank Royce Lewis, Colson Montgomery, and Mark Vientos? I would go Lewis. I guess I would go Montgomery over Vientos.

I think Vientos has more overall upside than Colson Montgomery. I think he's a better raw power hitter, but Montgomery's swing is very tuned for hitting for power. It's just that we've said it a lot. That is all Colson Montgomery's doing. He has eight homers in the month of August. He has 15 hits overall. This weekend he had five hits.

Three of them were home runs. He's hitting 203 in the month of August. The overall production is still good, because it's an 831 OPS because of the eight homers. But yeah, I think things could get really ugly for Colson Montgomery when the homers eventually slowed down, which is what we've already seen from Mark Viento's this season, to be fair. Yeah.

Would you take Matt Shaw over all those names we just mentioned? I think in Roto, I would. I think in a point I would lean Royce Lewis. I just think if he figures it out, he's the best. hitter overall among that group where everyone else is kind of extremes of various sorts. The Montgomery and Vientos are very power over contact. Shaw just, he's ringing what he can out of his very light powered bat. So I think if the best case scenario for all of them, Lewis is the best player there.

All right. Next up we have another catcher who has returned. Gabriel Moreno hit a homer on Friday. His first game back, then went two for four with a run and a. RBI on Saturday. Only 55 games a season, but he's hitting 280. He's got six homers, 772 OPS, 29% rostered. Chris, who do you like more rest of season here?

Gabriel Moreno or Kyle Teal, who in the second half is hitting 322 with four homers, one steal, 878 OPS. Teal or Moreno? I would go with the hot hand of Kyle Teal, who's been doing it for longer. Man, I was trying to think about it today, and there's basically no chance I can get Kyle TL, my top 12 at catcher for next year. And even like top 15 is really tough. I'm just, I'm so glad we don't have to like pretend Kbert Ruiz is good anymore.

You know, like we can, we can like actually feel pretty good about the catcher position for next year. I'm very excited about that. Yeah, I have Tiel all the way up to 16 in my catcher rankings. We are going to lose Wilson Contreras. Yes. In terms of catcher eligibility next year, same with Yvonne Herrera. I guess Herrera could gain it back if they start to use him at catcher again next season, but he won't have it at the start of the year.

So, you know, Teal's kind of right there in that like top 15, top 12 discussion. And Moreno is probably in that same range too. Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair. Any interest in Nate Lowe, who's hit well since joining the Red Sox, has seven hits in six games, a homer, seven RBI, has started just three of six games, likely to play against right-handed pitch. The Red Sox do have seven games this week. Only one lefty on the schedule.

Any interest in Nate Lowe? Yeah, I think part of it, so Yostinson Garcia did start two of the three games this weekend. The Yankees had Max Fried and Carlos Rydon. I think it's going to be a pure platoon for Nate Lowe and Garcia. And that limits the upside. If you want to stream low with six righties on the schedule, I think that's fine.

But I don't think he's a must roster. outside of deeper leagues. All right, and then a bunch of deep league names here. Carson Williams. All right, two for four with his first career homer on Friday, and then one for two with a steel and two runs scored here on Sunday. So nice little start there for Carson Williams. Alex Freeland Homer twice this weekend with the Dodgers.

Big weekend for Javier Sinoja of the Marlins, six hits, one homer, one steel. He has started four straight for them. Jared Triolo also had a big weekend, multiple hits in all three games. He homered on Saturday. And then a sock in the shoe on Sunday. And Luis Matos has looked great since rejoining the Giants. Four straight multi-hit games.

And in those four, it's eight hits, two homers, and two steals. He was performing pretty well in the minors. I think they're talent for Matos. It just hadn't really worked out at the Major League level yet. But any deep league interest in any of these names, Chris, Matos, Triolo, Sanoha, Freeland, and Carson Williams. I mean, Williams, I think, is on a different level just because he is a big-time prospect.

had I think 20 homers, 20 steals. One thing we didn't talk about when he got called up, because I think we were pretty negative about him overall. His production had been better as the seasons went on and the underlying stuff had been better. The whiff rates had gone down a little bit as the season's gone on. So I feel like we buried him a little bit when he got promoted. And there is certainly some upside here. Like I mentioned the Trevor Story comp. And Trevor Story has been a very valuable fantasy option. I think O'Neill Cruz could be another comp where it's just a bad batting average, but good power and speed. That's within the realm of possibility.

So I think Carson Williams is on a different level. Freeland, how much longer? Muncie's probably out at least a few more weeks. Yeah. I think Freeland is the most interesting of this group. He's, I would guess, the youngest, certainly has the best pedigree among the remaining players. So I would go Freeland over the rest of this group. Probably not in 12 teams.

team league, certainly not points, but Freeland in a 15 team league is somewhat interesting. All right, let's take a look at some other young waiver wire pitchers who have impressed. We spoke about Nolan McLean earlier on. Kate Horton, he's all the way up to 79% roster, so we're kind of stretching it a little

bit here, but another great start. This one at the Angels, six shutout innings with seven strikeouts to just one walk, and he's allowed two earned runs total in seven second half starts. Kate Horton down to a 288 ERA, 116, Whip. Again, 79% rostered, 48% started at the Rockies this week. Chris, how do you feel about using

Kate Horton in Colorado? I don't think I'm ready to do that with Kate Horton. He's been very good. I'm surprised they let him throw 94 pitches. He did leave his previous start after I think. 74 pitches written down here. I could be wrong. 74 pitches for Kate Horton? Let's see. Okay, yes, that makes more sense. I was looking at Nolan McLean. Yep. That makes more sense. And that is the limitation for Cade Horton. Has he thrown 90 pitches in a start in the second half? It's been a lot of very efficient, but very short pitch counts. And I'm just, I don't think that is sustainable for a guy who the command's been much better,

but I think overall still has somewhat iffy command. So I would actually put Horton below McLean, Waldrip, probably closer to Camp Schlittler, but I think with the better matchups this week, if I had to choose between them, even long term. I think I'd just take Schlittler because all that matters right now in a lot of leagues is this week, you know? Two others here, Jack Leiter, maybe the best start of his career against the Guardian. Seven shot out innings, two hits, zero walks, 10 strikeouts, only had nine whiffs on. 93 pitches here through 70% of his pitches for strikes. So that is a great sign for Jack Leiter.

And Cade Cavali turned in a quality start at the Phillies, six innings, three runs, four strikeouts, had 11 whiffs on 95 pitches. That curveball continues to look really, really good here for Cade Covelli. It's back-to-back quality starts. And just six total walks in four starts, which is a big key for Cavali. He's at the Yankees this week.

Jack Leiter at the athletics. they do hit home runs. I think it was promising starts for both. I don't think I want to use either one this week. I think I, if I had to add one of them, it would actually be Cavali. Yeah, I agree. It is much lower rostered than lighter,

just because it was a great start. This is probably the best start Jack Liders had since college, I would guess. I didn't care enough to look if he had any starts better than seven shutout with 10 strikeouts in the minors. I can't imagine he did. His minor league crack record was not great. it was also not one of those starts that made me think,

ah, Jack Leiter's figuring it out. He got nine whiffs, I think six of them on the four seamers. The overall arsenal is still not great. Command is very iffy overall. I think there's at least a little more upside or at least a little more, maybe uncertainty with Cade Cavali, whose stuff has looked really good. His knuckle curve is exceptional.

And his four seamer is one of the hardest in baseball. right now. So I think Kevalli is doing some really interesting stuff and is worth a look in deeper leagues. It also just, because we're talking about two Kades, I had to look up. There have been eight,

seven players with the first name Kade in major league history. How many of them you think are not active currently? One? Every single Kade in Major League history is currently active. The first Cade in Major League history was Cade Cavali in 2022.

They have all debuted in the last four seasons. All right. Well, there you go. Popular name, I guess. I mean, I was... I don't think I've ever met a Cade in real life. I guess I don't know that many baseball players. Every baseball player's named Cade, though.

The name thing, broadcasts have been infatuated with this. I was watching the Yankees earlier in the week, and they were talking about how Bob Seymour of the Tampa Bay Rays was like the first Bob to play in. the majors in like a decade or something. We have a shortage of bobs. Apparently they all go by Bobby or Rob.

Yeah, there's a lot of bobbies out there. So a couple of their interesting young pitchers here in deeper leagues. Braxton Ashcraft pitched well for the Pirates on Friday. Five shutout innings with six strikeouts. Had 14 whiffs on 65 pitches. And last two starts, 10 innings, one run, 10 strikeouts to one walk. All the numbers look pretty good here. He's at the Cardinals this week.

I think if you're in a 15-team league, you definitely could look at someone like Braxton Ashcraft. Same could be said for Luis Morales, who had a strong start at the Mariners. Six innings, one run, six strikeouts to zero walks, had 11 whiffs on 97 pitches. Gets to Tigers this week, so a bit of a tougher matchup,

but I actually picked Morales up in Tout Wars, which is 15-te-Roto. He has pedigree, and he's coming off a really good start here. Yeah, I have more faith in Ashcraft than Morales, I think. Better Home Park for sure. And also, the command has been iffy for Luis Morales. No walks in this one, but that just goes to highlight that the previous three or the previous three appearances must have been really bad for a 4.6 overall walks per nine.

So I think he's kind of interesting, but I probably need to see more from Luis Morales. All right. I have some other waiver wire pitchers here. Any interest in these matchups? Brady Singer against the Cardinals. U. Darvish is at the Mariners, Nessor Cortez at the Twins, Slade Sikoni against the Rays,

Ryan Bergert against the at the White Sox. Any interest in those five? I think Darvish is at the top of this list. He's looked better than I expected since coming back. There's been some really bad starts, but since August especially, I think he's looked a lot more solid.

Has, I think, three different pitches with a whiff rate over 36%, which for most pitchers would be impressive, that's only like a third of U. Darvish's arsenal because he throws every pitch known to man. I think the second most interesting guy in this group might be Ryan Bergert, who has a really good fastball. He's got this weird combination of having like a really overhand delivery

while also getting good results on his good and good lateral movement on his slider and sweeper. And so that helps the four seamer play up while not sacrificing movement with the breaking pitches. And it's resulted in some interesting underlying numbers for Ryan Berger. So I don't think he's a must add or certainly must start pitcher, but I think he's an interesting talent, certainly one to watch here. Yeah, I do like what he's done so far with the Royals. Four starts for Ryan Berger. It's a 282 ERA.94 whip right around a strikeout per inning.

So he's, yeah, he's looked pretty good, and he's out there in some deeper leagues. What about Zebby Matthews, Chris? Is it time to give up on him for now? I mean, I still think there's talent here, and maybe he figures it out at some point, but he had the nationals this weekend, which is, you know, supposed to be a good matchup, four and two-thirds innings, eight hits, four runs, three walks, another homer allowed. He's got a 530 ERA, a 1.

152 whip at the Blue Jays this week. Obviously, you don't love that matchup. It's, it's been a tough go here for Zeb Matthews. Yeah, I still like the talent. And if he had a big September, it would not surprise me in the least. But with all the other pitchers who are showing things right now, including Luis Morales and Ryan Berger, who were not like bowling ourselves over to go add. I don't think there's much reason to hang on to Zebby Matthews, unfortunately.

All right, starter sit these pitchers. Brian Beaux, this kind of feels like. an obvious one. He's owned the Yankees this season. Seven shutout innings with five strikeouts. And over his last 12 starts, a 250 ERA 102 whip for Brian Beaux. But only 50% started on CBS.

He's at the Orioles this week. Your thoughts on Brian Beow? I think he's more like a 4ERA guy. I remain not terribly impressed by Brian Beow. That's not to say he's bad. It's just that there's only so much upside when you don't get a lot of strikeouts. and you need to string together a lot of good luck to get there.

So I think he's an okay start at Baltimore, but certainly not a must start. Max Fried bounced back with a strong start against the Red Sox. Six shot out innings with seven strikeouts had 19 whiffs on 99 pitches. Sinker velocity was up almost two miles per hour in this one, and he was struggling quite a bit. But if you did bench Max Fried or you were on the fence, he gets to nationals this week. Obviously, you should be using Max Fried in that matchup.

Brrios bounced back at the Marlins, six and a third innings, two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. 54% started, but he gets the Brewers this week, so I don't love that. I'll miss it on that one, yeah. What about Aaron Nola who bounced back in his second start back against the National six innings, three runs, two of those earned,

had 16 whiffs on 97 pitches, 32% started and home against the Atlanta Braves this week. They're swinging a hot bat right now. I would hope I have someone better, but look, in a lot of leagues you're starting five to seven people. That starting pitcher, Aaron Nola might be one of your seven best options. Jack Flaherty, man. I mean, gosh, all season. It's like last time out, this is what he's capable of. You get one of his best starts of the year, and how does he follow that up against the Royals of all teams?

five innings, ten hits, eight runs allowed. Another Homer allowed in this one. Ten hard hits allowed. He has given up five plus earned runs six different times this season. Seven plus earned runs, three different times. And Jack Flaherty gets the Royals again this week on the road where he has been much worse.

What do you think about Jack Flaherty? I think I lean sit. If he has a good start, it would not surprise me. The Royals have multiple holes in their lineup. It's not a very good one. I don't know, he's so volatile that it kind of depends. Like, I'm in one league where I'm just starting every two-star pitcher I can find. It's a roto league.

I'm not going to win, but I'm trying to make it respectable. And I'm just, my ratios suck. I'm just trying to get strikeouts and wins. You can, you know, you can figure out your own personal situation and how you want to avoid or use or avoid. Boy, Jack Flaherty, I guess. All right, Yuri Perez bounced back with a quality start against the Blue Jays, and he is at the Mets this week. Start or sit, Yuri Perez.

Start. His bad stretch was mostly just a really low strain rate and a lot of home runs, and home runs are going to be an issue for him. But I was never too worried. What about Gavin Williams, who had a rough outing at the Rangers, three and a third innings, three runs, four walks to three strikeouts, He is 66% started and gets the Maritors this week. They're saying it's the most fraudulent 336 ERA and MLB history.

Is that what they're saying? He has like a 270 ERA since May 1st and like an 11% K-minus walk ratio. His FIP is like a run and a half higher than his ERA in that stretch. I don't think Gavin Williams is very good. I think he's talented, but I don't think he's good right now. I don't even think this guy is must roster. I know he's been pitching well, and it's hard to drop someone with a good ERA,

but if he doesn't have a good ERA in any given start, you get nothing from him because he's not a great strikeout pitcher, and he kills your whip. So I am thoroughly unimpressed by Gavin Williams. All right, and last name here, Zach Allen, a strong outing against the Reds. He has looked better in August. Now he gets the Dodgers this week.

What are you doing with Zach Allen? Sit. There's no way you can trust that. Yeah. I mean, look, I would love it if Zach Allen had a great September and situated himself for a bounce back season. It's going to be fascinating to see. I think he's a free agent. It's going to be fascinating to see what that looks like. Yeah, he has not shown nearly enough to trust him against the Dodgers. No. All right, we have some hitters here on fire. Vinnie P. Baby! Just keeps on hitting homers. Two more this weekend. He has six in his past seven games and 10 home runs.

total in the month of August. Francisco Lindor ran wild this weekend. He had three steals and three games. Updated August numbers, 360 batting average, five homers, six steals, 1060 OPS. Jerks and ProFar stayed hot. Three hits on Friday with four RBI, two for four with a steal on Sunday.

And his August numbers, 298 batting average, 433 on base. Seven homers, five steals, 1040 OPS. And Freddie Freeman continues his big month, two for four with a double tongue, three RBI on Sunday. and in August 325, 7 homers, 19 RBI, 2 steals, and a 1028 OPS.

Anything to add on these hitters who are on fire? Let's keep it moving. All right. Some hitting leftovers here. Nice wake-up weekend for Jeremy Pena. Had two hits with a home run for RBI on Friday, then stole a base on Sunday. Christian Walker hit two more home runs this weekend and has looked better in the second half. Wilson Contreras has picked things up.

homered on both Friday and Saturday, and homered in three straight games at that point. Junior Camenero. Comeanero! Two more home runs this weekend. He is now up to 37 on the season. Nice weekend for Luis Robert, who had a steal on Friday, a sock and a shoe on Saturday. Nice weekend for Wyatt Langford, five hits, a homer, and two steals. Has looked much better as of late.

Willie Adomas Revenge Series at the Brewers, two for four with a double dung on Friday and then had a steal on Sunday. Kyle Tucker is back from the dead. He homered three times this weekend, two of those on Saturday, and he broke a 25-game homerless streak. So hopefully gives you confidence to get Kyle Tucker. I mean, you probably had him in your lineup anyway, but just starting him with more confidence than you were, let's say, a week ago. Carlos Correa has hit well since joining the Astros, 21 games with the team hitting 3.49, 3 homers, a 901 OPS for him.

Impressive weekend for Gunner Henderson, five hits, a homer, and three steals. Spencer Torkelson hit two more home runs, nice bounce back season for him. Jacob Wilson is back with the A's. He had five hits in a home run, and he's someone you can get back in your lineups if you had him on the IL.

And big game for Jazz Chisholm on Sunday night baseball, two for four with a double dong and four RBI. Lots of names here, Chris. Anything that stood out, anything you'd like to mention? If Wyatt Langford keeps this up, by 2028 he's going to have a whole good season. Because last year he was only good in September. This year he's good in August.

Next year he'll start being good in July. And boy, by the 2030 season, we're going to have a heck of a player. No, I, look, why Lankford, around mid-season, felt like one of the more obvious by-low candidates among hitters. He was massively underperforming his expected stats.

He has dealt with three different oblique injuries this season, I believe. And the fact that he's still putting up pretty good underlying numbers and starting to produce very good OPS over 900 in the month of August, actually, Very nice to see. So it's been a really rough season. I understand if you're frustrated. Clearly he was overdrafted,

but this is still clearly a very talented player. And then I also want to point out, Kyle Tucker had more home runs in three games this weekend than he had in his previous 43 games. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we needed it, man.

It's obviously it's been a really, really rough go. And everything that we learned about, you know, he was dealing with a fracture in his hand back in June, even though he actually hit well in June. It's just a very kind of confusing season, at least lately, for Kyle Tucker. Some pitching leftovers. Part 1, Nathan Avaldi, great start against the Guardian. Seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts for him.

Blake Snell took a tough loss at the Padre, seven innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts. Brian, woo! Had a great start against the athletics. Seven innings, one hit, one run, seven strikeouts. Has now gone six plus innings in every start this season, which is... just crazy. He has only failed to go six innings twice in 39 starts since last August first. That is, he couldn't do it before.

I think he did it four times his first 11 starts last season. Yeah. And now he's the most consistent quality start pitcher in baseball. It's outrageous. It's incredible. And Garrett Crochet destroyed the Yankees, seven innings, one run, 11 strikeouts to one walk here. Anything else to add on Crochet? Brian Wu, Blake Snell, and Nathan Avaldi.

It would be very funny if Blake Snell's ERA ended up lower than his whip. Right now, it's 197 to 138. That would just be very funny. Yeah, I think so. Next group, Paul Skeen's, a great outing against the Rocky seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Trevor Rogers just keeps on dominating this time against the Astros, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts.

Velocity down quite a bit in this one, so let's watch that for Trevor Rogers. Ranger Suarez, an awesome start against the nationals, Shutout with 11 strikeouts for him. And Merrill Kelly, his best start since joining the Rangers. Seven shutout with eight strikeouts there. Anything to add on Merrill Kelly, Ranger Swares, Trevor Rogers, and Paul Skeens. Running out of reasons to be skeptical of Trevor Rogers, his swinging strike rate,

his whiff rate on his fastball is like up to 25% now, which is a very good mark. Changeup has been much better over the past month and a half or so as well. but like here's how completely unexpected this turnaround was for Trevor Bauer or Trevor Rogers he had awful AAA numbers last year he had awful AAA numbers this season

remember he gets called up in like mid May for a double header throw six and a third shut outings I think and they sent him back and don't call him back up for another month like the Orioles had no idea this was coming it's been incredible to watch I've lost most

to my skepticism. Obviously, he's not a 148, 140 ERA pitcher, but he might be a 340 ERA pitcher, and that's super helpful. And then I just want to point out, Ranger Suarez, it looked like he was going to do the typical Ranger Suarez fall apart in the second half thing. I think his first five starts of the second half, it was like a 639 ERA. And then immediately 10 strikeouts, last start, career high, 11 strikeouts in this one. The thing that's always tough with Ranger Suarez is he usually doesn't pitch that much differently. Like he doesn't change his arsenal very much. His velocity doesn't tend to fluctuate.

That is changing a little bit. He's actually throwing his change up less lately, which is surprising. That's usually his most thrown pitch. He only threw it eight times, I believe, in this one. And it was only 12 times the previous start. But the curveball was awesome the last two starts. The slider was great. I don't know.

He's really good. And I'm fascinated by what free agency is going to look like for a range. Ranger Suarez. That's going to be one of the most interesting things to watch this offseason as well. All right. The call to the bullpen for the Astros on Friday. Brian Abraeu got the final four outs, all via strikeout for his second save. And then on Saturday, he picked up his third save. Just kind of looks like he is the Astros closer with Josh Hader out. Brian Abraeu, 71% rostered on CBS. For the twins on Friday. Can I go ahead? Everyone's hurt in their bullpen. It's crazy.

They signed Craig Kimberle. He was pitching. Craig Cremble, Craig Crembril pitched the ninth inning in a one-run game that they were losing on Sunday. He got a strike out. Only two whiffs. I didn't think he looked particularly impressive. His velocity was up compared to when he pitched for the Braves, but still. But yeah, Bennett-Suzza went on the IL this weekend. They've taken a ton of hits on the pitching side.

It's crazy. I think Brian Abrae has a lot of job security right now. All right. For the Twins on Friday, Justin Topa got the final five out. for his third save. For the Guardians on Friday, Cade Smith got the ninth with a one-run lead. Gave up two runs on three hits, took his fifth blown save and fifth loss. That's now three blown saves in the second half here for Cade Smith.

He's got great stuff, but, you know, he has been a little bit shaky here in the closer roll. For the Tigers on Saturday, Will Vest got the final four outs for his 19th save. Kyle Finninginigan through two innings on Friday, so my guess is he was not available. For the athletics on Saturday, Lefty Hogan Harris got the final two. outs for his second save, which came in the 10th inning of that game. The A's last three saves have all gone to different pitchers. So Hogan Harris, Osvaldo, and Tyler Ferguson. It doesn't seem like a great situation right now. For the Orioles on Sunday, Kegan Aiken Aiken got the final five outs, three via strikeout for his third save, but he's also been used in

like the fifth or sixth inning in some games. Yeah, he's also been super shaky. So the Orioles, athletics, bullpens seem not very reliable. or they don't have like a projectable closer in my opinion. Throw them on the pile with the Marlins. Yeah. For the, to stream or not to stream, here we go. On Monday, we have Tomoyuki Sagano against the Red Sox. Ian Seymour is at the Guardians, Brad Lord at the Yankees.

Cam Schlittler against the Nationals. Shane Smith gets the Royals. Johano Vieto at the Cardinals. Michael McGruevy against the pirates. And Emmichiehen against the Reds. there are a handful of guys I could see having good starts here I would put Sheehan on that list

McGreevy versus Pittsburgh wouldn't surprise me I think Cam Schlettler's probably my favorite and then I'm excited to see and see more and just see what he does yeah I would go Schlittler Sheehan and then probably yeah I think McGreevy

as the third option there and then on Tuesday we have Parker Messick against the raise Bailey Ober at the Blue Jays Andre Palante gets the pirates Verlander against the Cubs Charlie Morton at the

athletics What do you think? Ober and Morton both have decent potential but there's a lot of ways I could go wrong for either of them

so I think Parker Masek is my favorite of this group I think so too I think I would go Messick

and then probably Morton and O'Lesick and over third, but yeah, I am a little bit worried about those last two that we just mentioned. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.