Fantasy Baseball Today - Spencer Arrighetti Breakout, Jake Burger On Fire & Camilo Doval Optioned! (8/12 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

Spencer Arrighetti has struck out 12+ in back-to-back starts (4:26)! ... Gerrit Cole finally looked like Gerrit Cole (8:49). ... Jake Burger is on fire (11:18)! ... News (16:24): Camilo Doval was optioned and Ryan Walker was named Giants closer. ... Is it time to drop Garrett Crochet (32:20)? ... How do we rank Michael Wacha, Gavin Williams, Jeffrey Springs and Tobias Myers (40:45)? ... Is Jorge Soler a must-roster player (51:28)? ... Start or sit these fringe pitchers (58:12)? ... The Jackson Three continue to hit (1:03:30)! ... These three pitchers returned this weekend (1:08:25). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:09:49). 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, @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/ 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. I'm back, baby. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, August 12th. I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, we have waiver wire ads and drops from the weekend, start or sit decisions. Camilo Duval lost his job. How did that happen? And much more. Big thanks to you guys for holding it down. I didn't catch every episode, but I did listen to Fridays on the plane ride home. And I thought it was great.

So good job, guys. Wow. I'm impressed you did that. I don't know that I've ever listened to a fantasy baseball today podcast all the way through. Gotta be honest with you. Come on, Scott. I was listening when I was on vacation earlier in the year. Not to every episode, but tried to check in.

I've also, I will say, I've started, I've become one of those, like I listen to my podcasts on the faster audio. Yeah. And I listened to one of the ones that I hosted this week. And that was weird because like all the podcasts that I listen to are just podcasts that I listen to. So I only know them at 1.3x speed. But listening to us who like, I hear us talk and I know how we talk. And then listening to that on 1.3x speed was. That was a little off-putting.

I didn't enjoy that. That was jarring. Yeah, I actually always listen to my podcast on 1.25X speed, but I also edit in like 1.5, so I'm used to us just sounding like chipmunks while I edit it, so it's totally fine. If anyone's wondering, my biggest takeaway from my trip to Florida

is the Jurassic Park roller coaster in Universal is amazing, and you should try it if you haven't already. Did you know a roller coaster? Yeah, I mean the water ride? No, I think they put it in recently. It's called the Volocelope. coaster. Okay. It was awesome and obviously I should still watch the movie but yeah, that was really really cool. All right, let's jump in. Let's get into it. Oh my goodness

gracious. So I caught that when I was laying in bed last Sunday. I was about to go to sleep. I was like, oh, let me just check it and see how the guys are doing and I heard Scott's rendition of Susan Waldman. I was like I'm going to use that my first day back. That was awesome. All right, Scott. You listen to us. You listen to Monday's show and Friday's show on your vacation. I listened to the first minute of Monday show just to make sure it was working. You missed us.

And then I left us. To make sure I didn't screw anything up. Basically. And you did. That's the same reason I listened. All right, Scott. You are up. Who is your player of the weekend?

Spencer Arigetti, I think, is the obvious choice here. There was a few good ones, but Arrogatti is who I'm taking. and that's because he somehow found a way to up his previous start where he had a dozen strikeouts. Got 13 here at Boston. So now obviously that's 25 strikeouts in his last two starts. And in his last six starts, Spencer Aragutty has a 325 ERA 106 whip 12.3 K-per-9. So he's been going well for a while now.

It just seems to keep getting better to better and better. Not only is it two double-digit strikeout efforts in a row. It's three this season, which is not something you can really fit. Clearly, Spencer Araggetti, missing bats is a legitimate part of his skill set. He got 21 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. His explanation for this turnaround, I'll read you the exact quote, just mixing really well. If you look at it, my four seam gets hit.

That's one of the reasons I've tried to change the pitch mix a little bit in terms of usage percentages. So I like hearing that. I like hearing what I would tell Spencer Erigetti come out of his own mouth. And he's got this five pitch arsenal, three of them other than, so not the four sceneer, but three of the secondary pitches all have really good whiff rates. And he seems to recognize that. So I like that. That tells me that his self-assessment is accurate and that maybe he can sustain something like this.

What makes this start particularly interesting, though, is he actually outs the fastball usage. After cutting it way back in the 12-strikeout effort, he got it back up to 47 percent in this 13 strikeout effort. It was responsible for nine of the 21 whiffs. but he also talked about how you know getting that mix right and I think he just used it better he used it I watched some of the highlights of it and how he set up the strikeouts

was pretty impressive so I think Arroghetti he's only 47% roster that obviously needs to change as good as these last two starts were his next is against the white socks yes and some context 18 pitchers have had at least three starts

of 10 strikeouts or more. And like, they're not all winners, right? Like, McKenzie Gore has fallen apart. Kevin Gosman has been a pretty big disaster this season. Mania is not exactly a big-time strikeout pitcher. But Spencer Arigetti is the first player this season with consecutive starts of at least 12 strikeouts.

So, wow. Pretty impressive. And the thing is, like, when he got called, up. The results were pretty bad, but every time I watched him, the stuff was there. You know, like, it was obviously a skilled pitcher. He just needed to figure out the right approach, the right mix, whatever, and it sure seems like he has. You know, Scott mentioned the 325 IRA. It's 334 whip over the past six starts, averaging six innings per start. He's gone at least six and five of the six,

49 strikeouts to 11 walks in those 36 innings. That's really impressive stuff. So, yeah, I think based on what we've seen the past couple starts, Spencer Rodriguez is pretty close to a must-raster pitcher. Yeah, I would agree with that. And especially when you consider he was going up against the Red Sox, who are one of the best offenses in baseball, especially against right-handed pitching their second in Wobah against Ritey's this season.

So really impressive stuff from Spencer Arroghetti. He's got the great matchup coming up this week against the White Sox. widely available. I think he just jumps to the top of the most added starting pitchers, or at least deserves to right now. It's Paul Blackburn. He's got the two starts with great matchups coming up. Yeah, but like if we're thinking just okay, long term over the final two months of the season, Arrogati could maybe be a league winner, at least based on what he showed in these past two starts. So yeah, I think I would just put him to the top of that list. And Chris will go over to you for your player the weekend. Yeah, let's go with Garrett Cole, who,

I think for the first time looked like Garrett Cole. He got seven whiffs with the slider, 26 overall on 90 pitches, 26 whiffs on 52 swings. That is an absolutely bonkers whiff rate, 50%. The four seamer got nine whiffs, the curveball, seven wifts on nine swings. He only threw 15 of them and he got seven whiffs with it. So he had everything going. And the, when you look at like the movement profile of the pitches, nothing really looks all that different than it did before. So I don't know how much like tangible changed with Garrick Cole.

And, you know, the the slider usage overall still not quite where it was in the past. He's still using the cutter a lot more than he has. But all that to say, this is still, I think by far the closest Garrickle has come to looking like the. Sy Young version of himself. And we made this mistake once. There was, I think, a six strikeout and five-inning start that we really reacted to, or maybe it was like a consecutive. It was consecutive starts one right before the All-Star break, one right after,

where he looked good. But not like himself because the slider wasn't working. This was the first start where the slider was a wipe-out pitch again, at least in terms of the results it got. you mentioned the 26 swinging strikes. You know the last time Garrett Cole had that many in a start was 2020.

It was four years ago. Wow. Yeah, I would say that's encouraging. That's a sign of Garrett Cole being back to form. Yeah, I'm a little wary of going all the way into calling him back like you are, Chris, just because I did that in those two starts

around the All-Star break. But if nothing else, I'm eager to use him when he faces Detroit next time. Yeah. No, I think I'm absolutely starting him at least. Yeah, that was the next question. Garikull, 79% started on CBS. So that's a decent amount.

At least one-fifth of CBS users don't have Garikol in their lineups. And at the Tigers is a really good matchup. 27th in Wobo versus right-handed pitching. So I think we're all in agreement there, right? Get Gar-Cole back in your lineups, right? Absolutely. Yep. All right, player of the weekend for me is going to be Jake Berger.

It took most of the season, but Jake Berger is on fire. He's well done, if you will. Homer to each game this weekend since the start of July, 34 games. He is betting 313 with five homers, 24 runs, 26 RBI. Obviously, the county stats could be better, but it's the Miami Marlins. But an OPS over 1,000 during that stretch, it's hitting the ball hard, 95 mile per hour, average. Negative velocity, 18% barrel rate.

This is about what we were expecting. Maybe not a 313 batting average, but the power is, you know, he's finally picked it up to the point. We were all excited about Jake Berger coming into the season, and up until July, it was an utter disaster. Now he's just been amazing.

71% rostered is Jake Berger. He could be out there in some shallower leagues. Don't love that the Marlins only have five games this upcoming week, but, I mean, based on how hot he is, I feel like he has to be close to universally roster, Jake Berger. Yeah, at this point I would say so. And this is my favorite way of framing how hot he is, how hot he's been.

So his season batting average Jake Berger now is up to 251. At first, excited as we were about Jake Berger coming into this year, you know what he hit last year? 250. So he's actually got this year's batting average up higher than last years now. And what's interesting about this hot streak is that it hasn't come in the way we were excited about Jake Berger last year. Because remember, we were really excited that he got to Miami, cut the strikeout rate, stopped whiffing nearly as much, traded a little bit of power to do so. And that has not been the thing that he's doing since July 1st. His whiff rate is at like 35% over the past month and a half or so.

entering July, it was right around 28% for the season. Yeah. His average exit velocity way up is like 96 miles an hour since July 1st. So look, I'm not complaining about the results. We'll take it. Yeah. You know, batting average might continue to be a problem. But if he's going to keep hitting for power like this, then even the strikeouts aren't going to hold him back.

And that's a good point because, yeah, obviously we want to keep the podcast moving. lot to talk about. So I want to give a nice pithy take on Jake Berger. Yeah, of course he needs to be rostered as hot as he is. Am I as excited about him now as I was coming into the season? No, I don't think I'll ever hope for that kind of production from Berger again, but he's too hot to handle right now. So, well, from a fantasy's perspective, I guess you are, you want to handle him now. I don't know. You get the idea. Start him because he's hot. I'll give you a couple names that are rostered in more leagues than Jake Berger, would you drop someone like Brendan Donovan to add him? Sure. Yeah, I think so. What about Jamer Candelario? Yeah, sure. What about Willie Castro?

Sure. Yeah. Rees Hoskins? Sure. Sure. All right. So there you go. It's settled. Drop any of those names for Jake Berger if he's available in your league. Before we hit the break, one reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, scan that QR code that will take you right to the website. where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and it's easy as that. You will get an FBT newsletter delivered right to your email inbox

every single weekday. Let's take our first break, and when we return, the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in, news and notes. This one kind of came out of nowhere. The Giants option, Camillo DeValle, to AAA on Friday.

One day after giving up three earned runs and taking his fifth blown save of the season. The walks have been untenable this year. 5.9. walks per nine, a 14.3% walk rate. And in recent months, since the start of June, Deval had a 6.75 ERA and four blown saves. Bob Melvin has named Ryan Walker to the team's closer. He actually picked up a save already this weekend on Saturday. And Walker's had a good season. 224 ERA, 0.88 whip, 10.6K per 9. Swinging strike rate is pretty good. He's 36% rostered on CBS.

how excited or I guess aggressive are you guys in adding someone like Ryan Walker at this point in the season? He's the most interesting of the newly emergent closer candidates to add, I would say. And, you know, I hadn't, as somebody who writes the bullpen, we got bullpen report, at least every other week. I hadn't noticed how what kind of year Ryan Walker was having. And it's very interesting watching him pitch. He has the ball, the way his delivery is is the ball gets this weird kind of sideways movement on it. It's kind of a unique delivery that creates some wicked movement. And you can understand Ryan Walker putting up the numbers he did.

But he went for some massive bids in my 15 team leagues, even with guys like Lucas Urseg out there. The one everybody wanted was Ryan Walker. And like somebody spent 40% of their budget. on him in one of my 15 teamers that they were probably the only one with that much left and they just threw it all at him so i think there's a lot of buy-in on ryan walker right now yeah i mean like most weeks trying to predict fab is nearly impossible in my 15 team tout wars league he went for 1889 dollars out of a thousand dollar budget so around 19 percent and i got him in a different league in an nfbc league for 34 bucks out of a thousand dollars so

Yeah, you can't really explain it, but that's why you just put the bids in just in case. You can sneak one by. He went for over 100 in all of those 15 teamers for me. So we're across the board on Walker ahead of Justin Martinez from the Diamondbacks? Yeah. Yeah, because Bob Melvin did us. Thank you, Bob Melvin, for actually naming somebody the closer. I think Justin Martinez is the Diamondbacks closer, but I think they call.

could go back to Paul Seawald, who's pitched well lately. And the other thing is, I just think Ryan Walker's better than Justin Martinez. Yeah, I think that's fair. I think, you know, some other names have emerged as well. You mentioned Lucas Erseg and, you know, Calvin Foshe with the Marlins. And I think there's a chance of Rollis Chapman could be taking over for the pirates too. So there are some closers and some save opportunities emerging here if you are in need of that category. You're going to get a bullpen report tomorrow.

I can tell you that much. This is probably one of the most important ones of the season, I would say. Joe Ryan went on the aisle with a grade two right terrace major strain, and manager Rocco Baldelli said Ryan's recovery will take, quote, weeks to months. And the twins later said they could promote pitching prospect Zebby Matthews to take Ryan's place in the rotation. Matthews is 24 years old, having a breakout season in the minors, 260 ERA, a 0.87 whip, 114 strikeouts over.

97 innings across three different levels in the minors this season. Chris, any interest in stashing someone like Zebby Matthews at this point in season? I don't think it's really one you have to get ahead of. Like, if he comes up and pitch as well, I wouldn't be surprised. But he hasn't been like dominant at AAA or anything to the point where it makes you think he's going to step into the rotation and be a difference maker. So keep an eye on him. Let's see what he looks like if he gets the chance. but only AL-only leagues,

I think you would even want to stash him. Yeah, I'm a little more excited for Zebby Matthews. I don't know that I necessarily disagree that like he's must-add in 12-teamers or anything like that, but four starts of AAA, okay, he had a 568 ERA in those, but it was the time he spent at high A and double A this year, the RA was south of two, the whip was about 0.75. he's issued seven walks this year in 97 innings,

which is maybe not enough walks. I know you're into saying that, Chris. But there's some real talent here for Zebby Matthews. I think he's jumped up on most all the top 100 list now. And in general, losing Joe Ryan is obviously just a huge loss for fantasy. I think I had him ranked as the top 20 starting pitcher. So, yeah, if you lost him, you'll look at someone like a Spencer. Sararigetti, maybe a Paul Blackburn

if you're just playing it week to week. But yeah, we'll get into some other waiver wire replacements a little bit later on as well. How many names did I say? Ed, Zebby Matthews. Seven walks in 97. Is that what I said? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Astros manager, Joe Espada, said Sunday that Kyle Tucker seems to have turned a corner in his recovery

and is getting close to running the bases. Kyle Tucker has been out since June 7th with this mysterious shin injury, which we still haven't learned all about, but hopefully he's back before the end of August. Julio Rodriguez was activated from the IEL Sunday. He went 0 for 5 with five strikeouts,

which is actually kind of impressive to strikeout that many times in one game. Hopefully he's better moving forward. That's a platinum sombrero, I believe. I think the platinum is four, isn't it? I thought maybe. Yeah, I think it's four. I don't even, what is it the five strikeouts? Nobody ever came up with a term for it because it never...

Diamond? Never used to happen. I think platinum sombrero is five. Oh, what's four? For the Olympic. The four is a golden sombrero. All right. Yeah.

I got to be a second. Five times is also known as the Olympic rings. Oh. Okay. And six is a horn. Oh. Named after Sam Horn of the Baltimore Orioles. Oh, gosh.

I think three is hat trick, and I was thinking three was golden. I think I was thinking the same way. Yeah. But yeah. I didn't want to say Julio Rodriguez is limited to playing DH for now as he recovers from that high ankle sprain. But I assume we're just getting him back in lineups.

Yeah. Dave Roberts said Mookie Betts will play right field when he returns Monday against the Brewers. Is that confirmed, by the way, Mookie Betz? I wrote this news item on Friday. Yeah. I mean, it came from Dave Roberts' mouth. So.

Yeah. All right. So are you just throwing bets back in lineups too? Yeah. Of course. Oh, you're saying is the Monday part confirmed? I thought you missed it's the right field part confirmed. Yeah, yeah.

I haven't seen anything new about Monday, but I would, yeah, I haven't seen anything refuting it either. I do want to mention that Betts playing right field is going to get him outfield eligibility next year, which is actually pretty significant because that's probably where you're most wanting to use him. Yeah. Will you have triple eligibility next year? Did he get enough second base? I don't know. I'll have to check.

We can look into that one. Cotel Marte exited Saturday with a left ankle contusion. He was out Sunday, but sounds like he avoided serious injury. The team did not send him for X-rays. So hopefully back soon. I think I'd be alright with Cotel Marte in lineups this week. Mike Trout underwent successful surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Obviously second surgery this year for that knee injury.

And he should be ready to go for opening day 24. 25, we hope. CJ Abrams missed all three games this weekend due to back spasms. He said he's hoping to return Tuesday against the Orioles. Chris, do you start or sit Abrams this week? I think I'd start him, but like if I had Zach Netto, someone we've talked a lot about lately, I think I'd be okay starting him over Abrams.

Yeah, I think that's fair. By the way, Betts is four appearances in second base away from gaining it for next year, which could still happen. They're putting them in right field because they think that's their best lineup, not because they don't think he can handle the infield anymore. So it could still happen, but he's not, he hasn't secured second base yet. Does have shortstop, of course. Jaron Duran could be suspended after he got caught on a hot mic,

saying a derogatory term towards a fan. And in case you're wondering, why are we bringing this up? Players have been suspended for this in the past. So we just wanted to put that on your radar in case that happens this week with Jaron. Zach Allen was removed from Saturday start due to general body cramps, but he doesn't expect to miss time. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will throw a bullpen Tuesday and then rejoin the Dodgers next weekend

to throw live batting practice. He's been out since June 16th with a strained rotator cuff. Grayson Rodriguez, who went on the aisle with a right-latch train earlier in the week, will be shut down for 10 days and hopes to be back sometime in September. Max Scherzer, who was placed in the aisle with right shoulder fatigue on August 2nd,

returned to Texas on Sunday to receive further evaluation. Apparently, his shoulder hasn't responded to extra rest like they had anticipated. And look, it's sad to say, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but it kind of just feels like Max Scherzer's body is giving up on him. Yeah. I don't know how much. Yeah, I mean, it feels like the end of the line.

Yeah. We'll see. I had the same thought, yes. Justin Verlander looked good in his first rehab start on Saturday. Three innings, one run, three strikeouts. He built up the pitch count to 52 pitches. Riley Green is expected to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday at AAA. He's on the aisle with a right hamstring strain.

Loris Grillo left Sunday's game due to left hamstring tightness. Dodgers president Andrew Friedman told reporters he expects Max Muncie and Tommy Edmund to be activated during the Dodgers' next homestand, which begins one week from today, Monday, August 19th. Nathan Evaldi was removed early Saturday due to right side tightness. He'll return to Texas to meet with team doctors. I'm guessing we should play it safe. Do not start Nathan Evaldi this week. Correct. Alex Kora said Tristan Kossis will be activated whenever he feels his timing at the plate is ready.

He's currently on a rehab assignment at AAA. Yankees GM Brian Cashman said there is no current lane to call up Jason Dominguez, which is unfortunate because Dominguez got hurt right at the same time that Stan got hurt and Alex Verdugo was slumping. So it could have happened then, but just bad timing, I guess, overall for Jason Dominguez. Matt McLean will not begin his rehab assignment, which was scheduled to start on Monday. Not exactly sure what's going on with McLean this time,

but he did suffer a stress reaction in his rib cage back in early July. Walker Bueller will return Wednesday against the Brewers. His last start in the miners was a good one. His other two outings were poor. Bueller is 76% rostered. I think the expectations are really low, right? On Walker Bueller? I don't think you can expect anything from it.

I think anything you get is a bonus at this point. Yeah. Here's a name we haven't heard in a while. Trevor's story will take batting practice on field Monday. He underwent successful surgery for a fractured left shoulder in mid-April. At the time, the feeling was that he would miss the entire season. Alex Cora now says that he truly believes that story will make it back before the end of the season. Will he have fantasy value?

I don't know, but a name to put on your radar, I guess, in deeper leagues. And perhaps the biggest weekend update is Richard Love Lady, who allowed an earned run on Friday, which brings up. brought his ERA up to 720 on the season. Oh, man. I thought that was pretty good on Friday. You guys. Double,

double razin of Chris there. Talking about Richard lovely. That was good. It was important news, okay? And I want to make sure that everybody got the news that they wanted. Like, yeah, a roster transaction. We got to talk about it. I was so hoping he got to save this weekend.

Yeah, that would have been great. I saw a vindication for me. Someone tweeted at us over the, weekend is Richard Lovelady a must add. And in my mind, I'm just like, why is this person asking me about Richard Lovelady? And then I found out why. Players who went to the aisle this weekend, Austin Hayes with a left hamstring strain, Brooks Lee with right biceps tendonitis, River Ryan with right forearm tightness. He left to start early on Saturday. Hunter Harvey with mid-back tightness. And Wenzell Perez with a left oblique strain, sounds like he could be out for the rest

of the season. Some prospect notes I wanted to mention. Should we get into the Hunter Harvey thing now with the mid back heightness? Because we did mention Lucas Urseg. So I was pretty hopeful. And I think Chris was too, that Hunter Harvey, he had gotten the last save for the Royals. And it seems like they had been phasing James MacArthur out and ready to elevate Harvey to that role.

But now that he's on the I.L, I don't think they go back to MacArthur, who hasn't been very good. I feel like it's got to be Lucas Erseg. And Erseg's been good enough himself and obviously throws very hard. he might end up, you know, bumping Harvey,

eliminating Harvey's chance here. And he got the save on Saturday that the Royals did not play on Sunday, right? It was weird. It wasn't like rained out. They didn't have a game schedule. The two Chicago teams didn't play and the two Missouri teams didn't play. I think it has to do with interleague schedule. You get to play your natural rival more times,

but you have to have a two-game series in there somewhere to make it work. It's something like that. All right. Sure. That's, yeah, I just thought that was weird that they didn't play on a Sunday instead of a Thursday or a Monday. But yeah, no, I would think, like, I would probably prioritize Ryan Walker and Justin Martinez ahead of Lucas Ertzeg. But I think if you need a closer like Ertzeg versus Calvin Foshe, who's only, I think, 8% roster. I think it's fine to go with Erseg given that he's a much better team.

Yeah, 100%. Erseg's numbers much better than James MacArthur this season and he's only 14% rostered. So like we said earlier, this is a big weekend. If you need saves, if you are desperate, there are lots of names to go after. I wanted to mention a few prospect notes. The Red Sox are promoting three of their top prospects to AAA, including Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayor and Kyle Teal, all three names that we could see at some point.

next season and the nationals are promoting Andres Chaparro who is having a big year in the minors 328 batting average with 23 home runs 85 rbi a 97 ops he's also 25 years old Scott does this matter at all andres chaparro I mean the nationals are one of those teams that could probably find opportunities for him though Juan Yippez has obviously hit well at first base. They just called up Jose Tana at third base and I think he has more long-term appeal

than Chaparro. Maybe they could DHM. I don't know. In most organizations I feel like Andres Chaparro would be an organizational depth piece but he's been a good enough producer in the minors that if he is able to find his way into a bat's, it wouldn't

be a huge shock if he made an impact. All right. Let's fire up the drop-o meter before we get into some more waiver wire options. Garret Crochet. Is it over for Garry Crochet, who got clobbered by the Cubs this weekend, two and a third innings,

nine hits, seven earned runs. He allowed four homers in that start. He still did have 15 whiffs on 67 pitches, but he gave up some hard contact, obviously gave up those home runs. And I saw this came out after the start via Vinnie Duber on Twitter. Garra Crochet said he's been experiencing

a mechanical issue for the last three or four weeks and cited it as the cause of his struggles tonight. He said he's tried to convince himself it was something else each time, but now has identified it as, quote, a simple fix. I'm not so sure. I've been hearing things like this for the past month or so regarding Garret Crochet, who now has a 698 ERA and a 181 whip over his last six starts. Dropometer.

I don't know if we're there yet. 91% rostered. Where do you put Garer Crochet 1 to 10? I mean, we're absolutely at the point where you have to discuss it. Whether it's, you know, is he a 10? Is he a 1? I think he's neither one of those. I think he's somewhere in the middle.

I lean towards like a 6 or a 7 at this point because it just, while I wouldn't be surprised if he figured some small thing out and went on a huge run, I think the problem is you're still looking at a very slim margin for error every time he goes out where if he pitches really well, he absolutely could go six innings. Maybe seven if he's really efficient. But like, I don't think we're going to see a lot of 95 pitch outings from Garrett Crochet.

I think they're going to have to be, uh, you know, really safe with him. And because of that, it just means that even if he pitches well for four innings, but has a couple of long at bats, he's probably just out.

And so, I don't want to drop him. I think he's more rosterable in weirdly head-to-head or sorry, he's more valuable in a roto league than a head-to-head points league, even though head-to-head points league should be his more valuable format because he's RP eligible. But I think we're at the point where we were with Jordan Hicks after his really good start where even if he gets back on track, he's not going to get a lot of quality starts.

he's certainly not going to get many wins. And so I could see him being really helpful in ratios. I can see him being helpful in strikeouts. But that probably matters more for a roto league than a points league at this point. Right, right. You really need the win in points leagues. And that's even if he can go the minimum for a win, which he hasn't done since June, he's got the white socks back again.

He still needs his team to score runs. Right. And now he's just not pitching well. And maybe it is the mechanical thing. I saw he was having trouble locating Gloveside, and that's what he blamed it on, you know, if you want some more of the commentary on it afterward.

Look, you can still find reasons for optimism. So the White Sox have changed managers since the last time Crochet had pinched. Grady Seismore is the new manager, and he said, if I could find the exact quote here, Grady Seismore said, every game we are going to,

take it a little different in terms of managing crochet's workload. So even though it looks like they're consistently limiting to four innings, every game, they're going to take it different. And you do wonder if it would have already gone differently if he hadn't been so bad as last three starts. But as somebody who's generally tried to take a rose-colored glasses view of this crochet situation, I think I'm at about a seven-two, a seven also, meaning not a a 7.2. A 7 also on the dropometer.

In that, I saw him dropped in a 15 team league and I put in a bid for him. But I myself was putting in bids while dropping crochet in my 12 team leagues. So that's kind of where I'm at with him. Here's the biggest thing to me that we haven't even mentioned it yet. His ERA, with these three bad starts, the especially bad one, this weekend, 365 is what it's up to now. on the year. This is not a very good ERA. The White Sox didn't move him at the trade deadline.

Because of how far into his service time he is, he's not going to be with them when they're ready to compete again. I feel like their number one goal is an organization for the rest of this season is to preserve Garrett Crochet's value so that they could trade him for a hull. And if he keeps having stinkers like this, that's going to really diminish his value. And so, like, if that, if that, if they're thinking like I am that that should be their number one goal, then they've got to pull the plug.

Like, they can't afford to let them lose more value. Yeah, no, I think that's all fair. Garer Crochet is still 91% rostered on CBS. He's 49% started. If you do keep him on your team, I don't think there's any way you could start him this week. He's at the Houston Astros. That's a really tough matchup. So, yeah, I would get away from Garrecre Crochet.

week and maybe even drop them. Would you drop him for Spencer Ariety? I think so. Yep. Would you drop him for if you're just thinking about matches this week? Paul Blackburn. If I really need a win this week, yeah. Yep, I think that's fair. Let's talk about Hayden Birdsong who has had two rough outings in a row. He was up against the Tigers on Sunday, four and a third innings, five runs allowed. He gave up two homers in this one. He's been hit hard over his last two starts. Twelve earned runs, four homers allowed.

You know, he had those two amazing starts. They also both came against the Colorado Rockies. So Birdsong is 67% rostered. Where is he on the dropometer? Probably. I put him a little higher than crochet. Yeah, actually. Yeah, eight.

Okay, so you're comfortable dropping him for either of the names I just mentioned. Oh, yeah. I still like Birdsong's future. He has, he's capable of getting a lot of whiffs on his secondary pitches. it looked like all of them played down in this start, which was his problem. It wasn't so much the walks.

But even for not walking guys, Hayden Birdsong still had trouble throwing strikes, and that's always going to impede him. 60% strikes in this start. So I just think there's upside here, but he's not as reliable as he needs to be for 12 team leagues right now. All right. Again, that was Hayden Birdsong.

Let's take our final break. And when we return, we'll talk about some waiver wire options from the weekend. do that right after this. Welcome back in. Let's Talk Waver Wire Pitchers, Part 1, and these are mostly names in shallower leagues that could be out there. Michael Waka, another quality

start. This one up against the Cardinals, seven innings, two runs with six strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 92 pitches. Gavin Williams, another solid start for him, this time at the Twins. Six innings, one run with three strikeouts. Jeffrey Springs had his best

start yet, up against the Orioles. Five innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 19 wiffs on 83 pitches. And Tobias Myers was awesome up against the Reds. He went 7 and a third shutout innings with nine strikeouts. He had 12 whiffs on 99 pitches. And Scott, how would you rank that group of four? Tobias Myers, Jeffrey Springs, Gavin Williams, and Michael Walker.

I think Springs is the clear number one. He finally had the start. We stashed him for. and it was really his change-up. Like Garrett-Colider came back, we finally got Jeffrey Springs change-up in this one. That is his wipeout pitch. Hitters had gone seven for 14 against it in his first two starts,

but in this one, it got 10 whiffs on 16 throws, I believe it was. Or am I mixing up my numbers? 10 whiffs on 15 swings. So yeah, it had a 67% whiff rate, clearly back to form. His fastball was still down about a mile per hour and a half from last year, so he hasn't quite regained that velocity, but he showed in this start against the Orioles of all lineups that he can do a lot of damage just with that change-up.

So I'm very encouraged by that for Springs. He's clearly number one. Number two, I'll say Michael Waka for Reliance. liability reasons. Then I prefer the upside of Gavin Williams to Tobias Myers. Though I'm

interesting. Yeah. I know you like Myers. I do. I do. I think one thing that really hurts, he's got the Dodgers this week. And so it's there are six weeks left in the season, seven weeks left in the fantasy season. You can't use the guy for the next one.

That really does have to play into your thought process when you're, you're making your way of our ads now. Yeah. I guess Tobias Myers, if we say, do I like him relative to the 279 ERA and 108 whip he has? No, I don't feel like he's that good. But I don't think anybody is assessing Tobias Myers like he has a 279 ERA in 108 whip. And I think he's a legitimate asset in fantasy, but I would still give Gavin Williams the edge over him.

Would you guys drop crochet or birdsong for any of those names? I would drop them for all of those names. I think so. Yeah. I mean, look, look, if like I said, if you're not using someone right now,

like if you're in a head-to-head points league and you don't have to use someone this week and you're like not locked into a playoff spot, they're droppable. And I don't think you can use Gary Crochet or Hayden Birdsong right now. And I'd feel better about starting any of these guys in their next starts. You know, Myers against the Dodgers, maybe not.

But yeah. I still think I would go for those moves, yes. The only one that's a slam dunk is Springs. I think Birdsong and Crochet are about as rosterable as Waka, Williams, and Myers. So it just depends. Do you want to hold out for upside or do you need some kind of usefulness now? All right. Weaver Wire Pitchers, Part 2, J.P. Sears, a quality start at the Blue Jays, seven innings, three runs with four strikeouts.

Jose Soriano, also a quality start at the Nationals. Six innings, one run with seven strikeouts. Simeon Woods Richardson, a strong start up against the Guardians. Seven innings, two runs with seven strikeouts. And Ryan Nelson, I'm not really sure how to explain it, but he continues to pitch well. This time he did it against the Phillies, who I know they've been slumping, but they're still a really good lineup.

Seven and a third innings, two runs allowed. Nine strikeouts there. Chris, how would you rank Ryan Nelson, Simeon Woods Richardson, Jose Soriano, and J.P. Sears. I think Soriano is clear number one for me. I think the skill set is stronger. Yes. Ground ball rate.

He's one of those guys where like in some ways he's like a mirror image of Framber Valdez, mostly just because he's a righty and Framber Valdez is a lefty, but also just because elite ground ball pitcher who has one really, really good swing and miss pitch. And Soriano hasn't figured out a way to, lean on that curveball in the same way that Frember Valdez certainly is lately, but even when

he doesn't, I think the results are going to be good enough, right? Like you see the 381 FIP, it's a little higher than the 336 DRA, but I think it's reasonable to expect that moving forward. After that, I think it probably just depends on what the next matchup is for all of these guys.

Ryan Nelson gets the Rockies in Arizona, so I'd probably go within. And I saw some good discussions about Ryan Nelson and the way he's changed his approach over his past six starts where he's throwing his four seamer up in the zone a lot more consistently.

He's throwing it harder as well. I think the overall profile is still pretty middling, right? Like he has five or six pitches. None of them have a whiff rate over 20.5%. Yeah. So I think there's not a ton to love there and it's probably just a streamer in the long run,

but I think that's also the same of Sears and Woods Richardson. I think Soriana is probably the only one who's north of a streamer. I will point out, I've noticed this with Ryan Nelson, and it kind of piggybacks what you said about the fastball. Five of his last seven starts have been good. In the five that were good, he threw his fastball more than 60% of the time.

So when he really leans on that fastball, which is his only good pitch, it seems like of the five he has. Things seem to go well for Ryan Nelson. I don't know how long it'll last, but it's been going well so far. And I just want to throw in for Jose Soriano, who I'm glad is finally getting some attention here.

Last five starts. Four of them are quality starts with one run or fewer. So he's been, I don't know that he's gotten a lot of wins during that stretch, but he's been pitching really reliably. Weaver wire pitchers part three. Mitchell Parker has turned in three solid starts in a row after a rough stretch. He was up against the Angels,

six and a third, two unearned runs with five strikeouts. Cody Bradford, that's right, Chris. Your Cody Bradford pitched well at the Yankees. Five innings, one run, seven strikeouts with 11 whiffs on 92 pitches. Edward Cabrera had a great start up against the Padres, seven shutout innings with four strikeouts,

and Yarelle Rodriguez had a solid start up against Oakland, five and two thirds, one run, five strikeouts here. we're getting a little bit into deeper leagues here but Scott any interest in those names Mitchell Parker Bradford Cabrera and Rodriguez give it to Chris because this sounds like all guys he's fond of all right Chris what do you think?

Yeah I don't think any of these guys are our must roster I think there might even be one guy in the next group maybe two who I like more than any of them but like Jerry Alderges I'm excited to draft him as a sleeper next year but I just don't think the workload is going to be there. Has he gone six

innings at all in any start this season? Actually, he did a couple of starts in a row, I want to say. But he's like, I think 85 pitches about as many

as he's thrown in any given start. So like, he has to be super efficient. It's kind of similar to Gary Crochet. I do think like outside of the one disaster start

that got him sent down before the trade deadline, Rodriguez has been very good since coming back. So I think he's a very talented pitcher. It's just, I think his utility

is fairly limited against the wrong matchups. So it's a 3.30-80 R.A. and eight starts since returning, but the first one was really awful. So if we throw that out. Yeah, and he had the one where he only went like two-thirds of an inning against Baltimore. 243 R.A. and seven starts for Yario Rodriguez. Back-to-back six-innings starts at the start of July. But, yeah, his season high is 85 pitches, like he said.

I think he's the most interesting of this group. Um, yeah, like Mitchell Parker's got the Phillies in his next start. There's no way I can go with him. Would rather not start Cody Bradford against the twins. So he's your guy, Chris. What are you doing? I think Rodriguez is fine. Uh, probably the most immediately useful and has some long term appeal.

And the last group includes Martin Perez, who had a strong start at the Marlins, seven innings to run six strikeouts, Osvaldo Bito, who pitches for Oakland. He was at the Blue Jays this weekend, six shutout innings with five strikeouts. Nick Martinez threw a gem at the Brewers. Seven shutout innings, just one hit with seven strikeouts. He's improved his control dramatically this year. I don't really know how to explain it,

but I think that's been a big key for Nick Martinez. And Albert Suarez pitched well at Tampa Bay on Sunday, six and two-thirds shutout innings with five strikeouts. Again, Scott, kind of deep league names here, but anyone stand out between Suarez, Martinez, Beto and Martin Perez? I don't think I really want to roster any of them if I can avoid it, but I do have interesting observations on some of them.

Martin Perez for the second straight start since joining the Padres, through more changeups and curveballs, and had another good outing doing that. So I don't know, maybe something could come from that for Martin Perez, not ready to buy in yet. You mentioned Nick Martinez dramatically improved control. You look at the 316 ERA and think, well, that's obviously too good to be true, but he has a 299 FIP and a 290XERA.

Not like he's missing a ton of bats, so I remain skeptical, but it's noteworthy. And then Albert Suarez, I'm reluctant to buy into him again because that ended so poorly the first time around. But two really good starts in a row after joining the rotation, and anybody who can provide decent innings with the Orioles lineup backing him is, gotta be of some interest in fantasy. Let's slide over to some waiver wire hitters. We already spoke about Jake Berger. Jorge Saler had a huge weekend in Corse Field.

Seven hits, four homers, nine RBI, and he's now up to 16 home runs. He's had some stretches where, you know, you think it's, all right, Jorge Soler is about to get going, right? But then, you know, he has some big games, but it hasn't been sustainable so far this season. 71% rostered is Soler. Chris, do you think that needs to be higher?

Is Salara a must roster player? Or did he just have a great series in Coorsfield? I mean, he had a great series in course field. I don't think he's a top like a top 36 outfield or in a points league. So when you say must roster, that would be the toughest league to get him in the lineup for every week. So I think 71% rostered. If you want to add him and play the hot hand, that's fine. But we also know who Horace Saler is.

And it's always been an inconsistent player who's. better in Roto than points. So I think it's fine to leave him out there and if you haven't added him yet. But when he's going well... Sure, yeah. It's like Jake Burr. He changed to do it for a long time. So I think I'm buying it.

I'd like, I don't know if he'd quite crack my top 36 outfielders rest of the season, but he wouldn't miss by much. I'm definitely moving him up after this four Homer weekend he just had. And, you know, I've watched him play for some of it. It didn't feel like a Coors Field-fueled weekend, I will say. Any of these names of interest in five outfielder leagues,

Matt Walner has hit well since returning to the Twins. He had a three-run homer on Friday, and in 22 games since returning a 343 batting average with six homers and OPS over 1,000. Jake McCarthy has been racking up hits recently for the debacks, two for four with two homers on Saturday, three for four with four RBI on Sunday, his last 15.

He's batting over 400 with three home runs and three steals. And Andrew Benintendi, he's on some kind of power binge. I don't know that we're buying into this, but two for four with two home runs on Friday. And he has five home runs in all of August so far. Scott, buying in on any of these in five outfield of the leagues, Benintendi, McCarthy, and Matt Walner. I don't think so. I mean, what we want for McCarthy is stolen bases, and he's not really giving much of that. Not quite playing every day either.

And I have no idea what to make of this power search for Ben Intendi. It just seems like a total fluke of nature to me. Yeah, the Jake McCarthy thing, he has started two, four, six, eight, nine games in a row. And it looks like 12, 14 of the past 15. So he is playing. He's been playing more, yeah. He's racking up hits, a little bit of power, a little bit of speed. far. And I noticed his

splits against lefties this year. He's actually hit really well, over 300 against left-handed pitching. So I think he should play every day. You know, I picked him up in a, he was out there in a 15 team, five outfielder league. Obviously, yeah, I think that makes sense. Even in 12th team, five outfielder leagues, I think you

could add Jake McCarthy. I don't think it's crazy. You could if you really need like a hot hand. I just I don't think it's going to last because I don't see him being big batting average guy. Yeah. And we're not interested in Mount at all. Look, if you need power and a, like, that's all he's going to do.

I have Alfeo the league. I think it's fine. The problem is he is actually not going to play against lefties. Yeah, no. And the twins have three lefties on the schedule this week. So. Yeah, that's tough. But, I mean, we are talking about a guy who, what's he played like, 118 games since the

started last season. And he's, uh, he's hit 28 home runs. Like the, the production's been very good. The underlying powers really impressed 111 games. 22 home runs. Like, I think he's a legitimate source of powers. OPS is over 1,000 for the season. Yeah, if he doesn't, he doesn't play against lefties.

And since they have three on the schedule this week, I think it's fairly easy to dismiss. Yeah. What's crazy too is that his strikeout rate is almost 40% on this. Yeah, it's much better since he got recalled, but it's still like 34% I think. I just don't want to go get over the moon on Matt Walner, because he surged to the finish line last year

and there was a lot of praise for him coming in and then he started like 1 for 31 or something and got sent down. And I don't, like he clearly has a lot of power. But I don't think he's like a, in the long run, a starting caliber bat in the majors is my official take on Matt Walner. Two names in two catcher leagues.

The D-Backs promoted catcher Adrian Del Castillo to fill in for Gabriel Moreno, who was currently on the IL with a left adductor strain, and Castillo had a big weekend, three for four with his first career home run on Friday, added three more hits with two RBI on Sunday, 24 years old, having a breakout season in the minors, 319 batting average 24 home runs,

and Joey Bart hit two more home runs this weekend with the Pirates. He's been their primary catcher. The strikeout rate is down this year. Chris, if you had to choose one of these names in deeper two catcher leagues, Who do you like more, Bart or Adrian Del Castillo? I would take the flyer on Del Castillo, who had a huge season at AAA.

We talked about it when he got called up. A thousand plus OPS. Yes, it's the PCL, but I think his OPS was like 150 points higher than any other catcher in the PCL before getting promoted. So that doesn't explain it. And the fact that he's been productive in very limited playing time so far,

I think it's worth taking a flyer on in any two-catcher league. 10-12 team, there just aren't enough impactful catchers that I'm willing to overlook Adrian Del Castia. And one of their name in deeper leagues, the Astros called up prospect Zach DeZenzo last week, and he's done something so far, two-for-four with his first career home run on Saturday. He's started five straight games since being called up.

He had a solid year in the minors. He limited to only 38-year. games, but he hit well last year. 13% roster. It's got any interest in Zach DeZenzo in deeper leagues. Yeah, quite a bit of interest. I think he's just going to be their primary first baseman now, and I think he has skills. And I was surprised.

I picked him up for a modest bid in all three of my 15 teamers, and a two of them, nobody else even bid on him. I was very surprised about that. All right, let's keep things moving, and we'll do some quick starter sit, these fringy pitchers this week. and Jose Burrios bounced back with the great start up against Oakland, seven innings one run with eight strikeouts. He is at the Angels this week.

What do you think on Jose Barrios? Who knows, man? Like, does anyone know why Jose Burrios does well when he does well or doesn't do well when he doesn't do well? Like his pitch mix is always almost identical and the velocity doesn't really. And it's just like, it's just sometimes he's amazing and sometimes he's terrible. and he's been really good in two of his last three starts. And so if you want to ride the hot hand against a good matchup with the Angels,

I think that's fine. But like, I don't know how you can have any confidence one way or the other about Jose Bereos at this point. Robbie Ray turned in his first quality start of the season up against the Tigers, six innings, two runs with seven strikeouts. Notice the velocity was down quite a bit,

basically where it was at before Tommy John surgery. So maybe he was just amped up for his first couple of starts. He is home against the Braves this week. Scott, what do you think about Robbie Ray? I think that it's fine if you want to use them for that. The Braves did get, their offense did get hot over the weekend in Coors Field. So I don't know if it'll carry over. They were very, very cold before that.

As for the diminished velocity, I noticed it as well. But, you know, three of his four starts since returning from the IL have been good, have been promising, including this. one, so I don't want to make too much of it yet. Max Fried has not been very good in two starts since coming back from the IL. This one in course field, so perhaps we give him a pass. But the walks have been a problem. He's given up nine earn runs over eight in the third inning since returning from the IL.

Max Fried at the Giants this week, who are actually really good against left-handed pitching. Chris, what do you do with Max Fried? I lean towards sitting him just because we haven't seen it from him coming back from the forearm issue. But I also, like, I don't really take anything away from this start at course field either. Like, you didn't get hit hard. I think he just got Babbitt to death. And I don't know. I would like to have seen a good start from him before getting him back in my lineup.

But if you have to start him this week, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a good outing. I don't think my confidence in Max Free is totally shaken. I would just like to see something from him. The movement on all of his secondary pitches, his many secondary pitches. his many secondary pitches was all way off, which you kind of expect at Coorsfield. Yeah, that's the problem with Coorsfield. Like, Spencer Schwallenbach had a really good start this week.

And I think that's good. Like, you would rather a player have a good start at Coorsfield. But just from an analysis perspective, I don't think you can take anything away from course field one way or the other from pitchers. Christopher Sanchez got crushed at the D-backs on Sunday, four and two-thirds innings, 12 hits, seven earned runs. still did have 13 whiffs on 96 pitches, but he's given up six plus earned runs

in two of his last three starts and three of his last seven. And he's home against the Nationals this week, which is actually a good matchup. Scott, what do we do with Christopher Sanchez? I am rapidly losing faith in Christopher Sanchez. He's gotten bombed a few times, as you pointed out, and even the good starts, the strikeouts have been very lacking.

I'd rather try somebody else against the Nationals. I think you can live with it with starting Sanchez with that matchup, but I'd like to aim for hire. Chris Bassett got crushed by the Oakland A's four innings, seven runs allowed to give up two homers in this one. And his last six starts is a 712 ERA, a 164 whip. He is at the Cubs this week. Chris, what are you doing with Bassett?

So I'm looking at one lineup right now where I have Chris Bassett, and the problem is I've got Shane Bosses, versus Houston, Nester Cortez. Well, he gets the white socks. That might be the option. Or Cutter Crawford versus Texas and Baltimore. I don't love any of those guys. I think I'm going to go with Cortez with the best matchup,

but that kind of tells you where Chris Bassett is right now. It's another one where I don't have a good explanation for why he struggles when he does and why he does well when he does. And I think it's just there's almost no margin for error for a guy that throws this soft. and when things aren't perfect, he's going to have a tendency to get bombed. But I still generally view him as a starting caliber pitcher moving forward. I'd be more likely to drop Bassett than start him.

If we're talking 12-team guy, I want to drop him in a 15-team or a 12-team league. I mean, that last start was good, but other than that, it's been a total... He's just crushing you right now. I'm not sure the upside is worth it. Yep. And Spencer Schwellenbach,

pitch well in course field, six innings, two runs with seven strikeouts, had 17 whiffs on 96 pitches, has a quality start in five of his past six, has seven plus strikeouts in four straight. Only 60% started on CBS and at the Angels this week, I think we're all good with the starting Schwellenbach, right?

He's the best. Best Benzerson Strider. All right, let's move on to some hitters. Do we have a name for this group of rookie Jackson's? Because it kind of feels like we should have a name, right? Like the Jackson 3. That's what Chris threw out last week. That makes sense.

Yeah, I asked on Twitter, you know, I would love a way to get to the Jackson 5. Like if Jackson Job gets called up. Yeah, there's a fourth. Yeah. I did see this was the first year in a long time. I think it's baseball history. Yeah, first year in baseball history where the first name Jackson's outnumbered the last name, Jackson's. Wow.

All right. Braves reliever Jackson Stevens. but has thrown three in a third innings this season. That's your Jackson. Somebody threw out, I think Jackson Rutledge getting called up.

I think he's in the national system or something like that. Yeah, Twitter actually threw, I thought some pretty good ones, The Jackson Hive, Action Jackson's, the Jackson Thrive. Not bad.

We're sticking with Jackson 3. All right, fair enough. Well, let's talk about what they did this weekend. Jackson Meryl kept his hot streak going, three for four with a sock and two shoes on Friday hit another clutch home run on Saturday. His last 19 games, 366 with five home runs, three steals and OPS over a thousand.

Jackson Holiday hit another home run on Saturday that was four home runs in a six game stretch and since being called up, he's batting 250 with five home runs, 12 RBI and a 968 OPS. Jackson Trio actually went hitless this weekend, but you guys have talked about it. Post All-Star break, 358, five home runs,

six steals on 968 OPS for Truro. Anything else you guys would like to add? I know you spent a lot of time on them last week, though. I can't imagine sitting any of them right now, and maybe not for the next 15 years. I hope that's the case. How much are you buying in on these hot stretches from two other young hitters?

Zach Netto continues his Torrid run, three for five with a sock and a shoe on Saturday. He is now up to 17 homers and 21 steals. 10 games in August he's betting 3.42, 4 home runs, 14 RBI, 2 steals, a 12-46 OPS. And Colton Couser continues to hit well since the All-Star break. 1 for 5 with his 18th home run on Friday. He added three more hits on Saturday. And in the second half, which includes 23 games,

Couser is betting 337 with 6 homers, 21 runs, 20 RBI, 2 steals, and a 968 OPS. he has played every single game in the second half. How much are you guys buying in? Zach Netto and Colton Couser. So all of a sudden, Netto is a top 40 player in Roto overall. Yep. And I think he's the number 10 shortstop for the season

in fantasy points total. I don't know. Like, I don't know how much I even want to be skeptical of it. Like none of it really looks unsustainable, which is part of what's a little confusing, right? Like, are we sure a guy hitting 264 on a bad team is a top 40 player. I know the 17 homers and 21 steals

that's good, but it's not like, is that really overcoming it? I know all of a sudden he's on like with lacking 90 RBI. Well, he's on close to a 90 RBI pace. I think he had like, 85 is what it says. Yeah, he had 11 in that series

against the Yankees, I think, right? 74 runs. Yeah. So that's holding him back, I would say, among the top 40. So you just wonder how much stolen bases if stolen bases are maybe getting way too much in there.

I don't know. But anyway, continue. But yeah, I think he's, I'm not going to rank him as a top 12 shortstop. We talked about this last week where there are a handful of guys who are ranked below him, but we rank above him. But on the whole,

I don't see a lot to be skeptical of with Zach Netto. So I think he's in the, 15-ish range at shortstop. You know, on Friday show, when we looked up shortstop since May 1st, and I saw Zach Netto is sixth in fantasy points since May 1st, I think that radicalized me. I think I'm a true Zach Netto believer. Good. Love to hear it.

Hop a board of the Zagnetto train. Well, maybe. I'll try to get him in the top 12. It'll be behind Muki Betts obviously and probably behind the two Jackson's but maybe we need to kick Ha-Sung Kim out of there or something, I don't know.

Okay. Colton Kouser, I will just point out again, he's playing every day. He's actually been okay against lefties. I know he's been shrieky, but I'm pretty much back in on Colton Kouser being a top 40 outfielder, you know, must roster type player rest of season.

Three pitchers who made their returns this weekend. Tanner Bybee returned from that shoulder issue with a solid start at the Twins, five and two-thirds innings, one run with five strikeouts. He had 13 whiffs on 84 pitches. Two other names that we were waiting much longer to return. Merrill Kelly, solid start up against the Phillies,

five innings, two runs with two strikeouts. And D.L. Hall, who returns to the Brewers. He wasn't very good. Four and two-thirds, innings, three runs. He did have nine strikeouts. I just wanted to point out the velocity was way up on all of his pitches, like over two miles per hour. That's what we saw in his minor league rehab assignment as well.

Anything you guys would like to add on Bibby, Merrill Kelly, and D.L. Hall? We may have overlooked how good Bybee's been for a long time now. Last 15 starts, 269 ERA 102 whip 9.6K per 9. The starts tend to be a little on the shorter side, which works against him,

but it's pretty close to must start, I'd say, Tanner Bybee. Merrill Kelly, the control was a little off, the velocity a little down. but neither enough that I'd consider it a red flag. I think Merrill Kelly, you're going to want on your roster down the stretch. And we'll keep an eye on this D.L. Hall thing. I think strike throwing is a bigger issue than velocity for him,

but you don't mind extra velocity. Let's get into some other leftovers. Part one, Zach Eflin got his revenge at the raise. Seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts. Bryce Miller, a strong start-up against the Mets, six shutout innings with six strikeouts. and Bailey Ober continues his great run this time against the Guardian

six shutout innings with nine strikeouts last nine starts for Ober 176 ERA, 0.73 whip 10.6K per 9 16.8% swinging strike rate he's been amazing Chris anything go ahead to go ahead

sorry if you eliminate just that first start for Bailey Ober where he got bombed his first start of the season he has a 298 ERA and 0.9. 9-0 whip overall. It took him a little while to figure it out. His fastball was really bad early on.

But once he figured that out, he really took off. So I think he's a must-start pitcher. Like, Eflin, this is kind of exactly what I thought would happen when he got to the Orioles where he's pitched a little better. Like his whiff rate on his curveball is way up since he got there. You know, his usage isn't materially different. But it's just, it's such a better situation that even if he wasn't a significantly better pitcher, I would feel better about starting him anyway.

So that's where we're at on him. And then, like, Bryce Miller, he's going to tinker and maybe figure something out here because he now throws seven different pitches. Doesn't throw them very often. But it's a very wide arsenal. Some of the pitches have shown real swing and miss potential, the knuckle curve especially. And it's all just about finding the best way to.

supplement that really, really good fastball and find some consistency when it's not working. And I don't know if we're there yet. I know he's been very good lately, but this is a guy who has had hot stretches followed up by really, really bad stretches. So I'm not ready to buy in completely. But I think you're probably just leaving Bryce Miller in your starting lineup. The whip is always going to be great. And you just hope the blowouts are less hurtful than.

they have been at times. Pitching leftover is part two, Logan Webb, back on track over his last three starts. This one up against the Tigers. Seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 17 whiffs on 110 pitches. Justin Steele, a great start at the White Sox. Six innings, one unearned run

with eight strikeouts, and Logan Gilbert was great up against the Mets, seven shutout with six strikeouts. Scott, anything to add on Gilbert, Steele, and Logan Webb. Webb's change-up was awesome for a third straight start. In fact, maybe the best it's been yet.

So he seems to be trending a good direction, not that he was so bad before then. And pitching leftovers part three. Hunter Brown, a strong start at the Red Sox. Five and a third innings, two runs, nine strikeouts, had 16 whiffs and his velocity was way up across the board. Tyler Glassnow, a quality start up against the Pirates, seven innings, two runs with four strikeouts.

And Luis Castillo, a great start up against the Mets on Sunday night baseball, six innings, one run with nine strikeouts. Chris, anything on Castillo, Glassnow, and Hunter Brown. No, my only comment is just, I feel like Hunter Brown and Mitch Keller are like the same guy. I don't know if that's fair or reasonable,

but that's my mental model for both of them moving forward. I think there are going to be some bumps in the road, but on the whole, you're going to be happy that you have them around. I think it's probably more strikeout upside with Hunter Brown, but I think it's fair.

Yeah. I mean, Not significantly more, though. Maybe like 1K per 9 more. Yeah, I think that's reasonable. Some hitting leftovers, Wilson Contreras, had a big game on Friday, 3 for 4 with two homers and 4 RBI since returning from the IL. 247 batting average with 9 home runs and an 814 OPS.

Yordon Alvarez picking the power back up. Three home runs over the weekend, five home runs over his last five games. Matt Olson showing some signs of coming around, two for four with two home runs on Saturday over his last 18. games. He's batting 284 with seven homers. Teasker Hernandez has been awesome in the second half. He hit a home run off Paul Skeens on Saturday. And in the second half, 329 batting average seven home runs in OPS over a thousand.

Just another normal weekend for Aaron Judge who went three for three with a sock and a shoe on Sunday. He also added three hits across the double header on Saturday. Jazz Chisholm also had himself a big weekend, had two homers and a steel across the double header, added another steel on Sunday. Alex Bregman has had a big weekend, seven hits, two homers, and over his last 31 games, batting 299 with eight home runs. Juan Soto, two for five with two homers on Sunday. And Cal Raleigh, a huge game on Sunday night baseball. Three for four with two home runs, five RBI.

And he leads all catchers with 26 homers, and he's second at the position with 76 RBI. Lots of names, lots of stats. Anything you guys would like to add. So for Aaron Judge, I gave you Bailey Ober's numbers since May 1st just a minute ago? No, I didn't. I did it from his first start. Okay, scratch that first.

Scratch the Bailey Ober thing. Okay, Aaron Judge, since May 1st. He's batting 375. I have always said... He's batting 375 since May 1st. I've always said Aaron Judge is the Bailey Ober of hitters. Yeah. All right.

That seems like a good point to move on to bullpen. for the Blue Jays on Friday, Chad Green. A pitch, a clean ninth inning for his 11th save. 54% rostered. He's just a closer, and he's still out there at about half of CBS leagues. For the Rockies on Friday, Victor Vodnick picked up his seventh save,

and then on Sunday, he gave up a hit, but picked up his eighth save. He also just looks like the guy for the Rockies. He's pitched well, 18% rostered. For the debacks on Friday, Justin Martinez, got the ninth inning with the game tied, facing two, three, and four in the Phillies lineup. He gave up a hit but allowed no runs.

The debacks then walked it off in the bottom of the ninth inning. So Justin Martinez earned the win. And it just kind of feels like he's moved to the front of the line for saves there, right? Absolutely. In that game on Friday, I believe they had a lead in the eighth. AJ Puck gave up a run. So what would have been a save situation ended up being a win for Justin Martinez. But his usage, I think in like four straight games has basically just been,

This is closer usage. For the Marlins on Saturday, Calvin Foshae pitched a clean ninth inning with the game tied as the home team in that one. And then on Sunday, Foshae was unavailable. He had pitched three of four entering this one. Andrew Nardi got the eighth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up two runs, but recorded five outs. And it was George Soriano, who got the final out for his first save. For the Royals on Saturday, we mentioned Lucas Erseg got the final four outs and picked up his fourth save of

the season, his first with the Royals. 14% rostered. Kind of feels like he's going to be the guy moving forward for them. For the Brewers on Saturday, Devin Williams struck out the side for his first save of the season. The Orioles continues to just kind of be a mess.

On Saturday, Yaneer Canoe entered the 8th with a three-run lead. He got two quick outs and then allowed two singles. He was replaced by lefty Conell Perez, who gave up back-to-back walks. He allowed a run in. And then, sorry, Dominguez got the ninth inning with a two-run lead.

He walked one but picked up his second save, his first with the Orioles. And then on Sunday, Craig Kimbril got the eighth inning with the game tied. He walked three, gave up a sacrifice fly. He took his fourth loss. What happens next? Is Dominguez, does Dominguez get the next save?

Can we drop Kimbril? What are you going to say? I've been pretty optimistic that Kimbril would regain the role in short. order, but then he has this outing. He mentioned his velocities down, Chris. And Sir Anthony Dominguez is part of the equation now, and not only did he get the save this weekend,

but he worked the ninth inning with a four-run lead twice earlier this month. I'd prioritize him over Yaneer Canoe, if nothing else, and I'd be a little worried about Kimbril with the presence of Dominguez. Absolutely. For the Yankees on Sunday, Clay Holmes entered with two outs in the eighth inning, a two-run lead,

a runner on second. Corey Seeger was coming up, got him to ground out. Holmes stayed out there for the ninth inning. He gave up a run on a hit and two walks, barely converted his 25th save. If this was another team that had a better bullpen, I would say Clay Holmes is on the hot seat. I just don't really see anywhere else the Yankees can turn. So I think he's safe, but I also don't know how good Clay Holmes is. For the Tigers on Sunday, Tyler Holton recorded four outs across the sixth and third.

seventh innings. Will Vest got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He walked one but picked up his first save. Jason Foley had last pitched on Friday. Shelby Miller pitched Friday and Saturday. I don't know that it matters. As far as I'm concerned, the tires I'll have a closer. Even if they came out and said, Will Vest is a closer. I just think I care. And then on Sunday for the Pirates, I just wanted to mention a Rollis Chapman pitched a scoreless eighth inning with the game tied. David Bednar pitched a scoreless ninth. And then he came back out for for the 10th inning, where he gave up two runs, and he was charged with his fifth loss.

Do you guys, who do you guys think gets the next save? As I said Friday, and they clearly, they didn't agree, but I think we've seen enough from Bednar, and they should just switch to Chapman at this point. So I did pick up Chapman in those 15-team Roto leagues. How would you guys rank? Let's see. Let's do Ryan Walker, Lucas Ersig,

Justin Martinez, Sir Anthony Dominguez, and Aroldus Chapman. I have them on the rundown if you want to... I see you typing them in. This is cool. I'd go Walker, Martinez, Gap, Erza, Gap, Chapman, Dominguez. I think I agree with that, yeah. Okay.

To stream or not to stream on Monday. Some options here we have Ben lively up against the Cubs. Andrew Abbott up against the Cardinals Brian Bayo gets the Rangers Well you know I ran a spot against the Rockies on the road Yeah I got to delete that one Rockies in Arizona I like that's probably the best one

He's that he's too rostered He's probably too yeah you're I cheated Calquantral at the D-backs I don't really like any of these I could see lively and Abbott having good start But I don't want to bet on either of them Yeah this stinks Okay

What about Tuesday is it at Stinky? I don't know. Trevor Rogers gets the Nationals. We get Tyler Phillips up against the Marlins. Shane Boz gets the Astros. Paul Blackburn Revenge game against Oakland. Yeah, I like Blackburn. Eduardo Rodriguez gets the Rockies.

I think that's his season debut. No, it's a second start. His first one was, yeah. This first one didn't inspire a lot of confidence. So I think Blackburn's the only one I'm genuinely liking here. If you're forcing me to pick a second, because you like to force me. I think I'd go Rodriguez, honestly.

I think I'd go Shane Boz. It forced. So there you go. You got three names total. All right, we are going to rat there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.