Fantasy Baseball Today - Spencer Strider SP1!? Week 23 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers (9/2 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 2, 2022

Spencer Strider struck out 16 (1:00)! Is he an SP1 next season? ... Joey Meneses is crushing the ball (9:30). ... Is AJ Pollock worth adding (17:21)? ... What do we do with Kyle Bradish (21:00)? ... How did Clayton Kershaw do in his return (24:30)? ... Oswald Peraza and Spencer Steer are getting called up on Friday (25:40)! ... News (35:30): Tony Gonsolin needs an MRI on his forearm. ... Let's take a look at the Week 23 schedule and fringy two-start pitchers (38:38). ... Which sleeper hitters should you target next week (49:55)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and weekend streamers (52:43). Want a 2023 Fantasy Baseball pre-draft Zoom call with Scott White? You can bid here with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374227992145 Want a 2023 Fantasy Baseball pre-draft Zoom call with Frank Stampfl? You can bid here with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374227991188 Do you want to join the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast as a guest? You can bid on it with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374225470953 Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And welcome in to fantasy baseball today on September 2nd. Frank Stamphle joined by Scott White. Today on the show, is Spencer Strider in SP1 next year? Let's talk about it. More prospects are on the way. We've got two-star pitchers, sleeper hitters for week 23, and much more. But let's jump in. Oh, my goodness gracious.

Scott, we did not talk about, oh, my goodness gracious before we started, but I assume one of us will take the low-hanging fruit, the breadstick. Well, I kind of feel like there's two breadsticks, right? Do we need to talk about it? There's the pitcher and there's the hitter. Do you want the pitcher or the hitter? Well, let's start with the pitcher. Okay.

He's all yours. Spencer Strider. He's pretty good. Spencer Strider had his best start yet. His best start yet, historically made history with this start, at least franchise history. A franchise with a good history of pitching, I will note. But none of those pitchers in 56, I guess is the 57th year in Atlanta,

have done what Spencer Strider did today against the Rockies, which is record 16 strikeouts. 16, breaking the Atlanta record, as I said, previously belonging to John Smoltz of 15, which I believe he did a couple times. But anyway, yeah, Spencer Strider, 16. And he went eight innings. That is his career high.

In fact, looking through the game log now, he hadn't even gone seven innings before. And he went eight in this one, allowed just two hits. It was a 40-point start, according to CBS standard point scoring. Do you know how hard it is to get 40 points? I mean, in some head-downs,

head points formats, it's easy because they throw on bonuses for like complete games and shutouts and those bonuses just stack up and before you know it a really dominant start could be 50 plus points, but in standard CBS scoring where they don't have those bonuses, it

takes a really, really good start to top 30. I remember we're kind of talking about this earlier when Justin Verlander and Shane McLeanahan were going down and it's like, yeah, you know, but it's possible any pitcher could give you a a 25-point start and you may not actually miss them that much if you happen to if you happen

to thread the needle with the pitchers you stream and we talk about it on the other end of the spectrum in points leagues how um you know the the the floor for a bad pitching performance only goes so low typically the ceiling only goes so high and yet strider got 40 points so that that was pretty impressive in its own right so at this point yeah i think the question to add and you brought it up at the top, Frank, is how are we going to value Spencer Strider for this year? Because it's clear he is, let's see, K per 9, where does he rank now? He is at 13.7K per 9.

Among qualifiers, the leader is Dylan Cease with 11.6K per 9. So full two strikeouts per 9 innings higher is Spencer Strider. Let me lower the threshold so it's not just qualifiers. Why don't you go ahead and say stuff while I'm doing that? I think Shohei Otani will probably be in the mix as well, Scott, once you kind of lower those qualifications. But you're absolutely right. I mean, this was a ridiculous start.

You mentioned the 40 fantasy points. To put that in perspective, Sandy Alcantara, who is the SP2 and fantasy points per game this season, averages 20 fantasy points per start. So this one start was like you got two Sandy Alcantra's starts in one based on what Spencer Shrider did in this start, his fifth double-digit strikeout start of the season. And I think it's a good conversation to have, Scott, and you know, one that we'll have in the off-season as well. But, you know, based on Spencer Shrider's

age, his trajectory, it seems like he's just kind of getting better as the season is going along, his strikeout upside. I think for all those reasons. And just the hype train, right? Like, what he's doing, like people are going to get so enamored with it. I think he's probably going to be a borderline SP1 drafted for next season? Yeah, I could definitely see that happening, which would probably mean I don't have much of him because volume is so important to me in terms of have you proven

you can handle that big ace workload that justifies a big ace price tag. And Spencer Strider's not going to have done that in his rookie season, but it's been awfully impressive, nonetheless. He's probably going to be at about, he's probably about 140 innings maybe. It's not clear if he's getting skipped his next turn either because the Braves have a five-game week coming up.

I don't know. It kind of surprised me if he was the one getting skipped as opposed to Jake Oter-Rizzie. Maybe neither one of them gets skipped. But Braves are the only team with five games next week, so that's something to keep in mind. Yeah, so getting back to what I was saying about the K-per-9, if you lower the threshold,

so you're not just comparing Spencer Strider only to the qualifiers, which is pretty limited group, actually. He's still, like, among pitchers who've made even just one start this year, Spencer Strider's K per 9 is the highest, and it's like one and a half K is higher than Shohei Otani. So, Watani is second on that list, though.

Double check, I believe so. I believe that's what I saw. Yeah, that would make sense to me. You know, Scott, I'm looking at your top 12 ranks, and I don't think that we're missing anybody. Otani's second, yeah. So I was looking at ADP just before the show started from before the season to see if I'm missing any pitchers who maybe got hurt who will be coming back and could be SP ones. There's not really any.

So if you look at the back end of your top 12 right now, you have Dylan Seas, who I actually think compares very similarly to Spencer Strider. And in fact, Strider's control has gotten better as the season has gone along compared to Dylan Seas, which really hasn't. It's just been kind of bad all year. and then you have Max Fried, Julio Arias, and Shane Bieber. Like, to me, Freed, Arias, and Bieber are more like high floor plays.

And it's not to discount their ceilings, but like if everything goes right for Spencer Shrider, he's probably better than those guys, right? Yeah, I mean, it's the same old conversation that we have had for a lot of pitchers over the years. Do you want the high efficiency guy or do you want the high-veillance? volume guy who also has really good efficiency with an early round pick.

And I almost always side with the latter because volume is, volume is what bolsters those efficiency stats. You know, and look, I mean, Strider, he went eight innings tonight so that he showed something. Like, I don't want to, I'm not trying to make it out that Strider's going to be a bad pick next year. it's just the quality of pitcher he's going to be drafted alongside in all likelihood, I think is going to make him a little too risky by comparison. But yes, if he manages to go 180 plus innings next year and doesn't lose anything performance-wise, then he'll probably be a top five pitcher in fantasy.

I just think that's asking a lot. Yeah, I think that definitely makes sense. Last point on Spencer Shrider, Scott. I just see someone respond to you on Twitter trying to downplay this start because he was going up against, quote, a minor league lineup. And I just absolutely hate that argument

because you have to face the team that is presented to you, right? And a lot of teams go up against the Rockies on the road. I don't see other pitchers putting up 16 strikeouts in a start. And not only that, Strider has 13 strikeouts against the Phillies in the past month.

He's got 12 against the Cardinals. he had nine against the Astros recently. Why are we trying to downplay what Spencer Schreter just did? I just hate when people do that, man. It's not a good argument. Yeah, it's my least favorite retort to because, okay, it's not literally a minor league lineup, first of all. I get that it's a bad lineup.

There are a lot of bad lineups in baseball. Every year, there are a lot of bad lineups in baseball. It's not like he was facing Oakland or anything. Come on. And again, Strider just did something no Braves pitcher has done in more than half the baseball. century of them being in Atlanta. Maybe before then, I just saw the stat about Atlanta.

We spent 10 minutes on Spencer Strider. We probably could move on. Oh my goodness gracious, the other breadstick here is Joey Meneses of the Washington Nationals who has another monster game. He goes four for six, hit his seventh home run, a three run walkoff homer, and he had five hard hit balls in the contest. He's now batting 354 with an OPS over a thousand. He's 31, percent rostered. He's got seven road games next week, Scott. We were talking about beforehand. You said, you know, the matchups aren't

great, you know, they're not terrible, but he does have that, you know, he does have that volume. He's got seven games next week. So if nothing else, he does have that. How are you handling Joey Maness's first base, outfield eligibility? Is he a must add for next week?

Well, I mean, probably can't call him a must add for next week necessarily. Outfield is just so bad. You know, I feel like someone's probably starting a third or fourth outfielder somewhere where they're just not that good. Yeah. Well, sure, but also people, particularly in three outfielder leagues, they have three great outfielders already. And there may not be a reason for them to bother with Manessas.

But yeah, he's looking like one of the most attractive Waver Wire pickups for it, just among hitters in general here, to close out the season. And obviously, Lars Neupar is still out there in about a quarter of leagues, so he would be even more so. He was kind of in the same place Menesis is now. That's kind of where Newpar was in terms of roster rate a couple weeks ago. And then you have the big call-ups, obviously, Corbyn Carroll and Gunner Henderson, who their roster rates are rising rapidly, but they still have a little ways to go. And they're clearly more attractive pickups than Menesis. Menesis is a non-prospect.

He's a 30-year-old rookie who spent some time playing in both Japan and Mexico to keep his dream of breaking into the majors alive. And that's generally not a profile you're going to bet on, but I'm not seeing what he's bad at. Like there's nothing in his profile right now. Just looking at the tiny sample of Major League data where I'm going to say, okay, this is clearly unsustainable. The strikeout rate is pretty low.

The average exit velocity is great. The max exit velocity is great. The expected stats, you know, they're not quite, they're not quite the 354 batting average that he's boasting right now. But, you know, the expected batting average and the expected slug are both high. They're both. Statcast says he should be performing well based on the kind of contact Joey Manet messes has been making.

And he had a pretty productive year in the miners. So, you know, particularly when you factor in that outfield eligibility, if you need help there, I just, what are your alternatives? Like, who else on the waiver, why right now is more interesting than him? And that's what I think, that's why I think these conversations sometimes are more, are simpler than we make them out to be, because, sure, I can tell you it's unlikely Joey Menaceus is going to be this good for long, but who on the waiver wire can I say is going to be good for long?

You know, that's the nature of the waiver wire. There are not good players on there. Yeah, no, I think it's a fair point, Scott. And look, for a lot of the players we recommend, I think if you have a need in the outfield or any position for that matter that we're talking about, you pick up a hot hand and you see where it goes. I mean, especially at this point in the season, we're not really weighing rest of season upside or anything.

We're literally riding the hot hand and we're taking a look at matchups. So Joey Manessus, you'd be hard pressed to find another hitter who's hotter than him right now on the waiver wire outside of maybe a large nuke bar. So I think you just kind of pick him up if you need outfield or corner infield help and let's just see where it goes. But for all the reasons you mentioned, hitting the ball hard, not striking out. You know, he looks like a really, really good ad right now. And I think, you know, more of a philosophical question this time of year, Scott,

I think it could be a little bit more liberal with your drops, right? So someone like Catelle Marte, I was just looking at what he's done recently, which is next to nothing. You know, a lot of head-to-head playoff matchups are starting next week. And, you know, if you're not comfortable starting Cotel Marte, because he's not giving you much, yeah, like, why wouldn't you drop him for someone like Joey Manessus? Or like, Whitmerfield is still 91% roster, and he's basically sitting every other.

other game. Like sure, yeah, drop him for Joey Manessus. Yeah. No, I would say so. In fact, I had an article, it was a couple weeks ago, and maybe some of the information is outdated by now, but it was it was basically just a list of highly rostered players that I'm comfortable dropping. And it included both Catele-Marte and Whitmeriefield on it. I mean, Catele-Marte, at this point, he's batting 251, he's hit 10 home runs, 750 OPS. I mean, Yeah. What are you waiting for him to do at this point? It's September.

If he hasn't come around yet, I don't know that you should still be counting on a happening. Now, if a guy's just slumping who's been really good all year, okay. Like, I wouldn't want to risk him falling in the wrong hands and you're missing out on the resurgence. That's very likely because every player goes through ups and downs over the quarter. course of the season. But like, Catele-Marte, particularly in the context of an

environment change in in terms of how hitters on the whole perform, like the fact that he hasn't really gotten anything going all year. I'm not going to bet on him doing it now, you know? Yeah, you read off his stat line, Scott. I was like, is that Cotel Marte or

Kyle Farmer? It's just like as replaceable of a middle infielder as you could possibly get. We did get this question here on YouTube and ask anyone else thinking of dropping Yuleiguriel. I mean, that's another one. If you're weighing Yulee Geryl versus Joey Menesis, sure, like, no doubt about it. Like, take the shot on Manessus and let's see where it goes. Also, we got another YouTube comment calling him Joey two hits, which you know I'm all in favor for. Last year, we had Frank Schwendell down the stretch, just mashing hit after hit. That could be Joey Menesis this time of year.

They're kind of similar, too, you know? Journeyman. haven't really had a chance to play, and now Joey Menaceous is hot. Let's do it. Joey two hits. The argument I made for Schwendell at this time last year, and really even going into this season, not that that worked well.

He's been nothing for 2020. But that is a profile that gets passed over very easily. The right-handed hitting first baseman is, you know, there's a reason first baseman aren't typically showing up high on prospects lists, you know, and especially if they're right-handed hitters like that, is because it's such a narrow path to break in at, and, you know, the majority of the pitchers you're facing are right-handed,

so all the left-handers are going to get preferential treatment over you. There's nowhere else you can play on the diamond. So even as a bench spot, like you're going to use up a bench spot on a guy like that just to help him break in, probably not. So you can understand why somebody like Joey Maness has got passed over, even if there may be talent there. All right. Let's speed it up a little bit here, Scottie.

Have a few other waiver wire hitters wanted to ask you about. AJ Pollock went two for four with his 10th home run. And over his last 21 games, he's hitting 264. It's just not overly impressive. But he's got five homers during that time. He's not striking out. He's got an 11% bow rate. And he's got seven road games next week.

Not the best ballparks. he's in Oakland and Seattle, but he does have seven games nonetheless. 30% rostered. Other outfielders in that same range, Scott, include Joey Meneses, who we're talking about, Oscar Gonzalez, and let's throw Mani Margo in that mix. Where does Pollack rank among that group of four? Okay, I think I'm actually going to go Manessas, number one here. As much as we like Oscar Gonzalez, he would be number two.

And then I think Margot three, Pollock four. Yeah, no, I think that's fair. just had to ask. Shea Langaleers went two for five with his third home run. However, those strikeouts are really adding up. He's batting just 232. He's got 25 strikeouts, just one walk. That's a 43% strikeout rate.

He is not hitting the ball hard at all. When he does hit the ball, you know, he's popping a few home runs here and there. 32% rostered. Does that number need to be higher, Scott, for Shea Langalears? Not really. I don't know exactly the percentage of two catcher leagues on our site. He should probably be rostered in the vast majority of two catcher leagues, but virtually no one catcher leagues.

I have the podcast Points League, actually. I've just been streaming catcher all year. It's been a mess. I've got Chey Langaleers right now, which in a Points League, that is not his preferred format considering how much he strikes out. So I don't know. Hopefully I can find someone better for the playoffs next week.

Two middle infielder's in deeper league, Scottie. I know you like Michael Massey. He's been sitting every fourth game or so. I don't think it has anything to do with like the service time, trying to keep the rookie eligibility because he's been up for a while already. So maybe they're just legitimately

sitting him against a lefty every now and then. But he goes three for three with a double here on Thursday. He's batting 281. Still hitting the ball hard. Putting the ball in the air a lot. 50%. That's probably too much for a middle infielder because we're not really seeing much power come.

But the barrel rate looks really good at 17%. He's 17% rostered. That's Michael Massey. And I know it's gross. I just got to ask. Elvis Andrews went two for four with a run and an RBI. In 12 games since joining the White Sox, he's hitting 271 with a homer, a steel,

and he's let off two straight games. He's got those seven road games next week. It's got Michael Massey, Elvis Andrews, in deeper leagues for a middle infielder. Yeah, I do like Michael Massey. It hasn't worked out so far. I agree they're a little beyond the point where they can control his service time

or controls at bat. to help him retain rookie eligibility for next year. He's like 40 away already from that being no longer a factor. I think the main reason he's been sitting with some regularities just because the performance hasn't been enough to keep him in the lineup. If he were to get hot, I think we'd see Massey play close to every day. And going three for three, I mean, that's a nice start. But you mentioned the lack of home runs.

I think that may change. And I know I mentioned this before for Michael Massey, but you know, the high exit velocity and everything. His ex-slug, according to Stackcast is 525. His actual slug is only 404. Wow. So there is definite room for improvement there if he keeps making the kind of contact he's making.

Let's take a look at one waiver wire pitcher. Not much action going here on Thursday. Kyle Braddish, really strong start once again, at the Cleveland Guardians. He goes seven shutout, two hits, three walks, five strikeouts in this one, only nine swinging strikes. But he has now thrown 15 scoreless innings

over his last two starts. And the overall number, Scott, still don't look great. I know we've talked about Bradish, and he has a little bit of intrigue. He's 9% rostered. Looks like he might line up for two starts. You could tell me if I'm wrong on that. But CBS has him going up against the Blue Jays

and the Red Sox, which I don't really love. Yeah, I believe he is not actually in line for two starts. I think CBS is confused because there's a double header for the Orioles Monday. So that's often a point of confusion. I just have Jordan Liles here going twice for the Orioles. And Bradish, even though he's coming off back-to-back, scoreless starts here. Remember the first of those starts, he threw his slider 51% of the time. Oh, okay, maybe he's figured something out here.

that slider use would back down to 35% in this one. So he didn't stick with it. And five strikeouts and seven innings, that's nothing to be impressed with. I would not be that eager to pick up Kyle Bradish. Yeah, I mean, I think if there's anything we've learned this week, you probably should play it a little bit safe when it comes to streaming certain starting pitchers.

and we saw that with Eduardo Rodriguez on Thursday as well because he was up against the Seattle Mariners which typically is not a terrible matchup but he gave up six runs over four innings pitched five of them were earned all right, whooped you do, doesn't matter. Scott, we got another one where we just kind of got duped. I don't think that we were over the moon for Eduardo Rodriguez but he was definitely a, he was my 10th sleeper pitcher for this week

because I had 10 sleeper pitcher spots to fill. And I do think I said something like that. So I'm not totally taking the blame for this one. But yeah, the most discouraging sign, I think, for Eduardo Rodriguez coming back from that long absence, which started out as an injury, but then became more for personal reasons. His swinging strike rate across these three starts is 4%.

It is really hard to have this. swinging strike rate of 4%. It's actually a little below 4%. I'm rounding up. So, yeah, I am... It would take a really favorable matchup for me to recommend him. However, however, begrudgingly, again. It looks like he's at the Angels next week, so...

I would... I don't have him among my... Is he against the Angels? I don't... You tell me... He is. He is against the Angels. But the thing is...

I'm a little bit more weary of the Angels matchup now that Trout is back. Otani's been hitting well, so I don't think there's still an okay matchup, but it's not nearly as good as it was, you know, two or three weeks ago. Right. Yeah. No, I wouldn't. I had a really hard time filling out my 10 sleeper pitchers list for this upcoming week, but I did not include Eduardo Rodriguez on it. All right. Let's go to one other pitcher here. Clayton Kirshaw made his return.

He was at the New York Mets and he had a pretty rough first inning but then really settled down. Wound up going five innings, one hit, one run allowed, three walks with six strikeouts, 13 swinging strikes on 74 pitches, which is a great swinging strike rate, frankly against a pretty good Mets lineup. And he had eight of those on the slider. The pitch mix looked fine. The velocity looked fine. And whenever Kershaw has pitched this year, Scott, he's still been really good. 2.59 ERA over a strikeout per inning.

just 18 walks and 16 starts. The question is, are you okay starting him next week at home against the San Francisco Giants? Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay with that. I know someone emailed in recently and said, stop calling the Giants a tough matchup.

It actually was a Giants fan. He's like, I've been watching them all year. He's like, maybe they started off well, but they've really slowed down, which is fair. Over the last 14 days, their weighted on base average is 28th in Major League.

baseball. So I don't think we should be too worried about the Giants matchup moving forward. Get Clayton Kirshall back in your lineups. Scott, we have a bunch more prospects on the way, and we will start with, of course, the Yankees. I don't know. What to expect, but we'll talk about it. Oswaldo. Oswald Parasah, that's going to be real fun for broadcasters. They have an Oswald and an Oswaldo now on the team between Parraza and Cabrera, so that should be fun. was a much higher rated prospect. He's top 75, top, you know, 70-ish prospect overall in Major League Baseball.

And this season in the minors was hitting 259 with 19 homers, 33 steals, a 777 OPS. And I know he got off to a terrible start, Scott, the first two months. But since the start of June, he's batting something like 300, I think even over 300. So 13% rostered, seven home games next week for Oswald Paraza. How are you handling his promotion? All right, so I'll give you an exact stat line here. Okay. Since June 25th,

oh, you know what? He actually had kind of a little mini slump at the end of his stint to AAA. So that brought the numbers down a bit. But still, since June 25th, the span of 45 games, Oswald Paraza is batting 299 with 11 homers, 18 steals, and a 908 OPS. Again, that's in 45 games. So you project that over 150 games,

that's 30 homer, 50 steel pays. something like that. Yeah. So yeah, he's had a, he's had a really good half season at AAA. And he's not the, like they haven't even higher

in shortstop prospect in their system, Anthony Volpe. So he's like a more disciplined hitter than Oswald Paraza, I would say, among other things. But Paraza shows potential. And given the gripes, Yankees fans have had,

with Isaiah Kinear-Flefa this year, I imagine we're going to see a lot of Paraza. I doubt they'll play him so regular. I doubt they'll be willing to let him lose rookie eligibility. So as we've said

for Corbyn Carroll and Gunner Henderson yesterday, that's going to mean sitting occasionally, no matter how well he performs. But, you know, that power speed combo at a middle endfield spot

is enticing and he needs to be picked up, at least in all Roto leagues, I would say in any league where you need help at shortstop. Anywhere where you can start a middle infielder in addition to your second basement and shortstop, I think Parraza should be rostered.

So yes, 12-team Roto, 15-team Roto obviously goes without saying. But Oswald Parraza, 13-Rostered, widely available. And I agree, Scott. He's probably going to sit every third or fourth game because the Yankees just do that anyway. They like to rest their players off and keep them fresh or whatever. So I imagine that will be a similar case for Oswald. You mentioned Anthony Volpe. It doesn't affect this season,

but he was actually promoted to AAA to replace Oswald Paraza there. Just a name to remember for next year. It'll probably be a mid-season call-up, June, July, maybe something like that. If he's awesome, you know, maybe even sooner. Spencer Stier is another name, Scott, coming up on Friday for the Cincinnati Reds,

and he came over in the Tyler Malley trade. I believe that's the one it was. Yes. So this season in the miners, a little bit of a different prospect than Paraza, 274 batting average, bigger pop, 23 home runs on the season, 879 OPS. He's 3% rostered. What do you think about Stier?

And who would you rather have him or Paraza? So Stier's going to start out with second base eligibility, which is a little more useful. And Trent Rosencrantz, who is one of the Reds beatwriters, I believe for the athletic, he told me that he told me over Twitter that he thought Spencer Stier was going to play every day. he might pick up eligibility at third base. That's where they have the clearest need. They've been starting Kyle Farmer there. So maybe that, you know,

maybe you could tell Marte still is a better option than Kyle Farmer because of that. I would say the power production, and Steer's been one of the pop-up prospects this year. Nobody thought much of them. Prior to this year, the numbers certainly stand out. But the home run output might be a little mislead,

leading. He's a little, I know this is a convenient comparison because they're in the same organization now, but steer kind of reminds me of Jonathan India, where he has some pretty good on base skills. He's versatile on the infield. And he manages to maximize his middling power by pulling the ball in the air well. And so hopefully he can continue to do that. Obviously, he's going to the most homer-friendly park in the majors. That helps his chances. I would say he's less of a priority than Oswald Parraza. He's just not the same caliber of prospect, but he's definitely somebody to keep an eye on.

All right. And that's Spencer Steer again. Estuary Ruiz was called up by the Brewers on Thursday. He's an outfield prospect. He's the one that stole all the bases and the minors this season, but he didn't start in the game, so I just don't think he's going to play much for the Brewers. The other name, Grayson Rodriguez,

made his first rehab start at high A. He's been out since June with a lat injury. He only recorded four out to give up. a hit, two walks, and a strikeout. Just a name to throw on your scout team for now. You know, maybe if he builds up, he can make two or three starts towards the end of the season,

especially if the Orioles need to help. So we'll pay attention to him. Ken Waldechuck made his debut, Scotty, and he did flash that strikeout upside, but the control was definitely an issue. He went four and two thirds, one run aloud, four walks to six strikeouts.

He had 15 swinging strikes, and he distributed those swinging strikes pretty evenly. I like that. Seven on the fastball, five on the changeup, three on the slider, and he's 20% rostered, widely available. The problem for next week,

he's at home against the Atlanta Braves. Right. So you can't use him yet, but if he performs well against the Braves, that's going to make him a really interesting option over what at that point, I guess, would be the final three weeks of the season. And lastly, you spoke about him yesterday,

awesome debut. Gunner Henderson, how does he follow up the home run? He goes one for first, four with his first steal. So flashing power and speed in his first two games, he's up to 57% rostered. But if he's available, I think you probably want to get Gunner Henderson on your team, especially based on what he did in these first two games. Also notable, he started at shortstop this time instead of third base. So Jorge Mateo was actually out of the lineup, which we wouldn't want to see become the norm. And I'm not saying it will be, but it's clear Henderson's

not just going to be starting at third base and that's it. All right. The fall is coming, right? As you gear up for the fall, you need the right people on your team to help your small business fire on all cylinders. LinkedIn Jobs is here to make it easier to find the people you want to talk to faster and for free. Let's be honest, working around the right people makes your job infinitely better.

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Thank you all for sticking around throughout the season. We appreciate all the love and the support. We will be here throughout September, as we've mentioned, but we will be dropping to four podcasts. per week. So just wanted to point that out once again. Not that you're, you wake up on Monday morning and you're looking for FBT, which we do appreciate, but it won't be there because we're going to be four times per week moving forward. And for next week in particular, we'll go,

we'll have a podcast in your feed Tuesday through Friday because of Labor Day weekend. But then after that, we'll let you know which day will take off each week, but four podcasts per week for the month of September throughout the rest of the regular season. Let's take a break. And we'll will be back right after this. The news and notes. We don't have much going on, but we do have some stuff to tell you. Tony Gonsland's forearm strain isn't progressing as quickly

as the Dodgers hoped. He'll go for an MRI on Friday, and it appears that probably wasn't a phantom I.L stint, so rough timing, lots of injuries, and hopefully we can help you get through it with our week 23 sleepers coming up soon.

Christian Yelich left Thursday's game with neck discomfort. Anthony Rizzo could miss the entire weekend series with that back injury. I believe he's going to see a specialist, and I guess he'll get some kind of further diagnosis based on whatever they tell him, but it's been a rough go. In the past couple of months, he's missed a good amount of time with this back injury. That is Anthony Rizzo. Luis Robert left the White Sox and flew home to witness the birth of his child.

He has missed the previous five games due to a sore left wrist. Eloy Jimenez left Thursday's game due to right leg soreness. this is the third time in seven days that he's dealt with a leg issue and you know Scott with everything on the line I think it would be pretty hard to trust Eloy Jimenez just in a weekly lineup league right I mean he's been in and out of the lineup

I think he's been pretty good when he's played probably want to see more power from him but he's just I don't think he's right I mean this leg issue has been an issue for a while now so I don't know I don't think I would trust him if I play in a weekly lineup league well he's been in the lineup a lot lately a missed game here and there I guess

I don't know I mean in three outfielder leagues I would say he's less than must start but in five outfielder leagues he's probably still have to start him and even in three outfielder leagues you know you'd at least have to weigh your options Carlos Carrasco will return on Sunday to start against the nationals and what does that mean for David Pearson he probably will go bye-bye,

but at least David Peterson will get to start on Friday against the national. So if you started him in weekly lineup leagues, it looks like you will get at least one start out of him, which is good news, obviously. Nathan Avaldi through recently, but isn't progressing as quickly as the team had hoped. Tanner Halk was shut down from throwing on Thursday,

and manager Alex Cora isn't sure that Halk will return by the end of this season. So that sounds like, it's still going to be Garrett Whitlock and they've been mixing in Matt Barnes so. Yeah, Matt Barnes. John Schreiber's gotten a save now and then.

It's one of the messier bullpen situations. I would say Jimmy Hergit, who we talked about yesterday for the Angels, like I would prefer him over what's going on in the Red Sox bullpen if I'm looking for saves specifically. Yeah, and the Red Sox really

aren't winning many games either. So, yeah, I guess that's another reason to avoid that bullpen. The Mets announced that their catcher prospect, Francisco Alvarez, has been diagnosed with a loose body in his right ankle, but won't need surgery to address it. So some good news there. Week 23 preview, Scotty, lot riding on this, head-to-head playoff time. It's the final month of the season for those in Roto category leagues. You're chasing down other people. You're trying to hold on to your lead. So no pressure, Scott. But in fact,

all the pressure. schedule for next week is pretty spread out. We have one team with five games, the Atlanta Braves. I was looking at their team, Scott. I mean, even though there's only five games, I don't really see who you can bench, right? Because all of their hitters are pretty awesome. So I think I'd just leave my Braves in.

Yeah, I think so. Maybe William Contreras. If he doesn't play every day. Are you going to pick up a second catcher and start him over William Contreras and one catcher? league. If it's a two-catcher league, obviously you want to be sitting William Contreras. So I just think, you know, if you're in a position to start somebody like Robbie Grossman or Eddie Rosario, which is a pretty bad position to be in, then sit

them. But the rest of the lineup, yeah, I think must start. I am starting Robbie Grossman in a 15 team. Roto League with five outfielders. Doesn't feel great. But gross. Starting Grossman. He has been so bad. He hasn't been so bad. 20 teams with six games next week. We have seven teams with seven games, and then two teams with eight games, the Brewers and the Giants. Start or sit these fringy two-star pitchers for next week.

We've got Martin Perez at the Astros and at home against the Blue Jays. So I don't think he's a must start. We talked about it yesterday, but I do think every head-to-head points league you would start him. and even in Roto leagues, I'd lean yes.

It just depends what my ERA whip situation was like if I had a little bit of cushion in those categories or if I didn't. Joe Ryan, at the Yankees and versus the Cleveland Guardians. Lean yes on him too. Jesus Lazzardo, tough matchups at the Phillies and at home against the Mets. Also lean yes on him.

This one is pretty scary, Scott. Peralta, velocity way down at the Rockies in Coorsfield, and at home against the Reds. That one, not so bad. I think it's, I think you could start Freddie Peralta in any format in a two-start week, but obviously there is a little bit of danger there. So it's, it's a questionable one, but in most circumstances, I do think I would start him. James and Tyone at home against the twins and the rays. I will see.

say points league only. And lastly, Marco Gonzalez against the White Sox and the Braves. I don't think so. I want to do it. Don't do it. In a points league, if you're desperate for volume, I guess you could, but I want it. Don't do it. Two star pitchers to

add and stream for next week, Scottie. Who do you have there? Well, before I get to that, I do want to mention Zach Wheeler and Jack Flaherty both are as of now expected to come off the IEL and start their team's first game next week, which would make each of them

a two-star pitcher for next week, each with especially favorable matchups. Wheeler's going against the Marlins and Nationals. Flaherty would be going against the Nationals and Pirates. So, you know, generally speaking, I like to give a pitcher who's been on the IL a start to, you know, make sure he's fully built up, make sure there are no lingering effects. from the injury, whatever. But when it's two starts right out of the gate with such good matchups, and obviously it's easier to justify starting Wheeler because he wasn't out that long,

and he's been great when he has been healthy. So I do have him in the must-start category here for two-star pitchers. But Flaherty, I really didn't want to start Flaherty fresh off the IL, but it's going to be hard to resist that going. against the Nationals and Pirates, as I said. And if there is one reason for reassurance with him, he looked really good on his minor league rehab assignment. His most recent start at AA, he struck out nine over six and two-thirds innings,

did allow three-earned runs. But still, it was 23 swinging strikes. He looked more like the Jack Flaherty we remember than the guy who had those three short starts back in June, I believe it was. So anyway, I want to point that out. Okay. Johnny Quedo is going against the Mariners and A's this week. He's right at 80% rostered, so not that available,

but maybe available in your league, particularly if you play somewhere other than CBS. And he's coming off a good start Thursday. I know he had that disastrous start last time out, seven runs, but those have been few and far between the ERA. Still below three for Johnny Quato. Got to start him with those two matchups. Patrick's,

Sandoval. We talked about him after his great start Wednesday against the Yankees. His next start is against the Tigers. This is just a one-star pitcher. You want just the two-star guys, right? Yes. Okay. We'll get to Patrick Sandoval in a minute.

Oh, we will. Justin Steele is a two-start pitcher, provided he's healthy. He left his last start with, I believe, a hip issue, but he's supposed to throw a bullpen over the weekend. And if it checks out, he'll go Tuesday and line up against the Reds and the Giants. Jose Cantana has those same great matchups. Flaherty does, Nationals and Pirates. So even though he's been not so great lately,

I think he qualifies as a sleeper pitcher. And I don't love this one, but again, I've got to come up with 10 names here. Michael Waka. It's been okay recently. He gets the raise in Orioles, which are two pretty good matchups, especially since that Orioles matchup is at Baltimore.

So I would probably only do that in points leagues. and obviously just if I had a needed starting pitcher. But you could do worse than Michael Waka. I kind of like the Waka call, Scottie. I know he's up there in terms of roster rate 79%. But since he's come off the IEL, what he's doing looks a little more sustainable. Swinging strike rate is up.

Numbers look good, keeping the walks down. I like it. And the matchups aren't terrible. At Tampa Bay, at Baltimore. So I can get behind that. Johnny Quato, by the way, on Yahoo is only 59% roster. So if you do need a two-star pitcher over there, he is widely available. Which two-star pitchers should you stay away from next week?

Well, you know, we already talked about some of the fringy two-star pitchers, but these are the ones, all right, you're chasing volume, you can just talk yourself into it. Let me get this guy in my lineup. Fortune favors the brave. Let's not do it. Let's not chance this here with playoffs on the line, Scotty. I'm a lot more scared of Freddie Peralta than you are.

I know the results have been there, but the underlying numbers look really bad since coming off the IL. This velocity being down, a start and course field. I think it's a points league only thing. So, man, unless you're really desperate and you're just like chasing wins, and I can't even say strikeouts because he's not getting that many strikeouts.

That's probably the only way I would play him in Roto, but I would try and stay away. Is there anything that stands out to you? Fortune favors the brave. So you're saying a guy who is 94% rostered is your fortune favors the brave thing. I'm scared. I'm trying to play it safe, Scott. Everything on the line, playoffs on the line, ratios on the line.

I think you're perverting the whole fortune favors the brave. I am telling people to bench Freddie Peralta. That is what I'm telling you to do. Fortune favors the brave is supposed to be somebody you're dragged, kicking, and screaming into recommending. Not somebody who is, like somebody who's barely rastered who, if you squint hard enough, you could maybe see it working out, okay. Not somebody who's universally rostered who you're telling people to sit. That is...

We've mentioned pitchers before in that same vein, Scott. I feel like Giolito has been a fortune favors the Brave two-star pitcher before. Right. You're like, you shouldn't do it. You probably shouldn't do it. But you're just saying you shouldn't do Freddie Peralta. All right. Do you want to give you another name, Scott?

It doesn't fit the mold of the fortune favors the brave two-star pitcher. Okay. I mean, there's not really many great names on the list. Yeah, no, there's not. All right, who do you got? I'll let you go first. Oh, I thought you had somebody. No, I mean.

Okay, Alex Wood. Yeah, Dodgers comes. He was the one I was looking at too. Yeah. Yeah. That one really bad matchup and he hasn't pitched that well lately, but he does have those interesting underlying numbers. Don't do it.

but you could do it. Yeah. I think Marco Gonzalez is kind of in a similar boat there. Like, you don't want to do it. You really shouldn't do it. And especially against the White Sox, they don't hit well,

but they do hit well against lefties. And the Braves crush lefties too. So Marco Gonzalez, eh, just don't do it. Single-star streamer, Scott, you already mentioned one. You've got Patrick Sandoval going up against the Tigers,

and it looks like, I can't believe you're doing this. There's four other names on the list, Scott. And one of them, you might get some pushback for. Oh, well, I understand. So yeah, I mentioned Sandoval.

Ross Stripling is another one-star streamer. He's at Texas. Not, you know, the Rangers have been become a pretty good offense. So that's not an especially favorable matchup, but Stripling's been reliable of late. And again, I have to come up with 10 names here. And that's why Matt Manning is also on this list.

No. You can't do it. I didn't want to do it. But I tried to find other options. But he is at Kansas City. I believe his upcoming start Kansas City. His bad start wasn't Kansas City, right? No, his bad start was against the Mariners.

Okay, so he has a start coming up this weekend against Kansas City. And then the following start will also be against the Royal. So if his start goes well over the weekend, then, you know, know, maybe you can feel a little more confident about recommending him here. But yeah, I don't feel great about it. It's one of those situations where you just have to have a recommendation. And hopefully you don't have to do it. Hopefully you don't have to follow that one.

Jake Oterrizzie at Seattle I have on here. Again, you know, if I wasn't wild about the Manning one, I'm not going to be wild about these other two. Jose Suarez against the Tigers is the last one. Obviously, a really good matchup. but a five-inning pitcher with control issues. I can only get that excited about it. All right. Let's move over to the hitters,

the best hitter matchups for next week. We've got the Brewers, the Cardinals, the Blue Jays, the Red Sox, and the Guardians, the worst hitter matchups, the A's, Marlins,

Rangers, Braves, and the Padres. With that being said, Scotty, some sleeper hitters for next week. So Lars, new bar, I have to talk about him again. Cardinals have the second best matchup.

He's still available in enough leagues, though. I'll keep bringing it up. I'd probably want to start him regardless of what the matchups are at this point, but it helps that the Cardinals have good ones. Also, they weren't listed among the teams with the five best matchups,

but the Orioles have pretty good matchups. Seven games, all against Ritees. I think we've got to get Guna Henderson in here. as a sleeper hitter. Not sure his roster rate will remain below the 80% threshold for long, but it is right now. So I'm recommending him.

As well as his teammate Jorge Mateo, hopefully they don't continue to cannibalize each other's at bats. That would be unfortunate. You mentioned the Red Sox having the fourth best matchups, so Tommy Fam is here. The Brewers have the best. of all an eight-game week. I think another recent rookie call-up,

Garrett Mitchell, because, let's see, only two of the eight games are against left-handers, so Garrett-Mitchell should get plenty of run, hopefully steal a few bags. And I will go ahead and relent and put Joey Manessus on this list just because, I mean,

we're at a point in the year where it's hard to find anything worthwhile off the waiver wire, much less 10 things. worthwhile off the waiver wire going into a week and Menace's is at least hot. But yeah, the matchups could be better. All right. A few names in deeper league, Scott, that I found on some of these teams.

Kesson Hiera, I know he's been playing a little bit more recently. Obviously, the Brewers have all those games and three of them in Corse Field. For the Cardinals, Brendan Donovan has kind of been heating back up and he's been playing pretty consistently for them. Corey Dickerson's another one. These are Deeper League recommendations. For the Red Sox, Christian Arroyo. I mean, come on.

I've become the Christian Arroyo guy. I don't know how that's happened, but it's happened. So I will talk up Christian Arroyo. And Kike Hernandez, he's been playing pretty well since returning from the IL. You know, those guys, they'll probably sit out once throughout the week. But when they play, they've been pretty good. Let's get into the rest of Thursday's action, Scotty. Do you got some pitching leftovers.

Part one. Logan Gilbert, with his first scoreless start since June. 14th. He was at the Tigers. That definitely helps. He goes six shut out with nine strikeouts, 17 swinging strikes in that one, drops the ERA down to 3.35. Johnny Quato, we mentioned as a sleeper pitcher, a solid start against the Royals. He went five in a third, one run allowed, five strikeouts there. And then Chris Bassett posted a quality start up against the Dodgers. He goes six innings, two runs, four strikeouts allowed, and his ERA, now 3.3, 2.3.2. two on the season, and it looks like he's at the Pirates next week.

So, fantastic matchup for Chris Bassett. Scott, anything you'd like to add on those three? Bassett, Quato, Gilbert. Yeah, Gilbert had begun to concern me, and I had actually moved him down quite a bit in the rankings. His previous five starts, a 675 ERA, but even worse, 5.1K per 9 in that five-start stretch. Wow.

So he bounces back with nine strikeouts and six innings. The only thing is it's against the Tigers, as you mentioned, which have made pictures like Aaron Savale look like big bat missers. Don't know exactly what to make of that. Whether Logan Gilbert can reverse this trend of fading, and this is the start of it or not. I'm not sure at this point.

Otherwise, what are you going to say? I was going to say Gilbert's going up against the White Sox next week. Pretty good matchup, yeah. Yeah, I know they've struggled against. right hand of pitching this year, so I think I'm okay with that one. You would definitely start him over Matt Manning, okay? Yes, I would. Definitely.

Yes. I would start him over any of those one-start sleeper recommendations. It's good to contextualize things this way, except for Patrick Sandival against the Tigers. That's the one of those one-star sleeper pitchers I mentioned, who I would start over Logan Gilbert against the White Sox. I agree with that. some pitching leftovers part two.

Shane Bieber tied a season high with 11 strikeouts. He went seven innings, three runs, 11 strikeouts, obviously, 12, 20 swinging strikes, rather. The three runs he gave up all on solo home runs, so not great, three homers in a start, but if anything, you want them to be solo homers, obviously. Shane Bieber, he's been really good this season. Merrill Kelly has also been very good.

He had a strong start against the Brewers. He went seven shutout with seven strikeouts. And that one, he lowers his east. ERA to 2.84. On the other side, Brandon Woodruff, not so much at the Diamondbacks, five and two-thirds, five runs allowed, four strikeouts. Those pesky Diamondbacks, men, they're hitting everybody, not named Bailey Falter, apparently, which can't really explain that, but baseball. They are some sneaky snakes. Indeed, they are. Anything's got Woodruff, Kelly Bieber. No, not really. Some hitting leftovers is Julio Rodriguez went one-for-three

with his 22nd home run. Ty France, who I believe we spoke about last week as a hitter who has slowed down quite a bit. He's getting back on track. He heard you. Yes, he did. He heard you. He went two for four with his 17th home run.

He now has three homers in his last four games. Justin Turner went two for two with a walk in RBI and a run scored. And since returning from the IL, 19 games, he's betting 333 with one homer, 13 RBI, two steals, which you shouldn't really expect. He's hitting the ball hard. but just not any power, Scott. So I don't know.

And I will mention Miguel Vargas was back on the Major League roster beginning Thursday, and he was not in the lineup. And I think Justin Turner's turnaround has something to do with it. Might be right. Francisco Lindor went two for four with his 15th steal. Those three solo homers for the Orioles went to Cedric Mullins, his 12th, Anthony Santander, his 24th, and Ryan Mountcastle, his 19th.

Adoli Scarcia went one for four with his 22nd home run, a 3 run shot. Alex Verdugo went 3 for 4 with his 8th home run. Scott, we have not talked about Verdugo all season long. It's probably because he hasn't really done much. He's flown under the radar. I will point out since the start of June, 79 games, he's hitting 320.

So if nothing else, he's hitting for a high batting average. He's kind of doing it in the most Stephen Kwan way possible. only five homers during that time 43 runs 38 rbi that's a nine homer 81 run 72 rbi pace over 150 games so like the batting average is good he's hitting a lot of doubles

but just not really much aside aside from that yeah i had looked i'd written down that exact same stat since june 1st 70 my games i ain't hitting 320 over half a season's time it's impressive nothing to sneeze at yeah over the last 28 days i mentioned That's the furthest time frame that I can go looking at points scored in a headside points league.

Verdugo is the 14th ranked outfielder over the last 28 days. So the position's not great. He's playing well. You know, you're probably starting. I will say if this is what Verdugo is going to be, Juan's better. Juan walks more. Quan steals more bases.

Yeah. I'd rather have Kwan. Even if we can count on Verdugo to hit over 300. Yeah. Verdugo's had a lot of chance. He's been in the majors a good amount now. I think we kind of know who he is at this point. Xander Bogartz went two for four with three runs scored.

He now has multiple hits in seven of his last eight games. So that batting average rapidly climbing. I think I saw it was up to 287 or 288, something like that. Raphael Devers went two for five with two doubles and three RBI. He was scuffling big time in August. 163 batting average 514 OPS. I haven't seen anything in terms of like an injury that he's playing through. the numbers didn't look that far off

so might just be unlucky for the month so man I wouldn't worry about it you know I just said that as if we're still in August Scott it hasn't even like process yet that we're in September so yes the month of August is over but yes Devers was very bad in August Christian Walker hit his 31st home run

which I believe is a career high pretty easily he probably actually already had a career high but I heard it on the broadcast so mention it. I believe his previous high was 29. Okay. Hey, awesome season for

Christian Walker. The call to the bullpen some updates here. For the Oakland A's, AJ Puck entered in the eighth inning with a one run lead, two outs, and a runner on second base. He then gave up a game tying single, and the A's would eventually lose in extra endings. For the Mets, Edwin Diaz

entered in the eighth inning. They had a three-run lead. He was facing the heart of the Dodgers lineup, three, four, and five. He did give up a run. Adam Adavino then came in for the ninth and he picked up his third save of the season. This is kind of interesting because Otavino has gotten three of the Mets past four saves now and twice. Once I think just Diaz was unavailable, but twice Diaz worked the eighth and Ottavino the ninth. So it seems like Buccio Walter's changing his approach there in a way that's not so beneficial for fantasy.

It's almost like Bucshaw-Walter is approaching these games already as if it's the post-stop. season, right? Like, he's just putting in his best reliever when he needs him most, which we've seen from other teams, but I mean, Edwin Diaz is such a lockdown closer. We just wouldn't imagine him being used in that way. But these games mean a lot. I mean, the Braves are right on the Mets heels. I want to say, just prior to his ousting in Baltimore, Buck Showalter made a high-profile

mistake with his closer, Zach Britton, not using him in a crucial spot in a play. playoff game, so maybe he's still haunted by that. I don't know. Yeah, no, I, I remember it very vividly. I just, I think they went into extra innings, and he just never used Britain. He was waiting until they got the lead, and then they just never got it. So it, yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if he's kind of learned from that. For the Orioles, Felix Bautista walked one, but struck out two for his 11th save. For the Rangers, a real rough night for Jonathan Hernandez. He entered with a three-run lead. He recorded just one out. He gave up four runs on four hits and three walks, he took the loss, and if you play in a CBS Points League and you have Jonathan Hernandez,

minus 14.5 fantasy points on the night. Yikes. Not great, Bob. For the Braves, Kenley Jansen tossed a clean ninth for his 31st save. Streamers, Scott, playoff matchups, people need help. And I know you hate this segment, but we need to help them. So let's suck it out. I hate this segment because I wonder if it actually does more harm than good, but that's Look, some of the questions that people ask me on Twitter, should I, I'm desperate. I need to stream this person. I mean, it's a lot of the names that we talk about. Are you desperate though?

Yeah, let's see. Let's do it. Friday, we've got, I'm not even going to say Kyle Freeland, don't play him. J.P. Sears at the Orioles, Dean Kramer versus the A's, Daniel Lynch at the Tigers, Domingo Hermann at the Rays, and David Peterson versus the Nationals. I like Peterson against the Nationals. if you're really stretching it, Kramer against the A's and Lynch against the Tigers are doable.

And I would rank them in that order. Peterson, Kramer, Lynch. On Saturday, we've got Brian Beow versus the Rangers, Nick Lodolo versus the Rockies, Austin Voth versus the A's, Drew Smiley at the Cardinals, Aaron Savali versus the Mariners, and Jake Oter Rizzi versus the Marlins.

I think Oter Rizzi is my favorite here, just because of supporting cast. Well, not just because of that. Also, the Marlins are awful. Austin Voth against the A's is okay. And, well, Nick Ladolo against the Rockies. You know what? That's my favorite.

Nick La Dolo against the Rockies in Cincinnati, followed by Otariz against the Marlins, followed by both against the A's. On Sunday, we have Rwanzi Contreras versus the Blue Jays, Spencer Watkins versus the A's. Matt Manning, the Matt Manning. The Matt Manning. versus the Royals and Jason Alexander at the Diamondbacks.

So, yeah, how rough was it filling out the sleeper pitchers list for next week? With the same matchup, I am not going to recommend Matt Manning as a streamer pitcher this weekend. Don't do it. Yeah, I would say Friday and Saturday is much better for streamers. If you're really desperate on Sunday, I don't hate Spencer Watkins against the A's. I mean, there's more reward for Matt Manning than there is for Spencer Watkins. But yeah, more risk too.

All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching. Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again on Tuesday. Bye-bye.