Fantasy Baseball Today - Start, Sit or Drop These Pitchers? Dodgers Promote Josue De Paula! (9/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

The Dodgers are promoting Josue De Paula (2:30)! ... Kade Anderson picked up his first win (9:30). ... Corey Seager has looked like himself since returning (13:55). ... News (25:38): Jazz Chisholm went on the IL. ... Start, sit or drop these pitchers (32:10)? ... Hunter Brown vs. Cristopher Sanchez was a slobber knocker (41:18). ... Josh Bell or Jake Burger (47:03)? ... Any interest in a two-start Will Warren (53:52)? ... These six hitters are on fire, plus leftovers (1:00:57).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

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. Hello, welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday. September 10th. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White.

Today on the show, starts, sit, or drop. These four confusing pitchers. It feels like there have been a lot of those so far this week. I have seven hitters who are on fire. We had a couple of slobber knockers on the schedule. I don't know what the opposite of a pitcher's duel was, but in my mind, it was a slobner knocker, a slug fest. So we had a couple of those.

We'll get to that. But first, another prospect promotion here in September. The Dodgers, this one called me by surprise, promoting one of their top prospects, outfielder Hoseway DePaul, 21 years old, a consensus top 20 overall prospect in baseball. And what especially caught me off guard,

they're calling them up from AA. So we know they're dealing with a lot of injuries right now. Otani was out of the lineup again. Dave Roberts said he has not ruled out an IEL stint here for Otani. Freddie Freeman also out of the lineup. He's dealing with a right knee injury. So there is a chance, a very real chance, that Otani goes in the IL.

they call up some reinforcements here. Scott, what do you think of Hoseway DePaul? This feels very aggressive. But if some of these guys land on the IL, I think he actually could get thrown right in the fire here and actually play quite a bit. Yeah, this may be a rare case where the prospect promotion is

the kind of the lesser news because I presume this means show Hey, Otani is going on the IL. And Dave Roberts was saying part of the difficulty in that decision is because he would count as a pitcher for IL purposes. They'd be without him for 15 days instead of just 10.

But it's obviously a big move and there wouldn't seem to be a position available for DePaula unless D.H is available for him with Otani going down. And losing your best hitter like that, it kind of makes sense that you'd throw a Hail Mary DePaula is a consensus top five overall prospect.

And it's really all the bat. He brings basically no defensive value and still top five overall prospect. So that tells you how good the bat is for Jose de Pala. At AA this year, 302 batting average 400 on base percentage, nearly as many walks as strikeouts, 80 and 86, 26, 26 homers, 31 Steve. heels, hits the ball incredibly hard. Obviously, that plate discipline's been amazing from the beginning.

And I think that makes DePaula, I think he's the one you could actually comp to Jordan Alvarez rather than Lazzaro Montez, who some people have compared to Alvarez. I think DePaula's upside is a hitter because he controls the zone so well. I think it's more comparable to Alvarez, except like I said, DePaula has 31 steals at AA this year. So he might bring that speed element that, of course, Alvarez doesn't come close to. Whether he could do it as a 21-year-old coming straight from AA is anybody's guess. I feel like we've become more accustomed to, as opposed to during Jordan Alvarez era, where prospects like him would come up and immediately would shift the standings in fantasy leagues.

I think in more recent years we've become accustomed to these guys needing some time to find their feet in the majors. But that doesn't always happen. Sometimes it is immediate impact and not a bad role of the dice given DePaul's upside. If you have a spot to play with, you know, this might be an excuse, for instance, to drop Sean Burke if you didn't have one already. or Chase Burns. I said yesterday that I would only, while I don't have a lot of faith or see much use for those guys the rest of this year,

I need an actual reason to drop them and DePaula might be that reason. And I don't want to overrate Hoseway DePaula or any prospects as we've talked about lately, obviously, with the way Kate Anderson went down. Not, look, every prospect is built differently. I will still be excited about prospects

getting called up because that's just like the nature of me as a baseball fan and a fantasy baseball player. But the power is 100% legit. And we've heard about it for years. This is the first year where we're actually seeing that power come to fruition in the minors. The 26 home runs, a 237 ISO for Hoseway to Paul

this season in the minors. And I have to expect that if he's getting called up, again, someone's probably going on the IL and it should lead to playing time here. Looked at the schedule for, next week. The Dodgers have seven games with five of those

being against righties, two of those being against lefties. My guess is he would probably be a strong side platoon player from the jump. And so, you know, potentially five games where he plays next week.

That would be pretty interesting there for DePaula. Scott, would you take him over the other recent call-ups, the Lazaro Montes, who you just mentioned, or...

Yeah. Not that he's a recent call-up, but his name has, you know, come up lately, Hector Rodriguez with the with a Cincinnati Reds, would you take him over him as well? Yeah, I don't feel like either of those two is particularly usable in fantasy right now,

since they are strict platoon players. Maybe Topala is also 24 of his 26 home runs have come against righties, although, you know, still a 346 on base percentage against lefties. So it's not like he's not like he's been an automatic out against them the way those other two have. And obviously a much higher end prospect overall. So, yeah, I'd, I'd gamble on the better prospect

and the relative mystery box. I mean, I guess Montes especially still a mystery box as little as he's been up, but it's not a mystery at the playing time. It's not very good. And so, yeah, I'd gamble on DePaolo for those two. And it is interesting that the Dodgers opted to call up Poseway DePaula.

I didn't look into if either of these guys are dealing with injuries or anything, but calling him up over Mike Soroda, who was also at AA, and James Tibbs, who we've mentioned a lot of the season, who was at AAA. So it's just interesting

that they opted to go with DePaula over those two other names. There's still a path for Sarota since he can actually play center field. They're obviously without Antipahas, their center fielder. They've been playing Tommy Edmund out in center field a good amount,

but of course they can play him elsewhere. So maybe DePaula will kind of open the floodgates. Tibbs is surprising. I imagine Tibbs, given how well he's performed at AAA all season. I imagine he'd be the first one up if they had a need in their outfield.

But I think this just goes to show you the confidence they have in DePaula, who is the best prospect of those three. And that's even accounting for his severe defensive limitations. All right. Again, the big news, the Dodgers promoting one of their top prospects outfielder, Hoseway, DePaula, and likely means somebody is going on the aisle. My guess is that person is going to be Shohei Otani. But we will find out when the Dodgers have to make that official transaction on Friday.

Let's jump into the players of the night. Oh my goodness! All right, jumping in here, and I will kick us off, Scott, and let's talk about Kate Anderson, who picked up his first career win, and I'll just preface all this. No, I'm not just going to do a complete 180 and take everything back that I said last week. It was a good start on paper here against the Rangers, a team that actually is pretty good against lefties,

but good spot to pitch in, Intimobil Park at home in this one. Kate Anderson, six innings, one run. five strikeouts to one walk. He had 10 twinging strikes on 81 pitches, which is an okay amount. Pretty normal pitch mix, velocity, and movement. The only thing that stood out to me, the induced vertical break on his four-scene fastball actually was down. It was down two inches from 17 to 15 inches in this start. So typically, not exactly what we would want to see from Kate Anderson. The slider was the best pitch for him here. Some good, the results, the bad, still gave up 10 hard hits here, 91.3 average exit velocity against.

Did throw a bunch of pitches for strikes. And looking at the pitcherless stats card, we've referenced these all throughout the season. If you go on X, there's a specific account. I'll look it up while you're talking, Scott. But pitcherless puts out like these cards, these graphic cards that break down like every pitcher start. And they gave Kate Anderson stuff a C in this one.

So the stuff's still not playing up very well. 79% rostered for Kate Anderson. 34% started at the Angels at the Rockies next week. So as good as it was to see a nice start here, Scott, got his first win. The Jekyll and Hyde matchups both on the road next week too, I don't think that I would chance using Kate Anderson in that spot, in those spots next week. I think it's at least in play.

I'm not saying he's an obvious must start with those two matchups. It would help a lot. if that Rocky's matchup was in Seattle rather than Colorado but it isn't. I think he at least showed he's usable with this start.

It wasn't a dominant start, as he said, still gave up hard contact. It's not like any singular pitch looked like a world beater. And again, he's still through 81 pitches. So that seems like a pretty hard limit. It's rare that he's going to be able to go six on that limit.

He has to be very efficient as he was in this start against the Rangers. But I think Kate Anderson showed that he can hold his own in the majors. He can be useful with the right matchups. It's just a question of whether next week's matchups are the right matchups. Because there's two of them, it's tempting. And I think in a points league, I don't know. I think it's questionable.

in both formats, honestly. Like, and I can see doing it in a roto league if you're chasing wins and strikeouts and are okay with ERA and whip. But then in a points league, you know, normally you would prefer the extra start, but from a guy who is very unlikely to go six innings in either start,

it's still questionable, I'd say. Questionable in both formats. Yeah. If you look at just the matchups for next week at the Angels, at the Rockies, They both rank in the bottom half of the league against left-handed pitching this season. But again, one-start being in Corr's field,

you know, anything can happen there. We see blow-up starts happening in Corr's Field all the time. So I have a segment set up for later, start sit or drop, these, you know, polarizing, confusing pitchers. I would put Kate Anderson in that category. I don't think that I would start him anywhere. I would probably hold him until the weekend if you play in a weekly lineup league

and then drop him then so that my opponent can't use him against me just on the off-chance. that he does perform well in those two starts, but I don't think that I could actually pull the trigger and use him myself. That is Cade Anderson. And the account, by the way, that I wanted to mention on X is at Pitcherless PLV.

They put out a graphic for every pitcher, every start that they make throughout the season, and you could get an immediate stuff metric there from the start that day. All right, Scott, over to you for your Player of the Night. My Player of the Night, we've talked about a couple of young ones. Let's go with an old guy.

Let's go with Corey Seeger, who just homered for the third straight game on Wednesday. It was his 17th home run of the season, which isn't very many, but he's spent a lot of time on the IL, as he often does. 17th home run in his 86th game. The overall numbers still look pretty bad, as we've noted

and on the other occasions we've had to talk about Corey Seeger it is a 230 batting average 760 OPS on the year not Corey Seeger like numbers however in his 35 games since returning from his most recent

IL stent for back inflammation we know we know how a bad back can impact a hitter and 35 games since returning from that issue, Corey Seeger is batting 300 with seven home runs, an OPS right around 900, average exit velocity, 92.4 miles per hour,

only an 18% strikeout rate. That very much does sound like Corey Seeger numbers. So I think Corey Seeger is back to being Corey Seeger. And I kind of suspected all along that that would be case, but I think everyone can see it now. And I don't know that that means he's going to be a hot commodity address next year at his age, given his injury history. Again, the final stat line isn't going to look that great. But that's all the better for our purposes. Like if we can get potentially normal Corey Seeger at a greatly reduced cost, I'm going to be in on that.

So, I don't know, we'll see when we line up the short stops where he ranks for me. Just given the amount of young talent coming up there, Kevin McGonagall and Connor Griffin, how high they're going to rank, along with all the usual suspects, might be hard to get Corey Seeger in the top 10, but I would be very much excited about the prospect of drafting Corey Seeger outside of the top 10, if that's the case. I know this is not how we're supposed to play fantasy scat, but he's all yours.

I will not be drafting Corey Seeger next year. I had him in a few spots this season and it's just the age, the injuries and look, maybe the cost is so diminished that is like, whatever, his ADP is outside the top 200 and it literally costs you nothing to draft him next year.

Which at that point, it's like, whatever, I can understand drafting him, but I mean, this is somebody who has not, has only played 150 plus games twice in his career. He has not played more than 123 each of the last four seasons. And I'd much rather take advantage if it's possible, like, in season, wait for him to get hurt, or if he gets off to a terrible start, by load, pick him up once someone drops him.

I'll take advantage of Corey Seeger that way. But just in terms of, and maybe in a points league, but anything where there's like a middle infield spot, you go deeper into the player pool, I'm washing my hands of Corey Seeger. There are two players. I know I'm probably not going to draft. Corey Seeger and Blake Snell are two of them. I'm just not going to draft either one. But what's changed for Corey Seeker?

Because what you said about him only having 250 game season, that was true going into this year, it was true going into last year. Well, unless you're just not convinced that he's back over this 35 game stretch past the back issue, like you think he is diminished and that his full season stat line is more indicative of who he is now. Then I get it.

Then something has changed for Corey Seeger. but I don't subscribe to that thinking and so I think it's exactly the same scenario just at I don't even know how many rounds it's going to be five rounds, six round discount I mean that's that seems like a very profitable pick to me

I think it's partially that partially I think the skills are declining here for Seeger he has looked more like himself since coming back but it's also I just don't want to deal with the headache of a 30 he'll be 33 in

April next year, I don't think his body could hold up. I just don't think it can for a full season anymore. And if you want to tell me like, all right, like I'll just plug in someone else for the 50 games that he misses and you know, you put that production in and it's like whatever he's worth the cost. It's what we've been doing all along. I'm just, I'm not doing it. It's a headache. I'm telling you like, it's easier in practice to think about it. Once you have him on your team and you kind of, you always have to kind of like factor this in, oh, now I have to find another Corey Seeger replacement. It's just not fun. It's not, it's not. It's not, it's a fun situation to be in.

So it won't be for me. It's all for you, Scott. I feel like Chris is going to be on him again. We've had that conversation over the past month or so. So you and Chris, Corey Seeger, all yours. You won't have to worry about me. In honor of football being back, the Jets defeated the Dolphins 15 to 4.

15 to 14, excuse me. This is one of those lober knockers. I mean, my goodness, the Mets had an 8-Zip lead. The Marlins came back, tied the game up 8-8. And it wound up finishing 15 to 14, which is just absolutely crazy stuff here. But runs abound, hits abounds here. Francisco Lindor, he picked up the power in the second half. He hit his 18th home run.

He has 13 home runs in 49th second half games. The OPS is over 800. Batting average is still low for Lindor. He's an interesting one just to see where the price tag kind of settles for next season. And AJ Ewing had himself a nice game. Three for four, two runs, two RBI, his 23rd steel. and he has been better as of late. Last nine games, he has 14 hits,

one homer, seven runs, seven RBI, and two steals. But this is to be expected. You know, he's rookie, got called up midseason. But he's been all over the map here, Scott. It's struggled in May, great in June. He was okay in July. He was awful in August.

It was a sub-500 OPS. And now he's heating back up here in September. 58% rostered is AJ Ewing. I wouldn't blame anyone who dropped him because he was that bad in August. There are seven games next week for the Mets. Lazzardo and Christopher Sanchez on the schedule, so it's not the greatest matchups.

How would you kind of just grade out what AJ Ewing has done so far? Do you have any interest in using him next week? I kind of lean, though, for next week. Look, he hasn't been hot for very long. No. And you're telling me the Phillies rotation is on the schedule for next week

that. Let's see. So yeah, you got Lazzardo and Sanchez. You got Painter who's been hot. You've got Aranola who's been hot. And then he opens the week against the Orioles rotation. That's not so scary. That part of it is good. But still, overall, I would say it's a week of tough matchups for AJ Ewing. And yeah, I wouldn't say that this five-game stretch for as good as it's been has won me over to using him in that situation. And a five outfielder league, sure, that's fine. That might be the best you can do. But in the sort of leagues where Ewing might be a question, actually, I think with those

matchups, the answer is still no. On the Marlin side of things, they had seven hitters with multiple hits in this one, including Griffin Conine, Otto Lopez, Jacob Marcy, Javier. Sinoja, Owen Casey, Grand Pauley, Joe Mack. We have talked a lot about Marcy and Sinoja lately. We know that they've been pretty hot for the Marlins here. And taking a look at the schedule for next week, they have six road games, all right-handed pitchers.

So that could work out well for some of these deeper names. Scott, can you see yourself? I don't know exactly who the pitchers are. I could look that up while you're talking. Actually, it's right here. Corbyn, Zach Allen, Merrill Kelly, Nick Pavetta, Casey, Mize, Walker, Bueller. So that's pretty good on paper.

If you want to use some left-handed Marlins' bats next week, I can see that working out. Yep. It's good matchups and a bunch of Riteys. I think Griffin-Konine is the most exciting of them. Still not sure what to make of Jacob Marcy. He had a couple of really weak hits again, but the expected batting average on them was high.

So, like, in that way, they were legit. It's just, if you're mean, making that kind of, if you're making that quality of contact consistently for how long can you expect to have success. And of course, for the year, he's batting what, 225, something like that? It's, uh, he's odd, but still don't have a ton of trust there. Casey's been ice cold. I know he's homered, what, too straight now, but apart from that, he's been ice cold. So I, I don't have much interest in using him. All right, before we hit our first break. I want to thank everyone for being here watching us live, watching on demand as well.

Make sure to hit that like button. And if you're listening on audio, make sure to drop a five-star rating and review. Apple podcast, Spotify, it really does help us out a lot. And we do appreciate it. Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this. Just said Owen Casey, Homerton, two straight. That's not true. That is not true. It's just one, one isolated home run. And other than that, he's been ice cold. Ice cold for Owen Casey News and notes

The Yankees plays Jazz Chisholm on the aisle with a thumb sprain and they recalled Anthony Volpe Volpe has been getting reps at second and third base since getting sent down

He also has been mashing He might just be a quad A player Someone who could hit well in the minors I don't know We'll see if he could translate it all But 28 games since getting sent back down to AAA Anthony Volpe

284 batting average 10 homers 8 steals 10 23 OPS, 12% walk, 24% K rate, 10% rostered. Scott, do you have any deep league interest here in Volpe? Who I think will probably play every day at second base while Jazz Chisholm is out. I think I need to see it to believe it at this point. He did hit the ball harder on average at AAA, but that's, I suspect that's just a product

to facing AAA pitchers. And it's not like the max exit velocity was any better, which is a more indicative of upside. So, yeah, I got to wait to see it. You know, you say deep leagues, well, it depends how deep, but it would have to be so deep

that he's obviously the best choice off the waiver wire. No, I totally get that. If you're looking for second base replacements for jazz tism, some names in shallower leagues, there's Zach Gelloff,

although they're on the road next week, there's Cody Clemens, there's Tommy Edmund, names in, like, medium-sized leagues, there's Javiers, Noha, who again has the pretty good matchups. Next week, he's been playing a lot.

There's Jeff McNeil has been hot in the second half, but again, they're all on the road. And then if you need some deeper names, Thomas DeJacy and Jonah Cox are getting some playing time for their respective teams, the Cardinals, and the Giants. Corbyn Carroll was held out of the lineup again on Wednesday and we'll go for imaging on his lower back on Thursday.

So it doesn't sound great for Corbyn Carroll right now. Once we get an update, we'll let you know. Gunner Henderson was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday with a sore foot. So that's another one we'll have to watch Gunner Henderson. Roki Sasaki tossed a multi-inning simulity game on Wednesday. He's working his way back from a blister on his right middle finger. And assuming he gets back pretty soon, that means probably one of Robleski or Sheehan moves back to the bullpen. But Sheehan was so good in that start back the other day.

I think Sheen's kind of earned himself at least one more start, and we'll see where it goes from there. I think Robert said he was going to stay in the rotation after that start. Yeah. So I think that's the plan. Wilson Contreras will begin a rehab assignment at AA on Friday. He's working his way back from a hamstring train. Adley Ruchman has missed two straight after getting a cortisone injection in his right elbow. Manager Chad Tracy said Ruchman should return on Friday.

Jake Bowers has missed three straight and four of his last five as he continues. deal with shin splints. Jack Caglione has missed four straight with that left flexor strain. I did see that he was hitting. I think he took some batting practice, so perhaps they can get him back in there as a DH. But annoying injury here for Jack Caglione. Michael Garcia will begin a rehab assignment at AAA on Thursday.

He is 75% rostered and assuming no setbacks. I think he could be back on Monday. So that's a shallow league name. be a potential jacism replacement as well. Chase the Lauder returned to the Guardian's lineup with a bang. He went two for five with his 14th home run. The Marlins activated Pete Fairbanks from the IL, so they finally have a closer once again.

George Springer has missed two straight with a nagging left shoulder injury. Hagen Smith will make his first major league start on Thursday. He has been up with the White Sox. He's been pitching well too, but mostly as a, not mostly, completely as a reliever to this point, all 10 of his previous appearances. So far, it's 16 innings, five hits, two runs,

10 walks, 23 strikeouts. Nearly a 15% swinging strike rate. He has not thrown more than 48 pitches in an appearance yet. 17% rostered. It would have to be a very deep league. I'm more so just intrigued to see what he looks like as a starter scout probably for next season,

but he's looked really good in relief so far. That's Hagan Smith. Yeah, that's good to see. and I wonder if, you know, because he's been kind of underwhelming since the white sucks drafted him so high in the minors, a lot of walks, I wonder if a more extended stint in the bullpen would help his development,

kind of take the Grant Taylor path. Because I think as far as I know, I mean, we're kind of relying on things they were saying in April, but I think the plan is to move Grant Taylor to the rotation next year. and so maybe they could have, maybe they could slot Hagen Smith into that role and see if they can have similar success with it. I am seeing now that it's official,

Dave Roberts says that Shohei Otani will be placed on the 15-day IL. So it is September 10th, and so that takes us right up to the end of the season. I think the final day of the season is September 27th. So obviously he'll do some simulated stuff to get ready for the playoffs. Like maybe he's back for those last couple of games

just to like see, you know, live in-game pitching. But could be rusty going into the postseason. So that kind of changes the calculation, I think, for the Dodgers going into the playoffs. Well, and even more, even more actionable for us could probably drop Shohei Otani, right? I mean, the only situation where you might think twice about it is a league with daily moves.

maybe you get him back for two days at the end of the season, but that's a big maybe, and you may not want to devote the roster spot to him all that time. Yeah, no, I think that's a very fair point. And I think, I think Jose Wade DePaul is going to play against right-handed pitching. So he is a pretty interesting ad right now for daily lineup leagues, the, you know, the stretch here, deeper, five outfielder leagues.

For sure, if you need a little thump, he isn't guaranteed to hit. But, yeah, obviously, he had a huge. huge year in the minors. So that's Jose Wai de Paulo with the Dodgers. And the last news item I have here is Blaze Alexander was placed in the aisle with lower back discomfort, and hopefully that's good news for Kobe Mayo and Christian and Carnaccio and Strand.

We got some more blow-up starts. What do we do with these pitchers? Do we hold? Do we drop? I think that will depend on the matchups for next week. Foster Griffin crushed at the Orioles. Two and a third. Seven hits, eight runs, two walks,

four strikeouts, had eight whiffs on 62 pitches here. It's interesting that the start was this bad. Admittedly, I didn't watch it. So there could have been, you know, something that happened in game that, you know, I didn't see here in the box score, but he threw a decent amount of strikes. He had a 13% swinging strike rate.

He only had three hard hits against, and three of the hits that he gave up had an XBA of 200 or less. So kind of feels like an unlucky start here for Foster Griffin. look his seven starts with Cleveland overall have not been good 594 ERA 159 whip he is in line for just one start next week

against the white socks so what are we doing here with Foster Griffin Scott are you holding him your analytics you can take your analytics and shove them is that Frank is that true

is just bad as he cooked I sound like one of the olds I mean since joining the Guardians he has like a six ERA technically Scott you are the oldest person on this podcast I am. Yeah, I don't know that I'm one of the olds though.

The old head on this podcast. I mean, the guys, I don't know why. It seems like every day. I think Harold Reynolds was trending today, and there was Jeff Kent recently. And they're talking like baseball is like a miserable experience. and dying, and I mean, just the opposite is true.

Like, it's, it's, it's obviously on the ascendancy. It's, it's growing in popularity. It's making a comeback. It's probably has the strongest place in the zeitgeist that it's had since the strike. And now they're complaining about this. Now they're saying it's, it's a problem. I don't, the timing of it is what I find perplexing. Because 10 years ago, I kind of get it.

But it's become so much more watchable in recent years with the pitch clock and the increased activity on the bases. And the talent, man. Like, look at the guys that we have in the majors right now. It's like two of the all-time players, I would say, when they're healthy, of course. But, you know, Otani and Judge having those guys around. And then all the other young talent that's come through the past couple of years, I mean, baseball feels like it's in a pretty awesome spot. Yeah, I don't get it.

They're just, I, and honestly, just seems like they want attention, and this is a way to get it right now. Because it's, like, okay, are we supposed to cater to you when clearly what's going on right now in the game is resonating and younger people are starting to enjoy it again? And, like, it's on an upward trajectory. Let's not slow the momentum by complaining having these personal pet peeves putting them out there. It's dumb.

I just wanted to take a moment to say that. But yeah, don't start Foster Griffin. You can probably drop them. All right. What about Jake Bennett, who got rocked by the Angels, five and a third, nine hits, six runs aloud. Three homers allowed in this one. This was his first truly disastrous start. he hasn't been very good for a while now.

His last nine starts, it's a 508 ERA, a 127 whip. The ERA estimators during that span, they're all below four. So maybe some bad luck here with Jake Bennett as well. He is 84% rostered, 62% started. He's at the Rangers next week. They are fourth in Wobah against left-handed pitching. It's a good park to pitch in. Scott, if we're not using Jake Bennett next week,

then he's another one. We could probably just drop. But what do you think about Jake Bennett? Yeah, I don't like the reverse of the trend here. Obviously, he got a bad result. So that's part of the reason I don't like it. He had been emphasizing the sinker again in the previous three starts, finding success with that.

I think two of them, more than 30% usage on the sinker, down to 19 in this one. And that's more like how he was using the sinker during that rough stretch. So I don't know why he made the decision to throw the sinker less, but it's not a winning formula for Jake Bennett and it makes me less likely to trust him next time out, particularly since, you know, it's... Yeah, I just don't know if I want to trust him with a good matchup.

And Kevin Gosman, the random number generator. He was destroyed by the Brewers, I guess in his defense, two starts in a row against a really, really good Brewers lineup. Four innings, eight hits, seven runs, six of those earned, three homers allowed in this one. Still had 16 whiffs on 94 pitches. That's not the problem. We know that Kevin Cosman could get whiffs,

but man, when he leaves that splitter up in the zone just a little bit, I mean, it could get absolutely walloped. Two of the three home runs came off of his splitter. His fastball routinely gets hit hard. He has a 460 ERA on the season now, 129 whip. Seven starts with the Cubs,

531 ERA, 128 whip. It feels like he's been mostly bad, like just unusable in the second half. But last time out, he was really good. So it's like we still, we see what he's capable of. He's 96% rostered, 72% started. Home against the Braves next week. Scott, if you told me he went out and threw like seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts,

I wouldn't be surprised. Equally would not be surprised if he gives up like seven runs over three innings next time out. And what do we call a pitcher like that, Frank? Ajar is R. That's right. Old man, Gossman, has become Matured, at least, you know, at least if you get burned, you got Gauze right there. Kevin Gossman, he's like an older pitcher at this point, right? A lot of the older generation, like when I was in school growing up, they would call it Pokemon or Pokemon's, and I would be like, oh, God, it was just nails on a chalkboard.

Kevin Gossman would probably call it Pokemon's. I don't think so. He's not that old. He's younger than me. He's old in like patriots, but he's actually not that old. I think he's probably like the same age as me, actually. Yeah, probably. I probably just made all that up.

Yeah. It's funny. It's funny the way like we perceive older ballplayers. This is kind of going on a different, going down a different path as far as that goes because we're saying, oh yeah, Kevin Gossman's an old guy, but he's young. younger than us. I remember old pitchers when I was a kid looking much older. And you think that's just a memory thing?

Okay, from my perspective, it seemed like they were older. But now that I'm older, it doesn't, you know, I can see the youth in them, the relative youth in them. But you go watch clips of them pitching. Man, they pitched like old guys, you know? Like their deliveries just look so floppy and weak. like it's it's not just a perspective thing like they really i don't know they're just like their their their posture seems limp and and they're just like actively not throwing hard it's i

don't know it's kind of go go look up a clip of one of those old guys go look up like a charlie lee brant or something and you'll see what i'm talking about Kevin Gossman, by the way, is 35 years old. I am turning 35 in just about two months. So yeah, who might have to be called Kevin Gossman old, you know? What are we doing with him in fantasy, Scott? He's still 96% rostered. He gets the Braves next week.

I just looked, I know the Braves offense has been cold. Last 30 days, they're 27th in Wobah. So, but I don't even think the matchup matters, man. It's like, if Kevin Gossman has it, he's good. If he doesn't, he's bad. And it feels like a flip of the coin. I don't know if I want to do that at this point in the season when everything is, you know. And you know, it's going to feel bad if he's great against the Braves.

But hindsight's 2020. You can only make the best decision. You can only make the decision with the information you have now. The information you have now is that he's a Charzard, just as likely to burn you as to burn your opponent. And are you willing to stake your season on a, coin flip like that. I'm not. Imagine seeing Hunter

Brown and Christopher Sanchez on the schedule, Scott. You would think, wow, pitchers duel, low-scoring game, nope. This was another slobber knocker here on Wednesday. Hunter Brown, five runs aloud. Four of those earned over five innings. Seven strikeouts, the zero walks. The zero walks, that's a really good sign here

for Hunter Brown. Just the second time he has done that this season. He is down to 78% started. so not everybody thinks Hunter Brown is just a must-star player. He gets the Royals and the Braves next week. I still think we're throwing Hunter Brown out there for this. I want to call him a must-start with the way he's pitched. It's been trending up, but then he has a start like this,

which is pretty underwhelming. And just we're not seeing a lot of dominance here from Brown. So I want to call him a must-start, but with two starts, he's basically a must-start still. Yeah. And then Christopher Sanchez on the other side, six innings, 10 hits, six runs. Only three strikeouts to zero walks, two homers loud in this one. The crazy part, he still picked up his 17th win despite giving up six runs in this one.

And you know it's an off start when on paper his slider was his best pitch in this start. I mean, the change up just wasn't where it usually is. He gave up hard contact. And oddly enough, this is the fifth start with double digit hits allowed this season. Seems weird for Sanchez. I mean, that's why the whip is up over 120. He's also second in Major League Baseball with 185 hits allowed

behind only Sandy Alcancers. So the Phillies defense obviously plays a role in that. But it's weird, Scott, because Sanchez is legitimately one of the best pitchers in baseball. And he gets a decent amount of whiffs, but for whatever reason, man, he's just giving up a ton of hits this year.

333 BAP. Yeah. It's only the second time he's at a Babbup over 300. and I do think What was it for him last year? Two Hang on, I lost it. $2.98.

333 now. Yeah, 35 point jump. It's pretty significant. Yeah. Yep. And the fact is a ground ball pitcher with a bad infield defense behind him. I think

entirely explains it. I don't want to say entirely, but mostly explains it. Yeah. If I don't want to say it, I don't know why I said it. I could have picked a different word. I do think this has to factor into next season when you're drafting Christopher Sanchez.

You probably have to use the second round pick to get him on your team. I do think he's a better, I think he's a really good pitcher for fantasy, no matter what. I don't know if you have to use a second round pick to get him on your team. How many pitchers are going to go on the first two rounds? I think Sanchez would think, you would think Mizorowski and Scoobel would. Yeah. I would push Littler ahead of Mizorowski. I mean, ahead of Sanchez.

I'm fine with that. who else we got? Yamamoto's going to be up there. To me, that's a coin flip. I'd put them over Sanchez, I think, just for the whip issue. Yeah, that's fine. C's going to be up there. Luzardo's going to be up there.

Sales going to be up there. I think Sanchez is right in that next. None of those are going to be in round two. But I don't know that I'd put Yamamoto or Sanchez in round two personally. I think at most it would be Misraowski, Scoobel, and Schlitler. Yeah. You probably have to have all three in there. The point being with Sanchez is that you have to factor that whip in when drafting him next year.

Because he gives you so much volume too. It's kind of not to the same extent, but Logan Webb for years. He gives you a lot of volume. He also gives you a higher whip. So his whip counts for more than it does for other pitchers. So Sanchez, really, really good in a points league. He's going to give you a ton of volume there. Like no issue with him being drafted as a top five pitcher in a points league.

But if you draft him as a top five pitcher in a points league. draft them as a top five, top 10 pitcher in Roto, you really have to insulate that with some guys that you expect to get a good whip from next season. Let's take our final break. When we return, I have some waiver wire names to talk about. I have seven hitters who are on fire. We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today.

Let's jump into the Waverwire hitters from Wednesday's action. And if you are looking for a first basement for next week, probably aren't because, you know, again, first base is loaded. And someone like Bryce Eldridge is probably still out there in some leagues. But Josh Bell just keeps on doing Josh Bell things. He hit his 19th home run. He's up to 86 RBI on the year. And Jake Berger, he's finishing strong here last 15 games.

280 batting average, five homers. He's up to 26 home runs, 83 RBI on the season. Six home games next week for Berger. He has two lefties on the schedule. He's much better against lefties. So kind of wish there was a few more lefties. there. Josh Bell, seven games on the schedule for next

week. Will Warren, Fried, Rodon, Arania, Dettmers, not the greatest matchups for Josh Bell. So I'm really just starting to look into matchups now, Scott. But if you had to choose one,

who do you like more between Bell and Burger? Burger Bell, the famous fictional fast food stop for Mr. Lunt. I would say burger over, pal. Okay. Henry Bolte, another one.

His 10th home run of the season. And updated numbers since the start of August. He has played 37 games. In those games, he has a 320 batting average, seven homers, seven steals, OPS over 900, hits the ball hard. We've talked about it a lot. Hits the ball hard.

A lot of it is on the ground. His launch angle during that stretch is a negative. It's a negative launch angle. And it's still a 28% strikeout rate. So, interesting player. power, speed, hits the ball hard, still has to figure some things out. 48% rostered, six road games next week.

So I think you could use them there. I'm not saying you have to. But then six home games, the final week. So if you have Boltie, obviously you're holding him, you're using them that final week. But even if you want to think ahead and just kind of add him to use for that final week, he's been a monster at home.

So definitely would be thinking about that with Henry Bolte. If you're looking for a corner name, Kobe Mayo. Someone we've talked a lot about here, he's having a big second half, hit another home run. 274 batting average, 10 homers, a 9-11 OPS in the second half. We know that he absolutely destroys lefties. He has a 530 OPS against righties. And he has six games next week. Three lefties on the schedule.

So I kind of like that for Kobe Mayo. 31% rostered. I think he could be a decent corner infield option. for next week with three lefties on the schedule. Yeah, he could be. That's the only reason he'd be worth using is there has to be enough lefties on the schedule. See, showing Kyle Harrison is one of those lefties,

not sure he's still in the rotation? He is going to start on Saturday this week, but they said that they will have a long reliever ready to go if he just struggles from the jump. Okay, so they're... They're giving him another chance, basically, as a starter. And we'll see how that goes if he remains in the rotation. The other two being Shamaniah and Shane Drohan, who aren't the easiest lefties,

but they're not aces or anywhere close to that either. Yeah, I think Kobe Mayer will be in consideration when I put together my sleeper hitters list. Some deeper names who are making some noise. They're popping up here. John Peck, someone you mentioned recently, Scott, from the Tigers, one for three with a run, RBI, and his second stolen base. He has a seal in back-to-back games. He has started eight of the past nine.

He is 2% rostered. I think it's really just an AL-only name, maybe 15-team Roto. And Leo Bernal of the Cardinals, he has impressed early on. He had his second home run. He had three RBI. He has started nine straight since getting called up.

He's 10 for 36. He's got the two homers. He's got 10 RBI. He had a good season at AAA. 7% rostered. I think in the mix for two catcher league. the final two weeks of season. Yeah, I think definitely,

me, just by virtue of him playing literally every day. Leo Bernal, and I think the Cardinals think very highly of him, obviously, for him to play that much, and I think for a good reason. He's hit well, he hit well in the minors,

he brings some defensive value. He should be rostered in two catcher leagues, I would say. How would you rank these three? Rafael Flores, Kyle Teal, and Leo Bernal. I think I got a per Bernal at the top right now. I like Kyle Teal a lot, but he has something to prove at this point, I would say. I'll put him second and then Flores third.

If you are looking for Leo Bernal on CBS, by the way, it's his full name, Leonardo Bernal. So just in case you're looking for him. Are we, what are we doing with these two? They're technically both right around 60% rostered. They were names that we talked a lot about when they got called up. And obviously, Esmerlin Valdez did his thing for a while now, but has cooled off. George Lombard Jr., one for four, hit his first career grand slam. It was his third home run of the season.

His previous 14 games before this, 167 batting average, 36% K-rate. He is 57% rostered. And then Esmerlin Valdez hit his 17th home run. but over his no, it was since he got hit by a pitch on his hand on July 27th, I keep referencing that date because I don't know if

it's just like affecting his production, it very well could. But 33 games since then, 175 batting average, three homers, 37% K-rate, 61% rostered. I think those numbers are too high for both. Scott, Valdez, and George Lombard Jr.

They're, how rostered they are is too high? Yes, yes. Uh, yeah, I would agree. Lombard, he's just not hitting the ball nearly as hard as he did in the miners and struggling with strikeouts on top of it. Even this grand slam, he hit it 96 miles per hour. That's not normally going to be a home run. It was the Yankee Stadium special too, right? Yeah, right.

So he clearly hasn't shown enough, I think, to merit a lineup spot. And what would it take to get him in your line? lineup. I don't think there's enough time. I don't think there's enough time for him to do it. And Valdez, whether you say last 33 games, last 30, last 36, I'm sure it tells the same story, which has been bad for a long time. Even in 5 outfielder leagues, difficult to trust them right now. Moving over to the waiver wire pitchers, Will Warren had a great outing here against the Rocky six innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 95 pitches. His last two starts have been good, 13 innings, two runs, 15 strikeouts to three walks.

And it looks like he might line up for two at the twins at the debacks next week. That is Will Warren. Griffin Jacks looked better in his second start off the IL. This one at the Braves, five innings of one run ball, only two strikeouts here. Velocity down around one mile per hour. I think he was a little bit fortunate. He gave up six hard hits in this one. Overall, as a starter this season, Griffin Jacks has mostly been very good.

He's a spark. Looks like he lines up for two, one against the at the other. One against the Red Sox for next week. Andre Palante, okay start here at the Giants. Five innings, one run, four strikeouts. He gets the Giants again next week. And Davis Martin was okay against the Pirates. Five innings, one run, two walks, one strikeout.

Honestly, I would not use Davis Martin. But he does line up for two starts next week, so I just thought I would throw him out there. One against the Tigers, one at the Guardians. can I interest you in any of these four for next week? Those are good matchups for Davis Martin, but... I can't do it. Yeah, I mean, two strike good and that he's prevented runs,

but four strikeouts to three walks. Exactly. In those two starts. So not missing bats at all. It was on a terrible run before then. I just don't think it's enough to win me back over, even with two starts and favorable matchups. and Griffin Jacks,

I really liked what he was doing before going on the IL. He got a good result in this one. But as you were saying, it seemed kind of fortunate. Only the two strikeouts. Only four total whiffs. And he threw just 66 pitches. So he doesn't have much of a leash there coming back from the IL either. Velocity's been down both of his start since returning.

crushed in the first one. I think I need to see more. It's a shame that the two starts are coming up. I can see maybe starting Griffin Jackson at points league with two starts, more forgiving format plus he's got that relief pitcher eligibility. But apart from that, I don't think I'd use

them. Will Warren has been good, two outings in a row now, both six plus innings. He actually went seven in the first of those two outings. And he threw his change up more in this one.

It is his best pitch. His fastball has been up about a mile per hour in both of those starts. So he may, there may be something here for Will Warren. It's still a big gamble at a time of year where I don't like taking big gambols. But of the three,

I think I'd be most inclined to use him. What are the matchups? again. At the twins, at the D-backs. The twins are eighth in Wobug against varieties. The D-backs are 29th. Yeah. It would be, it would be the two-star Will Warren

would be the sort of play where you're just chasing specific starting pitcher categories in a roto league or you feel like you're an underdog in your head-to-head match up and just are hoping to get kind of lucky. Yeah.

I think that's the only scenario is where I'd use Will Warren. I think I would use him over any of the three pitchers we brought up as drops. Gosman, Bennett, Foster Griffin. But I'm not overly excited about Will Warren, but I'm less excited to use any of those pitchers. Bennett, Griffin, and who was the third one he said? Kevin Gosman.

The Charzer. Foof. I mean, kind of the same logic applies with Kevin Gosman. You feel like you're the underdog and you're just hoping. to get lucky. But yeah, I probably lean Warren there. I don't know about Bennett because Bennett is facing the Rangers that's a good matchup. They're good against lefties though. Are they? That's surprising. Yeah, fourth and Wobugg against lefties. I guess. Okay. Jake Burger, baby. Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah, I guess I would be more likely to use Will Warren than those other three.

One name in deeper leagues. Ryan Johnson turned in a quality start at the Red Sox six innings three runs, five strikeouts. He only had eight whiffs on 103 pitches. His velocity was up across the board. In this one, last five starts for Ryan Johnson, 215 ERA. 0.99 whip. The K to Walk is very bad. It's a very low babb.

It's a very high strand rate. It all looks very fluky. With that said, the matchups next week, home against the Mariners, home against the twins. It's a deep league context, Scott. Any thoughts here on Ryan Johnson? I am not totally disinterested. I agree that he is not

he's not succeeding in the way we normally want a pitcher to succeed in the way that's going to have the most upside for fantasy. But during this stretch where he's been so effective, a lot more cutters, the pitch has a 188 batting average against. And he is also a pitcher, Ryan Johnson, who gets

a lot of weak contact in the air. And if you can get contact in the air that's not hit very hard, that doesn't turn into home runs, you can be more effective than a ground ball pitcher because you're also likely to put up a very low whip in addition to the low ERA.

It's more of a tight rope walk, it's a higher margin for error, but in theory, it's the better profile file than the ground ball guy. Again, it's a big roll of the dice, but if you're just chasing volume, I think Johnson is somebody you could consider using

facing lineups, especially that Mariners matchup. I mean, that's a favorable one. Yeah. Anything to see here with these two Dback returns, Zach Allen and Michael Soroka, gallon, three and a third, two runs, two walks, one strikeout. Soroka, four innings, three hits, three runs, four strikeouts.

Gave up a three-run homer to Bobby Witt was very good early on in the season. He got up to 58 pitches. He's 76% rostered. People, you know, a lot of people still held on to Soroka. Looks like it's one start against the Marlins for next week. Can I interest you in either of these returns? I just don't know that Soroka is going to be built up enough to want to use them. I agree.

And it's not like he pitched all that well in this return. So, yeah. I think there's more downside than upside to that. Seven hitters who are on fire. Actually, it's six now because Corey Seeger was one of them. Jackson, Trurio, three for five with a sock and a shoe. His 23rd home run, his 17th steal, last 34 games, 326, 10 homers, seven seals. The OPS is around 950.

The 162 game pace, 33 homers, 118 runs, 94 RBI, 25. four steals. Lock it in, Scott. Jackson-Turio first-round pick next year. Probably. Probably in Roto and in categories. Maybe not in points since he doesn't walk much at all. Yeah, I was thinking about points leagues. I don't know. That one's close. I think he's like a one-two-turn guy in a points league. In categories, I think it might surprise people. I think he's going to be more like a mid-first-round pick. I think a lot of people are going to be sold on Churio. I am. Okay. So, I think five that I think

hang on I was just writing about this earlier let me see if I can pull it up do do okay so I think my top six in some order are going to be Shohei Otani Aaron Judge Bobby Witt Juan Soto Yordon Alvarez Jr.

Cominero and Picre Armstrong did I just name seven one two three four five six yeah so my top seven in some order is going to beat them So, eighth is in the discussion. I don't know the Cheerio is the obvious choice there,

but that I think is the absolute highest I could talk about just knowing that top seven that I have. Yeah. And of course, Ellie De La Cruz is in that discussion. James Wood? Oh, gosh, James Wood. Yeah, I think James Wood has to be. Maybe I need to think about him in the top seven.

I think it has to be a top eight. top eight, yeah, I think it's top eight. I forgot about him. Yeah. That's fair. So, yeah, I think maybe I overshot it there on Trio then, because if I had to guess,

I think those eight hitters you named makes sense. And then it's some combination of Trio, Ellie, Tatease. Yeah, Tatees. That's a good one. And...

He's second base eligible for next year. Jose Ramirez probably still in that mix, I think. Oh, that's a tricky one. More Mizzier. It might just be those 12 names, right? The eight you mentioned plus Tatez, Torio, Ellie, and the Mizz.

That kind of feels like a, like the top 12. J-RAM in the second round? Oh, man. But we're definitely taking Churio over J-Ram and over Julio Rodriguez and over Corbyn Carroll. That's the way I feel right now, yeah. I'm not saying everybody will agree with that, but that's the way I'm saying.

No, no, I hope there's a lot of disagreement because it's, they're, There's a lot of questionable case. Like I've said it so many times in the past week or two, something like 16 of the top 24 players drafted vastly underperformed, and other than Cal Raleigh, they all have extensive track records of dominance and or are still in the prime of their careers.

Normally we give players like that a pass. We can't give them all a pass because too many other players have put them, in that top two round discussion and you know we're not just going to we're not just going to run back the first two rounds from a year ago so who you decide to give a pass to i think is going to it's going to depend on personal taste and uh just how much faith you have in certain players and that's going to it's going to make for a lot of disagreement it should anyway jackson maryl had himself a massive we didn't even mention ronald laconia he's another one yeah

I wouldn't include him in the top 12 that we talked about. I think he's firmly a second round. Second rounder at the earliest, but yeah. Jackson Merrill, four for five with a double-donged six RBI. He finished a double short of the cycle. And his last 81 games, half a season, 278 batting average, 18 homers, 55 RBI, 15 steals, 92.2 average EV, 14% barrel rate.

Look, he is definitely a better Roto Category League player. He's low OBP. it's a lower OPS, but just in terms of power and speed, 24 homers, 25 steals. That is pretty awesome stuff for Merrill. I think in a Roto Categories League, he's probably, I don't know, somewhere in that like two, three turn range, second, third round pick. I think Merrill's back in that mix. I can already tell Scott's like, I'm not going to do it, but.

Well, no, no, no, I, because I feel good about where Jackson Merrill is right now. I actually think he's underachieved this year in batting, everything else looks great. Yeah. Doesn't walk much, so that's going to hold him back at points leagues, but we already knew that. I wanted to boldly predict that he'll perform like a second rounder next year,

but you're kind of saying he just deserves to be drafted there. I think so. Yeah, I think round two or three. Okay. Categories league, but yeah. I mean, two years ago, he was drafted there, remember? He was.

He was. rookie season. He hasn't actually performed like that this year, but I think there are strong indications that he still has that kind of upside is how I would put it. So it's going to be he's going to be a part of a crowded group

in the outfield and I think it's going to be one of those situations where somebody is going to end up lower in the rankings than you'd like them to be just because they can't all rank 14th or whatever we're talking about now field rankings.

Yep. A couple of their names here who are on fire. Zach Netto hit another home run. Last 20 games for him. 373. Five homers. Three steals. OPS over 1,000.

William Contreras is finishing strong. Last 21 games for him. 353. Four homers. 18 RBI. OPS over 950. Carter Jensen. Last 13 games for him.

319. 6 homers. OPS around 1,300 during that stretch. And Mookiee Betts, fool me once. Fool me twice. Shame on me. Shame on you. I don't know how the same goes. Last 26 games, 314, 6 homers, 24 B.I. OPS over 900. He did this last year. I think there needs to be a significant discount on Mookiee Betts now at this point in his career. Any thoughts on these other hot hitters? Mookie Betts, Jensen, William Contreras, and Zach Netto.

Yeah, Betz is maybe a top 100 player. Probably not. And Trey Turner, I think, is following him down. Trey Turner is going to end up with a 2020 season. Is he already there? He might already be there. He is up to 19 homers, 19 seals. Yeah, it's, it's 2020 with like a 6708 OPS.

So he's compiled well enough to keep himself useful for fantasy. But yeah, I just, I think we've seen the last of Trey Turner. as an early round performer. And Betts now, this is two straight years, so I think it's safe to conclude. He's not that anymore either. Yeah, it's a sub-750 OPS two years in a row for Mookiee Betts,

and that kind of feels like closer to the expectation at this point in his career. Some other hitting leftovers, Esoc Paredes hit his 19th home run. He's been pretty much himself since the start of June, did get off to a slow start. A swore slam for Schwerber,

one for five, with a grand slam, his 44th home run of the year. just model of consistency year in and year out. He turns 34 in March. The bat speed is still right where it's been in previous years. I see no reason why Chorber can't do this again next year. 40 home runs, 100, 100.

He's just one of the most bankable players in fantasy. Tray Turner. Trey Turner did hear you say yesterday, Scott, that he was watched, and he just heard you again. He did have a sock in his shoe, his 19th home run, 19th steel. Roman Anthony hit his fourth home run. It was his third home run in 11 games since returning from the IL. Luis Garcia Jr. continued his breakout season with his 29th home run. And Connor Griffin, one for four with a walk, two RBI, and two steals.

Sounds like you're working on, you know, early rounds for next season. Did you have Connor Griffin in the top two rounds in a Categories League? Well, I haven't gotten there yet. I will do that next week. But I just had to think about it. I was working on that bold predictions article, and within it, I had to start thinking about who deserved to go at the top of drafts.

Will Connor Griffin make it into the second round? My initial thinking is, no, that's not where I'd want to put him, but I am probably going to be dragged kicking and screaming into doing that, because I suspect the rest of the world will want them there. Yep. And so if I want to get any Connor Griffin, I'm just going to have to follow suit. In category leagues for sure.

And points leagues, I think you kind of devalue him a little bit, but I wonder if, just thinking of, you mentioned bold predictions, like Connor Griffin has a season that rivals L.E. de la Cruz's second season in the majors, right? 25 homers, 67 steals.

Obviously would be pretty bold to get something like that from Connor Griffin. We haven't really seen that power production from him yet, but being the top prospect in baseball, you feel like it's going to come eventually. So will it come as soon as next year? You know, his 162 game pace is 56 steals. So the speed is absolutely there.

He could go 20 home or 60 steals as soon as next season. Connor Griffin. Where does everything else land? Batting average counting stats. That remains to be seen. But he does kind of have that 2060 skill set as soon as next year, I think. Some pitching left over. Yamamoto carved up the red seven innings of one-run ball,

10 strikeouts here. He has eight plus strikeouts and five straight, so that's a good sign. Strikeouts have been down for most of the season. And then Logan Henderson, another solid outing. This one against the Cubs, five innings, one unearned run with six strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 95 pitches. Three earned runs are fewer in all 16 starts this season, and the updated K-minus walk rate, 25.6%.

That is fourth highest among starting pitchers. pitchers with at least 80 innings this season. Anything to add, Scott, on Henderson or Yamamoto? Yeah, I mean, Henderson only go in five innings. That felt kind of familiar, but since three of the previous four were seven innings, I'm not going to say too much about it. I think he remains bus start. The call to the bullpen for the athletics, Hogan Harris,

got the eighth inning with a two-run lead. He was facing the top of the lineup. there were two left-handed hitters scheduled for that inning, and it was a clean inning for Hogan Harris. Elvis Alvarado got the ninth. He allowed a single. He struck out two. He picked up his sixth save,

and the last six saves for the A's, three have gone to Alvarado and three have gone to Hogan Harris. So, yeah. But I will say that six of, sorry, I forgot his name for a second, Elvis Alvarado, right? Yes. I'm sorry.

Six of Alvarado. The two past seven appearances have been to close out a game, to finish off a game. Not always for a save, but I think he's more or less the closer, just with some exceptions carved out for Harris. For the Giants, either Dylan Smith was unavailable or the Giants are rethinking his role. Somebody named Trent Harris got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He allowed a hit, but he picked up his first save. And Trent Harris in 14 games, 281, ERA 125 whip, 21 strikeouts over 16.

innings if you are in the most desperate NL only league and you need saves. Might be a name. Trent Harris. For the Mariners, Andres Munoz picked up his 26th save. For the Orioles, Rico Garcia got the final five outs. He did allow two hits. He struck out three for his seventh save.

For the Angels, Ben Joyce got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He allowed a run but picked up his fourth save. For the Royals, Stephen Cruz was unavailable. Nate Pearson picked up his fourth save. And for the Pirates, Mason Montgomery got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He struck out two for his 11th save.

And Mason Montgomery is a fascinating name for this off-season. I lied for some reason. I don't know why I thought he was a free agent. He is not a free agent. He is arbitration eligible for a long time. And he is under team control through 2031. But he looks like one of the best relievers in baseball. Yeah, a bold...

I hope the pirates just... Make him the closer forever until the end of time. One of my bold predictions for next year, I'll go ahead and spoil it here. Mason Montgomery is the number two reliever in fantasy. Not saying that's where you draft him. I'm just saying that's where he ends up next year. Behind only, of course, Mason Miller.

That's why I'm not willing to go number one. The Masons. Yeah. You have to have the M squared initials there to be the top. closer in baseball. To stream or not to stream on Thursday. We have just a five-game slate. It is a very

light one. Martine Perez against the Rays. Jared Jones at the White Sox. Christian Javier at the Phillies. And Hagen Smith in that first start against the Pirates. I think he'll probably only throw around 50 pitches, but that is a complete guess. I don't really

want to start any of them. If I had to choose one, it would be Jared Jones. But not with the most confidence. I might... I might lean Martin Perez over him just because the rays are bad against lefties, but again, I don't really want to do either. And then on Friday, we have Yusay Kikuchi at the Nationals, Chris Bass Basset at the Blue Jays, revenge game, Max Scherzer, home against the Orioles,

Seth Lugo at the Red Sox, Andrew Abbott is at the Brewers, Shane Drowen, home against the Reds, Jeffrey Springs is home against the Mariners, Kumar Rocker at the D-Backs, and Merrill Kelly, home, against the Rangers. If you're telling me the Rangers are good against lefties, they must be real bad against righties. They are very bad against right.

They are 25th in Wobah against righties. So I don't hate Merrill Kelly against them. Don't love it. Shane Drone against the Reds, I don't hate. Jeffrey Springs was good last time, right? So he's facing the worst lineup in baseball, now the Mariners.

But that isn't that is in Sacramento for what it's worse. And it's two starts against the same lineup in a row. Yeah. Don't love that. Is there anyone else that I could possibly recommend? No, there's not. So I'm going to say Merrill, Kelly, Shane, Drone, Jeffrey Springs in that order.

Yeah. I would say Kelly or Drohan. I could see one of Bassett or Scherzer having a good start here, but it is very risky. Fortune favors the bold or the brave for Chris Bassett up against Max Scher We are going to wrap there for Scott I and Frank Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify

And we will be back again tomorrow Bye bye Mount Podcasts On September 24th from executive producer Kim Kardashian And the producers of Love Island USA Baseball and Scott Sale go hand in hand If games are intense, parents can also be very intense. What was that?

A new unscripted series about the parents behind elite youth baseball. This is going to stop. Oh, alright. Let the games begin. I will drop you right here. What I do? You don't even know what's about to come. Team moms baseball.

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