Fantasy Baseball Today - Start, Sit or Drop These Pitchers? Time to Add Christian Encarnacion-Strand! (8/27 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 27, 2026

Bryan Woo had a rough return (3:46). ... Sean Burke came crashing back down (7:38). ... Eduardo Rodriguez is getting even better (11:22)! ... News (17:27): Juan Soto took batting practice on Wednesday. ... Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Tristan Peters are set up for great schedules next week (26:26). ... Start, sit or drop these SP (44:20)? ... Any interest in these three waiver wire pitchers (56:50)? ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:01:55).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. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, August 27th. I am Frank Stanfield joined by Scott White. Today on the show, Brian Wu, got roughed up.

up in his return. Start, sit, or drop these starting pitchers. We have some names that are slowing down right now, some breakout names who are slowing down. Interesting waiver wire hitters. Tristan Peters did it again and much more. Scott, you are back. How are the old stomping grounds down in Fort Lauderdale? They've been thoroughly stomped, stumped all across those grounds, and then took my two flights back to Greenville, South Carolina. And my new stomping grounds, the familiar setting of my black bookshelves with lots of old starting lineup figures on them, including but not limited to Archie Manning and Peyton Manning. And a new Pittsburgh Pirate shirt that no one could see because your camera is not low enough. Yeah, I got to love that. Is that a Shurzy?

It is. It is a Paul Skeen's Shersie. And, you know, I try to mix it up, try to not show a lot of bias, but still keep the wardrobe nice and baseball themed. And then the camera cuts it right off. So it just looks like I'm wearing a plain black t-shirt. Did the shirt come with a free Tommy John surgery? Oh. Oh, no, let's not wish that on Paul Skeen's coming off a bounce back start. It's so good to see that from Paul Skeens.

But let's talk about Wednesday's action right now. Is this happening? It is. And unfortunately, we're both talking about some pretty bad starts from starting pitchers here as our, oh, my goodness, players of the night. Let's start with Brian Wu, who got rocked his first start back from the shoulder soreness that he's been dealing with. And it was at home where he typically has been amazing this season against the Phillies. Four innings, six runs aloud, two homers allowed in this one.

and velocity, not a problem. Coming back from this shoulder soreness. In fact, it was up quite a bit across the board. His fastball was up 1.3 miles per hour. The sinker up 1.6. His slider was up 1.7. He used the fastball even more in the start than he normally does, and it got hit hard.

Six hard hits against 97.4 average exit velocity against that fastball, which is typically Brian Wu's best pitch. So it's just been a weird year, all around for Brian Wu. His ERA is now up to 436 on the season. We know everything that's been going on with the home road splits, but obviously this is a really bad one at home. And a big part of today's podcast will be start, sit, or drop at this point in the season. I don't think we're dropping Brian Wu, but he's 52% started. I understand why people were worried about using him this

week. But next week, he's at the Red Sox, a lineup that's been good in the second half, and they should probably have Roman Anthony in that lineup as well, and he's been bad on the road. So kind of feel like, uh, don't want to use Brian Wu next week at the Red Sox. I, I think that's totally fair. I think generally I would be avoiding him on the road until he gives me a reason not to. Obviously, as you said, this was a home start. Uh, I don't think any of us were in favor of using him for coming back from the shoulder issue. and if you were among the 52% that did use Brian Wu, obviously there's no turning back that clock.

It's just what do we do forward. And I think the fact his velocity was up across the board to me seemed like a pretty strong indicator that the shoulder's okay. That was obviously the biggest concern coming in. Yeah. Like he was trying to prove a point, basically. Maybe. Maybe.

if he was hurting, I'd expected to be down, not up, two miles per hour. So I don't, maybe he was overcompensating and that ended up working against him in this start. Maybe he was just facing the Phillies with a red hot Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwerber, Major League leader in home runs, and they got the better of him.

And there's no reason to read into it any more than that. but I feel better about the state of Brian Wu's health, which, okay, maybe not next time out at the Red Sox, but the next home start, you know, in a way it's nice because we get that, we get that road start after this that he can follow up on and we can see how the shoulder bounces back. And again, we don't have to,

we don't have to force Wu into our lineup because we know better than to start him on the road. So it's kind of nice in that. way. But hopefully, based on what I saw on this star, hopefully, I'll feel, I'll feel fine using Wu for his next home start. Yeah. And again, just a disappointing season for Brian Wu, who was likely drafted as your SP1 or SP2, a top 15 starting pitcher by ADP coming into the year, maybe even like top 10. I know he ranked pretty highly there. It's really just the ERA that stands out 436. The whip is at 110. Obviously, look, that's a good number still, 110 whip. He's right around a

strikeout for inning. It's, again, it's really just the ERA that has been a pretty big letdown here for Brian Wu. Let's go over to you, Scott, another pitcher who struggled big time. Who is it? It's Sean Burke. And man, I thought we had a good one here. We thought we had a good one here, but it seems to be falling apart. After back-to-back outings with four earned runs, he has a total disaster of a start against the Rangers walked eight. He walked eight in three innings. A guy who entered this start with 2.6 walks per nine on the year. It's pretty good walk rate.

He did have consecutive starts back in June where he walked five. So it's not unprecedented him struggling to find the strike zone. Eight obviously is higher than five. But, you know, five's a lot too. So I'm, I don't want to abandon all hope here. Because obviously, Sean Burke had a lot of good starts after those back-to-back five walk outings. But again, the previous two outings he had before and runs, this is now four of five outings in August where he just hasn't looked that good. And at his best, he had a lot more velocity.

The velocity dropped off before the performance did. and that kind of put us at ease with what was happening there. But before the velocity ticked up mid-season, Sean Burke wasn't very good at the start of the year. So I really don't know where things stand with them. I was interested in reading some comments from him and maybe his manager after the game, see what happened there.

But the recaps really didn't focus on him at all. they seem more interested in Tristan Peters than he is hitting a home run for a fifth consecutive game. So fair enough. I guess we'll have to look for insights later. But like the way this August has gone for him, I'm not dropping Sean Burke, but I'd be, I don't know, what's his next matchup?

Even if it was a good one, I think I'd be reluctant to use him because he struggled against the Mets, he struggled against the Tigers. It looks like he's in line for two starts at the Astros, home against the twins next week. And he struggled against the Rangers.

Those were three favorable matchups. Gosh, a two-star week would make it hard to sit Sean Burke in a points league. But in Roto in categories, the way he's trending right now, I don't think I can do it. I think that's all totally fair. In this start, he really only had his fastball working, had nothing else. And typically his breaking balls are very good here for Sean Burke. He threw just 50% of his pitches for strikes. That is a really low number.

And over his past three starts. the numbers, 675 ERA 188 whip, 11 walks to nine strikeouts over 13 and a third. But as he pointed out, he was really dominant before that. So the last three starts bad, the 10 starts 10 games before that. It was a 160 ERA.87 whip, 11.5K per 9, 1.6 walks per 9. So I agree that I would not drop him just because on the off chance he gets back to that, Sean Burke for the month of September. I would not want that to fall into someone else's hands in my league.

But he's still 94% rostered, 75% started. I agree. I think points leagues, I think it's still on the fringe. I don't think it's a must. I think it's, you know, you really have to weigh your options here with Sean Burke. Normally it would just be, all right, the way he was pitching two starts, he's just in your lineup. Now I think it's a real decision. And in roto leagues, I would only do it if your ratios are already shot and you're just kind of chasing strikeouts and wins at this point in the season.

so you don't really have anything else to worry about there. But yeah, you have to kind of, it's a case-by-case basis here with Sean Burke. One more shout out I want to give before we hit our first break, Scott. And that is to Eduardo Rodriguez. I can't play the drop anymore. He keeps getting away with it. And in fact, he's actually getting better as the season goes on,

which is crazy here. Seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts against the Cubs, who were the best team in terms of Wobah against left-handed pitching entering this start. So again, seven shutout, nine strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 104 pitches. He leaned on the fastball and change up. Both of those pitches were just awesome for him in this one.

Changeup had nine whiffs. It was different again, the velocity down. He had one more inch of drop on it. 79.3 average EV. The fastball had eight of his 18 whiffs. Obviously that pitch was dominant as well. He only allowed one hard hit. and now over his last four starts,

it's a 140 ERA.90 whip, 27 strikeouts to seven walks over 25 and two-thirds innings. 81.8 average EV during that span. That is crazy for a four-star stretch. So, I kind of just think he's going to get away with it all season. I think it's going to happen for you, Rod.

I mean, he might. This is one of those starts, though, where he didn't get away with anything. He genuinely pitched really well. He had the good change-up that he had three turns ago when he also had nine strikeouts. Average exit velocity in this start, 76.8 miles per hour. You pointed out a lot of this already,

but I'll stress the important stuff. In the second half, his average exit velocity is 85.6. So the change-up is come and gone. The strikeouts have come and gone. He's consistently allowed very weak contact. And you're probably going to do pretty well when you do that. And then you throw in these starts where he does get good whiffs on the change-up. And overall, the stat line ends up looking pretty good.

I just wish there was a consistency to who he is, you know. Do I think he's going to keep getting away with it? Unless he can, and we said this three turns ago, unless he can keep bringing this change about. No. But there's not a definite timeline on when he stops getting away with it. And it may not be till next season. Obviously, I don't think anyone who has Eduardo Rodriguez

could justify sitting him unless they're pitching. It's just stacked and they have tons of options and they're having to choose to sit some good ones every single week. week. I'm in that situation in a 10 team league, so it does happen. But the typical experience of a person who has Eduardo Rodriguez, they're probably just keeping him stapled to their lineup until he gives them a reason not to. And so far, he hasn't. I mean, there have been a couple of blow-up starts, but, you know, every pitcher has a blow-up start here and there. Yeah. And again, as we pointed out, all the numbers, like, he actually is getting better as the season has got on here. 70% started.

I think that number needs to be closer to 100%. I think it's just a must start. Erod gets the Phillies next time out. They're middle of the pack against lefties. But the way he's pitched this season, we'll worry about next season in the off season. But right now, Erod is dominating. And he needs to remain in your lineup.

And he's doing it, man. That was an awesome start there against the Cubs. Big thanks to everyone watching us live or on demand. We appreciate you. Make sure to hit that like button. and if you haven't already, subscribe down the stretch. Obviously, we're going to help you

when your head-to-head playoffs. We're going to help you take down your roto, your category leagues, and we're going to still be going five times per week all throughout September. So stick with us and we'll help you win. We'll take that break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back Fantasy Baseball today

and let's hit the news and notes. Juan Soto took live BP on Wednesday and he has been out the past month with a grade two left calf strain. he has stated all along that he plans to play again this season. I guess it's not a guarantee because the Mets aren't really playing for anything. But it would still be nice to get a healthy Wansoto back before the end of the season. Shohei Otani is scheduled to throw a bullpen on Friday.

Dave Roberts said Otani is trending towards pitching this weekend. As soon as Sunday against the Tigers, Otani would likely just throw one inning in that one as an opener in his first game back. Would they even... need him to start a playoff game with a top four of Terrick Scoobul, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, who looks like the best version

of Blake Snell, and Tyler Glass now, who I think, you know, he had some struggles in his first start back, but I think he's, I think he's going to be fine. I think he's going to be good. No, I mean, the answer is no, they don't need him. They don't need him to, but I mean, would he, would Otani represent a clear upgrade over any of those? I guess maybe Tyler Glass now.

I think so. But like somebody's, one of those five is going to have to pitch out of the, pitch out of the bullpen in the postseason. Because I don't think there's ever been a playoff team that's relied on five starters except in an emergency situation. They could always do like kind of half and half, have Otani pitch or open because I don't know how stretched out he's going to be by the end of the season.

But let's just say Otani for, you know, first time through the order. and he goes three innings and then you have you know Tyler Glass now follow him after that like a piggyback situation

which is probably which makes a lot of sense in the postseason and I guess in more recent years teams have trended that way anyway save your bullpen

you know yeah well and just don't give the opponent repeat looks at a pitcher you know have a guy worth three innings

and then bring in another guy they generally don't do that with their aces, of course, but some of those mid-rotation starters, they'll remove them earlier, and the Dodgers will have the luxury of doing that with some really good pitchers, if they so choose. Byron Buckson was out of the lineup after leaving early Tuesday with renewed hip discomfort, and we mentioned this yesterday, Scott, I'll get your thoughts. If he goes on the IL, I think that would create a pretty clear opening for Walker Jenkins

to get called up. Yeah. Yeah. I just finished writing the latest prospects report. And Walker Jenkins was at the top of the five on the verge. He is the only one of the five on the verge right now that I feel confident it's going to be up this year. The others, I'm hopeful, but some of them are long shots.

Walker Jenkins, I think. Because it's not just that the twins are competing. It's not just that they're likely to have a very clear opening need here with Byron Buckston, potentially going on the aisle. Even if he doesn't, he's playing bang. up. So have the need both from a standing standpoint and a lineup standpoint, but also Walker Jenkins is peaking at just the right time at AAA.

He really seems to have, the last, the missing link, he seems to have closed it by having, showing a ton of power here in August, batting over 400 for the month. The kind of surge that normally ends with a top prospect making his debut. So yeah, I think all signs point to Walker. Jenkins getting a call up very soon, September 1st, let's say September 2nd at the latest. And you need to pick him up. All right, Roki Sasaki left Wednesday start early with a trainer, and then he was placed on the I.O. with a blister on his finger, and it sounds like Eric Lauer will move back into the

Dodgers rotation. Dustin May left after just one pitch. He threw one pitch. There was a rocket hit off the bat, 106 miles per hour, and it hit Dustin May right in his back. and he left the game, X-rays came back negative. It's just so unfortunate. If you're playing in a head-to-head playoff and you have Dustin May and you lost a star where he just gave up one hit and had to leave, that is absolutely brutal.

So I feel for everybody out there who had Dustin May in the lineup. Bobichette left early after fouling a ball off his left foot. So we'll see if he gets back in there the next couple days. Both A. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. J. Fride, Friedel were placed on outright waivers as the Reds looked to save money in the final month of the season. I saw this one pretty late before we started recording here, Scott, and pretty surprising. I mean, I know Suarez has had a down year. He's looked better as of late, but, I mean, on the

same day, he hits a grand slam. He helps the Reds win in dramatic fashion. They're like, all right, we're just going to put you on waivers, man. Nice knowing you, Ehayneos-O-Swarz. last 38 games for Suarez 219 10 homers 25 RBI the OPS over 800 so I think some team's gonna pick him up and they'll probably wind up in a better lineup I don't know that he'll play every single day on a better team but again that is A.U. Hennio Suarez placed on outright waivers I'm I'm guessing Noelvi Marte comes back yeah I mean know how interested we should be in him until he actually delivers on it but they have a hole in the lineup to fill now.

Yeah, two roster spots. That's fair. Jack Caglione returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore right ankle, chased a water, has missed three straight with a left hamstring issue. Andy Rodriguez underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair the labrum in his left hip, and he will not resume baseball activities for the next seven to nine months. Like, he will, at some point in that window, he will resume baseball activities. And that is anywhere from April to June.

of next year. So that is pretty brutal here for Andy Rodriguez, who was having a breakout season, very interesting player, power, speed from the catcher position, really good eye at the plate as well. But we probably won't see him until at least a couple of months

of the season next year. Unfortunately, that is Andy Rodriguez. But it is good news for Rafael Flores who should continue to play a lot for the pirates. Casey Mize has been clear to start Friday against the raise. He left his previous start with a sprained ankle. Nick Povetta made a really

rehab started Singalee on Tuesday. It was three innings, three runs, four strikeouts to one walk, and he got up to 47 pitches. We're getting pretty close here, but maybe there's two more rehab starts, no setbacks, and maybe he's back in like mid-September, something like that for Nick Povetta. Astros manager, Joe Espada, said Carlos Correa is expected to return at some point in September. Ben Brown suffered a setback while working his way back from that stress reaction in his neck. So pretty unfortunate. It probably would have been back as a reliever this year,

but he is a name to be on the radar as a sleeper for next year, potentially a breakout. Again, that is Ben Brown. The Giants placed Adrian Houser on the aisle due to a right forearm strain. The Orioles placed Tyler O'Neill on the aisle with right shoulder inflammation. Old friend Tony Gonselin threw three scoreless innings in a rehab start at AAA on Wednesday. He signed a one-year deal with the Royals in the offseason. so perhaps we see him in a Royals uniform in September.

That's Tony Gonslin. And the Nationals called up pitching prospect Luis Perales. And in 96 and a third innings at AAA, he had a 364 ERA, a 130 whip over a strikeout per inning. Also, five walks per nine. And I saw a tweet from Enosaris that said Luis Perales had the highest stuff plus at AAA this year. But obviously his command is pretty terrible. and he actually pitched on Wednesday he was bad two innings four runs three walks three strikeouts

expected to work as a reliever but Scott do you have any long-term interest not this season but I guess for years to come in pitching prospect Luis Perales. Okay so I'm refreshing my memory this was a Red Sox prospect Yeah he was traded I think straight up for Jake Bennett Before the season yeah Yeah I remember

I remember people raving about his stuff. He has yet to throw even 90 innings in a minor league season and the strikeout rate hasn't... It was good prior to this year, but barely a strikeout per inning and high walk rate. He could turn into something, but I don't think he is at a point where he's ready to be something yet.

Yeah, I think we need to see more, but again, that is Luis Perales of the Nationals. Let's talk about some waiver wire hitters here, Scott. And I have a few names up top that I just think are really intriguing streamers for next week. And that starts with Christian Encarnacian Strand. I mentioned his name yesterday with Chris. But he stayed hot. He went four for five, two doubles, two RBI.

Got some of those doubles off a variety. You like to see that because he has mostly just been mashing lefties. But last 13 games, 294, four homers, 15 RBI. And overall, he's been pretty good. the schedule next week, seven games, three in course field, four against the Red Sox,

with three of the four against the Red Sox being lefties. So three in course field and three lefties, I like that a lot for Ed Cardassio and Strand. Yeah. And he was one of my sleeper hitters for this week. And so far so good,

I like, as you pointed out, this was one of the games against a right-hander. So I believe there were four left-eastern. on the schedule for the Orioles this week and Carnacian's trans numbers against lefties. That was a reason I liked him. He had a four-hit game with one of the ones started by the Ritees.

Things are looking up for the rest of this week. In addition to next week, you can start him at third base or first base if you so choose. I'm actually starting him at first base in the For the People podcast league. That's the 16 team head-to-head

categories one. We were in the playoffs right now. Two-week playoff matchups. Again, it's head-to-head categories. My opponent and I tied in the first of the two weeks. We both had a 5-5 record. 10 categories, 5-5. Right now I'm up 6-2-2. Down to the wire.

Well, yeah. I mean, whoever wins this week wins the matchup. And I'm the lower seed between the two of us. but Incarnacion Strand is giving me a big lift here. As did Jordan Lawler, as did Kalyn Colpepper. And we will get to some of those names in just a second. I also want to mention Dylan Beavers, who looks like he is heating up for the Orioles. Two for four with a walk, a run, and RBI.

Last seven games. He's hitting 381 with three homers and seven ribbies. He has started six of the past seven. The playing time is going up. Obviously, there were some trades at the deadline. Tyler O'Neill going on the aisle, I think helps Dylan Beavers. Obviously, we love the schedule for next week.

But with the lefties on the schedule, I'm not so sure about that part of it, because Bevers is a left-handed hitter. He started against their most recent lefty, but he didn't start against any lefties before that, really. So what do you think about potentially using Dylan Beavers next week? You would get the, I think it's three games and cores. I think all three are against righties,

but then three of the four against the Red Sox are against lefties. So what do you think about potentially using Beaver's next week? I think it's a possibility to consider. I hadn't noticed that he was as hot as he is. So I'll have to look more into that. But, yeah, one lefty he started against recently. So that's, and obviously we'll see how the pitching matchups change between now and then. Because if it drops from three lefties to two, suddenly it doesn't look as bad for somebody who's

Sometimes since it gets lefties. But yeah, Beaver seems to be trending up. Good matchups next week. He'll definitely be in consideration, at least for five outfielder leagues. Yeah. Honestly, even if you told me he's playing four games next week and three of those are in course fields, I think I'd take that in a five outfielder league for Dylan Beaver.

So, yeah, I think he's a name that should be on your radar. And another one who we've mentioned every day this week because he just keeps on homering. That is Tristan Peters, three for four with his 12th homer. He is homered in five straight. and during that spain he has 10 hits, five homers, seven runs,

nine RBI, and a steel. He has started nine straight, 12 of 13, and seven games next week, all against Ritey's. So I like this quite a bit for Tristan Peters.

Yeah, I mean, you don't get hotter than that. If you're looking for a hot hand play, homering in five straight games, what's crazy about it is, I expected as hot as he is that he's hitting the ball harder on average.

Even if it's not like he's gotten better, so now he hits the ball harder, just he's happened to hit the ball harder because he's hit all these home runs. But it's not true. The exit velocity remains like 87 miles per hour. It's 20th percentile, average exit velocity,

even as Peters is up to his power production. Now, he does have a great pole air rate. That was my next point. So, you know, obviously East, Paretta has made it work. It has been a power hitter with even worse average exit velocity than that

because he's so good at pulling the ball in the air. So there is a path to success for Peters here. The biggest issue is sort of like Dylan Beavers. I think he's started against one left-hander recently, but for the most part, Tristan Peters continues to sit against left-handers.

Maybe he's so hot that'll change. As you point out, looks like it's going to be a moot point for next week, so a good time to use Tristan. Peters. But I still think he's at best a fourth outfielder and fantasy, maybe more like a fifth outfielder unless he continues, unless this power search continues.

Right now he's at a dozen home runs for the season. So, you know, five in a row looks great, but he's still on pace for, what, 15 on the year? Yeah. And just to point out, the righties that he's projected to face next week. Peter Lambert, Hayden, Wesniew, Hunter Brown, Christian Javier, Bailey, Obert, Zebby Matthews, and Tage Bradley. Feel pretty good about that for Tristan Peters. So yeah, do like streaming him quite a bit. Let's talk about Cole Carrig, who got in on the fun here. The Rockies put up 13 runs on Wednesday,

and he went two for six with his sixth homer, but he had slowed down. Previous 17 games before this 175 batting average, zero homers, 29% K-rate during that time. the quality of contact expected stats all bad during that stretch as well. He is 75% rostered. Is Cole Carrig 2 rostered? What do you think? No. I don't think so.

I mean, he's dual eligible. His home park is the best you could ask for. He steals bases in addition to providing some power. Good on base. skills. So I think even in points leagues, I haven't been motivated to drop him. He disappointed us last week, had a full week of home games and didn't come through. But I know he had a big game earlier this week on the road, right?

He sat out on Monday. I don't think he did anything on two. I think this was this like first game of this week where he did anything. Okay. So this is the day I was thinking of them. Yeah. I knew there was a day I saw recently. He does have six home games next week, so don't drop Cole Carrick now.

Like, hold them for next week. I still like Cole Carrick, I think. A couple bad weeks aren't enough to change my opinion on him. All right, who do you like more between these two outfielders? You could say neither, if you don't like either one. But Lawrence Butler, one for three with a walk and his 12th home run. He is having a strong second half, 288, seven homers, three steals, 891 OPS. He has seven road games next week.

three lefties on schedule, so probably don't love that schedule for him. And Tommy Edmund, two for four with his fifth home run, three RBI. Looks like he is heating back up. Last 10 games, 278, two homers, eight runs and a steal. He was struggling quite a bit before that.

If you just take everything that Edmund has done, it's 271 batting average, 351 on base, five homers, five steel, 771 OPS. So he's been pretty serviceable, 54% rostered. Who do you like more between the two? Butler or Edmund?

Definitely Butler, though I don't know that I want to start him next week, as you say. Road splits are rough, the lefty splits are rough. I might use Tristan Peters over him next week. He's been so hot that he was pretty good last week, even on the road. But, yeah, I agree. Tristan Peters for next week would be the better start over Lawrence Butler.

I do think Lawrence Butler, I'm encouraged overall by what he's doing. I think he's put himself back on the map in fantasy. And I definitely prefer him to Edmund, who I just don't think I've been saying this for over a year now. I don't think

he brings enough else to the table to get away with not being a base stealer anymore. I know he has five steals in 56 games. That's not a base stealer by modern standards. That's just... His full season pace is 14 and 14. Yeah, that's not a big deal.

It's not totally useless if you get in a deep enough league, but I think 54% rostered as he currently is is about as high as it needs to be. Yeah, I think any Roto league with a corner, middle, five outfielder spots, he's a useful player to have around in the Dodgers lineup. You can move them to three different positions. But yeah, anything shallower than that is probably a no on Edmund. And with Butler, I think it is a pretty fair and reasonable excuse that he had off-season surgery to both knees, I believe it was. Obviously, he barely played in spring training at all.

It could have just taken him the entire first half just to get his legs back underneath him, right? And so obviously, having a good second half year, and I am already talking myself into a potential sleeper, Lawrence Butler for next season. But we'll see how he finishes out in September as well. Let's rank some young waiver wire hitters here, and they're all different positions.

So it's throw positions out the window, just who do you like from this group? And we have Kael and Colpepper, who went one for three with Wall, in his third home run. He has two homers in his past five games, and he has started 12 straight, and he's looked pretty good so far.

I would say, I think he has jumped to the top of that shortstop trio with him, Lombard. Lombard's fallen off a little bit. He went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts here on Wednesday, and then on hell now has been okay. Jordan Lawler, two for three with his third home run. Luis Lara is picking things up, two for four with a run and his third steal.

Last 28 games, he is hitting 281. but only one homer and two steals. So the batting average is getting better, but not enough power and speed during that stretch. And Hector Rodriguez of the Reds moved up to the leadoff spot, and he responded. He went three for six with a double dong. Last five games, he has eight hits and three homers.

And I think the rest of the season for the Reds will just be, all right, let's test out the young players and just see what they could do. And so if Hector Rodriguez is going to lead off against Ritees with a really good home ballpark, like I think he's, mildly interesting. So, Scott, how would you rank these young bats? Hector Rodriguez, Laura, Jordan Lawler, and Kael and Cole Pepper?

Cole Pepper is easily number one. If only for playing time reasons, because the others all have major concerns as far as that goes. And he's been good. I don't know if you're saying he's surpassed Lombard, do you mean right now? Like for the rest,

you feel better about starting a right now. If I just need a shortstop or middle infieler, I would rather use Cole Pepper. Yeah, it's close, and I still think George Lombard has the higher ceiling overall. But Culpeper has, I don't know, I quit on him a little too soon

in some of the leagues where I added them, partly because I don't only need so many short stops. But I did hold on to him in the podcast for the People League where I've struggled to fill shortstop all season because I originally drafted Trevor Story. Are you just throwing like a dynasty team out there in that league's guy? I mean, I'm throwing whatever I have to throw out there. Yeah.

And right now, as things stand now, I plan on Cole Pepper just staying there for me all the way through. As long as I, as long as I'm in the playoffs, that's the plan there. Okay. You want me to rank some others, I'm sure. I want to say Jordan Lawler second here, but I think he started against one right-hander. Now, they had a stretch of like five left-handers in a row, so that kind of makes it harder to gauge exactly what the diamond backs are doing because they've had Lawler in the lineup a lot.

They faced a lot of left-handers. What happens when they stop facing left-handers? Does that mean Lawler doesn't play much? Or do they decide that developing him is important? He's doing well enough that they can start him against some right-handers too. Third base, outfield eligible. That's very useful. And he's hitting well.

Third, I'm going to say, Hector Rodriguez. I think there's a lot of talent there. One of his two home runs here on Wednesday was hit 115. 15.2 miles per hour. The hardest hit ball he had to AAA all season was 113.7, which is still really good, but 115.2 mile per hour home run. He's got a little juice, man. That was a splash hit easily in San Francisco.

for Hector Rodriguez. In the last five games, eight for 19 with three home runs, seems to be trending up. Pretty much doesn't play against left-handers. Maybe that'll change with them having some roster turnover here. But as of now, that holds Hector Rodriguez back,

makes them only worth considering in five outfielder leagues. And then Luis Lara, who I just don't think has enough juice. There's some skill there, but needs a little more thump, especially since he's not quite an everyday player. Two deeper names that I have here. Connor Norby had a huge game for the Rockies,

two for four with a grand slam and five RBI. He has started 11 of 14 games with the Rockies since being called up. And as I mentioned, they have six home games next week. So 7% rostered, first, second, and third base eligible is Connor Norby. And Andres Chaparro got a start against the righty. and he did damage. Three for four with his ninth homer.

He's actually crushing lefties. It is a really small sample. Only 39 at bats. 385, four homers, 1237 OPS. So we said the same thing last week, Scott. I just, I want to see the nationals play Chaparro every day because I just, let's see what you can do, right? Like they're not really playing for much else.

But do you have any interest in these two names? Norby, Chaparro, and, you know, like 15-team Roto Leagues are deeper. Not serious interest. definitely behind the previous group, all of them. In theory, I have interest in Shapiro, but there's no reason for me to believe the nationals are going to play him as consistently as we'd like. And the Rockies have so many better options they could be playing than Connor Norby

that, I don't know, I don't have a lot of confidence in that situation either. Striking out a lot. Yeah, I don't have, I'm not that interested, to be honest. All right. I did just watch both of the home runs from Hector Rodriguez. And yeah, that second one, the splash landing, it went beyond where the people usually camp out with the boats in the McCovey Cove. Like it was deep into the water. So yeah, that kid's got some juice, man. There was when they showed it on the broadcast, all you could see was water around it.

It's wild. Let's take our final break when we return. Starts it or drop. These starting pitchers, we'll do that right after this. Welcome back. Start, sit, or drop these starting pitchers. Troy Melton turned in a quality start, but it was not enough against the raise. Seven innings, seven hits, three runs, four strikeouts to zero walks. Not a terrible start by any means.

It actually was a pretty good start here. But he's just looked a little bit more human over his last three. 318 ERA, but a 147 whip. only 11 strikeouts over 17 innings. 93% roster, 68% started. Starts sit or drop Troy Melton at the Twins next week. I lean start. I definitely want to consider dropping.

Agreed. It does seem like the lack of strikeouts has finally caught up to him a little bit. I mean, he still hasn't been getting destroyed. He just on some level, it's like, well, his ERA was running at like 1.0.1. seven so of course he was bound to have a rough stretch here but i hope maybe now that he's had it a little a little bit rougher here he'll get back to throwing harder like he did for that stretch of how many starts was it there was like a three or four start stretch in the middle of the season where he actually got the whiffs he actually got the strikeouts because he was

throwing harder on everything and he was having so much success not doing that that we kind of gave him a pass for it. But we know it's in there. We know he's capable of doing that. It was a big bat misser in the minors. And as shown, he can do it for that stretch in the majors. So I hope he learns from this stretch. I hope he grows from it.

I lean start still, even against Minnesota. But it's, you know, it's a situation now where you have to weigh your options. Kyle Bradish got destroyed at the Cardinals, four in a third innings, nine hits, seven runs, four strikeouts to two walks here. The velocity was up around one mile per hour on all of his pitches. Clearly, it did not matter. He did not have either of those breaking pitches. We spoke about this recently with Braddish where he's just been out of sync this year.

There haven't been enough starts where it's been control is good, curveball is there, slider is there. It's usually one of those things is off. And in this one, he didn't have either the curve or the slider. And look, for the most part, he was. getting good results before this. He's 88% rostered, 57% started. Looks like it's a two-star week next week.

Rough matchups. Home against the Red Sox at the Rockies. What are we doing with Kyle Braddish? I could justify starting him in a points league because volume is so important there, but that is it. And I don't think it's a must. But we're now talking, okay, his next starts

going to be in September. His next start's going to be in the final month of the year, a pitcher with a 403 ERA, a 141 whip, an 8.4K per nine. That is a bad whip, man. I didn't realize it was that bad, but it is bad. Yeah, so I'm just going to say sit, except maybe in some points league situations, but generally speaking, sit.

Closer to drop, though, than start, I would say, for Kyle Braddish. I think at this point, that is fair. Freddie Peralta, where did this one come from? He actually out-duled Troy Melton, six shutout innings with four strikeouts to zero walks. His first scoreless outing since May 6th for Freddie Peralta. The velocity was up a little bit in this one. He used his change-up more, and it was great.

It got eight of his 10 whiffs in this start. And look, his five starts with the raise. It's still, the numbers don't look great. 560 ERA 113 whip. I don't think that this is enough to have regained confidence to use Freddie Peralta. He's 78% rostered, 43% started. But the matchups next week at the Rangers, which is a good lineup to face, good ballpark to pitch in, and home against the Mets in a revenge game.

Scott, can I interest to you in Freddie Peralta? Yeah, I think that's going to be a start in most cases because those matchups are so good. and because we have seen him make some changes here joining the raise. You mentioned his change abuse was up in this one 32%. He threw 45% of the time in his previous start. A guy, you know, normally it's been around 20% this year. So we haven't seen the raise bring back the slider, as I hoped they would when they acquired him.

But they have made some changes. He seems to be trending up here. and then he has two favorable matchups next week. All right. Next up we have Mackenzie Gore, who went back to his Charzard Ways at the White Sox. Three and two thirds innings, eight hits, four runs, four walks, four strikeouts. Just set your ratios ablaze here. It was McKenzie Gore.

His velocity was down across the board. His fastball was down 1.3. His curve was down over two miles per hour in this one. I do want to shout out the White Sox, because they are, at least in the past couple of games, I would have to look into like season long numbers. They are one of the most patient teams in baseball. I mean, against Jacob de Grom on Tuesday night,

they barely chased any pitches outside the strike zone. And that was the same thing here against McKenzie Gore. They had just an 18% chase rate as a team against McKenzie Gore. What's weird about this is that he was actually trending up, right? But that's the McKinsey Gore experience. Do you remember how the comments? conversation went the last time we talked about McKinsey Gore, how he is a Charzard and you could never trust him,

but I don't see how you sit him right now. And then boom. And sure enough, sure enough, he burns your ratios to cinders. Those previous five starts, by the way, 210 ERA.93 whip, 10K per 9 and nearly a 15% swinging strike rate. He is, I think this might,

change your might change your stance a little bit Scott 91% rostered 69% started for Gore two starts at home next week

against the athletics and the raise he has a 299 ERA at home 563 ERA on the road huh hmm huh

you have to start him in a points league Categories league you don't have to start him but if you need wins and strikeouts more than ERA and whip, you probably should. But you just, you know, he's the Charazard, okay?

Like that hasn't changed. He offered a clear reminder of it in this start. It's never changing. You will never have him responding to your commands the way most Pokemon's, Pokemon's. I don't think you put an ass on it, right? I used to get so frustrated back in elementary school when teachers would say Pokemon's or Pokemon's. I'm like, come on.

Pokemon is plural for Pokemon. It's like when we say RBI instead RBI's. Yeah, I know so the reverse of that. Some people don't like that either. Yeah. If I had my druthers, I'd say RBI's, but, you know, there needs to be consistency within a company and the company's decided RBI. and there's justification for it. I just disagree with the justification,

but that's fine. I can say RBI. I can be a team player. I didn't even know that was like a CBS mandated thing. I've just always liked saying RBI more. Yeah, it is. All right. What we were talking about, McKinsey Gore.

Yeah, he's he's, he's Charzard, man. I'm saying start. I like Charzard. I like Fire Pokemon. Start, start, start. I'm saying start too, but I'm acknowledging he's Charzar and it very well may backfire as badly as it did here. So if you do not have that sort of risk tolerance, then don't start. And you make your own decisions here.

You live by the Charzar, you die by the Charzard. And you'll have to carve out your own destiny next week. Charzard wise. What about Matthew Boyd, who took a tough loss here at the D-back? Six innings of one-run ball. Five strikeouts had 12 whiffs on 94 pitches. And his previous four starts before this one, he was struggling. 612 ERA, 136-Wib, getting virtually no strikeouts.

He's 90% rostered, 65% started. He's at the Marlins and home against the Brewers next week. That is Matthew Boyd. Yeah, I don't really. see what changed here for him. Got a good result, obviously. But it hadn't been going so well prior to this start. And I don't trust him.

Who did you say the matchups were again? Marlins and Brewers. So a good one and a bad one. I think that's just a points league only to start pitcher next week. Next step, we have Bubba Chandler, who took a tough loss at the Padres, five and two thirds innings, two runs, one walk, three strikeouts, one earn run, excuse me, three strikeouts to two walks.

And his velocity was actually down quite a bit across the board here for Bubba Chandler. He's had success recently. Last eight starts 305 ERA 119 whip right around a strikeout per inning. But it's been in a, it's not a very dominant way. You know, the way he was doing it towards the end of last season. We just haven't really seen the big whiff numbers from Bubba Chandler. the results have been okay. He's 72% rostered.

He gets the Giants at home next week. So, you know, I think if you are in a deep enough league where you were using Chandler, I think that matchup is fine, but obviously not a must start by any means. He's kind of doing the same thing Braxton Ashcraft has been doing lately, leaning on the sinker a lot more. He threw it 20% at the time in this start Wednesday versus 7% normally. Normally it's not much, but you use as much at all. but it was 20% in this one.

I think it was even higher than that in his previous one, which didn't go that well against the Dodgers, but it was against the Dodgers. I'm pointing it out mainly because, yeah, he hasn't been much of a bat misser this year, even with the recent success. And based on the way his pitch selection is trending, I don't think that's going to change.

Not in the immediate future anyway. Are you in a rush to use him against the Giants? next week or not so much. I think it's defensible, but I wouldn't want to do it now. Yeah. Last name here is Joey Cantillo, who managed a quality start despite seven walks at the Angels. Six innings, two hits, three runs, two of those were earned.

Seven walks, only one strikeout. And his eight starts in the second half. It's a 408 ERA 161 whip. So this should be just an easy, like definitely not start, potential drop. In a points league, I would hold on to him because he's a spar. But he gets to Blue Jays next week, and they are dead last in Wobah against left-handed pitching.

So it's a risky one, but can I interest you at all in Joey Cantillo against the Blue Jays? You know, I'm actually pretty okay with Joey Cantillo. I know he walks a ton of batters, and he walked a crap ton of batters in this start. And that's not changing, and the whip is going to hurt, obviously. And so I think in categories leagues especially, you have to be really careful about using him. But he's pretty good at run prevention. He misses bats at a nice clip.

Whenever he has a good matchup, I find it's very easy to include him among the sleeper pitchers, and I probably will be next week with that Blue Jays matchup as well. All right, I do have three other waiver wire pitchers here. Grayson Rodriguez was solid against the Guardians, five and two-thirds innings, one run, one walk, four strikeouts. He only had four swinging strikes on 92 pitches against an Angels team that strikes out a lot, typically. But the last six starts, it's a 303 ERA 119 whip for Grayson Rodriguez.

He's looked pretty good. He gets the Yankees next week. Randy Vasquez, solid outing here against the Pirates. Did you just say he was facing the Angels? I might have. I meant to say he's facing the Yankees next week. I think you said he just faced the angels in this start. No, he faced the Guardians.

He did face the Guardians. I might have said it wrong, but yes, Gracer Rodriguez, the line I read, he was against the Guardians. Next week, he faces the Yankees. You mentioned he hardly got any whiffs against an Angels team that wiffs a lot. So that's why I wasn't just calling you out for a misspeak. Like it changes the content of what you were saying. I did say that.

And that's exactly what I wrote down because I got confused. You got two red and blue teams. You get a little, you know, you lose your head a little bit. But I believe the Guardians actually do not whiff very much at all. Right.

That's what I was checking. I didn't think they did. They are, they have the ninth lowest strikeout rate against Wrighties. So that completely changes the frame of reference that I was saying. He did not get very many whiffs here

against a Guardian team that does not. miss bats that does not swing and miss very much so yeah there you go overall it was still a discouraging start but not so discouraging that like I'm abandoned hope for grace and rod brigas he'd been it'd been trending up yeah Randy Vasquez solid outing here five shutout innings one hit one walk one hit two walks two strikeouts last six games and four of those being starts 220 ERA point six seven whip 13 strikeouts over 32 and two thirds and I have no idea how Randy Vasquez is doing this. He's at the Reds next week. 30th in Wobah against Ritees, but he's also

Randy Vasquez. And Elmer Rodriguez, back up with the Yankees. He actually looked much better in this start, turned in a quality start, six plus innings, three hits, three runs, six strikeouts here. He actually had two earned runs through six, came back out for the seventh. He walked one, and then got pulled. The reliever allowed that runner to score. So the line could look better here for Elmer Rodriguez. And his velocity was up over two miles per hour on everything. So he just looked better. I mean, that sinker was awesome.

His slider had a good amount of whiffs. I don't know if he's going to stick around, but he was pitching much better at AAA before getting this promotion as well. Yeah. And I thought the biggest key for him was a curveball, which he had hardly thrown previously. It was responsible for six of the 11 whiffs.

He threw it 25% of the time. he had thrown at only 9% of the time in his first four stars. It had a great whiff rate, but he just wasn't using it much. So seeing him break it out against the Astros and getting a good result, his walk rate has been high at AAA this year,

which I don't think he has the stuff to get away with. So overall, I still think Elmer Rodriguez's stock is down from where it was coming into the year. But this was a step in the right direction for sure. Yeah. Again, just in terms of viability for the rest of this season, I don't know that he's sticking around in the Yankees rotation. There is talks that Max Fried could return over the weekend for one of those doubleheader games against the Red Sox. Scott, can I interest you at all in Grayson Rodriguez against the Yankees next week in Anaheim? Not really. I don't think that's the time to try him out. Yeah, that's fair. Two names that I think are pretty easy drops here. Michael McGreevy got destroyed by the Orioles 7th. runs aloud over five innings.

And over his last seven starts, he has really regressed. 682 ERA, 172 whip during that stretch. And next week, at the Dodgers, at the Rockies. Doesn't get much worse than that. And then this is just your latest reminder to drop Nicola Dolo, who gave up four runs over four innings. He has a 524 ERA, a 154 whip, and somehow is still 64% rostered.

So I think pretty easy drops, McGreevy and Lidolo. Do you agree? Yeah, McGreevy, I'd been lumping in with Michael. No, what's his name? Andre Palante as, oh, look, the Cardinals have a bunch of the same type of pitcher. But the truth is,

McGreevy, while he was a groundball pitcher in the minors, hasn't really been in the majors this year. And to be a non-bat misser who doesn't get ground balls, it just seems like a recipe for disaster. And the disaster seems to have come here for McGreevy. Palante is still holding strong. He actually is a really good ground ball pitcher, but McGreevy not so much.

And I think that makes him easy to drop, as you say. All right, let's get into some of the leftovers here on the hitting side. Rafi Devers stayed hot. He has homered in three straight. And the updated numbers since the start of May, 259, 27 homers, OPS is right around 900. So a dreadful start in April for Devers, but since the start of May, he's pretty much.

It's been Rafael Devers. Kyle Schwarber is the first to 40 home runs. He went two for five, hit that 40th homer, and added three RBI. Hunter Goodman, he's two for two. And by that, I mean, he's come off the IL. He's played two games, and he has homered in both. And he's now up to 36 home runs on the season. Luis Garcia Jr. is heating back up.

Hit his 28th homer, has four homers in his past six games. The updated numbers with the Yankees, 306 batting average, five homers, 923 OPS. Jazz Chisholm looks like he is heating back up as well. He went three for three with his 36th stolen base. Last 15 for Jazz, 313. One homer, six deals, 858 OPS. And Pete Alonzo hit another one.

One for four with his 32nd homer. Last 16 games, 484, nine homers, 20 RBI, OPS over 1,500 for Pete Alonzo. who is about as consistent year in and year out as they come. I would say, I'll just off the top of my head, like you have your first round bats, but Kyle Swarber and P. Alonzo are two of the most consistent hitters year in and year out.

Yeah, both of them had a couple years where the batting average sagged in a way that was annoying, but the other numbers were good even in those years, and they've obviously gotten their batting average backup to respectability since then. I mean, this is now... Pete Alonzo is hitting over 270 for the second straight year

and the third time in five, and the year before that, he hit 262. So he is kind of a plus in batting average, actually. Yeah. I did have one other name here. Bryce Terang, who went one for three with his 17th home run. He has having a terrible August.

before this start, 19 games before this, 182 batting average, zero homers, three steals, two caught stealing, a 488 OPS with a 29% strikeout rate. Scott, what's going on with Bryce Tarang? Is anything to worry about, or is this just, you know, the ebbs and flows of a baseball season?

I had noticed he had cooled off. I hadn't looked into it much yet just because I was looking into other things instead. but I'm interested in looking into it now, if you'll do so with me. And what I am seeing is, yeah, he did have a really good July, so it isn't like, I had gotten the feeling he was red hot to start the year and had been consistently cooling off since then, but no, July was arguably his best month.

Let's look at some of the batted ball data here. They changed their layout of this page, so it's harder to access everything. Yeah, it's not like he's putting the ball on the ground more. He's actually putting it on the ground less. Exit velocity. I don't see anything terribly alarming here.

It's probably just the Evan Flow of the season, as you said. Let me check exit velocity in August. 88 miles per hour. Doc Brown, which is lower than you want it to be. I mean, it's lower than his season average is certainly lower than last year.

He's lost about a mile per hour of exit velocity from last year. But that happening over a four-week period doesn't, isn't particularly eyebrow raising for me. If it becomes a longer-term trend, it would be. I just think it's a bad month. All right, some pitching leftovers.

Jesus Lazzardo was great at the Mariners. Seven shutout innings, one hit, three walks, nine strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 104 pitches. He has nine or more strikeouts in four straight. Two earned runs or fewer in 20 of 27 starts for Lazzardo. He has been amazing. And Logan Webb turned in a quality start against the Reds. My brain wanted to say Bengals.

We were getting close to the start of football season. Six innings two runs, six strikeouts here for Logan Webb. Scott, any thoughts on him or Lazardo? Yeah, nice bounce back start for Webb. Not that there was much of a doubt there. Lazzardo, the velocity was down, the fastball was down one and a half miles per hour. It was down one and a half miles per hour also,

what was it, three turns ago, two turns ago. And he got nine strikeouts in that start too. it didn't really seem to affect the line in any way. So I'm not particularly worried about the velocity. We've seen some fluctuation there. He's continued to dominate. And I drafted him in a lot of leagues, and he's been very clutch player for me in those leagues.

All right. Next up, we have the call to the bullpen. And for the raise, with Brian Baker unavailable, Tyler Wells picked up the save. For the debacks, Brandon Garcia got the eighth inning with a one-run lead. he was facing 9, 1, and 2 in the Cubs lineup. He walked one but got out of it. It was Juan Morillo, who got the 9th with a 2-run lead,

and he picked up his second save. I've noticed recently that Brandon Garcia not really being used as the traditional closer, Scott. It feels very committee-ish for the D-backs. I don't think he can be the true closer, because he's their only left-hander. I don't know how you can navigate the seventh, eighth innings, never being able to turn to a left-hander.

That's kind of shooting yourself on the foot if you're doing that. So I don't think they can leave Brandon Garcia until the ninth inning. Some days, it works out. Justin Martinez is back. He's throwing as hard as ever. Look good so far. Look good on his rehab assignment. Things may be trending toward him taking over the role again.

again. But for the time being, I would say it is a committee. A committee led by Garcia. But if you need saves in bulk, I don't know that he's the best choice. Marillo's pretty good too, by the way. 228 came in with a 228 ERA 103 whip 10.5K per 9. I know Ginkl got a save recently too. Yeah, he did. But Murillo's better than Ginkle. For the Giants, Dylan Smith entered with a five-run lead. Bases loaded, no outs. He served up a Grand Slam. Then a single, single, Sackfly, another single. He was charged with three runs. Two of those earned. A bunch of runs also went to the previous reliever. And Dylan Smith only recorded one out. He took his third blown save and fifth loss. So, Giants bullpen looking a little messy right now, as it has all season.

For the Reds, Emilio Pagan, got the ninth with a one-run lead. He allowed a hit, but struck out two for his 17th save. For the Angels with Ben Joyce unavailable, Ryan Watson got the ninth with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs on a walk and three hits. He took his second blown save and first loss. On the other side for the Guardians, Cade Smith was unavailable. It was lefty Eric Sabrowski, who picked up his first save of the season. For the Padres, Mason Miller and Adrian Morejohn were both unavailable. It was Bradgley Rodriguez, who pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for his second save.

For the Blue Jays, Louis Varland got the final four outs for his 30th save. For the athletics, Elvis Alvarado got the ninth with a three-run lead. He gave up a hit and a walk, but he picked up his fifth save. And he now has three of the last four saves for the A's. And if you're in a deeper league, Scott, I think Alvarado is the name to roster. Save on back-to-back days, too. Yep. So, you know, they tried this with him before this year.

It didn't go well, but it seems like they're going back to it. and Alvarado, I think, is a better pitcher than Hogan Harris. And so I'd be willing to make that swap. It feels like the A's want Alvarado to be the closer to. It makes sense. He throws super hard. He's got a nasty slider. Right now, it does feel that way.

I just, I got burned before throwing FAB dollars at Alvarado. Yeah. And they didn't. I don't feel like they gave him much of a leash then. So I'm reluctant to do it again. But it doesn't. It does seem to be trending his way. And then for the Dodgers, Tanner Scott got the ninth inning

with the game tied, and he gave up a run on a walk in two hits, and he took his fifth loss, but there's nobody else left. So Tanner Scott is closer for the Dodgers. He got bested by Hassan Kim. Yeah, right? Of all people. Of all people, Hassan Kim, who is batting 078 in 77 at bats this season. Boom.

How about that? Tanner Scott. He finally gets some assurance that he's in the closer role and he starts pitching like it's 2025 again. To stream or not to stream on Thursday. It's a pretty short slate and we don't have many options here. Hayden Wesniewski is at the Yankees. Jake Irvin gets the Rockies in Washington.

Spencer Arredegeti gets the Royals. Sean Mania home against the Brewers. Landon Rup is home against the Debex. All right. let's go with no one. Really, I don't want to start any of these bozos. If I have to, I'm going to say, if I have to, I'm going to say Rup against the Diamondbacks.

I don't want to say it. And then I'll also say Manai against the Brewers. That's it. That's all I can, that's all you're going to squeeze out of me. And I don't even. But I want to put that. toothpaste back in the tube already. The word bozo is objectively just

hilarious. It's a good name for a clown. It's just a great, great word. Great name too. For Friday, we have Patrick Sandoval at the Yankees. Rhett Louder is at the Cubs. David Peterson, home against the Reds. Christian Scott, home against the Astros.

Cody Bradford is at the Brewers. Luis Castillo at the Twins. Dean Kramer, home against the White Sox. Jared Jones at the Cardinals. Quinn Matthews, home against the Pirates. and Andrew Painter is at the Angels. Really like Painter against the Angels. And nobody else.

I could do David Peterson against the Reds. I feel fine about that. I agree. And if I have to pick a third. It's between Jared Jones against the Cardinals and Christian Scott. against the Astros, but that's a distant third and fourth, whichever order you want to put them in.

I guess I'll put Scott over Jones. I was looking at the same two, and the Cardinals ranked pretty low against right-handed pitching. The Astros are 11th in Wobah. All right, that breaks a tie. I would go with Jared Jones over Christian Scott. I just trust Scott more mainly. Mostly because his name Scott, let's be honest.

Don't trust Tanner Scott, though. No, actually, I do think Tanner Scott's good. I was just joking. I knew that's exactly where we were going. And we are going to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify.

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