Fantasy Baseball Today - Steele Pitching Well, Prospect Promotions & Players Slipping Up (8/17 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 17, 2022

Kyle Gibson has some nice matchups coming up and Jason Adam might be the Rays closer (1:00). ... Justin Steele or Aaron Civale (11:20)? ... Brett Baty will be promoted Wednesday while Shea Langeliers got the call on Tuesday (13:30)! ... Add Jake Junis in deeper leagues (23:00)? ... Franmil Reyes is heating up (25:25). Who is Nick Fortes? ... News (34:31): Wander Franco left his rehab game early. ... Sean Manaea and Whit Merrifield have been slipping up this season (45:20)! ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (57:11). Want a spot in our 2023 FBT listener league? You can bid on it with all proceeds going to St. Jude's Children's Hospital here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/374211896271 Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. The prospects are on the way. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, August 17th. Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, we've got Brett Beatty. and Shay Langaleers, either already promoted or being promoted here on Wednesday, so we will talk about both of those prospects, waiver wire ads, players that have been slipping up, you know, second half of the season so far. We'll take a look. What do we do with those players? And much more. But let's jump in.

Oh, my goodness gracious. All right. Chris, it's been a while. You are up, sir. Oh, my goodness gracious, from Tuesday. Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head, thanks. Yeah, oh my goodness gracious. Kyle Gibson, another great start.

This one was an exceptional start. 11 strikeouts, I believe, over six innings. He has now put together four quality starts in a row. It was a quality start, six innings, three earned runs, 11 strikeouts. And he's gotten six innings and four straight. Might have had a seven innings start in there. I'm pulling up the game log now. I want to eat innings start, excuse me.

So his last four starts, two earn runs, one earned run, two earned runs, two earned runs, three earned runs. But he's faced one major league lineup in that time. He did it against the Cincinnati Reds today, his previous start against the Marlins, previous part before that, Washington Nationals did have a good start against Atlanta on July 27th. So that's good. But I'm going to go ahead and say that you probably shouldn't put too much stock into Kyle Gibson's recent run.

It's been nice to know that against the right matchups, he had a six innings, one earn run start against the Marlins back in July as well. Against the right matchups, Kyle Gibson can be useful. Don't mistake that for Kyle Gibson being a good starter down the stretch for you. He's definitely a stream and dump kind of pitcher. So, you know, hopefully you've taken advantage. I'm not sure what his next matchup is.

Maybe it's another good one and you keep him around. But don't be fooled into thinking that Kyle Gibson is someone that you need to hang on too because he's been really good the last four starts. I love when we talk about standouts and then we're like, look, this guy was awesome today, but it doesn't really matter. So sorry about that. I mean, you know, we need to be on. Yeah, he's got the, the Mets, I think, in his neck.

No, he's got the Reds again in his next start. So hang on to hang on to Cal Gibson. Actually, you know, what? We might as well just, can we erase all of that? Because it's lining up that he's going to get the Mets and the Pirates or the Reds and the Pirates in his next two starts. So as long as there's no skipping. Kyle Gibson's going to be pretty useful through the end of this month.

Yeah, and it looks like that will be a two-star week for next week. We're very far out, so obviously a lot of things can change. But the Phillies do have seven games next week, and the Reds and Pirates would be awesome matchups for Kyle Gibson. He is 74% rostered. So just another one of these pitchers. I know, Scott, we talked about a bunch of these guys yesterday that are like in that fringe, that's 75% range.

So you don't want to tell people to add them because they probably aren't out there in many leagues. but we'll talk about him anyway. Obviously, again, good matchups coming up for Kyle Gibson. I noticed in this start he threw his slider more. His slider is very good, and I would be willing to bet that in the starts where Kyle Gibson doesn't pitch well,

it's probably because his slider is not performing well in those starts, but just, you know, judging any pitch, 189 batting average against any 38% whiff rate, that's a pretty awesome pitch. So good for Kyle Gibson. I'll throw a couple of other names in this mix. Again, these are shallow league options. Edward Cabrera, not really all that efficient here on Tuesday.

He goes four shutout with seven strikeouts, only through 56 of 91 pitches for strikes. He's, again, in that range, 72% roster right now. Nick Povetta, an awesome start. It was at the Pirates, seven shutout, one hit, three walks, six strikeouts. Not sure we're putting much stock into that. Jeffrey Springs, another solid start at the Yankees, five endings, one run, four strikeouts. But as we've seen with Jeffrey Springs, kind of, limited here, only 78 pitches, and probably could have delivered a quality start, but, you know,

the raise don't really want to push him very much. So all those four names, Scotty, how are you ranking him? Kyle Gibson, Jeffrey Springs, Nick Pavetta, and Edward Cabrera. Well, I think you got to put Edward Cabrera at the top of the list now with the way he's pitched since returning from the aisle, multiple swing and miss pitches, really good ground ball skills. Going to have efficiency issues, uh, as we saw in, in this most recent start 91 pitches to get through four innings. But the second best of this group is Jeffrey Springs. And, you know, it's not like he's piling up innings either, as you point out.

I think those are the only two that wouldn't just be use them and dump them options in fantasy of the four you mentioned here. So Edward Cabrera, Jeffrey Springs, Kyle Gibson would be third and then Nick Povetta. All right, Chris. Disse forth for Nick Povetta. Chris, you good with that order? Yep, perfectly fine with that. Yeah, Cabrera's shown a lot of upside, 11 swings and misses on 91 pitches,

didn't really have the, the change-up wasn't the primary swing and miss pitch today. It was the slider, which is a good sign. He's able to go to, he only had one swing and miss on the change-up. So he was able to go to the slider, got five whiffs with that one.

So, yeah, I think Edward Cabrera, you know, it could be frustrating at times, but I think he's going to be very good. moving forward. All right. Oh my goodness gracious. A stand out for you, Scottie. Who you got?

I'm going to go with a closer. We almost, well, sorry. I'm jumping the gun by calling him a closer. I'm going to go with a reliever. We almost never do relievers for, oh my goodness gracious. We just kind of cram them all at the end when we're running out of time.

True. I want to spend a little time here on Jason Adam of the Rays who got a four-out save Tuesday against the Yankees. is the seventh save of the year. He now has three of the Rays past four saves, and he has worked the ninth inning now, not just three appearances in a row,

but three games in a row. He's worked the ninth inning for the Rays, twice for the save, and once with a four-run lead. So, you know, more or less a save situation. I think he's emerging as close as that Rays ever get to having a closer. which might be, might mean two-thirds of the team saves.

It might be similar to what Paul Seawald has been doing for the Mariners the past couple months. And when you look at the rest of Jason Adams' numbers, I mean, that would be enough to make him a worthwhile reliever in all formats. So his ERA this year is 113. His whip is 0.63. 10.6K per 9. He's been among the best relievers in baseball this year despite the obscurity,

despite operating in obscurity and being a 31-year-old on his fourth major league team who's never shown much before. But that's what the Raz are known for. So I think Jason Adam is somebody you could target about on the level of, let's see, like somebody asked me Tanner Scott versus Jason Adam when I tweeted about Adam earlier. And, you know, I still think Scott is probably going to be a more prolific source of saves for however long he holds onto that job.

But when you factor in the difference in ERA and WIP, they're probably about unequal footing in terms of how rostrable they are. So that would make Jason Adam maybe like a top 25-ish reliever going forward with the potential for more if this becomes more consistent, the saves opportunities for him. And if they do become more consistent, then he's going to fit right into what we normally do. And with these pop-up relievers for the raise,

he'll be drafted among the top 15 relievers next year and then probably have Tommy John surgery be out. Betting against whoever is projected to be the raise closer, has probably been a very profitable enterprise and fantasy over the last four or five years. Because there's always some guy who just has ridiculous numbers for 40 innings. And they either get hurt or just are rendered irrelevant by the random machinations of the raised bullpen. But, yeah, no, Jason Adam looks great. And you can't argue with the usage.

The only thing I would say is, like, P. Fairbanks has been awesome since coming back. but he hasn't had a save opportunity in August. He had two in a row at the end of July, but hasn't had one since then. So, you know, clearly he's not the guy, but it wouldn't be a surprise at all if Pete Fairbanks got the next save for the race

because that's just who they are. Yeah, I was going to say, Scott, you just gave Jason Adam the kiss of death, which means you probably won't get another save until September. As I have said multiple times, I have not been the closer whisperer this year, so probably just ignore everything I said. If you know anyone who is a.

Ray's closer whisper, then please let me know who they are because that is near impossible. I do have three relievers that are rostered in less than 30% of league scouts. One of them is Jason Adam. The other two are Ian Kennedy, who just blew a save. He gave up a two-run walkoff home or two Brandon Crawford. And the other one is Alexis Diaz, who looks like he might be transitioning into the Reds closer role as well. So how do you rank those three? I think David Bell, the Reds manager, has been even less reliable with distributing saves than Kevin Cash has. So I would take Jason Adam. Although they kind of have the same problem just on opposite ends of the spectrum, right?

The rays have too many options to settle on one. And the Reds, I mean, I know Alexis Adams has been good. L.I.S. has been good, but... Right. He's been by far their best choice. This is the first time they've had a good reliever. in like the last year and a half. Yeah, it's true. So, yeah, I will put, gosh, what were the names again?

Jason Adam, Alexis Diaz, Ian Kennedy. So I think Kennedy's in the same boat as Tanner Scott, probably going to be more regular source of saves than Jason Adam, but the other numbers could be rough. So it kind of depends on need there. But I will, just in deference to the saves category, I will put Kennedy first, followed by Jason Adam, and then Alexis DS.

All right. Oh my goodness gracious for me. Justin Steele here on Tuesday who tossed a quality start. That's back-to-back quality starts for him, both against the national. So I guess take it with a grain of salt. But he's been really good now for his last eight starts. Justin Steele, 1.67 ERA, well over a strike operer inning, 50Ks over 43 innings pitched, 51% ground ball rate, 10.7% swinging strike rate. And he is 49% rostered. So he's actually widely available compared to the other names we mentioned. He's SPARP eligible for those who play in a points league.

I do like Justin Steele quite a bit. If I'm comparing him to that previous group, I think I would just have Edward Cabrera ahead of him. And then he would be next in line. So I guess that would be ahead of, who did I mention earlier? Spring. Jeff has been ahead of Springs. I think they're pretty close.

Yeah, that's probably close. I think I would take Springs ahead of Justin Steele. But it might be a situation where like Steele's better in a points league, spring in a roto just because spring's going to get you so few quality starts. Yeah, I can see that. It is worth pointing out

that even while steel has been reliable lately with you know, in terms of run prevention with the 167 ERA over his past eight starts. It's a 130 whip during that stretch. He still gives up a lot of base runners.

So that, yeah, I agree with Chris that in a, Points League. Maybe Steel and springs are pretty close, but I'd definitely rather have springs and categories leagues. All right. Chris, who would you rather have Justin Steele or Aaron Savali who had a double-digit strikeout game on Monday? Steel. I don't, I don't know. I didn't look deeply into the Savali star. Maybe there was something you guys noticed yesterday, but my gut reaction there is sometimes weird things happen,

but Aaron Savale's career tells me that he's not very good. So the takeaway was he has a really good curveball and he used it a lot more in that start, which is something. I don't know that it's enough to get his career back on track, but it's something. Scott, who would you take Steele or Savali? I would take a look at those prospects who are getting called up. We'll start with the Mets who plan to bring up third base prospect Brett Batey on Wednesday. And so far in the minors this season, he was betting 315 with 19 home runs, a 9-4. 43 OPS, really known for his hit tool more than anything, but the power has developed over the

past couple of seasons. I heard a couple years ago, I think it was in the Arizona Fall League. He was just jumping off the screen in terms of exit velocity reading, so someone that potentially could hit the ball very hard here in Brett Beatty. 22 years old, first round pick back in 2019, was recently just promoted to AAA. He's only played six games there, but the Mets do have a need. Eduardo Escobar is dealing with an injury, and so they are calling up Brett Beatty. Scott, what is your read on him? He's 26% rostered. And where would you be looking to Adam? I would be looking to Adam anywhere you need a third baseman. That's obviously there's somebody in probably every fantasy league who needs help at third base. So, you know, we've,

I'm kind of beyond the point where every single prospect call up needs to be hype to the hills because he could be an immediate success. You know, we've just seen less of that recently. But Brett Beatty has a lot of upside as a hitter. And had pretty much emerged as a consensus top 25 prospect this year, has been on fire for the past month or so between AA and AAA, has gotten the, you know, the disciplined hitter. He's started to elevate the ball better. He's always had good raw power and is starting to tap into it more.

But he is also a 22-year-old with only six games at AAA, and I have pointed out this year that it does seem like, in general, prospects are having more trouble with that move from AA to AAA, and we could get into the reasons why that is. Obviously, Michael Harris was an exception. Blan Grissom appears to be an exception. They both jump straight from AA, and it's gone well for them. And so maybe it will for Beatty, too, when he is practically speaking, jumping straight from AA.

But they are calling him up because they badly need a third basement. That's like it's a needs-motivated promotion. And so that creates the possibility that maybe they're rushing him a bit. Bottom line is, I have no idea how it's going to go from Brett Beatty, but there's a lot of upside and he plays a weak position. So if you need help there, take a shot, see how it goes. So I threw them right into my third base ranks, put them 20th at the position, which is just behind Josh Rojas and Patrick Wisdom just ahead of Yohan Moncada and Josh Donaldson. Does that sound right, Scottie?

I would, yeah, that sounds a bit right. It might be a little on the conservative side for me. Okay. You know, and it kind of, it's hard with rankings because are you ranking this for a 15-team league, or are you ranking it for a 10-team league? Well, you're ranking it for both. Yeah. The shallower your league is, the more bullish you should be on the upside guy, which in this case is Beatty.

All right. Let's take a look at the A's who are calling up Chey Lang Lears. Well, actually, they already did. They called them up here on Tuesday. He was batting sixth in their lineup as the team's DH. Sean Murphy was still playing catcher. And Che Langley-Leerers went one for four with a double, a run scored, and three strikeouts in his debut. So far in the minors this season, 283 batting average, 19 homers.

76 OPS. He's 24 years old, a first round pick back in 2019. He actually came over in the Matt Olson trade from the Atlanta Braves, and he's only 14% rostered. Chris, your scouting report on Shay Langaleers. Obviously, I think we're looking at him in two catcher leagues, but what do you think about one catcher leagues? Probably not from what I saw the plan is to have him. DH some of the time be the backup catcher to Sean Murphy. So, you know, I don't know if he's going to play enough to be worth adding in a 12-team league right away or in a one-catcher 12-team league right away just because there's the questions about whether he's going to hit. However, if you want the scouting report, he's a catcher. So he might be worth adding.

I mean, like, that's, if you have any amount of promise as a catcher, there is. value in taking a shot. You know, I don't know. In like a 12-team points league, it's super important that you'd make a, make an effort to add him just because, you know, he may not play every day and he may not hit, you know, catcher tends to be the difficult,

the most difficult position to make the transition to the majors. You know, maybe the fact that he's not going to be catching all the time helps. But, yeah, all in all, must add in your two catcher leagues, your 15 team leagues, 12 team leagues. one catcher leagues. It's a little fringier, but why not? You know, it's hard to make a case against adding a catcher with some potential.

Yeah, like the threshold for being useful is just so low there. I would say that Shea Langaleers, he might have the upside of like a Travis Darneau. I don't think this is, I don't think this is a guy with stud potential and fantasy, but he could be useful. Power seems to be developed. He could have some issues hitting for average, could have some strikeout issues.

And he's in a big park, which doesn't help either. But, you know, kind of wait and see. I would certainly not drop somebody like M.J. Melendez for him. I think M.J. Melendez has already proven his usefulness in fantasy. And Langalears has a lot to prove still. Yeah, I mean, just to illustrate how low the bar is, do you know who the number 12 catcher is right now in Roto leagues? It's MJ Melendez who has not been on the major league roster all season.

Number 13 is Jose Trevino who has not played most of this or has not been the starter the whole season. Okay now. He was an all-star. All-star. Tyler Stevenson, who has missed most of the season is 14th. So, like, it's just if you're present, you're going to be a starting caliber catcher. And like, if you're present and not a complete disaster. So yeah, it's Shea Langleyers could clear that low bar.

In one catcher leagues, I have a few of these where I've just kind of been streaming catcher. I think in one league I have Carson Kelly in another league. I picked up Jonah Heim because the Rangers had good matchups this week. In leagues like that, I would probably just drop whoever's my worst player on my bench and take a shot on Chee Langaleeers. And if he starts to hit well, you know,

maybe he climbs into the top 12 or top 10 rest of season. But there is power upside there. And as a result, yeah, I think he should be on all your radars for fantasy purposes. That is Shay Langaleers. Rwanzi Kutreras is getting recalled by the pirates. He was here earlier this season. 3.78 ERA, 1.38 whip right around a strikeout per inning, but lots of walks and lots of hard contact.

Obviously plays for the pirates, so I don't think that there will be much win potential here as well. He's 31% rostered. Scott, are you looking to re-ad Rwanzi Contreras as he is getting cold back up by the pirates? No, not right now. I mean, we've seen him before and, you know, like when a guy returns to the majors, like you, the hype is never the same as when he first gets called up, right? And I don't think Contreras was successful enough in previous stints that anybody's going to be paying attention to him right now. That's the big thing is that when a prospect gets called up, that might be your only chance to add them if they're an impact player.

you could take a beat with Rones and Contreras and see what he looks like. I mean, the walk rate has been better in the minors overall than the major. So if he can get that, you know, from four walks per nine to like three, then it starts to get a little more interesting. But yeah, he's more theoretically interesting than actually good right now at this point. Okay, last one. The Yankee savior Estevan Florial. He's getting called back up.

I just, I honestly just wanted to bring this. up to see Scott's reaction because anytime I brought up Estevan Floriel in the past, he just yells at me. So it's pretty funny. I just can't believe Miguel and Duhar hasn't, you know, righted their ship. That's, that's surprising. Oh, it's, it's terribly surprising, Chris. If you're like if, if, if you're ever at any point a prospect for the Yankees, you, you forever have name value after that. Oh, yeah. I mean, we're still holding on to Rob Reff Snyder hopes out here. No, I'm just kidding. Uh, but, Estevan Floriel, I will just point out.

I don't think you need to add him anywhere. He's been kind of interesting in the minors this season. 286 batting average, 14 homers, 32 steals, an 858 OPS. So I don't think it's going to go anywhere, but whatever. Just throw him on your scout. Look, he's a talented player. He could get hot.

You know, it's that kind of thing. Like, I don't know if he's good, but he's, there's clearly not nothing there. So he could get hot for a month and a half and be useful. All right. But I need to see it first. Agreed. Let's get back over to the waiver wire.

I do have some deep league pitchers here. Jake Junis had his longest start since September 4th of 2019. He was up against the Diamondbacks. He goes seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts to zero walk, 16 swinging strikes in this start. His slider velocity was up a mile per hour. He threw that pitch 49% of the time. And it's actually a pretty good pitch for Jake Junice.

He's 27% rostered. Dean Kramer had a strong start at the Blue Jays. Seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts there. And he's, I mean, his overall numbers this year, 358 ERA, 370, FIP. Strikeouts are not good, but 11% swinging strike rate is kind of interesting. And then Garrett Hill has now allowed exactly one earned run in each of his last three starts for the Detroit Tigers. Chris, anything here in deeper leagues, Jake Junis, Dean Kramer, Garrett Hill. I think Junis is pretty interesting.

I mean, I know things haven't been good for him lately, but there have been times in his career when he's been interesting. including earlier this season. That slider is a pretty good pitch for him. And, you know, he had a 263RA through the first nine starts of the season. And he got, he dealt with injuries throughout that time. He wasn't in the rotation the whole time. But I do think there's the potential for him to be a pretty useful. I mean, deep league guy.

I've got him in, I think I've got him in one of my, it's like a 12 team league, but it's a roto league. And I just kind of threw him on there. just to see. I didn't start him in this one. Would have been nice if I did. But I think he's more interesting than the other two here for sure.

Scott, Junis, Kramer, Garrett Hill. Anything? Yeah, probably Junis. He pitches for the best team. I'm not totally dismissive of Kramer. I wish he allowed fewer fly balls, but that's kind of become a good thing at the Orioles home park,

allowing fly balls. but yeah, we're talking pretty deep for all three of these guys. I will point out with Dean Kramer, if Stadcast is correct, he threw a sinker 18% in Tuesday start and he hasn't thrown that pitch all season long. So it could be a new addition for Dean Kramer

and could help him maybe get some ground balls here, Scott. So something we'll watch, which starts moving forward to see if the sinker is actually a legitimate pitch for Dean Kramer or not. Some waiver wire hitters. Fran Mill Reyes. I know I've brought him up a few times recently, but he's kind of hot so far with the Cubs.

He went two for five with his 11th home run. Only six games with the team so far, so it's a very small sample size. 346 batting average, two homers. Strikeout rate is at 27%. And he's hitting the ball hard. 92 mile per hour average eggs of velocity. Scott, I know it's kind of hard to add

Fran Mill Reyes in a points league. He strikes out so much. Only three outfielders usually started in that format. But when he gets hot, It wouldn't surprise me if we see 10 homers for the rest of the season or something like that from Fran Milraeus. Yeah, it doesn't. It wouldn't surprise me either if we saw that. And I like that he is playing as consistently as he is for the Cubs.

Where would I consider picking him up? It would probably have to be like a five outfield of Roto League where specifically I need help in that home run category. And I'm just crossing my fingers, he gets hot. otherwise I doubt he's going to be of much use. Some people might have dropped him in deeper leagues too because I had a 15-team Roto League run Fab on Sunday night and Fran Moraes was available. So someone might have dropped him after he was released from the Guardians

and like we were all just kind of waiting to see what would happen and someone picked him up for like 28% of their fab budget. Most leagues I don't even have like $280 left, but he went for a lot of money and just go out there and check. If you play in a deeper league, maybe someone dropped Fran Milraeus once the Guardians dropped him. So I always thought that was so weird. It was, I don't know. Maybe something was going on there, but.

Well, he doesn't play defense, and he's striking out 40% of the time. And you only have a 40-man roster. So I can understand why they let him go. He's a better fantasy asset than real-life asset. 30 home-run hitters, don't just, like, grow on trees, Scott. I don't know. Well, I mean, Chris Carter got run out of the league the year after. He led them.

I mean, look, Miles Straals still got an everyday job. Let's not, let's not act like Cleveland's, uh, overflowing. He can play center field. He can play center field.

True. Yeah. Yeah. Defense and speed, obviously, yeah, I could see why that's more impactful than friend mill races. Overall baseball package. Um,

in deeper leagues, Chris, talk to me about Nick Fortez because I don't know that we've mentioned him all season long. And he's been playing catcher for the Marlins. He kind of splits time evenly, evenly with, uh,

Jacob Stallings, but he went three for four with a double dong. He's betting 259 now. He's got six homers and five steals in 42 games this season. It's like really interesting for a catcher, especially in two catcher leagues. He hits the ball hard, doesn't strike out. Chris, what do you think? Four percent rostered is Nick Fortez. I don't know where this is coming from, honestly. He had seven career steals in 218 career minor league games. So I, my, my guess is that he's not a new J.T. Braylamuto. I'm skeptical that even the 241 batting average and, you know, low 700s OPS is for real,

but he is hitting the ball hard. 91.2 mile per hour average exit velocity. It was also high in a small sample size last season. So, you know, there is some pop there. And like we just said, if you have any reason to be optimistic about a player who's catcher eligible, they become fantasy relevant. I don't think Fortez is someone who needs to be rostered in most leagues, but certainly any two-catcher league with more than 12 teams, I think probably.

I don't know about the 12-team two-catcher leagues, but maybe they just decide to give him more playing time moving down the stretch to see what he's got. Because he is a prospect of some renown within the Marlin system. He was like 20th or something in their system. So maybe they give him a chance and see down the stretch if he can be the catcher the future. I actually do think he's worth adding in 12 team two catcher leagues. I think he I'm going to move them up in the rankings, but I mean, once you get to the back end of the top 24, it's whoever is hot. Dreadful. Yeah. Yeah. Bad players. It's like Max Stassie and Jorge Alfaro and and Austin Nola. I was

going to say Aaron Nola. But yeah, it's like once you get into that range, like let's pick up whoever's hot and see where it goes. So Nick Fortez is that catcher right now. And oddly enough, I do this from time to time. I look at the overall leaderboards on NFBC, like in the big money competitions, just to look at their rosters and see what players they have. There were, I want to say at least like three or four of the top 10 overall teams had Nick Fortez as one of their catchers, which is just very interesting to me. So kudos to those who had the foresight to go out and add him. A couple of their names in deeper leagues, in the deepest leagues. Jake Ferelli, back-to-back games with a home run. We brought him up recently. He has let off four straight games for Cincinnati. He has eight hits and five runs

scored during that span. Kerry Carpenter, Scott, I know we just mentioned him yesterday. This is now back-to-back pretty big games for him. He went two for three with two walks and his second home run. He's 10% rostered. The other name is Winton Bernard, who went two for four with his second steel in three starts with the Rockies. He started three of their last four games. And he's an older player. He's like 31 years old, kind of a minor league journeyman. But he was playing pretty well in the minors and he does run a lot. So any interest in these three, Scott, deeper leagues. Jake Fraley, Carrie Carpenter,

Winton, Bernard. Yeah, there's interest. And I think they have a chance to make an impact beyond even deeper leagues. And I don't know that any of them are priority pickups yet, but Kerry Carpenter, you know, suddenly going

last two games, he's six for ten, two home runs, a double, more walks than strikeouts in it in his past three games here. And, you know, look at the minor league numbers. It was amazing. He did for a ton of power. I had made some swing changes prior to the season,

so it wasn't just, it wasn't totally out of nowhere, but it caught people by surprise. And, you know, he went 0 for 8 in his first two games, and it was easy to say, okay, there's nothing to see here. But that changes very quickly. That can change very quickly when you're dealing with samples this small. So definitely want to keep an eye on Carrie Carpenter. But really all three of them.

I mean, we like Jake Fraley. I think we all did as a sleeper coming into the year going from Seattle to Cincinnati. And some of the underlying numbers were pretty encouraging. So now in 14 games since returning, Jake Fraley's batting 405 with four home runs, five walks versus four strikeouts. Hasn't stolen a base during that time, but we know he's capable of doing that. especially if he's batting lead off, I think. I think he attempted a steal on Tuesday, but he was caught stealing.

Okay. I think the main thing to watch for with all of these players is playing time, because in 12-team leagues, you know, unless you're talking about strictly Roto with the big lineups to fill. If you're not an everyday player, it's, you know, it's hard to dedicate a roster spot to somebody like that. But I think there's upside here for all of them. Before we hit the break, just want to remind everyone,

I know I mentioned this the other day, but the Fantasy Football Today draftathon is approaching, and it's this great day filled with fun and analysis. It's like a six-hour live stream, and the whole point of it is to help raise awareness and money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and we're auctioning off a spot in one of our podcast listener leagues for next season.

So you'll be able to choose whichever league you want to play in. We have a 12-team points league. We have a 16-te-to-head categories league. But obviously, all of that is going towards St. Jude's Children's Hospital. So the link is in the podcast in the YouTube description. That will be an eBay link. That'll take your right to it.

And if you got some money laying around, of course you can bid on it. And then you can prove yourself up against Scott, Chris, and myself for next year. And obviously goes so great cause. So we really would appreciate that. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. The news and notes.

Wander Franco left his rehab debut on Tuesday due to mild hand soreness, which frankly is quite bad when you're returning from a hamming. bone injury, but the raise said they, quote, don't seem overly concerned, and that Franco could return on Wednesday. So we'll see. Seems kind of sketchy to me. Clay Holmes said after Tuesday's game that he may need a stint on the IL due to a back issue, which might explain why he's pitched so poorly recently. A roll of Chapman is 75% rostered. Scott, even if Clay Holmes goals in the I

I don't know that they will anoint Chapman right away, but I think within a week or so, he probably would become the closer again. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking to. He's one of the all-time great closers. He may be destined for the Hall of Fame, and he's still pitching well, clearly. He's certainly gotten back on track in recent weeks.

So if Holmes, you know, he was already losing his grip on the role and now he's injured, I don't see why they wouldn't go back to Chapman. Brian Hayes was placed in the IL due to back spasms. Carlos Carrasco went to the IL and is expected to miss three to four weeks

due to a low-grade left oblique strain. And I hadn't thought of it until right now. But I guess that means we could see the return of David Peterson. Well, especially with Taiwan Walker leaving today's start. Also true. That's, Mets are kind of in a bad way there. Oh, gosh.

I mean, look, obviously, we don't want anything bad to happen, but like, stay healthy Jacob de Grom, please, because wow, that's, yeah, I didn't realize that. Well, David Peterson. Yeah, he's pitched really well this season. He's looked really interesting. So I think that's, hopefully we see that. Yeah, in deeper leagues, he's someone I might just kind of preemptively add right now and see where that goes.

I think Tyler McGill has been throwing, so I don't think he's that close yet, but, you know, if they need a body, maybe. They were planning on bringing McGill back as a reliever, but if, if, if, if, if, if, if, If the Walker injury ends up sidelining him for multiple weeks, like it sounds like the Carrasco injury will. Obviously, they're going to need somebody else. So maybe they will try to stretch out Miguel. I don't know how long that would take. Yeah.

Carrasca might be back by the time McGill stretched out. Yeah, Miguel just threw a 15-pitch bullpen session on Saturday. So he's still a decent way of the way from being stretched out at least. All right. But David Peterson is interesting. Was getting a lot of strikeouts emphasizing that slot. air a very good swing and miss pitch. And I would say, you know, back to the starting pitchers we were talking about at the top

of the show, Edward Cabrera was the one I liked most, followed by Jeffrey Springs. I think maybe David Peterson would slot right behind Springs for me if we're talking about potential starting. I might prefer him to Springs. If he's in the rotation for the next four, I mean, that's the rest of the season, basically. Yeah. No, I hear that. Sure.

I think it's really close with Justin Ciel. I might take steel, but it is close with David Peterson. Ramon Luriano went to the IL with a left oblique strain as well. Jack Flarity made his second rehab start on Tuesday at AA. He went three scoreless innings with four strikeouts and built up to 52 pitches. Dustin May is confirmed for Saturday's start. We knew he was starting this weekend. We didn't know exactly which day.

So it will be Saturday against the Marlins. Make sure to get him back in the lineup for those who play in daily lineup leagues. Boba Shepp. And of course, you know, I think. I think he's probably, I think he's about 80% rostered in CBS sports leagues, but CBS of all the major sites is, the roster rates for starting pitchers are especially high. So it's worth saying if Dustin May, if you don't play on CBS, if Dustin May is out there in your league, like highest priority pickup at starting pitcher probably. Yeah. Dustin May is. I think him, yeah, him and Cabrera is close, but I think May is a better option. Yeah. I was updating that on Tuesday. And it, it was, I think I moved Dustin May just ahead, but it is, you're right, it's very close, Chris. Yeah, I have May 51st and I have Cabrera 56th. I mean, just by virtue of May playing for the Dodgers.

Yeah. Never lose. I guess they just lost. They almost never. They have won like 120 of their last 162 games or something. Yeah. Yeah, well, I think they've lost, what, two in a row now. Prior to that, I calculated their wins pace and it was 113.

which would be the most wins any teams had since the Mariners tied the Major League record with 116 in 2001. Turns out when you can add an MVP winner every single offseason for like four years in a row, your team's going to be pretty good. Yeah. But that's without May all year. That's without Walker Bueller from much of the year. I mean, really, he wasn't pitching like himself.

So kind of without Walker Bueller the whole year. Yeah. That's with Bellinger basically. being a black hole on offense. Max Muncie being terrible for most of the season. It is just, it's crazy stuff, man. The Dodgers, they are awesome. Dustin May, by the way, on Yahoo, 59% rostered,

so a little bit more available there. Bo Bichette was dropped to the seventh in the Blue Jays lineup here on Tuesday against the Orioles. Taiwan Walker, we mentioned. He left his start with back spasms. Mike Soroka made his first rehab start at High A on Tuesday. He went four shutout with eight strikeouts,

and he built up to 45 pitches. He's 27% rostered. Scott, I mean, based on this start, I would be pretty excited to stash Soroka. I just don't know how he gets into the rotation. Oh, there are ways he gets in the rotation, I would say. Life finds a way. Life does find a way.

And we just saw the brave start, call up three different guys from AAA to start one weekend against the Marlins. But they all got sent back down. They all got sent back down, sure, but, you know, Jake Oterizzi's not that good. Let's be honest. No, I mean, this was, I think, pretty shocking. Like, Soroka's first start back from the two-year absence, three times repaired Achilles. It was, granted, it was at high A, so the level of competition isn't what he's used to seeing.

Although, even that, this is the second most starts he's ever had. had at a class A start, second most strikeouts. He had one game with nine strikeouts back in 2016. I mean, this is not a strikeout pitcher. So, yeah, the level of competition's low, but this was also impressive no matter. I mean, no matter what the context is for Mike Soroka, let alone that he's coming back from an injury that across sports kind of ends careers. I mean, like most players who suffer a torn Achilles don't come back.

to the same level. So my assumption is still that Mike Soroka won't eat. When he was rehabilitating last year. Yeah, like, I think Terrell Suggs is kind of the only guy I've ever heard of doing it twice and coming back and playing at a high level. So look, my prior is still that Mike Soroka is going to struggle and then he's not going to be the same guy, but this is very encouraging, no matter what. And to go 45 pitches, four innings in the first start, like yesterday, if you'd ask me,

is Mike Soroka going to contribute for the Braves this year? I would say probably not, maybe a relief or appearance or two at the end of the year. But now I think as good as this first start win, he could join the rotation in September, like early September, potentially. So yeah, I would, you know, we're at a stage of the season where there are fewer players

worth stashing in IL spots, just because so many have, now been ruled out for the season. Soroka is looking like a much higher priority now. It's worth noting Adam Wainwright has thrown like a thousand innings of a sub four ERA since rupturing his Achilles because he's a kind of a freak in his own right. So if you're looking for a reason to be optimistic, that was just once, but still, worth, uh, worth mentioning.

Andrew Heaney has been cleared to make his next start on Thursday. Day against the Brewers. Paul Blackburn will miss the rest of the season due to inflammation in his right middle finger. Marcel Lozuna has now sat two games in a row in order to get William Contreras in the lineup as the designated hitter. John Carlos Stanton should start a rehab assignment within a few days. Hunter Green will throw a bullpen session on Sunday. He's been out since August 1st with a shoulder injury and the Braves did it again. You know what's funny, Scott? You and I kind of joked about this yesterday. Just like how they always get these crazy deals with young players. And when they signed Michael Harris to this eight-year contract worth $72 million,

which I believe only covers two years of free agency. There are two team options at the end of that that could bring it to 10 years, 101 million, I believe. Right. Yeah, they're, I think 15 million for the first of the team options, 20 million for the second. So, like, they're big, their big pay increases at that point. I mean, you have to remember, like, this is a guy without even a year of service time yet.

his salary the next couple years would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. This is actually, like, I've been critical of the Braves contracts with Albi's and Acuna. This actually, like, Michael Harris did pretty well. He's going to make $5 million each to the next three seasons.

Yeah, I mean, like, this is like, you could either as a 21-year-old take, Ozzy Albi's record. You could either as a 21-year-old be financially set for life, like never have to work. worry about money again. It's there. You bank it already. Or you could risk any number of things

going wrong in the next four to five years and costing yourself that lifetime of security. Plus, now he can start coasting. Don't say that. It's like speak it into existence. Please. Michael Harris has been amazing. Players who are out of the lineup again on Tuesday just quickly run through Zander Bogart's nursing assortion. Kutel Marte has been out. two straight with a hamstring injury. Kyle Swarber out again with a calf and he's likely out until Friday. Jorge Polanco dealing with a knee injury.

Luis Robert has been out four straight with a left wrist. DJ LaMayhew out again with inflammation in his toe and Eddie Rosario out with left hamstring tightness. That brings us to players who have been slipping up to honor the finale of Better Call Saul, which

I thought was amazing. We'll save it for another time because we just don't have time today to talk about it, Scott. Are you calling this segment slip in Jimmy's. I was going to do that. For reasons I can't explain, I decided against it, but yes, something like that. To honor Jimmy McGill, these are players that have been slipping up

recently, and we've got to start with Sean Minaya who, this was the final straw, right? It was, you're going against the Marlins and the Nationals this week. And he goes into Miami, he gives up three runs over four innings pitched, six strikeouts, singer velocity is down almost two miles per hour in this one, compared to his league average, his season's average. And over his last 11 starts, Sean Mania has a 6.50 ERA.

Chris, he is still 93% rostered. Would you drop Mania for Dustin May, Edward Cabrera, Jeffrey Springs, if they're available? I think all three of those guys would be fine. Yeah, I mean, this has been by far the worst offense in baseball against left-handed pitching. They have the lowest Wobah at 262 against lefties, they have the highest strikeout rate at 28.2%. No other team is really even all that close.

So, yeah, I mean, if you can't get it done against this lineup, there's not really much reason to be optimistic. And his peripherals are mostly pretty mediocre this season. So, yeah, I'm not giving up on Shamanai entirely, but his upside's not high enough to pass up someone like Dustin May, certainly. And even Edward Cabrera, I think, would, I would rather have him on. my team than Manaya. Yeah, I'm good with that. Like, there's no way you could start Sean Mania with confidence right now. And there was no injury in the start.

They pulled him after 64 pitches. So there's just really nothing going right with him right now. Maybe he gets back on track, you know, down the stretch, a couple of starts after this. But if he's the worst player on your team and you need someone to drop, I have no issue with it. It would be very fitting for Sean Mania's career for him to have like 40 good inings at the end of the season and for everyone to buy back in.

because that's kind of how his career has gone. Yeah, everyone being this guy right here who actually liked Sean Mania this year. Not great. Scott, you get three hitters who have slowed down in the second half of the season so far. I got a question here on Tuesday. Someone asking me if they could drop Alejandro Kirk.

It's like, probably not. I mean, he's still a catcher and he's really, really good. But so far in the second half, he is betting 24. He's got one homer, a 596 OPS. Ty France. We've got some questions about. Same thing. Second half. 200 batting average. Three homers. A 615 OPS. I know he's been dealing with some injuries off and on.

And then Charlie Blackman was another one. Post-all-Star break, 205 batting average, two homers, a 555 OPS. Look to bench any of these guys, drop any of them. What do you think about these three? I think Kirk is definitely a no because what are your alternatives to catcher and I just looked it up. His average exit velocity since the All-Star break is still 92 miles per hour, still striking out 13.7% of the time during that stretch.

I mean, I understand he didn't come into the year of proven commodity, but I think he's proven enough at this point that you've got to be willing to stick with him through the cold stretches, which every player is bound to have. And generally speaking, I feel the same way about Ty for. Ranson and Charlie Blackman, I think at the long run, they're going to be fine. It's just the ups and downs of the season. But you have more alternatives at those positions, so I can see in shadow leagues going with a hotter hand.

Okay. Does that include dropping them or just kind of benching either one for now? Let's say a 12-te-to-head league, you know, 250 players rostered. I want to call either of them undropable. you risk losing them to somebody else. But, you know, in a league that shallow, it's not crazy to try that. All right. Chris, you get another pitcher here.

Alec Manoa, obviously not. We're not dropping Alec Manoa, but let's talk about him because he has struggled recently. And he gave up four earned runs over five and two thirds. Over his last four starts, he's got a 5.32 ERA. And he is allowing more hard contact, 39% according to Stackast. and that's been below 30% for most of the season. And that's really been a strong trait of Alec Manoa so far, is limiting hard contact.

So we're starting to see that go up. And obviously it has affected his ERA. And the innings are kind of climbing a little bit now. He's at 142 and 2 thirds. Last year was 129 and 2 thirds. That's the minors and the majors combined. So, Chris, how are you feeling about Alec Manoa? Are you worried a little bit here that he's slowing up?

Yeah, I mean, it's possible because, you know, he is already at a career high innings. And anytime that happens, is a guy hitting a wall. You're not really seeing it in the velocity. You know, he's averaged 94.1 miles per hour in the month of August so far. So no real warning signs there that, you know, when you go at like a pitch level, the slider and the changeup have both been getting hit really hard. 91.1 mile per hour average. He's velocity allowed on the slider in August.

96.9 with the change-up. These are all very small samples. We're talking about a handful of plate appearances. And those trends weren't really there in the month of July. His slider and change-up were both very good in the month of July. So I think it's probably just a bad start or two. Nothing that I'm too worried about right now. It's, you know, like with, it's not as extreme as Shane McLeanan's last, what, four starts.

You know, that's been a little longer and a little more extreme than Manoa. So I'm not too concerned yet, but I can't write it off entirely because of the career high workload. Scott, you get three more hitters. Sayas Suzuki in the second half, he's batting 189, three homers, a 559 OPS. 25% strikeout rate is actually manageable. He just hasn't really done much with it. He's down to 81% rostered. Josh Bell, in 13 games with the Padres, he's batting 125 with only one.

extra base hit and a 70% ground ball rate, which is just unfathomable. And then Whitmeryfield has sat out three of 11 games with the Blue Jays. He's betting 250 with them so far. Zero extra base hits, one stolen base. It's obviously been a very disappointing season for Whitmeryfield. What do you think about these three? Can you see yourself maybe dropping Suzuki and or Whitmerryfield? Yeah, those two would be the ones I question most. Not really worried about Josh Bell. I think it's just a cold stretch for him. Say a Suzuki, I mean,

it might be a cold stretch for him, but like he's had, this first year has been a roller coaster ride for him, and I still don't really know what to make of him because of that. Like at his best, he looks like a must start outfielder, but,

uh, but, you know, the the overall numbers, it adds up to somebody who's not that useful. So I, I'd be okay dropping him in five outfielder leagues. And the biggest concern for Maryfield, and I think it's

been playing out, is that he's not going to play quite every day with the Blue Jays. He's been sitting about every fourth game, which for a big bopper, it might not concern me that much, but Maryfield's

value, you know, apart from the stolen bases, Maryfield's value was largely from volume, from playing it, literally every single game. Yeah, even at his best, volume was a big, big part of his value because it was,

you know, the high batting average with the volume was, was helping and then the stolen bases. He wasn't really like this great per game guy. A few players on the other side that have quietly turned it on in the second half. Vlad Jr.

went two for four with his 25th home run. And in this second half, he's batting 344 with five homers, four steals. Not really sure where that's coming from. and an OPS over a thousand for Vlad Jr. Alex Bregman went two for four with two doubles, and so far post-All-Star break.

337 batting average, five homers, a 10-13 OPS. I don't really see anything in the batted ball data that supports it, so it's been kind of weird for Breggman. He heard me when I said that I had him in the last Dynasty Stockwatch stock down in Dynasty. And so he's tried, he started to turn it on. That I think is the explanation that makes the explanation that makes the most sense for Bregman.

That, or he's stealing signs? Have you seen this stuff about teams paranoid about Bregman stealing signs? Like, I think I saw today, who were they playing today? The White Sox? Yeah. They intentionally balked with him at second base to get him at third to third,

so he's not relaying signs. I heard about this. Well, you know, how would he, he's not stealing signs for himself. Those pesky assures, It would be really hard. There'd have to be some kind of time paradox for him to be able to steal signs for himself. Oh, man.

This balk by Dylan Seas was great. He's like ready to pitch and then he just drops the ball. It was so random. So Bregman like just got to go to third base. Very interesting. And then two Phillies hitters here on this list that are kind of heating up. Reese Hoskins went three for five with a double dong. He's now up to 26 home runs.

His last 18 games, 309 batting average. seven homers for him. And Nick Castellanos, slowly, quietly, but surely. He went three for five with his 11th homer. His last 21 games, he's hitting 3.38. Only three home runs, so I get it. That part is disappointing. Three steals, which is kind of random,

but not really hitting the ball hard. So I'm not, I don't really know what to make of this recent stretch. Chris, anything you'd like to add on these four, Vlad Jr., Bregman, Hoskins, Castellanos. I mean, Vlad, the first thing you always look for, whenever there's a good or bad stretch is he hitting the ball in the air. And in the month of August so far, small sample size, obviously, but he does have his highest launch angle of the season.

Only eight degrees still below where it was last season. He's not elevating the ball like he did a year ago. But I don't know, he's hit the ball consistently hard all season. The underlying numbers have mostly been excellent with the exception of a bad May. So I think Vlad's just awesome. I think what we're seeing this season is that, you know, we anointed him the best hitter in baseball. Turns out he's not that.

He's like the 16th best hitter in baseball or something. But best hitter in baseball is well within his range of outcomes. Castellanos, I don't know, man. He's not hitting the ball hard still. Like even during this stretch, his average eggs of velocity in the month of August is 84 miles per hour. That's really, really bad. That's not like, that's not even like, oh, well, you know, it's not great.

but no, 84 miles an hour is like what you see Victor Robles doing. So I have no idea what to make of it. I've had no idea what to make him to Cassiano's all season because he's been such a consistently good hitter for such a long time. I'm glad he's hitting better, but I don't necessarily buy it. Yeah, I agree. It's not much more to say to that. A few leftovers here from Tuesday.

What a night for our guy, Uncle Chuck, Charlie Morton, against the Mets, six and two third shut out three hits one walk 12 strikeouts in this one 19 swinging strikes curveball was absolutely fantastic and 11 whiffs on the pitch in this one cautionary tale though I mean these he's alternated rough starts with great starts recently and his next start is against the astro so I'm just gonna let you know be maybe be a little bit cautious with that one sunny gray tidy season high with 10 strikeouts against the Royals he went six shut out three hits one walk of course

those 10 strikeouts, quietly, has a 311 ERA on the season. And then Robbie Ray had his seventh double-digit strikeout start of the season. Six innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts for him. Scott, anything you'd like to add on Ray, Gray, and Morton. Yeah, so Ray's really turned his season around. I know there are a couple rough starts in July, but let's see, I don't have the numbers exactly. but I know in 11 starts coming into this one, he had a 276 ERA, 79 strikeouts and 65 to third-hnings.

It's a really good rate. So, you know, he's looked like an ace now for roughly two months. And you might not, you know, you might just look at that 387 ERA overall and conclude that he's had a disappointing season. Well, it's kind of been a tale of two seasons for Robbie Ray. Sunny Gray, We'll occasionally have a start like this,

but just everything in his profile is as average as average gets. So I wouldn't read too much into a really strong start against the Royals for him. He's kind of in the same group as like a Kyle Gibson for me. A little higher than Gibson, but roughly in that same class of starting pitcher. And I will say, I will admit as somebody who has been about as bullish on Charlie Morton, year as anybody. I made the mistake of sitting in Mentow Wars. Now, I will note that

I'm already first in wins and strikeouts. It was two-star week, Mets Astros, tough match-ups. I'm chasing and saves, so I wanted to get as many relievers. So there were, you know, there were extenuating circumstances. It's not, it wasn't just, oh, I don't think Charlie Morton's... Scott hates Charlie Morton. Good anymore, so I'm going to sit them with two starts. But yeah, I wish I, you know, I wish I,

had gotten these 12 strikeouts from them for sure. All right. The call to the bullpen for the Red Sox. John Schreiber entered in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and a five-run lead. He gave up a basis clearing double. Now it's a safe opportunity in the ninth inning. And who comes on for the save? What's dead may never die.

Matt Barnes struck out two for his third save of the season. Are we calling him the drowned god now? I don't. Yeah, you might as well because I don't know. I think it's still going to be Garrett Whitlock and John Shriver moving forward, but just another name in the mix, I guess. Matt Barnes there. For the Marlins, I assume Tanner Scott was unavailable.

Dylan Floral picked up his third save of the season. For the Tigers, Gregory Soto picked up his 22nd. For the Cubs, Rowan Wick entered in the 7th with a two-run lead. Runners on first and second. He finished that ending out. He started the 8th where he gave up two solo homers, which tied the game. The Cubs took the lead later on,

and Mark Lighter Jr. picked up his first save in extra innings. For the Orioles, Felix Bautisa struck out two for his seventh save. He looks amazing, by the way. He also has a really cool entrance when he's in Camden Yards where they flicker all of the lights

and it looks really cool. So shout out to Felix Bautista. For the White Sox, Liam Hendricks picked up his 27th save and I think on the broadcast, they said that that 16 straight converted saves for Hendricks, so nice to see him kind of get back on track.

And for the Dodgers, not really on track is Craig Kimberl, who entered with a one-run lead in extra innings, zombie runner on second base. He gave up a walk, two hits, and two runs. He took his fourth blown save and fifth loss of the season. Do you guys think there's any chance that

if Blake Trinan returns, which I think is happening, that he could take the closer role from Craig Kimbril? That has not been the Dodgers M.O., despite the fantasy communities, you know, shrieking over the years about Kenley Jansen, you know, like the last three years. So I think it would be out of character for them.

But it wouldn't, yeah, it's possible. But I'm not expecting it. To stream or not to stream, let's start with Wednesday. Nick Ladolo up against the Phillies, Drew Smiley at the Nationals, Daniel Lynch at the Twins, Austin Voth at the Blue Jays, Roanzi Contreras up against the Red Sox, Domingo Hermon against the Rays, and Cole Regens against the A's. Nope.

Lodala would be the only one I would be somewhat interested in. Same response we got from Scott yesterday. Solid, no. I think Drew Smiley is okay. He's pitched well recently, but probably don't want to do it. On Thursday, we have Dane Dunning up against the A's, Adrian Samson at the Orioles, Spencer Watkins versus the Cubs, J.T. Brewbaker versus the Red Sox and Brad Keller at the Rays.

No. I have to pick some. Preferably, no. If you have to pick somebody, I guess, Dane Dunning. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a great two days here coming up, Wednesday and Thursday. I think Dunning and Andrew Smiley, maybe Nicola Dolo, but he's just been so hit or miss. And the Phillies are crushing lefties right now. So probably stay away.

We're going to wrap there. For Scott and Chris, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.