Fantasy Baseball Today - Surging Cardinals, Luis Robert's Outlook & the First Two Rounds for 2022 (9/29 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 29, 2021

Scott's first two rounds for 2022- https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/news/early-2022-fantasy-baseball-rankings-how-the-first-two-rounds-of-your-draft-might-look/ The Cardinals have won 17 in a row to clinch the second NL WC spot (1:00)! A lot of that has been thanks to Adam Wainwright. ... Does this big September for Eugenio Suarez mean anything (4:26)? How good can Luis Robert be? ... Prospects Roansy Contreras and Matt Brash were called up by the Pirates and Mariners, respectively (12:51). ... News and notes (18:40): Jacob deGrom won't pitch again this season, Luis Castillo will start Friday and more. ... Is it too risky to have Ronald Acuña up near the top of the first round for 2022 (28:43)? ... Is Mookie Betts a second-rounder now (37:24)? ... Let's recap the past few days starting with Jonathan India and Eloy Jimenez (46:40). ... We wrap up with bullpen updates and streamers (1:01:48).  'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  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. I drive. Center field. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam. That's 17 in a row for the Cardinals who have clinched the second wildcard spot in the National League. Welcome into fantasy baseball today on Wednesday. September 29th, Frank Stamphill joined as always by Scottie Dubbs. Scott White. Here, let's take a look at Scott's first two rounds for 2022. Currently live on the site. We're going to recap the past couple of days,

and I do have a fantasy justice question towards the end of the podcast. But, Scott, the story right now is the St. Louis Cardinals, man. 17 in a row, they take down Brandon Woodruff on Tuesday. Adam Wainwright, six endings of two-run ball. He picks up his 17th win of the year. 305 ERA, 106 whip, and he's done it over 200 innings, 206 and a third to be exact. Only four starting pitchers have done that this year.

You're talking about Adam Wainwright, right? Yeah, did I not say... I think he said something else. Oh. I heard a Woodruff in there. Oh, well, they beat up on Woodruff. Okay. And then I think I got to Wayne Wright.

I don't know. Maybe I was only half listening. We're off to a great start here. Hopefully I said it correct, but the main thing that I wanted to get at is the fact that he's maintained these ratios over 200 innings and only four pitchers have got to that mark this year. Zach Wheeler, Sandy Alcantara, Wayno,

and now Walker Bueller after Tuesday night as well. It's been an awesome run here for both Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals. Yeah, it has. Adam Wainwright's been one of the more interesting players this year, interesting in the sense that where did this come from and where does he go next? and I don't really have the answer to either one of those questions. That's what makes it interesting.

He is planning to play one more year. He's already 40. So, you know, it makes sense that he's thinking about retirement, and it looks like next year is going to be the last year for him. You know, I'm not, I don't see myself making a big investment in him as valuable as he was this year, and he was, what, a top 10 pitcher when you add everything up? I think that's right. Sounds right.

Yeah. But is it even going to be in the top 30 for me? I kind of doubt it. 6, 8, 10, 11. He was the 11th starting pitcher in 5x5 Roto entering Tuesday night. And the 54th overall player just behind Brandon Woodruff, ironically enough.

So I wonder if, you know... The sixth pitcher in points leagues, for what it's worth, entering Tuesday night. Yeah, I mean, that volume. has just been massive for Adam Wainwright this season. Oh, you know what? Otani's combined score is listed here. So it's actually the fifth best starting pitcher,

Adam Wainwright, in Ponce Leeds. You know what? It's funny you bring that up, because the same thing for Roto. If you look at Otani, he is the number one starting pitcher technically, but that's more so because of his hitting stats. So that would make him to four, six, eight,

the 10th test starting pitcher? 10. So either top five or top 10, depending what format you're talking about. Sheesh, man. What a year for Wayno. But yeah, I mentioned this on our last podcast. I feel bad for the Dodgers or Giants. Whoever has to host the Cardinals in that one-game playoff

because they are surging right now. Thanks to mention Wayne Wright, obviously. And then Nellen Aronado. It is 34th home run of the season, 105 RBI. It's a pretty good year. Obviously, the batting average is lower than it has been in years past. And I've got a close eye on the Seattle Mariners right now, who just,

extended their lead to four to two. Mitch Hanager hit his 38th home run of the season. And I'm rooting for the Mariners for multiple reasons. Obviously, they haven't been in the postseason forever. It would be awesome. And let's get the Red Sox out of the wild card, right? That would be phenomenal from my perspective, a Yankee fan perspective.

So obviously not for the Boston fans out there, but it would be a cool story to get the Mariners in the playoffs. Let's talk about fantasy. We haven't really done that much yet. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scotty. there's not much that we can do in terms of give people advice at this point in the season. We're halfway through the final week.

But an oh my goodness gracious player for you. Well, one that we haven't had much reason to talk about because who on earth would recommend him is Eugenio Suarez. But it turns out he's having a great month, great final month. Better late than never, I guess, that he shows up to the 2021 season, hit his seventh home run of the month. He is batting well over 300 for the month. And, you know, if you had the foresight to know this was going to happen, obviously he would have been well worth starting this final month. Does it really change anything?

I don't think so. I don't think so. Obviously, he was a fairly high draft pick this year. He was definitely a high draft pick last year. his combined batting average between those two years is it's under 200 so

strikes out way too much was actually has been a below replacement level for the red below replacement level player for the reds this year a negative war from aeohenio Suarez

so I don't even know what motivation they're going to have to play him he is signed long term that that's really what saves them from going, I guess, the Chris Carter route, you know, big power hitter who just doesn't do enough of anything else and eventually gets pushed out of the league at a young age. Save Suarez from that. Obviously, the expectation that there's going to be a DH spot in play in the NL next year.

You know, maybe that gets Suarez, ensure Suarez gets close to every day at bat still. But, you know, we don't know who else is going to be on the Reds. next year. And I would suspect Jesse Winker would want to, they'd want him to spend some time in the DH spot. Maybe Joey Votto. You know, it's really, the bottom line is that Eugenio Suarez, based on his performance the last two years, and especially this year, doesn't really deserve a job anymore. He's going to get it because

of his contract status, and maybe he'll be able to pull out of it since he is capable of hitting the ball. out of the park with some regularity, but I have no faith in him anymore, and this final month doesn't change that. I did pull up his September numbers on fan graphs to see if he's doing anything differently. He's still striking out quite a bit,

28% of the time. That's been normal for him the past couple of years, even when he had those monster seasons. But the line drive rate up to right around 24%, 50% fly ball rate, and his fly balls are just flying out of the park at a more regular pace than they normally have. Well, at a higher pace than they normally have.

So that's definitely helped him. You know, it was a weird year for him coming in because they tried to experiment throwing him at shortstop, and it's something that he's played in the past, but like if you ever watched him play shortstop, he's awful there. I mean, he made a ton of errors earlier in the season too. And it doesn't really explain things,

but when you look at what he's done by position, by defensive position, in games that he started at shortstop, he hit 164. So, like, that's, that was only, that turned out to be like 33 games, but I mean, that's, that's pretty bad. Well, what are the stats at third base? Yeah, they're not much better. Yeah. It's like a, it's like a 205 batting average or something like that.

But I think the combination of, like, forcing him to play shortstop and then him being bad there, like, it could have, you know, mess with his mentality while he was batting. whatever it is. He is having an awesome September. I'd be more forgiving if he didn't also have the 2020 season he had. Yeah, that's true. And he did, he had shoulder surgery in early 2020. Yeah, in January of 2020. So, I mean, we could still be dealing with some lingering effects there. Yeah, it's a 205 batting average while playing third basis here, 723 OPS. So it's still bad, but it was much worse at shortstop. So just something to keep in mind. I don't think that he's going to be on

standard league radars. but, you know, if he gets off to a hot start next year, maybe he's someone we look into to picking back up. Oh my goodness gracious for me. I want to talk about Luis Robert, who hit a double dong on Tuesday, 349 batting average, 12 homers, five steals in 644 games. Now, this is going to get me in trouble,

but let's have some fun. Let's play around with this. He's played 120 Major League games to this point. 298 batting average, 23 homers, 14 steals. Obviously, if you expend that over 150 games, you're looking at something like high 20s home runs and high teens in steals with obviously a great batting average. He's made huge gains in strikeouts this year,

lowering his strikeout rate from 32% in the shortened season last year to 20% this year. His line drive rate is way up this season. So obviously, those two things in conjunction will lead to a higher batip and a higher batting average for Luis Robert. But last season is also a cautionary tale for these smaller sample sizes, Scott. So he is a player

that we'll talk about a little bit later on, some foreshadowing. You have him going in your second round for 2022. But didn't we kind of just fall for this? We bought into players based on a 60 game season last year. He's only played 64 games this season.

What do we do? Well, I think you consider the pedigree. I think you consider what our hopes were for Luis Robert all along. And the only thing in my mind that was dashing those hopes and his rookie season was how much he struck out. And like, it's been other end of the spectrum this year. And look, his BABB is well over 400.

I don't think a 350 batting average is realistic moving forward. I would say that for any player who hits 350. but is a 300 batting average realistic? I mean, he's clearly raised the bar for what his final stat line could look like. To me, he's given himself a much higher ceiling by reducing his strikeout rate by that much. And I'm not saying there's no cause for concern. For instance, since coming back from the injury in August, right, mid-August,

he's stolen one base. That's it. And that's a big part of what we expect from Luis Robert is stealing bases. He's coming back from a tear in his hip. So you could understand maybe why they want him to be careful on the base paths. Hopefully that's just a condition for this season. And next year he'll get back to running like we expected him to. But in terms of being a hitter,

I think I think Luis Robert has There's evidence that he's made major strides And we knew he had a high ceiling to begin with So I think it makes sense to draft him that early next year Particularly in a Roto League Maybe not as much in a points league I mostly made these rankings

That we're going to discuss later for Roto Leaks Okay and he still needs to prove that he can stay healthy For the course of a full season obviously So that's something that's also in the back of my mind And I said all of that just to play devil's advocate because I'm 100% with you. I'm going to be very aggressive on Luis Robert next year. So I agree with you.

And you even look at the XBA on Statcast, 289 there. So look, even if he's a 290 hitter, 290 with 25 plus home runs, 15 steals, great counting stats and an awesome lineup, that's going to be worthy of being a top two-round player, I believe in Roto League's category leagues for next season. Scottie, we had some prospects that are being called up. Better Late Than Never. I know.

Like, what's the point? Yeah, right? It's pretty interesting. But let's talk about them because I got a few questions today. And people want to know if they can stream Pirates starting pitching prospect, Ronesi Contreras, who's being called up Wednesday to face the Chicago Cubs. And he came over in the Jameson trade. And we spoke about him earlier in the season because he was just putting up awesome numbers.

He's 21 years old. He made 12 starts at AA this year, one start at AAA, and combined he has a 264 ERA, 0.93 whip, 82 strikeouts, over 58 innings pitch. I know he was dealing with, I believe it was an arm injury earlier in the year, which forced him to miss a bunch of starts, obviously. He's only made. All of July and August. Yeah, he's only made 13 starts overall.

He's come back and made four appearances. And he has not thrown more than three and two thirds in any of those four starts that he made since returning from injury, he hasn't thrown more than 65 pitches in any of those starts. So all of those things consider, I think it's going to be fun to watch his debut on Wednesday.

I just don't know if he's going to be worthy of picking up and streaming if you play in a daily league. You're pointing out that the most the most he's gone since coming back is three and two-thirds inning. That basically answers the question, right? But I don't even know,

and I know I know I said the same thing about Shane Baws, and people can hold that over me now because, one, he surprisingly got that second start in his first week up and ended up being two great starts that a lot of people could have benefited from and maybe did if they didn't listen to me. But just as a matter of principle, with your season on the line, inserting a player who's never appeared in a big league game before, and especially a pitcher, really any player, what kind of, mindset do you have to be in to do that?

You have to be in real desperate desperation mode, I think, to take that kind of leap on a guy. Like, who knows how it could go? He could walk eight guys. We have no idea what to expect from a pitcher in his major league debut. Shane Boss was arguably the best pitching prospect in baseball,

so there was an easier case to make for him. But Roanze Contreras, is that how you say it? I believe it's Ronesy. Ronesy. Yes. Yeah, not so much for him. All right, so definitely going to be watching, interested to see what he does in his major league debut,

but do not pick up and Stark-Contreras there on Wednesday. The Mariners promoted pitching prospect Matt Brash on Tuesday, though to this point in that game, he has not pitched, and it's the eighth inning. So I would imagine he's not going to pitch in this game. But Scott, he's someone that you've mentioned before, has an absolutely wicked son. slider has put up gaudy numbers this season into minor leagues.

Obviously, we're not picking him up, but it's going to be interesting to see, you know, what he does in relief these last couple of days before the season ends. Maybe the biggest riser among, certainly among pitching prospects, I would say, just because this was a guy the Mariners acquired for Taylor Williams last year, from the Padres for Taylor Williams, who was at the time, they're closer, but like not, not a good reliever and not even around anymore, you know? I love how hard you always accentuate Taylor Williams. Well, like, I just, who imagined,

who would have imagined that trade would have this kind of long-term ramifications potentially if Matt Brascia ends up being everything we dream he can be now with that slider, arguably the best slider in the minor. Some scouts have rated it as such, and a great fastball, too. 70 great fastball potentially. His swinging strike rate,

let's see. In AA specifically, I think it's even better, around 16% with a 213 ERA at AA. Too many walks. Too many walks. That's still something he's going to have to work on.

But when you can miss it as many bats as he does at this stage of his career, I'm willing to bet on you. Yeah, for sure. We mentioned multiple times, man. the Mariners have so much talent in their farm system that's going to be coming in the next couple of years. And Matt Brash is one of those now. Yeah, I mean, they have plenty of pitchers with bigger names than Matt Brash. And I think Brash has the potential to be the best of them.

I think the leader at this point, the leading contender for that is George Kirby. But, you know, there's Emerson Hancock and Logan Gilbert, of course, got called up this year. Yep. And I've even, I've heard Brandon Williamson's name thrown around, obviously not as high end as those other ones, but yeah, I mean, he's a name, so. Link to this decision to call it Matt Brash, by the way, is

it looks like you say Kukuchi is out of the rotation. So, there was some speculation, maybe Brash would start in place of Kikuchi, but I think today was Kikuchi's turn, right? And they just ended up starting Tyler Anderson instead.

So, I don't know, Maybe that says something about Kakuchi going forward. I suspect he'll still be in the rotation next year to begin the year, but he seems to have lost some faith. The Mariners seem to have lost some faith in him. Yeah, the Mariners started Tyler Anderson on short rest. He pitched two innings on Saturday. He got destroyed, which we mentioned.

He gave up nine earned runs in that start. And then he went four innings here on Tuesday. He only gave up one run. And again, the Mariners are leading four to two in the eighth inning. Some news and notes from the past couple days, Jacob de Grom will officially not pitch again this season, which comes as no surprise, obviously. The Reds placed Luis Castillo on the family emergency list on Monday,

but he will return and make his final start on Friday against the Pirates. And I hope that he goes off and he gets that ERA below four. Because given everything that he'd gone through, like that he went through the first two months of the season, I believe his ERA is at 407 or 408. so if he has a big start, he might actually get it below four. So I'm rooting for you, Luis Castillo. Ryan Presley was unavailable for Tuesday's win over the raise due to a knee injury

that is, quote, bothered him in the past, according to Dusty Baker. Starling Marte has missed the last two games with a lat injury. James and Tyone returned Tuesday, and then he exited early Tuesday after re-agravating his ankle injury. Brandon Belt was placed on the aisle with a fractured thumb retroactive to September 27th. and they mentioned about a four-week timeline for him. So it sucks because he's having an awesome year. And obviously, the Giants are expecting to make a pretty deep run in the postseason. It sounds like they'll have to do that without Brandon Belt.

Michael Brantley could return from the IL in the next two to three days. Anthony Santander went to the IL with a sprained right knee. Astros manager, Dusty Baker, said Tuesday that Zach Rankie will probably not make another regular season start and that there is a distinct possibility that Granky works out of the bullpen during the playoffs. Interesting there, I mean, he's kind of slowed down here in the second half.

I'm not sure how much success he would have out of the bullpen. It doesn't seem like his arsenal would be the kind that translates to that role very well. So that is interesting. But yeah, they have a lot of good pitchers and he's been pretty unreliable of late. I wonder if they would use him in conjunction with a pitcher that has a different style than him.

So someone who, I don't know, who throws a little bit harder, like a Christian Javier, or something like that, have Christian Javier throw a couple of endings to open the game, and then maybe Granky throws a few innings too. And, you know, the combination of two different styles, throwing opposing lineups off. Or it might be, you know, obviously you see starting pitchers get hooked, get pulled earlier in playoff games. Yeah. if it just, if they're just having too much trouble early on,

they'll get pulled really early and maybe Grinky ends up making like a five and a third inning relief appearance or something. I could see that. Yeah. I'm getting excited for postseason baseball, Scott. I mean, even, I don't think the Yankees are going to do much, but just in general, like the weather cooling down here in the Northeast and being able to watch baseball without like any fantasy implications, it's, it's pretty fun.

So I'm looking forward to it. Yanny Diaz was removed Tuesday due to left rib discomfort. Brady Singer was removed from his start due to right upper arm discomfort. Andrew Benetendi exited with an apparent knee injury. Nick Anderson was placed back on the IL while Andrew Kittridge was reinstated by the Tampa Bay raise. And Andrew Kittridge pitched on Tuesday his first day back. And I believe he was used in the sixth. Yeah.

Yeah. So he pitched in the sixth, and then they had Josh Fleming come in in the ninth, and he got into trouble, and then J.T. Shargua, it was like a walk-off, I believe it was a walk-off walk that they allowed. So with the bases loaded, it was a messy end to that game for the Tampa Bay race. Carlos Rodan will start Wednesday against the Reds, but my guess is he's on a short leash. And there's a really early mock draft going on right now that I saw some analysts around the industry taking part in and Matt Williams, someone we've had on this podcast before he tweeted

it out. And Carl Sordaunt was the SP 23 off the board in that, look, it's way too early mock draft, obviously, at pick 73. What do you think, Scotty? Early takeaways. SP 23, first pick of the seventh round, Carl Sordaun. Yeah, I didn't see that actually, because I was looking at the results of that draft two to get some ideas for you know to make sure I wasn't missing anybody in the first two rounds so he went before Jack Flaherty

he went before Logan Webb went before you Darvish a couple rounds before you Darvish actually and Charlie Morton a couple rounds before him that's kind of messy though the whole thing is kind of messy there at starting pitcher you know obviously I'd feel a lot better

about it if really it just comes down to the velocity issues Rodon's been having that it's been kind of all over the place as they've as they've ramped him down here this month and just wondering if he's completely healthy

that would be the biggest concern for me about Rodon going into next year. He's a free agent so he's going to have to pass a physical for somebody if he has a clean bill of health entering draft prep season next year I think probably top 25 makes sense, I think, though I would draft him behind some of those who I mentioned, who went after him. Yep, unrestricted free agent, as you mentioned. So it will be interesting to see where Carlos Rod lands. And, you know, whether or not he's on the White Sox playoff roster,

how he looks. I think Wednesday is going to be a nice little indication as well for that. So all lies on the velocity for Carl Swardon, who's really, who's really, slowed up here in the final month of the season. And it makes sense, right? Like, the guy just hasn't pitched much the past couple of years. And he was so awesome earlier in the year and going all out and with the velocity as high as it was. I think it makes sense that he kind of came back down to Earth here. Padres manager, Jace Tingler said U. Darvishes start against the Dodgers on Tuesday will likely be his final outing of the season.

Willie Adamas was scratched Tuesday due to left quad discomfort. The same injury that he was on the IL for earlier in the month. Royal's manager, Mike Mathini, said Tuesday that Carlos Hernandez will not start this week, but will be available out of the bullpen. Four Reds, including Jesse Winker, Mike Mastakis, Wade Miley, and Shogo Akiyama were ruled out for the rest of the season, which makes sense. The Reds have been eliminated from playoff contention. Yadir Malina was scratched due to shoulder soreness on Tuesday. Alec Bohm was recalled from AAA, but was not in the starting lineup for the Phillies. Albert Pujols was placed in the IL without any injury.

designation, which means it's likely COVID-related. Get well soon. Albert Pools. Bailey Ober placed in the I.L. with a hip strain and some pretty cool moments from the past couple days I wanted to mention on Monday. Bradley Zimmer homered off of his brother.

Kyle Zimmer, which I thought was pretty interesting there. You have any sibling rivalries, Scott? What's your brother? My brother's four years younger than me. Oh, we're in the same boat. My brother is four years younger as well. Yeah, my brother and I,

operate in very different worlds. I'm much closer in age to my sister, my older sister. She's a year and a half older than me. So growing up, it was kind of the two of us and then him, which looking back probably wasn't very nice to him. But not in a long time, I would say. Not in a long time, have there been any kind of sibling rival rivalry, but that was a fun highlight between the Zimmer brothers there.

Because, like, you could tell they were both trying so hard. Yeah. Not to express themselves. And it was just kind of creeping through anyway. It was funny. Yeah. You know, it's interesting. We actually have the same sibling composition, Scott.

We are both middle children. I have an older sister. I have a younger brother. I used to get in trouble so much when I was a kid because I would never let my brother win at anything. And my parents would be like, you know, they would pull me aside. and just be like, just let them win, you know, it'll, it'll be alright, you know. I'm just, nope, ultra competitive.

We would play with football together. I was just like, nope, not happening, not letting them win. So it's pretty messed up in hindsight, but what are you going to do? I was a kid, right? So, yeah. Noah Cindergarde made his return as an opener Tuesday. It's an awesome moment for him, striking out two of the three batters that he faced. I believe he is also an unrestricted free agent.

So I don't know what his role will be in 2022, because obviously just getting back from Tommy John. He's only going to throw one inning. I assume maybe he throws one more in relief another day this week. But I don't know. I don't know if some team is going to want to use Noah CinderGard as a starting pitcher next season. Let's take a quick break when we return. Scottie's first two rounds for 2022. We'll talk about it here on fantasy baseball today. All right. So let's fire it up. Mention the article is live on the site. If you want to follow along, I will throw the link in the podcast and the YouTube description. And let's jump right in. The first round here, Fernando, Tatis, the first overall pick, 41 homers and 25 steals. And given all the time that he's missed, it's just awesome. Unlike a per game basis, how amazing he has been. So another one where it'll be interesting. There's been talks that he was going to have surgery in the offseason, and then a couple of weeks ago, he shot that down.

So I don't really know where we're out. Well, he was still open to the idea, but he made it clear that it wasn't a sure thing. So lingering concerns about the shoulder injury if he doesn't have surgery And then new concerns about the recovery if he does have the surgery Yeah I wish there wasn't that hanging over the head of what should be the first overall pick and I think the first overall pick regardless of format by the way I mean it's an easier call in in Roto leagues and five by five leagues because of the power speed combo but I

You know his in terms of fantasy points per game. He was also, he's also been the number one hitter this year. So, and he's still eligible, which is nice. Shortstop and outfield. He'll carry over outfield eligible in the next year. So I expect Tatis will be the first pick in most every league, unless we just hear something really bad about the shoulder between now and then. All right, Tatis goes first overall. Second overall, you have Ronald de Kunya, who had 24 homers and 17 steals when he tore his ACL back on July 10th. By the way, he is still a top 75 player in Roto,

despite not playing a game since mid-July, which is just a testament to how amazing he was playing. But I mentioned that mock draft that is being done by other analysts in the industry right now, and Ronald de Cunea lasted all the way to 12 in that one. Yeah, so. Yeah, obviously concerns over his recovery from a torn ACL. We can't say for sure at this point that he's going to be ready for the start

next year, though that's certainly within the realm of possibility. And I think probably even the expectation at this point, I don't really understand the motivation to straddle the fence right now, say, okay, well, I'm going to downgrade him this certain amount because I don't really know if, I don't really know how his recovery from a torn ACL is going to go. By the time we're actually drafting, we'll probably have a really good idea how his recovery from a torn ACL has gone. And you'll either want to draft him second overall if it's gone well.

And if it hasn't gone as well, if it sounds like he's still a couple months away from returning, then you're probably not even going to draft him as early as 12th. So I'm putting him second for now until I hear something that causes me to not want to take him second. And I imagine if I do hear that thing, it'll happen before I'm actually drafting a team that matter. All right. Third overall in this mock that you put together, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is just having a phenomenal year. 46 homers, 120 runs scored. I don't know if people realize just how many runs scored he has, but it's a ridiculous amount, all while batting 313. You have Juan Soto, fourth overall, a ridiculous second half here. 362 batting average, 18 homers, four steals, a 1204 OPS. And then that brings us to someone who's really had the opposite second half. And that's Joe Hottani. You have 15. overall, 228 batting average,

830 OPS, a 31% strikeout rate in the second half, still does have 12 homers and 12 steel, so he's making things happen despite that lower batting average. I don't know. I really don't know with Otani right now, Scott, it's hard for me to say. I think if I was personally on the board, I just, I prefer to play it safe in the early rounds. And given the second half,

and obviously the possibility that he puts himself at more injury risk because he pitches as often as he does, I don't think that I'm, I would take Otani that early, but I understand why you have him here. Yeah, and I think you'll probably be going against the consensus if that's the case.

He may have gone a little tired in the second half. He may have just, you know, kind of slumped a little because guys who strike out as much as that tend to do that. But, I mean, you look at the home run numbers,

you look at the stolen base numbers, especially in Roto leagues, that has to go in the first round. And to me, it's more, to me, the upside is more, sets them apart from the next two hitters on the list here, Trey Turner and Jose Ramirez. I mean, they're just not going to be capable of meeting what Otani has done this year, just at the plate.

And someone brought up the point, if you're playing a league that has daily lineup changes, where should Otani go? probably first, right? You want to get literally all his pitching stats and all his hitting stats because him batting on the day he pitches, you know, you want to get those batting stats

provided you started him a pitcher that day. But you'd get most of them. You'd get most all of his stats. And getting that combined production from a single roster spot that's got to make him the most valuable player in fantasy. You know, not many leagues are going to be set up that way, but for those that are,

I could see, I could understand the case to take Otani earlier than fifth more than I can later than fifth. Yeah, no, I'm with you there. If it's a daily lineup league, I think he is the first overall pick as one player. I know there are some other fantasy providers that have two different players, one hitter Otani, one pitcher Otani. It's worth pointing out that he will be only util only again next year. So keep that in mind. And for what it's worth, if you are in that league that splits them into two different players, the hitter version of of O'Otani would still be my fifth player, I think. The pitching is just kind of a nice bonus. Yep.

You already mentioned the sixth and seventh player here. Trey Turner and Jose Ramirez, who Turner has really contributed in all five categories. He's betting 325 with 25 homers and 32 steals. Jose Ramirez, lower batting average, you know that, but power speed combination, 36 home runs, 26 steals for Jose Ramirez. And then eighth overall, you have Bryce Harper, who much like Juan Soto, is just having a ridiculous second half. 3.41 batting average, 12-11 OPS,

19 homers, six steals. Then you have Mike Trout right behind him, someone who I think will be a pretty polarizing player. I think in points leagues, the plate discipline, he's still pretty awesome. But he's dealt with injuries pretty regularly the past handful of years. He's missed a good chunk of time,

each of the past five years, basically. And he's not going to run much anymore, so I think that puts a little bit of a little bit damper on his roto value as well. Yeah, he's missed time over the, nothing that, there was nothing in his injury history that compelled us to take him outside the first round until maybe this calf injury. But my perspective is it's a calf injury where he's going to have had 10 months to rest up.

So, like, it's got to be better at that point, right? And obviously, a healthy trout is first round caliber player or somebody who could still probably compete to be the best player in fantasy. Riding out your first round, you do have Boba Chet. I'm so happy you came around, Scott. Boba Chet. Well, him on Harper both. I gave you a pushback for both Bichette and Harper in the first round.

But just the five category production for Bichette. And obviously, the fact that, you know, a big part of that is stolen bases and they're hard to come by. Yeah, I think you have to take him as high as 10th in Roto. So he's of the players we've mentioned so far, he would probably drop the most in a points league. He would probably be more like a late second rounder in a points league than a late first rounder since he doesn't walk much. But obviously getting those steals and the high batting average and everything else. Yeah, I got him 10th year. At 11th and 12th, do you have Jacob de Grom and Freddie Freeman.

Freeman rock solid, 300 batting average this year, 31 homers and 117 runs scored. It's a massive number for Freddie Freeman. DeGrom, obviously, what happens in the offseason and how his arm and elbow are looking for next year will determine where he is drafted in 2022 drafts. Let's start off the second round, and you have Mookie Betts as a 13th overall player, and I look at his numbers.

I can't really figure out what went wrong, Scott, unless, you know, he's been on the IEL a few times this year. Maybe he was kind of been playing through injury all year long, but 21 homers, 10 steals, only a 268 batting average. is he getting up there in age? I mean, he's going to turn 29 on October 7. I think that's still a player in his prime. So, yeah.

What did you see here? Like, what went wrong for Mookie Betts this year? I think health mostly, you know, before he had that first long stretch on the I.O. with the hip injury, which we now know is going to require surgery in the offseason. So that first I.L stent for the hip came in July, and he was looking like first round mooky bets in the weeks leading up to that. And obviously then went on the IL a couple times with that same injury, and is playing through the injury now.

So, you know, I think you have to factor that in. He is still in the prime of his career. He has a very stable, studly track record. And originally I had him, when I just first started laying, out the names. I had him seventh. I had him ahead of Bryce Harper and Mike Trout as well as Jose Ramirez.

It was pretty easy for me to slot Ramirez ahead of him. But then Bryce Harper and Mike Trout versus Mookie Betts, I had to think about that for a while. And ultimately what I decided is that, like, Betts doesn't have near the power upside of Harper or Trout.

So it really comes down to how much he's going to run. And after all the hip issues this year, approaching his 30th birthday, in a loaded lineup for a team that doesn't really, you know, isn't inclined to take a lot of risks on the base paths anyway. I don't know how much he's going to run moving forward. I could see him becoming just like a 12 to 15 steals guy as opposed to 25 to 30. And that would be hard to justify in the first round if it's only 12 to 15.

So I got him as the first pick in the second round. And if he ends up having, you know, retro mookie bet season, so be it. Obviously, that's nothing to complain about at that point. Yeah, no, I think this is actually a good range just early on. There's going to be some moving parts given other injuries. So we'll see what happens. You mentioned the second round is filled with pitchers. The next five picks here are pitchers,

Garret Cole, Max Scher, Corbyn, Burns, Walker Bueller, and Brandon Woodruff. And I think those are all names that are deserved, that deserve to be. in this spot. Yeah. It really comes down to, I'm not sure which belongs second, you know, among pitchers after DeGrom.

And of course, it may end up being first, depending on what happens to DeGrom this off season. He may get pushed down quite a bit. But Cole, Scherzer, Burns, Bueller, Woodruff. That's the order I have them in.

I can see the case for any of Cole Scherzor Burns and Bueller in that second spot. Woodruff, not so much. I think Woodruff is clearly the last of this group. but I kind of went with the legacy pick there in Cole I think there's a very strong case to make for Burns

he has like a 156 FIP this year the reason I the reason I put him behind both Cole and Scherzer is those two are obviously battle tested and you expect them to pile up innings every year and Burns's big jump innings this year not really sure how his arm's going to respond to that next year that's always a question when

when it happens to a pitcher for the first time. So that's why I slotted him behind Colin Scherzer. But pitch for pitch, I think Burns is probably the best pitcher in baseball now outside of DeGron. 19th overall, you have Kyle Tucker who is also having a great second half, 320 batting average, 10.06 OPS, 13 homers, seven seals. He's really been great since May. It was just an awful April that he got off to. And we were telling people at the time, buy low on Kyle Tucker because all the underlying numbers looked great for him. And that's come to fruition here in the second half for him. Marcus Semyon 20th overall, this will determine, this will be based on,

I think, where he signs in the offseason, right? So this can change if, obviously, if he goes back to Toronto, I think this is very justifiable this range for Semyon, who has 43 homers and 15 steals. But if he goes to a less hitter-friendly environment, maybe he drops down. It's like the third round, something like that. But I think that's up in the air. Yeah, no, I'd agree. I will point out he's actually hit the majority of his home runs on the road this year. A lot of those were A.L. East Parks, and they're all pretty hitter favorable except Tampa Bay. So I don't know that that necessarily says anything,

but it's not like he was just taking advantage of the Blue Jays mini-hitter-friendly venues that they played in this year. But yeah, I mean, the numbers are just... I have a skepticism toward what Simeon did this year, but the numbers are just... ginormous to really justify ranking him any lower, especially since, you know, 2019 and 2021 both, MVP caliber player.

If he signs like San Francisco, a big park like that, you know, yeah, it justifies moving him down. But if he signs, there's probably 20 parks he could end up at, and this is still where I'd take him. One that comes to mind for me is maybe Cincinnati. I don't know if they want Barrero to be their starting shortstop for next year. I guess it's a possibility. He played a few games in the outfield,

but they definitely could be in the market for a shortstop. And if Semyon goes to Cincinnati, it's a great park to hit in as well. So I don't think that that would affect his value very much. Just something random that popped into my head. And I was definitely way off on Semyon this year. And I cited the fact that entering 2021, two of his past three years

he's had a 706 OPS or less and now it's the reverse, right? So 2021 and 2019 he's had an 882 OPS or better. So I think it's looking more like 2020 was the outlier for Marcus Semyon. Not that he's going to do necessarily this again, but can he hit 265 with 30 homers

and 15 steals? If he does that, he's worthy of being a second round pick. So the last four names that will round out the second round here. Shane Bieber, Zach Wheeler, Luis Robert, and Rafael Devers. We spoke about Robert a little bit early on. Raphael Devers. Chips in a few seals, but overall, you know what you're getting a pretty high batting average. Home runs, runs, and RBI for sure from Raphael Devers. Scott, was there anyone who just missed the top two rounds here that you were really debating, kind of trying to squeeze in?

No, actually, I had a hard time with that last spot, the number 24 spot, where I ultimately slotted Devers, just because that seemed like it was going to be kind of a consensus pick. I don't know personally if I really want to rank Devers ahead of Manny Machado, who I, of course, left out because Machado has more Steals ability and a track record of doing things much like Devers did this year at the plate. So that was a close call between those two. I considered Cedric Mullins, who, of course, is coming off a 30-30 season. Not much of a track record of him doing that, though.

I considered Starling Marte, but I'm trying to be conscious not to deliberately draft for stolen bases because I just think that's a losing approach. You end up costing yourself in too many other categories. So a pure base dealer like Starling Marte, I'm trying to, I'm trying to be a little low on him intentionally. And then I also considered Robbie Ray, who I think would be my next pitcher after Zach Wheeler.

and I think probably it's not clear who it's like I think Robbie Ray is clearly the next pitcher to go beyond the one I have here in rounds one and two and then after him I think it's a pretty big drop-off you still have you know Clayton Kirshaw Jack Flaherty

Lucas Gialito but I might not start taking those guys not in a roto league anyway I might not take them for like another round like round three maybe Robbie Ray's my only pitcher and then I don't start taking those guys maybe late in round three and certainly in round four.

Yeah, I think that makes sense, too. I think Luis Castillo would probably be in that mix if you trust what he's done in the final, you know, three, four months here. Sandy Alcantara. Yeah, he's another name. Lance Lynn. Kevin Gawzman?

Yeah, Gossman's in that mix. Yep. All right. So, look, this was fun. I don't know if you were looking at the rundown, Scott, but I actually have the two names for me that I thought just missed were were Starling Marte and Cedric Mullins.

Those were the first two names that you mentioned. No, I wasn't. Look at that, Sympadico, right? You would imagine, yeah, after doing as many podcasts together as we have. Yeah, we've kind of got some things down here. Let's recap the past couple days, a few things here. Like, there's not much actionable at this point, but we'll talk about a few players who are doing notable things.

Jonathan, India, a sock and a shoe on Monday. Now up to a 273 batting average, 21 homers, 12 steals, 96 run scored, good eye at the plate, gets on base, doesn't strike out very much. He's the 55th ranked player in Roto entering Tuesday and averaging 3.1 fantasy points per game, which is top 10 at both second base and third base. He will have both of those eligibility in 2022.

And I think I'm going to be pretty excited about Jonathan India here. Scott, I don't know if he's a huge upside play, but even though he's young, I feel pretty good about his floor. Yeah, I would agree. I think at third base, is special. He will be eligible at third base next year.

You don't realize he got that much playing time there. You know, I'll pull it up. As soon as I said it, I was like, that might not be true. But I appreciate you call him out. I thought he was almost exclusively a second baseman. But yeah, I think he'll probably be like right in the 10 to 12 range of my second base rankings. Yeah, he's only played second base.

Yeah, what am I even saying, right? He's only second base eligible. Yeah. So that's a shame because third base is actually, there's actually a greater need at third base. It would almost definitely be a top 10 player there. But I agree. That's probably the right assessment. I'm not sure how much growth potential he has from here.

He's already exceeded our expectations for power and frankly for speed while getting on base a ton. I don't know. Maybe he could bet. I remember saying at one point in time, Jose Ramirez, when he was like a 1520, guy with a high batting average. Ah, well, it was great that he did that, but he can't get any better, can he? And then obviously, he has. So can never say with too much certainty for a player just starting out.

Yep. And his teammate, Joe Evato, obviously having just a massive resurgence in 2021, double dong on Monday, now batting 271 with 35 home runs. He's going to be an interesting one to figure out for next year. How much stock do we put into this? this breakout, this re-breakout, I guess, for Joey Vado. Eloy Jimenez hit his 10th home run on Monday. And I looked into him because I didn't realize he's been pretty

underwhelming overall. Eloy Jimenez. Obviously, he's coming back from the chest injury, so it's something he might still be playing through. But 261 batting average, 771 OPS, the batted ball data, the hard contact, the exit velocity. It's down this year. His home run to fly ball ratio is down as well.

maybe that's due to the ball, the D-juice ball, I guess you could call it. But I do like that the ground balls were down and the line drives were up. So it's kind of a mixed bag here for Elo Jimenez, Scott. Yeah, and ultimately, I think it's going to be too small of a sample to take a whole lot from it. Obviously, we hoped for more.

But we were denied four months of what might have been more, you know? So, clearly, Louise Robert is the preferred option in fantasy now of those up-and-coming white sucks outfielders and, you know, I kind of laid out rounds three and four just to

make sure I was happy with who I had in round two. And I didn't even really consider Aloi Jimenez through round four. So we're probably talking round five or six for him next year. Maybe even like seven, I don't know.

I mean, he's not going to contribute anything in steals. I do think that if he hits his high-end upside, his 90th percentile outcome or better. Yeah, that's probably like a second round player. Yeah, I've called him, like, I think his best season when he does have it,

because he's going to have it. He's still young enough where I think we're going to get that, that breakout season for him. I think it looks like Nolan Aronado when he was in course field. I think like a legit four-category contributor. Maybe the runs not as much because he doesn't walk all that, all that often, but

35 homers, 290. Yeah. 290 batting average, 35 homers, 100 plus RBI. I think one of these years will get that from Elo Jimenez.

Scott, you laughed at me for picking up Alcidas Escobar, but I will just point out he's got four hits with an RBI and a run scored in two games at Corse Field.

So take that. Taken. Taken. All right. If you have stream, if you streamed Cole Irvin, I am sorry, at the Mariners on Monday,

three innings, four runs, four strikeouts, five starts against Seattle this year. He's got an 8.69 ERA. So whatever Cole Irvin was doing, it was not working against the Seattle Mariners this season. Part of that was Mitch Hanigur who had a double dong on Monday.

He added another home run on Tuesday that brings him to 38 home runs for Mitch Hanigar this season. Hasn't really done much else. You know, RBI runs are okay. It hasn't really run. I think he's right around like a 260 batting average. So it's an awesome year, no doubt about it. Just realize he's. He's not really giving you much else outside of power.

Ty France went four for four with three runs and four RBI on Monday. He's batting 295, but with only 18 home runs on the season. Move over to Tuesday, and these young power hitters for the Marlins, I think they're pretty interesting, Scott. You know, Levin Diaz, we spoke about recently. I think last week we brought his name up a few times, but now back-to-back days for the homer. He's batting 257 with eight home runs in September,

and then Hazu Sanchez hit another home run on Tuesday and he's having a big September himself. 273 batting average, eight homers, a 941 OPS. And I really like that as a left-handed batter he has strong lefty-righty splits this year. I mean, they're basically, it's basically a mirror what he's done against lefties

versus what he's done against righties. So, yeah, I think Levin Diaz and Jesus there might be something for next year. Yeah. I try to approach up-and-comers who haven't really shown us who they are yet, shown us what they're capable of being yet, just because there hasn't been enough time. I try not to put firm limits on their upside.

I think I heard one point in time I heard the Cleveland Indians organization was like that too. That's kind of the approach they take with young players, and I think that makes a lot of sense. But just from what I know about Diaz and Sanchez, don't see either having a huge ceiling. I think the hope for them is that they develop into steady mid-round contributors and fantasy. And obviously, the odds are against them both doing that. But I think that's the kind of upside we're talking about with them.

And they've both shown enough signs that maybe they can get to that level. Francisco Lindor just hit his 19th home run. And very sneakily, has 19 home runs and 10 steals in 120 games. batting average not so great. He's having a big September. Lindor, 258 batting average, eight homers, 9-11 OPS, fly ball rate is up. The average exit velocity, 93 miles per hour. He's got a near 13% barrel rate in September. Overall, the season has been a letdown, a pretty massive letdown, Scott. We can all agree on that. But does this September, and the fact that we've seen other big stars in first year in a new place, in a new contract,

struggling, does that give you any hope heading into next year? I don't really know what to do with Francisco Lindor because there were some people who were fading him coming into this year and not just not because he signed with the Mets just because

the 2020 season, you know, he kind of underwhelmed then too. And most of us were going to give him a pass for it because small sample and good track record and the underlying numbers didn't look that different. But you could say a lot about that this year, too.

And other than September, it's still not even a great batting average for September. He said a few home runs. I don't know. I don't know. He's very young still. And it wouldn't surprise me at all if he bounced back with another first round type season.

But he's not a player I was considering for the first four rounds either, Lendor. And I don't think you should. I think that's fair. I think we're going to get Lindor at a good discount next year. And I think it's warranted, obviously, based on this entire season in 2020. But I think I'm going to be in, man. Like the prime of his career, it depends how big that discount is.

But I like this final month. If he becomes the Carlos Corre of this year, the Corey Seeger of two years ago, or we're talking about draft him in like round nine, round 10, I could get all over that. Yeah. but if it's round four or five, I don't know. I think I'll probably be out if that's the case. I think it'll be somewhere in the middle of what you just said.

I think probably settles in in like the six or seven. I think that could make sense for Francisco Lindor. Trevor Rogers, giving us that late season confidence after a few blips on the radar. He was at the Mets on Tuesday, five innings, one run, six strikeouts to zero walks. He had 15 swinging strikes on 89 pitches, and he averaged 95 miles per hour on his fastball,

which is up from his season average. So a nice little end here for Trevor Rogers. Scott, would you like to guess how many hits Frank Schwendell had on Tuesday? I'm going to say, Frankie two hits had two hits. Oh yeah. 336 batting average, a 995 OPS in 59 games.

Another fun random player to rank for next year. That would have been his full season in 2020. Yeah. 59 games. Yeah, that would have now I'm thinking that would have been a disaster to try and figure out

coming into this season. I hope he carries it over, man. Like, I've been following this guy's career in the minors. He's bounced around, journeyman, and he's got big pop, he puts the ball in play, so.

He was one of those. I mostly associate him, you know, I cover, covering spring training pretty closely, closer than the average baseball person would. And Frank Schwendell

was one of those no names who just go off one spring. I think it actually happened a couple springs in his career. And he just filed that name away. And suddenly he shows up as a 29-year-old has a job and look what he's doing. I think he's probably going to be in my top

20. It's the first base heading into next year. It's always difficult to say until you line up the names. Just going off the top of your head, you'd end up forgetting about some. but I'm not going to be so quick to write him off. All right.

Let's quickly wrap up with a few other things here from Tuesday. Chris Sale, five and a third, three runs, six strikeouts at the Baltimore Orioles. He's now up to 40 and a third innings pitched. And what would you, look, it's super early. What do you think a fair projection for his endings in 2022 will be, Scott, for Chris Sale? Oh, I think they'll get him to 150. 150, 160 maybe even. Yeah, I think that makes sense.

He threw 147 and a third back in 2019, 158 back in 2018. So, I mean, that's basically where he's lived the past healthy, in quotes, years, I guess. Ryan Malkassel, after an awful April, now has 31 home runs in 114 games from May 1st on. That's a 40-homer pace over 150 games. Stop me if you've heard this before, both Aaron, Judge, and John Carl Stanton homered on Tuesday, number 37 for Judge, 35 for Stanton. We had a pitcher's duel between Charlie Morton

and Zach Wheeler with a National League East on the line, and Zach Wheeler, seven innings, two runs, seven strikeouts. Charlie Morton beats him out, seven shutout with 10 strikeouts, very strong ends of the year for Charlie Morton. And Wheeler, all five of his starts in September have been Jim. So he's really, after kind of a bumpy August, I think July might have been a little shaky too.

Like his September is the reason why I still have him as a second rounder going into next year. Randy Rosa Rana hit his 20th home run. And how would you judge his season, Scott? Obviously, he has the awesome postseason last year. There were high expectations. 272 batting average, 20 homers, 16 steals, and 813 OPS. I think overall it's a little underwhelming. Yeah, I think he more or less lived up.

to his draft position, but I think most people who drafted him were hoping he'd be more than this. Ronaldo Lopez. He's now down to a 2.98 ERA, 0.89 whip, six endings, one run, four strikeouts against the Reds on Tuesday. And I saw at baseball pods on Twitter. I know he listens to a ton of fantasy baseball content and he does great work himself. He suggested adding Ronaldo Lopez in all of your dynasty leagues wherever he's available. Carl's, Rodon, we mentioned, is an unrestricted free agent, and they do have a history with turning former top prospects around the Chicago White Sox. What do you think, Scott? Would you be looking to add Ronaldo Lopez in Dynasty? Well, now you got me throwing a particular person under the bus

by going against him, but... How dare you? No, I don't... I mean, it's been a long time since he's been a process. I mean, yes, you could say about Carlos Rodan coming in two, but still not a very deep arsenal. And three of his four starts prior to this one were pretty rough, vulnerable to the long ball, not a big strikeout pitcher. I think his stuff may work in relief, but I think I don't, I think the kinds of starts like he had Tuesday would be more the exception than the rule still, as they've been throughout his career.

So I'm not terribly motivated to To get behind that pickup It was like a long-term thing All right, all right, Sky Let's be honest, you're just jealous Because I picked him up in the Scott White Dynasty League And you did it, you missed out No, I actually, I somewhat agree with you

Because while he's pitched well this year, the arsenal is basically four seam and slider And we've seen a lot of pitchers And even in recent years can't really survive with two pitches. So maybe he gets that curveball or change up back on track, but I think he needs to expand that arsenal

if he wants to remain a starting pitcher. A few bullpen updates for the Nationals on Monday. Tanner Rainey got the save, and he now has two of the last three for the Washington Nationals for the Pirates on Tuesday. Chris Stratton got his seventh save with David Bednar pitching in the eighth inning for the Orioles on Tuesday.

Cole Solzer picked up his eighth save for the twins, Alex Colomay. gave up two runs but picked up his 17th save. And I think that should be officially called the Colomé, right? If you give up two runs and still manage to get a save, it just, it feels like every time I look at a box score, that is exactly what Alex Colomay does.

For the Rangers, Joe Barlow got his 10th save, and for the Rockies, Carlos Estevez also picked up his 10th save. To stream or not to stream for Wednesday, Logan Gilbert up against the Oakland A's, Drew Rasmussen, both MLB and ESPN have him starting on Tuesday. on Wednesday at the Astros, and I searched Twitter, I search Google, I could not find anything

on whether Raspuson is starting Wednesday. I hope he is, because I picked him up and started him in Tao Wars. Daniel Lynch is going up against Cleveland, Michael Paneda versus the Tigers, Adrian Houser at the Cardinals, and Taylor Herne versus the Angels. Gilbert, Logan Gilbert,

he's the one I won here. And if I have to pick a second, probably Hauser at St. Louis. And Paneda versus Detroit isn't bad either. Yeah, that's where I was leaning. Michael Paneda versus the Tigers. How about for Thursday? Tony Gonsland versus the Dodgers.

Joe Ryan. Tony Gonslin would be going against the... Padres. Yeah. Padres. Yeah. It's not the Dodgers. You cannot face the team that you pitch for.

That would make a ton of sense, actually. Joe Ryan versus the Tigers, money. Tyler McGill versus the Marlins. Man. Justin Steele at the Pirates, Alex Cobb at the Rangers, and Nick Pavetta at the Orioles. So definitely on board with Ryan against the Tigers,

definitely on board with Cobb at the Rangers. This is a good list. Yeah. I think Gonsolin against the Padres would be my third choice, but it's not clear that he'll go particularly deep into that start. You know, McGill versus the Marlins, it's a good matchup, obviously, but he's just been so shaky lately.

It feels riskier than Gonsolin. All right, we do have a fantasy justice question from Aaron, but I'm going to save that for Friday, because somehow, with four days left in the season, I managed to go long on this podcast. So it's just kind of a microcosm of my hosting ability, I think, throughout the course of the entire season. So we'll wrap there.

We'll take your fantasy justice question on Friday. For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again on Friday. Bye-bye.