Fantasy Baseball Today - Swanson Monster Day, Worry-O-Meter & Trade Candidates! (6/25 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Dansby Swanson just had one of the best Fantasy days of the season (2:58). ... Gage Jump continues to impress (10:48). ... News (19:24): Bobby Witt Jr. was out again. ...  Scott made a big trade in his dynasty league (27:54). ... Let's fire up the Worry-O-Meter for McLean, Soriano and Woo (32:01). ... Goldschmidt keeps raking (51:00). ... Griffin Jax has been solid (1:00:26). ... Here are four trade candidates (1:03:56). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:10:32).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, June 25th. I am Frank Stample.

He's Scott White today on the show. I pointed it that way. It's supposed to be that way. He's Scott White. today on the show, Wauriometer Thursday. Thursday, seven players, six being pitchers, got one hidden there, four trade candidates in fantasy. Not players, I think, will be traded in real life,

but two players you might want to buy, two players you might want to sell right now, and then Dan Svyswanson just had one of the best fantasy days of all time. We'll get into all of it, and let's start with the players of the night, brought to you by Stitch Fix. If you're like me and clothes shopping isn't your thing, Stitch Fix has you.

you covered. Get $20 off your first order at stitchfix.com slash baseball. Holy cow. How about that? How about Dansby Swanson? My, if there was ever a my goodness gracious player of the night, Scott, or day or day and night, it's this guy. Yeah, Dansby Swanson. A huge day split between two games. It's worth noting. The, the Mets. The Met. had a double header against the Cubs. I don't know why I said the Mets first when Swanson's a Cub, but it was double header. And between the two games, he drove in 11 runs.

In all, he went five for nine, had two home runs. Both of those came in in game one. Two home runs, a triple, a stolen base. It brought his batting average up to 202. So finally over the Mendoza line is Dansby Swanson here after, gosh, the last time he finished a game batting over 200 was May 10th, so like a month and a half ago. It's been a rough time for Swanson this year, but it's not just isolated to this day to these two games in the double header. On Tuesday, right? Yeah, Tuesday.

Swanson went two for three with a home run and the double. Had four RBI in that game. So in the three games set against the Mets, he had a total of 15 RBI, three home runs. And, you know, final game of the previous series, two for three with a double. So he's now had a stretch here of four games

where he's gone nine for 15 with three home runs, two doubles, a triple, a stolen. and base, and of course, all those RBI, 15 of them. So he was due,

I think it's fair to say, given how bad his numbers looked before then, given how bad they look even still now. But for as much as he was struggling, I never got the impression

that he was, like that this was the end for dance be swans and that he was broken, that he had declined to a point where he couldn't get back to being the player we've known him to be in fantasy. I mean, the exit velocity reading is basically

where they've always been, both average and max. The plate discipline, at least in terms of walks and strikeouts, better than ever. The biggest issue seems to be that his barrel rate is very low. By far the lowest of his career. or not of his career, but... Lowest since 2018.

2018, yeah. Yeah. And that's... There is a strong correlation between barrel rate and how a player actually performs. It's not the stickiest number. It's certainly not the stickiest number over the course of the season.

I've often said that barrel rate, to me, is a reflection of just how well a player is going, how hot he is. And obviously, Dan Be Swanson and been very cold. but the more core aspects of his profile as a hitter were intact. And so it seemed inevitable to me that there was going to be a resurgence at some point. A four-game stretch or a massive doubleheader isn't enough to say it's happening.

But if it were to happen, this is kind of how the start of it would look. And so I'm hopeful right now that Dan Spies Watson is turning the corner, that he is going to be of some value in fantasy. shortstop being such a weak position. I don't know how many people are out there holding their breath on a dance be swans and turn around, but certainly in Roto leagues where you have that extra middle infield spot to fill. He could be of,

he could be of real use to you. Did you mean to say shortstop is a weak position, Scott? Or did you mean to say strong position? Strong position. I think I meant to say deep position. Right, right. And the assonance got me. Yeah.

So there's definitely a lot of high-end talent. There has been a lot of injuries at the shortstop position. as well, but we know it is a position that is loaded with a ton of talent here. And yeah, digging in, it's really just his contact profile is just out of whack this season. If you look at his expected Wobah on contact this year,

307 is just an abysmal mark. Last year it was 442. The year before that, it was 392. For his career, it's 399. MLB League averages 369. Again, his 307 entering. today. So basically his contact profile was just all jacked up. His line drive rate has been way down this year. Fly ball rate is up. The pop-ups are up. And sometimes that happens to major league

hitters where it could take half a season or, you know, in this case, a month where he's just been terrible to kind of, you know, figure things out and get back on track. So, and he's kind of a metronome for fantasy too, right? Like, you know what to expect year in and year out. It's, he's going to hit around 240. He's going to give you around 20 homers, probably 15 to 20 steals. Gonna play every day because he plays really great defense for the Cubs. So I didn't really have doubts that we would get there. But if you still think he's going to get there, his batting average just being at 200, that means he's probably going to hit something like 270, 280 the rest of the way.

That's not a guarantee. But if you think he'll get to his normal 240 mark, then he's probably going to hit pretty well the rest of the way. And this could be the start of that. Yeah, I mean, Chris likes to say that, you know, you don't count on that correction. I forget how Chris puts it exactly, but you don't count on the correction happening, like that additional, those additional batting average points to compensate for the lag earlier on. You just count on him hitting his normal amount the rest of the way 240. But even then, I mean, you're not going to, if he's just normal,

Danes B. Swanson going forward, that's a win. Yeah. You know, obviously there's no undoing what's already happened. There's no point in obsessing over that because you can only worry about today forward and fantasy. But I also wanted to stress that it's really just the batting average

where he's fallen short because we're about halfway done now. We're slightly less than halfway, but let's just say for simplicity sake, we're halfway done with the season. Well, Dancy Swanson now has 11 home runs. He has 10 stolen bases. He has 47 runs. He has 46 RBI.

So he's on a 2020-90-90 pace. Right. Which is fantastic. And kind of what we're used to seeing, actually on the higher end of what we're used to seeing from Swanson. But to be fair, the batting average that he has thus far,

he has deserved. It's a, you know, 195 expected batting average. So he has deserved that to this point. Because that barrel rate. But yeah, I do think that his overall batted ball distribution will kind of even out as the season goes on here.

He's 67% roster. so he's available in some shallower leagues. And obviously, you can't get the production that he just put up. You can only get what he gives you moving forward. There are four short stops that are rostered in more CBS leagues just ahead of Swanson right now. Brian Rokio, Jose Caballero, Brooks Lee, Zander Bogarts. They don't all play shortstop, but they're shortstop eligible.

Would you take Swanson over any or all of those names? Again, Rokio, Caballero, Brooks Lee, Zander Bogartz. Yeah, I like Swanson more than all of them And I will Comment as I update my rankings For the first time in a week If you look there now You'll see I had Swanson ahead of all of them

Even prior to this huge performance This big series All right, my player of the night It's going to go to I think for I don't know, the second or third start in a row Gage jump Another strong start here at the Giants Five shutout innings nine strikeouts to one walk

Not as dominant as the last time out, but, look, nine strikeouts to one walk. You'll definitely take that. 11 whiffs on 97 pitches here. Fastball continues to play up very well. Had six of his 11 whiffs on that fastball. Pretty normal pitch mix and velocity in this start for gauge jump. Just wanted to highlight once again. He's made six starts.

He is pitching for the athletics, which is, you know, obviously not a great environment, home ballpark to pitch in. But so far, he has a 204 ERA and a 0.96 whip. He's right around a strikeout per inning. The control has been okay so far. Okay. I'd say it's been phenomenal. 68% strikes in this one.

68% strikes overall. That's 2.6 walks per 9 is what I was looking at. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, he's been a strike thrower of, it doesn't get much higher than 68%. You're 70% you're basically leading the league. Last two starts at 12 shutout inning 16 strikeouts to four walks here, four gauge jump.

78% rostered, so could be out there in a few shallower leagues. Just wanted to highlight the matchups for next week, Scott. Are you definitely going to use gauge jump? Two home starts in Sacramento, again, Tough Park to pitching. He gets the Dodgers and the Marlins. So kind of Jekyll and Hyde matchups there. What do you think about gauge jump in those matchups? Yeah, since that second one's against the Marlins

and with the kind of run he's been on, I imagine everyone will use them. I mean, it points leagues, it's no contest. because at least in CBS at least in CBS points leagues points leagues points leagues actually can vary a lot determine based on the exact scoring

and even the default scoring on different platforms I talk a lot of times how it's the more forgiving format for pitchers and that there's a less damage can happen from a disastrous start in points leagues than Roto So that's not exactly true in every single points league. But CBS, you know, I work for CBS. I write for CBS.

So I default to that format. And in that format, it's an o' brainer. But, you know, since we're talking about gauge jump, one of the hottest pitchers in baseballs, it's one of those matchups are, is actually pretty good. I think everybody's going to start him regardless. I do think some regression is inevitable here.

He is, and that's partly why I brought up, how good of a strike thrower he's been. This kind of goes back to something Chris and I were talking about earlier in the week, where when a guy is pitching as well as jump is, and it's often reflected in how many strikes he's throwing or how well he's locating to be more precise about it, how precise he's been with his pitches. it's hard to know how sustainable that is

when there's not much of a track record and when it's going to end. Just looking at jumps history in terms of strike-throwing, in terms of walks, he had a stretch in the minors last year. I kind of referred to this the last time he talked about it. We talked about it, but I didn't go into specifics. He had a stretch in the miners last year.

Let's see. Yeah, it was a four-start stretch early last season where he had one total walk and then he walked a bunch of guys for about a six, seven start stretch. And then he went back to walking nobody again. He's going through a stretch

here with great control, but he hasn't proven that he can sustain that, that he's at his core, that kind of strike thrower. And I think once that slips up, the fact that he's kind of just an average bat misser, it's going to come back to bite him. And particularly in that home environment,

there could be some rough patches here for Gage Jump. I think he's an asset. I think he's a good pitcher in fantasy. But if somebody thinks they have the next Chase Burns on their hands or more, let's say you have Gage Jump and somebody is coming after him, like you have the next Chase Burns, then I think you need to listen to that and be open to it because I don't think Jump is near the caliber of Burns in the long run

or somebody like him. I think that's all fair. If someone in your league is kind of overvalued. him early on, but if not, and if he's just out there and available in, you know, 22% of CBS leagues. And I would imagine even more on Yahoo. Let me quickly look that up. He is only 54% rostered on Yahoo. I updated my pitcher rankings earlier today. And all these names I'm about to mention are rostered in more leagues than gauge jump. And I would rather have gauge jump than this pitcher. So, uh, Taj Bradley, Robbie Ray, Noah Cameron. Eduardo Rodriguez, as good as he's been,

I'd still rather have Gitcham. Tanner Bybee, looking up and down. I moved him just ahead of Connolly early. Not that I would want to drop early, but I mean, if he's the worst pitcher on your roster. Yeah, I'd rather have jumped than early at this point. Though I think they're basically in the same category.

I think Connolly Early is pitching about as poorly as we've seen him pitch in the last couple years, majors and minors included while Jump is a pitching about as well as we've seen a pitch the last couple years. Yeah, so it sounds like we're pretty much in lockstep here with Gage Jump, who performing very well since he got called up. Thank you to Stitch Fix for sponsoring today's Players of the Night. Stitch Fix takes the hassle out of clothes shopping.

Just take a quick style quiz, share your size, your vibe, and your budget, and you'll be matched with a real human stylist who will send you a fixed box with clothes that fit and makes sense for your life. Get started today at stitchfix.com slash baseball for $20 off your first order. That's stitchfix.com slash baseball. And one quick reminder before we hit our first break that the prospects to stash FBT Express episode will be out later today. As I mentioned on yesterday's podcast, we've made a scheduling change that will now be out

on Thursday at noon. Scott's article is already live on the site, so make sure to check that out as well. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today, and let's hit the news and notes. Bobby Witt Jr. was out of the lineup once again here on Wednesday, making that five straight. We're just kind of in a wait-and-see mode right now with Bobby Witt Jr. But hopefully, if you play in a weekly lineup league, you benched him this week because it did always kind of feel up in the air with him. Juan Soto was out of the lineup for both games here on Wednesday after leaving Tuesday with tightness in his left side.

And the left side of his back, excuse me, he could still. wind up on the IL. I guess some good news for the Mets here is that Francisco Lindor returned for the second game of their doubleheader. He went 0 for five in his first game back. Probably going to take him a little bit of time to get going. He hasn't played since late April, I believe it is. So if you play on the NFBC, you can change your lineup this weekend, get Lindor back in your lineup. If not, you'll wait until Monday in weekly lineup leagues, and you could get Lindor back in there. Hunter Green will make one more rehab start at AAA on Sunday, and if all goes well, he will make his season.

debut with the Reds late next week, Scott. Assuming that minor league rehab start is okay, would you be all right using Hunter Green his first time out next week? I mean, he is an ace, I think unquestionably. So if the velocity seems fine in the rehab start, I think I lean yes on that. I have already updated my starting pitcher rankings, rest of season.

I've moved Hunter Green up to 17th. And obviously, room to climb from there. I'm being a little cautious since. Yeah. No, we haven't seen him in so long. Yeah, I did the same thing. Let's see here. I moved him up to 26.

So I'm a little bit behind you, but it's the same kind of just playing it cautious. Let's see how the first couple starts go. But if he looks like Hunter Green in his first couple outings, then he's easily like inside the top 15 starting pitchers rest of season. As expected, Kyle Tucker was out of the lineup again on Wednesday

with a back issue. CJ Abrams returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday with left side tightness. Jeremy Pena returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday with a hamstring cramp. Connor Griffin went two for two with a homer and three RBI in his rehab game at AA here on Wednesday. And there was some talk that he won't need much time and actually could be activated as soon as this weekend. So let's pay attention to that with Connor Griffin. Mick Abel some bad news here will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow. He is without a timeline, but we'll learn more once he has the procedure.

I guess there are a few kind of minor things where he could be back again this season, but I'm not really holding my breath on that. No, you shouldn't hold your breath on it. Obviously, once we know what the surgery is, we can gauge it more accurately. But either way, like even if it is one of the minor things that puts them on a shorter timeline, the possibility of a setback is so high that I, unless you just have free IL space, ample IL space, you can cut bait on Mick Abel, I'd say.

It's not like he was a sure thing even when healthy. Corey Seeger is trending towards returning Thursday against the Blue Jays. He was on the concussion aisle. Out of nowhere, Ben Brown, who has been a big breakout this season, was placed in the aisle with a next rain. And Brown returned to Chicago. to have his neck examined by specialists. And anytime you start to hear specialists get involved,

you get a little nervous about the severity of an injury. I guess some good news for the Cubs is that Matthew Boyd will start Thursday against the Mets, so he is back. He's 80% rostered, could be out there in a few leagues. Scott, do you think Matthew Boyd to just be a must roster pitcher? Yeah, I think probably must roster. I don't think his, I don't think he's so established and has such a perfect, pristine track record that I can guarantee he's going to be must-raster rest of season.

I mean, the little bitty pitch this season, it was a struggle. But he was coming off arguably the best year of his career. And before he got hurt, his draft status was pretty high. So I think he deserves another look here coming back from injury. I don't know that I'd be in a hurry to start him, like with Hunter Green, but starting pitcher, the current state of it, there's not enough depth that I think you can afford to cut Boyd loose right now. Kyle Swarber was out of the lineup again on Wednesday with lower back tightness.

That's two games in a row. Did see that he got a pinch hit appearance in the ninth inning. So hopefully he's back in there. I don't know what the Phillies play on Thursday, but whenever they play next. Blake Snell will throw a 15-pitch bullpen on Friday, his first actual bullpen session since he underwent surgery in mid-May.

Luis Arise was out of the lineup after fouling a ball of his right foot on Tuesday. Nick Lodolo's x-rays were negative and he has minimal swelling on his wrist. And as of now, it looks like he will make his next start on Monday against the Brewers. Chris Bubich resumed his rehab at AAA on Wednesday and he only threw one inning.

No hits, no walks, one strikeout, only eight pitches. I don't know, Scott. Did you read anything? Was this the plan for Chris Bubidge? Because he actually had a bulk reliever work after him. So just kind of confused by this usage. I don't have anything to add on it.

I did not see anything beyond what you saw. I would also consider it to be strange. But, you know, maybe they're just doing a really gradual buildup with him. I don't know. I could do a quick search here to see if anything comes up on Chris Mubich. I'm sure you already did it,

but maybe something new has come out. Yeah, heat pitches. I don't know. I think we need to find out more here. Part of me wonders if they might be thinking bullpen with him, but that's wild speculation.

Yeah. Let's see. Their rotation as of now, Lugo, Kolek, Waka, Luinder Avila and Noah Carrant? Like, yeah, like, if Chris Bubitz is himself, he has a spot in the rotation, I would imagine. But, yeah, well, we'll see where this one goes.

Zach Gelloff was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday with a laceration on his right hand. Roman Anthony hasn't made any substantive progress in his recovery from that partially torn tendon in his right ring finger. Brent Rooker still has not participated in baseball activities as of Tuesday. He is on the aisle with a bone bruise in his left knee.

The Brewers are moving Robert Gasser to the bullpen for now. That means Shane Drohan and Brandon Sproett will stay in the rotation for now. So if anyone lets up, perhaps Robert Gasser is back in the rotation. The Braves option, J.R. Ritchie, back to AAA. Caleb Durbin left early with a dislocated pinky finger. The Mets are moving codized saying get to the bullpen. Jack Flaherty expected to return Sunday against the Astros. The Angels were called Josh Lowe, who was hitting well at AAA.

he hit 299, 9 homers, 6 deals, and OPS over 1,000. Decent barrel rate, but I looked like zone contact, swinging strike rates to look pretty bad for him. This is a very deep league name, Scott, but do you have any interest in Josh Lowe's return? Can't say that I do. Can't say that I do. What's dead may never die, but he's got to prove it. He's got to prove he's not dead after. So many years of seeming so.

We all have our guys, man. Josh Lowe is one of those guys for me. I can't quit. Him and Lars Nupar. It's going to take some time. We'll have to see something from Josh Lowe. I think in 15-team, 5 outfield or Roto leagues, like if he's playing, he's probably going to be on your radar,

but let's see what he could do. We had a trade. The Cubs acquired David Peterson from the Mets in exchange for first base prospect Cole Mathis. David Peterson has been terrible this season, But the Cubs have a really good defense behind them. So I don't think it matters right now, but perhaps it could matter in like a streamer type of sense in the future.

And we also had a trade in the Scott White Dynasty League involving Scott White. 24 team head to head points league. It's very convoluted. It's kind of, it's hard to explain everything. So I won't do that. Yeah, there are financial considerations with every move. Salaries and dedicated minor league prospect spots. kind of confusing. So it's not just like

the names you hear. There's a lot of like numbers involved, but I'll just throw it out there because it was a really big trade and maybe you just wanted to shed some light on it here, Scott. But you gave up Trey Turner, Ian Hap, Max Muncie of the Dodgers, Marcus Semyon and Grant Holmes, and you received three prospects.

Jojo Parker of the Blue Jays. Johnny Farmello, is he with the Cardinals now? Mariners. Mariners. Mariner's outfielder. I was thinking of a different prospect they traded. But Johnny Farmello with the Mariners, Jason Truroo. the younger brother of Jackson Trio, and then you got Danes v. Swanson,

we just had this monster game. So would you like to shed some light on your massive Dynasty League blockbuster? Yeah, I mean, you're right. It's kind of hard to contextualize for the average fantasy player because almost every deal made in a Dynasty League is an economics-based deal.

And this one is, too. I wasn't going to be able to keep Turner at Trey Turner at his price. I wasn't going to be able to keep Ian Hap at his price. They might have been able to keep Max Muncie at his price, but he's obviously pretty old and doesn't have much longevity left. And so I saw it as a last opportunity to get something of value for those three. And, you know, I'm kind of trying to clear the deck in terms of salary, except for a couple of high-priced guys that are well worth their salary, so that hopefully I

and make a splash and free agency next year. And part of the reason why I'm at a point where I could do that is because I had so many prospects, minor leaguers, who could graduate and be basically free for the first couple of years, you know, a dollar or two, not literally free, but virtually free. And those include Sal Stewart, Colson Montgomery, and AJ Ewing. all three of those. So what it basically amounted to was I gave up, I swapped out, Trey Turner, Marcus Simeon, Max Muncie, and Ian Hap, all players in this deal for Danesby Swanson,

who I got back, Sal Stewart, Colson Montgomery, and AJ Ewing. Just, you know, Swanson, I got back in the deal of those other threes I promoted, and I was able to restock my farm system with some of those prospects you mentioned, Jojo, Blank, his last name now. Parker, Joe Joe Parker, thank you, the biggest prospect of the three,

Johnny Farmello, and Jason Churio. So that was the rationale behind it. And part of my thinking there with the getting Swanson back, you know, I just kind of wanted to fill out my lineup, but I was considering

how I think he's undervalued right now. And if it turns out, you know, this trade makes me uncompetitive for this year, I'm currently doing fine and I think I'll continue doing fine since I had those pieces ready to go on the miners. But if it turns out it makes me uncompetitive,

I think Swanson's value will improve enough between now and the trade deadline that I could potentially flip him for another solid return. Again, 2014 league, so he holds value if he's himself. I didn't even realize at the time he was having this monster day. So I don't know if that trade would have gone through tomorrow, probably.

Because, you know, got to think bigger picture than that, but it, uh, are already off to a good start there with Dansby. All right. That's how it's done, folks. You want to make a blockbuster in the, in a dynasty league. Looks, look something like that. Let's fire, I don't know what I was going for there. Let's fire up the worryometer here. One to 10, one, you are not worried at all. Ten, you are extremely worried. You couldn't even be more worried. Amy, you'll start with Noah McLean. Another rough outing here against the Cubs. Six-innings, six innings, six. six runs, did have nine strikeouts, had 19 whiffs on 104 pitches, but I think this ground ball rate

being down this year, it has just led to some blow-up starts where home runs are an issue. He gave up two home runs in this start. And over his last seven, there have been a few starts in there that have looked okay, but overall just has not looked himself. Last seven starts, 559, ERA, 135 whip, 42 strikeouts to 19 walks. That is a lot of walks during that stretch. Scott, where is Noah McLean on the Worryometer? Yeah, he's been hovering right about at a four for me,

which means I'm nowhere close to dropping him, obviously. I don't think that needs to even enter the discussion. There's too much upside there. But he's clearly having to figure things out. And we've discussed it before how, and this isn't just coming from me, this isn't just my own observations, this is coming from the Mets, how, you know,

he has all these, this great expansive arsenal of pitches, but there's such a variety there, and so many of them induce so much chase that he doesn't have to be in the strike zone with them, and major league hitters have kind of figured it out. And so he's got to be able to throw strikes

with something other than the fastball, or else, they key in on it and he gets knocked around. I think he will. I think he'll figure that out. But it's part of the league catching up to him and then him having to adjust back. And it's taken a while.

You still see the upside within these rough outings. And not all of them have even been rough. They've been less dominant than we were seeing from McLean before. But he's managed to compete in spite of that. And I think that's a very good sign. but he has been slipping in my rankings from his high point where I think it won, I think it was in the top 15 rest of season at his high point. And now he's barely inside the top 30, I want to say.

Yeah, I think I had him up inside the top 10. And earlier today, I put it, I lowered him down to 21, which is still, you know, I'm still, I'm trying to guard against like the upside we saw earlier in the season. And then that's just kind of a weird range of the rankings as well. like he's back to back with Jesus Lazzardo, who kind of has like his own warts. We think Lazzardo's really good. The underlying numbers love him, but of course he just goes out and has these blow-up starts every now and then.

So I would say they're pretty similar frustrating pitchers right now. Looks like he's in line for two at the Blue Jays at the Braves next week. Is that just leave him in there, set it, and forget it? I think so. Yeah, I would lean that way for sure. I mean, the Blue Jays have been a favorable matchup. Braves are looking like a favorable matchup right now. And like I said, even though

he hasn't been very sharp lately, Nolan McLean, there's still been, he's still done a nice job of living damage if you look at the game lock. Let's talk about Jose Soriano, who has just nearly given all of it back at this point. Another rough one here against the Orioles, three innings, five runs, two homers allowed in this one.

and his first six starts, we know, incredible. 0.24 ERA, a 0.82 whip, 10K per 9, 3.1 walks per 9. His next 11 starts, including this one, 549 ERA, 164 whip, 9.3K per 9, 5.5 walks per 9. So he's still 93% rostered. He's 55% started at the Mariners next week. Scott, where are you, Jose Soriano, Wariometer, and do you play him next week at the I think this one's pretty worrisome because he's unlike Nolan McLean, I don't see how you could use Jose Soriano with the way he's going right now. He's just doing too much damage to your ERA and your whip.

His ERA for the season is still pretty good because that's the kind of start he got off to. It's taking a long time for it to pull it down. The whip is now over 1.3. Even at his best, I didn't think the control issues had gone away for Jose Soriano. He was looking like a much better batmisser, having expanded his arsenal, countering the sinker with four seamer, bringing in that splitter to go with the curveball for two swing and miss offerings. And, like, his overall swing and miss is still great. I think, I still think this is, I still think Jose Soriano is a best.

pitcher than he had been in previous years. But he has major warts still. And right now the warts are kind of overwhelming everything else. I don't think it'll always be that way, but I do think he's a pretty firm sit right now outside of maybe points leagues if he has a two-star week. But I think that's the only situation where I'd be using Soriano. Can't drop them.

I don't think you can drop them. I wouldn't do that either. But I'd be sitting. Yeah. You know, Chris has mentioned this earlier a lot of the seasons. Like, you have bench spots for a reason. So I think you should bench Jose Soriano for now. We saw his upside earlier on.

Now we're seeing that regression. I moved him outside my top 50 starting pitchers earlier today, just outside the top 50. So he could climb back up, but we need to see something. We need to see something very soon from Jose Soriano. Brian Wu. Struggled on the road once again at the Pirates. Four innings, five runs allowed.

still had 13 whiffs on 86 pitches here. 10 of those coming on his fastball. Scott, these home road splits are just insane for Brian Wu. He has allowed four plus earn runs in each of his last four road starts. And it's now a two ERA at home, 638 on the road this year. Good news. Two starts next week. They're both at home.

So you're using Brian Wu. But where is he on the Wariometer? Oh, I would say like a, two and a half. Not that worried. I am taking a look here to see how those splits looked last year. He was definitely better at home, but still 340 ERA 104 whip on the road. So it's not like he's immune to pitching well on the road. It's not like he's just a creation of that favorable environment in Seattle. But it's a, at least for this year, it's a clear and of trend that I could see giving some credence to it if you're in a situation where you really need to

safeguard ERA and WIP. I think in the long run it's going to even out. But it has there has been enough consistency to it that, you know, it's worth commenting on. It's worth maybe responding to. Next week, I think it'll be fine. I don't see any obvious concerns apart from that home away split. so I still would be treating Wu as a top 15 pitcher overall. But it has been frustrating. The road starts. Yeah, and I just don't know that there's anything we can do with it, right? Like, are you going to bench him in his next road start?

I mean, this is probably your SP1 that you drafted, right? Unless you just somehow wound up with a loaded pitching staff and you kind of have that luxury where it's a real decision for you. I just don't really see how you could bench it. him. One other thing that stands out to me just on his season, his strand rate this year, last year was 80%. This year it's down to 62%. So that's a pretty wild swing from year to year. League average around 75%. I would think there's some positive regression coming here, just his ability to pitch with runners on base and stranding more of those as the season goes on. Remember that was a stat Al Melchior used to love strand rate. I never really worked with it myself.

Yeah. It's just something that typically like regresses to the norm over the course of the season, but yeah. And he allows so few base runners that I wouldn't imagine it would be as big of a concern for him as for most anyone else. But it's still a one. It's still a 104 whip to your point. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Yep. Let's talk about Traeus Savage, who has not looked very savage lately up against the Astros. It was an okay start. just on the surface, but five more walks here for Trayy Savage. He now has five or more walks in three of his last five starts. And if you go back to his last six starts overall, again, some starts in there have been okay, but the walks are a major problem.

535 ERA 125 whip, 22 walks over 35 in a third innings during that time. And he's 79% started. He's in line for two next week against the Mets and at the Mariners. Scott, where is Trayy Savage on the Worryometer? Are you just firing him up as a two-star pitcher next week? So to answer your second question first, which is the way that normally goes, yes, I am just firing him up as a two-star pitcher. This was a good start for fantasy. I understand he walked five and you're not going to get away with doing that very much.

But it was a good result. It is, you know, three of his last five starts now with five or more walks, which is definitely concerning. his previous start, the one just before this, no walks in seven in a third innings. So it is a head scratcher. It's not unprecedented for you savage. If you looked how he did in the minors last year, I mean, obviously huge performance,

tons of strikeouts that got him promoted to the majors late the year. But the control issues could be pretty extreme at times. and what I've observed from Trey is Savage between his three starts in the majors last year, his time in the postseason, where remember he had two monster starts with double-digit strikeouts in the postseason last year. And now this year, what I've observed is that he beats himself.

Like, he is kind of untouchable with that over-the-top delivery, the splitter, another great swing and miss offering in the slider. When he's on, when he's in the zone, he's pretty much, I'm not going to say impossible for hitters to beat, but he's definitely going to keep the team in the game. It's just when his control gets away from him, he's his own worst enemy in that way.

And I think that's a good indicator overall for his upside for the kind of pitcher tray of Savage is ultimately going, to be, but it's a little worrisome in the meantime. I don't think enough to sit him. It's certainly not in a two-star week. In fact, I came out with an article earlier this week, six buy low pitchers. Tray Savage was on it. Was Brian Wu on it? Brian Wu was not on it because I didn't really think you could buy low on him, but if you can buy him as less than a top 15 pitcher, you should. Yeah, I would agree with that. Let's talk about you. Shota Imanaga who struggled with the long ball once again at the Mets,

five and a third innings, four runs, three homers allowed. How crazy is this? He allowed just three hard hits in this game. All three of them were home runs. Like, dude, Chota Imanaga, if you didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all. Look, part of it is he gives up a lot of fly balls, he gives up barrels. So it's not entirely just luck, but 1.96 home runs per nine, basically the same as it was last year at this point.

and it just kind of worries me with this juiced ball conversation going on right now. Someone who would be affected most is somebody like Shoti Imanaga. So, Scott, where are you at? Choti Imanaga on the Wariometer. Do you use him next week home against the Padres, which on paper should be a good matchup? Yeah, it should be. So probably yes.

But man, these home runs. And it's not like it's a new development for him. Obviously, they were an issue. last year. There were an issue in his rookie season, which is why a lot of us had him as a candidate to regress, though maybe not as hard as he actually did last year. Started out great with the extra velocity this year, but now it's 15 home runs in his past seven games. It's hard to imagine the pace is going to remain that high all season long. And in his previous two games, both homerless, but they were short. Neither of them six in.

So even when he's avoiding the home runs, he hasn't been as valuable as you'd like. And they were against the Rockies. Yeah. So I think you start him with that matchup, but Imanaga is clearly not must start moving forward. Terrick Scoobble, perhaps we can move pretty quickly through this one. But he did struggle with the long ball against the Yankees, four runs over six innings, three homers allowed Paul Goldschmidt, tagged him for two homers. apparently Goldschmidt just owns Terrick Scoobo, which is crazy.

Don't say that with that tone of surprise, as if Paul Goldschmidt hasn't been a monster since rejoining the Yankees lineup. He has. I remain so skeptical, but he keeps doing it, man. And he destroys lefties, like legitimately in OPS over 1,300 against lefties this year. He is so good against lefties.

I did something I never do with my. sleeper hitters article, the hitters to stream for the upcoming week. The Yankees were among the teams with the worst hitter match-ups, and yet I put Goldschmidt on the list, not just on the list, at the top of the list,

and that's because they were scheduled to face five lefties. Last 25 games, now Paul Goldschmidt is betting 337 with nine home runs in those 25 games, everyday player. He's been amazing. Most under-roastered hitter and fantasy. But this isn't a Paul Goldschmidt segment. This is a

Terrick Scubel. Terrick Scubel, yes. Worryometer. Three starts since returning a 496 ERA, six homers allowed. And he is coming back from surgery. So any concern at all, Scott? I'm not going to say zero,

but I'm going to say one. It is one of Terik Scouble's superpowers is how the little bit of contact he allows. is weak and mostly on the ground. He is not somebody who

has home run issues pretty much ever. In addition to all the missed bats and the incredible control, he keeps the ball on the ground too. So the six home runs in the last three games, very strange. Everything else seems normal. I think it's just kind of a fluke. Maybe not literally

a fluke, maybe some command issue going on there, but a very small one that's going to be sorted out here and very quickly. And the lone hitter on this list is Spencer Steer, who actually hit his 13th home run in this game. He went two for five. But in his previous 16, he was four for 53.

That is an 075 batting average. Three of the four hits were home run, so that's good. But it was a lot of ground balls, a 30% strikeout rate, quality of contact way down, expected stats way down during that stretch. 81% rostered should he be, Spencer Steer? Yeah, I think. so because he's outfield eligible, because he's second base eligible and first base, hard to imagine that many people need him at first base, but those other two positions,

quite possibly. I remember we talked about him when he was at his highest, and I thought, even though the underlying numbers said otherwise, I thought he was going to regress closer to typical Spencer's deer, and I think we've seen that, but there's still a lot of value in that, you know, And if he's starting to come around again, I think it justifies holding on to him. Yeah, I think I was on the other side of that too. I think I was maybe sipping the Spencer Steer Kool-Aid

a little bit too much a couple weeks ago and now has come back down to Earth. But we'll see. L.E. De LaCruz back in the lineup. Hopefully they can get going. Still a really great home ballpark. And yeah, that flexibility really good for fantasy there with Spencer Steer.

Let's take our final break. When we return, I've got some waiver options, some potential trade candidates in fantasy. We'll talk about those right. after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today, and let's quickly run through some waiver options from Wednesday's action.

We just spoke about the man, Paul Goldschmidt, who apparently owns Terrick Scoobel. He had two home runs in that game. The first player to hit two home runs off Scoobel in a game since Paul Gulchmidt in August of 2021. How about that? Yeah, he's hitting over 400,

a 1,300 OPS against lefties. He's 67% rostered, six home games next week. Two lefties on the schedule, and he gets Terrick Scoobel once again. I think the Yankees have faced the Tigers three weeks in a row now. It's kind of a weird setup, but yeah. You said it earlier, Scott, you think Goldsmith is the most under-rastered player in fantasy? And I kind of get it. Obviously, we had written him off.

He was old and nobody wanted him in free agency, and the Yankees signed him to be in a platoon role. but even now the exit velocities are not quite what we're used to seeing from Goldschman, not when he was at his best. But there's such a track record here, and he's been performing so well for so long. He's in a good lineup. Yeah. You know, how many first basemen do you need?

That's part of it, too. I understand because it's a struggle to get every good first basement in my top 25 at the position. but still, Goldschmidt. It's got to be rostered right now by someone in your league. Is there anything we could do with this one, Scott? Luis Garcia Jr. He has quietly had a great June. He had his 13th home run.

He now has eight home runs in the month. And he was actually solid in May as well. So since the start of May, 45 games, 270 batting average, 12 homers, 33 RBI, 92 mile per hour average EV, 11% barrel rate. He still does not play against last. Lefties, although he has been okay against them in a small sample this year.

61% rostered, is there anything we could do with this, Luis Garcia Jr.? I don't know that it really needs to be much higher than that because there are so many limitations here. The biggest being, like you said, almost never starts against lefties. And they have three lefties on the schedule next week. And he hardly walks either. So this makes them basically useless in points leagues where, first base, second base, the two positions where he's eligible,

there's more than enough to go around in a points league. Roto league's fine, but even there, it's not like he's a game changer. He's just like a, just in a talent evaluation sense. Louis Garcia is a fine hitter, solid

hitter, expected batting average 279, expected slug 459. They were even higher last year, and obviously, we don't remember him being of much value then he's hot right now okay you want to use him as a high hand i get it but i don't think at the long run you'd be missing out on much here if you passed over louise garcia here is another reminder to add as many rockies as you can right now i am very interested

scott to see how many of them will be on your sleeper hitters because it's finally happening seven games at home in course field next week we've waited all year for this we have waited all year And so two names I wanted to highlight up top who had good games again here on Wednesday. Willie Castro, three for five with two runs and his sixth stolen base. He's had a really good June. He's 46% rostered.

He's eligible everywhere except catcher. And Cole Carrick, two for four, with a double three RBI. He's looked really good since getting called up. He's got three homers, 11 RBI, OPS over 900. He's 55% rostered. Those are only two names,

but I can imagine T.J. Rumfield might be on that list for anything. next week. Jake McCarthy might be on that list for next week. So, uh, yes, load up on your Rockies for next week. I believe they're facing the Marlins and the giants. So those are the teams. Yeah, I'm looking at it now and obviously subject to change, but seven games only one lefty. So that's good news for Rumpfield and especially McCarthy. Yep. Yeah, I think,

I think they're going to be a lot of Rockies on the list. All right. Uh, since I mentioned Cole Carey, let's rank these young outfielders once again. Braden Montgomery went one for four with his second. home run does have a bit of a flare for the dramatic. His two home runs have come in the ninth inning against very good closers, like Kate Smith and Rice Hille Glacius. Those are the two home runs that Braden Montgomery has hit. He's 60% rostered. AJ Ewing, big game two of their doubleheader against the lefty in Imanaga. He went two for three with a walk and his third home run. He has a monster home run too. He has, what you expect. He's picked things back up in June. He's having

actually a very solid month here, AJ Ewing. And Jason, Dominas, one for four with his third home run, this one off of Terrick Scouble. The big talking point, at least among like Yankees fans and everything coming into the season, can Jason Dominguez hit lefties? And he actually has been really good against them in a very small sample so far this season. So Scott, how would you rank those four? Carrig, Brayden Montgomery, AJ Ewing, Jason Dominguez. I think I go, Carrig.

I got to take a closer look at Dominguez. I'm inclined to put them last right now, but Carrick, Ewing, and then Montgomery, I don't know, I might lean Dominguez over Montgomery. Montgomery, it's been pretty underwhelming so far

for Montgomery. I think I would lean that same order that you threw out there, though. Montgomery over Dominguez, but it's close. Montgomery, yeah, it's close between those two. I think, I think Carrig's the clear number one. and then Ewing, you know, he's been kind of up and down,

but as you said, he's looking better in June again. He brings that speed element that certainly Montgomery lacks. And Dominguez has that too. That's part of the reason why I like him more. I just obviously not as much job security there. I don't know. Is Montgomery's job that secure, hard to say? It's really just contingent on him hitting while Dominguez,

that's less the case. Chandler Simpson is starting to run again. he had two steals on Wednesday. He has five steals in his past five games. He's 70% rostered. I don't think you, outside of a categories league, if you need speed, I don't think you need to re-ad him, especially in a points league or anything like that.

But if you held on this long, this is just, you know, okay, he's starting to pick things back up, which we needed to see. I mean, he was in a very, very bad slump there with Chandler Simpson. I have some catchers I want to mention here. Francisco Alvarez. He has been pretty hot lately.

Two home runs here. and three home runs in his past two days. 13 games since returning. He's hitting 319 with four homers. He is 42% rostered. I think in one catcher leagues, if you lost to Will Smith or Adley Ruchman, I think he kind of vaults to the top of the replacements,

the way that Alvarez is playing right now. And then Andy Rodriguez, I just wanted to highlight, he's been hitting really well. Ex and velocities are really good. Playing time is starting to pick up a little bit here, and he's only 18. percent rostered. So it's only for two catcher leagues, Andy Rodriguez, but Scott,

anything else to add on Alvarez and Andy Rodriguez of the pirates? Yeah, I agree that Alvarez is emerging as a prime target and the one catcher leaves where he's still available. We know he has a lot of upside. He's struggled to live up to it, in part because of injuries. But anytime he gets hot, it's fair to wonder, is this the time? Might be the time. He's still very young. Andy Rodriguez is interesting. I mean, there was a point where he was considered a top prospect. It was a few years ago.

Injuries have really set him back, but there's still that latent talent in there. And I think in two catcher leagues, now that he appears to be emerging as the pirate's primary choice, I think it's a good call. I didn't want to follow up on that Chandler-Simpson thing because you mentioned five steals in his past, last five games. He had gone 30 games without one.

Yeah. And now five and five. His steel pace is so different from last year. He had 44 steals in 109 games. This year he has just 19 and 75. So it's a very different pace. I mean, that's the nature of stolen bases. I mean, home runs are kind of like this too. But I think especially stolen bases, they can come, they can be so fragmented like that. And that's not to get into format. Wars here, which everybody hates, because they love their own format, and that's fine.

You do you. But that is one of the frustrations with head-to-head categories leagues, right? It's like you draft this supposed elite base dealer, and then he goes, weeks where he doesn't contribute in the category at all. And that's all he's supposed to really be doing. I am curious to see if they've worked on his technique, because it's not like he wasn't trying to steal bases during that 30-game drought. he was getting caught a lot.

But I think he's 5 for 5 in the last 5 games. So hopefully he's figured it out. All right, a quick look at some waiver wire pitchers here. And not too many names, but Griffin Jacks. We know he won't throw more than five innings, but he is pitching well this time against the Royals, five innings, two unearned runs, seven strikeouts to two walks, 13 whiffs on 88 pitches.

And moving away from the four-seem fastball in the start, I think that's a good recipe for him. And in the 11 starts, he's made the season, some even shorter when he was first getting transitioned. But overall, it's a 240 ERA, a 120 whip, 40% rostered in line for two at the Royals at the Astros next week. Scott, I think Jacks needs to be rostered in all points leagues. And even some category leagues with those matchups next week at Kansas City at Houston, I could definitely see using him in that scenario. Yeah, the one frustration is that he has yet to go beyond five innings. I don't think it's going to happen either.

You don't think it's ever going to happen? They've shown no inclination to do it. I kind of think, like, because he hasn't been a starter in so long, and, you know, the innings accumulation over the course of the season, I just don't really see it happening. But I could be wrong. I think it is going to happen. And that's kind of what I'm clinging to here.

So in his last eight starts, no more than five. innings, 250 ERA, 125 whip, right out of strikeout per inning. But also, you know what, I don't think this is updated with the latest start, but it would only go up, 14.1% swinging strike rate, which is phenomenal. I mean, that would be among the very best pitchers in baseball if Griffin Jacks qualified. And again, that's as a starter. So I think there's a lot more strikeout upside here than he's even showing in this role. And yeah, he's been very stable in terms of run prevention.

So I think the arrow is pointing up here for Griffin Jacks. All right. I have three other names here. I don't think they matter much, but I'll ask about them anyway. Tyler Malley pitched well in his return. It looks like he gets to at the D-backs at the Rockies next week. Wolf. Mike Burroughs, a solid outing at the Blue Jays, but he's mostly been terrible this year.

Just his fourth quality start of the season. and J.P. Sears, very deep league names, solid in his return. He was getting crushed in the minors. Yeah. I don't think they matter, but it's got any interest at all in Tyler Malley, Mike Burroughs, or JP Sears. Definitely not Sears. Not really for Burroughs because even with this good start, he's got a 548 ERA in June. It was kind of interesting.

Malley ditched his cutter in this return. It was a pitch he was throwing 15%. of the time. But it was his worst pitch with 333 batting average against. So, you know, he leaned more on the fastball, the splitter, the slider, velocity was up on all three, got a good result. First starting a month, coming back from a hamstring injury, he's been somebody we've cared about in fantasy in the not too distant pass. So I would just say keep an eye on it, but I want to call Tyler Malley a huge priority off the waiver wire. All right, continuing on, I did just want to mention, like, Martin Perez, as soon as we bring

him up as a streamer, like, this was always going to happen, right? Martin Perez, a bad start against the Padres. This, oh, gosh, fantasy. Four trade candidates, I wanted to quickly mention here, two potential buys, two potential sells. So, wanted to mention on the buy side, William Contreras had a big game, three for three, two walks, his eighth home run, and I just wanted to highlight that his, Ground ball rate is down a lot this year.

He's hitting more fly balls, more line drives. His pulled air rate is up from 11% to 18%. I think we might be due for a really big summer here from William Contraris. If he can maintain that batted ball distribution. I think we could get a big power summer out of him. So it's kind of like a buy high, a bi medium. Like he's been pretty good this year. But I think he could actually ascend to even a higher level.

And then Mookie Betts. We mentioned his name a few times. I'm going to plant a flag here. I actually think he's going. I think we're starting to see it. I think better days are coming for him. He went three for four with his ninth homer. Last 11 games hitting 378, three homers,

10 runs, a steel, lots of line drives. And the expected stats have said all season that he has been unlucky. I know he's older, but in the middle of that Dodgers lineup. I think better days are coming for Bolt Scout. What do you think about trying to buy on William Contreras and Mookie Betts right now? Yeah, I can't really say anything to counter that. I don't think buying high on mooky bets, or I'm sorry, buying low. I rephrase that.

I think you can buy low on mooky bets while still not expecting him to perform like the mooky bets of a couple years ago, where you're going to get second round production or whatever. I don't think that's realistic. I would agree with that. But even not expecting that, I think there's a good job. You could buy low on him. Think of them as more like a fourth, fifth round performer. Then I think that's a wise choice.

William Contreras is interesting because he is one of those players where if you take the micro view of watching him on TV, a few times you will come away, depending on what games you catch, you will come away thinking this guy has monster power. But then when you take the 30,000 foot, of you, you know, sometimes he eeks out 20 home runs, sometimes not. He's been a good hitter overall, but like he hasn't delivered the big home run totals that I feel like he has the capacity to do.

And with that improved pull air rate, you know, it's always been so low in his career. Maybe it could happen. I do think he's become a bit underrated in fantasy because there have been so many emergent studs at catcher. And he used to be the top guy. Nobody thinks him as the top guy anymore, rightfully so. But he's not that far off.

And yeah, I think, I think if you could get him in any sort of discount, good call. All right, two of their names here. You might be looking to sell right now. And I believe you guys brought up this name last week,

where if he had a couple good starts in a row, look to do this. But Ryan Weathers, a strong start here at the Tiger, six innings, two runs, one of those earned six strikeouts, but he gave up a lot of hard contact in this one. I was watching this start,

like line drives, long fly balls that were really good catches in the outfield. So I think he's a little bit fortunate in this one. It's back-to-back quality starts. We don't know what's going to happen once Max Fried returns. Again, like anything can happen. Someone else could get hurt. But, you know, if everyone is healthy a month from now,

does Ryan Weathers have a rotation spot? I think that's a real question. And then the other one, let me just emphasize the sell high part of this. It's going to get me in trouble. Otto Lopez, I'm just going to throw it out there because he's been so ridiculous. He just hit his sixth home run.

He's having his best month yet. He leads Major League, all baseball, and hits this season. He's hitting 340. He's got 51 runs, 16 steals. He is vastly overperforming his expected stats. So I think Otto Lopez is really good. I don't think you have to sell him like, Oh my God, the bottom's about to fall out here.

But if you could cash it on him for like a, I don't know, like a second or third round player, like it's probably not realistic, but, you know, I might just look into it. That's all I'll say. Scott, your thoughts. 40 batting averages just don't happen mathematically anymore. Not in the modern game. I mean, you say he's vastly outperforming his expected batting average,

and he is by 50 points, yet it's 93rd percentile that expected batting average. It's about a good of an expected batting average. adding average you can get. He's good. He's legit good. I think he's good, but I don't know if he's great, you know, like this. Yeah. Yeah, that's fair.

I don't think there's any harm in holding on to Otto Lopez as your second basement or shortstop. I don't think you lose in any way by doing that. But if you can get a monster return particularly, I think the likelyest scenario would be in a categories league or. Roto League where somebody is really desperate to improve their batting average situation, they might pay out the nose for the guy hitting 340. And that's, I think, the scenario you're talking about.

Yeah. And that's it. Like, again, I think he's a legit good hitter, but it's, you know, you would have to really, really get a big return. Ryan Weathers, I think you're on board with trying to sell high there, right? To the degree it's possible. He does have a 395 ERA. True.

I don't know that people are going to be jumping at the chance but I did come out with an article Six Pitchers to Sell High and was guys like Justin Rebleski Who else was in there? Eduardo Rodriguez Guys who are

like they've been some of the top pitchers of fantasy this year Spencer Arredetti And yet people who listen to this podcast Emerson Hancock Will Warren. They don't listen to the podcast, but I'm just thinking it more.

Yeah, yeah, people who listen to the podcast would already know. You know, they know they're pretty fake. So that was a criticism I got for that article. Like, who's actually buying on these guys? And I think maybe Ryan Weathers might fall into the same category, even more so because his ERA is actually high. Quickly run through some leftovers here.

And on the pitching side, Yuri Perez made his return. And he was okay against the Rangers. four and two thirds, one run, only one strikeout to zero walks here, got up to 68 pitches. Scott, what did you think of the return? And he's only 24% started, lined up for two at the Rockies at athletics next week. So pretty, pretty tough matchups. Yeah, I could see doing it in a points league, but even then it feels dangerous. I think Yuri Perez is going to be fine in the long run.

I didn't see any obvious red flags. here, but even prior to the injury, still seem like he was figuring things out. And those are the two worst environments to pitch in next week. So definitely dangerous. The rest of the pitching left over is Jacob de Grom, a tough loss at the Marlin, six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts, did have 24 whiffs on 91 pitches. Wifts have not been the problem. Ranger Suarez, a quality start in-course field, six innings, three runs. Two of those earned, had nine strikeouts to one walk. Braxton Ashcraft, yet another gem this time against the Mariners.

Six innings of one run ball, 10 strikeouts to zero walks. And Shohei Otani, another quality start. This one at the Twins, six innings, three runs, two earned, eight strikeouts. I don't know what happened here, but his velocity was way up. Basically, all of his pitches are up between like two and three miles per hour in the start for Otani. and he had 20 whiffs on 89 pitches. Scott, anything to add on Otani, Ashcraft, Ranger Suarez, and Jacob Grom.

Otani is one of those pitchers who I've decided. It's not really worth digging into the pitch selection or the characteristics of the pitches. It's just he could kind of do whatever he feels like doing that day. And he always comes out smelling like roses, it seems like. So I just try not to think about it. Uh, let's see. DeGrom, even though he took the loss, I think he relieved some of the concerns I was having about him, which were always minimal.

But, you know, it'd been kind of shaky that ERA was trending up. Just look dominant despite not getting a win out of it. Suarez and Ashcraft, I mean, I feel like they just continued to do their thing. Not much to add there. on the hitting side Wyatt Langford another home run his seventh and an 18 games since returning

306 batting average six homers two steals 978 OPS but as you and Chris pointed out earlier in the week the underlying numbers not really supporting what Langford is doing right now Sam Basayo

it started to look better I will point out so his average exit velocity now during his last 12 games not even including the big performance Wednesday. It's up to 89.2,

and he has a great pull air rate during that time. So 89.2, it's not impressive on its own, but it's workable, especially if you're pulling the ball air in the air as well as White Lanford is. I was starting to, it's starting to feel more promising to me. Sam Bessio, two for five,

with a double dong four RBI. One of the homers, 112.5 exit velocity. Bessio was really good in April and May. He has struggled here in June. I know he's been battling some injury things too as well, so perhaps that has contributed. Ryan O'Hern keeps doing his thing, four for five with three doubles, two runs, and three RBI.

Bo Bichet, he keeps on hitting three for eight with his 10th home run across the two games and updated June numbers for him, 349, five homers, 17 RBI, 979 Ops. It's got anything to add on Bichet, Ryan O'Hern, Sam Bessio. No, not. Really? Pesio, I guess it just wanted to surprise me if Pesio went off here.

I traded him away in a league, the podcast for the People League, this past week, actually in a deal that included Ian Hap, me getting Ian Hap. I traded Ian Hap three times, or I made three trades involving Ian Hap over the past week, once getting him twice trading him away. I don't have strong feelings about Ian Hap. It just feels like he's, I don't know, an easy player to trade right now. People with outfield needs, you don't feel like you're giving up too much, though. Yeah.

But I did that in part because I have been Rice, who I could move from first base to catcher. I had Eldridge and Goldschmidt, who I could slot at first base. So it just seemed like Basaya was expendable to me, but I do feel like we're going to get a big summer from him, especially with Rushman herding. Call to the bullpen for the Marlins. Pete Fairbanks got the ninth with a three-run lead. He allowed a solo homer but picked up his 12th save.

For the Rockies, Antonio Sanzatella through two perfect innings across the seventh and eighth. It was Jimmy Hergut who got the ninth and he struck out two for his second save. Jaden Hill also went on the IL. So perhaps Hergit is next up for the Rockies. It probably doesn't matter outside of NL-only leagues. For the Guardians, Kate Smith got the ninth with a two-runner. lead. He allowed two solo homers to tie it. He took his third blown save. For the White Sox on the other side, Grant Taylor got the top of the 10th inning with the game tied. He allowed two hits,

and that meant the Manfred Man came into score. He took his first loss. For the Yankees, David Bednar allowed a hit, but picked up his 16th save, and that is now 11 straight scoreless appearances for David Beddard. He has looked much better as of late. For the nationals, Orlando Rbalta got the ninth with a one-run lead. He got the first two outs, then a walk. He was relieved by Richard Love Lady, who gave up a two-run homer to Derek Hill. The Nationals do not have a closer,

and they never will ever again. For the Phillies, Yohan Duran struck out the side for his 19th save. For the Astros, Josh Hader picked up his sixth. He has looked very good since returning. For the Cubs, in game two, they had a two-run lead going into the top of the ninth. they tacked on three more runs.

It was Jacob Webb who pitched the bottom of the ninth. So I think if it remained a save, he probably would have just been there in there to get the save. I don't know that he's very good, but, you know, we need saves. Cubs bullpen is kind of wide open right now. For the Dodgers, Tanner Scott picked up his 11th save. For the Padres, Mason Miller was unavailable. Jason Adam picked up his second save.

And for the athletics, Elvis Alvarado got the ninth with a one-run lead. He instantly gave up a game. game-tie-home run to Raphael Devers, and then later gave up a walk-off homer to Victor Berkoto. So, Alvarado took his first blown save. He has looked pretty shaky as of late. Couldn't get it done. Come on, man.

Who's next for the athletics? Say the line. They do not have a closer, and they never will ever again. But if I had to guess, I'd probably say Hogan Harris gets the next save. Maybe. Yeah, I think he leads the team, but he's never the first choice at any given moment. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, we have Seth Lugo at the Rays, Ian Seymour, bulk reliever against the Royals, Bubba Chandler against the Mariners,

Landon Rup against the Athletics, Tatsuya I Mai at the Tigers, Troy Melton against the Astros, Cade Cavali against the Phillies, Michael McGreevy against the D-backs. Not a bad day. Roop. Landon Rup, I like him in general, and I like him for a home start against the athletics. I want to see what his home-away splits look like.

He's actually worse at home. That doesn't make any sense. Ignore it. It gets a lot more strikeouts at home. Let's see. So Rup and also... I think yesterday I said Rup Kavali-McGrievey. I don't mind Lugo a...

Tampa Bay either. But yeah, Kavali's probably second choice. I am interested to see what Imai does as a follow-up, but there's no way I would trust him. Troy Melton is kind of like on the fringe, but he doesn't miss enough bats.

I could see it with Troy Melton. He's kind of, you know, just on the outside looking in. On Friday, we have Andrew Abbott at the Pirates, Trevor Rogers against the Nationals, Joey Cantillo against the Mariners, Walbert Arrania against the Athletics, Walker Bueller, Revenge Game.

against the Dodgers. This is a little harder. Maybe Cantillo? Yeah, the Mariners struggle a lot against lefties. Okay, that helps. And was it just that last start where Cantillo? Yeah, it's only been one. But he was amazing.

It's only been one. Yeah, but he went eight-inning, struck out nine. I think I would go Cantillo-Arania Abbott on Friday. I like it. Let's do it. Log it in. We are... That's the lock-in sound. I hit the button.

Good to wrap there. For Scott, I am Frank, thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow.

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