Fantasy Baseball Today - Tigers Promote Jackson Jobe, Keeper League Stashes & Guess Who!? (9/24 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

The Tigers are promoting the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, Jackson Jobe (2:30)! ... Julio Rodriguez is finishing strong (11:09). ... Matt Chapman has had a huge bounce-back season (16:22). ... News (22:20): Yordan Alvarez has a sprained knee. ... Bryce Miller vs. Hunter Brown did not disappoint (27:39). ... Let's run through Monday's standouts (32:11). ... Who are the top injury stashes in keeper leagues (42:50)? ... Let's try and stump Scott with a game of GUESS WHO (47:21). ... We wrap up with bullpen updates, streamers and Team Name Tuesday (1:01:47). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 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/ 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. And first pitch, Rishing. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott and Chris.

Happy Jackson Jove Day, and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, September 24th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. And today on the show, we have quick thoughts. on each of Monday's standouts, only a four-game slate, so I had to get a little creative. I'm pretty happy that Jackson Job got called up gives us a little bit more filling for today's show.

We will talk about some injured players to stash in Keeper League. I've been getting lots of questions about that. I will once again put Scott to the test with a game of guess who, but there is only one place to start. And that is with a big prospect promotion. The Tigers are calling up the top pitching prospect

in all of baseball Jackson Job and they are gunning for that wild card spot. Job will pitch out of the bullpen so there's not really much fantasy value here at all for the rest of this season but this is a really really big deal. It's a really big prospect promotion and somebody who

could turn out to be a fantasy ace when it's all set and done. 22 years old first round pick back in 2021. This season in the minors a 236 ERA 112 whip 96 strikeouts over 90s. one and two-thirds innings. The control has taken a step back this year, Scott.

One thing that stood out to me with Jackson Job, but lay it on me, Scott. What are we expecting here? What does the arsenal look like? How much excitement is there with someone like Jackson Job? I think he's the best pitching prospect in baseball, so whatever excitement goes with that, I guess would go with this.

As you rightly point out, yes, the last week of the season, lineups have already locked, for the last time in weekly leagues, and he's not filling a fantasy role anyway. So it's, there's zero fantasy implications for this call-up, at least in the immediate term.

And it's mostly just a matter of satisfying curiosity. We get to, we get a glimpse of Jackson Job in the majors now. And even though it's working out of the bullpen, I imagine it'll be working multiple innings at a time. the tigers have gone with this patchwork rotation in the second half, even though they've been the best team in the AAL in the second half and have put themselves in the position to advance to the playoffs.

They've done it with kind of a mess of a starting rotation and not even a true starting rotation. A lot of openers being used. And so I think Jackson Job is going to latch on to a couple of those lesser arms. Cater Montero and Brand Herder, those guys haven't been used quite like true starters. So that's the role I think that Jackson Job is going to fill. Maybe he makes two appearances the final week of the season. And maybe he makes an appearance in the playoffs.

Maybe the Tiger is surprising go on a deep playoff run. And maybe Jackson Job will have a chance to capture the imagination. of fantasy baseball players everywhere with the kind of impact he makes in that deep postseason run. It could be reminiscent of David Price getting called up in, gosh, how long ago was that?

2007? Is that too old for me to even reference at this point? No. Go for it. Go for it? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's how things played out for him. He was, I believe, the top pitching prospect in baseball at the time.

The race called him up to be a multi-inning reliever, and he made an impact. as they advanced to the World Series that year. So maybe that's how this could go for Jackson Joe. But if it goes that way, then he's going to enter next year with, I think, a lot of momentum in fantasy, a lot of hype. But I think more realistically, the tigers get bounced pretty early. And he doesn't get a chance to make a real impression for next year.

I haven't really talked about what his strengths are, hard thrower, great slider. it reaches 3,000 RPM, which you don't often see on that pitch. His numbers in the miners have been pretty fantastic overall. He's had some innings that have limited his workload down there, hasn't thrown 100 innings in a season yet. But he had the 195 ERA at AA before moving up to AAA, making a couple starts. You mentioned the control has been worse for Jackson.

Jackson Job this year, yeah, the walk rate's been kind of high, and that was after issuing just six walks and 64 innings all of last year. He's gone from that, that 0.8 walks per 9 to 4.4 between his three stops this year. So kind of other end of the spectrum, that's a little strange. And even for as good as he looked at AA, 195 ERA in the 16th starts, just an 11% swinging strike rate. That's pretty blah, especially considering it's against double a hitter. So I don't really know what to make of that, but we know the raw stuff for Jackson Job is good. We know he's had dominant stretches in the minors. We know he's widely regarded as the top pitching prospect in baseball.

So I don't want to nitpick too much. I think we're all going to be watching him closely every time he pitches. And if he looks good, then yeah, it's going to be. It's going to ramp up the enthusiasm that much more for next year. And we did get a little bit of a sneak peek of Jackson Job in spring training. And there were a few times he was pumping 100, 101 miles per hour. I remember everyone getting so excited and, you know, maybe even talking themselves into Jackson Job as like a stash for this season for 2024.

Obviously, that didn't come to fruition. He's only getting called up now. And that's exactly what this is now. This is a little bit of a sneak peek out of the bullpen for Jackson Job. you know, if he impresses, I think he was always going to be in play for an opening day spot in their rotation next season. Not that it's a guarantee by any means, but, you know, if the Tigers are making the playoffs here or close to it, then I think obviously they will be pushing for that again in 2025. And Jackson Job is someone who obviously could help them do that, hopefully.

There were two more points I wanted to make. I just wanted to give you a chance to talk because I felt like I was talking for five minutes straight. So one, kind of follow up on what you said. I think the biggest, the most significant aspect of this Jackson Joe promotion for fantasy is that he is definitely going to be in the running for a rotation spot. And presumably a rotation favorite head next spring. When before, if he never got the call, you know, he might seem like more of a fringe candidate. But the tigers, like I said, they've had trouble filling all the rotation spots the entire second half. so I assume Jackson Job is going to have the inside track now,

regardless of how he performs. The second thing is he will be RP eligible because that's the role he's filling. That's how he's going to make his major league debut. So that's the eligibility he's going to carry into next year. And that matters mainly just for head-to-head points leagues, but it matters a lot in head-to-head points leagues. and as we've said a couple times over the past two weeks,

not a lot of interesting sparks. Bowden Francis, probably the top one, but maybe now Jackson Job will be the top one. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. I mean, if he's up on opening day, very easily could be the top ranked spark heading into next season. That is Jackson Job, who once again is being called up by the Detroit Tigers, expected to fill a bullpen roll,

and last point here, we now have the Jackson 4, Scott, choreo, Merrill, Merrill, Holiday, Jackson Joe. Just give us one more. One more. Is there anyone else?

Is there a prospect in the miners? I will not come up with it off the top of my head if I search the name Jackson. Oh, there's a lot of Jackson's. Yeah. I don't know if this is the complete list. Jackson Ballmeister could be a thing.

Tampa Bay? He's a prospect. Jackson Rutledge. I think that ship might have sailed. That ship might have sailed. Might have, yeah. Yeah. It was exciting for a while. Jackson Cowar? Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen either. Yeah. We might be stuck with just a Jackson 4.

Oh, Jackson Ferris. Dodgers pitching prospect came over in the Michael Bush deal. Okay. All right. That's the one. Put him on your radar. Let's go. Let's get the Jackson 5 by next season. All right, let's get into the rest of Monday's action. All right, you hear the call.

Mariners, big win over the Astros, and someone who helped them pick up that win. Julio Rodriguez, Scott, who all of a sudden is on fire. Yeah, he is, and we referenced it, I think, yesterday, but just to dig in a little more here on Monday, Julio Rodriguez, three for five with a double and a stolen base. And for all of September now, Rodriguez is batting 351 with six homers and six steals. And all of a sudden, his season-long numbers are looking pretty strong.

Obviously not top five pick in fantasy strong. But here's where he stands now. 275 batting average, exactly the same as last year. 19 home runs, 24 steals. that's you know he's played 138 games compared to 155 so the pace is definitely off from last year when he had 32 homers and 37 steals but like he's making up a lot of ground here at the end of the season that I think is going to put him at least in the first round discussion he probably was anyway I believe I had him 15th overall when I released my ideal first two rounds for next year But 12th overall was Jordan Alvarez. 13th overall was Vladimir Guerrero, a couple of non-base dealers. And I'm sure they'll remain ahead in my head-to-head points rankings.

They'll remain ahead of Julio Rodriguez, where stolen bases, they aren't essential in that format. But in Roto, in categories leagues, where stolen bases are essential, I don't think I'd object to anybody taking Julio Rodriguez over those two. I don't plan to move him ahead in my rankings because I kind of want to take the approach with Julio Rodriguez, just given that all three years of his career have been so frustrating at the start.

And what happened to him this year is, okay, he spends some time on the IL. He doesn't get time to make up ground. Even if you trust he ultimately will, it doesn't take much to throw off that, that timeline. And I think I want to draft Julio Rodriguez at a discount, and I'm not sure using my first round pick on him,

even as a late first rounder. I'm not sure I'd consider that at discount. But if I could get him in round two, I think I'd be thrilled to do that. And it's an interesting, it's going to be an interesting spot in the draft because, I mean, you just mentioned some of the other names. Like if you could pair

Julio Rodriguez with Vlad or Yordaun Alvarez, I mean, those are guys that are pretty proven at this point. Vlad's been a little bit up and down throughout his career. But for the most part, those guys are very proven and they're four category producers, and then you can get some seals from Julio. You can even go like double bounce back and you can go Julio and Corby and Carroll together.

And that could make for a pretty interesting start to a fantasy team in 2025 as well. Something that Chris has brought up about Julio Rodriguez multiple times is that, before he suffered that ankle injury, he was coming on strong in July. If you remember, 375 batting average, four homers, and 1122 OPS in 15 games in July,

then suffered the ankle injury, returned in August, and took him a bunch of time to get going, and then, you know, here in September, picking it back up. Who's to say, if we didn't get that injury, Julio would have just done what he normally does and had this monster second half,

and next thing you know, we look up and he's at like 30, homers, 35 steals by the end of the season. Not saying that definitely would have happened, but the way that, you know, it trended in July and now it's trending now, I feel like it could have happened and made things look a lot better. Well, that's kind of what I was getting at. Yeah.

Okay. If we're just presuming now the slow start for Julio Rodriguez, because it has been all three years of his career, April and May are just, he's not going to be much of much use to you then, but he's going to be so hot the final four months that it'll more than make up for it. What happens if he misses any time in those final four months?

And that's what happened this year. And okay, it was still great for the time he was available, but it didn't make up for, at least not completely. It didn't make up for April and May. And plus in a head-to-head scenario, that makes for a difficult, but you put yourself in a hole by having your first round pick be that unproductive at the start of the year.

I understand it's a big assumption to say just because it's happened the first three years of his career, this will always be the case for Julio Rodriguez. It almost feels superstitious to me to say that. But there could be actual reasons behind it. And I just want to be a little more careful than we've been the last two years with him. And so a little bit careful to me means waiting until round two. And that'll be a great discount if he happens to slide to you there. Yeah.

Player of the night for me is going to be Matt Chapman, who had himself a huge game, two for four with a triple, and an inside-the-park home run, his 27th homer of the year. He is up to 96 runs, 15 steals, and a 798 OPS, entered Monday as the 48th overall player in Roto,

averaging three fantasy points per game. The steals really stand out for Matt Chapman. 15 steals on the season. He had 11 career steals entering this year. And, you know, your immediate assumption is okay, well, the SEALs have to take a step back. I don't know. 85th percentile sprint speed.

Matt Chapman is a really, really good athlete. It's interesting to me that it came all of a sudden now with the Giants in a year where their team in general hasn't really run that much. Like under Bob Melvin, they just, they haven't, or at least they didn't early on. I haven't looked at the giant seals, but I remember like early in the season, Tyro Esrata wasn't running, and it was kind of a Bob Melvin thing. But yeah, I'm not going to completely discount that,

Chapman could chip in a few steals next year as well. He's vastly improved his plate discipline. And I saw a few quotes after he signed that extension with the Giants about just how comfortable he feels playing on the West Coast. And specifically in the Bay Area where he had some great seasons with the Oakland A's. And it could just be as simple as that, Scott. Like you took this guy out of his element. He was traded from one side of the country all the way to another country.

from California all the way to Toronto, and obviously, you know, didn't really play up to his expectations there, comes back to San Francisco and boom, he's having a bounce back season. So I'm not saying it's all because of that, but I think there could be something to it, especially when he gave us the quotes. There could be. There's a lot that goes into how Matt Chapman's career has played out.

Of course, he had the hip surgery, the torn labroman his hip, And I think that sidetracked him for a couple years. And then he made some bad choices in terms of his approach. He decided to start, it was a conscious decision. There were articles written about it going the other way more. And I think that undermined his power potential, particularly last year in Toronto. And so with this move to San Francisco, yes, we've seen the steals go up. That feels almost like a bonus to me.

I am more encouraged by what Chapman's done as a hitter because he's cut down on the strikeout rates lowest since 2019, I believe. And he's even though his poll rate, his season long pull rate is lower even than last year, it's a lot better in the second half. And we've seen his production improve in the second half. He was fine in the first half. He's gotten even better in the second half. And so I think he's trending the right direction with the swing. I am hopeful he can keep stealing those bases. But again, I'm not sure he needs to be.

He needs to be a base stealer to be a top 12 third baseman. He ranks higher than that this year with those steals, but nobody's going to draft them much higher than 12th next year. And I think there's a good chance he returns on that investment. And the expected stats for what it's worth there right on par with everything he's done this season. So, you know, expecting a 250 batting average, 25 to 30 home runs, 10 steals next year from the third base position.

Those are pretty damn good numbers there for Matt Chapman, who has had a pretty big bounce back season here. Shout out to the Phillies who captured their first NL East title since 2011. That happened here on Monday as well. And it's a fun week. I'm interested to see what's going to happen here, Scott. Huge series coming up for your break. going up against the Mets.

So we will see how these wild card and division races play out the final week of the season. Big thanks to everyone for reaching out to let us know the championships that you've won. Obviously, we love to see it, keep it coming. If you won a championship, you listen to the podcast, please send us a screenshot of email, whatever it might be. I love to see that kind of stuff.

And if we helped you win and you enjoy the podcast, feel free to leave us a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify. Let's take our first break, and when we return, we'll hit some news and notes. right after this. Welcome back in news and notes. Yordon Alvarez was out of the lineup Monday and later diagnosed with a right knee sprain.

He won't be available for the next two games but hopes to return this weekend. Right knee sprain this late in the year for someone who's had trouble with his knees in the past. Seems a little bit worrisome for the maybe the potential playoff hopes of the Houston Astros. It does.

I agree. and I believe I saw that he's getting an MRI. He got the MRI? Yeah, they diagnosed him with a right knee spree. And that's how he got this brain. Okay. Yep. Yeah, that's a quick turnaround for a knee sprain this weekend.

And we advised leaving him out of your lineup for this week. So fantasy implications aside, I think it's, yeah, if you're an Astros fan, you've got to be worried about this. Francisco Lindorz said he's optimistic. that he will play again for the Mets before the regular season ends on Sunday, which is very ambiguous, and I just mentioned that huge series that's coming up, so my guess is the Mets want him to be in the lineup

on Tuesday against the Braves, but obviously not a guarantee here for Francisco Lindor. Ian Hap has missed two straight with lower back tightness. Kenley Jansen was placed in the aisle with right shoulder inflammation. Alex Cora mentioned Chris Martin and Justin Slayton could both be in the mix for saves. It was Chris Martin, who closed out the game here on Monday

with a four-run lead for the Boston Red Sox. The Rangers are expected to place Josh Young on the IL with discomfort in his surgically repaired right wrist. His season ends with just 466 games, batting 264, seven home runs, four seals, a 719 OPS. A career so far, Scott, a very brief one that has just been marred by injury.

Josh Young. Yeah, it has, and he's going to be an interesting one to round rank for next year because we know he has a lot of upside in that Rangers lineup. I believe somebody had him as a preseason bust pick this year. Is that you tooting your own horn? Not to pat myself on the back too hard, but yeah, I mean, obviously he ended up breaking his wrist.

So it's, that's not exactly the scenario I was predicting. But it didn't go well when he was on the field. maybe the wrist was never feeling right. There's going to be a lot of concerns about him heading into next year, I would say. Boba Chet traveled to Arizona this week to meet with a hand specialist. He's on the aisle with a fractured right middle finger. A brutal season for Boba Chet, 225 batting average with four homers, five steals in 81 games.

One of Scott's bold predictions is that Boba Chet will be traded this offseason. He also added to his Atlanta Braves, Homer. But I do think a change of scenario could happen and maybe even benefit someone like Boba Chet. Gabriel Moraine... Like what it did for Matt Chapman. Yeah. Gabriel Moreno hopes to return to the debacks lineup

as soon as Tuesday after an MRI on his left side did not reveal any structural damage. Dalton Varsho underwent right rotator cuff surgery on Monday. Blue Jays prospect, Oralvis Martinez, finished serving his 80-game PED suspension Monday and was optioned to the Florida Complex League. I think a name we could see in 2025. Again, that's Arelvis Martinez.

Ryan Nelson is scheduled to throw a 25 pitch bullpen on Tuesday. He's on the aisle with right shoulder inflammation. And Chuck Nasty is hanging him up. Charlie Blackman has announced his retirement. Fun players, Scott had some huge fantasy seasons between 2016 and 2019. He was a first round pick for some of those years and also has one of the best beards in all of baseball. So, man, shout out to Charlie Blackman. He was a fun player.

Yeah, you saw on Twitter today. going around some images from the start of his career when he was clean-shaven before he grew that giant beard. And I got to say, it got me to thinking, if you're a guy, a professional athlete, and a decent-looking one, as he was, why are you hiding your face for the prime years of your life? That's, that is a strange sort of commitment that I can't even. fathom, I can't relate to that. Like, it's a better looking guy than I am, but like I, hiding your face behind a giant beard. That's all anybody can see.

He looks like a different person without the beard. That's true. You look like Mountain Man with it. Okay. Like, if that's, it's part of the brand. I can understand doing it ironically for a couple years, but the whole, like, prime of your life, I don't get it. The brand, man.

Think about the, like, to me, that's what, what. came of it, right? It's just like people wearing shirts with his beard on it or people wearing like fake Charlie Blackman beards. You know, it's just, I don't know, it kind of created this cult following, I feel like, in Colorado. He met his wife and got married during this time. So, you know, all's well that ends well, I guess. But like, I don't know. It's, I just, I don't understand that. Let's get into the rest of Monday's action. And we had ourselves a pitchers duel between Bryce Miller and Hunter Brown. It's time to do to do.

Bryce Miller, seven shutout innings, two hits, two walks, five strikeouts, 20 wifts on 97 pitches against a Astros offense that had the third lowest strikeout rate against right-handed pitching entering the start. Obviously, no Yordana Alvarez in the lineup. That is a huge deal. But still 20 whiffs on 97 pitches is a huge start for Bryce Miller who over his last 15 outings has a 194 ERA and a 0.91 whip. On the other side, Hunter Brown, six innings, one run, eight strikeouts,

17 whiffs on 103 pitches. And over his last 22 starts, you remember, first eight or nine games. Nine games, eight starts for Hunter Brown. It was awful. It's like an ERA over seven, a whip approaching two, just bad all around. And then last 22 starts, 231 ERA 109 whip. just a huge turnaround for Hunter Brown. Scott, anything to add on two names

that look to be ascending pitchers in fantasy baseball, ones that are like on the verge of being like SP2s in fantasy baseball next year. Well, did you give the actual numbers how long Hunter Brown has been dominating? I gave last 22 starts. Okay, that's exactly what I had. I'm glad I didn't repeat it then.

Yeah, it's it's it's it's Hunter Brown. I guess they're both kind of tough to figure out. In the case of Hunter Brown, and I don't think I'm the first to say it, it feels like there's a bit of a Mitch Keller thing going on because he's getting the strikeouts, but he's not getting a lot of whiffs. And that's kind of how things played out for Mitch Keller last year. We saw the strikeout ricko down this year. We've also seen Hunter Brown.

He's got a bunch of pitches, and he mixes up the usage a lot, which is a very Mitch Keller-type approach. So I don't know how you want to read that. I guess it probably, given the state of play for Mitch Keller, it probably sounds like I'm slamming Hunter Brown here. I'm certainly going to draft him ahead of Mitch Keller next year, but I don't know. It might be, I might expect more of a step back than a step forward, at least if we're just talking about those numbers from the last 22 starts for Hunter Brown. And then as for Bryce Miller, yeah, I think he's, I think he has a good grasp now of what he needs to do to be successful. Doesn't rely on the fastball nearly as much, even though it's its best pitches.

He's worked in all these other pitches. It's not like he relies on any one of them very often, but he has such a wide mix now that he just throws in enough different looks off that fastball. And it works out well for Bryce Miller. He got 20 swinging strikes in this start at Houston. That's a lot. Three came on a curveball that he threw only 11% of the time. And three came on a sweeper that he threw only 5% of the time.

And that is a high whiff rate on two scarcely thrown pitches. And I think that, I think, I think, I think it's working for Bryce Miller. So I think I'll be more excited about drafting him than Brown next year, but they're both going to be top 36, I would guess. Yeah. I agree with Bryce Miller over Hunter Brown. And, yeah, Brown is an interesting one. I hadn't, you know, kind of dove into the numbers for him,

but he has 9.5K per 9 on the year with a 10% swinging strike rate. So normally those two things don't line up. And yeah, I'm going to have to do a little bit more digging on Hunter Brown. He does get lots of ground balls. He's done a great job limiting hard contact this year. But as we talk about, that's something that takes like years to stabilize and actually trust in a starting pitcher. So just because Hunter Brown did it this year,

it was the complete opposite in 2023. So, you know, will that remain next season and, 2025 is the question for Hunter Brown. Quick thoughts on each of Monday's standouts. Aranola, a quality start up against the Cubs, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, 11 whiffs on 102 pitches. And notice that his swinging strike rate continues to trend down since 2020, 13.5%, 12.8%, 12.6, 11.8, 10.8.

So just continues to drop for Aranola, who, as of now, Scott just kind of feels like an unexciting SP2 in 2025. Yeah, I was going to say I'm probably fading Aaron Nola next year for the first time ever. But if that's what everybody's doing, then I don't know, maybe I'll end up drafting him some. We talked just yesterday about how I plan to rank Bailey Ober ahead of him. I plan to rank the Cubs pitcher whose name I'm blanking on now. Imanaga. Imanaga over him, show to Imanaga.

Yeah. And so that's probably going to push Aaron Nola outside the top 15 for me. We've made a lot of excuses for him over the years. And when he's, you know, when he has a swinging strike rate verging on 13%. It's easier to do. But he's trending more like Corbyn Burns is with the swinging strikes. And there are a lot more issues when he gives up contact. than there are for Corbyn Burns.

So I don't like to see more contact for Nola. Yeah. Two Phillies hitters that stood out here. Kyle Swarber having a huge September, 321 with nine home runs and a 1082 OPS. And I like this version of Kyle Swarber. The batting average up from 197 to 250 this year. The XBA buys it.

He's changed his batted ball distribution. He's hitting the ball harder than ever before. So I've really liked this year's version of Kyle Swarber. and J.T. Real Muto has quietly heated up. Last 33 games, betting 311 with seven home runs, 24 RBI, and an OPS over 900. Scott, anything on Schwerber and Real Muto. Yeah, Schwerber, I pointed this out before for him this year. He has not put the ball in the air to such an extreme degree.

his first two years in Philadelphia, the fly ball rate, they were by far the highest years of his career, the fly ball rate. And that's why he became such a liability for batting average. It was his best two years for home runs. And we do see a little bit of the trade-off there between the batting average and the home runs for Kyle Schwerber. If he puts the ball in the air, 50% of the time as he did those first two years in Philadelphia versus 40% of the time, which is more like this year.

But I think that's probably worth 50 or so points in batting average, 40 to 50 points in batting average. I'll take 10 fewer homers for 40, 50 points of batting average, especially if you're still going to be close to 40 home runs, as Schwerber will be. So yeah, I agree this is the change he made this year is for the better. And it'll make him much easier to build around in Roto leagues, where, you know, before, yeah, you had to use the top four or five round pick on him. It's tough to do that.

A guy who you expect to hit only 200. 250 is much more manageable. 100%. What a weird start by Tanner Hauk at the Blue Jays. Five shutout innings. One hit, one walk, zero strikeouts, one whiff on 57 pitches. And he has been limited to 60 pitches or less

in each of his last two starts. Those two coming after he was scratched with shoulder soreness before that. So it makes sense that they're limited. him and obviously the innings have jumped up quite a bit this year for Tanner Hauk. First 16 starts, 218 ERA.97 whip. Last 14 starts. 442 ERA 138 whip. Scott, do you attribute most of that to just the innings accumulation or do you think he just kind of pitched over his head in the first half of the season? Yes. All the above. A little of both. Hey,

A little of both. The strangest thing for Tanner Halk this year was how much better his control was. Like he was a strike throwing machine early on. And that had not been part of Tanner Hauk's profile. Let me see if I can give you the exact numbers. His first three months of the season, so exactly halfway through the season. 17 starts. He threw 69% of his pitches for strikes.

and the walk rate was very low. Since then, 61% of his pitches for strikes. And the walk rate, let me see, coming into today, 3.8 per nine innings over the final three months. Yeah. So that's the biggest change I see. You can point out the strikeouts and all of that. That's not good either.

But it's probably related to some degree. And I think, because that three-month stretch with the elite control is the aberration for Halk, I think in the long run he's probably closer to the guy we've seen in the second half, which doesn't mean I think he's going to be a 442 ERA 138 whip next year. I do think he'll be able to better those numbers, but I don't think he'll be anywhere close to the guy we saw in the first half. Yeah, maybe it's a high three ZRA, 128 whip,

something like that for Tanner Halk might be the expectation in 2025. Chris Bassett's control has been off all season in this start. Seven walks against the Red Sox. That is a career high for Chris Bassett, only through 52% of his pitches for strikes. And he has just been a whip killer. 3.7 walks per 9. By far his highest since becoming a regular starter back in 2019.

He's given up more line drives, more hard contact. that's led to a higher Babbitt, more hits. So just all of those things combined has led to this 146 whip on the season for Chris Bassett. You know, getting up there in A. Scott, I feel like moving forward, we probably just look at Chris Bassett as more of like a streamer for fantasy

rather than the mainstay he was in previous seasons. Yeah, I think he's gone the Charlie Morton route here where you just, he's in his late 30s now. he's taking a big step back control-wise and I don't know that I'm going to want to have much to do with Chris Batson next year to be honest. Yeah. Yeah, he'll probably be streamable at times as Charlie Morton is.

And I know Charlie Morton's roster rate has remained above the streamable level all year, but it shouldn't have. Yeah. And we've been saying that all year. And two final names, pitchers that went up against each other, Hayden Birdsong, a solid start at the D-Backs, five innings, two runs, six strike, had 10 whiffs on 95 pitches.

I feel like there are pieces here for Hayden Birdsong. Each of the curve changeup and slider have whiff rates over 33% this season. His fastball has just gotten destroyed and his control has been a huge problem. And look, those are things, you know, not easily fixable. But the fact that he has secondary pitches that are this good, I feel like there's some, there could be something there with Hayden Birdsong long term. Eduardo Rodriguez kind of hitting us with the redetmers from last week. Scott, you know, two-star pitcher recommendation up against the Giants should be a good matchup.

Four and two-thirds innings, five runs, three homers allowed in the start. And he was coming off two really good starts before this one. So bad start from Erod, bad first season with the debacks. And maybe something there with Birdsong long term. What do you think? Yeah, maybe for Birdsong, but I'm betting against it. I'm not going to be enthusiastic about drafting him next year. That start in Colorado where he had the 12 strikeouts and the 27 swinging strikes,

we just haven't seen anything close to that since then, and that was nearly half a season ago at this point. So, yeah, I haven't seen him much to get enthusiastic about for Birdsong here. Rodriguez, you know, he was the best of a lot of bad choice. and I think I made that clear, so I don't feel bad that we had a bad start because, yeah, I mean, you had to be in a pretty desperate spot to use them. I picked them up in one league and thought about starting him, but then I was like, nah, I better not. And so hopefully you came to that same conclusion. All right, let's take our final break. When we return some injured players to stash in keeper leagues, and we will put Scott to the test right after this. Welcome back in injured players to stash in Keeper Leagues. We got an email from Josiah who asked who are the best IL pitchers to add as a speculative keepers for next year and he added these are some names available on my waivers

18 team head to head points league Yuri Perez Shane McClanhan Sandy Alcansera Christian Javier Lucas Gialito Andrew Painter Jordan Romano and Brandon Woodruff so varying levels of Timeline, Scott, varying levels of skill that we've seen in the past from these pitchers. How would you rank those? There are two, four, six, eight names on that list. So just going off the top of my head here, I haven't, I don't have a chance to review the latest updates for each of these pitchers. But I would say Shane McClanahan number one, Sandy Alcantara number two, they both will have had more than a year to recover.

and good chance they'll be ready for the start of the season and their former Sayyung winners, right? Didn't it McClanahan win a Sayon? I guess he didn't. I feel like we should know this, but I don't think he did, yeah. He wanted him to.

Yeah, he was a leading contender for much of last year, but he ended up finishing, or much of two years ago, but ended up finishing sixth. Okay. Syung candidates in the past, Alcantara and McClainham. But I do like McLeanahan more between the two. So those are my top two. After that, I guess, I mean, I just don't think Yuri Perez is going to contribute early enough if we're talking strictly for next year.

So Brandon Woodruff, though I believe the injury, the surgery he's recovering from is. little less sure what to expect from that. I think it was shoulder surgery, right? Right. Right. Of some kind. And then Andrew Painter would probably be fourth. I think now that he's missed two full seasons recovering from Tommy John,

remember they were ready to put him in their rotation to Phillies as a 19 year old in, uh, in 20, 23 when he ended up needing Tommy John surgery. So I think there's a good chance he makes a strong contribution next year. So what are we up to now? I think the only names left are Jolieto and Romano. Okay, so let's go through it real quick. Shane McClanahan, Sandy Alcantra, Brandon Woodruff, Andrew Painter. I think I'm going to go Jordan Romano after that.

No clue if he actually ends up closing, though. And then Yuri Perez, Lucas Gialito, Christian Javier. I think Christian Javier. had the surgery too late to realistically think he's going to make much of an impact next year. Yeah, I think that's totally fair. A few other names that were not mentioned here, Felix Bautista, Liam Hendrix, and Shane Bieber. So Shane Bieber probably not back until the second half next year. Liam Hendricks, a total long shot that he ever makes a fantasy impact again.

Felix Bautista is very attractive. I think he'll probably be the Orioles. closer from the start of the year, if not then, then very soon after. And I think I'd put him right behind Shane McClanahan and Sandy Alcantara from the previous list. The only thing I will add with Liam Hendrix is obviously he has a ton of closing experience. We have not seen him be effective in a long time. I want to point that out.

He's in his late 30s now, right? Kenley Jansen is a pending free agent after this season. So maybe Hendricks is using the closer role. I don't know. Maybe, though I wanted to bring this up earlier. You said Justin Slayton was a possibility to pick up saves for the Red Sox this final week. Yeah. I believe I saw that Alex Cora actually talked about him as a potential long-term closing option.

And if you look at his minor league numbers, his rule five pick. If you look at his minor league numbers, you can understand why. Big strikeout rates for this guy, Justin Slate. So that's, if you're in a deep dynasty league, want to speculate on saves. Justin Slayton, not a bad pickup. All right, Scott. Are you ready to play? Guess who?

I am. All right, here we go. It's going to be a hitter edition. So I've got five names and five clues for each. And, you know, Scott, I'll give you the clues. You can blurt out guesses whenever you have them. But you have to get the player by the end of the five clues or else you lose. Oh, can't have that.

Did I lose on anybody last time? Usually make the last clue pretty easy. Yeah, they do progressively get easier. I think I needed the last clue on one of them last time. Yeah, I think you got them all right though. Yeah. All right. So let's jump in a little bit of game show music here.

Hey, all right, guess who? We are up. And very first player, preseason ADP was 37.2. I am currently 136th overall. Bad year for Mr. 37.2. Yeah. I finished as a top 20 player in both 2020 and 2023. Top 20 player both of those years.

I don't think I'm going to come up with it quick enough. All right, we'll keep moving. I got off to a great start hitting 292 with eight home runs, four steals, and a 932 OPS in April since the start of May. I am batting 202 with 15 homers, seven steals, and a 607 OPS. Awesome start. Terrible since May. Top 20 player in both 2022 and 2022 and 2023.

And has fallen off. Marcus Simeon? Not Marcus Simeon. But your next clue is that I won the World Series last year and was the ALCS MVP. Oh. Adoles Garcia. That's exactly right. It is Adolius Garcia. And the last clue can't confirm this, but it would make sense if Chuck Norris was a fan of the team I play for.

The Rangers, but I think I would have already known he was a Ranger from the previous club. Walker, Texas Ranger there with Chuck Norris. Yeah, Adolos Garcia. I mean, we've kind of talked about him sporadically throughout the season. The underlying numbers don't look that different, but it's just so crazy that he's taken this much of a step back. and he's 31 years old, so I feel like he'll be a tough one for 2025. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's, and I'd have to review the numbers again to say for sure, but I think he reminds me a little of Javier Baez

and that he has to be, his profile relies on him being at the extremes in enough areas that it won't take enough of a slip, It won't take much of a slip there for the whole thing to kind of collapse. And I'm not sure what the thing is, where the slip happened for Adolice Garcia. And I'm not going to be able to go through all the numbers now to figure it out. But I think it's kind of a similar situation. So I don't know that I'm going to be team bounce back for Garcia next year. All right.

Next up, my preseason ADP was 93. I currently rank 71st overall. So, solid player, a little bit of return on investment. I am one of 12 players with 20 homers and 25 steals. One of how many players? One of 12 players, 20 homers and 25 steals. Okay. Right?

I feel like I should... Okay, I can't think of the name, but there's a player I have in mind. I just can't think of who it is. Well, maybe this will refresh your memory. I was on Scott White's busts 1.0 for this season. Oh, yeah. Well, sounds like that picked in a pan out. A bust, who wasn't a bust, he's actually outperformed.

20 Homer 25 steel season. Very quietly. Gosh, I feel like that 20-25 thing, I feel like there was somebody I was looking at the other day. I can't think of who it is. I was traded for Tyler Malley in June of 2023. Traded for Tyler? Oh, it's exactly the player.

It's exactly the player I looked at just today because I was putting together my first base rankings. It's Spencer Steer. It is Spencer Steer, who has quietly had a productive season. The batting average, not so much, 229, but 20 homers, 91 RBI, 25 steals, 738 OPS, not great, But he's an accumulator.

He plays in a good ballpark. He hits right in the middle of the lineup. He plays every single day. Just kind of seems rock solid. I don't know, Frank. I, my takeaway looking at steer, I feel like he's going to be even harder to rank next year than this year. Because, yeah, the final numbers ended up in a good spot.

He hit, he's hitting 208 with the 671 OPS in the second half. Yeah. And definitely looks like a better fantasy player than a real-life player. And presuming everybody's healthy, they get Christian Incarnacio and Strand back, they get Jammer Candelario back, they have no L.V. Marte available. I think there's still going to be that playing time issue for him. So he regressed in the worst possible ways, I think, for some, for, for, for, for, for, If you were looking for reassurance from Spencer Steer's sophomore season,

I don't think he actually provided it. He managed to accumulate enough home runs and stolen bases that he was a serviceable fantasy, a solid fantasy player. But there are a lot of downsides apart from those home runs and steals. All right. Next up, preseason ADP was 31.4. I currently rank 142nd. 142nd and preseason was what?

31.4. Oh gosh. Not great. I have turned in four straight 2020 seasons. Is this Marcus? No, it's not Marcus Simeon. He hasn't had that many 20-20 seasons. No. All right, never mind. Keep going. The problem is my batting average has dropped from 254 to 221. Oh, that's Randy a Rose Arena. That is Randy a Rose Arena. Final two clues. I was one of many Cardinals. outfielders who got much better after I was traded back in 2020. And the last clue was I got traded again this season. He is on the Seattle Mariners, of course.

And yeah, a Rosarina kind of feels a little bit like the analysis you provided for Adolus Garcia where there doesn't really need to be a lot that goes wrong, just like a little bit on the fringes. And it could just go very wrong for him. I hate this profile. I do. this um this profile is i didn't turn into robot scott did i you are kind of a little bit oh no this is not a good day for that to happen okay i i don't like this profile and i i talked i made

the comparison to haviar bias i every year i would call haviar baez a bust and he wasn't until he was you know and and i feel like i've been on the bust bandwagon for adoles carccia and randy Rosarana for a number of years now. I don't know that I officially had either on my bus list this year. I wish I did. But I've never loved the profile. Yeah, I was much more in on Randy coming into the season. I have lots of shares.

And despite going 2020, you know, I read off 142nd overall. That is a pretty, pretty bad return on investment based on where you drafted in. Scott, how are we doing? How's the connection? You think we have, do we have it in us to go? I think we do. I think we do.

All right, let's keep on going. My preseason ADP was 146.6. I currently rank 87th overall. Pretty good season. I was the fifth overall pick back in 2019. Okay, fifth overall pick in 2019. That wasn't that long ago. Not too long.

I am in the midst of a breakout season. 24 homers, 80 runs scored an 835 OPS. Hmm. Give those numbers again. Sorry. 24 homers. 80 run scored 835 OPS. All right.

Okay, keep going. I had Tommy John's surgery in September of last year. What Tommy John surgery late last year? A hitter. Mm. Who's gone on to have a great year? I don't know. Mm.

Uh-oh. I don't know. Do we need the final clues, Scott? I think we do. All right, well, then I'm going to need a different sound bite right here. You know what they say about the team I play for? They're great. Okay, so it's a tiger.

Oh, it's, uh, okay. Yeah, it's Riley Green. Riley Green, who just quietly, you know, came back from the Tommy John surgery, was ready to go in spring training, and he's just had this breakout season. It's not, you know, I say breakout. Like, it's not a huge season, but it's his best season yet. And it overall has been a very productive one here for Riley Green. You foresee ranking him higher than both Arosa Rana and Adoles Garcia next year?

Yes. He'll be higher than those two. I don't see him as like a stud, though. I think he's... He's only 23, so I don't want to say he can't get better from here. But we haven't really seen improvement in the strikeout area from Riley Green. So I think he's going to remain kind of a middling, batting average guy. and he even though he's his sprint speeds decent he shows no inclination to steal bases

yeah whatsoever so he's kind of a one-dimensional player and I don't love that profile either but I I tell he'll be in he'll be a top 24 outfielder for me I'm fairly certain we don't have much time left so I'm going to quickly run through this last player in the clues Scott let's do it preseason ADP was 108.4 I currently currently ranked 53rd overall. I got off to a slow start, but from June 1st on, I'm batting 278,

14 homers, 50 RBI, and an 867 OPS. Okay. My 605 plate appearances rank fourth among catchers. What was the first clue again? My preseason ADP was 108.4. I currently rank 53rd overall.

And he's a catcher. Is it Yiner D.S. It is Yiner D.S. My 302 expected batting average leads all catchers. Next closest is William Contreras at 274, and I am ranked fifth in Scott's 2025 catcher rankings. Yeah.

I think he's awesome. I think he's the best bet for batting average at the position. Yeah, I think pretty clearly. And I think he could hit for more power. than he did last year. We saw it in his rookie season. So I think Yiner Diaz, there's a clear top six for me, a catcher. Cal Raleigh rounds it out. But it wouldn't surprise me if Yainer Diaz actually outperformed like Will Smith next year because I think Will Smith has some playing time issues. Yeah, I could see that. I was skeptical on mostly the plate discipline for Yiner Diaz. He

chases a lot, but he also makes a lot of contact. So, I was worried about that coming into his second season, but obviously he has put those worries to rest, and he hits in the middle of one of the best lineups in baseball. So, yeah, I think he's pretty much trustworthy as a top five or six catcher heading into next season. All right, Scott, you aced it once again. I think maybe I need to make these a little bit tougher for you.

I think they're the right amount of tough. I think it'd be frustrating for the listener if I never got it right. Yeah. I also kind of want to stump you, too, But, yeah, I hear what you're saying. That would be a little bit. It'll happen someday. That'll be a, I'm sure.

That would be a bit of a tough listen there. I wanted to do who wants to be a fantasy baseball millionaire, but it just sounded like, like it would just take too long. I was trying to come up with like multiple choice questions and, you know, ask the chat for as like a lifeline and stuff. Maybe one day, but I have, the wheels are turning. I think I can make it happen. Were you like five years old at the height of who wants to be a millionaire? their fervor. I was in high school. When was it most popular? Like 2000. Yeah, I was

nine, 10 years old. So, you're older than I thought. Oh, thanks, Scott. I was real into it at the time, man. I remember watching it. Like, those, that was some must-see TV. Those days you would stay home from school, you're sick. I don't know. I feel like they were just to be like, it was on, it was on during prime time. And it's prime. What am I thinking? I don't know. Eventually became and afternoon syndicated show. Yeah, they probably. Regis Philbin was gone by then, right? Put on some.

Gone as in, he no longer the host of the show. Right. Be clear. Reruns at that point. All right, let's wrap up here. Some bullpen updates from Monday. We mentioned with the Red Sox, no Kenley Jansen.

Chris Martin got the ninth inning. With a four-run lead, he gave up one run on two hits, but he finished the game. And for the Giants, Ryan Walker pitched a clean ninth inning for his 10th save. And I think he has a pretty good claim to the closer role in 2025,

assuming they don't spend some big money on a closer in the off season. I know Camillo Doval was great last year, but look at these overall numbers for Ryan Walker, 195, ERA.84 whip well over a strikeout for ending. I think he is certainly deserving of that closer role heading into next season. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, we have Jacob Junis at the Guardians, Tobias Myers at the Pirates,

Dean Kramer at the Yankees, Clark Schmidt facing the Orioles, Jack Kohanowitz at the White Sox, Jonathan Cannon versus the Angels. Look, I'm going to take the Eduardo Rodriguez stance of, I don't think you should actually start any of these guys, but if you're going to insist on starting some of these guys, Tobias Myers at Pittsburgh, Jack Kohanowitz at the White Sox, those are my choices.

And I will throw Jacob Junis at Cleveland in the mix. on Wednesday we have Cody Bradford at the Oakland A's we have Simeon Woods Richardson facing the Marlins Edward Cabreras at the Twins DJ Hers versus the Royals

Zach Lattell at the Tigers some pretty good ones Yeah Cody Bradford at Oakland I feel pretty good about that one He was my top sleeper pitcher for this week and I sincerely hope that my top sleeper pitcher does not go wrong three weeks in a row in the season.

Yeah. All right, let's wrap up with Team Name Tuesday, Scott. Of course, on a day where there's only four games, we're going to go longer than expected, but it's our last... You're having too much fun. You're having too much fun, Frank. Our last team name Tuesday of the season.

How about that? These are from Ryan, and they are Bobby Witt-themed. Witt T-shirt contest. Alrighty. Witt or without you? You get the U Darvish in there too Witt Hot American Summer

Okay Cool hawit That's a family guy Reference to Stewie saying Cool Whip Yes It doesn't really work without the H sound though That's the whole joke

Yeah Yeah I started watching King of the Hill this weekend And the way he says What What is pretty good Pretty funny Severe

underrated show. King of the Hell. I like it so far. It's great. Witt cat food. Yeah. Witter done. All right.

Oh, God. Witt have I done? Eh. Eh. Not loving that one. Witt goes around, comes around. Sure. I'll have wit she's having.

A lot of uses for the name Witt here. Witters. Witter's coming. Yeah, that one's pretty lame too. Yeah, the witter soldier. Using it as winter twice in a row. Yeah. Witt doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Okay. And these are from Lisa Simpson-themed. Caminero! Hayia! Caminero! Caminero! Camerero! It's a great one.

You clearly did. that much better than I did because I have no clue. Yeah, it was the, it was the sport utility vehicle. I think Hank Williams Jr. sings the Caminero song on the commercial in the show. Don't have a, don't have a cowser, man. Sure. Eat my short. Yeah.

And hi didily ho, Gabe Moreno. Okay. And I asked Twitter for some team names. I got like 65 responses. There were so many. So we'll do some rapid fire here. The Dorn Identity. By the way,

the sport utility vehicle from the Simpsons was Canyonero. That was the actual song. But when I hear the name Caminero, I always think, like I have sang that Simpson's song to his name so many times. So I just want to let Lisa know. She's in good company.

All right. Back to the other names here. Yeah. Rapid Fire, the Dorn Identity. Okay. Jake Burger in Paradise. Uh-huh. Scoobel snacks.

Okay. Better Call Hall. All right. Stone Cold Gunner. Sure. Wu-Tang Clan. Yep. Gunner of 69.

All right. Scoobel diving. Mm-hmm. The French Prince of Bel Air. Sure. War. What is it good for? The French

Prince of Belair doesn't make sense. Okay. War, what is it good for? Like the stat, yeah. Yeah. In parentheses for the French prince, they wrote Thai France and Will Smith. Okay. That's... Yeah.

Okay. Born again Christian Yellich. Uh-huh. Stanton Room Only. Sure. The book of Bo Bichette. Classic. A baseball carol.

Mm-hmm. Fat-Fottom girls. It doesn't really work with the pronunciation. Yeah. It reads fine. shirts and skeins. Yeah, I think we've had that one before, but it's a good one. I never heard this one before.

I think it's hilarious. Brennan has a Manzardo. All right. You say goodbye, I say Bayo. Yep. And we are going to say goodbye to today's episode. We're going to wrap there for Scott. I am Frank.

Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a 5 star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. podcasts