Fantasy Baseball Today - Wander Franco's Debut, Scherzer vs. Girardi, & Worryometer! (6/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

Wander Franco was ridiculous in his debut (1:00)! Is now the time to trade him in redraft leagues? ... Charlie Morton is back (6:55)! Should you add Chris Flexen after another strong start? ... Who would win in a fight between Max Scherzer and Joe Girardi (12:15)? What do we make of spin rates dropping further for Scherzer, Lucas Giolito and Gerrit Cole? ... News and notes (21:30)! Byron Buxton has a fractured hand, Ketel Marte left with a hamstring injury and more. ... Let's fire up the Worryometer for hitters who have slowed down (29:51). ... Let's fire up the Interest-o-meter for these deep-league players (39:02). ... We wrap up with Tuesday's leftovers, bullpen updates, and streamers (51:52). ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  CBS Sports and Westinghouse are teaming up to give away a 55" TV, portable power station and air purifier over the next month. Go to cbssports.com/homerun to enter. Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank, @AdamAizer Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive. Centerfield. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank Scott, Chris, and Adam. Wander Franco. Are you serious? Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, June 23rd. Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White with, no time to waste. Today on the podcast, we might have a celebrity boxing match coming between Joe Girardi and Max Scherzer. Completely ridiculous scene out there in Philadelphia. Wariometer, we're going to fire it up. The interest o meter on some waiver options,

way more injuries, but let's start with the man, Scotty, Wander Franco, an awesome, a truly awesome debut, goes two for four with a double, a walk, and a three-run home run, which tied the game at the time, had three batted balls over 95 miles per hour, which constitute as hard hits. He had an awesome double play that he made in the field as well. And Wonder Franco is on the raise for anyone who

doesn't know because Wander Franco on the Giants is a different guy, and he's one of the most viewed players on CBS. One of Wander Franco's brothers, also named Wander. Is that true? Yes. Oh, that reminds me. I believe his father is also named Wander,

and I believe his son is also named. wander. So they're just a wandering group, those Franco's. Keep it in the family there. But I remember that. I think that happened with like Routenad O'Dor. I think he has a brother or a cousin named Rugnett or something like that. And I was just like, all right, well, not much creativity there, but Scott Wander Franco was ridiculous. It's exciting times. Like the game of baseball, when we're here talking about like sticky substances and

stuff, it truly is in a great place right now between Franco and Vlad Jr. Fernando Tatis, Ronald Acuna, there are so many young stars in the game. It's an exciting time. Yes, it is an exciting time, and this was an exciting debut for an exciting player. Wander Franco, all of 20 years old,

and we've been waiting all season for him to get the call. You know, how much do I take from this performance? Nothing, really? I mean, Jared Kelnick looked like the best player on the field in his second game in the majors. So, you know, it could still unravel for Wanderfranco. Hopefully it doesn't. I'm not even saying it will.

But if you were at least open to the idea of shopping him for potentially a, you know, you need a studly return. And a return assuming that Wander Franco is going to meet his best case scenario right away, I feel like this debut gives you more ammunition to do that. I know. That's really the only takeaway I have. I mean, otherwise it's just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Yeah, and you've waited all season long. You've waited, you know, two and a half months for Wander Franco to get the call. So you don't have to shop him necessarily. But basically,

if you were, if that's something you were looking into doing, you should be sending out text messages, trade offers all day tomorrow because I don't know that his value, at least in redraft leagues, this season will ever be higher than right now. Yeah,

specifically in redraft. because obviously Keeper, Dynasty, this is a 20-year-old phenom that we are very excited about. So the other day, Chris said that he would shop him for Corey Seeger. Is that enough of a return, Scott, or would you be aiming higher for Wander Franco?

I would probably do that if I had Franco and could flip them for Corey Seeger. I would probably do that, but I would aim higher to start out. Yeah. What would be the realistic cutoff for you, like a top 50 player, a top 75-ish player?

It's hard to say I put an exact number on it So looking at shortstop Looking at my shortstop rankings And you know the odds of you trading a shortstop For a shortstop are probably pretty low But I have Corey Seeger 10th right now In my rest of season rankings is a short step

Maybe he goes up when he comes off Maybe he moves up when he comes off the aisle But just ahead of him are Carlos Correa Who's having a great year Tim Anderson Who's not a not as good as the past two years, but still good. Marcus Simeon, of course, is having

an amazing year. Right after Corey Seger, I have Javier Baez and jazz chisholm. I don't think I'd trade Wander Franco for either of those. So at least at the shortstop position, Corey Seeger would probably be the cutoff for me. I'm looking at hitters ranked inside the top 50

in Roto Leagues right now. Freddie Freeman, just inside of that group, Trey Mancini. I don't think we're doing it for Yuli Gerell. Kyle Tucker, those are a few names, there Scott. Randy Rosarena, his teammate. Again, this is Roto, not head to head points. So that just gives you an idea of, like,

who's just inside the top 50 players there. And then among starting pitchers, just inside that group would include Joe Musgrove, Lance Lynn, Trevor Rogers. So those are like top 20-ish starting pitchers, which I think is probably a realistic, I'd probably shoot for like a top 15 guy, if I could, for Wonderfranco.

If I could get any of those, certainly the pitchers you name, the hitters, you know, it might be a little more questionable there. Certainly, Freddie Freeman, I'd take for Wander Franco. Yeah. But we all think he's underperformed to this point.

Yeah, certainly if I could get any of those for a guy who I was literally getting nothing from, you know, up until today. I mean, I don't see how you couldn't count that as a win. Yeah, no matter what Wander Franco does, if you get one of those guys for him. But of course, there's no, harm and just holding on to Franco and seeing where it goes.

This is an aggressive strategy. Yeah, I don't know. It doesn't hurt to try to be aggressive like that as long as you maintain the mindset, okay, that if it doesn't work out, worst case scenario, you have Wander Franco yourself. It's not like it's a failure if you can't swing a deal. It's just, it may be an opportunity to get something back that is more assured of delivering the kind of impact that you're hoping, Franco. will.

Yes. And I think that's a good way to put it. You don't have to sell him. Again, I just want to reiterate that because it's, you know, people are going to say, oh, well, he has a great game. You're automatically telling us to sell. No, I mean, again, if you could sell high, it's worth looking into. But he's 20 years old and just had three hard hit balls and a three run home run.

So he looked awesome. Got all the hype right now. All the hype behind him. All of the hype. Let's jump into Tuesday, Scott. Oh, my goodness gracious. Well, technically that was Tuesday, right? Wander Franco.

his debut on Tuesday. How about the rest of Tuesday? Some other standouts outside of Wanderfranco, Scott. Where would you like to begin? Charlie Morton. Charlie Morton appears to be back on track as good as his last start was when he went seven and two-third shutout innings striking out seven. Even better this time. Seven-one hit innings struck out 11, 18 swinging strikes, 13 on that curve ball.

That is still a 3,000 RPM pitch. so still a lot of spins on that curveball. I think he's back. I think he's back. He lowered his ERA to 368 with this start. And what the last two starts have in common other than good results and few hits is very few sinkers.

Seems like he's pretty much ditched that pitch, which was the key to his success in the first place. He was a sinker baller way back in his Pirates days, then went over to the Astros, became more of a fast. Like a four-seem fastball, curveball guy. And I don't know why he was throwing so many sinkers early in the year for the Braves. But it seemed like a bad choice.

And the choices he's making, he's making better choices now that Charlie Morton. And I think the future is bright for young Charlie. Yeah, I'm right there with you. And we said it after last start. It's a pretty easy strategy here. a key to success for Charlie Morton is to throw your best pitches more and throw your bad pitches less. And his sinker was getting hit hard the season. I think it was like over 300 batting average against. So going with the four seamer, going heavy with that curveball. He had

18 swinging strikes in this game. 13 of those came on that 3,000 RPM curveball, back-to-back seven-ending performances. I do want to mention he never completely did away with the sinker, even in those great years with Astros and Rays, he just faded it. It used to be his primary pitch, and it became his third most used pitch. So I don't know that he was using it anymore in his first few turns with the Braves,

but the last two turns, he's basically done away with that, and the results have been great. So on the season, his sinker usage was 18%. That was still 21% last year with Tampa Bay. Right. So that is interesting And how much did he throw it in this one?

He threw it. He only threw it one time. So he's like, yeah, just completely ditching it now. So it seems to be working for him. So keep doing that, Charlie Morton. The ERA down to 3.68, the whip down to 1.14. Hopefully you held the faith on Morton or bought low because we've been basically touting him as a by-low

all season long with one Charlie Morton. How about Chris Flexon? How was this guy been so good? Well, he's going up against the Colorado Rockies. It is their first game away from Corse Field after being there for a few series. So we know usually it's that first game, they lag. But Chris Flexson was very good on Tuesday.

Six and two thirds, four hits, one run, two walks, six strikeouts, 19 swinging strikes on 100 pitches. He now has a quality start in four of his last five games. And Scott, we have the opportunity to beat the waiver wire because it looks like he is, as of now, on pace for two starts next week against the Rangers and at the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo. So one great start, one not so much,

35% rostered. What is going on with Chris Flexen? Well, he's showing off for us. I wasn't going to say he's flexing, but that's just too easy. I don't know. I don't know. I can't, you know, it doesn't look like his pitch mix has changed.

He's other than, other than this most recent, recent start. No, really the last two starts, the swinging strikes have been up. He went eight, shut out and struck out eight last time.

That was against Minnesota. But I don't, I don't know why they've gone up. His modest spin rates have held while other pitchers are falling. So that's something, I guess. But,

you know, it's not like he was, it's not like he was spinning the ball out of its seams before this. So, uh, I'm skeptical. I'm skeptical.

Kind of like with Ross. Stripling, their results have been good recently, and the results were very good for Stripling again on Tuesday, but I am unsure why, and that makes me skeptical that it'll last. Who would you rather have, Scott, between Chris Flexson and Ross Stripling, who went into Miami and allowed one run over six innings with seven strikeouts over his last six games, one of those was a relief appearance, a 2.31 ERA with 36 strikeouts over to 35 and a third innings pitched. for Ross Stripling. Who would you rather have him or Chris Flexen?

Stripling, if only because we've known him to be an all-star pitcher in the past. Okay. And I don't know what he's lining up for in terms of matchup next week, but yeah, again, Chris Flexen currently on pace for a two-star week next week. If you are somebody who's buying in

and you want to get in on that action, shout out to Joe Girardi, who is an idiot, who wants to fight Max Scherzer and he had Max Scherzer checked in the middle of the fourth inning. Mind you, this is happening all across baseball. Starting pitchers are getting checked multiple times throughout their starts for foreign substances on their glove, on their hats, sometimes inside of their belts. So Scherzer was checked two

times already in his start on Tuesday. In the middle of the inning, which Joe Girardi is in his right to do, apparently. The middle of the third inning. The middle of the fourth inning. It was the fourth inning, Scott. Oh, the fourth inning. Yeah. But after already being checked, twice. Twice. Three innings. Yeah. So he has,

Max Scherzer checked in the middle of the fourth inning and Scherzer is just losing it on the mound. If anyone has seen the video, it was great. Like he's ready to like strip down with skibbies, like right there

in front of everybody. He's like furious and he's like barking at Joe Girardi and stuff. And rightfully so because the guy was already checked twice in the start. And you know, Scher's kind of mouthed off on him. He's like, it's sweat.

And he's like wiping his head or whatever. Anyway, Mac Scherzer strikes out J.T. Rout Muto to end the fifth inning. That's the next inning. just completely stares down Joe Girardi the entire time walking back to the dugout. And Joe Girardi comes out, he's like, yeah, do something. He's like ready to fight.

Like, what are you doing, Joe Girardi? Max Scherzer is a maniac. Do not try to fight him. So I don't know what he was thinking. It was, was it like gamesmanship or trying to throw Scher off of his game? I don't know what was happening there, but it seemed pretty ridiculous.

When it was unfolding in real time and the video was being passed around on Twitter, I thought, you know, Gerardi seeing how agitated what Scherzer was the first two times he got checked just wanted to keep him agitated that's what I was so it was a gamesmanship thing

is what I was thinking he offered a pretty good explanation after the game you know when the umpires check the pitchers they check the glove they check the hat they check the belt but apparently Scherzer kept running his hands

through his hair more than he typically does, and so Gerardi wanted them to check the hair, which, you know, if you're trying to get around the inspection, you would put it someplace other than the hat, the belt, and the glove.

So kind of makes sense, but it still may have just been him trying to get under Scherzer's skin. I don't know. You mentioned that Scherzer was about ready to drop his pants, to drop trow. Sergio Romo, reliefer for the athletic, This video was making the rounds. He actually did. He actually pulled his pants down to his knees.

Oh, no. In the middle of the diamond. Oh, no. You know, very briefly. No pun intended. But I'm currently watching the video. Yep, he takes off the belt, unbuckling the pants. Yeah. Oh, man. What you really got to feel for in this scenario, Steve Lyons, who we mentioned yesterday, his claim to fame was absent-minded lady dropping his pants to shake some dirt out of them at first base in the middle of the game. And it's been a profound embarrassment his whole life.

He's 61 years old now. I looked it up earlier tonight. And like his claim to fame is just, he's being erased from existence now. Like there's no reason to remember Steve Lyons if this is just going to be a common event, players dropping trow midgame in the middle of the feet. It's just, you know, it's just, it's commonplace now. Yeah. And there's like this whole new generation of like celebrity boxing sky, which whatever, we're not going to talk about, but you know, if we could set up All Star Weekend or

All Star Break, little Max Scherzer versus Joe Girardi, I don't think anyone would object to that. So let's make that happen. Ultimately, I want to talk about this because Max Schurzer spin rates were down in the start, despite being still very good. It was his return to the mound from the IL, five innings, one run, eight strikeouts, 19 swinging strikes. The spin rate on his fastball down 133 RPM.

The spin rate on both of his breaking pitches were down over 200 RPM for Scherzer. And I will point out, his name has been mentioned in the past with Bubba Harkins, who was a clubhouse attendant for the Los Angeles Angels, who apparently distributed these substances to Max Scherzer, allegedly.

Garrett Cole, Adam Wainwright was named in it. There was like a few other pitchers, but Scherzer has been named in stuff like this before. So I just thought I would throw that out there. And a few other pitchers I wanted to highlight real quick, Scott. I mean, Gerardi could have avoided checking if he had just been looking at the stat cast data. Oh, the spend rates are way down. He must not be using anything.

Well, it's not part of his binder, Scott. Part of when Joe Girardi was the manager of the Yankees here in New York, he had just this huge binder with all of his analytics. And I'm assuming there's no iPad in there with like stat cast data. But anyway, Lucas G. Alito was still very good. Six endings, two runs, seven strikeouts, RPM on his fastball, down

200, his slider, down 170, and Garrett Cole, who was still very good. That's why I don't know what to make of any of this stuff, because these guys were still very good. Against the Royals. Okay, go ahead. That line for Cole. Yeah, for Garrett Cole. Seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts. His fastball was down

245 RPM. His slider was down 243. I will point out this came up on the broadcast. Back to bat games with six strikeouts or less for Garrett Cole for the first time since September of 2017. So it's worth noting, obviously. Yeah. And we've seen since the reports first started about the crackdown, basically at the beginning of June. So it's been several turns now where we've seen the spin down on Cole's pitches, but this was the biggest drop so far. So I don't know if he was weaning himself off the hard stuff with, you know, maybe a Rosinen sunscreen solution.

This is this is me entire. This is entire speculation on my part, why there was a modest drop before and then there was a big drop. And we're saying relative to a season average, so the season average had already fallen because of the drops from before. And then there was a big drop here on Wednesday. But I'll mention for Cole that over his past six starts, so this actually bleeds into May a little bit,

past six starts, a 12.4% swinging strike rate, which is merely above average. It's not, you know, it's not one of the best in baseball like we're used to seeing from Coles, 12.4% swinging strike rate and 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings over that six start stretch. I don't know.

That is a less dominant pitcher. if that's who Cole is now, but six starts is not the same as 16. So I don't know what to make of it yet, but it's a little worrisome. Yeah, it definitely is, and I'll be the first one to, you know, I've said things about Trevor Bauer

and I'm a Yankee fan, so it's definitely suspect for Garrett Cole. And given his answers and press conferences and stuff, like there's no doubt in my mind, or in anybody's mind, that Garrett Cole was using something. With that being said, the strikeout swinging,

creeping down. He still performed pretty well. Outside of that one start against Tampa Bay where he allowed five runs, he's still been pretty good during that stretch. So I will point that out. Someone asked me on Twitter if they should sell him in a dynasty league. And I mean, if you can get Garrett Cole value for him and it makes sense, then sure. They said someone's offering me Shane Bieber and another piece. Sure, Shane Bieber's younger than Garrett Cole. And it's a dynasty League and I guess it depends what that other piece is. Sure. But in redraft, yes, if you can get

Garrett Cole level value, then do it. With that being said, with all the injuries to elite level starting pitchers right now, I just don't know how feasible it is to do that. So I guess I'll just leave it there with all three of that. I have no interest in moving Cole out of my top five starting pitchers, despite what the strikeout rate is over his past six starts.

Yeah. All right. So just, again, we're going to continue to monitor it every single day. But sure Zer, G. Alito, and Cole, we're still very good on Tuesday. Before we get to news and notes, just want to remind everybody that if you were watching us right now on YouTube, thank you for being here. It's currently 1245 on the East Coast. But if you haven't yet, subscribe to our YouTube channel, hit that red subscribe button, push the notification bell. You'll get a notification every time that we go live.

That's YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. and of course, download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5. That is our five-minute podcast, which is basically a SparkNotes version of this podcast. Summer is coming. You might not have as much time to listen to the full-length podcast. We hope that you do stick around, obviously. You can listen to both.

You can listen to both. You might have more time in the summer. Somebody somewhere might have more time in the summer. So yes, please download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5. News and notes from Tuesday, Byron Buxton, did indeed go on the aisle with a fracture in his left hand. Manager Rocco Baldelli said the team has yet to determine if Buxon will have surgery, but it sounds like he could miss a month or two.

There's not an official timetable yet for Buxin. And for anyone who's calling Byron Bucson injury prone because of this, that's just completely ridiculous, right? Like, what is he going to do? Players get hit all the time by pitches. It's not his fault. So that's ridiculous. I don't want to slow down the podcast with me.

nonsense, but you're saying Rocco Baldelli said that Byron Buxton could miss a month or two with this injury. It kind of sells the quote short. So this is what Rocco Baldelli actually said. I'm not going to put any timeline on it right now. We discussed your thoughts of weeks or a month or two could be probably a way to think about it. I think sometimes less on the lower end of that and sometimes a little more. What does that mean? What a word salad that was. That makes, yeah, that does absolutely nothing for us.

But ultimately, it is unfortunate because Buckson was hitting well again since he returned. It was only for a few games. So it's unfortunate. It looks like Trevor Larnik's playing time is going to be safe for now with him, Alex Kirolov,

and Max Kepler in the outfield most of the time here for the twins moving forward. Some possible replacements that are rostered in less than 50% of CBS. leagues. Jock Peterson, Hesu Sanchez, Hunter Renfro, and the aforementioned Trevor Larnick. Hesu Sanchez hit his second home run of the season.

On Tuesday, it was an absolute moon rocket, 439 feet, 109 miles per hour off the bat. Trevor Larnick also hit his fifth home run of the season. Scott, how would you rank those four? Jock Peterson, Hesu Sanchez, Hunter Renfro, Trevor Larnick. I would rank them

Jock Peterson, Trevor Larnick, Hesu Sanchez, and then Hunter Renfro. All right. How about in deeper leagues? These are names that are rostered in 21% of leagues or less Taylor Ward,

who actually has been pretty hot in the month of June. Stephen Dugger and Tony Kemp, who we talked about yesterday, Scott, Ward, Dugger, Kemp. I would rank them Ward Kemp Dugger. Dugger's strikeout rate

is through the roof, so I don't know how he's, how he has the numbers he does so far. But Ward is beginning to come around, a guy with a very strong minor league track record. I always wanted to see him get an extended look. And the numbers are entering respectable territory. So if he keeps it up for another couple weeks,

maybe we start to talk about him as somebody to look into in like a 12-teamer. Yeah. But anything deeper than 12 teams now, if you lost Buxton, not that Taylor Ward's going to give you anything close to that skill set, but Ward is batting 277 with three homers and an 874 OPS in the month of June. So he's been pretty good for the Angels. George Springer was activated for the Blue Jays and was batting fifth on Tuesday.

He finished 0 for 4. Catell-exited with a left hamstring injury. He missed over a month with a right hamstring injury earlier in the season. Mookie Betts left on Tuesday with an illness. Dave Roberts said before the game he was battling a stomach bug. Max Scherzer and Luke Voigt were both activated for their respective teams. as expected. Luke Voight went two for four with a home run

and a triple, actually. It was close to being a home run. Fans reached over. They still let it be a triple. I don't know. It looked like fan interference to me. Max Freed was placed on the aisle because of a blister on his left index finger

retroactive to June 19th. And this really came out of nowhere for Max Fried and his last start was very dominant where he went seven innings. So unfortunate there, especially, well, I think we got the news before lineups locked for the Braves. So hopefully you got him out of

your lineups, if you could have. Michael Conforto will be activated for the Mets on Wednesday. Marcus Stroman exited on Tuesday due to left hip soreness. I think in the podcast Points League, Scott, I have Jack Flaherty, Tyler Glass now. I lost Stroman in this start, and I lost Savali yesterday. Complete mess. But I'm sure everyone's dealing with it, so. That's not what you want to see, Frank.

It is not good. Not great. Justin Upton was removed with lower back tight. Danny Duffy is set to return from the IL on Wednesday against the Yankees, but will be limited in his first start back. He had a 1.94 ERA and a 1.13 whip and remains 75% rostered. So a lot of people held on to their Danny Duffy's got. As well, they should have. Dominant early on.

And it wasn't like there was a big jump and spin rate. Somebody was asking about that on Twitter. It was the velocity was up. I think back, I think as high as it. it was like in 2017 when he was, he was beginning to emerge as a real fantasy standout and it kind of fell off in the years thereafter. So we'll see how he is coming off injury.

It's, I believe it was, I believe it was an elbow thing, right? And he didn't actually have a rehab assignment. I think last week he threw a 40 pitch sim game. So when you say he's going to be limited, I doubt he goes five innings. Yeah. you might not even go four innings.

Yeah, we could be looking at something like 50 to 60 pitches. So if you're debating whether or not you should start him, don't do it in place of dropping someone that's valuable right now. If you can afford to leave him on your aisle for now, why not with Danny Duffy? Alec Manoa has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing at Mikel Franco over the weekend.

Alec Manoa is appealing the suspension. Josh Donaldson was out for his fifth straight game. with that strained right calf. Chris sailed through a bullpen session on Tuesday and will face hitters on Saturday. He's on pace for a rehab assignment sometime in July. Despite having an MRI on his wrist, Thai France was in the lineup Tuesday

and plans to play through his bone bruise. Trevor Rosenthal resumed baseball activities and could start a throwing program sometime later this week. I think I asked you either last week or two weeks ago, Scott, when we initially got an update on Trevor Rosenthal, if you think that he would be the closer upon returning for Oakland, and you said no. Does that answer remain the same?

Yeah, it remains the same. They've had a good situation at the back of their bullpen. Other than the strikeout rate, Lutrovino's numbers look great, and Jake Deekman has done fine spelling him from time to time, so I don't see why they would change it up. All right. Brett Anderson was placed in the aisle with a bone bruise in his right knee,

and we'll need extended time before he returns. And just one prospect update. Nate Pearson was placed on the minor league IL with a right groin strain. This comes after two strong starts in a row at AAA. So unfortunate timing there. For Nate Pearson, we are going to take a quick break, but when we return, it's Worryometer Wednesday next here on Fantasy Baseball today.

So I have five hitters here, Scott, that are pretty big names that have been struggling since either the start of May or just in June, and we'll start with Bryce Harper, who actually had a good game on Tuesday. He went two for four with his ninth home run, but since the start of May, he's betting 238 with a 31% strikeout rate.

I'm not sure that Bryce Harper is completely healthy, Scott, but he continues to play through these things and it's really affecting his numbers. What's your Wauriometer 1 to 10 here on Bryce Harper? I would put it at about a 3.5. if you're not limiting me to integers. And I agree with you. I agree with you.

It was a, it's back tightness he's been dealing with most recently, but he was on the aisle before that for like a wrist issue. It really hasn't been the same since he got hit in the face by a pitch. Remember that scary incident? Yeah. He got hit by a pitch. And I think the wrist injury was actually. off the pitch deflecting off his face and hitting him in the wrist.

So, yeah, I had hoped the IL stint had straightened him out. His return hasn't gone great. But maybe this performance on Tuesday is him getting back on track. Obviously, we know what kind of player he can be and has been for a long time. So I'm not going to freak out about it, but I'm a little concerned. And it sucks because as April will. so good. He was betting 321, six homers. He had an OPS over a thousand. Strikeout rate was very manageable at 20%. I will point out a lot of the bad production for him since May has been

mostly May. He had a 39% strikeout rate last month. That's back down to 20% in June. So maybe he's dealing with some bad luck here. The expected numbers still look pretty good on Stackass. Overall, I'm not worried about Bryce Harper. I actually think this is a pretty good buying opportunity if he gets healthier as the season goes along here. Chris Bryant went one for three with with his 14th home run on Tuesday, but is batting super weird. Just noticed this. He's batting 133 in June

with a 26% strikeout rate this month and a 55% ground ball rate. His ground ball rate was below 37% over the first two months of the season. So big striking ground balls, big spike in strikeouts for Chris Bryant. Scott, what is your worryometer there? Maybe like a two.

Not that worried. it is strange how that launch angle has changed so much in June. And so while the rest of the league heats up, Bryant has cooled off. And I was surprised to see how much he'd fallen in the third, among third basement as a result. But I expect he'll bounce back. Yeah, me too.

I mean, I just hope that this groundball rate isn't anything that might be nagging because a lot of the times for power heroes, if we see a spike in ground ball rate, it kind of precludes something that we didn't know about. So just pure speculation here. I hope Chris Bryant is fine. And if he is healthy, then I assume that he will get back on track.

But just worth pointing that out. JD Martinez is another one. He went one for five with two RBI, but added three more strikeouts on Tuesday. And since May 1st, he is betting 285, but only with five homers and a 772 OPS. So I thought that it was really cool to like compare hitters

from yesterday that we spoke about. turning things on since May. And then some of these other hitters that have really done the opposite and they're really big names too. So J.D. Martinez, a sub 800 OPS since May 1st on. Badded ball data all looks pretty fine.

So I don't really see anything too concerning. What do you think, Scott? Worryometer on J.D. Martinez. Yeah, me neither. It is interesting that he was at his best when it was the most difficult environment for hitters in April. And basically nobody was hitting back then.

and J.D. Martinez was, looked like the best hitter in the world, looked like a first-round caliber bad again. But, you know, over the course of any season, every hitter is going to go through rough stretches. I think the underlying number is still looking good for Martinez. And, you know, his worst stretch still has him,

has his OPS just shy of 800 since May 1st. So I think he'll heat up again. I'm not really concerned. So I'll go one on J.D. Martinez. The batted ball data for J.D. Martinez over the last two months, 41% hard hit rate, 25% line drive rate, 41% fly balls. All seems perfectly fine. So another one.

If anyone else has been concerned about J.D. Martinez, I would look into acquiring him. This one's a little bit tougher because it's kind of been a roller coaster of a season for Nolan Aronado, Scott, where he's gone through like these two-week stretches where he's really hot and then gets cold all of a sudden. and he went 0 for 4 again on Tuesday, batting 2.31 in June, with the fly ball rate way up.

Maybe he's pressing, he's trying to hit for more power, but 56% fly ball rate this month, a 17% infield fly ball rate, those are automatic outs, and just a 17% hard contact rate. So batted ball data looks pretty concerning for Aeronado this month. Yeah, I'll go as high as 4 on the Worryometer for him because him,

him, you know, playing outside of course field for the first time. Obviously, the odds are against him producing like he has in the past. And, you know, he wasn't somebody who in his course field days hit the ball especially hard, even though he was leading the NL and home runs multiple times. And we all express some concern about him going to the Cardinals, how well his numbers would translate. I think, I think, look, I don't think. look, I don't think

that June is the new normal for him, I think I think he's closer to who we saw in April and May but even that guy was was not Corse Field Nolan Aronado it was a lesser version of that

it was more like a guy who hit 280 with 30 home runs over a full season what he's done in June doesn't really change my expectation for him I just I just think his name being Nolan Aronado people may need to recalibrate their expectations for him.

And over the course of the first two months of the season, he was batting, boop, boop, poop, come on, load, fan graphs, 2.79 with a 529 slug that would add up to an 8.56 OPS, which again is, like, still a very good hitter. And this is kind of what we projected him being, you know, outside of Corr's field where he was, you know, a 920, 930 OPS kind of bat. And then you take him out of there, you know, if he's still, if he's an 850 OPS, that's still really good.

Like 280 with an 850 Ops, 30 home runs, whatever it might be. I think that's a realistic expectation. So he should bounce back, but it seems like Aaronato is pressing right now so far this month. The last one I wanted to talk about, Scott, Austin Riley went 0 for 3 and is now batting 192 in June. The ground ball rate is up to 46%, which is. his highest of any month this season. And his home run to fly ball rate has naturally regressed.

It was 32% in May. That was never going to remain. It's only 12.5% here in June. Your Wariometer for Austin Riley. Probably go five. I'll go six. I'll go six on Austin Riley because I, the strikeout rate has become an issue again after it looked so good in April.

And it looked good last year too. And we were thinking, oh, if he can combine that low strikeout rate with the power, he showed in 2019, then he showed in the miners, and we could really be on to something. And he did have a huge May, huge month of May, but it wasn't really the best of all the best of all worlds coming together, the way you might expect it to be, because the strikeout rate began to spike again, and it has remained up in June. he's really good at hitting the ball the other way against the shift, or at least he had been. And I think actually, if that's something he's going to continue to be good at, him having kind of a high ground ball rate,

I mean, his fly ball rate isn't what you'd expect for a player with his power, and that's been true all season. It's not horrible, but it's not like he's elevating a ton of batted balls. So I don't worry so much about the ground ball rate being up. I think that's just kind of part of his profile and some of the trade-off that comes to... It allows his banning average to remain respectable

to fight a high strikeout rate. I still think he's probably going to be a starting caliber third baseman moving forward, but obviously he doesn't have a huge track record of that. So kind of just have to wait and see. All right, let's move on to the interest o-meter. And we spoke about Ross Tripling earlier, Scott. mentioned his line, he's 58% rostered.

Is he a must-add starting pitcher at this point, Ross Stripling? No. Because I'm still skeptical he's good, as we already discussed. And this hasn't been missing a lot of bats during this impressive stretch. It wasn't a huge bat misser during those all-star caliber years with the Dodgers,

but he was better than this. And it's not like he's somebody who puts the ball on the ground a lot to make up for the lack of missed bats. I still have a lot of questions for Ross Stripling. All right. So not a must add for Ross Stripling.

How about Alex Kirolov went two for four with two RBI on Tuesday? He has eight hits with five RBI over his last six games. He's 70% rostered. What is your interest o meter in Kierloff in a three outfielder league, which is probably the only leagues where he's available? Yeah, probably like a five right there in the middle. I could take them or leave him. as you have as you pointed out originally frank

his expected stats on according to stack has very strong very strong it seems like he's underachieved based on the kind of impact he's made on the ball but you know seeing his believing and he's a rookie and he hasn't done he hasn't actually performed anywhere close to that so far

those expected stats by the way 311 batting average 579 slug that's compared to his actual 267 batting average 438 slug Yeah. He's definitely a name where if I can afford to just pick him up and stash him in a three outfielder league just in case he turns it on anywhere close to those expected numbers. Like he could be, I don't think this is overselling him, but he could be a league winner if he just kind of like turns it on like that, which I think he has that upside based on his prospect pedigree. What makes it difficult is three outfielder leagues, my mind usually goes to points leagues. Yeah.

I mean, certainly there are three outfielder league, three outfielder category leagues, is. well but Alex Kirilloff is not a walker and he wasn't a walker in his minor league days either and that that really puts a lot of pressure on the bat to deliver you know you could you could live with a modest batting average a modest slugging percentage if if the guy got on base a lot but that's that's not going to be what happens for him I mean I guess at some point of his career if he becomes a major middle of the order threat pitchers will start pitching around him and maybe his walk rate will become respectable, but that's not where he is right now. The rest of these names are pretty much for deeper leagues, but let's find out, Scott.

Let's recalibrate the interest o meter for deeper leagues for these final players here. Miles Straw went two for four with his second home run of the season. He is batting 302 with three steals in June. He's 22% rostered. So this is more of a roto play, but interest, Miles Strong. Yeah, even from like a 15-team context, I would say my interest is, only about a three. The hits are most singles

and they're reliant on a high babbip. He's not running as much as you'd like him to be given how much success he's had on batted balls of late. So I don't think there's a lot to see here. All right. Jan Goams went two for four with two RBI. He's betting 273 with three home runs over his last 15 games.

32% rostered is Jan Goams. Yeah, I mean, you're talking like a two-catcher league? he probably needs to be rostered in that and maybe he already is 32% roster

that might cover all the two catcher leagues but I would say in those formats my interest in him is like a six okay and he's behind names he's behind like max stassy in a one catcher league right Scott

yeah who else has been hot it's like that group of William contraris I basically always lumped him together it's William Contreras, it is Max Stasi, who else? Eric Haas, I usually throw, is would Jan Goams be ahead or behind Eric Haas? Haas is really cooled off. Yeah.

So I'd probably put Gooms ahead. Oh, right. Akeel Badu went two for five with a double and two-run scored. He now has eight hits over his last five games and is batting 366 in June. Also has five homers and eight steals on the season. So he's an exciting player. he makes things happen, he's got some power, he's got some speed. Again, this is Akeel Badu.

28% rostered. The only issue I see, he's two for 24 against lefties on the season, Scott. Your interest in Akeel Padu, deeper leagues. Yeah, and he still sits against most lefties. He sits against some righties. He's playing a little more than half the time. So that really lowers the interest level, but he's certainly somebody I monitor.

because I think there's interesting upside theirs, but now that his strikeout rate has come back to where it needs to be after so many strikeouts early on. So, you know, thinking for a deeper league, I'll put my interest at about a four. Okay.

For a Kilbadou, if I have a roster spot to play with, not a bad idea to add him, but I'm not ready to start him yet. So not in 12-team five outfieler leagues yet. No, my interest level in that. You told me to recalibrate for deep, Yeah, I mean, Roto leagues are deeper-ish.

They're not necessarily deep, but. Yeah, a 12 team are probably like a two. All right. Wilmer Flores, 10 hits with four homers over his last seven games. He's 9% rostered. So at the end of the week, Tommy Lestella is supposed to begin a rehab assignment. He's been out for a long time. Flores already doesn't play every day.

And I think that will just add to the clutter. So not much interest there. like a two. Oh, righty. Ryan O'Hern. I kind of like this one. He went two for four

with a home run off of Garrett Cole, his first game back in the majors. Ryan O'Hern was batting 375 with 12 homers at AAA. 1% rostered.

We're talking the deepest of league scott. But this guy was crushing minor league pitching. Mm-hmm. He was. Yeah. At AAA,

he was betting 375 with 12 home runs. And for him, that wasn't much more than a month. time, right? I don't even think he had a hundred of bats.

I think it was 19 games. Yeah. 12 home runs and 19 games. Wow. I don't know. I mean, we didn't really need the reminder that Ryan O'Hern

could kill the ball at AAA. We already knew that was within his ability, within his abilities. It's just against the major league pitchers. How's that going to play? He's already been up this year.

This was his 21st game. in the majors this year. He entered the day batting 189 with three home runs. So, I don't know. He's 27 now, going to be 28 a month from now. I don't really feel like I'm holding out much hope for Ryan O'Hern at this point, but I suppose it's possible he could break through finally. I'd say, I'd say a one. I'm not even sure. Like, where's the playing time going to come from even. I'm not sure about that. He was D-Hing on Tuesday with, I believe, Jorge Saler in the outfield. Yeah, Jorge Saler was playing right field.

They're probably not going to play O'Hern against left-handed pitching, but they kind of, they need a shot in the arm right now. The Kansas City Royals, they've really slowed down. So, A.L. only go out and get him again. He's 1% rostered, so this is like the deepest of leagues. The final name I wanted to bring up, Eli Morgan, who is a pitcher for Cleveland, might get even more opportunity now with Savali Hurt, was at the Cubs, five innings, four runs, zero walks, nine strikeouts,

but to have 14 swinging strikes on only 71 pitches, has a legitimate three-pitch mix. Career in the minors is pretty good, too, for Eli Morgan, 3.16 ERA, 375 strikeouts in 336 and a third innings pitched. Your interest, O meter, in deep leagues for Eli Morgan. Yeah, I like seeing all the strikeouts. today. Prior to his promotion this year,

numbers weren't so good and even looking at 2019 last full season, the miners. 339, ERA 117, we have 9.3K per 9. Pretty good. I mean, that strikeout rate doesn't really blow your mind, especially against minor leakers.

So, I'm not that motivated to pick up Eli Morgan anywhere yet. Cleveland's had good success, developing some kind of fringy type pitchers with what seem like fringe prospects. So maybe they'll pull that trick in here with Morgan,

but need to see more. I do want to bring up a deeper league, potential deeper league pickup. Hit me. Somebody who had very impressive numbers in the miners at this point. And his name is Tyler McGill. Tyler McGill, I think is probably how you pronounce it, but he spells it

Tyler Miguel. Yeah. Both of those names are spelled unusually. Anyway, Tyler Miguel is a Mets pitcher in the Mets organization, 25 years old,

6'7 guy, through 98 miles per hour. And between AA and AAA this year, he had 59 strikeouts and 40 in a third inning, so 13.2 13.2K per 9. 335 ERA 109 whip And

In addition to throwing hard, he is this Like, over-the-top delivery That can sometimes give hitters a lot of troubles. He has A decent secondary arsenal last report. I don't know what kind of progress he's made this year. But, you know, even going back to 2019, he had the walk rate was kind of high,

but he had 11.6K per 9 between three levels. So the guy looks like he's at least capable of missing bats. Tyler McGill, and the Mets are calling him up to start tomorrow. Whether or not they lose Stroman for an extended stretch, they have a rotation opening with Joey Lucasey having Tommy John surgery. So, you know, Tyler McGill gets a bunch of strikeouts. He could stick around.

All right. He's kind of interesting. I like that one. He is 1% rostered on CBS. Got dropping the deep knowledge. Tyler McGill with the New York Mets. The A's had an offensive onslaught on Tuesday. They put up 13 runs on 15 hits.

Mark Kana went three for five with two runs and two RBI. He now has 55 runs scored and is on pace for 114 over 150 games. Just great year for Mark Kana. Ramon Luriano went three for five with his 13th home run. He does not have a stolen base since April 13th, and I specifically remember us arguing about that. not really arguing. I think you were just on the side of,

we put up a number and you were like, I'll take the under on steals for the rest of season, and I took the over, and he doesn't have a steal since that game, so I think you're right, Scott. April 13th, wow, he had eight stolen bases the first two weeks of the season and nonsense. That's amazing.

It's astounding. Matt Chapman, the last name I wanted to bring up with the A's here, one for four with his ninth home run, all of a sudden batting 287 with four home runs in June, and his hard hit rate is up to 35% this month, which is his highest of all months played this season, Scott. So is your confidence growing in Matt Chapman, who we kind of poo-pooed a couple weeks ago?

Yeah, we did. We did. Yeah. Right about the time we write him off, he starts breaking out again. I feel like it's Drake out rate has improved too. Let me check that out. I think when I looked it up,

it was 29 or 30% right around there. So, okay, since May 22nd, it's 27.1 since June 1st, it is not counting today's game. It is 29.2. So, I don't know, it's still not looking great, but at least he's heading the ball harder. There's some hope here for Matt Chapman.

Yes, so if you held the faith, we were kind of wishy-washy about it because there just wasn't great third base pickups at the time. So if you held on to him, looks like Matt Chapman is turning things around. Some studs being studs on Tuesday, Juan Soto went two for five with his third stolen base. He's batting 299 with a 949 OPS in June.

Sandy Alcansara was up against the Blue Jays. Eight innings, one run, only three strikeouts, only eight swinging strikes. But the guy is giving you a ton of volume. Eight plus endings in four of his last six starts for Sandy Alcantara. Eight plus in four of six. What year is this? And the most amazing thing about that for Sandy Alcantara is that the most pitches he's thrown in any of those starts is 108.

So it's not like Don Mattingly is destroying this guy's arm or anything. He's just been that efficient, Sandy Alcantra has. And today, Tuesday, he threw 86 pitches in those eight innings. So he's been, well, why not leave him in for eight innings if he's going to do that? Yeah, I mean, the walks are way down this year. This is a career year in terms of control for Sandy Alcantara. so that has allowed him to become more efficient and go as deep into games as he has this year.

He's actually the first pitcher up over 100 innings this season, and his ERA is down to 2.93 with a 1.04 whip. Great season for Sandy Alcansara. Ozzy Albies went two for four with two steals. He now has 11 homers and nine steals on the season, which puts him on pace for 23 homers, and 19 steals over 150 games. 19 steals would represent a career high for Ozzy Albies

if he gets there. And Freddie Peralta was at the Diamondback, six shutout, one hit, four walks, 10 strikeouts, 12 swinging strikes on 96 pitches. Scott, we keep talking about this looming shutdown or innings concern for Freddie Peralta and Trevor Rogers. But when you see starts like this, it's just what makes it so hard to, yes, if you can get fair value for them in return, you should look into it. But to give up a pitcher that's performing this well, given the landscape, given the injuries,

it's still really hard to do and I think we should remind people of that. Yeah, 100%. I agree with you. I am not generally somebody who actually makes sell high trades just as a general rule, partly because I don't,

I think people, the kind of people I play with are going to see right through that and know what I'm trying to do and it's just a big waste of time. But part of it is because it's really hard to genuinely, get the kind of return you would need to give up the immediate impact of somebody who,

somebody who's good enough to really, to really make somebody want to acquire them, you know? Yeah. And this player is not really a stud anymore, but he's coming around recently. DJ LaMahue went two for four with his sixth home run of the season. He's betting 288 with three homers over his last 15 games. And he has a 26% line drive rate to go along with an 11% strikeout rate in the month of June. So slowly but surely, I don't think he's going to live up to his draft slot, his ADP of being a top three-round pick,

but some better days here for DJ LaMayhew. Some leftovers from Tuesday, Zach Wheeler had his worst start of the season, his shortest start since joining the Philadelphia Phillies, only three innings, three runs. And he kind of got babipped in this one, 545 babbip despite just three hard hit balls. So no, I am not worried about Zach Wheeler. Wade Miley, just keep chugging along, Scott, seven innings, two runs, zero walks, six strikeouts at the Minnesota Twins, a lineup that typically performs very well against left-handed pitching, so gaining even more confidence in Wade Miley.

Yasmani Grandal went one for two with a home run. He is now batting 241 with five home runs in June, which sounds very Yasmani Grandal like. What else we have here? Kyle Hendricks up against Cleveland, six shutout with five strikeouts. He has eight straight quality starts. He's back, ERA down to 3.84. Jonathan's scope, two for five with his 14th home run of the season. If you can add him anywhere, I think you should. He's red-hot, but 80% rostered now for scope. Maybe in some shallower leagues, but I don't really seem available in any leagues that I plan.

Anthony Descliffeani continues to just bowl out this year, seven shutout with nine strikeouts, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 whip. Must start. I think we're approaching that territory with Anthony Descartes Celfani. Zach Gallin against the Brewers. Really good one here. Yeah, really good-ish.

Five innings, one run. I was more grimacing at Desclafani, but you don't think he's a must-starts guy? Well, it's been awesome. It was a great start he had at the Angels, no doubt. He entered the day with less than eight strikeouts per nine innings, a swinging strike rate of 10.5. Neither of those numbers are good, obviously.

And not a great ground ball pitcher. either. So I think he's overachieving. I would hesitate to call him a must start. It's certainly must rostered. I'm not saying drop him. But maybe I saw high. Maybe I would look to sell high on Anthony Desclavani. Be easier to do it with him than, be easier to part with him than somebody like Freddie Peralta. I do agree with that sentiment for sure. It's just like two starts ago, complete game shutout with eight strikeouts. Like the guy's just been rock solid. He had one start where you give up 10 runs. I mean, I can't do the math now, but if you take that start out, his ERA is probably like low twos, maybe even below two, so, uh, yeah. Exfip is 391.

Yep, that's fair. Um, does have a career high 47% ground ball rate. So that's not a lead or anything, but it is the highest for his, uh, for his career. Zach Allen just wanted to get back to him real quick, Scott, um, had a good start here, five innings, one run, eight strikeouts. Would you feel okay starting him next time out against San Francisco? I think so, though it is worth pointing out, especially since he's been at the center of some controversy here, pointing the finger at his old general manager with the Marlins, Mike Hill. Spin rate was down across the board for him in this start. And it wasn't down in his first start off the aisle. So first start back, spin rate is fine, but the results are bad.

Second start back, spin rates are down, but the results are good. So what does any of it mean? I don't know. But obviously, I'm more relieved than not to see how Callan's second start went, especially since it was a UCL injury he's coming back from. More confidence starting him going forward,

even with the drop and spin rate. Yeah, only got up to 68 pitches in this start. So maybe by the next one, 75 to 80-ish, something in that range. But let's wrap up with the call to the pen, some bullpen updates. The Reds, the Reds, the Reds roller coaster continues.

Lucas Sims enters in the eighth inning in a 7 to 4 game, immediately allows a solo home run and then gives up two more hits after that. T.J. Antone enters with both runners on base. Proceeds to allow them to score. So Sims is charged with three hits and three earned runs without recording a single out.

Again, in the eighth inning, why not just save him for the ninth? Amir Garrett would eventually get the save. So, Scott, do you think that they were trying to have Lucas Sims go for a, five out save or it was just like the biggest spot in the game I guess and they wanted to bring them in it's possible he's had a four out save in June he's had a six out save in June that may have been what they were thinking I know they just activated tj Anton so hopefully that's going to

take the pressure off Sims and then uh let's see what did Anton work in this when he followed yeah actually kind of bailed sims out the only two outings in June in which Lucas Sims has allowed a run where the two outings where he wasn't brought in in like a typical closer situation an eighth inning in this one

as you said he may have been going for the save and we just have no way of knowing but the other one he allowed a run was when he was randomly brought in the sixth inning of a game come on David Bell wake up use this guy in the ninth inning you just activated TJ Anton

why don't you use him in the eighth it wasn't even that big of spot. It was seven to four at the time. There was no runners on base. So, bring in Anton, let him run, let them go the eighth and then bring in Sims for the ninth. It's just, ah, man, sometimes like managers just overthinking with the bullpen stuff. For the twins in that same game, Hansel Robles allowed a three-run home run in the ninth inning, and then Garrett came in and got the save. For the pirates, Richard Rodriguez got his ninth save. Jordan Romano got his fourth save with the Blue Jays, which his usage has kind of been weird. They haven't had a lot of save opportunities, but nice to see that from,

Jordan Romano. I think he's the closer now. His numbers have been great. Everybody else has kind of disqualified himself in that bullpen. I know Tyler Chatwood got a save the other day, but that's because Romano had just worked two innings the day before. So it's just been bad timing. Lack of save chances and then

overuse when one did come up. But I think Romano's the closer. I agree with that. For the Braves, Will Smith got his 15th. For Tampa Bay, J.P. Firecisen pitched two shutout in the 8th and the 9th. And then Pete Fairbanks allowed three hits and three earned runs.

I believe he worked multiple innings as well. He's now allowed a run to score in three of his last four outings. Ryan Yarbrough got crushed earlier in that game, five earned runs in two innings, which really put pressure on the rest of the bullpen to pitch multiple innings. He followed an opener in this game, Yarbrough did,

but it was a bad outing. It should have been a longer one. For the Astros, Ryan Presley got his 11th save for the Nationals. Brad Hand recorded the final four outs, but he did make things very stressful. He wound up with his 16th save for the Royals. Greg Holland got his fifth save of the season, now has the last two for the Royals.

He's 23% rostered. Scott, anywhere you should add him, deeper categories leagues? I mean, as much as I could say this for the Royals and the way Mike Mathini has managed it, it looks like Holland's the frontrunner now for saves, right? Josh Stalmont does not appear to be in the mix right now and two in a row for Holland then that kind of, that would kind of suggest that, right?

Yeah. Kendall Graveman picked up his sixth save of the season for the Mariners. He's 45% rostered, Scott. Who would you rather have? Jordan Romano or Kendall Graveman? Romano, but they're, I think they're in a similar spot that they're basically the closer now and we just don't have enough, they just haven't gotten enough chances to prove it. Where does Lucas Sims fit in that mix got? If you're ranking Sims, Romano, and Graveman.

At the end, I go Romano, Graveman, Sims. Oh, right? And then for the Padres, Mark Malanson, just picked up his 22nd save of the season. To stream or not to stream for Wednesday, Garrett Richards at the Rays, Justice Sheffield versus the Rockies. That game is in Seattle.

Caleb Smith versus the Brewers, John Gant at the Tigers, Matt Manning versus the Cardinals, and Eric Fetty at the Phillies. Caleb Smith against the Brewers That's the only one I sort of like Eric Fetty at Philadelphia Might not be so bad

But I'd rather not Yep If you won a third one I think I said this yesterday too Matt Manning against the Cardinals Their lineups just really cold right now For Thursday Brad Keller at the Yankees

James and Tyone versus the Royals Colby Allard versus the A's Carlos Martinez versus the Pirates Chad Cool at the Cardinals And Tony Santion versus the Braves. I don't hate James and Tyone against the Royals, but obviously he hasn't been that useful so far.

I still think the underlying numbers are good, and it's a good matchup. Colby Allard against Oakland. Might go okay, but again, not really excited about anyone here. Yeah, I don't. Carlos Martinez, man, it's been pretty bad this year.

Chad Kool was good his last time out. Yeah. I can't really. just any of these. Tyone and Allard, if you're looking for a streamer on Thursday. We're going to wrap up for Scott and Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.