Fantasy Baseball Today - Weekend Recap! Heaney vs. Cortes, Gore's Debut, Buy-High Options & More (4/18 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 18, 2022

Andrew Heaney and Nestor Cortes both looked amazing on Sunday (1:10). ... Do any of these other waiver wire pitchers entice Scott (9:30)? ... What about Paul Blackburn in deeper leagues (12:00)? ... How concerned are we about Zack Wheeler, Trevor Rogers and Freddy Peralta (13:40)? ... MacKenzie Gore vs. Kyle Wright was great on Friday (20:50). ... News and notes (26:08): Acuña and Trout updates. ... Owen Miller leads our waiver wire hitters (39:15). ... It appears a superstar has arrived (46:55). ... What should we do with these pitchers (49:35)? ... Start or sit these fringe SP (52:27)? ... Should you buy-high on these pitchers (57:17)? ... We wrap up with bullpens and streamers (1:02:40). Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Happy Monday and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on April 18th. Frank Stamphle, joined by Scott White, wishing you a happy holiday if you celebrated this past weekend.

Lots to get to today. We're going to recap the weekend. And of course, waiver wire options, lots of pitching, concerns, potential buy highs, start or sit, and we're about a week and a half in. And I think we might have a superstar on our hands. A little bit of a tease for later on in the podcast. But Scotty, let's get to it.

Oh my goodness gracious. All right, we were talking beforehand, and Scott, you mentioned that there were two pitchers that you dropped in our head to headpoints podcast. Listeners League, and it just so happens, both of those pitchers will be our, oh my goodness, gracious players. Which one would you like to take? I'll take Andrew Heaney.

I'll take Andrew Heaney. I was pretty excited after his first start. Not excited enough to, when was his first start? Was it part of this week? Did I haven't have a chance to pick him up in that league? Yeah, so basically you mentioned it already. I drafted, spoiler alert, the other one's Nestor Cortez. I drafted Andrew Heaney and Nestor Cortez and the podcast listeners.

League. But because of the early season roster crunch wanted to take advantage of those newcomers on the waiver wire, I thought they were two players I could afford to let go. And now I'm going to have to try and out bid everybody for them again because I really want both of them. Specifically, Heaney struck out 11 Reds in six one-hit in six one-hit innings on Sunday. He did it with just two pitches, but they're amazing pitches. His fastball has always been a good pitch.

Apparently that's what the Dodgers saw on him, you know, because it was, we're kind of wondering why the Dodgers are showing faith in this guy who, you know, regularly produces an ERA over five, that they went out and grabbed him right at the start of free agency before anyone else could get their mitts on him. And so I think the lesson here is that if they, The Dodgers think a player is good. He's good.

And we should all just blindly trust that. And I wish I had in more leagues because even though he has that horrible track record, even though he didn't look good at all this spring, apparently that new breaking ball, they've been working to develop with him to go with his fastball. It's clicked. It clicked just before the start of the season. He looked great in that first outing, four in a third inning. He's got a lot of whiffs.

And he looked ridiculous here in this second outing. He got a total of 16 whiffs, did he need. 14 of them coming off that new breaking ball that's officially called a slider by Stackcast. I'm calling it a sweeper, because that's the term I've heard the Dodgers use for it. It's got a lot of horizontal action on it. And the Reds were flailing at it helplessly over and over again.

And he looks like a new creation, A new Dodgers success story is Andrew Heaney, and I want him anywhere I can get him. Dare I put his name in the same conversation as Robbie Ray from last year, but I'm kind of getting that vibe right now. No, that doesn't mean that Andrew Heaney's going to go out and win the Cy Young, but just a pitcher that has shown strikeout ability in the past, but hasn't necessarily put it together or put it together consistently enough. So entering Sunday start, he had a 4.69 career ERA did Andrew Heaney.

But so far the results have been great, Scott. As you highlighted, this sweeping slider that Andrew Heaney is now throwing 14 of those swinging strikes on Sunday. He is 54% rostered and at the San Diego Padres this week. The next question will be, do we want Andrew Heaney or Nestor Cortez? If we can only pick up one of those, let's talk about Nestor Cortez, who was at the Orioles. Obviously, both of these starts are great matchups, too. Let's put this in perspective. Vahini was going up against the Reds.

Nestor Cortez at the Orioles, five shutout, three hits, one walk, 12 strikeouts, 15 swinging strikes on 88 pitches, 10 of those swinging strikes coming on the cutter. And if you were watching the game, the broadcast was just raving about this cutter. It was like the best that it's ever looked before. And rightfully so. It induced as many whiffs as it did in this start. He actually had an immaculate inning in the fourth inning of this game. Nine pitches, nine strikes struck out the side.

He looked fantastic. Again, Baltimore, they struggle. They have the third highest swing strike rate in baseball entering Sunday. Nester Cortez is 58% rostered. So they're very similar, Scott. They're right in that 50% to 60% range. Who would you rather have Nessor Cortez or Andrew Haney? I'd rather have Haney because I still question how much upside Nestor Cortez has. I mean, it's harder to question that when he has a 12th strikeout game. I understand. end, but even last year when he was doing well, and part of the reason I drafted him in that league, even a shallow league, like the podcast listener league, and I drafted him a bunch of others late too, is because I feel like the success he had down the stretch was being widely

overlooked. I mean, the numbers themselves you would draft if they didn't have the name Nester Cortez attached to, and if they didn't have the data that he produces, which, you know, the ERA estimators, they don't like them. It gives up a lot of fly. balls seems like he should be more home run prone than he is. But, you know, now he started you mentioned facing the Orioles in this second start. He faced the Blue

Jay's in his first start, which are certainly not a bad lineup. And while it was a short start, as most every pitcher's first time through the rotation was, four and a third shot out innings with five strikeouts, nine whiffs on 72 pitches. I mean, it was

similarly impressive from Nestor Cortez in that first start. then you look at what he did over the final two months last year. And it's like, well, it's been a long time since this guy hasn't been a guy you want in your lineup and fantasy. So, yeah, I just, I don't think the raw ability is there maybe like it is for Heaney. And since we're seeing kind of a new version of Heaney that we've never seen before, I don't really know what kind of limit to put on his upside. But I'd be surprised if Nestor Cortez had like a top 30 season at starting pitcher.

I mean, I would be surprised if he needed to, but I wouldn't totally put it past him, I guess. Yeah. Man, Nestor Cortez, I know this is going to sound like a homer thing, but it's hard not to root for the guy, right? Scott, I mean, he's just this kind of journeyman who comes out of nowhere. And I think part of the reason why the underlying metrics, the peripheral numbers on, you know, fan graphs or even statcast, while they might not support him is he's just kind of a weird pitcher, right? Like, he does weird things while he pitches. He's like rocks back and forth.

He changes his motion. his arm slot. He does all these kind of weird things to keep hitters off balance. And so far it's worked since the second half of last year, the first two starts of this year. So I think I agree with you. I think Heaney might have more upside. Just again, that raw strikeout ability that we've seen from him in the past, the fact that he pitches for the Dodgers. And again, I think you probably should just blindly trust them at this point. But the real answer here, Scott, is you should pick up both of them if you can. If you have the ability to do that, that would be. be ideal, but I'm with you. I think I lean Heaney over Nestor Cortez by a hair. I don't know if you want to reveal this, Scott. Maybe just give us a ballpark. Now, should I do this? Should I make you answer this question? I'm not going to answer it. How many fab dollars am I going to put in? I was going to ask you, like, what's the range of fad percentage that you would put on these guys if they're available in a shallow league? Because those are likely the only leagues where they are available. First of all, this is a very difficult question to answer just in general.

It depends on the league size. It depends on how aggressive your opponents tend to be. It depends on how badly you need help at this particular position. It depends on if $0 bids are allowed. It depends on if FAB runs weekly or daily. And probably other factors that I didn't even list off there. But I will say to anyone in the podcast listeners league who's listening right now, when I really want a player, I go hard after him.

All right. So you better put in a big bid if you want to beat me in this league where zero dollar bids are allowed. All right. Yeah. Look, full transparency. I was talking to Scott off air last week. And I said, do you think we should talk about Fab more on this podcast? And it's hard for all the reasons that you just mentioned, Scott.

So look, we often talk about which players we like and how we prioritize them for the waiver wire. So if you play in a fab league, I think you could still use a lot of that analysis to set up your fab bids. but ultimately it is pretty hard to say because it's very unique to each and every league. A few other waiver wire options, Scott, who might be available outside of Nestor Cortez and Andrew Heaney, who had strong performances this weekend. Bailey Ober was at the Red Sox on Sunday,

six innings, two unearned runs, three strikeouts in that start. He is 46% rostered. Brad Keller, provide some volume, some innings pitch for those who play in points league, seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts that was against the Tigers on Friday. Eliezer Hernandez, a strong start on Sunday.

against the Philly. Six innings, one-run ball, five strikeouts. He's 25% rostered. And then the last one here is Miles Michaelis. He was great at the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday, six and two-thirds, one run, seven strikeouts to just one walk. Keller, Brad Keller, that is, Bailey Ober, Eliezer Hernandez, Miles Michaelis.

Are there any of that stand out for you from that group? I think I like Ober the best, probably just because we've seen the least of him. And so I can't rule out. what he could be yet. And I think he probably is the most rostered of this group in CBS leagues by pretty considerable margin. I didn't put in any bids on any of the others. I do have Miles Michaelis in my sleeper pitchers for this week, though he is number 10 on

that list, so pretty deep into the sleepers. I did think about putting it a bid for Brad Keller in some of those 15-team-like leagues type leagues, but I ultimately didn't. You think Keller, let's see, what have I noticed with Brad Keller? He is throwing his change up more is what I noticed, Scott. He's about doubled the usage on that changeup, and I read an article from the athletic this offseason about how he worked with some outside pitching organization, and they helped him improve his change up.

Well, I was going to say the slider. The slider has always been his favorite secondary, his best swing and miss pitch, and he's throwing it harder this year. It was up 1.6 miles per hour in this most recent start. And it was up from last year to his first start, too, when he got more whiffs than we're used to seeing from Brad Keller. And he's naturally a really good ground ball pitcher. So if you take high-end ground ball skills

and pair them with even decent strikeout ability, you could get a pretty good fantasy option. But I'm not particularly motivated to go all in on Brad Keller yet. I'm just kind of keeping an eye on him. All right. Let's just hit all the waiver wire options here up top. A few names in deeper league, Scott, that I noticed, had strong starts this weekend. Michael Waka, five shutout with five strikeouts on Sunday against the Twins.

Bruce Zimmerman, five shutout against the Yankees, six strikeouts on Sunday. He had 12 swinging strikes. And then Paul Blackburn, another good outing on Saturday. He was at the Blue Jays, five innings, two-run ball, three strikeouts. All three of those names are less than 15 percent rostered in CBS leagues. Bruce Zimmerman, Michael Waka, any interest, deeper than 12 team leagues. So, again, I wasn't looking to add any of these guys yet, but I do think what Paul Blackburn has going on is pretty interesting. His velocity has been up quite a bit this year too, basically across the board and over a mile per hour on all of his pitches.

And he's been getting more whiffs. He changed up his pitch mix and his first start. Got a lot more whiffs. So yeah, I would say, I think he's pretty interesting. All right. Keeping an eye on it. Yes, with Paul Blackburn, through two starts, 59% ground ball rate, a 13.9% swinging strike rate.

So obviously, it's a super small sample size, but those numbers are definitely noticeable. And the sinker velo, as you mentioned, up 1.2 miles per hour. He's changed up the pitch mix. Again, that's Paul Blackblank. in deeper leagues, only 14% rostered. He's going up against the Baltimore Orioles this week.

I like it. I don't love it, but I do like it. Again, that is Paul Blackburn. Let's talk about a few pitcher, Scott, who I was getting a bunch of questions about this past weekend, and are you actually worried about any of these three? Zach Wheeler on Sunday against the Miami Marlins.

Not so hot. Three innings, seven earned runs, three walks to three strikeouts, the fastball velocity. down almost three miles per hour compared to last year. The slider velo down 2.2 miles per hour compared to last year. This is technically Zach Wheeler's spring training, so I don't know if I want to put too much stock into it. The other names, Trevor Rogers got bombed by the Phillies on Saturday. He couldn't escape the second inning. He gave up seven earned runs, four hits,

four walks, and that start. And then Freddie Peralta, two rough starts to open the season on 11.57 ERA. He coughed up six earned runs over three innings. against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. Wheeler, Trevor Rogers, Freddie Peralta, Scott. Are you actually worried about any of these three? The one I'm least worried about is Freddie Peralta. I think his location's just a little off in the early going. And look, even last year, he wasn't a great control pitcher.

So if there was any reason he was going to take a step back this year, that was going to be the reason. But I don't think after two starts, we can say, okay, Freddy Peralta's gone wrong here and he can't be fixed. I think that's definitely a rush to judgment. Wheeler, I mean, you mentioned it's basically a spring training because he didn't pitch at all in spring training. And okay, he's deserving of patience for that reason.

But three mile per hour drop in average velocity, even considering that is a lot. It's a lot. And if we had those kinds of velocity readings early in spring training, it might have caused me to approach Stack Wheeler differently on draft day than I did. Because remember, I was pretty unconcerned about the whole thing. So, you know, I don't think there's much you can do with it, particularly coming off at this start.

I'm not sure you need to start frantically shopping wheel or anything. It seems like a losing strategy. but I do think it's a little bit concerning, and I hope we see some improvement in his next start or two, or it's really going to start to worry. As for Trevor Rogers, now I'll remind you he was, I had him as a bust coming into the season.

I don't think many people did. I just didn't like the way all of his numbers were trending over the final couple months of last season, particularly the swinging strike rate, just cratered. but I I think it's too early to say you know that my bus pick was right here

or anything like that I specifically the change up like his best secondary pitch right he pairs it with that fastball for a ton of whiffs that's his whole game it's got like no whiffs so far

and apparently hitters are just taking it like they know it's kind of coming. And so there's been some talk that maybe he's tipping his pitches as Trevor Rogers, which you know, it's usually

usually you get crushed when that happens and that's what we saw from him in this most recent start. So sit tight with him too, see how it plays out. I'm not super worried about Trevor Rogers yet, but you know, I do obviously think there was a scenario

in which he went bad here and his sophomore season. Scott, are you looking to buy low on any of these pitchers? Because if I can get Rogers or Freddie Peralta at a suppressed cost, I guess compared to their draft day cost, I definitely would.

Wheeler, I'm a little bit more concerned because again, the V-Lo being down in conjunction with the shoulder injury that he suffered, was dealing with this off-season. You know, it's a little bit more worrisome in my opinion. So, what do you think about buying low on any or all three of these?

I mean, it's always a question of how low. If somebody's looking to dump Wheeler for Nichols on the dollar, then certainly. Somebody's looking to dump him for, I don't know, I made a 75 cents on the dollar trade for Julio Arias after his first start when the velocity was way down, trading Max Muncie for him. And time will tell whether that was the right move or not. But Arias looked much better in the second start. The velocity wasn't all the way back, but it was up a mile per hour from the first start. and the results were good. So I don't think you could get Julio orius

for 75 cents on the dollar anymore. So I would be willing to make a similar trade for Zach Wheeler, whatever that looks like. Now, here's an interesting one that somebody brought up to me on Twitter, and I never responded to him on Twitter, but hopefully he listens to the podcast. Freddie Peralta, he was offered Freddie Peralta.

So one of those three that we're talking about. And I may need to be. to find him. Basically, Shane Bieber is who he was giving up and he was offered Freddie Peralta and another pitcher in return. Let me see if I could find it real quick here. I had it in my head and then when I started talking, I lost it. Oh, U. Darvish. Yes. You Darvish and Freddie Peralta for Shane Beaver, his Shane Bieber. And I'm kind of leaning yes on that. I mean, it's easier to say now that Darvish just turned it out and he did here on Sunday night. looked much better against the Braves,

although the spin rates were still way down. But he got a lot of strikeouts. He got a lot of swinging strikes. Kept runs off the board. Let's see, that final line for you, Darvish. Six and two-thirds, innings four hits one run, no walks, eight strikeouts, 16 whiffs.

Paring him with Freddie Peralta for Shane Bieber. It's a 10-team league, which makes it harder. But, you know, I got a lot of worries about Shane Bieber at this point. Yeah. So, to cash him in for two pitchers with ace potential, even in a 10-team league where you usually want the best player in every deal, kind of leaning yes on that,

which I guess tells you how I feel about Freddie Peralta. All right. Well. What do you think? Yeah, it's tough because in a 10-team league, you normally want to trade away multiple assets to get the best player. but I mean, I guess we have concerns whether or not Bieber will be the best player of that bunch this season. I mean, obviously, we all ranked him that way.

We still rank him that way. But, you know, there are legitimate concerns for Bieber. He had the shoulder last year and he's dealing with the velocity concerns himself. I don't want to answer it. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to be wrong. I'm filibustering here to figure it. I would do it. I would do it.

I would do it, Scott. I would take Darvish and Peralta because I'd rather have more bites at the apple. Okay. in a points league, you know, trying to take more shots there on starting pitcher. So yes, I would do the trade. And let's just keep talking about pitching. There was like so much pitching to talk about this weekend. McKenzie Gore's debut was on Friday's guy, and it just so turned out,

he was kind of shown up by his opposition, which we will get to in just a second. But McKenzie Gore, again, at home against the Atlanta Braves, five and a third, two earned runs, two walks, three strikeouts, only six swinging strikes on 73 pitches. The roster rate is up there now. He's up to 74% rostered. What did you make of McKenzie Gore's debut? So I thought it was a good debut. It wasn't a great debut because, as you said,

only six whiffs on 73 pitches. He struck out three and five and a third innings. Effective, though those five innings were, obviously we trust strikeouts more than anything else. For a power pitcher, for a pitcher who's just coming in and hasn't shown us what else he can do yet. We want to see strikeouts. above anything else.

And we didn't really see them from Gore. But he threw strikes well enough. You know, that was when he lost his delivery last year, that was a big part of it. He couldn't find the strike zone. And we saw evidence that he had rediscovered his delivery both this spring and his one AAA star, but I think that carried over to his major league debut here.

He threw 73% fastballs, which probably explains why he didn't get a lot of whiffs. his secondary arsenal is supposed to be good. He's supposed to have two good breaking balls, and he just didn't use them that much. So I don't know if he was just keeping it simple in his first major league start. I don't know if his secondaries are all the way,

if he's brought them long all the way and after the hurried build up. I don't know if maybe they're part of what causes him to lose control, and so he's trying to fade them. I don't know the answer to any of those questions. but in theory there's more upside to be had here once he starts throwing them more. So I would say he's at least in line for one more start.

If it's another good one, of course he could stick around for the rest of the season, potentially. They're able to figure out a way to keep him in the rotation. Nick Martinez's his second start wasn't very good. So it's a possibility. He's up to 74% rostered, I believe, is McKinsey Gore. So you probably don't have a shot at him anymore, but maybe. Check your league. I'd say if you do, he needs to be rostered in all leagues because the upside is significant.

Yeah, I think the question is now whether or not you want to start him if you have him on your team. And he is at home against the Cincinnati Reds this week. They have the fifth worst weighted on base average against left-handed pitching. They just got carved up by Andrew Heaney, as we mentioned earlier. Would you be okay starting McKenzie Gore there? I'd be okay. I added him to the 10th sleeper pitcher. for this week, I took out Mitch Keller,

whose second start didn't go any better than the first, and replaced him with McKinsey Gore, kind of in the middle of the list. So I wouldn't say it's like you have to get them in your lineup based on this first start, but I'd be okay with it if, you know, you didn't like your options otherwise. How about his opposition, Scott, for your Atlanta Braves, Kyle Wright, another strong outing here,

five innings of two-run ball, nine strikeouts to zero walks, 12 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. He's changed the pitch mix. The Velo is up on his sinker. His roster rate is also up. He's up there at 77% and he's at home against the Marlins this week. So I think we love that matchup.

What do you think about Kyle Wright through his first two starts of the season? Yep. Yep, I added him to the sleeper pitchers list too. I forget who I removed. Oh, Jordan Hicks, because he's not making two starts anymore. Yeah,

This is the best matchup yet for Kyle Wright going against the Marlins, and the first two matchups obviously worked out well for him. Strike it out nine at San Diego in this most recent start. I would like to see a higher swinging strike rate, but he's a great ground ball pitcher too, so you don't need as many strikeouts if you're going to get that many balls on the ground.

But he's shown enough, I think. He's shown enough that he needs to be rostered universally. I like him even more the McKinsey Gore for this upcoming week. And in addition to the curveball being harder, I guess all of his pitches are being thrown harder, but especially that curveball that's getting all his swinging strikes, you just keep hearing that he, like, in interviews,

like he just sounds a lot more confident this year. Like he got rattled when he first, in his first few chances in the majors and kind of lost confidence and didn't do as well in the minors either for a while. but he seems to have figured it out now and hopefully that's a good sign for him a pitcher who was drafted very high

and was on all the top prospect list at first and just it's taking him until age 26 to figure it out. It certainly seems more confident you see in the numbers as well for his career 5.4 walks per 9 for Kyle Wright and through two starts he has a 15 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio so trusting this stuff The pitch mix has been there.

Velocity up. Lots to like with Kyle Wright. Get him in your lineups this week up against the Miami Marlins. Let's get to news and notes. Ronald de Cunia will begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. So kind of pushing that timeline up a little bit. Scott, how long do you expect him to be in the minors,

testing out that knee, making sure everything is good to go. Because I don't know if it should take more than a week. I kind of feel like maybe we can see him by next Monday with the Atlanta Braves, for example. Yeah, apparently he's like chomping at the bit and, you know, doing his best to accelerate the timeline here. And it sounds like he's succeeding for the most part. So, yeah, I think it's, I definitely want to be surprised if it's come next week.

We're talking about activating Ronald de Kuna. If they want to play it safe and give them two weeks in the minors, okay. But they want to surprise me if it's only one. Please speak it into existence. Baseball is just so much better when Ronald de Cunia is on the field. It's also much better when Mike Trout is on the field. Just stay there. He left Sunday's game after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand.

Obviously not his fault. X-rays came back negative and he's considered day-to-day. Obviously, we're waiting for more information here, Scott. But knowing what we know now, would you start Mike Trout in a weekly lineup lock league? Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's Mike Trout. They say he's day-to-day. There's no fracture in the hand.

So if he plays even half the week, it's probably worth it. Where is Chris when we need him? Speaking of players staying on the field. Byron Buckson, man. What a crushing blow. He left Friday's game after he appeared to hurt his knee, sliding into second base, immediately slammed his hand down on the ground,

and you're just left thinking, okay, this seems bad. This seems very bad for Byron Bucson. He walked off on his own power. Tess revealed that he didn't suffer any structural damage, but he could miss up to a week. He's traveling with the twins to Kansas City, I believe, is where they're playing next.

But he hasn't appeared since Friday. Scott, what do you think about Byron Buckson right now? Would you start him in a weekly lineup league? Yeah, I think so. I think so. But that's tough. Like, he's missed enough days now that they might just, put him on the IL because they can backdate it, you know?

Yeah. And then it does seem, you know, like he was, like it's the sort of injury, even if there isn't like damage in there, which it's been ruled out. It would just take a while for the bruising to go away, you know? So shallower leagues, maybe not. Maybe you sit Buxton,

but anything five outfielder, I would say, probably need to start them and just hope for the best. And maybe it's more of a roto and categories league thing too. And roto leagues, okay, if you end up taking a zero form this week, you've got a whole year to make up for it when obviously you banked that loss forever in a head-to-head league. So that would factor into thinking too. Ryan Presley was placed on the IL for the Houston Astros

with right knee inflammation on Friday. The Astro said that they expected to be short-term, but Presley had surgery on his knee. back in 2019. Dusty Baker mentioned Hector Nairus, Raphael Montero, and Ryan Stannick as options for the 9th, but it was Narris

who closed out a four-zip win on Saturday. Scott, in category leagues, were you looking to add Hector Nairis this weekend? I mean, he wasn't the top closer option I was looking to add, especially since it sounds like just a short-term absence.

Yeah, like I would take Drew Steckenrider over him. I would take either the Red Sox guys, Hansel Robles, followed by Jake Deekman, I'd say, just because Robles is the right-hander. Yeah, I mean, Nerris, as far as safe sources go, would be pretty far down the list. All right, I'm a little bit more bullish on Nerrish. Just because I'm worried about Presley, the V-Lo has been down like two to three miles per hour. dating back to spring training so far in the appearances we've seen this year. I don't know, Presley just doesn't seem right.

And, you know, maybe it's because of this knee. I don't know if it's going to be as short term as they're leading on. Maybe it is. And, you know, he comes back sooner than expected. But I don't know, given that he's had surgery in the past, I'm a little bit worried about Ryan Presley. I would take, you know, like Josh Stamont, Hansel Robles over him. Steckenrider, the Mariners are just a mess right now in their bullpen.

Diego Castillo's closing out games. they have Paul Seawald there too. It's Ken Giles is going to be back at some point. Yeah. Well, I mean, obviously it's a mess. But I guess it just depends how likely you are, how much you trust that it's going to be a short time table. Because if it is a short time table,

whoever you pick up in the Astros bullpen, you know, you'll be lucky to get one save out of him, potentially. Fair enough. Jacob de Grom will undergo another MRI next Monday, April 25th to check the healing process of his right shoulder. He is again dealing with a stress reaction in his right scapula. Javier Baez was placed in the IL with that thumb injury retroactive to April 13th. So get him out of your lineups this week.

You're Don Alvarez placed on the COVID IL Friday, but did not test positive. He worked out with teammates prior to Saturday's game. Scott, if we don't get more information by the time lineups lock on Monday. Oh, by the way, I wanted to mention this, it's Patriots Day on Monday. So depending on when you're listening to this, if you're listening to it early, there is a game at 11. I think it's like 11.10 a.m. Eastern time. So make sure to set your lineups or if it's just based on the teams that are playing, I believe it's the Twins and Red Sox.

So make sure those players are set in your lineups. Yerdon Alvarez, by the way, Scott, would you risk it and leave him in your lineup this week? He's on a COVID-I-O. I think so. I think so. If there was a positive test, it'd be different. lower-end player, it'd be different, but he might not miss any time at all. So, yeah, I think as things stand now, I'd start your order now for us. All right, not only was John Means placed on

the IL Friday with a strained left elbow, but he was transferred to the 60-day IL on Saturday. So John does not mean business, and he's going to be out for quite some time. Jun Ryu was placed on the IL with left forearm inflammation, and this opens up a spot for Nate Pearson if he can seize it. He threw a bullpen session on Saturday, Nate Pearson did, as he works his way back from Mono, which he was dealing with in spring training. He's 19% rostered.

Scott, any interest in Nate Pearson in Devere Leagues? Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of upside there. We didn't get the exciting spring like we got from McKinsey Gore to lead us to believe he was back and ready to take that next step. but you never want to sleep on potential, obviously.

I don't know where you can fit him in your lineup. Obviously, we're not talking about him in the same breath as Nestor Cortez and Andrew Heaney. But yeah, you did say deeper leagues in those deeper leagues. New Pearson might be worth a shot. All right. Mitch Hanigur was placed on the COVID-I-L Saturday after testing positive. He'll likely be forced to spend a minimum of five days away. from the team, which means he'll probably miss about half of this upcoming week.

I think I would get him out of the lineup, Scott. Mitch Hanigar, that is. Yeah, I agree. If you can. Jack Flaherty threw from 120 feet on Saturday. It's not yet clear when he'll resume mound work, but so far, his shoulder has responded well to treatment. Sunny Gray was placed on the IL after exiting Saturday start with hamstring tightness. The twins only expect him to miss one start. Race pitching prospect, Shane Baas, was transfer to the 60-day IEL. He underwent arthroscopic

elbow surgery in late March. And I always thought their timeline was a little bit unrealistic and aggressive. At the time, they said he would be back throwing in two to three weeks. And now he's on the 60-day IL. Both Markana and Brendan Nimmo tested positive for COVID and were placed

on the IEL Friday. Both are asymptomatic and could rejoin the team as soon as they test negative. Garry Cooper was removed from Saturday's game with an... elbow contusion and wasn't in the lineup on Sunday. Nixon's L was placed on the IL Saturday with no injury designation, which suggests it is the COVID IL.

Tigers pitchers are dropping right now. Casey Mize placed on the IL Friday with a right elbow sprain, and then Matt Manning was removed from Saturday's start with right shoulder discomfort. I guess the good news here is that Michael Paneda expected to join the rotation this upcoming week, and he could pitch as soon as Wednesday against the New York Yankees. Scott, any interest in Michael Paneda, he is 13% rostered. Very little. Very little.

If I was in a deep league, I'd definitely take a shout on Nate Pearson over him. All right. Taylor Ward was activated from the aisle Saturday and went two for three with a sock and a shoe, hitting his first home run and his first steal. Both Ward and Joe Adele started Saturday and Sunday with lefties on the mound. I think it's going to be interesting to see what they do with Joe Adele once a right-handed pitcher is expected to start opposing them because just recently Joe Madden said

Taylor Ward and Brandon Marsh would start in the outfield. Well, and here's the other thing because we've been bemoaning this decision by Madden to make Taylor Ward an everyday player over Joe Adele, reducing Joe Adele to presumably the weak side of a lefty-ready platoon. But what if the reason he's doing this? that is because Taylor Ward is showing signs of a breakthrough himself.

I mean, you mentioned he had a sock in his shoe, his first game back. He was on base three times and his second game back on Sunday. And look, the minor league track record is strong. 2018 between AA and AAA, Taylor Ward hit 349 with 14 homers, 18 steals, a 977 OPS. In 2019, 306 with 27 homers 11 steals. a 1,11 OPS. Like, he was a guy I've been excited about in the past, and because his first couple stints in the majors didn't go well,

I kind of just tossed him aside. But clearly the Angels didn't, and it's only two games, I get it, but there is potential here, and they must still value that potential to make him an everyday player. So I was putting in bids for him in those 15-team leagues. I don't think I won him in any. I think I have a couple bids for them in even 12 team roto leagues that just haven't run yet.

So we'll see if I get him in some of those. Not blowing the bank firm or anything, but I think in any five outfield or league, Taylor Ward's worth looking into. Yeah, I had bids around 2 to 3% of my fad budget in those 15 team leagues. The ones that I've checked in on so far, he went for $48 out of 1,000. And the other one, he went for $61 out of 1,000. Again, that is Taylor Ward, so far around 4 to 6% of Fab in deeper leagues. A.J. Pollack's hamstring is around 80 to 85%, and he's expected to make rehab appearances soon. Alex Kirilloff was given a cortisone shot after tests revealed no new damage in his right wrist.

And Will Myers missed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with left thumb soreness. Let's take a break, and when we return, we'll take a look at some waiver wire hitters here on fantasy baseball today. Owen Miller, Scott, he is getting rostered. One of the most added players this weekend and rightfully so. Three more hits, including two doubles, three more walks this weekend. I mentioned 64% rostered seven games this upcoming week with three of those coming in Yankee Stadium. Have you aggressively been looking to add Owen Miller even in shallower leagues because it seems like other people are? I wouldn't say I'm aggressive about it in shallower leagues.

I was definitely aggressive about it in those 15 team, Roto leagues. Basically, Josh Stallmont, we haven't even gotten to yet. Got to save for the Royals over the weekend with Scott Barlow working part of the seventh and eighth, I believe. Basically, Scott Barlow's set up for Josh Stamont, who's throwing harder this year. He's hitting 100 miles per hour with regularity, and I just kind of seems like the Royals are... I get the feeling that maybe they would prefer him be the closer rather than Scott Barlow. But that's not answering your question. That's talking about Josh Stamont.

to answer your question about Owen Miller, the dual eligible Cleveland Guardian's first basement, also eligible at second. Yeah, I mean, the more I see of them, the more I like those Thai-France comparisons I've been making, a lot of line drives, all-field's approach.

He seems like he's built for batting average in the minors. He hit over 300 for his career. And it has enough pop that he's worth, you know, he can matter in mixed leagues. He can matter in mixed leagues. So I want to blow the bank on him in a 12-team league. But if you need help at second base or first base, I mean, if Connor Joe's still out there, good Connor Joe instead.

Well, I guess he's not eligible at first base in CBS leagues. But you know what I'm saying. Connor Joe's better. Owen Miller's not quite on that level as far as free agent hitter pickups go. But I am interested. I wouldn't say Connor Joe, well, he's not eligible at first base yet, but it could be coming soon. Yeah. He already has...

He's playing some there for the Rockies, yeah. He already has three games at first base to season, and they've been playing him at first, and then DHing CJ Crone, and clearly they need both of those guys in the lineup so far. The Rockies, low-key, off to a great start, so good for them, and Connor Joe's been a big part of that.

He's up to 79% rostered. Let's say you're looking for an outfielder, Scott, a few names that I saw popping up most added this weekend, or rather, should be, maybe. Andrew McCutcheon, he is... He went two for three with his second stolen band, base, I believe that was on Sunday. He is batting 282 early on.

The expected numbers like him, too, he's 37% rostered. Jurekson ProFar, someone who's been getting added quite a bit. He's 42% rostered. Hitting the ball a lot harder early on here. He is up to three home runs. What do you think about McCutcheon versus ProFar if you need an outfieler? Well, look, ProFar is multi-eligible. It's eligible.

It's second base. I believe that's it. Second and outfield. maybe third base too I don't know I think he might have first base yeah so it's first

first base outfield not second base Scott oh okay well yeah no I have more faith in McCutchen

and the fact that he's stolen a couple of bases already I mean we're talking about it in spring and his knee feeling a lot better

after last year and how that should help him get back on track against right handed pitchers that was his own story anyway but yeah it does seem like he's

maybe going to run a little bit too. So I would say McCutcheon is my preferred choice there, but I'm not going to completely dismiss pro far. I mean, the trial record for him isn't good, but making weak contact has always been his problem, and you don't think of that as something that can be corrected very easily. But a little bit we've seen of him this year. Yeah, I mean, the exit velocities are great.

I think the launch angle is better. is better too. I might need to double check that. Sometimes I'm remembering the wrong player when I say these things. So the launch angle for ProFar so far is very much so in line with last year. 13.3 degrees.

But it's a good launch angle. Yeah. Like launch angle wasn't his problem. It was just how hard he hit the ball. He has great plate discipline. He doesn't strike out much. He's been an on-based machine so far. He's been playing every day for the Padres.

I'm skeptical. He can continue to hit the ball as hard as he has, but if he does, that's clearly the missing ingredient for him. So we'll see. All right. If you need a catcher in a one-catcher league, Sean Murphy has multiple hits in three of his last five games. He has two home runs during that span. He is 44% rostered. Might be available in some shallower leagues here. Jeremy Pena went three-for-three on Saturday. Now has three-hit games on the season. 74% rostered for him and Gavin Lux, who we mentioned a few times last week.

He went 0 for 2 Sunday, but he had two steals this weekend. He's batting 320 early on. He's up to 79% rostered. So again, it's probably 10 team leagues where these guys might be available. Scott, if you had to choose Pena versus Lux, who do you like more? I like Lux. I'm really starting to come around the Lux. I didn't think I'd like it.

Like this is, again, trust the Dodgers, right? Because the past couple years, we were saying, why don't they give him a chance? and whenever he was forced into the lineup because others were hurt or whatever, like he didn't look good. And then this year, they trade away A.J. Pollock on the eve of opening day

to free up a spot for Gavin Lux. And he's looked great. Like, he's been, you want to talk about exit velocities being out? Gavin Lux has been crushing the ball and he's been stealing some bases. And they've been playing him against lefties. I don't think every single lefties.

but sometimes against lefties. Closer to an everyday player than not, has Gavin Lux been. And yeah, I'm starting to get pretty excited about it. This could be the breakthrough we've been waiting on. All right. Stephen Kwan, everyone's favorite player to talk about. He is hitless over his last three games, O for 11. And then he got the day off on Sunday.

It's expected. He was going to slow down at some point. Hopefully he can bounce back here. He's got some names in deeper leagues that I noticed this weekend. Jonathan Vard, nine hits over his last four games before getting a day off on Sunday. Seth Beer went three for three on Saturday. He's betting 400, but he's just not playing every day. It's very frustrating because why wouldn't the Diamondbacks play this guy?

He's clearly very good. It's been strict lefty-righty between Beer and Cooper Hummel, who's a good on-base guy who can play catcher, but he's only played outfield so far, I believe, in the majors. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know how long that'll last because Hummel hasn't been getting many hits, but he's been getting on base when he's played. Yep.

Aaron Hicks, I know we've kind of like laughed him off the past couple of weeks, whatever leading into the season. He's 13% rostered. He let off the past two games for the Yankees. He's betting 333 early on with a home run. Jorge Mateo, we've mentioned his name multiple times now. He's 20% rostered.

He went three for four with an RBI and his third steal of the season on Sunday. If you play in a Categories League, you have to add Jorge Mateo. Whether you need steals or someone else does, you will find a home for Jorge Mateo. So in a Categories League, make sure you get him on your team. Santiago Espinal might not be the most exciting player,

but he has started eight straight games for the Blue Jays, and he has two steals during that span. Has second and third base eligibility on CBS. He's 8% rostered. Again, the name there, Santiago Espinall. I tease this at the top, Scott. We might have a superstar on our hands. His name is Sayas Suzuki.

One for three with two walks, his fourth home run of the season, on Sunday, eight-game hitting streak to open his MLB career. The stat cast page, I realize it's a very small sample size. It is insane early on. 99th percentile barrel rate, 91st percentile sprint speed, power, speed, plate discipline. He's walking a bunch. He's been striking out a little bit, but...

Not that much. We might... Not percentage-wise. We might have a superstar in our hands here, Scott, and say a Suzuki. Yeah, well, and the thing is, you normally when players come over from Japan or Korea, we expect an adjustment period. We, you know, it's a different size ball, the parks are bigger, the fastballs are faster. Like, it's not common for them to just show up and play well right away. And even with the short spring training, that's what Suzuki.

has done. So it's very impressive. The scouting reports coming over from Japan where that he should have an easier time adjusting because he has more of that uppercut swing that is better suited for the American game and the power numbers should translate well. And that seems to be happening. And he's shown great plate discipline. So I'm not ready to make any specific

predictions for Suzuki in terms of how his numbers are going to turn out. But I don't see anything to dislike in his profile so far. You mentioned the upper cut swing. Fangraphs has him at a near 69% fly ball rate through his first. That's eight games entering Sunday. So he is hitting quite a few of fly balls. And some of those are fly out so far. For Say, Suzuki, this gentleman, he's been a superstar already and might be returning.

to start a Marcel Azuna. Scott, I know that you were very aggressive in moving him up the rankings as we got closer to the start of the season. Two homers this weekend. He's now batting 318. He's up to four home runs overall. He's hitting the ball hard. He's making contact. The barrels are there. We didn't really know exactly what to expect from Wozuna coming in because obviously he hadn't played in a major league game since I believe it was May of last year. But so far the returns have been great for Marcel Azuna. Might see a return to start him from him. Let's get back over to the pitching side here, Scott. What do we do with these pitchers?

I've been getting questions about these. Mitch Keller, so far, I mean, okay, the velocity's been there. He's got a 9.39 ERA through his first two starts. Reed Detmer's has struggled so far. He allowed five earned runs on Friday against the Texas Rangers. Tony Gonselin, the Dodgers are doing exactly what they told us they were going to do, which they have this tandem strategy of Tony Gonson going three or four, and then Tyler Anderson followed.

him after that. And Aaron Ashby made his first start of the season on Sunday. Four innings, three unearned runs, four walks, four strikeouts. What are we doing with those four, Scott? Are you looking to hold any of those that you feel comfortable dropping? Mitch Keller, Detmer's, Tony Gonsland, Aaron Ashby. Well, the one I feel most comfortable dropping is Keller. I don't want to completely, you know, turn a blind eye to him or anything.

I still want to see how this plays out, but given his track record, given the way his first two starts have gone, I just don't think you need to protect him with a roster spot anymore. Even in the 15 team leagues, I was okay dropping him. And you know what? As good as the velocity is, like there may be some command and sequencing issues there, because he's the control, even when he was throwing softer, was a problem for Mitch Keller

and even now that he's throwing harder with a better breaking ball reportedly he's not getting a lot of whiffs. So we'll see. We'll see how it goes, but I don't think you need to protect him with the roster spot anymore is the bottom line.

And I don't know that you do Redetmer's either. There is upside there, but he hasn't shown any of it in a major league game yet. And I think the velocity he's down on his breaking ball.

And so I'm not sure it's playing as well. But more than anything, it's just, like, you've got to ask yourself, who's going to pick up this guy if I drop him? And I don't think in many leagues anybody would pick up Reed Debtmurs. Aaron Ashby, you know, since he just moved into the rotation and since he has relief pitcher eligibility, I'd prefer to hang on to him, but it's probably not a reasonable thing to do in most leagues. And then Gonsalind.

Gonsalind is the one I'd be the most reluctant to give up. Because even though it's a tandem right now, I doubt it's going to stay that way all season. Somebody's going to get hurt. They're not always going to have six starting caliber arms there to piggyback. And presumably, like we've seen Gonsolent go six innings before at a time. Presumably he'll be at a point where he could do that again later on this season. All right. Let's get into some starter sit pitchers.

These are guys that are on the fringe. They had good starts this weekend. I'm not really sure what we should do with them. Terik Scouble is the first one up. Five and two-thirds, one unearned run on Friday, seven strikeouts to zero walks. Would you start him at home against the Yankees this week? No, I wouldn't start him,

but it was a good start last time out. And the velocity's been up on a slider. He's got a lot of whiffs with it in that start. Something to keep an eye on. If he can get one good secondary going, he could turn into something. Marco Gonzalez, out of nowhere, against the Houston Astros this weekend, seven innings, one run, six strikeouts to zero walks. He is at home against the Texas Rangers starter sit.

I'd rather, like, I think as a general rule, I'd rather sit Marco Gonzalez because there's always the possibility of a meltdown. It's kind of like Hermann Marquez in that way, who, of course, after a great first start, was terrible and a second start. Marco Gonzalez the other way around. I don't think this matchup is like, oh, you can't start Gonzalez, but I'd rather not. Zach Allen made his season debut at the mess on Saturday for shutout with two strikeouts. Would you start him at the Washington Nationals this week?

I wouldn't automatically do it, but I'd be okay with it. Ian Anderson was on his game Saturday at the San Diego Padres, five and two thirds, one run, seven strikeouts to one walk, 17 swinging strikes. I'm assuming we're starting him versus the Marlins this week. Yeah, with that matchup and as good as that changeup looked, his velocity was down quite a bit in his first start. It wasn't down as much in the second start.

Still a ways to go, but you like to see him trending the right direction, velocity-wise. All right, Tanner Halk was solid against the twins on Saturday. a five and two-thirds shutout with four strikeouts. He used his splitter more in this star, which was interesting for me. Would you start him against the Blue Jays this week? I would not.

All right. Stephen Matt's, solid bounce back. He got destroyed his first start. He was much better here in the second one at the Brewers' five-and-two-third shutout with six strikeouts. He is at the Miami Marlins this week. That is Stephen Matt's.

I lean yes to that, but it's not automatic if you have just a really good rotation. Hunter, Hunter Green was at the Dodgers on Saturday, five and a third. He allowed three runs, two of those were earned, six strikeouts, 16 swinging strikes against that Dodger lineup. Would you start or sit versus the Cardinals this week? I would lean start. Yeah, the strikeout potential he showed against the Dodgers, Hunter Green.

Very impressive. Matt Brash, kind of a weird start on Sunday, five and a third, two runs, six walks to five strikeouts, and bad job. me, I hadn't realized that walks were actually a pretty big issue for Matt Brash and the minors. And I guess commanding that breaking pitch as much movement as it has, it's probably tough to do. Would you start or sit versus the Royals this week for Matt Brash? I'd start. I mean, you don't like to see anybody walks six hitters in a start ever, but it was the Astros who don't swing and miss much. And, you know, they're a patient team. And he allowed only two hits,

you know, so he was still hard to, it was. He's still very hard to hit, bottom line, even if he's going to struggle with control from time to time. And I think it'll go better, even better, against the Royals. Not that this start was bad, you know, you got to win. Yep. Aaron Savali, another blah outing on Sunday against the Giants, four innings, four runs.

Three of those were earned. The velocity remains down. Would you start or sit at the Yankees Friday? Keep in mind, Scott, that I will be at the game. So, you know how I talked about in those shallower leagues? It's difficult to find players to drop to take advantage of all those guys emerging on waivers. So I was forced to drop Andrew Heaney and Nestor Cortez in that points league. And now to try and win them both back, I'm forced to drop Aaron Savale.

So I don't feel great about it. But I just don't think he has the same upside, especially since. His velocity's been way down too here in the early go. And remember after his first start, we were talking about how it's almost like he reinvented himself again. The velocity on his cutter was so far down. Well, it wasn't much better in this second start. Most things down two to three miles per hour. And obviously he's a pitch to contact guy anyway, so that makes it especially concerning.

Yeah, I mean, he hasn't gotten, he didn't get crushed in this most recent start, but I wanted to start him against the Yankees. We don't talk about buy highs often here, Scott. obviously the model says buy low, sell high. But I think early on in the season, you could take advantage because maybe fantasy managers are not valuing players the way that they should be early on. And four names, this is Buy High Part 1.

I have a few other names coming up here. But these first four names were ones that stood out to me this weekend, which if I can buy high, I would do so. Chris Bassett, Joe Ryan, a great start at the Red Sox on Friday. He used a slider a ton. 11 of his 19 swinging strikes came on that slide. So Bassett, Joe Ryan, Carlos Rodon, obviously, I mean, as long as he's healthy, he's going to be an ace. He looks awesome. And then Dylan Sees, another strong start. 15 swinging strikes. So far, the fly balls. He's cut those down this year. So Bassett, Ryan, Rodon, cease. Four names standing out early, Scott, that I would be looking to buy high if I can. I would be shocked. Shocked if you could get Carlos Rodon for any reasonable, any reasonable. It's going to be tough. It's going to be tough.

Yeah. The others I could see, because I, you know, particularly if you have a league full of savvy fantasy players, if you go for an obvious buy low, they're going to know what you're doing. But the buy high, see, they could think, ah, this is my chance to sell high on this guy. Yes. And it could actually work out. If you're that confident in how a player performs, and truthfully, rarely am I. But the Joe Ryan one is especially interesting because you mentioned the slider how much you threw it. I mean, every time we talked about Joe Ryan, it's, well, at least I've always said it's like he has a fastball, nothing else, because he likes to throw it two-thirds to 70% of the time. And it's worked for him up to this point. Well, in this start against the Red Sox, he threw the slider more than the fastball, 40% of the time.

And yeah, he got a ton of swinging strikes with it. So if he's evolving to have more than just that fastball, or at least to trust in more than just that fastball, then Joe Ryan could be in for a very good year. And yeah, Chris Bassett, I don't really have any doubts about. His velocity has been a little down in the early going, but he's been reliable enough that if you get the impression whoever is rostering him doesn't value Bassett like he should,

then I'd be okay making a deal for him as well. It just seems like Chris Bassett has been perennially undervalued in the fantasy industry. Obviously this year he was boosted up more than ever before, but so far I've noticed he's lowered his sinker usage and he's throwing his secondary pitches more, his cutter and his slider, and it's led to more swinging strikes.

So maybe it's something he can keep up throughout the course of the season. A few other names here, Scott, that stood out. Carlos Carrasco, looking very good through two starts, 17 swinging strikes on Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Michael Kopeck, I noticed that he has raised his curveball usage this season from 3.5% last year, 15% so far this year. I knew he had the fastball. I knew he had the slider.

I didn't know about the third pitch. So far, curveball has looked very good for Michael Kopeck. This last one's kind of interesting. Noah Cindergarde. He posts a quality start at the Texas Rangers. The velocity is still way down from where he was at, you know, in the prime of his career. I'm starting to think Scott that Cindergarde is just a different

pitcher now. Like he's kind of learning how to pitch with less velocity. Mind you, he's still throwing 95 miles per hour. It's just less than what we're used to. But he's using his secondaries more and it's working. It's working through two starts. So what do you think about maybe buying these three names? Carrasco,

Kopec, Noah Cindergard. Yeah, Cindergarde is my least favorite of the three. But I don't disagree necessarily. I mean, if the secondaries are good enough, then he can survive without the big fastball velocity. I'm just not sure it's going to be much better than that. He hasn't gotten many strikeouts.

He hasn't gotten many swinging strikes in his first two starts, even though the final line has been good. So, you know, I would classify Cinderguard as something of a cell high. I'm not going to panic sell him or anything, but I'm still a little worried about how this is going to turn out for him. But Copeck and Carasco, I feel great about. I mean, Carasco, it's going to. as well as it could have gone coming off that injury-plagued season where, you know,

we knew about the hamstring injury, but we didn't find out about the loose bodies in his elbow until spring draining. And he couldn't fully extend that arm when he pitched. No wonder the results were so bad. But the track record is very strong and obviously 17 swinging strikes here on his second start. I think he's somebody going to be able to trust in as long as he's healthy. All right. I just got to mention we're coming up on the end of the first.

podcast, but Justin Verlander, just a vintage performance on Saturday. Eight shutout with eight strikeouts to zero walk, 17 swinging strikes. He was fantastic. Shout out to Justin Verlander. There was a few other monster games this weekend, like Francisco Lindor on Friday. He had a double dong and a steel. Otani had a double dong on Friday. I think he added another home run after that on Saturday.

CJ Crone, double dong. He's now up to five home runs. So shout out to those guys. I wanted to mention quickly, Scott. The call to the bullpen, we should talk about what's going on here in the back end. I know you mentioned earlier, Josh Stalmont, someone that you were bidding on, and Hansel Robles is someone who was very popular in deeper leagues this weekend as well. We both won Hansel Robles and Josh Stalmont in some of those deeper leagues.

And yeah, let's just go down the line, I guess. For the Yankees, Arollis Chapman, like just doesn't look right. Fastball velocity was down about like two miles per hour. on Friday. It was kind of a tough spot for him to come into, but overall just was not trusting his fastball there. Camila Duval picked up a second straight save on Friday, and then

Jake McGee picked up the save on Saturday, but just seems like they were giving Camila Duval the day off there. For the Rangers, Greg Holland, just does not look like the closer right now. He's pitching like all over the place, the fifth inning, the sixth inning. So if you have him in a deeper league, you can get rid of Greg Holland. Daniel Bard

just keeps on going. He picked up two more saves this weekend. So that brings him to four. He is 55% rostered. So wherever Daniel Bard is available and you need a closer or you need saves, you should go out and add Daniel Bard. Lu Trevino picked up his second save this weekend, specifically for the Royal Scott.

Scott Barlow recorded four outs across the seventh and eighth innings on Saturday. He faced the heart of the order. Then Josh Stallmont converted the save in the ninth inning. How confident are you here about what we saw with their use? usage on Saturday for the Royals. Oh, not confident. I'm not confident.

I'm just kind of playing a hunch. Because remember, Stamont's who they went to to be the closer last year before they turned to Barlow. And I know Stalmond had some COVID issues that were kind of affecting his endurance all of last season, or for at least a good part of last season. And it may have derailed what was their original plan. though it is worth noting that Barlow faced the heart of the lineup. And so maybe if the heart of the lineup was due up in the ninth, they would have saved Barlow for that.

But if nothing else, I think Stalmont is part of a mix, a tandem there with Barlow. All right. For the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, David Bednar pitched in the seventh and eighth inning. They were up three to two at the time. Chris Stratton pitched in the ninth. They were up six to two. At that point, he gave up two runs. David Bednar would then pick up his first save on Sunday.

with a two-run lead. For the Cardinals, Giovanni Gallegos recorded the final four outs to record his second save, so building some confidence there in him. Jordan Romano has been amazing. Two more saves this weekend. He's now up to, do we have this right? Seven saves for Jordan Romano?

Is that real life? Seven saves? Yeah, no, he's getting a lot of saves. His velocity's way down, too. We talk about Ryan Presley, the Jordan Romano's is too. Haven't cared because he's getting so many saves. Maybe we shouldn't care.

Six saves. Six saves. I was like, this does not sound right. Seven, that is a lot. But either way. Six saves is still awesome to the first, you know, a week and a half of this even. Then for the Cubs on Sunday, Michael Givens in the seventh, Rowan Wick in the eighth, David Robertson in the ninth.

He picks up his third save of this season. Let's wrap up with some streamers here, Scott. For Monday, first up, we have Dylan Bundy at the Red Sox, Rich Hill, opposing him going up against the Minnesota Twins, Madbom at the Washington Nationals, Josiah Gray versus the Diamondbacks, and then Eric Lauer versus the Pirates, and Michael Lorenzen at the Houston Astros.

Yeah, not loving any of these. Not loving them. Yeah. Probably Lauer against the Pirates, and then Gray, Josiah Gray against the Diamondbacks, if you have to. Keep an eye on Michael Lorenzen, but I'm not ready to start him at Houston.

I think you're exactly right, Scott. It's gray and lauer for me, just solely playing the matchups there. For Tuesday, Merrill Kelly at the Washington Nationals, Chris Archer at the Kansas City Royals, Carlos Hernandez versus the Minnesota Twins. Merrill Kelly at Washington, I feel pretty good about. By the way, shout out to the commenters. They keep trying to get my attention and giving me a good laugh. I do notice the comments during the show, usually.

I just can't always address them. What are they saying? I don't know what's going on here. They're like, they're literally trying to get my attention. Well, Scott. I want them to know I see them. While they have your attention, I'm going to steal it back because I have here some peeps. How many peeps did you consume this weekend, Scottie?

Oh, actually zero. What? Yeah, my wife made cupcakes. I'm not going to eat candy and cupcakes. I'm not eight years old. Come on. I mean, you can always go with the Frank Sample diet. and just eat like you're eight years old.

I have been given a lot of peeps that I'm sure I won't be able to eat them all. I will enjoy some of them. I don't know that we've talked about your, I guess it's a peep obsession. Is that what it is? We haven't really talked about it since I've joined the podcast. Like, what's the story of peeps and you and peeps?

I just, I gave a passionate defense of peeps one time. I don't even remember if it started on the podcast or on Twitter. It's probably gone to both. It's just I don't, it's not so much that I love peeps. It's just, I don't understand why they're reviled so by certain pockets of the internet. I mean, it's a sugar-covered marshmallow. It's, you know, it's, there's nothing, there's nothing inherently objectionable about them. And they're, like, they're fine.

I've never been like a huge peep fanatic, but they're fine. That's my take on peeps. Apparently to say that a popular candy is fine is a controversial take. I know that Adam Azer hates Butterfinger, so I will use this time to say that Butterfingers are amazing. So that might be a controversial take as well. I haven't eaten a peep in a long time. So as soon as this podcast ends, I'm going to eat one,

and I'll let everyone know on Twitter how I enjoyed it. You probably don't care anyway, but I'll let you know what I'm thinking. We ran a little bit long here, but so much going on. For Scott, I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.