Fantasy Baseball Today - Weekend Recap! Must Add & Start/Sit Questions (4/19 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 19, 2021

Don't mind Frank while he eats his hat! Fernando Tatis returned after a minimum stay on the IL after all. How excited are we over Joey Votto (2:25)? Why has Marcus Stroman been so good? ... News and notes (12:08)! Stephen Strasburg, Christian Yelich and many others were placed on the IL this weekend. We also have COVID situations with the Twins and Astros. ... Let's hit the waiver wire for hitters (21:30). Who are we most excited about between Zach McKinstry, Jazz Chisholm, and Eduardo Escobar? How about some deeper names? ... What do we do with struggling hitters like Gleyber Torres and Jorge Soler (34:33)? ... Is Andrew Heaney a must-add in shallower leagues (40:08)? What about Michael Kopech, Anthony DeSclafani, and Antonio Gibson? ... Start or sit these starting pitchers (50:23)? We also have SPARPs and bullpen updates! ... 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.  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, center field, this 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. Happy Longer, everybody, and welcome into Fantasy Baseball today.

Frank Stample joined by Scott White. Yes, I am eating my hat because, Fernando Tatis returned on Friday and he returned with a bang. He hit a home run in his first game. Scott, don't tell the people that you're going to eat your hat if something is going to happen because next thing you know, you're eating your hat.

What's going on, Scott? I'm sure I've used that before. That expression and never followed up on it to even know if it happened or not. I don't know. They really held you to this one. See, the thing is, the time frame was too short. so nobody was allowed to forget about it. I think that's where you went wrong.

Yeah, I mean, as soon as it happened, basically, rumors started coming out. Well, Fernando Tatis is going to return in the shortest stay possible in the IL, whatever, the minimum days, 10 days. People start tweeting at me, emailing in YouTube comments left and right. And to be fair, I was, I told Scott this, right before we started, I went around my neighborhood. I was trying to find bakery-related items that were in the shape of a baseball cap.

to eat it on the show, on the podcast. There's nothing. There was just nothing around. I tried, so. Well, I don't think that's what you meant, Frank. You meant literally the hat, like, that you wear on your hat. I was just eating it. I mean, why you think I started the show like that?

Yeah. You seem to be trying so hard. I'm trying, man. I am trying. It was a crazy weekend. We are going to try to recap as much as we possibly can. We have waiver ads for hitters, starting pitchers, potential drops, starter sit.

What is going on with these slum? Helping hitters, Glaver Torres. I mean, the guy just looks completely lost right now. We have Sparps that you may want to add and start in a head-to-head points league. Fernando Tatis, by the way, yes, while he hit a home run, it was awesome on Friday. He's won for 13 in his first three games back. So, you know, I still might be right at some point here, Scott, because I still think it was too soon for him to return.

But whatever, enough of Fernando Tatis, we know he's awesome. Oh, my goodness gracious. What do you got, Scott? Oh, my goodness gracious. from the weekend, my friend. Well, really, it was a whole week of good things for a man by the name of Joey Votto. And I think telegraphed this a little bit. Joey Votto catching fire, because even when he was really struggling to begin the season,

the expected stats, they looked like MVP caliber. And then he had an awesome week where he hit three home runs. He hit three doubles, including today on Sunday. I think he hit two doubles just in that game. So he's been on fire. And right now his expected stats, a 342 batting average, a 708 slugging percentage. So they look even better. He had, I believe it was eight home runs.

Basically in the month of September, the cutoff might not have been exactly that, but he finished strong with the power, and he said, you know, that's, he made a concerted effort to do that, to hit for power after feeling like he was selling out for contact the last couple years because in that near MVP season, the strikeouts walk ratio was so good. He said he wanted to hit for more power. And the funny thing about that is he's striking out less than 15% of the time, so lower rate than he even normally does.

And yet the power seems to be there. So I think Vado needs to be picked up everywhere. I think based on last year's finish, his stated goals and the way it started out here, there's a chance you could have one last chapter of great production that propels them to the Hall of Fame. And I'm here for it. I'm here for it. Joey Votto, three more hits on Sunday, including two doubles, which you mentioned. Scott, he also had two RBI.

He was basically the Reds' entire offense against Shane Bieber. So that's what makes it even more impressive. He did it against Shane Bieber. Not exactly, Frank. Not exactly. You know who else was offense against Shane Bieber? Oh, was it your boy, Tyler Naquin? Unfortunately, I guess I have to claim him, boy, Tyler Naquin.

Yeah, who was, yeah, he homered off. On a great day for Shane Bieber, by the way. 13 strikeouts, 25 swinging strikes. I mean, you got to win, got a win, win, win, eight innings. but yeah, Tyler Naquin homered again finally and actually

has started three of the past four games so maybe maybe we shouldn't wash our hands of Tyler Naquin just yet. Okay,

so we hold on to Tyler Naquin probably in those deeper leagues with five outfielers of course. Joey Votto, 57% rostered on CBS.

Scott, I dropped C.J. Cron for him in my home league which is a head-to-head points league. Would you have done the same thing?

Yes, I would. Would you drop Andrew Vaughn for Joey Votto? Yeah, yeah, probably. If it came to that, sure. Last one, I'll ask you about Miguel Sino. Of course, the twins are dealing with a COVID situation of their own right now. Would you drop Miguel Sineau for Joey Votto?

So, yes, I would. I mean, it's much easier to do in a points league, because obviously Sinoa strikes out so much there. But even in a Roto League with that kind of power upside, you're making the move. Yeah. I'm making the move. I mean, it's kind of a Vaughn situation where I'd rather hold on to him.

But I feel like he's unstartable right now. Oh my goodness gracious, for me. I was at the Yankee game on Friday. Unfortunately, what a weekend of baseball, Yankee baseball, gets swept by the Tampa Bay Rays. And, Scott, I fully understand why people hate the Yankees and their fans. I'm at the game. I don't know if you saw this clip.

but the fans just start throwing baseballs on the field in the eighth inning. It was just, there's probably 20 baseballs on the field, just being sore losers that you're losing to Tampa Bay while they're playing defense. You make them go and collect all these baseballs. It was actually hilarious at the time because I was intoxicated, but in hindsight, I was like, all right, well, this is pretty messed up and we're being sore losers. So that's my actual, oh my goodness gracious moment from the weekend. But Marcus Schroman, I got to highlight this guy.

because at the Rockies on Sunday, in Coorsfield, eight innings pitch, three hits, one earned run, one walk, five strikeouts, only 10 whiffs on 90 pitches. His first three starts of the season, two earned runs, only 11 strikeouts across 20 innings pitch. So that's not a great ratio or anything. But only three walks as well. Something that has held Stroman back in the past is he would walk too many batters

and not get enough swings and misses. So if he's still pitching to contact now, but walking batters less than ever before, I feel like he could be in for a career season in terms of whip, at least. And that's a category that has held him back in the past. So still not getting a lot of strikeouts. He entered Sunday with a 65% ground ball rate.

He had 57 points in the podcast league this week. If you play head-to-head points scoring on the CBS site, 57 points in a two-start week. Scott, would you consider selling high on Marcus Stroman right now? I kind of just like what I'm seeing. from him. What do you think? I would consider selling high. Yeah, I mean, we have enough of a track record that I feel like,

I get what you're saying. Like, maybe he has a career year in terms of control, but that's probably not going to happen. And so he'll be an inning's eater. He'll have kind of a high whip, the low strikeout rate. Okay, ERA. I mean, that's obviously a useful pitcher. But right now, coming off the week he just had,

and the three starts total that he's just had, he looks like a world beater. And I think that's an appropriate time to shop him. Yeah, I got to remember the emphasis when you're selling high is on the high. Yeah, don't just sit on the sell. People, it's a good point you bring up, Scott, because people hear sell high and you're like,

well, I just need to trade. I got to get rid of them. I got to wash my hands of this player. I got to get any type of value while I can. That's not necessarily the case. I mean, Stroman might just be a really good SP3, SP4 rest of season. And there's no issue with that.

It's just, we know he's not going to maintain a sub 2 ERA for the rest of the year. So that is the, of course, selling high part of it. I do like that he's changed up his pitch mix a little bit this year, Scott. He's using this split finger change up. He's throwing some of his breaking pitches a little bit more as well, and something that he said

he was going to do. So he has a deeper arsenal. And of course, I think when we say sell high, some of those prime by-low candidates come to mind, like, Jesus Lozardo. That's a move you would make if you could, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that combo of buy, low, sell high. I'd be down for that. Would you do it for Paddock? Would you trade your Stroman for Chris Paddock?

No, I don't think, I don't think I'd do that. And we've talked about Paddock a lot, and there are some concerns there that go deeper than just what the numbers look like right now. And so that's the, like, Paddock is the one player, maybe the one and only player, where I don't think you can drop them yet. I don't think you can drop him yet, but I don't want to start him right now, and I'm not confident he's going to turn things around. I just think you're kind of stuck with him

for at least a couple more turns. And, yeah, I mean, he's somebody we talked about last week, whatever you could get a value. I would aim higher than Stroman personally. I could see making that deal, Paddock for Stroman, particularly if I was counting on Paddock to be this key cog in my pitching staff, and I don't feel like I have enough without him, you know?

Right. Last name I'm going to ask you about Zach Plissack, who got bombed his last time out. Would you trade your Marcus Stromen for Zach Plissack? Yeah. I kind of feel like they can be similar pitchers. Stroman obviously has more of a track record. I would not make that move right now. I would keep Marcus Strowman over Zach Plac.

I would take Plissac to have a better whip. by pretty substantial margin and to have more strikeouts. The ERA might be similar. The strikeouts I could see being in Plessack's favor. The whip? I don't know. He's pretty bad thus far, not that we want to judge

too much. Well, he's had one bad start, Frank. Two of the starts were very good. But his two good starts were against Detroit, so it's you know, what do we make of that? Yeah, fine, but, you know, I don't know. I stand by what say lower lower whip for police at more strikeouts fair enough hey FBT listeners

just wanted to let you know about what's going on at CBS Sports HQ this week as always CBS Sports HQ is your home to start your sports news day with live updates kicking off each morning at 8 a.m. Eastern time and HQ is always your home ahead of the evening's action with live picks from the best analysts and cappers in the sports world each day at 6 p.m. Eastern time but as we get closer to the NFL draft, make sure to leave HQ on all day for the latest NFL news, rumors, and mock drafts ahead of round one on April 29th. Think of HQ as your ultimate NFL draft war room, so check out HQ on your computer on CBSports.com or via the CBS Sports app

on your mobile phone or TV. It's always free. It's always on CBS Sports HQ. Some news and notes, Scott, everybody is hurt. We are doing this again. The Nationals play Stephen Strasbourg on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation on Sunday. Of course, he was supposed to start on Sunday, so he was scratched. And I guess that camera that caught him kind of rubbing something on his shoulder neck area after his last start. There clearly was something going on. So don't drop St. St. Strasbourg, but I don't, there's nothing really else you can do. I think you'd just hold them.

Yeah. Hopefully you have an IL spot in a league where I don't have an IL spot. I would, the move didn't go through, but I was ready to drop Framber Valdez before I dropped Strasbourg. Yeah, we don't know the severity of it, the fact that they didn't, that they downplayed it initially. And it's being ruled inflammation, right? Yeah.

That's, you know, that vague language like that. I usually take to mean a pretty small thing. So, yeah, you want to hold on to Strasbourg. Ronald Cooney Coonio left Sunday night baseball with an abdominal strain. We don't know much as of now. So pay attention on Monday. There is an early game at 11 a.m. Eastern time. So hopefully your league doesn't lock your entire lineup for the first game.

It's usually whenever that team plays. So I believe the Braves are off on Monday. So that definitely helps things. Scott, did you see any other updates on Acuna? Well, they said it's not definitely an IL situation, but they need to have him examined. more. Bryce Wilson,

for whatever it's worth, said it's not as bad as it sounds. All right. Dr. Bryce Wilson. I don't know. Thanks, Dr.

Bryce. He was not, he was not performance surgery against the Cubs. I can tell you that. After missing five straight games, the Brewers finally plays Christian Yellich on the 10-day IL

with back tightness. Scott, what is your concern level? It feels like Yelich deals with a back situation every year. It pops up. Yeah.

I'm less concerned about the back than the fact that the strikeouts have still been out of control for him like they were last year. And I don't think there's really anything you could do about it. Just he's your guy. And you definitely don't want to undersell him based on, in his case, less than a two-week sample, right? Because of the amount he's already set out. Yep. I understand if you're concerned, but I think you just have to wait it out. And I think the back issue, the fact that they delayed the aisle stint for so long, I mean, it's going to be a short stay.

The White Tocs Place Lanslan on the 10-day IL retroactive to April 17th with a strained right trap. The expectation is that he will only miss one start. Gary Sanchez exited Saturday's game after getting hit by a foul ball, a foul tip in his right hand. He was held out of the lineup on Sunday, so we're awaiting more news for Gary Sanchez. He's day-to-day as of now.

Cody Bellinger originally went on the IL with a left calf contusion because he was spiked. by a cleat at first base. It turns out now that he has a hairline fracture in his left fibula. There was no timetable given, but he will miss more time than expected. So another situation, there's nothing you can do.

You're just holding Bellinger, stash him on your IL. But, man, those players on the IL are really, really adding up now. So there's going to be some tough. It's probably time for me to write a ranking the IL Stashes column. That's always a favorite. it. Because people, you know, you're right, Scott. It's stashes exactly because people are holding on to Framber Valdez and Luis Severino and Noah Cindergarde and they thought, all right, well, you know, I'll just stash these guys part of the, you know, the early part of the season. But now

there's just so many injuries. It's making life really difficult. No, what's really a problem is those NFBC leagues. Oh, with no IL, yeah, it's tough. The benches are fairly small and there are no I else. I hate that. They force you to make tough decisions, Scott. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's tough. Don't like that. Don't like that. The D-Backs placed Tim Lecatcher on the aisle with a dislocated left pinky finger. Nick Heath started in center field on Sunday, former Kansas City Royal. He had 60 steals in the minors in 2019. Nick Heath did. He is 0% rostered.

Scott, any interest in Nick Heath in the deepest of leagues? He went three for four Sunday and attempted a steal, but he was caught. I mean, I, you know, we're talking deepest. of leagues. This is... You need steals. I can see that, but... 15 team, Roto or NL only.

That's the only leagues I can imagine. Right. Right. Yeah. That's because I feel like he'll be such a specialist and, you know, the playing time might be sure lived anyway.

But, you know, steals are nice to have. For sure. The Braves plays Drew Smiley on the 10-day I.L with left forearm information on information. Inflammation on Friday. Buster Posey is day-to-day after suffering an elbow contusion. He was not in the lineup on Sunday. Stalling Marte was removed Sunday as well after an awkward swing.

It looked like an oblique, which makes me pretty pessimistic about his status for this upcoming week. So should get more information on that on Monday, and he was off to a great start too. So it's a tough situation there for Stalling Marte and his fantasy managers. Byron Buckson was slated to return this weekend on Saturday from his. his mild hamstring strain before the twins had their game on Saturday postponed. They also had Sunday and already Monday's game against the Oakland A's postponed as well. They had three positive COVID tests over the weekend. Scott, would you risk keeping your Minnesota twins or Oakland A's in your lineup, the team that's expected to face them, at least for

the early part of the week? Well, I mean, obviously depends how shallow it is, what your alternatives are. I would really fringy guys for your league depending on the context of it probably not I'd probably look for a way to take them out

if you're talking like Nelson Cruz you know I'd probably find a way to have him in what's another example would you leave Byron Buckson in

he's been awesome yeah well certainly in five outfield release three outfielder leagues yeah I don't know I mean it's not a definite yes or no.

They tentatively have a doubleheader schedule for Tuesday. Kind of feel like the chances are better than not that they follow through on that. So I guess take that and do what you will with it. Yeah, everyone else on the Twins is kind of fringy. I feel like anyway, Luis Arise, Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco. They're fine players, but I feel like they're on the fringe so you can replace those.

Right. And pretty much the whole athletics line. up right who's their best hitter mark canna well obviously there's Matt Olson and Chapman but yeah Ramon Luriano's been awesome so I think in five outfielder leagues you have to leave him in yeah so anything shallow you know three outfielder leagues 12 team points leagues yeah you can I think you probably bench Ramon Luriano it's it sucks because he's been great but it's it's a tough situation right now and speaking of which the Astros we know last week Jose Altuvae Alex Bregman

Don Alvarez. They were all placed on the COVID IEL. We don't know if they've actually tested positive or if they are just close context, but apparently they were slated to begin individual drills, but we still don't know when we will see them. So Scott, Altuve, Bregman, and Yordan Alvarez. How do you feel about starting or sitting those gentlemen? I mean, unless you have somebody awesome to replace them with. It's going to be pretty tough because those guys are great. Exactly. I plan on starting, I don't have any Alvarez. I have some Bregman and a little bit Altuve. I plan on starting them all in my leagues. I think we heard earlier that Tuesday was the target date for them. And if they're beginning drills, I imagine that's still the target date for them. So I would probably stick with them. The debacks were called reliever J.B. Bukowskis from the team's alternate training site on Sunday. He had an awesome spring, 7 and 2 shutout, 3 hits, 14 strikeouts to zero walks. And I think he can work his way into a potential closer mix for Arizona. So just remember the name. You don't need to add him now, but in deeper leagues. J.B. Bukowskis, Trent Grisham was scratched on Sunday with a tight quad.

He is day-to-day. Mike Mastakis missed the Reds entire weekend series, dealing with a non-COVID related illness. Jay Bruce, he retired after Sunday's game. He hadn't been playing for the Yankees after they traded for Rognetto Doors, so farewell, Jay Bruce. If you're getting benched for Rognetto door, it's probably time to retire. Yeah, solid career for Jay Bruce, though, so give it up for him. Yeah. There is, I mentioned, an 11 a.m. game on Monday between the White Sox and Red Sox, so if you have any of those players, make sure you either get them in or out of your lineup based on who you want starting, obviously. And some good news. After

all this. Manager Scott Surveys of the Mariners said he expects Kyle Lewis to be activated either Monday or Tuesday after dealing with a knee injury. Some more hitter ads, Scott. We talked about Joey Votto at the top. Zach McKinjury, who is the most viewed player on CBS right now. People are trying to figure out who the heck is Zach McKinthry. That's actually a text message that I received from Adam Azer today. He said, who the is Zach McKinthry? And I said, My actual answer was, random jag breakout that the Dodgers always find. So they did it with Max Muncie, they did it with Justin Turner. That was actually happening here, Scott.

Zach McKinstry, he's batting 304 with three home runs. He's 56% roster on CBS. He has second base in outfield eligibility. He's been playing pretty regularly with Bellinger on the IL and A.J. Pollack was banged up, but returned on Sunday. Yeah, I just have a feeling the playing time is going to evaporate at some point. They are finding ways to get him in the lineup. Of course, it was largely when Mooky Betts was absent that he found his way into the lineup,

and Betts isn't absent anymore. So with Pollock back to, and obviously they need to find a bat's for Chris Taylor, I suspect there will be a short shelf life to this. The minor league track record is solid. He always walked a lot, which is nice. had kind of a power breakthrough in 2019 where they had the juiced ball in the PCL.

So you know, you got to take that with a grain of salt. I don't think McKinstree is going to have value in the long run. I put in some claims for him in my 15 team leagues because, frankly, the bats have been really lacking in the early going on the waiver wire, which is why I threw all that money in Naquin.

Didn't have thrown nearly as much as McIntyre. Didn't win him. But I'll probably be happy about that in the long. run. So McKinstree is not a must add in say 12-team points leagues. Nope. I wouldn't say so, would you? I don't think so. But in deeper leagues, the ones that you're bringing up, sure, yeah, I like the versatility offers, second base, outfield eligibility. He's performing well now. It's cheap exposure to probably the best lineup in baseball in the Dodgers. So yeah, I mean, I think you you can pick them up in those deeper leagues and ride them all he's hot, but I do not think that

he's a must-add in, you know, 12-team points leagues or anything shallower than that. How about jazz, Chisholm and Eduardo Escobar are these players must add. Scott, I mean, Chisholm, coming into the year, we're worried about, you know, there's a lot of swing and miss in his game. He's walking a ton right now. The strikeout rate actually hasn't been terrible. He has three homers and three steals. He looks like a player.

And Eduardo Escobar, I'm not going to say he's all the way back to his 2019 self when he broke out and he was awesome. But I think it's what six home runs he already has. So between Jazz and Eduardo, are they must add? They're pretty close. Yeah, I would say they're pretty much right there. I'm more excited about Jazz Chisholm. I think there's a higher ceiling there.

Certainly the steel's potential. I'm skeptical that it can maintain anywhere close to this walk rate. And even the strikeout rate, 25%. I mean, if he's a 25% strikeout rate, he's probably a stud because that's really the biggest concern about him, is he going to make enough contact? So far he has. He's hit the ball really hard.

his ex-slug is 737 higher than the actual slug so I think you gotta take a shot on the upside right now and if he ends up he ends up getting buried by strikeouts later fine you move on but

like it's it's rare that you get this kind of upside this shot at upside on the waiver wire and and he's actually performing right now you know it's not it's not like a Joe Adele situation where okay I got to take a shot on the upside and then he you take a big zero from him for several weeks before moving on you know

i don't think it'll be like that with jess jism obviously he's going well yeah and and the tools are just they just pop off the screen too he hit a i think it was i don't know how far it was but it was oh a 100 mile per hour jacob de graham it's like a high fastball that he actually still got under and he hit it out last weekend he's been really fun to watch so far uh someone actually dm me today's guy and they asked would you rather would you continue to stash wander franco or would you pick up jazz chisholm? And it was a tough question for me. Yeah, that is a tough one.

But I think I would go with jazz. We're hoping that Wander Franco is up soon, but we really don't have any indication that it's going to happen. We don't know. We don't know. Gosh, there's got to be somebody else you can drop, right? I don't think I would. The other player was Thai France.

The other one was Thai France. So I said definitely keep Thai France. Yeah. And then I said I would go with jazz over I think if this you know obviously if you need If you have a hole in your lineup that you need filled immediately Jazz Chisham's gonna do that better than Wander Franco But if you're it's a bench

Speculating on upside pickup Yeah I think I probably stick with Franco Who would you rather add between Jazz or Eduardo Escobar Who does now have second base eligibility as well on CBS Certainly in categories league chisholm Because of the steals potential In a points league I think I would still lean Chisholm.

Me too. But it's a closer call. Yep. And I know you said that you are skeptical of the walk rate, but Chisholm, he had some double-digit walk rates in the minors. So look, it's not going to remain 19%. I agree with that. But 2019 in AA, 11%. 2019 also in AA when he came over to the Marlins, 11%.

So, I mean, he's walked a good amount in the minor leagues. Again, that is Jazz Chisholm. What about Joey Wendell, Scott, who had a great weekend. Six hits in their weekend series against the Yankees, including two home runs. He's 42% rostered and offers great flexibility. Second, shortstop, third base eligibility for Joey Wendell. He played six games this upcoming week. What's your interest level there?

Yeah, this is probably some unfortunate timing for Wander Franco because that's, Wendell's spot is where he most likely slots in. So that's not great. As far as Wendell himself, like he hasn't stolen a base yet, and that's probably the most interesting thing about it. Not that he's going to be a huge base dealer, but he's going to contribute a little bit of that, a little bit of home runs. It's a batting average that isn't half bad. I mean, he's, I don't think he's turned over a new leaf or anything and is on the verge of stardom. I think he's just hot right now.

But he's a competent player if you need competence like that. Again, that is Joey Wendell, 42% rostered. He's fine. It doesn't have much upside, I don't think, but can contribute some batting average. Definitely would rank him behind Jazz Chisholm and Eduardo Escobar. Would you rank him behind Zach McKinstree? Rest of season, no, for this upcoming week. Yes, I'd rather have McKinstree for in the moment.

A few other veterans available, Scott Cole Calhoun hit his first home run this weekend, and Stalin Castro has seven hits over his last five games. including back-to-back multi-hit games. Both are 54% rostered. Both are not really all that exciting. Is there one that you like more than the other? Cole Calhoun or Staling Castro? Yeah, I would say Calhoun.

He's delivered a big home run total the past years. 16 last year in the shortened season and then 33 the year before. So that's more interesting to me, particularly because I was noting this, I was noting this today. So far, the league-wide batting average is 230-something. $2.36. 2-36.

Okay, thank you. Which is the lowest it's been... I don't even know when. As far back as I was willing to look. Basically, all the offense that's happening is home runs. And, you know, obviously it's kind of been a three true outcomes game for a while, but, like, getting even more so to the point that my team. Teams that are doing well are the ones that have happened to hit a bunch of home runs so far.

Not necessarily the ones with the most home run hitters. Some of them haven't come around yet. But the ones that just happen to have a lot of home runs, they're doing well in the offensive categories. And the ones that aren't not so much. So that kind of makes me want to prioritize players who that's like clearly their strength. Because I feel like those are the guys you can, the only guys I can count on right now. So that's why it's part of the. reason why I lean Calhoun there really more than lean I definitely prefer

Calhoun to Starlin Castro how about any of the pirates Scott we've I feel like we just always dump on the Pirates so let's give him some love when they're performing well and you know Colin Moran is he's looking good so far Brian Reynolds has bounced back to this point based on what we were expecting from him last year and then there is Adam Frazier and Gregory Polanco who also had nice weekend so any interest in in those names Colin Moran Brian Reynolds Adam Fraser Gregory Polanco I would say Reynolds most definitely

because he looks like he's bouncing back to who he was in 2019 and that was close to being a must-start option even in those three outfielder leagues and somebody who could maybe make a difference well I would say actually batting average is his best category so he's one of the few who's delivering in that regard Moran's kind of interesting because he's elevating the ball better than he ever has before

and he's had some kind of underlying numbers in the past, but wasn't really, didn't really have quite the power launch angle. So, I don't know, small sample, obviously, but maybe he's figured something out. And he tricked us a little bit last year. I remember there was a span. It was early in the season where Colin Moran was performing, and I picked him up in a few leagues,

and it didn't really amount to anything, but I mean, so far this year, he is making hard contact. He's got a $2.99 expected batting average, 514 expected slug. A lot of strikeouts. Yes. But that, I mean, the fact that he still has such a high expected batting average, even with all those strikeouts, shows you the quality of contact he's making. For sure.

Yeah, and I picked him up in a 15-team Roto League, starting him as my corner infielder, and all right with him there. Anything shallow where he probably don't need to. And speaking of those deeper leagues, got a few names. that just jumped out to me this weekend. Willie Calhoun returned for the Texas Rangers for years, man. I have wanted Willie Calhoun to be a thing for so long.

As long as I can remember, he did return with two hits on Saturday, didn't play on Sunday against a lefty, so maybe part of a platoon. He is 28% rostered. Francisco Mejia, he's performing well. He's just not really playing all that much. So he went two for four with his first home run.

I think it was on Saturday against the Yankees. He only started three out of seven games for the Tampa Bay raised this past week, though. So that is unfortunate. He's 18% rostered. DJ Stewart is a name that I looked at in a few deeper leagues because he does have some pop. And the leagues where I'm struggling on offense

in the hitting categories, I need pop. So DJ Stewart is playing and he's 3% of rostered. Any interest got Willie Calhoun, Francisco Mejia, DJ Stewart? That's probably how I'd rank them. Okay. And probably just for 15 team leagues, like,

for right now. But I think the one with the best chance, of emerging as more as Willie Calhoun, who, of course, we've hyped several years over. It might be a platoon right now, but if he hits it, I don't think it will be for long. And it's nice to see him get two hits in his return. He had a pretty horrible spring.

And he had a pretty horrible 2020 as well, but as you might remember, it was during when spring training first started up last year, he got hit in the face with a fastball from Julio Arias, 95 mile per hour fastball and he had to have surgeries like some kind of reconstruction stuff going on with his face so I

think you kind of give him a pass for last year but it looked like he was on the verge of a breakout in 2019 he hit 269 with 21 home runs and an 848 OPS again the name Willie Calhoun only in deeper leagues as of now in those five outfieler leagues. I wanted to bring up

Michael Taylor because some people might be thinking about dropping him Scott. He's two for 20 over his last six games but the Datcast numbers still look really strong for Michael Taylor. So I just wanted to highlight him. And if you're thinking about dropping him in three outfielder leagues, you probably can. He's only 40% rostered. So I don't know that he's even rostered in those leagues anyway.

But in those five outfieler leagues, I would hold on to Michael Taylor. There's still some nice stuff there under the hood. Yeah. Wow. So a 334 XBA, a 661 X lug. That's more than just nice. Yeah. He's sitting the ball hard.

And he has two steals, too. Those have come even when he's been hitting poorly. What do we do with these hitters, Scott, who are off to slow starts? Should we be benching them right now? Glaver Torres. I'm not ready to say that Glebert Torres is just kind of living off of that 2019, what he did against the Baltimore Orioles. But it's kind of hard to defend anything else about him, right?

Well, the year before, 2018, it was, his pace numbers were. similar. I mean, the 24 home runs and 431 at Bats in 2018. So, you know, that's three quarters of a season. So he projected for 32 home runs that year instead of the 38 he hit in 2019. So like,

he basically did the same thing two years in a row. And then what? Well, yeah. It's just, last year he's a 724 OPS this year so far. I mean, it's a small sample. I get it, but we

kind of need to see him do something after such a bad season that he had last year, right? Yeah, I mean, look, if you got a Eduardo Escobar, Jazz Chisholm just sitting around, you want to go with the hot hand play, I can understand that, but in the long run, I think Labor Torres is, well, I guess I named two second basemen there,

he's only shortstop eligible, but you know what I mean? And there's probably few of your hot hands at shortstop, actually. In the long run, I still think Torres is going to be a top 12 guy. Okay, but you'd be all right, benching him in shallow,

leagues right now? If you have somebody who just has to get in the lineup, yeah. Okay. I'm just going to run through a few other names. You tell me whether or not you'd be benching them and if so, I guess, you know, what league depth that is. Carlos Santana and Jorge Saler just look completely lost for the Kansas City Royals. Would you drop, drop or bench either? I think it could drop Soler in like a points league or a three outfielder league. You probably can Santana too, just because I don't think anybody would pick him up,

but like, commonly a slow starter and always ends up top 12 at points leagues, with the exception of last year. Always ends up top 12 at the position. So I'd like to find a way to hold on to him. Obviously, deeper leagues, like our standard roto league,

I think it's pretty obvious. You hold on to both. How about Alec Bolems, Scott, who had a 32% strikeout rate entering Sunday, which it's not really like him. At every level, he's made a lot of contact. So would you bench Bome right now? I wouldn't be, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

I know I have him in a points league and I'm probably going to start him just because I don't have anybody better. But you do, that's fine. Not ready to drop him, but bench him for, I don't know, bench him for Escobar. If you have room to roster both, I would not drop Bome for Escobar, but if I had room to roster both,

I could see starting Escobar overbone. I agree with that. How about Yoan Moncato? Would you do the same thing? Yeah, I think so. Eh, E. E. E. Hennio Suarez, another one, Scott? It's also a terrible start. I wonder if it's, is he bringing any of the stuff from fielding,

playing, you know, going back to shortstop, and, you know, he's made a few errors there already. He, entering Sunday, he was betting 188 with a 34% strikeout rate. I mean, it's possible. it's also possible to know it's just off to a slow start I think my level of trust in Suarez

is higher that probably going to ride them through thick and thin personally we're going to hit a quick break but I do want to remind everyone to go check out our fantasy baseball today newsletter Dan Schneier and myself

we tag team that bad boy and look it's a lot of what we talk about here on the podcast it's written out news and notes. There are stats that I have from the rundown here. We throw it on the newsletter as well. It's just good to read in conjunction with.

If you listen to the podcast, you watch the podcast, just go to CBSports.com slash newsletters slash fantasy baseball today, and you can sign up for free. Just punch your email in, and that will be sent to your email inbox every single morning. Again, that is for free, the Fantasy Baseball Today newsletter, and also our Facebook group.

A lot of discussion going on there right now. asking good questions, start-to-sick questions, trade questions, some dynasty discussion as well. Facebook.com slash groups slash fantasy baseball today is the link for that. We're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, we're going to move over to the pitcher side here on fantasy baseball today.

Potential starting pitcher ads that I wanted to talk about, Scott, Andrew Heaney. I was surprised to see that his roster percentage is a 65%, but five-and-a-third over this weekend against the Minnesota Twins to earn six strikeouts. and he's going up against Texas this week. It's a really good matchup. I feel like Heaney should be rostered in more than 65% of leagues. It won't be Texas if Otani comes back Tuesday,

which is right now is what the schedule is showing. Okay. But he may be worth picking up anyway. He did only have 10 swinging strikes in this start over the weekend. A lot more fastball than, and fewer curveballs than he threw during that great nine strikeout effort. So it's still, it's still not clear he has

he doesn't seem to have a clear plan for attack and given his track record that's concerning but I don't know I think 65% is about right not sure who I'd drop for him would you drop Marco Gonzalez for him yeah I could do that yeah Marco Gonzalez is 75% rostered so

about 10% more I do have a few drop candidates here that I was going to bring up Zach Davies is still 64% rostered I wouldn't mind dropping him. Quang-Hun Kim, 56% rostered. That seems way high. I know he just returned. I never believed in that guy. Yeah, never. Jake Oteresey, another one, 59% rostered over the weekend for earned runs over four in a third innings against the Mariners. So I'd be okay dropping. Don't get the hype for that don't get the Oterizzi hype either. How about Trista McKenzie? Would you drop him? Scott? He's 86% rostered. He's getting a lot of whiffs this year. He's a 14% swinging strike rate. He's also walking

everybody. He has 10 walks in 12 and 2 thirds innings. Tristan McKenzie, would you drop him for... Yeah, and I think I think his fastball velocity, despite getting a lot of whiffs and mostly on the fastball, his fastball velocity's down yeah, like three miles per hour

from a year ago. So I don't know what's going on with that. I also worry that he's just going to be a five-inning pitcher, if that. Because that's kind of how I went for him last year and it's clear they're preserving his innings. So I do think McKinsey's dropable.

I don't think he's must roster. He's probably about the same as Heaney for me in terms of how much I want to roster them. If I had McKinsey already, I think I'd just stick with them. Sure. Between those two. What do you make of this Michael Kopeck start, Scott? I think it probably was just because, okay,

they needed a pitcher for the double header. So he started the second game for the White Sox on Sunday. And he was going up against his former team, actually, the Boston Red Sox, the team that drafted him. And three innings pitched, one hit, one earned, one walk, four strikeouts for Michael Kopeck.

And this actually caught my eye from the game recap on MLB.com from Megan Garcia, who wrote it. And she said, Kopec made a strong impression in the start to the point that Larusa emphasized he will be in the starting rotation down the road. 57% rostered for Michael Kopeck.

Yeah, the original plan was to keep him in the bullpen all year and down the road. I don't know exactly what that means. Like, he won't be in the bullpen for his entire career. Okay. That doesn't mean anything. You know, it's just such a vague.

Or maybe he means, you know, in midsummer, they'll be looking to get Kopeck in as a full-time starter. But, yeah, obviously, he only went three innings as well as he pitched, and they don't see him as stretched out right now. I think it's a short stay. Maybe he gets one more turn, Lance Lynn being out of the rotation. but I don't think they're ready to make him a full-time starter,

especially since, I mean, I guess he could replace Dylan Cease, but there's not a, I don't think they'd do that. Entering Sunday, he had 13 strikeouts in 7 and 2 thirds, and he's pitched with an 18% swinging strike rate. So there's optimism, I get it, over Kopeck, and he comes with the prospect pedigree, but, yeah, I mean, down the road, we just don't know what it means. So I would, I think in deep,

category leagues. I probably just want them in my lineup all the time if you if you can afford to. I know people like to have closers and they want to get saves in, but I think he's gonna give you really strong ratios and strikeouts. So if that's something you're looking for, I think Kopec can provide that and and the upside could be very high if he works his way into the rotation. So just wanted to mention that for him. Anthony Discofani was at the Marlins this weekend. It's got six endings of one-run ball four strikeouts. Only had six whiffs, but he's been great so far over his first three with the San Francisco Giants. 38% rostered.

The problem is he is at the Phillies this week. What do you do with Tis Sclofani? Yeah, I added him to the number 10 in my top 10 sleeper pitchers for this next week, just because others like Nick Pavetta disqualified themselves over the weekend. It's not a ringing endorsement. I'd rather not have to start Desclaphani, but two quality starts in a row. the giants have, they seem to know what they're doing. Like they've kind of become what Ray Siridge used to be for the pirates where he'd get these

guys who were once thought to have have upside and kind of washed out with other organizations. And he'd figure out a way to get something out of them. And that's kind of what the giants have become. And maybe they're going to do that with Descliffeani. Too early to tell. But it's nice to see back-to-back quality starts. Something I noticed for Descofani entering this season, his career, his career in Great American Ballpark.

He had a 4.94 ERA outside of Great American Ballpark, a 3.6.1. So, you know, pitching an Oracle and San Fran, it's bigger ballpark. I think it's something that can help him. So I'm intrigued. I just don't really love the matchup this week at the Phillies. How about Kyle Gibson's guy to me? If you pick this guy up for a two-star week, you are loving it.

Eight shutout at the... No, he was at home against the Orioles. Eight shutout with six strikeouts. to zero walks for Kyle Gibson. The Arsenal really deep so far this year. He threw six different pitches on Sunday at least eight times each. So 27% rostered.

The problem, similar to Descartes Cofani, is he's at the White Sox this week. So what do we do with Kyle Gibson? Yeah, I don't know that I'd start him. I kind of wish I didn't downplay him as a two-star guy. He wasn't my sleepers gallon, but not with a lot of gusto behind it, you know? So I wish he'd throw a slider more

because he didn't have many whiffs in this start but five of them came on 15 sliders which is a good whiff rate for that pitch but you know Kyle Gibson's been around a while and I think he's difficult to trust even though he had two good starts this week who would rather add between Discliffeani and Gibson Disclaphani

Nice what about Luke Weaver I guess he's in this range he's 37% rostered He wasn't great over the weekend four innings, four earned with just three strikeouts. He had six whiffs on 94 pitches, exclusively throwing his fastball and change up this year. The biggest improvement I've noticed from Scott is the control has been much better for Weaver.

Only one walk over his first three starts. Same problem for him, he's at the Braves this week. We're getting a lot of questions about Luke Weaver. You've got to talk about Luke Weaver. There's not really anything in the numbers that say he's improved outside of the walk rate. Yeah, he had that one great outing two turns ago, but then got beat up pretty bad this weekend. So I'm not seeing a lot to get excited about.

I think he's probably better off with just the two pitches, but that's going to hamper his ability to go deep into games. So I don't think he's going to be that usable this year. I would agree on Luke Weaver. I was going to get Adam to record a bunch of different. sound bites for things he used to sing and just kind of play them. So I'll make it happen eventually. Some deeper league names, starting pitchers that you might want to add. Michael Waka over the weekend, wow, so happy I went to the Yankee game on Friday.

I got to see Michael Waka look like Jacob de Grom. So that was fun. He threw six shutout against the Yankees, one hit, two walks, nine strikeouts. He is 18% rostered. He is at the Kansas City Royals this week. J.T. Brewbaker at the Brewers. six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts. He is at Detroit this week.

I like that quite a bit. It's a nice match-up. Aaron Sanchez, four-and-two-thirds of one-run ball against the Marlins, and he is also going up against the Marlins this week. Jose Urania, seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts. Good game. I don't know if you can trust it, but going up against the Pirates. So a nice matchup potentially there as well.

Alex Wood, five shut out on Sunday. He made his season debut. I think his Giants debut, actually. And he is going up against the Marlins. later this week. And Eric Fetty, five endings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts this weekend. And he will presumably stay in the rotation because the injury to Strasbourg at the Mets. So between Waka, Brewbaker, Aaron Sanchez, Jose Urania, Alex Wood, and Eric Fetty, Scott, do you like any of these pitchers?

Not that much. Not that much. I'm curious what the Tampa Bay raise can get out of Michael Waka. Obviously, this was a great start. struggling lineup, but nonetheless, one hit, 9Ks, 18 whiffs. It kind of stands alone in the outings we've seen from Waka this year, so I'm not moving to pick him up or anything,

but that's probably the most interesting one of this group for me. Alex Wood, of course, is a player. I have not been able to get over the years, and I like that he was averaging 91 on his fastball in this start, which is closer to the high end of what he's thrown than the low end.

and generally when he's been more successful, he's been in that range, but again, he's with the Giants, who, you know, just talked about what I think of them with the pitching. So something to watch, but I'm not moving after just this one start. Fair enough. Let's do some starter sit for some,

I'm not going to say, not all these starting pitchers are fringy, but you might have some question marks as to whether or not you want to start them. And we'll start with Sonny Gray, who made his debut this weekend, four and a third of two-run ball with six strikeouts,

got the pitch count up to 71. Start or sit at the Cardinals this week, Scott. I don't think he must start, but I'd probably start him unless you're just stacked with pitching. How about Jordan Montgomery, who has now allowed eight earn runs over his last two starts,

but the peripheral number still look pretty good. He is at Cleveland this week. I'd lean start on him too. It's just a leaning, though. Scott Matthew Boyd he looks pretty good

he was at the Oakland A's on Sunday 7 in the third pitch innings pitched with 4 hits to earn 5 strikeouts not getting a lot of whiffs but he has delivered three straight quality starts he is at the Royals this week starter sit Matthew Boyd

I still think this is all going to blow up in his face because let me see is he still is extreme of the fly ball pitcher Yeah, he is. Yeah, the groundball rate is basically exactly the same as the past two years.

I don't know. I think it's all going to fall apart for him. He has a 461 X-FIP. Yeah, I'll pass. I'll start him. I will start Matthew Boyd at the Kansas City Royals in deeper leagues. You probably don't need to start him

in a 12-team points league, but he's going deep into the starts right now. Dane Dunning, you want to talk about someone who actually went deeper than where he used to. Six shot out against the Baltimore Orioles this weekend with five strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 75 pitches. He's 53% rostered, so you actually can add him too. The problem is he's at the White Sox. So I don't

know if you want to add him and start him in that matchup. Revenge game. True. True. I wouldn't. You know, he got through six innings through only 75 pitches. I still don't know that the Rangers are ready to treat him like a conventional starter, but he's been great so far and he's pretty much ditched the four seam fastball which was you know when he first got called up last year he was getting a lot of swinging strikes and it was mostly that four seamer in the slider and then he kind of went away from them into a a the two seamer and the change up didn't get nearly as many whiffs so I didn't like that but now he's kind of taken he's going the two seamer and the slider slider's giving him the whiffs the two seamer I mean clearly

Clearly he has more confidence in it than the four seamer. I think he said, I saw Nando tweeted out something over the weekend about how he added the four seamer against left-handers, but it wasn't really working. So I think he's done with the four-seamer. But I don't know. This mix is working for him so far. So I think I'm more interested in Dunning than I am in Boyd. I'll say that. How about Dunning versus Andrew Heaney?

Who would you rather have between those two? Heaney. Fair enough. How about you say Kukuchi? He was up against the Astros this weekend. Seven innings, so you like the volume that he gave you. But five earned runs. We're holding Kikuchi, right?

Yes. Would you start or sit at Boston? I would. I probably sit. Probably set. Wascari and Noah allowed six earned runs at the Cubs this weekend. Scott, he's still 60% rostered. He is going up against the Air Force.

Arizona Diamondbacks at home. Uh-huh, yeah. I wouldn't start him. Oh, you wouldn't? No, I'm probably closer to dropping, you know, than starting him. I like the matchup against Arizona. Yeah.

I don't know what happened against the Cubs. He didn't throw it. He usually throws a slider like 50% of the time, and he only threw it like a quarter at the time. And he has not developed a level of trust with me yet to start him coming off that outing he just had. All right, let's do a little rapid fire. these starters said Dylan cease versus the Texas Rangers this week.

Cease and assist. Casey Meis versus the Kansas City Chiefs. What? He is the top 10. He isn't my top 10 sleeper pitchers, even though he wasn't good last time. So I guess that means you have to start him. Yes, yes.

No, I mean, I wouldn't, I don't think you have to start him, but like I wouldn't be afraid to start him. Okay. Hermann Marquez at home against the Phillies. I would lean sit, but I wouldn't be afraid to start him, Frank. Robbie Ray at the Tampa Bay Rays. And fortunately, I had to add him to the 10 sleeper pitchers for this week, but I'd rather not.

He's had the same control problems. You have a lot of confidence in your sleepers this week. Well, it's just, it's kind of a stupid exercise, but people demand it. Brady Singer, who was very good on Sunday 6th shutout. He is at the Tigers this week. He's only 48% rostered. I would add, Brie. Brady Singer. I like him.

Yeah, Brady Singer. I worry, because he's basically a two-pitch pitcher right now, too, fastball slider. Sure is. Last few starts have been pretty good. I like this matchup. He is in my 10 sleeper pitchers for next week. And I like him more than Robbie Ray. And I like him more than whoever else I had in there.

I can't remember now. But I don't know. He seems pretty fringy to me. Singer does. J.M.B. you know what that means. John means business. Seven shutout on Sunday.

Yes, he does. With nine strikeouts. Start or sit at home in Camden against the Oakland A's. Obviously start him. Come on. All right. How about Kyle Hendricks

who got bombed on Sunday night baseball? Seven earned runs over four innings pitched. He has now allowed 10 earned runs with seven walks over his first three starts. Kind of been a weird start for Kyle Hendricks. He is at home against the Brewers this week. Yeah, and this was his first start, I think, since April 7th.

That sounds great. That would explain why he was out of sync, four home runs in the first inning to the Braves, after really strong to start last time out. His velocity is also down this year, but I don't know that it matters that much with him. I would actually lean start with that matchup, Milwaukee. I'll trust him to come around. No Christian Yelich there, so definitely helps. Is this one of the names that you would try to sell?

Marcus Stroman high for if you could. Yeah. I'd rather have Hendricks than Stroman still. Cool. I just wanted to quickly highlight Stephen Mats, who was just awesome again. I think he had like a no hitter going into the sixth inning on Saturday. So quality starts in each of his first three with the Toronto Blue Jays. And he's doing a great job of limiting hard contact. A 2.57 expected ERA according to statcast. So Stephen Mats is someone that will be rising up by rankings this week. my confidence is growing in him. A few sparps that I just wanted to ask you about, Scott, if you have any interest in a points league, Taylor Whediner at the Reds,

Jeff Hoffman at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Ryan Weathers, who made his first start for the Padres this weekend. He is going up against the, I don't have the matchup, so Ryan Weathers and Cole Irvin at the Orioles. Do you like any of those as spark matchups? Not really. No, if I wasn't, none of them made it on my 10 sleeper pictures for this upcoming weekend. As you know, Frank, I'm not keen on all the pictures that did.

Ryan Weathers is going up against the Milwaukee Brewers without Christian Yellich. So that is mildly interesting. But yeah, not really much confidence here in these spars. Scott, there was a million other things that happened this weekend. Is there anything that you would like to highlight quickly before we wrap up? well frank Greg Holland got two saves over the weekend right oh I did have a bunch of bullpen stuff

yeah I should probably highlight that yeah meanwhile a manual Class A blew a save but then he came right back and got one Sunday so he seems pretty solid in that role uh

Stefan Kreitin did you mention this did not I know we talked about it off the year yeah he got his first save and had been used the way a closer would be used for a while now, like ninth inning in some,

I think in a tie game and I think with like a four or five run lead. I think Crichton's the guy, at least until Joachim Soria comes back. But I'd bet on Crichton for longer than that, actually. He is only 10% rostered, so definitely in category leagues.

Widely available. Get Crichton on your team. Yep, yep, yep. Jake McGee had a bad blown save but it sounded like he was dealing with the effects of the vaccine, not feeling 100%. He went on the IL after that for that reason. So I want to worry about McGee.

He's been one of the most bankable closers so far this year. Yes, indeed. He has. Edwin Diaz picked up his first two saves of the season this past weekend. Diego Castillo got his fourth save for the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, and he was used in the seventh and the eighth inning on Sunday to face the top of the Yankees lineup. Jeffrey Springs got the save for Tampa Bay on Sunday.

But I still do think Diego Castillo is the guy. Lutrovino picked up a save on Friday. I believe he picked up a win on Sunday. Anything else? Yumi Garcia got another saves. He's our Valdez got another save. So those guys we have mentioned before, and it seems like they are fully entrenched

in their respective roles. You may Garcia had like a 50-point week as a closer. That's wild. Two wins and three saves or something like that. Yeah. I don't think he's getting enough. He's still available in a lot of leagues. I think he needs more attention

because there's not really any alternatives in that bullpen. Yeah, no, he's been lights out thus far. And let's just highlight a few aces that were just ace-like. Max Scherzer's 7th shutout with 10 strikeouts against the Diamondbacks. He was great.

Arandola. I mean, complete game. Shutout. Oh, so great. It's just two hits. 10 strikeouts to zero walks, 21 whiffs on Sunday for Aranola. He mentioned recently that he was using a new cutter. He did not throw it a single time in his complete game shutout.

So I think the little cutter experiment's probably gone for now. Who needs it? Who needs it? Chain Bieber, we mentioned at 13 strikeouts. He is great. Freddie Peralta, not an ace, but we should highlight five innings of three-run ball. He had seven strikeouts against the pirates on Sunday. His fastball velocity was down about a mile and a half.

That's just to pay attention. It was 92.5 miles per hour on Sunday, and it was 94 in his first three starts. Again, that is Freddie Peralta. I would still be starting him as a spark this week at the Chicago Cubs. For Scott, I am Frank, thank you all for listening and watching fantasy baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.