Fantasy Baseball Today - Weekend Recap! Waiver Wire Adds & Drops! Josiah Gray or Logan Webb? (8/9 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 9, 2021

Arizona is fun and all but it's HOT! Josiah Gray or Logan Webb (2:26)? Let's rank some waiver wire starting pitchers. Also, shout out to Blake Snell who had a ridiculous start Sunday. ... News and notes (13:10)! Chris Sale returns Saturday, Ramon Laureano was popped for PEDs, and Aroldis Chapman went to the IL. ... We have prospect updates on Adley Rutschman, Wander Franco, Jarred Kelenic and others (24:57). ... Let's rank a bunch of waiver wire hitters (29:45)! ... Do we have any interest in these deep-league hitters (38:48). ... How about waiver wire pitchers (42:48)? ... What other pitchers stood out this weekend (47:37)? ... We wrap up with bullpens and streamers (54:07). ... 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 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. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank Scott, Chris, and Adam. I'm back, baby. Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, August 9th, Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White. here to recap another action-packed weekend and get you the latest waiver wire ads and drops. First off, thank you to Scott and Chris for holding it down while it was away. How did things go, Scottie? I think they went well. I think they went well. I think you'll find that the audience remains intact.

Maybe not. Maybe the numbers are way down. That tends to happen in August anyway. Sure does. But I'd like to think we didn't lose a single listener, Chris. and I. Not a single one. Yeah, look, it is a lot of work that goes into it, so I really do appreciate you and Chris holding it down. Much needed vacation, man. I'm back. I'm re-energized, stretch run here for baseball. Got football coming up, so obviously need a little bit of a break here between seasons, but there's about to be a lot going on. And Scott, let me just tell you this. As much as I enjoyed

Arizona, because I really did. It was a lot of fun. Do not go there during August. It is. Oh, my gosh. I like the wells warned me but nothing can actually prep you for a hundred and fifteen degree heat just smacking you in the face as soon as you walk outside it's and everyone says oh well it's a dry heat no big deal no it's a big deal scott it's high it's 115 degrees i've never known a dry heat i don't know i don't know what that would even feel like what it would mean of course you're talking to somebody who lives in south florida I'm accustomed to a very moist heat And it is Me too It has been It's gross

It's been raging here lately That's for sure Gosh raging in Florida Raging in Arizona Was a lot of fun Got to check out Chase Field You see this little

Map thing behind me I get to put up a sticker For every stadium I've been to So I did that just before Arizona The Diamondbacks are now on the list But Arizona was a lot of fun

Let's get into it Let's talk some baseball Scotty Oh my goodness gracious All right where would you like to start? There was a lot this weekend. And by the way, I mean, I chose a week to go off.

We get Joe Adele promoted, Redetmer's promoted. Ramon Luriano popped for PEDs. A roll of Chapman on the IL, Anthony Rizzo, COVID. Like, there's so much stuff going on. And we'll get into all of it. But what a week it was. Oh, my goodness gracious, for you. You can't really pick a week during the baseball season

where nothing's going to happen. Right. It's just the week I took off, Ronald de Cunia, Tours ACL, you know? At least you didn't take off trade deadline week. Oh, yeah. That was really the reason why I needed the break, man.

Like, the trade deadline was, it was the craziest thing, but we're past that. We're past that's good. Yeah. So my, oh, my goodness gracious, the biggest thing I thought from this weekend was Josiah Gray's

performance on Saturday. His first start with the Nationals was pretty good, but, you know, he didn't show that huge width potential. He showed in his two-star with the Dodgers, and it's like, okay, is there some kind of trade

off here to, because you know, he got hit pretty hard with the Dodgers for missing all those bats. Well, on Saturday, he did the best of everything. He only lasted five innings, okay, but he gave up one earned run and struck out

10 in those five innings. Had 20 swinging strikes in those five innings. Eleven on the curveball, six on the fastball, three on the slider. He had everything working. And that's three out of four, starts now where he has shown

premier league leading type bat missing potential as Josiah Gray. And I think this is the start where it's abundantly obvious now. He needs to be picked up in all leagues. The upside

potentially down the stretch is just too considerable. And since he's missed a lot of this year with injury, I don't suspect there is going to be any curtailing of the innings down the stretch. He's still a available in about a third of CBS Sports Leagues, probably a lot more leagues if you play on another site.

And looking really interesting is Josiah Gray. You mentioned the 20 swinging strikes he had in this start, and we talked about while he was with the Dodgers, he was getting a ton of whiffs there too. His first 18 innings pitched this season between the Dodgers and the Nationals, he has an 18.8% swinging strike rate, does Josiah Gray, albeit with a 60% fly ball rate.

So it does give up a lot of fly balls. 64% rostered. He's going up against the Braves again this week. That's the team that he just faced. So I think that he is a must add. I don't know that I'd be rushing to put him in my lineup because especially for a young starting pitcher facing the same lineup twice, two starts in a row.

I just really don't like that spot for him. Oh my goodness gracious for me. I'm going to bring it up here because I want to compare the two. Logan Webb, who was at the Brewers this weekend, six innings, one run, one walk, nine strikeouts, had 13 swinging strikes on 91 pitches. His last six starts, he's got a two-point. 0.10 ERA, 0.97 whip. He is 58% rostered and faces the Rockies this week at home in San Francisco.

Scott, who would you rather have Josiah Gray or Logan Webb, who has been fantastic? Three straight quality starts, by the way, as well. I mean, they're probably my two favorite starting pitcher pickups right now, at least if you're limiting the selection to those rostered in less than 70% of leagues. So I'm going to say Josiah Gray because when in doubt I pretty much always go for the upside. But very, very impressive Logan Webb has been. And I thought his breakout was going to depend on the emergence of this change-up that he showed in spring training and was earning a lot of headlines. But that, it really hasn't depended on that because, I mean, he hasn't had many starts where the change-up has.

been a big batmisser for him. And his most recent start on Saturday, I believe the majority of the whiffs came on the slider, actually. But the main thing Logan Webb does is, you know, elite ground ball rate with enough strikeouts that, more strikeouts than the average pitcher who gets ground balls like he does. And that adds up to, I mean, that's kind of what we've been touting for Framber Valdez the last two years.

Of course, Framber Valdez has a lot of control problems too. that it doesn't look like Logan Webb does. So, yeah, Logan Webb's looking pretty exciting. In terms of X-FIP, he really stands out. Let me see here. I'm curious to see where he'd rank among qualifiers. Looks like he'd rank in the top five in X-FIP among qualifiers behind just Corbin-Burn,

Zach Wheeler, Garrett-Cole, and Brandon Woodruff. Yeah, and that's what a massive groundball rate is going to do for Logan Webb. So he pitches in a park that's conducive to that as well in Oracle out there in San Francisco. I was going to save this for later. Waverwire starting pitchers part one, but let's just kind of group all of these together. Rostered between 58 and 75%. So more so on the shallow side of CBS leagues.

But Austin Gomber had another great start this weekend. Six shut out against the Marlins with nine strikeouts. He's 73% rostered. Madison Bumgarner, I don't know how he's doing it, but he's doing it. He's doing something. He was at the Padres on Sunday. seven innings, two runs, five strikeouts. He now has a quality start in four of five starts since returning, including three straight seven inning quality starts for Madison, Bumgarner.

Michael Paneda was at the Astros, six innings, two runs, three strikeouts. He is 65% rostered. And then James Caprillion made his return this weekend, six endings, two runs, four strikeouts against the Rangers, he's 75% rostered. So there's a lot of names there, six names got, rank those six. It's a lot. Gomber, Gray, Logan, Mad Bum, Paneda, James Caprillion. I think I'm going to go Gray and Webb at the top, as reliable as Gomber has been, and three of his four starts since returning from the IL

have been good. This most recent one over the weekend was the best of them. But he's been reliable since April. I'm still just distrustful of where he pitches his own games. So I'll put him third on the list behind Gray and Webb. Gomber third. the others are Panetta Caprillion and who else?

Mad bum I'll go Caprillion fourth Panetta fifth Madpum six I don't know how Madbom's getting it done I wonder if strangely the sharp decrease in spin rate for him is helping him

by just everything's dropping everything's dropping as it crosses the plate and hitters are swinging over it. I don't know. Like the only change I see in Madison Bum Garner's repertoire from earlier in the year last year

is that the spin rate is way, way down on everything, which would normally be a bad thing, but I don't know if it's somehow helping him. I don't know either. Yeah, that's why I said, like, he's doing something. It's just I don't know how it's getting done right now, but spin rates have been consistently way down between 250 and 300 RPM for Madbums

since returning from the IL. But he's pits through, you know, a few different eras now, I guess you could say, for starting pitchers. So he's kind of been around. So maybe it is helping him. Scott, would you drop Zach Plessak for any of those? He's still 90% rostered, yet his ERA is up to 4.84 on the season. He had another clunker on Sunday.

I might drop them for all of them. The only one I'd consider keeping PlaySack over is bum garner. But that's about an even swap to me. me because that's how little trust I have in Plesack at this point. Yeah, Plesack has a 6.26 ERA and six starts since coming off of the I L. I almost dropped him in a 15-team Roto League that I play in. So that is the deepest of the deep. And it's just, he faces the Tigers this week.

He just got crushed by the Tigers. So how can you feel comfortable about putting him in your lineup? I don't think you can. And he's still 90% rostered. So I'm with you. I'm okay dropping Zach Plesek for nearly any of those. Just a shout out here at the top. Oh my goodness gracious.

Blake Snell, who we've been ripping all season long and rightfully so. Up against the Diamondbacks, seven shutout with 13 strikeouts, 25 swinging strikes on 108 pitches. 19 of those came on the slider, just his fourth quality start in 21 tries this season. This really kind of set up for a get right spot for him, Scott, because he's been great at home this year. And the Diamondbacks, you look at their lineup,

if we're being honest, it's kind of a minor league lineup at this point. So I think it's set up really well for him. He was only started in 54% of CBS leagues. I would not be upset if I had that start on my bench. He's at Arizona again this week. Would you feel comfortable getting Blake Snell back in your lineup? I wouldn't say comfortable. I mean, obviously, you're more willing to do it than you otherwise would be.

And I think if you were, if it was a Categories league, you were chasing strikeouts specifically, then, yeah, I'd be more likely to do it than not. But if you're mainly looking to preserve VRA and whip, Probably not. If it's a points league, it really depends on who else you have. Obviously, there's less harm can be done in a points league from starting a pitcher like Snell. But I will say he did do something different in this start.

He was like 50-50 slider fastball. We're pretty much just the two pitches. And that's not something we normally see from Blake Snell. So I don't know if that's just, he just had a good feel for those pitches in Sunday start, specifically the slider, or if he actually figured something out that's going to help him moving forward. But it was noticeably different

from what Snow was doing before. All right, before we hit the news and notes, just want to let everyone know, Magic, Jordan, Barclay, Bird, Malone, Hewing, the 1992 Dream Team changed the game of basketball forever. Dream Team, Birth of the Modern Athlete is a new five-part original series streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.

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You can watch Dream Team, birth of the modern athlete, a new five-part series now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus. News and notes from the weekend, Chris Sale, it's happening, baby. He will make his season debut

on Saturday against the Orioles. Scott, do you feel comfortable throwing him in your lineup? Yeah, I think I'd have to have like a really deep collection of starting pitchers, high-end starting pitchers for me to pass up sale in that first start back. I understand there's a good chance he's limited. Maybe he goes only five, but it could be a very dominant five innings. Yeah, against the Orioles too, who I know for the most part this season, they've been better against lefties, but they swing and miss a lot.

So that is a nice little get-right debut for Chris Sale, set the stage for the rest of the season for him. Ramolaryano mentioned it, suspended 80 games on Friday after testing positive for Nandrolone. Can't say I know anything about it. But it is a performance-enhancing substance, so he will miss at least the rest of this season and the beginning part of next season as well. It's a pretty big loss in a Roto League because, you know, while he hasn't run as much recently, he's still giving you some power and speed combined there in a really good Oakland-Ais lineup. So, Ramon Leriano out the rest of this season.

Kyle Swarber recently experienced tightness in his left groin and will have his rehab work scaled back. He is now with the Boston Red Sox, a late trade deadline acquisition there. Year of the setback, Frank. Year of the setback. Nobody can make it back cleanly. Cross your fingers that Chris Sale doesn't like trip

over a tree branch somewhere or something. Something happens to him. It's been like two years since he pitched. It's crazy, right? Yeah, they were really deliberate about his rehab. I don't know when he exactly had Tommy John. I come to think of it. I think it was either February or March of last year in 2020.

Okay, so they shut him down at the end of 2019, but then he didn't have Tommy John until the next spring. Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah, because remember all the news that was coming out and they're saying, oh, he's sick. That's why he's not pitching in the spring or he didn't report for pitchers and catchers. And we're all like, yeah, sick means you need Tommy John's surgery. We all knew something was up and eventually they finally went through with it there.

But I commend the Red Sox. They did it the right way. They're playing it safe. They're slow rolling Chris Sale. And they need him for the stretch run here to be healthy and into the postseason. So I actually commend them for the way that they handled him. Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts said on Friday that Clayton Kershaw is still experiencing soreness in his forearm. While there's no timetable, they're still optimistic.

he'll be ready sometime in September. Not so sure. Nick Anderson will resume rehab on Monday. He had it halted because of a COVID situation. And I had a bid in for Nick Anderson in a 15-team Rotel League. I did not win him. But the Tampa Bay Ray is as expected, Scott.

I was trying to catch up on everything that happened this past week with their bullpen. And I don't really know what's going on there. It was Matt Whistler one day. It was a guy named Ryan Sheriff another day. And there was a new sheriff in town. You're right. But I do think if Nick Anderson returns,

he can kind of take hold of this Tampa Bay bullpen as best any Tampa Bay reliever can, I guess. Yeah, maybe if he's healthy. It's, you know, he's coming back from a ligament injury, right? Yeah. So, yeah, hopefully they just got Colin McHugh back, but he's more of a multi-inning guy. He's been their best reliever. He's more of a multi-inning guy, so I don't suspect they'll use him in the bullpen.

They have a lot of guys on the IL right now. now. So they could really, yeah, it's an opportunity for Anderson if he beats them all back. Andres Jimenez was recalled by Cleveland on Saturday. Scott, do you have any interest in one Andres Jimenez? Not really. No, I mean, he can provide some speed, but I imagine he'll be pretty low end at the plate. This season in the minors, he was batting 287 with 10 homers, eight steals, and 844 OPS. He shined a little bit with the Mets last year. year saw some of that speed, so he can get hot over a short period of time. But if he's available in some deeper category leagues, that's where I would be looking for, Andres Jimenez. Justin Steele, who was that guy? He's pretty good, actually. We'll join the Cubs rotation starting Tuesday.

He had a 1.32 ERA in 27 and a third inning's pitch in the minors, and he was awesome as a reliever earlier this season. He is 2% rostered. Any interest in Justin Steele? I thought he might be a closer candidate when he came back, but if they're putting him in the rotation, I guess not. It'll be something to monitor. He looks like he's, I mean, he was 21 strikeouts in 13 to third innings relief. I imagine the stuff won't play quite the same in the rotation. But yeah, he's, it's more of a scout team situation than I pick him up, but I'll keep an eye on Justin Steele. Yeah, and I'll only, you might want to take a shot on him now.

I think I have a 2% bid on him in a 15 team roto, anything shallower. Throw him on the scout team. These players, went to the IEL this weekend and the biggest one, A Rollis Chapman with left elbow inflammation. And he was actually coming around, pitching much better in the second half of the season so far. So this is a worrisome situation and trying to figure out who's the next man up. Jonathan Loisigua picked up a save on Saturday.

And Zach Britton pitched both on Thursday and Friday. So Britain was actually going to be my guess here, Scott. He hasn't been good this year. He's got an ERA over five. But he was pitching the eighth inning consistently as he set up, for Chapman. So do you think it's Loisago because he converted it on Saturday

or do you just think Britain needed a day off because he pitched back to back Thursday and Friday? Loisica is the first one I'd target but I don't I don't think well I'm not sure

we'll get a clear picture between Loisaga, Britain or Chad Green who's I'm not sure our oldest Chapman's going to be out that long elbow inflammation there's no damage was found upon further

examination. So my hope is they shut him down for a week or two and then he's back. And maybe nobody really gets a chance to seize the job. It's like a committee situation until he gets back. That's what I'm guessing. But if I had to if I had to pick just one guy, I'd pick Loisica.

Jonathan Loisga is 32% rostered on CBS right now. Let's see what happens there. Anthony Rizzo tested positive for COVID. obviously he is a cancer survivor, so it's a serious situation there for him, hoping for a speedy recovery. Luke Voigt started on Sunday in his place, so he was activated, was recently on a rehab assignment, and like we said, Scott, these things usually work themselves out. Once Anthony Rizzo returns, then I guess we'll see what happens. But Luke Voight, for the time being, at least this upcoming week, I would say you can get him back in your lineup.

Yulee Geryl went to the IL with Nex stiffness. Ryan Mountcastle went to the concussion IL, that's a seven-day IL. Would you start or sit these players who are either returning from injury or are a little bit banged up right now. Luis Robert will join the White Sox on Monday. We have not seen him play in a game since May 2nd with that hip injury. You throwing them back in? I certainly would in categories, leagues, five by five leagues, any leagues where steals are a high priority. I might hesitate in a points league, particularly if my outfield was strong already.

Juan Soto has sat out three straight games because of a knee injury, though he did pinch hit on Sunday. What do you think? I think because he pinch hits Sunday they're not thinking IL stint here I'd probably keep him active Bobauchette was not in the lineup Sunday due to shin contusions contusions on both of the shins

I'd probably start him Jack Flaherty is confident that he'll be back he'll be able to rejoin the rotation during the upcoming series in Pittsburgh that is from I believe Monday to Wednesday or Tuesday through Thursday would you fire him up Well, that's a really good matchup to return to, right?

I don't think he had like a full-length start on his minor league rehab assignment. So I'm not saying I'd for sure sit him, but I'd rather sit him if I had decent alternatives. Let's see, the most pitches he threw on a rehab and a rehab start with 75 in the latest one. You know, he might be able to give you five innings. but I think I'd play it safe if I had reasonable alternatives to Jack Flaherty. Justin Turner exited Sunday's game

due to left groin discomfort. Let's see. Justin Turner. Discomfort? Let's see. Dodgers, they're off Monday. Most teams are off Monday. There's, I think, just six games

on Monday. Maybe even fewer than that. Yeah, I think I'd plan to start Turner unless we heard something worse between now and then. Only five games on Monday, so we're going to have a little fun. We'll fire up some. Actually, I was going to play fantasy feud, but if Chris doesn't plan on coming on,

it's just going to be me and you. Oh, I think he said he's planning to come on. Oh, all right. Well, I might have to beg him. So we can play a little fantasy feud. And only five games, we've got to get a little creative there. Javier Baez is day-d-day with left hip tightness. I believe he left Saturday's game or Sunday's game.

One of the games this weekend. start him? I'm feeling less than optimistic about that one. That sounds like something that could put him on the IL. You know, it kind of depends on the depth of the league. Head to head, I think it's pretty easy to say, sit him.

Deeper than that. You may have no choice but to start him. Michael Brantley suffered an apparent injury after a collision Sunday, and I tried researching it. All I heard saw was apparent injury, so I don't know exactly what it is. I don't know if anybody does. They only play

five games this week, Astros. So if there's any doubt, I'd probably sit him. But my suspicion is, it's not going to be a long-term thing. Ryan Maltapia was removed Sunday due to a sprained big toe. Start or sit? Sit. The Angels hope Jared Walsh would be activated on Tuesday. He was on the aisle with a right intercostal string.

Yeah, I don't know how I feel about that hoping business for Jared Walsh. Yeah. I think I'd try to sit him if I had reasonable alternatives. Alex Verdugo went to the paternity list on Sunday. Usually that's like two to four days. Yeah. I mean, he hasn't really been performing in a way that makes you want him in your lineup

for the past several months. So I think if you can, play it safe with Verdugo. Glaver Torres suffered a thumb injury while sliding into second base on Sunday. He was wearing a glove. You know, one of those like mitten things that the guys wear usually so that they, don't jam their finger.

He was wearing it on the wrong hand. Or just wear it on both hands. If you're sliding into second base head first and you're using your left hand, why wouldn't you wear the mitt on your left hand? He's wearing it on his right hand and he jammed his thumb. I don't...

Ridiculous. I don't get it. Ridiculous, Glaibertores. He had actually had been heating up here in August, but... Yeah. Not enough that I'd take any chances with him. Yeah, so he went three for four

on Sunday with his 12 stolen base. had 12 career steals entering this season. So it's just a really weird year. There's been basically no power. He was batting 310 over his last 15 games, lots of steals. It reminds me a lot of just that one year stretch with Jose Ramirez where just everything was going wrong, but he was still running. I guess Glaber is trying to make an impact somehow, but just no power and lots of running. So yeah, I'm with you on that one. A few prospect updates here. Adley Ruchman was promoted to AAA by the Baltimore Orioles. He was batting 271 with 18 home runs at AA this season.

And a few other top prospects. Coming around a little bit here, Wander Franco, he did go O for 4 Sunday, but is batting 25 with one homer, not much power, over his last 15 games. So I think it's a step in the right direction that we're starting to see some more batting average from Wander Franco. Jared Kelnick, five hits with a home run in a four-game series against the Yankees, also coming around a little bit. Joe Adele made his debut last week.

He had two more doubles on Sunday. He's only been six games, but he's batting 304 with just a 20% strikeout rate to this point. He's 57% rostered. Scott, do you think that number needs to be higher for Joe Adele? No, maybe, maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. I mean, just he's still more of an upside play than I'm ready to get him in my lineup kind of play, right?

So how many outfielder can you have on your bench? I would say maybe more like 65 instead of 57 based on what he's shown so far. Reid Detmer's, his teammate, who is their top pitching prospect in the organization. He was at the Dodgers on Sunday, five innings, five runs, did have five strikeouts,

15 swinging strikes on 97 pitches. He has now allowed a total of 11 earned runs over his first two starts. He's only 28% rostered, and he's at the Houston Astros this week. What are they thinking? The way they line this up,

Reed Detmer's first three starts, the Oakland A's, the Dodgers, and the Astros. Couldn't have been worse. It could not have been worse. Scott, would you be looking to hold on? Are you still adding him even though he's been pretty much bad, I guess, to this point? It's only two starts, but... Yeah, I mean, I don't know how... If there's really enough time for him to prove himself enough of an asset for you to use him in fantasy,

I don't mind stashing him for the upside, but obviously if it's the choice between Reed-Detmer's, or like Josiah Gray or Logan Webb, or I could probably come up with it. Even like Luis Heel, who had another good start for the Yankees on Sunday. I'd rather go with them than Redemers at this point. I'm happy that you brought him up. Luis Heel, by the way. That's G.I.L is how it's spelled, but it's pronounced Heel.

Up against the Mariners, five shutout, eight strikeouts, 17 swinging strikes on 92 pitches. He's now thrown 11 shutout innings with 14 strikeouts to just three walks. The three walks is huge for him because he has all the strikeout upside in the world. He walked everybody in the minor. So that's really promising for him. He's only 32% rostered and he was sent down after this start. So there's a chance that he could be back, but he kind of seems to be in this limbo right now between minors and their rotation.

But they could use him. Right. Yeah. I mean, if we're just talking about having five openings, five spots to fill, even after Garrett Cole and Jordan Montgomery returned from the COVID I.L., which if they're sending Heal down, it sounds like they're expecting that to happen the next time through the rotation, Colum Montgomery back for the Yankees. That's still, I mean, I guess they have Nestor Cortez, right,

and that could be their fifth starter, but Heald has looked better than that. So I don't know. I don't know that I'd be... I don't know what their plans are for Heel, honestly. I expect we'll see him back at some point here over the final two months, and hopefully he'll stick around. Get Andrew Heaney out of here too, by the way. Oh, my God.

Yeah, he had nine strikeouts and his most recent star, whatever, but you know the deal with Andrew Heaney, so. Let's give this kid a chance. Luis Heel, let's take a break here. And when we return, we're going to take a look at some hitter ads from the weekend. We'll do that next year on Fantasy Baseball today. Let's start with some hitter ads in some shallower leagues. Mike Mustakis returned.

He had three doubles in his first game back on Friday. He's 73% rostered. Scott, would you drop someone like Cabrion Hayes for Mike Mustakis? think so Cabrion Hayes did Homer on Sunday it was only his second homer since

like mid June so you know been a big disappointment this year has Hayes and Mushtakis has a good enough track record that he didn't start on Sunday which was interesting

I don't know like between him and Ehuei Oswara I suppose one's going to have to sit out every game but I presume Mustakis is going to play most of those games so I'll go with him over Hayes yeah and one of the reasons

why one of those two have to say is because Kyle Farmer has been as good as he has. More on him in just a little bit. Scott, how would you rank these three outfielers in shallower leagues? Tyler O'Neill went four for four with his 18th home run on Friday. Strikeouts have been down over the past couple months, but the power has also gone down. He's 75% rostered. Andrew Vaughn, two for three with his 13th home run on Sunday. In 31 games since the start of July, he's batting 318 with six home runs. Andrew Vaughan is 71% rostered. And then Jorge Soler in eight games with the Braves,

nine hits, three homers, 74% rostered. How would you rank those three? O'Neill, Vaughn, Solair. I think I'd rank them just as you have them listed here. O'Neill and then Vaughn and then Soler. O'Neill's ex-slug is still like up near 600. I know he hasn't provided many home runs since I think May. But, you know, 18 overall is still a healthy number

and the underlying numbers still look great. So O'Neill, I would go with him over Vaughn, and then Soler, you know. Solair's been productive of late too, and we've talked about how good, you know, he's still impacting the ball like an elite slugger and making more contact than he did last year.

So it doesn't surprise me that he is surging here of late. It's a good group. It's a good trio, but I think I'd rank them O'Neill then Vaughn than Solair. Let's run through a bunch of names here and ask, where would you add these hitters,

if anywhere? Miles Straw went three for five with his 19 stolen base on Friday, and Cleveland likes to run, so he's going to have the green light there. 43% rostered. Where would you add him, Scott? It'd have to be like a deep rotissory league

where I could start five outfielders and was really trying to make up ground and steals. There's not a lot there otherwise. Brandon Belt had four hits this weekend. All of them were home run. On Sunday, the home run that he hit was a pinch hit off of a lefty. So normally. His lefty numbers look good this year.

Yeah. And he's still sitting against lefties. I don't know if that's because he just returned. Then they're trying not to play him too much. But Darren Ruff actually, he absolutely crushes lefties. Right. Exactly. It's because Darren Ruff has been so successful.

I don't know that they can completely take him out of the lineup. So I imagine Brandon Belts of Bats are going to be limited. but once again, his numbers this year are great. I mean, obviously these four home runs over the weekend help, but the OPS is pushing 1,000 again. It was over 1,000 last year. And the reason he was so productive last year is because his home park played so much better.

The home park had held him back in the previous years. He might have always been a stud if he didn't play in San Francisco all these years, but got better production at home. actually better there than on the road. And the same thing is happening this year. You look at his home away splits. Brandon Belt much, much better at home. So, I mean, it's hard to dismiss last year's breakout

as a small sample fluke at this point. But because I think it's pretty clear, Belt won't be an everyday player. I don't know that he's a must add everywhere. He's 27% rostered. Where would you look at him? It needs to be more than that. Needs to be more than that.

I think all roto leagues, there's enough lineups. spots to fill that somebody in your league should have him rostered. Yep. And I know he faces two lefties this upcoming week over the weekend, so he should play in at least four to six games, but maybe they'll play him

for one of those against the lefty. Elias Diaz hit his 13th home run of the season on Friday over his last 32 games since the middle of June. Elias Diaz is batting 315 with 12 homers and a 1083 OPS. He is 21% rostered and all of his games are on the road this week.

Yeah, I wouldn't play him on the road if I could help it. Would you be looking at him anywhere? Only two catcher leagues? I got him started and some one catcher leagues just because it's the best I could do. And obviously he's coming off a home stand. But ideally he would be more of a two-catcher league option. Kyle Farmer has seven hits over his last four games. And since July 1st, that is 29 games.

He's betting 376 with five home runs and seven doubles. he's a 31% line drive rate and his 45% rostered has first, second, third, and shortstop eligibility. Where would you be looking at, Farmer, if anywhere? I mean, if he could sustain

a 31% line drive rate beyond just these 29 games, he's going to be pretty good. I don't expect that to happen. He's done a better job of elevating and has shown more production as a result. But I don't think

I don't think this is, there's a lot of legitimacy to this. I don't think it's going to last long. I wouldn't be treating him more than just a hot hand play. I would probably add him in, similar to Brandon Bell, any rhodo leagues or leagues that have middle infielder, corner infielder, I picked him up in Tout Wars, which is a 12-te-Team League,

but it has a middle-end corner infielder, and he just has great versatility. So I think anywhere that deep. Lorenzo Kane in 10 games since coming off the aisle is betting 3.42 with three steals. He's 18% rostered. And I saw that the Brewers have your number one hitter matchup this week, Scott. Where would you be looking to add Lorenzo Kane? Five outfielder leagues.

He's still making contact at a rate like he always has. The batting average isn't great, but small sample, long absence. I like that he's already stolen three bases since returning in late July. So he's showing no hesitance on the base paths. And between that and the likelihood, the batting average corrects, I think there's still some usefulness in Kane. They're not sitting them that much either. They're pretty much playing him every day.

I know I got a day off Sunday, but I think Kane at 18% is one of the most under-rastered outfielders right now. I know that Christian Yellich was activated this weekend from the COVID-I-L. So who is going to lose playing time? Avicel Garcia is still there, Jackie Bradley, Tyrone Taylor. it's pretty crowded, but they're probably just going to play. I mean, Bradley hasn't been playing all that regularly. Yeah.

And I mean, Tyrone Taylor's really been a fixture of lay, but he's probably the one who would go. Yeah, I would imagine so. CJ Crone had six hits this weekend, including a pair of double dogs, one on Friday and then one on Sunday. He's 46% rostered. The problem, all of his games are on the road this week. He's got an OPS over 1,000 at home, a 632 on the road. Yeah, his lefty right, he's played. that's a pretty dramatic too.

Our Crohn's. Awesome against lefties. Not so much against righties. So you really got to play the matchups with him. And I think as productive as he was this weekend with the two-two-homer games, probably not somebody you should have in your lineup for this upcoming week.

The last name here on this list, Abraham Toro Hernandez, or just Abraham Toro, depending on where you play. But on CBS, it's Abraham Toro Hernandez. In 12 games with the Mariners, 386 batting average, three homers, one steel.

He's 47% rostered, and I believe he has second and third base eligibility on CBS. Yep, he picked up second base, because he's been there every day, second baseman. Yeah. Where would you look to Adam? I mean, anywhere you need another middle infielder

at this point, I don't have a lot of faith in him yet, but he's, since 2019, he's been a 3.27 hitter in the minors, and he certainly makes a lot of contact. The strikeout rate is low for, Toro. Doesn't

hit the ball very hard, so the power he's shown recently, I'm not sure how much faith we can have in that.

I feel like a good, maybe even the best case scenario for Abraham Toro is like Thai France. If things break right

for them, the Mariners got another Thai France and Abraham Toro. So we'll see. It's too early to say. But if if you're looking for

that kind of potential at middle infield, it's probably time to pick them out. Let's quickly run through some deep league hitter ads, and we're talking 15 teams are deeper. Chaz McCormick with the Astroats. He has seven hits over his last four games. He is 6% rostered.

Yadiel Hernandez is 12 for 31 with two home runs since the trade deadline and has been playing pretty consistently for them. He's 7% rostered. Jorge Mateo was claimed by the Orioles had three hits this weekend, including two steals. So speed in deeper leagues.

Bradley Zimmer's last 15 games with Cleveland. He's batting 2-94 with two homers and two steals. Connor Joe with the Rockies double dong on Sunday, but he's only started three of their last seven games. I wonder if Tappy's toe injury is bad, then he's probably going to play a little bit more. Again, that's Connor Joe. All their games are on the road this week.

And then Lewis Brinson has multiple hits in four of his last seven games and is playing quite consistently. McCormick, Yadiel Hernandez, Mateo, Zimmer, Connor Joe, Lewis Brinson. Any interest in any of these in deeper leagues? Well, I do have Chas McCormick in a couple of 15-team five outfielder leagues. I don't feel great about it. He's power production has been pretty good when he's played,

and I added him after the Astros traded Miles Straw because McCormick was going to take over in centerfield and has. But strikeout rates awful, the expected stats are awful. The one I like most just in terms of skill set is probably Conor Joe, actually. He gets on base a ton, and his own games are at course field. that obviously counts for a lot. It'll be interesting to see how this week goes, particularly Topia misses time, as you mentioned,

how much Connor Joe plays, if he does anything in this week of road games. Because if he does, then I think we start to talk about picking them up. In even deeper leagues, the deepest of leagues. Frank. Frank Schwindell has started five straight games for the Cubs in the minors this season.

He was betting 296 with six. 17 home runs. I'm rooting for the guys. He's been around the minors. He's hit for a ton of power. And this has like Nando Defino de Pino written all over it. Frank Schwindell is the name there. And then Yanni Hernandez, who played third base for the Texas Rangers this weekend. He went two for three with a walk and two runs on Saturday. He has really a big speed. Three seasons with 30 plus deals in the minors. Both of those gentlemen are zero percent rostered on CBS. A few notable hitter performances from the weekend. Austin Riley, over his last 28 days.

He is the third best hitter in Roto, the fifth best in points, just continues to stay hot. Cedric Mollins hit two home runs this weekend. He is now part of the 2020 club, and it's only August 9th, while batting 320, by the way. Jonathan India has three home runs

in his last six games, and since June 1st, he is betting 314, with 10 homers, 51 runs, and five steals. That is a 25 homer, 12, steel,

131 run scored pace over 150 games. He's been fantastic. I hope you listen to Scott and you picked him up. Mandy Machado hit his 21st home run of the season. All of a sudden, he's betting 285 with an 877 OPS. Bryce Harper is getting hot. He has four homers in his last six games.

George Springer, very hot. Over his last 15, batting 379 with six home runs. Vlad Jr. doesn't do this often. A sock and a shoe on Sunday, his 35th home run, his third steal of the season. Jorge Polanco, just having a great year. Double dong on Sunday. Now it's 20 homers,

batting 272 with nine steals. Whitmeryfield, the first hitter to 30 steals. He got there on Sunday. However, he is betting just 226 with zero home run since the beginning of July. Stalling Marte in nine games with the A's.

He's betting 425 with two homers and seven steals. He's going to run. No issues there. Cody Bellinger has homered in back-to-back games. Did he homer on Sunday? Maybe that was Friday and Saturday? Hmm. I looked at it. No, Saturday Sunday.

Saturday Sunday? Okay. And then Eloy Jimenez had a breakout game on Sunday. Three hits, including a double dung. Nice to see there from Eloy. Let's get back to the pitching side of things. We gave you waiver-wire starting pitchers part one. Those were shallower leagues. Let's do part two.

Marco Gonzalez was at the Yankees, six shutout, five strikeouts. He's got a 1.93 ERA over his last four starts. But it seems very fluky. Good match up this week against Texas. Cal Quantrell. Up against the Tigers this weekend, seven shutout with 10 strikeouts. Where did that come from? Adbra Aleslai up against the White Sox, six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts.

He had 16 swinging strikes on 90 pitches. Vladimir Gutierrez all of a sudden has three straight quality starts. Six endings, one run, six strikeouts against the Braves this weekend. And then Hazers-Lazardo, I'm throwing him in here because I still think he has some prospect pedigree. I mean, he got absolutely crushed. He was in Coors Field. He's given up 10 earned runs over two starts.

with Miami. Seemed like he got bad-bifted a little bit. Didn't give up a lot of hard contact in that start, but still gave up a good amount of hits. He's going up against the Cubs this week, and obviously they have their issues with their lineup. Marco Gonzalez, Cal Quantrell, Adbert Alzli, Vladimir Gutierrez,

and Jesus Lazardo. Who's your one or two favorites from this group, Scott? Hmm. I'm starting to become intrigued with Cal Quantrell. I'm not really seeing a lot in the underlying stats that should motivate me to pick them up, but it's been very steady of lay. Last five starts, you mentioned, ERA below one. And it's been getting ground balls at a pretty good rate,

and suddenly 10 strikeouts on 20 swinging strikes. Again, not a lot to back it up, but it's... I at least thought about picking them up in some deeper leagues. Marco Gonzalez has, of course, a pretty good track record and his last four starts have all been decent. Still has a 649 XERA on the year. So not... I mean, he's somebody who's always outperformed

as expected stats, but nonetheless, that's pretty awful. So I'm not super motivated to pick him up yet. Adbert Alzali, you know, it's interesting. He was getting... Home runs were just killing him for a while there. He had a stretch of nine starts in which he allowed a combined 14 home runs during that nine-star stretch. But then none in his last two starts.

And if you look at his ground ball to fly ball rate, he actually isn't like an extreme fly ball pitcher or anything. So his ex-fip is actually still decent in spite of all those home runs. The FIPP not so much because that works. But yeah, I mean, I think Quantrell is my favor right now, slightly over Al's a lot. line Gonzalez's third. I'm still not sure. Like, Gutierrez seems like he should be pretty vulnerable to home runs, and at times he's looked like it.

But when he doesn't give up home runs, he seems to do pretty well. And that's, you know, last three starts, quality starts. That's what's been happening lately for him. Alzalai, by the way, his change-up usage is way up over the last three starts. So earlier in the season, we spoke about, you know, basically two pitches. He throws two different fastballs and a slider, but it's mainly fastball slider. Changeup usage is up. So I'm intrigued by that for Aousel.

I don't think he's a must add or anything yet, but 41% rostered. Calquantrol, by the way, does have SPARP eligibility on CBS, so you can use him as a relief pitcher. Marco Gonzalez, I love the matchup this week up against Texas. They are 29th and weighted on base average versus left-handed pitching. WaiverWire starting pitcher is part three, and it appears that I only throw through two names on this list. So these are very deep league ads, but Elijah Morgan has back-to-back quality starts. He is 5% rostered. And on some websites, it's Eli Morgan.

On CBS, it's Elijah Morgan. And Bryce Wilson, formerly of your brave, Scott. He is now with the Pirates. He put up a quality start this weekend, six endings, three runs, seven strikeouts. And he has allowed just four runs and two starts with the Pirates. So both are 5% rostered. Anything here? Eli Morgan, Bryce Wilson?

Maybe. not enough to act on, I would say. But Bryce Wilson showed a much fuller arsenal in this, his second start with the pirates. Specifically, the curveball usage was up. And obviously it all looked pretty effective. Of his 13 swinging strikes, at least two on each of his four pitches, fastball sinker, curveball change up. So, you know, maybe the pirates are, maybe the Braves were kind of construction. restricting him in a way that the,

restricting him in the way that the pirates weren't. All right. going to. Let's move on to some pitching standouts. Some more pitching standouts. We'll start with Friday. John Means, up against Tampa Bay,

five innings, two runs, five strikeouts. 15 swinging strikes is good. Four starts since coming off the aisle. He's got a 4.37 ERA. Swinging strikes are way down. He's going up against the Tigers this week, Scott. Would you start or sit, John Means?

I'd start him against the Tigers. Yeah. I feel pretty good about him now, even though this start was just so-so. He's back to missing bats like he was before, the injury. Sandy Ocansara, I mean, I could have put this guy in, oh my goodness gracious, because the guy got Coors Field left and right. 3.2 innings pitched, 10 hits, 10 runs allowed. His five prior starts to this one.

He had a 3.73 ERA, swinging strikes are down, walks her way up. don't really like what I'm seeing right now, Scott, from Sandy Alcancera. He is at the Padres this week. Would you start him there? Yeah, I would. I mean, his previous start was 10 strikeouts and seven innings, I mean.

I know his home road splits are pretty drastic, too. He's been awesome at home, not so much on the road. But obviously, this course field start really hurt that. I always give a pass for a course field start, especially when the, in Alcantara's case,

the previous star was so good, so dominant. Cool. Some studs being studs from Friday. Corbyn Burns, seven innings, one run. Wade Miley, seven shutout with five strikeouts. Hermann Marquez up against the Marlins, six shutout with seven strikeouts. Chris Bassett against the Rangers

seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts. Anything that you'd like to add on Burns, Miley, Hermann Marquez, Chris Bassett? Not really, Burns. I should point out, his spin rates have been decent for a while. They've kind of, you know, we're not seeing these big drops in spin rates anymore.

I know we talked about Madison Bumgarder. We're still seeing it for him, but most of the pictures that we saw it for early on that we're not seeing it so much anymore. I don't know what that means exactly, but I'm comforted to see it in terms of at least using them in fantasy. Yeah, I don't know.

I think we talked about it one time before we started up here, conspiracy theories. Maybe MLB has gone back to turning a blind eye to it. I don't know. Who knows? But it is interesting. Nonetheless, on Saturday,

Brad Keller and Kongyang Kim were up against each other, and they've been both pretty bad over their last two starts. Keller's only 32% rostered. Kim is 70% rostered. Would you continue to hold on to him? I think so.

Yeah. Yeah, he had a great four-star stretch. All-quality starts. I think it's just one-run run between them prior to these two shaking. he starts and the overall numbers still look good for Kim. Keller hasn't looked right since straining his back two starts ago. Yeah.

Would you drop Kim for either of Josiah Gray or Logan Webb if they're available? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Some standouts from Saturday, Carl Swardanga, back on track. Five shutout with 11 strikeouts. His prior six starts. He had an ERA over four. Robbie Ray, six shutout with five strikeouts against the Red Sox. Jose Berrios has looked pretty good so far. Two starts with Toronto, 12 innings, one run, 13 strikeouts. Luis Garcia, great again.

Six shutout with eight strikeouts against the twins. Brandon Woodruff, just doing what he does. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts against the Giants. Charlie Morton threw six shutout with seven strikeouts, and then U. Darvish, this is the big one,

bounce back, and he needed it up against the Diamondbacks. Great matchup on Saturday night. Seven innings, two runs, 12 strikeouts to zero walks. And what I noticed, Scott, over his last four starts, a 51% ground ball rate for U. Darvish,

over his first 18, that was 34%. So I think we're getting back on track here with Darvish. Yeah, that was after our July where he had a 736 ERA, no quality starts and five chances. Now, this is an interesting one for what I just referred to with Burns. Darvish, remember his spin rates were consistently down, hundreds of RPMs. In this start against the Diamondbacks, they were up all of his pitches.

The RPM was up 50 to 125. And the results were much better. So I don't know. I don't know. MLB, turning a blind eye. You heard it here first. Conspiracy theory, Frank? I don't know.

Sunday, let's take a look at some notable names. Junjin Ryu just clobbered by the Red Sox. 3.2 innings, 10 hits, seven runs. His prior five starts, he did have a 1.8. 8-4 ERA. Looked like he was turning the corner, but Red Sox are a tough lineup. Would you start or sit,

Ryu at Seattle this week? I mean, Seattle? Yeah. Might throw a no header. Nope, I knew it was coming. Keep Ryu in your lineup. Not predictable. Yeah, keep Ryu in your lineup for that one.

Zach Wheeler up against the Mets, the revenge game. Two hits shutout with 11 strikeouts against the Mets on Sunday. Tyler Malley up against the Pirates, seven innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts, and then Walker Bueller against the Angels, six innings, one run,

eight strikeouts has now gone six plus in 22 of 23 starts this season for Walker Bueller. Anything, Scott, on Wheeler, Malley, Bueller. Well, this is an encouraging start for Wheeler, I would say, 11 strikeouts and nine two-hit innings had 22 swinging strikes. His velocity was up across the board, but over a mile per hour on his fastball. And when you were gone, Chris and I talked about how Zach Wheeler, since that stretch of starts where I think he had four double-digit strikeout efforts in five.

Since then, over a span of nine starts, Wheeler had put together a 302 ERA, which is obviously good, 1-25 whip and 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings. So he had basically looked like Wheeler of the past. But then he bounces back with a dominant effort, more like we were, more like the ace we had been treating him as for most of this season.

so maybe Chris and I were premature to relegate him to his previous form. Wheels up, baby. Let's go. Zach Wheeler. Needed that bounce back in a big way, but great, truly fantastic start on Sunday. Call to the Penn, some bullpen updates. And are we anywhere closer to figuring out what's going on in the Cubs bullpen now that they do not have Craig Kimberl? On Friday they had Cody Hoyer, who came over from the White Sox, pitch in the ninth inning, pitch of scorer. pitch the scoreless ninth with the game tied. I know last week, Manuel Rodriguez, Hernandez. Manuel Rodriguez picked up a save for them. Do you have any lean here?

I know Rowan Wick is getting ready to return too. Anything on the Cubs? Well, I keep hyping Dylan Maples is maybe the guy. He's also going to return from the aisle soon. But no, not much of anything. Manuel Rodriguez maybe looked like the front runner for a hot minute there, but then he gave up four runs.

in his next outing. So I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say there's a clear front runner. And then he pitched either in the sixth or the seventh inning on Sunday, Manuel Rodriguez did. So don't know what that means for his chances. The White Sox following here, Craig Kimberl,

I've got him on a ton of teams, and this is just, this is rough. On Friday, he gave up a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Saturday, Craig Kimball, using the eighth inning again in a four-run game. He is 92% rostered on CBS, Scott. At what point do we think about dropping Kimbrel if this is just his usage?

I think we got to start thinking about it now. I mean, it's easier to do. Dropping him is easier to do in a points league than a categories league where you still have hope of Kimbril helping your ratios. But yeah, it's crazy. Since the trade, Liam Hendrix has only appeared twice. and like Kimbril, they're working them every day it's crazy because Kimbril has never had that role where he like pitches every day

you know like a bullpen workhorse type role because he's always been relegated to the ninth so Hendrix has before Hendricks has been that bullpen workhorse before it's just odd to me that you would ask them to do ask them well ask Kimbril specifically to do the thing he isn't accustomed

to when Hendrix has more experience doing that. Yeah, it's definitely a weird situation. I mean, Hendricks has been so good. I can't deny that. And, you know, he was their closer for all of this season. But, you know, obviously, Kimberl has the track record. Borderline Hall of Fame, or some might say. So it's, it's been rough. if you have Kimbril on your team. I think it points leagues again. You can look to, uh, to move on from Kimbril in category of Roto. Hold on a little bit longer. Let's, let's continue to monitor that situation. For the Tigers on Saturday, Gregory Soto picked up his 13th save, Michael Fulmer. was used in the sixth inning.

So I think Soto is still the guy for now. The Nationals on Saturday, Kyle Finnegan picked up his third save. He's 43% rostered. Scott, do you think that number should be higher? I mean, just relative to other closers,

I think that makes sense. I really don't think there's a backup option for the nationals, but I also don't think Finnegan is anywhere close to closer caliber. So it's a bottom of the barrel closer, I would say. On Saturday for the Braves, Will Smith gave up a, gave up three earned runs. He took his third blown save and his sixth loss of the season. The ERA's creeping up there.

It's in the high threes and they do have Richard Rodriguez now. So, all right. Let's get back on track here, Will Smith. So we don't have any issues there. For Cleveland on Sunday, Emmanuel Class A picked up his 16th save and he has the last five saves for Cleveland. James Karenchak being used in the seventh or eighth inning. Now, that's the guy who's under rostered.

He's only 68% rostered. is Class A. If he has wrestled that job away from Karen Chack completely and the way Karen Chack's pitched lately, that would make sense. Class A, I mean, should be one of the most rostered closers out there. It should probably be more rostered than Kimbril, frankly. Yeah, I was just going to say, would you drop Craig Kimbril for a manual Class A? I think you might have to.

Yeah, I think it makes sense. One of our favorite bullpins in the league, the Cincinnati Reds. On Sunday, Michael Lorenzen was used in the eighth inning. Givens picked up his second save of the week. He got one earlier in the week. Michael Lorenzen got a save on Wednesday. So Lorenzen got one on Wednesday. Then I believe it was Givens on Thursday and now Givens again on Sunday.

Michael Givens is only 5% rostered and Lucas Sims was just activated for the Reds. So I don't really have a lean here and I think that they're going to continue to just play matchups. Yeah? You think it's Givens? I don't think it's Givens, but I would. lean strongly toward Givens. He has closer experience from his time with the Orioles

and he has by far the best ERA in that bullpen. I mean, Michael Lorenzen's hardly pitched at all, so it's not really fair to compare him, but I think between those two, they go Givens. I'm just not really sure how Lucas Sims fits in. For the Twins on Sunday, we have gone full circle. Alex Colomé picked up his fifth save

of the season, his third save of the week. Taylor Rogers is currently on the aisle, and it does not sound good. I don't know if we're going to see Taylor Rogers again this season. Colomé is 23% rostered. In my NFBC main event league, that is a 15-team Roto. He went for $44 out of 1,000. So for like 4.5% of the budget.

Pretty big bid. Pretty big bid. I mean, three saves in a row looks like the guy. It's not like his performance had really recovered from the time he lost his job early in the season. So it's still, we're still talking about a bottom of the bear. closer here. All right. Let's wrap up.

To stream or not to stream, Monday streamers. Sam Henges. I mean, there's only five games, so it's just give me, I guess, one. That maybe if there's one that you would actually start,

I don't know. Sam Henges versus the Reds, I think he's just an opener. Bo Burroughs versus the White Sox. I think he's just an opener. Alec Mills versus the Brewers. Carlos Hernandez versus the Yankees,

who actually has been pretty good recently. And then Zach Thompson at the Padres. Thompson would be my choice. All right. I can't dispute that for Tuesday. We have a pretty good selection here, or maybe not. Now that I'm looking at the first name, Jahab at the Pirates, yuck, but good matchup.

Stephen Brault versus the Cardinals, Trista McKenzie versus the A's, Luis Patino at the Red Sox, Nessor Cortez at the Royals, Daniel Lynch versus the Yankees, and Ross Tripling at the Angels. Well, I don't love any of the matchups, but I would say stripling,

Petino and Lynch would be the three I'd most likely use. No love for Nestor Cortez, huh Scotty? No, not really. Should have kept heel around. You know what your four innings of one-run ball from Nestor Cortez? Not really.

They don't let them go very deep but it is a good matchup, so. All right, we're going to wrap there. We got through the whole rundown in a good amount of time. This is insane. Your energy level is like through the roof right down, Frank.

Oh, man, I slammed a Red Bull right before we started. So I'm kind of, I'm a little jittery right now. You're wired. We got us through this in record time. Ludicrous speed. I love it. I do want to give a shout out to a couple of listeners that I met, met up with at Chase Field at the Diamondbacks game. Diamondbacks Giants, I got to see Tyler Clippard blow a save. Surprise, surprise there. But shout out to Ethan and Jace Burke, who just randomly we met up. He sat with us and we ended up spending like the whole day together. He hung out with my family and stuff. We went to a bar. It was a ton of fun. Shout out to those guys, the FBT listeners.

You guys are awesome. For Scott, I am Frank, thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.