Fantasy Baseball Today - What Do We Do With These SP? Way Too Early 2027 ADP Predictions (9/15 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

Quinn Mathews had his best start yet (3:04). ... Jonah Tong turned in his first career QS (8:41). ... Sanoja has been great since the start of August (13:18). ... We had a strong game in Coors Field (16:10). ... News (24:23): Ohtani will hit off a tee on Tuesday. ... What do we do with these six SP (34:11)? ... Josue De Paula started against a LHP (45:20). ... Let's make some way too early 2027 ADP predictions (54:20). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:08:30).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today. On Tuesday, September 15th, I am Frank Stanfield joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, what do we do with these fringe?

six, six fringe starting pitchers. I completely butchered that. Great start. Latest waiver names. We'll look into the crystal ball for way too early. You do actually have one after all this time? 2027 ADP predictions. I've been telling people we don't have one of those and you pull one out.

And now I can't say that anymore. We do have a crystal ball. We should get everything right. Yeah. I got this like dirty ball. gross ball that I found at Central Park one day. That is not crystal. I have looked into the crystal ball and I could tell you

there will be a season in 2027. I knew it. All right, let's start with the players of the night. Way to go, kid. Stretch it back. Yeah, we see you. You're the man. All right, let's get things.

You to man. Scott, tell me who was the man on Monday? Well, we actually got a good pitching performance from somebody and that somebody is Quinn Matthews who was my favorite two-star pitcher to stream so that's that's a good thing I guess he was going against the Giants a good lineup to stream against

in the first of a two-star week potentially subject to change as always one run in six and two thirds innings he struck out eight walked only two. It's important for Quinn Matthews. Walks have been an issue, both in the majors and minors. Got 16 whiffs, multiple three plus on four different pitches.

Less than 80 mile per hour average exit velocity allowed. So weak, weak contact. And this comes on, am I seeing this right? He's made two straight starts against the Giants. Yep. Well, hopefully it's not just the Giants,

at least the first of the day. those two starts, Devers was still around. But yes, he's had two really good starts in a row, each six innings plus, each just two walks, which again is a big step in the right direction for Quinn Matthews. And I think you dig a little deeper and what these two starts also have in common, other than being against the Giants, other than being six plus innings, other than being just two walks. A lot more sinkers than usual. It was 20% in this one.

It was 17% in the last one. Prior to that, he was thrown at like 5% of the time. It wasn't really a part of his arsenal. And we have seen this trick used successfully for pitchers who have good stuff, but struggle to throw strikes. You mix in a sinker. And I don't, I honestly don't know that the, the science behind it,

if the sinker itself is easier to spot for strikes or if having it in the arsenal somehow makes... I don't know. It seems to get them in the zone more. And back-to-back starts where there's work for Matthews and the stuff has had a chance to shine. So I think it's a step in the right direction. He does make a second start this week,

as I mentioned, against the nationals. If you're in a daily league, do you want to stream them with a matchup like that? Probably not, but you could think about it. And then the final week, it looks like he's facing the Brewer, so you probably don't want to stream him for that one. So I don't know that you're going to get any more use of Quinn out of Quinn Matthews this year.

Weekly leagues, obviously, you probably will get that national start because you started him for two starts. But it's encouraging to see scouting him for next year, pitcher with a lot of upside, making some changes, hopefully throw on more strikes. And, you know, the one thing the nationals, they rank second against lefties in Wobah on the season.

So that's not great. Over the past 30 days, they're 26th in Wobah, so that offense has slowed down a lot. And them being good against lefties has been weird because their two best hitters are left-handed, and Dale Lyle is also lefty, right? He's not a switch hitter. So it's like, why have they been so good? Curtis Mead was probably a big part of that early on. He's not there anymore. So I don't know.

I'm not saying he's a must start, certainly, against the nationals, but I could see another good start. And I think part of what we're seeing is just maybe him starting to figure out his arsenal a little bit because typically what you see is it's not like this for everybody, but guys who have both a sinker and a four seamer, you usually see the four seamer against opposite-handed hitters more, the sinker against same-handed hitters more. And that's what we're seeing from Quinn Matthews here. In this start, 38% of his pitches against lefties were sinkers,

zero percent of his pitches against righties were sinkers. So just trying to minx that platoon edge is something that I think a lot of smart pitching coaches and teams are doing now. And that's what we're seeing from Quinn Matthews now. And looking ahead to 2027, I think the thing that you have to like about him as like he will probably qualify just as a sleeper, not a breakout, I think. But he's going to have a great defense behind him. Yeah. I assume, I know Mason Wynn's been a big disappointment with the bat, but he's still one of the, the best defensive shortstop in baseball.

J.J. Weatherholt is a shortstop playing second base. So I still think this looks like a pretty good situation for a pitcher like Quinn Matthews. It's just, it's the walks. I think it's for the past five,

he has two or fewer walks. If he can do that consistently, I can be really good. Yeah, and I dove into the pitch mix a little bit here and looking at it, I mean, his changeup is awesome. It had a 42% whiff rate entering today. And his breaking pitches, while they don't get huge whiffs, they induce really, really soft contact.

The ex-woba on both his slider and curb ball are really good. And then I think throwing the sinker more actually is a good idea because this four-seem fastball has been hit hard so far. So the overall arsenal, it looks pretty interesting. You know, whether or not he could throw strikes, that remains a question. But he's allowed two earn runs or fewer in six of his seven starts. The one that he didn't, it was seven earned runs.

So that was a really rough one. but, you know, he's managed to keep runs off the board and he's looked pretty good here. That is Quinn Matthews. Last two matchups are pretty tough, but I think he will qualify as a decent sleeper heading into next season. Chris, what about your player of the night?

Can he be useful this season? Can he be a sleeper next season? Yeah, let's stick with pitchers who I have always really liked, maybe more than most. And that is Jonah Tong, who went, I believe this is the first career quality, start for Jonah Tong. Things have been pretty disastrous overall for him, but he was really good

on Monday against the Orioles. I know to the chagrin of the city field crowd, I don't know if you guys were watching the game at all, but there was a, there was some booing when he got Pete Alonzo out at one point. I get it. Pete Lonzo, he's a fun player, but that was a weird. But yeah, Jonah Tong, zero earned runs, one unearned run, six strikeouts. one walk, one, four hits. He had seven strikeouts, one walk in his previous start. I know it was four on runs over five innings, but there are signs of life here for a guy who still has a lot of really interesting traits.

You know, he's still a really good athlete, and he's got that fastball that he can throw in the mid-to-high 90s with really interesting shape, and he's got the funky delivery, and the change-up can flash. really good. And I thought the curveball, he threw a couple of good ones today. And so I, you should remain very skeptical of Jonah Tong moving forward. We need to see more than one good start ever from him at the major league level before we start talking about him as a viable option for fantasy. I don't think I would stream him against the Phillies later this week, probably not against the nationals next week either,

but this is a name to keep an eye on for, you know, looking ahead to 2027 because he's kind of in his own way, like a microcosm of the Mets organization over the past two years. Like last year he emerges as, I mean, by the time he made his debut, he was one of the five best pitching prospects in baseball, probably. And he was a big win for the Mets pitching development system. And I think that pitching development system has let them down this season in a lot of ways, both at the minor league and major league level.

Pretty much everybody has taken a step backwards except for maybe Zach Thornton. Nolan McLean, I guess, hasn't taken a step backwards, but pretty much everyone else has. And so Jonah Tong's right there with them. I still think there's some talent there if the Mets can figure it out, though. I mean, I don't think Nolan McLean has quite lived up to everybody's wildestreams for them. But he hasn't. He's been good. He's obviously good.

He might finish the season with a sub three or a, just because people maybe got a little too excited about him. Yeah. They wanted him to be Camp Schlittler this year. He hasn't been bad, certainly. No. But kind of like organizationally, there aren't a lot of success stories to tell on the pitching side for the Mets this year.

And I think more than anything else when you talk about the Mets, you know, I saw like, I don't know, there was some. MLB network thing with John Hamon, he was talking about like, oh, the Mets lean on analytics too much. And it's like, well, I don't know, dude, the Brewers lean on analytics a lot, you know?

Like, I don't know if that's the explanation. The Rays kind of feel like they're at the forefront. Yeah, like they're good every year. The Dodgers, you know, like the Dodgers. This thing, we're like, oh, analytics are ruining these teams. Like, well, no. And like, okay, maybe they should have resigned Pete Alonzo. I don't have a strong opinion on that. I don't think it would have changed their season

either way. But, like, the biggest thing is that if David Stearns isn't going to invest much in pitching, they're going to have to be a really good pitch development team. And they looked like that last year, and they haven't been that this year. They've got to fix that. And fixing Jonah Tong would go a long way to answering some of those questions for them. Yeah, I thought he looked really good in this start.

His velocity was down across the board. It was actually a little chilly here in the New York City area on Monday night. So perhaps that affected him. But the fastball, 20 inches of IVB in this start, six whiffs, six of his 13 whiffs, so I thought the fastball looked very good for Jonah Tong and really everything played up pretty well. So, first

quality start of his career, I agree, I am not eager to stream him in his next two starts. I think if you're in a deeper league, you can run them out there just because your options probably are not great. But mostly just interested to see how Jonah Tong finishes out the season very much so similar to

Quinn Matthews. My player of the night I want to highlight Javier Sinoja. And we've talked about him, you know, kind of sparingly here over the past couple of weeks, but he's been really good since the start of August. He had two more hits, a triple, his ninth home run, two runs, three RBI here on Monday night,

40 games since the start of August. He is hitting 3.47 with six homers, 21 runs, 28 RBI, four steals, and OPS around 950. His strikeout rate is sub 10% during that stretch. He does not hit the ball hard at all, but he does pull it in the air quite a bit. And so I think that is helping Javier Sinoja get away with some of this.

And he has started 22 straight games. He is 54% rostered. He is eligible at four different positions. Second, third, shortstop, outfield eligible. We've had a lot of these like eligible in three or four different position players kind of pop up. I still think Zach Gelloff is probably at the top of that list. But after him, I mean, Sunoha has been really, really good. And I'm intrigued by the, doesn't hit the ball hard, but pulls it in the air quite a bit.

skill set that he's showing off right now. Yep, and it makes a ton of contact. So he's probably going to hit for average and has so far. Like he strikes out less than 10% of the time. That's when I say a ton of contact. That's what I'm talking about. So you can add him to the pile, Javier Sanoha, who else is in that pile.

Brooks Lee's in that pile. And Ezekielderon's in that pile. And Willie Castro, when he's healthy, is in that pile. Yep. they've all been very useful this year. I wouldn't say any of them stud. Sonoha probably I would rank behind all of them, except for Castro who is injured right now.

But if you need batting average specifically, I think he stands out, Sonoha. If he was more like a 25 steel guy, I think the whole profile would make a lot more sense. 83rd percentile sprints, yeah. I wonder if he could get there, you know. Yeah, but he's only got 11 and 133 games. and so you're really, it's really just batting average

is all you're going to get from him. But if you need that down the stretch, he's as good a choice as any who's available. I don't know that he profiles, we'll see what the Marlins do like in the offseason, but I'm not sure they view him as a long-term, hey, just everyday player at this one position. He's probably just there.

I hope not. Super utility guy that bounces around. But I mean, if he gets enough plate appearances with that much eligibility, He's someone that can help in fantasy. And again, it's like, makes that much contact, pulls it in the air, he's fast. You know, can he pop a 15-15 season with a really good batting average? I don't think that's crazy.

Assuming he can get enough playing time next year. And I do like him the rest of the season. So if you've been using Sonoha, stick with it. If you need help at any position, I think he's a pretty good name to look at. I did want to shout out the first game in Cores Field this week. We're off to a nice start. Padre's got it done eight to seven, but 15 combined run. in that game. Fernando Tatis hit another home run, his 22nd. Manny Machado also hit a home run

his 28th, and he looks like he's finishing strong. Last 23 games, 267, five homers, 16 run scored three steals. The OPS is around 850. It was a really, really rough start to the second half, but basically since mid-August on, Machado's looked pretty good once again. And Ty France, who we talked up a lot as top sleeper hitter this week, he's off to a nice start. three for five with a double run and an RBI and we've talked a ton about Thai France criminally under-rastered at 58%. On the

rocky side of things, Jake McCarthy, two for five with a double triple two RBI and the dude has been a league winner man. He was if you took him in a deep league, it was probably as one of your last picks or in an auction like I got him in I think the Tout Wars reserves or it's like a $1 player.

Of course I dropped him in the first month so I didn't get any of this production but probably picked up in a lot of leagues as a free agent, 296, 15 homers, 29 steals, 826 OPS. Just great, great season here for Jake McCarthy. Cole Carrig. Also, one of Scott Sleeper Hitters. He hit his eighth home run in this one, but he has been struggling. Previous 35 games before this, just a 203 batting average, two homers, four steals, strikeout rate up around 30%. Scott, where are you at on Cole Carrar? I know you liked him this week, obviously, all the games in Coorsfield, but just,

I guess evaluating his first season and what you might expect from him moving forward. Yeah, I'm still pretty impressed. Every rookie season has its ups and downs. We've certainly seen those from AJ Ewing, for instance. And I think this is a similar type of player just with the advantage of his home games at Cores Field. There is, I don't think there's,

there's not huge power. Cole Carrig was a prolific base dealer in the miners and has the speed to be that. He hasn't been that in his rookie season, just nine steals in about half a season's worth of plate appearances. But, you know, that's some theoretical upside that he could just start running more. And if he's more like a 40-steal guy

than a 15 to 20 steel guy, I think the ceiling for Cole Carrig in fantasy is really high. Even as he is, though, even if you just pace out as rookie numbers. I think there's a lot to like here. You know who it kind of looks like? Who? Statistically, Zach Netto.

Like, less power, but better contact skills, and that kind of like 20 to 25 to 20 to 25 upside, I think is there. I don't know that I'd give him quite that much power. And, I wonder if he's going to, he walked more in the minors. It's only a, it's only a 9% rate in the majors for Cole Carrick, which isn't terrible,

but it's not anything impressive either. So he might profile a little differently as far as that goes. Yeah, I don't know that I want to get to put him at Carrig with as much upside as Netto, but I do like him. I think he's going to be a good third outfielder for next year, like a low-end third outfielder's where I'm guessing. single draft, Cole Carrig.

It needs three more appearances at shortstop to gain eligibility there. It would be nice to enter next season with some versatility and especially, you know, a middle infield tag would be nice too. Yeah. Although you might just use them at outfield anyway, but it'd be nice to have. Oh, yeah. I've made use of it even in some shallow leaves, Cole Kerrig.

You know, trying to only start him at home some weeks, it makes more sense to slot him in the outfield. some at shortstop, and it's been nice to have that dual eligibility for this year. No clue what the Rockies are going to do with Ezekiel Tovar. I mean, they gave him an extension. It looks completely underwater. I know he's a really good

defender, but man, offensively, he just has been abysmal this season. So, very interested to see what they do there. And Scott, you're right, even if you just pace out the numbers for Carrig over a full season. 16 homers, 18 steals, 86 runs, 80 RBI. It's pretty good for a rookie season here for a cold carry.

For those who play in deep, Deep Dynasty, deep daily lineup leagues, very niche, but Connor Norby has been good with the Rockies. He went two for five with two doubles and two RBI. And in 30 games with the Rockies, a 293 batting average, 381 on base, three homers, 16 runs, 14 RBI, two steals, 856 OPS. So I don't know that he's going to play against every right-handed pitcher, but if you're playing a daily lineup league and you just, you're on top of it,

just play him whenever he's in the lineup in Cores Field, it's been pretty good. Again, that's Connor Norby. You know, this is the kind of thing that used to happen all the time. Just random guys going to Colorado and revitalizing their career. Well, not really, but, you know,

putting up good numbers because of course, Field. And it hasn't really happened a lot the last couple of years. I'm glad we got some this year. I mean, I guess Mickey Moniac last year, but McCarthy, Willie Castro, now Connor Norby, this is what we should be seeing

at Corse Field. Yeah, tell that to my Tyro Estrada shares last year, Chris. That didn't work out very well. But yeah, we have had a few names pop up the past couple of years. There was like a Nolan Jones awesome season in there, too. Not that he was like a journeyman, but, you know, he had one great season and then did nothing ever since. So, yeah, shout out to Corse Field and the Rockies. Before we hit our first break, big thanks to everyone watching live.

Make sure to hit that like button. If you are listening on audio and you enjoy the podcast, drop a five-star rating and review. wherever you listen, Apple or Spotify, we really do appreciate it. Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy at Baseball today. Let's run through the news and notes,

and we have a bunch of Dodgers updates. Shohei Otani will hit off a T on Tuesday, his first time doing so since landing on the IL last Friday. And he's only got about 12 days left in the season to get right before the postseason. So we'll see where things wind up with Shohei Otani. Ryan, I think he has to be on the IL for 15 days. Yeah, it's treated like a pitcher for that purpose.

He was placed on Friday. Yeah, I think he could only come back with one day left in the season. I think it's one or two, yeah. Yeah. So we're not going to get much from him either way. Yeah. Why do the Dodgers hate Emmett Sheehan? My goodness.

Talk to him up as my player at the weekend yesterday. I know, Scott, you had him at the top of your sleeper pitchers. And then the Dodgers optioned. Emichian back to AAA on Monday. He pitched well in the two starts since being back. I guess they just really needed the bullpen help. And there's a chance that Roki Sasaki returns later to the season. I just felt like he kind of earned the opportunity to stay in the rotation.

Or even in the bullpen over Justin Robleski, who's been pretty bad since coming off the IL. But the Dodgers did not agree. So that is frustrating. Yeah. They at least were kind enough to report this roster move before lineups locked by about an hour, hour and a half, something like that. Yeah. So, I mean, you had to be on your toes really paying attention to the baseball news, but you had a chance to get him and Sheehan out of your lineup.

So that was nice of them. I had Sheehan started in two of the three leagues where I'm still competed for the championship. So I appreciate that they They gave us a little heads up there But it is frustrating It's been hard to find any Pitchers to stream off the waiver wire He had put together two really good starts

Dave Roberts Seemed like he was on board this time But apparently not They just Part of it is just He has options And I think Roki Sasaki is the only other starter they have who has options and

they probably don't want to send Roki Sasaki down for fairly obvious reasons. But he's not going to be in the rotation in the postseason and he was... Asaki have the ability to block I don't know.

The emotions, I thought that was part of the deal last year. Robleski has an option too. I don't know why they wouldn't want to start transitioning Sasaki to the bullpen now. He was a big part of the bullpen in the postseason last year. He's obviously not going to be part of the rotation. It's not like he's been that great in the rotation

when he was healthy. I'm not sure. Like not that great. So look, Sheehan could have come back. There may be a plan to bring him back this week. He has to be in the miners for a certain number of days unless he replaces somebody who goes on the IL. Maybe the Dodgers are saying, yeah, we're going to put this guy on the IL

and bring Sheehan back to take another turn in the rotation. Maybe even this. this week, but they're not telling us that. Yeah. And I don't know how you can stake your season to that kind of far-out possibility. Yeah. Plausible, but far out. Yeah.

And he, and like whoever they would do that with put someone on the aisle would mean they wouldn't be eligible for the first round of the playoffs, I believe. So you'd also have, it would have to be someone, like Bobby Miller got recalled, right? It could be, hey, Bobby Miller, you're going on the aisle. You know, like stuff happens. But you can't plan on that as a fantasy player. So, yeah, I think you might have to drop Emishian, which is frustrating.

And I do wonder if they use him as trade bait this offseason. Yeah. It's not like there's an obvious need. The Dodgers, the direction the Dodgers take from here is going to be really interesting in a number of ways. And I imagine the new CBA, whatever that ends up being, will have some say in what they decide to do. But that's not the only factor. Yeah, I mean, the whole core is old.

And then you've got like the young guys dotting the periphery. Well, and aren't there other financial issues too? Yeah, there's like a whole other big thing going on behind the scenes. That's like, wait, are they going to be forced to sell the team and all that kind of stuff? so I know I'm not smart enough to understand that stuff that gets into like insurance and I I barely understand my own insurance I can't understand Jeff Passon put out an hour long podcast talking to someone who specializes in this exact thing it's like I don't even remember what it was called it was incredibly dry but it did kind of break things down and kind of explain them in a way

that I never even thought was possible. Things that I didn't even know existed when it came to like owning a team, I learned listening to that podcast. I will shout out the tipping pitches podcast. They've done a couple of really good series on like kind of debunking various myths around the Dodgers and they did a follow-up about this.

I still don't really understand it though. It is confusing, man. So we'll see. I think what they do in the postseason will shape their off-season too because the Dodgers, look more vulnerable now than they have in each of the previous two years. They also have like a ridiculous pitching staff that could probably.

They might just shut everybody out all those. Just win every game one zip, right? I also feel like we did. We had a stretch like this last year or two where the, oh, the Dodgers are. Hey, man, you know, they probably should have lost game seven of the world series. So anything can happen in the playoffs. We'll see.

Roki Sasaki threw a bullpen on Monday. He is under consideration to start on Thursday, though. that is not yet confirmed. Dave Robber said Edwin Diaz hasn't been good on his rehab assignment and needs to pitch better before the team considers returning him to the active roster.

I do enjoy the accountability here. Normally it's a lot of times like guys get paid a lot of money. All right, when you're ready, we're just going to throw you back out there. But hey, we need to see something from Edwin Diaz. I'm just enjoying this recurring bit

where the Dodgers spent a ton of money on a closer and that closer stinks. Yeah. And then the next year they just, a bunch of money on a closer and that guy stinks. So will they sign David Bednar or Rice LaGlacius's office? I don't think either of those guys are good enough for the Dodgers. What does it say about the Dodgers?

David Bednar is really good, man. I think both are really good. All right, but yeah. They're not Edwin Diaz, or at least we thought coming into the year. And reliever, Edgaro Enriquez was placed in the aisle for the Dodgers. Bobby Miller was recalled. Other non-Dodgers-related news, Aaron Judge is expected to receive Wednesday off this week as part of

the plan to ease him back into the lineup. Rafael Devers will officially undergo core muscle surgery on Tuesday. The Giants are expected to provide an official return timetable after the procedure. So hopefully we will have more of that, more information on tomorrow's podcast. Pete Fairbanks left with injury in the ninth thing of that game. I know he's dealt with this hand thing that's, it's been there for years, but it's really been affecting him a lot lately. So that did not look good.

and then the Dodgers proceeded to walk off the Marlins. So that was a pretty rough scene there for the Marlins bullpen. JJ Weatherholtz will go through a full pregame workout Tuesday to see if he is ready to return from that wrist injury. Devin Williams threw a live BP Monday and will face hitters again on Thursday. There is a chance that he returns over the weekend and that would likely push Kodai Senga back into a setup role.

So it would be bad news for Senghis value. Danesby Swanson will start a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. Are we sure that's what's going to happen, though? I'm not sure. I would guess that's what's going to happen, but I'm not certain. I'd say like 75%. I think Devin Williams is back in the closer roll, but that's another one where he-

They're in trouble of making that Michael Jackson opening and they got the dancers and everything. I mean, they seemed all in on Senga closing, and he is under contract for another year. Williams is under contract for two more, I believe, so. And he's making a lot more money than Senga. But he's been back. had two years in a row, Devin Williams.

No, that could be the case. It's defensible. I just don't know if they're going to do it. I'm not, I don't know either. I'm just not ruling out that they just stick with Senga. Daseby Swanson will start a rehab assignment at AAA on Tuesday. Ronaldo Lopez had a rough start. And then afterwards, manager Walt Weiss said that Lopez might go on the IL due to a shoulder injury. Both Royce Lewis and Kalin-Coleper were out of the lineup on Monday with various ailments.

Shane Bieber will throw a, side session off a mound on Tuesday. He's been out since August 20th with shoulder inflammation. Colt Keith was scratching the lineup due to left thumb sornis. The Braves are moving A.J. Smith Shaw to the bullpen. Maybe they need to rethink that now that Renaudel Lopez is hurt. Yeah, he did just make a five-inning relief appearance today. So there you go. And the debacks claimed Hazu Sanchez off waivers from the Blue Jays. Yeah, I know the Braves are starting J.R. Ritchie tomorrow. Is it? So that explains some. of the rotation choices.

It's one of these games. Yeah, it's either tomorrow or Wednesday. Oh, Wednesday. Wednesday, you're right. You're right. I mean, either way. Hey, welcome back, bud. You got to go face Pete Kerr-Armstrong, the best player in baseball this year.

So it's not great. What do we do with these starting pitchers? These six fringe starting pitchers for their last two starts. If we're not using them, hit the road, Jack. I mean, the easy thing to say is sit for all. Just a blanket, sit for all of them.

Yeah, but we're not. Start them. We're getting rid of them. I mean, if it's the sort of thing, like, if you have any doubts, sit them. And if you can't sit them because you don't have anyone better, okay, then start them. Like, it's, you know, it's, okay, go ahead. Let's get into it. No, I mean, I could just, I could just give you the names. We could just end the segment there and we could just keep this thing moving. Yeah.

Kate Anderson, Troy Melton, Sean Burke, Sandy Alcantara, Jose Soriano, Will Warren. So Kate Anderson's next start is at Colorado. True. This was supposed to be the good one in the two-star week. I don't know what the final start is, but I don't know if it matters. He just hasn't shown enough. My long-term opinion of Kate Anderson has not really changed. I do think it is interesting to consider what his value for 2027 is going to look like

because if he had just stayed down at AA the whole season never came up to the majors and was going to be in the rotation on Open Day, he'd be drafted as a top 24 starting pitcher next season. Probably top 75 overall pick. Given the way people were talking about him, I think that's almost guaranteed. And now because of what, six bad starts, he's probably not a top 36 starting pitcher, maybe not a top 40 starting pitcher, which all is to say I'm much more excited about the prospect of drafting Kate Anderson in 2027 than I was before his debut because there was no way he was going to, like, there is no room for you to be, it's like Nolan McLean. Nolan McLean's had a really good season.

He's probably going to end up close to 200 strikeouts with an ERA near three. Whips a little high, okay, whatever. That's fine. It's not disastrous. It's like 118 or something. And I think people are disappointed in Nolan McLean. And that's not a spot you want to be in where a pitcher has to be a top 15 starting pitcher or else you're disappointed in them.

And so I think that's where it was leading up for Kate Anderson. and now there's a lot more room for him to just be pretty good. And I think he'll be pretty good, at least next year. I think asking this guy to make the leap from AA to the majors in the middle of a playoff race, with all that entails including having to get used to using a new ball. It was asking a lot for him to immediately be a difference maker. But I don't think the long-term outlook has changed very much. I still think eventually the command and consistency are going to get better,

and he's going to be a very good pitcher. He's just not going to be able to get away with just having great stuff, because he doesn't have that. But I think he's going to spend the offseason working with the MLB baseball on his command and all that stuff, and I think he's going to be pretty good, but probably not going to be ranked as a top 40 starting pitcher after this. We'll quickly move through the rest of these. names here, but Troy Melton had another stinky start. Four walks over two and a third, two and two

thirds. Two and two thirds. His last six starts, five 28 ERA 163 whip. His start this weekend is at the White Sox and it looks like his start next week is home against the pirates. They are really good against righties. Troy Melton, do we just, I feel like he's a bench. I mean, a possible drop, drop, bench drop. Last six starts, 528 ERA 163 whip 6.2 K per nine. I don't see how you trust that guy right now. I think he's talented. I think he'll be somebody who's drafted, maybe even ahead of Kate Anderson next year.

But I don't know how you use him right now. Sean Burke looked much better in bulk relief here at the Guardian's five innings, one unearned run, four strikeouts to two walks. And it looks like he faces the Tigers this weekend. And then next week he gets, this is Sean Burke we're talking about, he gets the Rockies in Chicago. Not dropping him. I'm hanging on to him.

He was really bad before this. I recognize that. I think I'd rather use him than Melton or Anderson right now. I think so too. I mean, clearly he has the best matchup there. I'm hopeful this this is the kick in the butt he needed

following an opener like this. We've seen this work with shocking frequent. A starting pitcher just seems to be unraveling. And so they're like, okay, we'll have them start in the second inning instead of the first. And it goes really well. Including with Burke. Remember, the break guy started with bulk relief appearance against the Yankees.

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, the rationale why the opener became a thing is that you get a good leverage reliever to get to face one, two, and three in the batting or the three best hitters. and so, you know, then the starting pitcher comes in against lesser hitters in theory, depending how the lineup was set up. But I don't feel like that goes all the way to explaining this phenomenon. It's weird. Yeah, I mean, it's, pitchers are weird.

Just by nature of the job that they do, it's not just about the physical tools. It's about execution and the mental side. And some guys can unravel when you mess up their pregame warm-up situation. But for some guys, you know, maybe there is an element of, oh, no, I'm pitching for my job now. You know, there could be something to that, too. I mean, it was so pronounced for Brian Bayle this year. I have no idea what to make of that. But it could just, you know, come down to being a mental thing where I think, as,

a starter this season his ERA was over 10 and then as a reliever it was below 2 it's just yeah pitchers are very weird like that. Sandy O'Consra another subpar outing for him. Four plus earn runs in four straight during that stretch 802 ERA 169 whip and the

strikeouts are way down the hard contact has been up he is at the Padres this weekend and home against the Braves next week it's looked bad for Sandy yeah I think this was the last hurrah with it being a two-star pitcher and he was far from a must-start two-star pitcher with the thing, the way things had been going for him.

I had him in the Points League only section of the two-star pitcher rankings for this week. And the first of the two-starts didn't go very well. So the trend continues. And you just can't afford, you can't afford a misstep. I don't want to overstate it. Like, I've gotten some bad starts in some of these leagues where some of these head-to-head leagues even.

And I'm still in it because you're not going to have a week where you get nothing but good starts. That's just not how that's just an unrealistic expectation. So I'm not saying you can't afford a misstep, but obviously you want to, you're making an extra effort to avoid missteps as much as possible. And it seems like Sandy Alcounter with the kind of runnies on, I don't know why you'd use him for one start next week. Yeah. These last two names, again, I think they're both very fringy, Jose Soriano, He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and then just kind of imploded here.

He's not been very good with the Blue Jays, but his final two starts, he's at the Rangers this weekend, and then home against the Reds next week, so I really like those matchups. And then Will Warren, he's looked good as of late his last three starts. It's two-run runs over 18 and two-thirds innings. I still don't really trust him as, you know, kind of said it and forget-it-a-guy, but at the D-backs this weekend and then home against the Orioles next week, I like the match-ups for both of those guys, Will Warren. Jose Soriano. So I could see sticking it out with those two.

I like Soriano a little more than Warren. I don't love either, but Soriano does have great matchups. I don't know. I, Soriano's a tough pitcher to analyze. I think it's going to be interesting to see if he continues to get breakout hype in 2027 or if the kind of fake out that we got early on this season's going to scare people off. I kind of think he is what he is, but what he is isn't terrible. It's just not great, you know? Feels like a better points league player

because you can kind of absorb that bad whip and usually gives you a decent amount of volume. But yeah, I mean, the overall whip now on the season for Jose Soriano is 127, which is... Honestly, I thought it would be worse. but still that's much higher than where it was earlier on in the season. Let's take our final break.

When we return, I've got some waiver names. We will take a look into the crystal ball, and we will do all that right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today, and a quick run-through on the waiver-wire hitters. Hose Wade DePaula started against a lefty. You love to see that. He did go O for 2, but he walked,

and he picked up his first career steel, and in four games, he's two for nine. He's got a home run, a steal. Five walks to zero strikeouts. 51% rostered. Scott, I feel like if DePaul is going to play against both lefties and righties, that number should probably be higher

for the final two weeks. That was a very good sign for his immediate future and certainly his long-term future. He was batting ninth against the lefties, so they were, you know, a little skittish about doing it, but got on base,

one of his three plate appearances. So you can't feel too bad about that. Still has yet to strike out five walks to zero strikeouts in his first four games, I think now? Yeah, four games. Yeah, pretty good start. Yeah. AJ Ewing looks like he's heating back up, one for three with a walk in his 10th home run.

Last 13 games, 370 batting average, three homers, two steals, hitting the ball harder. The strikeout rate is way down during that stretch. He is 62% rostered. He has six more games this week. Shane Boz, Chris Basset, Aranola, maybe Lazardo, was dealing with the shoulder. Andrew Painter, Christopher Sanchez. So, you know, it's kind of a mix and match of matchups there for AJ Ewing.

Who would you guys prefer, Ewing or DePaula? If you're just looking for an outfielder, rest of the way. I would just go with DePaula personally. Me too. Unless he gives me a reason not to. I think the upside is considerably higher, and he's a tiny sample, obviously, but it looks like he's making good on it.

It certainly doesn't look old. overmatched. Would you take both of those over Jacob Marcy, who went three for four with his 10th home run? Last 34 games now, 310 batting average, four homers, three steals, the OPS is right around 900. Do you take both DePaula

and AJ Ewing over Jacob Marcy? I mean, honestly, I'd have to look at the matchups, so I've pulled them up right now. There's no lefties the rest of this week. There's six games next week, two lefties on the schedule. The Mets finish out the season against Aranola, Jesus Lazzardo, if he's healthy.

Andrew Painter and Christopher Sanchez. So, I think I'd take Marcy over. I'd have Marcy. All right, yeah, we spoke about Javier Sonoha earlier on. I do have some Cardinals to highlight here. Thomas Adjacy was moved up to the leadoff spot. He went two for four with his fourth snow face. Oh, I'm sorry.

You know what? That was this week. That's what I was this week. I wasn't looking at next week. That's who the Mets face this week. Well, that might be still enough to... Yeah, I think a lot of people listening at this point, too, also play in daily lineup leagues

and they're trying to figure out which hitters to use the rest of the week. I can't seem to pull up next week. I think these league settings are not to include the final week and that's probably why. So I'll have to adjust that. Carry on, carry on.

I'll try and figure it out as you continue. I think I can get to it pretty quickly here. This is AJ Ewing we're talking about and in league. Well, I want to see Marcy's matchups too. Okay. All right. Now I have Ewing pulled up

if you want to look up Marcy. Ewing gets DeGrom, Mackenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker, Jake Irvin, Jackson, Kent, and Cade Cavali in the final weeks. Does not sound too bad. DeGrom and Cavali aren't great, but they're righties. McKenzie Gore has hit or missed. There's two lefties on the schedule. But the left-right splits are actually pretty even for AJ Ewing so far. And Cavali, I'm sorry.

Marcy, Jacob Marcy. Uh, he gets, uh, he's got like, Gosman, Iman, Imanaga, Holmes, Holmes, both Holmes, Clay, and Grant. Um, and, yeah, bad Braves pitchers. Yeah. I, I think that scales still tip in Marcy's favor. So I'm glad we took three minutes to figure that out. Yeah, let's go. Jacob Marcy. Some Cardinals. Thomas and Jacey was moved up to lead off. He went two for four with his fourth stolen base. He has started 14 straight. And during that stretch, he is hitting 400 with three. homers, three steals, and OPS around 1100. He is 24% rostered, second third, shortstop, and outfield eligible. Has great matchups the rest of this week. Six road games next

week. I didn't look at the pitchers, though. And then Leo Bernal, who we've talked a lot about, he stayed hot. Three for four with a double and an RBI. He has started all 13 games since getting called up. If you need a second catcher, he's like the top of the list right now. That's Leo Bernal. Chris, Thomas to J.C. is kind of doing some things. He's actually

hitting the ball really hard during the stretch, too. The average is around 92 miles per hour. I know we talked a lot about Javier Sanoha earlier, but I kind of think Thomas and Jacey might be a little more interesting. Just because I think there's a little more juice in the bat, and he runs a little bit too. And then moving to the leadoff spot, whether whether, whether Holt's return changes that

is a different question. And I assume Thomas and Jacey's still going to keep playing there, but I know he was playing a lot of shortstop when Mason Wynn was out. Mason Wynn's back. He's been playing a lot of second base. Yeah, that's true. I assume with how well he's hit.

He's just going to keep playing, but... Nolan Gorman could go. Right. Moves to J.C. to third. Yeah, or... And outfield, like, I imagine he's going to play somewhere. But that would be the only question. But I think, on the whole,

I think he's a little more interesting than Javier Snowha. All right. And then two D-backs here. Jordan Lawler, two-for-four with a sock into shoe. It was his fifth home run, his fifth stolen base, in just 35 games played this season.

He's looked better in September. The home run came off of a righty. He started against a righty in the game as well. He homered off a righty reliever. So, look, he's still not playing against every righty. It's like every second or third righty he's getting in there. He does play against every lefty. I think the debacks should just let Lola play and see what he could do,

but obviously they're playing for a lot right now. And then Lars Neupar 3 for 5 with his seventh home run, and he is leading off against righties. does not play against lefties. He has been really, really good over his last 21 games hitting the ball very hard during that treach.

And he only has right-handed pitchers the rest of this week. Next week, six road games, three of those in Cores, and there's only one lefty on the schedule. So I think Lars Neupar lines up really well the rest of the way if you're in a deeper league.

Jordan Lawler, I remain intrigued by the skill set, but there's only one leftie left in the 12 games that they play. I just don't know how much he's going to get on the field. Yeah. Yeah, he has put together a good slash line

and good home run and steals total for as few abats as he has. It looks nice on the surface for Lawler. The exit velocities are poor. The strikeout rate is poor, and he's only playing like two-thirds of the time. So I don't know what to take away from this. I guess it's a step in the right direction.

If nothing else, I feel like Lawler will have the inside track on a job next year, but I don't see him as that usable for the rest of this year for all the reasons you point out. On the Waver Wire pitcher side of things, we spoke about Matthews and Jonah Tong. Two other names here,

David Peterson pitched well against the Braves, six plus innings, one run, seven strikeouts. His last 12 games, he has a three ERA, a 140 whip. One of those things is not like the other. He is at the Reds this weekend,

at the Red Sox next week. Dean Kramer pitched well against the Yankees, five and two thirds, one run, five strikeouts to one walk. did have 14 whiffs on 94 pitches, and he is at the Angels this weekend, home against the Rangers next week. So I really like those matchups. I really don't like Dean Kramer, but if you're in a deeper league, I mean, the matchups,

matchups look good. Poor guy. I think he's, he's probably a great guy. He's better than he's pitched so far this year. I don't have a 535 ERA. I don't either. I think he's out of that, but. It sounded me.

I don't like that. that Dean Kramer. Yeah. Can you see yourself actually using him with those matchups? I mean, it's a deeper play, but...

Get real. No, I can't. All right, that's a no. I don't think we're doing anything here. Corbyn's rough go in his second start, five runs over four

and two thirds. Two homers loud, but he did have 14 whiffs on 75 pitches, so... Velocity was down even more, though. That's true. It was, so...

Yeah, because Corbyn Burns actually lined up for two starts this week, in a max out volume scenario, there was a case for starting him. I think I did in a deeper league, just where I'm chasing strikeouts, deeper roto league where I'm chasing strikeouts and wins.

But it's not a surprise that it didn't go well. And presuming he does make the second start this week, just one start next week, seems unlikely you're going to use him. All right, let's take a little peek into the 2027 crystal ball. and I will throw up a made up ADP number out there for these players you tell me if you think they will go

higher or lower Lower being smaller smaller number better Smaller number Yes Lower means they will go inside of that ADP We're going golf range Higher means yes So Miguel Vargas had himself

Sounds backward to me Can we say earlier or later We're talking roto? Sure Earlier or later instead of higher or lower Sure Miguel Vargas had a huge game. Two for four with a sock in his shoe. His 31st home run, his 19th steel. He is

finishing very strong. And I have set the number at 36 and a half. Will he go earlier or later? Earlier. Under. Earlier. I think Chris agrees with me. So he is a top. Despite his confusing terminology. Top three round player in a 12 team league. He is somebody I'm struggling to leave out of my top 24. I will kind of want him in those first two rounds since he's third base for next year, you know? So the weakest position, arguably. I think I'm going to leave him out of my top 24, Miguel Vargas, but there's no way I'd leave him out of my top 36.

So I'm going to say earlier. And I just, I love when you have a breakout like this, who is running through the finish line. And he absolutely is doing that. The underlying numbers have been strong pretty much all season. I look it's always possible he's a one-year wonder that that happens even when the underlying numbers are strong but given the pedigree given what he's done this season okay maybe he's not quite as good as he's looked all season but I think he's clearly a very good player and I think the only reason he would be top 36 rather than top 24 is just that guard against the one-hit wonder possibility. I think if this was,

if like if we could pencil Miguel Fargus in for these same numbers next year, absolutely second round pick. What do you think goes higher him or Jordan Walker? Walker. I think Walker will, but that's exactly what I was about to look up because the numbers aren't that much better for Walker.

The counting stats are better. He hits the ball significantly harder. That's the main thing. It's just he's, he's more talented than Miguel Vargas. And like the 30 points of batting average, that's not nothing. I don't know if I want to bet on Jordan Walker hitting 281 or anything close to it again. But yeah, but it's, I think it will be Walker.

It'll be, it's closer than you might think, though. All right. Let's move on to Ben Rice, who has been better as of late. He's been moved up to the lead off spot against right-handed pitching. So I think they, they're thinking kind of a Kyle. Schwarber type leadoff hitter here for Ben Rice. Two for three with a walk and two RBI. Last 12 games since moving to lead off, 356, three homers,

11 run scored in OPS around a thousand. And I set the number here at 24 and a half. Earlier or later. Earlier. I've got him in my second round. The only reason I am a little hesitant is because he plays first base. It is the inverse of Miguel Vargas. Not so much that he's losing catcher.

I think Ben Rice would be great at any position, but it happens to be first base, where there's such surplus. But I think Chris and I were actually talking about this before we started recording. I think for as good as Ben Rice has been this year, he's left a little bit of meat on the bone still. We've seen him strike out much less than he has this year.

We've seen him hit the ball even harder than he has this year. I'm not sure this is the best. K's outcome for Ben Rice and because he's been great two years in a row, obviously with more bats this most recent year, then I think it's a more durable a more

durable production than you could say for like Vargas or Jordan Walker. I think this is going to go down as the best season of Ben Rice's career. And I don't think that's a knock on him. It's an awesome season. It's probably going to get to 40 homers, 100 RBI, maybe 100 runs. It's a great season. I have a really

hard time seeing him being better than that. personally. Maybe I'm just a hater. No, I mean, I thought you brought this up before the podcast. Like, he's facing more lefties this year. And he's been adequate against lefties. Yeah, he's good enough. He's an everyday player.

But, I mean, you factor in playing against lefties and posting a 790 OPS versus a 935 OPS against Ritees. I think that is going to bring the numbers down a little bit. So I think this is kind of just close to my expectation. I think it'll kind of hit 260 to 270 with, you know, maybe he's not a 40 home run hitter every year, but you know, in that like 30 to 35 home run range, I do think like losing judge this year

kind of affected him. So that could be a point in the favor of him, you know, what Scott's saying, getting even better. But will judge stay healthy next year? I have no idea, you know,

he's entering his mid-30s and he's a big dude. Rice is 28, which is not old, but it's to the point where he is what he is, probably. Yeah, he's in his prime, like right now. I don't think there's growth left

in this skill. set. Yeah, I just think we've seen him be even better than this. So, like on a per rip app basis. All right, let's talk about Gunner Henderson. He has been a little better as of late, hit his 23rd home run here on Monday. Last 31 games, hitting 270, five homers once the eel OPS around 850. But not really hitting the ball hard during that stretch.

Obviously, it's been a huge letdown of the season. He was like a one-two-turn player entering this year. I set the number at 36.5. Once again, so is he inside of the top three rounds of a 12-team league next year? Earlier or later, 36-5, Gunner Henderson.

I think later. I'd go out, yeah, later. I thought about making this 48-5 and putting him in the fourth round, but... So this is one of those examples where if you'd asked me before I had started lining up names, I kind of feel like he deserves to go that early.

just given that as young as he is and as spectacularly as it started his career, we usually give players like that a pass for a misstep. But there's just so many other good players that need to be in the top three rounds that I don't think you can roll the dice on Gunner Henderson until at least round four. I think it's also worth noting it's not just one misstep. He was better in 2025, but he was not a third. third round caliber player in that season. He was the number 46 hitter last season.

So you include pitchers, and there's a pretty significant gap between, like, my view of Gunner Henderson is we've already given him the benefit of that. Like, he was more like a... He hit 274 that year. He stole 30 bases. 17 home runs was a little low, but he hit 37 the year before and 28 the year before that.

He said 22 this year. He was the number 62 player in 2025. He was a good player. But we still took him as a first rounder, and we were giving him the benefit of that. I just, I look at it and I say we've already given him the benefit now for one of these seasons.

At some point... I think he was really good in 2025. I think the home runs were just kind of oddly low, and I think this year supports the idea that the 17 home runs in 2025 were just oddly low. Yeah. It didn't feel good, though, in the moment. No, because you drafted him like fifth overall.

Well, 30 bases is the biggest thing. Like that was what carried Gunner Henderson's profile in 2025. And now it's a 10. It's down to 10. He has dropped a lot. And it's a new coaching staff too. So it might just be part of their philosophy. If he stole 10 bases in 2025, that's a disaster season.

No, you're right. That's true. I didn't realize Gunner Henderson's steals had fallen off that much. I think he ran a ton in the second half of 2025 to get there, too, if I'm remembering correctly. So I just, yeah, 20 steals in the second half in 2025. So I just look at it as we've already given him the benefit of the doubt. Now it's time for him to, I mean, honestly, even if he's a fifth round pick, that's giving him the benefit of the doubt. So I think fourth or fifth round is probably right, but I would go later than 36.5 for Gunner.

Okay. Would you like to guess where he ranks in the player rate or right now, both pitchers and hitters combined? So overall, Gunner Henderson? I'm going to guess outside of the top 150. 158th overall player. We're all good at this. Is Gunner Henderson. What about Kyle Tucker?

He did have a big game and it came on the road. No surprise here. One for two with two walks, a sock and a shoe, his 15th home run, his 11th steel. He has homered in three of his last five games. The updated home road splits. 572 OPS at home, 826 on the road for Kyle Tucker. And similar to Gunner, Henderson, you know, he's one two-turned player coming into this year.

I set this number a lot lower. I just feel like people, given his age, are going to be a lot more scared. 75 and a half. 75 and a half earlier or later for Kyle Tucker. So that's like a top six-round player in a 12-team league. I'm still inclined to say earlier there. I think so. If it's later, I will have Kyle Tucker in every single league.

Yeah, I mean, I just look at it as, one, you know, we did the what went wrong for the first rounders last year and I wrote about, or this year and I wrote about that for the newsletter. And I don't know, there are people who would argue that Kyle Tucker was overrated before this season.

I think those people are lying to themselves. Like, Kyle Tucker had been an unbelievably good fantasy player for like six years. Yeah. Before this year, if he was disappointing. He was only bad in the second half last year. Yeah, I think that was the argument against him.

Right. Yeah. And look, maybe he's just bad now. Like, I'm open to that possibility. But if he's at all good in 2027, the arguments for why we thought he was a first rounder in 2026 are still there. Because he's still going to, like, if he's an 800 OPS bat in 27, which would be below his career norms,

he would be a second or third round caliber player in that lineup. So, yeah, discount him a lot. He is going to be 30. Maybe the pressure of playing in L.A. is too much for him. He's making $64 million a year. That's a lot of pressure. But yeah, I think Kyle Tucker is one of the more clear-bounce-back candidates out there. The last name on this list is The Big Dumpa.

Cow Raleigh, who hit his 22nd home run, 3 RBI. And he's actually finishing kind of strong here. Last 26 games, 273, 10 homers, 20, runs 20 RBI OPS around 1100 during that spin and I set this hypothetical ADP at 100.5 earlier or later.

Later. Later. Later. You think he would go outside the top 100. Yeah. I might personally rank him inside the top 100 but I think he will go. Second round player this year in ADP. Yeah. And look that that upside's not like

the 60 homer season that was never his upside. Like that was never a reasonable thing you could expect from him again. That was like his 110th percent. That's just like an all-timer season, and you can't expect that. But like Aaron Judge has never hit 62 homers again, you know? But that doesn't mean he's bad.

And I think whatever the theoretical Cal Rally upside was beyond or beneath the 60 homer season, I think it's still very much there. And let's not forget, he had, I think, three different oblique injuries this. season and I think the vibes in Seattle have been rotten all season and basically everybody but Randy a Rosarena has had a bad year in Seattle. Sounds like you're talking yourself into him being inside the top 100. I, where will I rank him and where will he go?

I will rank him higher than consensus, I would guess. I'm writing the toughest players to rank for catcher. for tomorrow's newsletter. He was the headliner for that last year, but that was more, how high should he go overall? Now it's how low should he go. I still think he should be a top 12 catcher.

I still think he should be a top 100. Yeah, top 12, but does a top 12 catcher end up being a top 100 pick? I mean, I would imagine it probably was last year because it was so strong. And it's still going to be strong next year, which is why Cal Raleigh, I think, is going to... The 12th best catcher in ADP was 1,17.

there was a gap after like eight I think. And that's using two catcher league ADP, right? That's just fantasy pros. That's just fantasy pros. So it's probably a lot of one catcher leagues. But like Will Smith was the number nine catcher last year. Salvador Perez was number eight. They were coming off better seasons, but.

Yeah, I think every year is different in that regard. Yeah. I think he'll go around 110, 120. Like, Addy Rushmo was 145. I'd be surprised if Cowrally went that low. So somewhere between that and Yiner Diaz at 111, I think, is where I'd guess. Cowralli ends up. It's probably the number I feel best about 100 for Cal Raleigh.

Somewhere around there. I don't think it'll be too far off from that. All right, let's wrap up here with some leftovers. PCA is gunning for that 40-40. He went four-for-five with a sock and his shoe, plus four RBI. He is up to 42 homers and 37 steals. Aaron Judge finally sees one go over the fence. It was his 18th home run of the year, 104.2.

exit velocity 415 feet and his first home run since coming back from the IL. Ellie Dela Cruz hit a mammoth home run his 27th, 114-velocity 457 feet and literally out of the stadium. I didn't even see land. It was crazy.

To Oscar Hernandez is finishing strong one for three with a sock into shoe. His 14th home run, his fifth stolen base. Cosima Okamoto also finishing strong here, his 33rd home run his last 24 games. He has nine home runs during that stretch. And Corbyn Carroll.

I want to give a shout out. Hit a sick walk off two run, home run in that game against the Marlins. Anything to add on mostly really awesome hitters? And then Tiaska Hernandez and Okamoto are just kind of in there. Helley Dela Cruz is super, super locked in. I love seeing the quad injury not derailing his season. and yeah, he's an awesome player. I don't really have a lot else to say.

Yeah. I was going to include Okamoto in the ADP thing, and I had him, I think, around 100 as well. But he'll be an interesting one. I was thinking more like 120, 140 for him. It's interesting because, like, as a rookie 33 home runs, 88 RBI, like, it's pretty awesome, but strikes out a lot. The bad average is tough, and he is,

he's already 30, right? If not, he's pretty close to it. Yeah, so that'll that'll be tough because a lot of people are going to be doing rankings and drafts based on projections. Projection models are not going to be super thrilled about a 30-year-old who just struck out

30% of the time. I think the projections are going to be a little mild on Cosmoaumoto. Some pitching leftovers. Terrick Scoobel was great at the Red seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts for him. For Gavin Williams,

he was solid, he was inefficient with walks here against the White Sox. Five innings, two runs. Had three walks, seven strikeouts, still 21 whiffs on 113 pitches. And Reed Detmer's, yet another quality start. This one against the Mariners. Six innings, three

runs, eight strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 95 pitches. And Scott, I'm sure you have the updated numbers if you want to read. I actually don't. Okay. Not this time. Because I was going to say for Reid Detmer's, like this is an example of a bad Redetmer start still,

a quality start where he gets eight strikeouts. Yeah. The three runs he allowed in this one were as many as his previous six starts combined. Yeah. His last seven starts overall 120 ERA. 0.89 whip over a strikeout for inning there for Reed Detemers.

Anything on Williams or Scoobel? Do you see the bat that Tristan Peters put together against Gavin Williams. 18 pitches, right? 18 pitch walk. Which is why Gavin Williams only got through five innings on 108, on 113.

113 pitches and five innings of baseball. My goodness. I don't love that for a guy who throws that hard and has had I think multiple elbow issues over the past three seasons. But yeah, well, I mean, there's nothing you can do

once an 18 at bat pitch at bat starts, you know? Just got to push on through. The call to the bullpen for the Blue Jays, Varland entered with one out in the eighth, a one-run lead, two runners on. He got a strikeout, then he allowed a game-tying RBI single. He came back out for the ninth, and he did give up another run. It scored on an error. He took a second blown save and sixth loss. For the Tigers, Kenley Jansen picked up his 20th save of the year. For the Orioles, Rico Garcia got the ninth with a one-run lead. He picked up his ninth save. Andrew Kittridge last pitch on Friday,

so he should have been available. He didn't pitch at all. RICO, has the last three saves for the Orioles. I know we just said yesterday that it's kind of murky, but I don't know. I kind of feel like maybe Rico Garcia is, nope, they will never have a closer. Orioles don't have a closer and never will again.

All right. You know what? I can respect that analysis. For the Cardinals, Riley O'Brien. If you want to gamble on somebody, Garcia seems like the lead dog, but I don't have a ton of confidence in it. I've only been waiting two years

since starting to do that for one of you guys to say that a team does not have a closer and they never will ever again. And we finally got it. it. So thank you. For the Cardinals, Riley O'Brien got the ninth with a one-run lead, and he picked up his 37th save, though it has been a pretty rough second half here for Riley O'Brien. For the Padres, Mason Miller picked up his 37th save. For the Angels, Ben Joyce picked up his fifth

save. And for the Marlins, the gentleman who came in after Pete Fairbanks suffered that injury was Jack Ralston. And unfortunately, he gave up a walk-off to run Homer. It's a good. Corby and Carroll. Not great. Yeah. I think Calvin Foshae got a couple of saves when Fairbanks was down earlier, but I think it would be an all hands-on-deck situation. Michael Peterson's been the setup guy all year.

He didn't get a save when Fairbanks was out last, but it wouldn't surprise me if he got a couple down the stretch. Jack Ralston of Panorama City, California. I hear there's great views there. Wow. All right. Well, the lead-up to Pete Fairbanks here on Monday was Calvin Foshae in the 6th, Michael Peterson in the 7th,

and Tyler Zuber in the 8th. I'm pretty sure if Pete Fairbanks goes in the I-L, the Marlins do not have a closer, and they never will ever again. I agree with that. To stream or not to stream on Tuesday, Bailey Ober is home against the Yankees, Griffin Jacks is home against the athletics, Davis Martin at the Guardians,

Drew Anderson is at the Blue Jays, Shane Boz at the Mets, Sean Mania, home against the Orioles. Martin Perez is at the Cubs Andre Palante home against the Giants Patrick Sandoval at the Rangers Ryan Johnson home against the Mariners and Michael Soroka home against the Marlins

So I think we said Palante Soroka's probably only gonna throw like 75 pitches I think he only threw like 58 in his last rehab star or his most recent Do you make a start at the major league level? I think it was bulk relief for anything

Yeah okay but I think it was only like 58 pitches So I would guess he's gonna be handled similar to how Corbyn Burns was and he threw 75, I think. So I think Soroka could give you five good innings, but probably not much more. Probably Griffin Jacks. You said Palante, right? Yeah. Palante ended up being the top sleeper pitcher for the week with all the upheaval. You might be able to stream any pitcher against the Giants right now. Yeah. It's Bryce Eldridge, Jung Hooley, and a bunch of quad. guys. So yeah. Yeah. That does get put to the test on Wednesday because Matthew

Libertor is going up against the Giants. I don't think I could do that, but that's more commentary on Matthew Liberator. On Tuesday, I do like Jacks and Palante. Fortune favors the brave or the bold. I would throw a... It's the bold, Frank. The bold. Sean Mania and either side of that one. Ryan Johnson as the as the bold picks. On Wednesday, we have Zebby Matthews, home against the Yankees, Matthew Libertur, home against the Giants.

Kader Montero is at the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer, home against the Tigers. Jared Jones, who will be a top 30 starting pitcher next season, home against the Brewers. Top 30. Chris Bassett at the Mets. J.R. Ritchie is at the Cubs.

Christian Javier, home against the Royals. You say Kikuchi, home against the Mariners, and Merrill Kelly, home against the Marlins. I think Jared Jones is the fortune favors, the bold, uh,

pet here, because he's got to look really good. the last two starts, but that's a tough matchup with Milwaukee. They're actually, they're crushing the ball lately. They're like suddenly starting to hit for power as a team. Which is scary because

they don't really do that. So I think he's got to be the top choice. Christian Javier. Yeah, I would say Christian Javier against the Royals and you say Cacucci against the Mariners over him personally. But we all know I'm a Jared Jones hater apparently.

And like, I don't love those Like, I'd rather not have to do that. It feels like risking a lot. Yeah. But if I'm just following the usual process for this troublesome segment we do every day, then I got Christian Javier one and you say Kikuchi too. Scott, the people love this segment. So, and I'm pretty sure.

It's troublesome. That's why we do it. Eventually you will love it too, I think. That's not how that works. It's going to be some Stockholm syndrome. I'm not a man of the people. Kidding me? Brewers, the number one team in Wobah last 30 days and the last 14 days. So they're pretty

awesome. I'm still going to put Jared Jones at the top of the list just because don't really love anyone else, but if I had to choose others, I would go Javier, Kukuchi, and Merrill Kelly in that order. We are going to wrap there for Scott Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. On Podcasts. This Saturday, UFC meets Hollywood.

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