Fantasy Baseball Today - What the Flaherty? The Bronx Bombers are back! (09/16 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

We have offense plus Scott Dubs after dark! We kick things off with our OMGG standouts from Tuesday, which included a dreadful performance by Jack Flaherty (1:27). What happened? Also, who should you add between Jared Walsh and Nate Lowe? ... On to news and notes, Zack Wheeler will start Wednesday and Eugenio Suarez placed on the paternity list (13:06). Demarcus Evans was promoted by the Texas Rangers and Giancarlo Stanton was reinstated by the Yankees. ... Speaking of the Yankees, they're back (17:30)! Is DJ LeMahieu a Top-3 second baseman in 2021? Is Luke Voit a Top-5 first baseman? Deivi Garcia was awesome again. ... If these names are available, now is your last chance to add them (25:51). ... If you play in deeper leagues, can we interest you in Shogo Akiyama, Trevor Houck or Miguel Cabrera (31:10)? ... How did your two-start pitchers perform on Tuesday (35:43)? For once, Frank isn't the one touting Joe Musgrove. ... What else happened on Tuesday (42:22)? George Springer is coming around and Sean Manaea has been pretty solid. ... We wrap things up with bullpen notes and to stream or not to stream for Wednesday (48:15). ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our new YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday '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: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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, and swing. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Two more teams put up at least 18 runs on Tuesday, including the Bronx Bombers, baby. We are back. Welcome to Fantasy. baseball today, September 16th. He is Scott White. I am Frank Stample here for a very late edition of the podcast. Like everybody else, I'm hoping we get Scotty Dubbs after dark. How's everything going, Scott? It's been after dark every day this season. It's especially late tonight. Especially late. We're actually doing this on Wednesday when everybody's going to be listening to it. So yeah,

especially late today. Yes. Indeed, it is. It was a crazy night. I needed a little bit more time to prepare, admittedly. Today on the show, we're going to take one of our final looks at the waiver wire for the season. Got a few names to talk about there. A bunch of Tuesday actually gets to, as I alluded to, missed team name Tuesday on yesterday's podcast. So mention some of those today. Continue to send those in throughout the offseason, have some fun with the team names,

and then to stream or not to stream for Wednesday. Let's get things started, Susan. Oh, my goodness gracious. All right, Scott, I think we might be on the same page for our, oh, my goodness gracious Tuesday standout. Yeah, there's, I mean, there's a clear. It's a very clear day. First choice tier. Yeah.

All right. Kick us off. Oh, I'm going to take it? Do it. He's all yours. It's Jack Flaherty. Ooh. It's Jack Flaherty who, you know, the brewers have done this twice, right, to a pitcher.

we cared about. I can't remember who it was last time, but I keep saying the Brewers are a bad lineup this year, and then they score almost 20 runs. And Jack Flaherty took the brunt of it in this one, giving up nine. His ERA jumped to 552. Obviously not a huge sample of innings there

to counteract the effects of this start because of all the, how long the Cardinals were shut down and how he had to build back up, finally built back up to a point where he could go a full starter's workload and then this is what happens. It's bad.

I mean, it pretty much guarantees his numbers aren't going to look great at season's end because he has, what, two starts left? And so that's not good. I don't really see any reason for concern, any reason to think he's a lesser pitcher now. I mean, the ratio's coming into it. were basically the same as last year.

He did average a little less on his fastball in this start, you know, like a mile per hour less in this start than what he had been averaging, what he averaged last year. But now that, to me, in one start, doesn't really raise a red flag. So I'm not worried about using him next time out. I'm not really downgrading him in my expectations for 2021. but in a short season you can ill afford a start like this. And it happened.

Yeah, just absolutely brutal. I know a few people emailed in, tweeted at me. Let me know that their week is basically over. Their season might be over because of what Jack Flerty did. Of course, allowed nine to earn runs across three innings pitched on Tuesday against the Brewers. The last time a pitcher got blown up by the Milwaukee Brewers, that was Matthew Boyd. I think we expected a little bit more

out of Matthew Boyd than we do Jack Flaredy and we'll get to Matthew Boyd. Well, Jack Flaherty than we do out of Matthew Boyd. But yeah. Yes. Yeah, you just said them backwards. I do that a lot. You know, Scott, you would think someone

who hosts a podcast knows how to speak. You know, it's probably... I'm notorious. On grade the trade, I'm notorious for mixing up the two sides of the trade and rewarding the grade to the wrong side. Yeah.

So, at least we're simpatico, Scott. We're in the same place here. But regarding Jack Flarey, I will just say, I don't know what it is about Milwaukee, but he struggles there. I remember having Flarity on a few teams last year. I don't have him anywhere this season. But in three starts in Miller Park in 2019,

he had a 7.62 ERA there. Mind you, he had a really, really good season in 2019. So, that means against everybody else and at every other venue, he was pretty damn good. So I don't know what it is about Miller Park, but Jack Flaherty just struggles there. How did the Brewer score 18 runs on Tuesday night?

Christian Yelich, Kessenheera, Ryan Braun, and Dan Vogelbach each homered. Vogelbach now has multiple hits in three of his last four games. Really only in A.L only play at this point. But Christian Yelich has gone. NL only. NL. Forget it, man.

I'm about to just pause the podcast, and we'll just call it a night. You guys will get a five-minute podcast for Wednesday morning. Christian Yellich, who plays for the Brewers in the National League, had three hits on Tuesday. Would you believe that that is his first three-hit game of the season in game number 45?

That does surprise me. That does surprise me. And there was some talk of the Brewers may be giving him a mental wellness day, which I don't know. I assume that just means a day to clear. his head. It's a little, I don't know, the phrasing was a little weird, but that's what they were calling it. And then he did this. So, you know, we've been saying eventually Christian Yellich is going to come around, right? Like, the strikeout rate is too high, but otherwise he looks

pretty good. And we expect that strikeout rate to correct over time. Obviously, we're not given the luxury of time anymore, but I would not have considered to this point giving him a mental wellness day on my fantasy team. Yeah, like, it's so crazy. You look at the average exit velocity for this season. It's actually better this season than it has ever been for Christian Yelich. 93.7 mile per hour, average exit velocity, but a 30, a near 33% tricout rate. So we're not used to seeing that out of him. But if anybody wants to fade Yelich heading into next season, we did our mock draft, a very early mock a couple of weeks ago,

and I still think Yelich is like a mid-to-late first-round pick. I don't think you could really let him fall anywhere further than like 10th overall, Scott. So I think we're on the same page there. For me, a standout from Tuesday, I have, let's go with Nate Lowe, who we spoke about recently. and he had a very early in the night sweet and savory. I don't know if people like sweet and savory, man. You know, it's very mixed.

I don't know. What do you think, Scott? You like it, sweet and savory? Not really. Yeah, Scott doesn't like it. I like the efforts, and maybe through repetition it'll catch on. There were some, there were a handful of interesting. Well, interesting.

They're all interesting, I guess. There were a handful of sweet and savories tonight. were there really Nate Lowe is the only one that I wrote down and I used all this time anyway A few other I think Adam sent to me like mash and dash

Is interesting for like a home run And a steal Someone said like thunder and lightning Swipe in a smash Whatever Forget it I don't know that I'm gonna like any of them We don't need a phrase for it

Anyway Nate Lowe was very good Well the other two That I wrote down were Francisco Linderor And Javier Baez pretty relevant. It's about time. Yeah, by is especially. Low is not a base stealer, Nate Lowe,

but I do think he's a really good hitter. I mean, he has been in the minors since, you know, he kind of shortened up his swing a couple years back and started hitting for power and has always been a good contact hitter, good on base skills. And really, when we saw him for an extended stretch last year for the raise, he did pretty well.

enough that I thought he was going to have the inside track on the starting first base job coming into this season. Clearly it didn't play out that way, but he's played four games in a row now since getting called up even started a game at third base. So hopefully they're even as a first place club with plenty to play for. Hopefully they're coming around to Nate Lowe. I know G-Man Choy has been out, which has helped with that. but I think Lowe's upside is definitely higher than choice and if he keeps performing, hopefully he positions himself to

actually be the starter next year. I wrote a column Monday night. It's up on the site now, 20 sneaky ads in Dynasty leagues, I think I referred to it on yesterday's podcast. Nate Lowe was one of the 20 because I feel like he's just, since he hasn't latched on yet,

and since he's already lost rookie eligibility, he's just kind of forgotten in a dynasty sense. Yeah, and that's a great call. I know I wrote an off-season article as well, some trade candidates in Dynasty League, some buy low and some sell high options. And I had Nate Lowe on that list for this exact reason that you are talking about.

I don't want to forget about the guy. I really like the minor league profile. Back in 2018, he hit 330 with 27 home runs in the minors. And entering Tuesday, he had a 31st, 1% line driver. I think he's a really good hitter. He's 10% rostered. Scott,

would you be okay dropping Edwin and Carnacion for Nate Lowe? Encarnacion's been sitting out and just hasn't been good. I'd be surprised if I had reason to start Nate Lowe next week.

It's looking like just a six game week for the Nationals and... For the race. Matchups. Yes, for the race. And the matchups

could be pretty tough. So, you know, I don't really think there's reason to hold on to Edwin Incarnacion. So I guess in that sense, I'm fine with it. You know, another scarcely owned first baseman who continues to do big things is Jared Walsh, who might have been my, oh, my goodness, gracious player if Jack Flaherty wasn't.

And while I think Lowe has enters the majors with the more interesting profile, I mean, Walsh has been mashing for a couple of. weeks now. He had a sixth home run doubled twice. Well, that game's not over. So he may end up more than just three for four. And that sixth home run today was also his, let me check here,

fifth in his last six games with now five straight multi-hit games. Strikeout rates way down, as I've talked about before with him. This was a guy last year who you know, his minor league production really stood at.

He was among the leaders in OPS. It was in the PCL with the introduction of the juice balls. It was just a crazy hitting environment. But still, 325, 36 homers, 1109 OPS. That was in only 98 games, 36 home runs. And he hit 29 the year before, before the juice ball even entered the picture. So I think Jared Walsh, even though he's 27, you know, kind of a deep, another one of those deep ads for power. They're lined up.

The Angels are for only six games next week, too. you know, I'm not going to go crazy for him. I think it's just more an interesting profile worth discussing, especially if it puts him in a position to be the Angels starting first basement next year. Yeah, if it wasn't officially Jared Walsh season, that's the ZN that all the cool cats and kittens are using nowadays. The three extra base hits that he had on Tuesday currently has.

You're right, he's still playing. We're against Madison Bumgarner, who isn't good, but it's just worth mentioning like lefty on lefty, I thought that was pretty interesting as well. Scott, would you take Jared Walsh or Nate Lowe if you just need a corner infielder? Well, as of right now, I'd be more inclined to play Jared Walsh next week than Nate Lowe.

It's been hotter for longer. You know, the matchups to kind of negate each other. But, yeah, on a dynasty sense, I think I'd still prefer low. Though I put Walsh on that list of the 20 sneaky pickups for Dynasty leagues, too. Some news and notes. The Fingernail Saga is finally, over. Zach Wheeler will return and start on Wednesday against the Mets. Get him back in your

daily lineup leagues if you can do so. Jonathan Scope landed on the I.L. with a right wrist sprain. A. E. E. E. E. E. Hennio Suarez was placed on the paternity list for, you know what? I was watching the Clippers game too, and I wrote for the Clippers. So that's where my head's at. For the Reds, for the Cincinnati Reds, which means he'll miss about three days. Rees Hoskins could potentially need Tommy John's surgery, which is just awful, considering the bounceback 2020 season that Hoskins was having. J.T. Realimuto remained out on Tuesday with that hip injury that he's dealing with. Justin Verlander is slated for a three-to-four inning Sim game on Wednesday.

If all goes well, his return should come soon after that. Carlos Correa left Tuesday's game after fouling a ball off his leg. X-rays came back negative and he is day-to-day. Jose Al-Tuve was back in action for the Astros. He went 0-4-3 with a walk. And after missing Sunday's game, Nolan Aronado was back in the lineup for the Rockies. He finished one for three with a run scored. Willie Calhoun was activated by the Rangers.

No surprise, he went 0-4 with a strikeout in his return. Scott, dreams do come true. My man, Demarchus Evans, has been promoted by the Texas Rangers. This is a gentleman who, in 47 minor league appearances in 2019, had a 0.90 ERA. and this is not a mistake. I looked it over like three times. He had 100 strikeouts in 60 innings pitched, but lots of walks.

So his whip was actually higher than his ERA, which you don't see very often. I think he could potentially be the closer of the future for the Texas Rangers. He throws extremely hard, gets a lot of whiffs. But I don't know, Raphael Montero has actually been pretty good. So I don't know, it's just like a name to pay attention to,

who I'm excited about. I think he'll get a lot of strikeouts. And, you know, It might be an exaggeration to say he's next year's James Corinchak, but I could see him, you know, being that kind of, you know, if it all goes well, who knows how it's going to go with all those walks. I mean, Tanner Rainey this year has kind of been James Corinchak, but you look at him last year and he was just walks everywhere.

So that can turn around pretty quickly for a reliever if, you know, if this stuff is good enough. But yeah, it's certainly. the numbers certainly pop out in a way that you normally just ignore a short relief prospect, but this looks like one that maybe you shouldn't. Tuesday's Giants and Mariners game was postponed due to poor air conditions,

and Miguel Andohar was optioned back to the Yankees' alternate site because John Carlos Stanton was activated off the IL. In a game that the Yankees scored 20 runs, John Carlo Stanton went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. I'll just leave it at that. Come on. John Carlo. I want to call him Johnny.

I'm not sure if you can short John Carlo, shorten John Carlo that way. Johnny. Come on, Johnny. Yeah, and then I was like, could I call him Mike? I wanted a nickname for him to make it sound like we're chums, but of course we're not. He has no idea who I am. And he can easily beat both of us up with like one arm tied. behind his back. And he probably would

given the way we've referred to him this year. I think Chris is his only chum. I just thought of the most random collection of humans to be a tag team like if they were to form a wrestling tag

team ever would be John Carlos Stanton and Chris Towers together. And Chris kind of has a wrestling look to him, you know? Like the big beard, the big burly fella. I could see. I'm going to hit Chris up and let him know. What would his tag team name be with him and John Carlos Stanton?

And of course, in order to get Stanton back in the lineup, the Yankees had to sacrifice one of their own. Claver Torres was out on Tuesday with that quad injury that he has been dealing with. It flared back up. So pay attention to Torres. We'll see when he gets back in the lineup for the Bronx bombers. All right, Scott.

I haven't had the opportunity to gloat about my Yankees, but I want to make sure people are reminded. minded of the greatness of the New York Yankees. And I'm sure I'm going to get some emails with people hating that I'm doing this, but they're back, baby. They scored 20 runs on Tuesday, and they have a six-game winning streak. Go DJ. That's my DJ.

DJ Lemayhew, four more hits, including his seventh home run of the season. Five RBI, three runs scored. He is batting 363 with a 984 OPS. He is a top five second baseman in both Roto and head-to-head points leagues. And that is with an IEL stint. Assuming that he is back with the Yankees, Scott, I think that DJ LaMayhew is a top three. That's right, I said it.

A top three second baseman drafted in 2021. And I might, I might even make the argument that he is number one. Am I crazy? No, I don't think so. I mean, last year he basically performed like a second round player, and there was a lot of skepticism given it was a big step forward. for a guy already in his 30s, but he's clearly validated it this year,

and I'm not sure why there would be that same skepticism heading into next year. So, yeah, I mean, who else would be in that number one discussion at second base? Ozzie Albiz. Yeah, that's, and Glaber. That's what I thought. Claver Torres, sure.

But wait, is Glaber Torres even going to have second base eligibility next year? Oh, that's true. I don't think he will. I think I'll just be shortstop eligible. That's a good point. Wow, didn't even think about that. Yeah, I can't, I wouldn't take Catelmarte or Jose Altuve over DJ LaMayhew. So I think there may be somebody obvious we're missing, but I think that makes sense.

DJ LaMayhew, number one second baseman. This position is bad. I don't think we're missing anyone. Like Whitmerfield, maybe, you know. Yeah, I mean, in the discussion, but I'd rather have LaMahue. Kevin Bigio has kind of slowed down. He's fine. He's better in, you know, like OBP formats.

Kestenheera, a lot of strikeouts this year. I don't think he's there. Max Muncie, not the season that we were hoping for. Mike Musaka's down year. I don't know. I don't really see anybody. So, yeah, I think LaMayhew, top three, potentially. Number one second baseman drafted in 2021.

Luke Voigt, a double dong. Now leads baseball with 18 home runs in 44 games. Speaking of Chris Towers, man. Shout out to Chris. He was all over Luke Voight in the off season. 18 home runs in 44 games. That is a 66 home run pace over the course of a full season. Voight's X slug is expected slug and percentage is 615.

That is in the 95th percentile. Scott, you're ready for another hot Yankee take? Sure. I think that Cody Bellinger, Freddie Freeman, and Jose Abrae are the only first basement that should be drafted ahead of Luke Voight in 2021. Hmm. Yeah, I'm not. not sure. I'm not sure about that. I think in points leagues, I don't know. I'm going to have to

think about this more because I don't really think, just because they've been worse this year, I don't really think Anthony Rizzo and Matt Olson are actually worse. I think they still profile to be the same hitters moving forward that we've known them to be. So I guess it's just a matter of how legit, I think Void is, right? Because, I mean, were we expecting Olson to do what Void's done this year?

I mean, I think it's pretty obvious Void is overachieved to some degree. It's just to what degree, you know? Has you know. Yeah, I mean, come on, a 634 slugging percentage. Like, that's,

it's unreasonable to think he's going to sustain that for a full season. That's fair. but I mean things line up with his stat cast numbers you just said 66 homer and pace yeah I mean if we expected him to do that he'd probably be a first round pick things lining up with the stat cast numbers

it's and this is a point Chris was making constantly last year I guess it's it's nice to have that backup a player's performance but like that data can change just as quickly as the raw numbers too, especially when we're dealing with what's, again, actually

still a small sample here. So, uh, I don't know. Like I, I don't think it, I obviously don't think it's crazy for anyone to say Voight deserves to be a top five first baseman next year. And, uh, I think he has a stronger case than a brave, actually. You're saying you'd take a brahu over him.

And I know you were the Abreu guy coming in, but Abreu's in his mid-30s and, you know, only his rookie season was he anywhere close to as good as he's been this year. So that's a track record issue I have there with that. Come on, Scott. And an age issue. Come on, Scott. You're still not buying Jose Ibrahim. He leads all of baseball and RBI again. I don't buy that he's an MVP caliber hitter, like early round type.

There was only one time in his entire career that he's been drafted that high. and it was coming off an incredible rookie season when he was, you know, at this point, that's what, six years ago? That hurts my heart, Scott. He's another well, like the stack cast numbers look great, but it's, and great lineup. Everyone around him is hopefully ascending,

maybe not you on Moncada, but, yeah, like, gosh, he stack cast numbers are just so great for Abraeu. I don't know, we'll figure out in the off season. Where do you think Abraeu goes next year? Probably, what, like a third round pick? It's pretty high. I would not draft him in the third round. I would say more like the fifth or sixth round

is where I would hope to target him. Oh, that's not going to happen. He's going to be like a third or fourth round pick. I'm not saying I would do it, but I think... I'm not saying Josh Bell was drafted this past year. Yeah. But Abraeu has more of a track record than Bell. He has a track record of being a solid starter.

He doesn't have a track record of being who he has been this year or what Josh Bell was last year. All right, we have all. offseason to argue about it. Scott. Gio Orchella, your boy. Three more hits on Tuesday. Three runs scored. He's batting 290 with a 918 OPS. This is just like flying under the radar, Gio Orchella. His expected batting average is actually 311 on the season. 92nd percentile. He has an 11% walk rate. 16% strikeout rate. Hits a ton of line drives. Gio Orchella is legit. And I don't know that people have realized it.

I mean, I've realized it. I don't know. I don't know where everyone else is. I thought so coming into the year. Maybe it's just, I've heard no one anywhere talking about Gio or Schella. Yeah. Including us. But he's been very good. Also, Clint Frazier has been very good.

He went two for three, including his sixth home run of the season. Two walks, two RBI, four run scored. Now has a 15% walk rate on the season. Clint Frazier, he's betting 2.92 with a 968 OPS. Last but not least, we have to touch on Davy Garcia, who was the starting pitcher for the Yankees in this one. another pretty damn good game. Seven innings, three runs,

six strikeouts, only two walks, 10 swinging strikes on 88 pitches. Not a great swinging strike rate in this one, but not terrible. Now, he has quality starts in three of his four outings, including going at least seven in back-to-back starts.

So I feel comfortable continuing to roll with Davey Garcia's final two starts at Boston and against the Marlins cut. Yeah, I agree. I'm sure a lot of people just picked him up for the two starts this week, but considering next week he's going against the Marlins, I wouldn't be cutting him loose. I'd be reluctant to cut him loose even if you didn't plan on using him yourself for that start.

I just wouldn't want to serve him up to somebody else. Agreed. We are in agreement there. Let's hit the waiver wire. One of the last times of the season. I got another take for you, Scott. I got a bunch of takes today. You tell me if I'm crazy. If he is available,

I think priority number one on this Wednesday morning when people are listening to this Wednesday afternoon. Jose Erkitti, who was at the Rangers on Tuesday, seven innings, one run, seven strikeouts, zero walks, 12 swinging strikes on 90 pitches. 68% rostered, so he might not be available. But if you have him, I think you got to get him in your lineup. I think he is someone who is going to win fantasy championships down the stretch. his final two starts are against the Diamondbacks and at the Texas Rangers his last two starts he has allowed just two runs over 15 innings pitch again

that is Jose Urquitti priority number one for me Scott yeah the fact the strikeouts were back in this start is really important for me seven strikeouts and seven innings he had a strong six inning effort last time out so clearly able to go the distance he needs to go but he had only one strikeout in that game and that was kind of a head scratcher for me but great control pitcher. I was

comparing him before he had all those issues that held him back at the start of the season. I was comparing him to Jose Barrios. I thought he could have that type of breakout. Which I guess might sound funny in retrospect since Barrios hasn't had a great season. But, you know, I think we know who Barrios is

and I think Erkidi could have that kind of upside. You mentioned his remaining two matchups. Only one of those would be next week for people who play weekly. weeks. It's still a good matchup at Texas. He's 68% rostered, but I wonder how much of that is just him being stashed away at the start of the season. And, you know, I wonder, I wonder how available he is among people who are active right now. It might be, it might be more than the

typical player who's 68% rostered. And we don't do this often either, but I will mention he is 54% roster on Yahoo. So if you play on Yahoo, I mean, just go out and get Jose or Kiti. He's a little bit more available there than he is on CBS. I love these final two matches for him. Two more pitchers who are

rostered in under 70% of CBS leagues. I don't know how he continues to do it, Scott, but Antonio Sinsadella, a complete game, allowed just one run, six hits, only three strikeouts. The ERA is down to 3.30 for the season. It's very weird.

The other name is Tony Gonselin, who was at the Padres on Tuesday. Seven innings, one run. Only two strikeouts, no walks, nine ground ball outs. He has allowed three runs or less in all seven of his starts or long relief appearances again. That is Tony Gonsolin. His ERA is down to 1.51. His X-FIP is 4.40.

So the underlying numbers don't love Tony Gonsolin. Any interest in either of these guys. Well, I'd been hyping Gonsolin pretty hard. It's true. And, you know, his matchups this week, I assume he's still in line for the second start at Colorado. But, I mean, at San Diego was supposed to be, was a non-starter for some people. I, you know, I was recommending playing Gonsolent anyway with those two matchups. Now, it's weird because since he only struck out two in seven innings, his K-per-9 rate goes down to,

it's below eight per nine now for the season. 7.6 per 9. And he's been a fly ball pitcher this year. So I understand why the ex-fit comes out the way it does. And yet the elites, the swinging strike rate, at least coming into this start, was elite. And, you know, it's not just that this year, where he's done this sort of thing,

putting up a 151 ERA and 0.7 something whiff. I mean, look what he did last year in the majors, too. He was nearly as dominant. I don't know. I mean, the numbers don't paint a pretty picture. I think they're going to get skewed at this point in the season from a guy who wasn't in the rotation in the first place when he has a start where he strikes out two and seven innings.

I don't think that's normally what Gonzalind's going to be doing strike out wise. Yeah, look, he's been good. He's been solid. I don't know that he is actually available anywhere, but I think if you start him for the two-star week, you love what you got here. And of course, you're already locked into the start at Colorado, but, you know, he's pitched well enough.

So I think you just continue to ride it out with Gonsolent. And look, for Sensatella, I don't know what to say here to Scott. It's just, he's defying the odds. He's doing it in Corse Field. He's, you know, he's been inconsistent at times this year. Swinging strikes were not great on Tuesday. anything you want to add.

I'm struggling to find any way to be enthusiastic about him and what he's doing. It just seems like this sort of thing that would be destined to end over a full-length season. We will leave it there for Antonio Sensitella. Some deeper names on the Waver Wire for those playing in probably anything deeper than 12-team leagues. Shogo Akiyama had two more hits on Tuesday, and he has let off for four. five straight games for the Cincinnati Reds. He's batting 333 in September with four steals and

three caught stealing. So the Reds are letting Akiama run. He is 16% rostered. Any interest there, Scott, if you need steals or run scored? I hadn't noticed any of that. So that's interesting. His batting

average is still terrible for the season. So I don't I don't know. I think I'd have to be an very specific situation where I can make up a lot of ground and stolen bases in a short amount of time and maybe I'm putting everybody in there who might help in that regard. That would probably be the only situation where I'd see fit to use Akiyama based on what he's done to this point.

But, you know, he could be positioning himself for a redemptive sophomore season. The Reds are back in it. The Reds are back in the race. They're 24 and 26. I know we've talked before about how we don't believe they're actually as bad as they've looked. They're back in it. The Reds are back, baby. How about the Red Sox?

Are they back? No, it's not going to happen. No. And it brings a smile to my face, if I do say so myself. Tanner Hauke made his Major League debut, At the Marlins. Obviously, a pretty good matchup here. Five shutout, two hits, three walks, seven strikeouts. He's basically four seam slider, sinker.

So two iterations of a fastball and a slider. Nine swinging strikes on 86 pitches. Four percent rostered. It looks like his last two starts are going to be against the Yankees and at the brave. So I don't love that. But Tanner Halk looked pretty good in his debut scout. Yeah, I mean, I wasn't excited about him coming into it. And it wasn't enough for me to look into using him with those two matchups remaining.

That's basically it. That is it. Miguel Cabrera, last name I'll mention here. He homered on Tuesday night and he reached base five times. He is 32% rostered and has some really solid stat cast numbers. The expected stats this season for Miguel Cabrera, but it hasn't really come to fruition. So just a deeper name. But honestly, if you need a corner infielder, I'll take both Nate Lowe and Jared Walsh ahead of Miguel Cabrera. Are we going to take a quick break when we come back. I have some updates on some two-start pitchers, some team name Tuesday, some Wednesday to stream or not to stream. Before we get to all that, I just want to quickly remind everybody that we have a bunch of football podcast content for you at CBS. PICS. Pick Six is our NFL podcast with Will Brinson and company, fantasy football today, of course, with Adam Azer, Dave, Jamie, Heath, Ben Shrager,

and maybe I'll even make an appearance in the near future. So stay tuned to that. And last but not at least FFT and five is the shorter version of fantasy football today. You could also find that on all of your podcast platforms. It's a quick hitting five-minute podcast with all of the daily fantasy football news that you need to win your leagues. All right, we come back. We're going to hit on the rest of what happened on Tuesday here, fantasy baseball today. Some two-star pitcher updates from Tuesday.

Sandy Alcantara, very solid against the Red Sox, six endings of one-run ball, five strikeouts. Looks like his final two starts are going to be against the nationals and at the Yankees, Joe Musgrove at the Reds, five innings pitched,

four earned eight strikeouts. A very rough start. He allowed all four of his runs in the first two innings of the start and then retired the final 11 of the final 12 batters he faced. By the way, you say two-star pitcher update,

these are two-star pitchers for the current week. Yes. Not for next week. That is, a good point that you bring up that, yes, I am updating people on the two-star pitchers that you started this week. Yeah.

The Musgrove thing is just, it is crazy to me because 13 swinging strikes on 87 pitches, five on the curve, seven on the slider, his final two starts, it's not to the same level of Arcite, but against the Cardinals and at Cleveland. I really like those matchups for Musgrove. He's 59% rostered.

Is this one of those moments where you have to put me in check? Because, I don't know. I'm just, I'm so in my own world with Joe Musgrove. Like, sometimes I just, I don't even know. I don't want to talk about him anymore. Would you like to say anything about Joe Musgrove? I use my recommended two-star pitchers for this week. You know, having only one start next week,

the fact that it's against Cleveland, you said. Yes. You know, most people probably. aren't, and most people who are playing for a championship probably aren't going to need to use Musgrove for that start. I don't think he's earned, you know, that kind of preferential treatment in a one-start week. But he's been, he's, he, I think he's looked better since coming back from the IL. I think, you know, obviously we haven't seen him go deep into all of those starts because he had to build himself back up. But I think he's, you know, depending how the

next two starts go. He's positioning himself to be, to be kind of a hyped fantasy draft pick again. Yet again. No. Frankie. No. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. All right. I can't do it again. I know. That's exactly what I was trying to think of his name. I was like, this is, I'm doing this GIF in real life right now. Like that is actually what I'm doing. But, all right. Well, Scott said it, not me regarding Joe Musgrove. Matthew Bowen. I wonder if this is another one who's going to suck us in over the final couple of starts for the 2021 season. He was against the Royals on Tuesday, five and two-thirds shutout, five strikeouts, four walks, me. 11 swinging strikes on 105 pitches, two runs or less in four of Boyd's last five starts.

I think he still remains volatile. Yeah, all the starts except the one everybody used them for, right? Exactly, right. but he's another one. I mean, his final two starts. If you, you know, if you have him locked in, his next start is against Cleveland for this week. And next week, he's at the Royals again,

and he just pitched well against him. He threw a slider just 10% of the time in this start. That's supposed to be... Last year, that was his everything, you know? He's completely changed it. He uses the change-up a ton now, and also his fastball, which... I don't think it's a good fastball.

Like, 91 miles per hour. There's not a lot of movement on it. man, who knows what to make a Matthew Boyd at this point, but I am like, the only, like, this was the last week, and you had have had to be pretty desperate to do it, but like this is the last week I could have, I think you could even remotely justify playing him just because, okay, he's making two starts and maybe he'll get double-digit strike ads in one of those starts, you know? You know what we need, we need Matthew Boyd either on the Astros or the Tampa Bay race. next year. That's what we need. And then I'm buying in. I'm all in. Yeah. Because those organizations just know what to do

with pitchers. Speaking of which, Dane Dunning was going up against the twins and he was very good. Seven innings, two runs. Only one of those were earned. Seven strikeouts. But only seven swinging strikes on 102 pitches. Three runs are less. And all five of Dane Dunning starts and it looks like his final two matchups.

The Reds later this week and the Cubby. next week. What did you think of this one from Dunning? Somebody who just mentioned yesterday that he opted for a two-star Dane Dunning over a two-star Pablo Lopez. Because it turns out Dunning was even better. He got the win as well. It's weird because his last two starts have been his worst swinging strike starts. And that was like, oh, look at how many swinging strikes this guy is getting to the first three starts. That was the story. And yet they've been his best starts in terms of results.

So, you know, not exactly sure what to make of that, but obviously the overall swinging strike rate is very high, and minor league track record is very strong, and he's given no reason for us to lose faith in him. Like, this was the hard start that he was going to get this week against the twins, and he passed that test with flying colors. What are you thinking about zoning from next year, Scott? I don't think he's going to reach the same levels of hype

as Sixthos Sanchez or Ian Anderson or Corbyn Burns for that matter, but... No. I, you know, I could see him like top 40, top 45-ish starting pitcher, I think. Yeah, I think that sounds right. He'll be just outside the range of pitchers that people genuinely trust, but he'll be in that next range where guys like, who are those guys this year? Matthew Boyd. Yeah, Matthew Boyd.

Kind of the Nelson Lamet, too, but it was somebody who didn't turn out to be especially good or especially bad. I mean, I guess like Masahiro Tanaka was kind of in that range too. Yeah, like Rich Hill was in that range. Joe Musgrove, Mitch Keller. You know, it's like that sleeper-ish range

where you don't want to draft them as anything higher than, you know, your SP5 or like a bench stuff. starting pitcher, but someone who's going to have upside. Like, I'm still excited about Dane Dunning heading into the 2021 season. Some leftovers from Tuesday, some hitters that stood out to me. D.D. Gregorius, another one. We just haven't really spoke about him.

He's just rock solid this season. He had two hits on Tuesday, including his eighth home run of the season. He has three steals this year. He makes a ton of contact. He just pulls fly balls nonstop. And, you know, going from Yankee Stadium to Citizens Bank has not been, you know, a downgrade for him. it's still a pretty good hitters park. It's not the same kind of short porch in right field,

but D.D.Gregorius is a top 10 shortstop in Roto. He's at top 12 shortstop in fantasy points per game as well. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a big game, three hits. He finished a triple short of the cycle. He hits the ball extremely hard, but his ground ball rate is still over 50%. So I don't know what to make of that. Adam Duval hit another home run, another one. He now has 10 home runs in September and 15 overall.

George Springer has now homered in three of his last five games. He is batting 288 in September. He's getting hot at the right time. And Byron Buckson had two hits, including an inside-the-park home run. And if you watch this him run around the bases, I think he's the fastest player in baseball. I don't think that that is an exaggeration. Like, Byron Buckson is incredible.

Anyway, he is batting 3.14 in September. Launch angle is way up this year. His average eggs of velocity is also up over, 90 miles per hour. So, Buxton, Springer, Duval, Vlad Guerrero, Dedi. Anything you would like to add on these gentlemen, Scott? I don't, like George Springer,

things are really looking up for him and the underlying numbers too, which were never that bad, by the way, like the stat cast numbers. But now they're even looking better as he heats up. I don't know. I mean, Buxton, like,

Buxton made two big changes last year to his profile. He started striking out a lot less. He started elevating a lot more. Those are both two very good changes to make. He continues to strike out only around a quarter of the time this year, which compared to his earlier standard is not very high. And he's leaned even more into elevating the ball. Yeah, he's not walking at all.

So it's still like, it's still like how good could he be. You still look at the profile and though it looks better than the past, it's still kind of like a how good could he be profile. And, you know, I'm having a hard time getting enthusiastic about Buxton, but there still seems to be a path for him to emerge as something more. He's super aggressive this year, I just realized.

his chase rate is nearly 53%, which is just absurd. But at the same time, he's not striking out. You mentioned 25% strikeout rate. I mean, that's not a good strikeout rate, but it's not bad either, and it's not nearly as bad as he used to be. Yeah.

But yeah, I guess he's just making a concerted effort to be more aggressive this season, but I mean, poof, a chase rate that high usually does not end well for hitters. Even with as fast as he is, I just spoke about it, he only has one stolen base on the season, which I just, I find weird as well. Some pitchers from Tuesday,

U. Darvish was against Cleveland, seven innings, nine hits, three runs, only one walk. It's pretty standard, U. Darvish at this point. Seven strikeouts, back-to-back starts, allowing three earned runs. Carlos Carrasco on the other side in this game, six innings, three runs, five strikeouts,

14 swinging strikes on 86 pitches. That is four straight quality starts for Carrasco. You want to talk about a league winner. Final two starts are against the tigers and against the pirates. So love that for Carasco. And then Sean Mania was at Corres Field. We talked about them a lot recently. We were scared of this start, admittedly.

Five and two thirds, three earned seven strikeouts, 13 swinging strikes on 89 pitches for Mania. That is six straight starts allowing three runs or less. and he has lowered his ERA from 9 to 4.50 during that time. His ex-fip for the season is 3.61. That is Sean Manaya. So anything there, Scott? Darvish.

Any concern over Darvish just allowing three runs, two straight now? No. No, that's not the kind of thing that's going to concern me. Manaya, because that is a, I mean, that's a very solid X-FIP. That is probably top 20 in the league type X-P. And X-FIP is, you know, if you had to, if I could only accept one stat for a pitcher, like I give you this stat, you tell me that this stat alone is going to tell you how good the pitcher is. I would probably choose X-FIP.

So, I mean, that means something to me for sure. But he's, it's just weird how much his profiles change. It's mostly ground balls and outstanding walk rate. It's kind of like a, I don't know, he's kind of looking like a poor man, poor man, Xunjan Ryu at this point. And of course, Ryu's reached a level, you know, of consistency where we trust him to keep doing that year after year. I don't know that I'm there with Manaya,

but it's a profile that could work for him if he is able to sustain it. Yeah, 52% ground ball rate. Actually, that went, no, that, yeah, 52% ground ball rate for Mania this season. He's never been above 44%. So pitching a little bit more to contact, but getting a lot of ground balls. He got off to a very, very terrible start. But, yeah, Shawmaniah has turned it around. Some bullpen notes from Tuesday.

Nick Anderson recorded the final two outs, with the bases loaded up six to one, so not a conventional save, but he did earn the save his fifth of the season. Hector Nairis picked up the save for the Phillies, up four to one. Brandon Workman should have been available, but he allowed runs in each of his past, to appearances, Hector Nair's, 54% rostered.

Scott, do you think he is the closer now of the Phillies? I don't know. Has Workman been that bad recently? I don't, I feel like he's been okay. I don't know. To be honest, I saw, I saw Nairos got the save, and I didn't, because he's been the Phillies closer for so long, I didn't stop and think about it.

That was weird, so I can't look into it more. Do you think he is? Yeah, I mean, I'm leaning that way. Because, I mean, Workman on the season, last I checked his whip is over two. So he's not good. Yeah, so he blew a save on the 10th, and then he pitched the 7th and 8th, parts of the 7th and 8th for a hold on the 12th. Yeah, Workman's ERA is 4.50 on the season. He's got a 2.22 whip.

Just ghastly. I don't know. I mean, I guess it certainly looks like. like they're moving away from workmen. Yeah, I think Nairus is probably the guy now, but not really available. 54%, he might be around there,

and might be around in some 12 team leagues. Stefan Kreiton of the Arizona Diamondbacks, only 3% roster now has back-to-back saves for the debacks, and he's looking like the guy, so if you are desperate, down the stretch of your four saves, Crichton

seems to be the guy's got. I don't know who else it could be. I added them in a couple leagues, you know, deep leagues where everybody who gets saves is rostered. I added them in a couple for this week. And like, I don't think he's very good, but saves are saves. You get him where you can. And I do think he's going to be the source of them for the Diamondbacks here to finish out the season. However many saves that means, hopefully, I don't know, hopefully two more from today. Yeah. I'd take that. Diamondbacks, not very good. Some team name Tuesday. I didn't get to these yesterday. We had a lot on yesterday's show with the Keeper questions. But from Brendan,

Winker-Taylorer-S-Spy. Do you know what this is? There's not, it's kind of weird that you come up with three players and not a fourth, right? What, is there anyone that could rhyme with spy? Sky. Sky. Sky Bolt. I don't know. Yeah, you got a, you're working a first name in there with Yeah, it doesn't work. I'm not even sure which Taylor, who's Taylor? I mean, I'm sure there are players named Taylor, but... Chris Taylor, I guess. Yeah.

But apparently that's based off a movie? Tinker Taylor, Soldier Spy. Oh, Scott just said that very matter-of-factly, so this is probably something I should have seen in my life, and I just... I mean, I got some awards buzz a few years back. I haven't actually seen it, starring Gary Oldman, I think. I'm not even sure if I said his name right

this one also came from Brendan this is a classic How Lament your mother That's a show Frank It was a show I did say Gary Oldman, right, good for me Did you watch How I Met Your Mother, Scott? I watched it all the way through

What do you think What do I think? I think it's an example of a show that went on for four or five seasons too long loved it in the beginning plowed through it the rest of the way and then was severely let down by the ending

as as as usual with all shows I think but it was usually I feel like when shows try to like go too big with the ending it falls apart

like if they try and do this like misdirection thing with the ending it's it never goes well Just give us a conventional ending and we won't be left with that bitter taste in our mouths. Because like you, you go years building people up for one thing. It's not like a movie where a twist ending can be a great thing, you know, because it's two hours built up to that. You don't have nearly as much invested in how this is going to all turn out, you know?

It's years, years of believing something's going to happen. And then something very different happens. And it's just like, ugh. Yeah, no, they tried way too hard with how I met your mother. I watched How I Met Your Mother before the office, and at the time, I was like, wow, I really liked this. I was like, oh, this is, you know, one of the best sitcoms ever, and then the office just completely blew it out of the water.

I've got another take for you, Scott. Ted Mosby is top three most annoying characters in television history. Mind you, I haven't watched, like, every show. show ever, but from the shows that I have watched, he is top three most annoying. He's so cringy too. Um, look, he's, he's of the main five, he's probably fourth or fifth in terms of appeal in that show. Um, you know, he wasn't, he wasn't one of those characters who was written to be like intentionally annoying. I mean, he did, he was made to have some annoying trades, I think that's obvious.

I don't know. I've heard people give that take before. I'm kind of indifferent on Ted Mosby. All right. I tried. This was from Trey. Did it all for the mookie. Okay. Scott is not impressed. Well, I'm still lingering on what we were just talking about. I was thinking in my head, like, who are the most annoying characters that I've seen in television? Ted Mosby came

to mind, Joffery. but that was his job. Joffrey, I don't know that, I don't know that annoying is the adjective I'd used to. And, like, he was an incredible character. Like, you can be an annoying character. Yes. And an incredible character, you know, because you're just correct. So perfectly annoying, you know?

I would say the same thing about Ramsey Bolton. Yeah, I mean, well, you're talking about, like, you're supposed to hate these guys. Like, malicious. Yeah. I can't even think of the right adjective to describe them. You're talking about really bad people versus annoying, which is just, you know,

annoying is just annoying. Skyler White also came to mind from Breaking Bad. Okay. She is annoying. Yeah. But I guess, I don't know. You can empathize with her.

I mean, yeah, I mean, she was dealt a horrible hand there by. Yeah. I always wanted. to root for Walter White, even though, like, he's obviously not a good person, but that's why they make these shows. It's an interesting show. Like, you're rooting for him in the beginning, but then the

further he gets into it, it's like he becomes the antagonist of the show. And then, you know, he semi-redumes himself at the end, but he, you know, he got the ending he deserved. For sure. Based on what he did. From Nicholas, Josh Donaldson. Okay. Sure. He hits donks. Oh, he hasn't been this year. The last was from David.

Mookiee Hosmer, MD. Yeah, yeah. You know, in high school, senior year of high school, there was this group of guys who called me Doogie because they thought I looked like Doogie Hauser. Like the actual, like Neil Patrick Harris when he played Doogie Hauser. And this was before Neil Patrick Harris, like,

re-entered the spotlight, which shows like how I met your mother to bring this conversation full circle. I don't think I look that much like him now, but they thought I looked like Dugie Hauser, so they called me Dugie. I don't know if anyone has like the Photoshop skills who listens to this, but if anyone wants to get Scott White's face on an old school Dugie Houser poster, I'm all for it. And Photoshop my face on someone too while you're at it because we're not just going to make fun of Sky. You can make fun of me as well. Wednesday, to stream. or not to stream. The must starts that I have here.

Jacob de Grom, Luis Castillo. I don't even think we spoke about Luis Castillo from the weekend, but had a big positive regression game on, I think it was last Friday. Garrett Cole, Lucas Gialito,

Dylan Bundy, and Aaron Savali. Is Aaron Savali still must start at the Cubs? Yeah, pretty close. Okay. I got some names for you, Scott. Let's go. Hermann Marquez versus Oakland

in Cores Field. a team that just got a complete game thrown against them by Antonio Sinsettella. In Cores, though, and, look, I'd probably lean towards starting him, but this is the most difficult pitcher to have. This has been the most frustrating pitcher to know when to start or sit. He was good last time at Cores, and the Hays haven't had a great offense this year.

So I think I'd be inclined to start him unless I was just being really careful with the IRA and whip. Dustin May at the Padres. I mean, that's borderline, but I lean toward yes. Adam Wainwright at the Brewers. After what we just saw. Yeah, they just scored a ton of runs off. Jack Flaherty.

Again, I lean, yes, but I'm not comfortable about it. It's a yes for me for Adam Wainwright. Trevor Rogers versus the Red Sox. I don't think so. not after the way his last start went. And like I wasn't to the point where I was all in on him before that anyway. All right, how about these two, Scott?

Who would you rather start? Or would you start both? Brady Singer at Detroit or Tariq School versus the Royals? I don't think either's a horrible start, but I'd lean no on both. I kind of like Singer at Detroit. His last start out was very good.

He had that no-hitter going into the seventh inning. It's only if you're desperate, though. Cole Hamill's at the Orioles. I think we said no on this already, right, Scott? No, but he is in line for two starts next week, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but I think the matchups are pretty good. So, like, it might be,

if you're eyeing championship week and you don't want, you want to deprive your competition of, you know, any potential guys who are going to sabotage you, it might be worth picking up handles just in case he's great in this start, and then he becomes,

like a trendy pickup for that final two-star week. Scott, your favorite pitcher, Keegan Aiken versus the Braves. Come on. Lance McCullors versus the Rangers. Fresh off the IL. It's a good matchup, but I'd rather not. Caleb Smith at the Diamondbacks.

Wait, no, but he's... He plays for the Diamondbacks. He plays for the Diamondbacks, so that's not right. I don't think it's going to matter who he's facing. He's still building up. But he's another one who's in line for two starts with two good matchups next week. and might be worth picking up if,

you know, either if you're chasing somebody else or if, you know, you want to deprive your competition of a potential, yeah, potential, what's the word, like a Trojan horse, I guess. Last but not least, Drew Smiley at the Mariners. No. That's a solid no for me as well. He is Scott White.

I am Frank Sample. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today on our YouTube channel, we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.