Fantasy Baseball Today - Worry-O-Meter, Fun Day for the Twins & Eovaldi's Magical Season! (8/6 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

MacKenzie Gore is fading for a second season in a row (2:40). ... JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers both went off (9:30). ... Daulton Varsho hit two more homers in Coors (13:17). ... News (19:16): Jackson Chourio could be back in 2-4 weeks. ... It was a fun day for the Twins future (29:10). ... Carlos Correa seems reinvigorated so far (36:52). ... Ryne Nelson had another solid start (41:46). ... Let's run through a bunch of deep-league waiver adds (46:15). ... How has Nathan Eovaldi had this magical season (50:51)? ... Welcome to Cincy, Zack Littell (54:48). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (57:37). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow FBT on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up, and welcome in to fantasy baseball today on Wednesday, August 6th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we are going to fire up the...

Worryometer plus Nathan Avaldi continued his magical season how is he doing this plus it was a nice night for the twins future welcome back to Luke Kishel Zebby Matthews nice start there as well and much more but let's jump in all right let's get let's get the bad out of the way Chris you're up not that you're bad the player you're gonna talk about oh it's fine right now things probably have a lot of self respect and self-worth so I'm good on that one. McKenzie Gore, boy, again, we fell for it again. It's like almost exactly the same thing has happened last year, except he was even better through the first three months of this

season. He was 18th in ERA among qualifiers. He was fifth in strikeout rate. He was sixth in K-minus walk rate through the end of June. He looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball. He was a totally non-controversial all-star pick. How could he not have made the all-star team with how good he's been? And then for the second year in a row, as soon as the calendar hit July, he has been atrocious.

He had a 670 ERA in the month of July, and that's going to be much higher. After his start on Tuesday, where he gave up eight runs over three innings, 12 hits, no strikeouts for the first time in his major league career, zero strikeout game from a game from, McKenzie Gore.

I have no idea. I went looking for some answers just to see what he said after the game, because it's one of those ones where he was so bad that it's like the Hazus Lizardo starts earlier, where you're just like, there must have been some explanation for this, right? Like he's hurt, he's tipping pitches. And the quote that I saw, we didn't walk anybody tonight, which is something that typically when I pitch bad, that's what happens.

Just tonight, it was just they got hit. So yeah, we got to make some adjustments. I have no, like I really have no answer because if you look at the individual pitches, nothing looks that different. His velocity is down like 0.3 miles per hour from where it wasn't April and May, but it was like that in June as well. And it didn't affect him. Spin rates, movement profiles on all of his pitches, more or less look identical as they did early in the season.

He's just tipping pitches. would make sense or he's having some kind of mechanical issue, but I don't know. I'm at a loss. And what makes this especially tough is we went through this last season. He had this awful stretch. I think it was like his last start in June through his third start or his second start in August. I think it was August 11th was his really bad, his last bad one. And then he was awesome. He had six quality starts and his final seven starts. Had a one. 155 ERA, 45 strikeouts to 11 walks over his final seven starts. So this is the thing that's most frustrating about McKenzie Gore is he seems to have it and lose it.

And there's just, there's nothing in between. He's either amazing or he's terrible. And we're going on two straight years of that being the case. It feels very much like Jesus Lazzardo. And, you know, right now I think the answer is you just. sit him for his next start, obviously, if you have that option. And you sit him until it looks like he's turned it around. And I think he will turn it around at some point. But when we're talking, you know, he's probably got seven or eight starts left this season. So we can, we can start

thinking about 2026. I have no idea what to do with this guy. He's got top 15 talent. Can you draft him as a top 40 starting pitcher next year when he's got a 420 ERA and a one four whip now? Yeah, I mean, let's see how the final two months go before answering that. But there was a point this season where we were basically calling McKinsey Gore top 15, certainly top 20.

And I mean, this is kind of the frustrating thing about roto play because for... He's undone at all. You spent the whole year thinking you had this breakout pitcher that you could rely on and, you know, who would have argued with it? And he's given it all back.

Because now, as you mentioned, Chris, for the season, ERA is 429. Whip is 137. He only has four wins on the year because the nationals are bad. So, like, he's, he's, he's given it all back. He's been a net negative and a severe negative for your pitching staff. If you've continued to start McKinsey Gore through this. And it's a good chance you didn't start him for some of the good starts he had earlier. Yeah.

So it's just really frustrating. I'm glad you took 13 strikeouts on opening day. Yeah, there's a good chance a lot of people didn't start him for that. You probably didn't have him in that one. And then didn't he have a bad start and then the next start out was really good too? So people might have benched him for that one. It's crazy. I'm glad I left you the Olive Garden Bread Stick because I don't have many answers either.

I will. I'll just, you know, after his last start, Gore, said he thought it was a sequencing issue, that he wasn't getting as many chases because of the way he was sequencing his pitches. So either he didn't address that or it's not that. I remember last year reading at the end of the year when he did have that terrible stretch that he recovered from, he credited the training staff for an unspecified issue. So it could be that he's pitching through something. That's always an issue when a player's struggling. they're playing through some injury that just goes unreported.

Or, you know, he has complicated mechanics. Yeah. He got sent to rookie ball as he was a prospect. He was the best pitching prospect in baseball for a couple of years. Then his stock crashed because he had mechanical issues that got him sent to rookie ball for a while. Obviously straightened him out. But it just seems like with that history, Gore might be the sort of pitcher whose mechanics get out of whack pretty easily. and that contributes to these struggles.

So I don't know. It's a lot of like theorizing and maybe we're spinning our wheels here by talking about it for this long because obviously, okay, sit on, but it's really frustrating. And yeah, I don't think you can drop him because I think there's a good chance he turns it around. Yeah, I think that's all well said. Just a reminder, what he did last year, you brought up some of the numbers. but final seven starts. It was a 155 ERA and a 0.91 whip.

So just knowing that McKenzie Gore still has the ability to turn things around and write the ship, we just saw that last season. I agree. I don't think we're dropping him. He's 82% started. So a lot of people have him in the lineup this week. Because he was a two-star pitcher, I get it. But, man, yeah, you got to bench McKenzie Gore for the foreseeable future.

We got to see him string together some good starts here. All right, Scott, let's go over to you for your player of the night. All right, well, there's an obvious athletics hitter I can talk about, but we'll talk about them in a minute because I want to talk about the not so obvious one, which is J.J. Bladay in the 16 run outburst for the athletics. J.J. Bladay was a central part of it. Four for six, had a double, had a home run, had six RBI. It's a huge game.

And this was only his third game back from a, a stint in the minors. And in the second game back, so just the game before, Sunday's game, J.J. Bladay, also had four hits and a double and a home run. So he's done this two games in a row and three games since returning from the miners. What was he doing in the minors? 348 batting average five home runs at 989 OPS in his 22 games down there. I find that interesting.

I find that interesting because it's not like J. Jay Bladay is the sort of player who had, when he's been sent to the miners, you know, he's been up and down a few times over the years. It's not like he usually goes down there and terrorizes AAA. That's not his M.O. He was a pretty useful fantasy player last year, not high-end, but useful enough in five outfielder leagues. And I don't know.

I wonder if something's clicked for him. I haven't seen anything to, you know, give me that idea other than just the performance. but it's pretty noteworthy that he goes to AAA, puts up monster numbers, and then comes back with consecutive games like this. I think five out field players need to take notice, if nothing else. Yep, and Jake Dibbley is widely available, 8% rostered on CBS. And just last year, he was a serviceable player, solid OBP, 20 home runs, 762 OPS. And, you know, with the weather, very hot right now around the country,

specifically in Sacramento, the ball is going to fly out there. It's a great environment to hit in. So, yeah, perhaps we could catch a little fire here with J.J. Bladay down the stretch. Definitely worthy of deeply consideration. Let's talk about his teammate. Leadoff Langaleers. That's right.

First time this season. And there was one other game where he had, like he played leadoff, but he didn't start the game as, I don't know how they calculated that. But anyway, first game for Shay Langalears at leadoff, and he was amazing. Five for six with a triple dong,

three home runs. four runs scored in this one. It had five hard hits in this game. He maxed out at 112.3 exit velocity and hilariously enough. That hardest hit ball for him wasn't out. I think it was the only out that he made in this game. So it was just like baseball so stupid, man.

Gosh. 27 games since coming off the I.L. For Langalears, he is hitting 3.43 with 12 home runs during that stretch. He's now up to 22 home runs and an 868 OPS on the season. He's the man. Anything to add on Langaleigh? Yeah, that's the thing. I mean, you gave the numbers for the, for the entire 27 game stretch since returning from the IL 343 with 12 home runs.

But, you know, take out, take out the five hits the three home runs from this game. Those were still incredible numbers he was putting up. I just wrote in my rankings movers column, my rankings moveers column the other day, how great Langalears has been. And that he's in my top ten at catcher. Maybe that's too low. Obviously, there's a lot of catchers I wish I could put higher this year. But I moved him back ahead of the Braves tandem. And then he has a three homer game after I do that.

So, yeah, Langalear's looking like a true stud at this position. Quick player that for me here is going to be Dalton Varsh who had a massive game in Corse Field. Three for five with a double dong, six RBI in this one. And one of the home runs was hit 108 miles per hour and traveled four. 467 feet. Three home runs in the past two games. He's got 11 homers in just 28 games a season. He's hitting the ball a lot harder all of a sudden.

I mean, this isn't really a stat cast standout in years past, but he's doing something right. Hitting the ball hard. Lots of barrels. It's weird. He's also widely available. Only 30% roster. He had shoulder surgery this offseason.

He was not able to play at the start of the season. And then he missed two months with a hamstring injury. He was able to hit. I think he was held out early in the season because he wasn't able to throw and they wanted him to play the field. But with the way he's hitting, might have just needed him to play DH early on in the season. But he's always been one of those guys who was just total fringe power. Like he did have a 27 homer season, but it was all lift and pull, right? There was no real raw power here.

It was like an 87.7 mile per hour average X amount of velocity that year, I think. and now he's up to 90.1 before this start. He had the furthest hit home run of the Blue Jays season on Monday. And now he also has the furthest hit home run of the Blue Jays season because he broke his own team season record, I guess we can call it. I remain skeptical, but less so. He hasn't been killing it performance-wise, Dalton Varshow, but like he has these, he's had so many,

incredible feats for the little bit of time he's been healthy. Just these last two games, six balls hit 106.9 miles per hour or more. It's kind of shocking to me. His numbers aren't better. It's mostly just batting average and poor, his play discipline's awful. Yeah, and I think we're kind of at a point with the Blue Jays.

Not that, you know, they're more of a pesky team than just, wow, one of the best offenses in baseball. But I don't know, like kind of won exposure to this team, the way that they're playing right now and scoring runs and putting the ball in play and just kind of being a pest. And so, yeah, I think Varsho kind of in the middle, lower third of this lineup can do some damage. Who would you guys rather have Varsho or J.J. Blas in some of these five outfielder leagues? Varsho.

Yeah, I think that's the right answer. I think there's a little bit more impact potential with him. Yeah, I mean, unless it is true that Bleday has figured out something, but we're kind of grasping at straws with that. The other issue there is Bladay is more likely to play every day, I would say, at least if he's good enough to stick around. Bladay will play every day. No, Varsho. No, I said Blasho.

Because Varsho, we know Sits against left-handers. Well, I mean, Varsho's a really good defender, so I feel like he's actually more likely to play every day. I could be wrong about that. He hasn't been when he's been healthy. He's been sitting against left-handers. I mean, that one's tough because Springer's hurt. then on the athletic side, as we'll get to shortly, Lawrence Butler hasn't met in the line the last two days. How likely is that to continue? Well, we'll find out in, I don't know, 15 minutes

or so. Yes, we will talk about Lawrence Butler a little bit later on. Some wariometer on him. I am quickly pulling up career splits for JJ Bodei, who has pretty, yeah, even left-right splits in his career. All right, yeah, we'll see. A few things to mention here. I will be out in Baltimore this weekend. So if anybody has any recommendations, for where to go around Camden Yards. Feel free to hit me up, tweet at me, DM. Hit up the aquarium. Email, whatever.

Yeah? Aquarium? I think it's like right next to, I think it's in the inner harbor right next to Camden Yards. The aquarium's super fun. I haven't been since I was like 18, but if you like fish, the animal,

great, great spot. Yeah, I've never been to Baltimore, so I'm trying to make the most of my two days there and see what I can do. Thanks for clarifying. And if you enjoy, the audio podcast. Feel free to leave us a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen. And big thanks to those watching live. Make sure to hit the like button

and subscribe on YouTube as well. Let's take a break and we will be back right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. Let's run through the news and notes and we did get some Brewers updates. Jackson Turyo has responded well to treatment on his hamstring and is expected to return in two to four weeks. So hopefully before or around the start of September would be nice for the stretch run there. Jacob Mizirowski threw a bullpen on Tuesday, and he is hoping to return after the minimum 15 days on the IL. Nick Lodolo was placed on the IL with a blister on his left index finger.

Glaver Torres was scratched from the lineup to two to left forearm tightness. At least it's not his throwing arm, so glass half full, I suppose. Tyler O'Neill left Tuesday night with right wrist discomfort. He is day-to-day. As expected, Michael Soroka went on the aisle due to a right shoulder strain. Roman Anthony will return to the lineup on Wednesday. He missed two days with mid-back tightness. South Freelick has missed three straight due to left knee soreness.

Bryce Miller's next rehab start will come at AAA on Thursday. He is scheduled to build up to around 65 pitches in that one. That's one to keep an eye on because his velocity was up like two miles per hour in his previous rehab start. So that's very interesting, given how much it dipped and how much he struggled early on with the elbow injury. I mean, two miles per hour would put him ahead of even last year. Yeah. Not that I, you know, not that he won't sustain that necessarily,

but yeah, it's encouraging that Bryce Miller is showing signs of improved velocity after losing some. Grayson Rodriguez is expected to have a normal offseason after undergoing right elbow de Brideman surgery. he'll do that next week. I know the way I worded that was not great, but he's expected to have surgery next week, and the hope is he'll be ready for... Yeah, the normal offseason would come after he has the surgery. You said it fine.

Yeah, okay, cool. The Padres option J.P. Sears to AAA after his rough debut on Monday. Derek Gould, who covers the Cardinals, said the team still plans to use a closer committee despite Jojo Romero getting two saves since the trade deadline. He is the only lefty in their bullpen and he was saved for the opportunity Monday night

because the Dodgers had a bunch of lefty bats coming up in the ninth inning. So the expectation is that Riley O'Brien, Kyle Leahy, and perhaps Gordon Grecepho are still names that could get save opportunities for the Cardinals. Here's a name for you. Victor Robles will start a rehab assignment

at AAA next week and he was a top 200 pick in ADP before the season. had a resurgent year last year where you hit 307 with 34 steals. 27% rostered any interest in stashing it, Victor Robles. You know, I was putting together IL stash rankings, my latest IL stash rankings before the podcast, not done with it yet,

still need to include the infielders. But I am kind of surprised how high Victor Robles is here. Not that he's mustash, but I have him ahead of like Tommy Edmund and Miguel Vars. You know, a couple players that have been pretty widely rostered this year. So, sure, if you have it, particularly in categories leagues. I'm not sure there's much of a point in points leagues. But to hopefully get a nice little batting average and stolen base,

especially boost here the final month. Yeah, he could be good for that or he could never be the same because this is a serious injury. Yeah. And look, all of the first. sudden the Mariners are a pretty fun lineup too so just I guess trying to get some exposure to that lineup a little added incentive there on victor robes kade cavali will join the nationals rotation and start wednesday against the aes he is 26 years old a former top prospect first round pick

back in 2020 this year at triple a a 609 era and a 155 whip any deep league interest in kade kavali he's got to show it there have definitely been times when I've been interested in Cade Cavali but he was horrible on his rehab assignment so he needs to get to the majors and give me a reason

to be excited but if he goes out and has five shot outings and strikes out seven yeah I'll be interested all right well let's fire up the worryometer we already spoke a lot about McKenzie Gore do you just want to put a number on it one to 10 where are you at on Gore the worry on nine

I mean, probably 10. I mean, maybe you say nine just because we saw him bounce back from it before. So, yeah, I could go with nine. What about his teammate, James Wood, been getting some more questions about him? I know I brought him up, I think, a week or two with you, Chris. And we were kind of like, all right, you know, he's young. Maybe it's just a little bit of a cold stretch here. It's gone on even longer now.

So 0 for 3 again, last 23 games for James Wood. he is hitting 1-15 with one homer, a 42% strikeout rate. The underlying play discipline looks really bad during that stretch, and a 65% ground ball rate. So it's just kind of multiple things happening terribly right now for James Wood. Where is he on the Wurriometer? I would say like a four.

In terms, in the context of we had this guy as a second round pick at the All-Star break, right? he made our top 24. I think he was right at the turn, the ones who turn, yeah. Yeah, so when the stakes are that high, I think it's reasonable to be a little more reactionary, I guess, especially with a guy with a small sample size. We're talking about, you know, this bad month is one seventh of his major league career at this point, right?

And one thing you're seeing is he's getting fed a lot of breaking. balls. Going by month, he saw 33.8% breaking balls in April, 34.8 in May, 37% in June, 40% in July. He only saw 45% fastballs, and if you look at the season as a whole, he's crushing fastballs, and he's just trying to keep his head above water against breaking balls and off-speed pitches. He has a 44% whiff rate against breaking balls this season. That is, Really, really tough. So I'm not saying he doesn't belong in that first or second round discussion now, but given the limited sample size that we had to go on to put him up there,

I think it's reasonably be a little concerned. Yeah. That was a very nuanced and detailed take, but I'm just going to say one. I'm not worried about James Wood at all. That might be the right answer. Yeah. All right. Well, maybe Scott is worried about Lawrence Butler.

And he's a name that I remember I brought up to you, Scott, and he's only gotten worse since then. So last 36 games. This goes all the way back to like early mid-June, something like that. 164 batting average of 538 OPS, 32% strikeout rate, just five barrels in his past 36 games. He has sat out two games in a row.

Obviously, this one here on Tuesday against a lefty in McKenzie Gore. He's been awful against lefties. Scott, where are you at Worryometer on Lawrence? Butler. I feel like this is a really dusty reference, but long-time listeners of fantasy baseball today will remember when Heath Cummings was on and when he would do the Worryometer segment, he would always give a one or a 10. And I feel like that's what I'm inclined to do with this group because I want to say 10 here for Lawrence Butler. You know, for most of the season,

You know, it's been underwhelming since the beginning, but at least for most of the season, you could point to, oh, well, you know, he still has the exit velocities. He's still making contact at a better rate, like when we saw him take off in the second half last year. But he just seems to be totally lost now. Like the strikeout rate is ballooned. His pull air rate is not that it was great last year,

but it's terrible this year. Like he needs He needs some coaching. He needs some of that coaching he got last year. I don't even know if that guy is still with the team. I have no idea. But whatever guy kept referencing during all the breakout talk for Lawrence Butler

this preseason helped him fix his swing. He needs to get together with that guy again because this is broken. It appears to be broken. And to the point that Lawrence Butler is now losing playing time, no reason to roster him in three outfielder leagues, I would say. Five outfielder leagues.

okay, you still got a roster him there, but you don't necessarily have to start him. Yeah, the thing that's tough is when you look at ex-Woba over the course of the season, he's never gotten above 330. Now, a 330X-Waba for a guy who steals bases, that's not bad. That could be a 25-20 guy. But when that's your best stretch of a season, and for context, last year he was 339 overall. Yeah, the process stuff has been bad pretty much all season, which is concerning given that we only had a two-month sample size of him being good last year.

And you brought this up for James Wood. Lawrence Butler has a whiff rate over 42% on both breaking and off-speed pitches. And you kind of alerted us to that early in the season this year. And it clearly has not gotten better for Lawrence Butler. So 95% rostered and 62% started, I think, some of those. those numbers could start to drop a little bit more here for Lawrence Butler. Fun day for the Twins Future. Welcome back to Luke Kishel, who picked up right where he left off.

Two for four with his first career home run, had three RPI, three hard hits in his first game back. Also attempted a steal, but unfortunately it was caught. On his rehab assignment, had seven more steals in just 14 games. 39% rostered. This was a top 100 prospect entering this season. really fun player. I don't want to call him.

I don't know. Is he a must-ad play? He might be. I think he's really, really interesting. Second base is pretty weak. Any categories league he is, yes. Yeah. But he walks a lot too, which could work in points leagues.

Oh, yeah, no. I think he could be must roster in points. I just, I think it's probably too early to say that. But if you don't have a good one, there's not a lot of exciting options out there. This was his sixth major league game, right? Luke Echol, I mean, or was it? I think it's, I think it's. his eighth.

His eighth. Okay. Yeah, he had five steals and seven games before getting hurt in April. So, yeah, his eighth major league game, that's the only reason

it's like, okay, we want to play it cautiously. This isn't a top five type prospect being promoted to the majors. It's more like a top 50 type prospect being promoted to the majors. And it's only an eight game sample, but he's done everything you could want

in this eight game sample. The shape of his production has been about what it was in the minors. I'll note that in, slightly less than 100 at bats at AAA this year. Keishel hit only one home run. And he doesn't have a lot of the raw power. He's not going to produce those big high index of velocities.

But pulse the ball in the air well, had plenty of home runs in the minors last year. So I think there is power. But even as things stand, even with this being his first Major League home run, in those eight games. You know, a ton of walks, a ton of steel seems to be especially inclined to run. I had him, with the word of his return, I had Luke Kishel 24th in my second base rankings,

which puts him ahead of like Jorge Polanco and... Would you take him over Bryson Stott? It has him two spots behind Bryson Stott, but that is... It wouldn't take much. Yeah. Like that's the sort of situation where, okay, like, I only have one set of rankings, right? I can't rank for every scenario. I can't rank for 15 team, 12 team, you know, deep, shallow.

It's just one set of rankings. And it's like, well, Bryson Stott is a fixture in the Phillies lineup and does something for you. So, you know, he's got to rank a certain place. But shallow or league context, if I'm just shooting for upside, if mediocrity is always available on the waiver wire, yeah, I might take a flyer. on Keishel overstat. I'll say this. I haven't updated my rankings since the deadline because there's just a lot going on, guys. But I'm going to do that tomorrow.

And just looking at second base, how many guys would you definitely rather have than Luke Keishel in a Roto League right now? I think it might only be like, I was thinking like eight or nine. Now, that's not to say, like, I definitely would rather have Luke Keishel than Jackson Holiday. I wasn't even counting holiday among them. Or Brendan Donovan or Glaber Torres, who are fine players, but like from a fantasy perspective, have real limitations. They really don't have for much power. They don't steal many bases. Keishel, I think he has 54 steals and 120 games at AAA.

He might be legitimately impactful there while not being a zero as a power hitter or just as a hitter in general. So, you know, if you're looking to make up ground, like Scott said, if you're looking to avoid mediocrity, that's not to say Glauber Torres is mediocre. But for fantasy, he's not necessarily a difference maker. Lukisha could be. So I'm inclined to rank him pretty close to the top 12 already at second base. I think the highest I can get him is probably somewhere around 15. but yeah, I mean, if you want to be aggressive on him, I have no problem with that. And again, Kishel, widely available, only 39% rostered.

What about his teammate on the mound? Zebby Matthews was solid at the Tigers, five innings, one run, six strikeouts to one walk, had 12 whiffs on 86 pitches, limited the hard contact here, which has been a problem for Zebby. You look at all the skill indicators, everything that we like to look at for pitchers, and it's all there for Zebby. It's, you know, K-minus walk, greatest, er-a indicators. they all look really good. Now we kind of just need the actual production to catch up here.

This was a step in the right direction. I'm not saying he's as talented as this guy, but he's giving me some early George Kirby vibes where he's probably throwing the ball in the strike zone too often. He's probably working too hard to avoid walks. And in this one, his zone rate for the season has been 55%. It was 50% in this one. And I think judicial.

throwing the ball out of the strike zone can be a good thing. And I think some pitchers get themselves into trouble trying to avoid walks too much. And I think that's probably been the biggest issue for Zeb Matthews because I think the stuff plays, clearly. 29% strikeout rate coming into this start, 6% walk rate. It's just he gets hit way too hard. And that's probably from catching too much of the zone. Major league hitters, it doesn't matter how good your stuff is. You get too much of the zone.

They're going to make you pay for it. And that's been the problem for Zebby Matthews. I think the stuff is really good. I think it's mostly about refining the approach and refining the pitch mix. And this was a very promising sign from a guy who I think is super talented. So I'm, I think you should go out and add him. Let's take our final break when we return. I've got some other waiver ads here, potential waiver ads.

We'll talk about that right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's take a look at some waiver wire hitters here. And Carlos Correa, maybe a little reinvigorated here. I don't know, two for four with a run scored. Only five games with the Astros, but he's got six hits. A homer has hit third or fourth in all five games in Houston so far.

69% rostered and just gained that third base eligibility. So shallow league name there to pay attention to. Maybe he can catch fire. Spencer Steer, big game. Two for four with his 13th home run for RBI. But he had been pretty cold before this one. hitting 158 in his 23 games before this. He's 71% rostered.

I don't know. Even if I see him in a shallow league, I probably would not be moved to pick up Spencer Sear. No, would much rather add Carlos Correa if either is available. And this is unprovable, but there has been some reporting about the twins since their fire sale that makes me think that the vibes had gotten pretty awful there, because I know even after Yohan Duran was traded,

Griffin Jacks demanded a trade, I believe, has been reported. And it sounds like people were pretty unhappy there. And I wonder how long that had been going on. So, yeah, maybe getting on a contender and having a real chance and being back somewhere he's comfortable can get Carlos Correa going. We have no, you know, that stuff's ineffable. It's unquantifiable, but it matters. Yeah.

What about Joe Adela? who went two for four with his 23rd homer that's back-to-back games with a home run this season. He is just so shrieky, man. OPS by month this year, 513, 836, 1038, 6.59, and it's 632

so far in August. The stat cast stuff still looks amazing here, though. 70% rostered for Joe Adele. Should that number be higher, Scott? We're talking about, you know, three outfield points leagues at that point for Joe Adele.

I don't think it needs to be higher, no, because you look at the actual production. And it's probably about right. I mean, I guess it could be a little higher. The stack has stuff obviously is interesting because he's got to be one of the biggest underachievers by the data this year. It's a 75th percentile XBA. It's a 95th percentile X-SLG. And, you know, normally it's been pretty reliable that, okay, if a player's underperforming his stack has numbers,

Polaroid is the culprit. His pole air rate's decent. Yeah. It's in the pink. Not quite in the red, but in the pink. So, and the strikeout rate isn't nearly as bad as it used to be for Joe Adele. I don't think he needs to be roster in three outfielder leagues. He can be, but I don't think he's must.

but like there's clearly more to draw on here for Joe Adele. And it wouldn't surprise me if he just took off these final two months and turned himself into a top 36 or even top 30 outfielder for next year. He's sixth in Wobah or X Wobah minus Wobah. So he's the sixth biggest underperformer so far. Any interest in Lennon Sosa of the White Sox last 31. games. He is hitting 304 with 8 home runs, 27 RBI

and OPS around 900 and has first, second, and third eligibility. Any interest in Lenin Sosa? Gotta say, I'm surprised by those numbers. He was a pretty productive minor league hitter. But he's probably not this good.

I think I would still view him as a fill-in maybe in Roto Leagues because of that multi-eligibility if you need help at any of those three infields Bots, Lenin Sosa, it might be someone you could turn to now, but I don't, I don't think he's turning himself into a high-end fantasy performer or anything. I think he's just going to be streaky.

All right. He's got one of the highest chase rates in baseball. Looking at this, his XBA is 2084 and his Xlux is 464. Polar rate, very good. Not very good. Pull our rate good. You know, maybe I need to look a little harder at Lenin Sosa. You know, sometimes you ambush me with somebody.

I'm not expected to talk about, Frank, and I just got to wing it. Yeah. Well, there you go, Lenin Sosa. Pick them up, maybe, I don't know. 12-team Roto leagues. Again, as a guy you can move around, I think I said this about Ernie Clement yesterday. You know, it's just if you need flexibility on your bench, good guy to have around. Someone like Lennon Sosa.

WaiverWire pitchers, one name in the show. shallowest of leagues. Ryan Nelson, solid outing against the Padre, is five and two-thirds, innings two runs, nine strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 100 pitches. Did throw his fastball 60% of the time, Scott. He did that exactly for you, has allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his last 10 starts. 79% rostered. How do you guys rank Ryan Nelson, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera? They're all right at 79 or 80% rostered. I'd go Cabrera. Nelson Rogers. I have a little more faith in what Nelson's skill set is showing.

I was consulting my rankings, which I spent forever updating yesterday, probably about 10 hours just updating rankings, and somehow left Ryan Nelson out of them. So I will make a note of that right now. But I think I agree with Chris's order there, Edward, Cabrera, Ryan Nelson. and then Trevor Stor, or Trevor Rogers, Trevor Story plays a different position.

I would say Cabrera is a clear number one in those two, probably 15 to 20 spots behind in my SP rankings. All right, two other waiver wire pitchers here. Will Warren has been solid lately. I know you guys have basically just said like, no, no more Will Warren. But I'll just point out five shutout innings here, five strikeouts, and last six starts, a 287 ERA, also a 140 whip, so probably has been lucky during that stretch.

I mean, he did something different in this start that might be for the better. So Will Warren, we've talked about part of what we like about him is he has a good fastball, the whiff rate higher than usual for a fastball 25%. He threw his fastball 54% of the time in this one. Only one other start this year has the fastball usage been over 50%. And a lot of times with young guys, they over-emphasize. size a fastball that's not actually very good. Will Warren may be under emphasizing a fastball that is very good.

It has a 2-04 batting average against. So more of that, Will. And we'll see. Under-emphasizing fastballs is kind of the Yankees thing. That's kind of an organizational philosophy. I think they throw their four seamers less than any team in baseball. Or right around there at least. So, you know, that could be one where the player's skill set and the,

team's approach doesn't necessarily match, but maybe they're going to give him a little more freedom there. But I, he was so bad in the miners last year. His ERA overall this season has been terrible. And even if you buy the 361 FIP, it's still a 142 whip. That's, that's untenable. Yeah. No, it's, it's an encouraging sign, but obviously Will Warren is still waiver fodder.

I have a bold prediction. He will be one of Scott's sleeper pitchers later on this week. Yeah, that seems... Luzi facing? Looks like a two-star pitcher against the Twins and Cardinals next week. Seems like a good bat. Maybe. Maybe.

Could be. What about Emmett Sheehan? A solid outing against the Cardinals, five innings, two unearned runs with five strikeouts here, and he threw his secondary pitches a little bit more. Honestly, everything looks great outside of his fastball, which gets hit really hard.

I feel like I say that about so many pitchers. And Cheon's been solid. He just doesn't really give you a lot of length. He's almost certainly not going to throw more than five innings. And he's only done that twice. He's only gone to five. This was the second time. 46% rostered.

What is your interest level here? It kind of feels like just Roto or category leagues for me. Yeah, I don't know how long he's going to stay in the rotation either. Yeah, I feel like it's six men for, I don't know, I guess the time being. I feel like it's just a stash. I don't even know under what circumstances I could recommend. him at she and because the outings have been so short and he doesn't technically start all the time

not that he's going deep enough for a quality start anyway so I like the talent it could change at some point this year where he does start getting a more conventional workload and so that's why I say might be worse stashing but not everybody has luxury to stash and so I think she and it's questionable whether he needs to be rostered even in your league Deep League waiver wire galore.

I've got some names here. I want to quickly hit on it. Jacob Marcy has looked really good so far for the Marlins, two for two with a walk and his first career home run. Through five games, he's six for 12, three doubles, one triple, one homer, five walks to five strikeouts,

17% rostered. How would you guys rank right now, Varshot, Jacob Marcy, and J.J. Bladay. I'd go Varsho, Marcy, Bladay. Yeah, I think I agree Marcy's just he's got a weird skill set Because it's like

A phenomenal eye at the plate He walks a ton he's a very enthusiastic base stealer And there's non-zero power there I think he had 12 home runs or something before he got called up It's very like pull side happy Yeah you know yeah But like the plate discipline looks really good And the bat control looks really

He's got like It's a five game sample size but I think it's a 6% chase rate right now. He's just chased after nothing. And I don't know. I think he's a pretty interesting little player here. He kind of reminds me of Davis Schneider, but with a lot of speed.

And it didn't work out for David Schneider, but that doesn't mean it can't work out for Marcy. All right. Next up, Dayrell Hernase of the athletics has looked good in six games so far, filling in for Jacob Wilson, two for four with his second home run. He also has a steal, 924 OPS so far,

some okay numbers in the miners. Any deep league interest in Daryl-Hernays? See, this is somebody you ambushed me with on trade deadline day. Go on, you don't want to talk about hernese? So I've had a chance to look into Daryl Arnais now a little more, 24 years old, had...

Actually, his minor league numbers kind of reminded me a little bit of warming Bernabels. There's batting average over 300 near one-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio, mostly because the strikeout rate was really low. But not the kind of exit velocities that would lead you to believe Arniz is going to be hitting many home runs. And because of that, I think his relevance is going to be limited to deep leagues. All right. What about Eli White's got anything here with the, with the, your Atlanta Braves, two for three with his seventh home run and in seven games

since returning to the team. He's hitting 296 with three homers. I mean, this is somebody I'd take JJ Boudet over. I think Eli White's a perfectly fine backup outfielder, but he's not. He's starting now.

He's a starter and name only right now. And even though he's hot, you can ignore him outside of In our Lonely leagues. And Gerard Encarnacion. I got to do that for you every time, Chris. He was activated on Tuesday. I don't think you roll that R though.

That's just the one. No, you don't? No. No, not that R. It's got to be the first letter or it's got to be the double R. I forced it. All right, well, we'll save it for. It still sounded good. I still liked it. For Jose. We'll save it for Jose.

He homered right away. Encarnacio did. One for five with his first home run. He was a deep sleeper entering the season, hit the ball extremely hard last year in a small sample. Chris, any deep league interest in Encarnacion? Is he going to play regularly? He started here against a righty, I think, which kind of intrigued me. Yeah, because that would be the thing. I guess if Rafael Devers is really going to play first base regularly,

then that does open up some DH opportunities for Gerard and Carnaccion because they don't really have a lot of other options. And Wilmer Flores has his stretches. But, yeah, I could see Gerard and Carnaccione being pretty useful. I think there's certainly some skills that are big power there. So it's a name to keep an eye on. But outside of NL only, I think he's not someone you need to add right now. And one pitcher, Taiwan Walker, strong start against the Orioles,

six shutout innings, four strikeouts. Does anybody care about Taiwan Walker? I think I saw this was his first start Shutout six innings start I think it was since 2016 That feels unlikely Wow But that that was what I saw

That would not surprise me I guess But uh all right so not really interested in Taiwan Walker Nathan Avaldi How has Nathan Avaldi done this man A masterful season Awesome start here against the Yankees Eight shutout innings one hit zero walks, six strikeouts,

15 whiffs on 98 pitches. Last six starts, he has a 0.47 ERA and a 0.78 whip. His season-long ERA is down to 138. Look, obviously we're not expecting that to continue, but it's just like... As we've said for four months.

How has he done this, man? Where are you guys at, Nathan Avaldi? Oh. annoyed that he hasn't regressed at all because every time I talked about him, that seemed like the take to have. I think I rank Avaldi 24th rest of season, which is obviously very high for a position like starting pitcher. 23rd, excuse me, 23rd. I have him ahead of Nick Povetta, who himself has like a 101 ERA in his last seven starts or something like that. So don't let anybody tell you

Pitching is dead Yeah, I You know Keep starting Nathan Avaldi I wouldn't I wouldn't be so inclined to say Sell high on him at this point He's

He's gotten an IL stint recently He should have Plenty of fuel in the tank For the stretch run The Rangers are competing Looks like he's going to be great All year Yeah and just

it doesn't actually work like this, but the less time that's left, the less time there is for injuries. You know, the less time there is for that regression. And I think the biggest issue that we've all had is that he just gets hurt every year. I mean, part of it's also,

he breaks down in the second half every year as well. He's almost always significantly worse in the second half than in the first. Often it's because of injury. It hasn't happened yet. And there's really no signs of it happening so far. So I don't know. It's weird because he's lost some velocity,

about a mile and a half per hour on his four seamer over the course of the full season. And he's changed his approach. So he's throwing his four seamer less, his splitter and his cutter more, his curveball more as well. And it's been a phenomenal pitch mix. for him. I'm not exactly sure if this is what you would have expected coming

in if you had told me, hey, Nathan Avaldi's going to be throwing a mile and a half per hour or less. He's going to be throwing his splitter a lot more if I would have been like, okay, great, he's going to have the best season of his career. I'm not sure if that would have been the case. He's over his head.

He has a 149 ERA that goes without saying he's over his head. His XERA's 326. That's still really good. But it's not a 149 ERA. And if you think he's more like a low threes ERA pitcher moving forward, and you have to acknowledge the heightened injury risk, then he's not as slam dunk of a top 15 or top 20 pitcher as you might think for a guy who does have a 149 ERA or whatever it is through

his first 19 starts. Yeah. I do find it interesting that he's kind of having this career year while lowering his velocity and that kind of feels like a conscious decision you know same rotation as jacob de graham who's also done that this season has also had a really really good season so far so i don't know maybe it's uh allowing him to a command his pitch is better at lower velocity but also kind of just stay strong throughout the course of the season so uh maybe interesting things there for nathan control. Welcome to Cincinnati for Zach Lattel who had an awesome debut here, seven innings, one run with

a season high eight strikeouts at the Cubs, 16 whiffs on 92 pitches. And, you know, he did change the pitch mix here through his splittermore, and it unlocked more wiffs at least in this start. So I'm just wondering if, uh, I don't know, maybe you can get a little bit more strikeout upside outside of Tampa Bay. Yeah, I mean, because the Rays famously don't know what they're doing with pitchers. Well, I meant it more like he always had more strikeouts in Tropicana, but he doesn't have Tropicana this year. He also doesn't have Tropicana in Cincinnati either.

Yeah, I mean, but Lattel's having like his best season. So I, I, he threw his splitter a lot more, 42% versus 27%. It got half of his whiffs. But on the season, it has a pretty low whiff rate for a split. Yeah, that's the thing. So I don't. Look, another start will, another start like this will open my mind to the possibility a little more that Zach Lattel is going to unlock more strikeout potential here at the Reds. But I think it was just kind of something that happened.

He's still very solid fantasy pitcher, but I'm not, I'm not willing to say anything's going to change for him with the Reds. While we're on this topic, do we think Chase Burns gets kicked from the rotation when Hunter Green's back? Well, Nick Lodolo's going on the aisle, too. Yeah, but they already have Abbott, Singer, Burns, Martinez, and Lattel, but they had moved Martinez out of the rotation when they traded for Lill. It kind of felt like Martinez is only going back because Lidolo got hurt. Right, but now Green's going to be back, so. Green's going to be back, so Martinez will be out again. It doesn't seem like a long-term issue for Lodolo.

We don't think blisters can be tricky, especially since he has a history of them. But then there will be an issue. Yeah, if it does end up being short-term for Lodolo, green comes back fine. I don't know who else could come out except for Burns, but I guess it's not really worth worrying about right now, I would say. Yeah, it just depends if they want to keep Martiol.

in a swing role, if that's what they prioritize more than limiting burn settings. I don't know. Yeah. I think Martinez, to me, it's Martinez isn't even in this discussion. They've already declared their intentions for Martinez. It's swing man. It's just that they happen to need the swing man to swing in the rotation right now. But when Lodolo and Green are both back, that's what it'll become an issue.

Some hitting leftovers here, Willie Adamas continues to hit well after a slow start, two for five with his 18th home run. Jose Altovae has picked things up two for four with his 19th homer Diaz also playing better of late one for four with his 16th home run Aeohenio Suarez Welcome back to Seattle

His first home run Since the trade He went one for three with a sock and a shoe His 37th home run His second steal This Josh Naler thing Of all the improbable things That you see in a baseball season

Of all the dramatic things Josh Nailer With 19 Steels this season. He has eight steals in 11 games since joining the Mariners. What? What is happening? Exactly what.

What is happening? What? That's baseball. That's baseball season. That is baseball season. Josh Naler, famous speedster in the third percentile on sprint speed this season. One of the craziest things I've ever seen. That's wild.

Max Muncie, four for five. Are they just not throwing? I'm gonna just go watch all of them and see how many are just like defensive indifference. Yeah, it reminds me of, I never understood how Albert Pujo stole bases. He was not fast. He was a huge hulking human being,

but he just knew how to tie him pitchers up. He was savvy. He just, he knew that they weren't paying attention, and boom, he would just go off and run and, you know, sometimes he would wind up with like 10 to 12 steals. So I guess Josh Naylor is just doing a similar thing. I don't know. It's kind of crazy, though.

Max Muncie, welcome back to him. Four for five with a double-dong-four-R-B-I. Tayasker Hernandez, looking to pick things back up. Went three-for-five with two homers and four RBI in that game. And Aaron Judge did make his return. Looked a little bit rusty, 0-4-3 with two strikeouts, but, of course, facing the best pitcher of all time, Nathan Avaldi. So it's a pretty tough matchup.

Very encouraged by Max Buncee. We weren't sure if he'd lose all. that moment to me had with a pretty bad knee injury. But remember, 53 games before the knee injury, the 53 game since he put on the glasses, Max Muncie, hit 287, 13 home runs at 989 OPS. And now second game back, four for five with two home runs. So yeah, I think he's picking up where he left off.

Top 12 third baseman, rest of the way. Pitching leftover is Logan Webb. Likes pitching against the pirates. I mean, I think most pitchers do, but, you know, two. starts in a row here. Back to back, double-digit strikeouts. He had 10 strikeouts over six innings here against the pirates. Garret Crochet, another great outing. Seven innings, two runs, eight strikeouts against the Royals. Shoti Imanaga, strong one against the Reds, six and a third.

One run, seven strikeouts here. Fifteen whiffs on 92 pitches. And Brian Wu, a dominant start against the White Sox seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts, the zero walks. And he has now gone, six plus innings in all 22 starts this season. The picture of durability, Brian Wu. His last year, he is up to, what do you get through, do you get through seven today? Yeah. He's over 200 innings in his last 365 days.

32 starts, 200.2 innings of a like 3.3.3.3rd. 20 ERA. That's pretty good. It's pretty remarkable for a guy who was leaving every start with an injury in the first four months last year. Can I give you another hitting leftover? What's that? Colson Montgomery homered again. Did he really? He did. That happened late in that game?

Is that late? Yeah. See it. Yeah. Gosh. That I don't get it. All right. Well, hey. I mean, I get it like he can hit the ball really hard. It's just how. How was he so baffled by AAA pitchers and he hasn't been? He was just bored.

That's it. By major league. I mean, maybe. We want to be the first to theorize such. Yeah. Well, all right. Well, you know what? Lots of interesting.

Hope he doesn't get bored being a major leaguer. Yeah. I don't know. On the white socks, you never know. I mean, but that that's like, that's like me being bored in high school when I had a 230 GPA or something. Like, I guess. being bored when you're dominating and not getting your opportunities, he hasn't been very good.

And he was bored. That you just said you fell victim to that. Well, that's my excuse. I was just a bad. I was just lazy. I'm not saying that's the case here. I'm just saying, like, I would have an easier time understanding the he's bored in the minors when if he, if it was a, you know, one of those, one of those guys. who dominates like a Kobe Mayo.

You know, like Kobe Mayo, you're allowed, you can be bored at AAA. I get that. Coles Montgomery, I don't know if he had earned the right to be, to be bored at AAA. We're just, uh, it's kind of armed care is psychology. Yeah, my theory is that the, the White Sox must have just had him working on something specific and they didn't care about the results. That's the thing that would make the most sense if this is real. Yeah.

I mean, I mostly say it tongue and cheek, You know, just trying to, I don't know, come up with any reason this is playing out this way for Coles of Montgomery. Call to the bullpen for the twins. Cole Sands pitched in the eighth inning with a 6-1 lead facing the heart of the Tigers lineup. He gave up two runs on three hits. And Justin Topa got the ninth with a three-run lead. He struck out one for his first save. He is zero percent rostered on CBS.

I'm checking to see if he's available in my AL-only league. Yeah, that's the only place I'd be looking. He is. 15 team roto leagues maybe, but yeah, you've got to be pretty desperate. So Sands has not, I think Sands has worked the eighth inning exclusively since the twins traded their bullpen. I do think he's the best reliever left, despite the results here on Tuesday. But that doesn't seem to matter. I mean, I'm not saying it won't matter eventually, but what I am saying is Justin Topa is the second best reliever left.

So I don't think he's as good as Sands, but if he, if Baldelli is committed to keeping Sands more versatile, then, you know, maybe it could be Topa who gives you six to eight saves the rest of the way. Or the Guardians, Cade Smith got the ninth with a one-run lead. He picked up his fourth save. They went right back to him after throwing 22 pitches on Monday night. So we knew he's the closer, but man, they're just giving him a big workload right away. I know nobody's going to feel sorry for the Yankee fan,

but my gosh, it is just, when will it stop? When will the bleeding stop? Devin Williams, used in the eighth inning in a tie game, facing the heart of the Rangers lineup, was charged with two runs on two walks and two hits, did have some bad defense behind him by Jason Dominguez, but still, it is just insane to me that Aaron Boone went back to him in a high leverage spot.

Just one day after blowing the game, the guy who he gave up a home run to on Monday night was Jock Peterson. He was set to face the same hitter again in the eighth inning of this one. He could have used anybody else, David Bednar, Mark Leiter's back. I just, and then they left him in there

with the bases load. He loaded the bases with walks. They had two relievers ready to go, and they just left him out there. I don't. Aaron Boone is a believer in giving his guy's confidence. That was not the spot for confidence. Just look, just because he has been loyal to Williams so far doesn't mean he will always be.

We already know he won't always be because for a while he was giving Luke Weaver the saves over Devin Williams. So with every misstep for Williams and now it's what six of his last eight appearances he's given up at least a run. But Camilla Deval worked the sixth inning in this game, so I don't think it'd be him. David Bednar didn't work in this game at all and was dominant for the pirates ever since that brief stint in the miners in April. I think they were saving him for the ninth if it got there. Yeah, I think it could happen. It could happen sooner than later. They switched to Bednar.

And on the other side, for the Rangers, Phil Maton got the ninth with a two-run lead. He gave up a hit, but picked up his first save with the Rangers. Robert Garcia also blew two games in a row over the weekend and is dealing with a back thing. So there's a chance that Phil Meton just kind of takes over as the safe source in Texas as well. I thought he was in my Roto leagues that have weekly waiver runs. I thought he was being overlooked. Nobody seemed to want him. I think he's the best reliever in that bullpen.

It doesn't mean Bochie will go with him over Robert Garcia long term. but it doesn't surprise me that Mayton is getting some chances now. To stream or not to stream on Wednesday, we have Kate Horton up against the Reds, Jack Leiter gets the Yankees, Tyler Anderson against Tampa Bay, Jeffrey Springs at the Nationals, Dustin May in his Red Sox debut against the Royals, Jose Katana at the Braves, Nestor Cortez in his Padres debut at the Debex. Did this get worse since yesterday? I feel like it got worse since yesterday.

Same names. Springs, I guess. I wouldn't be surprised if May was good because the Royals are bad, but I don't really have any faith in him. Yeah, I think Springs is the only one. I don't mind Kentana at the Braves. It probably won't be an amazing start,

but it'll probably be a start that doesn't hurt you. I think Kate Horton against the Reds could be okay. Look, if you do daily streamers, you probably should pay attention to the weather in Wrigley. So if the wind is blowing out, stay away. But anything else, I think that could work out. Then on Thursday, just a four-game slate. We have Jacob Lopez at the Nationals.

I like that one. Mitchell Parker's on the other side. Shane Smith at Seattle. Brady's Singer at the Pirates. Carlos Carrasco against the Marlins. Lopez and Singer. Yep. Yeah, and I probably prefer Singer to Lopez.

But those are the only two worth considering. We are going to wrap there. For Scott, Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star writing on Affler, Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.

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