Fantasy Baseball Today - Wyatt Langford Has Arrived! Waiver Wire Adds & Start or Sit Decisions (7/1 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 1, 2024

Zac Gallen returned and his velo was up (2:40). ... Manny Machado has hit much better in June (6:10). ... Wyatt Langford hit for the cycle on Sunday Night Baseball (9:22). ... News (15:36): James Wood is being promoted by the Nationals on Monday. ... How do we rank Reese Olson, Brandon Pfaadt and Tobias Myers (28:36)? ... Let's fire up the Drop-O-Meter for Yusei Kikuchi, Nick Pivetta and others (38:55). ... Add Heston Kjerstad or Jhonkensy Noel (47:35)? ... Start or sit Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and others this week (54:54)? ... These hitters were hot in June (59:41). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpen updates and streamers (1:01:20). 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, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ 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. Wyatt Langford just hit for the cycle, and he's looked pretty darn good since returning from the I-L. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today and welcome to July. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris White. Towers. Today on the show, we will recap the weekend. We've got waiver wire ads, the dropometer,

starter sit decisions, and much more. Let's jump in. Can you believe it? Wow. All right, Chris, you are up first. Player of the weekend. Player of the weekend is Zach Gallen, who returned from the hamstring injury. And look, it was a nice soft landing, right? Oakland Athletics, one of the best matchups you could hope for. And he paid. Itched really well. Seven strikeouts. I think it was one earned run over six innings of work. Really, really nice performance from Zach Allen. But the most important and interesting thing about this performance from Zach Allen is that his fastball velocity was up and not just up. It was higher than it's ever been at the major league levels. Zach Allen averages 95.2 miles per hour with his fastball in this start. That is the highest that's ever been in a start. He had a couple at 95.1. but he broke that barrier. And I don't quite know what to make of that because maybe it was just, hey, he needed some rest, right?

He was off for a couple of weeks. Maybe his mechanics were not great. Maybe, you know, we talked about how many innings he threw last season. Maybe that hamstring injury was kind of a blessing in disguise in that it might make it more likely for a gallon to pitch at a high level the rest of the way. But it's also like, I don't know, maybe alarm bells go off a little bit with a guy who's had some elbow issues in the past, comes back after a long layoff, doesn't do a rehab start, velocity's way up. I don't know. I think it's mostly like 95%, a very, very positive thing. But I want to get your guy's thoughts because I just wrote about it and I was tossing it around in my head what to do with Zach Allen's performance here. Well, I have him as one of the big risers of the weekend.

Considering he was basically a must-start pitcher in fantasy, really high-end option, ace, I think, by most people's interpretation, with a couple miles per hour less on his fastball. I mean, this was exciting. And he didn't offer a lot of specifics about changes he made, but the quote he gave after the game was he felt like things, well, to read the exact, that quote, felt like the things I've been working on delivery-wise had kind of clicked. And he did talk about how the last time he was on the IL, he mostly just focused on his recovery from injury and not being prepared to pitch necessarily when he came off the I. And that would have been when he was dealing with the forearm back in 22nd.

I believe so. I believe that's what he was referencing. And so he just wanted he wanted to feel like he would come back. a raring to go. And he certainly looked like it in this one. His next opponent is the Dodgers. So that's going to be a tougher test than the A's to see if this newfound velocity holds, if he's just as dominant.

I'm thinking you're probably starting him. I mean, Zach Allen is somebody who most of us, like I said, would have considered must start even before this velocity jump. But that is a tough matchup, obviously. Mm-hmm. Zach Gallen only 46% started on CBS, which I think makes sense because he was activated midweek. We didn't necessarily know that he was going to return this weekend. So now that he's back and he's looked really good against Oakland, I know it's a tough matchup, but velocity being up.

And overall, he's been really consistent this year. Three earn runs or fewer in 11 of 12 starts. I think you're good to go ahead and get Zach Gallen back in your lineups this week. Scott, over to you, Player of the Weekend. My player of the weekend is Mani Machado. The biggest game he had this weekend came on Saturday. He went two for five with two home runs. For the month of June, now that it's closed, I can give you the full numbers.

They're pretty impressive. 333 with five home runs for the month. And I saw this, and I'm writing about it in the weekend Stockwatch, a lot of hitters who had struggled for the first two months suddenly came around in June. I'm kind of using Manny Machado to symbolize all of them because Manny Machado, he did have the elbow surgery prior to the season, and so you could have blamed that on his slow start.

But if you looked at the actual stack cast data, you know, whether you're talking how hard he hit the ball, how much he was striking out, which you don't even necessarily count on Stackass for, but those underlying numbers that usually denote a change in skill, they were pretty much unchanged from the Mani Machado we always knew. So I remained hopeful that he would eventually come around, and then he has this big month of June.

And I'll go ahead and get into this, I guess, because I looked into the numbers league-wide of how things, have changed. So obviously, as we talked about April and May, just awful for offense. If you compare April and May of 2024 to April and May of 2022, which was also a bad year for offense, even worse in April. You're talking, you look at Babbit, you look at home run to fly ball rate. It was even worse in 2024 than at 2022 for those two months.

And June started out much the same way. But from June 15th on, the league-wide Babbip is. 294 and the league-wide home run to fly ball rate is 12.6 percent, which looks an awful lot like June 2023. It's actually better than June 2020, the other bad year for hitting. So I'm not compare, you know, the first two months of June still count and so I'm kind of being unfair here comparing June 15th to June 30th for 2024 versus the full month. of June for 2023 and 2020. But the point is, the environment for offense appears to have normalized over the last two weeks.

And I think you see it reflected in the numbers for some of these hitters, Manny Machado included. The home run to fly ball rate is just spiking for so many players. Yeah, which is great because, as you mentioned, we've been starved for offense for most of the season. Now, that does have a ripple effect on the other side, because now, we're starting to see a lot of pitcher regression as well, but we were expecting that for a lot of the season. Constantly coming on here, lots of pitchers that we're talking about, can't keep getting away with this,

and it seems like a lot of those pitchers are starting to not get away with it anymore. Player of the weekend for me is going to be Wyatt Langford, who hit for the cycle on Sunday night baseball. He finished 4 for 5 with his fourth home run. He added three runs and 4 RBI since returning on May 28th, 29 games total. since coming back. A 299 batting average, three homers, 12 runs, 24 RBI, six steals, lots of fly balls to the pole side, not hitting the ball as hard on average as we would like, 88.2 miles per hour during this stretch. We still want more power overall, but, Chris, I think we have

to be pretty excited about what we're seeing from Wyatt Langford. It looks like he's finally starting to figure it out after a really slow start. Yeah, like the average actually of velocity, like that that's important, but it's not everything, right? Because hitting a 99 mile an hour ground ball is obviously not the same as hitting a 97 mile an hour line drive. You'd rather the latter than the former, even though it has a lower exit velocity. So that's one thing to keep in mind. You know, he, White Lankford, like the underlying numbers don't necessarily back up how good he's been in June. That's, that's one thing to keep in mind. 308 expected Wobah, 343 actual Wobah before. Sunday night baseball.

So there's a pretty big gap there. But he's hitting the ball in the air more consistently. The strikeout rate, I believe, is pretty significantly down from April. If I'm doing the math, correct. Yeah, it was 17% entering Sunday night. It's going to be even lower than that. I think all in all, it's a positive. I don't think you look at Wyatt Langford and say, yeah, he's now a superstar.

I'm not there with him yet because there are big enough issues. the underlying data to suggest that what we've seen so far in June is not quite real. But it's worth betting on, I think. At least if you have him on your team. I was never at the point where I was dropping White Langford. I never thought that made sense, given what you paid for him, given what we know the upside can be if he started to figure it out. I'm not viewing this as a sell high opportunity.

I still want to keep riding it out with Wyatt Langford. I will say, and he did have a good month of June. So, you know, I am encouraged by the overall direction Wyatt Lankford is headed. The way he came about this cycle was not aesthetically pleasing. I guess I'll put it that way. The triple was a fly ball to left field

that was almost caught and then got stuck under the wall. The double was a ground ball to second base that happened to be a long enough run for both the center field and the right fielder that he was able to make it to second base. And then the single was an infield single. So, you know. Wheels, baby, wheels.

The balls were hit with high exit velocities, but, you know, they were ground balls. They were ground balls, the single and the double. And I don't know. I just, I watched the highlights expecting to be wowed. And I was like, wow, he was, I did say wow, But like, wow, he was lucky to get a cycle out of that. Yeah.

The home run for what it's worth, 107.4 eggs of velocity. So he did crush that one, 404 feet to left field. Last thing I'll point out with the average eggs of velocity being around that 88 mile per hour, if you pull the ball and you put it in the air, the average eggs of velocity, while it matters, we've seen from guys like ESOC parades. Like you can kind of get away with not hitting the ball as hard as long as you are pulling it in the air. So I think that's part of what is happening with Wyatt Langford and why he's picked things up quite a bit

since returning in late May. Quick reminder to sign up for the FBT newsletter. If you haven't already, if you're watching on YouTube, you can scan the QR code that will take you right to the website where you click on the FBT logo, you punch in your email address, and it's easy as that. You will get a FBT newsletter delivered right to your email inbox every weekday for free.

Let's take our first break, and when we return, we will talk about the news and notes right after this. Welcome back in the news and notes, and the biggest news from the weekend came out early on Friday. The Nationals are promoting their top prospect James Wood to make his debut on Monday. We did an emergency podcast, so make sure to check that out. Chris, you were not on that podcast.

Any quick notes or anything you'd like to add on James Wood being promoted? Yeah, I understand that it's been a very, very tough season for rookie hitters, especially, and I'm sure this is all what you guys talked about on Friday, but I did want to add a little color to it. I went and checked out Scott White's preseason top 100 prospects, valuable resource. I looked at the, there have been 14 players from that list who have had at least 100 played appearances this season. Five of them have a weighted runs created plus of 100 or better. Only five of the 14 have been above average hitters. And that includes like Willie Arbrew who doesn't really face lefties and Michael Bush and Colton Couser who have really slowed down.

And I think you could argue how useful they've been for fantasy for much of the season. So your expectation for James Wood should be that he is not an impact fantasy player right away. On the other hand, your expectation for, I don't know, who are some other outfielders we're adding on waiver? Okay, Jared Kelnick. I think the floor is probably higher with Jared Kelnik. The ceiling's higher with James Wood. I'm not sure Heston Kirstad or Yankesky-N-O-L are going to be impact players either. And those are all young guys who are relatively exciting.

The other outfielders you're likely adding on waivers are even less exciting. So that's all to say that, yes, given the way it's gone for Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter and Jackson Churio and all the rest of them, our expectations, especially for next year's draft, maybe let's not draft these guys as top 100 picks. Maybe let's cool it on that. But in terms of waiver wire, it still makes a lot of sense to aggressively chase the high-upside, top-end prospects,

because if they hit, the high-end is so much higher than anyone else you're going to be able to add on waivers in the vast majority of leagues on July 1st. And I believe James Wood was right around 65, 5% rostered when we did that emergency podcast. He's 85 now. He's all the way up to 85.

So that's good. People are listening. They're taking the shot, the lottery ticket, whatever you want to call it. Big upside, big downside. But yes, if he's available in any of the shallowest leagues out there, change that. Make sure you get James Wood on your team. Juan Soto was scratching the lineup Saturday due to a right hand contusion. He suffered on a slide on Friday.

X-rays came back negative. He was originally out of the lineup on Sunday, set for an MRI and the CT scan to come on Monday. And then he was a surprise addition to the lineup on Sunday. So we'll see how he bounces back from this, but the fact that he played, I haven't heard anything bad come out. I think he should be fine. Hit two balls over 106. Yeah. So hopefully Juan Soto's a right.

I think he is. As we feared, both Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwabber were placed on the IL on Friday. Harper with a left hamstring strain, Schwerber with a mild left groin strain. And Cody Clemens has been filling in at first base. Johann Rojas was recalled to play in the outfield. Mike Trout said on Saturday that he's basically pain-free and expects to be reinstated from the IL by the end of July. Manager Ron Washington said Trout is close to resuming baseball activities.

Three more players were hit on the hand and or wrist this weekend. Corey Seeger was hit on Saturday. He was out of the line of Sunday. He went for further evaluation. Vlad Jr. was hit on his right hand on Sunday. X-rays came back negative. and Mitch Garver was also hit on the wrist on Sunday. X-rays came back negative.

We'll see if these guys are in the lineups on Monday or Tuesday. There's only three games on Monday, so pretty small slate there. Did you have Vlad Guerrero's performance from the weekend in here? Because he was another one like Manny Machado who really picked up the pace into. I mean, I hadn't realized he was pretty awesome in May too. Like, I don't know. Yeah, the power wasn't there, but he had a 916 OPS in May. But then the power really showed up in June and kind of looks like, I mean, he's not quite up to his expected numbers, but.

Yeah. 70 Wobah 392 expected Wobah. It's a lot smaller than the gap we've seen in previous years. He's closed the gap, seven home runs in June. Oh, I'm sorry, eight home runs in June, including six in his last nine. games. And for the month, he did improve both his fly ball and pull rate, not to an extreme degree, but they were both up. And he more than doubled his home run to fly ball rate from previous seasons.

I think part of that has to do with the improving offensive environment, but part of its better spray angle for damage. And he delivered on it, and he did the damage. And, you know, I dropped Vladimir Guerrero behind Josh Naylor, couple weeks ago on my rest of season rankings because I thought I thought two years and two months was enough time to sniff out an aberration as far as the stack cast data goes but apparently not because he's about caught up to the stack cast data now it's all in the hair man you cut the hair no hair no problem

flat junior yeah he's been on fire and take that Delilah the on CBS this week in points leagues 52 and a half fantasy points for or Vlad Jr., just a massive week for him. Mike Trout, nope, already said that about Mike Trout. Jordan Romano was shut down from throwing after experiencing discomfort in his right elbow on Friday. It's the second time he's been shut down since going on the IL on June 1st.

Obviously does not sound good. Chad Green is the top option for saves right now in the Blue Jays bullpen. Jared Jones will re-enter the Pirates rotation Wednesday against the Cardinals. He has skipped this past week as a way to limit his innings. Are you guys good with Jared Jones getting him back in the lineup.

Yeah. Good matchup. Yeah. Yep. Michael Harris has not yet been cleared to begin a running program. He's two weeks removed from suffering a grade two left hamstring strain. Blake Snell will make his final rehab start at AAA on Wednesday and is expected to rejoin the Giants rotation after that. Justin Verlander resumed playing catch from 60 feet Sunday and felt good. He's been out since early June with neck soreness.

Tyro Esrata was placed in the IL with a left wrist brain. Gavin Williams was reinstated from the IL on Sunday and will make his season debut Wednesday against the White Sox. Tristan McKenzie was optioned back to AAA and Gavin Williams is 69% rostered. Rehab, you know, overall his rehab wasn't great. The last two starts were much better than some of the earlier ones. Do you guys think Gavin Williams is a must add at 69%. Yes. Yes, I do. I'd rather add him than Christian Scott, who is also supposed to be back this week.

Interesting. And, well, I mean, the little bit we've seen from Williams in the majors was more impressive than Scott. Well, I say a little bit, but we've seen more of Williams than the majors, too. It was a weird year for Gavin Williams, I thought. Like the 329 ERA was great, but K-R-A was pretty mediocre, only 8.9 per 9. It's not terrible, but it's not great. And then 4.1. Better than Scott.

I don't, yeah, I don't know. Like, Reese Olson is 68% rostered. Scott is 49, Gavin Williams is 69. I don't know who I would prefer out of that crew. I think Olson probably has the highest floor, but I think Scott and Williams both have higher upsides, so I don't know. Yeah, that's close. I think I would take Williams, but what were you going to say, Scott?

I like Olson too. I think Scott would be third of that three for me, but it's a tough call between the top two. And I'm not opposed to adding Scott. I have some bids on him set to go through tonight in some leagues. But I'm just saying, in addition to him being kind of underwhelming with the strikeouts in his first stint in the majors, as Christian Scott I'm talking about, we haven't gotten confirmation. He's back in the Mets rotation yet.

We know. Yeah, we're assuming. They have a TBB on Wednesday. Tyler McGill got sent down. They also have Jose Budo who they could call up. I'll go ahead and get into this because my sleeper picture recommendations from Friday kind of change because of this. So my understanding is that with Scott joining the rotation presumably and Jose Budo potentially joining the rotation after that, there's talk that David Peterson could get down after he gets sent down after he makes his Monday start, follow Tyler McGill to the Miner's, kind of trying to maximize roster space to keep them well-stocked with relievers this week.

And so there's talk that maybe David Peterson could be sent down after he starts Monday, Jose Budo, and Christian Scott both come up. So I'm not sure any Mets pitcher is making two starts, even though one of the few teams playing seven games. And I had recommended David Peterson and reluctantly recommended David Peterson. and who is the other one, Sean Minaya. And I'm not going to do that anymore because I'm not confident either as making two starts.

But even if Scott comes up as expected, because those two were sent down, Tyler McGill and David Peterson, presumably, as more of a roster maximizing situation, I don't feel confident Scott's going to be back in the rotation to stay. So that's part of the thinking, too, why I'm less eager to add Scott than Gavin Williams. or Reese Olson, for that matter.

Pirates GM Ben Sherrington said Sunday that David Bednar is making progress on his left oblique strain, but that Bednar doesn't appear to have a concrete timeline. Max Muncie took swings off a tee, fielded ground balls, and did some throwing Friday. He's not expected to return from that grade one right oblique strain until after the All-Star break. Josh Young will visit a specialist Monday to evaluate his surgically repaired right wrist, and he continues to suffer these setbacks. it doesn't sound good for Josh Young as of now. U. Darvish has resumed playing a light catch.

He's now dealing with right elbow inflammation before it was a groin injury. That's the reason why he was on the IL. Tommy Edmund recently sprained his ankle but was able to field grounders again on Friday without any problems. Manager Oliver Marmol said Edmund is on track to begin a rehab assignment sometime next week

and Edmund is 54% rostered. Do you think he's a must add? No. I wouldn't say must add. I think he's pretty fringy in points. Yeah. Yeah. Probably needs to be added in Roto.

Yeah. And I know he's out there in some of mine. Yeah. I mean, particularly if you can stash him in I'll spot, it's worth picking him up in those formats. Joey Ortiz who has missed three straight due to Nexornis, the Mets option Tyler McGill, which we just spoke about.

Jamer Candelario returns to the lineup Sunday after missing four straight with hamstring tendinitis. Garrett Mitchell will be activated by the Brewers on Monday. Tyler Black was optioned back to AAA and Mitchell does have an intriguing skill set. 47th career games in the majors. 278 batting average,

five homers, nine steals, 94th percentile sprint speed last year. Garrett Mitchell, 16% rostered. Any interest in five outfielder leagues? Garrett Mitchell. Some, though I'm not sure how much he's going

to play because they were, the brewers were preparing Sal Freelick to play some infield this spring in anticipation of Garrett Mitchell being on the roster. But since then, of course, Bryce Terang has had a breakout season at second. Joey Ortiz has kind of entrenched himself at third. And I'm not sure Freelick's prepared to play infield right now anyway. So it would either mean benching Freelick for Garrett Mitchell or playing Christian Yelich at DH a lot.

and I'm just not sure how it's going to shake out. Fair enough. Again, that was Garrett Mitchell. Clark Schmidt has resumed his throwing program. He's been out with a right lat train and isn't expected back until after the All-Star break. And last but not least, Wilmer Flores was placed in the IL with right knee tendonitis. Let's talk waiver wire pitchers. First up, we've got some names in shallower leagues.

Brandon Fott had a great start up against Oakland. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts. He is 77% rostered at the Padres. week. Reese Olson, who we mentioned, was very good once again at the Angels, six innings, two runs, nine strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs on 98 pitches. He's 68% rostered at the Reds this week, and Tobias Myers turned in a quality start up against the Cubs. Six innings, three runs, six strikeouts, and in five June starts, Myers had a 155 ERA, a 0.89 whip. He is 67% rostered, but at Colorado this week. So do not love that.

Chris, how would you rank Myers, Olson, and Brendan Fott? Yeah, I know it was a good start for Myers here. And congratulations if you started him in the two-star week. But you can go ahead and drop him in all leagues. I mean, I guess not NL only, but at Colorado this week, you're definitely not starting him. I don't think he's particularly good. He's a clear third on this list.

I would go Olson and then fought. I just, I don't know if Fott's ever going to do it. Right? Like he had eight strikeouts in this one. You go back three starts before this. He had eight strikeouts. You can see the upside.

In between those two starts, he had two combined strikeouts with six walks over two starts. So I just, I think Brandon Fod is just a streamer. I think he can be useful, but I don't think he's someone. when I, it needs to be rostered forever. Whereas Reese Olson, I think, has both a relatively high floor. And I think if he can get himself into more two strike counts and start putting guys away with the slider and change up, there is strikeout upside here because he has a two 40% whiff rate pitches.

It's just getting into the situations where he can put guys away more consistently. So I, uh, I think Reese Olson is the clear favor for me. Oh, great three starts stretch for him. All three quality starts and more than a strikeout per inning, 20 strikeouts and 18 in the third innings. Yeah, I agree with the order there. With Myers, I can see why, you know, if I'm trying to explain the success he's had,

I think the thing that stands out most to me is, okay, he puts the ball in the air a lot, but that's a double-edged sword. And if you're an unproven, not a big strikeout guy who allows a lot of fly balls heading into the stretch of the season where offense is picking up. Yeah, I'm not optimistic about how it's going to end for Tobias Myers. So that's, I agree.

He's a distant third on this list. Waiverwire pitchers part two. Lance Lynn pitched very well up against the Reds. Six shutout innings, six strikeouts had 17 whiffs on 79 pitches. Andrew Heaney had a great start on Sunday night baseball at the Orioles. Seven innings, two runs, 10 strikeouts with 19 wifts on 93 pitches. Drew Thorpe turned in a quality start up against the Rockies, six innings, two runs, four strikeouts there,

and Alec Marsh pitched very well up against the Guardian. Six innings, one run, five strikeouts. Scott, do you have any interest in this group? Marsh, Thorpe, Heaney, and Lance Lynn. I mean, the best I can say for this list is that I think I like them all more than Tobias Myers. but I'm not, I don't have a great deal of enthusiasm for them.

I will say Andrew Heaney for the month of June, it ended up being really impressive number. Six June starts, 341 ERA, 111 whip, 10.2K per 9, and I believe his swinging strike rate was around 14% for the month. And I, you know, I give the full June start there. It was three really good starts and three not-so-good starts for Andrew Heaney. So still not a lot of consistency with the performance, but he does keep coming back with these big strikeout efforts that make me wonder if he's kind of recaptured something from a couple years ago when he did have a great year for the Dodgers, remember?

And there is one specific thing. What's that? His slider velocity was up more than two miles per hour in this start. And that was, you know, in 2020. the good year with the Dodgers. His slider velocity was career high 83.4 miles per hour. So that's one thing to watch. I don't know if it's necessarily something that I think will turn

Andrew Heaney into a must-start pitcher or anything. But that pitch did look more like what it did in his best season. How much is he rostered now? Because I didn't see him out there in the leagues where I might consider it. Only 22%, yeah. Yeah. That feels low. Yeah.

If he's out there in some 15, 16 team leagues, he's probably worth adding there. But I don't think I'd go as far as the 12 teamers yet. Waiverwire pitchers, part three. Albert Suarez pitched well up against the Rangers. Six shutout innings with two strikeouts. Colin Ray pitched well against the Cubs, five and a third. Two runs had eight strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 97 pitches. And Frankie Montas, a strong start at the Cardinals.

Six innings, one run. Five strikeouts had 17 whiffs on 98 pitches. Chris, some random big whiff performances here. Do any of these matter? Frankie Montas, Colin Ray, and Albert Svarez. Only one of them. And it's because these are all clearly just streamers. Albert Suarez gets the Mariners this week at Safeco.

That's awesome. Colin Ray at Corsefield. Frankie Montas at Yankee Stadium. No, thank you. Revenge game. sure he did make like what three starts for the Yankees yeah that didn't work out very well I don't think we count that one as a revenge game

is he taking revenge on his own shoulder I think you have to throw like 30 innings minimum for it to count as a revenge game and I don't think he got there oh you know 41 innings take that Chris member of the Yankees revenge I was

encouraged to see this from Albert Suarez because I was about ready to write him off after his previous two starts. The only reason I was holding on was because that Mariners start coming up. And then he does this against the Rangers. I noticed he leaned on his fastball a lot more and his cutter, he used it a lot less. Now, his cutter has been the most hitable pitch. It's also been the best whiff pitch. And we saw him strike out only two in his six innings in this one. So it's kind of a tradeoff there.

but he's trying things. Albert Suarez is trying things to get back on track, and he seemed to get back on track. And with the Orioles backing him, he remains kind of interesting. To be fair, Scott, I don't think it matters what he throws when he faces the Mariners,

because that team will just strike out on any pitches. So, yeah, I think it's a really good matchup this week for Albert Svarez. Two names in deeper leagues, Landon Nack of the Dodgers pitched well against the Giants. Four and two-thirds, one run had seven. strikeouts and Carson Spires who pitches for the Reds. He was at the Cardinals, six innings, two runs, one of those earned with four strikeouts.

He's turned in back-to-back quality starts. Overall, the numbers look pretty good. He doesn't get a lot of strikeouts at all, but his quality of contact has been all right so far. In deeper leagues, we're looking at either of these two, Landon, Nack, or Carson Spires? NAC more than Spires just because he's got the Dodgers. and that's the most interesting thing about like spires his minor league numbers were good too he's obviously been pitching well and since joining the reds rotation i don't see a lot underneath the stats to really explain them it's it's a whole is greater than the sum of the parts situation which makes me more distrustful of it uh so i'm not i'm not looking to add spires anywhere yet but it he has been surprising

good. All right, let's hit our final break, and when we return, we'll fire up the dropometer here on fantasy baseball today. Let's fire up the dropometer 1 to 10. 1. You do not want to drop this player in any leagues. 10, you can drop this player in all leagues. Usay Kikuchi has allowed 4 plus earned runs in 5 of its past 7 starts.

And this weekend, it was 5 innings, 4 runs, 7 strikeouts. Still had a good amount of whiffs, but overall last 7 outings, a 7-12. ERA, a 168 whip. Home runs have been a problem during that stretch. He is down to 79% rostered. Chris, where is Kikuchi on the dropometer? Okay, yeah. So what happened when I looked at him before the weekend was

his change's been a really good pitch for him this season. And that's a new pitch for him. He continues to tinker. Everything else has taken a step back. And I don't know if those are related, right? Like there's not really any reason why you say Kukuchi, throwing a different change-up grip should mess up his curveball or whatever. But I don't have a good explanation for it, but that's what's been happening.

Obviously, he didn't turn things around here. I still think there's a decent amount of upside, but yeah, I think he's probably a four on the dropometer. Certainly in points leagues, I think he's dropable. Would you drop him for any of Gavin Williams, Riesolson, Brendan Fott? Uh, that honestly might just depend on what the next matchup is for all of them. Probably not for Fought. I don't think Fott has the same upside as Kukuchi, but for Olson or Williams, I think it's reasonable to do that. Yeah.

Okay. I'm going to, I'm going to give it a three low score. And it's not that different. But I, the one league I have you say Kikuchi in is a 12 team head to head points league. So fairly shallow. I did not give a thought to dropping him. Okay. What about Nick Povetta?

He has struggled over his last four starts, and he faced the Padres this weekend, four innings, five runs, only had five swinging strikes on 73 pitches. Last four starts, a 698 ERA, a 181 whip, and he is still 86% rostered. Scott, where is Nick Povetta on the dropometer? I mean, these two are kind of similar in a lot of ways.

Chris and I argue about which one is better. So I'll go three on Pivotta also. A couple things about this start. Yeah, it's been bad lately. Four yucky starts in a row of about four innings each. ERA's gone from 340 to 452. He was cruising through four innings in this latest one. And then he said his sweeper, his best pitch abandoned him in the fifth.

Of the five runs that were allowed to score, three were let in by relievers. So things kind of all fell apart in the fifth inning for Pivotta, at least in this particular start. I'll also point out that he still has 9.9K per 9 rate and a 2.3 walk per 9 rate on the year, which are both very good, way too many home runs. And, you know, if you give up way too many home runs, there comes a point where it doesn't matter what you're doing with strikeouts and walks.

Why, that sounds like Nick Povetta. But, well, I mean, he hasn't always had good strike-in-walk rates this high, this good. But yeah, it's, it's, I like that there's just one thing wrong as opposed to like everything's falling apart. I do want to point out one thing with Nick Povetta because it kind of dovettaes with a couple of other trends. And one is, you know, we do this, just throw your best pitch more thing as if it's actually that easy to get major league hitters out. and Nick Povetta is throwing his best pitch more, his sweeper. It's a good pitch still, but it's way less effective than it was in the smaller sample size of last season. He has thrown 213 of them already this season.

He only threw 129 all last year. His whiff rate is down from 44% to 34% expected Wobah up from 175 to 242. The 2024 numbers are still really good, but they're not as dominant as they were. and it's kind of dragged the whole profile. The whole idea was like, oh, the sweeper, that's taking Nick Povetta to another level. And it hasn't really worked out that way in, you know, him using it as his number two pitch.

And that's another larger trend, which is that what we've seen over the past couple of seasons is sweepers are becoming just less effective overall. Because batters as a population on the individual level, whatever you want to talk about, they get better the more time they see pitches. And so right now, everybody's throwing splitters and it's really great. I'm going to guess we're going to have some kind of conversation in September of 2025 or April of 2026 about how the splitter revolution's over.

And some other pitch is going to be the new and vogue pitch because hitters are just going to adjust. And that's that's one of those things that you can't always just bet on spam your best pitch and having it work. I hope everybody starts throwing a knuckleball next year. That would be amazing. I would love that. Nick Povetta, by the way, this upcoming week, he's at the Marlin. So I would really try to not drop him. And I would, in fact, start him, especially in those points leagues, where he is RP eligible.

Spencer Schwellenbach, rough outing against the pirates, five innings, four runs. It was overall not a great two-star week for him. He's got a 568 ERA, a 129 whip. Where is Schwellenbach on the dropometer? I mean, probably like a six, but I still like a lot of what's going on there. I agree. He entered with a 72% strike rate on the year, and it was a little lower on this one. It was 65, which is still good.

But he walked a couple batters. That was a little uncharacteristic. Six pitches. He varies the usage. Like, his most used pitch in this latest start was the sinker. And I think he entered with it being his sixth most used pitch on the zingker. season. So he like mixes it around a lot. And I see this ending really well for Spencer Schwellenbach, but it's, you know, is that in a roster of everybody. Or 2025 is my question, right?

Like, right? I hope he figures it out this year because I agree. I think there's a lot to like about the skill set. But I don't know if he puts all the pieces together this year. And he's still 21. He just turned 21, right? Now, he's 24. Sorry. Yeah. And it hardly got hardly had any time at double a even. Yeah, he just moved really quickly. So this is one that I would drop for Brandon Fott to answer your next question, Frank. What about James Paxson? He kind of hit us with the fool do you because he got destroyed at the Giants.

Four innings, 12 hits, nine runs allowed, still 89% rostered. I wouldn't add, I don't know if, like, Landon Nack is better than him. So I guess that, like I can't say he's a 10. And they're on the same team. That's why I make the comparison. But yeah, I've been saying for two months that anyone marginally interesting, I'd be willing to drop James Paxton for.

And there's another guy, Charlie Morton, who's in a similar spot where, like, Charlie Morton's still 90% roster. James Paxton's right around that range. I don't know what we're doing. I know they're on good teams and have had decent results this year, but I just doesn't need to be that high.

These are streamers. And yeah, I'm fine dropping Paxton for Olson. I'm fine dropping Paxton for Fott. And the other guy that we mentioned in that group. Tyler Anderson, rough two-start week. Nine and two-thirds innings, nine runs allowed, more walks and strikeouts. 79% rostered, I assume he can go. Well, here's the funny thing, because we've talked all year about how we don't believe in Tyler Anderson.

I said I'm not going to believe in him, even if he has the. this going into September. But I did recommend him as a two-star pitcher because his two-starts were against the tigers and athletics. And I said, you don't want to get caught holding the bag when it all blows up. But if it happens this week with those two matchups, that's extraordinarily bad timing. We got extraordinarily bad timing on the blowup for Tyler Anderson. It turns out.

And he just had his two-star week, obviously. So, yeah, you can drop him anywhere you may have picked him. anywhere you may have picked them up. Let's talk WaverWire hitters. And which one of these corner infield? I guess that's kind of cheating, because Heston Kirstad, I believe, is still only U-Til only. Noelle's outfield eligible on CBS, right?

What am I even talking about then? Which one of these prospects would you rather add if you want to add either one? Heston Kirstad had a big game Saturday, one for one with a grand slam. He added two walks. He has started five of seven games, including against a leftie on Sunday. I thought that was interesting. And John Kenzie, Noel, hit another home run on Saturday, one for three with his second homer. He has started three of five games since being called up.

Who do you like more between the two? I think Kirstad, but I wasn't that motivated to add either, even in my deeper roto leagues. Playing time has to be more consistent. And I think Noel didn't he have a three strikeout game this weekend, which is something I worry about with him. Kirstat's like looked better. Like I'm I'm hopeful he starts to get more playing time for the Orioles, but it's going to come at the expense of somebody else we care about in fantasy. And so that means there's not like a clear path for him.

Yeah, I think I only put in like $2 bids for Noel and Kirstad where I did. If you need a catcher this week, Elias Dias returned at the perfect time. He went two for four with a run scored on Sunday. He's batting over 300. he has an 801 OPS. He's 39% rostered. The Rockies have seven games in Cores Field this week.

Even check some of those two catcher leagues because he was available in one of my 15-team two-catcher leagues. So, yeah, I was pretty aggressive in adding Alias Diaz there. Just check to see if he's available. And the interesting thing, Diaz, I believe, played D.H. on Sunday, and Hunter Goodman started a catcher. Yeah. So that's, Hunter Goodman's like a,

he's like a top 12 catcher over the past three. weeks somehow. I think it's mostly because he just has five home runs and there's like three catchers who have done anything in that time. But he's got hopefully four or five games of course field this week. So he's, I'm hanging on to him. Two true outcomes player that. Yeah. It's either a home run or a strikeout. Yep. But the, you know, at catcher, the bar is pretty low. So I do agree with Hunter Goodman and some of those two catcher leagues as well. Rank these corner infielders, you might need some help if you lost out on Bryce Harper. Andrew Vaughn just wrapped up a really nice June where he hit 337 with six homers,

20 RBI and a 932 OPS. Jose Miranda's playing time has picked up recently. He's started nine of his past 10 games, and overall he's hitting well. 297 batting average, 826 OPS. And Nate Lowe looks like he might be picking things up. Last 10 games, a 342 batting average, two homers, 8 RBI, one steal. Scott, how would you rank Vaughan Miranda, Nate Lowe? I will say low Vaughn Miranda unless you need a third baseman, then obviously Miranda because he's the only one

they plays first base. It's not, there's not a huge gap between them. I'm giving low the top spot mostly because he's an everyday player in the Rangers lineup, which I know has been a mid-tier offense this year, but there's the upside for it to get much better than that. Zach Gelloff has picked things up and he went three for four with a steal on Friday. He went one for two with his ninth home run on Sunday. And in June, a 247 batting average, six homers, four steals in 810 OPS. Zach Gelloff is 53% rostered.

Chris, would you add Gelloff over any of the second baseman we've talked about recently? India, Hamilton, Joey Ortiz, Nick Gonzalez. I think over Hamilton in a Roto League makes some sense if you don't need steals as much. Because Gallif's going to contribute some, but I think Hamilton's a really good source of steals. I just think he's going to be a better hitter overall than Hamilton. So that would be the one. Other than that, I think I would still prioritize India Ortiz and Gonzalez ahead of Galloff, especially in points leagues where I think Galloff is extremely fringy.

I think he really only matters in a categories league context, but I think I might just like the other guys more. Some names in deeper leagues. Jose Siri went two for three with a double dung on Friday. And last 29 games, 272 batting average, eight homers, 20 runs 17 RBI. It's been a pretty good stretch here for Jose Siri. Isaiah Kiner Folefa went two for four with his seventh home run on Friday.

He added four more hits on Saturday. And he hit top two in the lineup in, on both Saturday and Sunday. Hunter Renfro has hit better for quite some time now. Last 29 games that does have an IEL stint mixed in there. Batting 300 with five homers, 15 runs, and 15 RBI. Michael Tolia of the Rockies, he's been doing some things. He hit a homer on Friday.

He added two steals on Sunday. Again, the Rockies have seven home games this week. Stuart Fairchild of the Reds, he's been playing, and he's been running. He had a steal in each game this weekend. and Tyrone Taylor has hit for some power since taking over for Starling Marte, who was on the IL. Taylor has started four of the past five games, and he's hit two homers during that span. Scott, any of these names stand out in deeper leagues, Tyrone Taylor, Fairchild, Michael Tolia, Renfro, IKF, and Jose Siri.

You know, I always am putting together my own notes talking points for the show ahead of time, anticipating who you're going to ask me about. and they did not anticipate a single one of these players. I did not anticipate talking about Stuart Fairchild today. That's for sure. I mean, Isaiah Kiner Folefa probably matters in deeper leagues. He's not exciting, but he plays a lot. I just, I was stunned that he's 34% rostered.

I went to, I write my waiver wire column on Sunday afternoon, and I do like, here's a guy to add for every position, plus a deep league target. And I was like, oh, Isaiah, or kind of Philef. That's a great one for the deeply target. He's 34% rostered. Yeah. Stunning.

Still pretty deep with that roster rate. But yeah, I could see it. I guess he's probably scored more fantasy points than we give him credit for with the low strikeout rate. And he's eligible in a lot of positions. That might explain it. I think Mike Tolia could potentially be useful because he qualifies in the outfield. He plays half his games at Core's field. I don't see him becoming a fantasy stutter or anything, but...

I don't mind streaming him this week with seven games, of course. Right. Yeah. And Siri's playing more than I realized, because I know that was an issue earlier in the season. Jose Siri, it's just the strikeouts are insane. Yeah, pretty bad on the strikeout rate. But yeah, I think five outfielder leagues, Jose Siri does have some value. He's so good defensively that they just, they just, they,

I think they need him in the lineup because of that. Starters sit these pitchers this upcoming week. We're assuming a standard 12-team league. And Garrett Cole picked up his first win Sunday at the Blue Jays. He looked much better. Five innings, one run, six strikeouts. He had 12 whiffs on 90 pitches. And earlier in the week, I said,

even if Garrett Cole has a good outing, we probably are not starting him this upcoming week. I don't know. Do we stand by that? Chris, what do you think? Garrett Cole is home against the Red Sox. this week. They are pretty good against the Ritey's. Yeah, I think he's a fine starter. Like, I didn't see anything in this start to think, all right, Garrett Cole's back. He's an ace.

He's the best pitcher in baseball. That definitely wasn't that. His velocity was up from the previous start, but it was still down about a full mile player hour from last year. So I think he in the near term should probably be viewed as more like a streamer. The Red Sox are not a great matchup. So while I would lean start, it's certainly not a month. start situation. Max Scherzer was solid at the Orioles. Five and a third. Two runs, had four strikeouts,

10 whiffs on 77 pitches, and he is home against the Padres this week. They are second in Wobah against Ritey. So pretty tough match up there. Scott, what do you think about Scherzer facing the Padres this week? Yeah, kind of the same answer Chris gave for Cole,

but maybe a little bit less even my enthusiasm for starting Scherzer. There are some leagues where you're obviously going to start Scher because the pitch The alternatives are really bad. But if you do have options, it would be my preference not to start him. Might be your preference to not start Kevin Gosman either, because, man, this is a rough stretch.

6 June starts, a 565 ERA, a 131 whip. And, well, the problem here is he's at the Mariners this week. So, Chris... Yeah, I kind of think I'd start him. Yeah. I can't blame you for that. I mean, it's a good matchup. They strike out a lot.

I can't blame if you sit them. I think we're... is and I think Carlos Rodon's probably in a similar spot. I might have made this comp last time we spoke about Rodon, but I think both are likely to still have, I don't know, maybe five to 10 really good starts the rest of the way. They got what, 16 starts left between them for each, probably, something like that. I think up to eight, maybe nine, 10 of those starts could be really good. But I think I'm done expecting Kevin Gosman to be. a significantly above average pitcher. I think he's capable of it in any given start, but nothing I've seen from him this season suggests that it's what you should expect. Even in a start against Seattle,

I'm probably starting him where I have him, but if he gets rocked, wouldn't surprise me. Again, that was Kevin Gosman. It's weird to have Cole Reagan's on this list because he's obviously an ace. He's a top 10 starting pitcher. He had a rough start this weekend.

The problem he's in Cores Field this week, Scott, Is Cole Reagan still just a must start regardless? I think so. Yeah, I think so too. You know, as bad as Coorsfield is, this Rockies lineup is also pretty bad. So I think Cole Regans could still have a pretty fine start there. Framber Valdez got knocked around at the Mets,

four and two-thirds, six runs allowed. He has allowed five plus earned runs in four of 14 starts. So he's had more of these blow-up starts this year. He's at the Blue Jays this week, which is a pretty good matchup. They're not good against lefties. Chris, is it just similar analysis for Kevin Gonsman

for Framber Valdez? Yeah, I mean, I feel like Framber Valdez, I have more faith in him being what he once was than Gossman, just because Gossman was starting from a much higher place. So he's got further to fall. But yeah, I think that's probably, yeah, Framber is,

I think I probably need to move him down into like the 40-ish range at starting pitcher to reflect that just while I think he's okay he's not a star anymore I don't think well Gosman we've seen like skill decline from Gosman right? The velocity has been down

quite a bit this year I can't confirm how much exactly because his pitch tracking information isn't loading for me but it's been down while that hasn't been an issue for Valdez Valdez it's the quality of contact

he's getting hit really hard. Four of the starts prior to this one for Valdez were great. So I felt like he was trending up and I'm not inclined to reverse my thinking on him because this start went badly against a Mets offense that's been on fire. Yes, they certainly are. Speaking of on fire hitters who had massive Junes and Aaron Judge just wrapped up another insane month where he hit 409 with 11 homers and a 1378

OPS. He is at 31 homers through 84 games. Back in 2022, when he hit 62 homers, he had 30 homers in his first 84 games. So he is actually pacing ahead of when he had the 62 homer season just a couple of years ago. A couple of their names

that had Big Junes, Jose Altoouvae, Jackson Murrell, Jackson Churio, Anthony Santander. Jaron Duran and Brandon Nemmo. Anyone stand out? Anything you'd like to add? Lots of interesting names. This is just the tip of the iceberg, really.

But Nemo, we've been waiting for him to catch up to his stat cast numbers for a long time. He's still not all the way there, as hot as he's been lately. But I can't say I'm terribly surprised, by the way, this is gone. We've talked about Santander, Jaron, Duran a lot. And Jackson Chorio and Jackson Meryl. We've talked about them all a lot. So I'm not sure there's much to add. I just can't wait for everyone to start pretending we care about the American League home run record again.

That's going to be fun. Judge might become the third player ever with multiple 60 homer seasons. And maybe he'll become third. Third. I forgot McGuire did it. McGuire did it twice. He hit 70. He hit 65.

Yeah. The quietest 65 homer season. Yeah. Maybe this one will actually get to the Hall of Fame. Who knows? Some pitching standouts from the weekend in the first group. Lots of great pitching up top here. Christopher Sanchez tossed the first complete game,

the first shutout of his career up against the Marlins. He only allowed three hits with nine strikeouts. He had 16 whiffs on 101 pitches. Tage Bradley was awesome against the Nationals. Five and two-thirds shutout, 11 strikeouts. He had 20 whiffs on 99 pitches. We spoke about Zach Gallen earlier. And Garrett Crochet was great again.

What else is new? Up against the Rockies, seven innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts. He had 24 whiffs on 88 pitches. Last 12 starts, a 163 ERA, a 0.82 whip. Chris, anything to add on Crochet, Taj, and Sanchez? Yeah, the one thing I want to add about Taj Bradley, who obviously has been really, really good. He's basically given up on the curveball.

thrown five of them over his past two starts. He's basically just going fastball splitter. It's like 85 to 90% of his pitches. It's working really, really well. There are some warning signs here that he's not totally fixed, despite the very, very good production. Specifically, he had a 416 expected Wobah with his four-seamer in the month of June and just like a 20% whiff rate, which is pretty average for a four-seamer.

So there are, he's showing top 20 upside for sure. There are still reasons to believe that a, I don't know if it's fair to say a classic Tage Bradley blowup, but I'll say a classic Tage Bradley blowup is it's not off the table despite the very good results that he's gotten since switching to this split or heavy approach. That being said, obviously must roster, which he is across the board. now and I wouldn't sit him at this point. No, no. Again, that is Taj Bradley. He was awesome.

Can I mention something for Christopher Sanchez here? I probably pointed this out to some degree or another a lot lately. But his velocity was again up from the season average, which was already up from last year's average. And yet now the walks that accompanied that increased velocity, it's all gone away. his last his last tates tarts, he has a total of six walks.

So he's back to being elite control guy like he was last year in addition to the elite ground ball rate and he just looks really, really good right now. I hope you stuck with him. I know there was,

I know there was some talk when he was struggling that maybe he's not worth rostering. Obviously we're well past that now, but I hope you stuck with him because he looks great. Again, that is, Christopher Sanchez. Pitching standouts part two.

Seth Lugo, up against the Guardians, another great start. Six shotout innings. He had 10 strikeouts. He has eight plus strikeouts and three straight. Zach Eflin turned in his first scoreless outing since April 20th. Up against the Nationals, six shutout with six strikeouts. Bailey Ober was great again, this time at the Mariners. Six innings, one run, nine strikeouts. Worth noting, last three starts. He got Oakland twice in the Mariners.

So some really good matchups in there, but he is taking advantage. And Logan Webb pitched well up against the Dodgers, seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts in that one. Anything stand out here, Scott Webb, Bailey Ober, Eflin, and Seth Lugo. If I could jump back to the previous group for a second, Garrett Crochet, I love how the very first start after they say they're going to pull back on the innings. He goes seven innings. Right. Yeah, but only 88 pitches. Right.

That's what we talked about when they announced. was like there are going to be games where he probably could have gone eight in this one. They're probably, he's just going to go an inning less than he probably could. Well, and like, because they're doing it more in terms of pitch count than innings count, I don't think, I don't think we're going to notice that much. I'm hopeful. I mean, he, he's not going to be a two ERA pitcher moving forward, probably, unless he's just the best pitcher. You're in baseball now.

I mean, you could reasonably expect, you could more reasonably expect that for him than most pitchers, but probably not, yes. So there will be some regression in the quality, which will lead to regression in the number of innings. I think I would still, like, I would bet he throws fewer than six innings more often than not the rest of the way. I think Garrett Crochet has been this year's most discussed player on this podcast.

For a good reason. Yes, rightfully so. Was there anything you wanted to add? Lugo, Eflin, Ober, and Webb? Not really. Can I? Can I? If he wants to.

Yeah. Eflin, he for the first time all season, I believe, through his curveball as his primary pitch, which that was his second most used pitch last year. He threw it 26% of the time. This year had been about 18% usage. And lo and behold, he had a really good start because his curveballs were been really good. We've been wondering why that change happened.

I think part of it was just he wasn't getting into as many two. strike counts because the curb ball clearly his most used pitch in two strike situations. So I think it's just overall he has to pitch better to put himself into situations where he can use his best pitch more. But that was promising. And then over rest of the arsenal has been really good. The fastball has been really bad this season. But he had a 400 plus ex-wo ball on the fastball in both April and May. It was 357 in June.

That'll play. That it's not great. but if everything else is working and the fastball is just not terrible, which was the problem in the first two months, I think Bailey Ober can be a very useful pitcher. Pitching standouts part three. Chris Bassett turned in another quality start.

Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts against the Yankees. Michael King was great at the Red Sox. Six innings, one run, six strikeouts there. Jake Irvin, another strong start at the raise. Six innings, one run, five strikeouts for him. And Paul Skeens has turned in a quality start. in seven of his first nine starts. And he went six innings, one run, nine strikeouts,

13 whiffs on 102 pitches. Anything on Skeens, Irvin, Michael King, and Chris Spassett. Skeens clearly wasn't at his best in this start. He only got one whiff with the Splinker, which has been his best pitch. and like his main pitches, his top three pitches were all down 1.2 miles per hour. And it didn't matter.

Obviously, he was still dominant against the Braves lineup. And he's a top 12 pitcher rest of season. Again, that is Paul Skeens. And pitching standouts part four, Pablo Lopez. Can I just, Michael King. I was totally willing to drop him at the end of April and he has a 283 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 63 and two-thirds innings since the start of May.

I'm sorry. I apologize if you dropped him based on my advice. That was a whoopsie daisy on my part. Yeah, he's been much better. Again, that was Michael King. And this last group pitching standouts part four, Pablo Lopez, great again, up against the Mariners,

six innings, one run, nine strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 94 pitches. Again, really good matchups the last two against Oakland and the Mariners. Freddie Peralta was great against the Cubs. Seven innings, one run, eight strikeouts. Joe Ryan racked up the whiffs. At the Mariners, you could have guessed it.

Five and two-thirds, two runs, 10 strikeouts in that one. Anything to add on Joe Ryan, Peralta, and Pablo Lopez. Everything was up for Pablo Lopez. mile per hour, strong follow-up to that 14 strikeout effort at the A's. I had two good matchups in a row, A's and Mariners, but, you know, hopefully. We're done.

Hopefully. We're done worrying about Pablo Lopez. Yes, for those who ever were, which were many. But hopefully, hopefully they're done. I can't speak for them. But hopefully they're done. I lied. There are two other pictures I wanted to quickly mention.

I don't think we're overly worried. I think these are just kind of like outlier, bad starts for each of them. But Ranger Suarez had his worst start of the season against the Marlins of all teams. So just kind of frustrating. But four and two-thirds innings, six runs allowed in that one. And Tanner Halk, as soon as I move him, way up the rankings, he has his worst start of the season. Up against the Padres, four and a third innings, eight runs, seven of those earned. Entering this start, he had allowed two home runs all season.

he gave up three homers in this start alone. Anything worrisome on Ranger Suarez or Tanner Hauk? It's kind of the same situation for both. They had pitched with a sub 2ERA for most of the year. And while I think they're good pitchers, they're not nearly that good. And they were probably due for something like this. But no, I wouldn't say I'm panicking about either.

Some hitting leftovers. Glaber Torres has responsible. responded well to his benching earlier in the week. He had six hits this weekend, including a home run on Friday. Well, Chris, you woke up Vinnie Pasquantino, so thank you for that. You're welcome, everyone. Big weekend for Vinny P. Seven hits, two homers, four runs, five RBI.

Big weekend for Matt Chapman, one for four with a sock in the shoe on Friday. He added three hits on Saturday, added another homer on Sunday. Adoles Garcia might be picking things back up last seven games, batting 286 with three homers. and Randy Rosa Rana might be picking things up as well. Last 13 games batting 311 with three homers and three steals. Anything stand out here? Or do we keep moving?

Just more signs of long struggling hitters coming around in June. Yep, for sure. Some bullpen updates for the White Sox on Friday. Michael Coppeg got the ninth with a two-run lead. He walked one but picked up his seventh save for the Cubs on Saturday. Hector Narris got the ninth with a. two-run lead. He gave up a hit and a walk, but struck out two for his 11th save. For the Tigers on Saturday, Jason Foley got the ninth inning with the game tied. He retired

the top of the Angels lineup in order. He came out for the bottom of the 10th. He gave up a walk-off single to Kevin Pilar. For the Pirates on Sunday, our oldest Chapman got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up one run but picked up his third save. He's 32% rostered. So if you are looking for saves in the short term, I think Chapman is a... Fine option. For the Phillies on Sunday, Jose Alvarado was unavailable. It was Jeff Hoffman who got the ninth. He struck out one for his sixth save.

And shout out to Ryan Helsie, man. Became the first to 30 saves on June 30th. That's wild. I don't think he's going to get to 60 saves, but it's not impossible. At least that's the way he's pacing right now. So just a ridiculous season for Ryan Helsie. Anything else, these other bullpins? It's kind of really quite.

year for bullpins, I have to say. It's been hard for me to write the bullpen report. Especially like the last month and a half. We had a decent amount of shuffling early on, but there's just been like nothing outside of a few injuries the past like month. Like, okay, the Rockies, who cares, you know?

Yeah. I don't think we want to jailing beaks on any Yeah, you don't need to care about it. So it's fine. Right. To stream or not to stream, I did not write down any name. So I'm just going to, I don't know. Could you have written down any for Monday? Not really, but, uh, there's three games for those who are unfamiliar.

I guess David Peterson is the best choice among those who might be available. He's at Washington. I believe they have the third worst OPS against lefties. So I saw McKenzie Gore was dropped in a few of my league. So I went now, he's still 90% roster. He doesn't count all he may have to today. I mean, he's a two-star pitcher with great matchups. So I, so weird time to drop McKinsey.

I agree. Uh, Yario Rodriguez is facing. the Astros, but yeah, I don't think we want to do that. So David Peterson, that's the only one we might want to go with on Monday. And then on Tuesday, is there anyone, Carlos Carrasco against the White Sox?

I mean, it's the White Soxas, but it's Carlos Carasco. I don't know about that. Does Kyle Gibson make the cut? Yeah, Kyle Gibson against the Pirates is decent. I think that's fine. I think he makes the cut.

Sean Mania at the Nationals. Yeah. Again, bad, bad against lefties, bad lineup. So it might work out okay. I could see a decent. I could see a decent Simian Wood Richardson start against the Tigers. Zach Lattel at Kansas City, I could see being okay.

Yep. Jose Soriano. Yeah. From the I.L. at Oakland. A little nervous coming back from the I.L. But he was going well before that. In fact, he had like an eight-inning gym his final start, didn't he? And that's a good matchup, Bob.

So probably prefer him to like the Sean Manaya class of streamers. And I guess that about covers it. Yeah, I think that's fair. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow.

Bye-bye.