Fantasy Baseball Today - Zack Wheeler Finishing Strong & Waiver Wire Names for the Final Week! (9/17 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

Pete Crow-Armstrong's season is bonkers (2:20). ... Zack Wheeler is back (12:02)! ... CJ Abrams has slowed down since August (15:45). ... Sandy Alcantara, the closer (21:50)? ... News (26:58): Aaron Judge left early with a leg injury. ... Rank Henry Bolte, AJ Ewing and Jakob Marsee (38:38)! ... Jared Jones had a mixed outing against the Brewers (50:39). ... These six hitters are finishing strong (57:06). ... We wrap up with leftovers, bullpens and streamers (1:07:46).Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, September 17th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers today on the show. Zach Wheeler is so back.

We have six hitters who are finishing strong. CJ Abrams is not one of them. Plus waiver options for the final week and much more. Let's jump in. And how about MVPA? Just another ridiculous game here. Three for four, double dong, triple, walk, three runs, three RBI, now up to 44 home runs, which is the new Cubs record for a left-handed hitter.

It just seems insane to me. Every new stat kind of blows my mind. Here's a couple of them. I believe this was the sixth game of his season where he's had at least 10 total bases that ties Nelson Cruz for the MLB record. Wow.

He has 81 RBI out of the lead-off spot this season, setting a Cubs club record. This was his 98th game hitting leadoff. And he has 80s. That's a hundred and thirty four RBI pace out of the leadoff spot. Let me find he was hitting on May 29th. He was hitting 224 with a 314 on base percentage and a 362 slugging percentage. He was awful for the first two months of the season and he's not just going to be the unanimous MVP.

He's putting up one of the first. the 10 best seasons by a center fielder ever. Like if, and he just keeps getting better. He has a 1083 OPS since May 30th. And he has not, like I just keep waiting for him to slow down. And every single game,

if he has, let me see, let me see. I, uh, yeah, Matt Snyder pointed this out. Five multi-home run games since August 5th. Like, that was like six weeks. ago. Yeah, this is crazy. This is like, not just that we all were pretty skeptical of James, or of Pete Crow Armstrong coming into the season. But for a third of the season, we were right.

And then he just overnight changed his setup. There's a really good piece from Northside Baseball.com. Matt Trueblood wrote it talking about this from back in June, talking about the changes to his setup that he made. I think he brought his feet closer together in his setup and is taking a bigger step. And it's just he's become the best player in baseball. Like, if he was just as good a defensive player as he is, that would be enough, you know? But he is also arguably the best offensive player in baseball this season.

It's a stunning, stunning season, one of the most unbelievable seasons I can remember seeing, given who we are talking about. I was wondering how much Wrigley Field might be helping Pete Crow Armstrong since it is a park that can create some strange home run outputs on both ends of the spectrum. He's hit 27 of his 44 home runs there. I would guess it's had some effect.

Pete Crow Armstrong, depending how hot he stays over the final week and a half, he might brush up against 50 homers at this point. And it's not a profile you would expect from a 50 homer hitter. That's not what he projects as, which doesn't take away him doing that.

I just wondered how much regularly helped. I'm guessing it's helped to some degree. Maybe somebody who's a little better at combing through that kind of data can say more definitively, just my cursory glance, it's probably helped some, strictly with the home run output. I mean, obviously, we knew he had power speed, the improvement and plate discipline this year. His approach has helped take him to another level.

I'm ranking them second overall next year in Roto, which actually is higher than I think I swore I would when I talked about it a week ago. But I've actually significantly lower than the consensus, I think. Which is one. Yeah. It'll be twice as low as the consensus. I think you are the only person who's going to take anybody but Pink Kron Strong first next year. Yeah, I'll still take Otani. I decided, presuming he comes in with a clean bill of health.

It's hard to doubt Otani. But anyway, getting to my main point, this is maybe the loudest testimonial to a point I've been making my entire career. which is you can't overvalue your own opinions. You should never be too sure of any player assessment. And I put this testimony into action this year. I was very skeptical of Pete Crow Armstrong from the beginning, like notoriously. So I've taken a lot of heat from Cubs fans both this year and last year for being a Pete Crow Armstrong skeptic. he was my most drafted player this year

because everybody came in skeptical and I was the only one who was like, well, I'm skeptical, but early in round three for the kind of upside this guy showed last year, that doesn't feel like that much of a gamble. So anytime I picked in the first half of the first round,

I basically grabbed Pete Crow Armstrong in the third round. And he ended up being my most drafted player. I'm sure that's the biggest reason I'm going to win Tout Wars this year, my Tout Wars League. And gosh, I've said I'm still contending for the title in three leagues. I think we've got to call it four now because I'm really pushing hard to take down the first place team in my NFBC league.

I've been a distant second most of the year. I've closed the gap a lot just in the last week. And I got Pete Crow Armstrong in that league too. I drafted Aaron Judge in round one in that league. And by the way, I drafted Ronald de Cooney on round one of Tout Wars. So, like, I whipped on my first round pick in both of those 15 team leagues. And yet, I'm going to win Tout Wars. Probably not going to win my, what is it, TGFBI League.

But, you know, I made a good run at it, even though I blew my first round pick. Because P. Crow Armstrong was essentially that in round three, or in the case of Tow Wars, round five ridiculously. Yep. It's, you know, I've seen the comments. I know it can be annoying when we say, I don't know. But sometimes that's the honest answer. We know what we know and we don't know anything.

Yeah, like that's sometimes the answer to what is happening or what's going to happen is just, I don't know. Like we can give an informed opinion, but like sometimes there are genuinely things that are just kind of out of our grasp and honest analysts will embrace uncertainty and nuance. And Scott, I think that's what you're saying, is that you did your analysis of P. Kronstrom. You thought there was a lot of risk. You didn't think it was 100% risk. And so, yeah, when the price gets right, you take a chance on any player. That's absolutely the right way to approach it. And I've been floating this idea, tangentially here, but related.

Heath Cummings, who used to be a regular on this podcast, is a regular on fantasy football today. Now, he even dating back to when he was on this podcast, had a strategy that he referred to as Nips, an acronym for no intentional position strategy.

And it kind of was a foil with me because I was very much on the position scarcity bandwagon. And that's what the tears are all about. I'm starting to dabble with an idea my own NIPP strategy

except instead of no intentional position strategy, no intentional player strategy because I'm not sure, at least in the expert ranks, there's enough differentiation in our assessment of players

to say, if I target this guy ahead of the consensus, because that's my guy, that I'm going to get an edge there. Like I think the better edge to get is everybody's letting this guy slip. So I'm going to take him. You know, it'll be a different player and different dress. It's just whatever guy happens to slip, just take him.

And I think I'm definitely going to do that with pitcher next year. Yeah. Because the guys I went out and targeted wasn't ideal. So, Scott, you might say that you are warming up your nips or your nips are warming up. you're warming up to the nips. We will have a lot of offseason time to talk about Scott's Nips, but for now, you know, I kind of want to take the opposite approach and just lean completely into my own convictions

because I say this at the end of every year. It's like the two players I really, really like this year were Sal Stewart and Camp Schlittler, and I just did not draft enough of them. Now a lot of people like those two players, so, you know, look, you're just not going to get them in every league, but I wish I had to be in more leagues. So I don't know.

We have all offseason to figure it out. Let's get into some other players of the night. And I want to highlight Zach Wheeler, because he's looking like he's back. I'm thinking I'm back. Seven shutout innings with five strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 91 pitches here against the nationals. And honestly, under the hood,

it didn't look like he had his best stuff. He was a little bit wild here, but he got a lot of chases out of the zone. And overall, it was a great start here for Zach Wheeler and now over his last four it's a 104 ERA of 0.92 whip 29 strikeouts to eight walks over 26 inning so there was a stretch

where we were rightfully concerned about Zach Wheeler where you know his velocity dropped and then his effectiveness was gone there for really like a month long stretch but now he's starting to figure things back out and he's finishing strong once again

there's not really much to add to this because if you have Zach Wheeler for the final week you're starting him. But I think it's just really good to see, and we'll see how he pitches in the postseason, to give you confidence to draft him as a, you know, top five, top 10 starting pitcher heading into next season. He's going to come really close to finishing

as a top 12 starting pitcher if he doesn't. Because according to the Fangraph Player Rader, he's at $16.8 entering this start. Logan Henderson's at 18.6. He's the number 12 starting pitcher. He didn't have a great start today. So I don't know if that's enough. for Zach Wheeler to leapfrog him.

But it's going to be very close, which is incredible because he didn't pitch until what, late April? Like April 24th or something? So it's been a little rocky, but how many starting pitchers haven't had a four or five start stretch where they struggle? Okay, Jacob Izurowski, Camp Schlitler, Yoshinobi Yamamoto.

That's pretty much it. Everybody else has had at least one hiccup. It's just especially scary for a three-six-year-old. He was going off. He had that your elbow or shoulder surgery. We didn't know how that return from that shoulder surgery was going to go. And it went really well at first. But I think that's the reason we couldn't just brush the rough patch off for Wheeler.

I think for most pitchers of his caliber, if they had a stretch like that, would be like, just keep the faith. Because we know he's going to come back from this. One thing that will make me feel even more confident about drafting him in 2027 is if he signs an extension this offseason. Because there was already a story about. His contract's over at the end of next season, and when he signed the contract, he said, this is it. And then there was a quote a couple months ago where he was like, oh, well, maybe not. And yeah, if he feels confident enough to come back beyond 2027, not that I'm going to move him down if he doesn't sign an extension or anything.

But I think that I would just feel even better if he feels like this is not the end of the line for me. I can keep going. So that'll be something to keep an eye on. Yesterday, Chris, you were kind of struggling with, you know, where exactly will rank Christopher Sanchez in the offseason. Way too early gut check here. But what do you guys think, Wheeler or Christopher Sanchez for next year? I've already begun that process,

and I have Christopher Sanchez ahead. I have Christopher Sanchez in round two. Is it firmly ahead, like clearly ahead of Wheeler? I did not consider Wheeler for round two. I mean, he was on the longer list of the, players I considered, I guess, but I didn't seriously consider him for round two. So, yeah, I would say Sanchez is firmly ahead. It might only be by a spot or two in the starting pitcher rankings, but in the overall

rankings, at least around, I would think. It might be four or five versus seven, right? Yeah. All right. Again, that's Zach Wheeler. He's finishing strong, somebody who is not is C.J. Abrams. Chris, you were texting earlier today. You had a bunch of stats about how C.J. Abrams has, you know, very quite.

quietly kind of falling off here in the second half. Yeah, we haven't talked much about it. And in fairness, before Thursday night, or Wednesday night, when he had a double, he had three straight multi-hit games. So it's not, you know, it's not been totally awful. But I did notice while working on some stuff for 2027, he's hitting just 190 with a 561 OPS since August 1st. And his strikeout rates up to 34%. Now look, he's still going to go 30-30. He's still setting career highs pretty much across the board.

I think not in stolen bases, but everywhere else. And so it might just be a bad six weeks. But when it's C.J. Abrams, who has had a hot start and a swoon every single season of his career, I wanted to see him run through the finish line. I wanted to see him avoid the slump. And if the slump happened in June and then he got hot in August and September, nobody would care. And maybe that's the right way to look at it. Maybe the right way to look at it is C.J. Abrams is going to go 30-30. He needs one steal in the next 10 games.

I think he'll get it. He has the best quality of contact stats of his crew, all the stuff that we like. Maybe the best way to do it is just look at all that and say, take it at face value. But because he's had the slide and because he has not been able to avoid the slide, even if it came a little later, you know, it was like a month later this time,

it does just cast a little bit of doubt on C.J. Abrams. He was the 65th player drafted on average last year. He was the eighth shortstop off the board. He should go higher than both of those for sure. I think he's probably a third rounder. I got him in my second round. Okay. 30 shortstop is going to be second base eligible by week two, presumably.

Yeah, probably. Well, we'll see. Yeah. But we do have to see. I think there's a chance that the nationals trade him. There's a chance that the move to second base goes sideways. And Frank, you brought up when we were texting. Probably a contender would want him at shortstop even less.

Yes. That's his defense is very bad. And shortstop and has always been. But I kind of worry about the mentals about him moving off shortstop to second base. He's a guy that's dealt with some stuff off the field, and so you just, there are some character concerns when it comes to CJ Abrams.

Oh, yeah, I mean, he had the casino thing a couple years ago. Like, how would he hit? Like, he clearly said he didn't want to move to second base, you know? Because this is a familiar refrain with him, because he always craters in the second half, and just to give you the numbers,

so you don't, so you understand the extent of it. First half last year, 287, batting average 836 OPS, second half, 217, batting average 633 OPS. In 2024, first half batting average 268 OPS 831, second half 203 OPS 586. So like this is the familiar rhythm for a C.J. Abrams season. And yet, he's obviously improved his baseline. He went from being a guy who topped out at 20 homers to now 30 homers is in the discussion.

and there's data backing it up, hitting the ball harder, pulling it in the air more. Like, I think there's legitimacy to it. I also don't know that it was ever reasonable to think he was going to sustain his first half pace. But because this is the familiar rhythm, like, I don't think we should overreact to it. I think, look, he's collapsed in the second half

each of the previous two years and came back and had a great first half. So, like, that's my expectation for CJ Abrams again. Now, in my experience, when you get too locked into a certain player's rhythm, like, oh, this guy's a first half player, this guy's the second half. As soon as you start planning around that, he goes and breaks the rhythm. That's in my experience. But I think the easiest way to sum it up is just over his career, he's proven full season statistics are more predictive than partial seasons. statistics. And to bring it back to Pete Crow Armstrong, big reason everybody was skeptical of him going

into this season is because he cratered in the second half last year. So I want to want to make that same mistake with CJ Abrams. That's fair. I guess my biggest pushback for Abrams next year. And look, I haven't, I have no idea where I'm going to rank him yet. I mean, it sounds like it'll be either in the second or the third round. I don't know that I will be the one to draft him. Is this, I've always had this kind of mental block of buying the player when they're at their highest, off their peak season, off their career year, when we have such a long track record of who C.J. Abrams was before this.

So I would just kind of lean towards him regressing towards what the player he was before, maybe with a little bit extra kind of baked in, like, you know, some skills that have actually improved. But is that worth a second or third round pick? I probably would lean no as of now. A 20-30 guy. If he regresses to being the 2030 guy,

he was the previous three years. I don't think you're going to regret that with a third round pick. So if you think he could be better than that, and obviously at second base by week two, yeah, I think I would be very surprised if his ADP winds up being below round two, especially since Lindor's out.

You know, so many of the short stops we had counted on in that range, Lindor, Gunner Henderson, have now disqualified themselves from that range. Oh, I'm not disagreeing with ADP. I'm just saying where I am going to wrap him or draft him for next season. All right, Scott. I know you wanted to talk about Lee Key,

Lukisha, we'll save that for a little bit later on because we talked a lot about PCA. I do just want to mention up at the top, man. This whole thing that I do, X-Team does not have a closer and they never will ever again. Obviously, it's just a fun bit, but I think the Marlins actually live by that.

And whenever Pete Fairbanks is on the IL, they do not have a closer, and they never will ever again. And our latest example, enter Sandman. Sandy Alcantara, in for the save. two days after throwing 101 pitches. Chris, what is going on?

He was scheduled to throw in the bullpen today anyway. Apparently, he told the pitching coach before the game. I know the bullpen's been gassed. There's been a lot of three-innings starts lately. If you need me, I can go out there. And I think Ryan Gusto pitched three innings today. Four and a third. and yeah, Sandy Alcantra went out there for the ninth inning.

I felt like I was losing my mind watching it happen. I like what the Marlins account tweeted. The Marlins account, your sleep paralysis demon is Sandy Alcantra coming out of the bullpen and recording his first career save. Throwing 100 miles an hour, almost giving up two game-tying home runs. I don't know if you guys were watching,

but the first one was like caught at the fence. I think the second one was hit 394 to Dead Center. And then the game, and then the game ends on a stolen base that had to be challenged. So it's like the most anticlimactic ending to the game. The umpire just has to come out and be like, yeah, he's out. Games over. I think part of it was the Marlins are like seven and a half games out.

And so you might be thinking, why would you do this when you're seven and a half games out? but there was a quote for Ryan Gusto where he was like, look, he's the captain, he's the heart of the team, he's, like, we were so excited to see him get that. And I think you see that sometimes when teams are playing out the string, they look for

it's just a fun thing. Yeah, it's a fun thing. And so, like, Clay and McCullough looked extremely excited when the game ended. Sandy was beaming. Like, it was very weird. It was also, like, I wouldn't remember that game otherwise.

and I'm going to remember that game now. Here's the thing. It's not just a fun thing for people who are facing Sandy Alcantra, who was widely started because this was a two-start week, and it sounds like it's still going to be a two-star week. Yeah, no, Clay McCullough came out after the game and said he's starting on Sunday still. Two starts and a save in the same week is very clutch, though he's got to come through in the second start.

He didn't really in the first start. Yeah. So that is a fun part of it. Not if you're going against him, but if you had him in your lineup, it was bad for a start. Oh gosh, San Diego Contor, he's struggling. But now he gets you a save, so, you know, helps kind of even out the week here for

Sandial Ocantor. Very fun stuff. Let's take our first break, and we will get to the news and notes right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy baseball today. Let's run through the news and notes. And a very scary moment here on Wednesday. Aaron Judge left early, and there was video of him wincing after a check swings.

So me, Yankees fans everywhere, obviously the sky is falling. We think that he's re-injured his rib. Turns out that he left with right lower leg tightness. So he will get treatment on Thursday during their off day. And then they'll see how he's feeling on Friday. I mean, it's still not great. It's just yet another kind of injury to pop up here for judge. At least it's not the rib.

That's what they're saying. That's what he's saying. But yeah, we'll see how he responds on Thursday and Friday. Blake Snell was removed in the first inning due to left groin tightness, and it would really be something if Emmett Sheehan winds up back with the Dodgers and makes the start this week after all. I don't think that's going to happen, but it would be funny. After the game, Blake Snell said that he anticipates making another start

before the postseason. We'll see how he's feeling in the next couple of days. That's really good because, look, when people draft him as a top 20 starting pitcher next season like they always do. Not me. It's going to look really stupid if he doesn't get to at least 40 innings this season. So he's got to get to 40 innings. And then everyone drafting him as a top 20 starting pitcher will make total sense

and it won't be a bad pick. The groin, by the way, is something he's had a lot of issues with. Which, three different I else stands before. Maybe, like, maybe it worked to his advantage here because the way he describes it, he felt like he was trending toward that happening again. And so he went ahead and removed himself before it did. I don't know how good he is. It self-diagnosis, but, like, you know,

obviously he has experience. And so he may have made a different decision than he did in the past. But, like, you just hate to see that recurring problem continue to recur. If you're hoping that he bucks the trend of being injury prone next year. Somewhat related to Blake Snell's injury, Roki Sasaki through a 48 pitch bullpen here on Wednesday. We don't exactly have an update on when he's going to return, what role he's going to return in for the Dodgers.

But he seems like he's pretty close. That's Roki Sasaki. Chris Sails' next start has been pushed back from this weekend to next Tuesday against the Reds. And it is a rough go for those who started him in a weekly lineup league because you get nothing, nothing for you, from Chris Sale. unfortunately, where I am in my home league, battling my dad for the championship,

and Chris Sale was one of the pictures of my lineup. In the podcast league where I'm, we're in championship week, I started both Chris Sale and Blake Snell. One inning between him this week. Congrats to whoever's winning the podcast league. I mean, I'm winning so far. I got a nice cushion,

but like it's, it might not be enough of a cushion. By the way, Blake's now has been on the IL four times with growing issues in 2021, 2021, 2022, 24, and then again in 2024. So that's not great. Hey, Blake's now, man. You got to stretch a little bit. I wonder if he knows that.

You got to stretch out. Got to get everything ready to go before you go out there. I did want to mention this earlier in the week, but I'm happy you brought it up now. The finals are set in the podcast league. So I just wanted to give shoutouts to some people here. Scott is in the finals here against, excuse me if I mess up this name, but Pedro Ardenas. So that is the podcast listener league,

the Head-Tead Points League. That's the final there. And then on the other side, unfortunately, Scott, you will not be repeating as champion. You did make it to the semifinals. But it is Josh Lloyd, who hosts the Locked-on Fantasy Basketball podcast and his son, who are sharing a team.

they are going up against the Kokomo Friday fanboys, and I should probably look up the actual name of this gentleman so we can give them a shout-out here in the finals, and that is John Greenstein. So shout-out to everyone who made the finals. Scott did very rudely knock me out of the playoffs in the podcast league. Yeah. That was...

I think I made the playoffs in all of my points leagues, except for the Dynasty League. That's a different thing, and I lost in all of them. Yeah, I mentioned that rivalry week, a couple weeks. It's probably a month back at this point. But Chris actually beat me in the consolation round of the Dynasty League, too. I wound up with 13th pick in the rookie draft, which is... I think I got my highest pick.

I think I'm seventh. That's pretty good. Yeah, that's not bad, but not the greatest picks. Somewhat related, I guess, rivalry week. I saw this in my notes. I was like, wait, what? I wrote serial bet on my calendar for September 27th. That's the last eight season.

Scott versus Chris. Okay. Dylan Sees minus 10 and a half innings versus Jesus Lazzardo. Oh, wow. Remember that that? Wow. Lizarro was probably running. I think Lizarro's going to win.

So I. Yeah, Lizarro has 12 more innings than Dillon Cise. I don't remember who had which side of the bet, though. I might have to have been Cs for me. Yeah. And I had to have had Luzon. Yeah, because I was higher on Cs. he was higher on Lazzardo.

It had to go. So, Chris, you needed Lazzardo to have 11 more innings than Lazzardo. You needed C's to have 11 more innings than Lazzardo. He's probably got two more starts. Maybe he can throw 23 innings across the first start. All right.

I won that bet. I want it. I'm going to be looking up exotic cereals. That's exactly right, baby. Start picking that cereal out. Cereal in New York City is so expensive. I'm going to have to find a wholesaler in the Carolina.

to send. Just get it all off Amazon. You'll be fine. Let's continue on. $9 for a box of cereal, man. Inflation, man. Serial inflation. Hunter Goodman has missed two straight with that thumb sprain. Every time the Rockies have a full week of Coorsfield, something happens to Hunter Goodman. The Cardinals activated JJ Weatherholt. He let off and went 0 for 3.

Kyle Harrison will start Thursday in Pittsburgh. He has been terrible lately. He has been terrible on the road this season. and he was terrible in his last appearance at the bullpen. So do not use Kyle Harrison. Samwell Basayo was back in the lineup as he works through that lingering shoulder issue. He looked pretty good.

He went two for four with his 18th home run. Jackson Holiday was placing the IL with left wrist inflammation. If you're wondering, it was the right hand where he had the handmate bone injury earlier this year. So not the same hand wrist that he's on the IL with now, but his season ends with 98 games played 229 batting average,

seven homers, eight steals, a 640 OPS. We are now over 1,200 played appearances into his career. 229 batting average, 654 OPS.

He's still 22 years old. Don't want to write him off completely. I can't imagine many people were excited about Jordan Walker at this time last year heading into 2026. But it's been a bad start

to Jackson Holiday's career. There's no way around it. And the underlying hasn't inspired nearly as much optimism as Jordan Walker's has. I mean, Jordan Walker, the optimism still ran out. But it made more sense to keep it, I think, than in Jackson Holiday's case. I'll just say the same thing I was saying about him pre-before this season. When I think there was some optimism of Brownham, I wish there was something to point to.

Yeah. Like, there's just, what skill can you say, Jackson Holley's, has that you can really count on. Daddy. I mean, like, yeah, like, he was the number one pick and his name, but, like, he doesn't hit the ball especially hard. He's not a great athlete. His plate discipline has not been what it was supposed to.

Like, it's just, there is, if it comes together for him, it's not impossible, but, man, there's really not anything, like Jordan Walker, at least crazy athlete hits the ball hard, you know? You don't have that with Jackson Holiday. It's not impossible, but it seems real unlikely. Kyle Braddish, who was placed in the IL Sunday with an abdominal issue, was diagnosed with a sports hernia. Trey Savage will throw a bullpen this weekend and is on track to return either Sunday or Monday.

He threw just 34 pitches in his loan rehab start, so I can't imagine he'll be very stretched out for the start, and I would not recommend using him. Chase DeLauder has missed two straight with that renewed wrist soreness. The Twins placed Cail and Colpepper on the IL with a left hamstring strain. Most likely ending his season. I guess there's a chance he could be back for, I don't know, like the final game, final day of the season. But 31 games with the Twins, 2.75, three homers, one steal 737 OPS. I think he makes for a pretty good sleeper candidate next year.

Colson Montgomery left early after being hit by a pitch on his left wrist. X-rays came back negative. Joshua Baez left early due to left side tightness. Connolly Early's first rehab start with the Nationals went point. poorly. One inning of work, two hits, three runs, two walks, two strikeouts. Velocity was down around one mile per hour across the board. The Dodgers activated Chris Bubich, whom they picked up at the trade deadline. He will work out of the bullpen. And good news for next season, both Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker were cleared to begin hitting progressions. Neither will return this year,

but it is good news for 2027 once again. And I think the A's could have a pretty sick lineup next year if everyone's healthy in no particular order but Henry Boltee, Nick Kurtz, Shay Langaleers, Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, Zach Gelloff, Jacob Wilson, one of Tommy White or Corota Grower. That's either at second or third base. And then eventually Leo DeVries will be in there taking that spot. So it is a really, really good A's lineup on paper. Did DeVries have, he had surgery, right? Yeah. Okay. He could be out all the way until May of next seasons. I always get him and Sebastian Walcott confused in my mind because they're like the same age. They're both in the AOS. And so like anytime something happens with either one, I'm like, wait, which one?

Is that the A's one or the Rangers one? But yeah, I think DeVries is, he's out like eight months. So it's probably, probably going to be second half of next season for him. But very exciting prospect if he's right. They've locked up a lot of those guys long term already. They've got a new GM coming in yet to be yet to be chosen, right? but they've got a new GM coming in and they're not this upcoming year but the following year is when they start in Las Vegas right? Yep.

Next year is our last year to take advantage of Sacramento. I mean, they need some pitching beyond maybe Jacob Lopez, but I like Gage Trump. Yeah, yeah. I know there's not a ton to like about him in the moment, but

and they got... I think he's super talented and Jamie Arnold. Jamie Arnold. Yeah, Jamie Arnold. That's his name. Yeah, he hasn't had a great season first season in the minors, but obviously a big prospect. I think Jamie Arnold mentions in a

two days. Two days in a row. Look at this pie. We are a prospects podcast. I think Luis Severino's still on their contract too, but yeah. Not very good, but he is a name. He'll be in the rotation. Yeah, yeah, based on the money

he's making, I think so. Some waiver wire hitter options for the rest of this week and for the final week of the season. And I have three outfielders up top. Henry Boltei homered on the road. How about that? It was his 11th home run. The rest of this week, he's still on the road. Six home games next week in Sacramento.

You say Kikuchi, Walbert, A.R. Peter Lambert, Wesniew, Hunter Brown, Christian J. J. J. J. Bollier. Seems pretty good there for Henry Bolte. So I like that quite a bit. Scott, you can jot that one down for your sleeper hitters for next week. AJ Ewing is finishing strong. He went two-for-four with his 24th steel. Last 15 games, 380. three homers, three steals, OPS over 1,000.

He has four more games this week against Arenola, TBD, Andrew Painter, and Christopher Sanchez. Six road games next week. Gore, Rocker, Quantrell, Alvarez, Irvin, Jackson, Kent. I think those matchups are pretty good for AJ Ewing. And then Jacob Marcy, dude stayed red hot. Two for three with a sock in the shoe. His 11th home run is 23rd Steele.

He has been basically great since the start of August. and looking at his schedule for next week, Gosman Iman Iman, Clay Holmes, Grant Holmes, Martin Perez. Some lefties on the schedule there, but not really pitchers I'm scared of by any means. Scott,

how would you rank these three for the final week? Bolte, Ewing, and Jacob Marcy. Well, without having the matchups right in front of me. They're on the rundown. Are they on the rundown? I just read them. They're on the runtime. Okay.

Well, let me... The one thing, did you mention in the news and notes Chris Sale? Yeah, he's being pushed back to Tuesday. Yeah, so he is lined up for next weekend for Sunday, but if the Braes are locked into their seating

they're not going to start Chris Sale next week. Yeah, they're going to save him for game one of the wild card. I'm going to say this is hard to process in the moment like this. It's a lot to process. I think Bulte just with the home games, I think he's clearly at the top. I guess it's Huey versus Marcy.

That's kind of my gut feeling too. Yeah, I think exactly how you list them here, Bolte, Ewing, Marcy, but I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow when I put the official list together. I think it's nice to see from all three of them that they are finishing strong as young outfielders that have some power speed upside,

and all three have looked really good here lately. That's Bolte, Ewing, and Jacob Marcy. A corner infielder, Christian Encarnacion, Shrand, hit another home run. His 10th of the season. He has homered in back-to-back games. and in 51 games, the power production is actually very good.

10 home runs, 35 RBI. I know a lot of that is against lefties. He also has massive home road splits. He's awesome on the road. He's terrible at home. His full season paces 32 home runs, 111 RBI, so he's been good. I may have missed on some starting pitchers

these last two weeks, but I nailed the sleeper hitters this week. And Carnaciosian did this against a righty. So, I mean, the main reason he was on the list was all the lefties. He has a big game against Dioritey's. Yeah. It's looking like a good week for him.

I'm looking at next week and they have Scherzer, cease, Will Warren, Freed, and there's like two TBDs as of now. So it's kind of hard to project out. There's at least one lefty on the schedule. But I don't know. But he is playing every day, right? Close to it.

Yeah. Close to it. He and Mayo both, not quite every day, but pretty close. It's increased. Like before it was like they were really only starting against lefties and then like half the time against righties,

but they've earned it. They've both Mayo and Encarnasse and Strand have earned the right to play down the stretch for a team that doesn't have anything to play for. Yeah, I think as a corner, he's fine. If you are one of those demons in a daily lineup league that really is playing like left-right splits

and if you're on top of it, man, like just play CES or Kobe Mayo every time that they have a lefty on the schedule. Do you think there's any chance, that Enkronosio's train has worked his way into the Orioles plans for next season. He's still young enough. I'm asking for a friend, a friend who plays in a dynasty league and has CES on their roster. I think there is a good chance of that.

Yeah, I would assume he's still under club control. Yeah, he's only going to be, he might still be arbitrary. He might not even be arbitration eligible next year. And they picked him up for nothing, right? I think he was like either DFA'd or. He was still making, he's still making the minimum, so it probably wasn't a DFA. It was probably not tendered or something. I don't know what it was.

He always produced in the minors was never a big prospect because it's that really difficult profile, right-handed hitting cornerman with bat on base skills. And a lot of those guys, they just never find their footing because it's hard to make room for them in a lineup. So, you know, you can understand the Reds giving up on him, but he may have found his footing now with the Orioles.

Yeah. I do want to see how he has graded out defensively. I know he's played a decent amount of third base for them. Grades out well, weirdly. Yeah, I mean, StackS has him as, like, pretty much average in terms of outs above average and arm strength. So that's been, yeah, for a guy who I think...

Hasn't been terrible. Was supposed to just be a first baseman. That's not terrible, yeah. Yep. A couple middle infield options here. Cooper Pratt has been solid. Two for four with a run, RBI, and his 14th steal. Last 16 games, he's hitting 3.27,

four steals during that stretch. Jonah Cox is running wild for the Giants right now. Three for four with a walk, run, RBI, two steel. He has started 11 straight. Over his last 23 games, he has actually been awesome. Jonah Cox, 329, 3 homers, 18 runs, 9 steals.

He is second in outfield eligible. And then Anthony Volpe continues to just make some things happen here. Two for five, 2 RBI, his 11th steal. In seven games since returning, he has eight hits, a homer, 7 RBI, and four steals there for Anthony Volpe. Chris, a lot of these guys, they seem pretty similar.

It's mostly just like some batting average and some speed, maybe the occasional home run. But how would you rank these three, I guess, for the final week? I have the matchups written in there, too. And I get that it's like hard to kind of process all that. But Pratt, Cox, and Anthony Volpe. I would like to say Cox because he's been so good and the steals have been so good. He has a 37% strikeout rate at the major league level.

I did not realize that. Which is wild because he was only like a 16% strikeout rate guy at AAA, and he's been really good at both levels this season. but he hit 415 in the minors this year Jonah Cox he was a 24 year old at double I for most of it but yeah he's been super productive but it's just man those strikeouts make it really hard to have faith in it I think just because Pratt and Volpe I think are so

like you know I I might just go with the mystery box of Jonah Cox there but I think it's ultimately just kind of a three three sided coin yeah it probably will just come down to the matchups here for those guys. I think yeah, the playing time seems pretty safe for all of them. I did just want to pull up who Jonah Cox is

scheduled to face at six home games next week and the pitchers that he has on the schedule are Bailey Ober, Zebby Matthews, Todge, Bradley, Scoobel, Yamamoto, and Blake's Nell. I don't know if Snow will make that start, but either way, yeah, it's kind of tough matchups there for Jonah Cox, so.

For what it's worth in a 53 game sample worse at home than on the road as you'd expect yeah so that doesn't really play out very well there for for jonah cox um looked at volpie has seven games in the final week nick martinezminton rasmussen e and seymour peralta Trevor rogers brendon young shame boss so rasmussen's really good everyone else is kind of you know mediocre so i don't know i think it could potentially work out uh for for volpe there full week on the final week of the season If you need a catcher, Raphael Flores continues to hit for power. His ninth home run, he has started seven of the past eight games.

He has seven home runs over his last 28. He also has an 860 OPS during that span. Yiner Diaz has been better. Since the start of July, I looked into this last 50 games. 316, nine homers, an 878 OPS during that stretch for Yiner Diaz. If you need a second catcher, who are you guys leaning towards? Flores Yiner Diaz? I need to see the matchups.

Actually, I was surprised. I just put together, I'm almost done ranking catchers. I'm about 40 in. I was surprised how good Yiner Diaz has been since his I-L stint. I think he's batting around 300 just going off the memory there. But Flores has been so hot and providing power, which is more valuable.

So I would lean that direction. direction unless the matchups are far apart. The one thing I will point out for Diaz, Scott, is that he has four games in Sacramento next week. And also three in Seattle. Yeah, but three in Seattle. Actually, no, I think it's three in Seattle, three in Sacramento. Yeah, so that's kind of, yeah.

Yeah. I mean, kind of second best hitters parking baseball, worst pitchers, best pitchers parking baseball. Yeah. It's a midling schedule. Kind of evens up. I would say Flores' the schedule looks better. All right.

and I just wanted to give a shout out to Ethan Salas. He is on the board. Name for next year. It doesn't really matter for this season. But yeah, two for four, double don, don, three RBI. Welcome to the Biggs. Welcome to Corse Field. You're going to get a lot of games in Corse Field,

assuming you stay with the Padres. But yeah, this was first big game of his career for Ethan Salas, the first two home runs of his career. Still just 20 years old. He was a top prospect. Yeah. Very interesting skill set in the minors this year. Sarah Lang said,

youngest catcher to Homer in a game since Yvonne Rodriguez. Youngest catcher to Homer twice in a game ever. Nice. Yeah. It's pretty good. As a 20-year-old, yeah, we'll take that. Yeah, I think he's got to be drafted as a number two catcher next season, no matter what he does the rest of the way. I have him 19th in Roto. That sounds right.

All right, let's take our final break. When we return, I've got some waiver wire pitchers, some hitters who are finishing strong. Luke Keishel is on that list, and we'll get to that right after this. Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball today. Some Waverwire pitchers for the final week of the season. Jared Jones, Scott's favorite. Mixed outing here against the Brewers, five innings, three runs.

Did have nine strikeouts to one walk. He had 14 whiffs on 91 pitches. And yeah, under the hood, everything looked pretty good in this start. I only allowed five hits, 87.2 average EV. I kind of felt like he deserved more. Deserved a better outcome here. But Brewers, tough matchup. eight plus strikeouts in three straight

lines up for two starts the final week. I don't know if he'll make both. Anything could happen. The final week is like the Wild West, but it looks like the Cardinals and the Tigers for the final week here for Jared Jones. Like that. Didn't like him against the Brewers,

but I like them for those two. Even if he ends up just baking one, I'd like them because those matchups are tasty enough, I would say, for a guy who has 26 strikeouts versus four walks over his past three starts. And just like that, Scott is back. But unless you just needed strikeouts, it was correct not to start him against the Brewers. Because he hurt you and everything about strikeouts.

He did. Technically, you are right. I think on the whole, this was a promising start, if not a great one for fantasy in the immediate. Sure. Missed a bunch of bats. Curveball look good. Yeah. But Scott's not wrong.

Could you see yourself streaming any of these four in the final week? Zebby Matthews shut down the Yankees six shutout innings with eight strikeouts here. And he is at the Giants the final week. I'm not really sure what to do with the Giants anymore because we told everyone to use Andre Palante against them and he got crushed. I still think their lineup is crap. But then Liberator was pretty good. Yeah, Liberator was good. What are we doing, man?

What are we doing? Baseball season. Christian Javier, solid outing here. He took the L against the Royals, five and a third, two runs, three walks. two strikeouts. The whiffs came down. Looks like he lines up for two next week at the Mariners, at the athletics. So got those Jekyll and Hyde matchups

for him. Chris Bassett, revenge game against the Mets. Six and two thirds, one run, six strikeouts, 14 whiffs on 95 pitches. His velocity has been up pretty consistently since he came back from the IL in mid-August. And guess what? He gets

another revenge game against the Blue Jays next week. That is Chris Bassett and Max Scherzer. Solid against the Tigers. Five, I guess that's a revenge game too. Five innings, one run, three walks, three strikeouts. And look, he's been very up and down over the past month. I mean, this is, you know, 40, I don't know how old, 43-year-old Max Scherzer.

Looks like he lines up for two. Orioles and Reds next week. Pretty solid matchups, but he's Max Scher. I don't know. Can you see you guys, can you see using any of these four in the final week of the season? Look, ultimately, I think you know your situation. and you know how desperately you need to roll the dice. And I think that's all it comes down to.

No, I don't want to start Zebby Matthews. I don't want to start Max Church. I don't want to start Christian Javier. I don't want to start Cresbassett. I was going to not name all four of them. But then once I got two of them, it was like, whoa, but does he want to start Christian Javier? It's like, no, I don't.

So awful. But some of the matches are kind of interesting. Yeah, no. Zebby's got a great matchup. I don't think you can ask for a better matchup than I was San Francisco. I don't think you can ask for a better matchup than at Seattle. Basset or Scherzer's got two good

matchups, so they could all go well, but I don't think any of them are great pitchers. Yeah, and against my better judgment, I had to put you, say, Kikuchi in the sleeper pitchers list for this week, because

he wasn't in there originally, but so many players I had to take out at the last minute that Kikuchi wound up in there because it was coming off three good starts and facing the Mariners. I definitely, what's the word I'm looking for?

It was a recommendation that within the text, it's actually important to read the text and not just scan the names. I said, don't really want to do it, you know? There's a good word for that, but I can't think of it right now. Retisant? Yeah, sure.

That's not the word I'm thinking of, but sure, you get the idea. And so I was, you know, I was right not to start on myself, but he actually was among the sleeper pitchers. That's kind of where we are with these guys, where I'm probably going to, facing the giants coming off the start he just had,

I'm probably going to have Zebby Matthews on that list. But they're all 50-50 at best. His previous two starts, he allowed to combine nine earn runs. I don't feel great about it. I don't actually want to do it, but I'm giving you names in case you have to resort to that. It should be a last resort.

Yeah. But the job is what did you say you kind of got cut off there? The job is to list 10 pitchers. The job is to list 10 pitchers because some people need them. You always want to use all 10 of them.

Sometimes maybe, but... I would say during the season, it's really just the top two or three that I want to use. And I'm not even sure it's going to be that many this week. Very deep name. I don't think anyone is using them,

using him outside of an in-only league potentially. but I just wonder if there's anything here with Anthony Molina as like a deep, deep sleeper for next season. Five and two-thirds shutout innings at the Cardinals here and five games since rejoining the Giants. 391 ERA 104 whip. He's right at a strikeout per inning.

Anything here at all, Anthony Molina. I mean, I thought it had ended in his previous start. I think he allowed seven runs, but this is now three of five with the Giants where he's gone at least four innings and allowed two hits or fewer and is getting strong. strikeouts, so there may be something to it. I just haven't figured out what yet.

He had only 7.7K per 9 in the minors this year, Anthony Molina. So I think the burden of proof is very high. And he hasn't reached it yet. How about that little courtroom language for you? We'll take it. I object. Sustained. I was going to say granted.

I don't think that's something that a judge says. but you're out of order. Six hitters. I hold you in contempt. Six hitters who are finishing the season strong. And Scott, we finally make it to your player of the night. That is Luke Keishel who went three for five with two runs and his 18 stolen base. I have a bunch of numbers here, but I have a feeling you also have a bunch of numbers here.

So I will let you talk about Luke Keishel. I have a couple numbers. I wouldn't say have a bunch. Seven. 27. Luke Keishel, big game. three for five with the steel since July 1st. Since July 1st, that's going back away's.

Luke Keishel has been the best version we could have hoped for. He has hit 324 with seven home runs, six steals, OPS over 900. That was the dream outcome coming into this year. Like, Nico Horner with a little bit of pop. And he's lived up to it finally after a very slow start, such a slow start that I'm not sure many people have noticed. And I think it's legitimate. Like the exit velocities are still pretty much basement level. But he hit for power in the miners and became the prospect he did because he pulled the ball in the air so well, Luke Kishel.

And he's greatly improved his pull air rate during this stretch, starting to live up to where it was in the market. the minors. So I don't think he's going to ever be more than a 20 homer guy. Like he's going to eke out 20 homers potentially in his best years. But with steals, with a low strikeout rate and a high walk rate, one of my bold predictions that article I came out last year is that Luke Kishel ends up outperforming Bryce Durang last year. I think there are a lot of similarities between the two.

Obviously, Kishel would have to be. to sustain something like this half season pace over a full season to outperform Bryce Durang, but I think it's in the realm of possibility and I think he's going to be I mean, we'll see him. Maybe everybody sniffes it out, but I think Keishel's going to be a nice bargain at second base next year.

Notably, it might be the last year. You can start him at second base because he's been a full-time outfielder since late June. But he has second base eligibility for now, Luke Keishel. He's batting at the top of the line. up, I think that's going to continue. Walks a lot. He gets hit by pitches a lot.

He has let off every game since August 17th. So he is just firmly entrenched in that role. Yeah, no, he's a good little player. I just, I want to see it be more like 25 to 30 steals next season. I think that'll be the... I don't think his sprint speed is actually good, though, right? No, it's 86 percentile. Okay, better than I thought.

Yeah. And he's just been a really inefficient base stealer this season. But overall for his career, he's like 77%, which is pretty close to the break-even point. So, yeah, just if he can be more of a 30-steel guy, he's basically Nico Horner might be a little better than Nico Horner even. Because Nico Horner, pretty bad season, and he's no longer hitting lead off. Yep. The five other hitters I have here finishing strong, Chandler Simpson, last 73 games. This is a while now.

This is going back to mid-June. Since mid-June, he's hitting 357 with 28 steals and nothing else. But if you like batting average and speed, Chandler Simpson is for you. Cal Raleigh, last 28 games, 274, 10 homers, 23 RBI, OPS over 1,000. So, look, it's a lost season, but nice to see that he's finishing the year strong. Alex Bregman remains on fire last 48 games, 3.30, 16 homers, a 1080 OPS. And he entered Wednesday as a top 5 third base. basement in both Roto and total

head to head points. So it's kind of commentary at the position, but also how good Regman's second half has been. O'Neill Cruz, 25 games since returning from injury, hitting 300, five homers, six steals, 9-11 OPS, and Ellie Dela-Cruz just remains scorching hot.

Last 23 games for him, 4-24, 8 homers, four steals, 1273 OPS, over a 23-game stretch. Chris, anything to add here on Ellie, O'Neill, Alex Bregman, Cal Raleigh, and Taylor Simpson. If I could jump in real quick and just say,

because this was something that became a talking point on Twitter recently with O'Neill Cruz, I released my initial rankings for the first two rounds next year. And there seemed to be a lot of surprise and skepticism over me, including O'Neill Cruz, in those first two rounds, at least for Roto. He was 24th, but, you know, he was there. I just think it's gone underappreciated, under observed, maybe because he missed two months with a broken hand, that he has had the big first round breakout this year

that everybody had been waiting for and had given up on prior to this year. He's had it. He's performed at a 30-home or 50 steel pace this year, approximately, with a respectable batting average. No, I think he's overperformed, which is why I'm not ranking him as a first rounder. I'm ranking him as a late second rounder.

But it's one of those things where I think you can get tunnel vision for your own players and maybe not notice what's going on with the rest of the league. And O'Neill Cruz has a reputation of being a disappointment. He's been anything but this year.

He's been a monster. No, 100%. I've been maybe more skeptical than anybody. And I think I will maintain my skepticism for 2027. I don't think I'll be able to get myself to rank him in the first two rounds, but I don't think you're wrong to do it. It's a really, really narrow type that he has to walk to remain this productive. Like, he is putting up a 503 expected Wobon contact, which is, is anybody doing better than that?

I'm not sure. That's a pretty bonkers number. Jordan Alvarez is at 515 But that's the kind of area O'Neill Cruz is inhabiting this season James Woods at 546 But O'Neill Cruz's strikeout rate has also moved In the wrong direction along with 34%.

And so And against lefties, it is He has 49 strikeouts and 125 played appearances against lefties He's been good against them despite it But it's really hard to do a 40% strikeout rate and remain productive. But he's doing it right now. Like he's outperforming his expected stats a little bit,

but it's 354 expected Wobah versus 364 actual Wobah. It's not that much. It's just what if he falls from 99th percentile quality of contact to 90th? That might mean he's as bad as he was last year. Like that really is. Like if he's just really good at hitting the ball hard rather than arguably the best in baseball, he might be a 700 OPS bat.

That's how narrow the margin for error is, but he's also on a 50 steel pace, so it might not matter that much, too. And like I said, I'm downgrading him from this year's numbers by putting him late in round two. But this is hard for me because I have long been skeptical.

I have a bias, I think a very fair bias against high strikeout hitters, which Cruz certainly is. but so is James Wood and so is Nick Kurtz. There are a lot of players that are going to be,

Jordan Walker, so there are a lot of players that are going to be drafted in the first two rounds that are in the blue, deep blue on their baseball savant page for K-rate. And maybe Cruz has the worst of all of them,

but they're all bad and at strikeouts. And at some point, at some point you have to be willing to take a little bit of a risk on that. And I think, I think I've downgraded all of those guys slightly from where they deserve to be ranked based on past performance in Cruz's case this one year. But even so, like it's got for the kind of upside he's presented, Cruz.

Maybe I could drop them to mid-round three, but that's, I think, the absolute lowest I could go for that kind of upside. It is worth noting there have been at least one aisle stint in three of the past four seasons as well. So, yeah, Andrew has had some trouble staying healthy too. They are all different players, but it feels similar to how we were skeptical of PCA and James Wood entering this year. Yeah. I made that exact same point. Like, this is how people are going to react to drafting O'Neill Cruz in, let's say, early round three. He might end up being my PCA next year, which doesn't mean he's going to go to have an MVP season.

and the odds are certainly against it still. But it's going to be the same sort of situation where he's shown that the upside is enormous. And I have my doubts, but if everybody is just writing it off completely, I'm probably going to end up with a lot of them. Which is surprising because I feel like there's been so much excitement about O'Neill Cruz over the years,

including I thought he was overdrafted this year. I was clearly wrong, but it felt like there was still plenty of excitement. And maybe this is just that thing where sometimes guys who get hurt a lot, just you get a lot of people writing them off. Yeah. It could also be that I'm making too much

of a half dozen responses on Twitter from people who may have not paid any attention to what he's doing this year. And so this may end up being a moot point, but the initial response to me ranking him in round two. surprised me. If you say any player is good, if you say Barry Bonds was a good baseball player, you'll have someone on Twitter who's like, what are you crazy? No, he wasn't. So, you just a little oppositional defiance disorder there. That's why I only just tweet out stats,

because you can't argue with them. I'm just telling you what the numbers are. Yes, they can, Frank. Just throw numbers out there. Do it that what you will. Some leftovers here on the hitting side. Brandon Lau, he is up over. Over 30 homers. Hit his 31st. That's back-to-back seasons with 31 homers. And he is a top six second baseman in both Roto and total head-to-head points. Big, big profitable season here for Brandon Lowe.

Second third in a row, I think, that he's been super profitable. Mm-hmm. And I don't know. He should be a top 100 pick next season. Based on the way people view him, I don't think he will be. But he absolutely should be a top 100 pick next season. Landing spot will be interesting, too. Contract year, so free agent.

We'll see what happens with Brano Lowe. Pete Alonzo hit another one. His 37th home run, he continues a big second half. Gabriel Moreno hit his 15th homer, and Josh Naler, he had two more steals. He's hitting for good batting average in the second half. Just no pop at all. He has two home runs in the second half.

Both of those home runs came in the same game. So he has only had one game with a homer. in the second half of the season. Like, his slug is just way, way down the season. So weird year overall for Josh Naler. Scott, going back to Gabriel Moreno for a second. Yesterday, Chris and I kind of debated Moreno as a top eight catcher in ADP. It sounds like you're working on your catcher rankings.

But I said yes, top eight. Chris sounded, I don't know if you actually said no, Chris, but you sounded skeptical. Break the tie. What do you think? Top eight for Gabriel Moreno. I mean, top of mind, I probably. would have blocked at that idea, but he's coming seventh for me.

Yeah! And you know who eighth is? Eighth is the real shocker. Big dumpa. Leonardo Bernal. Oh, okay. All right. All right. Calm down. Scott, do you have Ethan Salas?

You have Ethan Salas third on your list? I have Herrera sixth for what it's worth. Leo Bernal at eight. I have Cal Raleigh, 11th. Contreras behind them? No, Contreras got to be ahead of him. Dingler? Nope.

Adley Rushman below? Langalears? Langalears? Okay. Do I just go through the whole thing? For Roto. Hicks has got to be behind them then. Hicks is down at 14th.

And Rushman is 15th. Top five is Hunter Goodman, Drake Baldwin, Shea Langalears, William Contreras, Dylan Dingler, Ivan Herrera. That's six. Havon Herrera, 6th, Gabriel Moreno, 7th, Leo Bernal 8th, Carter Jensen, 9th, Samuel Bessio, 10th,

and then Cald-Rolly 11th. And then you get into like the Ryan Jeffers, Liam Hicks, Adley Rushman types. Dingler, I don't know. I just don't know. He's been a disaster in the second half. Yeah, like unplayable. That top 12, by the way, is very different in points leagues,

about as different as I've ever made a position within the top 12. That makes sense. Well, I mean, I think we get bookmark it now. It's September 17th. We're still, what, five months out from Valentine's Day? Scott's player he loves. Leo Bernal.

I mean, number eight catcher, my good. I mean, everybody I listed behind him is very flawed. That's part of it. It's like... I mean, Sam Basayo, with a full year of no Adley-Rutchman, there's still massive, massive ups. Oh, yeah, there is massive. of upside, which is why I have him ahead of Cal Raleigh,

but he hasn't actually been that good this year. Yeah, I don't know if no Adler Ruchman actually helps him. You know, because he's getting first base in D.H. reps, anyway, so I don't know how much. He hasn't played, he hasn't played as regularly as you'd expect. He's been very beat up. He's dealt with a lot of injuries this year. Yeah, it's been super, like shoulder and wrist injuries, I think, in that time.

And he has something like degeneratively wrong with his wrist. I was reading about that earlier that season. I love to hear that. It doesn't seem good for... It'll get better. Yeah, hopefully. Just, you know, rub some dirt on it. You'll be all right.

Some pitching leftovers. Parker Messick, a quality start against the White Sox. Six innings, three runs, eight strikeouts for him. Carlos Hurdon, a quality start, but no run support here at the twins. Six innings, two runs, five strikeouts. And Chotee Imanaga, great outing against the Braves. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts. 20 whiffs on 100 pitches, 14 of those on his splitter.

Anything to add here on Imanaga, Rodon, or Parker Messick? Imanaga is a free agent this offseason. Let's get him somewhere spacious. It's got him somewhere big. San Francisco. Yeah. Yeah. San Diego.

Both teams are pitching too. Any of the Saints. St. Louis, I mean, that's a decent ballpark. Great defense. So, yeah. Any, let's get Shoday Minaga with any of the Saints. I'm down with that. Get them out of the NL Central, though.

We don't want any starts in Wrigley, field again. Yeah, you got to manipulate the schedule to make sure he doesn't pitch there. As for Carlos Redan, he's just, it feels like he's been gutting it out the whole time. Like, it just, it has not really seemed like he's been at his best at any point in the season. And he's still been pretty good. Yeah, 295 ERA. Yeah, the whips a little higher, a lot of walks, but I would love to see a healthy normal

offseason for Carlos Redon. I already told you my theory on this, Chris. I think the Yankees, they all know that the end is coming. Like all of their arms are going to fall off at once. They're going to give this one great last shot in the postseason this year. And then I feel like Freed, Rodan, Enterals, whoever. Like, everyone's arm is going to fall off next year.

So hopefully it does not happen. I like Rodon for next year. The whiffs have been good. I think he's going to be undervalued. Yeah. Probably, but he also, you know, had like two cleanup procedures on his elbow in the past 12 months. It's clean now. clean as a whistle

It's true Once you clean it It never gets Never gets dirty again Is it a Seinfeld bit Where he talks about How he never washes his towel Because when he gets out of it

No I think you're thinking To Nick Miller from New Girl That's a yeah He's just like Why would I clean my towel I come out of the shower clean That's how That's honestly how I felt

About washing cars Throughout my adult life I never wash a car I hate it It's such a waste I mean I run it Through the automatic car wash every now and then, but like, spending significant time getting it immaculate.

Like, it's going to last two days. You live in South Florida. It's going to rain every day for three hours. You're going to wash your car ever. Come on. Grow up. The call to the bullpen for the guardians, Kate Smith picked up his 37th save for the Giants. Dylan Smith got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up two runs. He took the blown save. The Giants took a two-run lead. The Giants took a two-run lead in the top of the 10th. And then it was Joel Coonel, who got the bottom of the 10th inning and picked up his eighth save previously with the athletics and the Brewers. I don't think he's very good, but neither is the Giants bullpen. For the Cardinals, Riley O'Brien, got the top of the 10th inning with the game tied. He gave up two runs, one of those earned. He took his ninth loss,

updated second half numbers, 556 ERA 163 whip. I think Riley O'Brien's kind of playing his way out of the closer role for next season. I don't know who they're going to bring. in, but it's been a rough second half. He doesn't have it. Yeah. Fair enough. For the twins, Yo Endrus Gomez got the ninth inning with a two-run lead. He gave up two runs. And took his first blown

save of the year. That is outstanding for Yo-Indris-Gomez. For the Yankees, David Bednar got the 10th and the 11th, both times with a one-run lead, and both times he allowed the Manford man into score. He took his fourth blown save. Technically, he should get two blown saves for that.

And the Yankees lost in extra innings. And I think their hopes of winning the ALE East are officially done. For the Blue Jays, Louis Varland picked up his 34th save. For the raise with Brian Baker unavailable, Cole Sulcer got the ninth with a one-run lead, and he picked up his third save. You know, if I could expand on this a little bit longer, it has been such a frustrating year.

Every time the Yankees win, I look up to see what the raise are doing, and they also win. They win every single day. And it's really especially annoying. Hey, that's not true. When you look at the Pythagorean win-loss or expected win-loss record on MLB.com, like the Yankees are far better than the race. I noticed that today.

The race are outperformed by like nine games, but that's not true, Frank. So frustrating. Sometimes. Sometimes. The race never lose, Chris. Sometimes the Yankees lose and the race win. So that also happens. It's not always that the Yankees win and the race win.

Sometimes the Yankees also lose like today. Gosh. What a... All right, well, Yankees, Red Sox, Wildcard, That should be fun. For the Brewers, Trevor McGill picked up his 28th save. He's had a great season two.

Shout out to Trevor McGill. And for the Phillies, Yawand Duran picked up his 31st save. To stream or not to stream on Thursday. I only have four names, so choose wisely. Brady Singer against the Dodgers, Jeffrey Springs at the Reyes.

Revenge game. Seth Lugo is at the Astros and Walbert Arainia is home against the twins. Walbert Arainia, clearly, the best choice. But I kind of talk to myself into Jeffrey Springs. Jeffrey Springs is going to dominate on Thursday.

I think, I don't care about the revenge game factor, but you know, whatever. Oh, you do. But I think pitching a Tropicana is going to work for him. He's going to get a nice little stuff bump.

Quality start. Guaranteed. Rays aren't great. Godspeed to you, sir. I think Jeffrey Springs, we're going to say, not going to go quality start. I'm going to say five and two thirds, two runs, four hits.

Six strikeouts, two walks. I'm going to look up what his out-recorded prop is for Thursday. I'm taking the over, whatever it is. On Friday, Dustin May is at the Orioles. Zach Thornton is home against the Phillies. Tyler Malley at the Astros. Connor Prelip is at the Angels. Grayson Rodriguez is home against the Twins.

Nick Povetta home against the Marlins. And Peter Lambert is home against the Braves. I don't hate these. I think even though it's a tougher matchup, it's not a horrible matchup. Tyler Malley at Houston, just because he's been so bankable of late. I think it's going to run out,

but I also think there's some talent there. But Nick Povetta against the Marlins seems okay. Peter Lambert against the Braves, Malley's opponent seems okay. I think Thornton and Prelip are okay. Yeah. Prelip's definitely risky, but I think there's more upside there with him

than some of these guys. And Dustin, May might be okay. He feels kind of like a random number generator, but sometimes it's a really good number. Yeah. Yeah. He's been pretty bad since getting into the Brewers, but yeah. There's been a few good starts in there.

Yeah. Jeffrey Springs 14 and a half outs. So he just has to go five innings. Lock it in. Lock it. Guaranteed. All right. We are going to wrap there for Scott Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And

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