Rates & Barrels - Elly Week Continues and Planning for FAB in the Second Half

Episode Date: June 9, 2023

DVR and Al weigh how much FAB fantasy managers should part with for Elly De La Cruz and how to plan FAB spending in leagues where managers are already running low. They look into the recent resurgences experienced by Gary Sánchez and Aaron Hicks, and identify a few starting pitchers who are worth streaming in the coming week. Rundown 0:16 Elly De La Cruz Week continues 4:19 Navigating FAB when you’re almost broke already 11:40 Other notable news items 15:22 Hitters to consider 40:28 Starting pitchers of note 53:16 Streamers/two-start pitchers 59:02 Closer corner Follow DVR on Twitter: @DerekVanRiper Follow Al on Twitter: @almelchiorBB e-mail: [e-mail] Subscribe to The Athletic at $2/month for the first year: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrels Subscribe to the Rates & Barrels YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/RatesBarrels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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On this episode, we dig into what will be a big weekend of spending in the leagues in which Ellie De La Cruz is still available. It's a lot of NFBC leagues. Not even all NFBC leagues, though, because in some of those leagues, Ellie was drafted and dropped and picked up a few weeks ago on the cheap. So if you did that, congratulations for getting out in front of those leagues, Ellie was drafted and dropped and picked up a few weeks ago on the cheap. So if you did that, congratulations for getting out in front of it. Congratulations to your FAB account. It will be much safer this weekend. But in leagues where Ellie De La Cruz is out there, big, big numbers are coming.

So we'll talk about that. We actually had a mailbag question about what to do if you are low in free agent budget money at this point in the season. It's very possible that you went in on multiple big time prospects that were called up, or maybe there were some good players that were dropped in your league and you spent up a lot. And now you're trying to figure out how am I going to get through the next three and a half, four months with perhaps mostly min bid players. There are some people in that situation. So we'll offer up a tip or two for how to navigate that we'll go through a few bats that have been standing out recently in terms of guys

coming back from injury or players getting new opportunities as a result of roster changes plus we'll take a look at starting pitching and we've got a little help on the starting pitching front this week so it's a pretty good week to have a waiver chat, Al. I'm pretty excited about it. Yeah. Well, it feels like almost every week is a good week for that. I mean, I'm weird. Yes, there could be nobody good on the wire and I'll still spend an hour talking about the players that are there and enjoy it. So I guess that says a lot about just how much, you know, the same way a dog likes to just chase a tennis ball kind of regardless of the weather. That's kind of how I am with the waiver wire. I'll just go out there and run around for a little while and enjoy

myself. We got a fresh can of tennis balls today. Lovely. Love the smell. Let's talk about Elie de la Cruz. Elie Week continues. I've seen some tweets from various corners of Fantasy Baseball Twitter suggesting that the Elie de la Cruz

bids were available. Will be similar to what we saw with Royce Lewis last week. And if you want to go back to previous years, what we saw years ago when Juan Soto came up or when Jordan Alvarez came up. And those are big bids. If you're talking about a thousand dollar budget, four and five hundred dollar bids are possible. Not everyone has that much left. So it doesn't mean that if you don't have that much, you shouldn't bid. But how aggressively are you pursuing Elie de la Cruz? And are you looking at him as someone that you're more aggressive toward in certain instances? up the middle. I have Anthony Volpe and I'm kind of rotating to compete in Marcano and other depth players there right now. In a situation like that, I'm going to be more aggressive. But do you have any other specific cases where you think it warrants a bigger bid

or a larger share of your budget to take the chance on Elie de la Cruz? I think the only other situation is if you're really competitive and maybe, well, it doesn't apply to this league because he's rostered, but your league, Makiaki where you and I have been kind of toggling back and forth between first and second, or maybe third and fourth. And in a league like that, where it's really tight, and maybe you're coming from behind a little bit, I'm definitely would go a little extra in a league like that. Whereas if it's a league where I've got a lot of ground to make up and it's

already looking pretty bad more than two months into the season, I hate the idea of just giving up. So I'm going to try to be competitive, but it'll make the difference between maybe a 20% bid and a 30% or 40% bid. Yeah, I think 20% is where I think the floor will be in a lot of competitive leagues. Obviously, if you're listening and people in your league have spent a ton or people don't spend up on prospects for some reason, you know your actual league better than we know your specific league. But this is the rare player that because of the tools, because of the opportunity, because of the ballpark, everything is there to justify one of those bigger bids. Just how much you push in does really depend on a lot of factors. I think the other thing that's important to keep in mind here, though, and it does connect

to the question, that mailbag question, how much fab are you trying to leave yourself for the second half of the season? We talked about it at the beginning of the year, and we said if you have a $1,000 budget or $100 budget budget if you split it into six even parts and try to try to stay close to a budget on a month-to-month basis that can work and you would front load it a little bit more you might take half of the last month's budget and throw it on the first two months and kind of manipulate it that way because you want players who can make an impact for a long time but sort of lost in all that is you still want to have something left in the end game you really don't want to be in a position where you get to the all-star break or the beginning of August think we're going to see in 2023 that's unique to this season is with this being year one of the pitch clock at the big league level, we might see some more of those kind of workload

fatigue injuries pile up over the course of the season. We had this big first wave of injuries in April and May, and they've been pretty significant injuries, a lot of elbows, a lot of forearms, a lot of shoulders. I think we're going to see more pitchers go down than usual in the second half of the season as well. And to counteract that, you need to have a little extra fab in your budget to get through that. So that's kind of the deterrent as far as not maxing it out to dollar days right now, because it's only June 9th. It's not the talent that I'm worried about. It's needing more help later than I'm worried about. Yeah, yeah.

But on the other side of it, we get on here every week and say, 20% for this player and 25% for that player. Now we're saying maybe 40% for LA Taylor Cruz. So you can't drive in both lanes. So, you know, those of us who have been going more aggressive, uh, the last couple of months, week by week, uh, you're, you know, you're probably not going to have an ideal situation. I mean, now you talked about taking an approach where you split your fab equally, you know, week by week.

I have tried that in the past and I've kind of given up on it because I was always losing out, you know, and of course this kind of goes back to fabapalooza, which isn't really such a thing now with the new service time rules. But, you know, particularly when that would come around, I would always be losing out and then, you know, I'd miss most of the really big free agents. So I definitely front load it more. And when the second half comes around, whether you measure that as the first week of July or post all-star break,

my goal is to have about a third of my budget that I started with at that point. So it's definitely, it's not proportionate, but I also find that that's kind of the sweet spot that gives me enough to get through without getting into August and September and not being able to get the players I need. So the mailbag question we had had a specific roster included in everything. We're not going to dig into the ins and outs of the roster, but it was, I think, $17 left in a league where you have to spend a dollar on every player.

a dollar in every player. And if you're in that situation or anything even close to that, I would say even if you have $2 left per player over the span of the next four months and you're talking about needing probably, I don't know, a player or two per week on average

just to make sure your depth is covered. I don't think that's an unreasonable calculation. You can really only replace the players who are actually injured or the players who get demoted. You can't really take a lot of extra shots if you're down to one and two dollar bids already. So unless you see something out there that's really enticing, but it's someone who's not playing a lot and that's pretty risky. Yeah. I don't think you're going to sneak players through very easily. I think the one other tip I would throw out there,

if you're really in that dire situation is if you need volume and you're, you are turning some spots on the bottom of your pitching staff in most leagues, you're probably looking a week or two ahead at the schedule for streamers. Yeah. That's hard too though, because then you're stuck some weeks, maybe taking bad matchups.

If you find out there's a late scratch because we get scheduled changes due to postponements and injuries and all these other factors as well so looking further ahead on the schedule and trying to be one or two weeks ahead is probably the only other way to actually make smaller bids if you need saves and you don't have a lot of money. It's bidding on relievers prior to the big shakeup happening. It's trying to say, well, I've got this one spot and I can at least use this pitcher even if he's not getting saves and picking him up for a dollar is not necessarily going to hurt me. And I'm hoping that I'm just a week or two ahead of the trade deadline is going to be part of this too, where you want to make sure that in the middle of July,

if you were trying to get some saves without paying more than a buck or two for them, you're just throwing darts in the exact right place. But you really have to thread the needle with your entire roster if you're going to go from now until the last day of the season with min-bid players. Yeah, no, those are all the tricks that you need to use and just to exercise a lot of

restraint. And it's hard. I'm getting to the point in one league where I've spent, I'm getting closer to that one third mark already than I would like to. And so I've skipped a couple of fabs recently. If I don't absolutely need an upgrade, you just wait it out. And it's not a fun piece of advice to give. But at this point, it's kind of a necessity if you're in that situation. Yeah, you had your fun already if you're in that situation. So missing a week or two if you don't have clear needs, that's obviously another way to work around it. I'm just looking at I'm in a main event qualifier this year.

I'm kind of right in the middle of the pack, right on track for spending $4.95 left out of my original $1,000. There's a team with $9.60 left. I'm a little worried about that team being the team that gets Ellie in that particular league. A few teams over $600, one team just under $600.

There's a handful of teams in this league under $200 already and one in that exact position. $19 left to spend for the rest of the season. It is very hard to do it. So the key is to not get in that situation again in future years. That's the best advice I can actually give you. Learn from this, but really limit yourself to replacing only injured players. And if you have a player, I think this also forces you to be quicker to cut players with

an injury, which is actually kind of, it's kind of backwards advice in some ways, but because you're not mixing and matching every single week and you're not playing the volume game every single week, if you lose a player for more than the minimum IL stint and that player is not an elite player, I think you have to really be a pessimist about injuries and just find someone who is playing for that min price while you can,

which is another thing that makes this really tough. You may give up on some mid-tier talent guys that you really don't want to give up on simply because they're out three or four weeks and you can't afford to have a nobody or a zero sitting on that roster. Yeah. And again, it makes it a little less fun now, but it's the smart thing to do. Absolutely. So we'll get back to a few other big topics here for the week before we dig into some bats to consider. AJ Smith-Shavar, we talked a lot about him last week,

and things change fast. He is actually going to make a start on Friday against the Nationals. If that were to hold up, he will actually get a start against the Tigers next week, which is fine. I'd love to match up against the Tigers on the road in Detroit too. So nice cavernous ballpark to pitch in as well. Smith-Shawver wasn't available in those NFBC leagues last weekend. So I think a lot of people are going to be looking at Smith-Shawver versus Andrew Abbott as their big pitching question. Obviously, there are players that are cut every week that maybe aren't available in every league that would also be a part of this conversation.

But if you're looking at Smith-Shavar versus Abbott as an A versus B sort of comparison, who do you actually prefer given the current roles, the skills, and your expectations for them? the current roles, the skills, and your expectations for them. Yeah, that was a tough one, but it's something that I did have to grapple with in writing the waiver column this week, since I obviously included both of them. And I did give the edge to Abbott. Other than the walk rate, it's really hard to argue with what he's accomplished in the minors. And we've seen more of a track record from him. I mean, Smith-Shawvers just shot up through the brave system so quickly that it's really hard to know where to pin down your expectations, where to pin down a projection for him.

So I feel like there's a little bit more certainty, as much as there can be with a recently promoted prospect, a little bit more certainty with Abbott. You figure you're going to be getting some strikeouts from him. And I also just trust his place in that Reds rotation much more. I mean, that's a rotation that's been a starter or two short of a quality starter all season long. And I think with Mike Soroka being sent down, I'm not particularly worried about Smith-Shawver not getting that start against Detroit, not staying up for possibly the rest of the year or at least a while.

But there's certainly more uncertainty in that aspect too as compared to Abbott. Yeah, I just think you've got the longer window for Abbott with Smith-Shavar. We talked about the Sun Project prospect. You have to worry about the various ways they may have to manipulate his innings if they want him to be a part of their plan

later on this season as well. With Abbott, I think they can be a little more straightforward about just letting him go. And the Reds clearly have a need. Ben Lively, who I think we discussed on last Friday's show, continues to surprise and pitch well in the back of that rotation. He's got a.303 ERA and a.101 whip, 29 Ks in 29 2 3rds innings, has a bit of a home run problem, not a surprise, given that Great American Ballpark boosts homers.

How much are you trusting what we're seeing from Ben Lively as this surprise turnaround continues? I'm mostly trusting it. I'm expecting a little bit of regression from what we've seen and the home starts definitely are going to be dicey. I'll be selective in terms of starting lively for who he's opposing in those home starts. But I'm not up to the point where I want to pick him up in a 12-team league, but I feel pretty good about him in 15 teams and deeper. Yeah, it's unexpected for me, for sure. It's similar to a few other pitchers we're going to talk about a little later on where you kind of wonder, where exactly is this coming from? few other pitchers we're going to talk about a little later on where you kind of wonder like where exactly is this coming from but when you look at the way that roster is built right now

they don't necessarily have anybody bumping him out of the rotation anytime soon luke weaver's in that rotation he's more likely to lose his spot as soon as they get healthier weaver's got the home run problem ratios are bad across the board so lively looks like he's at least a safer short-term option for deeper leagues that is not something I would have expected coming into this season. row, guide, or app. There are thousands of classes and over 50 Peloton instructors ready to support you from the beginning. Remember, doing something is everything. Rent the Peloton bike or bike plus today at onepeloton.ca slash bike slash rentals. All access memberships separate. Terms apply. Best Western made booking our family beach vacation a breeze. And it felt a little like... Life's a trip. Make the most of it at best western let's dig into some

bats though as we do each and every week a news related bat returning we have dylan carlson coming off the il for the cardinals and i have been stuck with dylan carlson in our keeper league now for the better part of it well, it feels like a month, where I've been looking every week and saying, am I going to get enough back out of him to hold him while he's on the I.L.? I've got other injury problems. I'm contending for this year. Like everybody, I want more innings on my team. I want more depth pitching, and I've talked myself into waiting it out this long, so now I finally have a chance to get something out of Dylan Carlson. out this long so now I finally have a chance to get something out of Dylan Carlson how much are you buying into some of the things we've seen in his contact quality numbers prior to the injury 32 games played an 8.9 percent barrel rate which is close to what we saw back when he debuted in

2020 and we're seeing a k rate that's still in that 20 percent range so we're seeing the the strikeout rate improvement from a year ago and we're seeing some of the power we saw when he debuted. Is this the sign that we're looking for that a young player is actually putting it all together? Because this Cardinals team, which at one point had way too many outfielders, actually needs Dylan Carlson back and could afford to give him an everyday role. Yeah, I wouldn't go as far to say putting it all together unless maybe you're viewing what he did in 2021 as the complete package. Well, I guess I was going to say that's kind of where he's back to, but you're right. He is striking out less often, but I still think that he profiles as somebody who's not going to be a great help with batting average, maybe a 250

hitter. So if power-wise, he's kind of back to square one, then what does that mean? Maybe 12 homers rest of season with just an okay batting average. And then I do worry long-term about what is that outfield picture going to look like? Because when everybody's healthy, the Cardinals do have a ton of depth. And I don't know if Carlson, I feel like he's got to hit another gear to kind of separate himself in that picture. Yeah, I think that's true. I mean, I think once they get healthier,

if he's not continuing to show what he's shown so far, playing time is an issue. But it's a really important window for him to prove that he can be a fixture for them. Last I saw, Tyler O'Neal was just shut down for another 10 days. Yeah, that was only, that was about a week or so ago now. So we'll see if he picks up some activity going into next week. So he doesn't seem particularly close to returning. Lars Neutbar just went on the 10-day IL recently as well. So we'll see if there's any progress from him in the near future. But I don't know.

Keep my fingers crossed that I made the right call because roster spots are extremely valuable in leagues, especially when you can hold players at the price you pick them up for in keeper leagues, which is the case in Maki in particular. Here's a blast from the past for you. Gary Sanchez playing a lot for the Padres. And I think it's interesting, Al, because Gary Sanchez, if he had played the beginning part of his career anywhere else or nearly anywhere else, I think the general reaction to what he has done would be a lot different. I think the things he does well would be amplified more than defensive shortcomings and a lot of the things that became part of the narrative from his time with the Yankees. But he gets a fresh start in San Diego, and there's never been a doubt about Gary Sanchez's power. Every single season he's been in the big leagues for more than two games, looking at you,

single season he's been in the big leagues for more than two games. I'm looking at you 2015. Every year he's been in the big leagues, double digit barrel rates consistently. Yeah, it comes with swing and miss, but he generally has a pretty good walk rate. He does damage when he connects. You can take batting average liabilities behind the plate. We know he doesn't run well, so teams can defend him different ways and all that's going to kind of work against him. He's going to be a lower Babbitt player and a lower batting average player as a result. But are we at the point again where Gary Sanchez is playing enough and showing enough skills to where he's actually viable, at least in two catcher leagues, but possibly in some deep one catcher leagues again? Well, again, when you say deep, I mean, I was looking at projections at catcher rest of season

and thinking, okay, where can I see Gary Sanchez slotting in here? And I thought maybe about 21, 21, 22. So yeah, I mean, you know, a 20 team league and you figure there's upside there too. I mean, he's, you know, not, not the same as, I mean, I'm trying to think like, okay, I saw him kind of slotting in around like where Danny Jansen is. And I would say Sanchez probably does have more upside. So, you know, 18-team league, something like that? Sure, yeah, he could be your catcher. But yeah, any two-catcher league, he should definitely be picked up.

And the playing time, I mean, he landed in a great situation because the Padres really needed some offense behind the plate. So he'll get his playing time, I'm sure, and get an opportunity to prove himself. But this hot start that he's off to, I mean, it's small numbers. So when you're breaking things down into batted ball components and things, it's kind of silly. But, I mean, his profile is just crazy in this small sample.

He's pulled two-thirds of his batted balls. He's hit one out of every four on the ground. I mean, that's like the cartoon version of the Gary Sanchez that we've known in previous stops. So I think he'll be who he's always been in the final analysis. And for the Padres, that's probably going to be an upgrade. That plays, yeah. If he's the hitter he's always been, it's 10% better than league average. Again, a batting average liability,

but in that lineup, which should begin to find its stride. I mean, Tatis has been back for a little while now. Soto looks more like himself. Machado maybe finally turning a corner. I'd be surprised if Xander Bogarts wasn't better today forward than he's been so far. If they're that top five lineup

or top three lineup that we thought they could be going into the season, being the sixth or seventh hitter in that lineup and having the power that Gary Sanchez has, you're going to put some pretty good counting stats together around those homers. He has started eight of the last nine games for the Padres as well, six of those behind the plate, two as the DH. So it looks like he's got a real opportunity to be a solution for the Padres at a position where they really haven't had it figured out. I've been hoping Luis Camposano would be that player, and it just has not worked out. He's, of course, on the IL right now.

Miguel Amaya is back up with the Cubs. Are you looking at this situation as one where the Cubs might actually lean a little bit more into the younger option. I mean, Jan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart are just, they're just seat fillers. I think Miguel Amaya is clearly the future behind the plate for the Cubs. And they have similar questions with Matt Mervis and Christopher Murrell too, as they try and figure out how to balance

hanging in the NL Central race longer with playing the younger guys. But I also think playing the younger guys might be the better path, at least in the case of Amaya. I think he's the most exciting option they have behind the plate by a pretty healthy margin so is he of interest in the same leagues as sanchez or is he still a notch below that you think you had sanchez he's close to like a top 20 outside the top 20 among catchers is amaya

more like an outside the top 30 guy for you i think think that's the right spot. Yeah. Just because of playing time and the Padres need Gary Sanchez in that lineup. So I'm not worried about playing time with him. With Amaya, it seems like the Cubs should be going more to him than they have so far. I'm surprised that they haven't. It did take them a while to get Mervis and Murrell up in the lineup. So maybe it's just a matter of time. But as it stands right now, just the uncertainty of his role would make me slot him probably. Yeah. Down around 30th. At least a better than average week.

If you need some help behind the plate and a Maya has started five consecutive games, three as the DH though, that's the part that I'm surprised by. They did see four lefties during that span. So that could also be part of the calculation driving the playing time. A good sort of min-bid player, though, if you have a hole as the second catcher right now, because I think he could end up being an upgrade. Once the trade deadline passes, especially, even if the Cubs are still in it, they could trade one of those veteran catchers and just let Amaya be the starter over the final two months of the season.

I think they're going to give him a chance to wrestle away that job in the weeks leading up to the deadline. Let's talk about Jesus Sanchez for a moment. As we shift our focus over to the outfield, he is healthy again in Miami. He's been a frequently discussed player on this podcast over the last few years, because if you took all the best parts of Jesus Sanchez's game and you

mushed them together, you would have a really good power hitting outfielder probably a big side platoon power hitting outfielder but he's starting to do that again right now he's got the barrel rate back up in the double digits this year at 11.6 percent the average has been surprisingly good as well which is not necessarily something you'd expect for a guy that will likely run a mid to high 20s K rate. But are you buying the adjustments from Jesus Sanchez, who's part of a Marlins lineup that is third in Team WRC Plus over the last 30 days?

They have really been getting a lot from Sanchez, of course, from Luis Arias and from Brian De La Cruz, who might be making a case for some more shallow league relevance. Yeah, absolutely. The case with De La Cruz and I think with Sanchez too. And what I'm buying from him is the, the second year in a row with the strikeout rate,

that's around 26%. So that's, that's a big difference maker for him. The power we're seeing it more in the results, but it's really been there all along ever since he, he came up with the Marlins. So I like this a lot. I think we do have to expect some batting average regression.

And the source of that 306 batting average that he has right now, he's got a 33% line drive rate, which I think, if I'm remembering my research from the column right, for players with 100 plate appearances or more, it ranks fifth in the major leagues. So I don't think he's going to be like the next Freddie Freeman and be a guy who regularly hits 30% of batted balls for line drives or 25% of whatever that number might be.

But I would see him more as like a 250-ish hitter going forward. But with power, hitting in the middle of a Marlins lineup that, as you say, is really producing now and scoring a lot more runs. And I think that that can continue. I think it's a solid lineup. So I think it's enough for him to start gaining some 12-team consideration. Yeah, I'm with you there. And I think if you're in a deeper league, you're probably looking at someone like Joey Weimer. And there's a good chance Weimer's rostered in some of those deeper leagues already because he's been playing so much for the Brewers, but it looks like Joey Weimer is

making some adjustments, getting a little more comfortable at the big league level. If you look back at what he's been doing, this is the really dangerous thing about starting to slice numbers down. Go back about three weeks now, go back to May 21st, very arbitrary cutoff date, but he's cut the K rate down to 24.2%. He's walking nearly 10% of the time, four homers, four steals during that span. Even the broader view, eight homers, nine steals through his first 61 big league games, K rates okay at 26.8%. If you watch his plate appearances, you see some questionable swing decisions. You also see the funky mechanics we've talked about.

But there's a lot of things Joey Weimer does well, and what's kept him on the field is his center field defense. He's been phenomenal in center field so far this year. So I guess the bigger question I have for you, and you can apply this to Weimer specifically, of course, is when do you start to think a young player has figured something out? Three weeks to me is not enough. I'm encouraged by what he's doing recently, but I don't want to read too much

into what could just amount to a hot streak. This happens all the time. We want every week or every couple of weeks to matter. And sometimes it's just a player running really hot. It's not necessarily a player reaching a new level of skills just yet. Right. And that still matters. I mean, I write a lot about players

who have done great for two or three weeks. We talk about them pretty much every week here. And I think it does matter because you get a player who's locked in, you're kind of chasing the remainder of that streak. But to get to your question, yeah, I think it probably should take at least two or three months

to really gain that sort of trust and not just treat a player as a hot hand player. And I think the probably should take at least two or three months to really gain that sort of trust and not just trust, treat a player as a hot hand player. And I think the other thing too, is you have to put the progress in context. So, you know, in the case of Weimer,

I think he's, you know, he's hitting for an average that, I mean, it's, it's, you know, he's got a two 31 average on the season.

So it's, it's not great, but I see somebody who's just maybe a little worse than a normal hitter on balls and play. And even though he had high BABIPs in the minors, his profile didn't really add up to somebody who would hit for average on balls and play in the major leagues. I just talked about Jesus Sanchez and his 33% line drive rate. I mean, Weimer has not really ever been much of a line drive hitter and that

matters for batting average. So I do think he has a limited ceiling there. So when he goes off for a two or three week period, uh, that that's something that I don't really trust unless there's an underlying change in the, the bad ball profile. And that takes a longer time to establish.

Yeah. I think the thing I keep coming back to with Weimer is you know for deeper leagues where he was picked up weeks ago he's returned pretty good value so far whether or not you can play him in a 10 team league or a 12 team league probably depends a lot more on your situation i think he's a little more schedule dependent in those instances i wonder if there's a chance for him to push his way up the lineup if he continues to play well right if he's running chance for him to push his way up the lineup. If he continues to play well, if he's running with a 250-260 average and a 320-330 OBP, he's not stuck in the bottom third of this lineup. The Brewers have room for young players or some of the veterans they're

relying on to cash in and actually become more prominent pieces in this lineup. Part of that's the disappointing season from Jesse Winker, who's hurt right now. There's a guy they've been hitting second all year that isn't going to hit second when he comes off the IL, most likely. So if Weimer proves to be a guy that can get on base enough, maybe there's a chance that he can boost the runs total and the RBI total by ending up in a more prominent spot in the order. I probably underrated him a lot going into the season

because of the 30.2% K rate at AA last year, but there's tons of things he has done well. I think he is making a case for at least occasional shallow league usage when the schedule comes together. I'm curious what you think about Drew Waters, who's finally healthy now. I think there was some late sleeper buzz on him because of what he did at the end of last season in Kansas City. And for years, it was tools with batting average downside in Atlanta.

And it seemed like something clicked for him after that deal that sent him to the Royals last year for their AAA affiliate in Omaha. There was power, there was speed, there was average, there was OBP, there was everything he could want. And as a 23-year-old at AAA, it seemed legit. So I'm curious what you're going to do with Drew Waters as he's not quite an everyday guy in Kansas City right now, but he's not far from it and has at least recently flashed some pretty intriguing skills in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Yeah. The question is just whether or not that that can, can translate at the major league level. It took him a while to get to that, that point just in triple A. And so far, um, I mean, you could just look at the top line stats and see, he hasn't done a lot yet.

Uh, he's got a CSW of almost 38%. Uh, and I don't even know that there's a, a pitching comparison to make and say, Oh, he makes the average pitcher look like, I don't know, Garrett Cole or whoever. It's somebody better than that. And he's chasing out his own pitches 39% of the time. So that profile's definitely got to improve. I've been, I think it was just the last week I started with him as a contingency bid. So 15-teamers and deeper.

I'll continue to do that just for that power speed potential, but right now it's still very much potential. Yeah, I think in leagues where Weimer is long gone, Waters might still be out there, and it's kind of a similar package of things that he could do if it all comes together. So I thought he was an interesting player to bring up on the show for this week.

A couple outfielders in Ohio, Will Benson and Will Brennan. Benson in Cincinnati, Brennan in Cleveland. It's the week of Wills, I guess. Willie Castro made the rundown, too. Any interest in Benson or Brennan? Brennan, I think, had a little more of a path to playing time to begin the season. Benson is back up right now, had the dramatic walk-off earlier this week for the Reds. Do you think either one of those guys can break through

and become more consistent for us on the fantasy side? I think they both could. I like Brennan a little bit better, but that's with I mean, they both would fill categorical needs because Benson's got got some power potential that he hasn't really realized yet. Brendan is more that if everything breaks right, the batting average and steals guy. But I just you know, the Reds roster and lineup is just getting more and more crowded by the day. So I think Ben, and I have to make sure I'm saying the right one. I get them confused a lot. But Benson, yeah, Benson, I think has a very, very limited window for making his claim to a place in that lineup.

Whereas I think Brennan's safer. And I just think that he's got the better shot to fill that categorical role of hitting for average and providing some steals. I wonder how many players at AAA in recent years have been able to post an OBP of 400 or better. That's Will Benson. I mean, last year was kind of a bounce-back year for him

after he was a first-round pick in Cleveland and was never off I don't know if he's never off the radar completely. He just lost a lot of that prospect appeal over time and showed power, showed speed. A 424 OBP last year, 406 this year in the time that he's been down at AAA Louisville with an 11 for 12 mark on the base pass, three homers. I think they need a center fielder enough in Cincinnati where they can give Benson some time between maybe now and the all-star break. And then as that roster gets more crowded, someone else who's playing in the infield right now

or playing in a corner right now may be able to push him off that spot. But I think in deeper leagues, in leagues where you've got to start five outfielders, 15-plus teams, I think Benson could actually make sense as a good, cheap add. Now, with Will Brennan, we've seen him in the big leagues for a longer run of time this year. Already 155 plate appearances. We know the Guardians need production, and they're starting to get it. You look back at the last 21 days, 373, 407, 627, three homers, and a couple of steals. So a lot of the production from Will Brennan has come just in these last few weeks.

And it looks like that playing time is starting to stabilize quite a bit. Yeah. Like I said, I think he's got the better chance to maintain that status in the Guardians lineup. So, yeah, I think that he could hit well enough to really earn that. Unfortunately, it was a week filled with injuries. Byron Buxton is on the IL, which on a deeper Twins team is less of a problem than it would be in years past.

And I was praising the Twins depth last week on the Athletic Baseball Show, and they did win the day I said it. They have not won a game since. They have really slid. They're below 500 right now. My question for you is, as you look at this team, having Buxton DH all year,

now they can float other players to that spot, who do you see actually gaining the most? I saw Willie Castro as someone who might end up playing a lot more as a result of Buxton's absence. No, I'm with you. I think he's always just been one player too deep on the depth chart to really have that secure playing time. And I think as long as Buxton's out,

that he'll be pretty much an everyday player. And he's certainly performed well enough to keep earning those plate appearances. And I talked a little while ago about the hot hand. I don't know if this is the version of Willie Castro that we'll continue to see, but he's got a 10.2% barrel rate and he is striking out a lot. But, you know, you can't really argue too much with the overall results so far. And he's already set a career high with 11 steals. I don't know where that came from.

But again, as long as he's doing it and getting the opportunity to pad the stats, I'm intrigued. Yeah, what's really strange with Willie Castro, we did see back in 2020, we saw some similar underlying numbers with the barrel rate getting up close to 10%. In that season, he had a.448 BABIP. So it was a.349,.381,.550 that nobody could buy into.

This year, he's still chasing pitches outside the zone at the same rate. He's always done this. Willie Castro has a free swinging approach. He has swung at 42.2% of pitches outside the zone, which is a really high rate. But the things he does well, he actually steals some bases too. He's 11 for 13 as a base stealer. This year, he's always had that ability to sort of help in every category except for batting average, even though he did it in 2020. Nothing's ever pointed in his profile to him being an asset in that category long term, but I think this works.

He's eligible at multiple spots. I think he could be at least some pretty good roster glue if you just need some help in the middle infield or you need a last outfielder for these next couple of weeks. So a player that I've been interested in for a long time that when the window opens, I think you can actually get him onto your roster and you might be surprised at what he can bring to the table. I'm curious if you have any interest in Aaron Hicks in Baltimore. Is there anything there that we should be excited about?

I don't think so. I had a similar reaction to his start there that I did with Gary Sanchez. Like, well, what's going on? Did the change of scenery really do something here? I don't think so. I think it is just a case of just kind of some small sample weirdness. I'm taking a wait and see approach. I'm not seeing anything peripherally. That's I think even going to make me bid on, on Hicks as a contingency bid in 15 teamers this week. But you know, we'll see. I mean, maybe it's too early to close,

close the book on them. I mean, major injuries have been a factor in recent years for Aaron Hicks, but seeing three consecutive seasons with a slugging percentage under three 50, especially playing half your games at Yankee Stadium. I think he's just an extra outfielder. I don't think we're getting back to the power speed combos we saw at his peak that are going to make him a fixture in

the Orioles outfield. I think he's just a good extra guy for them to have at this point. And it's only frustrating because they've got so much young talent trying to break through under that big league roster that a guy like Hicks creates more of a logjam, even though a lot of those prospects are more likely to break through on the infield. I saw John Singleton getting a look from the Brewers. I don't think there's much there outside of NL only leagues. It's a nice story to see him all the way back up in the big leagues. But Luis Urias just came back from the IL.

Willie Adames just came back, which to me is actually a problem for Owen Miller at some point as well. I think Owen Miller's playing time could slide into more of a small side platoon role with a little extra time because he plays so many positions. Yeah, I think that will help Miller. And we talked about this a week or two ago, and I think we were in agreement that he's got a enough of a a window to get regular playing time and he's hitting well enough to justify his his inclusion in the lineup i don't really see that that his playing time is in danger anytime soon i'm not maybe i'm missing something because i'm not sure who would knock him out at this point um yeah bryce terang has been sent down

and i kind of figured that was the move that the brewers would make yeah terang looked pretty overmatched over the last six weeks or so so i i'm not surprised to see that i think andrew monasterio is still on the roster is another good story for you a guy that spent a lot of time in the minor leagues before getting a chance if you look at owen miller more closely he'd been hitting him fourth and fifth in the lineup recently he had a run of starts where he was hitting second. He let off a game against the lefty earlier this week

against the Reds. They're definitely putting him in important spots, which points more toward their issues putting runs on the board than it does to underlying skills that we can trust in the long run. But I would say if you're banking on Miller to be an everyday guy with both Urias and

Adames back, I think that's the concern you have is that they could mix and match on occasion and bump Miller to the bench a little more often than they did recently. But he had a stretch from May 16th through June 5th where he did not receive a day off. They saw a lot of lefties during that span, but that's the thing that's shifting is having Rios back in the fold. He's actually available in a handful of shallow leagues as well. So if you're looking for a versatile player that can do a little bit of everything, Luis Rios might be able to help. So let's be clear. When it comes to shipping internationally, can I provide trade documents electronically? The answer is FedEx. Okay. But what about estimating

duties and taxes on my shipments? How do I find all the... Also FedEx. Impressive. Is there a regulatory specialist I can ask about? FedEx.

Oh. But let's say that... FedEx. What? FedEx. Thanks. No more questions. Always your answer

for international shipping. FedEx. Where now meets next. You've always wanted to be part of something bigger than yourself. You live for experience and lead by example. You want the most out of life and realize what you're looking for is already in you. And realize what you're looking for is already in you. This is for you.

The Canadian Armed Forces. A message from the Government of Canada. Let's move on to some more pitching talk. You had a question that came in on Twitter about Jacob deGrom's Dynasty League trade value. Of course, we talked about it earlier in the week with deGrom undergoing another UCL surgery, unlikely to pitch until late 2024 at the earliest, possibly the beginning of 2025. You know, and keeper in Dynasty Leagues,

assuming he's going to come back and be even 80% of himself, there's still a pretty great pitcher that we could expect to see on the other side of all this, even though it's a big bummer that he's going to be down for the next 14 plus months. Where do you have DeGrom's value in keeper and dynasty leagues? What do you think you could reasonably do to either acquire him and stash him? Or what could you reasonably expect to be getting back if you were relying on him and really in kind of an all-in win now sort of mode and just can't afford to wait for him to come back?

Yeah, well, and the question that I got, I'm sort of loathe to mention the specific player because I don't know if the person watches the show or their trading partner watches the show, but the trading question involved this straight up trade of DeGrom for a fairly recently promoted top 100 prospect, but like lower half of the top 100. And I wound up like leaning towards yes, because particularly if you're in a win now mode,

I just think that I perceive that your fellow managers are going to be a little hesitant to really give up more than that for DeGrom. So I think you got to test the market. First of all, I think you got to field multiple offers. And that's maybe a piece of advice I should have given to the person on Twitter. I don't know what side they were on either. But I mean, that struck me. I'll put this way. It didn't really strike me as a fair return.

I think that DeGrom should probably get more. But I think if you're trying to compete this year, I don't know that you're going to be able to do much better than that. But I'm interested to see if you disagree because it doesn't feel especially fair as a return. Well, in a dynasty league, assuming we're talking about a scenario where just

about everybody's kept on your roster, so even a 12-team league where, let's say, 20-plus players are kept in every roster, I would still keep DeGrom and want to use a roster spot on him, assuming there are IL spots, or if I'm not playing for right now, then the IL situation

doesn't really matter at all. What I would expect in a trade, if I'm not playing for right now, then the IL situation doesn't really matter at all. What I would expect in a trade, if I had DeGrom and wanted the help right now, I think I'd be looking at a player in the range of like a $10 to $15 guy by rest of season value. So I popped up the Fangraphs auction calculator just to get a sample of players like that.

And you're not going to get a young player like that in a dynasty and keeper league. Of course you're not going to get a young player like that in a dynasty and keeper league. Of course you're not going to send DeGrom to somebody and come back with Luis Robert. That's not going to happen. You're going to get a player who's kind of at or post peak that probably has a flaw. I mean, is Alex Bregman a fair hitter sort of suggestion? Probably lower end of the dollar values, but a guy that's lost a lot of his luster over the last couple of seasons. He's 29. He's a good player, but not a great player at this stage. If you needed a bat right now and you had to grum

and you said, yeah, he might be fine later, but I need someone right now. Is that a reasonable one for one swap? Or is that still, is that asking for too much by asking for Bregman? I feel like it's too little. I really little. Okay. Yeah. All right. So,

you know, with the trade offer that I was referring to before, I mean, this would be a player that I think rest of season maybe gives you a little less than Bregman, but, but, you know,

long-term will likely be much, much more valuable. Matt McClain? Matt McClain doesn't seem like enough for DeGrom. Well, I mean, that's the neighborhood we're talking about. And like I said, it doesn't feel like enough to me, and yet I'm not sure how much higher you're going to be able to go. Right. I think with DeGrom, you know you're talking about a guy who's going to be 35,

turning 36 in the season in which he comes back, if I remember correctly. How many great years do you have left? Probably two or three that you're banking on. It's second Tommy John, as we talked about earlier in the week. It's underwhelming.

I think that's why in a keeper or dynasty league, I'm more likely to just sit back and wait and see what happens because pitching is so hard to find. If you get 100 innings from Jacob deGrom in 2025, that's pretty, we still don't know if it's officially a Tommy John, but it's probably, probably another Tommy John. It's a question whether or not they're going to put the brace in with it. But it's a good question for sure. As far as the current options in the rotation, both in Texas to replace DeGrom or even in Toronto to replace Alec Manoa,

those are the two big stories of the week with Manoa's demotion and DeGrom's injury. Is there anybody in either one of those rotations getting an opportunity that you think could actually be helpful for us on the fantasy side? On the Blue Jays, I would say no. I don't think so. And on the Rangers side, I mean, DeGrom's already been out for a while. So, I mean, I suppose that the upshot of that is that it solidifies Dane Dunning's place in the rotation. And I think he kind of is who he is. I mean, I think he's somebody that you could stream for two starts.

I think he's got two starts. Yes, he does have two starts coming up at home against the Angels and the Blue Jays. And I don't particularly like that combination. and the Blue Jays, and I don't particularly like that combination. So I guess I'm underwhelmed because Dunning to me isn't even a gimme as a two-start streamer. You'd really have to pick and choose the matchups, and I'm not sure who the Rangers would have that would, you know, that they would have to replace Dunning.

Yeah, I think for me, I was looking at Mitch White in Toronto to see if they stretch him back out. He's in the bullpen right now. He just came off the 60-day IL. So maybe if he gets an opportunity for deeper leagues, that's where my interest is going to be. But your replacements for Manoa and DeGrom are largely going to come from other rosters.

It's going to be guys like Smith-Shavar and Abbott and Aaron Savali if he's available having come off the IL. I think Aaron Savali is pretty interesting in shallow leagues because we've seen these flashes with changes to his pitch mix of maybe more strikeouts coming in. He's only 27 years old. He'll actually be 28 here in just a couple of days. A.231 ERA, a.107 whip so far this year. The strikeout rate was up last season. You'd plan that Frankenstein game again, trying to see if you can put it all together at once.

But I'm curious what your interest level is in Aaron Savali where available. I know this is more of a shallow league sort of question, but do you think there's enough there to justify using a roster spot on him in a 10-team league? No, I would say not 10-teamers. And 12-teamers, I think say not, not 10 teamers and 12 teamers. I think Savali is more of a, a streaming option and probably not one where I would be stashing him two,

three weeks at a time to wait for that next, next one. I'm hoping that will change because he certainly, when he first came up, I mean, that was, he was the sort of player that I would be, would have been happy to keep rostered into 12-teamer,

but I do want to see a little bit more from Savali in his next few starts. The big thing I'm going to watch is the curveball. Is he getting whiffs on that curveball the way he was last year? Because I think that could be huge for him if he is going to hold some of the strikeout gains that we saw a season ago. I'm a little more optimistic, but I understand your hesitation given the inconsistency. It's been a strange year because we've seen guys like Colin Ray and Julio Teran and Ben Lively, who we talked about earlier, come in and deliver quality innings. It takes so long to trust players like that. Colin Ray, when we first talked about him, I think it was maybe

after his first start or prior to his first start when he joined that Brewers Ray, when we first talked about him, I think it was maybe after his first start or prior to his first start when he joined that Brewers rotation, it was, yeah, maybe for NL only leagues. And here we are, almost two months later, he's made 10 starts already. It's a 447 ERA, so slightly worse than league average, a 122 whip, probably a little better than the league average mark. 48 Ks in 52 and two thirds innings, does have a bit of a home run problem. I don't know if my assessment has changed all that much other than to say the thresholds for me for a deep mixed league pitcher, what I thought they were back in April, they've changed. Two months later, a guy like Colin Ray is at least more of a matchup dependent option for me in some of those deeper mixed leagues where I previously

thought he was unrosterable. Yeah. And also I should look at Ray's splits because I wonder if that home run rate is really skewed towards the home starts because he shouldn't have a home run problem given his profile. And yeah, I mean, it's not great on the road,

1.25 homers per nine, but it's 1.76 at home. So I think that those numbers will come down for Ray. And I think he actually probably should be more of about a four ERA pitcher, which I mean, maybe that's kind of splitting hairs because I don't know that people are going to get that much more excited about four versus four and a half. But that will work for streaming. That will work.

The league where I've got them is one of those head-to-head points leagues where you've got the RP, dedicated RP slots, and he does, he is eligible there. So you're getting starter stats and a relief slot. So Ray's got his appeal. Yeah, I actually think I trust Ray more than Adrian Hauser, even though the previous internal depth charts would maybe make you think they, at least entering the season, expected more to Hauser. Hauser was hurt. We're going to put him

in the bullpen. Just so many things have gone wrong health-wise for this group. And then Teron, I think Julio Teran fell off a cliff so much faster than I thought he would. I didn't think he was going to be great forever. I just thought he'd be useful for a long time because the last time we really saw him over a full season was back in 2019, the year of the rabbit ball. At that point, control was becoming a pretty big issue.

It was a second consecutive season with a double-digit walk rate. The strikeout rate was just kind of okay, low 20% range there. Home runs had become a problem for him a few years prior to that. They were still an issue. And then the shortened season happened. He barely pitched for the Angels. It was bad. I think we saw one start for him in Detroit.

Didn't pitch in the big leagues in 2022. And even in this little run with the Brewers where things are going well, he had that start against the Blue Jays where he didn't strike anybody out. Whole team didn't strike anybody out in a win. Very rare to see that in today's game. What the heck is going on here? Like the projections are awful. I think as soon as they have someone healthy that they can plug in,

he's going to get bumped from the rotation. Is there anything I'm possibly overlooking from a guy who is somehow still just 32 years old? Yeah, that's incredible. That surprised me. Just hearing that come out of your mouth right now, it's like, really? Just 32? No, I don't think you're missing anything at all, DVR. I mean, his stat page to me is just really interesting because he's got good surface stats over three starts. He's basically done two things exceedingly well. He's thrown more than 70% of his first pitches for strikes. That's, that's a lot. And then he's only given up three barrels over those three starts. So not a

lot of hard contact. So, you know, there, there's a little bit of an explanation for how he's been able to do it, but his whiff rate, you know, you're talking about him not getting a strikeout in that one start. His whiff rate is 5.2%. Yeah. I mean, it's still bad. I don't care what the other stats are. And some of the other stats are really bad, too. I mean, I mentioned two stats that are favorable.

But there's some other unfavorable ones too. But anybody with a 5% whiff rate, I just can't trust them. Yeah, I mean, I know he's not walking, guys, so that's great, but he's going to get hit. What's that getting ahead of batters thing? Right, he's going to get hit, though. It's inevitable. So even in the deepest of leagues where you might be tempted to say he was a former prospect, stranger things have happened, I'm still very concerned. He was a former prospect.

Stranger things have happened. I'm still very concerned. And that swing strike rate is a huge part of the reason why. He gets hit in the zone probably as much as anybody in the league right now. A 93.7% zone contact percentage. That is unbelievably high. So be very careful if you're trying to do what the Brewers are doing and rely on Julio Teran even in the deepest of leagues. Let's get to the streamers and two-start pitchers, though. Many of these guys are the players you will be trying to rely on Julio Teran even in the deepest of leagues. Let's get to the streamers and two-start pitchers, though.

Many of these guys are the players you will be trying to rely on to replace the injured players that you've got on your roster right now. We've got Jared Schuster with a home streaming opportunity against the Rockies. Is that a thumbs up for you? Yeah, that is a thumbs up. I think we talked about that last week in saying, you know, maybe pick him up now, stash him, because that's going to be good. So here we are.

It's happening. It's here. How about Cutter Crawford getting a chance in the Boston rotation? I saw Chris Sale just got moved to 60-day IL before we started recording. So is there anything here with Cutter Crawford who, I think along with Brian Baio, has been pretty interesting this year? Baio, because his first start was bad, the season numbers don't look that good. Cutter Crawford has a 36-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio

in 36 and two-thirds innings and a split between the rotation and the pen, but I think I'd want to take a chance on this profile even beyond this streaming opportunity for him, which is also a home start against the Rockies. I'm with you. And you know who else had a bad first start besides Bayo? Cutter Crawford had a really bad first start against the Pirates. You take that out of his stats, he has a 193 ERA and a 0.83 whip this year. To me, the only problem with the start in Colorado

is that his last start against Cleveland, he only threw 58 pitches, but maybe it gets up to 70-ish. And if he can be a little bit more economical, maybe you're looking at five really strong innings and a win. And then from there, I think it just gets better from there on out. Yeah. So I think Cutter Crawford, even though he's in our streamer section, probably is more interesting than other guys that are in this group for the most part. Brandon Williamson pops up in here because he's got a road start against Kansas City. We talked about some of his flaws when the Reds first brought him up. I don't really want to mess with Williamson's skills, even though the Royals continue to be a team that you can pick on.

They had that little run in the early part of May where their bats were showing signs of life, but for the season, their bottom three in OBP, it doesn't seem like there's a whole lot there outside of the top three or so hitters that are going to hurt you. Yeah. No, I want no part of Williamson in any matchup right now. The Royals are a very good one. Are you interested in either one of Michael Grove or Brian Wu with home matchups against the White Sox during the upcoming week? I'd be interested in either in 15-teamers. And I especially like the fact that Wu will be making that start at home. It'll be his first career start in Seattle. First couple have come on the road.

And I do think of the White Sox as a really good matchup. And they're also kind of walk-proof. They just chase a lot of pitches out of the zone. And even though Wu's major league debut was not good overall, he put up some good peripherals in that one. So I think we'll see better things from Wu going forward. We've got some two steps to get to real quick. I've seen Jamison Tyon pop up on some of the waiver wires in 12 team leagues.

I think you could do a lot worse. I'd like them going into the season. Home starts this week against the Pirates and the Orioles. That first one to me is easy enough where I'll take the slightly more difficult second one. So I'd be pretty excited

if he actually was available on my wire, which says a lot about the state of pitching in most leagues. Dean Kramer, a regular on this Friday cast. Home against the Blue Jays, road against the Cubs. That to me would be below the line

of what I would want to do in a 15-team league, even though there are occasions where Dean Kramer looks like he could be unlocking something. Yanni Chirinos might be the most difficult two-star pitcher to assess this week because the underlying numbers don't support the ratios really at all,

but he's on the road in Oakland and then he has to come home to face the Padres. So what are you doing with Yanni Chirinos in a 15-team league where you need innings? I mean, the win probability is pretty good because the Rays are great. So do you take that chance on, especially with one of those matchups being against the A's? There's a matchup.

There's a pitcher with matchups I like better or not necessarily matchups with situations but in 15 teamer I could see taking that risk but yeah we'll get to somebody who I like a little bit better it's probably a min bid or near min bid situation if you are going to take a chance on Yanni I have no interest in James Caprellian

or Hogan Harris with home starts this week against the Rays and Phillies home is good. Matchups are bad. So I'm going to take a pass on the A's for the week. They're almost perpetually available in a lot of mixed leagues. Zach Greinke, I think, is that pitcher that you're somewhat intrigued by. Home starts against the Reds and the Angels.

Tougher matchups for sure than what we're talking about just now. At least the combination of matchups is harder than what Yanni Chirinos has, but you're actually in on Grinke this week? I actually am in on Grinke this week, so I would take him over Chirinos. And yeah, I surprised myself with this, but when I looked into it, first of all, Grinke's on a nice roll

that's pretty well supported. Last seven starts, a.328 ERA,.84 whip, only three walks over his last two-thirds innings. And since he became a Royal again last year, at Kauffman Stadium, and these are both home starts, so they're not great matchups, but they're both home starts. He has a.227 ERA at Kauffman Stadium and has allowed a 274 WOBA. So as I wrote in the column this week, he's turned the average hitter that he faces at home

into Myles Straw, because that's basically the type of WOBA that we're talking about, to put that in perspective. So I think I would take my chance there with Greinke, especially since he's on a good extended role right now. Pretty strong case. And like we say every single week, pitching is very hard to come by. A quick look at the bullpens before we sign off. I saw Jose Alvarado could actually be back on Friday. I don't know if they made that official yet as we record here late Friday afternoon, but that certainly gives the Phillies bullpen a boost. And if you held Alvarado or if he got cut, he was hurt, perhaps you could find some somewhat cheap saves out there.

He was pitching very well prior to his injury. A.J. Puck is back from the I.L. And then Trevor May got his first save of the season in June. So not quite what we expected back in March, but notable if the A's find a way to win some more games. I just don't expect that to happen. Part of my disdain for Oakland relievers, aside from skills questions about many of them,

has been they don't win. They just, they do not win. So your expected saves per week feels like it's less than one any given week. Yeah, and I know I've said, and I've written in the past that I feel like the team quality sometimes gets overplayed

when we're looking at saves candidates. But the A's are extremely bad. So, I mean, it's one thing to talk about trying to pick up saves from a reliever who's on a 70-win team. It's another thing with a team that's probably going to lose more than 100 games. So, yeah, I think that's where I draw the line. Real quick, I know we're hitting the hour already. Just seeing a few more news items that we should mention.

Jordan Alvarez has been placed on the IL with an oblique injury. So probably a little bit of a rotation in that outfield DH mix for the Astros. So maybe, maybe some depth outfielders that you could find. Keeping an eye on them for the weekend. Kind of interesting to see what they're going to do. And maybe a team that you don't have to fear quite as much in the near future without Jordan Alvarez. Perhaps opportunities where it's not like a lineup you'd stream against,

but rather than being a team you'd avoid, one that you'll let some of your fourth and fifth starters take the occasional shot against. So keep that in mind. The Chris Sale move to the 60-day il was also accompanied with some information about his injury he has a stress reaction in his left scapula so he's going to be shut down for at least three to four weeks while resting i won't be eligible to come back until august 2nd as a result of this so sale probably ends up as a drop consideration

in some cases where you don't have IL spots. So really tough blow because he had been pitching well prior to going down. And then Pete Alonzo, we've been waiting for an update on Pete Alonzo since he left that game after being hit by a pitch earlier this week. He will be going on the IL with that wrist injury. So we'll probably see a lot of Mark Vientos at first base for the Mets, or at least in the lineup for the Mets with Alonzo down for a little while. Yeah. So definitely somebody to add to your list this weekend, especially 15 teamers. Yep. So bad news for the Mets, but an opportunity for Vientos to play a little more, for Vientos and Dan Vogelbach to coexist in the Mets lineup,

which I'm sure will make Mets fans real happy in the time that Alonzo is back. But get well soon, Pete. We want you back for the home run derby, especially. Hopefully it's only a minimum situation for him. I didn't see a timetable on that injury yet. We are going to go on our way out the door. A reminder, you can get a subscription to The Athletic

for $2 a month for the first year at theathletic.com slash ratesandbarrels. With that, you can read Al's weekly waiver wire column, which is already up for this weekend. You can read Eno's piece, Where Did All the Strikeouts Come From? That was the A1, the featured story on the site on Thursday. Really good story, so be sure to check that out, plus all the other coverage we have from around the league and other sports as well, all for one low price. You really can't beat it. Good luck on the waiver wire this weekend. We are back with you on Monday.